Turkey Charging Israeli couple with espionage

 A Turkish court on Friday decided to extend by 20 days the remand of Mordy and Natali Oknin, the Israeli couple detained for photographing the palace of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, until the start of their trial.

This is contradictory to earlier reports that a deportation order would be issued, and that the couple will be flown to Israel immediately afterwards.

According to reports in Israel, the couple is suspected of espionage. Channel 12 News reported that during Friday’s hearing, a representative of the Turkish prosecutor's office claimed that the couple photographed not only Erdogan's palace and private home, but also the security positions and cameras.

The prosecution claimed that the two marked the photos, highlighted them and sent them to a third party, and as such they intend to file an indictment against them for espionage.

A local lawyer representing the Israelis claimed that the couple took pictures for their family because they did not know that it was forbidden to take pictures.

The Turkish lawyer is expected to appeal the decision to keep the Oknins in custody. He told Kan 11 News that the couple is in good condition and added that the Israeli Foreign Ministry and diplomats stationed in Turkey must intervene because this is an issue that is also related to relations between the two countries.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid spoke on Friday evening with the families of the Oknins and informed them that the Foreign Ministry had requested an urgent consular visit to the couple, and is working to release them at all levels.

The Foreign Minister stressed that the couple "do not work for any Israeli agency."

Zera Shimshon Parshas Vayeitzei

 

Pervert who offered to buy chocolate to little girl if she touched him arrested

Song of Rosh Hashana

 

The Anti-Defamation League allies with haters of Israel, Hamas apologists and blood libelers

 

The Arab Stooge, Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and National Director of ADL

When three Jewish teens were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas, Israel fought back, Jews mourned, and Sheera Frenkel rushed to claim that Hamas wasn’t responsible.

“There is a Hamas official in the story saying they are not Hamas,” she insisted on Twitter.

It was a low point in her career of smearing Israel with lies and hate, but not unusual.

Frenkel had accused Israel of using white phosphorus, falsely claimed that there had been a blast at an Iranian nuclear facility, wrongly described an Israeli ban on construction materials, and concluded her coverage of the brutal murder of a Rabbi and his family in Mumbai, India with a quote suggesting that “the attitudes of the Chabad, which gives the sense of an elite club for Jews alone, is part of what provoked the terrorists to target them for the attack.”

This is the sort of ugly hateful behavior the ADL should be condemning, not celebrating.

‘Yalla Brandon!’: How the Jewish Vote May (Finally) Be Changing

“Yalla Brandon,” as former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer explained during a press gaggle at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership conference in Las Vegas (the former White House press secretary is on the board of the organization), meant “Let’s go, Brandon” in Hebrew.

We had all been hearing a lot of “Let’s go Brandon’s,” mostly in English, during the conference speeches from a group of around one hundred Southern California college students (UCLA, Cal State Long Beach and so forth) bussed in from Los Angeles for the event and seated near the back at tables labeled “Young Adults.”

Their jubilant cries were soon taken up by the other six hundred or more older attendees during a barn burner speech by Sen. Ted Cruz, filling the mammoth ballroom at The Palazzo with a literal cacophony of chandelier-shaking “Let’s go Brandons” with most of the audience jumping to their feet. It was like a football game in a Vegas hotel.

From his sour expression, the New York Times reporter sitting next to me in the press section was not amused.

As for the “Kosher Cattle Call” that was a phrase used by Fleischer and RJC executive director Matt Brooks during that same gaggle. For many years, this event has been used as an early try-out for aspiring Republican presidential candidates. It was again, this time with possibly more import, since the Jewish Republican group has grown, seemingly exponentially, since the days I covered some of their events for PJMedia around 2008.

EuroPisher Union Sends Millions of Euros To Palestinians to Help Wipe Out Jewish Presence in Yerushalyim

 

An agreement was signed Tuesday for support and budgeting that the EU will transfer to a Palestinian Authority organization whose purpose is to strengthen "Palestinian identity" among the residents of eastern Jerusalem.

