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Israel News for January 27, 2017

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Bus Tragedy
An Egged passenger bus (462) traveling from Jerusalem to Ariel yesterday veered off of Route 60 during stormy weather and fell 300 meters (1000 ft.) off a cliff into a ravine near the settlement of Eli. Two men were killed and seven injured. One of those killed was the bus driver, 37-year-old Avishai Kroani from Ariel, a husband and father of five. The other person killed was Ofir Rahmanov, a 23 year old resident of the Ramot neighborhood in Jerusalem.

United Hatzalah volunteer, Michael Chai Cohen, who arrived on scene stated: “We had to walk for 10 minutes in the rain and mud until we reached the bus. We requested helicopters to help evacuate the injured. Unfortunately, upon arrival, we found several victims who were unconscious and without a pulse. Others sustained varying degrees of injuries.”

To see photos of the crash and rescue click here.

Embassy Move
When asked about moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, President Trump told Fox News today, “I don’t want to talk about it yet. It’s too early.” Apparently it’s a bit more complicated than he thought when he promised, “We will move the American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem,” at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in March.

Regarding the $221 million that was transferred  to the Palestinian Authority by former President Obama shortly before Trump was sworn in as president, the president said “We’re going to see what happens. I don’t want to talk about it.” But yesterday PA officials announced that they have already received the money, so it’s unclear what Trump could do about it now.

Regarding the importance of repairing the US-Israel relationship, Trump responded,  “It is repaired. It was repaired the minute I spoke to Netanyahu.”

For further reading click here.

Aliyah Drop
In 2016, a total of 27,000 people immigrated to Israel versus 31,000 in 2015, according to Immigration Ministry numbers. That represents a 13% decline in the overall rate of Aliyah. Around 7,000 immigrants were from Russia, 5,500 from Ukraine, 5,000 from France, 2,900 from the US and hundreds from Brazil, UK, Belarus and South Africa.

For further reading click here.

Iceland Flights
Icelandic low-cost carrier WOW Air has requested slots from the Israel Airports Authority for six weekly flights between Ben Gurion International Airport and Icelandic capital Reykjavik. WOW is planning to start the flights in June.

WOW Air hopes not only to encourage tourism between Israel and Iceland but primarily to eat into the lucrative Israel – North America stopover flight market. Passengers traveling from Tel Aviv to Reykjavik will then have the choice of vacationing in Iceland or travelling onto nine locations in Canada and the US: Montreal and Toronto, Boston, New York, Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

For further reading click here.

Holocaust Remembrance
Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp in 1945 by the Russian army. The day was designated by the UN in 2008.

As part of Holocaust Remembrance Day I’d like to share the story of my own family.

My father’s family lived in a small town called Mosciska in Eastern Poland, which is today part of the Ukraine. The town had around 2,500 hundred Jews, about half of the entire population, included scores of our relatives.

Not long after the Nazis occupied Mosciska in the summer of 1941, they launched an aktzia to roundup the Jews, most of whom were deported or murdered. My father, who was then 8 yrs old, hid in the fields along with his older sister and mother. My grandfather hid in the forest, but was captured by a farmer and taken to the train station. Luckily, the train had already left and he ended up being released. The family moved into the ghetto along with all of the remaining Jews.

At that point my grandparents decided to send my father away to hide with a Christian woman in a city in central Poland. There he posed as her nephew for over two years. Meanwhile, my grandmother’s uncle and his son had gone into hiding (after his wife and other children were murdered) with a Polish farmer in the area. He arranged for another farmer, who had been employed by our family, to hide them.

To make a very long story very short, for the next two years my grandmother and grandfather, along with their daughter (my aunt), and my grandfather’s two single brothers, hid in a barn behind a secret wall they constructed. Unlike most Jews who attempted to hide in Poland and the Ukraine, they survived.

After liberation they picked up my father and went on to build a new life in America. Other than one of my grandmother’s sisters who survived in a labor camp with her husband, where she gave birth to her first child, and my grandmother’s uncle and his son, the rest of our very large family perished in the Holocaust.

My mother was just 2 yrs old when the Nazis attacked Warsaw in 1939. My grandparents decided to flee the city. They ended up in Uzbekistan with thousands of other Jewish refugees. My grandfather joined the Polish People’s Army (communist). He fought on the front lines to help drive the Nazis out of Poland. After the war they returned to Poland where they lived for over 10 years until immigrating to Canada. Other than one of my grandfather’s six brothers and one of my grandmothers sisters, their entire families perished in the Holocaust.

