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stability there. But if terror organisations try to use the current situation to work against local Palestinians who only want stability and economic development, they (the terrorists) will be the first to pay the price.”

It was reported yesterday that the Prison Officers Investigation Unit has ascertained up to 10 prisoners knew of the escape plan.

A number have been interrogated, others will be questioned in the coming days. A team of engineers are to check what is under all prison cells to rule out further escape attempts.

The Israel Prison Service have reportedly said that accusations of negligence will be examined. They also noted that 300 escape attempts had been foiled over the past decade.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett praised the swift response by the police, Shin Bet and IDF in the manhunt but described the prison escape as a “succession of failures and mistake”.

Bennett confirmed there would be a commission of inquiry after what he described as a “wake-up call” for national systems at his weekly cabinet meeting.

“We must set national goals, put proper plans and workflows into action,” he noted.

The escape was the biggest for decades and stunned Israeli authorities.

Public Security Minister Omer Barlev vowed to capture the prisoners whilst an investigation would ascertain circumstances of the breakout.

“We will get our hands on the fleeing terrorists, we will correct the failures that might have led to the escape, and if we find professional negligence, we will take care of that as well,” said Barlev.

Police said security forces are deployed at full strength and working “around the clock” to catch the fugitives.

Mayor of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council, Eyal Bezer praised the manhunt.

“Our residents are not concerned,” he said. “They are vigilant and many who had served in elite units during their military service, have joined the search in cooperation with the IDF and the police.”

Following the escape, Palestinians celebrated and Hamas vowed to include the six prisoners in any future prisoner swap deal with Israel. Along with Islamic Jihad, Hamas called on Palestinians in the West Bank to carry out “collective punishment” attacks for PIJ prisoners in Israeli jails.

Indeed, a number of fires broke out in prisons in protest to the manhunt.

Gaza militants fired a rocket into Israel last Friday that was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system. A missile was then fired towards the Sderot on Sunday, resulting in the IAF striking targets in the Strip. A military spokesperson said the IDF targeted a rocket production site, military instillation, weapons storage facilities and terror tunnel.

“Israel will not accept any action by terror organisations targeting Israeli civilians and will continue to strike in response to any aggression emanating from the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said in a statement. “The IDF hold Hamas responsible for any attack.”

Rocket alert sirens blared in Israeli border communities last Saturday night.

CAA outrage over Nazi memorabilia

BY ADAM MOSES

BBC Bargain Hunt star Tim Weeks has apologised after it was revealed Nazi memorabilia was due to be sold at his Wessex Auction Rooms.

The antiques expert withdrew Nazi-related items catalogued for sale after being questioned by the Daily Mail.

Mementoes at his auction house included a £2,000 banner, £300 swastika and collection of badges.

Campaign Against Antisemitism have questions for the TV personality despite commending him for apologising and removing the listings from his auction house.

“He must now review their internal procedures to determine how the items were listed in the first place and to put in place measures to prevent it happening again.”

The Board of Deputies of British Jews reportedly described the sale as ‘distressing, disturbing and hugely disrespectful’.

Weeks, a Bargain Hunt regular since 2016, apologised for the incident, stating, “Upon learning that a number of Third Reich items are listed for auction I have contacted the head of our militaria department to withdraw them immediately from sale as we would never wish to cause any offence. We apologise if any has unintentionally been caused.”

Sam Armstrong, of counter-terrorism thinktank the Henry Jackson Society, warned about the dangers of selling Nazi material. “A prime market for these vile symbols are the far-Right thugs who wish to attack this country and those who live in it,” he reportedly said.

Tim Weeks

PHOTO: FACEBOOK

CAA, meanwhile, are writing to Tennants auctioneers over its sale of Nazi memorabilia including medals, weapons, books, uniforms, badges and cutlery to inquire why it is offering for sale mementos from a genocide.

The company claims that it has the “knowledge and experience clients can trust”, but CAA want an explanation how it is selling Third Reich artefacts including a tin of Third Reich machine gun magazines for £120-£180, a Third Reich SS Officer’s visor cap for £800£900, a collection of Nazi medals for £100£150, two Nazi Party badges for £100-£150, a “small quantity of German Third Reich related books” for £60-£80, various articles of Waffen-SS uniforms and more.

“These items belong in a museum, not in the hands of sick collectors acquiring them from an auction house that stands to pocket thousands of pounds from these sales,” commented a CAA spokesperson.

It is not illegal to sell Nazi ephemerae in England but is in some European countries including Germany and Austria.

Craniopagus twins seperated in Israel

Craniopagus twins have come through a complex operation at Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva.

The procedure last week by 50 medical experts from Israel and abroad to separate the conjoined twins is the rarest type of surgery having previously been carried out 20 times globaly.

