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Yesha Council

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Yesha Council
מועצת יש"ע
Named afterYesha
PredecessorGush Emunim
Formation24 December 1980; 43 years ago (1980-12-24)
FounderYisrael Harel [he]
HeadquartersSha'ar Binyamin Industrial Zone
Region
Judea and Samaria Area
Chairman
Israel Ganz [he]
CEO
Omer Rahamim
AffiliationsAmana
Websitewww.myesha.org.il

The Yesha Council (Hebrew: מועצת יש"ע, Mo'etzet Yesha) is an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank (and formerly in the Gaza Strip). The Hebrew acronym Yesha is created from Yehuda Shomron, Aza (Judea, Samaria, Gaza).

As of 2024 the chairman of the Yesha Council is Israel Ganz, and Omer Rahamim is CEO.

History

The council was founded in the 1980s[1] as the successor to Gush Emunim ("Bloc of the Faithful"),[2] a religious Zionist movement advocating Jewish settlement in territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.[3] that is, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They regarded this as the return of Jews to their Biblical homeland.[4] Gush Emunim became a formal organization after the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Yisrael Harel [he] was active in this movement, and was a co-founder of the Yesha Foundation as well as founder editor of Nekuda, a monthly journal for Israeli settlers.[5][5][a] The name of the organization, "Mo'etzet Yesha", is the Hebrew acronym for Yehuda Shomron, Aza (Judea, Samaria, Gaza).[7][8]

Pinchas Wallerstein was head of the Yesha Council after Harel.[3]

Yesha Council's resettlement policy was criticised by the 2005 Sasson Report, an official Israeli government report commissioned by the Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The report found that settlers had constructed 105 illegal outposts, over half of which were built on land that did not belong to the state, in collusion with government ministries and other public bodies.[9][10]

In 2012, IRIN News reported that the Yesha Council, along with the regional councils, were focusing more on advocacy. Among other activities, they arranged talks by politicians, and aimed to attract Israelis to the settlements through tourism and volunteering.[10]

In October 1999, Yesha Council came to an agreement with the government under prime minister Ehud Barak to dismantle some of the settlements. This met with opposition from a group of young religious Zionist activists called Dor Hemshech, ("the Continuing Generation"), who lay down in front of bulldozers sent to do the work in protest.[11]

In 2009, council chairman Dani Dayan said that settlers must not use violence to advance their means. He said that such actions were "morally bankrupt" and only serve to "hinder the settlers' struggle."[12]

From 2008 until 2010,[13] Pinchas Wallerstein, who was seen as a moderate by some because he had been critical of extremists attacking Palestinian villages, served as director of the Yesha Council. He resigned in January 2010 after falling out with Dani Dayan. He said, however, "the differences between us are more about quantity and timing and less about issues of essential content". The secretary-general of Israeli pacifist organization Peace Now, Yariv Oppenheimer, said that Wallerstein was no moderate, having been a major force behind the illegal expansion of settlements.[14][15]

In 2019, Yesha Council was presided over by chairman Hananel Dorani and CEO Yigal Dilmoni. They planned to double the Jewish population of "Judea and Samaria" (then 450,000) to a million, within ten years: Hazon Ha-Million – the "vision of one million".[16] Dorani believes that they need to "fight for full Israeli independence from the United States", so that foreign leaders are not able to influence Israeli policies with regard to the settler communities in the West Bank.[7]

In May 2023, Yesha reported that by October 2022 over half a million Israeli settlers were living in the West Bank, which comprised 5.2 percent of the total population of Israel. The growth rate of the settler population was around 2.2% in 2022, with 10,755 Israelis moving to West Bank communities. The settlers are overseen by the military and the Defense Ministry, as this territory is not officially a part of Israel.[17]

Aims and description

The stated aims of the Yesha Council are "to promote Israeli communities in Judea, Samaria[b] and the Jordan Valley as the heart of the Bible Land and the birthplace of the Jewish people and its heritage".[1] They want to see Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank.[16]

Their stated strategic objectives are:[1]

  • To secure the borders of the State of Israel
  • To safeguard Israel's strategic expanses–between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea
  • To ensure Israel's right to the Land by strengthening Israeli settlement in Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley

