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carrying out attacks against Israelis in exchange for money from Hamas.

Shikli is reportedly the head of Hamas’ foreign liaison unit within Hamas. He is wanted by Interpol on terrorism charges.

Arutz Sheva quoted Shai Glick, CEO of Btsalmo, as saying, “Terror is raising its head. The countries in the world have an obligation to act with an iron hand against terror, without compromise. Anyone who gives in to terror in one place, it will raise its head immediately in another place. The battle against terror is a global battle, and we must act as one against it.”

Tel Aviv Office Prices Soar

A rise in demand for office space in Tel Aviv has created a shortage and exponentially-rising prices for the property spaces, the Times of Israel reported.

In a LinkedIn post, international real estate advisory firm Avison Young noted that over the past 18 months, “real estate in the right location has become…almost as important as [a] company’s patents.”

The greatest demand is for offices around Tel Aviv’s Savidor-Center and Hashalom train stations, near the Azrieli Towers and Sarona.

Guy Amosi, CEO and managing partner of Avison Young’s Israel office, said last week that “quality office space has become like a valuable patent in the sense that it is a gateway to making high quality hires. Office space located near the talent is key to a company’s success.”

According to Avison Young’s Tel Aviv Market overview for the second half (H2) of 2021, there was a temporary softening of the office market at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, followed by a dramatic rebound in 2021.

Rents today would be even higher for Class A office space, Amosi noted. This space can command up to NIS 170 ($53.25) per square meter, but vacancies for such properties are near 1%.

Amosi added, “It is possible to ask almost any price for office space in these locations because the real estate costs are insignificant in comparison to the cost of hiring and maintaining talent.”

Larry Garner, managing director for C&W|Inter-Israel, explained, “The Ayalon Highway-Menachem Begin corridor office market is the only place to be if you are in high-tech. Some clients have told me that the Ramat Gan Bourse [across the road from North Tel Aviv] is too far away!”

Ben Sand, VP of global operations and compliance at property management software company Guesty, added, “Millennials want to come to work by foot or scooter. If they are software designers, they have the talent we are seeking to attract, and we must cater to their demands.”

He noted that his company is trying to avoid the “elevator pitch,” since “in the new skyscrapers, tenants are approached in the elevator to work at another company, and by sundown, they have moved jobs.”

Relief But Only for Some Israelis

A new economic relief plan announced by the Israeli government last week offers benefits only for a limited sector of Israeli society.

In a press conference, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu), and Economy Minister Orna Barbivay (Yesh Atid) announced that they would work to reduce the cost of living by lowering the price of electricity and various necessities, while at the same time adding tax exemptions for working parents of children ages 6-12 years of age.

The plan is expected to cost the State $1.4 billion (4.4 billion NIS).

According to Bennett, the plan represents “a new contract between the government and citizens, and a rational one.” He emphasized, “Citizens who work and bear the burden — they deserve to save more.”

MK Moshe Gafni, who chairs the United Torah Judaism party, slammed the plan, saying, “For months you caused unimaginable damage — you raised taxes, issued directives, bills and regulations, passing a bad budget, and hurting middle class working families, independent workers and small businesses. You hurt everyone, and now you’re trying to fix some of it, expecting to be praised. Don’t destroy and don’t fix. Undo everything you’ve done so far, the damage you’ve caused to the Israeli public and economy. Only then you can try and talk about benefits.”

Blue and White MK Michael Biton similarly criticized the plan as benefiting only a small portion of the population and not distributing the benefits fairly, since it gives more money to parents whose children are certain ages but less to parents of younger children. He also noted that the plan does not help the small businesses which suffered crippling losses due to the pandemic.

“You can’t only help salaried employees and not them,” Biton said, noting that Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Blue and White’s chairman, also shared his opinion.

The plan will only provide the additional aid for the duration of 2022.

Out of Israel’s population of nearly ten million, around 530,000 parents are expected to benefit from the tax exemptions.

