Tuesday, December 31, 2024

12/31 Links Pt2: The Golden Age of American Jewry Hasn’t Ended. It May Have Just Begun; Carter’s Decades of Promoting Hamas and Undermining Israel; Israel's population hits 10 million

From Ian:

Meir Soloveichik: The Golden Age of American Jewry Hasn’t Ended. It May Have Just Begun
Now it is safe to say that Jews are not a major constituency in South Dakota. Thune’s remarks reflect the fact many millions of non-Jewish Americans care deeply about the well-being of Israel, and of Jews around the world. In this, many of them reflect a reverence for the scriptural story of the Jewish people. As Walter Russel Mead put it, Israel’s endurance against its enemies remains, for these Americans, proof that “God exists; he drives history; he performs miracles in real time; [and that] God’s word in the Bible is true.”

Likewise, many of our fellow Americans see the American flags being desecrated at anti-Israel rallies in college quads and city streets. They know these monsters hate America as much as they hate Jews. They know that a defeat of the enemies of the Jews is a defeat of the enemies of America. And they know that victory over the enemies of the Jewish people here and overseas is a victory for America.

What all this means is that the stage is set not for darkness and despair, but for Jewish heroism in America, in alliance with so many who stand with us. We can embrace this calling in the knowledge of the miraculous nature of the Jewish story, the uniqueness of America, and the way one has inspired the other.

Recently I heard the former senator Ben Sasse give a speech in which he cited George Washington’s letter to Newport Jewry. It is not widely known that this was not the first letter that Washington wrote to American Jews. The first was sent to Savannah’s Hebrew Congregation, and its conclusion is even more incredible:
May the same wonder-working Deity, who long since delivering the Hebrews from their Egyptian Oppressors planted them in the promised land—whose providential agency has lately been conspicuous in establishing these United States as an independent nation—still continue to water them with the dews of Heaven and to make the inhabitants of every denomination participate in the temporal and spiritual blessings of that people whose God is Jehovah.

Washington was saying, in effect, “Your story inspires our story. Your story of a providential planting in the promised land inspires our own efforts to a create a country in this land.” As Americans prepared to mark their country’s bicentennial on July 4, 1976, they woke up to learn of the incredible IDF raid on Entebbe. But this is fitting, because the miraculous story of the Jewish people has inspired the American story in many ways—the miracle of one inspiring the remarkable nature of the other. Americans, as they marked their 200th year, read news of Jews who, as Washington said, had been planted by Providence in the promised land. As we prepare to mark in 2026 the 250th anniversary of America, we should seize the opportunity to communicate to the next generation the exceptional nature of this country.

In light of everything we have seen over the past months, the lesson is clear. Don’t speak of an age of American Jewish illusions as a golden age that is gone. To paraphrase Churchill, these are sterner days to be sure, but they are clearer days, and they are days when the illusions have evaporated, when the fantasies have failed; these are days when courage truly matters. This is an age when Jewish and American heroism is possible, and we must be grateful for being called, in our several stations, to play our part.

If, utilizing the freedom this glorious country affords us, we truly stand for all that is right, if we create and strengthen Jewish and civic institutions, if we work to defeat the enemies who hate the exceptional nature of America, and therefore hate the Jewish people whose Scripture gave rise to the exceptional way in which America sees itself, if we work courageously in defense of the Jewish people, and on behalf the America that we love, then the present time, not the 1990s, will be remembered as the golden age of American Jewry. Perhaps, one may say that this will be celebrated as our finest hour.
Can You Cancel a Country?
The fans of settler colonialism love hating Israel because Israel is so young. You can’t return America to 1619, say. In America, there are over 325 million settlers and only 7 million Native Americans. Decolonizing the United States is unimaginable. So is decolonizing Israel, really. But it’s more imaginable than the United States.

The defenders of Israel see Israel as the tip of the sword fighting against terrorism and Jihadism. For the those who use the settler colonialism lens, Hamas is the tip of the sword against settler colonialism. If somehow the Palestinians could get control of what was once called Palestine, then anything is possible, isn’t it? Free Palestine? What do you think that means? It means let’s go back to 1947. From the river to the sea? Back to a Palestine of 1947. Never mind that Palestine in 1947 was under the control of actual colonizers, the British. By any means possible? Rape and kidnapping are resistance to settler colonialism. In our lifetime? Believe or at least pretend to believe that soon the land of Palestine can be liberated from the so-called settlers and its indigenous people restored to their homeland.

