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Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com ------------------------------------------------ Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday Wednesday, Mar. 29 '17, ב' בניסן תשע"ז HEADLINES: 1. 'WE WANT TO MAKE KASHRUT MORE EFFICIENT: IS THAT SO BAD?' 2. WATCH: THOUSANDS OF HAREDIM PROTEST IN JERUSALEM 3. 'I DID NOT GIVE UP - THE STABBER HESITATED' 4. SILICON VALLEY FUND GIVES $330 THOUSAND TO CAIR, ISLAMIC RELIEF 5. 230 NEW UKRANIAN IMMIGRANTS LAND IN ISRAEL 6. THINK-TANK OFFERS TRUMP POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS ON ISRAEL 7. SECRET WEAPONS FACTORIES UNCOVERED ACROSS JUDEA AND SAMARIA 8. RABBI STAV: PRIVATIZE 'KASHRUT MONOPOLY' 1. 'WE WANT TO MAKE KASHRUT MORE EFFICIENT: IS THAT SO BAD?' by Hezki Baruch Rabbi David Stav, the head of the Tzohar Rabbinic Organization, explained to Arutz Sheva finds it difficult to understand why the organization's desire to privatize the kashrut market under the Chief Rabbinate is problematic. He wondered why Tzohar receives criticism. "I respect every rabbi in Israel and every talmid hacham (Torah scholar), but I would like to [see] matters put in order. Where were all of these rabbis, when we know that for decades there were hundreds of places which were under the supervision of the rabbinate where people ate nonkosher food?" "But when someone wants to streamline and improve the system, under the supervision of the Chief Rabbinate, it's a disaster. When we have dozens of [rabbis] operating in places who do not need the supervision of the Chief Rabbinate it isn't a disaster. But when Tzohar wants to be a partner [with the Chief Rabbinate] in the kashrut issue, it's a disaster," Rabbi Stav said. Rabbi Stav said Wednesday at a conference of the Israel Hotel Association that there was a need to change the "monopoly of the rabbinate." "Monopoly is a bad thing, the franchise can do whatever he wants. We are coming to the rabbinate and the legislator, and we want to change the arrangements by opening up kashrut in order to create competition between the rabbinates. In parallel, we are striving to open kashrut companies in order to produce other alternatives," he said at the conference. Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, the Chief Rabbi of the city of Ramat Gan, told Arutz Sheva: "I hope that everyone will come to their senses and understand that this is a disaster for kashrut, a disaster for the rabbinate, a disaster for Judaism, a disaster for the Torah and a disaster for the Jewish people." Despite his opposition to the move, Rabbi Ariel stressed that he does not believe Tzohar has any malicious intent. "I don’t believe they intend to do this. I’m not a member of Tzohar, but if the organization does really go ahead and offer private kashrut [certification], I’d see that as the destruction of Judaism." Rabbi Stav responded to Rabbi Ariel's criticism by saying: "Because I respect each rabbi, I do not personally respond or attribute any intent or interest [to my accusers], and I will continue to respect every rabbi in Israel, certainly the elderly Rabbis...The love of the Torah and the concern for the kashrut of the state and Israeli society is more important to us than concern for the honor of one organization or another, or of one rabbi or another." 2. WATCH: THOUSANDS OF HAREDIM PROTEST IN JERUSALEM by Hezki Baruch [youtube:2026394] Thousands of haredim are gathered this evening, Tuesday, on Jerusalem’s Malchei Yisrael Street, the main street connecting the haredi neighborhoods in central Jerusalem, for a protest defined as "the protest of thousands" against "the decree of the draft." The background for the protest is a number of arrests of haredi youth who did not show up to the draft office and were defined, as a result, as "deserters" by the IDF. In addition to the central group of protesters on Malchei Yisrael Street, which has been closed to traffic, additional protesters are engaged in confrontations with police on Sarei Yisrael Street at the edges of the haredi neighborhoods, where they are intermittently blocking the Street. The demonstration this evening is the first significant joint effort between members of the "Edah Haharedit," an extremist haredi group cut off from the State and its institutions since the State’s founding, and the "Jerusalem Faction," a haredi group which, after the death of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, broke off from the central stream of the Lithuanian haredi sector and functions under the leadership of Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach. One of the speakers at the demonstration compared the State of Israel to the host of enemies of the Jewish people throughout the generations. "The first Prime Minister of Israel, whose name it is forbidden to mention, may his name and memory be erased, said that within 20 years there wouldn’t be a shtreimel [fur hat worn by some haredi men] here, and we are here today and this is our revenge. We will fill the jails. They won’t scare us," he said. "We got past Pharaoh, we got passed the Spanish Inquisition, we got past Hitler, we’ll get past you, too." [album:open 3. 