ADL: 2019 saw the most anti-Semitic incidents in at least 40 Years

(Photo: Ari Feldman)

By Ben Sales - May 12, 2020

(JTA) — Last year saw the most anti-Semitic incidents in the United States since at least 1979, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The 2,107 incidents recorded in 2019 reflect a 12% increase from 2018 and are more than double the 942 incidents recorded just four years earlier, in 2015. It’s the highest number recorded by the ADL since it began tallying incidents in 1979.

Aside from a small dip in total incidents in 2018, the ADL’s annual statistics show that anti-Semitism in the United States has been on a steady climb for much of the past decade.

Last year saw a number of high-profile anti-Semitic incidents. In April, a gunman killed one person and wounded three in a synagogue shooting in Poway, California. In December, two shooters killed four people, including two Jews, in an attack that ended at a Jersey City kosher supermarket. Eighteen days later, an attacker killed one person and wounded four in a stabbing at a Hanukkah party in Monsey, New York.

Read More: Forward

Three Gulf states reach out to Israel for help battling COVID-19 pandemic

(Photo: Yasser Al-Zayyat / AFP)

By Raphael Ahren - May 10, 2020

Three states in the Arab Gulf are actively engaged in cooperation with Israel’s health system, with one having recently asked for help installing an advanced telemedicine system to confront the coronavirus pandemic, a senior official at one of the country’s leading hospitals said Sunday.

Top representatives from Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have been in regular touch with the Sheba Medical Center since before the current health crisis, said Yoel Hareven, who heads the hospital’s international division. But in March, a high-ranking member of the Emirati royal family privately visited the hospital in Ramat Gan and has since remained in weekly contact, Hareven said.

In addition, a third country in the Gulf that is not known to have strong ties with Israel recently reached out to Sheba with a request for help installing telemedicine solutions to treat COVID-19 patients from afar, something Sheba has specialized in, he said.

Read More: Times of Israel

‘Year 2 of freedom’: Ancient coin from Bar Kochba revolt found near Temple Mount

(Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority)

By TOI Staff - May 11, 2020

The Israel Antiquities Authority on Monday revealed a coin minted during the Bar Kochba revolt that was unearthed near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.

The announcement of the coin’s discovery was timed to coincide with the Lag B’Omer holiday, which begins Monday evening and marks the death of second-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai.

The festival is usually celebrated in Israel with large bonfires, which are meant to honor both Bar Yohai and those who took part in the Bar Kochba revolt, an uprising against Roman rule in Judea in 132-135 CE.

The coin, which was found in the William Davidson Archaeological Park next to the Western Wall, is adorned with a cluster of grapes and the words “Year Two of the Freedom of Israel” on one side — declaring the rebels’ purpose — while the other side has a palm tree and the word “Jerusalem.”

Read More: Times of Israel

Israeli aid groups deliver Covid-19 supplies across globe

By Abigail Klein Leichman - May 5, 2020

Israeli humanitarian aid nonprofits SmartAID and IsraAID have teams across the world distributing personal protective equipment (PPE) and other supplies to healthcare workers, law enforcers, firefighters and others during the coronavirus crisis.

SmartAID partnered with Third Wave Volunteers and DHL to deliver PPE to hospitals in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, New Jersey and other cities across the US East Coast, said Founding Director Shachar Zahavi.

SmartAID also worked with local partners to supply PPE to health centers in Puerto Rico and Haiti and to five hospitals in Sydney, Australia.

In coordination with charitable organizations, equipment will be shipped by DHL from Australia to the Dohuk region in northern Iraq to aid thousands of Yazidi, Kurdish and Syrian refugees.

Read More: Israel21c

The Sea of Galilee is full, but its beaches are empty

(Photo: AP)

By Associated Press - May 2, 2020

After an especially rainy winter, the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel is at its highest level in two decades, but the beaches and major Christian sites along its banks are empty.

Tourism usually peaks in April, when Christians flock to the holy sites during the Easter season and Israelis descend on the beaches and nearby national parks to enjoy the spring weather and see the wildflowers bloom.

This year, that coincided with a lockdown aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus. The borders have been closed and Israelis have been largely confined to their homes since mid-March.

