Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on July 17, 2020

WASHINGTON (JTA) Israels potential annexation of parts of the West Bank may not be a top election issue for American Jews, or even a top issue right now for most Israelis.

But some evangelical Christians in America are hoping to make it an animating issue for evangelical voters in this falls presidential election.

Thats especially true for Mike Evans, the evangelical writer who founded a museum celebrating Christian supporters of Israel, the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem. His Jerusalem Prayer Team Facebook page has more than 73 million followers.

This year, Israel is going to be the number one thing they take into the voting booth, and Ill tell you why, Evans told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency this week. The one thing that unites all evangelicals concerning Israel is Genesis 12:3: I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee. So Ive got 73 million evangelicals on my Jerusalem Prayer Team Facebook site alone, and I know them. The only thing they believe they can do to get God to bless them is to bless the land of Israel.

The flipside, Evans said, is that if Trump stands in the way of annexation, he could face a backlash from evangelicals at the voting booth.

But exactly how many evangelical voters there are, and how much they are animated by the annexation issue, is unclear.

Gallup citing the proportion of people who answer yes to the question Would you describe yourself as born-again or evangelical? says evangelicals have for decades comprised just over 40% of the population. And a 2017 poll commissioned by pro-Israel evangelicals found that the percentage of evangelicals who believe that the establishment of Israel was a fulfillment of prophecy was astronomically high 80%.

Elizabeth Oldmixon, a University of North Texas political scientist who studies evangelicals and their relationship to Israel, has estimated that about a third of evangelicals are likely to put Israel policy at the center of their electoral decision-making. (Other issues that drive evangelical voting include abortion rights and religious liberty.)

Oldmixon told Vox in 2018 that a subset of the evangelical community for whom the status of Israel is really, really important because of the way they understand the end of time would constitute about 15 million people.

But many of those voters might have been satisfied by Trumps moves already. Sarah Posner, an author who has written about the evangelicals affinity for Trump, said evangelicals were not likely to be preoccupied with the ins and outs of annexation.

Theyre very happy with the embassy move and are not going to give up on judges and policy they have long sought to enact (here) over annexation, she said. Honestly, I think most evangelicals dont truly understand the annexation issue and were more wowed by something like the embassy move.

Last month two pro-Israel evangelical leaders, Robert Jeffress and Joel Rosenberg, told The New York Times that evangelicals were indifferent to annexation and that they even might turn on Trump if he blesses annexation and it triggers regional turmoil.

I dont see any pickup among evangelical voters for this move, and theres a risk that you could lose some evangelical votes, in the very states where you might be more vulnerable, Rosenberg told the newspaper.

Notably, these figures might be heeding whispered counsel from the Israeli leaders with whom they are close who, despite their public statements, may be eager to avert a drastic step at a time that Israel is coping with a second wave of the coronavirus, and increased tensions with Iran.

But Rosenberg outlined in a detailed paper posted on his website that it was conversations with Palestinian and Arab leaders that had given him the most pause. He wrote that unilateral annexation would heighten instability in the country that evangelicals care so much about.

Now would be a good time to be praying for the peace of Jerusalem and the region, and praying that Israeli and American leaders will have true wisdom at this critical moment, Rosenberg wrote on his website. Please pray for the Palestinian people who are feeling increasingly hopeless and left out of the process and seeing the U.S. and Israel make decisions without them. And pray, too, for the leaders and peoples of the moderate Arab states who are increasingly in favor of peace with Israel and see extraordinary opportunity for enhanced prosperity for all sides if treaties can be signed and trade relationships opened. Strange times in the Epicenter these days.

With both the United States and Israel facing a surge in coronavirus cases, annexation feels far less pressing than it did July 1, the first date that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could have formally proposed the move. A top Israeli official said this week that issue is landing on the back burner because the United States was paying it little attention.

Still, Evans said his followers, too, would be praying for annexation to move forward, aggrandizing the land under Israels control.

These people are terrified right now, that God is not happy with America, he said. Theyre looking at the riots, theyre looking at the plague of corona, and theyre worried, Is God unhappy, is he cursing us? Theyre not sure, and they want God to bless them.

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A leading evangelical says nixing West Bank annexation could cost Trump the election. Others disagree. - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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Posted By admin on July 17, 2020

None of that seemed so bad to her. Black people could celebrate their roots, Hispanic ones too. It stood to reason, Ms. Olsen thought, that white people should be able to do the same. Stormfront users presented this as if it were a mathematical proof, not a notion freighted with racist, violent history.

Ms. Olsen wrote a post introducing herself and asking, Is there something wrong with being a white supremacist? I dont outwardly profess hatred for other races; I have to work with them and also serve clients of other races in my industry, and I am very good at what I do. I dont advocate violence toward other races. She continued, What is wrong with seeing our race as superior to that of the blacks? Dont we all?

The responses were plentiful and affirming. There is nothing wrong with having a personal opinion, one read. A commenter with the handle Thoughtful Patriot wrote, Lets face reality: People self-segregate by race. Race, the person added, is an intrinsic part of who we are.

To Ms. Olsen, these people seemed smart. Just as important, she told me, they seemed immensely interested in me and my life, and they wanted to be my friend. To someone who grew up without friends, that was very appealing. It made me feel like I must be doing something right.

She wasnt always sure that she believed what she said when she echoed her new friends views, but what mattered was that they wanted to keep talking to her; all she had to do was log in and start typing. If playing a part graduated to instinct, maybe they would like her even more.

The most basic definition of hate is personal animus, but there is a more useful, and frightening, description: Hate is a social bond a shared currency and it abhors a vacuum.

Kathleen Blee, a sociologist and expert in racist activism, writes that social camaraderie, a desire for simple answers to complex political problems, or even the opportunity to take action against formidable social forces can coexist with, even substitute for, hatred as the reason for participation in organized racist activities.

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White Supremacy Was Her World. And Then She Left. - The New York Times

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Posted By admin on July 17, 2020

His comedy club, Madame Sarfati, is named after one of the most famous characters in French comedy: The parody of a Jewish mother played by lie Kakou, who died in 1999. Modeled after North American clubs, it is one of only a few venues in Paris that offers near-daily performance opportunities for French comedians. It took the investors, who include the theater mogul Jean-Marc Dumontet, two years to find and renovate the venue, a former restaurant chosen partly for its location near the Chtelet station, a transit hub easily accessible for suburban visitors.

Before Madame Sarfati opened last November, Fary and Dumontet imagined a number of catastrophic scenarios. Fary admitted wryly that they didnt include a pandemic: The club was closed for nearly four months as France went into lockdown, at an estimated cost of around $110,000, according to its manager, Jennifer Soussan.

Madame Sarfati reopened to the public last week, and while social distancing rules meant an audience of 75 people instead of the usual 100, the all-male group of comics that took to the stage for the reopening night were visibly hungry to try out new material. Jokes about lockdown, racism and police violence came thick and fast. Madame Sarfati keeps its programming a mystery, which means there is no telling whether youll see Fary, Brokerss or newcomers strut onto the stage designed by JR. I want people to come for stand-up, not for me, Fary said.

He is arguably only now approaching maturity in his own career. The evolution between Fary is the New Black and Hexagone is palpable, with the latter leaning more into social commentary and personal material about his family. Its like a date. At the beginning you show a version of yourself that you imagine to be more seductive, a little haughty, he said. Then you reveal more. Im becoming myself.

Jokes about race may be coming to him less easily at the moment, but he has just starred in a new comedy feature, Tout Simplement Noir (Simply Black), directed by Jean-Pascal Zadi. In the mockumentary, which resonates presciently with current events, Fary plays an opportunist version of himself who latches onto the main characters plan to organize a protest for only Black people.

