A Settler's View

It infuriates me that the world ignores the three to six Palestinian terror attacks attempted in Israel every day.

Through tens of thousands of terror attacks and two intifadas, Israel continued to develop, build, and grow. It almost seems that opposition to Israel’s development furthers Israel’s growth.

A government that is diverse, but whose diversity prevents improvement, is a poor government and has lost its mandate to govern.

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

As much as the Arab and charedi sectors must begin participating in Israeli national life, the rest of Israeli society must incorporate Arabs and charedim into Israeli society.

The lack of a definition allowed Zionists to stretch the meaning of Zionism to almost absurd dimensions.

Israel doesn’t only aim to include and help Israeli Arab citizens but has helped Palestinian Arabs more than all other Arab countries combined.

Arafat had engaged in bad faith negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and rejected all Israeli offers without a counter-offer. Later revelations made clear Arafat had ordered the intifada while still at Camp David.

Early political Zionists weren't starting a new movement in the late 1800s. Herzl, Nordau, Jabotinsky, Weizmann, and Ben Gurion strove to fulfill 2,000 years of unfulfilled Jewish dreams.

I believer that Israel’s future is in the hands of Hashem, but I also recognize that Hashem created a world where we must secure our people’s future. The Jewish people must enlist Christian friends … to ensure America’s support of Israel.

I had to decide whether to support the construction of a fence which may provide greater security, but which evokes the very ghetto walls that Zionism aspired to topple.

Was it really fair, I asked myself, to seek my own closure and need to fulfill my mitzvah of tochechah at the expense of her self-confidence?

Palestinians love repeating the line that house demolitions don’t deter attacks on their own. The answer is that house demolitions together with other policies combine to create a terror shield.

The accusations against Israel can be divided into two categories. First, the Jews stole Palestinian land. ... The second category of accusations against Israel is that Israel mistreats Palestinians.

Often, opposing foreign aid is a cover for xenophobia and jingoism.

Whether they’ve walked thousands of miles over the burning hot sands of the African desert or walked on to a charter flight from New York, every Jew who has followed Avraham’s path has a story.

As Jews missed an opportunity to tell their story, their enemies told it for them. Zionism was declared racism and Jewish autonomy became known as oppression.

At first I was horrified by these stories. How could we, the righteous settlers, stoop to the level of Palestinian rock throwers and terrorists?

Judaism isn’t a religion like other religions the world has become familiar with over the past two thousand years. Judaism isn’t just about G-d, beliefs, and action, it is about peoplehood.

We can choose to focus on those who have veered from our ways or focus on those looking to build the dream of Jewish peoplehood.

Many of the media advocacy campaigns waged on Israel’s behalf during the latest Hamas rocket attacks didn’t recognize the pitfalls of playing victim.

Jews who don’t believe that the state of Israel is the beginning of the redemption have their Zionism and belief in G-d called into question by other religious Zionists.

Zionism doesn’t maintain Jews have a right to the land of Israel so that Jews will have a place of refuge, the Jewish right to their ancestral homeland stands irrespective of Jewish safety and security.

When the criticism contains discrimination, it loses its legitimacy and becomes classic antisemitism. If the criticism of Israeli policy is honest, there is nothing wrong with it.

When media reports measure the effects of a terrorist attack by the number of people killed and wounded, they are giving a superficial report of the true effect of a terrorist attack.

I was familiar with Congressman Deutch’s work on Israel in Congress and before that the State house but was in shock that he would volunteer to speak without even being asked!

Many right-wing Israelis are furious at Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for joining a coalition that contains left-wing parties opposed to settling Judea and Samaria.

Ari’s greatest asset was his conviction in his beliefs. Unlike so many who are convinced of the righteousness of their convictions, Ari was not arrogant.

It is naïve to think Palestinians or their advocates will be placated by an easing of Palestinian restrictions. Only when Israel cedes control of all the land and ends the Jewish state will Palestinians be satisfied.

There are many Zionist progressives. Indicting all progressives as anti-Zionist is not only unhelpful, it’s dishonest.