Israel News | By One Jerusalem

Obama's Double Standard: Enemies Before Allies

Allen — 2009-07-02T11:53:53-05:00

Within hours after Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was ejected from his country, President Obama forcefully declared support for the Leftist Dictator -- friend of Chavez and Castro. Obama justified his stance by declaring that the rule of law must reign supreme and that democracy must be upheld.

Besides deliberately mis-characterizing the nature of what went on in Honduras (in fact the military acted to defend the country from the designs of an autocrat) it is striking that Obama is quick to come to the defense of a would be tin-horned dictator but is hesitant and sometimes outright hostile in supporting democratic forces in Iran. In fact, the Obama Administration is still seeking to negotiate a deal with Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollah who are using all the powers of the Islamic Republic to violently repress the peaceful protests against a rigged election.

While Obama has refrained from taking international action against Iran it actively supported the United Nation's General Assembly support for Manuel Zelaya. Obama clearly does not care that Zelaya was disposed because (like his friend Chavez) he had broken the laws of Honduras as he strove toward undermining the country's constitutional system.

Unlike the Iranian regime, the new regime in Honduras is committed to holding new elections
this year. But even this has not stopped Obama from joining the international mob of anti-American states in condemning the new government. (And Obama has some help from his media friends.)

Of course, anyone following Obama's policies toward Israel will not be surprised by this course of events. Obama has shown no respect for Israel's government as he has demanded that Israel adopt his policies on Jerusalem, settlements, etc. At the same time, he refuses to disagree with the dictatorial regime in Iran.

Three Years: A Project To Raise Global Awareness for Gilad Shalit

editor — 2009-06-26T07:21:27-05:00

Obama's Move Against Jerusalem Gets Clearer

Allen — 2009-06-26T02:23:40-05:00

This week Obama's favorite think tank, The Center for American Progress, issued a report detailing Obama's determination to take Jerusalem from the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

The study's premise is that the Old City of Jerusalem is a problem. This means that the State of Israel must give up control of the Old City. (It should be noted that reports of the Center of American Progress have repeatedly stated the thinking of the Obama Administration. One Jerusalem brought the Center's influence to public attention and it was the basis for our predictions that Obama would give a speech to the Muslim World and try to negotiate with Iran's mullahs.)

The Center's report on Jerusalem focuses on what entity should replace the State of Israel as the administrator of the Old City, i.e. The Temple Mount, Churches, etc. It does not entertain the idea that Israel should continue in this role. It does not acknowledge that since the State of Israel wrested control of the Old City it has been secure and open to all people. This reality was certainly not the case from 1948 to 1967 when Jewish population was forcefully ejected from the Old City and its synagogues and schools destroyed.

In other words, Obama begins with the premise that the current successful situation must be replaced to satisfy the Palestinians. The plan they highlight creates a third party administrator of the Old City. This, of course, will be a failed experiment. At best it will create a situation that the Old City will be the center of dispute and conflict. For one, Israeli security will be replaced by some international body: The Ant-Israel United Nations?

Obama's determination to bend over backward to satisfy the political whims of Israel's enemies is clear, disturbing, and dangerous. It must be stopped.

If you want to be part of saving Jerusalem from Obama we urge you to take a few minutes to bring this blog post to the attention of friends, relatives, and supporters of Israel. Urge them to sign the our petition to keep Jerusalem united under the State of Israel so they can stay informed about what is happening and they can participate in action items we will bring to your attention during the coming months. If you care about the future of Jewish controlled Jerusalem now is the time to get involved.

On a related note, for anyone who questions Obama's commitment to the Muslim world we bring to your attention his Administration's appointment of America's first State Department representative to the Muslim World. Read about it here.

Vote in our One Jerusalem poll on the Old City.

Iran Update from Prime Minister Netanyahu

editor — 2009-06-21T11:36:53-05:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Iran: Democrat Revolution or Family Feud?

Allen — 2009-06-20T18:44:27-05:00

The Supreme Leader has spoken and a little more time is needed to see the impact. His uncompromising words can certainly be interpreted as a threat to use whatever means necessary to protect the Islamic Republic. Today, news reports document stepped up security force activity against demonstrators. One report talks about mass arrests.

Any time so many people are involved in a drama being played out on the streets the unexpected is likely to happen. Michael Rubin thinks the likelihood of a blood bath lead by the Revolutionary Guard is great. Several commentators believe that the Supreme Leader is determined not to make the same mistakes made by the Shah. This expert concludes that the he learned from the Shah's history that you can't show any sign of weakness.

One thing is certain there is no shortage of experts and journalists with crystal balls predicting the future. But for people who care about Israel, Jerusalem, and a nuclear Iran you can be confident that no matter how this drama plays out there will not be a change in Iran's nuclear program. Iran will continue its nuclear program and continue to support terrorists who at war with Israel and the United States. As we have shown, the main opposition leader is committed to the same foreign policy as the current President. Read Daniel Pipes on this issue.

In other words we must not allow ourselves to be distracted by the domestic turmoil in Iran. The bottom line is that the nuclear issue is not going away.

At this time I want to bring to your attention the work of a community of Americans who are determined to stop Iran's nuclear program. We invite you to visit the web based community at www.DENUKEIRAN.com.

As you know the Obama Administration appears committed to concluding a deal with Iran that will leave Iran with nuclear capabilities. DENUKE Iran is a grassroots alternative to this policy.

