Yeshiva World News

A senior Iranian lawmaker said Israel would be the first casualty of any U.S.-led strike on Syria, according to regional media reports.

Hossein Sheikholeslam, the director general of the Iranian parliament’s International Affairs bureau, claimed the United States would not dare attack Syria but said that if it does, “the Zionist regime will be the first victim.”

“No military attack will be waged against Syria,” Sheikholeslam was quoted as saying on Monday by Iran’s state run Fars News Agency.

“Yet, if such an incident takes place, which is impossible, the Zionist regime will be the first victim of a military attack on Syria,” Sheikholeslam said in an apparent response to the Obama administration’s increasingly stern rhetoric against Syria.

Iran has been one of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s chief allies. It has sent Hezbollah reinforcements to battle rebel forces and acted as Assad’s chief defender in the Middle East.

As the Obama administration hints that it is gearing up to intervene in Syria following the reported use of chemical weapons, Iranian officials have similarly ramped up their rhetoric.

Sheikholeslam said Assad would immediately respond to a U.S. attack by going after the Jewish state with the full force of his military.

Syria can “heavily attack and raze the occupied territories,” Fars reported him as saying.

Another senior Iranian lawmaker said on Monday that the U.S. military is not prepared to handle an operation in Syria.

Mohammad Esmayeeli, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, claimed Washington is not ready for any new military invasion.

He said that if the Obama administration does decide to launch an attack, Moscow will support Damascus.

Russia has consistently thrown its support behind Assad, providing him with advanced weapons and blocking concrete action at the United Nations.

“The U.S. as well as the western and Arab states and certain regional countries are beating on the drums of war, but they should know that this is not to their benefit,” Esmayeeli was quoted as saying by Fars.

Esmayeeli, in an apparent reference to America’s defense budget cuts, went on to say that the United States is in no condition to wage a war against Syria. If America “starts a war with Syria, the U.S. will not achieve its desirable and needed results,” Esmayeeli said.

Meanwhile, newly installed Iranian President Hassan Rowhani condemned the use of chemical weapons, the apparent tipping point for a U.S. strike on Assad.

“Iran gives notice to international community to use all its might to prevent use of chemical weapons anywhere in the world, esp. in #Syria,” Rowhani tweeted on Tuesday.

Syria expert Tony Badran said that despite Iran’s rhetoric, Assad currently has his hands full with the rebel fighters.

“I’m actually not sure they will retaliate against Israel and risk an escalation they can ill afford,” said Badran, research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “Of course, anything is possible, and they could conceivably do a repeat of a small-scale, limited Katyusha [and] Grad [rocket] salvo from Lebanon, without anyone taking credit or with some minor faction claiming responsibility in order to avoid a punishing Israeli response.”

It is more likely that smaller pro-Assad factions would strike soft Western targets, Badran said.

“Instead of focusing too much or exclusively on Israel, some groups, such as the PFLP-GC, made a point to say that they would target ‘the interests’ of ‘participants in an aggression against Syria,’ which perhaps suggests softer targets,” Badran said.

These include European targets or even United Nations forces, Badran said

Former Pentagon adviser Michael Rubin warned that Iran’s pro-Assad rhetoric should be viewed as a window into its thinking about nuclear arms.

“Once again, Iran shows why the international community should never let it even come close to a nuclear weapon,” Rubin said. “If Assad can murder Syrians in their sleep, he and his Iranian backers won’t bat an eye to do the same thing to Jordanians, Israelis, or Turks.”

Such rhetoric “shows why the red line should never be the use of WMD, but its possession in the arsenals of the world’s rogues,” Rubin said.

(Source: FreeBeacon.com)

[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

The lines are growing by the minute as Israeli residents have decided the time has come to get a gas mask protect kit. The news in Eretz Yisrael if focusing on what most believe is an imminent US military strike against Syria. Syria has announced that if this does occur, it will immediately fire missiles into Israel.

