United States Attorney General William Barr visited Boro Park on Tuesday, as he met with Jewish leaders following the recent rise in anti-semitic attacks targeting Jews in Brooklyn. Barr said he is “extremely distressed” about recent acts of intimidation and violence against Jewish communities, and said federal authorities will be lowering their levels of tolerance for acts of anti-Semitism moving forward in order to more aggressively prosecute hate crimes cases. Among items discussed in the meeting, the AG said he is issuing a directive to U.S. Attorney’s Officers around the United States to “reinvigorate their relationship and outreach to Jewish communities” in response to recent acts of anti-Semitic intimidation/violence against Jews.

Special to VINNews In his excellent book entitled, “Benign Bigotry,” author  Kristin J. Anderson skillfully relates a number of myths to real world events and prejudies.  He explains how errors in individual thinking can affect society in general, and suggests various strategies for reducing prejudice in daily life. Perhaps nowhere is his advice more applicable […]

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is flying to Moscow on Wednesday on the way back from Washington D.C., where he met with President Donald Trump about his Middle East peace plan, to inform Russian President Vladimir Putin about “regional developments and the Deal of the Century.” The trip to Moscow was not previously announced and there is much speculation that the real purpose of the trip is to bring Naama Issachar back with him to Israel on Thursday. The Prime Minister’s Office announced Netanyahu’s trip to Moscow right after Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit indicted him for bribery, breach of trust and corruption – the first indictments ever filed against a sitting prime minister.

More than 175,000 tickets have been requested for President Donald Trump’s rally in Wildwood, New Jersey Tuesday night. That’s a record for any President Trump rally anywhere, the president’s daughter-in-law Lara said in a radio interview. The Wildwoods Convention Center holds 7,500 people. Supporters have been camping out outside the venue since early Monday morning hoping to get a spot inside. A Jumbotron will be set up outside to handle the overflow crowds. Meanwhile, hundreds of people braved the cold, and were camped out overnight – many of them on the beach. Trump is scheduled to speak at the rally at 7 p.m. The doors open at 3 p.m. The rally is taking place in New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District, represented by Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew.

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit filed filed an indictment against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on three separate charges of corruption. The move came three hours after the prime minister withdrew his request for parliamentary immunity from prosecution for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu, who was visiting Washington ahead of the launch of President Donald Trump’s long-anticipated peace plan, said he “decided not to let this dirty game continue,” in a statement issued on his official Facebook page. The Knesset was widely expected to reject Netanyahu’s immunity request, which would have dealt a massive blow to the prime minister ahead of the March 2 parliamentary elections — the third in less than a year.

Anti-Semitic acts increased in France last year by 27%, acts against Muslims inched higher while anti-Christian acts remained stable but highest of all, France’s interior minister said Sunday, denouncing the situation as intolerable. On top of that, acts described as bearing a racist and xenophobic character, mostly threats, more than doubled between 2018 and 2019 — increasing from 496 to 1,142, according to a statement by Interior Minister Christophe Castaner. “Expressions and acts of hate, whether they target origins or religious beliefs, whether they take the form of physical violence or verbal threats, are an intolerable attack on our common project, the foundations of our social … pact,” the statement said.

Two weeks after the arrest of Aharon Ramati, suspected of running a cult, the police investigation is not yet completed and the prosecution is requesting to carry out further investigations, B’Chadrei Chareidim reported. The court acceded to the request and extended his arrest by two days. “The defendant has already proven that if he is released he will obstruct [legal proceedings],” the police representative said at the hearing. The police suspect that Ramati received information on his impending arrest two weeks ago and hid some of the minors that were at the “seminary” complex. Since the investigation began, 103 testimonies have been recorded against Ramati.

It’s been released for publication that 22 members of an alleged smuggling ring were arrested on Monday, including six IDF soldiers and 16 Palestinian and Israeli Arabs, two of whom are Israeli citizens. The Palestinians and Israeli Arabs are accused of smuggling weapons, cigarettes and other goods from Yehudah and Shomron into Israel and the IDF soldiers are accused of accepting bribes and endangering state security. An undercover investigation began when suspicion arose that weapons and other goods were being smuggled into Israel from Yehudah and Shomron in private and commercial vehicles through IDF checkpoints.

Israel’s reception of world leaders last week for the World Holocaust Forum involved much more than meeting leaders at the airport with flower bouquets and laying out the red carpet. Israel’s cyber defense system was hard at work fighting hundreds of cyber-attacks on Ben-Gurion Airport and the planes of the world leaders, a Channel 12 News report said on Sunday as reported by Times of Israel. The report said that according to officials of Israel’s Airports Authority Cyber Division, over 800 separate cyber-attacks targeted Israeli airspace while the word leaders were landing in Israel on Thursday. Officials added that the attacks, stemming from Iran, China, North Korea, Russia and Poland were all successfully fended off.

The lawyer for the suspect in the stabbing during a Chanukah party in Monsey has requested a federal competency evaluation. Attorney Michael Sussman says a psychiatrist concluded that Grafton Thomas is not competent to stand trial. Now the U.S. Attorney’s office has two weeks to respond. Thomas has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges in the Dec. 28th stabbing that left five people injured at Rabbi Rottenberg’s home in Forshay. The 37-year-old also faces federal hate crime charges. Sussman issued a statement to reporters saying that he had asked the federal court, where Thomas faces hate-crime charges, to keep his motion, Levin’s report, and other documents under seal, to retain the privacy of personal health matters.