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Mike Wagenheim

Mike Wagenheim

Mike Wagenheim is a Washington-based correspondent for JNS, primarily covering the U.S. State Department and Congress. He is the senior U.S. correspondent at the Israel-based i24NEWS TV network.

In advance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, B’nai B’rith gathers global leaders, including new German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, to formulate plans to fight Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism.
The resolution aims to stamp out Holocaust denial and distortion, prioritizing education and placing a greater responsibility on social-media platforms.
The council held its regular meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, drawing almost no top diplomats as planned, as the United States and the United Arab Emirates redirected the focus to other pressing concerns in the Middle East and around the world.
The Norwegian ambassador speak about her current term as president of the U.N. Security Council, including her renewed focus on the peace process, Israeli settlements and Palestinian incitement.
“It’s clear that German culture and society is still coming to terms with the Jewish component of their history. And while the politics have moved forward, we still see many take deep fallback positions when talking about the Jewish community,” said Joel Rubin, executive director of the American Jewish Congress and a former U.S. State Department official.
“The scholars and fellows program that we’re working on—with a goal of having student and faculty exchange between universities in the region—is something that’s going to be a game-changer because this is bringing a peace between peoples,” said David Aaronson, deputy director of Abraham Accords Peace Institute’s new Israel office.
“We were not simply the beat-up remnants of a civilization, the victims of anti-Semitism. It was a dynamic, thriving, self-reflective and ambitious culture,” says CEO of YIVO Jonathan Brent.
“The High Commissioner will say privately that she inherited this problem, but we think she had the ability to postpone the release of the blacklist. She knows it doesn’t serve any kind of positive purpose,” said former Israel Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon.
The Emiratis join Albania, Brazil, Gabon and Ghana in installing their countries’ flags outside the council chamber, replacing Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam.
“It has the appearance of being run by judges, like a court case. That’s the effect, and that’s why it can be so troubling for Israel in the eyes of the global public,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.
“People in the human rights community were looking for a cause to replace the South African anti-apartheid movement, and they found it in Tutu. It’s a tragic part of his story and a real problem for his historical legacy,” said Dexter Van Zile, a Christian media analyst for CAMERA.
“To me, what’s very important for people to understand is that it’s a new Middle East, that there aren’t a lot of people who lived through the most recent four years of this Middle East,” Jason Greenblatt tells JNS.