Tel Aviv Terror
Two Israelis were killed and one wounded in a stabbing attack at the Panorama Building in South Tel Aviv yesterday. The attack took place outside a makeshift synagogue in the building during afternoon services. The men inside the synagogue were able to shut the doors on the terrorist and prevent him from entering.

The two men killed were identified as Aharon Asayev, a 32-year-old from Holon, and Reuven Aviram, a 51-year-old from Ramle.

Friends of Asayev described him as a hardworking and God fearing man who returned to Jewish religious observance and built a beautiful family with five children. His oldest daughter is in first grade. Asayev’s older brother also works in the Panorama building and it was his birthday. They were planning to celebrate in a nearby restaurant.

Reuven Aviram was described as an exceptional father and husband who was very knowledgable and loved to read. He had one 27 year old son, who found out about his father’s murder from a video sent to him via What’sApp.

The terrorist was a 36-year-old resident of Dura, close to Hevron, with no previous criminal record. He worked at a restaurant in Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv, and held a legal work permit. The terrorist was apprehended by police.

For further reading click here.

Gush Terror
Yesterday afternoon, a Palestinian terrorist drove his car alongside a minivan stuck in a traffic jam near Alon Shvut in Gush Etzion and opened fire with an Uzi submachine gun. He then drove on and fired at other cars until he crashed into another car and was shot by security forces. Two Jews and one Palestinian (who was accidentally shot) were killed in the attack.

One of the victims was Ezra Schwartz, an 18 year old US citizen from Sharon, Massachusetts who was taking a year off to study at Yeshiva Ashreinu in Beit Shemesh.

Ezra and other students from the yeshiva were in a minivan on their way to deliver snacks to Israel Defense Forces soldiers. Schwartz was a recent graduate of the Maimonides School in Brookline, MA, where most students take a gap year to study in Israel after graduating. He will be flown back to Boston for burial.

The second Jewish victim was Yaakov Don, 49, a teacher from Alon Shvut. Don was married and the father of four children. His parents were Holocaust survivors. Thousands of mourners, including Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein attended his funeral earlier today.

For further reading click here
and here.

Faster Network
According to the Associated Press, Israel has signed an agreement granting Palestinian mobile phone carriers 3G high-speed data services in the West Bank. Palestinians have had 2G access since 1998. The agreement will not extend to 4G or include Gaza. Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Netanyahu, says it’s meant to facilitate economic development.

Is anyone else worried that this might make it easier for the bad guys to spread incitement on social media and coordinate more sophisticated attacks? Hopefully, the IDF and Shin Bet are on top of that.

For further reading click here.

Pollard Released
Jonathan Pollard, 61, was released today from a federal prison in North Carolina after serving 30 years of a life sentence for selling American intelligence secrets to Israel. The details of where he will be living and working are still being kept private.

According to his parole conditions, Pollard will be barred from traveling outside of the country, including Israel, without permission. He will also probably have to abide by a curfew, wear a GPS tracking unit and stay off the internet. That could make it hard for Pollard to work at a job, although his lawyers said back in July that they had secured employment and housing for him in the New York area.

According to Israeli daily Yisrael Hayom, PM Netanyahu has asked the US government to allow Pollard to move to Israel immediately. Two New York congressmen, Reps. Eliot Engel and Jerrold Nadler, have also written U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, saying that Pollard should be allowed to renounce his American citizenship and emigrate to Israel.

The Free Pollard campaign has decided not to hold any public rallies or other events to mark his release, and Pollard’s associates have asked Knesset members and other public figures in Israel not to fly to the United States to meet him when he is freed. Netanyahu has also instructed government officials to stay relatively quiet about Pollard’s release. No one wants to give US authorities any excuse to worsen his parole conditions.

The Prime Minister did issue a statement confirming his release saying, “The people of Israel welcome the release of Jonathan Pollard. As someone who has raised the issue for many years with American presidents, I have dreamt of this day.”

For further reading click here.

Deli Out
In the wake of the World Health Organization’s report, which warned that processed meats contain carcinogens that cause cancer, the Rami Levy discount supermarket chain has decided to close down all its deli counters and replace them with fresh fish counters. The supermarket insists that their decision had nothing to do with the report.

Rami Levy, Israel’s third largest supermarket chain, has already closed the deli counters in about half of its 34 branches and will complete the process by the end of Q1 2016. The stores will continue to sell packaged cold cuts.

Whatever their reasons, their shoppers will now have the choice of eating healthier (yes, fresh fish is healthier than cold cuts), and that’s a good thing.

For further reading click here.

Street closures
If you’re planning to drive in Jerusalem on Shabbat, you better map your route out ahead of time. According to municipal records there are currently 264 Jerusalem streets that are blocked off to traffic, including bicycles, on Shabbat.

All streets in primarily Haredi neighborhoods are closed including Mea Shearim, Geula, Bukharian Quarter, Sha’arei Hesed, Beit Yisrael, Sanhedria, Tel Arza, Kiryat Sanz, Kerem Avraham, Har Nof, Bayit Ve’gan and Ramat Shlomo.

Mixed neighborhoods that have major closures include Ramot, Givat Mordechai and Nachlaot.

