Jerusalem News (17 August, 2014, 21 Av, 5774)
Contents:
1. Anti-Semitism in the World: English-Speaking Nations about 13%; Most of the others Much much more.
2. Children in Israeli Ultra-Orthodox Schools Comprise 29% of the Total.
3. US Post Offices Reportedly Refusing Mail to Israel
4. The US Administration on Israel's Military Activity in Operation Protective Edge: Fluctuating Positions
5. 7 ways the U.S. economy is trouncing Europe's
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1. Anti-Semitism in the World: English-Speaking Nations about 13%; Most of the others Much much more.
The reasons ADL survey underestimated European and American anti-Semitism
 By AVI PERRY
http://www.jpost.com/Experts/The-reasons-ADL-survey-underestimated-European-and-American-anti-Semitism-355107
Israel-bashing and boycotting has not yet been established as an acknowledged form of anti-Semitism.
On May 13, 2014 the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) published results of its world-wide survey on the extent of global anti-Semitism. The survey found that in the majority of English-speaking countries, the percentage of those embracing anti-Semitic attitudes was 13 percent, far lower than the overall average, whereas, Western and Eastern Europe as a whole exhibited 24% and 34% respectively. At the same time, the survey exposed a ubiquitous spread of anti-Semitism in the Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa where 90% of the population (93% in the West Bank and Gaza) harbors profound prejudicial frame of mind pertaining to Jews in general, not limited to Israel or Israelis in particular.
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2. Children in Ultra-Orthodox Schools Comprise 29% of the Total.
The Israeli Ministry of Education released figures showing that the percentage of Children in Ultra-Orthodox Schools has recently increased and now comprise ca. 29% of the Total.
Some traditional or even non-Religious parents also send their children to these institutions.
HaShevua 13 August 2014, p.14
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3. US Post Offices Reportedly Refusing Mail to Israel
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/184046#.U-2bTptd61s
ADL complains to US Postmaster General after mail to Israel turned away in several states.
By Ari Yashar
First Publish: 8/14/2014, 1:52 PM
Extracts:
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has written to complain to the US Postmaster General, after receiving widespread reports that US post offices around America have been refusing to accept mail to Israel.
In the last several days ADL reports that it has received complaints from Massachusetts, Michigan and New Jersey, revealing postal customers were incorrectly told that the US Postal Service is not accepting mail for Israel due to Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.
"The postal employees have told these individuals that current USPS policy says that mail to Israel cannot be accepted because of the current crisis," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.Â
Foxman added that "only once employees sought clarification from supervisors in Washington did these post offices accept packages and letters to Israel."
Writing to US Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe, ADL stated that the phenomenon presumably stems from a misunderstanding by postal workers, who apparently thought the temporary suspension of service to Israel during a 36-hour period in July was a permanent policy change.
That suspension came after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned flights to Israel, following a Hamas rocket landing near Ben Gurion International Airport. The ban was later lifted, but not before Hamas declared it a "great victory."
The issue of mail to Israel being denied comes as Wall Street Journal reports on Wednesday night revealed that US President Barack Obama's administration blocked a weapons transfer to Israel during the operation, and further ordered closer scrutiny of future Israeli weapons requests.
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4. The US Administration on Israel's Military Activity in Operation Protective Edge: Fluctuating Positions
INSS [The Instititue for National Security Studies (Israel)] Insight No. 590, August 15, 2014
Zaki Shalom
http://www.inss.org.il/index.aspx?id=4538&articleid=7514
Extract:
The indiscriminate rocket and missile fire at cities in Israel, the discovery of tunnels posing a grave threat to the Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip, the fact that the Israeli government showed restraint and repeated willingness to accept a ceasefire throughout the conflict, and the broad support for Israel in both the Congress and among US public opinion led the Obama administration to support steadfastly, continuously, and unequivocally Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas. At the same time, the administration qualified its support of Israel by demanding that the military operation be restricted to removal of the threat posed by the missiles and tunnels, and that severe harm to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip be avoided.
Presumably the administration's position was to a large extent dictated by its need to avoid confrontation with its respective allies in the region: Turkey and Qatar on the one hand, and Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Israel on the other. It was clear to the administration that if it wanted to maintain its status as a relevant element in the efforts to achieve a settlement, it had to balance its support for Israel's right to defend itself with serious reservations about the harm to civilians in the Gaza Strip.
