With preparations firmly underway for Annapolis where PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is expected to sign an agreement with Israel, Hamas has all but issued a death decree against him.

The official website of Izz A-Din Al-Kassam Brigades of Hamas quotes its official spokesman Abu Obieda as saying, "Abbas is an enemy of the Palestinian nation."

The Abu Obieda statement on the Hamas website

Abu Obieda says the ongoing meetings between Abu Mazen and the Zionist entity which "carried out acts of slaughter", even as the "Zionist attacks continue against the Palestinian people continue," are proof that "Abbas and the people around him are not concerned with the suffering of the Palestinian people."  Abu Obieda calls the meetings "a waste of time, that do not obligate the Palestinian people."

Abu Obieda further states that Abu Mazen's talks with Israel are designed to "stick a knife in the back of the Palestinian people and harm their resistance... They are therefore considered acts of treachery and treason against the Palestinian people."

The statement represents a frontal attack against Mahmoud Abbas and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority he runs - and a warning to those counting on the upcoming U.S.-sponsored Annapolis Mideast summit.  The Hamas terror organization, which currently governs the Gaza Strip that was evacuated two years ago by Israel, claims that Abbas has the status of "traitor to his people" for his continued contacts with Israel. 

Arutz-7's Arab affairs expert Dalit HaLevy, who translated the website's message from the original Arabic, says the statement means Abbas is fair game for assassination, just as many of his aides and security forces were killed by Hamas in the June, 2007 takeover of Gaza.

Israeli officials continue to rely on Abbas/Fatah, as preparations for the Annapolis summit continue in high gear.  The summit is scheduled for late November.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad are planning to convene an alternative "summits" at the same time as the Annapolis conference, to express their opposition to any agreement with Israel.  Prominent Islamic Jihad leader Muhammad Al-Hindi announced Wednesday that the Arab factions intend to hold two alternative conferences, one in Damascus, Syria, and one in Gaza.

Work on the partition wall/fence has slowed to a crawl - and some coalition MKs are calling it a positive development.

In at least two articles in three days on the partition wall construction, the Jerusalem Post laments its slow pace, blanketly claiming that the partition "has contributed to a significant decrease in terrorist attacks." The Post reports that the Defense Ministry recently ordered three contractors to hold off on work in the South Hevron Hills, and that "not a single kilometer of the West Bank security fence has been completed in the past four months."

Dudi Barrel, who heads the Israel Infrastructure Contractor's Association - representing the above three contractors- is quoted by the paper as saying, "The fence has proved that it saves lives."

But, MK David Rotem, of the government coalition's Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) party, says it's a "good thing that the fence is not being built." Rotem adds, "They should stop building altogether, and take apart the whole thing."

"To say that it saves lives is pure nonsense," Rotem says, "because terrorists can go around it or above it; witness the steep jump in Kassam attacks from Gaza, which has long been surrounded by a fence.  Not only that, but when the terrorists are shooting at us from behind a wall, it makes it much harder for us to go in and stop them... A Jewish state need not have to hide behind a wall. We must rather deter our enemies with our strength, both external and internal."

MK Rotem says the current lull in terror attacks against Israel is "because of the diplomatic negotiations currently underway, and because of their knowledge that we will hit them back - and not because of the fence..."

Other factors credited with contributing to the drop in terrorism include increased targeted killings of leading terrorists and strong Israeli intelligence efforts.

"In addition," Rotem continued, "the fence is a way of determining our final borders - and it's not even being done via negotiations, but by the courts in many cases. This is unacceptable."

Shneller: 'Waste of Money'
MK Otniel Shneller of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party says that the wall is a misuse of public funds. Following his Knesset speech on the topic on Wednesday, he released the following summary of his remarks:

"Diverting budgetary allocations from various security projects to complete the fence will harm Israel's national security interests... There is no need to rush to finish the partition wall.  If it is a security interest, the IDF needs the money for more important objectives, such as the Iranian and Syrian dangers and more.  If the fence is a diplomatic interest, then we should wait for a diplomatic agreement that will determine the final route of the fence, without court intervention."

MK Shai Hermesh of Kadima, though a resident of the Kassam-battered western Negev, does not agree: "The fence must be finished immediately; nothing stands in the way of saving lives."

Sharoni: 'Forget the Kassams'
MK Moshe Sharoni (Pensioners) told Arutz-7, "The fence must be completed."  Asked about the Kassams constantly fired from fence-enclosed Gaza, he said, "Forget about the Kassams; we'll solve that. The fence must be built, so that everyone will know where we are and where they are."

Some 40 Kassams and mortar shells have been fired at Israel over the past three days.  Thus fare on Thursday morning, over a dozen have been launched. On Tuesday, a residential building was hit north of Gaza, and several people were treated for shock.

Leshem: 'Berlin Wall Was Effective, But Not This One'
Col. (res.) Moshe Leshem, of Gamla Shall Not Fall Again, says, "The best fence in the world was that which separated between eastern and western Berlin, with guards who had orders to fire on sight - and yet thousands of people crossed it.  Here in Israel, the guards have no such orders, and infiltrators and terrorists can easily cut the fence - most of the partition is not made up of concrete walls - and, with the help of local Arabs, escape detection."

Leshem adds, "The partition is merely political, and is a dangerous illusion that has nothing to do with security... The fence demarcates the borders back to what they were before the 1967 Six Day War, more or less, with the help of the Supreme Court, which keeps moving it back closer to the 1967 border."

As of now, some 450 out of 800 kilometers or 57% of the total planned length of the wall has been completed.  800 million shekels have been spent on the wall just in the year 2007 alone - for the construction of only 48 kilometers, and the partial construction of another 80.  The total cost for the full 800 kilometers could run to the phenomenal sum of over 10 billion shekels.

Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit (Kadima) struck a blow to one of the central pillars of Zionism Tuesday, calling for an end to automatic citizenship for Jews who make aliyah (immigrate to Israel).

Addressing the governing board of the Jewish Agency, Sheetrit said that funds should be directed to helping immigrants already living in Israel instead of absorbing “lost tribes” from Africa and Asia. “Don't go finding me any lost tribes, because I won't let them in any more," he declared. "We have enough problems in Israel. Let them go to America."

Jewish Graduates from India at the MaTan-Herzog Hospital Nurse's Assistant Program in Israel

Sheetrit said that new immigrants should not automatically receive citizenship, but have a five-year waiting period, take a pledge of allegiance and pass a Hebrew-proficiency test prior to becoming Israeli.

He specifically referred to a rise in cases of neo-Nazism among Russian immigrants, some one million of which immigrated to Israel in the past 16 years. Three to four hundred thousand of the Russian immigrants are non-Jews recruited by the Jewish Agency using Jewish donor funds.

As it stands, the Law of Return, passed in 1950, mirrors the classifications of “Jewish descent” outlined in the Nazi Nuremberg Laws, with the intention that anyone who would have been persecuted as Jewish by the Nazis be granted refuge in the Jewish State.

Under this law, the Jewish Agency has been accused of taking advantage of the Law to recruit non-Jews with tenuous connections to the Jewish people – via one grandparent or the marriage of relatives to a Jew – promising them a better economic situation so as to increase the numbers of immigrants it can report having brought.

Many groups have called for the Law of Return to be amended to open Israel's doors only to those considered Jewish by Halacha (Jewish Law).

The Interior Minister is, however, calling to make aliyah harder for all Jews. The ministry proposes to change the Law of Return to reflect absorption policies of other Western countries. "I want to see that he is not a criminal, that he is learning Hebrew and that he is here for five years before receiving citizenship," Sheetrit said.

The Jewish Agency said in response that "the State of Israel must remain open to any Jew, without any conditions” and continues to support the Law of Return in its current form.

Sheetrit said the funding spent on encouraging aliyah should be used to help immigrants already living in Israel, “whose lives are miserable.”

Michael Freund, who heads the Shavei Israel organization, which assists groups of Jewish descent in converting and moving to Israel called Sheetrit’s remarks “post-Zionism in its ugliest form.”

“Essentially, Mr. Sheetrit has lost sight of what Zionism and Israel are all about. The country was founded on immigration and meant to serve as a refuge for the entire Jewish people,” Freund said. Freund pointed out that Sheetrit’s own family, immigrants from Morocco, would themselves bear the brunt of his callousness had he been Interior Minister at the time of their aliyah. “It is as if he has forgotten everything that he and his family and millions of other immigrants went through.”

