Yeshiva World News

Israel Police on Monday morning 8 Iyar announced the arrest of suspected in what is being described as a major real estate scam in northern Israel. The arrests are the result of an investigation spearheaded by the 433 Unit, Israel’s FBI.

Police report that in recent years, the real estate ring was operating in the north. They have been using forged documents in an effort to illegally take possession of land in the area. The arrests involved over 20 plots of land, most agricultural, and in most cases, most of the owners were aware of what occurred.

In some cases, the land was sold as they showed forged ownership papers to the buyer. Over 30 suspects were arrested in the raid, including a number of attorneys. Their offices were raided as well and police confiscate computers as well as documents. All suspects are being remanded.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

On Sunday morning 7 Iyar, a bris took place for a great grandson of HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Halevy Wosner ZT”L and the infant was named Shmuel. The sandek was the late posek’s son Rav Chaim Meir Shlita,.

The first great grandchild named after Rav Wosner ZT”L is a grandson to his son-in-law, HaGaon Rav Avraham Yaakov Itzkowitz Shlita, son to his son Rav Aaron Tzvi, son-in-law to Rav HaGaon aron Eliyahu Feldman, the son of philanthropist Chaim Moshe Feldman from London.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Rioters plunged part of Baltimore into chaos Monday, torching a pharmacy, setting police cars ablaze and throwing bricks at officers hours after thousands mourned the man who died from a severe spinal injury he suffered in police custody.

The governor declared a state of emergency and called in the National Guard to restore order. A weeklong, daily curfew was imposed beginning Tuesday from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., the mayor said. At least 15 officers were hurt, and some two dozen people were arrested. Two officers remained hospitalized, police said.

Officers wearing helmets and wielding shields occasionally used pepper spray to keep the rioters back. For the most part, though, they relied on line formations to keep protesters at bay.

Monday’s riot was the latest flare-up over the mysterious death of Freddie Gray, whose fatal encounter with officers came amid the national debate over police use of force, especially when black suspects are involved. Gray was African-American.

Emergency officials were constantly thwarted as they tried to restore calm. Firefighters trying to put out a blaze at a CVS store were hindered by someone who sliced holes in a hose connected to a fire hydrant, spraying water all over the street and nearby buildings.

The smell of burned rubber wafted in the air in one neighborhood where youths were looting a liquor store. Police stood still nearby as people drank looted alcohol. Glass and trash littered the streets, and small fires were scattered about. One person from a church tried to shout something from a megaphone as two cars burned.

“Too many people have spent generations building up this city for it to be destroyed by thugs, who in a very senseless way, are trying to tear down what so many have fought for, tearing down businesses, tearing down and destroying property, things that we know will impact our community for years,” said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, a lifelong resident of the city.

Gray’s family was shocked by the violence and was lying low; instead, they hoped to organize a peace march later in the week, said family attorney Billy Murphy. He said they did not know the riot was going to happen and urged calm.

“They don’t want this movement nationally to be marred by violence,” he said. “It makes no sense.”

Police urged parents to locate their children and bring them home. Many of those on the streets appeared to be African-American youths, wearing backpacks and khaki pants that are a part of many public school uniforms.

The riot broke out just as high school let out, and at a key city bus depot for student commuters around Mondawmin Mall, a shopping area northwest of downtown Baltimore. It shifted about a mile away later to the heart of an older shopping district and near where Gray first encountered police. Both commercial areas are in African-American neighborhoods.

Later in the day, people began looting clothing and other items from stores at the mall, which became unprotected as police moved away from the area. About three dozen officers returned, trying to arrest looters but driving many away by firing pellet guns and rubber bullets.

Downtown Baltimore, the Inner Harbor tourist attractions and the city’s baseball and football stadiums are nearly 4 miles away. While the violence had not yet reached City Hall and the Camden Yards area, the Orioles canceled Monday’s game for safety precautions.

Many who had never met Gray gathered earlier in the day in a Baltimore church to bid him farewell and press for more accountability among law enforcement.

The 2,500-capacity New Shiloh Baptist church was filled with mourners. But even the funeral could not ease mounting tensions.

Police said in a news release sent while the funeral was underway that the department had received a “credible threat” that three notoriously violent gangs are now working together to “take out” law enforcement officers.

A small group of mourners started lining up about two hours ahead of Monday’s funeral. Placed atop Gray’s body was a white pillow with a screened picture of him. A projector aimed at two screens on the walls showed the words “Black Lives Matter & All Lives Matter.”

