Other items in today’s column include:
*UC Merced announces investigation Into professor’s anti-Semitic postings
*Netanyahu welcomes Jonathan Pollard on arrival in Israel
*Nefesh B’Nefesh reports it helped 3,216 to immigrate to Israel in 2020
*Harassed Jewish Student Awarded 15,000 British Pounds by SOAS London University
*ADL and CSI to Team Up to Identify Terrorist Threats to Jewish Institutions
*Rep. Susan Davis sends farewell greetings to her constituents
(Names appearing in boldface in this column are those of known members of the Jewish community)
SAN DIEGO — Every time there’s a new development in the unfolding fraud cases against disgraced Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein of Chabad of Poway and his associates, even more questions seem to arise.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported this morning that Rotem Cooper, 54, had pleaded guilty in federal court to charges that he made fake contributions to the Friendship Circle, an organization created by Goldstein to reach out to people with developmental disabilities. But, Goldstein returned 90 percent of the contribution back to Cooper, while certifying the full amount had been donated for tax purposes. Cooper’s “contribution” triggered a matching contribution from Qualcomm, where he worked as an engineering manager, which Goldstein then split with someone named “Y.H,” who is described as “the director of a religious congregation and community organization located in San Diego.”
In what is called a deferred prosecution agreement, U-T reporter Greg Moran wrote, “someone admits guilt, but the final execution of the plea is delayed for a certain period of time while they fulfill requirements laid out in the agreement. If at the end of that time they have not committed another crime and have fulfilled the terms of the deal, prosecutors dismiss the case and the conviction is erased.” To win that erasure, Cooper will have to pay back Qualcomm $27,330 in money it thought it donated to Friendship Circle and also will have to pay $7,960 in income taxes he was able to avoid as a result of the scheme.
But there are so many questions still unanswered in this case, questions which we urge U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer to answer before he is replaced as U.S. Attorney by the incoming administration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Question #1 Who is Y.H? If another leader in our Jewish community has been participating in defrauding the government, he ought to be identified and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Why the secrecy?
Question #2 Given that Rabbi Goldstein orchestrated this fraud which so far has seen six other people enter guilty pleas, including Rabbi Goldstein’s brother, Mendel Goldstein, why is he getting off so lightly? The U.S. Attorney’s office has said it will not seek prison time for the rabbi, but will ask him to pay $2.5 million in restitution, when he comes up for sentencing in April. Why no prison time for the mastermind?
Question #3 Rabbi Goldstein’s fraud was under investigation by the FBI for approximately a half year before Chabad of Poway was the subject of a gunman’s attack on the last day of Passover in 2019, an attack in which Lori Gilbert Kaye was killed and three other persons, including Rabbi Goldstein, were wounded. Goldstein had an index finger shot off in the attack for which John T. Earnest, 21, is now facing trial in state and federal courts. Yet, notwithstanding the fact that he was not only an active suspect but also was providing information to the FBI about his co-conspirators, Rabbi Goldstein was allowed to go to the White House to be hailed as a hero by President Donald Trump. So the question is, “Did U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer fail to notify his superiors in Washington about Goldstein’s criminality?” Or, on the other hand, “Did Brewer tell Washington about Goldstein’s criminality and did someone else decide to allow the now disgraced rabbi to be honored anyway?”
Question #4 Who was responsible for Rabbi Goldstein’s invitation to the White House? Could it have been Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, who are affiliated with a Chabad congregation in the Washington D.C. area? Did someone in the Chabad organization ask them to arrange the invitation?
Question #5 Brewer has said that another factor in deciding not to seek jail time was Rabbi Goldstein’s public calls for forgiveness and peace, not only at the White House but at a session of the United Nations. How can anyone believe that Goldstein’s pleas were not simply a hypocritical way to deflect the opprobrium that was due to him?
Question #6 Why haven’t state authorities announced any investigations or actions against Goldstein, whose state income taxes would be reflective of his federal income taxes and who also claimed the large home in which he and his family resided to be a separate tax exempt congregation?
Question #7 Why was the son of Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein –who also is named Mendel Goldstein — chosen to be his successor at Chabad of Poway? What kind of vetting process was done by the congregation?
Question #8 Have Rabbi Goldstein or any of the other people involved in this scandal petitioned President Trump for a pardon?
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UC Merced announces investigation into professor’s anti-Semitic postings
Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz of the University of California at Merced has described anti-Semitic postings by Engineering Prof. Abbas Ghassemi to be “abhorrent and repugnant to us and to many of our colleagues and neighbors; they were harmful to our university, our students, and our years of work to build an inclusive and welcoming community.”
He announced on Tuesday night that he has called for an official inquiry to be made by Ghassemi’s dean, department chair and the vice provost for academic personnel “into potential violations of our standards, the UC Faculty Code of Conduct or other policies of the university.”
Sánchez Muñoz also stated that the university will also develop programming to address “free speech, hate speech and anti-Semitism in academia” and promote ways to “challenge discriminatory insinuations when and wherever they emerge within the university community.”
The Jewish News of Northern California reported that Ghassemi has retained the legal services of Michael J. DeNiro, who specializes in First Amendment issues.
