OBITUARIES NEWS ISRAEL AT 65 Lautenberg, 89 UMD president in Israel Celebrating our homeland Page 33 Page 5 Page B1

June 6, 2013 Vol. 49, No. 23 | Candlelighting 8:14 | Havdalah 9:20 | Sivan 28, 5773 | washingtonjewishweek.com $1.00 Dollars Germany OKs for peace funding jump by Suzanne Pollak for survivors Staff Writer by David Holzel ecretary of State John Kerry’s recent an - Senior Writer Snouncement of a major effort to pump $4 billion into the Palestinian economy as a he announcement last week that Ger - way to sweeten their desire to enter into Tmany had agreed to an unprecedented peace talks with Israel is being met with additional $1 billion in funding over four some hope but much skepticism. years for Holocaust survivors le Jewish So - “We always want to see efforts to help the cial Service Agency, which provides services Palestinians become economically devel - to elderly survivors, seeking more answers. oped,” said Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.). “is is an overall number meant to help survivors all over the world,” said Lori He believes a lot of the unrest in the West Ulanow, JSSA’s development director. “While Bank as well as in other Arab countries can it seems like a large number, we don’t know be attributed to a poor economy, lack of jobs how they’re going to divide it up.” and political repression. ere are some 500,000 survivors world - “Hopefully this will help,” he said. How - wide, 120,000 of whom live in the United ever, he added, “We can always hope. I’m States. About 200 survivors live in the not going to hold my breath, but we can al - Washington area. ways hope.” e agreement, reached aer 5 ½ hours of David Makovsky, Ziegler Distinguished negotiations in Israel between Germany and Fellow and director of the Washington In - the Claims Conference, the body that distrib - stitutes Project on the Middle East Peace utes German reparations payments, is aimed Process, said Kerry’s economic plan to Secretary of State John Kerry speaks to the AJC’s annual Global Forum on Monday. Photo by Ronald Sachs at increasing the number of hours of home bring business and therefore jobs into the care that infirm survivors receive and ex - West Bank was merely an effort from panding the number of elderly who qualify which to launch negotiations. “That is his AJC’s imperative to connect for survivor benefits. main goal now.” by Eric Hal Schwartz and professional connections to Israel and the Germany pledged some $800 million in Kerry’s “main focus is to try to see if he Staff Writer Jewish community, his many trips to the new funding for home care from 2014 to can find enough of a common basis be - country, his own brother’s conversion and his 2017. is is in addition to $182 million for tween the Palestinians and the Israelis” to peaking to a packed room at the AJC’s favorite moments flying an Israeli jet. 2014 that already has been committed. start talking about the issues, Makovsky (American Jewish Committee) annual Using these stories to segue into a reaffir - In 2015, the amount will rise by 45 percent, said, explaining that Kerry understands that S Global Forum, Secretary of State John Kerry mation of his and President Obama’s com - to approximately $266 million, and then to high youth unemployment among Pales - spoke forcefully on the urgent need to find mitment to the security of Israel and its $273 million in 2016 and $280 million in tinians feeds into a belief that they will a way to end the conflict between Israelis future, he made the point that the best secu - 2017. Because the sums are set in euros, the never have their own state. and Arabs. rity for Israel would come when there was actual amounts may change depending on While many people look at the Obama “We can’t let the disappointments of the peace with its Arab neighbors. currency fluctuations. administration’s attempts to renew peace past hold the future prisoner. We can’t let the talks as a “last gasp effort,” this really is absence of peace become a self-fulfilling See AJC page 15 See JUMP page 16 more “of a homework phase to see if that prophesy. e absence of peace is perpetual common basis exists” to start talks, conflict,” he said on Monday. Makovsky said. In his first address to the American Jewish community since taking office in February, See PEACE page 14 Kerry chose to share stories of his personal news

