Weekly roundup of world briefs

Study: Israel second least affordable country

(JNS) — Israeli housing is the second most expensive in the world, a new study finds.

According to the study, conducted by Australia’s price-comparison website CompareTheMarket, the average Israeli household spends the equivalent of 26.6 percent of its annual disposable income on each square meter (10.8 square feet) of housing space.

The only country with less affordable housing is South Korea, the study notes, with each square meter (10.8 square feet) of housing space costing the equivalent of 39.6 percent of the average household’s annual disposable income.

Switzerland ranks third in the study, followed by Luxembourg, Japan, France, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic.

The top three most affordable countries in the study are Turkey, the United States and Russia, followed by South Africa, Mexico, Lithuania and Brazil.

Shira Haas, ‘Asia’ win Israel’s Ophir Awards

By Geri Miller

(Jewish Journal via JNS) — The mother-daughter drama “Asia” was named Best Picture at the Israeli Academy of Film and Television’s Ophir Awards, automatically becoming Israel’s entry in the Best International Feature category at the Oscars next spring. “Unorthodox” Emmy nominee Shira Haas adds another accolade to her résumé with her win as Best Supporting Actress for the film, which won nine Ophirs, Best Actress (Alena Yiv) and Best Cinematography (Daniella Nowitz) among them.

“Asia” tells the story of a Russian immigrant mother (Yiv) and her complex relationship with her ailing daughter (Haas).

“It’s such an amazing script,” Haas told the Jewish Journal earlier this year. “The daughter is sick, and it’s their last time together. It’s a depressing subject about death and grief, but it’s more about life and their relationship. There’s so much love and empathy in this movie.”

It’s the fifth Ophir nomination and second win for Haas, who won for “Pere Atzil” in 2018.

“Asia” had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival last spring, where Haas won the Best Actress Award. She is currently shooting the latest season of “Shtisel,” which will premiere on Netflix in 2021.

Another big Ophir Award winner was “Here We Are,” a father-son road trip story that took honors for its two actors, Shai Avivi and Noam Inber; director Nir Bergman; and screenwriter Dada Idisis.

This article was first published by the Jewish Journal.

Leading Israeli think tank JISS to cooperate with UAE counterpart

(Israel Hayom via JNS) — The Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security announced on Sunday that it will be cooperating with the TRENDS Research and Advisory of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on several key programs seeking “to bring about a better understanding of the Middle East.”

The two think tanks signed a formal memorandum of understanding and cooperation on Oct. 6, and have since begun to flesh out the research partnership.

The collaboration is expected to include the monitoring of radical Islam, Turkish encroachment, Iranian influence and other regional crises, JISS said on its website.

“This focused policy-relevant cooperation is based on the vision of the ‘Abraham Accords’ for a bright future of Arab-Israeli cooperation in the region,” JISS president professor Efraim said Inbar.

“We hope to develop robust policy recommendations for greater stability and better national security in the region, which we share,” added TRENDS head Mohammed Abdullah al-Ali added. “Our common goal is solidifying peace in the region.”

This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.

Rouhani: Trump administration ‘almost carried out dictates of US extremists, Zionist regime’

(MEMRI via JNS) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said during a recent Cabinet meeting that with the end of the Trump administration conditions would be more favorable for acting in America’s “actual interests.”

In remarks aired on Iran’s IRINN TV on Nov. 11, Rouhani said that the Trump administration had “interfered” with Iran’s relations with other countries.

“The problem of the (American) administration, which is in its final months, was that it was not very familiar with international politics. It was almost carrying out the dictates of the (American) extremists and of the Zionist regime,” said Rouhani.

“Some of our youth believe that we were the ones who cut off relations with the Americans. This is not the case. They are the ones who cut off relations with Iran. We did not start this,” added the Iranian premier.

UAE national airline to start daily flights to Israel in March

(JNS) — Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, announced on Monday that it would begin operating daily flights to Tel Aviv in March.

“Following the signing of the new bilateral agreement, Etihad is delighted to announce a direct link between these important cities,” said Etihad Aviation Group Chief Operating Officer Mohammad al-Bulooki in a statement.

“The commencement of scheduled flights is a historic moment and as an airline, cements Etihad’s commitment to growing opportunities for trade and tourism not just between the two countries, but also within the region and beyond,” he said.

The flights are set to begin on March 28.

The airline says they will connect Abu Dhabi to “key gateways across the Etihad network including China, India, Thailand and Australia.”

