Selected articles concerning , published weekly by Suburban Orthodox Toras Chaim’s (Baltimore) Israel Action Committee Edited by Jerry Appelbaum ( [email protected] ) | Founding editor: Sheldon J. Berman Z”L

Issue 8 3 9 Volume 20 , Number 1 8 Parshias Behar - Bechukosai | 37th Day Omer May 16 , 20 20

It’s Too Soon for Israel to Declare Victory in By Jonathan Spyer jonathanspyer.com May 8, 2020 Iranian entrenchment goes far beyond military bases its presence in Syria as a result of the Israeli raids. As one and missile silos. unnamed source told the Walla website, ‘“For the first A significant uptick in Israeli action against Iranian time since ent ered Syria, it is reducing its forces there targets in Syria has taken place in recent weeks, according and evacuating bases.” to regional and international media. So is the strategy working? Have the Israeli raids In the latest moves, the Syrian Ob servatory for begun to precipitate an Iranian withdrawal from Syria? Human Rights reported that 14 Iranian and Iraqi fighters The situation is somewhat more complicated. were killed on Tuesday in an Israeli raid on positions close Firstly, the long Israeli campaign against Iranian to the town of al - Mayadin, in southeast Syria. This report attempts to consolidate in Syria has clearly been partially followed close behind claims in official Syrian media of an successful. This may be discerned by the absence in Syria Israe li missile attack on a research center and a military of the kind of missile and rocket infrastructure with which barracks in Aleppo province on Monday. SOHR also Tehran has managed to equip its franchise in identified Israel as responsible for explosions at an . Israel’s superior air power, extensive intelligence ammunition depot controlled by the Lebanese Hezbollah coverage, and willingness to act boldly against Iranian movement near Homs city in the west of the co untry on efforts over the last half decade have ensured this. The the same day. Iranian desire to construct in Syria a situation analo gous to The previous week, strikes took place against militia that in Lebanon, where de facto mutual deterrence exists targets in Quneitra, close to the border with the Golan, between Israel and the Iran - aligned forces, is clear and and against Iranian targets close to Damascus and to discernible. Israel has prevented this. Palmyra, in southwest Syria. Secondly, the Iranian regional project is today in While Israeli spokesmen tend to avoid co mmenting on considerable difficulty. US sanctions have sharply reduced specific actions, the overall goal of the campaign has been the amount of money available for regional goals. The made crystal clear by a number of officials. The stated assassination of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani Israeli intention is, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has clearly left a large void which has not yet been filled. put it back in June 2018: “Iran needs to leave Syria – all of All indications suggest that neither the new Quds Force Syria.” More recently, this objective has been reiterated by chief, Esmail G hani, nor his deputy Mohamed Hejazi have Defense Minister Naftali Bennett. In an interview on yet managed to return the running of Iran’s complex Monday, he said that “Iran has nothing to do in Syria… network of allies in the region to a similar level of and we won’t stop before they leave Syria.” effectiveness to that which pertained under Soleimani. The apparent increase in Israeli airstrikes agains t Thirdly, there is evidence to suggest that elements Iranian targets in Syria has happened on Bennett’s watch. cl ose to the Assad regime are wearying of the Iranian The defense minister seems to have identified the presence. The civil war in Syria is effectively over. There is expulsion of Iran from Syria as a clear and achievable goal. no military threat to the Assad regime’s existence. Assad’s In February, he told The Jerusalem Post that his objective main objectives today are the return of Syria to his was to remove Iran from Sy ria within 12 months. exclusive authority, its rec onstruction, and its return from Bennett has also made clear his calculus as to why he diplomatic isolation (he is very far from achieving any of is confident that Israel will succeed in achieving this goal – these). namely, that while for Israel the issue is a cardinal security The extensive Iranian presence in Syria stands in the interest, for Iran, Syria is only of secondary importa nce. way of all these goals. As one source close to Syrian As a result, the defense minister appears confident that government circles expressed it to this author r ecently, Israel will, by use of its air power, be able to raise the price “They’re sick and tired of the Iranians.” for the Iranian project in Syria to a level that the Iranians With all this said, however, there is reason for will no longer be willing to pay. Once this point is reached, considerable skepticism. Iran will recalculate and withdraw. Regarding the statements by officials, it is simply not As he expressed it this week, “We are determined, accurate that “for the first time since it entered Syria,” Iran more determined, and I will tell you why: For Iran, Syria is is now redu cing its presence. The Iranian conventional an adventure 1,000 miles from home, but for us it is life.” presence on the ground in Syria has been in a process of In recent days, a variety of media outlets have quoted reduction since 2018. This is because most major combat unnamed Israeli officials identifying evidence that this operations in Syria concluded in that year. This fact is not strategy is bearing fruit, and that Iran has begun to reduce controversial, and indeed the IDF’s ow n website notes it. Focus o n Israel May 16, 20 20 Page 2

But in accordance with the methodology of the interest. Without i t, Iran would lose a vital access route to Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Iranian presence its franchise in Lebanon, to the Mediterranean Sea and to in Syria is deep and multifaceted. the borders of Israel. It includes the creation of proxy forces within the The nature of this project is such that large parts of it official Syrian security forces – such as the National are not vulnerable to Israeli air power, unless Israel wants Defense Forces and the Local Defense Forces. It includes to also take on the Assad regime, which it does not. The the non - Syrian proxy militias, from Lebanon, Iraq, parts that are, and that constitute the most direct threat, Afghanistan and Pakistan. There is the direct presence of have been hit hard and well, and will no doubt continue to IRGC and Quds Force personnel. There are homegrown, be so. Put these two points together, and what you have is locally recruited “Syrian Hez bollah” type formations, such something resembling the situation in Gaza writ large – as Battalion 313, Quwat al - Ridha and others. There are namely, a reality in which Israel strikes periodically at its also hybrid - type arrangements, whereby IRGC/Hezbollah enemies at little cost to itself, and in so doing disrupts and positions are located within official Syrian Arab Army sets back their plans, without delivering a fatal blow. facilities. The facility outside al - Hadr, adjoining the Israel i At the current price that Israel is imposing, it is border, is an example of these. It is used mainly as an d ifficult to see why Iran should choose to up sticks and intelligence - gathering and eavesdropping post. It is pull everything back to Tehran. Of course, the defense protected by a Hezbollah - associated force called the minister is privy to information regarding Syria that this Quneitra Hawks Brigade. It is located within a position of author is not. But if an Iranian strategic withdrawal from the Syrian Army’s 90th Brigade. Syria takes place before ne xt February, it will be visible to A ll this together constitutes a local Syrian adaptation all. So we will know. of the IRGC methodology applied also in Lebanon and in As of now, there appears to be a discrepancy between Iraq. It has resulted in an existing contiguous area of the stated goal and the means being employed to achieve Iranian control stretching from the Albukamal border it. This discrepancy renders Israeli strategy incoherent. crossing to just east of Quneitra, wi th facilities elsewhere Mr. Spyer is the director of the Middle East Center for Reporting in the country, for the most part woven into the fabric of and analysis (MECRA) and a research fellow at the Jerusalem the Assad regime’s own structures. Institute for strategy and Security (JISS) . This infrastructure, and Syria more generally, from the Iranian point of view, constitutes a central, not a peripheral

