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Govt to Seize Manafort’s Hamptons Home & Trump Tower Condo in Plea Deal

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On Saturday, prosecutors filed the official papers to allow the federal government to take possession of two of the real estate properties negotiated during Paul Manafort’s plea deal. As per the Real Deal, as early as October 20th, the government plans to complete the seizure of Manafort’s home in the Hamptons, as well as his condo in Trump Towers. The Trump Towers apartment #43G at 721 Fifth Avenue, which spans 1,509-square-feet, is valued at $3 million. The 5,574-square foot Hampton’s home is valued at approximately $7.3 million. The 10-bedroom, six bathroom home in Watermill features a pool house, pergola, “waterfall pond”, and hundreds of red and white flowers planted in the shape of an M, as per Bloomberg News.

Manafort’s Trump Tower condo is going to be seized in two weeks

Manafort, former campaign chairman for President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty in mid-September to two criminal counts, namely federal conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct justice. As part of his plea deal, Manafort gave his consent to cooperate with Robert Mueller’s special council investigation. He also agreed to forfeit five of his properties, bank accounts and his life insurance policy.

The other properties he will be forfeiting to end his prosecution are: a seven-bedroom, four-bathroom brownstone at 377 Union Street in Brooklyn, estimated to be worth $4.1 million; in lower Manhattan a 2,133-square-foot, three-bedroom apartment at 123 Baxter Street worth about $4.7 million; and a boutique condo in SoHo at 29 Howard Street. The total value of his forfeited NY Real estate assets is estimated to be $21.7 million, as per NBC News.

The 69-year-old Republican will still have some assets to his name when he is freed from prison. As part of the negotiation, he will keep one of his bank accounts,which he opted to keep in lei of the Trump tower condo. He also still has three or more properties outside of New York, valued at a total of roughly $6 million. Among the properties he will be keeping is Manafort’s estate in Virginia. He also pleaded to keep is his Florida home in Palm Beach valued at $1.25 million.

By Hadassa Kalatizadeh

NYC Artists May Eventually Get Affordable Housing; Roadblocks Persist

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Rendering by Goldstein Hill & West

New York is a hotbed for artists and all other creative types, but being an artist and being able to still pay the bills can be challenging. It’s not unusual to see artists also working other jobs in order to get by, at the expense of living in voluntary poverty. The importance of art to the city and the resources and opportunities for artists are hard to ignore, which is why politicians have talked in the past about making sure art and artists aren’t ignored.

A few years ago, Mayor Bill de Blasio suggested making 1,500 units of affordable housing that would be set aside for all types of artists.

At the 2015 state of the city, the mayor spoke about the importance of not letting artists slip through the cracks. ”We know that New York is the city it is today in part because of the contributions from generations of artistic visionaries who at one point struggled to make ends meet.”

More than three years later, de Blasio’s vision seems to be harder to make a reality when push comes to shove. Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen talked at a Crain’s event about how the federal Fair Housing Act interferes with de Blasio’s goal because setting aside housing for only one group of people could go against the act. Landlords are not allowed to discriminate against people on most grounds, like race or religion. Even though the intent in de Blasio’s proposal is to take care of a group in need rather than discriminate against a group or groups of people to make sure they can’t get housing, it could still fail to comply with the act. The city in the meantime is using a task force it created that spans a few different agencies in order to try coming up with some way to make this idea work without violating any rules.

“This is something I wish we had made more progress on,” Glen said, adding “and we are committed to doing so.”

Even if New York can find a way to make the plan work, the city would then have to decide how it determines who is and is not an artist. There needs to be a way to assess eligibility, make sure all types of artists are included, and make sure nobody games the system in order to score an undeserved affordable apartment unit. The city could try cleaning its hands of this potential mess by outsourcing the job to an organization existing beyond the city government.

“I don’t think every person who was cool and hip who moved to the Lower East Side in the early ’80s necessarily has a right to live there forever,” Glen said. “The flip side of that is, if you moved to the Lower East Side in the ’80s and you were an artist and live in a rent-stabilized apartment, you cannot be harassed out of there.”

By: Morgan Humes

Hamptons Crowd Builds Panic Rooms in Mansions to Hide from MS-13

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(Photo by Owen Hoffmann/Patrick McMullan)

Fearing for their safety, well-to-do millionaires in the Hamptons build panic rooms to hide from the terroristic MS-13 group.

The rooms come with bulletproof glass and guns and other weaponry.

Billionaires like John Catsimatidis owner of Gristides Foods have become unnerved over the vicious Salvadorian gang MS-13 being coming too close to where they live and are beginning to fear for their safety.

Last April, members of the gang executed four young men behind a soccer filed in Central Islip. Two other incidents occurred in a Hampton Bays brothel which was raided by police and found to be labeled with an MS-13 sign. Two years ago, a man with connections to the group sexually assaulted a woman after breaking into her Southhampton home.

Southampton Town Police Chief Steven Skrynecki last year, openly expressed concern that the gang might spread further east. Locals noticed when Skyrnecki installed police equipped with antiterrorism gear, including automatic weapons, along the perimeters of summer 2017 charity galas.

One anonymous Southampton homeowner recently adorned her East End manse with bulletproof glass and hidden cameras throughout.

“[MS-13 is] in Suffolk County,” she fearfully said. “What’s an hour car ride? They are near.”

There’s a growing concern among all Long Island residents particularly moving east that MS-13 is headed toward them. Gary Blum who is the president of Armored Entry who installs bullet-proof widows. Said that the “home-security business is very event- and news-driven.” “We get business when there is a tremendous amount of fear being generated.”

