MK Tehila Friedman’s maiden speech in the Knesset touches a cord with admonition that a Jewish state ‘is not a given’

Israeli society is fractured and fragile, and threatened from within by those who would spread “malignant hate” between its many tribes and communities. So argues one of the most wildly viral videos to ever cross the collective consciousness of Hebrew-speaking Israelis, urging in response “to seal an alliance of moderates with all those who understand the challenge of living together.”

The video is short, a speech in the Knesset by a little-known lawmaker named Tehila Friedman, a backbencher in the Blue and White party who only entered parliament two months ago after Michael Biton, now a “minister in the defense ministry,” resigned his Knesset seat to clear the way.

Friedman has been an active lawmaker in that short time, challenging the Education Ministry on its preparations for a school year in the shadow of the pandemic, and railing at the impact of spending cuts brought on by the budget impasse in the Knesset on Israel’s underprivileged and youth at risk.

Her energetic efforts notwithstanding, none of it brought much attention from the national news media.

Then, on Tuesday, she got up to speak at the Knesset podium for the first time. It was what Knesset protocol labels a “maiden speech,” when freshly-minted MKs traditionally thank their parents and teachers and say something unobjectionable about their aspirations and beliefs.

The soft-spoken Friedman stood at the lectern for just 11 minutes, twice choked up with tears, and sent shivers through the collective national spine.

In just two days, the video of her speech was viewed at least 1.5 million times on Facebook — a sizable chunk of the world’s Hebrew-speaking population. Excerpts were carried in primetime by Israel’s major television news channels.

It was the rare political speech that broke down barriers. Though Friedman hails from centrist Blue and White and railed against the right in her speech, it was shared most enthusiastically by right-wing viewers, from Channel 12 political analyst Amit Segal, whose share was the one that went viral and passed the one-million-view mark, to pundit, comedian and onetime Yamina Knesset candidate Hanoch Daum (48,000 views).

Friedman’s own post of the video was viewed 76,000 times.

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Amazon employee is beaten to death by 'random attacker' in Greenwich Village during another weekend of violence in New York that's seen more than 40 people shot

Deshawn Bush

A man out with friends in New York was beaten to death after a verbal disagreement with an unidentified man on Saturday morning. Deshawn Bush, 36, was found unconscious outside a bagel shop on Christopher St. in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, at around 4.20am. Bush was taken to the Lenox Health Complex but later died from his injuries, authorities shared. He had been out with a woman and a friend at the time of the incidents, authorities shared.  The assailant fled from the scene and is still being sought after by police.  'I'm still shocked,' said Shamel Bush, Deshawn's brother, told the New York Daily News on Saturday. 'I'm still going in and out of crying. I can't believe it, it's just disbelief.'  Bush had recently been hired at Amazon.  

Police are searching for surveillance footage that may help assist in finding the suspect.  It comes as New York continues to see an surge in shootings, with police recording shooting incidents involving 40 victims between the beginning of Friday and mid-day Saturday, NBC New York reports. 

At 10am, an unidentified man shot at a 40-year-old man in Grand Central Station following a dispute, according to police.  Police released surveillance footage of the suspect, who fled the scene on foot westbound on East 42nd Street.  The victim suffered an injury to his left arm and has been taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.    

Shooting incidents in the city have been up nearly triple for the last four weeks, compared to the same period of time last year. The statistics follow a pattern seen since June, as the coronavirus lockdown began to ease.  

Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea have been at odds over what is to blame for the increase. Factors offered include slowdowns in the court system, gang activity and pent-up rage from being in lockdown.    

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The Rich and Famous are Fleeing Hollywood as the City Turns into a Cesspool of Junkies and Violent Criminals

Junkies and the homeless, many of whom are clearly mentally ill, walk the palm-lined streets like zombies – all just three blocks from multi-million-dollar homes overlooking the Pacific.

Stolen bicycles are piled high on pavements littered with broken syringes.

TV bulletins are filled with horror stories from across the city; of women being attacked during their morning jog or residents returning home to find strangers defecating in their front gardens. 

Today, Los Angeles is a city on the brink. 'For Sale' signs are seemingly dotted on every suburban street as the middle classes, particularly those with families, flee for the safer suburbs, with many choosing to leave LA altogether.

British-born Danny O'Brien runs Watford Moving & Storage. 'There is a mass exodus from Hollywood,' he says. 

'And a lot of it is to do with politics.' His business is booming. 'August has already set records and we are only halfway through the month,' he tells me. 

'People are getting out in droves. Last week I moved a prominent person in the music industry from a $6.5 million [£5 million] mansion above Sunset Boulevard to Nashville.'

O'Brien, 58, who moved to LA from London 34 years ago, is also planning to move to Tennessee. 

'Liberal politics has destroyed this city,' he says. 'The homeless encampments are legal and there's nothing the police can do. White, affluent middle-class folk are getting out. People don't feel safe any more.'

With movie studios still shuttered because of the coronavirus pandemic and businesses only just starting to remove the wooden boards put up after city-wide rioting following the death of George Floyd while being arrested by three white officers in Minneapolis, LA is now in the grip of white flight.

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MBD Son-in-Law Enters Fight to Purchase El Al

Ok ... enough with the "kvetching" neggunim ...

enough with the "eye ya ya" "oy ya yoi" "boo hoo hoo" "bee hee hee"

This is serious business ..

