Sheldon Adelson speaks during an inteview – (photo credit: REUTERS/TYRONE SIU)

Politicians and public figures in Israel and the US sent their condolences to the family of Sheldon Adelson, after the 87-year-old Jewish tycoon passed away on Tuesday.

“[My wife] Sara and I are heartbroken by the passing of Sheldon Adelson,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, adding that Jews in Israel and abroad mourn his loss.

“He was a wonderful friend to us personally and an incredible champion of the Jewish people, the Jewish state, and the alliance between Israel and America,” he said. “Sheldon unabashedly loved America and cherished the freedom and opportunity it gave him. He worked tirelessly to ensure that very same freedom and opportunity would be given to others in America and around the world.

“The warmth of his heart, the clarity of his thinking, and the decisiveness of his actions were truly exceptional.”

Adelson’s importance not just to Israel, but to global Jewry, was emphasized in a statement by Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog, who called him “the modern Montefiore, the breaker of the walls and the builder of Jerusalem.”

“I had the privilege of having had a deep personal connection with him for many years,” Herzog said. “Without a doubt, he was one of this generation’s great Jewish leaders.

“He always stood out for his kind attitude, openness, modesty, and accessibility, and even when we disagreed, I loved him very much.”
Outgoing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that Adelson’s life “represents the best of the American dream.”

“From his service to his country in the US Army to his entrepreneurial spirit to his efforts to strengthen the alliance between Israel and the US, Sheldon’s life was one of great consequence,” Pompeo’s statement reads.

The world, Israel, and the US are safer because of his work, Pompeo explained. “His philanthropic giving has impacted the world of medicine, education, and the lives of Jewish-Americans. His political involvement strengthened our democracy.”

“Our nation lost a remarkable man with the passing of my friend Sheldon Adelson,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.

Adelson “poured his success into philanthropy,” the Senate’s top Republican continued, “from drug abuse treatment to research into cancer and other diseases to the countless Jewish causes around the world that were especially close to his heart.”

DONALD TRUMP JR. wrote in response to Adelson’s passing that “Sheldon was a true American patriot and a giant among men. He treated his employees like family. His philanthropic generosity changed countless lives.” He added that “The US-Israel relationship is stronger today because of him.”

Former US president George W. Bush dubbed Adelson an “American patriot” who “battled his way out of a tough Boston neighborhood to build a successful enterprise.”

In a statement, the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) praised Adelson for being “one of the most consequential figures in American Jewish history,” calling him “an extraordinary philanthropist and a dear mentor and friend.”

Birthright called Sheldon “A man of vision, action, Zionism, and inspiration,” adding that, “Over the years we were both honored and humbled to work alongside the Adelson family, which ultimately guarantees the future of the Jewish people.”

The post Politicians, NGOs mourn the passing of Sheldon Adelson first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Immigration by Jews to Israel rose by 5 percent over the past year, with 29,600 people moving to the country in 2018, according to figures released on Sunday by the state immigration organization “Jewish Agency for Israel.”

More than 10,500 of the Jewish immigrants came from Russia, the agency said, an increase of some 45 percent over 2017. In contrast, immigration from Russia’s neighbor, Ukraine, went down by 9 percent to 6,500.

Argentina saw a spike of 17 percent more Jews relocating to Israel, though the number of immigrants coming from the country was far more modest at 330.

The number of immigrants coming from the US and Canada remained stable at 3,500, while immigration from France dropped 25 percent to 2,660 people. Just 660 came from the UK and 330 from Brazil, a drop of 4 percent in each case.

Read more: 70 years old now — an Israeli story

‘Wonderful mosaic’

“Every Jew who comes to Israel and establishes a home here completes another piece of the wonderful mosaic of the Jewish people in their historic homeland,” said agency chairman Isaac Herzog.

More than 3 million Jews have moved to Israel since the State of Israel was established in 1948, and the country and its adjacent territories contain more than 40 percent of the world’s Jewish population.

