How Court Reform Will Strengthen Israeli Democracy
Opponents turn every accepted concept of democratic and liberal government on its head in order to claim that Israel must retain the Barak-era judicial aristocracy. They argue, for instance, that there can be no liberty if any organ of the state has unlimited power, and, therefore, the Israeli judiciary must continue to enjoy unlimited power. Likewise, they argue that Israel needs checks and balances among its institutions, and therefore the Knesset must be deprived of all power to check the courts.Gil Troy: Was the massive Israeli protest historic? The people decide - opinion
But to a much greater degree than arguments of substance, the opposition to judicial reform must be seen as an artifact of Israeli democracy. The opposition opposes judicial reform because it is a centerpiece policy of the current government, no matter what its content. Israeli politics have always been hyperbolic, and the opponents’ rhetoric upholds this dubious tradition. Thus, opponents describe judicial reform not simply as a policy to be opposed, but rather as the transformation of Israel into a fascist dictatorship, a theocratic autocracy, and an exit from the family of democratic states. To a large degree, the debate has been ad hominem, with opponents rejecting reform on the grounds that reform politicians’ motives are largely political, although, naturally, opponent politicians’ motives are also largely political. None of these arguments affects the merits of the proposal.
There is an irony to the opposition to judicial reform – its existence and character demonstrate in practice exactly why the opponents’ claims of incipient dictatorship are nonsensical. Even in the era before Barak’s “constitutional revolution,” constitutional scholars agreed that Israeli governments and parliaments are exceptionally weak when compared to other democracies. All governments in Israel are unstable and subject to be undone in minutes by political bargains. The political logic of the opposition is to create chaos to destabilize the government and bring about new elections. It is, the opposition believes, exactly how the 1999 opposition toppled Prime Minister Netanyahu’s then-government, and, in their opinion, how the 2022 opposition toppled then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennet’s government.
Chaos works as an opposition strategy precisely because the opposition’s claims of unlimited government power (absent the court) is a lie. Governments in Israel last only as long as they enjoy the confidence of parliament, and governments have never lasted to term, even in the pre-Barak era. There have been 37 governments for 25 parliaments, meaning one half of all governments fail to last even the term of the Knesset. Knessets typically fall to early elections, and no party has ever won a majority of seats in the Knesset. The idea that judicial reform could lead to all-powerful Israeli governments is risible.
One of the central reasons for Israel’s electoral instability is proportional representation. Israeli elections are not conducted by district, but at-large, with even small minority parties winning representation in the Knesset. John Stuart Mill identified proportional representation as a democratic technique for protecting minorities centuries ago, and constitutional scholars of Israel have often complained that minority interests are too powerful (for instance, that ultra-Orthodox Jews are able to win draft exemptions and generous welfare payments by trading their minority votes). When opponents claim that Israeli minorities will be left unprotected if judicial aristocracy is curbed, they are arguing that Israelis should reject the wisdom of their experience in favor of a hollow cliche.
The battle for judicial reform will continue in Israel with the characteristic amounts of noise, demagoguery and anger, but in the end, the democratic process will win out. And lovers of liberal democracies should be all the happier if judicial reform prevails.
TOO MANY Israelis, including our prime minister, have sacrificed too much personally to sabotage this state so easily. Admittedly, that reassures us while feeding the mystery of why this bug-riddled version of Bibi 3.0 in his third go-round as premier has behaved so self-destructively.New Israel Fund reveals donations to anti-reform protest groups
Apparently, Netanyahu will not fire Gallant if he apologizes. Gallant should apologize for dithering so long before standing up. Gallant could also apologize for his cowardly Likudnik colleagues, still quaking before this half-Bibi, this ever-shriveling Netanyahu.
Israel’s ethos of self-sacrifice explains our patriotic protesters’ addiction to Israeli flags. The many values, aspirations, stories and enemies uniting us explain why it is reprehensible to dismiss the protesters as anarchists and the government’s supporters as fascists.
That Israeli interconnectedness is why Israeli neighbors are so intrusive, why many of us, led by President Isaac Herzog, speak respectfully about both sides, why we still rock on the happiness index and yes, why our politics so often spirals wildly but stops short of self-destruction.
Beyond Monday’s mutual de-escalation, note Bnei Brak’s CDF – Cholent Defense Force. Two weeks ago, protesters swarmed that ultra-Orthodox neighborhood. They were greeted with dollops of cholent and rousing Jewish songs. This power move – saying you don’t rattle us – was also a patriotic gesture, citizen to citizen, crossing one of Israel’s widest divides. “When dialog doesn’t take place, insults do,” a haredi Likudnik City Councilor, Yaakov Vider, explained.
Similarly, Adina Bar-Shalom recalls how her late father, Rav Ovadia Yosef, liked living in secular neighborhoods. Once, Tel Aviv’s mayor offered to block his street on Shabbat to silence the traffic noise. “What noise,” Ovadia asked, modeling the discipline and love our patchwork-quilt society requires, with so many who use our shared gift of freedom choosing to live differently than we do.
The future remains in our hands. The silent majority must act uncharacteristically by raising their voices for compromise. There’s not much public pressure pushing the polls to compromise or boost our president’s mediation efforts. Why Not? Where’s our Million Moderates’ March?
It will be easiest if our politicians ease the process by making some judicial reforms so the government can declare victory but shelving the most radical proposals, especially the override clause, so the protesters can declare victory, too.
The divisions run deep. We all must lower the tension, control the hysteria and respect our political rivals. Rather than yelling at one another, let’s talk to one another and even better, listen to one another.
As always, in healthy democracies, we the people can be the history-makers; we can be the change. We will determine whether last week really was historic, defusing the tensions or just another chapter in this saga that must end yesterday.
The U.S.-based New Israel Fund, which provides financial support to progressive and anti-Israel groups, on Monday posted to its Hebrew website a list of its donations to groups involved in the protests against judicial reform.
