Weekly roundup of world briefs

New head of Birthright’s foundation an alumnus of its inaugural trip to Israel

Elias Saratovsky, who participated in Birthright’s inaugural trip to Israel in 1999-2000, has been named the new president and CEO of the Birthright Israel Foundation.

Saratovsky, who will start the new position on Sept. 1, has worked at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for more than two decades, most recently as national director of regional affairs.

“I remember standing at Birthright’s Mega-Event in Jerusalem alongside thousands of other young Jewish adults from all over the world. That trip shaped my identity and helped me realize that Israel is a central part of our history and our collective Jewish consciousness,” he stated.

Charles Bronfman, the co-founder of Birthright, said that Saratovsky “brings both the skills necessary for this role and a real understanding of the magic of this program.”

“I look forward to leading this organization — one that so greatly impacted my life — as we work to provide tens of thousands of young Jewish adults every year with life-changing experiences in Israel,” stated Saratovsky.

Netanyahu speaks with Musk, Altman, drafting national AI policy

(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by telephone on Sunday night with tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, whose “insight and contribution to humanity” the premier holds in “high esteem.”

“We are at the dawn of a new era for humanity, an era of artificial intelligence. Things are changing at a dizzying pace and Israel must formulate a national policy on this issue,” Netanyahu said after the call.

The Israeli leader said that Musk spoke at length about two issues: The need for governments to understand both the opportunities and the dangers of artificial intelligence; and his view that Israel could become a significant global player in the field.

“I am certain that this is true and we will do it,” said Netanyahu, who on Monday spoke with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Altman, whose ChatGPT has quickly become an international sensation, met with President Isaac Herzog earlier in the day.

Launched in November, ChatGPT is an artificially intelligent chatbot that can have human-like conversations, answer questions and assist people in writing assignments. The software has been made available to the public through an app, and millions of users have used it primarily for writing and research.

“In the coming days, I intend to convene policy teams to discuss a national artificial intelligence policy in both the civilian and the security spheres. Just as we turned Israel into a global cyber power, we will also do so in artificial intelligence,” said Netanyahu.

Blinken in Saudi Arabia with Israel normalization on agenda

(JNS) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday with the establishment of diplomatic relations between Riyadh and Jerusalem on the agenda.

Speaking at the 2023 American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Summit in Washington on Monday, Blinken said the Biden administration aimed to “achieve significant historic progress to deepen and broaden the Abraham Accords.”

It is in America’s national security interests to promote Saudi-Israeli normalization, he said.

“We believe that we can and indeed we must play an integral role in advancing it. Now, we have no illusions that this can be done quickly or easily.  But we remain committed to working toward this outcome, including on the trip I’m about to take this week to Jeddah and Riyadh for engagements with our Saudi and Gulf counterparts,” Blinken said.

While in the kingdom, the top U.S. diplomat is expected to meet with senior Saudi officials and possibly Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. 

His three-day trip to Saudi Arabia comes on the heels of White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s visit there on May 7. Sullivan said ahead of his trip that the U.S. was prioritizing normalizing relations, also calling it “a declared national security interest.”

Sullivan met with MBS in Jeddah during his visit, telling him that Washington sees an opportunity for an Israeli-Saudi deal by the end of the year.

In late May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone with MBS to discuss normalization between the two countries.

Blinken on Wednesday will participate in a U.S.-Gulf Cooperation Council ministerial meeting and on Thursday he is scheduled to co-host a ministerial meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Riyadh.

IDF probes massive theft of ammunition

(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces revealed on Tuesday that a huge amount of ammunition was stolen from a bunker at the Tze’elim training base in the Negev.

According to an initial probe, more than 20,000 assault rifle rounds were taken.

The Military Police opened an investigation in cooperation with the Israel Police.

In November, authorities arrested several suspects in a large-scale theft of ammunition from a military base on the Golan Heights.

Some 70,000 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition and 70 rifle grenades were stolen from the Tznobar training base near Katzrin.

The theft of firearms and ammunition from IDF bases has been a long-standing problem and forms a main source of weapons for the criminal underworld. The military has invested significant sums in installing new security measures around its facilities to prevent such incidents.

In October, the IDF said some 30,000 rounds of ammunition were stolen from the Sde Teyman air base near Beersheva.

Guns N’ Roses rocks crowd of 60,000-plus in Tel Aviv

(JNS) — U.S. hard rock band Guns N’ Roses performed in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 60,000 at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park on Monday night.