It’s a good thing the Long Island residents are wealthy because the products that Blum sells are expensive to most. Starting at $6,000 for a single window “that you can beat with a sledgehammer without making a dent.”

Chris Cosban, a Long Island contractor who installs panic rooms in the area’s mansions, believes “if people want it they have it.” Cosban’s company, Covert Interiors, charges between $25,000 and $200,000 for a standard space with high-tech add-ons, like as fingerprint recognition, cost extra.

Managing director of the personal-security firm Sage Intelligence Group, Herman Weisberg, said that not only do the buyers look at the panic rooms as protective areas, he says that they also function many of his like amenity spaces — doubling as home theaters, wine cellars or even gun vaults where weapons can be safely displayed.

For instance instead of showing of “their Lamborghinis,” Weisberg said, , “they [rather] take guests to the wine bar in their safe room.”

Catsimatidis who has spent a fortune due to his concern about MS-13, especially since he has had his house broken into and has resorted to installing infared sensors at his home, is nothing in terms of the expense that others have gone to secure their safety. Al Corbi, president of SAFE (Strategically Armored & Fortified Environments) has provided to safety for customers with costs that literally go through the roof.

“I finished a system for $100 million,” he said of one West Coast project. “That sounds like a lot but there is nothing I know of, human or manmade, that could possibly harm this family for three generations, including global nuclear holocaust, a pandemic or a second Ice Age.” Plus, he added, “It’s like a Ritz-Carlton underground.”

Still, some East Enders feel their neighbors are going overboard. Whether they are or not, times have changed and the safety of Long Island residents, the crown jewel of southern New York has transformed into fear and paranoia.

By: Anton Kulevsky

Reflecting on #MeToo One Year After Weinstein Allegations

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Just over a year ago, stunning allegations of rampant and systemic sexual misconduct by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein shook not just the country but most of the world, helping to spark the #MeToo movement. Simply put, women want to be treated as equals, as human beings and not objects of entertainment to be controlled and manipulated by powerful men like Weinstein.

In the wake of the news, not only did more reporting continue shedding even more light on Weinstein and his other victims, but it led to a number of other high-profile men being outed as enemies of women, enemies of anyone with any sense of decency and a desire for fairness and humanity. The victims also extend beyond women, with a number of men also coming forward to accuse other famous men, like actor Kevin Spacey, of sexual misconduct. In Spacey’s case, at least one alleged incident happened with someone who was a minor at the time. Even the president and two Supreme Court justices stand accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct.

A lot of the focus remains on Hollywood, an industry ripe for exploitation. While most Hollywood elites would suggest they are socially liberal, people like Weinstein were able to allegedly get away with serial sexual misconduct and all sorts of intimidation and retaliation tactics against women.

The Associated Press went out and interviewed people in the business to see how things have changed and where they stand one year later.

“Definitely there’s been a seismic shift,” British actress Carey Mulligan said. “I feel like if I was walking down the street and someone said something or did something outside the bounds of appropriate, I would feel so much more empowered to tell them to f… off while before I probably wouldn’t. Those sort of gray area things are now no longer gray areas.”

It appears that Hollywood is increasing its efforts to find women to put in important roles.

“Everybody’s looking for their female content,” Parks and Recreation actress Rashida Jones said, whose documentary Quincy was recently released by Netflix. “They’re starting to understand that content that’s created by and shepherded by women and people of colour is super under represented in the business. And everybody’s scrambling to try to fix that.”

For all of the movement’s triumphs, it may only be able to take society so far along the path of progress.

“It’s a great thing when you’re on the red carpet and people are talking about sexual assault. At least it’s out in the open,” actress Viola Davis said. “My fear is that people feel like the focus of sexual assault is just on actresses in Hollywood and studio execs like Weinstein.”

She wants to make sure that all of the most vulnerable women, the ones without any power and money, aren’t overlooked. She worries that by focusing only on these high-profile cases, society could miss the larger picture, saying that “outing the men, putting them in the court of public opinion and just destroying their careers. It’s way bigger than that. One out of every four women–and there’s some statistics that say it’s one out of three–will be sexually assaulted by the time they’re 18.”

By: Lynn Clary

Kraft Heinz Passes on Making Takeover Offer for Campbell’s Soup

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Dan Loeb, hedge fund manager and CEO of Third Point, has his focus on soup. The 56-year-old, with a reported net worth of about $3.1 billion, has for some time now been pushing Campbell’s Soup to sell itself. Third Point, which manages $18 billion in assets, owns a 5.7 percent Campbell stake. As reported by the NY Post, he has been telling investors that rival Kraft Heinz was willing to pay nearly $50 a share for Campbell, but that Campbell’s board was unresponsive. The Shareholder activist sent a letter to Campbell last Wednesday, demanding to see the company’s records, as well as documents regarding its just-completed strategic review. The next day, Campbell’s shares rose 1.9 percent, to $37.19, giving the company an $11.2 billion market cap. In Third Point’s letter, it criticizes Campbell’s disregard to the offer, writing, “potential acquirers of all or a meaningful portion of the company were not contacted nor was a sale pursued — which is flatly inconsistent with the board’s public promise that it was reviewing a “full slate” of options”.