Despite the success of the recent real-life demonstrations in Paris, Fary isnt convinced that meaningful change is on the horizon. France is a country that sees its culture as fixed, not as something that evolves and adapts, he said.

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Fary Isnt Joking About Race in France Right Now - The New York Times

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Posted By admin on July 17, 2020

Mark your calendars, because you dont want to miss these deliciously fun culinary happenings:

Caracol, 2200 Post Oak, has added two botana (meaning appetizer or snack) family meals to its menu, spotlighting the coastal Mexican kitchens popular seafood items. Features include the Botana Caracol, with a dozen camarones a la talla (wood-grilled head-on shrimp), half-dozen ostiones asados (wood-roasted Gulf oysters with chipotle butter), pulpo al carbon (grilled octopus with chipotle tomatillo sauce) and a dozen small blue corn tortillas; or the Botana Costea, with a pint of red snapper ceviche, a pound of boiled shrimp with chipotle mayo and cocktail sauce, and a half-dozen Gulf oysters on-the-half-shell with salsa bruja and lime. Other offerings include family meals to-go, a la carte dishes, desserts and new seasonal items from fire-roasted Ruby Red shrimp to peach and blueberry empanadas. The restaurant is open for both dine-in and takeout.

Backstreet Cafe is bringing Friday Night Date Night to you.

Photo by Paula Murphy

Backstreet Cafe, 1103 South Shepherd, is offering a new Friday Night Date Night Package for $68 plus tax. The three-course dinner for two features a watermelon salad with arugula, feta cheese, red onion, lemon vinaigrette; braised short ribs with red wine sauce, bbq baked beans and sauted kale; and a choice of butterscotch bread pudding or blueberry-peach crisp for dessert. Order online or by calling 713-521-2239 for curbside pickup (and tack on to-go wine and cocktail kits, too). Orders can also be delivered via Favor, Postmates, GrubHub, UberEats and Waitr, and the restaurant offers direct delivery to the following areas for a $7 delivery fee: 77006, 77019, 77098, 77007, 77002, 77010, 77008 and 77009.

Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company, 2101 Summer, is turning its annual Christmas in July celebration into the 12 Days of #XMASINJULY event, kicking off Saturday, July 25, with limited capacity dine-in reservations available for Santas stop each day.

Guests are invited to a Summer Wine Dinner at Ouisies Table, 3939 San Felipe, on Thursday, July 30. The four-course dinner ($55++ per person) will feature five paired ros wines from around the world, with dishes including grilled prosciutto figs and watermelon salad, seafood bastille crisp, braised short ribs with bourbon reduction and an artisanal cheese plate. Unlike wine dinners held in the past, this one can be served at any time that evening reserved by the guests (parties no larger than six allowed). Masks are required going to and from tables and when moving about in the restaurant. Call 713-528-2264.

Throughout August, Kenny & Ziggys,2327 Post Oak, will once again join Jewish delis across the nation in National Deli Month, a month-long effort to recognize the great American heritage of New York-style delicatessens. The famed Houston deli will be raising funds for Holocaust Museum Houston, offering a multi-choice, three-course menu during lunch and dinner for $38 plus tax and gratuity, with 10 percent of each meal sold going to the HMH. The special menu is available for both curbside pick-up or dine-in at the Post Oak location only (the West U location off Buffalo Speedway location will remain closed until a later date).

Brooke Viggiano is a contributing writer who is always looking to share Houston's coolest and tastiest happenings with the Houston Press readers.

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Things to Do: Upcoming Food & Drink Events in Houston this Summer 2020 - Houston Press

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Posted By admin on July 17, 2020

Nayla Rush is a senior researcher at the Center for Immigration Studies.

In an appearance on French television at the end of May, French-American journalist and author Anne Toulouse reacted to the violent protests that followed the death of George Floyd in the United States. Toulouse said (my translation):1

Her words, deemed controversial by some, were criticized on social media (see here3 and here4). But that's not the point of this report.

It is true that the majority of the black community in Minneapolis (the largest city in Minnesota) is of Somali origin. Around 150,000 Somalis live in the United States. The Minneapolis population is around 425,000, of whom 18 percent (or 80,000) are Black or African-American.5 The Somali community in Minneapolis is estimated at 74,000 or more.6

Toulouse is also right to wonder about Minneapolis as a choice of residence for this specific community. Here's why: While migration is mostly conditioned by job opportunities and networking the meat industry in Minneapolis, for example, employs unskilled migrants and refugees, including Somalis refugee placement is in fact orchestrated by a number of resettlement agencies and not by refugees themselves.

Most Somalis who came to Minneapolis in the early 1990s (following the beginning of a long civil war and clan violence), including U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, were admitted here as refugees. According to the U.S. Refugee Processing Center portal, the United States has resettled more than 100,000 Somali refugees since fiscal year 2001.7

The reception and placement (R&P) of refugees is explained in this "Report to Congress on Proposed Refugee Admissions for FY 2020":

Nine religious or community-based organizations, called resettlement agencies, have contracts with the Department of State to resettle refugees inside the United States.9 These agencies (formerly known as "volags") maintain nationwide networks of local affiliates to provide services to refugees, including reception on arrival in the United States, placement, support with housing, community orientation, help accessing health services, enrollment in various benefits and welfare programs, employment, etc.

Resettlement agency representatives determine where refugees are resettled in the United States:

Under the reception and placement program, "initial resettlement services are provided to newly arriving refugees by a local affiliate of one of the participating resettlement agencies. Thus, as a general matter, refugees are not resettled in states that do not have any local affiliates or in parts of states that do not have local affiliates within an allowable distance."11 (Emphasis added.)

Again, Toulouse's query was well founded. In general terms, when we're not dealing with family reunification, refugees cannot pick and choose the state/city they are to call home (let alone their country of resettlement). Of course, they can always move to another location later on (at their own expense), but their initial placement is, in reality, imposed on them.

Even state and local governments don't have a real say in this matter. In principle, the federal government (and the resettlement agencies it works with) needs to consult with states and localities about welcoming refugees into their communities, but reality is quite different, as my colleague Mark Krikorian explained:

In an attempt to correct such omissions, President Trump issued an executive order on September 26, 2019, allowing state and local authorities to opt out of the refugee resettlement program altogether.13 This was later blocked by a Maryland judge.14 Three resettlement agencies (HIAS, Church World Service, and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service) filed a lawsuit "challenging [the] Trump administration executive order allowing state and local officials to block refugee resettlement."15

Following Trump's executive order, 42 governors (including Republicans) expressed their commitment to resettling refugees in their communities. Only Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas announced that his state would not be participating in the refugee resettlement program in FY 2020. However, and as explained in a Star Tribune post last January, "a governor's decision doesn't preclude local officials from refusing to give their consent. For instance, the Democratic mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts, has refused to give written consent for refugees to be resettled in the city."16

Resettlement agencies are indeed concerned about the limitations this executive order if it survives court challenges would impose on their authority over placement, as reported in the Star Tribune:

In short, until further notice, refugees' initial placement into one American community and not another remains in the hands of resettlement agency representatives.

These agencies, as I underlined a couple of years ago, are mostly funded by the U.S. government, i.e. by American taxpayers.18 Their leaders have been very critical of the Trump administration's refugee policy that has lowered refugee admissions ceilings; but, bear in mind, for these organizations, lower resettlement admissions also means less federal funding.

My earlier calculations of the share of these agencies' budgets coming from government funding and the salary of their directors/presidents/CEOs needed updating. I do so here, using the most recent publicly available Form 990 federal tax returns (from 2018, and 2019 when available). I also retrieved, when possible, financial data from the agencies' websites. Finally, I share a brief biography of the heads of these organizations and some of their public stands on the Trump administration's migration and refugee policies.

