Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an economic and research partnership agreement with California Gov. Edmund “Jerry” Brown.

The agreement will enhance cooperation between Israel and California in a variety of areas, with a focus on water conservation, alternative energy, cybersecurity, health and biotechnology, education and agricultural technology, according to a press release from Brown’s office.

The agreement also allows Israeli companies access to a variety of Californian technology research facilities, including technology incubators, research parks, federal laboratories and universities.

“Through this agreement, California and Israel will build on their respective strengths in research and technology to confront critical problems we both face, such as water scarcity, cybersecurity and climate change,” said Governor Brown in the statement.
Netanyahu said “the opportunities of our partnerships are truly limitless. They’re limited only by our imagination.” While in California, Netanyahu also met with Apple CEO Tim Cook, as well as with Jan Koum and Brian Acton, the founders of text message service WhatsApp.

The UCLA student council rejected on Wednesday a resolution calling for divestment from five American companies that are accused of abusing Palestinian human rights.

The 7-5 vote by the Undergraduate Students Association Council followed nine hours of public comment and was held by secret ballot after one council member reported receiving anonymous threats by email during the all-night meeting.

Brought by Students for Justice in Palestine, the resolution called for divestment from Caterpillar, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Cemex and Cement Roadstone Holdings — companies that divestment backers said were used by the Israeli military to violate Palestinian human rights in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

While the resolution included a clause declaring it independent from the wider boycott, divestment, sanctions movement, opponents said passing the measure would nonetheless be taken as a victory for pro-BDS groups.

“If you vote yes, that will be taken as an extension of the BDS movement, whether or not you want it to be,” Bruins for Israel President Avinoam Barel told the council members.

Dana Saifan, the president of Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of California, Los Angeles, countered that the resolution should be judged on its own merits.

“As much as this might be construed to meaning other things, this is my human rights,” she said.

Saifan also told the council, “We are not asking for an endorsement of the BDS, we made that incredibly clear. Our community supports Jewish self-determination, we’re saying it — we’re not hiding anything.”

In addition to fears of supporting the BDS movement, several council members said they felt UCLA’s Jewish community had not been sufficiently consulted by Students for Justice in Palestine before the resolution was brought to the council, despite having been notified beforehand.

The UCLA resolution is the latest in a series of divestment proposals throughout the University of California system.

The Undergraduate Students Association does not control the university’s investment portfolio, so the resolution would have served as a recommendation to the Board of Regents, which has stated it will not entertain Israel-related divestment.

Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman, the dean of Jewish lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives, said Thursday he will retire, and Republicans immediately jumped on the announcement as a sign of weakness in the Democratic party.

He was first elected to Congress from a Los Angeles-area district in 1974, and his resignation will take effect next Jan 2, when his present term of office expires.

“I am grateful for my supporters and allies, who have worked side-by-side with me to fight for issues we care about: health, environmental protection, women’s and gay rights, and strengthening the ties between the United States and our most important ally, the State of Israel,” he said in a statement.

Waxman, 74,  was perhaps most prominent as the chairman of the Oversight Committee during the last two years of the George W. Bush administration, convening hearings about the conduct of the Iraq War.

The longest serving Jewish House member, he has taken a lead on pro-Israel issues, most recently in joining with Energy Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) to advance a bill that would increase cooperation with Israel in energy research.

Waxman stated Thursday, “House Republicans have no compelling vision for the future,” he said. “The public understands this, and I am confident that the Democrats can regain control of the House.

However, Politico reported this week that when Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz was asked if her party would retake the House, she limited her optimism by saying only that the Democrats will gain some seats. She added, “I’m not going to confidently predict that Democrats will take the House back.”

Earlier this month, veteran  Democratic legislators Jim Moran and George Miller both said they are quitting.

One talkback comment on an American news site stated, “Waxman’s retirement was just announced in the House GOP conference room — and the conference enthusiastically applauded.”

House Republicans, who were at a retreat on Thursday when they heard the news of Waxman’s retirement, reportedly were happy.

JTA contributed to this report.

Fliers hung in the Oakland, Calif., Montclair  neighborhood of Jewish city councilwoman Libby Schaaf show a swastika drawn on her forehead.

The fliers hung district represented by Schaaf read, “Stop Schaaf. Stop the DAC” (domain awareness center) — a reference to a city plan to build a combined surveillance center for police and firefighters.

Schaaf, who reportedly plans to run for mayor in November, told the Bay Area News Group that she was surprised to be targeted over the issue. She has been critical of building the center, though she has voted to proceed with the project along with a majority of council members.

“As a person of Jewish heritage I found this particularly hurtful. As an Oaklander I found it shameful,” said Schaaf.

Police are investigating the incident, but it is not known if it is being investigated as a hate crime.

Most of the posters have been torn down or the swastikas were covered with black marker.

Last year, similar posters with swastikas targeted a Latino councilwoman.

