“Naftali Bennett is the first kippah-clad prime minister in Israel’s history but he got there by betraying principle for position, which is why he is the most hated politician in Israel among his spurned former allies in the religious bloc”

ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
Bennett and the Religious Zionist elite
by Caroline Glick
July 2, 2021

The biggest media story of the week in Israel was the fall of the town of Evyatar in Samaria. Evyatar is located between three Palestinian villages and two Israeli villages. It was originally settled in 2013, following the murder nearby of Evyatar Borovsky, only to be destroyed by the IDF. It was settled again in May by 50 families in response to the murder of Yehuda Guetta. Two weeks ago, Defense Minister Benny Gantz issued a new eviction order. The police and army brought in reinforcements to carry out the order. Activists from all over Judea and Samaria and countrywide began streaming to Evyatar to support its residents. The countdown to the showdown began. READ MORE

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New initiatives are integrating haredi society into Israel’s tech sector and tapping into their strength to upgrade the ‘start-up nation.’

JERUSALEM POST
Start-Up nation: How haredi Jews are integrating into Israel’s tech sector
by Zev Stub
July 1, 2021

Did you hear the one about the time a group of top hi-tech CEOs, a former air force commander and the chairman of Bank Hapoalim walked into the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak on a Thursday night and started learning Talmud with the students? It’s not a joke, but it might be part of a major shift happening in Israeli society. A group of top executives, including the Israeli CEOs of Facebook, Cisco, IBM and other giants, recently got a close-up look at haredi community life on a bus tour through Bnei Brak organized by Kamatech, an organization that connects haredi entrepreneurs to Israel’s hi-tech ecosystem. READ MORE

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Police are still “seeking a motive” for why Khaled Awad would try to kidnap and then stab Boston rabbi

BOSTON.COM
Suspect identified after rabbi stabbed in Brighton
by Arianna MacNeill
July 1, 2021

A rabbi was stabbed outside of the Shaloh House Chabad Center in Brighton, as confirmed by the Anti-Defamation League of New England. The victim, identified by the organization as Rabbi Shlomo Noginski, is said to have suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Boston police said in a press release. Police have since identified Khaled Awad, 24, of Brighton as the suspect in the stabbing. He’s being charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery on a police officer, police said. His arraignment is set to take place in Brighton District Court. READ MORE

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“Knees trembling no more, American Jews of all ages are learning self-defense”

TABLET MAG
A Legion of Their Own
by Suzy Weiss
June 27, 2021

On the third floor of a nondescript building, above a salon specializing in eyelash extensions, four men and three women are deep into practicing roundhouse groin kicks when I shuffle into the room a few minutes late. I take my spot near the door at the very front of the class—the Manhattan-wide punishment for lateness to a group workout. But this particular class doesn’t promise a bikini body, or ab-shredding, or a mind-body-soul connection for 40 bucks plus shoe rental. The group is Legion, a self-defense training network that partners with gyms and martial arts schools in the greater New York area. Their mission is to untremble Jews’ knees by teaching us how to fight back against the antisemites that seek to do us harm—by throwing fireworks at uspelting our children with eggspunching us in the faceor worse. READ MORE

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“Of course, it’s a good time; there’s never been a bad time to buy in Israel. It’s not just a financial investment but an emotional and spiritual one, too”

JNS
Owning a piece of the rock: Post-COVID, Westerners snap up Israeli property
By Deborah Fineblum
July 2, 2021

Scott Gross is a man with a mission. He’s scouring the country for the perfect place for his parents to enjoy their retirement. “It’s one-half investment and one-half a place where they could live in the future,” says Gro. So it has to be just right, he says, since when (and if) his Baltimore-based parents are ready to take the aliyah leap, the place is poised to serve as the proverbial soft landing…“My dad is ready, but my mom’s needed to ease into the idea,” says the 31-year-old Tel Aviv resident. READ MORE

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After organizers were lambasted for disinviting Israeli food truck, entire Philadelphia food festival called off

