Weekly roundup of world briefs

Gallant call saves man from jumping off sixth-story balcony

(JNS) — Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant helped save a life this week by agreeing to take a call from a man who was threatening to commit suicide by jumping off his sixth-floor balcony.

The incident began Monday in the northern city of Hadera, where an unidentified man in his 20s threatened to jump from his residential building.

Video showed the man holding on to the outside of his balcony, with Israeli security forces maintaining a perimeter around the scene.

The man first demanded to speak with an Israel Defense Forces official, and Israel Police Superintendent Itzik Gabai pretended to be one, going so far as to don a military uniform.

However, the issue remained unresolved and the man then demanded to speak with Gallant.

The senior cabinet member was holding security consultations at the time but accepted the call.

No details were provided by police regarding the content of the conversation.

After speaking with the defense minister, the man climbed back over the railing, agreeing to end the hours-long standoff.

In a video of the end of the ordeal, a security officer on a crane adjacent to the building can be heard thanking Gallant on the phone, before climbing onto the balcony and embracing the man.

In US, Lapid criticizes Israeli government’s handling of security issues

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid Party accused his rival of weakening the Jewish state’s democracy while visiting Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

Lapid met with Amos Hochstein, special presidential coordinator for global infrastructure and energy security, and Brett McGurk, who serves as national security council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa.

After the meeting’s conclusion, Lapid said: “Strong democracies do not jeopardize their security interests in order to solve political problems.”

Lapid also plans to meet with members of Congress. 

U.S. President Joe Biden still has not invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.

Pennsylvania seeks to accelerate spring primary to avoid Passover conflict

(JNS) — With next year’s presidential primary vote in Pennsylvania scheduled for April 23, the first day of the Jewish holiday of Passover, legislators are trying to accelerate the primary, reported The Associated Press.

“The state is a premier battleground in presidential elections, but it hasn’t hosted a competitive presidential primary since 2008,” according to the AP, which added that “the proposed move may do little to give the state’s voters more say in deciding presidential nominees.”

State senators advanced Bill No. 224 on Aug. 30, which on a one-time basis would schedule next year’s primary for March 19 instead of the typical fourth Tuesday in April. (The new date is about a week before another holiday, Purim.)

“Many states want to hold presidential primaries earlier, to give residents more influence on the trajectory of presidential campaigns,” per the AP. “But Pennsylvania lawmakers have long resisted a change because it would push the beginning of the state’s customary 13-week primary season into the winter holidays.”

Other proposed dates—such as April 2, which Pennsylvania House Bill No. 1634 suggests—could conflict with Christian holidays. As such, state lawmakers are still deciding when to schedule the primary.

Netanyahu hosts Irish deputy prime minister in Jerusalem

(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday hosted in Jerusalem Irish Tánaiste and Foreign and Defense Minister Micheál Martin. The two discussed regional issues, including the Abraham Accords and their expansion, as well as the security challenges facing Israel.

Netanyahu emphasized the need for a balanced approach toward the conflict with the Palestinians, including in international forums such as the United Nations.

The leaders also discussed the potential for strengthening bilateral cooperation in technology and innovation, especially artificial intelligence.

Among those attending the meeting were Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, National Security Council Director Tzachi Hanegbi and Israel’s Ambassador to Ireland Lironne Bar Sadeh.

Irish Ambassador to Israel Kyle O’Sullivan also attended.

Martin also met with his Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen, and laid a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

He called the Nazi era “the darkest period in human history.”

Jerusalem and Dublin have had a rocky relationship in recent times, with senior Irish officials often expressing staunchly pro-Palestinian positions.

Tel Aviv deputy mayor, family attacked by Eritrean youths

(JNS) — A gang of Eritrean boys attacked Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor Haim Goren and his family on Tuesday night, he announced after filing a police complaint.

The incident occurred days after rival factions of Eritrean migrants clashed on the streets of South Tel Aviv, leaving more than 170 people injured, including 49 police officers. Israel has placed 53 of the rioters in administrative detention.

“If we don’t deal with the problem of infiltrators, we will experience the scenes we experienced on Shabbat for years to come,” said Goren, who also holds the city’s security portfolio.

Separately on Tuesday, the Eritrean Ministry of Information accused Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, of being behind violent riots that have broken out in a number of countries around the world in recent months.

