H eadlines
NEWSBRIEFS Longtime Jewish Federation Employee Dies
FORMER JEWISH FEDERATION of Greater
Philadelphia employee Joe Polidoro, who spent 38
years with the organization, died Jan. 26, according
to his family.

Polidoro, 70, of Philadelphia, retired in 2013 as
Jewish Federation’s senior database analyst.

“Joe was beloved by all at the [Jewish] Federation,
and he was seen as the go-to guy who could always
help,” said Michelle Wetzel, who was the information
technology director there from 2004-08. “He was
never subpar and always gave 200 percent.”
Kosher Hotel Proposed in Florida
Kosher patrons of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel &
Casino in Hollywood, Fla., will have a nearby lodg-
ing option if a proposed kosher hotel comes to pass,
according to JNS.org.

The Kosher House — to be built across the street
from the casino — would feature synagogue space
and a kosher restaurant, as well as automatic ele-
vators operating on the Sabbath, developer Sharon
Sharaby said in an interview with the South Florida
Business Journal.

The six-story, 100-room hotel would have 87,124
square feet of space, 104 parking spots and a pool
on the roof. Sharaby said room rates would be in the
$125 to $150 range.

The City of Hollywood Technical Advisory
Committee will hear Sharaby’s proposal in the weeks
ahead. Sharaby’s firm, the Shoppes of Hard Rock
LLC, holds a 99-year lease on the two-acre site, which
is also home to a McDonald’s.

Anti-Semitism Soars in France
French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said
Feb. 11 that the number of anti-Semitic acts com-
mitted in the nation increased by 74 percent in 2018,
JTA reported.

There were 541 anti-Semitic acts in 2018, com-
pared to 311 a year earlier.

Castaner said that “anti-Semitism is spreading
like poison” and called it “an attack against hope.” He
pledged that the government would fight it.

The same day Castaner spoke, a tree planted near
Paris in memory of Ilan Halimi — a man kidnapped
and tortured in 2006 by a gang that thought his
Jewish family would pay ransom — was chopped
down. In addition, swastikas and anti-Semitic epi-
thets were recently painted around the city.

JFNA Supports Security Grant Approval
The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA)
said it was appreciative of Congress for approving
$60 million for FEMA’s Nonprofit Security Grant
Program on Feb. 14. President Trump is expected to
approve the measure.

“Since Sept. 11, nonprofits generally, and Jewish
communal institutions specifically, have been the
victim of an alarming number of threats and attacks,”
said William Daroff, vice president for public pol-
icy and director of the Washington, D.C., office of
Jewish Federations.

JFNA said those risks prompted the creation and
continuation of a strong security program so at-risk
nonprofits can respond to threats by hardening their
facilities and improving preparations to deter, detect,
mitigate and recover from potential attacks.

“We witnessed the deadliest act of anti-Semi-
tism in North American history just a few months
ago — the attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in
Pittsburgh,” said David Golder, JFNA’s Domestic
Policy and Government Affairs Committee. “This
and other recent episodes underscore that Violent
Homegrown Extremists across the ideological spec-
trum continue to target our institutions.” l
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H eadlines
ISRAELBRIEFS Homophobic Incidents on Rise in Israel
A NEW REPORT SAID homophobic incidents reported in
Israel climbed 54 percent in 2018, according to JTA.

The report by the Nir Katz Center on LGBT-phobia counted
821 incidents of harassment or abuse against the LGBTQ com-
munity in 2018; that compares with 533 incidents in 2017.

The sixth annual report said harassment or abuse incidents
against LGBTQ community members occur roughly every 10
hours in Israel. Hateful social media toward the LGBTQ com-
munity appears online every four minutes.

Association for LGBTQ Equality Chair Chen Arieli told Israeli
President Reuben Rivlin that the biggest problem was “the need to
raise consciousness about the need to report. The number of reported
incidents has gone up, but it is still a drop in the ocean compared to
the real number of events. Only by raising consciousness and by deal-
ing with incidents professionally can we improve our society.”
Chinese Investments in Israel Worry Security Officials
American and Israeli officials are concerned about Chinese
investments in Israeli technology firms, JNS.org reported.

Those concerns stem from Chinese activity into companies
that provide artificial intelligence and drones — products with
both military and commercial uses. JNS.org said officials also
worry about China discovering U.S. secrets through Israeli firms
and possibly sending Israeli technology specifics to Iran.

In response, Israel is forming an interagency organization
to oversee delicate commercial agreements involving foreign
businesses. Officials said it would be comparable to the U.S.’s
Committee on Foreign Investment.

China has responded to the criticisms, with Chinese Foreign
Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying contending in January that
the United States “has been abusing ‘national security’ to smear and
strike down normal business activities of Chinese enterprises.”
Adversaries to Join Russian-led Free Trade Agreement
Israel and Iran are both expected to join the Russian-led
Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) — although the adversaries
won’t be able to trade with each, JNS.org reported.

Each country will sign its own free trade accord with the bloc.

A spokesperson for the Economy Ministry told The Times of
Israel on Feb. 11 that Israel began negotiating with the EAU in April.

“The agreement will cover various aspects of trade in goods,
such as rules of origin, customs cooperation, technical barriers
to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, e-commerce, dis-
pute settlement and others,” the spokesperson said.

Venezuela Interim President Juan Guiado
Wants Israeli Ties Renewed, Seeks Aid
Interim Venezuela president Juan Guiado said the process of sta-
bilizing relations with Israel is ongoing, according to JTA.

“It is very important for us. We will renew ties, later we will
announce the appointment of an ambassador to Israel, and we
really hope an ambassador from Israel will come to us.”
Guiado told Israel Hayom that he was hopeful Israel will send
humanitarian aid to Venezuela.

Venezuela is in a tumultuous state these days, with Guiado, the
president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, calling himself
the country’s interim president last month. He called on President
Nicolas Maduro to authorize new elections, calling Maduro’s elec-
tion last year a fraud. The country’s military still supports Maduro.

About 6,000 Jews live in Venezuela. l
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