The harsh words, however may be unjustified. According to an unidentified source with direct knowledge of the situation, “Kraft Heinz looked, but is not interested.” The source added, “I think Campbell was open to talking to people.” The source says that the Warren Buffett-backed Kraft Heinz company did consider buying Campbell in recent weeks, and was invited by Campbell to review the data, but that it took a look at the financials and reconsidered. “There was some kicking of the tires but it did not get very far,” the source said. Back in August, the Post had already reported that Kraft Heinz, which would seem the most logical buyer for the company but which is having trouble of its own with its dwindling stock price, was looking into Campbell but was not keen to pay much of a premium. Currently, over 40 percent of Campbell’s stocks are held by descendants of John Dorrance, the inventor of condensed soup.

A Campbell spokesperson said, “We do not comment on rumors or speculation,” adding “The board remains committed to evaluating all strategic options if any of those options can demonstrably enhance value for all shareholders.” Kraft Heinz declined to comment on the story.

In August Campbell also announced that it is looking to sell its non-core businesses, including Arnott’s and the Kelsen Group, and the Campbell Fresh business, which consist of Garden Fresh Gourmet, the refrigerated soup business, and Bolthouse Farms, purchased six years ago. Last Thursday, the WSJ reported that Campbell was in preliminary negotiations to sell Bolthouse Farms to Jeff Dunn, its former President.

By Hellen Zaboulani

Scaramucci’s Hedge Fund Fights For Laid-Off Toys ‘R’ Us Workers’ Severances

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The Mooch is back in the news again. The man who lasted only about a week in the White House yet managed to still be one of the most memorable staffers of this administration is gearing up for the holiday season already. At least in spirit he is, and the spirit he’s channeling isn’t that of greed and gifts but more like the Meek from the classic Twilight Zone Christmas episode.

Anthony Scaramucci made his millions with hedge funds, but he’s still looking out for the little guy. The hedge fund he runs, SkyBridge, has a stake in a company which made an investment in debt held by the once-giant kids’ retail store Toys ‘R’ Us, but at the same time he stands to make money from the situation, Scaramucci is making sure former employees of Toys ‘R’ Us get severance payments from their old employer. The money would be put in a special hardship fund and would ensure that the workers aren’t forgotten and caught up in the bankruptcy. The money will also help keep these people on their feet as they search for a new job.

Scaramucci started to push Solus Alternative Asset Management last week to start setting aside some of that money for the laid-off workers, according to an e-mail exchange between him and Jim Baker of the Private Equity Stakeholder Project that The New York Post reviewed. The project looks to help out 33,000 former employees.

“Please encourage Solus to support laid-off workers,” Baker wrote in an email.

“We have,” Scaramucci said in response.

Scaramucci did not respond for comment when reached by The New York Post.

Bain Capital and KKR are involved in the handling of the debt left behind by Toys ‘R’ Us, and both investment companies already seem onboard with helping former workers. The two investors will put $20 million into the fund, although from the point of view of the Stakeholder Project, Bain and KKR could actually do much better. The project wants its full $75 million, which a bankruptcy court originally promised to the workers.

The New York Post details the specific back-and-forths and negotiating among the involved parties, saying “Baker’s group has been pressuring debtholders including Solus, and others, arguing that they were responsible for pushing the retailer into liquidation. Solus, according to reports, says it is not responsible for the retailer’s liquidation or obliged to contribute to severance package.”

Solus took on a $308 million debt obligation from Toys ‘R’ Us debt last June, and that number is the most recent one available. Laid-off employees are pushing the states of New Jersey and Virginia to take the pension investments that each state makes from Solus and remove them.

The Jewish Voice reported on how a decision earlier this year kept Scaramucci in a position to be able to fight for these laid-off workers. He announced he wouldn’t sell his hedge fund company to a Chinese conglomerate, HNA Group.

By: Keyser Jaconetta

Wharton Prof. Amir Yaron Named as Next Governor Of Bank of Israel

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Professor Amir Yaron, a professor of finance at the Wharton Business School, was named Tuesday as the next governor of the Bank of Israel.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon announced the appointment at a joint press conference at the Prime Minister Office.

“It is our duty to always seek out the greatest talents in the field, and I was happy that Prof. Yaron accepted my request and that of the Minister of Finance to come to Israel,” Netanyahu said.

“A person with great ability and independence must lead the Bank of Israel. Yaron meets these criteria,” the prime minister added.

Netanyahu thanked the outgoing governor Karnit Flug for her “dedicated and excellent service.”

Kahlon added Yaron was chosen between excellent candidates to “ meet the future economic challenges,” and that was sure Yaron is the “right person for the mission.”

Yaron, 54 years old, holds Israeli and American citizenship and has lived in the United States for the last 20 years where he is a finance professor at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a research associate at the US National Bureau of Economic Research.

He grew up in Ramat Hasharon, a suburb of Tel Aviv and after he graduated with an MA from Tel Aviv University he completed his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, specializing in asset pricing, investments, risk-return strategies, macroeconomics, and finance.

The appointment will be first presented to the Goldberg Committee, which vets senior public service appointments, and then will have to be approved by the government.

Yaron will replace Karnit Flug, who has been in office since 2013 and announced in July that she would not seek a second term following a dispute with Kahlon over government fiscal and housing policy.

“I will be happy to be at his disposal and assist him in entering into the position as required,” Flug said in a statement shortly after the appointment was announced. She also added that Yaron will find a professional and dedicated team of management and employees at the Bank of Israel that “will help him to continue to conduct a successful policy in favor of the Israeli economy.”

Other candidates for the position included Bar Ilan University professor Ben-Zion Zilberfarb, Tel Aviv University professor Efraim Sadka and Mario Blejer a former head of Argentina’s central bank.

