(JNS) The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, 2017, increased by 67 percent when compared with the same period in 2016, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) annual report on anti-Semitism.
The report documents 1,299 anti-Semitic incidents across the U.S. from Jan. 1-Sept. 30 of last year, compared with 1,266 in all of 2016.
ADL’s Israel director, Carole Nuriel, presented the statistics on Monday to the Knesset’s Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs.
Nuriel emphasized that the report is not conclusive and that many additional anti-Semitic incidents go unreported, often due to victims fearing retaliation or complications with classifying an incident as anti-Semitic. She also underscored an increase in anti-Semitic bullying and vandalism within the U.S. school system, as such incidents more than doubled from 130 in 2016 to 269 from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2017.
“These figures testify to demons emerging from the bottle and are now threatening to blacken the attitude toward Jews throughout the world,” said Member of Knesset Nachman Shai (Zionist Union), chairman of the Israeli legislature’s Caucus for Strengthening the Jewish People.
“We must not remain silent and allow the worsening of the treatment of Jews and Judaism,” Shai said. “This is a significant danger to the State of Israel. Anti-Semitism is the fuel that nourishes the BDS phenomenon, and the worse it gets, the worse Israel’s situation will be in the world.”
Jerusalem Supermajority Law Passes, Will Require 80 MKs to Support Any Measure to Cede Control Over Parts of City
(TPS) A Jewish-Home sponsored law requiring a two-thirds supermajority of 80 MKs to approve any agreement that calls for the transfer of territory to any foreign entity was approved by lawmakers in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The amendment to the Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel passed second and third readings by a 64-51 majority.
The amendment, sponsored by Jewish Home MK Shuli Moalem-Refaeli probits ceding any territory within Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries without a two-thirds majority. The amendment, however, can be changed with a regular majority of 61.
While the amendment blocks the government from giving up territory without a supermajority, it cancels a clause in the law that prohibits any change in the municipal boundaries of the city. The annulment of that clause could pave the way for removing some densely populated Palestinian neighborhoods beyond the security fence from Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries. At the same time, however, ceding sovereignty over those neighborhoods would require a supermajority under the Referendum Law that requires a popular vote on ceding sovereign Israeli territory. The Referendum Law applies to Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, which were annexed by Israel, but not to Judea and Samaria.
“Today we ensured the unity of Jerusalem for eternity,” said Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett. “The Mount of Olives, the Old City and the City of David will remain in our hands forever. There will be no more political trickery that enables our capital to be torn apart. This is Israel’s answer to the shameful United Nations vote on Jerusalem.”
Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin said the amendment would “provide a defensive shield against those in the left who may in the future seek to sabotage Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem.”
