Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com ------------------------------------------------ Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe/ Tuesday, Dec. 29 '15, Tevet 17, 5776 HEADLINES: 1. COURT: FORMER PM OLMERT TO SERVE 18 MONTHS 2. WATCH: OLMERT RESPONDS TO PRISON SENTENCE; 'I'M INNOCENT' 3. BIBI RESPONDS TO NASRALLAH: WE'LL RETALIATE AGAINST ANY ATTACK 4. RECORD-SETTING NUMBERS OF NEW OLIM ARRIVED IN 2015 5. MAN ARRESTED FOR PARTICIPATING IN DUMA WEDDING DANCE 6. FIRST OPENLY-GAY LIKUD MK RESPONDS TO HAREDI SNUB 7. ISRAEL TAKES FASHION WORLD BY STORM - WITH A SHIRT WORN 24 WAYS 8. WATCH: IDF FORMS NEW ELITE BRIGADE 1. COURT: FORMER PM OLMERT TO SERVE 18 MONTHS by Matt Wanderman Five Supreme Court justices have examined the appeal by former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and partially accepted the appeal. He will serve 18 months in prison. He will begin his sentence on February 15. Olmert was found guilty in 2014 on two counts of bribery and sentenced to six years in prison, two years probation, and a fine of one million shekels ($257,000 US). He was also ordered to forfeit 560,000 shekels ($144,000 US) in assets. While the Supreme Court has now absolved him from the charge of receiving a 500,000 shekel ($187,000 US) bribe, it unanimously upheld his convicted of receiving 60,000 shekels ($15,000 US) in a separate bribe. "A heavy weight was removed from my heart when the Supreme Court ruled that I am not guilty of the main crime - the Holyland affair," said Olmert. "That was, for me, a dark cloud over my head and over my family. I have previously said that I was never offered and I never received bribes, and I say this again today. Naturally, I accept the decision of the Supreme Court." Seven other people were also found guilty in the case, including former Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski. The crimes revolved around Jerusalem's Holyland property development. Prosecutors claim that Olmert, during his term as mayor of Jerusalem, received 500,000 shekels in bribes in exchange for easing the approval process for Holyland. The court has accepted Lupolianski's appeal, and he will not go to prison. Olmert will be the first Israeli prime minister sent to prison. Former President Moshe Katsav is also currently in prison, though he may soon be released on parole. 2. WATCH: OLMERT RESPONDS TO PRISON SENTENCE; 'I'M INNOCENT' by Arutz Sheva Staff [youtube:2011001] Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has maintained his innocence of all charges of bribery, in a statement to journalists outside the Supreme Court this morning, but says he accepts the court's ruling to jail him for 18 months for corruption. A tired-looking Olmert, who will become the first former Israeli PM to go to prison when he begins his prison term on February 15 next year, noted that the court had acquitted him of the more serious charges - an alleged half-million bribe in the so-called Holyland corruption scandal, which would have earned him a far higher sentence of six years. "A heavy weight was removed from my heart when the Supreme Court ruled that I am not guilty of the main crime - the Holyland affair," he said. "That was, for me, a dark and painful cloud over my head and over my family - my children, my grandchildren, and all those close to me - for a long time." But of his conviction for accepting a separate 60,000 shekel ($15,000 US) bribe, he said he maintained his innocence. "I have previously said that I was never offered and I never received bribes, and I say this again today. Though naturally, and in accordance with my faith and my conduct throughout my life, I respect the decision of the Supreme Court justices." See the video above for the full statement and subsequent brief Q&A. 3. BIBI RESPONDS TO NASRALLAH: WE'LL RETALIATE AGAINST ANY ATTACK by Matt Wanderman Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has offered a veiled message for Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah, stating, "Our enemies should know that we will aggressively retaliate for any attack against us." He made the statement during a ceremony awarding the year's best Mossad workers, only a couple days after Nasrallah threatened to attack Israel in return for the death of Samir Kuntar. Israel has not commented on the alleged operation. During his speech, Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke about the Mossad's importance in the face of continued threats. "The world is changing and the Mossad is changing with it. Its role and importance in the maintaining our national security is growing. Today we are facing a new threat. Because of the rise of extremist Islam, we find ourselves...in a world war against two large factions of extremist Islam which spread across the globe. We are obligated to deal with these threats, and these two threats are linked to one another." He closed by quoting the book of Psalms: "He neither slumbers nor sleeps, the Guard of Israel." The two factions presumably refer to terror groups from both the Sunni and Shi'ite branches of Islam, including ISIS and Iran, respectively. 