The rabbi who survived the deadly shooting at a synagogue near San Diego Saturday addressed members of the media and offered words of courage and inspiration. Speaking in front of Chabad of Poway Sunday afternoon, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein said, “We need to battle darkness with light,” and thanked President Trump for calling him after the shooting. “I see a sight that is indescribable,” the rabbi recalled of running into the gunman. “Here is a young man with a rifle, pointing right at me. And I look at him. He has sunglasses on. I couldn’t see his eyes. I couldn’t see his soul. I froze.” Goldstein, who lost a couple of fingers in the shooting, raised his bandaged hands to the cameras throughout his news conference. Hundreds gathered at a park near the temple for a vigil honoring the victims Sunday night. They held candles and listened to prayers in Hebrew, The Associated Press reports. Poway Mayor Steve Vaus said he would stand with the community, and Goldstein said seeing the crowd come together provided consolation. “What happened to us, happened to all of us,” Goldstein said.

Border Police guard, 23, stabbed at Damascus Gate; officers also attacked at Zedekiah’s Cave; three assailants, residents of West Bank, killed; Hamas hails ‘continued intifada’

Over the last 30 years, eight new settlements have been built and Israeli population in West Bank grew by 330,000 The Jewish population in the West Bank has increased by more than 330,000 people and eight settlements have been built in the West Bank over the past three decades. More than 380,000 settlers currently live in the West Bank, over 40 percent of them outside the settlement blocs, Haaretz has found.

Sunday, February 15, 2015 – 01:23 ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU : “I would like to tell all European Jews and all Jews wherever they are: ‘Israel is the home of every Jew.’    Netanyahu says Israel would welcome European Jews who choose to move to the Holy Land after a deadly shooting at a Denmark synagogue. Nathan Frandino reports.

02.17.15        The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) decided to raise the quota of entry permits for Gaza merchants to the West Bank and to Israel from 3,000 to 5,000 a month, while the number of daily exit permits from the Strip to the West Bank and to Israel has been doubled from 400 to 800 a day. The COGAT also approved the marketing of more industrial and agricultural goods from the Gaza Strip in the West Bank, such as textile, furniture, fruit, vegetables and fish. At the moment, however, Gaza farmers and merchants are not allowed to market their goods in the Israeli market, even though the issue has been examined in the past. In addition, Israel authorized the entrance of 45 tractors to the Gaza Strip for farming. The new easing of measures join others made at the end of 2014, including increasing the number of entry permits into Gaza for the purpose of the reconstruction of the Strip. Many international organizations took advantage of the increased number of entry permits to enter the Strip and try to speed up the rebuilding effort