Some of much of the animus toward Israel is simply Jew-hatred. But settler colonialism gives more than sheep’s clothing to that wolf. It motivates many casual observers against Israel. If I am right, we have been fighting the wrong battles when we explain that many Gazans lived fairly well on October 6 or that Hamas inflates the death toll in Gaza by including the deaths of Hamas fighters. The real intellectual battle is over the legitimacy of the state of Israel.

A stranger recently emailed me about Israel’s right to exist. His son lives in a major European city and while the son is a supporter of Israel, he avoids conversations about Israel because in his circle of highly educated friends, there is a virulent dislike of the Jewish state. My correspondent asks me: what do you say when confronted with the argument that Israel is a settler/colonial nation which stole Palestinian land and never should have been allowed to become a state?

One answer is that for some reason, the sin of settler colonialism is the only sin that negates the legitimate existence of a country. After the murder of 6 million Jews, no one suggests that Germany forfeited its right to exist or that the establishment of Germany in 1870 was a mistake that needs to be made right.

Depending on how you count, there are about 195 countries in the world. Over half of those countries are younger than Israel— 109 of them were created after Israel’s independence in May of 1948. Jordan and Syria were created in 1946. Nobody marches or protests the Syrian state. The people who live within Syria’s borders haven’t exactly had the opportunity to flourish since 1946. Or the people of Jordan or dozens of other countries where people are oppressed. But Israel is different. Settler colonialism is the sin that makes Israel unique.
ISGAP cancels mission to Poland over threat to arrest Netanyahu
The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) has announced the cancelation of its Holocaust Memorial Mission of leading academics to Poland, which was set to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

The ISGAP said that its decision comes in response to the Polish government’s reported threat to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he were to attend the commemoration event at the concentration camp, citing the contentious International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant.

Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Władysław Bartoszewski reportedly said earlier this month that the country is “obliged to respect the provisions of the International Criminal Court,” signaling that an arrest would be imminent should Netanyahu enter Polish territory.

“For a Polish government official to threaten the arrest of the leader of the Jewish State at Auschwitz, the symbol of the Jewish people’s and humanity’s greatest tragedy, desecrates the sanctity of this solemn commemoration,” said ISGAP executive director Dr. Charles Asher Small.

“This move is politicized and provocative, and an insult to the memory of six million Jews murdered during the Shoah. This decision sends a dangerous message at a time when antisemitism is on the rise globally,” he added.

Netanyahu’s office told JNS last week that the premier never planned to attend the anniversary ceremony.

Education Minister Yoav Kisch is expected to represent Israel at the Jan. 27 ceremony on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is slated to be attended by scores of leaders and heads of state, including Britain’s King Charles.

Warsaw is set to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union next month.


Jimmy Carter’s Decades of Promoting Hamas and Undermining Israel
Jimmy Carter is dead, and he leaves behind him a legacy of utter failure as president and beyond. Among his numerous disastrous policies still harming the world today are his decades of legitimizing terrorist Hamas and undermining Israel. While Americans eulogize a man with no major lasting accomplishment, some Israeli and Jewish outlets are more bitterly remembering an antisemitic politician who spent years backstabbing them to appease radical jihadis.

Carter received a Nobel Peace Prize after brokering a deeply flawed Arab-Israeli peace deal and thereafter always fancied himself an expert on the Middle East and the man most qualified to bring peace between the Jewish nation of Israel and its numerous Muslim enemies. His bungling promotion of jihadi entities, his campaign for countries to recognize genocidal terror group Hamas as legitimate, and his pressure on Israel to vacate areas that have become terror hotbeds under “Palestinian” control were all catastrophic.

Years before Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Meshaal launched the Oct. 7 massacre, Jimmy Carter met with them and claimed they weren’t really murderous terrorists. Carter’s book falsely accuses Israel of attempted apartheid and willfully ignores Hamas’s insistence that it will never give up until they have taken over all of Israel, genocidally if need be.

Just as Carter ensured the destruction of a dictatorial but pro-Western regime in Persia (now pro-terrorist Iran — for which some Iranians still hate him) — and failed to resolve the lengthy American hostage crisis, he helped to strengthen and legitimize terrorists who are now trying to wipe Israel off the map, a goal which they always avowed, even though Carter denied it.

“Demanding an end to all terrorism before final negotiations only guarantees they [the negotiations will] never happen,” Carter insanely asserted in 2003.

The Center for Israel Education (CIE) last year published an excellent and comprehensive analysis of Carter’s anti-Israel, pro-Hamas campaign over about 15 years in the early 2000s. Dr. Kenneth Stein, who personally attended at least one of the forums for Carter’s meetings with Palestinians and tried directly to convince Carter that his strategy was all wrong, wrote the piece.