These resettlement agencies are funded, for the most part, by the U.S. government. Government funding ranges from a low of 41 percent to a high of 96.1 percent. (Some services provided, and government funds received, by these organizations may be non-refugee-related.)

Yearly compensations for the heads of these organizations range from a low of $151,666 to a high of $911,796.

All have been very critical of the Trump administration's migration and refugee policies, many even going as far as suing the Trump administration and lobbying against many of its rulings.

On May 29, 2020, CWS20 announced that McCullough "will be stepping down from his post as President and CEO in June 2021. ... The CWS Board of Directors has begun its search for an experienced and inspiring leader to serve as the organization's next President and CEO and lead the organization into the next decade."21

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018:

About Rev. John L. McCullough:

An ordained minister in The United Methodist Church, he has served pastorates in the United States and Kenya and has held leadership positions at the denomination's global mission agency before joining CWS in 2000.

As architect of the CWS Africa Initiative, he presented to members of the United Nations HABITAT community his vision to guide the establishment of School Safe Zones.

McCullough has overseen the agency's concentration on sustainable access to food and water in the face of climate change.

McCullough has remained outspoken in support of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, DREAMers, and the rights of the displaced.23

In April 2019, McCullough wrote: "Trump Wants More Cruelty at the Border" following Kirstjen Nielsen's resignation from her post as Homeland Security secretary. Accusing President Trump of pursuing his "anti-immigrant agenda", McCullough stated: "We know that President Trump forced Secretary Nielsen to resign to find someone willing to enforce even more cruelty at the border."24

On October 15, 2019, McCullough was "one of 18 leaders arrested on the Capitol steps while protesting the destruction of the U.S. refugee resettlement program."25 (Emphasis added.) He was also very vocal against President Trump's plan to set FY 2020 refugee admissions at 18,000:

With one final blow, the Trump administration has snuffed out Lady Liberty's torch and ended our nation's legacy of compassion and welcome. The darkness of this day will extend for years, if not decades, to come. It will destabilize key allies and destroy what is left of our nation's moral example. Congress must not continue to stand by as the Trump administration systematically blocks all vulnerable people from accessing protection in our country. Congress should support the GRACE Act (S.1088 and H.R.2146), which would set a minimum refugee admissions goal at 95,000 and restore the resettlement program to historic norms. [Emphasis added.]26

On November 21, 2019, CWS, along with HIAS and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, filed a lawsuit against President Trump's executive order that gives state and local authorities the option to pull out from the refugee resettlement program altogether.27

Here's McCullough's statement on that issue:

This executive order is a thinly veiled attempt to play political games with the lives of the most vulnerable. Local support for newly arriving refugees in the communities where we work is already robust and clear. ... There is no justification for allowing local officials to shut down a proven program and block these faith communities from carrying out their mission to welcome the stranger. [Emphasis added.]28

Following reports stating that President Trump was about to announce new border controls because of the coronavirus,29 McCullough issued the following statement in response to what he called "reports that the administration seeks to violate U.S. and international law by turning back all asylum seekers at the southern border" (emphasis added):

The administration's decision is wrong and immoral and will endanger more lives. Closing our southern border to people asking for protection from persecution is about President Trump's nativist policy goals not public health." [Emphasis added.]30

Churches do not have to file 990 forms; there were none filed for this resettlement agency and no financial data is available on its website.31

According to an Episcopal News Service 2017 blog post, "EMM receives very little money from the church-wide budget, instead receiving 99.5 percent of its funding from the federal government. Its main office is housed at the Episcopal Church Center in New York. Stevenson [Mark Stevenson, EMM's director at the time] has said that 90 percent of the contract money directly goes to resettling refugees. EMM retains about $2 million for administrative costs, including all national staff salaries. Any unused money goes back to the government." (Emphasis added.)32

Stevenson, who served as the director of Episcopal Migration Ministries since May 2016, was named in August 2018 as canon to the presiding bishop for ministry within the Episcopal Church. The agency was "searching for a new director, as the incumbent has been promoted to a senior position on the presiding bishop's staff."33

Demetrio Alvero, Stevenson's deputy director, was named interim director of EMM.

On January 23, 2019, Alvero, a veteran staff member of Episcopal Migration Ministries, was appointed director of operations for the refugee resettlement area.34

Alvero "began his career with EMM in 2005 as grants and compliance manager and was appointed deputy director in 2010. His knowledge and experience in the areas of refugee and migration matters spans over 40 years in the United States and abroad, working primarily in Kenya, Guatemala, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Costa Rica."35

Alvero was the Costa Rica representative of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in the mid 1980s.36

No data is available regarding the financial compensation of Stevenson or Alvero.

Stevenson has been quite vocal against President Trump's migration and refugee policies. In 2017, "Rev. E. Mark Stevenson, director of Episcopal Migration Ministries, issued the following statement in response to two federal judges' actions to block President Donald Trump's travel ban limiting entry to people from six Muslim countries":

On behalf of Episcopal Migration Ministries, I give thanks that the courts have once again acted in defense of refugees and immigrants by restraining the implementation of the recent executive order to ban certain nationalities, cultures and religions from entering this country. We recognize that the struggle to walk the moral path is far from over, but for today we rejoice that America will continue to welcome those in great need to a place of safety and opportunity. [Emphasis added.]37

On September 26, 2019, following President Trump's proposed FY 2020 refugee ceiling of 18,000, EMM released a statement on the "White House Decision to Reduce the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program". Excerpts below:

The Episcopal Church condemns the administration's decision to reduce the number of refugees and further dismantle the refugee resettlement program. We also strongly condemn the decision to allow states and localities to reject refugees. The historic average for annual refugee admissions has been 95,000. The FY2020 determination of 18,000 refugees is the lowest in the forty year history of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

...

"This decision will substantially hamper the vital work of Episcopal Migration Ministries to show the love of Christ to some of the most vulnerable people in the world" said The Rev. Dr. C.K. Robertson, canon to the presiding bishop for ministry beyond The Episcopal Church. ...

Communities wholeheartedly value the opportunity to welcome refugees. It sends the wrong message to turn our backs on refugees who could enrich, strengthen, and revitalize our cities and towns. ?allowing>

We urge Congress, and all people of goodwill, to make their voices heard in opposition to this decision." [Emphasis added.]38

Another statement, released on January 11, 2020, "condemns [Texas] Gov. [Greg] Abbott's decision to reject refugee resettlement in 2020."39

Form 990, 2018:

About Tsehaye Teferra:

A native of Ethiopia, he came to the United States in 1972. His commitment to helping refugees adjust to their new homeland in the United States spans close to two decades. He graduated from Georgetown University in 1977 and earned a doctorate in social linguistics. Before starting ECDC, Mr. Teferra worked at Georgetown University and Howard University as a researcher in linguistics and African studies.41

Teferra was designated by the Obama administration as one of many "Champions of Change", "people doing extraordinary things to make a difference in their communities".42

In September 2017, ECDC responded to the Trump administration rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and called on Congress to find a permanent solution.

Teferra said, "We recognize the strength, resilience and contributions of immigrants to the United States, and we count among these contributors the nearly 800,000 individuals who have accessed DACA since the inception of the program. Ending this program without a replacement action threatens the future of young undocumented immigrants brought to America as children. ECDC urges Congress to follow through with its commitment to govern by passing legislation to help create a permanent solution for DACA recipients." (Emphasis added.)43

In 2019, ECDC called the decision of the Trump administration to set the FY 2020 refugee admissions ceiling at 18,000 "a clear abandonment of the world's most vulnerable people", while Teferra defined resettlement as "a life-saving program that contributes toward making the United States a powerful nation."44 (Emphasis added.)

