LITHUANIA TRIP Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, visited the Vilna Gaon's grave in Vilnius on August 26 at the end of a four-day trip to Lithuania. In a summit with the leaders of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, Netanyahu urged them to support Israel in the European Union, and thanked Lithuania for preserving the memory of the Holocaust, during which 90 percent of its Jews were murdered. “I'm a Litvak [Lithuanian Jew] from both sides,” said Netanyahu, who is related to the Vilna Gaon. UNRWA CUT A US decision to halt funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) at the end of August angered the Palestinians but pleased Israel. “Israel supports the American move,” the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. “It is worth giving the money to other parties that will make good use of it for the welfare of the population.” The Palestinian Authority called it a “flagrant assault” against the Palestinian people, vowing to appeal to the UN to counter the decision. CONFEDERATION PLAN Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told a delegation from Peace Now that the US was proposing a peace plan based on a Palestinian-Jordanian confederation, the group reported on September 2. Abbas reportedly told Peace Now and two Members of Knesset, Mossi Raz and Ksenia Svetlova, that he told US envoys Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt he supported “a triangular conferation with Jordan and Israel.” SUPER ROCKET Israel's Defense Ministry has signed a deal worth hundreds of millions of shekels with Israel Military Industries to develop advanced rockets for the IDF capable of hitting “anywhere in the Middle East.” Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said in a statement on August 27 that “we are purchasing and developing high-precision systems that bolster the IDF's offensive capabilities.” DUTERTE VISITS Philippines' controversial President Rodrigo Duterte arrived in Israel on September 2 for a four-day visit. Known for his ruthless war on drugs in his country, Duterte was welcomed by Communications Minister Ayoub Kara. He noted that there were about 28,000 Filipinos working in Israel, and said his country supports a two-state solution. UNEMPLOYMENT UP Israel's unemployment rate rose from 4% in June to 4.2% in July, the first increase since November 2017, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. However, the CBS's Labor Force Survey noted that the number of Israelis in the labor force rose to 4.067 million and the unemployment rate between the ages of 24 and 65 declined, from 3.6% in June to 3.4% in July. SALUTING McCAIN Israeli and Jewish leaders remembered Sen. John McCain, who died in Arizona on August 26 at the age of 81, as a true friend of Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mourned McCain as “a great American patriot and a great supporter of Israel,” while President Reuven Rivlin called him “a great leader, a defender of his people, a man of strong values, and a true supporter of Israel.” TOP COMPOSER Noam Sheriff, one of Israel's best composers and conductors, died on August 25 at the age of 83. Sheriff won a range of prizes for his work, including the Emet Prize in 2003 and the Israel Prize for Music in 2011. A wellknown broadcaster, he also taught young composers and conductors in Israel and around the world. NEIL SIMON American Jewish playwright Neil Simon died in New York on August 26 at the age of 91 from complications with pneumonia. Many of his stage and screen comedies revolve around New York Jews, and one, “The Odd Couple,” became a popular TV series. In 1991 he won both a Tony and a Pulitzer for “Lost in Yonkers,” an autobiographical comedy. “Writing is an escape from a world that crowds me,” he once said.
