JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

In Israel, Rice does the limbo

By Uriel Heilman · August 27, 2008

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met in Jerusalem on Aug. 26.

Visiting Israel this week, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is trying to figure out what Israel's state of political limbo means for the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.

To her dismay, she's discovering it means the Bush administration is unlikely to see any progress of note during the remainder of Olmert's – or Bush's – term.

Here's Barak Ravid's analysis in Ha'aretz:

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may have arrived in Israel with the intention of advancing talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but her meetings have also dealt with trying to understand Israel's political limbo.

An Israeli government source said a key issue Rice's aides discussed with their Israeli counterparts was what happens the day after the Kadima party primary.

U.S. officials were trying hard to understand the constitutional ramifications of the Kadima race. They discussed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's role in an interim government and whether he could carry out significant political decisions. Rice's aides concluded that it is highly likely that Israel will not have a stable new government before the end of 2008, around the time the Bush administration comes to a close.

0 Comments | Share This | Condi, Israel |

Agri fends off Obama, Iowa governor

By Ben Harris · August 26, 2008

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama jumped into the fray over Agriprocessors yesterday by slamming the company for hiring underage workers (more on that here). Coming on the eve of the DNC convention in Denver, the comment predictably got a lot of attention. But it followed a far lengthier and more damning appraisal of the company by Iowa governor and fellow Democrat Chet Culver. Writing Sunday in the Des Moines Register, Culver assailed the company for taking advantage of a failed immigration policy and of "taking the low road" in its business practices. He reviews the history of troubles the company has run into with government regulators and pats himself on the back for the steps his administration has taken in response to the latest allegations. Finally, he tops it off with what is fast becoming standard practice when criticizing Agriprocessors – referencing Upton Sinclair's landmark expose of the meatpacking industry in the novel "The Jungle."

Agri responded Tuesday with a comprehensive refutation of the governor and an invitation to tour the plant (apparently, everyone gets one of these now except for me).

Full statement after the jump.

AGRI RESPONDS TO THE GOVERNOR

Gov. Chet Culver in his Sunday op-ed essay urged Agriprocessors to "take the high road" and join the family of responsible businesses in Iowa. We believe that we are indeed on course to take the "high road."

Agriprocessors moved to Iowa two decades ago precisely because the company had a vision: to create a source of kosher meat that could supply the nation's growing demand for kosher foods with healthy, good-quality and reasonably priced meat. Agriprocessors chose to locate its plant in Iowa because of what the state had and continues to offer. Iowa offers honest, hard-working people - people who work for our company and people who supply the company with products and services.

With the grace of God, Agriprocessors flourished in the state of Iowa while benefiting the citizens of Iowa. It provided jobs to many hundreds of people and stimulated economic growth not only in Postville but throughout the state. Agriprocessors is very much a part of Iowa's dream, creating a value-added product from the great beef in Iowa for export nationwide.

Agriprocessors fully subscribes to the governor's call to begin to take the high road and join the family of responsible businesses in Iowa since it wholeheartedly believes that it is doing precisely that. In just the past few months, it has taken a number of important steps that certainly fulfill that challenge.

While the governor's first bill in office was to raise the minimum wage from $6.25 per hour to $7.25 an hour, Agriprocessors has raised its minimum starting wage from $7.25 per hour to $10 per hour (for workers with skills). The company has also instituted affordable and quality health care for all of its workers, another prime concern of the governor.

Agriprocessors regrets that some of its employees may have used fraudulent documents to lie about their age. Agriprocessors has been in contact with the Iowa Department of Labor ever since it raised the issue early this year. It repeatedly asked the department to advise it of underage workers who may have fraudulently presented documents to work at the plant. The department did its own audit in April and did not find any underage workers. The company policy is clear: "No one under 18 may be employed at the plant." When it did learn of several underage workers in the plant, they were immediately dismissed.

Agriprocessors hired Jim Martin, a former U.S. attorney in Missouri, as its new compliance officer to ensure that the company is in complete compliance with all federal and state regulations. It has implemented safety training sessions for all of its supervisors and for all of its workers. The company means it: Safety is its No. 1 concern. Everyone at Agriprocessors knows that, its officers, employees on the line and supervisors.

