In the wake of our tremendous pain over the murder of the three innocent teens, a desire has arisen within the Nation to understand why this has happened. The Admor of Satmar, who dwells in the Exile, claims that it is a punishment for the teens learning in the “Settlements” and blames the parents for sending them to learn there.

We fear that assigning such blame may violate the prohibition of “Ona’at Devarim” (distressing others). As the Gemara in Baba Metzia (58b) says, one may not speak to one who is suffering affliction or illness, or whose children have died, the way Iyov’s friends spoke to him: “Surely your fear was your foolishness, your hope and the sincerity of your ways” (Iyov 4:6). And we can add that the Rishonim on this Gemara write that the problem is not only causing distress to another person but also arrogance in thinking that we can know the ways of Hashem.

This recalls the reciprocal placing of blame that occurred following the horrors of the Holocaust: Some said that it happened on account of Zionism, others said it was because there was not Zionism. Still others blamed it on the Enlightenment. Each group’s explanation came from its own biased outlook, with no regard for the idea: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts and My ways are not your ways” (Yeshayahu 55:8).

As is known, the uncle of the Admor of Satmar, Ha-Rav Yoel Teitelbaum, wrote a book “Va-Yoel Moshe” which is based on the idea that the murder of the holy one during the Holocaust was because of Zionism and the Return to Tzion.

But the great Rabbis of Israel have already answered that if the main transgression was Jews making Aliyah to Eretz Yisrael in an organized fashion, then the first Jews to make Aliyah should have been murdered. Yet those who came to Eretz Yisrael and “violated” the Three Oaths (according to the Satmar Rebbe’s opinion) were saved, and those who did not make Aliyah were the ones who were murdered! (See the book “Alo Naale” – Response to Va-Yoel Moshe #43).

The number of Jews murdered in Auschwitz alone was, in fact, higher than that of all of the Jews murdered in all of the wars and terror attacks since the beginning of the Return to Tzion. Today – with the kindnesses of Hashem upon us – there are almost half a million Jews who live in Yesha. Therefore the Admor of Satmar’s claim is not valid.

Regarding the question itself, whether learning in Yesha is permissible: this was already asked of Ha-Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein, Rabbi of “Ramat Elchanan” (neighborhood in Bnei Brak).

A student was learning in a Yeshiva in Yesha and his parents were opposed on account of the danger. Ha-Rav Zilberstein proves that “a frequent damage” (Pesachim 8b. See Mesilat Yesharim, end of Chapter 9) is five percent. Baruch Hashem, 5% of the residents in Yesha are not murdered! And Ha-Rav Yitzchak Isaac Herzog in Shut Heichal Yitzchak proved based on Shut Rabbi Akiva Eiger (#60) that a frequent danger is not five percent, but one in a thousand (Shut Ha-Rav Herzog Vol. 1, p. 269).

Baruch Hashem, one in a thousand Jews is not murdered in “Yeshe”.

The basic halachah is therefore that there is nothing to fear. Obviously, nothing is 100% certain, but nowhere in this world is 100% safe, not Yerushalayim and not Tel Aviv, and it is all based on the definition of “a frequent damage”.

We agree with the Admor of Satmar that there are many Arab murderers in Eretz Yisrael, but we must see things in proportion. We have already been living in Yesha for 40 years and the number of murders that occur there is extremely low. The same is true in all of Eretz Yisrael. We must remember that according to a report of the WHO, World Health Organization, 8 out of 100,000 Israeli citizens are murdered each year. That’s compared with 15 out of 100,000 citizens in France, and 25 out of 100,000 Americans. Therefore, it is more dangerous for the Admor of Satmar, may he live a long and good life, Amen!, to live in America than to live in the “Settlements”! We must thank Hashem, and his loyal agents – Tzahal, the police, the Mossad, the Shabak and the rest of the security establishment – day and night for the peace and quiet we merit in our Land.

In the Gemara in Chullin (63b), Rabbi Abayu asks: Why is there a bird called “Ra’ah” (the one who saw)? He answers: Because he sits in Bavel and sees a carcass in Eretz Yisrael. The great Rabbis explain that this is a parable to someone who dwells outside of Eretz Yisrael and see the deficiencies in Eretz Yisrael and speaks Lashon Ha-Ra against it…

This obviously in no way detracts from the incredible merits of the Admor of Satmar in strengthening Torah and fear of Hashem in America, and we pray regarding them: “May our eyes behold Your return to Tzion in compassion”.

Prepared and translated by Rabbi Mordechai Tzion

Four Israeli citizens were wounded Thursday morning in a road terror attack near the Jewish community of Tekoa.

The victims were traveling in a car with Israeli license plates when they were attacked by Arabs hurling a barrage of heavy rocks and boulders.

The windows of the vehicle were smashed by the heavy rocks, and four of the people riding in the car were wounded by flying glass and by the hard missiles with which they were struck.

All four were taken to a medical clinic in the nearby Jewish city of Efrat, about ten minutes away from Jerusalem, local sources said.

