Category: Articles

As we rejoice in the victory of the Jews over the evil Haman while reading the Megillah of Esther, it is important to realize that “there is nothing new under the sun.” The Persia of 5th Century BC is not unlike the Iran of today. While the King of Persia, Ahashveurus, is clearly manipulated by the evil Haman, and the Jews are only rescued because of the efforts of Mordechai and Queen Esther, today’s mullahs in Iran seem to know just what they are saying and doing.

While working on a nuclear bomb, shooting off ballistic missiles inscribed with the intent to destroy Israel, arming Hezbollah on the Syrian/Lebanese border and Hamas in Gaza, denying the Holocaust, there is no reason to doubt their desired intent to “erase the Zionist entity.” Let us hope that the Purim story is prophetic, and that the evil Iranian plotters will “swing from the gallows erected for Mordechai”, just as Haman did.

Another key instruction in the Book of Esther is the fact that we can’t sit idly by while our people are threatened. Mordechai tells Esther, when she hesitates about going before the King without being summoned, that she will suffer the same fate as her brethren if she doesn’t intervene. This is the driving force in AFSI’s activism. We cannot wait until we personally bleed but must speak out and get involved when danger is sighted. The noise of the Purim grogger, at the mention of Haman’s name, is a reminder that we must make noise also – in defense of our freedom and our people.

AFSI would like to thank the Estate of Samuel Dyen for his generous gift.

Bequests are an important link between our past and the future and have always played an important role in providing valuable support for AFSI

If you would like to consider naming AFSI in your will, and to discuss in confidence, please contact Judy Kadish.

On February 7, 2018, the first International Legal Forum for Israel brought 150 top legal experts from around the world to Jerusalem for a three-day conference. Under the leadership of Yifa Segal, Director of the International Legal Forum, with the cooperation of the Israel Bar Association and Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs, led by Minister Gilad Erdan, the Forum focused on countering international BDS efforts. Alex Traiman writes about this for JNS: https://www.jns.org/legal-summit-in-jerusalem-tackles-moves-against-international-bds-efforts/.

Below is a video capturing some of the highlights of this landmark conference.

AFSI’s co-Executive Directors, Helen Freedman and Judy Freedman Kadish, were with Senator Tom Cotton, (R-AR) at a NORPAC event held at the home of Careena and Drew Parker in Englewood N.J. on Sunday morning, Feb. 25. Senator Cotton, who served in the U.S. Army from 2005-2009, graduated from Harvard University, and began his Senate term in 2014, impressed the large audience with his apparently total devotion to Israel and its concerns. On the topics of Iran, Russia, Syria, Lebanon, Mahmoud Abbas, the U.N., and more, Senator Cotton drew applause and thanks. We are fortunate to have Senator Tom Cotton in our corner.

Under a declaration of cooperation, the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad (CPAHA) and the Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs agreed to work together to preserve the cultural heritage of their citizens in Europe, including cemeteries, monuments, and archival material, which were decimated by the Holocaust and decades of communist rule.

Arutz Sheva reports that “Under Ambassador Friedman’s leadership partnering strategically with Israel has never been easier. We were able to accomplish this important milestone in record time because of the trust and credibility that the Ambassador on behalf of President Donald Trump has restored to America’s crucial relationship with the State of Israel.”

The Jerusalem Post reports that three Arab citizens of Israel from the village of Um el-Fahm were indicted Monday for plotting a terrorist attack on the Temple Mount in the name of Islamic State, the Shin Bet security agency announced.

According to the Shin Bet, the cell planned to carry out a shooting attack at the al-Aksa Mosque compound similar to the July 17 attack in which two Israeli police officers were murdered.

Daniel Greenfield’s article in Sultan Knish is today’s recommended reading.

Greenfield states, “If you think CNN’s Trumpmania is bad, the Israeli police and media have spent the better part of a decade trying to invent ridiculous Netanyahu scandals.”

Is the deep state interested in stopping Netanyahu or stopping Israel? Find out HERE

A call last Thursday by members of the European Parliament to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to designate the “political” arm of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization is an important development.

Danish MEP Anders Vistisen, one of the three co-initiators of the letter, said: “It is high time to acknowledge that Islamist-inspired terrorism is not only a threat to the Middle East, but is also the top threat to Europe’s security.”

Full Jerusalem Post Editorial HERE

Caroline Glick’s Jerusalem Post Opinion piece discusses concern that If Netanyahu is forced from office, Israeli democracy will be critically, and possibly irreparably, debilitated.

“lsrael’s system of democracy has been under assault for more than two decades. Since the early 1990’s, elected officials have fought a losing battle to maintain their power. The legal fraternity and the police, acting with the enthusiastic support and often at the urging of the politically biased media, have seized politicians’ governing prerogatives and powers one by one. These actions have all been justified in the name of the rule of law.”

The revelation Sunday that a judge coordinated her decision on an upcoming hearing with an investigator could have severe repercussions for the Israeli justice system and jeopardize the public’s faith in Israel’s courts, a senior justice official said.

Breaking news indicates possible court collusion between the judge and the investigator in the Netanyahu case. Could this lead to a Day of Atonement for the justice system? That’s what David Rosenberg’s news brief in Artuz Sheva discusses.

The US State Department notified Congress on Friday that the Jerusalem embassy would open in May to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s independence, speeding up the process by converting a building currently housing consular services into the embassy. The State Department confirmed the timing of the move.

“We are in touch with other countries, and it’s only a matter of time before other countries join the US in moving their embassies to Jerusalem,” said Netanyahu at a weekly Likud faction meeting.

Times of Israel report HERE.

Regarding the anticipated move, the Trump administration is considering an offer from Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson to pay for at least part of a new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, four U.S. officials told The Associated Press.

Lawyers at the State Department are looking into the legality of accepting private donations to cover some or all of the embassy costs, the officials said.

Washington Post story HERE