YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict
- Jews have maintained a continuous presence in the Land of Israel for more than 3,000 years - a fact that is supported by substantial archeological and historical evidence.
- There was a politically independent Jewish Kingdom from approximately 1000 BC until 586 BC - and from 165 BC until 63 BC, when the Kingdom became a client state of the Roman Empire.
- Roman emperors have long acknowledged Jewish traditions and Jerusalem's centrality in Judaism. Augustus issued the following edict in 1 BC: "Jews shall use their own customs in accordance with their ancestral law...and their sacred offerings shall be inviolable and shall be sent to Jerusalem; and they shall not [be required to appear] in court on the Sabbath."
- Jews got their name from their land of origin, Judea. It was not until the Romans expelled many Jews from Israel in 135 AD that they renamed the area Palestine in an attempt to de-Judaize it.
- There is extensive documentation of the Jewish presence in Jerusalem and the Land of Israel.
- Jerusalem has been the Jewish people's capital for more than three millennia.
- There are nearly 700 mentions of Jerusalem in the Hebrew Bible.
- More than a hundred generations of dispersed Jews prayed three times a day to return to Jerusalem.
- The sacred texts of both Christianity and Islam confirm the Jewish people's connection to the Land of Israel.
- The New Testament confirms the Jewish connection to the land in St. Stephen's sermon in Act 7 and in Hebrews 11.
- "...and said to him, 'Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.' Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell." (Acts 7:3-4)
- "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise." (Hebrews 11:8-9)
- The Koran refers frequently to Jews and identifies them with Israel and the Promised Land.
- "And thereafter We said to the Children of Israel: 'Dwell securely in the Promised Land." (Sura 17:104 The Night Journey).
- The Koran describes Solomon's construction of the First Temple (Sura 34:13) and recounts the destruction of the First and Second Temples (Sura 17:7).
- The New Testament confirms the Jewish connection to the land in St. Stephen's sermon in Act 7 and in Hebrews 11.
- Jews have been a majority in Jerusalem for the last 150 years.
- The Jewish population was decimated by the Crusaders in the 12th century AD, but it eventually rebounded. By the 1880s, when the Ottoman Empire ruled the city, Jews once again became the largest religious group in Jerusalem. At that time, there were 9,000 Jews and 7,000 Arabs living in the city.
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict
- The Jewish people also have a historic connection to the land that is claimed by the Palestinians.
- Many of the holiest Jewish sites sit in the area that is now claimed as a Palestinian state, including East Jerusalem and the Western Wall.
- Learn more about the ancient connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.
- The Jewish people's right to sovereignty in their homeland has been firmly established in international law.
- In 1917, the British Government issued the Balfour Declaration, which explicitly called for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people". The British government promised to undertake efforts to "facilitate the achievement of this object."
- Following World War I, the Allied powers convened in San Remo, Italy. This conference created the basis for the British Mandate of Palestine, giving Israel the legal right, based on international law, to become a sovereign nation under the oversight of Great Britain. The San Remo Resolution was later approved by the entire 52-member League of Nations in 1922, further entrenching it as international law.
- In 1947, the newly created United Nations, voted to partition the British Mandate of Palestine into two states: one for the Jewish inhabitants of the Mandate, and a second one for the Arab inhabitants. The Jewish residents accepted this resolution. The Arab residents rejected it and launched a war of annihilation against the new Jewish state, joined by five outside Arab armies.
- International lawyer Jacques Gauthier describes Israel right to its territory under international law.
- What about the “atrocity” that took place in Deir Yassin in 1948?
- Former Kuwaiti Minister Blasts Palestinian Strategy Past Century read more
- The Truth About Deir Yassin read more
- Video about What Happened at Deir Yassin. watch video
- Israel captured the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in a defensive war in 1967. It has satisfied its obligations under international law to administer these areas until permanent borders are set within the framework of a permanent peace agreement.
- Israel's possession of these lands was legal since they had been included in the land approved for a Jewish state by the British Mandate, San Remo, and League of Nations agreements.
