WEDNESDAY’S “NEWS OF THE WEEK IN REVIEW”

   WEEKLY QUOTES

 
“My people’s history and experience are being used as an antisemitic tool to politically, morally and with incredible pretzel-like twisting and legal gymnastics, legally delegitimize Israel with the hope to criminalize her.” — Christian pro-Israel activist and Johannesburg native Olga Meshoe Washington in Geneva at an event hosted by the NGO UN Watch. The gathering was held in advance of a UN Human Rights Council debate on the first presentation of what will be an annual report by the UN’s three-member “Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel,” otherwise known as the COI on Israel. (Jerusalem Post, June 13, 2022)

 “They can’t cancel me. I’m gonna speak my mind. When the left is having a spasm, that just tells you that in Florida we are winning.” – Florida governor Ron Desantis at the Tikvah Fund’s Jewish Leadership Conference, held at Chelsea Piers.  DeSantis was referencing last month’s controversy when the Tikvah Fund said the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Lower Manhattan canceled its contract to hold the conference there. Tikvah said the museum told them that a talk by DeSantis, who had recently signed legislation that prohibited classroom discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation for some age groups in Florida schools, did not “align with the museum’s values”; the museum disputed Tikvah’s version of the events but not the cancellation.  Regarding rising antisemitism, Desantis added: “Institutions like our state universities are treating antisemitism the same way they would treat racism. We are not going to let that run rampant.”  (JTA,; Israel National News, June 12, 2022)

 “The hiring is a blatant act of anti-Semitism, and it tells you what the future of New York is going to look like unless we change the course. . .” — Veteran New York Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf describes the New York City Council’s hiring of Emily Mayer, a progressive Jewish anti-Israel activist, as its Director. Mayer, 30, is a co-founder of the Washington, DC-based non-profit IfNotNow, which “seeks to end American Jewish communal support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine.” (NY Post, June 10, 2022)

 “There’s something really important our partners need to understand, and that’s until Russia suffers a serious defeat, no form of dialogue will be possible, and they will continue to be able to try and take parts of our country.” — Ukrainian Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak.  He told the BBCthat 100-200 Ukrainian troops were dying each day due to what he termed “a complete lack of parity” between Ukrainian and Russian forces, particularly in artillery and rockets. (AP, June 10, 2022)

 “All I can think of is this is a Soviet-style propaganda trial, like a show trial. They put this tape together using propaganda, selected words and clauses cut and pasted to smear the people they want to smear and to get the outcome.” — Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., who spent time working in Communist Yugoslavia earlier in her career.  The J6 panel was called on the carpet for falsely suggesting a GOP lawmaker ran a reconnaissance mission inside the Capitol for Jan. 6 protesters the day before the riot. The new Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger blew the whistle.

 “Are we finally going to learn who Ray Epps is and what the role the FBI played on January 6? It would take only simple questions from the committee: Mr. Attorney General, how many undercover people did you have on the ground on January 6? ….  Epps [President of the Arizona Oath Keepers] refuses to answer journalists’ questions about whether or not he is a federal agent and is still a free man. Why? Under oath and before the January 6 committee, someone should ask FBI Director Wray, Attorney General Garland, and Ray Epps to give a yes or no answer to this question: did Ray Epps work for or with the federal government? Yet they won’t. You will not hear Epps’s name on the televised hearings this week.” – Columnist Peter Van Buren on the Jan. 6^th Congressional hearings.  He claims the committee selectively chooses which issues it examines. Further, not only are the Republicans underrepresented; no cross-examinations of witnesses are allowed or counter-narratives provided. (Spectator World, June 12, 2022)

“The New York Times buried this. If this had been a liberal Supreme Court justice that someone came to kill, it would have been on the front page. And that’s what’s so disappointing about a paper like The New York Times because they just wear their bias on their sleeves, and if it’s not part of something that feeds our narrative, f— it, we bury it.” — “Real Time” host Bill Maher over the NY Times‘ weak coverage of the assassination attempt of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh by Nicholas John Rosks.  The NY Times alone wasn’t deficient in its coverage, the incident was ignored by all the Sunday political shows on ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN.   (Fox News, June 11, 2022; Fox News, June 12, 2022)

