Manama - The foreign minister of U.S. ally Bahrain has defended Australia’s formal recognition of West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, saying the move would not affect a future Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital. Australia’s government announced the decision on Saturday, reversing decades of Middle East policy, but said it would not immediately move its embassy there. The United States in May opened its embassy in Jerusalem. The Arab League had issued a statement criticizing the Australian decision as “blatantly biased towards the positions and policies of the Israeli occupation”. But Bahraini minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa described the statement as “mere rhetoric and irresponsible”. “Australia’s stan...
Jerusalem, Israel - Dec. 16, 2018 - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Wednesday evening, December 12, made the following remarks at the annual Government Press Office civil New Year reception with the foreign media: "Our hearts are with Shira and Amichai over the passing of their four day old son who did not even have a name. The murderers are abhorrent, the most deviant criminals on earth. The security forces are pursuing them and I hope that there will be news soon on this matter. We will not slacken until we find them and deal with them to the fullest extent of the law." Over 300 international journalists and diplomats attended the annual event which was held for the first time at the Shalva National Center in Bayit Vegan.  Shalva, the Israel Association for Care and In...
New York - With a number of probes moving closer to the Oval Office, President Donald Trump and his attorney unleashed a fresh series of attacks Sunday on the investigators, questioning their integrity while categorically ruling out the possibility of a presidential interview with the special counsel. Trump and Rudy Giuliani used Twitter and television interviews to deliver a series of broadsides against special counsel Robert Mueller and federal prosecutors in New York. Giuliani said he was “disgusted” by the tactics used by Mueller in his probe into Russian election interference, including in securing guilty pleas from the president’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn on a charge of lying to federal investigators. Trump, Giuliani said, would not submit to...
Jerusalem - Amichai Ishran, the father of the the infant who died following the terror attack outside Ofra, said his son managed to unite the Jewish people during the three days he was alive. During an emotional press conference held in Shaarei Tzedek Hospital by Amichai and his wife Shira who were both shot and wounded last Sunday, the two bereaved parents gave heartfelt thanks to the outpouring of love they said they have felt following the terror attack which they said had given them physical and psychological strength. “Our baby, Amiad Israel, managed to unite the Jewish people in the three days he was alive, something most people never manage to do during their entire lives,” said Amichai. “Everyone wanted to come and help us and wish us well, secular, religious, ...
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s son Yair suggested on Facebook that there could never be peace in Israel until its Arab citizens move of the country. “There will not be peace here until: 1. All the Jews leave the land of Israel.2. All the Muslims leave the land of Israel. I hope it’s the second,” wrote Yair on Facebook. Later, Yair wrote that “do you know where there are no terror attacks? In Iceland and Japan. Coincidentally there’s also no Muslim population there”. Read more at Arutz Sheva.
In roughly its first year and a half, special counsel Robert Mueller III’s investigation cost the government a little more than $25 million, according to expenditure data released Friday. Mueller’s total tab increased about $8.4 million from April 1 through Sept. 30 – bringing his total to about $25.1 million, the data shows. That figure includes both what Mueller’s office itself spent, and what Justice Department components spent on things attributable to his investigation. President Donald Trump has periodically complained about the cost of Mueller’s probe to taxpayers. In a tweet late last week that seemed to exaggerate the publicly known price tag, the president claimed the investigation came with “a cost of over $30,000,000,” and had found, ...
It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the passing of Rav Chanina Herzberg zt”l, who served as the menahel of Yeshiva Toras Chaim of South Shore for nearly 40 years. Rav Hertzberg grew up in the East New York section of Brooklyn, attending Yeshiva Toras Chaim under Rav Isaac Schmidman. He then attended Mesivta Yeshiva Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin, where he became a talmid of Rav Yitzchok Hutner zt”l. When Rav Shlomo Freifeld zt”l founded Yeshivas Sh’or Yoshuv in Far Rockaway, Rav Herzberg was among the early talmidim, drawing close to Rav Shlomo. Rav Herzberg subsequently became a rebbi and a s’gan menahel at Yeshiva Tiferes Moshe. Rav Binyomin Kamenetzky zt”l...
