Weekly roundup of world briefs

Omar no longer a speaker at US Commission on Religious Freedom event

(JNS) — Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who has compared boycotts of Israel and of Nazi Germany, was slated to deliver opening remarks at a U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom event on Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Terror Victims, according to a listing shared on Twitter. But the event is now slated for May 1, without the congresswoman on the docket.

Rabbi David Saperstein, director emeritus of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (whom JNS was unable to reach via multiple channels) remains listed as moderator.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was previously listed as a speaker. Spokeswoman Laura Ortiz told JNS that Rubio would not attend in person but would pre-record remarks. She deferred questions to the commission. “They organize the event, not the senator,” she said. “That’s up to their prerogative.”

“Marco has been on the record on his disagreements with the congresswoman on multiple occasions,” she added.

Omar has a long history of antisemitic statements, including accusing Israel of having “hypnotized the world” and Jews of buying control of Congress (“It’s all about the Benjamins”). She has called Israel an “apartheid state” and likened it to the Taliban and Hamas terrorist groups.

She was to be among those who were to deliver opening remarks at an April 25 event, during which the religious freedom commission, part of the federal government, will release its 2023 annual report.

“The 2023 Annual Report documents systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom that have occurred in the last year, and provides recommendations to the U.S. government intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief abroad,” per the commission website.

The commission did not immediately respond to questions about why she was invited and why the date was changed.

In Israel, Sen. Lindsey Graham discusses expansion of Abraham Accords

(JNS) — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) met with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on Monday in Jerusalem, where the two men discussed expanding the Abraham Accords and addressing the Iranian threat.

The congressman is visiting the Jewish state after a trip to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“I spoke with Senator Graham, a great friend of Israel, about regional challenges, opportunities to improve relations with neighboring countries, and his visit to Saudi Arabia, from which he arrived in Israel, and initiatives to strengthen Israel-US relations. I also expressed my deep appreciation for America’s move to deepen and expand the Abraham Accords, which contribute to regional prosperity and stability,” Cohen said.

“Cooperation between Israel and the US is essential to stopping the Iranian nuclear program, which is a global threat,” Cohen added.

On Sunday, Graham met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, saying in a statement that he left Saudi Arabia with an optimistic view about changes occurring there and the opportunities to forge new relationships.

“I look forward to working with the Biden administration and our allies in Israel to upgrade the relationship with Saudi Arabia in a win-win fashion,” Graham said.

In an interview with ABC’s “This Week” host Jonathan Karl on Sunday, the Republican leader said that he sees “a chance to normalize the relationship between the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel that would be transformative for the region.”

The Trump administration brokered the Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel, and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in the fall of 2020, followed soon by Morocco and Sudan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in February that he was actively courting Riyadh to join the Abraham Accords, which would constitute a “quantum leap” towards regional peace.

Nearly half of the world’s Jews live in Israel

(JNS) — At the start of 2022, there were a total of 15.3 million Jews in the world, 7 million of whom, roughly 46 percent of all Jews worldwide, resided in Israel, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics revealed on Sunday.

In 1939, on the eve of World War II, Jews numbered 16.6 million, and 449,000 (3 percent) resided in the Land of Israel. Just under 10 years later, in 1948, the world’s Jewish population had diminished to 11.5 million; of them, 650,000 (6 percent) lived in Israel.

Among Diaspora Jews, about 6 million live in the United States, 442,000 in France, 392,000 in Canada, 292,000 in Britain, 173,000 in Argentina, 145,000 in Russia, 118,000 in Germany and another 118,000 in Australia, according to the report.

Ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on the evening of April 17, the CBS also revealed that 147,199 Holocaust survivors or victims of antisemitic actions during the Holocaust are currently living in Israel.

Of those survivors, 61 percent are women and 39 percent are men.

A small number, 4.5 percent, immigrated to Israel before the establishment of the state, between 1933 to 1947; 31.7 percent immigrated during the large aliyah wave following the state’s establishment (1948 to 1951); 29.7 percent immigrated between 1952 and 1989 and 34.1 percent came since the 1990s, during the wave of aliyah from the former Soviet Union.

In a 2021 survey, 87 percent of Israel’s survivors said they were either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their lives, similar to the 88 percent of Jews and others above the age of 75. However, 17.3 percent of Holocaust survivors said they felt lonely often, compared to 12.6 percent of Jews and others 75 and older.

