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Date of the Siyum HaShas Announced

A harrowing incident unfolded Motzoei Shabbos in Northwest Baltimore when a rabbi defended himself with a firearm, successfully fending off two attackers who assaulted him and attempted to steal his vehicle.

According to the Baltimore Police Department, the attack occurred around 9 p.m. on the 7100 block of Park Heights Avenue. The 62-year-old victim had just stepped outside to take out the trash when he was ambushed.

Authorities reported that the two suspects struck the man and forced him to the ground before trying to make off with his car. When they were unable to get the vehicle started, the attackers turned their aggression back on the victim—only to retreat when he pulled out a gun and aimed it at them. The suspects quickly fled the scene.

Police confirmed the victim legally owns the firearm and has a valid permit. He suffered only minor injuries and received medical attention at the location.

Baltimore City Councilman Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer, who represents District 5, said he spoke with the victim shortly after the frightening encounter. “Just the brazenness of the incident, where they have no problem going and attacking, you know, an older person, somebody clearly who’s a person of faith – he was still dressed in in all of his attire coming from synagogue – and so, it’s really very upsetting,” Schleifer told 11 News.

Rabbi Velvel Belinsky also spoke to 11 News, expressing deep concern for the victim’s well-being and the broader implications for community safety. “When we hear about events like this, it’s definitely very disturbing because safety is a very big concern for us,” Belinsky said. “We are wishing him a speedy recovery. Unfortunately, he’s hurt. He was punched very, very hard, and I’m wishing him a speedy recovery. I conveyed my wishes for him, and I hope he’s going to be doing well.”

As of the latest update, no arrests have been made, and the investigation remains ongoing.

{Matzav.com}

An unsettling incident occurred yesterday at the entrance to the Kosel in Yerushalayim, where a security guard was filmed physically assaulting an elderly chareidi man. The disturbing footage shows the guard engaging in a confrontation with several mispallelim before spraying pepper spray directly at them.

Following the incident, police officers arrived at the scene and immediately arrested the security guard. In a statement, Israel Police said: “A security guard assaulted an elderly man at the entrance to the Kosel. Upon receiving the report, officers responded to the scene and took the suspect into custody. The circumstances are currently under investigation.”

The Western Wall Heritage Foundation responded to the attack, expressing deep concern over the behavior of the security guard. “The Western Wall Heritage Foundation expresses deep regret and views with utmost seriousness the outburst of the security guard toward mispallelim last night at the entrance to the Kosel plaza,” the statement read.

The Foundation added that it would be turning to the Israel Police—who are responsible for security at the site’s entrance gates—to thoroughly investigate the incident. “The Foundation will continue to serve the public with dedication and calls upon all visitors to respect the sanctity of this holy site and conduct themselves with mutual respect, unity, and reverence.”

WATCH:

