The High Court of Justice on Sunday said it had agreed to hear a petition arguing that it is against the law for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form the next government.
The court said the hearing would take place December 31 at 9 a.m. before a three-judge panel led by Chief Justice Esther Hayut and including Deputy Chief Justice Hanan Melcer and Justice Uzi Vogelman.
The court also asked Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit to produce a legal opinion on the question of Netanyahu’s eligibility to return to the prime minister’s chair, and to hand it to the court at least 48 hours before the hearing.

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In a letter dated Friday, Jewish members of Congress wrote demanding the dismissal of Stephen Miller, one of Donald Trump’s most radical advisers, known for his defense of a resolutely anti-immigrant policy.
A recently leaked trove of emails also shows him appearing to promote white supremacist views, prompting 25 Jewish lawmakers, all Democrats, to demand his dismissal.
The letter begins by saying, “As Jewish members of Congress, we are calling on you to immediately relieve White House Senior Adviser Stephen Miller of all government responsibilities and dismiss him from your administration.”
They added, “His documented support for white nationalist and virulently anti-immigrant tropes is wholly unacceptable.”

A rabbi and his sons in Louisville, Ky., have pledged to do acts of kindness for 18,000 people in 2020 in honor of those who lost their lives to violence, the Louisville Courier Journal reported.
Rabbi Avrohom Litvin, regional director for Chabad of Kentucky, based in Louisville, will officially launch a new charity program called Project Friendship on Sunday—the first night of Hanukkah.

An armed infiltrator from the Gaza Strip was arrested Monday morning after he crossed into Israeli territory and threatened IDF soldiers with a knife, an army spokesperson said.
The soldiers opened fire on the terrorist, wounding him. The terrorist was then arrested and evacuated for treatment before being questioned.
“A short while ago, a suspect was identified crossing the security fence from the southern Gaza Strip into Israel. The suspect pulled a knife at the troops and in response the troops fired at him. The suspect was apprehended by the troops and was evacuated for medical treatment and further questioning.”
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
{Matzav.com}

Auxiliary Sites Open in Eretz Yisrael and Manchester 
By Chaim Gold
The frenzy to obtain tickets for the sold-out World Siyum to be led by the Gedolei Hador this Motzoei Shabbos Chanukah in the Binyanei Haumah Convention Center has compelled Dirshu to open five new, remote venues in strategic locations throughout Eretz Yisrael.
Participants will be able to watch a livestream of the event and celebrate the simchas haTorah, the accomplishments of the lomdei Torah, who have finished Shas as well as with those who have completed Dirshu’s “Kinyan Chochma,” Mussar learning program. 

United Hatzalah paramedic Liad Ohana was traveling by train from his home in Ofakim to Tel Aviv on Monday morning when he heard screams coming from the seat behind him. A man had collapsed and was unconscious. Liad immediately rushed over to the man checked his pulse and having found none, began compressions.
“I was on my way to report for military reserve duty when I heard screams coming from right behind me. I rushed over to the man who had collapsed. He was in a state of agonal breathing. I began chest compressions while I instructed those around me to call for help. After a few minutes, the man’s pulse returned. Emergency medical teams from the train as well as an ambulance team rushed to the nearest station where they waited for the train to arrive.”

A crowdfunding campaign raised more than $1.5 million primarily from Orthodox and Chassidic donors for the family of Leah Mindel Ferencz, 33, who was shot and killed on Dec. 10 in the Jersey City kosher grocery that she owned with her husband, The Forward reported on Thursday.
Chesky Deutsch, a local Chassidic resident of Jersey City unrelated to another victim of the shooting Moshe Deutsch, started the campaign for the Ferencz family on the crowdfunding site Charidy.com on the eve of the deadly attack.

A Saudi journalist claims that his support for normalized ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel is the reason why the Saudi government has revoked his and his family’s citizenship.
Abdul Hameed al-Ghabin told The Media Line that he was not officially told why their citizenship was revoked, and the Saudi government has not officially commented on the matter.
He added that his family will not question the decision, saying “we only listen and obey.”
Al-Ghabin, who has written for Israeli newspapers and uses social media to praise Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, supports “direct and unconditional” ties with Israel, calling it “a strategic choice.”

The Syrian army’s air defense system intercepted missiles coming from the direction of Israel that were aimed at targets on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, state media said on Sunday.
Four cruise missiles were believed to have been launched across the coast through Lebanese airspace toward Syria, a source in the regional alliance supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told Reuters.
Later the army said it had brought down one of the missiles in an area near the capital. It gave no further details and there was no immediate comment from Israel.