Weekly roundup of world briefs

Israel advanced 2,300 homes in Judea and Samaria in six weeks

(JNS) — Israel has advanced plans to build more than 2,300 housing units in Judea and Samaria since Dec. 1, as part of a push by the Settlement Administration, a unit in the Defense Ministry under the authority of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

The Settlement Administration has convened every week since early December to approve construction in the region, approving a total of 2,377 units, whereas the body would previously meet once every three to four months on average, Ynet reported on Monday.

During last week’s meeting alone, some 440 housing units in various stages of approval were advanced by the government, according to the report.

The Settlement Administration has eliminated the distinction between meetings of the Civil Administration’s Supreme Planning Council—which would approve many units but only convened several times a year—and meetings that were held more frequently but only discussed the approval of a small number of homes.

With the weekly meeting, Israel is expected to approve a record number of new units throughout Judea and Samaria in 2025. Last year, the Civil Administration approved the construction of 12,349 housing units, compared to 9,884 in 2023, according to figures obtained by Ynet.

On June 9, Smotrich told a gathering of Judea and Samaria leaders that the government was working to implement “a completely new enforcement system in the Civil Administration.”

The Civil Administration, which is subordinate to the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories unit, is responsible for approving construction and other civilian bureaucratic matters in Judea and Samaria. Smotrich told the local leaders that significant, irreversible strides had been made toward transferring the management of the Civil Administration to civilian hands.

He said the changes he led are irreversible. “The administration is established. The transfer of legal authority is fixed. “If tomorrow the government falls and I leave, it’s there.

“I’m saying to you that this thing is mega-dramatic,” Smotrich said.

Israeli minister asks PM to back plan for a million Jews in Samaria

(JNS) — Israeli Construction and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf came out over the weekend in support of a plan to bring a million Jewish residents to Samaria.

Goldknopf—the head of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism Party—during a visit to Samaria called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to use the momentum provided by the entry into office of the Trump administration to accelerate the construction of more real estate projects in the Jewish state’s biblical heartland, the Channel 14 News broadcaster reported on Sunday.

Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, who accompanied the politician on the tour, said, “We will bring a million residents here.”

“We will build cities here; we will build communities,” said Dagan.

“And the people of Israel—thanks to this, thanks to the prayers, thanks to the war being waged by the security forces, and in particular thanks to the building of the Land [of Israel]—will win,” he said.

In 2023, Dagan unveiled a plan to increase the number of Jews living in Samaria from barely 50,000 to over one million, saying the initiative would “strengthen Zionism” and solve the country’s housing crisis.

The “Samaria to a Million” proposal, which was first shared on Aug. 23, 2023, in a letter to Netanyahu, had been in the making for more than a year with the backing of “hundreds” of local leaders, Dagan said.

The initiative suggests building new cities and expanding existing communities, while better connecting the region to central and northern Israel via trains and highways. The plan also proposes the construction of a new hospital in Samaria, as well as industrial zones.

Jerusalem has advanced plans to build more than 2,300 housing units in Judea and Samaria since Dec. 1, 2024, as part of a push by the Settlement Administration, a unit in the Defense Ministry under the authority of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Ynet reported Monday.

The Settlement Administration has reportedly convened every week since early December to approve construction in the region, approving a total of 2,377 units, whereas the body would previously meet once every three to four months on average.

With the weekly meetings, Israel is expected to approve a record number of new units throughout Judea and Samaria in 2025. Last year, the Civil Administration approved the construction of 12,349 housing units, compared to 9,884 in 2023, according to figures obtained by Ynet.

Pediatric association demands status of detained Palestinian doctor

(JNS) — Sue Kressley, M.D., president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding the status of a Palestinian doctor detained by the Israel Defense Forces, in addition to the state of children’s health care in the Gaza Strip.

Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, was taken into IDF custody as a terrorist suspect during a targeted Israeli security forces operation against a Hamas command center in the hospital in northern Gaza on Dec. 28.

In the Jan. 8 letter, Kressley wrote that “Kamal Adwan was one of northern Gaza’s last partially functioning hospitals and was the main provider of pediatric care in the area.”

“The provision of pediatric medical care remains uncertain following Dr. Abu Safiya’s detention,” she added.

