Josephine Baker visits Israel in 1954 in footage available in the Israel Film Archive.

 

January 14, 2022



After US pushback, Israel is reportedly reviewing its close ties with China

By Jordyn Haime

(JTA) — Israel has pledged to keep the Biden administration in the loop on major deals with China and would reconsider those deals if the United States raises opposition, Haaretz reported on Monday.

Both the Biden administration and the Trump administration have raised concerns about growing ties between Israel and China as the latter’s relationships with the United States and European countries have soured.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan raised the matter in his meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid during a visit to Israel in December and at an earlier meeting in Washington, the Haaretz report said.

The United States has not yet made clear demands to Israel on the matter, but Israeli officials have begun discussing the country’s policy toward China, according to the report.

China and Israel have become closer over the past several years, particularly over tech and innovation. The report cited unnamed sources as saying Israel was taking a “business as usual” approach with China, as it remains caught between two powerful states in the midst of an ongoing trade war.

Yet Israel has continued to align itself diplomatically with China — in November, Israeli President Isaac Herzog made an unprecedented call to Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss Iran’s nuclear program. And in October, Israel refrained from signing a United Nations joint statement raising concern about China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims, the Turkic minority facing persecution in China’s northwest.

Poway rabbi injured in 2019 shooting sentenced to 14 months in fraud case

By Ron Kampeas

(JTA) — A judge sentenced the rabbi who lost a finger in the 2019 antisemitic shooting attack in Poway, California, to 14 months in prison for his role in a fraud scheme.

The sentencing Tuesday was unusual because the prosecution and the defense agreed that Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein should receive only home confinement.

“You not only committed this offense yourself but you took a lot of people with you,” US District Court Judge Cynthia Bashant told Goldstein, the San Diego Times-Union reported.

“I think it’s important to send a message to the community, and I think it’s important to send a message to you,” she said.

Goldstein, who pleaded guilty to tax fraud in 2020, and his co-conspirators must also pay $2.8 million in restitution.

Under the scheme, which federal agents were investigating long before the April 2019 shooting attack that claimed the life of one congregant, donors contributed to Goldstein’s synagogue but then got most of the money back, enabling the donor to claim a tax deduction.

Goldstein retired from the Chabad synagogue in November, seven months after confronting a gunman who entered his synagogue on April 27, 2019, the last day of Passover.

Chabad headquarters in New York had condemned Goldstein and moved to relieve him of his duties after it learned he was under investigation.

Last week, the man who killed a woman and wounded three others in the 2019 attack was sentenced to a second life sentence in federal court.

4th coronavirus shot increased antibodies fivefold, preliminary data from Israel shows

By Shira Hanau

(JTA) — A fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine increases antibodies fivefold in patients who receive the shots, preliminary findings from an Israeli study show.

Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced the news at the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv on Tuesday, alongside Dr. Gili Regev-Yochay, a lead researcher on the study. The results have not been peer reviewed.

“We know that a week after administration of a fourth dose, we see a five-fold increase in the number of antibodies in the vaccinated person,” Bennett said, according to Haaretz.“This most likely means a significant increase against infection and …hospitalization and [severe] symptoms.”

Israel began administering fourth doses of the coronavirus vaccine this week as a second booster shot to adults ages 60 and up, as well as medical workers who have gone at least four months since their first booster shot. Nearly 100,000 people already received or were scheduled to receive a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine as of Tuesday, The Times of Israel reported.

The World Health Organization, Dr. Anthony Fauci and others have expressed concern about the aggressive booster program.

Professor Galia Rahav, the head of Sheba’s infectious diseases center, spoke to an Israeli news channel to address the criticism on Tuesday.

“We’re always ahead of the rest. That’s been the case the whole way. We learned a lot about the third shot before the rest. And we saw its amazing effect — reducing illness in the most impressive way,” Rahav told Channel 12, according to The Times of Israel.

Brazilian court fines American Airlines for ’emotional suffering’ to passengers denied kosher food

By Cnaan Liphshiz

(JTA) — A judge in Brazil fined American Airlines to the tune of $1,759 for not providing kosher meals for two passengers who had been assured they would receive it on long-distance flights.

One of the passengers had gone without food for 10 hours from New York to São Paulo. The other fasted for a total of nine hours on two flights, first from Madrid to Philadelphia and then again from Chicago to London, the Brazilian law news site ConJur reported Wednesday.