May the memories of the millions of martyrs be blessed and remain with us forever.

Holocaust Resistence
In commemoration of Intenational Holocaust Remembrance Day we wanted to recommend an excellent book called Isaac’s Army: A Story of Courage and Survival in Nazi-Occupied Polandby Matthew Brzezinski, that recounts the gripping story of Jewish resisitence in the Warsaw Ghetto and afterwards through the eyes of several fighters. To read more reviews and get the book, click here



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Israel News for December 27, 2016

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More to Come
The US abstention in the recent UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement beyond the “green line” might not be an isolated incident.

Israel claims to have information that US Secretary of State John Kerry will outline parameters for a two state solution and a Palestinian state in a speech which he will deliver at an upcoming French sponsored Middle East Peace Summit in Paris scheduled for January 15th, five days before Obama leaves office. Those parameters would then be brought before the UN Security Council and passed before January 20th.

A senior Israeli official said, “The Foreign Ministry and the National Security Council spoke about information to the effect that what is planned is that the foreign ministers’ meeting in Paris will make a summary decision that will be adopted by the Quartet and by the UN Security Council before January 20. Israel believes this is an operative plan and the assumption is that the Americans are leading it all, together with the French.”

The senior official said that Israel fears that Kerry’s speech will include American principles for resolving the core issues of borders, refugees, security arrangements and Jerusalem. 

All this hasn’t stopped PM Netanyahu from lashing out at Obama and accusing him of in effect plotting against Israel. The PM said, “The Obama administration made a shameful, underhanded move.” He is obviously confident in the policies he expects from incoming president Donald Trump. But the US directed anger is unprecedented. The PM went so far as to summon the US ambassador for a meeting while the ambassadors of the countries that voted for the resolution were called in for reprimands at the Foreign Ministry.

While many Israelis might not be in favor of continued Israeli settlement in the West Bank, almost all Israelis agree that Jerusalem is Israel’s eternal capital and must remain undivided. The inclusion of eastern Jerusalem in the UN resolution is a deal breaker, and the fact that the US allowed the resolution to pass is extremely hard to swallow. The possibility that Obama might take further action against Israel in his remaining few weeks as president is even more troubling.

Incoming president Trump has made it clear that he will do things much differently, but how much damage can the Obama administration do before that happens?

PM Retaliates
PM Netanyahu is expected to announce later today that he will cut off all Israeli aid to Angola in response to that countries vote in favor of the anti-Israel Security Council resolution. Angolan diplomats had promised Israel that Angola would abstain from the vote. To add insult to injury, when the Angolan ambassador was called to Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem to get reprimanded, his illegally parked car got ticketed by police.

Israel has also stopped aid to Senegal and recalled its ambassadors from Senegal and New Zealand. Both countries sponsored the resolution.

In addition, the PM has ordered Israeli officials not to meet with representatives of any of, or travel to, the countries that voted for the resolution including the UK, France and Russia. The PM cancelled a scheduled visit by the Prime Minister of Ukraine to Israel. In response the Ukraine called in the Israeli ambassador to the country and reprimanded him.

Will Israeli snubbing of major world powers really hurt these countries, or could it backfire and end up hurting Israel even more?

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely remarked today in an interview that she thinks that the Prime Minister is mistaken in ordering the snubbing of diplomats and cancelations of diplomatic visits. Instead she said that Israel should be meeting with these diplomats to explain Israel’s position. Likud members lashed out at Hotovely for criticizing the PM and called for her resignation or dismissal.

For further reading click here.

Investing in North
Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon and Minister of the Interior, and Minister of the Development of the Negev and Galilee Aryeh Deri have presented a plan for boosting the economy and raising the standard of living of Israel’s northern region. Under the plan, government ministries and the Jewish National Fund will invest around NIS 15 billion. A large chunk of the money will go to infrastructure projects. Other projects include improving the public health system, strengthening local government, and raising the standard of school and higher education.

Kahalon said, “We are determined to bring the same standards as are considered the norm in the center of the country to the north as well. The distance from the center of Israel must not mean gaps in services to citizens. It is impossible to speak of a single society without solving once and for all the problem of the link between distance from the center and social gaps. After years of investment in the center and the Negev, the north’s time has come. I am certain that this plan is a large step in the direction of realizing these aims.”

For further reading click here.

Believe it or Not
This isn’t directly Israel related but since it’s the third day of Hanukkah…there’s an obscure Hassidic custom to disrupt the lighting of the menorah in the synagogue by throwing towels and other stuff at the lighter in order to make it clear that the synagogue lighting is only a custom and does not fulfill the actual mitzvah, which can only be done in the home. To watch this in action click here.

