Early Humans Who Chose their Campsites for Easy Availability of Firewood

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260624025502.htm

For early humans living nearly 800,000 years ago, access to fire influenced where they chose to settle. These ancient communities relied on an abundant and dependable source of fuel: driftwood that naturally accumulated along a lakeshore. Rather than spending time searching for particular types of wood, they made practical use of materials that were readily available.

That steady supply of firewood helped them maintain fires for cooking and other daily activities. Generations of people repeatedly returned to the same location. The site offered more than food and water. It also provided an easy way to keep fire burning.

Nearly 800,000 years ago, groups of early humans gathered along the shores of a large lake in what is now northern Israel. They hunted large animals, cooked fish using controlled fire, and organized many aspects of daily life around communal hearths. According to a new study, even tiny pieces of charcoal left behind from those fires can reveal important details about how these people interacted with their environment.

Published in Quaternary Science Reviews, the study reconstructs life at the Acheulian archaeological site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov (GBY). An international team of researchers from Israel, Spain, and Germany examined an unusually rich collection of ancient charcoal preserved at the site. The team included Prof. Naama Goren-Inbar (Hebrew University), Prof. Nira Alperson-Afil and Dr. Yoel Melamed (Bar-Ilan University), Prof. Ethel Allué (Universitat Rovira i Virgili and Institut Català de Paleoecologia), and Prof. Brigitte Urban (Leuphana University). Their findings provide new insight into how early hominins gathered fuel and managed fire, suggesting a level of environmental awareness and planning more advanced than previously recognized.

Rare Charcoal Provides a Window Into the Past

Charcoal rarely survives at archaeological sites this old. As a result, the large collection recovered from GBY offers an exceptionally rare opportunity to study the everyday behavior of some of the earliest known fire users.

While many prehistoric sites contain only limited or uncertain evidence of burning, GBY preserves a detailed record showing repeated fire use over tens of thousands of years.

The site contains more than 20 archaeological layers documenting repeated occupation along the shores of paleo-Lake Hula. Excavations directed by Prof. Naama Goren-Inbar of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have revealed a busy landscape where Acheulian hunter-gatherers returned generation after generation. Researchers have uncovered stone tools made from flint, limestone, and basalt, remains of hunted animals, and numerous plant foods gathered from the lakeshore, including fruits, nuts, and seeds.

One particularly remarkable layer captures evidence of a major hunting event. Alongside stone tools and plant remains, researchers found the skull and bones of a straight-tusked elephant. The arrangement of the remains indicates that the animal was butchered and processed at the site.

Fire played a central role in this ancient community. First identified at GBY by Prof. Nira Alperson-Afil of Bar-Ilan University, evidence suggests fire was used regularly rather than occasionally. Hearths served as focal points for activities such as preparing food, making tools, and social interaction.

Ancient Firewood Reveals the Landscape

The new research focused on one occupation layer dating to roughly 780,000 years ago. Scientists examined 266 charcoal fragments under a microscope, identifying the internal wood structure to determine which plant species had been burned.

The analysis revealed a surprisingly wide range of species, including ash, willow, grapevine, oleander, olive, oak, pistachio, and pomegranate. Notably, the pomegranate charcoal represents the earliest known evidence of this fruit tree in the Levant.

Researchers were surprised to find that the charcoal contained greater plant diversity than other botanical remains recovered from the site, including seeds, fruits, and unburned wood. This suggests that collecting firewood provided a broader sample of the surrounding environment than other plant-gathering activities.

Together, the identified species help reconstruct the ancient landscape. The area appears to have included both wet lakeshore habitats and open Mediterranean woodland. More importantly, the charcoal reveals how early humans used those environments.

Driftwood May Have Fueled Daily Life

The evidence suggests that the site's inhabitants were not carefully selecting specific tree species for fuel. Instead, they seem to have relied largely on driftwood that accumulated naturally along the shoreline.

