After six months of engaging with fellow Israelis has left a powerful impression and changed me. My image of Israel has for some time been one of division and restriction. I saw a noisy, horrendous drama unfolding. But Israel is not dividing. Israel is growing.1/14 This is true even outside of Israel. Israel is reappearing on the global map. It is more and more difficult, for example, to find flights from and to Israel. The flights you can find are packed and now expensive. Israel has once again become a destination and a point of origin. 2/14

This wasn’t a day we ever dreamed of…even in our nightmares. A🧵on today's terror attack and our daughter.

Early this morning, our 18-year-old daughter Naomi walked to her regular Jerusalem bus stop to commute to her national service job in Beit Shemesh.
1/19 As she approached the stop, a Palestinian terrorist detonated a bomb packed with nails and other shrapnel. One of the pieces flew at Naomi, hitting her, but not seriously. She felt ringing in her ears but wasn’t hurt.
2/19

I'm fed up. A thread.

I’ve had it. I’m fed up with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and with Palestinian terror. I’m fed up with our leadership, with weak kneed Jews, with cowards, I’m fed up with our inability to stop the Palestinians.

1/13 These past five weeks have seen tens of new Israeli orphans, brutal killings of innocent people and tens of attempts that aren’t even reported in the mainstream media. Palestinian attackers have become animals, using knives and axes to butcher their Jewish and Arab victims.
2/13

Everyday I drive to Jerusalem and pass Palestinians on the side of the road who are looking for a ride. There are shared ride vans that pick up Palestinians, but I’d love to pick them up. I’m sure I’m not the only Israeli that feels this way, but then that voice in my head tells me, “Don’t do it, you don’t know them, you never know.”

“The Squad,” the group of progressive members of Congress, have always couched their anti-Israel positions beneath a false veneer of advocacy for human rights.
1/5
jpost.com/american-polit… Many Jews, I included, not only see their hypocrisy on human rights (they only seem to criticize Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, but never Egypt, Hamas, Lebanon, Syria, Kuwait, the PA, etc. treatment of Palestinians) as anti-Israel, but antisemitic as well.
2/5

I had an epiphany of sorts over Rosh Hashanah during the Rosh Hashanah prayers. It was one of those “ahaha” moments when everything seems to come together in one obvious idea, but then you ask yourself, how am I going to explain this to other people?
1/8 I frequently write about conflicts; The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the left-right conflict, Israel-Diaspora conflict, Torah observant-not Torah observant conflict, Hassidic-Misnagid conflict, etc.
2/8

Three years ago, on the 7th of Tishrie, Ari Fuld, הי״ד, a Torah scholar, warrior, a defender of Israel on multiple battlefields, and a childhood friend, was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist.
1/4 Three days later, on Yom Kippur, our family sat down and decided Ari’s influence on the world was too great to end. Everyone had to play their part in filling the void his murder left. Our family decided to begin studying the weekly Torah portion together on Friday mornings.
2/4

Are Liberal Zionists real?

It has become fashionable for Pro-Israel advocates to denigrate liberals as anti-Israel & even antisemitic. This is no doubt due in part to progressive Democrats like @AOC, @SenSanders, @IlhanMN,
& @RashidaTlaib & their anti-Israel positions.
1/9 It’s important to make two points. First, progressives aren’t liberals. They ascribed to two different political philosophies and grouping them together is just as ignorant as grouping libertarian and conservatives together.
2/9

Does the Torah Discuss Privilege?
Privilege has become a derogatory word today. Those deemed to have privilege, especially white, wealthy males, are demonized for their privilege. Privilege is having opportunity to succeed based on placement in life, not achievement.
1/7 Many with privilege have trouble recognizing their privilege. It is mostly people without privilege who struggle to succeed without connections, suspicions held against them and being provided a subpar education in underfunded school districts that feel a lack privilege.
2/7

Major League Rant Part II

I don’t usually write about pop culture or sports. I tend to stick to Torah, Israel issues, politics and Jewish values. Yet, it’s impossible to ignore how pop culture and sports intersected with Jewish values last week.
1/10 It was also difficult for me not to juxtapose the two incidents that were all over my social media field. It’s hard for me to believe I’m the first person to notice how the two connected and differed.
2/10

A thread on Comfort not Happiness

With the 3 week mourning period for the Temple concluding, it’s easy to confuse the next period on the Jewish calendar. The next 7 weeks are called the “7 Weeks of Comfort.” The weeks this week with Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of Comfort.
1/7 Many people conflate comfort (nachamu) with happiness (simcha). With the easing of the mourning restrictions many people break out into concerts, parties and general happiness. This isn’t correct. Comfort and happiness aren’t the same.
2/7

