Yeshiva World News

Joining the growing number of Arab Members of Knesset who insist Hamas terrorists are freedom fighters and not terrorists is MK (Ra’am-Ta’al) Dr Ahmed Tibi, who is also a deputy Knesset Speaker. Tibi made his remarks to a Hamas magazine.

He joins MKs Hanin Zoabi and Afou Agbaria, who released statements to the media condemning Operation Brothers Return and defending Hamas. The three reject Israel’s labeling of Hamas fighters as “terrorists”, blaming Israel for years of occupation and oppression. Tibi was a personal aide and senior advisor to Yasser Arafat YS”VZ and today, he uses his elected position, salary, benefits, and his parliamentary immunity to push his anti-Israel agenda from within Israel’s parliament.

Another Knesset Deputy Speaker, MK Moshe Feiglin in remarks to visiting US official Mike Huckabee told his guest that “The problem is not with the United States but with Israel”, adding that until such time Israel gets it together, we haven’t the right to point the finger of blame at any other nation. Feiglin explained that Israel legitimized the fictitious Palestinian nation and that nation’s legitimate claims to areas of Yehuda, Shomron and Gaza.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

The Food and Drug Administration says it has approved a long-delayed inhalable diabetes medication to help patients control their blood sugar levels.

The FDA cleared MannKind Corp.‘s drug Afrezza, a fast-acting form of insulin, for adults with the most common form of diabetes, which affects more than 25 million Americans. The approval decision comes more than three years after the agency first asked MannKind to run additional clinical studies on the drug.

Afrezza, an insulin powder, comes in a single-use cartridge and is designed to be inhaled at the start of a meal. MannKind has said patients using the drug can achieve peak insulin levels within 12 to 15 minutes. That compares to a wait time of an hour and a half or more after patients inject insulin.

(AP)

The Union of Hesder Yeshivot around Israel has announced that its talmidim now in their IDF service will extend their service to give additional manpower to Operation Brothers Return.

Eitan Ozeri of the union informed Brigadier-General Gadi Agmon in the IDF’s Manpower Branch to extend the service of the hesder soldiers as the lifesaving mission continues.

Arutz-7 spoke with the IDF Spokesman’s Office, which praised the move as the additional manpower is welcome amid ongoing tireless and tenacious efforts to locate and release the boys, Gilad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrach.

In a related matter, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz met on Friday 29 Sivan in Tel Aviv with the patents of the boys to brief them once again. Also present was Yoram Cohen, the head of the ISA (Israel Security Agency – Shin Bet).

The parents were updated on the progress of the operation and ongoing massive intelligence effort to locate their children.

Names for Tehillim:

1. Yaakov Naftali ben Rachel Devorah

2. Gilad Michael ben Bat Galim

3. Eyal ben Iris Teshurah

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Two rockets were fired from Gaza into Sderot at about 20:30 on Shabbos, as Shabbos was ending, resulting in a large fires in two factories.

Ten fire units from Ashkelon, Sderot and Beersheva responded to the large fire in the two adjacent factories. Magen David Adom paramedics and EMTs treated a man in his 50s for light injuries. He was then transported to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.

Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi arrived at the scene. “We are here with security officials. The defense minister phoned immediately and I told him Sderot residents are willing to endure many more rockets for as long as the IDF continues efforts to bring back the captive youths. We must strike out against terrorism until the terrorists find themselves under the ground, alive or dead”.

“Sderot residents do not shy away from the fearful rockets fired from Gaza into civilian population centers. We stand firm to give backing to the prime minister, defense minster and the IDF to continue acting firmly to bring the boys home” he added.

On Friday night seven rockets were fired. The Iron Dome intercepted two of them which were heading to the Eshkol Regional Council and the Ashkelon Regional Council. Two others detonated in open areas and three landed in open fields.

The number of rocket attacks continues to increase over recent days.

Posted on motzei Shabbos in Eretz Yisrael. (YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo: Police Spokesman)

General Motors extended its record-breaking string of safety problems, announcing Friday three more recalls, including a large one involving its top-selling vehicle.

The recalls, part of a top-to-bottom safety review, bring the company’s total for the year to 48, covering more than 20 million cars and trucks. That beats GM’s old full-year record of 10.75 million in 2004.

Friday’s recalls cover 474,000 vehicles worldwide for a variety of problems.