In addition to the tax exemptions, after-school childcare will be subsidized for another approximately 60,000 children, and some 300,000 lower earners will receive a one-time grant in the form of negative income tax.

Israel to Dispatch Naval Officer to Bahrain

Israel will dispatch a naval officer to an official posting in Bahrain. This is the first time an Arab country will openly host a stationed Israeli military dignitary.

The naval officer will travel to Bahrain in the coming weeks and will serve as a liaison for the U.S. Fifth Fleet, which is garrisoned there, Israel’s Channel 13 News said.

According to the report, the move was agreed on during Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s (Blue and White) visit to the Gulf earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the IDF has denied any arrangements to send an officer but did indicate that such a move was being discussed. In its statement to the station, the IDF said it is “constantly examining opportunities to deepen military cooperation with the countries of the region,” but that “at the moment, it has not been agreed to place an IDF officer in another country.”

Last week, Israel’s Navy, for the first time, began taking part in the International Maritime Exercise (IMX), which is led by the Fifth Fleet. Among the countries participating in the drill are Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Yemen.

Texas Rejects Some Mail Ballots

Some 40% of mail-in ballots received so far in Texas’ Harris County cannot be counted due to the state’s new voting laws.

Harris County has over 2.4 million voters. The mail-in ballots are part of the U.S.’s first primary this year, but around 40% – over 1,300 ballots – were missing information or signatures required under a new law passed in August.

Most of the missing information was needed for identification, such as voter ID or social security numbers, but a few were missing signatures, Leah Shah, spokesperson for the Harris County Elections Administrator’s office, noted.

Under the new law, the voters will be notified if their ballot is rejected and will be able to submit a new ballot so long as it is received by the day of the elections, which, in this case, is March 1.

הבישי תרטע םייח ץע

“As we get closer to the deadline to return mail ballots, we just want to make sure that everyone understands that these new requirements to include identification are important,” Shah said.

“Take a close look at the envelope and make sure you are filling them out, and when in doubt fill them both out or give us a call so we can help walk them through. It is confusing and challenging, and we are here to help.”

Harris County has sent in over 27,000 mail-in ballots to those eligible, and it is not yet clear how many more ballots may be invalid.

Hawaiians to Live Longer?

A new report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics shows that Hawaiians have the highest life expectancy in the nation.

According to the report, Hawaiians can expect to live for 80.9 years, while those in Mississippi have the lowest life expectancy, at just 74.4 years.

The data, which examined age-specific death rates in 2019, showed that the national average life expectancy was 78.8 years old and that women can usually expect to live longer than men.

The lowest life expectancies were seen in the South.

Lead author Elizabeth Arias noted, “When you look at the map of life expectancy, and if you were to look at a map of socioeconomic status – which includes poverty, education attainment – you would see that they would look very similar.”

The states with the highest life expectancies were: Hawaii (80.9 years), California (80.9 years), New York (80.7 years), Minnesota (80.4 years), Massachusetts (80.4 years), Connecticut (80.3 years), New Jersey (80.1 years), Washington (80 years), Colorado (80 years), and Vermont (79.8 years).

The states with the lowest life expectancies were: Mississippi (74.4 years), West Virginia (74.5 years), Alabama (75.2 years), Kentucky (75.5 years), Tennessee (75.6 years), Arkansas (75.7 years), Oklahoma (75.7 years), Louisiana (75.7 years), South Carolina (76.8 years), and Ohio (76.9 years).

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1,430 NYC Workers Fired

On Friday, New York City fired 1,430 city workers for failing to comply with its vaccine mandate. The group firing is likely the nation’s largest mass termination of municipal employees in response to a Covid vaccine mandate.

Mayor Eric Adams announced on Monday that 1,428 workers, who had already been on unpaid leave for months, were sent termination notices after they failed to receive a first dose of the vaccine. Two newer hires, who faced more stringent requirements, were also fired for failing to receive two vaccine doses. Nearly 4,000 city workers had faced a deadline of Friday to comply with the vaccine mandate.