The girls were born at Soroka joined at the head but with separate brains in August 2020.

“To our delight, everything went as we had hoped,” said Mickey Gideon, Soroka’s chief neurosurgeon.

Dr. Yafa Ashur, Soroka Deputy Director told Army Radio, “It wasn’t easy. Thankfully, their brains weren’t attached but the entire cerebral cortex and blood vessels were shared.”

“They are breathing and eating on their own,” added Eldad Silberstein, head of Soroka’s plastic surgery department to Channel 12 news.

The surgery, a first in Israel, took months of preparation and is believed to have cost an estimated NIS 7 million.

The babies have not been named but are expected to lead normal lives.

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Shechita UK welcomes Call for Evidence

BY SIMCHA ABIR

Shechita UK has welcomed the government publishing its long-awaited call for clearer food labelling. Officials hope that post Brexit, consumers will be able to make informed choices about food to aid animal welfare.

The Call for Evidence aims to shape a system that is simple, cost-effective for businesses and supports the environment.

Shechita UK are submitting to the consultation. They remain confident the government will work with faith communities on the policy and restate a commitment to the “protection of religious slaughter”.

“Shechita UK fully supports the concept that consumers have every right to know what they are eating, where their food comes from, that it meets required standards, and if they so require, as Jews do, how their meat was prepared,” commented Shimon Cohen, a director at Shechita UK.

Cohen however warned it was essential that labels are “honest and non-discriminatory” or it may lead to an “inadvertent deception” of the consumer and “affront to faith communities”.

He added, “With regards to slaughter, one dimensional labelling such as ‘stunned’

Shimon Cohen

PHOTO: SHIMONCOHEN.CO.UK

or ‘non-stunned’ would be innately pejorative and misleading to the consumer. It would advance the myth that mechanical, industrialised stunning is an all-encompassing, animal welfare panacea. It is not. Mechanical stunning methods which include captive bolt devices, firearm with free projectile, electrical stunning, electrical waterbath stunning and asphyxiation by gas all cause pain and distress to the animal. They also frequently go wrong, leaving the animal in even greater, prolonged agony. If true consumer information is the goal, then comprehensive labelling that denotes the specific method of slaughter used needs to be provided.”

The Call for Evidence is open for 12 weeks and builds on commitments in the Agriculture Act 2020.

Evidence will be used to inform policy proposals on labelling for animal welfare before a review of food labelling to inform the UK Government’s Food Strategy White Paper.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said, “We have an opportunity to look at food labelling and whether the information that we give to shoppers helps them make informed choices. This call for evidence is a first step in ensuring that we fully meet consumers’ needs, and fly the flag for the high standards for which our farmers are renowned.”

Future policy proposals are subject to consultation, and relates to England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Anti-vaxer Shoulian dies from COVID-19

Anti-vax campaigner Hai Shoulian has passed away from COVID-19 at Wolfson Medical Centre in Holon.

Shoulian, 57, organised demonstrations against the ‘Green Pass’ system in Israel. He was admitted to hospital last week where he tested positive for coronavirus.

Shoulian claimed to followers on social media from hospital that Jerusalem Police had tried to poison him and the Health Ministry had also targeted him.

The activist was arrested at an anti-‘Green Pass’ demonstration in Jerusalem last month before appearing in court. Shoulian was taken ill shortly afterwards, his condition deteriorated in hospital.

On Saturday, he posted a photo of himself connected to a ventilator.

Shoulian refused to be vaccinated claiming there was “no epidemic” and the vaccine was “unnecessary and dangerous.”

Following his death, a number of followers claimed he received poor treatment due to his beliefs.

The ‘Green Pass’ requires Israelis to present proof of vaccination or recovery to enter public buildings. Measures also cover mask wearing and vaccines.

Lapid presents Gaza plan

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

BY SIMCHA ABIR

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has presented a long-term plan to advance economic prosperity, security and stability in the Gaza Strip.

An initial stage will see Israel facilitate the rebuilding of Gaza’s electricity, water, health care, housing and transport in exchange for a coordinated effort against Hamas’s military build-up. The second stage will include construction of a port and transportation link between the Strip and West Bank.

Lapid told delegates at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism conference in Herzliya that Hamas stood between Gazans enjoying a “normal life”.

“We need to tell Gazans at every opportunity, Hamas is leading you to ruin,” he noted. “No-one will come and invest real money, and no-one will try to build an economy in a place from which Hamas fires and which Israel strikes on a regular basis.” Lapid added, “The representative body of the Palestinians isn’t Hamas, but the Palestinian Authority. Israel won’t hand out prizes to radical terror organisations and weaken the authority that works opposite us in an organised manner.”