fits to include sur - JUMP vivors who lived in so- from page 1 called open ghettos. Until now, only those e $84 million increase in funding be - who were interned in tween 2014 and 2015 will represent the largest closed-off ghettos year-over-year increase since the program were eligible for pen - began with 30 million euros (approximately sions. Beginning on $36.6 million) in 2004, though a bigger per - Jan. 1, 2014, pensions centage increase took place in 2010, when will be available also to funding doubled from 55 million euros ($68 those forced to live in million) to 110 million euros ($136 million). any of 300 specific “is came at a time of real budget austerity open ghettos, such as in Germany,” said Stuart Eizenstat, the lead those in Czernowitz, negotiator for the Claims Conference. “Not Romania, where Jews only did they not cut [their support], but they lived under curfew, added to it.” lost their jobs and Eizenstat, speaking by phone from Prague, were subject to perse - said this first-ever negotiations round in Israel cution. helped give the Claims Conference a home e agreement on court advantage. Before sitting down to busi - open ghettos will ness, the hosts took their guests to visit sur - allow 3,000 additional vivors and home-care workers in the city of people to receive B’nei Brak and Jerusalem. A tour of the Yad monthly pensions, Vashem Holocaust memorial with a German- Eizenstat said. “We speaking guide followed. “It lasted for 2 1/2 keep adding categories hours,” he said. of people.” Home court advantage: German finance ministry officials Kurt Bley and Werner Gatzer lay a wreath at Yad Vashem en the two sides sat down in a Yad In addition, the before beginning negotiations over survivor benefits. Vashem classroom to negotiate. Germans agreed to Photo by Sasson Tiram “With this kind of emotional backdrop raise the income eligi - e promise of increased German repara - man parliament, he said. they’d have to do something extraordinary. bility for pensions from $16,000 to $25,000, tions funding comes as local Jewish agencies e announcement of new funding And they did,” Eizenstat said. further increasing the number of eligible that use the funds to provide survivor services comes amid controversy for the Claims e Germans also agreed to expand bene - Jews, he said. are struggling with growing budget deficits. Conference over revelations related to bun - One reason is that survivors are reaching an gled investigations in 2001 that failed to de - age when they need critical and more expen - tect a broad fraud at the Holocaust sive support than in the past. restitution organization. And the expansion of who is eligible for A document obtained by JTA showed that benefits has increased the number of people top Claims Conference officials were involved that agencies like JSSA serve. in the botched probes, including then-exec - “What we get from the Claims Conference utive vice president Gideon Taylor and board is not enough to handle the sickest of the sick, chairman Julius Berman, who in 2001 served the neediest of the needy,” Ulanow said. “is as outside counsel to the Claims Conference. is not going to be the full and complete an - Claims Conference employee Semen swer to the problem.” Domnitser, a director of two restitution funds Eizenstat said the new agreement aims to who was at the center of the 2001 inquiries, ease the budget woes of service providers. was found guilty last month in federal court “e principal problem is home care,” he said. of masterminding the scheme, which ran up Funds from the agreement will be used to in - more than $57 million in fraudulent claims crease the number of hours a week home-care from 1993 until 2009. e cost of the fraud workers can spend with survivors to distrib - was borne entirely by Germany. ute medications and take them to medical ap - Eizenstat declined to speak about the con - pointments and social activities. troversy. Despite austerity in Germany, the repara - JTA contributed to this article. tions enjoy “wall-to-wall support” in the Ger - [email protected]

Jewish community can be achieved. AJC “ere was a lot of serious talk but most of from previous page the speakers were pretty inspirational,” Jason for Israel in Latin American countries, build - said. ing more support for Israel in a region that Kerry also concluded on a hopeful tone, does not necessarily do so now. urging the gathered group to commit to the For a majority of the hundreds of people at - best possible future. tending the conference, what they learned “at’s what lies in front of us, and I hope and can take away from the conference is that together we will seize this moment and make with enough hard work, the larger goals of the the most of it,” he said.

