World News in Brief

JTA

Among the 760 respondents to the poll, economic-social issues and foreign affairs-security were the determining factors for 36.7% and 36.2%. Among the secular, 45.5% said that they saw economic and social issues as a “key consideration when deciding which party to vote for”.

On religion and state, only 15.5% regarded those issues as important enough to determine their political choices even though 60% of respondents supported the introduction of public transportation on Shabbat, and 59.5% were in favour of introducing civil marriage.

More than two-thirds of respondents – 68.5% – said they supported drafting haredi orthodox Jews. The number rose to 79% among secular and non-religious Israelis. The issue was the sticking point in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bid to form a government following April’s election.

Israeli flight attendant dies from measles

A 43-year-old El Al flight attendant has died several months after getting measles, thought to have been contracted on a transatlantic flight from New York.

She was hospitalised for the infectious disease in late March, and placed in an induced coma. She was on a respirator and reportedly suffered brain damage. A passenger boarded the flight while sick with the virus, the Jerusalem Post reported at the time.

The flight attendant received only one shot of the measles vaccine instead of the recommended two, according to the Times of Israel. In late April, more than 250 El Al crew members were vaccinated against measles after the Israeli health ministry ordered all local airlines to inoculate their staff, especially those who came into contact with travellers.

Israel has experienced a serious outbreak of measles this year, pegged to lower-than-average vaccination rates in the haredi community. Two Israelis – an 18-month-old baby and an 82-year-old woman – have died from the disease.

Hungary has high prevalence of Ashkenazi genes

Genetic tests in Hungary suggest that the prevalence there of Jewish genes is double that of the United States.

In recent testing conducted by the MyHeritage firm and the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, slightly more than 7.5% of the 4 981 people tested had more than 25% Jewish Ashkenazi genes, the firm announced on Tuesday.

Hungary has about 100 000 people who are considered Jewish by the largest organisation representing Hungarian Jewry. That number accounts for about 1% of Hungary’s population.

This suggests that Hungary has the highest prevalence of Ashkenazi Jewish genes after Israel.

In tests conducted in the United States and Canada, only 3.5% of tested individuals displayed Ashkenazi Jewish genes at a rate exceeding 25% of their genetic material.

Testing in Russia, Argentina, and Ukraine all showed greater prevalence than in the US, but less than Hungary.

Broadcaster apologises for ‘Jewish swine’ cartoon

Norway’s public broadcaster has apologised for airing a cartoon in which a Scrabble player forms the word “Jewish swine”. The video, aired in July, was pulled offline this month.

NRK initially defended the video against allegations of anti-Semitism out of its desire to “defend freedom of speech”, NRK broadcasting manager Thor Gjermund Eriksen told the Aftenposten daily, but “occasionally you cross the border, and it may happen again”.

In the cartoon, a gray-haired man wearing a yarmulke and dressed in a conspicuously Jewish fashion is playing Scrabble with a younger man in shorts. The Jewish man is frustrated over how long his opponent is taking to construct a word.

The camera switches to the young man to reveal that he has constructed the word “Jewswine” (one word in Norwegian). The young man sighs in frustration as the Jewish player taunts him over his Scrabble skills. “We are clearly on different cognitive levels,” the Jewish man exclaims.

The cartoon was titled “Scrabble” and captioned “tag a Jew” on the Facebook page of the animators that created it, Norske Grønnsaker.

Dershowitz to defend Biblical child traffickers

Alan Dershowitz will take part in a mock trial in which he will defend biblical characters accused of “kidnapping and child trafficking”.

The celebrity lawyer will defend the brothers of Joseph in November at New York’s Temple Emanu-El. In the Bible, Joseph’s brothers kidnap and sell him into slavery because they are jealous of him.

The event is part of a series of mock trials based on stories from the Torah by the prominent Reform congregation. Former federal prosecutor and New Jersey governor Chris Christie will act as prosecutor and United States District Court Judge Ronnie Abrams as judge.

An advertisement for the event was posted on Twitter by Jewish Insider’s Ben Jacobs on Tuesday, only days after former Dershowitz client and associate, Jeffrey Epstein, committed suicide in a Manhattan jail. Epstein faced sex trafficking charges for allegedly abusing dozens of minor girls.

Dershowitz has denied being involved in the sex crimes.