Lessons from Israel and the U.S. about the New Way of War By Douglas Feith and Shaul Chorev nipp.org/National Institute for Public Policy May 6, 2020 Politics and perceptions can count more than what well grounded. None theless, democratic countries are hap pens on the battlefield. particularly vulnerable to asymmetric strategies – those Throughout history, wars generally hinged on clashes using military operations and techniques mainly designed of arms. To win, a party had to defeat its enemy’s military for political rather than military effects. And even major forces. For the United States since the Vietnam War of the state powers use asymmetric strategies, as Russia did with 1960s and 1970s, however, the only conflict of this its “hybrid” warfare in Ukraine[2] and China has done with conventi onal model was the Gulf War of 1990 - 91. Israeli its armed civilian reserve force in the South China Sea.[3] wars have not conformed to that model since the end of By enormously increasing information flow around the the 1973 October (Yom Kippur) War. Having remained world, the Internet, small satellites, drones, improved largely unchanged for millennia, the character of war has sensors, cell phon e video cameras and broadband changed radically only in recent decades. In ter - state connectivity, are transforming both war and politics. These battlefield clashes of arms are now rare, although the technologies allow military forces to find targets and strike amount of tanks, mechanized weapons and fighter aircraft them with great precision from long distances. They open that exist in arsenals around the world means that the way for cyber warfare, hacking and manipula tion of traditional arms clashes remain possible. foreign political systems. They allow individuals to The United States and Israel have been mo re active in broadcast not just text but also photos and videos wars than have most countries, and in general now the aim instantaneously and globally in ways that many states of war against them has been to change a foe’s policies cannot control. And, at the same time, they give without having to defeat that foe’s military forces. Political authoritarian states instruments for poli tical control and and military decision - makers have not fully adapted to the repression that exceed anything ever imagined even by new rea lity. George Orwell. To be sure, the 2018 U.S. National Defense Strategy Information operations can be far more potent than highlights military threats from China and Russia and says, ever before. They are not just technical. They do not “Inter - state strategic competition, not terrorism, is now the simply facilitate war by functioning as “force multipliers.” primary concern in U.S. national security.” The point is Rat her, substantive information operations – propaganda, Page 3 May 16, 2020 Focus on Israel arguments, images, and “narratives” – can serve as primary this kind of victimization can exercise powerful influence. instruments for achieving war aims, especially against With certain types of audiences, such images cannot be democratic countries. countered quickly and effectively. Explanations about Such operations often focus on news media – context, history and other complexities don’t work. mainstream and otherwi se – to influence elite and popular Consider, fo r example, the image of a child facing an opinion. In democratic countries, the news media are American or Israeli tank. Mainstream news media can be especially rich targets for manipulation because public counted on to feature it prominently. It will likely “go opinion there matters more and the news outlets are more viral” on social media. And it can generate immediate, likely to be independent of the government. widespread, unthinking sympathy. A single image of this In all eve nts, news media are important because kind can generate substantial worldwide support for the people in general have little understanding of foreign child’s side in a conflict against the United States or Israel. conflicts except what they gather from the news as the War thus becomes a morality tale or “reality show” in conflict is underway. They usually have no relevant which violence is provoked to produce horrifying images personal experience, and their knowledge of history is to influence othe r people’s political opinions. Skillful o ften negligible. This is true of elites also, including military action taken by a technologically advanced state to government officials and news reporters themselves. News defend its territory and people can generate images that media reports shape public opinion directly and through make its defensive action look aggressive, offensive and influencing other news media. In other words, journalists inhumane – in a word, villainous. The eff ective use of tend to reinforce one another . Their reports often blend force can produce a strategic loss. into self - affirming conventional wisdom, despite errors of As violent non - state actors wage battles with political fact and context. This is the point of the humorous quip rather than military goals – to demoralize their enemies that journalists often operate as a “herd of independent and persuade them to quit fighting and retreat – the other minds.” Non - state actors manipulate that “herd” to side must also operate politically . Counter - insurgency coun ter the military superiority of their enemies. Those strategy recognizes the importance of military operations who fail to take this into account can find themselves with immediate political goals. It aims to curtail support defeated by a weaker opponent. that insurgents or terrorists receive from the population In the past, battlefield events were intended to that either harbors them voluntarily or submits to their influence international politics only indirectly and in the int imidation. long run . Combat’s immediate goal was military: to damage Each side in such a conflict has an interest in the other side’s ability to fight. Now, however, an attack’s understanding its adversary’s society – its aspirations, immediate purpose is often to produce news reports that needs and internal composition. The enemy’s “home will put pressure on enemy decision - makers without front” can be the war’s most important theater. actually reducing their ability to fig ht. The target is the Terrorist organizations target their enemies’ civilians enemy’s will rather than capability. Ironically, battlefield on the home front. Meanwhile, terrorists locate their own success, if it results in negative news media coverage, may personnel and weapons among civilians on their own do a party more harm than good. side’s home front. Both of these tactics test the social The United States and Israel in recent decades have resilience of the country fighting the terrorists. That continually been at war with insurgent movements and country may find itself without an option for quick victory. terrorist organizations. Generally lacking the kind of This also requires resilience, patience and cohesiveness strategic “center of gravity” that conventional armies (and rooted in strong morale. Sustained domestic political other highly organized bodies) possess, such movements support for the war effort is the country’s strategic center and organizations have been able to keep fighting under o f gravity. If it can keep such support, it can prevail; if it circum stances that would compel a conventional army to loses it, the terrorists win. surrender. They use information – both truthful and false In such wars, heterogeneous democratic societies have – as an invaluable weapon of war. Sometimes, as with ISIS, particular challenges. Their resilience is a function of trust they use it to intensify and spread fear, increasing the among their different communities of citizens. The war effect of terrorist acts. Sometim es they present themselves effort needs broad popular support, which it can lose if the as victims of inhumane enemies, as when Hamas in Gaza war comes to be viewed as the project of an elite or a deliberately attacks Israel from populated areas to draw special interest group or if the burdens are seen as unfairly Israeli retaliation that inevitably destroys homes, schools or distributed. Healthy democratic institutions can be crucial hospitals and kills or injures civilians. Both strategi es can to overcom ing these challenges. It is especially important be used simultaneously to produce news media images that that democratic countries respect the distinction between strengthen the weaker side and weaken the stronger. combatants and civilian population, as this can be crucial Groups that depict themselves as victims of Western to maintaining popular support for a war effort. powers win automatic support from Western news media. When a country, especially a democratic c ountry, is Images that reinforce simple notio ns – “narratives” – of fighting a war against terrorists, opinion abroad – views Focus o n Israel May 16, 2020 Page 4

