Biden's Secret Service Beat the Hell out of HaRav Ovadia Yosef’s Great-Grandaughter

 

Tamar Ben-Chaim, the great-granddaughter of HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef, z’tl, was the young woman who was attacked by a drunk US secret service agent last week.

Tamar, a resident of Jerusalem, spoke to Channel 13 News about the disturbing incident. She was walking in the Nachlaot neighborhood after midnight, on the way home from visiting a friend.

As she was walking, she looked up for a minute and saw two armed men walking toward her. One of them suddenly punched her hard in the face.

“He grabbed me hard, and hit me and slapped me, took out my earring and earphones and threw everything on the ground. I saw my life flash before my eyes – I thought he was going to kill me. I was screaming ‘Help!’ but there was no one around.”

“His friend stood by. He was the one who released me [from the man’s grip].”

Tamar called the police and filed a complaint. The suspect, who was revealed to be a US secret service agent who had traveled to Israel ahead of US President Joe Biden’s visit, was detained for several hours and interrogated.

The police transferred him to the US consulate and from there he was put on the first plane back to the US. He was suspended from his post, pending further investigation into his case.

“I feel like I’ve been done an injustice,” Tamar said. “He didn’t apologize. He caused me severe emotional harm. I’ve been in bed, my body aches. I couldn’t even tell anyone what happened because it’s been too hard to talk about. It will take me time to recover.”

התקיפה הזאת התרחשה ביום שני לפני 5 ימים, עד עכשיו על מי שמענו? על תמר בן חיים שהותקפה בנחלאות על ידי מאבטח של ביידן או על יובל דיין שלא לחצה את היד של ביידן? למה יש לי תחושה שניסו להשתיק את התקיפה הזאת להטיס אותו חזרה בשושו ולהמשיך לטרחן על יובל דיין. סדר עדיפויות מעוות לחלוטין. pic.twitter.com/ay3V7mvmp3

— Sarah (@Sarah514857841) July 15, 2022

A New York House candidate who endorsed BDS attempted damage control by posing for a photo a loaf of Challah and Siddurim

 

A New York House candidate under fire for endorsing the anti-Israel boycott movement attempted damage control by posing for a photo surrounded by Jewish foods on Thursday.

Democratic candidate “I believe in the right to protest as a fundamental tenet of western democracy, so I do support BDS,” she told Jewish Insider in an email.

Niou’s position was slammed by her House opponent and former mayor Bill de Blasio, who called the BDS movement “unacceptable,” and by New York Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs, who said it was “offensive” and “shows a lack of understanding of the region.” retweeted, and then later deleted, a snap of her holding a loaf of Challah bread while sitting next to bottles of Israeli Coca-Cola, an Israeli-made SodaStream, and stacks of Jewish prayer books.

Niou praised the bread effusively in a Twitter post, saying it was the “[b]est challah I’ve had in a long long time.”

“Heated in the oven just a bit to make it like fresh. Double butter is right!!!” she wrote. “Best challah I’ve had in a long long time. I couldn’t even put into words how perfect the inside was. Perfect crust. Soft with just a little density. Miriam also put some toppings on. Dreams.”

Political leaders and members of the Jewish community objected to the photo and described it as an attempt by Niou to “challah-wash” her anti-Israel position. The post came just days after Niou expressed support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, which seeks to wage economic and political warfare on Israel.

“Here I am spending hours upon hours fighting Anti-Semitism, Anti-Semites, and BDS. While our ‘leadership’ is busy promoting them. Shame!” wrote New York City councilwoman Inna Vernikov.

“Well that picture is ridiculous. It looks like a grotesque parody of an anti-Semite demonstrating her love of the Jews. It’s like ‘jewwashing,’” said Seth Barron, managing editor of the American Mind.

Niou did not respond to a request for comment.

The photo was originally posted by Yeruchim Silber, the government affairs director for Agudath Israel of America, a leading umbrella group for Haredi Orthodox Jews, who said he met with Niou to urge her to reconsider her position on BDS.

Niou’s support for the BDS movement drew sharp criticism from the pro-Israel community and political leaders in her own party.

“I believe in the right to protest as a fundamental tenet of western democracy, so I do support BDS,” she told Jewish Insider in an email.