- In 1947 the UN Partition Plan did set aside areas in the West Bank and Gaza for Arab sovereignty but the Arab countries rejected the plan.
- Israel's possession of these territories is not a legal "occupation" because these territories were never the possession of an Arab entity and are therefore considered to be "disputed territories."
- As a result of the Oslo Accords, 97 percent of Palestinians enjoy self-rule under the Palestinian Authority.
- A "State of Palestine" never existed in history.
- The areas now described as Palestinian were once part of the British Empire and the Ottoman Turkish Empire.
- In 1948, Egypt captured the Gaza Strip - and Jordan captured Judea and Samaria, renaming the territory "the West Bank".
- Egypt and Jordan controlled these areas until 1967. During that time, no country in the Arab World called for the creation of a Palestinian state.
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict
- While both sides bear some responsibility for the failure of the peace process, the Palestinian leadership has consistently "never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity".
- In 2000, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat rejected Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's offer of a contiguous Palestinians state on 97% of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. According to American Envoy Dennis Ross, who brokered the Oslo Accords, this proposal met virtually all of the Palestinians’ demands. Instead of accepting this offer, Arafat walked away from the table and launched the Second Intifada - a campaign of terrorism that claimed more than 4,000 lives.
- In his autobiography, President Clinton blamed Yasser Arafat for the failure of the Oslo Peace talks.
- In 2008, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made an even more generous offer to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. It included all of the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, and land equivalent to 100 percent of the West Bank. Instead of making a counter offer, President Abbas again walked away from the negotiating table.
- In March 2014, when President Abbas met with President Obama, he refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, and to give up the Palestinians "right of return," as well as refused to commit to an "end of conflict."
- History proves that Palestinian leaders do not want an independent state.
- The culture of incitement in Palestinian schools, mosques, and media poisons the well for peace in future generations.
- Palestinian leaders fill their textbooks, summer camps, television programs, mosques, and official media outlets with incitement.
- Suicide bombers are glorified.
- Children are taught to hate Jews and Israelis.
- Israel's right to exist is consistently denied.
- Reasons Why Peaceful Resolutions for the Arab - Israeli Conflict Always Fails
Read more click here - Any lasting peace agreement would have to ensure security for Israel's citizens. Yet, the Palestinian leadership has never agreed to the basic security arrangements necessary to protect the Israeli people.
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict
- If a Palestinian state were to be created tomorrow, nearly half of the Palestinian population would be ruled by Hamas - a violent terrorist organization fundamentally opposed to peace.
- Since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007, it has fired more than 4,000 rockets into Israel - targeting schools, synagogues, and densely populated civilian areas.
- The Hamas charter calls for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews.
- Under Hamas law, if a Palestinian in Gaza has any interaction with an Israeli or an Israeli organization, it is a crime punishable by ten years in prison.
- The Palestinian Authority continues to undermine the future possibility of two-states living in peace. It fosters a culture of hate against Israelis and Jews in Palestinian mosques, schools, and media.
- Palestinian leaders fill their textbooks, summer camps, television programs, mosques, and official media outlets with incitement.
- Suicide bombers are glorified.
- Children are taught to hate Jews and Israelis.
- Israel's right to exist is consistently denied.
- Leaders of the Palestinian Authority continue to call for the creation of an inherently racist, "Jew-free" state.
- In comments to the media before beginning peace talks with Israel, President Abbas said, "In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli - civilian or soldier - on our lands."
- In 2011, the Palestinian envoy to the United States, Maen Rashid Areikat issued a similar call for a "Jew-free state".
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict
- While settlements can be a source of conflict, they are not the major obstacle to peace.
- From 1948-1967 no Israeli settlements existed, yet the Palestinian leadership and the Arab World still sought Israel's annihilation.
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As a result of the resounding Israeli victory in the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel gained the “West Bank,” “Gaza,” ”Golan Heights” and “East Jerusalem.” Less than a week after the war ended, the Israeli unity government under PM Levi Eshkol affirmed – and then told the Americans -- that Israel would return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt and the Golan Heights to Syria in return for signed peace treaties. Separate negotiations would then be conducted regarding the future of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the refugee issue. While Egypt accepted the Sinai offer, Syria rejected the Golan Heights offer. Negotiations over the West Bank and Gaza failed.
