SERIES Opinion. Tradition. ABOUT IS EU HAVING THE 'BIBI' SECOND THOUGHTS BLESSING NETANYAHU ABOUT ISRAEL? OF LOVE PLANNED A2. A10. A11.

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$1.00 - PRINTED IN NEW YORK FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2020 | 13 SIVAN 5780 VOL. XLVII NO. 2457 Five Police Shot Top US Jewish Groups Voice During US Protests, Solidarity, With Trump Says He Could Black Americans Bring in Military BY BEN COHEN

The leading Jewish civil rights organization in the US declared its solidarity with black communities “suffering at the hands of a racist and unjust system” as protests sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis last week continued. In a statement issued over the weekend, the Anti- Defamation League (ADL) emphasized that Floyd’s killing reflected the “deep, pervasive, systemic issues” confronting African-Americans.

US President Donald Trump holds up a Bible, in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church, in Washington, DC, June 1, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Tom Brenner. Protesters gather at the scene where George Floyd was pinned down by a police officer kneeling on his neck before later dying in Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 26, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Eric Miller. BY REUTERS after law enforcement officers used gunfire downtown & we will share teargas and rubber bullets to clear more info as it available,” St Louis “We stand in solidarity with Black and Brown commu- & ALGEMEINER STAFF the way for him to walk there after Police said on Twitter. nities across the country as they yet again are subject to pain Four St Louis police officers he made his remarks in the White Trump has condemned the and suffering at the hands of a racist and unjust system,” the were hit by gunfire late on Monday House Rose Garden. killing of George Floyd, a 46-year- statement — issued by ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt — during violent protests over the death Demonstrators set fire to a old African American who died declared. of a black man in police custody, strip mall in Los Angeles, looted after a white policeman pinned his The ADL strongly criticized the fact that three of the hours after President Donald Trump stores in and neck under a knee for nearly nine four police officers who were involved in arresting Floyd vowed to use the US military to halt clashed with police in St Louis, minutes in Minneapolis on May had not, so far, faced criminal charges. The fourth officer, the spreading clashes. Missouri, where four officers were 25, and has promised justice. But Derek Chauvin — who pinned his knee upon Floyd’s neck Trump deepened outrage by taken to hospital with non-life- he said rightful protests could not Continued on Page A3 posing at a church clutching a bible threatening injuries. be drowned out by an “angry mob.” “Officers are still taking Continued on Page A3

Emergency ShabbatCalendar Parshat NASSO Times for New York City, Friday Candle Lighting Shabbat Begins: 8:06pm | Shabbat Ends: 9:14pm פרשת נשא Committee for Israel? P.O.B. 208 East 51st St, Suite 185 New York, NY 10022 page A8 Tel: (718) 771.0400 | Fax: (718) 771.0308 Email: [email protected] www.algemeiner.com

© Copyright 2020 The Algemeiner Journal - All Rights Reserved. A2 | FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2020 Opinion. Is the EU Having Second Thoughts Over Its Hostility Toward the Jewish State?

This is a serious misreading of inter- national law. Israel is not “occupying” these MELANIE PHILLIPS territories. In law, occupation can only occur if /JNS.org the land belongs to a sovereign power, which was never the case here; and a state can also hold onto land which continues to be used for belligerent purposes against it. Has the European Union reached a It is also a gross misreading of the Geneva tipping point over Israel? Or to be more Convention, as the Israelis living in these terri- precise, is the Europeans’ bluff finally to be tories were not transferred but moved there called over Israel’s proposal to extend its entirely of their own volition. sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria? The animus against Israel by both the The EU has been mulling punitive EU and Britain is of long standing. Let’s European Union flags in front of the European Commission building in .Photo: Amio measures against Israel if it goes ahead with rephrase that: The animus against Israel by Cajander via Wikimedia Commons. what its Western critics call “annexation of the the European and British political class and occupied territories of the West Bank.” intelligentsia is of long standing. decades lain with the Arab world. countries toward Israel is therefore all the A number of member states, headed by For although the EU and Britain condemn Now, however, something more inter- more striking. A major reason is that, reacting France along with Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Israel for “illegal occupation,” fail to defend it esting has been occurring to undermine this against their recent experience of Soviet Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Belgium, against the malice of the United Nations, and collective animus. oppression, they are determined to assert and Luxembourg, are calling for a hard line. endorse the meretricious rulings against it at In 2004, the EU expanded to include a once again their historic national identity. Measures being considered include the European Court of Justice, they are never- number of post-communist countries from They are having to do so in the teeth of supporting any UN moves against “annexa- theless trading with Israel at ever-increasing central and eastern Europe, such as Hungary, a liberal orthodoxy that the Western nation tion”; public support of proceedings against levels, as well as depending heavily upon it for Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. is fundamentally racist, exploitative, and Israel currently underway in the International crucial military and intelligence support. Unlike Western Europe, these countries dangerous, and that it must be superseded by Criminal Court at The Hague; and increasing So while defaming Israel in the court of are friendly toward Israel. This is not because trans-national institutions like the UN or the EU. the boycott of settlements in various ways, world opinion, they have been simultaneously their populations are free of anti-Jewish These former Communist countries along with increased financial support for the milking its genius for their own benefit. They want prejudice or that these states are free of joined the EU because they believed it was in Palestinians. to hurt it, but not enough to hurt themselves. Holocaust guilt. On the contrary, central and their economic interest to do so. Nevertheless, The EU and Britain maintain that Israel Their hostility is the product of three eastern Europe has a terrible history of deeply there stretches a deep philosophical chasm is illegally occupying the disputed territories, factors: historic and ineradicable anti-Jewish embedded Catholic , anti-Jewish between them and the European monolith. and that its settlements there amount to a prejudice; the pathological inability to deal , and atrocities against the both For the EU was founded on the idea — in transfer of population into those lands in with collective guilt over ; and during and after the Holocaust. line with the progressive belief that the West is The friendship extended by these contravention of the Geneva Convention. the perception that their interests have for Continued on Page A10 The New York Times’ Anguish Over Annexation

in the State of Israel. Its Jewish publishers were did not “deport or transfer,” or forcibly compel, the frightened lest like themselves anyone to move there. Unlike the forced Algemeiner Journal JEROLD AUERBACH be seen as disloyal citizens. population transfers by Nazi Germany during BOSTON Its May 31st issue featured a two-column World War II (the source of this prohibition), (USPS 927800) is published weekly editorial diatribe titled “Annexation Violates Jewish settlers eagerly returned of their own (except for the week of Passover International Law.” It focused on the malfea- accord to Biblical Judea and Samaria, the and Succos) sance of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ancient homeland of the Jewish people (as Subscription rate $40 per year Nothing is likelier to rile New York Times for declaring his intention to annex Jewish even the Times acknowledges). So much for editors — and, not infrequently, columnists Algemeiner Journal settlements. Attentive to the opposition that misplaced analogy. TheTimes editorial and contributing writers — than Jewish settle- of “international organizations” (never pleasingly notes that Joe Biden has declared 208 E 51st Street, Suite 185 ments in Judea and Samaria, the Biblical renowned for their embrace of Jewish state- that if elected president he would “reverse” a New York, N.Y. 10022 homeland of the Jewish people. hood), it spelled out “many reasons” why Trump annexation decision. The current round of censure began Periodicals Postage annexation is “a bad idea.” Annexation, the editors warned, “would three weeks ago (May 7) in a Times column Paid at , N.Y. The “main reason” forTimes opposition render the West Bank into a patchwork of by Daniel Pipes, listing six reasons why Israel and at additional mailing offices is that “the West Bank is regarded by interna- simmering, unstable Bantustans” (a familiar should not annex any part of the West Bank. tional organizations and most of the world as Times equation of Israeli settlements with POSTMASTER: Among them, curiously, was that President occupied territory, and the Jewish settlements South African apartheid). It would also “weaken Send address changes to Donald Trump might “erupt in fury,” although as illegal under the Geneva Convention.” Israel’s support in the Democratic party,” he had already indicated his approval of the Algemeiner Journal According to Article 49, “The Occupying already at a low level, and among “American plan. Annexation would also “alienate and Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its youth,” most of whom do not embrace the P.O. Box 250746 weaken Israel’s diminishing number of friends own civilian population into the territory it Jewish state they know little about. Brooklyn, N.Y. 11225 -3023 in the Democratic Party,” as if their long- occupies.” It also prohibits “individual or mass Moreover, annexation might ”destabilize receding support for Israel mattered. forcible transfers.” Jordan,” where, the editors note, “Palestinians Annexation might also “lead to Pales- Let your voice be heard! Yet Times editors concede that Israel, form the majority.” It is a curious inclusion tinian fury,” as though Israeli policy must even assuming that it is “the occupying power,” by the Times, undermining its claim of Pales- [email protected] comport with the emotions of a sworn tinian homelessness. The League of Nations enemy that has rejected every peace plan Mandate for Palestine defined it as the offered in the past 30 years. In the end, land east and west of the Jordan River. But To advertise in Pipes subsequently explained, annexation the Churchill White Paper (1922), issued the new Algemeiner was “too-expensive symbolism.” But if only following Arab rioting, gifted Palestine east symbolism, why bother? e-mail: [email protected] of the Jordan River to King Abdullah for what Pipes’ critique was only a warm-up became his Kingdom of Jordan. With its or call exercise for the Times, not known as a friend of majority Palestinian population in the land Israel. Ever since Zionism raised its ugly head internationally recognized a century ago 718-771-0400 more than a century ago, the Times repeat- A general view picture shows the Israeli settle- as part of Palestine, there hardly is need for edly lacerated it for pursuing the restoration of ment of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Jewish national sovereignty and its culmination Feb. 15, 2017. Photo: Reuters / Ammar Awad / File. Continued on Page A7 www.algemeiner.com | FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2020 A3 World News. Israel’s Relations With Jerusalem Hopes China ‘Purely Economic,’ ‘Silicon Wadi’ Will While India Is ‘Strategic Create 10,000 Jobs Partner,’ Diplomat Says