Niou’s position was slammed by her House opponent and former mayor Bill de Blasio, who called the BDS movement “unacceptable,” and by New York Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs, who said it was “offensive” and “shows a lack of understanding of the region.”

Will American Jews continue to follow Democrats as they abandon Israel?

 

Support of Israel by all rights should be  – and has for decades been – non-partisan. But evidence shows Democrats increasingly are abandoning Israel's cause – outright opposing Israel and openly supporting the Palestinian war on the Jewish state.

This trend poses a tough, soul-searching question for pro-Israel Democrats: Will the party's decision to abandon Israel exact a political cost by driving Israel-supporting Democrats – especially Jews – to abandon it?

Just a few weeks ago, the North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) adopted two anti-Israel resolutions, which are slated to become part of the party's platform coming into the November midterm elections.

Global Tanach Study Conference Goes Hybrid

 

This year’s Herzog College Yemei Iyun B’Tanakh will offer local and global audiences a hybrid combination of live, live-streamed and pre-recorded lectures, online museum tours and live tours around Israel.

The annual Tanakh study conference (oversubscribed every year) was expanded during the pandemic to become a live global event. This summer, top international lecturers will give 100 live shiurim over four days on different Biblical themes, with 40 live-streamed lectures in Hebrew and 10 online shiurim in English, plus a day of Tanakh-themed tiyulim around Israel. For the first time this year there will be online museum tours in English and online evening programs in Hebrew, plus bonus shiurim for Tisha B’Av.

You can see the full program here

Among the lecturers speaking in English are Rabbi Dr. J.J. Schacter of Yeshiva University; HaRav Mosheh Lichtenstein, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion; Rabbi Dr. Katriel (Kenneth) Brander, President of Ohr Torah Stone; Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom from Los Angeles; Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin from the Museum of Biblical Natural History; Rabbi Moshe Shulman from St. Louis; Rabbi David Fohrman of Aleph Beta; Herzog College faculty members Dr. Yael Ziegler and Dr. Yosefa (Fogel) Wruble; Rabbanit Esti Rosenberg of Midreshet Migdal Oz; Rabbanit Shani Taragin; Rabbi Menachem Leibtag, and other favorite Rabbonim from Yeshivat Har Etzion and Herzog College.

“We are providing as much top-quality Tanakh content as possible, using platforms and formats that allow people to experience the excitement of the ‘live’ annual event, and also to watch the lectures at their convenience,” explains Rabbi Dr. Shalom Berger, who coordinates the English-language program.

Click here to see the English program

“Herzog College is respected around the globe as the foremost source of Tanakh teaching,” adds Berger. “We provide pedagogy training Judaic Studies teachers in Israel and in the Diaspora, and we know that they also enjoy hearing Tanakh shiurim from our top lecturers. It was important to us that we offer lectures in English that they can watch at their leisure!”

Israel’s leading Tanakh conference traditionally takes place during the Nine Days of Mourning for the destruction of the Temples, and all participants will receive access to shiurim designed for viewing on Tisha B’Av.

The live event will take place on the Herzog College campus in Alon Shvut, with transportation provided from Jerusalem. The Yemei Iyun B’Tanakh in Gush Etzion traditionally attracts Tanakh teachers and afficionados from around the globe, with a book sale and craft stalls in the town’s main square. Berger says: “Following two years of restrictions, we are excited to reconvene in person and share the buzz of learning Torah and Navi together again.”

For the full program and to register visit

Yisrael Yehuda Cohen, 22 Missing From Hospital ..Updated:

 

UPDATE:

According to an email I just received, he was b"h found this morning!

Yisrael Yehuda Cohen, a 22-year-old Charedi youth, has been missing for two days and Israel Police is requesting the public's aid in locating him.

According to police, Cohen was last seen on Thursday evening, leaving Jerusalem's Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center.

Cohen is described as 1.80 meters (5 feet, 10.87 inches) tall, slender, with light hair and a blond, medium-length beard. He has green eyes and short sidelocks.

As far as is known, Cohen was wearing a button-down white shirt and long black pants.

Anyone with information on Cohen's whereabouts or who knows information that may lead to locating him is asked to call Israel Police's hotline, 100, or the Lev Habira police station, at 972-2-539-1550.

