Baker criticizes Bush for Syria policy
The Bush administration’s refusal to deal with Syria is “ridiculous,” said James Baker, a former U.S. secretary of state.
Five former secretaries of state met Sept. 15 under the auspices of CNN to discuss what advice they would give the next president.
“I think it is ridiculous for us to say we’re not going to talk to Syria and yet Israel has been talking to them for six to eight months,” said Baker, who as secretary of state under Bush’s father helped convene the 1991 Madrid talks, which for the first time brought Israelis, Palestinians, Syrians and other Arab nations into the same process.
The Bush administration has discouraged Israel’s talks with Syria, currently held by Turkish mediators. Israel wants to draw Syria away from the Iranian sphere; the Bush administration says it will not engage Syria until it fully disengages from Lebanon and stops its support for terrorist groups. — jta
Yale debaters: Cut ‘special’ Israeli ties
An undergraduate debating society at Yale University has voted in favor of ending America’s “special relationship” with Israel.
The vote at the Yale Political Union came after a three-hour debate between students and University of Chicago political science professor John Mearsheimer, who, with Harvard Univerity professor Stephen Walt, has been a fierce advocate of upending the power of pro-Israel lobbyists in Washington.
Mearsheimer and Walt are the authors of “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,” in which they argue that Israel and its U.S. supporters were instrumental in pushing the war in Iraq.
The vote, 44-25, follows similar, though more extreme resolutions, last year from Oxford University’s student union against the influence of pro-Israel lobbyists. — jpost.com
Rosenberg co-defendant admits to spying
One of the co-defendants in the Rosenberg espionage case has admitted to spying for the Soviets.
Morton Sobell, who was tried and convicted in 1951 with Julius and Ethel Rosenberg on espionage charges, admitted for the first time last week in an interview with the New York Times that he had turned over military secrets to the Soviets during World War II.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, call it that,” he told the Times when asked if he was a spy. “I never thought of it as that in those terms.”
Sobell drew a distinction between providing information on defensive radar and artillery, which he did, and the information that, he said, Julius Rosenberg provided to the Soviets on the atomic bomb. He said he believes the Soviets already had obtained from other sources most of the information Rosenberg provided.
Sobell also said he believed that Ethel Rosenberg was aware of her husband’s spying, but did not actively participate. Both Rosenbergs were executed for their crimes; Sobell served 19 years in prison on Alcatraz Island. — jta
Coleman, Franken to square off
Incumbent Norm Coleman and Al Franken handily won their Senate primaries last week in Minnesota.
The Jewish candidates, along with Dean Barkley of the Independence Party, will meet in the general election in November.
Coleman had no serious challenger and received more than 90 percent of the Republican vote. Franken picked up just under 70 percent of the vote in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party primary.
Coleman and Franken, a former “Saturday Night Live” performer and writer, have been waging a multimillionaire-dollar campaign for months. — jta
Judge tosses out Seattle divestment
A Seattle judge has thrown out a ballot proposal on divesting from companies that do business with Israel.
King County Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez ruled that Initiative 97, which would have compelled Seattle’s retirement board to divest from some companies that do business with Israel, exceeds the scope of power for ballot initiatives.
“The funds in question are pension funds, not city funds. They belong to workers who will need them to retire,” Gonzalez said. “Given that, [the proposal] is beyond the scope of the initiative process.”
The initiative, which supporters had been telling residents was a measure to divest from Iraq, had prompted opposition from several Jewish organizations, the mayor and most of Seattle’s city council members. — jta
Football teams sack idea of dealing with German company
The New York Giants and New York Jets ended naming-rights talks with a German insurance company that once had ties to the Nazis.
Allianz had been looking to buy naming rights to the shared football stadium being built in northern New Jersey.
The move was criticized by Jewish groups and Holocaust survivors. The company says it has atoned for its history and should not be judged by its World War II record.
Allianz officials confirmed that talks have ended. Discussions are continuing with other potential partners for naming rights. — ap
Chabad telethon raises $8 million
Chabad of the West Coast’s To Life telethon raised more than $8 million.
The Sept. 14 telethon, which was was held in Los Angeles and broadcast nationally on the AmericanLife TV Network, featured Chabad rabbis dancing with high-profile donors such as Beverly Hills Mayor Jimmy Delshad. The mayor, a Persian Jew, contributed $1,800 and made a plea in his native Farsi for others to donate.
The actor Jon Voight, making his 18th appearance on the Chabad telethon, was given a Lubavitch-style black hat. Voight also made a plug for Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
Other celebrities featured on the show included Martin Landau, James Cromwell and Mimi Rogers. Pre-taped messages of support came from Larry King, Jackie Mason, Howie Mandel and Regis Philbin.
The money raised during the telethon will be used to support, among other large-scale religious and philanthropic projects, the Chabad Residential Drug Treatment Center in Los Angeles, as well as Chabad’s Camp Gan, which has been a safe haven for Israeli girls escaping rocket attacks in Sderot. — jta
UJC establishes hurricane relief fund
United Jewish Communities opened a fund to help in the recovery from recent Gulf Coast hurricanes.
The umbrella organization of North America’s Jewish federation system is urging the 157 federations and 400 independent Jewish communities it serves to contribute to the effort, which will go to assist Jewish communities in the country’s coastal region that were affected by the hurricanes and to nonsectarian relief efforts.
Initial relief will go toward short-term disaster needs such as food, water and medicine, and for intermediate needs such as mental health counseling.
Checks should be mailed to United Jewish Communities, P.O. Box 30, Old Chelsea Station, New York, NY 10113, Attention: UJC Hurricane Relief Fund. Online donations can be made at www.ujc.org.
The Union for Reform Judaism also has established a fund. Contributions can be mailed to Hurricane Disaster Relief Fund, Union for Reform Judaism, 633 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017. Online donations can be made at www.urj.org/relief. — jta
Virginia, Israel sign business agreement
Virginia and Israel signed an agreement last week to strengthen cooperation on research and development.
Under the agreement, an approved joint R&D project will receive financial support from the governments of Virginia and Israel. The initiative will significantly reduce the costs that Virginian and Israeli companies normally would incur if they were to conduct the project independently, according to an Israeli Embassy statement. — jta