מועצת יש"ע | |
 | |
| Named after | Yesha |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Gush Emunim |
| Formation | 24 December 1980; 44 years ago (1980-12-24) |
| Founder | Yisrael Harel [he] |
| Headquarters | Sha'ar Binyamin Industrial Zone |
Region | Judea and Samaria Area |
Chairman | Israel Ganz [he] |
CEO | Omer Rahamim |
| Affiliations | Amana |
| Website | www |
TheYesha Council (Hebrew:מועצת יש"ע,Mo'etzet Yesha) is an umbrella organization of municipal councils ofJewish settlements in theWest Bank (and formerly in theGaza Strip). TheHebrew acronymYesha is created fromYehudaShomron,Aza (Judea,Samaria,Gaza).
As of 2024[update] the chairman of the Yesha Council is Israel Ganz, and Omer Rahamim is CEO.
The council was founded in the 1980s[1] as the successor toGush Emunim ("Bloc of the Faithful"),[2] a religiousZionist movement advocating Jewish settlement in territories captured by Israel in the1967 Six-Day War.[3] that is, theWest Bank andGaza Strip. They regarded this as the return of Jews to their Biblical homeland.[4] Gush Emunim became a formal organization after the1973 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 ofNekuda, a monthly journal for Israeli settlers.[5][a] The name of the organization, "Mo'etzet Yesha", is the Hebrew acronym forYehudaShomron,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 2005Sasson Report, an official Israeli government report commissioned by the Prime MinisterAriel 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 ministerEhud Barak to dismantle some of the settlements. This met with opposition from a group of youngreligious 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 chairmanDani 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 organizationPeace 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 theDefense Ministry, as this territory is not officially a part of Israel.[17]
The stated aims of the Yesha Council are "to promote Israeli communities inJudea,Samaria[b] and theJordan Valley as the heart of theBible Land and the birthplace of theJewish 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 theKnesset and the government.[1] It also carries on public relations campaigns for the settlements and organizes public protests.[19]
The Yesha Council's headquarters are in theRamat Eshkol neighbourhood ofJerusalem.[16]
The Yesha Council consists of 25 elected mayors who representmunicipalities 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 ofInstitute for Zionist Strategies |
| Pinchas Wallerstein[3] | 1995–1999 | Head of theMateh Binyamin Regional Council |
| Benny Kashriel | 1999–2001 | Mayor ofMa'ale Adumim |
| Benzi Lieberman[8] | 2002–2007 | Head of theSamaria 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 theMateh Binyamin Regional Council and laterConsul General of Israel in New York andYad Vashem chairman |
| Hananel Dorani[16] | 2017–2019 | Chairman of the Kedumim Regional Council |
| David Elhayani[24] | 2019–2022 | Head of theJordan Valley Regional Council |
| Shlomo Ne'eman | 2022–2024 | Head of theGush Etzion Regional Council[24] |
| Israel Ganz | 2024– | Head of theMateh Binyamin Regional Council |
In July 2005, whenAriel Sharon was prime minister, theKnesset voted against delayingits 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 ofNetivot in southern Israel to the village ofKfar 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] InTel Aviv there was a rally of around 150,000 protesters.[29][27]
In August 2010, it was reported that the Yesha Council, then under directorNaftali Bennett, had joinedMy Israel (Israel Sheli), a network of online pro-Israel activists committed to spreading Zionism online, in their efforts to organize people at a workshop inJerusalem to teach them how to editWikipedia 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 withJudea and Samaria andJewish 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-founderJimmy 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 atTel Aviv University, when accepting hisDan 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]
The Government has banned all non-residents from entering the Gaza Strip.
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| Regional committee | ||
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| International | |
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| National | |
