Photos of the Weberman "gangsters" who made a huge Chillul Hashem

These alleged intimidators must think they’re judge and jury.

Four Orthodox Jewish men were hauled out of a Brooklyn courtroom and arrested yesterday after they allegedly used gangland tactics to intimidate a teen as she bravely testified about her alleged sexual abuse at the hands of a prominent Hasidic leader.

The sex-abuse trial of Nechemya Weberman was thrown into an uproar when the accused child molester’s supporters surreptitiously snapped iPhone pictures of the 17-year-old on the stand.

The four were nabbed after one of the images of the girl was posted to a Twitter account.

Gabriella Bass

IN A PIXEL: Court spectators Lemon Juice, Joseph Fried, Yona Weisman and Abraham Zupnick were led out in cuffs after they allegedly snapped pix of the alleged victim, one of which landed on Twitter.

Gabriella Bass

Joseph Fried

Gabriella Bass

Yonah Weissman

Gabriella Bass

Abraham Zupnick

Weberman, 54, is accused of sexually abusing the girl over three years — starting when she was 12 — after her parents sent her to him for counseling.

A day earlier, the alleged victim was left trembling after Weberman allegedly glared at her through a glass door to the courthouse conference room where she sat during a break in her testimony.

Yesterday, the judge lashed into the four men — all members of the insular Satmar sect of Hasidic Judaism in Williamsburg, of which Weberman is a leader — for outing the young woman as she testified about alleged sex abuse that prosecutors say Weberman made her endure during what were supposed to be counseling sessions.

“You know about the Torah, you know about rabbinical courts. This is a civil court!” Supreme Court Justice John Ingram thundered to the four men after they were caught.

“Your phones will be held for possible criminal prosecution. You may wish to avail yourself of counsel.”

Lemon Juice, 30, Joseph Fried, 23, Yona Weisman, 23, and Abraham Zupnick, 23, were walked in handcuffs from Brooklyn Supreme Court to the Brooklyn DA’s Office for questioning.

They were facing criminal contempt charges that could carry up to a year in prison, a source said.

“I didn’t take a picture,” Weisman protested weakly.

“They’re on Weberman’s side. All they want to do is give her hell,” fumed Sori Schlafrig, 18, a friend of the girl. “I think they should rot in jail.”

After the men were removed, Ingram ordered all spectators to surrender their phones at the courtroom door, adding that photos were also taken of Weberman and a defense attorney.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with you people! Turn off your phones!” Ingram railed.

“Now we have to take all their phones, just like in a gang trial,” said a law-enforcement source. “It’s the same thing you have with the Bloods or the Crips.”

Earlier in the trial, the girl testified that her father lost his business and her nieces were forced to leave their school after she came forward.

Yesterday, white paper was taped over the glass partition through which Weberman glared.

In June, four ultra-Orthodox men also were charged with trying to force the teen to drop the case.

Frum News blogs are not reporting Weberman Trial

If you are reading Vos IZ Neies or Yeshiva World, you would never know that a known pervert is on trial. Nechamye Weberman is accused of raping a 12 year old girl, and the frum news world doesn't care or makes believe its not happening. Well, we can understand why VIN wouldn't report it, because they are Satmar guys themselves, but why isn't Yeshiva World reporting it? You cannot say it is because of Lashan Harah, because they had no problem reporting the news about Dwek.  So why the silence??
UPDATE!Nov 29 7:09PM
So now VIN did report that 4 people were arrested for taking pictures in court of the victim, but they left WEBERMAN'S name out, but they are reporting that Rabbi Pinto will be indicted soon; in this report they mention Pinto's name because he is not a Satmar Chassid!

Weberman "gangsters" take picture of victim in court

Reporters live-tweeting the Nechemya Weberman trial on Thursday reported that testimony was abruptly stopped and spectators cleared after two supporters of the accused Williamsburg rapist were held for illegally taking a picture of the alleged victim with cell phones while she was on the stand and emailing it out.

Hon. John G. Ingram justice of the State Supreme Court, Kings County, is overseeing the trial.

Oren Yaniv, reporter for the New York Daily News and Pervaiz Shallwani of the Wall Street Journal tweeted the bombshell news.

Weberman allegedly raped and sexually abused a young Hasidic girl for years. Since coming forward last year, the woman, now 17, and her husband have allegedly been the target of a massive intimidation effort, reports the New York Daily News.

