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 י"ג באלול תשע"ז / Monday, Sep. 04 '17 Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report -http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe Headlines
1. 'It's horrific to see how synagogues are turned into cafes'by Ben Shaul Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas) on Monday morning spoke about his trip to south Tel Aviv and the attempts to solve the problem of the infiltrators by legal means.. Deri quietly visited Tel Aviv on Sunday evening, together with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu). The visit included the same areas Netanyahu toured publicly last Thursday - Neve Sha'anan, Levinsky Park and the Hatikva neighborhood. "I have been on official trips to Tel Aviv in the past, together with Interior Ministry staff," Deri told Kol Hai Radio in an interview. "But a night trip with the Prime Minister in Tel Aviv's alleys brought Netanyahu and I to understand that we're in a different country. It's horrific to see how synagogues have become cafes." Two months ago, a synagogue in southern Tel Aviv was forced to close. Its building is now used as a supermarket for the neighborhood infiltrators - with the municipality's blessing. Deri also spoke about the Shabbat (Sabbath) desecration which goes on in Israeli society, and said he "will not allow" Shabbat to become the day when trains are on routine schedules. According to Deri, such a move would "lead government offices to begin operating normally on Shabbat and Jewish holidays." Regarding the existing Shabbat desecration, Deri said that municipalities "are forbidden to run public transportation on Shabbat. These cities are only encouraging various private organizations to run transportation." Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that essential work on the train is permitted on Shabbat. However, in August, an Israeli Arab videoed non-essential work being done on the train, in violation of promises made to haredi MKs. 2. Arson intifada in Israel's northby Rafael Levi Megiddo Regional Council Head Itzik Holavsky recently requested Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) aid the Council in constructing firefighting stations, Israel's Channel 20 reported. The additional firefighting stations were suggested by Israel's Fire and Rescue Services, after several incidences of arson terror occurred over the past few weeks. On August 20, fires raged throughout the Regional Council lands, and firefighters discovered eight different fires, from Kibbutz Megiddo to Kibbutz Hazore'a. According to Holavsky, "at some of the sites, we discovered piles of tires, waiting to be set on fire and burned." One fire also "threatened Kibbutz Ein Hashofet; we managed to stop it just as it got to the edge of the kibbutz." As a result, the Megiddo Council called on security agencies and firefighters to hold an emergency meeting. The firefighters suggested adding additional firefighting stations in various heavily forested areas. This is not the first time Holavsky and Erdan are discussing arson terror. In November 2016, Arab terrorists carried out a string of arson attacks, destroying homes, causing widespread ecological damage and killing forest animals. 3. Rabbi Ginsburgh responds to PM Netanyahuby Tal Polon Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburgh, the leader of the Derech Chaim organization that placed a golden statue of Supreme Court President Miriam Naor last week in front of the Supreme Court building, sent a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu in light of the prime minister’s response to the placing of the statue. Last week, Derech Chaim had explained that it had placed the statue because "The Supreme Court and its 'enlightened' president are cut off from the people. Although the State of Israel is ostensibly a democratic state, today the government is in the hands of the Supreme Court, with no one asking the public's opinion on issues. The Supreme Court intervenes time after time in the decisions of elected officials: This week the Infiltrators Law, next time it will be the Regulation Law and other laws." "As in any dictatorship, we thought that in Israel, too, it is fitting that a statue of the ruler should stand in the city square. "It is time for public officials to wake up: We call upon the Prime Minister, ministers, and Knesset members, who expressed their opposition to the disqualification of the [infiltrator] law, to strive once and for all for a holistic procedure to balance relations between the Supreme Court and the Knesset instead of promulgating promises and local solutions to problems arising from the rule of the Supreme Court," the organization said. During the prime minister's tour of southern Tel Aviv last week in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s ruling prohibiting the deportation of infiltrators who refuse to leave the country and limiting their arrests to two months, he had referred to the statue placed by Derech Chaim, calling it “inappropriate.” "If one wants to protest, there