The U.S. government agency that oversees immigration applications is launching an office that will focus on identifying Americans who are suspected of cheating to get their citizenship and seek to strip them of it.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director L. Francis Cissna told The Associated Press in an interview that his agency is hiring several dozen lawyers and immigration officers to review cases of immigrants who were ordered deported and are suspected of using fake identities to later get green cards and citizenship through naturalization.

Cissna said the cases would be referred to the Department of Justice, whose attorneys could then seek to remove the immigrants’ citizenship in civil court proceedings. In some cases, government attorneys could bring criminal charges related to fraud.

Coordinated effort

Until now, the agency has pursued cases as they arose but not through a coordinated effort, Cissna said. He said he hopes the agency’s new office in Los Angeles will be running by next year but added that investigating and referring cases for prosecution will likely take longer.

“We finally have a process in place to get to the bottom of all these bad cases and start denaturalizing people who should not have been naturalized in the first place,” Cissna said. “What we’re looking at, when you boil it all down, is potentially a few thousand cases.”

He declined to say how much the effort would cost but said it would be covered by the agency’s existing budget, which is funded by immigration application fees.

The push comes as the Trump administration has been cracking down on illegal immigration and taking steps to reduce legal immigration to the U.S.

Immigrants who become U.S. citizens can vote, serve on juries and obtain security clearance. Denaturalization, the process of removing that citizenship, is very rare.

Citizenship revoked

The U.S. government began looking at potentially fraudulent naturalization cases a decade ago when a border officer detected about 200 people had used different identities to get green cards and citizenship after they were previously issued deportation orders.

In September 2016, an internal watchdog reported that 315,000 old fingerprint records for immigrants who had been deported or had criminal convictions had not been uploaded to a Department of Homeland Security database that is used to check immigrants’ identities. The same report found more than 800 immigrants had been ordered deported under one identity but became U.S. citizens under another.

Since then, the government has been uploading these older fingerprint records dating back to the 1990s and investigators have been evaluating cases for denaturalization.

Earlier this year, a judge revoked the citizenship of an Indian-born New Jersey man named Baljinder Singh after federal authorities accused him of using an alias to avoid deportation.

Authorities said Singh used a different name when he arrived in the United States in 1991. He was ordered deported the next year and a month later applied for asylum using the name Baljinder Singh before marrying an American, getting a green card and naturalizing.

Authorities said Singh did not mention his earlier deportation order when he applied for citizenship.

Entered a new chapter

For many years, most U.S. efforts to strip immigrants of their citizenship focused largely on suspected war criminals who lied on their immigration paperwork, most notably former Nazis.

Toward the end of the Obama administration, officials began reviewing cases stemming from the fingerprints probe but prioritized those of naturalized citizens who had obtained security clearances, for example, to work at the Transportation Security Administration, said Muzaffar Chishti, director of the Migration Policy Institute’s office at New York University law school.

The Trump administration has made these investigations a bigger priority, he said. He said he expects cases will focus on deliberate fraud but some naturalized Americans may feel uneasy with the change.

“It is clearly true that we have entered a new chapter when a much larger number of people could feel vulnerable that their naturalization could be reopened,” Chishti said.

Since 1990, the Department of Justice has filed 305 civil denaturalization cases, according to statistics obtained by an immigration attorney in Kansas who has defended immigrants in these cases.

The attorney, Matthew Hoppock, agrees that deportees who lied to get citizenship should face consequences but worries other immigrants who might have made mistakes on their paperwork could be targeted and might not have the money to fight back in court.

Cissna said there are valid reasons why immigrants might be listed under multiple names, noting many Latin American immigrants have more than one surname. He said the U.S. government is not interested in that kind of minor discrepancy but wants to target people who deliberately changed their identities to dupe officials into granting immigration benefits.

“The people who are going to be targeted by this, they know full well who they are because they were ordered removed under a different identity and they intentionally lied about it when they applied for citizenship later on,” Cissna said. “It may be some time before we get to their case, but we’ll get to them.”

By JV Staff

The post US Vows to Find, Punish Citizenship Cheaters appeared first on Jewish Voice.

White House Director of the National Trade Council Peter Navarro apologized Tuesday for saying there was a “special place in hell” for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after he conducted perceived “bad faith diplomacy” with President Donald Trump.

“My job was to send a signal of strength. The problem was that in conveying that message I used language that was inappropriate,” Navarro said at a conference in Washington, D.C. Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported.

“I own that, that was my mistake, those were my words,” Navarro said.

Speaking with Fox News on Sunday regarding the feud between Trudeau and President Trump at the G-7 economic conference in Canada, Navarro blasted Trudeau, accusing him of ‘dishonest’ behavior towards Trump, and attempting to ‘stab’ the president in the back.

“There’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door,” Navarro said.

Navarro suggested that his comments reflected President Trump’s feelings regarding Trudeau, saying they came “right from Air Force One.”

Shortly after Canada hosted the G-7 meeting, which Trump attended, Trudeau held a press conference following Trump’s departure. During the press conference, Trudeau lambasted the Trump administration’s trade policy, accusing the US of attempting to ‘push around’ its northern neighbor.

“Canadians … stood shoulder to shoulder with American soldiers in far off lands in conflicts from the First World War onward,” Trudeau said.

“Canadians, we’re polite, we’re reasonable, but we also will not be pushed around,” Trudeau continued.

President Trump fired back at Trudeau with an early morning tweet Sunday, calling Trudeau’s suggestion that American trade policy constituted a form of aggression against Canada “false statements”, and accused Canada of maintaining its own high tariffs on US agricultural products.

“Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!”

“PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, “US Tariffs were kind of insulting” and he “will not be pushed around.” Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!”

Also on Sunday, top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Trudeau “stabbed us in the back” with a “double cross” at the G7 summit.

In a fiery interview, Kudlow called Trudeau’s press conference a “sophomoric, political stunt for domestic consumption.”

“President Trump played that process in good faith,” Kudlow said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. “So, I ask you: He gets up in the airplane and leaves, and then Trudeau starts blasting him at a domestic news conference? I am sorry, that’s a betrayal. That’s a double cross.”

On Monday, it was reported that Larry Kudlow had suffered a heart attack and was being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders later told reporters that Kudlow was in “good condition” and “doing well” after suffering a “mild” heart attack.

“Our Great Larry Kudlow, who has been working so hard on trade and the economy, has just suffered a heart attack,” Trump wrote from Singapore just minutes before he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

By; Conor Beck

The post Trump Advisor Navarro Apologizes for ‘Special Place in Hell’ for Trudeau Comment appeared first on Jewish Voice.

It’s not often that kids find politics interesting, but the students at Magen David Yeshivah elementary school in Brooklyn gave Gov. Andrew Cuomo the rock-star treatment from the time he walked onto the stage to when he left.

New York State awarded $5.8 million in grants for Brooklyn nonprofit schools, day care centers and cultural museums that will be used to enhance security measures, the governor announced on Wednesday. The governor’s vision of an equal and just society includes the need for making sure non-public childcare and education entities have the funding to meet the security standards he wants for public institutions. The grant money is part of the statewide $25 million Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes Grant Program.

Children, parents, faculty alike all made their way through the clean and airy hallways of the private elementary school and into a packed auditorium where the governor addressed them. Kibitzing echoed throughout the building, or maybe it was just the enthusiasm of knowing the governor was about to speak.

“By supporting the diverse cultures and community centers found throughout this great state, we are setting an example for the nation while establishing a stronger, safer New York for all,” Gov. Cuomo said.

The echoes in the hallways from before the governor spoke sounded like mere whispers compared to the thunderous applause and electric cheering that filled the auditorium and entire building with nearly uncontainable energy, which is saying something considering how large Magen David Yeshivah is. A sea of kippahs would simultaneously rise and recede when the governor sang their tune.

The State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services issued the grant, which provides up to $50,000 in funding for additional security training needs, cameras, door-hardening, and improved lighting. Organizations that operate more than one facility could submit up to three applications for a total request of up to $150,000.

The vast majority of the organizations are Jewish, like Magen David Yeshivah, which received three $50,000 grants for its buildings. Other organizations include the Brooklyn Amity School,

Catholic Charities Neighborhood Services, Inc., St. Ephrem School and Holy Angels Catholic Academy. Each of those organizations received $50,000 grants, with the exception of Holy Angels Catholic Academy, which received $25,000. One other group, the Council of People’s Organization, advocates for the rights of low-income immigrants and Muslims while trying to help build better relations between Muslim and non-Muslim groups. All of these different organizations fit into what Cuomo talked about in front of the cheering parents and students at Magen David Yeshivah, the need for a society where there’s opportunity for all and where discrimination won’t be tolerated.

Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union, Allen Fagin, also felt optimistic about the announcement but was cautious. “In the insane world we’re living in, I’m not sure there is a concept of adequate security,” Fagin said. He will also continue to advocate for these issues and continue stressing the importance of making sure these non-public organizations have the same access to security that publicly funded places do. “You need to be blind to what’s going on in the world if you don’t have some concern for safety and security,” he said. “Pick up a newspaper or turn on the television,” he added.

Cuomo was introduced by a woman personally affected by the kind of hate about which Cuomo highlighted. Devorah Halberstam dedicated the Jewish Children’s Museum to her late son, Ari Halberstram, who was killed by a Lebanese gunman on the Brooklyn Bridge in 1994. Her emotional and vivid descriptions of her son and what happened set the scene for Cuomo’s presentation.

“In life, certain things happen to people, and you get to see how they respond,” Cuomo said as he opened his speech. He spoke about his admiration for how this grieving mother didn’t respond with hatred or anger, but instead she took the pain of losing a child and turned it into a positive. The museum she helped create, a museum that aims to teach tolerance, was vandalized and evacuated for a bomb threat last year. These kinds of incidents and the spike in their occurrences are great examples of why the state is giving these grants for bolstered security at 80 Brooklyn organizations.

The governor cited the rising incidents of hate and white supremacy. He referenced Anti-Defamation League statistics that show a 60 percent increase in anti-Semitic activity and a 90 percent increase for that same activity in the city of New York alone. Cuomo said that he wants parents and students to know they should be able to feel they are in a safe place when at schools and other institutions for children.

The announcement comes on the heels of the state granting $2.1 million to the same types of institutions in Long Island. Cuomo has also put together a special police unit that investigates hate crimes. He said that there should be “zero tolerance for this activity.” The state police receive referrals from both the hotline and text line monitored by the Division of Human Rights. Cases of discrimination that are covered by the New York State Human Rights Law may be further investigated. Anyone with information leading to an arrest or conviction for a hate crime can receive a $5,000.

Jake Adler, director of Teach NYS and member of the Orthodox Union, felt pleased with the governor’s announcement and thinks that the basic security requirements can now be fulfilled at the institutions receiving the grants. His said that his organization’s work is never done and that they will continue going to Albany to advocate for their positions. He didn’t have an answer when asked if these security measures could potentially carry the negative consequence of the kids feeling like they’re growing up in a security state.

Announced in October 2017, the Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes Grant program attempts to mitigate the issue of hate crimes, and the FY 2017-18 state budget established a statewide Hate Crimes Task Force to mitigate recent incidents of bias-motivated threats, harassment, and violence in New York.

The post NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo Gets Hero’s Embrace at Magen David Yeshivah appeared first on Jewish Voice.

Jewish Cuisine is one of the biggest influences in Yeh’s cooking. One reason is that because she lives on a farm, she no longer has the luxury of going to a local store and buying herself a Jewish-inspired meal. If she wants one, she must make it from scratch.

A new Food Network show premiering this month stars best-selling cookbook author, food blogger and chef Molly Yeh, whose one-of-a-kind recipes are inspired by her Jewish-Chinese roots, the Midwest and farm life.

In the seven-episode show, “Girl Meets Farm,” viewers are invited inside her farmhouse on the Minnesota-North Dakota border, where she lives with her husband, Nick Hagen, a fifth-generation farmer whom she described to JNS as a “mensch.”

