Yeshiva World News

The Nadvorna Rebbe Shlita was taken to the hospital after he explained he was not feeling well. The rebbe took part in a chasnah of a grandchild last night, the eve of 4 Adar 5772, but this morning explained he was not feeling well and is now listed in serious condition.

The rebbe was hospitalized at the end of January as well and the tzibur is once again asked to be mispallel for Yaakov Yissacher Ber ben Sima Reizel for a refuah shleima b’soch kol cholei am yisrael.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum will receive Secret Service protection this week, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.

At this time, GOP presidential rival Mitt Romney is the sole candidate granted protection.

A spokesman for the Secret Service declined to comment on the matter when contacted by CNN.

Meanwhile, a source with Newt Gingrich’s campaign confirmed the former House speaker also requested protection. The source did not know when the paperwork was submitted but said discussions about putting in the request began last week.

Gingrich’s campaign has not yet received a response from the Secret Service, the source said.

(Source: CNN)

Popular Israel singer Shlomo Artzi was vacationing in Tzfat. On erev Shabbos, 2 Rosh Chodesh Adar 5772, Artzi heard singing coming from the city’s hesder yeshiva and he decided to enter to see what was going on. The tzibur was reciting Hallel with musical accompaniment.

What began as a 2-minute visit for Artzi turned into quite a different reality, and he agreed to put on a yarmulke and remained for two hours. After davening the city’s chief Sephardi rav, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu gave a shiur, which Artzi participated in. He was given a prominent spot aside the rav. “With such light why don’t you go and build the Beis HaMikdosh” he asked.

On Shabbos, Artzi continued the experience and davened in the Abuav Shul in the Holy City.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Lakewood, NJ – What was expected to be a turnout of a few hundred turned out to be an event like never before. Thousands from around the Tri-State area gathered at the Bais Yaakov Hall in Lakewood for the event, which resulted in dozens of confirmed jobs already.

“This was unbelievable”, says Duvi Honig, the founder of the event. “They printed 1,500 booklets which were gone within the first hour”, Duvi says.

Vendors and guests came from places such as Williamsburg, Monsey, Boro Park and even as far as Denver, Colorado and Florida.

Attorney Abe Penzer, one of the key coordinators and behind-the-scenes Askanonim of the event, had nothing but praise for the historic event.

“We’ve exceeded all our expectations”, Attorney Abe Penzer – who himself confimred jobs for 24 guests at the event. “We never expected this.” Hakodosh Baruch was Mezakeh us with a Mitzvah”, Penzer says.

Employers too were overwhelmed with the success of the event.

Despite having LCSW controlling traffic at the building, James Street backed up till about the intersection of Sunset and James, prompting the police to respond and direct the thousands of cars.

Coordinators expect the event to take place at a much larger hall.

READ MORE: TLS

Two soldiers arrived in the emergency room of Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center on Friday night after being assaulted by a group of Arab males. The soldiers, who were not dressed in uniform, were walking near Rambam when the vehicle stopped alongside them and the occupants asked “are you Jewish?” It appears they wished to make absolute certain they two were Jews, asking a number of times.

Once the assailants were satisfied that the intended victims responded correctly to their inquiry, they emerged from the vehicle and began beating them with batons. Police describe the weapons as “metallic rods”. They also wrote Arabic graffiti on the foreheads of one of the victims.

Four suspects, all Haifa residents, are in custody and police are reporting on Sunday morning, February 26, 2012, that additional arrests are expected.

The attack occurred at about 2:00am Shabbos morning (Friday night to Shabbos morning), and the soldiers reportedly sustained soft tissue injuries over a vast areas of their bodies. The soldiers shouted for assistance and hospital security personnel from the medical center responded. The attackers fled the scene. Baruch Hashem security officials arrived when they did, before the two were seriously injured or worse. Both are hospitalized in Rambam.

Senior police commanders are treating the attack as a hate crime and have ordered northern district police to give the case top priority.

In his response to the assault, MK (Ichud HaLeumi) Yaakov Katz questioned why the soldiers did not defend themselves and try fighting back instead of pleading for mercy. He feels their actions attest to the bankrupt education in the IDF today.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Senior IDF officers are signaling their patience are running thin and their responsibility for the safety and well-being for the hundreds of thousands of residents in southern Israel, in rocket range of Gaza, demands they step-up the response to attacks and take action to bring the rocket launches to a halt.

Rockets were fired into Israel at the end of the week, on Shabbos and early Sunday morning. On Shabbos, one rocket landed in a community, Baruch Hashem in an open field. B’chasdei Hashem there were no injuries in the attacks.

In total, during last week and over the weekend, at least twenty Kassam rockets and mortar shells were fired from Gaza into southern Israel. Military officials have released statements to the media that the current situation may not be permitted to continue.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

The government of Jordan has made an official request to purchase Patriot anti-ballistic missile defense systems from Germany. Amman made the request to the German Embassy.