BY ALGEMEINER STAFF

Israel’s envoy to New Delhi sat down for an interview on Monday to discuss the Jewish state’s burgeoning ties with India. Speaking with The Print journalist Shekhar Gupta on the “Off the Cuff” program, Ambassador Ron Malka commented, “There is unlimited scope of cooperation between India and Israel. We are ready to share technology on mutual trust and mutual respect.” An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane lands at the Ben-Gurion International airport in “Many challenges that we see in India Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel, March 22, 2018. look so familiar for me,” he added. “So many Photo: Reuters / Amir Cohen. familiarities in challenges faced by Israel and open. Even China knows our relationship View of the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan on December 3, 2017. India. We can learn from each other.” with India is different.” Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90. “India and Israel are two countries that “We are now working on a new free trade a historic plan in the east of the city and respect the rule of law,” Malka noted. “Both BY ISRAEL HAYOM/JNS.org agreement (FTA) with India,” Malka stated. bringing huge economic news to Jerusalem countries are democratic. And there is mutual “We’ll not flood Indian markets with our The first stage of the Jerusalem Munici- in general and eastern Jerusalem in particular, trust and respect between them.” products.” pality’s “Silicon Wadi” project, an initiative by increasing employment in high-tech.” Comparing Israel’s relations with India “Under the new free trade agreement designed to set up industrial and business “We will ensure that we bring in leading to those with China, Malka pointed out “Our (FTA), which we will announce in future, we zones in the eastern half of the city and companies and the best manpower in east relationship with China is purely economic. are working at expanding our cooperation in strengthen the city’s Arab residents’ faith Jerusalem. We will coordinate fully with India is our strategic partner. It is much more trade,” he continued. in local government, is under way, the city planning, employment, and training bodies announced Monday evening. to create a true revolution and create hope in Continued from Page A1 or killed during encounters with the police. The Silicon Wadi project entails the east Jerusalem,” said Lion. Black Americans “Our sorrow is further compounded construction of approximately 200,000 square The Jerusalem Municipality is also meters (2.1 million square feet) of business working on another project to turn 13 local for almost nine minutes after the latter was by the recent killing of Ahmaud Arbery in area, with an emphasis on the high-tech, streets into pedestrian thoroughfares that will forced to the ground — was charged on Georgia, another act of ugly and violent trade and hotel sectors. One of the goals of host tours and street performances at regular Friday by the Hennepin County Attorney with racism,” a statement from the Jewish Commu- the initiative is to create 10,000 jobs in eastern times through August. unintentional murder and manslaughter. nity Relations Council (JCRC) of New York Jerusalem and increase the participation of Lion said that the idea of opening up city “While it is a necessary first step in the asserted. “56 years after the historic signing of eastern Jerusalem women in the job market, streets to pedestrian traffic would “increase pathway towards justice that former Officer the Civil Rights Act, hopes for equal rights for as well as bolster support for the Israeli school the sense of safety of people who spend time Derek Chauvin was taken into custody, it is Blacks and other communities of color have curriculum in eastern Jerusalem schools. in business streets and … help businesses simply not enough,” the ADL statement said. been dashed again by blatant acts of bigotry Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion said, “We and encourage people to enjoy themselves in “Based on the horrifying cell phone footage and bloodshed.” are taking another step toward implementing larger spaces, outside businesses themselves.” that has rightfully outraged Americans In a statement issued on Monday, across the country, it is clear that the three the (OU) declared itself other former officers who participated in Mr. “saddened, sickened, and outraged to have smashing windows and looting luxury was arrested on third-degree murder and Floyd’s death need to be held responsible for seen another broadcast video of an African- stores along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan second-degree manslaughter charges. Three their actions to the fullest extent of our legal American man dying at the hands of police before the city’s 11 p.m. curfew. Mayor Bill other officers involved in the arrest have not system.” officers.” de Blasio said the curfew would be moved been charged. A range of Jewish organizations also Racism remained “a real and present to 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Floyd’s death was the latest case of police voiced their concerns, with the American danger that must be met head on,” the OU Two police officers were struck by a car brutality against black men that was caught Jewish Committee (AJC) criticizing US Presi- statement said. “As religious Jews, we believe at a demonstration in Buffalo, New York, on on videotape and prompted an outcry over dent Donald Trump’s bellicose rhetoric in the the most important starting point for the Monday night. Officials said the driver and racism in US law enforcement. wake of the killing. national discourse that must take place is the passengers were believed to be in custody. It reignited simmering racial tensions “At a time of national crisis, triggered by recognition that all people are created in the It was not immediately clear whether the in a politically-divided country that has been the abhorrent, racist murder of George Floyd, image of G-d and that each human life is of incident was intentional. hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, with we need our leaders to summon the best infinite value.” Fire in Hollywood African Americans accounting for a dispro- in us,” the AJC tweeted. “POTUS, dividing a The rise in antisemitism over the last year In Hollywood, dozens of people were portionately high number of cases. country & pouring fuel on the fire are not the had left the US Jewish community “acutely shown in television images looting a drug Dozens of cities are under curfews not ways to go.” sensitive to the essential imperative to foster store. Windows were shattered at a nearby seen since riots after the 1968 assassination Other groups placed Floyd’s death in the tolerance and respect in this highly diverse Starbucks and two restaurants. of Martin Luther King Jr. The National Guard broader context of young black men being shot society in which we live,” the OU emphasized. Anti-police brutality marches and rallies deployed in 23 states and Washington, DC. have turned violent after dark each night over Most Americans were just emerging the last week. from weeks of strict “stay-at-home” orders Continued from Page A1 Church diocese in Washington DC, Michael A second autopsy ordered by Floyd’s imposed over the pandemic. Military Curry, was among those who criticized family and released on Monday found his On Monday, dozens paid their respects “Mayors and governors must establish Trump’s use of the historic church for a photo death was homicide by “mechanical asphyxi- to Floyd outside Cup Foods, the scene of his an overwhelming law enforcement presence opportunity. ation,” or physical force that interfered with death, leaving flowers and signs. A little girl until the violence has been quelled,” Trump “In so doing, he used a church building his oxygen supply. The report says three wrote, “I’ll fight with you,” in the road. said. “If a city or state refuses to take the and the Holy Bible for partisan political officers contributed to his death. Terrence Floyd, the victim’s brother, actions that are necessary to defend the life purposes,” he said on Twitter. The church The Hennepin County Medical Examiner told the gathering he wanted people to and property of their residents, then I will suffered minor fire damage during protests on later released autopsy findings that also called get educated and vote rather than resort deploy the United States military and quickly Sunday night. Floyd’s death homicide by asphyxiation. The to violence and destruction. “Let’s do this solve the problem for them.” The White House said it was clearing the county report said Floyd suffered cardio- another way,” he said. Following his address, Trump walked area before a curfew. pulmonary arrest while being restrained by James Pool, a 31-year-old former Marine, through an area that had been cleared by A few hours later, thousands of people police and that he had arteriosclerotic and said he hoped peaceful protests would make police to nearby St. John’s Episcopal Church, marched through Brooklyn, shouting “Justice hypertensive heart disease, fentanyl intoxica- a difference. where he posed for pictures with his daughter, now!” while cars drove alongside, some tion and recent methamphetamine use. “I want to see more community and this Ivanka, and US Attorney General William Barr. drivers honking in support. Derek Chauvin, the 44-year-old Minne- country come together and stop letting the The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Television images showed crowds apolis police officer who kneeled on Floyd, powers that be divide us,” he said. A4 | FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2020 World News. Thousands of Iranians Said to Contact Israel’s Foreign Ministry to Request Asylum