Carter undermined other administrations’ strategies with Israel and Hamas too. Below is an interesting paragraph Stein drew from a 2009 New York Times piece about Carter’s press conference with Ismail Haniyeh, the top Hamas butcher finally assassinated this year:
Hamas welcomed Mr. Carter’s visit as a significant step in its quest for international legitimacy… Hamas leaders have said they will never recognize Israel, and will offer only a long-term truce, not a full-fledged peace treaty, in return for a Palestinian state…Carter said, “that in order to break the Israeli-Palestinian stalemate, ‘first of all Hamas has to be accepted by the international community as a legitimate player in the future, and that is what I am trying to do today.’”
Abbas lauds Carter for stance on ‘Israeli apartheid’
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas released a statement on Monday mourning the death of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, whom he praised for acknowledging the “realities of Israeli apartheid.”

In the statement, which Abbas’s office posted on social media, the P.A. chief called Carter, who died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100, an “extraordinary statesman and global peacemaker” and “the first American president who recognized the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.”

The statement continued, “He spoke boldly against injustice, including addressing the realities of Israeli apartheid. A man of courage, moral integrity, humanity and diplomacy, President Carter was an inspiration to generations and a beacon of hope for all who believed in the power of justice and compassion.”

This public message was in contrast to the private letter that Abbas sent in 2018 to the family of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush upon his passing. Reports about it in the Palestinian media featured a laconic synopsis, saying only that the missive expressed “sincere sympathy and condolences.”

Carter, who brokered the Camp David Accords that led to the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, was an advocate of Palestinian statehood. In 2006, he published the controversial book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.

In 2015, he said in an interview with Israeli Channel 2 that Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal was not a terrorist. Mashaal “is strongly in favor of the peace process,” Carter asserted, while claiming that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not “in favor of a two-state solution.”
Daniel Greenfield: Jimmy Carter Was Never a Good Man
When Billy Carter shilled for Libya, the media also claimed it had nothing to do with his brother. And then Jimmy left office and began shilling for so many dictators that the full list would run for pages. Over the course of his long retirement, Jimmy Carter not only met with Gaddafi, who had paid his brother $220,000, but with Zimbabwe’s Mugabe, Kim Il Sung of North Korea, Venezuela’s Maduro and Hugo Chavez, Syria’s Assad and Fidel Castro in Cuba.

And Carter not only met with them, he loved them and covered up for them. He claimed that he “never doubted Hugo Chávez’s commitment to improving the lives of millions of his fellow countrymen” and on Castro’s death remembered “fondly our visits with him in Cuba and his love of his country.” The more people Jimmy’s tyrants killed, the harder he hugged them.

Jimmy Carter loved terrorists and so he not only embraced Arafat, but also Hamas.

In April 2008, Jimmy Carter met with Hamas and claimed that the Islamic terrorists wanted to live in peace with Israel. The next month, as a peaceful gesture Hamas fired a rocket at an Israeli shopping mall, wounding 90 including a mother and her 3-year-old daughter.

But the more tyrants and terrorists Jimmy Carter met with, the more he built up his reputation as a good man just trying to fix the world. But Carter wasn’t fixing the world by empowering some of the worst mass murderers in the world, he was continuing to break it and make it worse.

Carter met with mass murderers responsible for starving half a million people to death and then with terrorists aspiring to take over countries like Israel not because he wanted to stop the violence, but because he wanted to dial it up further by providing them with legitimacy.

Jimmy’s ‘Carter Center’ claimed to monitor foreign elections while sanctioning corrupt leftist takeovers like the one in Venezuela which led to protests, starvation and mass migration to America. His activities on behalf of enemies like Saddam Hussein and North Korea went well beyond lobbying or even violations of the Logan Act and into a territory of outright treason.

That included contacting world leaders and urging them to oppose the United States and making announcements in America’s name at meetings with foreign leaders. A normal D.C. lobbyist would have gone to prison for half the things that Carter did. And no one except a former president wearing the media mantle of sainthood could have gotten away with it.

Why did Carter go to such trouble for Saddam Hussein and North Korea? Why did he go on a fundraising mission for the Islamic terrorists of the PLO? While Carter claimed to be a peacenik, tens of millions of dollars were pouring into the Carter Center including from foreign governments. Long before the Clinton Foundation, Jimmy Carter had built a massive foreign influence machine under the guise of a humanitarian operation that “came to him in a dream.”


