Ministers drank a l’chaim on Sunday morning at the current administration’s 146th and final cabinet meeting, with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressing confidence in the incoming government.
Some of the ministers, including Shas leader Eli Yishai will also be seated at the next cabinet table, albeit in a different position, but many, including the prime minister, will no longer be part of the government, and in Mr. Olmert’s case, no longer part of Knesset either.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
The al-Hayat newspaper has reported progress in the talks towards a prisoner exchange deal with Israel. It now appears, at least according to unconfirmed Arab media reports, Hamas is now willing to comply with Israeli demands that some of the released terrorists are exiled abroad due to Israeli fears if permitted to reenter PA (Palestinian Authority) autonomous areas, they will return to their terrorist activities.
Arab media sources report the “coming 48 hours are critical” and will determine if the outgoing Olmert administration will close a deal to bring Shalit home or not.
Special envoy Ofir Dekel on motzei Shabbos returned to Egypt, lending a modicum of credibility to the Arab media reports, with the Prime Minister’s Office confirming Dekel’s presence in Egypt, but declining comment on any of the information and rumors.
The daily Yisrael HaYom reports the Islamic Jihad website reports a deal is about to be closed on a prisoner release agreement.
The Shalit family is not commenting but the reports of an imminent deal may result in bereaved families resuming activities opposed to the release of terrorists from Israeli prisons.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
In response to Pat Oliphant’s anti-Semitic, syndicated cartoon (reported HERE on YWN) which appeared in newspapers across the country last Wednesday, Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) today sent a letter to Mr. Sig Gissler, administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes and Mr. Lee C. Bollinger, president of Columbia University, urging them and the other members of the Pulitzer Prize Review Board to revoke Pat Oliphant’s 1967 Pulitzer Prize Award for Editorial Cartooning. The Pulitzer Prizes, which, according to the official website, honor “excellence in journalism and the arts since 1917,” are administered by Columbia University.
In his letter, Hikind wrote, “Mr. Oliphant has a history of producing hateful and mean-spirited cartoons which are offensive to many different ethnic groups. His most recent work serves only to demonize Israel, and to empower terror organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah which seek the destruction of Israel. The Pulitzer Prizes are ostensibly about recognizing those who have demonstrated excellence in journalism and the arts. Mr. Oliphant has done nothing more than consistently generate irresponsible and disparaging cartoons, and as such, has not met the standard of excellence as set forth by Mr. Joseph Pulitzer. His 1967 award should be revoked immediately.”
Hikind, a child of Holocaust survivors, noted that Oliphant’s cartoon employs imagery and themes reminiscent of Nazi-era propaganda. “Seeing this cartoon published throughout the nation in the year 2009 was simply horrifying,” Hikind said. “It was something straight of Joseph Goebbels’ playbook. I am hopeful that revoking Oliphant’s Pulitzer Prize will send a message to him and other anti-Semites that we do not reward hateful acts in this country.”
(YWN Desk – NYC)
An 83-year-old woman undergoing surgery in December in Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center died two weeks following the procedure, with her death attributed to a unit of A+ blood given to her by mistake. Her blood type was B+. Shortly following surgery the woman began experiencing dyspnea (shortness of breath) and eventually cardiac symptoms, which were too much for her body to overcome.
Eva Yisrael fell at home and fractured a leg, requiring surgical intervention which took place on 15 December. Two units of blood were ordered for the procedure, one of which was used during the operation.
The family reports having received papers verifying the blood bank admitting an error occurred and as a result, Mrs. Yisrael received the wrong blood type. ICU physician Dr. Yoram Bar-Lavi also informed the family of the error, which led to shortness of breath and compromised cardiac output, leading to her petira on 28 December.
The hospital released a statement rejecting any attempt to connect her death to the mistake which occurred two weeks earlier.
According to a Haaretz report, the hospital made an oral report to the Ministry of Health but has yet to file a detailed written report.
