We are suffering from almost daily terrorist attacks in Israel. An appropriate response would be to act immediately to:
“I don’t speak because I have the power to speak; I speak because I don’t have the power to remain silent.” Rav Kook z"l
Sunday, April 3, 2022
A Solution To the Israeli Arab Situation
Dr. Vladimir Zelenko Claims that Half Of Israelis That Took the Covid Vaccine Have Aids !
CLAIM: Half of Israel’s population now has AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, due to receiving multiple COVID-19 vaccine injections.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. COVID-19 vaccines do not cause AIDS, and public health experts say cases of the virus that causes AIDS, human immunodeficiency virus, have not dramatically risen in Israel following mass vaccination.
THE FACTS: In a video clip circulating widely on social media over the last week, a doctor who has promoted hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19 suggested that half of Israel’s population now has AIDS from receiving multiple vaccine injections.
Vladimir Zelenko, a physician from New York state, made the comments on March 23 during an interview with a conservative blog in which he also asserted that multiple injections of the COVID-19 vaccines “destroy” peoples’ immune systems.
He said dozens of peer-reviewed papers support his claims but did not cite specific research or other such evidence in the interview. Zelenko did not respond to a request for comment.
“Around 50 percent of the Israeli population has AIDS,” Zelenko said during the Zoom call, later adding: “Why would getting more shots help?”
One Twitter user shared a clip of Zelenko’s comments in a March 23 tweet, writing: “Disturbing !!,” and “50% of Israelis have AIDS and are unable to manage the mild omicron.”
Another Twitter user wrote: “Did you see the clip of Dr. Vladimir Zelenko speaking about Israel? He said 50% of people in Israel have AIDS from their immune system being destroyed by these shots.”
But the claims are incorrect, according to several medical experts interviewed by The Associated Press.
Leftist Media Turning on Biden
If there’s one thing Joe Biden doesn’t need, it’s more problems. With soaring inflation pushing household budgets into the red, crime rising everywhere, the southern border open to all comers and his agenda stalled in Congress, the 46th president is beyond beleaguered.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine and his efforts to rally NATO initially seemed to give him a second chance with disappointed voters. After Biden focused a big portion of his State of the Union address on the war, he did get a bump in the polls.
But it didn’t last, and even his recent trip to Europe that was filled with photo ops with refugees and tough, if bizarre, talk about Vladimir Putin couldn’t stop the spiral. Two surveys released since the president returned show him with just 38% and 39% approval, respectively.
These are dead-man-walking numbers, and another bombshell waits in the wings. This one has the potential to deliver a fatal blow to his presidency.
The federal probe of Hunter Biden is no longer taboo, and the media floodgates are opening. Where once The New York Post stood alone in reporting the skeezy details of the many millions the first son gained by selling his family name overseas, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and CBS News, among others, are belatedly joining the chase and conceding e-mails found on a laptop Hunter abandoned are authentic, just as The Post said they were 17 months ago.
Even network correspondents are asking pointed questions about the president’s insistence in a 2020 campaign debate that “nothing was unethical” about Hunter’s lucrative foreign entanglements.
The big lie
Last Thursday, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield claimed in response to the question from NBC that the administration still stands behind that entire comment in which Joe Biden also said, “My son has not made money in terms of this thing about, what you’re talking about, China.”
That’s a very odd lie to defend, with a Senate probe showing at least $11 million was wired from a Chinese official to accounts controlled by Hunter.
In addition, Hunter reportedly still has a 10% stake in a partnership with a Chinese bank arranged on a trip to Beijing in 2013 with his father, then the vice president.
The sudden about-face from media outlets that scandalously said The Post was spreading Russian disinformation in 2020 reflects the likelihood that the Justice Department is close to deciding whether to file criminal charges against Hunter. A federal grand jury in Delaware has been hearing from a flurry of witnesses, indicating the case is coming to a head.
If Hunter is indicted, it’s hard to see how his father’s presidency survives.
That’s because any indictment of the son, no matter how carefully drawn, will inevitably implicate the father. Assuming an indictment would follow the usual prosecutor pattern of connecting the dots to associates to show evidence of Hunter’s guilt, it’s possible the president could be referenced in charging papers.