4. RECORD-SETTING NUMBERS OF NEW OLIM ARRIVED IN 2015 by Arutz Sheva Staff The Jewish Agency for Israel has announced that more than 30,000 olim [new immigrants] arrived in Israel in 2015. This represents an increase of 10 percent over last year, and the highest number in over a decade. The largest group came from France, with 7,900 new Israelis. This is an all-time record for the country. Jewish Agency Chair Natan Sharansky praised the figures, saying, "The high number of immigrants, particularly from western countries, attests to the drawing power of the Zionist idea. The fact that immigrants choose to come to Israel is a sign that Israel invests their lives with meaning that they cannot find elsewhere. This choice requires that we make every effort to enable them to become immediately integrated in the workforce and in the education system, so that they, like those who came before them, may put down roots in Israel and enrich Israeli society." Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption Minister Ze'ev Elkin (Likud) also expressed his happiness over the thousands of Jews who are making their new home in Israel: "We are in a rare window of opportunity. While we are busy with the day-to-day problems of Israel, we did not pay attention to this year's great development: the number of immigrants exceeded 30,000 for the first time in more than a decade. The number of immigrants rose by 50% in the past two years, and we haven't heard the last word. It is our duty to do everything necessary to take advantage of this rare opportunity and invest efforts in both immigrant absorption and Aliyah encouragement, so that a figure of 50,000 immigrants in one year does not seem imaginary. If we will it, it is no dream." About 3,770 olim came from the US and Canada this year, a slight decrease from last year's 3,870. Tel Aviv received the most immigrants in 2015, with the arrival of 3,650 new residents from abroad. Netanya came in second with 3,500 immigrants, Jerusalem with 3,030, and Haifa with 2,250. 5. MAN ARRESTED FOR PARTICIPATING IN DUMA WEDDING DANCE by Arutz Sheva Staff Police have arrested a resident of Kfar Tapuach in Samaria on suspicion that he was involved in the wedding dance in which people celebrated the deaths of the Dawabshe family. Itamar Ben-Gvir, from the legal defense organization Honenu, claims that the weapon waved during the dance was a toy and thus not illegal. Police initially opened an investigation into the incident on Thursday, which occurred at a wedding in Jerusalem of a couple well known in far-right circles. The bride is herself a resident of Kfar Tapuach. In the footage, initially obtained by Channel 10, dozens of men and boys can be seen dancing while waving guns and knives. One masked individual can also be seen carrying a mock molotov cocktail and a picture of Ali Dawabshe, the 18-month-old Palestinian baby killed along with his parents in the deadly arson in Duma last July. At one point, the masked individual can be seen stabbing the picture. Police are investigating allegations of incitement, as well as possible charges related to the passing around of weapons to unlicensed individuals, including minors. The footage led to a nationwide outcry, with even the groom's family distancing themselves from it and insisting their wedding was hijacked by extremists. 6. FIRST OPENLY-GAY LIKUD MK RESPONDS TO HAREDI SNUB by Ari Soffer Likud's newest MK Amir Ohana - the party's first openly gay man to serve in the Knesset - has fired back after haredi MKs absented themselves from his swearing-in ceremony. During Monday's ceremony, MKs from Likud's coalition partners United Torah Judaism (UTJ) and Shas were notably absent, in an apparent slight towards Ohana. Ohana, who heads the Likud's LGBT caucus, replaces former Interior Minister Silvan Shalom, who stepped down last week amid a storm of sexual harassment allegations. But the freshman MK said he didn't even notice the haredi MKs' absence at the time, and didn't take it personally. In fact, he said, he hoped they would continue to boycott his speeches. "At the time of the speech I didn't even notice the absence, and afterwards when I heard (about it) I just hoped that in all subjects about LGBT rights they will continue to be absent," he said in an Army Radio interview, in a veiled swipe at the haredi parties. "Let them be absent - that would be wonderful." For their part, the haredi parties have insisted their MKs' absence was nothing personal. "The opposition was nothing personal," a senior UTJ source told Channel 2. "But he is a Member of Knesset from the coalition and we are very concerned