Watch this update on the Iranian situation from Prime Minister Netanyahu

Netannyahu's First TV interview as Prime Minister

admin — 2009-06-16T03:41:18-05:00

Netanyahu Reaffirms a United Jerusalem and much much more

admin — 2009-06-14T18:07:05-05:00

There is a reason why the Palestinian Authority reacted so negatively to Prime Minister Netanyahu's comprehensive speech on the Palestinian-Israel conflict.

SAEB EREKAT, SENIOR PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR:

"President Obama, the ball is in your court tonight. You have the choice tonight. You can deal with Netanyahu as a prime minister above the law, close the file of peace tonight and engulf the whole area in the direction of violence, chaos, extremism and bloodletting. The other choice is to make Netanyahu abide by the "road map" plan for peace.

"The peace process has been moving at the speed of a tortoise. Tonight, Netanyahu has flipped it over on its back."

NABIL ABU RDAINAH, PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS' SPOKESMAN:

"Netanyahu's remarks have sabotaged all initiatives, paralyzed all efforts being made and challenges the Palestinian, Arab and American positions."

The Palestinians understand that Netanyahu is trying to reshape the nature of the debate between Israel and the Palestinians. Gone are the days of unilateral withdrawals, gone are the days of talking without setting Israel's needs clearly on the table, gone are the days when the Arab world sits on the sidelines and washes its hands of the refugee problem

Netanyahu has taken seriously President Obama's call for speaking the truth. Netanyahu's truth is Israel's reality.

While headlines about the speech declare that Netanyahu endorsed a demilitarized Palestinian state his speech went far beyond this point. Netanyahu declared that Jerusalem will remain united under the State of Israel which will continue to guarantee that it will be free and open to all people.

Netanyahu also made it clear that Israel is not a gift to the Jewish people because of the Holocaust. He told the world that Israel has been the homeland of the Jewish people for 3500 years and that is why the State of Israel exists today. Rarely do we hear such Zionist statements from Israeli officials.

In his speech Netanyahu reminded the world that Israel has made concessions to its enemies time and again. And it has received terrorism in return. Israel will no longer go down that path.

Israel is willing and anxious to come to an agreement with its neighbors but it will not make the mistakes of the past that led to the deaths of innocents on both sides. Netanyahu offered the Palestinians a chance to earn a demilitarized state. He offered to invest in joint economic projects. He offered to live in peace.

But for this to happen, Netanyahu said there must be a change of heart on the other side. For one, he took the right of return issue off the table. He said what everybody knows this was always a deal breaker and it permitted Arab states and the United Nations to ignore their responsibility for the refugee problem. For 61 years, the Arab States and the United Nations have keep the refugee problem alive by not doing anything about it. Netanyahu said they can not hide behind the refugees anymore. They are responsible for solving a problem they have allowed to foster.

Netanyahu addressed another issue that has been swept under the carpet until now. For any settlement to be reached the Palestinians must recognize Israel as a Jewish State. Israel is being pressured to recognize a Palestinian State but the Palestinian have refused to recognize a Jewish State. Less than a month ago, the Palestinian leader Abbas refused to say he accepts Israel as a Jewish State. With Netanyahu at the helm this will not fly.

President Obama has called the speech a good first step. We hope he understands that Netanyahu has many non-negotiable demands in this speech. It's up to Obama to convince the Muslim street he addressed in Cairo to address these legitimate demands. He can start by getting the Palestinians and Saudis to recognize the Jewish State of Israel after 61 years of its existence.

Along with criticism from the Palestinians, Netanyahu's speech has been the subject of criticism from our friend Daniel Pipes. Daniel makes some important observations that we do not ascribe to but they are worthy of consideration.

Meanwhile, Professor Gerald Steinberg is more complimentary to the Prime Minister.

Chaos In Iran: What Does It Mean To U.S. and Israel

admin — 2009-06-13T18:31:03-05:00

Iran's official election results, the re-election of President Ahmadinejad, has caused thousands of Iranians to take to the streets. For reports on the street demonstrations see here and here.

One Jerusalem has been in touch with experienced Iranian reporters who are outside the country but have sources and family in the country. Their analysis are summed up by one of their colleagues in a private e-mail:

"Everybody in shock. A real sea change in the completely opposite direction than expected. Yes, we are getting a military dictatorship. The Islamic Republic is eating its own kids of the founding years, the popular "values" and "principles, " groups and personalities. We'll have a much more radical regime, confrontational, with the last rather moderate voices silenced. My personal conclusions:

-- 80% voted with hope of change. Radical fraud has changed the popular mood. Lost hopes for moderation and peaceful change of the regime's behavior. Lost legitimacy in the eyes of the majority.
-- I expect suppression and real terror inside the country, exodus of intellectuals and moderates.
-- I expect a consistent and even increased radicalization in foreign policy. More confrontational policies toward the West.
-- How does Washington/West want to respond?"

If a larger number of Iranians believe that the election has been stolen and if, in fact, it has been that means the problem of Iran for the United States and Israel looms even larger today.

The only way this could have happened in a country of this size is for the Revolutionary Guard, the guardians of the revolution, to have manipulated the outcome. The Revolutionary guard is an economic and military powerhouse in Iran. It has the capacity to pull off a fraud of this size. It also has the power to (in the words of our writer) eat its own kids.

