YESHA Council in Washington DC

YESHA Council in Washington DC

Dani Dayan presenting to the House Leadership and
leaders of major Jewish organizations  

The YESHA Council is consistently asked to travel abroad and represent the Jewish communities of Judea & Samaria.  A typical example was Dani Dayan's recent trip to Washington, DC where he met with elected officials in Congress, think-tanks, pro-Israel activist organizations and of course, the media. 

 

Dani Dayan presenting to five Congressmen
and other Capitol Hill influencers

However, the trip itself was identified by Israel's left-wing paper of choice, Haaretz, as a trailblazing effort by the YESHA community to penetrate DC to unprecedented levels.  The US-based media was also interested as evidenced by an interview with Dani in the left-wing Salon and another describing the trip and the YESHA Council's overall efforts in the Free Beacon.  Dani's meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations was attended by a wide spectrum of foreign policy experts and influential pundit, including representatives from the Jordanian government and others who were more hostile to the YESHA Council's approach to peaceful co-existence, including the following blog in PeaceFare.







Dani Dayan with Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina

The YESHA Council will continue to present the accurate depiction of the residents of Judea and Samaria and describe/explain the damage that the current peace process is doing to the prospects of long-term peace, wherever the YESHA Council is invited to participate.

 



Dani Dayan with Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona

Dani Dayan with Rep. Dave Reichert of Washington








 



































 



YESHA Council Media Coverage

Media Coverage

As the official representative of the Jewish communities of Judea & Samaria, the YESHA Council is often the clearinghouse for opinion-editorial articles, responses to news developments, and general commentary on behalf of the 'settlement community'.

YESHA Council's Chief Foreign Envoy, Dani Dayan is interviewed by the international press on a daily basis and his opinion articles have been printed in some of the most influential media outlets in the world. 

A sampling of Dani's recent Op-eds includes his argument for a "two stage solution," in the  LA Times; how the two state formula is doomed to fail, in the New York Times; his advice to President Obama in the Boston Globe; explaining how an Israeli Judea & Samaria are part of the only viable solution to peace, in the London's The Guardian; and warning against negotiating away Jewish communities, in the USA Today

In addition, there are many other friends of YESHA who are also regularly featured in the media that we would like to bring to your attention.  Among those are Northwestern University Professor Eugene Kontorovich who points out the hypocrisy of the EU threatening to boycott the Jewish communities of Judea & Samaria in the Jerusalem Post, David Rubin of Shiloh and Ruth Lieberman of Alon Shvut featured in this CBN  report on the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria and this JCPA

video clearly explaining why Israel cannot accept a UN presence to protect her citizens.

Meet The Settlers

The YESHA Council hosts reporters from around the world on a weekly basis and provides them with a perspective on the region that they do not encounter elsewhere including on-site visits. However the team of reporters that came from the London Telegraph to mark the 20^th anniversary of the Oslo Accords, was not only unique in terms of the YESHA Council's activities, but also in the product it produced. 

The YESHA Council spent weeks introducing the reporters to exclusive stories that allowed the true nature of the residents to be exposed.  While the result was far from perfect, it represents the most positive and comprehensive perspective of the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria published in a mainstream media outlet.  The article itself is really a multi-media presentation including 13,000 words, and dozens of photos and videos broken in to seven chapters.

After spending more than 30 hours interviewing residents, seeing day to life – prayers, schools, yeshivot, shopping, employment, etc., they came away with a much more accurate appreciation for the optimistic spirit that permeates the lives of the Jewish residents of YESHA – a very different perspective than what they had before they arrived in Israel.

Many of their experiences did not make it into the article, but certainly helped provide them the context for their report.  In particular their visit to the alternative elementary school "Reishit" in Rosh Tzurim (Gush Etzyon), their visit to the Biblical site of Shiloh – where the Tabernacle resided for 369 years, and where Hannah prayed for the birth of Samuel, - visiting with parents as their children rode bicycles and played on swings in Eli, all helped to establish the deep historical and contemporary roots that bind the Jewish residents to this land, and helped establish that our presence here is a positive development that is the only hope for a lasting peace.

Be sure to read the article, watch the videos, view the photos and share Meet the Settlers with your friends.

Welcome to the official blog of the YESHA Council, the umbrella organization of the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria, which you may have heard it referred to as the "West Bank".  In this blog you will be provided with a window into the reality of the lives, challenges and optimism of the more than 365,000 Jewish residents in over 150 cities, towns, villages, kibbutzim and moshavim of the region.  You will also understand why the only accurate name for this region is tied to its traditional, Jewish name, Judea & Samaria.

Recently, the YESHA Council established an External Affairs division led by Dani Dayan, the Council’s former Chairman, (see his profile in the New York Times) to make our case to world leaders, thinkers and influencers about the nature of the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria, how the international focus on a two-state solution is not only doomed to fail, but it is harmful for American/European/international interests, and is toxic towards an environment conducive for peace.

 

While we are currently engaged in building robust communication platforms (including an English website), you will be receiving our regular newsletter communication of some of our recent activities which we will enlarge upon (with your active engagement) throughout the upcoming year.  Please consider passing this message along to other supporters of Israel.