Form 990, 2018:

Financial data from their 2018 annual report on their website:

Mark Hetfield, originally from Watchung, N.J., was named president and CEO of HIAS, the Jewish immigration group on February 4, 2013:

Hetfield succeeded Gideon Aronoff, a South Orange resident who led HIAS for six years until his resignation at the end of May [2012]. Hetfield has been leading HIAS on an interim basis since June [2012].

An expert in the field of refugee protection, Hetfield has experience at many levels of HIAS, where he has worked on and off since graduating from Georgetown University [in 1988]. ... He has worked in Rome and Haiti, as an immigration attorney, as an officer with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and with the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. He worked for HIAS four times in three different cities, including a stint in the New York office.47

On February 7, 2017, HIAS and the International Refugee Assistance Project, with legal representation from the ACLU and the National Immigration Law Center, filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of President Trump's executive order on "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States" that ordered a review of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and halted the issuance of visas from many countries (Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen) citing national security concerns.48 The temporary "travel ban" was denounced by many as being nothing short of a "Muslim ban". The HIAS president and CEO explained why they were suing the Trump administration:

We cannot remain silent as Muslim refugees are turned away just for being Muslim, just as we could not stand idly by when the U.S. turned away Jewish refugees fleeing Germany during the 1930s and 40s. Our history and our values, as Jews and as Americans, require us to fight this illegal and immoral new policy with every tool at our disposal including litigation. [Emphasis added.]49

On January 30, 2017, three days after President Trump signed the executive order mentioned above, Hetfield told MSNBC: "What we saw unfold on Friday [January 27] was the most vile thing I've ever seen come out of the White House in my 28 years of working in this field. This executive order which was so un-American by slamming the door in the face of refugees when they need it the most." (Emphasis added.)50

In February 2020, HIAS announced that "the U.S. government entered into a major settlement with plaintiffs in Jewish Family Service v. Trump, a lawsuit filed in 2017 that challenged the third version of a ban on certain refugees entering the United States. The ban set back scores of refugees who were on the brink of resettlement to the United States, miring their cases in delays for more than two years. This settlement requires the government to expedite the refugee resettlement applications of over 300 refugees who were affected by the ban."51

HIAS is also one of the three resettlement agencies that filed a lawsuit in 2019 challenging the "Trump administration executive order allowing state and local officials to block refugee resettlement."

Hetfield had this to say on this issue:

It was not that long ago that Jews and African-Americans were banned from living in certain neighborhoods and towns. We fought to end that discrimination and humiliation. Now the Trump Administration has issued an executive order which allows states and localities to ban resettled refugees? We won't tolerate such intolerance. We are, once again, suing the federal government to end this unlawful and immoral state and local refugee ban. After all, Jewish tradition, and American tradition, compel us to welcome the stranger. [Emphasis added.]52

Form 990, 2018:

David Miliband, a former British Labour Party politician, walked away from British politics in March 2013. He became the president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee on September 1, 2013. Today, according to the New York Times, he "works to bring food, aid and education to refugees around the world."54

Born in London, Miliband is the "eldest son of immigrant parents, Belgian-born Marxist sociologist Ralph Miliband and Polish-born Marion Kozak, both from Polish Jewish families. He was given the middle name of "Wright" after the American sociologist C. Wright Mills."55

According to IRC, "Miliband's parents fled to Britain from continental Europe during World War II and its aftermath. As the son of refugees, he brings a personal commitment to the IRC's work."56

IRC has been an outspoken critic of President Trump's efforts to pause the refugee resettlement program for assessment. In January 2017 it called on its supporters to: "Oppose President's Trump's ban on refugees" because "[t]hese changes fly in the face of our country's best values of freedom, fairness and compassion. ... Slam the door on hate. Oppose President Trump's unjust refugee Executive Order. ... Take Action. Call your members of Congress." (Emphasis added.)57

IRC later issued a press release applauding the Fourth Circuit ruling against the travel ban:

We are very pleased that the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reinstate the Trump Administration's harmful order banning Muslims including refugees from seeking entry and protection in America, because it is blatantly unconstitutional. The courts have been key to preventing the enforcement of President Trump's hasty and harmful executive order. [Emphasis added.]58

In 2019, Miliband issued a "scathing critique of the Trump administration's handling of border issues". President Trump, alarmed by what he viewed as a border crisis with increasing numbers of illegal crossings from Mexico into the United States, called for emergency funds toward the border wall. Miliband said: "The US government is failing in its most basic responsibilities, never mind as a global leader but as a local example of how a civilized country should behave". He called "the national emergency declared by the US president in February to bolster his plans for a border wall a "manufactured crisis". He added: "By no standards of national or international precedent would you describe it as a crisis, even in the communities affected in the southern US." (Emphasis added.)59

On the decision of the Trump administration to set the FY 2020 refugee admissions ceiling at 18,000, Miliband said: "This is a very sad day for America."60

In a January 20, 2020, op-ed titled "The Legality of Trump's Assault on Refugees", Miliband wrote:

Refugee resettlement has traditionally been a bipartisan issue. Refugees are referred first by the United Nations to identify their vulnerable refugee status, for example victims of torture or those with urgent medical issues. The Trump administration, however, has upended that commitment in three ways. First, it has reduced the number of refugees to be admitted to 18,000, a dramatic departure from historic norms. Furthermore, it has halted U.N. referrals all but eliminating the needs-based bias of the program. Lastly, it has tried to give localities a choice about whether they want to be part of the federal system. [Emphasis added.]61

Form 990, 2018:

Krish O'Mara Vignarajah is the current president and CEO; she was appointed to the post on February 13, 2019.

Financial data from their website for the year ended December 31, 2018:

Reports of financial mismanagement, fraud, and harassment led to the departure of Linda Hartke and calls for an external investigation. According to Breitbart news, the board of directors fired Hartke in early February 2018 after eight years of service, a "consequence of the findings of the internal investigation into her tenure as CEO". A source familiar with the operations of the refugee resettlement industry told Breitbart that issues related to LIRS "are widespread but are rooted in the main areas of financial mismanagement and the incompetence of leadership." Other "key areas" were the focus of the internal investigation: "Financial mismanagement, failure to address financial irregularities discovered by independent audits, wasteful spending, concealment of taxable income, timesheet fraud, budget grant fraud, large severance and settlement payouts to avoid public and board reporting."64

On January 25, 2017, LIRS released a statement condemning the Trump administration's actions "against refugees and migrants". Linda Hartke, LIRS president and CEO at the time said: "As the world has its eyes on us, it is imperative that President Trump uphold the values that America has always lived by: compassion, empathy, family, human rights, and protection for those seeking a safe haven from danger and persecution." (Emphasis added.)65

Vignarajah has served as LIRS president and CEO since February 13, 2019. According to LIRS, this choice "represents a new generation of leadership". She is "the second refugee and first non-Lutheran in its 80-year history" to lead the organization. Vignarajah "previously served in the Obama White House as Policy Director for First Lady Michelle Obama and at the State Department as Senior Advisor under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of State John Kerry."66

On January 8, 2020, Vignarajah wrote an op-ed for the Baltimore Sun titled: "The courts should declare Trump's refugee order unconstitutional". She denounced President Trump's executive order enhancing state and local involvement in refugee resettlement, from her position as "the leader of one of the country's largest faith-based nonprofits, which works with religious communities in every state and as someone who, as a nine-month-old, fled violence and persecution in Sri Lanka with my parents and brother to find refuge in a welcoming America". Vignarajah said:

The president's executive order, however, is simply illegal and unconstitutional and that's why, this week, we went to court. In November, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration regarding the very executive order. The president's executive order undermines the Refugee Act of 1980. The act established clear rules for state and federal cooperation on refugee resettlement, including allowing states to opt out of the program. This doesn't mean states can block resettlement. Instead, private nonprofit organizations handle all services the state would normally deliver. [Emphasis added.]67