The Revolutionary Guard is also a driving force behind Iran's support for terrorism and the nuclear program. President Ahmadinejad is a former member.

If these election results stand and the protests are turned back it will mean that the most radical elements of the Iranian Revolution will be in total control. It will mean that President Obama's desire to come to an accommodation with Iran will be an even more far fetched dream than it is today.

A good indication of what will happen in Iran will be when the religious leadership either accepts the election results or not. An endorsement of the result will indicate that the Revolutionary Guard is that much closer to pulling off the coup of the century.

Which brings us to the question of America's response to this situation. Some are urging President Obama to give a speech to the Iranian people. To express solidarity with these people who have been robbed, So far the Obama Administration has been very cautious in its comments. Secretary of State Clinton said that we will wait and see.

Of course, the Obama Administration is constrained by its polices up until now. It has based its entire policy of engagement with Iran on the premise that the dictators in charge of the Islamic Republic are legitimate representatives of the Iranian people. To take this course President Obama has ignored the repression of the Iranian people. To criticize the re-election of Ahmadinejad would be to change policy. Obama is constrained by the notion that the best way to stop Iran's nuclear problem is to deal with whomever is in power in Iran.

Lets see if Obama wakes up to reality.

Are Jews Encouraging Arab Only Sections of Jerusalem?

admin — 2009-06-11T21:02:46-05:00

Over the years, Jerusalem has been at the core of every dispute between Israel and its neighbors, From the founding of the Jewish State in 1948 until the war in 1967 Israeli Jews and Christians were barred from the Old City by the Arabs who controlled the Holy sites. This period is one of the darkest in the history of the Jewish people. Jews had been ejected and then refused entry into a section of the capital of the State of Israel.

In 1967, the Israel Defense Forces liberated the Old City from the Arabs who desecrated Jewish institutions and cemeteries. Since that day, the Old City has been a safe haven for all who live and visit there. But the success of the Jewish administration of the city has quelled the critics who demand that Israel help establish a Palestinian capital in Jerusalem.

Furthermore, there is a growing body of evidence that Jewish organizations, including the Jewish National Fund and the Israel Land Authority are responsible for allowing Arabs to illegally build houses in Jerusalem and forbid Jews to live and build in sections of Jerusalem.

Aaron Klein of Word Net Daily writes that:

In another recent development, Israeli Jews, including local property owners, have been almost entirely barred from entering Kfar Akeb, Qalandiya and Samir Amis, while Israeli Arabs can freely enter.

Furthermore :A tour then of the three Jerusalem neighborhoods found some surprising developments. Official PA logos and placards abound, including one glaring red street sign at the entrance to the neighborhoods warning Israelis to keep out.

It should be noted that these developments date back to previous Israeli governments. Time will tell if Israel will change its policy of treating Jews as second rate citizens in their own capital.

Jerusalem Is At The Heart of Zionism

admin — 2009-06-08T19:21:18-05:00

Today, in a speech to a small group of Israel supporters, Israel's Minister of Strategic Affairs, Moshe Yaalon repeated the words of a Palestinian leader who spoke approvingly of the two-state formula because once Israel gets out of Jerusalem "the Zionist idea will begin to collapse."

Throughout his address Yaalon emphasized that the Palestinians were not interested in peace with the Jewish State of Israel. He called for the abandonment of the failed policy of talking to Palestinian leaders and the adoption of what Prime Minister Netanyahu has called the bottom up approach.

Yaalon argued that Israel has no peace partner at this time. He noted that the Palestinian leadership teaches its youngsters to hate the State of Israel; its maps do not include the State of Israel; and it refers to Tel Aviv as a settlement founded in 1948. These leaders also refuse to recognize the free and independent Jewish State. He reminded the audience that recently the Palestinian leader Abu Mazen refused to call Israel a Jewish State.

Yaalon said that Israel should not be expected to help the Palestinians create a state (another Hamastan) that refuses to allow Jews (the way they cleansed Gaza of Jews). He said they must earn acceptance into the international community. This will require educational, political, economic, and security reform. So far they have only made progress on the policing side thanks to the American effort under General Dayton.

Yaalon, who is a retired Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, lamented the fact that the international community keeps rewarding the Palestinians with money even though they have done nothing to earn support from anyone. He noted that financing the Palestinian Authority is a case of poor people in rich countries giving money to rich people in a poor country. This aid does not go to those who need it. It is pocketed by those who rule.

Yaalon made it clear that the Netanyahu government is breaking with the policy of dealing with the corrupt Palestinian leadership, that it will not allow a terror state to come into existence, and that it will support the Palestinians if they want economic and political reform.

We left Minister Yaalon as he began his journey to Washington, D.C. to tell the Obama Administration what he told us. With patriots like him, Israel is in good shape to fight the coming battles. You can listen to a brilliant lecture from General Yaalon by clicking here.

Obama Moves Against Jerusalem

admin — 2009-06-06T20:45:40-05:00

One Jerusalem noted that in his speech to the Muslim world, President Obama indicated his belief that Jerusalem is not a free and open city: That to bring freedom to Jerusalem it would take action to end Israel's control of the Holy City. This is one more example of Obama playing foot loose with the facts.