The service lasted nearly two hours, with dignitaries in attendance including former Maryland representative and NAACP leader Kweisi Mfume and current Maryland Rep. John Sarbanes.

Erica Garner, 24, the daughter of Eric Garner, attended Gray’s funeral. She said she came after seeing video of Gray’s arrest, which she said reminded her of her father’s shouts that he could not breathe when he was being arrested on a New York City street. Garner died during the confrontation.

“It’s like there is no accountability, no justice,” she said. “It’s like we’re back in the ’50s, back in the Martin Luther King days. When is our day to be free going to come?”

With the Rev. Jesse Jackson sitting behind him, the Rev. Jamal Bryant gave a rousing and spirited eulogy for Freddie Gray, a message that received a standing ovation from the crowded church.

Bryant said Gray’s death would spur further protests, and he urged those in the audience to join.

“Freddie’s death is not in vain,” Bryant said. “After this day, we’re going to keep on marching. After this day, we’re going to keep demanding justice.”

Gray was arrested after making eye contact with officers and then running away, police said. He was held down, handcuffed and loaded into a van without a seat belt. Leg cuffs were put on him when he became irate inside.

He asked for medical help several times even before being put in the van, but paramedics were not called until after a 30-minute ride. Police have acknowledged he should have received medical attention on the spot where he was arrested, but they have not said how his spine was injured.

(AP)

Terminal One at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Sunday night 7 Iyar looked more like an IDF base as soldiers and officers prepared to take off for the relief mission in Nepal.

The team numbers 280, including 40 physicians, most IDF reservists. Eighty members of the team will set up the field hospital. They will remain for at least two weeks and have three missions; the establishment of the field hospital, continue the rescue efforts for missing people, and of course to assist Israelis in Nepal.

IDF Homefront Command Company Commander Lt.-Colonel Liron Shapira explains the critical 12 hours since the earthquake have passed as have the 24 hours following that period, explaining that which each passing hour there is less of a chance of finding survivors.

Shapira, who has been on other similar missions like in Haiti, adds there do not know the level of the ongoing rescue efforts taking place at this time. They are aware the level of destruction is devastating.

95 tons of aid equipment was sent to Nepal in addition to the people involved in the humanitarian mission.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

3rd Annual Shabbat Retreat for the body and soul only a few weeks away!

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The GOP chairman of the House Armed Service Committee on Monday recommended a $604 billion defense budget for 2016 that challenges the White House because it includes lethal weapons for Ukraine, makes it harder for the president to empty the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and restores funding for the A-10 fleet.

Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, released his so-called chairman’s mark for the National Defense Authorization Act. On Wednesday, his committee will debate the proposal, which he claims also works to add more flexibility and accountability into the defense acquisition process.

“These reforms are designed to recruit and retain America’s best and brightest, ensure that our forces maintain their technological edge, and to balance resources from the tail to the tooth of the force,” Thornberry said.

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the defense bill historically has been a place where Congress can put its imprint on national security policy, yet it also provides an opportunity for politicians to engage in parochial politics.

“For example, the majority is attempting to further its perilous policy of allowing the excessively expensive detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to persist. This is a political position driving bad policy,” Smith said.

Smith said the budget proposal includes a ban on U.S. military base closures, forcing the Pentagon to maintain facilities it does not need or want. Smith also lamented a provision that he said “micromanages the Navy’s ability to manage its modernization as it relates to a number of cruisers.”

On the other hand, Smith applauded the support for U.S. efforts in Iraq and Syria and a bipartisan effort to address defense acquisition reform. “To be clear, there are positive provisions in this bill, but we have got to make some changes if we are going to get a bill that the president will sign.”

The proposal authorizes $515 billion in spending for national defense and another $89.2 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations for a total of $604.2 billion. The president had requested $611.9 billion, disregarding spending limits that Congress imposed in 2011. The committee is skirting the spending cap for defense by increasing the OCO, the emergency war-fighting fund.

Some highlights of the chairman’s proposal:

—UKRAINE: Recommends providing lethal weapons to the military and national security forces of Ukraine that are fighting Russian-backed separatists. Authorizes $200 million to do more to provide Ukraine with military training and assistance to defend itself from Russian aggression.

—GUANTANAMO BAY: Reauthorizes a ban on transferring detainees to the United States and building detention facilities in the United States to hold them. Rescinds the president’s authority to unilaterally transfer detainees like he did when he exchanged five Taliban detainees for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. Reverts to a strong transfer policy established under the 2013 defense act, which says transfers may take place only when the defense secretary can certify that a third country will maintain control over a released detainee and prevent him from returning to the fight or threatening the U.S.

