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 י"ג באב תשע"ט / Wednesday, Aug. 14 '19 Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report -http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe In the wake of some unfortunate news in Bet El Institutions, please assist today: https://betelinstitutions.com/savealife/ Headlines
1. 'Feels like home': Omri Casspi returns to Israelby Yoni Kempinski [youtube:2061781] Israeli-born NBA star Omri Casspi returned home this week, after 10 years playing basketball in the US. Casspi, the first Israeli player to be picked up by the NBA, returned home to Israel after signed by Maccabi Tel Aviv. A former Maccabi Tel Aviv player, Casspi’s return home this week was two-fold, moving back to his home country, and rejoining his former team. Following his return to Israel, Arutz Sheva spoke with Casspi at the Maccabi museum in Tel Aviv Wednesday about his decision to come home after 10 years with the NBA. “It feels like home, in a sense,” said Casspi. “I grew up here, my family is here, my wife is from here. Coming back feels very normal to us.” Why did you come back? “For many reasons. One of the main reasons is that me and my family were looking for some sort of continuity and…a place that we can find ourselves in a position to give the best we can to our daughters and our family.” Coming “home is something we always thought we were going to do. It happened maybe sooner than we expected but we’re very excited to be back.” As an Israeli in the NBA, how do you sum up the past 10 years? “It has been amazing. It has been an amazing journey.” “I want to thank the many amazing people who welcomed me to the US and made me feel it was my home away from home: from the Jewish community and the Federations, from the Chabad houses across the country that always brought me kosher food and welcomed me to their synagogues to the Jewish community in general.” Did you feel pride abroad as an Israeli? “Obviously. One of the things I’m very excited about is playing for Maccabi, and we have an Israeli flag on the back. We represent Israel. I represented Israel in my small way, in a sense.” Casspi also noted his work in the past to bring celebrities from abroad to Israel to increase public awareness overseas of what life is really like in the Jewish state. “I started a foundation to improve the image of Israel in the United States. I brought celebrities here…to talk about Israel in a very positive note. It is very important for us…to represent Israel a in a good perspective.” Casspi had previously played with Maccabi’s youth and adult teams, even helping the club win a state championship in 2009 before going on to become the NBA’s first Israeli first-round draft pick. During his NBA career, Casspi played for the Sacramento Kings, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, New Orleans Pelicans, Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors, and Memphis Grizzlies. He has been the captain of the Israeli national team since 2015. 2. Netanyahu under pressure attacks Shakedby Mordechai Sones In the Likud the rhetoric has been exacerbated in the battle for votes against the Yamina list, and they have no qualms about blatant personal attacks on its leaders. Prime Minister Netanyahu recently attacked party Chairwoman former Minister Ayelet Shaked, calling her "the new Tzipi Livni". On News 12 this evening a recording was revealed in which senior Likud member Gideon Sa'ar is heard recommending to Prime Minister Netanyahu how to attack senior Yamina members Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked. In the recording, Sa'ar says to Netanyahu, "Those who vote for Zehut and Otzma Yehudit are irresponsible, because they won't pass the threshold. Those who vote for Bennett and Shaked vote for irresponsible candidates because they didn't take Otzma and Zehut." Last night, Prime Minister Netanyahu considered firing Secretary Betzalel Smotrich after criticizing his policy, but finally accepted an apology. 3. Bennett: We'll nominate Netanyahu for PMby Arutz Sheva Staff Former Education Minister and Yamina party Knesset candidate Naftali Bennett said the newly-formed right-wing party - which includes the Jewish Home, National Union, and New Right – would definitely back Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for an additional term as premier, vowing to recommend him to President Rivlin following the September 17th election. Bennett made the assurance during a live chat with supporters on Facebook Wednesday afternoon, ending speculation Yamina could back an alternative candidate from the Right as premier. “I will say this as clearly and explicitly as possible: the Yamina party will recommend Netanyahu as prime minister of the State of Israel,” said Bennett. “He needs to be the Prime Minister, but he needs a strong ideological movement beside him,” added Bennett. Bennett ripped former Defense Minister Avidgor Liberman, who endorsed Netanyahu following the April 9th election – but then refused to join the coalition, citing differences over a haredi draft bill. “We’re not like Liberman, who plays games and brings about the formation of a left-wing government.” Prior to Bennett’s comments Wednesday, there had been speculation that the Yamina party may refrain from endorsing Netanyahu. Yamina chairwoman Ayelet Shaked gave a lukewarm endorsement of Netanyahu Tuesday, saying that her party would back a rightist candidate, and that Netanyahu was currently the most likely candidate. “We are a right-wing party, in terms of values and ideology, and we will recommend a right-wing candidate for prime minister. Binyamin Netanyahu is the head of the largest right-wing party, right now.” 4. 