are better ways than making some statue, it’s inappropriate,” he had said. In a letter addressed last Friday to the prime minister, Rabbi Ginsburgh stressed the need to repair Israel’s legal system in accordance with Jewish values. “To his Honorable Mr. Binyamin Netanyahu,” “I was happy to hear that, during your visit in southern Tel Aviv you identified with the plight of the residents of the area, while expressing understanding that the factor preventing the amelioration of the situation is the Supreme Court, which imposes its opinion on the Jewish people and prevents significant legislation on the matter of infiltrators (and many other matters). “We must worry for the peace of our people, both on the physical plane and the spiritual plane,” Rabbi Ginsburgh continued. “A fundamental repair in the leadership of the people entails establishing the legal system on the eternal principles of the Torah of Israel and according to Jewish law.” “Most of the nation of Israel has faith in G-d and the righteousness of his Torah and, on the basis of this faith, we can act together to turn our state into the Jewish state our nation envisioned in all its years of exile. At least, it must be ensured that the minority doesn’t control the majority, as occurs today.” The rabbi also called for changes in Israel’s educational system. “Much more must be invested than is currently being invested in the quality of state education, education that values the Torah of Israel, both in terms of intellectual honesty and ethical honesty.” Rabbi Ginsburgh concluded his letter by relating to the Jewish month of Elul currently underway. “In these days of the month of Elul [...] G-d grants us special strength to repent and mend our ways, not only on the individual level but on the general public level, public repentance for leading the nation in the good and honest way. In the words of the Rambam, 'The Torah already promised that Israel will, in the end, repent at the end of their exile - and be immediately redeemed,' speedily in our days, Amen.” 4. What did Obama tell President Trump on inauguration day?by David Rosenberg For decades, presidents have maintained a special White House tradition, marking the changing of the guard in the Oval Office. As their successor is about to be sworn into office, the incumbent president, as per the tradition, pens a personal letter to the incoming president, conveying what he feels was most significant about the office, and passing on what words of wisdom he can to the next Commander in Chief. The tradition has transcended the partisan divide, with rivals and ideological foes setting aside their differences to offer warm wishes of success for the president-elect, even in cases where the incumbent was ousted by his successor, as in the case of George Herbert Walker Bush in 1992. "I am rooting hard for you," the elder Bush wrote to Bill Clinton, who had defeated him the previous November. “Good luck.” On Sunday, CNN revealed the contents of the latest transition letter, penned by President Obama for President Trump. The letter, left folded on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, was the last publicly-disclosed direct communication between the 44th and 45th presidents. While the two have feuded for years, beginning with Trump’s allegation during Obama’s first term that the president’s birth certificate may have been forged, Obama’s parting letter as president continued the White House tradition, wishing the 45th president success in the office. The letter read as follows: Dear Mr. President - Congratulations on a remarkable run. Millions have placed their hopes in you, and all of us, regardless of party, should hope for expanded prosperity and security during your tenure. This is a unique office, without a clear blueprint for success, so I don't know that any advice from me will be particularly helpful. Still, let me offer a few reflections from the past 8 years. First, we've both been blessed, in different ways, with great good fortune. Not everyone is so lucky. It's up to us to do everything we can (to) build more ladders of success for every child and family that's willing to work hard. Second, American leadership in this world really is indispensable. It's up to us, through action and example, to sustain the international order that's expanded steadily since the end of the Cold War, and upon which our own wealth and safety depend. Third, we are just temporary occupants of this office. That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions -- like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties -- that our forebears fought and bled for. Regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, it's up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them. And finally, take time, in the rush of events and responsibilities, for friends and family. They'll get you through the inevitable rough patches. Michelle and I wish you and Melania the very best as you embark on this great adventure, and know that we stand ready to help in any ways which we can. Good luck