Branches and logs carried by water would have collected near the lake's edge, creating an easily accessible supply of firewood. The charcoal composition closely matches the types of wood expected in that environment, supporting the idea that people simply gathered what nature delivered.

This finding points to a larger possibility. Access to fuel may have influenced where these communities chose to live. The lakeshore offered fresh water, edible plants, animals for hunting, raw materials for tools, and a dependable source of firewood needed to maintain fires.

Evidence of Fish Cooking and Advanced Fire Use

The study also sheds light on how fire was used. Researchers found that areas containing large amounts of charcoal often overlapped with concentrations of fish remains, especially the distinctive teeth of large carp.

This pattern provides additional evidence that fish were being cooked at the site nearly 800,000 years ago using controlled fire.

The findings strengthen the view that GBY hominins possessed sophisticated cognitive abilities. They were capable of managing fire, organizing activities around hearths, and incorporating fire into broader survival strategies.

Interestingly, the study suggests that collecting fuel may have required less planning than activities such as hunting large animals or producing stone tools. Instead of seeking out specific woods, people appear to have taken advantage of whatever fuel was readily available.

Taken together, the evidence portrays a highly capable community that understood its surroundings and repeatedly returned to a location that supplied the resources necessary for long-term survival.

The charcoal assemblage from GBY offers an exceptional dataset for exploring the relationship between fire use, environmental conditions, and hominin behavior. The findings refine scientific understanding of early fire use and highlight how local resources may have shaped patterns of settlement and survival during the Middle Pleistocene.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260624025502.htm

Czechs to buy Israeli Air Defense Systems?

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-902490

Czech Republic in talks to buy Israeli air defense systems

During a press conference with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, Macinka said the Czechs were looking at the Spyder, Arrow, and other defense systems.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Petr Macinka and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar

Czechia is in talks with Israeli firms to buy a number of air-defense systems, Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka said on Tuesday.

During a press conference with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Macinka said the Czechs were looking at the Spyder, Arrow, and other defense systems.

“Regarding the Spyder, yes, we are discussing. We’re discussing air-defense systems with Israel because these systems are technologically on top,” Macinka said when asked about buying Israeli defense systems.

He said he wants to make his country’s stance on Israel clear, vowing that Prague would continue strengthening political and economic cooperation between the two nations.

During the conference, Sa’ar expressed his gratitude for Czechia’s friendship and allyship, thanking them for “not allowing the European Union to be turned into a tool for promoting anti-Israeli policies.”

Sa'ar thanks Czech Republic for friendship, allyship

He emphasized Israel’s importance as an ally for Europe, highlighting Israeli innovation in the fields of defense and security in the face of growing anti-Israel sentiment.

“Israel is becoming an increasingly significant country in the defense of Europe itself, and Europe benefits from its activities in the field of security,” Sa’ar said.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-902490

Book Cancelled for Refusal to Bash Israel

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/430143

Holocaust scholar's book canceled after refusal to bash Israel

Dr. Rafael Medoff says publication of 'Cartoonists Against the Holocaust' was canceled after he rejected demands to include accusations against Israel and the US in the book's introduction

A planned book on American editorial cartoons from the Holocaust era was canceled after its author refused demands to include criticism of Israel and the United States in the introduction.

Dr. Rafael Medoff, author of "Cartoonists Against the Holocaust," said that a Dark Horse imprint editor sought to add language accusing Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity and comparing prisons in the US to concentration camps.

Medoff rejected the proposed language, arguing that the claims were inaccurate and would inject contemporary political issues into a historical work.

“Accusing Israel of genocide is a lie, and requiring a Holocaust scholar to denounce Israel to see his book published is antisemitic bullying," Medoff said.

"Cartoonists Against the Holocaust" presents 150 editorial cartoons published in American newspapers during the 1930s and 1940s, accompanied by Medoff's commentary. The book is intended to illustrate what information was available to Americans about the Holocaust while it was taking place.

