Turkish intelligence chief meets with top Hamas negotiator about 2nd phase of Gaza plan, as mediators seek to move forward with Board of Peace, International Stabilization Force

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Video of one incident appears to contradict army's claim that teen shot dead in Qabatiya had thrown a brick at the forces

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Strike follows deadly Gaza City incident now under investigation; army releases footage of Khan Younis tunnel demolition

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Raid this week took place in village of al-Rafid, located in UN-patrolled buffer zone

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Judges issue temporary order as they review case; police had barred from games those with shirts reading 'Against the scum,' with logos of police, banned far-right party and rival team

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Nawaf Salam claims first phase of ceasefire-mandated plan is nearly done, with next stage planned north of river, amid Israeli skepticism

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Jerusalem is concerned Tehran could rebuild its nuclear program, but is primarily worried about a potential surge in ballistic missile production to some 3,000 a month, NBC says

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Bitton was shot three times after rushing toward gunmen at Hanukkah massacre; friends later identified him in footage

The post Israeli Gefen Bitton in critical condition after confronting Bondi Beach terrorist appeared first on The Times of Israel.

'Intense' air campaign lasting hours hit cells across multiple provinces; Amman says it aimed to block 'extremist organizations' from threatening region

The post Jordan says air force took part in US-led strikes on ISIS in Syria that killed at least 5 appeared first on The Times of Israel.

Amid hate speech crackdown, PM Albanese praises ‘unbreakable’ Jewish community ahead of national memorial for 15 slain in antisemitic attack; lifeguards gather to honor victims

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Suspect could face up to three years in prison if police find she violated religious desecration law; no arrests have been made

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Shapiro attacks conservative leaders for not calling out conspiracy theorists; Bannon: Shapiro a 'cancer' who wants US to put Israel's interests first; Kelly: Rift revolves around Israel

The post MAGA civil war over Israel erupts into the open at Turning Point USA conference appeared first on The Times of Israel.

Years after Reddit users falsely smeared Brown student as suspect in Boston marathon attack, tipster saved the day when AI-powered surveillance was of little use in early search for gunman

The post How the ‘Reddit Detective Agency’ helped hunt for Brown killer and ‘blew the case open’ appeared first on The Times of Israel.

Casualties reported at school-turned-shelter in Tuffah neighborhood; Hamas says majority of victims were children; IDF says troops fired at suspects, without saying how they posed threat

The post 5 said killed in Gaza City strike; IDF says it’s investigating, regrets any civilian harm appeared first on The Times of Israel.

A friend of Israeli national Gefen Bitton, who was shot three times by the Bondi Beach shooters, said that he was "currently in the ICU, after multiple surgeries, and has a long way to go."

Israeli officials reportedly requested that some sanctions would remain imposed, to be used as leverage for future negotiations with Syrian President Ahmed al-Shaara.

Cyber group Handala claimed to have acquired the names of engineers involved in Israel’s drone programs, a day after threatening Israeli politicians.

Witkoff's comments came following a Friday meeting with the Qatari prime minister, Turkish foreign minister, and Egyptian foreign minister.

Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, said that it is legal in the UK to “intentionally stir up racial hatred, so long as one avoids being threatening, abusive or insulting.”

Comparing Israel and Gaza before the war, Sadaghiani noted, 'So much investment, so much real estate and innovation [in Israel], and the other side is building tunnels.'

Nawaf Salam's comments came as tensions continued to boil along Lebanon's eastern border, where Israel accuses Hezbollah of ignoring calls for disarmament and carrying out ceasefire violations.

PM reportedly set to brief Trump on Iran's ballistic missile program • Israeli diplomatic source: Contents of planned meeting will only be discussed during said meeting

A state is the boring, necessary discipline of monopoly on force – one law, one police power, one accountable government. And the Palestinian Authority cannot do that.

The US policy toward Syria’s jihadists treats them as partners, and history shows that mistake leads to more conflict.

The Israeli government’s decision to establish its own committee to investigate the failures on October 7 is not enough.

The Palestinian actors most capable of stabilizing Gaza are precisely the ones that key external players doubt the most.

Building a fortress of resilience together, against those who seek to harm

The plan to transform the Gaza Strip into a "gleaming metropolis" was shown in 32 PowerPoint slides in a pitch to world governments and investors, the report said.

IDF soldiers detained the man for suspected involvement in terror activities, as well as confiscated weaponry found along the border near the Golan Heights.

Forces from the IDF's 16th Brigade operating in the northern Strip identified the terrorists, who were shot dead by the Israeli Air Force.

At least 71 civilians were killed during Operation Narnia, a series of strikes on Iranian nuclear scientists, about which the US was informed before it began.