and Godspeed, BO 5. Belarus Jewish community approved building on Jewish cemeteryby JTA Authorities in Belarus defended a court’s authorization of controversial construction atop what used to be a Jewish cemetery. The Belarus foreign ministry on Sunday said the local Jewish community of Gomel in southeastern Belarus approved of the plan because it is impossible to pinpoint where the bones are buried, in defense against criticism in international media over the planned construction in Gomel. The consent which led to the court’s authorization was granted by the Beit Ya’akov Orthodox congregation led by Rabbi David Kantarovich, the foreign ministry said. A judge of the Tsentralny District Court on Aug. 21 ruled not to intervene in plans for the construction of two luxury apartment buildings on the grounds of a former cemetery on Sozhskaya Street in the eastern city. The court was responding to a motion for an injunction submitted by Yakov Goodman, a Jewish-American activist for the preservation of Jewish heritage sites in his native Belarus who is outspoken in his criticism of the treatment of Jewish heritage sites in Belarus. The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, the World Jewish Congress and the Union of Public Associations and Jewish Communities criticized the ruling, urging authorities to hold off on any construction. But Kantarovich’s community determined that there is no reason to fear that the planned construction would disturb human remains – a prospect that is considered a desecration by followers of halacha, or Orthodox Jewish law, the Belarusian foreign ministry said in a statement sent to JTA Sunday. Sampling for human remains was conducted in the rabbi’s presence in March, demonstrated “absence of human remains in the land,” the statement by the ministry said. The ministry added that it takes the preservation of Jewish heritage and its sites very seriously. 6. Jewish cemetery in Poland destroyed by illegal diggingby JTA JTA - Building contractors in Poland destroyed a Jewish cemetery approximately one year after it was entered into a local register of protected sites. The old Jewish cemetery in Maszewo, a city located near Poland’s border with Germany, was completely destroyed in digging performed illegally earlier this month, the Polsat news website reported Thursday. Wojciech Janda, a member of a historical association in Poland that had the Maszewo cemetery registered as a protected landmark in 2016, told the news site a bulldozer leveled the headstones, pushing the debris, along with bones, to the edge of the plot where the headstones used to stand. The digging came roughly three months after a woman, who was not named, bought the plot for development purposes. The deed of sale did not specify that it was a cemetery, according to the report. A spokesperson for the Maszewo municipality told Polsat that the municipality was not aware of the digging at the site, which the spokesperson said had only recently been found to contain a small Jewish cemetery. Alerted by locals, Janda’s historical association called the police who made sure the digging stopped. The municipality intends to restore what it can of the cemetery, its spokesperson said. The owner of the plot is being investigated for destruction of a protected heritage site. 7. Who is paying to keep infiltrators in Tel Aviv?by David Rosenberg A new report released by the Im Tirtzu organization has revealed that legal efforts to maintain the illegal immigrant community in south Tel Aviv and bar government attempts to deport infiltrators are being bankrolled in large part by the United Nations. Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants crossed into Israel over the past decade via the southern border with Egypt. Most of the infiltrators originated in Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia, and other countries in northeastern Africa. Following the construction of the border fence along the Israeli-Egyptian frontier, illegal border crossings plummeted by more than 99% - but only after some 60,000 illegal immigrants entered Israel prior to the construction of the fence in 2012. Alongside the successful effort to halt illegal immigration into Israel, the Netanyahu government has sought to detain illegal immigrants away from major population centers, then repatriate them to their countries of origin, or to resettle them in other countries willing to accept them. These efforts, however, have been hampered by a series of court rulings, including decisions by Israel’s Supreme Court. Last week, for example, the Supreme Court struck down the Netanyahu government’s deportation orders for infiltrators who had been slated for expulsion. Left-wing Israeli NGOs have figured prominently in the judicial battles over the government’s detention and deportation of illegal immigrants. Now, a report published by the Im Tirtzu organization has revealed the sources behind those NGOs. According to the report, the groups in question received more than 46 million shekels ($12,850,000) from foreign entities from 2012 