Governor Andrew Cuomo delivers daily briefing on the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic.
By TJV Editor
Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, Delaware Governor John Carney, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo and Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker today announced a joint multi-state agreement to develop a regional supply chain for personal protective equipment, other medical equipment and testing, NY.gov announced.
While the states will continue to partner with the federal government during this global and national public health crisis, they will also work together to identify the entire region’s needs for these products, aggregate demand among the states, reduce costs and stabilize the supply chain. The states will also coordinate policies regarding the inventory of PPE each state’s health care infrastructure should have to be prepared for a possible second wave of COVID-19. The states will also coordinate policies on what supplies local governments should have on hand for their First Responders, and if any requirements regarding PPE for the non-for-profit and private sector are needed.
The states will then seek to identify suppliers within the country, region or state who can scale to meet the demand of the entire region over the next three months. The goal of this approach is to decrease the potential for disruptions in the supply chain for PPE and medical equipment, including sanitizer and ventilators, and testing, and promote regional economic development.
In addition, the states are discussing how to collectively explore emerging technologies on an ongoing basis to take advantage of the potential associated with alternative methods of production for existing products and innovation that would lead to more effective and/or less expensive alternatives. For example, 3D Printers may represent an attractive alternative to manufacturing certain personal protective equipment and medical products.
“The COVID-19 pandemic created a mad scramble for medical equipment across the entire nation – there was competition among states, private entities and the federal government and we were driving up the prices of these critical resources,” Governor Cuomo said. “As a state and as a nation we can’t go through that again. We’re going to form a regional state purchasing consortium with our seven northeast partner states to increase our market power when we’re buying supplies and help us actually get the equipment at a better price. I want to thank our neighboring states for their ongoing support, generosity and regional coordination on these important efforts.”
Governor Murphy said, “Our states should never be in a position where we are actively competing against each other for life-saving resources. By working together across the region, we can obtain critical supplies as we begin the process to restart our economies, while also saving money for our taxpayers. This concept is at the heart of the regional approach we’ve established.”
Governor Lamont said, “With global supply chains continuing to experience a major disruption due to the pandemic, combining the efforts of our states into a regional purchasing initiative will help our states obtain needed PPE and other medical equipment without competing against each other. I’ve long been advocating for the federal government to get involved because pitting all 50 states against each other to compete for these supplies has never made any sense. Partnering with our neighbors helps make our purchasing power stronger and more dependable.”
A notice of closure is posted at The Great Frame Up in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan. The Paycheck Protection terms are still not clear according to many nation’s small businesses. (Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
By: Jared Evan
Small business that received loans from the second round of the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program still don’t know how much they may have to repay after the government missed a deadline to give specific guidance, Crain’s reported.
Reuters reported: In principle, the forgiveness terms are straightforward: borrowers must spend 75% of the loan on payroll costs, such as salaries, tips, leave, severance pay and health insurance, within the first two months. The remaining 25% can be spent on other running costs, such as rent and utilities. Money spent on non-qualifying expenses must be repaid at an annual rate of 1% within two years.
There still are issues that need to be clarified. Crain’s reported that companies and lenders say they need more guidance on how to calculate the amount that is eligible for forgiveness and what documentation is required to support the claims.
Reuters pointed out calculating partial forgiveness sums for borrowers who have not met the 75% threshold, tends to be an area of confusion.
As a result, some business owners are holding onto the loans and may even return them, according to interviews with small business groups, lenders and borrowers.
The Paycheck Protection Program was designed as a lifeline for small firms, many of which were shuttered due to stay-at-home orders, have no revenue coming in and may be forced to close for good.
The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the economy shrank at an annual rate of nearly 5% in the first quarter, with consumer spending dropping 7.6%; the virus began spreading in the U.S. midway through the quarter, according to AP.
Reuters reported on an example: Josh Mason, founder of Maryland catering company Vittles Catering, said his bank only gave him instructions on how to maximize his eligibility for forgiveness on April 24, two days after he received the funds. Those instructions warned clients that the forgiveness process was “not yet clear.”
“I have read all the guidelines, but I wouldn’t be able to say exactly how much will be forgiven and not forgiven. I think that ambiguity is going to create a little bit of a mess when all of this comes to a close,” said Mason.
The U.S. Small Business Administration was supposed to clarify by April 26 how loans it approved as part of the Trump administration’s multitrillion-dollar coronavirus stimulus package can be spent and still qualify to become grants.
The SBA said late Wednesday it had approved more than 960,000 loans totaling nearly $90 billion in this round of funding. Banks have thousands more loans to submit, and many owners are still applying for the relief, AP reported.
One of the colleges in which subpar online classes were offered was at NY's Touro College. Photo Credit: ThoughtCo
By: Rusty Brooks
Angry college students and parents are demanding their money back for “subpar” online learning, at the same time universities are pushing for more signups as the fall semester might be cancelled as well, the NY Post reported.
AP Reported: Grainger Rickenbaker, a freshman who filed a class-action lawsuit against Drexel University in Philadelphia, said the online classes he is been taking are poor substitutes for classroom learning. There’s little interaction with students or professors, he said, and some classes are being taught almost entirely through recorded videos, with no live lecture or discussion.
“You just feel a little bit diminished,” said Rickenbaker, 21, of Charleston, South Carolina. “It’s just not the same experience I would be getting if I was at the campus.”
Class-action lawsuits demanding tuition refunds have been filed against at least 26 colleges, targeting prestigious private universities, including Brown, Columbia and Cornell, along with big public schools, including Michigan State, Purdue and the University of Colorado, Boulder, A.P reported.
Meanwhile, The N.Y Post reported: “The online learning options being offered to NYU students are subpar in practically every aspect, from the lack of facilities, materials, and access to faculty. Students have been deprived of the opportunity for collaborative learning and in-person dialogue, feedback, and critique,” the federal class action suit filed last month against NYU stated.
Christina Rynasko claims in a new lawsuit against New York University that her daughter, Emily, a musical theater major, is not getting what she paid for from the online classes and who paid $36,000 in tuition for the spring semester, is seeking a prorated refund.
Ken McConnellogue, a spokesman for the University of Colorado, said it is disappointing that people have been so quick to file lawsuits only weeks into the pandemic. He said the suits appear to be driven by a small number of “opportunistic” law firms, AP reported.
“Our faculty have been working extremely hard to deliver an academic product that’s got the same high standards, high-quality academic rigor as what they would deliver in the classroom,” he said. “It’s different, no doubt. And it is not ideal. We all would prefer to have students on our campuses, but at the same time, we’re in the middle of a global pandemic here”, McConnellogue told A.P
“You cannot keep money for services and access if you aren’t actually providing it,” said Roy Willey, a lawyer for the Anastopoulo Law Firm in South Carolina, which is representing students in more than a dozen cases told Associated Press. “If we’re truly going to be all in this together, the universities have to tighten their belts and refund the money back to students and families who really need it, universities have to tighten their belts and refund the money back to students and families who really need it.”
