Feed aggregator

Dr Felix Klein, the German Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life and Combating Anti-Semitism, was awarded the esteemed Rabbi Moshe Rosen Prize by the Conference of European Rabbis (CER) on Monday evening. The ceremony took place at the Representation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in Berlin, attended by German Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser. The CER recognized Dr Klein’s exceptional dedication to promoting Jewish life in Germany and his resolute fight against anti-Semitism. The prize is named in honour of the former Chief Rabbi of Romania, who made significant sacrifices to protect his community during the Communist era. The award has been given to individuals who have significantly contributed to positive societal change. Dr Felix Klein, who has served as Germany’s Commissioner for Combating Anti-Semitism since May 2018, previously had a distinguished career in the German Foreign Service, notably as a special representative for relations with Jewish organizations and anti-Semitism issues. In his role, Dr Klein has spearheaded the development of a comprehensive strategy to combat anti-Semitism in Germany. He has focused on integrating Jewish life into political and social spheres during challenging times, raising awareness about Jewish life. He has consistently advocated for identifying and addressing the roots of anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel, pushing for robust legislative measures and educational initiatives, as highlighted by the CER. German Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser commended Dr Klein: “We must unite all societal forces – law, politics, business, and civil society – to combat anti-Semitism and protect Jewish life. Dr Felix Klein exemplifies this commitment. Since 2018, he has steadfastly fought against hatred of Jews, reflecting our state’s dedication to strengthening Jewish life. The European Rabbinical Conference’s decision to honour him with the Moshe Rosen Prize is well-deserved. This award is a reminder for all of us to do everything in our power to protect Jews in Germany.” Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, President of the CER, praised Dr Klein’s work: “Few people in such roles speak out as consistently as Dr Klein, analysing, identifying, and combating anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews in all its forms. His efforts are invaluable for Jews in Germany and beyond. We are profoundly grateful to him and the German government for prioritising the future of Judaism. This prize is a testament to his dedication.” Chief Rabbi Goldschmidt also emphasised the ongoing need for action: “Anti-Semitism, whether from left-wing, right-wing, or Muslim extremists, is not just a Jewish problem but a societal one. It threatens our liberal way of life, unity, justice, and freedom. We must ensure clarity in this debate and be consistent in protecting Jewish communities, prosecuting perpetrators, and managing migration and integration. Addressing groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthi, and the Muslim Brotherhood, and listing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation, are crucial steps. Now is the time for decisive action.” Dr Felix Klein expressed his gratitude: “I am deeply honoured to receive the Rabbi Moshe Rosen Award. Chief Rabbi Goldschmidt and the CER tirelessly work to ensure that Jewish life in Europe continues to flourish. The CER’s recent move from London to Munich demonstrates their confidence in Germany, a source of pride for us all.” Dr Klein received a painting by Moscow-born French-Austrian Jewish artist Alexander Aizenshtat, dedicated to the victims of the Nazi regime’s T-4 programme, […]

Russia is guilty of torturing, beating and numerous other human rights violations of Ukrainian nationals since it occupied Crimea in 2014, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.

There were 43 cases of disappearances or abductions between 2014 and 2018 and the forced relocation of some 12,500 Crimean prisoners onto Russian territory, the Strasbourg-based court said on Tuesday.

Their ill-treatment included “arbitrary arrests and detention” and “torture.” Victims “were kept incommunicado, tied blindfolded, beaten up” and electrocuted, the court said citing a report from the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Allegations of wrongdoing by Russia have been widespread since its troops first occupied Crimea in 2014, but Tuesday’s verdict is among the first condemnation by an international court since then. The conflict between the two countries has worsened with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, triggering fresh allegations of atrocities by Russian forces.

Iryna Mudra, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s deputy chief of staff, said in a statement that the decision is the “first of a kind.”

“The international court recognizes that Russia is responsible for the policy of large-scale and systematic violations of various human rights and freedoms,” Mudra said.

The ECHR also found there had been a “systemic campaign of large-scale expropriation and nationalization of property belonging to civilians and private enterprises in Crimea.”