voiced by foreign officials and journalists, for example, or Eventually, the coalition resolved to win the support of incorporated in resolutions of the United Nations or other local populations – in Iraq, principally Sunni tribes – by international organizations – can influence domestic public protecting them from the insurgents. This involved patient opinion and affect the willingness of foreign governments interaction with the local people, activity that was in many to provide help. ways the opposite of what would have been done if the The contest for public opinion highlights one of the goa l were a quick and devastating military strike against the remarkable paradoxes of terrorist warfare: Though insurgents. terrorists flout law, they rely heavily on legalism. They Unlike conventional wars, the campaigns of violent exploit the reverence for l aw in democratic countries. non - state actors often lack a clear beginning and end point. Terrorists violate the most important principle of the law Such campaigns are not rare or exceptional, but are an of war by deliberately harming civilians. They target those ongoing, virtually constant phenomenon in the world of the enemy and often endanger their own side’s civilians today. Americans remain engaged in such a campaign in by hiding among them, using them as human shields and Afghanistan, and Israelis are so engaged on multiple locating weapons and equipment in civilian hospitals, fronts. Such campaigns have forced military strategists to schools, apartment buildings and the like. At the same focus on concepts such as “military operations other tha n time, the terrorists’ political strategy hinges on the war” and “the campaign between wars.” argument that their enemies, in fighting back, harm War against terrorist organizations tends to involve civilians and fail to respect the la w of war. short periods of high intensity fighting, preceded and Such cynicism wins rewards when officials in the followed by periods of lower intensity. The shifts to high European Union, the UN General Assembly and other intensity can be purposeful or unintended by the party that bodies, for example, condemn Israeli responses to terrorist provides the trigger. attacks. Such condemnations are political in nature – The standard for success in a war against terrorists voiced by political officials in political forums. But they are may be similar to that for domestic crime fighting. The often interpreted as disinterested legal judgments. EU and standard is not elimination of all terrorism – or of all UN resolutions are commonly (though incorrectly) taken crime. Rather, it is to lower the violence to a level tha t as signs of legitimacy. In fact, they are simply the opinions allows society to function normally, while preserving its of interested parties. essential character and principles. After 9/11, the U.S. Because people generally k now and care little about government set the aim of the war on terrorism as other people’s conflicts, “world opinion” can easily be defeating terrorism as a threat to America’s way of life as a swayed and misled by a simple line of argument or a single free and open society. powerful image – recall the point made above about the Amon g the sensible military objectives in such a war image of a child facing an American or Israeli tank. Such are defending the state’s population, territory and an image may be out of context – or it may be bogus infrastructure; disrupting and deterring attacks through altogether – but it may nevertheless strongly sway opinion activities at home and abroad; lengthening the time in a world full of people who are ill informed or between high - intensity peaks; and countering i deological predisposed to sympathize with the ostensible victim. It is support for terrorism. a crucial and difficult strategic cha llenge to counter the America’s enemies in the war on terrorism were information operations of terrorist groups that are skillful mainly non - state jihadist groups functioning as a network in depicting themselves as victims of strong Western of networks. They did not have much organizational powers. structure. Israel, however, has terrorist enemies that have Terrorist groups adopt war strategies that blur lines substa ntial organizational structure. Special strategic between the domestic and the international, between challenges face Israel as a result of Hamas’s control over civili an and military, between diplomacy and armed Gaza and Hezbollah’s political role within Lebanon. In conflict and between crime and war. Often, the goal is “no response, Israel’s war on terrorism has developed the surrender” – denying victory to their adversary. Since the concept of “flexible deterrence,” whic h relies on threats of first intifada began in 1987, in more than three decades of measured military force combined with various economic, continuous Israeli struggle again st terrorism, no terror political and diplomatic sanctions and incentives. This organization has ever raised a white flag. Hamas and concept is based on distinguishing between the terrorist Hezbollah have provoked Israeli military operations and group and the population within which it operates. The then converted them, despite the operations’ military key chall enge is to find political, economic or other ways effectiveness, into greater local popular support for to influence the general population so that they have the themselves. will and courage to constrain the terrorists’ power. This Aft er the initial phase of “classical” warfare to could lower the risk that minor skirmishes will ignite major overthrow the regimes, U.S. - led coalition forces In Iraq confrontations. It could help Israel prevent successful and Afghanistan had difficulty devising a strategy for terrorist operations and also incentivize the local decisive, sustainable military victory over the insurgents. population to free itself from terrorist control. Page 5 May 16, 2020 Focus on Israel

American and Israeli planners have yet to assess how “Gray Zone” conflict is now an important asymmetric all these changes in the nature of modern war should alter strategy. The term “gray zone” applies to a category of the ways we dev elop and use military force. conflicts in world affairs. In such affairs, there is a The foregoing discussion illuminates what is meant by spectrum of competition. It runs from peaceful pursuit of the term “asymmetric war” – conflicts of the militarily advantages throu gh limited use of force to the outright weak against the strong. As noted, the weak party pursues warfare between established armed forces. “Gray zone” a strategy that aims directly at political results, rather than conflicts are not peaceful, but they are short of outright trying to achieve such results through military victories. warfare. In such conflicts, the key war weapons can be For many years, analysts have noted the importance of arguments and actions that are diplomatic, legal and moral activities in this spectrum’s mid - sectio n. These include – domestic and international. The decisive arena is less irregular warfare of the Yugoslav partisans or the French likely to be a military battle field than the U.S. Congress or resistance in World War II; anti - imperial “national the Israeli Knesset. The most important wins may be liberation” struggles fought in the period of scored with a heartrending videotape of civilian casualties, decolonization; and the terrorism of radical groups in in a CNN interview, a UN Security Council meeting or a Europe, Japan and elsewhere from the late 1960s forward. New York Times editorial. In the 1980s, the term “low - intensity conflict” became This means that military prepa redness is not enough. popular as a way of referring to violent campaigns that War preparations do not take the asymmetrical nature of were not large - scale or intense enough to qualify simply as warfare nowadays properly into account. wars. The term “gray zone” gained currency after Russia The United States and Israel should strategize, train conquered Crimea through the use of soldiers that wore and exercise the information aspects of conflict. Their uniforms without insignia so that they could not readily be officials should anticipate diplomatic, legal and moral identified definitively as Russians. arguments they will need for future conflicts. Both Western strategists should refine their understanding countries stockpile military equipment and munitions. of the ‘gray zone’ construct. Why does it work? Wh ere They train their forces to use these items and conduct might it be replicated or adapted? What vulnerabilities exercises with them. They should do the same regarding does it exploit? How can it be countered? Can we stymie political w eapons. They should prepare in advance the adversary gray zone strategy and tactics if we collectively necessary political and legal arguments. They should train think anew? diplomats and legislative and public affairs officials for Military commanders and civilian security officials their roles as “warriors.” They should routinely and should be traine d to consider the broader and longer - term seriously exercise war - related political o perations together consequences of all their actions. In addition, they should with their military exercises. avoid the common mistake of “mirror imaging” – that is, For nearly a century, military thinkers have stressed assuming that adversaries are just like you. the crucial importance of “jointness” – that is, changing Strategy is ultimately about influencing the actions of the mentality, planning and practices of military officers so individuals. It’s crucial to know as much as possible about that the army, navy, marines, ai r force and coast guard can the individuals you are trying to influence. A successful all operate together, and not just separately. To meet the strategy that incorporates these tenets will go a long way challenges of asymmetric political - military conflict, those toward ensuring national security in an era of dynamically responsible for the political aspects should plan, train and changing warfare. exercise jointly with those responsible for the military aspects.

