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Hundreds of people gathered in Paris on Wednesday to demonstrate against Jew-hatred in the wake of the antisemitic assualt of a 12-year-old girl that shocked the country over the weekend, local media reported.

The rally in the French capital was organized by Collectif Nous Vivrons (“We Will Live Collective”), which was founded following Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre in Israel and the ensuing wave of antisemitism in Europe.

“This antisemitic rape is a continuation of a climate hostile to Jews, fueled in particular by irresponsible political declarations,” the NGO said ahead of the protest at city hall, which was called at short notice.

Participants included representatives from Jewish organizations in Paris and nationwide, as well as current and former government officials, most notably Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti.

“The government is on your side,” stated Dupond-Moretti in his speech, declaring: “To attack a Jew is to attack the Republic and France.”

Attendees also held signs reading, “Raped at 12 because she was Jewish” and “Antisemitism is not residual,” according to French media reports.

A protest in Lyon, France’s third-largest city, drew approximately a hundred people. Activists held signs reading, “Jew raped, Republic in danger,” as well as banners that blamed the far-left La France Insoumise Party for the rise in Jew-hatred, and sang the country’s national anthem.

The brutal assault of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in a Paris suburb has drawn condemnation from across France’s political spectrum amid a heated campaign ahead of snap parliamentary elections later this month.

Three minors were arrested for their part in the attack, during which they allegedly used force to commit multiple disgusting, brutal crimes against the young girl, called her a “dirty Jew” and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

France is home to the largest Muslim population in Europe and has seen a surge in antisemitic acts since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Antisemitic acts have tripled in the first months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, France 24 reported, citing official numbers.

At a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron “spoke solemnly and seriously about the scourge of antisemitism” and called for “dialogue” on racism and hatred of Jews to stop “hateful speech with serious consequences” from “infiltrating” schools.

{Matzav.com}

The World Health Organization warned that fake batches of Novo Nordisk A/S’s hit diabetes drug Ozempic have been circulating amid soaring demand for the medicine, which some patients use to lose weight.

Three falsified batches were identified in Brazil and the UK in October of last year and in the US in December, the WHO said on Thursday. Though the global public health body has been monitoring growing numbers of reports of fake semaglutide, as Ozempic is known generically, since 2022, this is the first time it has issued an official warning notice.

The counterfeit products could harm patients’ health because they don’t contain the correct ingredients, and in some cases they may even contain a different drug – such as insulin – which could be dangerous when taken incorrectly, the WHO said. Ozempic is a diabetes treatment; semaglutide is sold for obesity under the brand name Wegovy.

Fake weight-loss drugs are a growing concern as runaway demand for the medicines feeds a ballooning gray market. In the US, regulations allow compounding pharmacies to sell copycat versions of the drugs because they’re in shortage. Novo and its US rival Eli Lilly & Co. have sought to link the compounded medicines with the possibility of outright counterfeits, with Lilly saying on Thursday that some compounded medicines contained a different chemical than the Food and Drug Administration-approved medicine.

Patients should avoid “unfamiliar or unverified sources, such as those that may be found online,” the WHO said.

(c) Washington Post

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed a bill on Wednesday requiring every public school classroom to display the Ten Commandments. “If you want to respect the rule of law, you’ve got to start from the original lawgiver, which was Moses who got the commandments from G-d,” Landry said. He also told reporters that he “can’t wait to be sued over it.” Louisiana is the first state to pass such a law but similar bills have been proposed in Utah, Oklahoma, Texas and other states. The Lousiana bill mandates a poster-size display in classrooms from kindergarten to university with a four-paragraph “context statement” describing how the Ten Commandments “were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries.” The law describes the goal of the law as not religious but that the Ten Commandments are “foundational documents of our state and national government.” Additionally, the posters will be funded through donations rather than state funds. State Representative Michael Bayham told The Washington Post on Wednesday that the new law is related to historical law. “Our sense of right and wrong is based on the Ten Commandments,” he said. “The Ten Commandments is as much about civilization and right and wrong; it does not say you have to be this particular faith or that particular faith.” The Louisiana chapter of the  American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation responded to the bill in a joint statement Wednesday afternoon by saying that it “violates the separation of church and state and is blatantly unconstitutional.” “Even among those who may believe in some version of the Ten Commandments, the particular text that they adhere to can differ by religious denomination or tradition. The government should not be taking sides in this theological debate.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

An expansion underway at Iran’s Fordow enrichment plant could allow the regime to accumulate several bombs’ worth of nuclear fuel every month, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing confidential documents.

According to the report, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency of its plan to install some 1,400 new centrifuges at the heavily guarded underground facility, which would triple the production of enriched uranium at Fordow alone.

The new equipment was to be installed within four weeks, as similar expansion plans were underway at the main enrichment plant near the central Iranian city of Natanz, according to the report, which cited IAEA documents and European diplomats.

