Yeshiva World News

While PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) continues lobbying efforts towards inclusion in UNESCO, it is becoming increasingly clear the PA lacks a majority in the Security Council. Hence, many view the pressure towards being accepted by UNESCO as a backdoor attempt to gain acceptance into the United Nations.

The US congress has signaled it stands behind the White House in its opposition to any PA unilateral measures towards achieving statehood, committed to the continued negotiating process with Israel and the so-called two-state solution.

As such, the Americans have signaled to UNESCO officials that acceptance of the PA would result in a cessation of US funding. America currently infuses $70 million annually into UNESCO, representing about 20% of the organization’s operating budget.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Despite the good diplomatic relations between Berlin and Jerusalem, when it comes to Israel building new homes in its capital, Germany stands firmly opposed, along with most of the international community. While Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu denied a diplomatic fallout existed between the countries over the construction issue, it appears relations at present are strained at best.

When Israel recently announced plans to build 1,100 housing units in the Gilo neighborhood of the capital, the news was met with a round of condemnations, including Israel’s strongest allies, the United States and Germany among those allies.

It appears that Germany however is unwilling to accept the construction decision as a fait accompli, with Berlin flexing it military armor muscle, now stating that if Israel does not back down from its decision, Germany may have to reconsider an order for another nuclear submarine, which would be the sixth received by the Israel Navy from Germany.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Chabad spokesman Rabbi Menachem Brod, editor of the weekly ‘Sichat HaShavua’ has spoken out against the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal. R’ Brod states that it was expected, that after the jubilation surrounding Gilad’s return home safe and sound the difficult questions would be asked.

Rabbi Brod explains that beyond the obvious, much was lost in this deal, values, including the concept that was once held in high regard, that Jewish blood is not cheap. Heads of the various agencies vowed to members of bereaved families during shiva visits that they would not rest until the outstretched hand of the Israeli system apprehended those responsible for the heinous acts of terrorism. These very same bereaved families feel betrayed and deceived today.

Rabbi Brod ponders what happened to our commitment to a tenacious war against terrorism. For years, Israel taught the world the true value of this concept, but today, the world stares at us in shock, incapable of understanding what changed and how we permit the terrorists to emerge with this victory in hand.

What about the value we place on human life? That is why we are all rejoicing with the Shalits but what about the tears that will be shed in the future as a result of this act?

It is now clear that the murderers released did not sign on any commitment to refrain from future terrorism, and barring a miracle that is exactly what they will do, return to slaughtering Jews. But behind the future bereaved families there is no public relations firm, organized media effort or tee-shirts to brainwash the tzibur.

There is another value that was once cherished, that has also been trampled with this deal. With our own hands we have turned these heinous bloodthirsty terrorists into “prisoners” and “security prisoners”. The “prisoner exchange deal” as it was called involved bloodthirsty criminals, brutal terrorists that have been turned into legitimate fighters for a cause. The moral consciousness has been lost. Terrorists serving their sentences are now ‘prisoners of war’.

The foundation for the war against terror is to remove the legitimacy that surrounds it today. Terrorism is not a part of any legitimate struggle of any part of humanity. One who chooses terror as a means to an end and strikes out against civilians has removed himself from the family called ‘civilized nations’ and is now counted among the ‘sub-human’. The rules of play of the civilized world do not apply to these people and from here on in, an all-out war must be waged against such people. This is the principle behind the war waged by enlightened nations in Afghanistan, Iraq and against other pro-terror regimes.

The wholesale release of terrorists results in a fatal blow to the legitimacy of this battle against terror. The brothers of these despicable terrorists view them as heroes. The PA (Palestinian Authority), with whom we signed peace agreements, pays them salaries and bonuses towards proving they are soldiers imprisoned by the enemy. With the release of these murderers we too accepted this position in total contradiction to our Parsha, (Bereishis 9:6): “Whoever sheds the blood of a man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of G-d He made man.”

“שופך דם האדם באדם דמו יישפך, כי בצלם אלוקים עשה את האדם”.

This article will appear in the coming week’s Chabad Sichat HaShavua. 

