By GREER FAY CASHMANIsraeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon addresses the UN General Assembly in New York in 2018. (photo credit: MIKE SEGAR / REUTERS)
American Jewish media mogul Sumner Redstone who died last week at the age of 97, was known for the frequency in which became embroiled in litigation. Apparently, a desire to find a way around the law, or to defy it, is a genetic trait. One of Redstone’s grandsons Brandon Korff 35, was deported from Israel in June for violating the conditions of his stay. Korff had received special permission to visit his younger brother who is serving in the IDF. Instead of doing that he went to see his Israeli girlfriend, model Yael Shelbia, 18, who is also serving in the IDF. Redstone was married to his first wife, Gloria Raphael, in 1947, the couple divorcing in 1999, with no reason given for the split. Raphael was Jewish, but his second wife from whom he was also divorced and his subsequent live-in companions were not Jewish. It is understood that most of his vast fortune was not left to his son and daughter with whom he had an acrimonious relationship, but was put in a trust fund for his grandchildren.■ PANDEMIC OR not, Colombia’s first woman ambassador to Israel, Margarita E. Manjarrez Herrera is keeping her embassy on its toes with a series of activities that follow each other in quick succession. Coming up for Spanish speakers is an event on Wednesday, August 19 at 5 p.m. within the framework of Colombia’s ongoing bicentenary celebrations, particularly with regard to the Battle of Boyaca. In conjunction with the Hebrew University Jerusalem’s Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies and the Cervantes Institute in Tel Aviv, the Embassy has organized an online discussion with Prof. Marcos Peckel of the Externado del Rosario University in Bogota and Augusto Ramirez Ocamp Diplomatic Academy on the process of consolidation of the Colombian State and on Colombia’s foreign policy in relation to Israel. Peckel is also a well-known media personality in his country and currently serves as the director of the Confederation of Jewish Communities of Colombia.To register for the event contact sebastian.arango@cancilleria.gov.co.or correos eisrael@cancilleria.gov.co■ PRIOR TO the fall of the Iron Curtain, many Jews from around the world who visited the Soviet Union, took care packages in their luggage. Food was scarce and very expensive and one of the great luxuries that recipients enjoyed was genuine coffee. Since those dark days, many Jews who were born and raised in the Soviet Union have become extremely wealthy, and whether they have remained in their home countries or moved to other parts of the globe, a large number of them have been and continue to be generous donors to Jewish causes and to the State of Israel. Among them is computer scientist and hi-tech entrepreneur Vlad Shmunis, who together with his wife Sana is funding the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research at Tel Aviv University which has other projects that have benefited from the goodwill of other Soviet-born millionaires and billionaires.Shmunis, who lives in San Francisco, California, came to America from Ukraine in the 1970s and has more than 30-years experience the software industry. Forbes estimates his net worth to be in the range of $1.3 billion.Shmunis founded enterprise software company Ring Zero Systems and sold it to Morotola before creating RingCentral with cofounder Vlad Vendrow in 1999.RingCentral was established with the idea of using the power of cloud technologies to reimagine business communications.TAU’s Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research, intended for improved treatments for cancer, COVID-19 and other diseases was officially inaugurated this week in an online ceremony at which TAU President Prof. Ariel Porat said that the funds will enable researchers at the School to work at the forefront of global science and to develop insights leading to the development of new technologies and drugs in the battle against cancer and other serious diseases.Vlad Shmunis said that he and his wife were happy to be part of an effort supporting frontline research, and hoped that their gift would help to strengthen Israel’s standing as a global leader in cancer and molecular biomedical research into serious diseases. Also in attendance was Science and Technology Minister Izhar Shay. The school which is part of the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences aims to attract the best post-doctoral candidates , and will annually award Shmunis Fellowships to exceptional PhD students. It will collaborate with other leading academic institutions, will host visiting Shmunis scholars and will organize conferences and conventions.■ ON THE other hand, some people are fearful of the growing influence in many spheres of activity of citizens and former citizens of the Commonwealth of Independent States that were once part of the Soviet Union. There have ben numerous reports in the international media concerning allegations that the Russians interfered in the previous American elections and that they are running interference in the current elections. If there was any concrete evidence to support such allegations, it did not come to the attention of the wider public. If indeed there is any truth to these contentions, it means that operations are spreading to a wider plain.An Institute for National Security Studies assessment by David Siman-Tov and Roy Schulman, is based on a British Intelligence report which claims that Russia’s goal is to undermine the status of Western democracies and to widen social rifts. In the report published in July 2020, by Britain’s Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, it is stated that the Russian influence on the business and political environment poses a strategic threat. Included amongst those who are doing Russia’s work in Britain are lobbyists, PR people, lawyers and others who are promoting Russia’s interests.Long before the mass immigration of Soviet Jews to Israel, we had Marcus Klingberg, an esteemed medical scientist and a high-ranking Soviet espionage officer who passed information for years having had access to Israel’s chemical and biological research, as well as to a great deal of classified military information.Presumably, the same could be said for Russian immigrants currently living in Israel.■ THE UNCERTAINTY over whether there will be a fourth round of Knesset elections has left prospective candidates for the presidency of Israel in somewhat of bind. Jewish Agency chairman Isaac Herzog who has been frequently mentioned as a possible candidate, in an interview with fellow former MKs Shelly Yachimovich and Yigal Guetta on Reshet Bet, was asked point blank about his plans in that direction and replied that for the foreseeable future his focus was on the Jewish Agency. Until it is known if and when Knesset elections will be held he said, it was too early to begin campaigning, because if there are elections, there is no guarantee that everyone in the current crop of MKs will be returned to office and the president is elected by secret ballot by the 120 members of Knesset. What Herzog did not say, is that if the government falls, all those ministers who resigned from the Knesset under the Norwegian law, may have a problem in regaining their parliamentary status.■ IT’S HARD to tell whether the spate of new immigrants from the US, Ethiopia, France and Mexico who arrived in Israel during the past few months have come out of a sense of Zionism, fear of antisemitism and/or COVID-19 or to reunite families. Whatever the reason, this is far from the most ideal time in which to make one’s home in Israel. With all the chaos that is cracking the social and economic fiber of the country, new immigrants are not getting priority, and many of their needs are being left unattended. Realizing this, Sonovia, the Israeli start-up company which developed corona and bactericidal masks, has donated 300 masks for new immigrants from North America who are coming to Israel through the Nefesh B’Nefesh. These unique masks will be given to immigrants before they board the plane to Israel, and additional masks will be distributed to immigrants who are already in the country and who are confined in accordance with Health Ministry regulations. Sonovia has also donated 80 reusable, antiviral masksto Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba.Dr. Jason Migdal, a senior researcher at Sonovia, said: “As someone who immigrated to Israel himself through the Nefesh B’Nefesh organization, I feel that this is closing a circle. This is our modest contribution to the protection of the new residents of Israel, who will not be afraid to immigrate to Israel even in the days of a global epidemic.”The company has announced that it feels privileged to be in the unique position of being able to donate its reusable antiviral SonoMask to hospitals, medical facilities and non-profits that are presently in dire need.■ ALTHOUGH THERE has been much discussion regarding the next destination of Danny Danon, who has just completed a five-year stint as Israel’s head of mission at the UN, he says that talk of his becoming Israel’s ambassador to Australia is still premature. He has not been formally approached, he told KAN’s Yaron Deckel, and it’s something he still has to think about.Greerfc@gmail.com
Related TagsColombiaSonoviaSumner Redstone
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store
