👩 Not Leaving: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen intends to proceed with the administration through the subsequent two years, following speculation that she was considering leaving the role and a private plea from President Joe Biden to not step down.
✉️ You’ve Got Mail: The Department of Education said it’s “fully committed to making sure that the civil rights of all students, including Jewish students, are protected, consistent with President Biden’s commitment to combat anti-Semitism,” in a response letter to Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) — obtained by JI — who had urged the department to open an investigation into the University of California, Berkeley.
⚖️ Teeing up: Reps. Pat Fallon (R-TX) and Mary Miller (R-IL) introduced articles of impeachment targeting Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, accusing him of violating the law and perjuring himself in congressional testimony.Â
🪧 Second Likelihood: A bipartisan group of greater than 30 House members, led by Reps. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), reintroduced a resolution expressing support for Iranian protesters, which easily passed the House last 12 months but stalled on the Senate floor.
🇮🇷 Prisoner Plea: National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called on Iran to release Iranian-American businessman Morad Tahbaz on the fifth anniversary of his imprisonment in Iran.
📄 FDD Strategy: The Foundation for Defense of Democracies has published a plan with 231 recommendations for American policymakers and allies to support the Iranian people and confront the continued threats from Iran.
🗓️ Not Attending: Citing “an unavoidable scheduling conflict,” George Soros said he won’t be in attendance at this 12 months’s World Economic Forum in Davos, but will speak ahead of the Munich Security Conference next month.
👨‍⚖️ Gionet Jailed: Far-right provocateur Anthime Gionet, also referred to as Baked Alaska, was sentenced to 2 months in prison for his role within the Jan. 6 riot on the Capitol.
🔨 Five Months Time: Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg was sentenced to 5 months in prison for tax fraud.
🎞️ And the Award Goes To…: Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Drama, while Spielberg won Best Director for the semi-autobiographical film.
🕺 Parade Pushback: Mel Gibson was removed from his role as co-grand marshal of a Recent Orleans Mardi Gras parade following pushback from Jewish organizations over his inclusion; the group hosting the actor cited “threats that cause us great concern” as the rationale for the choice.
🤝 Plea Deal: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg offered a plea bargain to Waseem Awawdeh, who was charged within the 2021 assault of a Jewish man; Awawdeh said last 12 months after being arrested that he would “do it again” if given the possibility.
💼 Goldman Sacked: A series of layoffs at Goldman Sachs this week will eliminate roughly 6% of the corporate’s workforce.
🍔 Burger Boy: Texas Monthly visits Austin’s JewBoy Burgers, the brainchild of Mo Pittle, an El Paso native who combined the Jewish fare he grew up on with Tex-Mex flavors.
🥬 Artichoke Alla Giudia: The Financial Times spotlights the in-season artichoke in Rome, town that popularized its use in cooking, where it could possibly be present in restaurants cooked “alla giudia” — within the Jewish style.
✍️ Celebrating Roth: The Recent Jersey Performing Arts Center will hold a three-day tribute to creator Phillip Roth in his hometown of Newark that may feature a spread of actors and writers celebrating the Pulitzer Prize winner, who died in 2018.
🙏 Call for Calm: Israeli President Isaac Herzog called on Israeli politicians to “lower the temperature” after weeks of verbal back-and-force and heightened tensions between members of the brand new governing coalition and the opposition.
🇹🇷🇮🇱 Restored Ties: Herzog today invited his Turkish counterpart President Tayyip Erdogan to go to the country as he received the credentials of Ankara’s Ambassador to Israel Şakir Özkan Torunlar.
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family Matters: The Recent York Timeslooks at the roles that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife and son play within the prime minister’s decision-making.Â
🌊 Port Purchase: Haifa Port was sold to a bunch led by India’s Adani Group in a deal totaling $1.15 billion.
🛰️ Shifting Strategy: Iran is working to construct an aerial defense network in Syria to guard against frequent Israeli strikes which have targeted Iranian assets within the war-torn country.
🔫 Weapons Cache: CENTCOM announced the interception of greater than 2,000 assault rifles officials said were being smuggled from Iran to Yemen.
🇺🇳 Death Penalty: U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said that recent executions of Iranian demonstrators by the regime amounted to “state-sanctioned killing.”
➡️ Transitions: Former Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan will join Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service as fellows for the spring 2023 semester. Joel Simon, formerly the chief director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, was named the founding director of the Journalism Protection Initiative at CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.
🕯️ Remembering: Recent York Times journalist Blake Hounshell — who, while not Jewish, shared his suggestions for making the proper latkes — died at 44. Rabbi Shimon Baadani, co-founder and spiritual leader of Israel’s Sephardic Orthodox party Shas, died at age 94.