Breaking news: US warns against travel to Israel due to surging Omicron infections and Germans Blindside the IDF, Doubling Cost of 3 Submarines and 30 Bedouin Arrested for Anti-JNF Planting Riots and Government Report Exposes: EU Invested $500 Million in Illegal PA Takeover of Area C and Israel’s National Library Acquires 90 Pages of One of Earliest Printed Hebrew Books and Why do neo-Nazi's Love ‘Haaretz’?By JNS News Service
Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher, and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned against traveling to Israel on Tuesday due to surging COVID-19 infections.
The CDC placed Israel in its highest risk assessment category, a "Level 4" designation meaning "very high" COVID-19 risk.
The agency added 22 countries to the list on Tuesday, including Israel, Australia, Egypt, Albania, Argentina and Uruguay. Around 100 countries are currently in the Level 4 category.
The agency says to avoid travel to such destinations if possible, and to make sure vaccinations are up-to-date if travel is necessary.
Omicron has caused a staggering number of infections in Israel in recent weeks.
Close to 500 Israelis are hospitalized in serious condition.
The COVID-19 ward of Ziv Medical Center in Safed, on January 18, 2022. (David Cohen/Flash90)
Travel between the US and Israel has been a constant concern during the pandemic.
Many US Jews have said they felt unfairly excluded from Israel, especially those with family in the country.
Israel reopened its borders to some foreign tourists earlier this month, with officials saying soaring domestic infections made the impact of infections from abroad negligible.
Health officials still recommend avoiding any non-essential travel.
The CDC also warned against travel to Israel last year.
A neo-Nazi website claims that Orthodox Jews treat women "like filth," and says that doing so is commanded by Jewish law. The claim is backed up with quotes from an article from the far-left daily, Haaretz, and even includes a direct link to the Israeli newspaper's site.
Another post on the neo-Nazi forum claims that Orthodox Jews are spreading the COVID-19 virus in Australia. This, too, is backed up with quotes from and a link to Haaretz.
A third neo-Nazi post includes a call by Haaretz to reprint Adolf Hitler's anti-Semitic, genocidal book, Mein Kampf, and put it back on sale in German bookstores. Germany currently outlaws the book.
There are actually hundreds of anti-Semitic posts on the site based on "news items" from Haaretz—1,400 references, to be precise. And if it were a little-known publication, perhaps such citing would be inconsequential. As the leading paper among Israel's ruling elite, however—with subscribers including Supreme Court justices, government ministers, leading journalists, Israel Defense Forces generals and cultural icons—the powerful Hebrew broadsheet with an English-language edition wields enormous influence, both inside and outside the country. Nor is it only the secular elite who read Haaretz. Many left-wing religious Jews are also subscribers.
The neo-Nazi website in question is Stormfront, described by Wikipedia as a "neo-Nazi Internet forum, and the Web's first major racial hate site … primarily focused on propagating white nationalism, anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial, anti-Catholicism and white supremacy."
It was founded in 1996 by Don Black, a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and a member of the National Socialist White People's Party. According to a 2014 report by the Southern Poverty Law Center, "Registered Stormfront users have been disproportionately responsible for some of the most lethal hate crimes and mass killings since the web forum became the first hate site on the Internet."
Stormfront isn't the only neo-Nazi or white-supremacist website to have a passion for Haaretz. The Daily Stormer, for example, which has more than 300 references to Haaretz, is described by Wikipedia as "an American far-right, neo-Nazi, white supremacist, misogynist, and Holocaust denial commentary and message board website that advocates for a second genocide of Jews."
Take, for instance, an article titled "Kikes Shoot and KILL TO DEATH Gazan with Hands Up" extensively quotes Haaretz in its claims that Jews "slaughter" people of color. After the Haaretz passages, the author of the piece, Andrew Anglin, opines: "I really honestly hate the kikes and think they should all be stuffed into gas chambers and gassed like insects with diesel fumes from a repurposed Soviet submarine engine."
