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inspector, principal and teacher to understand that in the next two weeks, this is the supreme mission, above all others.”
Bennett has called on business owners to allow employees to work from home to fight the Omicron variant. With Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman and Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov, Bennett agreed an assistance package for the tourism industry to aid tour guides and travel agents whose work has been affected.
Additional funds are available to hotels to restrictions on entry of tourists to Israel. There is also support for tourism organisers in marketing, retraining personnel and recouping costs. “The tourism industry is a central component in the economy,” he said. “We are aware of its needs and are coming to the assistance of the workers in the sector.”
Liberman commented, “We are not giving up on the tourism sector. The new reality obligates all of us to prepare accordingly.” Razvozov added, “The assistance will maintain vital tourism infrastructures.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not bring in lockdown restrictions before Shabbat with new data revealing the Omicron variant is weaker according to latest studies. But with daily Covid cases exceeding 100,000 the NHS remains in danger of being overstretched.
Johnson may update measures anytime from Sunday.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have announced new rules from Boxing Day.
AAD closer to No 10 support over antisemitism in sport
Following a conversation between Jonathan Metliss, Chairman of AAD and The Jewish Weekly, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Conservative Friends of Israel annual lunch on Monday November 29, AAD has been speaking with the
Jonathan Metliss Downing Street Policy Unit about its work in fighting racism, including anti-Semitism, in sport and explaining how the Government can provide support for this ongoing initiative.
Jonathan Metliss says: “We at AAD are delighted to have been consulted by the Government on this issue after so many years of hard work in this area and trust that the Government will provide the long-awaited support for its activities. This is just what is needed. We will know more in the New Year.”
Washington teacher on ‘leave’ over Holocaust re-enactment
Watkins Elementary School
PHOTO: GOOGLE MAPS
BY DAVID SAFFER
A primary school teacher at Watkins Elementary School in Washington DC has been placed on ‘leave’ after reportedly instructing pupils in her class to re-enact Holocaust scenes.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has expressed its shock over the incident involving eight and nine-year-old children reported in The Washington Post last week.
Amongst horrific scenes youngsters had to pretend to shoot one another, dig mass graves while the teacher made antisemitic insults at them. A Jewish child also had to play Adolf Hitler then re-enact the Nazi leader’s suicide.
A CAA spokesperson said, “The reports of what took place in this class are so shocking as to be unbelievable. Ordering children to re-enact the Holocaust is not merely racist and of no pedagogical value, but is traumatising for the children, professionally derelict for the instructor and potentially abusive.” They added, “It is right that an investigation takes place, and if the reports are borne out, the instructor must be fired and the school board must open its own inquiry.”
School Principal Scott Berkowitz e-mailed parents with details of the appalling incident. An investigation is pending. “Students should never be asked to act out or portray any atrocity, especially genocide, war or murder,” commented Berkowitz. The class has since met the school’s mental health response team.
The incident was reported to Washington D.C. Public Schools’ Comprehensive Alternative Resolution and Equity Team.
A DCPS spokesperson said, “This was not an approved lesson plan, and we sincerely apologise to our students and families who were subjected to this incident.”
This is not the only incident to take place in Washington DC this month as swastikas were reportedly written on a wall at Woodrow Wilson High School.
Interim Principal Gregory Bargeman said an investigation has not ascertained who was responsible for the graffiti. “Hate and bigotry have no place in our community,” Bargeman noted. “We are committed to working hard to make certain that Wilson’s environment embodies kindness, equity, diversity and inclusion.”
Jewish Student Union leaders are concerned over a lack of Holocaust education at Wilson.
Cynthia Miller-Idriss, a hate speech expert at American University, has a child at the school. “It’s important to pursue accountability, but also to express solidarity in a way that immediately makes people feel seen, included and supported,” she said. Miller-Idriss added that it was essential to call out racist and white supremacist extremist language for what it is.
Bargeman has reportedly agreed to educate students on the history of hate symbols and hateful language.
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4 NEWS
TO ADVERTISE CALL 020 3906 8488 Jayoosi jailed for 16 weeks
BY SIMCHA ABIR
A man has been sentenced to 16 weeks in prison after pleading guilty to wearing t-shirts backing two banned antisemitic terror groups last June.
Feras Al Jayoosi, 34 and of Swindon, pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in November to four counts of wearing an article supporting a proscribed organisation contrary to the Terrorism Act 2000.
One t-shirt reportedly worn by Al Jayoosi supported the Izz al-Din al Qassem Brigades, the “military wing” of the Hamas . The other t-shirt supported the banned Islamic Jihad group. Al Jayoosi was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of community service and pay £288 to the magistrates court.
Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring said, “You had multiple warnings that the path you were taking, the organisations you sought out to align yourself with, would get you into trouble, but you carried on.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism welcomed news at the time as it was a “brazen display” of support for Hamas.
Arrests follow murder in West Bank
BY SIMCHA ABIR
Israeli security forces have arrested four Palestinians suspected of murdering Yehuda Dimantman in a fatal shooting in the West Bank after a two-day manhunt.
The 22-year old yeshiva student was in a car ambushed near Homesh on his way home to Shavei Shomron. Dimantman died in hospital. Two passengers suffered light injuries. Hundreds attended the funeral in Jerusalem.
Six Palestinians were arrested in Silat
al-Harithiya. Four suspects believed are to be directly involved in the attack, two aided them. Guns used in the attack have been retrieved following a combined operation by the ISA, IDF and National Counter-Terrorism Unit. Shin Bet have questioned the alleged terrorists who surrendered without a fight. Prime Minister Naftali Yehuda Dimantman z”l Bennett Bennett commended security forces on the operation. He said, “There is no terrorist who we will not pursue and who we will not
CAA added, “Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are terrorist organisations, the presence of a man walking round Golders Green openly supporting these terrorist groups while wearing a large backpack was understandably alarming.”
CAA commended cooperation between security guards in Golders Green, CST’s National Security Control Centre and counter-terrorism police.
Commander Richard Smith, the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command head, said that Al Jayoosi’s actions caused a great deal of concern in local communities.
They added, “Communities defeat terrorism and information from the public is vital to counter terrorism investigations.”
reach, whatever it takes.”
Bennett added, “Every terrorist must know that they are on borrowed time. Terrorism will not win and will not move us from here.”
Defense Minister, Benny Gantz commented, “We will increase our vigilance and readiness to thwart terror, and continue to take any measures necessary in facing terror groups in the area.”
Islamic Jihad in Jenin claimed responsibility for the attack.
Elsewhere, there was another attempted stabbing at the Cave of the Machpelach in Hebron.
A 65-year-old woman from Idna attacked a 38-year-old man walking with his son. Security forces arrested the assailant.
Israel remains on high alert regarding “copycat” attacks. There have been eight attacks, including two shootings, stabbings and car-rammings in the past month.
Herzog welcomes five new ambassadors
BY ADAM MOSES
President Isaac Herzog has welcomed the new ambassadors of El Salvador, Malta, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Nauru to Israel.
Incoming ambassadors inspected an IDF guard of honour prior to being presented with letters of credence in the Great Hall of the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.
Herzog held a meeting with the ambassadors then signed the guest book.
The Ambassador of El Salvador, Susana Edith Gun de Hasenson, is returning for a second posting in Israel. Herzog discussed with de Hasenson a plan of President Nayib Bukele to establish a ‘Bitcoin City’ powered by volcanic energy and talked about El Salvador’s growing economy.
Herzog then met the Ambassador of Malta, Cecilia Attard Pirotta, also on a second posting.
They discussed regional affairs and opportunities to enhance diplomatic and economic ties between Israel and Malta to improve multilateral relations. Noting tourism, Herzog welcomed direct Tel Aviv-Valletta flights.
Following his meeting with the Ambassador of Costa Rica, Rita Maria Hernandez Bolaños, Herzog commented, “Costa Rica has been a friend of Israel since its establishment.”
Talks reflected environmental issues with a focus on sustainability and environmental technologies.
Herzog also welcomed the Ambassador of Ecuador, Helen Sophie Deller Klein, before talks focussing on technology and agriculture.
Klein is Ecuador’s first Jewish ambassador in Israel and told Herzog about her family’s escape from Nazi-occupied Europe to Latin America before discussions on Ecuador’s biodiversity and tourism. Herzog lastly met the non-resident Ambassador of Nauru, Margo Deiye, who is accredited as a permanent representative to the United Nations. Israel’s President expressed concerns about climate change on Pacific island nations and discussed Nauru’s efforts to confront rising sea levels. Herzog welcomed Nauru’s swift recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital after the United States. They discussed a collaboration through the MASHAV international development agency. In other news, Herzog congratulated the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifaon on his counPresident Isaac Herzog and El Salvadoran Ambassador Susana Edith Gun de Hasenson try’s fiftieth national day King Hamad thanked Herzog and welcomed Israel and Bahrain’s aspirations for peace in the region. “We both want regional peace and mutual prosperity,” commented Herzog, who added the importance of economic cooperation between the nations. Herzog has received the credentials of Bahrain’s first ambassador in Israel, Khaled Yusuf Al Jalahma and regarded it as a “moving moment” in the relationship between the two states. Israel’s first ambassador in Bahrain, Eitan Na’eh, is to present his letter of credence to the King of Bahrain in a special ceremony.
