A Jew's view from the capital of Israel and the future site of the Third Temple, may it speedily be rebuilt.
On the Eve of the Fifteenth
by Cosmic X
On the eve of the fifteenth it will be so nice,
The Temple Mount free of foxes and mice.
Fine wine, unleavened bread, bitter herbs, and paschal sacrifice.
Jerusalem is being built, with its holy sites,
The prayers are soaring up to the heights,
In spite of the anti-Semites and other mental mites,
On the eve of the fifteenth...
We shall be free from B.H. Obama,
Secret sympathizer of the odious Osama,
Born in Kenya, Indonesia, Hawaii and Havana,
On the eve of the fifteenth...
We shall be free from the full of vice Joe,
Who at Sheikh Munis University put on a show,
Recieved raging applause from the arrogant low.
On the eve of the fifteenth...
We shall be free from the Secretary of Dirt,
To kiss slimy Suha herself she did exert,
Poor partner for life of the cigar wielding pervert,
On the eve of the fifteenth...
We shall be free of J Street, The New York Times and other things rotten,
Rahm your heart, your God you have forgotten,
When the they go down it is down to the bottom,
On the eve of the fifteenth...
It's time to come home, sell your houses and cars,
Leave behind your baseballs, shopping malls and bars,
Because when we go up we go up to the stars,
On the eve of the fifteenth it will be so nice,
The Temple Mount free of foxes and mice.
Fine wine, unleavened bread, bitter herbs, and paschal sacrifice.
Obama is taking on a people that built an exact duplicate of 770 in Israel. Does he really think they're going to let a Cossack like him raid their neighborhood.I think that JoeSettler owes the Cossacks an apology for comparing them with Obama.
On the other hand, I would not put it past Bibi to have arranged this whole crisis just in order to get the meeting delayed, after he failed in his previous attempts...Could be!
The more Israel apologizes and acts contrite about building in Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, the more we'll be rebuked/condemned by the United States.
If the administration thought that putting pressure on Israel was the way to bring peace to the Middle East, it was terribly wrong. All it is doing is encouraging its (and Israel's) enemies.
More to the point did Israeli TV air calls for a Jihad against America, as Palestinian Arab TV did? Did Israel name a square after the murderer of an American photographer, as the Palestinian Authority did? Did an Israeli Anchorman do a skit in blackface during Obama's visit, as a Turkish anchorman did during Obama's visit to Turkey? Are Israeli religious institutions issuing Fatwahs against America, as Al Azhar University, which Obama visited and spoke at, has done? Are Israeli leaders funding terrorism against America, as the Saudi King, before whom Obama bowed, does?
First, if actions such as defending yourself (as humanly as possible in this world) from a rain of rockets and building in clearly Jewish areas turns away friends - then they aren't friends. Second, if these types of actions cause this level of row, then literally it's impossible to live and please such "friends".
It seems sacrilegious to discuss mundane matters when my head is elsewhere, but it's all connected. I mean, of course, this spat we're having with Obama. A few thoughts about that. First, it is becoming more and more clear that Obama is a genuine third-worlder. He has abandoned Honduras, Iranian dissidents, Poland and the Czech Republic and Israel. He has appointed (or attempted to appoint) genuine U.S.-hating wingnuts like Van Jones and Jennifer Daskal to sensitive positions. This is not Carter-style weakness. This is an administration that has embraced the vision of the anointed big-time and seeks to create a new world order in which the West is significantly weakened.
An “invitation only" joyous ceremony is taking place at this moment in the Old City in Jerusalem, where the centuries-old Hurva synagogue has come back to life after having been destroyed by the Jordanians in the War for Independence in 1948.Nobody sent me an invitation! :(
Muslim and Palestinian Authority leaders claim that Monday’s dedication is a “provocation” and the prelude to a Jewish takeover of the Temple Mount. Security is heavy in the Old City as thousands of Arabs and Bedouin head for the capital"to defend" the Al-Aksa mosque.
“Hurva” literally means “ruin” and is located in the heart of the Old City, where a new Torah scroll was ushered into the rebuilt house of worship in Sunday. The original building stood as a landmark in the 16th century, and its well known feature in modern times was the 50-foot arch that remained standing after the Jordanian occupation. That arch now is part of the completed synagogue.