In a 2019 public statement announcing the lawsuit filed by LIRS, CWS, and HIAS against President Trump's executive order, Vignarajah stated the following:

Imagine coming to this country after years of violence, persecution and desperation, only to be told you cannot join your family because the state or city must clear new political hurdles in order to welcome you. Imagine being part of a welcoming community where both the local economy and its cultural heritage are bolstered by the presence of refugees only to have the door slammed shut by xenophobic and bureaucratic confusion. This dystopian vision could become our American reality if this unconstitutional executive order is allowed to stand. We will not allow this Administration to further endanger children and families by exploiting fears and stoking nationalism. [Emphasis added.]68

Form 990, 2018:

Financial data from their website for the year ending September 30, 2018:

After Lavinia Limon retired as CEO and president of USCRI, effective October 13, 2017, after over four decades of service, the board of directors appointed Eskinder Negash as acting chief executive officer. On April 2018, Negash became the president and chief executive officer of USCRI. Before taking the reins of the organization, Negash was the executive senior VP of USCRI.71

Negash is a "recognized Senior Executive leader and brings nearly 40 years of proven non-profit management experience. He served as Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), the largest government funded refugee resettlement organization in the world, from 2009-2015. Prior to his appointment by the Obama Administration, he served as the vice president and chief operating officer of USCRI."72 Negash is himself a refugee himself from Ethiopia.73

On April 21, 2010, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) issued a statement in which it "strongly opposes the Administration's pending announcement that it plans to suspend all immigration into the United States until further notice."74 Negash said:

It is in the best interests of our country to restore historic levels of immigration to fuel our economy, enrich our way of life and adhere to the values and principles that have made America a global leader. The U.S., a nation built by immigrants, owes much to our immigrant past and present. We should not be shutting the door to our future. [Emphasis added.]75

On January 15, 2020, USCRI issued a statement on President Trump's executive order "requiring state consent for refugee resettlement":

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Resettlement Agencies Decide Where Refugees Are Initially Placed in the United States - Immigration Blog

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Posted By admin on July 17, 2020

Image by Antone Melton-Meaux

Candidate Antone Melton-Meaux and family

Minneapolis Representative Ilhan Omars primary challenger, Antone Melton-Meaux, raised $3.2 million between April and the end of June, compared to Omars $471,624 during the same period, the Star Tribune reports.

That contest leaves Melton-Meaux with a much larger war chest than his opponent, a freshman Democrat and prominent critic of President Donald Trump.

Melton-Meaux is a 47-year-old Lutheran with a masters degree in the study of the Hebrew Bible and has ties to the Minneapolis areas Jewish community.

Some of Melton-Meauxs donations have come from conservative donors and pro-Israel groups like NORPAC.

Melton-Meaux told the Tribune that Omars comments about Israel have hurt her reputation in the Jewish community.

Ive been sorely saddened and disappointed by the words and the rhetoric of Congresswoman Omar, Melton-Meaux said in a Zoom interview with The Forward earlier in late June. Her tropes, which have been well-documented now, were hurtful to the Jewish community and I know this because Ive spoken with them. Theres still a deep sense of betrayal and frustration with the use of those words and the sentiments. We dont have the time for someone to be in this role whose principal vision towards Jewish community, Israel and many others, is that of a division.

Omar apologized in January of 2019 for a 2012 tweet in which she wrote that Israel has hypnotized the world, and has also apologized for a tweet that said Congress support for Israel was all about the Benjamins.

A spokesperson told the Tribune that an overwhelming majority of Omars constituents approve of her tenure in Congress.

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Ilhan Omars challenger raised $3.2M this past quarter 7 times more than she did - Forward

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Posted By admin on July 17, 2020

This is a tough time of the year to be Jewish.

Colloquially known as The Three Weeks, this is the period of time on the Jewish calendar each summer when we commemorate the various stages of the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians and later, the Second Temple by the Romans, more than 2,000 years ago. The three weeks progress in intensity and are bookended by two fast days.

When I was a kid, I used to hear the adults talking about The Three Weeks and The Nine Days (which are the final, most intense days of this period). I had no idea what they were talking about, but I did learn to dread this time period, because the adults, in talking about the three weeks and the nine days, always projected a note of despair and dread.

During the three weeks, we do not listen to music or have weddings. In the final nine days of the three weeks, depending on Sephardi or Ashkenazi custom, we also do not drink wine or eat meat or chicken. While we can bathe and shower for hygiene, we are supposed to reduce the time and enjoyment in those activities. We also dont go swimming, which, for the kids, is the biggest lifestyle change of them all.

Its interesting how the Jewish calendar cycles through various emotional realities in the human experience. Ive noted in previous columns the journey through the Jewish calendar is basically an adventure through the entire gamut of human emotion. We have joy, celebration, mourning, family time, community time, a time to dance, a time to sing, a time to be outdoors in a sukkah, a time to come indoors and light candles. There is a time for the sound of the shofar and a time for the taste of the matzah and a time for the smell of the spices on Saturday night.

Judaism is so emotionally rich in every way. There is no human emotion that is discouraged or squashed in Judaism. We are taught that it is our responsibility to manage and control our emotions with our minds, but no particular emotion is bad or wrong or off-limits.

While The Three Weeks has never been my favorite time of year, it is an opportunity to get pensive and reflective. It is the time to give voice to our feelings of despair and sadness for all the things that might have been and are not. The Temple was the epicenter of spiritual connection, and, with its destruction, that easy pipeline was taken away from us. The rampant spiritual disconnect and loneliness that so many of us feel is directly linked to the destruction of that Temple 2,000 years ago.

So, while I am counting down the days until the three weeks are over, and we can once again enjoy all the pleasures of life, I feel secure in the structure of Judaism that leads us through all of our emotional states with grace and leadership. I feel connected to a community of Jews all over the world who are feeling my feelings. And I feel a sense of yearning for better times, which I believe and hope and pray are just around the corner.

Read Ruchi Koval online at cjn.org/ruchikoval. Connect with her on Facebook at ruchi.koval and on Instagram @ruchi.koval.

Letters, commentaries and opinions appearing in the Cleveland Jewish News do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Jewish Publication Company, its board, officers or staff.

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Three weeks and counting - Cleveland Jewish News

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Posted By admin on July 17, 2020

JERUSALEM Thousands of Israelis on Tuesday demonstrated outside the official residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling on the embattled leader to resign as he faces a trial on corruption charges and grapples with a deepening coronavirus crisis.

Netanyahu has seen his popularity drop in recent weeks as he comes under criticism from a series of directions. A loose-knit movement has held a number of demonstrations saying that Netanyahu is unfit to lead at a time when he is on trial. Others have taken to the streets to protest a worsening economic crisis caused by the coronavirus.

The rowdy demonstration Tuesday evening was led by anti-corruption activists who refer to Netanyahu as the crime minister. Many held posters, saying You are detached. We are fed up, or saying there is no way a politician under indictment can be prime minister. Demonstrators, defying orders to maintain social distancing requirements, chanted slogans and blew horns outside the Netanyahu's home.

As the demonstrating was ending, there were small scuffles between police and some protesters. Late Tuesday, several hundred protesters marched through central Jerusalem, with some blocking the city's light rail. Police said protesters threw stones and eggs and vandalized shops. Police said they forcibly dispersed the crowd and arrested eight suspects.

Netanyahu is currently on trial for a series of cases in which he allegedly received lavish gifts from billionaire friends and traded regulatory favors with media moguls for more favorable coverage of himself and his family. He denies wrongdoing and has doggedly refused to step down, lashing out at the media, the judiciary and law enforcement, which he says are engaged in a witch-hunt against him. Netanyahus trial, which began in May, is scheduled to resume next week.