By Claiming Ownership of a Jerusalem Courtyard, the Kremlin Has Scored a Soft - Power Victory By Shay Attias besacenter.org/Begin - Sadat Center for Strategic Studies May 5, 2020 The Orthodox Church and the Israeli backpacker. Putin’s object is not only to preserve Russian culture but In January 2020, Benjamin Netan yahu and Vladimir to turn it into a dominant force in the Middle East. To Putin struck a deal that rescued Israeli backpacker Naama accomplish this, he is employing a grand strategy that is Issachar from a Russian prison and brought her safely strongly reminiscent of Suzanne Nossel and Joseph Nye’s home in exchange for Russian sovereignty over the idea of “smart p ower.” Alexander Courtyard in Jerusalem, which is near the Since 2000, Putin has worked hard to return Russia to Church of the Holy Sepul chre. This deal was a major win the status of global superpower, and the Russian Orthodox for Vladimir Putin as he pursues his aim of Russian global Church has been a cardinal component of this plan. imperialism. Putin’s object is not only to preserve Russian culture but Since 2000, Putin has worked hard to return Russia to to turn it into a dominant force in the Middle East. To the status of global superpower, and the Russian Orthodox accomplish this, he is employing a grand strategy that is Church has been a cardinal component of this plan. Foc us o n Israel May 16, 2020 Page 6

strongly reminiscent of Suzanne Nossel and Joseph Nye’s Putin has accomplished tremendous soft power idea of “smart power.” achievements that have positioned Russia as a de facto On the one hand, Russia, under Putin’s leadership, has globa l superpower. Among them are recent diplomatic showed impressive diplomatic and cu ltural openness. The efforts with the Taliban; the establishment of the Sochi Olympics of 2014, for example, showed off a Russia successful international media channel RT (RT Arabic); the that had been “rebrand[ed]…as a strong, stable, modern creation of Rossotrudnichestvo, the first Russian diaspora and gracious” country. The 2018 World Cup similarly agency; and the creation of the Russian Centers for Science strengthened Russia’s global image. and Culture (RCSC) in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, In January 2020, Putin scored another soft power goal, Morocco, Tunisia, and the Palestinian areas. and this one was religious. After decades of argument, he Putin carried out one of his core initiatives after the finally claimed Russian ownership of the Alexander 2014 Sochi Olympic Games: the annexation of Crimea. He Courtyard in Jerusalem, near the Church of the Holy justified this action by in voking the terminology and Sepulchre — his quid pro quo for the relea se of Israeli narratives of the Russian Orthodox Church: backpacker Naama Issachar from a Russian prison. Everything in Crimea speaks of our shared history and The dispute over the Alexander Courtyard began in pride. This is the location of the ancient Khersones, where 1917. In May 1948, the Soviet Union appointed a “Russian Prince Vladimir was baptized. His spiritual feat of adopting Property Affairs Commissioner” who “did everything Orthodoxy p redetermined the overall basis of the culture, possible to transfer this property [the Alexander civilization, and human values that unite the peoples of Courtyard] to the Soviet Union.” This was desired not only Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. because the Russian Orthodox Church wanted the As Putin has demonstrated, “smart power” involves property, but because it had value in terms of foreign the use of both soft and hard power. In the past decade, policy and national security. Russia has been very aggressive. It occupied territory in Putin has dramatically upgraded the status of the Georgia (2008), moved on to Ukraine (2014) and Moldova, Russian Orthodox Church during his tenure as national and is now in Syria. leader. In almost every major speech, he has made sure not Russia still enjoys a high degree of influence in the only to mention the Church but to support its faith post - Soviet areas, and Putin understands that the Russian narratives. Powerful pro - Putin oligarchs have sponsored Orthodox Church is one o f the country’s cultural assets. the Church and funded Church charit ies he has touted. He Russian churches in Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, has regularly used the language of the Church and quoted Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia can all be used to from the Russian Christian bible, sometimes even using it boost that influence. As Putin just showed in Jerusalem, he to justify his foreign policy steps. He has used such is fully capable of using the Church to enhance Russian language to hold onto the hearts and minds of pro - Russian prestige. Ukraini ans, for instance. Putin is using religion as a tool of soft power in Some suggest that Putin’s behavior toward the Church conjunction with aggressive hard power strikes to rekindle is reminiscent of Stalin. For a long period following the the idea of a great Russia. It is not surprising that in the Russian Revolution of 1917, the communist government nine former Soviet countries (not including Ukraine), more attacked the Church, destroying churches and killing than hal f of those surveyed by Pew said that “a strong priests. This came t o an end in 1943 when Stalin adopted a Russia is necessary to balance the influence of the West.” new policy toward the Church that funded the observation Other polls support this finding. Putin is using traditional and celebration of Christmas and other Christian feasts. religious sentiment to build common ground between In 2020, Putin presented the Russian Orthodox Russia and Eastern Europe. Church with a precious diamond: the Alexander Courtyard The “backpa cker deal” for Naama Issachar was an i n the Old City of Jerusalem. Since 1991, two organizations important milestone. The granting of sovereignty over any have claimed ownership of the Courtyard complex: the part of Jerusalem to a foreign power is a significant Palestinian Orthodox Imperial Society and the Russian concession for Israel. Russian cultural and military Pre - Slavic Imperial Society, which has close ties to Putin. imperialism are here to stay, and Putin is eager to ex pand It is now officially Russian. them further. This time around, the target of Russia’s Victories like these help Putin justify Russian military religious soft power was Jerusalem. It will be interesting to conquests and reach out to pro - Russian activists around see where it strikes next. “disputed areas” such as those in Moldova, Georgia, and, Shay Attias was the founding head (2009 - 13) of the Public of course, Ukraine, all of which helps him maintain his Diplomacy Department at the Israeli Prime Ministe r’s Office and is battle against Western influen ce in Eastern Europe. a doctoral candidate in international relations at Bar - Ilan University, According to Pew Research, the number of Russian adults where he is a lecturer at the Communications School . identifying as Orthodox Christians rose from 37% in 1991 Visit suburbanorthodox.org for the current issue. to 72% in 2008.

