Knesset approves first phase of judicial reform

 

The Knesset plenum on Monday afternoon approved changes to the reasonableness standard, passing the bill with a majority of 64 Knesset members.

As the bill passed its second and third Knesset readings, opposition MKs yelled, "shame!" and "destruction!"

The reasonableness standard is an amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary, and allows the court to rule against the validity of elected official's decisions that in a justice's opinion are beyond the scope of what a reasonable authority would undertake. It passed its first Knesset reading earlier this month, and is now being prepared for its second and third Knesset readings.

Ministers Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionism) and Yoav Gallant (Likud) pushed for a last-minute compromise, despite the harsh opposition by ministers Yariv Levin (Likud) and Itamar Ben Gvir (Otzma Yehudit). The two also pushed to delay the legislation for judicial appointments for a period of more than six months.

The Prime Minister weighed the suggestion and even stepped out to discuss it with a number of ministers, in an attempt to soften the legislation. The President's Residence was also involved in the negotiations.

The attempts to reach a compromise between the coalition and the opposition continued until the last moment, but opposition leader MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) announced that negotiations had failed and blew up the talks.

In light of the opposition's position, it was decided to continue to advance the bill as originally planned.

Man Has Bail Set for $40,000 For Stealing Satmar Chickens!

 

Sullivan County resident Jimmy Pagan, age 58, of Swan Lake, a hamlet of Liberty, was busted on Friday, July 21 after police noticed he looked like a man wanted for the break-in. 

The incident took place around 4:30 a.m., Friday when the video security shows Pagan enter the building of the Satmar Boys Camp at the site of the former Stevensville Hotel on Briscoe Road in Swan Lake, said Sullivan County Undersheriff Eric Chaboty.

Police reviewing the video said Pagan can be seen taking the raw chicken which was thawing on a counter and then a set of keys and driving off in a 2020 Honda Odyssey, Chaboty said.

Later in the day, while on patrol on Birch Lane in Swan Lake, an officer spotted Pagan who matched the description of the early-morning burglary.

Chaboty said deputies found the Honda Odyssey in a field behind Pagan's home with the license plates removed and were even able to recover the box of chicken.

Pagan was charged with felony burglary and grand larceny and petit larceny. 

He was arraigned in the Town of Neversink court and sent to the Sullivan County Jail in lieu of $40,000 bail.

Why French, US) protests are so much more violent than Israel’s

 

Israel and France have both been flooded with mass protests in recent weeks, but the differences are striking, telling and important.

Demonstrations in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and throughout Israel against proposed judicial reforms have been peaceful and generally orderly.

Israeli lawmakers are expected to pass the first part of the plan to overhaul courts Monday, with a bill that would bar the Supreme Court from invalidating government decisions simply because judges find them “unreasonable.”

Despite the calls for civil disobedience by some former prime ministers and other protest leaders, there has been little to no violence.

Passions are high and tempers have flared, but no one has been seriously injured, and no buildings have been burned or destroyed.

This may change over time as extremists on both sides move further apart and eschew reasonable compromises Israeli President Isaac Herzog and other centrists offer.

At the moment, despite the anger and even hatred, the Israeli protests have been models of what our First Amendment guarantees: the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition government for a redress of grievances.

Demonstrations in Paris and other French cities, prompted by the police shooting of a young Arab man, quickly turned violent — with the desecration of a memorial to French Jews deported to their deaths during the Holocaust, burned buildings and cars, rioting and injuries.

Previous French protests over economic and social issues have also included violence, as have some American protests over police killings and other racial issues.

What are the possible explanations for these differences?

Tatti Saying Dvar Torah Friday Night After the Soup

 

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Watch Jerusalem Train Station: Going up the escalator, are supporters of the judicial reform, going down are the opponents.

 They might be on opposite sides, but they shake hands and show only respect.

