Irwin Hochberg was a pillar of the Jewish community, as well as an AFSI supporter. As a leader of countless Israel and Zionist causes, his impact extended far and wide. His passing is a great loss for the Jewish people and the State of Israel. We extend our sincere condolences to the entire Hochberg family and pray that they will be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

URGENT – CONTACT THE CENTER FOR JEWISH HISTORY PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS AND ASK: WHY AREN’T THEY PROTESTING AGAINST DAVID MYERS?

AFSI applauds UN Ambassador Niki Haley and President Donald Trump on their courageous decision to remove the U.S. from UNESCO, the organization that betrays its mandate by focusing on anti-Israel determinations.

We also applaud President Trump for modifying certification of the Iran “deal” which Iran has never signed. It’s been a tragic farce from the beginning. Iran has to shape up or be shipped out.

AFSI sends condolences to those who have been suffering through the terrible California fires. Spain and Portugal are experiencing similar devastation and are questioning whether this is a new form of terrorism.

Watch for more on all these topics later in the week.

The five organizations comprising the Center of Jewish History have been silent about David Myers’ ascendancy to the leadership of CJH. We must ask them, WHY?

WHY are they silent when Myers believes Israel is an “occupier”?

WHY are they silent when Myers is a supporter of Israel’s enemies such as Jewish Voice for Peace, JStreet, New Israel Fund and IfNotNow?

WHY are they silent when Myers sees the Israeli victory of 1948 as the “wound of the Naqba” – Arab disaster?

WHY are they silent when Myers believes that “the root cause of BDS is the “occupation” and “West Bank settlements”?

DAVID MYERS MUST RESIGN FROM CJH AND THE ANTI-ISRAEL BIAS AMONG ITS LEADERSHIP MUST BE EXPOSED AND EXPUNGED.

WE MUST NOT ALLOW CJH TO BE TAKEN OVER BY THOSE OPPOSING ISRAEL AND TRYING TO REWRITE JEWISH HISTORY.

CONTACT THE LEADERSHIP OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS AND ASK THEM, WHY?
American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS)
Home page: http://www.ajhs.org/
Contact info: http://www.ajhs.org/contact

American Sephardi Federation (ASF)
Home page: http://sephardi.house/
Contact: info@americansephardi.org

Leo Baeck Institute (LBI)
Home page: https://www.lbi.org/
Contact info: https://www.lbi.org/about/contact-lbi/

Yeshiva University Museum (YU Museum)
Home page: http://www.yumuseum.org/
Contact info: http://www.yumuseum.org/about/contact

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (YIVO)
Home Page: https://www.yivo.org/
Contact Info: https://www.yivo.org/Contact-Us

AFSI regrets to announce the passing of Morris Fox, z”l. Morris and his wife Arlene have been supporters and friends of AFSI for many years.

Our condolences to Arlene and the entire Fox family.

May Morris’ memory be for a blessing.

Parliamentarians from around the world
(photo: Arutz Sheva)

Slowly, (too slowly), the truth about Israel is getting told. As reported in Arutz Sheva today,
Twenty-six parliamentarians from around the world on Monday signed a statement that the Jewish people have a legal right to sovereignty over all of the land of Israel, and a statement that anti-Zionism is an expression of anti-Semitism.

“We support the State of Israel and recognize the right of the Jewish people, including the rights to sovereignty and self-defense in all its lands and territory, while recognizing the need of all religions for a strong and united Israel, with Jerusalem as its eternal and united capital.

The full text of their statement can be read HERE

Beit Romano, Kiryat Arba, Hebron
(Photo: Jewish Press)

Israeli media reports are stating that permits are being issued for the construction of approximately 4,000 new housing units within Judea and Samaria. if so, it’s about time, as real growth within Israel’s heartland has been stymied for so many years.

This spurt in growth could be part of the “Trump effect”, an understanding between Israel and the US that “settlements” are not a “barrier to peace”, and that Jews have a right to live throughout the Land of Israel.

Of course, Trump’s newly-stated position that the US embassy will not be moved to Jerusalem until the “peace process” is given another run on the hamster wheel, is frustrating, to say the least. And, the number of new housing units to be authorized barely addresses the real needs of the population. However, it is perhaps indicative that the Obama era is finally over and we could look forward with cautious optimism to real growth throughout the Land of Israel.

