​B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
 
B’nai B’rith International applauds the introduction of the bipartisan Israel Anti-Boycott Act in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives last week. The legislation would penalize companies that take part in the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
 
Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio), and Reps. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) and Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), initiated the bill. It follows a United Nations Human Rights Council decision last year to catalogue companies doing business in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem.
 
“The United States should bring its foreign policy and its economic institutions, its relationships, and its leverage to bear to combat boycott, divestment, and sanctions actions against Israel,” Cardin said of the bill. “We should not stand idle when foreign countries or international governmental organizations use BDS tactics to isolate one of our key allies.”
 
B’nai B’rith strongly urges the Senate and House to promptly pass the legislation. The Israel Anti-Boycott Act is a vital tool in combating BDS and anti-Israel hatred.

​Upon the Senate confirmation of David Friedman to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel, B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin sent a letter of congratulations to the new ambassador:
 
“On behalf of B'nai B'rith International—the world's oldest and most widely known Jewish communal, humanitarian and advocacy organization, with a grassroots presence in some 50 countries—we write to extend our sincere congratulations upon your confirmation by the Senate to be the next United States Ambassador to the State of Israel.
 
We are eager to partner with you to ensure that the strong bonds that tie the United States and Israel become even more robust. As an organization with deep roots in Israel going back to 1888, we stand ready to work with you, through our headquarters in Washington, D.C. and our B'nai B'rith World Center in Jerusalem, to bring renewed vigor to the bilateral relationship between two great allies. We look forward to many years of fruitful and close cooperation on programs that can mutually benefit Israel and the United States in a time of uncertainty and in a region in continuous turmoil.
 
We extend to you our best wishes for your success as you prepare to assume your duties in this vital diplomatic position.”

​B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
 
B’nai B’rith International strongly condemns the five unwarranted anti-Israel resolutions the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) passed today. One resolution was on the Golan Heights, while the other four were about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
 
The Human Rights Council has on its permanent agenda “Item 7,” which is a basket of anti-Israel condemnations reviewed and discussed each time the council meets. No other nation is singled out for review and opprobrium in this way.
 
We commend the United States and Togo for taking a principled stand by voting against all five resolutions.
 
The United Kingdom broke with the other European Union countries on the council and voted against the Golan measure, while abstaining and/or voting in favor of the others. However, the U.K. did put the council “on notice” following the votes that if things do not change regarding the bias against Israel then it will be voting against all “Item 7” resolutions in the future.
 
Though the vote outcome is to be expected in the highly-charged anti-Israel atmosphere that is pervasive at the council, B’nai B’rith is slightly encouraged that more countries are realizing that the UNHRC is becoming further politicized by the unrelenting bias Israel faces year after year at the UNHRC.  

B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
 
B’nai B’rith International spoke before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) today under its general agenda “Item 7,” which continuously singles out Israel alone for harsh criticism and opprobrium. U.N. Geneva representative Richard Sadoune spoke on behalf of B’nai B’rith, calling out the council’s actions in seeking to effectively create a discriminatory blacklist of Israeli companies.
 
Sadoune said:
 
“Mr. President,
 
Last March, this council passed an outrageous resolution that tasked the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights with creating what some hope will become a blacklist enabling discriminatory action against many Israeli companies as well as international companies that do business with Israelis, often providing for their security. 
 
Efforts to boycott businesses owned by or tied to Jews are not new—they have a long and sordid history. They have long been a manifestation of the dangerous disease that is anti-Semitism, and they are often a precursor to violence. Knowing this history, and the genuine complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the council should have rejected out-of-hand such an obscene resolution.
 
One of the pillars of the U.N. is human rights, and fighting against anti-Semitism should be a key component of this pillar. We, Jews and non-Jews alike, deserve a U.N. that does not discriminate and cause harm. Instead, this council bows to anti-Semitism, under the guise of anti-Israelism, and enables it. If this body is to have any relevance for promoting genuine peace and reconciliation, action is desperately needed now. This is the time to repeal the resolution.
 
Thank you, Mr. President.”
 
Click here to watch Sadoune present to the UNHRC (chapter 49).
​

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:
 
B’nai B’rith International concluded a leadership delegation visit to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, where top staff and volunteers advocated on important historic and cultural issues and challenged the body’s growing exploitation as a political tool against Israel. The group met directly with UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova on the heels of several days of advocacy at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.
 
From March 16 to March 20, B’nai B’rith leaders met with senior diplomats from some two-dozen countries, including the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Germany, Kenya, India and Russia. B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin led the delegation.
 
