Moshe Dann

Arab land claims; are they valid?

Since the mid-19th century, acquisition and distribution of land and property rights throughout the Ottoman Empire were organized in Law Codes which were continued under British-mandate rule and were recognized and incorporated into Israeli administrative practice in Judea and Samaria.

Why blame John Kerry?

US Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent comment that Israeli settlements are “illegitimate” (a form of illegality) is not new; it is the position of the State Department and the international community. Kerry’s remark is based on United Nations General Assembly resolutions, which in turn are based on decisions of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the official “guardian” of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) (FGC).

Are settlements worth it?

Opponents of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria (“settlements”) charge that they drain our economy, diverting funds that should be spent within the 1949 Armistice (“Green”) Lines. They accuse the government of giving settlers unwarranted discounts and subsidies in the form of building schools and clinics, infrastructure, such as roads, and providing security.

Releasing terrorists: In whose interest?

Announcing an agreement to release 104 of the most blood-thirsty Arab prisoners in Israeli jails in return for Palestinian Authority promises to show up at the latest merry-go-round negotiations, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu bemoaned the “agonizing difficulty” of making such a decision.

Isaiah Nation

The State of Israel has many achievements to its credit. It has provided a refuge for persecuted Jews, has proverbially “made the desert bloom” and has contributed many scientific and medical breakthroughs. As authors Saul Singer and Dan Senor highlight in their best-seller, Start-up Nation, Israel is famous for its phenomenal incubation of innovative industry.

The frontier in Israeli history

In 1862, at the beginning of the Civil War, Congress passed and president Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which granted unclaimed and uninhabited state land to American “settlers.”

Hezbollah and the Syrian Civil War

The reported presence of thousands of Hezbollah fighters and Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Syria to protect President Assad and his regime means Iran has made a strategic commitment not to lose Syria. That in turn means Syria will not follow the example of Libya.

Hizbullah and the Syrian Civil War

Hizbullah’s role in the Syrian civil war is ominous.

Hezbollah, Syria and the Golan Heights

The presence of a reported 50,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Syria to support President Bashar Assad is an indication of what Iran and Hezbollah have in mind – the preservation of Syria as a strategic asset in the regional power struggle. Losing Syria would leave Hezbollah isolated in Lebanon; a Syrian-Lebanese alliance, on the other hand, would allow Hezbollah to fortify Iranian interests in both countries.

To whom does the Golan Heights belong?

Referred to as “Bashan” in the Bible, the Golan Heights was considered part of the Land of Israel. Its main city, “Golan in Bashan,” (Deuteronomy 4:43, Joshua 21:27) was designated a “City of Refuge” (for those who had committed involuntary manslaughter).

The Rebbe of Ariel: Ron Nachman and Zionism

In memoriam. Ron Nachman, mayor of Ariel, had a vision. “I want to build a city here that will be the center of a regional area, not a satellite of some larger place, an independent city of thirty or sixty thousand Jews, that will offer services to everyone – Jews and Arabs from the Jordan Valley to Petach Tikvah. And I want peace, real peace; coexistence, not separation.”

Nine common myths about Israel

1. The international community opposes Israel because it is an “ethnic nation-state.”

Jerusalem kidnapped

Refusing to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel until Arabs agree, makes the issue a hostage to Arab demands.

The new morality: Palestinian statehood

In the wake of an Israeli government- initiated report presenting Israel’s legal rights in Judea and Samaria, opponents of settlements argue that the issue is not about Israel’s legal and historic rights, but about “morality.” I assume that means supporting “Palestinian self-determination,” “ending the occupation” and establishing a second Arab Palestinian state west of the Jordan River.

The Temple Mount and Jewish Sovereignty

The Israeli Police are very meticulous about Jews praying on the Temple Mount, site of the First and Second Temples. The holiest place in the world for Jews, they are forbidden to pray there.

Edmund Levy’s revolution

Whether or not its recommendations are accepted and implemented, the report is a turning point in how Israel and hopefully the international community understand the critical question: whose land?

The fundamental misconception about Arab-Israeli peace

The “peace process” between Israel and the Arabs, touted as part of a “two state” plan, failed not because of disagreements over settlements and boundaries, but because of a basic false assumption: that Palestinianism could be fulfilled in a Palestinian state alongside Israel. It failed not because Israel did not give enough, but because nothing would have been enough.

A matter of sovereignty: NGOs vs Israel

The core of the controversy surrounding scores of politically-motivated NGOs in Israel is not only whether their activities are detrimental to the state, but their inordinate influence in shaping government policy, media perceptions, and public opinion.

The new anti-Semitism

It's Jew-hating time, again. No cross-burnings or bomb-wearing psychos screaming for Allah. It's sophisticated, draped by UN and EU glitz, banal reports about Israeli atrocities, and Palestinian liberation. It's so holy, so morally pompous, and fashionable.

UN Prolongs Palestinian Problem

Supporters of Palestinian statehood prominently display “194″ next to their flag. That number refers not only to its proposed place in the UN next-in-line, but their goal.