SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — Gali Baharav-Miara, Israel’s attorney general, has been accused by Shlomo Karhi, Israel’s communications minister, of “deliberately thwarting government policy for political reasons.” Karhi, with the backing of 12 other ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 33-member Cabinet, has called for Baharav-Miara’s dismissal.
The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) reports that coalition members have been angered by Baharav-Miara’s opposition to increased use of spyware by the police, as well as her opposition to military draft exemptions for Haredim.
The Times of Israel identified the 13 ministers seeking Baharav-Miara’s ouster as Karhi, Miki Zohar, May Golan, Idit Silman, Amichai Chikli, David Amsalem, Haim Katz, Yitzhak Wasserlauf, Amichay Eliyahu, Orit Strock, Yitzhak Goldknopf, Meir Porush and Itamar Ben Gvir.
The Jerusalem Post reported that to proceed with a removal process against Baharav-Miara, “17 signatures, a majority of the government” are required.
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Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman has addressed confusion over the “One Jewish State” slate of candidates for election to the World Jewish Congress, the global Jewish forum that allocates approximately $1 billion annually for Israeli and global Jewish programs. His book also is titled One Jewish State. In a social media post, he wrote: “To clarify, I am NOT affiliated with any slate or candidates seeking election and I have not authorized anyone to speak on my behalf. .. I believe that the World Zionist Congress should support the Jewish communities located in Judea and Samaria and I support the slates which share this view.”
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Adam Boehler, part of the team with Jared Kushner that negotiated the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords in which Israel gained recognition from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and the Sudan, has been named by President-elect Trump as his special envoy for hostages.
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UNITED STATES
President-elect Donald Trump has nominated businessman Jared Isaacman to head the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He is the founder of Draken International, which provides jet flight support for the U.S. Air Force, and also is the founder of Shift4 Payments, a payment processor. He commanded Inspiration4, a private spaceflight using SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience in 2021. He was the first private citizen to perform a spacewalk as commander of the 2024 Polaris Dawn mission.
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The U.S. Senate gave final legislative passage Tuesday, Dec. 3, to a bill, H.R. 7764, untitled that creates an 8-member commission to study the possible transfer the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia to the administration of the government-run Smithsonian Institution. In the House of Representatives, Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) and Max Miller (R-Ohio) were among the sponsors of that legislation. “Educating all Americans, from all over the country, about the amazing contributions Jewish Americans made to our nation, not only raises awareness but helps dispel harmful prejudices about our community,” Wasserman Schultz said. Miller commented, “At a time when antisemitism and hate are on the rise, expanding education about Jewish American history is more important than ever. I am honored to be part of this bipartisan effort, and I look forward to seeing it signed into law.”
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Stuart Eizenstat, chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, has called upon the nation’s institutions to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism. What is antisemitism? “Antisemitism was a dangerous and growing threat long before the October 7 against Israel,” he stated. “Since then, threats to Jews, including violence, have accelerated dramatically, resulting in worldwide public displays of antisemitism that we once thought had ended with the Holocaust and the commitment to Never Again. Adoption of the IHRA definition, as the Museum called for in 2016, is more critical now than ever and an important step that can help counter this alarming trend, which requires the active participation of all sectors of society.” The House-passed Antisemitism Awareness Act, which incorporates the IHRA definition, awaits action in the U.S. Senate. Fearing opposition to the act on a variety of grounds, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has floated the idea of incorporating provisions of the Antisemitism Awareness Act into the National Defense Authorization Act, thereby making it harder for any senator to vote against it. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has declined to go along with this idea, insisting that the Senate vote for or against the Antisemitism Awareness Act as the House did.
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What will Senate Democrats do, once they become the minority party in the new Congress? Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in an AP story published in today’s San Diego Union-Tribune, “Our preference is to secure bipartisan solutions wherever possible and look for ways to collaborate with our Republican colleagues to help working families… However, our Republican colleagues should make no mistake about it, we will always stand up for our values.” Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii commented, “We need to talk about people, protect people, advocate for people. Do not talk about protecting institutions. It’s not just a rhetorical shift, but an attitudinal shift. We have to remind ourselves, that we’re not fighting for programs and projects and line items and agencies or norms. We’re fighting for people.” And Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said Schumer will “thoughtfully and strategically” pick his battles.
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In an interview with Los Angeles Times reporter Kevin Rector, U.S. Senator-elect Adam Schiff listed his priorities: lowering the cost of housing; reducing fees for healthcare, especially in rural areas of the state; and making childcare more affordable. Schiff told Rector, “The issue of the last election—which we didn’t satisfactorily answer, which we’re going to need to answer as a country—is if you’re working hard in America, can you still earn a good living? For too many people, that’s not the case.”
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Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, told CNBC, “We wanted to evaluate whether antisemitic rhetoric is having real-world implications on labor markets. So, we conducted the largest field experiment, that we know of, that looked at resumes being submitted for white-collar jobs, where we used identical resumes for 3,000 applications. The control group were sort of European names and then we had a test group of Jewish-sounding names and Israeli sounding names. … Some of the signals on the resumes changed, like the activities you were involved with, and indeed what we found was quite dramatic. The Jewish applications, they needed 24 percent more versus the control, to get the same results … and the Israeli sounding resumes 40 percent more. … Rhetoric creates real-world results!”
CALIFORNIA
San Francisco’s Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie will face a budget shortfall of $876 million over the next two years, according to figures released by outgoing Mayor London Breed. This news complicates Lurie’s campaign promises to enlarge the San Francisco police force, combat illegal drug use, and reduce homelessness. Lurie will be sworn into office on Wednesday, January 8. A wealthy member of the Levi Strauss family, Lurie has said he will accept only $1 a year in salary.
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Kevin McCarty, a Democratic member of the state Assembly, has been declared the winner in Sacramento’s mayoral contest, narrowly defeating political newcomer Flojaune Cofer. McCarty had the endorsement of outgoing mayor Darrell Steinberg. McCarty will be sworn in on Tuesday, Dec. 10.
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SAN DIEGO COUNTY
“The Joan,” a performance art theatre at Liberty Station in San Diego, has received $8 million in cash and endowments respectively from Irwin Jacobs, grandfather of Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego), and the Joseph W. Clayes III Charitable Trust. Jacobs donated $3 million more, bringing to $10 million his contribution to “the Joan,” named after his late wife Joan Jacobs. A $5 million endowment –$1 million a year over a five-year period – was donated by Trulette Clayes, the niece of the charitable trust’s namesake.
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Educational Results Partnership has named San Diego Unified School District in the top 22 percent statewide based on the recently released California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress. Shana Hazan, president of the district’s board, commented, “While we have more work to do, we are proud to be recognized as one of the leading California school districts in closing achievement gaps for historically marginalized students. By working in partnership with educators, families, and our community, I know our students will continue to grow and thrive.”
The ranking of “Star” was given to San Diego Unified and six other local districts with 33 percent or more students designated as socioeconomically disadvantaged. The ranking of “Scholar” was awarded to four districts with fewer than 33 percent of students designated as socioeconomically disadvantaged.
Other “star” districts were Bonsall Unified, Chula Vista Elementary, Fallbrook Elementary, Santee Elementary, San Marcos Unified, and Vista Unified. “Scholar” district designations went to Del Mar Union, Rancho Santa Fe Elementary, San Dieguito Union High, and Solana Beach Elementary.
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San Diego Jewish World staff report