The IDF soldier who was sentenced to 21 days in jail for yawning during a base memorial ceremony for Yitzchak Rabin has been released.
The soldier, Almog Omran, an airplane technician on the Ramat David Base, was released from jail after 10 days after he apologized to his superior officer for the incident. His mother said the move came 10 days too late, criticizing the army for such a harsh sentence for the minor disruption.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
(PHOTO LINK AT END OF ARTICLE) Hatzolah of Los Angeles’s Disaster Preparedness & Safety Fair BBQ which took place on Sunday was a great success. There were more than 3,500 people in attendance from all areas of the Jewish community. Additionally, several local dignitaries were in attendance including the Los Angeles City Fire Department Chief of Fire Douglas Barry, Assemblyman John Perez and LAPD Deputy Chiefs Michael Moore and Terry Hara.
Hatzolah of Los Angeles took time out during this event to remember one of their beloved community members, Reb Naftoli Smolyansky, z”l, who was taken from us not so long ago. This was an opportunity for the community to express its hakaros hatov to the Lake Piru Rangers and park management for their help during the search at Lake Piru, CA. Their attendance at the BBQ was commemorated with presentations of plaques of thanks presented by Hatzolah of Los Angeles Chairman, Mr. Zvika Brenner, on behalf of Hatzolah of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Community.
There was a tremendous BBQ that was enjoyed by all and a coordinated exercise which included members of the LAFD and Hatzolah working together to extract a “patient” trapped within a car. LAFD used their Jaws of Life to cut thru the automobile…not only was this a great demonstration for the community but also provided Hatzolah with additional experience working with LAFD.
PHOTO LINK: Click HERE for photos.
Travelers using NYC area airports can cross one concern off their lists: Recent inspections show scales used to weigh luggage are mostly accurate.
The city Department of Consumer Affairs checked all 810 scales last month at LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International airports to ensure travelers weren’t being overcharged for excess baggage weight. Some carriers have implemented new baggage fees to offset rising fuel costs.
“If airlines are going to start charging travelers left and right for their luggage, their scales better be perfect,” DCA commissioner Jonathan Mintz said. “We’re shutting down any airline luggage scale that doesn’t get it right.”
The DCA released the results of their inspections Sunday. The agency said 87 percent of the scales passed inspection during the first sweep. The remaining 102 scales were slapped with stop-use orders. The DCA requires broken scales to be recalibrated within five business days
When inspectors returned to the airports a second time last month to ensure all 102 scales had been calibrated correctly, they found 10 at JFK still had problems.
The DCA issued a written violation to American Airlines, which operated the faulty scales. The violation carries a $150 fine, DCA spokeswoman Beth Miller said. The airline could face additional fines when it appears at a December hearing for the violation, Miller said.
American Airlines says it spends tens of thousands of dollars each year having its scales checked for accuracy at all airports including JFK. Spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan says that usually “inaccurate scales will reflect positively in the customer’s favor.”
American Airlines charges $15 for the first bag and $25 for second if the luggage weighs under 50 pounds. Any bag over 50 pounds costs more, the airline said.
The way the MTA sees it, it’s their way or the highway.
The agency maintains that there’s only one way out of it’s billion-dollar debt: increasing fares and cutting back service.
NYC’s comptroller says he’s got a better option.
“We propose an additional weight-based transit-dedicated assessment,” William Thompson, Jr. said.
Average New York drivers would have to pay an additional $200 when they register their vehicle every two years.
They would pay less if their cars weigh less, and a few hundred dollars more if their cars weigh more.
“This regional plan could potentially generate additional annual revenue of roughly $350 million from city residents,” Thompson said.
The 12 counties where car owners would be affected: all five boroughs of New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, and Dutchess.
Many car owners that drive into the city say it would be unfair for them to pay for a public transportation system that they don’t even use.
“The insurance rates are already high in New York as it is, so it’s not fair,” Jackson Heights resident Robert Bermudez said.
The comptroller’s plan also calls for bringing back the commuter tax, which taxes those who live outside New York City.
The MTA says it welcomes alternative proposals from any elected officials while it awaits the recommendations from a special commission, due next month.
(Source: WCBSTV)
Kollelim are among the mosdos already feeling the painful realities of the growing global economic crisis, with some already facing closure.
