US forces and local Guatemalan police raided the compound of the Lev Tahor cult on Tuesday, taking two senior cult officials into custody. Yoel and Shmuel Weingarten were apprehended by authorities after infiltrating the compound in Guatemala. The operation began last week when an agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and two from the National Civil Police (PNC) infiltrated the cult living on a farm in the village of El Amatillo, in Oratorio, Santa Rosa. The agents posed as people carrying humanitarian aid. They arrived with toys and gifts for the children, while gaining the trust of the adults, who opened the doors of the community for them. The undercover agents reportedly lived with the residents for a week. Warrants have been out in the U.S.

Jewish-Arab violence and riots have erupted in numerous cities that have a mixed population of Arabs and Jews across Israel. The violence comes at the end of the month of Ramadan and amid the escalated tensions between Israel and Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in Gaza. In Akko, a mob of Arab rioters attacked a Jewish man in his 30s and severely injured him.  The incident took place near Egged Square in the city and left the man in critical condition. Magen David Adom teams transported the man to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya and intubated and sedated him. According to a statement by the police, the man had been attacked while he was in his car and was beaten with rocks and sticks. Violence erupted once again in the city of Lod and a man was shot and seriously injured.

On a Lufthansa flight that departed from Israel’s Ben Gurion airport and flew to Frankfurt in Germany, six Israeli passengers acted with disorderly conduct onboard the airplane, in spite of repeated requests by the in-flight attendants to desist. According to a report that appeared in Ynet, the six passengers removed their masks shortly after lift-off in direct violation of Coronavirus regulations and airline policies. The six passengers began cursing out any in-flight attendant who approached them. The attendants warned the passengers against their rude and illegal behavior. Prior to the flight, the six purchased alcohol at the Duty-Free shops in Ben Gurion and began drinking it on the flight. When the plane landed in Frankfurt, the flight crew called for police assistance.

A 21-year-old Chareidi resident of Modi’in Illit was seriously injured in a two-vehicle accident that took place on Highway 446 on Thursday morning near the town of Lapid. The accident, which took place between a private car and a bus, left the driver of the car in serious condition. Firefighters were called in to extricate the driver from his car. Shift Commander Lahav Dina Jones said: “We used hydraulic equipment to pry open the vehicle and extricate the man.

A Chareidi man who was beaten by a police officer after asking him why he was hitting a Chareidi minor, was awarded 15,000 NIS in reparations from the police by a Jerusalem court. The court recommended that the police settle a lawsuit that was being filed against them as a result of the man being beaten by the officer in an incident that occurred in May 2017. The incident unraveled after an officer hit a Chareidi minor who was protesting in Meah Shearim. An Avreich, the plaintiff, approached the officer and protested the officer’s actions demanding to know why the officer was hitting the minor. The officer then proceeded to grab the Avreich’s beard and hit him.

According to a new poll conducted by Channel 12 news, should the Israeli elections happen today, the Likud would still be the biggest party in the Knesset, but it would continue its downward trend of losing seats and only take home 28 seats as opposed to its current 36. In second place would be the newly formed party by Gideon Saar called New Hope, winning 19 seats. Yesh Atid-Telem would rise to 16 seats, while Yamina would decrease to 13 seats. The Joint Arab List would win 11 seats and the Charedi parties would stay stable with their current 16 seats, 8 being won by Shas and 8 going to UTJ. Yisrael Beiteinu would win 7 seats while both the Blue and White Party and Meretz would scrape by the electoral threshold and win 5 seats each.

A press conference was held on Thursday by the CEO of Israel’s Health Ministry, Chezi Levi, together with the head of the Health Ministry’s team that was assigned to combat Corona – Dr. Boaz Lev. The topic of the press conference was to address the procedure of distributing the new Pfizer vaccine for the Coronavirus among Israel’s populace. The pair presented the order of the people who will have the vaccine available to them. The first and foremost of the groups who will be able to vaccinate will be medical personnel. Dr. Levi said that he hopes that medical personnel will be able to take the vaccine at early as the end of December. Levi then said that pregnant women, children under the age of 16, and those who have a severe allergic reaction to a variety of triggers. Dr.

Due to the many medical emergencies and tragedies resulting from laxity around candles and kitchen safety on Chanukah, United Hatzalah of Israel issued a number of safety tips for families to implement in order to avoid situations in which family members, especially young children suffer injuries or worse on the holiday. The recommendations of the organization are as follows: Fire safety: Use a special location and apparatus to light the candles. Many times fires occur due to the use of makeshift menorahs. Please use a proper stable menorah and stable table or shelf and avoid proximity to any flammable items, including remaining oil or other candles, as well as drapes, curtains, books, or clothing.

Lawyers for plaintiffs against Eliezer Berland, who is accused of exploitation and fraud, sent a letter to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and Jerusalem District Attorney Danny Wittman, demanding that they refuse to accept a plea bargain, which they claim is preposterous. The lawyers, Yaakov Shaklar and Stav Halperin are considering appealing any such plea bargain in the High Court of Justice. It has previously been reported that Berland’s attorneys are attempting to get a plea bargain from the prosecution for Berland to serve less prison time, in spite of the severity of his crimes.

The Admor of Karlin-Stolin, HaRav Baruch Meir Yaakov Shochet, blasted those who do not adhere to the Coronavirus guidelines for their actions in a recorded conversation that was sent to members of the Chassidus. The Rebbe, who himself was recently released from the hospital after having contracted the disease, has been one of the only Admorim to have instructed his community to strictly observe coronavirus health instructions since the beginning of the crisis. The Rebbe added that parts of the Chareidi community were ignoring the “simple” and “foundational” Jewish principle of saving lives, and said he was astonished at such “contempt” for the lives of others, especially from the Chassidic community.