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Learning the Lessons of Israel’s Long, Unnamed War in Lebanon By Maj. Ge n. (res.) Gershon Hacohen israelhayom.com May 10, 2020 “Let the IDF win” is a simplistic slogan for a goals. The first and most important: to secure our complex and urgent problem. . communities in the North. The second: to ensure that the This month, Israeli discourse has turned to the 20th South Lebanese Army (SLA) remained intact and to secure anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from the security zone in the civil population in the security zo ne while minimizing . Tens of thousands of combat soldiers harm to IDF and SLA troops. The third: attacking have joined a recently - opened Facebook group that Hezbollah forces and reducing its battle capabilities. provides a platform for the generation that fought there. Hezbollah identified the tension playing out between those A new documentary series from public broadcaster three missions and maximized the potential that lay with Kan titled A War Without a Name is another contribution keeping it ru nning high. to the narrative of the distress of the war in the security The circle was vicious and simple. An attack on an zone. The generation of fighters who served there SLA post, for example, would lead to artillery fire on Tyre doubtless have a personal need to share, but questions and Sidon, which would cause harm to Lebanese civilians such as what was there, why we were fighting, or how we and would then, according to the understandings from got to the point where we were forced to withdraw all play Operation Accountabi lity, give Hezbollah a reason to fire a role in out lining the complex created due to years of rockets at northern Israel communities, a situation that fighting a battle that was not trying win anything. All this is prompted frustration and questions about the basic taking another look at the foundations of Israel's purpose of our presence in the zone. perception of security, and one that has current relevance. When Maj. Gen. Amiram Levin took over as GOC Twenty years on, we enjoy the adva ntage of hindsight. Northern Command, he eas ily identified the trouble that But when I take a look at myself, it's important to mention the tripartite tension was causing. But throughout his time what I saw at the time. As a combat officer, I enjoyed the in that position, he could not bring the chief of staff or the operations in Lebanon. In the spring and summer of 1988, politicians around to his point of view. Dr. Ohad Leslau I was serving as a battalion commander in the security of the History Division in the General S taff Headquarters zon e. As commander of the 7th Brigade and deputy has written an in - depth and critical study of that issue. The commander of the 36th Division from 1993 - 1997, I study is classified, but its main conclusions are easily seen followed the activity of the army units in south Lebanon and should be made public. from up close, and I have to admit that back then, I did Starting in the early 1990s, when Hezbollah not ask any deep questions about the underly ing concept entrenched itself in a way that allowed it control over behind our fighting in the zone. South Lebanon, a major change took place. While the IDF There was certainly reason to wonder how, despite the was still defending border communities like Kibbutz changes in Hezbollah's tactics – especially after Operation Misgav Am from incursions by terrorists, Hezbollah was Accountability (1993) – the IDF deployment remained the focusing its activities toward a goal and openly declared same as it was when we first went int o the security zone, that its purpose was to liberate its homeland. Secretly, and using the same outposts and the same array of forces. of more importance and apparently under the direction of I certainly didn't think about the lack of a strategic Iran, Hezbollah wanted to end the Israeli presence in purpose. The need to learn how to operate and adapt anew South Lebanon and thereby strike a blow to Israel's image to Hezbollah's tactics presented a big enough challenge. In of military superiority by underscoring its inefficacy in contra st to the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which saw a crisis either winning or defending all its vulnerabilities. of faith between the topmost command echelon and the The organization responded to the death of its co - troops on the ground, throughout our years in the security founder, Abbas al - Musawi, in an IAF strike in 1992 by zone, the top ranks of the IDF's Northern Command were bombing the Israeli Embassy in Argentina a month later. involved in every aspect of what was taking place there and Two years afterward, in a response to a stealth IAF strike had the trust of the soldiers doing the fighting. Even the on a Hezbollah training camp in Ein Dardara that killed 1997 helicopter disaster didn't cause any visible lack of 30 - 40 Hezbollah operatives, the AMIA Jewish community faith in the upper ranks. center in Buenos Aires was bombed. It's true that for True, a war was being waged there that became years, Palestinian terrorist groups had already bee n carrying increasingly complicated, as the IDF was confronted with out attacks on Israel by hitting overseas targets, like the guerilla warfare of a type it had never known. But above murder of the Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich all, the dilemma between the purpose of holding onto the Olympics, but Hezbollah upgraded that strategy: it security zone for the sake of security Israel's northern packaged its actions abroad as a strategy of deterrent communities and the need to defeat Hezbollah remained response, tying them direct ly to developments in the unsolved. fighting in Lebanon. The IDF found itself pulled among three different Hezbollah also used its rocket attacks against the Foc us o n Israel May 16, 2020 Page 8

Israeli home front differently than the did. forces that were actually fighting there, from the squad Supposedly, the targets remained the same: Kiryat Shmona leaders through the GOC, their service in Lebanon was the and Nahariya. Hezbollah's goal, like t hat of the jewel in the crown of their operational experience. But Palestinians, was to spread terror throughout the Israeli starting in December 1987, the defense establishment was home front, its strategic use of rocket fire was much more confronted with the First Intifada. Starting in September sophisticated. 1993, the General Staff was busy implementing the Oslo After the understandings that followed Operation Accords, and that entire time was also busy preparing itself Accountability and later Operation Grapes of Wrath for a possible war with Syria. This is a matter that needs to (1996), the rocket fire was used for a much more focused be closely evaluated, and the General Staff as well as the purpose – to trap Israel in terms of strategy and tactics. As defense establishment at large need to be willing to hear far as strategy, Israel was embarrassed by failing to meet its about a number of systemic challenges at once. goal of holding onto the security zone, which was to For years, the IDF has been criticized for supposedly ensure security for its nor thern communities, and could neglecting the desire to achieve victory. The expression not accept a situation in which the fighting to defend the "Let the IDF win" is a simplistic slogan that prevents an IDF and SLA was what was prompting the rocket fire that in - depth understanding of the conditions that led to the posed a threat to those communities. On the tactical level, phenomenon. A renewed look at the war in the security when it came to the equation of deterrence that H ezbollah zone is a vital lesson in understanding the change that had set, the IDF was limited in terms of using its superior Hezbollah instituted in how wars against Israel are fought. capabilities to restrain the organization's offensive The later years of the fighting in Lebanon are laboratory initiatives. conditions to look at in terms of a strategic trap, at a time Throughout the years the security zone existed, it when it is urgent to put form the concept of Israeli security suffered from an image of marginal importance compared necessa ry for victory. to the res t of the efforts by the IDF General Staff. For the

Why Worry about the Libeling of Israel in the Media? Because It Sways the Opinion of Jews By Jonathan Tobin jns.org May 11, 2020 The New York Tim es does a bang - up job of turning pioneering cutting - edge ways to kill people and blow Jews against one another. things up, with stealth tanks and sniper drones a mong its For many years, supporters of Israel have feared the more lethal recent projects. But its latest mission is impact of media bias. Ever since the first Lebanon War in lifesaving.” 1982 — the historical turning point when the media’s As Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the United embrace of a false narrative in whic h the Palestinians States, tweeted back: “The @nytimes, which buried the became “David” and Israel became “Goliath” became the Holocaust, is best known for pioneering ways to libel and norm — there has been an expectation that the avalanche demonizing the Jew ish state. Now it is doing the same.” of unfair coverage would someday lead to most Americans The diplomat wasn’t the only person complaining. demanding the end of the U.S. alliance with the Jewish David Harris, CEO of the liberal - leaning American Jewish state. Committee, called the Times’s phrasing “vile.” As But after t he last 38 years in which the bias of most numerous others responded, the goal of the Israel Defense leading print and broadcast outlets against Israel has Forc es has actually always been to save lives by protecting become entrenched, that nightmare has not come to pass. Israeli citizens from terrorists and foes that sought to Polls consistently show that American support for extinguish the sole Jewish state on the planet. Israel has not diminished, and instead has actually grown Nor was this an isolated example. Two days later, the stronger in the past few decades. Though Republicans are paper published an article about the refusal of the far more likely to back Israel than Democrats, the overall Palestinian Authority to cease its “pay for slay” policies in figures demonstrate that a biased national media has which it provides terrorists who assault, wound or kill seemingly had no impact on the views of most Americans. Israelis with salaries and pensi ons for their families. The If that is so, why then should anyone care about media story focused on an attempt to stop Palestinian banks in bias? the West Bank from processing the payments. This came into focus again this week due to two The headline for the Times’s story though, put it this outrageous examples from The New York Times. In a way: “Israel Cracks Down on Banks Over Payments to piece that first appeared online on May 7, a story about the Palestinian Inmates.” A subhead further describes the issue way the way the Israeli defense establishment has devoted as one about “payments the Palestinian Authority it s resources to fighting the coronavirus pandemic began distributes to the families of Palestinians who have spent with the following: “The Israeli Defense Ministry’s time in Israeli jails.” research - and - development arm is best known for Page 9 May 16, 2020 Focus on Israel