Valuable items of Judaica, such as a platinum menorah and works of silver, were stolen by the Jordanians and never returned. Jordan barred Jews from visiting the site as well as the Western Wall (Kotel) while it controlled the area.. It also prohibited Christians from visiting their holy sites, but Israel opened the gates of religious freedom when the Old City was restored to the Jewish State in the Six-Day War in 1967
The destruction in 1948 wasn’t the first time it was demolished. Muslims had lent Jews money in the 1700s to build the house of worship but destroyed it after the Jewish community, living in poverty, was unable to repay the debt.
The restored synagogue, a replica of the synagogue as it stood in the 19th century, is the result of four years of work.
Peres emphasized the importance of military service and said that those who serve become better citizens than those who don't, who "lose their way."
"If anyone is defending Israel, it's the army," he continued. "The state cannot allow the existence of gaps in recruitment, which endanger the state. Everyone must serve his country. Whoever wants to avoid war must have a strong army. Only a good and powerful army serves as a deterrent."
Elder statesman of Israel's parliament, Shimon Peres, 83, falsified the biographical information on his official Knesset Web page to imply military service that he never performed, journalist David Bedein has claimed in the Philadelphia Bulletin.Once I had a conversation with the late Rechavam Ze'evi, may God avenge his blood. He told me that Peres never served in the IDF. I told him that I think that I once saw a picture of him in uniform. Ze'evi replied that the picture must have been taken on Purim!
Peres, branded as a perennial loser (having never won a major election) and now pulling out all the stops to mount a last-gasp campaign for president, describes his military record as follows:
"Military Service Haganah; IDF; Temporary Head of Naval Services, 1950"
But, Bedein claims, citing his biographer and official records, Peres never served in the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces, nor was he the "temporary head of Naval Services" in 1950.
In Peres' biography on his official Ministry of Foreign Affairs page, the facts are presented differently: "In Israel's War of Independence (1947-48), Peres was responsible for arms purchases and recruitment, and in 1948 was appointed head of the naval services."
Bedein reports that Peres was ridiculed early in his career for not having served in any military capacity in the war of independence for the nascent Jewish state. The official Israel Ministry of Defense Lexicon of Israeli Defense, published in 1976 when Peres was minister of Defense, identifies Peres as only holding a desk job at the new Israel Ministry of Defense, "responsible for naval matters," appointed to that position in 1949.
Peres' office, asked for a response on the misrepresentation of Peres on the official site of the Israeli Knesset, declined to comment.
His official biographer, Dr. Michael Bar Zohar, however, confirmed that Peres never served in the IDF, Bedein reported.
"14:30 A suspect from the surveillance team arrives at another location anticipating the arrival of the victim, as he was known to frequent this hotel."
Possible ways of gaining entry:
- Entry by reprogramming the lock on the door to room 230, as the system shows an attempt to do this during this time.
- Kevin or Gail could have knocked on the victim's door posing as hotel staff.
Hours of scouring closed circuit TV tapes after the Mabhuh assassination has finally payed off for the Dubai police. They managed to capture the Mossad's chief of operations in the Persian Gulf, according to police sources.
To make matters worse for Israel, the man was traveling with a forged United State's passport under the name "Don Maxwell Adams". President Obama Barak angrily commented on the arrest saying, "The entire civilized world as well as the Arab nations condemn the use of forged passports. The State Department has been ordered to look into the matter."
Dubai police has released film of the interrogation of the spy, whose real identity is still not clear.
Thousands of mourners took part in the funeral procession of Rabbi Menachem Porush, the beloved hareidi-religious politician and man of charity who passed away Sunday night at the age of 94.
His son Meir, who has been a Knesset Member ever since 1996, sobbingly eulogized his father.
In his last public appearance, less than an hour before he died, Rabbi Porush took part in the annual “Seventh of Adar” event held by the Chevra Kadisha burial societies. Rabbi Porush, who once served as president of one of Jerusalem’s Chevra Kadishas, insisted on speaking, despite his weakness, and blessed and congratulated them on their sacred work. He arrived home shortly afterwards and suffered his sudden, fatal heart attack.
