(Yesha is the Hebrew acronym for Judea, Samaria and Gaza Strip) An organized body founded in the 1970s representing Jewish Israeli settlers in the West Bank and, until the 2005 Gaza Disengagement, the Gaza Strip. The organization's aim is to guarantee security, offer humanitarian and municipal needs, and foster political action and public advocacy for settlers. The organization also serves as a political lobby and an organizational tool for settlement expansion. In 2010, Yesha Council co-organized a workshop training pro-settler activists on how to make sure their perspective was included on Wikipedia entries. See " The right's latest weapon: 'Zionist editing' on Wikipedia," Nir Hasson, Haaretz, Aug 18, 2010.
(Hebrew for "town" or "settlement") Refers to the Jewish communities established in the early days of the Zionist movement, but does not usually refer to settlements beyond the Green Line in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. See "The Jewish Community under the Mandate," Israel: A Country Study, U.S. Library of Congress.
(Hebrew for "Israel is Our Home") Israeli political party. Yisrael Beiteinu/no-lexicon], founded in 1999 by Avigdor Lieberman, is a right-wing, nationalist, secular party. Its ideology is described as Revisionist Zionism, and it constituency is comprised chiefly of Israelis from the former Soviet Union. Yisrael Beiteinu/no-lexicon] has championed controversial legislation such as a requirement for Israeli citizens to take a "loyalty oath" (seen as an attempt to disenfranchise Palestinian citizens of Israel), and a "Populated-Area Exchange Plan," (also known as "The Lieberman Plan") in which Palestinian towns inside Israel which are close to the Green Line would be transferred to the Palestinian Authority and large settlement blocs would be included within Israel. In 2009, Yisrael Beiteinu's election campaign included the slogan, "No loyalty, no citizenship." Yisrael Beiteinu was also a key party in passing the controversial Nakba Law, has introduced a bill to rescind the status of Arabic as an official language in Israel. The party has strongly supported Settlement expansion. See "Two months before the vote, Yisrael Beiteinu is in crisis," Barak Ravid, Ha'aretz, Jan 20, 2015.
(Hebrew for "Day of Remembrance.") An Israeli national holiday that takes place on the 4th day of the Jewish month of Iyar. The holiday commemorates all those who died as part of Jewish forces fighting to establish the State of Israel in 1948, as well as Israelis who have died in the Israeli military since then. Followed the next day by Israeli Independence Day, which Palestinians commemorate as the Nakba, marking Palestinian displacement and dispossession, the Occupied Palestinian Territories are typically under a closure on these two days. See "On Memorial Day, Israelis must reflect on Palestinians' collective punishment," Mairav Zonszein, +972mag, May 5, 2014.
(1954- ) A Jewish Israeli political figure and intellectual. Tamir began her career as a professor of political philosophy and still teaches at Tel Aviv University (as of 2015); she also helped start the Israeli Peace Now movement in 1978. As a member of the Labor party, Tamir first entered politics when appointed as Minister of Immigrant Absorption in 1999. She went on to serve in the Israeli Knesset from 2003-2010. During her time as Minister of Education from 2006-2009, Tamir approved a textbook for use in Palestinian-Israeli schools that mentioned Al-Nakba, the Palestinian term for the expulsion and dispossession of Palestinians during and after Israel's establishment. She resigned her position in parliament in 2010. See "Education minister under fire for 'nakba' textbook," Or Kashti, Haaretz, July 23, 2007; and "Peace movement has become powerless, says MK Yuli Tamir," Roi Ben-Yehuda, Haaretz, December 27, 2009.