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est-ever cabinet – so large that it was necessary to make across-the-board budget cuts in order to fund the new offices.
While Israelis on the left and the right debate which bloc truly won the elections, one group seems to have come out on top: the haredi Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) parties. These parties control the Housing and Interior ministries, allowing them to help the haredi public and ease their housing crisis.
The Religious Affairs Ministry, under control of the Shas party, will be able to ensure that no changes are made to the status quo of how religion is defined and handled in Israel. Five of the seven deputy ministers to have been appointed so far are from the haredi parties, which tend to prefer deputy minister posts, as per their rabbis’ instructions.
The committees held by the parties are also influential: UTJ’s Moshe Gafni still heads the Finance Committee, ultimately in charge of writing up budget law, and Shas’ Yaakov Margi now chairs the Economy Committee, giving him influence over any and all economic reforms. The all-important Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee – one of the Knesset’s most powerful committees – is for the first time in the hands of UTJ.
In addition, UTJ’s coalition agreement stipulates that “the status quo on religion and state issues shall be preserved, as was accepted in Israel for decades. The government will act to respect the Sabbath and holidays of Israel, which preserved us as a people. If any change threatens the status quo, the prime minister and the ‘Likud bloc’ shall act together and through mutual commitment to remove the harm in order to preserve the status quo.” In other words, changing the Draft Law to force young haredi men to join the IDF is now a no-go.
The haredi parties may not agree with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on everything, but they remained loyal to him throughout three rounds of elections, mostly due to fear of being left without political power were Benny Gantz – now Alternate Prime Minister – to rise to power. The periods in which the haredi parties were not part of the government are remembered as bad for the haredi public – something which the parties and voters themselves prefer to avoid.
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Trump Cuts Ties with WHO
On Friday, President Trump announced that he is “terminating” the U.S. relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO). This decision came just 11 days after the president threatened to permanently revoke U.S. funding in a letter he had addressed to the WHO leadership.
The U.S. leader cited the WHO's failure to enact reforms in the face of concerns over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its pro-China bias as reasons for severing the relationship.
“Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and redirecting those funds to other worldwide and deserving urgent global public health needs,” Trump told reporters at a Rose Garden event.
Trump also announced a number of measures aimed primarily at China in response to its conduct on a number of fronts including trade, the coronavirus, and its recent crackdown on Hong Kong.
“The world is now suffering as a result of the misfeasance of the Chinese government,” Trump said.
The U.S. had been the top contributor to the WHO to the tune of approximately $450 million a year. China, meanwhile, pays approximately $50 million a year – although Beijing had recently announced a $2 billion injection of funds.
The U.S. has raised concerns about WHO officials’ praise of Chinese “transparency,” its ignoring of warnings about the virus from Taiwan, and its repetition of Chinese claims that COVID-19 could not be spread person-to-person. Trump noted that he had received opposition from W HO officials regarding his d ecision to place a travel ban on China in the initial days of the crisis.
“Chinese officials ignored their reporting obligations to the World Health Organization and pressured the World Health Organization to mislead the world when the virus was first discovered by Chinese authorities,” he said. “Countless lives have been taken and profound economic hardship has been inflicted across the globe.”
Targeting the Chinese directly, Trump said he will issue a proclamation to secure university research and to “suspend the entry of certain foreign nationals from China who we have identified as a potential security risk.”
Trump also accused China of “smothering” freedom in Hong Kong with its newly enacted national security law that would stifle opposition and criminalize anti-government movements such as the pro-democracy demonstrations seen in the territory in recent years.
The State Department this week reported to Congress that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous after a number of moves by Beijing to shut down the freedoms that were agreed to as part of the 1997 handover of the territory by the British.
Trump said the move by Beijing was a “plain violation” of its treaty obligations: “China has replaced its promised formula of ‘one country two systems’ with ‘one country one system.’”
The president also announced that the U.S. will be eliminating policy exemptions that give Hong Kong different and special treatment “from our extradition treaty to our export controls on dual use technologies and more with few exceptions.”