One man allegedly offered them $500,000 to flee to Israel. Three other men ripped the husband's kosher certificate from his restaurant, causing him to close the business. Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes filed witness intimidation indictments against the men, the News reports.

Weberman intimidates the victim!

Court officers had to move an accused molester back into a courtroom in Brooklyn Supreme Court Wednesday after he appeared to menacingly stare at his teenage accuser through a glass door.

The 17-year-old girl was having a moment of peace in an interview room during recess in the trial of Nechemya Weberman, whom she has accused of sexually abusing her four times a week for three years starting from the time she was 12.

But when the beautiful teenager looked up, she saw Weberman, staring at her through the glass long enough to set the officers scrambling.

'I WANTED TO DIE': ACCUSER'S DRAMATIC TESTIMONY AGAINST ACCUSED PERVERT ORTHODOX LEADER

PROTESTERS CLASH AS HASIDS RALLY IN SUPPORT OF LEADER ACCUSED OF MOLESTING GIRL

YIDDISH POSTERS POP UP IN WILLIAMSBURG SEEKING CASH FOR ACCUSED CHILD MOLESTER

George Farkas, a member of Weberman’s defense team, was quick to call the menacing allegation “pure unadulterated bulls---.”

But Rabbi Yakov Horowitz, director of the Center for Jewish Family Life, which publishes the children's book "Let's Play Safe!" about how kids can protect themselves from molesters, told the Daily News, “I was there. I saw it.”

She was having none of it, heading calmly back to the witness stand in her Ugg boots and chic outfit, looking nothing like the covered-up daughter of the Satmar sect she once was. Now it was her turn to stare Weberman down, as she coolly answered lawyer Michael Farkas’ questions about a boyfriend she dared to have, known in court as Mr. S.

Farkas asked about her parents’ opposition to her romance.

What the jury didn’t hear was that the girl’s father, at Weberman’s suggestion, set up a video camera that recorded her lovemaking, and that the boyfriend was busted on statutory rape charges, later dropped. Weberman’s defense is that this girl, then 15, concocted her entire accusation in revenge for his betrayal.

It is difficult to imagine a girl more trapped in a free country. Weberman, 54 and a fellow member of the Satmar Hasidic sect, was not only her father’s business partner, he was her unlicensed therapist. Yeshiva officials sent her to him when she dared to wear sheer tights to school and write poetry. He insisted on seeing her four times a week, when the alleged abuse, including oral sex, took place.

There were no Satmars there to support the girl, but the court was filled with Lubavitcher and other Orthodox Jews.

“We are an insular community — with us it’s not six degrees of separation, it’s two or three,” said Ezra Max, a teacher. “So for children or young adults who’ve been abused, it’s an additional challenge for them to come forward.”

“I just think she’s so brave,” said a girl who identified herself as the best friend of the witness. “I’m just so proud of her.”

jmolloy@nydailynews.com

Weberman on trial, Video

A 17-year-old girl took the stand in the sexual abuse trial of a respected ultra-Orthodox Jewish counselor Tuesday, putting a spotlight on an insular Brooklyn community that authorities claim has historically avoided such prosecutions by keeping members quiet.

In a packed courtroom filled almost entirely with her supporters, the teen testified during the second day in the trial of Nechemya Weberman, an unlicensed religious counselor in the Satmar Hasidic community, an ultra-Orthodox sect of Judaism.

Mr. Weberman is accused of sexually abusing the girl dozens of times in his Williamsburg home and office over a three-year span beginning when she was 12 years old. The girl, who turns 18 next week, isn't being identified because she may be a victim of sexual abuse.

Defense attorneys, though, have painted a different picture, questioning her testimony and arguing that the girl singled out their client and the Satmar sect because of its ultra-Orthodox policies.

During more than five hours of testimony, the girl spoke confidently but quietly—at times struggling to hold back tears—as she detailed the alleged abuse.

The teen testified that her father first took her to see Mr. Weberman in March 2007 when she was in sixth grade, and that school leaders deemed her a problem after she questioned her religion, began rebelling against her parents and was caught sending text messages to a boy.

"I had a lot of questions about religion…how do you know God exists?" she said, adding that in response, her teacher "yelled at me and sent me to the principal. It happened to me a lot of times."

The teen testified that Mr. Weberman—whom she saw between once and four times a week—began sexually assaulting her on the first day and inappropriately touched her or assaulted her at every session.

"I just froze," she said, when asked about her first encounter with him. "I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to respond. I didn't know how to fight back. I was numb."