23 DECEMBER 2021
Iran is a “ticking time bomb” says Herzog
BY DAVID SAFFER
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan yesterday in Jerusalem for the latest round of talks over the threat of Iran to the Middle East.
The two discussed negotiations between Iran and major powers in Vienna aside from issues of joint interest to both countries. Israel’s national security advisor Dr. Eyal Hulata and President Isaac Herzog also met the US delegation.
Israel’s president described Iran as a “ticking time-bomb” that threatened Israel and the Middle East when he attended the Israel Air Force’s 183th flight course graduation ceremony later in the day.
Bennett and Sullivan held frank discussions over the Iranian threat at his official residence.
“What happens in Vienna has profound ramifications for the stability of the Middle East and security of Israel for the upcoming years,” noted Bennett.
Sullivan commented, “It’s important that we develop a common strategy and find a way forward that fundamentally secures your country’s interests and mine.
Israeli Ambassador to the US Mike Herzog and US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Richard Nides attended the meetings.
Herzog stressed that the Iranian nuclear threat must be “neutralised once and for all” to US officials.
And he was even more to the point at the IAF ceremony.
“Many activities and operations, which are best suited to silence, prove the ability of our air force to reach anywhere, in any situation, both during a war or a campaign and also, sometimes all the more forcefully, in the important and uncompromising war known as the ‘campaign between the wars,’ in which the air force successfully plays a supremely vital role,” Herzog explained. “This ability is much more important for us at this time, in days when the Iranian octopus continues to reach its tentacles all across the Middle East.”
He added, “Iran is a ticking time-bomb that threatens Israel and the whole Middle East. This matter is a point of agreement in Israel’s society and leadership. I am following the negotiations around the nuclear deal, and I call on the international community not to be led astray and not to underestimate the gravity of the threat. The Iranian nuclear threat must be neutralized once and for all, with or without an agreement. Iran must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons capabilities.”
Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Israel was ensuring security in the region “in the face of all threats” and called for an end to Iran’s ‘footdragging’ strategy.
Concern over Archbishop’s ‘Holy Land’ article
Stibbe to take State of Israel prayer into space
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA
Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl has written to Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby regarding “deeply troubling” passages in an article of his on the Holy Land in the Sunday Times.
Ms van der Zyl agreed with the Archbishop that assaults on the Christian community carried out by extremists in the Holy Land were unacceptable as all people of faith have a right to freedom of worship and belief. However, she took issue with specific reasons cited for a decline of Christians in the Holy Land over the past century.
She noted in her correspondence, “I was especially troubled by your description of “the first Christmas”, which allows for the possibility of comparison to current events. In particular, I noted your reference to “the backdrop of a genocide of infants”, a clear reference to the narrative of the “Massacre of the Innocents”, as recounted in the Gospel of Matthew. I found this reference troubling because of the potential linkage which could be made between Christianity, Jews and the killing of children in any current context.
“This is particularly distressing because I know that you have advocated for policies that support Jewish communal concerns. I fear that rather than encouraging reasoned dialogue on the issues you raise, this may in fact divide communities.”
Ms van der Zyl has asked the Archbishop for a meeting to discuss concerns and to work closely in pursuit of peace and harmony between Jewish and Christian communities in the Holy Land and UK.
ONE LAST PUSH TO SAVE MORE LIVES TO SAVE MORE LIVES
During these unprecedented times, it has been tougher than ever for us to ensure that our stars in Israel have what they need to save lives. For our lifesaving paramedics, their daily heroics have had to continue amongst war and tragedy as well as the pandemic. Yet lives have continued to be saved.
2021 hasn’t been easy yet it is vital for us to ask you for one last push to ensure Magen David Adom can continue saving more lives.
BY DAVID SAFFER
Eytan Stibbe will become Israel’s second astronaut when he takes his seat on board the Rakia Mission to the International Space Station in February 2022.
A private astronaut on the mission, he will take a special prayer on board SpaceX Axiom Space-1.
President Isaac Herzog presented Stibbe with a glass cube inscribed with the Prayer for the Welfare of the State of Israel in handwriting of his grandfather, Israel’s first Chief Rabbi, Yitzhak Isaac HaLevi Herzog.
