Members of the crowd, many wearing keffiyehs and face masks, chanted, ‘There is only one solution: Intifada revolution.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters descended onto Times Square to mark New Year’s by calling for an intifada against Jews.

They carried signs with slogans like “End Zionism,” “No War on Iran,” and “End All Aid to Israel.”

The Palestinian Youth Movement, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and the People’s Forum organized the protest.

Members of the crowd, many wearing keffiyehs and face masks, chanted, “There is only one solution: Intifada revolution,” “We will honor all our martyrs,” and “Gaza, you make us proud.”

One speaker said, “2024 was a year of struggle against the crime of Zionism. We will be here every single year for generation after generation until total liberation and return.”

A few counter-protesters held Israeli and American flags, yelling “Get a Job” at protesters.

NYPD and security officers were on high alert, particularly given the terror car-ramming attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day.

At least 15 people were killed and 36 wounded in New Orleans early Wednesday morning after a man driving a pickup truck rammed through New Year’s revelers before opening fire on passersby. Two of the injured are Israeli citizens, Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced.

The incident occurred in the city’s French Quarter, on Bourbon Street and Canal Street, at approximately 3:15 a.m. Wednesday morning, when a male gunman driving a Ford F-150 and armed with an assault rifle rammed through a large crowd of pedestrians celebrating the new year.

The driver then exited the vehicle and opened fire on the crowd, prompting police officers at the scene to return fire.

During the ensuing gun battle, the suspect was fatally wounded, despite wearing body armor, according to eyewitnesses.

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Crumble cake headed the list of recipe searches in Israel, followed by honey cake, ‘key’ challah, and bento cakes.

By JNS

A mix of entertainment, sports and the war against Hamas in Gaza were the top Google search items in Israel over the last year, according to statistics released this week by the world’s most popular internet search engine.

The Euro 2024 soccer championship, Israeli singer-songwriter and actor Idan Amedi, the Israel Defense Forces’ Home Front Command, which offered information about rocket attacks, Israel’s version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” and assassinated Hamas chief Mohammed Deif topped the list of most searched items on Google, according to the website’s “Year in Search 2024.”

Iran came in sixth, followed by the Israeli singer Lior Farhi and Israel’s wartime Eurovision contender Eden Golan; two reality shows closed out the top 10 list.

Crumble cake headed the list of recipe searches in Israel, followed by honey cake, “key challah” and bento cakes.

The most asked “why” questions on Google in Israel were: Why does one eat dairy on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot (which marks the harvest festival and the giving of the Bible); why does one fast on Tisha B’Av (which commemorates the destruction of the two ancient Jewish temples); why does one fast on Yom Kippur; why didn’t Moses enter the Land of Israel; and why does one celebrate Shavuot.

The top “how” searches on Google in Israel last year were: How does one prepare parmesan, how to vote in the Eurovision Song Contest, how did Michael Jackson die, how to make sweet cream and how to peel a pomegranate.

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Moran Kaiser, 39, moved to Dusseldorf several years ago with her family; her boyfriend was taken into custody for the murder.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

An Israeli woman was murdered in Dusseldorf, Germany on Saturday night after allegedly having a fierce argument with her boyfriend, who was arrested close to the scene of the crime.

Moran Kaiser’s neighbors heard screams coming from the man’s apartment at around 9:30 p.m. on New Year’s eve and called the police, the victim’s sister Shulamit, who lives in northern Israel, told Channel 12 Monday.

The officers found Kaiser’s stabbed body and called for medical assistance, but the ambulance crew was forced to pronounce her death.

“This is a terrible tragedy for us,” Shulamit said. “Just a few days ago we talked on the phone…. We’re in shock over what happened. We can’t absorb that it’s real.”

“Moran was a special woman, energetic, happy, with a huge heart,” she said. “She loved Israel and wanted to live here, but kept putting off her desire to return because the father of her young child lives there.”

Kaiser, 39, moved to Germany from Carmiel with her sister several years ago. She married a Polish-German man and had a daughter with him before they divorced. The girl, now six, was with her father at the time of the murder.

The suspected murderer is a local man, aged 33, who became involved with Kaiser several months ago. According to Shulamit, he spent time in a treatment facility for drug addicts and his mental state may have been unstable.

“My mother didn’t like [Moran’s] relationship with that man, she thought he was a dubious character, that he wasn’t for her,” she stated, adding that she had said so to Moran several times before backing off.

Kaiser had recently told her sister that she might leave her boyfriend, Shulamit said.

“We didn’t imagine the possibility that he would hurt her. We certainly didn’t think that he would stab her to death.”

Kaiser’s mother, who lives in Germany, will meet with local investigators Monday, hoping get more information about what happened and why.

“We are helping the family with the issue of the burial,” the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

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Keren Peles’ “Different Days” is featured on the 36 songs the American Secretary of State recommended to his followers on New Year’s eve.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

An Israeli singer made it into Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s top song list for 2021 on New Year’s eve.

“Music brings people together–it transcends borders and everything else that might otherwise divide us,” America’s top diplomat tweeted December 31 to his million followers. “As we close 2021, I’m sharing some of my favorite songs released this year (or recently), by artists around the world. Hope you enjoy as much as I have.”

The Secretary included a link to the playlist of 36 tracks on Spotify, which featured among other artists Keren Peles’ song in Hebrew, Yamim Acheirim (Different Days). The gentle song talks about pushing through the uncertainty, loneliness and hopelessness that has gripped the world due to the Covid-19 pandemic, without mentioning it by name. Through the fear, she sings, “we found strength to be together, fragile, going step by step through the sea of despair to different days.”