By: Mara Vigevani
(TPS)

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat Boots UNRWA from City

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Jerusalem’s outgoing mayor Nir Barkat on Sunday urged the international community to consider his proposal to end the local operations of UNRWA, the UN agency for “Palestinian refugees”. Photo Credit: Hillel Maeir/TPS

Barkat announced that the city is in the process of removing the Palestinians’ UN agency from the municipality for “creating a false sovereignty.”

Jerusalem’s outgoing mayor Nir Barkat on Sunday urged the international community to consider his proposal to end the local operations of UNRWA, the UN agency for “Palestinian refugees”.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Barkat, who last week unveiled a plan to remove UNRWA from the Israeli capital, said there is “no such thing” as a refugee in the city.

Barkat told the news agency he was inspired to make his proposal after the US cut off $300 million in funding to the agency last month.

Barkat accused UNRWA schools of using textbooks that promote anti-Israel incitement, and said Israel can provide much better education and health care services to Palestinians who rely on the agency. The US funding cuts will only widen those gaps, he said.

“I look at all of my residents as residents. There’s no such thing as residents that live in the city of Jerusalem that are defined as refugees,” he explained to AP. “We will treat them like any other residents in the city and provide the best services we can.”

Barkat encouraged the UN and others to consider his proposal with “an open mind.”

He said that during his term he has made great strides toward improving education and other services in eastern Jerusalem, noting the UNRWA crisis is another “opportunity” to serve Palestinian Arabs.

The Jerusalem mayor accused the Palestinian Arabs and UNRWA of forcing “refugees” to suffer in poor conditions while turning them into “a negotiating chip in a future potential deal.”

Barkat’s plan would remove UNRWA from eastern Jerusalem and replace the services it provides with municipal services.

In his announcement of the plan last week, Barkat said it would “put an end to the lie of the ‘Palestinian refugee problem’ and the attempts at creating a false sovereignty within a sovereignty.”

Barkat said that under his plan all UNRWA schools in eastern Jerusalem will be closed by the end of the current school year. Health centers will likewise be shut down.

The municipality will also lobby Israeli political leaders and press them to exercise their “authority to remove UNRWA (headquarters) from Israel’s sovereign territory” in Jerusalem.

On Friday, UNRWA expressed concern over Barkat’s plan, saying it was “determined to continue to carrying out” its services in eastern Jerusalem.

Created in 1949, UNRWA supplies aid to more than three million of the five million registered Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and territories assigned to the Palestinian Authority.

However, it is also notorious for its anti-Israel activities. During the 2014 counterterrorism Operation Protective Edge, Hamas rockets were discovered inside a school building run by UNRWA.

Likewise, a booby-trapped UNRWA clinic was detonated, killing three IDF soldiers. Aside from the massive amounts of explosives hidden in the walls of the clinic, it was revealed that it stood on top of dozens of terror tunnels, showing how UNRWA is closely embedded with Hamas.

In a more recent incident, the director of UNRWA operations in Gaza expressed his support for the anti-Israel marches along the Israel-Gaza border and pledged that the organization’s medical centers will provide care for “Palestinian refugees” who might sustain injuries during them.

Since the US announced it would stop its funding to UNRWA, the agency has received pledges of $118 million from donor countries in a bid to help it overcome a crisis triggered by the US cut.

By: Ben Ariel
(INN)

NASA, Israel Space Agency Partner for Lunar Launch

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NASA announced last Wednesday that it has signed a cooperation agreement with the Israel Space Agency (ISA) to help get a local nonprofit’s spacecraft to the moon within several months

In a first-of-a-kind agreement, the veteran American space agency will partner with a private Israeli nonprofit in landing its unmanned module on the moon in early 2019.

NASA announced last Wednesday that it has signed a cooperation agreement with the Israel Space Agency (ISA) to help get a local nonprofit’s spacecraft to the moon within several months. The pact was signed during the 69th International Astronautical Congress on the occasion of World Space Week.

The SpaceIL organization announced in July that it will be sending a small, unmanned spacecraft to the rocky astronomical body in December, with an expected landing date of February 13, 2019. The nonprofit built its 1.5x2m. spaceship in the hopes of getting the $20 million Google Lunar X prize, for which there was no winner at the end as no group met the requirements and deadline in time.

SpaceIL, which is funded by several Israeli universities and high-tech companies besides the ISA and private philanthropy, nevertheless decided to go ahead with the project due to its stated desire to make a major educational impact and inspire schoolchildren with their mission. The decision seems to have been a worthy one, as NASA came on board to assist with certain technical issues.

“As a private venture born as a brave idea against all odds, it is a great honor for us that NASA sees us as a worthy player in the deep space arena,” SpaceIL CEO Dr. Ido Anteby commented at the signing. “We all hope that our spacecraft is only the first step and that space missions and other technological challenges in the field will follow. I believe that Israel has great potential for development in the field of space.”

The American space agency will contribute a retroreflector array, which reflects laser beams to enable NASA to precisely locate the spacecraft on the lunar surface after the landing. NASA will also give SpaceIL access to its Deep Space Network communication services, which will improve its staff’s ability to communicate with the spacecraft from Earth.

In addition, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which was launched almost a decade ago and currently orbits the Moon, will try to capture images of the Israeli spacecraft during its landing.

In exchange, NASA will have access to data gathered by the magnetometer installed aboard the spacecraft. Developed in collaboration with the Weizmann Institute of Science, the device will measure the magnetic field on and above the landing site, according to SpaceIL’s statement.

US-Israel Collaboration ‘Keeps Getting Stronger’

Science Minister Ofir Akunis reacted with pleasure to the agreement.