Comedian Elayne Boosler’s Jewish cousin was buried in a Catholic cemetery (elayneboosler.com)
By Justin Caper
Comedian Elayne Boosler says her elderly Jewish cousin, who died last month, inexplicably got saddled with a pricey Christian burial package while in a Brooklyn nursing home, The City reported.
“Now my beautiful Jewish cousin is clutching rosary beads after a fake funeral that never — couldn’t have — happened because of coronavirus,” Boosler, who grew up in Sheepshead Bay, told THE CITY from her California home.
The family was never notified, and after three weeks of calling, they finally got through to the facility, Elayne Boosler wrote on Facebook. Nursing home officials said Buschell had died on April 15, according to Boosler.
By then, Buschell had already been interred at Forest Green Park Cemetery in Morganville, Monmouth County, which charged her with a $15,000 Catholic funeral package, the media outlet reported.
Despite no one being present for the funeral, the burial included costs for $600 flowers, $34 for bridge and tunnel tolls, and a $595 limousine, as well as $95 for makeup and $400 for clothes, Boosler wrote on Facebook.
The City reported: The ordeal began, Boosler recalled, when her cousin Harriet Saltzman phoned her from Florida on April 14 and said, “Are you sitting down? Pull the chair closer to the table in case you fall over.”
Saltzman told her that she had been trying to reach their mutual first cousin Dorothea Buschell at the Hamilton Park Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, to wish her a happy 83rd birthday.
When no one answered in Buschell’s room, Saltzman said she began leaving voicemails at the main number, but no one returned her calls for weeks.
Finally, on April 14, a frazzled staffer who happened to pick up the phone said, “Oh, no one called you yesterday? Uh, she died this morning.”
“And then Harriet said, ‘Why would someone have called yesterday if she died this morning?’,” Boosler said.
“That’s right folks, they buried my Jewish cousin, who never wore makeup & never spent more than $25 on an outfit, who always tipped 20% and would have known to take Queensboro Bridge to avoid tolls, IN A CATHOLIC CEMETERY HOLDING A ROSARY, WITH A $16,000 FAKE FUNERAL THAT NEVER HAPPENED,” Boosler wrote on Facebook.
Boosler said she had ensured in paperwork as recently as August 2018 that her cousin would be buried at New Montefiore Cemetery in Farmingdale.
“She had a burial plot (Jewish) next to her mother, sister & dad, which I myself reaffirmed was still in her record when I visited her August 2018,” Boosler wrote.
Richard J. Brum, who represents the Allure Group, the company that owns Hamilton Park nursing home, declined to comment on Buschell’s situation, citing resident privacy concerns, The City reported
Kehila Chapels of Brighton Beach, which claimed Buschell’s remains, didn’t respond to a request for comment, the outlet said.
In 1986, Boosler became the first woman to get her own one-hour comedy special on cable when Showtime aired Party of One.
Having no credit cards or borrowing power, Boosler saved her money to produce the special herself when cable executives told her that they did not believe people would tune in to see a woman do an hour of comedy. She successfully toured for 50 weeks a year performing a two-hour comedy show. She was discovered by Andy Kaufman and was close frinds with the legendary comedian Boosler was born into a Jewish immigrant family and raised in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.
I dont want to see. Depressed cheerless young man sitting on the chair and covering his eyes while feeling unhappy
By: Chaya Gurkov
While COVID-19 deaths and infections continue to decline, New York City may be entering a grim new chapter that posits the question of what the collective mental health can endure.
NYC Well, the city’s behavioral health helpline and a signature part of First Lady Chirlane McCray’s ThriveNYC program, reported that the number of incoming calls and web sessions has swelled this month compared to previous years. In March of last year, NYC Well outlined an average of 6,496 calls and chats- a 25% increase to this month’s average of 8,712.
However, this has not gone unnoticed by local and state authorities. Governor Cuomo, in his Friday briefing, directed insurers to waive cost-sharing, co-pays and deductibles for essential workers seeking mental health services.
This necessary action comes on the heels of the troubling effects COVID-19 is having on the front line workers in NYC.
The piling up pull of mental health issues was accentuated with the two recent health care worker suicides – including that of emergency medical technician John Mondello from the Bronx and emergency physician Lorna Breen, who worked in the NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital.
U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) spoke to this point as well, in a letter to President Trump, calling for the next coronavirus relief package to include mental health resources for frontline health care workers.
“The stress and anxiety from the exhaustive work they do – treating daily floods of coronavirus patients, high COVID-19 death rates, fear over lack of PPE, long hours, and separation from loved ones – is taking a huge emotional toll on many of these professionals,” the letter read.
The lawmakers who signed the letter urged that the CARES 2.0 package contains significant funding for mental health services for the people who will deal with impacts of COVID-19 far past its end date.
Queens Borough has seen a deadly uptick in suicide rates since the beginning of coronavirus lockdown. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz released figures that showed a doubling of suicide deaths from March 15- April 28 since last year.
By comparison, since the beginning of the shutdown in late March, about the same number of people have committed suicide as those who died by suicide between Jan. 1 and April 19 in 2019.
“There is a mental health component to this health crisis that needs our attention,” Katz told reporters. “Since this pandemic began the numbers of suicides in Queens County have soared. The victims are young and old – no one is immune. Please reach out to your friends and neighbors. Check-in on each other because nobody should be alone in this and there is absolutely no shame in reaching out for help.”
According to the City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), as of April 26, there has not been an increase in emergency room visits for suicide-related concerns across all ages in the city since the COVID-19 outbreak. There have been, however, a spike in the volume of calls, texts, and chats to NYC Well.
“In the last available week (April 13-19) the volume of answered contacts remains elevated compared to the average number of weekly answered contacts in 2019,” said DOHMH spokesperson Patrick Gallahue in an email.
“We recognize that people are suffering during this crisis but help is available. We urge anyone who is experiencing a mental health crisis to reach out to NYC Well,” he added.
In this Nov. 14, 2009 file photo, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man is seen next to Intel’s office building in Jerusalem. Intel said Monday, May 4, 2020, that it has purchased Israeli urban mobility startup Moovit for $900 million. The California-based chipmaker said the purchase buttresses its plan to become a “complete mobility provider. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)
By: AP
Intel said Monday that it has purchased Israeli urban mobility startup Moovit for $900 million.
The California-based chipmaker said the purchase buttresses its plan to become a “complete mobility provider.”
