Yom Shleeshee
Tuesday
13 Tammuz 5782
July 12 2022
Please take a moment to donate to OneIsrael. Your contributions are essential to help us get the word out about what is happening here on the ground in Israel.
Appalling Photo of the Morning
The sign reads: “President Biden, welcome to the two countries we love the most.”
This is the sign that we reported on in yesterday’s blog. Put up by Peace Now, it it blatantly false. The only “country” that Peace Now cares about is “Palestine.” Every action the hideous organization takes is meant to undermine Israel and embrace the PLO.
Unsurprisingly, the Tel Aviv Municipality announced this morning that it would not take down the sign.
The News on the Israeli Street
The Biden visit . . .
All the buzz today is about the arrival of President Biden in Israel tomorrow. However, much of the reportage is not about the subjects you would suppose.
The main item on the news last night and today has been which highways will be closed and when (for example, Highway 1 from Ben Gurion Airport to Jerusalem will be shut down in both directions from 3:00 pm until an as yet unknown time in the evening tomorrow–and again on Friday). Numerous streets in Jerusalem will be closed during the visit.
Your humble servant will be able to report on this first-hand tomorrow as we visit our son and his family in the Ramot neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Also being reported this morning is the fact that during the 40 hours he is in Israel, Biden will only meet for 15 minutes with PM Lapid and 15 minutes with former PM Netanyahu. It will be interesting to see how much time Biden spends in eastern Jerusalem and in Bethlehem with PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Speaking of Biden and the Palestinians . . .
News reports today indicate that the Biden Administration is secretly funding UNRWA textbooks to the tune of $400,000,000 this year. UNRWA is using the money to continue printing anti-Semitic and anti-Israel school books for children.
Today’s Corona update . . .
10,477 Israelis tested positive yesterday (out of 28,294 tested) bringing to 69,054 the number of active patients in the country.
The positive test rate was 37.03%; the coefficient of infection was 0.97%.
390 Israelis are seriously ill; 91 are critically ill—71 of these are on ventilators.
11,069 have died.
Palestinian terror in the last 24 hours . . .
Palestinian terrorists used Molotovs, IEDs, and “rocks” to try to murder Israeli men, women, and children at such places as on the Gush Etzion-Hevron Road near Beit Omer, on Road 465 between Ofarim and Beit Arye, near Gilead Farm, between Anatot and Hizma, and at Zubidat.
About those millions and millions of dollars of cigars and champagne . . .
So now we have the actual numbers according to documents presented by the prosecution in the Netanyahu trial.
It turns out that the Netanyahus allegedly received 267,254 shekels ($75,800) worth of cigars and 184,448 shekels ($52,300) worth of champagne between 2011 and 2016 from Arnan Milchan–and another 229,174 shekels ($65,000) of cigars and champagne from Milchan’s associate James Packer from 2014 to 2016.
Speaking of money . . .
For the first time since 2002, the value of the Euro and the dollar are equal on the exchange market. Each one is worth 3.5 shekels.
This reflects a dramatic drop in the value of the Euro and a significant rise in the value of the dollar.
TODAY’S BLOG
Let The Games Begin: The 21st Maccabiah!
First held in 1932, this will be the 21st Maccabiah!
The Maccabiah Games, otherwise known as the Jewish Olympics, begin on Thursday and continue until July 26. The Maccabiah now comprises 42 sporting events from competition paddleball to ice hockey. Click here for a list of all sports.
The main venues will be in Jerusalem, Haifa, and Netanya with other events taking place in Ganei Tikva, Dalyat El Carmel, Hadera, Petah Tikva, Caesarea, Ramat Gan, Ramat Hasharon, Ra’anana, Sharona, Hadera, and Nof HaGalil.
The cricket competition will take place here in Ashdod.
A previous year’s opening ceremony; this year’s promises to be even more spectacular (photo Maccabiah).
The basic facts:
10,000 athletes will participate.
There are 66 delegations including: Sweden, Canada, Kygyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Cuba, Chile, Peru, Paraguay, France, Colombia, Costa Rica, Poland, Serbia, Scotland, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Finland, Panama, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Singapore, Macedonia, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Japan, Greece, Venezuela, Honduras, Lithuania, Moldova, Latvia, Israel, South Africa, Denmark, Germany, Gibraltar, Hungary, Hong Kong, Netherlands, India, Brazil, Belgium, Bolivia, United States, United Kingdom, Guatemala, Georgia, Jamaica, Ireland, Italy, Azerbaijan, Uruguay, Albania, El Salvador, Estonia, Argentina, Ukraine, Australia, Austria, and Uzbekistan. There is also a delegation of “Immigrants.”
Leading the way is Israel with 3000 athletes, followed by the U.S. with 1,400 athletes followed by Canada and Argentina.
Within the Maccabiah there are four separate classifications: Open, Juniors, Masters, and Paralympics.
The games are open to Jewish athletes from around the world with the basic qualification being to have at least one Jewish parent. However, the games are open to all Israeli athletes regardless of ethnicity or religion.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.