July 26th edition of New York Jewish Life

NYJL’s Maxine Dovere Highlights the Faces of Israel in a Two-Page Photo Spread

Netanyahu and Pence Reinforce U.S.-Israeli Ties at CUFI in D.C.

Brooklynite Michael Cohen of the Wiesenthal Center Writes About Swastikas in Flatbush

VOL. 1, NO. 19 | JULY 19-25, 2017 | NEWS THAT MATTERS TO JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN THE NEW YORK CITY METROPOLITAN AREA | NYJLIFE.COM | FREE

NO GOOD REASON Israel is separating itself from the majority of American Jews, and for no good reason.

…25,000 owners of 1 million rent-stabilized apartments in the five boroughs…

• The largest providers – the backbone – of quality, affordable housing in New York City.

• In good times and bad, a vital economic engine for New York City – we pay hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes and water rates that help fund police, fire, sanitation, public education and other municipal services.

• A vast majority of small owners have buildings with 20 apartments or less – many of them immigrants, and all of us committed to providing quality, affordable housing to our tenants.

• We put the rent money back into our buildings for repairs, maintenance and upgrades – that’s the formula to maintaining and preserving affordable housing for New Yorkers.

Owners of Rent-Stabilized Apartments…

Good for Neighborhoods, Good for Tenants, Good for Affordable Housing

WE HOUSE NEW YORK 2 | NYJLIFE.COM | JULY 19 – 25, 2017

Publisher’s Note News that matters to Jewish communities in the New York City metropolitan area

BUSINESS

Israel’s Recent Policies on Defining Who Is a Jew Must Be Revised Israel is separating itself from the majority of American Jews, and for no good reason. A foundational issue of faith, how a diverse global people selfidentify, has been hijacked by Israeli domestic politics and an outdated and crude understanding of international relations. New York Jewish Life disagrees with recent political and religious decisions that arbitrarily narrow the definition of who, in Israel’s eyes, is considered Jewish for purposes of legitimate attachment to that country.

Apparently, anything less observant than Orthodox, anywhere in the world, is now suspect.

This paper disagrees, but we understand—without condoning or supporting—the motivation behind those recent divisive moves. It now requires more effort, more thinking and more conversation to form the attachments to Israel that used to be more automatic among American Jews.

Younger American Jews, and believe me I struggle with how to define “younger” these days as much as you do, simply do not have the innate connection that defined the ethnic identity of previous generations.

So, like a local politician who prefers that as few people as possible participate in elections in order to maximize the weight of his base vote, Israel’s governing coalition is undercutting the voices of those who require some more time and information to come around.

This isn’t even a matter of silencing “no”; it’s become a matter of silencing “maybe, but explain to me.…”

The Israeli prime minister canceled

an earlier agreement to establish a prayer space adjacent to the Western Wall of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem—a holy site—where genders can mix and pray together. He also endorsed legislation that designated a monopoly on conversions to Judaism in Israel by pulling government recognition for “private conversions”— those done by non-Orthodox rabbis.

These are demarcations that need not be made. These moves hang an “unwelcome” sign over a country that, for Jews worldwide, should be more accessible.

News coverage of these policy moves has characterized them as capitulations to the Orthodox voting bloc in Israel.

This paper refuses to join that labeling, as nothing productive will come of it.

Instead, we see this—whatever the vote being courted—as domestic politics’ being far out of step with practical and necessary global relations, and we hope it can be walked back. Nor should those who lobbied for these provisions be faulted or vilified; it is their job to push.

It was the government’s job to say no.

At stake is nothing less than defining—to the world and to world Jewry—whether Israel is a democratic global Jewish homeland or exclusively a Middle Eastern nation embroiled in that region’s affairs, to the detriment of all other concerns. It doesn’t need to be either/or, but has unfortunately been designed as binary. This is supremely odd and unnecessary, as Jews of all levels of observance, particularly in America, have long supported Israel— indeed from before its founding. If that

support now requires more and deeper dialogue, so be it.

For Jews, Israel is different from other nations. It should be different.

Discussions, domestic and global, should be different, and they already are! Tel Aviv’s vibrant LGBTQ community already lives alongside Hasidim. Women proudly serve in the military. The country has had a female leader while the United States has yet to have one! Employees at cutting-edge technology companies take their lunch in cafés outside ancient buildings. Jews from throughout the world visit Israel and return to their homes stronger in their support for their spiritual homeland.

Some of us have connections with organizations and institutions that themselves are deeply connected to Israel. Some of us have personal connections with Israeli public officials.

All of us should speak out on revising these recent irresponsible, shortsighted policies.

Israel is better than its recent decisions on defining who is a Jew. New York Jewish Life hopes it comes to its senses regarding this hurtful direction.

Every day is another opportunity to turn things around, and there are a lot of days in a year.

Michael Tobman, Publisher

Michael Tobman PUBLISHER

Andrew Holt SENIOR PUBLICATION ADVISOR

Liza Kramer DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE

Kim Rosenberg Amzallag ADVERTISING CONSULTANT

EDITORIAL Maxine Dovere NYC BUREAU CHIEF

Lucy Cohen Blatter Jenny Powers Tammy Mark CONTRIBUTORS

Marjorie Lipsky COPY EDITOR

LETTER7 DESIGN

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CANDLE LIGHTING

Friday, July 21 Candles: 8:03 p.m.

Shabbat Ends: 9:08 p.m.

Friday, July 28 Candles: 7:57 p.m.

Shabbat Ends: 9:01 p.m.

JULY 19 – 25, 2017 | NYJLIFE.COM | 3

BDSWatch

Director Ken Loach Boycotts Israel but Still Shows His Films There (JTA) — The British “We have asked Wild Bunch before not to sell film director Ken to Israel,” O’Brien said.

Loach has become a “But what happened fierce advocate of the this time—and what has Boycott, Divestment happened before—is that and Sanctions (BDS) during Cannes, things movement against Israel, happen very fast, and a but his films have been junior member of the shown there for more company went and sold than 20 years. it to Israel in the heat of Loach’s producer the moment, forgetting told The Guardian Film director Ken Loach we had asked for it not to on Friday that it is a speaking at the 133rd be sold there.” “mistake” that his latest Durham Miners Gala in Loach’s Israeli film, I, Daniel Blake, is England, July 8, 2017 distributor told The currently showing in PHOTO BY IAN FORSYTH/ GETTY IMAGES Guardian that the claims Israeli cinemas. Rebecca O’Brien said the distribution company are “absurd.”

“We’ve been showing his movies Wild Bunch had made a deal to bring the film to Israel during last year’s for years,” said Guy Shani, who runs Shani Films and the Lev cinema chain.

Cannes Film Festival.

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“I have been paying him money every year. His latest film, I, Daniel Blake, has been really successful in Israel. It is a conundrum that has puzzled me, too.

It seems that Ken Loach feels himself exempt from the cultural boycott.”

O’Brien said this was the “second or third time” that one of Loach’s films has been shown in Israel without his consent. Vincent Maraval, head of Wild Bunch, said Friday on Twitter that the company made a deal “against [Loach’s] will.”

Loach has been critical of the British band Radiohead’s show in Tel Aviv last Wednesday. He signed a letter circulated in February by former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, another BDS supporter, urging Radiohead not to perform in Israel. Loach became embroiled in a personal spat with Thom

Yorke, the band’s singer.

Michael Stipe, the former singer of the band R.E.M., weighed in on the debate, saying Sunday on Instagram that he supports Radiohead’s decision.

“Let’s hope a dialogue continues, helping to bring the occupation to an end and lead to a peaceful solution,” Stipe wrote.

SCHUMER IN THE NEWS

On Senate Floor, Schumer Condemns Anti-Zionism as Anti-Semitism IN SENATE FLOOR SPEECH, SCHUMER APPLAUDS FRENCH PRESIDENT MACRON FOR COMMENTS OVER THE WEEKEND: “WE WILL YIELD NOTHING TO ANTIZIONISM…BECAUSE IT IS THE REINVENTED FORM OF ANTI-SEMITISM”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Monday, U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer delivered remarks on the Senate floor regarding French President Macron’s comments on anti-Zionism. Below are his prepared remarks: Finally, Mr. President, I’d like to applaud the French President Emmanuel Macron for his comments over the

weekend about anti-Semitism. “We will yield nothing to anti-Zionism,” he said, “because it is the reinvented form of anti-Semitism.”

He is absolutely right.

“Anti-Semitism” is a word that has been used throughout history when Jewish people are judged and measured by one standard and the rest by another.

When everyone else was allowed to farm and Jews could not; when anyone else could live in Moscow and Jews could not; when others could become academics or tradesmen and Jews could not. The word to describe all of these acts is “anti-Semitism.”

So it is with anti-Zionism: the idea that all other peoples can seek and defend their right to self-determination but Jews cannot; that other nations have a right to exist, but the Jewish state of Israel does not.

Anti-Zionism, unfortunately, continues to bubble up in many different forms. There is perhaps no greater example than the pernicious effort to

delegitimize Israel through boycotts, divestment and sanctions. The BDS movement is a deeply biased campaign that I would say, in similar words to Mr. Macron, is a “reinvented form of antiSemitism” because it seeks to impose boycotts on Israel and not on any other nation.

I hope that states across the country continue to push back against the BDS movement, by boycotting the boycotters, as my home state of New York has done.