“We put together such a fun colorful lineup of recipes that each tell a story and that I care about a lot,” said Yeh, 29. “My dad comes for an episode, and we make Chinese food together, and my mom comes for an episode, and we make her brisket together, so there are a lot of personal aspects to it.”

Yeh, whose father is Chinese and whose mother is Jewish, grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. She always loved food, even though she apparently was a picky eater when she was younger. She said she used to eat only brown, white and yellow foods—like macaroni-and-cheese and matzah balls. Still, her love for food started at home and stayed with her even when she left.

“My mom is an amazing cook and baker, and my dad is a human garbage disposal, so I grew up around food lovers and just thought that everyone loves food as much as we do,” said Yeh, whose sister, also a chef, works in Chicago. “It wasn’t until I moved to New York that I got inspired to try new foods. I made up for lost time and jumped at every opportunity to try new things; it was a very delicious time.”

Post-high school, Yeh moved to New York and attended the Julliard School, where she studied percussion. She moved from Brooklyn to a Midwestern farm with her husband five years ago, telling JNS that the transition has been amazing.

“I was ready for it, and I love life on the farm with my chickens and farm cats and rhubarb patch,” she said. “There were a few things about the transition that were rocky, like suddenly being very, very far away from good bagels, but then I learned to make them, so I’m OK now.”

Moving also opened Yeh’s eyes about her Jewish roots and what she had assumed, for the longest time, to be the normal way of life. As she explained, “Something I didn’t realize that was particularly Jewish until I moved to an area filled with Scandinavian descendants is how we’re encouraged to speak our minds, have strong opinions, discuss, argue, etc. Growing up in Chicago and New York, I just thought that was the way.”

“Then when I moved to the Upper Midwest, I learned about this new way of interacting with people which is very polite. Things always start on time here, people don’t speak their mind upfront; it’s a totally different world. It’s not better or worse; it’s just this totally different new thing that made me realize that this particular aspect of Jewish culture is in fact unique and great. Every week, I listen to my favorite podcast Unorthodox, which is like comfort food for my brain.”

Jewish cuisine is one of the biggest influences in Yeh’s cooking, she told JNS. One reason is that because she lives on a farm, she no longer has the luxury of going to a local store and buying herself a Jewish-inspired meal. If she wants one, she must make it from scratch.

“And I love doing that because it opens up opportunities to put homegrown ingredients in my favorite comfort foods,” she said, “like adding potatoes from the garden and eggs from my chickens to my challah dough, or topping my babka French toast with rhubarb from my patch. My Chinese background also plays a large role in how I cook on an everyday basis, and the two cuisines tend to overlap nicely, [like] between kreplach and pot stickers. They both have the best dumplings, that’s for sure.”

Infusion of Middle Eastern tastes and ingredients

Yeh often shares recipes and pictures on Instagram of dishes that are connected to the Jewish holidays, including Passover, Chanukah, Purim, Shavuot and Tu B’Shevat. Although not all her ingredients are kosher, she uses many Middle Eastern items in her dishes. She even told Food Network that tahini is one ingredient that is always in her pantry.

Among her numerous creative recipes are ones for maple-tahini cupcakes with labneh frosting; kale matzah pizza; cardamom macaroons with a rosewater raspberry glaze; onion jam and za’atar sufganiyot(“doughnuts”); marzipan challah; French yogurt malabi; molten halvahlava cakes; a saffron, cardamom and rosewater tiramisu; challah-crusted schnitzel; falafel sliders; and salt-and-vinegar potato “knishentaschen,” which is like a marriage between a knish and a hamantaschen—those delicious tri-cornered filled pastries eaten at Purim time.

So many of her ingredients are pulled from her garden and what she can find locally. She once shared with her Instagram followers a picture of her “l’chaim-ing into the weekend” with a pistachio-rimmed frozen cocktail that includes strawberries, cream, cardamom and local Minnesota vodka.

Doing so much with dough

Over the years, Yeh has received a lot of recognition for her craft. She was named “Blogger of the Year” in 2015 by the gourmet, food, wine and travel magazine Saveur, and in 2016, she was dubbed “one of the most popular food bloggers in the game” by Bon Appetit magazine. That same year, she dropped her first cookbook, the International Association of Culinary Professionals award-winning Molly on the Range.

She was on Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list in 2017 and published a book on yogurt this year. She’s been featured in Food & Wine magazine, among other publications, and some of her favorite Passover recipes were published in the April 2018 issue of Rachel Ray’s magazine. She also reported on arts and culture for the Olympic Channel live from South Korea during the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

Yeh told JNS that inspiration for her food stems from her Jewish-Chinese heritage, but also her travels, the 1990s, the Upper Midwest, foods she misses from New York, her love for “savory things” and “a desire to make savory versions of sweet things.” Savory sufganiyot are her favorite kind of doughnuts.

In fact, her favorite thing of all to make it challah dough.

She told JNS: “Whenever I make challah dough, I usually make one regular loaf and then use the other half of the dough to play with. It’s such a versatile, delicious dough. I like frying it into doughnuts, flattening it out to make pizza, dipping it in a baked baking soda bath to make pretzels, waffling it . . . the options are endless.”

By: Shiryn Solny
(JNS.org)

“Girl Meets Farm” premieres on Sunday, June 24, on the Food Network.

The post ‘Girl Meets Farm’ – Food Network to Feature Urban-Country Cuisine from Jewish-Chinese Chef appeared first on Jewish Voice.

FBI Director Christopher Wray defended the bureau on Monday against criticisms leveled by Republicans following a scathing inspector general report about its handling of the 2016 Hillary Clinton email server investigation.

Appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee alongside the Justice Department’s inspector general, Wray said the internal audit focused on the conduct of a “small number” of FBI employees during the email probe and did not reflect on the larger institution.

“Mistakes made by those employees do not define our 37,000 men and women and the great work they do every day,” Wray said. “Nothing in this report impugns the integrity of our workforce as a whole or the FBI as an institution.”

The FBI is determined to avoid repeating the mistakes identified in the 600-page report, Wray said, adding that he’d already started acting on some of its recommendations, including referring misconduct highlighted by the report to the bureau’s disciplinary arm.

The comments followed the release last Thursday of the report by the Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, on the FBI’s investigation of Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state.

Took to task former FBI head

The report blasted former FBI Director James Comey for “deviating” from long-standing policies and procedures during the investigation but said there was no evidence that “political bias” or other “improper considerations” had impacted the investigation.

The review also criticized five FBI employees involved in the investigation for exchanging anti-Trump and pro-Clinton text messages during the probe, including two senior officials — Peter Strzok and Lisa Page — who also worked for special counsel Robert Mueller, who is heading an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

The inspector general said that while he found no evidence that “improper considerations, including political bias,” influenced the Clinton email investigation, the messages “cast a cloud over the FBI’s handling of the investigation and the investigation’s credibility.”

Mueller removed Strzok from his team after the inspector general flagged the pair last August. Page left the team and resigned from the FBI last month.

President Donald Trump and his allies have seized on the report to renew their attack on the special counsel. In a Twitter message posted on Monday, Trump repeated a long-standing claim that the Mueller investigation was a “witch hunt.”

“Comey gave Strozk his marching orders. Mueller is Comey’s best friend. Witch Hunt!” Trump tweeted.

Last week, Trump said told “Fox and Friends” that the report “totally exonerates me.”

“There was total bias when you look at Peter Strzok, what he said about me, when you look at Comey and all his moves,” Trump said.

Didn’t focus on Mueller probe

The report did not focus on the Mueller investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow. Democrats on the committee repeatedly urged the inspector general to make that point.

Horowitz said that the report focused on the FBI’s handling of the Clinton investigation and only briefly “touched on” the Russia investigation when investigators brought the text messages between Strzok and Page to the attention of the special counsel and learned that Strzok wanted to prioritize the Russia investigation over the Clinton probe.

Republican members of the committee cited the text messages to discredit the FBI and the Mueller investigators.

“There is a serious problem with the culture at FBI headquarters,” Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch said.

But Wray dismissed Trump’s repeated characterization of the investigation as a “witch hunt.”

“As I said to you last month and as I said before, I do not believe special counsel Mueller is on a witch hunt,” Wray said.

By: Masood Farivar

The post FBI Director Defends Bureau Against Criticism appeared first on Jewish Voice.

The Senate passed a $716 billion defense policy bill on Monday, backing President Trump’s call for a bigger, stronger military but setting up a potential battle with the White House over Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE Corp.

The Republican-controlled Senate voted 85-10 for the annual National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which authorizes U.S. military spending but is generally used as a vehicle for a broad range of policy matters.

Before it can become law, the bill must be reconciled with one already passed by the House of Representatives. That compromise measure must then be passed by both chambers and signed into law by Trump.

The fiscal 2019 Senate version of the NDAA authorizes $639 billion in base defense spending, for such things as buying weapons, ships and aircraft and paying the troops, with an additional $69 billion to fund ongoing conflicts.

This year, the Senate included an amendment that would kill the Trump administration’s agreement to allow ZTE to resume business with U.S. suppliers. That ZTE provision is not included in the House version of the NDAA.

While strongly supported by some of Trump’s fellow Republicans as well as some Democrats, the measure is opposed by the White House and some of its close Republican allies, who control the House as well as the Senate.

It could face a difficult path to being included in the final NDAA.

That bill is more likely to include a much less stringent provision, included in the House bill, that would bar the Defense Department from dealing with any entity using telecommunications equipment or services from ZTE or another Chinese company, Huawei Technologies.

Republicans and Democrats have expressed national security concerns about ZTE after it broke an agreement to discipline executives who had conspired to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran and North Korea.

The government placed a ban on ZTE earlier this year, but the Trump administration reached an agreement to lift the ban while it is negotiating broader trade agreements with China and looking to Beijing for support during negotiations to halt North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

Foreign investment rules

The Senate version of the NDAA also seeks to strengthen the inter-agency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which assesses deals to ensure they do not compromise national security.

The bill would allow CFIUS to expand the deals that can be reviewed, for example making reviews of many proposed transactions mandatory instead of voluntary and allowing CFIUS to review land purchases near sensitive military sites.

The Senate NDAA also includes an amendment prohibiting sales to Turkey of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets made by Lockheed Martin Corp unless Trump certifies Turkey is not threatening NATO, purchasing defense equipment from Russia or detaining U.S. citizens.

Senators included the legislation because of the imprisonment of U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson and the purchase of the S-400 air defense system from Russia.

Shipbuilders General Dynamics Corp and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc could benefit from the bill’s authorization of advance procurement of materials needed for the Virginia class nuclear submarines.

This year’s Senate bill was named after six-term Senator John McCain, the Armed Services Committee’s Republican chairman and Vietnam War prisoner of war, who has been absent from Washington all year as he undergoes treatment for brain cancer.

By: Walter Metuth

The post Senate Passes Defense Bill; Refuses to Sell F-35 Jets to Turkey appeared first on Jewish Voice.

After signaling desires to leave the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Trump administration made it official on Tuesday. Ignoring the work that the council does, its purpose, and the symbolism of America being a part of this council, the administration went ahead with the decision because it said the council is hypocritical and biased against Israel.

“For too long, the Human Rights Council has been a protector of human rights abusers, and a cesspool of political bias,” Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, said Tuesday at the State Department in Washington.

The human rights council recently criticized President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, coming from the UN’s high commissioner for human rights himself, calling the family separation policy “unconscionable.”

America used to use a system of “catch and release” while undocumented immigrant families awaited proceedings, according to The Telegraph, until the Trump administration decided to separate families earlier this year. America separated over 2,000 from their parents, with photographs showing kids interned in interned in wire mesh cages, The Telegraph reports. ProPublica obtained a secretly recorded tape of Central American children at a detention center in Texas crying and pleading for their parents as a guard joked that “we have an orchestra here.”

