The van used in the Gush Etzion terror attack has been found. The IDF is still searching for the driver.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s announcement of big building plans for Jews in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria give President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry their golden opportunity to dump their self-defeating peace process before it makes their foreign policy look almost as pitiful as it is.

“We are not going to make peace for the Israelis and the Palestinians, Obama and Kerry have said over and over again.”

The truth is they have been lying through their teeth. They have turned almost every trick in the book to pressure Netanyahu to cave in on almost all of Abbas’ demands, but they also have done the same to Abbas to back off at least an inch.

Their typical American misunderstanding of anything east of Atlantic City and west of San Diego, make that Hawaii, never has more apparent since the war in Vietnam. The only difference is that the ungodly number of casualties of American soldiers in the war finally forced a bit of common sense in Washington, which ended the debacle in 1973. The Obama administration has stubbornly hung on to the peace process to maintain its dubious diplomatic dominance in the Middle East.

Abbas’ insistence to ditch the failed negotiations, which were a charade to disguise his eventual ultimatum, royally ticked off President Obama. But he couldn’t very well kiss off a decades-old peace process project without making Israel share the blame.

Netanyahu almost gave him enough opportunities to do so with previous building projects in areas claimed by the Palestinian Authority.

May of the “projects” for new homes were the same ones announced several times, each time representing a different bureaucratic process in the nightmare to build a home in Israel, but that doesn’t matter. Headlines are headlines, and the U.S. State Dept. is more interested in its own agenda of illusions than it is in facts on the ground.

The timing never was right for Obama, and the projects for homes in Jews never represented a sweeping change in the off-and-ion de fact freeze on developing Judea and Samaria for Jews.

All of that has changed. New roads, a “boardwalk” in Gush Etzion, parks and a host of other projects, whether they ever get off the ground or not, give Obama the excuse he needs to state, “We have said all along that it is up the Israeli and the Palestinians to decide if they want the peace process to succeed.”

The funny or unfunny part is that once upon a time, most Israelis and Arabs wanted the peace process to go ahead, with reasonable compromises on both sides. Thanks to Washington’s stubbornness, even the center-leftists in Israel know that there is no sense in making another agreement that simply is a basis for another war. On the Arab side, the word compromise is not in their vocabulary. That is how they lost the wars.

The American lack of understanding of the Middle East culture, and especially of the Arab mind, forced Abbas into his no-compromise stand. Previous U.S. administrations have given the Arab world so many concessions they simply whetted their insatiable appetite for more and more.

Israel, whether under Barak, Sharon, Olmert of Netanyahu, repeatedly buckled under, However, the United States never understood that you can push Israel up against the wall, and when you do, watch out.

Washington is not used to Israel saying “no,” but the threat of breaking up Jerusalem is too much even for center-left Israelis.

Given the impossibility of Abbas returning from his one-way street to the United Nations for recognition of a Palestinian Authority state, and given Netanyahu’s fantastic nose for smelling a political opportunity, the timing could not have been better for him to declare “game over.”

UPDATED REPORT 2:10pm

A silver Toyota broke threw the Gush Etzion checkpoint headed towards Jerusalem. The car hit a guard at the checkpoint and injured him.

The car then did a U-Turn back into Gush Etzion, and security forces are chasing after it. Security Forces opened fire.

It appears the car was stolen from Beitar Ilit.

Waiting for further confirmation on details.

There may have also been an event at the Hizme checkpoint, but no other information is available at this point.

INITIAL REPORT: 1:58pm

A car tried to run through the Gush Etzion checkpoint near the tunnel roads.  Guards at the site put up the barriers and opened fire in order top stop the driver.

The car crashed and one person was lightly injured.

No other information is available at this time.

In Giv’at Oz veGa’on in Gush Etzion, celebrations were held for Simchat Beit HaShoeva.

Friday a Simchat Beit HaShoeva event was held at Giv’at Oz veGa’on, next to Gush Etzion Junction. This hilltop site was established by Women in Green in memory of the three youths who were abducted, Gil-Ad, Ayal and Naftali (Ga’on).

Both Brigade Commander Col. Amit Yamin and Racheli Frenkel, mother of Naftali, HY”D, spoke at this event.

Photo by: Gershon Ellison

Col. Yamin blessed the hundreds of celebrants who arrived in their masses, from all areas of the Land and he remarked on the uniqueness of the holiday of Sukkot, which expresses the “joy in humility and the joy in austerity”. Relating to the military’s and his personal coping with the event of the abduction of the youths he said: “the previous (Jewish) year ended with closing a circle that was important for the entire People of Israel. We brought the vile murderers to account. This was a task of primary importance for us. We did not rest, and we worked with all of the security forces and intelligence bodies until we entrapped them”.

