Good News for Israel:
Ugandan judge Julia Sebutinde is to be appointed as the President of the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
60 Minutes Airs biased one-sided piece, villainizing Israel and berating US support for its ally
I’m outraged that @CBSnews’ @60minutes would air such a biased and one-sided piece, villainizing Israel and berating US support for its ally. 60 Minutes is supposed to be the gold standard for broadcast journalism, but they completely dropped the ball last night.
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) January 13, 2025
Where are the… pic.twitter.com/IQM2e1f49C
never thought I'd see the day where @60Minutes came out in support of Hamas. Buh bye. https://t.co/4w73t57CQ8
— Patricia Heaton (@PatriciaHeaton) January 14, 2025
This horrible person was once quite influential within our State Department. But within 10 days of Hamas’ brutally murdering, raping, torturing and kidnapping almost 1500 Israeli civilians, he left his job in protest because American policy supported Israel’s self defense and… https://t.co/SThr3OJOdv
— David M Friedman (@DavidM_Friedman) January 13, 2025
Jerusalem light rail operations to pause for one week
Israel's Transportation Ministry is expected to announce the suspension of Jerusalem's light rail train for a period of approximately one week, Walla! reported.
According to the report, the suspension will take place at the end of January. During the five-day period, the trains will appear to operate as usual, but will not transport passengers, instead testing the new operating system installed by the operator, Kfir, along the entire length of the line, from Neve Yaakov to Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center.
Following this test period, the light rail will operate for the first time along its entire length, and the "red" line will officially increase in length from 14 kilometers to 22 kilometers, and from 23 stations to 35 stations.
The extended route was scheduled to begin operating approximately two years ago, but was delayed for a number of reasons, including that some of the testing staff, who were from Europe, left Israel in the period following the October 7 massacre.
Light rail construction in the neighborhood of Kiryat Yovel, the first neighborhood after the Mount Herzl stop (currently the end of the light rail route), began in the summer of 2010.
Approximately 180,000 people travel on Jerusalem's light rail each day, and this number is expected to increase to 250,000 after the line is extended, Walla! added, noting that the interval between trains at rush hour is expected to decrease slightly after the line is reopened and additional trains are added.
The Transportation Ministry is expected to operate buses to replace the light rail route during the test period, as well as increase the number of buses on existing routes.
Walla! also reported that during the summer, part of the light rail line will not operate for a period of about a month, to allow for construction of the "green" line scheduled to begin operating in early 2026; the light rail in Givat Shaul, which ends at the entrance to Har Nof, is scheduled to begin operating in 2027.
43,000 Fewer Cars a Day ...Traffic Into Manhattan Drops 7.5%
A new toll on drivers entering the core of Manhattan brought modest but measurable traffic reductions to New York City’s heavily-gridlocked streets in its first week of operation, according to preliminary data released Monday by the state’s transit authority.
Known as “congestion pricing,” the first-in-the-nation program launched on Jan. 5, collecting $9 from most passenger cars entering the city below Central Park during peak hours and higher fees on trucks and other vehicles. In the days since, total traffic in the tolling zone has dropped by 7.5% — or roughly 43,000 cars per day — compared to the equivalent period last year, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said.
“Just look out the window: there is less traffic, quieter streets, and we think everyone has seen it,” said Juliette Michaelson, the MTA deputy chief of policy and external relations. “Traffic patterns are already changing and they will continue to change.”
First proposed decades ago, the program is intended to raise billions of dollars in revenue for the cash-strapped MTA while easing congestion on the city’s streets. It follows similar initiatives in London, Singapore and Stockholm, which also saw immediate reductions in traffic after their tolls went live.
The effect in New York has been most pronounced during the morning rush hour period, with travel times over certain crossings — including the typically traffic-choked Holland and Lincoln tunnels that run under the Hudson River from New Jersey — falling by 40% or more, Michaelson said.
Despite anecdotal reports of more crowded train cars, she said the agency had not clocked a noticeable increase in subway users, largely because the baseline number of riders — over 3 million daily — is so high. However, a handful of bus routes originating in Brooklyn and Staten Island had seen an increase in ridership the previous week.
Within the congestion zone, the immediate impact has been more mixed. While certain thoroughfares have seen traffic reductions, others routes have stayed largely the same. A Midtown crosstown bus widely derided as New York’s slowest saw its runtime shaved by only a minute, according to MTA data. And there has been little noticeable change during the overnight hours, when the toll for passenger cars goes down to $2.25, officials said.
Bob Pishue, an analyst with INRIX, a traffic-data analytics company, said the MTA’s initial data matched the findings of the firm, which has been comparing drivers’ GPS data before and after the program launched.
“Fewer people are coming into Manhattan, but we’re not seeing a significant impact on speeds within the zone yet,” he said. “Some trips are faster, some are slower.”
