Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s detailing of evidence confirming longstanding, military-oriented Iranian nuclear activity — in violation of Tehran’s claims of benign intentions and the spirit of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — B’nai B’rith International urges the immediate replacement of that faulty agreement with a system of total, verifiable and permanent curbs on Iran’s nuclear and weapons-proliferation programs.
 
Netanyahu described the exhaustive material gleaned from intelligence-gathering efforts as conclusive proof of Iran’s drive for the world’s most dangerous weaponry, even as Iranian leaders spread violent mayhem throughout the Middle East and beyond.
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These internal Iranian government blueprints and other documents have revealed a duplicitous regime determined to produce nuclear weapons. President Trump will be deciding next month whether the United States will remain party to the JCPOA. We strongly encourage the U.S. and its partners either to fix the glaring deficiencies in this dangerously inadequate deal or to pull out of it entirely and negotiate a new agreement. B’nai B’rith has been critical of the JCPOA from the outset, not only because of its deficiencies but also as Iran has proven it cannot be trusted to honor its obligations. 

Katharina von Schnurbein Honored in Paris Last Night

B’nai B’rith Europe President Serge Dahan honored Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission's Coordinator on Combating Anti-Semitism, and French Interior Ministry official Gilles Clavreul with the 2018 B’nai B’rith Human Rights Prize at the Mémorial de la Shoah in Paris yesterday. The commemoration was hosted by B’nai B’rith Europe and B’nai B’rith France. B’nai B’rith International sent a letter congratulating von Schnurbein on this prestigious honor.
 
“Fighting anti-Semitism is not a responsibility of the Jewish community; it’s a responsibility for society at large. And I think it’s also for that reason it concerns us all and therefore we must stand up against it together,” von Schnurbein said at the ceremony.
 
Von Schnurbein has implemented a code of conduct with social media companies, promotes the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of anti-Semitism and meets with government officials and other dignitaries to combat anti-Semitism across the world.
 
At the ceremony Dahan spoke of recent anti-Semitic events that have traumatized women, men and children and made them question the future of European Jewry. He noted that it is our collective responsibility to remember these events to ensure that future generations learn about the atrocities that the Jewish people have faced.
 
Alan Knoll, whose mother, Mireille Knoll, a Holocaust survivor who was murdered last month in Paris, was present at the event. Von Schnurbein met with Knoll before the ceremony and gave him a small stone to be placed on his mother’s grave.
 
During her speech von Schnurbein said that “when anti-Semitism is on the rise, it’s a sign that something bigger is going on in society.”
 
She further stated: “You must have the courage to condemn anti-Semitic expressions, even when they are hiding behind anti-Zionism.”  

B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have sent a letter to Mike Pompeo congratulating him for his confirmation as secretary of state.
 
In the letter, Saltzman and Mariaschin wrote: “B’nai B’rith shares the deep conviction, which you articulated during your Senate confirmation hearing, that ‘Iran has been on the march and has paid too low a price for its dangerous behavior.’ We further concur with you that ‘Iran’s activities in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon threaten the very existence of Israel, and the global reach of Hezbollah threatens us right here in the homeland.’”
 
Additionally, Saltzman and Mariaschin wrote: “We also welcome your leadership on one of the greatest and most intractable issues of our time, the Arab-Israeli conflict. We take comfort in the knowledge that Israel, the Middle East’s only democracy and a country that has battled terror and aggression since its independence, will have a staunch and sympathetic ally in the U.S. Secretary of State. B’nai B’rith also looks forward to continuing its cooperation with the State Department on its vital work in combating global anti-Semitism and in promoting Holocaust restitution and memory. We have no doubt that the struggle for progress on these issues will continue to enjoy the firm backing of the State Department during your tenure.”
 
Click here to read the full letter.

Event Features Excellence In Public Service Award, Spirit Of Humanity Award And Distinguished Humanitarian Award​
 
B’nai B’rith International is commemorating its 175th anniversary with a kick-off event on April 25 honoring three exemplary individuals for their outstanding commitment to make the world a better place.
 