Phrased that way, it makes the effort sound like a way the Times, CNN or other legacy media outfits say about to punish poor souls who have had the bad luck to fall any topic. But when it comes to one particular group, what under the power of the Israeli military and whose families the media, and in particular, The New Yo rk Times, says are being prevented from getting the help they need from about Israel, matters a great deal. a benevolent Palestinian Authority. The text of the article, While support for Israel among Americans in general which vastly overestimated the number of Palestinians has risen in the past decades, it has declined among Jews who have been imprisoned by Israel over the last half - with a growing split between their views and those of century, adopted the frame of reference of those who Israelis. There are a number of reasons f or this, including regard the terrorists as freedom fighters and “martyrs,” assimilation and the resultant shifting demography. Some and depicted those benefiting from “pay to slay” as victims of it also has to do with politics, as many in a group that of injustice. Nor did it detail the sliding scale of overwhelmingly votes Democratic has followed the rest of compensation offered by the P.A. in which the murderers their party on this issue. of Jews get more money than those who merely wound or But there’s more at play here than j ust that. unsuccessfully attack their victims. We know that praise for Israel’s underdog victories in If media bias like this doesn’t impact American public its struggles for survival and positive events like the 1976 opinion about Israel, should anyo ne bother protesting it? Entebbe rescue made Jews everywhere feel better about In the first place, it is vital that a newspaper like the themselves and more connected to Israel. Times, which calls itself the nation’s “paper of record” and The opposite is also true. which does devote more resources to reporting foreign While so me Jews are outraged by biased coverage that news than any other outlet, not get away with biased unfairly depicts Israel as a villain, others internalize the cover age. calumnies and distance themselves from the Jewish state. Straight news reporting without a heaping serving of An average consumer of news may not be influenced by bias is a thing of the past at the Times. Their animus the Times. But a not insignificant porti on of American against the Trump administration has, whether or not you Jewry still regards the newspaper with the sort of agree with them about the president, led the paper and veneration that observant Jews have for religious texts. other mainstream outlets to dis card even the pretense of The Times has been assaulting the Jewish community with objective reporting with editorializing in headlines and in the prejudices of its publishers, editors and reporters since the text of articles becoming so routine as to be hardly the days when, as Dermer rightly notes, it “buried” the worth protesting anymore. story of the Holocaust. Still, that doesn’t absolve those of us who still care Media bias may not have turned Americans against about ethics in journalism from the duty to point out such Israel, but it has been doing a bang up job of turning Jews egregious practices. against each other for decades. It’s true that most Americans couldn’t care less what Mr. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS — Jewish News Sy ndicate .

In Israel, Modern Medicine Grapples With Ghosts of the Third Reich By Isabel Kershner nytimes.com May 12, 2020 A Palestinian surgeon, a Jewish patient, a Nazi intricate nerve pathways had been produced by Nazis. Its medical text — and an unlikely bond. illustrations are believed to be based on the dissected The explosion flung him skyward, legs first, before he victims of the Nazi court system under Hitler’s Third crashed to the ground. Reich. It was June 2002, at the height of the second If there were objections, Dr. el - Ha j told the Musai Palestinian intifada. Dvir Musai, then a 13 - year - old Israeli family, he could operate without it — but it would be schoolboy from a religious Jewish settlement, was on a harder. He noted that there was rabbinical approval for the class cherry - picking trip in the southern West Bank. On his book’s use. way back to the bus, he stepped on a mine laid by Mr. Musai’s mother, Chana, had lost relatives in the Palestinian militants and was gravely wounded, along with Holocaust. two other boys. “She said, ‘If it can help now, we’ll use it,’” M r. Musai “There was a lot of smoke, clumps of earth falling, a recalled. smell of burning and gunpowder,” Mr. Musai, now 31, That gut - wrenching decision went to the heart of a recalled. longstanding debate about the ethics of drawing on Decades of agony followed. Mr. Musai’s right foot felt knowledge derived from the Nazis’ expansive medical and as if it were permanently afire. And then last year, a scientific experimentation — and in this case, the ethics of surgeon offered him hope — and a disquieting disclosure. using the textbook , “Atlas of Topographical and Applied In pre - op at the Hadassah Medical Center in Human Anatomy.” Jerusalem, Dr. Madi el - Haj told his patient that the The book, by Eduard Pernkopf, stands out for its anatomic al atlas he would use to guide him through the accuracy and detail, and even in an age of state - of - the - art Foc us o n Israel May 16, 2020 Page 10 imaging, some surgeons, among them those who perform findings of an investigative committee. More than half had peripheral nerve procedures, still find its drawings been political prisoners — people targeted by the Nazi invaluable. regime. At tha t time in Austria, joking about Hitler was In a perverse twist, the more advanced the relatively enough to warrant execution, often by decapitation. new field of peripheral nerve surgery becomes, the more Dr. el - Haj, the Hadassah surgeon, said he was first reliant on the atlas some of its practitioners say they find introduced to the atlas while studying under Dr. Susan themselves. That is because even high - tech imaging is of Mackinnon, a pioneer in peripheral nerve surgery, at lim ited use to the complex discipline, in which doctors W ashington University in St. Louis. treat problems like chronic pain caused by nerves that are “She knew I came from Israel — she thought I was a damaged or trapped. Jewish guy,” he recalled. Pernkopf began work on the atlas at the University of That he was, in fact, an Arab Muslim from the Galilee Vienna, where he became chairman of anatomy in 1933, changed nothing. the year he joine d the Nazi party. With Hitler’s 1938 “I was shocked,” he said. “It’s a matter of humanity.” annexation of Austria, he became dean of the medical Dr. Mackinnon bought her first copy in the early faculty, then president of the university. 1980s as a young plastic surgeon in Baltimore, and used it The illustrators to whom Pernkopf turned to produce to guide many of her surgical procedures. the atlas were also Nazi enthusiasts. Three of the four But troubled by the provenance of the illustrations, illustrators in corporated swastikas, SS lightning bolts and Dr. Mackinnon photocopied the first scholarly article s other Nazi insignia into their signatures — hallmarks of about Pernkopf’s past a few years later and tucked them evil airbrushed out of later editions. into the book as a constant reminder. Less is clear about the people whose bodies were In 2015, Dr. Mackinnon and her longtime associate dissected so that the illustrators could produce their work. Andrew Yee wanted to share drawings from the atlas on Over the years, there have been questions about whether an online teaching platform, and sought an opinion from some had been killed in Hitler’s death camps. Those Dr. Sabine Hildebrandt, a Boston physician who has questions remain unresolved, but many experts believe studied the Third Reich. that most of the prisoners were Austrians condemned in An international effort was already underway to the courts. determine how to handle unearthed human remains and After the war, Pernkopf spent th ree years in an Allied medical specimens from the Holocaust era. prison camp but was not charged with war crimes. He Dr. Hildebrandt took on Dr. Mackinnon’ s query and continued work on the atlas until his death in 1955. consulted with other experts, giving rise to a special set of A two - volume edition was published in five languages, recommendations regarding the Pernkopf atlas in a with the first American edition coming out in 1963. document known as the “Vienna Protocol.” It was written Elsevier, a European s cientific publisher that currently by a prominent American rabbi and ethicist, Joseph A. holds the copyright, stopped printing it on ethical grounds, Polak, and formally ad opted by a 2017 symposium of but the volumes can be found in private collections and experts at Yad Vashem. Under the protocol, the atlas can purchased on eBay and Amazon. be used if there is full disclosure about its origins. Scholars first raised questions about the origins of the In a recent survey of an international group of nerve atlas in the 1980 s as the Cold War’s “Great Silence” about surgeons, Dr. Mackinnon and Mr. Yee found that 59 the Nazis’ medical legacy began to crack. percent of the 182 respondents were aware of the By the 1990s, the controversy was drawing wider Pernkopf atlas, 41 percent had used it at some point and public attention. 13 percent were currently using it. Dr. Howard Israel, an oral surgeon at Columbia But the debate is hardly settled. University who had routinely used the atlas, exposed the Dr. Justin M. Sacks, chief of the division of plastic and Na zi symbols in the artists’ signatures included in early reconstructive surgery at Washing ton University, said he editions of the book. had never come across the atlas until he arrived at the Then Dr. Israel and Dr. William Seidelman, a Toronto department this year. He argued that it was morally and physician, turned for help to Israel’s official Holocaust ethically wrong to use it and that there were perfectly memorial, Yad Vashem, asking it to press the University of adequate substitutes available in print or online. Vienna t o investigate the background of the atlas — and “I’m not look ing to stir a controversy,” he said in an of the dissected cadavers its authors used. After some interview, “but I’m looking to put it where it belongs: in a initial reluctance, the university agreed. museum.” “Things started to unravel,” recounted Dr. Seidelman, Dr. el - Haj said that while the alternatives might be who now lives in Jerusalem. good enough in other medical fields, when it came to From 1938 to 1945, the unive rsity’s anatomical peripheral nerve surgery, they were no match for institute received more than 1,370 bodies of prisoners Pernkopf. executed by the Vienna court system, according to the One of eight siblings, Dr. el - Haj grew up in a farming Page 11 May 16, 2020 Focus on Israel

