Uncategorized
Over flight intercom, El Al pilot links Israel’s judicial reform to the Holocaust
(New York Jewish Week) — A pilot for El Al, Israel’s flagship airline, took to his plane’s public address system on Yom HaShoah, Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, to express solidarity with anti-government protests in his country.
Speaking on a Tuesday morning flight from Tel Aviv to New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, pilot Doron Ginzburg referenced Yom HaShoah and said, according to recordings published on social media and the Israeli press, that “Things like the Holocaust are potentially to be occurring in a dictatorship, and we are fighting in Israel to remain a democratic country. Thank you all and have a nice flight.”
The flight took off around 10:30 a.m. in Israel and is expected to land before 3 p.m. in New York.
The statement seemed to endorse the massive protest movement that has swept across Israel this year in opposition to the right-wing government’s proposed judicial overhaul. The changes would sap the Israeli Supreme Court of much of its power and independence and, critics say, endanger the country’s democracy. Supporters of the legislation say it will curb judicial overreach.
In a statement on Tuesday, El Al condemned Ginzburg’s remarks, and said that the airline does not permit “political statements of any kind, by any of its employees as part of their work, and certainly not on its planes, which cannot be a platform for this type of activity.” Such activity, the statement said, should be avoided “particularly on such a meaningful and sensitive day for the people of Israel.”
“This exceptional case, which does not reflect the people and values of the company, will be thoroughly examined by the senior officials of the company,” the statement said. It added that the company seeks to represent “the entire Israeli mosaic.”
Ginzburg declined to comment to the New York Jewish Week, citing “company restrictions.” But Israeli Channel 12 reported, before the flight landed, that Ginzburg had apologized after learning he could be suspended or fired for his remarks.
This isn’t the airline’s first bout with activism this year. Last month, El Al pilots initially declined to volunteer to fly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on an official visit to Rome, in an apparent protest against his government.
The office of Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev, a close ally of Netanyahu, also criticized Ginzburg’s remarks in a statement reported by Israeli media. “Time after time, the pilots are acting as if they are in charge,” the statement said. “This reality cannot continue, something bad is happening there… Maybe the flight paths are clear, but apparently the direction of the company is getting lost.”
Shany Granot-Lubaton, who has organized protests in New York City against the judicial overhaul, defended Ginzburg to the New York Jewish Week. She said she believes the pilot “chose to say these things out of genuine concern for the fate of our country, and out of Zionism and love for Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.”
—
The post Over flight intercom, El Al pilot links Israel’s judicial reform to the Holocaust appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Long Island town ordered to pay $19M after blocking Chabad synagogue construction
(JTA) — After nearly two decades of legal sparring, a town on Long Island has been ordered to pay a local Chabad center $19 million, settling claims that officials unlawfully blocked the construction of a synagogue on its rabbi’s property.
Rabbi Aaron Konikov and Lubavitch of Old Westbury sued the Village of Old Westbury in 2008, after the village passed a law in 2001 governing places of worship as Konikov sought to build a synagogue on his property.
Local officials enacted the law two years after Konikov planned a ceremony to announce a new building on the land where he already operates a synagogue. They decreed that houses of worship could be built only on plots of 12 acres or more. Konikov owns a 9-acre plot.
In October, U.S. District Judge Gary Brown ruled that the 2001 ordinance “unconstitutionally discriminates against the free exercise of religion and is therefore facially invalid.”
Old Westbury agreed to pay the plaintiffs in the suit $19 million as part of a consent decree, which was signed by Brown on March 18, Newsday reported this week.
“This consent decree may not be modified, changed or amended except in writing signed by each of the parties approved by the court,” Brown wrote. “Each party participated fully in the negotiation and drafting of the terms of this decree, and any ambiguity shall not be construed against any party.”
Kornikov did not respond to requests for comment on Monday. But he may soon be switching into construction mode for his long hoped-for synagogue, for which preliminary plans show a 20,875-square-foot building and an adjacent parking lot.
The $19 million payment will be made by the village’s insurance providers, and Lubavitch of Old Westbury has until Jan. 15, 2027, to apply for a special-use permit from the village to build a synagogue, according to Newsday.