BY BENJAMIN KERSTEIN

In recent weeks, thousands of non-Jewish Iranians have been sending messages to Israel’s Foreign Ministry asking for help in escaping Iran and even immigrating to Israel. Israeli news site N12 reported on Monday Rioters during the antisemitic in Baghdad, Iraq, known as the ‘,’ June 1, 1941. that the requests had come in public and Photo: Twitter. private messages sent to the Foreign Minis- try’s official Farsi-language Instagram page. A rally in Los Angeles supporting pro-democracy The Foreign Ministry stated that there protests in Iran, January 2018. ‘Farhud’ Massacre of Iraqi Jews were so many inquiries that the ministry had Photo: Reuters / Monica Almeida. found it impossible to handle the volume. in various publications that Israel leads in Remembered, 79 Years Later “We receive tens of thousands of comments various fields of technology and is a free and each day in private messages and comments on democratic country.” the posts themselves asking to receive asylum “Some are also being persecuted in Iran in Israel,” said Yonatan Gonen of the ministry’s BY ALGEMEINER STAFF The World Jewish Congress (WJC) tweeted, by the authorities,” he added. “They want to get “For two days, a mob in Baghdad went from Digital Diplomacy Department. away and believe that Israel can help them.” door to door to Jewish homes — killing, raping, It is believed that the rush of requests is Gonen noted that Iranians might be Jewish leaders and organizations on looting.” The pogrom, it said, “was a shocking due to the dire economic situation in Iran and further attracted to the Farsi-language Insta- Monday marked the anniversary of the 1941 turning point for the Iraqi Jewish community. especially the coronavirus pandemic, which gram page because it included a great deal of Baghdad pogrom known as the “Farhud,” which Within a decade, most of them fled the country.” has hit the country especially hard. information that was censored in Iran itself, began the ethnic cleansing of the millennia-old Gonen said Iranians may also want to such as material on the regime’s persecution Iraqi Jewish community. come to Israel because “they probably see of dissidents and involvement in terrorism. Following a pro-Nazi coup led by nation- alist Rashid Ali al-Kailani and Palestinian leader and Nazi collaborator Hajj Amin al-Husseini, anti-Jewish riots broke out in Baghdad on June Police in German City of Munich 1, 1941. Before being suppressed by the British military, the pogrom left at least 180 Jews dead. Ban Display of Nazi-Era Yellow Star Over the next decade, almost all of Iraq’s around 135,000 Jews fled the country, most of at Coronavirus Demonstrations them going to the new State of Israel. The director-general of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yuval Rotem, wrote on Monday, “Today we commemorate the #Farhud, BY ALGEMEINER STAFF associated conspiracy theories. Participants the bloody massacre of Iraqi Jews. Following the have worn the “Judenstern” in a direct nod to pogrom, the majority of #Iraq’s vibrant Jewish the Nazi persecution of the Jews, but labeled The southern German city of Munich community, which dated back to 586 BC, has instead “Not Vaccinated” and “CoV-2.” has banned the use of Nazi-era “Judenstern” found its safe haven in Israel. We will forever Michael Dickson — the executive director In an interview last week, the top German badges and signs at demonstrations protesting remember those murdered in the Farhud.” of Stand With Us Israel — wrote, “The murders official combating antisemitism expressed the government response to the coronavirus David Harris, CEO of the American Jewish and devastation of the Farhud led to the expul- concern that the coronavirus demonstrations Committee (AJC), said the Farhud was “the pandemic. sion of almost 1m Jews from Arab countries in were being taken over by antisemitic extremists. beginning of the end for an ancient Jewish The ban came into effect ahead of last the years following.” The protests had become “a melting pot community. And note it was 7 years before Saturday’s rally in Munich, a police spokesman Pro-Israel activist and descendant of for antisemites, conspiracy nuts, Holocaust Israel’s rebirth.” said, adding that no violations were reported. Farhud victims Hen Mazzig tweeted, “Today relativists and enemies of democracy who try Future displays of the yellow Star of David I remember the violence my grandparents to monopolize people for their own purposes,” — which Jews were compelled by the Nazis faced in Iraq. I remember how Iraqi police the official, Felix Klein, said in an interview to wear on their outer clothing — will be targeted them because they were Jews. I with the Judische Allgemeine newspaper. punishable with a fine, the spokesman said. remember how 850,000 Jews were forced out Antisemitic outrages in Germany rose At rallies throughout Germany to counter the of their lands as refugees.” by nearly 14 percent in 2019, with more than coronavirus restrictions, some demonstrators “I will never forget the #Farhud,” he said. 2,000 incidents reported, according to figures were seen appropriating the imagery of Nazi The organization JIMENA — which released by the Federal Ministry of the Interior. advocates for Jews of Middle Eastern and antisemitism and the Holocaust, along with its North African origin — related the Farhud to the ongoing protests against police violence in organization of local councils in the settle- eignty without fear and without trepidation. the US, writing, “On this 79th anniversary of the ments, and said to them, “We face a historic With the United States’ consent or without the anti-Jewish pogrom in Baghdad, Iraq known as opportunity to apply sovereignty to areas of United States’ consent.” the Farhud we decry police brutality and indif- Judea and Samaria.” “We have come to give the prime minister ference that plagues our country.” Netanyahu added, however, that he the power to set the red lines of the Jewish “Jews from Arab countries are no stranger planned to pursue negotiations in accordance people and the settlement of Judea and to systemic discrimination and we demand with the Trump plan. Samaria,” he added. more for African Americans,” the group wrote. Because the plan stipulates the eventual Dagan said he and his colleagues were creation of a Palestinian state, it is bitterly “confident” that Netanyahu would adopt their opposed by many settler leaders. recommendations. Netanyahu Will Pursue West The Israeli news site Walla states that the settler leaders raised the issue of Palestinian Bank Annexation, but Only in statehood with Netanyahu and expressed their opposition to a wholesale adoption of the Trump plan because of it. Context of Trump Peace Plan Council officials said at the end of the meeting that they were “looking forward to continuing the debate.” Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Bank, but only in the context of the US Presi- BY BENJAMIN KERSTEIN Regional Council, said before the meeting that dent Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan. the settler leaders intended to draw a red line A general view picture shows a construction site Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netan- A statement from the Prime Minister’s in Efrat, in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc in the at Palestinian statehood. yahu told a group of settler leaders on Tuesday Office stated that Netanyahu met with the West Bank, Jan. 28, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Ronen He added that Israel should “apply sover- that he intended to annex parts of the West heads of the Yesha Council, the umbrella Zvulun / File. www.algemeiner.com | FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2020 A5 U.S. News.

landmark Supreme Court decisions on self- Jewish World Mourns Passing of incrimination. Lamm edited or co-edited more than Former University Head 20 volumes, including The Library of Jewish Law and Ethics. He was the founder and first editor of the Orthodox journalTradition Rabbi Norman Lamm and associate editor of Hadarom, a journal of Jewish law; founder of the Torah U-Madda Journal; and founder of the Orthodox Forum. The late Dr. Norman Lamm, former president Lamm’s passing came only a few weeks of Yeshiva University in New York City. BY ALGEMEINER STAFF after he lost his 88-year-old wife, Mindella, to Photo: Screenshot. the coronavirus. modern life in Torah values and taught us Dr. Norman Lamm — the former head of Yeshiva University in New York City and one of the In a statement, Dr. Ari Berman, the how we can grow from the interchange of leading Jewish scholars in the United States — passed away on Sunday at the age of 92. current president of Yeshiva University, history’s great ideas.” In a statement on its website, Yeshiva University mourned the loss of “an elegant and articu- reflected that the Jewish community had “lost Lamm’s “enormous impact is simply late spokesman for Jewish life in modern times.” a legend, and we mourn the passing of our incalculable in considering both the influence Lamm’s “oratory, wisdom and leadership inspired our institution for more than three teacher and guide.” of his ideas as well as the number of alumni decades,” the statement said. Said Berman: “Rabbi Lamm was the who graduated during his tenure from across In its obituary of Lamm published on Sunday, The New York Times credited him with premier expositor of our community’s world- our institution’s graduate, undergraduate and having molded Yeshiva University into “a centrist Orthodox Jewish institution that encouraged view. His teachings and writings anchored engagement with the secular world and in doing so rescued rabbinic programs,” Berman added. the school from the brink of bankruptcy.”Lamm spent 37 years at the helm of Yeshiva University. By the time he stood down as its president in 2001, the university’s endowment was valued at $875 million. Born in Brooklyn into a family of Jewish immigrants from Poland, Lamm gained wide recognition for his writings and discourses on the interpretation of Jewish philosophy and law, especially in relation to problems involving science, law, technology and philosophy in the modern world. He authored 10 books, including his major work, Torah Lishmah (1972), about the Mitnaggedim, and The Religious Thought of Hasidism: Text and Commentary, which won the coveted 1999 National Jewish Book Award in Jewish Thought. He also published many articles on Jewish law in many journals, one of which was cited in two separate No Time Like a Pandemic to Make Aliyah, Say North American Jews

BY ISRAEL HAYOM/JNS.org

May saw the highest number of American and Canadian Jews requesting to make aliyah through the Nefesh B’Nefesh organization since it was founded in 2002, according to numbers obtained by Israel Hayom. The figures indicate that the number of aliyah files opened doubled in May, with most applicants seeking to move to Israel in the next few months. Over 800 households applied online in May to make aliyah, compared to 424 in May 2019. The reason? Coronavirus. “Coronavirus has caused a lot of US Jews to rethink their paths and work to carry out something they’ve been planning for some time,” said Nefesh B’Nefesh. The May wave of new aliyah requests comes after the 50 percent jump in new files the organization saw in April, which was also a record. Nefesh B’Nefesh also reported a change in the profiles of the potential new immigrants, with more families and fewer single people and retirees applying. Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder and executive director of Nefesh B’Nefesh, said, “We have an unusual opportunity to make a 2,000-year-old dream come true.” The organization is making preparations to bring several thousand new North American immigrants to Israel this summer.

New immigrants arrive in Israel, many coming alone to serve in the nation’s military. Photo: courtesy of Nefesh B’Nefesh. A6 | FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2020 Opinion.