Kressley said the academy is requesting a response on the situation by Jan. 19, including: Steps the U.S. government has taken to discover where Abu Safiya is being held and on what grounds; All available information about the doctor’s safety, health status and access to medical care; A list of hospitals currently operational in Gaza and their ability to provide comprehensive pediatric emergency care; and Steps the U.S. government is taking to improve access to pediatric care in Gaza.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations welcomed Kressley’s letter and called for Blinken to intervene.

“Secretary Blinken could pick up the phone and demand that indicted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu release Dr. Abu Safiya and all those illegally detained and facing torture and abuse at the hands of Israeli forces,” CAIR stated.

Former State Department officials tell ‘60 Minutes’ they quit over Gaza policy

By Alex Welz

(JNS) — Three former U.S. State Department officials told CBS News that they disagree sharply with the Biden administration’s policy toward Gaza, according to an episode of “60 Minutes” that aired on Jan 12.

Josh Paul, a former director of the department’s political and military affairs bureau, and Hala Rharrit, a former Arabic spokeswoman for the department in Dubai, told “60 Minutes” that they quit their jobs over U.S. policy toward Israel, while Andrew Miller said that he resigned as deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs for personal reasons.

Since leaving the department, Miller has become a vocal critic of U.S. Israel policy, and he and the other two guests accused Washington of being complicit in violations of international law.

Miller told “60 Minutes” that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received the message from Washington “that he was the one in the driver’s seat and he was controlling this, and U.S. support was going to be there, and he could take it for granted.”

Asked during the “60 Minutes” program when the war will end, Miller said, “when Israel says it’s over.”

“There is a linkage between every single bomb that is dropped in Gaza and the U.S., because every single bomb that is dropped is dropped from an American-made plane,” Paul said in the interview.

“What is happening in Gaza would not be able to happen without U.S. arms,” Rharrit said. “That’s without a doubt.” She added that there is “palpable” anger throughout the Arab world.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) wrote that “60 Minutes,” which “recently hid Kamala’s transcript and doctored her interview to help her, runs a disgraceful hit job against Israel.”

“‘60 Minutes’ forgot that Hamas started the war, Hamas still holds American hostages and any damage in Gaza is the sole fault of Hamas,” he added.

In response to a “60 Minutes” post on social media stating “U.S. support for the war in Gaza has put a target on America’s back, says Hala Rharrit, a former State Department official,” the conservative columnist Karol Markowicz wrote that “if we just do what the Islamists say, they wouldn’t have to hurt anyone.”

“So we should support the people who kidnap Americans and chant ‘death to America’?” wrote Philip Klein, editor of National Review Online. “If you ever needed more evidence that the State Department needs to be gutted by Marco Rubio.” 

Man admits altering Disney World menus, including Jew-hate content

(JNS) — Michael Scheuer, a former menu production manager at Walt Disney World, has admitted to altering menus at the park to promote antisemitism and deceive guests with food allergies 

Scheuer pleaded guilty to hacking and one count of aggravated identity theft in a plea agreement filed Jan. 10 in Florida federal court. Federal authorities charged the defendant in October with causing the transmission of a program, information, code or command to a protected computer and intentionally causing damage.

The defendant had been fired by Disney for misconduct months earlier, according to the criminal complaint. 

Scheuer, who hacked into the company’s menu-creation software, added images including a swastika, changed allergen information to falsely show items were safe for people with allergies and changed the regions of wines to places where mass shootings occurred, according to the plea agreement.

He also altered some menus that included a QR code for a digital version of the menu to send guests to a website promoting the boycott of Israel. While manufacturers printed some menus with falsified QR codes, the change was caught before they were distributed. 

Court documents stated that by the end of his hacking campaign, Scheuer had impacted “nearly every menu in the system.”

Scheuer’s attorney told CNBC that his client “has mental health issues that were exacerbated when Disney fired him upon his return from paternity leave.”

Scheuer faces a minimum two-year sentence and a maximum of 10 years.

Ben-Gvir threatens to leave government over ‘horrific’ hostage deal

(JNS) — Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to pull his Otzma Yehudit Party from the ruling coalition if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu goes through with an emerging ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas.