Jerusalem - The Israeli military says it has exposed a fourth Hezbollah attack tunnel dug from Lebanon. The military said Sunday that it has placed explosives in the tunnel as part of an open-ended operation to identify and destroy the cross-border passageways. Israel says the tunnels were built by Hezbollah militants to carry out attacks against Israelis. Hezbollah, which used such tunnels inside Lebanon in the 2006 war, has yet to comment on the operation, which began two weeks ago. Israel has called on the international community to impose new sanctions on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, a heavily-armed mini-army with an arsenal of some 150,000 rockets that can reach nearly every part of Israel.
Jerusalem - Israel signalled displeasure on Sunday with Australia’s recognition of West Jerusalem as its capital, with a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying it was a mistake to gainsay Israeli control over the whole city. The premier, for his part, stayed silent on Canberra’s move at a weekly Israeli cabinet meeting that is usually his opportunity to hold forth in public on major diplomatic developments. Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in a 1967 war and annexed it as its capital in a moved not recognised internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as capital of the state they hope to found in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. A year ago, U.S. President Donald Trump outraged Palestinians by recognising Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, a d...
New York - With the specter of the latest education guidelines that are attempting to dictate secular curricula in all private schools statewide looming large, Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah of America has issued a public call for a day of prayer to take place next week.  The statement from the Moetzes asks the community, including elementary schools and institutions of higher learning, to recite Tehillim during the Mincha services on Tuesday, which coincides with the fast of Asara B’Teves.  It decries the new guidelines, issued by Commissioner MaryEllen Elia of the New York State Department of Education as a “clear and present danger that affects us and our children” which will have “a terrible negative impact, quantitatively and qualitatively, on the chinuch ...
Pyongyang - North Korea on Sunday condemned the U.S. administration for stepping up sanctions and pressure on the nuclear-armed country, warning of a return to “exchanges of fire” and that disarming Pyongyang could be blocked forever. The North’s stinging response came after the United States said on Monday it had introduced sanctions on three North Korean officials, including a top aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, for alleged human rights abuses. Denuclearizing North Korea has made little progress since Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump met in Singapore in June in a historic summit. The two sides have yet to reschedule working-level talks between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol, which were canceled ab...
East Rutherford, NJ - Nearly $300,000 remains missing a day after two bags of money fell out the back of an armored truck and set off a mad scramble by motorists to grab some of the fluttering bills, police in New Jersey said. More than a half-million dollars spilled Thursday from a Brink’s truck near MetLife Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Jets and Giants. East Rutherford police said in a statement that two bags of cash fell. One of the plastic bags had $140,000, and the other held $370,000. Police say the bags fell from an open rear door that had a mechanical issue. Authorities said the bags opened when they hit the roadway, becoming airborne because of the wind and vehicle traffic. The swirling cash led drivers to stop their vehicles and hop out on the highway to gather t...
Indianapolis - The spray-painting of a swastika outside a suburban Indianapolis synagogue this summer was the final straw for Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, who quickly called for Indiana to join the 45 states that have hate crime laws. “It’s not only the right thing to do, it’s long overdue,” Holcomb said Friday during an interview with The Associated Press. “I’m convinced the overwhelming majority of Hoosiers feel the same way.” As the annual legislative session draws near, though, some warn that such a proposal could spark a bitter cultural debate that would bring unwanted attention to the deeply conservative state, much like the 2015 religious objections law that critics widely panned as a sanctioning of discrimination against the LGBT communi...
