Yishai Fleisher
{{Short description|Jewish podcaster}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Yishai Fleisher
| image = Yishai_Fleisher_-_ישי_פליישר.jpg
| alt = Rabbi Yishai Fleisher
| caption = Yishai Fleisher speaking in Washington DC, 2019.
| native_name = ישי פליישר
| birth_place = Haifa, Israel
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1976}}
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality =
| native_name_lang = he
| other_names =
| occupation = Spokesperson, podcaster, writer
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| website = {{Official URL}}
}}
Yishai Fleisher ({{langx|he|ישי פליישר}}; born 1976) serves as the international spokesperson for the Jewish Community of Hebron. He is a podcast host, pro-Israel advocate and political advisor. Fleisher speaks English, Hebrew and Russian and has been described as "a go-to Israel expert for international media."
Early life
Yishai Fleisher was born in 1976 in Haifa, Israel, to Jewish refuseniks from the Soviet Union. The family emigrated to the US when he was eight.{{Cite web |last=Fleisher |first=Rabbi Yishai |date=2024-11-07 |title=Word Prompt – IDF – Yishai Fleisher |url=https://www.jewishpress.com/sections/features/word-prompt/word-prompt-idf-yishai-fleisher/2024/11/07/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com |language=en-US}} Fleisher returned to Israel and served as a paratrooper in the Israel Defense Forces and was injured in Lebanon during his military service in 1997.{{Cite web |last=Fleisher |first=Yishai |date=2013-04-19 |title=VLOG: Yishai in Boston With Message of Solidarity Against Terror |url=https://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/eye-on-zion/vlog-yishai-in-boston-with-message-of-solidarity-against-terror/2013/04/19/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com |language=en-US}} Fleisher returned to the US where he completed an undergraduate degree in political science at Yeshiva University, then a Juris Doctorate at the Cardozo School of Law. He received his rabbinic ordination from Kollel Agudath Achim.{{Cite web |title= Rabbi Yishai Fleisher - Bio |date=11 August 2014 |website=Daystar |url= https://www.daystar.com/guest-guide/rabbi-yishai-fleisher/ |access-date= 2019-11-11}}{{Cite web |last= Klein Leichman |first= Abigail |title= Feeling the river of history flow |website=Jewish Standard |date=22 October 2015 |url= http://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/feeling-the-river-of-history-flow/}}
Early Career
=Advocacy for Aliyah=
While in law school in 1999, Fleisher co-founded the organization Kumah which advocates aliyah and encourages Jewish students to move to Israel.{{Cite web |last= Lehmann |first=Sara |title=We Need To Put The Spirit Back Into The People: An Interview with Arutz Sheva's Yishai Fleisher |website=The Jewish Press |date=10 February 2010 |url= https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/interviews-and-profiles/we-need-to-put-the-spirit-back-into-the-people-an-interview-with-arutz-shevas-yishai-fleisher/2010/02/10/}}{{Cite web|last=Brosgol|first=Dan|title=Interview with Yishai Fleisher- Director of Arutz Sheva, Israel National News|website=JewishBoston|date=July 16, 2010|url=http://www.jewishboston.com/interview-with-yishai-fleisher-director-of-arutz-sheva-israel-national-news/|access-date=2019-11-11}} The group's tag line was "Arise! Americans Return to Zion" and took its name from a verse in the Book of Jeremiah. The group engaged in seminars, weekend retreats, birthright trips and created unique and creative posters and videos.{{Cite web |date=2002-11-27 |title=Kumah! |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021127183450/http://kumah.org/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=web.archive.org}}{{Cite web |last=Traiman |first=Alex |date=2006 |title=Kumah: Helping American Jews Reengage in israel |url=https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/17636923/june-2006-jewish-voice-and-opinion |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=yumpu.com |language=en}}
Broadcasting Career