- Settlements do not jeopardize future "Land for Peace" deals.
- In the meantime, some Israelis took up residence in areas around Jerusalem that were across the 1967 armistice lines. These Israeli developments, known as “Settlements,” only take up around 2% of West Bank land. Over time, US Administrations recognized that Israel would retain some of these towns in any peace agreement.
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Israel has uprooted other settlements such as those in the Gaza Strip. In 2005 Israel evacuated all the Jewish families living in Gaza—a total population of 8,000. However, instead of making peace, Hamas—a terrorist organization—took over the Gaza Strip and responded by firing thousands of rockets at Israeli cities in the ensuing years.
- The Israeli government is not building new Settlements.
- For years, the only legal construction allowed by the Israeli government has been within existing communities to accommodate the natural growth of resident families. Illegal outposts, which do not conform to Israel’s policies, do exist. Some critics fault the Israeli government for not dealing with them more forcefully, but the government works to resolve the issue peacefully or by court order.
- For years, the only legal construction allowed by the Israeli government has been within existing communities to accommodate the natural growth of resident families. Illegal outposts, which do not conform to Israel’s policies, do exist. Some critics fault the Israeli government for not dealing with them more forcefully, but the government works to resolve the issue peacefully or by court order.
- Israeli Settlements may not be illegal at all.
- Many legal scholars question whether Settlements are illegal at all. Eugene V. Rostow, one of the authors of UN Security Council Resolution 242—written after the 1967 war to create a framework for peace negotiations—stated, "The Jewish right of settlement in Palestine west of the Jordan River, that is, in Israel, the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, was made unassailable. That right has never been terminated and cannot be terminated except by a recognized peace between Israel and its neighbors." Moreover, Rostow contended that "The Jewish right of settlement in the area is equivalent in every way to the right of the existing Palestinian population to live there."
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Others contend that the Geneva Convention, passed after WWII, makes the Settlements illegal. The December 2016 UN Security Council Resolution 2334 Vote—passed due to the US government’s abstention—declared them illegal and opened the door to future international actions against Israel.
Does Geneva Convention Apply?
The legal case for settlements in Judea and Samaria
Global Study of Settlements in Occupied Territories
- Palestinians are building illegally around Jerusalem.
- All of the governments and international bodies that criticize Israel for building what many claim to be legal communities are silent about the construction of new Palestinian developments surrounding Jerusalem.
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According to a detailed article by Bassam Tawil of the Gatestone Institute, the questionable construction is primarily in Zone-C, which under the Oslo Peace Accords should be territory controlled by Israel. According to Tawil, Palestinians estimate that in the past few years they have built more than 15,000 illegal housing units in areas surrounding Jerusalem as part of a plan to encircle the city. These are not single family homes, but massive apartment complexes without proper licenses, not built to code, and some without proper sewage. The article claims that many of the "contractors" are land-thieves and thugs who are building without permission on private Palestinian-owned land or on lands whose owners are living abroad.
The Real Illegal Settlements in Israel
Israel Clamping Down on Illegal EU Building in West Bank
Palestinians are Building Illegal Settlements to Extend their Claims to Jerusalem
- The major obstacle to peace is Palestinian leadership.
- The Palestinian leadership's refusal to give up the conflict, recognize Israel as a Jewish State, and renounce the "right of return" for most Palestinian refugees, is the real obstacle to peace. The so-called "right of return" would allow millions of descendants of Palestinian refugees to flood Israel.
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No Israeli leader would ever accept the "right of return," since it would mean the end of the world’s only Jewish state. Yet, the Palestinian leadership has never told its own people that they must forfeit this claim in order to achieve peace.
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict
- The Palestinian refugees were created by the War of Annihilation that Arab countries launched against the new State of Israel in 1947.
- Jews returned to the Land of Israel in peace. In 1947, the UN voted to partition the area then known as the Mandate of Palestine into two nations: one Jewish and one Arab. The Jewish community accepted this plan. The Arab world rejected it - and five Arab countries launched a war to destroy the newborn State of Israel.