'I DID NOT GIVE UP - THE STABBER HESITATED' by Mordechai Sones In a conversation with Arutz Sheva, Revital Kenino, the school principal who was stabbed yesterday in the back of her neck by an Arab in the city of Lod, describes her condition and the incident itself. "I thank the Creator that I returned home to my family and to my children, and we were released last night after a follow-up at the hospital," she said. On her medical condition, she says: "I have a stab wound in the back and shoulder area, and thank G-d it was a great miracle." She described the attacker, saying, "I did not give up, I did not fight with him - I just ran and he chased me; I didn't stand there and do nothing. This chase apparently caused him to hesitate and not continue to stab. We are at home thanking the Creator and the people of Israel for worrying and caring," she said. Kanino was evacuated to Assaf Harofeh Hospital, suffering from stab wounds to the upper body. MDA emergency medic Mendy Amitai said, "When we arrived on the scene, we saw a 44-year-old woman in an apartment fully conscious, who had been stabbed in the upper part of her body. They told us that she was stabbed in the street and went up to her apartment. "We gave her initial medical care, which included dressing and stopping the bleeding, and we evacuated her in a moderate and stable condition to the hospital," Amitai added. [audio:2026376] 4. SILICON VALLEY FUND GIVES $330 THOUSAND TO CAIR, ISLAMIC RELIEF by Hillel Fendel The Middle East Forum research center has revealed that the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) has donated a total of over $330,000 to two extremist organizations: the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Islamic Relief. The Philadelphia-based Forum contacted SVCF with evidence of the extremist links of CAIR and Islamic Relief, but received no response. The Middle East Forum is now publicly calling for an immediate and permanent termination of SCVF's funding of these organizations, and has started a nationwide campaign to this end. The SVCF is the country's wealthiest community foundation, with more than $8 billion in assets. It has enjoyed positive press coverage during its 10-year history, but has also come under some criticism. Worst of all, the MEF states, is its flowing generosity to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Islamic Relief. MEF says it privately contacted SVCF last month with evidence of the extremism of CAIR and Islamic Relief, including the bigotries and prejudices of its officials and speakers. SVCF officials essentially "refused to discuss the matter," MEF reports, but rather "engaged in a flurry of ad hominem attacks on the Forum." It is "unconscionable that such a leading institution as SVCF, which claims to support 'understanding and tolerance,'" should help organizations that rely on ignorance and hatred," the Forum declares. "To be precise, CAIR and Islamic Relief have a long history of providing platforms to speakers who denigrate and threaten women, Jews, Christians, the LGBTQ community, and Muslims belonging to minority sects." As examples, the Forum cites regular speakers at the two organizations' events who have rationalized honor killings or said that men may beat or rape their wives. "It should not be politically divisive," the Forum states, "to state that these ideas are incompatible with SVCF's self-proclaimed commitment to diversity and tolerance." SVCF did say that CAIR is in "good standing with [U.S.] federal agencies," but the MEF counters that the FBI and the Justice Department have blacklisted CAIR since it was named an unindicted co-conspirator during a terrorism financing case in 2008. Both CAIR and Islamic Relief are designated as terrorist groups in the United Arab Emirates, while the Anti-Defamation League has said that CAIR promotes anti-Jewish sentiment. By funding them, MEF charges, SVCF is "legitimizing Islamists as leaders of American Islam," enabling them "to speak on behalf of ordinary Muslims." "If the foundation really wants to put its money where its mouth is," the MEF concludes, it should fund moderate Muslim-American groups working to fight Islamic extremism, and spread the message that intolerance need not be tolerated when doing charitable work with Muslims. 