And I hope that my fellow senators will join me in condemning this modern brand of anti-Semitism, as Mr. Macron did this weekend.

Thank you and I yield the floor.

JULY 19 – 25, 2017 | NYJLIFE.COM | 5

Faces of Israel New York bureau chief for New York Jewish Life Maxine Dovere has spent most of July thus far in Israel. Sprinting from Haifa to Tel Aviv, and on to Jerusalem, Maxine captured the spirit of Israel with her camera. New York Jewish Life has curated the following images to give our readers a sense of her travels and the beauty of Israel.

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Temple Mount Partially Reopens Two Days After Attack JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Temple Mount partially reopened on Sunday, with metal detectors placed at the open entrances.

Prior to Sunday, metal detectors only were placed at the entrance for tourists and Jewish visitors.

Two of the nine entrances to the site holy to both Muslims and Jews were reopened at about noon on Sunday, two days after three Arab-Israeli visitors to the site opened fire on Israel Police guarding the area, killing two Druze Israel Police officers.

Few Muslim worshippers entered the site on Sunday, in protest of the metal detectors, according to reports.

Worshippers instead held their earlyafternoon prayer service at the gate.

The Old City of Jerusalem also was closed off on Sunday, except to local residents and tourists, according to reports.

The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement issued on Saturday night that the Temple Mount would be gradually opened to visitors beginning at noon on Sunday, and that the entrances would be equipped with metal detectors and security cameras.

“Additional security steps will

be taken later,” the statement said, recapping a telephone consultation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Israel Police Insp.-Gen. Roni Alsheich, Israel Security Agency Director Nadav Argaman and Jerusalem District Police Commander Yoram Halevy.

Netanyahu said Saturday night before he left on a plane to Paris that he spoke with the parents of the two Druze police officers killed in the Friday attack on the Temple Mount. “I sent them a hug from every citizen of Israel and participation in their awful grief,” Netanyahu said.

He also announced that he ordered the mourners’ tents of the families of the three Arab-Israeli murderers killed in the attack to be destroyed.

Police spent the two days of the Temple Mount closure searching the site for weapons, and reportedly removed their shoes when they entered the holy site to conduct their searches.

Knives, slingshots, batons, spikes, unexploded ordnance, binoculars and dummy plastic weapons were found at the site, but no firearms or ammunition, Haaretz reported.

Muslims walking by the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in Jerusalem’s Old City, on their way to pray on the second day of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, June 30, 2014.

PHOTO BY SLIMAN KHADER/FLASH90

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No Women Blacklisted

BY BEN SALES

NEW YORK (JTA) – The Israeli Chief Rabbinate’s so-called blacklist of Diaspora rabbis runs the denominational gamut. The rabbis on the list, whose letters confirming the Jewish identities of immigrants were rejected by the Chief Rabbinate in 2016, are Orthodox, Conservative, Reform—and even from the smaller Reconstructionist and Renewal movements.

But one category of rabbis is missing: women.

All of the 78 North Americans on the rabbinate’s list are men.

The list includes some 160 rabbis in total. The nonprofit that obtained the list, Itim, claims it’s a “blacklist” meant to delegitimize the rabbis. The rabbinate, however, says the list was formulated incorrectly and is meant only to indicate problems with letters written by the rabbis, not with the rabbis who wrote them.

One explanation, of course, could be that the rabbinate had accepted whatever letters it received from women rabbis in 2016. That is possible, of course, but American women rabbis had a few other theories they consider more likely.

Some suggested that the rabbinate didn’t want to recognize women as clergy.

“If they put names of women rabbis on that list, they’d have to acknowledge that women can be rabbis, and I think that’s not a step they’re willing to take publicly,” said Rabbi Rachel Ain of New York City’s Conservative Sutton Place Synagogue. “They’re not willing to put my name on the list because they don’t consider me a legitimate rabbi.”

Still, many Israeli haredim, or fervently Orthodox Jews, do not recognize any Reform or Conservative rabbis, and yet the names of many are on the list. Rabbi Debra Newman Kamin suggested that’s because women rabbis are in a category all their own. She surmised that the absence of women was more unconscious than intentional discrimination.

“A woman rabbi is like a unicorn, so why would you include a unicorn on the blacklist?” said Newman Kamin, vice president of the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly. “I don’t think it’s

because they want to make a statement about the position of women rabbis.

We’re not even on their radar screen.”

Others suggested that the rabbinate’s opposition to women rabbis leads to a form of self-censorship. Because women rabbis know the rabbinate will reject them, some reach out to male rabbis when a congregant asks for a proof-of-Judaism letter.

There are two reasons immigrants to Israel would need a proof-of-Judaism letter from a rabbi: to gain citizenship and to get married. Citizenship is determined by the Israeli government, which maintains a fairly expansive definition of Jewish identity. But marriage in Israel is controlled by the chief rabbinate, who requires that the bride and groom both be Jewish according to Orthodox Jewish law. So it’s easier for a citizenship letter to be accepted than a marriage letter.

Newman Kamin said that she had submitted letters to the rabbinate, for marriage, that were approved in years past. But other women rabbis said they hesitate to write such letters now. Rabbi Ellen Nemhauser, co-president of the Reform Women’s Rabbinic Network, said that when her son needed a letter to extend a visa to Israel recently, she asked a male rabbi to sign it.

“I believe my ordination is valid, but we don’t want to set people up to run into difficulties or failure,” said Nemhauser. “I’m guessing there are many women like myself who defer to a male colleague.”

The reason for the absence of women on the “blacklist” might be more prosaic. The terms of the list are clearly defined—rabbis whose letters were rejected in 2016—and women may not appear simply because, four decades after the Reform movement began ordaining women, there still aren’t all that many women rabbis, relative to the total number of rabbis in the United States.

Nemhauser estimates that among the 3,000 Reform rabbis, a quarter are women. Newman Kamin says the figure is about 15 percent for the Conservative movement’s 1,700 rabbis. Fewer still are the number of women rabbis leading congregations. And beyond a small group of Orthodox women clergy— many of whom do not call themselves “rabbi”—all Orthodox rabbis are men.

Josef Nasaradil, known as Abu Yoel, founder of the Druze Zionist Movement, represents a continuation of an unbroken chain of Israeli Druze contributions to the state of Israel.

Pursuing the Future as Partners

BY MAXINE DOVERE

Less than 24 hours before the tragic murders of two Druze Israeli policemen at Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount), New York Jewish Life spoke exclusively with Druze leader Josef Nasaradil, who is known with respect and affection as Abu Yoel. To be in his home is to touch history. This gracious host welcomes more than 30,000 people a year to his Daliyat al-Karmel home. He is a deeply knowledgeable patriot and a tough defender of Israel.

“You are in the most Zionist house in Israel,” NYJL had been told. “It is the home of the Druze Zionist Movement—DZM—founded in 1975 in response to the infamous United Nations Resolution 3379 defaming Zionism as a form of racism. Nasaradil, together with the major leaders of the Druze community, founded the Druze Zionist Movement.

“The DZM is connected with Israelis in all fields.

Every politician, from the right to the left, has been in this house,” said Nadeem Amar, former mayor of

Julis, a nearby Druze town.

On the wall of Abu Yoel’s expansive living room, the image of Theodor Herzl has a place of honor close to pictures of Abu Yoel’s father and revered Druze religious leaders.

“We are non-Jews and proud Israelis,” he began. “If you wait for the Messiah, you have to wait many years.

There would be no ‘Blue and White’ if you wait for the Mashiach—Messiah. We, the Druze, believe in Israel.

We, the Druze, support the connection between the Druze and the Jews.

“It is an ancient bond that has existed since the time of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. Jethro was the leader of his people and is revered as the prophet of the Druze religion. He welcomed Moses and allowed him to marry his daughter, Zipporah.

Jethro advised Moses about managing the Jewish people. Moses learned delegation, how to organize officers and ministers, judges and advisers, and how

to manage the people. Because of this history and this connection, we love the Jewish people. The Druze believe that the Jewish people have returned to their homeland in Eretz Yisrael.”

This strong bond between the Druze and the Jews in modern Israel began long before the establishment of the state. Abu Yoel’s father was among the pioneers of the Druze support of the Jewish people in Israel. He helped protect the Yishuv, the Jewish settlements established prior to the 1948 Declaration of Independence, providing food and support and protecting the Jews against their enemies. Druze soldiers participated in the Haganah—the precursor of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

In 1948, when David Ben-Gurion proclaimed independence, the Druze joined the army—but only as volunteers. In 1956, then-Prime Minister David Ben Gurion and then-Defense Minister Shimon Peres declared the Druze to be subject to the draft, the same as Jewish Israelis. Today, the percentage of young Druze serving in the IDF is greater than the percentage of Jews: 85 percent of young Druze men serve, while only 72 percent of Jewish youth do so.

In a nuanced analysis of Israel’s troubled political situation, Abu Yoel said, “The Jewish people must be the light unto the nations. Yet, within the people, there are those who are elements of darkness. The Druze will not allow the Jews to return to the darkness.”

He was clearly referencing the historic defeats and infighting leading to the destruction of the Second Temple, enabled by discord among the Jewish people.

NYJL asked Abu Yoel how the Druze community encourages its young generations to continue the close cooperation.

“The Druze Zionist Movement wants the connection between them and the Jewish people strong, both in ideology as well as personal friendship.