Col. Yamin told of how “approximately four months ago I woke up and understood that we are in the midst of a military operation with national significance. As the hours passed we were shocked to see the dimensions of the event and during 18 days we labored energetically with all of the combined forces. Unfortunately we found them lifeless and this caused us the bitter feeling that we had lost”, said Yamin, but immediately continued, describing the empowerment that he felt from the families of the abducted, especially in the difficult and emotional days. Yamin told of the most significant sentence that he heard from Avi, the father of Naftali, HY”D, during the week. “Avi told me ‘you have brought us back to life’. I did not understand what he meant and he explained that he said that ‘if we had had to continue in that same situation without knowing for sure and with the sense of lack of clarity, it is hard for me to say how we could have coped with it. Now we have brought them to a grave among the People of Israel and we know how to continue from here’”.

“The three families were, for us, a source of strength and a model that gave us the ability to continue in the task of defending the citizens of Israel along with the efforts to entrap the abductors. We came to a level of solidarity and a unity that will stay with us for a long time. It was from this solidarity that the IDF and the entire nation entered Operation Protective Edge. The spirit that blew into the sails of the war effort is what brought it to its successes, and led the troops to the places and achievements that we reached”, said Yamin and remarked that this is the proof of the living link between the army and the People. “There is a tremendous sense of togetherness, a sense of great joy, of removing any doubts on a broad national level”.

Immediately after Col. Yamin’s words, as he was leaving the site to do other tasks in defense of the sector, “in order to continue to enable everyone to be here and travel here in safety”, in his words, Racheli Frenkel spoke, eager to express her appreciation and admiration for the fighters of the IDF and its commanders, as well as Col. Yamin, personally. About his words regarding the importance of humility, Frenkel explained that this is what was required of the commanders during the days of the search for the three youths, “humble enough to be able to hear others, to consult and act in order to find the boys”.

The families of the three Israeli teens who were abducted and murdered by Hamas terrorists this past June 12 in Gush Etzion, have issued a statement in response to the news the suspects were killed today in a shootout with IDF soldiers.

The fugitive suspects were shot and killed early Tuesday morning (Sept. 23, 2014) by IDF troops during an attempt to arrest them in Hebron in a joint action with IDI and ISA units.

“Security forces notified us this morning that our sons’ murderers were killed in the framework of an military action by our forces,” the statement began.

“We take pride in our government and our security forces, for their steadfast persistence in bringing to justice the murderers of our sons.

“The world now knows Jewish blood is not free. We embrace the special operations soldiers who risked their lives to carry out the mission and respond to the challenge, to ensure that Israel maintains its deterrent edge.

“As we begin a new year, we hope now to end this cycle of evil and begin only one of good. We send wishes for a sweet new year to all the People of Israel and in the Diaspora, and offer our thanks to all those here and abroad who embraced and supported us in our time of need.”

It has been released for publication that the two Hamas terrorists, Marwan Kawasme (29) and Amar Abu Aisha (32) have been killed in a complex intelligence operation by the Shabak, IDF and SWAT teams in an overnight operation in Hebron.

The two were the terrorists who had kidnapped and murdered the three Israeli teenagers, Gilad Shaar (16), Naftali Frankel (16), and Eyal Yifrach (19).

Marwan Kawasme (left) and Amar Abu Aisha from Hebron are the Hamas terrorists who kidnapped and murdered Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frenkel.

The three boys were kidnapped in Gush Etzion on June 12, 2014, near a hitchhiking post.

The IDF had attempted to arrest the two terrorists, when the murderers began to shoot back. The terrorists were killed in the exchange of fire.

READ: Ze’Ev Elkin says: Don’t release Hamas bodies until Hamas returns our IDF soldiers’ bodies.

READ: Netanyahu responds with grim satisfaction.

READ: Statement  by the Yifrach, Frankel and Shaar families.

Marwan Kawasme was part of the Hamas military infrastructure in Hebron that also carried out the 2010 Beit Hagai attack that killed four people.

In addition, Bashar Kawasme, Muhammad Kawasme and Taar Kawasme, the sons of Arafat Kawasme were arrested. Arafat Kawasme was arrested on July 14, charged with helping the killers after they murdered the boys.

IDF operation in Hebron to catch kidnapper/killers of 3 Jewish teenagers.

Shana Tova!

Released for publication: Israel’s security establishment has foiled a terror attack that was set to take place on Rosh Hashana.

Seven Hamas terrorists were arrested late Sunday night (Sept. 21) by IDF soldiers from the Duchifat battalion. The fugitives are suspected of plotting to carry out a terror attack in Gush Etzion during the Jewish new year holiday.

According to a report posted on the Hebrew-language 0404 website, IDF soldiers made the arrests in the Palestinian Authority Arab town of Kfar Sair, northeast of Hebron. During a search of the houses the soldiers also uncovered a large cache of ammunition and knives.

All seven suspects were turned over to the Shin Bet for interrogation.

A total of 16 fugitives were arrested overnight in Judea and Samaria for terrorist activity, rioting and disturbing the peace, according to an IDF spokesperson. All were transferred to security personnel for further questioning.

In other security-related news, Palestinian Authority Arabs clashed with IDF soldiers during riots earlier Sunday night in the PA-controlled city of Bethlehem.

Several “protesters” suffered the after-effects of inhaling tear gas after IDF soldiers fired tear gas canisters to control the violent mob.