Iranian efforts to enlist Judea and Samaria residents exposed

(JNS) — The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) revealed on Monday that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force and its Lebanese terrorist proxy Hezbollah tried to recruit residents of Judea and Samaria to commit terrorist attacks.

Yusuf Mansour and Marsil Mansour were arrested in recent months. The investigation found that efforts to recruit them as part of a terror operation were made by Hezbollah and the pair agreed to smuggle weapons inside the Green Line and sell them while assisting criminal elements in Israel.

Mansour agreed to gather information about Israel Defense Forces activities in Judea and Samaria and inside the Green Line and to recruit additional operatives, the investigation also revealed.

According to the Israel Security Agency, the appeals came from Hezbollah operatives Huda Mahana and Haj Muhammad Radwan, who is also known as Mohammed Bashir. Mansour is accused of communicating with them through encryption software and a dedicated email address.

Intelligence information indicates that Mahana and Radwan are part of a Quds Force unit headed by Saeed Izadi that assists Palestinian terrorist organizations in the Palestinian Authority.

According to Jason Brodsky, an expert on leadership dynamics in Iran and the IRGC, Izadi spearheaded rocket fire into Israel from Syria in 2015 and has been working behind the scenes on the latest escalations.

The Shin Bet “takes a serious view of attempts by Iran and its proxies to establish secret infrastructures in Israel that are intended to carry out terrorist activities against the citizens of Israel, and will continue to work together with the security forces in order to locate and thwart in advance any activity that endangers the security of the state,” the agency said.

Crown Prince of Iran making ‘brave,’ first-of-its-kind visit to Israel

(JNS) — Crown Prince of Iran Reza Pahlavi on Monday became the most senior Iranian figure to ever make a public visit to Israel. Pahlavi is the oldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, who was overthrown during the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

“I am traveling to Israel to deliver a message of friendship from the Iranian people, engage Israeli water experts on ways to address the regime’s abuse of Iran’s natural resources and pay respects to the victims of the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah,” said Pahlavi ahead of the trip.

“I want the people of Israel to know that the Islamic Republic does not represent the Iranian people. The ancient bond between our people can be rekindled for the benefit of both nations. I’m going to Israel to play my role in building toward that brighter future,” he added.

“Millions of my compatriots still remember living alongside their Jewish-Iranian friends and neighbors, before the Islamic Revolution tore the fabric of our society apart. They reject the regime’s murderous anti-Israel and antisemitic policies and long for cultural, scientific and economic exchanges with Israel. A democratic Iran will seek to renew its ties with Israel and our Arab neighbors. In my opinion, that day is closer than ever,” said Pahlavi.

Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel will formally host Pahlavi, with the aim of creating a bridge between Israel and the Iranian people, and expressing joint opposition to the ayatollahs’ regime, according to an official Israeli government statement.

“I am honored to host Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi and appreciate his brave decision to visit Israel for the first time. The Crown Prince symbolizes a leadership different from that of the [ayatollahs’] regime, and champions values of peace and tolerance, in contrast to the extremists who rule Iran,” said Gamliel.

“Our nations have enjoyed good relations for thousands of years, since the time of Queen Esther who thwarted the evil Haman’s plot to destroy the Jews in Persia. Today, we are taking the first step in rebuilding the relationship between our nations,” she added.

During his visit, the heir to the Iranian throne will participate in the official opening ceremony to mark Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day, which begins on the night of April 17, meet senior officials, visit a desalination plant in order to learn about Israel’s advanced water technologies, speak with members of the Baha’i community and with Jewish Iranians, and visit the Western Wall.

‘You chose life. You believed in good. You helped others,’ Netanyahu tells survivors

(JNS) — A Hungarian Jew, whose whole family was killed in the Holocaust, was sent to various concentration camps. At Mauthausen in Austria, an SS officer would wake him and other prisoners up every day. “‘You dream of Jerusalem?’ the officer would yell at them. ‘You will never get to see Jerusalem. You will only see Jerusalem only through chimneys of the furnaces,’ ” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But the Jewish man never gave up, survived the Holocaust and moved to Israel. He didn’t live in Jerusalem, but he never forgot that city. He started a large family, and as an older man, began working at the Western Wall (Kotel), as Netanyahu told it, speaking at the state opening ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day 2023 at Yad Vashem on April 17.

“That was the greatest victory over the Nazis,” Netanyahu said. Working every day at the Kotel, the man, who passed away at 95 a year-and-a-half ago, felt there was a great turn from Holocaust to rebirth and resurrection.

