Deputy minister accused of protecting sex offenders in at least 10 cases

timesofisrael

Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman allegedly helped at least 10 serious sex offenders obtain improved conditions, including home visits and other benefits, by pressuring state psychiatrists and prisons service officials, according to a report Tuesday.

Litzman, who hails from the Gur Hasidic community, has been accused in the past of using his influence to protect Malka Leifer, who has been fighting extradition to Australia for allegedly abusing students at a Jewish school there.

According to Channel 13 news, Litzman is suspected of a pattern of pressuring corrections officials to be lenient with other ultra-Orthodox offenders as well.

13tv

המקור, עונה 16, פרק 4: שערוריית ליצמן נחשפת

סגן שר הבריאות יעקב ליצמן, שצפוי להמשיך לשלוט במשרד גם בממשלה הבאה, פעל למען אנסים ופדופילים בעשרה מקרים שונים לפחות. זאת, לאורך כמה שנים, שכללו גם את הקדנציה הראשונה שלו, וגם בזמנים שבהם שלא היה במשרד הבריאות - כך עולה מתחקיר "המקור"

חשד: לפחות חמש ילדות חרדיות הותקפו בשכונה

http://www.bhol.co.il/news/998984

וּבִעַרְתָּ הָרָע מִקִּרְבֶּךָ: בתקופה האחרונה הגיעו מספר דיווחים ותלונות על כך שצעיר כבן 20 מבצע מעשים חמורים בילדות בגילאי 6-7 בשכונות סנהדריה ואזור רחוב שמואל הנביא בירושלים. בעקבות שורת התלונות, נבדקו מצלמות אבטחה ואותר חשוד במעשים.

ל'בחדרי חרדים' נודע, אותו חשוד הופנה על ידי תושב אל פעיל חרדי העוסק רבות בתחום ביעור הרע - בגיבוי רבנים, השניים נפגשו במשרד כלשהו השוכן בשכונת גאולה בירושלים, שם שוחחו. במקביל, הפעיל דיווח למשטרה את הפרטים הידועים לו, וכך, בצהרי היום הגיעו שוטרים למשרד ועצרו את החשוד.

"המשיב ביקש מילדה קטנה להיכנס למקלט ניסה לתקוף אותה והיא ברחה מהמקום"' אמר הטוען המשטרתי. בדיון בבית המשפט סיפר הטוען כי החשוד הגיע אתמול למשרדו של פעיל בקהילה החרדית העוסק כאמור בעבירות אלו, שם "התוודה בפניו" כי ביצע מעשים חמורים במספר קטינות. "לטענתו, עשה זאת מספר רב של פעמים בהם שידל להגיע עמו למקלט וביצע עבירות", אמר.

בחקירתו במשטרה, טען החשוד כי התוודה בפני הפעיל, "רק כדי לרצות אותו", וגם כי "פחד שלא יכו אותי אנשים אחרים". המשטרה ביקשה מבית המשפט להאריך את מעצרו בחמישה ימים, מחשש ל"מסוכנות בעוצמה גבוהה כלפי בטחון הציבור". לדברי הטוען המשטרתי, מדובר בלפחות חמישה מקרים בהם הוא חשוד כי ביצע עבירות חמורות בילדות קטנות.

ל'בחדרי חרדים' נודע, כי אותו 'פעיל', עוסק מזה שנים בתחום זה בכפוף להוראות הרבנים והתייעצות עמהם, חשודים רבים נעצרו על ידי המשטרה הודות לפעילותו. 

What did Rashida Tlaib say about the Holocaust? It’s probably not what you think

https://www.timesofisrael.com/what-did-rashida-tlaib-say-about-the-holocaust-its-probably-not-what-you-think/

Republican lawmakers like Rep. Lee Zeldin were criticized, deservedly, for distorting Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s comments about the Holocaust by suggesting she said that she gets a “calming feeling” when she thinks about the genocide.

If you read or listen to the Michigan Democrat’s comments, it is crystal clear that she said no such thing. The Republican pile-on, joined by US President Donald Trump, is a further weaponization of anti-anti-Semitism, this time based on a comment that the target never made.

But it’s not just Republicans who appeared to distort Tlaib’s now notorious remarks. It was the ostensibly nonpartisan Jewish commentariat and media as well, in which I will include our own site, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and take full responsibility.

Saudi Arabia is Blaming Iran for a Drone Attack Amid Calls for U.S. Strikes

http://time.com/5590840/saudi-arabia-drone-attack-iran-us-airstrikes/

 Saudi Arabia accused Tehran of being behind a drone strike that shut down a key oil pipeline in the kingdom, and a newspaper close to the palace called for Washington to launch “surgical” strikes on Iran, raising the specter of escalating tensions as the U.S. boosts its military presence in the Persian Gulf.