That would directly contradict Joe Biden’s claims he had no involvement in his son’s business and never once discussed it with Hunter.
Beyond the absurdity of the claims, we know they are lies thanks to laptop e-mails and photos showing that Joe met Hunter’s partners and some of his foreign paymasters. Other e-mails suggest Joe and Hunter co-mingled their money through checking accounts.
And thanks to Tony Bobulinski, we have known since October 2020 that Joe knew all about the big China deal by early 2017. Bobulinski was the former CEO of the joint venture between a Chinese energy tycoon and Hunter, Joe’s brother Jim Biden and others, and says he met with Joe Biden to discuss the plan.
‘The big guy’
An e-mail detailing the equity divisions of that deal is where another partner wrote that Hunter was holding 10% “for the big guy.”
Bobulinski said publicly that Joe Biden was the big guy — and told that and everything else he knows to the FBI.
Yet just last week, the White House claimed Joe Biden “has never even considered being involved in business with his family, nor in any overseas business whatsoever.”
None of this is to suggest the president is in danger of being indicted, which would run afoul of Justice guidelines against charging a sitting president.
But charges against Hunter, even without reference to the father, would likely trigger another big decline in the president’s already-weak support.
Facing doom in the midterms with him at the helm, many Dems might try to save themselves by calling for Biden’s resignation.
Still, there are two potential escape hatches for the president and his party.
First, it’s possible the media come-latelies are just changing tactics and are writing about the probe of Hunter to reposition their defense of Joe.
A clue is the repetition of the mantra in the coverage that there is “no evidence” linking the father to the son’s potential wrongdoing.
The defense is BS, and there is little reason to assume the public would buy it, because most Americans don’t trust the press. Indeed, already enjoying near-lockstep media support, Biden is still wildly unpopular among voters, so it’s not clear how much more the media could help him.
The second escape hatch offers a far more likely scenario: Biden’s Justice Department, already up to its neck in politics, bends to pressure from Dems and refuses to indict Hunter to protect the president.
The Times, in its role as Deep State errand boy, seemed to be laying the groundwork recently when it cited an internal debate among prosecutors about whether civil charges would be more appropriate. The paper reported that Hunter borrowed about $1 million to cover back taxes in hopes he would not be criminally charged and said the payment might make it more difficult to gain conviction at trial.
Among the advantages for the family with a civil case is that Hunter could cut a deal to keep details of the investigation secret, and could keep his law license. The fallout on the president would be minimal.
That would leave the White House where it is now — still failing because of an incompetent president and his disastrous policies.
‘Seinfeld’ actress Estelle Harris Dies was 93
Actress Estelle Harris, who voiced Mrs. Potato Head in “Toy Story” and played George Costanza’s judgmental mother on “Seinfeld,” died Saturday of natural causes, her family said. She was 93.
Her son, Glen Harris, confirmed her death to Deadline.
“It is with the greatest remorse and sadness to announce that Estelle Harris has passed on this evening at 6:25pm,” Glen Harris told the site.
“Her kindness, passion, sensitivity, humor, empathy and love were practically unrivaled, and she will be terribly missed by all those who knew her.”
Harris was born Estelle Nussbaum in Manhattan, New York on April 4, 1928, the younger of two daughters of Isaac ("Ira") and Anna Nussbaum, Polish Jewish immigrants who owned a candy store.
Harris was known for her distinct high-pitched voice, but she is perhaps best remembered as Estelle Costanza on the NBC sitcom “Seinfeld.”
In a 2014 Mother’s Day interview with The Post, she imagined how her TV counterpart and her son may have marked the holiday.
“If George Costanza ever made me a meal for Mother’s Day, it would be a fiasco,” she said at the time. “Everything would turn out awful. He would probably do it the wrong way – he’d be breaking the dishes, inviting the wrong people, ruining everything.”
Harris herself didn’t have the best view of the holiday, she revealed.
“I don’t like any of these holidays,” the famous TV mom said. “I feel like they’re brought out strictly to earn money. I like every day to mean something, and not just celebrate it because it has a name.”
Bnei Brak Charedim Attend Burial of Arab Christian Officer who Killed Terrorist
A group of Charedim from Bnei Brak attended the funeral of a non-Jewish police officer who was killed while gunning down the Palestinian terrorist.
