ARCADI GAYDAMAK MAKES HIS MOVE

Moshe Feiglin Looks Forward to Head-to-Head Primary vs Benjamin Netanyahu
Jerusalem, July 9, 2007...

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has dropped out of the Likud primary upon learning that he was trailing Manhigut Yehudit President Moshe Feiglin in a recent poll. This result leaves Moshe Feiglin and Benjamin Netanyahu as the sole contenders vying for the right to lead the Opposition and then to run for Prime Minister from the Likud party. According to the Jerusalem Post July 9 edition, Likud activists advised Shalom over the weekend not to run after Israel Radio broadcast a Brain Base Institute poll that predicted 78% of Likud members would vote for Netanyahu, 14% for Feiglin and just 8% for Shalom. According to Israel National News (Arutz-7), Feiglin could therefore be the true explanation for Shalom's sudden self-removal from the race. Speaking with Arutz-7 today, Mr. Feiglin agreed with this explanation. Mr. Feiglin stated that Manhigut Yehudit is satisfied with the September 3 date for the primary:

We welcome the primary as a golden opportunity to achieve the leadership position in the Likud and, no less important, to get our message of faith-based leadership into every home in Israel ... The State of Israel cannot continue to exist for much longer without belief-based leadership. Manhigut Yehudit is the largest faction inside the Likud party, and strives to Turn the State of the Jews into The Jewish State. Am Yisrael Chai.

Arcadi Gaydamak Makes His Move
by Hana Levi Julian (JULY 9,07 INN)

Gaydamak still wants to be Mayor of Jerusalem, and still plans to run for that position in the next election. Arcadi Gaydamak is ending his civilian status on Monday and will officially become a politician, with his signature on the document registering his new Social Justice Party. After a year in which he spent millions of dollars on projects to help Israeli refugees from the Second Lebanon War as well as those fleeing the onslaught of rocket attacks from Gaza terrorists in the south, Gaydamak will take his activities into a new arena. The Russian-born Israeli billionaire announced he will register the new political party under his Hebrew name, Aryeh Bar Lev and become its chairman. However, he said, he does not intend to run for a seat in the Knesset. Gaydamak still wants to be Mayor of Jerusalem, and still plans to run for that position in the next election.

He will, however, run candidates from his new party for the Knesset and positions in the government, including the Prime Minister’s seat. Gaydamak is hoping to win 20 Knesset seats with the party’s first foray into the political arena. The first official meeting of the Social Justice Party is slated to be held on Thursday in Jerusalem . Thus far, the billionaire says he can count some 1,400 supporters for the new party, which spokesman David Nerodetsky, an attorney, characterizes as a socio-economic party. The party platform states that it will work to preserve Israel ’s democratic values, promote equality between all citizens and protect human dignity and freedom. Social Justice will also support the right to vote for Israelis living abroad and push for the establishment of an enlightened welfare state, while granting direct aid to the weaker sectors, among other goals. The Social Justice charter, however, reflects a less than democratic character, with Gaydamak retaining complete control of the party. The business mogul will be the final authority to decide who will run as candidates and for which positions, as well as whether the party will join or abandon a government coalition.

Temple Awareness: A Summer of Seminars and Tours
by Hillel Fendel (JULY 10,07)

IsraelNN.com) The Holy Temple is in with tours, hikes and seminars in and around Jerusalem in the coming days and weeks. As Jews around the world commemorate the Three Weeks of Mourning for the Holy Temples beginning last Tuesday and ending on Tisha B'Av (July 24), Jews in Israel embark on a marathon of Temple-related studies and activities. A partial list: Monday, July 16 - Sessions at the Kohen-Levi Conference at HaKotel Hall in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. 11 AM - 7 PM, payment of 50 shekels at the door.

Tuesday, July 17 A Day of the Temple Seminar with the Temple Institute: Southern Wall excavations, Davidson Center presentation, Temple stairway and gates, special effects and period actors, Temple vessels exhibition, in-depth lecture, presentation, and special events, 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM, 100 shekels. via the OU Israel Center, tel 02-560-9110. Wednesday, July 18 In the Footsteps of the Kohanim and Leviyim in and around Old Jerusalem, Herodian Quarter, 2nd Temple priestly mansions, The Menorah, Cardo, Jewish Quarter, Closest gates of the Temple Mount, Kotel HaKatan (Small Wall), Bus to Mt. of Olives, spectacular Temple Mount view, Shimon HaTzaddik tomb, and View of Nov, the city of Kohanim. 10 AM - 4 PM, 60 shekels via the OU Israel Center, tel 02-560-9110. Thursday, July 19 In the Footsteps of the Kohanim and Leviyim, bus tour to Shilo, site of the Tabernacle, Eli HaKohen, and Shmuel HaNavi. Then to Modiin area, Beit Choron, where the Maccabees defeated the Greeks. Vista from Baal Chatzor, Rosh Chodesh torches, protected bus. 10 AM - 5 PM, 150 shekels. via the OU Israel Center, tel 02-560-9110.

July 9-12 Temple Institute in Jerusalem - four days of tours and lectures. Topics include: The commandment to build the Holy Temple today (Rabbi Yisrael Ariel); Daily Sacrifice, Temple Vessels and Priestly Garments; Renewal of Temple Service Today; Tour in the Davidson Center at the Southern Wall; the Red Heifer (Rabbi Chaim Richman); Festivals in the Temple; Pilgrims in Jerusalem; and more. tel: 02-6264545, 200 shekels each day, 700 shekels for entire program.