Last motzei Shabbos, a number of prominent roshei yeshiva headed for North America, instructed by Maran Rav Aryeh Leib Shteinman Shlita to make an attempt to raise badly need cash from givirim in North America in the hope of preventing the closure of mosdos Torah in Eretz Yisrael.
The funds will be distributed in the fashion the Kerem Yad Avraham uses, direct deposit in the bank accounts of avreichim on erev Yomtov. The effort results in the establishment of a large umbrella fund, which will absorb all the funds collected and permit equal distribution among Kollelim.
Gedolei Torah view this as a “Keren Hatzolah” effort to keep mosdos Torah in Eretz Yisrael operational. The project will place an emphasis on smaller Kollelim, who heads are unable to raise the needed funds. The exact particulars of distribution are still to be finalized.
Other decisions will also have to be made, for example, if the monthly stipend paid to avreichim will be reduced, or will they receive their regular wage in addition to the Keren Hatzolah payment.
Unfortunately, as was reported HERE by YWN, for some mosdos it is may be too late, such as the Yechavei Daas kollel of Rav Dovid Yosef Shlita, in Har Nof. Rav Dovid Shlita informed avreichim that there monthly stipend will only include the amount contributed by the Ministry of Religious Services, not enough to support them, explaining he has been unable to raise funds during recent months.
Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel Shlita was also among the prominent roshei yeshiva seeking to raise a large sum, but unfortunately, he did not succeed. YWN has learned Rav Finkel had hoped to return with $5 million to address the difficult realities in The Mir, but unfortunately, it does not appear that he succeeded. A number of major contributors in the past are no longer able to continue supporting the institution due to their current bleak fiscal realities.
For mosdos Toldos Aaron for example, a message has been sent in the name of the Rebbe Shlita to increase tefillos and learning, explaining the Rebbe Shlita has too flown abroad in the hope of raising funds to same the beis medresh.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
Likud hopeful Moshe Ya’alon, a former IDF chief of staff, in his first political rally since announcing his candidacy on the Likud roster, explained that as far as the Arabs are concerned, “we are all settlers,” those living in Yehuda and Shomron, as well as the Israelis living in Tel Aviv and Cholon.
Ya’alon uses documents released by the Arab community to support his statements, adding that despite this, Israel does have the economic and military ability to endure. He further pointed out that while there may differences of opinion regarding the solution, the bigger problem remains that we are not in agreement as to the problem, which he views as the deterioration of Israel’s deterrence abilities.
In reference to Kadima leader and premier hopeful Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, he questions when exactly has she passed the test of leadership, he questioned, citing her failures during the Second Lebanon War and her adamant support for UN Resolution 1701, the ceasefire agreement that until this day goes ignored by Hizbullah.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
8:40AM EST: Commuters should expect delays and cancellations on the Long Island Rail Road Monday morning following a derailment in Queens.
LIRR says its crews are working overnight to try to repair damage to switches and track caused by the derailment, but work will not be completed in time for the Monday morning rush hour.
The derailment happened shortly after noon Sunday on a Huntington-bound train just west of the Jamaica stop. No one was injured, and the cause is under investigation.
LIRR says 12 westbound trains will be canceled Monday morning. There will be residual delays and not all scheduled connections will be available.
LIRR personnel will be available at Jamaica to assist customers with service information.
(Source: 1010WINS)
Defense Minister Ehud Barak stated that until such time that 24 hours pass without a rocket attack from Hamas-controlled Gaza, the border crossings will remain closed.
Barak is working to deliver a message to Hamas via the Egyptians, that a one-day period of quiet will permit the reopening of Gaza crossings, seeking to save his shattered ceasefire. He is basically urging Hamas to halt the rockets and reap instant gratification, but to date, it hasn’t worked.
In a now-frequent contradictory move, which is becoming increasingly characteristic with Barak, he gave the order on Monday morning to open the Kerem Shalom Crossing to permit humanitarian aid into Hamas-controlled Gaza. It must be pointed out that never has Barak tied deliveries of humanitarian aid to Gazans to the release of captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
Hamas officials report the ceasefire expires in less than a month and this time around, they will not agree to an extension unless Israel agrees to the same conditions in Yehuda and Shomron, which would compel the IDF to withdraw its forces from those areas. Hamas is also demanding the opening of the Rafiach Crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
Speaking in the Bakum Induction Base on Sunday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi stated that while the overwhelming number of residents living in Yehuda and Shomron are good law-abiding citizens, there is a small extremist element of lawbreakers.
