David Ha'ivri
Encyclopedia
David Ha'ivri is an Israeli settler
and political activist. He emigrated with his family from the United States to Israel at the age of 11 and served in the IDF
. Ha'ivri lives with his wife and eight children in Kfar Tapuach
in the northern West Bank
. He is a controversial leader, writer and speaker.
film 35 Acres explores the issue of the Temple Mount
the most contentious piece of real estate on the face of the Earth. Holy for both Jews and Muslims the Temple Mount
, is one of the most volatile areas in Jerusalem. Many say that those who control it, control the entire land. This film shows both Palestinian
s and Israel
is whose entire lives revolve around that area. Ha'ivri has been involved in the Jewish side of this story for over 25 years. Ha'ivri has also been interviewed by major media outlets BBC
, CNN
, Al-Jazeera and others.
, Ha'ivri interacts with international media, foreign government representatives and philanthropists. He serves an strategic adviser to Regional Council head Gershon Mesika
on international affairs.
Training in Israel provide a 13 week course for the local activists.
award the Jewish settlements in the West Bank an international prize for settlement activity. The annual prize, the Habitat
Scroll of Honor, is handed out annually to acknowledge "outstanding contributions in developing and improving settlements and the quality of urban life."
Another interesting project devised by Ha'ivri is twinning schools in Shomron with school children in the Jewish communities outside of Israel.
's Kach
and was already active in the 1984 election that saw Kahane elected to Knesset
and was a close with the rabbi's son Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane
. The Kach party was banned from running in the 1988 Knesset elections and since has been added to terrorist watch lists by Israel
, Canada
and the United States
. On July 5, 2010 New York Times article American officials were quoted saying that Ha'ivri himself is not on the terror watch list.
In 2001 Israeli Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein ruled that the slogan publicized by far-right activists, "No Arabs, no terror," constitutes incitement to racism and offence especially to the 20% of Arabs who have Israeli citizenship. Rubinstein handed his ruling to the police to investigate as a result in Jan. 2005 the Jerusalem Magistrate's court sentenced Ha'ivri to four months of community service for distributing the t-shirts.
. After Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane
's assassination in December 2000, Ha'ivri took on responsibility for his bi-weekly publication, Darka Shel Torah and HaMeir L'David, a publishing group which prints and distributes the works of Rabbi Meir Kahane
and Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane
. Ha'ivri has been active in leadership of the town and has served as the town mayor, head of security and youth director. Organizing educational and social activity while also offering aid to At Risk Teen and developing programs for them in the Shomron region (West Bank
). He has published articles on these issues.
( means ten thousand) , an organization which initially aimed at preventing the Gaza expulsion by encouraging nationwide protests to tie up the Israeli security forces. Based on a play on words and on the concept that ten thousand activists could actually stop the Israeli pullout from Gaza and North of Shomron. As a toll to promote his ideas and tactics to oppose the disengagement plan Ha'ivri developed a monopoly type board game called Revava - Changing the rules of the game.
the holiest place to the Jewish people and the most explosive location in the world. Later he published Reclaiming the Temple Mount, a book on these events and the history of the site.
and Jordan River rightfully belongs to the Jewish people and should be officially annexed by the State of Israel and that the non Jewish population need to accept the Israel authority and be loyal to the State. And for those Arabs unwilling to integrate into Israeli society he offers a 22 State solution ...Palestinians could and should live in any of the other Arab states, rather than Israel.
“Non-Jews who are willing to be loyal to the State of Israel … can live in Israel. But if they intend to be disloyal to the country, then they need to find other places to live and there are plenty [of those],” he said.
Periodically Ha'ivri goes on tour speaking on behalf of the settlements. In reply to US President Barack Obama
's pressure on Israel to stop Jewish settlement growth in the West Bank
“We are frustrated by the Chutzpah (audacity) of Obama and other world leaders to intervene and tell Israel what to do. The only country in the world where the international leaders can legitimately suggest ethnic cleansing is Israel. Anywhere else there would be an outcry.” He believes that Israel should annex all areas it has controlled since the 1967 war and that Jews should be allowed to settle all parts of those lands.
