SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — Seventy-seven Congressional Democrats, including nine Jewish members, wrote to Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin, respectively Secretary of State and Defense Secretary, stating that “administrative action must be taken to ensure Israel upholds the assurances it provided in March 2024 to facilitate, and not directly or indirectly obstruct U.S. humanitarian assistance. We remain committed to a negotiated solution that can bring an end to the fighting, free the remaining hostages, surge humanitarian aid, and lay the groundwork to rebuild Gaza with a legitimate Palestinian governing body.”
Nine Jewish members of Congress who signed the letter included Becca Balint of Vermont; Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon; Steve Cohen of Tennessee; Jerrold Nadler of New York; Sara Jacobs of California; Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island; Jamie Raskin of Maryland; Jan Schakowsky of Illinois; and Susan Wild of Pennsylvania.
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In the U.S. Senate meanwhile, proposed legislation titled SANCTIONS in the West Bank Act, has been introduced by U.S. Sen Bernie Sanders (Independent-Vermont) and six Democratic colleagues. SANCTIONS is an acronym for “Sanctions and Accountability for Non-Compliance and Transparent Investigative Oversight for National Security.” It lays out findings that a President must make before lifting previously imposed sanctions on Israelis found to be promoting violence in Judea and Samaria. In this regard, Brooke Goldstein, founding executive director of The Lawfare Project, has sued the Biden administration for what she says was an unconstitutional executive order imposing sanctions on Israelis and their American supporters. “She said: “It is unconscionable that an American President would target the only thriving, democratic ally in the region with the kind of sanctions reserved for terrorists and rogue states. This lawsuit is a critical step in defending constitutional rights and opposing the Biden administration’s unlawful overreach, particularly as Israel faces existential threats.”
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Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz has ordered Israeli troops to spend their winter “holding on to the peak of Mount Hermon,” which straddles the border between Syria and Lebanon. He said that “due to what is happening in Syria [a takeover by rebel forces], there is enormous security importance” to Mt. Hermon.
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Hostage Matan Zangauker, in a video released last week by Hamas, criticized the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu and spoke of his condition in Gaza captivity. As provided by The Jerusalem Post, Zangauker speaking in English and Hebrew, said: “We die a thousand times every day, and no one feels for us. The people of Israel, do not neglect us. We are still alive. We went to return before we go crazy. Isolation is killing us, and the darkness here is frightening. It is illogical that we pay the price for the government’s mistakes, and it is time to put an end to our suffering.” In another segment, he said, “Life in Gaza is not easy. We live with little food, undrinkable water, and little medicine. We live with rats, spiders, and other animals, and the lack of hygiene products affects us badly. We have skin disease and dandruff. We don’t have soap.” To his mother Einav Zangauker, he said, “I watch you, and I hear you a lot, and I understand the activities you do, and I hear the activities you carry out. I am very happy that you are well, and I hope to see you soon and sit with you at the same table to eat and drink and talk with you.”
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Ted Deutch and Michael Tichnor, respectively the CEO and president of the American Jewish Committee, traveled to London, Paris, and Amsterdam where they urged government leaders and elected officials to combat antisemitism. Their efforts prompted a letter signed by more than 40 European Union leaders addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyden and European Council President Antonio Costa, among others, calling on them to combat antisemitism. “This is not a time for complacency—it is a time for decisive leadership,” the letter stated. “Europe must act swiftly and decisively to stem this crisis before it is too late.”
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Iraq’s Prime minister Mohammad Shia Al Sudani discussed the Syrian revolution. “As Syria transitions from the Assad dictatorship to hopefully a democracy, it does so in a way that of course protects all of the minorities in Syria, that produces an inclusive, non-sectarian government and does not become in any way a platform for terrorism,” Blinken commented during the meeting in Baghdad.
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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said an attack by Russia utilizing at least 93 missiles and 200 drones on Friday targeted his nation’s energy infrastructure. Zelensky said Ukraine was able to down 81 of the missiles which Russia said were sent in retaliation for Ukraine’s Dec. 11 attack utilizing U.S.-supplied missiles on a Russian airfield near Taganrog. The Russian attack left parts of Ukraine without power during a very cold winter.
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Evan Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal reporter imprisoned in Russia for more than a year on charges of spying for the U.S., has written an article on his ordeal, the first since his release. Tracking Putin’s Most Feared Secret Agency—From Inside a Russian Prison and Beyond – WSJ
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Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum issued a decree earlier this week creating a Presidential Commission on Justice Plans and Regional Development for Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples. According to Mexico News Daily, the decree guarantees Mexico’s 68 indigenous groups such rights as deciding on their internal forms of government, regulating internal conflicts, promoting their cultures, preserving their indigenous cultures, and being consulted by Mexican federal and state governments about any legislation or regulations directly impacting them.