Trump added that the State Department’s travel advisory for Hong Kong would be revised to reflect the increased danger of surveillance and punishment by the Chinese. Additionally, the U.S. is revoking Hong Kong’s preferential treatment as a separate customs and travel territory and taking steps to sanction officials involved in eroding Hong Kong’s autonomy.
SpaceX Blasts Off
SpaceX’s new spacecraft, the Falcon 9 rocket, was designed to fly cargo and supplies to the International Space Station but it also has a window, symbolizing the reason Elon Musk started the company in the first place.
Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, with the goal of enabling human spaceflight and, eventually, bringing people to Mars. The company’s rockets have broken into the Pentagon’s market, which until now had been dominated by Lockheed Martin and Boeing. However, until last week, the company had never flown a human being to space.
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On Saturday, at 3:22p.m. local time, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched from Florida, carrying NASA’s Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on their journey to the International Space Station at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour.
Although NASA oversaw the program, the one in charge of the rocket is SpaceX, making the company the first private company to launch humans into orbit.
“I’m really overcome with emotion, and it’s really hard to talk,” Musk said in a news conference after the launch. “We have not yet docked, and of course we need to bring them back safely. So it’s a lot of work to do. But it’s just incredible.”
Though he had been nervous before the launch’s initial takeoff date on Wednesday, by Saturday, when the launch was cleared for flight, he was calm. “I didn’t feel nervous. I felt like it was going to work,” Musk asserted.
A mere 19 hours after the launch, the capsule caught up with the International Space Station early Sunday and glided in for a problem-free docking, bringing Hurley and Behnken to the outpost.
The historic mission marks a major milestone in NASA’s push to end the agency’s sole reliance on Russian Soyuz spacecraft for carrying astronauts to and from the lab complex. This was the first piloted launch to orbit by a privately owned and operated spacecraft since the dawn of the space age.
SpaceX aims to fly another mission to the Space Station by August 30, but officials have said that date will likely change.
After that, SpaceX aims to fly people to the moon, and eventually to Mars.
Please donate to our Emergency Fund! Help us to continue to provide critical and essential services to our entire community.
The Rina Shkolnik Kosher Food Pantry
located at The S.H.O.P. (Sustenance Hope Opportunities Place) has seen a 40% increase of new families who are suddenly facing hardships.
Our Older Adult Department
is in touch with seniors and Holocaust survivors to check in and perform wellness checks. Activities are being shared so that they can stay healthy and engaged.
The JCC Social Work Team
is conducting remote counseling sessions with vulnerable and isolated community members who are anxious and need support at this time.
Our Special Needs Department
has been running virtual support groups for adults with disabilities and parents of children with special needs to connect, share resources and support each other.
Our Volunteer Department
has mobilized an army of volunteers to deliver food, run errands and shop for groceries to those who can’t get out especially seniors living alone.
We need your help now! The Gural JCC remains steadfast in our commitment to serving the needs of the Greater Five Towns.
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U.S. Jewish Centers Targeted
A slew of kosher stores, Jewish centers, and synagogues became victims of the week-long violent riots that exploded across the United States.
In Los Angeles, rioters defaced a number of synagogues with anti-Semitic graffiti, including scrawling pro-Palestinian slogans on Congregation Beth Israel in Fairfax. The city’s oldest synagogue had been empty at the time of the attack.
The graffiti was condemned by U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism Elan S. Carr, who tweeted that “this graffiti is yet more evidence that anti-#Zionism is #Antisemitism.”
Vandals also defaced the nearby Baba Sale Congregation with a fusillade of bricks and painted anti-Israel slogans on its back door. Other synagogues that fell victim to the rampaging mob included Congregation Kehilas Yaakov, also known as the Rabbi Gershon Bess Shul, and Tiferes Tzvi (Rabbi Ganzweig Shul)
In addition, a host of kosher stores serving LA’s Jewish community were torched, including the Ariel Glatt Kosher Market, Mensch Bakery and Kitchen, and Syd’s Pharmacy and Kosher Vitamins.