BBC News reports that the move is the latest from an administration hell-bent on creating chaos regardless of the consequences. While a full withdrawal is a first, the Bush Administration decided to boycott the council for similar reasons to why the current administration did so. The United States eventually re-joined under the Obama administration until 2009, three years after the council’s creation.

Plenty of allies tried and failed convincing the United States to remain in the council, or at the least, work towards reforms rather than give up on the entire idea.

The move also comes as a worry to some who see the withdrawal as related to some of the president’s authoritarian tendencies, like praising dictators and calling for the imprisonment of political opponents without evidence. Trump recently met with the brutal North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, and his response to reporter Bret Baier when asked about North Korean human rights violations, instead of criticizing Kim, was “Yeah, but so have a lot of other people done some really bad things,” adding “I could go through a lot of nations where a lot of bad things were done.”

Established to promote human rights worldwide the council has passed more than 70 resolutions critical of Israel, 10 times as often as it has criticized Iran.

By: Edward Klein

The post US Withdraws from UN Human Rights Council appeared first on Jewish Voice.

Globally-renowned investor and billionaire participated in third event with the Bonds organization in 18 months

Calling Israel’s independence “a good day for the world,” Berkshire Hathaway Chairman, President & CEO Warren Buffett demonstrated his support for Development Corporation for Israel, commonly known as Israel Bonds, by welcoming the organization back to Omaha for a second event in the global magnate’s hometown and his third with the Israel Bonds enterprise in 18 months. The June 7 event with the internationally-renowned investor and philanthropist helped raise $80 million in Israel bonds investments and intentions to invest at a gathering at which he met with investors who each made a new minimum $1 million Israel bond investment to attend.

The exclusive evening with the famed ‘Oracle of Omaha,’ which took place at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, included a dinner reception attended by over 70 investors from the U.S. and Canada, in addition to Israeli dignitaries and members of the diplomatic corps, including Shai Babad, Director General, Israel’s Finance Ministry; Ambassador Danny Danon, Israel’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations; and Ambassador Dani Dayan, Consul General of Israel in New York.

Buffett, who made Israeli tool company ISCAR Metalworks his first major overseas acquisition in 2006, spoke warmly of the Jewish state noting, “I’ve lived through Israel’s entire 70-year history and I believe it is one of the most remarkable countries in the world.” He emphasized, “I’m delighted to own Israel bonds.”

When asked why he remains committed to Israel and the Bonds institution, Buffett stated, “I have nothing but good feelings about what I am doing. The United States and Israel will always be linked. It is a good thing for Israel that there is an America, and it is a good thing for America that there is an Israel.”

Israel Bonds President & CEO Israel Maimon observed, “The Israel Bonds organization has played a significant role in the realization of one of Israel’s most remarkable accomplishments–the building of a robust, resilient economy. Investors the world over, including Warren Buffett, have taken notice.”

Bonds Vice President of Sales Stuart Garawitz announced sales for all three events – two in Omaha and one in New York – totaled $290 million, declaring, “This could not have happened without the full support of Warren Buffett.”

Finance Ministry Director General Shai Babad, in citing positive economic markers for Israel including record foreign investment, low unemployment and consistent GDP growth, said, “We just don’t see you as investors, we see you as great friends of Israel.

In addition to Buffett’s own Israel bond holdings, Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio has included Israel bonds since the company’s acquisition of GUARD Insurance in 2012, now known as Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies. GUARD is a holder of Israel bonds in its portfolio.

Since its founding in 1951, Israel Bonds has secured more than $41 billion in global sales. In 2017, worldwide Israel bond sales exceeded $1.3 billion.

For the last several years, however, the number of events that Israel Bonds has held has been markedly diminished, according to David Ben Hooren, the publisher of the Jewish Voice.

“Since the leadership of Israel Bonds has changed hands, there is very little news emanating from Israel Bonds as it pertains to their normally pro-active sales events,” said Ben Hooren. “Israel Bonds has had a distinguished reputation for holding semi-annual gala fundraisers in a number of North American cities along with many local events, yet we are no longer receiving their press releases. It appears that they are not actively pursuing their donors as they once had,” he added.

According to highly placed sources within the organization, Israel Bonds has tamped down its multifarious sales initiatives. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the sources have speculated that since the Israeli economy has grown by leaps and bounds over the last two decades, the formidable revenue that Israel Bonds had once generated is not as critical to Israel’s economic well being as it once was. They say that Israel Bonds no longer wishes to be saddled with paying out dividends on the bonds sold and therefore is no longer playing the active role that it previously had.

Edited by: JV Staff

The post Warren Buffett Raises $80M in Israel Bond Investments While Organization Keeps Low Profile appeared first on Jewish Voice.

Beyond staking its claim as one of the most innovative countries in the world, Israel has made significant contributions in the realm of environmental conservation and protection. Most notably, Israel has taken the lead in water conservation solutions. From drip irrigation to desalination plants, Israel has made waves in a largely stagnant field of research and innovation, solving water crises around the globe.

But while California, Kenya, and North India have Israel to thank for their life-saving and economy-bolstering water technology, Israel still struggles with its own water security, and the situation is quickly deteriorating.

Since Israel’s establishment, policy makers have understood that the region’s desert climate and dry seasons would make water conservation crucial to the country’s survival. Since then, innovative technologies and policies have been addressing the issue. With nearly 90% of wastewater being recycled in Israel, the highest percentage across the globe, and nearly 80% of drinking water coming from desalination of sea water, Israel’s crisis should have presumably been averted years ago.

However, with all its efforts and advances, Israel neglected one major area of concern: conservation of its natural water resources.

Natural water flow in springs and rivers is decreasing rapidly nationwide. After climate change and years of drought, Lake Kineret is at its lowest. Famous for its wealth of water, the Dan and the Banias Streams that are the sources of the upper Jordan River, located in the Upper Golan between the Hula Valley and Mount Hermon, are at an unprecedented low, with their natural spring-water flow decreasing by almost half. In fact, Northern Israel is experiencing one of the worst droughts in 100 years, leaving the country’s natural water resources with a deficit of 2.5 billion cubic liters of water.

Despite these frighteningly low levels of natural water, most of the water used for agriculture in the Golan Heights, Galilee and Jordan Valley regions is still pumped directly from local springs, rivers and ground water. As such, there is little water left to flow in nature, thus causing further damage to the already dwindling streams and wetlands.

This summer, agriculture will utilize over 70% of the upper Jordan River’s natural water flow, an extraordinarily high percentage. Furthermore, natural spring-water is still being used as a resource for drinking, agriculture, industry, and tourism in the upper Kinneret Basin, creating a demand greater than the rate of natural regeneration.

For years, the Society for the Protection of Nature (SPNI) has worked tirelessly to convince the government to take the necessary steps to save our natural water resources and to rehabilitate natural water flow in our springs and rivers. Thankfully, the government has finally heard our pleas and begun to address the issue by approving a water restoration plan for seven streams.

On Sunday, June 10, Israel’s Cabinet unanimously approved a plan presented by Minister of Energy Dr. Yuval Steinitz, with the support of Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon and Director of the Water Authority Giora Shaham called the “Strategic Plan for Coping with Shifts in the Water Economy in the Years 2018-2030.” The plan calls for the reduction of pumping from rivers and streams in northern Israel and the creation of two new desalination plants to increase the quantity of desalinated water.

This major, national plan includes, among other things, a plan to restore the flow of natural spring-water to seven streams – including Betzet, Ga’aton, Naaman, Tzipori, and Kishon – in the northern Galilee, the Hadera River in central Israel, and Einan stream in the Hula Valley. Adapted from a plan originally drafted by SPNI in 2015, the plan will allocate NIS 81 million to repair the severe damage caused by Israel’s ongoing water crisis to the country’s rivers and streams.

After years of lobbying, we at SPNI congratulate the government for giving our natural water crisis the attention that it so desperately requires. However, the plan only addresses natural streams. No plans have been suggested to conserve the streams flowing into the Jordan river, leaving the river completely neglected. While the plan, if implemented properly, is a step in the right direction to ensure stable amounts of water for agriculture, consumption and natural revitalization, there is still much work left to be done.

Israel’s water woes have never stemmed from inability. After all, Israeli ingenuity has brought forth flowing water and blooming agriculture in the desert. But dealing with water issues has always just been a part of Israel’s reality. We will continue to lobby the government so that Israel continues to take the appropriate steps to correct this persistent issue. And if the government continues to prioritize the conservation of our natural water resources, we will truly have something to gush about: our title as the world’s true water innovation super power.

By: Aya Tager

Aya Tager is a member of the Marketing and Communications team at the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI), the oldest, leading and largest environmental non-profit organization in Israel. This article is based on an interview with Dr. Orit Skutelsky, SPNI’s Coordinator of Water and Streams.

The post Crisis Averted: Gushing Over Israel’s Governmental Water Bailout appeared first on Jewish Voice.

Three hundred and forty new immigrants (olim) on 17 different flights from eight countries will arrive at Ben-Gurion Airport throughout this week, thanks to the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ).

Monday, June 25, will prove to be the busiest day, as 237 olim from Brazil, Colombia, France, Uzbekistan, Argentina and Ukraine arrive at the airport, with 219 of them coming from Ukraine. Some of these olim are escaping battle zones in the ongoing Russian-Ukraine conflict, while others are fleeing economic distress.

Supported by hundreds of thousands of evangelical Christians, IFCJ is playing an increasingly major role in bringing new immigrants to Israel. While IFCJ has helped bring hundreds of thousands of olim in partnership with the Jewish Agency and Nefesh B’Nefesh, the organization it helped start, IFCJ began independently bringing olim in late 2014. Since then, IFCJ has brought nearly 13,000 new immigrants to Israel from 26 countries where Jews are facing rising anti-Semitism, threatened by terrorism or suffering economic crises.

“The flights of olim that landed this week and especially those arriving this morning from the Ukraine represents a special hope, since they include 69 children under the age of 10 — literally the future of the Jewish state,” said IFCJ’s Founder and President, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein. “I am proud and excited to see these olim starting a new chapter in their lives here in their Jewish homeland, and I wish them much success.”

In fact IFCJ works extensively to ensure all immigrants it brings enjoy a successful absorption into Israeli life. Once the olim arrive in Israel, IFCJ provides grants for appliances, furniture, housing and employment assistance, in addition to the standard government grants olim receive. “We do everything we can to ensure that all of our olim will begin successful new lives in Israel,” Eckstein said.

This week’s new arrives are expected to be absorbed in 35 cities across the country, with most — 40 — settling in Haifa, followed by Netanya (34), Ashdod (29) and Bat Yam (26) . The youngest newcomer, who landed this morning, is a one-year-old baby girl, and the oldest is an 82-year-old woman, both from the Ukraine. In addition, 11 dogs and 6 cats, who will also now begin their lives in Israel, have joined the olim. Nearly a third of this week’s new immigrants — 101 people–are children under the age of 18.

Mykhailo Semenenko, 40, came on aliyah this morning with his wife and daughter. “I worked in the construction sector and there are almost no job offers in the field,” he said. “My wife is a nurse and luckily she managed to continue working steadily recently, but her salary has been cut in half since the outbreak of the crisis in the east” of Ukraine.

Yulia Foshchii, 31, also landed this morning, with her husband and two children. Yulia and her family have also experienced difficult economic problems. “Prices have all risen significantly; even basic products have gone up a lot. Our day-to-day life was a constant struggle.”

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews was founded in 1983 to promote better understanding and cooperation between Christians and Jews, and build broad support for Israel. Today it is one of the leading forces helping Israel and Jews in need worldwide – and is the largest channel of Christian support for Israel. Led by its founder and president, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, IFCJ has been working to bring Jews to Israel, and has invested more than $200 million over the years, helping to bring hundred and thousands of olim to Israel.

Since its inception close to 90 years ago, the Jewish Agency’s main priorities were to populate Israel with Jews from around the globe. Once the leading advocate for aliyah of all Jews, for the last 20 years or more, it appears that other organizations such as the IFCJ and Nefesh B’Nefesh have taken up the gauntlet and filled a painful void.

