fbpx

GET HOME DELIVERY! CLICK HERE »

ADVERTISE
pick up locations
HOME DELIVERY
donate

Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

August 28, 2015

WIT Israel Attracts Women Entrepreneurs From Around The World To The Startup Nation

Leave a Comment / Blogs /

A first of its kind international Women tech entrepreneurship conference was held in Israel last week, as a group of female tech bloggers and entrepreneurs from around the world were invited for a one-week trip to explore the 'Startup Nation'.

The conference, titled WIT (Women Innovation, Technology,) included lectures by Keynote speakers from Israel’s booming high-tech industry, workshops led by Israeli high tech professionals such as Wendy Singer, Executive Director of Start-up Nation Central, meetings with well-known figures from the Israeli start-up community, visits to Israeli high-tech hubs in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa, and get-togethers with accelerators, potential investors and Israeli entrepreneurship centers. The Closing event of the conference took place at the Tel Aviv stock exchange new conference hall, and included a pitch competition for startups founded by women entrepreneurs, in collaboration with WMN and GKH law.

The Women entrepreneurs and bloggers who participated in the conference arrived in Israel from around the world, including from India, USA, Germany, Russia, Poland and China. During the 3-day conference, they joined their Israeli counterparts for a unique journey, in which they got to see Israel as a ‘Startup Nation’. In addition, the participants had a chance to create professional connections, develop business opportunities with Israeli companies.

The conference was organized by a group of 25 students from Tel Aviv University, all volunteering in the StandWithUs Fellowship, a public diplomacy program that trains Israel's future leaders. StandWithUs is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to educate about Israel and improve the way it's viewed worldwide.

Rajeshree Naik, an Indian entrepreneur who stands behind PING- one of India's biggest multi-cable network, and Jennifer Bligh, a German blogger and reporter, shared with me their experiences and insights from their first visit to Israel:

What made you decide to come to Israel for the conference?

Rajeshree:  About two months ago, we at PING were delighted to host the Israeli Ambassador and Counsel General in our office in Mumbai.   This visit was truly special for us as a startup, and started a fruitful relationship. It was through the Consulate that I heard   about this conference, and, as entrepreneurs and people familiar with the amazing innovation in Israel, an opportunity like this was something we would not want to miss.  Once we got the invite, there was no doubt that we could certainly take this opportunity.

Jennifer: I came across WIT Israel via Merav Oren, who I met and interviewed before. I clicked on the WIT link she shared – and was immediately intrigued – it is exactly what I was looking for in terms of new stories and new sources for future stories about Israel.

What was the best part in your one week visit to Israel?

Jennifer: I liked the fact that the group of women who participated was very homogeneous and heterogeneous at the same time – homogeneous due to age/professional backgrounds and visions and heterogeneous due to our origin/industries and stages of entrepreneurship. The program that was organized was perfectly balanced between input through lectures and presentations, visits and networking opportunities.

Rajeshree:  Many things, but let me try and highlight some. First, there's the professional angle: as an entrepreneur, there's an infectious energy when you visit these various startups. It was very inspirational to hear the stories behind those blooming businesses. Moreover, the sheer volume of innovations, focus and passion is truly remarkable.

What I liked most of the past week is to witness the possibilities that exist for people like us, to look for potential partners — we in India are probably one of the largest markets and here you have amazing products that can address that market.

Personally, it was one of the most memorable trips of my lifetime, and I have travelled quite a bit.  From the easy-going vibe of Tel- Aviv, to the overwhelming sense of history that Jerusalem represents, or the picture perfect Haifa. Seeing the various sceneries of Israel was a hugely memorable experience.  It's one of those places you know you want to stay connected to. I, for one, intend to come back and spend a lot more time, and, if possible, find a reason to stay connected to this place. 

The other thing I absolutely loved was the warmth of the people we met and interacted with — so welcoming and so affectionate. I have visited many global cities that were truly stunning but they all lacked “soul.”  Here there is soul and that's what makes Israel even more special.

What surprised you the most about Israel?

Rajeshree:  Like I mentioned, it's a country with soul and a lot of warmth – that's what makes it special and at the same time, it was the surprising part.  Global media tend to give so much attention to the Israeli-Arab conflict that and neglect the beauty of this place.