B’nai B’rith has selected Rep. Eliot Engel to receive the Excellence in Public Service Award; Rebecca Rubin, founder, president and CEO of Marstel-Day, LLC, to receive the Spirit of Humanity Award; and Ambassador Richard Schifter to receive the Distinguished Humanitarian Award.
 
Since 1843, B’nai B’rith International has been dedicated to improving the quality of life for those around the globe. A constant source of innovation and charity for populations around the world, B’nai B’rith has founded hospitals, orphanages, senior housing communities, disaster relief campaigns, child safety initiatives, tolerance education programs and countless other initiatives in the public interest. Today, B’nai B’rith has a global presence, with a focus on supporting Israel; combating anti-Israel bias at the United Nations; fighting against anti-Semitism; advocacy on issues important to seniors and ensuring access to affordable and safe housing for low income seniors; disaster relief; and tolerance and diversity programming for teens and children.
 
We are pleased to honor three individuals with a similar sense of community service.
 
Engel represents New York’s 16th Congressional district in the United States Congress, where he serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Subcommittee on Health, and the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. He is the founder and co-chair of the House Oil and National Security Caucus, which is seeking clean, energy efficient alternatives to America’s over-reliance on oil. He also sits on the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, the Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism, the HIV/AIDS Caucus, the Long Island Sound Caucus and the Animal Protection Caucus, among others. 
 
Marstel-Day, LLC is an international environmental consultancy that Rubin established in 2002 to provide expertise in the areas of climate, habitat conservation, open space planning, water resource management, resilient infrastructure, energy conservation and sustainability, land use and natural resource conservation issues. 
 
Her passion is wilderness and she maintains a focus on land and water conservation, habitat protection and the delivery of ecological services. Rubin was named by President Barack Obama as a White House Champion of Change for Community Resilience and currently serves on Virginia’s State Air Pollution Control Board by appointment of the governor. She also serves as chairman of the Board for the National Wildlife Refuge Association, which protects America’s wildlife heritage across 850 million acres and 565 national wildlife refuges in the U.S. 
 
Schifter arrived in the United States from Austria in 1938 as a refugee. His parents, unable to qualify for a U.S. visa, were murdered in the Holocaust.
 
From 1984 to 2001 Schifter held positions in the U.S. State Department and the National Security Council, including as U.S. Representative in the U.N. Human Rights Commission, deputy U.S. Representative in the U.N. Security Council, with the rank of ambassador, assistant secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, and special assistant to the president and counselor on the National Security Council. He is now chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Jewish International Relations Institute.
 
Co-chairing the event are Sherri Goodman, former deputy under secretary of defense (environmental security) and senior fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center; Rick Schifter, partner at TPG Capital and the ambassador’s son; Adam M. Fried, CEO of Atlantic Builders, Ltd.; and Lee Halterman, partner, general counsel and CFO at Marstel-Day, LLC.   

B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
 
Elliott Abrams, former U.S Deputy National Security Advisor and Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at Council of Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C. will deliver the keynote address at B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Award for Journalism Recognizing Excellence in Diaspora Reportage on: "Israel and American Jews: A Portrait at 70." The ceremony will take place on June 5 at Konrad Adenauer Conference Center, Mishkenot Sha'ananim, Jerusalem (location).

The winners of the 2018 B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Award for Journalism Recognizing Excellence in Diaspora Reportage in memory of Wolf and Hilda Matsdorf were announced today. For broadcast media the award will be conferred upon Yair Sherki, Religious Affairs reporter for Israel News Company (formerly Channel 2 News) for his incisive five-part TV series “Brooklyn Shel Kodesh” (Brooklyn – The Holy Borough) on the ultra-Orthodox community in Brooklyn, New York. Amotz Asa-El, Jerusalem Report senior editor, will receive the award for print media for his five-part in-depth series on transitions in the Jewish experience: Geography, Solidarity, Faith, Hate and Genius.

