World news-roundup: Israel’s foreign minister ‘uneasy’ about Germany visit

Country: Germany

Israel’s tourism minister has refused to travel to Germany, saying that ‘as a son of survivors’ he would feel ‘uneasy’ about doing so. Yariv Levin spoke out after missing a major international tourism fair in Berlin. Last month Transport Minister Yisrael Katz also refused to attend an official visit.

Country: Italy

Israel’s national cycling team is to follow the route that Italian Gino Bartali secretly used to help save Jews escaping from Nazi persecution. Bartali, who later won the Tour de France twice, transferred forged documents in his handlebars. The team will set off from Florence on 20 March and end in Assisi. 

Country: Canada

Jewish Canadians are calling for a 92-year-old man from Ontario to be stripped of his citizenship and deported on account of his Nazi past. Helmut Oberlander, who came to the country in 1954, was once a member of a Nazi death squad, but lied about his wartime service in order to enter the country. 

Country: Uruguay

The man suspected of murdering a 55-year old Jewish community leader in Uruguay told police: ‘I killed a Jew following Allah’s orders.’ Abdullah Omar, 35, who changed his name from Carlos Omar Peralta Lopez, killed David Fremd last week, stabbing him ten times while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar.’

Country: Netherlands

A lawyer has had her appeal for a new judge rejected, after she argued that the judge and her opposing lawyer were both Jewish and therefore would know one another. The judge is a member of a Liberal Jewish synagogue, and the lawyer set up an advocacy group. They also have distant family ties.

Country: United States

A retired rabbi has been found not guilty of molesting his daughter between 1968 and 1970, with the court citing a lack of evidence. Eric Silver, 72, of Connecticut, is a Vietnam veteran who had three private meetings with popes. His daughter, Rachel, said: ‘What’s important is I got to speak.’