to 2017, including the United Nations, the European Union and EU member states, the US, and the left-wing New Israel Fund. The European Union topped the foreign donor list with a total contribution of 16,874,460 shekels ($4,714,000), followed by the United Nations with grants totaling 10,171,116 shekels ($2,841,000). State donors to organizations providing legal assistance to infiltrators included Germany, which donated 6,663,828 shekels ($1,862,000); Norway, which gave 4,520,249 shekels ($1,263,000); Sweden, which donated 2,169,472 shekels ($606,000); 1,741,136 shekels ($486,400) from Switzerland; the UK with 934,803 shekels ($261,140); the US with 634,213 shekels ($177,170); The Netherlands with 427,145 shekels ($119,300); and Thailand with 93,000 shekels ($26,000). A fund supported jointly by Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, and The Netherlands gave 2,079,602 shekels ($581,000). In addition, the report found, the left-wing New Israel Fund contributed $12,485,032 since 2008 to the NGOs involved in resisting the government’s detention and deportation policies. Im Tirtzu chief Matan Peleg blasted the foreign agencies and organizations cited in the report. “The rights of the residents of south Tel Aviv are being trampled again and again by organizations which claim to be protecting human rights.” “The [pro]-infiltrator organizations are working – with the funds provided by the UN, foreign governments, and the New Israel Fund – to do everything they can to secure citizenship for the infiltrators who have taken over entire neighborhoods and turned the lives of residents to an ongoing nightmare.” 8. First-ever implant treats heart failure at Israeli hospitalby Arutz Sheva Staff [youtube:2032432] Haifa's Rambam Hospital became the first in the world to implant a device intended to improve cardiac function in patients diagnosed with diastolic heart failure. Over 23 million people worldwide suffer from heart failure, a condition in which the heart fails to pump sufficient oxygenated blood to meet the body's needs. Symptoms include shortness of breath, tiredness, swollen legs and limited ability to exercise or perform simple physical tasks. The prognosis of heart failure is poor, with over 40% of patients dying within 5 years of diagnosis. Approximately half of these patients suffer diastolic heart failure, which occurs when the heart's left ventricle fails to relax and adequately refill with blood (diastolic phase of the heart cycle). As a result, patients suffer a high filling pressure, congestion and shortness of breath. Risk of diastolic heart failure increases with age, and those at higher risk include women with hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. Currently, there is no proven treatment. CorAssist, an Israeli start-up company, developed the CORolla®, an elastic device that is implanted inside the left ventricle of the heart by a minimally invasive procedure on a beating heart. The device can improve cardiac diastolic function by applying direct expansion force on the ventricle wall to help the heart fill with blood. The CorAssist technology was invented by Dr. Yair Feld, a cardiologist at Rambam Health Care Campus (Rambam), together with partners Dr. Yotam Reisner and Dr. Shay Dubi. Department of Cardiac Surgery Director Professor Gil Bolotin, and Interventional Cardiology Unit senior physician Dr. Arthur Kerner recently led a multi-disciplinary team of cardiologists, heart surgeons, and other Rambam medical professionals in the first clinical implantation surgery on a 72-year old Canadian man admitted specifically for this procedure. When asked how and why he came to Rambam for the procedure, Robert MacLachlan explained that he had run out of treatment options in Canada for his diastolic heart failure. His wife had read about the CORolla implant on the Internet and contacted Dr. Karen Bitton Worms, Head of Research – Department of Cardiac Surgery at Rambam. MacLachlan's cardiologist encouraged him to apply. saying he would be going to a great facility, a university hospital with good people. Professor Gil Bolotin explained that while many potential applicants were interested in the procedure, no one wanted to be first. Bright-eyed MacLachlan spoke of his experience with Rambam’s culturally diverse staff all sharing one special characteristic - a heart! Rambam Director and CEO Professor Rafi Beyer explained, "Patients turn to us for the 'Rambam Advantage.' They know that Rambam's physician researchers have access to some of the most innovative technologies and treatments." "I am proud that Rambam offers treatments to patients not available anywhere else in the world." The Israel Ministry of Health has authorized up to 10 clinical trials at Rambam in Israel to test the efficacy of cardiac catheterization for placement of the CORolla® implant. The patient GPO/ GPO The CORolla® implant GPO/ GPO Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report - http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe | |
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