World news-roundup: Argentina’s Jews elect Orthodox president for first time

Country: Argentina

The Argentinian Jewish umbrella group has elected an Orthodox Jewish president for the first time in its 80-year history. Ariel Cohen Sabban, a religious Zionist, will press the new government to cancel Argentina’s deal with Iran to jointly investigate the 1994 AMIA terrorist attack.

Country: Germany

A major Berlin department store has apologised for its ‘rash’ removal of wines made in the Golan Heights. KaDeWe pulled eight wines labelled ‘made in Israel’ after a European Union ruling meant they were no longer allowed to claim as much. New labels are being printed.

Country: Sweden

The family of a Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust before disappearing have asked that he finally be declared dead. Raoul Wallenberg, born in 1912, issued passports to Jews. He was last seen surrounded by Soviet officers in Budapest. 

Country: Morocco

A five-year project to renovate and repair Morocco’s Jewish cemeteries has been heralded by American lawmakers. The work, which was ordered by King Mohammed VI, involves repairing 12,600 graves, many of which had deteriorated. Morocco is still home to about 3,000 Jews. 

Country: United States

American Jewish groups have criticised a Republican initiative to bring the slow flow of Syrian refugees into the U.S. to a grinding halt following the Paris attacks. Reform and Orthodox movements, and several advocacy groups, said: ‘We must not blame all for the sins of a few.’

Country: Netherlands

A Dutch town which once segregated Jewish students has said it will erect a Shoah monument next year. The municipality of Baarn, near Utrecht, hit the news in 1952, when the school split a class in two, with two princesses in one and Jewish pupils in the other parallel class.