After graduating, Fleisher was recruited to Arutz Sheva – Israel National Radio / Israel National News in 2003 and became Director of Programming for the English department.{{Cite web |date=2004-11-30 |title=At Orthodox Union Convention, Strong Tie to Israel Seen As Key |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/at-orthodox-union-convention-strong-tie-to-israel-seen-as-key |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}} He co-hosted the Aliyah Show and the Yishai Fleisher Show, frequently doing live remote broadcasts and special events.{{Cite web |last=Brosgol |first=Dan |title=Interview with Yishai Fleisher- Director of Arutz Sheva, Israel National News |url=https://www.jewishboston.com/read/interview-with-yishai-fleisher-director-of-arutz-sheva-israel-national-news/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=JewishBoston |language=en-US}} During his seven years at the station, he grew the department during the early days of podcasts and mp3 downloads, organized tours and seminars and interviewed top name Israeli and international celebrities, politicians and newsmakers.{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=IsraelNN |title=Arutz Sheva Host on US Tour |url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/138606 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=Israel National News |language=en}}
He co-created Free Your Mind: The Aliyah Revolution, an animated short film based on The Matrix promoting aliyah to American Jews {{Cite web |date=2006-02-12 |title=Spreading a 'Neo'-Zionist message |url=https://www.jpost.com/arts-and-culture/entertainment/spreading-a-neo-zionist-message |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=27 December 2005 |title=New Film Calls on N. American Jews to Move to Israel |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/95525 |access-date=2019-11-15 |website=Israel National News}}{{Cite web |last=Bresky |first=Ben |date=March 14, 2019 |title=Hundreds mourn family-rights activist Gil Ronen - Israel News - Jerusalem Post |url=https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Hundreds-mourn-family-rights-activist-Gil-Ronen-583279 |access-date=2019-11-11 |website=The Jerusalem Post}} and produced The Aliyah Revolution, a compilation album of popular modern Jewish-Israeli musicians.{{Cite web |date=2013-10-16 |title=אוסף בינלאומי חדש: "The ALIYAH Revolution" |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016142548/http://www.dosmusic.co.il/2009/10/aliyah-revolution.html |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=web.archive.org}}{{Cite web |last=Hoffman |first=Miriam |date=2009 |title=The Aliyah Revolution Album gets a great review in Makor Rishon |url=https://www.kumah.org/2009/12/aliyah-revolution-album-gets-great_21.html |access-date=2025-04-23 |language=en}}
In 2011, Fleisher continued his broadcasting at Galey Yisrael Radio which at the time was the only English language talk show on broadcast Israeli radio.{{Citation |last=Yishai Fleisher |title=Yishai Fleisher Show on Galey Yisrael Radio - Week 1 |url=https://archive.org/details/YishaiFleisherShowOnGaleyYisraelRadio-Week1 |access-date=2025-04-23}}{{Cite web |date=2012-03-12 |title=LIVE Talk Radio from Israel - Yishai Fleisher! {{!}} United with Israel |url=https://unitedwithisrael.org/live-talk-radio-from-israel/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=UWI}} From 2014 – 2015 was Director of Programming at the popular but short-lived Voice of Israel Jerusalem-based broadcast network.{{Cite web |date=2015-08-25 |title=Voice of Israel English-language radio closes after first year |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/voice-of-israel-english-language-radio-closes-after-first-year-413157 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2015-09-04 |title=What Shaped Yishai Fleisher? {{!}} Voice of Israel |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904223147/https://voiceofisrael.com/what-shaped-yishai-fleisher-2/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=web.archive.org}}
His Yishai Fleisher Show continues on The Land of Israel Network and on his personal website, YishaiFleisher.com. He regularly hosts live streaming videos and discusses news, politics, and Torah combine with interviews.{{Cite web |last=Lash Balint |first=Judy |date=2017-02-01 |title=How Two US-Trained Israel Advocates Became International Spokesmen - Algemeiner.com |url=https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/02/01/how-two-us-trained-israel-advocates-became-international-spokesmen/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=www.algemeiner.com |language=en-US |quote=Fleisher still hosts his own online radio show and podcast, and was program director at the Voice of Israel Network before joining the Land of Israel Network. He is a frequent guest on international radio and TV networks that brought him to the attention of leaders in Hebron, who appointed him as their international spokesman in 2015.}}