Terrorists were shot dead for hurling stones and attempting an attack with explosives in separate incidents near Jenin, in the West Bank.

Defense Minister Israel Katz argued that the station’s original purpose as a platform serving IDF soldiers and their families has been overshadowed by political content.

After October 7, as Israel examines its internal failures, it must also look at the damage to its relationship with Jewish communities worldwide.

In a world where trust has become a scarce resource, amateur radio operators offer something different: human communication that connects people around the world who share the same passion.

Xami, who lived through South Africa’s apartheid, offered invaluable testimony on the misuse of that term against Israel and the deep sense of kinship many indigenous nations feel toward Jews.

Based on the number of lit candles, the incident likely occurred on Thursday.

“I named her Matilda because she was our firstborn in Australia. And I thought that Matilda was the most Australian name that could ever exist,” said father Michael.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's enthusiasm for promoting Palestinian statehood led to the Bondi Beach slaughter.

One person was moderately injured in the fire, with the rest being reported as lightly injured. All were rushed to a nearby hospital.

The Israeli government’s decision to establish its own committee to investigate the failures on October 7 is not enough.

היום ומחר יתחמם, בשלישי צפויים גשמים מקומיים בצפון ובמרכז - והשינוי הגדול עשוי לקרות לקראת תחילת 2026, אז המודלים ארוכי הטווח צופים גשם משמעותי 

לקראת תקיפות ראשונות באיראן מאז המלחמה - או רק מסר מאיים? בישראל חוששים שטהרן מגבירה את ייצור הטילים הבליסטיים, נתניהו יבקש מענה מטראמפ. המערבלים הפלנטריים הושמדו, איראן מייצרת את הטילים בדלק נוזלי - וקל יותר לזהותם. דיווח ב"איראן אינטרנשיונל" המזוהה עם האופוזיציה: "תנועות חריגות של משמרות המהפכה"

ארה"ב החלה לתקוף הלילה מטרות של דאעש בסוריה, במבצע "עין הנץ" שנפתח כנקמה על המארב שבו נהרגו שני חיילים ומתורגמן. דאעש ירד מגדולתו בשנים האחרונות, ומתמקד בפעולות נקודתיות ובהפצת תעמולה ברשת: "מנצל את הזעם אחרי 7/10 כדי לגייס מוסלמים. הוא כבר לא שולט בשטח, אבל מונה אלפי פעילים"

בעיראק קוראים מנהיגי מיליציות התומכות באיראן לרכז את נשקן בידי המדינה לקראת הקמת הממשלה החדשה, ובשל אזהרות חריגות על "תקיפות צבאיות קרובות ונרחבות". בדיווח סעודי נטען לאיום מצד ישראל - במעורבות אמריקנית. בעיראק הכחישו לאחר מכן קבלת מסרים כאלה על "תקיפות קרובות"

ב-ynet נחשפה ההוראה לכוחות ביו"ש: להרוג כל מחבל שמנסה לפגע, גם אם הוא משליך אבנים. לפי צה"ל, אותה הוראה בוצעה במלואה הערב, בקבטיה שבצפון השומרון. הלוחמים אמרו כי הנער השליך בלוק ואחז באחד בידו, וירו בו מטווח אפס

הורו לצה"ל לתכנן - ולא להתקדם: בישראל הכחישו את הדיווח ביוון על הקמת "כוח התערבות משותף", אבל עצם האיום - והודעת הדרג המדיני לצבא - אמורים לגרום לטורקים לשנות כיוון. שיתוף הפעולה עם יוון וקפריסין, שכבר קיים היום, מהווה משקל-נגד לעוינות הטורקית, וחיוני כי לארדואן אוזן קשבת אצל טראמפ

טליק, אימו של רן גואילי, ייחלה ל"ניסים" במהלך העצרת למען בנה. איריס חיים: "לא נתקדם עד שרני יחזור, ובלי שניצור את פרק ב' במערכת היחסים אחד עם השני". בכיכר הבימה נאם אביו של סמ"ר אלרואי בן שטרית שנפל בקרב ב-7/10: "אי-אפשר להתחיל לתקן אם לא מקבלים אחריות"

גורמים בישראל מוטרדים מאפשרות שחמאס "יפיק הצגה" של מסירת רובים - ואף שלאחר מכן רוב הנשק יישמר בידיו, ישראל תידרש לעבור לשלב ב' ולסגת מהקו הצהוב. שליח טראמפ נפגש במיאמי עם המתווכות ובהודעה משותפת נמסר: "תומכים בהקמת מועצת השלום כממשל מעבר בעזה". העמדה המדאיגה של המתווכות: "שחרור החטופים הושלם"

