Historical Significance of the Balfour Declaration

The following points regarding the significance of ther Balfour declation were compiled by Dore Gold, the President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs since 2000. In June 2015, he was appointed Director-General of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he served until October 2016.

On July 24, 1922, the British pledge to help build the Jewish National Home was explicitly incorporated into the text of the League of Nations Mandate, which called for "putting into effect” its terms. The Balfour Declaration thus was transformed into a binding obligation under international law. Moreover, it was approved unanimously by the Council of the League of Nations, made up of 51 member states. The Balfour Declaration is important because it recognizes the historical bond of the Jewish People to the Holy Land, a bond which existed long before the declaration. What was significant was its public and formal recognition and its incorporation into international law. In his testimony before the Peel Commission on Jan. 7, 1937, David Ben-Gurion noted: "I say on behalf of the Jews that the Bible is our Mandate, the Bible which was written by us, in our own language, in Hebrew in this very country. That is our Mandate. It is only recognition of this right which was expressed in the Balfour Declaration.” Thus, the British Mandate and the Balfour Declaration, upon which it was based, did not create Jewish historical rights, but rather recognized a pre-existing right. The historic Jewish attachment to the Land of Israel is the real claim to statehood. The tendency to justify Zionism on the basis of the Holocaust is totally misconceived. Not only was Zionism a thriving and successful movement prior to this tragedy, but the Holocaust destroyed its largest human reservoir and severely set it back. The Jewish population of Mandatory Palestine contributed large numbers of volunteers and committed its manpower, agriculture, manufacturing and expertise to the Allied cause. Unfortunately, this contribution was soon forgotten. When the State of Israel was born in 1948, it was invaded by a coalition of Arab armies which received their training and weapons from the main colonial powers: Britain and France. Ironically, the rise of Israel was an anti-colonial development accelerating the demise of European colonial empires. Israel's enemies seek to misrepresent and falsify the historical facts. They try to portray modern Israel as a product of European colonialism, with no roots in the land and no historical rights. Modern Israel is the heir and successor to ancient Israel. The Balfour Declaration recognized this bond.

Hamas Promises Blood for Blood

The following is from a letter from a friend commenting on the media coverage of Israel's blowing up a tunnel which was reaching inside Israel

As I'm sure is well known, the military effort of Hamas since our last clash with them, which has continued full steam since then, has concentrated on building tunnels into Israeli territory, through which to launch attacks on farms, villages, etc.

Prior to the last clash they had planned a huge coordinated attack through the tunnels, as a major military strike intended to disrupt life here totally. This must have been trimmed to smaller isolated attacks now since a lot of that infrastructure was damaged.

However, the object of the exercise remains clearly military strikes at civilian centres as part of their war to the death.

Such a tunnel was discovered in the last day or two, having reached 2 km. from an Israeli centre. It was blown up.

So here is one of today's headlines:

Hamas promises ‘blood for blood’ after tunnel bombing…….

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday said the terror group intends to respond with violence to the deaths of seven Gaza terrorists Monday after Israel blew up an attack tunnel that stretched into Israeli territory………

 

Do you see what madness/sickness we are  up against day in and day out? And what as incredible achievement it is by the intelligence and defence authorities, that we can live full daily lives completely normally, relaxed, feeling just as safe if not safer than in many countries in the world.

UN Pumps Millions into anti Israel Agencies

The initiative represents a “collusion between UN agencies and radical anti-peace NGOs for political warfare.”

Numerous organizations targeting Israel will soon be receiving millions of dollars from a UN agency to bolster activities intended to “hold Israel accountable for its obligations under international law,” according to a fresh report published by a Jerusalem-based organization.

The 73-page document, entitled “United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) State of Palestine 2018-2022” details the various Palestinian causes to which funds will be allocated as part of an agreement signed with the Palestinian Authority (PA).

As part of the “Strategic Programming Framework” designed to “support Palestine’s path to independence” and other “pillars of the government’s National Policy Agenda,” the agreement lays out UN plans to dedicate $18 million to “support Palestinian institutions.”

It states that it will help these institutions to “effectively access international accountability mechanisms in order to hold Israel accountable for its violations under international law.”

Moreover, the report outlines that the purpose of the cash will be to augment efforts to “actively monitor, advocate and mobilize on human rights violations” in reference to Israel. (No reference to the human rights violations by the Palestinians or the incessant incitement in flagrant violation of signed agreements)

Indicating that the document’s raison d’être is itself hypocritical and anti-Israel, the watchdog group NGO Monitor, which published its findings on the report, highlighted, “There is no parallel support for ‘monitoring, advocating and mobilizing’ in response to Palestinian violations under the human rights treaties the Palestinian Authority has signed.”