5. 230 NEW UKRANIAN IMMIGRANTS LAND IN ISRAEL by Yedidya Ben-Or 230 Ukranian immigrants landed in Israel's Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday, after arriving via a flight arranged by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews and headed by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein. The immigrants received a warm greeting from Immigration and Absorption Minister Sofa Landver (Yisrael Beytenu). Of the 78 families, most will settle in the north and center of Israel. Four of the immigrants are Holocaust survivors, and over 40 more are children. Some of these immigrants come from war-torn areas of the Ukraine, after having lived several years as a refugee. Alexei and Irena L. arrived in Israel with their daughter from Dnepropetrovsk. "Life in the Ukraine became no life, constantly," they said, "especially for a family with children. After such extensive fighting, the economic situation is also awful. It was clear to us that if we want a future for our children, we need to build it in Israel." Holocaust survivor Yitzhak B. said, "The Second World War started when I was twelve. The Jews needed to gather to sign up. My family heard a German soldier call, 'Death to the Jews!' and understood immediately what the signup was about. "In one second, she made her decision. My family picked up and left, and asked Polish neighbors to hide us. They agreed and we hid there for the entire war. Now that I'm coming to Israel, I feel a real sense of purpose and commitment to the land. I am very happy and excited to meet all of my family members who live in Israel" When the immigrants got off the plane, Landver immediately began the procedures to register as citizens. "I'm so happy the wave of immigration continued, because together, we'll know how to give new immigrants who just arrived the best treatment and reception, in every area of their lives," Landver said." Rabbi Eckstein said, "These new immigrants who are joining us, are coming with complex baggage from living in a war zone suffering from difficult economic times. The fact that these people have the ability to come here and start a new life, in a strong and independent country, is a great salvation for them. "This holiday of freedom which we will soon sell is the closest expression of freedom that you will learn, as you walk in Israel for the first time. I call on all of the State of Israel to remember these people and invite them to your homes for the Seder night - and tell them that you are with them, that you feel them, when you speak about freedom. 6. THINK-TANK OFFERS TRUMP POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS ON ISRAEL by Mordechai Sones Weeks after President Ronald Reagan's first election victory, the U.S. was engulfed in problems and the new President was confronting challenges unparalleled in nearly a half-century. At that time, the prominent conservative Heritage Foundation produced a detailed road map designed to help the fledgling administration steer the nation into a sound future, guided by conservative principles, called Mandate for Leadership. By the end of President Reagan's first year in office, nearly two-thirds of Mandate's more than 2,000 specific recommendations had been or were being transformed into policy. Since then, Heritage has produced the Mandate series for incoming administrations, marshaling the talents of scores of experts. Heritage recently released a report authored by James Phillips, Heritage's Senior Research Fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs, and a latest volume of Mandate, outlining specific policy recommendations for the Trump Administration. Four topics treated are Iran, the defeat of Islamist terrorist groups, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and President Trump’s promise to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. Regarding Iran, the report finds Iran to be "the chief long-term regional threat to the U.S. and Israel. While the Obama Administration turned a blind eye to many of Iran’s malign activities to avoid jeopardizing its flawed nuclear agreement with Tehran, the Trump Administration is committed to confronting and pushing back against Iran." Findings regarding Iran state that "Cooperation on missile defense should be an especially important agenda item. Iran’s medium-range missiles already can reach Israel with a 1,000-pound payload. On February 4, Mojtaba Zonour, a member of Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, helpfully reminded the world that 'only seven minutes are needed for an Iranian missile to hit Tel Aviv' and that 36 