One of the two Hebrew-speaking Jewish ambassadors living in Jerusalem – even though their embassies are in Tel Aviv – is Ezra Cohen, Panama’s ambassador, who will be among the speakers at the third Pulse of Israel Conference taking place this coming Tuesday, June 17, at the Begin Heritage Center under the theme of Light Unto the Nations: A New Era for Israel and the Region.

Panama has not yet signed on to the Argentinian initiative of the Isaac Accords – a Latin American version of the Abraham accords – but the fact that Cohen’s president and Foreign Ministry have allowed him to reside in Jerusalem is indicative of future policy. Latin America aims to be a significant player in Middle East affairs.

IN A report issued by the National Library just ahead of Hebrew Book Week, it transpires that based on books that arrived at the library by virtue of the Books Law, 6,928 books were published in Israel during 2024, marking a significant increase from 2023, during which almost no books were published in the immediate months after October 7.

Of the books published last year, 548 of the books address the October 7 terror attack – prose, nonfiction, biographies, and children’s and young adult books. There are bound to be many more from former hostages and from journalists who have interviewed survivors and members of families of the hostages.

There have also been films, and here too, there are more in the pipeline. The Hamas invasion and its repercussions will occupy Israelis mentally and physically for years to come.

EFI NETZER (credit: Natan Yakovovovich)
EFI NETZER (credit: Natan Yakovovovich)
Among the films that were made is Resilient, a five-time award-winning feature documentary created by Oscar winner Howard Rosenman and award-winning filmmaker Chava Floryn, exploring the universal and deeply human experience of trauma, survival, and healing, and the mental health impact on Israelis after October 7.

The film will be screened at the Begin Center in Jerusalem on Thursday, June 26. This will be its Israeli premiere. The screening will be followed by a discussion with producer Floryn and moderated by Prof. Gil Troy, who is familiar to The Jerusalem Post readers through his weekly column in the paper.

Efi Netzer: The man who brought community singing to Israel

■ MUSIC AND song, more than anything else, bring people together.

Music speaks to the soul, linking people of different lifestyles, ethnic and national backgrounds, different religious practices, and political rivalries in a way that nothing else, with the possible exception of a genuine existential threat, can do.

Israel is far from short of top-notch composers and singers whose melodies have touched and stirred souls not only in Israel and the Diaspora, but also in many parts of the world where Jews are few and far between. However, few could equal the impact of Naomi Shemer. Thus, when the B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem established a special citation recognizing the fostering of Israel-Diaspora relations through the arts, it was in Shemer’s memory.

B’nai B’rith World Center issued a statement last week in which Efi Netzer – the man and his accordion – was named as the laureate for 2025. A composer and musician whose forte is galvanizing spirited community singing, Netzer, 90, has been composing and performing for 70 years and has not allowed his age to stop him.

Community singing was common to the Russian and Ukrainian pioneers of pre-state Israel. But it is Netzer who is credited with fashioning it into part of Israel’s cultural identity. Netzer has shaped Israel’s musical landscape and transformed it into a cultural bridge connecting Israel with Jewish communities worldwide.

His contributions include creating the vocal ensemble model and introducing it to global Jewry, making him a unifying figure between Israel and the Diaspora. Many of his timeless compositions have become integral to Israel’s permanent repertoire and are played and sung so often that people have forgotten who composed them.

In 1967, Netzer performed in Tehran in front of Diaspora Jews and Israelis, presenting the words “A Night of Roses” in Persian letters. In the 1970s, he taught songs on Kol Israel’s broadcasts to the Diaspora, becoming known to Soviet immigrants before they even set foot in Israel.

He performed abroad on behalf of Keren Hayesod, singing, playing, and persuading audiences in concert halls and synagogues to join him in Spain, the United States, Mexico, and Venezuela. In synagogues in New York and Los Angeles, he heard audiences enthusiastically singing his song “Shalom Al Yisrael” in Hebrew.

In Poland, he was moved to hear cantors in Krakow performing his song “Shuv Lo Nelech,” and in London, he performed at the Independence Day celebrations alongside singers Shoshana Damari and Yehoram Gaon.

Through his music, Netzer united the languages and cultures of Diaspora Jews with feelings of warmth and solidarity toward Israel.