Agriprocessors hired a former Occupational Safety and Health Administration official to monitor its compliance with all federal and state safety requirements. Agriprocessors is a modern and safe place to work, as anyone who has visited the plant recently can plainly see. It has also hired an experienced staffing company to do its hiring, and it is voluntarily using the new federal e-Verify system.

The water-treatment problem that the governor raises was a problem years ago not only for the company's plant but also for another business as well. While the other company cut and ran, Agriprocessors stayed the course and invested heavily in a high-technology water-treatment plant that is a model of environmental friendliness and is the envy of companies across the country and, indeed, throughout the world. Ironically, Agriprocessors never received any credit for this bold action.

We are pleased to invite the governor to visit the plant, to meet with our leadership and to see the truth firsthand. In such a meeting, we would be delighted to hear the governor's suggestions as to how we can further improve to fulfill the governor's challenge to us. In addition to meeting with us, the governor should meet with members of our community, the mayor of Postville, with our happy employees and our supervisors and our compliance officers.

In the end, we are certain that the governor will see firsthand that our plant is anything but a "jungle," and, when all of the bitterness of the last few months is taken out of the equation, that we are indeed on course to being on an even "higher road."

4 Comments | Share This | 2008 Election, Agriprocessors, Kashrut, Religion |

Gaza boat escapades

By Uriel Heilman · August 26, 2008

Ha'aretz tells the story behind the story of the Israeli government decision not to stop two boats full of activists from thwarting Israel's blockade of Gaza and reaching the Hamas-ruled strip.

1 Comment | Share This | Israel, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict |

The News Shticker

By Ben Harris · August 26, 2008

• Beijing it aint, but the folks from Heeb have concocted a Semitic version of the Olympiad. Other videos from the series include Disconnecta Yenta, the Penny Pick-Up and Gefilte Fish Wrestling.
• Madonna compared John McCain to Adolf Hitler and Robert Mugabe, and the ADL isn't pleased.
• Meanwhile, Madonna hubby Guy Ritchie doesn't share his wife's affinity for Kabbalah, saying he prefers to stay "objective."
• Israeli rabbis have a beef with Uruguay's president.
• A shofar recovered from the Thames is found to be reaaaally old, just not as old as was hoped.
• The Dalai Lama gets a tallis.
• A biographer has revealed that Austrian Jewish actress Heddy Lamar was forced into a sexual relationship with Adolf Hitler by her first husband.
• The Miami Herald tells the story of nearly 400 Jewish youth who fled Cuba for America in the 1960s.
• The Chicago Tribune recounts how state courts wrestled with the question of whether or not to enforce the will of a Jew who nixed his descendants' inheritance for marrying outside the fold.
• The Independent (UK) explains how two Picassos once owned by a wealthy German Jewish banker made their way from Nazi Germany into the hands of two New York museums.
• An Egyptian film critic expresses incredulity at his government's decision to ban the release of Adam Sandler's "You Don't Mess With The Zohan."

0 Comments | Share This | Shticker |

Strictly Commercial

By Daniel Sieradski · August 26, 2008

Two funny-Jewy books, two funny-Jewy promotional videos.

The first, featuring Daily Show reporter John Oliver, comes from Hazonik and Daily Show staff writer Rob Kutner, and is for his new book "Apocalypse How," which Jon Stewart, in an obviously objective and impartial manner, called, "A great read."

Second is the advert for former American Jewish Life editor Benyamin Cohen's "My Jesus Year," which Publisher's Weekly called "a delicious olio of guilt, longing, surprise, wonder, unease and of course humor" that has "universal appeal."

0 Comments | Share This | Literature |

Rosenberg on Goldberg

By Uriel Heilman · August 25, 2008

In his latest column, M.J. Rosenberg of the Israel Policy Forum mischaracterizes The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg on the threat posed to Diaspora Jews by a potential Israeli strike on Iran.

