Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
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Wednesday, Feb. 08 '17, י"ב בשבט תשע"ז
HEADLINES:
1. 'IVANKA TRUMP ATTENDS EARLY MORNING PRAYERS'
2. 'I BROUGHT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT, NO ONE SHOULD BE LECTURING ME'
3. WATCH: THE TRUMP FAMILY AND THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
4. CHIEF RABBI: DO NOT FEAR THE WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS
5. EXTREME-LEFT NGOS: REGULATION LAW IS A WAR CRIME
6. BRIGADIER GENERAL SLAMS COURT FOR AZARIYA CONVICTION
7. ATTORNEY GENERAL TO OPPOSE REGULATION LAW IN SUPREME COURT
8. FULL DEBATE: ATTORNEYS ARGUE TRAVEL BAN
1. 'IVANKA TRUMP ATTENDS EARLY MORNING PRAYERS'
by Chana Roberts
[youtube:2024294]
Israel's Channel 2's News Reporter and Anchorwoman Sivan Rahav Meir interviewed Rabbi Marvin Hier at his office in the Los Angeles Simon Wiesenthal Center. Rabbi Hier served as US President Donald Trump's inauguration rabbi, and is close to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
"I also got permission to actually say 'If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill' in Hebrew," Rabbi Hier began. "But then what happened was, on the morning of the inauguration, somebody from the inauguration committee came over to me and said, 'Rabbi, we have a dilemma. The Latino representative, he also came to us for permission to recite one of the Halleluyas in Hebrew. It would seem like all the quotes will be in Hebrew."
When asked about Ivanka and Jared, Rabbi Hier said, "Not only do they come to my lessons, they come to other scholars' lessons. But yes, they come, and I can tell you that I've seen with my own eyes that...when you have an early minyan (quorum of ten men), and it's..at 7 o'clock on a holiday morning, the only woman there with the first arrivals is Ivanka.
"If the minyan started at seven, and you're at Hallel (songs of praise) at 7:45, she's long there.... They're wonderful people, and whatever advice I'm sure they're going to give their father, or father-in-law, will be good advice on behalf of the state of Israel.
"I'm honored to be the first Orthodox rabbi in the history of the inauguration to deliver a prayer."
Regarding the inauguration, Rabbi Hier said, "Why are the Obamas there? Why are the Bushes? And what about Jimmy Carter? Not a great friend of the State of Israel. What are they doing there? They're there because it's the right thing to do.
"Absolutely [I saw feedback about my participation]. It never occurred to me that anti-Semitism - only the naive people in the world think there are no anti-Semites. The world hates to see a rabbi with a yarmulka (kipa, skullcap).
"These anti-Semites, when they see a rabbi with a yarmulka, they think, 'Oh my G-d, the Moshiach (Messiah) is here already! Look at this, a rabbi with a yarmulka is at the inauguration. Good. Let them not sleep. It's wonderful for them to see that," Rabbi Hier concluded.
2. 'I BROUGHT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT, NO ONE SHOULD BE LECTURING ME'
by Hezki Baruch
In an exclusive interview with Arutz Sheva, MK Ze'ev Binyamin "Benny" Begin (Likud) slammed the Jewish Home party for the Regulation law and and justified his vote against it, saying he'd "already brought down the government after it gave away Israeli land."
"This coalition is all about threats and extortion," Begin said. "One person threatens the other, one party threatens the other, eight mandates threaten the entire coalition. It's not okay to use threats to pass extremist laws.
"Even if I knew that because of my vote the coalition would fall apart, I would still have voted against the Regulation Law and brought down the government.
"No one is going to threaten me. I brought down the government when it gave away parts of Israel. No one should be to lecturing me," Begin said.
On Tuesday, Channel 2 reported Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit refused to defend the Regulation Law in court, and will argue the Supreme Court's stance instead of the Knesset's.
It is not yet clear if Mandelblit himself will attend, or if he will send an appointee instead.
The Israeli government has hired a private lawyer to defend the law instead of Mandelblit.