—IRAQ: Supports authorizing the president’s request of $715 million for security assistance to Iraqi forces battling Islamic State militants, but requires 25 percent of the funds be given directly to Kurdish and Sunni forces involved in the fight.

—SYRIA: Authorizes $600 million to keep training and equipping vetted moderate Syrian opposition forces, but expresses concern about helping defend those forces once they return to the fight in Syria.

—AFGHANISTAN: Recommends that the U.S. withdraw American forces from Afghanistan only at a pace in which Afghan security forces can secure the country. Recommends that the U.S. financially back the Afghan security forces through 2018.

—A-10: The Pentagon has been trying to retire the A-10 for years, but Thornberry’s proposal restores funding seeks to upgrade the fleet, which provides close air support for troops.

—ACQUISITION: Works to cut bureaucracy by moving critical decisions to the beginning stages of the acquisition process; simplifies the chain of command and makes it possible for top military talent to serve in acquisition roles.

—REPORTS TO CONGRESS: To free up man hours, the proposal takes actions that over the next six years will eliminate more than 460 congressionally mandated reports.

(AP)

The situation with the riots is not good, and we are already seeing cars with ski-masked youths passing through.

We advise everyone to be extremely cautious and vigilant. Be aware that police are busy elsewhere, which means that we must all be alert and help each other. Criminals and rioters may attack any weak-looking targets that present themselves.

Call 911 and Shomrim without delay!

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday evening 7 Iyar spoke with senior IDF Homefront Command officer Brig.-Gen. Yoel Strick, as he prepared to send a team of 260 search and rescue, and medical professionals from Israel to the disaster area in Katmandu, Nepal.

The President said, “My blessings go to all the team undertaking this brave and humanitarian mission. I am proud of you and your staff for their speedy and impressive enlistment at such a time of need. This delegation of ‘messenger angels’ represents the universal values, in the spirit of our people and our country, and through you, I wish to thank each and every one of them.”

Brig.-Gen. Strick explained that the first plane had already landed at its destination, during the subsequent earthquake which occurred today. He shared with the President that he had received hundreds of applications from those of all professions and rescue groups, who wanted to be dispatched on this important aid mission. He said, “We have set out on a mission which symbolizes all that the IDF stands for, and we a greatly proud of this.”

Strick thanked the President for his kind words, and said he would pass them on to the members of the delegation.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Once again a violent anti-Semitic attack in Paris. This time, a 53-year-man was attacked and beaten by three men after leaving a shul on Shabbos, 6 Iyar 5775. The newspaper Le Parisien reports the location in Saint-Ouen, a northern suburb of the French capital. The victim, Solomon, is the owner of a local grocery store.

One attacker, reported in his 20s, followed Solomon from shul shouting “dirty Jew” at him. He then became physical, kicking and spitting then he pulled a knife. While Solomon did his best to defend himself, two other attackers joined in so he was outnumbered three to one.

Police are investigating. B’chasdei Hashem the victim did not sustain serious physical injury but admittedly he is not traumatized and scared to leave his home.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

A first glimpse at the draft coalition agreement with Yahadut Hatorah shows progress and perhaps Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu can be optimistic that the chareidi party will be the first to sign on to his coalition.

As was reported earlier, Yahadut Hatorah insists that the criminal sanctions component of the chareidi draft law is eliminated. Even if this is done, it remains to be seen if such a move will stand up to a Supreme Court challenge, which is all but guaranteed. The same holds true for promises from PM Netanyahu to return exclusive control of state giyur to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, thereby undoing the law passed by Bayit Yehudi in the last administration.

Also included in the agreement is that Yaakov Litzman will become deputy health minister with ministerial authority, giving him free hand to run the ministry as he did in the 18th Knesset. Moshe Gafne is to serve as chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee and Meir Porush as deputy minister of education, which will most likely place him in charge of chareidi education.

A Yahadut Hatorah representative is also to be appointed to the committee that appoints judges and dayanim. The prime minister is also giving his word to work towards changing the current reality by which the state’s batei din are discriminated against in comparison to the secular judicial system. Yahadut Hatorah is also likely to have a deputy Knesset speaker in the second half of the coalition’s tenure.

The agreement will have to be approved by gedolei yisrael and admorim of both Degel Hatorah and Yahadut Hatorah respectively. For now, Yahadut Hatorah appears to be closest to signing on to the coalition but one cannot know what will occur until the signature appears on the agreement.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)