If you’re looking for a quiet Shabbat experience, you know where to go.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for Friday November 20, 2015

Tel Aviv Terror
Two Israelis were killed and one wounded in a stabbing attack at the Panorama Building in South Tel Aviv yesterday. The attack took place outside a makeshift synagogue in the building during afternoon services. The men inside the synagogue were able to shut the doors on the terrorist and prevent him from entering.

The two men killed were identified as Aharon Asayev, a 32-year-old from Holon, and Reuven Aviram, a 51-year-old from Ramle.

Friends of Asayev described him as a hardworking and God fearing man who returned to Jewish religious observance and built a beautiful family with five children. His oldest daughter is in first grade. Asayev’s older brother also works in the Panorama building and it was his birthday. They were planning to celebrate in a nearby restaurant.

Reuven Aviram was described as an exceptional father and husband who was very knowledgable and loved to read. He had one 27 year old son, who found out about his father’s murder from a video sent to him via What’sApp.

The terrorist was a 36-year-old resident of Dura, close to Hevron, with no previous criminal record. He worked at a restaurant in Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv, and held a legal work permit. The terrorist was apprehended by police.

For further reading click here.

Gush Terror
Yesterday afternoon, a Palestinian terrorist drove his car alongside a minivan stuck in a traffic jam near Alon Shvut in Gush Etzion and opened fire with an Uzi submachine gun. He then drove on and fired at other cars until he crashed into another car and was shot by security forces. Two Jews and one Palestinian (who was accidentally shot) were killed in the attack.

One of the victims was Ezra Schwartz, an 18 year old US citizen from Sharon, Massachusetts who was taking a year off to study at Yeshiva Ashreinu in Beit Shemesh.

Ezra and other students from the yeshiva were in a minivan on their way to deliver snacks to Israel Defense Forces soldiers. Schwartz was a recent graduate of the Maimonides School in Brookline, MA, where most students take a gap year to study in Israel after graduating. He will be flown back to Boston for burial.

The second Jewish victim was Yaakov Don, 49, a teacher from Alon Shvut. Don was married and the father of four children. His parents were Holocaust survivors. Thousands of mourners, including Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein attended his funeral earlier today.

For further reading click here
and here.

Faster Network
According to the Associated Press, Israel has signed an agreement granting Palestinian mobile phone carriers 3G high-speed data services in the West Bank. Palestinians have had 2G access since 1998. The agreement will not extend to 4G or include Gaza. Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Netanyahu, says it’s meant to facilitate economic development.

Is anyone else worried that this might make it easier for the bad guys to spread incitement on social media and coordinate more sophisticated attacks? Hopefully, the IDF and Shin Bet are on top of that.

For further reading click here.

Pollard Released
Jonathan Pollard, 61, was released today from a federal prison in North Carolina after serving 30 years of a life sentence for selling American intelligence secrets to Israel. The details of where he will be living and working are still being kept private.

According to his parole conditions, Pollard will be barred from traveling outside of the country, including Israel, without permission. He will also probably have to abide by a curfew, wear a GPS tracking unit and stay off the internet. That could make it hard for Pollard to work at a job, although his lawyers said back in July that they had secured employment and housing for him in the New York area.

According to Israeli daily Yisrael Hayom, PM Netanyahu has asked the US government to allow Pollard to move to Israel immediately. Two New York congressmen, Reps. Eliot Engel and Jerrold Nadler, have also written U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, saying that Pollard should be allowed to renounce his American citizenship and emigrate to Israel.

The Free Pollard campaign has decided not to hold any public rallies or other events to mark his release, and Pollard’s associates have asked Knesset members and other public figures in Israel not to fly to the United States to meet him when he is freed. Netanyahu has also instructed government officials to stay relatively quiet about Pollard’s release. No one wants to give US authorities any excuse to worsen his parole conditions.

The Prime Minister did issue a statement confirming his release saying, “The people of Israel welcome the release of Jonathan Pollard. As someone who has raised the issue for many years with American presidents, I have dreamt of this day.”

For further reading click here.

Deli Out
In the wake of the World Health Organization’s report, which warned that processed meats contain carcinogens that cause cancer, the Rami Levy discount supermarket chain has decided to close down all its deli counters and replace them with fresh fish counters. The supermarket insists that their decision had nothing to do with the report.

Rami Levy, Israel’s third largest supermarket chain, has already closed the deli counters in about half of its 34 branches and will complete the process by the end of Q1 2016. The stores will continue to sell packaged cold cuts.

Whatever their reasons, their shoppers will now have the choice of eating healthier (yes, fresh fish is healthier than cold cuts), and that’s a good thing.

For further reading click here.

Street closures
If you’re planning to drive in Jerusalem on Shabbat, you better map your route out ahead of time. According to municipal records there are currently 264 Jerusalem streets that are blocked off to traffic, including bicycles, on Shabbat.

All streets in primarily Haredi neighborhoods are closed including Mea Shearim, Geula, Bukharian Quarter, Sha’arei Hesed, Beit Yisrael, Sanhedria, Tel Arza, Kiryat Sanz, Kerem Avraham, Har Nof, Bayit Ve’gan and Ramat Shlomo.

Mixed neighborhoods that have major closures include Ramot, Givat Mordechai and Nachlaot.

If you’re looking for a quiet Shabbat experience, you know where to go.

For further reading click here.