 “. . .Mrs. [Angela] Merkl [who refuses to apologize for believing she could moderate Vladimir Putin’s imperial ambitions] insisted on her courtship of Mr. Putin even after his annexation of Crimea and invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014. She made her country more vulnerable by phasing out its nuclear power plants and refusing to honor its NATO pledge to spend 2% of GFP on defense. … Bloomberg reports that [Chancellor] Scholz is now seeking her advice on how to handle Ukraine and Mr. Putin, and let’s hope he doesn’t rely on it. Apology [from her] or not, she failed the cause of freedom in Europe.” – Ediitorial board. (WSJ, June 8, 2022)
 

SHORT TAKES

IT’S OFFICIAL: BIDEN TO VISIT ISRAEL, WEST BANK AND SAUDI ARABIA IN MID-JULY (Washington) — President Joe Biden will visit Israel, the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia on July 13 – 16 in a visit that will emphasize reestablishing U.S. ties with the Palestinians. The visit to Saudi Arabia will include attending a summit of the “GCC+3,” a body that brings together the Gulf Cooperation Council, the umbrella for Gulf Arab states, plus Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan.  Moreover, Biden’s visit will “reinforce the United States’ iron-clad commitment to Israel’s security and prosperity,” and Biden will discuss joint missile defense efforts with Israeli leaders. (JTA, June 14, 2022)

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION OVERRULES TRUMP POLICY ON PALESTINIANS (Washington) — The Biden administration announced a dramatic yet partial reversal of Donald Trump’s closure of the consulate to the Palestinians in Jerusalem by opening a “U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs” in the city. Biden’s move is viewed by some as rewarding the Palestinian leadership after a wave of terrorism during which two Palestinians wielding an ax and knife murdered three Israelis in the town of Elad in May. (Fox News, June 10, 2022)

ISRAEL URGES CITIZENS NOT TO TRAVEL TO ISTANBUL CITING IRANIAN TERRORIST THREAT (Jerusalem) — Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid urged Israelis not to travel to Istanbul, saying that Israeli and Turkish authorities have recently thwarted Iranian-backed terrorist attacks. Israel’s National Security Council raised the threat warning for Istanbul to 4, meaning Israelis should not enter the area and should immediately leave if they are already there. (JTA, June 13, 2022)

IRAN SUSPECTS ISRAEL KILLED TWO SCIENTISTS WITH POISON (Tehran) —  Iran believes Israel killed two of its scientists by poisoning their food.  Both died within days of each other. Ayoub Entezari was an aeronautical engineer who worked for a military research center, and Kamran Aghamolaei was a geologist.  Israeli media and Persian news channels abroad reported that Aghamolaei worked at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, which friends denied. Meanwhile, Entezari had a doctorate in aeronautics and worked on projects related to missiles and airplane turbines for a government aerospace center. (NY Times, June 13, 2022)

LEBANON RESIDENTS SHOULD NOT WAIT FOR WAR TO START TO EVACUATE, IDF CHIEF WARNS (Jerusalem) — Speaking at the First Israeli Summit on the Home Front Command, Israel Defense Forces Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said that should war break out, Lebanese civilians would be given an explicit warning to evacuate, but warned Israel would strike with “immense power.” Furthermore, the IDF established a taskforce headed by Commanding Officer of the Kfir Brigade Col. Sharon Atlit, to prevent infiltrations by Palestinians into Israel via the Judea and Samaria security barrier.  (WIN, June 13, 2022)

ISRAEL WARNS ASSAD, WILL BOMB PALACES IF IRAN OPERATIONS CONTINUE – REPORT (Jerusalem) — Israel has threatened to bomb Syrian President Basher Assad’s palaces if he does not cease or reduce military cooperation with Iran within his territory. The Jerusalem Post was unable to independently confirm the dramatic developing story, and the IDF declined to comment. The report could either dovetail with ongoing Israeli efforts to rid itself of an Iranian threat embedded in Syria or could be an exaggeration of such efforts by various interested parties. (Jerusalem Post, June 14, 2022)