July 16-23 Between Destruction and Construction Tours in and around Jerusalem, sponsored by the Jewish Community of the City of David - 45 shekels each, seven tours for the price of six:

Tour 1 - From the Assyrian Siege to the Babylonian Destruction: City of David, Chizikiyahu's Tunnel, and other eastern Jerusalem sites
Tour 2 - Jerusalem During the Second Temple Period: Nechemiah's Wall, the graves of the Dynasty of David, the Shiloach Pool, and new discoveries
Tour 3 - Following the Pilgrims of the Middle Ages - The gravesites of Huldah, Avshalom, Zechariah, and Rav Ovadiah of Bartinura, and the Rehavam Observation Point
Tour 4 - Famous figures buried on the Mt. of Olives overlooking the Temple Mount
Tour 5 - Sifting through Temple Mount remains with an archaeologist
Tour 6 - The Jewish Quarter in 1948 - The Zion Gate, Street of the Jews, the Hurva Synagogue, Batei Machseh, and more
Tour 7 - The Battles to Liberate Jerusalem in 1967 - Lions Gate, the Western Wall, the Kidron Bridge, and more

News | 10.07.2007 | 17:00 UTC
Vatican upsets Protestant churches

The Vatican has upset other Christian faiths by claiming they are not full churches of Jesus Christ and that Roman Catholicism has primacy. Protestant leaders, including Germany's Bishop Wolfgang Huber, say the move undermines ecumenical relations between faiths. The Vatican's 16-page text, formulated by its doctrinal congregation and ratified by Pope Benedict, says erroneous interpretions have arisen since the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s. The document is the second reaffirmation of Catholic tradition since Saturday when the Pope restored mass in Latin alongside modern liturgy.

Jews for Jesus sues New York township over free-speech rights
Chad Groening - OneNewsNow.com - July 10, 2007

The worldwide ministry Jews for Jesus recently filed a lawsuit against the Long Island, New York, community of Oyster Bay for violating the free-speech rights of one of its evangelists.

As part of Jews for Jesus Behold Your God campaign last summer, Susan Mendelson attempted to distribute gospel tracts and talk to people about Jesus in a park in the township of Oyster Bay. But Mendelson says police repeatedly escorted her out of the park and eventually ticketed her for distributing leaflets at a public event. In April, a Nassau County judge threw out the citation, ruling it violated Mendelson's constitutional rights.

Jews of Jesus associate executive director Susan Perlman says her organization filed suit against Oyster Bay on June 22 to prevent the city from issuing more citations in the future. The local Oyster Bay township did not feel we had a right to be handing out our gospel tracts and talking to individuals in that town, she explains. We, of course, contested that; and through a series of legal decisions we are moving ahead and pretty much exercising our First Amendment rights there. Perlman acknowledges that for evangelistic ministries like Jews for Jesus, confrontation comes with the territory. One of the problems with regard to being an upfront evangelistic ministry that does direct evangelism is that we're going to come across local rules that are less than friendly, she points out; and unless we stand up to them ... unless we take them back into the courts, we're going to have our rights just trampled on.

She sees irony in having to sue to get a guaranteed, constitutional right recognized at this time of year. I mean, here we've just celebrated the independence of our nation, she notes, and we're still having to fight for some of those same liberties.
The Jews for Jesus spokeswoman says Oyster Bay has now come up with an unacceptable new ordinance, requiring a five-day waiting period in order to receive a permit to exercise their free-speech rights. She says the ministry must now evaluate how the new ordinance will affect their original suit. American Family News Network

Canada may renew funding flow to Palestinian authority during Abdullah visit
Mon Jul 9, 5:41 PM

OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper may use the opportunity of a visit by the king of Jordan to announce renewed funding to the Palestinian Authority, a government source told The Canadian Press. King Abdullah will meet with Harper while visiting Ottawa on Thursday and Friday. The meeting comes at yet another critical juncture in Middle East politics. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior government official said Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay signalled early on that Canada would maintain its humanitarian obligations in the Middle East but it would not submit to pressure to assist Hamas or terror organizations. In one of his first acts as prime minister, Harper cut off funding to the authority after Hamas, which Israel considers a terrorist group, was elected to power in Gaza early in 2006. That aid was worth $35 million in 2005. President Mahmoud Abbas recently fired the Islamic militants from the government and formed a new cabinet after bloody fighting between Hamas and Abbas supporters in Gaza.


Jordan is one of the few Arab countries that officially recognizes Israel and its leader has been trying to help garner support for Abbas since he dismissed Ismail Haniya as prime minister after the Hamas takeover of Gaza. King Abdullah has been trying to rally international support for Hamas since then in conjunction with a new peace initiative in the region. The Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers will travel to Jerusalem on Thursday to represent the Arab League in talks about the Arab peace plan. The plan would trade full Arab recognition of Israel for an Israeli withdrawal from all lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war and the creation of a Palestinian state. Wretched humanitarian conditions are prevalent in the West Bank and Gaza. The Bush administration has renewed funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency that helps Palestinian refugees in Gaza, to the World Food Program and to other relief agencies that ship food, medicine and other necessities into the increasingly isolated territory. Public workers in the territories have received a fraction of their salaries since Hamas won democratic elections last year. That victory prompted governments around the world, including Canada, to cut direct financing of the Palestinian government.

Abbas's Western-backed emergency government, which rules from Ramallah in the West Bank, paid full salaries last week to most of the Authority's employees for the first time in more than a year Palestinians turned their backs on Abbas and his Fatah party for its corruption and bumbling style of governing.