According to Channel 2 News, the Arab party for Knesset and member party of the United Arab List, Balad, has held its primaries and announced the results for the next elections, whenever they might be.

The results indicate that they have had enough of Hanin Zoabi and her antics that make them look bad. Zoabi has been pushed down to what is considered an unrealistic spot on the party list. Zoabi is now number 5 on the list, while the party currently holds 3 seats total.

The most noteworthy part of this news report, in my mind, is that Balad, the most extreme of the Arab parties, is more democratic in its functioning than most of the Jewish parties in the Knesset. Balad holds primaries to decide its party list while most other parties in the Knesset do not.

In UTJ's consistent effort to reverse all decisions made by the previous government that included Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid and excluded the Haredi parties, MK Yisrael Eichler is now proposing a new law that would reverse one more decision taken by that government, should it pass.

The previous government passed a law that would require a minimum of 4 women appointed to the committee for appointing dayyanim. The minimum of 4 is related to the fact that there are a minimum of 4 men automatically on the committee - 2 chief rabbis and 2 dayyanim. They could appoint more than 4 if they want, but they do not need to, even if there are more than the automatic 4 men on the committee.

Eichler's law proposal to reverse that says that there could only be a maximum of 4 women appointed to the committee, rather than the 4 being a minimum.

Justice Minister Shaked is being appealed to to reject this proposal on the basis of discrimination against women, as women would be limited to being less than 40% of the committee membership.
source: Srugim

I don't know why Eichler is ok with 4 but no more than 4. If it is ok to have 4 women on the committee, why not 6 or 8? And if it is not ok to have any women on the committee, once he is trying to change the law why not take out the requirement altogether and go back to the way it was before Lapid?

And from the other side, if 4 is ok as a minimum, maybe they should be happy that Eichler isn't trying to make the maximum less than that. He could probably get away with that if he tried, considering the balance of power. And, even with 4 as the minimum remaining the law, as the Haredim continue to obtain more power on this committee and in politics, we can all be pretty sure that they will ensure the actual number of appointees will be stuck at the minimum  qualified in law.

So, maybe the two sides should just compromise on 4 as the actual number.

in New Jersey the top school in 2015 producing students passing the CPA exam on their first try was BMG - Beit Medrash Gavoha - in Lakewood.

I am sure there is a very high percentage of smart young men studying in BMG, and when they leave and study for a profession they probably do very well, but I am not sure how BMG is listed as a school whose students pass the CPA exam. Are BMG students studying for the CPA during yeshiva time and taking the tests? Does BMG also offer CPA courses? Are these young men post-BMG in some university or CPA course and just list BMG as their school?  Has BMG become a Yeshiva University or Skokie Yeshiva type place that offers college courses in addition to the yeshiva studies?

I don't understand how BMG can get listed here, no matter how smart their students are.

the Republicans are really tempting me, despite Trump as their candidate...

Tim Chaffey walks us through the amazing exhibits at the Ark Encounter

this speech is from last year, but since they say she is the next Prime Minister of England, it is worth hearing her approach to Israel...

possible kol isha alert

למה תנועת הרפורמה לא המריאה ביהדות צפון אפריקה?
- כי לא היה צורך. קיבלו כל יהודי בחום, גם אם לא שומר מצוות, ולא הרחיקו. #הסיפור_היהודי_המלא

— Naftali Bennett בנט (@naftalibennett) July 11, 2016

Shuli Rand has become an enigma in recent days.

Last week he "disappeared" at some point and everyone was hysterical about what might have happened. Rumors surfaced before Shabbos that he is ok and his whereabouts are known (by certain people) and it is a private affair. Eventually he returned home, and his wife made different announcements, about forgiving him, about accepting him, about their personal situation, about being in major debt, etc. Some people started an online fundraising campaign to raise money to help the Rands. Bennet announced that he is giving Rand the Life Achievement Award that comes with a 150,000nis prize.

And now it has been made public that Shuli Rand was indicted last year for hitting someone in his family after an argument. Rand admitted to the charges and is awaiting the punishment stage of the court decision.

Will Bennet take the prize back because of this? Will all the people who made donations because they felt bad for the Rands regret their donations? Is there some way to cancel that campaign and not collect the money from the donors? This whole episode is very strange.