American Airlines “failed to provide the services” it had promised to render, the judge of the 23rd Chamber of Civil Court of the Justice Tribunal of Sao Paulo, José Marcos Marrone, wrote in his ruling.

The plaintiffs were not named in the report. Marrone also wrote that, beyond the failure to live up to the agreement, the firm caused the plaintiffs “emotional suffering” by serving food to virtually everyone else on the flight.

Airlines are not legally obligated to provide food of any kind in the United States or Brazil. However, both countries have consumer protection laws that can lead to penal action against service providers once they commit in a transaction to deliver a certain product.

On its website, American Airlines offers 15 of what it calls “special meals,” including kosher food.

In the fine print for the kosher food option, the airline stipulates that passengers from Brazil can only get kosher food if they’re leaving from Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. The only other stipulation is that the airline is unable to provide kosher meals to passengers leaving from India.

Israel to allow US visitors back in for the first time since November

By Shira Hanau

(JTA) — Israel will lift its COVID-related travel ban on visitors from the United States, United Kingdom and several other countries for the first time since restrictions were put in place in November.

According to Israeli media, the restrictions on countries given a “red” status because of their high rates of COVID cases will be lifted Thursday night.

Visitors will be allowed to enter provided they show a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours of their flight. Visitors would still be required to quarantine upon arrival until receiving a negative COVID test result.

The ban on foreign travelers has been a controversial issue in Israel in recent weeks. American immigrants to Israel have been especially vocal about the bans, which have kept their family members out of the country, even for lifecycle events such as weddings or the birth of a grandchild.

While the travel bans were initially imposed to keep the rapidly-spreading Omicron variant out of the country, Israel’s health minister has admitted that “there is no point in stopping [Omicron’s] entry from abroad” in an interview with the country’s public broadcaster, according to The Times of Israel.

Bennett: Israel shifting to a concept of ‘consistent offense’ against Iran

(JNS) — Israel is going on the offensive against Iran, and will not be bound by whatever agreement might be reached in Vienna between Iran and world powers, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Monday.

“Iran tops our list of challenges,” said Bennett, during his first appearance before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, according to a statement from his office. “Iran is the head of an octopus that constantly threatens Israel on all its borders via its proxies and its tentacles. We are dealing day and night with Iran and its malign activity.”

As a result, he said, Israel is “shifting to a concept of consistent offense and not just consistent defense,” irrespective of what happens in the Vienna talks.

While Israel was “certainly concerned” about the talks, “it is important for me to say here clearly and unequivocally: Israel is not a party to the agreements,” said Bennett.

“Israel is not bound to what will be written in the agreements if they are signed. Israel will maintain unlimited and unrestricted freedom of action, everywhere and at all times,” he added.

Top Iranian general: ‘When we strike at America it will be with great force’

(MEMRI via JNS) — The deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a recent interview that when the time was right, Iran would strike the United States “with great force.”

In an interview with Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV on Jan. 4, Admiral Ali Fadavi said that soon, the world would witness America’s full retreat from the Middle East.

“We do not have the slightest doubt that at the right time, when we strike America—the Great Satan—and its Zionist followers, we will strike them with great force. As Imam Khamenei famously said a long time ago, when the Zionists were entertaining some illusions … he said, ‘If they take even the smallest step [against us], we will turn Haifa and Tel Aviv into dust,’” said Fadavi.

“If the Zionists do something stupid and take a step against us, whether big or small, we will see this as a sign that Allah decreed we should be attacked so that we could retaliate. This would mean the annihilation of the Zionists,” he added.

“It is a fact that the Zionists will go away much faster than the time frame determined by the Leader [Khamenei]. Soon we will witness the annihilation of the Americans and their dominance over the world, and specifically over this region. Soon we will see them leave the region. This will definitely happen,” said Fadavi.

Lapid and Macron talk about return to Iran deal, among other pressing topics

(JNS) — Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid talked with French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday evening, specifically discussing the ongoing nuclear talks in Vienna surrounding a possible return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

“The conversation dealt with regional challenges, the nuclear talks and Israel’s demand to put pressure on Iran,” the ministry said in a statement.

Their conversation builds on Lapid’s visit to Paris on Nov. 30, in which the Israeli foreign minister said that only a credible military threat would stop Iran from continuing its race to a nuclear weapon.

The two also discussed relations between Israel and the European Union, with Lapid congratulating Macron on France’s assumption of the presidency of the Council of the European Union, the statement said. Lapid stressed the importance of strengthening ties between Israel and the E.U.