would bend to help dislodge it from a crack in the sidewalk or the roots of a tree. I would put A Prayer for My Father my arm out to help him climb the stairs. He would never accept. It might take three times as long, but he would get to the top on his own. He had made his way through life on his own two a living incarnation of his namesake, King feet, and his struggle to survive became symboli- David’s general-in-chief Yoav, instilling fear in cally solitary in the last weeks as the COVID-19 SHMULEY BOTEACH all who would do harm to his people. He oozed pandemic closed the hospitals to visitors and we ENGELWOOD Jewish pride from every pore of his being. My The Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery in Jeru- children who were at his side were reduced to friend David Suissa, who edits Los Angeles’ salem. Photo: Berthold Werner via Wikimedia Commons. watching him on an IPad until he came home to Jewish Journal and was of the last non-family my sisters’ care for a final 10 days. twisted his waist again. He loved every minute members to visit my father in the hospital, told This is the eulogy that Rabbi Shmuley Death to him was a curse, an aberration of it. And so did I. me after he met him for the first time, “Your Boteach delivered on May 27, 2020, for his never to be discussed, an unacceptable tear in When hundreds of thousands of Iranian dad is the original Mesopotamian man. He has father, Yoav Botach, on the Mount of Olives the glorious tapestry of nature — “the green” Jews began fleeing Khomeini’s brutal regime a powerful, leathery hand.” And yesterday my in Jerusalem at a funeral service over which as he called it — whose pristine beauty he in 1979, my father was already an established former student at Oxford and now Los Angeles he presided. loved so much. In his hospital bed at Cedars- Los Angeles business figure. He saw it as provi- mayor, Eric Garcetti, summed up my father It was nearly 26 years ago, also on a Sinai, he would hold my hand so utterly tight. dential that he had come to LA some 15 years beautifully in a text: “He was a heroic figure to summer day, that my father called me from He held on for life itself as he entered his final earlier so that he could assist so many Iranian me and I saw such a fire and a love in him. His here in Israel to tell me the impossible news battle, attended with unequaled care by my refugees and get them back on their feet. memory is such a blessing to our city of Angels that the Lubavitcher Rebbe had died. I was sisters Sara and Ateret, who never left his He became a patriarch to the Iranian Jewish and to this world.” living in Oxford, England at the time, serving side, my brother Bar Kochva, and my brother community and is respected as such till today. This defiance of standing up, of being as rabbi to the students, and was meant to Chaim who crossed the country from Miami In about 1980, I was with him in downtown Los a proud Jew, ready to battle our people’s travel to Israel that very day to visit my father constantly to visit his sick father in LA. Angeles when he took an Iranian immigrant foes in every arena, constituted my father’s in Jerusalem. The news shocked me to my core. I was moved to my core when, on the last to a meeting to try and help him close on a irreducible essence. Rarely has a man stood The Rebbe was larger than life. He was going to Shabbat that we spent together, he struggled business. My father told the cynical American so straight. Rarely has a person walked so tall. usher in a messianic era. He could not die. in semi-consciousness to move his unrespon- owner who listened halfheartedly to the Rarely has a Jew born in a Muslim country My plans for Israel changed immediately sive body and even to breathe. He grabbed my refugee’s business pitch, “He may have nothing carried himself with such utter disregard for as I traveled in the opposite direction for the hand, first with his almost useless left arm, and now, but in Iran this man had a huge business. his hostile surroundings. To say that my father Rebbe’s funeral in New York. then, moving his entire frame, with his right Big. Like an elephant!” almost screaming the could not give a damn what anyone thought And now, more than a quarter of a hand as well, as he seized me with a ferocious last word as he so hated seeing people’s dignity of him is to offer an unimpressive understate- century later, I have traveled in the right direc- grip. My wife Debbie stood by watching with compromised. ment. Once, when we flew together from Los tion, to the Jewish homeland, but for another tears in her eyes as I sang to him the melodies A man as large as my father was never Angeles to Miami for a grandson’s bris, he impossibly sad occasion, the funeral of my of Havdalah that he so loved. going to be a saint and would have been a bore pulled out a cooked duck with his bare hands own father. He adored Debbie ever since I brought had he not also possessed the flaws that accom- and tore it apart, offering me a leg dripping in And as with the Rebbe, I never believed her from Australia to obtain his blessing for pany men of Biblical proportions. He could be grease, oblivious to an entire plane staring at this day would come. our marriage 32 years ago. Characteristically, stubborn, uncompromising, and, as a son who him. And why would he care? If they could My father too was larger than life. he stared her down. “Where do you want to loved him and always sought his approval, at not appreciate that a Jew only eats kosher, Always the most charismatic personality in live?” Debbie, not missing a beat, replied, times distant. After my parents’ divorce, I grew and if the airline forgot to board the meals we the room, he was a force of nature, a magnet “Wherever Shmuley wants to live.” And he up on the other side of America and missed ordered, that was their problem. that drew everything to him, a planet that lit up like a Hanukkah menorah as Debbie him every moment. When he visited he could My grandfather Ezra, an ardent Zionist, forced all that surrounded him into his orbit. passed his test. “Uuuhooo,” he laughed, giving see my pain and I once heard him tell his moved his large brood to Israel where my He could neither be avoided nor ignored. us his blessing, knowing that he had success- brother Shlomo that he thought that I, as the father spent his late teenage years and met Even as his health deteriorated over the last fully teased this Ashkenazi woman about family’s youngest, was especially wounded by my mother Eleanor when she, as a young few months, his broken body always fought being the perfect Persian wife! the divorce. And that is how I felt too. American tourist, asked a handsome local back and rallied in a way that had agnostic Such displays of love and tenderness Which is why no global pandemic, no for the city’s best falafel in Beersheva. They doctors using the words “miracle.” Even when were not foreign. My father had tremendous worldwide malady, was ever going to stop me married and began a family in Israel where the hospital told us on several occasions — sensitivity to those in need. At the end of a long or my beloved siblings — Sara, Ateret, and my sister Sara was born, and, a few years including at the Passover seder — that we summer fast day in Los Angeles, when I was Chaim Moishe — who are here with me, from later, moved to my mother’s native New had to say goodbye as he had hours to live, he driving home from with him to eat burying our father in the city that he loved so York, where Bar Kochva was born, and to always miraculously pulled through. Sickness our meal, we saw a confused, elderly woman in much, Jerusalem, and where he wished to live Los Angeles thereafter, where the twins, and illness could never defeat him. the middle of the street, nearly killed by passing in his last years, as did his mother, Eshrat, to Chaim Moishe and Ateret, and then me, the My father was a giant of a man, a business cars. My father picked her up, saw the address of whom he was especially devoted. And we are youngest, followed. titan who bestrode the streets of Los Angeles her nursing home, and drove her there, all while joined today by my children Chana and Mendy, My father arrived in America not like a colossus, a real estate genius with the his famished teenage son prayed to himself that who also made the trip from the United States speaking a word of English. He was sometimes charisma and good looks of a Hollywood he would just leave her so we could eat. The during the pandemic, and my nephew Aaron, looked down upon and degraded, with his star. My friend Kevin, writing from Australia, owner of the nursing home told my father to butt all three of whom my father took such pride in dark, Middle Eastern complexion and the summed it up best: Yoav was a legend. out. “It’s none of your business.” “NONE OF MY as they served as soldiers in the IDF. broken English of an immigrant. His struggle never to quit and always BUSINESS?” my father hollered. “If ever I come It would be the will of God that my father That he would go on to build a large prevail was his defining characteristic. Born back and see this woman in danger, I will teach would not ultimately inhabit the home that he business and out-maneuver those with the in abject poverty as the second child in a you a lesson about respecting the elderly that bought at the foot of the Old City. But interred impeccable college degrees he lacked should family of 13 in Iran in 1932, he was selling you will never forget.” now here as he is at Judaism’s holiest burial site surprise no one. Few were as dedicated. Few carpets and fabrics in the markets of Isfahan My father loved music and loved to sing. on the Mount of Olives, just steps away from his worked harder. Few were as sharp. — the ancient Persian capital — from the age Every Friday night he raised his voice to God great hero Menachem Begin, and the founder My father rose at the crack of dawn each of ten to help support his brothers and sisters. like an ancient Hebrew prophet. He made the of the modern Hebrew tongue, Eliezer Ben and every morning until he was felled by a And reaching out to aid his many siblings in words of the Bible come to life and elongated Yehuda, my father has finally come home. catastrophic stroke last December on the every way possible would be an act he would the pronouncement of every syllable, doing He will now be, as Jewish tradition night before Hanukkah. And over the next continue for the rest of his life, along with impossible musical somersaults with his maintains, the first to greet the Messiah and five months he waged a ferocious battle for charitable acts to complete strangers who vocal chords. the first to rise in the resurrection of the dead. life that electrified and astonished all who approached him in dire straits. Shabbat was especially dear to him. He In the same way that my father always witnessed it. He had only minimal schooling and was loved going to synagogue and loved having kept his faithfulness to God, I know that the He would often tell me stories of his work proud that he spent most of it not reading his children and grandchildren around him Creator will likewise fulfill his promise to his ethic. He drove from Los Angeles to the various books but fighting antisemitic Muslim singing at the Sabbath table. At family celebra- people, spoken through Isaiah, that in the end swap meets and flea markets to feed his family. teachers and pupils and organizing the Jewish tions, he would suddenly stand in the middle of days “Death shall be swallowed forever,” “I was so tired, I took the scissors that I used to children in Isfahan into street fighters. At a of the guests and cry out in lyrical praise to and through Daniel, that “Multitudes who cut the fabrics because I was falling asleep at Friday night Shabbat dinner that I spent alone the Creator. As I was conducting my daughter sleep in the dust of the earth will wake again.” the wheel. I started to poke my legs until blood with him when I was 14 and living in a Los Shaina’s wedding, he rose under the chupa, in And at that time I will be reunited with flowed. But,” he said with his eyes open wide as Angeles yeshiva dorm, he regaled me with the middle of the ceremony, and began to sing my Rebbe and with my father, both of whom saucers, “I didn’t miss the market.” tales of the non-stop Jewish wars in Iran and the eternal words of the prophet Isaiah: “And died on a Saturday night just as the holy He never missed synagogue on any proudly moved my hands over the battle scars Kings and queens will serve you and care Sabbath went out, making a world without morning, either. In his last years, he would in his scalp that proved it. “Feel here, under for all your needs. They will bow to the earth them a little bit darker, and a world into which drag his broken frame day after day at 5 am my hair, at the holes I still have from rocks that before you and lick the dust from your feet. they will eventually reawaken shine with and put on his tefillin, eschewing the help of nearly cracked my skull,” he said with a huge Then you will know that I am the Lord. Those particles of everlasting light. other worshipers that in his later years he was grin. He would later show my children the who trust in me will never be put to shame.” Rabbi Shmuley Boteach’s book on finally forced to accept. same wounds. “They tried to break me with As he did so he swung his hips into a Middle Judaism and the messiah, The Wolf Shall Lie He believed in strength. He never showed sticks and rocks,” he said, “but I’m the one who Eastern belly dance, scandalizing the serious, With the Lamb, is available on Amazon and weakness. After his first stroke nearly a decade always beat them up.” black-clad, Hasidic crowd who looked at him at Shmuley.com. Follow him on Twitter and ago, he would become visibly upset at me or any He was a Jewish lion, a mighty warrior, in shock. He gave a mischievous laugh and Instagram @RabbiShmuley. of my siblings as he pushed his walker to shul. I www.algemeiner.com | FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2020 A7 Opinion. Mahmoud Abbas’ Anti-Israel Groups Promote Threats to Israel and Discrimination and Bigotry the Validity of Oslo campaign is rooted in antisemitism. Essen- tially, it claims that Israel and American Jewry DOV GUGGENHEIM Palestinian fixation of acceding to interna- contribute to police brutality in the United tional conventions in violation of their Oslo LONDON States, and that university police have become ALAN BAKER/ commitments, when they demonstrate so “militarized” to implement “discriminatory and repressive policing” used by the Israeli JNS.org assertively that they can freely violate any commitments in such conventions and agree- defense establishment. This is a “j’accuse” ments, for no good reason. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. par excellence devoid of any evidence, and Abbas justifies his actions against both In early April, BDS leader Omar Bargh- utilizes classic antisemitic tropes of Jewish In his May 18 declaration, Mahmoud the United States and Israel on the basis of outi expressed support for allowing the use power and money. Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority (PA) his deep antipathy toward the Trump peace of potential Israeli-developed vaccines for This campaign is unsurprisingly spear- and PLO, announced, “The Palestine Libera- plan, to the US recognition of Jerusalem as COVID-19. headed by (JVP), a tion Organization and the State of Palestine Israel’s capital city, and his personal aversion “If you use medical equipment from group that uses its Jewish identity as a shield are absolved from all agreements and under- to President Trump himself. But the Trump Israel — it’s not a problem. Cooperating with when denying Jews their right to national self- standings with the American and Israeli plan, in and of itself, violates no agreement as Israel against the virus — to begin with, we do determination and security. governments and from all the obligations such. It merely sets out an ostensible frame- not consider it normalization,” he said in an There are many issues to be taken with based on these understandings and agree- work for peace between the Palestinians and Arabic-language Facebook live broadcast. the campaign (not least of which, that JVP ments, including the security ones.” Israel, including the establishment of a Pales- He continued, asserting, “Up until now, openly voices support and has even hosted This latest tantrum by Abbas, and subse- tinian state and the granting of considerable we have not been in a situation where we convicted terrorists at their events), but the quent actions to unilaterally halt security, health, economic benefits to the Palestinian people. need Israel urgently and no one else can save most striking issue here is the complete disre- and other forms of cooperation with Israel, raise Indeed, one may ask how any of this us but Israel. If that will happen, saving lives is gard for human life by JVP and SJP. Barghouti several interesting legal and political questions could be seen to justify — legally or politically more important than anything else.” Since the himself stated that lives come before politics regarding the veracity and credibility of all — Abbas’ declaration absolving the Palestin- BDS movement rejects normalization with — and ending security training will leave and any Palestinian commitments, whether ians from all agreements and understandings, Israel, this statement took many by surprise. many staff without the necessary skills in the various documents comprising the Oslo and the subsequent instructions to obstruct However, this statement could actually needed to protect campuses, which can end Accords, or in other international commitments and impede security cooperation with Israel, be a positive development. Barghouti is, in up costing lives. entered into by the Palestinians. much of which serves the interests of the essence, reiterating a mantra repeated by When Tufts-SJP won an award for For if the Palestinian leadership feels that Palestinian leadership itself as well as the much of the international community — student collaboration, Academic Engagement it can glibly and freely revoke solemn obliga- Palestinian population. politics are politics, and we shall have our Network (AEN) Executive Director Miriam tions in signed agreements, witnessed and By the same token, practically speaking, political arguments as we see fit — but our Elman stated, “Tufts-SJP is hardly a worthy guaranteed by international leaders, merely one may ask how Abbas and his colleagues ideologies should not cost human lives. While recipient of an award for collaboration,” at the whim of Abbas and his close advisers intend to free themselves from such obliga- we may often disagree about certain policies, echoing similar statements made by Anthony and merely because they disapprove of, and tions as that specified in the September 1993 rarely do they have as direct an impact on the Monaco, president of Tufts, who expressed that even object to, speeches or Israeli policy state- Exchange of Letters of Mutual Recognition well-being of others as medicine does. this award should not have been bestowed to ments, then one may indeed ask what value between PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, in the So, being that Barghouti set the prece- SJP, and highlighted many concerns that arose or reliability do any Palestinian commitments name of the Palestinian people, and Israel’s dent that human lives are more important from the unfortunate incident. Indeed, both — past, present, or future — hold? prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, according than political steadfastness, it was disap- SJP and JVP consistently act divisively (and in What is perhaps curious, if not even sad, to which the PLO head declared that “all pointing (yet predictable) that this is not the a bigoted manner) in ostracizing students and in Abbas’ declaration and actions is the fact outstanding issues relating to the permanent case with some prominent BDS chapters on impeding a healthy exchange of ideas meant that they are ostensibly not in response to any status will be resolved through negotiations.” US college campuses. to improve society. specific Israeli action that might be interpreted as Similarly, the question arises how the For example, in March, Tufts University’s Encouraging student activism and violating those agreements. Israel, true to its Oslo abrogation of security cooperation obligations chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine being politically involved are important for Accords obligations, has not made any unilateral will affect the very central and vital Palestinian (SJP) became the first campus group to submit any functioning society. But when we are alteration in the status of the territories. commitments in the Oslo Accords to “take a referendum condemning and ultimately faced with organizations that hold abhorrent The Palestinian actions are merely in all measures necessary in order to prevent attempting to end all security training for stances, spit in the face of human rights, and response to a provision in the Israeli govern- acts of terrorism, crime, and hostilities.” By campus police by Israeli security forces. (A are knee-deep in antisemitism, one must ask ment’s coalition agreement and a speech by the same token, their specific obligations to decision on the referendum was delayed until — what values are really driving these organi- Israel’s prime minister in the Israeli Knesset prevent and to act against incitement and the fall due to COVID-19). zations to action? Are these organizations expressing possible intentions to apply Israeli hostile propaganda, as well as to cooperate in This is merely SJP’s latest endorsement worthy of being rewarded? law or sovereignty to parts of the territories preventing criminal activity, drug trafficking, of the “Deadly Exchange” campaign, which Dov Guggenheim is a CAMERA Fellow at a later date — but they were made without and the like, represent central obligations they have openly supported since 2018. The at Hebrew University. such actions having been actually taken which, inasmuch as they are not already and without any detail as to how and if such being repeatedly violated by the Palestinians, actions will indeed materialize. constitute a fundamental component of the Continued from Page A2 rising threat of violence that would “under- To the contrary, the Trump peace plan Israeli-Palestinian relationship. Anguish mine Israel’s standing in the world,” harm invites the Palestinian leadership to involve The implications of the violation of such another “Palestine” west of the Jordan River. relations with Arab states, and reduce the itself in negotiating the implementation of the commitments could be considerable and Times editors recognize that the portions possibility of a peace settlement (that Pales- plan, with extensive financial and economic most serious inasmuch as they represent of Judea and Samaria that Netanyahu would tinians have relentlessly resisted). inducements that would greatly benefit the the very heart of the neighborly relationship annex have already become “integral parts Left unsaid: it would leave Times editors Palestinian population. But after having between the Palestinians and the Israelis. of Israel in all but name.” So why the fuss? upset, even angry. Too bad, but pleasing The rejected the plan outright and removed Their formal abrogation by the Pales- Because “on the tawdry political level where New York Times is hardly a priority for Israel, himself from the negotiating table, Abbas is in tinian leadership, for no apparent or justifiable Mr. Netanyahu thrives,” annexation would nor should it be. no position to threaten or pressure Israel and reason, could indeed be seen to be a funda- solidify support from his right-wing base and Jerold S. Auerbach is the author of the United States. He does not have any right mental breach of the accords, entitling Israel “cloak him with the mantle of a Jewish hero” Print to Fit: The New York Times, Zionism of veto at his disposal. to consider them void, and to pursue its own before his pending trial. and Israel 1896-2016, selected for Mosaic by In light of Abbas’ declaration absolving vital security and territorial interests without Dire consequences (surely for Times Ruth Wisse and Martin Kramer as a “Best the Palestinians from all obligations, the being limited by any obligations emanating editorial writers) would inevitably follow: a Book” for 2019. question arises whether such abrogation, from them. This is particularly significant as well as the actual, unilateral violation by in relation to those provisions dealing with the Palestinian leadership of its commit- security of the airspace and security along the the agreement covering legal cooperation, Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center ments in the Oslo Accords, through actively Gaza coastline and provisions granting rights and economic and financial relations, Abbas’ and the head of the Global Law Forum. He obstructing and preventing security and of Palestinian VIP and police passage. whimsical termination of the agreement with participated in the negotiation and drafting other forms of bilateral cooperation, does not Even in the long list of non-security- Israel would cause considerable harm and of the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians, as represent a material breach of those accords, related fields of cooperation and coordination suffering to his own population. well as agreements and peace treaties with rendering them frustrated and impossible to covered by the Civil Affairs Protocol to the The Palestinian declaration should be Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon. He served as implement, and thereby enabling Israel to Interim Agreement, including health, agricul- taken very seriously by Israel, the United legal adviser and deputy director-general declare them void. ture, water and sewage, telecommunications, States, and the international community, all of Israel’s Foreign Ministry and as Israel’s One may even ask the international fisheries, fuels, quarries, tourism, and trans- of whom have a serious stake in maintaining ambassador to Canada. community what value exists in the continued portation, as well as the other protocols to the integrity of the peace process. This article was first published by the Alan Baker is director of the Institute for Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. A8 | FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2020 Impressions.