With the establishment of the state of Israel in May 1948, the Jewish Agency relinquished many of its functions to the new government, but retained responsibility for immigration, land settlement, youth work, and relations with world Jewry. This was confirmed by the World Zionist Organization-Jewish Agency (Status) Law adopted by the Knesset on November 24, 1952. On July 26, 1954 a formal covenant was signed between the government and the World Zionist Organization-Jewish Agency, recognizing the latter as the representative of world Jewry with regard to the above functions.

Speaking to the Jewish Voice in November of 2014, Rabbi Eckstein said, “We were cognizant of the fact that the focus of the Jewish Agency had shifted over the years. Rather than spend their resources on aliyah, the Jewish Agency focused on ways of strengthening Jewish identity and values in the diaspora. They focused on federation requests for youth aliyah from North America and other places that are not considered distressed countries. We took note of the fact that they had only one shaliach in Ukraine and they were just not offering services to help with aliyah.”

The claims made by Rabbi Eckstein in 2014 not only raise questions about the Jewish Agency’s priorities but precisely where there money is going and precisely how it is being spent. In a written response to inquiries made by the Jewish Voice, Avi Mayer, the Jewish Agency spokesman in Israel said, “The Jewish Agency’s Aliyah, Absorption, and Rescue budget for 2015 is $62.67 million, increased from 2014.” According to information received by the Jewish Voice, it was reported that the annual operating budget of the Jewish Agency is close to $400 million.

Mr. Mayer insisted that “aliyah encouragement and facilitation has been at the very core of The Jewish Agency’s activities since the organization’s establishment 85 years ago, and it remains so today.” In terms of success rates, he says that 2014 saw “record Aliyah, with immigration from around the world nearing 25,000—a five-year high—and for the first time in Israel’s history, the number of immigrants from Western countries has surpassed the number of those coming from the rest of the world.”

The facts, however, do not reflect the success rate of aliyah that the Jewish Agency continuously defends.

Observers of the division between the two organizations have speculated that one of the reasons that the Jewish Agency is livid about the fact that the IFCJ is going to branch out on its own and conduct aliyah procedures is that Rabbi Eckstein has solicited the help of several Jewish Agency staffers. At the helm of the new IFCJ aliyah operation is Eli Cohen, the former head of the aliyah and absorption department at the Jewish Agency and Jeff Kaye, the former Jewish Agency coordinator for financial resource development.

A detailed explanation of exactly why the government of Israel felt a compelling need to initiate a program such as Nefesh B’Nefesh is not readily available, but an unnamed government official intimated that the Jewish Agency was just not capable of doing the job it once had in terms of increasing aliyah numbers, especially from North America.

Edited by: JV Staff

The post 340 Olim to Land in Israel in IFCJ Airlift; Jewish Agency Fails in Inspiring Aliyah appeared first on Jewish Voice.

The ESJF was founded in 2015 to protect Jewish burial sites in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in places where Jewish communities were wiped out during the Holocaust. So far, it has placed fences around 102 Jewish cemeteries in six European countries and conducted mass field surveys of sites

When Rabbi Shmuel Halpert, outgoing Knesset member of the haredi party Agudat Yisrael, invited Rabbi Isaac Schapira to a meeting in July 2011, Schapira’s life changed forever. He was convinced that he had to improve the situation for Jewish cemeteries worldwide, which were suffering from disrepair, neglect and vandalism from outside communities.

Schapira describes Halpert as a pioneer in fighting for the rescue of Jewish cemeteries. “I don’t know who will continue this fight. I think you and your connections are best-suited for it. Just dive in!” said Halpert.

And so, Schapira did just that. “It spoke to me. It broke my heart.”

He has used resources, connections, bridge-building skills, determination and values that he learned from late father, Rabbi Avraham Schapira (Knesset member from the Agudat Israel party and chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee) to found the European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative.

The ESJF was founded in 2015 to begin the process of physically protecting Jewish burial sites in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in places where Jewish communities were wiped out during the Holocaust. ESJF has so far placed fences around 102 Jewish cemeteries in six European countries. In addition, it has conducted mass field surveys of sites with an impressive 1,500 reports published to date.

Project partners in Europe and Israel

Schapira is proud that his organization has built an infrastructure that European governments recognize as “professional and economically efficient.” For instance, ESJF has obtained governmental funding from the federal government of Germany.

In Israel, Schapira has managed to assemble an impressive coalition of supporters, including Yossi Beilin, scholar—former Knesset and senior Cabinet member, who has held such important government positions as Minister of Justice and Minister of Religious Affairs. Beilin has served as a board member since 2013. He is actively involved in working with international governments with helping secure financial resources.

Acknowledging the compelling nature of the work, he says: “It became a major issue for me. We found out in a short time that we are the only body on the ground doing the work of finding [and then funding] cemeteries in a systemic way. We are working with the map and creating a body of knowledge in order to prioritize and address the most endangered cemeteries first.”

Knesset members committed to the project include Ksenia Svetlova of the Zionist Union Party, and Rabbi Uri Maklev of the ultra-religious Agudath Yisrael Party. Schapira is proud that members of diverse parties have come together to address the issue of European cemeteries.

Maklev reports, “We got involved when Rabbi Yitzhak Schapira turned to us. He works with much devotion and donates time and money. There is a real danger in the old cemeteries in Europe when they are left unprotected. The issue has worsened over the years. Jewish cemeteries remain unguarded and in constant danger, as Jewish community members now live far from its cemeteries. In addition, anti-Semitism and vandalism exist. It is a right and duty to act for this important cause. We must not stand idly by!”

Svetlova first became aware of the issue of Jewish cemeteries on a trip abroad. Svetlova, who immigrated from Russia in 1991, and served as a journalist and Arab-affairs analyst for Channel 9, was in Libya in 2005 in the remote town of Zlitan when she discovered “the horrible picture of devastation—broken or absent gravestones” at Jewish cemeteries. “It made me very sad. All we have is a grave. We cannot allow us to forget our past. A person who forgets his past has no future.”

Svetlova is also a member of the Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Committee, where she initiated the Knesset Caucus for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries Abroad. She says she is proud that the caucus includes people “from all sides of the aisle.”

On the ground in Europe

Beilin says “people are very worried that cemeteries are vanishing. If we don’t save them now, they won’t be there.”

He has seen a shift from the initial work of providing fencing to cemeteries, to “finding those in immediate danger and giving priority to them, even if they are not in the most convenient places.” He estimates that “we have already lost between 4,000 and 10,000 cemeteries.”

Schapira adds that “the Jewish world needs to know how many Jewish cemeteries are disappearing and are at risk of disappearing due to vandalism, and geological and other reasons.”

Beilin and Schapira shared many stories of cemeteries discovered by accident, including a non-Jewish girl riding her bike in a forest and taking a photo of what she thought was a tombstone. Or of local people providing unexpected assistance to the work of ESJF. “People must have seen us working on a cemetery. One week later, we arrived and saw tombstones there which one week earlier had been missing. They must have thought that, if this was so important, we will give back what was stolen,” reports Schapira.

The group’s CEO Philip Carmel praises such work. “Rabbi Schapira has succeeded in changing the way we address the issue of Jewish cemetery protection. … He has brought the issue to the level of national governments and pan-European institutions, so that [it] is dealt with not just as an issue of Jewish heritage, but one of Europe’s common heritage. He has achieved this by absolute strength of conviction and by deep personal commitment.”

Chief Rabbi of Poland Michael Schudrich also admires Schapira’s efforts and feels that he is “following the spirit of his father in understanding what it means to fight for Klal Yisrael.” He is impressed with his drive and ability to bring diverse groups of Jews together. “It is about bringing Jews together for kavod hamet, ‘honoring the dead.’ It is important to build a future.”

Even the Queen of England has recognized Schapira for his lifetime of service. In 2013, she bestowed on him the title “OBE,” Order of the British Empire, for, as Schapira humbly reports, “building bridges of friendship between the British government and the Orthodox communities in England and Israel.”

In our two in-person meetings in New York City, Schapira prefers to direct praise to members of his team, especially Carmel, for “his commitment to the project and his unusual capabilities to achieve so much and so efficiently.”

Beilin agrees, saying the CEO is “there on the ground. He is a very important player. He knows the material of cemeteries. He is so dedicated to the work.”

The lifting of the Iron Curtain

“For almost 73 years,” reports Carmel, “the Jewish world has not been able to deal with the protection of these sites for a number of reasons. Firstly, that the priority after the Shoah was rightly to rebuild Jewish life, communities and institutions, as well as a new Jewish state. Secondly, because for most of this time, these abandoned sites, which were home to thriving Jewish communities for hundreds of years, lay behind the [Soviet] Iron Curtain.

“But since that period, resources have tended to go to specific sites, where there is a particular family connection or where a famous personnage was buried. At such sites, one has found a situation where individual demand from the West and readily available resources has met cheap supply of labor and materials in the East. This has pushed up prices, making the overall task of cemetery protection more difficult. That is why the ESJF as a starting point has looked to change this whole methodology—to work in a professional manner under strict processes of contracts and tenders. To reach viable and legitimate costs, enabling the maximization of the amount of sites we can protect.

“The ESJF looks where possible to target sites which are beneath the radar. Some of these places had all their community wiped out; there are no descendants. So these sites are a priority for us, of course, because if we don’t fence them, nobody will. In the major countries where we work, in particular—Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova—probably 25 percent of the sites have already been destroyed. And they are being destroyed by the week. From our mass surveys, we are looking at some two-thirds of all the remaining sites requiring urgent fencing.”

Schudrich notes that “nothing was possible until 1989 and the fall of Communism. Then, we started working on mikvaot, kosher food, cheders, minyanim . . . ”

A mission for the Jewish people

Svetalova relates that she is “very grateful for the work being done in Eastern Europe, and is hopeful Jews from the United States and other places will get involved as they learn more.

“Many American Jews come from Eastern Europe and will be able to relate to the importance of the project,” she says. “There must be cooperation between all sides of the Jewish world. We must try to use all connections in the U.S., Europe and Israel with governments in order to put this project on the map. Time is running out. If we don’t, we will find out it is too late!”

“Going forward,” notes Carmel, “we need to look at this as a mission for the Jewish people that is achievable. All peoples and governments protect their cemeteries. Any American can relate that just by driving up from the South to New York—of how the national government has protected graves in Civil War battlefields for more than 150 years ago. Or the graveyards in Normandy protected by the Allied governments from World War I from 100 years ago.

“As Jews,” he continues, “we have the same basic responsibility.”

Today, he notes, thanks to the work of the ESJF and many others, “we know the numbers, we know the areas of greatest risk, we know the costs, and we know the speed it can be done in. This is no longer a black hole. It can be achieved.”

Schapira reports proudly that “in 2017, we rescued our 102nd cemetery. We have the most wonderful, competent team and can do 300 a year.”

He continues to work tirelessly to make sure it’s not too late, that the work can be accomplished—but, he adds, “only if the Jewish nation worldwide develops a feeling of responsibility and partnership to allow this apparatus to continue operating.” (JNS.org)

The post The Worldwide Work of Saving Cemeteries and Honoring the Jewish Dead appeared first on Jewish Voice.

At least two American Jewish leaders have admitted receiving large payments from an agent of a government that is the major funder of Hamas, in what is being called a growing scandal with possible repercussions in the future.

Beginning last autumn, a number of officials of U.S. Jewish groups suddenly began traveling to the Gulf Arab kingdom of Qatar. This turn of events raised eyebrows in the Jewish community, because Qatar is the single largest financer of the Hamas terrorists, and also sponsors the anti-Semitic Al-Jazeera media network. The Jewish visitors to Qatar insisted that they derived no financial benefit from trips. But in recent weeks, that claim has begun to unravel.

