A7News: Trump: London mayor a stone cold loser, de Blasio is 'very dumb'

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Monday, Jun. 03 '19, כ"ט באייר תשע"ט





HEADLINES:
1. TRUMP: LONDON MAYOR A STONE COLD LOSER, DE BLASIO IS 'VERY DUMB'
2. MAN ARRESTED FOR SAYING KADDISH ON TEMPLE MOUNT
3. 31 DRUG TRAFFICKERS ARRESTED IN UNDERCOVER OPERATION
4. HOW HEVRON WAS TAKEN 52 YEARS AGO WITHOUT FIRING A SINGLE SHOT
5. 'GOD DECIDED TO INTERVENE'
6. NETANYAHU FIRES MINISTERS NAFTALI BENNETT AND AYELET SHAKED
7. WHAT'S BEHIND NETANYAHU'S DECISION TO FIRE BENNETT AND SHAKED?
8. CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS TRY TO TIE ISRAEL TO PITTSBURGH MASSACRE


1. TRUMP: LONDON MAYOR A STONE COLD LOSER, DE BLASIO IS 'VERY DUMB'
by David Rosenberg

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264090

President Donald Trump excoriated London Mayor Sadiq Khan Monday morning, just minutes before Air Force One landed at Stansted Airport near the British capital, kicking off the president's state visit to the UK.

In a tweet released shortly before touching down at Stansted, Trump responded to comments by Mayor Khan in which he compared the US president to World War II-era fascists, calling the London mayor a "stone cold loser."

"Sadiq Khan, who by all accounts has done a terrible job as Mayor of London, has been foolishly 'nasty' to the visiting President of the United States," Trump tweeted Monday morning, "by far the most important ally of the United Kingdom. He is a stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London, not me."

Trump went on to excoriate New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a progressive Democrat and frequent critic of the president, calling him "very dumb and incompetent".

"Kahn reminds me very much of our very dumb and incompetent Mayor of NYC, de Blasio, who has also done a terrible job - only half his height. In any event, I look forward to being a great friend to the United Kingdom, and am looking very much forward to my visit. Landing now!"

The comments come two days after Khan wrote an op-ed for The Guardian in which he compared Trump to "European dictators of the 1930s and 40s" and "the military juntas of the 1970s and 80s."

"Donald Trump is just one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat," Khan continued. "The far-right is on the rise around the world, threatening our hard-won rights and freedoms and the values that have defined our liberal, democratic societies for more than seventy years. Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Matteo Salvini in Italy, Marine Le Pen in France and Nigel Farage here in the UK are using the same divisive tropes of the fascists of the 20th century to garner support, but are using new sinister methods to deliver their message. And they are gaining ground and winning power and influence in places that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago."

The two leaders have trade jibes in the past, and in 2017 Khan urged the British government to cancel its invitation to President Trump.

"I don't think we should roll out the red carpet to the president of the USA in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for," Khan said.


2. MAN ARRESTED FOR SAYING KADDISH ON TEMPLE MOUNT
by Arutz Sheva Staff

A young man was arrested Sunday for saying Kaddish on the Temple Mount.

The young man was released Monday under restrictive conditions banning him from the Temple Mount for a week.

Attorney Nati Rom, who represented the detainee on behalf of the Honenu organization, said: "In the morning, a group of Jews entered the Temple Mount accompanied by police, with dozens of Arabs yelling at them 'Allahu Akbar' disturbing the public order. After a long time, when they were in an isolated corner, the man prayed to his Creator."

"Unfortunately, the Israel Police chose to detain those who were attacked while using violence during the arrest, and not to delay even one of the Muslim rioters who shouted at the group," the lawyer added.

"We hope that on the next Jerusalem Day the Temple Mount will not be only in the hands of the Muslim rioters, but also allow freedom of worship and movement for the Jewish people in the holy city," he said.


3. 31 DRUG TRAFFICKERS ARRESTED IN UNDERCOVER OPERATION
by Arutz Sheva Staff

31 drug trafficking suspects were arrested Monday morning in the culmination an undercover operation.

The Central District of the Northern District Police operated an undercover agent who was intermingled in the criminal world for an period of time.

