Kachol Lavan MK Miki Haimovich asked for her seat in the Knesset’s plenum to be replaced with one not upholstered with leather.
“Most leather in the leather products industry is made by animals who were taken advantage of in other industries, mainly the meat industry,” Haimovich wrote in a letter to Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein. “Those animals undergo great suffering and, for most of their lives, are victims of violence and neglect.
“I am a vegan for six years and a vegetarian for 28 years, and for reasons of morality and conscience I do not use leather at all,” she explained.
Haimovich offered to pay for the expense of switching the chair and expressed her hope that all the Knesset chairs get changed to non leather.

A top Israeli official says that the country will officially name a train station in Yerushalayim after President Trump next week during the country’s annual Independence Day celebrations.
Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz, who also serves as transportation minister, tweeted Tuesday that the station located near the Kosel and Har Habayis would be “named after @realDonaldTrump.”
“Here, in the Old City of Jerusalem, we will build the Western Wall & Temple Mount train station,” Katz wrote. “It will be named after @realDonaldTrump, who made history and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The official announcement will take place on Israel’s Independence Day.”

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has offered Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas $10 billion to accept U.S. President Donald Trump’s upcoming Mideast peace plan for Israelis and Palestinians, reported the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar on Tuesday.
“According to information obtained by Al-Akhbar, Salman briefed Abbas about the details of the deal of the century and asked him to accept it. According to the information, Salman asked Abbas: What is the annual budget of your entourage? Abbas replied: I’m not a prince to have my own entourage.”
Salman then asked Abbas: “How much money does the Palestinian Authority and its ministers and employees need?”

The parents of the man who opened fire on the Chabad of Poway, killing one person and injuring three more, have broken their silence.
“Our sadness pales in comparison to the grief and anguish our son has caused for so many innocent people,” the Earnest family wrote. “To our great shame, he is now part of the history of evil that has been perpetrated on Jewish people for centuries.”
The Earnests said their 19-year-old son, John T. Earnest, was raised in a family that rejected hate and taught love. “How our son was attracted to such darkness is a terrifying mystery to us,” they added.

Israel’s 21st parliament (Knesset) held its opening session on Tuesday afternoon with the 120 lawmakers elected in the country’s April 9 national elections taking the oath of office.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in following his victory in the April 9 elections and will seek to form a governing coalition in the days ahead.
“Today we are overcome by the spirit of unity of the people we represent, the people who have decided in democratic elections and have imposed on us all the important mission to act on its behalf and for its sake,” Netanyahu said.

United States Ambassador to Israel David Friedman urged top rabbis in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak to pray for President Trump’s reelection in 2020. A video of the incident, which was acquired by the Israeli network Kan, showed Friedman visiting the Ponovezh Yeshiva. While there, the rosh yeshiva, Rav Berel Povarsky, said that Trump was “a true friend of Israel.”
“The question is what will be two years from now, or less than two years from now,” Friedman responded. “Because what we see on the other side, on the Left, is very frightening. So you need to bless us that we will be successful again. We need all the blessings, from all of Bnei Brak.”
“Everything comes from Heaven,” Rav Povarsky said. “So help us out, you’re closer,” Friedman responded.

Officials in Damascus have informed residents of the Syrian Golan Heights that another prisoner-exchange deal is in the works, in which Druze residents of the Israeli Golan Heights and Syrian prisoners in Israel are to be returned to Syria in exchange for the remains of fallen Israeli soldiers who are currently listed as “burial place unknown,” the London-based pan-Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Tuesday.
The report did not include any details about the identities of the soldiers whose remains might be returned to Israel, or when the deal is supposed to take place.

The Trump administration is in the stages of officially designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, announced White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Tuesday.
Sanders confirmed a New York Times report citing officials familiar with the matter, that the United States was in the process of making the designation, which would enact “wide-ranging economic and travel sanctions” on anyone doing business with the organization.
Visiting the White House earlier this month, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi asked U.S. President Donald Trump to make the move, which the president “responded affirmatively,” saying “it would make sense.”

“The attack on the mispallelim of Chabad of Poway on Pesach, by a monster who brought hate and horror into the kedushas beis haknesses, left us grief-stricken and heartbroken,” said LCSW, Shomrim of Lakewood, NJ, in a statement.
The shooting brought to the fore the horrific ramifications of latent anti-Semitism when actualized, and it also brought to the fore the heroism of individuals who fought hate with love.
“We mourn the passing of Lori Gilbert-Kaye who lost her life while protecting others in a courageous act of heroism,” said LCSW. “We extend our heartfelt refuah shelaimah to the injured, including Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who continued to lead his congregation with strength and courage despite his own injuries.”
 

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó appeared Tuesday to be staging a military-backed challenge to President Nicolás Maduro, beginning a tumultuous day in the capital, as thousands flocked to the streets and forces loyal to Maduro appeared to violently respond to the demonstrations.
By noon, six people had been wounded by firearms, according to an official with the Caracas Metropolitan Clinic. It was not immediately clear whether they were injured by rubber bullets or bullets. A seventh person, a reporter in the interior state of Barquisimeto, was injured by a rubber bullet, according to Venezuela’s journalists union. In Caracas, an armored vehicle ran into a crowd of Guaidó supporters.