About 95 percent of the city’s workers have received at least one dose of the vaccine, an increase from 84 percent when the mandate was first announced in October.

“Our goal was always to vaccinate, not terminate, and city workers stepped up and met the goal placed before them,” Adams said in a statement.

About 900 of the fired staff worked at the Department of Education; about 100 worked at the New York City Housing Authority, the public housing agency; 36 were from the New York Police Department.

About 9,000 additional city workers are still unvaccinated, but are seeking exemptions, or working with unions to avoid terminations.

All city workers are required to receive one dose of the vaccine. New hires must get two doses if they received a vaccine that includes a second dose. Booster shots are not required, but Adams has admitted that he is toying with requiring them.

Settlement for Sandy Hook

The families of five children and four adults killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting have reached a $73 million settlement against the now-bankrupt gun manufacturer Remington and its four insurers.

Remington was the manufacturer of the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle used in the 2012 massacre that left 20 children and six adults dead in Newtown, Connecticut.

The families of nine of the victims filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Remington in 2014.

A 2005 federal law protects many gun manufacturers from wrongful death lawsuits brought by family members. But attorneys for the families pushed a different approach: trying to hold Remington partly responsible because of its marketing strategy.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs contended that the company marketed rifles by extolling the militaristic qualities of the rifle and reinforcing the image of a combat weapon – in violation of a Connecticut law that prevents deceptive marketing practices.

In 2020, Remington filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in just over two years.

Why Ambassador Bridge is So Important

Canada is the United States’ largest trading partner, and Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit, Michigan, to Windsor, Ontario, moves 25% of all trade between the two countries.

According to CNN, the bridge may be the most economically important 1.5 miles of road in the Western Hemisphere: an estimated 10,000 commercial vehicles cross Ambassador Bridge each day.

U.S. Commerce Department data showed that, in 2021, a total of $664 billion worth of goods moved between the U.S. and Canada. The state of Michigan estimated that 30% of that total moved over Ambassador Bridge.

That same year, the U.S. imported over one million completed vehicles from Canada, worth about $25 billion. Canada imported 750,000 U.S. vehicles, worth about $14 billion, during the same time frame, data from IHS Markit showed.

The recent anti-vaccine mandate protests in Canada closed the bridge to traffic for about one week, by blocking the ramps on the Canadian side. The bridge was fully reopened late Sunday night.

Since goods generally move across the border with limited tariffs or other taxes, factories on one side of the border depend on suppliers from the other, CNN noted.

Bernard Swiecki, director of research at the Center for Automotive Research, explained, “Essentially, automotive supply chains treat that border as it would a state border. Financially speaking, that international border might as well not be there.”

Michigan workers lost an estimated $51 million in wages due to the blocked bridge. But the effects were also felt in plants in other states, which were forced to temporarily reduce or halt operations.

Stephanie Brinley, principal analyst with IHS Markit, shared, “A lot of manufacturing, a lot of goods, depend on the bridge. It’s not just autos.

“Our supply chain is pretty fragile right now. We don’t need another kink in the works.”

$7B to Victims of 9/11 and Afghani Aid

U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order allowing the distribution of $7 billion in frozen funds to families of victims of the 9/11 attacks and as humanitarian aid to those suffering in Afghanistan.

The funds, which were frozen from assets in Afghanistan’s central bank, will be distributed inside the country and potentially fund litigation brought by families of 9/11 victims, senior administration officials confirmed.

The monies are held in the U.S. and were frozen following the August 2021 collapse of the central Afghanistan government. They will be split into $3.5 billion to be used as humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, and $3.5 billion to be made available for terror victims. Those claims will still be litigated by a judge.

According to a senior White House official, unfreezing the money was necessary in order to allow the claimants their day in court.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, senior Biden administration officials said that the U.S. will move to put the Afghanistan-earmarked funds in a “separate and distinct” trust that will not be mixed with the ongoing U.S. assistance to the country.

