Beit Romano and the Hezekiah Quarter from afar. Credit: The Jewish Community of Hebron.
After more than two decades of planning, bureaucratic hurdles and court petitions filed by opponents, the Jewish Community of Hebron is on the cusp of laying the foundations for 31 new housing units in the city’s historic Hezekiah Quarter.
The Route 60 Tunnel Road runs from Jerusalem to Gush Etzion. Photo by Justin McIntosh via Wikimedia Commons.
Israel’s Ministry of Transport and Road Safety announced this week that it has submitted an unprecedented 50 billion shekel (around $13.7 billion) budget proposal to the Ministry of Finance towards the development and improvement of transportation over the next five years.
Homes in Ma’ale Adumim, Judea, Dec. 30, 2021. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.
Israel’s Civil Administration has once again postponed a meeting of its Higher Planning Council’s Subcommittee on Objections, meant to discuss the possible advancement of 3,412 housing units in the E1 (East-1) corridor east of Jerusalem.
A Palestinian holds a PLO flag and a poster calling to boycott Israeli products during a demonstration in Huwara, south of Nablus, May 22, 2021. Photo by Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90.
On Sunday, brothers Hallel Menachem and Yagel Yaakov Yaniv, both from the community of Har Bracha, were gunned down by a terrorist at point-blank range as they drove on Route 60 through the Arab village of Huwara, just south of Shechem (Nablus).
MKs Yuli Edelstein (left) and Danny Danon (second from left) study a map during a fact-finding visit to the illegal Bedouin encampment of Khan al-Ahmar near Jerusalem, Jan 23, 2023. Photo by Josh Hasten.
Knesset member Danny Danon (Likud) on Monday morning led a fact-finding visit to a hilltop overlooking the illegal Bedouin encampment of Khan al-Ahmar, located on Highway 1 between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea.
A news report over the weekend indicated that incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is once again considering pushing off applying sovereignty over Judea and Samaria in exchange for a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia. Sovereignty was pushed off in exchange for the Abraham Accords agreement with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain several years ago. On today’s Israel Uncensored, Josh Hasten says that while an alliance against Iran is a top priority, Israel should stay strong on the sovereignty issue.
Photo Credit: Commons Wikimedia
On today’s Israel Uncensored, Josh Hasten shares what his commute to Jerusalem from Gush Etzion looked like this morning as Arab terrorists finished attacking an Israeli bus near Tekoa, and were then rioting in their village. IDF troops arrived at the scene to disperse those responsible. Nevertheless, the last few days have seen a slew of rock and firebomb attacks, along with shootings on the roads of Judea and Samaria. Josh says that the political echelon must direct the IDF to use all its might and all tools at its disposal to squash the hornet’s nests of terror.
Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rock_around_the_clock.jpg
Lital and Zohar Aizenberg smile at their Mi Casa Tu Casa bed and breakfast in Moshav Vered Yericho, with the city of Jericho in the background, Sept. 29, 2022. Credit: Josh Hasten.
On Friday, Booking.com, the large global online lodging accommodation service website, placed a travel warning on all of its listings—both Jewish- and Arab-owned—for properties in Judea and Samaria, including in towns under full Palestinian Authority control.
When it comes to reporting on Jewish communities in Judea & Samaria, nuance isn’t exactly something often seen in the news media. Whether disdainfully referring to them as illegal Jewish settlements, claiming that their existence violates international law, or even that they are the single biggest obstacle to peace between Israelis and Palestinians, it can be hard to separate truth from fiction and to try and understand the reality of these communities.
Our guest this week will be sharing a unique viewpoint not often seen in the news media: that these Jewish communities are not only not obstacles to peace, but in fact may be very much the opposite. Since arriving on Aliyah from the United States in 2002, Josh Hasten has been at the forefront of Israel’s public diplomacy efforts.
Josh is currently the International Spokesperson for Gush Etzion. He is also the host of the weekly radio program “Israel Uncensored.” Josh is also a well-known award-winning freelance journalist. He is also a sought-after guest for television interviews on current events in Israel, having appeared on CNN, BBC, Sky News, and more.
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American flags being hung in Jerusalem ahead of U.S. President Biden’s Israel visit, July 10, 2022. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.
Ahead of this week’s visit by U.S. President Joe Biden, the Israeli government has taken steps to pacify Washington by refraining from unilateral moves in Judea and Samaria.