Lapid views the Palestinian Authority and Egypt as key partners in the plan to revitalise Gaza.

The plan empowers the PA with responsibility for the crossings.

Israel would encourage international investment inside the Gaza Strip whilst joint economic projects with Israel, Egypt and the PA would be advanced. And Industrial and employment zones would be built near the Erez Crossing.

Defence Minister Benny Gantz spoke about relations with the PA at the conference.

“We have a political dispute with the leaders of the Palestinian Authority, which must be resolved, but we share a common desire for peace and security for all those who live between the sea and Jordan,” he told delegates. “It is for this reason, that I decided to meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who has been working against terrorism over the years, in the interests of his people and his national vision.”

Gantz added, “In these challenging times, coordination with the Palestinian Authority and strengthening the Palestinian economy is dozens of times better than strengthening Iranian proxies on our borders.”

Slow progress is taking place on the issue but it is affected by Hamas’ resolve to destabilise matters at the Strip.

Bennett and el-Sisi ‘deepen ties’

BY ADAM MOSES

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has “laid foundations for deeper ties” with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi following landmark talks in Egypt this week.

The first official trip by an Israeli premier to Egypt in a decade took place at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where the leaders discussed diplomatic, security and economic issues.

Bennett stressed Egypt’s significant role in maintaining the security stability in the Gaza Strip and finding a solution to Israel’s missing soldiers.

Following the meeting, Bennett thanked El-Sisi for his hospitality at the coastal city.

The two leaders agreed to continue deepening the cooperation and dialogue between the two countries in all spheres.

“The meeting was very important and very good,” he told reporters. “First and foremost, we created a foundation for deep ties in the future. We discussed a series of issues in the diplomatic, security and economic spheres, as well as ways to deepen ties and strengthen the interests of our countries.”

Bennett added, “Israel is increasingly opening up to the countries of the region, and the basis of this longstanding recognition is the peace between Israel and Egypt. On both sides we must invest in strengthening this link, and we have done so today.”

Bennett noted that the peace accord

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA

signed between the nations in 1979 is the bedrock of security and stability in the Middle East.

Israeli and Egyptian officials also attended the meeting.

A spokesperson for Sisi said that his country supported efforts to bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians on the basis of the two-state solution as it would boost security in the region for all people.

The trip coincided with increased travel between Israel and Egypt.

Israel’s Transportation Ministry confirmed the Taba Border Crossing between Israel and Sinai is fully reopening for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

It has also been reported that Egyptair is also to operate weekly flights between Cairo and Tel Aviv from October.

Organised Israel group programme resumes

The Israel Ministry of Tourism resumes its tourist pilot programme from September 19th.

Organised groups of five to thirty tourists from “green, yellow and orange” countries can visit Israel. There is no limit on the number of foreign groups in the programme.

Foreign tourists must have proof of a second Israel Ministry of Health-recognised vaccination in the last six months or receipt of a third vaccination to qualify for entry into Israel. Tourists must also present a negative PCR test taken up to 72 hours before arrival and undergo PCR and serological tests on arrival at Ben Gurion Airport.

It is hoped individual tourists will be allowed into Israel in the near future though it depends on morbidity rates in Israel and around the world.

“We are delighted to take the first step in opening our borders to international visitors once more,” said Sharon Bershadsky, Israel Tourist Office UK. “There are numerous reasons for travel wishers to visit our country.”

The pilot programme initiated last May for foreign tourists to visit Israel was viewed a success with 2,000 visitors mainly from the United States and Europe. No COVID-19 cases were identified.

The initial rollout was hit due to the acceleration of the Delta variant in Israel.

Neo-Nazi leader sentenced to three years

BY SIMCHA ABIR

The leader of Neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division leader has been handed a three-year prison term on conspiracy and hate crime charges.

Cameron Shea, 25, was sentenced at the US District Court for the Western District of Washington after threatening journalists and activists who expose anti-Semitism.

S. District Judge John Cameron Shea C. Coughenour was clear Shea’s conduct would not be tolerated.

Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman added that hate-filled conduct struck at the “heart of our communities”. Shea’s goal, she noted was to make people “fearful in their own homes”.

“He recruited and cheered on others who joined his sick scheme,” added Gorman. “This federal prison sentence underscores the human damage from his crimes.”

The Justice Department will “aggressively prosecute” defendants who “threaten violence against individuals”, noted Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department is committed to prosecuting to the full extent of the law, violent neo-Nazis and other perpetrators of hate crimes,” she added. Shea pleaded guilty to interference with federally-protected activities because of religion, posting threatening communications and cyberstalking last April. Shea also pleaded guilty to interfering with a federally-protected activity

PHOTO: SOUND CLOUD because of religion. Shea and three co-defendants were charged with conspiring via an encrypted chat group.