Israel News for November 2, 2016

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Kotel Demonstration
Early this morning, hundreds of protesters led by a delegation of prominent Conservative and Reform rabbis carrying Torah scrolls marched towards the Kotel to protest the governments inaction in creating an agreed upon egalitarian prayer area at the southern end of the Kotel.

The demonstrators were blocked from entering the Western Wall plaza by security personnel. Scuffles between marchers and security guards broke out. Eventually the rabbis succeeding in breaking through and making their way to the Kotel with their Torahs. Kotel regulations prohibit bringing your own Torah to the site.

At the Kotel they were confronted by Orthodox protestors, both male and female. There was pushing and shoving and lots of angry words. A few of the rabbis, including Yizhar Hess, the head of the Conservative Movement in Israel, were reportedly pushed to the ground.

The demonstration was scheduled to coincide with the monthly prayer service held by the Women of the Wall on Rosh Chodesh, the first of the Jewish month (today is Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan).

Leaders of the protest included Rabbi Steven Wernick, chief executive officer of The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, and Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism.

Last night PM Netanyahu tried to dissuade the protestors from marching, saying, “We have one people and one wall — it’s our wall,” he said. “The less publicly we talk about it, the better chance we have to resolve it. The last thing we need is more friction, as that will make a solution more difficult.”

For further reading click here.

Coming Home
Earlier today, 250 new immigrants from Ukraine arrived in Israel. They included 117 families and 52 children. Many of the new olim had lived in areas involved in the fighting between Russia and Ukraine. The new immigrants will receive assistance from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), including the cost of the flight plus $1,000 for each adult and $500 for each child.

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, President of the IFCJ: “As a part of our engagement with Aliyah we are often exposed to moving stories of Jews from all around the world that have been through numerous troubles and now at last are fulfilling their Zionist dream and coming to live in Israel. We assist thousands of Jews from tens of countries from the Ukraine through Brazil to come and live in Israel. We help all immigrants when integrating into the Israeli society and economy by closely following up and providing financial aid so that we can assure the best possible integration.”

For further reading click here.

Israel News for May 5, 2016

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Gaza Strikes
In response to six mortar shells that were fired at Israeli soldiers from Gaza yesterday, the Israeli Air Force launched several airstrikes against Hamas targets in the Strip. An IDF statement said, “The IDF sees terrorist activities conducted above or below the ground as a violation of Israel’s sovereignty, and sees the Hamas terrorist organization as solely responsible for this terrorist activity.”

Both Hamas and IDF sources confirmed that Egyptian officials were mediating a cease fire to restore calm in the area.

The IDF revealed today that it had uncovered another Hamas tunnel that reached as deep as 30 meters below ground.

For further reading click here.

Holocaust Commemoration
Today Israel is observing Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah). The official commemorations began with a siren throughout the country that marked two minutes of silence during which all pedestrian and vehicular traffic came to halt and people stood silently, in place.

Following the two minutes of silence, a wreath-laying ceremony commenced at Warsaw Ghetto Square at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Supreme Court President Miriam Naor, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, Police Commisioner Roni Alsheikh and delegations from Israel and abroad were all in attendance.

During the ceremony, six Holocaust survivors told their stories in a prerecorded video before they lit the six torches representing the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust.

Commemoration events will be held throughout the day. Television and radio programming is also dedicated to remembering the Holocaust, particularly through the broadcasting of testimonies of survivors.

In Poland, over 10,000 Jewish students will take part in the March of the Living, from Aushwitz to the gas chambers in Birkenau, where they will hold a commemoration ceremony.

This year, the march will be led by Israel’s Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, former Chief Rabbi of Israel and current Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv Yisrael Meir Lau, and a delegation of five Knesset members and international law experts who participated in a conference organized by the March of Living Foundation on Wednesday to mark 80 years to the establishment of the Nuremberg Laws and 70 years to the Nuremberg Trials.

For further reading click here.

To watch videos of the six survivor testimonies, click here.

Survivor Stories
As part of Holocaust Remembrance Day I’d like to share the story of my own family.

My father’s family lived in a small town called Mosciska in Eastern Poland, which is today part of the Ukraine. The town had around 2,500 hundred Jews, about half of the entire population, included scores of our relatives.