We are not cooperators; we are partners. We want to teach this to the young generations of the Druze and of the Jews. The connection is very important for the Druze, the Jews and the state of Israel.”

The Druze “speak against Arab propaganda. Druze are partners and have full participation with the Jewish people.”

In the army and police force, Druze officers are equal and—as so sadly confirmed by the July 14 attack—willing to give their lives to protect the state of Israel.

Currently, Druze young woman do not generally serve in the army but do participate in national service. NYJL asked about the equality of women in the community.

“According to the Druze religion, a woman is equal to a man. She can be the leader of her community; she can marry or divorce; she can own property,” said Abu Yoel.

It must be noted that a greater percentage of Druze young women now attend university than do young men.

“We believe that Israel is the best land for the Druze,” he continued. “We know what is going on [among the Druze people] in Syria and Lebanon. In

continued on page 10

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PURSUING THE FUTURE from p9 Israel there is full democracy. Everyone can achieve his or her potential.”

He acknowledged that there are problems “for two reasons: the government of Israel and some of the Druze leaders.”

Abu Yoel expressed special admiration for the late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who visited the Nasaradil home on three occasions. Rabin, he said, “had emphasized equality.” As prime minister he created a special budget for improvements to close the infrastructure gap between the Druze communities and the Jewish towns.

“The current prime minister,” he complained, “speaks but doesn’t act.

Rabin ‘did’ and did not speak.”

To correct this, Abu Yoel believes the Druze community must put pressure on the government—through democratic activity.

“The Jewish people love the Druze.

Although we are small people and do not have the electoral numbers, we are a very important political section.”

He described five or six demonstrations involving about 3,000 people that have taken place and said, “I don’t like it. It makes the enemies of Israel and the Jewish people very happy.

They can point to the dissatisfaction.

We are the watchmen to protect the alliance between the Jews and the

Druze and strengthen it....It is very, very important and necessary for both communities.

“We are concerned in Israel and abroad. The Druze say simply, we, the Druze, are part of Israel. There is no apartheid. This is a free and democratic society...a place of freedom and tolerance. This freedom is a magnificent activity.”

Under the auspices of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Druze spokesmen are visiting university campuses. Josef Nasaradil—Abu Yoel—has been in 24 states speaking in Jewish communities and at Hillel organizations on campuses. He has been challenged about his Zionism; called names; told, “You are a liar...you are a Jew.” The Israeli Druze community has been directly impacted by the war in Syria. About 50,000 Syrian Druze refugees are scattered in Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Greece and other countries. Some are speaking with Abu Yoel, requesting support and asking the Israeli government to allow them to come to Israel.

“We will ask the Knesset for...a separate law of return,” he said, “to allow Druze who want to come to be allowed as long as there is no record of any activities against the state of Israel.”

Pictured: Shachiv Shnaan, former Labor member of Knesset; Tzipi Livni, member of Knesset; Nadeem Amar, former mayor of Julis

MK Tziporah “Tzipi” Livni spoke at a condolence visit at the home of Maj. Kamil Shnaan, 22, an Israeli policeman murdered in a terrorist attack Friday morning. He was the youngest son of former Labor Party Knesset member Shachiv Shnaan. Shnaan called for an end to violence, noting that the Druze “are an integral party of the state.”

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PM Declares Appreciation for CUFI Support

PENCE HIGHLIGHTS STRONG AMERICANISRAELI ALLIANCE

BY MAXINE DOVERE

BY MAXINE DOVERE

Vice President Michael Pence arrived at the 12th Annual National Summit of Christians United for Israel (CUFI) enveloped in the glow of Pastor John Hagee’s warm and enthusiastic introduction.

He began his remarks with a reminder that, as governor of Indiana, he had signed one of the strongest anti-BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) laws in the United States. “BDS has no place in Indiana, and no place in America.”

Pence addressed the CUFI evening session to confirm the strength of the relationship between America and “its closest ally, Israel.” He promised that “the United States will always stand with Israel,” and thanked the 3.5 million members of CUFI for weaving together American and Israeli interests, ensuring that CUFI “members can be heard in every office on Capitol Hill.” Pence added, “The man at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue hears you.”

Turning biblical in front of this crowd of (mostly) Christian evangelists, Pence quoted from Ezekiel: “The Jewish people have awed the world with strength of will and of character—a living testimony to the power of hope over hate, still condemned for what they do right.”

Pence stressed the commitment of the Trump administration to Israel “now and always,” promising “lasting friendship that will only grow deeper and stronger in the days ahead.” He said that “President Trump stands with CUFI.” Assessing the Trump administration’s future plans,

he declared that “the day will come when President Trump moves the American embassy to Jerusalem” and helps “resolve the Israel Palestine conflict.” He further listed “an end to the incitement of hatred and support of terrorism” and “true and complete Palestinian willingness to accept and recognize the state of Israel” as preconditions for a peace settlement.

“President Trump,” Pence assured, “will never compromise the safety and security of the Jewish state of Israel—not now, not ever.”

CUFI’s significant military component in the audience gave strong applause to the vice president’s promise to “rebuild the military and the arsenal of democracy and give [the military] the resources and training they deserve to accomplish their mission... taking the fight to ISIS under our command and on their soil.”

Iran, a not-so-hidden elephant in the room, was strongly criticized. “The United States will no longer tolerate Iran’s efforts to destabilize. America will not allow Iran to develop a usable nuclear weapon.”

“We stand with Israel,” said Pence, sounding an evangelical note. “Millions of Americans have embraced the truth: that He will bless those who bless Israel.”

Pence called the CUFI audience “a shining crowd” offering “support of our most cherished ally, Israel.”

“Have faith!” Pence closed. “With G-d’s help, the men and women who treasure Israel and Trump in the White House, for them the best days are yet to come.”

Speaking by live satellite feed from Budapest, Hungary, a tired-looking Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the 12th Annual CUFI—Christians United for Israel—Summit in Washington, D.C., at the close of its Monday morning plenary session. Although embroiled in controversy and accusations at home, the prime minister was enthusiastic in his acclamation of Israel’s friendship with CUFI. “You are always there for us,” he said. “We have no better friends than you.”

Netanyahu focused on Jerusalem, recalling his personal history and anticipating the city’s future.

“My heart is always in Jerusalem. Your hearts are always in Jerusalem, the eternally undivided capital of the Jewish people and the Jewish state. And that it will remain.”

He recalled being at the wall 50 years ago, as an 18-year-old. “Thousands streamed to the Western Wall. When we touched those stones, we felt a connection.”

His sentiment would be reiterated by Pastor John Hagee, who Monday evening detailed the sense of “spiritual peace” he experienced when visiting the Western Wall in 2006.

“Only Israeli sovereignty can ensure freedom of access and to all,” Netanyahu continued, noting that Israel is the only place Christian communities have “a future in the Middle East.”

Mirroring a theme dominant throughout the 2017 CUFI summit, the prime minister said, “We are engaged in a great struggle—a struggle of civilization, of free societies against the forces of militant Islam, both Sunni and Shiite.”

Concluding, Netanyahu again expressed appreciation for CUFI’s support: “You have always stood with us because you stand with yourselves representing a heritage of freedom that goes back thousands of years.

“America has no greater friend than Israel. Israel has no greater friend than the United States; and in the United States, Israel has no greater friend, CUFI!”

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Chicago Dyke March Article Cost Me My Job, Reporter Says

Gretchen Rachel Hammond first reported that three Jewish women carrying rainbow flags emblazoned with Jewish stars were kicked out of the June 24 march.

PHOTO COURTESY OF HAMMOND

BY BEN SALES

NEW YORK (JTA) — The journalist who first reported the ejection of three Jewish women from Chicago’s Dyke March tweeted that she was removed from her reporting job due to that article.

In a tweet Monday, Gretchen Rachel Hammond wrote to Dyke March’s Twitter account, “You attacked, humiliated and robbed me of a job.” On the same day, Hammond confirmed to the JTA that she wrote the tweet.

Hammond said she could not elaborate on her tweet, citing an agreement with her employer, the Windy City Times.

Hammond, formerly an award-winning reporter for the Chicago LGBT newspaper, was transferred to its sales department after being the first to report that three Jewish women carrying rainbow flags emblazoned with Jewish stars were kicked out of the June 24 march. The women, as well as Jewish organizations, have accused the Dyke March of anti-Semitism.

March organizers said the women were ejected because they were carrying flags reminiscent of the Israeli flag at an anti-Zionist event and had “repeatedly expressed support for Zionism during conversations” with other marchers.

On June 28, an organizer of the march told Hammond in an interview that she and the newspaper had “failed in its journalistic mission.”

The Dyke March was founded more than 20 years ago as a left-wing, women-centered alternative to Chicago’s annual Pride Parade, which the Dyke

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March’s website calls “corporate, white male dominated.” The march bills itself as anti-racist, antiviolent and anti-Zionist. This year’s march drew some 1,500 people.

Hammond, who is Jewish, told the JTA that in the wake of her article, she received dozens of threatening anonymous phone calls. She said one caller called her a “kike,” while others told her she should lose her job or said she “betrayed” the LGBT community.

“One of them said, ‘I’m going to get your bitch ass fired,’” Hammond told the JTA regarding calls and text messages she had received. “It was vicious. It wasn’t even a request for dialogue. It was, ‘You f**ked with us. We’re going to f**k with you.’ They pretty much blamed me for the whole thing blowing up at them.”

