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Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean and director of global social action at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told local media that when it comes to antisemitism in America, it’s time to start connecting the dots.
This month, Cooper met with top FBI officials from the counterterrorism and criminal divisions at FBI headquarters in Washington, DC. He urged the immediate creation of a special FBI Taskforce Against Antisemitism that would make it easier for local law enforcement and other agencies to more effectively deal with Jew-hatred in America.
“If we’re going to better understand the nature and scope of the threats, we need the FBI to lead, taking everyone out of their silo, getting all the information that they’re uniquely positioned to get, and then having a desk that’s going to review things and have access to other agencies – domestic and otherwise – in order for us to quantify and qualify what’s going on,” Cooper told local media on Monday.
Rabbi Cooper is also requesting the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism by federal law-enforcement agencies.
“We can’t expect the agencies that we’re dealing with to understand every aspect of antisemitism or to see it from the perspective of the world Jewish community. So, having that working definition means we’re all on the same page. I think it would be extremely useful to create some training for the FBI and for Homeland Security as to the nature of antisemitism, how it’s unique, and how and where it interconnects with other extremists and other hate groups,” said Cooper.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center recently released its global antisemitism 2021 “Top Ten” list.
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The world cannot acquiesce to Iran’s demand that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) no longer be designated by the United States as a terrorist organization, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said on Monday.
“If the IRGC isn’t a terrorist organization, what are they – a folk-dancing troupe?” Lapid quipped. The IRGC sponsors Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Houthis, Israel’s top diplomat added.
Earlier on Monday, Lapid called on participants at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations mission to Israel to ensure that the IRGC’s terrorist designation, in place since 2019, is not removed. “Everyone in their right mind should go to the Biden Administration and say, ‘This is wrong. Don’t do this,’” he said.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett revealed on Sunday that Tehran is demanding the removal of the IRGC from the US Foreign Terrorist Organizations List as a condition for reviving the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.
Lapid has made it clear that “even if you sign the deal, we didn’t,” adding: “It doesn’t apply to us, and we’re going to do what we think is necessary to make sure Iran does not become a nuclear-threshold country.”
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Israel and Morocco signed a new bilateral agreement on Monday aimed at deepening economic ties, expanding trade, and developing joint business committees to drive the deal forward.
Economy Minister Orna Barbivai, who arrived in Morocco on Sunday for a visit, said the accord “is intended to bring about economic growth and prosperity for Israel and Morocco,” as Israel hopes to “increase bilateral trade between the two countries from $131 million [last year] to $500 million in the next five years.”
At a joint press briefing on Monday, Moroccan Minister of Industry and Trade Ryad Mezzour said the “groundbreaking meeting” with the Israeli delegation headed by Barbivai “created the opportunity for us to identify regions and channels for bilateral industrial and commercial cooperation and partnership.”
The agreement will facilitate trade and investments in industries such as aerospace, tourism, tech research and development, automotive, agriculture, food, and pharmaceuticals, the ministers indicated.
The trade deal was the latest sign of expanding cooperation after the countries normalized relations in 2020. It comes three months after Jerusalem and Rabat signed a defense deal to deepen security ties, more freely share intelligence, and hold joint exercises.
Morocco was one of four Arab countries — along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan — to move towards normalizing ties with Israel last year under the US-brokered Abraham Accords.
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A new survey on the state of antisemitism finds that 28 percent of young Israeli Jews ages 18-29 are “very much” or “extremely” afraid for their personal safety when traveling abroad. The poll of more than 1,000 Israelis shows a decrease in safety concerns as the age demographic gets higher, with just 16 percent of Israeli Jews over 60 fearing for their safety in foreign countries.
A total of 59 percent of Israelis surveyed said that they would hide Jewish symbols when traveling abroad.
The study was commissioned by the Ruderman Family Foundation and conducted by Dialog, Israel’s leading human resources consulting agency. The results were released on Monday at Israel’s parliament during a special session of the Caucus for Israel-American Jewry Relations.
“Our new survey powerfully shows that pressing American Jewish concerns such as rising antisemitism are in fact shared concerns for the Jewish communities on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world,” Ruderman Family Foundation President Jay Ruderman said.
The survey also found that 21 percent of Israeli Jews ages 18-29 reported either experiencing antisemitism or knowing someone who experienced antisemitism when traveling outside of Israel.
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