Grapevine December 8, 2023: It ain’t over till it’s over

Economy Minister Nir Barkat, who aims to be Israel’s next prime minister was already quite open about this ambition some five years ago but made it clear at that time that he would not throw his cap into the ring until Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stepped down. It would seem that Barkat has become politically voracious, especially as Netanyahu’s popularity wanes.

But Barkat, even though he is the most affluent politician in the country and can afford costly election campaigns, should know that it isn’t over till it’s over. Even then, Barkat will face some stiff competition for the Likud leadership. Seasoned politicians – such as Ze’ev Elkin and Gideon Sa’ar who left Likud – may return.

Danny Danon, who is chairman of World Likud, is a solid right-winger, and has previously expressed the desire to head the party, Benny Gantz’s star is rising, and he could well decide to join Likud, in which case he would be a frontline runner for prime minister.

There are a few other Likudniks who see themselves in the role, but until Netanyahu decides to step down or is forced to step down, no one should hold their breath. For all that, it is unlikely that the present Netanyahu-led government will last the full term.

Donations rolling in

■ ECONOMIC DOWNTURNS notwithstanding, when Israel faces an existential threat, the money keeps rolling in. At its Wall Street dinner this week, the UJA Federation of New York raised a record $45 million for its annual campaign to support a variety of nonprofits and its Israel emergency campaign.

Of the $156m. raised for the Israel emergency campaign over the past two months, $75m. was raised from Wall Street donors.

Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Israel’s special envoy for combating antisemitism, delivered the keynote address. In a passionate plea to her audience, she emphasized that the war in Israel is not just about Israel or Jews experiencing antisemitism across the globe, but it is also about protecting civilization as we know it.

She concluded by saying it is critical to recognize anti-Israel rhetoric as a dangerous and insidious form of antisemitism requiring the community to come together as one to stand up against antisemitism.

Cancelling Hanukah?

■ MANY Hanukkah events were canceled, including those that were advertised in the last few weeks.

Case in point is the lighting of the first Hanukkah candle by Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion as part of High Light the Jerusalem Sky Symphony – a laser show that was intended as a salute to the security and rescue forces, while simultaneously including large parts of the capital.

Among the dignitaries scheduled to attend were Meir Porush, minister for Jerusalem and tradition, Danny Sahar, CEO of the Tourism Ministry, and Eyal Haimovsky, CEO of the Jerusalem Development Authority.

But on December 5, a message was sent from a Tel Aviv public relations company advising that the event was canceled.

No explanation was given.

Hanukkah celebrations at Yeshiva University

■ BUT IN New York, a few days before Hanukkah, Yeshiva University celebrated its 99th annual Hanukkah dinner, which amongst others, was attended by YU students and faculty who are IDF veterans, and Israel Consul General Aviv Ezra.

Altogether some 500 friends, faculty, students and alumni of YU attended the gala event at New York City’s Ziegfeld Ballroom.

YU President Dr. Ari Berman announced that the YU 613 campaign since it was first publicized three years ago, has raised $400m. of its $613m. Rise Up goal.

The five-year campaign was officially launched on December 5, 2021.

Berman also took great pride in announcing the establishment of the new Senator Joseph Lieberman Center for Public Service and Advocacy, founded by the Ira Mitzner and Riva Collins families who are inspired by Lieberman, who is widely known. respected and revered as a figure of faith in the public square, contributed a generous gift of $10m.

This vital center will further Yeshiva University’s mission of developing the next generation of government leaders and advocates who are deeply rooted in Jewish values and tradition, and deeply connected to Israel, said Berman.

Helping to create a lively mood for the evening were multimedia presentations and live performances by the Maccabeats, Cantor Netanel Hershtik and Ishay Ribo, who was the recipient of the inaugural YU equivalent to the Grammy Award, which is known as Or L’Israel (Light for Israel) in recognition of his support for soldiers and displaced Israeli communities.

The context is irrelevant

■ NON-JEWISH American institutes of higher learning were hauled on the carpet by Congress this week, in a hearing about antisemitism and anti-Israelism on campus. While conceding that antisemitism is a problem, President of Harvard University Claudine Gay, President of the University of Pennsylvania Liz Magill, and President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sally Kornbluth balked at having to prevent freedom of speech when leveled at Jewish students.

