Grapevine, June 2, 2026: Continuing coincidence

Paraguay declared its independence on May 14 and 15, 1811. Israel declared its independence on May 14-15, 1948. This year, in yet another coincidence, Jerusalem Day fell on May 15.

The reception was held in the spacious lobby of the impressive building in the Har Hotzvim technological park in Jerusalem, where Paraguay has its embassy.

Paraguay was one of the 33 UN member states that voted in favor of the partition of Palestine at the November 29, 1947, UN General Assembly. In fact, most of the Latin American member countries voted in favor. They included Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Venezuela, and Uruguay.

Diplomatic relations have their ups and downs. Former friends of Israel, such as Bolivia and Nicaragua, severed relations with Israel, while Latin American countries that voted against partition established full diplomatic relations with Israel.

National day receptions usually start with the national anthems of the country celebrating the anniversary of its independence or the birthday of its monarch, followed by the national anthem of the host country. Sometimes the anthems are sung or played live, but most of the time they are recorded.

At the Paraguayan reception, they were recorded. Cymerman sang along to his country’s national anthem and joined Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in singing “Hatikvah.” Sa’ar bravely soldiered on to a tune that bore no resemblance to Smetana’s The Moldau, on which the melody of “Hatikvah” is based.

One of the pleasant surprises was that although the reception was not held in a hotel, the buffet was kosher, and so were the wines. The fare was vegetarian and dairy-free, which meant that everyone could partake.

In his address, the ambassador noted that Paraguay is in a region characterized by political and economic turmoil, yet it has been politically and economically stable for many years and is a hidden gem of Latin America.

On the subject of diplomacy, Cymerman stated that it should not be limited to ceremonies and documents. “It can bring us closer to reality and the future we want to build,” he said.

On the economic front, Cymerman underscored the steep rise in bilateral trade between Paraguay and Israel, as well as the tax concessions Paraguay grants to foreign investors.

Sa’ar, who represented the government, likewise recommended investing in Paraguay, because Paraguay has been a consistent friend to Israel, and he personally believes in reciprocity – namely, that Israel is a friend to Paraguay, whose embassy is the sixth of seven now located in Jerusalem.

Sa’ar noted the presence of MK Boaz Toporovsky, who had resigned from the Knesset the previous day. Commenting that it takes 48 hours for the resignation to go into effect, Sa’ar said that the Paraguayan reception was Toporovsky’s final official appearance at an event of this kind.

Sa’ar announced that he would be leaving two nights later for Fiji to open an Israeli embassy there.

Diplomacy aside, he also noted that his office is not far away from the Paraguayan Embassy.

A keen soccer fan who has followed Argentina’s national team since he was a boy, Sa’ar, alluding to the World Cup, said he would always root for Paraguay, except when it plays Argentina.

In another kind of coincidence, two internationally renowned Israeli female athletes will be honored at the same time on the same day by two different Israeli universities.

The University of Haifa will confer an honorary doctorate on basketball player, world champion rower, and Paralympic gold medalist Moran Samuel, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem will award the Chaim Herzog Prize for special contributions to the State of Israel to judoka Yael Arad, the first woman to chair the Israel Olympic Committee and Israel’s first Olympic medalist.

Both ceremonies will be held on Thursday, June 4, at 11 a.m.

The press release about Yad Vashem’s opening of an education center in Munich makes only a passing mention of the fact that Munich was in 1920 the birthplace of the Nazi Party.

It was also the city where, during Kristallnacht in 1938, a synagogue and other religious buildings in Germany were destroyed, and some 1,000 Munich Jews were deported to Dachau before the war was actually declared.

In subsequent years, Munich became a departure point for extermination camps in Theresienstadt, Riga, and Lublin. In 1945, after the war, Munich became one of the main centers for Jewish displaced persons.

During the 1972 Olympics, terrorists infiltrated the area and murdered 11 members of the Israeli team and a German policeman.

It took 50 years for Germany to apologize for the inadequate deployment of police and other security personnel.