The report appears in the French media, stating Jordan wishes to buy four Patriot batteries which it wishes to deploy near the Syrian border. Amman fears the continued anarchy in Damascus may lead to a military conflict.

According to a HaMevaser report quoting the French Le Figaro newspaper, Germany has turned to Washington to ascertain if the White House has objections to complying with the purchase request and the White House has turned to Israel to see if Jerusalem is okay with Jordan acquiring the Patriots.

Since the Gulf War, the United States has been protecting Jordan with Patriots but now Amman wishes to purchase the system. The system was designed by the United States and therefore, under the terms of the sale of the Patriots, Germany must receive US approval before selling the system to Jordan.

The report signals this appears to be a formality and the US is expected to approve the request towards completing the deal between Berlin and Amman.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

A Jerusalem Conference is being hosted in Qatar, attended by parliamentarians from 70 nations including representatives from Hamas (Gaza), Iran, and Islamic nations.

The prince of Qatar, who addressed the opening of the event, explained “Without Jerusalem there cannot be peace”. He called upon the Arab League to turn to the United Nations Security Council to establish a committee that will probe Israeli crimes in Jerusalem.

Also taking part in the conference are Israeli Arab MKs, such as Dr. Ahmed Tibi and Talab Al-Sana.

In his address to the forum, MK Tibi accused Israel or preventing Arabs from practicing religious freedom and cited they are oppressed under Israeli rule.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Ravaad Eida Chareidis HaGaon HaRav Moshe Sternbuch Shlita has come out in strongly against the ‘Hidabrut’ organization.

Pashkavilim have been circulated in the rav’s name expressing his strong opposition to the organization, specifically addressing the ‘Hatzalat Bayit Yehudi’ (Save the Jewish Home) conference hosted by the organization last month.

The rav questions “how have we permitted ourselves to deteriorate to the current situation in which bochrim with beards and peyos who dress chareidi are serving in Israel Police together with female soldiers prutzos, since klal yisrael over the generations have set boundaries in place regarding immorality (Araiyos), and one must question how we reached this level today?”

The Ravaad responds, explaining “the Hidabrut organization, whose leaders claim their television program is successful in kiruv, returning distanced Yidden to the fold, but more than this success they are destroying us”.

The rav accuses Hidabrut with presenting “two streams”, as if such an entity exists, citing the Holy Torah is the only way and ‘two streams which can be bridged’ is simply a fallacy and unacceptable. Without the Torah HaKadosha, there can be no other way” exclaims Rav Sternbuch.

“I heard of late that when a vehicle drives on the Holy Shabbos in Bnei Brak and one of the Yirei Shomayim shouts “Shabbes, one of the Hidabrut folks tells him the shouts are a Chilul Hashem, and they must act to positively impact the driver, to engage in ‘Hidabrut’, dialogue towards learning to live alongside one another in peace and harmony and so forth”.

Kikar Shabbat adds that in recent months, some of the Hidabrut shluchim who came collecting funds in the Meah Shearim area were assaulted when they entered a shul by members of the group known as sikrikim.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

The boycott of Iran and Tehran’s response has the world at bay as oil prices continue to rise. The price of a liter of 95 octane gasoline in Israel will increase 32 agorot as of March 1, 2012, selling for 7.67 NIS, the equivalent of $8.29 for a US gallon (based on conversion rate of $1/3.7 NIS). The final price will be announced on March 1st, but all indicators signal a hike to an unprecedented high price for a liter of gas at the pumps.

As Tehran flexes its oil muscle, there are growing fears amid Western countries that an Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear program may spark a global fuel crisis, adding to fiscal instability and other concerns, including a regional or world war chas v’sholom.

The FARS News Agency reports today, Sunday, February 26, 2012, that Iran has denied a shipment of 500,000 barrels of crude oil to Greece, beginning to reverse the pressure of economic sanctions being placed on Tehran.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Authorities on Long Island are investigating the possibility that a black oily substance leaked from an airplane and fell onto a homeowner’s backyard in Malverne.

A neighbor tells Newsday Saturday that the sludge pelted the patio of a home on Nassau Boulevard in Malverne at about 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

A Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman says the agency will begin an investigation on Monday. The spokeswoman couldn’t immediately confirm if the substance came from an aircraft.

She says if they do determine the sludge come from a plane they plan to track down the aircraft’s operator and have them check the plane for any leaking or maintenance issues.

(Source: NBC New York)

Sen. John McCain on Sunday lashed out at the Obama administration’s handling of tensions between Israel and Iran.

He asserted on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the administration leaked to the media the reason for the U.S. national security adviser’s trip to Israel — to try to persuade the country not to attack Iran.