Unfortunately, he has taken official action to back up his words. In legislation passed by Congress to move America's embassy to Jerusalem Obama has taken out these words:

"My Administration remains committed to beginning the process of moving our embassy to Jerusalem."

Further evidence of Obama's anti-Israel control of Jerusalem can be found in an interview conducted by Obama's favorite think tank. A former United States Ambassador and adviser to Obama says:

"As a result of a long-term study undertaken by the University of Windsor, in which Princeton University participated, we've come to the conclusion that all the issues in Jerusalem are resolvable through bilateral negotiations, except for a final determination of the Old City, where all of the questions relating to sovereignty and holiness and sacred space and so forth, come together in a manner that neither side can yield to the other. We felt that all the possible compromises that have been looked at over the years by others had always wrestled with this question of sovereignty but had come up short in developing ideas--even if they were joint sovereignty or shared sovereignty or whatever. So the idea we've come up with is basically the two sides agree not to agree, but to administer the city through a special regime. In other words, the two sides negotiate what to do about the Old City, with neither side asserting sovereignty, but handing over certain responsibilities to a third party, an international party. It's not internationalization, because there's no legal standing for the third party outside of the agreement of the two sides, but it's a way of maintaining the positions that the two sides have on Jerusalem, having life go on, and not having Jerusalem become the impediment to fulfilling all the rest of the agreement that they can possibly reach."

Obama's hostility to Israel's continued control of Jerusalem is coupled with an unprecedented campaign by the Palestinian Authority to delegitimize any Jewish claims to Jerusalem. One example is this statement by a Palestinian leader:
"Jerusalem is the religious, political and spiritual capital of Palestine -
the Jews have no right to it."

Read more about recent Palestinian moves against here.

Now more than ever Israel needs your help to keep Jerusalem free, open, and the capital of the Jewish people. Please sign our united Jerusalem petition and become a part of the campaign to save a united Jerusalem. Urge your family and friends to do the same. Together we can keep Jerusalem the united capital of Israel and the Jewish people.

Also reread and circulate Prime Minister Netanyahu's memorable words on Jerusalem Day,

Make no mistake we stand between Jerusalem becoming a haven for terrorists. Help us stop Obama and support Netanyahu.

VIDEO :: Caroline Glick debates post-Zionist Israeli on Israel TV in English

admin — 2009-06-06T14:42:57-05:00

Watch this terrific video! Caroline debates Gershon Baskin, a post-Zionist political activist on Israel TV. Caroline rigorously stands up for Israel's indisputable right to sovereignty over Jerusalem, its own statehood, and defense against a nuclear Iran.

Limbaugh: I think Obama Got Something Against Israel

admin — 2009-06-05T09:49:15-05:00

Visit our friend Jim at Gateway Pundit

Mr. President Jerusalem Is A Free and Open City

admin — 2009-06-04T07:20:29-05:00

In his much ballyhooed speech to the Muslim world President Obama said, "when Jerusalem is a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims, and a place for all of the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully together ..."

Clearly President Obama thinks that Jerusalem is not a secure and welcome city for all people.That this a goal to be achieved in the future.

President Obama is clearly confusing the pre-1967 Jerusalem with the Jerusalem of today. Before Israel unified the Holy City Jews were prohibited from entering Jerusalem and Christians were restricted.

From 1948 until 1967, Jerusalem was ruled by Muslims, Muslims who ejected Jews from their homes, and destroyed practically any remnant of the Jewish community that thrived there prior to 1948. Since 1967, Jerusalem has been a secure home for Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

Congratulations Caroline Glick Defender of Jerusalem

admin — 2009-06-03T14:36:50-05:00

^{Earlier this week, our good friend and One Jerusalem supporter Caroline Glick received the Guardian of Zion Award from the Ingeborg Rennert Institute for Jerusalem Studies at Bar Ilan University. At the awards ceremony Caroline delivered a lecture entitled "Jerusalem the Eternal Frontline." Caroline has always been a strong defender of Jerusalem as the eternal Capital of the Jewish people. We are gratified to see her recognized for her passionate work.

Below is an excerpt of the brilliant speech Caroline delivered at the ceremony:}

^{I take enormous satisfaction from receiving this award. For nearly as long as I can remember, the image of the watchman on the gates of Jerusalem has been the singular image of Jewish strength for me. It is has always been to the Jewish watchmen, ever vigilant, to whom we have owed our lives, and our survival as a people.}

^{Today these watchmen preserve our freedom in our land. For fifty generations in exile, it was the memory of those Jewish Centurions, manning the barricades that inspired us to keep faith with our traditions, our God, our law, and our land.}

^{I believe that it is an honor beyond measure that Bar Ilan University and the Rennert Center would deem it proper to cast me among the ranks of our greatest defenders and champions. I know I do not deserve this distinction. I certainly do not believe that I have earned it. But I do know that since childhood I have strived to emulate the image of the watchman - or watchwoman -- on the walls of Zion. And I pledge that I will continue throughout my life to strive to earn the distinction you bestow on me tonight.}

^{THE WATCHMAN at the gates is a powerful image. But of course the defense of Jerusalem does not begin at the gates. And guarding Jerusalem is not simply a matter of physical strength. It requires spiritual commitment and wisdom as well. Indeed, defenders of Zion require a greater mix of physical and spiritual strength than any defenders of any spot on earth.}

^{Both our recent and ancient history as a people is one continuous testament to this truth.}