The court ruled that Russia must take steps to ensure the safe return back to Crimea of the prisoners transferred to Russia. However, this and other steps ordered by the court remain essentially unenforceable since Russia left the Council of Europe and the ECHR in 2022, shortly after the invasion.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli President Yitzchak Herzog welcomed Senator John Fetterman to Israel on Tuesday, marking the senator’s first visit to the country, with Herzog expressing his deepest thanks to Fetterman for his steadfast support and solidarity with the Israeli people. During the meeting, Senator Fetterman revealed a poignant symbol of his commitment to the cause, showing President Herzog a bracelet given to him by families who lost loved ones in the Nova Festival massacre on October 7th. The Senator vowed to wear the bracelet until all hostages are returned home to their families. President Herzog warmly addressed Senator Fetterman, saying, “Welcome to Israel, my friend. I know that you come out of passion and love for this country. And I want to say thank you, on behalf of our nation and on behalf of Israel. Those who stand with us, showing moral clarity, we shall never forget them. And we want to thank you; you’re a true leader.” Senator Fetterman humbly responded, “I’m honored by those words, but I don’t really believe I should be thanked for just doing my job. It’s been a very easy and clear choice throughout all of this, through everything your nation has been through after October 7. I’ve always wanted to be a very consistent voice throughout all this.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Biden envoy Amos Hochstein last week warned Lebanese officials that the US will not be able to stop Israel from invading Lebanon if Hezbollah continues to escalate its attacks, Axios reported. Hochstein visited Beirut last week after his visit to Israel and met with Lebanese Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati, the commander of the Lebanese military Gen. Joseph Aoun and other officials. According to the report, during his meeting with Berri, Hochstein asked him to convey a message to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah that “his assumption that the U.S. controls Israel is wrong.” According to a Western diplomat, Hezbollah later sent a message to the US saying that although it doesn’t want a war, the terror organization is confident is can significantly harm Israel if it invades Lebanon. Politico reported on Monday that “there’s a growing sense in Washington and beyond that escalation between Israel and Hezbollah is inevitable.” Israel’s gotta do what they gotta do,” a Defense Department official said. Senior Biden administration officials told senior Israeli officials last week that the US would fully back Israel if a full-scale war breaks out between Israel and Lebanon but won’t deploy US troops on the ground. On the other hand Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Sunday that the U.S. won’t likely be able to help Israel defend itself against a broader Hezbollah war as well as it helped Israel fight off an Iranian barrage of missiles and drones in April. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Rising waters on the Blue Earth River in Minnesota washed out a portion of the Rapidan Dam near the town of Mankato, 50 miles southwest of Minneapolis, as floods inundated parts of the Midwest.

State authorities said emergency services teams were on the ground and monitoring the situation closely.

“There’s a serious situation in and around Mankato with the Rapidan Dam potentially failing,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) said in a post on social media. Minnesota’s Star Tribune newspaper reported that the dam was in “imminent failure condition,” citing Blue Earth County officials.

Jeremy Brennan, chief deputy at Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office, told The Washington Post late Monday that the dam is “still standing.”

“The water cut away some land at the west side and is now free flowing,” he said, adding that residents downstream who are in proximity to the river had been notified. The county has not issued evacuation orders, Brennan said.

“Nobody has dealt with such a situation before. Managing the people who are coming out to view the dam and keeping them safe is a big challenge,” he said. Video from the scene showed a lone house on the bank, close to fast-moving water carrying tree branches and structural debris.

The National Weather Service’s flash flood warning for the Blue Earth River is in place until Tuesday morning local time, the agency said.

Officials from the city of North Mankato said they built a 34.6-foot earth wall levee as a precautionary measure. “Currently the river level is at 28.92 ft and predicted to crest at 29.6 ft on Tuesday,” the city said in a statement posted on social media.

“If the Rapidan Dam does fail, engineers on-site predict an increase in the river levels of 6 inches to 2 ft, depending on location downstream,” it said at 6:19 p.m. local time Monday, adding that no evacuations or preparations from residents were needed at that time.

The Rapidan Dam is more than 100 years old. Damage from regular flooding over the years has prompted questions over its future, according to the Blue Earth County website.

Flooding that spread across parts of Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota this past weekend is forecast to worsen Tuesday as rivers continue to rise, and meteorologists warn that any additional rain from possible thunderstorms could extend or heighten the risks of inundation.

