Israel News

The Spaniard dominated Djokovic, taking the final set 6-0 6-2 7-5 to win his 13th French Open title. The victory is Nadal’s 20th Grand Slam overall, tying Roger Federer for the men’s all-time record.

Federer congratulated Nadal on tying his record, expressing his appreciation for his “greatest rival” on his personal Twitter account.

“I have always had the utmost respect for my friend Rafa as a person and as a champion,” Federer said.

“As my greatest rival over many years, I believe we have pushed each other to become better players. Therefore, it is a true honor for me to congratulate him on his 20th Grand Slam victory.”

Nadal has enjoyed tremendous success at the French Open, racking up an astounding 100-2 lifetime record at Roland Garros. He is also 26-0 in semifinals and finals at the French Open, including winning five years in a row between 2010 and 2014.

At 34 years of age, Nadal’s win makes him the oldest French Open champion in almost half a century and marks 15 years from his first Grand Slam title he won in 2005. The match was also the 56th time Djokovic and Nadal faced each other and their ninth in a final round.

“What you are doing in this court is unbelievable. Not just this court – throughout your entire career, you’ve been a great champion,” Djokovic told Nadal after the match. “Today you showed why you are King of the Clay.”

Freedom for French Aid Worker

Sophie Pétronin, a French aid worker who was kidnapped in the West African country of Mali, was released last week after four years in captivity, the Malian president’s office announced on Thursday.

FASHION BOUTIQUE

Malian politician Soumaïla Cissé was also released, after nearly seven months in captivity, the President’s office said in a tweet.

Pétronin had been kidnapped by armed Islamists in the city of Gao in December 2016, when she was running a charity for children suffering from malnutrition.

French President Emmanuel Macron responded to her release and said that he was “immensely relieved” to hear of her freedom, a French government statement said.

“The President of the Republic especially thanks the Malian authorities for this release,” the statement said. “He assures them of France’s entire will to support Mali in the fight it is waging with perseverance against terrorism.”

Pétronin’s nephew, Lionel Granouillac, told French media outlets on Tuesday that his aunt had been released, but the Malian and French governments only confirmed the release on Thursday. Her son, Sébastien Chadaud-Pétronin, added that he was fearful about what state he would find her in when he met her in the country’s capital of Bamako.

“I expect to find someone sick, very weak,” he said. “I hope she can still see, I don’t think she can stand.

“No matter what state she is in, I know she is still lucid. I am looking forward to seeing her again.” ArmenianAzeri Ceasefire Collapses

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan are accusing each other of violating a ceasefire only hours after it came into force.

The ceasefire went into effect on Saturday morning following two weeks of fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. But by Sunday, Azeri authorities said that nine of its citizens were killed after Armenia bombarded its second-largest city of Ganja.

“Armenia is blatantly violating the ceasefire regime,” accused Azerbaijan. Armenia denied the charges and maintained that it was adhering to the ceasefire. In a statement, Armenia’s Defense Ministry accused Azerbaijan of shelling the city of Stepanakert.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called on both sides to keep the fragile ceasefire from collapsing, saying that he viewed with concern “reports of continued military activities, including against civilian targets, as well as civilian casualties.”

More than 300 people have died since a new round of hostilities broke out on September 27. Both countries claim sovereignty over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which lies within Azeri territory despite being populated mainly by ethnic Armenians.

The ceasefire was reached on Friday morning following marathon negotiations mediated by Russia that saw both countries exchange prisoners and recover the bodies of their soldiers from the battlefield.

The talks between both sides had lasted more than 10 hours until the fragile ceasefire was reached. But signs that the agreement would soon fall apart were evident, with Armenian and Azeri officials issuing threats only hours after the ceasefire

Sparkle under the stars.

was solidified.

Israel’s Oldest

Brooklyn 5005 16th Avenue Cedarhurst 426 Central Avenue www.shopmezzo.com

Man Dies

On Sunday, Shlomo Sulayman, Israel’s oldest man, died at the age of 117.

According to his grandson, Gil Radia, Mr. Sulayman stayed sharp even into his old age. He lived alone until the end and would attend synagogue daily.

Because of the coronavirus epidemic, Mr. Sulayman was forced to stay at home by himself. It was the solitude, says Radia, that “did him harm” and caused his passing.

Mr. Sulayman’s wife died a few years ago at the age of 94.

According to Radia, Mr. Sulayman did not eat a lot and stayed active.

“He would eat small portions,” Radia said. “In the morning a piece of bread with cream cheese; for lunch either chicken, fish or an egg with rice; and in the evening a salad with an egg.”

Mr. Sulayman immigrated to Israel in 1949 with his wife and four children. He lived with his family in Netanya, and after serving in the IDF, worked in agriculture.

According to Ynet, Sulayman was born in 1903, making him not only the oldest person in Israel, but the oldest in the world.

Ethiopians to Come to Israel

Y Can Stay He, We Deliver! TO

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told Ethiopian leader Abiy Ahmed on Friday that he would soon airlift 2,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

“I updated Prime Minister Abiy that I intend to immediately bring some 2,000 people from Addis Ababa and Gondar, as part of our commitment to continuing the Aliyah of Jews to Israel,” Netanyahu tweeted.

He added that Abiy replied that there was no issue with the plan and added that it “symbolizes the special relationship between the peoples.” Netanyahu also said Abiy congratulated him on the recent normalization agreements signed with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and that the two discussed Israel’s agricultural assistance to Ethiopia.

