nation / world
Approximately 73,000 new immigrants arrived in Israel in 2022, compared to
25,000 last year, 80% of them coming from Russia and Ukraine.

Google Fixes Antisemitic Defi nition of ‘Jew’ Following Uproar
U.S. Representative-elect George Santos (R-NY) speaks at the Republican
Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas on Nov. 19.

RJC CEO: George Santos ‘Will Not Be Welcome’ at Our Events
George Santos’ fi rst Chanukah party with the Republican Jewish Coalition will be
his last, JTA.org reported.

The group says it will not host the newly elected Long Island Republican after
the congressman-elect lied to RJC offi cials and the public about being Jewish and
the descendant of people who escaped the Holocaust.

Santos participated in an event with the group on the fi rst night of Chanukah
on Dec. 18, where he was feted as one of two incoming Jewish Republicans in
Congress; he was elected in New York’s 3rd Congressional District. The next
day, The New York Times published a story detailing countless fabrications in his
personal and professional resume.

The head of the Republican Jewish Coalition, Matt Brooks, fi rst said he was
satisfi ed with Santos’ account of his family history but reversed course after more
damning information was unveiled.

“We are very disappointed in Congressman-elect Santos. He deceived us and
misrepresented his heritage. In public comments and to us personally, he previ-
ously claimed to be Jewish,” Brooks said. “He has begun his tenure in Congress on
a very wrong note. He will not be welcome at any future RJC event.”
Wade Vandervort / AFP/via Getty Images via JTA.org
Latin America’s Biggest Online Retailer Says it Reduced
Antisemitic Products by 89%
Latin America’s largest online retailer has stripped its digital shelves of antisemitic
content this year, the result of a push by the regional branch of the World Jewish
Congress., JTA.org reported.

Mercado Libre (“free market” in Spanish) was founded in 1999 in Argentina by a
Jewish businessman there; it boasts 140 million users, making it more widely used
than Amazon in Latin America, where it operates in 18 countries.

Last year, the company announced that it would purge books such as “Mein
Kampf” and “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” as well as Nazi coins, posters
and memorabilia, from its off erings. On Dec. 23 it announced that in the fi rst half
of 2021, the number of items available for sale that violated the company’s policies
related to violence and discrimination was down 89% compared to the year before.

Federico Deya, Mercado Libre’s senior legal director, credited the work the
company had done with the Latin American Jewish Congress in eff ecting the
change, which a report from the company said also included a 23% increase in the
detection of hate speech in publications for sale on the site.

Israel’s Population Rises 2.2% to More Than 9.5M
Israel’s population increased by 2.2% in 2022 to 9.66 million, JNS.org reported,
citing Central Bureau of Statistics fi gures released on Dec. 29.

Of the country’s residents, 7.11 million are Jews (73.6%), 2.04 million are Arabs
(21.1%) and 513,000 are of other denominations.

The population increase dwarfed the 1.8% growth in 2021, with the diff erence
being attributed in part to a larger number of immigrants in the past 12 months.

Google users who typed “Jew” in the search feature on Dec. 27 found that
the top defi nition was an antisemitic stereotype, JNS.org reported. The search
engine’s fi rst listed defi nition of “Jew” was: “to bargain with someone in a miserly
or petty way.”
Jewish advocacy groups fl agged the off ensive defi nition to Google and
demanded an explanation.

After fi xing the error, Google Search Liaison Danny Sullivan took to Twitter to
apologize on behalf of the search engine company.

“Our apologies. Google licenses defi nitions from third-party dictionary experts,”
Sullivan posted. “We only display off ensive defi nitions by default if they are the
main meaning of a term. As this is not the case here, we have blocked this &
passed along feedback to the partner for further review.”
Zambia to Get First Rabbi in Six Decades
Rabbi Mendy and Rivky Hertzel will move to Zambia early next year to establish
a Chabad House and assist the small but thriving Jewish community in the south-
ern African nation, JNS.org reported.

Zambia has not had a rabbi in more than 60 years.

There are an estimated 100-150 Jews in the country of almost 20 million
people. The fi rst Jews to arrive in Zambia were Ashkenazim from Eastern Europe
(mostly Lithuania) who migrated in the 19th century when it was a British colony.

The Jewish population peaked in the 1960s at around 2,000. ■
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
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