The acquisition deepens Intel’s reach in Israel, where the company has spent billions buying other companies, and where it has a chip-making factory.
Intel Corp. paid $15 billion in 2017 for Mobileye, an Israeli company at the forefront of autonomous vehicle technology. That purchase created another major player in self-driving technology and strengthened predictions that autonomous cars will someday come in large numbers and change the way people get around.
Moovit will join the Mobileye team, accelerating its “ability to truly revolutionize transportation,” Intel said.
Headquartered in Ness Ziona, Moovit was founded in 2012 by Nir Erez, Yaron Evron, and Roy Bick and developed the first free crowd-sourced app that provides real-time bus, train, subway, and light rail schedules and offers route options to help users find the quickest, most efficient way to their destinations.
Today, Moovit has over 750 million users on its free mobile and web app, providing mobility options in 3,100 cities, 100 countries, and in 45 languages.
In addition to its public transportation data features, Moovit’s mobility options are quite extensive and include ride-hailing companies (Uber, Lyft, Gett), car-sharing companies (Zipcar, Car2Go), station-based bike-share systems (CitiBike), dockless bikes (JUMP, Mobike), scooters (Circ, Voi, Lyft Scooters, Skip, and others) and Mopeds (Coup, eCooltra, MiMoto).
The company also sells transit data analytics to municipalities and public transport operators through its Smart Transit Suite, a platform that provides real-time information on people’s movement, optimal routes, wait times, locations of buses and trains and other data for network managing.
In February 2018, Intel led a $50 million investment in Moovit and announced a partnership with Mobileye, the Jerusalem-based tech company that develops cutting-edge driving-assistance technologies and which was acquired by Intel in 2017 for over $15 billion – the biggest exit by an Israeli company to date. Mobileye co-founder Professor Amnon Shashua, the senior vice president at Intel Corporation, became a member of Moovit’s board of directors as part of the deal.
Using information from users and bus and train schedules, Moovit’s app provides urban transit solutions, combining public transport schedules and options with taxis, bicycles, electric scooters and more, to provide a comprehensive picture of how best to travel.
“Combining the daily mobility habits and needs of millions of Moovit users with the state-of-the-art, safe, affordable and eco-friendly transportation enabled by self-driving vehicles, we will be able to make cities better places to live in,” said Nir Erez, Moovit’s chief executive.
Moovit has more than 800 million users and services in 3,100 cities across 102 countries, according to Intel.
Israeli scientists have made a significant breakthrough in the fight on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and have developed a potent antibody that attacks the virus.
Defense Minister Naftali Bennett visited the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) in Ness Ziona on Monday, where he was presented with a significant breakthrough in finding an antidote to the Coronavirus.
The researchers have developed an antibody that attacks the virus uniquely and can neutralize it in a patient’s body.
According to the Institute’s researchers, led by IIBR Director-General Professor Shmuel Shapira, the antibody’s development phase is over.
The institute will continue the patent registration process and in the next phase, the researchers will contact international companies who can produce the antibody in commercial quantities.
The antibody’s name has yet to be determined.
Bennett stated he is “proud of the Biological Institute’s people who have made a huge breakthrough. The creativity and Jewish mind have brought this amazing achievement. The entire security system will continue to operate on the frontlines of the battle against the Corona.”
Shapira at the end of March spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the progress in the institute’s research and development efforts regarding a vaccine and antibodies.
Shapira noted that there has been “significant progress” in planning for the vaccine and added that preparations are now being made ahead of a model for the start of experimentation on animals, a crucial stage before trials on humans are carried out.
The news came as the number of deaths worldwide from the virus topped 252,420 out of over 3,646,000 cases in 212 countries.
In other developments, last week it was reported that Jerusalem Chief Rabbi Aryeh Stern wrote a letter to the residents of the Arab town of Abu Gosh, near the capital, conveying his holiday greetings in honor of the commencement of the Muslim month of Ramadan.
In the letter addressed to the town’s mayor Salim Joubran, Rabbi Stern strengthened his hands in dealing with the Coronavirus and lauded the good Jewish-Muslim relations he was cultivating in his municipality.
Joubran responded by whishing Stern and the entire Jewish nation health and prosperity, especially during these trying times.
“We will always maintain good ties with our Jewish cousins,” he wrote.
Rabbi Stern occasionally invites Muslim leaders from the Jerusalem area to meet with him to strengthen the relations and coexistence with the moderate leadership in eastern Jerusalem and the area.
He has previously issued an unprecedented ruling that Israel has an obligation to help free Palestinians who have been imprisoned for selling land to Jews.
Stern’s letter came in response to the abduction of Issam Akel, a resident of Jerusalem who was arrested by the Palestinian General Security Service on the suspicion that he had sold land to Jews at the end of 2018.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi (Flash90)
Israeli defense officials say they are seeing Iran retreat for the first time since it entered Syria to help President Bashar al-Assad.
By: David Isaac
“Iran has turned from being an asset for Syria to being a burden. For the first time since Iran entered Syria, it’s shrinking its forces and evacuating bases,” senior Israeli defense officials said on Tuesday at a news briefing, adding that “Israel will increase the pressure.”
The comments were made following reports of an airstrike on two military facilities in Syria overnight Monday. Israel did not take responsibility for the attack but Syria blamed it. Fourteen were reported killed by a Syrian war monitoring group.
That attack joins at least five others last month that were attributed to Israel, the most recent last Monday, April 27 in which seven were reported killed and an ammunition dump destroyed.
“Syria is paying higher prices because of the Iranian presence in its territory, for a war which is not its own. Iran has become a burden to Syria,” the officials said.
Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday, “We are determined, more determined, and I will tell you why – for Iran, Syria is an adventure 1,000 miles from home. For us, it is life. We are much more determined.”
”We will not give up and will not allow the establishment of a forward Iranian base in Syria,” Bennett said.
Israel has carried out hundreds of attacks in Syrian territory, mainly targeting Iranian forces and installations. Israel has made clear it won’t tolerate Iranian entrenchment on Syrian soil.
Ynet reports that at the height of the civil war, five years ago, Iran sent thousands of fighters and advisers to assist Syrian President Bashar al-Assad battle ISIS and other rebels.
However, Iranian force remained and continued to strengthen its forces in the country in what analysts say is part of a strategy to build a land bridge of Iranian influence to the Mediterranean. Such a land bridge would encompass Israel on its northern border.
Netanyahu announced during the online meeting that Israel will invest $60 million in research and development in the fields of diagnostics, therapies and developing drugs and a vaccine for the Coronavirus. Image courtesy: Twitter/Michael Dickson
By: TPS Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participated in the leaders’ conference on dealing with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic with the European Union’s (EU) leadership and leaders from other countries, at the personal invitation of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The leaders’ summit focused on improving the international efforts to develop solutions for dealing with the Coronavirus, with an emphasis on developing and producing a vaccine and developing drugs and equipment for patients.