While Tehran has restricted IAEA inspectors’ ability to monitor the country’s nuclear advancement, inspectors witnessed technicians installing advanced IR-6 centrifuges last week, per a confidential memo shared with the U.N. agency’s member states.

Within a month after becoming operational, Fordow’s new equipment could generate 320 pounds of weapons-grade uranium, one expert told the paper. Using conservative estimates, that would be sufficient for five bombs. In two months, the stockpile could climb to nearly 500 pounds.

“Iran would achieve a capability to breakout quickly, in a deeply buried facility, a capability it has never had before,” said David Albright, a nuclear weapons expert and president of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security NGO.

After a leaked draft of Iran’s plans was initially reported by Reuters on June 13, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller charged the Islamic Republic with “expanding its nuclear program in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose” and vowed to “respond accordingly.”

However, a U.S. official told The Washington Post on Wednesday that the Biden administration does not believe that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has “made a decision to resume the weaponization program that we judge Iran suspended or stopped at the end of 2003.

“That said, we remain deeply concerned with Iran’s nuclear activities and will continue to vigilantly monitor them,” stated the official.

Tehran has continued to ramp up enrichment, while maintaining that its nuclear program is strictly peaceful. Iran’s stockpile of 60%-enriched uranium has increased by 20.6 kilograms (45.5 pounds) since February, AFP reported on May 27, citing a new IAEA report.

The confidential document, which was also seen by the Associated Press, revealed that Tehran had accumulated 142.1 kilograms (313.2 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%. This level of enrichment is just a technical step from 90% enrichment, considered weapons grade.

According to the IAEA definition, it is technically possible to create an atomic bomb with roughly 42 kilograms (92.5 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60% if the material is further enriched to 90%.

There have also been recent Iranian threats of a push towards the bomb. On May 9, an adviser to Khamenei warned that Tehran would weaponize its nuclear program if Israel “threatens its existence.”

Also last month, a lawmaker close to the regime suggested that the country might already possess an atomic bomb, saying, “In my opinion, we have achieved nuclear weapons, but we do not announce it.”

{Matzav.com}

The perpetrator who ordered “Zionists” to identify themselves on the New York subway and told them “this is your chance to get out” was identified overnight Wednesday by the antisemitism watchdog group Stop Antisemitism. According to a JTA article, Saleh and the pro-Hamas rioters who swarmed the subways on their way to a depraved protest outside an exhibit in Lower Manhattan memorializing the murdered and tortured victims of the Nova music festival massacre on October 7 are part of a pro-Hamas group called Within Our Lifetime, which was established in 2015 as NYC Students for Justice in Palestine. Protesters outside the exhibit flew Hezbollah and Hamas flags and one participant said to nearby Jews:  “I wish Hitler was still here. He would have wiped all of you out.” The group, which was responsible for regular anti-Israel allies even before October 7th, at which participants chanted for the destruction of Israel and called to “globalize the intifada,” is the leading anti-Israel group in NYC. JTA provided a detailed description of the group: Within Our Lifetime has spent years building its presence in New York City, becoming the leading pro-Palestinian activist organization in the region. The pace and intensity of the turmoil have spiked since October 7, shutting down public spaces in New York City, drawing repeated concern from elected officials and action from law enforcement as well as social media platforms. Within Our Lifetime is led by Nerdeen Kiswani, a Palestinian-American who grew up in Brooklyn. Kiswani drew major attention and criticism from Jewish groups in 2022 when she delivered a speech at the City University of New York Law School commencement in which she decried alleged “Zionist harassment by well-funded organizations with ties to the Israeli government and military.” The following year, another leader of the group, Fatima Mohammed, delivered CUNY Law’s commencement speech, accusing Israel of “indiscriminate” murder and lauding resistance to “Zionism around the world.” The remarks were condemned as hate speech by CUNY’s chancellor and prompted congressional legislation seeking to defund CUNY. CUNY Law canceled student speakers at commencement after the uproar. Kiswani says she has faced personal blowback because of her activism, telling the pro-Palestinian website Mondoweiss in 2022 that Jewish advocacy groups and individuals including the right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro had directed their followers to criticize her. “I helped start WOL because I felt there was a disconnect between what was happening on the ground in Palestine, and what organizers on campuses were calling for,” she told Mondoweiss. “The discussions and a lot of the things that supporters of Palestine were talking about in these academic spaces were not reflective of what the people on the ground are experiencing.” In March, Kiswani appeared at a Columbia University event where speakers praised Hamas. Kiswani also attended Columbia’s protest encampment in the spring and Within Our Lifetime urged followers to mass at that encampment and another at the City College of New York. The group has gained increased visibility since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza. On that day, Within Our Lifetime posted support on Instagram for the Hamas invasion, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 250 hostages. “We must defend the Palestinian right to resist zionist settler violence and support Palestinian resistance in all its forms. […]

