By Donald H. Harrison in San Diego
We encourage our readers to follow the links to the stories that interest them.
INTERNATIONAL
Israel Hayom: Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and members of his hard-right party Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) wore yellow nooses in their lapels as a visible statement of support for a bill authorizing the death penalty for convicted terrorists. He stated during a committee hearing, “We all wore these pins, which represent one method we’ll employ to carry out the terrorist death penalty statute. Naturally we have the guillotine option, the electric chair option, and lethal injection as well. Since reports emerged that physicians refused to participate in implementing the law, I’ve fielded 100 inquiries from doctors asking ‘Itamar, just say when.”
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Anti Defamation League: The J7—representing the Jewish communities of Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States – issued a call for their governments to “fight antisemitism and ensure the security of the Jewish community.” They met in Sydney, Australia, “to show our solidarity with the Australian Jewish community and make clear that we are one Jewish family.”
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Friends of Israel Defense Forces: Israel’s Maj. Gen. (Res) Nadav Padan, National Director and CEO of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, told a Sunday night fundraising dinner in New York City that as the weapons and tactics of warfare evolve, the needs of soldiers intensify. And the young leaders of his organization are not just supporters of the IDF, but peers to the soldiers on the front lines.
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The Jerusalem Post: Israeli police arrested an unidentified Tiberias resident on charges that he threatened the life of Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, the Druze official who is Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT). On various occasions, the suspect accused Alian of being “a Hamas agent in an IDF uniform;” “a Hamas terrorist Nazi” and “a thief, a rapist, a terrorist…” Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said: “Violence and threats against IDF officers and members of the security establishment are a criminal act and a redline that must not be crossed under any circumstances…”
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Jewish Telegraphic Agency: Myriam Bergman took her oath of office in Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies last week swearing to defend “against the genocide in Palestine” and also protesting the U.S. threat to Nicolas Maduro’s government in Venezuela. Another Jewish legislator, Sabrina Ajmechet, subsequently introduced a bill to deny seating in the Chamber of Deputies to those who do not take the oath in accordance with the chamber’s rules.
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NATIONAL
CBS News: Correspondent Lesley Stahl interviewed Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on the 60 Minutes program that aired Sunday night, Dec. 7. The Republican congresswoman from Georgia said President Donald Trump called her a traitor in the same time span that he entertained at the White House “the al Qaeda leader that was wanted by the U.S. government, who is now the president of Syria. Then with a week, he brought in the Crown Prince, MBS, who murdered an American journalist. And then he brought in the newly elected Democrat Socialist mayor of New York. That was the time span that he called me a traitor.”
Greene referred respectively to President Ahmed al-Sharaa of Syria; Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, the late Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi ,and Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City.
But don’t get the idea that by criticizing Arab leaders and the Uganda-born Mamdani, Greene is pro-Israel. In her conversation with Stahl, Greene said that President Trump “has served Israel’s interest, even attacking Iran.” Previously, she was the only Republican in Congress to call Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide.”
During the interview, there was this exchange:
Lesley Stahl: Why did you vote against the Antisemitism Awareness Act?
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: Since I’ve been a member of Congress, we’ve had several resolutions that constantly denounce antisemitism. I’ve already voted denouncing antisemitism many times before. It becomes an exercise that they force on Congress, and I simply got tired of it.
Lesley Stahl: Is there no value in having the United States Congress reaffirm the fact that they denounce antisemitism in the face of a growing issue, a growing problem?
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: We don’t have to get on our knees and say it over and over again when we already–
Lesley Stahl: Get on our knees?
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: Yes. We do not have to get on our knees.
Lesley Stahl: Well, most members of Congress disagree with you.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: Well, most members of Congress take donations from AIPAC and I don’t.
Greene said she and her family members received death threats following Trump calling her a traitor. One emailer called her Marjorie Traitor Greene. She told Stahl she decided to withdraw from Congress on Jan. 5, one year before her term ends, because “I will be no one’s battered wife.
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B’nai B’rith Magazine: Robert B. Spitzer, president of B’nai B’rith International writes in the Winter 2025 edition that immigrants have been demonized, “largely as murderers, criminals and rapists who are taking jobs from Americans. Statistics show that undocumented people here commit fewer crimes than U.S. citizens on a per capita basis. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are waging massive drives to round up suspected undocumented people in the country and have ensnared many with legal permission to stay in the U.S. in their nets. Their tactics of wearing face masks and body armor and not showing badges are intentionally intimidating.”
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eJewishPhilanthropy: Elizabeth “Liz” Sokolsky has announced she will retire next year as the executive vice president of Birthright Israel, which has conducted more than 900,000 young Jewish adults on a free 10-day trip to Israel in the 25 years of the program’s existence. She told reporter Nira Dayanim that initially the program was funded for five years, and “I don’t think anybody, anybody, imagined that there would be as much of a desire as there was. We had waiting lists right away…”
STATE & LOCAL
The Times of Israel: Erica Frost Hollins, a spokesperson for Cal State University at Los Angeles, said the administration is “looking into the matter” of Prof. Melina Abdullah instructing students in her “Race, Activism and Emotions” class how to lobby for the veto of AB 715, which Gov. Gavin Newsom eventually signed into law. The bill was designed to guard against antisemitism in the state’s K-12 schools. TOI reported that California State University guidelines prohibit employees from “supporting or opposing any political candidate or issue being considered by the electorate of the state” while using state resources, such as public facilities, in line with state law.”
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World