According to Joseph Dana’s July 8 post here, "Is this ‘Natural Growth’? American Immigrants Flood Israeli Settlements, Backed By The Israeli Government", Nefesh B’Nefesh is encouraging new immigrants to move to illegal settlements:
Nefesh B’Nefesh, along with the Jewish Agency and the Israeli government, is intentionally encouraging new immigrants to move to illegal settlements. Of the 232 immigrants who arrived in Israel yesterday, seven families were going to settle in Ma’aleh Adumim, along with a handful of people moving to Efrat inside the Gush Etzion settlement block. Both of these areas are considered to be illegal Israeli settlements according to international law.
President Obama has recently called on Israel to cease all settlement growth and activity. The Israeli government has, in turn, argued that it must be able to continue what it calls "natural growth," or building within existing settlements for the children of residents. But even using their own logic, "natural growth" certainly can’t include new immigrants from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
The two families that Mr. Ain profiles are Orthodox and the single woman describes herself as having grown up in a "fervently Orthodox" home in Monsey. While not stating an exact location of anyone’s residence, the author mentions this:
Asked about the cost of living in Israel, Hillel said the seven-bedroom private house with a yard he is renting costs $1,250 a month.
Where in Israel can a person with a wife and 6 children get that large a house for that low a price? I’m going to take a huge guess and say………..a settlement! Knowing that this journalist works for America’s largest Jewish newspaper, I cannot believe that he is not aware of the potential controversy of new immigrants moving into such contentious areas. As such, I have to question why he decided to write a borderline promotional piece on religious aliyah and not delve into the potential difficulties that these people pose towards U.S.-Israeli relations and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Hopefully, next week’s installment will provide an nswer to my question