'We will rain hundreds of rockets on Israel in a single barrage'by Arutz Sheva Staff Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, met Tuesday night with residents of Gaza's Khan Yunis to talk about Blue and White leader MK Benny Gantz's statements, Israel Hayom reported. "I call on Benny Gantz to remember how the IDF failed in its conflict with residents of eastern Gaza during Operation Protective Edge, when he was Chief of Staff," Sinwar said. "During the next conflict with Israel, we will rain hundreds of rockets in a single barrage." Sinwar also said that his terror organization is not interested in war or in another round of military conflict, Israel Hayom noted. However, he also emphasized that "our fighters and heroic activists in the military arm are gathering strength, digging tunnels, and protecting our ability to fire hundreds of rockets at Israel." Praising the Hamas terrorist from the organization's "Restraining Force" who crossed the border into Israel two weeks ago and injured three IDF soldiers, Sinwar said he had done an "act of courage" and called on Gaza youths to "walk in the footsteps of the holy shahids (martyrs)." He added that Hamas leadership will discuss with Gaza residents the implementation of "the large nationalist plans - the plan for the Marches of Return," which Sinwar said will begin the weekend after Eid al-Adha. 5. Social worker: 'I've never seen such a horrific case'by Arutz Sheva Staff New details regarding the case of the five-year-old girl found tied and bound in her home's bathroom have come out, Maariv reported. After police arrived at the family's fourth-floor apartment on Lod's Hagdud Ha'ivri Street, they found the girl alone in the house, bound hand and foot with an especially thick rope tied around her neck, lying in filth in the family's shower, and covered in blood and bruises. Magen David Adom (MDA) was called to the scene, and transferred her to the hospital. Her parents, who had gone with the girl's younger siblings to the beach for several hours, were arrested and taken for interrogation. On Tuesday, the parents' arrest was extended by six days. A source familiar with the case told Maariv: "Just before the police officers broke into the apartment out of concern for the girl's welfare, the owners arrived - the girl's parents with three additional children. At the request of the police, they opened the door of the apartment and allowed the officers to enter." "The cries led the officers to the shower room, where they discovered a frightening and horrific scene: The girl was bound hand and foot and an especially thick rope was wrapped around her neck in what's called a banana tie. She was lying on the floor in a puddle of feces, urine, and water, with blood and bruises on her body. The officers called MDA staff to the scene, but not before one of the officers went to the kitchen and used a knife to free the girl from her bonds. The officers called Welfare staff to the apartment so that they could take care of the other children at this stage in the investigation. Both parents were arrested at the scene and taken for interrogation, during which they denied any connection to the girl's ties and bonds. Attorneys Hai Uzan and Shorki Abu Tabik, who represent the girl's parents, claim: "Our clients deny the suspicions against them. They left the girl at home after she fell asleep and took the other three children to the beach for a few hours. According to them, they did not tie or bind the girl and it could be that someone else was at the scene and committed the act." The suspects' lawyers noted that the parents came home after receiving a phone call from a neighbor, who claimed to hear crying from their home. Judge Zechariya Yamin said: "This is a horrific case. It is incomprehensible that these findings occurred in the time that elapsed between when the parents left the house and when they returned. These are signs of an ongoing event. It's simply horrifying." Police found that the girl is not registered anywhere, and was born in an area occupied by the Palestinian Authority. At some point, she entered Israel. Her mother is also in Israel illegally, and a request was made to reunite the family. Maariv spoke with Chava Levi, a head Welfare Ministry social worker, about how the case could have been overlooked and what the protocol usually is. "We've never had a case like this, but unfortunately other cases of neglect and abuse reach us all the time," Levi told Maariv. "In the past, we've had very difficult cases, but each of them had different characteristics. This isn't a common phenomenon. Usually we intervene in the earlier stages." "Welfare is learning from this situation," she said, adding that "neighbors, educational staff, professionals - it's enough for one person to alert us to a problem. In such a case we conduct an examination, which gives us a fuller picture. When we put the information together, sometimes we discover a frightening picture and sometimes it's not as bad as it seemed." At that point, the Welfare Ministry staff decide whether to report the case to the police or to request an exemption from the Justice Ministry. Such exemptions allow Welfare staff not to inform the police of the case, effectively leaving the reigns in their own hands. "In some cases there is a legal requirement to report, such as cases of neglect or abuse of any type, and sometimes the families are hurting and willing to fix things, and a criminal process is not the best way to protect the family unit. There are cases where things are very difficult and the child cannot remain at home, so we place the child with safe family or in a safe center to protect him, since until then no one has been able to protect him. "In any case where there is suspicion or worry or you hear something - we can't come in so late. We're a small country where one of the values is that we are all responsible for each other. It's very important to turn to social services or to the Welfare Ministry's hotline, 118." 