Dark Horse previously published two books by Medoff, "Whistleblowers" and "Cartoonists Against Racism."

In a September 202, the imprint editor proposed adding a separate note addressing Israel and the US. Medoff responded that references to “concentration camps" in the United States diminished the suffering of Jewish victims of Nazi concentration camps.

“There are no concentration camps in America, and it’s not a Nazi country," Medoff wrote. “Misusing the term ‘concentration camps’ diminishes the suffering that was experienced by the Jewish victims of the real concentration camps in the 1930s-1940s."

Medoff also accused the imprint editor of imposing a political test on the publication of his work.

“It’s troubling to see McCarthyism rearing its ugly head in 21st-century America. Historians should be free to write about history, without being subjected to political litmus tests," he said.

Gammill, Director of Legal Policy and Litigation at StandWithUs Saidoff Law, criticized the circumstances described by Medoff.

“When a comic book publisher pressures a Holocaust scholar to denounce the Jewish state before his own book on the Holocaust can see print, the irony is hard to miss," she said.

Medoff is the founding director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies in Washington, DC.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/430143

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/430187

The cancellation of Rafael Medoff’s book on Holocaust cartoons

The perils of politicizing Holocaust memory

In an era increasingly defined by ideological litmus tests and the coercive imposition of political orthodoxy, the abrupt cancellation of Dr. Rafael Medoff’s forthcoming volume, “Cartoonists Against the Holocaust," represents not merely a publishing dispute but a profound cultural rupture. As reported by The New York Post on Friday, the episode has ignited a fierce debate over intellectual independence, historical integrity, and the alarming encroachment of contemporary political agendas upon the sanctity of Holocaust scholarship.

At the center of the controversy stands Medoff, a preeminent historian and founding director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, whose scholarly contributions have long been regarded as both rigorous and morally lucid. His book, intended to chronicle the role of editorial cartoonists in exposing Nazi atrocities during the 1940s, was poised to offer a compelling examination of how visual satire served as a vehicle for truth during one of history’s darkest chapters. Yet, the project was ultimately derailed-not by questions of scholarship or merit-but by an insistence from editor Craig Yoe that the book’s introduction include denunciations of Israel and the United States.

According to Medoff, the demand was unequivocal: insert language accusing Israel of “war crimes" in Gaza and liken American immigration policies to “concentration-style prisons," or risk seeing the book shelved indefinitely. The historian’s response was equally resolute. “There are no concentration camps in America, and it’s not a Nazi country," Medoff wrote in a detailed rebuttal cited by The New York Post. “Misusing the term ‘concentration camps’ diminishes the suffering that was experienced by the Jewish victims of the real concentration camps in the 1930s-1940s."

This was not, by any reasonable measure, a controversial stance. It was, rather, a defense of historical accuracy and moral proportion-principles that ought to be sacrosanct in any serious engagement with the Holocaust. Yet Medoff’s refusal to accede to “factually inaccurate" and ideologically motivated insertions ultimately led to the book’s cancellation. “The book was canceled. I was canceled," he told The New York Post, encapsulating in a single sentence the broader phenomenon of cultural exclusion that has come to define much of the contemporary intellectual landscape.

The implications of this episode extend far beyond the confines of a single publishing house. They speak to a growing tendency to instrumentalize Holocaust memory for present-day political ends, a practice that risks not only distorting historical understanding but also eroding the moral authority of Holocaust scholarship itself. Medoff’s objection to the use of the term “genocide" in reference to Israel was particularly pointed. “Accusing Israel of genocide is a lie," he stated unequivocally, adding that “requiring a Holocaust scholar to denounce Israel to see his book published is antisemitic bullying."

Such language underscores a critical concern: the conflation of contemporary geopolitical disputes with the unparalleled horrors of the Holocaust. To equate modern state actions with the systematic extermination of millions of Jews is not merely analytically flawed; it is, as Medoff suggested, a diminishment of the very suffering that the Holocaust represents. The New York Post has consistently highlighted this tension, noting that the integrity of Holocaust discourse is imperiled when historical terminology is deployed recklessly or polemically.