{Matzav.com Israel}

Twice a year, New Yorkers and visitors are treated to a phenomenon known as Manhattanhenge, when the setting sun aligns with the Manhattan street grid and sinks below the horizon framed in a canyon of skyscrapers. The event is a favorite of photographers and often brings people out onto sidewalks on spring and summer evenings to watch this unique sunset. The first Manhattanhenge of the year takes place Wednesday at 8:13 p.m., with a slight variation happening again Thursday at 8:12 p.m. It will occur again on July 11 and 12. Some background on the phenomenon: Where does the name Manhattanhenge come from? Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson coined the term in a 1997 article in the magazine Natural History. Tyson, the director of the Hayden Planetarium at New York’s American Museum of Natural History, said he was inspired by a visit to Stonehenge as a teenager. The future host of TV shows such as PBS’ “Nova ScienceNow” was part of an expedition led by Gerald Hawkins, the scientist who first theorized that Stonehenge’s mysterious megaliths were an ancient astronomical observatory. It struck Tyson, a native New Yorker, that the setting sun framed by Manhattan’s high-rises could be compared to the sun’s rays striking the center of the Stonehenge circle on the solstice. Unlike the Neolithic Stonehenge builders, the planners who laid out Manhattan did not mean to channel the sun. It just worked out that way. When is Manhattanhenge? Manhattanhenge does not take place on the summer solstice itself, which is June 20 this year. Instead, it happens about three weeks before and after the solstice. That’s when the sun aligns itself perfectly with the Manhattan grid’s east-west streets. Viewers get two different versions of the phenomenon to choose from. On May 28 and July 12, half the sun will be above the horizon and half below it at the moment of alignment with Manhattan’s streets, according to the Hayden Planetarium. On May 29 and July 11, the whole sun will appear to hover between buildings just before sinking into the New Jersey horizon across the Hudson River. Where can you see Manhattanhenge? The traditional viewing spots are along the city’s broad east-west thoroughfares: 14th Street, 23rd Street, 34th Street, 42nd Street and 57th Street. The farther east you go, the more dramatic the vista as the sun’s rays hit building facades on either side. It is also possible to see Manhattanhenge across the East River in the Long Island City section of Queens. Is Manhattanhenge an organized event? Manhattanhenge viewing parties are not unknown, but it is mostly a DIY affair. People gather on east-west streets a half-hour or so before sunset and snap photo after photo as dusk approaches. That’s if the weather is fine. There’s no visible Manhattanhenge on rainy or cloudy days, and both are unfortunately in the forecast this week. Do other cities have ‘henges’? Similar effects occur in other cities with uniform street grids. Chicagohenge and Baltimorehenge happen when the setting sun lines up with the grid systems in those cities in March and September, around the spring and fall equinoxes. Torontohenge occurs in February and October. But Manhattanhenge is particularly striking because of the height of the buildings and the unobstructed path to the Hudson. (AP)

MOVING: Dozens of European rabbanim sing Ani Maamin at the entrance to Auschwitz, where more than 1 million kedoshim were murdered during the Holocaust.

A suspicious package at the Israeli embassy in Paris led police to secure the surrounding area.

A major fire in Haifa has eight firefighting aircraft and ground crews battling flames in Ramot Sapir, with firefighters also deployed in Romema and Givat Zemer to protect homes.

A light aircraft with engine failure made an emergency landing near a beach in St. Petersburg, Russia, safely splashing down with no injuries reported.

Ryanair has removed all flights to Israel from its website until early August.

The IDF says dozens of targets were struck by the Israeli Air Force across the Gaza Strip in the past 48 hours. Among the targets was a rocket launcher used to fire projectiles at the Kissufim area and at troops operating in Gaza on Monday, the military says.

The IDF says a medical facility it set up in southern Syria, next to the Druze village of Hader, has so far treated over 500 Syrians. The “forward mobile triage” was established several weeks ago, amid the IDF’s ongoing operations in southern Syria, and is intended to treat Syrian Druze in the area, the military says.

The Wall Street Journal reported overnight that the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Karim Khan, had been preparing to request international arrest warrants for two Israeli ministers, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, shortly before he was placed on involuntary leave due to allegations of serious misconduct.

According to the report, Khan had planned to pursue the warrants over the ministers’ alleged roles in the expansion of Israeli settlements in Yehuda and Shomron.

With Khan now suspended amid claims of abusive behavior towards subordinates, the decision regarding the proposed arrest warrants has been transferred to his deputies. It remains unclear whether they will move forward with the initiative.

The development comes as Israel formally petitioned the ICC to cancel recently announced arrest warrants against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Israel’s request argued that the court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate matters related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, citing Israel’s non-membership in the Rome Statute.

Adding further controversy, the request to halt the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant included a detailed rebuttal of the ICC’s authority and raised serious concerns about Khan’s conduct. According to recent media reports, the prosecutor is accused of violently assaulting staff members under his command and attempting to suppress publication of these allegations, allegedly to avoid undermining the court’s case concerning Gaza.

{Matzav.com}

The Women of the Wall group created a provocation on Wednesday morning, Rosh Chodesh Sivan, by trying to violate the law by bringing a Sefer Torah into the Kosel plaza. Members of the group argued with the usher, who upheld the law and refused to allow them entry.

The IDF hit Yemen’s Sanaa International Airport on Wednesday, retaliating against multiple Houthi ballistic missile attacks on Israel in the past week. Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that the Israeli Air Force destroyed the Houthis’ last remaining airplane at the airport, following several prior Israeli strikes on the same target in recent months.

