The American expatriate community in Israel has been roiled in recent weeks over the ongoing difficulties in obtaining US passports in Israel. Wait times for appointments at the US Embassy in Jerusalem can be many long months. The problem is particularly acute leading up to the pre-Pesach travel season. Especially affected are parents of babies born in recent months. The inability to obtain Consular Reports of Birth Abroad and first time passports are preventing many families from traveling home to the US for Pesach. The situation has been been further exacerbated by a new rule cancelling emergency passport appointments for newborns. Until recently, emergency passports had been a solution for families with newborns seeking to track home for Pesach.

YWN regrets to inform you of the tragic Petira of Dr Dr Julian (Yehuda) Mirman Z”L, a well-known doctor in Los Angeles. He was approximately 63 years old. As YWN had reported, Dr Mirman and another doctor were walking home frum Shul on Friday night, when they were both struck by a vehicle outside Rabbi Rubin’s Shul on 3rd and Citrus. One victim suffered minor injuries, but Doctor Mirman suffered critical injuries. He was rushed to the hospital, where he remained in grave condition until his Petira on Monday. The Niftar lived on Citrus, and was a Mispallel in Rabbi Bess’ Shul and occasionally near his home by Rabbi Rubin’s Shul. He leaves behind a wife and four married children. Levaya details will be published when they become available to us. Boruch Dayan HaEmmes…

Reb Avraham Noach Paley, the father of the kedoshim Asher and Noach, h’yd, who was seriously injured in the Ramot terror attack, opened his eyes several times over Shabbos. A day earlier, family members had published an ad in the Chareidi newspapers, saying: “B’Siyata Dishmaya, there has been an improvement in the condition of Avraham Noach ben Yehudis. We thank all of Acheinu Beis Yisrael for the tefillos and many chizzukim for his refuah.” However, the family members emphasized that “he still is in need of many tefillos. Therefore we request that you continue your tefillos for his refuah sheleimah.” Please daven for a refuah sheleimah for Avraham Noach ben Yehudis b’toch sha’ar cholei Yisrael. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A four alarm fire ripped through a Williamsburg lumber yard, Tuesday morning, spewing smoke across the entire area. The FDNY says they was notified around 10:50 a.m. after a storage area belonging to R&R Lumber and Building Supplies, located at 335 Hewes Street, burst into flames. The fire quickly escalated to a four alarm fire. Although Hatzalah and Williamsburg Shomrim promptly arrived at the scene, no injuries have been reported thus far.

The maker of Enfamil announced a recall of about 145,000 cans of infant formula due to the possibility of cross-contamination with a bacteria that can cause serious illness or death. Reckitt, a U.K.-based consumer health and nutrition company, said over the weekend that is voluntarily recalling two batches of Enfamil ProSobee Simply Plant-Based Infant Formula, but that no illnesses or “adverse events” have been reported. The company said it identified the cause of the potential cronobacter contamination and are no longer using the supplier. According to the the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention, cronobacter infections in infants can be deadly.

CBS’ Margaret Brennan interviewed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Face the Nation Sunday. The following is a transcript of the interview. MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about some issues on foreign policy. CIA Director Bill Burns recently said that the uptick in violence in Israel and Palestinian territories reminds him of the last Intifada – that there could be an explosion of violence. Israel now has the most right wing government it’s had in years. Do you think that democracy is in peril in Israel right now? SEN. SANDERS: I do. I am very worried about what Netanyahu is doing and some of his allies in government and what may happen to the Palestinian people. And let me tell you something, I mean, I haven’t said this publicly.

A New York City police cruiser struck and killed a 52-year-old woman in a multivehicle accident while responding to an emergency call, police said. The crash happened at about 8:30 p.m. Friday in the Far Rockaway section of Queens. Officials said the police SUV had its emergency lights on and was about to pass a car on the left when the car turned in front of the cruiser. The cruiser hit the car. The force of the collision sent the cruiser toward a sidewalk, where it hit a pedestrian who was standing in a bike lane just off the corner, police said. The cruiser then hit an unoccupied car. The woman, whose name was withheld pending family notification, was pronounced dead at a hospital. Four officers in the SUV were taken to a hospital with minor injuries, police said.

HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Zilberstein on Thursday evening sent a letter of tanchumim to the Paley family. The grandfather of the family, HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Paley, lives in the Ramat Elchanan neighborhood of Bnei Brak, where HaRav Zilberstein serves as the Rav. “Lichvod the dear and beloved Paley family, shalom and bracha,” Rav Zilberstein began. “It’s known that the Belzer Rebbe, [HaRav Aharon, z’tl] fled from Galicia at the beginning of the Holocaust and moved from place to place for four years and arrived in Eretz Yisrael after he lost his entire extended family of 70 people, and he knew that most of his chassidim was murdered al Kiddush Hashem. “The first Shabbos that he was in Eretz Yisrael was Parshas B’Shalach, Shabbos Shirah, which he spent in Haifa.

Elchanan Pardo, a yeshivah bochur wounded in the Ramot terror attack, benched HaGomel at the bus stop following his release from the hospital on Friday. Elchanan’s father, Reb Yehudah Yitzchak Pardo, a Hatzalah volunteer in Elad, picked up his son, who still has a long road of rehabilitation ahead of him, from the hospital in an ambulance. He then brought him directly to the Paley’s home in Ramot to pay a shiva call. Afterward, he brought Elchanan, accompanied by Hatzalah volunteers who saved his life, including Hatzalah President Eli Beer, to the bus stop where the terror attack occurred. Elchanan tearfully recited HaGomel and those there sang a song of gratitude to Hashem. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)  

Israel Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai arrived today at the home of the Paley family in the Ramot neighborhood of Jerusalem. Two children of the Paley family, Asher Menachem and Yaakov Yisroel HY”D were recently murdered in the bus stop car-ramming terror attack last Friday. In condolence of the mourners, the police commissioner expressed his admiration for the strength and power of the special family, led by the children’s mother, Devorah, who stands with strong bravery. The commissioner brought the Sefer Emunah Bitachon from the Chazon Ish and gave it to the family as a gift. He told them that this book would be a sign of the faith and trust that they show.