Political Career and Advocacy Work
In 2006 he ran for Knesset with the Atid Ehad party led by Dr. Avraham Neguisse, an activist for Ethiopian Israelis, and Yechezkel Stelzer, an Argentinian-born rabbi.{{Cite news |last=Berman |first=Daphna |title=American-Israelis hold two of Ethiopian party's top five slots |url=https://www.haaretz.com/2006-03-24/ty-article/american-israelis-hold-two-of-ethiopian-partys-top-five-slots/0000017f-deda-df9c-a17f-feda15f40000 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250121192433/https://www.haaretz.com/2006-03-24/ty-article/american-israelis-hold-two-of-ethiopian-partys-top-five-slots/0000017f-deda-df9c-a17f-feda15f40000 |archive-date=2025-01-21 |access-date=2025-04-23 |work=Haaretz.com |language=en}} The party advocated support for new immigrants.{{Cite web |title=The lists of candidates for the 17th Knesset - One future - a good future for Israel |url=https://www.gov.il/apps/elections/elections-knesset-17/heb/list/list850a.html?id=57}}
Fleisher proposed Aliyah Day, to celebrate Jewish immigration to Israel in 2008,{{Cite web |last=HaLevi |first=Ezra |title=Monday Declared 'International Aliyah Day' |url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/126054 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=Israel National News |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=HaLevi |first=Ezra |title=Knesset Lobby For Aliyah From the West Launched |url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/125542 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=Israel National News |language=en |quote=Yishai Fleisher, co-founder of the Kumah Aliyah movement, asked lobby members to differentiate between two issues: “There are two things here that we often mix: one is the absorption, and one is the call from Israel for Jews to come. The latter is what this lobby must focus on. I am suggesting ideas like Aliyah Day – Oleh Day – where the state can broadcast that we appreciate our olim.” Fleisher mentioned other ideas such as dispatching Israeli musicians and delegations to inspire Diaspora Jews and invite them “home” on behalf of the State of Israel.}} based on concepts developed from the Kumah NGO.{{Cite web |title=Israel Perspectives: Feeling 'Right' at Home: Yom HaAliyah - A New Jewish Holiday (Part 2) |url=https://israelperspectives.blogspot.com/2005/09/yom-haaliyah-new-jewish-holiday-part-2.html |access-date=2025-04-23 |language=en}} He wrote the bill and presented it to the Knesset in 2010.{{Cite web |last=Ahren |first=Raphael |date=2010 |title=MK Katz Proposes Aliyah Day |url=https://www.haaretz.com/2010-03-19/ty-article/mk-katz-proposes-aliyah-day/0000017f-dbd1-df62-a9ff-dfd7ca010000 |website=Haaretz.com |quote=The bill was written by Yishai Fleisher, a 33-year-old journalist, who was born in Israel but grew up in New Jersey. "Everybody who made aliyah is proud of ...}}{{Cite web |last=Fendel |first=Hillel |date=March 15, 2010 |title=Head Start for 'Aliyah Day' Law |url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/136524 |website=Israel National News}}{{Cite web |last=Fendel |first=Hillel |title=Part 2: Aliyah Day in Knesset |url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/136529 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=Israel National News |language=en |quote=A practical application of all the speakers’ appreciation for Aliyah was offered by Yishai Fleisher, founder of Kumah and head of Arutz-Sheva’s Israel National Radio. Fleisher introduced a bill that he conceived and wrote, institutionalizing an annual Aliyah Day that will teach and celebrate the concept of Aliyah to Israel in schools, the Knesset and in the media.}} The bill was shelfed and eventually taken up by the Am Yisrael Foundation who lobbied Knesset to pass the bill in 2016.{{Cite web |last=JNi.Media |date=2022-11-01 |title=Happy Aliya Day, Everybody! |url=https://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/aliyah-israel/happy-aliya-day-everybody-2/2022/11/01/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com |language=en-US |quote=The day was initially proposed and the bill written up for the Knesset by none other than Hebron spokesman Yishai Fleisher, which is also the date that he and his wife Malkah made Aliyah.}}{{Cite web |last=Klein |first=Steven |date=June 24, 2016 |title=Rank and File: Aliyah Day Becomes Official Holiday |url=https://www.haaretz.com/rank-and-file-aliyah-day-becomes-official-holiday-1.5400662 |website=Haaretz}}
= Jewish Community of Hebron =