He cautioned against drawing broad conclusions after barely a week, noting that many drivers were likely taking a “wait and see” approach.
Congestion pricing has sharply divided residents of New York and neighboring areas, touching off protests from many drivers, along with threats of sabotage and viral videos on how to evade the fee.
Proponents of congestion pricing, meanwhile, have hailed its launch as a transformative moment for a city contending with worsening traffic and aging public transportation infrastructure desperately in need of upgrades.
Initially slated to begin in June, the program was halted at the last moment by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. A one-time supporter of the program, the Democrat said her position changed following conversations with “ordinary” New Yorkers, including a Manhattan diner owner concerned the toll would disincentivize customers driving in from New Jersey.
Hochul later revived the program but at the lower price of $9 for most drivers, down from the $15 fee initially approved by the state.
Tarek Soliman, the owner of Comfort Diner in midtown Manhattan, said he had spoken directly with the governor about his fears of losing New Jersey customers. While he said it was too early to tell if the program had hurt business, the new fee was already having at least one impact on him.
“Every weekend, I used to drive to the garage next to the diner,” Soliman, a resident of Astoria, Queens, said by phone Monday. “Now I don’t drive. I take the subway.”
Monday, January 13, 2025
‘There will be no peace’: Rabbi calls for protests against emerging hostage deal
In a video message, Lior says that protesting is important to try and “thwart the designs of all those who want to cut off parts of our land, those who release terrorists with blood on their hands as if this will bring peace with them.”
Adds the rabbi in his video message: “There was no peace, there is no peace and there will be no peace. We need to strive to clean the land of all terrorists so that the entire Land of Israel will belong to the rule of the Jewish people alone.”
Lior has called for Jewish settlements in Gaza to be rebuilt following the October 7 Hamas invasion, along with ultranationalist members of the cabinet Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Lior backed Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party in the 2022 elections.
Supreme Court Presidemtial Candidate Yitzhak Amit Violated Conflict of Interests, Signed Past Name in Case Document
According to a Ynet report, Supreme Court presidential candidate Yitzhak Amit has been involved in legal proceedings in recent years concerning his property in Tel Aviv, but appears in these cases under his former last name, Goldfreind, and the court administration was not notified of this as required.
During this time, as a Supreme Court judge, Amit presided over cases involving the lawyers who represented him, the municipality that accused him, and the promotion of a judge handling a potential government renovation project for the property, Ynet reported.
The judiciary issued a response saying Judge Amit had granted power of attorney to his brother, who signed documents on his behalf and was unaware of the existence of the legal proceedings.
MK Tali Gotliv (Likud) tweeted: “Yitzhak Amit should not only be disqualified from becoming the President of the Supreme Court, but he is unfit to serve as a Magistrate’s Court judge! I challenge anyone in the State of Israel to argue that a person exhibiting fraudulent behavior should hold such a position. The court administration’s defense of “he didn’t know” portrays Amit as either incompetent or assumes that the public is gullible. But here’s the truth: we are not fools, and we won’t accept this explanation.”
Aguda Party Who Has no one fighting in the war says : Government must act ‘quickly, without political considerations’ to secure hostage deal
United Torah Judaism’s Agudat Yisrael faction comes out in favor of a potential hostage-ceasefire deal, calling on the government to “act decisively and quickly, without involving political considerations or other interests.”
According to the Ynet news site, the Haredi faction additionally says that a deal is a “moral and national duty.”
“The duty to return the hostages home is not subject to dispute; it is a supreme value that transcends any political dispute. We must act immediately and bring them back without delay,” the faction that prohibits any of its members to enlist in the IDF!
Biden program meant to ‘protect Jewish institutions’ pays out six-figure grants to mosques that preach antisemitic hate
By Chuck Ross, The Washington Free Beacon
The Biden White House and Senate Democrats have touted their funding for an anti-terrorism initiative they say “has been critical to the security of Jewish institutions.”
But the program has given hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent months to mosques whose clerics have preached anti-Semitic hate, cheered Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, and been accused of raising money for terrorist groups.
The Department of Homeland Security has awarded $150,000 in grants since November to Masjid Jamaat al Mumineen, the Islamic Society of Akron and Kent, and the Islamic Center of Bothell as part of its “Nonprofit Security Grant Program,” according to federal records.
The program gives taxpayer funds to nonprofits and religious groups deemed “at high risk of terrorist attack” to help enhance security.
President Joe Biden touted the program last year as an example of the administration’s “aggressive” actions to counter anti-Semitism and “protect Jewish institutions.”
But the mosques have condoned the kinds of violence the grant program aims to prevent.
UK Warns Chabad on Fundraising for IDF
The UK government issued an official warning to Chabad's charity branch after its London and Essex center raised £2,280 for an IDF soldier.