More than 800 legal experts in the United Kingdom, including judges, barristers, and academics, have issued a public demand for the British government to enact punitive measures against Israel in response to the ongoing war in Gaza. The group asserts that either genocide is actively occurring or there is a “serious risk” it may take place.

Among the signatories are two former justices from the UK Supreme Court and three ex-presidents of the Court of Appeal. They referenced inflammatory comments made by top Israeli officials who spoke openly about razing Gaza and removing its civilian population.

The legal community urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to take decisive action, proposing financial restrictions targeting Israeli leaders and IDF officers allegedly tied to violations of international law, alongside broader trade sanctions against the Israeli government.

In contrast, Conservative opposition leader Kemi Badenoch expressed a starkly different view on Sunday, describing Israel’s fight against Hamas as part of a broader defense of Western interests.

“Who funds Hamas?” Badenoch asked during a Sky News interview. “Iran… an enemy of this country. Israel is fighting a proxy war on behalf of the UK, just like Ukraine is on behalf of Western Europe against Russia. We have to get serious.”

“Israel is fighting a war,” she continued. “It is not for me to police exactly how they are doing that,” she said. “It is not a genocide, as people are saying.”

Pressed on whether she ever criticized Israeli conduct, Badenoch responded: “That’s not true. I have criticized things before, but right now, there are 58 hostages who have not been returned home.”

According to the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza, more than 53,000 individuals have either died or are presumed dead since the outbreak of violence. However, these numbers remain unverified and do not distinguish between civilians and militants. Israel has claimed that it has eliminated approximately 20,000 fighters in combat and neutralized another 1,600 terrorists during the October 7 incursion.

On March 2, Israel temporarily halted all aid deliveries to Gaza, triggering widespread condemnation and raising fears of worsening food insecurity. Last week, humanitarian shipments resumed. In the same week, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy halted ongoing free trade talks with Israel, initiated a review of the bilateral 2030 cooperation framework, and sanctioned several settler groups and individuals.

Israel has rejected all genocide accusations, saying that civilian casualties stem from Hamas embedding its fighters and infrastructure among non-combatants. Officials argue they have monitored the humanitarian situation to avoid triggering widespread starvation.

Nevertheless, the letter sent to Starmer insists that “genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide occurring.” It further argues that the flow of humanitarian assistance is “gravely insufficient to address the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.”

The authors cited figures from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs claiming that women and children make up 70% of fatalities. However, critics have challenged the reliability of these statistics, noting that they may misrepresent the ratio of civilian to militant casualties in the IDF’s operations.

The letter also referenced statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who called for the “total” destruction of Gaza and the displacement of the enclave’s entire population.

According to the legal professionals, Israel’s current military campaign aims to “forcibly and permanently displace the population of Gaza to small areas of the Gaza Strip, and coerce their emigration to other countries,” which they labeled as a serious breach of international humanitarian law.

They went on to accuse Israel of a range of international offenses, including “war crimes, crimes against humanity, and serious violations of international humanitarian law” in both Gaza and the West Bank. They also pointed to a 2023 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice deeming Israel’s control of the West Bank illegal.

Given the seriousness of the accusations, the group called on Starmer to push for “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza” and facilitate a major increase in aid deliveries.

They also pressed the UK to implement “financial and immigration sanctions” against members of the Israeli cabinet and others “reasonably suspected of involvement in unlawful conduct,” and to reassess trade arrangements with Israel, including imposing trade penalties.

