Your Daily Spiel For June 7

Netta Barzilai returning home to Israel after winning the 2018 Eurovision song contest. (Flash90 Photo)

Police in the Philippines arrested nearly 500 people on Wednesday, including eight Israelis, who are involved in an alleged financial fraud investing in foreign stocks in a London-based company. The police raided three buildings in Clark Freeport, a former U.S. air force base north of Manila, where the alleged fraud was committed.

Miri Regev, Israel’s Culture and Sports Minister, said in a public broadcaster on Thursday, that Israel should withdraw as host of the Eurovision 2019 song contest if it is not held in Jerusalem. Since the event will cost US$14 million and is designed to market the country, she stated that it wouldn’t be right to invest that much money in public funds if it wasn’t held in Jerusalem.

Indiecan Entertainment just launched Jewish Films on Demand, a platform to connect North Americans with Jewish content. Producer Avi Federgreen curated a list of films celebrating Jewish heritage and culture in Israel and the Diaspora, which includes topics such as religion, refugees, LGBTQ+ community, war and family.

Charles Sirois, the billionaire pioneer of wireless telecommunications in Canada, was presented with the Words & Deeds Leadership Award by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) at a gala in Montreal on Tuesday. He has supported the Jewish General Hospital’s Segal Cancer Centre and founded the McPeak-Sirois Group for Clinical Research in Breast Cancer.