The scandals featured prominently in three hard-fought Israeli election campaigns over the course of a year. But amid a continued stalemate, and a coronavirus crisis, Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi, the two retired military chiefs who vowed to replace Netanyahu, decided to join the longtime leader instead in a unity government.

Now, the main source of opposition to Netanyahu is in the streets. On Monday, police dispersed a group of activists who had set up tents outside his official residence in central Jerusalem.

At the same time, Netanyahu is facing a growing wave of discontent over his handling of the coronavirus crisis. After receiving widespread praise for quickly sealing Israel's borders in March and imposing other restrictions, Netanyahu acknowledged last week that he reopened the economy too quickly.

The country is now experiencing a sharp rise in coronavirus cases and the economy is struggling as unemployment remains above 20%. Critics accuse him of leading a bloated, out-of-touch government and moving too slowly to help struggling Israelis.

Netanyahu has promised a safety net to help the self-employed, unemployed and small businesses, and has been holding a series of meetings to ensure that promised stipends are quickly paid out.

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Thousands of protesting Israelis call on Netanyahu to resign - Minneapolis Star Tribune

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Posted By admin on July 17, 2020

Calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a magician or even a king has become axiomatic in Israeli politics. Hes the man who sees every move against his political rivals as a chess game while theyre playing checkers; hes the one whose cold calculations, will to survive and healthy dose of luck put him in a league of his own.

But in recent weeks, the magician seems to have lost it. His wand has been bent; the rabbits have fled his hat.

The fiasco of his request that the Knesset Finance Committee grant him a tax break, his violent excoriation of the attorney general and the infighting in the governing coalition all taking place amid a massive new outbreak of the coronavirus and a deadly economic crisis thats only getting worse have made it clear to the Likud leader (in numbers of the kind he understands) that hes losing the nation. Even if the curve on the graph of his poll numbers hasnt yet flattened, the publics faith in him has collapsed.

Then, after all this, he provided another display of his utter alienation and stupidity in the form of the drama around a proposal to form a parliamentary committee of inquiry into alleged conflicts of interest in the justice system (more on this saga later). The dial of his political compass, which is almost always perfectly calibrated, is now spinning nervously, finding neither direction nor rest.

On top of all this came another episode we watched this week. During the bad old days of frequent terror attacks, prime ministers would go to the scene; thats a basic act of responsibility and leadership. And it cost all of them dearly.

Netanyahu (as prime minister; the opposite rules apply for an opposition leader) has always stayed away from the scene of an attack, whether real or metaphorical. He knows exactly when not to be in the room when the shit hits the fan.

But the Zoom call he held this week with the owners of collapsing businesses, which was widely covered in the media, was the scene of a political terror attack par excellence. Faced with the accusations against him, the prime minister seemed terrified and depressed.

In the end, he mustered a bit of an echo and roared it at the scapegoat du jour, the head of the Israel Competition Authority, who took part in the discussion. Hell always be a one-trick pony.

Benny Gantz watched him from the sidelines (or more accurately, from home, since hes in quarantine). The more Netanyahus popularity declines, the more the threat of an early election recedes. Bennys karma, as associates of the Kahol Lavan chief call it, is evidently working. The coronavirus has been good for him.

The possibility of breaking up the government and calling a new election, which seemed like a clear and present danger a week or two ago, is apparently off the table for now. In a kind of bizarre physics equation, the more the popularity of the government and its constituent parties falls, the more resilient it becomes.

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Deep amid the economic crisis, the face and voice of Finance Minister Yisrael Katz have disappeared. He and Netanyahu are both uptight, and Katz knows very well that his boss will try as much as possible to aim the arrows of public criticism at the finance minister.

For now, Netanyahu is fanning the mud wrestling between the actual finance minister and the man who was supposed to get the job but was left out of the cabinet, Nir Barkat. If the boys are brawling, maybe someone will forget that the prime minister is the chief culprit for the embarrassing state of the economy and of the country as a whole.

While Barkat is trolling Katz, Naftali Bennett the standout politician of the coronavirus crisis is harassing Netanyahu from both the right and the opposition benches. On Thursday, he finished another week of scurrying around among businesspeople (and a raft of media appearances). To borrow from Churchill, never have so few caused so much damage to so many.

And theres one final issue the annexation nonsense, which nobody seems to be talking about anymore. A week and a half has gone by since Donald Trump envoy Avi Berkowitz returned to Washington following talks in Israel. And the historic move to apply sovereignty? Nada. Its as if it never existed.

Its hard to believe that in the meantime, Trump has been brainstorming with his advisers and secretary of state to analyze the insights that Berkowitz brought back. As the U.S. presidential election campaign and the coronavirus heat up, annexation is cooling down.

For Kahol Lavans leaders, thats a cause for celebration. Its a poor mans joy, but it shouldnt be underestimated.

Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and Defense Minister Gantz think their quiet work with the Americans has borne fruit. Neither of them wanted this insane idea. Their opposition, as expressed in discussions with various people, was more vehement and reasoned than their public stance.

Diplomatic and political sources say the turning point that halted the annexation virus occurred on May 13, when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Israel. He met with Netanyahu, Gantz and Ashkenazi.

What exactly is this unity government, he asked? How does it work? And the Kahol Lavan leaders told him, From now on, Netanyahu isnt your only point of reference. You also have to listen to us. The Israeli foreign minister also told his American counterpart that annexation is a piece of diplomatic and security idiocy whose costs outweigh its benefits.

Netanyahu later accused them of creating friction between him and the U.S. administration. We didnt create friction, Ashkenazi responded. I expressed my opinion. I cant help it that its different from yours.

A win for Gantz and principle

The strange political dynamics of the coronavirus unity government became clear in the Knesset Wednesday thanks to the controversial proposal to set up that committee of inquiry into judicial conflicts of interest. The person who helped embarrass the government through a roll-call vote was opposition leader Yair Lapid, who gave the proposals sponsor, Bezalel Smotrich of Yamina, the signatures he needed for this procedure.

Later, after barbs were exchanged between ministers and Knesset members who are all part of the governing coalition, came an incident that could only be termed bizarre. Likuds Miki Zohar saw that members of the Arab parties Joint List were voting against the proposal and went over to party whip Ahmad Tibi.

Ahmad! Youre the Joint List! And youre stabilizing the coalition?! he said.

Miki! Youre the coalition whip! And you want to topple the government?! Tibi responded.

The obvious conclusion from this horror show is that Zohar understood quite well that if the proposal passed, the government would fall. This was also well understood by Speaker Yariv Levin, Shas chief Arye Dery and United Torah Judaisms Moshe Gafni, all of whom warned Netanyahu that this was the likely result if Smotrichs proposal passed.

Why dont you vote against it, or skip the vote? Netanyahu suggested to the heads of the ultra-Orthodox parties. They exploded at him. Their voters hate the Supreme Court even more than the average Likud voter does. They wouldnt forgive their party leaders if their MKs didnt vote in favor.

For a long time, Netanyahu debated over what to do; he was clearly leaning toward torpedoing the proposal. But at the last minute, he reversed course, and the result was the farce we witnessed in the Knesset Wednesday.

Its well known that when Netanyahu changes his mind suddenly, sometimes in defiance of his obvious interests, he isnt operating spontaneously. Hes being operated. And the operator is usually located in the prime ministers residence.

This time, the blame apparently rests with his son, Yair. In the residences warped division of powers, Junior is responsible for the legal system, while the lady, aka Sara Netanyahu, manages the financial affairs.

This week we learned that the caretaker of this residence laden with suspects is once again being questioned on suspicion of criminal conduct relating to the residences management. But the caretaker isnt the source of Netanyahus troubles; that would be his son and wife.