"He would continue touching me all the time," she said.

By spring 2009, the teen testified, she started avoiding appointments and stopped eating, which prompted Mr. Weberman to finally visit her home, where she says he sexually assaulted her.

Asked by prosecutor Kevin O'Donnell if she tried to stop him, she replied, "I didn't have the strength. I didn't have the strength to do anything....I wanted to die rather than live with myself."

On cross-examination, defense attorney Michael Farkas spent about two hours trying to discredit the testimony, portraying the teen as a problem child who loathed her religion, and poking holes in her testimony and comments to investigators.

The girl acknowledged that she and Mr. Weberman had conversations about some of her problems with the religion and its strict guidelines, including requirements that women wear skirts at least six inches below their knees and not date.

"He was the first person who listened to you?" Mr. Farkas asked.

"Yes," the girl replied, admitting, "We did discuss other things."

Community members, some traveling hours from upstate and Long Island, packed four allotted rows in anticipation, some being forced to wait anxiously outside for a seat.

The testimony brought many in the audience to tears, some openly weeping with tissues in their hands during the most emotional moments. The drama forced officers and the judge to quiet attendees for whispering loudly during breaks in testimony. One woman was told to be careful of her nodding.

The alleged abuse came to light in February 2011, when the girl told a school counselor and named Mr. Weberman as her abuser.

The case is one of only a few that Brooklyn prosecutors say they have been able to bring to trial in the community, because, according to District Attorney Charles Hynes, prosecutors have struggled to get its members to cooperate.

In the lead-up to the trial, Mr. Hynes said prosecutions among the ultra-Orthodox can be more difficult than even organized-crime investigations, in which he can at least offer the witness-protection program.

The case has caused deep divisions among Williamsburg's Hasidim, with some rallying behind Mr. Weberman, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for his defense and subjecting the accuser to threats and name-calling.

Four men were charged earlier this year after they allegedly tried to buy the silence of the girl and her husband, whom she married in October.

On Tuesday, the girl, who has since left the Satmar Hasidism for the Modern Orthodox sect, testified about the difficult decision to testify against Mr. Weberman. She said her parents suggested she drop the case as recently as six months ago, taking her to a rabbi who also tried to persuade her to walk away from the matter.

When asked by a prosecutor what was the benefit of pursuing the case, she said, "Peace."

The girl, who says she would like to go to college one day, also acknowledged that problems have plagued her since she reported the alleged abuse, including "intimidation," "intimidation of my parents," "loss of business," "having my nieces kicked out of school."

The girl will take the stand again Wednesday, and Mr. Weberman is expected to testify in his defense.

Nazi Germany here we come: Hungarian lawmaker calls for the creation of a Jewish list

A Hungarian lawmaker has called on the government to create a Jewish list, according to press reports.

In an act reminiscent of the policies of the Nazi regime, a far-right Hungarian legislature, issued a statement Monday saying that a list should be compiled of all Jewish members of parliament and government.

Marton Gyongyosi

Marton Gyongyosi of the openly anti-Semitic party, Jobbik, said before regular office hours in Parliament on Monday that government officials and parliamentarians of Jewish origin had unduly influenced the policy of Hungary regarding the current situation in Israel and Gaza.

"It is time to evaluate many parliamentarians and government members who are Jewish because they present a risk to the national security of Hungary," Gyongyosi told a Hungarian newspaper.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, had rushed to take an oath of loyalty to Israel," he told the newspaper.

The government’s press office released a statement Tuesday morning saying that the government will "take the strongest possible measures against all forms of racism and anti-Semitic behavior and will make every effort to ensure that the malicious voices that are incompatible with European standards

are not heard again."

The legislator said that his comments only applies to those with Hungarian-Israeli dual citizenship. He also criticized the press for attacking the Jobbik party instead of Israel.

His comments followed those made by Jobbik president Gabor Vona last week in a demonstration outside the Israeli Embassy in Budapest, in which he said that members of the government and parliamentarians should be examined to determine if they have dual Hungarian-Israeli citizenship Hungarian, according to news reports.

Man arrested after telling kids Santa isn't real

A real-life Grinch was arrested after he spoiled the holiday cheer at a parade, telling children that Santa isn’t real.

The unidentified 24-year-old man, who had his hair gelled to look as though devil horns were protruding from his head, was arrested by police in the Canadian town of Kingston last week during the annual Santa Claus parade, authorities said in statement.