Another post, "Israel to Officially Become Jew Ethnostate," uses quotes from a Haaretz article in a claim that Israel only allows "genetically pure" Jews to live in the country.
Then there's American neo-Nazi David Duke, described by Wikipedia as "an American neo-Nazi, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, far-right politician, convicted felon, and former grand wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. His publications and politics are largely devoted to promoting conspiracy theories about Jews, such as Holocaust denial and Jewish control of academia, the press, and the financial system. The Anti-Defamation League has described Duke as "perhaps America's most well-known racist and anti-Semite."
A search of his website (DavidDuke.com) reveals more than 300 mentions of Haaretz. Links and citations include, among others, the use of Haaretz to "prove" that Jews control the global pornography industry; a column by Gideon Levy about the situation in Gaza; a an op-ed equating Israel and Nazi Germany; a story by Amira Hass that compares the Gaza Strip to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and much more.
The question that arises from this is why right-wing anti-Semitic extremists would want to cite a radical leftist Israeli newspaper. The answer is two-fold. In the first place, unity between the far-right and far-left is nothing new.
In 1940, Hitler and Communist leader Joseph Stalin signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, to join forces and divide Europe among themselves. Stalin often expressed admiration for Hitler. It was only when Hitler later threatened to take over Soviet Union that the communists decided to fight the fascists.
In the second place, Haaretz is obsessed with finding the negative in anything Jewish or Israeli. This applies even to organ donations.
Recently, the newspaper admitted what is widely known in the medical community: that observant Jews are by far the country's biggest kidney donors. But the newspaper claims to know the "real reason" for this incredible self-sacrifice, which has saved hundreds of lives. It is all done for negative, narcissistic reasons, in order to "claim moral superiority."
Does it bother Haaretz journalists that their views find approval among people who openly say that they seek the destruction of the Jewish people and the State of Israel?
I asked editor-in-chief Aluf Ben this very question. His response was: "What do you want us to do? Anyone is allowed to quote from Haaretz. I have nothing more to say."
The Jewish people spend enormous sums fighting global anti-Semitism. But before we try and fix the world, perhaps we should take care of the anti-Semitism at home first.
(Filmmaker Yehezkel Laing is the creator of the dramatic television series Iron Sky about Jewish bravery in Stalinist Russia)
Germans Blindside the IDF, Doubling Cost of 3 Submarines
photo Credit: Moshe Shai/FLASH90
Israeli Navy Soldiers board a Dolphin-class submarine in Haifa, September 7, 2009.
German submarine manufacturer ThyssenKrupp recently raised the price of three new submarines ordered by Israel's defense ministry by a whopping €1.2 billion ($1.37 billion). The increase was brought up for discussion by a ministerial committee on Sunday and was reportedly approved. This is the first time the Israeli public is being informed of this alarming price hike.
On Sunday, the Bennett government ordered the establishment of a state commission of inquiry to investigate Case 3000, which involved the dispute between the security apparatus and former-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the purchase of a ThyssenKrupp and Netanyahu's consenting to ThyssenKrupp's selling advanced submarines to Egypt (Bennett Cabinet to Approve Inquiry into Submarines Affair that May Impact Netanyahu). Now it appears that the relationship between the IDF and ThyssenKrupp just continues to spread joy everywhere.
Aerial view of Illegal PA construction in Area C, in the Gush Etzion Arab village of Nahalin. May 2020
The European Union (EU) has invested half a billion dollars in support of the Palestinian Authority's illegal takeover of Area C in Judea and Samaria, a comprehensive report by the Ministry of Intelligence on the PA's plan to take over Area C shows.
The report was exposed Tuesday ahead of a special discussion at the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee at the initiative of the Land of Israel Lobby, which members are warning that "the battle for Judea and Samaria has reached a critical stage."
According to the report, the PA employs about 600 workers in some 100 registration branches who are engaged in a huge project to map properties, including in Area C, which is under full Israeli control as per the Oslo Accords. The stated goal of the project is gaining and claiming ownership of the land.
