Many Jerusalemites have wondered what was behind the city’s spurt of urban renewal, with scores of new residential, office, and commercial towers either under construction, recently completed, or in the pipeline. Could it be that Mayor Moshe Lion envisages that a large swathe of the capital will be dedicated to an embassy row, in which case, he wants to upgrade as much of the city as possible to be worthy of all foreign heads of state, government, and other dignitaries who will be among the official visitors to the city?
With the announcement by Samoa that it will open an embassy in Jerusalem this year to join the US, Guatemala, Kosovo, Honduras, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Paraguay, and the strong possibility that Somaliland may also do so, it’s quite possible that other governments will move their embassies to Jerusalem in order to be closer to all government offices, the Knesset, the National Library, the Israel Museum, and other important venues.
Moreover, some of the new towers at the entrance to the city are multipurpose, allowing for embassies and residences to be located on different floors in the same building or in buildings adjacent to each other. As several towers near the entrance to the city are either completed or in an advanced stage of construction, to move the embassies into one of them would be time-saving for ambassadors and embassy staff, particularly as the Foreign Ministry and some other government ministries are within easy walking distance.
Following the US abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, with a view to restoring democracy to Venezuela, Israel hoped to revive diplomatic relations with Venezuela, which were severed in 2009. Sadly, there are certain quarters in Venezuela that claim that Israel had a hand in the abduction, so diplomacy is presently on hold.
That’s kind of a pity, as Venezuela was one of the 33 UN member countries that on November 29, 1947, voted in favor of the partition of Palestine. A lot can change between now and November 2027 when Israel celebrates the 80th anniversary of the vote.
Gideon Sa'ar flies Arkia to Somaliland
It's rare when countries that do not have airline agreements with each other allow the air carriers of one to land in the other. One of those few exceptions occurred this week when Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar flew to Somaliland from Israel.
No, he didn’t use the official Wing of Zion plane, which is used by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Nor did he use El Al, which, though privatized, is still recognized as Israel’s national carrier. He flew with Arkia, whose top people knew well in advance of the flight and managed to keep the information under wraps in a country in which few things remain secret for long.
Arrangements were very complex, but they worked out in the long run. Arkia CEO Oz Berlowitz said afterward that he was grateful for the trust the Foreign Ministry had placed in Arkia to carry the foreign minister and those who went with him on such a delicate and sensitive mission.
Haredi draft resistance and rising internal violence
Among the roles of a spiritual leader is to bring about peace and reconciliation. Those rabbis who are encouraging young haredi men to resist the draft are doing anything but that. To call police “Nazis,” to invoke the Holocaust in their anti-draft campaigns, to cast a blind eye on attacks on Arab bus drivers, and to incite violence could lead to a civil war.
It’s bad enough that Israel has to fight those enemies who seek not only the extinction of the state but also of all the Jewish people; the draft dodgers and the hilltop youth pose an even greater problem, because they are the enemy from within. Arab bus drivers who have been physically attacked are frequently interviewed on the radio, and their reports indicate that the culprits come from two strata of society – the low socio-economic youth and the haredi youth.
In both cases, they give a bad name to the communities from which they originate, and innocent members of those communities are unfortunately tarred with the same brush. This week, an anti-draft demonstration in Jerusalem resulted in the death of a 14-year-old boy, Yosef Eisenthal, who was caught up in a violent group.
Eisenthal lost his balance in the crush of the mob, fell under a bus, and was dragged for some distance. A KAN 11 crew headed by Haim Goldich was also attacked by the mob, even though, according to Goldich, they were standing on the sidelines. One of them had to be treated in the hospital after being struck in the head by a rock.
As unpleasant as they may be, protest demonstrations are legitimate so long as they are non-violent. But when a passer-by is struck by a thrown object, the natural instinct is to turn around and retaliate. As for bus drivers, some of them simply keep going in an effort to disperse the crowd that is obstructing their route, or because they are afraid.
Everyone has a snapping point, and a bus driver who has been attacked on several occasions because of his religion or his ethnicity will eventually lose control. One has to wonder whether some yeshivot are teaching Torah or teaching racism. And, of course, those rabbis who incite will never be arrested.
University to open in Kiryat Shmona
THERE WAS some good news for beleaguered Kiryat Shmona this week when Education Minister Yoav Kisch, together with Kiryat Shmona Mayor Avihay Shteren, announced that a university would be opened there.
During the most recent war period, an extremely large percentage of Kiryat Shmona residents were evacuated, and less than 50% have returned. Of those who have returned, many have expressed the feeling that the government does not care about Kiryat Shmona and that very few ministers or members of Knesset have come to see what’s happening in Kiryat Shmona or to ask what’s needed.
Of those who have not yet returned, few are expected to come back. When Kisch came to Kiryat Shmona and met with Stern, the two discussed the possibility of a university in the belief that with additional academic outlets and opportunities in the North, more people would return, and young people would not leave the region after their army service to study elsewhere in the country.
Kisch said that he intends to convene a meeting of the Council for Higher Education as soon as possible in order to move quickly towards constructing the infrastructure for the campus.
Old and new forms of antisemitism
“Antisemitism old and New: The Current Crisis and Its Origins” is the subject of an international panel discussion at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday, January 21, at 7.30 p.m. Held under the auspices of the Austrian, Canadian, and Swiss embassies, the discussion will take place at the Cymbalista Synagogue and Heritage Center, where the historical and political contexts for understanding today’s antisemitism crises will be explored.
Leading experts on Europe and North America will discuss the ideological frameworks that have shaped contemporary debate. Speakers include Prof. Dorit Geva of the University of Vienna, Prof. Christina Späti of the University of Fribourg and UniDistance Switzerland, and Dr. Yoav Fromer of Tel Aviv University. Professor Julie Cooper of TAU will be the moderator. The event will be in English. Admission is free of charge, but registration is required.
National Library announces new cohort for Pardes Literary Incubator
The National Library of Israel has announced the four authors selected to take part in the eighth cohort of the Pardes Literary Incubator. This prestigious fellowship program is intended for Israeli writers who have written and published a debut book in prose during the past five years. The Pardes fellows receive a monthly stipend of NIS 4,000 over a seven-month period.
The selected authors will participate in workshops led by creators, scholars, and NLI staff and will familiarize themselves with various NLI collections. In addition, they will be featured in special cultural events at the library.
The Pardes fellowship at the National Library was created to support Israeli literature in challenging times and to serve as an incubator and home for new works, said Tsila Hayun, head of the Culture and Visitors Department at the National Library of Israel.
Oren Weinberg, CEO of the National Library, noted that over the program’s 12-year history, the achievements of its participants testify to the strong impact the program has had on them individually, as well as on the wider local literary scene.
The Pardes program is made possible with the generous support of Pamela and George Rohr, Yair Cohen, and an anonymous donor from Israel.
The adjudicating panel was headed by Prof. Ariel Hirschfeld.
The four winners are Elay Koren, whose debut book of short stories, Good Strong Thick Stupefying Incense-Smoke, was published by Petel Publishing; Micky Maltz, whose debut book, Love in the Suburbs, was published in 2024 by Shtaim Publishing and received favorable reviews in Israeli literary supplements; Tom Hadani Nave, whose book, Splash Zone, was published by Yedioth Books in 2024; and Motti Perry, whose volume, Book of Parceled Land, was published by Kinneret Zmora in 2023.
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