Bomb Scare at NY Israeli Consulate

By COLlive reporter

The Israeli consulate in New York City was closed down for a short time on Friday afternoon after it received an envelope containing white powder and a threat to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, IsraelNationalNews.com reported.

Consular staff were ordered to remain in the building, and the suspicious material was examined. The ‘all clear’ was given about an hour later.

Netanyahu, who visited Latin America this week, was scheduled to arrive in New York from Mexico on Friday, ahead of the UN General Assembly next week. He is scheduled to meet President Donald Trump while in New York.

Ahead of Netanyahu’s visit, Israel’s Consul General in New York Dani Dayan greeted another visitor: Davidi Ben-Sion, deputy head of the Shomron Regional Council.

Ben-Sion was in town to create awareness for the new home being established in Samaria for underprivileged Jewish girls giving them opportunities for a better future that every child deserves.

The project is a joint effort between the Ministry of Welfare and Social Services and the Shomron Regional Council, in conjunction with private donors.

The home will be built in the name of Ben-Sion’s late mother, Shifra, who passed away in July 2015. Shifra was married to Rabbi Shimon Ben-Sion of Kiryat Arba.

Community members asked Ben-Sion to work with the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, to increase visits to Kever Yosef in Shechem.

Shechem is located in Area A, controlled by the Palestinian Authority, and Jews are banned from visiting. Exceptions are made at Kever Yosef once a month, when IDF troops accompany groups to the site. Entries at other times are illegal and very dangerous.

Before returning to Israel, Ben-Sion visited the Rebbe‘s Ohel on Thursday afternoon accompanied by activist Yaacov Behrman, and reporter Schneur Weber.