A bill introduced by the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee would link assistance to the Palestinian Authority to its efforts to stop incitement.

Under the bill presented Wednesday by California Republican Rep. Ed Royce, the president would have to determine that the Palestinian Authority “no longer engages in a pattern of incitement against the United States or Israel; and is engaged in peace preparation activities aimed at promoting peace with the Jewish State of Israel.” The president would have to re-certify compliance every six months.

“As Secretary of State John Kerry engages in negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, Congress will make it clear to the Palestinian Authority that continuing anti-Israel incitement to violence through PA-controlled media outlets must cease,” Royce said in a statement.

The United States earmarks about $400 million annually for the Palestinian Authority.

Quality Israeli wines used to only come from the Golan Heights, an area reminiscent of Sonoma County, California. But as different regions of the country have been busy developing their own unique brands and tastes, it appears that a renaissance of sorts has been taking place in the largest wine growing region, the Shomron, or Samaria, where Israelite kings and prophets used to roam the earth and, very likely, sample the local wines.

It turns out that, in recent years, the Shomron has produced a disproportionate number of award winning wines from its relatively young vineyards and abundance of boutique wineries.

The foundation of the Shomron wine taste comes down to the high altitude, the humid and warm climate and the heavy and limey soil. Ah, and there’s the breeze, blowing in from the sea and gliding off the Carmel Mountains.

Frankly, there are probably some secular Israelis, alas, who couldn’t care less whether this sacred land would go into someone else’s hands or stay Jewish. But giving up this amazing wine country—same as in the Golan—would be unthinkable to many of them.

Now, whatever your political views, if you wish to find out for yourself what’s the big deal about Shomron wines – they’re coming to New York, this Sunday.

Shomron Wine Tasting in New York City

Sunday, November 17, come taste award-winning wines from Samaria.

A Wine Tasting Reception is planned for 6:30 PM, following Sunday’s Israel Advocacy Conference at the West Side Institutional Synagogue (the original location was the Edmond J. Safra Synagogue—it’s been changed).

West Side Institutional Synagogue

120 West 76th Street

(212) 877-7652

Many of the featured wines have only limited availability in the U.S., because of politics—the boycotts on products from the wrong side of the 1949 armistice border also known as the “green line.” So Sunday’s reception is sure to draw enthusiasts of both great wines and of Israel, eager to taste and assortment of wines that consistently score at 90 and above.

Featured producers include Arnon, Mount Blessing, Psagot, Shiloh and Tura wineries, which have together brought attention and acclaim to this region by winning multiple high-level awards in the Vinalies, Zarcillo, Terravino, and Eshkol Ha’zahav competitions.

You can register for the conference and the wine tasting here. The cost for the wine tasting event is $100 per person, for an offering of a large variety of bottles priced in the $40-80 range.

The suggested donation fee for attending the conference is $18.

Agudath Israel of America condemned a New Jersey law prohibiting gay reparative therapy for minors as an infringement on religious freedom.

The statement from Agudah came just hours after Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill barring licensed therapists from providing treatment to help gay teenagers become straight.

“The new law tramples on the rights of mental health therapists to engage freely in their profession, and it unfairly denies teenagers seeking therapy for issues that are troubling them the ability to obtain professional help,” the group said.

“Under the new law, therapists, social workers or counselors who work with minors on these issues risk losing their licenses to practice their professions, and minors who sincerely want to obtain professional help will have nowhere to turn. This is an unconscionable infringement on personal liberty and a trampling of personal rights, including religious and free speech rights.”

New Jersey joins California as the only states with laws barring so-called reparative therapy. The New Jersey bill passed both houses of the state Legislature in June with bipartisan support.

In signing the bill into law, Christie, a moderate Republican who is widely believed to be eyeing a presidential run in 2016, appended a note indicating his reluctance to intrude on parents’ ability to determine the right treatment for their children.

“However, I also believe that on issues of medical treatment for children, we must look to experts in the field to determine the relative risks and rewards,” Christie wrote. “The American Psychological Association has found that efforts to change sexual orientation can pose critical health risks including, but not limited to, depression, substance abuse, social withdrawal, decreased self-esteem and suicidal thoughts. I believe that exposing children to these health risks without clear evidence of benefits that outweigh these serious risks is not appropriate.”

America’s gift to Al Qaeda, California native Adam Gadahn, has asked rich Arab Muslims to open up their vaults and offer cash to other terrorists to kill Western diplomats, according to the SITE organization, which monitors terrorist websites.

He previously has praised the brutal murder of U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Libya last year. His latest message states, “These prizes [money] have a great effect in instilling fear in the hearts of our cowardly enemies. They also encourage hesitant individuals to carry out important and great deeds in the path of Allah.”

He apparently does not share the same fear. The U.S. government also has put up cash, $1 million to be exact, for information leading to the arrest of Gadahn, whom the FBI believes is in Pakistan.