Weekly roundup of world briefs

US and Israel must ‘stand together’ on Iran, Netanyahu tells AIPAC

(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the AIPAC Political Leadership Forum through a video call from his office in the Knesset on Monday, speaking about the importance of U.S.-Israel cooperation on Iran in the pro-Israel lobbying group’s first major conference since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The time has come for Israel and the United States, along with other countries, to stand together, and I look forward to discussing this with President Biden and his team,” said Netanyahu. “Today, more people agree on the issue than ever before.”

Netanyahu was met with a standing ovation from conference attendees, including 1,000 pro-Israel activists and senior AIPAC management.

The prime minister said that people around the globe are now seeing the Iranian regime’s internal repression of its citizens. Demonstrations are taking place across the country following the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini in the custody of the regime’s morality police. Amini was arrested for not wearing her hijab in accordance with government standards.

“So now, because of the brave men and women of Iran, the entire world sees what we’ve been talking about, that this is a terrible, repressive, terrorist regime,” said Netanyahu.

He also said that he is working to expand the “circle of peace,” describing diplomatic efforts between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Otzma Yehudit MK: Lapid, Gantz are committing ‘treason against the state’

(JNS) — Oztma Yehudit lawmaker Zvika Fogel on Tuesday accused opposition leader Yair Lapid and three others of “treason” for what he views as fomenting a civil war.

In an interview with the Kan public broadcaster, Fogel defined Lapid, National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz, former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and former Deputy Economy Minister Yair Golan as the “most dangerous” people in Israel.

“These four are talking about war. If they were calling to protest I’d give them every right to protest. But they’re talking in terms of me being an enemy. As far as I’m concerned, it’s treason against the state,” said Fogel.

Lapid on Monday called the government’s proposed judicial reforms an “extreme regime change” and vowed to continue fighting in streets across the country in “a war over our home.”

His comments were echoed by Gantz, who said: “If you [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] continue the way you are going, the responsibility for the civil war that is brewing in Israeli society will be on you.

“This is the time to go out en masse to demonstrate, the time to make the country tremble,” Gantz added.

In response, Netanyahu accused his political opponents of “planting the seeds of disaster” by encouraging a rebellion against a democratically-elected government.

Netanyahu on Sunday rejected as “baseless” claims by critics that his government’s proposed judicial reforms would mark the end of the country’s democracy, and vowed to implement the plan “responsibly.”

“The truth is that the balance between the branches of government has been violated over the past two decades,” Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting. “This unusual phenomenon does not exist anywhere else in the world—not in the United States, not in Western Europe and not during Israel’s first 50 years of existence.”

The attempt to restore the “correct balance” between the branches of government “is not the destruction of democracy, but the strengthening of democracy,” he said.

Bill re-extending Israeli laws to citizens in Judea and Samaria passes first reading

(JNS) — A bill seeking to apply Israeli criminal and various civil laws to communities located in Area C of Judea and Samaria passed its first reading in the Knesset on Tuesday.

The proposed legislation seeks to renew a set of “emergency” regulations enacted in the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War, meant to be reapproved every five years but which were last approved in 2017.

Israel’s previous government did not renew the regulations due to opposition from members of the coalition, specifically the left-wing Meretz and Islamist Ra’am parties.

However, they were automatically extended when the government fell in June, and remain in effect for three months after the date of the swearing-in of the new government.

The “Law to Extend the Emergency Regulations (Judea and Samaria—Jurisdiction and Legal Aid 5727-1967)” effectively applies Israeli jurisdiction to citizens living in Judea and Samaria, including as it relates to obligations such as paying taxes and fulfilling mandatory military service, as well as the extension of rights such as national and state health insurance. The law also delineates the legal powers of state authorities in Palestinian Authority-controlled territories.

The bill will now move to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for approval before returning to the plenum for its final two readings.

Matching global trend, investment in Israeli high-tech declined steeply in 2022, study finds

(JNS) — The total volume of investment in Israeli high-tech in 2022 plummeted by almost one-half compared to the previous year—from an unprecedented $27 billion in 2021 to some $15.5 billion in the past year—according to an annual summary of the industry.

This phenomenon is not unique to Israel, an is a result of last year’s financial downturn, according to the report compiled by Start-Up Nation Central and the Start-Up Nation Policy Institute (SNPI).

“Investments in Silicon Valley high-tech companies declined by 40 percent. The overall number of funding rounds in 2022 also declined to 826 compared to 1,103 rounds in the previous year,” according to the report.

