Israel news:
The Israeli Supreme Court will start hearing the ‘Western Wall Arrangement’ case today as Reform, Conservative and ‘Women of the Wall’ movement are pushing for it and have petitioned to the court in light of the Knesset’s ruling against it. They hope to change the status quo which reflects the desire of the majority of Israeli society by getting the Supreme Court to twist the Knesset’s arm and force them to accept an arrangement forced upon them by a microscopic almost non-existent minority in Israel.
Israel finally got the UN to decide in its favor when the UN passed a resolution obligating UNIFIL to take a more aggressive stand against Hezbollah violations of UN resolutions which happen to destabilize the region and endanger Israel.
India issued a visa to Moshe Holzberg the child of the Chabad Emissaries in Mumbai, Rabbi Gabi and Rivka Holzberg who were killed in a bloody terrorist attack 8 years ago. Moshe lives with his grandparents, the Rosenberg family in Afula. When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Israel 2 months ago, Moshe met with him and told him he misses India. The Prime Minister told him: “My country is open to you” and yesterday (Wednesday) he delivered on his promise and issued an open visa to Moshe to visit when he wants.
World news:
Tropical storm Harvey was downgraded to a low barometric pressure zone but there’s still danger of flooding in Eastern Texas and Louisiana. Some public transportation will be restored today in Houston and the fire department will start combing the flooded homes for survivors in addition to previous rescue efforts.
The US is not taking North Korea’s belligerence sitting down: A day after North Korea’s test missile flew over Japan the US did a missile test in Hawaii. A guided missile shot down a medium range ballistic missile of the Hawaiian coast. The U.S. also flew two B-1B bombers and two F-35 fighters over South Korea on Thursday in joint military exercises showing the US means business.
While Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson both condemned North Korea for firing a midrange ballistic missile Japan earlier this week, they both differ on the approach to dealing with it. Lavrov calls for dialogue and considers sanctions and military options “dangerous”. Tillerson may back up Trump who said “talking is not the answer”. The aforementioned US military exercises and tests both show exactly where the US stands. But Russia is uncomfortable with this and Tillerson and Lavrov had a phone conversation about Trump’s comment late last night.