3. WATCH: THE TRUMP FAMILY AND THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
by Yoni Kempinski
[youtube:2024279]
Malki Weisberg shared with Arutz Sheva the story of how Fred C. Trump, the father of US President Donald Trump, forged a friendship with her father, Rabbi Israel Wagner, and helped build and support an Orthodox Synagogue in New York.
"The Synagogue was housed in a basement in one of these buildings [built by Fred Trump], because there wasn't a building yet. And my father, Mr. Israel Wagner, decided to go and speak to Mr. Fred C. Trump, and see what he could do about building a Synagogue," Weisberg said.
"At that point, a friendship which lasted 49 years began...and Mr. Trump became a huge supporter of the Synagogue. He said: 'I will donate the land, you will build the Synagogue. And he helped yearly with donations," she added.
She said that the aid Fred Trump gave the Jewish community went beyond helping to construct a Synagogue. "If my father ever had a family that was down and out and needed help, he would go speak to Mr.Trump, and help would come. He was truly a man that respected Judaism, respected my father very much, and respected family life."
She expressed hope that Trump would be a good President for America and for the Jews and Israel.
"I'm very hopeful. I believe that the hand of G-d was in this entire process. Donald Trump, nobody thought would win as President of the United States, and he did. I think that we see a lot of unnatural things, and people have to give him a chance.
"I believe that he wants a strong America. I believe that he has pride in it. And I believe that that includes having Israel as a close friend and ally. And I believe that his background, and his family, and his father and his mother as well, who loved Jews and were close to certain Jews, and continued to appreciate the Jewish way of life, I really hope that that will show us here in Israel a friendship that will last a long time," she concluded.
4. CHIEF RABBI: DO NOT FEAR THE WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Israeli Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef related for the first time to attacks aimed at him by women's organizations following the bill of divorce episode involving a woman from Tzfat in northern Israel.
In 2014, S. was given a divorce in a rare and unprecedented move by a religious court in the northern city of Tzfat, seven years after her husband was severely injured in a car accident and left in a vegetative state. A halakhic get must be granted by the husband and accepted by the wife. The rabbinic court in this case decided that they could be the husband's legal guardian and that he would have wanted to grant the divorce, calling it a get zicui.
Shortly after the ruling was issued and the divorce granted, Reuven Cohen, who opposed the decision but is unconnected to the couple in question, filed an appeal with the Supreme Rabbinic Court – the Chief Rabbinate's highest judicial body – to challenge the divorce on halakhic grounds.
Upon the decision to reopen the case, the Rabbinical Court was met with vocal opposition from women's groups and Knesset members.
At the opening of a convention for rabbinical judges, Rabbi Yosef told the other judges: "We hold by the standard among ourselves of 'Fear no one [when making a judgement].' If there are women's groups that want things from us, that we should allow them to do anything - do not be afraid! Fear no one. Be strong."
"They're representing me as if I was stringent on a matter which I was not. Almost all the rabbis were stringent on this matter. I spoke for the sake of heaven without personal concerns and they stood and disgraced me. I fulfilled the injunction of 'Fear no one.' I call on all judges of Israel - do not fear the women's organizations, hold by 'Fear no man' and adjudicate only according to Jewish law."
5. EXTREME-LEFT NGOS: REGULATION LAW IS A WAR CRIME
by Tal Polon
Extreme-left anti-Israel legal organizations are planning to take action on Wednesday against Israel with a petition to the Supreme Court calling for the court to strike down the Regulation Law, recently passed on Monday in the Knesset.
The Regulation Law legalizes and protects thousands of Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria which were built with government backing and lacked absentee land claims, but against which there are now property claims. It allows for 125% compensation or alternate land to be offered claimants who prove ownership.
The group Adalah said that it and the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center would file the request on Wednesday afternoon to overturn what it called the "dangerous" Law.
"This sweeping and dangerous law permits the expropriation of vast tracts of private Palestinian land," Adalah's lawyer Suhad Bishara said in a statement, going on to claim that the Law "violates the property rights both of resident and refugee Palestinians."
Bishara went on to assert that the presence of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria constitutes a "war crime."
"The transfer of the occupying power's civilian population into occupied territory is a war crime," Bishara said.