The accused created posters featuring Nazi symbols, masked figures with guns and Molotov cocktails along with threatening messages to deliver or post to victims.

Shea messaged the group to place posters on victims’ homes in Tampa, Seattle and Phoenix on the same night in a “show of force”. Shea sent a poster to an Anti-Defamation League official. Text read “Our Patience Has Its Limits. You have been visited by your local Nazis.”

ADL have since warned the group has recast as the National Socialist Order and remained a threat.

A Campaign Against Antisemitism spokesperson said, “When people who describe themselves as ‘your local Nazis’ harass you, there is only one place where they belong, prison.”

CAA added, “The US federal courts are right to impose this custodial sentence for such a despicable campaign of intimidation against activists and journalists.”

CAA applauded Home Secretary Priti Patel who banned Atomwaffen Division in the UK earlier this year to prevent the importation of “abhorrent ideology into this country”.

Two of Shea’s co-defendants pled guilty to a conspiracy charge and were sentenced. A fourth defendant pled not guilty and faces trial next month.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces in Tampa, Seattle, Houston and Phoenix along with the Seattle Police Department.

In related news, a Federal Bureau of Investigations report released last week recorded 57.5% of hate crimes against a religious minority in the US are “motivated by offenders’ anti-Jewish bias”.

Jews represent around 2% of the US population. It 2019, 60.2% of reported hate crimes were motivated by religious bias against Jews. Disturbingly, most antisemitic crimes are not reported.

FBI records hate crimes against Jews as motivated by religious bias rather than racial or ethnic bias.

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Stamford Hill suspect appears in court

BY SIMCHA ABIR

A 28-year-old man has appeared at Thames Magistrates’ Court accused of attacking five people in Stamford Hill last month.

Abdullah Qureshi, from Dewsbury, has been charged with one count of racially or religiously aggravated wounding or grievous bodily harm, four counts of racially or religiously aggravated common assault and one count of racially or religious aggravated criminal damage.

Charges relate to five incidents on August 18th investigated by Metropolitan Police’s Central East Command Unit. Groups including Campaign Against Antisemitism and Stamford Hill Shomrim put out witness appeals following the incidents.

Three alleged incidents were captured on video, including an orthodox Jewish man struck in the face with a bottle, a child slapped on the back of the head and an elderly victim struck and left

It is understood two further incidents have been alleged.

A trial has been scheduled for 1st October at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

A CAA spokesperson said: “These attacks were not ‘random’ in the usual sense, these victims were chosen because they are Jews. We applaud the police for their swift investigation and expect the authorities to ensure

Abdullah Qureshi

PHOTO: MET POLICE

that justice is done for the victims of these violent hate crimes.”

Police arrested Quresho and held him at an East London police station.

CAA welcomed the swift arrest.

Student leaders begin Lauder Fellowship Two Israelis die in plane crash

Ronald S. Lauder Fellowship 2021

BY SIMCHAH ABIR

Jewish student leaders from 14 countries have formed the third group of the Ronald S. Lauder Fellowship.

World Jewish Congress announced the news that 21 participants will undergo leadership training, engage with global figures and develop bonds for future collaborations.

“This generation of advocates will play a critical role in ensuring the future of global Jewry, starting with university campuses, which have unfortunately seen a surge in antisemitic and anti-Israel activity,” commented Lauder. “The Fellowship will equip this cohort of outstanding student leaders with skills and resources to make a positive difference in local communities for years to come.”

During the one-year program, participants will meet in New York City and across Europe to develop advocacy tools. With support and guidance from the WJC, the group will develop personalised work plans to implement specific initiatives.

Previous fellows have led events on International Holocaust Remembrance Day and helped create a memorial to honour victims of the Halle synagogue shooting Yom Kippur in 2019.

The outgoing cohort launched projects including the 2021 Israel Summit and Rimon Movement.

Caterina Cognini, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, said Jewish leaders leave a mark on communities.

“The Fellowship gives you the opportunity

PHOTO: THE WESTERN WALL HERITAGE FOUNDATION

to meet and engage with other activists from all around the world and create connections between countries and continents,” he said.

The Israel Summit is an international movement offering conferences aimed at unaffiliated students on campus. Top speakers and career fairs broaden students’ horizons on the State of Israel.

The Rimon Movement is united in its commitment to Israel as a cornerstone of Jewish life.

Student leaders address complex issues to advance a connection to Israel.

The Lauder Fellowship is an international network of student leaders with interests in diplomacy, politics, communications and other fields. Former Communications Ministry deputy director Haim Garon and his wife Esti died in a plane crash near Greece on Monday night.

The Garons were reportedly on their way to North Macedonia when their private aircraft, a Cessna 182, crashed near the island of Samos.

The plane disappeared from radar around 8pm (Israel time).

The cause of the crash is unknown, the four-passenger plane operated from an airfield in Haifa.

According to local media, three ships and a Greek Air Force Super Puma helicopter attended the crash site.

“He was so happy to fly,” a relative repordly told Israeli media. “He bought that plane together with a partner and would fly abroad frequently. He was a responsible pilot, we cannot comprehend what happened there.”

Garon was a prosecution witness in former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial.

Garon’s testimony was important in Case 4000.

The Foreign Ministry identified the victims, both 69, and is organising the return of their bodies. Greece’s Air Accident Investigation and Aviation Board is establishing the causes of the crash.

IF ONLY YOU HAD TASTE BUDS IN YOUR EYES...

CAA concern over Scottish Greens

BY ADAM MOSES

Campaign Against Antisemitism has voiced concern over the Scottish Green Party’s position regarding Zionism, aliyah and Hamas.

CAA’s concern follows Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon announcing a historic agreement with the Greens to create a majority in the devolved Scottish Parliament at Holyrood.

The SNP leader’s accord is a mandate for a second referendum on Scottish independence though the deal is not a full coalition. The SNP-Scottish Greens deal excludes international relations.

Scotland’s first minister has announced the first Green party ministers in a UK government, Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater. Ratification is expected, but CAA has called for an immediate review of the Greens’ position regarding specific policies along with clarification by Sturgeon on Scottish Government policy due to “extremist elements” in her political allay.

The Scottish Greens adopted Policy Motion 2 in 2015 (on a Saturday denying orthodox Jews a chance to vote) resolving that Israel was an apartheid state, Zionism a racist ideology based on Jewish supremacy in

Pope calls for Christians and Jews to fight antisemitism

Pope Francis has called on Christians and Jews to unite against rising antisemitism in Europe during a four-day pilgrimage to Hungary and Slovakia.

The Pope made his comments in Slovakia prior to Pope Francis PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK paying respect at a Holocaust memorial in Bratislava, built on the site of a synagogue destroyed in the 1960s.

After Slovakia declared independence from Czechoslovakia in 1939, Roman Catholic priest Jozef Tiso became president. And under his rule, the country adopted anti-Jewish laws, deporting 75,000 Jews to Nazi death camps where 68,000 perished.

Tiso was sentenced to death for his actions and hanged in 1947.

Around 5,000 Jews live in Slovakia amongst today’s five million plus population. The government apologised for past racial laws against Jews to mark the 80th anniversary of the Jewish Code last week.

Expressing remorse over the regime, the code was among the toughest anti-Jewish laws adopted in Europe during World War 2.

But Slovakian politics includes far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia party. Members use Nazi salutes and want Slovakia to leave the European Union and NATO. Palestine and Hamas is not a terrorist organisation. The motion still stands. Aside from brazen viewpoints to Jewish communities the Greens also support the BDS movement.

Joe Glasman, CAA Head of Political Investigations, described the positions adopted by the Scottish Greens six years ago as “abhorrent” to British Jews and opponents of antisemitism.

“All decent Scots will have been appalled by the surge in racism against the Jewish community during the recent conflict between Hamas and Israel, which saw demonstrations featuring antisemitic chanting and the display of the Hamas insignia,” he noted. “Now, as campaigns for Hamas to be proscribed in full by the British Government are in full swing, a Party whose stated policy is the very opposite now sits in the Scottish Government.

“The Party’s rise to national prominence in Scotland demands immediate review of its position on Zionism, ‘aliyah’ and Hamas. With the privilege of participation in national government comes the responsibility to govern on behalf of all Scotland, including its minorities.”

Sturgeon reassured the Jewish community she was “committed to tackling”

Patrick Harvie

PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA

antisemitism after a surge in hate crime against Jews in the UK just last month.

Glasman commented, “If she (Sturgeon) fails to, she will be to blame for elevating those views into Scotland’s national conversation and giving such views standing within the UK polity.”

SNP’s leader met the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities and Glasgow Jewish Representative Council to discuss antisemitism and is believed to have understood the “community’s anxieties”. Sturgeon noted antisemitism would “not be tolerated” in Scotland.

CAA has written to the Home Secretary calling on her to proscribe Hamas in full, and has urged all MPs to do the same.

CAA is closely monitoring both the Greens’ and SNP activities.

CAA has documented alleged antisemitism among Green Party officers in England and Wales. And has previously reported about SNP members comparing a political party to the Nazis.

Peter Grant, MP for Glenrothes, “apologised unreservedly” for insensitive and inflammatory tweets. SNP candidates Stephanie Callaghan Colm Merrick, have also apologised for inappropriate posts.