He called on Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism Party, to join him in resigning if the agreement is formalized, admitting that “the power of Otzma Yehudit is not enough in the current composition of the government to serve as leverage to prevent the deal, and our resignation alone will not stop its implementation.”

Smotrich on Monday called the developing deal with Hamas a “catastrophe” for Israel’s security, stressing that his party would not vote to approve it.

Ben-Gvir urged Smotrich to work together to convey to Netanyahu “in a clear and resolute manner that if the deal goes through, we will resign from the government.”

In a lengthy Hebrew X post on Tuesday, Ben-Gvir called the emerging deal “horrific,” describing it as involving releasing hundreds of terrorists, withdrawing the Israel Defense Forces from key areas of Gaza and returning terrorists to the Strip, effectively undoing the achievements of the war.

He argued that the deal will not secure the release of all hostages and may lead to the deaths of many Israeli civilians.

Ben-Gvir urged Netanyahu to take stronger actions against Hamas to ensure Israel’s security and prevent the deal’s implementation.

Israel’s National Security Council warns Israelis of Iranian efforts to entice them abroad

By JNS Staff

(JNS) — Israel’s National Security Council on Tuesday issued a warning about Iranian efforts to lure Israeli citizens abroad to harm or kidnap them.

The NSC revealed that Iranian operatives recently attempted to target an Israeli businessman by contacting him through Telegram, pretending to be from a Saudi news outlet. They tried to lure him to Dubai to harm him and sent him malicious links and files to gain access to his phone. The businessman reported the suspicious activity, exposing the plot.

“The NSC emphasizes that this is another manifestation of the ongoing Iranian terror threat against Israelis both domestically and abroad,” according to the statement.

The NSC is urging the Israeli public to be cautious of unknown contacts online, avoid sharing personal details and verify identities through secure communication methods. It also encourages the reporting of suspicious activities to security services and the NSC’s 24/7 travel warning center.

Around two months ago, Rabbi Zvi Kogan, 28, the Chabad emissary to the UAE, was murdered by three terrorists from Uzbekistan. The Israeli-Moldovan was kidnapped and killed, and his body was found near the Oman border. Some reports suggest the attackers intended to kidnap him to a neighboring country.

Blinken to unveil plan for installing PA in Gaza

By JNS Staff

(JNS) — U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken is set to unveil a plan for rebuilding and governing Gaza that involves the Palestinian Authority and several Arab countries, Axios reported on Tuesday.

Blinken plans to announce it in a speech Tuesday at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank. Arab countries may send troops to Gaza to stabilize the security situation there and deliver humanitarian aid, according to the report.

Beyond security arrangements, the plan will focus on administration and reconstruction, according to the report.

Blinken’s speech is scheduled to take place amid intense negotiations for a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, with President-elect Donald Trump stating on Monday that Israel and Hamas are nearing an agreement. Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, is directly involved in these negotiations.

Blinken has already presented his plan to several U.S. allies, Axios reported, emphasizing the need for a robust governance structure in Gaza once a ceasefire is in place.

The plan proposes ways to “reform” the P.A., according to Axios, while “making clear the P.A. must be a part of any future government in Gaza.”

Blinken’s speech will also reiterate principles he laid out early in the war against any permanent Israeli occupation of Gaza, the decrease of its territory or the forced transfer of Palestinians from Gaza, according to the report.

Israel’s government has so far opposed any day-after plan which includes the involvement of the P.A.

Anti-Israel group asks Italy to arrest Israeli general

(JNS) — An anti-Israeli organization that has initiated several war crimes allegations against Israelis abroad demanded that Italy arrest a visiting Israeli general.

The Hind Rajab Foundation, recently established by the Lebanese-Belgian anti-Israel activist Dyab Abou-Jahjah, wants Italian authorities to arrest Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, head of the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, it said on its website. The La Republica newspaper in Italy reported that Alian is in Italy on vacation. 

The group “has filed cases with the International Criminal Court and Italian authorities, urging his immediate arrest for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes,” the text reads.

The foundation has filed lawsuits against at least 28 soldiers in eight different countries and submitted information to the ICC about alleged war crimes supposedly committed by more than a thousand soldiers and officers during operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

Israel, the United States and other countries have roundly rejected allegations that Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza.