Israel Being It's Own Country, Independent Has News For Lebanon

 Nadene Goldfoot                                          

Defense Minister Israel Katz reiterated on Wednesday that 

Israel will not withdraw from its “security zones” in Lebanon 

and Syria, even if the United States were to demand it. He 

said, 

“The IDF must be on the enemy’s side of the border and 

protect the communities from within the territory itself.” He 

also 

said that Israel would not allow Lebanese civilians back into 

the security zones.

 Meanwhile, IDF forces eliminated 2 armed 

Hezbollah terrorists who were posing a threat near the security zone.

Israeli and Lebanese representatives resumed U.S.-mediated talks in Washington. Israeli and Lebanese diplomats have been holding a series of high-level peace talks in Washington, D.C.. These negotiations—hosted at the U.S. State Department and the Pentagon—mark the first direct diplomatic engagements between the two nations in decades. 

Israel is demanding on a “step-

by-step” process in which the Lebanese army takes concrete 

action on the ground to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure 

before any Israeli pullback. 

Israeli Ambassador Leiter said 

Lebanon’s government must exercise its sovereignty by 

ensuring that Iran is no longer involved in “malign activity or 

influence” in the country. He called the latest round of talks 

between the 2 countries a "train wreck", primarily due to the continuing influence of Iran in the situation.

Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi reportedly told a senior 

Hamas official that he would raise the Gaza issue in 

negotiations with the U.S. 

He stressed that the recent MOU 

signed with the U.S. includes a cessation of fighting on 

"all" fronts.

Who are Hamas officials today, anyway?  Hamas's current 

leadership operates primarily from abroad, as many of its 

former political and military commanders in the Gaza Strip 

have been eliminated in ongoing operations.

Key figures remaining in the organization's political and operational structure include:

• Khaled Meshaal: Considered one of the founders of Hamas, he currently heads the group's political bureau abroad and operates primarily from Qatar.

Resource:

IsraelAM

How Hezbollah and Iran Connected

 Nadene Goldfoot                                         

                         Hezbollah, Houthis, Hamas, PIJ (PLO)        

Picture Iran as an octopus.  Hezbollah is one of its arms. Iran's primary helpers and proxy forces in the Middle East—collectively known as the Axis of Resistance—include the Houthi movement in Yemen, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza. In addition to these groups, Iran backs several armed Shia militias in Iraq and Syria, which include the Popular Mobilization Forces. Together with Hezbollah.

Hezbollah's first attacks against Israel occurred shortly after the group was founded in 1982, following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. 

Iran and Hezbollah officially connected and began receiving arms in 1982 following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Shortly after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) deployed approximately 1,500 personnel to Lebanon to organize, train, and arm various Shiite militant factions, which formally merged to become Hezbollah.

Israel invaded Lebanon in June 1982 with the stated goal of halting Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) attacks across the northern Israeli border and pushing militants 40 km north. The catalyst was the attempted assassination of Shlomo Argov, Israel’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, by gunmen. The assassination attempt on Israeli Ambassador Shlomo Argov in London on June 3, 1982, was actually carried out by the Abu Nidal Organization, a renegade Palestinian splinter group that was a bitter, violent rival to Yasser Arafat's PLO.  Despite Argov being targeted by a rival splinter group, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin's cabinet ultimately held the PLO responsible as a whole. Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes against Palestinian positions in Lebanon, which escalated into the 1982 Lebanon War three days later. It was the 2nd invasion of Lebanon by Israel following the 1978 South Lebanon conflict.  Israelis tried to end Palestinian attacks from Lebanon and destroy the PLO in the country and install a pro-Israel Maronite Christian government.  Israeli forces attacked; and overran PLO positions in southern Lebanon, clashing with Syrian Army who occupied the NE.  Israel and South Lebanon armies took control of southern Lebanon and sieged Beirut.  The timeline of Iran and Hezbollah's early connection and weapons transfers features a few key milestones:

• 1982: Iran's newly established regime sent IRGC forces to the Bekaa Valley to begin training Lebanese militants, marking the birth of the group.
• 1985: Hezbollah released its "Open Letter," officially aligning itself with Ayatollah Khomeini's leadership and cementing its status as an Iranian proxy. 
• 1980s–1990s: With Iranian funding—initially estimated between $36 and $100 million annually—Iran supplied Hezbollah with the equipment and tactical support necessary to carry out a guerrilla campaign in southern Lebanon.

For a detailed analysis of how this military and political partnership evolved into a central pillar of Iranian regional strategy, you can review the Brookings Institution Article or the Council on Foreign Relations Analysis. Furthermore, a complete historical record of their association is maintained on The Iran Primer for further reading. 

Formed with Iranian backing, the militant group of Hezbollah  began launching guerrilla warfare, roadside bombings, and rocket strikes against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in southern Lebanon throughout the 1980s and 1990s.  The Lebanese had a clandestine alliance with Israel but refused to join the war because Bachir Gemayel viewed direct involvement to assist an  invading army. 

So the PLO and allies  got a ceasefire, and left Lebanon with help of a multinational peacekeeping force.  Israel hoped for "40 years of peace."

Support for regional nonstate actors has been a pillar of the Iranian government's foreign policy since the 1979 founding of the Islamic Republic. Iran supports these groups to advance its foreign policy aims, including to position itself as the defender of Shia Muslim communities and other groups that the Iranian government characterizes as oppressed, such as the Palestinians. Perhaps preeminent among these aims is reducing threats that Iran may face stemming from the regional influence of the United States and its regional allies, with which the Iranian government "sees itself as locked in an existential struggle," according to a public assessment by the U.S. intelligence community.

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah%E2%80%93Iran_relations

https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12587

How Judea and Samaria Lost Their Names AND Get Them Back Again

 Nadene Goldfoot                                               

    The territory of Jewish Palestine has been reduced by 77% of the original Mandate !!!!! This was given to Jordan's Prince so he could have a land to rule.  He was from Arabia-Saudi Arabia.  

Jewish Palestine was then torn apart to accommodate Palestinians who never thought of having their own country.  They can thank Arafat for that.   They thought of themselves as Syrian Palestinians being many were from Syria seeking work building new Jewish cities and theirs were always in a state of depression.    

The territories of Judea and Samaria lost their ancient biblical names through two distinct geopolitical shifts: the Roman renaming in the 2nd century CE and the adoption of the term "West Bank" following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

1. Roman Renaming (2nd Century CE)

Bar Kokhba fighting against Roman army :   Bar Kokhba, was a Jewish military leader in Judea. He lent his name to the Bar Kokhba revolt, which he initiated against the Roman Empire in 132 CE. Though they were ultimately unsuccessful, Bar Kokhba and his rebels did manage to establish and maintain a Jewish state for about three years after beginning the rebellion. Bar Kokhba served as the state's leader, crowning himself as nasi (lit. 'prince'). Some of the rabbinic scholars in his time believed him to be the long-expected Messiah.

In 135, Bar Kokhba was killed by Roman troops in the fortified town of Betar. The Judean rebels who remained after his death were all killed or enslaved within the next year, and their defeat was followed by a harsh crackdown on the Judean populace by the Roman emperor Hadrian. 

Following the suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 132–136 CE, the Roman Emperor Hadrian sought to break the Jewish connection to the land. The Romans were humiliated by the fact that this Bar Kokhba and his Jewish army held out for 3 years against the most powerful army in the land;  the Romans.  The Romans merged Judea with other regions to form the province of Syria Palaestina. The name was derived from the Philistines, an ancient enemy of the Israelites, to serve as a punitive measure and erase the historic Jewish association with the region. 

In 1947, the terminology was noted by the United Nations in the Partition Plan for Palestine with the statement: "the boundary of the hill country of Samaria and Judea starts on the Jordan River..." The modern term used by the Israeli government does not map precisely with the geography of the biblical areas, which in tradition extended beyond the West Bank to include Beersheba and Caesarea.

As a US official recently remarked, “Eighty percent of the Bible takes place in Judea and Samaria.” The significance of this region for Israel is historical, religious, political, strategic, and existential.

Judea and Samaria were the heart of the ancient kingdoms of Judah and, more broadly, of the ancient Land of Israel. In Judea, with Jerusalem as its capital, King David ruled; in Samaria, the northern kingdom flourished. There stood Shiloh, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, and Hebron, home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the burial site of Abraham, Sarah, and their descendants. These lands are the setting of the Bible and the cradle of Jewish history.

I'm learning in my almost 92 years now that Catholicism does not read much of the "Old Testament;  only the new" like a few of the Protestant groups do.  They seem to not be moved by our history as touching their beliefs.  The Evangelical Christians are the ones involved with knowing much of our history, though in a better memorized way.  With us, we remember much through our holidays that include plenty of food to help our memories.  This is important to see who has your back and who doesn't.  

For centuries, the hilly interior of the region retained variations of its biblical names. After the 1947 UN Partition Plan, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War resulted in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan occupying and later annexing the territory in 1950. 

Transjordan (Modern-day Jordan): Under the British Mandate, about 78% of the original land east of the Jordan River was designated for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

                                 WEST BANK BORN

To integrate the territory into its kingdom and de-emphasize its distinct historical Israelite and religious Jewish identity, Jordan officially renamed the region ad-Daffa al-Gharbiya, which translates into English as the West Bank, which refers to the West side of the Jordan River;  the bank being the side of the soil along the river..                      

                        Northern part=Samaria

                        Southern part=Judaea

                        What's left =  Israel

      Notice:  the southern part is desert:  hot Negev desert.

The Negev Desert covers approximately 55% to 60% of Israel's total land area. Despite making up the majority of the country's geography—stretching across about 13,000 square kilometers (4,700 sq mi)—it is home to just 8% to 10% of Israel's population.

                                    JUDEA SAMARIA REBORN

Following the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel took control of the territory and revived the historical terms of Judea-Samaria. However, the international community largely continued to use the term "West Bank". This appears to many as a plan to continue wiping out the Jewish history of the land till people forget-not a long wait, unfortunately.  

 Judea and Samaria are deeply tied to Jewish history, mapping exactly to the ancient southern Kingdom of Judah and the northern Kingdom of Israel. After the death of King Solomon in 931 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel broke into two parts: the southern kingdom of Judah (later Hellenized to Judaea), with its capital in Jerusalem, and the northern kingdom of Israel, with its capital in Samaria. The northern kingdom would fall to the Assyrians around 721 BCE, and the southern kingdom would succumb to the Babylonians around 586 BCE.

                                        PROPHECY

The destructions of these two kingdoms were recorded in the Bible, as were prophecies that Jews would return and reunite them, solidifying their importance.  The return of the Jewish people to the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria is primarily prophesied in the Old Testament by the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel     “In the books of the prophets, many of the prophets themselves specifically say that all of the people who went into exile will return to the destroyed kingdoms, and they will reestablish a country that includes both Israel and Judah. ” This vision forms the bedrock of the Jewish connection to the land, underscoring the enduring historical and religious association of Jews with Judea specifically, and particularly in the Western imagination.

ROUTE 60 BIBLICAL HIGHWAY

 Nadene Goldfoot                        

The Israel Guys, on YouTube is a Christian Zionist organization, not a Jewish group. It is tied to HaYovel, a Christian farming volunteer organization dedicated to supporting Jewish pioneers and farmers in the heartland of Israel (Judea and Samaria).  While the channel produces content from a Biblical worldview and is run by Christians, it partners directly with Orthodox Jewish rabbis and operates with a strict policy against proselytizing to Jewish people.

It comes to me on YOU TUBE, so I just heard this morning what happened yesterday in Jerusalem:  NOW THIS IS A BIG DEAL!!!!

Orthodox Jews pray on Mount Gerizim overlooking Joseph's Tomb, one of their holiest sites, in the city of Schechem, also known as Nablus on May 28, 2009.  (Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images)  This is only one of the important places Rt 60  passes through.  

There is an important Route 60 Highway in Judea-Samaria which is the heartland of the Old Testament-(Tanakh).  It is the place of our Jewish beginnings.  The USA has its Route 66; and Israel has its Route 60.  They just added more to the number.  It is now:

Route 60  Biblical Highway.  

There will be no Palestine created on Jewish ground this way. This must be an old map:  See below a newer one...

Ancient Origins: The route largely follows the ancient "Way of the Patriarchs," a natural ridgeline route walked for thousands of years by figures like Abraham, Jacob, and Jesus.

Route 60, also known as the Biblical Highway or the Way of the Patriarchs, is a major 146-mile, north-south transnational route in Israel and the West Bank (Judea-Samaria) , stretching from Beersheba in the south to Nazareth in the north.  It has been called this in the past as seen in the present reference of (West Bank) in writings, anyway.  The highway roughly follows the ancient watershed ridge line of the Judaean and Samarian mountains. It cuts directly through the historical regions of Judea and Samaria (often referred to internationally as the West Bank).

Route 60 goes through all the important sites to both Christians and Jews:  Nazareth, Valley of Meggido, going through the Central Area of our Jewish history.  Israel is determined to keep Palestinians from taking away their homeland, the Center of their world, their history, their religion.  

The modern, paved Highway 60 running through Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) is primarily built, maintained, and heavily upgraded by Israel. However, the highway is not a single construction project; rather, it is a combination of ancient paths and modern engineering: 

• Modern Development: Segments of the road have been paved, widened, and modernized over several decades. For example, the sophisticated "Tunnels Highway" (the southern entrance to Jerusalem) was designed by a French engineering firm. 
• Recent Expansions: The Israeli government, alongside private contractors, frequently updates and bypasses various sections to accommodate both Israeli settler traffic and local Palestinian commuters. Because it passes through the Judea-Samaria,  it cuts through both Israeli settlements and Palestinian territories. 
  
  
  

In June 2026, the Israeli government officially designated the 146-mile route as "The Bible Road" (Derech HaTanakh) to promote tourism and historic heritage.  Yesterday, June 22, 2026, Netanyahu embraced it as BIBLICAL HIGHWAY !  

Speaking in Gush Etzion on June 18, 2026, Netanyahu stated: []

"This is not merely a road paved with asphalt – this is a road paved with memory, with faith, with promise... It leads from our patriarch Abraham to the soldiers of the IDF... Each of those places, without exception, is not merely a point on a map – it is a chapter of our identity."

Broader Significance: Advocates for the project view it as an effort to counter campaigns that attempt to erase the Jewish historical connection to the land. 

Tourism Integration: The Israel Ministry of Tourism is incorporating "The Biblical Highway" into international branding materials, complete with visitor centers, observation points, and multilingual signage. 

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_60_(Israel%E2%80%93Palestine)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtyMsPBKOfc