Trump’s plan • Operation Embrace • Arboreal delights The Jerusalem R RFEBRUARY 10, 2020 eporCOVERING ISRAEL, THE MIDDLE EAST & THE JEWISHt WORLD Portrait of a sculptor Varda Yoran’s storied journey took her from China to the US via Israel 7415 המחיר בישראל: ₪21.00 באילת: ₪17.90 NY & North NJ $4.00 Elsewhere in US $5.50 New from Gefen The Longer, Shorter Path • By Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon [A] must-read for anyone “interested in understanding Israel, Zionism, and the security establishment. —Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Amos Yadlin, Executive Director, Institute for National Security Studies, Tel Aviv University Navigates the paradox of Israel’s strategic predicament with the Palestinians by offering a practical approach that will preserve both Israel’s Jewish and democratic character and the faint but flickering hope for an eventual peace. —Robert Satloff, Executive Director, “ Washington Institute for Near East Policy HC | 536pp | 9789657023006 | $29.95 | 128 NIS Look for us on | Available at Amazon, Steimatzky, Pomeranz, selected bookstores, and Gefen Books NJ ([email protected]). The Jerusalem VIEWPOINTS 6 Planning for a (much) more crowded Israel R by Ben Dansker Report 7 The Wagner Syndrome by Jane Biran 25 All roads lead to Jerusalem by Shoshana Tita 37 Uniqueness and unity in Israel by Ynon Reiner ISRAEL COURTESY VARDA YORAN VARDA COURTESY 16 Leaps of faith by Amotz Asa-El 20 The Jewish journey to Hebron by Bradley Martin 26 Coming alive at the Dead Sea by Robert Hersowitz 28 On the trail by Wendy Blumfield 32 Hydroponic gardening in Baka and beyond by Judith Sudilovsky 8 Portrait of a sculptor Varda Yoran’s storied journey led her from China to the US via Israel SECURITY by Steve Linde 18 The Mahdi Doctrine Soleimani and the rising prince of Persia by Brian Schrauger MARKETPLACE 30 Vayyar sees through walls by Shlomo Maital JEWISH WORLD 24 Yocheved Sidof, founder of Lamplighters JONATHAN ERNST / REUTERS / ERNST JONATHAN Yeshivah in Brooklyn by Joseph Scutts 34 Gabriel Isaac, Gandhi’s forgotten lieutenant by Shimon Lev COMMENTARY 38 The Palestinian Authority donor machine by David Bedein 14 Peace in our time? HISTORY Trump’s Deal of the Century is presented to Netanyahu and Gantz 40 How it really was! Singing the songs of by Mark Weiss European Jewish life by Avraham Avi-hai BOOKS 42 On the variety of genius: A conversation with COURTESY Norman Lebrecht by Inna Rogatchi 44 Arboreal delights: The Highgate Haggadah for Tu Bishvat by Mordechai Beck PEOPLE AND THE BOOK 46 Tu Bishvat: The Jewish people’s new year of the trees by David Geffen DEPARTMENTS 2 Letter from the Editor 22 Operation Embrace: NGOs help Israelis living near Gaza 3 Opening Shot by Linda Gradstein 4 Crossword 5 14 Days Cover photo of Varda Yoran by Ana De Orbegoso 48 On the Front Lines FEBRUARY 10, 2020 SHVAT 15, 5780 VOLUME XXXI NO. 4 Published By: THE JERUSALEM REPORT ISGAP PUBLICATIONS LTD. 2008 FROM THE EDITOR P.O. Box 1805, Jerusalem 91017 Tel. (972-2) 531-5660 Sharansky on antisemitism Editorial: [email protected] Subscriptions: [email protected] RISING ANTISEMITISM should not be Website: www.jpost.com/Jerusalem-Report seen as a primarily Jewish problem but one that needs to be tackled by every country ex- EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Steve Linde periencing it, according to former Soviet dis- SENIOR EDITORS: Amotz Asa-El (News), Eric Mandel (Security), Linda Gradstein (Features), sident and Jewish Agency chairman Natan Shlomo Maital (Economics), Sharansky. Mordechai Beck (Arts), Ralph Amelan (Books) “Of course, Jews – as the target of this most SENIOR CORRESPONDENTS: Judith Sudilovsky, ancient hatred – had to develop ways to protect Patricia Golan themselves,” Sharansky told me while sipping CORRESPONDENTS: Bangkok: Tibor Krausz cider at a Jerusalem café. “The establishment New York: Mark Banschick Paris: Bernard Edinger of the State of Israel turned tables on the situa- Natan Sharansky Monte Jacobson Julie Masis London: Moscow: tion, when Jews finally reclaimed an opportu- CONTRIBUTORS: Mark Weiss, Robert Horenstein, Greer Fay Cashman, Benita Levin, nity to shape own future.” cartoon that pictures Ariel Sharon eating Arab Avraham Avi-hai, Amiel Ungar, Neville Teller, Sharansky warned that an antisemitic sit- children with their blood all over his face – or Shula Kopf, Paul Alster, David Geffen, uation can quickly deteriorate out of control, the moment you apply to Israel the standards Robert Hersowitz, Françoise Ouzan especially in Europe. “Whenever I go to a Ho- that don’t apply to anybody else – like when locaust museum, I always see how rich Jewish Israel is denounced for violating human rights COPY EDITOR: Avraham Gold life was a natural integral part of Europe in the more than all the world dictators together – GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Daniela Michal Gleiser 1930s, whether it be