Israel’s U.N. envoy: 2nd Shoah possible
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations warned that another Shoah could begin with the threats of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Gabriela Shalev addressed the U.N. General Assembly at a session convened to discuss and approve a work plan submitted by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Program.
“We cannot ignore the troubling reality that today, more than 60 years after the Holocaust, we hear from this very same podium a leader of a member state who calls for the destruction of another member state and denies the Holocaust,” Shalev told the council, referring to the Iranian president’s threats against Israel. — jta
Israel supporters may get tougher
Greater concern for Israel among U.S. Orthodox Jews could alter the politics of the pro-Israel community, a new study said.
The study, conducted by Sam Abrams of Harvard University and sociologist Steven M. Cohen of Hebrew Union College, reported that among non-Orthodox American Jews, those over 65 were almost twice as likely to rate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a major consideration in their vote for president as are Jews aged 21-34. Among Orthodox Jews, however, no such variation with age occurs.
The study warned that current trends could significantly alter the pro-Israel Jewish landscape as Orthodox Jews come to figure more prominently as political advocates for the Jewish state. — jta
Jewish genealogy collection on Web
A genealogy Web site is launching what it says is the world’s largest online collection of Jewish family history records.
Ancestry.com has partnered with two organizations for the project — JewishGen, an affiliate of New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage, and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, an overseas humanitarian aid organization.
The online collection, which was announced Oct. 29, features 26 million documents, online for the first time — from photographs and immigration data to a list of people who died in Nazi concentration camps.
The Joint Distribution Committee says it has digitized records showing the amount of money paid by American Jews to support the emigration of friends and relatives from Europe during and after World War II and records of displaced Jews who were provided with food, medical care, clothing and emigration assistance by the JDC. — ap
Army boots soldier who beat G.I. Jew
The U.S. Army has discharged a soldier who beat a Jewish trainee. The Army previously cited federal privacy laws in refusing to say how it punished the attacker of Pvt. Michael Handman, 20.
“The soldier that was punished for the assault on Pvt. Handman has been processed for discharge from the Army,” Fort Benning spokesman Bob Purtiman confirmed Nov. 3, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Before the attack, Handman had complained about religious harassment in his basic training unit, which included the attacker, an Army spokesman said Nov. 3. Handman was beaten Sept. 24 by a fellow trainee in a laundry room near his barracks. He is now in another basic training unit at Fort Benning, in Georgia.
Purtiman would not release the name of Handman’s attacker, citing the Federal Privacy Act. — jta
Rabbi group picks first female to lead
Julie Schonfeld was chosen as the first female rabbi to direct an American rabbinical association.
Schonfeld was named Oct. 29 as the new executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly, the Conservative movement’s rabbinic group. She will succeed Rabbi Joel Meyers, who will step down July 1. Schonfeld is the first female rabbi to serve in the chief executive position of an American rabbinical association.
The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association had a woman who was not a rabbi in its top administrative position, while both the Recon-structionist group and the Reform Central Confer-ence of American Rabbis have had female rabbis as president.
A graduate of Yale University who was ordained in 1997 by the Jewish Theological Seminary, Schonfeld is currently the Rabbinical Assembly’s director of rabbinic development. — jta
Eizenstat joins Claims Conference
Stuart Eizenstat has joined the Claims Conference as an unpaid negotiator.
Eizenstat, a Clinton administration deputy Treasury secretary, led successful reparations negotiations in the 1990s, chief among them the Swiss Banks settlement.
“Mr. Eizenstat’s accomplishments on behalf of Jewish victims of Nazism are unparalleled,” said a statement from the Claims Conference, the umbrella body for groups seeking reparations.
“His involvement in numerous negotiations has led to billions of dollars in payments, but more importantly has set right the historical record concerning the involvement of European governments and industry in the Shoah.” — jta
Rosen joins Middle East Forum
An ex-AIPAC staffer accused in a classified information case is working for a Middle East think tank.
Steve Rosen, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s former foreign policy director, is working for Middle East Forum, directed by conservative scholar Daniel Pipes. Rosen is to deliver a talk in New York next week on the implications of new governments in Israel and the United States for policy toward Iran.
Rosen’s indictment four years ago on charges of obtaining and disseminating classified information is still languishing in the system; a federal trial may take place in the first half of 2009. — jta
Waxman poised to challenge Dingell
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is positioning himself to run for the leadership of one of the most powerful congressional committees.
Waxman, the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee, plans to challenge Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) for chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee, sources confirmed Nov. 5 to JTA after the story appeared in the Roll Call daily. The committee, the first stop for health-care reform and energy matters, is poised to be critical in an Obama administration. The president-elect plans far-reaching reforms in each area.
Dingell, the longest serving member of Congress, has a cool relationship with pro-Israel groups. Energy reform will likely include plans to cooperate with Israel on alternative energy plans. Waxman, the dean of the unofficial Jewish caucus in Congress, is close to the pro-Israel community. — jta