Just when we thought we had reached the pinnacle of cynicism, that we had seen it all regarding the dubious behavior of public figures, that nothing could shock us anymore, comes the dramatic allegations of sexual “impropriety and harassment” swirling around Rabbi Mordechai Elon. The “golden boy” of religious Zionism – once arguably the most popular rabbi in the State of Israel – now finds himself at the center of a scandal almost too impossible to believe.
As the revelations begin to trickle in, and clarity seeks to overcome confusion, the battle lines between the defenders and accusers are already being drawn. Soon, the public will once more be asked to choose between the tongue of gold and the feet of clay.
Just four years ago, Rav Elon seemed to be on top of the world. A scion of one religious Zionism’s most prestigious families, he was the head of arguably the most famous yeshiva in Jerusalem, the star of the crocheted-kippa generation. He attracted huge crowds of young people to his innovative classes on Torah and Talmud, held on campuses or classrooms throughout the land. A master at media, his words resonated through our TV sets, our radios and our newspapers. He was sought after as a speaker and officiating rabbi at weddings and funerals alike, and was even approached – in vain – to become the leader and savior of a struggling National Religious Party (which later disbanded and was resurrected as Habayit Hayehudi).
It all began with an innocent enough request from Israel's Army Radio for an interview about the Goldstone Report and my 49-page response to it. The interview was conducted by an experienced host, Razi Barkai. Unbeknownst to me, Barkai had an agenda. He wanted to get me to say that I thought that Goldstone was a "moser."Read the rest!
Education Minister Gideon Saar decided that starting next school year, there will be school uniforms in elementary schools and middle schools. Regarding high schools, uniforms will be recommended, but the decision will lie with the school itself.
"Where there is a uniform, this contributes to improving the climate in a school by emphasizing what is shared between the students, equality, and school pride," the Minister said after the decision.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has taken the unprecedented step of not renewing the appointment of Rabbi Avi Ronsky as the IDF's Chief Rabbi. IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi accepted the Defense Minster’s decision despite his known respect for Rabbi Ronsky, military sources told Arutz 7.Who will replace Rabbi Ronsky? According to the same article:
The refusal to renew the appointment of a Chief Rabbi or Chief of Staff follows by four years the equally unprecedented move by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to refuse to renew the term of IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon because of his doubts over the policy of destroying Jewish communities in the Gaza area and withdrawing the military.
Two probable candidates to succeed him are Rabbi Duki Ben-Artzi, a combat pilot, and Rabbi Rafi Peretz, who heads the pre-army Torah academy (mechina) in Yated, which was part of the destroyed Atzmona community in Gush Katif.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced Sunday night he is throwing out the Har Bracha yeshiva, headed by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, from the Hesder yeshiva program. Barak charged the rabbi with “undermining democratic principles” and “inciting” students to refuse IDF orders to expel Jews from their homes.The move harms the army, an only strengthens Rabbi Melamed's claim of corruption in the upper echelons of the army.
The Hesder yeshiva program allows young men to service in the IDF for up to two years, instead of the usual three, and to learn at yeshiva for at least three years. The organization of the Hesder yeshivas has not commented on the historic decision by the Defense Minister, who also is chairman of the Labor party.
Radical settler Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, of the Har Bracha hesder yeshiva pre-army academy, instructed national-religious recruits to disobey orders that run contrary to the Land of Israel ethos. Though his institution is funded by the Defense Ministry (and Diaspora donors), Melamed let it be known that government officials would have to come to his mountain if they wanted to parlay; he would not come down to them.Of course anyone familiar with Rabbi Melamed knows that he instructs his students to disobey any order that is contrary to Jewish law. The Rabbi has explained many times that the Torah has commanded us to settle the land of Israel. What's more, destroying Jewish towns in the land of Israel is a very serious sin. The silly editors of jpost are simply not telling the truth. The issue at hand is not "Land of Israel ethos". Shame on them for lying! Shame on them for making fools out of themselves!
Melamed has repeatedly urged troops to refuse to obey orders during the evacuation of settlements, and he reiterated this in his book.
"A simple halakha [law] is that it is forbidden for any person, whether a soldier or an officer ... to participate in the strictly forbidden act of expelling Jews from their homes and handing over any portion of the Land of Israel to enemies," he wrote. "Those who violate this violate several commandments of the Torah ... Moreover, anyone who considers the situation realistically knows with certainty that any such action encourages those who hate us and endangers the lives of many in Israel."