Today, Munich, with close to 10,000 Jews, of whom nearly a thousand are expatriate Israelis, is home to the second-largest Jewish community in Germany, where antisemitism has surged to alarming proportions, with numerous incidents of violence in Munich.

The community and that of Upper Bavaria have been headed for four decades by Holocaust survivor Charlotte Knobloch, one of the leading figures of European Jewry, whose previous roles have included president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

She is now 93 years old, and it is imperative that she find a suitable successor.

Some Latin American countries, in the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust, provided a safe haven to both Jewish refugees and former Nazi officers. Iran’s influence penetrated some of these countries, particularly Argentina, which is today one of Israel’s best friends in Latin America.

Several Latin American countries are now paying greater attention to Holocaust education.

This week, Marco González, the director of Guatemala City’s Museum of the Holocaust, hosted a three-day training session for some 30 educators from Guatemala, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia, and Chile, within the framework of combating antisemitism.

The concept was to provide the educators with sufficient information about Judaism, the Holocaust, and the spread of antisemitism to help students understand the faith of a minority in their midst, and how evil against any minority can lead to mass murder.

The price of terrorism, the subject of a discussion from the female perspective, will be discussed at the StandWithUs Center in Jerusalem on Monday evening, June 15.

Speakers will examine the Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund, often referred to as “Pay for Slay,” and will address moral, human, and policy issues, as well as the ongoing question of accountability.

The speakers include Sarri Singer, a survivor of terrorism and founder of Strength to Strength; Olga Deutsch, vice president of NGO Monitor; and Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel.

The event will be moderated by Fleur Hassan-Nahum, special envoy for trade and innovation and co-founder of Campus Israel. Participation is free of charge, but registration is essential. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

Registration: thepriceofterror.eventbrite.com

Almost anywhere one goes in Israel these days, tall towers and construction cranes dominate the skyline, with building materials on the ground and large areas of construction projects fenced in for long periods.

Representatives of property developers knock on doors, trying to persuade residents of three- to five-story buildings to sign contracts to demolish their buildings and build skyscrapers with larger apartments in their place. Mailboxes are flooded with a variety of real estate brochures and flyers.

Newspapers and periodicals carry large-scale advertisements for residential options in new buildings, and some publications also feature extensive supplements on such projects.

In contrast to all these promotions are articles in the media about projects not completed because the developer(s) ran out of finance; the difficulty in selling residential units at a time when money is tight despite the value of the shekel against the dollar; the number of units sold to foreign buyers who don’t live in them or who rent them out but come once or twice a year to spend a week or two in Israel.

When Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat was mayor of Jerusalem, he doubled the taxes on all apartments that stood empty for most of the year.

It may have had a positive effect on the municipal coffers. Still, it didn’t really change the situation.

An example is a family living in a five-story building in one of Jerusalem’s upscale neighborhoods. The family purchased two penthouse apartments several years ago and joined them together.

They had a wonderful view from every angle, and the kitchen was suffused with light even in winter. But soon, the property next door will be torn down in the interests of urban renewal, and the view from the fifth-floor penthouse will no longer be available, nor will there be sunlight in the kitchen.

In another instance, long before the city was overtaken by urban renewal, a residential tower overlooking Independence Park was built.

One of the buyers had sold a six-room apartment in another upscale neighborhood to buy a two-room apartment in the tower and was assured that nothing would block her view of the park. In the interim, three much taller buildings have been erected, obscuring the view for which she had paid so much money.

A caveat was issued last Friday to potential buyers who are swayed by developers’ honeyed promises. It came in the form of a two-page broadsheet advertisement in the major Hebrew newspapers, urging buyers to beware and to undertake due diligence before signing on the dotted line.

It listed 20 points, and only when readers reached the bottom of the front page did they realize that the advertisement had been placed by a prominent company engaged in urban renewal and was being used as a marketing tool. Whatever the reason, the points made are valid.

Is the developer also the building contractor?

Is the developer financially stable? Who is the actual builder? Does the developer have a good reputation in the real estate market?

Are previous customers happy with the developer? Is the contract sufficiently fair and transparent?

Does the seller provide sufficient details? Does the developer have projects that were not completed?