^{And it is this aspect of Jerusalem - the eternal and temporal front line of the Jewish people - that I wish to discuss with you tonight.}

^{If you drove to Jerusalem this evening from Tel Aviv, as the coastal plain suddenly ended 25 kilometers from the city at Shaar Haguy or Bab el Wahd, you reached the starting point of the siege of Jerusalem from 1947. It was from this gauntlet that the British-commanded Jordan Legion sought - with the help of the Arabs of Jerusalem and surrounding villages - to cut the Jews of the city off from the rest of the country and so to conquer the nascent Jewish state.}

^{As you began ascending through the hills to Jerusalem you could see the remnants of some of the most fearsome and bloody battles of the war. They came in the form of the reverentially preserved hulks of armored personnel carriers used by Haganah and Palmach units sent in front of the Jordanian snipers in a continuous attempt to bring reinforcements and food to the besieged Jews of Jerusalem.}

^{As the hills -- covered on both sides by JNF forests -- rose to meet you, you passed the Latrun fortress on your right. It was the British decision to transfer control over Latrun - with its command over the road below - to the Jordan Legion, that all but guaranteed the fall of Jerusalem by preventing reinforcements from aiding its undermanned defenders.}

^{Wave after wave of Jewish soldiers threw themselves against the guns of the Jordan Legion in a desperate attempt to break its choke hold on Jerusalem.}

^{If you came to this hotel from the center of town, you may have gone by Davidka Square. There you would have passed by one of the primitive mortars used by the Harel Brigade in the battle for Jerusalem.}

^{The Davidka was grossly ineffective as a killing machine. But between its thunderous noise and the rumor mill, it proved an effective tool of psychological warfare against the enemy. Even more than in traditional conflicts, the psychological aspect of the War of Independence played a pivotal role in determining its outcome.}

^{The Jews, who just three years before had been incinerated in European crematoria were an object of wonder no less than hatred for our enemies. Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, for many Arabs there was a sense that supernatural powers were at work as the new Jewish state rose from the ruins of Jerusalem.}

^{For their part, schooled in the martial traditions of Joshua and Gideon, the Jews of 1948 blended seamlessly the psychological and the metaphysical with armor and steel.}

^{The Davidka monument is just as much a reminder of what this uniquely Jewish military doctrine can achieve as the unwalled city of Jericho.}

^{If you came this way from the Old City, you most likely walked through the Jewish Quarter. It was to the 1,700 Jews who lived there in 1948 and their 150 defenders that the eyes of the citizens of nascent Jewish state were turned. The future security of the country was dependent on their ability to withstand the Arab siege. They had to be assisted and they had to hold their ground if the war was to end in a resounding victory for the Jews.}

^{Tragically, the spiritual strength that sustained us 61 years ago was not matched by sufficient physical strength to hold the city.}

^{As Jerusalem commander Dov Yosef instructed the starving and desperate Jews within the walls about the nutritional benefits of various leaves that they could eat in the absence of food, and as wave after wave of Jewish fighters fell to their deaths on the roads ringing the city -- at Latrun, the Castel, Har Adar and Gush Etzion - in their bid to relieve the Jerusalemites -- the British-commanded Jordanians delighted in our suffering. Arab snipers picked off any Jew within range.}

^{In the end, the Jews of the Old City held out for 6 months. Last week marked the 61^st anniversary of the fall of Jerusalem on May 27, 1948. Of the Jewish Quarter's 150 defenders, only 43 survived until the Hurva synagogue was destroyed by the Jordan Legion. It was the destruction of the venerable old synagogue that finally forced the hands of the rabbis within the walls. After the Hurva was destroyed, the rabbis began negotiating the surrender of the Old City to the Arabs.}

^{If you walked to the King David Hotel today from the Old City, and exited through the Jaffa Gate, you certainly took note of the gentrified neighborhood of Mamila. Today, as you walk through the new upscale shopping plaza, it is hard to believe, that from May 27, 1948 through June 7, 1967 Mamila was Israel's frontline. It was Sderot and Kiryat Shemona of its time.}

^{The Jews of the neighborhood lived in constant fear of Jordanian snipers who took pot shots from the walls of the conquered city at the Jews down below. The buildings you passed were once surrounded by sandbags. The Jews who lived inside them would run, not walk across the street. Any hesitation could spell their death.}

^{But then, on the third day of the Six Day War, their long nightmare ended. After 19 years, the IDF succeeded in liberating the capital city. Paratroopers from kibbutzim danced with yeshiva buchers as they stood in awe before the remnant of the Second Temple. In June 1967, the proper balance between our spiritual and physical defenses had finally been struck.}

^{After 2000 years, we were again a free people.}

^{EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO, on May 27, 1991, the 43rd anniversary of the fall of Jerusalem, and the 24^th anniversary of its liberation, tens of thousands of Jews from Ethiopia were airlifted to the Jewish state. As then prime minister Yitzhak Shamir said, the Ethiopian aliyah marked the first time in history where Africans were liberated from slavery by being taken out of Africa.}

^{The entire country celebrated the arrival of these Jews, who had maintained their allegiance to Zion for thousands of years often in complete isolation from the rest of the people of Israel.}