A group of nine bochurim from Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland miraculously escaped serious injury after their van overturned in an accident on a Pennsylvania highway early Thursday morning. The van was traveling on I-80 in Pennsylvania, en route to Monsey, when it overturned at high speed around 4:30 am. In an incredible twist of hashgacha, a Hatzolah member, R’ Ari Lebowitz, was at the scene within minutes to provide immediate medical assistance to the boys. R’ Ari, a 31-year veteran of Monsey and Catskills Hatzolah, was driving another van filled with Telshe bochurim to Lakewood and had stopped to fill up with gasoline. By the time he pulled back onto the I-80, his van was behind the Monsey van, and minutes later, he came across the crash site. Out of precaution, five bochurim were transported by local EMS to Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg, PA, while the other four were brought to Geisinger-Community Medical Center in Scranton, PA. All of the bochurim quickly received medical clearance to continue their journey. R’ Ari accompanied the bochurim to the hospital, where he says the staff were incredibly helpful, even procuring kosher food for them and providing a private area to daven. R’ Ari described the accident as an “outright neis,” saying, “I have seen many accidents with far less damage that resulted in fatalities. It is unbelievable that everyone walked out okay.” He quoted R’ Luzer Bodner, the father of one of the bochurim involved in the accident and son-in-law of Telshe Rosh Yeshiva R’ Dovid Goldberg, who attributed the bochurim’s safety to their decision to guard their eyes by taking the long journey home from Cleveland instead of flying – a trip during which they could have potentially been exposed to inappropriate sights and scenes. “Shmiras Einayim, that’s what saved these bochurim today,” R’ Ari said. The bochurim are still en route to Monsey and are expected to arrive shortly after 3 PM – with R’ Ari at the wheel.

Israeli negotiators traveled to Qatar this week in an attempt to narrow the gaps between the agreed-upon hostage deal and Hamas’s demands, the London-based Elaph Arabic news outlet reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, which cited an official familiar with the ongoing talks, the meeting focused on “controversial issues” in the outline presented by U.S. President Joe Biden late last month, including the number of hostages that would be released during the first phase.

Elaph said Qatari officials have also been trying to get both sides to sign written commitments confirming their acceptance of the terms.

The government in Yerushalayim has said it accepts Biden’s May 31 truce proposal, which Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has claimed does not call for a permanent end to the war that started with Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre of more than 1,200 men, women and children.

However, an Israeli official said on Monday that Hamas made “substantial changes to dozens of items” in the outline, which the United Nations Security Council approved on June 10.

The terror group is demanding an end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli forces, he said, adding that Yerushalayim’s goals still stand—the defeat of Hamas as a military and ruling power, the return of all hostages and the guarantee that Gaza can never again pose a threat to Israel.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Qatar that Hamas’s response included modifications that are not workable.

“A deal was on the table that was virtually identical to the proposal that Hamas made on May 6—a deal that the entire world is behind, a deal Israel has accepted. Hamas could have answered with a single word: ‘Yes,’” Washington’s top diplomat charged at a press conference.

More than 250 people were abducted to Gaza during Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist invasion of the northwestern Negev, during which thousands more were killed and wounded, with numerous atrocities documented.

One-hundred and twenty hostages remain in the Strip, of whom 116 were abducted on Oct. 7 (the other four were captured earlier). The figure includes both living and deceased men, women and children.

At least dozens of the remaining hostages are believed to be alive, a senior Israeli official involved in the negotiations told AFP on Tuesday.

The official told the agency that Israel cannot commit to ending the war as a precondition for a deal because Hamas could “breach their commitment…and drag out the negotiations for 10 years” or more.

On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal cited mediators and a U.S. official familiar with intelligence information as saying that the number of living captives could be as low as 50. That would mean 66 could be dead, 25 more than Yerushalayim has acknowledged.

{Matzav.com}

South Korea said Thursday that it would consider sending arms to Ukraine, a major policy change suggested after Russia and North Korea rattled the region and beyond by signing a pact to come to each other’s defense in the event of war. The comments from a senior presidential official came hours after North Korea’s state media released the details of the agreement, which observers said could mark the strongest connection between Moscow and Pyongyang since the end of the Cold War. It comes at a time when Russia faces growing isolation over its war in Ukraine and both countries face escalating standoffs with the West. According to the text of the deal published by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, if either country gets invaded and is pushed into a state of war, the other must deploy “all means at its disposal without delay” to provide “military and other assistance.” But the agreement also says that such actions must be in accordance with the laws of both countries and Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which recognizes a U.N. member state’s right to self-defense. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the pact at a summit Wednesday in Pyongyang. Both described it as a major upgrade of bilateral relations, covering security, trade, investment, cultural and humanitarian ties. The office of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a statement condemning the agreement, calling it a threat to the South’s security and a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, and warned that it would have negative consequences on Seoul’s relations with Moscow. “It’s absurd that two parties with a history of launching wars of invasion — the Korean War and the war in Ukraine — are now vowing mutual military cooperation on the premise of a preemptive attack by the international community that will never happen,” Yoon’s office said. At the United Nations in New York, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul called it “deplorable” that Russia would act in violation of multiple U.N. sanctions resolutions against North Korea that Moscow voted for. Yoon’s national security adviser, Chang Ho-jin, said Seoul would reconsider the issue of providing arms to Ukraine to help the country fight off Russia’s invasion. South Korea, a growing arms exporter with a well-equipped military backed by the United States, has provided humanitarian aid and other support to Ukraine while joining U.S.-led economic sanctions against Moscow. But it has not directly provided arms to Kyiv, citing a longstanding policy of not supplying weapons to countries actively engaged in conflict. Speaking to reporters in Hanoi, where he traveled right after Pyongyang, Putin said Thursday that supplying weapons to Ukraine would be “a very big mistake” on South Korea’s part. “I hope it doesn’t happen. If it happens, then we will be making relevant decisions that are unlikely to please the current leadership of South Korea,” he said. South Korea “shouldn’t worry” about Moscow’s agreement with Pyongyang, he said, adding that it bears “no novelty” and merely replaces an old pact from the 1960s that expired. The new agreement calls for military assistance “only if aggression is committed against” one of the parties, and South Korea “is not planning aggression against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which means that they shouldn’t fear […]

