Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed all ministers to refrain from meeting with officials from the US government until he receives an invitation to the White House from President Joe Biden, Channel 12 is reporting. The report suggests that Netanyahu is upset about not being invited yet and believes that any minister meeting with American officials in the US would highlight his exclusion. Additionally, the report indicates that the United Arab Emirates is currently uninterested in extending an invitation to Netanyahu, which is why his recent and upcoming foreign visits are focused on European countries. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman warns in a report that 93% of at-risk buildings in northeast Israel are prone to collapse in the event of a strong earthquake. The report comes a month after a powerful earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, killing over 50,000 people. According to the report, the 1,208 buildings in cities such as Teveriya, Tzefas, Beit She’an, Kiryat Shemona, and Hatzor Haglilit were marked for urgent upgrading in 2018 but have not been strengthened despite repeated warnings. Only 70% of the 54 schools earmarked for upgrading have been improved, the report adds. The report also warns that at the current rate, it would take decades to protect all existing at-risk buildings from earthquakes. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A controversial draft reparations proposal that includes a $5 million lump-sum payment for each eligible Black person could make San Francisco the first major U.S. city to fund reparations, though it faces steep financial headwinds and blistering criticism from conservatives. Tuesday’s meeting of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will include a presentation by San Francisco’s African American Reparations Advisory Committee, which released its draft report in December. The $5 million-per-person payment is among more than 100 recommendations ranging from offering grants to buy and maintain homes to exempting Black businesses from paying taxes. Supervisors can vote to adopt all, none or some of the recommendations and can change them.

A recent poll has revealed that former President Donald Trump has a slim lead over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a hypothetical Republican primary. The poll surveyed likely Republican voters and Republican leaning independents to determine where potential GOP candidates stand in the early stages of the 2024 race. According to the CNN poll, Trump leads with 40% of the vote, while DeSantis secured 36% support. Although DeSantis has not officially announced his candidacy for the 2024 race, he has sparked speculation after launching a book and private visits with top donors. Trump leads DeSantis among likely-Republican and Republican leaning independent women with 40% to 32%. The two candidates were neck and neck among all registered voters, with DeSantis leading 39% to 37%.

Shani, a Flatbush resident, was just taken into surgery. She is donating a kidney today. She prepared the following and asked to send it out on her behalf: Dear Left Kidney, Today we say goodbye. I want to thank you for everything you have done for me. I’m embarrassed to say that for much of my 46 years, I didn’t pay much attention to you and most certainly took you for granted. Even when my own mother suffered with kidney disease and I knew your significance, I didn’t always appreciate your importance. And still, u showed up each and every moment and did your job. For 23 years I actually thought I would give you to my mother. She had one transplant and would surely need another. And I naively assumed I would be her savior.

Fox News host and conservative radio commentator Mark Levin blasted Democrats for tolerating anti-Semitism on the left, highlighting a recent event by led by notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan, in which he attacked and smeared Jewish people. “Jewish power has all of our people the knowledge, wisdom, and talent afraid. But just look at what these people control. And every door that leads to power, they have a sentinel on watch. Somebody has to take on the synagogue of Satan. And here we are. What good is your vote if the man you voted for has to go to somebody that you never elected? Behind the door to get instructions.

Lakewood Shomrim received multiple calls on Monday evening of a suspect chasing and threatening people with a dagger in the area of the Satmar Shul on Forest Avenue. Multiple Shomrim members responded swiftly to the scene and maintained a visual on the suspect as the Lakewood Police Department was called in. The suspect was subsequently arrested at gunpoint and his knife recovered by law enforcement and taken in as evidence. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

News of a potential banking crisis in the US in the wake of the failure of two major banks in the past few days is dominating international headlines. The headlines in Israel are focusing on a number of high-tech companies that transferred their funds from Israeli banks to SVB due to their opposition to the Netanyahu government’s judicial reform plan. On Monday, JDN published an apropos video of the Lubavticher Rebbe advising a man that “Eretz Yisrael is the best bank in the world!” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

The American citizen community in Israel is up in arms regarding the treatment of numerous young American families at the United States Embassy in Jerusalem. On Monday March 13, the young families arrived at the US Embassy on David Flusser Street in Jerusalem to register their newborn babies for emergency passports. These families wish to return to the US for Pesach, and had arranged emergency passport appointments via the Embassy’s new appointment website. Yet when they arrived bright and early Monday morning – dad, mom, and newborn in tow – they were brusquely refused entry. Embassy employees stood outside and explained that as of this very morning, the rules had changed: Any person without previously documented US citizenship could not receive an emergency passport.

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…