It should be noted that this is the first military conflict involving Israel where the US is not playing a dominant role in bringing it to its end. This situation is to a great extent a result of the erosion in US standing in the Middle East over the past two years, and there is no doubt that the administration finds this a worrisome development. The administration's efforts to be involved in the efforts for securing an agreement more than once caused it embarrassment. Gradually, however, the administration has come to recognize that Egypt, not the US, is the leading party in achieving an agreement. As such, it remains for the US to minimize the damage to its own status as much as possible. ________________________________________
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
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5. 7 ways the U.S. economy is trouncing Europe's
By Rick Newman August 14, 2014 2:02 PM
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/7-ways-the-u-s--economy-is-trouncing-europe-s-180225192.html
Extracts:
We've got problems. There's no doubt about that. But America seems like a breakout economy compared with the woes our European counterparts are dealing with.
The euro zone, which comprises the 18 countries that use the euro as their currency, just reported GDP growth of 0% for the second quarter. That comes after 0.2% growth in the first quarter. The U.S. economy had a terrible first quarter, too, with output falling by 2.1%. But that was followed by robust second-quarter growth of 4% and lots of other evidence of an economy getting stronger, not weaker.
The U.S. and euro zone economies both felt the 2007-09 recession about the same. The U.S. economy has grown at a slow but fairly consistent pace since then. Europe, by contrast, endured a double-dip recession in 2012. Italy has now entered a rare triple-dip recession, with a chance Europe as a whole could follow. Even powerhouse Germany suffered a drop in real GDP in the second quarter, probably because of declining exports to more-troubled European countries such as Italy and Spain.
Unemployment. The U.S. unemployment rate is 6.2%. In the euro zone, it's 11.5%. Greece, at 27.2%, and Spain, at 24.5%, suffer from depression-level unemployment. Youth unemployment in these countries has been higher than 50% in 2014; in the U.S., it hovers around 13%. Keep in mind, it's generally harder to fire workers in Europe, which means the euro zone rates might be higher still if U.S.-style layoffs were common there.
Inflation. In the United States, it's about 2%, which is close to the sweet spot that allows workers to earn raises that keep them ahead of modest increases in prices (though that's not happening yet). In Europe, inflation is 0.4%, which is dangerously close to deflation -- which is usually worse than inflation. In an economy with deflation, future money is worth less, which means debt costs more and more to pay off over time. And people often put off purchases when they believe prices will fall, which can torpedo growth and hiring.
Central-bank stimulus. The Federal Reserve is winding down the extraordinary policy known as quantitative easing, and by next year will probably begin to raise interest rates, barring any shocks to the economy. That's what the Fed is supposed to do as the economy heats up. The European Central Bank, by contrast, is still considering whether it should begin quantitative easing, which the Fed kicked off in 2008. Again, Europe seems years behind the United States.
Stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and its European counterpart, the Dow Europe, are both within a few points of flat so far this year. But during the past five years, the DJIA has soared by 79% while the Dow Europe has ticked up just 25%. That performance gap reflects the much stronger U.S. economy and the head start America has on recovery, along with the Federal Reserve's highly accommodative monetary policy.
Banks. The U.S. banking sector is nearly healthy again, after the excesses of the early 2000s led to the 2008 financial meltdown, the extraordinary TARP bailouts and a slew of lawsuits and new regulations. Europe, however, is still dealing with bank failures and bailouts, such as the recent collapse of Banco Espirito Santo in Portugal. And European lenders are still unwinding billions of euros' worth of risky debt. The upshot is that credit, Â the lifeblood of the economy, Â is slowly getting back to normal in the United States, while Europe lags far behind.
Geopolitical pressure. The conflict in Ukraine barely touches the U.S. economy, but it's already causing pain in Europe, and this seems likely to worsen. 'Sanctions targeting Russia's financial, military and energy industries will eventually take a toll on European Union industrial production,' Moody's Analytics wrote recently. A Russian ban on European food imports will force many farmers to find other markets for their food, possibly selling more in Europe, which would drive prices down and worsen the risk of deflation. And Europe stands to suffer if Moscow decides to curtail energy shipments, since it would have to find other sources of gas and oil , Â a problem the United States no longer has, thanks to a boom in domestic drilling.
Europeans, for their part, have plenty of legitimate gripes with America: We have a clown Congress, guns are everywhere, and more Americans have TVs than healthcare. Economically, however, America remains a much better place to be right now. Pass the freedom fries.