Commenting on Sheetrit’s mocking of descendents of the lost ten Jewish tribes, Freund alleged that Sheetrit has refused to study the issue or even meet with members of communities such as the Bnei Menashe, who have been converting and moving to Israel from northeast India. “Sheetrit is, unfortunately, exploiting recent news reports about the discovery of neo-Nazis among recent immigrants to Israel as an excuse to keep out other unrelated groups that sincerely want to tie their fate with the people of Israel. These are apples and oranges. One has absolutely nothing to do with the other.”

Freund went one step further: “Mr. Sheetrit has no place serving in the government of a Zionist Jewish state There is a strong element of racism and ignorance that runs through Mr. Sheetrit’s thinking on this issue. A person’s country of origin or the color of their skin has nothing whatsoever to do with their Jewish identity – nor should it. The return to Zion is a Divine process that is greater than any one man or institution. And no one, not even a minister in the cabinet, can stand in its way. The return of the Bnei Menashe to Israel can and will continue."

Israel's Chief Rabbinate recognized the Bnei Menashe as "Descendants of Israel" in March, 2005 and sent a a beit din (rabbinical court) on its behalf to the region to formally convert them to Judaism.

A bill that will prevent those who visit enemy states from being members of Israel’s Knesset passed its first reading Wednesday.

The bill, submitted by government-coalition member MK Esterina Tartman (Yisrael Beiteinu) and MK Zevulun Orlev (National Religious Party) is aimed at preventing Arab MKs’ regular visits to Lebanon and Syria. It was approved by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation and then passed by a majority of 52 in favor and 19 opposed. It must pass two more readings before it becomes law.

The states classified as enemies are: Iran, Yemen, Syria, Venezuala, Somalia, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Chad and Afghanistan. Special permission may be granted by the government for individuals or MKs to travel there, however.

Arab and Meretz MKs responded angrily to the bill’s passing. MK Mohammad Barakeh (Hadash) declared: “If you make us choose between loyalty to our people and being in the Knesset – we'll leave the Knesset to you, and let all the racists choke!"     

MK Zehava Gal-On (Meretz) also claimed the bill, which applies both to Jews and non-Jews, is “racist.”

MK Ahmed Tibi (United Arab List) vowed to defy the law. “Corrupt MKs want a Knesset without Arabs,” he said. “Next time I am invited, I will go even if it means I have to sit in jail.” He and fellow Arab MKs have made a practice of visiting Syria and Lebanon in defiance of Israeli law. Until now, Israel’s Attorney General Menachem Mazuz – the sole arbiter on whether to enforce the law – has declined to prosecute the MKs. The proposed law would change that and result in their removal from the Knesset.    

The phenomenon of Arab MKs associating with enemy states came to the fore following Balad Chairman and former MK Azmi Bishara’s fleeing of the country amidst an investigation into charges that he assisted Hizbullah during the Second Lebanon War. Bishara frequently visited Syria and following his flight from Israel met with Hizbullah Chief Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon.    

“The Bishara affair and incitement against Israel on the part of some of the Arab MKs, as well as their trips to Syria and meetings with heads of the Hamas, are beyond the realm of free speech and constitute clear encouragement of attacks and terror activities against Israel and her citizens,” MK Orlev said.

MK Tartman pointed out that similar laws exist in most other nations. “It's time that Israel opens her eyes,” she said. “Enough with Arab MKs spitting in our faces and us pretending it's raining.”

The plot continues to thicken following the clashes in the Druze-Jewish village of Peki’in Tuesday. New video evidence shows that Druze Arabic-speaking residents opened fire on the Israeli police first.

Police say that they have video tape evidence showing, without a doubt, that a number of Druze residents from the village opened fire on police, leading the officers to respond with live ammunition. The video features gunfire followed by police yelling “they are shooting at us!”

Public Security Minister Avi Dichter received the video Wednesday upon his return from a visit to the United States. After speaking with Police Chief Dudi Cohen and paying a visit to the wounded police officers in the hospital, Dichter said that what happened in Peki’in was like "a pogrom and must not be allowed to become the norm.”

Dichter said the mob aimed to kill police. “Huge blocks were thrown from the roofs of homes with the intention of killing police – no less than that,” he said.  He expressed his support for Cohen’s decision to establish an inquiry into the incident and also praised the police for releasing arrested rioters in return for the female border police officer held hostage during the riots.