The largest affects almost 467,000 four-wheel-drive Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, as well as GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban SUVs. The Sierra is GM’s top-selling vehicle.

The company said a software glitch can cause the transmission transfer cases to shift into neutral on their own on 2014 and 2015 models. That can cause loss of power, or it can let the trucks roll away if parked. GM says it knows of no crashes or injuries. Most were sold in the U.S. and Canada, with a small number of exports. Dealers will recalibrate the software.

The other recalls are much smaller and also had no reported injuries. One affects nearly 4,800 Chevrolet SS and Caprice police cars with faulty windshield wiper modules. Gear teeth can become stripped, causing the wipers to fail. Dealers will replace modules if needed.

In the other case, dealers will replace the two rear shock absorbers in about 2,000 2014 model year Chevrolet Corvettes with the FE1 or FE3 suspensions. An insufficient weld could lead to a fracture.

GM’s safety troubles, coupled with some large recalls from other manufacturers, have pushed the U.S. auto industry to a new full-year record for the number of vehicles recalled. Automakers have recalled 32.4 million vehicles in less than six months, surpassing the old annual record of 30.8 million, also set in 2004, according to Stericycle, a firm that tracks recalls and helps corporations manage them.

GM’s troubles started in February when it began recalling older small cars to fix ignition switches that can turn off engines on their own. That kills power steering and brakes and can cause drivers to lose control. It also disables the air bags. The problem ballooned to 2.6 million vehicles, and GM was forced to admit that it knew of the defect for more than a decade yet didn’t recall the cars until this year. GM says the problem caused 54 crashes and at least 13 deaths, although lawmakers say the death toll is closer to 100.

The ignition switch problem touched off a massive safety review in the company, as well as investigations by Congress, the Justice Department and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. GM paid NHTSA a $35 million fine for delays in reporting problems to the safety agency, and it has announced or taken charges totaling $2 billion to cover recall costs.

On Thursday, NHTSA posted documents showing that GM would recall about 29,000 Chevy Cruze compacts in the U.S. for an air bag problem. GM said Friday that 4,000 Cruzes from Canada are included in the recall.

(AP)

A fear of voting has gripped Democratic leaders in the Senate, slowing the chamber’s modest productivity this election season to a near halt.

With control of the Senate at risk in November, leaders are going to remarkable lengths to protect endangered Democrats from casting tough votes and to deny Republicans legislative victories in the midst of the campaign. The phobia means even bipartisan legislation to boost energy efficiency, manufacturing, sportsmen’s rights and more could be scuttled.

The Senate’s masters of process are finding a variety of ways to shut down debate.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., now is requiring an elusive 60-vote supermajority to deal with amendments to spending bills, instead of the usual simple majority, a step that makes it much more difficult to put politically sensitive matters into contention. This was a flip from his approach to Obama administration nominees, when he decided most could be moved ahead with a straight majority instead of the 60 votes needed before.

Reid’s principal aim in setting the supermajority rule for spending amendments was to deny archrival Sen. Mitch McConnell a win on protecting his home state coal industry from new regulations limiting carbon emissions from existing power plants. McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, faces a tough re-election in Kentucky.

This hunkering down by Democrats is at odds with the once-vibrant tradition of advancing the 12 annual agency budget bills through open debate. In the Appropriations Committee, long accustomed to a freewheeling process, chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., has held up action on three spending bills, apparently to head off politically difficult votes on changes to the divisive health care law as well as potential losses to Republicans on amendments such as McConnell’s on the coal industry.

“I just don’t think they want their members to have to take any hard votes between now and November,” said Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb. And there’s “just no question that they’re worried we’re going to win some votes so they just shut us down.”

Vote-a-phobia worsens in election years, especially when the majority party is in jeopardy. Republicans need to gain six seats to win control and Democrats must defend 21 seats to the Republicans’ 15.

So Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, probably shouldn’t have been surprised when his cherished bill to fund the Labor, Education and Health and Human Services departments got yanked from the Appropriations Committee’s agenda this month. Word quickly spread that committee Democrats in Republican-leaning states feared a flurry of votes related to “Obamacare.”

“It’s not as if they haven’t voted on them before,” Harkin griped. “My way of thinking is, ‘Hell, you’ve already voted on it. Your record’s there.’” Harkin blamed Senate Democratic leaders.