—

(c) Washington Post

More than 500 people — some linked to transnational cartels and organized crime rings — have been charged with gun trafficking and other crimes under the landmark gun safety legislation President Joe Biden signed two years ago Tuesday. A White House report obtained by The Associated Press on the implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act also said that enhanced background checks under the new law have stopped roughly 800 sales of firearms to people under age 21 who would be prohibited from buying them. It highlights that 14 states are using or planning to use funding from the legislation to make better use of red flag laws, which allow law enforcement to remove weapons from people in crisis but are often underused or not well understood. And the report lays out how $85 million in funding has been awarded to 125 school districts across 18 states to help identify students who need mental health care and help them access it. “It was designed to reduce gun violence and save lives,” Biden said recently of the law. “And I’m so proud of the tremendous progress we’ve made since then.” The bill was a signature achievement for the Democratic president, and the particulars on how it has been implemented come as he seeks reelection in November. But Biden is also quick to say the law didn’t go far enough, as he continues to push for stricter background checks and has called for a ban on assault weapons. Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump, meanwhile, has promised no new gun regulations if he returns to the White House. Trump has spoken twice this year at National Rifle Association events and was endorsed by the group in May. The former president has claimed that Biden “has a 40-year record of trying to rip firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens.” His campaign and the Republican National Committee also announced the creation of a Gun Owners for Trump coalition that includes gun rights activists and those who work in the firearms industry. Biden created the first-ever White House office of gun violence prevention and issued new rules that mean tens of thousands more firearms dealers across the United States will have to run background checks on buyers at gun shows or other places outside brick-and-mortar stores. He’s also pushed to make firearms storage safer. Biden’s campaign believes gun control is a motivating issue for voters, in particular suburban college-educated women who may be decisive in several key battlegrounds this fall. Biden’s campaign and allies have circulated clips of Trump saying, “We have to get over it,” after an Iowa school shooting in January and then telling NRA members in May that he “did nothing” on guns during his presidency. About 7 in 10 suburban college-educated women who voted in the 2022 midterm elections supported stricter gun control laws, although fewer than 1 in 10 named it as the top problem facing the country, according to AP VoteCast, a wide-ranging survey of voters. Violent crime dropped in 2023, reversing a coronavirus pandemic-era spike, but firearms are the No. 1 killer of children in the U.S., according to research from the American Academy of Pediatrics. So far this year, 110 children younger than 11 have died by guns, and 566 between the ages of 12 […]

The leader of a Hamas terrorist cell based in eastern Yerushalayim that had plans to assassinate then-Israeli opposition lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir and carry out a series of other attacks against civilians was sentenced to 13 years and 10 months in prison, the Israeli Attorney General’s Office said on Tuesday.

Rashid Rashak, 24—whom authorities have described as a “prominent Hamas operative” and has been in and out of jail for about a decade—was arrested two years ago along with four other members of the cell.

In addition to their plan to murder Ben-Gvir, who now serves as Israel’s national security minister, they had concocted several other terror plots.

“Rashak planned with others to carry out attacks against Israelis in which the defendant and his accomplices would kidnap Israeli soldiers for the purpose of prisoner exchange transactions, carry out shooting attacks against the security forces, as well as kill a Knesset member about whose route they collected information,” the indictment read.

Israel’s Ynet news site had previously reported that Rashak’s cell had monitored Ben-Gvir’s home in Kiryat Arba, bordering the city of Chevron in Yehuda, and logged the hours when he left, in particular by foot.

Rashak was said to have worked to obtain funds to purchase weapons and ammunition, as well as to recruit people, including to carry out a shooting or suicide bombing at the May 2023 Yerushalayim Day parade.

“We welcome the sentence handed down by the court, which reflects the severity of the suspect’s actions,” a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office said. According to prosecutors, the gravity of Rashak’s crimes became even more evident in light of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.

“The court did well to express this in the sentencing. The prosecutor’s office will continue to fight terrorist offenses in general and the Hamas organization in particular,” added the spokesperson.

Israeli security forces have thwarted numerous terror attacks targeting Ben-Gvir since he took office as a minister in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government, which was formally sworn in on Dec. 29, 2022.

In March 2023, the Israel Police arrested an Arab who planned to steal police license plates and affix them to a vehicle to get close to Ben-Gvir. The suspect allegedly received money from terror groups to carry out the killing, which was to have taken place during a visit by the minister to Har Habayis in Yerushalayim.

Only six months later, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) arrested five suspects who were allegedly recruited by Iran to murder Ben-Gvir and former Knesset member Rabbi Yehudah Glick, both staunch advocates of Jewish prayer rights on Har Habayis.

In April, Shin Bet agents foiled a plot to kill Ben-Gvir using a rocket-propelled grenade. According to authorities, the cell also planned to attack Ben-Gurion Airport, the government complex in Yerushalayim, Israel Defense Forces bases, other sensitive sites and the town of Kiryat Arba.

