German parties form government that excludes AfD, far-right party that worries many Jews
(JTA) — A far-right party with a record of extremist rhetoric, including minimizing the Holocaust, will not be part of Germany’s government, despite coming in second during national elections earlier this year.
The formation of a governing coalition on Wednesday made official what had appeared clear since the election: that Alternative for Germany, known as AfD, would be shut out.
Instead, Friedrich Merz, who heads the center-right Christian Democratic Union, has teamed up with the center-left Social Democrats to form a coalition, the parties announced on Wednesday.
Their coalition follows a period in which AfD rose steadily in the national polls in Germany, achieving the best result for a far-right party since the Holocaust. The party has worried many in Germany and beyond, including local Jews, with its pro-Russia and anti-immigrant platform.
Revelations of likely voter fraud spark call for consequences in World Zionist Congress election
(JTA) — Six slates competing in the ongoing election for the World Zionist Congress in the United States are demanding election administrators disqualify two other slates following revelations of likely widespread voter fraud.
The demand was made in a letter sent Tuesday to the election committee of the American Zionist Movement, the organization that oversees the election. The six slates that signed the letter represent a range of political and religious viewpoints.
“The circumstances … are a huge embarrassment and a devastating blow which threatens the legitimacy of the elections,” said the letter, which was shared with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
The organization’s election committee notified slates in a letter on Monday that it is investigating suspicious patterns of voting involving some 2,000 ballots that were cast in support of two slates. The letter was leaked to eJewish Philanthropy, which reported on its contents on Tuesday.
A large number of the suspect votes were registered to the addresses of several Orthodox yeshivas and cast within minutes of each other. Many voters were tied to email addresses that appeared randomly generated or to anonymous prepaid debit cards. The two slates suspected of receiving fraudulent votes have not been named.
Colombia appoints allegedly fake rabbi, an anti-Zionist, as director of religious affairs
(JTA) — The Colombian Jewish community is reeling after an anti-Zionist rabbi was tapped to be the country’s director of religious affairs.
Richard Gamboa Ben-Eleazar was appointed to the post in Colombia’s Ministry of the Interior by Colombian President Gustavo Petro according to an announcement Gamboa made on social media last Thursday.
He thanked Petro for “the opportunity to serve excluded and marginalized religious minorities from the Directorate of Religious Affairs, in the construction of a just and peaceful Colombia for all.”
But Colombia’s Jewish community does not recognize Gamboa as a rabbi, and Jewish groups have condemned him as an antisemite. He reportedly received his ordination from a Florida institution called the Esoteric Theological Seminary that advertises rabbinical degrees for $160. Gamboa’s LinkedIn displays an ordination certificate from the seminary.
France will move to recognize a Palestinian state this year, Macron says
(JTA) — In a major shift, Emmanuel Macron said France will move to formally recognize the state of Palestine in the coming months.
The French president said in a TV interview Wednesday that recognition of a Palestinian state could encourage adversaries of Israel, such as Iran or Saudi Arabia, to grant it recognition.
The step would mark a significant change for France, which is home to Europe’s largest Jewish community and has long been a close ally of Israel — acting as one of the country’s largest arms suppliers early in its history. Israel, in turn, is home to a growing population of French immigrants.
Macron’s statement comes almost a year after three other European countries — Norway, Spain and Ireland — jointly recognized a Palestinian state. Israel’s parliament overwhelmingly rejected the idea of establishing a Palestinian state last summer, and a poll last year found that only a slim minority of Israelis believe a Palestinian state could coexist peacefully with Israel.
