JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said it intercepted four incoming rockets from Syria on Tuesday and explosions were heard shortly after that in Damascus, a week after another Israeli strike targeted a top Palestinian militant in the Syrian capital. Israeli air defense systems captured the projectiles, the military said, and no harm was caused to Israeli communities in the Golan Heights after warning sirens awoke residents there early in the morning. There was no immediate official comment from Syria but the SANA state news agency reported explosions were heard near Damascus International Airport, indicating a potential Israeli retaliatory strike. The Israeli military would not comment on the explosions in Syria, but Defense Minister Naftali Bennett was convening the top milit...
President Donald Trump’s transactional approach to foreign policy assumes that everything has a price. The problem for him in his nuclear gamble with North Korea is that Kim Jong Un may not be buying. In a blunt put-down Monday, North Korea rejected what a senior adviser to Kim called another “fruitless” one-on-one with Trump. It was the latest reminder that Trump’s open-door policy for bargaining with authoritarians means those leaders can slam the door in his face. “We are no longer interested in such talks that bring nothing to us,” said Kim Kye Gwan, a veteran diplomat and Foreign Ministry adviser. “As we have got nothing in return, we will no longer gift the U.S. president with something he can brag about.” Trump had hinted on Sunday ...
A member of a far-right network directed the vandalism of shuls in Michigan and Wisconsin in September, according to a criminal complaint filed on Tuesday and unsealed the following day. It stated that Richard Tobin, 18, of Brooklawn, N.J., admitted to directing, through “online platforms and encrypted online messaging applications and chat rooms,” members of the network’s “Great Lakes Cell” to paint the synagogues with neo-Nazi symbols and slogans as part of what he dubbed “Operation Kristallnacht,” in reference to the 1938 Nazi pogrom in Germany, translated as the “Night of the Broken Glass.” Temple Jacob in Hancock, Mich., was defaced with Nazi symbols on Sept. 21. Beth Israel Sinai Synagogue in Racine, Wisc., was vandalized with a...
House investigators are examining whether President Donald Trump lied to former special counsel Robert Mueller, the House general counsel told a federal appeals court Monday in Washington. The statement came during arguments over Congress’ demand for the urgent release of secret grand jury evidence from Mueller’s probe of Russia’s 2016 election interference, with House lawyers detailing fresh concerns about Trump’s truthfulness that could become part of the impeachment inquiry. The hearing followed Friday’s conviction of longtime Trump friend Roger Stone for lying to Congress. Testimony and evidence at his trial appeared to cast doubt on Trump’s written answers to Mueller’s questions, specifically about whether the president was aware of his camp...
Former House speaker and Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich discusses the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.
A plane with Hillary Clinton aboard was grounded at LaGuardia Airport Sunday afternoon after suffering an unknown mechanical issue on the tarmac, a report said. American Airlines flight 2144 to Washington DC’s Reagan Airport was forced to return to the gate about 3:15 p.m. following a mechanical issue reported by ground personnel, a law enforcement source told CNN. Another source confirmed with the network that the former secretary of state was on board. Read more at THE NY POST.
The chief executive of FedEx blasted a New York Times investigation detailing how the company wiped out its tax bill as an “outrageous distortion of the truth” Sunday and then challenged its publisher to a debate on federal tax policy. CEO Fred Smith did not specify any particular errors in the report, which said the shipping giant’s tax bill went from $1.5 billion in 2017 to zero in 2018 after President Donald Trump’s tax cuts slashed FedEx’s effective tax rate from 34% to less than zero. The tax cut, which Smith lobbied for extensively, was framed as a means of spurring business investment, but FedEx apparently has done the opposite. It spent less on capital investments in 2018 than it did the year before and even less in 2019, according to the Times, and i...
As Israel approaches what would be its third election in less than a year, many Israelis and international observers are questioning the sustainability of the country’s complicated parliamentary system. Yet at the heart of Israel’s current political impasse lies not only its system of government, but also its justice system. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is expected to decide in the coming weeks whether or not to issue formal indictments in three separate cases against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In Case 1000, Netanyahu is accused of receiving gifts worth over $200,000 from friends over an extended period, while Case 2000 and Case 4000 both involve alleged attempts by Netanyahu to secure positive media coverage in exchange for political favors. That Netan...
Travelers should use only AC charging ports, use USB no-data cables, or "USB condom" devices. Travelers are advised to avoid using public USB power charging stations in airports, hotels, and other locations because they may contain dangerous malware, the Los Angeles District Attorney said in a security alert published last week. USB connections were designed to work as both data and power transfer mediums, with no strict barrier between the two. As smartphones became more popular in the past decade, security researchers figured out they could abuse USB connections that a user might think was only transferring electrical power to hide and deliver secret data payloads. This type of attack received its own name, as "juice jacking." Across the years, several proofs-of-concept wer...
Pharmaceutical company Teva USA today announced that it will resume production of childhood cancer drug vincristine after a recent shortage which led to patients missing doses of the vital chemotherapy. “I’m pleasantly surprised to see the announcement and it’s the right decision,” said Dr. Yoram Unguru, a pediatric oncologist at the Herman and Walter Samuelson Children’s Hospital at Sinai in Baltimore and faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics.  “Patients are going to benefit, but it wont help immediately,” he added. The company came under intense pressure for the decision to cease production in March 2019 after claiming its product only made up 3% of the market share, with Pfizer producing the rema...