This time, however, Netanyahus change of heart was due in part to factors outside his family. Right-wing journalists put enormous pressure on the Prime Ministers Office, the Knesset speaker and Zohar to bring Smotrichs proposal to a vote. One observer of this action called the pressure crazy.

The journalists, some of whom work for mainstream media outlets, are all part of the gang that curses and abuses the Supreme Court, its president Esther Hayut, Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit and the rest of the rule-of-law gang. And from Wednesday morning until the vote took place, during which time it wasnt clear whether Likud would support or torpedo the proposal, the journalists mounted a campaign.

Break this government up already, they urged their readers and listeners. What are we getting out of it? We arent applying sovereignty, and Avi Nissenkorn is sitting in the Justice Ministry. At least pass Smotrichs committee.

Netanyahu didnt want to break up the government, but he did want to calm the wrath of the comrades who disseminate his teachings to the masses. So he took the middle road. Likud members were allowed to vote in favor, but there would be no massive mobilization for the vote of the kind Likud knows quite well how to mount.

As for the other side, this searing loss in the Knesset revived Kahol Lavan from the dead and made it relevant again. Gantz, Ashkenazi and Nissenkorn stood tall, fought over an important principle for their voters and won.

On the right in the opposition, Yamina also won a minor victory. On top of the Knesset seats Bennett is taking from Likud as shadow minister for the coronavirus crisis, the right wings proposal embarrassed Likud on one of the core issues the parties have in common the legal system. Smotrich and his colleagues are accusing Likud of not supplying the goods, and theyre right.

Netanyahu, Likuds chairman, fled the vote like an army officer who shouts follow me! on the battlefield and runs away. He inflamed his hardcore base, which hates the Supreme Court, but disappointed it a moment later. Moreover, he bolstered a narrative thats sinking in ever deeper, and its clear from the polls that the economic and health crisis isnt at the top of his list of concerns.

The defeat that Gantz and his colleagues served up to Netanyahu and Likud allowed a compromise on the budget, thereby extending the governments life for a few more months. For now, theres no intention to make blunt use of this shift in the balance of forces within this strife-ridden coalition.

Next week, a proposal to establish a commission of inquiry into corruption in the acquisition of submarines and other naval vessels will be brought up for a vote (again), this time by Lapid. After the way Likud behaved Wednesday, Gantz and his colleagues would seemingly be free to vote their consciences. But as of now, according to Gantzs associates, they dont plan to do so. They wont be the ones to break up the government, at least at this stage.

Gantz's dark humor

Israels military chiefs of staff are used to being loved and admired, even after they retire. When they enter a restaurant, there will always be diners who applaud them, toast them or request a selfie with them.

But over the past six weeks, Gantz has discovered what its like when people dont love you. He has been taking lethal friendly fire from his base and has suffered endless insults and derogatory nicknames.

To say hes just letting this slide off the duck's back would be highly inaccurate. He has taken it to heart. His electorate is shrinking, his senior partner in the government belittles him, and doubts about the likelihood of the prime ministers job actually rotating to him as planned are more or less the only thing the whole country agrees on.

The Defense Ministry is vacuuming him up as only it can. His ministers, all rookies, are spinning their wheels on unfamiliar ground, some of them in fictitious ministries. Theyre nagging him to get them some authority on the budget, something to do.

The Knesset battle that ended in a victory for Kahol Lavan and a major humiliation for Likud was Gantzs first head-on-head clash with Netanyahu. The latter grossly violated their coalition agreement just two weeks after Kahol Lavan blocked the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the submarines affair.

It smells bad, but I held my nose, Gantz told his people. I honor agreements. I want to preserve this coalition.

Shortly after the vote, he uploaded a video from his home in Rosh Haayin, where hes quarantined. In the clip he celebrated his victory, but in his own characteristic way. He wasnt dancing on the rooftops. Its as if it were unpleasant for him to win.

As far as hes concerned, the account hasnt been settled. But retaliation will be businesslike, not petty for example, supporting social welfare bills sponsored by the opposition.

Or maybe Kahol Lavan will vote to appoint Yaminas Ayelet Shaked the oppositions representative on the Judicial Appointments Committee. That vote, a secret ballot, will take place next week. In the coalition agreement, Kahol Lavan promised to support Likuds Osnat Mark. But as noted, that agreements provisions have already been violated.

Gantz has developed a black sense of humor. Im doing what my critics want, and Im still catching hell, he was quoted as saying this week. Still, he added, as if to comfort himself, the 40th blow hurts less than the first.

He has derived some encouragement from the relationship hes building with the three leaders of the ultra-Orthodox parties, Dery from Shas and Gafni and Yaakov Litzman from United Torah Judaism. The cold shower they gave Netanyahu Wednesday afternoon, in what has been termed a screaming phone call, Gantz attributes in part to what theyve seen with their own eyes: One half of this partnership is honest, respects agreements and isnt seeking quarrels. The other half is, of course, Netanyahu.

On the gloomy night of April 20, with faces no less gloomy, the two signed the coalition agreement at the prime ministers residence. About a month later, the government was sworn in.

People who meet with Gantz often wonder what he feels about Netanyahu. True, they worked together for years when Gantz was military chief of staff and Netanyahu was prime minister, but now were in a different opera.

These sources impression is that even given the low expectations with which Gantz entered this partnership, he has been disappointed. He had hoped that Netanyahu would rise above petty politics and his personal needs.

If that was truly his hope, he evidently wasnt listening to the warnings from Yesh Atid-Telems Lapid and Moshe Yaalon, students with personal experience. Both are former partners of Netanyahu who became his bitter rivals.

Dropping the bomb

In April, during the lockdown in its various forms, two people went back and forth between the offices of two key senior officials. They provided an impressive presentation on a plan for handling subsequent waves of the coronavirus. It was put together by the Mossad in cooperation with people from academia, the health system, the defense establishment and other places.

The plans main points were reported this week by Nadav Eyal on Channel 13 News. They include a testing system, ramped-up technology and an improved system to monitor the incidence of illness, which is designed to prevent another outbreak. Theres also one more key item the appointing of a coronavirus czar who would have sole authority over handling the crisis.

Its now possible to dispel a little more of the fog surrounding this unusual occurrence. The people pushing this plan were Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and a former senior Mossad official who doesnt currently hold any active position. And Cohens candidate for the position of coronavirus czar was, of course, himself, at the head of his own organization, naturally.

This seems strange, to say the least. Why should an intelligence agency whose main focus is abroad manage a civilian domestic crisis? And after all, the threats the agency exists to address, like an Iran seeking nuclear weapons, havent been destroyed by the virus.

The case Cohen made was typical of any intelligence or epidemiology expert. Schools would open, as would businesses and event halls, and the infection rate would start climbing again. Thus the main effort should be invested in locating clusters of infection before they become outbreaks. Thats what an intelligence agency does it finds needles in haystacks.

In late April, when the curve was on the downswing and the first relaxation of restrictions hesitantly heralded the end of the beginning, Cohen presented the plan to the prime minister and Netanyahu rejected it out of hand, angrily, according to various sources.

He saw Cohens proposal as a no-confidence vote, or at least as an expression of doubt, in Netanyahus ability to continue managing the crisis single-handedly (together with the Health Ministrys then-director general, Moshe Bar Siman Tov). The plan was kicked down the stairs leading from the prime ministers office, along with the man who proposed it.

Cohen is an extremely unusual Mossad director for this very reason. People who know him say he has high political aspirations. Even Netanyahu sees him as a suitable heir, in the distant future.

His character, which is so different from that of the classic intelligence type, has also led him to push Netanyahu into showy events that are ostensibly intelligence-related but are at least equally political, like the grand unveiling of Irans nuclear archive.