In another part of the book, Melamed wrote in favor of serving in the IDF, "in order to carry out the extremely important commandment of defending the nation and the land. However, we must reiterate that an order that facilitates an expulsion must be refused."
In response to the question, "What if many soldiers refuse; will that not cause the army to collapse?" Melamed wrote: "If many refuse, no such order will be given. At most, senior commanders will have to resign. On the contrary, it would be good if this happened. The majority of the senior officers are contaminated by politics. They are not commanders who can lead the army to victory, as was shown in the Second Lebanon War."
Israeli archaeologists have made a stunning historical discovery: a Hasmonean king conquered Gaza and the Negev, and for decades prevented the Nabateans of 2,000 years ago from using the Incense Road.
It was the Incense Road that the Nabataeans used to transport precious spices such as myrrh and frankincense to the Mediterranean Sea and Egypt.
According to Dr. Tali Erickson-Gini of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Hasmonean King Alexander Jannaeus (Yannai) conquered Gaza in 99 BCE, and built a fortress with four towers inside an earlier Nabataean caravanserai (roadside inn). With the aid of this fortress, Yannai thus blocked all Nabataean activity along the Incense Road, and in effect forced them out of the Negev.
Alexander Yannai was the great-grandson of Matityahu, the Jewish High Priest who led the Hasmoneans in fighting for Jewish religious freedom and autonomy from the Seleucids (Syrian Greeks), as marked by the holiday of Chanukah.
IAA researchers are currently processing finds from archaeological excavations at sites located along the Incense Road that were previously exacavated by the late Dr. Rudolph Cohen of the Department of Antiquities. One such site is Horvat Ma'agurah, located on a ridge 3.4 kilometers west of Sde Boker. The site is situated at a strategic point overlooking Nahal Besor, where the Incense Road was located, connecting Petra with Gaza.
"We are talking about a revolutionary discovery that will redraw the maps of the region which describe that era and greatly increase the territory governed by the Hasmoneans," said Erickson-Gini, who serves as scientific editor of the excavation.
"Despite the evidence of the historial Josephus, according to which King Alexander Jannaeus conquered the southern coast of the Land of Israel and the harbor in Gaza -- which was of paramount importance to the Nabataeans -- and even further south, no clear archaeological proof of this has been found in the field. And it was because of this lack of proof that historians were inclined to dismiss the possibility that the Hasmoneans did indeed control the Negev," he said.
It is now clear that the Hasmoneans kept hold of the fortress located on the Incense Road -- the principal trade route of their Nabataean enemies -- until the year 66 BCE, thus blocking any enemy movement along the road between Halutza and the Northern Sinai. This cut off trade between Petra and the ports, dealing a death blow to trade throughout the Negev for decades.
The discovery also validates the claim that another Nabataean site -- Nessana, where a multitude of coins of Alexander Jannaeus were discovered -- was actually ruled by the Hasmonean king.
U.S. President Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway on Thursday after having spent less than a year on the job. "I accept this honor with gratitude and humility," Obama said at the presentation ceremony. "I have no clear solutions to conflicts around the world... What I do know is that we need to think differently and work hard. To find new ways to instill the vision of a just peace."Many have pointed out that how ridiculous it is to receive a prize for "good intentions".
According to a survey conducted by the University of Kinifk, only 26 percent of Americans, and only 35.9 percent of Norwegians believe that Obama deserved to receive the award.
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hillary are due their version of a "mazal tov" on the announcement that their only daughter, Chelsea, has become engaged to her longtime boyfriend, 31-year-old Jewish investment banker Marc Mezvinsky.
An e-mail sent following the Thanksgiving holiday confirmed reports Friday, with the interfaith pair aiming for a summer wedding.
While it does not appear that Chelsea will be converting to Judaism, she was seen accompanying Marc to Yom Kippur prayer services in September at the Conservative movement's Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. She was raised a Methodist, though her father is a Southern Baptist.
Just a day after the arrest of alleged Jewish terrorist Ya'acov Teitel, and less than a week after the anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin by a right-wing activist, Jerusalem has been plastered with posters in support of another controversial figure - the late ultra-nationalist orthodox rabbi Meir Kahane.The journalist that wrote the sentence, or one of the editors over at jpost, just couldn't resist connecting the Kahane posters to the Rabin assassination and the alleged acts of Ya'acov Teitel. All this in the first sentence of what is supposed to be a news article.