Demonstrations, sometimes turning violent, have roiled Israel for the past three months and, at least temporarily, derailed the government’s legislative plans.
The total amount spent, spread across 26 groups, comes to about 2 million shekels, or $660,000. Indeed, NIF money helped to ignite the protests, funding the first major demonstration on Jan. 7 in Tel Aviv.
“They’re not exaggerating their role,” Gadi Taub, a senior lecturer at the Federmann School of Public Policy at Hebrew University, told JNS. “They’re taking pride because they think they might have succeeded in stopping the reform. And they might have.”
Taub added, however, that the protesters (whose numbers he said the left has in any case exaggerated) were only indirectly responsible for the government’s decision to impose its legislative freeze. The direct cause was “a near mutiny in the army.”
“When you have the Supreme Court president, Esther Hayut, maneuvering for a constitutional crisis, and then the chief of staff of the army saying that a constitutional crisis is a red line for the army, what you have is a threat of a coup. This is what forced the government to bend,” Taub said, acknowledging at the same time that the protests did play an important role by “emboldening” anti-reformists, including army reservists who refused to report to duty.
“Jews are Not Mere Victims” An inFOCUS interview with Arsen Ostrovsky
Arsen Ostrovsky is a leading human rights attorney and CEO of The International Legal Forum (ILF). His digital media reaches millions of users, making him truly heard around the world, both on-line and in person. In 2018, Ostrovsky was awarded the Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion prize for his ‘Israel Advocacy’ and last December, The Algemeiner called him one of the Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life. inFOCUS Editor Shoshana Bryen spoke with him recently.Caroline Glick: The Challenges of Freedom on the Eve of Passover
inFOCUS Quarterly: Tell us about the International Legal Forum.
Arsen Ostrovsky: ILF has been at the forefront of some of the most significant legal battles against antisemitism, BDS, and terrorism during the past year, including initiating successful legal proceedings against Unilever over the Ben & Jerry’s boycott, taking on Amnesty International over “apartheid” allegations and proudly standing up for the Jewish nation against relentless lawfare attacks before the United Nations and the International Criminal Court.
In a landmark case, ILF is now taking on University of California-Berkeley, following its unprecedented attempt last summer to exclude Jewish and Zionist students from campus activities, and more recently, was instrumental in stopping the flow of funds to an American charity that had been funneling money to a PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine)-affiliate terrorist group.
Underpinning ILF’s mission, is the belief that the law can, and must, be utilized as a powerful tool, in order to change the paradigm from defense and reaction to pro-active work in the fight against antisemitism, terrorism and the delegitimization campaign against the State of Israel.
iF: How much trouble are Jews in?
Ostrovsky: Sadly, I see many gathering dark clouds on the horizon for Jews in the United States, where antisemitism and violence is at record highs, and where some neighborhoods are virtually becoming no-go zones for Jews, something unfathomable barely a decade ago.
Today’s antisemitism is vicious, relentless and multifaceted. We see it playing out on the streets of America, in classrooms and boardrooms, in communications media and civil society, by celebrities and on-line, in the cultural arena, courtrooms and beyond.
Whereas previously, it may have been unfashionable to target Jews or be openly antisemitic, today we see violence against Jews skyrocketing, neo-Nazism and Holocaust distortion surging, and antisemitic tropes spreading like wildfire.
Antisemitism is like a virus, that continues to morph and mutate through generations.
Former Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (of blessed memory) observed:
In the Middle Ages, Jews were hated because of their religion. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century they were hated because of their race. Today they are hated because of their nation state, the state of Israel. It takes different forms, but it remains the same thing: the view that Jews have no right to exist as free and equal human beings.
In her opening remarks, Caroline considers the lessons of faith and courage that Israel should take from the story of Passover as it faces the challenge of going forward and securing its survival in times of great uncertainty and threat with a polarized, angry, and deeply worried populace.
Caroline is also joined by Michael Doran from the Hudson Institute. Glick and Doran discuss President Biden’s unprecedented attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week.
They further delve into the wider region and discuss
- the causes of U.S. hostility, how the Biden administration views the Middle East
- the rise of China and Iran.
- Azerbaijan, the threat it poses to Iran, and the opportunity it presents to Israel
Join them for a guided tour through the strategic terrain of Israel, the Middle East, and Central Asia as the U.S. betrays its allies and itself on behalf of the radical ideology captivating the Biden administration and the Democrat Party.
New Partnerships and Shifting Alliances: Where does Israel fit in? | Our Middle East
Where does Israel fit in in the new Middle East/Africa order?
In this episode of “Our Middle East” host and Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs president Dan Diker hosts JCPA General Manager Dr. Yechiel Leiter and Shemsu Edris Mohammed, president and secretary of the Ethiopian Diaspora Association.
They recently attended the JCPA’s international conference in Jerusalem on March 27 through 29, along with delegates from 30 African and Arab states to discuss solutions for national, water and food security and counterterrorism, aiming to build bridges between Israel, the Abraham Accords states, and the countries of sub-Saharan Africa in a time of shifting alliances.
They discuss
- A changing region in both Africa and the Middle East and how that is shifting alliances
- the shared experiences and threats that bring Israel and the African and Arab states together.
. Israel's innovation and technology can help both regions
NGO Monitor: HRW Leads NGO Campaign against Consensus IHRA Definition of Antisemitism
On April, 3, 2023, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and its NGO allies circulated a letter ostensibly directed to the UN Secretary-General, urging the UN to reject the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. The NGOs involved in this campaign include a number of terror-linked groups, NGOs that run campaigns denying Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, those claiming that the country’s existence is a form of apartheid, and pro-BDS lobbyists.