The St. Nicholas naysayer faces criminal charges of causing a disturbance by being drunk and breach of probation.

“It was pretty despicable that someone, during this time of the year, would tell kids Santa isn’t real — which of course we would argue,” Const. Steve Koopman told the Toronto Star.

It was not known how the man, who has surely landed on Santa’s naughty list, pleaded to the charges.

Cardinal calls Israel "baby killers"

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Vatican Council for Culture, commenting on the war between Israel and Hamas, delivered a severe attack on the Jewish people: “I think of the ‘massacre of the innocents’. Children are dying in Gaza, their mothers’ shouts is a perennial cry, a universal cry”.
The Catholic Church high official equated Israel’s operation in Gaza against terror groups with the New Testament story of Herod’s slaughter of Jewish babies in his effort to kill Jesus.
Ravasi, who is one of the most popular Catholic cardinals and the director of the Church’s policy on culture, called Israelis baby-killers in a shameless form of anti-Semitism which subtly accuses the Jewish State of trying to murder the new Jesus, symbolized by the Palestinian people.
The Vatican official’s modern blood libel against Israel was delivered during the presentation of Pope Benedict’s new book about the life of Jesus. However, Ravasi's theme – the Jews as Herod, who killed all the innocent babies because his heart was set on killing Jesus – was much beloved by Medieval organizers of pogroms.
The vicar-general of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, William Shomali, said onVatican Radio that “what is happening in Gaza now is a vicious circle of violence”. The auxiliary bishop then declared that “it’s difficult to know who started it”. How difficult?
A few weeks ago, in an interview with the Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana, Shomali claimed that “hatred of Christians” is the Talmud itself. "The Talmud, the holy book studied by the ultra-orthodox, more highly venerated than the Bible itself, invites religious hatred, speaks badly of Jesus, and even worse of Mary and, in general, of Christians,” the bishop said, adding that “in Israeli schools, love for the other is not taught, but rather the destruction of the other”.
Talking to the Vatican News Agency, Michel Sabbah, Patriarch Emeritus of Jerusalem, said that the Gaza Strip for many years “has been living under the weight of an absurd embargo, which makes the daily lives of a million and a half of people inumane”.
Sabbah signed the recent appeal by more than one hundred Christian leaders who have asked the international community to support the recognition of the Palestinian State as a full member of the United Nations. Among the signers is the Greek Orthodox Archbishop Atallah Hanna, a self professed anti-Semite who blessed the suicide attacks against Israeli civilians.
As yet, no condemnation has come from the Pope of the barrages of rockets fired by terror groups on southern Israeli cities before Operation Pillar of Defense. The Church authorities, and Benedict XVI himself, raised their voices in condemnation of the violence that has broken out in the Gaza Strip only after Israel began bombing the installations of the terrorist movements in that territory. Not a word was heard before that.
During the Cast Lead operation in 2009, the Vatican officials called Gaza "a concentration camp". After the Nazi comparison did its work, the Jesus-killer motif has now returned to the Catholic Church.

Jews supporting Hamas run like a bunch of chickens when they hear sirens in Jerusalem, video

(Scroll down for video) It was an ironic scene at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where students held a pro-Hamas rally. During the rally, a red alert siren sounded warning residents of an incoming Gaza missile sending all the students running for cover. The rocket was fired by Hamas who these students support.

It is difficult to explain how some people can turn on their own people and support the enemy, but that is exactly what happened at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

After a rally in support of Hamas, students at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem waved pictures of Netanyahu with blood on his hands. A pro-Zionist group filed a complaint with the police and is committed to combat this type of future events, according to press reports.

Pro-Zionist organization Im Tirtzu filed a complaint with the Israeli Police in Jerusalem on Wednesday following a pro-Hamas rally on the campus of the Hebrew University this week. The organization says that the manifestation of incitement is unacceptable.

On Tuesday, about 100 students, mostly Arabs but also some of the radical left, held up  

doctored photos depicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with bloody hands to protest the Pillar of

Defense Operation in the Gaza Strip. These images are known to have been used in the past in similar protests and have even come to facebook and twitter.
 At the same time, Im Tirtzu, which describes itself as a movement that aims to educate the public about Zionist values ​​organized a counter-demonstration.

The movement demonstrated in support of the Israel Defense Forces during the military campaign of eight days in the Gaza Strip.