Eyewitnesses in Peki’in say the cell phone tower erected in a nearby Jewish community, while upsetting to Druze residents, was not the reason for the riots.

“There is a growing group of anti-establishment youth here, who already on Monday [a day before the big riot] torched a police car, with the officers fleeing for their lives,” Jewish resident Aviv Ziegelman told the Yisrael HaYom newspaper. “They received word Monday night that the police were coming and prepared iron clubs, IDF-issue grenades and even handguns – it felt like a Hamas rally here with shooting in the air and everything.”

Ziegelman said that police surrounded the village and seemed to be waiting for the mob to quiet down before entering. “But when a grenade was thrown at police they had no choice but to go in.”

The findings of the inquiry are due to be presented in two weeks. Meanwhile, Machash – the Division for the Investigation of Police Officers – is also following up on several complaints lodged by local Druze residents against police.

An armed terrorist was hit by IDF fire as he approached the security fence near the Gaza town of el-Buraij at approximately 5:00 p.m. Wednesday evening. An IDF spokeswoman says the extent of his injuries is not known.

In a separate attack at around the same time, IDF troops attacked a terrorist cell near Beit Hanoun as it was firing mortars at Jewish targets in the western Negev. It was not clear whether any of the terrorists were hit by the gunfire. The mortars landed in open fields, with no injuries or damage reported.

The Israel Air Force (IAF) released footage [shown below] showing terrorists shelling Israeli targets from inside a school courtyard, in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun.

If you don't see video screen, click here

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The footage of the Monday attack shows a terrorist setting up the mortar a meter or two from the front doors of the school and launching it. An IAF pilot fired at the terrorist some time after he launched the mortar.

A mortar shell fired from northern Gaza also exploded near Kibbutz Nahal Oz in the western Negev Wednesday night. Initial reports said the shell hurt no one and caused no damage.

The IDF spokeswoman denied a Palestinian Authority report of an air strike on a car carrying Islamic Jihad terrorists Wednesday afternoon in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis.

A PA source also claimed IDF ground troops killed an Islamic Jihad terrorist during a firefight in central Gaza earlier in the day. The source identified the dead terrorist as 23-year-old Mahmoud al-Hajj, according to Haaretz, which said the IDF declined to comment on the matter.

Hundreds of people participated in a memorial ceremony and study day in memory of Rabbi Meir Kahane in Jerusalem Tuesday, marking the 17th anniversary of the fiery rabbi and political leader's death at the hands of an Arab assassin.

Rabbi Kahane founded the controversial Jewish Defense League in the US which promoted a proud and forceful Jewish response to acts of anti-Semitism. He raised the issue of oppressed Russian Jewry to public consciousness through demonstrations which often turned violent at Russian sports, cultural, and political events. Upon making aliyah (immigrating to Israel) in 1971, he founded the Kach party and was elected to Knesset in 1984 for one term until being banned from politics through the the Anti-Racist Law of 1988. The Kach platform called for the forcible eviction of Arabs from Israel as a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Rabbi Kahane published numerous books including classical Torah commentaries and analysis of socialogical trends in the Jewish world.He wrote a column in the USA's largest orthodox newspaper, The Jewish Press.

Hundreds attend memorial seminar for Rabbi Meir Kahane

Following a Torah study session Tuesday morning at Rabbi Kahane's Yeshiva of the Jewish Idea (a school for Higher Torah Learning), a memorial ceremony was held at his grave in Jerusalem's Giv'at Shaul neighborhood. In the evening, students and followers gathered for lectures in his memory.  Organized by Rabbi Kahane's disciple Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, the evening is to be the first of a series of such memorial study sessions to advance the Rabbi's ideology and teachings.

Rabbi Yehuda Kroizer, head of the Yeshiva of the Jewish Idea, spoke of Rabbi Kahane's vision of the State of Israel as the beginning of the Jewish nation's redemption. He quoted Rabbi Kahane's opinion that he who does not see "the manifest miracles of the creation of the State of Israel" is better off dead, and recalled that Nachmanides (Ramban) had trouble finding a quorum of ten Jews in Jerusalem 700 years ago. Rabbi Kroizer noted, however, that Rabbi Kahane differentiated between the state and its present government.