Following the passage of the Regulation Law, Israel was widely condemned by European leadership.
"As a longstanding friend of Israel, I condemn the passing of the Land Regularization Bill by the Knesset, which damages Israel's standing with its international partners," said British Minister for the Middle East Tobias Ellwood in a statement.
Similarly, The European Union chastised Israel over the law's passage, delaying indefinitely a meeting between EU and Israeli officials that was to have taken place in February as a step towards mending strained relations.
On the other hand, the US has remained notably silent on the issue, refusing to condemn the Law.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu will be here on the 15th. I think that will be obviously a topic of discussion right now. I don't want to get ahead of that," Spicer told reporters in his daily press briefing on Tuesday.
On Monday night, a State Department official refused to comment on the approval of the law, telling AFP that the administration was "withholding comment" in the meantime.
"The administration needs to have the chance to fully consult with all parties on the way forward," the official told the news agency, on condition of anonymity.
"At this point, indications are that this legislation is likely to be reviewed by the relevant Israeli courts, and the Trump administration will withhold comment on the legislation until the relevant court ruling."
AFP contributed to this report.
6. BRIGADIER GENERAL SLAMS COURT FOR AZARIYA CONVICTION
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Reserve Brigadier General Gal Hirsch spoke on Galei Zahal Radio about the conviction of IDF soldier Elor Azariya.
Azariya was convicted of manslaughter after he shot a terrorist who had committed a terror attack and seemed to be attempting to detonate an explosive vest.
"We should not have opened a criminal case against the the soldier Elor Azariya, who sho the terrorist," Hirsch said. "Operational incidents need to be investigated in a discreet fashion and need to be kept completely confidential. Only the affected unit should know about the investigation at all. These incidents need to investigated through military operational investigation only.
"Our soldiers need to be supported, unless they were morally wrong. The entire investigation process needs to be internal, within the IDF."
In Azariya's case, the prosecution is seeking a sentence of three to five years in jail and a rank demotion from Sergeant to Private. The jail term would not include the ten months he has already spent under arrest.
Last week, Azariya asked the court for mercy and said, "For ten months, I have been jailed, and my family has fallen apart. I am asking the court to judge me mercifully."
Elor's mother collapsed during one of the November hearings, and his father suffered a stroke in August.
7. ATTORNEY GENERAL TO OPPOSE REGULATION LAW IN SUPREME COURT
by Mordechai Sones
Attorney General Dr. Avichai Mandelblit, who previously refused to defend the Regulation Law against a petition filed against it in the High Court, is expected to appear at the Supreme Court hearing of the petition and argue against the law and the government's position.
According to the Channel 2 report, is not yet clear whether Mandelblit will appear in person or settle for sending a messenger on his behalf. The government will be represented by a private attorney, and, according to some reports, by the Knesset Legal Adviser.
Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) welcomed tonight the Knesset's passing of the Regulation Law and sent a strong message to the Supreme Court judges: "No one expects us to agree to the wanton destruction of 2,700 buildings. What will be said every week about another 17 buildings to be demolished? Enough is enough and this must be put in order," Ariel told Army Radio.
For the past day Israel has withstood harsh world criticism following the approval of the regulation law. French President Francois Hollande met with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and speculated that Jewish expansion paves the way for annexation, and even went so far as demanding that the Israeli government repeal the legislation.
Abbas asserted that "the controversial law is an attack against our people and defies the international community.
"We will continue working with international tribunals to maintain our existence and perpetuity on our land," he cautioned. "The international community must not allow the establishment of an apartheid regime in the West Bank".
UN envoy to the Middle East Nikolay Mladenov disclosed earlier today that the Regulation Law's passage "crossed a red line" for the organization.
British Minister for Middle East Affairs Tobias Ellwood cautioned: "It is worrying that the law paves the way for the expansion of settlements deep in the West Bank and threatens the two-state solution. The law damages Israel's position with its international partners."
8. FULL DEBATE: ATTORNEYS ARGUE TRAVEL BAN
by Arutz Sheva Staff
[youtube:2024306]
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