The Council aims to assert Israeli sovereignty, to develop transport and other infrastructure, to increase tourism from all over the world, and "to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea". It also aims to create master plans for the whole area.[1]

In addition to municipal and security issues, the Council serves as the political arm of the Jewish residents of Yesha.[18][1] The Council lobbies for their interests with the Knesset and the government.[1] It also carries on public relations campaigns for the settlements and organizes public protests.[19]

Governance and organisation

The Yesha Council's headquarters are in the Ramat Eshkol neighbourhood of Jerusalem.[16]

The Yesha Council consists of 24 elected mayors who represent municipalities with an Israeli population of around 500,000 people,[1] and is headed by an elected chairman. Israel Ganz was elected chairman in May 2024.[20]

Omer Rahamim was appointed CEO in June 2024.[21]

Chairman/director Dates in office Other public positions
Yisrael Harel [he] 1980–1995 Founder of the Yesha Council, founder of Institute for Zionist Strategies
Pinchas Wallerstein[3] 1995–1999 Head of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council
Benny Kashriel 1999–2001 Mayor of Ma'ale Adumim
Benzi Lieberman[8] 2002–2007 Head of the Samaria Regional Council
Dani Dayan 2009-2010 Pinchas Wallerstein as director-general[22] until resignation Nov. 2010[15]
Naftali Bennett 2010–2012 (director) In 2021, 13th Prime Minister of Israel[23]
Dani Dayan 2013–2017 Head of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council and later Consul General of Israel in New York and Yad Vashem chairman
Hananel Dorani[16] 2017–2019 Chairman of the Kedumim Regional Council
David Elhayani[24] 2019–2022 Head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council
Shlomo Ne'eman 2022–2024 Head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council[24]
Israel Ganz 2024– Head of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council

Activism

2005 protests

In July 2005, when Ariel Sharon was prime minister, the Knesset voted against delaying its withdrawal of troops and settlers from all 21 Gaza settlements, as well as four of the 120 in the West Bank, due to start the following month. The Yesha Council, led by chairman Bentzi Lieberman, led a protest campaign against this decision. Around 6,000 protesters led by ultranationalist rabbis marched from the town of Netivot in southern Israel to the village of Kfar Maimon in an illegal protest, after the government had banned all non-residents from entering Gaza. After three days, the protesters left the village.[25][26][27][28] In Tel Aviv there was a rally of around 150,000 protesters.[29][27]

Wikipedia editing (2010)

In August 2010, it was reported that the Yesha Council, then under director Naftali Bennett, had joined My Israel (Israel Sheli), a network of online pro-Israel activists committed to spreading Zionism online, in their efforts to organize people at a workshop in Jerusalem to teach them how to edit Wikipedia articles in a pro-Israeli way.[30][31][32] Around 50 people took part in the course.[31][33] The project organiser, Ayelet Shaked, of Israel Sheli, said in a radio interview that the information had to be reliable and meet Wikipedia rules. She cited some examples such as the use of the term "occupation" in Wikipedia entries, as well as in the editing of entries that link Israel with Judea and Samaria and Jewish history.[30] One participant said that it was not a "Zionist conspiracy to take over Wikipedia", but an attempt to add balance to articles about disputed issues.[34]