Want to hear a challah expert lay out the secrets to making challah from A-Z? Go from novice to pro faster than you thought possible! Mandy Silverman of @mandylicious shared it all on Kosher.com. Recipes, step by step photos on how to braid loaves and rolls, gluten free options, and troubleshooting tips, she’s got you covered! Here’s an excerpt with her tips on solving two common problems new bakers encounter. There are two areas where people struggle the most when creating their dough. The first is yeast, and the second is dough consistency. Let’s review each of these. Yeast: Yeast is probably the most important part of creating your dough! Without working yeast, your dough will not rise. However, there are many types of yeast out there, and that gets confusing. The most common yeast used is called Active Dry Yeast. This yeast requires you activate (proof) it before adding it to the rest of the ingredients. This is done by adding your yeast and a pinch of sugar to water that is around 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Since water that is too hot will kill your yeast, and water that is too cold will not be able to activate your yeast, getting the temperature correct is imperative. Using a thermometer is a great way to be sure that your water is the proper temperature, but if you don’t have one, I always suggest getting to a temperature that feels right around the temperature you would like to take a bath in! Not too hot that you could not step in it, but not too cold that you would want to hop right out. Once you have combined the yeast, warm water, and pinch of sugar, let it sit for a few minutes and you should see the mixture turn frothy and bubbly. Bubbles are the proof your yeast is alive and is ready to be added to the rest of the ingredients. If you do not see bubbles or any frothing, throw out the yeast mixture and start again. The yeast I prefer using is called Instant Yeast (bread machine yeast also works). Instant yeast is magic because it does not need to be proofed, i.e. mixed with warm water, and it can be added in with your ingredients at any point. Indeed, it’s ready instantly! Using this type of yeast eliminates any stresses associated with yeast proofing and leads to higher success rates! In fact, you can use instant yeast measure for measure in any recipe calling for active dry yeast. A note of caution, though – any yeast that is labeled “Quick Rise” or “Rapid Rise” etc, is not the same as traditional instant yeast. These types of yeasts are a style of instant yeast that is designed for single-rise recipes to create a rise extra quickly, and therefore will not work in recipes with long rise times and second rises – like challah. This means if you use quick rise yeast in a recipe that does not call for quick rise yeast, you may end up with your dough overrising and falling flat. Dough Consistency: I am about to say something a little controversial! Many recipes involving flour recommend using precise measurements when assembling your dough. In fact, using a scale is necessary, as you need to […]

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The most ancient ship ever found in the deep sea has been discovered off Israel’s northern coast, shedding light on trade more than three millennia ago and revealing the existence of advanced navigation skills in that era, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Thursday.

The 3,300-year-old ship’s cargo, including hundreds of intact amphorae, was located 55 miles from shore at a depth of just over 1 mile, the state-run archaeological body said.

The dramatic find was uncovered during a standard seafloor survey last year by a leading natural gas company.

Sample vessels from the cargo were positively identified as coming from the Late Bronze Age Canaanite period, according to the IAA.

“The ship seems to have sunk in crisis, either due to a storm or to an attempted piracy attack—a well-known occurrence in the Late Bronze Age,” said Jacob Sharvit, head of the IAA Marine Unit.

He called the find “a world-class, history-changing discovery.”

“This find reveals to us, as never before, the ancient mariners’ navigational skills—capable of traversing the Mediterranean Sea without a line of sight to any coast,” he said. “To navigate they probably used the celestial bodies, by taking sightings and angles of the sun and star positions.”

Only two other shipwrecks with cargo are known from the Late Bronze Age in the Mediterranean Sea, and both were found relatively near the shore, according to the IAA.

Based on the earlier finds, the academic assumption until now was that trade at that period was executed by safely moving from port to port, keeping the coastline within view.

“As part of our ongoing activity to discover and extract natural gas from the deep sea, we conduct surveys that check different parameters, using an advanced submersible robot to scour the seafloor,” said Karnit Bahartan of the Energean hydrocarbon exploration company, which chanced on the site.

“About a year ago, during a survey, we saw the unusual sight…what seemed to be a large pile of jugs heaped on the seafloor…and when we sent [the IAA] the images it turned out to be a sensational discovery, far beyond what we could have imagined,” she said.

The jugs were the most efficient means of transporting relatively cheap and mass-produced products such as oil, wine and other agricultural products such as fruit, said Sharvit.

The finds from the ancient ship will be displayed to the public in Yerushalayim.

{Matzav.com}

A historic event is set to take place in Lakewood this Sunday as six leading gedolim from Eretz Yisroel visit the US to raise desperately needed funds for yeshivas and kollelim in Israel, Lakewood Alerts reports. As previously reported on YWN, the Gedolei Yisroel – Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, Rav Yaakov Hillel, Rav Don Segal, Rav Dov Landau, and the Rachmastrivker Rebbe – are traveling to the US in an effort to raise $107 million, which is the amount of government stipends to yeshivos and kollelim that have been recently cut, leaving a gaping financial hole. The gedolim will be visiting multiple cities on the East Coast during their trip, including Lakewood, where a massive event is planned for Sunday. The event will be held in the large parking lot on 9th and Clifton, in the parking lot adjacent to BMG’s Bais Aharon and Bais Shalom batei medrashim, and is expected to draw tens of thousands of people. This will be the first time that these five leading rabbis have traveled to the US together, making for a historic development that will be on full display at the Lakewood asifa. Organizers are still finalizing the details of the event, including the exact time, which will be announced soon. However, they are facing one major challenge: the weather. Meteorologists are forecasting Sunday to be the hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures expected to reach 97 degrees and a heat index over 100 degrees. Despite this challenge, the event is expected to be a huge success, with thousands of people expected to attend and show their support for the yeshivas and kollelim in Israel and demonstrate that lomdei torah in the US and Israel are both part of one beating heart. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

When the IDF announced it would institute 11-hour “tactical pauses” in the fighting near a road through Rafah and into Khan Yunis to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, the news took Israel’s prime minister and defense minister by surprise.

Some say that’s because the decision was driven by the Supreme Court, not the government, again illustrating judicial overreach.

On Monday, Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, head of the Arab media division of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, announced that to “increase the scope of humanitarian aid,” military operations would cease between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. from the Kerem Shalom border crossing into the Gaza Strip on part of the Salah al-Din Road, Gaza’s main north-south highway.

While some argue this was an effort to address international criticism, which culminated in the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor seeking arrest warrants for Israel’s leaders, others point to pressure closer to home, namely the Supreme Court’s hearings on a petition brought by five radical anti-Israel NGOs.

Those NGOs argue that Israel isn’t letting enough humanitarian aid through and hold it entirely to blame for the situation in Gaza.

On June 10, the Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, held its third hearing on the matter. The petitioners were represented by attorney Osnat Cohen-Lifshitz of Gisha—Legal Center for Freedom of Movement.

NGO Monitor, an Israel-based group that tracks nonprofit organizations hostile to the Jewish state, notes that Gisha, typical of most anti-Israel NGOs, espouses extremist positions and pulls the vast majority of its budget (73.1% of total donations in 2017-2019) from foreign countries.

Speaking in defense of the government was IDF Maj. Gen. Ghasan Alyan, the current head of COGAT, the Defense Ministry unit handling aid to Gaza, and Ministry of Justice attorney Yonatan Berman.

Alyan detailed the steps Israel had taken to ensure entry of humanitarian aid and the safety of the civilian population. Berman noted that COGAT and other Israeli agencies had gone “above and beyond” what international law required.

The court didn’t reach a decision to impose an injunction. At the conclusion of the hearing, the presiding judge, acting Chief Justice Uzi Vogelman, said, “We will weigh the matter and send you our decision.”

Keep the court satisfied
Amichai Shilo, who writes for HaKol HaYehudi and is covering the hearings, said that the state wants to keep the court happy so that it doesn’t reach a decision that would limit its freedom of action.

“You saw how Maj. Gen. Ghasan Alyan came to the hearing and listed all the things that they’re doing to keep the Supreme Court satisfied,” he told JNS. “The Supreme Court doesn’t really need to make decisions to have a very great influence on the decision-making of the government and the officials.”

Alyan devoted his roughly 20-minute presentation to listing IDF measures in support of Gaza’s population. Providing an example of the lengths the military had gone, he said it even allowed the entry of “dozens of items that could be considered dual-use,” that is, turned to military purposes by Hamas, in order to improve Gazan field hospitals.

Six days after the hearing, the IDF announced its tactical pauses. Shilo said the two events are connected.

“The Supreme Court is telling the army and the state’s representatives, without involving the prime minister, that they should introduce more humanitarian aid. I believe that the prime minister isn’t following these hearings; that he didn’t know.”