Two other appropriations bills have run aground after preliminary votes. The normally non-controversial energy and water bill was pulled from the committee agenda after it became known that McConnell would have an amendment to defend his state’s coal mining industry. McConnell is making that defense a centerpiece of his re-election campaign and his amendment appeared on track to prevail with the help of pro-energy Democrats on the committee.

Again, after consulting with Reid, Mikulski struck the bill from the agenda.

McConnell pressed the matter the next day, this time aiming to amend a spending bill paying for five Cabinet departments. Democrats again headed him off.

Democrats privately acknowledge that they’re protecting vulnerable senators and don’t want McConnell to win on the carbon emissions issue. They also see hypocrisy in McConnell’s insistence on a simple majority vote for his top — and controversial — priority while he wants Democrats to produce 60 votes to advance almost everything else.

Another measure, financing the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service, failed to get a committee vote last week after speeding through a subcommittee hearing. Mikulski blamed problems with timing. But it was known that Republicans had amendments on hot-button issues coming.

Fear of voting is hardly new. In the last two years of the Clinton administration, Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., blocked Democrats from offering a popular Patients’ Bill of Rights, and more. At the time, Charles Schumer of New York and Dick Durbin of Illinois were among the Democrats who cried foul.

These days, Durbin and Schumer hold the No. 2 and No. 3 Democratic Senate leadership posts and now that their party is running the place, they’re backing Reid’s moves to clamp down on GOP amendments.

“You’ve always got senators on both sides of the aisle of all political persuasions and all regions whining and complaining how they don’t want to vote on this amendment or that amendment,” Lott says now. “It always frankly agitated me because I felt like these are big boys and girls.” He said “it has gotten worse and worse and worse.”

Republicans say Democratic leaders are trying especially to protect Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. Landrieu says she hasn’t asked for such help.

“I’ve taken so many hard votes up here,” Landrieu said. “I could take more.”

(AP)

Hundreds of residents of the Israeli Arab municipality of Um el-Fahm spilled out onto Route 65 in the Nachal I’ron (Wadi Ara) area on Friday afternoon, 29 Sivan. Route 65 is a main north/south vehicular route.

The Israeli Arab citizens were protesting the ongoing IDF mission to locate and rescue the three yeshiva teenagers being held by Hamas. Some 400 citizens waved PLO flags and called for the immediate halt of Operation Brothers Return.

Police moved in quickly, dispatching Yassam commando troops to keep the main vehicular artery open. When protestors refused to comply with orders by police and then began pelting police with rocks, stun grenades and other riot-control adjuncts were used. Among the protestors was Arab MK Muhmad Baraka.

Due to the violent confrontation, that area of the roadway was closed.

Names for Tehillim:

1. Yaakov Naftali ben Rachel Devorah

2. Gilad Michael ben Bat Galim

3. Eyal ben Iris Teshurah

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Rabbi Eliyahu Schlesinger Shlita is the rav of the Gilo neighborhood of Yerushalayim as well as the rav/posek of the Jerusalem Religious Council. Rabbi Schlesinger was referring to the interview with Israel Radio given by HaPeles’ R’ Yeshayahu Wein. Wein stated that at present there is no chareidi litvish candidate for the position of Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Yerushalayim. Therefore, it is possible that HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Auerbach Shlita will support the dati leumi candidate, Rabbi Aryeh Stern Shlita, who he stated is a talmid chacham. Wein indicated that if Rabbi Stern appears to be committed to preserving kashrus in the city then it is possible the Bnei Torah will vote for him. The party affiliated with Rav Auerbach has one vote in the local chief rabbinate election.

Speaking with the chareidi media on erev Shabbos Parshas Chukas 5774, Rabbi Schlesinger expressed surprise, pointing out that Rabbi Auerbach is well aware that he views himself as the chareidi candidate for the post. He adds that in the past, Rav Auerbach event approached Maran HaGaon HaRav Yosef Sholom Elyashiv ZT”L calling upon him to back Rav Schlesinger but this did not occur because Rav Elyashiv did not wish to become involved in the political arena.

Rav Schlesinger added this story was told by Rav Auerbach in front of guests on chol hamoed Sukkos, including to Rav Yosef Efrati Shlita.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

The New Jersey legislative panel looking into lane closures near the George Washington Bridge wants to call 13 more witnesses, including Gov. Chris Christie’s political strategist and the mayor of the town that was paralyzed by gridlock for four mornings.