Businessman and real estate mogul Meir Gurvitz has entered the race to purchase El Al Airlines Ltd., the Israeli airline that has been hit hard financially due to lack of business as an outcome of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Calcalist.

The 56-year-old works out of the US and filed an application to the Companies Authority for a permit that would allow him to purchase between 25% and 40% of the airline's shares.

 

Gurvitz's requested permit would not demand the acquisition of control over the company, unlike that of Eli Rozenberg, the son of Kenny (Naftali) Rozenberg, who was the first bidder announced to express interest in purchasing El Al.

Gurvitz, according to Calcalist, holds a pilot's license and belongs to some haredi (ultra-Orthodox) circles.

The new player in the bid to purchase the airline company is an Israeli, born in Kiryat Atta, who left the country when he was only 15 to study in a religious Yeshiva in Gateshead, in northern England.

Later, after moving to London, he started trading in building materials what led him to real estate. 

In 1996, Gurvitz made his first significant fortune after a successful investment during a period of depression in the British real estate market with his then-business partner Moti Zisser.

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Bahrain Next Country to Sign Deal with Israel

Mossad chief Yossi Cohen spoke with Bahrain's prime minister ahead of the establishment and normalization of relations between Israel and Bahrain, News 12's "Weekend News" reported Saturday night.

At the same time, Bahrain sent a series of signals over the weekend that it aims to be the next country to sign an agreement with Israel.

According to the report, the matter has been discussed for some time, but Bahrain is now pushing for it to happen sooner rather than later.

Also on Saturday, it was reported that Bahrain's Prime MInister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has left on a private journey.

On Saturday evening Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa spoke on the phone with United Arab Emirates crown prince, congratulating him on the country's agreement with Israel.

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Rabbi Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg, Editor Encyclopedia Talmidot , Hospitalized after Stroke

Rabbi Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg, a retired member of the Rabbinical High Court and the main editor of the Talmudic Encyclopedia, fell at his home and suffered a serious stroke.

Rabbi Goldberg is currently hospitalized at Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem.

He is considered a leading halakhic (Jewish law) authority among Israeli Jews.

Over more than 50 years, Rabbi Goldberg has given hundreds of Torah lectures at Religious Zionist institutions, and he served as president of dozens of Religious Zionist institutions.

Rabbi Goldberg also served as the yeshiva dean of the Lev Academic Center, and the head of the Shevet Mechokek yeshiva for rabbinic judges.

The public is asked to pray for the complete recovery of Rabbi Zalman Nehemiah, the son of Freidel.

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UN Security Council Rejects US Proposal To Extend Iran Sanctions

Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi (Blue and White) slammed the United Nations Security Council's rejection of the US proposal to extend the arms embargo on Iran.

In a statement, Ashkenazi said: 

"The rejection of the US proposal by some members of the Security Council is a mistake that will undoubtedly lead to the Middle East’s deterioration, which must be stopped."

"Israel condemns the decision of some members of the Security Council not to extend the arms embargo on Iran. We stress that the Security Council was established for the exact purpose of preventing regimes such as that of the Iranian Ayatollahs from amassing military capabilities, which will be used by Iran to seize control of the region militarily and ideologically."

He added:

 "The sunset on the arms embargo on Iran legitimizes Tehran’s aggressive ambitions and the advancement of its military capabilities."

"The extremist regime in Iran doesn't just finance terrorism: It takes an active part in terrorism through its branches around the world and uses it as a political tool, This behavior represents a danger to regional and international stability.

"The international community must take every possible step to prevent Iran from spreading destruction and terrorism around the world."

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Trump's Revenge .. First FBI Lawyer Indicted For Spying Against Trump Campaign

An ex-FBI lawyer will plead guilty to doctoring an email that led his agency to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser, officials said Friday — which the president claimed is clear proof he has been “spied on.”

Kevin Clinesmith will cop to lying, which helped lead to a renewed wiretap of Carter Page, his lawyer confirmed — in what will be the first guilty plea produced by special prosecutor John Durham’s probe of the Russia investigation.

“The fact is, they spied on my campaign, and they got caught,” Trump said Friday after news of Clinesmith’s plea broke.

“What happened should never happen. It’s a terrible thing.”

Trump reelection campaign officials added in a statement that the “abuses of power” displayed in the Russia probe “represent the greatest political crime in American history.”

Durham has been investigating the Russia probe, which examined alleged collusion between the Russians and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, since May 2019, when he was appointed by US Attorney General William Barr.

Clinesmith — whom Trump called a “corrupt FBI attorney” — figured into Durham’s inquiry over a June 15, 2017, email.

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Bibi Netanyahu Chats Live With Ruler of UAE

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Israeli Family Schnorring Because They Vacationed in Switzerland and Fined $61,557.33 For Not Quarantining

The ad featured above is actually a parody .. a fake ad.... 

but in fact people I know in Switzerland have told me that the ad maybe fake but the story is true...

The ad was inspired by stories that happen on a weekly basis as Israeli and American families vacation in Switzerland and refuse to follow the local regulations and then get fined ......

Why go on vacation if you are going to be quarantined for 14 days?

Why are Jewish people making a Chillul Hashem by defying the local quarantine rules? 

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