'Settlements are legal and legitimate under US law' (Israel Jerusalem Post)
The little-known Anglo-American Convention, a treaty signed by the US and British governments in 1924, stipulated that the US fully accepted upon itself the Mandate for Palestine, which declared all of the West Bank within its borders.
"The treaty has been hidden," said OFICL director Mark Kaplan. "But if you look at the House [of Representatives] deliberations during World War I, people are saying, 'Look, we've invested a lot of money in Palestine, and we expect that this treaty will be upheld.'"
Though the United Nations' 1947 partition plan declared the West Bank an Arab territory, the mandate's borders still hold today.
"The mandate expired in 1948 when Israel got its independence," Kaplan said. "But the American-Anglo convention was a treaty that was connected to the mandate. Treaties themselves have no statute of limitations, so their rights go on ad infinitum."
"The UN partition plan was just that-a plan," said OFICL chairman Michael Snidecor in a statement. "The General Assembly has no authority to create countries or change borders."
If the Vilna Gaon was right, the 3rd Temple is on its way (Haaretz Israel News)
- However, secular and Zionist Orthodox Jerusalemites are concerned that two developments could lead to the synagogue becoming ultra-Orthodox.
The first was the appointment of a rabbi for the synagogue - which happened about three years ago, when it was still a concrete shell - Rehovot's chief rabbi Simcha Hacohen Kook, who is considered close to the ultra-Orthodox non-Hassidic leader Rabbi Yosef Elyashiv. He was chosen by a panel of rabbis, with the blessing of Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar.
"A government company built the synagogue. There are procedures for how people are chosen. They made this choice to prevent the appointment of a Zionist Orthodox rabbi," said Anat Mufkadi, a member of the group concerned about the synagogue. Rabbi Elyashiv reportedly told Haredi journalist Shlomo Kook, the synagogue rabbi's nephew, that the expedited appointment was intended to "stop up gaps," comments understood to mean keeping a Zionist Orthodox rabbi from getting the post.
Becoming Part of the Crowd (Israel Religious Action Center)
Such an example of Haredi influence and power is not uncommon in Jerusalem. But it baffles Noa. “There are ultra-Orthodox Jews in big cities all over the world, and they manage to lead observant lives without violent outbursts toward the rest of the population. It’s absurd that when they live in the Jewish state they can behave as such.”
She continued, “I wonder if someone who doesn’t live in Jerusalem cares about this or not. Only when people understand that what happens in Jerusalem affects everyone – Jerusalem is a microcosm of Israel, and its problems will one day blow up in our faces if we’re not careful.”
Segregation is Unacceptable Humiliation (New Israel Fund)
She also made copies of a ruling by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, one of the 20th century’s foremost halachic commentators, permitting mixed seating on public transportation on the grounds that this was not erotic contact, and saying that any man who experienced it as such has problems.
Fisher said, “I am not aware of a single eminent rabbi who has ever ruled that there must be gender segregation in public places. Even the separation of men and women in Orthodox synagogues is a matter of custom rather than halacha.”
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