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Politics : Israel to U.S. : Now Deal with Syria and Iran -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ed Huang who wrote (3588)	11/6/2003 2:18:26 PM
From: Ed Huang	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 22250

Nevzlin Wins Israeli Citizenship By Caroline McGregor Staff Writer Itar-Tass Leonid Nevzlin, the biggest Yukos shareholder who is not in jail, has been granted Israeli citizenship, the Israeli Interior Ministry said Wednesday, raising eyebrows in Jerusalem over the haste in which it was done. Although no charges have been filed against Nevzlin, at least one opposition member of Israel's parliament, the Knesset, wanted to know why someone implicated in financial wrongdoing should be given what may amount to de facto political asylum. Russia's probe into fraud among Yukos' owners began with the July 2 arrest of the company's No. 3 billionaire, Platon Lebedev. The No. 1 shareholder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was arrested at gunpoint on Oct. 25. As the probe widens, Nevzlin's request for a passport from a country that is highly reluctant to extradite its citizens gives the appearance of a quick attempt to keep from joining his two partners behind bars. Already Yukos' No. 2 shareholder, Nevzlin has also taken over control of the bulk of Khodorkovsky's shares. Other top Yukos shareholders were also reported to be in Israel. There are conflicting reports of when Nevzlin, who traveled to Israel on a tourist visa, submitted his application for citizenship to Interior Minister Avraam Poraz, but the most reliable say it was two months ago. The Interior Ministry said it handed him citizenship documents in Tel Aviv on Sunday. Labor Party legislator Colette Avital said she has requested more information from the Interior Ministry in order to determine whether Nevzlin's application was inappropriately expedited. "Suddenly, overnight he became a dedicated Zionist and he got citizenship in a speedy manner, and we have to ask why?" she told The Associated Press in Jerusalem. Neither Avital nor her spokesman, whose number was provided by Avital's secretary, could be contacted by telephone Wednesday. Nevzlin, who in 2001 briefly succeeded Vladimir Gusinsky as the head of the Russian Jewish Congress, has well-placed friends among Israel's political elite. Natan Sharansky, a deputy prime minister and a former Soviet dissident, may have helped Nevzlin obtain citizenship, Gazeta and Kommersant reported. Israeli media reports in October also linked Nevzlin with Finance Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, whom Nevzlin has hosted for speaking engagements in Moscow. Nevzlin has endeared himself to many in Israel through generous philanthropy. The Leonid Nevzlin Research Center for Russian and East European Jewry was opened at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem on May 28. Sharansky has asked Nevzlin to help support Jerusalem's financially strapped Beit Hatefutzot diaspora museum. The Interior Ministry insisted Nevzlin was not given preferential treatment in receiving citizenship, and that becoming an Israeli would not automatically shield him from possible extradition to Moscow, AP reported. Technically, Nevzlin now has repatriate status, which gives him an identity card and travel permit. In three months, he can ask for a temporary international passport. Before he can get a permanent one, he must first live in Israel a year -- something he has reportedly said he does not intend to do. A former Federation Council senator, Nevzlin until recently was Yukos' deputy board chairman. This June, he was elected rector of the Russian State Humanitarian University, or RGGU, to which Yukos has promised significant financial support. Kommersant reported Oct. 10 that Nevzlin had taken a leave of absence from the university through Dec. 20 to work on his dissertation on the history and philosophy behind civil society in the 1700s and 1800s. "Media reports saying that I plan to give up my Russian citizenship do not correspond to reality," Nevzlin told Interfax on Oct. 22. He said an Israeli passport would make it easier for him to travel to "international scientific and public events" abroad. Nevzlin added that he would finish his Ph.D. thesis by the end of the year. "After that, I will return to Moscow and continue to fulfill my duties as the director of RGGU." A fourth Yukos billionaire, Vladmir Dubov, was in Israel until recently and stayed in the same Tel Aviv hotel as Nevzlin, Israel's Ma'ariv daily said. Dubov, a State Duma deputy, has denied plans to emigrate. "I have not emigrated from Russia, I've simply gone away," he was quoted as saying in last Friday's Nezavisimaya Gazeta. The clarification came after Union of Right Forces leader Irina Khakamada, citing Dubov associates, told news agencies that Dubov had decided to emigrate to Israel after being excluded from the United Russia ballot. On Wednesday, the BBC and others picked up a report by Israeli news agency Globes that cited unnamed sources as saying a number of Yukos executives had gathered under assumed names "at a hotel in the center of the country." "In Moscow, we don't have any information about this," said Yury Kotler, spokesman for Menatep, the investment vehicle through which Khodorkovsky and others control Yukos. "As far as I know, there is no shareholder gathering of any kind in any hotel." Nevzlin's press secretary in Moscow said Wednesday that he could not confirm Nevzlin's whereabouts. Asked whether Nevzlin were indeed in Israel, his spokesman Vladimir Pikov replied, "I heard that, too. What I know is from information agencies. You know as much as I know. I can't tell you anything because I am not in contact with him. He added that he could not recall the last time they spoke, but "it's been a while now, probably the last several weeks." Nevzlin personally controls 3.5 percent of YukosSibneft through his holding in Menatep, which owns 44 percent of YukosSibneft, which resulted from a recent merger between Yukos and Sibneft. Nevzlin also has replaced Khodorkovsky as the sole beneficiary of a trust holding 50 percent of Menatep, according to Kotler, giving him an extra 22 percent holding in YukosSibneft. moscowtimes.ru

