year in review
continued from page 77
Israel's Cabinet grants initial passage to a controversial bill that would
identify Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, prompting con-
cern at home and among some American Jews that it will prioritize
Israel's Jewish character over its democracy. Acrimony over the bill
sparks a coalition crisis that ends up dissolving the Knesset in early
December and sending Israel to early elections scheduled for the fol-
lowing March.
Steven Pruzansky, a New Jersey Orthodox rabbi known for his incen-
diary rhetoric, is broadly criticized for publishing a blog post saying
that Arabs in Israel are an enemy that must be "vanquished:' The
post, titled "Dealing with Savages:' draws a strong rebuke from the
Orthodox Union, which calls it "anathema to the Jewish religious tra-
dition:'
As the Ebola epidemic spreads in three countries in Africa, IsraAid
becomes the sole Israeli or Jewish organization on the ground in the
hot zone.
A state monitor slams the East Ramapo Central School District in New
York's Rockland County for giving preferential treatment to Orthodox
schoolchildren who do not attend public schools. The school board,
which is majority Orthodox, had been under fire for years for alleg-
edly diverting public funds to religious schools.
Inside the Max
Rayne Hand In Hand
Jerusalem School, an
Arab-Jewish school
that was vandalized
over the weekend,
Nov. 30, 2014.
Some opponents of
Israel's nation-state
bill cite the recent
proliferation of attacks
on minorities in Israel
as evidence that
democracy rather than
Jewishness needs
attention.
IsraAid psychosocial
trauma specialists Hela
Yaniv, left, and Sheri
Oz led a counseling
and training session
for service providers in
Sierra Leone, Oct. 27,
2014.
Jonathan Greenblatt, a former special assistant to President Obama,
is named the next national director of the Anti-Defamation League.
Greenblatt is slated to replace Abraham Foxman, the ADCs leader
since 1987.
World powers, led by the United States, extend the deadline in nego-
tiations over Iran's nuclear program to June 30, 2015, prompting a call
by AIPAC for new sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Ultimately,
additional sanctions are not levied during the negotiations, which last
until a deal is struck in early July 2015.
December 2014
Jonathan Greenblatt, right, succeeded Abraham Foxman, left, as national director
of the Anti-Defamation League.
WIKIMEDIA CO MMO NS
France's parliament, the National Assembly, votes 339-151 to urge the
French government to recognize the state of Palestine. The vote fol-
lows similar motions passed the previous month by parliaments in
Britain and Ireland.
An oil pipeline ruptures near the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat,
causing a spill that is called one of Israel's worst environmental disas-
ters.
The United Auto Workers Local 2865, which represents more than
13,000 teaching assistants, tutors and other student workers in the
University of California system, approves a resolution to join the
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, becom-
ing the first major U.S. labor union to hold a membership vote on
Israel and BDS.
The New Republic's longtime literary editor, Leon Wieseltier, and edi-
tor, Franklin Foer, quit the 100-year-old magazine to protest its new
direction under new owner Chris Hughes, a Facebook co-founder. The
magazine has a long history of Jewish editors and coverage of Jewish
issues.
continued on page 80
78
September 10 • 2015
France's National Assembly voted 339 to 151 in favor of a motion that invites the
French government to recognize a Palestinian state.