Veteran Israeli politician Binyamin Ben-Eliezer ‘Fuad’ dies
(JNS.org) Veteran Israeli politician Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, known in Israel as “Fuad,” died on Sunday from renal failure complications.
Ben-Eliezer was a longtime Labor Party MK who has held several important defense and government positions. Born in Iraq, he immigrated to Israel in 1950 at age 14. He served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for many years and entered politics in 1984. He served on the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and was re-elected to the Knesset several times. He held many roles including as defense minister and Labor Party leader.
Ben-Eliezer also “developed a significant friendship with the former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, with whom he had a close and genuine relationship,” Israeli President Shimon Peres said in a statement.
In 2013, Ben-Eliezer ran for president but dropped out due to a criminal investigation against him alleging financial corruption. However, the investigation was halted due to his ill health, and he retired from politics in 2014. He was hospitalized on Aug. 25 for emergency surgery, but his condition worsened and he died on Aug. 28. He is survived by his wife and five children.
“Binyamin Ben-Eliezer was a man with numerous credits to his name, who dedicated his life to safeguarding Israel,” President Reuven Rivlin said in a statement, Israel Hayom reported.
“Fuad served the state of Israel for decades as a fighter, a commander, a public servant and a senior government minister. I knew him and I appreciated his contribution and his special personality. May his memory be blessed,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
San Diego Jewish World’s eulogy series is sponsored by Marc and Margaret Cohen in memory of Molly Cohen, and by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg. Comments intended for publication in the space below MUST be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)
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Hate crimes against British Jews surge, prosecutions drop
(JNS.org) A disturbing report shows hate crimes committed against British Jews continues to rise while the number of hate crime cases being prosecuted has dropped, according to the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism (CAA).
Last year, there was a 26 percent surge in crimes against British Jews and 51 percent spike in reported violent anti-Semitic crimes, the group reported.
“Anti-Semitic crime has surged in the last two years and is now at a record high,” said Gideon Falter, the Chairman of CAA, a British charity that exposes anti-Semitism. “Instead of demonstrating that British Jews can rely on the authorities to prosecute antisemitism, the number of cases charged has actually dropped.”
Out of 15,000 hate crimes prosecuted last year, only 12 of those prosecutions were for hate crimes against British Jews. As a result, “British Jews are being denied justice,” Falter said in a statement.
CAA has issued legal guidelines to educate the British Jewish community on “how to obtain justice” as authorities fail to prosecute these crimes.
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Number of Arab teachers increase in Jewish schools
(JNS.org) Israel’s Education Ministry has successfully integrated more Arab teachers in Jewish schools, revealing a 40 percent increase in the last three years, Walla, an Israeli news site reported.
The number of Arab teachers instructing in English, math and science jumped by 76 percent while Arabic language classes gained a 40 percent increase in Arabic teachers from 2013 to 2016, according to Ministry of Education figures.
Haaretz recently reported that there was a shortage of qualified English teachers in Jewish schools, which explains the why there’s been a drop in English-language proficiency among Israeli high school graduates, according to a Ministry of Education report.
The Ministry of Education tackled the problem in 2013 by launching an integration program run by its teaching personnel department and the Merchavim Institute for the Advancement of Shared Israeli Citizenship in Israel.
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Iran deploys advanced S-300 missile system at nuke site
(JNS.org) Iran has deployed the long-range Russian-made S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system at its Fordo uranium enrichment facility in order to bolster the defense of the site.
Images were broadcast on Iranian state television on Sunday evening of the S-300 launchers being transported by trucks to the Fordo facility, which is south of Iran’s capital Tehran.
“Continued opposition and hype on the S-300 or the Fordo site are examples of the viciousness of the enemy,” Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech broadcast on state television. “The S-300 system is a defense system, not an assault one, but the Americans did their best for Iran not to get hold of it.”
Russia began delivering the highly advanced S-300 missile system last April, just months after many international sanctions were lifted against the Islamic Republic as a result of the nuclear deal.
The deal to supply Iran with the S-300 was originally signed in 2007, but has been held up for several years due to international sanctions as well as objections by the United States and Israel, who argued that it would make a possible military strike on the site more difficult. There have also been concerns that the system could end up in the hands of Iranian-backed terror groups such as Hezbollah.
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Study: Israeli Sabras at higher risk of Hodgkin lymphoma than olim
(JNS.org) Native-born Israelis, known as sabras in Hebrew, are at a higher risk of contracting Hodgkin lymphoma than immigrants, according findings published on Friday in the journal Leukemia and Lymphoma.
Israel’s incidents of the blood cancer are among the highest in the world. Israeli women have the highest age-standardized rate of the disease, while Israeli men have the second highest, according to 2012 estimates by the Global Cancer Observatory. The study looked at Israeli-born Jews of both genders between 1960 and 2005.
The discrepancy between the two groups is likely due to differences in lifestyle and environment dating back to people’s childhoods, said Dr. Hagai Levine, an epidemiologist and head of the environment and health track at Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical Center School of Public Health. His findings were published in the journal.
“While we still need further studies to identify the specific causes of the high rates of Hodgkin lymphoma among native Israelis, our findings direct us to search for possible environmental causes in Israel and the neighboring countries,” Levine said, the Jerusalem Post reported. “These causes could be not only environmental exposures, but also diet, climate, social environment and stress that may be related to chronic regional conflict.”
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The following story, which already has run, is incorrect, per this announcement from JNS. Editors: We have been notified by the Jewish Federation of Louisville that a recent news brief, titled “Jewish families from Syria resettled in Louisville, Ky,” is incorrect. The federation helped settle one family, not three, and they are Muslim, not Jewish. We apologize for the error. Alina D. Sharon, JNS Managing Editor
Jewish families from Syria resettled in Louisville, Ky.
(JNS.org) Three of the remaining Jewish families in Syria were quietly brought to the United States and settled in Louisville, Ky.
The Jewish refugees, numbering 13 people including seven children, were smuggled out of Damascus, where they had been living amid the raging civil war since 2011. The families posed as Christian refugees to enter Sweden earlier this year, according to Point of No Return, a blog about Jewish refugees from Arab and Muslim countries.
The families were described as able to speak multiple languages, well off and had done business with the Assad regime, according to the blog.
A Conservative synagogue in Louisville helped the families enter the U.S. and resettle in the southern town, which has already absorbed thousands of Middle Eastern refugees over the past five years.
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Chinese companies invest big in Israel
(JNS.org) The Chinese telecommunications conglomerate Xinwei Telecom Technology Group is buying Israeli satellite operator SpaceCom for $285 million, representing the latest of several recent Chinese purchases of Israeli companies and technologies.
The purchase is pending the successful launch of Spacecom’s Amos-6 telecommunications satellite, which was built by Israel Aerospace Industries. It will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Sept. 3, Space News reported.
Chinese companies invested about $500 million in Israeli companies last year, according to analysis by the Ettinger Report. Israel’s trade with China is $11 billion, which represents 10 percent of Israel’s overall trade balance and double its 2010 trade balance.
Israeli technologies of special interest to Chinese companies include agro-technology and irrigation. In 2015, China’s Bright Food acquired Israel’s dairy product maker Tnuva for $2 billion. In 2011, China’s National Chemical Corp. bought Israeli pesticides and crop protection company Adama for $2.4 billion.
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Articles from JNS.org appear on San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman. Comments intended for publication in the space below MUST be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)