This odd chapter in Jewish affairs had its beginnings at a White House press conference on June 9, 2017, when President Donald Trump called Qatar “a funder of terrorism at a very high level.”

It was a simple statement of fact—but previous presidents had been reluctant to say it out loud. The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, realized that he was dealing with a very different kind of U.S. president. If something was not done quickly to improve Qatar’s image in Washington, the Gulf kingdom could soon face the kind of isolation and sanctions that other terror-sponsoring regimes have suffered.

The one thing oil-rich Qatar has is cash. Cash to sponsor Hamas, cash to underwrite Al-Jazeera and, it turns out, cash to pay American Jewish leaders.

The Qataris hired a Washington consulting firm called Stonington Strategies, headed by Nick Muzin, a Yeshiva University graduate and former adviser to Senator Ted Cruz’s campaign for the 2016 Republican nomination.

In September 2017, Muzin disclosed on U.S. government registration forms that his consulting firm, Stonington Strategies, was being paid $50,000 monthly by the Qatari regime to lobby on its behalf. In November 2017, Qatar increased its monthly payment to Muzin’s firm from $50,000 to $300,000. Half of that money was set aside for “subcontractors.”

The Jewish Voice made several attempts to reach Muzin for comment, but requests for an interview went unanswered.

Muzin’s job was to make Qatar kosher in America’s eyes. He turned to a friend named Joseph Allaham; the Syrian-born owner of several now-collapsed kosher restaurants in New York City, including an upscale steakhouse known as Prime Grill.

According to an investigative report by Mother Jones magazine last month, Allaham began working with Nick Muzin, as a representative of Qatar, in “early 2017.” Three sources told Mother Jones that Allaham was paid for his work. However, Allaham did not register with the US government as an agent of Qatar, as required by law.

The Jewish Voice made repeated attempts to contact Mr. Allaham through text, telephone and e-mail requests for an interview, but he did not respond.

Allaham was a perfect candidate to serve as a public relations consultant who would make important introductions of Jewish leaders to the Qatari officials, despite the fact that Allaham had no background in public relations matters. Allaham’s hefty income was on life support; not only because over the last year his restaurants were failing but because he was facing a number of lawsuits. In addition to his restaurants, Allaham spread his business tentacles when he sponsored luxurious kosher-for-Passover vacations (charging more than $10,000 per person). Two weeks before the start of the Passover holiday last year, Allaham announced that the Passover vacations that had been scheduled to take place in California had been cancelled by the Hilton hotel, leaving hundreds of people totally stranded for the holiday. These people wasted no time in suing Allaham for damages.

Allaham’s troubles were not over. Lincoln Square Synagogue on Manhattan’s upper west side sued him for failing to come through on a $1.5-million pledge to help construct a banquet hall in the synagogue’s new building, as he was the synagogue’s official caterer. As the Jewish Voice reported last year, synagogue officials who reviewed Allaham’s bank records as a result of a court order reported that they believed Allaham may have been hiding some of his assets. An official of the synagogue told the Jewish Week that the records showed Allaham had been rapidly moving “hundreds of thousands of dollars” out of his accounts in recent days in order to avoid the collection of the $1.5 million judgment against him.

It was in the midst of this turmoil that Allaham found a new source of income for himself, due to the offer that Muzin made to him. He was provided with $3 million to use for his main assignment: to funnel payments from the Qataris to select American Jewish leaders, who would then visit Qatar and help improve the regime’s image.

The first Jewish official to come aboard was Dr. Joseph Frager, a New York gastroenterologist who is active in pro-Israel causes and is vice president of the National Council of Young Israel. Frager is also close to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

According to an expose by The Forward earlier this month, Frager registered with the U.S. government as an agent of Qatar this spring. On the registration form, he said he was paid $50,000 to “consult with Qatari officials on strengthening U.S.-Qatar relations.”

Asked by the Jewish Voice why he would want to build friendly relations with a regime that sponsors terrorism against Israel, Frager replied that his dealings with Qatar were similar to what he said were negotiations that some of his relatives undertook with Nazis during the Holocaust.

“I had family members who tried to negotiate with Heinrich Himmler during the Holocaust to rescue Jews from certain death. At times, one has to speak to their mortal enemies in order to benefit our people, despite the fact that it is abhorrent on every level, but I would risk my life to save Jews,” he said.

He added that his sole purpose for visiting Qatar was to negotiate with the Emir and others on the issue of allowing himself and Governor Huckabee to enter Hamas held Gaza to retrieve the remains of slain IDF soldiers, including those of Hadar Goldin.

“I can tell you that Hadar Goldin’s mother wanted to accompany me to Qatar as it was so very important to her,” he told the Jewish Voice.

Quite disappointed after returning from his trip to Qatar, Dr. Frager said, “The Qataris that I met were not straight people, nor were they reliable in any way. My main concern was finding a way to retrieve the remains of the IDF soldiers and I also asked the government leaders there to donate $100 million for the furtherance of Jewish education around the globe. I was not able to achieve any of that.”

Among those whom Allaham hoped would visit Qatar was Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America. At first glance, that must have seemed like a long shot, since as recently as June 2017, Klein had publicly urged the Trump administration to brand Qatar a terrorist regime and prohibit Qatar Airways from flying in the United States.

In 2014, the ZOA urged the US government to designate Qatar as a state sponsor of terrorism for “funding and promoting Nazi-like organizations that want to kill every Jew.”

In November 2017, an unusual guest attended the ZOA’s national dinner in New York City: veteran Qatari diplomat Ahmed al-Rumaihi. Currently, he is head of Qatar Investments, a new $100 billion internal division of sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). Asked at the time about the Qatari official’s presence, Klein said that “anybody who pays $700 can attend.” Now it has been revealed that Allaham gave Klein $50,000 for that $7,000 table. Being that Qatar’s raison d’etre was to make some formidable inroads in the Trump administration, it comes as no surprise that they would shell out this kind of money for the dinner as the guest of honor was former Trump senior strategist, Steve Bannon.

At one of the tables sat Allaham along with Ahmed al-Rumaihi. Also seated at the table was Rabbi Elie Abadie, former spiritual leader of the Edmond Safra synagogue in Manhattan.

“I spoke in Arabic to the Qatari official, as we share cultural aspects. He was quite talkative and wanted to meet American Jewish leaders. During the course of the conversation he asked me several times to visit Qatar and I repeatedly turned him down. I also told him that he would have a difficult time attracting Jewish leaders to make such a trip as it is factual that Qatar poses a threat to Israel by its full throated support of Hamas,” said Rabbi Abadie.

It was Rabbi Abadie who introduced al-Rumaihi to Jewish Voice publisher, David Ben Hooren at the dinner. “I was just casually talking and joking with the Qatari representative, “ said Ben Hooren. He added, “I did not think anything of it at the time.”

However, in February of 2018, after the news emerged that Jewish leaders had visited Qatar, Ben Hooren said that he discussed it with Nick Muzin. “Nick told me at that juncture that he was not sure which way Qatar would go politically. He was not sure if this was a hoax on Qatar’s part, but he did say that we will have to wait and see how things unfold, “ he said.

He added that, “Because Nick said that we will have to give this matter time, that was the basis for my decision not to run this story months ago.”

Klein flew to Qatar the following month. Shortly after Klein returned to the US, Allaham made another $50,000 “contribution” to the ZOA, for a total of $100,000.

Currently, Klein is in the process of returning the $100,000 he received from Qatar and says that he is not now and never was beholden to them in any way.    It is not clear if he is saying that he returned it to Allaham, to Stonington Strategies, or directly to the Emir. The Jewish Voice asked Klein for a canceled check, bank record, or other evidence that the funds were returned.

“I never lobbied for Qatar, I never benefitted in any personal way from my visit there and I remain very critical and “tough” on Qatar. Let’s remember that they have provided billions in support of Hamas and have provided refuge for its leaders. And suffice it to say, that the state run Al-Jazeera network is a raging hotbed for the worst anti-Semitic propaganda,” he said.

According to Mother Jones, phone records show there were more than one thousand phone calls between Klein and Allaham in recent months.

Klein told the Jewish Voice that he was initially approached by Allaham in the latter half of 2017 to visit Qatar and meet with the Emir. His reasons for declining the offer clearly indicated his reluctance to meet with a chief sponsor of terror but he said that his main concern was that “ZOA’s good name and reputation might be used to whitewash Qatar’s ugly actions.”

During the months before it became publicly known that Allaham had given the ZOA $100,000 for the $7,000 worth of dinner seats, Klein and his representatives forcefully denied that there was any financial factor in his trip to Qatar and his reversal of his position. He told the Jerusalem Post that Qatar had covered only his airfare. He also made a point of saying that Qatar Airways “had great service” and “they handed out pajamas, the softest I ever felt, I wear them every night.”

In interviews upon his return, Klein made a number of statements praising the Emir and his regime. He told the Jerusalem Post “they want to be part of the civilized world” and he said that the Emir’s statements to him “made me think maybe they are serious about changing.” He told The Forward that the Emir is “gracious, kind, respectful, sensitive.”

Klein also defended Qatar’s treatment of women, saying: “They asked me…to see how they are trying to liberalize. By the way, women are driving. Women are walking alone all over the place. It’s not Saudi Arabia.” Klein’s spokesperson, Liz Berney, wrote in The Algemeiner about what she called “Qatari indications of change.”

In an interview with the Jewish Voice, Klein claimed for the first time that former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had advised him to go to Qatar.

Olmert recently served a prison sentence after being convicted of corruption charges, including receiving $160,000 in bribes. Asked by the Jewish Voice whether Olmert was an appropriate role model, in view of the fact that he is a convicted criminal, Klein chuckled and said, “yes he is, but he knows a lot about international relations.”

Also, in November of 2017,  an organization called “Soldiers Speak” which sponsors speaking dates for Israeli military and law enforcement personnel around the world, held their gala dinner in New York City. According to Sgt. Benjamin Anthony – a dinner coordinator – a company check in the amount of $100,000 that was earmarked as a donation to the organization was handed to him by Joseph Allaham’s wife. The check was signed by his wife as well. The Qataris also felt that this was a beneficial place to drop some money as the guest of honor at the dinner was the former CIA Director and current Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.

Other Jewish leaders who visited Qatar were Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice-chairman of the Conferences of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, retired Harvard law professor and Israel advocate, Alan Dershowitz, as well as officials representing the American Jewish Congress, the Orthodox Union and the Religious Zionists of America.

In November of 2017, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach reported in an article in the Jerusalem Post that Hoenlein had invited the Crown Prince of Qatar to his daughter’s wedding.

Another American Zionist official who visited Qatar during the same period was Martin Oliner, co-president of the Religious Zionists of America. Oliner visited Qatar in November 2017. He told the Jerusalem Post at the time that he went there “to attend a legal conference and to visit the US airbase.” He did not mention meeting with Qatari officials.

Writing in The Algemeiner in March 1, Oliner said nothing about the legal conference or the airbase, stating that he “accepted the invitation [to visit Qatar], because I wanted to persuade the Qataris that they could play a more positive role on the Palestinian issue and stop helping Hamas. I wanted to hear their side of the story.”

In an interview with the Jewish Voice this week, Oliner insisted that he did attend the legal conference, but he was vague as to what that had to do with his meetings with Qatari officials. Oliner denied that he received any payments or business favors in exchange for going to Qatar.

The investigations on “Qatar-Gate” continue and journalism sources close to the case have offered speculation that more damaging information may indeed surface in the coming months.

The post The Qatar Government & The Jewish Fiasco appeared first on Jewish Voice.

Its closing on June 30 leads to a question people hunger for: Why are there so few Jewish delicatessens left in the Big Apple?

Leaving the iconic kosher delicatessen Ben’s Best in Queens, N.Y., these past few weeks, diners made it a point to wish owner Jay Parker the “best of luck” in the future, as they shared memories of a place that will stick with them, along with those sides of homemade knishes and cole slaw.

After 73 years, the restaurant closed its doors on Saturday.