Concerns about possible conflict have flared after the U.S. dispatched warships and bombers to the region to counter an alleged but unspecified threat from Iran. There also have been allegations that four oil tankers were sabotaged Sunday off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, and Iran-aligned rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack on the Saudi pipeline.

Here's What Eating Processed Foods for Two Weeks Does to Your Body

http://time.com/5589702/processed-foods-weight-gain-diet/

It wasn’t a shock to find ultra-processed foods weren’t healthy—other research has linked them to a higher risk of cancer and obesity. What was unexpected was that sugar, fat and salt didn’t seem to be what was driving people to overeat. “I was surprised by the results,” says Kevin Hall, lead author of the study and senior investigator at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. “It’s the first trial that can actually demonstrate that there is a causal relationship between something about ultra-processed foods—independent of those nutrients—that cause people to overeat and gain weight.”

Trump Admin Moves Fueled Iran’s Aggression, U.S. Intel Says

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-admin-moves-fueled-irans-aggression-us-intel-says

Trump administration hawks have spent the last two weeks decrying an increased threat from Iran. But U.S. intelligence officials assess that Iran’s aggressive moves came in response to the administration’s own actions.

Three U.S. government officials familiar with the situation told The Daily Beast that officials in multiple U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Iran’s new, threatening activity–which the administration points to in justifying its military presence in the Persian Gulf–is in response to the administration’s aggressive steps over the last two months. The National Security Council, the CIA, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not provide comment for this story.

Congress Must Stop Trump From Blundering Into America’s Most Dangerous War in Decades

http://time.com/5590697/trump-bolton-iran-war/

It’s time for the American people to become fully alert to a dreadful possibility. The United States, led by an erratic chief executive who is frequently ignored even by his closest advisers, may find itself stumbling into its worst war in more than a generation — in spite of publicly-expressed reservations from the president himself and without the Congressional authorization that the Constitution requires. The result could be a perfect storm of danger and distrust, culminating not just in a military emergency abroad but also a simultaneous and serious political crisis at home.

SHOULD TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BE TRUSTED ON IRAN? ISRAEL GAVE U.S. MISSILE REPORTS AND EXPERTS ARE WARY

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-administration-iran-israel-reports-1428048

As The New York Times previously reported Thursday and confirmed by Newsweek, the Trump administration’s recent escalation was rooted in intelligence suggesting Iran was arming its fast attack fleet with missiles, an apparent sign of potential attacks to come in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the world’s top oil traffic chokepoint. Newsweek has further learned from one Pentagon official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, that this evidence was based on satellite imagery provided to U.S. officials by Israel, an avowed foe of the Islamic Republic.

Much of the information regarding alleged Iranian threats has also been streamed from the National Security Council (NSC), whose hawkish chief—John Bolton—has similarly hyped up the threat posed by Tehran for years. A second source, a U.S. military official who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, cautioned that the council’s warnings of heightened threats posed by Iran-aligned Iraqi militias such as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) did not appear to match the Pentagon’s own observations.

“The threat stream I’ve seen doesn’t line up with what the NSC is leaking, let me put it that way,” the second official told Newsweek. “The PMF is no more or less a threat than before all this bullshit began.”

With Bolton leading the charge against Iran at home and Israel feeding information from abroad, concerns have been raised that the U.S. was once again on its way to war against a Middle Eastern adversary based on a questionable pretext, as it did in 2003 against Iraq.

“Be on the lookout for Iraq 2.0 justifications. I’m not even kidding,” the second official told Newsweek. “Think about the intel indicators prior to the Iraq invasion. Compare. Then get really uneasy.”

Trump's irritation with top aides grows over Iran strategy

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/16/politics/donald-trump-iran-john-bolton-mike-pompeo/index.html

President Donald Trump has become irritated at an emerging impression his hawkish national security advisers are marching him closer to war with Iran despite his isolationist tendencies, according to people familiar with the matter.

Instead, Trump is signaling his intent to speak with the Iranians as tensions rise in the Persian Gulf, and his national security team has taken steps they hope could facilitate a new diplomatic opening.

IRAN THREAT IS ACTUALLY MISSILES ON SMALL BOATS, AND AMERICA'S ALLIES THINK TRUMP IS OVERREACTING: REPORT

https://www.newsweek.com/iran-threat-missiles-intelligence-warning-donald-trump-overreacting-allies-1426979

According to The New York Times, multiple unnamed U.S. officials told the newspaper that the U.S.’s dire warnings of devastating retaliation against Iran were based on photographs of paramilitaries loading up small boats with missiles, threats against commercial shipping and indications of possible attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq.