The Cabinet will vote on the airlift this week. The total cost of the plan is approximately $109 million and comes following covert negotiations to bring the remaining Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

NO MINIMUM CALL/ WHATSAPP 516.916.BOOK (2665) ORDERS@BYTHEBOOKJUDAICA.COM

Netanyahu expounded on the decision during Monday’s cabinet meeting. “Six months ago, I promised to bring the remnant of the Jewish community in Ethiopia,” he said. “Today, I am submitting for Cabinet approval the bringing to Israel of 2,000 of our people, our brothers and sisters from Ethiopia. We will also act to bring all of the rest, as I instructed in the Cabinet decision that we will approve today.”

Wildfires Torch Thousands of Acres

Over 4,000 acres were torched after a sudden heatwave led to widespread wildfires across Israel over the weekend.

In Oranim, a village adjoining the city of Modiin in central Israel, firefighters deployed airplanes and special units to battle out-of-control brush fires. Five-thousand residents were evacuated while dozens of homes suffered damage.

In the northern city of Nof Hagalil, 20 homes were destroyed after the nearby Churchill Forest went up in flames. The wildfire resulted in over a 1,000 acres being torched along with a significant part of the

forest.

The evacuation efforts were hampered by the need to treat thousands of people while maintaining social distancing. By Saturday morning, the majority had returned home after police engineers declared the damaged homes safe to live in.

The brush fires spread to a slew of kibbutzim adjoining the northern border with Lebanon, with the resulting heat causing minefields to detonate. Locals reported hearing loud booms throughout Friday and Saturday until authorities managed to gain control over the fires.

“Firefighters continue to stubbornly fight to stop the spread of fire and protect the residents of Nof Hagalil and their homes,” shared Nizar Fares, who led the firefighting teams in Israel’s north. “Overnight we prepared for the continuation

of the campaign, and at this stage the residents are not in any danger. The firefighting efforts will continue throughout the day. I call on the public to obey the instructions of the emergency bodies.”

The Israel Fire and Rescue Service said in a press release that its personnel dealt with “250 fires throughout the country, with 13 very large fires.” While the majority of them were caused by a heatwave that followed an unseasonably hot September, authorities suspect that several of the blazes were the result of arson.

Top Treasury Official Steps Down

Finance Ministry Director-General Keren Turner-Eyal stepped down abruptly after only six months on the job.

As Director-General, Turner-Eyal was the most powerful official at the Finance Ministry after Minister Yisrael Katz. In her resignation letter she published on Sunday, she decried the “unprofessional decision making” that was “destroying Israel’s economy.”

A veteran of the Transportation Ministry, Turner-Eyal transferred to the Treasury after her longtime boss, Yisrael Katz, was tapped as Finance Minister. But since taking the job, she butted heads with Katz and other Likud appointees over how to handle the devastating economic fallout from the coronavirus.

IDF Sets Up Two Coronavirus Hospitals

Turner-Eyal strenuously opposed the stimulus package that gave every Israel NIS ($200) earlier this year, believing that it was a populist move that drained the country’s strategic cash reserves. She also pushed for the government to pass a two-yearbudget, contradicting Prime Minister Netanyahu’s wish to pass only a one-year funding bill in December.

“What’s going on in the ministry is crazy. Everything here is shooting from the hip. There are no professional consultations,” Turner-Eyal asserted. “I can no longer continue in this situation.”

Turner-Eyal is the latest senior Finance Ministry official to resign in protest over the handling of the economy. In August, Budgeting Department head Shaul Meridor stepped down after singling out Katz for his unprofessional decision-making, accusing him of directing an “atmosphere of terror” at civil servants who spoke out.

“You do not allow me and many other public servants in various departments at the Ministry of Finance and other government ministries to do what we know how to do – to form, to propose, to analyze and to criticize policy measures which allow the Israeli economy to succeed during this period of difficult economic crisis that has hit,” wrote Meridor in a blistering resignation later.

A few weeks later, Accountant General Roni Hezekiah also resigned over tensions between the professional and political echelons in the Finance Ministry. Turner-Eyal’s predecessor, Shai Ba’bad, stepped down in May following the formation of the new government.

With Israel’s hospitals overwhelmed by coronavirus patients, the IDF recently inaugurated two wards in Haifa’s Rambam Hospital dedicated specifically to treat those suffering from the pandemic.

The wards were opened in a ceremony on Sunday attended by Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein. The makeshift hospital is staffed by uniformed IDF doctors, nurses, and paramedics and is the first time in Israel’s history that the military is called upon to treat civilians.

“The IDF has never treated civilians, even in the hard days of the 1950s,” noted chief medical officer Brig. Gen. Alon Glasberg.

The IDF had been preparing to operate a hospital for civilians since late September. As part of the training, soldiers were taught how to wear the full-body suits to protect from being infected by the coronavirus and using the advanced medical equipment.

“The training included theoretical and practical content that prepared the teams for treating the coronavirus patients who come to wards in the most professional and humane ways possible,” said the IDF.

However, many senior medical professionals opposed the move to open these hospitals, arguing that the effort took badly-needed military doctors out of front-line units. Speaking with Channel 12, an anonymous IDF medical officer said that army doctors do not have any experience with internal medicine, noting that they mainly concentrate on healing battlefield injuries such as burns.

Unlike most militaries, the IDF does not have its own hospital and utilizes civilian medical centers during wartime.