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu immediately criticized the decision. “When the prime minister heard the reports of an 11-hour humanitarian pause in the morning, he turned to his military secretary and made it clear that this was unacceptable to him,” an Israeli official told reporters.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also said he learned about it the day of the announcement. He denied giving his approval for tactical pauses.

The IDF, in defending its move, insisted that Netanyahu and Gallant had in effect given the army carte blanche to call for daily timeouts when they OK’d in broad strokes the entry of more humanitarian aid. How best to accomplish that goal was left to the army’s discretion, the military argued.

A shadow government
However, retired Israeli judge Haran Fainstein, who teaches at Bar-Ilan University’s Department of Criminology, said that doesn’t rule out the possibility that the IDF decision was a response to the Supreme Court pressure, with army brass figuring it was best to do more in the way of humanitarian aid than risk an adverse court decision.

Over the last 30 years, the court has inserted itself into all aspects of political and military life to the point where it could be considered a shadow government, Fainstein said.

He argued the court had no business intervening on this issue at all. It should have rejected the petition outright.

“Everybody has to ask themselves if this is really within the court’s purview. Is it a legal, political or military matter? Is it a legal matter if 200 aid trucks enter or 300 aid trucks enter? No, it’s not a legal matter. It’s not in their jurisdiction,” Fainstein told JNS.

If there’s a dispute between the Netanyahu government and the army, it’s for them to hash out, not the court, he said.

The court agreed to hear the petition because it can’t pass up an opportunity to exert its authority. The court won’t risk undercutting the belief that it’s the address to turn to on all important matters, Fainstein said. “It’s because they don’t want to lose control over the government and over the State of Israel. So they take every petition.”

Fueling the court’s willingness to hear the petition is its ideological alignment with the petitioners. Of the three justices presiding, two, Yitzhak Amit and Vogelman, are leftists, Fainstein said.

“Amit is very political and wants to be the next president of the Supreme Court. Vogelman, who retires in two months, has made no secret of his opposition to Netanyahu and the government,” he said.

The third judge, Noam Sohlberg, is conservative. But this is a common tactic of the court to give the appearance of balance, Fainstein said, and the fix is in as it’s two-to-one. “Show me the judge and I’ll tell you the outcome,” he said, saying he could predict the final decision in every Israeli Supreme Court case simply by looking at the bench.

During the hearings, Amit and Vogelman did appear considerate to the petitioners’ attorney. “This court is at your disposal, and makes itself available to you,” Amit said at one point.

Fainstein said that solicitousness stems from the fact that the court needs those petitioners to hear the cases. Leftist NGOS make the perfect partner for the activist court.

Anyone in Israel can bring a petition on any issue as the court years ago did away with the need for standing, the need to prove a personal investment in the outcome of the case.

“When I was a young lawyer, I had to prove when I petitioned the Supreme Court that I or my client would be hurt by the decision. Now it’s public. Everyone can go to the Supreme Court,” Fainstein said.

“Personally, I feel as if I’m in ancient Rome with the bread and circuses. Here it’s the circus of the lawyers and the judges,” he said.

{Matzav.com}

Security forces are investigating a reported attack in which a man was critically wounded near the Palestinian city of Qalqilya in the Shomron, the Israel Police said on Thursday afternoon.

According to the police, first responders “received a report of a man in his 70s who arrived at the Eliyahu Crossing in Samaria unconscious and is being treated by Magen David Adom personnel.”

According to an initial probe, the victim was robbed of his car in the area of Qalqilya, the statement said, adding that police and Israel Defense Forces soldiers arrived on the scene and were investigating.

Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster cited medical authorities as saying that a passerby found the injured man lying by the side of the road and took him to an IDF checkpoint. On their way to the crossing, the victim collapsed and lost consciousness.

“After resuscitation efforts, the pulse of the injured man—a 70-year-old resident of Kiryat Ono—returned,” Magen David Adom said. “In the coming minutes, he will be evacuated to the hospital.”

The Hatzalah Yehuda and Shomron rescue group reported that the Arab suspects fled towards Qalqilya, a Palestinian city with more than 50,000 residents across the Shomron security barrier from Kfar Saba.

IDF troops entered Qalqilya in search of the suspects, sparking riots, Kan News reported later on Thursday afternoon. The soldiers were said to have returned fire at Palestinians who threw rocks at them.

In April, two Israeli civilians were wounded in a shooting attack east of Qalqilya on Route 55, between the Arab towns of Azzun and Nabi Ilyas. Security forces apprehended the suspect after he fled towards Qalqilya, where they found a large explosive device in the terrorist’s car.

Yehuda and Shomron saw a dramatic rise in Palestinian terrorist attacks in 2023 compared to the previous year, with shootings reaching their highest level since the Second Intifada of 2000-05, IDF data shows.

Between Oct. 7 and Jan. 15, Rescuers Without Borders first responders recorded more than 2,600 Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis in Yehuda and Shomron, including 760 cases of rock-throwing, 551 fire bombings, 12 attempted or successful stabbings and nine vehicular assaults.