The police raided the homes of the suspects and arrested 31 residents of Migdal Ha'emek, Afula, Yokne'am, Upper Nazareth, Beit Shean, Yafia, Busmat Tivon and Kiryat Haim. In addition, many drugs of various kinds were seized, and two vehicles belonging to them were confiscated.

The undercover agent was employed with them in a meticulous and controlled manner for many months, during which he acquired the trust of the offenders and acted in their surroundings. The agent was able to obtain from the suspects on several occasions dangerous drugs such as cocaine, ecstasy, MDMA, hashish and marijuana, and collected evidence on them.

"The Israel Police will continue to employ a variety of operational and intelligence means to combat serious crime," said the Israel Police, adding: "This operation, in which an agent was employed, joins a long list of activities and operations carried out by the Israel Police in recent years in order to enable a normal and safe life for law-abiding citizens and to bring the perpetrators to justice. "


4. HOW HEVRON WAS TAKEN 52 YEARS AGO WITHOUT FIRING A SINGLE SHOT
by Eliana Rudee

While the holiday of "Jerusalem Day" was marked with great fanfare on Sunday, June 2nd, Monday marks the 52nd anniversary of "Hevron Day" when the IDF liberated Israel's second-holiest city in a thrilling military conquest.

The story of the liberation of Hevron during the Six Day War is nothing short of miraculous, as a single Israeli soldier seized the entire city of Hevron without having to fire a shot.

On June 8, 1967, the Chief Rabbi (and General) of the Israel Defense Forces, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, drove into the city, greeted by the sight of white sheets hung from rooftops and windows throughout the city. He understood that the 1967 Arabs of Hevron surrendered, frightened of Jewish retaliation (decades prior, Arab residents of Hevron had massacred 67 Jews).

Upon Jordanian surrender, Rabbi Goren and a small group of soldiers entered the Tomb of Machpelah to blow the shofar and read from the Torah, just as they had 24 hours prior, when he had taken part in the liberation of the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

According to the Hebron Fund, "this marked the first time in 700 years that Jews, Christians and non-Muslims were permitted to freely enter and pray in the Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs," as the ancient building had been restricted by the Mamluks who invaded from Egyptian centuries before and forbade any Jew, Christian or non- Muslim to pray closer than the seventh step.

Until 1967, Muslims controlled the building and did not let Jews enter their holy site - they could only pray outside of the Cave of Machpela and could not go past the infamous "seventh step" of the staircase leading to the tomb. Those who attempted to go past the seventh step were beaten by the Arab guards stationed in the area.

Finally, Jews had returned to their precious Hevron and Tomb of Machpela. Jews and Israelis see the day as proof of God's hand in the land. According to Rabbi Goren, after he hung an Israeli flag outside of the Tomb and brought a Sefer Torah (Torah scroll) inside, Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan ordered him to take down the flag and remove the Sefer Torah and take off his shoes before entering, as the site had been a mosque. Rabbi Goren refused, so Dayan sent an officer into Hevron to remove the objects. After that officer was killed in a car accident on his way back from Jerusalem, Dayan rescinded his order to remove shoes in the Tomb.

Today, 700,000 tourists per year visit Hevron to peek into the past and see for themselves the renewal of Jewish communities in the area. Tours of ancient Hevron are available year round, with popular sites including museums, synagogues, archaeological sites and of course, the Tomb of the Patriarchs.

According to Yishai Fleisher, the international spokesman of the Jewish community of Hevron, "while Jerusalem is theological - where God is - Hevron is genealogical - where the founders of our nation followed God and became the first commonwealth in the land. In some ways, Hevron is the ancestor of Jerusalem and now, we are back there today."

Fleisher told Breaking Israel News, "Just as we have returned to Jerusalem to live there, so too have we returned to Hevron, where we have done a lot to normalize Jewish life. While Jerusalem is important to us as our ancient capital and seat of the Temple, Hevron is David's first capital and the seat of the forefathers and mothers."

According to Fleisher, one who visits Hevron will learn about "Jewish continuity and connection to the people who started it all," adding, "that's the real gift of Hevron."

Approximately 700,000 people per year visit Hevron, located about an hour's drive south of Jerusalem.

Tourists and locals alike, interested in sightseeing and participating in prayer services with experienced and local guides can book a tour with the Hebron Fund. Special coach buses depart from weekly from Jerusalem.

