The Nation’s Largest JEWISH CLASSIFIEDS (PAGE 45)
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ewish Voice J Deuteronomy 32:1
Wishing Everyone A Happy Chanukah
M AY T H E E A RT H H E A R T H E WO R D S O F M Y M O U TH
December 18th, 2009 | 1 Tevet 5770
TERROR BOUND ARMS SEIZED IN THAILAND
Vol. 10, Iss. 46
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US CONGRESS OVERWHELMINGLY BARAK OUSTS HAR BRACHA YESHIVA APPROVES IRAN PETROLEUM FROM ‘HESDER’ SANCTIONS BILL PROGRAM
Weapons found in a plane from North Korea that was detained during a refueling stop in Bankok. More than 30 tons of arms were in the planes cargo. BY AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
American intelligence off icials tipped off Thai authorities who confiscated 35 tons of weapons, including missiles and explosives, probably headed for Iran, which supplies Hizbullah and Hamas. A Russian Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane, registered in Georgia, was seized during a refueling stop in Bangkok on Monday. ive men were arrested but are not cooperating with investigators, according to Australian and British news sources. The cargo included rocketpropelled grenades and surface-to-air missile launchers. The weapons were in 12 tightly-sealed wood and metal crates that were listed as oil-drilling equipment. While The United Nations has placed sanctions against North Korea’s arms trading, North Korea earns approximately $1 billion a year in arms sales. Although Pakistan was named as a
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Rabbi Eliezer Melamud, Rosh Yeshiva of Har Bracha. A satellite view of the suspected nuclear reactor facility deep in the mountain outside Qom. BY OLIVIER KNOX
The US House of Representatives on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved sanctions legislation aimed at forcing Iran to freeze its nuclear program by depriving the Islamic republic of gasoline. he measure would empower US President Barack Obama to effectively block firms that supply Iran with refined petroleum products, or the ability to import or produce them at home, from doing business in the United States. "The prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran is the most serious and urgent strategic challenge faced by the United States, and we must use all of the diplomatic means at our disposal -including tougher sanctions -- to prevent that from becoming a reality," said Democratic Representative Howard Berman. The House passed the bill, which has yet to clear the Senate, by a 412-12 margin with four voting present. A top US Senator said recently that body will not act on Iran sanctions in 2009.
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BY SHUMEL BEN ELIEZER
Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced Sunday night he is throwing out the Har Bracha yeshiva, headed by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, from the Hesder yeshiva program. Barak charged the rabbi with “undermining democratic principles” and “inciting” students to refuse IDF orders to expel Jews from their homes.
Because of a lack of domestic refining capacity, oil-rich Iran is dependent on gasoline imports to meet about 40 percent of domestic consumption. Iran gets most of those imports from the Swiss firm Vitol, the Swiss/Dutch firm Trafigura, France's Total, the Swiss firm Glencore and British Petroleum, as well as the Indian firm Reliance. Berman, the measure's lead author and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said US lawmakers had to act because Iran had rejected Obama's attempts at engagement with "contempt." Democratic Representative Stephen Lynch criticized the bill, comparing it to the US embargo on Cuba and warning it would cause Iranians to "rally around the flag" against the United States and "undermine" pro-democracy protestors. "This will unify the Iranian people against us," agreed Republican Representative Ron Paul, another foe of the measure. But Representative Eric Cantor, the num-
he Hesder yeshiva program allows young men to service in the IDF for up to two years, instead of the usual three, and to learn at yeshiva for at least three years. For a total commitment of five years. Barak said the order will not go into effect immediately in order to allow Har Bracha students to join another Hesder yeshiva. Leaders of the national camp warned that the decision by Defense Minister Ehud Barak (Labor) to oust Rabbi Eliezer Melamed’s Har Bracha yeshiva from the Hesder program will
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