Israel Issues Permits for Close to 4,000 Housing Starts in Settlement Blocs, Isolated Settlements, Hebron

Like most of us football fans, we turn on our television sets and settle in to watch the games, not to see overpaid players make political statements on the football field.

IF YOU ARE ANGRY AT WHAT YOU ARE SEEING, THERE IS A RESPONSE!

(The beer) Bud Light’s brand parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev – one of the NFL’s biggest sponsors – is rethinking their NFL sponsorship, and they want your input.

The NFL player protests of the National Anthem have backfired in a major way on the league. It has seen sponsors pull out, ratings decline and teams play in front of practically empty stadiums.

In the wake of increased national anthem protests, Anheuser-Busch is reconsidering their NFL sponsorship, likely because the protests are very unpopular among everyday Americans. Bud Light currently serves as the official beer of the NFL. At the end of 2015, the company extended its current deal, which is slated to expire at the end of the 2016-17 season, for another six years through the 2022 season, but that might all change very quickly.

So the company set up a hotline for fans to call and give their thoughts about the protests and Anheuser-Busch’s sponsorship of the NFL. The number for the hotline is: 1-800-342-5283.

Call them and let them know what you think!

This Week in Arutz Sheva

There are two interesting pieces in Arutz Sheva this week, well worth reading.

The first is by AFSI’s Chairman Mark Langfan. In it, he exposes the actions (or non-actions) of two of America’s most influential news disseminators – the New York Times and CNN – to willfully not report on events in Afghanistan which were causing death and carnage to America’s fighting forces there, all in order to help save Obama’s Iran deal.

Langfan provides proof that these two news organizations omitted reporting that Russia and Iran were arming the Taliban in Afghanistan, a fact that was stated by the US Defense Secretary, in order to preserve the Iran nuclear deal that Obama was concocting. This wasn’t “fake news”, Langfan states, but willful omission of reporting the truth. A dastardly deed, indeed.

Exposé: CNN and NYT ignored US Defense Secretary revelation on Taliban

The second story is by Tom Mountain, who was the Massachusetts/New Hampshire Trump Campaign Director for Jewish Outreach, and a columnist for New England’s largest Jewish newspaper, The Jewish Advocate. In this thought-provoking piece, Mountain makes the case that in the United States today, there is no political party that supports both liberalism and Israel; that it is an either/or proposition. As a result, Jews in America are at a crossroads and must make critical decisions about whom they support, thus impacting their own lives, their Jewish community, the United States and Israel.

As Mountain concludes, at this point liberal American Jews need to answer one simple question- what matters to them most, their Jewish liberalism or the Jewish State?

US Jewry at the crossroads: LIberalism or the Jewish State

Tonight starts the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

Sukkot has a double significance, one being agricultural (“Feast of the Ingathering”), and the second, religious, commemorating the Exodus and the dependence of the Israelites on G-d ‘s protection.

It is a joyous holiday where people eat (and some sleep) in a temporary, somewhat flimsy structure known as a sukkah (tabernacle; plural: sukkot), as a remembrance of the Israelites’ travels in the Sinai after the Exodus from Egypt.

Sukkot is one of the three pilgrimage holidays when Jews in Israel would travel to Jerusalem and present offerings at the Temple. It is a joyous time to be in Israel! But if you can’t be in Israel for Sukkot, consider going with AFSI this November! Be in Israel for the Torah portion Chaye Sarah, when AFSI will be experiencing Shabbat in Hebron! Join tens of thousands in a once-in-a-lifetime experience of visiting and praying at the Machpelah, the burial place where our Jewish ancestors are buried.

See the flyer above for details and contact the AFSI office!

Americans For a Safe Israel (AFSI) condemns the horrendous mass murder committed last night in Las Vegas.

Our hearts go out to the families of the victims, and we wish a full and speedy recovery to all those wounded.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest gun massacre in modern US history. Although this claim has not been substantiated, there are reports that the gunman did convert to Islam several months ago.

We will continue to monitor this story.