{Matzav.com}

Israelis applying for U.S. green cards (permanent resident cards) are reporting the introduction of a new line of questioning regarding their military service.

While visitors to the United States have been asked basic questions about their military service before, it appears the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has singled out Israelis with a new policy.

Attorney Liam Schwartz, head of the relocation department at Tel Aviv-based law firm Goldfarb, Gross, Seligman & Co., told Ynet the new policy is “intended to ‘catch’ military personnel and police officers who participated in arrests in Yehuda and Shomron.”

The hunt for information may also be used “by the authorities for the purpose of formulating their position in relation to acts defined as genocide,” he told Ynet.

Yuval, identified as a senior manager at a Silicon Valley high-tech firm, received a letter from U.S. immigration services demanding more information about his military service before it could reach a final decision in his case.

“You must submit an affidavit under oath, describing your military service,” the letter stated. “As part of this affidavit, the following questions must be addressed: Did you participate as a combatant in battles during your military service? If so, please describe your activity/role in these battles.”

It also asked for details about his command, whether he ever guarded detainees and the types of weapons and explosives he used.

“For me, the feeling is as if questions were copied from the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague,” he said.

Yuval was given 87 days to submit the affidavit or face deportation.

Those applying for visas at a U.S. embassy outside Israel also may face a grilling, Ynet reported, offering the example of Roital, who decided to continue a European trip to America.

She applied for a tourist visa at an American consulate in Western Europe.

“I was in an interview that lasted more than half an hour, and all the questions referred to my combat service. The interviewer was very curious about my training and skills in weapons and explosives, and wanted to know details about the reserves in Gaza,” she said.

“In the end, the guy left the window for about 10 minutes, I could see he was talking passionately with someone else. He returned, handed me the passport, said, ‘You are not eligible for a visa today’ and closed the window blinds.”

Ofer, vice president of North American marketing for a real estate company, told Ynet about his experience two weeks ago with customs officials upon entering the United States.

Arriving at Los Angeles International Airport, he was ushered into a room for further interrogation after presenting his Israeli passport.

“They opened my laptop. Looked up a Google Chrome account with the name of my [IDF] unit and called a translator. There was nothing classified there. Just correspondence about the unit’s treatment of evacuees from several localities. It’s just that there was a lot of such correspondence. I sat for four hours until they decided I could collect my things and leave,” he told Ynet.

“In the meantime, I missed the connecting flight and I waited another six hours until the next flight. I travel so much to the United States, I have never been bullied like this as an Israeli,” he said.

When viewed in the context of other moves against Israeli citizens by the Biden administration towards Israel, it is a reasonable assumption that the inhospitable stance towards Israeli visitors comes directly from the White House.

The State Department has sanctioned Israeli individuals and groups, most recently Tzav 9, an Israeli organization protesting against aid trucks to Gaza, arguing that the supplies end up in the hands of Hamas.

In a June 14 press statement announcing the sanctions, the U.S. State Department described Tzav 9 as “a violent, extremist Israeli group that has been blocking, harassing and damaging convoys carrying lifesaving humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”

Mark Zell, chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel, who announced that he would take the U.S. government to court for sanctioning four Israelis in February, told JNS that the executive order was an “overreach” by the Biden administration.

“None of this falls under U.S. jurisdiction,” he said. “The Biden administration is trying to shut down organizations such as Tzav 9 and Regavim using an executive order, which is improper, illegal and unconstitutional.”

Regavim monitors and pursues legal action against illegal Arab construction in Yehuda and Shomron.

{Matzav.com}

Although Israeli society is divided in many ways, Israelis see themselves as more unified in 2024 than they were in the prior year in several areas, according to data from the Pew Research Center.

Many fewer Israelis (28%) see “very strong” conflicts between Israeli Jews and Arabs this year than did last year (46%), and Israelis are also less likely to see intense conflict between religious and non-religious Jews (18% compared to 29%) and among those on the political left and right (24% to 32%) in 2024, compared to 2023.

Pew surveyed 1,001 Israelis, all over the age of 18, face-to-face between March 3 and April 4. It did so in Hebrew and Arabic, but was unable to poll people in Gaza and Yehuda and Shomron “due to security concerns.”

In other ways, Pew reported significant divides between Jewish and Arab Israelis, including the belief that the national government is doing what’s in the country’s best interest. Some 61% of Jewish Israelis (up from 53% in 2017) had that trust in the national government, while Arab Israelis were less likely (23%) to do so compared to in 2017 (44%).

Jewish Israelis were also likelier in 2024 (93%) than in 2007 (77%) to say that the Israel Defense Forces was having a “very” or “somewhat good” impact on how things are going in the state, while the number of Arab Israelis who thought the Israeli military is having at least a “somewhat good” influence dropped from 57% in 2007 to 34% in 2024, according to Pew’s data.

