Your First Read For Sep 26

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Three Israelis killed in attack at Har Adar

A Border Police officer and two Israeli security guards were killed in a shooting attack in the West Bank settlement of Har Adar this morning, and another Israeli, the security coordinator of Har Adar, sustained serious injuries, Haaretz reports. The 37-year-old Palestinian attacker was shot dead.

An initial investigation indicated that the terrorist arrived with group of Palestinian workers at the back entrance to the settlement. Border Police officers who suspected the man asked him to stop, at which point he pulled out a gun from under his shirt and opened fire. Security personnel shot back, killing the attacker.

Swedish court reroutes neo-Nazi march from synagogue

A court in Sweden has rerouted a neo-Nazi march on Yom Kippur farther away from a synagogue, JTA reports. The Gothenburg administrative court ruling on the march by the far-right Nordic Resistance Movement overrode the suggested route by police. The court also shortened the route.

The group had initially sought to march on the main streets of Gothenburg.

The court said it considered the fact that the route would have passed near the synagogue on the Jewish holiday and the demonstration would fall during the Gothenburg Book Fair, when some 100,000 people are expected to gather in the city for the largest literary festival in Scandinavia.

 

British Labor party may legitimize BDS

A proposed amendment to the British Labour party’s constitution that could legitimize anti-Zionism has reportedly been submitted to an internal party review, the London Jewish Chronicle reports. The clause, among several said to be under consideration, states that “Hatred of Jews shall not be evidenced by non-abusive words or actions regarding Israel or Zionism that are part of legitimate political discourse.”

Israeli CEO accused of defrauding investors

The CEO of an Israeli binary options company, accused of defrauding investors out of millions of dollars, was arrested by FBI agents shortly after arriving in the United States last week, the Times of Israel reports.

Lee Elbaz, 36,  CEO of Yukom Communications, boarded a New York-bound plane from Tel Aviv on September 14; FBI agents, learning of her imminent arrival, scrambled to file a criminal complaint with the Maryland district court, charging her with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Elbaz, released into the custody of her aunt in the U.S. who posted $1.8 million in bail, is under house arrest until her trial.

NJ children’s performer arrested on child pornography charges

(JTA) — A New Jersey music teacher and singer who has performed for children at synagogues, JCCs and camps over the past two decades was charged with receiving and distributing child pornography.

Eric Komar, 46, was charged Tuesday in U.S. Magistrate Court in Newark after being arrested last week by special agents of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey. He is being held without bail.

Komar used a peer-to-peer file-sharing program to obtain and distribute images and videos that featured prepubescent children being sexually abused, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Following his arrest, Komar allegedly admitted to having “a large library of child pornography” containing “thousands of images and videos,” the Forward reported, citing court documents.

The charge against Komar carries a prison sentence of five to 20 years as well as a $250,000 fine.

Vermont teacher fired for teaching Nazi salute

A substitute teacher in Vermont was fired after being accused of showing elementary school children how to make the Nazi salute to Adolf Hitler, according to the Times of Israel. In an email to parents, Ned Kirsch, superintendent of elementary schools in Georgia, Vermont, said children were seen standing with arms out and the teacher modeling the salute.

He said she raised her arm slightly and then said “now we say Heil Hitler.”

Kirsch said the teacher admitted the act, and did not know what the teacher’s intent was.

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