Businessman Meir Gurvitz last night filed a request with the secretariat of El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. for a permit to hold control of the financially troubled airline – a precondition for owning a controlling stake in the company. The request was passed on to the Government Companies Authority. Gurvitz, 65, is an Israeli-born businessman who has spent much of his life in Britain, and has business interests around the world. In recent years he has been living in the US and most of his investments are in income producing real estate. Read more at Globes.
Joe Biden raised $26 million in the 24 hours after he named Kamala Harris as his running mate, doubling his previous one-day record and signaling enthusiasm among Democrats following the selection of the first Black woman on a major party’s presidential ticket. “It’s really palpable, the excitement,” Biden said Wednesday. The campaign hopes the haul is the beginning of a prolific fundraising push in the final stretch before Election Day. Democrats are close to matching, if not surpassing, the massive $300 million cash stockpile President Donald Trump and Republicans reported in July. Read more at NEWSMAX.
NEW YORK (VINnews/Sandy Eller) – A lengthy legal battle that has dragged on for a year has finally come to a close with the New York State Emergency Medical Services Council (SEMSCO) overwhelmingly approving an application that would grant Ezras Nashim, a by-women for-women emergency medical care corps, the right to operate its own ambulances. As previously reported on VIN News, Ezras Nashim appealed the New York City’s Regional Emergency Medical Council (REMSCO) denial of their application in October, noting that the group’s hearing officer had recommended its approval. Ezras Nashim also argued that it was inappropriate for several REMSCO Hatzolah members to vote on the matter given the ambulance corps’ very public opposition to Ezras Nashim. 23 SEMSCO membe...
Elements of the Islamic State group are working to rebuild in western Syria, where the U.S. has little visibility or presence, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East warned  Wednesday. In the region west of the Euphrates River where the Syrian regime is in control “conditions are as bad or worse” than they were leading up to the rise of the Islamic State, said Gen. Frank McKenzie. “We should all be concerned about that.” McKenzie said insurgents are operating with some degree of freedom, and he said the U.S. and its allies have little hope the Syrian regime will do anything to tamp down the group there. Read more at NEWSMAX.
UNITED NATIONS (JNS) – Anwar Gargash, the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, denied assertions that the historic announcement of normalization with Israel would harm the prospects of peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. “Freezing Israeli annexation will be a revival of the peace process,” Gargash told Sky News Arabia. “We have always said that the political solution is in the hands of Palestinians and Israelis, and there must be a return to the negotiating table.” The Palestinians were quick to slam the UAE for its move to normalize ties with Israel. “We condemn every form of normalization with the occupation, which we consider a stab in the back of the Palestinian cause,” said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum in a statement. Th...
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Thursday praised the Israel-United Arab Emirates peace deal announced by President Trump, but credited efforts of the Obama-Biden administration for the “historic step.” Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed released a joint statement Thursday after Israel and the UAE agreed to normalize relations. The statement said that the “diplomatic breakthrough” was at “the request of President Trump,” and that Israel will “suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President’s Vision for Peace and focus its efforts now on expanding ties with other countr...
UNITED NATIONS — The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations says she is celebrating the announcement of diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, calling it “a huge win” for President Donald Trump and for the world. Kelly Craft said in an interview with The Associated Press that the diplomatic ties show “just how hungry for peace we all are in this world,” and how Mideast countries are all understanding the need “to stand firm against a regime that is the number one state sponsor of terrorism” — Iran. Craft says she believes that more of the Middle East will be “joining together,” and pointing to a letter Sunday from the UAE and five other nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council endorsing an extension of t...
A few months ago I saw an exciting article about the Jewish community in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Jewish school and the synagogue that is under construction there, and thought about how to connect the school and the community there to the Jewish education and identity activities of the Diaspora Ministry. Just a few months ago that would have seemed to be very far off. But tonight I have already had a moving conversation with Solly Wolf, the President of the Jewish community of the UAE. After the blessings and well-wishes, we agreed on the beginning of professional cooperation between the Diaspora Ministry and the community. The political agreement not only improves Israel's status, but also the situation of the Jewish community there, and our ability in the Diaspora Minis...