בצל פרשת "שדה תימן" ומעצר הפצ"רית סיפרו שני אסירים לשעבר על התעללות שיטתית שעברו, וטענו גם כי הותקפו מינית על ידי סוהרים: "הם צחקו ונהנו מזה". בישראל מכחישים את הטענות על עינויים של כלואים פלסטינים מאז 7/10, בשב"ס אמרו ל-BBC: "אנחנו פועלים בהתאם לחוק. לא מודעים לטענות שתוארו"

כדי שהכנסת תפסיק להיות גן סגור של אותם הפרצופים, עלינו לחזור לאחוז חסימה מינימלי ולאפשר לכוחות חדשים לפרוץ את המנעול

מספר הנרצחים בחברה הערבית ממשיך לטפס, לאחר שכבר נקבע שיא שלילי: צעיר בן 20 מיפיע ואביו, בן 49, נורו למוות בנצרת. החשודים שבו כדי לוודא הריגה, ואז נמלטו. אותרו כלי נשק ששימשו אותם

גלידריית אוטלו בהרצליה הושחתה בידי אלמונים שניפצו את חלונות הזכוכית של העסק - וגרמו למקום נזק כבד. לפי החשד, היא הושחתה עקב הפעילות בשבת. ראש העיר: "הפורעים פגעו בכל התושבים, נוקיע אותם"

שיתוף פעולה הדוק כן, כוח צבאי משותף לא: נתניהו ייפגש מחרתיים עם מנהיגי יוון וקפריסין, כחלק מהניסיון להרתעת טורקיה - אבל בישראל מכחישים הקמת "כוח התערבות". לשגריר ארה"ב באנקרה הועברו מסרים שיש למנוע את המשך ההסלמה. "ארדואן מדבר לכפריים", אמרו האמריקנים. כך הגיבו בישראל

בתחילת השבוע מתכוונת הקואליציה לקדם את הצעת ח"כ קלנר ל"ועדת חקירה ממלכתית-לאומית" ואת החלטת שר הביטחון כ"ץ לסגור את גלי צה"ל. ל-ynet נודע כי בהרב-מיארה מתנגדת: היא סבורה שוועדה כזו תפגע בחקר האמת ושסגירת התחנה הצבאית תסכן את התקשורת החופשית

שלושה צעירים חמושים ניסו לחטוף נשים בקנדה, אך עוברי אורח התערבו וסיכלו את מזימתם. הם נעצרו, ואחד מהם הואשם בעבירות טרור - כולל תמיכה בדאעש

דיווח: נתניהו יציג לטראמפ אפשרויות לתקיפות חדשות באיראן | גפן ביטון נפצע אנושות בסידני לאחר שחתר למגע מול המחבל | פורסמו מסמכים ותמונות מ"תיקי אפשטיין" - אבל עם השחרות רבות, ונעלם גדול | צה"ל חילץ ישראלית ביריחו

רה"מ ייפגש בסוף החודש במאר א-לאגו עם נשיא ארה"ב, ולפי דיווח ב-NBC הוא צפוי להציג לו אפשרויות לתקיפת תוכנית הטילים הבליסטיים - על רקע החשש מכך שאיראן מרחיבה את הייצור שלהם. בתמונת לוויין חדשה נראה כיסוי שהושם במתחם שהופצץ בנתנז: "כך ניתן לבחון את ההרס הרחק מעיניים סקרניות"

אחרי חודשים של מאבק ומרד רפובליקני, ממשל טראמפ פרסם מאות אלפי תמונות ומסמכים מפרשת הפדופיל - אבל את תיאוריות ההסתרה החשיפה לא תעצור: היא חלקית בניגוד לחוק, אין בה "אקדח מעשן" ועדויות שלמות הושחרו - יחד עם "רשימת המעסות" של אפשטיין. טראמפ בקושי מופיע, קלינטון מככב: "יש דברים שהם ינסו להסתיר לנצח", טען דוברו. הצילום עם מייקל ג'קסון, "המצלמה הנסתרת" בחדר השינה - והמחדל: תלונה הוגשה כבר לפני 30 שנה, ודבר לא נעשה

רק לפני יומיים אלמונים רצחו ביריות את מחמוד אלכאוי לאחר שפרצו לביתו בטמרה. הלילה, חמושים רעולי פנים תיעדו עצמם יורים לעבר בית ביישוב באמצעות אקדח ונשק אוטומטי, כשאחד מהם גם משליך רימון לחצר. המשטרה פתחה בחקירה "יזומה" ודאגה לציין: "לא התקבלה פנייה מהקורבנות"

