When Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis saw the Arabic writing on the plane that would fly him from London’s Heathrow to Abu Dhabi Airport last week, the weight of the moment truly sank in. Not only was it his first time traveling to a country in the Middle East other than Israel, but he was making history as the first U.K. chief rabbi to make an official visit to an Arab country. “I’d previously flown through Dubai airport and transferred to Australia, but to actually be part of the Arabic culture, to be welcomed by them and be treated in a royal way — they went out of their way to show acceptance and warmth and I certainly welcome that enormously, because that is a sure sign that that’s where they want their society to be going in terms of attitude towards the Jewish people,” Mirvis told Jewish Insider’s Tamara Zieve in a phone interview on Tuesday from Bucharest, Romania, where he was participating in a Conference of European Rabbis standing committee meeting. 

Window of opportunity: “I was continuously pinching myself — ‘is this really happening,’” Mirvis said. His dream is that visits of this kind will become a new type of normal, and he is confident that it will happen soon. Mirvis had been hoping to make a trip of this kind “for a good while,” and asserted that “if not for COVID, it would have happened some time before.” “I have been cultivating connections and relationships within global Muslim leadership over a number of years,” he said. “And certainly the Abraham Accords provided that window of opportunity, not just for me to engage personally with Muslim faith leaders, but well beyond that — to be welcomed very warmly officially to the UAE for the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace, to participate and be prominently featured in that, plus engagement with the countries political leaders and of course having a chance to meet with the growing Jewish communities in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.” 

Meaningful mingling: During the three days he spent in the Gulf, Mirvis delivered an address to the conference, engaged in the activities of the forum, met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and lunched at the home of Minister of Tolerance Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan. “It’s the only country in the world which has a minister of tolerance,” Mirvis noted. The chief rabbi also held discussions with Sheikh Abdallah bin Bayyah, the founder and president of the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace, and the Riyadh-based Secretary General of the Muslim World League Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Issa.

A growing community: Having spent the anniversary of Kristallnacht, which marks the date in 1938 when hundreds of synagogues and shops were destroyed by the Nazis, in the UAE, Mirvis reflected on a positive trend in the country: encouraging the growth of its Jewish community and opening more synagogues. One of those synagogues will stand next to a church and a mosque in the Abrahamic Family House interfaith complex in Abu Dhabi, which is due to open in February, and which will also house an educational center. Mirvis said the center will “certainly enhance the engagement of world faith leaders and is likely to serve as a pivotal and central stage for interfaith activities to happen in the future.” 

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FBI Director Christopher Wray warned lawmakers on Tuesday of increasing threats to Americans from Iran, suggesting that “the Iranian regime across multiple vectors has become more aggressive, more brazen and more dangerous” over the last 18 months, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Laundry list: In testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee, Wray cited Iran’s attempted cyberattack on the Boston Children’s Hospital, plot to assassinate former National Security Advisor John Bolton and plans to kidnap journalist and dissident Masih Alinejad in Brooklyn.

U.N. unrest: Wray’s comments came in response to a question from Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) about a member of the Iranian parliament — which recently urged stronger penalties on those protesting within the Islamic republic — who is visiting the United Nations in New York. “Do we need more resources? Or should we reconsider who we allow to come to the United States?” Swalwell asked. “After [they] voted for such an atrocity, it really concerns me that people could be enjoying themselves in New York.” 

Antisemitsm action: Wray and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also spoke on the administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism. The Jewish community “deserves and desperately needs our support because it’s getting hit from all sides,” Wray said. He explained that the administration is working to combat hate crimes through a variety of programs, including creating a new domestic terrorism hate crimes unit, which he said had prevented a planned synagogue attack in Colorado in 2019. He also noted that the bureau has stepped up its outreach efforts in the Jewish community, including distributing Yiddish- and Hebrew-language materials detailing how to spot potential threats. Mayorkas, who is Jewish, reiterated his support for increasing Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding to $360 million.

