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TEL AVIV, Dec 24 — Exhausted by more than 14 months of war, the wives and mothers of Israeli soldiers are uniting in protest against exemptions from conscription for ultra-Orthodox men. For several Saturday evenings, the bridge over a key highway that runs between Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox suburb of Tel Aviv, and Givat Shmuel, a bastion of religious Zionists whose sons and husbands proudly serve in the army, has been the scene of a tense standoff. Ultra-Orthodox residents passed by, some running, as protesters holding Israeli flags and banners shouted through megaphones demanding “conscription for all”. The military has asked for extra manpower in light of the war in Gaza and connected conflicts, while the Supreme Court ruled in June that the state must draft ultra-Orthodox Jewish men into military service. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition government includes members of two ultra-Orthodox parties, and he has feared that ending the exemption could break up his coalition. The coalition is moving ahead with legislation that would protect the exemption for the vast majority of Haredim (the Hebrew name for ultra-Orthodox Jews, meaning “God-fearing”) from military service. Political and religious ultra-Orthodox leaders, whose decisions are often binding on their followers, continue to strongly oppose service in the military. They say that prayer and religious study protects the country as much as combat. ‘Help from our brothers’ Military service is mandatory in Israel, but under agreements forged at Israel’s creation, when the Haredim were only a very small community, those who devote themselves to the study of sacred Jewish texts can avoid conscription. The ultra-Orthodox account for 14 percent of Israel’s Jewish population, according to the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), representing about 1.3 million people. About 66,000 of those of conscription age are exempted, according to the army. Michal Vilian, a 60-year-old resident of Givat Shmuel, has been participating in weekly demonstrations organised since last month by “Partners for Bearing the Burden”, a religious women’s collective. All four of her sons and her son-in-law have been called up as reservists, almost without leave since the war began, and been deployed to Gaza, Lebanon and, more recently, Syria. “We are here to ask for help from our brothers who live just across the bridge, to tell them to lend a hand, a shoulder, and to share the burden”, said the doctor, sporting the turban worn by religious Zionist women. Religious Zionist Jews are allied with the ultra-Orthodox factions in Netanyahu’s coalition, and their political leaders have been willing to compromise on the issue of Haredim exemptions. Even for them, though, the burden of the war has become too heavy. Since October 7, 2023, 818 soldiers have been killed, including during the Hamas attack on Israel as well as in the Gaza ground operation, the Israeli offensive in southern Lebanon and operations in the occupied West Bank. With a disproportionately high number of combat deaths due to their above average participation in the military, they share the anger of the majority of Israelis on this issue, said Amotz Asa-El, a researcher at the Shalom Hartman Institute. That anger was now “overflowing,” he said. ‘Not the Torah’ The exemption is “perceived by the vast majority of the rest of the population as being at their expense in the most physical, existential sense of the term,” he added. At its peak, just days after Hamas’s attack, up to 300,000 reservists were mobilised in the ranks of the army. This number has now dropped to 100,000, or around one percent of the total Israeli population, according to figures from the Reservists’ Wives Forum. One of the founders of the Forum, Rotem Avidar Tzalik, a 34-year-old lawyer, said she has been living in a “parallel reality” for more than a year, with her husband, a member of a special unit, called up for more than 200 days. A mother of three young children, she said the weight of mobilisation had become unbearable for families because of the economic and psychological difficulties it caused. In the Israeli parliament, where she advocates for the rights of reservists’ families, her approach to the issue of ultra-Orthodox conscription is pragmatic, emphasizing that it is only one aspect of broader changes needed. She points out, however, that any increase in their conscription, “even by just a thousand,” beyond the few thousand who already serve, would have a “huge impact” for reservists by allowing them to reduce the burden. Shvut Raanan, a 31-year-old lawyer, also an active member of the Forum, said the Haredim’s arguments did not stand up to scrutiny. “It has never worked that way in religious history... it is clear that this is not the Torah,” said the mother of four young children, citing various Jewish religious figures who called for Jewish people to fight. — AFPFantasy plays: Players to start and sit for NFL Week 13Chuck Woolery , whose game-show hosting career included tenures at Wheel of Fortune and Love Connection , has died at age 83. Mark Young, Woolery’s friend and podcast cohost, shared the news on X on Saturday. “It is with a broken heart that I tell you that my dear brother @chuckwoolery has just passed away,” Young wrote. “Life will not be the same without him. RIP, brother.” Young told TMZ he was at Woolery’s home in Texas when the former TV host reported not feeling well and went to lie down. When Young checked in later, Woolery was having trouble breathing, and despite a 911 call, Woolery died shortly thereafter. Woolery was born on March 16, 1941, in Ashland, Kentucky, to a business owner and a homemaker, according to The Hollywood Reporter . After stints at the University of Kentucky, in the U.S. Navy, and at Morehead State University, Woolery moved to Nashville to start a music career. He and singer Elkin “Bubba” Fowler formed the psychedelic pop duo The Avant-Garde, and their song “Naturally Stoned” peaked