French President Emmanuel Macron angrily shouted at Israeli police while visiting the Church of Saint Anne on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem’s Old City, which is French territory. It is not clear why he became angry with the Israeli security officials. although there is no confirmation what caused his outburst, it is possible that the Church is reportedly French territory where Israeli police do not have jurisdiction. In 1996, French President Jacques Chirac grabbed an Israeli plainclothes security officer in the Old City of Jerusalem and shouted: “I’m starting to be fed up with this. What do you want? Do you want me to go back to my plane and go back to France? This is a provocation. It must stop.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A senior Kremlin official stated on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Naama Issachar’s mother, Yaffa Issachar, on Thursday. It was stated that Putin will meet with Issachar during his meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Meanwhile, following Israeli news reports in the past few days that Russian President Vladimir Putin is demanding ownership of Alexander’s Court near the Old City of Jerusalem in exchange for releasing Naama, Maariv reported on Wednesday morning that it obtained a document confirming that Israel had already complied with the Russian request three weeks ago. Alexander’s Court, which includes St. Alexander Nevsky Church and other buildings, was originally purchased as part of the Russian Compound by Czar Alexander I in 1858.

R’ Avraham Gelbman, z’l, a 50-year-old resident of Beit Shemesh and father of eight, was killed on Wednesday morning when his car crashed into the guard rail on Highway 5 near the Barkan intersection. The circumstances of the accident are unclear. R’ Gelbman,z’l, was extricated from the car by emergency services who sadly were forced to declare his death at the scene of the accident. R’ Gelbman’s friends told B’Chadrei Chareidim that he was an important member of the Breslover community in Beit Shemesh and was very involved in doing chessed – he volunteered for Zaka, Ichud Hatzlah and Ezras Achim. “The Zaka family mourns the tragic death of our dear volunteer who was devoted to chessed shel emes, R’ Avromi Gelbman, z”l, of the Beit Shemesh team,” Zaka stated.

A month-long Border Police intelligence operation ended on Monday night when suspects broke into a parrot habitat in Migdal Ha’Emek and stole dozens of parrots worth about NIS 1 million, BeChadrei Chareidim reported. “Within a few moments of the suspects arriving in the habitat they were already on their way out. At first we were sure that they hadn’t managed to steal anything but when we stopped them, we found cages with dozens of screeching parrots in the back of the truck. Some of the parrots [were screeching] due to fear and panic and some as a result of severe injuries – broken legs, beaks and wings which were apparently caused by the cages being hurriedly thrown into the truck and by the shaking of the truck as they drove,” the Border Police operations commander said.

Ukraine’s first Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who is coming to Israel this week for the World Holocaust Forum, said that Ukraine is beginning to build a “Little Jerusalem” in Uman in a recent interview with Times of Israel (TOI). Zelensky admitted to TOI that he’s a little miffed that Israel didn’t ask him to speak at the forum since statistics show that one out of four Jews killed during the Holocaust were Ukrainian – over 1 million Jews including the 150,000 Jews who were shot at Babi Yar in the “Holocaust of the bullets.” As one of the ways to honor the victims of the Holocaust and memorialize the once-booming Jewish population, Zelensky said that Ukraine is beginning to construct a “Little Jerusalem” in Uman.

Jerusalem mayor Moshe Leon addressed the huge crowd on Monday night at the Menorah Arena in Tel Aviv for the Siyum H’Shas celebration attended by Hagaon Harav Chaim Kanievsky, Roshei Yeshivahs and Chassidish Rebbes. One speaker won the admiration of the audience, received resounding applause and became the topic of conversation – Jerusalem mayor Moshe Leon, Kikar H’Shabbos reported. Leon, who was asked to speak divrei bracha at the event, surprised the thousands of participants when he began his speech with an authentic Litvak accent, saying: “B’reshus Moron Sar Ha’Toriah Rabban shel kol b’nei ha’golah Rebbe Chaim Kanievsky, shlita.” The Sephardi mayor’s respectful greeting and authentic accent was enthusiastically received by the audience, who responded with resounding applause.

A passenger on a recent flight tells YWN about the extremely disturbing experience she had with LOT Polish Airlines from JFK to Israel with a stopover in Poland. The woman said that she was so horrified by what she saw that she wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes. “Mrs. B”. said that the first leg of her flight – from JFK to Poland – was completely fine. The problems started when the passengers began checking in for the final leg of the flight from Poland to Tel Aviv. Every single non-Jew [and presumably Jews that weren’t obviously Jewish] were allowed on the plane with their hand luggage, without being required to hand it over to be checked or weighed.

The U.S. on Tuesday reported its first case of a new and potentially deadly virus circulating in China, saying a Washington state resident who returned last week from the outbreak’s epicenter was hospitalized near Seattle. The man, identified as a Snohomish County resident is in his 30s, was in good condition and wasn’t considered a threat to medical staff or the public, health officials said. U.S. officials stressed that they believe the virus’ overall risk to the American public remained low. “This is certainly not a moment of panic or high anxiety,” Gov. Jay Inslee said. The newly discovered virus has infected about 300 people, all of whom had been in China, and killed six. The virus can cause coughing, fever, breathing difficulty and pneumonia. The U.S.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is a complex personality and there are various complaints heard about him, such as his iron rule, his repression of political opposition and his support of Syria. However, it is clear that Putin treats the Jewish community fairly and even positively and doesn’t condone anti-Semitism in a traditionally anti-Semitic country.

NYC Councilman Chaim Deutsch has filed paperwork to run for Congress in in New York’s 9th District. He hopes to unseat Democrat Yvette Clark, who has held the seat in 2007. Councilman Chaim Deutsch is a life-long Brooklynite, representing the diverse communities within the 48th City Council District – an office he first assumed in 2014. He is a Democrat. The district includes Brighton Beach, Gerritsen Beach, Gravesend, Manhattan Beach, Marine Park, Midwood, Plum Beach, and Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn. His term ends in 2021. In the 2018 election Clark narrowly won a primary challenge Adam Bunkeddeko, winning by less than 2,000 votes. Bunkeddeko, a progressive activist, is running in this election as well.