Two women from Peru were apprehended entering Israel on Friday evening, erev Pesach, carrying over 3.5kg (7.7 LBS.) of cocaine. The two suspects, in their 20s, were carrying the drug on their bodies when apprehended by airport police. The two were arraigned in the Tel Aviv Magistrate Court on motzei Shabbos, with the court extending their remand until Monday, as the investigation continues. Police will ask to recommend their remand again on Monday until they are prepared to move ahead with criminal indictments against them. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem/Photo Credit: Police Spokesman Unit)

The head of the National Security Council (NSC), Meir Ben-Shabbat and members of the security delegation traveled to an important meeting with the Prime Minister of India and senior officials of the defense establishment in India about four months ago. They reviewed classified documents before boarding the plane but forgot the documents in the restaurant of the airport where they sat. Haaretz reported on Wednesday that an aide to Ben-Shabbat prepared classified documents ahead of the meetings with Indian Prime Minister Nerandra Modi. The documents in question dealt with arms deals between the two countries, which were to be discussed at the meeting. The waiter responsible for the shift found the documents, but the team was already on the plane. He contacted the Israeli embassy in India and the documents were transferred to the embassy’s security officer, thus avoiding a diplomatic-security disaster. Following an investigation conducted by the NSC, the assistant was accused of losing the documents but received only a warning. Ben Shabbat, arrived in India this January for a meeting with India’s National Security Adviser, Agit Duvall, and continued meetings with the director-general of the Indian Ministry of Defense and Foreign Affairs and heads of the security organizations in the country. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Good news for the passengers to Jerusalem. Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz signed an order Sunday to allow free travel on the tram to Jerusalem, from Ben-Gurion International Airport to the Navon (Yitzhak Navon) station in Jerusalem during the trial period. Until now, it was possible to travel only from the Navon station in Jerusalem, to all train stations in Israel and back, free of charge. Following Minister Katz’s decision, it will soon be possible to travel from Ben-Gurion Airport to the Jerusalem station and from Jerusalem to all railway stations in Israel, free of charge, during the entire trial period. The Ministry of Transportation and Israel Railways week canceled the need for pre-registration for travel on the Jerusalem tram line, which was introduced at the start of the trial period. From now on, it is possible to travel on and off the train line to and from Jerusalem via a Rav Kav smart card, and passengers are no longer required to issue a special travel voucher for the trip. It should be noted that the tram to Jerusalem, currently operating in a breaking-in period, during which trains are limited to only 400 passengers per trip. The train will continue operating at this stage on the schedule of two trains an hour in each direction, from 6:30AM to 7:30PM, Sunday through Thursday. A total of 54 trains a day. The train data shows that since the start of the train’s trial period, which began on Sukkos, more than 222,000 passengers took the train to Jerusalem. The Jerusalem express train line is one of the most complex engineering and technological projects ever carried out in Israel. The project includes a double track length of 56 kilometers. Work on the train included the mining of five tunnels, 38 kilometers long and 8 bridges, 7.5 kilometers long. The line passes through a tunnel 11.5 kilometers long, considered the longest in the country, and over a bridge about 100 meters high, and is considered the tallest bridge in Israel. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A former Ben-Gurion Airport duty free employee was arrested on suspicion of smuggling Georgian nationals into Israel. The Israeli police arrested a 34-year-old Lod resident on Wednesday, on suspicion of involvement in a number of smuggling incidents involving Georgian citizens entering Israel via Ben-Gurion Airport. According to suspicions, the man, who was employed in the past at the airport, abused his ID as a driver for duty free companies. The suspect was questioned and arraigned in the Rishon L’Tzion Magistrate’s Court on Thursday as the investigation continues. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A potentially horrific collision was prevented at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Tuesday by the vigilance of the control tower. An Airbus A320 from EasyJet Airline began heading down a runway without being cleared, at the same time an executive plane was touching down on another lane. The control tower agent realized what was unfolding and ordered the pilot to halt immediately, thereby preventing a collision. According to Ynet, the incident took place just before 7:30PM. The Airbus A320 EasyJet plane, which took off for Venice in a westward direction on Runway 26, was stopped after it began its takeoff without authorization following a directive from an inspector in the control tower. The inspector spotted the executive jet, a Bombardier Challenger 350 aircraft from Austria that had begun landing on Runway 12 that intersected with the track the EasyJet plane trying to take off. This is not the first-time a near-miss incident occurred at Ben-Gurion Airport. In January of this year a serious disaster was prevented when a FedEx cargo plane that arrived from Athens to Ben-Gurion Airport was forced to perform a sharp maneuver in the air in order to avoid a collision with a UN plane that took off from S’dei Dov Airport against standard protocol. The two aircraft were at a speed of 700 kilometers per hour and a few dozen meters opposite each other off the Tel Aviv shoreline, and the Boeing 757 cargo plane pilot noticed the King Air plane opposite it, managed to maneuver in the air, thus preventing a major disaster. The incident was probed by investigators in the Ministry of Transport. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Students at Ben-Gurion University expressed outrage over a scheduled musical performance on campus by the pro-BDS group, DAM. The Israeli-Arab hip-hop group is scheduled to perform Monday at Ben-Gurion University’s “Student House,” in an event organized by the university’s Student Union. The controversial band regularly promotes anti-Israel rhetoric in its songs, and has called for BDS, equated Israel to Nazi Germany, and labelled Zionism as “racist and terrorist.” Students from the Zionist organization Im Tirtzu sent a letter to Ben-Gurion University president, Rivka Carmi, and started an online petition calling on the university to cancel the event. “Rather than promoting reconciliation, coexistence and understanding,” charged the letter, “you chose to invite a group to campus that promotes hatred, incitement, calls to refuse IDF enlistment, called the State of Israel ‘Nazis,’ and supports the BDS movement.” In their letter to Carmi, the student activists also called attention to the fact that the Student Union receives funding from the university, which is funded by public funds. “If David Ben-Gurion were alive to see this radical performance occurring in the university named after him, he would not stand idly by,” said Yuval Varsulker, coordinator of Im Tirtzu’s Ben-Gurion University branch. Dov Trachtman, a masters student from Sderot, called the performance a “disgrace.” “As a resident of Sderot that has been suffering from incessant rocket fire and incendiary bombs, it is a disgrace that the university is hosting a band that encourages Gaza ‘freedom fighters,’ said Trachtman. “And this is all occurring in an institution that is funded by public funds,” added Trachtman. Ben-Gurion University responded: “The principle of academic and artistic freedom of expression stands at the base of every academic institution, provided that it does not harm state security and operates according to law. The performance of said band is within the framework of an event by Arab students on campus and was duly approved by the relevant bodies within the framework of the institution’s accepted practices.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A 52-year-old manpower agency employee from Petach Tikvah employed at Ben-Gurion International Airport was arrested by police on Tuesday, 23 Tishrei, on suspicion of stealing valuables from passengers’ luggage. The suspect, who is employed as a porter, is suspected of having stolen hundreds of items of value. In search of the man’s belongings at the end of the shift and at his home, large quantities of perfumes, credit cards, foreign currency, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, clothing, purses, cell phones and tablet computers were found. In his interrogation, the suspect claimed that the items he said fell from suitcases, but later admitted that he used to open suitcases and steal items from them. Following questioning, the suspect will be arraigned in the Rishon L’Tzion Magistrate Court. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