The Dyke March itself has fielded criticism for using an anti-Semitic slur, tweeting on July 13 that “Zio tears replenish my electrolytes.” White supremacists, including former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, have used the term “Zio,” derived from “Zionist,” as a slur for “Jews.”

On July 14, the Dyke March deleted the tweet and apologized, saying it “didn’t know the violent history of the term.”

Hammond was transferred to the sales department

on July 10, and told the JTA that she was looking for a reporting position elsewhere.

Windy City Times publisher Tracy Baim confirmed last week that Hammond had been moved, but would not elaborate. Regarding the newspaper’s coverage of the Dyke March, Baim said the editors “stand by our reporting by Gretchen and our other reporters on that story.”

Laurel Grauer, one of the women ejected from the march, works for A Wider Bridge, a pro-Israel LGBT organization. She said she has brought the flag to the march for years in order to celebrate her LGBT Jewish identity.

But in a June 27 statement, march organizers said the women were ejected “for expressing Zionist views that go directly against the march’s anti-racist core values.” The statement claimed that the women were “disrupting chants,” which Grauer denies. It called Zionism “an inherently white-supremacist ideology.”

Both Grauer and Hammond told the JTA that they have attended the march in past years without incident. Hammond said this year’s march felt more vitriolic.

“There was something different this year, for this to happen, for the kind of hatred and bile that’s coming out of them,” Hammond said. “They have chosen to exercise their anger against Israel, but do it in an antiSemitic way.”

Linda Sarsour, Defending Cemetery Allocations, Lashes Out at “Right-Wing Zionists” (JTA) — Palestinian-American activist Linda Muslim nonprofit that partnered with Sarsour on the Sarsour said she is the target of the “right wing, alt- project.

Golden Hill was not among the vandalized right” and “right-wing Zionists” after being accused of withholding $100,000 that a fund she helped cemeteries, but rather requested funding from launch had promised to a neglected Jewish cemetery Celebrate Mercy at the suggestion of Jennifer Goodland, a local history buff and photographer in Colorado.

The money would be disbursed, she said, after the who had taken pictures of the cemetery’s overgrown organization handling the fund received a detailed plots and toppled headstones. In a Facebook post last Wednesday, Celebrate Mercy said it was awaiting a plan from the cemetery.

Sarsour was responding last Tuesday to an article revision of Golden Hill’s “detailed funding request” by the Jewish news website The Algemeiner alleging and that “we are doing our due diligence to all the that a campaign she set up in February to raise funds campaign donors to carefully evaluate all proposed for vandalized Jewish cemeteries in St. Louis and costs and set up a disbursement schedule for the Philadelphia failed to deliver funds promised to the funds based on achieved milestones.”

“Over the next few months, we intend to fully Colorado cemetery.

The Muslim-led crowdfunding campaign raised disburse all remaining funds to help other vandalized $162,000 from nearly 5,000 donors, exceeding in Jewish cemeteries and centers nationwide,” the the first few hours its $20,000 goal to help repair Facebook post read.

Goodland, commenting on the Celebrate Mercy the Chesed Shel Emeth cemetery in St. Louis. Jewish leaders who otherwise object to Sarsour’s support of the Boycott, Activist Linda Sarsour Divestment and Sanctions speaks during a Women (BDS) movement against Israel for Syria gathering at appreciated her gesture.

Union Square in New According to the campaign, York City, April 13, 2017. some $40,000 was sent to the cemetery in St. Louis. Another $5,000 each went to help a vandalized Jewish cemetery in Rochester, N.Y., and to repair the Chicago Loop Synagogue following an anti-Semitic attack.

The Philadelphia cemetery turned down the money, saying it was not in need of further assistance.

The Algemeiner reported last Tuesday that the Golden Hill Cemetery in Lakewood, Colo., had yet to receive a check for approximately $100,000 as promised by Celebrate Mercy, a

Facebook page, supported the nonprofit’s assertion that the funding would follow a careful review process.

“This is not the kind of project someone does overnight,” she wrote. “The cemetery has been holding meetings with other grant organizations so that we best know how to proceed and truly maximize your humbling and generous offer.”

Neal Price, a caretaker of the cemetery, told The Algemeiner that he and other officials had met in June to discuss costs and create the plan Celebrate Mercy had requested, but that he had not heard from Goodland or Tarek El-Messidi, Celebrate Mercy’s founder, in weeks.

New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a Democrat from Brooklyn, accused Sarsour of “fraud” because Golden Hill had not received a disbursement.

“Sarsour is a fraud,” Hikind said in a statement following publication of the Algemeiner article. “She talks out of both sides of her mouth. One minute she’s claiming to be a disciple of the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the next she’s standing with a terrorist on stage at an event, and singing praises of that terrorist to an audience. I won’t be the least bit surprised to hear that her little Jewish cemetery publicity stunt wasn’t quite what she made it out to be.”

In April, Sarsour appeared at an event in Chicago with Rasmea Odeh, a Palestinian woman who is being forced to leave the United States for not telling immigration authorities that she was imprisoned in Israel for her role in two terror attacks. In May, Hikind objected when the City University of New York School of Public Health chose Sarsour to deliver the keynote speech at its graduation, saying Sarsour supports terrorism and radical Islam.

Sarsour hit back on Facebook, writing: “I have the unfortunate receipts of what it costs to be a target of the right wing, alt-right, right wing zionists. This has caused my family great emotional stress & trauma.

It’s not free to keep my family safe. I just want people to know I am taking names of media outlets and prominent individuals who have used the last few months to defame my character.

I may be quiet but they will pay with their pockets.”

Sarsour noted that Tarek ElMessidi had visited the Colorado cemetery in February and was awaiting plans from the cemetery officials.

“Once they had a plan to take on this huge project Tarek would be ready with the funds,” she wrote.

“You can call me what you want BUT DO NOT EVER QUESTION my integrity,” she also wrote, adding: “I am exhausted. I am tired of the lies, lies, and more lies. It’s too much and it reignites the most vitriolic human beings on this earth. I am not safe and someone will pay for this with their pockets. Big time.”

PHOTO BY DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES

JULY 19 – 25, 2017 | NYJLIFE.COM | 13

Game of Thrones: Seven Jewish Facts About the Hit Series

BY LISA KEYS AND GABE FRIEDMAN

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in the seventh season of Game of Thrones PHOTO BY MACALL B. POLAY/HBO

(JTA) — Summer is here—which means winter is coming.

The much-anticipated seventh season of HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones premieres Sunday.

And while the show, which is based upon the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by George R.R. Martin, is chockablock with religion and religious symbolism (see: the Faith of the Seven, the Sparrows, the Three-Eyed Raven, etc.), it doesn’t have any onscreen Jewish content of note.

However, fans may not realize that Game of Thrones has myriad Jewish connections off screen, from the cultural identity of the show’s creators to an affinity with Anne Frank shared by two leading actresses.

As you sharpen your Valyrian steel swords and dust off your best bottle of Dornish wine in preparation, here are some Jewish facts about TV’s biggest show.

Both of the show’s creators are Jewish.

The writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss met while studying literature at Trinity College Dublin in 1995— and, according to Weiss, bonded over the fact that they were “two American Jews in Dublin” with “no Irish roots of any kind.”

Benioff, born David Friedman (in a prescient move, he uses his mother’s last name to differentiate himself from other David Friedmans, such as the current U.S. ambassador to Israel), is the son of Stephen Friedman, a former head of the New York Federal Reserve Board.

Weiss, who grew up in Chicago, worked for years as a personal assistant in Hollywood. By 2011, Benioff had tasted success through his novel The 25th Hour, and Weiss had worked on a few screenplays. In

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April of that year, their Game of Thrones adaptation premiered to critical acclaim, and their careers took off like fire from a dragon’s mouth.

George R.R. Martin was inspired by a FrenchJewish author.

Martin has written that he is a huge fan of the French writer Maurice Druon’s epic historical novel series The Accursed Kings (Les Rois Maudits), which fictionalizes the Hundred Years’ War pitting the kingdoms of England and France against one another from 1337 to 1453.

“I think Druon is France’s best historical novelist since Alexandre Dumas,” Martin wrote in The Guardian in 2013. “Whether you’re a history buff or a fantasy fan, Druon’s epic will keep you turning pages: it is the original game of thrones.”

Druon, who died in 2009 just shy of his 91st birthday, was a member of the Academie Française and served as France’s culture minister for a year in the 1970s. He was the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants and fought in the resistance against the Nazis.

Two Israeli actors have appeared on the show.

With much fanfare in the Jewish press, Ania Bukstein and Yousef Sweid made brief appearances in the sixth season. Bukstein, who is also a singer and model, played Kinvara—a Red Priestess in service of the Lord of Light, who supports Daenerys Targaryen’s claim to the Iron Throne—in the fifth episode.

Sweid, an Arab-Israeli from Haifa who has appeared in Homeland, played Ash, a freed slave from the citystate Mereen.

Two Game of Thrones actors have starred in

SodaStream commercials.

Earlier this week, Hodor (Kristian Nairn) debuted in a very Hodor-ish role in an advertisement for the seltzer company. Nairn portrays an example of a Homoschlepien—a species who cannot drink water that does not come from a plastic bottle.

(In the commercial, they are “discovered” by an anthropologist played by Jewish actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik.)

