This is like a scene out of “Rain Man”
— Monica Crowley (@MonicaCrowley) March 21, 2022
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“I don’t speak because I have the power to speak; I speak because I don’t have the power to remain silent.” Rav Kook z"l
This is like a scene out of “Rain Man”
— Monica Crowley (@MonicaCrowley) March 21, 2022
pic.twitter.com/MUZ4wcFVp8
The terrorist Mohammad Jalab Abu al-Quian, who on Tuesday murdered four Jews in Be'er Sheva, pleaded guilty in 2016 as part of a plea deal to a variety of security offenses, including the establishment of a terrorist cell on behalf of ISIS.
He was sentenced to four years of imprisonment and another 12 months probation. In sentencing, Judge Yoel Eden noted that "the punishment should be at the lower threshold," because, "the defendant took full responsibility for his actions, admitted to the indictment, expressed remorse for his actions, and said he knew he was wrong and would not do it again."
Al-Quian was an elementary school teacher. In the ruling, it said that the terrorist admitted that he "took part in secret meetings and served as a 'spiritual teacher' who conveyed content related to the ISIS organization."
"In these meetings he explained to his students about ISIS and his views, told them about the organization's path and the fighting in Syria, and showed the students videos of the organization, and as a result of the defendant's actions, the students expressed support for ISIS," it read. He took part in meetings of ISIS supporters in Israel at least once a week, for a period of about two years - until he was arrested.
According to the indictment, "As of January 2015, the defendant began delivering sermons in the mosque during Friday prayers. In some sermons, he spoke about ISIS and claimed that the organization was in accordance with Islam, with the intention that worshipers would show support for the organization."
"According to the indictment, the facts of which the defendant admitted, he conspired to join a terrorist organization, attended illegal association meetings, tried to leave Israel illegally for Syria, delivered sermons intended to induce worshipers to show support for the organization, and acted on behalf of an illegal association and as its representative," the judge noted in the sentence.
He stressed: "The defendant's actions were carried out over a long period of time, and in a consistent and continuous manner, indicating a significant threat to the State of Israel."
However, at the sentencing stage, the judge wrote: "I did not find that in the case of the defendant, the appropriate sentence should be exceeded, neither in terms of severity nor severity. The defendant is a professional, and respected in his community."
As stated, the terrorist was sentenced to four years in prison, which began from the beginning of his detention period on June 2, 2015. He was released from Israeli prison at the end of his prison term and on Tuesday carried out a brutal killing spree in Be'er Sheva.
The name of one of the four women murdered in a stabbing attack in Be'er Sheva was released Tuesday evening.
Doris Yakhbas, 49 years old and a resident of Moshav Gilat, was the first victim to be named following the attack.
Her husband, who works with the Israel Prisons Service, arrived at the scene of the attack after receiving a phone call from a passerby, and discovered that his wife was among those murdered..
Her nephew, Yisrael Uzan, who was called to the scene as Magen David Adom (MDA) personnel, was one of those treating her.
"I was one of the first to arrive at the scene, and I approached to treat a injured woman who was unconscious," he said. "While treating her, I recognized her as my aunt, my mother's sister. She had no signs of life and we were forced to declare her death. I was horrified, but I needed to continue functioning and to treat my uncle, who was at the scene."
The Merhavim Regional Council said, "The Merhavim community is pained at the murder of Doris Yakhbas (49), of blessed memory, of Moshav Gilat. Doris is survived by her parents, brothers and sisters, husband, and three children. Staff from the Council is supporting the family and community at this difficult time. We extend our hand to the family, which has suffered a cruel and monstrous loss."
Yakhbas is survived by her husband and three children. Her funeral will be held Wednesday at the cemetery in her moshav.
In the attack, terrorist Mohammad Jalab Abu al-Quian rammed into Rabbi Kravitzky, who was riding his bicycle, before stabbing several female passersby.
Rabbi Moshe Kravitzky ran the synagogue in Be'er Sheva's Nahal Beka neighborhood, in addition to managing the neighborhood's Colel Chabad soup kitchen, which feeds many elderly and poor people every day.Be'er Sheva's chief Chabad-Lubavitch emissary, Rabbi Shneur Zalman Garelik, who worked with Rabbi Kravitzky, mourned, "He was very dedicated to his mission. Together with his family members, may they live long and good years, he put everything he could into the community in the Nahal Beka neighborhood. He took care of them, physically and spiritually."
"All of the residents remember his wide smile and great giving. We are in shock and very pained at this bitter news."