One of the committee’s co-chairs, state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, said she expects it to be the last major round of requests for testimony and hopes that the committee wraps up its work sometime in the fall.

Weinberg said the joint legislative committee is interested in the role of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s police department in the September 2013 lane closures, and exploring the proper relationship between the authority and the governors of the two states. Her co-chairman, Assemblyman John Wisniewski, said there are two even more fundamental questions: Who was involved in closing down the lanes and why did they do it?

Wisniewski said the list of potential witnesses, which was obtained by The Associated Press and first reported by The Record newspaper, was meant to be an internal document. He said additional people may receive subpoenas, and some on the list may not.

Weinberg said the committee wants to run the list by the U.S. attorney’s office to see if it should hold off on any interviews so as not to get in the way of a law enforcement investigation.

The list includes Mark Sokolich, the mayor of Fort Lee, the town where lane closures caused massive traffic backups. Emails made public so far make it appear the traffic jams were caused to punish him, but it is not clear why.

Others are Christie’s political strategist, Michael DuHaime; his former chief counsel, Charles McKenna; current chief counsel Christopher Porrino and other members of his staff, Regina Egea, Evan Ridley and Paul Matey.

Former Christie aides Deb Gramiccioni and Nicole Criffo, who both now work for the Port Authority, are also on the list.

So is Port Authority executive director Patrick Foye. Other current or former Port Authority officials included are Phillip Kwon, Paul Nunziato and Phillippe Danielides.

Spokesmen from the Port Authority and governor’s office would not comment.

Gramiccioni and Marc Mukasey, a lawyer for DuHaime, both said they had not received notice from the committee and would not comment.

Republican Assembly Leader Jon Bramnick blasted the committee Friday, saying it is running “the investigation that will never end.”

“When you allow a former chairman of the Democratic party to investigate one of the most prominent Republicans nationally, this is what you get,” he said, referring to Wisniewski, who has served as chairman of the state Democratic organization. “This is really unfortunate because politicians shouldn’t investigate politicians.”

But both Weinberg and Wisniewski say their probe has brought to light important information — including an email from a Christie staffer to a Port Authority official saying, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” — and has led to more open debates among Port Authority board members and efforts to overhaul the agency.

“If it were not for the investigation,” Wisniewski said, “a great number of these egregious behaviors would be unknown and unreported.”

(AP)

Hundreds of mispallalim arrived at the tziyun of Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef ZT”L on Thursday ahead of Rosh Chodesh Tammuz.

Among the mispallalim were Mekubal Rav Binayahu Shmueli, HaGaon Rav Reuven Elbaz, Rav Mordechai Malka and Mr. Uri Yifrach, the father of one of the captives held by Hamas, Eyal Yifrach.

In addition to the tefilos Mr. Yifrach spoke to the tzibur present, stating “I think at this troubling time we feel that our Eyal belongs to all of Am Yisrael along with Gilad and Naftali…they are the sons of Am Yisrael”. This led to many of the mispallalim beginning to cry at the emotion of the moment spread.

“All of Am Yisrael cries and all of Am Yisrael is pained on their behalf, the holy boys. There is a zechus to these tefilos. See how much Am Yisrael is united and has awakened in the merit of these holy youths. We call on the entire nation to unite, to love. We wish to see all of Am Yisrael unite in their emunah” R’ Uri concluded.

Needless to say to say there was not a dry eye as the tefilos continued.

Names for Tehillim:

1. Yaakov Naftali ben Rachel Devorah

2. Gilad Michael ben Bat Galim

3. Eyal ben Iris Teshurah

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo courtesy of JDN)

Blasting the GOP as wilfully indifferent to American struggles, President Barack Obama issued a rebuke Friday to Republican attempts to thwart his economic agenda, offering a stark contrast that Democrats hope will yield electoral success in November.

Obama’s remarks at a picturesque lake in Minneapolis were billed by the White House as a speech on the economy. But as Obama ripped into his political foes before 3,500 cheering supporters, the political undertones were less than subtle.