6. PM: We are determined to surviveby Arutz Sheva Staff Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara Netanyahu, paid a condolence visit to the family of Dvir Sorek in Ofra Tuesday. Prime Minister Netanyahu said, "We have now come out of the Sorek family, the family of Rabbi Herling, who has now lost a grandson. Rabbi Herling's last family event was Dvir's Brit. Two months after the Brit, Rabbi Herling was murdered. Dvir did not get to know Rabbi Herling, who was a Holocaust survivor and a fighter. He fought until the last moment." "They raised an exemplary family. We saw the children, the love between them, the love of Israel and the love of the person who drowned them," said Netanyahu. "This is where this horrible and horrific disaster happened. We have seen this innocent boy, who was completely pure, so brutally murdered." Yesterday I was at the president's house with the Shin Bet fighters. They acted quickly with the other security forces and found the murderers," the prime minister added. "What I saw here, in this house, is first and foremost the determination to hold on to our country without reservation. It is also our determination to fight our enemies. We reach those who seek our lives, here and on every front. We are determined to protect our country - these are not mere words, these are words of truth - until our enemies realize that we cannot be uprooted from anywhere in Palestine, even from this place. We will continue to take root and continue to fight, as needed, and unfortunately we must. "I also said that the Land of Israel is in agony. We need to see this family, its mental strengths, to understand how great their spiritual charge is, of our people, and therefore we will never be able to," Netanyahu noted. The prime minister also said, "I told the family that the murder of Dvir is indicative of the large-scale murder they would inflict on each of us if they could. The reason they don't do it is not because the incitement and hateful rhetoric isn't pervasive, it's simply because they can't. We're preventing them from doing this, and we are reaching them ... We will continue to fight them. I have defined them as 'walking animals, but I think that I did an injustice to animals." The prime minister's wife noted, "It is painful to see this circle, 19 years after [Rabbi Herling's murder], and to know that his grandfather also fought the death of heroes when he was attacked by murderers, and to know that this has not stopped: those who seek our lives have not stopped." "But we here in our country are defending ourselves - we are not in the pits of death. Dvir's grandfather went through the Holocaust, and all our people and families went through it. Then we were slaughtered and defenseless - today we defend ourselves. Dvir was a soldier, right at the beginning of his service, but he had a great poetic soul. It hurts the heart," Sara Netanyahu added. 7. El Al stewardess dies after being infected with measlesby Orly Harari A stewardess of Israel’s El Al airline died Tuesday, following a months-long battle with measles. The 43-year-old stewardess was infected with the measles virus during a flight from New York to Israel five months ago. After she was infected, the stewardess was hospitalized in serious condition at Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba in central Israel after she was found unconscious and struggling to breathe. During her hospitalization, the stewardess’ condition deteriorated, and she was transferred to the quarantine section of the hospital’s intensive care wing. On Tuesday, doctors at Meir hospital declared her death, following the five-month struggle. 8. '250 percent increase in complaints by religious soldiers'by Hezki Baruch IDF Comptroller and Deputy Commissioner of Soldiers Brigadier General Eitan Dahan yesterday presented the Annual Report of Soldiers' Complaints for 2018 to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Major (res.) Rabbi Aviad Gadot of the Reserve Rabbis Forum, who was present at the discussion, spoke with IDF representatives and addressed the data showing the increase of complaints by religious soldiers, for the second year running. According to Gadot, the trend reflects the damage caused by the anti-religioization campaign, which causes commanders and rabbinical officials to fear providing soldiers proper service on issues such as joint service, kashrut, Shabbat and the like. Rabbi Gadot revealed that the military officials who arrived in the Knesset admitted they never encountered inverse complaints by soldiers who felt religious coercion, proving that the campaign did not reflect reality. He called on public representatives in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee to raise the issue for individual discussion and come to an effective solution to stop the worrying trend. [video:2061739] Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report - http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe | |
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