In 2015, Fleisher became the international spokesperson for the Jewish Community of Hebron, the city where he was married.{{Cite web|url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/Blogs/Message.aspx/7936|title=The Right Person in the Right Place at the Right Time!|website=Israel National News|language=en|access-date=2019-12-03|first=David|last=Wilder|date=January 10, 2016}}{{Cite web |last=Wilder |first=David |date=2016-01-10 |title=The Right Person in the Right Place at the Right Time! |url=https://hebron.org.il/en/the-right-person-in-the-right-place-at-the-right-time/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=The Jewish Community of Hebron |language=en-US}} In this capacity, he tours VIPs such as former U.S. vice-president Mike Pence,{{Cite web |last=Isaac |first=David |date=2022-03-11 |title=Former Vice President Pence becomes most senior global leader to visit Hebron |url=https://www.jns.org/former-vice-president-pence-becomes-most-senior-global-leader-to-visit-hebron/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=JNS.org |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2022-03-09 |title=Mike Pence walks in Abraham's footsteps in Hebron |url=https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-700801 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=The Jerusalem Post - Christian World |language=en}} conducts interviews with foreign media, fund raises, and goes on speaking tours.{{Cite news |last=Ali |first=Wajahat |date=2018-05-10 |title=A Muslim Among Israeli Settlers |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/06/a-muslim-among-the-settlers/559145/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |work=The Atlantic |language=en |issn=2151-9463 |quote=Yishai Fleisher, a radio host and frequent commentator for international media, was to lead our tour. Born in Israel, he earned a legal degree at Cardozo School of Law, in the U.S.
Fleisher leaped out of his car with a boyish energy, extending his hand and welcoming us with a giant grin. He was carrying a big, visible handgun. “There are only two kinds of minorities in the Middle East,” Fleisher told me. “Armed and unarmed.”}}{{Cite web |last=Reporter |first=Paul Lungen, Staff |date=2018-11-09 |title=Yishai Fleisher – the man who’s defending the Jews of Hebron |url=https://thecjn.ca/news/yishai-fleisher-the-man-whos-defending-the-jews-of-hebron/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=The Canadian Jewish News |language=en-US}} He has also met with representatives of Arab community of Hebron in order to foster Arab-Jewish relations.{{Cite web|url=https://unitedwithisrael.org/ramadan-iftar-meal-brings-together-orthodox-israelis-and-palestinians-in-hebron/|title=Ramadan 'Iftar' Kosher Meal in Hebron Brings Israeli 'Settlers' and Palestinians Together|website=UWI|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-27|date=May 14, 2019}}{{Cite web |last=Danan |first=Deborah |date=2025-03-18 |title=Before Nita Lowey died, Donald Trump eviscerated the $250M Middle East peace fund named for her |url=https://www.jta.org/2025/03/18/united-states/before-nita-lowey-died-donald-trump-eviscerated-the-250m-middle-east-peace-fund-named-for-her |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US |quote=Samer Sinijlawi, a Palestinian activist and former Fatah member who spent five years in an Israeli prison during the first intifada, recalled that his bid for funds in partnership with Yishai Fleisher, a settler leader from Hebron, was rejected.}}{{Cite web |last=Fleisher |first=Yishai |date=2023-02-14 |title=Three Muslims and a Settler |url=https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/columns/yishai-fleisher/three-muslims-and-a-settler/2023/02/14/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com |language=en-US}} In 2016, Fleisher argued against UNESCO's attempt to recognize the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron as a Palestinian World Heritage Site.