Whatever Happened to the Emergency Committee for Israel

BY JONATHAN S. TOBIN the Emergency Committee for Israel to “Republican will damage Israel and put forward claims that the Voters Against Trump” is not how many people president is undermining bipartisan support for /JNS.org are coming along with Kristol. Rather, it’s what we the Jewish state, even though the same arguments should think about the fact that some of the same were used against ECI’s efforts to oppose Obama. Ten years ago, it came in with a bang, but this people who were claiming that Obama was a threat Kristol didn’t respond to my request for spring, it disbanded without even a whimper. to Israel now wish to replace Trump — who, his comment, but one member of the ECI board did The Emergency Committee for Israel came faults notwithstanding, is easily the pro-Israel presi- speak to me. Gary Bauer, a conservative Chris- into existence in 2010 in response to President dent in US history — with a leading member of the tian who is chairman of American Values Action Barack Obama’s increasingly aggressive criticism same Obama administration in Biden. said he regarded the mission of the Emergency of Israel and his attempt to pressure it to make In recent weeks, Biden has said that he Committee as an important one, and is surprised concessions to the Palestinians. In the following won’t move the US embassy back to Tel Aviv that some of those associated with the group have years, as Obama’s push for appeasement of Iran culminated in a disastrously weak nuclear deal, the ECI depicted the administration’s policies as not just wrongheaded or counterproductive, but an “emergency” that decent Americans should mobilize to oppose. Democrats blasted the group for what they claimed was an attempt to turn Israel into a partisan wedge issue. Yet by helping to frame the debate about Obama’s push for more “daylight” between the United States and Israel, and a rapprochement with Iran, the ECI played a not insignificant role in generating dissent about such dangerous folly and electing members of the House and Senate who disagreed with the administration. Once Obama got his way on the Iran nuclear deal, the ECI went silent. Earlier this spring, it formally disbanded. But it’s prime mover, former Weekly Standard publisher William Kristol has moved on to a different cause, albeit one that puzzles many of those who agreed with him about Obama’s attitude towards Israel. After leading the effort to brand Obama a threat to Israel’s existence, Kristol has, along with Former US President Barack Obama. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. some other celebrity pundits like The Atlantic’s from Jerusalem. But he’s also made it clear that now taken the position that standing with Israel is David Frum and The Washington Post’s Jennifer he intends to revive the same failed policies of no longer a priority. Rubin, who were cheerleaders for the ECI, become pressure on Israel to make concessions to the “It will be especially damaging to Israel to go the voice of the #NeverTrump movement. He leads Palestinians and will adamantly oppose the back to dealing with an administration that is soft a new organization whose purpose is to convince stances of the government of Israel. on Iran,” said Bauer. “I don’t see how that comes Republicans to support presumptive Democratic Biden has a long history of seeking to dictate out in a way that adds to the security of Israel.” presidential nominee Joe Biden. But unlike the ECI, to Israel and thinking he knows better than the Referring to Biden’s embrace of , Bauer said, which was often torched by the mainstream media, Jewish state’s elected leaders when it comes to its “If J Street supports you, you ain’t pro-Israel.” his new effort is gaining the same kind of sympa- security. That stretches from confrontations with While acknowledging the criticisms of Trump, thetic coverage in The New York Times that the left Menachem Begin to those with current Prime Bauer said he is “flabbergasted” that people who wing lobby J Street — ECI’s principal antagonist Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Indeed, it was once stood with him in opposition to Obama’s during its most active period — usually receives. during a Biden visit to Jerusalem in 2010 that the policies are now seeking to bring them back. Citing Everybody has a right to change their minds, Obama administration ginned up a dispute with all the issues on which Trump has governed as a and Trump’s often-vile public discourse has made Israel over the right of Jews to build in their ancient conservative, as well as his historic stand on Israel, him too heavy a lift for many. That’s especially true for capital that helped motivate Kristol and his friends he sad, “If somebody would throw that overboard those who were once in the center ring of the political to found the ECI. because they don’t like the president’s tweets, I circus and now find themselves on the outs. Just as important, Biden has pledged to have a hard time seeing that as a rational way to Though liberal outlets like the Times are reenter the Iran nuclear deal that he loyally look at the choices in American politics.” pumping as much life into the Never Trump idea supported during a debate when the ECI was It’s understandable that the overwhelming as they can, it’s primarily a media story rather correctly denouncing it as an act of appeasement majority of Jews who are politically liberal and than a mass movement. The country may be badly of a genocidal Islamist regime. believed in Obama’s policies would wish to oust split about Trump, but among Republicans, he It’s hard to fathom how people who were Trump and replace him with Biden. But it is diffi- has the highest favorability ratings of any modern telling us that stopping the same policies that cult, if not impossible, to treat as credible those who GOP president, even in the midst of a pandemic, Biden will revive was a matter of life and death previously assured us that the Obama policies that with Gallup showing him with a staggering 92% are now shrugging their shoulders about them. Biden loyally supported were a threat to Israel’s approval rating among Republicans. Indeed, at a conference earlier this year, many existence, but now say they don’t matter. If Obama’s It’s likely that this also holds true for the of the same people who embraced the ECI were policies were an “emergency” in 2015, what do you minority of Jews who have backed the GOP. The rationalizing voting for Bernie Sanders if he won call the prospect of their revival in 2020? explanation for this is simple: Trump has delivered the Democratic nomination, even though he is Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of on policy on Israel and issues that conservatives even more hostile to Israel and every principle JNS-Jewish News Syndicate. Follow him on care about across the board. these former conservatives once held sacred. Twitter @jonathans_tobin. But the point to ask about the journey from Some claim that the association with Trump www.algemeiner.com | FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2020 A9 Legals. Opinion. LEGAL NOTICE Despite Coronavirus, BDS Debate Continues on Campus and Elsewhere