He vowed to uphold the law, apologizing for some of the things that were said, but reiterated at the end of the day, the law of the land must be upheld – making reference to the planned eviction of Jews from Chevron’s Bet HaShalom.
The IDF commander’s statements join a growing list of senior officials who are hinting to or stating directly that the residents of Bet HaShalom will be removed, either voluntarily, or by force if need be.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
The U.S. government unveiled a plan Sunday to rescue Citigroup, including taking a $20 billion stake in the firm, whose stock has been hammered on worries about its financial health.
In addition, the government will guarantee as much as $306 billion of risky loans and securities backed by commercial and residential mortgages.
The announcement was made by the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Joint Statement by Treasury, Federal Reserve, and the FDIC on Citigroup:
The U.S. government is committed to supporting financial market stability, which is a prerequisite to restoring vigorous economic growth. In support of this commitment, the U.S. government on Sunday entered into an agreement with Citigroup to provide a package of guarantees, liquidity access, and capital.
As part of the agreement, Treasury and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation will provide protection against the possibility of unusually large losses on an asset pool of approximately $306 billion of loans and securities backed by residential and commercial real estate and other such assets, which will remain on Citigroup’s balance sheet. As a fee for this arrangement, Citigroup will issue preferred shares to the Treasury and FDIC. In addition and if necessary, the Federal Reserve stands ready to backstop residual risk in the asset pool through a non-recourse loan.
In addition, Treasury will invest $20 billion in Citigroup from the Troubled Asset Relief Program in exchange for preferred stock with an 8% dividend to the Treasury. Citigroup will comply with enhanced executive compensation restrictions and implement the FDIC’s mortgage modification program.
With these transactions, the U.S. government is taking the actions necessary to strengthen the financial system and protect U.S. taxpayers and the U.S. economy.
We will continue to use all of our resources to preserve the strength of our banking institutions and promote the process of repair and recovery and to manage risks. The following principles guide our efforts:
*We will work to support a healthy resumption of credit flows to households and businesses.
*We will exercise prudent stewardship of taxpayer resources.
*We will carefully circumscribe the involvement of government in the financial sector.
*We will bolster the efforts of financial institutions to attract private capital.
(Yehuda Drudgestein – YWN)
Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai cautioned officials that plans to evict Jews from Bet HaShalom must advance cautiously and responsibly, adding that “the law is above all else,” vowing the Supreme Court’s ruling will be enforced.
The deputy minister is also investigating yeshivos that he feels are responsible for inciting extremists to oppose the government. His ongoing investigation is authorized by Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Vilnai suggests that such yeshivos be shut down, or at the very least, their government funding be eliminated.
Bet HaShalom, which was purchased through the generosity of philanthropists wishing to support the Chevron community, was purchased for about $1 million but Arab objections’ have prompted the nation’s highest court to decide to place the ownership issue on the side for a later date, preferring to oust the Jews and place the building in the hands of the state until the ownership issue can be decided.
Chevron’s community responded harshly, backed by over 50 MKs, but nevertheless the government has decided the court’s ruling permitting the eviction of the Jews is being interpreted as a directive to oust the families from the multi-family dwelling. The defense establishment many feel is using the Chevron issue to drum up support among centrist and left-wing voters ahead of the general election on 10 February.
Supporters of Bet HaShalom warn the eviction process may be bloodier than the Amona expulsion, vowing the residents and supporters will not be removed from the structure without a fight. Community leaders expressed their adamant opposition to the use of violence, but warn they will not sit by idly if police use the brutal methods deployed in Amona.
Public Minister Avi Dichter released a message that both the IDF and Israel Police are prepared for the eventuality that the building will not be evacuated voluntarily, vowing to enforce the High Court’s ruling.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
9:08PM EST: Lakewood Hatzolah is on the scene of an overturned vehicle on Countyline Road near Cedarview.
Units are requesting one ambulance to respond in to the location.
Unknown condition of the aided.
(YWN-50 / YWN-101)
Just weeks before Mayor Bloomberg ordered city agencies to come up with $1.5 billion in savings to help balance the battered city budget, the Transportation Department doled out raises and promotions to four dozen top managers – the NY Post reports
First Deputy Commissioner Lori Ardito received a $15,000 pay hike to $180,000.
Bruce Schaller, hired in May 2007 as a deputy commissioner for planning and sustainability, was boosted from $160,000 to $172,800.