In this text, the NGOs acknowledge that their motivation is to shield themselves from widespread recognition that much of their activity related to Israel is considered antisemitic, noting that the IHRA definition “opens the door to labeling as antisemitic… findings of major Israeli, Palestinian and global human rights organizations that Israeli authorities are committing the crime against humanity of apartheid against Palestinians.” To support the allegations, HRW and its allies rely on statements from an individual falsely labeled as the author of the IHRA text. In addition, their claim that the IHRA definition “restricts legitimate criticism of Israel” highlights the fact that, from the infamous 2001 Durban NGO Forum until the present, NGO campaigns that seek to demonize Israel through the exploitation of human rights are fundamentally illegitimate.
HRW: Ignoring Antisemitism and anti-Jewish Advocacy
HRW’s anti-IHRA efforts are consistent with its ongoing erasure of violent antisemitism, in parallel to proactive campaigns to delegitimize practical measures designed to protect Jews, and the NGO’s anti-Israel delegitimization, as documented in detail. For example
After murderous antisemitic attacks in France, HRW responded by opposing French government policy intended to increase protection and security to Jewish communities. Following the January 9, 2015 assault on a kosher supermarket, during which four Jews were murdered and several held hostage, the French Minister of Justice instructed prosecutors to adopt a “systematic, adapted and individualized” approach to combating antisemitic and other types of hate speech, and speech glorifying terrorism. HRW responded with a January 16 publication (“Dispatches: France, a Country of Freedom of Expression – For Some”), February 11 article (“Assessing Europe’s Response to the Paris Attacks”), and a June submission to the UN arguing that such measures are “likely to have a chilling effect on freedom of expression in France, weaken[s] its credibility as a country that stands up for freedom of expression and set[s] a dangerous example for governments that are quick to use counterterrorism laws to silence their critics.”
HRW’s 2022 World Report (covering 2021) does not mention antisemitism in the US. The ADL reported 2,717 antisemitic incidents in the US in 2021 – the highest total since the organization began tracking in 1979.
HRW’s 2021 World Report made no mention of antisemitism in the US. The ADL reported 2,024 antisemitic incidents in the US in 2020 – then the third highest total recorded.
Antisemitic Rhetoric and Terror Ties of Signatories
A number of NGO signatories to the HRW letter are linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. Specifically, Addameer, Al-Haq, and Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P) were all designated as terrorist entities by Israel in October 2021, due to their ties to the PFLP. (See NGO Monitor’s “PFLP Ties of the Six Designated Terror NGOs,” and “Clear and Convincing: The Links between the PFLP and the European Government-funded NGO Network” for more information on each NGO’s terror links.)
Several other of the advocacy NGO repeatedly deny the right of the Jewish people to self-determination (Israel) and have embraced and promoted antisemitic rhetoric, such as modern blood libels accusing Israel of harvesting the organs of Palestinian children or deliberately flooding Gaza by opening non-existent dams.
Of note, HRW, B’Tselem, Al-Haq, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I), and others lead international campaigns against Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, often by promoting the “apartheid” libel
When #HumanRights are co-opted & weaponized to systematically demonize, delegitimize & single out Israel, the entire infrastructure collapses.
— ???? ?????-???? | Michal Cotler-Wunsh (@CotlerWunsh) April 5, 2023
This statement underscores accuracy & urgency of @TheIHRA consensus def, critical to comprehensively identify & combat #Antisemitism. https://t.co/qn5ps9paLK
Biden Passover op-ed touts record on antisemitism, urges unity against hate
Hours before Passover begins, CNN published a 1,250-word op-ed by U.S. President Joe Biden titled “To fight antisemitism, we must remember, speak out and act.”Biden’s boycott of Netanyahu is outrageous
Biden called the biblical Exodus a “miraculous story” and Passover “a timeless, powerful story of faith, hope and redemption that has inspired oppressed people everywhere for generations.” In addition to looking to the past, the holiday is also “a cautionary tale of the present and our future as a democracy,” the president claimed.
“As Jews read from the Haggadah about how evil in every generation has tried to destroy them, antisemitism is rising to record levels today,” he wrote. “To the Jewish community, I want you to know that I see your fear, your hurt and your concern that this venom is being normalized.”
In the op-ed, Biden repeated his claim, which appears at odds with the facts, that seeing neo-Nazis and white nationalists marching in Charlottesville, Va., in the summer of 2017 “spewing the same antisemitic bile that was heard in Germany in the 1930s” motivated him to run for president.
“Rest assured that I am committed to the safety of the Jewish people. I stand with you. America stands with you,” he wrote. “Under my presidency, we continue to condemn antisemitism at every turn. Failure to call out hate is complicity. Silence is complicity. And we will not be silent.”
Biden noted his visit to Israel last year “to reaffirm America’s unshakeable commitment to its security.” Again borrowing from his International Holocaust Remembrance Day statement in January, he wrote that the promise of “Never Again,” of which he was reminded at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, “was a promise my father first instilled in me at our family dinner table, educating my siblings and me about the horrors of the Shoah.”
In a tactic straight out of Barack Obama’s playbook, President Joe Biden has put serious daylight between the United States and Israel with his decision not to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.The mainstreaming of American antisemitism
During previous administrations, such an invitation was a customary gesture when a new Israeli prime minister assumed office. Netanyahu has met with Britain’s prime minister in London and traveled to Germany to meet with the German chancellor, but has no meetings scheduled with the leader of Israel’s closest ally.
Presumably due to Biden’s outrage over Netanyahu’s campaign to revamp Israel’s judicial system, Biden announced to reporters in North Carolina last week that he has no plans to invite Netanyahu in the “near term.” He further admonished the Netanyahu government by stating, “Like many supporters of Israel, I’m very concerned. And I’m concerned that they get this right. They cannot continue down this road.”
Biden is not acting like a supporter of Israel by snubbing its prime minister. He is actually engaging in a severe betrayal of the critical U.S.-Israel relationship. He is behaving like a petulant father who is disturbed by the conduct of a son he considers disobedient.