Nairn is the second burly “GoT” actor to film a spot for SodaStream, which had come under fire several years ago for having its factory in the West Bank. (It closed in 2015.) In the spring of 2016, the Icelandic actor and strongman Hafthór Björnsson, who stars as giant Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane, appeared in a YouTube video promoting “Heavy Bubbles,” a beverage packaged in dumbbell-shaped bottles.

In actuality, the spot was a promotional April Fools’ joke.

“I’m always open to new techniques for exercising, but you’ve got to admit that carrying bottles home from the supermarket is a hassle and actually pretty stupid,” Björnsson said in a statement.

The series inspired a book for Jewish kids about Christmas.

While shopping for Hanukkah gifts in Belfast, actress Amanda Peet and her friend and co-writer Andrea Troyer were inspired to write Dear Santa, Love, Rachel Rosenstein, which aimed to take the sting out of the FOMO (fear of missing out) that so many Jews feel on Dec. 25.

Just what were Peet and Troyer doing in Belfast?

They are married to Benioff and Weiss, respectively, and various spots in and around Northern Ireland’s

capital serve as locations for the show, including Winterfell, the traditional home of House Stark. (The showrunners’ families have spent recent summers in Belfast while the show films, Peet told our friends at Kveller.)

“We started talking about what Christmas is like for Jewish kids… how left out they feel,” Peet said.

“Originally, we wanted to write a book about how awesome Hanukkah is. That proved to be really difficult.”

The Red Woman narrated an audiobook of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.

Carice van Houten, the Dutch actress who portrays Melisandre—also known as the Red Woman, a priestess of the Lord of Light who is fond of saying, “The night is dark and full of terrors”— lent her voice to an audiobook version of Anne Frank’s legendary diary. Van Houten’s contribution was part of a smartphone app, launched in 2014, that also included interactive timelines, photos and video interviews with Miep Gies, who assisted the Frank family in hiding.

Van Houten was 14 the first time she read the book, she told the Dutch TV program The World Spins On. “It really gripped me,” she said.

“Gave me scary dreams that I still can remember.”

And Meera Reed starred in a BBC miniseries about Anne Frank’s story.

In 2010, the British actress Ellie Kendrick—tough-girl Meera on the show, who is bolstering Bran Stark in anticipation of a war against the White Walkers—gave a “note-perfect performance” (per a Washington Post review) as the teenage Anne Frank in an acclaimed five-episode BBC miniseries.

The miniseries was trimmed to a twohour movie that premiered on PBS on Holocaust Remembrance Day. “I don’t think we tried to make Anne Frank into anything she wasn’t or adapt her into a new character,” Kendrick told the Los Angeles Times. “She was a very modern kind of girl and a very intelligent and vivacious character.

She could be annoying, and that’s what makes her such a normal teenager. That she had fights with her mom and sister makes her much more poignant and effective; everyone has been through those experiences.”

This Kippah Could Save the Lives of Kids with Allergies

BY GABE FRIEDMAN

(JTA) — At 3 1/2, Peretz Apfelbaum may not completely understand it yet, but some kitchens can put his life in danger.

The Brooklyn boy is allergic to peanuts, cashews, pistachios, flax seeds, mustard seeds, coconut, peas, eggs and beef. Some of the foods give him hives, but the nuts can send Peretz into anaphylactic shock. The inherent risks make it impossible to test the severity of some of the allergies, meaning he could have other, unexpected reactions to some of those foods.

Obviously it is an extremely distressing situation for his mom, Chanie. But the 36-year-old mother of five from Crown Heights is doing something other than worrying.

Chanie Apfelbaum came up with a simple, clever idea to notify others that her son has severe allergies: an “allergy alert” kippah.

The skullcap, which Apfelbaum helped design with the Brooklyn-based company iKippah—an online retailer with bright designs like the one inspired

by The Very Hungry Caterpillar—is navy blue with a red circle on the front that contains the words “Allergy Alert.” It also says “flip for info”—the underside has lines to write down the child’s allergies.

“We loved Chanie’s idea immediately,” Sarale Seewald, who founded iKippah with her sister-in-law, Dina Seewald, told the JTA. “We see a great need for this kippah, and we truly believe this design will help save lives.”

The company put the allergy-alert skullcap on its website two weeks ago and, according to Seewald, has already sold a few hundred. Though the skullcaps are still unavailable in stores—iKippah has about 180 retailers as customers, in addition to its direct-to-consumer website—the company plans to make them available for wholesale soon based on the unexpected demand.

Food allergies have increased markedly in the United States in recent years.

Research by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has shown that food allergies in children rose by 50 percent between 1997 and 2011, possibly from overuse of antibiotics or increased hygiene, which shields children from being exposed to infectious agents during the critical immune-system– forming years.

Apfelbaum—a popular kosherfood blogger under the moniker Busy in Brooklyn with more than 33,000 Instagram followers—has borne witness to the trend. She said Peretz used to wear a bracelet noting his severe allergies, but she feared it wasn’t prominent enough for others to see.

The kippah is an easy way to inform anyone serving food to an allergic child—at camp or restaurants or by a parent hosting a playdate—to be careful. Plus Peretz, who is a member of an Orthodox household, already wears a yarmulke every day.

Apfelbaum, a member of the Hasidic Chabad-Lubavitch movement, was worried, too, about Peretz’s running around from house to house in her community’s summer bungalow colony in upstate New York. She started a WhatsApp group to message other parents about her concerns, and she helped make the colony nut-free.

But the worries never totally

Chanie Apfelbaum with her son Peretz PHOTOS COURTESY OF APFELBAUM & IKIPPAH

disappear for the parent of a child with severe allergies, especially when the child is very young.

“I always remind him, but I can’t trust a 3-year-old to remember that he always has to ask before [he eats something] and say ‘I’m allergic,’” Apfelbaum said.

“I wanted something on him so that when someone looks at him, they say, ‘I can’t just give him food from my kitchen,’” she said of her kippah’s design. “It just makes me a little more secure.”

Still, it took Apfelbaum a little time to become accustomed to her son’s wearing the same kippah every day; she used to help Peretz pick out a skullcap that coordinated with his clothes.

“You get so used to [using] one that matches every outfit, and now he can only wear that,” Apfelbaum said with a laugh. “But it’s worth it.”

JULY 19 – 25, 2017 | NYJLIFE.COM | 15

The Best Bakeries in Israel FROM BEET-INFUSED RYE BREAD IN TEL AVIV TO HONEY-SOAKED SWEETS IN JERUSALEM, OUR LIST OF THE BEST BAKERIES TO VISIT

BY JAY ROSEN

THE KNOSHER — Bread and baked goods are an integral part of the ever-evolving Israeli menu.

Traditional and modern, sweet and savory, Israel’s bakeries are as much creating new standard as they are preserving time-tested traditions. This list is by no means exhaustive, but a great checklist for your upcoming trip, not to mention some of my absolute favorite spots.

Lachmanina, Tel Aviv

Until this bakery opened up shop across from Habima Square, you had to be in the know to find its goods hidden away in central Tel Aviv. It is best known for its “nelson” bread, which is dense, chewy and studded with nuts and seeds—you’ll feel so virtuous eating a slice you won’t think twice about slathering it with crème fraîche and smoked salmon.

Lachmanina has two locations in Tel Aviv. See details on its website.

Pe’er, Jerusalem

Invited to Shabbat dinner in Jerusalem and tasked with bringing challah? Do as the locals do: Stock up at at Pe’er. Soft and cakelike, its whole-wheat challah is outstanding, while its sweet challah will leave you greedily finishing the compact loaf before leaving the storefront.

33 Eitz Chaim Street, Jerusalem

Ja’far Sweets (Confectionery Jafar), Jerusalem

Adon Shifon, Tel Aviv

Adon Shifon translates to “Mr. Rye,” and the man of grain in question is Oren Hajaj, a former architect who switched jobs to become a baker. Not only has he championed the use of rye and other ancient grains in his breads, but Hajaj has set out to ensure you eat your vegetables: Stop by the bakery on Fridays and holiday eves for loaves infused with spinach, sweet potatoes or the popular roasted beet.

It is soft enough to tear apart by hand; pick up an extra loaf for the walk back home.

48 Allenby Street, Tel Aviv

Le Moulin, Tel Aviv

Riding the most recent wave of French Jews making aliyah, this bakery joins a number of new Frenchowned/inspired restaurants on Bograshov Street. Le Moulin is a block from the bustling Dizengoff Center, and I would stake my reputation on its crisp baguettes and croissants as being the best in the city. Get there early for the heavenly smell of fresh-baked goods

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and the few available tables from which to spend a morning drinking coffee and sampling each and every one of Le Moulin’s baked creations.

72 Bograshov Street, Tel Aviv

Bakery, Tel Aviv

Supplying the baked goods to the prestigious Hotel Montefiore, Delicatessen, Brasserie, Coffee Bar as well as its own eponymous storefronts across the city, Bakery is the hearth of cosmopolitan Tel Aviv.

Its latest outpost teams up with the neighboring icecream parlor to ensure no baked good goes unadorned with the summer necessity. Show off your Tel Aviv street-smarts by stopping at one of the branches an hour before closing to be rewarded with “buy one get one” of their freshest offerings.

Bakery has five locations throughout Tel Aviv.

Details are on its website.