Herzog wished Stibbe success ahead of the mission and heard first-hand about preparations for the mission.
“The whole nation is watching you,” he told Stibbe. “May you influence the whole of humanity for another hundred years. Fly in peace and return in peace. Look after yourself.”
Stibbe responded, “The mission’s purpose is to arouse curiosity about our existence here on planet Earth and to allow Israelis to take part in a unique international project in a range of scientific, technological, and artistic fields with an emphasis on innovation and education. I’ll take this prayer with me and as it says here, from the ‘edge of the heavens’ it will return here, to Israel, to the President’s residence.”
The purpose of the mission is to advance the Israeli aerospace industry.
During Stibbe’s time at the space station, he will perform scientific experiments for Israeli companies, give a platform to works of Israeli art and will conduct educational physics activities for Israeli children, which is part of an initiative of the Ramon Foundation and Ministry of Science & Technology.
Stibbe is following in the footsteps of Ilan Ramon who died in the 2003 Columbia disaster.
The fighter pilot served under Ramon during his IDF service.
Stibbe visited Ramon at the Johnson Center in Houston where Ramon showed him a simulator of the Columbia shuttle and pool to train for space walks.
Following Ramon’s death, Stibbe helped co-found the Ramon Foundation.
Rakia was the title of a book published with fragments of Ramon’s diary on the doomed mission.
Stibbe will take a number of Jewish items with him into space including a Chanukah dreidel. Zero-gravity conditions will enable the dreidel to spin continuously in space. At
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President Isaac Herzog meets Eytan Stibbe
PHOTO: BI GIDEON (GPO)
a Chanukah lighting ceremony in Houston earlier this month, Stibbe presented Mayor Sylvester Turner with a dreidel.
Looking ahead to the mission, Stibbe told reporters at Israeli Space Week, “Our impact won’t only be on the space industry or a certain sector of technology such as medicine or food tech, it will also inspire children to pursue STEM fields or artists to be inspired by space exploration and life on other planets.”
Stibbe added that his military service helped in terms of cooperation and continual practice for perfection. As for what he is most looking forward to, he noted, “I think the excitement and that first experience of floating in zero gravity will be exciting. And, of course, the big excitement in Israel which I feel is pushing me forward.”
Born in Haifa in 1958, Stibbe’s parents immigrated from the Netherlands to Israel in 1953.
Stibbe grew up in the United States until the age of seven when his family moved to Ramat Gan.
He recalled watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon in 1969 as a child and later meeting Ramon during his army service 30 years ago which was life changing for him.
Stibbe, who was active with Israeli Tzofim (scouts) movement, was a colonel with the Israel Air Force. A Skyhawk, phantom and F-16 pilot, he flew F-16s under Ramon and served as a reservist until 2012.
Among hundreds of sorties, during Operation Mole Cricket 19, Stibbe shot down a number of Syrian aircraft. He participated in an operation above the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon where a quartet of Hawk (F-16A) planes from Squadron 117 brought down nine enemy aircraft. Stibbe was responsible for four strikes. He is one of an elite group of IAF pilots to shoot down four aircraft during a single sortie.
An instructor at the IAF Flight Academy for six years, for his IAF service he received an Outstanding Reservist award and Distinguished Service Medal.
After IAF service, Stibbe, who is married to Ora and has three children, went into business and eventually, founded venture capital firm, Vital Capital, which is involved in building infrastructure in Africa.
A member of the World Economic Forum in Geneva, he is a member of Bridges Israel that invests in Israeli businesses among other business interests.
An Honorary Fellow of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Stibbe has connections with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Be’er Sheva and University of Haifa. He is also associated with non-governmental organisations devoted to humanities, education, art and culture.
Stibbe and his wife are founders of social benefit company Anatta, they also established the Human Spirit Treatment Center in Lod that subsidises mental health treatment for families in need.
NEWS 7
Portman refused leave to appeal
The Hon. Piers Portman has been refused leave to appeal a four-month prison sentence handed out last October.
Portman must pay a £20,000 fine after being found guilty of calling Campaign Against Antisemitism Chief Executive, Gideon Falter, “Jewish scum” in a confrontation at a courthouse in 2018.
Falter is reassured by the sentence handed to Portman. “This sends a very clear message to antisemites that even the wealthiest and most privileged cannot escape British justice,” he said.
Justice Hilliard commented, “I am satisfied that there are no arguable grounds of appeal against conviction and the application for leave to appeal must be refused.”