Notice: Only Kipas Going Up 

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Chassidim and Amish bond over beards cheese and hats

 

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Big "Tzaddik" Comes to Town And Israel Ships Him Right Back

 

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Hundreds of Thousands Arrive in Tel Aviv for PRO GOVERNMENT ‘The Million’ Pro-Reform Rally

 

Over 200 thousand supporters of the government's judicial reform legislation are gathering on Kaplan St. in Tel Aviv for a rally parallel to the expected passing of the bill to reduce the reasonableness standard in its second and third readings in the Knesset.

The demonstrators' message to the coalition members in the Knesset: "The nation is with you, complete the legislation. 64 seats are not second-class citizens."

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich addressed the crowd at the right-wing rally in Tel Aviv, stating, "I want to address our brothers and sisters who gathered in Kaplan for many weeks and some of whom are now in Jerusalem - those who oppose the reform - and those pilots and soldiers who called for not reporting for reserve service. At this moment, it is important for me to say to you: I know how you feel.

There are a lot of important things that need to be done, but I know that such complex moves need to be done slowly and with negotiation, so we were also willing to give up and compromise on some of the steps in our reform," he added.

"I am telling you even now about the future so that we can continue to live together here in the State of Israel, we will be ready for real dialogue with an open heart and a willing mind with a willingness to make concessions and compromises on all sides, so that in the end we can calm the spirits, continue the Zionist enterprise and together protect our country that we all love and care for so much," Smotritz concluded.

Tony Bennett Who liberated Dachau Concentration Camp while serving in WWII Dies at 96

 

Before Tony Bennett launched his seven decades-long career in show business, the late legendary jazz singer served his country in the European theater during the last stages of World War II.

Bennett, who died on Friday at the age of 96, was drafted into the U.S. Army at the age of 18 in 1944 and began his service a year later when he was sent to fight on the front lines following heavy casualties suffered by the Allied Forces at the Battle of the Bulge.

The 20-time Grammy Award winner later recounted his harrowing wartime experiences in his 1998 autobiography "The Good Life," in which he described how serving in WWII had shaped the rest of his life.

"The main thing I got out of my military experience was the realization that I am completely opposed to war," Bennett wrote, per Military.com. "Although I understand why this war was fought, it was a terrifying, demoralizing experience for me... life can never be the same once you've been through combat."

After being drafted in November 1944, Bennett — born Anthony Dominick Benedetto — was sent to Fort Dix, New Jersey where he completed his basic training. Bennett became an infantry rifleman at Fort Robinson, Arkansas before he was shipped to Le Havre, France at the end of 1944.

The future crooner was assigned to 255th Infantry Regiment, 63rd Infantry Division, which was known as the "Blood and Fire" division. He was a part of replacement troops who were sent to refill the ranks of units who perished during the Battle of the Bulge.

Marc Myers, a contributor for the Wall Street Journal and author of the book "Anatomy of a Song," interviewed Bennett five times about his life, including his time in the military. He told Fox News Digital, "Tony was certain he was going to die."

Myers continued, "He was certain when he got that draft notice in '44, he was certain he was going to die. He just knew it. He just felt it. And he went."

In "The Good Life," Bennett recalled that many of the troops had little or no training prior to being sent to the front lines.

"Snow covered the ground and the front was a front-row seat in hell," Bennett wrote, per Military.com. "It was an absolutely terrifying spectacle."

Democrats whine about Con Ed hikes caused by their own dumb policies

 Better sit down before you open your next Con Ed bill: Rates are set to soar, starting next month — and double over the next two years.

If you’re a progressive, you can’t complain. What did you think would happen, based on your anti-fossil-fuel, big-spending, anti-business agenda?

On Thursday, the state’s Public Service Commission OK’d hikes of 9.1% for electricity and 8.4% for gas, starting in August, along with additional jumps though 2025. At that point, typical bills will have doubled, from about $70 a month to $140 — or an extra $840 a year.  

A whining letter from the City Council demanded that Gov. Kathy Hochul use her executive powers to stop the pain. 

The letter called out an “already dire affordability crisis” and included specious worries about poor New Yorkers. 

That “affordability crisis,” notably, is also of the left’s own making, thanks to its anti-housing, inflation-fueling polices. 

Why is Con Ed hiking rates?