On Tuesday, 26 Menachem Av, members of Israel’s disabled community plan to protest at Ben-Gurion Airport’s Terminal 3, which will severely disrupt the airport’s operations on an extremely busy summer day. According to the announcement, the protest is set to get underway at 4:00PM on a day during which officials will be processing almost 92,00 travelers, of which 45,985 will be leaving and 45,671 arriving. The protesters are demanding increased government assistance, with many claiming they are unable to maintain a dignified life or meet minimum expenses on the monthly aid they receive today. Airport officials advise passengers who are departing to head for the airport significantly earlier as delays are to be expected. In the past, disabled protesters blocked streets and highways with wheelchairs and mobility carts, and the same is to be expected today. Airport officials add that they will be doing everything possible to keep operations as close to the schedule as possible. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

In addition to the nightmare for Modi’in residents, Israel Railways has now added travelers heading to and from Ben-Gurion International Airport, as it announced on Sunday, 17 Menachem Av, the closure of the Modi’in Center – Ben-Gurion Airport stop on the two upcoming weekends to permit electrical maintenance work on the express Jerusalem-Tel Aviv line. Modi’in stations have been closed intermittently for four weeks due to the work, which led to harsh criticism from the residents, who claim that the number of trains supplied are insufficient. With the continuation of the work, the disruption of the daily routine of Modi’in residents continues – and at the height of the travel season, Ben-Gurion Airport is also a resident. As part of the work, the stations will be shut down in both directions from Wednesday, August 1, 21:00 to Sunday, August 5, at 4:00. These stations will be closed again from Wednesday, August 8, from 21:00 to Sunday, 12 August at 04:00. The railway, on the Nahariya-Modi’in line, will start and end service in the Tel Aviv Center – Savidor stop. The Transportation Ministry will add additional buses to the 111 line between Modi’in and Tel Aviv to assist travelers, as well as running shuttles around the clock to Ben-Gurion Airport. The Modi’in stop has been shut every weekend since February 2018 from the early hours of Fridays to Sunday morning. In addition, in recent months the station has also closed on weekdays for long periods, for example six days at the end of last month. Israel Railways responded last Thursday, 14 Menachem Av: “As part of the final construction of the express line to Jerusalem, which will be the first electric line in Israel, orderly work is being carried out to electrify the Modi’in-Ben-Gurion Airport-Tel Aviv segment. “This was done after the route of the line between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, with its bridges and tunnels, was completed in full, and the electricity infrastructure in the Jerusalem-Mishmar Ayalon section was completed.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A relatively large but plain drone, the type available for purchase in hobby stores, closed the closure of Ben-Gurion International Airport on Tuesday night at about 11:30PM after it entered the airport’s airspace. In fact, it was several tens of meters from a Boeing aircraft but B”H nothing occurred. Officials explain, like a bird, it would depend where it strikes an aircraft, but it could have disastrous results. Police and airport officials are working to locate the operator of the drone. The order was given to stop all takeoffs and landings until the device was taken down. Authorities report such a device can cause a true hazard to flights operating in the airport. (YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Ben-Gurion University has decided that beginning next year, it is going to accept Arab students without having first taken the psychometric exam, which is a requirement for all to enter a university. The announcement was made by university president, Rivka Carmi. Applicants to colleges and university take the psychometric exam and based on their score together with the level of their matriculation diploma from high school, one is determined eligible to enter university to study a profession. For example, to enter medical school one needs a combined score of at least 737 as compared to the score required to become a teacher, which is 550. The objections to the university’s decision are being heard among many in the academic community, as well as in Knesset. MK (Yisrael Beitenu) Oded Forer sent a letter to the president, decrying her decision to wave the psychometric exam for Arab applicants, calling the decision discriminatory against citizens “who serve and contribute to the State of Israel”. Forer is speaking of Jewish citizens who enter the IDF and national