At the community center in the Shmuel HaNavi area of the capital citizens were lining up on Tuesday, 21 Elul 5773. The local neighborhood council is working hand-in-hand with City Hall to prepare the community for a possible emergency situation. Neighborhood volunteers have been activated in preparation of a wartime scenario.

YWN PHOTO LINK: Click HERE for photos.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem / Photos: Chezki Katzklovitz, Chadashot 24)

While schools opened their doors for the 5774 school year on Tuesday morning, 21 Elul 5773, the Tehila School in Bnei Brak was unable to do so. The school was targeted by vandals a over a week ago. Some people in the know suspect mispallalim from the HaGiva Shul which uses the shul on Shabbos. School officials would not respond to questions regarding who might be responsible.

The school is a chareidi Sephardi girl’s school. In recent months there has been machlokes with the mispallalim of the shul with mispallalim accusing the school of making life difficult for them. The mispallalim of the shul are being labeled “modern chareidi”.

Contractors have been working to repair the damage to the school as the girls have been instructed to remain at home, unable to begin their studies ahead of Rosh Hashanah. The damage is being described as significant.

Persons affiliated with the minyan report that at times the shul was locked to prevent their entry on Shabbos and they were forced to break in to gain access to their shul.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Fears of an escalating conflict in Syria rippled across financial markets on Tuesday, lowering stocks, lifting gold and pushing the price of oil to a two-year high.

A day after Secretary of State John Kerry said there was “undeniable” evidence of a large-scale chemical attack in Syria, tensions between the U.S. and the regime of Bashar Assad mounted. Defense Secretary Chuck Hegel said Tuesday the U.S. military was ready to strike if President Barrack Obama gave the order. Syria’s foreign minister said his country would defend itself.

The threats raised worries on Wall Street that the U.S. was more and more likely to attack Syria. That could disrupt energy trade in the region, which in turn could hurt other markets as well as the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 138 points, or 1 percent, to 14,807 in afternoon trading, the biggest decline in two weeks. The drop extended losses from Monday afternoon, when Kerry denounced Syria and caused the market to sag in the final hour of trading.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 20 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,637 and the Nasdaq composite fell 63 points, or 1.7 percent, to 3,594.

“The law of unintended consequences and the history of previous military interventions in the region is not a recipe for political and economic stability,” said Neil MacKinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital.

The impact wasn’t just in stocks. Gold prices advanced and government bond prices jumped because traders see those investments holding their value better in times of uncertainty. Oil surged $3.09, or 3 percent, to $109, a level last reached in May 2011.

While Syria itself has little oil, traders feared an intervention in Syria could cause further instability in the Middle East and possibly disrupt the flow of oil from the region.

“People worry about this becoming a worst-case scenario and turning into a regional conflict,” said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Asset Management.

Energy prices dragged down the airline sector on concerns that higher oil prices could lead to higher fuel costs. United Continental Holdings, the world’s largest airline by revenue, dropped $2.11, or 7.1 percent, to $27.75 and Delta Air Lines lost $1.25, or 6.1 percent, to $19.02.

Stone said oil prices could start weighing on consumer spending down the road, but it is still too early to gauge the longer-term impact.

Concerns over a U.S.-Syria conflict spilled over into global markets.

In Europe, the Britain’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.8 percent at 6,440 while Germany’s DAX fell 2.3 percent to 8,242. The CAC 40 in France was 2.4 percent lower at 3,968.

In corporate news, discount shoe seller DSW jumped $6.33, or 7.8 percent, to $87.65 after the company reported an adjusted profit of 97 cents per share, easily beating analysts’ estimate of 80 cents per share, according to FactSet.

J.C. Penney rose 20 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $13.55 after the company’s biggest investor, Bill Ackman, said he plans to sell his entire stake in the discount department store chain.

Wall Street is also digesting two economic reports, one on U.S. consumer sentiment, the other on home prices. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 81.5 in August, up from 80.3 the month before. Economists had expected 79, according to FactSet.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 12.1 percent in June from a year earlier, nearly matching a seven-year high. But month-over-month price gains slowed in most markets, a sign that higher mortgage rates may be weighing on the housing recovery.