Lenny Goldberg, editor of the weekly Darka Shel Torah pamphlet which includes Rabbi Kahane's teachings, devoted his lecture to Rabbi Kahane's book "Listen World, Listen Jew." The book has been printed in the U.S. in tens of thousands of copies. Goldberg said that the book helped many Jews find their Judaism and revolutionize their lives. In the book, Rabbi Kahane tells the story of a demonstration he organized for the freedom of the Prisoners of Zion in the Soviet Union – a struggle in which Rabbi Kahane's role is seen as having been crucial. Sitting in jail afterwards with the demonstrators, the rabbi saw that one of them, a long-haired "hippie," was crying. When he tried to comfort him, the young man said: "I am crying because this is the first time that I am doing something for my own nation."

Gil Ronen, a former IDF Radio reporter, told the story of how he participated in the media campaign against Rabbi Kahane when the Kach movement was at the height of its power, after the 1984 elections. Ronen explained that he was sent to interview Rabbi Kahane as part of the military station's "Day Against Racism," which was actually a day against the Kahane movement. "My purpose was to make him look as bad as possible," Ronen explained. "The tactic I chose was to play up his support for a halachic (Jewish Law) state, in the thought that some of his non-religious followers would be turned off by that."

Ronen humorously raised the possibility that the audience would stone him after his confession, and asked them to make the stoning "as quick and merciful as possible." The audience laughed, and Ronen walked off the stage in one piece.

Michael Ben-Chorin, a colorful right-wing activist from the Golan Heights and a veteran Kahane supporter, devoted his speech to memories of one of the most successful operations mounted by the Kach movement: the thwarting, in 1986, of the return of Arabs from Ikrit and Bir'am to the villages they fled from in 1948. The Israeli government had decided to allow the Arabs back to the villages in the northern Galilee, which are situated atop ancient Jewish ruins. A successful Kach media and flyer campaign in the area's communities foiled the government decision and the Arabs did not return.

The final speaker, Attorney Rachamim Cohen, who was a close confident of Rabbi Kahane, related to the audience how the Kach party, which some polls had given over 15% support, was prevented from running for the Knesset in 1988 by the passage of a Law against Racism. Cohen noted that while Rabbi Kahane's party was blocked, a radical anti-Zionist Arab-Jewish party lead by Muhammad Miari (The Unified List for Peace) was allowed to run.

A chartered ship left Cyprus Wednesday night, and docked at the Haifa port early Thursday morning.  The voyage was a mini-reenactment of the voyage of the Exodus ship, which was cruelly turned back by the British in 1947 when it attempted to arrive in the Land of Israel. 

The 300 passengers, most of them from Paris, included donors to Jewish causes, dozens of new immigrants, Bar Mitzvah boys, and Holocaust survivors.  The trip was the initiative of the Appel Unifie Juif de France (AUJF, the United Jewish Appeal in France), in cooperation with the Jewish Agency, AMI, and CRIF (an umbrella group of French Jewish organizations).

As the memorial ship entered Israel’s territorial waters, it was accompanied by an Israeli navy vessel that performed a ceremonial salute with its water cannons in commemoration of the historic “Exodus” ship.  An official reception was held in the presence of Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav, AUJF President Pierre Besnainou, Jewish Agency Chairman Ze'ev Bielski, new immigrants, soldiers, and other dignitaries.

Zionist Pioneering and British Cruelty
The story of the “Exodus” ship is one of true pioneering Zionism and harsh British cruelty.  Though the British did not allow the boat to land in what was to become Israel, they were ultimately forced to give up their mandate over the land just a few months later - after most of the original passengers were back in the land, having succeeded in overcoming British barriers. 

The Exodus left southern France on July 11, 1947 carrying over 4,500 Holocaust survivors.  The British attacked the ship and its defenseless passengers outside the territorial waters of Palestine, killing three Jews in the ensuing battle and wounding many more.  British ships then escorted the ship to Haifa, where the wounded were hospitalized, but the thousands of others were forced onto three deportation boats. 

The British informed the Jews that they were taking them to Cyprus, and in fact supplied them with a day's worth of rations for the short trip.  However, the British sailors themselves were supplied with 10 days' worth of food - and in fact they deceitfully headed the ships back to France. 

Conditions on the ships were frightful. On each one, close to 1,500 people were crammed into a barbed-wire-bordered area of the boat with space enough for 500 - in the stifling summer heat. One of the British captains later described his ship and its conditions as a "floating Auschwitz," featuring five-year-old biscuits, wormy macaroni, only 24 bathroom stalls, a total of two salt-water showers, no change of clothes for eight weeks, and more.