In 2024, Jewish Israelis were likelier to see new communities in Yehuda and Shomron as helpful to Israeli security (49% in 2024 compared 31% in 2013), and they were less likely in 2024 to believe that an independent Palestinian state could coexist alongside Israel (19%) than in 2023 (32%).

According to the new Pew data, Jewish (74%) and Arab (9%) Israelis had the most favorable views of Yoav Gallant, the defense minister, within the coalition government, followed by Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu—whom 51% of Israeli Jews saw favorably, compared to 7% of Arab Israelis—and then Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (45% favorable among Jews and 5% among Arabs) and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (42% and 1% respectively). National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz had a 56% favorability rating among Jewish Israelis and 30% among Arab Israelis.

Arab and Jewish Israelis were about evenly concerned about their own security in Yehuda and Shomron.

Some 94% of Jewish Israelis were at least somewhat concerned about violence against Jews in Yehuda and Shomron, and 70% were “extremely” or “very” worried. Sixty-seven percent of Arab Israelis were at least somewhat concerned about violence against Jews in Yehuda and Shomron, with 43% expressing extreme concern.

Those numbers flipped with respect to Arab safety in Yehuda and Shomron. Some 93% of Arabs were at least somewhat concerned about violence against Arabs in Yehuda and Shomron (73% “extremely” or “very” worried), while just 39% of Jewish Israelis had that concern at least somewhat (and just 19% were very worried).

{Matzav.com}

The New York City Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying five anti-Semites wanted in connection with an antisemitic assault that occurred in the 90th Precinct. The incident, which is being investigated by the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force, took place on Thursday, June 6, at approximately 11:46 PM, in the vicinity of Lorimer Street and Meserole Street. According to police, a 41-year-old male victim was walking in the area when five unidentified individuals made anti-Semitic statements and threw traffic cones and bottles at him, causing minor injuries. The individuals are described as follows: – Suspect #1: Male, approximately 17 years old, dark complexion, medium build, 5’10” with black dreads and brown eyes, last seen wearing a gray-hooded sweatshirt and red pants. – Suspect #2: Male, approximately 14-16 years old, medium complexion, slim build, short black hair, and brown eyes, last seen wearing dark-colored clothing. – Suspect #3: Male, approximately 18-20 years old, dark complexion, medium build, and brown eyes, last seen wearing a black, gray, and white sweatshirt, white shirt, dark pants, black and white hat, and a black mask. – Suspect #4: Male, approximately 16 years old, dark complexion, slim build, and brown eyes, last seen wearing a black shirt, gray sweatshirt, and black shoes. – Suspect #5: Female, approximately 18 years old, dark complexion, medium build, black hair, and brown eyes, last seen wearing dark-colored clothing. Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of these individuals is urged to contact the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force or call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The Palestinian terrorist who murdered a 14-year-old Israeli shepherd in the Shomron in April had intended to kill more Jews, according to an indictment made public on Thursday afternoon.

Ahmed Duabsha was arrested on April 22, 10 days after he murdered Binyamin Achimeir, who went missing while herding sheep at Gal Farm, located 17 miles northeast of Ramallah.

During initial questioning by Israeli security forces, Duabsha tied himself to the attack, the Israel Security Agency said in April.

Israel’s Ynet outlet, citing from a redacted indictment on Thursday, said that the Duma resident and his friends became interested in jihad and Islamic State approximately a year before he carried out the murder.

The charges noted that Duabsha had come to the conclusion that all non-Muslims are infidels—especially the Jews—and need to die.

“The suspect decided that he would go on a killing spree the next morning at first light,” read the indictment, filed at Ofer Military Court. “He took a knife of around 20 centimeters [8 inches] long, picked out clothes and laid down in his room. The next day, he put on his clothes, prayed, took the knife in his sheath and put a black scarf on his head.”

Large parts of the unsealed indictment were redacted due to the graphic nature of the murder, Ynet stated. Local media reported in April that there was a long struggle between Achimeir and Duabsha, and that some of the teenager’s clothing items were found scattered near his body.

“Duabsha brandished the knife, shouted at the deceased, ‘I will kill you,’ and started to chase him. While trying to escape, the deceased fell to the ground and the terrorist caught up. Achimeir stood up and tried to defend himself against the accused,” the indictment states.

Following the murder, Duabsha looked for additional victims in the area, including at Gal Farm, but got frightened by a dog in the area and returned home as “got tired,” the indictment continues.

Late last month, Israeli media aired for the first time security camera footage showing the moments following the teen’s murder. The video shows Duabsha brandishing a knife near the entrance to Gal Farm.

Attorney Haim Bleicher of the Honenu legal defense group, who represents the Achimeir family in court, told Israeli media on Thursday that his clients have demanded that Duabsha “be tried before a panel of judges who have the authority to impose the death penalty.

“The people of Israel are fighting a murderous enemy that has lost all humanity,” said the Israeli lawyer, adding: “We must fight the enemy without compromise, defeat them and destroy them.”

{Matzav.com}

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