Other items in today’s column include:
*Jewish Agency for Israel applauds Jeremy Corbyn’s Suspension from British Labour Party
*Jewish solidarity with victims of attack on church in Nice, France
*Senator Menendez objects to U.S. sale of F-35 jets to UAE
*Jewish organizational news
*In memoriam
SAN DIEGO — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Thursday that henceforth U.S. passports issued to American citizens born in Jerusalem will say at their choice “Jerusalem, Israel,” rather than simply “Jerusalem,” as has been the case up to now.
The Anti-Defamation League’s CEO and National Director Jonathan A. Greenblatt commented, “We welcome the U.S. Government’s reversal of this nonsensical policy. U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem have the right, as does every U.S. national born abroad, to list both their city and country of birth.” He added that “allowing U.S. passport holders to choose to list ‘Jerusalem, Israel’ does not preclude other U.S. citizens to choose to list only ‘Jerusalem,” be they Jew, Arab, or other, nor does it impact future status discussions of the city in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.”
Coming less than a week before the presidential election, the decision had obvious political overtones.
The Republican Jewish Coalition, in a statement, said: “We thank President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for this meaningful change in policy … We also thank U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman for his efforts on this issue. This change is consistent with President Trump’s Israel policies, including formally recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. it is also in keeping with the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling that the President is empowered to decide on the recognition of foreign nations, and therefore on what is written on U.S. passports.”
The RJC statement continued: “American Jews as well as American Christians and Muslims who were born in Jerusalem can now carry passports that demonstrate the immutable connection between Jerusalem and Israel. President Trump is once again coming through for American Jews. This is just one more reason the American Jewish community should be casting their votes for President Donald J. Trump.”
The Washington D.C. law firm of Lewin & Lewin said the State Department’s decision comes 18 years after it filed a suit in behalf of new born Menachem Zivotofsky to have his birthplace listed as Jerusalem, Israel, in accordance with a law passed in 2002 by the U.S. Congress permitting citizens the choice of how their births in Jerusalem are listed. However, then President George W. Bush instructed the State Department at that time on the grounds that “U.S. policy regarding Jerusalem has not changed.”
According to attorney Nathan Lewin, “Our lawsuit on behalf of Menachem Zivotofsky reached the United States Supreme Court twice. In 2012, in Zivotofsky v. Clinton, the Supreme Court found that the case did not present a non-justiciable “political question.” When the case was heard again on its merits in 2015 (Zivotofsky v. Kerry), six Justices of the Supreme Court, describing the status of Jerusalem as a “delicate subject” that was “among the most difficult and complex in international affairs,” ruled that Congress exceeded its authority when it passed the 2002 law. The Court majority, over three dissents (including Chief Justice Roberts) held that only the President of the United States has authority to recognize foreign sovereigns and define their boundaries. President Donald J. Trump subsequently exercised that exclusive authority. He recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and subsequently recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Contrary to the dire predictions that were repeatedly made to the courts during our years of litigation, the sky did not fall.”
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Jewish Agency for Israel applauds Jeremy Corbyn’s Suspension from British Labour Party
Isaac Herzog, chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, said Thursday that the decision by the Labour Party of Britain to suspend its former leader, Jeremy Corbyn, “marks an important milestone in eliminating the scourge of hatred and antisemitism from a historic and important party in Britain.”
“The Labour Party is setting an important example to the entire world in removing antisemitism from the political game,” he added.
Herzog said that in his former capacity as chairman of Israel’s Labour Party and as leader of the Opposition, “I invited the then-chairman of the UK Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, to visit Yad Vashem in order to learn more about the Holocaust and its lessons. I emphasized to him the importance of such a visit for the Chairman of a leading party in Britain. He never responded to me. Nor did he respond to my appeal to him, as Chairman of the Jewish Agency, to eradicate his party of antisemitism. The lack of his responsiveness was glaring.”
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Jewish solidarity with victims of attack on church in Nice, France
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America expressed sympathy for worshipers at the Notre Dame basilica in Nice, France, who were slain by an attacker said to be an Islamist.
“This act of senseless violence and brutal terror has no place anywhere in the world, but particularly not in a house of worship,” the OU statement said. “Indeed the perpetrator has violated all houses of worship with this vile attack. We support the efforts of law enforcement officials to bring swift and certain justice to the criminals and appreciate the steps [French] President [Emmanuel] Macron has announced to bring increased security to all houses of worship.”
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Senator Menendez Objects to U.S. Sale of F-35 Jets to UAE
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says the Trump Administration is trying to rush through the sale of F-35 Jets to the United Arab Emirates in contravention of standing U.S. policy to enable Israel to have a qualitative military edge in the area.