U.S. military bases in the Middle East are within range of Iranian missiles. Israel is now deploying the Arrow-3 interceptor, developed jointly with the United States, and the two leaders should agree to support cooperation in further enhancing missile defenses." Heritage recommends: "President Trump should discuss plans to hold Iran accountable for its hostile regional policies and roll back its influence, outlining the Administration’s strategy for ratcheting up sanctions on Iran and particularly on the IRGC, which controls Iran’s ballistic missile program and efforts to export terrorism. President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu should also coordinate on interdicting the flow of Iranian arms to Hezbollah, Hamas, and other terrorist groups." On the Islamic State (ISIS) and the war in Syria, Heritage concludes, "Both the U.S. and Israel seek the rapid destruction of ISIS in Syria, but Israel is concerned that President Trump’s intention to cooperate with Russia in Syria could strengthen the influence of Iran and Hezbollah there." Explaining Israel's needs, Heritage councils the Trump Administration that "Netanyahu will want to gain an understanding of U.S. plans for Syria, efforts to split Russia from Iran, and the implications for Israeli security. At a minimum, Jerusalem wants to prevent Iran and Hezbollah from establishing a military presence near the Israeli–Syrian border." Recommendations: "Israel has legitimate concerns about the increasing role that Iran and Hezbollah are playing in Syria. Trump needs to ensure that U.S. policies in regard to Syria will not inadvertently harm Israel’s security. "Islamist terrorist groups pose a significant threat to the U.S. and Israel. Both countries can benefit from better coordination. Trump and Netanyahu should coordinate policies on fighting ISIS in Syria and explore ways to reduce the ISIS threat to Jordan and Egypt. Jordan needs intelligence and counterterrorism help in uncovering terrorist plots and economic support to lighten the burden of more than 600,000 Syrian refugees. Egypt has sustained heavy losses fighting ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula, and the group claimed responsibility on February 9 for a cross-border rocket attack on the Israeli city of Eilat. Cairo needs quiet help in defeating the ISIS insurgency, which has received extensive aid from Hamas and other Islamist extremist groups in Gaza." The Israel-Palestinian conflict is summed up thus: "In contrast to the Obama Administration—which allowed the passage of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2234 condemning Israel and added insult to injury with a blistering anti-Israel speech from Secretary of State John Kerry—the Trump Administration will be much more supportive of Israel at the U.N. and elsewhere. Trump should publicly underscore that the U.S. will veto any one-sided U.N. Security Council resolutions and assert that only direct bilateral negotiations, not the U.N., can produce a peace agreement. "President Trump should also stress that Palestinian terrorist attacks, not Israeli settlements, are the chief obstacles to peace. Although the Administration has not taken an official position on settlements, it did release a statement saying that new settlements "may not be helpful" in achieving a peace agreement. A senior Administration official later told The Jerusalem Post that new settlements could undermine Trump’s plans to engineer a final status agreement. "Trump has described an Israeli–Palestinian peace agreement as 'the ultimate deal,' but the situation is not ripe for such a deal. The Palestinian Authority is unwilling to make the necessary concessions and too weak to enforce any agreement in the face of Hamas’s implacable opposition to Israel." Recommendations include: "The Administration should focus on managing rather than resolving the conflict, which is impossible for the immediate future. Trump should consult with Netanyahu about how to restore calm, undermine Hamas and other Islamist extremist groups, and create a more stable environment for future step-by-step negotiations." However, Phillips adds, "Refraining from establishing new settlements would be helpful in this context." Regarding the embassy move, Heritage says, "President Trump’s commitment to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would correct a historic anomaly: The United States has never recognized any part of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. However, moving the embassy could ignite protests, riots, and anti-American backlashes among Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims." Therefore, Heritage recommends to "Ensure that certain