The Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego is spotlighting three local organizations that provide comfort to the homeless and the poor during the Thanksgiving holidays. [Donald H. Harrison]
Jewish Community Foundation’s ideas for Thanksgiving Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County
The origins of U.S.-Israel security cooperation are in the Cold War understanding that the United States could not engage all the adversaries of all its allies and friends around the world. It was embraced warily at first — the Americans were unconvinced they would receive anything of value and the Israelis were concerned about continued freedom of action. But it worked. Israel went from being considered a net security consumer to a net security producer, meaning the United States did not have to expend resources to defend Israel. And Israel participated in making the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean regions more secure due to its presence. [Shoshana Bryen]
How U.S. benefits from alliance with Israel Read More »
International, Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USA
Amir Ohana is Israel’s Minister of Justice. Sort of. Sitting in an interim government, he is prevented from acting on all relevant matters. But he can speak. And he did so shrilly, against what he called a cult of prosecutors within the prosecution service, as well as supporting members of the media. [Ira Sharkansky, PhD]
Netanyahu supporters denounce prosecutors Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
he State of Israel is an amazing place. Ever wonder about the secrets behind how Israel, a tiny country with the highest concentration of start-ups per capita worldwide, is raising generations of entrepreneurs who are disrupting markets around the globe and bringing change to the world? What factors have led to these remarkable achievements, and what secrets do Israeli tech entrepreneurs know that others can learn? [Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel]
Chutzpah and Balagan: partners in innovation Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East
Social media users in San Diego County and around the country soon will be bombarded with the Republican Jewish Coalition’s opening salvo in an effort to reelect Donald Trump in 2020 – a 30-second video spot contending it is a “shanda” (disgrace) how leading Democrats are attacking Israel. [Donald H. Harrison]
Republicans launch bid for Jewish support in 2020 Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, USA
Both Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have made US military aid to Israel a cornerstone policy on their competing campaign trails. Detractors of Israel like to jump on the figure of $3.8 Billion (2019) that the United States gives to Israel for its military defense. What they do not take into consideration are three important factors that make the US-Israel defense relationship truly unique. [Barry Shaw]
U.S. receives large returns on Israel investment Read More »
Barry Shaw, Middle East, USA
It’s difficult to know whether Netanyahu’s obsession with Iran is because he cares for his country or if his real purpose is to persuade Israelis that he and only he can make sure that Israel remains secure, expanding at the expense of the Palestinians and prosperous? The answer isn’t simple. For there’s much to suggest that Israeli hostility to Iran has brought the Jewish state closer to many Arab states, notably Saudi Arabia and Gulf States, on the basis that my enemy’s enemy is my friend. Much of that may be thanks to our prime minister. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]
Should Israel moderate its Iran stand? Read More »
Middle EastWith the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) planning its Western Regional Gala on Thursday, Nov.7, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, and the San Diego/ Orange County/ Arizona chapter planning a local gala just two days later on Nov. 9 at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel here in San Diego, it’s likely to be a busy time for the local chapter’s board. [Donald H. Harrison]
A busy November for Friends of Israel Defense Forces Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego Calendar, San Diego County
The senator’s scheme to relieve their pain collapses when he proposes that funds for humanitarian aid there be diverted from the $3.8 million that America sends to Israel each year for military aid. Why Israel? Why not all the oil-rich Arab countries that spend their money on royal palaces and extravagant vacations? They launched the war of 1948 that sent Palestinians fleeing Israel in all directions or living mainly in Gaza and the West Bank. What is their responsibility? [Bruce Ticker]
Arab countries should pay for humanitarian relief in Gaza Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Middle East, USA
Benny Gantz will have his chance at this task. Much hangs in the balance. It’s the first time in over a decade that an Israeli politician other than Netanyahu has had such an opportunity. While it is far from clear that Gantz will be successful – the odds aren’t great, and Israelis may well find themselves returning to the polls for an unprecedented third election in a year – one thing is increasingly clear: something is changing in Israel. [Daniel Sokatch]
An opening in Israel for hope Read More »
Middle East
SAN DIEGO – The Jewish and general communities are honoring the memory of Lori Gilbert Kaye, who was murdered April 27 by a gunman who barged into Chabad of Poway and wounded three other people before running away and later being apprehended. Exactly six months after the shooting attack that wounded Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, 8-year-old Noya Dahan, and her uncle Almog Peretz from Sderot, Israel, StandWithUs San Diego focused on the victims at a gala which was themed “Standing Together Against Anti-Semitism.” [Donald H. Harrison]
StandWithUs, Poway salute shooting victims Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, USADr. Ben Dishman, PharmD, who is retired as a psychiatric pharmacist from the Veterans Administration Hospital, enjoys visiting Sea World on the average of once a month. Besides seeing the animals, he likes to see love bloom among Orthodox Jewish couples who apparently consider Sea World to be a perfect meeting place for their arranged dates. [Donald H. Harrison]
Orthodox romance at Sea World Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USAWhy is it that some Jewish Americans, including J Streeters, think they know better than Israelis what will bring peace between Jews and Palestinian Arabs? It’s some sort of hubris. Israelis, by a wide margin, recognize that leaving Gaza was a huge mistake, resulting in thousands of attacks on Israelis in the south of our country (primarily but not exclusively) by terrorists allied with Iran. Why then should Israelis even contemplate allowing a similar but more existential situation in the center of Israel adjacent to our major population centers? [Steve Kramer]
With friends like J Street … Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA
As Democratic candidates for the presidency continue to move further to the left in an effort to distance themselves from the policies and politics of President Trump, the two frontrunners, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have increased the rhetoric against what is normally an untouchable topic for Democrats and Republicans alike: the United States’ relationship with the sole democracy in the Middle East, Israel. [Richard L. Cravatts, PhD]
Sanders, Warren mount anti-Israel campaigns Read More »
Middle East, Richard L. Cravatts, USA