The Old City has no shortage of places to enjoy mouth-watering desserts, such as the apple strudel at the Austrian Hospice or the unique mutabak and anise sticks at Zalatimo’s. But my absolute top choice is the knafeh (an Arab pastry) at Ja’far Sweets. Like baklava and pita, knafeh is a baked good that everyone in the Levant claims to have invented. Warm, chewy and dripping with butter and syrup, the fluorescent orange slices of goodness turn the bakery’s black-andwhite formica tables into a multisensory indulgence.

40 Beit HaBad St, Jerusalem

Al Alsadaqa Sweets, Nazareth

Arabic for “friendship,” Al Asadaqa is worth a trip to the Eastern Neighborhood of Israel’s largest Arabmajority city for coffee and a variety of sweet goods swelling with honey, nuts and warmth. Expand your palate beyond the pistachio-filled baklava and try the basbousa, a semolina cake drenched in perfumed syrup and studded with blanched almonds.

The Best Jewish Deli Food in Europe FROM LONDON TO AMSTERDAM, YOU CAN INDULGE IN OVERSTUFFED SANDWICHES AND OTHER CLASSIC JEWISH TREATS

BY ALY WALANSKY | VIA THE KNOSHER

The Jewish deli was once something of a cultural icon, a unique expression of American Jewish identity—matzahball soup, heaping pastrami sandwiches, egg creams and knishes. Those are getting harder to find in America, but do we have any hope when traveling to Europe?

Late last year, people were dismayed to see a historic Jewish deli in the U.K. announce its closing. The founder was a Holocaust survivor and created Titanics, a historic kosher deli in Manchester, England. Ultimately, after decades, it went down as well.

These days, Jewish delis are hard to come by in Europe, but if you look hard enough, you’ll find some great options.

(Unsure what some of these dishes are?

Check out our “Guide to Jewish Food Terms”!)

U.K.

You can still score piping hot bowls of matzah-ball soup at Harry Morgan’s deli in St John’s Wood, and Monty’s Deli at Maltby Street Market is known for its overstuffed sandwiches just like in NYC. When in Bristol, don’t miss Aron’s deli, a hybrid of North American, Eastern European and primarily Jewish traditions. Also in London is the famous Beigel Bake, which features “salted beef”-filled bagels! The new kid on the block is Zoblers Delicatessen operating out of The Ned, whose matzah-ball soup has been called “bloody brilliant” and bagel-and-lox brunch is killer.

Poland

Located in Warsaw, Pod Samsonem

features traditional Jewish favorites such as herring, matzah-ball soup and stuffed cabbage. You’ll be wise to wash it all down with a cold Polish beer. Also in Poland, check out Kosher Delight, where you can enjoy traditional chopped liver and a good old-fashioned hot dog. Even pair it with tzimmes if you so desire!

Germany

When in Berlin, stop by Mogg for as authentic a Jewish deli as you can get.

The drool-inducing menu includes classic pastrami, matzah-ball soup, chopped liver brûlée (YUM) and even one of our Israeli favorites, shakshuka.

Warning: This spot is not kosher, so do not be surprised if you see pork on the menu as well. Make that, there is definitely pork on the menu.

find old-school deli favorites like matzah-ball soup and latkes. When in Rome, visit the kosher Ba Ghetto, a beautiful spot that pays tribute to the rich Jewish history of Rome. There you’ll find traditional Jewish style artichokes—a Roman favorite—but also a variety of “salted meats” served on Yemenite bread! Another spot in the Tuscan countryside is helmed

by Gianluca Tonelli, deemed “the pastrami king of Italy.” He operates out of a bright-red food truck (how hipster is that?), but all agree his meats are the real deal.

Spain

Spain was excited to get a Katz’s Deli popup earlier in 2017, but it was promotional and short-lived.

Otherwise, in this land of seafood and pork, Jewish-style food is pretty hard to come by. However, you can still stop

by La Escudilla in Madrid, a kosher meat restaurant that even operates its own butcher shop. Spain has a large Sephardic population, so many restaurants veer more toward hummus and falafel than overstuffed on rye. But piping-hot matzah-ball soup is on the menu!

France

Sure, Paris has some unbelievable falafel and even kosher Tunisian food.

But if you’re hankering for deli food then Schwartz’s Deli is your go-to.

There are multiple locations, and yes, you can get a pastrami sandwich and a side of fries. In Paris. You know those frites are on fleek.

Amsterdam

If you find yourself in this picturesque city, make sure to visit Sal Meijer, often rated the top kosher deli in all of Europe. This is a casual and laid-back atmosphere—as a kosher deli should be! And the perfect spot to score a classic overstuffed sandwich.

Italy

Visit Venice not only for the canals, but for the Jewish food at Gam Gam Kosher Restaurant. There’s Italian fare here too (and we wouldn’t have it any other way!), but you’ll also

JULY 19 – 25, 2017 | NYJLIFE.COM | 17

State Education Officials Question Another Batch of Success Academy Charter Renewals

document suggests it is still working on early-grade reading standards and clarifying how they will apply to students with disabilities and to English learners.

This work is part of the lengthy process of revising the Common Core learning standards and unveiling them as the Next Generation Learning Standards. So far, state officials have released a draft set of revised standards, revised them again and given them a new name.

When they unveiled the revisions (to the earlier proposals) in May, state officials said they expected to officially approve new standards in June. But they have yet to come to a consensus and now expect the final version to go before the board in September.

BY MONICA DISARE

Integration

(CHALKBEAT) — This July, New York’s top education policymakers are gearing up for next year— with a little charter-school drama brewing on the side.

Reigniting a debate that flared in April, the board is poised to send a set of Success Academy charter school renewals back to SUNY, the network’s authorizer, rather than approving them.

The state also plans to release a revised draft of its plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act on Monday, according to state officials. The Regents are not planning to vote on the state’s revised learning standards, though they are scheduled to discuss them.

The majority of July’s meeting will be devoted to a public “retreat,” which includes discussions about school integration, graduation requirements and principal standards. These conversations will likely provide insights into what policymakers are interested in tackling during the next school year.

In April, the state’s Board of Regents sent a slate of Success Academy charter renewals back to SUNY, arguing the authorizer had renewed them too soon.

The same appears poised to happen at July’s meeting. There are eight Success Academy schools tentatively approved for full five-year renewals by SUNY along with one other city charter, the Bronx Charter School for Better Learning. State officials recommend sending the renewals back to SUNY with comments.

The move is largely symbolic, since SUNY has the final word, but it caused some debate last spring. After the Regents meeting in April, the decision to send the renewals back to SUNY gave rise to dueling opeds written by Robert Pondiscio and New York State Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa.

The board is not scheduled to discuss SUNY’s recent proposal to allow some of its charter schools to certify their own teachers, though that announcement drew criticism from State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia and Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa earlier this month.

A whole new law

New York state education officials are also in the final stages of completing their plan to evaluate and improve schools under the Every Student Succeeds Act, a new federal law.

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The state released its draft plan in May, and state officials said they will present revisions at Monday’s meeting. The final vote is expected in September, and state officials said they will submit the plan to the U.S. Department of Education later that month.

The revisions are not yet public, but questions have already been raised about how the state will assess transfer schools, which are geared toward students who have fallen behind in high school, and how it will display information about schools to the public.

“We’re going to be looking at the dashboard and what represents a [good] set of indicators,” said Regent Judith Johnson. “What indicators do we need as measures of professionalism, measures of assessment, measures of success?”

The board could also discuss the U.S. Department of Education’s comments on other states’ plans that have already been submitted. U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ team surprised states by taking a hard line in initial feedback.

New learning standards?

There is no vote scheduled on new learning standards at this meeting, but the board will hear an update on the process.

The state has received 238 comments on the Next Generation math standards and 252 responses about English, according to a Regents document. The

At the Regents’ last meeting, state officials planted a stake in the ground on the topic of integration, calling New York schools the most segregated in the country and kicking off a preliminary discussion on how to integrate schools. The conversation came soon after the city unveiled its own diversity plan, which some critics found disappointing.

But the state’s discussion left many questions unanswered. During Monday’s discussion, it’s possible some of the Regents’ positions will become clearer.

Graduation

The Regents have been working to reform graduation requirements for years. Last year, the board took some steps in that direction when it allowed students to earn a work-readiness credential in place of a final Regents exam and made it easier for students with disabilities to graduate.

At July’s meeting, the topic is slated for a broader discussion, prompting the question: Could a more substantial rethinking of what it means to earn a New York State diploma be on the way?

Regent Roger Tilles, who has been active in discussions of changes to graduation requirements, suggested that anything could be on the table, including an end to using Regents exams as graduation requirements.

“I’m not sure I know exactly where we’ll end up,” Tilles said. “I know where I don’t want to end up: where we are now.”

A “Slam the Exam” rally for Success Academy students PHOTO COURTESY OF SUCCESS ACADEMY

Grading Teachers?

BY MATT BARNUM

(CHALKBEAT) — Just over half of New York City teachers were evaluated in the 2015-’16 school year, in part by tests in subjects or of students they didn’t teach, according to data obtained by Chalkbeat through a public-records request.

At 53 percent of city teachers, it’s a significant number, but substantially lower than in previous years, possibly thanks to a moratorium placed on using state tests that was instituted mid-year.

That figure also highlights a key tension in evaluating all teachers by student achievement, even teachers who work with young students or in subjects like physical education. Being judged by other teachers’ students or subjects has long annoyed some educators and relieved others, who otherwise might have had to administer additional tests.