The Times report said overhead imagery had captured Iranian paramilitaries arming small boats in the Persian Gulf with fully assembled missiles, prompting fears they might be used to attack American ships in the region. Images showed the boats—believed to be under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—being armed at several ports, raising concerns of imminent attack or that the weapons would be transferred to regional Iranian proxies for use in more deniable operations.

Iran’s low-tech navy is no match for the world-leading American vessels, but asymmetric tactics using small boats for conventional missile and even suicide attacks could still inflict significant casualties on a U.S. naval formation and could shut down commercial shipping in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

As well as freshly armed vessels, American officials told The Times the U.S. had picked up threats against commercial shipping in the region. Last weekend’s sabotage attacks on oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates showed the impact such operations could have. Iran claimed innocence, and the U.S. said it did not yet have conclusive proof of Tehran’s involvement. The U.S. Maritime Administration warned all ships to exercise caution when traveling past the area.

Other intelligence reportedly indicated Iran might try to use pro-Tehran militias in Iraq to attack U.S. troops or facilities there. This convinced the State Department on Wednesday to withdraw all nonemergency staff from its embassy in Baghdad and the consulate in Erbil.

https://www.newsweek.com/us-iran-trump-little-support-war-1426578

U.S.-IRAN CRISIS: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS LITTLE INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR WAR

With the U.S. drawing up military options against Iran and pulling diplomatic staff Wednesday from neighboring Iraq amid alleged Tehran-tied threats to U.S. interests in the region, temperatures were running even higher than usual in the Persian Gulf. The U.S., traditionally a nation of robust international alliances, has managed to gradually erode its partnerships since Trump took office in 2017, however, and Washington has found itself largely alone in its approach to the current crisis.

Having unilaterally walked away from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal also signed by China, the E.U., France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom and having threatened the world with sanctions for trading with Tehran, a hawkish White House's "maximum pressure" campaign has been met with deep skepticism by friends and foes alike.

"The administration’s policy has clearly been to portray Iran as the bad guy here. Iran isn't the bad guy here for a change," Dina Esfandiary, a fellow at The Century Foundation think tank and the Belfer Center at Harvard University's Kennedy School. "It's important to highlight that, on this issue, America is really isolated; Europe, Russia, China, no one is really buying into this push against Iran."

https://www.kikar.co.il/317089.html

בני הזוג ה"חרדים" התגלו כצמד מיסיונרים

דוד ורבקה וובר, הוא עובד בחנות מכולת כשרה והיא כמטפלת - אורח חייהם לא עורר כל חשד בקהילה החרדית של שיקגו • כעת הם נחשפו כמיסיונרים - והרבנים מזהירים מפניהם (חרדים)

http://crownheights.info/photo-galleries/641075/missionaries-exposed-in-chicago-hiding-in-the-chicago-frum-community/

A missionary couple has been exposed hiding as a Frum couple in the Chicago Jewish community. The couple was exposed by a visiting Sofer who recognized them.

by CrownHeights.info

A couple who called themselves Dovid and Rivkah Weber were exposed in the Chicago Frum community as missionaries.

The couple, who look and act like Frum Jews, had moved to Chicago only two months ago, and had already integrated with the frum community.

David, whose real name is Dovid Costello, was working in a local kosher store, while Rivkah had a job as a babysitter for members of the community.

FOX NEWS LEGAL ANALYST SAYS TRUMP VIOLATED CONSTITUTION'S 'SEPARATION OF POWERS' THREE TIMES IN PAST WEEK

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-violated-constitution-separation-powers-three-times-1427253

Napolitano outlined the three directives from Trump and explained how they violated the Constitution. The first was the president’s order to acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan to not purchase a missile defense system approved by Congress and instead use the funds to construct a wall on the southern border of the U.S. with Mexico. Second, the former judge cited Trump’s order to send troops to secure the border and said it “violates the separation of powers,” as the president’s oath does not allow military forces to be deployed to deal with domestic issues. Napolitano also argued that Trump’s decision to implement 25 percent tariffs on Chinese goods was akin to levying a “national federal sales tax” on American consumers, which the president does not have power to do under the Constitution.

“It is dangerous when presidents write their own laws, impose their own taxes, spend money how they want and Congress looks the other way,” he asserted. “It’s dangerous because its too much of an accumulation of power in the presidency, and it imbalances that delicate balance that the separation of powers created.”