{Matzav.com}

President of Israel Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal hosted Rabbi Pini Dunner, rabbi of Beverly Hills Synagogue, as their guest at the President’s Residence. He was accompanied by a delegation of 40 members of his community in Israel for a solidarity visit. During the meeting, Rabbi Dunner presented the President with a new edition of ‘Ohr Hayashar’, a Talmudic halakhic book written by the President’s great-grandfather, Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchok Hillman. Rabbi Hillman (1868-1953) was considered one of the greatest rabbis of his time. He served in various rabbinical roles in large communities in Lithuania, and then in Glasgow, Scotland, and finally as the head of the Beth Din in London, England. Besides his rabbinical duties, Rabbi Hillman devoted his time to helping communities in need and establishing Jewish life in the communities where he served. He was also awarded a medal by King Albert of Belgium as a mark of appreciation for his work helping Belgian Jewish refugees in England during the First World War. In 1934, Rabbi Hillman moved to Palestine and settled in Jerusalem, where he founded the “Ohel Torah” yeshiva in the Rechavia neighborhood. Among the rabbinic luminaries who studied at this institute of learning were prominent rabbis such as Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, Rabbi Sholom Yosef Elyashiv, Rabbi Shmuel HaLevi Wosner, Rabbi Binyamin Yehoshua Silber, Rabbi Baruch Yitzchak Levin, and many more. Rabbi Hillman’s daughter, Sarah, was the wife of Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak Isaac Halevi Herzog, the mother of the Israel’s sixth president Chaim Herzog, and the grandmother of President Isaac Herzog. After many years of work, the new and expanded edition of “Ohr Hayashar” on Meseches Shabbos by Rabbi Hillman has now been published. The first copy was presented to President Herzog this past Sunday. It deals with all aspects of Shabbos and its halachos. The original first edition, which included four madechtos in Moed, was published in Jerusalem during the author’s lifetime in 1941. The new edition was published in the United States by Rabbi Pini Dunner, the rabbi of the Beverly Hills community. The President and his wife commended the delegation for visiting Israel, and showing solidarity with the residents of Israel. During the meeting, Rabbi Dunner presented the President with the first volume. The new edition, edited by Rabbi Dunner, stands out for its enlightening insights and explanations of Rabbi Hillman’s words, clarifying the author’s thoughts and ideas on every topic covered in Madeches Shabbos. In the first edition, the section dedicated to the Shabbos was just 32 pages long, which has now been expanded by Rabbi Dunner to 439 pages in the new edition, showcasing the depth and breadth of Rabbi Hillman’s work.

An Israeli couple, Yitzhak Cohen, 37, and his friend Geneva Lopez, have been reported missing in the Philippines since Friday, according to local media. The couple was last seen leaving to look at a property for sale in the city of Capas, but have not been heard from since. On Saturday, their vehicle was discovered burned, with Lopez’s identity card found inside. The family has been frantically searching for the couple and has reached out to authorities for assistance. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has confirmed that it is aware of the situation and is working closely with the Israeli Embassy in Manila and the Department for Israelis Abroad to locate the missing couple. “The Israeli Consul in the Philippines is handling the matter in coordination with local authorities, and the Department for Israelis Abroad is in contact with the family,” the Ministry said. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Tesla Inc. is recalling its Cybertruck model again over faulty windshield-wiper components and trim pieces that may come loose while driving.

The automaker is calling back more than 11,000 Cybertrucks over both issues, according to two reports posted online Tuesday by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The company estimates in the filings that 2% of the pickups may have defective wiper motors, and that 1% may need may need trim pieces replaced or reworked.

Tesla has suffered several setbacks with the Cybertruck since it started delivering the pickup in November, years behind schedule. The trucks were included a broader February recall of about 2.2 million cars to increase the font size of text warning drivers about braking issues.

The automaker also called back almost 3,900 of its pickups in April over pedals that could dislodge and lead the vehicle to unintentionally accelerate and crash. Last month, multiple Cybertruck owners posted videos showing the front trunk of their pickups closing on their fingers.

Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk did point to some progress Tesla is making with Cybertruck while delivering his opening remarks at the company’s annual shareholder meeting earlier this month. Musk said the automaker had produced 1,300 of the pickups in a week, though he didn’t specify when or speak to whether Tesla would maintain that pace.

Tesla said in its windshield-wiper recall report that it identified wiper-motor failures in early February and, along with suppliers, performed analyses on the components. The carmaker said it isn’t aware of any collisions, injuries or deaths relating to the issue.

In its report about the trim pieces that can detach, Tesla said a Cybertruck arrived at one of its delivery centers in late December with a missing cosmetic applique along the exterior of the trunk bed. The company identified a second occurrence of the issue in May on a customer vehicle, then found additional instances where trim pieces were loose or detached due to improper installation.

Tesla said it’s not aware of any collisions, injuries or deaths relating to this condition, either. Both reports were dated June 19.