The Charity Commission stated that fundraising for foreign armies is illegal and unacceptable for such organizations.
The fundraising activities were halted in January 2024 following an investigation triggered by 180 complaints.
DemonRats Award AOC Coveted Promotion Despite Her Anti US/Israel Opinions!
*After Years Attacking Israel, AOC Secures House Promotion*
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) has been appointed to the influential House Energy and Commerce Committee, a significant step up in her political career.
Despite past tensions with Democratic leaders and criticism over her anti-Israel stance, AOC’s growing influence raises concerns about her rhetoric from this new platform.
Her appointment follows prior unsuccessful bids for other leadership roles and ongoing criticism of U.S.-Israel relations.
Denmark frantically messages Trump about security concessions on Greenland after he threatened to take it over
Danish leaders have sent private messages to President-elect Donald Trump’s team in recent days in a bid to pacify his ambitions for taking over Greenland, according to a new report.
Copenhagen is allegedly open to allowing US military presence on the autonomous island to boost security and appease Trump, who claimed “military coercion” could be deployed to bring Greenland under US rule, sources familiar with the talks told Axios.
The Danish government, which is responsible for Greenland’s defense, wants to avoid clashing with the US and hopes to assure Trump that Greenland will be safe from Russia and China without the need for American annexation, the sources added.
Copenhagen has also asked Trump’s team to clarify the incoming president’s comments after he shocked the world by suggesting that the US could invade the longstanding NATO ally.
One European diplomat told Axios that Denmark was widely seen as America’s closest ally in the European Union, and that no one could have imagined it’d be the first Trump would pick a fight with.
Greenland had been a colony of Denmark since the 18th century and became a self-governing Danish territory in 1953.
In 2009, the island won the right to secure independence if they ever voted to do so — something that Greenland’s prime minister, Múte Egede supports.
Egede, however, does not support the annexation of Greenland into the US.
At a press conference Friday in Denmark, Egede said he was open to discuss Greenland’s future with Trump, but warned that his people had no interest in becoming Americans.
“We are ready to talk,” he said. “Cooperation is about dialogue. Cooperation means that you will work towards solutions.”
The US already has a military base on Greenland and has had a defense agreement in place since 1951, which would make it easy to increase American troops on the island.
Greenland’s strategic importance has increased exponentially in recent years with ice-bound arctic waterways melting and world powers scrambling for new real estate between the United States and Russia.
The territory and its surrounding waters are rich in critical minerals and natural resources.
We can’t let Mark Zuckerberg pass the buck on Meta’s censorship
by Miranda Devine NYP
No, Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t get to go on Joe Rogan’s podcast and pretend he’s a free speech champion as if there were nothing he could have done to stop the censorship at Facebook that rigged the 2020 election and probably cost lives during the pandemic.
The wanksta-lite makeover can’t hide Zuck’s sins, from throttling The Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story before the 2020 election to deplatforming a sitting president, Donald Trump, to suppressing COVID-19 dissent.
No matter how many “Iron Neck” workouts he does in an attempt to de-nerd himself, the billionaire tech titan will always be a spineless coward whose monopoly needs to be broken up. No one person should be wielding historically unprecedented power to censor political thought and speech, least of all a socially inept tech bro.
The Facebook founder whose Meta group behemoth owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp whined to Rogan Friday that “these people from the Biden administration would call up our team, and, like, scream at them, and curse,” to force them to take down posts. Now he tells us.
As the Case Against Netanyahu Crumbles Prosecutors Scramble to Go after his wife Sara
As the legal case against Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu weakens, prosecutors appear to be intensifying efforts against his political circle, now focusing on his wife, Sara Netanyahu. Police investigators from the Lahav 433 unit have reportedly seized phones belonging to the children of Hanni Bleiweiss, a late aide to the prime minister, as part of an investigation into allegations against Sara Netanyahu.
The investigation stems from a Channel 12 exposé aired last month, which alleged that Sara Netanyahu sought to intimidate a witness in her husband’s criminal trial and directed protesters to target justice officials perceived as adversaries of the Netanyahu family. Central to these claims is alleged phone correspondence between Bleiweiss and Sara Netanyahu. Bleiweiss passed away from cancer in March 2023.
After obtaining a search warrant, police confiscated phones held by Bleiweiss’s children, hoping one might belong to their late mother. However, investigators now believe none of the seized devices hold evidence to support the Channel 12 allegations. According to a report by Ynet, authorities suspect that the family’s attorney, Yaron Forer, may possess Bleiweiss’s phone. Forer has refused to confirm or deny this claim, citing concerns about obstruction of justice.
Reports surfaced last week that Bleiweiss’s three children were questioned on suspicion of obstructing justice after allegedly refusing to hand over the phone to police, claiming they did not know its whereabouts.