The Eritrean Embassy in Tel Aviv also published a statement on Tuesday attempting to explain how the events unfolded on Saturday, claiming that the Israel Police had granted a “motley group of hooligans” permission to hold a protest and saying that they conveyed to the police credible information that the group was planning violence and vandalism.

The embassy also accused many of the protesters of not being Eritrean. 

Human rights groups describe Eritrea as one of the most authoritarian countries in the world since breaking away from neighboring Ethiopia three decades ago. It is ruled by President Isaias Afwerki. Some have fled from the country’s mandatory military conscription, with others leaving to seek out economic advantages.

Kushner urges Trump to support Saudi-Israel deal

(JNS) — Jared Kushner is urging Donald Trump to support the Biden administration’s push for Saudi-Israel normalization to cement the former president’s Middle East legacy, Axios reports.

Kushner, who served as senior White House adviser to his father-in-law, Trump, was a key negotiator in the 2020 Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel and four Arab countries: United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

Two sources with knowledge of the issue told Axios that Kushner, who maintains close ties with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), told Trump that Riyadh joining the Abraham Accords would vindicate his Middle Eastern policy (Trump, who served his first term from 2017 to 2021, is running for a non-consecutive second term in the 2024 presidential contest).

Lindsey Graham has also urged Trump to support the Saudi-Israel deal that the Biden administration is negotiating, the South Carolina Republican senator told Axios.

The close confidante of the former president said that he had briefed Trump about his talks with MBS after visiting Saudi Arabia in April.

“I told President Trump, listen, this is the natural extension of the Abraham Accords and if we can do it, let’s do it. It doesn’t matter how it gets done, on whose watch it gets done. It’d be a good thing for the stability of the Middle East and our own national security, and President Trump deserves his fair share of credit,” said Graham.

Graham conveyed to Trump that it is the “the highest sign of flattery” when a president continues a predecessor’s policies, according to the report.

Kushner’s Affinity Partners private equity fund, which is primarily backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, is set to acquire a $150 million stake in an Israeli automotive services company, marking the first Saudi-backed investment in the Jewish state.

Kushner’s fund will buy a 15 percent stake in the car and credit division of Shlomo Holdings, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing financial filings.

“We are confident in the long-term growth forecast for Israel and the entire new Middle East,” said Kushner. “The historical growth of the Shlomo Group has been solid as a rock, and its future holds many exciting opportunities.”

Hackers publish Israeli hospital records after cyberattack

(JNS) — A ransomware hacker group on Wednesday published patient data stolen from Israel’s Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center.

The “Ragnar Locker” group followed through on a threat to release the sensitive information gathered in the cyberattack on the Haredi hospital in Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv, about a month ago if it did not receive a ransom of tens of millions of shekels.

In a Telegram announcement on Wednesday night, the group said that it had released the first 402 gigabytes of data to the darknet. The criminals threatened to release the rest of the information if the ransom is not paid.

The prime minister, lawmakers and senior rabbis are among those whose medical histories would be made public if the demands are not met. 

Benjamin Netanyahu underwent prostate-related treatment at the facility in 2015; it is unclear whether his file was among those exposed on Wednesday. 

Israel’s Privacy Protection Authority investigated the case and confirmed that there were signs of a leak of information from the hospital’s systems. It was not clarified whether the personal information included medical files, including psychiatric evaluations, as the hackers claimed.

“An initial examination of the incident raised concerns about leaking information, but later it was discovered that this was an actual indication of a leak of sensitive personal information,” the Privacy Protection Authority said. 

“In view of this indication, the authority wishes to guide the public to increase awareness, exercise caution and act according to the rules and recommendations of the authority for the protection of privacy.”

The hospital said that the Ragnar Locker group had “attacked dozens of health systems around the world.”

Gazans set off explosives, hurl grenades during border riot

(JNS) — Palestinian rioters on Tuesday set off several explosive devices next to the Israeli security fence in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the IDF. A number of grenades were also thrown at the barrier.

Israeli forces responded with crowd dispersal means, and in a few cases, sharpshooters.

No casualties were reported on either side.

On Tuesday, several Gaza residents were injured during a violent riot along the border with Israel.

Hundreds of Gazans descended on the security fence, launching explosive devices toward Israeli territory, according to the IDF. Some of the rioters also attempted to cross the border into Israel.