In honor of "Hevron Day", the Jewish community of Hevron celebrated on the evening of June 2nd, commemorating Hevron's 52nd year of liberation. The Jewish community of Hevron celebrated Yom Hevron with parades, inflatables for kids, food and games.

Reprinted With Permission from BreakingIsraelNews.com


5. 'GOD DECIDED TO INTERVENE'
by Hezki Baruch

Outgoing Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (New Right) hinted Sunday evening that she is preparing to make a final decision regarding the future of her political career and which party she will run with in the elections to the 22nd Knesset this September.

Speaking at an event of New Right party activists in Tel Mond in central Israel, Shaked alluded to her impending decision, saying she needed "a few days" to decide what path to take ahead of the next election.

"After the loss" in April's election to the 21st Knesset, Shaked told party activists, "everyone did some soul-searching."

"I want to take a few days to think so I can decide what is best to do. There is no reason for new elections now, except that God decided to intervene."

Both Shaked and outgoing Education Minister Naftali Bennett, chairman of the New Right party, spoke at the event, which brought together some 50 party activists.

Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu dismissed both Bennett and Shaked from his government.

The Prime Minister's Office later said that Netanyahu would fill the vacancies by the time the dismissals go into effect on Tuesday.

Shaked and Bennett, who broke off from the Jewish Home last December to form the New Right, were appointed to their respective ministries while still serving in the Jewish Home.

The Jewish Home has called on Netanyahu to fill the vacancies at the Education and Justice ministries with Jewish Home chief Rafi Peretz and National Union chairman Bezalel Smotrich.

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264054


6. NETANYAHU FIRES MINISTERS NAFTALI BENNETT AND AYELET SHAKED
by David Rosenberg

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has fired ministers Ayelet Shaked and Naftali Bennett, removing the two New Right leaders from his cabinet.

The Prime Minister's Office informed Bennett and Shaked Sunday afternoon that they would no longer be serving as Education Minister and Justice Minister respectively, following the failure of their party to cross the electoral threshold in the April 9th election.

The removal of the two New Right ministers will go into effect on Tuesday.

Bennett and Shaked, who had run in 2015 at the head of the Jewish Home ticket, broke off in December 2018 to form the New Right. While the party initially was projected to win more than 10 seats, the New Right ultimately failed to cross the electoral threshold, leaving Bennett and Shaked out of the 21st Knesset.

Earlier on Sunday, it was reported that Netanyahu was considering revamping his transitional government ahead of this September's Knesset election, with the aim of strengthening the Likud party's position within the government.

Rabbi Rafi Peretz, chief of the Union of Right-Wing Parties, a joint list of the Jewish Home and National Union, had prepared a letter formally demanding that Netanyahu to fire Shaked and Bennett, and transfer the ministries back to the Jewish Home, giving current Jewish Home MKs the ministries. But Peretz ultimately held off on sending the letter to Netanyahu, after MK Bezalel Smotrich, chairman of the National Union faction, urged him not to make the demand formal.

Netanyahu has reportedly refused calls from within the Likud to recruit Shaked into the party and grant her a spot high on the Likud's Knesset slate for the September election.


7. WHAT'S BEHIND NETANYAHU'S DECISION TO FIRE BENNETT AND SHAKED?
by Hezki Baruch

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu fired the two New Right ministers, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Education Minister Naftali Bennett, from his cabinet Sunday afternoon, after they joined the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday morning for the first time since the April 9th election in which the two failed to retain their Knesset seats.

Netanyahu, outraged by their participation in the cabinet meeting, fired the two ministers shortly afterwards, giving them the 48-hour notification of their termination from the government.

Shaked and Bennett lost their seats after their New Right party narrowly failed to clear the 3.25% electoral threshold in the April elections. Nevertheless, the two retained their ministries in the transitional government, after Netanyahu failed to form a new coalition and dissolved the 21st Knesset.

The Prime Minister has hoped to blunt the two New Right leaders' electoral strength by removing them from his government.

On Sunday morning, Netanyahu urged Union of Right-Wing Parties' chief Rafi Peretz to formally request that Netanyahu fire Shaked and Bennett and transfer their ministries back to the Jewish Home and National Union factions.