Sgt. Amir Khoury, an Arab Christian, likely saved many lives after he rushed to the scene of Tuesday’s attack in Bnei Brak and shot Palestinian terrorist Diaa Hamarsheh. Mr. Khoury was shot by the terrorist and succumbed to his wounds.
At the funeral, Sergeant Khoury’s father Jiris eulogized him: “On Tuesday morning, you left me with an embrace and told me that you would be home on Friday. You returned a day early, in a coffin. I’m sorry that I am separated from you. Children bury their parents, and here everything has turned upside down. My beloved son, I love you. If you had known how many people from across the country called, came to mourn, from Beit Shemesh, Jerusalem, Rehovot… They said they felt an obligation to come embrace you.”
Sergeant Khoury and his partner were motorcycle officers in Bnei Brak. They were the first to arraive the scene after the terrorist shot and murdered four people in two locations.
Thousands of people from all over Israel attended the funeral in Nazareth, and a busload of Charedim joined later to pay their respects when the procession reached the officer’s hometown of Nof Hagalil.
According to media reports, Sergeant Khoury once saved a Charedi from drowning.
Media Hoax On Trump's Involvement with the Jan 6 Protest Exposed
The mainstream media has been busted again reporting a “fake news” scandal about President Trump that never happened.
The media was gleeful this week over a supposed “seven-hour gap” in White House phone logs from January 6. However, even CNN now concedes that the “gap” was probably due to Trump’s frequent use of old-fashioned landlines and cell phones, not connected to the White House switchboard.
Documents sent to the Congressional committee investigating the Capitol breach and leaked to the media, appeared to indicate that calls were suppressed by the Trump White House.
The Washington Post compared the bogus scandal to the Nixon tapes and a leftist op-ed writer said it was “worse than Watergate”:
The Post reported: there is a seven-hour gap in Donald Trump’s phone logs on the day of the insurrection attempt. According to documents obtained by The Post and CBS News, there is no record of then-President Trump’s calls on Jan. 6, 2021, from just after 11 a.m. to shortly before 7 p.m…the documents…do show that Trump had many calls before 11 a.m. and after 6 p.m. that were apparently related to the coup effort. That suggests Trump held many calls related to the insurrection between those two times that are not officially accounted for.
Saturday, April 2, 2022
In first, Britain jails businessman for refusing to grant his wife a Jewish divorce
Alan Mohler |
An English court on Friday sentenced a Jewish businessman to 18 months in prison for refusing to grant his wife a religious divorce.
Alan Moher, 57, and his wife Caroline separated in 2016 after 20 years of marriage. The couple, who have three children, were granted a civil divorce in 2019.
However, the Manchester property firm owner refused to grant his wife a get, which Jewish law mandates must be given freely without coercion and prevents her from remarrying until he does.
In response, his wife brought what her lawyers have called a “landmark case” against Moher, who this week pleaded guilty at the Southwark Crown Court to controlling or coercive behavior over a five-year period beginning in 2016.
It was the first time someone who refused to grant a get has been convicted of such a charge in an English court, according to the Jewish Chronicle.
“You sought to manipulate and control her all in the knowledge that it would substantially impact her mental health and in some respects also impact her physical health,” Judge Martin Beddoe told Moher, according to the BBC.
Among the accusations against Moher were that he used “psychological and emotional abuse” and threatened his wife,” who hailed the ruling.
“To those who have emotionally coerced and controlled, physically hurt, and dehumanized their spouses — the law will not allow you to get away with your crimes,” she said.
“To those victims out there, you are not alone, and justice and humanity are on your side,” she added. “I urge you not to stay silent, but to fight for your freedom.”
In a previous court ruling, Moher was ordered to pay his wife alimony until he grants her a get.
Friday, April 1, 2022
So How Much is a "ke'Zayis?
When I was a kid growing up I knew what a "ke'zayis" was. I looked at the olives sold in the appetizing stores and I knew immediately how big or small an olive was. I could eat a "large" olive in about 30 seconds and that was with no front teeth.
As I grew older and had a family, I suddenly saw "sefarim" being sold that debated how large an olive was?