- This war - Israel's War of Independence - is what created the Palestinian refugees.
- It is estimated that between 550,000-700,000 Palestinian Arabs were displaced from their homes during Israel's War of Independence. The vast majority of these people left voluntarily, or at the urging of invading Arab armies. More than two-thirds of these refugees settled in the original area of the British Mandate for Palestine (Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza).
- Only a very small fraction of Palestinians were expelled by Israeli troops, who acted in response to immediate military considerations. There was no official Israeli policy of expulsion.
- Historian Benny Morris writes, "The refugee problem was born of war, not by design, Jewish or Arab. It was largely a byproduct of Jewish and Arab fears and of the protracted, bitter fighting that characterized the first Israeli-Arab war; in smaller part it was the deliberate creation of Jewish and Arab military commanders and politicians."
- Even Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas publicly admitted that the Arabs in his hometown of Safed were not expelled by Israeil troops, but "emigrated" on their own.
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Video: Mahmoud Abbas Contradicts the Palestinian Narrative on Refugees
- The Arab world has perpetuated the Palestinian refugee problem.
- Among all Arab countries, only Jordan has offered Palestinians the rights of citizenship. Many others have passed discriminatory laws, preventing Palestinians from buying land and from entering certain professions, like law and medicine.
- In 1959, the Arab League adopted Resolution 1457, which stated: "The Arab countries will not grant citizenship to applicants of Palestinian origin in order to prevent their assimilation into the host countries."
- Learn more about the Arab discrimination against Palestinians.
- One Arab journalist asks: where is the outcry against Arab Apartheid?
- Among all Arab countries, only Jordan has offered Palestinians the rights of citizenship. Many others have passed discriminatory laws, preventing Palestinians from buying land and from entering certain professions, like law and medicine.
- The UN and international organizations have perpetuated the Palestinian refugee problem.
- Palestinians are the only population in the world that the UN refuses to resettle. Instead, it passes their refugee status on to children and grandchildren. As a result, the original Palestinian refugee population of a few hundred thousand has grown to more than five million today.
- Israel absorbed all Jewish refugees forced to flee their homes in Arab countries. An estimated 850,000 Jews were expelled from Arab countries in the years following the establishment of a Jewish state. Israel fully integrated these refugees into its society, at the time that the Arab World exploited and oppressed the Palestinian refugees.
Israeli Policies
Israeli-Policies
- Zionism is the opposite of racism. It is an answer to the racism directed at the Jewish people throughout history, known as anti-Semitism.
- Zionism is a movement of national liberation - based on the idea that the Jewish people - just like any other people - are entitled to live in their homeland with independence, self-determination, and freedom from persecution.
- The founders of Zionism saw their movement as a path to ending many centuries of racist anti-Semitism and persecution. In 1896, Zionism's founding father, Theodor Herzl, wrote that anti-Semitism, "is a remnant of the Middle Ages, which civilized nations do not even yet seem able to shake off. In countries where we have lived for centuries we are still cried down as strangers... [the only solution is] the restoration of the Jewish state."
- Theodor Herzl, Israel's founding father wrote in Altneuland, his seminal book on Zionism, "You must hold fast to the things that have made us great; to liberality, tolerance, love of mankind. Only then is Zion truly Zion."
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote that, "Zionism is nothing less than the dream and ideal of the Jewish people returning to live in their own land... the fundamental right that we justly claim for the people of Africa and freely accord to all other nations of the globe."
- The Zionist movement is based in the Jewish people's ancient connection to the Land of Israel.
- The word "Zion" originally referred to the easternmost of the two hills of ancient Jerusalem, during the tenth century B.C. Over the years, it came to mean all of Jerusalem and then all of Israel.
- The name Zion appears 152 times in the Old Testament. "Mount Zion" is the place where God dwells. Jerusalem, or Zion, is a place where the Lord is King, and where He has installed His king, David.
- Zionism is an ideology rooted in the idea of equality. The State of Israel breathes life into these principles.