Just yesterday (Wednesday) Israel Police Lt.-Col. Baruch Mizrahi was laid to rest in the police cemetery at Mt. Herzl, a victim of a terror attack in Judea on nearby Highway 35, on the outskirts of Hevron. Mizrahi was murdered and his pregnant wife and 9 year old son injured when a gunman shot them with an AK-47 assault rifle from the side of the road as they were traveling to attend a Passover seder in Kiryat Arba. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Tekoa is located on the opposite side of the sector, among the hills of eastern Gush Etzion in the shadow of the Herodian, the burial place of the Biblical King Herod.

The community is situated next to the ancient village of Teq’ua, now an Arab village. A number of residents in the two communities have quietly established good relations. Ironically, it was Teq’ua residents who called friends in Tekoa for help when they came under missile fire from Gaza during the last mini-war, Operation Pillar of Defense.

Naftali Bennett, head of the Jewish Home (Bayit Yehudi) party, is urging Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to annex Area C, which encompasses all of the Jewish settlement blocs in Judea (Yehuda) and Samaria (Shomron.)

“It is clear that the diplomatic process has run its course and that we are entering a new era,” Bennett wrote to the prime minister in a letter sent Wednesday. “We have been hitting our heads against the wall of negotiations over and over again for years and we keep getting surprised when the wall did not break. The time has come for new thinking.”

Bennett’s “Settlement Blocs First” plan calls to annex Area C, which is controlled entirely by the State of Israel, and offering Israeli citizenship to Arabs living there. Area C, which comprises 60 percent of the Judea and Samaria regional sector, is home to at least 350,000 Jews – none of whom live in Area A (under full PA control) or Area B (under PA civil control and Israeli military control.)

Highway 60, a favorite target for road terror attacks by Palestinian Authority Arabs, is the main artery that runs from the north to the south from Samaria (Shomron) through Judea (Yehuda) to Be’er Sheva and is routed mostly through Area B.

Under Bennett’s proposal, Areas A and B would receive increased autonomy and a massive infusion of financial investment to upgrade the quality of life in those areas.

He explained the plan on the U.S.-based CNN network last night (Wednesday) and said he will begin to publicize it in the international forums. Bennett contended that since Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights and its reunification of Jerusalem was never recognized internationally anyway, another annexation will not make a difference.

Included in the blocs to be annexed would be Gush Etzion, Ma’ale Adumim, Beit El, Ofra, Ariel and the communities overlooking Ben Gurion International Airport.

Dozens of police pounced on the home of Boaz Albert in Yitzhar Wednesday afternoon and arrested him for allegedly participating in the rampage Tuesday on an IDF post in the community, according to the Hebrew-language Kol HaYehudi website.

The assault on the military post Tuesday caused widespread damage, as reported here.

Albert was arrested three month after he was released  from jail following his refusal to obey an administrative order to stay away from his home.

Police on Wednesday  also arrested a 25-year-old man at the Gilad Farm community on suspicion of involvement in Tuesday’s rampage.

The farm and Albert both have been become  symbols representing different images to different people – heroes of the settler movement who have not surrendered to violent midnight arrests and demolitions, and villains for anti-nationalists who see them as extremists who place themselves above the law.

Albert was in the headlines earlier this year after refusing to honor a military order that prohibited him from staying at his home but without any specific charges filed against him. Police arrested him several times for violating the order. During one arrest, it took police four hours to take him into custody because he had chained himself to floor.

Albert stayed in jail four months until he was finally freed.

Tuesday’s violence following the demolition of four homes in Yitzhar. The spokeswoman for the Shomron Regional Council called the destruction of the house a “price tag’ operation in revenge for a  Yitzhar youth having punctured the tires of an army vehicle.

Last August, a YouTube video showing the repeated use by police of a Taser gun on Albert shocked nationalist politicians as well as some leftist human rights activists. Police claimed the video was doctored and falsified the number of times Albert was tased.

Albert also is a symbol for many Israelis of a wild-eyed settler who puts God above the law. He has been quoted by Arutz Sheva as saying that during a stay in jail, he refused to be released because “every single second was part of the statement that the divine order is above the (IDF) commander’s order.”

The Gilad farm also has served as a symbol of the determination of Jews to remain in their community deposited dozens of raids  and demolition by police, but for anti-nationalists, it is a symbol of  an “illegal” outpost. The farm’s residents insist their community is on land that was privately owned by Gilda’s father Moshe Zar, who was a member of the Jewish Underground in the early 1980s and was sentenced to three years in jail. The elder Zar was known to have purchased land from Arabs, many of whom claim  that the purchases were phony

The cases of Albert and the Gilad Farm are those in which no one seems to be right and everyone seems to be wrong.

The police have repeatedly crossed all red lines of human rights in pre-dawn demolitions, often expelling young mothers and new-born babies in cold weather and then humiliating them by bulldozing homes and bringing in Arabs to walk away with anything that is usable.

Settlers also have been accused of constant violence against Arabs and police, and dozens of police officers were injured in one melee more than 10 years ago.

Below is video of the arrest of Albert, when police used a Taser gun on him.

Hours before a scheduled meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama in Washington Monday, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics released the figures on Jewish housing starts in Judea and Samaria for 2013 and they show a stunning, 123% rise compared to the year before.