McCain said the leak weakened Israel’s standing in the faceoff, rightly angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and strained US-Israel relations.

“The prime minister has every reason to be upset,” McCain said. “I can understand why relations are in very bad shape right now.”

(Source: Politico)

The website ‘Israel Defense’ reports Hizbullah’s army has been outfitted with advanced Russian-built RPG-30 anti-tank rockets. Israeli intelligence are working to confirm the validity of the report.

The RPG-30 was unveiled in 2008 by the State Research and Production Enterprise, Bazalt as a modern anti-tank grenade launcher designed to address the threat of reactive armor and active protection systems on tanks. Officials indicate the rockets could pose a challenge to the new Windbreaker armor system on Merkava Mark 4 tanks, the top of the line Israeli manufactured tanks.

The Russian system fires a dummy rocket which prompts the Windbreaker system to respond, and after the response, it launches the real rocket. According to reports, the RPG-30 can penetrate up to 65mm (2.5 inches) of armor plating.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

When President Obama sits down face-to-face with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week to discuss Iran, he will be staring down the greatest challenge on Israel he’s faced during his presidency.

It is the first time Obama has met Netanyahu since last spring, when the Israeli leader appeared to lecture the president on his country’s history in front of cameras at the White House.

Whatever tensions exist could be exacerbated by the looming crisis that provides a backdrop for the election-year meeting.

Israel believes time is running out for a military strike against Iran that would prevent the Islamic republic from developing nuclear weapons, something Israel sees as an existential threat.
Administration officials acknowledge the Iranian nuclear issue is coming to a head, but U.S. officials have cautioned Israel against a strike that would threaten stability in the Middle East and the global economy.

It’s possible the Obama-Netanyahu meeting next week could determine both countries’ course of actions for Iran.

“The relationship between and Obama and Netanyahu is going to be tested like never before,” said David Makovsky, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “It doesn’t have to happen on March 5… but if they don’t see eye-to-eye, the prospect of Israel going off on its own dramatically increases.”

Iran has been defiant in the face of economic sanctions, threatening a pre-emptive strike against countries that would attack, moving uranium operations underground and not allowing nuclear inspectors access to a military site.

Both Israel and the United States have said they want stiff economic sanctions imposed on Iran to convince the country not to pursue nuclear weapons.

But the two countries view the threat of a nuclear Iran differently, and Israel has less capability than the United States militarily, analysts say, giving the Israelis a shorter potential window to intervene.

“Israel sees this as a very stabilizing significant event, and Israel also lacks the capacity to be able to deal with it in an effective way with diplomacy or economic measures,” Gen. Wesley Clark, a former Democratic presidential candidate, told The Hill.

“The United States sees it as part of a broader counter-proliferation strategy. Certainly it’s well aware of regional risks imposed by Iran… It also has other tools for dealing with it. So, some differences in perspective are inevitable.”

READ MORE: THE HILL

Jerusalem Police Chief Niso Shacham described the Arab violence on Har HaBayis on erev Shabbos, 2 Rosh Chodesh Adar 5772 as very serious, when hundreds of Arabs hurled rocks and other objects at police and at mispallalim at the Kosel below. The violence followed similar but smaller scale Har HaBayis violence earlier in the week.

A total of 11 policemen sustained light injuries and at least 4 persons were arrested.

The violence began at the entrance to Har HaBayis via the Mughrabi Gate, compelling security forces to eventually use riot control adjuncts to disperse the violent protestors.

From Yerushalayim’s Old City the violence spread to the Kalandia Checkpoint on Jerusalem’s northern border, as well as in Hebron. PA (Palestinian Authority) officials explain they blame IDF soldiers for the shooting death of a 25-year-old male, who they say was shot in the chest by soldiers at Kalandia. They report six other protestors at Kalandia were also injured, sustaining light-to-moderate injuries. IDF officials reported the allegations are under investigation.

On Shabbos, during the funeral of the male in his village near Kalandia, security forces came under attack again, compelling the use of riot control adjuncts, which may include teargas and rubber coated bullets. PA (Palestinian Authority) officials report nine were injured in those disturbances.

Speaking in Qatar at the Jerusalem Conference, MK (Ta’al-Ra’am) Dr. Ahmed Tibi accused Israel of violating international law with its policy of the “Judiazation of Jerusalem”. He also blames Israeli security forces for the death of the 25-year-old PA resident.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Last week, YWN-ISRAEL reported a 19-year-old male in Elad was stabbed in his back and moderately injured.

Police reported over the weekend that a 20-year-old resident of the city was arrested for allegedly perpetrating the crime that took place on Pinchas ben Yair Street.

The suspect in custody denies and connection to the stabbing incident. Police are not releasing a suspected motive for the incident or reporting if the weapon used has been recovered.

The victim has undergone surgery in Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah where he is recuperating.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)