The three-hour set began as the late spring sun was fading over the horizon. It included a mix of newer songs and classics such as “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Paradise City.” This was preceded by the opening act, Israeli rock band Eifo HaYeled.

Lead singer Axl Rose, 61, delivered his usual energetic act, running around the stage while veteran bandmates guitarist Slash, 57, and bassist Duff McKagan, 59, showed off their musical skills to the Israeli audience that included both younger fans and middle-aged fans who grew up listening to the band.

Many in the crowd were wearing the official T-shirts for the group’s 2023 World Tour, which kicked off at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena on June 1 and heads to Europe following the Tel Aviv stop.

“We wanted to have a little gathering. We’re happy you stopped by,” Rose told the crowd. 

Bar-Ilan University moves anti-Israel professor’s lecture online

(JNS) — Bar-Ilan University moved an in-person lecture by Berkeley Professor Daniel Boyarin online after Zionist student group Im Tirtzu complained about his anti-Israel positions.

Boyarin, who was invited by the Ramat Gan school’s Department of Jewish Philosophy, gave the lecture via Zoom on June 4.

Once it came out that the lecture would take place, the university closed it to outside guests and moved it to Zoom, an Im Tirtzu spokesman told JNS.

Im Tirtzu had demanded that the lecture be canceled entirely, noting that Boyarin had been quoted as saying that Israel is “reminiscent of the Nazis” and “guilty of destroying human rights and democracy.”

The group said that Boyarin argues in his book published this year, “The No-State Solution: A Jewish Manifesto,” that Jews should turn Israel into a binational state and return to being a “diasporic people.” In his book, he calls for severing “the nation from the mononational state with which it has become so thoroughly conflated.”

Adiel Cohen, coordinator of Im Tirtzu at Bar-Ilan, said, “I am shocked that a university that prides itself on its Jewish-Zionist flag invited an antisemitic and post-Zionist lecturer who relentlessly encourages a boycott of Israel.

“We are glad that the decision was made to cancel the open lecture. However, holding his lecture on Zoom is still unacceptable. There is no place in academia for someone who supports a boycott of Israel.”

Boyarin, who holds both Israeli and U.S. citizenship, is a professor of Talmudic culture in the Departments of Near Eastern Studies and Rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley.

Israel Police chief says force not ready for ‘multi-front incident’

(JNS) — Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai said on Tuesday that law enforcement would not be able to handle another outbreak of violence in the country similar to that which occurred in mixed Jewish-Arab cities in May 2021.

Shabtai spoke at a Knesset State Control Committee hearing on lessons learned from “Operation Guardian of the Walls,” the war with Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip that served as the background for the rioting in Israeli cities with large populations of both Arabs and Jews. He said that while the security forces are in a better position compared to two years ago, “we’re still not where we need to be.”

Shabtai pointed to a lack of “manpower, resources, means and equipment” in explaining why the police “won’t be able to deal with such a scenario if there will be a multi-front incident in the entire State of Israel.”

The central Israeli city of Lod, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to declare a state of emergency on May 11, 2021, is missing 30%, or 56 officers, of its desired police complement.

Establishing National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s National Guard will not fix the lack of human resources in the police force, Shabtai said.

“If the issue of salaries for Israel Police officers is not addressed, I don’t see the manpower situation improving,” he said.

Sigal Bar Zvi, head of the Operations Division of the Israel Police, warned that “the Arab street is armed. If we experience another uprising it will be stronger.”

Nides approved nearly $1 million grant to support delegitimizing Israel

(JNS) — Thomas Nides, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Israel, personally signed off on nearly $1 million in grants to fund investigations of Israel for “documentation of legal or security sector violations and housing, land and property rights,” Adam Kredo reported in The Washington Free Beacon.

Citing documents the America First Legal Foundation received in a Freedom of Information Act request, Kredo reported that Nides approved the U.S. State Department to provide $987,654 for organizations accusing Israel of human-rights abuses.

A congressional investigation last year centered on these tax-payer-funded monies with critics claiming that it fit hand-in-glove with the BDS movement’s tactics and objective.

“As a policy matter, it is wholly unacceptable for the State Department to fund NGOs to delegitimize and isolate Israel,” critics wrote last year. At the time, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said that the Biden administration was using “American taxpayer money to subsidize the international NGO campaign to demonize and isolate Israel.”

“The ambassador’s involvement in the funding effort is certain to attract congressional scrutiny as Israel’s defenders on Capitol Hill worry the Biden administration is alienating the Jewish state,” Kredo reported.

