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Israel News for June 5, 2017

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New Construction Slashed
Prior to Trump’s Israel visit the government had indicated that it would approve the construction of 4,000 new housing units in the West Bank. But now reports say that the government has slashed that number to 2,291, out of which only a few hundred are planned for immediate construction. The reduction is apparently out of fear of clashing with the Trump administration, which is attempting to spark negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) urged the government to consider, saying, “The Likud government’s construction policy should be very clear: free construction in Jerusalem and free construction in accordance with the needs of settlement in all of Judea and Samaria, in an orderly process. The return to the quotas system is wrong, morally unacceptable, and is similar to the British policy toward the Jewish community before the establishment of the State of Israel.”

Settler leaders expressed disappointment and frustration at the decision. Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, alluded to potential political replications saying, “if necessary, it will have political consequences. I hope it won’t come to that because I really think that this is a good government and a good prime minister, but the statement today is a clear one. No more, we’ve had enough.”

For further reading click here.

Embassy Move
UN ambassador Nikki Haley told CNN that Trump still intends to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, but that he is using the embassy as a bargaining chip in his negotiating strategy. She said, “I think that he knows that it could be very much a part of the peace process. And so I think that what he did want to do is make sure that he wasn’t interrupting the negotiations that are happening with the peace process. I think that they feel like it’s moving forward in a constructive way, and he didn’t want this to get in the way.”

The White House press secretary also told reporters on Friday that Trump intends to move the embassy and that the question was only “when” not “if”.

For further reading click here.

Gulf Turmoil
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed their ties with Qatar on Monday, accusing it of supporting terrorism, including the Muslim Brotherhood and Iranian interests. The three Gulf States and Egypt announced the closure of transport ties with Qatar and gave Qatari visitors and residents two weeks to leave their countries. Qatar was also expelled from a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.

In a statement Egypt said that Qatar’s policy “threatens Arab national security and sows the seeds of strife and division within Arab societies according to a deliberate plan aimed at the unity and interests of the Arab nation.” 

Did Trump help make this happen?

For further reading click here.

Holocaust Volumes
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has released the first two volumes of its comprehensive work titled, Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933—1945. The 4,000 page work is available in searchable PDF form on the Museums website.

The first volume called EARLY CAMPS, YOUTH CAMPS, AND CONCENTRATION CAMPS AND SUBCAMPS UNDER THE SS-BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION MAIN OFFICE contains entries on 110 early camps, 23 main SS concentration camps (including Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Dachau), 898 subcamps, 39 SS construction brigade camps, and three so-called youth protection camps. The volume is more than 1,700 pages, with 192 photographs and 23 maps.

The second volume, GHETTOS IN GERMAN-OCCUPIED EASTERN EUROPE, provides a comprehensive account of how the Nazis conducted the Holocaust throughout the scattered towns and villages of Poland and the Soviet Union. It covers more than 1,150 sites, including both open and closed ghettos. Each entry discusses key events in the history of the ghetto; living and working conditions; activities of the Jewish Councils; Jewish responses to persecution; demographic changes; and details of the ghetto’s liquidation. The volume includes personal testimonies as well as hundreds of previously unknown or overlooked ghettos.

Six more volumes have yet to be published.

To gain access to the volumes in their entirety, click here.

Israel Parade
According to reports around 40,000 people participated in the Celebrate Israel parade yesterday. But from a spectator’s perspective (mine), most of those thousands must have been marching because the crowd watching on the sidelines was very thin. The weather could have been partially to blame (it drizzled a bit and was unseasonably chilly), but I think the reason goes much deeper. There are a few million Jews in the NYC area. So where were they all?

Well, the ultra-Orthodox community, which makes up a hefty portion of that number was absent for the most part, except for the radical Satmar hassidim who came out in force to demonstrate against Israel’s existence. The ultra-Orthodox absence doesn’t mean they don’t support or care about Israel. They might just not be into parades (Jews don’t parade, right?).

So what about the rest of the Jews? Well, the day schools were all there and many of the parents came too. Then there were the zionist groups and some of their followers. And of course the politicians, dignitaries, Israel organizations and African American marching bands. But the fact remains that most American Jews have never even visited Israel and don’t feel any connection to it. And among those that do, there are better things to do on a Sunday than shlepping out to the city, right?