Mr. Biden, Israel is not America’s child. Netanyahu does not need parental permission before making a decision. America and Israel are brothers united by a common purpose and shared strategic interests. Brothers do not give each other the cold shoulder because they disagree. Brothers find a way to sit down with each other and work through their differences. If that is impossible, they agree to disagree amicably without creating a spectacle.
Biden appears to be following the Obama doctrine by cooperating with America’s adversaries while castigating America’s allies, especially the Jewish state. While the Biden administration believes that Israel must be reeled in from the abyss when it fails to conform to American dictates and face the consequences if it chooses not to comply, the administration continues to avoid conflict and seek cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party. Similarly, Biden has not reprimanded Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas for paying the salaries of Palestinian terrorists.
There’s no doubt that antisemitism is increasing in the United States while prejudice and hate crimes against other minorities are generally on the decline. This trend is reflected by US law enforcement statistics, but is also apparent to those of us who have witnessed or experienced it personally. Rioters have harassed Jews and vandalized their property in urban areas and suburbs, Orthodox Jews are assaulted in New York with impunity, Jewish students are attacked on college campuses, and conspiracy theories regarding Israel and the Jews are spewed in university classrooms by leftist professors.
Words deemed triggering to persons or groups designated as victims are routinely cancelled by the progressive establishment, but antisemitic stereotypes are tolerated, expected, and even encouraged. Antisemitism is acceptable on the political left, right, and all points in between and has been mainstreamed in academia, the media, and common culture. Despite herculean efforts by liberal Jewish leaders to blame today’s surging antisemitism on white supremacists, however, there is evidence to suggest it is increasing far more rapidly among progressives and the identity communities they champion.
Moreover, white supremacists are not responsible for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (“BDS”) Movement, Israel Apartheid Week, street violence against the Orthodox in New York City, or the targeting of Jews on campus. Progressives are.
The liberal establishment nevertheless does its best to ignore leftist and minority Jew-hatred and overlook the use of classical tropes and stereotypes by progressives, including members of the Democratic Congressional “squad.” Indeed, Bernie Sanders embraces Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, while others defend them against criticism over rhetoric deemed disparaging to Israel or offensive to Jews.
The prevalence of antisemitism has been on the rise since the Obama administration, when bias incidents and hate-crimes against Jews proliferated. Nevertheless, Mr. Obama avoided acknowledging the anti-Jewish hatred that permeated his progressive base and often led to violence.
And how has President Biden addressed his belated recognition of the problem? By establishing an interagency council “to better coordinate U.S. Government efforts to counter antisemitism, Islamophobia and other related forms of bias and discrimination,” according to a White House press statement. Despite lip service regarding the “threat to the Jewish community,” however, the statement failed to stress the historical uniqueness of antisemitism. By implying that Islamophobia and other sundry hatreds are “related forms of bias and discrimination,” it instead equated antisemitism with prejudices that are fundamentally dissimilar and inapposite.
The NGO is known for spreading misinformation. pic.twitter.com/wZFHNLhhTq
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) April 4, 2023
Russian Official Wanted for War Crimes Set To Brief UN Security Council Meeting
A Russian official wanted for war crimes is set to brief the United Nations Security Council’s informal meeting on the Ukraine conflict.
Russian commissioner for children’s rights Maria Lvova-Belova, declared a war criminal by the International Criminal Court, is expected to speak at a Wednesday U.N. Security Council briefing, Reuters reported. The ICC holds Russian president Vladimir Putin and Lvova-Belova responsible for kidnapping hundreds of children from Ukraine during the war.
Russia informed members that Lvova-Belova would brief the meeting, which comes as Russia assumes the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month of April. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky expressed outrage over Russia taking control of the council.
"It’s hard to imagine anything that proves more the total bankruptcy of such institutions," Zelensky said.
The United States advised Russia to "conduct itself professionally" during its leadership of the council.
According to a note from Russia to the council members, "participants will hear 'first hand' information from the Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights of the Russian Federation, as well as from children evacuated from the conflict area."
Russia maintains that its activities are for humanitarian purposes.
U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the situation is "like an April Fool's joke."
“Mr. President: We’ve been listening to numerous countries tell us how much they care about human rights. But as we work closely with victims, including families of political prisoners, we wish to pose some questions.” /1
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) April 5, 2023
US Government Investigating George Washington University for Alleged Antisemitic Discrimination
The US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has opened an investigation into George Washington University to determine whether administrators allowed a professor to discriminate against Jewish students.
In January, StandWithUs, an educational nonprofit, filed a civil rights complaint alleging that the university would not intervene when Psychology Professor Lara Sheehi, who teaches a mandatory diversity course, invited an antisemitic speaker to address her class, launched a smear campaign against Jewish students, and later filed disciplinary charges against them in retaliation for their accusing her of antisemitism.
“We thank OCR for opening a full investigation into our complaint against GW and sending the clear message that whatever the bounds of academic freedom may be, they do not extend to professors mistreating and retaliating against students based on their Jewish and Israeli identities under the guise of political expression,” StandWithUs legal department director Yael Lerman said on Tuesday.
According to the complaint, Sheehi expressed contempt for Jews on the first day of class, when, in August, she asked every student to share information about their backgrounds and cultures. Replying to a student who revealed that she is Israeli, Sheehi said, “It’s not your fault you were born in Israel.” The students claim they made several attempts to persuade the university to correct Sheehi’s behavior or arrange an alternative option for fulfilling the requirements of her course. Each time, StandWithUs alleged, administrators said nothing could be done.
Later, the complaint continued, Sheehi spread rumors that the students were “combative” racists, and filed misconduct charges against them. In January, one student told The Algemeiner that she has never learned what university policies Sheehi accused her and her classmates of violating.