While authorities have recently begun loosening the restrictions, they imposed a full lockdown over Independence Day last week, barring anyone from traveling more than 100 meters (yards) from home except in case of emergency.

That left the shores of the Sea of Galilee, locally known as Lake Kinneret, empty. Chairs and umbrellas were stacked up on beaches that in previous years would have been packed with families enjoying outdoor cookouts and watching fireworks displays.

“It’s full of water and we are very excited,” said Idan Greenbaum, head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council. “Unfortunately, because of the virus, it’s empty.”

Read More: Ynetnews

IDF, US Navy surprise Shoah survivor as independence, Dachau liberation coincide

By Judah Ari Gross - April 29, 2020

The Israel Defense Forces and US Navy bands surprised an Israeli Holocaust survivor this week to mark both Israel’s 72nd Independence Day and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp, playing for him a rendition of Israel’s national anthem, Hatikva.

Abba Naor, 92, had believed he was only going to tell the American and Israeli soldiers about his experiences in Dachau during the Holocaust. But when he logged on to the Zoom videoconferencing application from his home in Rehovot to speak to them, the troops took out their instruments and — from dozens of locations — played Hatikva, as Naor stood at attention and saluted.

Read More: Times of Israel

In first, Saudi TV dramas feature character urging Israel ties, Hebrew monologue

By Michael Bachner - April 27, 2020

Two TV productions aired on a Saudi network on the occasion of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan have sparked controversy and accusations of “normalization” with Israel, including by terror group Hamas, after one featured a character calling for better ties with the Jewish state and another highlighted the life of Jews in Kuwait in the 1940s.

The latter show, “Umm Haroun” (The Mother of Aaron), starring popular actress Hayat Al Fahad, features an opening monologue in Hebrew by a Jewish character: “Before our footsteps go missing and our lives fall into memory, we will be lost to time. … We are the [Persian] Gulf Jews who were born in the [Persian] Gulf lands.”

It is the first Arab production to discuss the lives of Jews in the Gulf and their relations with Muslims.

The series, directed by Egypt’s Ahmed Gamal el-Adl and produced in the United Arab Emirates, showcases a Jewish midwife of Turkish origin in Kuwait before she moves to Israel.

Read More: Times of Israel

More than 40,000 Christians worldwide stand for siren on Yom Hashoah

(Photo: International Christian Embassy Jerusalem)

By JNS - April 21, 2020

As the memorial siren sounded across Israel on Tuesday morning to mark Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem hosted more than 40,000 Christians worldwide in a live online ceremony that had viewers stand for the siren to honor the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust.

Due to current health rules regarding the coronavirus in Israel, the ICEJ’s observances this year were centered around a live webinar on Tuesday morning, broadcast via Facebook and YouTube. It drew more than 40,000 viewers around the globe.

Presented in cooperation with Christian Friends of Yad Vashem (CFYV), the program began with a live shot from the “Harp Bridge” at the entrance to Jerusalem as the nationwide siren sounded, bringing traffic to a stop. Christian viewers from around the world were asked to stand in silence in their homes to honor the martyrs of the Nazi genocide against the Jews.

Read More: JNS

Israelis mark solitary Holocaust Remembrance Day

(Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

By TOI Staff - April 20, 2020

All memorial events and ceremonies moved online due to pandemic; Holocaust survivors among 172 fatalities of the virus in Israel, including Aryeh Even, country’s first death.

Read More: Times of Israel

Arab-Christian MDA volunteer to light torch on Independence Day

(Photo: Magen David Adom)

By Jerusalem Post Staff - April 14, 2020

Yasmin Mazawi, a 20-year-old Arab-Israeli who volunteers as a medic with Magan David Adom as part of her national service, was chosen to light a torch during the Independence Day ceremony to be held on April 29, a press release on behalf of Sherut Leumi (National Service) reported.

Sherut Leumi is an option open to those who do not wish to join the IDF, such as ultra-orthodox Jewish women or those who do not wish to enlist, but still want to give back to society.

Mazawi, who is Christian, is also involved with Holocaust education among Muslims and Christians in Israel.

Read More: Jerusalem Post

Israeli 18-25s volunteer in droves to help during corona

(Photo: Ariel Liebman)

By Abigail Klein Leichman - April 14, 2020

The undisputed heroes of the coronavirus pandemic are the men and women working long shifts in all our hospitals.