“They don’t do anything, except block me and call me names,” an indignant Obama said against a backdrop of sailboats and a band shell shaped like a castle. He insisted that as the nation works to restore middle-class prosperity after the recession, congressional Republicans are the only holdout.

Playfully warning his audience that he was in the mood to “say what’s on my mind,” Obama accused Republicans of letting greed and gridlock perpetrate an economic system that is rigged against American families. He said he gets the sense that Republicans just don’t get what Americans are going through.

“The basic attitude is everybody is just crazy out there. If you read the fine print, it turns out the things you care about, right now, Democrats are proposing,” Obama said.

That’s why Obama is moving ahead without Congress, he said. In the absence of congressional cooperation, Obama’s administration has been pursuing executive actions he can take unilaterally.

It’s a strategy that’s drawn indignation from Republicans, prompting House Speaker John Boehner to announce plans to sue the president for exceeding his authority. “They decide they’re going to sue me for doing my job,” Obama quipped.

But Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner, said that it is Obama and Democrats who are blocking House-passed bills to create jobs. “The president keeps doubling down on policies that have failed to increase prosperity,” Steel said.

Still, the president’s election-year salvo put a sharp edge on a populist argument Democrats across the country are making as they work to persuade voters that they — not Republicans — are on the side of the middle class. With Obama’s approval ratings sagging, Democrats are seeking to protect their fragile Senate majority and avoid losing even more seats in the GOP-controlled House.

The president started his morning with an unannounced stop at a Minneapolis job training center, where he and Labor Secretary Tom Perez joined nine young mothers training for customer service jobs. “All of us start at different places. I was basically raised by a single mom,” Obama said, adding that like these young women, his own mother benefited from grants and programs that enabled her to support her family.

Obama’s remarks at Lake Harriet capped a two-day trip to Minnesota aimed at putting the president up close and personal with “real America,” where Obama frequently laments that the concerns of everyday citizens are detached from partisan bickering in Washington.

A day earlier, Obama launched what the White House dubbed a “Day in the Life” tour by lunching with a working mom whose letter about her financial struggles grabbed Obama’s attention when it landed on his desk. He also ditched his motorcade in the evening in nearby St. Paul, strolling through boutique shops and food joints and chatting up pedestrians in an attempt to reconnect with the voters who twice have sent him to Washington.

Jacki Parker, a retired teacher and school counselor who came to hear Obama speak on Friday, offered a groan when asked to give her take on Washington.

“There’s enough to accomplish that people don’t need to be at each other’s throats all the time,” she said.

(AP)

Operations Brothers Return continues throughout areas in Yehuda and Shomron as thousands of soldiers continue efforts to locate and rescue the three captive youths.

Three Arabs involved in confrontations with IDF soldiers were injured from gunfire in Balata, which is in the Shechem district, the Maan news agency reports.

One of the injured was hit in a leg; a second in a hand and the third was injured in an eye with a rubber coated bullet.

Names for Tehillim:

1. Yaakov Naftali ben Rachel Devorah

2. Gilad Michael ben Bat Galim

3. Eyal ben Iris Teshurah

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Deputy Minister of Defense Danny Danon has held consultations with senior security officials intended to suspend the usual easing of security procedures Israel grants Palestinians during the month-long Ramadan holiday. Ramadan begins on Saturday, June 28th.

“We cannot allow a situation where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians come to Israeli beaches on Ramadan and celebrate while all of Israel is worried about the fate of the three abducted teenagers,” said the Deputy Defense Minister. “If the terrorists are sheltered amongst the Palestinian population, then we cannot continue with business as usual.” Danon continued.

Some of the restrictions usually lifted include entry into Israel for Palestinians over 60, entry into Israel for hundreds of thousands of family visits, and large number of permits to enter the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Other restrictions eased annually include:

· Free entry into Israel for all Palestinians over 60 with no need for special permits (men and women)

· Permits to visit family members of the first and second degree (accompanied by minors under 16) – this results in hundreds of thousands of Palestinians entering Israel during the holiday

· Free entry for all women and for men over the age of 40 to participate in Friday prayers at the al-Aqsa Mosque. Permits for men between the ages of 35-40 permits are given as appropriate

· Free entry to all men and women over 35 for weekday prayers at al-Aqsa (up to 20,000 on each day) throughout Ramadan

· Expanded entrance permits from abroad into Yehuda and Shomron throughout the holiday

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)