Ben-Ari declared staunchly that Kahane "was not a racist... he loved Israel and if that means he was a racist, he was a racist... People who call him racist are the racists."Bullseye!
Voice of Israel government radio, which is part of the state-regulated Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), banned on Tuesday commercials urging attendance at memorial services for murdered former Knesset Member Rabbi Meir Kahane. His family said it will sue the government.By the way, the memorial will be on the 18th of Marcheshvan, Nov. 5th, at 6:00 PM at Heichal David Hall, 14 Oholiav Street in Jerusalem. Hope to see you there!
Itamar Ben-Gvir, a Knesset aide to MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari (National Union), warned that if the IBA does not cancel the ban, he will demand that it also prohibit commercials calling on the public to attend memorial services this week for former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin.
The radio network yanked the ads after receiving complaints from listeners, including Peace Now, and explained its decision by saying that the issue of Rabbi Kahane is too “controversial.” The commercial featured a one-sentence statement by MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, who urged people to attend the services on the 19th anniversary of his death this Thursday. There was no reference in the ad to the history, life or political views of Rabbi Kahane.
The main memorial observance for assassinated prime minister Yitzchak Rabin, which was scheduled for Saturday night at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, has been postponed for a week.Organizers said the event was pushed off "because of weather constraints and the constant rain that is expected to fall this weekend."
Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We're gonna get in my supercharged Subaru,
and head down Highway 1.
Gonna go up to Mt. Herzl,
and have ourselves some fun.
Gonna light some candles for Yitzchak Rabin,
and sing a song of peace.
At night we'll go to the Russian Compound,
and drink a couple of beers.
Rock,rock, rock 'n' roll, rock 'n' roll Rabin. (4x)
Then we'll head on out to Talpiot,
and disco the night away.
Let's dance!
Rock,rock, rock 'n' roll, rock 'n' roll Rabin. (4x)
November 4th 1995,
the last day Rabin was alive.
It was Saturday morning when the busses came
to take us to Tel Aviv.
This is the Rabin Rap, Rabin Rap, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra..........
We went to the mall to do some shopping,
man that place was really hopping.
Then we went to good old Kikar Malchei Yisrael.
This is the Rabin Rap, Rabin Rap, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra..........
You see Rabin was real low in the polls,
With his peace agreement that was full of holes.
It was a real sad situation if you know what I mean.
This is the Rabin Rap, Rabin Rap, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra..........
We needed money for the kibbutzim,
The Histadrut and Kupat Cholim.
If the government falls the well will be dry.
This is the Rabin Rap, Rabin Rap, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra..........
So we organized a demonstration,
In order to make a big sensation.
"Yes to peace, no to violence," was the motto of the day.
This is the Rabin Rap, Rabin Rap, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra..........
We sang about peace, we sang about love,
With pictures of an olive branch and a dove.
A beautiful production, Disney would have been proud.
This is the Rabin Rap, Rabin Rap, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra..........
Then that guy shot his gun,
And it was all over son,
The police and the GSS were swaying to the beat.
This is the Rabin Rap, Rabin Rap, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra..........
You might think that this sounds lame,
But the rabbis and the settlers are to blame,
Or maybe the opposition, let the brainwashing begin!
This is the Rabin Rap, Rabin Rap, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra..........
So let's talk about love and practice hate,
Start right away, please don't wait,
This is the way to power, no time to hesitate.
This is the Rabin Rap, Rabin Rap, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra..........
On October 12, 2009, there was an explosion at a Hezbollah weapons storehouse in Tayr Filsay, in southern Lebanon. This aerial footage, taken shortly after the explosion, shows Hezbollah operatives closing down the area around the warehouse, driving in two trucks and removing weaponry from the site. They then took the weapons to a known weapons storage facility in the center of the village of Dir a-Nahar about four kilometers away. Only after Hezbollah removed the weaponry did they allow UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army to enter the site of the explosion. The IDF has sumbitted the footage to UNIFIL to aid in their investigation of the incident.
United States President Barack Obama issued a stinging condemnation of the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria on Wednesday in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly. The U.S. “does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements,” Obama announced.