An Israeli law called the Law of Return, passed in 1950, gives all Jews the right to move to Israel and obtain citizenship if there are no valid grounds, such as a serious criminal record, against it.

Read more: Is Israel interfering in German cultural policy?

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/jewish-immigration-to-israel-increases-in-2018/a-46905719

The post Jewish immigration to Israel increases in 2018 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The bill requires a super-majority to give parts of Jerusalem to a foreign entity, but has a major loophole.

 A general view of Jerusalem shows the Dome of the Rock, located in Jerusalem’s Old City on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount December 6, 2017.. (photo credit: REUTERS)

A law ostensibly meant to make it harder to cede parts of Jerusalem to a foreign entity, which has a glaring loophole that allows Jerusalem to be divided, passed in a final vote in the Knesset overnight Monday.

The amendment to Basic Law: Jerusalem, requiring a vote of 80 MKs out of 120 to give parts of the capital away, was proposed by Bayit Yehudi faction chairwoman Shuli Moalem-Refaeli with enthusiastic backing from her party leader Education Minister Naftali Bennett.

The newly requisite supermajority comes in addition to the existing law requiring a referendum to give away any sovereign land, which includes Jerusalem. Although concessions in Jerusalem require an 80 MK vote, the bill can be changed with a 61-lawmaker majority.

However, the bill also canceled the article in the Basic Law that prohibits changing Jerusalem’s municipal borders, creating a loophole by which parts of Jerusalem can be turned into a new municipality, and then ceded to the Palestinians. That land will still be subject to 80-MK vote and the Referendum Law.

That lacuna was created intentionally, following a push by Jerusalem Minister Ze’ev Elkin, who seeks to remove villages populated by Arabs, which are part of Jerusalem but outside the separation barrier, from Jerusalem’s municipal borders.

Elkin said the new law “strengthens the defensive shield against those on the Left who want to try to harm the future of Israeli sovereignty in a united Jerusalem.”

“This isn’t a theoretical bill,” Bennett said in the Knesset. “It’s very practical. There have already been attempts to divide Jerusalem.

You know very well that this isn’t about [Arab neighborhood] Kalandiya but about dividing the Holy Basin and the Old City. This isn’t just [former prime minister Ehud] Barak’s formula, but of those present, here. [Zionist Union leaders] say Jerusalem’s Jewish neighborhoods belong to Israel, but the Old City and Holy Basin have a ‘special status.’ [Yesh Atid leader Yair] Lapid said the same. They’re talking about dividing Jerusalem.”

Bennett added: “Our understanding is clear. No Jew has the authority to give up any part of the land, nor does the Jewish people.”

Earlier Monday, Bezalel Smotrich of Bayit Yehudi, one of the Knesset’s most hawkish members, expressed discomfort with the part of the bill that allows for Jerusalem to be divided.

“It’s very problematic,” Smotrich told The Jerusalem Post. “It’s in the law out of necessity, because Elkin refused to promote it any other way. Bennett only wanted the first part,” meaning the supermajority.

The deliberations came down to whether to have an “all or nothing” attitude or to make incremental change, Smotrich explained.

In the opposition, MKs saw the bill as a way to prevent a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union) argued that the bill “does not help any citizens, only because the person leading the coalition is Naftali Bennett. There is no connection between the Palestinians living in villages and Jerusalem.”

Meretz MK Esawi Frej posited that “there is no diplomatic solution without east Jerusalem being Palestinian. All other ways won’t help.”

MK Ofer Shelah of Yesh Atid said the coalition is contradicting itself, on the one hand requiring a supermajority, and on the other, “the neighborhoods that few know where they are will be turned into not-Jerusalem.”

“In every agreement, Jerusalem will be under Israeli sovereignty, but we can’t let the residents of [Arab neighborhood] Shuafat decide our fate,” Shelah added.

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Source: http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Right-wing-coalition-passes-law-allowing-Jerusalem-to-be-divided-522627

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The post Right-wing coalition passes law allowing jerusalem to be divided first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.