standards are met before moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. To mitigate the risks of the move, Trump should consult with Netanyahu on the timing; pick a site in West Jerusalem, which has been controlled by Israel since 1948; and explain that the move does not change other aspects of U.S. policy. The U.S. should make it clear that the borders and final status of Jerusalem should be determined through negotiations; that the embassy move would not preclude a Palestinian state; that the U.S. consulate-general in Jerusalem would continue to function as the U.S. representative to the Palestinian Authority; and that no changes would be made in the status of Muslim holy sites, which would continue to be administered by Jordan." In conclusion, the Heritage report says that "Israel is America’s foremost ally in the Middle East. Both countries are democracies, value free-market economies, and uphold human rights at a time when many other countries in the Middle East reject those values." It says recent developments represent "a promising opportunity to reassert American leadership in the Middle East and strengthen U.S.–Israel strategic cooperation on foreign policy, defense, and counterterrorism issues." 7. SECRET WEAPONS FACTORIES UNCOVERED ACROSS JUDEA AND SAMARIA by Arutz Sheva Staff Security forces uncovered three secret weapons factories across Judea and Samaria overnight, as part of an ongoing effort to crack down on the production and distribution of weapons used in terror attacks against Israelis. During raids on the illegal weapons factories early Wednesday morning, Israeli security forces seized equipment used in the production of makeshift firearms, including five lathes, as well as a number of guns and gun parts. One building which housed an illegal weapons factory was sealed by the IDF following the raids. The overnight operations were a joint effort of the IDF and Shin Bet internal security agency, who together have shut down 12 such gun factories since the beginning of 2017 and confiscated more than 110 illegal firearms. In 2016, Israeli security forces closed 43 illegal weapons factories and confiscated more than 450 firearms. In a separate series of operations overnight, the IDF, Border Police, Judea and Samaria District Police, and Shin Bet internal security agency, nabbed six wanted terrorists in Judea and Samaria. Five of the suspects are wanted for their alleged involvement in terror attacks on Israeli civilians and security forces. 8. RABBI STAV: PRIVATIZE 'KASHRUT MONOPOLY' by Mordechai Sones The chairman of the liberal Tzohar rabbis' organization, Rabbi David Stav, said Wednesday at a conference of the Israel Hotel Association that there is a need to change the "monopoly of the rabbinate," as he puts it. "Monopoly is a bad thing, the franchisee can do whatever he wants. We are coming to the rabbinate and the legislator, and we want to change the arrangements by opening up kashrut in order to create competition between the rabbinates. In parallel, we are striving to open kashrut companies in order to produce other alternatives," explains Rabbi Stav. He noted that "in the last few months we have been talking to the hotel association to grant kosher certification on behalf of Tzohar, and we are talking about kashrut, and only about kashrut and not other things. "We believe that we will be able to lower the cost of kashrut while maintaining a level of kashrut even higher than what currently exists, with full transparency," adds Rabbi Stav. "If you want the public to come to the hotel, 90 percent of the religious, traditional, and secular Jews trust Tzohar's kashrut, and those 10 percent who do not trust Tzohar do not use rabbanut kashrut," Stav claims, without providing a source for the statistic. "Most of the country wants kashrut, but not the taking advantage of jobs," he said. "The kashrut we offer is good for the State of Israel and we believe it will lower the costs of kashrut to hotel," concluded Stav. Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, one of the leading Religious Zionist rabbis, has called Tzohar's proposal a disaster for Israel and Judaism if it is implemented. Ariel and other opponents have argued that the lack of a universal minimum standard or oversight would lead to a deterioration of kashrut observance, the spread of fictitious certifiers, confusion amongst religious diners over which certifications adhere to traditional standards, and ultimately leave the country even more religiously polarized. [video:2026411] ------------------------------------------------ Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe/ | |
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