Russell Holcomb, the deputy chief engineer for bridge maintenance, was brought up to $143,712 with a $10,645 raise.
Margaret Forgione, the agency’s Manhattan borough commissioner, saw her salary surge from $105,930 to $116,523 as of Sept. 21.
Two days later, Bloomberg instructed all agency heads to produce savings of 2.5 percent this fiscal year and 5 percent the next fiscal year to help plug a hole in the city budget estimated at $4 billion over 18 months.
The mayor later announced that the citywide work force would be trimmed by 3,000 – including 500 to 600 layoffs.
Transportation officials defended their spending decisions.
“A lot of these were not just raises,” said DOT spokesman Seth Solomonow. “These were promotions and expansions of duties. So people are doing more work.”
In Ardito’s case, he said, “She was making less than some of the people reporting to her” and was moved up to the same salary level as her equivalent at the Department of Environmental Protection.
Solomonow said Schaller was the “mastermind” of the city’s green agenda, and deserved the raise for his “amazing and tireless contributions to DOT.”
Holcomb took on extra duties in overseeing bridges after his boss retired and got an extra $10,000 because “he can make a lot more money in the private sector, and we’re making an effort to keep him here,” said Solomonow.
As for Forgione, he said, she received an extra $10,593 to put her on equal footing with others in the same title.
Solomonow also explained that his own $5,000 raise – to $100,000 – was designed to bring him in line with the salary of his predecessor, who made 10 percent more.
Fearing a number of his new stars will not find themselves in a realistic position on the Likud Party 18th Knesset lineup, party leader Binyamin Netanyahu is now working to amend the primary election process that was decided upon less than a week ago.
Netanyahu appears to have lost in his struggle to block Moshe Feiglin who represents the Manhigut Yehudit faction in the party, and by all accounts, Feiglin will land a realistic slot on the lineup, about 21, assuring him a place in the 18th Knesset.
Netanyahu, who presents himself as a champion of democratic values, has done everything within his power to have Feiglin banned from the party. Turning to the party’s court and other measures have failed.
Feiglin, a Shomer Shabbos Jew, represents the old Likud principles, on which the party was founded, a belief in a Greater Eretz Yisrael and the Jewish right to all parts of the land. Today, he presents a threat to the new Likud centrist image, prompting Netanyahu to seek to block his advance as he works to take over Likud from the inside.
In any event, Netanyahu is now concerned with the reality that some of the news ‘stars’ will not find themselves on the party’s list in a real slot, somewhere in the first 30-33 positions, to ensure their seat in the next Knesset. Some of the new all stars include Moshe Ya’alon, Dan Meridor, Uzi Dayan, Assaf Chafetz, Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Tal Brodi, and Miri Regev.
Interestingly, along the party’s new centrist image lines, Netanyahu has yet to give the green light for MK Effie Eitam to run for a slot on the party lineup. Eitam, a former IDF brigadier-general, is identified with the right-wing hawkish camp but many Likud veterans fear his inclusion on the ballot may give the party and unwanted air of extremism. Eitam passed on the opportunity to join the new right-wing bloc, and as a result of Likud shunning him, he may find himself on the unemployment line following Election Day.
Moving back to Feiglin, Netanyahu hopes amending the primary election rules will keep out two members of Feiglin’s ticket, running on the party’s new immigrant slot, but others fear that while this is so, “others” will use the platform to introduce unwanted changes in the rules that may outweigh the benefit of manipulating the rules against Feiglin and securing slots for the all-star lineup.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
Unemployment officials are seeking to accommodate all of the unemployed, including about 300 directors and senior corporate officials who recently joined the ranks of the nation’s unemployed.
Some of the 300 are former IDF officers who now find themselves in the civilian marketplace but are unable to obtain employment. The number also includes a number of former mayors who lost in the recent municipal elections.
The director of unemployment services, Yossi Farchi, has launched his initiative to offer a discreet line for the senior unemployment in an effort to record their status and hopefully assist in providing temporary assistance. They will meet with representatives in private rooms, avoiding the embarrassment of standing on unemployment lines with the masses.
Farchi does not feel the new reality results in discrimination against the “regular unemployment” but rather a new service which seeks to reach out to those who otherwise might not be willing to come forward and accept assistance.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on motzei Shabbos left for what will most likely be his last official visit in the White House as prime minister, one of a handful of world leaders invited to bid farewell to outgoing president, George W. Bush.