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Bonus: Researchers and an official at the Department of Homeland Security said that $10 million intended to fund domestic terrorism research remains unused due to privacy concerns more than two years after the funding was announced.

Two Senate Democrats responded to reports on Tuesday that the Department of Justice has opened an independent investigation into the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, treading carefully as they addressed questions about the investigation’s implications for U.S.-Israel relations, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Investigation action: “If [the administration] made that determination [to open an investigation], then obviously it’s a pursuit of whatever the information is to come to a conclusion,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-NJ) told JI yesterday. Menendez criticized the administration’s handling of the case earlier this year, urging President Joe Biden to seek “accountability.” Speaking to JI on Tuesday, he praised Israel’s investigation. “The Israelis have already done an investigation. I think it’s a rather transparent investigation,” he said. “I think they have issued their findings with the Americans, but, of course, as a U.S. citizen, the FBI has every right to conduct its own.”

Not cooperating: Israeli officials have said publicly that they will not cooperate with the new U.S. probe. The administration has not publicly confirmed the investigation and the Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment. The State Department referred an inquiry to the Justice Department. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who praised the news of the investigation on Monday, told JI that Israel’s refusal to cooperate is “a disappointment,” but expressed hope that the Department of Justice will continue its investigation.

Moving forward: Asked whether he sees a path to resolving the situation and achieving accountability without damaging the U.S.-Israel relationship, Menendez responded, “Transparency is the most important thing. All the information, giving it light — that’s the best way to get [accountability].”

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At CybertechNYC, the latest in a series of global conferences geared toward tech entrepreneurs at the forefront of the cybersecurity industry, day one of the two-day conference on Tuesday showcased Israel’s prominence in the field and international unity against virtual threats, Jewish Insider’s Tori Bergel reports. Among a series of notable speakers discussing today’s state of cyber security was a panel on cooperation within the Middle East against cyber threats.

Working together: Moderated by Christopher Roberti, senior vice president for cyber, space, and national security policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the panel included Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary Rob Silvers, Director General of the Israel National Cyber Directorate Gaby Portnoy and UAE Cyber Security Council head Mohamed Al-Kuwaiti. The three industry leaders discussed the biggest threats their respective countries are facing and why collaboration between each other is so important. “We’re here because we face common threats. We all have critical infrastructure to defend, and it’s just a proven point at this point that cybersecurity is an international issue,” Silvers said. “These threats know no boundaries.” Al-Kuwaiti, citing cyberattacks as one of the UAE’s greatest challenges, said he sees inter-country collaboration as a way to bridge gaps. “The first line of defense we said, is partnership,” Al-Kuwaiti expressed, “and we need to spread that culture of cybersecurity…with the like-minded minds of countries and entities who can help us on that.”

First look: Walking through CybertechNYC’s conference room in Manhattan’s Javits Center, attendees first hit the event’s “startup pavilion” — four rows of booths showcasing the latest in cyber tech innovation — where a chorus of Hebrew was being thrown around in the crowd. Cybertech — whose founder, Amir Rapaport, is Israeli — promotes its conferences as international events, with a schedule for next year that includes conferences in Singapore and Rome. Israel, which boasts a reputation as “the startup nation,” had a sizable showing on Tuesday.

Startup central: “This isn’t an Israeli event,” Anat Katz, economic minister to North America for the Government of Israel Economic Mission, East Coast, told the seated crowd. “At the same time, I think that it’s no coincidence that there’s such a strong presence of Israeli speakers and Israeli companies outside. Outside you’ll be able to find over 35 Israeli companies…and in a reality where every third cyber unicorn is Israeli, and over 30% of investments in cybersecurity basically is channeled to Israel, I think that these figures speak for themselves to the Israeli leadership.” To explain the country’s abundance of entrepreneurs, Yossi Vardi, an entrepreneur himself and the conference’s chairman, joked that “behind every Israeli kid, there is an ambitious and aggressive Jewish mother who pushes him to succeed.”

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