(AP)

Israel commentators have warned of a devastating Israeli blow should Syria implement threats being voiced in Damascus to retaliate against Israel for any American strike on Syrian territory.

“The Israeli Air Force could relatively easily change the status quo in the Syrian civil war [in the rebels' favour],” said Ehud Ya’ari, a leading commentator on Channel Two.

Military Affairs correspondent Ronnie Daniel said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would probably be unable to remain in power after such a blow. This makes it unlikely that Syria would attempt to fire missiles into Israel, with chemical warheads or without.

“They would probably opt for terrorism along the border or elsewhere in the world,” he said.

However, he said the threat of missiles could not be entirely dismissed.

A member of the Syrian Baath Party national council, Halef al-Muftah, said that Syria regards Israel as being “behind the aggression and therefore it will come under fire” should the United States attack.

Deputy Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad told AP that strikes against Syria would trigger “chaos” and threaten world peace. Similar warnings have been sounded by Iranian officials.

Israeli experts believe that the blow likely to be directed at Syria by the US and perhaps other Western countries will be powerful but a one-time affair intended to punish, not to overthrow, the Assad regime.

Israel’s Channel Two earlier reported that the chemical shells that killed hundreds of Syrian civilians last week were fired from a military base in a mountain range outside Damascus where Syria’s 4th Armoured Division is headquartered. The division is commanded by Maher al-Assad, brother of President Bashar al-Assad.

(Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz)

[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Officials in the gas mask protection kit centers report on an average day in Tel Aviv they service ten people. Amid an increasingly likelihood of a military attack against Syria by the United States, hundreds arrived in the Tel Aviv center on Tuesday, 21 Elul 5773.

As of Tuesday evening, the IDF’s Homefront Command has not announced any change of status or instructions for citizens. After a 14:00 cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu released the following statement.

“The State of Israel is ready for any scenario. We are not part of the civil war in Syria but if we identify any attempt whatsoever to harm us, we will respond and we will respond in strength.”

Click HERE to watch this video on a mobile device.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett visited the Kosel and the new Ezrat Yisrael section in his capacity as minister of religious services. The new section was announced by Bennett earlier in the week, working with the Prime Minister’s Office and the Jewish Agency for Israel to establish the area intended to accommodate 450 people wishing to take part in tefilos in which men and women are not separated, a “third Kosel area” as he puts it.

To Bennett’s dismay, the Women of the Wall organization was quick to reject the new Ezrat Yisrael area, announcing a 24-hour Kosel sit-in to highlight their disapproval of the concept. Nevertheless, Bennett is not backing down for he explains this give WoW and others wishing such a service an option by the Kosel without challenging the gender separated areas that have existed at the Kosel over the years.

In his video message, Bennett attempts to highlight the historical significance of the area selected in an apparent effort to persuade Women of the Wall to accept the compromise solution.

Click HERE to watch this video on a mobile device.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Syria’s foreign minister said Tuesday his country would defend itself using “all means available” in case of a U.S. strike, denying his government was behind an alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus and challenging Washington to present proof backing up its accusations.

Walid al-Moallem spoke at a press conference in Damascus as condemnation of President Bashar Assad’s grew over last week’s purported attack with poison gas, which activists say killed hundreds of people. The Arab League threw its weight behind calls for punitive action, blaming the Syrian government for the attack and calling for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

The announcement by the 22-member body, which is dominated by Gulf powerhouses Saudi Arabia and Qatar, provides indirect Arab cover for any potential military attack by Western powers.

The United Nations, meanwhile, said that its team of chemical weapons experts in Syria has delayed a second trip to investigate the alleged attack near Damascus by one day for security reasons.

Al-Moallem, speaking at a press conference in Damascus, likened U.S. allegations that President Bashar Assad’s regime was behind the attack to false American charges that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of that country.