Craig Yoe’s position, as reflected in his correspondence, reveals a markedly different perspective. In a September 1, 2025 email cited by The New York Post, Yoe wrote that he had “thought long and hard" about including a separate note in the book to critique both Israel and the United States. He asserted that the Trump administration was “attempting to create concentration camp-style prisons" and that Israel was led by a prime minister facing allegations of “war crimes and crimes against humanity." These claims, Medoff argued, were not only extraneous to the subject of the book but also demonstrably inaccurate.

The fundamental issue, therefore, is not one of editorial discretion but of intellectual coercion. By conditioning the publication of a Holocaust-focused work on the inclusion of politically charged and historically dubious assertions, Yoe effectively sought to subordinate scholarship to ideology. This is a precedent that should alarm anyone committed to the principles of academic freedom and editorial independence.

It is worth noting that Dark Horse, the publisher originally contracted to release the book, has denied that political considerations played a role in its decision to cancel the project. As The New York Post reported, the company’s legal counsel attributed the cancellation to “financial needs and some scheduling issues." Yet this explanation has done little to quell skepticism, particularly in light of the detailed account provided by Medoff and corroborated by the advocacy organization StandWithUs.

Carly Gammill, legal director of StandWithUs, articulated the broader significance of the episode in remarks cited by The New York Post: “When a comic book publisher pressures a Holocaust scholar to denounce the Jewish state before his own book on the Holocaust can see print, the irony is hard to miss." Indeed, the juxtaposition is as stark as it is troubling. A work intended to illuminate the historical struggle against antisemitism was itself subjected to conditions that are reflective of contemporary antisemitic pressures.

The cancellation of Medoff’s book is not an isolated incident. As The New York Post has observed, it forms part of a broader pattern in which Jewish artists, intellectuals, and public figures have faced professional repercussions in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. The cases of comic book creator Miriam Libicki and filmmaker Nadav Lapid, both of whom encountered institutional resistance linked to their Israeli identity or pro-Israel positions, further illustrate this trend.

What distinguishes the Medoff case, however, is the explicit attempt to compel a Holocaust scholar to adopt a particular political stance as a condition of publication. This is not merely a matter of editorial preference; it is an intrusion into the domain of scholarly autonomy. The Holocaust, as a subject of study, demands a level of rigor and sensitivity that is incompatible with the imposition of extraneous ideological frameworks.

Medoff’s professional credentials lend additional weight to his position. As the founding director of a leading institute dedicated to Holocaust studies, he has devoted his career to preserving the historical record and combating distortion. His book, which includes 150 editorial cartoons-nine of which were originally published in The New York Post during the 1940s-was intended to shed light on how information about the Holocaust was disseminated in real time. To derail such a project on political grounds is, at best, a disservice to scholarship and, at worst, an act of cultural erasure.

The broader question that emerges from this controversy is whether the publishing industry is becoming increasingly inhospitable to viewpoints that deviate from prevailing ideological currents. If the price of publication is the adoption of specific political positions, then the marketplace of ideas is no longer a forum for open inquiry but a mechanism for enforcing conformity.

In defending his refusal to comply with Yoe’s demands, Medoff has articulated a principle that resonates far beyond this particular dispute: the integrity of historical scholarship must not be compromised by contemporary political pressures. His stance is not one of obstinacy but of fidelity-to facts, to history, and to the moral gravity of the Holocaust.

As The New York Post noted in its coverage, the stakes of this debate are considerable. The Holocaust is not merely a subject of academic study; it is a foundational element of modern moral consciousness. To politicize its memory is to risk trivializing its lessons.