Jonathan Turner, head of UK Lawyers for Israel, responded critically to the letter. He claimed that the same group had previously misrepresented both facts and legal interpretations in similar allegations. Turner further argued that “there has been no famine or mass starvation in the Gaza Strip,” stating that during the truce period between January and March, “sufficient quantities of food supplies were transferred into the Gaza Strip to last for several months.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

A federal judge in New York has temporarily prevented President Donald Trump from retaliating against the state over its Manhattan congestion toll. Judge Lewis Liman on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order blocking the federal government from withholding federal funds or taking other punitive actions against the state at least until June 9 while he weighs a lawsuit the state has filed against the federal government to keep the toll in place. The toll on drivers entering the busiest part of Manhattan was approved under former President Joe Biden, but has been strongly opposed by Trump, a native New Yorker whose namesake Trump Tower and other properties are within the congestion zone. The Republican administration rescinded federal approval in February, prompting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency overseeing the tolls, to challenge the decision. In recent months, Trump officials have issued three ultimatums to New York, even threatening to pull funding and approvals for transportation projects. But New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has said the state will continue collecting the toll until a judge orders it to stop. The Democrat touted Tuesday’s ruling, which came after Liman heard arguments from both sides in Manhattan federal court, as a “massive victory” for New York commuters. “New Yorkers deserve to control our own traffic patterns, keep gridlock off our streets and protect our clean air,” Hochul said in a statement. “We need to make the massive investments necessary to support our transit system and prevent it from falling into disarray and disrepair. Congestion pricing is the right solution to get us there.” Halee Dobbins, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Transportation, said the administration will comply with the court order, stressing the judge’s decision is only temporary and not on the merits of the case itself. “We look forward to making our case in court against Hochul’s illegal tolls as we work to protect working-class Americans from being unfairly charged to go to work, see their families, or visit the city,” she said. The toll started in January and generally imposes $9 on drivers entering Manhattan south of Central Park, though it varies depending on the kind of vehicle and time of day. New York officials say the program is already helping to reduce traffic and will eventually pump billions of dollars into its subways, commuter trains and public buses. Suburban commuters have pushed back against the toll, though, because it comes on top of existing ones for crossing bridges and tunnels into the city. London, Stockholm and other big cities around the world have long had similar fees to reduce traffic congestion in their central business districts. (AP)

An all-around tragedy on many levels that requires serious soul-searching by all Jews
By Rabbi Yitschak Rudomin

The recent shocking murder of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, who worked for the Israeli embassy in Washington DC, by a radical left-wing pro-Palestinian assassin has shocked all decent minded people. The public execution of such a good looking, handsome and idealistic couple in the prime of their lives is a terrible tragedy. That this could happen in the capital of America is frightening. This is but the latest in a string of attacks and murders by rabid anti-semites, both from the left and the right against Jewish and Israeli targets.

Soon after the shootings, reports came out that one of the victims with the very Jewish and Israel sounding name, Yaron Lischinsky was a Christian born to a non-Jewish Christian Evangelical mother and a Jewish father. It was reported that he was born in Israel and then his parents moved to Germany and when he was sixteen years old his parents made Aliyah when they moved back to Israel.

Sarah Milgrim’s family belongs to a Jewish Reform congregation in Kansas City. After their murders it was reported that Yaron and Sarah had been seriously dating and that Yaron had already bought Sarah an engagement ring and that they were going to travel to Israel soon for Sarah to meet Yaron’s family and then become officially engaged to each other.

Condolences for Sarah’s death came from a number of religious sources in Kansas City where she grew up: from the lady Reform rabbi of the temple her family belonged to, from the local Chabad rabbi, from a local Orthodox NCSY youth outreach rabbi, from the Hillel director of the college she attended, all paying tribute to her exceptional qualities, incredible Jewish and Zionist idealism and good graces. None of them touched on the point that she was engaged to Yaron who was openly described as being a devout Christian from a similarly good Christian family.

A little time later news reports stated that Yaron and his parents belonged to a Messianic Jewish congregation and that they were active Messianic Jews who believed in Yeshua, the Hebrew name for Jesus that Messianic Jews use. The American Forward newspaper even published a sympathetic piece about the positive aspects of Messianic Judaism and that Yaron and his family should not have been called Christians but should have been called actual “Jews” and not described as Christians.

More news reports told of Sarah agreeing to be baptized into Messianic Judaism with her engagement to Yaron as it became clear that Yaron stood firm in his devotion to Yeshua-Jesus so that no matter where Sarah was coming from spiritually, she was headed to become a new member of Yaron’s Messianic Jewish community that was based in Jerusalem, Israel.