From the moment I stepped out of the aircraft to the time I left, nothing about my week in Israel was a reminder of the conflict we often hear about. Whether you walk along the gorgeous beach of Tel Aviv at 2am, or take-in the sense of spiritual energy in Jerusalem – you hardly ever think of the conflict or the tension surrounding it.

I would easily vote Israel as one of the top 5 tourist destinations. It is perfect for families, kids, young folks…It got everything you need in a holiday – amazing food, great shopping, lots of history, art, beaches, activities and so much more.  Given it was such a hectic week week, I did not get to do much outside of the conference, but I certainly intend to come back for that perfect holiday.

Jennifer: What surprised me? Honestly – the advanced level of female entrepreneurship in Israel.

WIT Israel Attracts Women Entrepreneurs From Around The World To The Startup Nation Read More »

Fifteen percent of West Bank settlers are American citizens.

Leave a Comment / Israel /

Fifteen percent of West Bank settlers are American citizens.

According to an Oxford University professor, approximately 60,000 American Jews live in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Haaretz reported Thursday.

“This provides hard evidence that this constituency is strikingly over-represented, both within the settler population itself and within the total population of Jewish American immigrants in Israel,” Sara Yael Hirschhorn, the author of the forthcoming book “City on a Hilltop: Jewish-American Settlers in the Occupied Territories Since 1967,” said during a presentation at Jerusalem’s Limmud conference, Haaretz reported.

The book will be published by Harvard University Press next year.

An estimated 170,000 American immigrants and their children live in Israel, according to Haaretz.

Hirschhorn said her findings contradict much of the conventional wisdom about American Israelis who immigrated in the 1960s and ‘70s, particularly that they came to Israel for lack of any other options, that they were very Orthodox and that they had supported right-wing causes in America.

Hirschhorn said her research reveals that most American Jewish settlers came when they “were young, single, highly-educated – something like 10 percent of American settlers in the occupied territories hold PhDs, they’re upwardly mobile, they’re traditional but not necessarily Orthodox in their religious practice, and most importantly, they were politically active in the leftist socialist movements in the U.S. in the 1960s and 70s and voted for the Democratic Party prior to their immigration to Israel.”

She said her 10 years of research reveal a portrait that “is one of young, idealistic, intelligent and seasoned liberal Americans who were Zionist activists, and who were eager to apply their values and experiences to the Israeli settler movement.”

According to Haaretz, Hirschhorn said at Limmud that she reached the following conclusion about this group of immigrants: “They’re not only compelled by some biblical imperative to live in the Holy Land of Israel and hasten the coming of the messiah, but also deeply inspired by an American vision of pioneering and building new suburbanized utopian communities in the occupied territories. They draw on their American background and mobilize the language they were comfortable with, discourses about human rights and civil liberties that justify the kind of work that they’re doing.”

Many American settlers “use the values and language of the left to justify projects on the right,” she added.

Fifteen percent of West Bank settlers are American citizens. Read More »

Abbas reportedly building $13M presidential compound

Leave a Comment / Israel /

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is reportedly having a $13-million luxurious presidential palace built near Ramallah despite his government facing a $2-billion deficit.

According to the Times of Israel and several other Israeli news outlets, the project, which includes two helipads, is listed on the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction website devoted to “Ongoing and Future Projects.” The site, which includes a computer rendering of the completed palace, describes the complex as being funded by the Palestinian Authority’s treasury.

However, the Palestinian news agency Ma’an said PA officials are denying that the compound is a presidential residence or that it is being paid for with public funds, according to Haaretz.

PA officials said the complex will serve as a leadership headquarters and residence to receive world leaders and is being funded by international donations and private Palestinian corporations, Haaretz reported.

Most projects listed on the site are funded by international donors, including the Canadian and French governments.

Abbas reportedly building $13M presidential compound Read More »

Natalie Portman should be commended, not criticized

Leave a Comment / Opinion /

Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman clearly hit a nerve when, in a recent interview with the British newspaper, The Independent, she questioned the validity of the type of Holocaust education she had received growing up.

“I think a really big question the Jewish community needs to ask itself, is how much at the forefront we put Holocaust education,” she said.

“Which is, of course, an important question to remember and to respect, but not over other things … We need to be reminded that hatred exists at all times and reminds us to be empathetic to other people that have experienced hatred also. Not used as a paranoid way of thinking that we are victims.”