at No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. Lorimar Television/ Everett Collection A singing performance on The Merv Griffin Show led Woolery to audition for a new game show, originally titled Shopper’s Bazaar , that Merv Griffin was developing at the time. After some tinkering, Wheel of Fortune debuted on NBC on January 6, 1975. Griffin earned a Daytime Emmy for his Wheel work and hosted the show until 1981, when a salary dispute led producers to replace him with Pat Sajak . More from this section ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Turns 40, But Do You Remember the Other Versions? Woolery moved on with a job hosting the syndicated dating game show Love Connection from 1983 to 1994, pulling in 4.5 million viewers a day at one point. He also emceed the game show Scrabble from 1984 to 1990, and between the two shows, he was earning $1 million a year by 1986, as People reported at the time. Woolery also hosted the game show Greed on Fox from 1999 to 2000 and Lingo on Game Show Network from 2002 to 2007. In recent years, Woolery stoked controversy with his political views, posting a tweet that sparked antisemitism accusations in 2017 and then claiming in 2020 that “everyone [was] lying” about the coronavirus pandemic , as Newsweek reported. He also argued that minorities didn’t need civil rights, according to the Associated Press . Woolery was married four times, and his ex-wives included actor Jo Ann Pflug. He had eight children and stepchildren, per THR . More Headlines: Chuck Woolery Dies: Former ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and ‘Love Connection’ Host Was 83 Will Ryan Eggold Return for ‘Cross’ Season 2? Chad Duell Leaving ‘General Hospital’: ‘This Wasn’t an Easy Decision for Me’ ‘The White Lotus’: Everything We Know About a Possible Season 4 ‘Brilliant Minds’ Scoop on ‘Terrifying’ Cliffhanger, Plus What’s Next With Carol’s Patient?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a new technology with tremendous long-term investment potential. But don't assume that all AI stocks are speculative or high-octane growth businesses. There are plenty of opportunities for dividend investors to add AI exposure to their portfolios, too. Some companies in the best positions to lead the AI industry pay dividends. Their core businesses are enhanced by AI or even have growth opportunities. No, they aren't high-yield stocks that income-focused investors would prefer, but their dividend growth potential makes them wealth compounders to buy and hold for the long term -- including these three AI stocks. 1. Broadcom Semiconductor giant Broadcom ( AVGO -1.47% ) specializes in chips for connectivity applications, such as networking, server storage, and broadband. And it acquired companies to build enterprise infrastructure software into about 40% of its business. This created a diversified technology company that generated $51.5 billion in revenue in its fiscal year 2024, with $19.4 billion (37%) of that in free cash flow . The company paid and raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years at an average hike of 14.7% over the past five years. The current payout ratio is only 48% of its fiscal year 2024 earnings, so investors should feel good about the dividend's security and growth potential. Analysts estimate Broadcom will grow earnings by an average of nearly 22% annually over the long term, according to Yahoo! Finance. Its promising growth expectations are mainly due to its AI-related opportunities. The company has secured deals to develop AI chips for some notable customers, which management has yet to name formally. This year, Broadcom's AI-related revenue totaled $12.2 billion, and management believes it will grow substantially as these chip deals get underway, making the long-term dividend potential sky-high. 2. Microsoft Microsoft ( MSFT -1.73% ) is on a 22-year dividend growth streak. The company has become an AI business on multiple levels, integrating the technology throughout its software products to enhance the user experience. And it owns Azure, the world's second-largest cloud computing platform, whose growth is fueled by the AI applications it deploys. Microsoft keeps growing despite its staggering size, reaching a $3.2 trillion market cap and $254 billion in annual revenue. Analysts estimate the business will grow earnings by a yearly average of 13% over the long term. That should spell inflation-beating dividend increases. The dividend is also about as safe as they come. The payout ratio is only 26% of 2024 earnings estimates, and Microsoft is one of two public companies with an AAA credit rating -- higher than the U.S. government. This ironclad balance sheet gives it the utmost financial flexibility and security. Investors looking for safety and growth should look no further than Microsoft. 3. Meta Platforms Social media titan Meta Platforms ( META -0.59% ) is new to the dividend game, initiating its payout this year. And it has the ingredients for dividend stardom. Meta is arguably the world's best advertising business, generating profits by showing digital ads to the 3.29 billion people who view Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads daily. CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushed Meta hard into AI. It created an open-source AI model (Llama) and built the data centers to support its vast computing requirements. The company is also investing billions in its Reality Labs segment , which could add to its growth if it makes money at some point. Meta's dividend is only 9% of the company's 2024 earnings estimates, so the growth potential is obvious. I probably wouldn't expect overly aggressive increases as long as the company is losing money on Reality Labs, but investors have a solid shot at double-digit dividend growth. Analysts estimate earnings will rise by an average of 17% annually over the long term, so the dividend could easily sustain high growth while keeping the payout ratio low. Meta is likely a dividend growth star in the making.
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