The distinguished members of the award jury are: professor Yehudith Auerbach, School of Communications, Bar Ilan University; professor Sergio DellaPergola, the Institute of Contemporary Jewry, Hebrew University; Sallai Meridor, international chairman, Jerusalem Foundation, former Israeli ambassador to the United States, former chairman of the Zionist Executive and Jewish Agency; professor Gabriela Shalev, Higher Academic Council, Ono Academic College and former Israel ambassador to the U.N.; Yair Sheleg, columnist at Makor Rishon; Asher Weill, publisher and editor of ARIEL-The Israel Review of Arts and Letters from 1981-2003.
 
The B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Award for Journalism Recognizing Excellence in Diaspora Reportage is named for the late Wolf Matsdorf and his wife Hilda. Wolf was an editor of the World Center’s journal “Leadership Briefing” and a journalist in Israel and Australia. Hilda was a pioneer in social work in both Australia and Israel. The award is made possible through donations from the Matsdorf family and B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem board member Daniel Schydlowsky. ​

B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
 
B’nai B’rith International commends the House of Representatives for passing the Justice for Uncompensated Survivors Today (JUST) Act (HR 1226/S.447), which calls on the U.S. State Department  to annually assess and report on the restitution of Holocaust-era assets in countries with outstanding obligations.
 
B’nai B’rith expressed its support of the bill in a letter sent to Congress.
 
The bill “…directs the Department of State, with respect to covered countries, to annually include within either the relevant Annual Country Report on Human Rights, the International Religious Freedom Report, or other appropriate report an assessment of the nature and extent of national laws or enforceable policies regarding the identification, return, or restitution of wrongfully seized or transferred Holocaust era assets and compliance with the goals of the Terezin Declaration on Holocaust Era Assets and Related Issues…”
 
We hope this legislation will result in long overdue accountability by those countries that need to settle restitution obligations, and in the process, provides justice to survivors, their families and the Jewish communities as a whole. 
 
The act will now be sent to the White House, and B’nai B’rith encourages President Donald J. Trump to sign the bill into law.
 
B’nai B’rith is a founding member organization of the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO).

B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
 
B’nai B’rith International condemns the City Council in Durham, North Carolina for passing a resolution which blatantly promotes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement by no longer allowing its police department to engage in “military-style training” overseas. 
 
According to JTA, the legislation was backed by anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace, which petitioned to “immediately halt any partnerships that the Durham Police Department has or might enter into with the Israeli Defense Forces and/or the Israel Police.”
 
The Durham City Council has things backward. Israel’s democratic values are demonstrated every day by its police force. As a country under constant threat from terrorists and those who wish to destroy it, Israel’s record on human and civil rights is exemplary. Shame on those in Durham who have been intimidated by those whose only objective is to delegitimize the Jewish state.

B’nai B’rith Established First Lodge in Pre-State Israel in 1888

B’nai B’rith salutes Israel on its 70th birthday.
 
With global recognition of Israel’s relentless innovations in medicine, technology and science, many of the things we take for granted in today’s modern world were invented in Israel.
 
Israel truly made the desert bloom. With scant natural resources, Israelis successfully built, maintain and thrive on somewhat inhospitable land. A global leader in water desalinization, Israeli scientists have made the most of their natural setting and are helping other nations meet water challenges. Other breakthroughs include the Pillcam, which allows doctors to see inside patients, Waze, which finds drivers the best routes, USB flash drives, smart-drip irrigation to control the flow of precious water to crops, Mobileye, which more than 25 global automakers use to make cars safer by using tiny cameras and data to warn drivers of hazards like pedestrians in their way, or the ReWalk exoskeleton, that can help quadriplegics walk again. Israel also sets a global example of selflessness, often being the first of first responders to send rescue teams to such global catastrophes as the devastating earthquake in Haiti.
 