“Judea and Samaria are wrongly called ’settlements.’ Yet the West Bank is actually the West Bank of the Jordan River. All of Israel is the West Bank. Both sides of the Jordan River belong to the Jewish people. That was the British Mandate. The British reneged and created TransJordan
east of the river.”
in Shechem
(Nablus
) - a site holy to Christians, Muslims, and Jewish populations in the region. The site was overrun and demolished by Arab rioters in October 2000 during clashes between IDF forces during the al-Aqsa Intifada
. He calls on the Israeli government to retake the site and allow Jewish settlers to rebuild the yeshiva that once occupied the site. He has been involved in organizing monthly visits for Jewish worshipers in cooperation with the local IDF
command.
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
and political activist. He emigrated with his family from the United States to Israel at the age of 11 and served in the IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
. Ha'ivri lives with his wife and eight children in Kfar Tapuach
Kfar Tapuach
Kfar Tapuach is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, founded in 1978. It sits astride one of the major traffic junctions in the West Bank. The executive director of the village council is Yisrael Blunder. As of December 2007, it had 800 residents...
in the northern West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
. He is a controversial leader, writer and speaker.
Documentary films
David Ha'ivri has been featured in a number of documentary films dealing with issues that he is involved in. Canadian producer Igal Hecht of Chutzpa ProductionsChutzpa Productions
Chutzpa Productions Inc. is a producer of documentary films.- History :In 1999 Igal Hecht created Chutzpa Productions.. To date Chutzpa Productions Inc...
film 35 Acres explores the issue of the Temple Mount
Temple Mount
The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew as , and in Arabic as the Haram Ash-Sharif , is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years...
the most contentious piece of real estate on the face of the Earth. Holy for both Jews and Muslims the Temple Mount
Temple Mount
The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew as , and in Arabic as the Haram Ash-Sharif , is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years...
, is one of the most volatile areas in Jerusalem. Many say that those who control it, control the entire land. This film shows both Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
s and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
is whose entire lives revolve around that area. Ha'ivri has been involved in the Jewish side of this story for over 25 years. Ha'ivri has also been interviewed by major media outlets BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Al-Jazeera and others.
Shomron Liaison Office
Ha'ivri is director of the Shomron Liaison Office. An NGO that works closely with the local government promoting public relations for the towns of the region. In this capacity he serves as English Language Spokesman interacting with all foreign language journalist. The Shomron Liaison Office under his direction has developed partnership and penpal programs connecting school children in the Shomron with their peers around the world. He frequently travels around the world speaking to a wide range of groups and well as hosting tours in the Shomron. As a spokesman for the Shomron Regional CouncilShomron Regional Council
The Shomron Regional Council is a regional council in the northern Samarian hills, in the northern part of the West Bank. The offices of the regional council are located in the Barkan Industrial Park. This regional council provides various municipal services for the 30 Israeli settlements within...
, Ha'ivri interacts with international media, foreign government representatives and philanthropists. He serves an strategic adviser to Regional Council head Gershon Mesika
Gershon Mesika
Gershon Mesika an Israeli lawyer and politician who currently serves as mayor of Shomron Regional Council.-Biography:Born in Ashdod, Mesika is an Israeli lawyer. Since 1982 he has lived in the Israeli settlement of Elon Moreh with his wife and family. He previously owned a local armored limousine...
on international affairs.
Empowering local activists and spokespeople
In 2009 Ha'ivri conducted professional training for 30 spokespeople from a wide range of settlements in the Shomron region aimed at improving their abilities to express themselves in English and so to improve the general public relations of the settlers in the area. He contracted Ron Bowman Director of Dale CarnegieDale Carnegie
Dale Breckenridge Carnegie was an American writer, lecturer, and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills...