“UNESCO bodies have become, over the past few years, more and more complicit in an ill-conceived and politicized Palestinian campaign that seeks to erase the connection between Jews and their holiest sites—beginning with the Temple Mount and the Western Wall,” Saltzman and Mariaschin said from Paris. “Reversing this negative and destructive trend is not only important for Israel and the Jewish people, it’s vital to UNESCO itself if the organization wants to credibly speak on cultural or educational matters in the future without the tainted reputation of a politicized U.N. organ.”
 
During the trip, the delegation held meetings with Bokova, UNESCO Assistant Director-General Eric Falt, Israeli Ambassador to France Aliza Bin-Noun and Israeli Ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama Hacohen. B’nai B’rith also met with Francis Kalifat, president of the French Jewish umbrella organization CRIF.
 
In addition to Saltzman and Mariaschin, B’nai B’rith was represented by: Chairman of the Executive Peter Perlman, Detroit, Mich.; Senior Vice President Sheila Mostyn, Toronto; Senior Vice President Eric Engelmayer, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg; B’nai B’rith Europe President Daniel Citone, Rome; B’nai B’rith UNESCO representative and Executive Board of Directors member Stéphane Teicher, Paris; B’nai B’rith Executive Board of Directors member Yves Kamami, Paris; Executive Board of Directors member and B’nai B’rith Foundation of the United States Chair Irving Silver, Mobile, Ala.; Chair of the International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy Charles Kaufman, Austin, Texas; Chair of the Council on U.N. Affairs Michael Nachman, New York; B’nai B’rith Europe Vice President Valerie Achache, Paris; B’nai B’rith Canada Senior Honorary Counsel David Matas, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Dr. Owen Perlman, Detroit; Board of Governors member Jacques Jacubert, Paris; UNESCO alternate representative Annie Cohen-Ganouna, Paris; UNESCO alternate representative Irene Ores, Paris, and Director of U.N. and Intercommunal Affairs David Michaels, New York.
​
Michaels coordinated the meetings in Paris together with U.N. Affairs Program Officer Oren Drori, from New York.

​B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
 
B’nai B’rith International has deep concerns over some of the proposed programming cuts contained in the Trump administration budget outline. 
 
The Administration has signaled its intention to reduce the international affairs budget. This deeply concerns us, as U.S. foreign aid represents a mere one percent of the overall federal budget. Foreign aid is an investment in America's interests abroad. In a time of increasing global instability and humanitarian crises, a weakening of our investment in soft power could greatly harm our national security and economic health.
 
Domestically, we have serious concerns about proposed funding cuts to The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The White House plan includes a funding cut of 13.2 percent to HUD. B’nai B’rith’s long history with Section 202 housing started in 1971 when we formed a partnership with HUD to sponsor housing for low-income seniors. The B’nai B’rith Senior Housing Network in the United States comprises 38 buildings and serves more than 8,000 people. B’nai B’rith International is the largest national Jewish sponsor of low-income housing for seniors in the country. Lack of access to safe and affordable housing for all older Americans has deep ramifications for the health and welfare of so many.
 
We will continue to monitor and analyze the proposed budget to determine the potential impact on both the international and domestic fronts.
 

B’nai B’rith International concluded its annual leadership delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, where top staff and volunteer leaders advocated on important human rights issues and challenged the body’s relentless bias against Israel.
 
From March 13 to March 16, more than 25 B’nai B’rith leaders and supporters, including four student representatives from the national Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi), met with senior diplomats from some 40 countries, including the United States, Brazil, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Japan, Russia and the United Kingdom. B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin led the delegation. 

​“We meet in Geneva every year to stand up for global human rights and for Israel, and let the United Nations Human Rights Council—let the world—know that the nation-state of the Jewish people is a vibrant and remarkable democracy that does not warrant the slew of shameful condemnatory resolutions the UNHRC passes every year,” Saltzman and Mariaschin said from Geneva.
 
During the trip, the delegation held meetings with Council officials and discussed serial human rights abusers such as Syria and Iran, as well as the UNHRC’s obsessive criticism of Israel under “Item 7”—a permanent agenda item aimed only at Israel.