Supporters say evaluating teachers by group measures—often schoolwide scores on standardized tests—helps create a sense of shared mission in a school. But the approach could also push teachers away from working in struggling schools.

“The key point around schoolwide measures is that this could serve as a strong disincentive for these teachers in nontested grades and subjects to stay in lower-performing schools,” said Matthew Steinberg at the University of Pennsylvania, who has studied teacher-evaluation systems.

Will Mantell, a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Education, defended the district’s approach.

“Selecting schoolwide [or] gradewide…measures may better measure educators’ practice and support professional development,” he said. “For example, it makes sense for a social studies teacher who emphasizes writing in her classroom to be evaluated partially on an assessment of students’ ELA skills.”

New York’s evaluation system has gone through a number of substantial changes since it was first codified in state law in 2012, part of a nationwide push to connect teacher performance to student test scores, spurred by federal incentives.

Student assessments have comprised anywhere from 40 percent of the evaluation to essentially

PHOTO BY CHRISTINA VEIGA

50 percent, under a matrix system pushed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2015. Most recently, New York stopped using grades 3-8 English and math state tests as part of the system, but teachers must continue to be judged based on some assessment.

States across the country have struggled to evaluate teachers in traditionally nontested grades and subjects. New York City has created a number of exams—known as performance assessments— in nontested areas and given schools significant flexibility in which measures are used to judge their teachers.

In the 2015-’16 school year, 53 percent of teachers were evaluated by a group metric, meaning one not focused on their subject or students. In the two previous years, the number was much higher—around 85 percent. It’s not clear why there was a substantial drop, but a spokesperson for the city’s education department noted that 2015-’16 was an “outlier” due to the moratorium on state tests, instituted mid-year.

In all three years, most teachers were also evaluated by at least one individualized measure targeted to teachers’ grade, subject and students.

Data for the most recent school year are not yet available.

It’s also not clear what percentage of a teacher’s rating was based on group measures, and Mantell said this “varies from teacher to teacher.”

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) has pushed to give schools more individual options, including the use of more “authentic” assessments not based on multiple-choice questions.

“Right now we don’t have enough options, which is

why our most recent agreement with the DOE seeks to build more authentic assessments for additional grades and subjects,” said Michael Mulgrew, president of the UFT, in a statement.

Group measures offer an alternative to creating exams for each teacher in every grade and subject, which can lead to a proliferation of new tests, though NYC teachers have often been judged by both group and individual metrics.

The challenge of evaluating teachers in traditionally untested areas is not unique to New York, and a number of states have embraced group or schoolwide approaches. An analysis of 32 states, conducted

by Steinberg, found that the average teacher in a nontested grade or subject had about 7 percent of his or her evaluation based on schoolwide achievement measures, though this averaged together substantial variation from place to place. Teachers in Tennessee and Florida have sued (unsuccessfully), arguing that it is unfair to evaluate them based on students they didn’t teach.

A more popular option, used in some districts in New York, has been student-learning objectives, in which teachers set goals for students often based on classroom exams. This approach has been praised for helping teachers set specific goals, but criticized as burdensome and easy to manipulate.

Research has found that using schoolwide measures of performance tends to bring teachers closer to average performance. An analysis by the Brookings Institution showed that these group measures pulled down ratings of teachers with higher individual ratings at low-performing schools.

JULY 19 – 25, 2017 | NYJLIFE.COM | 19

OPINION

A Brooklyn Native’s Reaction to the Newkirk Avenue Swastikas

Danger Should Invite Rescue

BY ROGER BENNET ADLER

BY MICHAEL D. COHEN

Since the end of the Shoah, Brooklyn, N.Y., has been a bastion of global Jewish life—and its renowned Jewish population, a pillar of political clout. It also happens to be the place where I spent the first quartercentury of my life, so hearing about the swastikas carved into the very sidewalks that I grew up on just this past weekend literally hits home.

In fact, my newly married cousin is currently making his home just blocks away from this latest incident on Newkirk Avenue in the vicinity of both a plethora of synagogues and a branch of Touro College.

I know well the streets where my cousin is planting his roots as it is in the apartment formerly occupied by his parents, around whose table I sat many a time on a Friday night reveling in the Sabbath cheer.

I worry about my young cousin. I worry and wonder if the community has changed so much since the more than decade and a half when I took a well-traveled path to the suburbs. I worry about whether the community has changed to the point where his wife, who originates from Florida, will not see this historic Jewish enclave as a safe and secure place to raise their family.

While I may have moved to Englewood, N.J., some years back, I sadly cannot say that moving out of the city has protected me from such demonstrations of hate. Just a year and a half ago, a nearby football field at the Dwight Englewood High School was littered with shaving-cream swastikas just blocks from my home.

I hear both from reports and from personal friends and family in the Five Towns area on Long Island, another destination to which many former Brooklyn Jews have relocated since my childhood, that the situation is no different there. Just last year, the Long Island Rail Road station in Cedarhurst was similarly vandalized along with similarly drawn swastikas in front of local Jewish homes.

This story is not only about Brooklyn, but rather about the continuing challenge to our community’s pledge: “Never Again.”

In my time at the Simon Wiesenthal

20 | NYJLIFE.COM | JULY 19 – 25, 2017

Center I have learned a great deal about swastikas, and about those who use such hateful symbols in expressing themselves against us who are proud to be Jews.

Sometimes the mostly young perpetrators may not fully understand the significance of the swastika. Others want to intimidate and set the stage for worse.

Let’s hope the police catch the perpetrator in the Newkirk Avenue incident, but we at the Simon Wiesenthal Center are also committed to work with community leaders—to make sure the incident becomes a teaching moment for all New Yorkers.

It is not enough for those beyond the walls of our community to know that it is something that makes their Jewish neighbors uneasy. Rather, they must understand that the swastika represents something so much deeper—the desire to threaten world Jewry.

I hope that my young cousin does not look to this incident as something to turn his eyes away from, but rather to understand that there is no running away from anti-Semitism. I hope that in hearing about these other instances throughout the tristate area, he understands that this is exactly the time to stand up and be counted.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center stands proudly on the frontlines each and every day. Our strength, especially in a place known for its deep Jewish roots such as Brooklyn, is to consistently show a zerotolerance policy toward all forms of hate.

It is also to make sure those both among and around our neighborhoods understand the significance of an incident such as the one perpetrated and become our partners in educating all within earshot of the shame that it collectively brings. We must make sure that the mantra of every individual can make a difference in this regard. It is far more than lip service; it is the truth. We urge each and every one of you to join with us to make a difference for our children, our community and our future.

Michael D. Cohen is the eastern director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Michelle Carter’s conviction in Bristol, Mass., Juvenile Court of the crime of involuntary manslaughter, following a bench trial before Judge Lawrence Moniz, exposes Carter to 20 years in prison for her role in instigating the suicide of the emotionally unstable Conrad Roy III. Media reports indicate Carter is reportedly clinically depressed herself, and knowingly sent numerous text messages urging Roy to follow through on a voiced suicide intent. The judge found that Carter had a duty to contact someone to help once she knew Roy was in the process of physically taking his own life. At one point, she reportedly voiced the view, “I couldn’t have him live the way he was living anymore.”

To contemplate Carter’s cruel, controlling behavior is to recognize man’s inhumanity to man. We will never know if, had help been summoned, Roy’s life could have been saved. Rather, Carter’s decision to aid and abet Roy in his desperate act to bring closure to deep emotional pain becomes a new anecdotal marker in a downward spiral of society’s finding new ways to turn away from helping others.

Carter’s conviction, and Roy’s death, comes at a time when opioid abuse has led to alarming increases in overdoses and death. States like Ohio are in crisis mode, Staten Island families are struggling and mourning, and Long Island suburbs are afflicted. We are all at risk, and nobody is immune.

It is unclear whether Carter will

ultimately be imprisoned and if so, for how long. That is a question prudently left to Judge Moniz’s sound discretion, and will likely then be considered by appeals through the state of Massachusetts court system, and perhaps even the United States Supreme Court.

For the Roy family, the events surrounding their troubled son’s death are little short of gutwrenching. The innocent joys and potentials of childhood have given way to questions, guilt and likely, understandable rage that Carter did not see Roy’s behavior as a “cry for help,” but rather reportedly an opportunity to generate sympathy on social media viewed as the deceased’s mourning girlfriend.

Curiously, the A.C.L.U. has brayed that Carter’s conviction, in its view, violates free speech.

Others might say that such a view trivializes the First Amendment and—just as is the case when crying “fire” in a crowded theater— falls outside Constitutional protection. As a society, we continue a downward slide in which personal morality is now behaviorally optional, and a new normal is pondered. We can and must do better, because as New York judge, and then U.S. Supreme Court justice, Benjamin Cardozo reminds us, “Danger invites rescue.” When the denizens of Kew Gardens left Kitty Genovese to die a violent death, we recoiled in horror. Where do we go now?

Roger Bennet Adler is a practicing attorney in New York City and previously served as counsel to various state Senate committees.

OPINION

Intersectionality Excludes and Includes. Jews Must Learn the Difference.

BY DAVID BERNSTEIN

(JTA) — Last year, I wrote an opinion piece for the JTA about a term and a trend few Jews over the age of 30 had ever heard of: intersectionality. Coined in the late 1980s, intersectionality posits that various forms of oppression —racism, sexism, classism, ableism and homophobia—are all interconnected.