Leaders from around the world, senior officials from international organizations including the Gates Fund were in attendance. The leaders discussed fostering cross-country cooperation in finding medical tools in the struggle against the Coronavirus.
Netanyahu announced during the online meeting that Israel will invest $60 million in research and development in the fields of diagnostics, therapies and developing drugs and a vaccine for the Coronavirus.
Netanyahu told the conference that “defeating the global pandemic demands a global partnership.”
He noted Israel’s “relatively low” casualties from the virus which are the result of “early action to contain the disease, advance technology to locate those infected, first-rate medical professionals and a disciplined population that largely adhered to the mitigation policies” enacted by Israel.
He underscored that the epidemic “is far from over. At best, we’re only at the end of the beginning,” and Israel is now trying to find the “right balance” between protecting the health of its citizens by preventing another spike in infections while enabling the reopening of the economy.
He called on the European leaders to “work together on improving diagnostics, accelerating therapies and ultimately developing a vaccine.”
He expressed confidence that “Israel’s leading research institutions, its world-renowned scientists and our unique culture of innovation can enable us to play an important role in advancing solutions on all three fronts.”
Hours after the conference, the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) in Ness Ziona announced a significant breakthrough in finding an antidote to the Coronavirus.
The researchers have developed an antibody that attacks the virus uniquely and can neutralize it in a patient’s body.
“We hope to work with other countries to leverage our unique capabilities to find solutions for the benefit of all,” he said.
Among the participating heads of government and ministers were French President Emanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Jordanian King Abdullah II, Omani Health Minister Dr. Ahmed Al-Saidi, Saudi Arabian Health Minister Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and World Economic Forum Chairman Klaus Schwab.
Israel’s prime minister urged the country’s Supreme Court on Monday not to interfere in his efforts to build a coalition government, threatening that a decision against him could drag the country toward an unprecedented fourth straight election in just over a year. Photo Credit: Flash 90
Speaking to reporters following a briefing on coronavirus developments, Netanyahu pressed the court not to get involved in the country’s political affairs lest it risk forcing new elections.
By: AP
Israel’s prime minister urged the country’s Supreme Court on Monday not to interfere in his efforts to build a coalition government, threatening that a decision against him could drag the country toward an unprecedented fourth straight election in just over a year.
“We hope the court doesn’t interfere. It doesn’t need to interfere. There is the will of the people, the clear expression of the will of the people,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, speaking to reporters after a coronavirus-related address.
If a court ruling picks apart the coalition deal, it “increases the chances that we will be dragged to fourth elections, something that will be a catastrophe,” he added.
Netanyahu made his comments shortly after the court heard a second day of arguments in a series of legal challenges to the coalition deal.
The court’s rulings, expected by the end of the week, will dictate whether Israel breaks out of its prolonged political paralysis with Netanyahu and his former political rival Benny Gantz joining forces in government, or whether the country is plunged into another election.
The court is looking into two key questions: whether a politician facing corruption charges, such as Netanyahu, can form a new government; and whether his coalition deal with Gantz violates the law.
An unusually large panel of 11 justices, all wearing face masks and separated by plastic barriers, heard the case against the emerging coalition. Reflecting the case’s importance, the court took the rare step of streaming the proceedings on its website and on national TV.
Netanyahu and his allies view the high court as a liberal bastion that overreached its boundaries to meddle in political affairs, accusing it of undermining the will of the people as expressed in national elections.
After deadlocking in three closely contested election campaigns, Netanyahu and former military chief Gantz reached a deal last month in which they would be sworn in together for an emergency government ostensibly to battle the coronavirus and its economic fallout.
The deal calls for Netanyahu to serve first as prime minister and Gantz as the designated premier, with the two swapping posts after 18 months. The new position will enjoy all the trappings of the prime minister, including an official residence and exemption from a law that requires all public officials, except the prime minister, to resign if charged with a crime.
The court will be asked to rule on this arrangement — and there is a sense of urgency as Thursday marks the deadline for presenting a new government before new elections are called.
Zeev Elkin, a Cabinet minister from Netanyahu’s Likud party, warned that any court intervention could trigger a highly unpopular election.
“The coalition agreement is very complex. Moving a single brick could bring the entire structure down and force fourth elections,” Elkin told Israel’s Army Radio.
Israel’s attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, said in an opinion to the court that while Netanyahu’s indictments “raise significant problems,” there was no legal basis for barring him from serving while facing criminal charges. But good governance groups have appealed against this, citing the precedent of forcing Cabinet ministers and mayors to resign if indicted.
Armed Palestinian Authority (PA) policemen on Monday arrested a group of Israelis, including two archeologists, at an archeological site in northern Samaria, in an area under full Israeli jurisdiction and in contravention of the peace accords. Photo by TPS on 4 August, 2019
By: TPS Staff
Armed Palestinian Authority (PA) policemen on Monday arrested a group of Israelis, including two archeologists, at an archeological site in northern Samaria, in an area under full Israeli jurisdiction and in contravention of the peace accords.
Shomrim Al Hanetzach (Preserving the Eternal), an organization dedicated to the preservation of archaeological and historical sites in Judea and Samaria, has recently carried out a mapping project of ancient sites suffering from illegal pirate excavations, looting and severe damage to artifacts.
This project was launched after President Donald Trump unveiled his Deal of the Century peace plan, which led to massive damage at over 100 antiquities sites.
The situation was further aggravated by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown, when 70% of the Civil Administration’s Archeology Inspection Unit was put on leave.
Eitan Melet, Field Coordinator for Shomrim Al Hanetzach, set out Monday morning with two archaeologists to the Tel Parsin site in northern Samaria, in Area C and under full Israeli jurisdiction, to inspect and document damage to the site.
The site, which is a five-minute drive from the Israeli community of Hermesh, preserves the biblical name Parash and the Talmudic name Kfar Parshai.
The site contains the remains of a large settlement that existed for centuries almost continuously from the Iron Age to the Ottoman period.
The remains include a mikveh, ritual bath, that was excavated during the Second Temple period and remained in use until the Byzantine period, burial caves, an oil press cave, various underground systems, and impressive Ottoman-era structures.
The team of archaeologists was surprised to encounter a PA police checkpoint in an area under full Israeli control, where PA police are not permitted to operate or bear arms.
“The Palestinian Police officers demanded that we get our of our vehicles, and we refused,” says Melet. “These were unpleasant moments, but the situation was more infuriating than frightening.”
The policemen, armed with assault rifles, took their ID cars and personal weapons.
After contacting the IDF, and with the mediation of Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, the PA policemen decided to hand them over to the IDF at the nearby Dotan checkpoint.