In the final analysis, the cancellation of “Cartoonists Against the Holocaust" is emblematic of a broader cultural moment in which the boundaries between scholarship and ideology are increasingly contested. Medoff’s refusal to acquiesce to editorial demands that are both inaccurate and inappropriate constitutes an act of intellectual courage-one that deserves recognition and, indeed, emulation.

The line he drew is one that must be preserved.

Fern Sidman, a former NY correspondent for Arutz Sheva, is the current editor-in-chief of The Jewish Voice, a New York based publication. Her writings can be accessed at tjvnews.com

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/430187

Israel warned USA about Iranian Plot in Turkey?

 https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15973017/US-warned-plot-kill-Trump-Turkey-decided-avoid-flying-new-Air-Force-One.html

Israeli intelligence had informed Washington earlier that week that Iran was exploring assassination plots.

Then the US was warned by a Western intelligence agency that Iran was plotting to kill Donald Trump in Turkey. 

According to Israeli broadcaster Channel 12, senior Iranian officials saw Trump's visit to Ankara, Turkey's capital, last week for a major NATO summit as an opportunity to take out the US president. 

But US authorities were warned of the plot in advance, prompting a last-minute switch of his aircraft from his new Air Force One plane to an older model.

The New York Times reported last week that one of the main reasons for the switch was because the Secret Service was concerned the new aircraft, donated by the Qataris, did not have all the necessary features of the old plane.  

Reporters were told to keep window shades closed in the press cabin during take-off, without explanation.

It came as Trump alluded to previous alleged assassination attempts by Iran during a press conference on Wednesday. 

The President declared at the NATO summit in Turkey: 'They [Iran] want to take out the US leader - me. I'm on every list.'

'I'm on every single one of their lists, and so far I guess I've been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn't last very long, because that's the way it goes,' Trump continued. 

The US was warned by a Western intelligence agency that Iran was plotting to kill Donald Trump (pictured) in Turkey

The new Air Force One plane (pictured) was donated by Qatar 

But there have been concerns that the new plane does not have the same safety features as the old one

President Donald Trump waves as he switches planes at US Air Force Base, RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk Eastern England

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15973017/US-warned-plot-kill-Trump-Turkey-decided-avoid-flying-new-Air-Force-One.html

Trump 'avoids flying on new Air Force One jet gifted by Qatar over assassination fears'

US President Donald Trump used his old Air Force One plane to leave the Nato summit in Turkey after a switch was made at the request of the US Secret Service 'as a security precaution.'

Trump sent his new Qatari-gifted jet ahead to Britain before his arrival. After landing at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk aboard his old aircraft, the US President switched to the new plane for the journey back to Washington. 

Trump said on his Truth Social network he was sending the new jet to Mildenhall airbase so that service members would have a 'chance to tour the Aircraft.'

'Everybody is so excited, and we thought that they should be the first. For old time's sake, we´ll be taking the former Air Force One, from Turkey,' Trump added.

But the switch from the new jet on its maiden foreign trip sparked speculation it was because its security features were lacking, particularly as the US launched fresh strikes against Iran, which borders Turkey. 

According to the New York Times, citing unnamed security sources, the new plane lacks some capabilities of the old plane, but the switch was not made because of a specific threat.

Reporters were told to keep window shades closed in the press cabin during take-off, without explanation.

It came as Trump alluded to previous alleged assassination attempts by Iran during a press conference on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump's £300m new Air Force One touched down in the UK on Wednesday

The President declared at the NATO summit in Turkey: 'They [Iran] want to take out the US leader - me. I'm on every list.'

'I'm on every single one of their lists, and so far I guess I've been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn't last very long, because that's the way it goes,' Trump continued.

His warning came as hardline lawmakers in Tehran openly called for missiles to be fired at his location at the summit. Earlier this week, mourners at Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's funeral placed a death bounty on Trump.

The President again brought up his demise during a press conference alongside Marco Rubio and his other top cabinet officials.

While discussing Iran's leadership, installed after Khamenei was killed in the war, Trump said: 'They're gone now. They have another set of leaders. They may be gone.'