that he will work to advance initiatives regarding the homosexual community, and in United Torah Judaism we oppose (such initiatives)." The Shas party claimed its MKs were only absent due to a scheduling misunderstanding, with party sources insisting it was not a calculated political move at all. There have been other homosexual MKs, though most belonged to Meretz. Ohana is the first from a right-wing party. Watch: Haredi MKs disappear during Amir Ohana's first Knesset address [youtube:2010981] 7. ISRAEL TAKES FASHION WORLD BY STORM - WITH A SHIRT WORN 24 WAYS by Raphael Poch The fashion world has been taken by storm by a new innovation created by Israeli designer Tamara Salem, who with her business partner Barak Kirschner created the fashion design company by the name of Morf. Salem created started out by creating a dress that could be worn multiple ways creating multiple designs, and then designed a shirt which caused the fashion world to explode. The Morf shirt, has been written up in numerous newspapers and fashion magazines around the world, and has garnered an incredible share of media attention. What is special about the lightweight and durable shirt is that it can be worn in 24 different ways, each one creating its own unique style and design as well as pattern. From solid blues, to horizontal blue and black lines, the shirt can be worn and re-worn to create elegant patterns and match countless wardrobe ideas. This one shirt can replace entire segments of a wardrobe, and at a fraction of the cost. Morf shirt, has been quoted by top fashion websites as being unbelievable and something that will be a trendsetter for further advancements and innovations in the fashion industry. To quote just one site fashiontrendsmore.com " The innovation in the design of this shirt is unbelievable and I believe that this first ever multi-shirt will pave the way for further advancements in the fashion industry." In an interview with Arutz Sheva, Salem explained how she came upon the idea to create this type of revolutionary shirt. "The idea came to me when I was sewing a shirt for a friend's birthday. I wanted to create a shirt that would allow the wearer to wear it in many different ways. I wanted it to be a simple shirt that looks like any other shirt, but would have several possibilities to change styles in the simplest of manners." The genius of the shirt is that instead of simply containing one layer for the front and the back, it is built in a way that include four layers. "These layers allow three different places to wear the shirt in a ways that creates new designs for each one," said Salem. Salem prided herself on the simplicity of the design adding that there are no zippers or buttons. "It looks like a shirt, it feels like a shirt. The whole idea is that is there is no wrong way to wear it," Mathematically speaking the four different layers allow the wearer to wear the shirt with a v-neck or with a complete circle neck, and also allows the sleeves to become different colors. In total the layers allow for 24 different positions. "From the standpoint of a designer and a wearer it was a pleasure to create this shirt," added Salem. Salem has been overjoyed by the feedback that the company has received by purchasers of the shirt. Having received a lot of positive feedback, she said that the most positive feedback has been from travelers or backpackers, who appreciate the ingenuity and variety of styles that one article of clothing allows. Everything from sporty, to elegant. "The shirt particularly works for travellers who can use this one shirt for a few days while travelling or hiking. It is something that is fun and useful and that is the best thing in design." Morf recently added a shirt for men, as well as increased the basic design of the women's shirt to include three separate color motif, blue, red, and green. Those items as well as the original dress design are available for sale from the company's website and from amazon. Salem is also looking to soon begin making children's clothing in the near future. MORF dress Courtesy MORF Fashion "I came from the world of Television, and I was a TV editor. After I had the original idea for the dress I left television and studied design at studio 6B in Tel Aviv. Upon graduating I did my required internship in the field and became a designer. I am very happy in my new profession, and I am grateful that I have been able to make so many other people happy as well." The designs for the shirt and dress have been patented under US patent law, and are on sale until the end of the 2015 calendar year. 8. WATCH: IDF FORMS NEW ELITE BRIGADE by ILTV [youtube:2010988] ------------------------------------------------ Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe/
| You are currently subscribed to Israel National News as: baruch@israelnationalnews.com To unsubscribe click here |