“We plan to consult widely in the coming months, including with the Afghan community, about the governance and use of the funds we are seeking to release,” one official said.

Many have pointed out that there were no Afghan nationals among the 9/11 perpetrators and that the money belongs to the people of Afghanistan. U.S. officials have said that the money must be set aside in order to allow 9/11 claimants to have their day in court.

A White House official pointed out, “Absent action by us, these funds were likely to be tied up in courts for years, while the action we have taken stands the best chance of more quickly freeing up a large portion for humanitarian support.”

Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem tweeted, “Stealing the blocked funds of Afghan nation by the United States of America and its seizure (of those funds) shows the lowest level of humanity ... of a country and a nation.”

Did Hillary Spy on Trump Campaign?

According to a bombshell court filing last Friday by Special Prosecutor John Durham, it is becoming more apparent that Hillary Clinton associates spied not only on the Trump campaign but on the Trump White House as well.

Durham, who was appointed in 2020 by then-Attorney General William Barr to investigate matters relating to the 2016 campaign, has reportedly been uncovering an extensive scheme by Hillary Clinton and her associates to sabotage the Trump campaign and to delegitimize the Trump presidency once he defeated Ms. Clinton. The latest filing provides a rare glimpse into the investigation by Durham, who has a reputation as a thorough yet secretive prosecutor.

The filing, which was made in a motion relating to a case against a Clinton campaign lawyer charged with lying to investigators, indicates that Clinton associates engaged in nefarious actions in order to obtain information from Trump Tower, Donald Trump’s Central Park West apartment building, and the White House itself.

On Tuesday, a Daily Mail reporter confronted Hillary Clinton and asked, “Did you pay to spy on the Trump campaign? When are you going to comment on the spying allegations, Hillary?” but Ms. Clinton ignored the questions. The media, as well, has largely ignored the latest allegations, with MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough providing a novel explanation for ignoring this story – that it is “confusing” and “so hard to follow.”

In Trumpian fashion, the former president released a statement criticizing the media’s silence, asserting, “Can you imagine if the roles were reversed and the Republicans, in particular President Donald Trump, got caught illegally spying into the office of the President? ... The electric chair

would immediately come out of retirement.”

Trump’s frustration is understandable, considering that the media repeatedly denied his claims that he was spied on by Ms. Clinton. Yet, as is often the case with these “Russian Collusion”-related matters – in hindsight he appears to be proven right. The following exchange in a “60 Minutes” interview with Lesley Stahl during the 2020 campaign illustrates how the media has protected Clinton.

Trump: “The biggest scandal was when they spied on my campaign. They spied on my campaign.”

Stahl: “There is no real evidence of that.”

Trump: “Of course there is, it’s all over the place.”

Stahl: “No.”

Trump: “Lesley, they spied on my campaign, and they got caught.”

Stahl: “Can I say something? You know, this is ‘60 Minutes,’ and we can’t put on things we can’t verify.”

Trump: “You won’t put it on because it’s bad for Biden.”

Stahl: “We can’t put on things we can’t verify.”

Perhaps it is a lesson in circular logic: can’t verify because we won’t verify, so we can’t verify. Or maybe it is a political philosophy lesson: if a tree falls in the proverbial political forest and nobody reports on it, does it make a sound?

U.S. Suspends Mexican Avocado Imports

The U.S. has suspended all imports of Mexican avocados.

Mexico acknowledged that the U.S. government suspended the imports after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threat.

The inspectors are employees of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services.

The report added that the suspension, confirmed late on the eve of the Super Bowl Sunday, struck at the biggest sales opportunity of the year for Mexico’s avocado growers.

In a statement, Mexico’s Agriculture Department said that the U.S. government had suspended all imports of Mexican avocados “until further notice.”

The statement added, “U.S. health authorities…made the decision after one of their officials, who was carrying out inspections in Uruapan, Michoacan, received a threatening message on his official cellphone.”

