Yeshiva World News

A billionaire French hotelier has been shot dead ‘in a professional hit’ in the Paris mansion he bought to showcase his Art Deco collection.

Claude Dray, 76, was found with three bullet holes in the neck in Neuilly-sur-Seine, the Paris suburb where President Nicolas Sarkozy built his career and still owns property.

He was found by his butler dressed only in a T-shirt and shorts, in his bedroom at 9am on Tuesday.

Bullet cartridges were found next to Mr Dray, with detectives saying they were fired from a pistol which was around 15 years old. No weapon was found.

There were no signs of a struggle and nothing was stolen from the palatial ‘Villa Madrid’, which is considered to be one of the most secure houses the French capital.

Police said it had the hallmarks of a ‘professional hit.’

‘Somebody got in and fired three bullets into the victim’s neck,’ said one detective at the scene, adding that a silencer had likely been used as domestic staff heard nothing.

 His wife, Simone, was in the US, where four years ago her husband bought the famous National Hotel in South Beach, Miami.
Mr Dray, one of the most prominent Jews in France, also owned the Hotel de Paris in St Tropez, one of the most popular celebrity institutions on the French Riviera, as well as a string of other hotels around the world.

He had bought Villa Madrid in 1990 as he and his wife built up a vast Art Deco collection of furniture and other objects, which featured some 25 pieces by Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann alone.

READ MORE: DAILY MAIL UK

Avraham Hirschman, who was beaten by Gur Chassidim in Geula earlier in the week spoke with Chadrei Chareidim from his Hadassah Ein Kerem bed.

“I left the Har Tzvi Shul with two others and suddenly, a group of 15 people, Gerrer Chassidim, some wearing masks, attacked me. They had metallic rods and sticks and began beating me. At first, they ran after me and began beating me all over my body. A number of chassidim were standing at the side and watching. They seem to have been “out-lookers”, making sure no one came to assist me.

I davened to Hashem to save me, as quickly as possible. I tried to defend myself and suddenly, I heard the shouts of passers-by who were shouting at the people beating me. I know that some people were there and saw and can identify some of the attackers.

The escalation of violence in Meah Shearim between the sikrikim and Gerrer Chassidim have reached unprecedented levels. Unfortunately, the old time residents of the community are once again victims, as they are when garbage bins are burned and roads are closed in protests. The new generation chossid seems to live by a different code, and the respect, tolerance and modesty of yesteryear is a thing of the past. The conflict regarding the hekdesh and Batei Warsaw is not about to be resolved any day soon, and it involves a great deal of money, power and control. Hence, the battle is just getting underway.

Police are actively investigating the beating of Hirschman, which some say was justified while others express outrage, but what is certain is that the violence plaguing Meah Shearim and the surrounding areas is just beginning, not ending.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Radical preacher Raed Salah could be kicked out of the country within days after a court ruled he had no right to be in Britain. In a personal victory for Home Secretary Theresa May, an immigration tribunal found Salah was guilty of ‘fostering hatred’. His presence in the country could lead to ‘inter-community violence’, the tribunal found.

Salah, a self-styled Palestinian ‘sheikh’, was banned from entering Britain in June this year. But just days later, he waltzed through immigration controls at Heathrow.

After three days in which he was free to speak to supporters across the country, he was finally arrested and put in immigration detention. But he was released on bail while wearing an electronic tag.

He was accused in Parliament of ‘virulent anti-Semitism’ and in the past has claimed the Israeli government was responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

Mrs May said his presence here was not ‘conducive to the public good’ because of his extremist statements.

In its ruling, the tribunal made clear removing him was in the public interest and said he had engaged in ‘unacceptable behaviour’.
 
They said: ‘We are satisfied that the appellant’s words and actions tend to be inflammatory, divisive, insulting, and likely to foment tension and radicalism.’

Salah has several days to appeal to the High Court and then another 72 hours before he can be deported, so the earliest he could be on a plane is next Friday.

A Home Office spokesman said: ‘We will seek to deport him at the earliest opportunity.’

(Source: Daily Mail UK)

Israel has handed over 25 Egyptian nationals imprisoned in Israel as part of the Ilan Grapel prisoner exchange deal. Grapel is still in Egypt, in Israeli hands, currently with MK Yoel Hasson and attorney Yitzchak Molcho, the prime minister’s personal emissary. 

Foreign media reports earlier today, Thursday, 29 Tishrei, indicated that Grapel’s mother, a New Yorker, traveled to Cairo ahead of the prisoner exchange to be with her son, who has been in Egyptian custody since June.

Grapel, a member of the radical left-wing, holds American and Israeli citizenship. He was raised in New York City, and made the decision to come to Israel and serve in the IDF. He was a member of the paratroop corps and fought in the Second Lebanon War, during which he was wounded in a hand and shoulder.

According to his Wikipedia bio, “Ilan Grapel is a dual US-Israeli citizen, originally from Queens, New York. In 2005, Grapel graduated from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in international studies. He then moved to Israel and performed compulsory military service in Israel. During his service he was wounded in the 2006 Lebanon War. Grapel later returned to US for law school, enrolling in Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. His mother, Irene, said her son “always wanted to do good for the world.” As part of this commitment, she said, he learned Arabic at Johns Hopkins and went to Egypt to help in the re-settlement of people from Arab countries who were displaced. She added, “Ilan is a young man who wanted to see all sides of every issue. In the summer of 2002, Grapel interned in the Queens office of Democratic Congressman Gary Ackerman, who has lobbied for his release.

Baruch Hashem, he is now a free man, unfortunately at great cost to Israel, both in the release of prisoners to Egypt and military armament that will be sold to Egypt by the USA, part of the deal, further shifting the balance of power in the Mideast, not in Israel’s favor.

More than a few Israelis are angered over yet another prisoner release deal, telling Israel Radio that he was arrested and charged with being a Mossad agent because he deiced to get involved in Egyptian politics, due to his leftist agenda. They feel Israel should not have been involved in the affair and left if for the US Department of State.

Others feel that he is a citizen, one who fought in the IDF, and therefore, obligated the government to act on his behalf.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Protesters stormed through downtown Manhattan on Wednesday night to proclaim solidarity with fellow demonstrators who were forced out of encampments in Oakland, Calif., and Atlanta, Ga.

The drama unfolded when about 400 Occupy Wall Street protesters marched from Zuccotti Park to City Hall only to be met by a swarm of cops about 9 p.m.

The crowd quickly rerouted and began walking up Broadway towards Union Square only to be met by a police barricade near Reade St.

As organizers tried in vain to call off the march, scores of demonstrators splintered off and broke through a wall of cops – some of them even swiping a roll of orange netting used to kettle the large crowd.

“We wanted to go to City Hall to show solidarity with Oakland,” said Katama Rose, 22. “We wanted to come out and talk about how that wasn’t okay.”

But when protesters were held at bay by cops, “that’s when everything broke loose,” Rose said.

At least 10 people were arrested as the wild mob took to the streets towards Union Square chanting, “Oakland to NYC, stop police brutality.”

The group clogged traffic for several blocks in Soho and Greenwich Village after some urged fellow protesters to disobey police orders to stay on the sidewalks.

“We were blocking traffic, linked arm to arm,” said Patrick Bruner, 23.

Andy Davenport, 26, encouraged protesters to ignore police “because it’s in direct contradiction to the law,” he said. “This is how you fight the police state.”

The protesters dispersed once they made it to Union Square about 11 p.m. and many took the subway back to Zuccotti Park, where tensions had died down considerably.

The demonstrators were rallying for support after hundreds of protesters were pushed out of their encampment near the Oakland city hall by an army of cops and tear gas.

Several people were injured during the clash, including Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen, who suffered a cracked skull in the chaos.

The 24-year-old Marine was in critical condition after he was struck by an unknown object. It was not clear who threw the object, but Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said the incident would be probed as vigorously as a fatal police shooting, the Associated Press reported.

(Source: NY Daily News)

A number of hours before the Ilan Grapel prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Egypt, the PA (Palestinian Authority) Maan news agency published additional details of the deal, which will significantly benefit the new Egyptian regime.

The United States will be giving Egypt F-16 fighter planes as part of the deal, ironically now, after the fall of President Hosni Mubarak. Despite maintaining good relations with the White House, Mubarak’s request for the fighter planes was rejected. It appears Egyptian and American officials met during recent days, during which time they finalized the final details of the deal.

Egyptian media reports over recent days hinted at additional perks from the Americans to the Egyptians for the release of Grapel, who maintains both Israeli and American citizenship.

Back in Israel, the Supreme Court on Wednesday, 28 Tishrei, rejected petitions from terror victims to block the deal, an expected decision. Many are angered over the release of 25 prisoners for Grapel, explaining that while he was a paratrooper, and he was wounded in the Second Lebanon War, he was arrested in Egypt due to his behavior connected to his radical left-wing political philosophy, and that is what got him in trouble.

Some Israelis feel that Israel should not have become involved and Jerusalem should have permitted the United States to deal with the Egyptians exclusively, but this was not the case.

In another prisoner-related matter, media reports in Israel continue to speculate that the next item on the prisoner exchange agenda is America’s release of Jonathan Pollard. Pollard activists are not too quick to become optimistic, having experienced similar periods in the past, as was the case during the Clinton administration in the White House, when everyone was certain that then PM Binyamin Netanyahu was bringing Pollard home, but sadly, this did not occur.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Maran HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky Shlita and the other aveilim will get up from shiva on Thursday morning, 29 Tishrei.

Immediately after shachris neitz minyan, the Rav and family members headed for the Beis Chaim Shomrei Shabbos Zichron Meir in Bnei Brak. According to reports, thousands of women visited the kever of the Rebitzen Batsheva Esther Kanievsky ob”m during shiva.

An atzeres is planned for motzei Shabbos in the Ramat Elchanan auditorium in Bnei Brak which will be attended by Rav Kanievsky. The event will be broadcast live to Jerusalem, Modi’in Illit, Beit Shemesh, Betar Illit and other locations.

The Rav has responded to the many women seeking a direction to increase tznius in practice as well as in classrooms, to teach the halachos in schools. The Rav added that the rebitzen was very careful to be patient with everyone, and this quality should be emulated as much as possible.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

The Brooklyn district attorney is planning to review old arrests made by the eight NYPD officers who were arrested Tuesday on charges of smuggling weapons and illegal goods.

The DA’s office will comb through any cases that involved the officers, who were all charged in federal court with multiple conspiracy counts.

The officers arrested include five active-duty officers assigned to Brooklyn and three retired NYPD officers, although two of the retired officers were active when committing the alleged crimes, prosecutors said.

Most of the officers worked out of the 68th Precinct, which serves the Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Fort Hamilton neighborhoods.

According to the criminal complaint, some of those arrested smuggled 20 firearms as recently as Sept. 22. The cache included three M-16 rifles, one shotgun and 16 handguns, most of which had their serial numbers removed.

One officer bragged to an informant in July, as an associate displayed a shotgun for sale, that it was a “sample” and that they could get anything “from A to Z.”

Several of those arrested are also accused of illegally transporting other stolen goods. The group is accused of transporting stolen slot machines from Atlantic City, N.J., to Port Chester, N.Y., in March. Two months later, they allegedly stole more than 200 cases of cigarettes from trucks in Virginia and hauled them to New York.

(Source: NBC New York)