In addition to the organizations that will be eligible to receive the streams of cash, the report sets out budgetary plans for other UN organizations which will provide support for “Palestine’s path to independence.”

Among those appearing on the list to promote that goal is UNESCO, from which Israel recently announced its decision to withdraw, along with the US, following a string of anti-Israel resolutions, including ignoring Jewish ties to Jerusalem and designating Hebron a “Palestinian World Heritage Site.”

According to NGO Monitor’s report, these “massive amounts of money (for these same organizations and UN agencies) for their ongoing anti-Israel political warfare campaigns… will do nothing to revitalize the ‘stalled peace process’ or the creation of a ‘peaceful and just Palestinian society.’”

Such UN initiatives, NGO Monitor added, only exemplify the “longstanding collusion between UN agencies and radical anti-peace NGOs for political warfare…Many of these organizations promote antisemitism, rejectionism, and BDS.”

Israel has long taken issue with international bodies such as the UN and the EU for pumping money into groups it believes have a political motive, often undermining the Israel Defense Forces and presenting a negative image of the country abroad.

Israel Arabs Prefer to Live Under Israeli Administration

 Palestinian leaders often claim that they would like to take a less confrontational stance against Israel but are afraid of “losing” the “Palestinian street.”

A new interview with a local Palestinian politician in an eastern Jerusalem Arab neighborhood indicates the opposite to be true: The average Palestinian wants to come home from work and eat dinner with his or her family rather than hearing that their child has become a “martyr” in a violent attack against Israelis.

It is the Palestinian leaders who destroy the chances for peace with non-stop incitement of Palestinian youth, diversion of funds to terror and a resultant lack of economic growth in Palestinian-controlled areas.

Jerusalem village head Ramadan Dabbash goes as far as to say that living under Israeli rule is preferable to living under the Palestinian Authority. Listen to what he says!

Christian Media Summit in Israel

Over 130 Christian media broadcasters from 30 countries and 5 continents met in Israel last week. These broadcasters are reaching over 1 billion people around the world.

The 4 day conference opened with a gala event attended by Prime Minister Netanyahu, who said “Israel has no better friends – I mean that – no better friends in the world than the Christian communities around the world. And Israel is the one country in a vast region where Christians not only survive, they thrive.”

“You know the truth about Israel's history and the truth about our commitment to freedom. Freedom is under a challenge all the time and I think it scored a big victory the other day. I want to thank President Trump for his courageous speech outlining a new course against Iran, the enemy of our free civilization.”

During the course of the conference, the Christian journalists had a unique opportunity to see, hear and interact with major Israeli politicians, academicians and other noted Israelis, who took part in various panel discussions.

The summit also featured personal encounters with members of Jerusalem’s bustling high-tech start-up world, as well as noted leaders within the city’s civic, cultural and religious community.

The summit coincided with the 50^th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel. In this spirit of unity, the summit’s goal aimed to foster a better understanding and strengthen the friendship between Christians worldwide and the State of Israel.

Unnecessary Tragedy

This is probably the most difficult blog I have written since I started  12 years ago.

In the last few days one of our dearest grandchildren, Eitan, an 18 year old was killed in a car crash that also took the life of one of his friends.

The news was held from us and other family members for 24 hours due the Simchat Torah holiday (the holiday which celebrates the final readings of the 5 books of Moses, and immediate restart anew from the beginning.)

The children were on the way to bring songs, dances and an overall atmosphere of happiness to an elderly community but never made it. The driver and one other passenger were seriously injured. Meanwhile a bus carrying the younger members to the Bet Shemesh (where he lived, ) youth, did reach their destination without realizing the seriousness of the accident to the car behind.

Once the news of the death of the two children was announced to all, a dark cloud hung over the whole Bet Shemesh community. The whole youth of the town were due to go away for a special weekend and although our son and daughter in law told the youth leaders to go ahead with their plans, the youth with a single voice said “no”, we are staying to mourn with you.

The funeral was held at midnight and estimates of the attendance ranged from 1000 to 1500 people, and that in the middle of the night.

As is traditional, the 7 days of mourning were organized at the home of our son and daughter in law and each day we have spent the hours from early morning to late evening receiving hundreds to visitors, many of whom travelled long distances to show their respects to the family members. Visitors to meet our son or daughter in law or the siblings of the deceased ensured that the home and garden where full from morning to night.

The memories of Eitan will be in our minds forever.