Macron said he remains committed to Israel’s security and places importance on the relationship between the two countries.

IDF troops thwart drug-smuggling attempt along Egyptian border

(JNS) — The Israeli military foiled a large-scale drug smuggling attempt along the Egyptian border on Friday night, the IDF reported.

Spotters identified several suspects near the border, and Israeli forces alerted to the scene seized some 100 kilograms of narcotics worth an estimated 2 million shekels (about $642,000) the military said in a statement.

The last major drug bust reported by Israel on the Egyptian border was on December 2021, when the IDF intercepted a 120 kg (265) shipment of marijuana and

cocaine worth $650,000 dollars in the same region.

On Nov. 20, it seized some 120 kilograms of cocaine and marijuana worth tens of millions of shekels.

The day before that, on Nov. 19, Israeli forces spotted a suspicious individual near Metula in northern Israel. The suspect managed to flee, but troops seized 41 packages of narcotics, as well as a store of ammunition, worth hundreds of thousands of shekels, according to the IDF.

In December, for example, the IDF intercepted a 120-kilogram shipment of marijuana and cocaine worth $650,000 dollars in the same region, Ynet reported. 

The IDF recently implemented a series of steps to combat increased drug trafficking attempts in the south. In November 2021, it updated the rules of engagement to allow soldiers more freedom to fire on smugglers on the Israel-Egypt border. Other measures include coordination with Egyptian law enforcement, advanced training exercises and the establishment of a joint IDF-Israel Security Agency operations room, according to Ynet.

The measures appear to have significantly reduced drug flow into Israel. Data provided by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit shows that the volume of drugs entering Israel through the Egyptian border decreased from 70 tons in 2019 to 21 tons in 2021.

Israeli population reaches 9,449,000 at start of 2022

By Abigail Klein Leichman

(Israel21c via JNS) — Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) estimates Israel’s population at 9,449,000 as of Dec. 31, 2021.

Of that number, 6,982,000 are Jewish (73.9 percent of the total population), 1,995,000 are Arab (21.1 percent) and 472,000 identify as “other” (5 percent).

Approximately 184,000 infants were born, 73.8 percent to Jewish mothers and 23.4 percent to Arab mothers in 2021. The most popular names for new babies (as of 2020) are David for Jewish boys and Tamar for and girls, and Mohammed and Maryam for Arab boys and girls.

Approximately 51,000 Israeli residents died in 2021, more than in 2020 (48,788).

Overall, approximately 160,000 people were added to the Israeli population, an increase of 1.7 percent. Most of the increase (83 percent) was due to natural growth and the rest (17 percent) to the international migration balance.

Some 25,000 new immigrants arrived in Israel during 2021–30 percent from Russia and 14.6 percent from France—as well as approximately 9,000 other migrants, including returning citizens. That number increased from 2020 when 20,000 immigrants arrived.

The CBS also estimated that 7,500 Israelis are residing abroad for more than a year.

ZOA calls on Ocasio-Cortez to fire staffer who called Israel ‘racist European ethnostate’

(JNS) — The Zionist Organization of America has asked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to “immediately” dismiss legislative assistant who made anti-Semitic comments targeting Israel on social media.

“Hussain Altamimi has made false, hateful, anti-Semitic, anti-Israel accusations on Instagram,” ZOA national president Morton Klein said in a letter sent to Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday. He added that Altamimi’s “vitriolic posts are likely to add to the atmosphere of anti-Semitism and hatred that has fueled increasing, frightening, violent attacks on Jews in New York and throughout the United States.”

Fox News reported that Altamimi, who joined Ocasio-Cortez’s office in November, shared on his Instagram story on Dec. 24 a post from an account called “Let’s Talk Palestine,” which falsely accused Israel of “apartheid” and of having a “racial hierarchy.” Altamimi accompanied the post by writing: “Israel is a racist European ethnostate built on stolen land from its indigenous population!”

In his letter to Ocasio-Cortez, Klein insisted that “the racist dictatorship in the area is the Palestinian Authority.”

As he explained, “the Palestinian Authority states that no Jews will be allowed to live in their entity; condemns Arabs to death for selling property to Jews; and pays Arabs’ lifetime pensions to murder Jews and Americans. The P.A. also names schools, streets and sports teams after Jew-killers.”

Klein said the ZOA urges Ocasio-Cortez to fire Altamimi, as well as “publicly condemn these hateful odious remarks” made by him.

 

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