“American-Israeli collaboration keeps getting stronger in all fields, as is the relationship between NASA and the Israeli Space Agency. Israel is proud to be part of the renewed journey to the moon and to advance our technological capabilities – everywhere,” he said.

NASA recently announced that it will direct more attention to Earth’s only permanent natural satellite, and this decision is seen as part of its revitalized efforts.

“I’m thrilled to extend progress in commercial cooperation we’ve made in low-Earth orbit to the lunar environment with this new agreement with the Israel Space Agency and SpaceIL,” said NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine. “Innovative partnerships like this are going to be essential as we go forward to the moon and create new opportunities there.”

By: Batya Jerenberg
(WIN)

Israelis Overwhelmingly Support Trump, New Poll Shows

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A new 25-nation Pew survey revealed that while Trump’s international image has suffered, his ratings among citizens of the Jewish state remain high.

Leading nonpartisan think tank the Pew Research Center recently released results from a 25-nation survey exploring America’s global image and international opinion of President Donald Trump.

While a summary of the results described “widespread opposition to his administration’s policies and a widely shared lack of confidence in his leadership,” the poll demonstrated that the U.S. president enjoys a 69 percent positive rating in Israel, up from 56 percent in 2017.

The summary attributed this jump to the Trump administration’s decision to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Israel’s capital.

In addition to the embassy move, Trump has also taken a number of other steps aimed at incentivizing Palestinians to work toward a peace deal with Israel, including ending financial support for their United Nations agency (UNRWA) and vowing not to extend any more aid until the Palestinians return to the negotiating table with Israel.

The poll also showed that Israelis, along with Nigerians and Kenyans, are “particularly likely to think the U.S. is more important than it used to be.”

In comparison to Barack Obama, Trump received substantially higher ratings than his predecessor got near the end of his second term, “although they are very similar to the high ratings for Obama in 2014, before tensions rose between his administration and Netanyahu over the Iran nuclear deal.”

The poll summary explained, “As has been the case in recent years, around eight-in-ten Israelis express a favorable opinion about the U.S. At 52%, Israelis are more likely than any other public surveyed to say the U.S. is doing more to address global problems than a few years ago. Israel also tops the list in terms of the share of the public (79%) saying that relations with the U.S. have improved in the past year.”

Notwithstanding strong criticism from nations such as Russia and Germany, “[O]n balance the U.S. still receives positive marks – across the 25 nations polled, a median of 50% have a favorable opinion of the U.S., while 43% offer an unfavorable rating. However, a median of only 27% say they have confidence in President Trump to do the right thing in world affairs; 70% lack confidence in him.”

By: WIN Staff
(World Israel News)

Barkan Terrorist Still at Large as IDF Sweeps Samaria; PA to Pay Monthly Salary 

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Kim Levengrond-Yehezkel, 28, and Ziv Hajbi, 35, were the victims of the Palestinian terror attack in Samaria.

The Israelis killed in a Palestinian terror attack on Sunday at the Barkan Industrial Park , (close to the town of Ariel in northern Samaria) were identified as Kim Levengrond-Yehezkel, 28 of Rosh Ha’ayin, and Ziv Hajbi, 35 from Rishon Letzion.

Levengrond- Yehezkel was the mother of a year-and-a-half old baby boy. She began working at the site a year ago. She last saw her baby when she left him off at the daycare center Sunday morning. She is survived by her husband Gai, her baby boy Kai, her parents and her sister Shahar.

Hajbi, a father of three children, was the second person killed in the attack. His family decided to donate his organs to others.

A third victim, a 54-year-old woman, is being treated in Beilinson hospital for her wounds. She is said to be in a non-life threatening and stable condition.

The terrorist, reportedly a 23-year-old accountant from a Palestinian village near Tulkarem, fled the scene with an automatic weapon. Israeli security forces have launched a manhunt for him. He is described as armed and dangerous.

At the beginning of the weekly Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the incident was “a very severe terrorist attack in which two Israelis were brutally murdered.”

“On behalf of myself and all government ministers I would like to send condolences to the families of the two people who were murdered and our hopes and prayers for a swift recovery for the woman who was wounded,” he added.

“The security forces are in pursuit of the reprehensible murderer. I am certain that they will apprehend him and I am also certain that we will deal with him to the fullest extent of the law and quickly,” he said.

The terrorist attack reportedly took place in management offices in one of the factories. Security footage released from cameras at the factory shows the shooter fleeing the site holding an automatic rifle. The deceased female victim was bound with plastic cable ties.

The industrial zone is known as a place where Israelis and Arabs work together in coexistence, and this is the first such attack in the zone. According to a statement from the IDF, the terrorist had a permit to work in the park and had been employed at the factory where the shooting took place.

According to initial reports, the suspect, a 23-year-old Palestinian from the village of Shweika near Tulkarem, who fled the scene, had been fired by the Alon Metal factory, leading to speculation that the attack was a revenge killing. However, the IDF later clarified that it was a terrorist attack, although he may have had other motives.

Later in the day, the Palestinian branch of Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the attack. It claimed that it was “a response to Israel’s crimes in Gaza, Jerusalem, Khan al-Ahmar and al-Aqsa.”

A spokesperson for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement said: “We call upon our people to rise up against the settlement terror until they are evacuated, and the West Bank is freed of settlements and settlers.”

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said that “the IDF and security forces are conducting a wide scale search for the terrorist … it is only a matter of time before we lay our hands on him.”

By: Jack Gold
(WIN & TPS)

Controversy Swirls as Cabinet Moves to Bring 1000 Falash Mura to Israel

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Some 1,000 members of Ethiopia’s Falash Mura community with children in Israel , will be allowed to immigrate, after the Cabinet on Sunday ratified a proposal put forward made by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon.

