The Igud of Foreign Yeshivos & Seminaries, headed by Rabbi Nechemia Malinowitz, published a letter on Monday with preliminary guidance for institutions receiving students from abroad, the Chaim V’Chessed organization reported on Monday. The Igud wrote that students who wish to enter Israel for Elul must be vaccinated or recovered, with recovered students required to present a positive PCR test, something that many US residents lack. Due to the current heightened concern in Israel regarding the Indian variant, recovered patients who don’t have a positive PCR test will not be approved for entry even if they have a letter from a doctor or a positive antibody test.

It was a year ago that mobs of looters roamed the streets of New York City following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. From the month of May to June mobs would walk the streets of New York City smashing and looting storefronts, with videos of the incident going viral. Despite the lawlessness, the NYPD – who were vastly outnumbered during these unexpected events – made hundreds of arrests, with most taking place in Manhattan and the Bronx. Data reviewed by NBC New York showed that at one point, up to 118 arrests were made in the Bronx during the worst of the looting in early June. Despite the heroic actions by the police, many, if not all of these criminals are still roaming the streets – despite their arrests at the time.

Senior Israeli security officials believe that the election of Iranian hardliner Ebrahim Raisi as president leaves Israel no choice in preparing plans to continue attacks against Iran’s nuclear facilities, Channel 12 News reported. According to the report, Raisi, known as the Butcher of Tehran for the thousands of people he executed, supports a return to the 2015 nuclear deal in exchange for the relief of sanctions. However, Israel estimates that the US won’t sign the agreement until August, when Raisi enters office, and meanwhile, Iran will continue to increase its stockpile of enriched uranium. “There’s no choice now but to return to preparing attack plans for Iran’s nuclear program,” an anonymous Israeli security force was quoted as saying.

Israel’s Health Ministry instructed people who attended a musical performance in Beit Shean on Thursday to enter quarantine after a woman in the audience was found to be positive for the coronavirus. Even Israelis who were vaccinated or have recovered from the coronavirus were asked to enter quarantine despite the fact that they are normally exempt from quarantine requirements, apparently due to fears that the woman is infected with the Indian variant, which is apparently more resistant to vaccines than other variants. Meanwhile, less than a week after Israel ended the requirement to wear masks indoors, the Health Ministry reinstated the mask mandate in schools in Modiin and Binyamina, where outbreaks of the Indian variant have occurred.

The establishment of an official state commission of inquiry into the Meron disaster was approved at the first cabinet meeting of Israel’s new government on Sunday morning. The ministers unanimously approved the proposal submitted by Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

IN a breaking development in the NYC Mayoral election, Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein who has endorsed Andrew Yang, is now urging people to vote for frontrunner Eric Adams as “number two” on their ballots. This is a significant development, as on Shabbos, Yang campaigned together with Mayoral Candidate Katherine Garcia. Political observers claim that Yang sees he has no chance in wining the election, and wants his voters to put Garcia as number two, as a huge boos for her race (due to the rank choice voting). Eichenstein apparently does not want Garcia to win, and instead wants the Jewish community to ensure that Eric Adams receives the unanimous vote of the community he represents. Sources tell YWN that Councilman Yeger is likely to do the same in the next few hours.

A bullet was fired into a Shul on Nostrand Avenue in Flatbush on Shabbos afternoon. The NYPD tells YWN that Detectives are investigating the incident, which occurred at Khal Zichron Mordechai (Rabbi Sherer Shul), located at 2645 Nostrand Ave near Avenue M. It appears that the bullet struck a side window of the Shul building at around 2:30PM. The Shul was empty at the time of the incident. The NYPD tells YWN that at this time it does not appear that the Shul was targeted, and may have been a stray bullet fired nearby. Police are reviewing camera footage and are working on the case. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A fast-moving fire left a supermarket in Lakewood totally destroyed. It happened just after 4:30AM, when the fire broke out at the Picnic Grocery Store on Squankum Road. Arriving firefighters found heavy fire in the building. Multiple fire departments from surrounding towns were called to assist in extinguishing the blaze. By the time the fire was placed under control, the entire building appeared to have been totally destroyed. There were no injuries reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation. PHOTOS VIA N.W. And TLS: (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid responded on Motzei Shabbos to the election of Iran’s new president Ebrahim Raisi on Saturday, stating: “Iran’s new president, known as the Butcher of Tehran, is an extremist responsible for the deaths of thousands of Iranians.” “He is committed to the regime’s nuclear ambitions and to its campaign of global terror. His election should prompt renewed determination to immediately halt Iran’s nuclear program and put an end to its destructive regional ambitions.” Raisi is the first Iranian president who was sanctioned by the US government even before entering office for his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 as well as being one of the world’s top executioners when he was the head of Iran’s judiciary.

Numerous people were injured when a fire truck collided with a civilian vehicle in Williamsburg, Friday afternoon. It happened at around 3:00PM, when an FDNY truck responding to an emergency with its lights and sirens on, slammed into a vehicle on Driggs Avenue and South 5th Street. Williamsburg Hatzolah and FDNY transported 8 victims to the hospital. All are in stable condition. Six are adults, and two are children. Police are investigating the incident.