But many of them couldn’t get to work without a corona-compliant childcare alternative. This is being provided at 16 Israeli medical centers by an extraordinary volunteer organization called Lev Echad (One Heart) Community Crisis Aid.

Founded in 2005, Lev Echad is like a phoenix: It goes dormant between disasters and awakens quickly when the next emergency hits.

Lev Echad’s volunteer leaders, all in their early 20s, use personal connections and social media to recruit thousands of young citizens quickly, working hand in hand with local authorities to place them where needed most.

In the current situation, Lev Echad has about 12,422 active volunteers (and counting) plus another 13,000 on reserve. Most volunteers are between 18 and 25 years old. On any given day, hundreds of them go out to accomplish a range of needed activities.

Read More: Israel21c

Christians, Jews Come Together to Help Impoverished Israelis During COVID-19 Pandemic

By Emily Jones - April 6, 2020

JERUSALEM, Israel – The coronavirus outbreak in Israel is bringing Christians and Jews together to help those suffering the most.

The Genesis 123 Foundation, a US-based nonprofit dedicated to building bridges between Christians and Jews, is working with Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, to help distribute food and other supplies to families in Jerusalem.

“Israel took the correct but unprecedented measure of closing down schools and classes including for at-risk and special needs children. This is causing incredible hardship for some 6000 families in Jerusalem who have children in these schools, and whose families normally have the respite of a structured educational framework. Adding to the challenges of taking care of special needs children all day with no outside support, about a third of these families, 2000 households, suffer from severe economic hardship,” Hassan-Nahoum said in a statement.

Read More: CBN News

Israeli tech helps African villages protect against corona

By Abigail Klein Leichman - April 7, 2020

It’s estimated that 450 million people across Sub-Saharan Africa lack access to clean water and basic hygiene.

This greatly increases their risk of infection if the novel coronavirus reaches their villages. Nearly 600 COVID-19 cases are already confirmed across the continent.

Israeli nonprofit organization Innovation: Africa (iA) – which installs Israeli solar and water technologies in remote villages in Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Cameroon and South Africa — is ramping up its efforts to prevent mass infections.

“How can we tell these communities to wash their hands when there is no clean water? Their medical facilities do not have proper equipment, refrigeration or even light to work at night,” says Sivan Ya’ari, CEO and founder of the award-winning Innovation: Africa.

“We operate in areas where COVID-19 could wipe out entire villages. I feel a greater sense of urgency than ever to bring them access to clean water and electricity.”

Read More: Israel21

From Elijah & Moses to the Gate of Faith, sculptures echo Israel’s Biblical past

(Photo: Shmuel Bar-Am)

By Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am - April 4, 2020

For more than two decades in the 9th century BCE, the Kingdom of Israel was ruled by King Ahab and his Phoenician wife Jezebel. According to the Scriptures, the couple encouraged their subjects to worship the pagan god Baal.

The prophet Elijah was the scourge of the royal family. He despised the king and queen, and determined to squash their pagan practices. In 1 Kings 17:1, he declared that there would be a famine in Israel, and so there was.

In its third year, Elijah faced 450 prophets of Baal on the top of Mount Carmel (called the Mukhraka in Arabic) in a contest to determine who controlled the Kingdom of Israel: the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — or Baal. After Elijah won, he had all of the other prophets slaughtered.

Over the years a Druze village grew up around the Mukhraka. In Arabic it means “scorching” — like the heavenly fire that consumed Elijah’s sacrifice when he won the contest.

Elijah is one of the most important prophets in the Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions and the site features an imposing stone statue of Elijah with a raised sword to the heavens. Today there is a church on the site, belonging to the Order of the Discalced (without shoes) Carmelites. Above the church a beautiful lookout offers a stunning view of the Jezreel Valley and Mount Tabor, the Upper Galilee and the Hermon Mountains.

Strange rocks are found on the Mukhraka, called, in Hebrew, Elijah’s Watermelon. It seems that Elijah was walking on the mountain one day, when he happened to see some lovely, ripe watermelons. He asked the farmer who owned the watermelons if he could have one.