Stop ‘incendiary’ remarks about Israel, Conference of Presidents tells pope
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations appreciates and shares the pope’s “concern for the suffering of innocent civilians and desire to spread peace and compassion around the world.”

But Pope Francis has gone beyond that and said troubling things about the Jewish state, Harriet Schleifer and William Daroff, chair and CEO respectively of the umbrella Jewish group, wrote to the pontiff on New Year’s Eve.

“We write in the spirit of this holiday season to express our concern over recent comments your holiness has made regarding Israel’s defensive war against Hamas,” the duo wrote. “Statements you have made including, ‘Yesterday children were bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war,’ only serve to distort Israel’s legitimate military campaign and fuel antisemitism and unjust targeting of the Jewish state.”

The pope has failed to say that the Jewish state has a right to self-defense in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack or that the terror group uses human shields and embeds its operations among Gazan civilians, “putting the entire population of Gaza at risk,” the leaders wrote.

“With global antisemitism at record highs, the American Jewish community calls on you to refrain from making incendiary comments and to build bridges between our two peoples,” they added.

The Conference of Presidents, which is more than 50 years old, represents 48 Jewish organizations. It has another four adjunct organization members.
NGOs Driving Antisemitism in Europe, Part II: The UK
The Labour government apparently does not care about Hamas terrorists promoting Hamas in London. What they do seem to care about is shutting down all criticism of Hamas. One elderly pensioner -- who expressed his disappointment that Palestinian flags were being flown all over Bethnal Green Road in East London -- was arrested for it.

Then there are the mosques where hatred and violence are preached. At Birmingham's Green Lane Mosque, for instance, the imams give lectures on how to properly stone a woman – you first bury her up to her waist – and how to kill homosexuals and apostates. Evidently, that did not bother the British government one bit.

So, while ordinary Britons are serving prison sentences of up to several years for posting relatively bland statements on social media, the people behind these charities and mosques continue to run their businesses as usual.

Where does that leave the Jews and everyone else? In beautiful downtown Upyoursville.
World Bowls Tours withdraws invite to Israeli players in illegal move
World Bowls Tours Ltd (WBT) has acted illegally in cancelling the participation of Israeli bowls players who should be competing in the 2025 tournament at Potters Resort in Norfolk.

WBT withdrew the invitation to Israeli players who qualified to compete in the forthcoming World Indoor Championships, due to be held on 10-26 January 2025. WBT has claimed security concerns as grounds for the cancellation. The decision affects Daniel Alomin in the World Singles, as well as Amnon Amar and Itai Rigbi in the World Open Pairs.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has written to the directors of WBT, pointing out that this is a clear breach by WBT of section 29(1) of the Equality Act 2010, which prohibits a person concerned with the provision of a service to the public or a section of the public from discriminating against a person requiring the service by not providing him with the service.

WBT’s refusal to provide its services of organising the tournament to the Israeli players constitutes direct discrimination because of their nationality, which is a protected characteristic under section 9 of the Equality Act.

UKLFI explained that this discrimination is not justified by the suggested security concerns. In the first place, UKLFI does not accept that it would be impossible to ensure security if the tournament goes ahead with the participation of the Israeli players. UKLFI asked WBT what steps they had taken to investigate these concerns and the measures that could be taken to address them?

UKLFI also argued that even if it is impracticable to hold the tournament with the participation of the Israeli players, this does not justify excluding them from the tournament. There is no exception to section 29(1) of the Equality Act allowing this. If it is not practicable to hold the tournament without discrimination because of nationality at the present time, the tournament should be cancelled.

This is what the World Squash Federation did when it became clear that Israeli competitors would not be able to play in a world championship in Malaysia.
Invitation to the Bowls Championships is restored to Israeli Players
The Israeli Indoor Bowls players can after all play at the World Indoor Championships in Norfolk.

The World Bowls Tour Limited (WBT) has reversed its decision to ban the Israelis from the competition following letters from UK Lawyers for Israel pointing out that their decision had been illegal.

The WBT Board has written to Zvika Hadar, President of the Professional Bowlers Association in Israel to apologise for the offence and upset caused by the withdrawal of the invitation. They explain that sufficient security has now been arranged at the venue.

The PBA wrote “…we had found ourselves in a very difficult position in relation to the security of the venue and to the competitors and other attendees. However, over the past 48 hours we have been exploring practical ways in which our concerns could be overcome, so as to enable the invitation to PBA Israel to be reinstated. We are pleased to say that following discussions with various partner agencies, we have been able to confirm today an increase in the security presence at the event.”