According to the theory, a black female is doubly marginalized by racism and sexism, for example. As a result, it is necessary for activists to connect these multiple forms of oppression in their advocacy.

Rising in popularity in the wake of the protests in Ferguson, Mo., over the fatal shooting of a black man by a white officer, intersectionality, I pointed out, made it easier for Israel’s JTA COLLAGE detractors to connect the dots between their cause and other causes—to blame, somehow, the behavior of Missouri police on the example of the Israeli military, or to reduce the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a clash between whites and “people of color.”

I argued that to counter this growing problem, supporters of Israel must do more to join the conversation and engage other groups susceptible to outreach from anti-Israel groups.

The op-ed generated a firestorm. Numerous proponents of intersectionality spoke out against the article, arguing that I simplified an important theoretical framework for understanding prejudice and exploited it for advocacy purposes. Others were shocked by what they considered yet another manifestation of anti-Israelism.

Since that time, I’ve delved deeper into the doctrine and observed its various manifestations. In its original form, intersectionality is a perfectly legitimate way to understand discrimination and power, and can bring people together. I call this “inclusionary intersectionality.”

In its more malevolent form, however, it is used to purge social justice causes of anyone who doesn’t agree with the entire package of ideologically extreme

views. I call this “exclusionary intersectionality.”

It’s critical that we know the difference.

Many college students, including young Jews, embrace inclusionary intersectionality. Think not of a raucous rally but of a dorm room discussion.

The intersectional conversation allows students to map themselves with other students onto a Venn diagram reflecting their multiple identities. In their discussions, they recognize both overlapping and divergent experiences. A college student intern in my office told me that “thinking intersectionally means appreciating our association with diverse identities.

It allows us to recognize the potential for empathy beneath surface-level differences and develop greater opportunities for cooperation.”

These concepts should not be all that alien to us.

The Jewish community-relations field, which for decades has been building bridges to other minority communities in order to create a more just society, operates under what could be considered a form of inclusionary intersectionality.

Increasingly, however, a more exclusionary discourse has been used to divide people and target, in particular, Jews and supporters of Israel. The detractors use the same framework of interconnected

identities to limit, not expand, the scope of human empathy.

Last month, for example, three Jewish women were ejected from the Chicago Dyke March because they were carrying a rainbow flag with a Jewish star on it. One of the women said she was told by a march organizer, “Your flag looks too much like Israeli flags because of the star, and that is triggering to people and it makes them feel unsafe.”

Organizers of the Chicago Dyke March themselves tweeted, “QUEER AND TRANS ANTI-ZIONIST JEWISH FOLKS ARE WELCOME HERE,” a clear example of exclusionary intersectionality. The tweet makes it explicit that you can only be part of the cause if you agree with the organizers on every issue. Those with a different perspective need not apply.

On too many college campuses, political activists embrace exclusionary intersectionality.

Jewish students have reported feeling unwelcome in certain socialjustice coalitions. In such instances, anti-Israel students have become gatekeepers for campus coalitions, citing intersectionality in excluding Jewish students. For example, Students for Justice in Palestine at Brown University managed to get transgender activist Janet Mock to cancel her scheduled speech at Hillel. Drawing on the intersectional vocabulary, they argued that “Brown/ RISD Hillel, through its association with Hillel International, has a clear policy of supporting…Israel’s racist and colonial policies.…Indeed, queerness does not lie in isolation from other forms of identity; rather, it explicitly interacts with other identities including race, gender, class and ability.”

Faced with such hostile exclusion, some in the Jewish community would just as soon condemn all intersectionality and be done with it. But not all uses of intersectionality are equal: The Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ rights organization, responded to the incident at the Chicago Dyke March by tweeting, “Marches should be safe spaces to celebrate our diversity and our pride. This is not right.”

Indeed, the LGBTQ rights group took aim at the march organizers for excluding the Jewish marchers, thereby practicing inclusionary intersectionality.

Diaspora Jews must learn, not shun, intersectional discourse in all its forms and be part of the discussion, while not being afraid to challenge instances of exclusionary intersectionality. Condemning all intersectionality won’t make it go away. We—and the larger society—have a major stake in the more inclusionary form’s winning out.

David Bernstein is president and CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the representative voice of the Jewish community-relations movement. Follow him on Twitter @DavidLBernstein.

JULY 19 – 25, 2017 | NYJLIFE.COM | 21

As Scandals Mount, Netanyahu Launches Trumpian Attacks against “Fake News” and “Leftists”

BY ANDREW TOBIN

JERUSALEM (JTA) – Facing mounting scandals, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the “fake news” media and “lefti sts” of trying to take him down with a campaign of lies.

In a hastily organized meeting with political allies Thursday, Netanyahu denied any wrongdoing in two erupting controversies involving his associates, the Hebrew media reported. The prime minister reportedly said he was the victim of “a coordinated campaign of leftists who want to undermine my government.”

At the gathering in his office here, Netanyahu rallied the members of his Likud party to defend him from the alleged campaign, which he said includes politicians and members of the news media, according to leaks.

Channel 2 reported that the purpose of the meeting was to prepare a “media blitz” in the coming days.

Meanwhile, authorities moved ahead Thursday with their investigations into the affairs. Police interrogated Netanyahu’s personal lawyer for the fourth time on suspicion of corruption in Israel’s multibillion-dollar purchase of German submarines.

And the Israel Securities Authority questioned the Communications Ministry’s director-general, who is suspected of fraud. Netanyahu until recently was acting communications minister.

The prime minister has not been implicated in either case and has adamantly denied any wrongdoing.

Hours after the meeting, Netanyahu posted on Facebook an image of the logos of seven of Israel’s leading news publications under the English words “Fake news.” Included were TV channels 2 and 10, the newspapers Yediot Acharonot and Haaretz, and the Walla web portal.

In text accompanying the post, Netanyahu said the news media were trying to indoctrinate the public but would fail because of the enlightening power of social media.

“The fake news method is simple: They paste a picture of the prime minister on bombshell headlines with baseless accusations and expect this brainwashing will do the work on public opinion,” he said. “To their dismay these days, this doesn’t go for them because the people of Israel have the chance to say their opinion and the truth—and expose their lies on social media.”

Donald Trump—the U.S. president at the center of various legal and ethical controversies—has used similar rhetoric to fend off criticism. He brought the term “fake news”—originally referring to intentionally bogus articles shared on social media—into mainstream discourse and has hurled it repeatedly at the media, singling out CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Trump and his advisers have dismissed government probes into whether his current and former associates

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leading a Likud party meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 10, 2017 PHOTO BY YONATAN SINDEL/ FLASH90

22 | NYJLIFE.COM | JULY 19 – 25, 2017

colluded with the Russians to meddle in the 2016 presidential election, saying the investigations are part of an effort by Democrats to discredit his victory.

Trump and his advisers have also tried to change the subject by pointing to supposed wrongdoing by his defeated rival for the White House, Hillary Clinton.

Like Trump, Netanyahu is known to carefully monitor his media coverage, and reportedly he was dismayed to see his name in a battery of unflattering headlines last week. Even Yisrael Hayom, the broadsheet owned by American Jewish billionaire philanthropist Sheldon Adelson which traditionally has been deferential to Netanyahu, seriously covered the scandals last week.

In the “submarine affair,” David Shimron, Netanyahu’s personal attorney and cousin, is under house arrest and suspected of trying to sway Israel’s purchase of subs in favor of the German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp, which he represented. Netanyahu, who has been barred from contact with Shimron, pushed for Israel to buy the vessels against the wishes of the Israel Defense Forces brass and then-Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon.

Yaalon on Thursday called Netanyahu “corrupt” for his role in the affair and said he should resign over the scandal. Yair Lapid, the head of the opposition Yesh Atid party and a top political rival of the prime minister, said last Wednesday it was “undoubtedly the biggest corruption case in the history of the state” and questioned the prime minister’s claim that he did not know his lawyer represented ThyssenKrupp.

In the probe involving the Communications Ministry, the director-general, Shlomo Filber, is suspected of ethics violations and securities fraud involving the national telecommunications giant Bezeq. Last Wednesday, Israel’s state comptroller released a report that accused Netanyahu of originally failing to disclose his close ties with Bezeq head Shaul Elovitz, and raised suspicions that the prime minister and Filber made decisions at the Communications Ministry in favor of the company.

Police have also repeatedly questioned Netanyahu in separate investigations of his acceptance of gifts from billionaire friends and negotiation of an illicit deal with Yediot publisher Arnon Moses to get better coverage in his newspaper. Netanyahu repeatedly said of all the scandals, “There will be nothing because there is nothing.”

Netanyahu’s supporters came out of Thursday’s meeting vowing to fight back on his behalf.

“We are going on the attack,” Likud lawmaker Miki Zohar said. “We are fed up with all the unforgivable slander about the prime minister. We have clear details that show that he had no connection with any of the cases in question. It is time to stop blaming him for everything that is happening in the country.”

Last week was not the first time Netanyahu borrowed language from Trump, with whom he has aimed to forge close ties. Weeks before warmly welcoming the president and his family to Israel in May, Netanyahu released a Facebook video accusing American media publications, including CNN and The New York Times, of “fake news” for their coverage of Hamas.

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