Customer Bruce Blecher, 41, had just finished a meal with his young son when he got teary-eyed talking to JNS about the deli’s closing. He reminisced about coming to the Zagat-rated restaurant as a child and his close connection to the staff members over the years, saying some of them have even been over to his house.

The restaurant, on Queens Boulevard in Rego Park, announced via Facebook in early June that after seven decades in the business, it would shut its doors on June 30. The post elicited responses from sad and even shocked customers. Many pleaded Parker to not close up shop.

The deli owner told JNS that the restaurant has been struggling for more than a year now to manage its business with the addition of bike lanes on Queens Boulevard. They went into effect in August 2017 by the Department of Transportation and cut nearly 200 parking spaces in the vicinity, subsequently slicing Parker’s business by 25 percent.

Parker’s father Benjamin opened Ben’s Best in 1945, naming it after himself. Jay started working in the deli when he was 11 or 12 years old, and eventually bought the place from his father. Jay also met his wife at the restaurant when she came in to place a holiday order for her company.

The restaurant has fed political figures and celebrities alike, including former mayors of New York City Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani, comedian Jerry Lewis, Israeli President Shimon Peres and New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller. The deli was used as a production set for the 2016 film “The Comedian,” starring Robert De Niro and Danny DeVito, and was featured on the popular Food Network show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” It also appeared in “Deli Man,” a documentary released in 2015 that chronicles the background of Jewish deli owners—and the future of the industry—as they grapple with changing demographics and more.

‘You’ve been in our home. Where is yours?’

The interior of the mom-and-pop-style deli is decorated with pictures and plaques that show its history and mark on the community, including the fact that it sponsored a local Little League baseball team. A map on the wall reads, “You’ve been in our home. Where is yours?” and allows customers to place a pin on where they are from.

“I have never been on a vacation any place in the world where people haven’t run up to me yelling, “Got a corned beef sandwich?” Jay said of his celebrity status because of the restaurant. He related that he and his wife were in Acapulco when people jovially shouted the question over to them from across the street, and it happened in England as well.

Jay’s friends in the industry have promised to hire some of his staff for their own famous New York Jewish delis, including Second Avenue Deli, Mr. Broadway and Ben’s Kosher Delicatessen.

When asked what he hopes for his legacy, he said, “I wanna go out as a mensch. As somebody who’s always tried to do the right thing, really work hard at doing the right thing.”

“I’ve never tried to hurt anybody. I’ve always tried my best to make everybody happy,” he added. “[To] put out the best product I know [and] to treat people the nicest way I can. I have staff members here for 38 years, and 32 years and 30 years. Those people don’t stay unless you’re a mensch.”

Hey also described the kosher-deli business as being part of the “social fabric” of the Jewish community, saying, “We’re involved in [people’s] life-cycle: brises, bar mitzvahs, weddings, shivas . . . you don’t get that in any other religion or culture.”

History of Jewish delis and their decreasing numbers

New York was once so synonymous with Jewish delis that it was called the “de facto world capital of Jewish delicatessen” in the 2010 book by David Sax titled Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen.

Author Ted Merwin wrote about the same topic in his 2015 book Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli, which follows the rise and fall of Jewish delicatessens in American Jewish culture.

Merwin said “New York may be dubbed ‘The Big Apple,’ but throughout most of the 20th century, a pastrami sandwich was more likely than a piece of fruit to trigger thoughts of New York.”

However, he also explained that the “passionate embrace of the deli has tempered over time as other social and economic factors led Jews away from the deli and toward other, more exotic-seeming ‘gourmet’ and healthier kinds of foods.”

For years, experts have given good thought on the Jewish delicatessen business and why such restaurants are dwindling in number. In the 1930s, there were at least 1,500 Jewish delis in New York. Delicatessens were the place Jews went to get the foods their relatives ate in Eastern European and where non-Jews went to see what the Jewish culture tasted like. Today, there may be fewer than 12 kosher delis still open, according to Jay Parker.

Save the Deli called Jewish delicatessens “a dying breed,” and in describing the phenomenon, Sax wrote: “Across North America, and in select cities of the Diaspora, Jewish delicatessens are disappearing faster than chicken fingers at a bar mitzvah buffet.”

Parker believes that there once were so many Jewish delis because the type of food served in those establishments was exactly what Jews brought with them to America. Talking about his own grandparents who made the journey from Eastern Europe, he noted that “they didn’t have jobs. They didn’t have any education. So they fell into whatever they could fall into.

As new immigrants, the three things they had to provide their family with were food, shelter and clothing. So, my grandparents built the deli, lived in the back, and you could work day and night because the only thing you had was your labor. You didn’t have money.

“The 1,500 kosher delis we once had were probably because so many people were just scratching out a living so that the next generation could do better. And as the community got smaller, so did the number of businesses,” he added. When the older folks left, they didn’t want their kids to go into the same field because they wanted more for their children, he explained. “My father didn’t want me to do this. … This is the last thing he wanted me to do.”

Among resources who discuss the declining number of kosher delis comes a repetitive mention about a change in the choice of food among patrons. Many now opt for trendier and other ethnic foods—Indian, African, sushi—and don’t care as much about the food connected to their Jewish heritage. A major reason for that is assimilation, according to Michael Kane, owner of the kosher butcher and catering establishment Park East Kosher in New York City.

“People who came from Eastern Europe, they loved that food. That’s how they were raised; they ate that food,” he said. “Deli is still very popular in the Jewish community, but as people grow older, they don’t eat like they used to. People changed their diet and eating habits. The next generation is not eating at the same level the older generations were when they first came over to the U.S. from Eastern Europe.”

He added that “the key to survival is diversification, to stay with the trends. Stay with any way you can get business.”

Blecher, who has been eating deli food since he was a kid, agreed that cuisine like the kind served by Ben’s Best is not as popular as it used to be. He told JNS, “Have you ever had a pastrami sandwich? If you ask most people, they haven’t; they don’t know what pastrami is. It’s not like steak, it’s not like chicken. Pastrami is a culture thing. It’s a Jewish culture thing.”

However, he said one has to also consider an area’s demographics. Talking about the closing of Ben’s Best, in what was once a largely Jewish community, he said “it’s not even so much the food; the area doesn’t warrant the food anymore. People here are more international. Years ago, this was a European Jewish neighborhood. Thirty years ago, there was a line out the door. Forty years ago, you couldn’t get a sandwich.”

Parker called his restaurant’s closing “bittersweet,” and said he has no plans to relocate Ben’s Best and start over new somewhere else. He told JNS, “We had something wonderful, great and terrific, and it’s not transferrable.” He hopes to travel more, ski, go mountain-climbing and spend more time with his granddaughter in Boston.

“There’s nothing I can do to change it … it’s time,” he said of the closing. “[God] has always been very good to me. He’s always closed one door and opened a couple more. Maybe this is his way of saying, ‘Go out and have a little bit of fun.’ But it’s not really work. If you like it as much as I do, it’s really not work. I haven’t worked a day in my life. This has been so much fun.”

By: Shiryn Solny
(JNS.org)

The post Good-bye, Ben’s Best! Doors Shut on Iconic New York Jewish Deli appeared first on Jewish Voice.

Throughout the school year, children around the world look forward to summer vacation and joining their friends at summer camp. After all, the summer months just wouldn’t be the same without the fun, structured activities that afford children the opportunities to connect with nature and each other, while developing self-confidence and building lifelong memories.

But for hundreds of Jewish children in the Ukraine, summer camp takes on a whole new meaning. It is very often the difference between hope and desperation.

For the last three years, LifeChanger FSU has been organizing summer camps for the project’s children, providing them with opportunities to improve their social skills, broaden their horizons, strengthen their connections to Jewish culture, and immerse themselves in a positive growth environment. By removing them from their usual stressful and even dangerous surroundings, LifeChanger FSU gives Jewish children in the Ukraine, who are grappling with extreme poverty, neglect, abuse, and overlooked physical and emotional disabilities, the freedom to explore their world and develop to their fullest potentials.

“Summer camp is often seen as nothing more than a way to keep children occupied during the long summer months. But for the children in our program, it is an elusive safe space and a crucial growth experience,” said Irina Chernobryvetz, Director of LifeChanger FSU.

“Recreational activities, team competitions and field trips are expertly planned with experienced educators and mental health professionals to bring out the very best in every child, while at the same time preparing the groups for the social and educational challenges they will face during the next school year.”

The summer camp programming is integrated with the individualized rehabilitation plans developed by LifeChanger FSU for each child enrolled in the program, effectively breaking the cycle of solitude and isolation and guiding them towards sustained recovery, long-term development, and independence.

Prior to camp, counselors meet with the consulting mental health professionals to review the campers’ psychological profiles and receive guidance on how to guide the groups. By design, the camp staff is comprised mostly of program graduates, so the counselors already have firsthand knowledge of what must be done to ensure a successful camp season.

Over the years, LifeChanger FSU’s summer camp has radically changed the lives of children who could not be reached in other settings. For example, Bogdana had difficulties communicating with her peers and was bullied at school. But at camp, she began to blossom and develop real leadership qualities. By the time she returned to school, Bogdana exuded confidence and was very socially active.

Angela had a similar experience and explains that LifeChanger FSU’s summer camp helped her develop her strengths and set personal goals. “I became more confident, and I suddenly wanted to learn more about everything. I was determined to improve my school performance, and I knew from my experiences at summer camp that I could expect more from myself, and that I should be proud of what I already accomplished.”

Feedback from other participants make it clear that the camp experience is informative in every way, allowing campers to navigate social situations, become more responsible, develop a strong Jewish identity, learn how to communicate with peers and adults, and even learn to control their anger.

“These children come from the most economically repressed areas of the Ukraine and are often in the direct line of fire, dealing with armed conflict in the streets and familial strife within their homes. There is no breathing room, and their needs are rarely seen as a priority,” explains Chernobryvetz. “In addition to giving them space and putting their needs first, the camp experience acts as a pause button, allowing them to grow and develop in a vacuum. When they return to the ‘real world,’ they are much better equipped to face the challenges that weighed so heavily on them before.”

In many cases, single parent families in dire situations are treated to the camp experience together. With their children in good hands, mothers enjoy programming for adults and the opportunity to relax and connect with their peers. They also receive counseling and work with LifeChanger FSU coordinators to plan the next steps of their rehabilitation.

“For so many Jewish families in the Ukraine, summer camp is an opportunity to establish new social connections, develop relationships and heal,” says Chernobryvetz. “It is a window into a better life, and an example to strive towards. It’s so much more than fresh air and time at the pool. It’s an experience that can actually save lives and set families down the path to success.

By: Maayan Gutbezahl

The post Summer Camp: A Beacon of Hope for the Ukraine’s Jewish Children appeared first on Jewish Voice.

Bamba, arak, watermelon and Bulgarian cheese, labane and zaatar – this summer’s ice creams are coming in some very surprising flavors!

Everyone knows that pedestrian ice cream and gelato flavors are passé in 2018. At a time when “local” and “seasonal” are the buzzwords, we’re totally in love with the new uniquely Israeli flavors showing up in the country’s ice-cream shops.

Whether you prefer your ice cream on a spoon or in a cone, you’ll want to make the rounds to try these delicious out-of-the-box flavors this summer, once the weather turns unbearably hot and the cool treat is more a lifeline than just a dessert.

1. Bulgarian Cheese & Watermelon (Gelato Delicato, Haifa)

Reminding us of a blistering summer day at the Mediterranean beach, Bulgarian cheese — a feta-like Israeli staple — and sweet watermelon come together in one refreshing gelato made by Italian transplant and food fanatic Mario Santomo of Gelato Delicato on the beach adjacent Castra Mall in Haifa.

Although the cheese-and-watermelon variety gets our vote for most original, all the flavors we tried, from fresh melon sorbet to their perfect pistachio, were outstandingly delicious. Even their other creative flavors such as orange with olive oil and black salt, challah bread with butter, and the very Mediterranean basil and mozzarella, were binge-worthy. Who knew that ingredients for a pizza could make such a tasty dessert?