The patient was brought in during the predawn hours and underwent an operation for an open fracture requiring the use of surgical screws. She received a local spinal anesthetic. The medical record states that during the operation, the blood bank informed operating room 10 of the error, with the anesthesiologist reporting that while the unit was being infused the patient suffered the shortness of breath which dissipated a short time afterward.
It was Dr. Bar-Lavi who informed her two sons of the error as she was stabilized in an ICU following surgery. The sons explain that to date, they have not received an apology or explanation from anyone in the hospital, calling on the Ministry of Health to launch an official investigation.
Attorney Shai Fuering who represents the family has turned to the Health Ministry’s ombudsman to order an official investigation.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
State Attorney General Menachem Mazuz will respond to the High Court of Justice by Monday regarding the petition of the Movement for Quality Government (MQG) challenging the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as the next foreign minister. The petition maintains that Lieberman is in the midst of a police investigation and therefore, the appointment presents difficulties.
Earlier, Mazuz released his opinion stating that while Lieberman may not receive certain appointments, including justice and public security, he may indeed hold the foreign affairs post in the incoming administration.
Justice Chanan Meltzer has instructed the attorney general to respond by Monday.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
It has been a stormy weekend for Likud officials to put it mildly. Senior faction members are waiting to hear who will receive a cabinet post in the incoming administration. Towards that end of the process the candidates have exhibited restraint, refraining from making comments to the media in the hope of joining the government, realizing there will be disappointment among some. The general atmosphere is one of disapproval, with Likud leaders of the opinion Premier-designate Binyamin Netanyahu was too generous with cabinet posts for the coalition partners, leaving too few for Likud, both quantitatively and qualitatively.
Netanyahu has indeed assembled his coalition, currently numbering 69, but the coalition is far from ideal, realizing not all the MKs of member parties will raise their hands in support of the government. At least three Laborites will not support the coalition, including Ofir Pines, Shelly Yacimovitz and Eitan Cabel. This brings the majority to 66 unless party discipline is directed in a major vote.
While the incoming prime minister prefers to hold the finance minister portfolio himself, to personally guide the nation’s economic rehabilitation, he realizes that he must give it to one of the senior candidates of his party, who are left with little in the way of selection regarding cabinet positions. The leading candidates are Dan Meridor, Yisrael Katz, Dr. Yuval Shteinitz and Silvan Shalom, with the latter leading the internal opposition after being passed over for foreign minister, the post he held in the previous Netanyahu-led administration.
Gideon Saar and Moshe Ya’alon are competing for the education post, which is likely to go to Saar. Ya’alon may become the vice premier and a member of the elite security forums after he willingly stepped down as defense minister-designate to clear the way for Ehud Barak, permitting the coalition deal with Labor.
All total, what remains to Likud are the transportation, environmental affairs, communications ministries and possibly health, depending on talks with Yahadut HaTorah.
Unlike Ya’alon, Shalom however is not as forgiving and is likely to launch major opposition from within if he does not receive the finance post, unwilling to accept a ‘junior’ cabinet position. This could significantly impact Likud and the party’s effectiveness in the new administration, but most agree that the prime minister designate is not about to hand the position to Shalom, his longtime political nemesis.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
ALBANY, N.Y. – Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said late Saturday that New York’s Legislature has agreed to a 2009-10 state budget that will keep school funding flat, restore aid to New York City, and includes increased income tax rates for wealthier New Yorkers.
The agreement announced just before midnight also includes some restoration of proposed cuts in health care and in higher education and includes a bigger bottle law, putting nickel deposits on bottled water under the measure that currently covers only carbonated drinks.
The powerful Manhattan Democrat tells The Associated Press that the spending plan will likely be adopted Tuesday, resulting in an on-time budget.
There is no total yet for the budget but it will include $5 billion in spending cuts and use $5 billion of the federal economic stimulus package to help fill some of the gaps created by rejecting increases in some other taxes and fees.
The temporary income tax increase is projected to provide the state $4 billion in revenue and will end after three years, Silver said.