France, Belgium, Italy, then it’s antisemitism.” EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Frieda Jacobowitz Poland or Ukraine. But the ease with which As a result of his 3D Test, Sharansky said, ILLUSTRATOR: Pepe Fainberg these communities were destroyed and killed there is now an international definition of an- CEO JERUSALEM POST GROUP: shows how thin the layer of culture and hu- tisemitism that includes the principle that some Inbar Ashkenazi manity is in liberal Europe.” forms of criticism of Israel are clearly antise- ADVERTISING After the Holocaust, he said, antisemitism mitic. “Today the core element of the self-iden- COMMERCIAL MANAGER: Yehuda Weiss morphed from targeting Jews to targeting Israel. tity of every Jew is the connection to Israel. Tel. (972-3) 761-9000, (972-50) 554-3779 Email: [email protected] “In the days of the Soviet Union, it was clear Therefore antisemites attack Israel,” he said. 15 He’achim Mi’slavita, Tel Aviv 67010 that every time you attack Jews, you are at- “Comparing Israel to Auschwitz or apartheid Fax (972-3) 561-0777 tacking Israel, and when you attack Israel, you is antisemitic.” North America are attacking Jews. The official cartoons about Sharansky, who now chairs the Institute for 86-90 188th Street, Jamaica, NY 11423-1110 Israel looked like classic caricatures of Jews the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy from Nazi propaganda.” (ISGAP), recommended that there should be SUBSCRIPTION SALES a global alliance against antisemitism similar North America: 1-800-827-1119 After he made aliyah, he said, “I found out 1-888-576- 7881 (8 a.m. – 4 p.m. EST) that demonization, delegitimization and dou- to the Soviet Jewry struggle that preceded the Israel: *2423 ble standards towards Israel exist also in the collapse of communism. UK: 0-8000-283-945 (4 p.m. – 10 p.m.) West. Yet here any attempts to compare crit- “The true fight against antisemitism requires Australia: 61-2-9371-7549 Elsewhere: +972-3-761-9059 icism towards Israel with antisemitism were the unity of Left and Right, religious and secu- energetically denied and discarded both by lar, just as it was in the global fight in support CUSTOMER SERVICE politicians and public figures, who claimed: of Soviet Jews. And here we should have zero North America: 1-800-448-9291 Israel: *2421 or 1-800-574574 ‘You cannot limit our right to criticize Israeli tolerance for those who claim they love Jews Elsewhere: +972-3-7619056 politics by calling us antisemites.’” and yet demonize Israel or claim they love Is- All correspondence outside the U.S. should be sent In order to define a clear line between criti- rael and yet demonize Jews.” to The Jerusalem Report, P.O. Box 57598, Tel Aviv 61575 Israel. cism of Israel and the new antisemitism, Sha- Sharansky’s approach to antisemitism is a ransky said, “I proposed 20 years ago my 3D result of his lifelong dedication to promoting Printing:: Hadfus Hehadash Ltd., Israel Test of Antisemitism – demonization, delegiti- human rights, equality and freedom. In recog- mization and double standards.” nition of his commitment to political freedom The Jerusalem Report (USPS # 006-871) publishes 24 issues Explaining the criteria of the test, he said, and his service to the Jewish people and the a year for $109 per annum by The Jerusalem Report publications Ltd, P.O. Box 1805, Jerusalem, Israel and distributed in the USA “You may disagree with Israel as much as you State of Israel, he will be presented with the by The Jerusalem Post (U.S) Inc, 86-90 188th Street, Jamaica, NY wish, but the moment you deny Israel’s right to prestigious Genesis Prize at a ceremony in Je- 11423-1110. Periodical postage paid at Jamaica, NY and at additional exist, the moment you connect its leaders with rusalem on June 18, 2020. mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to The Jerusalem Post, 86-90 188th Street, Jamaica, NY 11423-1110. the most awful antisemitic libels – like in the Steve Linde © 2014 The Jerusalem Report Publications Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction, distribution, replication, translation, storage on a database, or transmission in whole or in part of this publication Send letters by email to: [email protected] Please include your full postal address. The editor reserves without written permission is prohibited the right to edit letters as appropriate. Priority will be given to brief letters that relate to articles in the magazine. 2 THE JERUSALEM REPORT FEBRUARY 10, 2020 Opening shot LENINGRAD MEMORIAL Russian President Vladimir Putin on January 23 dedicates a monument in Jerusalem’s Sacher Park in memory of the estimated one million people who died – including Putin’s baby brother – in the nearly 900-day Nazi siege of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) during World War II MARC ISRAEL SELLEM Crossword #3 Title: January birthday boy by Yakir Feldman Across 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1.