One of the two Rebbes of the Satmar movement, Rabbi Yekutiel Yehuda Teitelbaum - better known as Rabbi Zalman Leib - landed this morning (Tuesday) in Israel, flying on a private plane from Heathrow airport, in London. Haredi leaders met the rebbe at Ben Gurion Airport. The Rebbe is expected to take part in many different events in Jerusalem, including donating some five million dollars to organizations who do not accept funds from the state. Member of Knesset Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beytenu) took to Twitter to attack the fact that roads are being closed for Teitelbaum's visit. "Have we all gone mad? Closing roads in Jerusalem for the arrival of the anti-Zionist Satmar leader who objects to the existence of the State of Israel. I don't understand how he is permitted to enter ...
Security Alert:  U.S. Embassy Jerusalem (November 18, 2019) Location: Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza The U.S. Embassy advises U.S. citizens in or considering travel to or through Jerusalem, the West Bank, or Gaza to maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness in light of the current environment. Individuals and groups opposed to the Secretary of State’s recent announcement may target U.S. government facilities, U.S. private interests, and U.S. citizens. Potential targets include public events, such as demonstrations, holiday events, and celebratory gatherings; hotels, clubs, and restaurants popular with U.S. citizens; places of worship; schools; shopping malls and markets; tourism infrastructure; public transportation ...
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu praised the Trump administration Tuesday, hailing as a ‘great day for Israel’ the US State Department’s declaration that it does not view Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria as illegal under international law. Speaking during a visit to Israeli towns in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem, Tuesday afternoon, Prime Minister Netanyahu called Secertary of State Mike Pompeo’s Monday announcement regarding Judea and Samaria a “great day for the State of Israel”. “This is a very great day for the State of Israel, and an achievement that will last through the ages.” “I admit that I am very moved,” Netanyahu continued. “We are here, in Gush Etzion, a place where we were expelled from during th...
It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the passing of Rebbetzin Gittel Kaplan a”h of Yerushalayim. She passed away a day before her 50th birthday. Rebbetzin Kaplan was the wife of Rav Nissan Kaplan, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Daas Aharon and former longtime R”M at Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim. She was a daughter of Rav Avrohom Gurwicz, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Bais Yosef of Gateshead. The rebbetzin had battled illness and, at the advice of Rav Chaim Kanievsky, a name, Yente, was added to generate zechusim for her speedy recovery. She passed away Tuesday morning. She is survived by her husband and 11 children, most of whom are not yet married. The levaya will begin on Tuesday night at 8:00PM from their home at 31 Agassi Street in H...
WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Donald Trump boarded Air Force One to fly to a Kentucky campaign rally two weeks ago, a plan was in place for him to give final approval to a plan to ban most flavored e-cigarettes. By the time Trump landed back at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington a few hours later, the plan was off. And its future is unclear. For nearly two months, momentum had been building inside the White House to try to halt a youth vaping epidemic that experts feared was hurting as many as 5 million teenagers. Both first lady Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and senior adviser, pushed for the ban, which was also being championed internally by White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, who has taken the lead on some public health issues. But as...
In Bereishis (24:3) the posuk tells us that Avraham asked Eliezer to go find a wife for Yitzchok. We know that since Eliezer was a slave and was not paid for his efforts. The common practice is that shadchan in today’s day and age is paid for consummating a shiduch.  The makor for paying a shadchan is found in Bava Metziya (87b) where the gemara says that a person has to pay an agent when he brokers a deal. The gemara says if the measuring cup breaks in the process, the agent loses the money and he is stuck with the bill for these goods. Rashi explains the reason for the agent being left with the bill is because it is as if the agent buys it from person A and ...
Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee next month to testify on a forthcoming report on alleged surveillance abuse during the 2016 campaign.  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who oversees the panel, announced on Monday that Horowitz will appear publicly on Dec. 11. Graham’s decision to schedule the hearing is the latest sign that Horowitz’s report is nearing its release. The GOP senator said earlier this month that he expected it within weeks. “I appreciate all the hard work by Mr. Horowitz and his team regarding the Carter Page FISA warrant application and the counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign,” Graham said in a statement.  He added that he expected...
Children made up 33% of the country’s total population, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics said Monday morning, with 2.960 million children currently residing in Israel. A full 2.131 million of the children (72%) are Jews, while 731,000 were Arabs (24.7%) and another 98,000 (3.3%) were “other” – a label used to include non-Arab Christians and other groups not identified by religion. Israel had an average of 2.43 children per household in 2018, and Beit Shemesh had the highest number of children per household, at 3.67. In second place was Bnei Brak, with 3.50 children per household, followed by Jerusalem with 2.99 children per household. Tel Aviv-Yafo came in last, with just 1.87 children per household. Read more at Arutz Sheva.
Twenty-four British public figures signed an open letter refusing to vote for the Labour Party in the United Kingdom’s Dec. 12 general elections due to party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s multiple ties to anti-Semitism. The letter to The Guardian said. “The coming election is momentous for every voter, but for British Jews it contains a particular anguish: the prospect of a prime minister steeped in association with anti-Semitism.” “Anti-Semitism is central to a wider debate about the kind of country we want to be,” the letter continued. “To ignore it because Brexit looms larger is to declare that anti-Jewish prejudice is a price worth paying for a Labour government. Which other community’s concerns are disposable in this way? Who would be next?&r...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Monday that the U.S. is softening its position on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the latest in a series of Trump administration moves that weaken Palestinian claims to statehood. Pompeo’s announcement repudiates a 1978 State Department legal opinion that held that civilian settlements in the occupied territories are “inconsistent with international law.” The move will likely anger Palestinians and put the U.S. at odds with other nations working to end the conflict. The Trump administration views the opinion, the basis for long-standing U.S. opposition to expanding the settlements, as a distraction and believes any legal questions about the issue should be addressed by Israeli courts, a...
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