{{Cite web |last=Okello |first=Christina |date=July 10, 2017 |title=Jewish settlers declare culture war on Unesco Hebron decision |url=https://www.rfi.fr/en/middle-east/20170710-jewish-settlers-vow-overturn-unesco-decision-hebron |website=Radio France Internationale}}{{Cite web |last=Traiman |first=Alex |date=July 4, 2017 |title=UNESCO's Cave of the Patriarchs Measure Is Latest Example of 'Narrative Warfare' Against Israel, Experts Say |url=https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/07/04/unescos-cave-of-the-patriarchs-measure-is-latest-example-of-narrative-warfare-against-israel-experts-say/ |access-date=2019-11-11 |website=Algemeiner Journal |language=en-US}} He also helps promote large scale events in Hebron such as the Shabbat Chayei Sarah,{{Cite web |date=2020-01-28 |title=The Hebron celebration near the Cave of the Patriarchs |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/the-hebron-celebration-near-the-cave-of-the-patriarchs-615656#google_vignette |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Fleisher |first=Malkah |date=2019-11-24 |title=‘Woodstock meets the Bible’ as tens of thousands flock to Hebron for Chayei Sarah pilgrimage |url=https://www.jns.org/woodstock-meets-the-bible-as-tens-of-thousands-flock-to-hebron-for-chayei-sarah-pilgrimage/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=JNS.org |language=en-US}} and music concerts on Passover and Sukkot and explaining the historical significance of the city.{{Cite news |last=Grave-Lazi |first=Lidar |last2=ILTV |date=2024-12-18 |title=Hebron: How do 1,100 Jews survive surrounded by 200,000 Arabs? |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/article/s18wir1hyx |access-date=2025-04-23 |work=Ynetnews |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2019-05-31 |title=FLEISHER: The Fascinating First-Person Tale Of The Kosher Iftar Of Hebron, Israel |url=https://www.dailywire.com/news/fleisher-fascinating-first-person-tale-kosher-yishai-fleisher |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=www.dailywire.com |language=en}}
He was instrumental in restoring the area of the Tomb of Jesse and Ruth in Hebron, dating back even before his official capacity as spokesperson.{{Cite web |date=May 23, 2004 |title=Olim Help Restore The Tomb Of Ruth And Jesse |url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/62893 |archive-date=May 23, 2004 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=Israel National News |language=en |quote=Yishai Fleisher, co-founder of Kumah, said that "Kever Rut v'Yishai was chosen as the first site of a Kumah Clean-Up because it is one of the Jewish people's holiest sites - the root of the Davidic dynasty - yet for a very long time, the Tomb of Ruth and Jesse has remained in a state of sad disrepair. We wanted to make it shine in time for the Shavuot festival."}} The newly revamped historic site was officially inaugurated in 2024 with a new seating area, refurnished ancient synagogue, and dining area.{{Cite web |date=2024-09-12 |title=“Fulfilling Biblical Prophecy”: Group Of Israelis Restore King David’s Family Tomb |url=https://www.dailywire.com/news/fulfilling-biblical-prophecy-group-of-israelis-restore-king-davids-family-tomb |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=www.dailywire.com |language=en}}
In 2023 he unveiled plans for turned Route 60, which runs past Hebron, into the Biblical Highway{{Cite web |title=The Biblical Highway |url=https://www.biblicalhighway.com/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=www.biblicalhighway.com |language=en}} developed during a tour with former U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.{{Cite news |last=Cohen |first=Gilad |date=2023-09-24 |title=Will Israel's Route 60 become the Biblical Highway? |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sjbemya16 |access-date=2025-04-23 |work=Ynetnews |language=en}} The highway, which passes through sites mentioned during Abraham’s travels in the Bible, would become an attraction that would highlight the historical aspects of the route.{{Cite web |last=Shapira |first=Uri |date=June 11, 2023 |title=Biblical Highway: Activists want to create 'Route 60' in Israel and West Bank |url=https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/culture/1686480830-biblical-highway-activists-want-to-create-route-60-in-israel-and-west-bank |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=www.i24news.tv}}
In 2023 he was awarded the Ari Fuld Lion of Zion Prize.{{Cite web |title=Lion of Zion Prize 2023 |url=https://arifuld.org/2023a/ |access-date=2024-02-15 |website=arifuld.org |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Hasten |first=Josh |date=September 24, 2023 |title=Friends, family mark Ari Fuld's fifth yahrzeit in Kfar Etzion |url=https://www.jns.org/israel-news/arab-terrorism/23/9/24/321489/}}
= Political Advisor =