They say: “We are very pleased about being able to reverse the decision to withdraw the invitation which we regrettably felt compelled to take in all the circumstances. The sole consideration behind this difficult decision had been the safety and security of all participants, staff, and attendees involved in the tournament.”


Charities accused of acting illegally by aligning with anti-Israel campaigns
Twelve charities who have aligned themselves with the Climate Justice Coalition (CJC) may have been acting illegally by also signing up to the Coalition’s campaigns against Israel.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) wrote to the 12 charities who are members of CJC, but who have also become associated with the coalition’s campaigns against Israel.

CJC organised the March for Global Climate Justice, which took place in November 2024, but which was held to address both the climate crisis and “genocide” in Gaza. The flyer stated “The climate crisis and genocide in Gaza are inextricably linked and we must put an end to both.”

This upset Climate campaigners who did not agree with CJC’s anti-Israel campaign, and who contacted UKLFI.

CJC also listed several anti-Israel campaigns on its website. This page advertised campaigns including a national march for Palestine; a campaign against Barclays Bank headed “don’t bank on genocide” with War on Want; a campaign against arms sales to Israel with Global Justice Now; “Ceasefire now” with Friends of the Earth; and a campaign against AXA insurance company, which it accuses of “insurance of … investments in banks and companies that are financing or complicit in enabling Israeli illegal settlements and genocide in Palestine.”.

However, several of the charities which are either members or associated with CJC do not include political campaigning against Israel as part of their charitable objects.

Charities are allowed to conduct political campaigns as long as they further their charitable objectives, but in the case of the 12 charities identified by UKLFI, this was not the case.

UKLFI wrote to the charities in mid-November 2024 to point out that aligning themselves with the CJC and its anti-Israel campaigns was outside their charitable objects and therefore illegal. However, its letters were ignored. UKLFI has therefore reported 12 of the charities to the Charity Commission for these breaches.

It now appears that CJC has removed the index to the web-page advertising the “Free Palestine” campaigns from its website.
Gen Zionist Taking the Fight for Israel to Harvard | Z3 Conference Bonus Episode
Gen Z is shown time and again to be the American generation that stands most against Israel. But there are Gen Zionist heroes among them that are standing up for Israel and pushing back against the misinformation machine every day. Eylon Levy went to the Z3 conference in Palo Alto, to talk to the students who are on the front lines of the battle for hearts and minds on campuses across the country.

The Z3 Project is an initiative of the Oshman Family JCC. Their objective is to foster a fresh approach to Jewish engagement in the 21st century. They are dedicated to fostering a thriving Jewish future through meaningful dialogue between Diaspora Jewry and Israel. They believe in the power of Jewish Peoplehood, mutual understanding, and a shared destiny to unite Jewish communities across the globe.


Australian University Investigates Prominent Academic Over Calls to Destroy Israel, Zionism
Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia has launched an investigation into a prominent academic and award-winning author who has regularly used social media to call for the destruction of Israel and Zionism, with Jewish leaders calling for her to be fired.

The university confirmed with The Daily Telegraph, an Australian newspaper, that it was investigating the online conduct of Randa Abdel-Fattah, a Future Fellow in the school’s Department of Sociology and one of Australia’s most prominent anti-Israel activists.

“The university is aware of comments made on social media by a member of its staff that have caused concern and distress among some members of the community,” the university told the Telegraph in a statement.

Citing its duty to address the concerns of “distressed” students and the university community more broadly, Macquarie said it has “policies and procedures in place to balance its commitments both to providing a safe and welcoming environment for all and to lawful free speech and academic freedom. Where there is found to be a breach of policy, the university will act to address the matter under its policies and procedures.”

Abdel-Fattah, 45, caused an uproar last week when she called for Israel’s destruction in what was apparently meant to be a message of hope and optimism for the new year.

“May 2025 be the end of Israel. May it be the end of the US-Israeli imperial scourge on humanity. May we see the abolishment of the death cult of Zionism and the end of US empire and finally a world where the slaughter, annihilation, and torture of Palestinians is no longer daily routine,” Abdel-Fattah posted on X/Twitter.

“And to achieve that,” she continued, “is to snowball collective liberation because the tentacles of Western imperialism oppress and dehumanize us all. May every baby slaughtered in Zionism’s genocide haunt you who openly support or acquiesce through your gutless silence.”