The numbers of people attending the parade appear to be dropping, at least according to my memory. Years ago the sidewalks of Fifth Avenue were crowded. Yesterday they were pretty much empty. Maybe it’s time to re-energize the parade, or maybe the parade is fine and we need to re-energize ourselves?

Israel News for January 11, 2017

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Hamas Dealings
The Arab-Israeli newspaper Kul al-Arab has reported that Qatar is mediating between Israel and Hamas in a potential prisoner exchange deal that would secure the release of the bodies of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin and Staff Sergeant Oron Shaul, who were both killed during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014.

According to the report, the negotiations have not moved forward due to Israel’s refusal to release 60 terrorists held in Israeli prisons. Instead, Israel offered to expel them to Gaza or Qatar, which was rejected by Hamas. Non of the report was confirmed by Israeli officials.

For further reading click here.

Obama Interview
In an interview with Israeli TV program “Uvda”, US President Obama defended his decision not to veto the recent UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement building saying “I believe it was the best move for peace.” He said that Israeli settlement building is making the two-state solution almost impossible to achieve. He said, “Bibi says that he believes in the two-state solution and yet his actions consistently have shown that if he is getting pressured to approve more settlements he will do so regardless of what he says about the importance of the two-state solution.”

For further reading click here.

Ethiopian Blood
Since 1977 Ethiopian born Israelis have been banned from donating blood as a result of unproven fears that their blood might carry the HIV virus. The Health Ministry has announced that starting on July 1, their blood will be accepted. The ministry also changed the rules for blood donations from homosexuals and those older than 65.

In 1996 it was revealed that Magen David Adom had been secretly disposing blood donated by Ethiopian Jews over fears they carried HIV/AIDS. The news of the scandal led to violent clashes between the Israeli police and Ethiopian protesters charging that they were being treated as second-class citizens.

Despite the lifting of the ban, Immigration Committee Chairman MK Avraham Neguise said “MDA’s decision to delay accepting these donations for another half year, even though there’s no medical justification for it, is a continuation of the discrimination and deprivation.”

For further reading click here.

Divorce Reversal
In 2014 the Rabbinical district court of Tsfat ruled that the court could give a Get (Jewish divorce) on behalf of a husband in a coma to his wife who had been in a state of limbo (agunah) for seven years. The ruling was revolutionary, since only the husband himself can give or order the giving of a get, but based on traditional Jewish legal (halachic) sources.

Recently a man, unrelated to the the couple, came forward and demanded that the ruling be retracted because it was not correct according to Jewish law. The Tsfat court rejected his claim since the man has no bearing in the case. The man appealed to the Supreme Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem, saying that the ruling effected every Jewish man, since the woman who is eligible for marriage is really still married (if the ruling permitting the divorce was incorrect).

Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, as head of the Supreme Rabbinical Court, has agreed to review the case regarding whether the man has the right to have his claim heard. In addition R. Yosef also will allow the original ruling of the Tsfat court to be reviewed to determine its validity. That means that the divorce given to the woman could be rejected, which would return her to a state of agunah (unable to marry).

The case was brought to the Israeli Supreme Court, where the justices have forcefully spoken out against the idea of the rabbinical court attempting to retract a divorce. The court has yet to make a decision but has restricted the rabbinical court from dealing with the case for 21 days.

For further reading click here.

Driving and Praying
You don’t want your bus driver to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or falling asleep at the wheel. Well, in Bnei Brak passengers have to deal with drivers praying while driving. To see this in action click here.

israeli border police

Israel News for October 14, 2015

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Security Measures
Last night, the government’s security cabinet approved several measures in response to the recent wave of terror.
– It gave police the power to impose lock-downs on violent areas of Jerusalem.
– It prohibited the rebuilding of the homes of terrorists destroyed by the IDF.
– It ordered revoking the permanent residency or citizenship of terrorists (subject to authorization of the Attorney General).
– It authorized expanding the police force, using IDF forces to reinforce the police, and hiring 300 security guards for the public transit system, at a cost of more than 80 million shekels. Initially, IDF troops will be used to secure buses until the security guards are trained.

