White House addresses settlement growth - 5/31/18

1. A fresh offense?

Unconfirmed reports from Arab media sources today have been saying that Israeli jets have just struck a military target in Syria just outside of Damascus. Witnesses say they heard explosions coming from a warehouse nearby, a well-known Hezbollah stronghold. The I-D-F, as policy, does not comment on alleged military strikes like these.

2. Gaza ceasefire holds through the night

Following the most intense exchange of fire between Israel and Palestinian Terror cells in Gaza since the 2014 war, things have returned to a relative calm. Both Israel and Hamas have upheld the ceasefire deal reached yesterday – but only after Palestinian terrorists launched at least a hundred missiles from the Gaza strip into Israeli territory.

3. Rabbinate proposes criteria for recognition abroad
   Rabbi Meir Azari, Beit Daniel, Tel Aviv ,Rabbi Seth Farber, Modern Orthodox Rabbi, Historian, & Founder of ITIM, Rabbi Ariel Konstantyn, Founding Rabbi at the Tel Aviv Int’l Synagogue, and Rabbi Ronen Neuwirth, Chairman of Ve’ahavta TLV Jewish Experience speaking at ILTV Studio about the draft that would require unrecognized foreign Rabbinates to undergo new exams.
4. White House addresses settlement growth
   Yesterday the Israeli government advanced construction plans for nearly two thousand new Jewish homes throughout the West Bank. Nearly half of these homes would be built outside of current settlement blocks in areas that some argue is Palestinian-owned territory.
5. Knesset cracks down on smoking
   The dangers of smoking are quite well-known by now but despite these dangers more and more Israelis every year continue to smoke and while it’s certainly anyone’s choice to do so the Israeli government has finally decreed a new set of smoking restrictions in public areas in order to protect public health.
6. Israeli life expectancy up
   Now on a related albeit equally morbid topic, the Health Ministry has just published its findings on the central causes of death in Israel but before the bad news, let’s give the good. Studies conducted over the last few years also show that while disease is still the major killer life expectancy for Israelis overall is on the rise.
7. Blue whale sighted in Eilat
   Israel’s Southern resort-city of Eilat just received an extraordinary visitor. I’m talking bigger than Kim and Kanye… bigger than any president, even bigger than Beyonce. This one-of-a-kind visitor is actually one of the largest mammals on earth, a rare, beautiful, endangered blue whale.
8. Surf’s up with reading!

If you’re a bookworm, you may already know about ‘books-surfing’, the idea started out as one Israeli’s way to reconnect with his friends through his love of books. Well that idea has exploded over the years into a worldwide phenomenon –paving the way for the first-ever world Booksurfing day on June 2nd.
9. Top 5 cocktail bars in Tel Aviv
ILTV’S Emanuelle Kadosh has the top 5 of the week with this week that marks the first ever Tel Aviv cocktail week.

10. Hebrew word Of The Day: LEVIATAN | לויתן = WHALE

Learn a New Hebrew word every day. Today’s word is "Leviatan" which means "whale"

12. The Weather Forecast

Tonight should be partly cloudy and warm with a low of sixty-nine, or twenty-one degrees Celsius. Over the weekend, temperatures are set to be about the same with a high of around eighty or twenty-seven degrees Celsius, but there is a high chance of rain across the center and north.

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