In Virginia, demonstrators hurled bricks through the glass door of Beth Ahava in Richmond.
Cities across the United States have become battlegrounds ever since riots broke out early last week to protest the death of George Floyd in Minnesota. Starting in Minneapolis, the violence soon mushroomed to Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., New York, Detroit, and Philadelphia.
As the violence refused to die down, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would define the radical left-wing group “Antifa” as a terror group. The classification would give law enforcement more tools to battle the anarchist-led organization, which is said to have taken a significant role in the mayhem.
Spelling Bee C-A-N-C-E-L-E-D
After the official Scripps National Spelling Bee was canceled – for the first time since 1945 – due to the coronavirus outbreak, SpellPundit stepped in to partially fill the gap.
The Scripps spelling bee, broadcast on ESPN, offers a $50,000 prize; SpellPundit’s top prize will be just $2,500.
The last time Scripps canceled its spelling bee – which has been an annual tradition since 1925 – was during World War II.
held in the United States, has been postponed. The announcement on Saturday by President Donald Trump came after it became clear that it would be almost impossible to convene the world leaders in the United States by the end of the June.
Unlike the Scripps bee, SpellPundit’s spelling bee is online and held person-to-dictionary, so there is no option to “spell down” other contestants. It will also rely on the honor system, trusting that participants are not looking up the answers while being tested. SpellPundit’s bee includes a written spelling and vocabulary test, as well as an oral spelling bee, like Scripps has.
SpellPundit’s founder, 17-yearold Shourav Dasari of The Woodlands, Texas, who founded the company with his sister Shobha, 19, told the Associated Press that he doesn’t “think we’re going to replace Scripps. We’re not going to get on ESPN anytime soon.”
G7 Summit Postponed Trump Takes on Social Media
Trump added that he would also like to include other countries in the summit.
“I don’t feel that as a G7 it properly represents what’s going on in the world. It’s a very outdated group of countries,” he said.
He named Russia, South Korea, Australia, and India as potential invitees to this year’s gathering.
For now, the summit has been pushed off until September.
The G7 Summit consists of world leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Years ago, the summit also included Russia.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to crack down on social media censorship, promising to pursue legislation on the matter in addition to the order itself.
The order reclassifies social media companies as publishers, removing their previous designation of platforms. The move leaves social media giants Facebook and Twitter vulnerable to legal action from victims hurt by material published on the aforementioned websites.
Previously, social media behemoths had been defined as platforms under a 1996 law that shielded them from such legal action. In the signing
ceremony at the Oval Office, Trump pledged to “defend free speech from one of the gravest dangers it has faced in American history.”
“A small handful of social media monopolies controls a vast portion of all public and private communications in the United States,” added Trump. “They’ve had unchecked power to censor, restrict, edit, shape, hide, alter, virtually any form of communication between private citizens and large public audiences.”
Attending the signing was Attorney-General William Barr, who promised that the Justice Department will seek to sue social media companies that flout the order.
The order closely followed an incident in which Twitter added warning links to two of Trump’s tweets, which led to a page describing his claims as “unsubstantiated.” On their fact-checking page linked in the tweets, Twitter wrote that “Trump falsely claimed that mail-in ballots would lead to ‘a Rigged Election.’ However, fact-checkers say there is no evidence that mail-in ballots are linked to voter fraud.” The page cited reports from CNN, the Washington Post, and other news outlets.
Trump, for his part, accused Twitter of “interfering” in the 2020 presidential election and trying to “censor” his tweets. “If that happens, we no longer have our freedom. I will never let it happen!” he tweeted.
Kate Ruane, Senior Legislative Counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union, responded: “Much as he might wish otherwise, Donald Trump is not the president of Twitter. This order, if issued, would be a blatant and unconstitutional threat to punish social media companies that displease the president.”