Not long after the Nazis occupied Mosciska in the summer of 1941, they launched an aktzia to roundup the Jews, most of whom were deported or murdered. My father, who was then 8 yrs old, hid in the fields along with his older sister and mother. My grandfather hid in the forest, but was captured by a farmer and taken to the train station. Luckily, the train had already left and he ended up being released. The family moved into the ghetto along with all of the remaining Jews.

At that point my grandparents decided to send my father away to hide with a Christian woman in a city in central Poland. There he posed as her nephew for over two years. Meanwhile, my grandmother’s uncle and his son had gone into hiding (after his wife and other children were murdered) with a Polish farmer in the area. He arranged for another farmer, who had been employed by our family, to hide them.

To make a very long story very short, for the next two years my grandmother and grandfather, along with their daughter (my aunt), and my grandfather’s two single brothers, hid in a barn behind a secret wall they constructed. Unlike most Jews who attempted to hide in Poland and the Ukraine, they survived.

After liberation they picked up my father and went on to build a new life in America. Other than one of my grandmother’s sisters who survived in a labor camp with her husband, where she gave birth to her first child, and my grandmother’s uncle and his son, the rest of our very large family perished in the Holocaust.

My mother was just 2 yrs old when the Nazis attacked Warsaw in 1939. My grandparents decided to flee the city. They ended up in Uzbekistan with thousands of other Jewish refugees. My grandfather joined the Polish People’s Army (communist). He fought on the front lines to help drive the Nazis out of Poland. After the war they returned to Poland where they lived for over 10 years until immigrating to Canada. Other than one of my grandfather’s six brothers and one of my grandmothers sisters, their entire families perished in the Holocaust.

May the memories of the millions of martyrs be blessed and remain with us forever.

Hebron terror victim dies

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Genady Kofman, 41, a maintenance worker at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, was stabbed by a Palestinian as he left work on December 7.  He has been been fighting for his life ever since the attack but yesterday he succumbed to his wounds.

“Despite the difficult and stubborn struggle of various teams for three and a half weeks, he did not survive his serious wounds,” the hospital said in a statement.

Kofman, who made aliyah from the Ukraine 21 years ago, lived in Kiryat Arba and was a married father of two.

The terrorist, a 21 year old from Hebron, arrived at a bus stop where Kofman was standing and stabbed  him. Border Policemen stationed there saw the attack and shot the terrorist dead.

Malachi Levinger,  head of the Kiryat Arba Council,  spent the night at Kofman’s bedside. He said that “the family is in great pain. In recent days we prayed deeply for the recovery of our friend. We ask people to strengthen the family and the community in these difficult days.”

 

PM Netanyahu made a statement at a cabinet meeting today in response to Kofman’s death in which he sent condolences to the Kofman family and said, “I say to all those who would uproot us from the Tomb of the Patriarchs – except for a few years in the previous century, we have been there for almost 4,000 years and we will stay there forever. You cannot defeat us.”

Israel News for December 18, 2015

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Gaza MIA
The family of Oron Shaul, who was killed in Operation Defensive Shield in 2014, has asked PM Netanyahu and the IDF to reclassify Oron as missing in action from his current status as killed in action with an unknown place of burial. The request comes days after the family asked Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya to provide more information about their son. Hamas had claimed in 2014 that they had captured him alive, but Israel soon after confirmed he had been killed. Oron’s mother pleaded with Haniya saying, “I want to believe you, just give us clear evidence of my son Oron’s condition”.

The request to reclassify Oron’s status stems from ambiguity in the IDF report regarding Oron Shaul’s status. Oron’s mother said that she understands from the report he was not killed, so his status should be changed. She said they waited quietly for a year and a half for the politicians and the security establishment to do their work, but in light of the lack of progress she feels it’s time to try a new course of action to bring Oron home as quickly as possible.

For further reading click here.

Israel Turkey Relations
An Israeli official revealed yesterday that Israel and Turkey have reached an understanding that could lead to the restoration of ties between them.

Relations between the two countries broke down in 2010 after the Israeli naval raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla that killed eight Turkish citizens and one Turkish-American. Israel apologized to Turkey for the deaths and agreed to compensate the victims’ families under a U.S.-brokered arrangement in 2013. But the 2014 Gaza war derailed efforts to restore full ties.

The Israeli official said Turkey would waive legal claims against Israel over the raid and that the countries would upgrade diplomatic ties by returning ambassadors. Turkey will ban a Hamas leader said to be based in Turkey from operating from the country.

The “understanding” was reached between Israel’s incoming Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and the Turkish Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu. It still needs to be approved by both governments.

For further reading click here.

