Are we in Netanyahu's pocket? Just the opposite. Netanyahu is in our pocket

  -- Mk Moshe Gafni (UTJ)

There are not many political leaders who would step down from power and settle on a kibbutz in the middle of the barren Negev. But then, most leaders aren’t David Ben Gurion. Nor was his modest retirement the only thing that set the first Israeli prime minister apart from those who followed (and we’re not even talking about his fondness for yoga!). While Ben Gurion has become a mythical figure - famed as a bold revolutionary and an idealistic founder - not everything about him was as it seemed, including his name and his ideas. That’s why, this week on History of Israel Explained, we’re counting down 10 essential facts about Ben Gurion and bringing you the truth about the man with the crazy white hair who led Israel to independence.

Mazel tov to all those finishing Shas in the coming weeks in the framework of Daf Yomi (and to anyone finishing Shas under any other framework), but especially noteworthy is those finishing it in an historic way.

VIN is reporting on a the first ever, and anything billed as "first ever" will almost always qualify as historic, all-female siyum hashas. The siyum is going to be held on January 5, 2020.

Anybody who can persevere and have the discipline to learn the daily daf for 7.5 years, day in day out, deserves praise, and much more so when it is a group of people who do not even have the obligation or mitzva to learn regularly but do it purely out of love and dedication.

The all-female siyum will be held at Binyanei HaUma in Jerusalem. Even though the hall will not be filled with people who have learned the entire 7.5 years worth of Gemara pages, it will be filled with female supporters and celebrants honoring those who have. The siyum is being arranged by Michelle Farber who gives a daf yomi shiur in Ranana to a small group of women, with another 250 women who learn from her shiur online.

An interesting anecdote related in the article is mentioned by a student in Farber's class that appreciates Farber using women in her examples and explanations of the gemara - instead of saying things like Reueven lent Shimon money, Shimon stole from Reuven, etc, she uses women's names saying things like Rivka lent money to Devorah, etc.

The event is to celebrate the accomplishments of the participants and also to encourage more to join in the future.

Mazel tov to all the mesaimim and mesaimot.

In what could be their smartest move in a long time, Haredi protesters in Jerusalem held their protest with strollers and little children. They were protesting construction of light rail line son Strauss Street, claiming it will be damaging to the character and nature of their neighborhood.
source: INN

I am not sure if bringing the young 'uns to the protest was symbolic in nature, having to do with the character of the neighborhood, or if it was to prevent security forces from reacting with violence and water cannons and the like. Either way, it was definitely a smart move that would make the protest more difficult to break up.

The other possibility, of course, is that perhaps the children reached the age of chinuch and the parents were taking them out to the hafgana for that purpose - to begin their training in the mitzva of protesting the Zionist State's actions.

This hurts me, personally. I came with a lot of energy and now everything is resetting back to the beginning. Everyone should know that the public will punish the people who caused this..

  -- MK Moshe Abutbol (Shas), about the move to new elections as the deadline approaches

Translation:
Quote-worthy
When I first wanted to establish the Cultural Center, which still does not yet exist in Bet Shemesh, the one question they would ask me is if it would be in operation on Shabbos. None of the people asking were bothered by the fact that during the other six days of the week there was no functioning cultural center in the city.
Shabbos is important to me as well, but I say that we should first build the cultural center and then we can deal with the Shabbos question.
In my eyes this is an example of how to deal with all machlokes. We might be able to agree about 80% of the issues, so let's start with the things we agree about. The problem is that we tend to begin with the 20% of the issue that is under disagreement, and we get stuck in that.When we put the conflict at the center, it becomes the main issue.
Aliza Bloch, Mayor of Bet Shemesh

I was going to add the new trouble in Bet Shemesh municipal halls, with Shas joining the coalition and being given authority over many domains that were held until now by other parties, with those parties now upset at some of these being taken away. Add that to issues with Neve Shamir, and the coalition looks to be in trouble. Right now, Likud, Habayit Hayehudi and Degel Hatorah are all upset and considering their options (ie thinking about pulling out of the coalition). But I am not sure it is relevant to this.

Rav Shlomo Amar went to Bahrain for a conference of religious leaders...