The mapping project, which gained momentum in 2019 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2022, is sometimes carried out with threats to landowners, and includes IDF camps and training zones, and Israeli communities.
According to the Israeli report, "in the absence of an alternative (Israeli) registration arrangement, there is a good chance that at one point or another, the courts in Israel or around the world will adopt the Palestinian registration."
The report further revealed that the PA planning project is being carried out with the funding of foreign bodies, and PA officials attend all meetings and ensure plans are in line with the PA's "national interests."
The method is aimed at creating an overload at the IDF's Civil Administration, to prevent its ability to deal with a wave of referrals and requests, and to take advantage of the Civil Administration's directive to stop enforcement proceedings wherever a plan for the property in question has been filed.
The report highlights the legal battle that the PA is waging "on every house and every dunam," amounting to 475 petitions submitted to Israel's High Court of Justice in just two years. The policy is to flood the system with petitions in a number that does not enable substantive legal procedures, and produces compromises between the parties, according to which the petitions are withdrawn in exchange for an Israeli commitment not to demolish the PA-built and European-financed illegal buildings.
This is a method that aims to nullify the ability to act against the takeover, the report underscores.
The heads of the Land of Israel Lobby in the Knesset who initiated the discussion, Members of Knesset Orit Strock and Yoav Kish, stated that "the battle for Judea and Samaria has reached its critical stage. After many years of neglect by Israel, the situation has changed for the worse, and in recent months the Civil Administration, under the guidance of the Minister of Defense [Benny Gantz], and with the entire coalition turning a blind eye, is working for the benefit of the Palestinian interest and against the Israeli interest."
"After many efforts by the Land of Israel Lobby, the subject of the battle for Area is coming up for discussion in the Knesset. We will make every effort to lead to a change in the Israeli conduct on the issue, and to begin conducting an Israeli campaign in the face of the dangerous Palestinian campaign," they stated.
The Regavim Movement, which combats illegal takeover of state lands, recently revealed new mapping data on the frightening scope of the phenomenon, including the extent of illegal Arab construction in the area.
Between the years 2019-2021, the Arabs built 5,097 new illegal structures, in areas under the full control of the State of Israel. This means that every day, about seven new illegal buildings are added to the area. The total number of illegal Arab buildings in Area C is 72,274.
At the same time, a PA-guided agricultural takeover of 7,125 dunams of land under Israeli control was recorded during this two-year period, reaching a total of 93,071 dunams.
Israel has rapidly been losing lands in area C to European Union-funded illegal construction projected executed by the PA.
In 2009, then-prime minister of the PA Salaam Fayyad laid out the Plan for the Creation of the State of Palestine, a methodical program for seizing control of territory in Area C, under full Israeli control as prescribed by the Oslo Accords, to form a broad and viable basis for a Palestinian state, specifically in the areas under Israeli control.
Fayyad's plan essentially bypasses all negotiations or compromises with Israel and creates facts on the ground.
While serving as Defense Minister in 2019, Naftali Bennett threatened to demolish any illegal Arab construction in Area C, even if it was funded by the EU.
In response to an inquiry on the issue by TPS, a senior official in the Defense Ministry stated that the "phenomenon of illegal Palestinian construction in Area C is one of the main issues that Defense Minister Bennett is dealing with, and he has already begun to work to eradicate the phenomenon."
At his meeting with EU ambassadors in December 2019, Bennet told the ambassadors that "illegal construction in their financing would be destroyed by Israel" and made it clear that "his position on the issue was unequivocal."
However, he has failed to act on his pledges.
30 Bedouin Arrested for Anti-JNF Planting Riots
Photo Credit: Israeli Police
Bedouin suspects arrested for anti-JNF rioting. Jan. 18, 2022
Some 250 Border Police troops and policemen arrested on Tuesday 30 Bedouin suspects for involvement in riots and throwing rocks during the Jewish National Fund's planting activity in the Negev last week.
