News From Israel- November 16, 2021

ILTV Israel News

Jiu-Jitsu Competitor Crouches Down During Israel’s ‘Hatikvah’ Anthem After Losing to Israeli Opponent

Shiryn Ghermezian

Abulkhaiyr Alibek, right, squatting down while “Hatikvah” plays after Israeli athlete Amit Burshtein, center, is given a gold medal. Photo: Screenshot.

Israeli athlete Amit Burshtein won gold at the 2021 Jiu-Jitsu World Championships in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, but his medal ceremony was overshadowed by his competitor’s apparent refusal to stand during the Israeli national anthem.

As “Hatikvah” played in the arena after Burshtein, 17, was given the gold medal in the male, under-18 60-kilo category, his opponent from Kazakhstan — Abulkhaiyr Alibek, who took home the bronze medal — squatted down on the podium. Fellow Kazakh competitor Dias Anvar, who took home silver, remained standing, as seen in a video of the incident that Burshtein shared on Instagram.

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The Jiu-Jitsu Association operates in Israel under Ayelet – the Federation of Non Olympic Sport in Israel.

Arik Kaplan, president and CEO of the federation, said, “We are proud of our athletes who represent Israel in the best way and bring us a lot of respect. We were surprised to see the video and immediately asked our representatives in Abu Dhabi to check the issue, in the hope that this is not a protest action against the anthem.”

Burshtein’s younger brother, Guy Burshtein, 14, won a bronze medal at the tournament, which took place Nov. 3-11.

Turkey allows consular visit to jailed Israeli couple

LAHAV HARKOV

Authorities in Turkey have yet to respond to Israel’s request for an urgent consular visit to the couple.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during the re-opening of the Ottoman-era Yildiz Hamidiye mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, August 4, 2017 / (photo credit: MURAD SEZER/REUTERS)

Turkey authorized a visit by officials from the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul to the couple arrested for photographing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s palace, as a senior Foreign Ministry diplomat headed to Turkey on Monday to secure the Israelis’ release.

Israel’s Consulate-General in Istanbul is working on coordinating a visit as soon as possible, the Foreign Ministry said.

Foreign Ministry Consular Division head Rina Djerassi headed to Istanbul to help Israel’s diplomats in Turkey, who have been working to help Natali and Mordy Oaknin.

“The efforts to release the couple continue at all levels,” the Foreign Ministry stated.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Sunday that the Oaknins are “two innocent citizens who accidentally ended up in a complex situation.”

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan talks to media after attending Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey August 7, 2020. (credit: REUTERS/MURAD SEZER/FILE PHOTO)

The Oaknins, Egged bus drivers who live in Modi’in, took the photo of Erdogan’s palace while in the Camilca Tower, a television tower that opened earlier this year and is the tallest in Europe. A waitress heard them talking about it and reported them to the police.

Turkish police recommended deporting the Oaknins, and notified Israel of its plans. However, the prosecution asked to charge the couple and a Turkish citizen who was with them with espionage. A court extended their remand on Friday for at least 20 days, as the prosecution prepared its case for a trial.

The move toward spying charges against the Oaknins raised concerns that Erdogan’s government could use the case to help him politically, but that theory grew less plausible after the matter was dropped from the headlines in Turkey after a few days.

At the same time, the Oaknin’s Israeli attorney, Nir Yaslovitzh told Ynet on Monday that his Turkish partner on the case visited the Oaknins and found they are being treated appropriately and are in good shape.
Still, Erdogan could use the couple for diplomatic leverage, which could further deteriorate poor relations between Jerusalem and Ankara.

Turkey and Israel technically maintain diplomatic relations, but they have been strained for most of the past decade since the Erdogan-linked IHH (Humanitarian Relief Foundation) sent the Mavi Marmara ship to bust the IDF’s naval blockade on Gaza, arming some of the people aboard. IDF naval commandos stopped the ship, killing nine activists.

Erdogan has been openly hostile toward Israel, supports Hamas and funds anti-Israel organizations in east Jerusalem.

Last month after Turkey arrested 15 alleged Mossad spies, non-Israeli Arabs whose photos Turkish media revealed. Israeli sources denied the charges.

‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ Star Susie Essman on Jewish Comics: ‘It’s the Shtetl Jews’

Shiryn Ghermezian

Susie Essman. Photo: David Shankbone / Flickr

Jewish comedian Susie Essman, who stars in the HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” spoke in a recent interview about why she thinks many comedians have Eastern European backgrounds.

“It’s the shtetl Jews, from the Pale. The great Borscht Belt comedians — the Jack Bennys and the George Burnses and later on the Alan Kings — were all the traditional outsider immigrant[s] looking in,” she told the Substack weekly newsletter OLD GOATS.

The New York native added, “And also, in Judaism, there’s something about questioning. To be a learned person, you’re studying the Talmud and the Torah. And you’re always questioning it. My husband’s Catholic, where you do what the priests tell you to do. You don’t ask any questions. But in Judaism, you’re supposed to constantly analyze and question. That tremendously lends itself to comedy, don’t you think?”

When interviewer Jonathan Alter claimed that “uptight German Jews didn’t really become comedians as much,” the actress agreed, saying that German Jews “were much more assimilated.”

Essman — whose foul-mouthed character on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Susie Greene, has been called a “rage icon” — also discussed how her parents’ bitter marriage and their constant arguing inspired her on-screen persona.

“There was a lot of tension growing up and there was a lot of screaming and yelling and fighting and doors slamming,” she said. “I remember every door in our house was off the hinges because my father would punch the doors so he wouldn’t hit any of us, but sometimes he did. He was an angry guy, my father, a Lower East Side tough Jew.”

Essman said Judaism did not play a large role in her upbringing and that her parents “didn’t indoctrinate us with religion at all.” In addition, her Jewish grandmother was “deeply ashamed and embarrassed by her immigrant experience,” the actress explained.

“[My grandmother] grew up on the Lower East Side in brutal poverty — no indoor plumbing — and left school in the third grade to go to work in a factory,” she said. “And I remember asking her questions, and she did not want to talk about it. She used to say to me that she was so ashamed of being an immigrant, of not being an American.”

The 11th season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is now airing Sunday nights on HBO.

In First, UAE Soccer Team Set to Compete in Israeli Tournament Next Month

Shiryn Ghermezian

Soccer fans carrying an Israeli flag at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Photo: Reuters/Henry Romero

An official national team from the United Arab Emirates will compete in a soccer tournament in Israel for the first time in history, the Israel Football Association (IFA) announced on Sunday.

The UAE national youth team will participate in Israel’s international winter youth tournament, named after former IFA chairman Gavri Levy, set to take place Dec. 12-17. National youth teams from Russia and Germany will also be competing.

The UAE Football Association (UAEFA) confirmed that its team arrived in Israel on Sunday morning. UAEFA President Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi may also visit the Jewish state ahead of the tournament as head of the Emirati delegation, the IFA said.