The military responded with sharpshooters and non-lethal dispersal means. The IDF reported that several hits were identified but provided no further detail. A number of Gazans were arrested.

Violent rioting at the border was also reported on Friday.

The border incidents come after the Hamas terrorist group which rules the Gaza Strip restarted the “Great March of Return” protests.

Initially organized in March 2018, the violent border protests, staged nearly every week, lasted until Dec. 27, 2019.

Adolescent court charges elderly German ex-guard for World War II killings  

(JNS) — The Nazis imprisoned 200,000 people at Sachsenhausen, where tens of thousands died through starvation, medical experiments and outright murder.

Now the German government has started prosecution against a man alleged to have worked at the concentration camp as a guard from July 1943 and February 1945 while a youth. He is charged with assisting in the mass killing of 3,300 inmates. However, since the crimes were allegedly committed before becoming an adult, the case will be tried in a juvenile court.

The 98-year-old lives in Main-Kinzig in Central Germany.

Last year, 101-year-old Josef Schuetz received a sentence of five years for his complicity in 3,500 deaths at Sachsenhausen. Schuetz died this past April.

Prisoners built Sachsenhausen in 1936. It would become a central training facility for the SS and was intended as a model for other concentration camps. During the war, most of the camp’s Jewish inmates were sent east to other camps, including Auschwitz, though a gas chamber was nevertheless installed in 1943.

German player stops match after Nazi slogan yelled at US Open

As Alexander Zverev, 26, prepared to serve against Jannik Sinner, 22, in their fourth set at one of the world’s top tennis tournaments, three infamous words rang out at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, N.Y.

“Deutschland über alles,” an unidentified man yelled, prompting the 12th-seeded German athlete angrily to stop the match and approach umpire James Keothavang, who soon unleashed his own rage over the declaration.

“He just said the most famous Hitler phrase there is in the world,” Zverev said as he approached Keothavong. Zverev repeated himself and said, “it’s unacceptable, this is unbelievable.”

Keothovang then turned to the crowd and boomed through the microphone, “So who was the smart tongue that said that? Put your hand up.”

“Who said that?” Keothavong demanded to know, asking multiple times, saying “we are going to get him out.” 

After the change-over following the serve, security removed the man believed to have yelled the Nazi slogan after spectators identified him. Zverev won the match and afterwards told reporters that while he was used to angry taunts, this was the first time he had heard antisemitic rhetoric directed at him.

Herzog presents 13 Israelis with Presidential Medal of Honor

(JNS) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday night awarded the country’s Presidential Medal of Honor to 13 leaders from Israel and the Diaspora during a festive ceremony at his Jerusalem residence.

The award was conferred upon Chava Alberstein, a leading folk musician; Adi Altschuler, founder of Zikaron BaSalon; professor Meir Buzaglo, a Jewish renewal activist; Rabbi Menachem HaCohen, an interfaith leader and former Knesset member; professor Mona Khoury, VP of strategy and diversity at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Maj.-Gen. (res.) Dan Tolkowsky, a retired Israeli Air Force officer; Carmela Menashe, the military correspondent for Army Radio; Bibras Natcho, former captain of the Israeli national soccer team; Dr. Assad Araidy, an educator; and social entrepreneur Lena Shtern.

The president also honored Diaspora leaders André Azoulay, a senior adviser to Moroccan King Mohammed VI, and former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler.

The Kemach Foundation, which promotes employment in Israel’s Haredi (or ultra-Orthodox) sector, received the organizational prize.

“You have been privileged to do good, to bring about change, and to make a dramatic contribution to the State of Israel, to the Jewish people, for all humanity. This is why each and every one of you is worthy of receiving the highest civilian decoration in Israel,” Herzog told the recipients.

He added: “Thank you, dear recipients, not only for your wonderful contribution, but also for the ray of light that you represent in these difficult days, when polarization and division are so prevalent.”

The Presidential Medal of Honor, bestowed upon individuals who “made a unique contribution to the State of Israel,” was an initiative of the Ninth President of the State of Israel, the late Shimon Peres, and was awarded for the first time in 2012. To date, the award has been awarded to 26 individuals, on the recommendation of an advisory committee headed by the retired president of the Supreme Court.