On March 27, George Washington University said there is no evidence to substantiate the students’ claims, citing an independent investigation it paid Crowell & Morning, a law firm based in Washington DC, to conduct. On Wednesday, a spokesperson told The Algemeiner that it “will fully participate in the department’s inquiry.”
. @usedgov halts investigation of "serious allegations ... of antisemitic harassment" at @uvmvermont after UVM pledges to do better. That wouldn't be hard. Read the details of UVM's horrific behavior & what they pledged to the Dept of Ed to do about it https://t.co/izcBrfOIwp pic.twitter.com/MUiYPLeKf8
— Canary Mission (@canarymission) April 5, 2023
‘A Slap in the Face:’ German Religious Organizations Call on City of Munich to Cancel ‘Antisemitic’ Roger Waters Concert
Two interfaith organizations bringing together Christians and Jews in the German state of Bavaria have urged the authorities in the city of Munich to cancel the forthcoming May 29 concert by former Pink Floyd vocalist Roger Waters.Kuwaiti Fencer Pulls Out of World Fencing Championship After Being Matched Against Israeli Athlete
A joint open letter to the city council from the Munich Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation (GCJZM) and the Munich Council of Religions (RR) claimed that Waters — a vocal supporter of the campaign to subject the State of Israel to a regime of “boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS)” — is “known for his aggressive and open hatred of Jews.”
Waters was scheduled to appear in five German cities as part of this “This is Not A Drill 2023” tour. Last month, the city of Frankfurt canceled his May 28 concert at the city’s state-owned Festhalle venue, citing his status as “one of the world’s best-known antisemites” as the reason for the cancelation.
However, while the Festhalle is wholly owned by the city and state authorities, the other German venues hosting Waters — in Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne and Munich — are commercial enterprises and say they risk breach of contract proceedings if they cancel the concerts. Efforts by local politicians to cancel the Cologne date have been in motion for at least a month, while last week, Munich Mayor Dieter Mayer described as “unbearable” the news that Waters’ concert would go ahead in the Bavarian city after all.
In their letter, the two religious organizations remarked that it was “more than strange and incomprehensible that despite numerous protests, in particular by the Jewish community in Munich and the liberal Jewish community in Munich, Beth Shalom, this event was not cancelled. We all find this deeply hurtful and painful, even a slap in the face.”
They argued that “having this concert in Munich harbors the danger of taking this as a sign of legitimacy and support for antisemitic tendencies.” They called “on those responsible in the city of Munich to take all organizational and legal steps to prevent this unspeakable concert,” at the same time appealing to residents of the Munich to boycott the concert and attend “counter-events” instead.
A Kuwaiti athlete announced his withdrawal from the 2023 Junior and Cadet Fencing World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, after being selected in a lottery to go head-to-head against a fencer from Israel.
Ahmed Awad said Monday on Twitter that he made the decision after he was pitted against “a player from the occupying Zionist entity, refusing to recognize the occupying Zionist entity and in solidarity with the brotherly state of Palestine.” He added “as Kuwaitis, we are always and forever with the Palestinian cause.”
Last year, Kuwaiti fencer Mohammed al-Fadli pulled out of the of the World Fencing Championships in the United Arab Emirates for refusing to face an Israeli athlete in the group stage of the competition. He did the same in 2019 in an international competition in Amsterdam after he was also set to go up against an Israeli opponent.
Other Kuwaiti athletes who have withdrawn from competitions against Israelis include 14-year-old tennis player Mohammed Al-Awadi and motosurf racer Abdul Razzaq Al-Baghli, both in 2022, and jujitsu champion Abdullah Al Anjari in 2019. Kuwaiti inventor and engineer Janan Al-Shehab also withdrew her participation from Expo 2020 Dubai after a post published on the event’s Instagram Story featured Israel’s pavilion in the exhibition with the phrase “Let’s celebrate with Israel.”
Under Kuwaiti law, locals can face penalties ranging from imprisonment to death for attempting to normalize relations with Israel, the Palestinian-run Shehab News Agency reported. Kuwaitis and companies in the country also cannot sign any agreements with organizations or people in Israel and cannot engage in any financial or commercial gains with people who have an interest in Israel, the Jerusalem Post explained. It is additionally illegal to import, exchange or own any Israeli products or goods that include any Israeli material.
Not only is there not apartheid in Israel, there isn't apartheid in Israeli sports either. From team owners to players, Arabs & Muslims have representation in Israeli football.
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) April 4, 2023
Attached: the Israeli national football team lifting up their Muslim captain... https://t.co/B8IMWuJSeS pic.twitter.com/YS3QDotNFT
To see racists who can’t simply wish Jews a happy festival of national liberation, which has at its heart the redemption from slavery and our transformation into a nation ready to inherit Israel, just look at the replies.
— Simon Myerson KC (@SCynic1) April 5, 2023
I mean, just look at them. https://t.co/pXsHJyYZCS
"Why are yall women walking around smelling like the Jews that didn't quite make it?" - Feminista Jones
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) April 4, 2023
"I don't care what Drake said. It's Hanukkah let that Jew N*gga cook!!" - Feminista Jones
This antisemite was just hosted by @penn_state. How was this bigot approved?! pic.twitter.com/mKIRY3J59y
Ohio teen arrested for alleged threat against New York synagogue
An Ohio teen who allegedly made terrorist threats against a northern New York State synagogue was arrested last week.
The Secure Community Network’s operation command center received information on March 28 about a threatening message on the social-media platform Telegram. The message included a synagogue address, according to SCN, a nonprofit under the auspices of the Jewish Federations of North America and Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
SCN and the Jewish Federation of Central New York alerted the local FBI field office, leading to the arrest of the 15-year-old, whose name has not been released.