In 2022, Itamar Ben-Gvir, a resident of Hebron and leader of the Otzma Yehudit Party utilized Fleisher’s services as a political advisor and translator during the 2022 Israeli elections. After Ben-Gvir was elected and appointed Minister of National Security, the relationship continued and Fleisher accompanied him during speeches where fluent English was necessary and served as a media liaison for BBC, and other international media outlets.{{Cite web |last=Freedman |first=Eliyahu |title=Analysis: Why does Israel’s Ben-Gvir want a ‘national guard’? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/3/analysis-why-does-israels-ben-gvir-want-a-national-guard |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}} He joined Ben-Gvir in 2025 during his speaking tour in the United States.{{Cite web |last=Lapin |first=Andrew |date=2025-04-17 |title=Itamar Ben-Gvir is coming to America, with stops at Yale and in New York City already set |url=https://www.jta.org/2025/04/17/israel/itamar-ben-gvir-is-coming-to-america-with-stops-at-yale-and-in-new-york-city-already-set |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}
In 2024 he was a candidate for Efrat municipal council{{Cite web |title=פורטל הבחירות לרשויות המקומיות |url=https://bchirot-muni.moin.gov.il/myauthority/674 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240320151009/https://bchirot-muni.moin.gov.il/myauthority/674 |archive-date=2024-03-20 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=פורטל הבחירות לרשויות המקומיות |language=he-IL}} and was elected as a member of the Efrat On the Move party led by Avital Cohen.{{Cite web |title=בחירות לרשויות המקומיות {{!}} תוצאות ביניים סבב ב’ |url=https://municipal-election-results.moin.gov.il/summary-result}}
= New York Times Controversy=
In 2017 Fleisher penned an article in The New York Times titled A Settler’s View of Israel’s Future which outlined five alternatives to the Two-State Solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.{{Cite news |last=Fleisher |first=Yishai |date=2017-02-14 |title=Opinion {{!}} A Settler’s View of Israel’s Future |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/14/opinion/a-settlers-view-of-israels-future.html |access-date=2025-04-23 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The article generated controversy among the newspaper’s editorial staff who questioned whether such ideas should be published.{{Cite web |last=Stoll |first=Ira |date=2019-05-09 |title=Is New York Times Editor Influenced by Mother’s Negative View of Israel? - Algemeiner.com |url=https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/05/09/is-new-york-times-editor-influenced-by-mothers-negative-view-of-israel/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=www.algemeiner.com |language=en-US |quote=The article, by Yishai Fleisher, the international spokesman of the Jewish Community of Hebron, appeared in the February 15, 2017 Times under the headline “A Settler’s View of Israel’s Future.” Bennet said he published it over the objections of others within the Times who thought it crossed the line into “hate speech” or “denying personhood to the Palestinians.”}} New York Times Opinion Editor James Bennet was quoted as saying, "we had a big argument over a piece by a settler... Was it an act of, kind of, hate speech in a sense? I felt strongly that we should publish the piece and we did, as did others. Because this particular viewpoint is hugely consequential.”{{Cite web |date=2018-02-27 |title=Leak: How NYT Editor James Bennet Justifies The Op-Ed Page To His Colleagues |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/new-york-times-opinion-james-bennet_n_5a8db27de4b0273053a70f47 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}
Fleisher has appeared on Piers Morgan,{{Cite web |last=Morgan |first=Piers |date=July 30, 2024 |title=“A Machine Of LIES” - Israel Bombs Beirut After Playing Fields Attack |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKeeLoNDEU4 |quote=Piers Morgan talks to Hebron Spokesman Rabbi Yishai Fleisher, American-Israeli commentator Emily Schrader, Palestinian-American Middle East analyst Omar Baddar and General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI) Party Mustafa Barghouti about these violent developments.}} CNN{{Cite web |last=Karadsheh |first=Mick Krever, Jomana |date=2024-01-17 |title=Israel’s far-right wants to move Palestinians out of Gaza. Its ideas are gaining attention |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/17/middleeast/israel-far-right-gaza-settler-movement-cmd-intl/index.html |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=CNN |language=en |quote=Settler activists like Yishai Fleisher, a spokesman for Jewish settlers in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, sense an opportunity.