The deal will add two more tax rates over the current highest rate of 6.85 percent. New Yorkers making more than $300,000 but less than $500,000 would face an income tax rate of 7.85 percent. New Yorkers making more than $500,000 would see a rate of 8.97 percent.
The measure is a compromise of one first pushed by labor unions representing health care workers, teachers and other public employees to avoid cuts to their funding. Proposals on the table last week included a permanent tax rate increase, an increase in the tax rate for all making more than $250,000 a year, and a higher rate still for those making more than $1 million a year.
“Almost all the bills are printed, some are on the (legislators’) desks already, some will be put on the desks momentarily,” Silver said in an interview. “I would say, yes, we have a final agreement.”
The bills will “age” the required period of time for lawmakers and the public to view them and should be voted on by the end of Tuesday, making the April 1 deadline for the first time in three years.
“This is a very difficult budget that reflects the extraordinary challenges we face,” Silver said, noting the budget gap was estimated at $16.5 billion.
Among the few new programs is a $50 million fund to provide low-interest college loans to middle class and lower income families. The idea was first proposed in Paterson’s budget presented in December.
Among the other elements of the deal to be made public Sunday are:
-Flat school aid. Paterson had proposed a 3.3 percent cut in school aid, or about $698 million, but that was filled under the federal economic stimulus plan that required some of New York’s two-year package to fill any cuts to education. However, public schools were expecting to see as much as a $2.5 billion more this year. The projected aid is part of a 2007 law forced by a court ruling that the state failed for decades to fulfill its constitutional duty to adequately fund schools. Silver says schools will get a total of $1.1 billion more in aid than proposed by Paterson.
The state’s powerful teachers unions and the superintendents’ lobby say failure to provided the money that was expected could trigger as many as 8,000 layoffs. The last time schools received less than expected, a half-decade ago, school districts increased local property taxes instead by an average of 10 percent. New Yorkers already pay some of the nation’s highest property taxes.
-Reversing some of the “damaging cuts” in health care, that had hospital advocates warning that hospitals would be closed if Paterson’s proposal wasn’t amended.
-Adding water to the state’s bottle redemption law, which should bring in $118 million in revenue to the state.
-$125 million more to the State University of New York, for a total of $2.5 billion; and $86 million more to the City University of New York to a new total of $1.4 billion in funding.
-Rejects proposals for gas tax and another that would have allowed wine to be sold in supermarkets.
Paterson warns that he expects the deficit to grow by another $3 billion by the end of that fiscal year because forecasts continue to declining tax revenues.
The current budget totals about $120 billion with all state and federal funds.
In mid-December, a month early, Paterson proposed a $121 billion budget to the Legislature that increased overall spending just 1.1 percent — the smallest percentage of growth since Republican Gov. George Pataki’s budget proposal for the 1996-97 fiscal year.
Paterson was trying to reverse years of overspending that produced year-end deficits even in flush years. He was also reacting to the meltdown on Wall Street, on which the state has traditionally depended for 20 percent of its revenues.
Silver said the deal will cut by more than half the $7 billion in taxes and fees that were proposed, even as taxing in time of a recession was blasted Friday by the state Business Council.
“It is impossible to view the emerging budget as a path to economic recovery,” council President Kenneth Adams said Friday before the final deal was struck. “This course will doom New York to lag the rest of the nation when the recovery begins.”
Billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist B. Thomas Golisano sought to derail reports of high spending and high taxing in a visit to the Capitol last week, blaming the Legislature for spending at two and three times inflation even in good fiscal years.
“The state was in trouble long before the recession,” Golisano said. “The recession only exacerbated it.”
(Source: Associated Press)
Eretz Yisroel – The economic crisis impacts many areas of our day-to-day lives, including the cost of finding an appropriate shidduch for sons and daughters. According to the daily Yisrael HaYom, economic realities have compelled setting a ceiling for shidduchim as well, up to $40,000 for a choson and up to $25,000 for a kalah.
