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Tuesday, Jul. 19 '16, י"ג בתמוז תשע"ו
HEADLINES:
1. FUGITIVE RABBI ELIEZER BERLAND ARRESTED UPON RETURN TO ISRAEL
2. NICE ATTACK WAS 'PREMEDITATED, PREPARED AND PLANNED'
3. WATCH: WELCOMING AMERICAN-JEWISH 'PIONEERS' TO ISRAEL
4. GERMANY: ISIS CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR AX ATTACK
5. WATCH: ATLANTA MAYOR SHUTS DOWN ISRAEL BOYCOTTERS
6. IDF QUESTIONS TIES WITH RABBI LEVINSTEIN
7. S. AFRICAN TWINS REMANDED OVER JEWISH INSTITUTIONS ATTACK PLOT
8. WATCH: JEWISH EMBODIMENT AND REDEMPTION IN BAT AYIN
1. FUGITIVE RABBI ELIEZER BERLAND ARRESTED UPON RETURN TO ISRAEL
by Arutz Sheva Staff
[youtube:2017305]
Rabbi Eliezer Berland, the fugitive spiritual leader of the Shuvu Banim Yeshiva in Jerusalem, associated with the Breslov hassidic community, landed in Israel this morning (Tuesday), where he was promptly arrested by police at Ben Gurion Airport.
This ends a three-year saga which started when Rabbi Berland fled the country after being accused of sexual assault.
Hundreds of supporters still loyal to the Rabbi waited to greet him at Ben-Gurion airport.
The Rabbi is now reportedly ready to cooperate with legal authorities.
His Attorney Rachel Toran claimed last night that Rabbi Berland had left the country 3 years ago for reasons unrelated to the accusations levied against him, and is now returning of his own free will.
"We're talking about an old, sickly, 80-year-old man, Dean of a yeshiva, a great Torah scholar, a man of compassion and kind deeds. He trusts the authorities to deal with this issue in a quick and efficient manner," Attorney Toran said.
According to the lawyer, the Rabbi is suspected of crimes of low severity, this in opposition to widespread reports claiming that the nature of the suspicions is severe. "We have no doubt that the investigation will clear the Rabbi of all allegations," Toran concluded.
2. NICE ATTACK WAS 'PREMEDITATED, PREPARED AND PLANNED'
by Shai Landesman
New details continue to emerge about Mohammed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, the Tunisian-French man who drove a truck into a crowd in Nice's Promenade De Anglais on Bastille day last Thursday night, killing 84.
Prosecutor Francois Molin outlined the preliminary findings of the police investigation into Boulel's background at a press conference yesterday (Monday).
Widespread reports had already indicated that Bouhlel, though from a Muslim background, was never seen to be religious by family and friends. Molin confirmed this, saying the Bouhlel "ate pork, drank alcohol, took drugs and had a promiscuous sex life."
However, there were recent indications that he was taking a greater interests in Jihadist ideology. According to Molin, Bouhlel's computer contained very "violent images" from radical Islamic websites, as well as links to Jihadi sites, research about the recent shootings in Orlando and Dallas, and research into Osama bin Laden and the Algerian terrorist leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar.
In addition, the terms "horrible accident", "terrible fatal accident" and "shocking video, not for sensitive souls" had been recently searched on his computer.
In conversation with police detectives, one witness said that in the context of a conversation about ISIS videos of beheadings posted online, Bouhlel had said "I'm used to seeing that". Other witnesses said that he'd grown a beard over the week before he committed the attack, and told acquaintances that the reasons for growing the beard were religious.
Search history from his computer showed that one July 7th, Bouhlel had researched the Koran and religious songs.
Evidence from his phone showed that he'd visited the Promenade De Anglais several times in the days before he committed the attack.
Prosecutor Molin told media that all of these evidence sufficed to "establish the premeditated nature of this act."
3. WATCH: WELCOMING AMERICAN-JEWISH 'PIONEERS' TO ISRAEL
by Yoni Kempinski
[youtube:2017310]
More than 200 new olim (immigrants) from the United States and Canada were hailed as an "inspiration" as they were greeted by leading officials at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport earlier Tuesday.