Dubai’s budget airline, flydubai, has already started operating flights between the two countries. A flydubai flight carrying Israeli tourists touched down last week at the Dubai International Airport.

‘CNN’ slammed for likening Trump’s conduct to Nazi pogroms

(Israel Hayom via JNS) —Christiane Amanpour, chief international anchor for CNN, infuriated many social-media users, pundits and politicians over the weekend after she compared the White House’s conduct to Nazi actions in the run up to the Holocaust. Citing the anniversary of Kristallnacht — the pogrom against Jews in Germany and Austria in November 1938 — she likened U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism of the media and legal efforts to contest the recent election to the Nazi attacks on Jews during that event.

“This week 82 years ago, Kristallnacht happened,” Amanpour said in the monologue. “It was the Nazis’ warning shot across the bow of our human civilization that led to genocide against a whole identity, and in that tower of burning books, it led to an attack on fact, knowledge, history and truth. After four years of a modern-day assault on those same values by Donald Trump, the [Joe] Biden-[Kamala] Harris team pledges a return to norms, including the truth.”

Amanpour was heavily criticized for drawing this comparison, leading to calls for her removal by both Jews and non-Jews who were shocked at the ease with which she compared Nazi Germany to what has been widely considered to be a very pro-Israel administration in Washington.

“This is @camanpour on @CNN comparing Trump’s tenure to Nazi Germany. How the hell is this sort of prejudice tolerated on mainstream media? Third rate rubbish,” Ben Habib, a former European Parliament member for the Brexit Party in Britain said on Twitter.

The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council, an organization that defends Jewish interests, tweeted: “Despicable. @camanpour compares verbal fact-checking of a POTUS to a Nazi pogrom in which dozens of Jews were murdered.”

CNN has clashed with the Trump administration repeatedly over the past four years due to the latter’s criticism over the network’s alleged biased coverage.

As of Sunday morning, CNN had yet to respond.

This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.

Second Israeli astronaut to head to International Space Station

(Israel Hayom via JNS)— Eytan Stibbe, a former Israeli fighter pilot, will soon become the second astronaut in the country’s history, the Israel Space Agency announced on Monday in a special televised statement from the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.

Stibbe is slated to take off for the International Space Station in late 2021 for a mission of a little more than a week.

Israel’s first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, and the six other members of the 2003 STS-107 mission of Space Shuttle Columbia were killed in a shuttle reentry disaster just 16 minutes before they were due to land back on Earth.

Tal Ramon, his son, took part in the press conference at the President’s Residence where Stibbe’s space mission was announced.

The 2021 mission is slated to last for 200 hours, which Stibbe is meant to use to conduct a series of experiments intended to advance Israeli technologies and scientific developments by researchers and startups, according to the ISA.

Stibbe is slated to travel into space on a shuttle launched from Florida. His training is expected to begin early next year.

“As a child, on dark nights I used to look up to the sky and wonder what’s there beyond what I could see,” Stibbe said in a statement. “It takes great courage for us to be able to release ourselves from that which ties us down, to leave gravity.”

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said the announcement marked “a day of national joy, and great pride. An Israeli pilot with a blue-and-white flag embroidered on his shoulder will prove once again, as we have been showing here for 72 years, that even the sky is no limit for us.”

Rivlin lauded Stibbe as “Israel’s representative in the human effort to understand the miraculous mechanism that enables life on this globe, and to crack the secrets of the universe. Go in peace, and return in peace,” he concluded.

This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.

Anti-Jewish hate crimes increased by 14 percent in 2019, according to FBI report

Out of 1,650 religious-motivated hate crimes, 60.3 percent, or almost 995, were anti-Jewish.

(JNS) Jews were the most targeted demographic for hate crimes among religious groups in 2019, according to an FBI report released on Monday.

Out of the 1,650 religious-motivated hate crimes reported to the FBI, 60.3 percent, or almost 995, were anti-Jewish—a 2.5 percentage point increase from 2018.

Last year consisted of numerous anti-Semitic attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions, from a lone gunman shooting at Chabad of Poway in Southern California in April 2019 on the last day of Passover, which left a 60-year-old woman dead, to a spree of anti-Jewish incidents in the New York metropolitan area.

In 2019, anti-Semitic crimes increased 14 percent, according to the ADL.