The one overarching glowing bond and description of both Yaron and Sarah was that they were sincere Zionists devoted to the state of Israel as can be seen by the fact that they both had official jobs at the Israeli embassy in Washington DC. Yaron had served three years in the IDF and had dedicated his college life to studying politics and diplomacy with the aim of eventually becoming an Israeli diplomat. Sarah had devoted her life to working for the goal of bridging the divide between Israelis and Palestinians.

The genuine humanistic, Jewish, Zionist and Israeli distinguished badges of honor that both Yaron’s and Sarah’s life exemplified, as well as the love they had for each other, beautiful people in all aspects of modern life barring true Judaism, and their intention to get engaged to be married were the sole and main talking points of all the glowing articles and obituaries about them in the media and flowing from official government and Jewish organizational sources.

In the midst of this real life Romeo and Juliet meets HaTikvah tragedy of immense proportions, no one dared to point out the one great Messianic Judaism elephant in the room.

What soul-searching message is being broadcast here from the point of view of Torah true Judaism? One commentator noted that in all the years, many of the recent religious Jewish victims of Palestinian and Arab terror did not get the emotional accolades and over the top glorification in the media or by official government sources that the newly martyred couple, Yaron the Messianic Jew from Israel and Sarah from the Reform temple in Kansas City got.

With not even an official whisper or whimper of disapproval, does this now mean that Messianic Judaism is now accepted as going “mainstream” in Israel? You can now get an official job representing Israel or in the Israeli government and its diplomatic corps even if you are a Messianic Jew? Don’t they vet for these kinds of glaring “conflicts of interest” that one can’t be a good Jew and a true Christian at the same time?

While back in America, the Jewish Reform movement has long accepted patrilineal descent as acceptable proof of entry into the Jewish People by accepting children of non-Jewish women married to Jewish men as “Jews”! The Jews for Jesus movement and the Messianic Jewish movement in America reaching out to assimilated secular Jews are by now long established and funded mainly by the huge non-Jewish Christian Protestant Evangelical movements and congregations based mainly in the United States who pour tens of millions of dollars into the effort to convert America’s vastly assimilated and Jewishly ignorant Jews to a “Judaized” and “kosher” form of Evangelical Christianity.

Their reach extends to Israel where they fund the establishment of Messianic congregations, and recruit and train the clergy to go with it, to the point of keeping most of Judaism’s synagogue rituals and many of Judaism’s traditional beliefs, rituals, practices, Shabbat and Holy Days. The Evangelical Christians, while fanatically devoted to converting Jews to come to believe in Yeshua-Jesus, turning Jews born to Jewish mothers into Christians and convincing gentiles born to non-Jewish mothers, can now be as Israeli as Yaron who are convinced that they are as Jewish as Israel’s chief rabbis now with the help and the imprimatur of the Israeli foreign ministry.

Confusing and confounding matters is that the Evangelical Christians and their Jews for Jesus and Messianic Jewish movement outgrowths are oftentimes genuinely Zionist and the greatest supporters of the modern state of Israel, that they view as a step in the so-called “second coming” of Jesus, that goes against the beliefs of Torah true Judaism.

Is this what Jews waited for and wanted for two thousand years as they prayed and survived all the attempts to destroy them by either force or by persuasion, to give up the faith of their forefathers and glorify Messianic Judaism aka Christianity?

It is not enough that some Orthodox rabbis worry about this and maybe speak up about the problem, no matter how quixotic the effort may seem. It is time for the Jewish politicians in Israel, Israeli government employees and American Jewish communal leaders to wake up to the reality of this self-destructive assimilationist tragedy infecting the Jewish People.

{Matzav.com}

German leaders intensified their public criticism of Israel on Tuesday, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz sharply questioning the rationale behind the IDF’s continued bombardment of Gaza. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul signaled that Germany is preparing to evaluate its options in response to what he described as an intolerable situation.

“The massive military strikes by the Israelis in the Gaza Strip no longer reveal any logic to me. How they serve the goal of confronting terror… In this respect, I view this very, very critically,” Merz stated during a leadership conference in Turku, Finland.