French Refuse British Dictates
After arriving at a port in France on July 29, the British demanded that the French force the refugees off the ships, or at least withhold all food and water until the Jews would disembark on their own.  The French refused to fulfill the British dictates, and allowed the ships to dock off-shore.  Jewish organizations supplied the refugees with food.

After three weeks, admist mounting public pressure around the world, the British informed the Jews that if they did not agree to leave the ships by Aug. 22 at noon, they would be taken to a German port, where they would be forced off.  The pioneers/refugees' response was to sing the modern Jewish national anthem, HaTikvah, and insist that they would disembark only in their own national homeland.

The ships left on Aug. 22, and arrived in British-controlled northern German on Sept. 7 - nearly two months after their original departure from France.  The homeless Jews were forced off the ships, after having agreed to employ only passive resistance in order to ensure no loss of life.  Soldiers were brought from Britain to remove them; five soldiers were said to be required to remove one child.

The Jews were brought to camps reminiscent of the concentration camps in which they had spent months or years not long before, with barbed wire and armed guards surrounding the camps for a period.  The Jews gradually settled into a camp routine with which they were very familiar.

Within several months, most of the Jewish refugees had managed to make their way back to Palestine, and a minority of them arrived after the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948.

"We won," the Exodus refugees sum up. "The world heard our cry, the cry of refugees of the Holocaust, and saw how we stood strong.  The United Nations recognized our right to establish the State, with the help of the Rock of Israel. We merited having taken an active part in our nation's struggle, together with those who were already in the Land.  We thank the organizations that aided us, and all those who stood by our side during our struggle."

Tuesday was Election Day in three large Yesha (Judea and Samaria) towns, bringing two new faces into the mayoral chairs. 

A controversial mayorial race in the hareidi-religious city of Beitar has unseated Yitzchak Pindros, while in Beit El, Moshe Rosenbaum will continue for another term.  In Kedumim, long-time Mayor Daniella Weiss, one of the original Gush Emunim pioneer leaders, did not run for re-election, enabling Hananel Durani to coast to an easy victory.

Beitar Illit
In Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem and west of Gush Etzion, Hassidic candidate Meir Rubenstein handily defeated Pindrus in what many viewed as a battle between Hassidim and Mitnagdim.  Close to 90% of the populace voted in the race. 

Rubenstein was backed by the Shas party. A Shas-affiliated party won 9 seats on the 15-seat town council.

Beit El
In Beit El, north of Jerusalem, Yisrael Livman mounted a strong challenge against incumbent Moshe Rosenbaum, but the latter won the three-way election with 48% of the vote. Livman won 40% and a seat on the 9-member town council.  Rosenbaum is expected to form a governing coalition with the Har party, affiliated with the local yeshiva. The Bet El Yeshiva's party won more seats than any of the other 4 parties. Under Rosenbaum's leadership, the Beit El municipality has won several awards for its fiscal performance and water management. 

Kedumim
In Kedumim, 17 miles east of Raanana, the legendary Yesha leader Daniella Weiss did not run for re-election, and will be replaced by Hananel Durani.  Kedumim was one of the first Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.  It was founded in 1975, following seven failed ascents by hundreds of pioneers.  Finally, after the eighth attempt, known as Sebastia, then-Defense Minister Shimon Peres agreed to allow them to establish a town - today's Kedumim - near the Kadum army camp.

The original core group, named Elon Moreh, consisted of such famous Yesha leaders as Chanan Porat, Benny Katzover, Menachem Felix, and Daniella Weiss.  Another town later received the name of Elon Moreh, as it succeeded in building itself closer to Shechem. 

Kedumim, currently numbering more than 3,100 people, received municipal status in 1992, and Daniella Weiss was its mayor since 1996.  She is known as uncompromising in her belief in the Jewish People's right to the entire Land of Israel, and frequently peppers her public appearances with stories and anecdotes of how the Shomron came to be settled by Jews in the modern era.

More Elections
On Tuesday, Nov. 27, elections will be held in regional councils across the country, including Binyamin, Shomron, Asher, Menashe, Golan, Upper Galilee, Lower Galilee, Megillot, Ashkelon Coast, Jordan Valley, Ramat HaNegev, and 15 more.