^{The next day, May 28, 1991, I stepped off an El Al plane at Ben Gurion Airport, and before reaching the passport check, I walked up the stairs of the old terminal building to the Ministry of Absorption's offices and officially made aliyah. A friend picked me and my massive immigrant suitcases up and a few hours later, I began my new life in Jerusalem.}

^{The Jerusalem that greeted me 18 years ago was almost entirely free from fear. It was hard for me to imagine that the city had ever been endangered as I rode the buses, walked along the streets, sat in cafés, hiked in the forests, shopped in supermarkets and clothing stores.}

^{As I moved without fear through Arab neighborhoods, and traversed the old and new city, it rarely occurred to me that I was walking on contested ground. The Palestinian uprising, which had begun in 1988 and had instigated a period of self-segregation and renewed hostility towards Israel among the city's Arab residents, had been defeated in the wake of the Gulf War.}

^{But unbeknownst to me and to my fellow Jerusalemites, all of this was set to change just two years later. When, as part of the implementation of the Oslo peace process with the PLO, the government of Israel allowed for an Arab armed force to be deployed on the outskirts of the city, fear returned to Jerusalem.}

^{Within just a few weeks of the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, Jerusalem again became the front line of the country as terrorists from Ramallah, Hebron, Beit Lehem and beyond converged on Jerusalem to terrorize its people in shooting attacks and suicide bombings. What the people of Sderot experience today was first suffered by residents of Gilo.}

^{I moved away from Jerusalem at the end of 1991, after I joined the army. I returned to the city in 2002. By that time, the sense of safety I had felt here during my first months in the country had been obliterated. Every day brought a new atrocity or attempted atrocity. My own street became the scene of carnage as a bus was bombed just a half a block from my front door. My neighbors' mangled bodies were strewn before me as I ran out of my home with some vague notion that I could help someone.}

^{While there was no hunger among the city's residents in 2002 as there had been during the siege in 1948, the chronic, continuous sense that at any moment you could be killed filled the air with similar dread and foreboding.}

^{It was only after the government finally unleashed the Israel Defense Force in Judea and Samaria that a semblance of normality returned again to the city. It was only after Operation Defensive Shield returned our soldiers to the streets of Ramallah, Beit Lehem, Shehem, Jenin, Kalkilya and Hebron, and vastly curtailed the powers of the Palestinian armed forces, that we could feel safe going out to dinner and riding the bus again.}

^{DURING THE YEARS THAT Jerusalem came under physical threat, it also became politically threatened. Israel's acquiescence to the PLO's military presence on the outskirts of the city began a process of unraveling Israel's own claim to the city. As Yassir Arafat ordered his forces to march on Jerusalem, and denied that the Jewish people have any rights to the city, successive Israeli governments found themselves on the diplomatic defensive.}

^{Just as our leaders allowed Jerusalem's physical wellbeing to be threatened, so they enabled its political unity to come under assault. Rather than insist that the world recognize our sovereign rights to our capital, at best, our leaders spoke of the strategic importance of Jerusalem to our physical security.}

^{The element of metaphysical power embodied by the tactically worthless Davidka was absent from discussions of how Israel needed Tzur Bahar and Jabel Mukaber to defend Armon HaNatziv or how our control over Shoefat and Beit Hanina is necessary to defend Ramot, Neve Yaakov and Pisgat Zeev.}

^{Happily today Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat have abandoned this defensive posture and are waging strident campaigns against all who demand that we again surrender our eternal capital.}

^{But for much of the past 15 years, the full expanse of Jewish history and identity was narrowed to a discussion of isolated neighborhoods, as if they were what this is all about.}

^{Jerusalem's importance is far greater than the sum total of its neighborhoods. In ignoring this basic truth, our leaders did more to imperil the city's neighborhoods than legions of our enemies could hope to accomplish.}

^{Even more devastating than what we said to the world is what we said to ourselves. For much of the past 15 years, our national leaders scornfully and contemptuously worked to limit our expectations and accused us of being greedy for assuming we had a right to our capital.}

^{When did King David live in Abu Dis, they sneered. Why were we needlessly upsetting the Arabs by moving back to Ir David, they hissed. The underlying message was clear. We were provoking our enemies by asserting our rights, which we were told, were unimportant.}

^{In general, since 1994, to greater and lesser degrees, our leaders abandoned Jerusalem as our metaphysical frontline and reduced the rationale of our control over our eternal capital to a security argument.}

^{This argument is fine for as far is it goes. We explained - correctly - that without Israeli control over Jerusalem, the entire country would be under threat. And this is true. Indeed it has always been true.}

^{Among other reasons, King David chose Jerusalem as his capital city because of its strategic importance. Were foreign forces to take control over Jerusalem and surrounding areas today, everything from Ben Gurion Airport to Tel Aviv to Beersheva to Tiberias would be placed under threat.}

^{As Shaar Haguy in 1948 and Beit Jalla in 2000 showed, with foreign forces on the outskirts of the city, Jerusalem is cut off from the rest of the country. To secure the city is to secure the country. And to abandon the city - whether by surrendering control of the road to Tel Aviv or by relinquishing Judea and Samaria -- is to imperil the country.}

^{Specifically, placing foreign forces in Jerusalem or on its doorstep would mean importing Gaza into the heart of the country.}