The total fine includes a £10,000 compensatory payment to Falter that he has donated to CAA. Falter noted it would ensure anti-Jewish racists like Portman “face the consequences of their actions”. Portman was prosecuted after approaching Falter at Westminster Magistrates’ Court following the sentencing of Chabloz three years ago.
CAA brought a private prosecution against Chabloz which the Crown Prosecution Service took over before a landmark ruling.
Falter testified against Chabloz, who has been imprisoned over antisemitic statements. The defence case was that Falter and a colleague “fabricated” the fact Portman said “Jewish scum”. Jurors found Portman guilty of causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm and distress.
7-8 January 2022
Mental Health in a Changing World
The Jami Mental Health Awareness Shabbat falls annually to coincide with Parashat “Bo” which tells of the Plague of Darkness – a suitable launchpad for discussions on the nature of mental health.
For more information about the MHAS, to book our events and to register for the toolkit, please visit jamiuk.org/mhas
Registered charity no. 1003345.
MHAS programme of free events: Thursday 6th January 6-7pm
Jami Education - Climate Change and Mental Health “Get Together” for ages 18-32
Friday 7th January 2.55pm
United Synagogue’s Kabbalat Shabbat with Rabbi Daniel Epstein of Western Marble Arch Synagogue
Sunday 9th January 7-8pm
Head Room Community Conversation - Men & Mental Health
Monday 10th January 7.30-8.30pm
A panel conversation about youth mental health co-chaired by Jami and Beyond
8 NEWS
TO ADVERTISE CALL 020 3906 8488 Second Temple synagogue discovered
BY SIMCHA ABIR
A 2,000-year-old synagogue from the Second Temple period has been discovered in Migdal, a Jewish village from the Second Temple period near the Kineret.
Migdal served as a rebel base under commander Flavius Josephus during the first Jewish war with the Romans in the Galilee.
This is the second synagogue from the Roman period uncovered in the village, 200 meters apart, and the first case of two synagogues in a locality from the Second Temple period in Jerusalem.
Prof. Adi Erlich, Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa, and Dina Avshalom-Gorni, University of Haifa said the discovery highlighted social and religious life of Jews in the Galilee during this period. It also indicated a building for study, reading
Migdal Stone discovered
PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA
the Torah and social gatherings.
In the middle of the synagogue’s main hall is a stone portraying the Second Temple of Jerusalem, with a carved menorah on one side.
Erlich said, “The synagogue we are excavating now is close to the residential street, whereas the one excavated in 2009 was surrounding by an industrial area. Thus, the local synagogues were constructed within the social fabric of the settlement.”
Avshalom-Gorni added, “We can imagine Mary Magdalene and her family coming to the synagogue here, along with other residents of Migdal, to participate in religious and communal events. The exposure of a second synagogue casts new light on Jewish communal life in the Galilee.”
According to Israeli law, development projects require antiquity supervision.
The excavation is being conducted by YG Contract Archaeology Ltd, headed by Dr Yehuda Guvrin.
The Israel Antiquities Authority is to hold meetings to discuss opening the site to the public.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met a delegation of UN ambassadors led by Israel Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan on Monday. The delegation discussed regional challenges, especially the Iranian threat. Ambassadors from South Korea, Argentina, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Uruguay, Ecuador, Hungary, Nauru, Palau, Samoa and Zambia participated in the meeting.
PHOTO: HAIM ZACH (GPO)
23 DECEMBER 2021
Provenance sought over stolen art by Nazis
The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG/FCSI) has condemned the “frightening” stance of the Kunsthaus Zurich and E.G. Buhrle Collection Foundation over an art collection stolen by Nazis.
German-born industrialist Buhrle amassed a fortune selling weapons to the Nazis and its Allies during World War Two that helped him procure some 600 artworks.
The foundation has confirmed Nazis stole 13 paintings bought by Buhrle from Jews in France.
Buhrle, who acquired Swiss citizenship, returned the pieces after various court cases then repurchased nine of them. Provenance of other pieces include works by Degas, Monet, Renoir, Gauguin and Picasso.
After the Kunsthaus and foundation defended its provenance this month a SIG/FCSI statement criticised both for not accounting for The Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland, Second World War (ICE) (known as Bergier Commission).
A SIG/FCSI statement noted, “Thousands of people were turned away at the Swiss borders and often sent to certain death. All the more reason, therefore, for the refugee property in Switzerland to be so important and for each individual case to be investigated for its provenance.”
SIG/FCSI said Kunsthaus and the foundation were unaware of an “indirect responsibility” when Switzerland co-signed the Washington Declaration in 1998 and Terezin Declaration in 2009.
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