“Claiming Israel will maintain its edge while offering Abu Dhabi the same number of these sophisticated stealth warplanes as Israel simply does not add up,” Menendez said in a statement. “Recklessly accelerating the timeline around a reportedly artificial deadline precludes sufficient consideration of these issues by the national security professionals in the Departments of State and Defense.”
He added: “Congress has statutory authority over foreign arms sales and our responsibilities will not be relinquished. The American public has a right to insist that the sales of U.S. weapons to foreign governments – especially those of this magnitude and lethality – are consistent with U.S. values, our national security objectives, and the safety of our closest allies. The Trump administration’s refusal to answer our questions about how the national security interests of both the U.S. and Israel will be served, or undermined, by such a sale is a surefire way not to get Congressional support to move forward with this sale.”
Along with U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif), Menendez has introduced a bill “to reassert Congressional oversight over te sale of sophisticate and mission-critical American military systems.”
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Jewish organizational news
*A “Super-Shrimp” has been developed by Ben-Gurion University‘s Department of Life Sciences and the National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev. According to Prof. Amir Sagi the female super shrimp exclusively produces male prawns, which scientists believe will increase food availability and decrease susceptibility to disease within the shrimp population. Funded with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Sagi’s research enabled the nation of Senegal’s first-ever harvest of all male prawns.
*After being forced by a fire in 2017 to relocate to the Bay Area, Camp Newman, which is operated by the Union for Reform Judaism, anticipates reopening its facility in Santa Rosa, California, for the Summer of 2021. A promotional video may be accessed via this link.
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In memoriam
*Dr. Andrew Israel, 68, died Wednesday, Oct. 28, Am Israel Mortuary reported. Graveside services conducted by Rabbis Ron Shulman and Avi Libman of Congregation Beth El were conducted Thursday, Oct. 29, at El Camino Memorial Park, 5600 Carroll Canyon Road, San Diego.
His family provided the following obituary: “Dr. Andrew Glenn Israel (November 19, 1951 – October 28, 2020) was born in Chicago, Illinois to Arnold and Sydelle Israel. His family moved to Beverly Hills, California when he was eight, where he exhibited his breadth of talent by becoming both an Eagle Scout and a Beverly Hills High cheerleader. He went on to Stanford University where he was part of the first graduating class in Human Biology; he graduated in 1972 after only three years. From there, Andy moved to New York where he attended Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating in 1976. Although he loved many aspects of medicine, he ultimately became a general internist, a specialty where he felt he could most help patients. It was during medical school that he, a Californian living in New York, met his future wife, Sonia Ancoli, a New Yorker living in California, when she came to visit her father who was his patient. The two pursued a 3.5 year long-distance relationship which was rekindled at a Carole King concert.
“Andy moved to San Diego for his internship and residency at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. He founded Hillcrest Internal Medicine, where he and his partners provided care for countless patients. He was beloved by his patients; it was impossible for Andy to be out and about in San Diego without being stopped by a patient to say hello and sing his praises.
“Andy was very active at Mercy Hospital. As a Board Member of the Mercy Foundation he was instrumental in fundraising. Andy held many other positions at Mercy including being the long-time chair of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee and a member of the Medical Executive committee for more than a decade. He was an excellent teacher and was voted a Top Doctor by his colleagues every year from 2004 until his retirement in 2013. He was most famous for being an excellent diagnostician, so much so that one of his cases was written up in the “Diagnosis” column of the New York Times Magazine in 2008.
“Andy was a kind and caring husband, father and grandfather. Sonia and Andy had a loving marriage of 41 years, spending time with their family and traveling the world. He never missed his children’s games or recitals and instilled important life lessons in them, such as a clean car drives better, and always use the right tool for the job. He was a beloved “Poppa Flash” to his grandchildren, who never missed an opportunity to hold his hand on a walk.
“He died in San Diego after battling Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA), a rare form of early onset Alzheimer’s disease, for eight years. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Sonia Ancoli Israel, two children, Dr. Sarah (Rabbi Jeremy) Gimbel and David (Taylor) Israel, four grandchildren, Ari, Maya, Orli, and Bekin, two sisters, Roxi (Fred) Link and Marti (Jack z’’l) Robinson, and countless other family members and friends who will miss him daily.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Andrew G. Israel, MD Memorial Alzheimer’s Research Fund, to support Alzheimer’s Disease research with Posterior Cortical Atrophy research as a priority, at the UC San Diego Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com Free obituaries in memory of members of the San Diego County Jewish community are sponsored on San Diego Jewish World by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg.