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Daniel Lubetzky, Jewish Founder of KIND Snacks, Replaces Mark Cuban on ‘Shark Tank’ as Series Regular Investor
Daniel Lubetzky, CEO of KIND LLC, accepts the Civility and Compassion Award during The Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards Nov. 04, 2023. Photo: USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect
Jewish Mexican-American entrepreneur Daniel Lubetzky announced on Wednesday that after five seasons as a recurring guest investor on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” he will become a regular “shark” on the show when its new season premieres in October.
Lubetzky, the founder of the KIND snack company who is also the son of a Holocaust survivor, will replace billionaire Jewish American entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who announced last year that he will leave the show after season 16. Lubetzky is the first new regular cast member to join the show in over a decade. The “Shark Tank” panel of series regular investors includes Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, and Kevin O’Leary.
“It’s an honor to be part of a production that continues to educate, entertain, and unite Americans behind the spirit of building together,” Lubetzky said in a released statement about joining the “Shark Tank” team. “I am so excited to be part of this fun, hilarious, exceptionally smart cast and crew. Most of all, I am looking forward to partnering with entrepreneurs from all walks of life as they come to ‘Shark Tank’ for their chance to realize the American dream.”
He added that he hopes his Jewish Mexican mother Sonia is “proud” of him and that his late father Roman, who survived the Dachau concentration camp in Germany during the Holocaust, “is looking from above and seeing not just what I’ve achieved but how I’ve achieved it — by trying my very best to always follow the values he taught me.”
Lubetzky shared in 2021 that his mother was raised in Tampico, “a cattle-ranching region in Mexico, where her family was one of only a handful of Jewish families.”
“She’s always had an extra sensibility about her responsibility to be an ambassador of the Jewish people,” he said. “I admire the ways in which she helps our family preserve both our Jewish — and Mexican — values and traditions.”
Lubetzky was born in 1968 and raised in Mexico City, where he was taught Hebrew, English, Spanish, and Yiddish. He moved to the US with his family when he was a teenager but studied abroad in Israel during his college years. At Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, his 268-page thesis was titled, “The Influence of Economic Factors in Resolving the Arab-Israeli Conflict.”
Lubetzky founded the KIND company in 2004. He sold a minority stake to the candy giant Mars in 2017 and sold the entire company to Mars in 2020 in a deal reportedly worth $5 billion. In 2002, he founded OneVoice Movement, which is a grassroots movement that amplifies the voices of Israeli and Palestinian activists with the vision for “an independent and viable Palestine and a secure Israel free from conflict.” He is also the founder of PeaceWorks Inc., a business that fosters cooperative ventures among neighbors in the Middle East.
In October 2023, shortly after the deadly Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel, Lubetkzy talked about being affected by the Israel-Hamas war.
“I literally have not been sleeping over the last two, three weeks because we’ve lost a lot of our family and friends to this war,” Lubetzky said in an interview in October. “We have Palestinian and Israeli staff and colleagues whose lives have been impacted. We have Palestinian staff in Gaza that we’ve been trying to evacuate, but Hamas has blocked the exits and prevented them from leaving. We have Israelis, both Jewish and Muslim Israelis, that were killed by the Hamas terrorists.”
According to the KIND website, Lubetkzy’s favorite quote is from Rabbi Hillel, who said: “In a place where there is no humanity, strive thou to be human.”
Season 16 of “Shark Thank” premieres Oct. 18 on ABC.
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Harris Says Won’t Give Up Pushing for End to Israel-Gaza War
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks before participating in a bilateral meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House in Washington, U.S., May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger
US Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday repeated her call for a ceasefire in Israel’s war in Gaza and said it was important to seize the opportunity provided by the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack.
Harris acknowledged challenges ahead but told reporters she would continue to push for an end to the conflict.
“This creates an opening that I believe we must take full advantage of – to dedicate ourselves to ending this war and bringing the hostages home,” she said.
“As it relates to the issues in the Middle East and in particular in that region, it has never been easy. But that doesn’t mean we give up. It’s always going to be difficult. We can’t give up.”
Harris dodged a question on whether Arab American and Muslim anger over US support for Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza and more recently in Lebanon could cost her the election in the battleground state of Michigan, but said she would continue speaking out about the tragic loss of innocent lives.
“I speak publicly all the time about the fact that there are so many tragic stories coming from Gaza,” Harris said, also referencing the initial Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
“What’s critically important as we look at this moment, is … acknowledging the tragedy of what has happened in Gaza, in terms of the extraordinary number of innocent Palestinians that have been killed, and taking that seriously and speaking truth about that,” she said.
Harris and Trump are essentially tied in the most competitive states like Michigan, with just 17 days until the Nov. 5 election.
Harris will need strong results in the majority non-white cities of Detroit and Atlanta and their surrounding suburbs – both of which have large Arab American and Muslim populations – to repeat US President Joe Biden’s 2020 wins in Michigan and Georgia. Trump won Michigan by 11,000 votes in 2016. In 2020, Biden beat Trump by 155,000 votes.
Harris on Friday won the endorsements of 50 prominent Lebanese-Americans, who said the US had been “unrelenting” in its support for Lebanon under the Biden administration and that they expect additional backing if Harris wins in November.
The endorsement came amid ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon that have killed at least 2,350 people over the last year, according to the Lebanese health ministry, with more than 1.2 million people displaced. Hezbollah attacks have killed 50 Israeli soldiers and civilians, according to Israel.
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Netanyahu: ‘The Agents of Iran Who Tried to Assassinate Me and My Wife Today Made a Grave Mistake’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Feb. 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – The private residence of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, came under attack early on Saturday from Hezbollah drone, a brief statement from the leader’s office stated:
The attempt by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah to assassinate me and my wife today was a grave mistake. This will not deter me or the State of Israel from continuing our just war against our enemies in order to secure our future. I say to Iran and its proxies in its axis of evil: Anyone who tries to harm Israel’s citizens will pay a heavy price. We will continue to eliminate the terrorists and those who dispatch them. We will bring our hostages home from Gaza. And we will return our citizens who live on our Northern border safely to their homes. Israel is determined to achieve all our war objectives and change the security reality in our region for generations to come. Together, we will fight, and with God’s help – together, we will win.
Netanyahu and his wife Sara were not at the residence at the time of the attack, and no one was hurt, the statement added. The extent of damage caused was not clear.
The post Netanyahu: ‘The Agents of Iran Who Tried to Assassinate Me and My Wife Today Made a Grave Mistake’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran FM Meets with Hamas Delegation Headed by Muhammad Darwish
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Photo: Reuters/Raheb Homavandi.
i24 News – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday met with a Hamas delegation in İstanbul, followed by a meeting with his Turkish counterpart.
The Hamas delegation was headed by Muhammad Ismail Darwish, the Head of Hamas Shura Council and included members of the jihadist group’s politburo. A well-placed source told i24NEWS Darwish was the strongest man in Hamas following the assassination of the group’s leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.
The post Iran FM Meets with Hamas Delegation Headed by Muhammad Darwish first appeared on Algemeiner.com.