The academic has also used social media to accuse “Israeli Zionists” of “murdering torturing, and, raping with zero restraint” and Israel, “the people of a Holocaust,” of “committing a holocaust” in the ongoing war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

“Daily, hourly slaughter. Zionism is a Palestinian slaughter house and still there are people supporting this abomination of a regime and ideology. To hell with you all. Every last Zionist,” Abdel-Fattah posted on X last week. “May you never know a second’s peace in your sadistic miserable lives.”

Australian Jewish community leaders told the Telegraph that Abdel-Fattah, who receives an $802,000 taxpayer-funded grant for her research, should be fired over her online postings.


Friend or foe? Egypt's $5 billion arms buildup and the question no one's asking
Egypt has been engaged in one of the most aggressive military modernization and expansion programs in its history. Under President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi's leadership, the Egyptian armed forces have been transformed into one of the world's most formidable forces, with recent acquisitions including everything from aircraft carriers to advanced fighter jets, from German submarines to the latest American tanks.

This buildup has accelerated dramatically in the past decade, with Egypt recently securing another massive $5 billion arms deal with the United States. Sometimes the simplest questions are the most revealing: Why is Egypt pursuing such extensive militarization while struggling with severe economic challenges?

Looking at Egypt's strategic position, the picture seems puzzling at first glance. To the west lies Libya, still fractured by civil conflict and posing no conventional military threat. To the south is Sudan, itself embroiled in internal strife. The other border nations – including Saudi Arabia across the Red Sea – are on friendly terms with Cairo. This leaves Israel, with whom Egypt has maintained a peace treaty since 1979.

The scale of Egypt's military expansion seems vastly disproportionate to its actual security needs. The country faces significant economic challenges, with a currency crisis, rising inflation reaching 20%, and mounting public debt. Yet billions continue to be poured into sophisticated weapons systems that seem ill-suited for counterinsurgency operations or border security – their stated purpose.


Treasury slaps sanctions on Iranian, Russian entities for 2024 election interference
The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Tuesday that it imposed new sanctions on Iranian and Russian entities that tried to interfere in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Starting in at least 2023, the Tehran-based Cognitive Design Production Center, a subsidiary of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated terror organization, attempted to “incite socio-political tensions among the U.S. electorate” ahead of the presidential elections, Treasury alleges.

The Moscow-based Center for Geopolitical Expertise created and spread artificial intelligence-generated images and other “deep fakes” intended to influence U.S. voters and sow discord through a network of more than 100 websites with the direction and funding of Russia’s GRU intelligence service.

“The governments of Iran and Russia have targeted our election processes and institutions and sought to divide the American people through targeted disinformation campaigns,” stated Bradley Smith, acting under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence. “The United States will remain vigilant against adversaries who would undermine our democracy.”

The allegations from the Treasury Department are the latest indication of Iranian and Russian efforts to influence the American electorate.

In September, the Department of Justice charged three Iranians with hacking email accounts from President-elect Donald Trump’s election campaign and attempting to leak the results to the media. An internal opposition research file on Vice President-elect J.D. Vance was among the materials that were stolen from the campaign and published.

Iran has also plotted to assassinate Trump and other Americans in retaliation for the 2020 killing of IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani, and in November, the Justice Department charged two Americans and an Iranian in a murder-for-hire conspiracy that targeted Trump. (There are no known links to Iran in either of the two assassination attempts on Trump in 2024.)


German woman who lives in home looted from Jews must give it up, judge rules
A German court has ruled that an 85-year-old woman and her son who live in a property sold under duress by its Jewish owners in 1939 must give up their home.

The ruling earlier this month capped a decade of legal wrangling over the home, located in Wandlitz, outside Berlin.

For many paying attention to the twists and turns, the fight over the lakeside property came to symbolize the pain and turmoil of nearly a century of history — as well as the ways in which German families tell themselves complicated stories about their role during the Holocaust. It has also surfaced lingering resentments, some of them clearly antisemitic, about Germany’s efforts to repay Jews for its crimes against them.

The Wandlitz estate is likely one of the last property restitution cases to be adjudicated in Germany, as virtually all looted or “aryanized” property has already gone through the restitution process or been lost to history, with no one left to claim it. The deadline to file property claims passed decades ago.

The case centers on an estate, located in a bucolic area about 20 miles from central Berlin, that functioned in the 1930s as a summer retreat for an orphanage operated by two Jewish women, Alice Donat and Helene Lindenbaum. To comply with Nazi laws meant to expropriate Jewish wealth, they sold the land, complete with a structure in poor condition, to Felix Moegelin in 1939 for 21,100 Reichsmarks, a relative pittance.