שיראל גולן, שניצלה ממסיבת הנובה, שמה קץ לחייה אחרי שניסתה לשרוד את הטראומה - בהודו, באשפוזים, ובניסיון נואש לשוב לשגרה. למרות קריאות המצוקה, היא נותרה לבד מול הכאב. שיחה שהתקיימה איתה חודשים לפני שהתאבדה וראיונות עם משפחתה חושפים את עומק המשבר של השורדים

בשבוע שבו נשבר השיא השלילי למספר ההרוגים בתאונות מאז 2006, קורבן נוסף התווסף לרשימה העגומה - גבר בשנות ה-50 שנפגע מרכב בשדרות העצמאות בעיר. 11 יום לסוף 2025 מניין ההרוגים ממשיך לטפס, עם הקורבן ה-446 השנה

עקיל קשאוורז בן ה-27 הורשע ב"ריגול למען ישראל" והוצא להורג, וברפובליקה האיסלאמית טוענים כי נתפס בעת צילום "מפקדת דיוויזיית חיל הרגלים של אורמיה". עוד דווח כי במלון בו שהה נמצאה "מחברת מקודדת", ובבדיקה בטלפון  שלו התגלו התכתבויות ברשת ו"הודעה ממספר של המשטר הציוני"

חבריו ומשפחתו של גפן התקשו להבין כיצד נפצע באורח כה קשה עד שתיעוד של גבורתו פורסם באוסטרליה: במקום לברוח, גפן - שתואר תחילה כ"איש בחולצה האדומה" - חש לעבר הסכנה לצד הגיבור אחמד אל-אחמד, אך נפגע מירי המחבלים. כעת הוא מאושפז בסידני, ועבר ניתוחים מורכבים: "רץ להציל מקומיים שהוא לא מכיר, יש לו לב ענק". המונים כבר תרמו לו: "העולם צריך עוד אנשים אמיצים כמוך"

טראמפ לוחץ לעבור לשלב ב' בתוכניתו - אף שהחטוף החלל רן גואילי טרם הוחזר וחמאס מסרב להתפרק מנשקו - וכעת נחשף "פרויקט Sunrise" השאפתני שגיבשו יועציו: בתקופה של 10 שנים לפחות יייבנו מחדש רפיח וחאן יונס, בהמשך מחנות המרכז ואז העיר עזה, עם רכבות מהירות, רשת חשמל חכמה ו"מרכזי תרבות". רק אחר כך יהפכו 70% מחופי הרצועה ל"ריביירה של המזה"ת, עם רווחי עתק". שאלת המימון, המכשול הגדול והפסימיות של הגורמים האמריקניים: "שום דבר לא יקרה"

עליות קלות בטמפרטורות יחולו גם ביום ראשון וביום שני, אז יהפכו לגבוהות מהרגיל לעונה. ביום שלישי צפויה ירידה קלה - וגשם מקומי בצפון ובמישור החוף

ההחלטה המתוכננת לחידוש מנדט UNDOF לחצי שנה נוספת לא עלתה להצבעה במועצת הביטחון, לאחר שסין ביקשה במפתיע להכניס תיקון לנוסח המקורי - שאינו מקובל על ארה"ב

מערכת הבריאות מנהלת את משבר השפעת והחצבת כאילו השנים 2019-2023 מעולם לא התרחשו. רק שהן כן, וההתנהלות צריכה להיות בהתאם

ח"כ רוטמן העביר בקריאה טרומית הצעת תיקון לחוק, שלפיה הרכב השופטים בדיוני בג"ץ ייקבע באופן אקראי על ידי מחשב, ללא התערבות אנושית. אם אין חשיבות לניסיון, היררכיה או מומחיות, ואין משמעות למי יושב איפה, אז אין באמת הבדל בין החוק הקיים לתיקון המוצע

החשיפה בחודש שעבר כי סמלים כמו צלבי קרס וחבלי תלייה יוגדרו ע"י המשמר כ"מעוררי מחלוקת" בלבד עוררה ביקורת עזה בארה"ב משני צדי המפה הפוליטית, והביאה לביטול השינוי במדיניות. סנאטורית יהודייה בירכה: "אין מקום ל'אזורים אפורים', על חיילינו להיות מוגנים מפני הטרדות גזעניות ואנטישמיות"

Half a year after the "Rising Lion" war, it appears that despite Israel's impressive achievements, little has fundamentally changed. Iran is rebuilding its missile array, rehabilitating its nuclear capabilities, and remains unwilling to accept an agreement that would prevent it from enriching uranium on its own soil or limit its nuclear program. Worse still, Tehran is preparing for another confrontation with Israel, seeking to implement the lessons it drew from the previous war. The Iranian regime continues to grapple with complex internal challenges, yet even now there is no opposition that appears to threaten its future.

