What????? Biden now offering Ukrainians "Pensions?"

 

What?! https://t.co/s9oke0QYvW

— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) February 21, 2023

R’ Yaakov Horowitz on Pictures of Women in Jewish Publications

 

Renowned Chinuch expert Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz has posted a video on Instagram, discussing whether it is acceptable to have pictures of women in frum publications and the “public sphere.”

First reading of bills related to the judicial reform approved in the Knesset

 

The Knesset on Monday night approved the first reading of the first two laws of the judicial reform being promoted by Minister Yariv Levin.

Two bills, which relate to the Basic Law: The Judiciary, were voted upon. The two clauses which were approved are a clause dealing with changing the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee, so that it has a majority of members of the coalition, as well as a clause that will prevent the Supreme Court from striking down Basic Laws.

The bills were approved by a majority of 63 MKs who voted in favor and 47 who voted against. They will now be returned to the Knesset Constitution Committee, which will prepare them for their second and third readings.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin said after the vote, "We have taken a very important step in the process of correcting the judicial system. No longer a legal system that belongs to the elites, no longer an aristocracy. From now on - the court will belong to everyone. I am again calling on the leaders of the opposition and its members - show responsibility. Sit down and negotiate. Understandings can be reached. But the legislation cannot be watered down. I am determined to pass the reform - and nothing will deter me."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters upon leaving the plenum, "An important night and a big day. We need to enter into negotiations without preconditions."

DemonRats Are Supporting People with Dementia Running the Government.. From President to Senators

 

Once upon a time we mocked the Soviet Union for its gerontocracy. Aged party leaders, bundled up in overcoats and fur hats to the point of near-unrecognizability, would be wheeled out to sit, immobile, as parades passed or party congresses opened. Their withered, stale leadership was emblematic of the decaying USSR’s withered, stale ideology — and industrial base.

But now the joke’s on us. A leading United States senator, Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), can’t seem to remember important things, like her just-taken vote on a judicial nominee and her just-announced retirement. “Did I vote for that?” she asked an aide Wednesday, moments after leaving the chamber.

The day before, the oldest sitting senator announced she wouldn’t seek another term — or her staff did, anyway. Asked about her coming retirement an hour after the statement posted, Feinstein said, “Well, I haven’t made that decision. I haven’t released anything.” A staffer told her she had. As The Post reported, “an incredulous-sounding Feinstein” said, “You put out the statement?” before telling reporters, “I didn’t know they put it out.”

Well, Feinstein is 89. She shouldn’t be expected to remember things too well at that age. But maybe she shouldn’t be expected to serve two more years in the Senate, either.

Muslims Praise Congress for removing Ilhan Omar from Foreign Affairs Committee

 

Accusations of Islamophobia came almost immediately after the U.S. House of Representatives voted earlier this month to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from its Foreign Affairs Committee. The vote followed repeated promises from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to remove the congresswoman due to her history of antisemitic and anti-Israel remarks.

Omar took to CNN’s State of the Union show, saying “it is politically motivated, and in some cases, motivated by the fact that many of these members don’t believe a Muslim refugee, an African, should even be in Congress, let alone have the opportunity to serve on the Foreign Affairs Committee.”

If the censure of Omar is Islamophobic, that would be news to several Muslim reform groups that work to combat radical Islamism and praised McCarthy’s decision to remove Omar from the committee.

Asra Q. Nomani, co-founder of the Muslim Reform Movement and a former professor at Georgetown University, told JNS that Omar is “a lieutenant in a dangerous network of leftists and anti-Israel Muslims that I call the ‘Woke Army.’ ”

New York Times Accuses Kiryas Yoel of diverting Millions of Dollars from Disabled Children to their other Moisdois

 

Kiryas Joel, a village north of New York City, has for years run a public school district that was created to serve Hasidic children with disabilities. The district has directed millions of dollars to the community’s private religious schools. https://t.co/cH2Kv9F7kA

— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 20, 2023

Response from KJ 

The NY Times is continuing their attack on the Hasidic Jewish community by maligning the duly elected members of the Kiryas Joel School District Board of Education, who volunteer their time to support special needs students.

This is our official response. Please share it widely. https://t.co/5s0nhqHlwk pic.twitter.com/TGrHRDZBbe

— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) February 20, 2023

Building in Judea and Samaria is the best response to terrorism

 

Foreign ministers of four European countries and Canada joined the US last Tuesday in opposing a decision by the Netanyahu government to regularize the status of nine Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria ("Jewish settler outposts in the occupied West Bank"), and to build some 10,000 more homes ("settler units") over the coming decade.

