Weekly roundup of world briefs

Jewish millionaire involved in GameStop saga, buys Charlotte Hornets from Michael Jordan

By Jacob Gurvis

(JTA) — Basketball legend Michael Jordan has announced that he will sell his majority stake in the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets to a group led by Jewish millionaires Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall for an estimated $3 billion.

Plotkin, whose net worth is estimated at $400 million, is the founder of investment management firm Melvin Capital, which he named after his grandfather and which had been valued at around $8 billion prior to announcing its closure last year.

The firm was involved in the GameStop short squeeze in 2021, which cost Plotkin’s and other firms billions of dollars. During testimony to the House Financial Services Committee, Plotkin said he received antisemitic messages from members of the Reddit forum that tried to save the video game store by buying stock shares. Plotkin has been honored by the Chabad-Lubavitch movement and previously worked with the Young Jewish Professionals networking group.

Plotkin acquired a minority stake in the Hornets in 2019, and he has served as an alternate governor of the NBA Board of Governors. As part of the deal, Jordan will retain a minority stake in the franchise.

Schnall, a co-president at a private equity firm, is currently a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks. He has also been an alternate governor of the NBA Board of Governors and is in the process of selling his stake in the Hawks.

The sale comes just months after two other high-profile Jewish businessmen purchased professional sports teams: billionaire Mat Ishbia bought the NBA and WNBA teams in Phoenix, and Josh Harris is buying the NFL’s Washington Commanders from embattled Jewish owner Dan Snyder.

Jordan, widely considered the greatest basketball player ever, purchased the Hornets in 2010 for $275 million. He was the league’s only Black majority owner.

Turkish authorities recover 1,100-year-old Tanach from smugglers

(JNS) — Working on a tip, Turkish authorities recovered 101 Roman- and Byzantine-era coins and an “1,100-year-old Bible written in Hebrew,” which smugglers sought to sell, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported earlier this month.

The 28-page manuscript is “written in Hebrew on leather and papyrus paper” and is valued at $500,000, the news agency claimed. If the dating is accurate, it would be roughly as old as the Sassoon Codex, which Sotheby’s recently sold for $38.1 million (including buyer’s premium).

A caption-less image accompanying the story shows the end of the book of Joshua and the beginning of the book of Judges. Given the manuscript reportedly has 28 pages (which presumably refers to 28 two-sided pages, or a total of 56 rectos and versos), and judging from the size of the words in the image, it must either be part of what was previously a full Tanach, or the manuscript was originally just part of the Tanach.

An article in Al-Monitor, which referred to the medieval manuscript as “ancient,” quoted an unnamed official of the Turkish cultural ministry, which now has custodianship of the manuscript. “An inspection of the manuscript was underway” and “it wasn’t immediately clear whether text was written in ancient Hebrew or Aramaic, which can look similar,” the publication reported.

Al-Monitor added that the smugglers, who were caught red-handed, were seeking to sell the Hebrew book and the coins for a combined $500,000.

US ‘deeply troubled’ by fast-tracked Judea, Samaria construction

(JNS) — The United States is “deeply troubled” by the Israeli government’s intention to plan more than 4,000 “settlement units in the West Bank,” Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, stated on Sunday. 

“We are similarly concerned by reports of changes to Israel’s system of settlement administration that expedite the planning and approvals of settlements,” Miller added.

Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in a cabinet meeting that it will become easier to obtain building permits in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

“The construction boom in Judea and Samaria and in all parts of our country continues,” said Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli finance minister, Sunday. “As we promised, today we are advancing the construction of thousands more new units in Judea and Samaria.”

Barbara Leaf, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, arrived in Israel the prior day. The itinerary for her June 17 to 24 trip includes meeting in Jerusalem with “senior Israeli political and military leadership to discuss areas of mutual interest, including expanding and deepening Israel’s integration into the Middle East and constraining Iran’s destabilizing behavior,” per a State Department release.

In Ramallah, Leaf is slated to meet “senior Palestinian leaders to discuss priority issues in U.S.-Palestinian relations, including U.S. efforts to support the Palestinian people.”

Per what Miller referred to on Sunday as Washington’s longstanding policy, it opposes “such unilateral actions that make a two-state solution more difficult to achieve and are an obstacle to peace,” he stated of the planned construction.

“We call on the Government of Israel to fulfill the commitments it made in Aqaba, Jordan and Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt and return to dialogue aimed at de-escalation,” he stated.