I learned in very well known yeshivos, my Rosh Yeshiva was a Talmud muvhak of the late Brisker Rav in Europe pre-WW2, and when we learned about "shiurim" no one mentioned how large an olive was. One could just go across the street and see one in a jar in the grocery store.
Let me tell you about the seder my father z"l ran.
My father z"l was a Holocaust survivor from a "heimishe" family and had a "mesorah" going back generations.
We all sat around the Seder Table, my father looked regal in his kittel and recited the haggada in Yiddish! He then took a piece of potato which he dipped into salt water and gave each one of us a piece. He didn't measure how much he gave, he just gave it as he saw by his own father.
Of course when we are dealing with "karpas" the Measurement is a "half an egg" there is no talk of "ke'zayis" here! Why that is, you can ask by the "ma nisthana?
When it came to Matza, my father z"l would not measure but broke a piece of matza, and placed it into each of our hands. He did not use a ruler, he didn't look at the latest "Pesach manuals" which stated that one has to literally choke down two "kzayisim" which they estimated to be a whole matza and a half in 20 seconds or less. He did what he saw by his father who saw it from his father who was a talmud of the Ksav Sofer,
I only found out about these "measurements" when I was a father of many children bl"eh, myself. When I asked my previous classmates what their fathers did, they said that their fathers also used no measurements but estimated what they thought was "ke'zaysim'.
Now the new "talmeidei chachamim" buy these laminated ruler charts, sit around measuring "karpas, Marror, Matza. ..the whole flavor of the seder revolves around how much and how fast one can gulp down and entire kilo of matzah, and the story of Yetzias Metzrayim is now me imagining and picturing my poor grandfather, and grandmother running out of mitzrayim holding on tight to their laminated ruler charts choking down their dry burnt matzos.
So how much is a "kezyis" ... you would think an olive, Right?
No, these new "talmeidei Chachamim" that were manufactured in the litvishe Yeshivos fabricated a new measurement of how large an olive is.They don't really care how large or small an olive really is, because that would be too easy, they suddenly became farmers and they and only they know the measurement of a kzayis.
I have seen large olives, lots of them, thank you, and never saw that the volume of an olive would be larger or equal to 3/4 of a matza? Never!
So I'm glad that I came across an article by RationalistJudaisiam that puts a light on the this whole mess!
The Kezayis Revolution Continues!
The monograph that I wrote on the evolution of the kezayis, from the size of an olive to a matzah ten times that size, seems to be the most popular piece that I have ever published. It's now incorporated in my book Rationalism vs. Mysticism, which you can purchase at this link.
Here is a list of other posts relating to this topic:
Matzah/Maror Chart for Rationalists - so that you, too, can have a chart!
The Popularity of Olives - exploring why this paper is so popular and yet hated by some.
Why On Earth Would One Eat A Kezayis? - discussing the strange notion that one should aim to eat a kezayis of matzah on Seder night.
The Riddle of the Giant Kezayis Defense - wondering why many people would not accept that a kezayis is the size of an olive.
Maniacal Dishonesty About Olives - exposing an error-ridden critique that appeared in the charedi polemical journal Dialogue.
It's Krazy Kezayis Time! - discussing the view that one should eat a huge amount of matzah in a very short time in order to fulfill all opinions.
The Kezayis Revolution - announcing the fabulous sefer by Rabbi Hadar Margolin, which presents the same arguments that I brought but in a more yeshivish manner. He also brings an astonishing array of evidence that many recent charedi gedolim likewise held that a kezayis is very small, including even the Chazon Ish! Best of all, the entire sefer can be freely downloaded.
3rd Grader Sends Letter to his murdered Rebbe
Lev Tahor Cult Leaders Nachman Helbrans And Mayer Rosner Sentenced To 12 Years
A federal judge has sentenced Lev Tahor cult leaders Nachman Helbrans and Mayer Rosner to 144 months (12 years) in prison followed by 5 years of supervised released for the 2018 Shabbos kidnapping of two children who escaped the cult
Back in November of 2021, Helbrans and Rosner were found guilty on all six charges they faced, including conspiracy to travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, and conspiracy to commit international parental kidnapping.
Several other Lev Tahor cultists have been arrested in connection with the case, including brothers Yoel, Yaakov, and Shmiel Weingarten, who were picked up by Guatemala authorities earlier this year.