^{Jerusalemites would find ourselves living in bomb shelters like our brothers and sisters in Sderot. Tel Aviv would find itself, like Ofakim, within range of enemy rockets. Terrorists with simple portable weapons could sit on the hills of Jerusalem and shoot down civilian jetliners landing at Ben Gurion airport. In wartime, terrorists with primitive artillery could shut down the country's vital traffic arteries, preventing reservists from reaching the fronts to defend the state.}

^{Although inarguably accurate, Israel's security arguments for its sovereignty over Jerusalem have fallen on deaf ears. Neither the Americans - who demand that we cease asserting our sovereignty over eastern, northern and southern Jerusalem, not to mention Judea and Samaria -- nor the Arabs consider Jerusalem primarily a military issue.}

^{The Americans prefer to ignore the metaphysical and spiritual aspects of the city's frontline status as they push for an Israeli retreat to the indefensible 1949 armistice lines. For them, the issue of Jerusalem is no more than a petty real estate squabble.}

^{But our enemies know better. For them the question of who controls Jerusalem is rightly recognized as the core issue - as the issue upon which Israel rises or falls as a state and as a people. Earlier this month, this point was made clearly by one of Israel's sworn enemies.}

^{In a television interview on May 7, the PLO's Ambassador to Lebanon Abbas Zaki explained that from the PLO to the Iranian mullahs, Jerusalem is seen as the metaphysical key to Israel's wellbeing. As he put it,}

^{"With the [implementation of the] two-state solution, [involving an Israeli relinquishment of Jerusalem], in my opinion, Israel will collapse, because if they get out of Jerusalem, what will become of all the talk about the Promised Land and the Chosen People? What will become of all the sacrifices they made - just to be told to leave? They consider Jerusalem to have a spiritual status. The Jews consider Judea and Samaria to be their historic dream. If the Jews leave those places, the Zionist idea will begin to collapse. It will regress of its own accord. Then we will move forward."}

^{As a wayward Jew once said, "The truth will set you free."}

^{We owe the likes of Zaki -- and the Iranians who call their most prestigious terrorist unit the Jerusalem Brigade - a big thank you for reminding us of who we are and what we need to survive. For even as our leaders tried to forget what we as a people have always known, our history - both ancient and modern - is testament to the truth of Zaki's statement.}

^{WE MARK THE END of Jewish control over the Land of Israel as having occurred not with the Roman invasion in 63 BCE, nor from the defeat of Bar Kochba's rebellion 182 years later in 135. We mark the hurban, the destruction of our sovereignty as having occurred with the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE.}

^{And why is this the case? It is because people do not fight for strategically significant hilltops. They fight for ideas like freedom. They fight for symbols, for abstractions like flags. They fight for their beliefs. They fight for their way of life.}

^{They do not fight for strategic advantage.}

^{We Jews know this better than any other people. We were the first people to self-consciously define ourselves at Mt. Sinai as a nation committed to an abstract principle of an invisible God, an abstract code of law, and an abstract, yet-to-be-seen promised land.}

^{Josef Trumpeldor is not remembered as a great hero for having said, "It is good to die for strategically significant hilltops," - although that is what he died defending.}

^{Trumpeldor is remembered as a great hero for declaring, "It is good to die for our country."}

^{Even further back, we remember that the only reason the Kingdom of Judea did not suffer the same fate as the Kingdom of Israel in the end of the 8^th century BCE is because as the ten tribes of Israel were expelled into oblivion, King Hezkiyahu saved Jerusalem from the Assyrians.}

^{Due to his failed attempt to purge Judea of Assyrian influence, Hezkiyahu lost Lachish and Gat and dozens of other cities and villages and was forced to fall back on Jerusalem. There, against all odds, Hezkiyahu kept Jerusalem free. He breached the Assyrian siege by digging his famous water tunnel under the city.}

^{Assyrian King Sennacherib, who destroyed the Kingdom of Israel and deported the ten tribes, went home empty-handed. His conquest of all the other cities and villages meant little without Jerusalem. By saving Jerusalem, Hezkiyahu saved Jewish independence and through it, he saved the Jewish people.}

^{As Isaiah had promised in Chapter 37, verses 32-35:}

^{לב כִּי מִירוּשָׁלִַם תֵּצֵא שְׁאֵרִית, וּפְלֵיטָה מֵהַר צִיּוֹן; קִנְאַת יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, תַּעֲשֶׂה-זֹּאת. לג לָכֵן, כֹּה-אָמַר יְהוָה אֶל-מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר, לֹא יָבוֹא אֶל-הָעִיר הַזֹּאת, וְלֹא-יוֹרֶה שָׁם חֵץ; וְלֹא-יְקַדְּמֶנָּה מָגֵן, וְלֹא-יִשְׁפֹּךְ עָלֶיהָ סֹלְלָה. לד בַּדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר-בָּא, בָּהּ יָשׁוּב; וְאֶל-הָעִיר הַזֹּאת לֹא יָבוֹא, נְאֻם-יְהוָה. לה וְגַנּוֹתִי עַל-הָעִיר הַזֹּאת, לְהוֹשִׁיעָהּ--לְמַעֲנִי, וּלְמַעַן דָּוִד עַבְדִּי.}

^{"From Jerusalem and Mt. Zion the people will be renewed. And so God said to the King of Assyria, you will not enter this city, you will not shoot your arrows upon it, you will not breach its defenses, your cannons will not reach it. You will go back the way you came. You will not enter this city, God decreed. I defended this city to save it for me and for David my servant."}