- In the State of Israel's Declaration of Independence it is written: "The State of Israel... will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants, irrespective of creed, race or gender; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education, and culture."
- Israel today is a beacon of equality in the Middle East, providing the full rights of citizenship for people of all cultures and faiths.
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict
- Palestinian refugees suffered an injustice in 1948. However, the much greater injustice is that the international community and the Arab world have refused to resettle them for over seven decades.
- The UN and international organizations have perpetuated the Palestinian refugee problem.
- Palestinians are the only population in the world that the UN refuses to resettle. Instead, it passes their refugee status on to children and grandchildren. As a result, the original Palestinian refugee population of a few hundred thousand has grown to more than five million today.
- The UN and international organizations have perpetuated the Palestinian refugee problem.
- The Arab World has perpetuated the Palestinian refugee problem.
- Among all Arab countries, only Jordan has offered Palestinians the rights of citizenship. Many others have passed discriminatory laws, preventing Palestinians from buying land and from entering certain professions, like Law and Medicine.
- In 1959, the Arab League adopted Resolution 1457, which stated: "The Arab countries will not grant citizenship to applicants of Palestinian origin in order to prevent their assimilation into the host countries."
- Learn more about the Arab discrimination against Palestinians.
- One Arab journalist asks: where is the outcry against Arab Apartheid?
- Throughout the years, many Arab countries - including Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan - have expelled tens of thousands of their own Palestinian residents. Few in the Arab World or the international community have spoken out against this.
- Among all Arab countries, only Jordan has offered Palestinians the rights of citizenship. Many others have passed discriminatory laws, preventing Palestinians from buying land and from entering certain professions, like Law and Medicine.
- Much of the Palestinian suffering in the region is a result of failed Palestinian leadership.
- Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza Strip in 2005. The area was taken over by the Hamas terrorist organization, which brutally oppresses women, political opponents, Christians, and other minorities.
- There would be a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, 97 percent of the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, if Palestinian leaders had accepted the peace offers presented to them by Israel.
- Much of the international aid earmarked for the Palestinian people has been siphoned off by corrupt leaders in the Palestinian Authority. Rampant corruption is destroying the future of the Palestinian people.
- Foreign funding without proper oversight and requirements is to blame for the suppression of freedom and democracy in the Palestinian territories.
- The Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) issued a report in February 2014 criticizing the Palestinian Authority and Hamas for assaults on human rights and freedoms in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
- Hamas is largely to blame for any humanitarian crisis in Gaza and prohibits any criticism from Gazan residents.
- Watch video of Tawfik Hamid, former Islamist, ascribing blame to failed Palestinian leadership for the suffering of the Palestinian people.
- Read Palestinians: A Story You Have Not Heard.
- The Palestinians' standard of living improved significantly under Israeli control from 1967 up until the Oslo Peace Process in the early 90s.
- Mortality rates in the West Bank and Gaza fell by more than two-thirds between 1970 and 1990, and life expectancy rose from 48 years in 1967 to 72 years in 2000.
- Israeli medical programs reduced the infant-mortality rate of 60 per 1,000 live births in 1968 to 15 per 1,000 in 2000. Under Israel's systematic program of inoculation, childhood diseases like polio, whooping cough, tetanus, and measles were eradicated.
- By 1986, 92.8 percent of the population in the West Bank and Gaza had electricity around the clock, compared with 20.5 percent in 1967; 85 percent had running water in dwellings, as compared to 16 percent in 1967.
- In 1967, not a single university existed in Gaza or the West Bank. By the early 1990's, there were seven institutions of higher learning, boasting some 16,500 students.
- The Palestinians' standard of living will improve again when they stop fighting against the one country best able to employ their people. Warfare against Israel damages their own economy.
Israeli Policies
Israeli-Policies
- Israel is not an apartheid state. The freest Arab population in the Middle East lives in Israel. It is the only country in the region where all people are guaranteed equal political and legal rights. It is also the only country in the region where the Christian population is growing.
- Arabs occupy senior positions in all sectors of Israeli society - from the Supreme Court and parliament to the arts and business. Learn more about Israel's Arab minority.