village and aspired to become a nerve surgeon, he said, in scheduled surgery. Guided by Pernkopf’s atlas, which he the hope of helping his father, who as a young man was took into the operating room, he found a necklace of left with a paralyzed arm and leg by a work accident. After shrapnel laced around the nerve, located the main study ing in the United States, Dr. el - Haj returned to branches causing the pain and took them down, alleviating Jerusalem with his own Pernkopf volumes in August 2018. his suffering. Around the same time, Mr. Musai, who had “It sounds like a good joke,” Mr. Musai said. “The undergone dozens of operations since his injury, returned Muslim surgeon with the Nazi atlas operating on a Jew.” to his doctors. Now a married father of two, he coul d The lives of Dr. el - Haj and Mr. Musai have since barely walk. His foot could not bear the weight of a sheet become intertwined. at night. Mr. Musai has visited t he doctor’s family in his village. He was referred to Dr. el - Haj. And when Dr. el - Haj’s mother was hospitalized at From his days as a medical student at Hadassah, Dr. Hadassah, Mr. Musai, who now works as a guide there, el - Haj, 40, remembered Mr. Musai as an angry teenager in visited her. Dr. el - Haj has taken his children to visit the terrible pain who harbored a hatred of Arabs. Musais in their West Bank settlement, too. Mr. Musai acknowledges that was the case. Dr. el - Haj said he had used the atlas in about 90 “The truth is if they’d sent me to Madi at the percent of his operations, always explaining its background beginning of my injury, I would have said no,” Mr. Musai to the patients. said. “Not because of the atlas, but because I had a big “No patient has ever refused,” he said. “Not ever. problem with the Arab population. I saw in everyone the Because these people can make a pact with the devil to get terrorist who hurt me.” out of their pain.” But now, years later, Dr. el - Haj ran some tests and

“ T hey ’ re stealing our democracy … ” By Gavriel Meir hamodia.com May 13 , 2020 The single greatest threat to Israel as a Jewish and the presence of chametz of any kind could make public democratic country is the Supreme Court, acting in its hospitals in the State of Israel off - limits to Jews who capacity as the “High Court of Justice.” observe tradition,” the Rav wrote in a letter to the Health That’s because: a) anyone who doesn’t like a law or Minist ry. “[That’s] because if they are forced to choose pract ice can petition the High Court to get it overturned; between possibly violating an obligation of the Torah and b) the High Court has decided that everything is judicable going to the hospital during Pesach, those who observe and taken for itself the right to throw out laws that were tradition, which is most of the Israeli public, might refrain passed by the democratically elected Knesset and, l’havdil, from going to the hospital. Th is poses a real risk to health to trample laws and prac tices that reflect core Jewish and public well - being.” values; and c) this all - powerful court is not elected and Only one justice ruled in favor of the chametz ban: therefore not representative of the public, and not subject Neal Hendel, a religious Jew. But the majority of the panel to oversight. that heard the case, and indeed of the entire Supreme The result, in the words of Simcha Rotman, author of Court, sees eye to eye with the Se cular Forum and the The Ruling Party, How Israel Became a L egalocracy, is Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights on the place that “they’re stealing our democracy.” of Judaism in the State of Israel. A particularly infuriating example is the recent ruling Which is why it consistently rules against Judaism, deeming it illegal for the Health Ministry to forbid the whether the issue is the running of buses and opening of eating of chametz in hospitals during Pesach and security businesses on Shabbos, separate g ender concerts or the guards from searching visitors to ensure they don’t bring it yeshivah draft. in. Something has to change. Either the court has to While the vast majority of Israelis support such accept that its job is to interpret laws, not make them, and regulations — surveys show that 98% hold a Seder and the respect the separation of powers; or it has to subject itself vast majority don’t eat chametz — the court ruled in favor to the democratic process, as is done in the United States, of secularists and Arabs who found the idea of going where justices are chosen by the president and approved wi thout chametz in hospitals for seven days a year an by Congress. intolerable violation of their human rights. Otherwise, elections are an exercise in futility because Common sense says that the opposite is true; that it is no matter what government the people elect, the ultimate the human and religious rights of the majority that are power to set policy rests with an unelected, being violated. unrepresenta tive group that disdains the will of the Moreover, as Sephardi Chief R abbi Harav Yitzchak majority. Yosef argued, it is a matter of pikuach nefesh. “Permitting