Violent Clashes In Egypt As Morsi Defends New Powers

Thousands of opponents of Egypt’s Islamist president clashed with his supporters in cities across the country Friday, burning several offices of the Muslim Brotherhood, in the most violent and widespread protests since Mohammed Morsi came to power, sparked by his move to grant himself sweeping powers.

The violence reflected the increasingly dangerous polarization in Egypt over what course it will take nearly two years after the fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Critics of Morsi accused him of seizing dictatorial powers with his decrees a day earlier that make him immune to judicial oversight and give him authority to take any steps against “threats to the revolution”. On Friday, the president spoke before a crowd of his supporters massed in front of his palace and said his edits were necessary to stop a “minority” that was trying to block the goals of the revolution.

Protesters storm an office of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood Freedom and Justice party and set fires in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 23, 2012. State TV says Morsi opponents also set fire to his party’s offices in the Suez Canal cities of Suez, Port Said and Ismailia. Opponents and supporters of Morsi clashed across Egypt on Friday, the day after the president granted himself sweeping new powers that critics fear can allow him to be a virtual dictator. 

Rabbi "Iphone" says that attempt to draft Chareidim brought war

Rabbi Amnon Yitzchok

Renowned rabbinical preacher and outreach personality Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak claimed on Tuesday that a “prophecy” he had made about the outbreak of war had come true with Operation Pillar of Defense.

During a lecture in June this year in Tiberias, Yitzhak said a war would break out between Israel and its enemies because of efforts to draft haredi (ultra- Orthodox) yeshiva students into the army.

He made the comments while the government was trying to agree on legislation to integrate yeshiva students into military service, following the High Court of Justice’s February ruling that the previous arrangement – in which full-time yeshiva students could opt out of serving – was illegal.

“God sits in heaven and plays with them, and laughs, ‘All of a sudden they’re going to be drafted, they’ll draft them, equality [in the military draft], equality,’” Yitzhak said at the time.

“Don’t interfere with the apple of my eye,” the rabbi said, as if quoting God. “Those who study Torah are the apple of God’s eye, don’t interfere with them in case He does not remain silent.”

He warned that “now you’ll see, before they can agree on a new law, a war will break out, as always happens when people oppose those who observe the Torah and its commandments, and then you’ll remember what I said and see if it was true or not.”

He made similar comments again in August during a talk in Dimona.

The rabbi’s official website, Shofar.tv, published a statement on Tuesday drawing attention to his comments.

“Less than three months after the rabbi spoke on this issue in Dimona, and after two weeks of [rocket] barrages on the communities of the South, the Hamas Chief of Staff Ahmed Jabaari was eliminated,” the statement read.

“On the eve of the new month of Kislev, massive rocket fire was directed at Beersheba and southern Israel, and shortly after, it was decided to initiate Operation Pillar of Defense.”

Media bias!

U.S. sends warships near Israel in case evacuation needed

Three U.S. Navy amphibious warships are returning to the eastern Mediterranean to remain on standby in the event they are needed to assist Americans leaving Israel in the coming days, according to two U.S. officials.

The officials stressed an evacuation remains an extremely remote possibility and the Obama administration is not currently planning for one. Americans who wish to leave the region now are able to do so using commercial airlines.

But the decision to send the ships even if the event is such a remote contingency underscores the growing concern about where the Israel-Gaza conflict could be headed.

"This is due diligence. It is better to be prepared should there be a need," one official said Monday. Both officials said the ships would be used only for assisting Americans and not for any combat role.

The most immediate impact will be on the ships' crews and the estimated 2,500 Marines on board. They had been scheduled to return to Norfolk, Virginia, just after Thanksgiving; their homecoming will now be delayed several days depending on events, the officials said.

The ships involved are the USS Iwo Jima, the USS New York and the USS Gunston Hall. At the end of last week the ships were west of Gibraltar, before the decision was made to turn them around and send them back to the eastern Mediterranean, where they will remain for now.

The U.S. military also maintains three to four ships off the coast of Israel that are capable of shooting down ballistic missiles. That deployment has stretch for some months in the face of a potential ballistic threat from Iran.

Ready to Invade

Iron Dome intercepts two rockets over Tel Aviv, Today

Interception follows two rockets fired at the city earlier in the day; rocket strikes car in Ofakim, injuring 5, and a home in Ashdod, injuring 2; over 100 rockets fired into Israel since morning.

The Iron Dome intercepted two long-range rockets fired at Tel Aviv on Sunday evening. No injuries or damage was reported, police say.