“They have a history of lies — Iraq,” he said. Al-Moallem spoke a day after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said there was “undeniable” evidence of a large-scale chemical attack likely launched by Assad’s regime.

Kerry’s comments and tough language Monday laid out the clearest argument yet for U.S. military action in Syria, which, if President Barack Obama decides to order it, would most likely involve sea-launched cruise missile attacks on Syrian military targets.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Tuesday that U.S. forces are now ready to act on any such order.

In an interview with BBC television during a visit to the southeast Asian nation of Brunei, he said the U.S. Navy has four destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean Sea positioned within range of targets inside Syria. U.S. warplanes are also in the region, he said.

Support for some sort of international military response is likely to grow if it is confirmed that Assad’s regime was responsible for the Aug. 21 attack that activists say killed hundreds of people. The group Doctors Without Borders put the death toll at 355.

In an emergency meeting held Tuesday, the Arab League also called on members of the U.N. Security Council to overcome their differences and agree on “deterrent” measures against those who committed “this heinous crime.” The League said it will convene a meeting at the ministerial level next week to follow up on the situation in Syria.

“The council holds the Syrian regime totally responsible for this heinous crime and calls for all involved in the despicable crime to be given a fair international trial like other war criminals,” a statement issued by the League said.

Obama has yet to say how he will respond, but appeared to be moving ahead even as the U.N. team on the ground in Syria collected evidence from the attack.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron recalled Parliament on Tuesday for an urgent discussion on a possible military response, as the army drew up contingency plans.

Cameron’s office said that Britain is considering a “proportionate” response that would deter Assad from using chemical weapons in the future.

At the Syrian news conference, Al-Moallem called the U.S. accusations “categorically false.”

“I challenge those who accuse our forces of using these weapons to come forward with the evidence,” he said. Syria would fight back in case of a U.S. strike, he added.

“We have the means to defend ourselves and we will surprise everyone,” he told reporters in Damascus. “We will defend ourselves using all means available. I don’t want to say more than that,” he added.

Al-Moallem also rejected accusations that Syria was destroying evidence of the alleged attack. He said he was personally unconvinced that there will be international military action, but that if there was Syria could handle it.

“The strike will come and go. We get mortars every day and we have learned to live with them,” he said.

He also blamed the postponement of the U.N. team’s planned visit to the eastern Ghouta suburb on disputes between rebel gunmen who could not agree on safety guarantees for the investigators.

The U.N confirmed the one-day delay, saying only it was for security reasons. A statement said the decision was made Tuesday in order to improve preparedness and safety, after unidentified snipers opened fire on the team’s convoy on Monday on a similar trip to the region.

“The Secretary-General again urges all sides in the conflict to give safe passage and access to the team,” the statement said.

The U.N. team traveled Monday to the western Damascus suburb Moadamiyeh, one of the areas affected by purported chemical attack, where they collected samples and testimony after a treacherous journey through government and rebel-held territory. Their convoy was hit by snipers but members of the team were unharmed.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he had instructed U.N. disarmament chief Angela Kane in Damascus “to register a strong complaint” with both the Syrian government and opposition representatives for the convoy attack.

In Geneva, U.N. spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci told reporters that the inspection team might need longer than the planned 14 days to complete its work and its priority now is to determine what chemical weapons might have been used in the Aug. 21 attack. “This is the first priority,” she said.

(AP)

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Tuesday that she is resigning with confidence from the Obama administration and that her tenure helped the agency prevent terrorist attacks and respond to disasters.

In her farewell speech at the National Press Club, Napolitano said the department has responded to attempted terrorist attacks and the April 15 bombing at the Boston Marathon. She said it’s also been tested with disasters, including the Gulf oil spill and Hurricane Sandy, and learned from each event.

Napolitano, the third secretary of the department, will leave next week to take over as president of the University of California system. It is unclear when President Barack Obama will name a successor or who that person will be.