(c) Washington Post

Iran’s supreme leader issued a thinly veiled warning Tuesday to the sole reformist candidate in the country’s upcoming presidential election, saying anyone who believes “all ways to progress” come from the United States shouldn’t be supported. While often speaking in parables like many Iranian politicians, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to directly undercut the candidacy of 69-year-old heart surgeon Masoud Pezeshkian, who has aligned himself with officials from the administration of former President Hassan Rouhani. Rouhani helped reach Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, an accord Pezeshkian has fully embraced in contrast with his five hard-line opponents, who want an agreement fully on Iran’s terms. Khamenei also called for “maximum” turnout for Friday’s vote, which analysts say could support Pezeshkian. Already, the doctor’s rallies have drawn large crowds in major cities, though it remains unclear whether his candidacy alone would be enough to push an apathetic public to vote to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, a protégé of Khamenei who died in a helicopter crash in May. “Some politicians in our country believe they must kowtow to this power or that power, and it’s impossible to progress without sticking to famous countries and powers,” Khamenei said in a speech marking the Shiite holiday of Eid al-Ghadir. “Some think like that. Or they think that all ways to progress pass through America. No, such people can’t” run the country well, he said. Khamenei’s comments in his hourlong speech drew repeated cries of “Death to America, death to Israel” from a raucous crowd. The 85-year-old Khamenei had to urge the crowd to quiet themselves several times during his remarks. Khamenei’s call comes after a parliamentary election that saw a record low turnout earlier this year. Voters across the capital, Tehran, who have spoken with The Associated Press have expressed widespread apathy over the election as Iran faces an economy crushed by Western sanctions and after widespread anti-government protests in recent years, particularly after the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini and women refusing to wear the country’s mandatory headscarf, or hijab. Pezeshkian, little known to the general public before registering for the campaign, has drawn large crowds in Tehran and other major cities. Among his most-prominent allies is former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who led negotiations for the nuclear deal. Khamenei’s remarks also can be seen as a warning to Zarif and even Rouhani himself, whose former administration has been blasted by hard-liners in the time since the collapse of the deal in 2018 after then-U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the deal. Since then, Iran has advanced its program to enrich uranium up to weapons-grade levels while also hampering the ability of international inspectors to monitor it. Pezeshkian also has been trying to adopt symbols of previous campaigns by popular reformists, who seek to change Iran’s theocracy from inside. His campaign slogan “For Iran,” a call to nationalism rather than religion, mirrors an earlier campaign slogan used by former reformist President Mohammad Khatami. Pezeshkian also has been photographed wearing green scarves — apparently trying to associate himself with the 2009 Green Movement protests that swept Iran after the disputed vote and bloody crackdown that saw hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected as president. Khamenei made a point to seemingly link the upcoming election to the wider tensions in […]

U.S. presidential envoy Amos Hochstein last week warned officials in Beirut that Hezbollah is wrong to think the Biden administration would be able to stop an Israeli military operation in Lebanon if the Iran-backed terror group continues its attacks, Axios reported on Tuesday.

The report, which cited U.S. and Israeli officials, as well as a Western diplomat, said Hochstein passed on the message during a June 18 meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah.

According to the sources, Hochstein conveyed to Berri that the United States won’t be able to hold Israel back if the situation on its northern border continues to deteriorate and that Hezbollah needs to negotiate a diplomatic deal.

A Western diplomat said that the Lebanese terror proxy sent messages back to the U.S. through third parties, claiming it does not want all-out war but also believes it can cause Israel significant damage should the Israeli military enter Lebanon.

In a video message published on Saturday, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed to fight the Jewish state “without restraints, without rules, without limits” should war be “imposed” on Lebanon. Nasrallah has also threatened that “an invasion of the Galilee remains on the table if the confrontation escalates.”

Hezbollah has attacked northern Israel nearly every day since joining the war in support of Gaza-based Hamas on Oct. 8, killing more than 20 people and causing widespread damage. Tens of thousands of Israeli civilians remain internally displaced due to the ongoing violence.

Since Oct. 8, Hezbollah has fired more than 5,000 rockets, anti-tank missiles and suicide drones at Israeli border communities. On Sunday, drones and anti-tank missile attacks on the Galilee wounded three Israelis, two of whom were listed as being in serious condition.

Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi have told Biden’s aides that Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu prefers a diplomatic solution, according to Axios.

A U.S. official said Biden’s advisers informed Dermer and Hanegbi that if there’s a war in Lebanon because Hezbollah refuses to cease its attacks until there is a truce in Gaza, Washington will support Israel.

Asked about the prospect of war in an interview with Channel 14 on Sunday, Netanyahu said, “We will do what is necessary. I can assure the citizens of Israel that if we are required to take on this challenge, we will do it. We can fight on several fronts, and we are also preparing for it.”

