Trump's Jewish Advisers

Donald Trump’s Jewish Advisers: A Primer

Days before Rosh Hashanah, President Donald Trump gathered some of his closest Jewish advisers to sit next to him in the Oval Office as he conducted the traditional presidential High Holiday conference call with rabbis and Jewish leaders. Here are some of the members of the American Jewish community with whom the president consults.

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Is Bibi on the Outs With Adelson?

In the days since the story ran, new developments have come at a rapid pace, including a ruling by Israel’s Supreme Court forcing Netanyahu to release the dates of his phone conversations with Adelson and Amos Regev, the former editor-in-chief of Israel Hayom. In addition, Netanyahu’s former chief of staff Ari Harow turned state’s witness in this and another investigation into Netanyahu. These developments have fed speculation as to whether the prime minister’s legal problems could spell the end of his hold on power.

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Madoff Scandal Hurting Jewish Orgs–Yeshiva U lost $100 Million

By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler Another financial drama is having rippling effects in the Jewish community, only, unlike the financial misfortunes of Sheldon Adelson we wrote about last week, this one is despicable. Bernard Madoff, the founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, was arrested Dec. 11 after admitting responsibility for a massive Ponzi scheme. Both JTA and Bloomberg reported on the effects Madoff's arrest will have on non profits. JTA says: The Robert I. Lappin Foundation in Salem, Mass., announced Dec. 12 that it would shut down after losing $8 million -- all of its money. And the Chais Family Foundation, which gives out some $12.5 million each year to Jewish causes in Israel, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, announced its closing Dec. 14. At least one nonprofit is calling out for help in the wake of Madoff’s...

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Birthright and Bibi

By Jeremy Gillick While the economic crisis may spell Birthright's demise, New Voices editor Josh Nathan-Kazis argues that the famously free trip to Israel has already left its mark. In its December issue, Josh takes a look at Birthright's Hidden Cost. The issue also features an interview with Naomi Klein, the new darling of the left, who has been the subject of recent features in The New Yorker and in The New Republic, as well as stories on Manischewitz, the Jewish Defense League, and Jews at small, southern colleges, and a podcast on transgender issues in the Jewish community. In a provocative op-ed, Asher Berman makes the case for a strategic alliance between Iran and the United States. Read it all at New Voices.

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Donor's Woes Inducing Breach Birth(right)?

By Mandy Katz Birthright may have to cut back on the inspirational Israel tours it hosts for Jewish American teens, the Forward reports. A drop in the fortunes of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation threatens the financial viability of its majority stockholder, Sheldon Adelson, a major Birthright donor who last year was the world's richest Jew, according to Forbes. (His ranking has since slipped.) Birthright's officers contend Adelson will come through on his outstanding $20-million pledge to support this summer's tours. But if he doesn't, insiders told the Forward, participant numbers could fall from 25,000 to 5,000. Fertilizing not just the fields of Israel advocacy, Adelson in recent years has also spread his wealth in GOP funding circles, most notably by sinking at least $30 million into a now-collapsing advocacy group called Freedom's Watch. (That's where Ari Fleischer...

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