Does the building contractor have experience with similar projects? Is there a guarantee of quality products for use during the construction process?

Is there someone to whom buyers can turn after taking possession of the new apartment?

Is the apartment’s design pleasant and comfortable for the buyer? Is the public area surrounding the apartment pleasant? Did the builder adhere to the time frame when constructing previous projects?

Are previous customers of the builder happy with how he handled any problems they raised? Does the builder have sufficient financial backing to meet the needs of the project?

Is the unit sufficiently separated from others in the building? Does the unit’s plan include acoustics and inspections along the way?

Are the materials used in construction dangerous to health?

What is absent from the list is the additional costs involved. For instance, many of these towers are still managed by the developer, and the management fee is so high that pensioners cannot afford to live in their own apartments.

The land on which the building stands belongs to the owners of the residential units, unless it happens to be church or municipal property.

When the number of owners increases from 12 to 60, there is less land per owner, which can affect future sales prices.

But perhaps the worst part is before the project gets underway. Under the current law, if the majority of the residents in a building agree to have it torn down in favor of another in its place, the minority have no recourse, regardless of the reason they bought their apartments there in the first place or whether the apartment originally belonged to their parents and they grew up there. There’s something very immoral about that kind of law.

In March 996, celebrity chef Shalom Kadosh organized a 12-course feast to celebrate the 3,000th anniversary of Jerusalem.

A group of 13 international master chefs came to Israel to help prepare it and to confront the challenges of kosher cuisine.

The announcement last week that Israeli chef Raz Shabtai, who owns a kosher restaurant in Miami, made history by being the first proprietor of a kosher restaurant to win a prestigious Michelin star, raises the question of whether he will come home next year to prepare an even more sumptuous feast than that prepared by Kadosh 30 years ago.

Shabtai is a native Jerusalemite whose menu is inspired by his Jerusalem grandmother, Mutra, for whom his restaurant is named. Next year, Jerusalemites will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the reunification of their city.

A magnificent gala dinner will undoubtedly be included in the celebrations, and who better than a native son of the city, with a Michelin star to his credit, to come home to honor the joy of his grandmother’s kitchen.

Guest speakers at meetings of the Israel-Switzerland-Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce usually choose a subject related to economics.

When the speaker happened to be former hostage Eli Sharabi, members of the chamber knew that they were in for something different.

As he rose to share memories of his harrowing ordeal at the hands of Hamas, Sharabi noticed Adv. Shimon Mizrahi, chairman of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball Club, sitting alongside chamber president Gideon Hamburger, the president of the Harel Insurance Group, and Swiss Ambassador Simon Geissbühler.

Sharabi immediately became emotional and explained that Mizrahi’s presence moved him.

“You may not know this, but I grew up in the Yad Eliyahu neighborhood, near the sports arena. Ever since I was a child, Maccabi Tel Aviv has been a source of admiration for me. Shimon Mizrahi, the legendary chairman of Maccabi Tel Aviv, was one of the people we always looked up to,” Sharabi said, pointing toward Mizrahi.

Sharabi then continued with the subject of his address. He relived the story of his abduction, beginning with the terrifying moment when terrorists broke into his home.

He described his attempts to protect his wife and two daughters, who were tragically murdered during the attack. His brother, Yossi Sharabi, was also kidnapped and later died in Hamas captivity.

Sharabi also spoke about his experiences while cruelly detained by Hamas, how he supported fellow hostages, his interactions with his captors, and ultimately his release. Many of his listeners were moved to tears by his powerful testimony.

In concluding his remarks, Sharabi said:

“Now that all the hostages have returned home, it is our duty to tell the story of Hamas’s criminal attack to the entire world.”

Among those attending the event were members of the Hamburger family and the executive of the Harel Group; international businessman Alfred Akirov; Adi Nov, CEO of the Israeli Credit Insurance Company; Daphne Ben Moshe, CEO of Lufthansa Israel; Ran Heistein, CEO of EFG; Adv. Alon Passerman; Moran Alon, CEO of Pictet Israel; Israel Maimon, CEO of the Association of Insurance Companies in Israel; and industrialist Doron Tamir.