The foreign ministers said that they "strongly oppose unilateral actions which will only serve to exacerbate tensions between Israelis and Palestinians and undermine efforts to achieve a negotiated two-state solution."

My favorite part of this statement is the term "unilateral." Retroactively denominating and proactively planning homes for Israelis in Judea and Samaria is apparently forbidden unilateral action. And I ask: What does unilateral mean in this context?

Does it mean that without Palestinian or American approval Israel must not move an inch? Does it mean that absent a Palestinian partner for peace who is willing to come to terms with reality – which is that Judea and Samaria are part of the Jewish people's patrimony and that much of this area will become Israeli sovereign territory in any future peace accord – the "Jewish settlement situation" should be frozen?

(This, of course, as opposed to Palestinian settlement activity in Area C of the West Bank which continues at breakneck speed with European funding and support.)

Well, in the eyes of at least some international observers I fear that this is exactly what "unilateral" means. Full stop. Israel has no legitimacy whatsoever over the Green Line, and it should begin dismantling settlements – never mind that it should not arrogantly add to the settlements.

And even more so, I sense that in their eyes, it means that the State of Israel itself is retroactively one big mistaken unilateral action taken by the wayward Jews against the "indigenous" Palestinian people and against a so-called "international consensus."

To all this, I have the following to say: 

Re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in the Land of Israel after two thousand years of dispersion and persecution indeed was a "unilateral" action taken by the Jewish people! 

Jews unilaterally decided to rally around the Zionist banner and reclaim Zion. Over the past 120 years they unilaterally fought their way back into the Land of Israel against Ottoman, British, and Arab opposition.

Missing in Haifa Yulia Zatz

 

A search and rescue effort in Israel's north turned dangerous over Shabbat when a live grenade was discovered near a populated area.

Yulia Zatz, a 44-year-old resident of Kiryat Bialik, vanished from her home on February 15. The Israel Police's rescue units and the Israel Dog Unit (IDU), a nonprofit specializing in locating missing persons, conducted extensive searches for her in the city and the surrounding countryside. The search continued over Shabbat out of fear for her life.

While searching for Yulia, the IDU search dog Maggie, along with her handler, found a live grenade in a field near the city. Police sappers were called to the scene and neutralized the grenade to render the area safe for continued search efforts. At another time during the search, a hostile individual was spotted near the search area and tracked down with the help of the IDU's working dogs.

The searchers used a variety of means to try and locate Yulia, including dogs, drones, bicycles, ATVs, and a proprietary incident management software. Unfortunately, she has not been located, and anyone with information as to her whereabouts is asked to contact the Israel Police at 100 or the Israel Dog Unit at 0544876709.

Eida Hachareidis Planning Huge Protest in Support of Arsonist Who Burned Down a Store and was unsuccessful in burning a family of 11 Living Upstairs

The "rotzeiach" Yeoshua Dadon 

*Beit Shemesh News*

A huge demonstration is being planned to be held tomorrow by the 'Eida Hachreidis ' in Jerusalem, in protest of the arrest of Yehoshua Dadon, a resident of the city (Beit Shemesh), against whom an indictment was filed for setting fire to a cell phone store in Jerusalem.

 *בית שמש חדשות*

*הפגנת ענק* מתוכננת להערך מחר  על ידי 'העדה החרדית' בירושלים, במחאה על מעצרו של יהושוע דדון תושב העיר נגדו הוגש כתב אישום באשמת הצתת חנות סלולר בירושלים.

Suspect in Shooting of Jews in L.A. Was Out on Bail for Gun Charges

 

The suspect who allegedly shot and wounded two Jews near synagogues in L.A. last week was out on bail for charges related to possessing a loaded gun on a public university campus last year.

Jaime Tran, 28, was arrested last week in connection with the shootings, which are being investigated as hate crimes. According to local police, the former dental student, who is now apparently homeless, had a history of making antisemitic statements.

Moreover, he had previously been arrested for a gun-related crime — but was out on bail. The Los Angeles Times reported (emphasis added): 

The arrest Thursday evening of a suspect confirmed fears that the attacks were targeted. Jaime Tran — who authorities say has a history of making antisemitic statements, often specifically about Persian Jews — was taken into custody in connection with the shootings.

 Tran, 28, was charged Friday with federal hate crimes. He admitted to police that he searched for a kosher market on Yelp before the shootings, according to a complaint unsealed in federal court in Los Angeles. If convicted, he faces life without parole in federal prison, prosecutors said. He was caught July 3 carrying a loaded handgun onto the Cal State Long Beach campus, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Police got a call about a man with a gun near the engineering school and approached him. Tran surrendered and told officers he was carrying the weapon for protection, according to prosecutors. That case, for which he was out on bail, remains open.