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

The White House first official response to its “We the People” initiative addresses the petition that the government should force lenders to forgive and/or help people pay off student loans. The issue gathered 32,008 signatures, which is more than the 25,000 signatures needed within thirty days of its initiation to earn a response.

The response is by Roberto Rodriguez, Special Assistant to the President for Education Policy. It largely explains the President’s new student loan plan which will not flatly forgive loans. However it is designed to help people pay off some student debt over a period of time. Due do posting a response, the petition was closed.

In the mean time, the issue regarding Sholom Rubashkin, the second strongest at the White House site, gathered 51,971 signatures. However, since no official response has been made public at this time, the petition is therefore still open and can still be signed HERE.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Two Gush Dan area teenagers are in custody, apparently for making off with Bnei Brak area street signs. The youths are not sign collectors, but they take them for their metallic value.

It began with phone calls to the city’s ‘moked’ dispatcher, with residents reporting youths standing on a ladder, busying themselves with the street signs on Tiveria Street. The residents apparently never suspected the youths were trying to make off with the signs.

When some passersby questioned the youths, they boldly responded that the city decided to change the name of the street, and they were implementing the work of removing the old signs. When police arrived and inspected the youth’s vehicle, they found many signs from a number of streets. They were taken into custody and the vehicle impounded.

It appears the suspects in custody are PA (Palestinian Authority) residents from Shechem, who were inside “Israel proper” illegally.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Rajat K. Gupta, a former Goldman Sachs director who surrendered to the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday morning, was charged with insider trading, the latest development in the government’s multiyear crackdown on illegal activity on Wall Street.

Mr. Gupta, 62, is accused of leaking corporate secrets on Goldman Sachs to the hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, the Galleon Group co-founder who was sentenced to 11 years in prison this month for making tens of millions of dollars through insider trading. A federal grand jury in Manhattan charged Mr. Gupta with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and five counts of securities fraud, all related to tips on Goldman Sachs in 2008.

“Rajat Gupta was entrusted by some of the premier institutions of American business to sit inside their boardrooms, among their executives and directors, and receive their confidential information so that he could give advice and counsel for the benefit of their shareholders,” Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement. “As alleged, he broke that trust and instead became the illegal eyes and ears in the boardroom for his friend and business associate, Raj Rajaratnam, who reaped enormous profits from Mr. Gupta’s breach of duty.”

In charging Mr. Gupta, the government is tying up one of the biggest loose ends resulting from the investigation into the Galleon Group, which began nearly five years ago at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Gary P. Naftalis, a lawyer for Mr. Gupta, said in a statement on Tuesday: “The facts demonstrate that Mr. Gupta is an innocent man and that he acted with honesty and integrity.”

Authorities have broadly pursued insider trading on Wall Street, exacting guilty pleas from a chemist at the Food and Drug Administration, among others, as recently as this month. In the past two years, authorities have charged 56 people with insider trading, including Mr. Gupta; of those, 51 have pleaded guilty or have been convicted of swapping illegal tips about company earnings and other major corporate events. While the majority of those charged have been traders and analysts on Wall Street, Mr. Gupta, 62, is the first executive to be implicated from the upper echelons of corporate America.

The charges are a stunning reversal of fortunes for Mr. Gupta. A native of India, he graduated from Harvard Business School and had a global profile as an adviser to some of the nation’s most iconic companies. He served as a director at Goldman, Procter & Gamble and the parent company of American Airlines. In addition to his professional pedigree, Mr. Gupta was a noted philanthropist, serving in coveted posts with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Mr. Gupta’s case has been a tricky one for the government. Though his name came up repeatedly at Mr. Rajaratnam’s trial, both in testimony and in secretly recorded phone conversations, the Justice Department never filed charges against him. The S.E.C. filed an administrative action against Mr. Gupta, and he countersued. The agency later dropped the civil proceedings, but reserved the right to refile the case.

On Wednesday, the S.E.C. filed a complaint against Mr. Gupta and Mr. Rajaratnam, alleging an “extensive insider trading scheme.”

READ MORE: NY TIMES

According to Israel’s Reshet Bet Radio, the victim in the Wednesday morning chareidi lynching attack in Geula told people around him that rumors have it that the Gur Chassidim were coming to take revenge against him and others.