Israeli, 39, shot dead in Los Angeles

(JNS) — A 39-year-old Israeli was shot dead in Los Angeles at 2 a.m. on June 7.

The shooting took place in the 7800 block of Fareholm Drive in Hollywood Hills, where many nearby houses are worth several million dollars each.

Some Israeli outlets reported that the man was Israeli, originally from Ashkelon. KTLA, a local television station, reported that Emil Lahaziel was the victim. Late Wednesday night, an Israeli official in the United States confirmed to JNS that the Israeli Lahaziel was the man killed.

“It was unclear what led up to the shooting or what the relationship was between the gunman and victim,” KTLA reported.

Hebrew-language media reported that Lahaziel has a criminal past.

Husband-and-wife actors Adam DeVine and Chloe Bridges, who live across the street, saw the shooting from their balcony.

Citing local police, The Los Angeles Times reported that the 39-year-old was talking to another man outside a residence when the latter pulled a handgun and shot him multiple times before fleeing east.

The victim was attending a party at the residence, per reports. Some outlets reported that there had been an argument prior to the shooting. 

This is a developing story.

Israeli minister’s DC visit with Jewish leaders canceled

(JNS) — Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli’s scheduled meeting on Thursday with Jewish leaders in the Washington, D.C., area was canceled, according to Hebrew media reports.

Maariv reported that the last-minute cancellation came after rabbis invited to the meeting announced that they would not come, and amid activist pressure from a group calling itself “UnXeptable – Saving the Israeli Democracy.”

The “off-the-record” roundtable discussion at the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s North Bethesda offices was supposed to take place in the afternoon and was being co-organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and the Embassy of Israel.

UnXeptable, who planned to protest the event outside of the JFed building, reshared a tweet displaying a screenshot of an email from the JCRC’s Israel Action Center director, Adam Odesser, saying that the meeting was canceled “due to schedule changes.”

The nixing of the Chikli meeting comes after the cancellations of similar meetings with Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat in Boston and Innovation, Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis in Los Angeles.

Anti-government protesters also harassed Knesset member Simcha Rothman of the Religious Zionism Party on June 3 in New York City with the New York Police Department closing a complaint filed against him after he pulled a megaphone away from a protester trailing him in Manhattan.

Despite the anti-government instigators, more than 40,000 people gathered on June 4 for the “Celebrate Israel Parade,” marking New York City’s solidarity with the Jewish state and celebrating the 75th anniversary of Israel’s founding.

Opposition freezes reform talks until vote on Judicial Selection panel

(JNS) — The Israeli opposition has brought negotiations over judicial reform to a standstill until a June 15 Knesset vote to choose two members of parliament to serve on the Judicial Selection Committee. 

Opposition officials say they froze the talks to ensure that one of the two slots reserved for Knesset members goes to their side.

Traditionally, the nine-member Judicial Selection Committee, which selects Israel’s judges, includes one coalition lawmaker and one opposition lawmaker. However, the opposition is concerned about reports that Justice Minister Yariv Levin wants to break with tradition and appoint two coalition members to ensure a majority for the government.

If the opposition doesn’t receive a seat on the committee, the temporary suspension of talks will turn into a permanent one, Channel 11 reported.

Yesh Atid, the largest opposition party with 24 MKs in the 120-seat Knesset, on Wednesday submitted its candidate for next week’s vote, choosing MK Karine Elharrar. She is the sole nominee for the opposition slot.

“In these days when democracy is under attack, the opposition stands together to defend the judicial system,” Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid said.

Elharrar stated, “As an opposition representative, I am committed to acting as a loyal ambassador for strengthening democratic values and the judicial system.”

National Unity leader Benny Gantz announced his party would not be submitting a candidate for the position. Labor Party chief Merav Michaeli followed Gantz’s move by announcing the withdrawal of MK Efrat Rayten as a candidate.

In addition to the two Knesset members, the committee consists of the justice minister, who serves as chairperson, another Cabinet minister, two members of the Bar Association, the president of the Supreme Court and two additional justices.

On Wednesday, Levin, a key architect of the coalition’s judicial reform program, criticized the process of selecting judges, saying that the current makeup of the committee is “inappropriate.”

“Many, many of the problems and injustices that we deal with come from the fact that our judicial system looks the way it looks, that the process of selecting judges is done in an inappropriate and unacceptable way—a committee with an unacceptable makeup, which is unsuitable and inappropriate in a democratic country,” Levin said from the Knesset rostrum.