'Who knows? And you know what, I may be gone too because I'm their number one target. It's out all over the place. I'm the number one because they're scum.'

Trump's comments came after he declared his ceasefire with Iran 'over' and unleashed fresh strikes on the regime after Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. 

During Khamenei's funeral on Monday, footage from Tehran shows pro-regime demonstrators with posters featuring red crosshairs over Trump's face, above the seven-word warning: 'Sooner or later, your heads will roll.'

Other posters showed the faces of JD Vance and Pete Hegseth over a crosshair with the phrase: 'There will be blood.'

Chants of 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel' rang out across the capital as Khamenei's coffin was borne through the streets of Tehran.

Iranians were also seen lighting US and British flags on fire while hurling rocks at pictures of Trump. An effigy of Trump being hanged was pictured near the front of the funeral procession.

The regime's desire to kill Trump goes back to his first term, following the 2020 drone strike the President ordered that killed Revolutionary Guard general Qasem Soleimani.

US intelligence repeatedly warned during his 2024 campaign that Iran was plotting to assassinate him as well as former officials from his first term in revenge for the strike.

Federal prosecutors charged a Revolutionary Guard operative with offering $300,000 to have Trump's former national security advisor John Bolton murdered on American soil.

Trump's ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and one-time Iran envoy Brian Hook were forced to live under round-the-clock government protection.

Aboard the new Air Force One after leaving Turkey, Trump told a reporter, 'you're probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleazebags we have to deal with' - an apparent reference to Iran, which he went on to refer to as 'sick people.'

The President declared at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey: 'They [Iran] want to take out the US leader - me. I'm on every list'

Pro-regime demonstrators in Tehran hold a poster featuring crosshairs over Trump's face as they mourn Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday

Aboard the new Air Force One after leaving Turkey, Trump told a reporter, 'you're probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleazebags we have to deal with'

Asked if he was aware of a credible threat from Iran, Trump only said, 'I have a threat all the time. I'm number one on their list.'

Qatar's royal family donated the 747-8 plane last year after Trump complained about the state of the two ageing jets that have served as the US presidential plane since 1990.

The new plane was rapidly retrofitted and equipped with security features before making its first flight with Trump on July 1.

It features a new red, white and navy blue colour scheme in a change from the previous white and light blue livery.

Two brand-new Boeing Air Force Ones are due to be delivered later this decade after a series of delays.

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15964425/Trump-avoids-flying-new-Air-Force-One-jet-gifted-Qatar-assassination-fears.html

Top ex-Iranian commander boasts country can assassinate Trump inside White House: ‘We are capable’

A former top Iranian commander has chillingly boasted that his country could assassinate President Trump even inside the White House.

“If the goal is to assassinate Trump, the Islamic Republic can easily do so in the White House. Whenever necessary, we are capable of doing that,” claimed Hossein Kanani Moghaddam, a former senior commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to the Iranian news website Fararu.

The general meanwhile asserted that his country is not aiming for peace from the current US-Iran talks — and refused to rule out “revenge” against America for the war.

“As for revenge and retaliation, they remain firmly on the table,” Moghaddam added.

https://nypost.com/2026/07/13/world-news/ex-iran-commander-says-country-can-kill-trump-inside-white-house/

New Plan for Safe Roads in Judea and Samaria

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/429945

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-902148

Judea and Samaria: Plan to pave safe access roads takes off

Government expected to approve over 1b NIS to pave security and access roads to dozens of new towns in Judea and Samaria

The Israeli government is expected to approve a NIS 1.075 billion budget plan to build transportation and security infrastructure for dozens of new communities in Judea and Samaria.

The initiative is being led by Finance Minister and Minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich, following approximately two months of planning by a professional team in the Settlement Administration.