Moegelin had to sign the statement “I am Aryan,” while the two women had to sign that they were Jewish according to the Nuremberg Laws of 1935.
Ford apologizes for X post declaring ‘Israel is a terrorist state’
For a few hours on Monday, anyone tuning into the Ford Motor Company’s X account could see three pro-Palestinian tweets that had nothing to do with the car company’s business.

“Free Palestine,” said the first message. Another followed a minute later: “Israel is a terrorist state.” Moments later, a third: “ALL EYES ON GAZA.”

The messages were soon deleted and Ford said in a statement that they had not been permitted.

“Our X account was briefly compromised and the previous three posts were not authorized or posted by Ford,” the company said. “We are investigating the issue, and apologize for any confusion caused.”

The incident comes nearly 15 months into the war sparked by Hamas’s attack on Israel, which has ignited fierce criticism of Israeli operations in Gaza. It carried particular resonance because of Ford’s headquarters in Detroit, an area with a large Arab-American population where pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel advocacy has been strong, and because of the company’s history of antisemitism emanating from its founder, Henry Ford.

Ford’s record of antisemitism included using a newspaper he owned to spread antisemitism, including the notorious forgery “Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” (A Jewish production company is currently trying to turn a 2012 book about the Dearborn Independent into a feature-length film.)

Screenshots of the deleted anti-Israel posts, which circulated on social media, drew applause and condemnations.

US Representative Ritchie Torres, a pro-Israel Democrat from New York, tweeted that the “Ford Motor Company must have been hacked by the Free Palestine movement.” Many in his hundreds of comments said they suspected that a Ford employee had forgotten which account was active before tweeting.


Molotov cocktail thrown at Mykolaiv synagogue during Hanukkah
On Monday night, an unidentified individual threw a Molotov cocktail at the central synagogue in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, during the Hanukkah celebrations.

The incident resulted in damage to the synagogue's door but fortunately caused no injuries. The assailant fled the scene and was captured on security cameras, which are now under police review.

The synagogue's guard responded promptly, extinguishing the fire before it could spread further and immediately notifying local authorities.

Both local police and the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) arrived quickly and launched an investigation into the attack. A manhunt for the suspect is currently underway.

Rabbi Sholom Gottlieb, the city's chief rabbi and Chabad emissary, recounted the event: "Just before midnight, an unknown individual approached the synagogue's door. After ensuring no passersby were present, he threw a Molotov cocktail." Rabbi Gottlieb has filed an official complaint with the authorities and is awaiting updates on the search.

Rise in antisemitic sentiments during Hanukkah
He also highlighted a disturbing rise in antisemitic sentiments online during Hanukkah: "We are witnessing a significant increase in antisemitism on social networks. While it hasn't manifested on the streets, we are taking all necessary precautions."

To address previous antisemitic incidents, including the toppling of public menorahs in various Ukrainian cities, the SBU has been providing round-the-clock protection for public Hanukkah menorahs.


Birthright celebrates 25th anniversary
Birthright Israel commemorates its quarter-century milestone, with approximately 6,500 young participants scheduled to arrive this winter to support the recovery of Israel’s tourism sector.

More than 300 international groups will engage in volunteer programs and diverse internships across Israel. Since November 2023, all tours have incorporated war-related elements, including visits to “Hostage Square,” tours of Gaza border communities, volunteering initiatives, and encounters with Oct. 7 survivors.

In addition to the standard visits showcasing Israel’s vibrant character to young diaspora Jews, the organization is preparing to welcome about 10,000 volunteers throughout 2025. These volunteers, predominantly Birthright alumni, will support the rehabilitation of Gaza border kibbutzim and northern communities as residents return to rebuild.

This expansion builds on volunteer programs established in November 2023, which brought approximately 8,500 volunteers to Israel over the past year. Responding to strong interest, Birthright has now extended the age eligibility for these programs to 50.

The project’s cumulative economic impact on the Israeli economy since its inception amounts to approximately 8.5 billion shekels, covering expenses for flights, accommodations, attractions, dining, transportation, tour guides, and more. The organization generates a fourfold return on every government dollar invested, directly benefiting the Israeli economy.

As the world’s premier educational-tourism organization connecting diaspora Jewish youth with Israel, Birthright proudly celebrates 25 years of impact with more than 850,000 alumni. It stands as the 21st century’s most significant Zionist organization, shaping an entire generation and functioning as Israel’s strategic “Iron Dome” in the realm of Jewish identity.