Gas Deal Signed
PM Netanyahu, who is also the Economy Minister, signed the natural gas development agreement after months of debate and controversy. The agreement gives a small consortium of energy companies sole rights to develop the massive Leviathan natural gas reservoir.

Opponents claim that the deal will primarily benefit the energy companies and cost the Israeli people hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues. But the PM believes that the agreement is the only way to develop the massive reserves and that it will greatly benefit the country.

In his speech at the signing the PM said, “This gas is environmentally clean, will lower the cost of living, and give us billions of shekels for our needs. I am giving gas to Israel and its people.” He also said, “the gas was given to us as a gift from God and will transform us into an energy superpower.”

For further reading click here.

China Love
Israeli-Chinese relations just got a lot warmer (and it has nothing to do with Jewish love of Chinese takeout). Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing has donated $130 million to build the first Israeli university in China.

The cornerstone for the Guangdong Technion Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT) was laid in Shantou yesterday. The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by thousands of guests including former Israeli President Shimon Peres, Israel’s Minister of Science, Technology and Space Ofir Akunis, and Technion President Peretz Lavie.

Shimon Peres had this to say: “The establishment of a Technion campus in China is one more proof that Israeli innovation is breaking down geographic borders. China is one of Israel’s major partners in technology and hi-tech and more than 1,000 Israeli companies are active in China. I hope that the economic cooperation between the two countries will continue to expand, as both countries have much to share with, and learn from, one another.”

For further reading click here.

Foreign Workers
Back in September we reported that Israel was planning to bring in 20,000 Chinese construction workers in an effort to reduce housing prices. But the two governments have not been able to reach an agreement to regulate the rights, employment conditions and compensation of the Chinese, so the workers haven’t been able to come to Israel.

Not to fear. Israel has come up with an alternative source of foreign construction workers: Moldova. The former Soviet republic, sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, seems to have a lot of men willing to go just about anywhere outside of Moldova to find work — even to Israel.

Avigdor Yitzhaki, head of the housing department in the Ministry of Finance, plans to bring 2,000 Moldovan construction workers to Israel. He’s also speaking with Romania and Ukraine about getting some of their workers too.

Upshot
Integrating Eastern European workers into Israeli society will be a lot easier than doing so with Chinese workers, given the great number of Russian speaking Israelis (and their love of Eastern European cooking). But it could also create an assimilation problem if the men get too “comfortable” with the natives.

For further reading click here.

Skver Park
The Skver Rebbe will be embarking on a three week visit to Israel at the end of the month. To facilitate his Jerusalem visit, the municipality will destroy a public park near a Skver synagogue in order to put up a tent where the rebbe will be able to hold court. But before you get all heated about it, the deal is that his Hasidim will foot the bill for rebuilding the park after he leaves. (Ok, I thought it was interesting)

For further reading click here.

Wild Goose Chase
Niv Asraf, the 22 year old Israeli who faked his own kidnapping, and his accomplice were slammed with a 625,000 shekel lawsuit. Back in April, Asraf decided to disappear in order to make his ex-girlfriend, whom he had recently broken up with, worry about him. While Asraf hid in the Hebron area, his friend informed the police that Asraf had disappeared after walking towards an Arab village to try and get help for a flat tire.

Over 1000 soldiers, special forces and police officers mounted a search for Asraf. According to the lawsuit the two planned the hoax in detail, which misled the security forces and public for the eight hours it took for the case to be solved. The prosecution claims the actual damages were far worse than the 625,000 shekels claimed in the suit.

After getting notified about the lawsuit, Asraf was rushed to the hospital. Makes sense.

For further reading click here.

Supermodel Busted
Supermodel Bar Rafaeli and her mother were arrested on charges of tax evasion yesterday, but were released after posting bail. They had to surrender their passports and are barred from leaving Israel.

The charges are primarily related to Rafaeli’s overseas income totaling millions of shekels and a celebrity discount she received when purchasing an apartment. Rafaeli claims that she was not a resident of Israel when she earned the foreign income, and therefore is not liable to pay taxes on it.

Regarding the discount — wouldn’t you give Bar Rafaeli a discount?

For further reading click here.

israel weapons confiscated

Israel News for December 17, 2015

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Weapons Bust
Over the past few months Israeli customs officers at the port of Ashdod have intercepted and confiscated tens of thousands of weapons bound for the West Bank. The weapons include over 50,000 combat knives, tens of thousands of electric shockers, swords, clubs, brass knuckles, airguns, slingshots, camouflage uniforms and those face masks that terrorists wear during violent demonstrations.