With intense fighting in Gaza winding down, the Israel Defense Forces will “redeploy some forces to the north…primarily for defensive purposes, but also to bring all the residents of the north home,” he said.

“If we can do it politically, that would be great. If not, we will do it in another way, but we will bring everyone back home—all the residents of the north and the south,” he added.

Any political solution for the northern border “will not be an agreement on paper,” the premier emphasized, but “will include the physical removal of Hezbollah from the border, and we will have to enforce it.”

Last week, the IDF formally “authorized and validated” operational plans for a campaign aimed at pushing Hezbollah north of the Litani River, which was also the stated goal of 2006’s UNSC Resolution 1701.

During a meeting with Netanyahu on June 17, Hochstein reportedly rejected Israel’s demand that a deal to end the conflict in the north be based on the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.

Instead, he said it should include a range of options, including moving Hezbollah six miles from the border. He stressed that Washington was concerned about further escalation and called for calm on both sides.

The U.S. military likely would not be able to help Israel defend itself against a war with Hezbollah in the way it did when Iran launched a barrage of missiles and drones at the Jewish state in April, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in remarks to the press on Sunday.

Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown noted that it is harder to repel the shorter-range rockets from Lebanon, AP reported. An Israel-Hezbollah war also risks triggering a direct military response by Tehran, he added.

Iran would also be “more inclined to support Hezbollah” than it is the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip, “particularly if they felt that Hezbollah was being significantly threatened,” Brown warned.

{Matzav.com}

In response to the violent anti-Semitic protest outside a Los Angeles shul which was targeted for hosting an event promoting the sale of real estate in Israel, CNN senior political commentator Van Jones compared the Palestinian keffiyeh scarf and the Confederate flag, sparking a meltdown in pro-Hamas circles. Jones said, “If you show up there wearing a keffiyeh, you show up there with your face covered, you show up there chanting ‘River to the Sea,’ that would be just like a white person running up with the Confederate flag in Harlem. You’re not trying to start a conversation, you’re trying to start a fight. Stop doing that. Don’t do that.” Mehdi Hasan, editor-in-chief of Zeteo and former MSNBC host, reacted, “Palestinian-American kids keep getting violently attacked – one of them was murdered – while mainstream media commentators say inciting/dehumanizing stuff like this.” Wajahat Ali, a Daily Beast columnist, called Jones’ comments “an insane thing to say out loud,” while Jack Mirkinson, senior editor at The Nation, tweeted, “A keffiyeh is not, in fact, the same as a Confederate flag. You get to say the most outlandish nonsense as long as it’s about Palestine.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

In a series of overnight counter-terror raids, Israeli security forces arrested 24 suspects and uncovered arms stashes in the West Bank, the military announced. The raids, which took place in several locations, resulted in the confiscation of weapons and the destruction of explosives. According to the IDF, 14 of the suspects were arrested in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus, where troops uncovered a significant cache of weapons and explosives. The IDF statement noted that the troops destroyed the explosives on site. In other incidents overnight, gunmen opened fire on a military vehicle in the northern West Bank, but no injuries were reported. The IDF is currently searching for the attackers. Additionally, rioting erupted in Ramallah following the arrest of a suspect, with soldiers using riot dispersal means to respond to rock-throwing by protesters. Since October 7, the IDF has arrested approximately 4,150 suspects in the West Bank, with around 1,750 of them belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The parents of the 12-year-old girl, identified only as “A,” who was brutally assaulted in a Paris suburb on June 15 recently spoke with French daily Le Parisien “to bear witness to the ordeal experienced by their eldest daughter.”

The incident sent shock waves through France. Hundreds demonstrated in Paris on June 19 in solidarity with the victim. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke out against “the scourge of antisemitism” at a Cabinet meeting that day.

Three boys were involved. Two of them, both 13 years old, were indicted for the group brutal assault, death threats, antisemitic violence, attempted extortion, invasion of privacy, violence and insults.

A third, age 12, was declared an involved witness in the brutal assault and is on trial for the other crimes.

The shocking incident took place only steps away from their apartment, the parents told Le Parisien.

“Their sense of immunity is amazing. They really thought they would be safe from prosecution and perhaps believed that our daughter would be so afraid that she wouldn’t say anything,” her father said.

“They threatened her with a lighter and forced her to swallow a piece of paper,” he said. He said his daughter was then brutally assaulted while being photographed.

The girl, who had spent the afternoon with friends, was crossing Henri Regnault Park in Courbevoie, a Paris suburb, when she came across two boys, one of whom she vaguely knew.