Some 1,000 members of Ethiopia’s Falash Mura community with children in Israel , will be allowed to immigrate, after the Cabinet on Sunday ratified a proposal put forward made by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon.

The Interior Minister will be assigned the responsibility of evaluating and approving the entry of candidates who meet the criterion of having children who entered Israel as per previous government decisions regarding the Falash Mura community. Those who meet the criteria will be able to bring with them their partners and their unmarried children who do not have children.

“The decision is a right one. These dear people, who will soon make aliyah have been waiting for over eight years to come here and live with their families,” Kahlon said. “In the Declaration of Independence it says that ‘The State of Israel shall be open to Jewish Aliyah,” and when it comes to Aliyah there are no budgetary, bureaucratic or political considerations. I am reminding you that we are all children and grandchildren of Olim, just as like the sons and grandchildren of these Olim. The State of Israel is proud to take in all who are entitled to make Aliyah.”

However, the decision was not unanimously welcomed: Jewish Home MK Betzalel Smotrich sent a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu on Sunday morning urging him not to allow the Falash Mura to make Aliyah as they do not meet the sufficient criteria and the decision would thus set a legal precedent for anyone with distant Jewish family ties to demand to be allowed to make Aliyah.

“They are not Jewish, they are not married to Jews, are not children of Jews and not grandchildren of Jews. By the same logic, we can make government decisions to allow Aliya for every single person on the face of the globe,” wrote Smotrich, adding that “widening the gap for parents, brothers and grown sons [poses new challenges] to the maintaining of the Jewish identity of the state.”

The Falash Mura are descendants of the Beta Israel Ethiopian Jewish community who converted to Christianity in the 19th and 20th centuries. They are not eligible to make aliya under the Law of Return which gives automatic eligibility for Israeli citizenship to people recognized as Jewish, people with one Jewish grandparent or people married to a Jew. There are some 8,000 recognized Flash Mura in Ethiopia, most of them in the capital Addis Ababa and in Gondar, in the north.

By: Yona Schnitzer
(TPS)

Sara Netanyahu Makes First Court Appearance In Fraud Case

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, made her first court appearance on Sunday afternoon as she goes on trial for fraud at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court.

Sara Netanyahu, as well the deputy director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office Ezra Saidoff, have been accused of misusing $100,000 worth of state funds for restaurant meals and ordered food from September 2010 to March 2013. The indictment, which was filed in June, details the transactions for each month.

Netanyahu also allegedly told employees to conceal her actions, despite being aware of regulations forbidding the order of catering services while the Prime Minister’s residence employs a cook.

Mrs. Netanyahu had allegedly been aware of the restrictions. The indictment accuses her, in coordination with then-deputy director-general Ezra Saidoff of the prime minister’s office, of ordering employees to hide the fact that a chef was employed “so that this wouldn’t be exposed by the office’s accountants, thereby receiving double funding at the treasury’s expense to pay for restaurant meals at the residence.” The cook was therefore listed as part of the cleaning staff.

She is also accused of using waiters to serve the meals on weekends and at private affairs, listing them as “extra manpower” or “cleaners” to conceal the fact that they were illegally employed.

“The accused have made various claims they know aren’t true and which they themselves don’t believe to be true,” according to the indictment, adding that “hundreds of thousands of shekels … were extracted continuously and methodically, on the basis of inaccurate claims.”

In a statement in response to the indictment, Mrs. Netanyahu’s legal team said, “It’s the first time in Israel and in the world that the wife of a leader is put on trial for food entrees. There was no fraud, no breach of trust or any other felony. We’re certain in the end that justice will speak. Truth and logic will prevail.”

During proceedings, a decision was made by the court president to give both the prosecution and the defense until November 13 to reach a deal outside of court – which has failed up until now as Netanyahu has denied the allegations.

The court added that it will reconvene if a deal is not reached by both sides.

By: Ilanit Chernick
(TPS & WIN)

Ancient Stone With Full Spelling of Jerusalem Thrills Archaeologists

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“As a resident of Jerusalem, I am extremely excited to read this inscription, written 2,000 years ago, especially when I think that this inscription will be accessible to every child that can read and uses the same script used two millennia ago.”

Archaeologists uncovered a unique stone inscription dating back to the Second Temple Period with ‘Jerusalem’ written in full in modern Hebrew script – the first such discovery ever.

The exciting find was presented on Tuesday during a press conference by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and the Israel Museum.

Archaeologists discovered the inscription this past winter near the Jerusalem International Convention Center during a dig carried out in the area prior to the construction of a new road, where the foundations of a Roman structure were exposed. The most significant part was a stone column drum, reused in the Roman structure, upon which the Aramaic inscription appears, written in Hebrew letters typical of the Second Temple Period.

The inscription reads “Hananiah son of / Dodalos / of Jerusalem” in three lines.

 

‘Spelling as we Know it Today’

Dr. Yuval Baruch, the IAA’s Jerusalem regional archaeologist, and Prof. Ronny Reich of Haifa University, who read and studied the inscription, noted that “First and Second Temple period inscriptions mentioning Jerusalem are quite rare. But even more unique is the complete spelling of the name as we know it today, which usually appears in the shorthand version.”

This is the only stone inscription of the Second Temple era known in which the full spelling of Jerusalem’s name appears. It has been seen in one other instance, on a coin of the Great Revolt against the Romans (66-70 CE).