According to the report, quoting chareidi journalist Shlomo Septiner, parents are generally expected to cover an apartment and in some cases, a vehicle. “We are talking about tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars”, with the report explaining one seeking a shidduch with yichus and a choson from a prestigious yeshiva must pay accordingly.
A number of individuals in Bnei Brak turned to Maran Rav Shteinman Shlita for assistance, leading to the establishment of a vaad which reportedly set guidelines. The document stipulates that chassanim and kallos in Eretz Yisrael will not exceed the sums mentioned earlier in the article, which the organizers feel is a major breakthrough.
One chareidi askan wishing to remain anonymous stated this attempts to change something “deeply engrained in the chareidi genetics, for good and for bad. The good bochrim will not readily relinquish that which they feel is coming to them”.
Adding to the report, Kol Chai Radio adds that the maximum one can ask for an apartment is NIS 500,000, explaining the impetus for the new limitations comes from the Ponovitz Beis Medresh, with many askanim and avreichim realizing limits must be set due to current realities. Rav Yudkovsky explains Rav Shteinman Shlita has refrained from signing his name for two years, until he felt the tzibur is ready to listen to the new guidelines.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
Two Israelis were reportedly bitten by snakes over the weekend, in Petach Tikvah and Ashdod.
A 60-year-old male was bitten by a snake in Ashdod and transported to hospital in moderate condition. The second case occurred in Petach Tikvah, involving a 15-year-old teen, who was bitten by a Palestinian viper. He was admitted to an intensive care unit in Schneider Children’s Hospital, listed in moderate condition.
Officials recently reported that snake season is upon us and this demands people familiarize themselves with precautions and the appropriate response to an emergency situation.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
The Jerusalem District Court has ordered the terrorist responsible for the attack in Yishuv Itamar in Shomron on June 20, 2002 to pay NIS 60 million to the bereaved family.
Killed in the attack was Rachel Shabo, along with three sons, Neria (16), Tzvika (13) and Avishai (5), as well as neighbor Yosef Twito who came to their aid.
The husband (father) Boaz was out of the home as were other children, Yariv (17), Atara (15), Avia (13) and Asael (8).
Justice Rafi Carmiel ruled the payment was punishment and an added deterrence to future attacks.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
The Times Online reports the attack against a Hamas weapons convoy in Sudan was carried out by Israeli drones, pilotless aircraft. The attack destroyed the convoy which was carrying missiles capable of reaching Tel Aviv and the Dimona nuclear facility.
“The unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) attacked two convoys, killing at least 50 smugglers and their Iranian escorts. All the lorries carrying the long-range rockets were destroyed. Had the rockets been delivered to Hamas, the militant Islamic group that controls Gaza, they would have dramatically raised the stakes in the conflict, enabling Palestinians to wreak terror on Tel Aviv.
“The raids were carried out by Hermes 450 drones. One source claimed they were accompanied by giant Eitan UAVs, which have a 110ft wingspan, similar to that of a Boeing 737. The drones, controlled via satellite, can hover over a target for 24 hours. The Hermes 450 squadron is based at the Palmahim air base, south of Tel Aviv, but it remains unclear from which airfield they took off.”
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss is completing a report pertaining to efforts to obtain the release of Jonathan Pollard. Part of the report is based on testimony from Pollard’s father, Prof. Morris Pollard, who came to Israel to testify in November, adding his statements to some 25 others interviewed for the comprehensive report, which concludes the governments of Israel did not do enough to obtain his release. Some of the public officials questioned for the report, which will remain classified, include former prime ministers.
Most of the classified report will not be released to the general public and it was prepared by the security division of the State Comptroller’s Office, headed by retired IDF major-general, Mendy Ohr.
Former defense ministers and other senior government ministers were investigated in the scope of the report, seeking to learn what was done in Israel and perhaps more importantly, in the United States towards obtaining Pollard’s release.