They are expected to be extradited to the United States to face charges and a trial.
Three others in the United States are reportedly cooperating with authorities.
YWN has been at the forefront for more than 10 years fighting the Lev Tahor cult – with dozens of articles over the years. Many victims of the Lev Tahor cult who managed to escape say they were terribly abused sexually, suffering constant violent beatings, forced starvation and other horrific abuse. The world is a safer place now that these two monsters are behind bars. Our hope is that the rest of the leadership in charge of this cult are arrested and thrown behind bars.
Many emails and phone calls from desperate parents and siblings of cult members who were unfortunately sucked into this nightmare and have lost contact with their loved ones. Most importantly, all possible efforts should be made to save children who are being dragged around the world now as this cult is on the run. Rescuing these children is literally Pikuach Nefashos.
Lev Tahor was founded and led by Shlomo Helbrans, from the 1980s until his drowning death in Mexico in 2017. Since then, the leadership has moved into the hands of his son Nachman Helbrans, along with Mayer Rosner, and Yankel and Yoel Weingarten – who are even more radical and aggressive than the late founder.
Rabbi Yitzchok Frankfurter of Ami Magazine claimed the following sentence below their headline, “The unjust persecution of a group of pious Jews, and the unsettling silence of the Jewish community.”
Thursday, March 31, 2022
Ben Gvir Ascended the Har Habayit and Guess What – Nothing Happened
Otzma Yehudit Chairman MK Itamar Ben Gvir ascended the Temple Mount Thursday morning accompanied by police. Meanwhile, the police kept all the other Jews waiting at the entrance until Ben Gvir was done. There was great fear of a Hamas attempt to disrupt the visit with violence.
On Wednesday night, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum issued a warning to Ben Gvir “against approaching the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” the group’s PC name for what Muslims have named for centuries “Bait al-Maqdis,” literally “The Temple.” Barhoum also warned: “We place responsibility on the Zionist occupation for the impact and consequences of this dangerous, provocative move.”
They care so much.
In response to a question from News 12, MK Ben Gvir said that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett did not try to prevent him from ascending. “I am the landlord of the State of Israel,” the MK told the cameras. To qualify: he didn’t mean that he, alone, was the landlord (Ba’al Ha’Bait) – all the Jews are.
Walking around the holiest Jewish site in the world, Ben Gvir sent a quaint message to the Hamas spokesman: “I suggest you shut your mouth.”
“Throughout the night, the Hamas spokesman was threatening me that I was their target so I won’t go up to the Temple Mount,” he said, adding, “I don’t understand why the Hamas spokesman is not eliminated in a targeted assassination. He is a terrorist like all the other terrorists and you don’t deal with terrorists in weakness and submission, like adding Waqf terrorists and restricting the number of Jews who can go up to the mountain. We need to stop this because weakness and submission invite terrorism.”
Palestinians Celebrate, Hand out Candy After Terror Attack that Killed 5
Palestinians in multiple cities came out in droves to celebrate a shooting attack by a terrorist in a Tel Aviv suburb on Tuesday evening that killed five people.
The terrorist, identified as Diaa Hamarsheh, 26, a Palestinian from near the West Bank city of Jenin, smuggled into Israel illegally and began a shooting spree with an M16 assault rifle in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak in central Israel, as Breitbart News reported.
Palestinians celebrated outside Hamarsheh’s family home and in other Palestinian cities later that evening.
Dozens of pictures and videos emerged of Palestinians all over the West Bank and Gaza handing out sweets as per the tradition in the aftermath of a deadly attack against Israelis.
One of the victims, Avishai Yehezkel, 29, was shielding his two-year-old son when the Palestinian terrorist sprayed bullets at him. His son remained in the street after his father was murdered. Apart from the toddler, Yehezkel was survived by his wife, who is eight months pregnant.
Hillary Clinton fined by FEC for lying about Steele dossier payments ..Trump right once again!
The Federal Election Commission has fined both Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee for lying about how they spent money used to fund the now-debunked Steele dossier on former President Donald Trump.
The Clinton campaign and the DNC will be forced to pay $8,000 and $105,000 respectively for mislabeling payments that ultimately went to Fusion GPS, the consulting firm that commissioned the dossier, according to FEC documents viewed by the Post.