Read More: Times of Israel

Sanitizing the ancient stones of the Western Wall

(Photo: The Western Wall Heritage Foundation)

By Abigail Klein Leichman - April 2, 2020

Every six months, before Rosh Hashana and Passover, workers collect thousands of handwritten notes from the crevices of the Western Wall (Kotel) in Jerusalem’s Old City. Then they bury the notes along with other sacred papers on the Mount of Olives.

On March 31, this familiar routine was carried out a bit differently because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Western Wall Heritage Foundation reports that the workers used gloves and disposable wooden tools to protect them from infection as they pried some 18,000 prayer notes from the wall.

Read More: Israel21c

Arab and Jewish medics together on frontline of Israel’s virus fight

(Photo: Magen David Adom)

By Majeda El-Batsch - March 31, 2020

AFP — In Israel, Jewish and Arab doctors have worked side by side on the frontlines of the novel coronavirus fight, also battling entrenched schisms between their communities and stressing their unity in the face of the crisis.

The Sheba Medical Center, near the city of Tel Aviv, is ranked among the best in the world and its directors say its standing is thanks to a team of Arab and Jewish caregivers working together in a society otherwise marked by divisions.

“We work together with Arab medical staff everywhere and not just in the time of coronavirus. There is no difference between us,” Sheba deputy director emeritus, Rafi Walden, told AFP.

Read More: Times of Israel

UN praises ‘excellent’ Israeli-Palestinian cooperation in fight against pandemic

(Photo: Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

By Raphael Ahren - March 30, 2020

Perhaps uncharacteristically, the United Nations has showered praise on Israel for its “excellent” cooperation with the Palestinian Authority in fighting the coronavirus.

PA government spokesman Ibrahim Milhem has repeatedly mentioned working together with Israel in his daily press briefings. However, other Palestinian top officials have continued to condemn the Jewish state, accusing it of cruelly abusing the health crisis to violate Palestinian human rights.

“We hold discussions and consultations every day with the relevant UN officials. We hear from them praise for the State of Israel for the coordination and good cooperation in dealing with the coronavirus crisis, which in our view is essential and necessary for an effective response to the spread of the virus,” Alon Bar, deputy director-general for the UN and international organizations at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said Sunday.

Read More: Times of Israel

Sea of Galilee hits highest water level since 2004; dam opening mulled

(Photo: David Cohen/Flash90)

By TOI Staff - March 24, 2020

Amid all the bad news about the coronavirus pandemic, Israelis can find some solace in the Sea of Galilee, which is in better shape than it’s been for the past 16 years.

According to officials who measure the level of the country’s largest source of freshwater every day, the level was at 209.275 meters (686.6 feet) below sea level Tuesday, the fullest it has been since July 2004.

Read More: Times of Israel

Israelis Across Country Applaud From Their Balconies in Appreciation of Medical Workers Battling Coronavirus

By Benjamin Kerstein - March 19, 2020

Israelis on Thursday evening held a demonstration of appreciation for and solidarity with health care workers battling the coronavirus by applauding from their balconies.

The applause was heard across the country, including in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Petah Tikva and Nahariya, as well as many other communities.

President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also participated in the demonstration.

Rivlin commented, “Thank you our dear ones — the medical teams and volunteers who are working day and night in order to give all the citizens of Israel a medical response in this difficult time.”

Read More: The Algemeiner

Coronavirus Crisis Brings Israel and Arab World Together, at Least Online

(Photo: Israeli Foreign Ministry)

By Benjamin Kerstein - March 18, 2020

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has been receiving messages of solidarity from across the Arab world as the coronavirus crisis intensifies, including messages like, “May Allah protect you.”

Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot reported that the messages came in response to a social media post by the ministry, which showed a photo of three employees making heart signs with their hands.

The accompanying Arabic-language text read, “This is a message to you from Israel: We pray to Allah to protect the inhabitants of Arab countries.”

“The coronavirus that is spreading intensely in the world these days knows no borders, religions, and nationalities,” it added. “We are all human beings; we are all brothers.”

The post was viewed by approximately four million people in Arab countries, and received responses such as, “May Allah protect you and bless you.”

One user from Iran called it a “beautiful message of solidarity and peace.”

An Iraqi user posted, “Our hearts are with Israel and the world at large, in all its diversity, religions, and beliefs, to defeat this virus together.”

Read More: The Algemeiner