According to the Facebook page of the "Office of the EU Representative (West Bank and Gaza strip, UNRWA)," Deputy EU Representative Maria Velasco said that “the Palestinian civil society organizations remain one of our key partners in maintaining the Palestinian identity of East Jerusalem."

She added that the EU provides around 12 million euros every year to address multiple needs and sectors in "East Jerusalem," including "inclusive education, economic empowerment, legal aid, human rights and advocacy, housing, culture and identity."

"Resilience is at the core of our work, and resilience is what we are celebrating today,’’ said the Deputy EU Representative.

Berland Gave the Orders to Have Nissim Shitrit Murdered ..Israeli Police

 

An Israel Police representative said during a court hearing on Wednesday that Eliezer Berland, the disgraced leader of the Shuvu Banim community, was the one who gave the orders to the kidnappers and murderers in two murder cases from over 30 years ago, but was not present himself when the acts took place, Kan News reported on Wednesday.

The police said that there is evidence that there was premeditated intent to commit the murders but the prosecution must evaluate whether there is sufficient evidentiary basis to file an indictment – and that will be done next week.

A Kan report on Tuesday night said that Berland sent messages to his followers in recent days indicating he is aware he will be charged in the cases and may serve a long prison sentence.

“I understand the story is over,” Berland said in a message he sent from prison, where he is serving a five-month sentence for fraud, exploitation, attempted intimidation, tax offenses, and money laundering. “Many people testified against me and the investigators told me that there is evidence against me.”

“I hope that the truth emerges. I want my suffering in jail to end.”

It was also reported on Tuesday night that the police believe that there is little hope of finding the remains of Nissim Shitrit, z’l, but meanwhile, they are continuing the search.

Channel 13 News reported on Monday that another suspect of alleged involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Shitrit admitted to his role in the case.

Last week, one of the main suspects of Shitrit’s murder confessed his role in the case and incriminated three others, providing a detailed description of the events that day that led to Shitrit’s murder. A female suspect has also confessed to playing a role in Shitrit’s kidnapping and one suspect signed a state witness agreement.

GUILTY ON ALL CHARGES! Two Lev Tahor Cult Leaders Face Life in Prison after Jury Finds Them Guilty of 2018 Kidnapping

 

Two leaders of the Lev Tahor cult have been found guilty by a jury on all charges pertaining to the 2018 Shabbos kidnapping of two children who escaped the cult, and now face life in prison.

Nachman Helbrans and Meyer Rosner, two Lev Tahor officials who were involved in the kidnapping, were found guilty on all six charges they faced, including conspiracy to travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, and conspiracy to commit international parental kidnapping.

“The defendants engaged in a brazen kidnapping of a minor girl in the middle of the night, taking her across the border to Mexico in order to reunite her with her adult ‘husband’ to continue their sexual relationship. These charges send a clear message that the sexual exploitation of children will not be tolerated,” US Attorney Audrey Strauss said when the cultists were charged in 2019.

Several other Lev Tahor cultists have been arrested in connection with the case, including brothers Yoel, Yaakov, and Shmiel Weingarten, who were picked up by Guatemala authorities earlier this year.

They are expected to be extradited to the United States to face charges and a trial.

Three others in the United States are reportedly cooperating with authorities.

Shekel Hits Yet Another 25-Year High Against The Dollar

 

The shekel-to-dollar exchange rate hit a new 25-year-high on Monday, with $1 briefly fetching just NIS 3.08 before closing for the day around NIS 3.11.

The shekel has been gaining in strength against major currencies like the dollar and euro, thanks in large part to high levels of foreign direct investment and the strength of the tech sector.

While a stronger currency allows for cheaper imports, it can also hurt exporters by making their goods more expensive for foreign customers.

The new record high came just days after the previous record high was briefly reached, before receding.

The shekel traded at around 3.6 to the dollar for several years, but more recently was in the 3.2 – 3.3 range.

Read more at Times of Israel.