NJ Senate to Pass Resolution DemandingtheReturnofOurBoys
TRENTON – New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney and Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg on Monday introduced a Senate Resolution that calls for the immediate and safe return of the three boys recently abducted in the West Bank. The state Senate was prepared to consider the resolution Thursday as this newspaper went to print. The bill (SR-85) is a recognition of the importance of the issue to the State of New Jersey and to communities both here and abroad. Upon passage, a copy of the resolution will be transmitted by the Secretary of the New Jersey Senate to the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, the President of the United States, and each member of Congress elected from this State.
One Boiling Cauldron
The Daily Beast reports that ISIS “will be following through in Lebanon in a bid to sow not only more mayhem and confusion in the Levant but in an effort to put pressure on the Lebanese militant Shia movement Hezbollah to start withdrawing some forces from neighboring Syria. …“Spillover” is the description most reporters use for the episodic violence in Lebanon—from cross-border rocket jousting between Hezbollah and Syrian rebels to more than a dozen car bombings that have rocked Lebanon in the past two years. But the three countries are not separate saucepans—they are one boiling cauldron.”
Get Pressure on Facebook
The New York Daily News reports that Borough Parker Rivky Stein Weiss, who married with a Ketubah but no NY State license when she was 18, has for years been trying to get a get from a guy she claims abused her verbally and physically for years, sometimes locking her in a room for weeks or denying her and the children food. Since she didn’t want her two children exposed to anymore domestic violence, she took off with them, but he won’t give her a get. So her brother set up www. redeemrivky.com and a Facebook page, facebook.com/redeemrivky that already has more than 5,000 followers, and pressure is being brought to bear on her recalcitrant husband. Weiss says he offered her a get and encourages people to take Stein with a grain of salt. “People who don’t know her feel bad for her. She was a lead actress in her school. That’s what she does. She likes the media attention.”
UNESCO adds Israeli National Park to World Heritage List
JNS.org—The UNESCO World Heritage Committee voted in Qatar on Sunday to add Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park to its World Heritage List, making it the eighth site in Israel designated as such. The Beit Guvrin caves represent the Judean foothills’ “land of a thousand caves,” and include limestone quarries, cisterns, olive presses, burial sites, ritual sites, dovecotes, stables, and more.
Mike Huckabee Visits Missing Israeli Teen’s Family
JNS.org—Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee visited the family of kidnapped Israeli teen Naftali Frenkel and that the U.S. would always stand by Israel’s side in such difficult times. “I think Israelis have every right, and America should be with Israel in saying: You touch that boy, who’s an American citizen, and you will have hell to pay for it. That should be the only message we are sending right now,” Huckabee said.
Presbyterian Church Approves Divestment from Israel
JNS.org—Leaders of Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) voted Friday divest from all companies that do business with Israel, in a 310-303 vote. B’nai B’rith International said the vote means PCUSA has become “an active participant in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement” against Israel. Rabbi Noam Marans, the American Jewish Committee’s director of interreligious and intergroup relations, said PCUSA leaders are “facilitating the delegitimization of Israel in the guise of helping Palestinians.”
Ex-Israeli Coach David Blatt Hired to Lead NBA’s ClevelandCavaliers
JNS.org—Coach David Blatt, who spearheaded the Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv to a Euroleague championship this season, accepted a head-coaching job with the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Cleveland Cavaliers. The 55-year-old Blatt hails from Massachusetts and played at Princeton University under Hall of Fame coach Pete Carill. “I’m leaving to follow my dream [to coach in the NBA],” Blatt had said after announcing his resignation from Maccabi Tel Aviv earlier this month. 10 June 26, 2014 • 28 Sivan 5774
