Sylvan Adams cited figures released by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League, according to which 46% of adults worldwide—around 2.2 billion people—hold antisemitic views.

By Etgar Lefkovits, JNS

The rising antisemitism around the globe, heavily funded and organized by Qatar and promoted on social media platforms, risks creating a second Holocaust, the Israeli president of the World Jewish Congress said on Tuesday at the Auschwitz concentration camp on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Sylvan Adams expressed this sentiment during a press briefing ahead of the annual March of the Living educational program at the site of the Nazi death camp where more than one million Jews were murdered during World War II.

“I never believed that in my life we would see what we have seen since Oct. 7,” said Adams, the son of Holocaust survivors, referring to the 2023 Hamas massacre in southern Israel.

“I believed that the post-Holocaust slogan of ‘Never Again’ truly meant never again. Well, I was wrong.”

The Jewish leader cited figures released by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League, according to which 46% of adults worldwide—around 2.2 billion people—hold antisemitic views, while one in five has never heard of the Holocaust.

Adams pointed to Doha to highlight the phenomenon.

“Qatar, and the Emir of Qatar, while pretending to be a benefactor of the hostages, is playing a double game and fomenting the worst antisemitism since the Holocaust,” he said.

He noted that the Gulf country, which is a U.S. ally, has long funded the Muslim Brotherhood and, over the last three decades, has invested more than a trillion dollars in the pan-Arab Al Jazeera TV station in an effort to destabilize the West.

“Their campaign against the Jews is just the appetizer dish,” he said. “The main course is the entire West that they wish to convert and subjugate.”

In his remarks, Adams also called Chinese-run TikTok “the most virulently antisemitic of the social media platforms,” coupled with Beijing’s covert and overt support for the Muslim Brotherhood and the Iranian regime.

He praised the administration in Washington for forcing the creation of a majority-American board for the social platform in the United States, where it has 200 million users.

“What began here did not begin with gas chambers,” Adams said on the site of the ultimate symbol of the horrors of the Holocaust. “It began with words, with permission and with silence.”

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Philanthropist Sylvan Adams pledged $100 million to cover a full third of the funding.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Soroka University Medical Center will receive a billion shekels ($307 million) to rebuild after a key wing was destroyed by an Iranian missile in June, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday during the weekly Cabinet meeting.

The funding will be split between the government, the Clalit health fund that owns the Beersheba hospital, and a $100 million donation from mega-philanthropist Sylvan Adams, who was thanked personally by the prime minister.

As the Cabinet members applauded, Netanyahu called Adams “a great friend and benefactor of the State of Israel,” who contributes “with great generosity, wholeheartedly.”

Adams responded that it was “a great honor” to give the gift “to reconstruct and build Soroka Hospital into the best and most advanced hospital in the Middle East.”

“I’m a big believer in the State of Israel,” he added. “I’m very proud to be Jewish and Israeli. My blood is colored blue and white.”

The Canadian-born real estate magnate has called himself an “unofficial” Israeli ambassador since immigrating 10 years ago, focusing on improving Israel’s image by using his own money for efforts such as bringing globally watched events to the country, including the Giro d’Italia bike race and sports championships, and backing a world-class Israeli cycling team.

The government will provide NIS 360 million over five years to replace the demolished hospital tower that had contained six research labs and several wards, including the crucial surgical unit.

Most of the building’s patients were evacuated to shelters in other areas of the hospital just hours before the missile hit in the midst of Israel’s 12-day air war with Iran, saving them from almost certain death, as the old building had not been fortified, despite years-long requests from the hospital administration.

The new inpatient tower, which will be larger than its predecessor, will be able to withstand an aerial attack.

The already formulated plans also call for larger emergency facilities and improved maternal and critical care departments and advanced technologies such as AI-based diagnostics and cutting-edge imaging systems to improve patient care.

Soroka’s director, Prof. Shlomi Kodesh, welcomed the government’s decision, saying it will enable the hospital to “provide the highest level of medicine, thereby turning tragedy into growth and ensuring the revival of the Negev – physically and morally.”