The study focused on five key sectors: Cyber, Fintech, ClimateTech, AgriFood-Tech and Life Sciences and Health. A decline was recorded across all but the AgriFood-Tech sector, which showed a degree of stability.

Cyber saw a decline of more than 60 percent between 2021 and 2022. The number of funding rounds remained stable.

While the decline in total investments for most types of funding rounds isn’t surprising given last year’s financial downturn, the report noted, there was a surprising increase in seed investments in 2022, which grew by 22 percent compared to 2021, from $1.3 billion to $1.6 billion.

Making this still more surprising is the coinciding decrease in the number of startups, which would be expected to lead to a decline in the total value of seed round investment, the report noted.

The reasons, according to the report, are that foreign investors have changed their investment focus to earlier-stage companies, and that there has been an increase in the number of investors per seed round, nearly doubling between 2019 and 2022.

“The most significant increase occurred in 2022, when on average one additional investor was added to each round compared to 2021, bringing the rate to 3.5 participants per round,” the report said.

The most active Israel-based venture capital investors in Israel were OurCrowd and Viola Ventures, which invested in 84 and 47 startups, respectively, in 2022. Pitango invested in 21 startups.

The leading foreign VCs operating in Israel are Insight Partners, funding 40 startups, and Tiger Global Management—which began operating in Israel in 2019—investing in 26 startups last year.

Tiger focused on more mature companies ready for IPO or unicorn (over $1 billion) valuations. However, in 2022, its investment strategy shifted to earlier-stage companies.

Israel moves ahead with transfer of PA funds to terror victims

(JNS) — Israel on Sunday transferred 138.8 million shekels ($39.5 million) of revenues collected for the Palestinian Authority to the victims of terrorism and their families.

At a press conference on Sunday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, “We promised to fix this, and today we are correcting an injustice. This is an important day for morality, for justice and for the fight against terrorism. There is no greater justice than offsetting the funds of the Authority, that acts to support terrorism, and transferring them to the families of the victims of terrorism.”

The P.A. pays monthly stipends to Palestinians, and/or their families, for carrying out terrorist attacks against Israel. In 2021, the P.A. paid out an estimated 512 million shekels ($157 million) as part of this “pay for slay” policy.

Asked if the move would strengthen P.A. rival Hamas, Smotrich said, “The group weakening the P.A. is the P.A. itself, which chooses to be involved in and encourage terrorism and the murder of Israeli citizens.”

In response to a question regarding the possible economic collapse of the P.A., Smotrich replied, “As long as the Palestinian Authority encourages terrorism and is an enemy, what interest do I have in helping it exist?”

The Israeli government’s decision to transfer P.A. terror funds to victims of terror was one of several announced on Friday in the wake of the P.A.’s latest act of lawfare against the Jewish state.

On Dec. 30, the P.A. orchestrated a United Nations General Assembly resolution urging the International Court of Justice to render an advisory opinion on Israel’s “prolonged occupation” of Palestinian territory.

Re-elected Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sends a message to the Kotel

(JNS) — Just days after taking his second oath of office, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sent a note to be placed at the Kotel in Jerusalem with prayers for his state.

On Friday, Rabbi Schneur Oirechman, a Chabad emissary in Tallahassee, Fla., paid a visit to the Western Wall and read the note that DeSantis gave him, reported COLlive. Oirechman then placed the note in the wall as is customary.

“Heavenly Father, Gov. DeSantis and I pray that you look over our great state of Florida, protect us and keep us safe from storms and other disasters. Protect all your people and give them strength to stand firm in their faith,” stated the note, signed by DeSantis’s Chief of Staff James Uthmeier.

Oirechman commended the governor for his efforts to combat antisemitism and his support for Israel.

“The governor appreciated these words and re-emphasized his commitment to Israel and the Jewish people,” Oirechman said.

Meta’s Oversight Board tells company to allow ‘death to Khamenei’ posts

(JNS) — The Meta Oversight Board reversed the company’s decision to remove a Facebook post criticizing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that featured the term “death to Khamenei,” ruling that it did not breach a regulation against violent threats.

The board, which is funded by Meta but functions independently, ruled that the phrase is frequently used to indicate “down with Khamenei” in reference to the Iranian leader, who has led a deadly crackdown on widespread protests in recent months, reported Reuters.

“In the context of the post, and the broader social, political and linguistic situation in Iran, ‘marg bar Khamenei’ should be understood as ‘down with.’ It is a rhetorical, political slogan, not a credible threat,” the board wrote.