Hamas delegation arrives in Tehran for talks

(JNS) — Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh landed in Tehran on Monday at the invitation of the Iranian regime.

The terror group announced that Haniyeh would be leading a Hamas delegation to Iran in a statement on Sunday.

“The delegation is scheduled to meet with the Iranian leadership to discuss many political and field issues related to the Palestinian cause,” the statement said.

The delegation also includes deputy head of Hamas’s political bureau, Saleh al-Arouri.

Earlier on Sunday, Palestinian Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziyad al-Nakhala met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran. The Islamic Jihad delegation met on June 14 with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who congratulated them on last month’s conflict with Israel.

The visits by the Hamas and PIJ leaders coincide with the first trip to Tehran by a Saudi official in more than seven years, with the arrival in Iran on Saturday of Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

Prince Fasail met with his Iranian counterpart and other top officials in Tehran, including Raisi, who criticized Israel during his talks with the Saudi foreign minister.

“Only the enemies of Islam, led by the Zionist regime, are upset with the progress in bilateral and regional cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia,” said Raisi, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA.

Raisi also voiced his opposition to normalization efforts between Arab countries and Israel.

“The Zionist regime is not only an enemy of the Palestinians, it is a threat to all Muslims. The normalization of relations with Israel not only fails to promote security but also goes against the opinions of the Islamic Ummah [community].”

Thousands of terror suspects held Israeli entry permits

(JNS) — An increasing number of Palestinian terror suspects had received permits to enter Israel.

In the years 2018-2022, 10 percent of Palestinian Authority residents arrested for involvement in security offenses held Israeli entry permits—2,115 out of more than 21,000—according to police data cited in a Knesset’s Research and Information Center report published earlier this month.

It was also revealed that 18 percent of these Palestinian terror suspects with entry permits were arrested within the 1949 armistice lines. 

In 2018, 212 Palestinians with entry permits were arrested. That number jumped to 767 in 2021 due to “Operation Guardian of the Walls.” Last year, 580 arrests were made. 

Following a series of deadly terrorist attacks in Israel last year, the IDF began renovating and closing gaps in the security barrier. The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) estimates that some 7,000 Palestinians reside inside Israel illegally.

According to police data, only 33 Palestinians were arrested for illegally residing in Israel between 2018 and 2022. This is due in part to the policy of prosecutors to instruct police not to make an arrest until after the third offense.

“A 35 percent increase in the involvement of Palestinians with permits to enter Israel in terrorist and security offenses is 100% too much,” said Likud Knesset member Hanoch Milwidsky, who had requested that the report be prepared.

“I intend to contact the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, MK Yuli Edelstein, and hold a discussion as soon as possible regarding the overly lenient policy in granting entry permits to Israel,” Milwidsky said.

No direct flights from Israel for this month’s Hajj

(JNS) — There will be no direct flights between Israel and Saudi Arabia during the upcoming Hajj pilgrimage, National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi said on Monday.

“Perhaps in the next Hajj we will be in a position for this to happen,” Hanegbi said in an interview that aired on Kan’s Reshet Bet radio.

This year’s Hajj will be from June 26 to July 1, although pilgrims generally arrive in Mecca ahead of time and leave several days after the sacred period.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said last month that the two countries were working on an agreement to allow direct flights for its Muslim citizens to travel to Mecca for the annual pilgrimage. Foreign Minister Eli Cohen announced that Israel had issued a formal request and was awaiting the Saudi response. 

Israelis who undertake the pilgrimage have to travel through third countries such as Jordan, incurring increased expense on both the outbound and return journeys. About 18 percent of Israeli citizens are Muslim.

Allowing direct flights would be seen by the Israeli government as another step towards eventual normalization with Riyadh, which is a major foreign policy aim of the Biden administration. However, The New York Times recently reported that senior U.S. officials are not optimistic about this happening in the near term.

Jerusalem is extending gestures towards Riyadh, including backing its bid to host the world’s fair in 2030.

An unnamed Israeli delegate was set to attend a reception in Paris launching Riyadh’s campaign for Expo 2030 at the invitation of Saudi Arabia. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was expected at the event.

Three Jewish leaders named to US heritage government agency

(JNS) — U.S. President Joe Biden named three Jewish leaders to the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, a nearly-40-year-old U.S. government agency that helps protect endangered cemeteries, monuments and historic buildings in Eastern and Central Europe.