[RELATED: In defense of Portman]

Specifically, she expressed dismay at only having been taught about the Holocaust in a vacuum, as it were, without also learning about other more contemporary atrocities such as the Rwandan Genocide.

Ms. Portman did not say that Holocaust education should be eliminated. On the contrary, she emphasized that “it must be taught.” Her concern is that it “can be subverted to fear-mongering.”

Ms, Portman probably could have expressed herself more artfully. While insisting that “I don’t mean to make false equivalences,” she appears to be equating the Shoah with – rather than relating it to – other genocides. Nonetheless, the essence of her comments is valid.

There are two distinct ways of ingraining the Holocaust into our collective consciousness. The first posits the event as a solely Jewish martyrology in the spirit of Tishah be'Av and a succession of countless subsequent deadly brutalities to which Jews and only Jews were subjected over the centuries. In this memorialization, the Warsaw Ghetto fades into Auschwitz fades into Treblinka fades into Babi Yar fades into Bergen-Belsen in a dirge-like recitation of suffering, without respite but equally devoid of purpose other than, perhaps, to instill in young Jews the sense of paranoia to which Ms. Portman refers: You, too, they are warned repeatedly, could also become a victim of obsessive anti-Semitism, and if that happens you will be all alone, abandoned by all but your fellow Jews.

The other approach to Holocaust remembrance sets the implementation of Hitler's Final Solution of the Jewish Question squarely into its historical – as opposed to a quasi-mythological – context. While it acknowledges the Holocaust as the epitomic manifestation of genocide, as the ultimate consequence of bigotry and hatred as official public policy, this pedagogical model also recognizes that other genocides such as the slaughter of the Cathars during the Albigensian Crusade of the 13th century and the Armenian Genocide of the early 20th century occurred before the Shoah, and that subsequent genocides – Rwanda, Srebrenica, Darfur – have taken place since.

Some of the criticisms of Ms. Portman’s comments have been over the top. “I am shocked,” one Holocaust survivor told the Jerusalem Post. “The Nazis tried to erase the Jewish people from the face of this earth – 6 million. Before she talks about the Holocaust, she should go to Auschwitz with a survivor, she would never compare the Holocaust to anything else.” Ephraim Zuroff, director of the Jerusalem office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, groused that Ms. Portman’s “success in the movie world does not turn her into an expert in history or on genocide. If she wants to express her sympathy with all victims of such tragedies, this is definitely not a smart way to do so.”

I, for one, am far more sympathetic to Natalie Portman’s sentiments, especially since I know them to reflect prevalent attitudes toward the Shoah among large segments of the post-Holocaust generations, both Jews and non-Jews. The students who take my courses on the law of genocide and war crimes trials at the law schools of Columbia and Cornell Universities want to learn about the Holocaust, but not in isolation.

My own views in this regard are clear. As my teacher and mentor Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel has eloquently said, “the Holocaust was a unique Jewish tragedy with universal implications.” World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder wrote in The New York Times last year that it is precisely because “the Jewish people understand all too well what can happen when the world is silent” that Jews in particular must not remain silent when Yazidis and Christians are persecuted and murdered by ISIS in the present-day Middle East. Ms. Portman correctly concludes that such universal implications of the Shoah are all too frequently ignored in contemporary Holocaust education.

The Holocaust is indeed unique – not worse and certainly not more tragic – among genocides because of its enormous, continent-wide scope, because of the complexity and systematic methodology of the annihilation, and because of the willing participation of much of not just German but other societies. At the same time, none of us should ever engage in comparative suffering.

I tell my students that from the perspective of the victims of genocides or their families, all of whom share a common humanity, it really makes no difference if they were murdered in a gas chamber or with machetes. Acknowledging such a fundamental moral truth in no way detracts from the preservation and perpetuation of Holocaust memory.

The integration of Holocaust education into Jewish education requires a balancing of competing imperatives: conveying the enormity and uniqueness of the Shoah without alienating the very audiences we most need to reach. Natalie Portman should be commended, not criticized, for making the need for such a proportionate approach a topic of discussion.