Using unusually harsh terminology, Obama called to "end the occupation that began in 1967" - referring to Israel's control of Judea and Samaria.
Jewish bloggers will meet in Jerusalem on Sunday for the Second International Jewish Bloggers Convention, organized by the Nefesh B'Nefesh aliyah organization. Hundreds of bloggers are expected to turn out for the event, and dozens more will take part online.I really enjoyed last year's conference. This year I won't be there in person. Regards to all.
Israel National News will feature live footage of the event on Sunday.
A secret IDF Intelligence (AMAN) assessment warned as early as 1993 that the Oslo Accords would likely end with rocket attacks on Ashkelon, according to former AMAN Maj.-Gen. Yaakov Amidror. The politicians, however, were not interested. Amidror leveled the charges during a lecture at the Netanya College on Monday.
According to Amidror, who headed the IDF's Research and Assessment Division responsible for preparing the National Intelligence Assessment, the decision to go ahead with the Oslo agreements between Israel and the PLO terrorist organization was made without taking into account the military implications. The Rabin government "completely ignored" IDF assessments, Amidror claimed.
In fact, as Amidror recalled, then-Foreign Minister Shimon Peres ejected the IDF representatives from the Cabinet meeting when the ministerial vote on the Oslo Accords took place. In Amidror's view, it was symptomatic of efforts by the political echelon to close their ears to warnings from the military regarding the fateful agreement to establish an autonomous Palestinian Authority.
The secret Oslo-era AMAN report stated that the accords contained several clauses that were clearly militarily unenforceable, Amidror said. These included the right of IDF "hot pursuit" into Palestinian Authority areas in the event that the PA leadership refuses to cooperate. In the assessment of the AMAN analysts, PLO failure to uphold its end of the agreements with Israel would end with PA rockets fired at Ashkelon.
Right-wing politicians at the time echoed these very same specific concerns regarding rocket attacks from Gaza, but were dismissed by government spokespeople as "fear mongers." In the interim, thousands of PA rockets have exploded throughout southern Israel, including Ashkelon and areas to the north and east of the port city.
In Amidror's view, the political leadership knew the IDF position on the inherent dangers of the Oslo Accords, but simply chose to disregard them once the principles of the accords were agreed upon with the PLO.
A man suspected of stabbing his former boss in a Ramat Gan store following an argument gave himself up to Tel Aviv police on Monday evening.He's a killer and a criminal with a history of violence. The fact that he is an Arab is not important. Imagine what the Post would have written if the guy was a Hareidi!
According to an initial investigation of the Monday afternoon incident, the killer arrived at a photocopying store on Arlozorov Street where he used to work as a courier. A discussion between the owner and former worker led to a heated argument, following which the former employee stabbed the man a number of times in the torso.
Children who were near the store and witnessed the stabbing yelled out 'a man has been stabbed!' and the owner of a restaurant located near the scene of the crime called the police.
A Magen David Adom intensive care unit evacuated the man in serious condition to Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital, where he died of his wounds.
Before he gave himself up, police were scouring the area for the man, and issued a gag order on his identity and picture. On Tuesday, he will be brought for a remand extension hearing.
The stabber is a known criminal with a history of violence, police said. He was arrested several times in the past for possessing a knife.
The Arab who stabbed his former Jewish employer to death because of a financial dispute on Monday has turned himself over to the police.
The murderer entered Dyo Nati (Nati’s Ink), an office-supplies store in Ramat Gan where he worked until recently as a delivery man, in the early afternoon hours, stabbed Netanel Mangami several times, and escaped. The victim was rushed to the hospital after resuscitation efforts on the scene, but died there of his wounds.
The murderer, an Arab living in Jaffa, arrived at the Dan Region police station at 11 PM, and will be brought before a judge for extension of his custody on Tuesday. He claimed that his victim had owed him 380 shekels.
Netanel, 32, was one of eleven siblings in a Chabad-Lubavitch family, and studied in a yeshiva in Lod. His wife is in her sixth month of pregnancy with twins, and the family has two other children, 3.5 and 2 years old. Family members described Nati as a “genuine man of kindness.”