- Many Muslims - inside and outside of Israel - have made clear that Israel is not an apartheid state, but rather a model for toleration in a region filled with sectarian violence.
- Many of Israel's Christians feel that their history, culture and heritage have been hijacked by Muslim Arabs in the region.
- A British Muslim shares his perspective on Israel after seeing its inclusive society for himself.
- An Israeli Arab shares her story.
- Israel's first Bedouin Diplomat describes the opportunities granted to all Israelis.
- Watch this video about an educational program specifically benefiting Arab students.
- 2019 Study Reveals 65% of Israeli Arabs are proud to be Israeli.
- Much of the Palestinian suffering in the region is a result of failures in their own leadership.
- Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza Strip in 2005. The area was taken over by the Hamas terrorist organization. Today Hamas brutally oppresses women, political opponents, Christians, and other minorities. Learn more about Hamas' human rights violations in Gaza
- There would be a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, 97 percent of the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, if Palestinian leaders had accepted the peace offers presented to them by Israel.
- Much of the international aid earmarked for the Palestinian people has been siphoned off by corrupt leaders in the Palestinian Authority.
- The use of the term apartheid to describe Israel diminishes and degrades the brave struggle of those who fought against apartheid in South Africa.
- Kenneth Meshoe, South African MP addresses why Israel is not an apartheid state.
- Neither truth nor justice is served by trying to equate Nelson Mandela with Yasser Arafat.
- South African Charles Abelsohn tells what real Apartheid was and how Israel is not.
- South African Malcolm Hedding tells what real Apartheid was and how Israel is not.
Israeli Policies
Israeli-Policies
- Israel's leaders are fallible - just like all human beings - and they have made mistakes. However, they are held fully accountable for their actions by the country's democratic process and independent judicial system.
- In contrast to all other nations in the Middle East, corruption and wrongdoing by government officials in Israel is fully investigated and prosecuted. No Israeli leader is above the law.
- The strength of Israel's judicial system was demonstrated recently when the country's former President was successfully prosecuted in the Supreme Court. This sentence was issued by Salim Joubran, an Israeli Arab.
- The system in Israel marks a clear contrast with the leaders of the Palestinian Authority, who have siphoned off many billions of dollars in international aid to their people without consequence.
Israeli Policies
Israeli-Policies
- In the midst of a region filled with tyranny, violence, and human rights abuses, Israel strictly abides by the tenets of international law.
- The Israel Defense Forces incorporate the principles of international law into their basic doctrine. All of Israel's government and military decisions are overseen by the nation's Supreme Court.
- By contrast, Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza are systematic violators of international law.
Israeli Policies
Israeli-Policies
- While Palestinian terrorists seek to maximize civilian casualties, Israel does everything in its power to minimize harm to civilians.
- One of the core values of the Israel Defense Forces is the protection of human life and dignity. Israeli forces use a variety of strategies to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians - from dropping leaflets to diverting missiles mid-air.
- The IDF Code of Conduct reads, "The IDF and its soldiers are obligated to protect human dignity. Every human being is of value regardless of his or her origin, religion, nationality, gender, status or position."
- Learn more about the IDF's efforts to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians.
- Read about the testimony of an Arab IDF soldier click here
Reports after the last major war in Gaza, the 2014 Operation Protective Edge, demonstrated the illegal, terrorist tactics of Hamas as well as the IDF’s efforts to protect innocent civilians. The UN damage assessment report proved Israel was targeting tunnels and command centers, not civilians. Israeli report uncovers what the media did not.
- Hamas fired 4,500 rockets into Israel endangering the lives of 6 million people.
- Rockets were launched from Gaza next to churches, mosques, schools, UN buildings, hotels and residential areas endangering the inhabitants. See video proof. Had Israel not taken great measures to save the lives of civilians, urban warfare in a city as densely populated as Gaza City would have resulted in tens of thousands of deaths.
- Hamas had spent over $100 million in digging some 40 tunnels into Israel with the intent of carrying out terrorist attacks, kidnappings and creating widespread chaos. They also planned to take over the West Bank, oust the Palestinian Authority government and set up a terrorist operation from there.