“We meet, we prepare, and we plan for ‘when,’ ” said Susan DeMari, community security coordinator for the Federation. “Having witnessed and been a part of the seamless and collaborative effort amongst law-enforcement agencies sharing information clearly reaffirms the need, time and effort vested by all involved.”
Michael Masters, national director and CEO of SCN, noted that the coordination between groups has been successful. “This is a stark reminder of the threats that we face as a country and faith-based community every day,” he said of this and other recent threats.
#OTD - April 4, 2017 - Sarah Halimi, a 65-year-old Jewish woman, was asleep in her apartment when a neighbor broke in, brutally beat her to death, and threw her body out the window.
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) April 4, 2023
Sarah was murdered because she was Jewish.
A French court declared her murderer not criminally… pic.twitter.com/iYa6RiaiSQ
Israel Tech Sector Still among World's Strongest
Tel Aviv ranked third in the Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA) region for venture capital investment in 2022 with $6.9 billion, behind London with $20.5 billion and Paris with $11.1 billion, according to a report released Tuesday by Amsterdam-based Dealroom.co and Tel Aviv Tech, an initiative from the Tel Aviv mayor's office.IDF Veterans Volunteer in Brazil
In 2022, the total value of companies in Tel Aviv's tech sector reached $393 billion, up from $113 billion in 2018.
19.2% of venture capital investment in the city went to cybersecurity in 2022, followed by health (10.7%) and fintech (5.6%).
Dozens of discharged Israeli soldiers have volunteered in Rio de Janeiro to support local children living in shantytowns on the outskirts of the city.In a Changing World, Japan Has Much to Gain from an Alliance with Israel
The Israeli volunteers came with the "Heroes for Life" organization, which recruits Israeli backpackers traveling in third-world countries for humanitarian causes.
32,000 veterans have already participated in the program, 8,000 in 2022 alone.
Last month, 40 former soldiers arrived in Rio, where they prepare lesson plans, draw the multiplication table, and clean and paint whatever's needed.
The veterans teach English, math, and personal hygiene, and work to improve the children's living conditions.
In response to China’s increasing bellicosity, Japan embarked last year on its biggest military buildup since World War II. Tokyo could benefit in this endeavor, writes Gedaliah Afterman, from seeking a closer relationship with Jerusalem. There is ample room for increased trade between the countries as well:French dairy giant Danone leads $3.5m investment into Israeli cultured milk startup
A strategic partnership with Israel would allow Japan to strengthen ties with a likeminded country while also gaining access to the expertise of a global leader in key fields. The two countries have already taken steps toward collaboration with the signing of a preliminary defense-cooperation agreement last year during the visit of then-Defense Minister Benny Gantz to Tokyo.
Discussions are underway for more cooperation in several areas, including missile defense and unmanned aerial vehicles for intelligence and combat applications. Likewise, the two should strengthen and elevate cooperation and joint research in cybersecurity, an area that straddles high technology and defense.
Bringing together Israel’s leading high-technology sector—which has demonstrated continued resilience and leadership amid the recent social unrest in the country—with Japan’s manufacturing capabilities and expertise could provide a strong basis for a mutually beneficial partnership. Israel can also offer Japan support on the energy-security front. Earlier this month, Israel’s H2Pro announced it had reached a deal to provide equipment for new Sumitomo Corporation green hydrogen-production facilities.
In contrast to China’s ambivalent approach to the [Abraham] Accords, Japan can leverage its strong ties with the signatories to strengthen regional cooperation and help bring further countries, such as Kuwait, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia, to the table. Doing so will enhance Japan’s position in the Middle East and position Tokyo as a central player in promoting peace and stability in the region.
French dairy giant Danone has entered into a strategic investment agreement with Israeli startup Wilk, which could lead to a collaboration with the food tech firm to develop cultured breast milk components for infant formula based on its cell technology.UAE President bin Zayed calls Netanyahu to wish him a happy Pesach
Danone Manifesto Ventures (DMV), the corporate venture arm set up by the Paris-based food giant, will invest $2 million, leading a $3.5 million financing round announced by Wilk, in a filing to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange on Monday.
Following the investment, the venture arm of the dairy company, which makes Activia yogurt, Aptamil infant formula and Evian water, will hold at least 2% of Wilk’s share capital.
Dr. Nurit Argov-Argaman of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem founded Wilk (as Biomilk) in 2018, and has since developed cell-based technology to produce cultured human breast and animal milk. Argov-Argaman took it public on the TASE in 2021 in a SPAC (special-purpose acquisition company) merger deal.
For the animal-derived cultured milk, Wilk isolates the milk-producing cells from cows’ udders and transfers them to a bioreactor, where they are exposed to materials patented by the firm to produce milk ingredients, but without needing a cow in the final milk-producing process.
The process is also applied to the lab production of human breast milk — complete with the fats and proteins that make up important parts of the nutritional value — using cells from breast reduction surgeries.
United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday to wish him and the people of Israel a happy Passover.UAE Plans Long-Term Economic Ties with Israel Despite Political Strains
Netanyahu in turn sent his best wishes to Sheikh bin Zayed and the people of the U.A.E. on the occasion of Ramadan.
In their conversation, characterized as “warm and friendly,” the two leaders expressed their commitment to continue advancing the historic peace agreement between Israel and the U.A.E., including its expansion to additional important areas.
The two leaders agreed to continue the dialogue between them in a personal meeting in the near future.
Netanyahu had planned to visit the U.A.E. in February, but the trip was postponed due to logistical issues according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
In March, Netanyahu dismissed a Channel 12 report of a crisis in relations between Israel and the U.A.E. “The report is baseless. Israel and the UAE are holding productive diplomatic contacts in all areas, including today,” said Netanyahu.
According to Channel 12, the UAE had announced its intention to stop the procurement of defense systems from Israel.