The 218 olim landed on an El Al Boeing 777 chartered by Nefesh B'Nefesh, and hailed from 17 US states and two Canadian provinces The flight was facilitated in cooperation with Israel's Ministry of Aliyah & Immigrant Absorption, The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, and JNF-USA.
Among the varied crowd of new Israelis were former servicemen from three different US Armed Forces units, families of all sizes, young professionals and others.
Speaking to the olim at a festive ceremony welcoming them to the Jewish homeland, Nefesh B'Nefesh Co-Founder and Executive Director Rabbi Yehoshua Fass praised them as "pioneers."
[youtube:2017316]
"We are celebrating today the Aliyah of hundreds of new Olim who will begin their lives in the Jewish State, many of whom are modern-day pioneers moving to Israel's North and South," said Rabbi Fass.
"The thousands of Jews that will be returning to their homeland from the Diaspora over the course of this year are an inspiration to us all in helping to spearhead the future of the State of Israel."
Other notable guests at the ceremony included Minister of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, Sofa Landver (Yisrael Beytenu); Chairman of the Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, MK Avraham Neguise (Likud); Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Natan Sharansky; World Chairman of KKL-JNF, Danny Atar; and fellow Nefesh B'Nefesh Co-Founder Tony Gelbart.
Today's planeload of olim is the first of two charters - which, along with nine group Aliyah flights and olim arriving independently on a daily basis, will bring 2,000 Olim making Aliyah through Nefesh B'Nefesh this summer.
Since 2002, Nefesh B'Nefesh, together with its partners, has brought nearly 50,000 Jews to Israel from the US, Canada and the UK.
Absorption Minister Landver also welcomed the olim to Israel, praising North American immigrants as an "asset" to the country.
"On behalf of myself and the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, I want to welcome all the new Olim to Israel. In recent years, the Ministry has invested a great number of resources into Aliyah and we see North American immigration as a wonderful asset to the country – one that provides strength both economically and on a nationalistic level," she said.
"Our office provides a smooth absorption process and ensures that every new Oleh will receive the utmost personal attention in order to quickly integrate into Israeli society.
"Especially now, as global terrorism raises its head, it is not a given that a person will decide to leave his home and settle somewhere new, but as Jews, we know that we always have a home waiting for us - the State of Israel."
Chairman of the Jewish Agency - which also facilitates aliyah - Natan Sharansky, noted that olim from the US and Canada tend to be uniquely motivated, since their reasons for moving to Israel are primarily positive.
"The immigrants arriving from the United States and Canada are coming not out of distress but rather out of excitement to take part in the largest national project of the Jewish people," Sharansky stated.
In a possible veiled reference to religious reforms he has been pushing for, Sharansky added: "We must ensure that the State of Israel remains a place in which every Jew feels at home, a place that ignites Jews' imagination and strengthens their identity and security."
World Chairman of KKL-JNF Danny Atar stated that "Aliyah to Israel is the foundation on which the Zionist enterprise stands on.
"It is the clearest expression of our love to the land of Israel. I am certain that each oleh will contribute his part to the flourishment and prosperity of the State of Israel and from our part, we must provide them with all the tools in order to adapt to and assimilate in Israel in the best way possible."
4. GERMANY: ISIS CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR AX ATTACK
by Tal Polon
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the recent attack in Germany, in which an Afghan asylum-seeker attacked train passengers with an ax and knife, injuring at least five people.
On Tuesday, a hand-painted ISIS flag was found in the terrorist's room.
The terrorist allegedly came to Germany two years ago as an unaccompanied minor and applied for asylum in March, according to The Guardian.
He had been living in a home for teenage refugees until two weeks ago, when he had been put in the care of a foster family.
5. WATCH: ATLANTA MAYOR SHUTS DOWN ISRAEL BOYCOTTERS
by Ari Soffer
[youtube:2017317]
When Mayor of Atlanta Kasim Reed was presented with a list of demands by a group associated with the "Black Lives Matter" (BLM) campaign, which included a demand to end joint training exercises with the Israeli police, he was none too impressed.
The BLM faction in question, ALTisREADY, had issued a list of demands to the Atlanta Police Dept., which led with the following:
We demand a termination to APD's involvement in the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) program, that trains our officers in Apartheid Israel (sic).
Responding at a press conference to a journalist who asked why he rejected the list of demands, Reed said bluntly:
"There was a demand that I stop allowing the Atlanta Police Department to train with the Israeli police department.
