Streisand receives $1m Genesis Prize CENTCOM Israel visit EJC welcomes Swiss Holocaust site

BY ADAM MOSES

Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant met with CENTCOM Commander General Michael E. Kurilla at MOD headquarters in Tel Aviv last week.

The parties discussed developing regional challenges, with a focus on Iran’s activities in the Middle East region. This includes Iranian aggression in the maritime arena and delivery of weapons to terror organisations and proxies in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, and wider region.

During the discussion, Gallant expressed concerns regarding Iran’s progress in its nuclear program and nuclear military capabilities.

Gallant and Kurilla expressed a shared commitment to deepen intelligence-sharing between respective militaries and defense establishments. They also stressed the importance of widening military cooperation with regional partners under CENTCOM leadership.

Gallant concluded by expressing his commitment of the US to the security of the

State of Israel, and for Kurilla’s contribution to the ties between the countries.

The meeting was attended by the IDF Chief of the General Staff, Head of the IDF’s Strategic Directorate, Israel’s Defense Attache to the US, and Director of the Policy and POL-MIL Bureau in the MoD.

BY HARRY SIMONS

European Jewish Congress has welcomed Switzerland’s executive body financially backing the country’s first national Holocaust memorial in Bern.

The site at an unspecified central location in the capital will honour the six million Jews and victims of Nazi persecution.

The Federal Council approved 2.5m Swiss francs for the proposed memorial. The initiative comes as Holocaust survivors dwindle and antisemitism across Europe rises according to global reports.

Federal and local officials have not confirmed when the memorial will be completed.

EJC wrote on social media: “Switzerland's first national memorial honouring Nazi victims is a testament to the power of collective memory and the importance of preserving history. The move has been warmly welcomed by the Swiss Jewish community.”

“The Federal Council considers it of great importance to keep alive the memory of the consequences of National Socialism, namely the Holocaust and the fate of the six million Jews and all other victims of the National Socialist regime,” a government statement said.

Switzerland and its capital were “creating a strong symbol against genocide, antisemitism and racism, and for democracy, the rule of law, freedom and basic individual rights,” it added.

The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities and federal officials said Switzerland had some 60 private sites remembering the Holocaust and other crimes of the Nazis.

“There is, however, no official or national memorial for the numerous Swiss victims of persecution, for the thousands of refugees repelled at the borders or deported, but also for the many courageous helpers in this country,” the federation observed. The memorial created will “honour them al”.

The group noted recent studies have shown a “sizable number” of Swiss citizens were victims of the Nazi regime, “persecuted because they were, for example, Jews, socialists, Sinti or Roma.”

Sinti and Roma are peoples who live predominantly in eastern Europe.