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Netanyahu welcomes Jonathan Pollard on arrival in Israel
Jonathan Pollard, who served 30 years in U.S. prison for spying for Israel, was greeted as a hero by Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu upon his arrival at Ben-Gurion Airport early Wednesday morning. Netanyahu’s office subsequently issued a video showing the greeting for Pollard and his wife Esther, during which Netanyahu commented: “How great it is that you have come home. Now you can start life anew, in freedom and happiness.” To this Pollard, 65, replied: “We are excited to be home finally after 35 years … We hope to become productive citizens as soon as possible and continue our lives here.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that Pollard’s private flight was provided by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who also owns the Israel Hayom newspaper. Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Ron Dermer, also helped in the arrangements, according to Nitsana Darshan Leitner, who is Pollard’s attorney as well as the head of Shurat HaDin, the Israel law center.
Pollard’s arrival in Israel coincides with the beginning of the period leading up to Israel’s 4th election in two years, in which Netanyahu hopes to be able to see enough allies elected to the Knesset to enable him to retain his position as prime minister, notwithstanding the fact that he is facing trial in 2021 on several charges of corruption.
The arrival also comes less than a month before Joe Biden is scheduled to replace Donald Trump as President of the United States. Speculation in Israel is that the open-armed welcome for Pollard may add to tensions between Israel and the United States which already have surfaced given Biden’s willingness to reenter a nuclear pact with Iran from which Trump withdrew with encouragement from Israel.
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Nefesh B’Nefesh reports it helped 3,216 to immigrate to Israel in 2020
Nefesh B’ Nefesh, the group that promotes Jewish aliyah (immigration) to Israel from the United States, said 48 new immigrants arrived in Israel on Wednesday, bringing the 2020 total of those assisted by the organization to 3,216. Of those, the organization reported, 2,625 arrived after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
The organization’s statisticians also reported that immigrants this year included 811 families and 1,032 singles. Among the latter category were 390 young men and women who volunteered to serve as “lone soldiers” in the Israel Defense Force.
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Harassed Jewish Student Awarded 15,000 British Pounds by SOAS London University
The School of Oriental and African Studies at London University paid a settlement of 15,000 British pounds to student Noah Lewis, who complained that he was forced to withdraw from the university because of its “toxic culture of anti-Semitism,” reports Brooke Goldstein, executive director of the Lawfare Project. Lewis said that in one incident, because he supports Israel, he was verbally attacked by his classmates, who accused him of being a “white supremacist Nazi” who ignored “genocide” and “apartheid” occurring in “Palestine.” The panel that awarded the settlement to Lewis also recommended “that there be a continued investigation by an independent panel into the existence of anti-Semitic environment at SOAS,” Goldstein said.
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ADL and CSI to Team Up to Identify Terrorist Threats to Jewish Institutions
The Anti Defamation League’s Center on Extremism and he Community Security Initiative (CSI) have announced they will partner in the Jewish communities of greater New York City “to identify threats in the region, specifically those targeting community institutions, and refer them to law enforcement for further investigation and/ or action,” ADL’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said.
“We believe that one of the most effective means to safeguard our institutions and community is to collect and analyze threat intelligence, both on the surface web and in the deep and darker parts of the internet where extremists radicalize and plot,” said CSI Executive Director Mitchell Silber, the former Director of Intelligence Analysis for the NYPD. “Embedding CSI’s Threat Intelligence Analyst in ADL’s Center on Extremism enables CSI to have a broad view of the extremist landscape nation-wide in order to detect, identify and alert law enforcement to threatening individuals and groups for further investigation.”
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Rep. Susan Davis sends farewell greetings to her constituents
The tenth and final two-year term of Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego) will end Jan. 3, when the retiring member of Congress will be succeeded by Congresswoman-elect Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego). In a farewell message to her constituents, Davis offered the following observations:
“Twenty years seems like a very long time. But they have passed so quickly. It feels like yesterday that I was sworn into Congress, yet I meet young adults who tell me I’ve been their Congresswoman their entire lives! I have seen our country through many challenges in these two decades and have been true to my oath of office and worked hard to represent you…”
“…As you know, I am retiring from Congress when my term ends Sunday. I had hoped to say goodbye in person—we had even planned to turn Balboa Park purple for a farewell community event! Sending you this farewell message is bittersweet for me but the only way to say goodbye right now…”
“…Serving in Congress has been an honor that I have taken seriously every day. I loved talking to so many of you about your businesses, the work you do, the causes you support and what matters to you and what you hope matters to me. I have been especially gratified to hear that you feel proud that I am your representative…”
“…One of the greatest changes I’ve experienced has been the composition of the House of Representatives to a more diverse people’s house that looks like and relates to the people of this great country. And that is truly transformational…”
“…As this Congress comes to a close, I look forward to being home in San Diego full-time and spending more time with my family who have been so supportive and flexible over these 20 years…
“…You have been the most dedicated constituencies to the cause of freedom and democracy anyone can expect. Thank you so much for having made the privilege of serving you deeply meaningful for me. My best to all of you and your families…”
“…Hopefully we’ll be seeing each other in the grocery store and around town before too long!”
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com
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