The campus of George Washington University.Photo: Wikimedia Commons. 61 RUSSELL LLC. Arts. of Org. filed In spite of the lockdown, a lawfare group Palestine Legal has filed from Austria and Hungary, whose with the SSNY on 04/17/20. Office: variety of BDS and other antisemitic a complaint with the Department of leaders called on Israel and the Kings County. SSNY designated as ALEXANDER JOFFE incidents took place, including in Education’s Inspector General against Palestinians to resume negotia- agent of the LLC upon whom process NEW YORK student governments. At Stanford against it may be served. SSNY shall Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights tions. But the Czech government, mail copy of process to the LLC, 61 University, a student government Kenneth Marcus. The complaint normally favorable to Israel, has Russell Street, Brooklyn, NY 11222. member apologized for social alleges that Marcus “deviated from been split on the issue. More inter- Purpose: Any lawful purpose. media postings attacking Israel and established Department of Education estingly, “annexation” has also split AJ; 5/1/8/15/22/29; 6/5 The academic year ended with supporting BDS, but claimed they policies and practices to carry out the Jewish communities in Britain colleges and universities locked were “taken out of context.” The his career agenda of shutting down and the US. Members of the UK Notice of formation of limited liability down due to the coronavirus student government at the University campus advocacy for Palestinian Labour Party have also called for company(LLC) Name: GRUNTAL pandemic. The impact on BDS activ- of California at Irvine also repealed a ACQUISITION PARTNERS LLC. rights” by reopening a case at Rutgers possible sanctions. ities, especially Israeli Apartheid 2012 BDS resolution. This prompted University regarding an event that US Democrats, including Articles of Organization filed with the Week and Nakba Day, was signifi- Secretary of State of New York(SSNY) bitter complaints from the local created a hostile environment for senators normally favorable to cant — but incidents continued. on 04/10/2020. Office location: Kings Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) Jewish students. Israel, have denounced the idea, county. SSNY has been designated In an unusual case at George chapter. The student government The complaint alleges the while Democratic presidential as the agent of the LLC upon whom Washington University, an avowed at Santa Monica College passed a re-investigation creates a “chilling candidate Joe Biden warned against process against it may be served. SSNY BDS advocate, Ilana Feldman, was resolution expressing “solidarity” effect” and, further, that Marcus’ “annexation” stating that it would shall mail copy of process to: DANIIL appointed interim dean at the Elliott with Jewish students, but after debate, KARPOV 2329 East 70 Brooklyn, NY advocacy of the IHRA’s “distorted “choke off any hope of peace.” At School of International Affairs. declined to endorse the IHRA defini- definition [of antisemitism] can the same time, the Biden campaign 11234. Purpose: all lawful activity Feldman, a Middle East specialist, AJ; 5/1/8/15/22/29; 6/5 tion of antisemitism. encompass virtually all criticism released a statement aimed at the was a leading supporter of a BDS A number of SJP chapters of Israel, inviting the government Jewish community, touting his Notice of formation of limited initiative in the American Anthro- have also rebranded Israeli Apart- to unconstitutionally censor “solidarity with Israel, combating liability company(LLC) Name: THE pological Association. heid Week as Palestine Awareness advocacy for Palestinian freedom antisemitism, and fighting for MELANIN PROJECT LLC . Articles of Pro-Israel students and groups Week, while presenting the same and equality in violation of the First social justice pillars of his decades- Organization filed with the Secretary including anti-Israel and antisemitic content. Amendment.” long career in public service,” and of State of New York(SSNY) on immediately opposed Feldman’s Antisemitic social media postings 04/18/2014. Office location : Kings Several BDS support groups condemned “the BDS movement, appointment and called for her were also noted from various co-signed the complaint, including which singles out Israel — home county. SSNY has been designated removal, while the college’s J Street as the agent of the LLC upon whom SJP chapters, such as at Cornell the American-Arab Anti-Discrim- to millions of Jews — and too often process against it may be served. U chapter supported it. Some University, while the chapter at ination Committee, the Center veers into antisemitism, while SSNY shall mail copy of process to: commentators noted that calls for Occidental College complained for Constitutional Rights, and the letting Palestinians off the hook Stephanie Pierre 745 E 31st Street her removal mirrored those from bitterly regarding criticism of its Council on American-Islamic for their choices.” The statement Apt.5G Brooklyn, NY 11210. Purpose: BDS supporters regarding pro-Israel posts. Traditional antisemitism Relations (CAIR). enraged the BDS movement. all lawful activity advocates, and suggested she would was also well represented with the AJ; 5/1/8/15/22/29; 6/5 In other legal news, the far For the Trump administra- not be in a position to impose her vandalizing of the Ohio University left National Lawyers Guild (NLG) tion’s part, the State Department views on the faculty. Others claim this Notice of formation of limited Hillel House and a commons room settled a lawsuit with an Israeli organi- announced the appointment of David liability company(LLC) Name:E.R.A ignores the chilling effect on speech at Middlebury College. zation that had unsuccessfully sought Peyman as Assistant Special Envoy ETHNICITY REP APPARELS LLC. and behavior that her appointment Fallout continued at Tufts to place an ad in the NLG’s annual for Eurasian Affairs and Strategic Articles of organization filed with implied, as well as the potential University, where the local SJP dinner journal. The NLG had refused Projects in the Office of the Special the Secretary of State of New York on means at her disposal to discrimi- chapter was given a “Collaboration the ad on the basis of a resolution that Envoy to Monitor and Combat 01/02/2020. Office location: Kings nate against pro-Israel students. Award” by the Office of Campus Life county. SSNY has been designated prohibited it from doing business Antisemitism. Peyman’s responsibili- In a statement, however, the in April, only to be disavowed by with Israeli organizations. The NLG ties include “certain strategic projects, as the agent of the LLC upon whom university responded that it officially process against it may be served. SSNY higher levels of the administration. was then sued for discrimination including the global Boycott, Divest- opposed BDS and that Feldman shall mail copy of process to:LLC 555 The university’s president rejected under New York State’s human rights ment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign 49th St., Apt. 1R Brooklyn, NY 11220 would adhere to all existing policies. the award — and said it never should statutes. As part of the settlement, against Israel.” Purpose: all lawful activity It also added that Feldman would have happened. the NLG will display an ad from the Finally, in the cultural sphere, AJ; 5/8/15/22/29; 6/5/12 not be a candidate for the perma- A similar situation, where a Israeli organization on its website there has been backlash against nent position of dean. semi- or unaccountable academic indefinitely, and issue guidelines the Whitney Museum of Art for Notice of formation of limited liability entity endorsed BDS, occurred as company(LLC) Name: ISLAND regarding non-discrimination to all its capitulation to BDS-related BEAUTY MASSAGE & SPA LLC. the American Association of Univer- its chapters. demands. The institution is accused Notice of formation of limited liability sity Professors (AAUP) gave an Articles of Organization filed with the company(LLC) Name: DIFFERENT BDS continued to develop of orchestrating the resigna- award to Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) DEP MANAGEMENT, LLC .Articles in the political and international tion of a board member, Warren on 04/13/2020. Office location: Kings of organization filed with the Secre- of San Francisco State University spheres. Israeli plans to extend Kanders, the owner of a company county . SSNY has been designated tary of State of New York(SSNY) on (SFSU). Abdulhadi is best known sovereignty or “annex” parts of the that makes non-lethal equipment as the agent of the LLC upon whom 02/06/2017 Office location: Kings for saying that Zionists were not West Bank have raised the threat for law enforcement and security process against it may be served. SSNY county. SSNY has been designated welcome on the SFSU campus, and of government sanctions from forces including the US and Israeli shall mail copy of process to: Island as the agent of the LLC upon whom Beauty Massage & Spa LLC 942 Utica for feuding angrily with the univer- leaders of European states and militaries. A radical anti-capitalist process against it may be served. SSNY sity administration over her views. Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11203. Purpose: shall mail copy of process to: LLC c/o the European Union (EU). Josep group, Decolonize This Place, led The AAUP endorsed her, saying all lawful activity United States corporation agents,inc. Borrell, the High Representative by a Palestinian-American activist, AJ; 5/29; 6/5/12/19/26; 7/3 7014 13th Avenue suite 202 Brooklyn, that as “director of the Arab and of the Union for Foreign Affairs demanded the museum remove NY 11228. Purpose: all lawful activity Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas and Security Policy, stated that Kanders, a noted art collector and Notice of Formation of Limited AJ; 6/5/12/19/26; 7/3/10 Studies Program she brings together the EU would work to “discourage” philanthropist, from its board. Liability Company (LLC) Name: scholars, activists, academics, and 521 HENRY ST., LLC. Articles of Israeli annexation, while reports Kanders was forced to resign. Notice of formation of limited liability organizers to create justice-centered indicate Sweden, Belgium, Spain, This has now prompted a legal Organization filed with Secretary of company(LLC) Name: STEVANT State of New York (SSNY) on April knowledge, build broad-based coali- Ireland, and Luxembourg could effort to remove the museum’s MUSIC,LLC. Articles of organization tions, and advance the agenda for 27, 2020. Office Location: Kings filed with the secretary of state of New support sanctions against Israel. tax exempt status with the IRS. County. SSNY designated as agent York(SSNY) on 03/27/2020 . Office social change in Palestine, the United The threat of these unspecified Pro-BDS sources responded by of LLC upon whom process against it location: Richmond county. SSNY has States, and internationally. Her leader- sanctions comes in the context of attacking the lawsuit and alleging may be served. SSNY shall mail copy been designated as the agent of the ship transcends the division between longstanding EU and more recently “anti-Palestinian bias.” of process to: 175 Van Dyke Street, LLC upon whom process against it scholarship and activism that encum- UN efforts to blacklist companies Dr. Alex Joffe is an archae- Brooklyn, New York 11231. Purpose: may be served. SSNY shall mail copy bers traditional university life.” and individuals doing business ologist and historian specializing to engage in any and all business for of process to: STEVANT Music,LLC, which LLCs may be formed under the In another example of the BDS across the “Green Line.” in the Middle East and contem- 42 Gina court staten Island, NY 10314. movement claiming special rights, in New York LLC law. Purpose: all lawful activity Opposition to calls for EU porary international affairs. A AJ; 6/5/12/19/26; 7/3/10 AJ; 6/5/12/19/26; 7/3/10 this case by alleging government favor- sanctions on Israel (which must version of this article was origi- itism toward a “Zionist group,” the BDS be adopted unanimously) came nally published by SPME. A10 | FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2020 Tradition.

The second reverses the word existence, and the existence of the unanimous consent. Nevertheless, order of the blessing and reads it not universe, are the result of God’s love. does the EU really think it’s still in its The Blessing of Love as “who commanded us to bless His By blessing the people, the interest to pursue this vendetta? people with love,” but rather, “who Priests showed them what love of It’s been reported that the in love commanded us to bless His one’s fellow is. Here is Rambam’s EU Commission is considering people.” The blessing speaks of God’s definition of what it is to ‘love your proposals to include Israel in a deliberately, in obedience to the love, not that of the Priests. Because neighbour as yourself”: “One should series of funding and cooperation Divine will. It has nothing to do with JONATHAN SACKS God loves His people, He commands speak in praise of his neighbour, projects on education and science an emotion like love. Why does this the Priests to bless them. and be considerate of his money, with high academic and research LONDON command and no other require love? The first reading, grammati- even as he is considerate of his own significance. Third, why have human beings cally more plausible, is that it is the money, or desires to preserve his And there are signs that the bless the people at all? It is God Priests who must love. This is the own honour.” Blessing the people EU is hesitating over its punish- who blesses humanity and His I confess to a thrill every time I basis of the statement in the Zohar showed that you sought their good ment of Israel. Earlier this month, people Israel. He needs no human read these words: that “a Priest who does not love the – and seeking their good is what after the EU Foreign Affairs Council intermediary. Our passage says just Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This people, or a Priest who is not loved loving them means. discussed its response to Israel’s this: “Let them put My name on the is how you are to bless the Israel- by the people, may not bless.” We Thus the Kohanim set an sovereignty move, its High Repre- Israelites, and I will bless them.” ites. Say to them: can only bless what we love. Recall example to the people by this public sentative for Foreign Affairs, Josep The blessings come not from the “May the Lord bless you and how the blind and aged Isaac said display of love – or what we would Borrell, was cautious in his language. Priests but from God Himself. So protect you. to Esau, “Prepare me the tasty food call today “the common good.” They The issue, he said, was complex, why require the Priests to “put His May the Lord make His face that I love and bring it to me to eat, thus encouraged a society in which as were sanctions against Israel. name” on the people? shine on you and be gracious to you. so that I may give you my blessing each sought the welfare of all – and Although some member states In answer to the first,Sefer May the Lord turn His face before I die” (Gen. 27:4). Whether such a society is blessed, because wanted to consider how to prevent ha-Hinnuch says simply that the toward you and grant you peace.”’ it was the food that Isaac loved, or the bonds between its members are “annexation,” “that doesn’t mean what it represented about Esau’s strong, and because people put the we’ll do it tomorrow.” character – that he cared enough interests of the nation as a whole Moreover, asked whether Israel’s for his father to find him the food he before their own private advantage. proposed action was similar to Russia’s liked – Isaac needed the presence of Such a society is blessed by God, annexation of Crimea, he said there love to be able to make the blessing. whereas a selfish society is not, was a difference between annexing Why then does the blessing for and cannot, be blessed by God. No territory that belongs to a sovereign this mitzvah and no other specify selfish society has survived for long. state and that of the Palestinians. that it must be done with love? Hence our answers to the Quite so. And coming from an Because in every other case it is the questions: why the Kohanim? EU official, such a statement of the agent who performs the ma’aseh Because their ethic emphasised obvious is a significant step away mitzvah, the act that constitutes love – of neighbour and stranger from its customary knee-jerk legal the command. Uniquely in the case – and we need love before we can legerdemain. of the priestly blessings, the Priest bless. Love is mentioned in the It would hardly be surprising is merely a machshir mitzvah – blessing over the commandment, if the EU is now recalibrating just an enabler, not a doer. The doer is because love is how blessings enter where its interests lie. Support for God Himself: “Let them place My the world. And why have human the Palestinians in the Arab world name on the children of Israel and beings bestow the blessing, instead has collapsed; Saudi Arabia and I will bless them.” The Kohanim are of God doing so Himself? Because other Gulf states badly need Israel merely channels through which the Kohanim were to be role models and the United States to defeat Iran. Priests were the sacred group Let them put My name on the God’s blessings flow. of what it is for humans to care for The only support for the Pales- within the people. They ministered Israelites, and I will bless them. This means that they must be the welfare of others. I believe that tinian cause now comes from an in the House of God. They spent (Numbers 6:23-27) selfless while uttering the bless- Birkat Kohanim contains a vital alliance of Western liberals, Iran, their lives in Divine service. Their These are among the oldest ings. We let God into the world and message for us today: A society and other rogue states and tyran- life’s work was sacred. So was their continuously-used words of blessing ourselves to the degree that we whose members seek one another’s nies. Is that really an alliance of habitat. They were the guardians of ever. We recite them daily at the forget ourselves and focus on others. welfare is holy, and blessed. which the EU can be proud? holiness. They were therefore the beginning of the morning service. That is what love is. We see this in the Shabbat Shalom Taking punitive action against obvious choice for the sacred rite Some say them last thing at night. passage in which Jacob, having fallen Israel would also expose it to the of bringing down God’s blessings We use them to bless our children in love with Rachel, agrees to Laban’s wrath of US President Donald upon the people. Continued from Page A2 on Friday nights. They are often terms: seven years of work. We read: Trump. And all this against the Rabbi Aharon Walkin, in Second Thoughts used to bless the bride and groom “So Jacob served seven years to get background of the catastrophic the preface to his Matsa Aharon, at weddings. They are widely used Rachel, but they seemed like only a fundamentally evil and nationalism impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, offered a more prosaic explanation. by non-Jews also. Their simplicity, few days to him because of his love leads straight to fascism — that the which threatens to hammer the The Priests had no share in the land. their cumulative three-word, five- for her” (Gen. 29:20). The commen- independence of the European final nail in the coffin of European Their sole income was from the word, seven-word structure, their tators ask the obvious question: nation state had to be obliterated. economic health and may even mattenot kehunah, the gifts of the ascending movement from protec- precisely because he was so much in That’s another reason why accelerate the disintegration of the Priests, that was their due from the tion to grace to peace, all make them love, the seven years should have felt the EU is so hostile towards Israel, EU altogether. people as a whole. It followed that a miniature gem of prayer whose like a century. The answer is equally the paradigm nation state that has If Israel with its stellar scientific they had an interest in the people radiance has not diminished in the obvious: he was thinking of her, such a strong cultural and national record were to come up with either prospering, because then they, too, more than three thousand years not him. There was nothing selfish identity — and, worse still for an a vaccine or an effective antidote to would prosper. They would bless since their formulation. in his love. He was focused on her EU that has a neuralgic aversion to the coronavirus, would the EU really the people with a full heart, seeking In previous years I have written presence, not his impatient desire. military action, whose people are want to jeopardize its own ability to their good, because they would about the meaning of the bless- There is, though, perhaps an prepared to fight and die to defend benefit from this? benefit thereby. ings. This time I ask three different alternative explanation for all these their nation. At the moment, though, the Rabbi Avraham Gafni offered a questions: First, why Priests? Why things. As I explained in Covenant This is precisely why the widespread fury over the proposed third explanation. We read that on not Prophets, Kings, Sages or saints? and Conversation Acharei Mot – former communist states, which extension of Israeli sovereignty the consecration of the Tabernacle, Second, why the unique form Kedoshim, the ethic of character. are so anxious to retain their newly constitutes merely shadow-boxing. “Aaron lifted his hands toward the of the birkat ha-mitzvah, the The key text of the holiness won independence and freedoms, No one even knows the precise people and blessed them” (Lev. blessing made by the Priests over ethic is Leviticus 19: “Be holy for identify so strongly with Israel and details of the territories involved 9:22). Rashi says that the blessing the commandment to bless the I, the Lord your God, am holy.” feel such an affinity for it. because it seems these have not yet he gave the people on that occasion people? The blessing is, “who has It is this chapter that teaches the Some other countries which achieved final agreement. was indeed the priestly blessing as sanctified us with the sanctity of two great commands of interper- similarly have been experiencing a If and when this does eventu- specified in our parsha. However, Aaron and commanded us to bless sonal love, of the neighbour and resurgence of national spirit share ally turn into a concrete proposal, Ramban suggests that perhaps His people with love.” No other the stranger. The ethic of holiness, this affinity. the European Union and the United Aaron’s blessing was spontaneous, blessing over a command specifies taught by the Priests, is the ethic Last February, six European Kingdom will finally have to decide and because he showed such that it be done with love. of love. This surely is the basis member states, including Italy, how to react. And at that point, we generosity of spirit, he was given by There is an argument in the of Hillel’s statement, “Be like the Hungary, Austria, and the Czech will discover whether or not the God the reward that it would be his Talmud as to whether commands disciples of Aaron, loving peace, Republic, successfully thwarted the unthinkable has actually happened descendants who would bless Israel must be performed with the proper pursuing peace, loving people and EU’s proposed condemnation of and the world really has changed. in future. intent, kavannah, or whether the bringing them close to Torah.” the Trump “peace plan.” EU foreign- Melanie Phillips, a British What then about the reference deed itself is enough. But intent is That ethic belongs to the policy declarations must have the journalist, broadcaster, and in the blessing to love? There are different from motive. Intent merely specific vision of the Priest, set out agreement of all 27 member states. author, writes a weekly column two different interpretations: that means that I am performing the in Genesis 1, which sees the world Some of the hostile measures for JNS. Her work can be found at the reference is to the Priests, or command because it is a command. as God’s work and the human being considered over “annexa- www.melaniephillips.com. that the reference is to God. I am acting consciously, knowingly, person as God’s image. Our very tion,” however, do not require www.algemeiner.com | FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2020 A11 Social.

record-breaking 13 Emmy Awards in a single year. His many other credits include “Anne Frank: The Whole Story” for ABC, which he received an Emmy nomina- tion for. “Bibi” will be the first TV series about the life of Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, who has been Jeremy Piven participating in a Zoom call with other comics organized by Creative Community for Peace. Photo: Screenshot. in office since 2009. The show is being produced by the Tel Aviv- based TV production company Abot Hameiri, most popularly known for producing the Israeli series Jeremy Piven on Performing “Shtisel.” It will be based on Israeli journalist Ben Caspit’s best-selling biography The Netanyahu Years. Stand-Up Comedy in Israel: “Benjamin Netanyahu is one of the most complex figures in modern history,” said Ellis. “His ‘It Was the Best Set I Ever Had’ is a life lived on a Shakespearean scale. Ben Caspit’s

BY SHIRYN GHERMEZIAN they [the audience].” He added, “I think because they are so incredibly Jewish American comic and actor Jeremy Piven present, and they’re dealing with danger on another performed his best stand-up act ever when he was in level, as an audience I’ve never seen an audience that Israel last year, he said on Wednesday. was more present than that.” The “Entourage” star participated in a panel of Piven — who currently does over 200 stand-up comedians who discussed their past trips to the Jewish shows a year — also cited Jewish-American comedian state and the comedy industry in a Zoom call and and actor Elan Gold as a mentor. Piven additionally elaborated on his bar mitzvah Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands Facebook Live event organized by the non-profit group next to his wife Sara as he waves to supporters fol- Creative Community for Peace. at the age of 13, which he said took place in a church. lowing the announcement of exit polls in Israel’s Piven traveled to Israel for the first time in 2016 on He explained that he was comfortable being on stage election at his Likud party headquarters in Tel Aviv, a trip sponsored by the Omri Casspi Foundation. He was during his Torah reading, but that his Hebrew was Israel, March 3, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen. part of a delegation of NBA players and celebrities and “viciously mediocre.” during the trip he had his “second bar mitzvah” celebra- Regarding his “second bar mitzvah” in Jerusalem in insightful reporting demonstrates how private life tion in Jerusalem. 2016, he said it “was the greatest time of my life.” always shapes public affairs, and there’s no shortage of He went back to Israel in 2019 and performed as He added, “it was incredible to also share this conflict — or opinions — when it comes to Benjamin a stand-up comic. He said on Wednesday about the experience to all these pro athletes that had never been Netanyahu. I’m thrilled and honored to be working experience, “It was the best set I ever. I’m not just saying to a bar mitzvah. They were using the yarmulkes as with Guy and the entire Abot Hameiri team to bring that. I don’t know what it was…for some reason it kind frisbees, no one knew what to do with them.” this story to life.” of felt really incredible, and I had a great time and so did Abot Hameiri stated that “Bibi” would be “an epic political story with a very big philosophical and psychological undertone,” adding, “At the same time, it will be a scandalous family melodrama that explores how the personal can become political, and vice versa.” Guy Hameiri, co-founder of Abot Hameiri, said, First TV Series About Benjamin “the series is the biggest IP we can deliver out of Israel today to the world, and with Kirk’s esteemed Netanyahu, ‘Bibi,’ to Be Penned catalogue of work, particularly in exploring the lives of high-profile figures, it makes him a perfect addition to this series looking at one of the most influential by Emmy-Winning Writer figures in modern geo-politics.”

BY SHIRYN GHERMEZIAN new TV series “Bibi,” based on the political and personal life of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Two-time Emmy Award-winning screenwriter Kirk Ellis, also a Writers Guild Award and Humanitas Ellis has been signed by the global production and distri- Prize winner, is best known for adapting for HBO David bution company Fremantle to write the screenplay for the McCullough’s biography John Adams, which won a www.algemeiner.com Attention Not-For-Profit Organizations

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