The social media corporation prohibits language inciting “serious violence,” but it seeks to prevent overreach by limiting enforcement to credible threats, creating ambiguity about when and how the law applies.

Israeli researchers uncover earliest silver used as currency in Levant

(JNS) — Israeli archaeologists announced on Sunday the discovery of the earliest evidence of silver used as currency in the Levant, an area including present-day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and most of Turkey.

It is believed the silver relics, known hacksilber, a German term indicating they were cut to specific weights, originated in ancient Anatolia.

The silver hoards were unearthed during excavations in Israel’s Shiloh, Megiddo and Gezer, as well as Tel el-‘Ajjul in the Gaza Strip, and date back more than 3,600 years—to the Middle Bronze Age—or about 500 years before prior estimates, according to researchers from the University of Haifa and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

To identify their source, an isotopic test was performed and the results compared to the composition of ores of known origin, as well as to other silver objects.

That the pieces of silver were unpolished—suggesting that they were not used as jewelry or ornamental objects—and generally found together wrapped in cloth and kept in pottery, indicates they were used as a form of payment.

The discovery shows that cities across the Middle East engaged in more extensive trade than previously thought, paying for large purchases such as for land with silver.

One shekel is believed to have been equal to approximately 16 grams of silver.

The findings were published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

UAE to include Holocaust education in school curricula

(JNS) — The United Arab Emirates Embassy in Washington, D.C., confirmed on Jan. 5 that Holocaust education will be incorporated into the Gulf state’s curricula.

“In the wake of the historic Abraham Accords, the U.A.E. will now include the Holocaust in the curriculum for primary and secondary schools,” the embassy said in a statement.

The U.A.E. is the first Arab state to introduce Holocaust education in its national curriculum.

IMPACT-se, the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education, an Israeli NGO which monitors the content of school textbooks, worked with the U.A.E. Education Ministry to develop a curriculum framework, having been invited last March by U.A.E. Education Minister Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi to meet with officials in Abu Dhabi.

“The United Arab Emirates has been leading the way in peace and tolerance education in the region for some years,” said IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff.

“IMPACT-se is delighted that they have taken this important step in educating about the Shoah and humbled to have partnered with the Ministry of Education.”

Al Nuaimi, a member of the U.A.E. Federal National Council and Chairman of the Defense Affairs, Interior & Foreign Affairs Committee at the Council, said, “Memorializing the victims of the Holocaust is crucial.”

Iranian arrested in Germany for plotting chemical attack

(JNS) — German authorities arrested an Iranian national on Saturday in the town of Castrop-Rauxel, near Dortmund, who was allegedly planning a chemical attack.

The 32-year-old was “suspected of having prepared a serious act of violence threatening the security of the state by obtaining cyanide and ricin with a view to committing an Islamist attack,” said investigators.

The suspect’s brother was also taken into custody during the police operation.

Ricin is a highly toxic substance that is classified as a chemical weapon in Germany.

According to German media, an unnamed foreign intelligence service had provided authorities with information about a potential “chemical bomb” attack.

Germany has in recent years been targeted by several Islamist terrorists, including a 2016 attack in which a truck plowed through a Christmas market, killing 13 people.

US group bringing young Christians to Israel celebrates 10,000th traveler

(JNS) — Passages, a U.S. organization that brings Christian college students on subsidized visits to Israel, recently celebrated a remarkable milestone.

This group brought 450 students to Israel during its winter program, bringing the total number of participants to date to 10,000.

Passages is passionate about energizing young Christians to grow a greater understanding of their faith and the Bible through visiting Israel. While originally working with Christian colleges, the group has since expanded to general universities as well.

The founders of Passages, an initiative of the Philos Project, in 2016 realized there was a need to be filled: While many older Christians were frequent visitors to Israel, more young people needed access.

Rivka Kidron is the co-founder of Passages and a board member. She said regarding the growing popularity of the program, “We are at a unique moment in history, where Jews and Christians can come together for the first time and create positive and impactful experiences.”

Kidron emphasized that “now more than ever, Jews and Christians have to come together around our shared values and stand up for what’s right in this world. Unfortunately, antisemitism is on the rise, and I think we need each other now more than ever. I feel very blessed to be here and living here at this moment, and [to] share it with you.”

Passages describes one of its key goals for its students as “building their Christian faith and bridges of friendship with the Jewish community.”