Since 1980, the B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem has been a vital link between Israel and B’nai B’rith members, donors and supporters around the world. Through innovative programming, the World Center-Jerusalem, with its strong ties throughout Israel’s government and business worlds, strengthens Israel-Diaspora relations.
 
Israel is a thriving democracy and innovator, all while having to constantly focus on existential threats and self-defense.
 
We salute Israel, for its innovation, its leadership and for providing a continuous home for Jews around the world.

​B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
 
B’nai B’rith International commends the German government for appointing Felix Klein commissioner for combating anti-Semitism, a newly created position.
 
Klein, who currently serves as special representative for relations with the Jewish community, will be charged with coordinating the government's activities to fight anti-Semitism within Germany. He also has headed Germany's delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and played a leading role in prompting his government's adoption of IHRA's working definition of anti-Semitism.
 
It is vitally important that the German government place its prestige and resources behind the pressing issue of anti-Semitism, as it is doing with the creation of the anti-Semitism commissioner post. In 2017 Germany experienced 1,453 anti-Semitic hate crimes, according to government data, as well as a continued mainstreaming of anti-Semitic attitudes, which Klein has vowed to oppose.
 
B'nai B'rith encourages other governments to create similar positions and to work with stakeholders in civil society to vigorously fight anti-Semitism.

Jewish Rescuer Fanny Ben-Ami: “Build your Lives and Families Here and Only Here in Israel”

Today, on Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day, the B’nai B’rith World Center and Keren Kayemet Le’Israel-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) held for the 16th consecutive year a unique joint Holocaust commemoration ceremony. This is the only event dedicated annually to commemorating the heroism of Jews who rescued fellow Jews during the Holocaust. The ceremony took place at the Martyrs’ Forest – Scroll of Fire Monument with some 1,000 people in attendance including IDF Border Police cadets who provided an honor guard, high school students from Jerusalem and the surrounding area, pre-army preparatory academy students, survivors and rescuers. The ceremony was dedicated to recognizing the heroism of the members of the Jewish French Resistance in saving fellow Jews during the Nazi occupation of France.
 
Among those taking part in the ceremony were Jewish rescuer Fanny Ben-Ami, whose autobiography was adapted into the movie “Fanny’s Journey” (2017); Head of Mission of the French Embassy in Israel Frederik Rogge; Tsilla Hershco, senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University and author of the book “Those Who Walk in Darkness will See Light: The Jewish French Resistance during the Holocaust and the Creation of Israel, 1940-1949;” KKL-JNF Director of Human Resources Division Eli Achi Mordechai; Director of the B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Alan Schneider and Chairman Haim Katz. During the ceremony, a Jewish Rescuer’s Citation was conferred by the B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem and the Committee to Recognize the Heroism of Jews who Rescued Fellow Jews During the Holocaust (JRJ) to Ben-Ami and in honor of other rescuers who risked their lives to save fellow Jews.
 
Ben-Ami moved the audience when she said she is sharing her citation with the group of children she led during their escape from France to Switzerland. She also told the audience to “Travel the world and take in new cultures, and learn, but build your lives and families here and only here in Israel. Because when things will go bad in the Diaspora you’ll be thrown out. Israel will always be the only safe place for you.”
 
Moshe Yogev, member of the KKL-JNF Board of Directors, said: “Fanny Ben-Ami, who sits here today, reluctantly became a hero while she was still a child when she bravely led her friends, through unimaginable dangers, from occupied France to the safe haven of Switzerland. Like previous years, today we honor many Jewish rescuers like her, members of the French Jewish resistance and rescuers from additional countries who, instead of looking out for only themselves and their families, chose to risk their lives to save their brethren from the inferno. These life-saving acts are a source of pride and inspiration for us all, and especially to the younger generation: this is the ideal example of human and Jewish solidarity and, following the important value of ‘All of Israel are responsible for one another’..”
 