Peles was very happy to hear the “joyous and pretty amazing” news of Blinken’s choice from Channel 12 reporter Gil Mishali she said Monday.

“I can only welcome the connection and closeness without borders that music affords us,” she continued, “and even more so now in a world of quarantines and traffic-lights [by which locales are ranked by their infection rates]. I wish for different days, ones that are good for all of us in the coming year.”

In a previous interview, the 42-year-old singer-songwriter said that the inspiration for the song had come after she had had to be hospitalized for a month, “flat on my back, unable to lift my head,” when her body “had declared war” on her. It was unclear what caused her illness.

Peles broke into Israel’s music scene in 2006, when her debut album of original works went gold (20,000 copies sold), and she was named the country’s singer of the year. She repeated the double achievement in 2008. She also writes songs for other Israeli performers.

Blinken picked songs by many foreign language artists for his playlist besides Peles, including those who sang in Pashto, Hindi, Uzbek and Arabic.

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“The State of Israel will always remain committed to freedom of religion, and will always be proud of the strong Christian communities in the Holy Land,” the president said.

By World Israel News Staff

President of Israel Reuven Rivlin held the traditional New Year’s reception for heads of the Christian denominations in Israel, this year online, on Wednesday.

“This is the last time that I will have the privilege of sending my New Year’s blessings to you and your communities, as President of the State of Israel. I wish I could do so in person, in a festive meeting. Unfortunately, that is not possible due to corona, which knows no difference between countries, peoples and religions,” said the president at the beginning of the event.

“Despite the physical distance, I am deeply thankful for the close relationships we have built. Thank you for your cooperation and friendship. The State of Israel will always remain committed to freedom of religion, and will always be proud of the strong Christian communities in the Holy Land,” he added.

The president expressed his hope that he would soon be able to announce the opening ceremony of the Land of the Monasteries, saying “I hope and pray that this will be a year in which the Christian communities in Israel continue to grow and thrive, and in which Christians throughout the Middle East know peace and safety.”

The Land of the Monasteries is a wide-ranging tourism project in the area of the abandoned churches and monasteries on the banks of the River Jordan close to the site where, according to Christianity, John the Baptist baptized Jesus and his apostles.

In recent years, the president has advanced plans to increase tourism to the area and develop the sites to visitors from around the world. South of the baptismal site there are a number of key sites – churches, chapels and monasteries – that give the area its name. The area, which his of major religious significance to Christians, has been developed and restored in recent years ahead of its opening to visitors. As part of the project, mines laid in the 1970s and which prevented access to the churches and the surrounding area, have been cleared.

Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri also delivered remarks. He said, “At a time when the coronavirus is claiming victims around the world, closing down economies and harming religion and education, we see that it does not discriminate on the basis of religion, race or gender. It is precisely now that we must be united in our war against the virus and in our prayers to return to better, saner days.”

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III said, “We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to you, Mr. President, for your steadfast support of the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-religious character of Jerusalem and the Holy Land.

“We have deeply appreciated the personal concern that you have shown us by speaking individually to each of the Heads of the Churches during this pandemic. We wish to extend to you, Mr. President, our greetings and best wishes for this holiday season, in which the Abrahamic faith traditions keep festivals of light and life.”

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Six thousand police will enforce Israel’s third lockdown with an emphasis on cracking down on gatherings, especially New Year’s parties.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

Israel’s national police force said it was deploying 6,000 officers to enforce a third national lockdown beginning Sunday evening in a bid to block the rising coronavirus infection rate, Kan News reported.

The closure includes travel restrictions to keep Israelis within one kilometer (0.6 miles) of their homes. Police said one of their main enforcement targets is to prevent gatherings, especially New Year’s Eve parties on Thursday night.

Police said they learned from the previous two lockdowns that spot road blocks are more effective than fixed positions and so police vehicles will check drivers randomly on the roads.

Health Ministry statistics released Sunday morning showed 2,630 new cases of coronavirus in the past day. The positive test rate is 4.1%. Coronavirus hospitalizations have soared over the 1,000 mark to 1,054 for the first time in months. More than half of them, 584, are listed in serious or critical condition. The death toll currently stands at 3,210.

Although the government imposed the closure for two weeks, Health Ministry officials said they expect the closure will last for a month in order to get the average weekly infections to under 1,000 per day.

Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said the number of coronavirus vaccinations that began a week ago are continuing to increase daily.

“We are finishing the first week of vaccinations with the unbelievable number of 280,000 vaccinated, 71,000 of them this past weekend,” Edelstein said.

Officials in Edelstein’s own ministry warned that the decision to leave the school system partially open would lengthen the lockdown time, and some education officials criticized the decision as an endangerment to teachers as well as students.

In response, Edelstein asked Health Minister director general Prof. Hezi Levy to see if teaching staff could start getting vaccinations as early as this week.

Health officials said that as of Monday there will be 150 vaccination stations open around the country with an additional 80 opening Tuesday in a bid to reach 100,000 vaccinations or more daily.

Edelstein said last week he wants the coronavirus vaccinations to be offered around the clock seven days a week in order to meet the demand and reach the goal of immunizing all of Israel’s over 60 and at-risk population by the end of January.

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Jews around the world must remain hopeful and pursue justice and peace, he said.

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