This unusual spelling is also seen in the Bible, where Jerusalem appears 660 times, with only five mentions at a relatively late date using the full spelling.

David Mevorach, chief curator of archaeology at the Israel Museum, said that the context of the inscription does not help to determine where it was originally displayed or who Hananiah son of Dodalos was, although it is assumed he was an artist-potter, the son of an artist-potter, who adopted a name from the Greek mythological realm.

“It is interesting that he decided to add his origin from nearby Jerusalem to his family name,” Mevorach added.

The area of the Jerusalem International Convention Center has been excavated for many years, exposing a potter’s quarter, which produced vessels for Jerusalem for a period of over 300 years spanning the Hasmonean Period through to the Late Roman era.

Danit Levy of the IAA, who is currently leading the dig in the area, said that this is the largest ancient pottery production site in the Jerusalem region.

In the latter part of the Second Temple period, particularly during Herod’s reign, production was focused on manufacturing cooking vessels. The production installations were found spread across the site, organized into manufacturing units that included kilns, pools for preparing clay, plastered water cisterns, ritual baths, and workspaces for drying and storing the vessels.

By: Aryeh Savir
(World Israel News)

Taking the “Federation” to Task for Nixing J’slm

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This is the Federation’s way of saying “No, we do not believe that Jerusalem is the eternal undivided capital of Israel” and that Jerusalem must be on the table for any future peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

Only months after President Donald J Trump made the history books by assuming the status of the first US leader to actually fulfill the promise of moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, it now appears that the president is getting some pushback in a passive-aggressive manner by the very people he moved the embassy for.

According to published reports, the Jewish Federations of North America will be holding their upcoming general assembly conference in Tel Aviv, rather than Jerusalem. Every few years this conglomeration of “federations” displays their purported support for Israel by holding their conference there and (always in Jerusalem) as most organizations have accustomed themselves to do.

The Jewish Federations of North America will be holding their upcoming general assembly conference in Tel Aviv, rather than Jerusalem.

So, why the sudden change in venue? Well, let’s rule out the climactic conditions in Tel Aviv. No matter how warm and pleasant it may be for beach goers or how many cultural happenings take place there, or how much leisure aficionados cull from its ambiance, the diverse coastal city was not chosen because of these attributes.

Rather, this was the Federation’s way in sticking it to the hand that feeds them. This is the Federation’s manner in which they send their heartfelt thanks to a uniquely intrepid president, who had the temerity to defy the onerous onslaught of world opinion which weighed heavily against the embassy move. This is the Federation’s way of saying “No, we do not believe that Jerusalem is the eternal undivided capital of Israel” and that Jerusalem must be on the table for any future peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

The Federations across the US don’t like the idea that the US now defends Israel in the UN, or that Trump made the decision to slash funding of that cesspool of visceral hatred on Manhattan’s east side. The Federations don’t like the idea that the Trump administration has seen the light on the fraud that has become UNRWA. The Federations don’t like the idea that the US publicly stands up for Israel as the Jewish state protects itself from the calamities of a future war with Hezbollah in Lebanon by shooting down Iranian planes landing at Syrian airbases – and, it should be noted, that these planes just happen to be full of Iranian made rockets on their way to join the every growing stockpile in Lebanon for the use of the terror group, Hezbollah.

The Federation claims that the ultimate objective of this year’s conference as well as its predominant theme is to highlight the stark differences on perspective about the Trump administration between Israeli Jews and American Jews. They will also grapple with issues concerning the influence of the rabbinate, the prospects or lack thereof of long term peace with the Palestinians, the most efficacious modalities in dealing with the egregious scourge known as international terrorism as well as parsing through a veritable gamut of social, political and religious issues.

According to the Federation, the views of American Jews whom they claim are for the most part quite liberal and perhaps on the left as it pertains to political issues and see the world quite differently than their Israeli counterparts.

But then again, these revelations are nothing new. The real issue here is not whether American Jews feel comfortable with secular marriage and divorce in Israel or if major alterations are needed in the laws of conversion, but rather this is the way that the Federations are telling the Netanyahu government, the US and the world that they too have joined the battle against Donald Trump – (the greatest president for Israel’s interests that we have ever seen since 1948).

Yes, the Federations have officially joined the “resistance” as they continue to attend their Democratic fundraisers and incessantly vocalize their shock and horror over Trump’s new immigration policies. They recoil in horror every time they hear Trump reach out to Israel and show them his genuine and unwavering support for a strong government that cherishes right wing politics and traditions.

By titling their conference “Israel and the Diaspora, We Need to Talk” we can interpret that the Federations are saying that such disparities as “fifty percent of American Jews define themselves as liberal and only 8% of Israeli Jews define themselves as leftists” (which they place on their web site) should be a wake up call of sorts for Israel if they want continued monetary support from them.

With the BDS movement’s insidious propaganda machine firing up the embers of vile mendacity against Israel and the fact that most Jewish students and adults for that matter really do not care about its existential future, the Federations may think that they are in the driver’s seat. After all, they could be under the erroneous assumption that Israel is in desperate need of their aid and influence in order to shore up support at public events for Israel.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The Federations can spend days outlining the myriad differences between the views of American and Israeli Jews, but all the high-minded verbiage and exchange of thoughtful ideas won’t make move anything off the dime.

Unless and until Israel publicly breaks with Trump and stabs themselves in their own back as a lemming would do, then the Federations will keep fighting the new wave of strength and confidence that has been infused into Israel – all thanks to President Trump!!