Ft Lauderdale, FL - Spirit Airlines tops the latest ratings for on-time flights, a big turnaround for a discount carrier that consistently ranked as the tardiest airline in America three years ago. Spirit also has the second-lowest rate of canceled flights in the latest government report. It still has a high rate of passenger complaints, and some travelers avoid it and other budget airlines because of their reputation for poor service. If travelers come to see them as reliable, however, discount airlines could pose a greater threat to bigger competitors. The Transportation Department said Friday that 89 percent of Spirit’s flights in October arrived on time, putting it just ahead of frequent winner Hawaiian Airlines and Delta Air Lines. It’s the first time the Miramar, Flor...
Boston - The Federal Air Marshal Service says it’s curtailing a domestic surveillance program that’s been accused of spying on thousands of unwitting passengers who are not suspected of a crime or appear on a terror watch list. The agency’s new director, David Kohl, tells the Boston Globe  that air marshals are “no longer capturing” any “routine passenger behaviors on a plane that would be seen as normal behavior.” The changes follow a series of reports by the newspaper that found thousands of ordinary citizens had been swept up in “The Quiet Skies” program and watched by armed, undercover agents through airports and on flights. Agency officials say marshals no longer document travelers’ minor movements and behav...
The largest diamond ever discovered in North America was unearthed in October, Canadian mining company Dominion Diamond Mines announced in a Thursday news release. Weighing in at 552 carats, the yellow diamond was recovered at the Diavik Diamond Mine, located in Northern Canada about 135 miles south of the Arctic Circle. Bloomberg News reports that the largest gems are typically found in mines in southern African, and that this discovery is the seventh-biggest this century. The stone is apparently the size of a chicken egg, according to Bloomberg. “Abrasion markings on the stone’s surface attest to the difficult journey it underwent during recovery, and the fact that it remains intact is remarkable,” the release read. Dominion Diamond Mines, which calls the gemstone &...
The White House and a number of federal agencies have started advanced preparations for a partial government shutdown, as President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats appear unlikely to resolve their fight over a border wall before some government funding lapses at week’s end. GOP leaders are scrambling to find a short-term alternative that could stave off a shutdown, which would start on Dec. 22 absent a deal. But White House officials signaled to lawmakers Friday that they would probably not support a one- or two-week stopgap measure. Some congressional Republicans support such a “continuing resolution,” but the White House rejection has dramatically increased the odds of a spending lapse. “We could be headed down the road to nowhere,” said Senate Ap...
Rep.-elect Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) announced she plans to wear a traditional Palestinian gown when she is sworn into Congress next month. She made the announcement in a post on Instagram featuring a photo of the thobe on Friday. “Sneak peek: This is what I am wearing when I am sworn into Congress,” Tlaib captioned the photo, in addition to the hashtags #PalestinianThobe and #ForMyYama — which means mother in Arabic. Read more at The Hill.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed legislation Friday that made his state the first in the nation to ban the use of wild and exotic animals in traveling acts. The legislation, also known as “Nosey’s Law,” is named after a 36-year-old African elephant with arthritis that was forced to travel across the country, including New Jersey, for traveling circus acts while also suffering abuse, the governor’s office said in a press release. “I am proud to sign ‘Nosey’s Law’ and ensure that New Jersey will not allow wild and exotic animals to be exploited and cruelly treated within our state,” Murphy said in a statement. “These animals belong in their natural habitats or in wildlife sanctuaries, not in performances where their safety ...
The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Saturday strongly criticized Australia’s announcement of its recognition of western Yerushalayim as Israel’s capital. Yusuf al-Mahmoud, a spokesman for the PA cabinet, said that the Australian government’s decision to recognize western Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was a “wrong step” and showed an incorrect understanding of the political reality and decisions of the international institutions on Jerusalem since 1947. Mahmoud called on other countries not to relocate their embassies to Jerusalem and to recognize the Arab city of Al-Quds as the natural capital of the “state of Palestine” in accordance with UN resolutions that established that “the West Bank and East Jerusalem are part of the Palestinian ...
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