Her legacy includes:

—An al-Qaida operative attempted to blow up a commercial jetliner over Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009. In the wake of failed attack Napolitano declared that the “system worked,” although the Obama administration immediately ordered an urgent overhaul of its terror screening systems for travelers.

—The April 15 bombing at the Boston Marathon, which left three people dead.

—The environmentally devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

—Important changes to U.S. immigration policies.

—Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of the New Jersey shore and swamped large parts of New York City.

—The prostitution scandal that tainted the reputation of the Secret Service.

—Popularization of her “see something, say something” catchphrase.

—A period of rampant cyber break-ins of U.S. government computers blamed on China’s government and others.

Napolitano said Tuesday that all of those disasters, attempted attacks and the successful assault in Boston have helped the department continue to be “flexible and agile.”

“Each of these challenges tested us in new ways,” Napolitano said. “They presented new opportunities for us to learn, grow, and get better at what we do . as a department and a nation. And they allowed us to build on the knowledge gained from past events and refine our approach as the threats changed and our own understanding increased.”

When Napolitano took the helm of the still-evolving department she made immigration reform a top priority and didn’t mention terrorism during her first appearance on Capitol Hill. But immigration reform has remained elusive.

Napolitano said Tuesday she’s disappointed that legislation including the DREAM Act, which would have provided a path to legal status for many young immigrants living in the United States illegally. But she touted the creation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which halts deportations for many young immigrants who would have benefited from the DREAM Act.

(AP)

[COMMUNICATED CONTENT] Travelers in Eretz Israel last summer had the opportunity to witness a very special sight. A group of young Frum Americans, from all styles and backgrounds, got off the bus in the Galilee, the Golan Heights, the Ramon Crater, Jerusalem, Safed, Meron, and many other places, to prepare for a trip, as if an Frum group is an everyday event.

A closer look reveals that this is a “Taglit Birthright Israel” group, the only Frum “Taglit Birthright Israel” group with an open registration, organized by Ezra Olami, and fully funded by “Taglit Birthright Israel”.

“What do you mean by full funding? Didn’t you pay for the tickets, the luxurious hotels, the certified tour guide, or the accompanying security person? Did you not pay for anything? But that’s thousands of $???”

Replies Shlomi from Brooklyn: “It is really amazing, and I did not believe it myself, at first. But it really is a completely free program, we weren’t asked to pay for anything, and the program is of the highest quality. Though the enrollment process includes a deposit – but all my friends that didn’t go on the trip already got their money back, and we will receive our deposits back tomorrow.”

And how was the tour guide, and the sites? No cultural divisions?

“Absolutely not. Ezra chose for us a guide of American background. Everything is well taken care of, with much attention to detail.”

Did the whole yeshiva join the trip?

“Absolutely not. According to “Taglit Birthright Israel”  rules, students in a yeshiva or Seminar are not eligible. Only those who learn in Yeshiva and College at the same time, or if they currently work, can participate. But that still leaves a lot of boys inside, and it was just amazing.”

Ezra is currently registering for the winter program. Registration will take place on September 10 and the trip will probably take place in January. This is an opportunity for anyone who wants to vacation in Israel this winter or next summer to sign up.

Shlomi, you wish to add anything?

“Yes. You’d better sign up. By registering you do not lose anything, but only gain the opportunity to think about it a few more days. If you decide to cancel – cancel. No problem. On the other hand, if you decide to come, you will have the opportunity.”

But don’t you think it’s better to go in the summer?

“Not at all. Winter trips are very special. Plus you should try your chances every season. Demand for the trip is high and you should not miss any opportunity to sign up for one.”

How is the kashrus? And the company?

“Nothing to worry about the kashrus. There is a rabbi of the organization who runs and checks everything. Regarding the company, that is the thing I enjoyed most on the program.”

In short – run to register.

So … How to register?

Go to www.ezraolami.org , and sign up! Good Luck!

If you have any questions about the program, please email info@ezraolami.org or call 212-444-1866