According to the CBS, work began on 2,534 new Judea and Samaria homes and apartments in 2013, compared to 1,133 in 2012. Of these, some 1,710 units were in apartment buildings in the larger Judea and Samaria settlements, and 824 were single-family homes in smaller settlements.

The same data shows a 19 percent drop in housing starts in the Tel Aviv area.

The total number of housing starts throughout Israel rose 3.4 percent in 2013 compared to 2012, according to the CBS.

Housing starts in Judea and Samaria have been lower since a 10-month freeze in building in Judea and Samaria settlements that began in November 2009, as part of the Netanyahu government’s capitulation to American pressure.

It took until 2013 for many new housing tenders to be issued for Judea and Samaria settlements, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Housing starts in Judea and Samaria comprise 5.7% of all the starts in Israel. In the south of Israel there was a 12% rise, in the Haifa region 8.1%, in Jerusalem 2.9%, and up north 1%.

The 19% drop in housing starts in Tel Aviv appears dramatic when juxtaposed with the rest of the country.

And now for a word from our friend at Peace Now Yariv Oppenheimer who issued a statement saying that at this rate of growth there’ll be no room left for a Palestinian State.

The other friendly NGO, the “Geneva Initiative,” faulted Netanyahu for creating a one-state solution through his action, and warned that in such a state the Jews would be in the minority.

No they won’t, just check birth rate figures for Jews (on the rise) and for Judea and Samaria Arabs (on the decline since 2005).

Some JTA content was used in this report, but we had to replace all the “west bank” references with the proper “Judea and Samaria.”

These days the work on analyzing the figures of the 2013 population census is being concluded, and once again the Jewish Settler communities are showing a resounding increase, according to Srugim. Based on these figures, 2013 has seen a 4.3 percent population growth in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan valley.

As of last December (which means the real figures for today are even higher), the Jewish settler population in Judea and Samaria is about 375,000, with an addition of some 15,400 new residents. The Judea and Samaria annual growth rate is more than twice the average in Israel west of the 1949 armistice line—aka the green line—which is 1.9.

The greatest growth was registered in 2013, same as in 2012, in the smaller communal settlements, some of which are in very remote locations, away from the population clusters of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. A source in the Yesha Council has suggested that this shows that the settlement movement is still being motivated mostly by ideology. But it could also mean that their cable TV and Internet service is not as reliable, which leaves young locals with more free time.

Settlements with the highest growth rates in 2013 were: Etz Ephraim (Samaria) with 41%, Har Gilo (Gush Etzion) 33.4%, Maskiot (Jordan Valley) 25%, Rotem (JV) 19.1%, Adora (Mt. Hebron) 15.9%, Yitav (JV) 12.5%, and Nachliel (Benjamin) 10.2%.

Settlements with the most significant population growth in 2013 were Mosiin Ilit—3,376 new residents, Beitar Ilit—2,703, Givat Zeev—970, Maale Adumim—487, Oranit-486, Etz Ephraim—367, Har Gilo—315, Tkoa—261, Shilo—253, Kochav Yaakov-250, and Geva Binyamin with 210 new residents.

The overall growth figures for 2013—4.3%, actually represent a small drop compared with 2012, which was 4.8%.

Sources in Yesha Council happily point out that these amazing growth rates have been achieved despite the delays and freezes in construction bids and land-use planning, and despite higher real estate prices across Judea and Samaria due to the diminishing available stocks.

Yesha Council Chairman Avi Roeh told Srugim: “Our area has become very attractive to young couples, and demand supercedes supply. This can also be seen in the growth of the number of students in the schools.”

Roeh added: “We’re working on developing old and new settlements and increasing the number of educational institutions across Yesha. It’s our way of supporting the State of Israel by raising the housing supply and bringing down apartment costs for young couples.”

Canada’s Employment minister Jason Kenney has countered the BDS ‘Boycott SodaStream” campaign by buying one of the company’s soda-making machines and crediting Oxfam for the idea.

Oxfam has dumped Scarlett Johansson as an ambassador because she signed up to promote SodaStream whose 20 factories around the world include one in the industrial area of Maaleh Adumim, located in Greater Israel, Post-1967 Israel, or the Occupied Territories, depending on your political point of view.

BDS has been promoting the boycott, but its vocal protests have caused rumbles that are turning into an avalanche of positive publicity for SodaStream and Israel because of the company’s policy of equal opportunity for Palestinian Authority Arabs.

Instead of a boycott, there is “buy-cott,” and Keeney tweeted on Monday, “Bought a nice @SodaStream unit at the @HudsonsBayCo. Thanks to @Oxfam for the tip. #Buycott #BDSfail #GoScarJo”

Kenney said on Canadian television, “I’ve given money to Oxfam in the past because I thought they were there to help poor people, not to marginalize Israelis and make Palestinians unemployed.” He added that “all the nutters at Oxfam” also marginalize “Palestinian people” who get paid four times more at SodaStream than they would earn working for factories run by Palestinian Authority Arabs.

Kenney also had some choice words for leftist groups’ “anti-Israel obsession” while they while they ignore countries such as Iran, which executes political dissidents and homosexuals.