ALGEMEINER
Philadelphia City Council Approves Hearing Over Food Truck Festival That Disinvited Israeli Vendor, ‘Mishandled’ Antisemitic Threats
by Shiryn Ghermezian
July 1, 2021

A Philadelphia City Council resolution has authorized an investigation into an incident involving an Israeli food truck that was disinvited from a local food festival, which was subsequently cancelled following outrage…“Taste of Home” was scheduled for Sunday, June 20, in Philadelphia, and was organized by the local non-profits Eat Up the Borders (EUTB) and Sunflower Philly. On June 19, Moshava, which serves Israeli cuisine, announced on social media that it was disinvited from participating in the food festival due to antisemitic threats of violence and protests that organizers of the event had received regarding the truck’s presence.  READ MORE

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Putins close connections to the Jewish community

JTA
Putin holds up Israel as a model of unity for Ukrainians and Russians
by Cnaan Liphshiz
July 1, 2021

…Another influential Jewish figure for Putin was his wrestling coach, Anatoly Rakhlin, who sparked the young Putin’s interest in sports and got him off the rough streets of Leningrad, where Putin would get into fights while his parents worked. At Rakhlin’s funeral in 2013, Putin reportedly was overcome by emotion and ditched his security detail to take a short, solitary walk. In 2014, during a visit to Israel, he met his former German teacher, Mina Yuditskaya Berliner, another influential figure in his life because she gave him the language skills that later helped him climb the ranks of the KGB. They had a two-hour chat in her rented apartment; afterward he bought the place for her. READ MORE

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“We have a God-given constitutional right to critique you and we can speak in any lawful tone that we see fit”

REAL CLEAR POLITICS
Viral School Board Speech: It Is My Constitutional Right To Critique Your Fascism
by Tim Hains
June 23, 2021

In this viral video, Simon Campbell, a former member of the Pennsbury, PA school board, rips his former colleagues for allegedly seeking to censor video of spicy public comments and criticism of the school district. “I’ve got news for you, School Board President Benito Mussolini, your power does not supersede that of the U.S. constitution and the rights of the citizens of this great country,” he said before being warned not to name-call. “I’m quoting you from the U.S. Supreme Court. The judges wrote: ‘This nation is founded on the profound national commitment to the principle that debate of public issues shall be uninhibited, robust, and wide open. And that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.’ READ MORE

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Congresswoman Ilhan Omar: “I know what it feels like to experience injustice in ways that many of my colleagues don’t”

ALGEMEINER
Top Community Leaders Slam Rep. Ilhan Omar for Claiming Jewish Colleagues Not ‘Equally Engaging in Seeking Justice’
by Benjamin Kerstein
June 30, 2021

Top US Jewish leaders criticized as “disgraceful” comments made by Minnesota Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar on Wednesday, in which she said that Jewish and other members of Congress who had condemned her equation of Israel to Hamas were not “equally engaging in seeking justice.”…Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, commented, “To accuse Jewish members of not being involved in ‘justice’ is ignorant of their records, and especially offensive when it’s an effort to distract from your own antisemitic statements.” READ MORE

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“The Palestinian Authority respects no boundaries, ethical or legal, in its war on its residents who sell their lands to Jews in Judea and Samaria”

JEWISH PRESS
Israeli Court Asked to Help the PA Catch Arabs Who Sell Land to Jews
by David Israel
June 26, 2021

An Israeli-Arab lawyer named Hossam Yunis, who works for the Palestinian Authority, is expected to receive thousands of sensitive documents on various land purchase transactions in Judea and Samaria involving Arab land brokers and Jewish buyers, Makor Rishon reported Friday (כך מסייעת ישראל בעקיפין לרש”פ לצוד מוכרי קרקעות ליהודים). These documents could endanger the safety of the Arab brokers and sellers mentioned in them, and as a result of their disclosure, these brokers could end up inside the PA’s interrogation dungeons. READ MORE

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