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Jewish Democrats in the U.S. are weighing the future with Republicans in charge of the executive branch and both houses of Congress. Senator-elect Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan) told the Jewish Democratic Council of America that Democratic candidates should focus on pocketbook issues, not take any voters for granted, and “appeal to people’s core issues, regardless of their historical voting patterns.” She also said that the Senate should not abdicate its constitutional duty to provide “advise and consent” –or to withhold consent – on President-elect Trump’s nominees for important positions in the federal government. … Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-California), writing to San Diego constituents, said, “We may not know what the future holds, but I am 100% sure that to navigate it, we’ll need to work together. We’ll need to rely on our community, and we’ll need to trust one another.”
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President Biden signed legislation by U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) authorizing a study of whether the Smithsonian Institution should take over administration of the Philadelphia-based, financially troubled National Museum of American Jewish History. The commission created by the bill would have two years following its launch to come to a conclusion.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said Thursday he is readying for a floor vote the proposed Social Security Fairness Act which would provide full social security for people who receive separate government pensions for part of their careers or whose spouses did. That legislation has already passed the House of Representatives.
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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, was asked how harmful a big budget deficit will be as she prepares to leave office. “Well, I am concerned about fiscal sustainability,” she responded. “And I am sorry that we haven’t made more progress. I believe that the deficit needs to be brought down, especially now that we’re in an environment of higher interest rates.”
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Cantor Fitzgerald, the Wall Street firm headed by Commerce Secretary-designate Howard Lutnick, has agreed to pay a $6.75 million civil penalty imposed by the Security and Exchange Commission for misleading investors about Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of stock for View, Inc. and Satellogic Inc.
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U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss, the special counsel in the prosecution of now-pardoned Hunter Biden, has negotiated a plea bargain with former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, who lied about the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma executives paying Hunter Biden and his father, President Joe Biden, $5 million bribes each. The plea bargain also covers charges of tax evasion. Awaiting approval by a judge, the settlement exposes Smirnov to a prison sentence between four and six years.
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Michael Horowitz, Inspector General for the U.S. Justice Department, revealed on Thursday that 26 FBI informants were among the crowd of January 6, 2021 protesters that stormed the Capitol. Four of them entered the Capitol, and another 13 entered the restricted area around the building. “None of these FBI CHSs [Confidential Human Sources] were authorized to enter the Capitol or a restricted area, or to otherwise break the law on January 6, nor was any CHS directed by the FBI to encourage others to commit illegal ats on January 6,” Horowitz’s report stated.
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Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland), ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, asked the Trump transition team for assurances that nominees for Cabinet positions would undergo FBI background checks. He also sought information about allegations that Trump aide Boris Epshteyn was collecting fees for recommending would-be officeholders to the President-elect.
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Shimon Koffler Fogel is retiring as president and CEO of Canada’s Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs “after four decades of remarkable service to our community,” CIJA has announced.
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Jonathan Lederer, a student at Columbia University, had the Israeli flag he was carrying stolen and when he tried to retrieve it, he was punched in the face. This occurred during an anti-Israel rally conducted by the Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition, which Jonathan and his brother David counter-protested. Prof. Shai Davidai, who has been banned since October from Columbia’s campus by university officials, told Arutz Sheva, “Columbia University has a serious problem of support for anti-Jewish, anti-Israeli, and anti-American terrorism. It’s undeniable. If Columbia is serious about Jewish and Israeli lives and wants to solve the root problem rather than put bandaids on it, I am here to work with you. But I won’t let you look the other way. You know who the leaders are. You have read what they have written, heard what they have said, and seen how they behave. You know it’s time to remove them from campus.”
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San Franciso Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie plans to appoint four policy chiefs to oversee 56 city agencies – an average of 14 agencies per policy chief. Under the administration of current Mayor London Breed, there was only one policy chief prompting complaints that there was a bottleneck. The San Francisco Standard reports that he four policy chiefs would supervise respectively public safety; housing and economic development; public health and well being; and infrastructure, climate and mobility.
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Louisville, Kentucky’s Mayor Craig Greenberg said an agreement between his city and the federal Department of Justice to reform the police in the aftermath of the 2020 fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor will reinforce his city’s ongoing improvements to the police department. He mentioned a city law banning no-knock warrants as an example.
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Compiled by the staff of San Diego Jewish World