They blocked her way and forced her to follow them to an abandoned daycare center. There they brutally, violently assaulted her, in a number of disgusting ways.

“There was a very clear desire on the part of her attackers to destroy her life. She is very shocked. They stole her childhood from her,” the mother said. “She is afraid to speak and wakes up at night with flashbacks.”

There’s no question that Jew hatred was a motive for the brutal assault as they hurled insults at her like “dirty Jew,” the teens admitted to police.

“Our daughter experienced antisemitism first hand,” the father said. “It has to do with importing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to France.”

The mother said their daughter had been the victim of religious bullying at school. “During this period, we advised her to hide her religious identity,” she said.

One of the assailants told their daughter, “Why did you lie? I know you are not Muslim. So what religion are you?” The attacker then concluded that she was Jewish, pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian, the parents said, noting this reflects a general conflation French Jews endure, where they are held responsible for the Middle East conflict.

“We are not looking for sympathy, but for the public to understand the difference between the conflict in the Middle East and French Jews,” the mother said.

“We want justice done,” the father added. “This incident is a sign of a collective social failure in the fight against antisemitism and extreme violence.”

As if to underscore the deterioriating security situation for French Jews, six Jewish youth were assaulted on June 22 outside a cinema in a Paris suburb. They suffered antisemitic insults by three assailants and one was slapped several times, Le Figaro reported.

Meanwhile, French prosecutors charged a 19-year-old man and a minor in the Paris region with plotting a terrorist attack on Jewish targets, Agence France-Presse reported on Friday.

The man was charged with “terrorist conspiracy” to commit attacks and the “acquisition and possession of arms for a terrorist enterprise,” according to the report.

{Matzav.com}

One was a journalist on a reporting trip. Another was attending a wedding. Yet another was a dual national returning to visit family. All are U.S. citizens now behind bars in Russia on various charges. Arrests of Americans in Russia are increasingly common with relations sinking to Cold War lows. Washington accuses Moscow of using U.S. citizens as bargaining chips, but Russia insists they all broke the law. While high-profile prisoner exchanges have occurred, the prospects of swaps are unclear. “It seems that since Moscow itself has cut off most of the communication channels and does not know how to restore them properly without losing face, they are trying to use the hostages. … At least that’s what it looks like,” said Boris Bondarev, a former Russian diplomat who quit after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022. Who is known to be in Russian custody? EVAN GERSHKOVICH — The 32-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter faces trial Wednesday on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government deny. He was detained in March 2023 while reporting in the city of Yekaterinburg and accused of spying. Russia alleges Gershkovich was “gathering secret information” at the CIA’s behest about a facility that produces and repairs military equipment. It provided no evidence to support the accusations. PAUL WHELAN — The 54-year-old corporate security executive from Michigan was arrested in 2018 in Moscow where he was attending a friend’s wedding, convicted two years later of espionage, and sentenced to 16 years in prison. He maintains his innocence, saying the charges were fabricated. TRAVIS LEAKE — The musician was arrested in 2023 on drug charges. An Instagram page describes him as the singer for the band Lovi Noch (Seize the Night). Court officials have said he is a former paratrooper. MARC FOGEL — The Moscow teacher was sentenced to 14 years in prison, also on drug charges. The Interfax news agency said Fogel taught at the Anglo-American School in Moscow and had worked at the U.S. Embassy. Interfax cited court officials as saying Fogel has admitted guilt. GORDON BLACK — The 34-year-old staff sergeant stationed at Fort Cavazos, Texas, was convicted June 19 in Vladivostok of stealing and making threats against his girlfriend, and was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison. He had flown to Russia from his U.S. military post in South Korea without authorization and was arrested in May after she accused him of stealing from her, according to U.S. and Russian authorities. ROBERT WOODLAND — Woodland, a dual national, is on trial in Moscow on drug- trafficking charges. Russian media reported his name matches a U.S. citizen interviewed in 2020 who said he was born in the Perm region in 1991 and adopted by an American couple at age 2. He said he traveled to Russia to find his mother and eventually met her on a TV show. Woodland was charged with trafficking drugs as part of an organized group — punishable by up to 20 years in prison. ALSU KURMASHEVA — Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian national, was arrested in 2023 in her hometown of Kazan. The Prague-based editor for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Tatar-Bashkir service was visiting her ailing mother. She faces multiple charges, including not self-reporting as a “foreign agent” and spreading false information […]

A sister of Hamas leader-in-exile Ismail Haniyeh was among those killed in an Israeli Air Force attack on a building on Gaza’s northern coast overnight Monday, Arab reports claimed on Tuesday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that fighter jets struck two buildings in the northern Strip that were being used by Hamas terrorists, including several who invaded the Jewish state on Oct. 7 and took hostages.