Menachem Z. Rosensaft is General Counsel of the World Jewish Congress and editor of God, Faith & Identity from the Ashes: Reflections of Children of Holocaust Survivors (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2015)

Natalie Portman should be commended, not criticized Read More »

Frequently raised objections to the flu shot

Leave a Comment / Blogs /

Last week our office received our batch of flu shots for the upcoming flu season. Every fall I urge my readers to get a flu shot. ” target=”_blank”>ancient Romans had a name for it. Something that happens after something else wasn’t necessarily caused by that first thing. That’s why we need randomized trials to figure out the effects of any intervention. I assure you that the flu shot does not lead to more hair catching on fire / bosses yelling at you / syphilis than placebo. (Though I suspect those specific effects weren’t specifically tested in randomized trials, so I guess we should both keep an open mind.) But I also understand that the mind creates nearly unbreakable bonds between perceived causes and perceived effects so my only suggestion would be to try it again and see if you have better luck this time.

You can’t tell me what to do. This isn’t North Korea.

That’s true, assuming you’re an adult. (If you’re a child, what are you doing in my office without your parents? I don’t take care of children. Take it up with your pediatrician. Go on. Scram.) I’ll only give you good advice. You can refuse. But I don’t think they have flu shots in North Korea.

The last time I got a flu shot the area around the flu shot was red and swollen and painful.

Reactions around the injection area can happen. They usually resolve in a few days and they don’t mean that you can’t have a flu shot again. You shouldn’t have a flu shot if you have an allergy to eggs or have had a severe allergic reaction (hives, swelling around your mouth, trouble breathing) to a previous flu shot.

You’re just a shill for Big Pharma which is trying to inject us with chemicals.

Well, I’m not a very well paid shill. I only get money from my patients. I’m a big proponent of evidence-based medicine which is neither for nor against Big Pharma, but rather for whatever medicines have been proven to be safe and effective. I’ve been advocating vaccine use on my blog for years and have yet to receive a promotional fee from any shell corporation, bogus front, or slush fund of Big Pharma. I don’t even know who manufactures flu shots, but whoever they are, they haven’t even bought me a tuna sandwich. This is patently unjust. If any of you have connections to Big Pharma, please put in a good word for me.

And get your flu shots.

Learn more:

” target=”_blank”>Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Frequently raised objections to the flu shot Read More »

Plunder-filled Nazi train worth millions has likely been found

Leave a Comment / Worldwide /

With evidence mounting that a Nazi train loaded with millions of dollars worth of plundered items has been found in Poland, the World Jewish Congress urged the Polish government to ensure any goods stolen from Jews be returned to their legitimate owners or their heirs.

On Friday, Polish Deputy Culture Minister Piotr Zuchowski announced he has seen a ground-penetrating radar image indicating that the train, which two unidentified individuals claimed to locate earlier this month, likely exists.

Soon after the announcement, World Jewish Congress CEO Robert Singer said in a statement: “To the extent that any items now being discovered in Poland may have been stolen from Jews before they were sent to death, concentration or forced labor camps, it is essential that every measure is taken to return the property to its rightful owners or to their heirs.”

The statement added, “If no such survivors or heirs can be found, any gold or other property that is found to have belonged to Jewish families or businesses must now inure to the benefit of Polish Jewish survivors who unfortunately have never been adequately compensated by Poland for the unspeakable suffering they endured and their catastrophic economic losses in the Holocaust.”

The train is believed to be one that reportedly disappeared in 1945 loaded with gold, gems, art and guns bound for Berlin, one of several trains the Nazis used in an attempt to save their war plunder from the advancing Allies. According to local lore, the train vanished after entering a network of tunnels under the Owl Mountains.

Two men, one German and one Polish, approached government officials in Poland’s southwestern district of Walbrzych earlier this month, claiming to have found the train but saying they would not reveal its location until they were guaranteed a 10 percent finder’s fee.

At a press conference Friday, Zuchowski said he was “more than 99 percent certain that this train exists,” according to The Associated Press.

Zuchowski also said the two men who claim to have found the train learned of its location from a dying individual who had been involved in transporting the train in 1945.

“If it is confirmed that the train is carrying valuable items, the finders can expect a 10 percent finder’s fee, either in the form of a reward from the ministry or from the owners of the property,” Zuchowski said.

He said any recovered valuables whose original owners can be identified would have their property restored to them.

Plunder-filled Nazi train worth millions has likely been found Read More »

Kansas City shooter: ‘I had a patriotic intent to stop genocide’

Leave a Comment / United States /

The white supremacist charged with killing three people outside two Jewish facilities in a suburb of Kansas City, Kansas, told a jury he is not guilty because he merely was trying to “defend my people against genocide.”