“The city of Parash has never been excavated by archaeologists – but it has been thoroughly and aggressively excavated by local Arab looters and grave-robbers because the State of Israel does not take responsibility,” Melet stated.
“To me, this is the flip side of the coin of Palestinian Police operating, fully armed, in areas that are clearly and unarguably under Israeli jurisdiction. We urge the Israeli government to formulate a plan of action that will protect our heritage sites,” he demanded.
Shomrim Al Hanetzach has noted that the phenomenon of antiquity destruction is pervasive and affects all sites that are not under permanent preservation, and a survey of the sites in Judea and Samaria shows that a staggering 95% of the archeological sites have been robbed, vandalized or disturbed.
Although the French have been hit with dozens of deadly Islamist attacks, have many of their communities closed to all but Muslims, with no government law enforcement permitted, they still bow down to Iran, the leading supporter of Iran and its terror surrogates, Hezbollah, its leading one. Photo Credit: Brittanica.com
On May 8th, the free world will tearfully commemorate and celebrate the 75th anniversary of VE Day, the Victory in Europe event. That day saw the defeat of hatred, terrorism and totalitarianism, that freed tens of millions of Europe’s people from the jaws of their Nazi occupiers. Sadly, many of those same nations have short memories nor gratitude for our nation’s sacrifice of over 300,000 military to remove the yoke of racism, terror, slaughter and racism from their necks. Opposing our nation’s efforts, they now support, do business with and finance the new face of terror in the form of Iran and its surrogate, Hezbollah. Shame on them!
Richard Grenell, our Ambassador to Germany who functions, as well, as acting Director of National Intelligence, is pressing, France, of all nations, to outlaw the entire Lebanese terrorist movement, Hezbollah, and for an entire EU-wide ban on every facet of the Iranian proxy terror group. Although the French have been hit with dozens of deadly Islamist attacks, have many of their communities closed to all but Muslims, with no government law enforcement permitted, they still bow down to Iran, the leading supporter of Iran and its terror surrogates, Hezbollah, its leading one. France does much business with Iran a major supplier of petroleum to that country and is the major block to President Trump’s plan to squeeze that terror state to comply with its nuclear deal and to cease and desist from funding terror groups such as Hezbollah. How do their leaders sleep at night?
Germany, to its credit, totally banned that terror group’s entire movement from doing business within its borders. Prior to this week’s actions, Germany, like most of the European Union, foolishly outlawed only Hezbollah’s military wing, while closing its eyes to the operations of its diplomatic wing. We ask, “What’s the difference between the two?” In a show of forcefulness and hopefully, as an example to the rest of Europe, the Berlin government planned and executed raids on mosques, warehouses and offices of the Hezbollah terror group. This indicates their intelligence services had knowledge of activities within these venues that endangered German citizens. Good for them. Just a thought: What do our own federal agencies know of American mosques being used as planning centers for nefarious terror activities? Are we still in the politically correct mode of our previous administrations?
The United States and Israel have been major leaders in the move to designate all of Hezbollah as a terrorist group. Grenell welcomed Germany’s move to confront Iranian terror by calling on “all European Union member states to take similar action.”Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz extolled what he called “a significant step in the global fight against terrorism” and urged the rest of the EU “to do the same.” It’s sad that France, whose wartime Vichy government played footsie with the Nazis should hesitate to recognize and condemn other fascist, hate filled, terror exponents, Hezbollah and Iran as the Germans have done. Will they eve learn?
In terms of what businesses are raking in the big bucks, one need look no further than Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and other movie and television show streamers. (Photo Credit: Clear Living.com)
There’s more to this Covid-19 virus that meets the eye of the media and of the ordinary person on the street (and there are not too many of the latter).We know of its mortality numbers, impact on employment, travel, etc. but let’s look at other not too obvious changes in our lifestyles it has made. Let’s calm down for a moment and look (strangely enough) at this disease’s positive impact. The American public is not going out to eat any more. As a result, doctors are reporting far fewer cases of patients coming down with kidney stones, acute urinary infections, food poisoning and hernia attacks. Could this be the result of people preparing their own food? Not introducing the salt usually thrown into restaurant food? Of people consuming less sugary drinks, junk foods and drinking more plain, natural water?
It’s for certain that when “eating out” the larger portions prepared to satisfy our cravings and return us to our usual table at our favorite eating place, has addicted us to overeating, affecting our health and well being. Preparing our own foods has helped us to get back to the days when our families, short on funds, use their kitchens as warm, congenial gathering places to enjoy good, hearty, healthy meals……together. Another (rare) positive pandemic related statistic is we’re getting reports that highway fatalities and injuries have dropped due to the reduction in traffic caused by this pandemic. Sadly, of course, fewer people are driving to work, taking their kids to schools and activities. Some times, good things come out of bad situations.
We’ve also noted that divorce lawyers and psychoanalysts have reported an increased number of marital breakups due to couples now being forced to live in such close proximity. Marriages, already shaky, have fallen apart. Couples having marital difficulties are more likely to terminate their marriages while living together 24/7. And, by the same token, how many families are reliving the relationships enjoyed by their forebearers who were blessed with work-at-home parents who farmed the land and were homemakers and spent most of their time raising their families without the pressures of the modern rat race stress necessitated by the current way of life.
In terms of what businesses are raking in the big bucks, one need look no further than Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and other movie and television show streamers.
And while we are on the subject of family, we are delighted that parents can now spend quality time with their children and trying to establish real and enduring bonds with them that go way beyond just an occasional text or e-mail that is shared during a pre-Corona work/school week. Talking, taking walks, playing games, preparing meals together, and watching movies together are the kind of activities that we often find sorely lacking in our regular hum drum routine. These are times in which to make lifetime memories with our kids and to cherish these special familial moments together.
We hope and pray that we will soon emerge from the darkness of this pandemic, perhaps changed for the better to appreciate what G-d has given us. Let us, when that time comes, to slow down a bit and rethink our goals and how to achieve them. Til then, stay safe, well and give thanks for what we have.
Blacks gathered at a hip-hop party a few days ago in Canarsie—it spilled onto the street with about 100 people in attendance. The Mayor said nothing.
Two days ago, the Blue Angels did a fly-over NYC. Thousands of people stood shoulder to shoulder to watch the sight. The Mayor said nothing.
But this sect of Orthodox Jews actually notified the police dept. in advance that they were attending the funeral and the police worked with them to control the crowd, which turned out to be larger than expected. The Mayor blasts “the Jewish community.”
Jews are easy targets…
Sincerely
Howard B. Weber, Esq.