The ruling marks a notable victory for emissaries of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, who have often been met with legal challenges when establishing centers. Last July, the Village of Atlantic Beach in New York agreed to pay Chabad of the Beaches $950,000 to settle a legal battle over the construction of a new community center.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Long Island town ordered to pay $19M after blocking Chabad synagogue construction appeared first on The Forward.
Uncategorized
Iran claims synagogue in Tehran was ‘completely destroyed’ by US-Israeli strike
(JTA) — Iranian state media claimed on Tuesday that a synagogue in Tehran was “completely destroyed” by a U.S.-Israeli strike.
The claim was impossible to verify. Footage of the alleged attack on the Rafi-Niya Synagogue posted online showed open Hebrew prayer books scattered among the rubble of a building.
The synagogue was damaged when a nearby residential building in Tehran was attacked, according to Iranian news agencies. The Rafi-Niya Synagogue is located near Palestine Square, an epicenter of the Iranian regime’s anti-Israel propaganda.
The United States and Israel have been bombing sites in Tehran for more than a month since launching a war on the Islamic Republic regime. Israel emphasized that it does not target religious sites.
Homayoun Sameyah Najafabadi, the only Jewish representative in Iran’s parliament, condemned the attack in a video published by Iran’s official IRIB News outlet.
“The Zionist regime showed no mercy towards this community during the Jewish holidays and attacked one of our ancient and holy synagogues,” Najafabadi said. “Unfortunately, during this attack, the synagogue building was completely destroyed, and Torah scrolls remain under the rubble.”
About 8,000 Jews live in Iran and worship in dozens of synagogues. The war has exacerbated their delicate position, as they are technically granted freedom of religion but face peril if they demonstrate any connection to Israel or dissent against their government. Hundreds of Iranian Jews who have applied for refugee status because of religious persecution are trapped in the country after the United States halted refugee admissions.
The alleged attack comes one day after the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted footage of an undetonated missile on a street, writing that an “Iranian regime missile struck next to a mosque in Israel.”
“A regime that targets civilians and sacred spaces of all religions has no red lines,” the ministry wrote in a post on X. “Nothing is off limits for them.”
On Tuesday, the Israeli prime minister’s office issued a statement about the alleged damage to the Rafi-Niya synagogue. “Iran is firing missiles at civilians, Israel is striking terror infrastructure,” it said. “Missiles on civilians versus precision strikes on terror targets. That’s the difference.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Iran claims synagogue in Tehran was ‘completely destroyed’ by US-Israeli strike appeared first on The Forward.
Uncategorized
Attacker killed in gunfight outside closed Israeli consulate in Istanbul
(JTA) — One attacker was killed and two others injured in a gunfight with police outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday morning.
The consulate has been largely closed since 2023, when the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza escalated diplomatic tensions between Turkey and Israel.
Turkish authorities said they had identified the three attackers in the incident, in which two police officers were also lightly injured. The man who was killed, whom they identified as Yunus ES, had “connections with a terrorist organization that exploits religion,” the Ministry of the Interior announced. It did not identify the organization.
Turkish authorities also did not immediately tie the incident to the consulate, noting that a major bank and other businesses were located closer to the firefight. They said the attackers had driven to Istanbul from Izmit, about an hour and a half away, and had brought both long-barreled guns and pistols.
The U.S. Embassy in Turkey issued a security alert for the area and Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, saying that it targeted the Israeli Consulate.
“We appreciate the Turkish security forces’ swift action in thwarting this attack,” the ministry said on X. “Israeli missions around the world have been subjected to countless threats and terrorist attacks. Terror will not deter us.”
The incident comes at a moment of high alert for Jewish and Israeli sites around the world, with terror threats escalated amid the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. Bombings have damaged several Jewish institutions in Europe, with the latest incident being an explosion outside a pro-Israel Christian center in Nijkerk, Netherlands, over the weekend.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Attacker killed in gunfight outside closed Israeli consulate in Istanbul appeared first on The Forward.