2. Olive oil & Caramelized Cherry Tomatoes (Arte Glideria, Tel Aviv)

Known for their outrageous flavors — such as caramelized roses and avocado cream — Arte Glideria is at the top of the ice cream game in sunny Tel Aviv.

Located next to the Carmel Market on Nachalat Binyamin Street, Arte Glideria offers specialty flavors such as lemon cardamom and fennel. But if you really want to feel like a local you’ll go for the olive oil and caramelized cherry tomatoes variety. After all, Israelis wouldn’t dream of making anything without olive oil (at least we wouldn’t), and if it weren’t for the prickly cactus pear, cherry tomatoes would surely be our national fruit.

3. Chinese Pecan (Glida Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem)

Packed in among the now super-trendy Machane Yehuda Market’s restaurant and bar scene, Glida Machane Yehuda makes and stores gelato the Italian way, in stainless-steel canisters.

What’s inside, you may ask? That would be anything from dark brown candied “Chinese pecans,” a market staple, to beloved Alfajores cookies — that is, butter cookies, caramel and coconut blended together into one smooth ice cream.

4. Labane, Zaatar & Pita Ice Cream (Eissalon, Haifa)

Bringing German flair to Haifa’s upper hills, Eissalon is one of the only locations in Haifa where you can get ice cream at the artisanal level.

With rotating specialty and seasonal flavors, our current favs are labane, zaatar and pita ice cream — a nod to the specialty food of the nearby Druze villages; turmeric ice cream, which must be tasted to be believed; and beer-flavored ice cream that tastes just like a half liter in your favorite neighborhood pub.

The flavors change daily, so follow their Facebook page to get up-to-date info.

5. Pineapple Sorbet (Mousseline, Jerusalem)

Making French-style ice cream in Israel’s capital city, Mousseline makes sure to use the freshest seasonal produce, brought in by nearby specialty farms. But it’s not always all about the produce. Their most popular flavor, Coffee Arabica, is as scrumptious as it is caffeinated.

Embracing exotic flavors as well, such as trendy black sesame, green tea and wasabi, Mousseline will blow you away this summer with the pure refreshing flavor of their pineapple sorbet, because — fun fact — Israel grows its own pineapples.

6. Halva Sorbet (Anita, Tel Aviv)

It just wouldn’t be right to visit Israel and not gorge yourself on all things sesame, including sweet delicious sesame candy, a.k.a. halva.

If you’re looking for the ultimate Tel Aviv experience, then you’ll want to also enjoy all the vegan options the city has to offer. Serving the best of both worlds — dairy and non-dairy — Anita makes authentic Italian-style small-batch ice creams.

If halva isn’t your cup of tea, try non-dairy Oreo cookies or dragon fruit sorbet. If those don’t float your boat, then you can always try any other of the 150 flavors, such as salted bagel or Loaker hazelnut wafer cookies.

6. Bamba (Leggenda, nationwide)

Israelis generally abhor peanut butter. But if it’s in the form of a puffy corn-based snack (Bamba), they can’t get enough of it! In fact, Israelis eat so much of the stuff from such an early age, that they have the lowest incidence of peanut allergies in the world. So it was only a matter of time before someone made it into an ice cream flavor.

Visit Leggenda parlors and you’ll have the pleasure of partaking in this most Israeli of flavors. And you won’t want to stop there: Check out the Kibbutz Yotvata Park outside of Eilat for ice creams made from the dairy’s milk, including Red Bamba honoring the peanut butter snack’s bright pink, cereal-like sweet sister.

7. Arak (Endomela, Old Acre)

Go to the bar in Tel Aviv on a hot summer night, and you’d expect to imbibe some licoricey arak liquor, sure, but at an ice cream shop in the Old city of Acre (Akko), it makes for quite the unexpected, but also very Israeli, treat.

Also in this creative waterfront ice-cream house, run by local celebrity chef Uri Jeremias of Uri Buri fish restaurant, are stunning natural flavors such as cinnamon, mint and date.

8. Salted Cashew (Golda Flavor Boutique, nationwide)

Representing the exclusive Giuso Italian ice cream brand in Israel, Golda ice cream is anything but what you would expect from a chain glideria. Like others on this list, they focus on using high-quality ingredients and making their ice creams fresh, in-house.

This summer a very Israeli flavor experience can be had when you try their salted cashew flavor. Reminds us of a favorite Israeli snack to eat while watching the big soccer match. Other flavors to look out for? The ever-popular Kinder Bueno candy bar-inspired ice cream, and mint arak.

9. Sabras Sorbet (Buza, nationwide)

What started off as an ice cream destination in the northern town of Maalot-Tarshiha has now expanded to many more locations, namely in Kibbutz Sasa (where they hold ice cream workshops!), the Hula Valley and several locations in Tel Aviv.

Turning into a local ice cream empire, Buza, meaning “ice cream” in Arabic, is not one to shy away from beautiful Israeli flavors such as candy-like mango, sea-salt-laced chocolate and of course, sabras sorbet, the prickly-pear cactus fruit that also happens to be the nickname for native-born Israelis.

10. Natural Frozen Yogurt with Mix-Ins (Tamara Yogurt, Tel Aviv)

Take a rich natural frozen yogurt, then inundate it with the most Israeli of toppings, including dates, passionfruit and chocolate cereal. Or try an acai smoothie or yogurt bowl. This is what’s on offer at Tamara, the frozen yogurt branch of the famous TLV fruit shake (smoothie) bar. There’s always a queue out the door of the shop and in front of the stand, so you know Tamara’s on to something special.

11. Rugelach (Iceberg, several locations in central Israel)

If gooey chocolate wrapped around yeasted dough croissant-style is your thing, then you will absolutely love Israel’s favorite bakery treat, rugelach. Paying homage to the fresh-baked deliciousness is Iceberg, the Tel Aviv-based chain that uses all-natural ingredients. Iceberg also follows the global black ice cream trend, offering a jet-black coconut ash flavor.

By: Jessica Halfin
(Israel 21C)

The post 11 Weird and Wonderful Israeli Ice Cream Flavors appeared first on Jewish Voice.

This season, the Hamptons Synagogue is offering a most tantalizing selection of Jewish and Israeli themed films. Synagogue members and Hamptons regulars will be treated to the following films.

July 16th – The Testament

Sunday, July 22nd (Tisha B’Av) – BESA: The Promise

July 23rd – Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story

July 30th–Humor Med

August 2nd – 1945

August 13th – The History of Love

August 20th – The Cakemaker

August 27th – Foxtrot

The 2018 Author Discussion Series take place on Thursday evenings at 7:30 pm. The following authors will discuss their recent and past works and field questions from the audience in what promises to be lively and thought provoking conversations.

July 12th – Ruby Namdar – “The Ruined House”

July 19th – Kenneth Bonert – “The Mandela Plot”

July 26th – Dara Horn – “Eternal Life”

August 2nd – Alexandra Silber – “White Hot Grief Parade & “After Anatevka”

August 9th – Francine Klagsbrun – “Lioness: Gold Meir and the Nation of Israel”

August 16th – Avi Jorisch – “Thou Shall Innovate”

August 23rd – Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat – “President Carter: The White House Years”

August 30th – Cheryl Machat Dorskind – “Celebrating Life Through Photography”

Edited by: JV Staff

The post The Hamptons Synagogue’s 2018 Jewish Film Series & Author Discussion Forums appeared first on Jewish Voice.

This past weekend in the Hamptons was quieter than usual for a pre-July 4th happening but there were still plenty of festivities taking place. I had the privilege of staying at the estate of Maria and Ken Fishel in Bridgehampton who were holding Polo at their house Saturday June 30th to celebrate the magazine “Social Life” and its cover star Rachel Zoe. Zoe is a designer, stylist, and businesswoman who starred in her own show “The Rachel Zoe Project” until 2013. The mother of two owns her own fashion line and has been coming to the Hamptons every summer of her life. Zoe, 46, said she loves hanging out on the beach with her two boys and was honored to be the cover girl for the magazine which was celebrating its 15th year anniversary.

The Polo match and cocktail party which lasted from 4 to 7 PM, was sponsored by Porsche, and tickets could be purchased in advance for $150. The more than 600 person crowd gathered under the hot tent to enjoy the beginning of the summer season and socialize with the eclectic crowd. There were socialites, Hampton locals and Polo enthusiasts who lingered way past the 7 PM closing time to catch up on the happenings of the year. The Fishel family came dressed to impress with Maria, and her daughter Melissa, wearing matching floral Dolce and Gabbana dresses. Maria, even had her two stylists from “Valentino” join her for the weekend as she is contemplating holding a fashion show on her lavish property. Her nine bedroom house was decorated by the same designer as The White House and it contains a screening room, pool, tennis court and guest house

The Fishels were concerned that the horses might spoil their property for the upcoming “Samuel Waxman Cancer event” they are holding at their house on July 14th but thankfully their grounds remained unscathed. At the same time as Polo, philanthropist Jean Shafiroff was hosting a crowd of Southampton Hospital supporters at her newly built home in Southampton. Shafiroff welcomed guests Carolyn Maloney, Rebecca Seawright and John and Margo Catsimatidis in a stunning Oscar de la Renta cocktail dress. The Stony Brook Southampton Hospital was celebrating its 60th Annual Summer Party with this exciting kick off and attendees were treated to the music of renowned bandleader Alex Donner. The Stony Brook Hospital is the sole provider of emergency care on the South Fork and many of the Polo attendees such as Paola Bacchini, Jane Scher, and Andrea Warshaw Wernick were heading to the Hospital party to support this pivotal institution.

Christie Brinkley held another competing party at the Surf Lodge in Montauk to launch a line of drinks and make-up. The 64-year-old continues to defy time with her ageless beauty and Malia Obama, Jessica Hart, and Nina Agdal joined her in the celebration. On Saturday evening I headed to restaurant Oreya which was holding a Nikki Beach pop-up and then made my way to nightspots Southampton Social Club and AM Southampton which were less busy than usual. The strange timing of July 4th which falls out on a Wednesday coupled with the brutally hot weather may have left many Hamptonites in their air conditioned home for the weekend; but the next two months are sure to be filled with one event after another as the season kicks into high gear

By Lieba Nesis

The post Bridgehampton Polo at the Fishels Kicks off the Summer Season in the Hamptons appeared first on Jewish Voice.

Reaching from 28 stories to 100 stories, these Tel Aviv towers will create a new look for the skyline of the Nonstop City

The skyline of Tel Aviv is punctuated by many gleaming high-rises offering a view of the sea. If you gaze across the horizon, you’ll also see the cranes of construction crews working to build new towers meant for offices, residences and mixed use.

Many of these structures are truly striking works of architecture. Here we take a look at five exceptionally tall buildings in various stages of construction in the Nonstop City.

1. ToHa

ToHa is a two-building complex being built in stages on 4.2 acres of land at the corner of Derech Hashalom, Yigal Allon and Totzeret Haaretz streets (ToHa comes from the latter street name, which translates roughly to Made in Israel).

The first building, to be completed by the end of this year, has 28 floors and is designed in the shape of an iceberg by Israeli native artist/architect Ron Arad of London, working with the local architect Avner Yashar.

The floor space measures 54,000 square meters. The lobby will be seven stories high. On the 26th story, the public will have access to a restaurant, promenade and landscaped terrace. The coworking network WeWork is leasing four floors of ToHa with an option for four more.

Asa Bruno, director of Ron Arad Architects, tells ISRAEL21c he is aiming for Platinum LEED certification for ToHa due to its “green” aspects modeled to respond to the specific water, wind and sun conditions in Tel Aviv.

“Because it’s larger on top, it self-shades so it’s efficient in terms of solar control, and there are passive devices to create climate comfort. All the services are in the legs that support the building – rather than on the roof — so they don’t need cooling. And we are planting more than 400 mature trees on site, much of the water for which will be recycled from the air-conditioning system,” says Bruno.