“Politicians must set an example by learning the lessons of the Holocaust,” noted a CAA spokesperson at the time.

Lauder addresses global interfaith forum

BY BELLA WAXLER

World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder addressed world leaders at the 2021 G20 Interfaith Forum in Bologna on Sunday.

Lauder appealed for a global effort to strengthen religious education.

The ‘Time to Heal: Peace Among Cultures, understanding Between Religions’ gathering focused on the role of religion in improving global challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread violence, disruption of formal education, racism and climate change.

“With all the problems we face, it is religion that is most in danger,” Lauder said. “Religion has given humankind hope and purpose for thousands of years. It has taught us essential concepts such as forbearance, charity, purpose and the importance of family.”

But, Lauder warned, a new generation had “no connection” to religion.

Lauder recalled attacks against people houses of worship in the United States as evidence of a need to counter hate and intolerance.

Describing incidents as “sacrilegious,” Lauder mentioned mass shootings at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina and a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

“When young people are not learning the basic rules of decency, they gravitate toward the teaching of hate and intolerance,” he said,

Ronald S. Lauder

PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA

adding, “All of us have the power and responsibility to turn this around. This can only come through education.

“We must foster a dialogue of positive interfaith relations, we must help people in poor nations educate their youth with the best parts of their religion, we must recruit the most thoughtful and decent teachers for this process, and we must use the internet, because that is the only way to connect with young people today,” Lauder continued.

The G20 Interfaith Forum offers an annual platform where people representing religiously linked institutions and initiatives engage on global agendas.

The gathering builds on the premise that religious institutions have a vital role in world affairs and in highlighting diversity as a means of solving some of the world’s greatest challenges.

Israel heads for 10m population by 2024

Israel is heading towards a population of 10 million in 2024.

The Central Bureau of Statistics annual report released on Sunday showed that Israel’s population has reached 9,391,000 as the country gets set for Rosh Hashanah.

CBS stats showed the population grew by 146,000 in the past 12 months representing 1.6% growth. The average birth rate remains at 2.9 children, a dip on previous years.

The population includes 6.9 million Jews (74%), 1.98 million Arabs, including Muslims and Christians (21%) and 466,000 (5%) residents from other minorities and religions.

The past year saw 172,000 Israeli couples have a baby, 48,000 Israelis passed away (7,154 from COVID-19). Despite travel restrictions there were 20,000 new immigrants.

According to CBS, 44.8% of Jews define themselves as secular, 20.5% marginally observant, 12.5% partially religious, 11.7% religious and 10% ultra-Orthodox.

Life expectancy of Israeli men is 80.7 years, women 84.8.

Attorney general asked to review neo-Nazi sentence

BY SIMCHA ABIR

The Attorney General has been asked to review a lenient sentence handed out to a neo-Nazi guilty of a terrorism charge at Leicester Crown Court last week.

Ben John, a 21-year former De Montfort University student, of Addison Drive, Lincoln, who evaded prison “by the skin of his teeth” according to the judge, had “a wealth” of white supremacist and anti-Semitic material on hard drives.

John received a 24-month sentence, suspended for two years, after being found guilty of having nearly 70,000 neo-Nazism and bomb-making documents. The offence under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act carries a maximum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment.

According to media reports, John was ordered to read classics by Dickens, Austen, Shakespeare and Hardy and return to court every four months to be “tested” by the judge starting in January.

Campaign Against Antisemitism described the sentence as “inexplicable”.

“For all the novels that the judge has ordered Mr John to peruse as he enjoys his unearned freedom, it was notable that Crime and Punishment was not among them,” noted a CAA spokesman. “Perhaps the judge himself ought to review that classic as he reflects on the risk that his sentence poses to the public.”

Hope Not Hate’s chief executive Nick Lowles called for review of the case.

“That is a dangerous message to send when the far-right poses the fastest growing terror threat today,” Lowles noted. “These sorts of lenient sentences risk encouraging other young people to access and share terrorist and extremist content because they will not fear the repercussions of their actions.”

A spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office confirmed the request for John’s sentence to be considered under the unduly lenient sentence scheme covers serious offences including hate crime and terrorism-related offences.

Law Officers have 28 days from sentencing to consider and rule on the ULS case.

The court heard that John was labelled a terror risk just after his eighteenth birthday. He was referred to the Government’s counter-terrorism scheme, Prevent, but continued to download “repellent” right-wing documents, which included the Anarchist Cookbook written during the 1970s.

The author of the book has since stated the basic premise behind book was “profoundly flawed”.

In January 2020, John was arrested and charged with offences under the Terrorism Act. He had collated 67,788 white supremacist, antisemitic and Satanic documents.

