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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