At the behest of National Union chief Bezalel Smotrich, however, Peretz did not submit the letter calling for Bennett and Shaked's termination.

Despite the failure of the United Right to formally demand the ministries, Netanyahu removed Bennett and Shaked, hoping to prevent them from attending this Tuesday's security cabinet meeting.

Following the removal of the two ministers, the United Right has called on Netanyahu to tap MKs Peretz and Smotrich to the Education and Justice ministries respectively.


8. CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS TRY TO TIE ISRAEL TO PITTSBURGH MASSACRE
by JTA

Far-left Democrats in California have put forth draft resolutions fiercely critical of Israel ahead of this weekend's state party convention, including one suggesting that the Israeli government is partly responsible for the atmosphere inspiring last October's massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue.

One resolution, first reported by Fox News, calls the murder of 11 Jews by a white supremacist "the culmination of an alarming re-emergence of virulent antisemitism that is a core element of historical and currently resurgent white supremacism in the United States and around the world." The "Israeli government, along with some of its U.S. backers," the resolution continues, "welcomed support from Christian fundamentalist and ultra-right groups in the United States and abroad, dangerously ignoring their deeply rooted antisemitism while aligning with their virulent Islamophobia."

That platform resolution was authored by David Mandel, a state Assembly delegate from the Sacramento area who Fox says holds dual U.S.-Israel citizenship.

"The Israeli government and its supporters here seem to be embracing the right wing and not caring what they say about anything else — Islamophobia, dog whistles for anti-Semitism," Mandel told Fox when asked about the Pittsburgh connection. "That, I think, does indirectly lead to some of the violence."

Other resolutions to be introduced at the San Francisco confab urge a rollback of President Donald Trump's Israel policies, including recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights; condemn Israel for clashes with Gaza terrorists without mentioning provocations or attacks by the Hamas leadership there; and direct party officials to take a subsidized trip to Israel only if they spend the same amount of time visiting Palestinian Authority villages and leaders.

Mandel's resolution opposes "all efforts to stigmatize and suppress support for Palestinian human rights by falsely conflating it with antisemitism."

The latter is a reference to criticism of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who apologized after fellow Democrats and others said she had invoked several anti-Semitic tropes in her criticism of US supporters of Israel.

Whether the resolutions will be debated by the full assembly of 3,000-4,000 delegates at the Moscone Convention Center is up to a Resolutions Committee. Delegates have the option of gathering 300 signatures to force a debate on the floor.

The Jewish Democratic Council of America expressed "deep concern" about reports of the resolutions.

"We urge the California Democratic Party not to fall into the trap of letting Republicans divide us on Israel and the fight against anti-Semitism," Halie Soifer, the council's executive director, said in a statement. "Nearly all extremist violence in the United States, including attacks on Jews and Muslims, have come from right-wing extremists."

She added: "While Republicans continue to attempt to turn Israel into a partisan wedge issue, the Democratic Party remains staunchly pro-Israel. The Democratic Platform adopted in 2016 affirms that 'we will always support Israel's right to defend itself, including by retaining its qualitative military edge, and oppose any effort to delegitimize Israel, including at the United Nations or through the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement.'"

The current California Democratic state platform, adopted in 2018, supports "a solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiated by the parties that guarantees equality, security and democracy for all, recognizes Israel's future as a secure and democratic Jewish state with recognized borders and provides the Palestinians with independence, sovereignty and dignity."

It also regards Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but says the relocation of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem "should not remove [Jerusalem] from final status negotiations, nor should it be used to undermine the peace process."

In 2018, the delegates also adopted two resolutions, neither of which made it into the platform, that were opposed by many in the pro-Israel camp. One opposed federal bills targeting the boycott (BDS) movement, and the other proposed a federal bill preventing Israel from using U.S. tax dollars to detain Palestinian Arab children.

The Progressive Zionists of the California Democratic Party urged party members to oppose the Israel resolutions.

"These six anti-Israel resolutions divide us rather than bring us together," the group said in a statement to the Jewish News Syndicate. "They give no care for the human rights, self-determination, and safety of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland. As they all demonize Israel and hold Palestinian leadership completely harmless, one resolution even calls for the destruction of Israel as the Jewish state."

Democratic presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders are expected to attend the convention.