Lincolnshire Police said John had become “part of the Extreme Right Wing (XRW) online” and was studying Criminology with Psychology in Leicester when arrested.

Detective Inspector James Manning, Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands, led the investigation with regional and national agencies.

“The terrorist material he was found in possession of is extremely dangerous, and he acquired this to further his ideology,” he noted. “It indicates the threat that he and other followers of this hateful ideology pose to National Security. It was not light reading, or material most would concern themselves with for legitimate reasons. This has been a long and complex investigation over the course of eleven months.”

Judge Timothy Spencer QC labelled John a lonely individual “highly susceptible” to recruitment but was not of the view that harm was likely be caused. However, he observed that Nazi, fascist and Adolf Hitler-inspired ideology material and extreme right-wing, white-supremacist material was not mere academic fascination. “To a significant degree you have aligned with these ideologies and to a significant degree have adopted the views expressed as your own,” he noted.

Harry Bentley, John’s barrister, said John was “fascinated” by extreme right-wing views and shared those views himself but was not “a lost cause”.

Bentley said the case was about not deleting items on a computer, an argument the judge dismissed. John also received a five-year Serious Crime Prevention Order and must attend 30 days on a Healthy Identity Intervention programme. His online activity will be monitored by police.

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Portman guilty of calling CAA’s Falter “Jewish scum”

BY SIMCHA ABIR

The Hon. Piers Portman has been found guilty of calling Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Chief Executive Gideon Falter “Jewish scum” in a confrontation at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in 2018.

Portman, 50, was prosecuted after approaching Falter following the sentencing of Holocaust denier Alison Chabloz.

CAA brought a private prosecution against Ms Chabloz which the Crown Prosecution Service took over and led to a landmark conviction.

Falter had testified against Chabloz, who has been repeatedly sent to prison over antisemitic statements, including denying the Holocaust and claiming Holocaust survivors invented their suffering for financial gain.

Portman confronted Falter in the lobby of the court building, extended his hand to Falter who refused to shake it because the building was filled with what he told Southwark Crown Court was a “Who’s Who of Holocaust deniers, neo-Nazis and far-right extremists”.

As Portman extended his hand, Falter replied, concerned that Portman might be part of Chabloz’s entourage, “I’m very sorry but I can’t shake your hand because I don’t know who you are.”

The Court heard that Portman became “very enraged”, saying, “I’m Piers Portman. I have written to you before. Come after me, you Jewish scum. Come and persecute me. Come and get me.”

Portman was told to leave by security staff. When police arrived, Portman had left the area.

CAA checked e-mails received from the name Piers Portman, finding a 1,527-word screed in which Portman denounced his former wife and her divorce lawyer, Baroness Fiona Shackleton, each as a “greedy, grasping and lying manipulator of the system that happens to be Jewish.”

Portman accused his former wife of “playing the Talmud inspired ‘Tyrant posing as a victim.’” Noting he had a “Harrow Public School education”, Portman defended the term “Holohoax”, writing that “I fail to see how the fabricated word has anything to do with hating anyone. Surely it is merely an expression created by people that believe they have been lied to,” and questioning how the terms “Jew” and “Jewboy” could be antisemitic.

Portman concluded his e-mail by taunting CAA to “Come and pick on me.”

Falter said, “This is a good result for British justice and British Jews. This despicable, unrepentant antisemite instructed his lawyer to tell the court that he is an honourable man being framed by lying Jews. The jury saw straight through Mr Portman, whose hatred of Jews speaks for itself. This verdict reaffirms my belief in the justice system of our country. It shows that even the wealthiest and most privileged cannot escape British justice and will face the consequences of their anti-Jewish racism.”

Sati Dhadda, from CPS, said, “Antisemitism has no place in our society and will not be tolerated.” Portman’s conduct Dhadda added was “disgraceful and utterly audacious” in a courthouse.

“No-one should be subjected to such abuse based on their race or religion,” they noted.

Under cross examination Portman said he had been attending Chabloz’s to “learn more about my own circumstances”, claiming he was being “persecuted by Jewish tyrants posing as victims”.

Portman claimed that he felt that the conviction in June 2018 of Chabloz was “unfair”.

At one point during his testimony, His Honour Justice Gregory Perrins had to tell Portman to stop talking about his divorce from his ex-wife as he was breaching a court injunction.

Portman hired Lewis Powers QC to defend him who at one point was called out by the judge over baseless statements to the jury. The defence case was that Falter and a colleague had “fabricated” the fact that Portman had said “Jewish scum”.

Portman was accompanied throughout proceedings by conspiracy theorist Matthew Delooze.

In a majority verdict, 10 out of 12 jurors at Southwark Crown Court found Portman guilty of causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm and distress. Portman will be sentenced next month.