This week, both Iran and Israel marked six months since the war, a milestone that allows for an assessment of the operation's achievements, which senior Israeli officials have described as a "victory."

Israeli Air Force jets en route to strike in Iran. Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit DF Spokesperson's Unit

There is no doubt that Israel achieved highly impressive results in this campaign. Senior figures in Iran's security leadership were eliminated, alongside leading nuclear scientists. The Israeli Air Force achieved full control of Tehran's airspace, enabling it to strike Iran's missile launch systems severely. All of this, of course, made it possible for Israel, together with the US, to inflict serious damage on the enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordow, as well as the conversion facility in Isfahan.

However, these operational successes did not translate into a true strategic achievement, because from Tehran's perspective, Iran did not actually lose the war. In Iran's view, it not only managed to continue launching missiles until the final day of the fighting and stood firm against Israel and the US, but Israel also failed in what Tehran perceived as an attempt to topple the Iranian regime. Even if this was not the declared objective of the campaign, Iran interpreted Israel's actions, particularly the strike on Evin Prison and Basij headquarters, as moves aimed at regime change, in line with statements made by senior Israeli officials on the matter.

For Iran, this is not merely rhetoric for the record. The understanding in Tehran is that the country stood firm during the war, and the leadership's ability to present the conflict to the Iranian public as one directed against the Iranian people themselves ultimately strengthened the regime. As a result, the leadership sees no reason to change its security strategy.

Interceptions over Tel Aviv during the war with Iran. Credit: AFP AFP

This reality, together with Iran's understanding that another round with Israel is only a matter of time, is driving Tehran toward a conventional arms race, with an emphasis on rebuilding its missile array while, in its view, implementing the lessons of the previous campaign to improve its capabilities. Moreover, in the nuclear arena, despite the severe damage to nuclear sites that prevents Iran from returning to industrial-scale enrichment that brought it to the threshold of military-grade enrichment, the knowledge that exists in Iran, combined with centrifuges that were not damaged and nuclear sites such as "Mount Kolang Gaz" south of Natanz, enable it at some point in the future to resume enrichment in a way that would allow it to take the enriched material already in Iran, including 408 kilograms enriched to 60 percent, and enrich it to military grade.

It is true that the campaign against Israel exacerbated the Iranian regime's challenges, which already include a series of unprecedented difficulties such as drought and a severe economic crisis. But the regime continues to maintain firm control over the population, even easing enforcement on issues such as wearing the hijab in order to prevent the reemergence of mass protests. The regime's central problem is its dependence on sanctions relief to improve the country's economy. At present, however, it cannot reach an agreement with the US administration, which assumes that the regime's weakness will ultimately force it to agree to relinquish enrichment and limit its missile program.

The improvement of Iran's capabilities on the one hand, and Israeli threats on the other, combined with the currently low likelihood of an agreement between Washington and Tehran, significantly increase the probability of another war between Iran and Israel. Against the backdrop of Iran's proven ability to recover, particularly in the missile field, the question arises: what can actually be gained from a new round of fighting? This is especially relevant given that the ability to strike the regime itself has proven problematic, particularly in the absence of an Iranian opposition capable of taking control of the country.

Iranian troops during a military drill in Makran beach on the Gulf of Oman, near the Hormuz Strait AFP / Iranian Army

Moreover, every day that passes without a diplomatic agreement that restricts Iran's force buildup significantly erodes Israeli achievements. Iran's supreme leader has appointed experienced figures to replace those who were killed, and Tehran is currently pursuing Russia and China in an effort to acquire new capabilities in air defense, missiles, and perhaps even nuclear technology.

Even if the unimaginable were to happen and the Iranian regime were to collapse, there is no certainty that this would be a positive development. On the contrary, such a scenario could prove particularly problematic, primarily because the most organized and powerful force in Iran today is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In the event of a collapse of civilian rule, there is a real risk of a military takeover in Tehran and the establishment of an even more hardline regime, with fewer checks and balances than the current one. In any case, hope is not a strategy, and policy toward Iran cannot be based on the assumption that the regime will collapse. Despite the many challenges it faces, the regime has demonstrated impressive resilience over the years, in part due to the absence of a significant, organized opposition.

