Bet Shemesh has been in the news again:

1. As you might already have heard, among the 6 suspects rounded up for allegedly murdering the Arab boy, Mohammed Abu-Kheidar, 2 of them live in Bet Shemesh, one of which lives in RBS.

2. Last night Red Alert sirens reached as far as Bet Shemesh, Mevasseret Tzion and parts of Gush Etzion.

Authorities have officially declared it to be a false alarm, despite conflicting reports on whether there were rockets shot down or falling in the area, or not. It is important to follow instructions from the authorities and not talk about specific locations where rockets hit or fell or were shot down. With much of the battle taking place online, the enemy looks for information online and then sends it back to home base for them to adjust their targets accordingly.

3. As per instructions from the Home Front Command (Pikud HaOref), today all camps within 40km of the Gaza border were canceled. Also, no large gatherings of over 300 people should take place. This included many areas and towns surrounding Bet Shemesh - such as, Gefen, Tirosh, Sdot Micha, Zechariya, Givat Yeshayahu, Srigim, Luzit, Ajur, Nechusha, etc.

You probably recognize many of these names if you live in Bet Shemesh. They are just a ho, skip and a jump away form our homes. Local runners and bikers regularly run and bike right past these towns, and you probably drive by them fairly regularly as well.

If you hear a Red Alert siren again in Bet Shemesh, you have about 90 seconds to get to a bomb shelter or your mamad (sealed/secure room). Public bomb shelters in Bet Shemesh are not yet open. The Iryah has announced that they are coordinating with Pikud HaOref and if Pikud HaOref gives instructions to open the public shelters, it will immediately be done. The Iryah says the shelters are ready to be used, should it God forbid become necessary.

for information, you can call Pikud HaOref by dialing *8108

4. Another type of explosion was heard in Bet Shemesh last night. Residents of Old Bet Shemesh called the police in the middle of the night reporting that they had heard what sounded like an explosion from a hand grenade.

It turns out, as per the confirmation of the police, that someone had thrown a hand grenade at the house of Deputy Mayor of Bet Shemesh Meir Balayish.

Nobody was injured in the attack. Obviously his kids, and probably he and his wife, were traumatized by the incident.

I haven't heard who is responsible for this attack or what his motive was, but Meir Balayish and/or his family, have been attacked in the past, specifically for his connection to the Haredi parties and Moshe Abutbol in the past elections. I dont know if this is what is behind this last attack as well or if it is something more personal or other reasons, but such violence cannot be tolerated. And the hostile atmosphere around town surely contributes to it and people should make efforts to lower the tensions.

5. After Iryat Bet Shemesh approved an increase in arnona on certain parts of the city, while increasing the size of the arnona discounts for other parts of the city, MK Rabbi Dov Lipman (Yesh Atid) brought the issue before the Finance Minister, Yair Lapid, who said he would consider the issue.

Shopping Mekomi is reporting that a meeting was held yesterday between representatives of the Opposition in Bet Shemesh, specifically Eli Cohen, Motti Cohen, and Menashe Elias, with Lapid. According to the report, after the issue was presented, Lapid said that he would not allow the increase in its current format.

After the city approves such an increase, it still requires the approval of both the Finance Minister (Yair Lapid) and the Interior Minister (Gideon Saar).

It should be noted that a meeting is already set for next week between Opposition members and Interior Minister Gideon Saar to discuss the possibility of splitting Bet Shemesh.