His Honour Justice Perrins warned, “I am not ruling any sentence out”. CPS has confirmed it will be seeking a hate crime sentence uplift.

CAA thanked the Community Security Trust for providing specialist protection officers to keep personnel safe in court. Shomrim north west London have received multiple reports of criminals using bikes and mopeds to snatch mobile phones from people in Golders Green and Hendon.

Shomrim are working closely with local Police to gather CCTV footage to ascertain potential suspects.

Often victims are approached from behind while talking or texting on phones. Criminals may mount the pavement to grab a phone or snatch it from the road. A pillion passenger may snatch items.

Criminals are operating during the day.

A set of steps have been provided to help stop these incidents.

Be aware of surroundings, look out for anyone on a bike or moped. If you need to call or use your phone on the street make it quick so you don’t become distracted.

Don’t text while you’re walking, if that’s not possible, stand away from the roadside, close to a building or wall, so no one can come up behind you.

Going hands-free can prevent a thief snatching your phone out of your hand.

Use the keypad lock/finger print or facial recognition so thieves cannot immediately access a phone.

Check other security features to wipe data, lock a handset or prevent a thief restoring a phone to its factory settings from another internet device.

Consider installing an anti-theft app. This can help police trace a phone and identify a thief.

Every phone has a unique IMEI number which helps police and insurance companies identify if it’s stolen. Find your IMEI number by dialling *#06# from your phone. If you have been a victim report to the Police on 999 and Shomrim NW London on 03009991234.

Tragedy strikes Uman

Tragedy struck a group of Breslov pilgrims in Uman after Rosh Hashanah.

Rabbi Avraham Levy, zt’l, was fatally injured in the car crash after attending the tomb of the movement’s founder Rabbi Nachman with thousands of worshippers.

Four Israelis have minor injuries sustained in the accident.

Paramedics failed to resuscitate Rabbi Levy, 45, who is survived by his wife and 10 children.

The accident occurred when a minibus carrying the group collided with a bus around 80km from Uman on route to Kiev Airport on route for a flight to Israel.

Hatzalah volunteers recited Kaddish at the scene of the accident. It has been reported the shuttle driver was blinded by headlights of the bus in a head-on collision.

Rabbi Levy was the son of Rabbi Hershey Levy of Boro Park. He is a son-in-law of Rabbi Yechezkel Silverman of Williamsburg.

ZAKA, Israeli diplomats, Chabad’s shaliach and Chevra Kadisha in Kiev arranged repatriation of Rabbi Levy’s body for burial before Shabbat.

Another pilgrim was critically injured in a car accident traveling from Uman to Lviv.

A 46-year–old man who travelled to Uman with three of his children is ventilated at a hospital in Uman. Two children have returned to Israel.

Iran is a “global” problem

BY ADAM MOSES

Iran’s nuclear aspirations is not only Israel’s problem but a global issue.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid made the comments on his first state visit to Russia and warned that should Israel need to respond they will “reserve the right to act”.

Defence Minister Benny Gantz meantime, reportedly accused Iran of utilising Kashan airbase north of Isfahan to train “terror operatives” from Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon to fly Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Gantz was speaking at a counter-terrorism conference at Reichman University near Tel Aviv and added that Iran was trying to organise “manufacturing of UAVs in the Gaza Strip”.

His office showed satellite images of UAVs on Kashan runways.

Lapid was speaking at a press conference when he referred to reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Describing them as “damning”, he noted, “They include serious violations, fraud, deception and outright lies. The picture is clear and very worrying.”

Yair Lapid

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

Lapid added, “Iran’s march toward a nuclear weapon is not only an Israeli problem. It is a problem for the entire world. A nuclear Iran will lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.”

He continued, “The world needs to stop Iran from getting a nuclear capability, no matter the price. If the world doesn’t do it, Israel reserves the right to act.”

The UN’s nuclear watchdog compiled the reports after inspecting Iranian nuclear facilities.

Lapid travelled to Moscow on a one-day trip after Rosh Hashanah where he met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss diplomatic and security issues. And Israel’s foreign emissary made it clear the Iranian regime’s influence in Syria was destabilising the Middle East.

“Unfortunately, there won’t be security in Syria or the wider Middle East while there is an Iranian presence,” he noted. “Iran is the world’s number one exporter of terror, and it threatens us all.”

Lapid stressed Israel would “not sit quietly” while Iran built terror bases on its northern border or “advanced weapons to terror organisations”.

“Israel will maintain our ability to defend ourselves in the face of threats from Syria and elsewhere,” he warned.

Lavrov confirmed there were ongoing discussions between Jerusalem and Moscow on the troubled region. He also had accepted an offer from Lapid to visit Israel.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov held talks with US envoy on Iran, Rob Malley, to discuss the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.