If convicted in the April 2014  shootings outside the JCC of Kansas City and the Village Shalom assisted-living facility in Overland Park, Kansas, Frazier Glenn Miller, also known as Frazier Glenn Cross, could face the death penalty.

Miller, 74, is representing himself in the capital trial in Olathe, Kansas. On Friday, after the prosecution completed its arguments, he admitting to killing three people, and acknowledged trying to shoot more, Reuters reported.

Claiming that Jews have committed genocide against white people and that they control both the media and Wall Street, Miller said, “I had no criminal intent, I had a patriotic intent to stop genocide against my people.”

“I hate Jews,” Miller said, according to Reuters. “They are the ones who destroy us.”

Miller made similar claims in his opening statements on Monday, which the judge interrupted midway through, saying his views were not relevant at that stage of the trial.

Miller is charged with killing Reat Underwood, 14, and Underwood’s grandfather, 69-year-old William Corporon, outside the JCC, as well as Terri LaManno, 53, outside a nearby Jewish assisted-living facility. None was Jewish, but Miller assumed they were Jewish when he shot them.

Kansas City shooter: ‘I had a patriotic intent to stop genocide’ Read More »

U.N. watchdog: Iran expanding Parchin facility

Leave a Comment / Iran Deal, Worldwide /

The United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran has built an extension to its military facility at Parchin.

A segment of the confidential report seen by the Reuters news agency says that while Iran has largely been complying with agreements on curtailing its nuclear program, its activity at the site since February 2012 has likely undermined the IAEA’s ability to “conduct effective verification.”

“Since [our] previous report [in May], at a particular location at the Parchin site, the agency has continued to observe, through satellite imagery, the presence of vehicles, equipment, and probable construction materials. In addition, a small extension to an existing building appears to have [been] constructed,” the report was quoted by Reuters as saying.The report covers Iranian activity from before the signing of the long-term nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers, including the United States, in July. The deal lifts sanctions in exchange for Iran curbing its nuclear program.

Activities at the site since 2012, during a time Iran stonewalled IAEA requests to visit the site or receive information on it, have undermined the agency’s ability to verify intelligence suggesting that Tehran conducted tests relevant to nuclear bomb detonations at the site in the past, diplomats said Thursday.

Specifically, the IAEA believes Tehran may have experimented there with high-explosive detonators for nuclear arms.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denied the allegations, saying his country was merely repairing roads near the Parchin site and not hiding evidence from the nuclear facility.

Israel under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that Iran cannot be trusted not to use the terms of the agreement to secretly advance its nuclear program while also benefiting from the lifting of sanctions to divert more funds into doing just that.

But President Barack Obama has defended the deal, saying it is the best way of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear arms. Congress will vote on the deal in September, and Obama has vowed to veto any efforts to stop the deal.

 
 
 

U.N. watchdog: Iran expanding Parchin facility Read More »

Meet the Jewish woman getting ready to live on Mars

Leave a Comment / Culture /

Dr. Sheyna Gifford — a Jewish medical doctor, science journalist, astrophysics researcher and space enthusiast — is preparing to live on Mars.

Gifford, 36, will join five other crew members in the NASA-funded Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) habitat for a simulated space mission to Mars, slated to launch today. For the next 365 days, she and the others will be isolated inside a geodesic dome that’s 36 feet in diameter.

Perched on a slope 8,000 feet above sea level on the Big Island of Hawaii, the two-story habitat simulates space missions, to help identify risks associated with long-term human space exploration.

Last week, Gifford was at St. Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco to film training videos for non-medical crew on how to treat injuries.

Photo courtesy of Dr. Sheyna Gifford

A Los Angeles native who attended the University of California, Berkeley and now lives in St. Louis, Gifford will serve as a medical doctor, neuroscientist and habitat journalist for the mission, her second, having completed a stint at NASA’s Human Exploration Research Analog in the spring.

This HI-SEAS mission to Mars — longer than any of the previous three — has several purposes.

“It’s about psychology, logistics, science and maintenance,” Gifford said. “We’re looking at what you need to feed and water people for a year, how much science you can get done and how the crew manages” in about 1,700 square feet of living space.

The crew includes a field biologist, a fluid physicist, an astrobiologist, a spacecraft engineer and a space architect. HI-SEAS researchers are working to develop effective team composition and support strategies for traveling to Mars and back, which is estimated to be a three-year journey.