Biden Says He’ll Calm Nation
Former vice president and presidential hopeful Joe Biden criticized President Trump’s response to the violence ripping through the country and said that he would be able to console a nation so ravaged by chaos.
“When peaceful protesters dispersed in order for a president – a president – from the doorstep of the people’s house, the White House, using tear gas and flash grenades, in order to stage a photo op – a photo op – at one of the most historic churches in the country, or at least Washington, D.C., we can be forgiven for believing that the president is more interested in power than in principle,” the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said, referring to the clearing of protesters from a street in D.C. so President Trump could stand in front of a church with a Bible.
Biden added that Trump appears “more interested in serving the passions of his base than the needs of the people in his care.”
Biden’s remarks, which also touched on police behavior and historical inequities against minority communities, came after days of peaceful protesting marked with nightly violence which have scarred Philadelphia, where he delivered the speech, as well as cities across the nation.
During the roughly twenty-minute address, Biden quoted or echoed civil rights leaders from earlier generations, including Rosa Parks and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He also called on Congress to act now to reform policing laws, including a bill introduced by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to outlaw choke holds.
President Trump’s campaign responded swiftly to the speech, suggesting that Biden is supportive of the destruction of property that has accompanied protests. “He has obviously made the crass political calculation that unrest in America is a benefit to his candidacy,” said Katrina Pierson, a Trump campaign senior advisor.
Biden launched his speech by quoting George Floyd, “I can’t breathe.”
Floyd was killed in Minneapolis after a police officer knelt on his neck. His death has sparked protests and riots throughout the nation.
“George Floyd’s last words. But they didn’t die with him. They’re still being heard. Echoing across this nation,” Biden said. “They speak to a nation where too often just the color of your skin puts your life at risk. They speak to a nation where more than 100,000 people have lost their lives to a virus and 40 million have filed for unemployment – but the disproportionate number of those deaths and job losses is concentrated in the black and brown communities.”
He added, “Our country is crying out for leadership. Leadership that can unite us leadership that brings us together.”
Taking aim at President Trump, Biden vowed, “But I promise you this. I won’t traffic in fear and division. I won’t fan the flames of hate. I’ll seek to heal the racial wounds that have long plagued this country – not use them for political gain.”
Up until Tuesday, Biden had largely avoided calling for specific reforms to deal with the repetitive use of force by police departments, most notably against non-white communities. His criminal justice reform plan, released last summer, lacks many of the proposals that were part of the 2016 Democratic Party platform, including training officers to avoid the use of force, required use of body cameras, and federal investigations of all police-involved shootings.
This week, Biden said that every police department needs to undergo a comprehensive review of its hiring practices, training programs and de-escalation tactics – and that the federal government should give cities and states “the tools and the resources they need to implement reforms.”
“Bad cops should be dealt with severely and swiftly,” he said. “We all need to take a hard look at the culture that allows for the senseless tragedies to keep happening. And we need to learn from the cities and the precincts that are getting it right.” internationally. Five Chinese citizens were also charged.
In what appears to be the first case brought against members of the North Korean financial system, the bankers face charges relating to money laundering, bank fraud, and criminal enterprises. The bank in question, the Foreign Trade Bank of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea State, is the country’s main financial institution and was designated as a blocked entity by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2013.
The money laundering scheme was allegedly built amidst escalating sanctions against North Korea that sought to deter the country’s growing arms capacity and have crippled its economy.
According to the indictment, bankers were dispatched to countries including China, Russia, Thailand, Libya, Austria and Kuwait, where they took up residence and operated secret branches as well as over 250 front companies. They went on to work with “third-party financial facilitators to procure commodities and facilitate payments in U.S. dollars on behalf of parties in North Korea,” according to prosecutors.
N. Korean Bankers Busted for Tax Evasion
“The defendants and other co-conspirators concealed (Foreign Trade Bank) involvement in U.S. dollar payments from Correspondent Banks in order to trick the banks into processing payments that the banks otherwise would not have done,” the indictment alleges.