"I'm not going to do that; I happen to believe that the Israeli police department has some of the best counterterrorism techniques in the world, and it benefits our police department from that longstanding relationship."
Leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement met with Mayor Reed for two hours on Sunday.
The city has seen a number of protests over the killings of black Americans by police in the US, though the Atlanta rallies have been largely peaceful.
6. IDF QUESTIONS TIES WITH RABBI LEVINSTEIN
by Uzi Baruch
The IDF is weighing whether to allow Rabbi Yigal Levinstein to continue speaking on military bases due to statements he made concerning the LGBT community.
In the meantime, the IDF has cancelled the planned speaking engagement of a high-ranking military official at the pre-military academy in Eli, where Rabbi Levinstein teaches. In addition, a planned speech of the Rabbi in front of IDF soldiers has been cancelled.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Defense condemned the remarks of the Rabbi, and ordered an investigation into the incident.
Prime Minister Netanyahu also commented on the statements of the Rabbi: "The LGBT community are citizens, people. I don't accept distinctions between people [...] I believe this and I act accordingly."
On the other hand, the Head of the Beit El Yeshiva, Rabbi Zalman Melamed, expressed support for Rabbi Levinstein. "He who uproots one letter of the Torah uproots the entire Torah, and the Rabbis of Israel are men of kindness who love each and every member of Israel. Again, all the power to Rabbi Levinstein," Rabbi Levinstein said.
7. S. AFRICAN TWINS REMANDED OVER JEWISH INSTITUTIONS ATTACK PLOT
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Two South African brothers were remanded in custody Tuesday over allegations they plotted to attack the US embassy and Jewish institutions, as well as planning to join the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group.
The arrests of 23-year-old twins Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee Thulsie earlier this month were the first in South Africa relating to alleged ISIS membership.
"Both the defense and the state were not ready to proceed, hence the trial was postponed until July 25," National Prosecuting Authority spokeswoman Phindi Louw told reporters outside Johannesburg magistrates' court.
"We have reasonable and probable cause to believe that an offence was committed."
Police last week said the pair were suspected of planning to bomb the US embassy in Pretoria as well as unspecified Jewish facilities.
They are also alleged to have attempted to travel to Syria to join ISIS.
The brothers waved to family members in court after the short hearing.
The United States and Britain warned last month of the possibility of imminent attacks by jihadist extremists in South Africa's major cities.
Muslims account for 1.5 percent of South Africa's 53 million people. The country has so far been spared the jihadist attacks that have struck several other countries on the continent.
AFP contributed this report.
8. WATCH: JEWISH EMBODIMENT AND REDEMPTION IN BAT AYIN
by Ari Soffer
[youtube:2017302]
While the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria are widely maligned by much of the international media, some communities in particular are often singled out.
Among them is Bat Ayin, a village of some 200 families nestled in the ancient hills of Judea, between two of the Jewish people's holiest and most historically important cities, Jerusalem and Hevron.
Often cast as a hotbed of extremism - particularly since the uncovering of a Jewish underground cell there who planned revenge attacks against Arabs during the Second Intifada - the community's human side, like that of the "settlers" in general, are rarely portrayed.
That's something which Elad Nehorai - better known as founder of the Pop Chassid blog - set out to change, with a remarkable series opening a window into the lives of several families in this unique community.
As those familiar with the wider Gush Etzion area will know, Bat Ayin is a particularly unique place, offering a unique fusion of powerful Jewish identity on the one hand, and a deep - borderline "hippyish" - sense of spirituality and connection with nature.
It's a character which comes out particularly strongly in the first episode of "Bat Ayin," released earlier this month, which features Shlomo and Rina Shoshana Vile - two olim from Chicago who sold everything and left for Israel after becoming enchanted with their current hometown.
In a statement posted along with the video, the directors what motivated them to launch the crowd-funded project:
"Our goal with this film series is to show a community of Jews that doesn't get a lot of exposure beyond the political.
"The residents of Bat Ayin challenge many assumptions - about what it means to be Jewish, to settle in Israel, and to inhabit, physically and spiritually, the tension between worlds.
"In a discussion that is often divisive, we want to show you a human, living, breathing side of this one-of-a-kind place."
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