Head of Mission of the French Embassy in Israel Frederik Rogge, spoke on behalf of the French ambassador: “It is an honor for me to be here today on the occasion of Yom Hashoah Holocaust Remembrance Day. We are here to recall the utmost tragedy that led to the suffering and murder of six million Jews in Europe — men, women and children. In France, as in many other countries in Europe, the Nazis were responsible for this tragedy. But they had accomplices — the French authorities — the Vichy government helped them in the deportation of around 76,000 Jews, nearly a quarter of the Jewish population of France at that time. This responsibility of our own government was recognized by former President Jacques Chirac.”
 
Rogge also added: “We are also here to recall the heroism of those who rose against barbarism and inhumanity. Those who saved Jews from the Holocaust — sometimes at the cost of their own life. Many of them were also Jews. In France, where the Jewish population at the start of the war accounted for less than one percent  of the total population, we estimate that 10 percent  to 20 percent  of the members of the Resistance were Jews. We should particularly commend the actions of Jewish Resistance groups such as the Jewish Scouts (EIF), the Jewish Army (AJ), the Organization of Assistance for Children (OSE) and  the Movement of the Zionist Youth (MJS). They rescued thousands of adults and children by providing them with hiding places or forged papers, and organized convoys to Switzerland and Spain. They also formed guerrilla organizations in the main cities of France and in the mountains. The Jewish Resistance groups often were the driving force behind the activities of the French Righteous Gentiles. They helped together to protect and rescue three-quarter of the French Jewish population who eventually survived the Holocaust. Let’s praise their courage and honor their memory.”
 
Hershco served as the principle source for identifying the recipients of the Jewish Rescuers Citation from among members of the Jewish Resistance in France. She told the audience that “The Jewish French Resistance was a unique phenomenon in the history of the Jewish struggle against the Nazi persecutors. From its inception in June 1940, members of the Jewish Resistance took organized and intensive action throughout the war years to rescue tens of thousands of Jews in cooperation with Righteous Among the Nations. Members of the Jewish Resistance took part in the battles to free France until the final defeat of Nazi Germany in May 1945. Members of the Jewish Resistance endangered themselves even though they could have lived in relative safety due to false document[s] they held. They paid a dear price: 200 of their members were killed in the line of duty. Many other[s] were caught, tortured and survived. True to their Zionist convictions, many of them joined the war effort to establish the State of Israel.”

B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Chairman Haim Katz, said that, “To date, the Jewish Rescuer Citation has been awarded to about 200 rescuers who acted in France, Hungary, Greece, Germany, Slovakia, Yugoslavia, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Italy and Holland, Austria, Belarus, Lithuania — in order to recognize the heroism of the Jewish rescuers during the Holocaust.
 
This year, the ceremony was dedicated to the rescue efforts of the Jewish Resistance in France that operated from the occupation of France in June 1940 until the defeat of German forces there in September 1944. Each of the networks was established as an independent entity, but collaborated in various activities and often shared members. These networks saved the lives of thousands of adults and children, employing various methods such as issuing false documentations, smuggling Jews to Switzerland and Spain and formulating guerrilla groups in the cities and partisans groups in the south of France. These networks united under one umbrella organization — Organisation Juive de Combat-OJC.
 
After the war many of the members of the Jewish resistance in France contributed to the creation of the State of Israel. They joined the Haganah, helped develop a foundation for Israeli diplomatic activities in France, facilitated the illegal immigration to Israel, purchased weapons for what would become the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), engaged in clandestine radio transmission between Europe and pre-state Israel, created connections with the French government and arranged for military recruitment and training for the IDF in France. Many members made aliyah and participated in the War of Independence.
 
The Martyr’s Forest is the largest joint B’nai B’rith and KKL-JNF project, which memorializes the victims of the Holocaust with six million trees planted in the picturesque Jerusalem mountains near Moshav Kesalon. At the pinnacle of the forest stands the “Scroll of Fire,” created by renowned sculptor Nathan Rapoport, which invokes the destruction of the Jewish people in the Holocaust and their redemption in the State of Israel. The event began with personal testimonies by Holocaust survivors to classes of soldiers and students.