Disinfecting Subways & Buses
Dear Editor:
Glad to hear that Governor Cuomo has called for the MTA to scrub clean all trains daily. I suggested this weeks ago. Everyone has known for decades that the subway, bus, commuter rail and ferries are a Petri dish for catching a cold, the flu or other communicable diseases. The rise of a growing homeless population, who ride our subways and live at stations have made matters worse. They clearly have little ability to maintain personal hygiene.
The previous announcement by MTA Chairman Pat Foye in response to the threat of the corona virus growing was disappointing. His commitment to have transit workers deep clean the entire system using an “enhanced daily cleaning procedure,” or scrub strategy, including bleach and hospital grade disinfectant should have been the norm for years. The same is true for sanitizing “commonly touched surfaces” at stations including turnstiles, exit gates, platform floors, bathrooms, Metro Card vending machines and benches on a daily basis. Deep cleaning subway cars once every 72 hours during this crises was always insufficient.
Between homeless on board and rush hour standing room only crowds, they need to be thoroughly cleaned on a 24 hour basis. The odds increase for spreading a communicable disease when you are trapped on a crowded bus or subway for long periods of time. Millions of New Yorkers ride the subway, bus or commuter rail. They should not have to wait once every three days for a complete cleaning of vehicles.
It should not have taken the potential spread of the corona virus for the MTA to properly clean equipment and stations. Safety and security of the riding public should always be the number one priority.
Sincerely,
Larry Penner
(Larry Penner is a transportation historian, writer and advocate who previously worked 31 years for the United States Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office. This included the development, review, approval and oversight for billions in capital projects and programs for the MTA, NYC Transit, Long Island Rail Road, Metro North Rail Road MTA Bus, New Jersey Transit along with 30 other transit agencies in NY & NJ).
Joe Biden and the Media Need Rehab
Dear Editor:
The media and Joe Biden, should be taking advantage of self quarantine to undergo Rehabilitation for their relentless, false blaming of Israel for Gaza’s woes. Rehab programs have a Ten Step Program. Try Step One for a start: Ethics 101 which requires you fact check and check your bias, before spewing ignorant, false blame.
JNS, “Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden was just the latest to blame Israel for Gaza’s woes. However, once again, facts prove these media and observers wrong: The principal source of Gaza’s isolation and desperation is, in fact, Egypt. Why does the media ignore Egypt’s critical role in keeping Gaza boxed in and isolated? The answer is simple: When in doubt, blame Israel…Egypt could open its border with Gaza tomorrow, declare a free trade zone to aid the shattered Gazan economy. So why doesn’t Egypt open their arms to their Gazan brethren?
Simple—thanks to Hamas and PIJ, Gazans are thoroughly indoctrinated in militancy and terrorism. Islamist elements that have made it into Sinai from Gaza have murdered Egyptian citizens and soldiers on a large scale. What’s more, Egypt has enough trouble containing the Muslim Brotherhood on its own territory—remember the Morsi regime? The last thing Egypt wants is to allow the free movement of Hamas operatives into Egypt; Hamas is, after all, the Gaza branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The focus on Israel as the culprit in Gaza’s misery is misplaced and hypocritical.”
Gatestone, “While Israel is working overtime with Palestinians to curb and prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the Arab states appear to be doing what they do best when it comes to helping their Palestinian brothers: nothing at all. Israeli delivered 200 coronavirus testing kits to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, sector despite the thousands of rockets and incendiary and bomb-carrying balloons that the ruling government, Hamas, has launched from there towards Israel, and coordinated the transfer of 20 tons of disinfectant material from Israeli factories to the Palestinian health sector. It is worth noting that Egypt, which has a shared border with the Gaza Strip, did not send any test kits or disinfectant materials to the Palestinians living there.”
So to the media and to Biden, may your time in quarantine be well spent-undergo Rehab for Fact Checking and Ethics Training. I would also recommend you give up your addiction, your myopic, relentless obsession with Israel and instead, start reporting and giving speeches about the true atrocities in Syria, and elsewhere in our world. Try it. You’ll sleep better.
The foreign ministers of Germany, the United Kingdom, China, the United States, France, Russia, the European Union and Iran meet in Geneva on Nov. 24, 2013 for talks on the interim agreement on the Iranian nuclear program. Source: U.S. Department of State.
In light of Russia’s opposition to extending the arms embargo on Iran, which expires on October 23, the only way forward is to cancel the JCPOA entirely by triggering “snapback” sanctions, which no side can veto
By: Caroline Glick
There is a growing chance that by October, the nuclear deal with Iran, otherwise known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), will be dead.
Under the deal with the United States, China, Russia, Germany, Britain and France, Iran purported to accept limitations on its nuclear program. These limitations included capping its low-enriched uranium stockpiles at 300 kilograms (661 pounds), restraining its enrichment activities, and accepting the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) right to inspect its declared and undeclared nuclear sites.
In exchange, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany, agreed to cancel the Security Council sanctions resolutions that had been imposed on Iran due to its illicit nuclear activities over the previous decade.
In January, the Iranian regime rejected IAEA requests for information regarding three newly discovered undeclared nuclear sites and subsequently rejected IAEA requests to dispatch inspectors to two of them. Photo Credit: IranFocus.com
The JCPOA, which was never formally signed, was anchored in UNSC Resolution 2231, which was passed immediately after the JCPOA was concluded. At the time, the JCPOA was vociferously opposed by U.S. lawmakers from both sides of the partisan divide. Their opposition owed to the fact that even if Iran abided by the restrictions on its nuclear activities prescribed by the JCPOA, it would still be able to develop a full-blown nuclear arsenal within 10 to 15 years.
To placate the deal’s opponents, and secure its approval in the Senate, the Obama administration added two safeguards to Resolution 2231. The first imposed a five-year embargo on conventional weapons sales to Iran. The second enabled all sides to the agreement to end the JCPOA by triggering the reimposition of the U.N. sanctions canceled under 2231.
According to Articles 10-12 of the resolution, if a party to the agreement informs the Security Council that Iran is in breach of its commitments under the agreement, such a declaration will automatically trigger the reimposition of the sanctions within 30 days. The Obama administration dubbed this mechanism “snapback sanctions.”
Now both of these safeguards are being tested.
In May 2018, due to incontrovertible evidence of Iranian bad faith both during the negotiations process and following the implementation of the JCPOA, President Donald Trump announced that the United States was washing its hands of the nuclear deal. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo set out the U.S.’s new “maximum pressure campaign” that replaced the JCPOA as the central element of U.S. policy towards Iran.
The strategy of maximum pressure involves applying harsh U.S. economic sanctions against Iran’s oil, financial and shipping sectors in particular. The goal is to weaken the Iranian economy in order to destabilize the regime and minimize its financial capacity to fund its nuclear operations and its terror proxies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and beyond.