In addition to Saltzman and Mariaschin, B’nai B’rith was represented by: Chairman of the Executive Peter Perlman, Detroit, Mich.; Senior Vice President Sheila Mostyn, Toronto; Senior Vice President Eric Engelmayer, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg; Chair of the International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy Charles Kaufman, Austin, Texas; B’nai B’rith Europe President Daniel Citone, Rome; Executive Committee Member Stéphane Teicher, Paris; BBYLN Chair and Executive Committee Member Eduard Redensky, Chicago; Board of Governors Member Irving Silver, Mobile, Ala.; Chair of the Council on U.N. Affairs Michael Nachman, New York; B’nai B’rith International Center on Human Rights and Public Policy Board Member Lawrence Magid, New York; BBYLN Vice Chair Rachel Silvestain, Chicago; B’nai B’rith Canada Senior Honorary Counsel David Matas, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Director of U.N. and Intercommunal Affairs David Michaels, New York; Director of London Bureau of International Affairs Jeremy Havardi, London; Dr. Owen Perlman, Detroit; President of the Mordecai Lodge Ada Sadoun, Grenoble, France; Board of Governors Member and Executive Director of AEPi Andy Borans, Indianapolis; Azaria Acher, Geneva; Nurit Braun, Geneva; Klaus Netter, Geneva; Richard Sadoune, Geneva; and Anita Winter, Zurich. Josh Greenburg, Adam Volman and Gal Shahaf represented AEPi.
 
Michaels coordinated the meetings in Geneva together with U.N. Affairs Program Officer Oren Drori, from New York.
 
Part of the delegation will continue on to Paris to meet with key government officials including United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova.  

​B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:
 
B’nai B’rith deplores a new United Nations committee report that accuses Israel of practicing apartheid. According to the Jerusalem Post the report states, “Israel has established an apartheid regime that dominates the Palestinian people as a whole.”
 
The report was written for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), which encompasses 18 Arab countries.
 
The ESCWA reportedly did not consult with the U.N. secretariat and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said of the report that “The United Nations secretariat was right to distance itself from this report, but it must go further and withdraw the report altogether.”
 
Likewise Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon‏ confirmed on his Twitter account that U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres did not endorse the report.
 
The apartheid charge is a ludicrous canard. These relentless anti-Semitic and anti-Israel accusations from the United Nations must end. We agree with Haley, and urge the U.N. secretariat to renounce this unfounded and biased report. 

B’nai B’rith International marks the 25th anniversary of the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Argentina. On March 17, 1992 a suicide bomber drove a truck into the embassy. The explosion killed 29 people and wounded more than 200.
 
Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at a memorial service honoring the victims and their families. His remarks are below.
 
“The memory of those terrible days in Argentina is etched on our hearts, the images never fading from our minds. Murderers slaughtered 29 innocent victims, including four of our finest: David Goldman Ben Rephael, Israel's envoy, was a true professional, a lover of justice, smart, fair, humble and good hearted; Eli Carmon, the wife of Consul Danny Carmon, had a radiant personality, was an exemplary mother and a gifted and hardworking woman; Eli Ben Zeev was an uncompromising security officer who demanded much of himself and was meticulous and reliable; and Zehava Zehavi – who was married to Itzik, the First Secretary – was always willing to help and the first to volunteer.
 
A heart-wrenching tragedy befell the families and changed their lives forever – the families of our murdered victims, of the local victims, Jews and non-Jews alike, and the family of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We all hold our representatives abroad in great esteem, as they work on two fronts: they tackle diplomatic challenges – today I also say that they encounter diplomatic opportunities – and they are constantly under security threat. They are our soldiers on the front, perhaps soldiers who don a suit and tie and walk the red carpets on occasion, but soldiers nonetheless, and people who face ongoing personal risk.
 
It is true that in most cases we successfully manage to thwart attacks on them, largely thanks to the excellent Israeli intelligence and defense agencies, but those who wish to harm us still try relentlessly and we thwart their attempts constantly. We still feel the pain caused by the tragedies in Argentina and other places, and we are united in our deep grief.
 
I am sure that you all remember the moment when the news about the attack on the embassy reached us in Israel. A bridge stretched thousands of kilometers between Jerusalem and Buenos Aires, a bridge which connected us in our joint destiny, our anguish, empathy, solidarity and clarity.
 
We knew straight away that Iran was behind this heinous attack. Iran set it in motion, Iran planned it and Iran, through its proxy Hezbollah, also carried it out. And if that were not enough, two years later we got further proof that Iran's aggression knew no bounds, with the attack on the Jewish Community Center, the AMIA building, with an even more dreadful outcome – 85 people killed, hundreds wounded and terrible devastation.
 
We warned then that the beast of terror growing under the auspices of Iran, this disease spreading throughout the Middle East and the entire world, would not go away. Since the attack in Argentina, Iran, through its proxy Hezbollah, has established a global network of terror in more than 30 countries on five continents. It is the biggest instigator of terror in the world. Its victims are Jews, Israelis, citizens of the West and citizens of the East, domestic insurgents and those who oppose the regime from the outside. Iran is the number one instigator of terror in the world, and we must fight this terror, which is only one of the branches of Iranian aggression.
 
Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, advancing its ballistic missile program in defiance of Security Council resolutions and sowing instability in the region surrounding us. The regime in Tehran aspires to plant its flag atop the ruins of the free world. It continues to threaten to annihilate Israel. One of our security agencies estimates that over 80% of Israel's fundamental security problems stem from Iran.
 
We will not back down. We will continue to build up our strength. Since the attack in Argentina, Israel has become much more powerful. We have become a global leader in intelligence, counter-terrorism and cyber. We have armed ourselves with first-rate weapons systems and flight systems, the best in the world. Israel has become a great force, and this force mobilizes others to challenge the threat posed by Iran. We will continue to decisively confront the aggression of Iran and its proxies.
 
In two days I will fly to Moscow to meet with President Putin. I will make it clear to him that we are determined to prevent Iran from tightening its hold in Syria, on the ground and in the sea. By the same measure, we will object to the presence of any Shiite militias among us or near us, including the arming of Hezbollah with dangerous weapons. Our red lines are thick and well-defined, and we will not hesitate to act to preserve them.
 
I urge all countries to fully understand that no one is immune from terror, and we must continue to work together to fight it. Two-and-a-half decades ago, Argentina suffered these two harsh blows, first in the attack which we are commemorating today and then in the second attack on AMIA. However, the danger still looms over us all.
 
Having spoken with President Macri, I am impressed that he understands the problem well, and I intend to meet with him in the near future to strengthen the relations between our two countries in many areas, including these vital areas of enhancing defense and fighting terror.
 
Ladies and gentlemen, a few days after the attack on the embassy, someone placed a flag on top of the rubble that was once the building – a flag that is stronger than any wreckage, the blue and white flag of Israel. This symbolic gesture moved me to tears, and it held profound meaning – terrorism will not break us, and we will continue to fight resolutely to eradicate it.
 
Sadly, our loved ones whose lives were brutally cut short are not among us, but the causes which guided them are impressively becoming realities. The State of Israel has become very strong. It is a developed and prosperous country, possibly one of the most modern of the countries in the world, definitely among the top, and it is advancing in huge strides. Today, our flag flies proudly in many countries, in ever more countries that are seeing the bright light radiating from here. This light is destined to defeat the forces of darkness, the forces of barbarism and terrorism.
 
We will remember the victims of the attack in Argentina with yearning and respect, and will continue along the path they paved to strengthen Israel and its standing in the world, and to ensure our future.
 
May their memory be blessed.”

​B’nai B’rith International is concerned that repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in favor of the Republican proposed American Health Care Act (AHCA) could cause the most vulnerable people—senior citizens—to lose coverage. Through Medicaid low-income seniors are relieved of the cost-sharing and out-of-pocket costs in their Medicare coverage. Low-income seniors are also eligible for some state services meant to make up for some care that Medicare does not cover, such as dental, vision and hearing, Medicaid helps to fill coverage gaps these seniors could not pay for on their own. 
 
Many seniors depend on Medicaid to cover the cost-sharing in Medicare—without this coverage they would not be able to afford co-payments and could be forced to skip needed care. Therefore, Medicaid plays a critical role in health and financial security for low-income seniors. B’nai B’rith welcomes the AHCA exempting Medicaid aid for low-income Medicare beneficiaries from the per capita cap proposal. However, changing any portion of the Medicaid funding to a per capita cap proposal an additional layer of pressure to state budgets, and put the health care and financial security of millions of older adults at risk. As the AHCA is being debated in Congress, we hope no additional Medicaid funding will be subject to a per capita cap.
 
Under the current ACA, health insurers were only allowed to charge older Americans three times more than younger policy holders for premiums. The proposed AHCA would allow health insurers to charge older Americans five times more than young people for premiums. The AARP reports that based on the tax credit changes and the increase in premium limits, low income adults in their 60s could see dramatic increases in premiums.
 
Lastly, the 2016 Medicare Trustee report states that the Medicare Part A Trust fund is solvent until 2028 (11 years longer than pre-ACA). The AHCA repeals a .9 percent payroll tax on higher-income workers. Repealing this tax could speed up the potential insolvency of the Medicare Part A Trust Fund by four years, from 2028 to 2024. 
 
At the same time, B’nai B’rith is encouraged that the proposed AHCA keeps in place the Medicare Part D coverage gap (known commonly as the “donut hole”) protections established under the ACA. We strongly urge the Trump administration and Congress to revise the AHCA proposal, as so many seniors and other vulnerable Americans are low income and cannot afford an increase in health care costs.