To: Ed Huang who wrote (3588)	11/8/2003 7:30:03 AM
From: Crimson Ghost	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 22250

, George Soros says Jews and Israel cause anti-Semitism, By Uriel Heilman, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, November, 7, 2003 "It’s not often that George Soros, the billionaire financier and philanthropist, makes an appearance before a Jewish audience. It’s even rarer for him to use such an occasion to talk about Israel, Jews and his own role in effecting political change. So when Soros stepped to the podium Wednesday to address those issues at a conference of the Jewish Funders Network, audience members were listening carefully. Many were surprised by what they heard. When asked about anti-Semitism in Europe, Soros, who is Jewish, said European anti-Semitism is the result of the policies of Israel and the United States. “There is a resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe. The policies of the Bush administration and the Sharon administration contribute to that,” Soros said. “It’s not specifically anti-Semitism, but it does manifest itself in anti-Semitism as well. I’m critical of those policies.” “If we change that direction, then anti-Semitism also will diminish,” he said. “I can’t see how one could confront it directly.” That is a point made by Israel’s most vociferous critics, whom some Jewish activists charge with using anti-Zionism as a guise for anti-Semitism. The billionaire financier said he, too, bears some responsibility for the new anti-Semitism, citing last month’s speech by Malaysia’s outgoing prime minister, Mahathir Mohammad, who said, “Jews rule the world by proxy.” “I’m also very concerned about my own role because the new anti-Semitism holds that the Jews rule the world,” said Soros, whose projects and funding have influenced governments and promoted various political causes around the world. “As an unintended consequence of my actions,” he said, “I also contribute to that image.” After the conference, some Jewish leaders who heard about the speech reacted angrily to Soros’ remarks. “Let’s understand things clearly: Anti-Semitism is not caused by Jews; it’s caused by anti-Semites,” said Elan Steinberg, senior advisor at the World Jewish Congress. “One can certainly be critical of Bush policy or Sharon policy, but any deviation from the understanding of the real cause of anti-Semitism is not merely a disservice, but a historic lie.” Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, called Soros’ comments “absolutely obscene.” “He buys into the stereotype,” Foxman said. “It’s a simplistic, counterproductive, biased and bigoted perception of what’s out there. It’s blaming the victim for all of Israel’s and the Jewish people’s ills.” Furthermore, Foxman said, “If he sees that his position of being who he is may contribute to the perception of anti-Semitism, what’s his solution to himself — that he give up his money? That he close his mouth?” Associates said Soros’ appearance Wednesday was the first they could ever recall in which the billionaire, a Hungarian-born U.S. Jew who escaped the Holocaust by fleeing to London as a child, had spoken in front of a Jewish group or attended a Jewish function. The one-day meeting on funding in Israel, which took place at the Harvard Club in New York, was limited mostly to representatives of Jewish philanthropic foundations. After Soros’ speech, Michael Steinhardt, the real-estate magnate and Jewish philanthropist who arranged for Soros to address the group, said in an interview that Soros’ views do not reflect those of most Jewish millionaires or philanthropists. He also pointed out that this was Soros’ first speech to a Jewish audience. Steinhardt approached the lectern and interrupted Soros immediately after his remarks on anti-Semitism. “George Soros does not think Jews should be hated any more than they deserve to be,” Steinhardt said by way of clarification, eliciting chuckles from the audience. Steinhardt then gave the lectern back to Soros, who said he had something to add to his remarks on the issue of anti-Semitism. Soros then paused to ask if there were any journalists in the room. When he learned that there were, Soros withheld further comment."