A thread on accusing Israel of being a settler colonial entity.
A false accusation leveled against Israel calls it a settler colonial entity. This accusation alleges Jews have no right to Israel and are imperialists who took the land from the native Palestinian population.
1/6 Israel’s accusers quote Jabotinsky out of context, “Zionist colonization must either be...carried out against the wishes of the native population. This colonization can, therefore, be continued … only under the protection of a power independent of the native population…”
2/6

I bemoan that I must write about politics today, on the 9th of Av, a day meant for introspection and repentance.
These are important points to remember when reading about the status on the Temple Mount today.
1/5 Any Muslim claiming Jews are trying to stop Muslim prayer on the Temple Mount is lying.
Any Muslim claiming Jews are trying to destroy the Dome of the Rock or the Al-Aqsa Mosque is lying.
Any Muslim claiming Israel is planning on rebuilding the Temple today is lying.
2/5

Tisha B’av isn’t about the Beit Hamikdash
Unfortunately, many misunderstand the fast & sadness of Tisha B’av as a day commemorating the destruction of the Temples. It is true the two Temples were destroyed today, and it is true we have a mitzvah to rebuild the Temple.
1/9 The destruction of the Temple isn’t the most important part of today. The destruction of the Beit Hamikdash was just one symptom of the Jewish people’s sin. The bigger consequence of the Jewish people’s sins was the loss of God’s Divine providence on the Jewish people.
2/9

A thread on Israeli treatment of Palestinians

This is an odd looking caravan. It consists of six 25 seater mini-busses driving through the UN over desert road behind my house. What is it, and who’s in the busses?
1/6 Unlike what the world tells you, Israel and settlements don’t oppress Palestinians. Israel has consistently improved the quality of life of Palestinians since reclaiming Judea & Samaria in 1967.
2/6

A few thoughts on the “Citizenship and Entry Law,” or as Palestinians call it, the Palestinian Family Reunification law that expired yesterday.

Spread this tweet so that accuracy and not false demonizations of Israel are out “there.”
1/16 Palestinians and their advocates incorrectly claim the law is a hardship that prevents an Israeli citizen who marries a Palestinian who isn’t an Israeli citizen to live together in Israel proper, including Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem.
2/16

As part of their efforts to enhance the US-Israel relationship, officials in the Trump administration, led by former American Ambassador David Friedman & his chief of staff, Aryeh Lightstone reorganized the American Embassy and State Department consular services in Israel.
1/13 The most significant of their innovations was moving the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Although it wasn’t paid attention to at the time America also changed its consulate on Agron from a consulate to a branch of the Embassy.
2/13

Holding on to control over Judea and Samaria is a necessity for Israel because it enhances Israel’s security. EVERY single place Israel has withdrawn from has left a vacuum of power eventually filled by terrorists who used it as a staging area for attacks against Israel.
5/10 The Sinai was eventually used by ISIS, Southern Lebanon was used by Hezbollah, Gaza was used by Hamas. The pattern is obvious. Forgoing land - in the hopes of peace or of greater security - eventually shows itself to be a dangerous mistake.
6/10

“The area is no longer necessary for Israel’s security,” is a frequently used talking point of those opposed to Jewish development in Judea and Samaria. Their assumption is advocates for building in Judea and Samaria require the land to secure Israel.
1/10 Those opposed to development point to Israel’s victories in war before holding the area, the changing nature of warfare, where land isn’t that crucial, and the plethora of security experts who agree Israel can defend itself without holding Judea and Samaria.
2/10

A thread on demonizing settlers

In Judea and Samaria (The West Bank as the world calls it) there are two types of towns and cities, Jewish towns and Arab towns. How can you tell the difference between the two?
1/7
jewishpress.com/news/jewish-ne… Surrounding all Jewish cities and towns in Judea and Samaria is a fence or a security mechanism (some, like in our town, are classified) that secure the town from attackers.
2/7

This is such a disappointing story. From what my own research (through second hand sources) and news reports, it seems Arab Israelis were coming to a public pool in Israel and causing trouble. The pool decided to ban all Arabs.
1/4
mako.co.il/news-israel/20… There's simply no excuse for generalizing about a certain group no matter if they're Arab, Haredim, Ashkenazi, Sefardim, etc. Racism isn't a woke social justice fabrication. Racism is a societal ill that creates discrimination and more often than not, leads to violence.
2/4