New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced that her office has reached agreements with Orange County and the Town of Chester to end their use of discriminatory housing practices that were designed to prevent members of the Jewish community from moving to Chester, New York. The agreements mandate that the county and the town comply with the Fair Housing Act and take preventative measures to ensure equitable housing practices moving forward. “The discriminatory and illegal actions perpetrated by Orange County and the Town of Chester are blatantly antisemitic, and go against the diversity, inclusivity, and tolerance that New York prides itself on,” said Attorney General James.

Emergency personnel were on the scene of a chopper down in Sullivan County in the Swan Lake area. The chopper went down at around 9:00AM in a wooded area (off Stanton Corner Road). Emergency personnel had to gain access using ATV’s and “brush unit” vehicles from the fire department. There are two occupants on the chopper. Both are in serious condition, one with a back injury, one with a leg injury. – both are conscious and alert. Two additional choppers have been requested to airlift both patients. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Rep. Rashida Tlaib published an outrageous tweet on Wednesday accusing Israel of a “decades-long ethnic cleansing project.” After Israel carried out airstrikes in Gaza on Wednesday morning in response to the launching of terror balloons from Gaza into Israel which ignited a number of fires, Tlabi chose to condemn Israel without mentioning the arson balloons. “After racist and violent ‘death to Arabs’ marches earlier today in Jerusalem, children in Gaza are being woken by bombs in the middle of the night,” she wrote on Twitter. “Israel’s government doesn’t value Palestinian lives.

The race for Mayor has had its ups and downs, “ebs” and flows.  Like a playoff basketball game, we have seen the lead change, and the game evolve.  But it’s now “crunch time” and we are getting to the end.  Early voting has started and by next week, the bulk of the votes will be cast. There is a lot at stake for our community.  A lot on the line. For many, our community, the Frum community, has looked at two candidates.  One that is new, but aggressively pursuing the community.  And another that has longstanding ties to the community, whose work for the community has been well known for decades. But the choice is no longer that simple.  It’s no longer an “either, or” scenario. Something else has happened.

Naftali Bennet is Israel’s first prime minister who wears a yarmulke. Along with all the weighty issues that have arisen in the wake of Israel’s new government, it seems like at least some people are wondering how Bennett keeps his yarmulke on his bald head, JTA reported. After all, all the usual methods such as bobby pins aren’t of any use to him. In 2013, when Bennett was just beginning his career in politics, he said on a comedy show that he uses a mixture of tape and gravity to keep his kippa on his head. But once, when he was speaking outdoors on a windy tape, he was out of tape and had to resort to using chewing gum instead. “I had to improvise,” he said. “So we MacGyvered it.” In all seriousness, Bennett actually uses tape to keep his yarmulke on, but not Scotch tape.

Many efforts have been made to save the life of two-year-old Alta Fixsler of Manchester after a UK court ruled that she must be disconnected from life-support despite her parents’ objections on personal and religious grounds. Alta and her parents are Israeli citizens and Israeli senior officials have engaged in extensive efforts to intervene in the case, all to no avail, despite the fact that Israeli hospitals have expressed willingness to treat her and the transfer will be carried out at no expense to the UK. Askanim are now requesting that the public sign a petition appealing to UK authorities to allow Alta to be transferred to Israel. The petition can be signed here.

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) published a statement of support on Wednesday for Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who has been widely condemned for her remarks equating the US and Israel with Hamas and the Taliban, Politico reported. “Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is a valued member of the Congressional Black Caucus Family, she represents a strong voice on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs,” the CBC statement said. “Furthermore, we appreciate her clarification of her recent remarks and find that this is another example of Republicans taking it out of context to shift the real attention from the abhorrent, disrespectful, and intemperate remarks of members of their own Conference.” Also on Wednesday, Republicans backed away from censuring Omar.

HaGaon HaRav Gershon Edelstein spoke publicly about the new government for the first time on Wednesday during his weekly sicha from his home. “The situation is known now about the new government – that they intend -and they said this openly – that they want to enact anti-religious laws that are not according to dinei Torah,” the Rosh Yeshiva said. “That’s the plan.” ” So what do we do? What’s the eitzah? It’s dependent on our zechuyos! When there’s zechuyos, there’s no disturbances. Someone who intends to purify is assisted [by Heaven].” “So it’s dependent now on what our zechuyos will be. How much we’ll do what we’re obligated to do – Torah, good deeds, all 613 mitzvos – bein adam l’chaveiro u’bein adam l’Makom.

The Chareidi MKs of UTJ and Shas signed a letter on Tuesday committing to working together against the new government and refusing to work with any of the government’s representatives, specifically Chareidi advisers. The letter was signed out of the fear that Chareidi advisers employed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid may try to influence individual Chareidi MKs using a “divide and conquer” strategy. All the Chareidi MKs signed the letter except for Meir Porush of Agudas Yisrael, who demanded to hold a party meeting on the issue before signing, according to a B’Chadrei Chareidim report.

Joint Arab List MK Ahmad Tibi vehemently protested the removal of UTJ chairman Moshe Gafni from his position as chairman of the Finance Committee on Wednesday, saying that he is one of the best Finance Committee chairmen in the history of the Knesset. Gafni was temporarily replaced by Yisrael Beiteinu Alex Kushnir, finalizing Avigdor Lieberman’s plan to wield complete control over governmental funds. Leiberman is serving as Finance Minister, Yisrael Beiteinu MK Hemed Amar is serving as a minister in the Finance Ministry and Kushnir is serving as the Finance Committee chairman.