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“He really is J ewish” — Little Richard’s lifelong love affair with Judaism By Benjamin Ivry forward.com May 10, 2020 Richard, the rock and roll pioneer who died on May 9 none other than Bob Dylan who, Richard said, ‘spent at age 87, brought a galvanic charge to live seven hours at my bedside, talking about the importance performances of such songs as “Tutti Frutti,” of keeping the Sabbath’ when Richard was in the hospital “Heebie Jeebies” and “Lucille,” draw ing sustained last year after being injured in a car wreck.” inspiration from what he considered to be a Jewish The following y ear, Playboy Magazine sent the film identity. director John Waters to interview Little Richard. In This self - definition went beyond what some writers response to the question “Are you Jewish now?” he said: have identified as emotional parallels between Little “There’s something I prefer not saying. I will say this. Richard’s music and Jewish culture. Music historian Steven I’m a believer in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I Lee Beeber descri bed Little Richard’s “Heebie Jeebies” as believe the seventh - day Sabbath is God’s way. I believe we identical to the agitated feeling of pins - and - needles known should eat kosher. I was invited to a party night before last. in Yiddish as shpilkes. Little Richard’s explosive stage Rod Stewart’s. I didn’t go, because I open the Sabbath on shows were an extended restless leg syndrome, like a Friday.” Pavlovian response to electric current. The s inger himself Persisting with the subject, Waters inquired if Bob repeatedly avowed that Jewishness played a part in this Dylan had co nverted him to Judaism after the car accident. expression of energy. To which Little Richard only spoke of his closeness to his In a 1972 BBC - TV interview to publicize The London “blood brother” Dylan. Indeed, in his 1959 Hibbing High Rock and Roll Show, a concert held at Wembley Stadium School yearbook in Minnesota, then - Robert Zimmerman in August 1972, he described how other talents were had listed as his life’s ambition “To join Little Richard,” as inspire d by him: “All of them came from me, po’ little if the singer were an evangelical movement. bitty me, a lil’ Jewish boy, black bottom, from Georgia.” Little Richard continually made this adherence a part The BBC interviewer Francis Fuchs, clearly nonplussed by of his stage routine, joking with a Ravinia Festival audience this unsolicited remark, exhaled with an embarrassed giggle in 1998, according to the “Chicago Tribune” of January and changed the subject. 2000, Little R ichard’s personal identities were wide - ranging, “I’m the only Jewish guy in the business with a to put it mildly, and Judaism was more than a transitory suntan.” interest. The American Jewish director Paul Mazursky, More seriously, when the English art critic Waldemar who cast Little Richard in his films “Down and Out in Januszczak interviewed him, Little Richard inquired, Beverly Hills” (1986) and “The Pickle” (199 3) noted in his “You’re a Jew boy, ain’t you?” Januszczak replied that he memoirs that when the actor refused to shoot the former was of Polish origin, whereupon Little Richard in sisted, as film on a Friday evening, Mazursky “figured it was a if his interlocutor were ashamed of his true origins, “Ain’t scam,” but asked Little Richard’s manager, who nuttin’ wrong with being Jewish!” “responded with a straight face, ‘He really is Jewish…” As fans familiar with his life story know, Little In October 1985, shortly aft er the movie was Richard, born in Macon, Georgia, was imbued in completed, Little Richard was involved in a car crash. He evangelical worship in Baptist, African Methodist told United Press International: “All I remembered when I Epi scopal (AME) and Pentecostal churches. awakened was I was in a Jewish hospital, and I said ‘Thank In 1957, he enrolled at Oakwood College in Alabama, God.’” a black Seventh - day Adventist institution. He was ordained He was treated at Cedars - Sinai Medical Center in Los a minister in 1970 and was evangelizing again by 1977. His Ange les, by Dr. Edwin Gromis of the Young Israel of preaching underlined the importance of racial harmony, North Beverly Hills an orthopaedist who is still practicing. idealizing a peaceable kingdom in which beings of all Dr. Gromis, along with an unnamed brother, also a origins could live together. physician, were taking care of the singer according to press So Little Richard saw Judaism as not contradicting his reports, which may explain why he un derstood that it was other beliefs. During a June 2000 New York appearance at a “Jewish hospital.” B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, he reminded the crowd that As Little Richard recovered, one of his bedside visitors he was Jewish, specifying he “never works on Fridays,” not was Bob Dylan, who in the 1980s was displaying interest in even at high profile gigs such as Caesars Palace in Las a return to Judaism. In December 1986, Florida’s “Sun - Vegas. Before singing the song “Old Time Rock and Roll,” Sentinel” reported under the headline Little Richard High he asked for “two Jewish people” to join him onstage, On Judaism that the singer “announced that he has followed by two Italians, Mexicans, Indians, and “two converted to Judaism. Saying that he celebrated Rosh people who don’t know what they are.” This group of Hashanah while on tour in England this fall, he added, dancers drawn from the public clearly represented some ‘I’ve only missed going to synagogue one Saturday for the form of essential human kinship at the heart of his world past year.’ One supporter of his recent conversion was view. Page 13 May 16, 2020 Focus on Israel

He told “Rolling Stone” in May 1970, “You musicians, including Esquerita, Billy Wright, and Larry understand, we are all God’s bouquet, we all need each Williams. One record he enjoyed citing, of the spiritual other the same as the birds need air. If a man is hungry, I “Strange Things Happening Every Day” by Sister Rosetta don’t care if he’s black, white, Jewish or Mexican, you Tharpe implied that for the faithful, odd occurrences were don’t need to go out and talk to him about his hunger. as habitual as they were in Little Richard’s life and career. Feed that man; then talk to him about eating again and Yet with stre ngth drawn in part from Jewish observance, how to keep eating. I think w e need to learn to live he reconciled and integrated them into his artistry. together because unity is going to make things happen, and An AME educational website praises Mordecai in the where there’s unity there is strength.” Book of Esther for advancing Jewish well - being, All the black churches that Little Richard was affiliated concluding: “We’re blessed not to be served, but to bless with advocated ecumenical outreach, especially after World oth ers who are looking for signs of hope.” Insofar as Little War II, even if this was sometimes done in a proselytizing Richard, throughout his long career, represented hope for spirit. He was acutely aware of mortality due to his own oppressed racial, sexual, and religious minorities, he might brushes with death in accidents and the tragic demises of be considered a Mordecai of American popular music. early friends and influences among African American

ISRAEL21c Ambassador Devorah is ready to change the world By Devorah Shamilov israel21c.org May 10, 2020 Once a month, ISRAEL21c provides its Digital passion and a calling. I starte d an Israel blog as an outlet Ambassadors with an online seminar fea turing an for all the information I had been learning. expert in marketing, social media or Israel education. That blog then became accompanied by a Facebook Last week, we had a Zoom meeting about marketing group. The group would be focused on providing an and storytelling with Walt Disney animator/director Saul alternative perspective — one not presented by the Blinkoff. He asked us: “How do I take my passions and mainstream media — on Israel an d the Middle East. turn them into responsibilitie s? How do I use them to ‘It’s about doing things that are meaningful and make the world a better place, leave it better than I found purposeful. It’s about waking up with a fire inside of it, and create something positive?” us and wanting to accomplish something even though Being actively involved in the Israel advocacy it’s hard and challenging.’ community, many of us have (at least partially) discovered Today, having had the opportunity to work with our answers. organ izations such as AIPAC, CAMERA and ISRAEL21c, I was moved and inspired by Saul’s presentatio n. He I have grown not only as a proud Jew and active shared concepts that I have been trying to embrace in my participant in the pro - Israel community, but also as an own life and facilitate in my everyday practice. These educator, public speaker and a social - media influencer. concepts focus on the ideas of responsibility and My Facebook group “Israel News, Education, and happiness. Ca lls to Action” now has over 1,200 members from 87 ‘Many times what we want and what we need are countries (Asia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and complete opposites, but in the long run the things we elsewhere). For some group members, I am the first Jew need to do are what will get us to where we need to they have ever spoken to. I am a source of information be.’ about Judaism and Israel, to those who do not have While I genuinely have enjoyed educating others and anywhere else to obtain such information or even a proper building two platforms where they can learn more about perspective on these topics. Is rael and the Middle East, this work hasn’t been without ‘How can I use the fire in me to change the its challenges. Saul’s words reminded me why I keep doing world?’ what I do even when it has been more time consuming Israel makes a positive impact on our world and I than I ever thought it could be, and my roles have become want others to see that too. It’s vital that people realize broader than just posting to soc ial media. how the world gains from Israel. When I was a freshman in a Jewish high school, an I have been able to use my love and passion for it to IDF veteran came to speak to us. He asked 120 students if make at least a dent of change in the way it is presented to they knew about the political scene in Israel and the the world. Therefore I can say that today, I made an effort Middle East in general, and only one student was able to to change the world. answer. Only one! That wa s a defining moment for me. M s. Shamilov is a graduate student at Rutgers University’s Family I decided it was about time to educate myself about Nurse Practitioner - Doctor of Nursing Practice program. my homeland. That responsibility soon turned into a Current issue also available at subur banorthodox.org . If you see something, send something” – editor