The funding is designated for the construction of access roads and security routes to communities approved by the Security Cabinet during the war. Among these communities are four northern Samaria towns evacuated under the 2005 Disengagement Plan - Homesh, Sa-Nur, Ganim, and Kadim - as well as a number of additional new communities slated to be established in the coming years.

Government officials said the decision is intended to address the immediate need for secure access and security roads for the new communities, noting that such projects cannot be financed through the standard infrastructure costs associated with land development. To that end, the Transportation Ministry, in cooperation with the Settlement Administration in the Defense Ministry and the Finance Ministry, formulated a detailed multi-year plan.

Under the proposal, the budget will be spread over three years and allocated to the Transportation and Defense ministries. The plan includes designing and paving new access roads, upgrading existing roads, and completing connecting road segments between communities where needed. Security components will also be incorporated as an integral part of the infrastructure planning for communities throughout Judea and Samaria.

The proposal further stipulates that if the government approves additional communities in Judea and Samaria in the future, or normalizes existing communities, these will automatically be incorporated into the multi-year infrastructure plan and receive funding under the program.

Smotrich welcomed the initiative, saying: "The historic decision we approved will enable the establishment of dozens of communities at strategic locations in Judea and Samaria. We are leading a settlement and security revolution, with more than 100 communities and 160 farms strengthening the security of the State of Israel and putting an end to the dangerous idea of establishing a terrorist state in the very heart of the State of Israel."

"Faced with plans by an [MK Gadi] Eisenkot[-led] government to evacuate the new communities we have established, the multi-year program we are advancing will ensure the planning and construction of new access roads, the upgrading of existing routes, and connections between communities, alongside the integration of critical security components. We are working with determination alongside all government ministries to remove obstacles and obtain the necessary approvals to guarantee safe and orderly access for the new communities."

The government said the initiative forms part of its broader policy of expanding Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, with the infrastructure investment intended to facilitate the population of the new communities and integrate them into the regional transportation network while addressing the area's security needs.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/429945

Israel to approve West Bank settlement road budget worth over NIS 1 billion

The plan will include the construction of new roads and improvements to existing ones, the ministry stated, adding that any new settlements approved in the future will be included in the plan.

The Israeli government is set to approve a budget worth over NIS 1 billion for road construction to and between West Bank settlements, according to a statement released by the Finance Ministry.

The budget, led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, will primarily involve new settlements already approved for construction by Israel's cabinet, including four that were previously evacuated.

The plan's pending approval is in response to a need for safe and secure access to the settlements, the statement read.

According to the ministry, the budget, planned in conjunction with the Settlement Administration, will be split between the Defense Ministry and the Transportation Ministry.

Smotrich noted that the plan also involves establishing "critical security components," saying he is working to "ensure safe and regulated movement in the new settlements."

"The historic decision we approved will allow the establishment of dozens of settlements at strategic points in Judea and Samaria," said Smotrich. "We are leading a settlement-security revolution, with over 100 settlements and 160 farms that fortify the security of the State of Israel and will kill the terrible idea of ​​establishing a terrorist state in the heart of the State of Israel."

The plan will span three years and include the construction of new roads, improvements to existing ones, and security components, the ministry stated, adding that any new settlements approved in the future will be included in the plan.

West Bank hotel budget

The road budget's approval on Sunday will follow the July 5 approval of NIS 27 million allocated to the development and construction of hotels in the West Bank aimed at tourism promotion.

The hotel budget, financed through the Tourism Ministry, will be distributed through 2030 and include grants supporting hotel establishment, conversion, and expansion.

“For the first time, we will lead a comprehensive initiative combining planning, infrastructure development, the creation of land reserves for hotels, and a dedicated track to encourage hotel construction,” said Tourism Minister Haim Katz, noting that the budget will “enable the realization of the enormous tourism potential in Judea and Samaria.”

"We will remove barriers in the sector, create certainty for investors, and lay the groundwork that will increase the supply of accommodation rooms, attract tourists, and strengthen the local economy,” added Katz.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-902148