service, while Arabs, who by and large do not serve in any capacity, are now being given a free pass to enter university. Forer questions if “the blood of Arabs redder than the blood of discharged soldiers and new immigrants?” Forer is demanding that if this new track is opening, then it includes others and not remain exclusively for Arab applicants to the school. (YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Early Thursday morning 4 Av, a man in his fifties traveling to Ben-Gurion airport suffered a heart attack right outside the front gate to the departures lounge. United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Yoni Uziyahu was at the airport and rushed over, and together with the airport medical team, began CPR and succeeded in reviving the man. Uziyahu, who lives in Bat Yam, had been at the airport for business as he is a supplier for some of the coffee shops and duty-free stores in the airport. “I am so full of positive energy right now that I am literally shaking,” Uziyahu said. “There is no better feeling in the world than starting off your day by saving someone’s life. That is what United Hatzalah is about – taking volunteers who are going about their daily lives, giving us the training and the equipment we need to save a life and getting us the information that someone needs help nearby. Due to all of these factors combined we saved this man’s life today.” Uziyahu said that he received the call via the emergency medical application on his phone which notified him about the emergency. He told the dispatch center that he was enroute to the spot of the emergency and arrived in less than three minutes from the time that the heart attack occurred. “It is not a question of being in the right place at the right time. I wasn’t doing anything special, I was doing my job and the emergency occurred.” The patient did not make his flight. After receiving one shock from the defibrillator the patient revived. He was then transported in stable condition to the nearest hospital. (YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo Credit: United Hatzalah)

Rishon L’Tzion Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef Shlita during a shiur in Bnei Brak delivered a blow to Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion. According to the Kikar Shabbos News report, Rav Yosef said, “He used [proverbial] incinerators to get people away from Yiddishkheit”. “Two weeks ago, I was invited to Kiryat Tivon, a children’s town, where Ben-Gurion got people away from religion. It was there that the peyos of the naïve children of Morocco were cut off” Rav Yosef added. “This is a place that there was an incinerator operated to remove them from their religion,” Rav Yosef emphasized. It should be noted that Rabbi Yosef was invited to Kiryat Tivon for a hachnasas Sefer Torah and became the first Chief Rabbi to visit the community in his official capacity. (YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

(VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE) Following months of renovations, Terminal 1 at Ben-Gurion International Airport has reopened for low-cost airlines. As part of the deal, these carriers will pay half the parking fee paid by carriers using Terminal 3. The terminal will now accommodate security inspection and check-in and therefore, low-cost travelers will no longer have to use Terminal 3 as in the past. According to Transportation Ministry officials, some 1.4 million departing passengers are expected to pass through annually. All arriving passengers will be brought to Terminal 3. Renovations of the once ‘main terminal’ at Ben-Gurion International Airport included a 60 million shekel HBS baggage screening security system. Stands have been set in place to accommodate scanning biometric passports, carry-on luggage inspection stations enlarged, and nine gates will be operational to accommodate departures. There is also duty-free shopping, a must for traveling Israelis. Airlines that will be operating out of Terminal 1 include: Arkia, Blue Bird Airways, easyJet, El Al, Israir, Pegasus, Ryanair, and Wizz Air. Thirty-three flights daily will depart from the airport. Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz said, “When I became Minister of Transportation in 2009, there were 9 million passengers and today, we are taking about 20 million travelers in 2018. (YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Israel Police at Ben-Gurion International Airport arrested a 63-year-old man who presented himself as a money changer. He offered travelers to exchange shekels to Bulgarian or Romanian currency at a reduced rate. According to police, it appears the money he was selling for cheap was expired non-usable currency. When police detectives arrived at the airport the suspect tried to make a run for it but he was apprehended and will be arraigned. (YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)