Iran flag. Photo: Reuters

Ultimately, it is precisely the success of the "Rising Lion" war that necessitates renewed Israeli thinking on the Iranian front. If even after nearly ideal "starting conditions" Israel is effectively back to square one, it is difficult to see how a policy based on repeating the same actions while expecting different results would serve Israel's interests. Moreover, future confrontations with Iran are likely to be more complex and more difficult, and there is no certainty that they will yield achievements beyond those already attained in "Rising Lion."

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US President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, announced Saturday that representatives from the US, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey met Friday in Miami to discuss the next steps in the Gaza plan.

Witkoff wrote, "We expressed support for the swift establishment and activation of the Peace Council as a transitional administration to address civilian needs, security, and reconstruction. We reviewed the upcoming steps in the phased implementation of the comprehensive peace plan for Gaza, emphasizing the importance of timing, coordination, and effective monitoring in collaboration with local Palestinian institutions and international partners."

Witkoff also called on all parties "to uphold their commitments, exercise restraint, and cooperate with the ceasefire monitoring mechanism." He added that further consultations would be held in the coming weeks to "advance the implementation of the second phase."

The statement followed a summit held Friday in Miami, attended by Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty. It marked the first meeting between the four senior officials since the ceasefire deal was signed in October.

The summit took place amid speculation the potential meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, where they are expected to discuss, among other topics, the ceasefire deal in Gaza. Under the second phase of the plan, the Israel Defense Forces will continue withdrawing from additional locations in the Gaza Strip, and an international stabilization force is expected to enter the territory.

Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan said Thursday on Turkish television that Ankara intends to take part in the international stabilization force. Despite Israeli objections to the deployment of Turkish troops in the Strip, Fidan said Israel "is not the only relevant actor" on the matter.

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Hanukkah 2025 will begin on the evening of Sunday, December 14, 2025 (the 25th of Kislev, 5786 [December 14]), and will conclude at the end of Monday, December 22, 2025 (the 2nd of Tevet, 5786 [December 22]). During the eight days of the holiday, candles are lit each evening to commemorate the miracle of the oil flask and the Maccabees' victory over the Greeks.

When are Hanukkah candles lit? Lighting times vary by stream within Judaism. Ashkenazi Jews customarily light at sunset, so the light will be visible when day transitions to night. Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews typically light at nightfall, usually 12 to 15 minutes after sunset.

Blessings for lighting Hanukkah candles:  On the first night, three blessings are recited: "to kindle the Hanukkah light," "who performed miracles," and "who has kept us alive." On the remaining days of the holiday, only the first two blessings are recited.

Hanukkah candle lighting times 2025 Day of Lighting Gregorian Date Number of Candles Lighting Time First candle of Hanukkah Sunday, December 14, 2025 One candle + shamash At sunset (approximately 4:40 PM) Second candle of Hanukkah Monday, December 15, 2025 2 candles + shamash At sunset (approximately 4:40 PM) Third candle of Hanukkah Tuesday, December 16, 2025 3 candles + shamash At sunset (approximately 4:40 PM) Fourth candle of Hanukkah Wednesday, December 17, 2025 4 candles + shamash After Shabbat ends Fifth candle of Hanukkah Thursday, December 18, 2025 5 candles + shamash At sunset (approximately 4:45 PM) Sixth candle of Hanukkah Friday, December 19, 2025 6 candles + shamash Before Shabbat begins. Seventh candle of Hanukkah Saturday, December 20, 2025 7 candles + shamash After Shabbat ends. Eighth (final) candle of Hanukkah Sunday, December 21, 2025 8 candles + shamash At sunset (approximately 4:45 PM)

When are Hanukkah candles lit on Friday evening? On Friday evening, Hanukkah candles must be lit before Shabbat begins. On Saturday night, one waits for the Havdalah service to conclude before lighting.

Order of lighting Hanukkah candles Most people follow the method of the Shulchan Aruch, the Rama, and the Arizal. On the first night, the rightmost candle is lit. On the second night, a new candle is added to the left of the first candle and is lit first.

This pattern continues throughout the holiday: each night, one candle is added to the left of the previous one, and the new candle is always lit first.

This method is based on the principle of "ma'alin bakodesh ve'ein moridin" ("ascending in holiness and not descending"), so the new candle is lit first as a sign of adding light and holiness each evening.

What are the main Hanukkah customs?

Lighting candles: Each evening, Hanukkah candles are lit and the menorah is placed in a visible location, usually near a window facing the street. In Ashkenazi custom, each household member lights their own menorah, while Sephardic and Mizrahi families typically have the head of household light for the entire family.

Holiday foods: Hanukkah is associated with foods fried in oil – sufganiyot (jelly donuts) with various fillings and levivot (potato pancakes). In recent years, innovative recipes have driven social media trends. In our food section, you'll find all the hottest trends and recipes to make your holiday special.