- Hamas fighters wore every day clothing so they were indistinguishable from civilians.
- Hamas released phony civilian casualty statistics.
- Hamas censored and threatened foreign journalists so they would not reveal Hamas activities according to the Foreign Press Association.
- The UN cooperated with Hamas and while condemning Israel’s actions taken in self-defense never condemned Hamas’ terrorist activities nor initiation of the conflict.
Israeli Policies
Israeli-Policies
- Just like any other nation, Israel's government has a fundamental obligation to protect its citizens against terrorism, which has claimed the lives of more than 1,200 Israelis since 2000.
- The security fence was a necessary response to the appalling suicide bombings of the Second Intifada. It has reduced the number of Palestinian terror attacks in Israel by 90 percent, saving thousands of Israeli and Palestinian lives.
- The route of the fence was designed to minimize disruption to Palestinian life. Question about the fence are answered here.
- Palestinian terrorist leaders have publicly admitted that the security fence is a major obstacle for them.
- More information about the security fence.
- Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups have been able to petition Israel's Supreme Court to contest the location of the fence. In many instances, the court has sided with these groups - and Israel has moved the location of the fence as a result.
- Checkpoints in the West Bank are necessary security measures that have dramatically reduced terror attacks against Israeli civilians.
- For years, Palestinian terror groups used ambulances, taxis, and commercial trucks to smuggle suicide bombers into Israeli cities. Checkpoints allow Israeli forces to filter out these terrorists before they can strike.
- Checkpoints allow commercial and humanitarian goods, doctors and ambulances, and medical crews to move freely. The more than 50,000 Palestinians with jobs in Israel pass through checkpoints on a daily basis.
- As violence in the West Bank has decreased in recent years, Israel has reduced the number of checkpoints from 40 to 12.
Israeli Policies
Israeli-Policies
- The UN and numerous other international organizations have made clear that Israel's blockade is legal under international law.
- The sole purpose of the blockade is to prevent Iran and other nations from smuggling rockets and other weapons into the Gaza Strip.
- In recent years, Iran has smuggled advanced weapons to Hamas other terrorists in Gaza on ships. These weapons allow Hamas to launch rocket attacks against Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and other Israeli population centers.
- Learn more about the Victoria, a ship intercepted by Israeli Forces in 2011 that Iran was using to smuggle advanced weapons into Gaza.
- Israel's land crossings ensure that all commercial and humanitarian goods can enter Gaza.
- While Hamas fires rockets at Israeli civilians, the Israeli government is working with the international community to support humanitarian efforts in Gaza.
- Even in the midst of military operations in Gaza, Israel continues to provide humanitarian aid to assist Palestinian civilians in the area.
- While Egypt would not allow humanitarian aid into Gaza during 2014 Operation Protective Edge.
- Hamas is largely to blame for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and prohibits any criticism from Gazan residents.
Support for Israel
Support-for-Israel
A large majority of Americans support Israel because of the two nations' shared values and shared interests.
- The American-Israel friendship is rooted in common values.
- Commitment to democracy and human rights, the rule of law, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly are all fundamental values shared by the two countries.
- Like the United States, Israel has an independent judicial system that safeguards the rights of individuals.
- Israel has regularly scheduled elections that are free, fair, and open to all its citizens, regardless of religion, race or sex. The independent group Freedom House has consistently classified Israel as "Free" in its rankings of world nations.
- American Presidents - going back to the founding of the United States - have supported the idea of a Jewish state. Since Israel's establishment in 1947, successive Presidential administrations - on both sides of the aisle - have stood behind the Jewish State. Read what America's Presidents have said about Israel.
- Israel is a vital ally for America in an unstable Middle East. Israel is the "Ultimate Ally". No other country in the Middle East shares America's values and advances its interests like Israel.
- America's foreign aid to Israel helps us to confront major threats abroad while creating jobs at home. At least 75 percent of all aid is currently spent in the United States on weapons and other supplies that Israel needs.
Support for Israel
Support-for-Israel
Hundreds of millions of Christians around the world support Israel for political, historical, and theological reasons.