The other parties to the JCPOA did not follow America’s lead. On the contrary, they sought to undermine U.S. sanctions. Led by Germany, the European Union clung ever more tightly to the nuclear deal. Germany, France and Britain attempted to create a financial mechanism that would enable Iran to bust U.S. sanctions. They also continued to develop Iran’s heavy-water reactor at Fordo.
The Russians maintained and intensified their alliance with Iran in Syria. China breached the U.S. sanctions and continued importing Iranian oil and gas. Currently, China is working closely with Iran in Afghanistan on behalf of the Taliban.
Earlier this month, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, announced that Iran was building two more nuclear reactors at Bushehr. He added that “a new generation of centrifuges would soon come online at the Natanz fuel enrichment plant.” Photo Credit: nileinernational.net
The Europeans, Russians and Chinese have all been playing for time in the hope that Trump loses the presidential election in November. The presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, has pledged that if elected, he will return the United States to the nuclear deal and end U.S. economic sanctions against Iran.
The problem for all of these parties is that time, and the facts, aren’t on their side.
The Iranian regime which they are so keen to keep afloat is not playing along with them. Instead, it is systematically and openly breaching all of its commitments under the JCPOA. In March, the IAEA revealed that between November 2019 and March 2020, Iran increased its store of low-enriched uranium from 373 to 1050 kilograms (822 to 2315 pounds)—more than three times the quantity permitted under the agreement.
The IAEA also reported that Iran had increased the number of advanced centrifuges capable of enriching uranium to prohibited levels in operation by approximately 20 percent since last November.
In January, the Iranian regime rejected IAEA requests for information regarding three newly discovered undeclared nuclear sites and subsequently rejected IAEA requests to dispatch inspectors to two of them.
Earlier this month, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, announced that Iran was building two more nuclear reactors at Bushehr. He added that “a new generation of centrifuges would soon come online at the Natanz fuel enrichment plant.”
Salehi explained that Iran is now in full breach of the JCPOA, saying, “Nuclear activities, as well as research and development on the nuclear fuel cycle, uranium conversion, and enrichment —including production and storage—are being carried out without any restrictions.”
Iran’s apparent race to develop the ability to build a nuclear arsenal on-demand—or what has been dubbed “breakout capacity”—is happening in the context of the quickly approaching deadline for the conventional arms embargo imposed under Resolution 2231. The embargo will expire on October 23.
Over the past six months, Pompeo has stated repeatedly that the United States will not permit the embargo to be lifted. According to U.S. intelligence agencies, Russian defense firms have already concluded deals to sell Iran advanced aircraft, tanks and air defense systems the moment the embargo is lifted.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, Pompeo set out how the administration intends to prevent it from being lifted. Pompeo explained that the administration is pressuring the Europeans to put forward a Security Council resolution calling for the arms embargo to be extended even as Russia has vowed to veto any such resolution.
In light of the Russian position, the only way to extend the arms embargo is to cancel the JCPOA entirely by triggering 2231’s snapback sanctions clause, which no side can veto.
To prevent the Americans from triggering the snapback clause, since May 2018, the Europeans, Iranians, Russians and Obama administration officials have claimed Trump’s decision to withdraw from the agreement canceled America’s standing as a party to the JCPOA and so abrogated the U.S.’s right to trigger the snapback sanctions.
Last year, the State Department’s legal department published a brief rejecting this position. The U.S. action did not abrogate Security Council Resolution 2231, and Article 10 of the resolution clearly names the United States as a party to the agreement.
At Wednesday’s briefing, Pompeo repeated this key claim.
“The U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231 is very clear: We don’t have to … declare ourselves a participant. U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231 is unambiguous where the United States is a participant,” he said.
Pompeo added, “We’re going to … [make] sure that come October of this year, the Iranians aren’t able to buy conventional weapons that they would be given what President Obama and Vice President Biden delivered to the world in that terrible deal.”
As the sides set up for a confrontation, the fact is that the administration will come out on top under all circumstances. This is true for three reasons:
First and foremost, the United States will benefit if the administration invokes the snapback sanctions articles because it is the right thing to do. As the IAEA reported and Salehi acknowledged, the Iranians are comprehensively breaching all of their commitments under the JCPOA. There is no substantive justification for maintaining the fiction that the deal is still salvageable. There is clearly no substantive justification for selling Iran conventional weapons.
This brings us to the second reason, and to Iran’s defenders—particularly the European Union and the Democrats:
If the United States triggers the snapback sanctions, the move will critically harm the European Union which, under German leadership, has consistently advanced a harshly anti-American foreign policy. If the European Union responds to a U.S. move to trigger the snapback sanctions by insisting the United States has no authority to act, the position will boomerang.
Even before the appearance of the coronavirus pandemic, many E.U. member nations were rejecting the European Union’s authority to dictate a unified anti-American, pro-Iranian foreign policy.
In February 2019, Poland co-hosted a summit on Iran in Warsaw with the United States. Then EU Foreign Policy Commissioner Federica Mogherini refused to participate in the conference that bought more than a dozen key E.U. states, along with Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, together to discuss the threat Iran poses to global security.
The European Union’s utter failure to manage the coronavirus pandemic has struck it a massive blow. Its incompetence has convinced millions of Europeans who had previously supported the union that they have nothing to gain from it, and that national governments are the only instruments to protect their lives and liberty.
The European Union’s weakening was apparent earlier this month when several E.U. member states angrily rejected an attempt by current E.U. foreign policy commissioner Josep Borrell to pass a resolution condemning the Trump Middle East peace plan and Israel’s intention to apply its law to parts of Judea and Samaria in the framework of the Trump plan.
If the European Union subverts a U.S. effort to restore U.N. sanctions on Iran, its action is liable to destroy whatever is left of Brussel’s power to dictate a unified E.U. foreign policy.
Perhaps to block this prospect, and perhaps due to Iran’s reduced economic prospects after two years of U.S. sanctions, Germany announced on Thursday that it is finally outlawing Hezbollah’s “political” wing and blocking its operation in Germany.
Until now, Germany has blocked the European Union from recognizing Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist organization and so enabled the Iranian proxy army to raise funds and draft operatives throughout Europe. Germany’s action Thursday indicates that, aware of the dangers to the European Union, Germany may support a U.S. move to impose the snapback sanctions and end the JCPOA.
Thirdly, there is Biden. If the administration moves to implement the snapback sanctions and so end the ill-begotten JCPOA, which was the centerpiece of U.S. foreign policy in Obama’s second term, Biden and the Democrats will be harmed no matter how the move plays out: If the United Nations blocks the U.S. move, the Trump administration will claim—rightly—that Obama and Biden deliberately lied to the American people when they said the snapback sanctions provision would ensure Iran could not get away with breaching the JCPOA.