Other recent cases of Arab violence against Jews – not including outright terrorism - include:
* The stabbing murder of a man in a Jerusalem hostel
* The gang murder by five Israeli-Arabs of a man in front of his wife and daughter in northern Tel Aviv
* An armed robbery of a Postal Authority office in an Arab town in the Galilee
* An accident caused by an Arab ambulance driver who hit an oncoming car near Beit El. A Traffic Police investigator told Israel National News that even though the ambulance was on its way to another accident, “he still has no authority to drive wildly or to hit another car, as he did and we will probably put him on trial.” Beit El security officer Menachem Tzur said the ambulance driver sounded his siren against the guidelines, and that “this is not the first time that PA ambulance drivers take advantage of their position to carry out dangerous overtakings and pass through checkpoints, even when not on urgent missions.” The driver said that the ambulance did not stop after the accident to offer help to the injured.
Asked what measures the police are taking against the reckless driving habits, particularly of Arab drivers, on Judea/Samaria roads, the officer said, “Just yesterday, we had a special blitz on Highway 60, between Eli and Adam, in which we gave out 150 tickets and revoked 12 licenses.” In answer to a question, he acknowledged that most of the tickets were to Arab drivers, “but Jewish drivers are also not entirely innocent; they barely ever drive with seat belts within their communities, and often drive with too many children in the car, and sometimes too fast as well.” He admitted, however, that on the highways, Arab drivers often pass slower cars with total abandon.
Also on Monday, a gang of 15 hooded Christian youths attacked a Jewish teenager in the Old City, beating him for no apparent reason.
A resident of Yafo (Jaffa) suspected of murdering a 34-year-old Chabad Chassid during a dispute Monday afternoon over payment worked last year as a security guard in the bureau of Ramat Gan Mayor Tzvi Bar, according to a report broadcast Tuesday night on Channel 2 TV. Oren allegedly turned himself in to police Monday night after fleeing the scene.Jpost got the story right. Mea Culpa. I've been blogging long enough to avoid making posts like this!
Assaf Oren, 20, is suspected of stabbing to death Nati Mangami, a resident of Bnei Brak, who owned the Nati Dyo Printing Press company. Oren was a former employee of Mangami, who was married and the father of two young children.
IDF Northern Commander Gadi Eisenkot presented an award Wednesday to Moshe Plesser, an off-duty Golani soldier who stopped a terrorist attack in Jerusalem in 2008. Plesser, a resident of Kiryat Moshe, risked his own life to shoot the rampaging attacker, who used a bulldozer to kill three people near the downtown area.
Eisenkot said at the ceremony: "What was special about Sergeant Plesser's deeds was that this was a soldier who was just beginning his military path, who chanced upon a [terror] event when he was on leave, showed initiative and resourcefulness and kept his cool, strove for contact with the target and thus saved human lives. In his deeds, Sgt. Plesser offered a personal example of how IDF soldiers are expected to act.”
Plesser was riding his bicycle through Jerusalem's streets when he saw the attack unfolding. He got off the bicycle and raced towards the bulldozer as the terrorist attempted to continue his attack while still unarmed. Once he reached the bulldozer, he grabbed a gun from a nearby guard and fired on the terrorist, killing him.
An IDF committee found that Plesser's act was noteworthy, and that he had demonstrated initiative and bravery.
After the attack, Plesser credited his yeshiva education, his IDF experience, and his brother-in-law David Shapira with giving him the courage and the ability to stop the attack. Shapira had similarly risked his life to stop a terrorist attack one month earlier, shooting an Arab gunman at the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva as police hesitated to intervene.
Plesser had to fight to gain the IDF experience he noted as crucial to stopping the attack. For years, he was unable to enlist in a combat unit due to his history as a protester against the 2005 Expulsion from Gaza.
Plesser was accused of disturbing police in connection with an incident in which he photographed fellow anti-Disengagement activists as they blocked a road. Plesser, then 17, was beaten by officers during the demonstration. Despite his record, he eventually succeeded in enlisting and was accepted to an elite unit, in which he was serving at the time of the attack.
Jewish media are warning consumers that "treif" or non-kosher tzitzit, made in China, have been flooding the Israeli market. The non-kosher tzitzit sell for only NIS 10, making them considerably cheaper than the regular retail price.
Tzitzit are ritual fringes worn on the four corners of a garment and are intended to remind a Jew of G-d and the commandments. For tzitzit to be kosher they must be tied by Jews. Many tzitzit today come with kosher certificates.
