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German rabbi at center of ongoing scandal plagiarized his dissertation, newspaper finds
BERLIN (JTA) — The prominent German rabbi who was found to have abused his authority at the seminary he ran also appears to have plagiarized a portion of his 1992 dissertation.
That’s according to a new investigation into Rabbi Walter Homolka published this week in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a German newspaper.
More than 60 pages of Homolka’s 240-page dissertation, “From Essence to Existence. Leo Baeck and Religious Identity as a Problem of Continuity and Change in liberal Jewish and Protestant Theology,” consisted of verbatim translation of a German scholarly article – pages 43 to 106, according to the newspaper.
The doctoral dissertation at Kings College London did not include attribution or acknowledgment of the author, the Protestant German theologian Dorothee Schlenke. Only in 1994, when Homolka published his dissertation as a book in English and German, did he explicitly thank Schlenke, now a professor at the University of Education in Freiburg, the newspaper reported.
Kings College London removed public access to the dissertation the day that a reporter asked Homolka’s attorney about allegations of plagiarism, the newspaper reported.
Those allegations were among the long-simmering criticisms of Homolka that burst into public view after a different newspaper, Die Welt, published a blistering report last May about Homolka’s leadership at the Abraham Geiger College, the liberal seminary he founded in 1999, two years after he was ordained in a private ceremony.
Following the report’s revelations of a possible coverup and abuse of power by Homolka, both the University of Potsdam, which houses the seminary, and the Central Council of Jews in Germany initiated investigations. Homolka, who has vigorously contested all accusations, has since stepped back from virtually the Jewish institutions in which he played a formative role.
In its investigation report, released last October, the university said it had not found evidence of criminal actions, thus affirmed Homolka’s position as a professor there.
But the report did confirm abuse of power and noted that accusations of plagiarism, specifically his use of “an unpublished work by the Freiburg professor Dorothee Schlenke (‘Normativity and History,’ 1986),” required further investigation.
University spokesperson Silke Engel confirmed to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the university has asked Kings College London to clarify the status of Homolka’s 1992 dissertation. She added that, while the “abuse of power” report is final, allegations of “scientific misconduct are currently under investigation” and the results will be presented in a second report.
According to the new report, Homolka’s attorneys responded last June to their query about his dissertation, saying that “the unpublished work of Dorothee Schlenke was not the main source for the dissertation at Kings College London, nor does everything about the ‘essence debate’ [a theological thesis] go back to this work.” The lawyers added that “Schlenke’s research was helpful for our client’s dissertation, which is why it is mentioned in both the German and English book editions.”
On Jan. 26, responding to renewed questions, the lawyer confirmed that their client “stands by his previous statements in this regard.”
Neither Kings College nor Dorothee Schlenke have yet replied to queries from JTA.
The Central Council’s final report on allegations of abuse of power is expected to be released in the coming weeks.
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The post German rabbi at center of ongoing scandal plagiarized his dissertation, newspaper finds appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Netanyahu, Smotrich to Meet on Israeli 2026 Budget that Faces Battle for Approval
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich during the weekly cabinet meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and senior ministry officials will present Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later on Sunday with the state budget and planned structural reforms for 2026, Smotrich’s office said.
“The Finance Minister will present to the Prime Minister the necessary measures to ensure continued economic growth and to combat the high cost of living,” it said.
It added that cabinet ministers would vote on the budget on Dec. 4 but it is unlikely the budget would be approved by year end.
According to Israeli law, the budget must be approved by parliament by the end of March or new elections are triggered.
Its final approval faces an uphill battle that could ultimately lead to new elections.
The government has splintered in the past two years over the Gaza war, the ceasefire which has halted it and demands by ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties to exempt Jewish seminary students from mandatory military service.
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Hamas Delegation Meets Egypt Spy Chief, Says Israeli ‘Breaches’ Threaten Ceasefire
Palestinian women look out of a window near the site of Saturday’s Israeli strike in the Central Gaza Strip, November 23, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo
A senior Hamas delegation met Egypt’s intelligence chief in Cairo on Sunday to discuss the ceasefire agreement and the situation in Gaza, the group said, as both Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group continue to trade accusations of truce violations.
Egypt, Qatar and the US have been mediating between Hamas and Israel, securing the ceasefire that came into effect last month.
In a statement, the group said it reaffirmed its commitment to implementing the first phase of the ceasefire agreement in its meeting with Egypt’s intelligence chief, but accused Israel of “continued violations” that it said threatened to undermine the deal.
Hamas, whose delegation included its exiled Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya, called for a “clear and defined mechanism” under the supervision of mediators to document and halt any breaches of the deal.
The movement said it also discussed with Egypt ways to urgently resolve the issue of Hamas members in Rafah tunnels, adding that communication with them had been cut off.
Reuters reported earlier this month that mediators were trying to address the fate of a group of Hamas fighters holed up in tunnel networks in Israeli-controlled areas of Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said the country’s military killed five senior Hamas members on Saturday after a fighter was sent into Israeli-controlled Gaza territory to attack Israeli soldiers there.
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Report Alleges Qatar Invested Billions in US Schools to Promote Islamist Ideologies
The clock tower at Cornell University. Photo: Clarice Oliveira.
i24 News – An explosive report from the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), cited by the New York Post, claims that Qatar has invested roughly $20 billion in American schools and universities as part of a strategy to promote Islamist ideologies.
ISGAP says the funding aligns with the objectives of the Muslim Brotherhood and represents a deliberate influence campaign on U.S. campuses.
According to Dr. Charles Asher Small, executive director of ISGAP, the Qatari ruling family maintains close ideological ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and leverages its financial resources to promote their worldview.
The report notes that much of this support flows through the Qatar Foundation, which funds universities, schools, and cultural institutions across the United States.
Cornell University is highlighted as a major recipient, reportedly receiving nearly $10 billion. The institution has recently faced controversy over its handling of antisemitic incidents following the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, including the arrest of a student for making death threats against Jews and the suspension of a history professor who described the Hamas attack as “exhilarating” during an anti-Israel rally.
In November, Cornell announced an agreement with the Trump administration to retain over $250 million in federal funding, effectively ending several investigations into allegations of racial discrimination and antisemitism.