Rabbi Abba Cohen, vice president for government affairs and Washington director of Agudath Israel of America; Joseph Douek, a businessman and philanthropist; and Yair Robinson, senior rabbi at Congregation Beth Emeth, a Reform synagogue In Wilmington, Del., were tapped for the position on June 16.

The commission was created following “the Holocaust and 45 years of atheist Communist governments,” according to its website. “The Holocaust annihilated much of Europe’s Jewish population, killing most Jews and forcing others to flee. In many countries, none were left to continue to care for the communal properties that represented a historic culture in the area and have importance within the Jewish religion.”

Inspired by CUNY law grad, California student delivers anti-Israel speech

(JNS) — “I gift my graduation to all Palestinians, who have lost their life and those who continue to lose their lives every day due to the oppressive apartheid state of Israel killing and torturing Palestinians as we speak,” said Jana Abulaban in her commencement address at El Camino College in Torrance, Calif., south of Los Angeles.

Abulaban, 18, told the New York Post that she was inspired by a graduate of City University of New York School of Law, who delivered an antisemitic commencement address on May 12.

She told the Post that she doesn’t consider herself antisemitic. “I’m not talking about Jewish people torturing and killing Palestinians,” she claimed. “It’s the Israeli government that is killing and torturing Palestinians.”

Abulaban told the Post that an official at the community college reviewed her speech before she delivered it. The official, whom she wouldn’t name to the New York paper, “basically backed me up on it,” she claimed.

“If I was told 7 years ago, as a Palestinian refugee stepping foot for the first time in this country, that one day I’ll be standing on this stage — I would not have believed it. I’m extremely thankful to have gotten to this point.”

On June 9, the college tweeted a quote from Abulaban’s speech. Five days later, Brenda Thames, superintendent and president of the El Camino Community College District, stated that a student speaker “who was not authorized to speak other than to introduce another speaker, took it upon herself to make an anti-Israel statement” at commencement ceremonies.

“To be clear, her statement was not approved by El Camino College officials and does not reflect the values and views of El Camino College,” said Thamses, adding that “anti-Israel sentiments can lead to a rise in antisemitism.”

Biden taps Mandy Cohen as new director of CDC

(JNS) — U.S. President Joe Biden said on June 16 that he intends to name Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, as the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A congregant at the Conservative Beth Meyer Synagogue in Raleigh, N.C., Cohen would replace another Jewish woman, Dr. Rochelle Walensky.

Cohen told the Religion News Service that she has received “only positive reactions” to the necklace she wears with a Hebrew chai (“life”) charm. 

She also told the wire service that her medical work aligns with “Jewish values of healing the world.”

Ben-Gurion Airport expected to break records this summer

(JNS) — Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport is preparing for record traffic this summer.

Israel’s Transportation and Road Safety Ministry reported that it expects more than 5.5 million passengers will pass through Israel in July-August 2023. Israel’s Airports Authority is preparing for the busiest summer season in Israel, which is expected to exceed the records recorded in 2019, before the global corona crisis.

In July, 2.7 million passengers are expected to pass through the airport on international flights, an increase of 4 percent over the 2019 record, while in the month of August the expected figure is 2.8 million.

The steps taken by the IAA in preparation for the summer include massive hiring, strengthening all phases of passenger service, from the security check to boarding the plane, placing dedicated baggage handlers for spot handling of malfunctions, and the full presence of managers in the field.

In addition, a “family patrol” will operate in the passenger halls and airport authority teams will facilitate the security check for families with children. Families with children will be able to send one representative to the check-in desks, while the family can wait in one of the cafes throughout the terminal.

Passengers with hand luggage only, who have pre-registered for the flight (online check-in) with companies that allow this, will have a fast check-in route.

For passenger service, advanced self-service stations have been installed, which allow the self-issuance of the destination tag for the suitcase (“Bag Tag”) and the quick sending of the suitcase directly into the plane, without the need to wait and register at the counter.

Massachusetts teacher resigns after school fails to address antisemitism

(JNS) — Morrison Robblee took the keys out of his pocket, slid them across the table and said: “There’s absolutely no way I am coming back to work in your school.”

So Robblee, 25, described his resignation from Nessacus Regional Middle School in Dalton, Mass. He accused his employer of inadequately addressing the antisemitic hate that a 12-year-old student directed at him.

The latter has been charged with a misdemeanor of criminal harassment.

One drawing the boy gave Robblee depicted Hitler standing over a dead Jew, surrounded by swastikas and gas canisters. The boy also swore, made jokes about the Holocaust in school hallways and sent Robblee emails insulting his teaching.