He also thanked Adams for what is the largest private donation ever made to Soroka, saying that it would “change the face of the medical center for many years to come and will place it on a par with the leading medical centers in the world.”

In his announcement of the donation, Adams said, “Our answer to Iran is to build back bigger and better. On the very place where missiles fell, we will build in Beersheba a beacon of healing, progress and peace. We choose life. We choose excellence. We choose to answer destruction with construction and hatred with compassion.”

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Israel Premier Tech, which only has one Israeli rider at the Vuelta, has said dropping out of the race would “set a dangerous precedent.”

By The Associated Press

Israel Premier Tech gave its cyclists at the Spanish Vuelta new uniforms without the team name on Saturday after they have been repeatedly targeted by anti-Israel protests during the race.

The decision was made before the 14th stage amid a difficult week for the team. It has faced protests before and during the race days, as well as pressure from both race officials and Spanish authorities.

The team said the decision was “in the interest of prioritizing the safety of our riders and the entire peloton, in light of the dangerous nature of some protests at Vuelta.”

But the move did not stop a few hundred people from holding another loud protest, this time in Aviles, the city that hosted the stage start. Police were involved in some shoving with a few protestors.

The crowd packed either side of the streets and shouted at the cyclists and team cars of every team as they passed by. Many waved Palestinian flags.

They held signs saying “Sport with human rights” and shouted slogans like “It’s not a war, it’s genocide.”

New uniforms to keep lower profile

Israel Premier Tech’s blue uniforms, which will be used for the final week of the race, now only have a large P and a star. The “monogram kit now aligns with the branding decisions we have previously adopted for our vehicles and casual clothing,” it said.

The protests kicked off on Wednesday in Bilbao, when a large crowd’s presence near the finish line forced race organizers to cut short Wednesday’s arrival.

On Friday, Spanish police detained 12 people who invaded the course with an anti-Israel banner and impeded the lead riders until police removed them.

Israel Premier Tech, which only has one Israeli rider at the Vuelta, has said dropping out of the race would “set a dangerous precedent.”

American Matthew Riccitello is the best-positioned rider of the team. He was seventh overall at nearly five minutes behind race leader Jonas Vingegaard.

International implications

The Vuelta condemned the Bilbao protest, but its technical director Kiko Garcia urged Israel Premier Tech to drop out or for the UCI, cycling’s governing body, to intervene, because there was a risk of more protests if it kept racing.

UCI has also condemned the protest in Bilbao.

On Thursday, Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said he would “understand and be in favor” of the team being removed from the race, while adding his government doesn’t have the power to do so.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his support of the team, which is owned by Israeli-Canadian businessman Sylvan Adams, saying it made “Israel proud.”

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Make-A-Wish Israel has granted dreams to more than 6,000 children since its founding, and last night’s philanthropic event highlighted and celebrated the remarkable impact of the organization’s work.

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“You will be fulfilling God’s destiny for you, while avenging Iran’s attempts to assassinate you,” Adams said.

By JNS

World Jewish Congress Israel Region president Sylvan Adams wrote to U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, entreating the American commander-in-chief to join the war to prevent the Iranian regime from developing nuclear weapons.

Adams said he was approaching Trump on “behalf of the Jewish people in Israel and throughout the Diaspora,” describing the moment as “historic and urgent,” according to a WJC press release.

While he thanked Trump for his steadfastness, leadership and “unswerving support of the State of Israel,” the Canadian-Israeli billionaire requested that the president take one step further and undertake action “that could shift the course of history.”

“If you are reluctant to have American pilots bomb Fordow to put an end to Iran’s nuclear weapons program, please equip us with the means to do so. Sell us a few B-2 bombers and a few dozen bunker-busting MOPs, and we’ll take care of this problem. For Israel, for America and for the world,” the WJC regional president wrote.

Only the U.S. Air Force has 30,000-pound (13,600 kilograms) precision-guided Massive Ordnance Penetrator “bunker-buster” bombs, and its 19 Northrop B-2 Spirit heavy strategic bombers, aka Stealth Bombers, are the only operational aircraft capable of carrying them.