22 NATIONS OPPOSE UNHRC PROBE, PILLAY CALLS FOR ARMS EMBARGO AGAINST ISRAEL (Geneva) –Israel secured the opposition of 22 nations to the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) that blamed Israel for the conflict with the Palestinians and called for an arms embargo against the Jewish state.  President of the Advisory Council of the International Nuremberg Principles Academy Navanethem “Navi” Pillay delivered the first of what is expected to be an annual report against Israel to the 47-member UNHRC on the opening day of its 50th session in Geneva. Leading the charge against the report, US Ambassador to the UN Michelle Taylor read out a statement saying her country was not part of the UNHRC and was not part of the council when it approved the COI in a 24-9 vote last year. This statement was signed by Austria, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, Cameroon, Colombia, Croatia, Eswatini, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Israel, Liberia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Palau, Togo, the UK, and the US. (Jerusalem Post, June 14, 2022)

REVENGE? LIGHTNING-QUICK ANTI-NETANYAHU LEGISLATION(Jerusalem) — Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) and Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar (New Hope) have requested that Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett remove his veto of an anti-Netanyahu bill, and allow them to attempt to pass it. The bill would prevent anyone charged with criminal offenses from serving as prime minister. A senior coalition official said the bill could pass within a week, and that thanks to the Joint Arab List, there is a majority in the Knesset that supports it, even if Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked (Yamina) vetoes it. (Israel National News, June 14, 2022)

A.B. YEHOSHUA, ISRAELI LITERARY GIANT, DIES AT 85 (Kibbutz Ein Carmel) — A.B. Yehoshua, a prominent Israeli author celebrated for his mastery of the Hebrew language and a leading peace activist, died on Tuesday. He was 85. Yehoshua’s work was widely translated and adapted to film and stage. His first book, “The Death of the Old Man,” was published in 1962, and his most recent work, a novella entitled “The Third Temple” was published earlier this year. Yehoshua was also a leading voice of the Israeli peace camp, joining fellow authors Amoz Oz and David Grossman in calling for a negotiated solution to the conflict with the Palestinians that would lead to the creation of an independent Palestinian state. (United With Israel, June 14, 2022)

BEN & JERRY’S EMPLOYEES REQUIRED TO VIEW ANTI-ISRAEL LECTURES ON ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT (Maine) – The ice-cream conglomerate Ben & Jerry’s is requiring all new employees to watch four videos about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, all of which appear to be biased against the Jewish state.  The videos are part of the company’s “Scooper Series: Social Mission” concerning the conflict as well as racism in the U.S. (WIN, June 14, 2022)

NEW YORK REPUBLICAN PARTY IN TURMOIL OVER CANDIDATE WHO PRAISED HITLER (Washington) — The Republican Party in New York is in turmoil ahead of this November’s mid-term election for the state’s 27th district, with party leaders backing rival candidates — among them an individual who praised the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.  After Congressional Representative Chris Jacobs, resigned following the racially motivated mass shooting at a supermarket in the city, a standoff ensued between New York Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy, who is pushing his own candidacy, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, the number three Republican in The House of Representatives, who is backing Carl Paladino, a real estate mogul, and right-wing activist. Earlier this month, media watchdog Media Matters unearthed audio of a 2021 radio interview Paladino gave in which he expressed his admiration for Hitler. The businessman has a record of bombastic and racist comments, including one remark in which he compared former First Lady Michele Obama to an “ape.” (WIN, June 14, 2022)

ENERGY PRICES BRING BACK URANIUM MINES (Washington) — Sharply rising oil and gas prices, and uncertainties related to the war in Ukraine, have witnessed a sudden rise of exploration for and investment in uranium mines as nuclear energy, long in disfavor, is making a strong come-back. (Russia — which dominates enriching uranium for use in nuclear reactors- — has 6% of the world’s mined uranium, and supplies roughly 16% of the U.S.’s imports. Supply from Kazakhstan, the world’s biggest uranium producer, has been thrown into uncertainty by the Ukraine-Russia conflict. (WSJ, June 8, 2022)

REPORT REVEALS SHARP RISE IN TRANSGENDER YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE U.S. (Washington) — The number of young people who identify as transgender has nearly doubled in recent years, according to a new report. The analysis, relying on government health surveys conducted from 2017 to 2020, estimated that 1.4 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds and 1.3 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds were transgender, compared with about 0.5 percent of all adults. New York has the largest estimated population of transgender teenagers, at 3 percent, whereas Wyoming has the lowest, at 0.6 percent. Transgender adults showed a narrower range, with 0.9 percent of adults identifying as transgender in North Carolina and 0.2 percent in Missouri. (NY Times, June 10, 2022)