The report claimed the decision was due to statements and actions of the government’s more right-wing members, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also sent his best wishes to the people of the U.A.E. on the occasion of Ramadan
The United Arab Emirates’ commitment to a long–term strategic relationship with Israel should survive political turbulence, analysts say, after one of the most right-wing governing coalitions in Israel‘s history prompted widespread anger. A series of recent moves and comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has infuriated the public in much of Arab world, and drew condemnation from the UAE, including over Israeli settlement policy in the occupied West Bank.Gone, not forgotten: Margaret Thatcher, our honorary Jew
However, economic and trade cooperation – a key driver of the UAE‘s 2020 normalisation of relations with Israel which broke with decades of Arab policy towards the Palestinian cause – has deepened.
On Saturday a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the countries entered into effect, removing or reducing tariffs on more than 96% of products, UAE state news agency WAM said.
Signed in May 2022, and deemed a “historic moment” by the UAE ambassador to Israel, it is Israel‘s first free trade agreement with an Arab state. UAE energy giant ADNOC last week announced it was part of a $2 billion joint bid for half of Israeli offshore natural gas producer NewMed Energy.
This would follow the purchase in 2021 by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Energy of a 22% stake in Israel‘s Tamar gas field for about $1 billion.
“(The NewMed Energy bid) demonstrates a long–term investment in Israel‘s energy sector, which shows how strategic the relationship has become,” Neil Quilliam, associate fellow at Chatham House, and co-author of a new report on Israel–UAE normalisation, told Reuters.
It is unsurprising, given her three decades representing Finchley in the House of Commons, that Margaret Thatcher was highly attuned to the views and attitudes of Jewish voters.
But the former Prime Minister — who died ten years ago this week — had a relationship with Britain’s Jews which went far deeper than mere political calculation.
It stretched back to her childhood in Grantham where in early 1939 her father, Alderman Alfred Roberts, took in Edith Mühlbauer, the Jewish pen pal of his eldest daughter, Muriel.
Roberts’ sympathy for the victims of Nazi persecution was by no means universal, especially in provincial Middle England. Indeed, Grantham’s Rotary Club — of which Roberts was an enthusiastic member — had hosted sympathetic talks about Hitler and Oswald Mosley had attracted a crowd of 1,000 when he spoke in the town.
Seventeen-year-old Edith’s Viennese sophistication evidently impressed young Margaret, whose austere upbringing was anything but.
However, that wasn’t all the future PM remembered. “She told us what it was like to live as a Jew under an antisemitic regime. One thing stuck in my mind: the Jews, she said, were being made to scrub the streets.” Thatcher recalled feeling “total shock”. “These things we didn’t just read about. They came right into our house.”
Thatcher’s lifelong abhorrence of antisemitism was certainly not widespread in the postwar Conservative Party in which the aspiring politician began to make her way in the 1950s.
Passover greetings to my Jewish friends. pic.twitter.com/rVkrdrenXx
— R?????? K??? ? (@COLRICHARDKEMP) April 5, 2023
America’s Original Bestselling Haggadah
Move over, Maxwell House Haggadah. It’s time to share the limelight with one of your kin: Mrs. Philip Cowen’s The Seder Service for Passover Eve in the Home.A Survivors’ Haggadah - Passover 1946
First published in New York in 1904, this equally American, homegrown version of the traditional ritual text went on to sell nearly a quarter of a million copies before being dislodged from its perch three decades later by the Maxwell House product, whose corporate pedigree and price tag—there wasn’t any—rendered it particularly attractive. In its heyday, though, Mrs. Cowen’s text reigned supreme: the prima donna of haggadot.
Nothing else was quite like it. Or, as one well-disposed New York observer put it at the time, speaking for others as well as for himself, “We have no hesitation in stating that it is just what English-speaking Jews have long wanted.” A smooth amalgam of Hebrew and English text; scholarship, music, and visual detail; typographical ingenuity, helpful “instructions,” and “limp leather” binding, Mrs. Cowen’s Seder Service shone brightly: the “haggadah in a new dress.”
Easy to read and handle, this version was used by schoolchildren and their families; by patrons of the State Bank of New York, among whom it was distributed as a gift; and by American Jewish servicemen during WWI, who received a free copy along with a ration of matzo, courtesy of the Jewish Welfare Board.
Seder Service also found favor among both Orthodox and Reform Jews at the grass roots, bridging what many believed to be an uncomfortable divide between the two. Giving new meaning to the old adage about reading the fine print, Seder Service made it possible for an Orthodox Jew and a Reform Jew to sit side by side at the same Seder table by signaling through means of typeface and layout which aspects of the Seder were not to be skipped (see: large type, full lines) and which could be passed over (see: small print, indented lines). In that way, Mrs. Cowen acknowledged, “no fault should be found with the suggestion it conveys, as he who wishes may read every line of the older service, for not a word has been here omitted.”
How sensible, even artful, it was for Mrs. Cowen to mitigate the perils of omission—and the ensuing family drama—through the use of space and ink. Her text did double duty: It came in handy for those in pursuit of flexibility and a speedy Seder (away with all those “rabbinic dissertations”) and met the needs of those in pursuit of the tried and true, who were given to lingering over every word.
During the first Passover after liberation, considerable numbers of the she’erith hapletah (the surviving remnant) came to the Munich area to celebrate in Seders in large and small Jewish Displaced Persons (DPs) camps, and at the Jewish hospital at St. Ottilien, noted Saul Touster, a professor of law.Black Jewish Entertainment Alliance Hosts ‘Freedom Seder’ to Promote Unity, Intersectionality in the Industry
The Deutsches Theater Restaurant, a popular eatery frequented by Nazi officials, hosted Sedarim for 200 participants, including primarily survivors living outside the camps, together with a number of representatives of the Allied Forces, civilian government and relief agency personnel. At that point, there were about 6,000 of them. Haggadot were printed in Palestine, England and the U.S. Some were printed by the Jews themselves in Germany and Holland.