The second ToHa tower, still in planning, will have about 70 stories.

2. Da Vinci

This 85,000-square-meter project beside Sarona Market at the corner of Da Vinci and Kaplan streets is planned to be completed in May 2022.

The plan combines a low-rise office, retail and public space structure with two 42-story residential towers containing 412 apartments, with a swimming pool, gym and spa in between.

In the office building, each office will open internally to shared balconies overlooking the ground-level public courtyard. From the street, the courtyard is accessed via a garden and three large entrances that lead to retail shops and lobbies servicing the office space above.

Designed by Yashar Architects of Tel Aviv (see above), Da Vinci’s facade is articulated by a grid pattern of intersecting white columns and beams that weave back and forth every five levels of the tower’s ascension.

3. David Promenade Residences

This 28-story residential tower on the beachfront between HaYarkon, HaYarden and Herbert Samuel streets boasts two-level and three-level triplex penthouse apartments.

Due for completion in December this year, the David Promenade Residences were designed by Feigin Architects as a white aluminum-and-glass edifice embracing the natural light pouring in from the west over the Mediterranean Sea.

Terraces face both city and sea, while the building is outfitted with a private gym, sauna and swimming pool.

Owners of each residence will also have the use of 24-hour room service, maid service, ironing and laundry service, spa and swimming pool in the adjacent forthcoming Kempinski Hotel via an above-ground, cube-shaped glass walkway lined with artwork.

4. Intercity Tower

A 100-floor skyscraper straddling the border of Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan, between the Savidor railway and bus station and the Diamond Exchange, is planned by Miloslavsky Architects.

The mixed-use building’s lower two floors will have retail space, followed by five stories for public use, 71 floors of offices and 15 stories for a hotel. In total, Between the Cities will encompass 150,000 square meters (1.6 million square feet) of floor space.

Expected to be completed in 2023, the Intercity Tower will stand 400 meters (1,312 feet) high and encompass 24 high-speed elevators. It is expected to be Israel’s tallest building.

5. Keren Hakirya

It may be another three years until ground is broken for this massive project – two office towers of 80-plus stories and 50 stories, respectively, and two 45-story residential towers above a two-story retail mall — on 9.5 acres at a major midtown intersection near the Kirya, the IDF/Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv.

A central focus of Keren Hakirya is to be a landscaped pedestrian plaza flanked by retail and dining space, similar to Rockefeller Center in New York City.

A pedestrian bridge will link the two commercial buildings and the complex will be served by the future light rail. Bus, bicycle and pedestrian access also is planned, as well as underground parking and service levels.

Architect Alan Aranoff of A.I. Architecture and Urban Design, whose firm did the master plan for the project initiated by the Israel Land Authority, Defense Ministry and Tel Aviv Municipality, tells ISRAEL21c the bigger tower will be the first built.

In the architectural design world, Keren Hakirya has been nicknamed “Toblerone Towers” because its shape is reminiscent of the tall candy bar, consisting of clusters of extruded triangles of different heights.

By: Abigail Klein Leichman
(Israel 21C)

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The government is holding back their aliyah because of financial and political reasons, says Aaron (A.Y.) Katsof, director of the Heart of Israel

There is a direct connection between the discriminatory treatment of religiously observant Ethiopians who work in a winery and the government’s continued delays in carrying out its decisions to bring the remaining Jewish community of Ethiopia to Israel, according to Alisa Bodner, spokesperson to foreign media for the advocacy group Struggle for Ethiopian Aliyah.

She told JNS that “the Ethiopian-Israeli community is fuming, and they will not remain silent.”

Shortly after the June 18 ministerial committee meeting headed by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed a vote that would facilitate the aliyah of 8,000 remaining Ethiopian Jews to Israel, Barkan Wineries announced its decision to remove its Ethiopian workers from departments in which they touch kosher wine—a decision based on doubt over their halachic status as Jews.

After upgrading to the most stringent Israeli kosher certification, the Eda Haredit ultra-Orthodox kosher certifier required the winery to prevent Ethiopian workers from touching the wine, in accordance to Jewish law that prevents the consumption of wine handled by non-Jews at certain points in the wine-making process.

The Ethiopian Jews in question, however, were considered halachically Jewish according to Israel’s Chief Rabbinate.

Since the exposé by Israel’s Kan news station that claimed discriminatory practices, followed by public outrage at the situation, Barkan Wineries announced that its Ethiopian workers would return to work on kosher wines. Following this decision, the Eda Haredit Kashrut authority froze the winery’s kosher certification for certain wines.

‘The ingathering of exiles is prophesized’

But even with this announcement, the scandal has highlighted the plight of Ethiopian Jews in Israel, as well as those remaining in Ethiopia waiting to reunite with their families in Israel.

Aaron (A.Y.) Katsof, director of the Heart of Israel, an organization that is working with the Binyamin Fund to raise money to resettle these Ethiopian Jews in the biblical heartland, traveled to Ethiopia in April, and reported that the Jews of Ethiopia have been living in extreme poverty in Gondar and Addis Ababa for as much as two decades, waiting for the government to help bring them to Israel. He reported families living “in one-room homes with no running water or toilets. They cook on coal stovetops, and most children only eat one meal per day, if that.”

Each week, 100 activists and family members of those who remain in Ethiopia have been protesting in front of Interior Minister Aryeh Deri’s house, urging him to act at the ministerial meeting to bring the Jews home. The protestors wear white paint to bring attention to their belief that the government has not brought the final Jews over to Israel for racist reasons. According to Bodner, the group will be escalating its protests in other locations as well.

Many others also consider the doubt over Ethiopian Jewish status to be pure racism, including Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, Knesset member Shelly Yachimovich and Katsof, who opined that the kashrut scandal “reflects on how a lot of people see the Ethiopian Jews,” a reality he told JNS is “very sad.”

He claims that in addition to racism, the government is holding back their aliyah because of financial and political reasons. “No office wants to allocate money for this, and there are political parties, such as ultra-Orthodox parties, that would lose votes in the next election if they helped facilitate this.”

“Many ultra-Orthodox believe that the Ethiopian Jews are not Jewish, while the more secular political parties do not want to bring Ethiopian Jews over who are more religious and would be more inclined to vote for the right-wing religious parties,” explained Katsof.

“The bodies delaying the Jewish immigration from Ethiopia are the Prime Minister’s Office under Benjamin Netanyahu and the Ministry of Interior under Aryeh Deri,” said Bodner. “This is the third time this year that a meeting was pushed off where a decision regarding the immigration was due to be made.”

This ministerial committee meeting is the final step in approving the resettlement of Ethiopian Jews waiting to make aliyah, following a government decision made in 2015.

“It is a shame and injustice that Israel—a country that opens its arms wide to immigrants from all around the world—has turned its back on the 8,000 remaining Jews of Ethiopia, who are waiting to reunite with their families and come to the Jewish homeland,” said Bodner, who maintained that it is the “responsibility of the Jewish community abroad to respond to this injustice, and to demand answers from local Jewish leaders and government officials in Israel.”

According to Katsof, it will take pressure on the government—coming from the people of Israel and brought to light by media coverage—to bring the remaining Jews home. He is confident that it will happen, as “the ingathering of exiles is prophesied in the books of Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah, and is already being witnessed today.”

In the long run, maintained Katosf, the kashrut scandal “will only help bring the last Ethiopian Jews home because it is awakening the hidden story of the remaining Jews in Ethiopia and helping to bring it to the headlines.”

By: Eliana Rudee
(JNS.org)

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Marketwatch details how Gillian Luchejko, a 46-year-old client services manager in New Jersey, first found out her sister Pamela Elarabi had killed herself on Facebook. Elarabi posted a photo of herself on the social networking site as she prepared to take her own life. The photo appeared at the top of Luchejko’s Facebook feed.

On the evening of Friday, June 22, around 9 p.m. after making several cryptic text posts on her page throughout the day, Elarabi posted an image where she appeared to be attempting suicide. The photo was public, so anyone looking at Elarabi’s Facebook page could also see it.

It took more than 72 agonizing hours to get the photo taken down. Luchejko said their family considers itself relatively private, and was horrified to watch the news of her sister’s death spread across the Facebook community and their small hometown, Marketwatch reports.

The experience highlights the painful challenges that social media companies like Facebook, and their users must deal with as more people put their entire lives online. Facebook walks a fine line between intervening and saving lives while avoiding censorship. The company has the ability to step in when users appear poised to hurt themselves, but as Elabari’s case shows, it doesn’t always act in a timely manner in the aftermath of tragedy.

Facebook has struggled to remove alarming content previously. In December 2016, footage of a 12-year-old girl taking her life continued to circulate despite multiple efforts to remove it, Marketwatch reports.

In January 2017, a 14-year-old girl killed herself on Facebook Live, and in April 2017, a Pennsylvania man posted a video of himself shooting and killing a man on Facebook, Marketwatch adds.

Following these events, Facebook implemented more suicide prevention tools and announced it would hire 3,000 more moderators to review videos to prevent live streaming of crimes. Facebook has also been developing artificial intelligence tools to intervene in situations where users may be a danger to themselves or others, and to take down alarming content more quickly, Marketwatch reports.

Phrases in a post like, “Are you OK?” and, “Can I help?” can trigger first responders to be alerted to help the person in question. As of March, Facebook has called first responders to make more than 1,000 wellness checks, the company said.

Facebook’s community standards do not allow posts promoting self-injury and suicide, but those posts must be reported before being removed.

A spokeswoman from Facebook said the company cannot comment on Elarabi’s case because the post was deleted and cannot be investigated. The Menlo Park-based company has a team of 10,000 to 20,000 content reviewers working at all hours around the world to monitor content, she said, and many are trained in suicide prevention, according to Marketwatch.

If someone reports a post threatening suicide or self-harm, Facebook will automatically suggest the user contact law enforcement to help their friend. However, the spokeswoman did not have information on what the average response time is after someone reports a troubling post.
Facebook’s policy states the company will not take down live videos of suicidal content in case somebody watching can help, the company’s vice president of Global Policy Management, Monika Bickert explained in 2017.

“Experts in self-harm advised us that it can be better to leave live videos of self-harm running so that people can be alerted to help, but to take them down afterwards to prevent copycats,” she said.
Facebook has to strike a delicate balance between censorship and safety, said Jen Golbeck, a computer scientist and associate professor at University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies. Although the company is working on artificial intelligence solutions to automatically detect suicidal posts, it is particularly difficult to detect the content of specific images.

That means many of these cases continue to be reviewed by hand, Golbeck said. “Usually that is done quickly, but once humans are brought into the loop — especially people who are not reporting problems with their own accounts — there can be delays,” she said.

“Imagine all the requests from parents to have their children’s suggestive photos taken down or complaints about bullying,” she added. “These parents’ requests are in that stream; that’s not to say they are unimportant, but rather that once you ask a real person to do something, you have to accept that lots of other people are asking for things and it can be slow.”
Trying to translate Facebook’s policies to algorithms is difficult, leaving the responsibility up to a relatively small team of moderators.

One internal document leaked from Facebook in 2017 showed moderators escalated 4,351 reports of self-harm in a two-week span in 2016, 63 of which had to be dealt with by law enforcement. In 2017, the figure was higher, at 5,016 reports in one two-week period and 5,431 in another.

In these documents, moderators were told to ignore suicide threats if “intention is only expressed through hashtags or emoticons” or when the proposed method is unlikely to succeed, as well as if the user’s threat to take his or her own life appears to be planned for more than five days in the future. Trying to translate these policies to algorithms is difficult, leaving the responsibility up to a relatively small team of moderators, Golbeck said.

“Facebook is trying to balance a lot of concerns, not just about privacy and the sensitivity of the content, but also the impact on people who are suffering and potentially suicidal,” she said. “A complex policy seems to be the right solution, but it does mean that the human machine will move more slowly.”

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