In a statement, the U.S. Embassy said, “Facilitating the export of Mexican avocados to the U.S. and guaranteeing the safety of our agricultural inspection personnel go hand-in-hand.

“We are working with the Mexican government to guarantee security conditions that would allow our personnel in Michoacan to resume operations.”

Accounting Firm Drops the Don

Mazars, the accounting firm that former President Donald Trump has been using for a long time, informed the Trump Organization this week that it will no longer be acting as its accountant.

The company said that it couldn’t rely on nearly 10 years’ worth of financial statements and that they would no longer be their accountants, citing a conflict of interest.

“We have come to this conclusion based, in part, upon the filings made by the New York Attorney General on January 18, 2022, our own investigation, and information received from internal and external sources,” Mazars wrote in a letter to the Trump Organization chief legal officer, advising them to no longer rely on financial statements ending June 2011 through June 2020.

“While we have not concluded that the various financial statements, as a whole, contain material discrepancies, based upon the totality of the circumstances, we believe our advice to you to no longer rely upon those financial statements is appropriate.”

The company also advised the Trump Organization to inform any recipients of the statements, such as lenders or insurers, to not rely on the statements.

A Trump Organization spokesperson said, “While we are disappointed that Mazars has chosen to part ways, their February 9, 2022 letter confirms that after conducting a subsequent review of all prior statements of financial condition, Mazars’ work was performed in accordance with all applicable accounting standards and principles and that such statements of financial condition do not contain any material discrepancies. This confirmation effectively renders the investigations by the DA and AG moot.”

The New York attorney general and Manhattan district attorney’s office have been investigating the accuracy of Trump’s financial statements to determine whether any insurers, lenders or others were misled. Trump has previously said in depositions in civil investigations that he would give his opinion about the values of certain properties, and it was “predominantly” Trump Organization’s chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg who decided the final number.

Mazars compiled the statements and included a two-page introduction that stated Trump was responsible for valuations, but they noted that in many ways they did not comply with U.S. accounting rules.

Optimized Diet Can Add Years to Life

A change of diet, especially if it begins when a person is young, can add up to 13 years to that person’s life, a study shows.

The study, published last Tuesday in PLOS Medicine, created a model of what might happen to a person’s longevity if she or he replaced the “typical Western diet” with an “optimized diet.” It found that if a woman began eating optimally at age 20, she could increase her lifespan by just over 10 years, while a man eating a healthier diet from age 20 could add 13 years to his life.

At the same time, a woman who switched her diet at age 60 was found to be able to add eight years to her life, while a man of the same age could add nearly nine years. At age 80, both genders would gain around 3.5 years from a change in diet.

Dr. David Katz, a specialist in preventive and lifestyle medicine and nutrition, who was not involved in the study, noted, “The notion that improving diet quality would reduce the risk of chronic disease and premature death is long established, and it only stands to reason that less chronic disease and premature death means more life expectancy.”

He added, “What they define as an ‘optimal’ diet is not quite optimal; it’s just a whole lot better than ‘typical.’ My impression is that their ‘much improved’ diet still allowed for considerable doses of meat and dairy.”

The study suggests that people eat less red and processed meats. If cutting those items out of your diet isn’t feasible, lessening consumption in those categories can also contribute to a longer life expectancy.

Rams Defeat Bengals

The Los Angeles Rams on Sunday defeated Cincinnati’s Bengals 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI.

The game, which took place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, was the second time in Super Bowl history that a team played on its home field.

According to ESPN, the Rams’ pass-rush win rate of 82% was the highest of any team in a single game this season. Conversely, the Bengals’ pass-block win rate was the worst by any team this season.

Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who won the game, exulted, “I’m just so happy. I wanted this so bad. I dreamed this, man. I dreamed this, and it’s, like, surreal. It’s the best feeling in the world. G-d is great.”

Quarterback Matthew Stafford said, “There’s so many guys on our team that deserve this.”

The Rams have made five Super Bowl appearances, with their only other championship at the Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000.