Training in Israel provide a 13 week course for the local activists.
Student volunteer programs
He organizes student volunteer programs in the Jewish communities in the Shomron (settlements). In these programs American youth are introduced to aspects of planting and building. They are offered an opportunity to take part in the actual expansion of the Jewish growth there.UN Settlement Prize
In August 2009 Ha'ivri advocated that the United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
award the Jewish settlements in the West Bank an international prize for settlement activity. The annual prize, the Habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
Scroll of Honor, is handed out annually to acknowledge "outstanding contributions in developing and improving settlements and the quality of urban life."
Connecting with American Zionists
Ha'ivri has developed a number of programs aimed and establishing a connection for the settlements in the West Bank with Jewish communities and supporters around the world. One of those programs is the Purim package distribution to IDF soldiers in cooperation with the Zionist Organization of America. Thousands of gift packages are packaged by students in schools in the Shomron and then distributed it soldiers throughout the region and the whole country.Another interesting project devised by Ha'ivri is twinning schools in Shomron with school children in the Jewish communities outside of Israel.
Political activism
As a youth Ha'ivri became involved with rabbi Meir KahaneMeir Kahane
Martin David Kahane , also known as Meir Kahane , was an American-Israeli rabbi and ultra-nationalist writer and political figure. He was an ordained Orthodox rabbi and later served as a member of the Israeli Knesset...
's Kach
Kach
Kach is town and union council of the Ziarat District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is located at 30°26'2N 67°19'27E and has an altitude of 2020m ....
and was already active in the 1984 election that saw Kahane elected to Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
and was a close with the rabbi's son Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane
Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane
Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane was a rabbi and the son of Rabbi Meir Kahane.Born in New York City, he emigrated to Israel with his family at the age of four, in 1971...
. The Kach party was banned from running in the 1988 Knesset elections and since has been added to terrorist watch lists by Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. On July 5, 2010 New York Times article American officials were quoted saying that Ha'ivri himself is not on the terror watch list.
Jail term and legal battles
Ha'ivri has had several disputes with the Israeli government. He was notably arrested for celebrating the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in a television interview and served six month jail time in connection with the desecration of a mosque. However, in an interview with the New York Times newspaper, Mr. Ha'Ivri said he no longer engaged in such activism, adding that, at 43, he had mellowed, even if his core convictions had not. "I’m a little older now, a little more mature," he said.In 2001 Israeli Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein ruled that the slogan publicized by far-right activists, "No Arabs, no terror," constitutes incitement to racism and offence especially to the 20% of Arabs who have Israeli citizenship. Rubinstein handed his ruling to the police to investigate as a result in Jan. 2005 the Jerusalem Magistrate's court sentenced Ha'ivri to four months of community service for distributing the t-shirts.
Kfar Tapuach
In the late 1980s, he formed a group of Rabbi Kahane's students at the Yeshivat HaRaayon HaYehudi, which later moved to the town of Kfar TapuachKfar Tapuach
Kfar Tapuach is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, founded in 1978. It sits astride one of the major traffic junctions in the West Bank. The executive director of the village council is Yisrael Blunder. As of December 2007, it had 800 residents...
. After Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane
Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane
Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane was a rabbi and the son of Rabbi Meir Kahane.Born in New York City, he emigrated to Israel with his family at the age of four, in 1971...
's assassination in December 2000, Ha'ivri took on responsibility for his bi-weekly publication, Darka Shel Torah and HaMeir L'David, a publishing group which prints and distributes the works of Rabbi Meir Kahane
Meir Kahane
Martin David Kahane , also known as Meir Kahane , was an American-Israeli rabbi and ultra-nationalist writer and political figure. He was an ordained Orthodox rabbi and later served as a member of the Israeli Knesset...
and Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane
Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane
Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane was a rabbi and the son of Rabbi Meir Kahane.Born in New York City, he emigrated to Israel with his family at the age of four, in 1971...