Speaking on Reshet Bet, Meah Shearim resident Yosef Kroizer lamented the events; adding the beatings do nothing to enhance the honor of the Gur or any other rebbe for that matter. He added that he is certain the Rebbe is unaware of the events as if they were in his defense, and sadly, those who perpetrate such actions do not seek approval from rabbonim before they act.

Kroizer concluded that when a neighbor with internet showed him the photos of the beaten chossid, it reminded him of the recent media photos of the slain Libyan leader. He stated there was no justification to come to shul on Shabbos morning looking for a fight, and certainly no justification to beat a man in the street, questioning where this gang violence is leading.

Jerusalem Police spokesman Shmulik Ben-Ruby stated the entire matter surrounds the real estate dispute in Batei Warsaw, involving Gur and the victim. He adds that as we speak, there are undercover agents inside Meah Shearim who are the eyes and ears of police, working to apprehend those responsible.

To date, nine people were arrested, all sikrikim, no one from Gur, but he expects additional arrests are imminent, but adding they do not know the identities of the Gerrer Chassidim responsible for the latest incident.

Ben-Ruby told Israel Radio that chareidi rabbis and leaders oppose this violence and it should be clear to all that this is simply unacceptable.

Attorney Yair Nehorai, who represents the victim, Avraham Chaim Hirschman and other sikrikim is critical of police, stating he sent a letter on October 19th warning that his client is in danger surrounding the ongoing dispute over Batei Warsaw and the hekdesh. He added that there are those who believe his client is responsible for incidents in which the integrity of the son of the Gerre Rebbe Shlita was compromised, and this just is not so.

He called on police to take immediate action towards preventing an escalation in the violence. Today he asks senior police commanders “Where were you. The writing was on the wall!”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Rav Nachman Kletzky, the father of Leiby A”H, made a shiva visit to Maran HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky Shlita. Upon hearing of the petira of the rebitzen, Batsheva Esther Kanievsky ob”m on chol hamoed Sukkos, R’ Nachman booked a flight for Eretz Yisrael, heading for Bnei Brak.

He arrived to find a packed house, a short time before maariv. He remained to daven with the minyan, then asking to be permitted in to comfort the Rav. One of the family members recognized him, asking why he was in Eretz Yisrael at present, receiving the response that he came especially for the shiva visit.

They asked why he felt the need to travel so far for a shiva visit, and were told that when he was sitting shiva for his son, R’ Chaim and the rebitzen sent him a letter, seeking to comfort him during the most difficult time. He thought that it was only proper that now that he can provide some comfort for the Rav that he do so. Actually, he explained that during the shiva he received 25,000 letters from around the world, but the letter from the Rav and the rebitzen was particularly touching, having a profound impact on him.

During his visit, Rav Kanievsky explained “We don’t know Hashem’s cheshbonos. I am certain that Leibi was a gilgul of a very high neshama”. R’ Nachman lamented the fact that Leibi was his only son, to which the Rav responded with a bracha, that he should merit seeing additional sons in this world, adding that IY”H, they will be gedolei yisrael.

Earlier in the day, R’ Nachman visited with Maran HaGaon HaRav Aaron Yehuda Leib Shteinman Shlita, where he also met with Rav Amnon Yitzchak.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Republican Josh Wander is running for the Pittsburgh city council, but on Tuesday, he dabbled on some carpentry while trying to use plywood to cover his windows.

Wander said at about 3 p.m. Tuesday, someone smashed the front windows of his campaign office on Forward Avenue in Squirrel Hill.

“It is my campaign headquarters, and it is very visible right on this major intersection. I have no doubt that it had some political implications,” Wander said.

According to a report by WPXI, Wander says police told him that the windows were probably shot at with a a BB gun.

Wander’s opponent, Democrat Corey O’Connor, however, said that there’s no way one of his supporters could have done it.

“My volunteers and my campaign, (we’re) just hard working individuals and we really have just got our message out there that we’re the best person for this job,” O’Connor said.

O’Connor said over the summer, a window was smashed in his campaign office just up the street.

“There must be somebody in the neighborhood doing something like this. I know there was somebody running around the streets a couple of weeks ago throwing rocks at people,” O’Connor said.

Wander, however, is convinced that it is the work of someone who doesn’t like his politics, and he wants it to stop.

“I hope that this doesn’t continue because whether it be an overzealous supporter of my opponent or whoever it may be, this is just shameful for the city of Pittsburgh,” Wander said.

Police are looking at surveillance footage from a gas station across the street, to try and apprehend the perpetrators.

Wander is Shomer Shabbos, and the only Republican running for Pittsburgh City Council.

(Source: WTAE)

The Orthodox Jewish-run Brooklyn bus company that stuck women in the back seats is putting an end to the controversial practice after a reprimand from the city.

The Private Transportation Corp. — which runs the Williamsburg-to- Borough Park B110 bus — wrote a letter to the Department of Transportation promising to instruct drivers not to move women to the back.

Operators pay the city more than $20,000 a year to run the line as part of a 30-year-old franchising agreement, which specifically forbids discrimination.

(Source: NY Post)

It appears that a ‘clarification’ appearing in the Wednesday, 28 Tishrei edition of Yated Ne’eman only serves to dig a larger hole for the newspaper following its Sukkos ‘interview’ with HaGaon HaRav Moshe Sternbuch Shlita, who is the “Raavad” of the Eidah Charedis, .

The story surrounds an interview that was published on erev Yomtov that was allegedly between the newspaper and Rav Sternbach, stating the interview was held in the Rav’s study with the knowledge and approval of the Rav’s family.

Prior to publication, the family of the Raavad released a statement that there was no interview and the claim that Yated sat with the Rav was simply not based in fact.

Now, realizing the need to correct the situation, Yated published a ‘clarification’ in the name of the columnist, stating “regarding the article on HaGaon HaRav Moshe Sternbuch Shlita in the erev Sukkos edition, the questions to the Rav were submitted in writing to the Rav’s son, Rav Asher Shlita, and the responses were returned to the newspaper by the Rav’s son in the Beis Din building. I was invited to the beis din to receive the responses. The article was sent to the family for approval prior to publication, and it was authorized with a number of requested changes. The interview was not conducted in the Rav’s office as was indicated”.

As far as members of the Gavaad’s family are concerned the clarification does little to set the record straight, with Kikar Shabbat quoting a statement released: “It appears that Yated has chosen to continue lying even while issuing a clarification. There is no doubt that the entire interview was plagiarized word for word from another newspaper”.

NOTE: The Israeli Yated is not associated in anyway with the American Yated.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

A Toldos Aaron avreich was arrested on Tuesday, 27 Tishrei, in Meah Shearim in connection to an assault against a photographer. A HOT News TV crew arrived in the community on Yomtov to cover the story of the gender segregation in Meah Shearim during Sukkos.

Police report they have evidence that ties to young man in custody to the assault. The suspect is being arraigned today, 28 Tishrei.

According to defense attorney Yair Nehorai, he client denies any connection to the incident, adding he was not present when the alleged assault occurred.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Israel’s response to yesterday’s (27 Tishrei) request for aid from Turkey was immediate, and efforts have been ongoing since Tuesday afternoon to prepare a 747 cargo plane to bring the badly-needed equipment to rescue workers in Turkey.

A powerful earthquake earlier in the week has resulted in much devastation as the death toll closes in on the 500 number; however it appears the decision that compelled Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to seek Israeli assistance was the growing anti-government sentiment among the thousands left homeless due to the quake.

Israel will not be sending rescue personnel, at least not today, for the request from Ankara was for equipment, including temporary homes that will offer shelter to the homeless. These are special structures made for this purpose, and they can be immediately connected to a water and electric grid, to enable those benefiting from the shelter to live relatively normally, capable of being placed down in almost any terrain.

Turkey only asked for aid in the form of equipment at this time, and therefore, the IDF’s Homefront Command search & rescue unit will not be dispatched.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called Erdogan earlier in the week to express his sorrow over the natural disaster, offering any and all Israeli assistance. Some in Israel are somewhat optimistic, with the belief that such an event carries its own ‘diplomatic dynamics’ but most believe that Israel’s willingness to assist will not result in a mending in the current fractured diplomatic relations that exist between Israel and Turkey.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)