The fines stem from a complaint originally filed in 2018 by the Coolidge Reagan Foundation, which was informed of the outcome on Tuesday.
The Clinton campaign and the DNC paid more than $1 million combined to powerful Democratic law firm Perkins Coie, which engaged Fusion GPS to dig for dirt on Trump. Fusion GPS, in turn, hired former British spy Christopher Steele — whose namesake dossier included allegations that Russian security services possessed a tape of Trump in a Moscow hotel room with prostitutes who were supposedly urinating on a bed where the Obamas had previously stayed.
Hey Blinkin "Get the Hell Out of Jerusalem"
Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Arieh King on Monday called on U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to leave the city, saying he was “unwelcome” in the Israeli capital and that his presence was “creating a bad feeling.”
Blinken, who was in Israel for the first leg of a brief tour of the Middle East and North Africa, had tweeted a condemnation of the terror attack in Hadera on Sunday evening, which claimed the lives of two Israeli Border Police officers.
“We condemn today’s terrorist attack in Hadera, Israel. Such senseless acts of violence and murder have no place in society. We stand with our Israeli partners and send our condolences to the families of the victims,” he wrote.
The Islamic State terrorist organization took credit for the attack, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
In an English-language typo-laden reply, King wrote: “Dear sir. May I ask you as a deputy mayor of Jerusalem, the Jewish holy capital, to leave our city? You are not welcome at all. Your visit to Jerusalem is creating a bad feeling [among] most … Jerusalem residents. It seems that you intend to create [a] provocation. Please leave our capital.”
King, a right-wing politician and activist who has a history of making controversial statements, was appointed deputy mayor in 2020.
He is the founder of the Israel Land Foundation, which works to purchase Arab-owned property in Israel, and has been active in legal efforts to reclaim Jewish-owned land in eastern Jerusalem, including the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. His home in the city’s Ma’aleh Zeitim neighborhood has been repeatedly attacked, including with firebombs.
Footage From Policeman’s Body Camera Shows How Bnei Brak Terrorist Was Eliminated By Heroic Officers
תיעוד מדהים מחיסול המחבל אתמול בבני ברק ע"י השוטרים אמיר חורי ז"ל וע' ממצלמת הגוף.
— Josh Breiner (@JoshBreiner) March 30, 2022
מנעו אסון גדול ולצערנו גם שילמו מחיר יקר.
צל"ש. ותודה. pic.twitter.com/yTdTIrsWt5
A day after the brutal terror attack in which five people lost their lives on the streets of Bnei Brak, footage from a body cam held by the policeman who succeeded in neutralizing the terrorist shows how the two policemen riding on a motorcycle bravely confronted the terrorist, with one of them, Amir Ghori, paying with his life.
The footage shows the two speeding past other police cars after they were radioed the street where the terrorist was shooting at passersby. The two arrived at the scene within 6 minutes of the start of the incident and succeeded in identifying the terrorist. The policeman sitting behind, known by the initial Ayin, told his friend Amir to “be careful” but immediately the terrorist opened fire from point blank range, mortally injuring Amir. Ayin then managed to shoot the terrorist and neutralize him despite having only a pistol. At the end of the clip, Ayin informs the other officers that there is no need to continue shooting as the terrorist is dead.
After 18-Year Legal Battle, Ateret Kohanim Moves Into Hotels Near Jaffa Gate
After an 18-year legal battle between the Ateret Cohanim association and the Greek orthodox church, members of Ateret Cohanim finally took possession of the Petra hotel and Imperial hotels, according to a Haaretz report. The hotels are strategically situated on the left side of Jaffa Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem.
In June 2019, The Jerusalem District Court ruled that Ateret Cohanim had legal rights over three large areas in strategic locations in the Old City of Jerusalem, currently populated by mostly Arab residents. In 2004, three foreign real estate companies signed under a veil of great secrecy three different contracts with the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate which owned the assets.
The publication of the deal in 2005 led to a crisis in the Greek Church in Jerusalem, which ended in the unprecedented dismissal of the patriarch Irenaios Skopelitis. His successor, Theophilus III, tried to deny the deal and cancel it, but the Supreme Court upheld it.