Doughnuts for Hanukkah (Photo: Chaim Tzach) Chaim Tzach/

Playing with the sevivon: The sevivon (dreidel) bears the letters nun, gimel, hei, peh – an acronym for "a great miracle happened here." The game stems from a tradition recounting that during the decrees of Antiochus, when the Greeks forbade Torah study, Jewish children hid and studied in secret. The custom today serves as a remembrance of those children's bravery and resourcefulness, and as a way to celebrate the miracle that occurred.

Hanukkah gelt: Distributing coins, real money, or chocolate coins is considered a widespread custom expressing joy and giving.

Reading Hallel: On all days of the holiday, the full Hallel is recited in synagogue as thanksgiving for the miracles performed for the Jewish people.

Why do we eat sufganiyot on Hanukkah? The accepted explanation relates to the miracle of the oil flask. In other words, Hanukkah and oil went well together for our ancestors, and thus sufganiyot and levivot joined Jewish tradition, or as a wise Jew once said, "The Jewish principle is: We were in mortal danger, we survived, let's eat."

In the Mishnah (earliest codification of Jewish oral law) (Challah 1:4), a food called sufganin is mentioned: "The sufganin and the duvshanin [...] are exempt from challah (portion of dough given to priests)," it states. Rabbi Ovadiah of Bartenura explained that this refers to "bread whose dough is soft and made like a sponge." In the year 5657 [1897], David Yellin wrote that sufganiyot were called this because they are soft and spongy, and from them the singular form – sufganiyah – was derived.

Hanukkah 2025 – Frequently asked questions

Do people work as usual during Hanukkah? Yes. There is no prohibition of work on Hanukkah, except for the custom among some women not to perform certain tasks while the candles are burning.

Can children light a menorah? Yes. According to the law of education, children are permitted to light. In Ashkenazi custom, each household member even lights their own candles.

Where should the menorah be placed? It is preferable to place the menorah in a location visible from outside – usually on a windowsill facing the street, to publicize the miracle.

How many candles are lit in total during Hanukkah? During the eight days of Hanukkah, 36 candles of the mitzvah are lit (not counting the shamash): on the first night one candle, on the second two – until reaching eight on the eighth night (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8 = 36). If one also counts the shamash, which is added each night for using the light, a total of 44 candles are lit throughout the holiday: 36 mitzvah candles plus 8 shamash candles (one for each night).

What is the difference between a menorah and the Temple candelabrum? The original candelabrum in the Temple had only seven branches. The menorah used on Hanukkah includes eight branches for lighting plus one additional branch for the shamash.

Is it permitted to relight if the candles went out? If the candles went out after the minimum time has passed (half an hour from nightfall) – there is no obligation to relight. If they went out before then, one should relight without a blessing.

Does one need to remain near the menorah while the candles are burning? There is no obligation to stand near the menorah, but there is an obligation for the candles to be in a safe place, without fear of fire or extinguishing.

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A secret cabal

Let us assume that Israel had decided to destroy Coca-Cola as an organization. Five army divisions would land in Atlanta, aiming to destroy the infrastructure and leadership. What are the chances that after two years of intense fighting, with 90% of the company's top leadership eliminated and headquarters bombed, the recipe of the world's most famous drink would survive? Probably very low. The secret is closely guarded by few.

But this isn't Coca-Cola, it's Hamas. And the secret survived.

Good news sometimes leads to grim thoughts. The good news: Hamas returned all the hostages' bodies in its possession, except one. Before the deal was signed, the IDF assessed that some remains might never be returned because those who knew their locations had been killed. Yet except for Ran Gvili, who is still being searched for, all were found and returned. "Hamas isn't making a 100% effort, they're making 140%," said a senior Israeli source.

How is this possible? The dilemma intensifies in light of Sinwar's obsessive secrecy, his strict compartmentalization aimed at countering Israeli intelligence. That's why Hezbollah was informed only an hour after the October 7 massacre began. That's why the lone informant on the ground could only say, "Something's happening in the mosques, but I can't get close."

For Hamas, the hostages are nuclear weapons. The circle of those in the know was extremely limited. What are the chances they all survived to reveal the burial sites?

This also ties back to us, says a senior security official. Some people survived because they were in the know. For example, one man knew exactly which wall in the maze-like "Dror Lavan" tunnel in Rafah held Hadar Goldin. "We knew "We knew who held the information we lacked, and we acted accordingly," he said, or rather, did not act. In other cases, the IDF recovered massive data caches, such as the archive found in the bunker where Muhammad Sinwar was killed. That archive helped recover eight bodies relatively quickly.