Steve King Loses Primary
The U.S. Justice Department unsealed criminal charges last Thursday against twenty-eight North Korean bankers who allegedly moved around $2.5 billion in an international money laundering scheme in violation of U.S. sanctions.
tle bit ago and conceded the race to him,” King said in a video posted to Facebook early Wednesday morning. “And I pointed out that there’s some powerful elements in the swamp that he’s going to have an awfully hard time pushing back against them.”
King’s lack of power, far more than his specific words and history of remarks on race, became a central issue in this year’s race, with opponents arguing that he is unable to represent their views in the House or to the administration.
King, an anti-immigration hardliner, had a well-documented history of controversial statements during his nine terms in office. But only after a New York Times interview in January 2019, in which the congressman questioned how “white nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization” became offensive, did House Republican leaders rebuke him by stripping him of his committee assignments. Last June, the Trump administration barred him from Air Force One when the President visited his state.
King has said that his words have been mischaracterized and taken out of context, blaming the media and Republican leaders for leading a vendetta against him.
“The Never Trumpers are the people who ginned this all up,” King said in a recent debate, speaking with an air of defiance about the Republicans “who want Steve King out of the way.”
In his concession speech, King said those forces pushed him out of office.
“This comes from an effort to push out the strongest voice for full spectrum, constitutional Christian conservatism that exists in the United States Congress,” King said.
Feenstra was viewed as King’s toughest opponent in a five-way race that included former state legislator Jeremy Taylor, businessmen Steve Reeder, and Army veteran Bret Richards.
The 50-page indictment, which had been signed in February, describes a web of front companies and “cover branches” of a state-sponsored bank to skirt international restrictions on the regime’s ability to spend
In a referendum on Congressman Steve King and his lack of effectiveness in office, the nine-term representative of Iowa lost his Republican primary race to state Sen. Randy Feenstra on Tuesday.
King’s racist comments led to his ostracization in Washington. Feenstra had mobilized conservative Republicans to his insurgent campaign, highlighting King’s ineffectiveness.
“I called Randy Feenstra a lit
Cuomo “Disappointed” in De Blasio
“I’m disappointed and outraged by what happened in New York City last night. That criminal activity hurt everyone,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday, hinting that perhaps NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is
not fit for the job after r ampant looting and destruction swept across Manhattan on Monday night, overwhelming the NYPD and leaving the city looking like a war zone.
De Blasio had doubled NYPD officers out on the streets to 8,000 on Monday night and had imposed an 11 p.m. curfew after three nights of protests against police brutality were overshadowed by violence.
Even so, rampant looters took over the streets of midtown Manhattan. Hundreds of rioters roaming freely for hours through the city, looting countless stores, setting fires, loading stolen goods into SUVs, and damaging cars and storefronts. Protesters tore down plywood that was protecting storefronts and smashed windows of myriad stores. For hours, police were nowhere to be seen.
On Tuesday, the NYPD said it arrested 700 people the previous night for looting in Manhattan.
An exasperated Cuomo said the police and the mayor failed to protect New York City – a city already on its knees from the coronavirus pandemic.
“The police in New York [City] were not effective at doing their job last night, period. They have to do a better job,” he said. “You have 38,000 NYPD. They have protected the city before in these situations... They did not do it last night. But I believe in the inherent capacity of the NYPD.”
Cuomo said he had offered all New York mayors the assistance of the National Guard and the state police to help stop looting on Monday, however de Blasio did not take up the offer. The mayor said the National Guard would not be helpful, and that the NYPD was sufficient.
“Look at the videos, it was a disgrace,” Cuomo said. “I believe the mayor underestimates the scope of the problem. I think he underestimates the duration of the problem, and I don’t think they’ve used enough police to address the situation because it’s inarguable that it was not addressed last night. Facts.”
Cuomo said at some point he may want to “displace” the mayor and bring in the National Guard during a state of emergency, “and basically
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