The terrorists had entrenched themselves in school buildings in the Al-Shati Camp and Daraj Tuffah area, the IDF said in a statement. The military added that it took precautions to avoid harm to noncombatants.

Hamas terrorists “systematically violate international law, exploiting civilian infrastructure and the civilian population as human shields to carry out acts of terrorism against the State of Israel,” the army said.

Israeli ground forces entered Gaza on Oct. 27, following a weeks-long air campaign in response to the Oct. 7 attacks. Jerusalem’s stated goals for the war are to destroy Hamas as a military and governing force in Gaza, ensure that it can not threaten Israel again and return all hostages.

Some eight years ago, Haniyeh relocated from Gaza to Qatar, which sponsors and shelters the Palestinian terror group’s top leaders.

In April, an IAF strike strike in the Al-Shati Camp killed six relatives of the terrorist leader, including three of his sons. Hazem, Ameer and Mohammed Haniyeh were all members of Hamas’s “military” wing.

In October, Hamas claimed that an airstrike in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood killed 14 of his relatives. The terrorist leader’s brother and nephew died in the strike, reports said.

Sister Sabah Haniyeh, an Israeli citizen who lives in the Bedouin town of Tel Sheva, near Beersheva, was charged with incitement and identifying with a terror group after being arrested earlier this year.

{Matzav.com}

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is calling on voters to reject anti-Israel Rep. Jamaal Bowman in Tuesday’s primary, citing his stance on Israel and a past incident where he pulled a fire alarm in Congress. “Jamaal Bowman should pull the fire alarm again because he is going to be smoked by @LatimerforNY today,” Cuomo wrote on X. “The message is clear: anti-semitism in any and all forms will not be tolerated in New York. And you can’t call yourself a progressive without making progress. Vote!” Bowman, a member of the progressive “Squad” in the House, is facing a tough primary challenge from Westchester County Executive George Latimer, 70, who is expected to win by a significant margin. The race has become the most expensive House race in history, with over $25 million spent, largely due to the $15 million contributed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC, United Democracy Project. Bowman’s troubles began when he pulled a fire alarm during a government funding vote in 2023, causing Congress to be evacuated. Although he was censured, no House Ethics investigation ensued. He claimed he thought the fire alarm was a lever to open the door he was trying to get through. High-profile figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders have rallied behind Bowman, but their efforts have failed to move the polls in his favor. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

This year on the 26th of Sivan, the yahrtzeit of the holy Tanna Rav Yonasan ben Uziel, thousands of singles in shidduchim will gather around the world at Vasikin time in Eretz Yisroel to storm the heavens and daven for shidduchim. ​They will be joined by minyanim of Talmidei Chachamim at Amukah, Kever Rachel, Me’aras Hamachpela, and the Kosel, who will be completing Sefer Tehillim four times and davening for the yeshuos of all participants. ​You can submit a name for ANY yeshuah to be recited at all four locations during this historic tefillah and tremendous Eis Ratzon.

An Israeli citizen went missing under suspicious circumstances in the Philippines over the weekend, local media reported on Tuesday.

Yitzhak Cohen, 37, was reportedly last seen on Friday, along with Geneva Lopez, a Philippine citizen. Authorities located their burned-out car early Saturday.

The local 24 Oras outlet reported that the Bureau of Fire Protection found the charred vehicle on a road in the country’s northern Tarlac province. Lopez’s family confirmed that personal belongings found in the SUV, including an ID card, belonging to her.

Cohen, who was said to have been living with Lopez in the city of Angeles, north of Manila, was reportedly the last one to drive the car.

“We are backtracking the CCTV footage. And whatever footage we get, we can enhance to see the occupants,” Angeles City police chief Col. Amado Mendoza Jr. told the Filipino news site Rappler on Sunday.

An initial probe indicated that Cohen and Lopez were traveling to Tarlac for a meeting regarding a real estate transaction. Authorities said the people they were supposed to meet were cooperating with police.

In a statement shared with JNS on Tuesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed that the incident was “known to and handled by the Israeli Embassy in Manila and the Department for Israelis Abroad.

“The Israeli consul in the Philippines is handling the matter with the local authorities, and the Department for Israelis Abroad is in contact with the family,” added the statement from Jerusalem.

In July of last year, an Israeli citizen was abducted by an Ethiopian criminal gang near the country’s northwestern border. Ethiopian special forces were able to liberate Francis Adbabayi, 79, from Rishon Lezion, following a “pursuit and shootout” after some three weeks in captivity.

{Matzav.com}