Olmert will be in Washington for a number of days, during which time he will reportedly make a final request from Bush to pardon Jonathan Pollard. While Pollard supporters are skeptical as to just how much sincerity the Olmert request will include, some analysts point out that bringing Pollard home would significantly assist Olmert, who in a number of weeks will be stepping down to face a barrage of police investigations and possibly, criminal indictments.
Olmert is also expected to inform the White House of Israel’s willingness to move ahead on the Syrian track despite the painful concessions that such a move will involve.
In addition, Olmert is expected to call on the outgoing president not to cut the $30 billion ten-year aid package to Israel, despite the global recession. Officials in Jerusalem are concerned over growing support on Capitol Hill to cut foreign aid due to the bleak economic realities at home.
As a result of his trip abroad, there is no weekly cabinet meeting taking place on Sunday.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
Bituach Leumi is scheduled to release its semi-annual report on the nation’s poor. At present, there are 1.65 million Israelis classified as “poor”, including 800,000 children and teens. The poverty line is NIS 2,093 a month, approximately $525.
In actuality, the number of poor is markedly higher since many families are categorized as the “working poor”, with parents employed but earning minimum or meager salaries which place them above the official poverty line but they are far from surviving, unable to meet basic monthly expenses. These families are not mentioned among the “nation’s poor”.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
42,000 people lost their jobs in Israel in the past three months, representing an increase of 7,000 as compared to the same time period a year ago. The 20% increase in unemployment is attributed to the growing global economic crisis.
Yossi Farchi, who heads the nation’s unemployment services, explains 2007 was a year with 2,000 less people registered for benefits as compared to 2006. He also points out that based on ‘the experts’ there are many more who have lost their jobs but have yet to make their way to unemployment offices.
An estimated 2,500 of the 7,000 newly unemployed were working in small businesses hit by the crisis, explaining large factories may implement firings but there is usually a cash reserve that will permit the business to continue. In the case of small businesses, this is not so.
“When large businesses stop buying from the smaller ones, they will be compelled to shut down. I believe this cycle will continue for sometime and many more people employed in small businesses will lose their jobs,” Farchi explains.
He feels they may be hundreds, or even a larger number of people who simply are unaware of their rights are or they are too embarrassed to apply for unemployment assistance.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
Seeking to avoid targeting his former political home, Vice Premier Chaim Ramon told Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) on Sunday morning that the Labor Party is not Kadima’s enemy, but the Likud is. He told Razi Barkai today, his warnings against permitting Ehud Barak to assume control of Labor are understood by all, seeing the damage his leadership has had on the party.
Ramon decided he will not be resigning from the political arena just yet, explaining Tzipi Livni has requested he play a senior role in the party’s election effort.
“Extremist party” was the term he used in his reference to Likud, warning against electing Binyamin Netanyahu, pointing out that he failed as prime minister once before. He acknowledged more must be done towards economic stability in response to the global economic crisis, but he fell short of criticizing Finance Minister Roni Bar-On, a close party colleague.
Kadima critics are demanding an explanation from Tzipi Livni for not only permitting Ramon to remain but encouraging him to do so following his conviction for an indecent act involving a female colleague. They feel that Ramon’s continuation in the party, in a senior role, is contrary to Livni’s promises to maintain a new level of acceptable behavior among Kadima officials and clean politics in Israel.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
With the municipal elections behind us and the nation gearing up for the 18th Knesset General Election, it would appear the Shomer Mitzvos community has learned nothing, despite the losses suffered in the respective camps, the result of an inability to unite towards common goals.
MK Zevulun Orlev, who headed the now-defunct National Religious Party, came out in a scathing attack against Shas and United Torah Judaism. Orlev stated the Sephardi chareidi party is no more suited to run the nation’s education portfolio than United Torah Jewry is to handle the defense portfolio.
Orlev stated those who oppose secular and Zionist education in their curriculum are unsuited to control the education portfolio, drawing an analogy from UTJ, stating that the children are educated against serving in the IDF and therefore, the party is not suited to hold the defense portfolio.
The former NRP leader succeeded in joining ranks with National Union, and together, he hopes to remain in a viable position in the next Knesset, well-aware the days of the NRP are long over, waning in support from election to election.
Rather than combating the anti-Torah policies of the Supreme Court and the current administration, the former NRP leader apparently feels more at home with his chareidi-bashing policy, one that yielded results in the Jerusalem mayoral race.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
