AJC Dispatch

Spotlight

On this week’s episode of People of the Pod, Ronen Bergman, staff writer for The New York Times, national security senior correspondent for Yedioth Ahronoth, and author of Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations, joins us to break down the criminal charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and what it means for the future of Israeli politics. Then we hear conversations with Jodi Rudoren, editor-in-chief of The Forward and former Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times, and Nachman Shai, a former member of the Knesset and IDF spokesman, that were recorded earlier this week during a special live show in Atlanta. Listen now

Must-reads

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Indicted
The Times of Israel / 3-minute read
Just when you thought Israeli politics couldn’t get more chaotic, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced Thursday “with a heavy heart but also with a whole heart” that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be charged with bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. The indictment will make Netanyahu not only the longest-serving prime minister, but also the first to face criminal charges while still in office. Read more

Jewish Man Stabbed Outside New York Shul, Community Shaken
JTA / 2-minute read
A 29-year-old Orthodox teacher and father of four was stabbed multiple times as he approached his suburban New York shul for morning prayers this week. Authorities have not determined whether the assault, captured on two of the synagogue’s 40 security cameras, was motivated by antisemitism, but it is being investigated by the New York State Police Hate Crimes Task Force. AJC tweeted: “Horror in New York … We urge local authorities to do whatever is necessary to bring his attackers to justice.” Read more

What To Know about U.S. Declaration on Settlements
JTA / 2-minute read
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced this week that the United States will no longer consider Israeli Jewish residents in the West Bank to be there illegally. JTA reporters Laura Adkins and Ben Sales explain the term “settlements,” what international law and Israeli law say about them, and how Israeli claims to that land affect the Middle East peace process. Check out AJC’s e-book titled Israeli Settlements: A History for more context. Read more

Speaker at Vassar Interrupted With Antisemitic Chant
The Jerusalem Post / 1-minute read
Chanting “from the river to the sea,” a refrain intoned by Hamas when it calls for the eradication of Israel and genocide of Jews, Students for Justice in Palestine disrupted a speech by former IDF officer Hen Mazzig at Vassar College last week. In a statement, Vassar College President Elizabeth Bradley said the protest “crossed the line into antisemitism,” adding that disciplinary proceedings for the protesters had commenced. “Even controversial discussions will best confer learning and understanding when they are free from discrimination of all kinds,” she said. AJC tweeted: “We are grateful to @ehbvassar for calling out antisemitism at @vassar and ensuring that diverse voices have a place on campus.” Read more

Good to Know

How the Oberammergau Passion Play is Evolving
Religion News Service / 3-minute read
When Adolf Hitler saw the Oberammergau Passion Play in the 1930s, he proclaimed: “Never has the menace of Jewry been so convincingly portrayed.” The play, which portrays Jews as greedy, bloodthirsty, devilish, and legalistic, was just one more piece of propaganda he could use to defend the annihilation of the Jewish people. Performed every 10 years in Germany’s Bavaria since 1634, the Oberammergau Passion Play is finally evolving, largely thanks to efforts by AJC. Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations, explains how AJC has convened an academic advisory group to consult with the play’s director Christian Stückl and his team as they address the play’s pervasive anti-Jewish tropes and make it clear that “the Jews” did not kill Jesus. Read more

Saudi Nuclear Ambitions
The Jerusalem Post / 3-minute read
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman once said if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, his kingdom would follow suit. Now Iran appears to be violating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known commonly as the Iran nuclear deal, and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced he won’t accept a prohibition on missiles with nuclear warheads. Kenneth Bandler, AJC Director of Media Relations, argues that preventing nuclear proliferation shouldn’t be a priority that’s up for debate. It should be a bipartisan no-brainer. Read more

Israel Condemns Canada’s UN Vote Supporting Palestinian State
The Globe and Mail / 2-minute read
Israel has condemned Canada for doing an about-face and suddenly supporting a United Nations resolution that calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Over the past decade, both Conservative and Liberal Canadian governments have voted against the resolution, which, among other things, urges an “end to the Israeli occupation” and calls for the preservation of the “territorial unity, contiguity and integrity of all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.” Read more

Britain’s Jews Feel Politically Homeless
The New York Times / 3-minute read
With antisemitism on the rise in Europe, Britain’s 300,000 Jews must decide which candidate is worse: Prime Minister Boris Johnson who is determined to usher Britain out of the European Union; or Jeremy Corbyn, the head of the Labour Party who has not adequately addressed antisemitism in his circles and has called terrorists his friends. A number of Labour lawmakers have left the party over the issue. And the Jewish Labour Movement, a 100-year-old socialist group, has decided not to campaign nationally on behalf of Labour for the first time in its history. Read more

Tidings

American Jewish Novelist Finally Gets Her Due (JTA)
Asher Lev vs. Alexander Hamilton (The Forward)
The New Mechitza: Gender Segregation at Israel’s Public Universities (Moment Magazine)

The articles featured here do not necessarily reflect AJC’s positions.

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