Hamas claimed responsibility for firing at the city.

It was the second strike on Israel's commercial capital on Sunday.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired over 100 rockets towards a number of Israeli cities Sunday morning, striking among others, Beersheba, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Sderot. The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted two rockets fired toward Tel Aviv, and 30 overall throughout the day. The IAF struck over 80 targets in Gaza in the same time period.

A rocket struck the roof of an 8-story residential building in Ashdod on Sunday afternoon. The rocket penetrated the elevator shaft and descended five stories before exploding and causing extensive damage to the building. Two people were lightly injured and thirty were treated for shock.

Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfekld said "We're now seeing large rocket salvos involving 5-10 projectiles. This is an increase from what we've seen before."

One rocket struck a building in Ashkelon Sunday morning, lightly injuring two people and causing serious damage to the building. Another rocket moderately-to-seriously injured another man in Sha'ar Hanegev.

At least three other rockets hit Asheklon Sunday morning. Iron Dome intercepted two and another fell into an open field. Three rockets were shot at Beersheba, two of which were intercepted by Iron Dome. The third caused damage but no injuries.

Magen David Adom said Sunday that by 1 p.m. it had treated four injured people, one in a moderate condition and three who were lightly injured. Twelve others were treated for shock.

Iron Dome intercepts rockets over Tel Aviv

The Iron Dome anti-rocket shield had intercepted 17 rockets heading for city centers at the time of this report, including at least two heading for the Tel Aviv Metropolitan area. Sirens sent Tel Avivians scattering for cover for the fourth time since the operation to suppress Palestinian rockets began last week.

Shrapnel from one of the rockets struck a car in the Holon area south of Tel Aviv, setting it on fire and destroying it completely. Miraculously, the driver had left his vehicle when the siren sounded, and survived the incident without injury.

Since the start of the operation on Wednesday, more than 520 Palestinian rockets exploded in Israeli territory. A small percentage of those exploded in urban areas. A further 280 rockets heading straight for population centers were successfully shot down by Iron Dome.

Schools in southern Israel located within 40 kilometers from the border with Gaza remain shut.

South experiences quiet night after days of heavy rocket fire

After Saturday saw dozens of rockets fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip, including two missiles directed toward Tel Aviv, a sole rocket landed in Israeli territory overnight Saturday, just after midnight. The rocket landed in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council area, failing to cause injuries or damage.

On Saturday, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said in Cairo that "there are some indications that there is a possibility of a cease-fire soon, but we do not yet have firm guarantees."

Egypt has mediated previous cease-fire deals between Israel and Hamas, the latest of which unraveled with recent violence.

A Palestinian official told Reuters the truce discussions would continue in Cairo on Sunday, saying "there is hope," but it was too early to say whether the efforts would succeed.

In Jerusalem, an Israeli official declined to comment on the negotiations. Military commanders said Israel was prepared to fight on to achieve a goal of halting rocket fire from Gaza.

Hamas use their own children as shields

DOME ROCKETS INTERCEPTING ARAB ROCKETS

Three Israeli Chabad Chassidim Killed in Gaza Rocket Attacks

Three Israeli civilians were killed at about 9 a.m. Thursday morning after a rocket hit their apartment building in the city of Kiryat Malakhi (Qiryat Malakhi) in Israel’s southern district.

The victims, two men and a woman, were identified as Ahron Smadga, Yitzchak Amselam, and a 25 year old expectant woman, Mirah (nee Cohen) Scharf. An infant and several children were among the wounded who were taken to nearby hospitals. The victims were members of the city’s Chabad community. 

Kiryat Malakhi is about 11 miles from Ashkelon, with a population of about 21,000. 

According to reports from Israel, beginning at around midnight Wednesday to Thursday morning, some 45 rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip towards southern Israel, of which Iron Dome intercepted 13. Overall, nearly 200 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel’s South in the 24 hours since the IDF killed Ahmed Jabari, Hamas’s top military commander, as part of a campaign to end the incessant terror in Israel’s coastal region. The campaign was Israel’s most intense response against Gaza in recent years. 

The rockets, launched at population centers in Israel’s south, hit Ashdod, Ofakim and Beersheba, prompting school closures in all areas within a 24 mile radius of the Gaza Strip.

Israel's Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will convene with the IDF on Thursday to vote on Defense Minister Ehud Barak's request to call up army reserves.

They will charge but will never succeed

Petraeus and Clinton will not be testifying anytime soon about Benghazi