Established in 2014, the citation has been presented in previous years to Gaon, Nurit Hirsh, David D’Or, Idan Raichel, David Broza, the Shalva Band, Danny Sanderson, Shuli Natan, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and Ilanit.

For Netzer, who will turn 91 on June 27, notification of the citation was a pleasant birthday gift. The presentation ceremony will take place on July 7 at Mishkenot Sha’ananim, as part of the annual B’nai B’rith World Center Awards for journalism in which the emphasis is placed on Israel-Diaspora relations.

Sasha Vasilyuk wins Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish literature

■ THE ANNUAL Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish literature is sometimes awarded to writers whose works focus on Israel-Diaspora relations, but the focus is more on Jewish life than a relationship with Israel. Nonetheless, the awards ceremony is conducted in Israel every two years and in the US in alternate years.

This year, the winner of the $100,000 prize is Sasha Vasilyuk, whose debut novel, Your Presence is Mandatory, introduces readers to Ukrainian Jewish life during the Russian-Ukrainian War and the years before, going back to the period of the Holocaust.

Vasilyuk’s remarkable achievement lies in her ability to weave the personal and the historical into a narrative that speaks across generations, said Debra Goldberg, the director of the Sami Rohr Prize. The awards ceremony will take place at the National Library in Jerusalem on Tuesday, July 8.

Resurfacing trauma of the Holocaust

■ THE TRAUMA of the Holocaust resurfaces every time there is a vicious attack against Jews and Roma anywhere in the world. Slogans such as ‘Never Again’ have become meaningless as antisemitic incidents continue to be on the rise and in some cases, are fully reminiscent of Germany and Austria in the 1930s.

At symposia, conferences, and parliamentary sessions around the world, speakers are fruitlessly seeking a means of battling and eradicating antisemitism and all forms of racism, but no one has come up with a viable and sustainable solution yet. Many people see education as the key to solving the problem, but it’s the old story of being able to lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

Regardless of how much emphasis educational institutions put on teaching acceptance and understanding of the other, there will be students who won’t listen and who will take great delight in berating and beating up the local Jew-boy. It’s even more difficult if such students come from racist homes, because it means that educators cannot rely on the assistance and involvement of parents.

These and related issues will be discussed on Thursday, June 26, from 5.30 p.m. at a symposium hosted at the National Library in Jerusalem by the World Jewish Restitution Organization. Under the heading of Restitution Remembrance and Justice, 80 years later, speakers will explore the importance of Holocaust-era restitution, including the return of property, cultural assets, and the preservation of historical memory.

The event will feature a conversation on the continuing pursuit of justice for Holocaust survivors and their families, 80 years after the end of the Holocaust.

President Isaac Herzog, who is unable to attend in person, will send a video. Other speakers include: May Golan, Minister for Social Equality; Yossef Levy, Special Envoy for Holocaust Era Restitution, State of Israel; Ellen Germain, Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, United States of America; Colette Avital, Chairperson, Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel; Mark Weitzman, Chief Operating Officer, WJRO; Dr. Wesley Fisher, Director of Research, WJRO and Claims Conference; Daniel Lipson, Reference Librarian, National Library of Israel; and Dr. Laurence Weinbaum, Chief Editor, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs.

The discussion will be moderated by Melissa Weiss, Executive Editor of Jewish Insider.

Where's Huckabee? 

■ IF ANYONE is looking for US Ambassador Mike Huckabee today, they’ll most likely find him and his wife, Janet, at Moshav HaYogev, north of Afula, visiting the olive trees that they adopted several years ago through the My Tree Israeli initiative. Founded in 2019, the program’s primary goals are to support Israeli farmers and to strengthen the connection of supporters to the Land of Israel through developing personal connections between the project’s subscribers and local farmers in the areas where people have adopted trees.

On the subject of trees, the municipalities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem appear to have taken a woodland overdose. Transplanted trees line traffic islands, provide an amazing amount of shade from the sun in parks, and are planted amid beds of flowers in round and triangular mini-gardens on sidewalks.

There’s also a tremendous increase in benches on sidewalks, pedestrian malls, and in parks.

Such generosity of spirit begs the question as to what it is that trees, flowers, and benches are compensating for.

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