While the comptroller does not state conclusively that efforts fell short, he does signal the government could have and should have done more, stating efforts on Pollard’s behalf were “barely enough” the daily HaMevaser reports.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
Tensions among senior Likud officials are running high as it appears there are only a handful of ministerial appointments remaining after the coalition signed on a number of parties, Yisrael Beitenu, Shas, Labor, and Bayit HaYehudi.
Veteran Likud MK Michael Eitan on Sunday expressed confidence that one of these appointments will go to him. “I do not know which portfolio I will receive but I am quite certain I will receive something” he commented in a Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) interview.
Eitan stated it is only natural to see his colleagues all vying for the ministerial appointments, adding if Likud has 10 posts, he does not envision a situation in which he will not receive a ministerial post.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
IDF soldiers involved in counter-terror operations throughout Yehuda and Shomron arrested four suspects.
**Jerusalem court on Sunday to hear the appeal from Kiryat Yovel residents wishing to continuing davening in temporary shul set up for Shabbos in an apartment. Jerusalem City Hall has issued an order prohibiting the Shabbos tefillos.
**Arabs in Israel and the PA autonomous areas will on Monday observe Land Day, which commemorates the killing of six Arabs during violent riots in Kafr Kassam in 1976.
**208 PA (Palestinian Authority) illegals were apprehended over the weekend inside pre-1967 Green Line Israel by border police along with four employers, five drives and two people providing lodging for the illegals. The PA residents were sent back to autonomous areas. The Israelis will face criminal charges.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
MK (Ichud HaLeumi) Prof. Aryeh Eldad, a member of the transition Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee, is demanding the committee address last week’s police raid on the unauthorized Shomron outpost Gilad Farm, in which police disguised themselves as Arabs, provoking an incident which led to arrests.
Kfar Saba Magistrate’s Court Justice David Gadol ruled that the actions of police were “provocative”, leading to the residents of the outpost to begin throwing rocks at them. The court admonished the unacceptable behavior of police, who tried to entrap the residents of the outpost.
The court also agreed with the defense counsel, who stated the move by police, disguising themselves as Arabs and driving a vehicle with PA (Palestinian Authority) license plates placed themselves in unjustifiable danger following the recent fatal terror attack in the Jordan Valley in which two policemen were murdered. The ‘Arabs’ tried entering the outpost, stating they needed to repair a flat tire but the vehicle’s tires were all fine.
The court released the defendants and harshly criticized the tactics of police, adding the actions placed innocent lives in danger.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
12:50 am:
A commercial store has been burglarized early Sunday morning in Flatbush. NYPD is on the scene at 1402 Kings Highway at the Steve Madden shoe store, units have requested ESU to respond for the rooftop search.
(JewishMainStreet.com )
Mayor Michael Bloomberg is kicking his re-election campaign into high gear as he opens campaign offices in all five boroughs this weekend.
The mayor opened campaign offices in the Bronx and Forest Hills, Queens on Saturday, and is expected to open offices in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island on Sunday.
The Bronx and Queens campaign offices were packed with supporters who carried signs and cheered “Four more years!” at the mayor’s arrival.
The mayor avoided criticism of his rivals, touted some of his most well-known initiatives and claimed the city has greatly improved under his administration.
“Do you remember life without 311? Neither do I,” he said. “Do you remember when you had to breathe someone else’s cigarette smoke? I remember that.”
He also stressed the need to continue his executive agenda.
“We’ve got an awful lot of work to do, but if we put New York ahead from partisan politics, if we go out and to explain to everybody, there may not be any easy, painless way, but there is a right way,” continued Bloomberg. “The right way of hard work, and being accountable and being inclusive, of knowing that we can do it if we can just pull together.”
The billionaire mayor does not need campaign contributions, but he asked the gathered crowds to offer as much time as they could to aid his campaign.
“I need you to help me. Come out, volunteer, make calls, knock on doorbells, hand out literature in the subway and bus stops. Get involved and stay involved,” he said.
His staff has been working at the Manhattan headquarters since January.
The latest campaign filings show Bloomberg has spent nearly $3 million on his re-election bid so far, and his operation is significantly larger than his competitors.
The mayor’s chief Democratic rival, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, hopes to catch up soon by tapping into the Democratic Party’s political networks.
“We’re going to have 30, 40 offices throughout the city. We’re going to go against [Bloomberg] toe to toe,” said Eduardo Castell, Thompson’s campaign manager. “We’re going to earn it, he’s going to buy it.”
Bloomberg’s new offices opened as he appears to be close to an agreement to run once again on the controversial Independence Party line.
Two founding members of the party said Friday that they will back Bloomberg’s bid to become the Independent nominee for mayor and are encouraging the rest of the party to formally endorse him.
In exchange, Bloomberg has agreed to reconsider the viability of nonpartisan elections. He also agreed to try to settle a dispute between the state and city factions of the Independence Party.
The mayor pushed the city council to change the term limits law last year, enabling him and other officials to run for third terms.
(Source: NY1)
Critics are calling it unpatriotic to abandon the “Freedom Tower” name for an iconic skyscraper rising at ground zero.
Former Gov. George Pataki gave the 1,776-foot tower its name in a speech two years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. He says the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is “outrageous” for deciding to call the tower One World Trade Center.
Newspaper editorials also have blasted the name change.
Officials had said the tower symbolized America’s resilience and commitment to freedom after terrorists destroyed the trade center in 2001. But some also said the building’s name made it a new terrorist target. It is to be New York’s tallest tower.
The Port Authority says it is making a practical decision to market the tower to commercial tenants.
(Source: Associated Press)
It seems like we’re pawns in a game of political chicken that is about to be decided. The loaded gun that is the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s doomsday plan has apparently gotten the attention of Albany, Gov. David Paterson in particular.
Flanked by Assembly and Senate leaders in Albany on Friday, Paterson didn’t mince words.
“We are now on the verge of service cuts and fare hikes that are life-threatening and with a situation like that everything is on the table,” Paterson said.
That means they are back to considering everything from new tolls on previously toll-free East River and Harlem River bridges as well as a state-wide income tax surcharge.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver prefers the new tolls to help defray MTA costs, but members of the upper house, like Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. of the Bronx are adamantly opposed to such tolls and claim they are closing on a deal to secure the surcharge as an MTA bailout.
Leading a small group of protesters at the Macomb’s Dam Bridge near Yankee Stadium, Espada told CBS 2 HD that he and is colleagues will be in negotiations through weekend and are offering upstate lawmakers a larger slice of federal stimulus money for projects that include a high-speed rail connection between Albany and Niagara Falls.
Espada said it’s a design to encourage “an economy that’s readily available to the folks in upstate New York.” With high speed rail, he said, “jobs that are eight hours away would be two hours away.”
Appearing on this Sunday’s edition of “Eye on New York,” MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger said he has no preference as to which of the plans get approved.
“We don’t have any religious belief in a particular plan,” he said. “We just need the money.”
Angry critics of the MTA, though, insist it’s the giant agency’s own ambitious borrowing binge that has put the state and transit users in this tough position.
Whoever is to blame, someone has to pay the cost. We should find out the precise manner in which the bill will arrive by Tuesday.
(Source: WCBSTV)
Property tax relief without the gimmickry.
That’s what lawmakers in the New Jersey Assembly have in mind as they seek to replace politically popular rebate checks with tax bill credits.
Legislation sponsored by Assemblyman John Burzichelli, D-Thorofare, would eliminate property tax rebate checks mailed to homeowners and renters each fall.
His bill would replace the rebate checks with a property tax credit system that would automatically credit property tax bills for whatever amount the resident is entitled to receive.
Gov. Jon S. Corzine has proposed eliminating rebates for New Jerseyans earning more than $75,000 a year, but retaining them for senior citizens and the disabled. His budget requires approval from the Legislature.
(Source: AP)