Customs officials claim that they intercept weapons shipments on a daily basis and that the weapons are usually hidden in all sorts of ingenious places like hollowed out furniture and books.

If these shipments make it to their destinations they can cause serious casualties to security forces and civilians. Props to the customs officers who are protecting Israel by making sure these weapons stay out of Palestinian hands.

For further reading click here.

Gaza Fighting
An explosive device was detonated against an IDF patrol along the Gaza border near Khan Yunis yesterday. There were no injuries or damage. The IDF responded with mortar fire.
According to a military source, this was the first time since the 2014 Gaza war that explosives were used against an IDF patrol.

Considering that Hamas is trying to avoid another fight with Israel, at least for the time being, it seems as though they are losing some of their control over their border.

For further reading click here.

New Housing
The Jerusalem building and planning board approved a plan to build 891 housing units in Gilo, a Jerusalem neighborhood located just beyond Israel’s pre-1967 borders. The plan had been put on hold during PM Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, to avoid American opposition. But it was just a temporary, diplomatically motivated measure. Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be indivisible, including those areas considered part of the West Bank by the international community. With the US election year in full swing, it’s unlikely that the US administration will make much of a fuss about this. Good timing.

For further reading click here.

Kuwait Air Banned
If you’re trying to book a flight with an Israeli passport, cross Kuwait Airways off your list of potential carriers. The airline does not sell tickets to Israelis. Its booking system simply does not accept Israeli passport information.

The US Department of Transportation ordered the airline to “cease and desist from refusing to transport Israeli citizens between the U.S. and any third country where they are allowed to disembark,” and threatened to take action if the airline did not comply.

Kuwait Airways didn’t change its discriminatory policy. Now it has been forced to cancel its flights from New York’s JFK airport to London.

The airline previously filed suit in federal court in Washington saying its policy “isn’t discriminatory because it will sell tickets to passengers regardless of race, national origin or religion – so long as they hold a passport valid in Kuwait,” and asking to be allowed to continue to fly to the United States. So far the airline has not withdrawn its suit, and if it wins it could resume its US flights. The airline claims that its policy is not based on religion, since a Muslim with an Israeli passport will also not be allowed to fly with them.

Saudi Arabian Airlines, beware. You could be next.

For further reading click here.

Best Place
The United Nations has published its Human Development Index (HDI) for 2015, which ranks 188 countries according to their average life expectancy, education and Gross National Product per capita. The index is meant to rank the best countries to live in.

Norway ranked first for the 13th time since 2001. Israel came in at number 18, which is an auspicious number by Jewish standards (it means life). It came in just behind Korea and Sweden, but ahead of Japan, Italy, France and Austria.

The top countries after Norway were Australia in second place, Switzerland third, Denmark fourth, the Netherlands fifth, Germany sixth, Ireland seventh, the US eighth, and Canada and New Zealand tied in ninth place. The bottom five were…oh, who cares. You’ll never end up in any of them, even on a trip.

To see the entire list click here.

Doctor’s Pay
Remember hearing how doctors in Israel don’t make any money because of the socialized medical system? Well, forget about it. According to figures released by the Ministry of Finance, 19 of the top 20 highest paid wage earners in the public sector in Israel are…drumroll…doctors.

The highest paid doc on the list made NIS 128,000 per month, which comes out to over $400,000 per year (yes, that’s in US dollars). That figure doesn’t include any private practice payments the doctor might get outside of the official hospital pay. The 18 other top docs did almost as well.The numbers might not rank with the top docs in the US, but they’re nothing to sneeze at (sorry for the pun), and for Israel, it’s pretty darn fantastic. Sure, not every doctor is making that kind of money, but the same is true for the US.

So to all the Jewish mothers reading this, your boy (or girl) can be a doctor and an Israeli and do ok. For all you single gals (and guys), you can add those interns back onto your eligible list, right behind the startup founders and venture capitalists.

For further reading click here.

French Aliyah
For the second year in a row, France will be the biggest source of immigrants to Israel, followed by Ukraine. About 8,000 French Jews made aliyah in 2015, a thousand more than last year. About 7,000 Jews came from the Ukraine this year. Other notable sources of new Israelis were Russia with 6,300 and the US with 2,900.

Minister of Immigrant Absorption Ze’ev Elkin estimated that the total number of immigrants moving to Israel in 2015 would be 30,000 – up from 27,000 the previous year.

“And the children will return to their borders, and there is hope for the future. “ — Jeremiah 31:16

For further reading click here.