The operation took place at several localities in the Negev region, and in addition to the 30 suspects arrested, a bus with 28 illegals from the Palestinian Authority was stopped, 50 kg of cannabis drugs ready for distribution were located, a number of weapons parts and 120 boxes of smuggled cigarettes were seized.
Three suspects were arrested for assaulting police officers during the operation.
All the suspects were taken for questioning in the southern district of the Israel Police.
Tens of suspects were arrested during the riots.
Bedouin clans rioted in the northern Negev for several days and clashed with police last week following the JNF planting of trees on land the Al-Atrash clan claims as its own.
The riots included the blocking of roads with burning tires and rock-throwing at passing vehicles. A train was forced to make an emergency stop after the driver noticed that rocks were placed on the tracks, apparently by the rioters. Cars were torched, and a police station in the area was repeatedly attacked.
The violent scenes were reminiscent of the countrywide Muslim riots in May in support of Hamas during Operation Guardian of the Walls.
The planting in the area has stopped for the time being.
Israel's National Library Acquires 90 Pages of One of Earliest Printed Hebrew Books
photo Credit: Courtesy of The National Library of Israel
Arbaah Turim, ca 1492 edition.
The National Library of Israel (NLI) has acquired 90 singular pages from the earliest period of Hebrew printing. The pages come from the only known copy of a late 15th-century edition of Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher's "Arba'ah Turim", a seminal codification of Jewish law. Yehoshua Soncino, a leading figure in the early Hebrew printing industry, published the edition in Italy around 1492. No complete copies of it have survived, and the pages acquired by the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem are not found in any other collection in the world, public or private. Before the acquisition, the NLI already held 59 pages from the book.
Works published before 1500 are known as "incunabula". During this period, less than 200 total Hebrew titles were printed, of which around 150 have survived until today. The NLI has copies of more than 80 of them.
Arbaah Turim, ca 1492 edition. / Courtesy of The National Library of Israel
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"Arba'ah Turim", meaning "Four Columns" in Hebrew, was written by Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher (approx. 1269-1343 CE), a leading medieval rabbinical authority also known as "Rabbeinu Asher" and "Ba'al ha-Turim" ("Master of the Columns"). The name of the work refers to the four sections into which it is divided, each of them covering different areas of Jewish law: "Orakh Khayim", "Yoreh De'ah", "Even Ha'ezer", and "Khoshen Mishpat". The pages just acquired by the NLI come from the first two of these sections. The four-part division of the "Arba'ah Turim", and the work more generally, have served as a foundation for countless commentaries and later attempts to codify Jewish law, including Rabbi Joseph Caro's 16th century "Shulkhan Arukh," which is widely considered to be the most important code of Jewish law until today.
Arbaah Turim, ca 1492 edition. / Courtesy of The National Library of Israel
According to Dr. Yoel Finkelman, curator of the Haim and Hanna Salomon Judaica Collection at the National Library of Israel, "Incunabula like these provide rich and unique resources for the research of Jewish textual culture, and they have additional aesthetic and bibliographic value. These pages in particular provide exceedingly rare tangible evidence of one of the very first religious Jewish texts to be printed. Even though the complete edition has not survived, it is exciting that these pages – part of an exceedingly important Jewish text – have come down to us and will now be preserved and made accessible to scholars and the general public by the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem."
The Haim and Hanna Salomon Judaica Collection at the National Library of Israel includes the vast majority of Hebrew and Jewish books, journals and magazines ever published; thousands of Hebrew-letter manuscripts, as well as digital and microfilm copies of some 80,000 such manuscripts from collections across the globe; the world's largest collection of Jewish music; and hundreds of personal archives of leading figures. Cherished treasures in the Collection include Maimonides' commentary on the Mishna in his own handwriting; some of the earliest Talmudic manuscripts and printed Hebrew books; the world's largest collections of ketubot and Haggadot; archival collections of leading rabbinic figures; and the Gershom Scholem Collection – the world's foremost resource for the study of Kabbalah, Jewish Mysticism and Hasidism.