Rabbi Shalom Duchman, Director of Colel Chabad, responded to the murder by saying, "Rav Moshe Kravitzki was the gentlest of souls whose entire life was about caring for others."
"Each and every day he would manage Colel Chabad's local food distribution service for the needy in Be'er Sheva, distributing thousands of meals over the years, going above and beyond to serve the hardest-hit in his community during COVID
"This horrific loss of life has robbed the people of Israel of one of its kindest and most compassionate souls and our prayer is that the memory of the tremendous work that Rav Moshe did in his life will offer some comfort to his family and the entire community."
Israeli security forces investigating Tuesday’s deadly terrorist attack in Be’er Sheva questioned the assailant's relatives, amid suspicions that at least some of the family members had foreknowledge of the planned attack.
Police and the Shin Bet internal security agency probing the attack questioned Mohammad Jalab Abu al-Quian’s relatives, with police interrogating two of al-Quian’s brothers Wednesday morning.
The two brothers are suspected of know about Mohammad Jalab’s plans to carry out a terrorist attack, and may have witnessed him leaving the house with the knife he used in the attack.
Once the interrogation has been completed, authorities will determine whether the two brothers should be brought before a judge for an extension of their arrest.
On Wednesday, police returned the personal firearms of two civilians who shot and killed the terrorist, ending the eight-minute rampage Tuesday.
Police forensics teams examined the two guns at a ballistics analysis facility overnight. The police department came under criticism Tuesday, after footage was released showing officers threatening one of the two civilians who requested his gun back following questioning.
Officials at Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva announced Wednesday morning that two of the victims wounded in Tuesday’s attack are in moderate and stable condition.
Four people were murdered in the attack Tuesday afternoon, with the terrorist running down a cyclist with his car before exiting the vehicle to stab additional victims.
The attack occurred at a gas station on Derech Hevron in Be’er Sheva, adjacent to a ‘BIG’ shopping center.
The terrorist, an Arab Israeli from the Bedouin sector, was a resident of Hura in the Negev, who had previously expressed support for the ISIS terrorist group.
According to Maariv, the terrorist had attempted to join ISIS in Syria and was recently released from a five-year prison term.
First: who is Bleich, and how did he get to Ukraine?
Bleich comes from a "centrist" yeshivish family in the NY area. After an incident that damaged his reputation in the Telz high school in Chicago, Bleich began learning in a Stolin (chassidish) yeshiva in Israel.According to this @nytimes article, Bleich came to Ukraine in 1989, at age 25, with the backing of Stolin. He managed to get the pulpit of the historic Great Choral Synagogue and established day schools, camps and other religious programs.
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/06/world/kiev-journal-out-of-ukraine-s-torment-a-jewish-flowering.html
3/29
In 1992, Bleich was "appointed" chief rabbi of Ukraine. He was never officially elected. But that didn't seem to matter. Within a few years, he had connections to the most powerful people in Ukraine, including the famously corrupt President Leonid Kuchma (Wikipedia him).
4/29Bleich also gained prominence in the larger Jewish world. Until 2018, he was the official representative of the Stoliner Rebbe of Jerusalem. Later, he became VP of World Jewish Congress and member of the executive committee of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER).
5/29One of the things Bleich did as chief rabbi was establish an outreach-oriented high school for Ukrainian Jewish girls and boys. Many of these children had little Jewish affiliation, and some lived in a dorm near Bleich's home--both of which put them in a vulnerable position.
6/29Over the course of several years, Bleich is alleged to have sexually abused girls from this school, others who attended his summer camp, employees of his programs, and Orthodox female volunteers from North America who came to work in the summer camp.
| Zelensky Davening for his country in a Church |
AIPAC’s new regular political action committee is self-evident about what it’s all about: It’s called AIPAC PAC, after all, and is committed to supporting pro-Israel candidates.
The “super PAC” that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee launched in December, however, is more opaque: It’s called the United Democracy Project. Its brief mission statement does not mention Israel nor the powerhouse pro-Israel lobby behind its founding. Instead, it emphasizes the promotion of democracy.
“United Democracy Project is an organization comprised of American citizens, Democrats and Republicans, united in the belief that we are stronger as a nation when we come together in support of our democracy and other democracies around the world,” says the mission statement on its website. “United Democracy Project works to elect candidates that share our vision of Americans coming together to support our mutual interests and belief in democracy.”
Asked why the super PAC does not state that it supports Israel, AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittmann did not directly answer.
“As we indicated at the time of the announcement of the PAC and Super-PAC, the creation of the PACs is an opportunity to significantly deepen and strengthen the involvement of the pro-Israel community in politics,” Wittmann said Monday in response to an email query.