^{Our history as a people - both ancient and modern - has always been tied to Jerusalem. On Hanukah we remember the Maccabean revolt in a very telling way. The Maccabees began their revolt against the Greeks in 167 BCE. The fighting lasted for 23 years until Jonathan was crowned king.}

^{But we remember the revolt for an event that occurred two years into the fighting. We celebrate the revolt not because it established the Maccabean dynasty. We celebrate it because in 165, Judah Maccabi liberated the Temple and so reinstated our sovereignty as a nation and our hope for national renewal. Again - from Jerusalem and Mt. Zion, the people were renewed.}

^{Just as Zaki, Arafat, Nasrallah, and Ahmadinejad remind us every day, from the outset of our nationhood here in Israel four thousand years ago, throughout the centuries of our dispersion and to this day, our fate as a nation - both physically and spiritually - has always been tied directly to our control, or lack of control over Jerusalem. Jerusalem has always been our front line both physically and spiritually.}

^{Rabbi Akiva knew, as he gazed at the destroyed Temple from Mt. Scopus that one day our control over the city would be restored and so our national wellbeing would be renewed. This is why he laughed as he watched foxes entering and exiting the Holiest of Holies.}

^{Perhaps if he had known then that it would take nearly 2,000 years for that to happen, he would have joined his colleagues in their tears instead of shocking them with his laughter and gaiety.}

^{But still, today we know that Rabbi Akiva was right. Our return to Jerusalem did presage our national rebirth with the renewal of our sovereignty in 1948 and 1967.}

^{The modern Zionist movement, which officially began with Hovevei Tzion in 1882, came after the Jewish repopulation of Jerusalem. By 1850, Jews again comprised the majority of the city's population. And it was our strong presence here that emboldened the early Zionists to believe that a mass return to Zion was finally possible. It was because we had returned again to Jerusalem that our hope and so our strength were finally renewed after 2000 years of stateless wandering and persecution.}

^{LET US RETURN for a moment to 1967. There were many glorious events that occurred during those six days in June. I said before that it was only in 1967 that we wrought the proper balance between physical and spiritual strength. I would like to consider that statement at somewhat greater length.}

^{In June 1967, Israel was transformed from a threatened, vulnerable Jewish statelet into a mighty state to be reckoned with. But who celebrated -- then or since -- the conquest of Gaza and Kalkilyah? Who remembers the great battles in the Sinai or even the Golan Heights?}

^{The images of that war that have entered our collective consciousness - never to leave - are the images of our paratroopers on the Temple Mount, of Mota Gur crying "Har Habayit b'Yadeinu!" "the Temple Mount is in our hands!," of our young soldiers praying at the Western Wall.}

^{The convergence of Jerusalem as our frontline of physical security and spiritual security was palpable in those days.}

^{In honor of Yom Yerushalayim this month, a documentary was aired on Israel Television about the signals battalion in the Paratroopers Brigade. The battalion played a major role in the fighting - first taking over the Rockefeller Museum, then the Temple Mount, then the Kotel, then the walls of the city.}

^{In the documentary, the heroes who liberated Jerusalem were brought together forty years later to celebrate its renewal and to recall their fight. They told a stunning story.}

^{After the city was liberated, they situated themselves in the abandoned Jordanian police station just inside the Jaffa Gate. The same station now houses the Israel police. In one of the rooms, they found a large quantity of musical instruments. Apparently, a Jordanian police band was stationed at the site and stored its instruments there.}

^{The men took one of the drums and climbed up the walls of the Old City overlooking Mamila. There the Jews had been huddled beneath the streets in their bomb shelters for several weeks.}

^{As they ascended the walls, the paratroopers began pounding the drum. It must have been a terrifically strange noise since they all claimed to have had no idea how to play the drums.}

^{As the men told it, and as a woman who had been hiding in the shelters with her family recalled, the civilians became perplexed at the new sound that replaced the familiar staccato pop of gun bursts and cannon fire. Slowly, they began emerging from the shelters to find out what was happening.}

^{There above them, they saw the flag of Israel flying. They saw Jewish watchmen on the walls, beating the drums of victory in a half-mad boom, boom, boom.}

^{And at the site of the Guardians of Zion above them, the Jews of Mamila began to dance as in times of old. They danced and danced, and walked to the walls, first tentatively, and then with a massive convulsion of joy and relief, of hope and ecstasy as for the first time in 2000 years the city was secured. The Jews were free of fear as we returned to the Temple Mount, to Mt. Zion, to Jerusalem from whence our strength was renewed.}

^{OUR ENEMIES are right in choosing their targets. They are right because they know who we are. We are the children of Jerusalem, of Zion. Our physical and spiritual survival is dependent on our willingness to dedicate our lives in every generation to guarding both the physical and spiritual walls of this city. It is only by guarding Zion, that we guard its people.}

^{I am humbled and honored beyond words to have been chosen from among so many of my fellow Jews for this singular honor of being named a Guardian of Zion. For me, more than anything, what this means, is that people I respect for their defense of our people accept me as a loyal daughter of this eternal city.}

^{It is all I have ever wished to be.}

^{It is all I wish for my children to become.}

^{And with God's help, it is something I will be blessed to remain all the days of my life.}

^{Thank you. God bless the people of Israel and our eternal capital city.}