. Ha'ivri has been active in leadership of the town and has served as the town mayor, head of security and youth director. Organizing educational and social activity while also offering aid to At Risk Teen and developing programs for them in the Shomron region (West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
). He has published articles on these issues.
2005 Gaza pullout
In the time leading up to the 2005 Gaza Disengagement, Ha'ivri together with Yisrael Meir Cohen founded RevavaRevava
Revava , is a communal village and an Israeli settlement located in the West Bank's Samarian mountains about 35 km east of Tel Aviv near Yakir and Nofim, on Road 5066 roughly between Barkan and Karnei Shomron. This Orthodox Jewish community, numbering about 250 families, is under the authority of...
( means ten thousand) , an organization which initially aimed at preventing the Gaza expulsion by encouraging nationwide protests to tie up the Israeli security forces. Based on a play on words and on the concept that ten thousand activists could actually stop the Israeli pullout from Gaza and North of Shomron. As a toll to promote his ideas and tactics to oppose the disengagement plan Ha'ivri developed a monopoly type board game called Revava - Changing the rules of the game.
Temple Mount
In 2005 Ha'ivri headed a campaign calling for 10,000 Jews to ascend to the Temple MountTemple Mount
The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew as , and in Arabic as the Haram Ash-Sharif , is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years...
the holiest place to the Jewish people and the most explosive location in the world. Later he published Reclaiming the Temple Mount, a book on these events and the history of the site.
Annexing the West Bank
He advocates that all territory controlled by the Israeli government and army between the Mediterranean SeaMediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
and Jordan River rightfully belongs to the Jewish people and should be officially annexed by the State of Israel and that the non Jewish population need to accept the Israel authority and be loyal to the State. And for those Arabs unwilling to integrate into Israeli society he offers a 22 State solution ...Palestinians could and should live in any of the other Arab states, rather than Israel.
“Non-Jews who are willing to be loyal to the State of Israel … can live in Israel. But if they intend to be disloyal to the country, then they need to find other places to live and there are plenty [of those],” he said.
Periodically Ha'ivri goes on tour speaking on behalf of the settlements. In reply to US President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's pressure on Israel to stop Jewish settlement growth in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
“We are frustrated by the Chutzpah (audacity) of Obama and other world leaders to intervene and tell Israel what to do. The only country in the world where the international leaders can legitimately suggest ethnic cleansing is Israel. Anywhere else there would be an outcry.” He believes that Israel should annex all areas it has controlled since the 1967 war and that Jews should be allowed to settle all parts of those lands.
“Judea and Samaria are wrongly called ’settlements.’ Yet the West Bank is actually the West Bank of the Jordan River. All of Israel is the West Bank. Both sides of the Jordan River belong to the Jewish people. That was the British Mandate. The British reneged and created TransJordan
Transjordan
The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...
east of the river.”
Joseph's tomb
Ha'ivri is active in a campaign to restore Joseph's tombJoseph's Tomb
Joseph's Tomb is a funerary monument located at the eastern entrance to the valley that separates Mounts Gerizim and Ebal, 325 yards northwest of Jacob's Well, on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Nablus, near Tell Balāṭa, the site of biblical Shechem...
in Shechem
Shechem
Shechem was a Canaanite city mentioned in the Amarna letters, and is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as an Israelite city of the tribe of Manasseh and the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel...
(Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
) - a site holy to Christians, Muslims, and Jewish populations in the region. The site was overrun and demolished by Arab rioters in October 2000 during clashes between IDF forces during the al-Aqsa Intifada
Al-Aqsa Intifada
The Second Intifada, also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada and the Oslo War, was the second Palestinian uprising, a period of intensified Palestinian-Israeli violence, which began in late September 2000...
. He calls on the Israeli government to retake the site and allow Jewish settlers to rebuild the yeshiva that once occupied the site. He has been involved in organizing monthly visits for Jewish worshipers in cooperation with the local IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
command.