When asked by New York Republican Rep. Elise Stafanik whether calling for the genocide of Jews is against their respective codes of conduct, each replied that it would depend on the context.

The backlash from the White House, Jewish organizations, and other sources was swift in coming and condemned the attitudes of the three university presidents as despicable.

Reactions were widely covered in the American media, causing the university presidents to publish clarifications to the effect that they would never condone incitement to genocide.

In Israel, their responses to Congress enraged Prof. Daniel Chamovitz, the president of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, who doesn’t see a call for genocide as context-dependent. He regards as cowards, those university presidents who refuse to categorically state that calling for the genocide of Jews is unacceptable.

He is convinced that if such incitement was applied to people of any other faith or race, university administrators would not waffle in the same way.

The very people who propose genocide of the Jews, also deny that Jews have lived for centuries in what is now the State of Israel.

A comment circulating on social media platforms, which may seem disrespectful but contains more than a grain of truth is: “Billions of people around the globe are about to celebrate the birthday of a Jewish man born in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago, but don’t think that Jews lived there before 1948.”

If by chance there is a Second Coming, all Christian antisemites will attack the person who is worshiped as their savior, simply because he’s Jewish.

Separating personal and private

■ US AMBASSADOR Jack Lew does not tweet with nearly the same frequency as his predecessor Tom Nides, and strangely, Nides who is a Reform Jew with a non-Jewish wife, never missed out during his term in Israel, on a Shabbat Shalom tweet every Friday, whereas this has not been the case with Lew, who is Orthodox.

One explanation could be that Lew does not mix his private life with his professional life, whereas Nides identified more as a Jew in Israel than he does in America.

Whatever the reason, Lew sent an important tweet this week in which he stated: “Powerful reporting by CNN’s @biannagolodryga on sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas against Israeli women on Oct 7.

The details are painful but we have a duty to bear witness and give voice to the victims of these awful acts. Believe Israeli women.”

The tweet included a link to the CNN report.

Hiding behind human shields

■ ISRAELI DIPLOMATS are having a really tough time in getting the world to understand the difference between Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, and the Hamas slaughter of Israelis on October 7.

Hamas hides behind human shields both physically and figuratively. By featuring photographs and thumbnail biographies of children whose lives were cut short by missiles shot from Israeli planes, Hamas gains world sympathy, and Israel gets accused of genocide.

In an interview on Reshet Bet with Estee Perez Ben Ami, Idit Rosenzweig Abu, Israel’s ambassador to Belgium, said that antisemitism in that country is on such a scale that when the embassy tried to present Israel’s side of the story in one of the leading Belgian newspapers, the request was rejected with the comment that the paper does not publicize Israeli propaganda.

An incomparable war

■ THERE ARE some half dozen retired senior officers of the Israel Defense Forces who are frequently interviewed on military matters.

One who seems to be interviewed more often than the others is Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Gershon Hacohen, who served in the IDF for 42 years, and is regarded as both an excellent analyst and strategist. In one of his recent interviews, Hacohen was asked to compare the current hostage situation with that of the Yom Kippur War.

There is a vast difference, he said. The captives of the Yom Kippur War were soldiers who were being held by soldiers who observed certain rules. In the present circumstances, the captives are both soldiers and civilians, including women and children, who are being held by terrorists who are not answerable to any code of law.

Helping the displaced

■ SO MANY of the people who have volunteered in a myriad of different ways on behalf of soldiers and of residents of the South and the North who have been displaced from their homes say afterward that they received much more from the beneficiaries of their activities than what they had given.

This is of great interest to researchers Dr. Ephraim Shapiro, Dr. Livia Levine, and Dr. Avi Kay, who are currently conducting an anonymous survey aimed at understanding the volunteering experiences of adult volunteers since the start of the Swords of Iron military campaign.

Shapiro is a senior lecturer at Ariel University and Levine and Kay are faculty members of the Jerusalem College of Technology.

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