Netanyahu presumably thought Cohens proposal stemmed in part from a view of the coronavirus crisis as an opportunity to forge a high public profile. So no way, it wouldnt happen on Bibis watch.

About two months later, Cohens term as Mossad director was extended by six months. Theres not necessarily any connection between these two developments, but the effect is six more months before the heir, as hes being called, can enter the political arena.

The Prime Ministers Office responded, Not only does the prime minister not rule out appointing one person to centralize the testing and data systems, but that is exactly what he directed the health minister to do, and he is doing so now.

Junior partners and then some

With perfect timing, a first-of-its-kind study was published recently. The research examined a terrifyingly relevant topic for Israeli politics: What is the fate of parties that join the governing coalition as second and third fiddles?

The research, which was brought to my attention by Tel Aviv University political scientist Lior Sheffer, was published in the prestigious Journal of Politics. Its based on 219 election campaigns in 28 European countries that have coalition governments. The study covers the 45 years from 1972 to 2017.

The conclusion is clear: Only the party that heads the government receives a benefit in the next election. The other coalition parties suffer a gap of about 6 percentage points compared with the ruling party. In other words, if in the next Israeli election Likud stays at around 35 of the Knessets 120 seats, the other parties in the coalition would be expected to lose seven seats. If Likud wins another four seats, the other parties would lose only three seats.

Of course, these are averages and represent different political situations, but the conclusion is statistically significant because it included hundreds of parties and elections.

The explanation provided is no less interesting than the findings: One reason for the phenomenon is that junior coalition partners fail to carry out their promises to their voters because the senior party controls the agenda. The second reason: Because of the nature of a coalition government, the junior partners cant sufficiently differentiate themselves from their larger partner in terms of both ideology and image.

Now back to our own swamp; the following are some examples from the last decade. In 2012, Kadima joined the coalition and crashed from 28 Knesset seats to only two. Labor, which left the coalition in the middle of the term except for its then-Chairman Ehud Barak and his loyalists who founded the Atzmaut party gained seven seats.

In the 2015 election, Netanyahus main coalition partner, Yesh Atid, slimmed down from 19 seats to 11, and Habayit Hayehudi from 12 to eight. Yisrael Beiteinu chief Avigdor Lieberman, who tends to leave the coalition and later maximize his electoral achievements abandoned his instincts this time. He remained in the coalition and lost seven seats.

In April 2019, Lieberman who quit the government six months earlier with a lot of noise didnt lose altitude. Moshe Kahlons Kulanu, with all the gifts the finance minister handed out to anyone who asked, plunged from 10 seats to four. Even Shas and United Torah Judaism, members of the government, lost seats.

So, if in some amazing way, maybe thanks to the coronavirus, Gantz has the luck in November 2021 to enter the Prime Ministers Office and serve for a year and a half, maybe he and his party will be reborn. In any other scenario in which hes sentenced to an election as Netanyahus junior partner, a loss of seven Knesset seats would actually be a pleasant surprise for him.

By the way, thats exactly the number of seats Kahol Lavan has lost in less than two months of the partnership, according to the opinion polls. Netanyahu specializes in destroying parties and eliminating rivals by keeping complete control over the agenda and preventing rivals from forging a positive narrative for themselves.

The study shows that being a junior partner in a coalition government, whichever the country, is an investment with a negative return. And to be a junior partner in a Netanyahu coalition government is a recipe for bankruptcy.

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Netanyahu the magician finally fumbles his rabbit and the threat of an early election recedes - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on July 17, 2020

Jul 11th 2020

BEIRUT AND JERUSALEM

IN THE EARLY hours of July 2nd a building caught fire in the grounds of the nuclear plant at Natanz in central Iran. Officials downplayed it as an accident in an unfinished shed. But photos showed a building with machinery on the roof. Satellite images added more doubt: scattered debris looked consistent with an explosion, not a fire. The cover story was short-lived. A spokesman for Irans nuclear agency soon admitted it was a factory for centrifuges used to enrich uranium. The damage, he said, could slow work on advanced models.

The apparent blast was one in a string of unusual incidents around Iran this summer (see map). On June 26th there was an explosion near Parchin, a military base south-east of Tehran that produces ballistic missiles. It was big enough to light the night sky in the capital. There have also been fires or explosions at power plants, clinics and other facilities. Some have innocuous explanations, like gas leaks.

But others look intentional. The blasts at Parchin and Natanz raise suspicions of an Israeli hand. For months the conflict over Irans nuclear programme has been overshadowed by covid-19. Now the virus may have helped resurrect it. President Donald Trumps botched handling of Americas outbreak has put his re-election in doubt, and Israel may feel the clock is ticking on an administration committed to maximum pressure on Iran.

Not that anyone will confirm this. Save for rare exceptions, Israel does not take responsibility for covert operations in Iran. Officials settle for cryptic remarks like those made by Gabi Ashkenazi, the foreign minister, on July 5th: We take actions that are better left unsaid. That same day Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, extended the tenure of Yossi Cohen, the Mossad chief. Ten days before, the army had awarded medals to Unit 8200, which oversees high-tech warfare, for secret operational activity; in May Irans main port was paralysed by a cyber-attack.

Even without these sly jabs, the explosions would have been ascribed to Israel, which has spent years fighting a low-intensity war against Iran. Stuxnet, a computer worm thought to be a joint effort by American and Israeli spies, sent Irans centrifuges spinning out of control. Israel has allegedly assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists with sticky bombs planted on their cars.

The deal that Iran signed with world powers in 2015, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was meant to replace these tactical bites with a durable arms-control regime. Mr Trump withdrew from it two years ago and restored economic sanctions. After a year of restraint, Iran began to lash out last summer. It downed an American drone and attacked Saudi oil facilities. The new year brought the American assassination of Qassem Suleimani, Irans top commander, and a retaliatory missile strike by Iran on airbases in Iraq. Since then the conflict has gone quiet.

Mr Netanyahu is anxious to draw attention back to Iran, which has begun to shirk its own obligations under the JCPOA. It has exceeded both the deals limit on its heavy-water stockpiles and the cap on enriched uranium. It has also boosted enrichment to 4.5% purity, above the prescribed 3.67% threshold, though far below the 90% level at which it becomes weapons-grade.

The Israeli prime minister is mindful of the changing mood in America. Netanyahu has finally realised that Trump wont be around for much longer, and its more important for him to use this time to push Iran, rather than annex the West Bank, says an Israeli intelligence official.

He may also wager that Iran will find it hard to retaliate, with its regional allies in a mess. Bashar al-Assad won the war in Syria but is losing the peace: his regime can barely feed its people. Lebanon defaulted in March and is struggling to keep the lights on. Iraqs new prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, is taking on pro-Iranian militias.

Mr Trumps opponent, Joe Biden, supports re-entering the JCPOA (if Iran starts complying again). Though even if America elects Mr Biden, Iran may be heading in the other direction. President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate by Iranian standards, will leave office next summer. Voters are frustrated with his camp, because of a miserable economy and a sense that reformists are not actually allowed to reform much.

That could augur well for Irans hardliners, who have already taken control of two branches of government. Parliaments new speaker is a former Revolutionary Guard commander, and the chief justice was Mr Rouhanis opponent in the past election. In a speech to Irans new parliament on July 5th, Muhammad Javad Zarif, the pragmatic foreign minister, was heckled. Several MPs chanted death to a liar.

When Mr Trump left the JCPOA, critics feared he would fail to replace it. If he leaves office in six months they will probably be proved right. He will have achieved little except raising tensions to their highest level since the 1980s. Mr Biden may find Iran in little mood for concessions. And he will have other problems to occupy his time. That leaves a return to covert warand more booms in the night.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline "Booms in the night"

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What to make of a series of odd explosions in Iran - The Economist

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