Israel has an impressive history of achievements, but public diplomacy is not one of them. In a column published last Friday in The Jerusalem Post, former editor-in-chief Yaakov Katz bemoaned yet again the lack of public diplomacy in telling Israel’s story and in attempting to correct fake news about Israel and Israelis.

Many years ago, the writer of this column asked a visiting American Jewish public relations expert, who was among a large number of leading Jewish figures in the communications industry, why they didn’t all band together to defend Israel’s image. He replied that they had tried, but the offer was rejected.

There are also some very excellent Jewish PR people in Europe, and presumably their offers were rejected as well. Just imagine what Israel’s image would be in the world if the offers had been accepted.

Israel is very good about accepting Diaspora money and honoring big-time donors. Still, it won’t accept their ideas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did, though, use an American campaign strategist, the late Arthur Finkelstein, in his rise to power.

When Shimon Peres led the Labor Party in the 1996 Knesset elections, Finkelstein coined the slogan “Peres will divide Jerusalem.” The slogan helped to propel Netanyahu to victory and to power.

Thirty years later, when a series of political surveys indicates that change is on the way, Netanyahu loyalists note that he almost always finds a way of coming out on top, regardless of political forecasts.

But Netanyahu may be shooting himself in the foot politically by avoiding meetings with mayors of northern communities – especially Kiryat Shmona and Metula – and with Moshe Davidovich, the head of the Conflict Zone Forum.

Kiryat Shmona is traditionally a right-wing city with strong Likud leanings. But the Likud is not the only right-wing party running in the upcoming Knesset election.

Unless he makes immediate amends, Netanyahu may discover that other right-wingers, such as Naftali Bennett and Gadi Eisenkot, are way ahead of him.

Diplomats often look for new venues to make their events more interesting and more memorable. Past choices have included kibbutzim, luxury hotels, concert halls, museums, and JNF forests.

The Thai Embassy has included an additional venue to the list – the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem. The occasion is yet another event hosted by Thai Ambassador Boonyarit Vichienpuntu, celebrating the 72nd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Thailand and the State of Israel.

On Thursday morning, June 4, a large number of foreign diplomats, including ambassadors, will board a Jerusalem-bound train in Tel Aviv and head to Jerusalem, where they will board buses to the zoo.

What has a trip to the zoo got to do with a bilateral anniversary? Quite a lot, actually. The diplomats are set to meet with three Thai elephants and hear something of the history of elephants in Thailand. To those who haven’t been to the zoo before, the whole experience will be quite memorable and exciting.

The offices of legal firms are increasingly hosting high-level meetings of diplomats and figures from the world of finance.

That was the case last week when some 100 senior representatives of major venture capital funds, along with ambassadors, economic attachés, and other diplomats, came together at the offices of Arnon, Tadmor-Levy in Tel Aviv.

Among the ambassadors were J.P. Singh of India, Xiao Junzheng of China, Nikolaus Lutterotti of Austria, Arai Yusuke of Japan, Ian Mak of Singapore, and Park Inho of South Korea.

The meeting was organized by Karin Mayer Rubinstein, the president and CEO of IATI – Israel Advanced Technology Industries.

Tel Aviv historian Ilan Shchori, who has been active in B’nai B’rith for many years, made history toward the end of last month.

He did so by becoming the first native-born Israeli to be elected to a senior executive role at the organization’s international board of governors meeting in New York. He was elected as vice president of B’nai B’rith International.

In addition to his active membership on the home front, Shchori has focused on the history of B’nai B’rith; and because of his deep and wide-ranging knowledge of the organization, he was able to have it included in the annual storytelling festival, traditionally held in Israel during the intermediate days of Sukkot.

B’nai B’rith International President Robert Spitzer said that he was glad that Shchori, “one of the preeminent historians of Tel Aviv,” will be dedicating most of his energy to enriching B’nai B’rith, and will join the organization’s efforts to strengthen ties with Jewish communities worldwide.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Jerusalem Post or its affiliates.