“For people like myself who are on the so-called Israeli right, who have been warning about this situation for years, who protested the 2005 disengagement, nothing has changed,” Fleisher told CNN. “October 7 was just proof for what we’ve been saying all along.”
As a protester, in 2005, Fleisher was among those ejected from Gaza by the Israeli government. With public opinion in flux, he hopes that his movement’s moment has come.
“People are waking up – they’re trying to open their minds,” he said of fellow Israelis, reevaluating their politics in the wake of October 7.}}, BBC{{Cite news |last=Bateman |first=Tom |date=2022-12-22 |title=Palestinian fears heightened as Israeli far right heads to power |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64037478 |access-date=2025-04-23 |language=en-GB |quote="The jihadism that is in this town and the [Palestinian militant group] Hamas that rules this town, that is the real segregationist and apartheid-ist type of rule that can come into this place if Israel doesn't control it."
"In this plot of land which is a tiny plot of land, our tribal lands, we certainly should have control. It's our land," he adds.}}, Al Jazeera{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjSXWyyFZsw |title=Inside Story - Can diplomacy still end the Gaza crisis? |date=2014-08-03 |last=Al Jazeera English |access-date=2025-04-23 |via=YouTube}}, Russia Today{{Cite news |title=UN special rapporteur says Israeli settlements ‘amount to war crime,’ drawing ire from Tel Aviv |url=https://www.rt.com/news/528903-un-israel-settlements-war-crimes/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240227133835/https://www.rt.com/news/528903-un-israel-settlements-war-crimes/ |archive-date=2024-02-27 |access-date=2025-04-23 |work=RT International |language=en-US |quote=Yishai Fleisher, an international spokesman for the Jewish Community of Hebron – a city in the occupied West Bank – slammed Lynk as a “national identity thief.”
The Jewish people “are indigenous to Judea” and their identity “is tied up with this land,” Fleisher told Fox News, using the historic name of an area which includes the southern part of Israel and a part of the occupied West Bank. He also accused the UN special rapporteur, who is also a Canadian legal expert, of committing his own “war crime” by denying Jews their history.}}, Xinhua, MTV, Sipa Press, and Fox News{{Cite web |last=Evansky |first=Ben |date=2021-08-27 |title=Woke history hits Middle East as Palestinians accused of erasing history |url=https://www.foxnews.com/faith-values/middle-east-palestinians-woke-history |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=Fox News |language=en-US}}.
References
{{Reflist|35em}}
External links
{{Commons category|Yishai Fleisher}}
- {{Official website}}
- [https://thelandofisrael.com/yishaifleishershow Yishai Fleisher Show (podcast)]
- [https://www.jewishpress.com/author/yishai/ Fleisher's articles at Jewish Press]
- [http://kumah.org Kumah organization website]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SJPqzvcAHA Video Free Your Mind: The Aliyah Revolution]
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Category:Israeli Orthodox Jews
Category:American Orthodox Jews
Category:Israeli radio presenters
Category:Israeli mass media people
Category:Jews and Judaism in Hebron
Category:Yeshiva University alumni