This guy upset that the "rebbelich" all go on vacation to Switzerland then come back to tell him how to behave on Chodesh Elull

He will have none of that ... in Yiddish!

 

Neturei Karta Guy Goes Up on the Har Habyis (he is not the only one)

 

Biden Tweet About Israel Trip Mysteriously Deleted

 

ollowing President Biden’s trip to Israel this week, his official @POTUS Twitter account posted a tweet, affirming his support for Israel’s security.

Strangely, that tweet has been deleted, for no apparent reason.

The deleted tweet included a video (seen below) with clips from Biden’s trip, including his meeting with Palestinian terror leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Israeli singer defends refusal to shake Biden’s hand on religious grounds

 

An Israeli pop star who caused an outcry in Israel when she refused to shake hands with visiting US President Joe Biden due to her religious beliefs, has defended her actions and called on her critics to apologize.

“Respect and human dignity are values that I was raised on and which I will raise my children on in the future,” Yuval Dayan wrote in a Facebook post on Friday after her actions drew widespread criticism.

“I ask all those who claimed that I have no respect to take back their words and apologize — not to me — but to my parents,” she wrote.

On Thursday,  Dayan and another singer Ran Danker performed at a ceremony marking Biden’s receipt of Israel’s highest civilian honor. Afterward, Biden and Israeli president Isaac Herzog approached the artists to thank them.

Danker took Biden’s outstretched hand, but Dayan bowed instead, clasping her hands together and smiling.

Dayan said she did so because she has committed to refrain from touching members of the opposite sex for reasons of modesty. She is famous in Israel in part for becoming more religiously observant, embracing the principle of shomer negiah, a prohibition on opposite-sex touching that some Orthodox Jews believe is required, as well as not performing on Shabbat or Jewish holidays.

The prohibition is rooted in the idea that any touch can lead to sexual impropriety.

But many said she should have made an exception to avoid embarrassing the US president, pointing to the example of Tzipi Hotovely, currently Israel’s ambassador to the UK.

When Hotovely, who is Orthodox, became deputy Foreign Ministry in 2015 while serving as a Likud lawmaker, she said she would shake hands with men who offered her theirs despite ordinarily refraining from touching. She noted that traditional Jewish law makes allowances for honoring dignitaries.

“It’s not a problem at all,” Hotovely told Israeli media at the time. “When someone meets foreign representatives the Jewish halacha [law] recognizes respect, etiquette and politeness.”

The incident with Biden went viral in Israel Thursday. Dayan, who came to fame as a contestant on Israel’s version of “The Voice,” said she had sought to avoid appearing to slight Biden and had communicated her needs to Herzog’s staff.

“I made sure to notify everyone in the president’s office that I am shomeret negiah,” she said, according to Israeli media. “God forbid, I did not mean to offend.”

She reiterated the claim in her Friday Facebook post, saying she had repeatedly informed multiple officials at Herzog’s residence. “They were joking that even the olive trees at the president’s residence knew that Yuval Dayan was shomeret negiah.”

“Anyone who knows me, from age zero, knows that I did not do this maliciously and that I don’t like being involved in public hysteria,” she wrote.

Biden, himself, had raised handshake etiquette issues on his trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia, preferring to fist bump some. The White House indicated it was for COVID protection reasons, while others speculated it was designed to avoid having to shake hands with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

Biden removes Israeli flag from presidential vehicle - in Jerusalem

 

US President Joe Biden's staff on Friday morning removed the Israeli flag from his armored vehicle, before visiting Jerusalem's Arab areas.

Danny Danon, head of World Likud and a former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, slammed, "It starts with a visit of a US President to a Palestinian institution in east Jerusalem. It continues with the inability of [Prime Minister Yair] Lapid to set a red line, to act as a diplomat and prevent this dangerous precedent. And it ends with the removal of the Israeli flag from Biden's entourage - in the capital of the State of Israel."

"Lapid gets a clear and unequivocal 'fail' on this visit, and it's scary to think what future visits here by diplomats will look, in the coming months. We must replace this awful government."

Earlier on Friday, Biden visited the Augusta Victoria Hospital, and then met in Bethlehem with Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, after which the two delivered statements.