Letters to the Editor

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Fighting Cultural Wars

Dear Editor:

Dr Ford said this! Judge Kavanaugh said that! She said, he said! Innocent till proven guilty? Guilty until proven innocent? Due process is constitutional? Due process is unconstitutional? Rationality prevails? Emotions prevail?

Let’s step back a minute. We are all watching an internal cultural war in action. it was not pleasant. in fact, it was just plain upsetting. More unfortunately, we are fighting two cultural wars at the same time! We are up against the Red/Green alliance. The Reds are the socialists/progressives that make up the left wing of the Democratic party. They use tactics of lying and harassment at levels unheard of in the US. The Greens are the Islamists, who politicize the religion of Islam. They are led by Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, financed by Turkey and Qatar. The Reds and Greens have different goals and world outlooks. So why do they often work together? They work together because they are driven by the same lust for power.

Consequently, they both have disdain for the Constitution and Bill of Rights. in other words, they are both trying to undo the rule of law, so they can rule supreme. in the recent Supreme Court battle, the rule of law won! Yea, but we must stop patting ourselves on the back. Our job is to make sure that the rule of law always wins! Get ready for many more battles!! And hopefully the battles stay cultural and not physical!!!

Sincerely

Ken Abramowitz

 


MTA Bus Line Improvements?

Dear Editor:

Many who complain about ongoing problems with bus service miss potential operational savings and service improvements by consolidation of duplicative routes between NYC Transit Bus 6,000 and MTA Bus 1,300 fleets never took place. (MTA Bus is made up of the old NYC DOT private operator franchised Liberty Lines Bronx Express, New York Bus Service, Green Bus Lines, Jamaica Buses, Triboro Coach Corporation and Command Bus companies). The same was true for reducing deadheading costs by reassigning bus routes between MTA Bus and NYC Transit Bus to closer garages for reduction of operating costs. Work rules and contracts between different labor unions representing employees at NYC Transit Bus and MTA Bus continue preventing any changes to the status quo.

There is seed money in the current MTA $32 billion 2015–2019 Capital Plan to look into the possibility of the long forgotten Flushing, Queens Bus Terminal which closed in 1954. This need has been previously documented in planning studies going back to the 1960’s. Construction of a Flushing intermodal bus terminal could facilitate a smoother transfer between bus and subway. A short term improvement could be construction of bus holding lights at bus stops. This would assist riders transferring from subway to bus when a train arrives several minutes after scheduled bus departures. Missing a bus by a minute or two during off peak hours (when buses operate with longer intervals) is frustrating to riders. Why not also invest in installation of bus holding lights at other major bus to subway transfer connections at other locations as well?

Sincerely,

Larry Penner

(Larry Penner is a transportation historian, advocate and writer who previously worked 31 for U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration Region 2 NY Office.)

 


It Can Happen Again

Dear Editor:

Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator, Democrat, NY is now campaigning with the likes of Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory, Women’s March organizers, who proudly and repeatedly praise vicious Jew hater, Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, whom Algemeiner rightfully dubs “The Black Hitler.” “U.S. Senate candidate Chele Farley slammed Kirsten Gillibrand for rallying with anti-Israel activists Sarsour and Mallory. Gillibrand’s actions are part of a dangerous and emerging pattern where the far left of the Democratic Party, led by Gillibrand, is becoming highly critical of Israel almost as a default position.”

The deterioration of our moral compass is in full view when someone like Bill Clinton “shook Farrakhan’s bigoted hand” instead of protesting his appearance or refusing to attend Aretha Franklin’s funeral. “Morton Klein, President of the Zionist Organization of America, tweeted, “It’s deeply offensive that racist bigot Jew hating White hating Louis (Hitler was a great man, Judaism is a gutter religion) Farrakhan was invited to the great soul singer Aretha Franklin’s funeral.”

I keep waiting for the outraged cries, organized protests, rallies, from our rabbis, Jewish leaders and Federations, community at-large “progressives”, and mainstream media who are once again relatively silent as we witness the drip drip drip of mainstreaming, normalizing and acceptance of anti-Jew, anti-Israel bigotry. If Kirsten Gillibrand stood with David Duke a neo-Nazi, she would be castigated but when she stands with those who openly support a Black Hitler, I hear the usual deafening silence from our sleepy Jewish community. And for those who foolishly believe it can’t happen again and keep ignoring these same brushstrokes which occurred in 1930’s Germany… I have a Brooklyn Bridge for sale.

Ginette Weiner,
Scottsdale, AZ

 


Rooting for the Yankees

Dear Editor,

The Yankees better start spreading some better news and fast! By the time I read your article “Yankees Beat Red Sox 6-2 in ALDS; Series Tied 1-1,” I didn’t even have a chance to rejoice because the Yankees went on to play such a horrendous game only 24 hours later, and on a day when the transit museum ran a special vintage train straight from Grand Central to Yankee Stadium. If the New York Rangers of hockey continue looking as rhythmless and lost as they have the first few games, and if the Knicks are as bad as they’ve been recently, the New York sports world could get awfully quiet if the Yankees can’t come back and win this series against the dreaded Boston Red Sox, who along with teams like the New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, and Penn State football are by far my most despised sports teams in the world.

Clinching their first victory in the ALDS on Saturday night against their arch rival the Boston Red Sox at Fenway, the “comeback kids,” better known as the New York Yankees came on strong late in the game. But then they basically didn’t even show up the next day. Now that they’re down 2-1 in a five-game series, their backs are against the wall. Let’s see what the comeback kids are really made of. Winning the next two games to clinch the series and win that final game in Boston would be priceless. We can only hope. Let’s go Yankees.

Sincerely,

Ralph Ford