The Channel 12 report accuses Sara Netanyahu of instructing Bleiweiss to mobilize activists from the Likud party, led by her husband, to harass political opponents. Specific allegations include directing activists to verbally assault neighbors of the Netanyahus, who were parents of a fallen military pilot and active in protests against the prime minister. Sara Netanyahu is also accused of orchestrating demonstrations outside the home of Hadas Klein, a key witness in one of the criminal cases against her husband, and encouraging verbal attacks on Klein through social media.
Holocaust Survivor’s Menorah Survives California Wildfire, Symbolizing Hope and Resilience
In the midst of a devastating wildfire that destroyed their family home, Joshua Kotler and his wife Emily were left with nothing but their lives. However, from the ashes of their Altadena home, one precious item emerged: a menorah that had once belonged to Joshua’s grandmother, a Holocaust survivor.
The Kotler family, including their two daughters, Liberty, 4, and Eve, 2, had evacuated their home as the fire rapidly advanced. While they managed to flee with just a few clothes and the necessities, they never imagined the fire would destroy everything they had. Their home, perched at the top of a mountain, was completely consumed by the flames.
“We got out of our house safely, thank God,” Joshua told The New York Post, reflecting on their escape. The next morning, as firefighters surveyed the damage, Joshua and Emily returned to see what, if anything, had survived. Amid the devastation, the only item that remained unscathed was the menorah, a family heirloom passed down through generations.
“It was insanely powerful to find it,” Joshua said, choking up. “The night before, I had been crying on the phone with my cousin, regretting not grabbing it when we left. And then to find it, the only thing left from our entire house—it was just an insane feeling.”
The menorah’s survival felt almost miraculous. It had witnessed history—having survived the horrors of the Holocaust—now it had survived a destructive wildfire. For Joshua, it was more than just an object; it was a symbol of survival, resilience, and the enduring strength of his family’s legacy.
As he recovered the menorah from the wreckage, he recalled the fear and uncertainty that gripped him as the fire approached. “I was trying to save the house, but I wasn’t thinking clearly. I kept wondering if we would make it out,” he said. “But finding that menorah, it was a sign—no matter what, we’re still here.”
While their home was lost, the Kotlers have found hope in this small but significant piece of history that now carries a new meaning: a reminder that even in the darkest moments, something precious can endure. “We’re alive. That’s all that matters,” Joshua reflected, holding his family close, grateful for their survival and the menorah that connected their past with their future.
Rabbi Bender Suggests That Parents Should Not Meet In Person With Tuition Committee Due to Embarrassment
Rabbi Yaakov Bender, Rosh Yeshiva of Darchei Torah in Far Rockaway, has written part 2 of a column addressing the extremely challenging tuition crisis. Writing in the Monsey Mevaser, Rabbi Bender responded to a parent who described a highly unpleasant experience, begging for a tuition break.
The parent wrote the following:
“We have the unfortunate pleasure of having to expose our private financial
situation and we also get to undergo a humiliating and degrading process and beg for scholarships with five different administrations and tuition committees. None of them seem to care about how or what we arrange with the others, each of them wants only for themselves.
“For instance, when I tell them that the total dollars I can pay for all of my tuitions is x and I would like to divide that equally per child, I am told “no way” and that they can only worry about their bottom line and I will have to deal with the other schools however I’d like to. (Does my obligation of Talmud Torah for my boys means yeshivos deserve more than Bais Yaakovs?)
At one point the parent also wrote:
“One board member of a school (who serves on the board of another school as well) actually told us that choosing their school is like buying a Lexus and if you want the best, you will have to
“One school set up appointments for all those who wanted scholarships to come the same night, causing the parents to be embarrassed sitting together in a waiting room. Sadly, there are more stories like these.
“What should the schools do? Is there an answer? Who can parents go to if they feel hurt by how the school treats them? Please help. Please offer ideas and suggestions on what can be done on a community level and what can or should be done on a personal level.”
Again, Rabbi Bender responded with great empathy, and emphasized that in his yeshiva and his community, parents are treated with respect, dignity, and a great deal of compassion.
The Rosh Yeshiva’s response read, in part:
There is no excuse for some of the horror stories mentioned. In our neighborhood, the schools compete for students and dollars just like everywhere else, but the directors of all the schools meet every once in a while. There are not usually major policy issues to be ironed out. That’s not the point-though the give and take is often enlightening. The point is that the directors are on a first name, cordial basis with each other; and it often happens that one will pick up the phone and call his counterpart to work out jointly a tuition package for the needy family.
The Rosh Yeshiva also wrote:
“Allowing applicants to meet each other should be anathema to any school administration with a modicum of decency. Best would be not having to meet at all. There is bound to be embarrassment in the presence of the committee members, irrespective of other applicants. We have found it more productive at first with specific questions posed over the phone. A meeting is a last resort…”
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