“I am also not among those who said it first… But it seemed and seems to me that the time has come when I must say publicly — what is currently happening is no longer comprehensible.”

Merz said he intends to speak with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu in the coming days about developments in Gaza. He sidestepped a reporter’s inquiry regarding Germany’s arms shipments to Israel. A spokesperson later clarified that such decisions fall under the jurisdiction of a national security council chaired by Merz.

This wave of remarks represented a notable shift in tone for Berlin, which has long been one of Israel’s staunchest allies within the European Union.

The ongoing conflict in Gaza has strained the historically close relationship, as Germany seeks to navigate a complex diplomatic path — supporting Israel’s right to defend itself while emphasizing humanitarian protections for Palestinians.

Foreign Minister Wadephul said he would soon speak with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and expressed alarm over the dire humanitarian conditions facing Gaza’s residents.

“Our committed fight against antisemitism and our full support for the right to exist and the security of the State of Israel must not be instrumentalized for the conflict and the warfare currently being waged in the Gaza Strip,” Wadephul said in a WDR interview.

“We are now at a point where we have to think very carefully about what further steps to take,” he added, without outlining any specific actions.

Responding to the German leaders’ statements, Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, acknowledged their concerns but stopped short of offering any policy changes.

“When Friedrich Merz raises this criticism of Israel, we listen very carefully because he is a friend,” Prosor told ZDF.

Also on Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen criticized Israel’s bombing of civilian locations in Gaza, calling one recent attack “abhorrent” during a phone conversation with Jordan’s King Abdullah II. That airstrike reportedly hit a school that had been converted into a shelter for displaced families.

The Israeli military defended the strike, stating that Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives were using the building as a command post.

“The expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza targeting civilian infrastructure, among them a school that served as a shelter for displaced Palestinian families, killing civilians, including children, is abhorrent,” von der Leyen said, as quoted in an official European Commission summary of the call.

{Matzav.com}

The State Department has halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students hoping to study in the U.S. while it prepares to expand the screening of their activity on social media, officials said. A U.S. official said Tuesday the suspension is intended to be temporary and does not apply to applicants who already had scheduled their visa interviews. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an internal administration document. A cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and obtained by The Associated Press says the State Department plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting. “Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consulate sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor visa appointment capacity” until the guidance is issued, the cable says. Asked about the suspension at a briefing Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the U.S. uses every available resource to vet people applying for visas. “We will continue to use every tool we can to assess who it is that’s coming here, whether they are students or otherwise,” Bruce said. The move, first reported by Politico, is the latest in the Trump administration’s crackdown on international students. Last week, the Trump administration revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, removing the college from the program that allows schools to sponsor foreign students for visas. That effort was quickly challenged in court and for now is blocked by a federal judge. This spring the administration also revoked the legal status of thousands of international students already in the country, leading some to leave the U.S. out of fear of deportation. After many students filed successful legal challenges, the administration said it was restoring the students’ legal status. But the government also expanded the grounds for terminating international students’ legal status going forward. President Donald Trump’s previous administration stepped up scrutiny of all visa applicants, introducing reviews of their social media accounts. The policy remained during President Joe Biden’s administration. An extended pause in scheduling student visas could lead to delays that may disrupt college, boarding-school or exchange students’ plans to enroll in summer and fall terms. A downturn in enrollment of international students could hurt university budgets. To make up for cuts in federal research funding, some colleges shifted to enrolling more international students, who often pay full tuition. (AP)

An Israeli district court judge recently announced his retirement from the judicial system after expressing harsh criticism regarding the conduct of the President of the Supreme Court, Yitzchak Amit, Arutz Sheva reported on Wednesday. According to the report, the judge sent his resignation notice to Amit and Justice Minister Yariv Levin. The report quoted sources familiar with the matter who said that the judge chose to resign as a sign of protest against the conduct of the judicial system in the recent period. “Following the conduct of President Amit, who forcibly seized the presidential seat and the conduct of the judicial system in general, the judge announced his retirement,” they said. Amit was elected as president of the court after Baharav-Miara bullied the judicial system into electing him by prohibiting the Judicial Selection Committee from investigating multiple serious allegations against him. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)