“A true symbol of our triumph over our enemies,” said Netanyahu.

The scars of the pain of the Holocaust remain forever, he continued. But he also said to the survivors: “You chose life. You believed in good. You helped others.” Many started large families, he noted.

“The height of this victory is the independence of our 75-year-old country. Israel is a vibrant, free, democratic country, with so many achievements,” he said.

But past victories don’t guarantee future ones, and there is a “relentless battle against those who seek to kill us,” Netanyahu cautioned. He said Israel must not allow a nuclear Iran and must fight its terrorist proxies all around.

“Our enemies,” he stated, “will find us standing shoulder to shoulder together.”

IDF strikes Hezbollah targets in Syria

(JNS) The Israel Defense Forces struck assets belonging to Iranian terror proxy Hezbollah in southern Syria overnight Tuesday, according to foreign reports.

According to reports, the military fired artillery at targets in Quneitra in the Syrian-held part of the Golan Heights.

The IDF on Wednesday morning dropped leaflets in the area warning the Syrian army against working with Hezbollah.

The Israeli military did not comment on the reports but said that a Skylark drone conducting a routine operation crashed overnight in Syria.

The unmanned aerial vehicle suffered a technical malfunction and an investigation into the incident has been opened.

The military added that there was no danger of critical information being leaked.

Earlier this month, the IDF struck targets in Syria in response to six rockets fired towards the Golan Heights. Among the targets were a military compound of the Fourth Division of the Syrian Armed Forces, military radar systems and artillery posts.

“The IDF sees the State of Syria responsible for all activities occurring within its territory and will not allow any attempts to violate Israeli sovereignty,” the IDF said.

The military regularly conducts airstrikes in Syria with a view to preventing Iran and its terror proxies, foremost among them Lebanon-based Hezbollah, from developing permanent military infrastructure with which to open a front against the Jewish state.

Israeli cultural icon Yehonatan Geffen dies at 76

(JNS) — Israeli literary, musical and overall cultural icon Yehonatan Geffen died on Wednesday aged 76.

“It is hard to imagine the existence of Israeli art, our anthems, the worlds of literature and theater without his unique and unforgettable contribution,” President Isaac Herzog said of Geffen after his death.

Geffen was born in Moshav Nahalal in 1947, just prior to Israel’s reestablishment. He served in elite units in the Israel Defense Forces and fought in Nablus and the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War in 1967.

After moving to Tel Aviv, Geffen published a volume of poems under the tutelage of Natan Alterman.

Geffen’s 1978 record album “The Sixteenth Sheep” is one of the best-selling in Israel’s history.

His mother, Aviva Dayan, was the sister of war hero and former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan.

Geffen was active politically and his left-wing views were often fiercely criticized. In 2018, he lionized Palestinian Ahed Tamimi, who is known for assaulting IDF soldiers, comparing her to Anne Frank. In response, then-Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman called to ban his music from Army Radio.

Geffen is survived by his first wife, Nurit, and their two children, Shira and famous singer Aviv; and his second wife, Ava Hadad, and their daughter Natasha.

United Hatzalah volunteer saves teen’s life on Israel-New York flight

(JNS) — A United Hatzalah emergency-service doctor saved the life of a teen suffering from anaphylactic shock aboard an El Al flight on Tuesday from Israel to New York.

Dr. Natan Ungar came to the rescue of a 16-year-old boy whose throat had begun to close due to a severe allergic reaction to something he ate.

The young passenger was in possession of an EpiPen epinephrine injection device, but it had expired. Ungar, therefore, asked the flight attendants for the plane’s medical kit, which contained a vial of adrenaline that was administered intravenously.

The teen’s condition immediately started to improve, and he was soon able to breathe normally. At that point, the decision was made to continue the flight as planned to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City.

United Hatzalah is an emergency medical service based in Israel. The organization also carries out humanitarian missions across the globe in response to wars and natural disasters.

Yair Lapid to boycott Israel’s main Independence Day ceremony

(JNS) — Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said that he plans to boycott the traditional torch-lighting ceremony marking the transition from Memorial Day to Independence Day celebrations.

In a message to Transportation Minister Miri Regev, Lapid accused the current government of “dismantling democracy” amid a fierce debate over its judicial reform initiative.

Lapid is the head of the Yesh Atid Party, the second-largest faction in the Knesset after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud.

Lapid has called the proposed judicial reforms an “extreme regime change,” and has vowed to continue fighting in streets across the country in “a war over our home.”

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