Adams poured scorn on the idea of a negotiated settlement with Iran that fell short of complete nuclear disarmament.

The only nuclear deal worth signing was one in which the Islamic Republic voluntarily destroyed its nuclear program without any ability to enrich uranium, he said.

He added that Iran must discontinue its “aggressive missile program,” including intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach the United States, and cease its support for terrorism in the region and beyond.

Adams added that Israel’s many accomplishments in the war against Iran, in addition to largely neutralizing the threats from Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen were being achieved “without any American boots on the ground.”

He posited that an extended targeted bombing campaign with U.S. involvement, coupled with strict economic sanctions, could cause the “long-suffering Iranian people” to rise up and throw off the despised regime.

Taking a broader view, Adams foresaw a future where Iran could join the Abraham Accords, which are holding despite the upheaval in the region.

Furthermore, he suggested that the Nobel Committee, which did not recognize his work regarding the accords in his first administration, could not fail to recognize his “groundbreaking peacemaking” in his final term in office.

“You will be fulfilling God’s destiny for you, while avenging Iran’s attempts to assassinate you,” Adams said.

Concluding, he affirmed the unbreakable alliance between the two nations, saying, “There are no closer allies nor better friends in the world than Israel and the United States of America.”

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Philanthropist, founder of the Israel Premier Tech Cycling Team and “self-appointed Israeli ambassador” Sylvan Adams announces the launch of a “Peace Tour” with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates following Israel’s success, with Michael Woods crossing the Stage 9 finish line first, at the Tour de France.

The post Next year in Jerusalem? Israel’s success at Tour de France raises hope for the country to host appeared first on World Israel News.

“It was crazy — like something you would read in a spy novel,” Israeli-Canadian Sylvan Adams said.

By Sharon Wrobel, The Algemeiner

Sylvan Adams, co-owner of the Israeli national cycling team, revealed new details Tuesday of a mission that helped Afghan women cyclists and others to escape Taliban rule in an operation likened to a “spy novel.”

“We are about the only group that’s able to move people around in Afghanistan and get them out,” Adams said during a conference Tuesday held by the Jerusalem Post. “Of course, the Afghan National Women’s team was terrified. They were in a situation in a country like Afghanistan, where you could be killed for riding your bicycle.”

The Israeli-Canadian Adams owns Israel Start-Up Nation, the Jewish nation’s first professional cycling team that competes in international tournaments, and said he was approached for the initiative on the basis of past humanitarian projects.

For the mission, the philanthropist teamed up with IsraAID, as the Israeli non-governmental humanitarian aid agency had operatives on the ground. Together they devised a plan to help the women cyclists and others flee from Afghanistan. Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the cycling’s world governing body, was also part of the evacuation operation.

Adams recounted that the cycling team was taken to a land crossing of an unnamed neighboring country, where he knew somebody who was close to the president and could lend influence.

“It was crazy — like something you would read in a spy novel,” Adams said. “We got that call to the president of the neighboring country, and they were let in. They are now in the United Arab Emirates.”

Adams emphasized that he was particularly proud of the support and cooperation of the UAE, which he described as “a product of the Abraham Accords,” the normalization agreements which Israel struck last year with Arab states.

“The Emirates, when they heard that an Israeli group was taking out Muslim girls from Afghanistan they wanted to be our partner, specifically because we were Israeli,” said Adams, who financed the evacuation operation. “It’s a stunning partnership now and the girls are in the UAE and we extracted a second group as well that is in Albania.”

“We have saved 165 souls,” Adams added.

Among the evacuated group were also female judges, human rights workers, and Afghan diplomats, he said.

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In an interview with i24 News, billionaire philanthropist Sylvan Adams dicusses his success in ‘sports diplomacy,’ saying that when he immigrated to Israel from Canada in 2015, he had business cards printed with the title: “Self-appointed Ambassador-at-large for Israel.”

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