In 2011, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales said of the reported course, that Wikipedia had seen "absolutely no impact from that effort whatsoever".[35] Wales, who himself is a supporter of Israel, insists on neutrality when editing articles related to Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.[35] At a speech at Tel Aviv University, when accepting his Dan David Prize in May 2015, Wales insisted to avoid conflicts of interest is to provide as many facts as possible while maintaining neutrality, aiming to overwhelm any chance of bias and imbuing political ideology.[36]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ In2019, Harel was a columnist for the daily newspaper Haaretz.[6]
  2. ^ The West Bank[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "About Us". The Yesha Council. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Yesha Council". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Harel, Yisrael (2 December 2010). "Interview with Yisrael Harel". Dr. Ariel Zellman (Interview). Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  4. ^ "שאלת תם מה זה מועצת יש"ע? - וואלה! חדשות". וואלה! (in Hebrew). 18 July 2005. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  5. ^ a b Taub, Gadi (2010). The Settlers: And the Struggle over the Meaning of Zionism. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-14101-6. JSTOR j.ctt1npbg0. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  6. ^ "Yesha Council founder: Unite with Otzma Yehudit". 7israelnationalnews.com. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  7. ^ a b Ḥazon, Brit (26 September 2019). "The Yesha Council Leadership Misses the Larger Struggle". VISION. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  8. ^ a b Melson, Richard (September 2004). "What is the Yesha Council?". New Page 2. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  9. ^ Izenberg, Dan (27 December 2005). "Yesha calls for investigation of Sasson Report" (text + video). The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  10. ^ a b c "Israeli government challenges the law to embrace illegal settler outposts". Question of Palestine. United Nations. 14 May 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  11. ^ Balint, Judy Lash (7 June 2000). "Behind the Headlines in YESHA". Jewish Action. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  12. ^ "Yesha Council chair Dayan condemns recent settler violence". The Jerusalem Post. 8 December 2009.
  13. ^ Weiss, Efrat (11 January 2010). "Pinchas Wallerstein leaving Yesha Council". Ynetnews. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  14. ^ Elgot, Jessica (24 November 2016). "Settler leader resigns in row with Yesha council". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  15. ^ a b Levinson, Chaim (12 January 2010). "Wallerstein Quits Yesha Council, Citing Ideological Differences With Leadership". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  16. ^ a b c d Rosenbaum, Alan (13 February 2019). "The Yesha Council's Vision for the Future". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  17. ^ Fabian, Emanuel (12 May 2023). "Yesha settler umbrella group says over half a million Israelis live in West Bank". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  18. ^ "With wineries and tourism, settlers try to rebrand settlements for Israeli public". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 21 September 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  19. ^ "Settlers, Palestinians dream of joint Hebron hotel at kosher Iftar feast". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  20. ^ Sharon, Jeremy (6 May 2024). "Settlements council elects Israel Ganz as next chairman". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Omer Rahamim appointed new Yesha Council CEO". Arutz Sheva. 20 June 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  22. ^ Weiss, Efrat (20 May 2009). "Yesha heads, Barak meet on settlement construction". Ynetnews. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  23. ^ "Naftali Bennett". Government of Israel. 17 February 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  24. ^ a b Lappin, Yaakov (7 September 2022). "Shlomo Ne'eman named to lead Yesha Council". JNS.org. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  25. ^ "Israeli protesters abandon Gaza march". Al Jazeera. 21 July 2005. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  26. ^ Urquhart, Conal (19 July 2005). "Israeli protesters defy police ban on march". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  27. ^ a b "Thousands protest against Jewish settlements evacuations". ABC News. 11 August 2005. Retrieved 4 October 2024. The Government has banned all non-residents from entering the Gaza Strip.
  28. ^ "Israel blocks buses carrying Gaza pullout opponents". CNN. 18 July 2005. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022.
  29. ^ Singer-Heruti, Roni (12 August 2005). "Yesha Council Tells 150,000 Protesters to Block Access to Gaza". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  30. ^ a b Benari, Elad (3 August 2010). "Zionist Internet Struggle to Hit Wikipedia". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  31. ^ a b Hasson, Nir (18 August 2010). "The right's latest weapon: 'Zionist editing' on Wikipedia". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022.
  32. ^ Rachel Shabi, Jemima Kiss (18 August 2010). "Wikipedia editing courses launched by Zionist groups". The Guardian.
  33. ^ "The battle for Wikipedia: Palestinians counter Israeli editing group". Ynetnews. 28 August 2010.
  34. ^ Robert Mackey (23 August 2010). "Readers Discuss Wikipedia Editing Course That Aims for 'Balanced and Zionist' Entries". The New York Times.
  35. ^ a b Aliyana Traison (5 August 2011). "Wikipedia founder: Israel-Palestine is heavily debated, but we're vigilant on neutrality". Haaretz.
  36. ^ Sales, Ben (19 May 2015). "Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales likes Israel but stays neutral". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
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