In an Aug. 11 blogpost, Goldberg writes of the retaliatory terrorist attacks American Jews should expect – "blowback" – if Israel strikes Iran:

The leaders of American Jewish organizations are generally hesitant to bring up the subject of Diaspora blowback when they talk to Israeli officials, and not without justifiable reason: Israel is a sovereign state, and makes decisions based on the needs of its national security. And Israeli officials bridle at the thought of Diaspora Jews telling them what to do. They also bridle at the idea that the existence of Israel actually endangers Jews in the Diaspora, rather than strengthens them. I would never argue that Israel hasn't strengthened, in particular, the American Jewish community, giving it both backbone and meaning. And I wouldn't argue that Israel should refrain from acting as a rescuer of persecuted Jews worldwide simply because it blurs the line between the interests of the Diaspora and the interests of the Jewish state.

Here's how Rosenberg interprets Goldberg:

Goldberg writes that the reason we don't hear much about this issue of "blowback" is that just raising it challenges the fundamental premise underlying Zionism. The existence of the state of Israel supposedly makes Jews in the Diaspora safer. If, on the other hand, actions taken by Israel jeopardize Jews outside of Israel then the Zionist concept looks flawed.

Rosenberg then goes to explain why an Israeli strike on Iran would be a terrible idea.

That may be the case, but Rosenberg misconstrues Goldberg, who speaks not at all about Zionism or flaws in the Zionist concept.

If this whole exercise in parsing blogposts with Talmudic scrutiny seems a bit pedantic to you, well then you're right on target.

5 Comments | Share This | Iran, Israel, Jewish Orgs |

Locavores in Tel Aviv

By Uriel Heilman · August 25, 2008

The locavore movement has reached Israel.

Ha'aretz has a report on Tel Aviv chefs who raise herbs from Thailand in the backyards of the Israeli city of Rechovot. It's tasty, and organic, too.

0 Comments | Share This | Israel |

Top VC makes aliyah

By Uriel Heilman · August 25, 2008

One of the world's top 50 technology dealmakers picked up and moved to Israel with his family, reports Ha'aretz in a lengthy feature on Scott Tobin, senior partner at Battery Ventures, Zionist and new resident of Ra'anana. Tobin hopes to invest $50-$100 million of his firm's money in Israel.

0 Comments | Share This | Israel |

More on FBI probe of Talansky

By Ben Harris · August 22, 2008

Both the Forward and the Jerusalem Post have more details about the linkage between the investigation of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and a separate FBI probe of Morris Talansky, an American businessman and key witness in the Olmert case. As we reported on Aug. 12, Talansky refused to return to Israel for another round of questioning for fear his testimony could be used against him in the United States.

Now it appears that not only could Talansky be imperiled by cooperating with the Israelis, but the Olmert investigation could itself be derailed if Talansky can't return to Israel for questioning because of his own legal troubles. Talansky's attorneys are reportedly using that line of argument to persuade Israel to press American authorities to drop their case.

Apparently, it's working. The Forward reports that Israeli prosecutors are trying to persuade the Justice Department to drop its investigation to ensure Talansky returns to Israel for further questioning. According to a Jerusalem Post report, Israel's request is more modest – that the U.S. won't use Talansky's testimony in the Olmert case against him.

In May, Talansky testified that he gave Olmert $150,000 over the past decade, some of it in the form of cash-filled envelopes.

1 Comment | Share This | Israel |

Happy hundredth Andre

By Ben Harris · August 22, 2008

Andre Steiner, the last living member of an underground network that saved thousands of Slovakian Jews during the Holocaust, turns 100 today.

A profile by The Associated Press recounts how Steiner was in his 20s when the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia. An architect, he went to work designing work camps while plotting with other Jewish workers to improve working conditions, a cohort known as the Bratislava Working Group. When the deportations began, the group began bribing Nazi officials on behalf of a fictitious Jewish leader, who Steiner was chosen to impersonate.

The AP reports:

When it was time for a face-to-face meeting, the group picked Steiner, the confident man who cut a dashing figure with slicked back hair and a golden tongue. Inside, though, Steiner was awash with anxiety. A single misstep could have cost him his life and betray the group's effort.

Asking the rabbi for advice, he got a most unexpected answer: Imagine the Nazi sitting on a toilet nude. When he arrived at the meeting and did just that, he couldn't stifle a smirk.

"He got really angry but I told him if you're angry we won't make a deal. He conceded, then said, 'Take a seat,'" Steiner remembers. "From then on, I wasn't nervous at all."

2 Comments | Share This | Shoah |