JNS top 40 global advocates for Israel online

Each of these inspiring leaders have two things in common: They are making a real difference and are fearless advocates for the Jewish state.

(JNS) In this day and age, the State of Israel is fighting on multiple battlefronts, none more so important than online.

Whether it be Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram or TikTok, battles of the narrative are being waged, anti-Semitism is spreading, and extremist forces are seeking to undermine efforts towards peace.

In compiling this list, which is by no means exhaustive (or ranked), JNS has sought to include individuals from all walks of life, from around the world, and both Jews and non-Jews alike.

Each of these inspiring leaders has two things in common: He or she is making a real difference, and is a fearless and tireless advocate for the Jewish state.

Palestinian Authority resumes ties with Israeli government

By Ron Kampeas

(JTA) — The Palestinian Authority has resumed security and financial ties with Israel, in part because its leaders believe a Biden presidency will bring Palestinians back into the peacemaking fold.

Israel will now resume funneling taxes to the Palestinian Authority and security cooperation. According to reports, the preeminent reason that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas resumed the ties was because Palestinian areas were suffering a cash crunch.

Hussein Al Sheikh, a senior official of Abbas’ ruling Fatah Party, announced the change Monday in a Twitter post of his appearance on a Palestinian news program.

In the appearance, Al Sheikh cited the election of Joe Biden as president, saying that Biden’s announced changes to U.S. policy on the Palestinians facilitated the change. Biden has said he will resume diplomatic ties with the Palestinians ended by President Donald Trump and resume U.S. assistance.

Biden also is adamantly opposed to Israel’s annexation of any part of the West Bank and emphasizes a two-state outcome as a means of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Al Sheikh also said that communications from Israel recommitting the country to prior agreements were a factor. He said the prior commitments nullify the peace proposal Trump unveiled in January, which the Palestinians revile because in the long run it would allow Israel to annex parts of the West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority cut ties with Israel in May partly because of plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex parts of the West Bank. Netanyahu cited the Trump peace proposal as a pretext, although Trump administration officials made clear that no annexation could take place for at least four years unless the Palestinians were in agreement.

Annexation came off the table in August as the Trump administration brokered the normalization deal among Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The UAE would not enter the deal, which was signed in September, unless Israel agreed to suspend plans for annexation.

Israel strikes Iranian, Syrian targets on Golan Heights and near Damascus

By Cnaan Liphshiz

(JTA) — Israeli aircraft struck several Syrian army and Iranian targets in Syria as payback for the mining of roads in the Golan, the Israeli army said.

The strikes Wednesday morning, in which Syrian authorities said three military personnel were killed and one was wounded, were against Syrian army positions and targets used by the Iranian Al Quds Force, an Israel Defense Forces officer told Reuters. It was in retaliation for the planting of explosive devices in the Golan Tuesday, he added.

Eight targets in the area stretching from the Syrian Golan Heights to the Damascus periphery were attacked, Reuters quoted Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, as saying.

An Iranian headquarters at Damascus international airport was hit, as well as a “secret military site” that served as a “hosting facility for senior Iranian delegations when they come to Syria to operate” and the 7th Division of the Syrian armed forces, he said.

Syrian anti-aircraft batteries were also hit “after they fired at our aircraft and at our ordnance”, Conricus said.

Three anti-personnel improvised explosive devices were discovered on Tuesday near an Israeli military position in the Golan Heights, Conricus told foreign reporters.

“The actual planting of the IEDs was done by Syrian locals but the guidance, instruction and control was by the Iranian Quds Force,” Conricus said.

Syria has not acknowledged the presence of Iranian troops in its territory. Israel has repeatedly struck those forces, along with Hezbollah targets.

Tom Hanks joins campaign to turn Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue into anti-racism center

By Cnaan Liphshiz

(JTA) — Actor Tom Hanks and singer Billy Porter have agreed to help lead a fundraising campaign to help turn Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue into an anti-racism center.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and Joanne Rogers, wife of the late television show host Fred Rogers, will also be members of a “cabinet” to support the renovation of the Tree of Life building, where a gunman killed 11 Jews in 2018, Rabbi Jeffrey Myers said in a statement Wednesday.

“Through this effort and with the support of people of all backgrounds, we will transform a site of hate and tragedy into a site of hope, remembrance and education,” the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle quoted Myers as saying.

The community is raising funds for the project in a campaign titled “Remember. Rebuild. Renew.” Reports about did not specify the campaign’s fundraising goal.