Har Hamoriya, Har Habayis, Makom Hamikdash, the point from which the Earth was formed, this special place on our planet has a recorded history dating back thousands of years with such important events as Akeidas Yitzchak, Yaakov’s dream and the ultimate building of the Beis Hamikdash.  In this week’s Parsha, Hashem chose to only allude to its existence.  “El Hamakom asher yivchar Hashem Elokeichem” (Re’ei 12:5), “to the place which Hashem will choose” is all Bnei Yisroel is told about this Holiest of places.  Several Mephorshim explain Hashem’s decision not to identify this most prestigious place at this point in time, in order to avoid the lands inhabitants from fortifying the area and trying to prevent B’nei Yisroel fro...
Baltimore, MD – Aug. 2020 - Every Shabbos table offers every Jewish family an incredible opportunity by which they can share their joy for Shabbos, for Yiddishkeit and for HaShem with their children. Unfortunately, our schedules are hectic and many people don’t have the time to prepare themselves to utilize the Shabbos table to its fullest. Therefore, we at ACHIM created TableTalk as a pre-packaged talking points pamphlet which is attractive, fun and has something for everyone. Limited copies are distributed to many shuls on a weekly basis but they are snatched up very quickly. Get yours ASAP or click on the graphic below and print your own. What’s in it and what’s all the excitement about? TableTalk features: •        ...
U.S. equity markets ended despite positive employment data which showed initial jobless claims fell below 1 million for the first week since coronavirus lockdowns began in mid-March. The S&P 500, ever so close to an all-time high fell short, slipping 0.20% to 3,373.43. The benchmark is just over 12 points away from the record high close of 3,386.15 reached in February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, dropped 82 points, or 0.29%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose  0.27%. Initial jobless claims for the week ended Aug. 8 totaled 963,000, according to the Labor Department. The reading marked the first time in 21 weeks that filings were below 1 million and was beneath the 1.12 million filings that Wall Street analysts surveyed by Re...
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion has never been quoted in an Agudah legal brief – until last Friday. What changed? “In this case,” said Mr. Nathan Lewin, who wrote and filed the brief on behalf of the Agudah, “it was important to bring to the attention of the court that cloaked anti-Semitism is infiltrating the court room, and must be called out.” The case at hand is one where the East Ramapo Central School District is being sued for alleged violations of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Without taking sides in the case, the Agudah noted in its brief that the plaintiffs in the case used coded language in their arguments that perpetuate anti-Semitic tropes. Mr. Lewin’s legal presentation cites portions of the plaintiff’s brief that contend that a...
Leading Middle East expert Professor Uzi Rabi tells JNS that Iran’s infiltration into other countries it views as belonging to the Shi’ite axis cannot be seen by the untrained eye; at the same time, Hezbollah has its back “against the wall” and is facing an unprecedented low point. (August 12, 2020 / JNS) Despite many challenges and setbacks, the Iranian strategy for dominating Arab countries that it counts as being part of its Shi’ite axis has made major progress in recent years, and Tehran is likely to continue its “shadow war” with Israel for the foreseeable future, a leading Middle East export has told JNS in recent days. Professor Uzi Rabi, director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Tel Aviv University,...
Pikesville, MD - Aug. 13, 202 0 - 4:20 PM -  Authorities closed the Outer Loop of the Beltway at I-795 for a multiple-vehicle crash Thursday afternoon.
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden‘s campaign on Thursday ripped President Trump‘s opposition to funding for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), calling it “an assault on our democracy.” The Biden campaign seized on comments Trump made to Fox Business Network, where he signaled that he was against approving funding for the post office that Democrats have pushed as part of coronavirus legislation because it would strengthen access to mail ballots. “The President of the United States is sabotaging a basic service that hundreds of millions of people rely upon, cutting a critical lifeline for rural economies and for delivery of medicines, because he wants to deprive Americans of their fundamental right to vote safely during the most catastrophic...
Vice President Pence said Wednesday he “can’t wait” to debate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), named this week as former Vice President Joe Biden‘s running mate. “I think she is a skilled debater, but I can’t wait to get to Salt Lake City and be on the stage with her,” Pence said in a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity. Pence said he wants to compare Biden’s record and the “radical left agenda,” which he argued Harris has embraced, with the “results of this president and this administration.” Read more at The Hill.
Baltimore, MD – Aug. 13, 2020 - Levayah of Mrs. Chavie Klein, a’h.
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