If the administration is successful and snapback sanctions are imposed, scuppering the JCPOA, its success will expose the madness at the heart of Biden’s pro-Iranian Middle East policy. It will demonstrate that the key component of the Obama-Biden foreign policy was to provide America’s most dangerous enemy in the Middle East with the ability to develop a nuclear arsenal while building itself into a regional hegemon.
It isn’t clear how events will transpire in the coming weeks and months. But as things now stand, the Trump administration seems to recognize that there is no downside to triggering the snapback sanction articles in Resolution 2231 and ending the JCPOA by October.
Dianne Lob, an executive from HIAS has been chosen as chairman of the Presidents Conference
Jewish pride is not something we should hide—I learned that a long time ago from an organization called the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
By: David Suissa
After six weeks of writing only about the coronavirus, finally, I can sink my teeth into a good-old-fashioned Jewish controversy. The controversy, as I see it, is this: For a Jewish organization such as HIAS, what is the appropriate balance between helping Jews versus non-Jews?
The issue caught my eye because of a related controversy: The nomination of HIAS immediate past chairman Dianne Lob as the new chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
The backlash against the nomination from some right-wing groups has been heated, with HIAS being accused, under Lob’s tenure, of associating with anti-Israel and anti-Semitic forces, prioritizing Muslim refugees and failing to advocate for Israel and Jews.
I’ll leave the controversy over Lob’s nomination to others. I’m more interested in HIAS’s responsibility as a Jewish organization. As far as I’m concerned, HIAS has every right to assist non-Jewish refugees in any global hotspot, regardless of religion or ethnicity. The notion that most of the refugees they help are Muslim doesn’t faze me one bit.
What does faze me is this: What about the Jews?
I grew up with HIAS. When my family emigrated from the warm Mediterranean climate of Casablanca to the frigid winters of Montreal in the 1960s, it was HIAS who helped us with everything from lodging to furniture to winter coats. When stuff would just appear at our apartment, I would often ask my mother, “Where does this come from?” and she’d always answer: “La JIAS!” (JIAS was the Canadian equivalent).
This was my introduction to Jewish solidarity.
Years later, as I got more involved with the Jewish community, I came to recognize the unique power of Jewish peoplehood. I would imagine wealthy Ashkenazi Jews at some HIAS fundraiser in Beverly Hills in the 1960s hearing this appeal: “Our Jewish brothers and sisters in Morocco need your help!”
All they needed to know was that we were Jewish, and they stepped up. Who cares if we looked nothing like them and had totally different customs and traditions? Jewish was enough. To this day, that idea still moves my heart: Jewish was enough.
In America, I came to value the ideal of Jews helping non-Jews. If we are to be a light unto the nations, it’s not enough to help our own. We were once struggling immigrants and refugees, so why not help the new ones? Every human being is created in the image of God.
That’s why I find it virtuous when a Jewish organization such as HIAS shows compassion for refugees of all races and religions.
I come back, though, to my earlier question: What about the Jews?
Have Jews succeeded so well that we no longer need assistance?
Have we run out of Jews throughout the world who are endangered by anti-Semitism, poverty, isolation or other hardships? Are there no persecuted Jews who’d love nothing better than to make a new life in America, Canada or, say, Israel?
I’m not suggesting HIAS has totally abandoned Jews. A January 2017 article in the Forward noted that during the previous year, HIAS assisted 4,188 people from 36 different countries—169 of whom were Jewish, mainly from Ukraine and Iran.
That’s 4 percent.
I guess that’s better than zero, but, seriously, a Jewish organization can’t do more than that?
I get it. The world has changed. When HIAS was founded in 1881, there was no shortage of Jewish refugees who needed help, primarily those fleeing pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe. This focus on Jews lasted for well over 100 years.
“Starting in the 2000s,” its website explains, “HIAS expanded our resettlement work to include assistance to non-Jewish refugees, meaning we became involved in the aftermath of conflicts from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Ethiopia, Haiti, Hungary, Iran, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Tunisia, Vietnam, and the successor states to the former Soviet Union.”
I applaud all that. But when HIAS uses language like “expanded” and “include,” it suggests that Jews are still very much in the picture. Are they? I went through the HIAS annual report and couldn’t find one program to help Jews. Why not?
The world may have changed, but it’s not as if there are no longer Jews in trouble, as any recent ADL report on the rise in anti-Semitism can attest. In fact, just this week, a bipartisan group of 28 senators asked for more funding to fight global anti-Semitism, writing: “Tragically, 75 years after the end of the Holocaust, [anti-Semitism] is on the rise around the world.”
I realize there are Jewish groups like the Jewish Agency and Nefesh B’ Nefesh that help Jews emigrate to Israel, and groups like the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), or the “Joint,” that assist Jews throughout the world. But with its unique and deep expertise in the complex field of immigration and resettlement, HIAS can certainly add a valuable Jewish contribution.
I realize also that “immigrant” is not the same as “refugee” and that the great majority of refugees today are not Jewish. But why not “grandfather” in some immigration assistance to Jews who may not technically qualify as “refugees,” but who feel under siege due to growing anti-Semitism or are experiencing extraordinary hardships?
Aren’t they worth helping too?
In any case, while HIAS acknowledges that it is a Jewish organization, it’s worth noting that it has abandoned what its name stands for: Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.
As its website explains: “As we expanded our mission to protect and assist refugees of all faiths and ethnicities, we realized our name no longer represented the organization.”
So they kept the initials, but lost the words. If a little kid in Kenya or Syria wonders what the acronym HIAS stands for, I guess they can just ask Google.
But regardless of who HIAS is helping, why downplay its “Hebrew” identity? After all, if Jews seek to be a light unto the nations, don’t we want to identify as Jews when we do, in fact, help those nations?
In its annual report, HIAS makes a big deal of its Jewish character and its pride in honoring Jewish values. If this Jewish pride and identity is good enough for donors, why not for the outside world?
I once asked the late Rabbi Harold Schulweis why he named his anti-genocide group Jewish World Watch, instead of something more universal, like Genocide Watch. I don’t remember his exact words, but I remember his point: He wanted the world to know that Jews were behind the initiative. That was as essential as anything else.
HIAS is a major Jewish organization, with an annual revenue of just over $50 million. I can’t see why they couldn’t allocate 4 percent of that budget– $2 million– to a “Jewish desk” dedicated solely to its century-old mission expressed in the first two letters of its acronym: “Hebrew Immigrant.” Will they find enough Jews who need assistance? I have little doubt.
In the meantime, HIAS can use some of its budget to fully reclaim its Jewish name. Jewish pride is not something we should hide.
I learned that a long time ago from an organization named Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.