16 June 6, 2013 | Washington Jewish Week EDITORIAL Frank Lautenberg ast week, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) Lwas honored by Hillel at its annual dinner in New York City. He was cited for a lifetime WJW Group, LLC of work on behalf of the Jewish people, both An independent newspaper founded in 1965, inside the Senate and in the broader commu - successor to the National Jewish Ledger (1930-1965) nity. e five-term senator was too ill to at - Publisher & tend the celebration, so his wife, Bonnie, Chief Operating Officer accepted the tribute on his behalf. e Craig Burke staunchly liberal Lautenberg died Monday at Executive Editor age 89, ending a life and career that was wor - Phil Jacobs thy of all of the accolades. — EDITORIAL — Before he was elected to the Senate in 1982, Lautenberg had a long history of service to Managing Editor the Jewish community. For example, he Meredith Jacobs served on the President’s Commission on the Holocaust, and he was national campaign Senior Writer David Holzel chair for the United Jewish Appeal (now the Jewish Federations of North America). With Copy Chief the wealth he developed from running Auto - Aaron Leibel matic Data Processing, a payroll services Staff Writers company, he gave a lot to charity, including Emily Minton the establishment of the Lautenberg Center Suzanne Pollak for General and Tumor Immunology at the The search for truth in the Eric Hal Schwartz Hebrew University of Jerusalem. — BUSINESS — But Frank Lautenberg is best known for his work in the Senate — particularly the Argentina-Iran commission Chief Financial Officer Lautenberg Amendment — and rightly so. David Morgan Passed in 1989, the Lautenberg Amendment n May 29, Argentine special prosecu - pressed “shock and astonishment.” Much of Office Manager facilitated the emigration of Soviet Jews to Otor Alberto Nisman accused Iran of Argentina’s organized Jewish community, Joan Romano the United States by relaxing this country’s infiltrating South America and setting up the largest in South America, also con - stringent standards for refugee status, and sleeper cells, similar to the one that car - demned the plan. But American reaction Marketing Director granting immigrant status to those who Elana Stein ried out the deadly attack on the AMIA was more low key. “We are skeptical that … could show religious persecution in their na - Jewish center in Buenos Aires in 1994. a just solution can be found in the arrange - Custom Media Director tive lands. e amendment allowed hun - Iran’s foreign ministry rejected Nisman’s ment announced,” State Department Jeni Mann dreds of thousands of Jews from the accusation with the dismissive statement spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. — ADVERTISING — dissolving Soviet Union into the United that “due to the prosecutor’s background Washington’s passive wait-and-see atti - States and provided refuge and the possibil - and Zionist character, we won’t consider tude is a mistake. Instead, Washington Advertising Sales Manager ity of a new home to other religious minori - his statements important.” should expose the Iranian-Argentinian Gail Ruppe ties fleeing Iran, Burma and Vietnam. At the And so it goes in the cat-and-mouse “Truth Commission” sham for what it is Hillel tribute dinner last week, Bonnie Laut - Senior Account Executive game that began 19 years ago, with the loss — a planned vehicle for the Iranians to ob - Michele Mizrahi enberg called that legislation her husband’s of 85 lives in Buenos Aires. Argentina’s in - fuscate the truth. This week, a handful of proudest achievement. vestigation of the bombing was pretty slow members of Congress, led by Democrat Account Executives Lautenberg championed many causes and to get moving, but in 2006, Nisman ac - Grace Meng of New York and Republican Mary Ramsdale was responsible for much legislation that has Stacie Shapero cused Hezbollah of carrying out the at - Trey Radel of Florida, sent a letter to Sec - Eric Stearns made life in this country healthier and safer. tack, with financing and strategic support retary of State John Kerry, urging the sec - He worked to ban smoking on air flights and from Iran. retary to oppose the commission and for — CREATIVE — in buildings with federally funded children’s Interpol has arrest warrants for eight the U.S. to “take action against Argentina programs. He was instrumental in raising the Production Manager senior Iranian officials accused of master - should it proceed with the commission.” drinking age to 21. And he wrote the law bar - Lauren Yoffe minding the AMIA bombing. Argentina While we leave it to the administration ring people convicted of domestic violence repeatedly called on the United Nations to to determine the most effective approach Designers from owning guns. pressure Iran to hand over the officials — to the effort, we agree with Reps. Meng Jenna Fanning ose are just a few of the highlights of Andrea Roth including two who are candidates in Iran’s and Radel, and their colleagues, that some Lautenberg’s impressive career, and they il - lustrate just who Frank Lautenberg was. In June 14 presidential election. But Iran has opposition and proposed course of action February, Mr. Lautenberg announced that he refused to cooperate. And Argentina has need to be articulated by Washington. It is would not run for a sixth term. While he le further frustrated its own special prosecu - long past time for the facts of the 19-year Main Office: 301-230-2222 tor’s efforts by agreeing to work with Iran old AMIA bombing case to be established, 11900 Parklawn Drive • Suite 300, Rockville, MD 20852 his current term incomplete, he accom - Fax: (Edit.) 301-881-6362/(Adv.) 301-881-1994 plished a record of service to the United to establish a “Truth Commission,” and the perpetrators punished. Classified: 301-230-0472 through which Iran and Argentina would As for the sleeper cells serving Hezbol - 11900 Parklawn Drive • Suite 300, Rockville, MD 20852 States and to the Jewish community that is Circulation: 301-230-2222 ext. 222 worthy of great praise. jointly investigate the AMIA attack. lah and Iran, the U.S. and its friends in 11900 Parklawn Drive • Suite 300, Rockville, MD 20852 To advertise in Washington Jewish Week May the memory of Frank Lautenberg be When the so-called “Truth Commission” Latin America need to be wide awake to call us at 301-230-1211 for a blessing. was announced earlier this year, Israel ex - the threat.

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