The cabinet will meet again later today to continue discussion.

For further reading: http://news.walla.co.il/item/2897174

Rabbis and Terrorists
The recent terror attacks by Palestinians have spurred debate among Israelis about how to treat terrorists who have already been subdued. Is deadly force against a terrorist permitted if he or she is no longer a threat? How about non deadly violence, like beating?

Three major Israeli Zionist rabbinic leaders have offered rulings on the issue.

Rabbi David Stav, the Chief Rabbi of Shoham and head of the Tzohar rabbinic organization, has ruled that it is NOT permitted to harm a terrorist who is subdued and poses no further threat. R. Stav said that the primary reason for his decision is so that Jews do not damage their moral compass and sink to the level of the terrorists. He also thinks that photos of Jews beating subdued terrorists will damage Israel’s standing in the world community. R. Stav said, “even though the terrorists deserve it, it is not our way.”

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, the head of the Ateret Cohanim yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem, agreed that civilians must not take action against subdued terrorist who are no longer a threat. He is, however, in favor of the death penalty for terrorists, as long as it is administered by the court. He believes that prison is not a sufficient deterrent.

On the other side of the debate Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Chief Rabbi of Safed, ruled last week that “it is forbidden to leave a terrorist alive after he has committed a terror attack. If he’s left alive there’s a possibility that he will go free and kill more people.” He said that only in special situations where shooting the terrorist could cause explosives to detonate or if they need to interrogate him can he be taken alive.

R. Eliyahu went so far as to demand a special investigation into the circumstances which lead to terrorists being taken alive to determine if the security forces had been negligent in their duties.

For further reading: http://news.walla.co.il/item/2897134

Ex Chief Rabbi Indicted
R. Yona Metzger, the former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, was indicted yesterday. The charges included accepting bribes of up to 8 million shekels (of which he personally kept 5 million), theft, fraud and tax evasion. Metzger’s attorneys tried to reach a plea bargain but the prosecutor refused.

One of the most serious, and disturbing, charges against him are related to conversions. It seems that Metzger made a deal with a Los Angeles rabbi, Gabriel Cohen, whereby he would send foreigners who wished to convert (who were either unable or unwilling to do so in Israel) to the rabbi who would do the conversion in exchange for payment, giving Metzger half.

In one case, from 2011, Metzger referred to Cohen a Russian businessman who had immigrated to Israel and wanted his two children converted. After the conversion, Metzger and Cohen allegedly split the $360,000 the man paid.

Metzger is also accused of getting kickbacks from money he raised for charity organizations and yeshivas as well as for receiving gifts and bribes and concealing funds from tax authorities.

He denies all of the charges and pledges to fight for his vindication.

For further reading: http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel/1.680292

Jews in Yemen
If you thought Yemen was a bad place for Jews, it seems like it just got a lot worse. According to a Jew who recently escaped from Yemen, by pretending to be a Muslim, and arrived in Israel, the government of Yemen recently issued a warning to the Jews in the country: “Get out of Yemen or convert to Islam.”

Over 150 Jews fled Yemen between 2009 and 2013. Those remaining were under the protection of Yemen’s president Ali Abdullah Saleh, until he was ousted in 2012. Now they are effectively under the control of the Houthi rebels who took over the capital, Sana, earlier this year.

The remaining 80 to 100 Jews in Yemen are living in a protected compound in Sana called Tourist City and in the town of Raida in the north. Despite their often precarious existence, most of the Jews don’t seem eager to leave. They continue to practice Judaism and live much as they have for over 2000 years and they’re set on continuing, at least for now. Hard to believe that Jews would choose to live in Yemen, but who are we to judge?

In an interesting twist, the Israeli Knesset member advocating for their rescue is a Druze member of Likud.

For further reading: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/10/12/israeli-politician-says-yemens-last-jews-need-help-to-get-out/

Believe It
Yes, it’s true. The Gulf States, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, UAE and Qatar are in talks to purchase the Israeli made Iron Dome missile defense system. They won’t be buying it directly from Israel, because how would that look? But they’ll still be using Jewish technology to protect against potential Iranian missile attack. Sweet.

For further reading: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.680291