The dome’s 993-square-foot ground floor includes a kitchen, dining area, bathroom, lab and exercise area. The 424-square-foot second floor includes six small sleeping quarters and a half bath. In addition, a 160-square-foot workshop, made from a converted shipping container, is attached to the habitat.

As the only Jew on the crew, Gifford said she faces several specific challenges. “Being a Jew is a community activity, a group effort. Any individual work you do, such as being a thoughtful, contemplative and helpful person, you do in the context of the whole world,” she said. “Also, there will be no other Jews to celebrate [Jewish] holidays with.”

In post on her blog titled “A Shtick by Any Other Name: Being Jewish on Mars,” Gifford explored being the only Jew on the mission and having to tackle questions such as, “When you’re in a space station that circles the Earth every 90 minutes, experiencing multiple sundowns daily, when, precisely, do you get your Jew on?”

“Probably I will light the candles — or turn on the electric candles, as I am not going to make fire in space — on Hawaii time, the same time as our ground control,” Gifford said. “Though of course at that time I might be in the middle of a space walk or doing surgery or cleaning the composting toilet.”

Fortunately, Gifford looks forward to sharing some Jewish rituals and history. “None of my roommates at Berkeley were Jewish, and I managed to bring others there into the fold,” she said.

Gifford also shares another blog with crew members, where they write about the mission.

Participation in the HI-SEAS mission is the fulfillment of Gifford’s childhood dream. “I always wanted to be an astronaut, because being an astronaut is being a hero, a leader, having the ability to spread the word about how cool science is,” she said.

“As a society, we should choose to invest in space the way we invest in schools or roads. It elevates us as a species, gives us the tools and the motivation to come together to do big things.”

Whether or not Gifford actually gets to Mars, she is not at all worried about being confined for a year during the simulation.

“Mentally, physically and socially, I have no concerns,” she said. “Only curiosity.”

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Dr. Sheyna Gifford grew up in Berkeley, California. She is a Los Angeles native.

Meet the Jewish woman getting ready to live on Mars Read More »

Obama reassures Jewish groups on U.S.-Israel relationship

Leave a Comment / Is Featured?, Lead Story, Mobile, Mobile-Homepage, News, United States /

President Barack Obama reassured U.S. Jewish groups on Friday that the U.S.-Israel relationship is strong, despite differences over the nuclear deal with Iran, and called for more talks between the two governments on security cooperation.

“As soon as this particular debate is over, my hope is that the Israeli government will immediately want to rejoin conversations that we started long before about how we can continue to improve and enhance Israel's security in a very troubled neighborhood,” Obama said during a webcast focused on the international nuclear agreement.

Obama said Washington and Israel have been in talks “for months” about getting security talks back on track, and those talks could include the next-generation missile defense and improved intelligence.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been a fierce critic of the nuclear deal, in which six world powers agreed to ease economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for Tehran curtailing its nuclear program.

Netanyahu's government, and some U.S. pro-Israel groups, have lobbied fiercely against the nuclear agreement, potentially a core foreign policy achievement of Obama's presidency if successful.

Members of Congress have until Sept. 17 to vote on a “resolution of disapproval” of the nuclear agreement. If it passes, and survives Obama's veto, it could cripple the deal by eliminating Obama's ability to waive many U.S. sanctions.

U.S. Republicans are largely united against the agreement, and have allied themselves with Netanyahu's government against it. They angered the White House earlier this year by inviting the Israeli leader to address Congress without consulting the administration.

Obama said the U.S. commitment to Israel is “sacrosanct and it is non-partisan.”

He added, “Everybody keep in mind that we're all pro-Israel … We have to make sure that we don't impugn people's motives even as we have what is a very serious debate.”

As Congress has considered the nuclear agreement, announced on July 14, its supporters have denounced opponents as “war hawks” and opponents have accused supporters of betraying Israel.

The webcast was part of an intense White House campaign to bolster support for the pact, which has divided the U.S. Jewish community.

Earlier on Friday, Democrat Tom Carper of Delaware became the 30th U.S. senator to announce that he would support the nuclear deal. Supporters need 34 of the 100 senators, or 146 members of the 435-seat House, to sustain a veto.

Obama reassures Jewish groups on U.S.-Israel relationship Read More »