Among the Haggadahs produced by the survivors, “The most finished in its extraordinary decorations and woodcuts, and the most comprehensive in paralleling Exodus and Holocaust,” was first published in Yiddish and Hebrew by Zionist groups Achida (United Zionist Organization for the Saved Remnant in Germany) and Nocham (United Pioneer Youth), which later became the “A” Haggadah. Yosef Dov Sheinson, arranged, designed, edited, chose the woodcuts and rewrote the classic opening line that established the tone and theme for the Haggadah: “We were slaves to Hitler in Germany.”
Shortly after publication of the Haggadah, Levi Shalit and Israel Kaplan, two editors of Unzer Weg (Our Way), which became the largest Yiddish weekly in Germany, took it to Chaplain Abraham Klausner, a Reform rabbi. In the first issue of Unzer Weg, Klausner, who had been instrumental in helping found the paper, was paid the highest tribute when the Shalit wrote “Rabbi, friend, brother, you have become one of us.” At a time when the survivors needed someone who understood who they were, what they had experienced and their need to control their own destiny, Klausner treated them with respect and dignity. He really had become one of them.
Klausner decided the Haggadah should be used for a Seder in Munich, which he would conduct. He wrote a two-page English introduction, and had the American army reprint the Haggadah through army press facilities using better paper. A new cover was designed with the tricolor insignia “A” for the U.S. Third Army of Occupation in Bavaria, with the date of April 15-16, 1946.
The Black Jewish Entertainment Alliance (BJEA) hosted on Monday a pre-Passover “Freedom Seder” where Black and Jewish members of the entertainment industry discussed the topics of unity and intersectionality.Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund marks 122-year anniversary
Entertainment industry executives, entertainers, and creatives from the music industry attended the program including representatives from well-known record labels such as Ari Ingel, director of the non-profit Creative Community for Peace; music executive and manager Cory Litwin and three-time Grammy-winning songwriter, producer and disc jockey Autumn Rowe.
BJEA said the “Freedom Seder” is a tradition first started in April 1969, on the first anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., when Jewish and Black activists came together in Washington, DC, to share a meal in solidarity.
“We are excited to provide a platform for entertainment industry professionals from the Black and Jewish communities to discuss unity, freedom and how we can come together as one,” said Litwin, who co-organized the event. “Both communities have suffered great atrocities and continue to experience hate every single day – so the idea that we can gather over a shared meal to learn from and support each other is extremely powerful. I am confident that the positive momentum created from this Passover seder experience will launch many more great events and opportunities to come.”
Over 250 entertainers and entertainment industry executives have joined BJEA since its formation in 2021. The alliance’s goal is to build bridges between Black and Jewish communities and their shared views against racism and antisemitism.
Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund, Israel's "leading green organization", founded in 1901 during the Fifth Zionist Congress that convened in Basel, Switzerland, celebrates its 122-year anniversary.View Videos from Historical Israeli Film Collection
"With the establishment of the state of Israel, the date Tevet 19, according to the Jewish Calendar, became a national holiday, as well as a milestone in the history of Zionism. KKL-JNF has been operating for the realization of the Zionist vision for over 120 years, together with leading environmental and educational issues in diverse fields," the organization said. "Since the dawn of Zionist history, KKL-JNF has been connecting Jewish people across the world to the land of Israel, along with a deep, true connection to nature. The organization deals, among other things, with afforestation and the environment, Israeli youth, education, Zionist values, treatment of water reservoirs, forest restoration, and more. Over the years, KKL-JNF has been nurturing the well-being of Israel's citizens and visitors in shades of green, blue, and brown."
According to the organization, "throughout its existence, KKL-JNF has accompanied the establishment of the state of Israel, from the days of the declaration of independence in 1948, through its development, in creating physical and moral paths, while connecting them with the Jewish people and the citizens of Israel – to this day ... Among the icons leading KKL-JNF since its very first days, you can find the Blue Box which was and still is a symbol of brotherhood, collectivity, and a strong desire to develop the Land of Israel, and later in history, the State of Israel.
Yifat Ovadia-Luski, KKL-JNF Chairwoman, said, "The day in which KKL-JNF was born is a holiday for the State of Israel. The decision to establish KKL-JNF during the World Zionist Congress in Basel has historical significance for the Zionist movement. KKL-JNF formed the base and the conceptual and organizational infrastructure on which our national home was built. The fund prepared the ground for the realization of Herzl's dream of a Jewish state and has a central role in shaping the existence of the State of Israel, even today. We will continue to fulfill the vision of the Zionist movement by aliyah absorption, protecting our land, and making the desert bloom."
WIZO’s historical film collection explores the Women’s International Zionist Organization’s diverse body of work since the movement was founded in London in 1920 – starting with the period of British Mandatory rule of Palestine, through the nascent years of Israel, and all the way to the mid-1980s. The collection spans all of WIZO’s main areas of activity, including nursery-age education in daycare centers, creating youth villages and boarding schools across the country, helping immigrants integrate and assimilate, promoting and championing women and offering them professional training, various activities amongst non-Jewish populations across Israel, and assistance and aid to senior citizens and the elderly.
A major part of the collection features all kinds of comms and PR films commissioned by WIZO towards highlighting the organization’s role in looking after mother and child whilst also providing guidance to young mothers, and training for nursery nannies and nurses.
The collection also includes footage of WIZO day-care centers, creches, nurseries, youth clubs, boarding schools and youth villages founded by the movement in the aftermath of the Holocaust, and during the mass waves of 1950s immigration – including Hadassim, Nahalal, Nir Ha’Emek, Achuzat Yeladim, and Petah Tikvah’s Gan Vanof youth village, as well as several tech high school in Rehovot and Haifa, Tel Aviv’s WIZO France high school of the arts, and many more.
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