Morris Kahn, founder of SpaceIL, the Israeli space program behind the failed Beresheet spacecraft moon mission last month, said in an Independence Day address at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl on Wednesday that SpaceIL will attempt another moon landing within two years, this time with the support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“On the evening of the landing where we couldn’t make it — we were two minutes form the end, but we didn’t make it — the Prime Minister approached me and asked how much would it cost to do another project,” said the South-Africa born Israeli entrepreneur in a speech marking Israel’s 71st Independence Day. “He asked how long it would take and I said two years.”

The leaders of the Rabbinical Congress for Peace stated this week that “a situation in which millions of Jews are being held hostage by terrorists is unacceptable.” The RCP is an organization of over 400 rabbis founded in 1993 by many of the most prominent rabbis in Israel.
While government officials claim that there is no solution to the situation in Gaza, the rabbis insist that there is.

A fire truck responding to a call in the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Yerushalayim was attacked on Thursday, after local residents tried to tear down an Israeli flag.
The truck was responding to an emergency call when dozens of men attempted to rip the blue and white emblem, a spokesperson for the firefighters said.
Israeli fire trucks do not normally carry national insignia, but the flag was mounted on the vehicle for independence day – as many Israeli vehicles are.
“We managed to keep them away for a short time from the fire engine, but as we continued towards the fire, a number of residents lay down in front of the wheels, blocking our way, and at that time others climbed onto the fire truck and tore it off,” the team commander, Lt. Col. Avi Levy, said.

White House officials misspelled the name of the Red Sox in an announcement about the 2018 World Series championship team visiting Washington to meet with President Trump on Thursday, before declaring them the “World Cup Series” champions in a separate e-mail sent afterward.
On a page listing upcoming “Live” events to be streamed online from the White House, the announcement about the team’s arrival called the team the “Socks,” instead of Sox.
“President Trump Welcomes the 2018 World Series Champions The Boston Red Socks to the White House,” the statement read.
A second gaffe came in an official email to reporters:
“Remarks by President Trump Welcoming the 2018 World Cup Series Champions Boston Red Sox,” the e-mail’s subject line proclaimed.
 

The 19-year-old accused of opening fire in a Chabad shul in Poway near San Diego last month, killing one and injuring three others, was charged Thursday with 109 federal hate crimes and civil rights violations – making it possible for him to face the death penalty, authorities said.
John Earnest had been facing state murder and attempted murder charges in connection with the April 27 attack on the Chabad of Poway, California. Federal authorities added dozens of charges of their own, alleging in a criminal complaint that the shooting was motivated by Earnest’s animus toward Jews and that he was also responsible for a March 24 arson at a mosque in Escondido, California.

President Donald Trump on Thursday said former secretary of state John Kerry should be prosecuted for discussing the Iran nuclear deal with officials from that country after leaving office.
Trump raised the issue during a freewheeling exchange with reporters after an event on health care at the White House, accusing Kerry of telling Iranian officials not to speak with members of the Trump administration.

Uber priced its IPO at $45 per share in preparation to start trading early Friday, the company announced on Thursday.
This gives Uber an initial market cap of $75.5 billion, far below the $120 billion banks reportedly sought for Uber at the start of the IPO process.
The company will  start trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “UBER” and is expected to raise $8.1 billion in the IPO, plus $500 million in a private placement from PayPal.
Read more at Business Insider.
{Matzav.com}

The BBC has sacked Danny Baker saying he showed a “serious error of judgement” over his tweet about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby.
The tweet, which he later deleted but which has been circulated on social media, showed an image of a couple holding hands with a chimpanzee dressed in clothes with the caption: “Royal Baby leaves hospital”.
The BBC Live presenter was accused of mocking the duchess’s racial heritage. The corporation said Baker’s tweet “goes against the values we as a station aim to embody”.
Baker claimed it was a “stupid gag”.

On Israel’s Independence Day, a blind IDF soldier received Israel’s Presidential Medal of Excellence.
Sergeant Ori Salmon was part of an IDF project called Special in Uniform, which seeks to integrate special needs and disabled Israelis into the army.
A non-commissioned educational officer, Salmon was born blind and volunteered for the IDF despite her disability.
“Both my elder brothers, parents, and extended family all proudly served the IDF, and they all recall this period as a very special and wonderful time in their lives,” she told a group of Special in Uniform IDF volunteers.