Gidi Mark, Birthright’s CEO, notes, “Despite the war and potential escalation threats, the thousands of young people we brought this year comprised 87% of youth group tourism staying in Israeli hotels and visiting tourist sites. This represents a crucial lifeline for the local tourism industry.”
Israel's population hits 10 million people before 2025
Israel's population has reached 10 million people before the end of 2024, according to a report released by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) on Tuesday.

Of the 10 million citizens in Israel, approximately 76.9% of them (7.707 million people) are Jewish, and 21.0% (2.104 million people) of the population is Arab. Two percent of the population (210,000 people) identify as other.

CBS noted that the "other" category includes non-Arab Christians as well as those not classified by religion in the state's population registry.

Overall, the population in Israel grew by 1.1% (129,600 people) in 2024. The natural increase (number of births minus the number of deaths) was 112,000.

This growth rate is slightly lower than in 2023, when the population grew by 1.6%, according to the previous year's CBS report. The report attributed this to the high number of Israelis who emigrated abroad.

Record emigration levels
The report noted that 82,700 Israelis emigrated, which is a record high from previous years. In 2023, 55,400 people emigrated abroad, far beyond the annual average of 37,100 for the decade before the Israel-Hamas war.

Additionally, 40,600 Israelis emigrated abroad in the first seven months of 2024, meaning that 2,200 more people left the country each month than in the year prior. In 2023, approximately 39% of the emigrants came from the country’s wealthier districts, 28% left from the North, and 15% from the South.

Israel saw an influx of 32,890 new immigrants in 2024, meaning the country's net migration, the difference between the number of people entering and leaving Israel, reached 18,200 people.

Some 181,000 babies were born in Israel this year, 76% to Jewish mothers and 24% to Arab mothers.

The CBS report stated that 51,400 deaths were recorded in 2024, nearly 1,800 more than in 2023. The data for both years include approximately 1,870 deaths from Israel's operations in Gaza and Lebanon.
Mohammad, Avigail most popular baby names for 2024
The Population and Immigration Authority on Tuesday published its annual list of the most popular names in the country, with Mohammad again crowned the overall champion.

Over the course of the past year there were 181,000 babies born in the country, PIA reported.

Of those, 1,740 newborn boys were given the name Mohammad, followed by Yosef/Yousef (1,201) with Adam a close third (1,196). Mohammad also topped the boys’ list in 2023 with 1,777 babies.

Among girls, the most popular name was Avigail (1,156) followed by Miriam/Mariam (1,015) and Tamar (841). The most popular Jewish girls’ name was Avigail at 1,137, then Tamar (833) and Yael (714).

Ariel was the most popular boys’ name in the Jewish community, with 1,013 this year. Next were David (990) and Lavi (944).
Oct. 7 heroes honored at Knesset Chanukah ceremony
Israelis who fought Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, along with survivors of the massacre and parliamentarians, took part on Monday in a Chanukah candle-lighting ceremony at the Knesset in Jerusalem. The ceremony was presided over by Iris Haim, whose son, Yotam, was one of three hostages misidentified as Hamas terrorists and accidentally killed a year ago on Dec. 15 by Israel Defense Forces troops in the Gaza Strip.

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana presented certificates of appreciation to six heroes, including Mishel Rukavisin, a female officer at the IDF’s base in the border community of Kissufim, who was critically injured on Oct. 7 and underwent a long rehabilitation process.

“It was important for me that people get to know my story, as there weren’t so many women [soldiers] hurt,” Rukavisin told JNS on Monday. “I want people to know this and the fact that, even 15 months after the massacre, there are people still wounded and fighting for their lives.”

Rukavisin, who arrived at the event in a wheelchair, but insisted on standing to receive her certificate from Ohana, said, “Never give up and continue fighting for our country. Continue fighting for the hostages and for the wounded.”

In the near future, Rukavisin, whose boyfriend recently proposed to her, plans to get back on her feet, literally, and tell the whole world her story.

JNS also met with the family and friends of Maj. (res.) Yedidia Bloch, who died from injuries sustained on the battlefield in Southern Lebanon, and whose organs were donated to save seven lives.

“I was one of them,” Meytal Finder Izhak told JNS. “I received half of his liver; the rest was given to a boy. It saved our lives. It shows that something good can come out of even the most horrible and painful things.”
Tiffany Haddish and Noa Tishby Light Candles for the Seventh Night of Hanukkah
It’s the 7th night of Hanukkah, and my son Ari and I are lighting candles with ‪@thaddish‬. We talked about Tiffany’s journey to discovering her Jewish identity, what Hanukkah means to her, and yes—she’s officially planning my bat mitzvah. 🕎 #BringOnTheLight




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