But there is another message here, one that shows just how long the road to Hamas's destruction still is, and how "Phase Two" in Trump's plan is still a strange fantasy. Hamas is disciplined, fanatical, and messianic. Look, for example, at how long—and under what conditions—the terrorists survive underground in Rafah: with no future, no hope, no oxygen. For years, Israel thought this fanaticism could be calmed with work permits or expanded fishing zones, or that Hamas would disarm willingly. To return to the Coca-Cola metaphor: their "taste of life" is death.

Anger management protocol

There's a children's book called "What Do You Do With a Problem?" So what do you do with the problem in the polls, which mostly show that the Zionist opposition doesn't have 61 seats?

Gadi Eisenkot offered his solution this week, hinting that if such were the election results, he would work to form a minority government with the abstention of the Arab parties.

Everyone was furious. Naftali Bennett was angry, his silence since Saturday night speaks volumes. The last thing he wants is a campaign focused on Arabs instead of the ultra-Orthodox. He certainly doesn't want to be dragged again into a promise not to sit with Abbas, which would immediately become a campaign on his credibility. Avigdor Lieberman was angry, declaring he would not agree to such a government. Yair Golan was also angry, but for a different reason, he supports Ra'am being a full coalition partner.

The most surprising anger came from Abbas himself: before the formation of the "Change Government," Ra'am's leader set a rule: either we vote in favor, or we vote against. He understood well that abstention is a free gift, but voting in favor has a price. He certainly doesn't want to find himself lumped in with the other Arab parties who reject any partnership. He wants to be a legitimate partner, not a mistress.

Gadi Eisenkot

Eisenkot has no regrets and hasn't taken back his statement. Maybe it wasn't planned, but the scenario he described has been discussed for a long time (and was even raised here three months ago). In the Change Bloc, some now believe that Netanyahu has a very high chance of forming an obstruction bloc. Being prime minister gives endless opportunities to control the national agenda. Multiply that by the expected mobilization from US President Trump, says a key source in the Change Bloc, and it becomes almost impossible to steer public attention toward a campaign about ultra-Orthodox draft dodging.

Yes, he says, there's no doubt we'll pay a price if we form a government with Arab abstention. But in the immediate elections that would follow, whatever we lose from forming that government we would gain by setting the public agenda, while Netanyahu would be an opposition member with no control. Besides, he added, why should Netanyahu set the rules of what's allowed and what isn't?

Here's the catch: Eisenkot running under Bennett might earn him the Finance Ministry (since Lieberman wants Defense and Lapid wants Foreign Affairs). More likely, he'll end up with the Education or Interior Ministry. If polls show that an alliance doesn't improve the bloc's standing, maybe it's better for him to run independently at the head of a mid-sized party, securing at least the Defense Ministry.

Such thoughts are entertaining, but the bloc has its own goals and power brokers pushing for unity. They want fewer parties, fewer conflicting directions—and ideally, fewer surprise interviews.

When he says, "Who said I'm in your bloc?" one could answer: You did, when you attended every Saturday night meeting of the opposition leaders.

True, Gantz would reply, but I came to discuss how to topple the government, not to agree that those in the room should form the next coalition. In a house meeting in Alon Shvut, Gantz explained his reasoning:
"What was the problem with the last Change Government? That it failed to address anything significant. There were good people, but everything we passed was overturned by the next government. As long as it's bloc versus bloc, this will never end. We must connect between the blocs."

Connection does not mean Gantz joining Netanyahu's government alone, he's already tried that twice in major crises. The accumulated experience from the COVID and war governments left his party with little appetite for a repeat. "We won't be Netanyahu's 61st vote, that's important to know," said MK Chili Tropper at that same meeting. "It didn't achieve what we hoped for, and both times we were the small players in a broad coalition. On October 7th there was an emergency, so it was wrong to set conditions. But hopefully, if that situation returns, there will be brave people on our side willing to do what's right for Israel. Breaking the blocs doesn't mean joining at any cost."

So, the picture becomes clearer: a potential coalition negotiation with Netanyahu alongside at least one other opposition party, aiming for a government with broad representation. Gantz gave an example of strength in unity:
"I went to Netanyahu on October 7th. He looked gray. I told him, 'I'll join an emergency government.' Then I went to Lapid, who said, 'Kick out Ben Gvir and Smotrich.' I told him, 'When we talk about unity, it's not the time to kick people out. We want to do the opposite. Come join us, and we'll isolate them.' I joined, and we succeeded. Imagine if he had come with us."

Still, it's fair to assume that Gantz's frustration with his former partners also contributes to his new strategic direction. He feels the bloc is treating him unfairly:
"Didn't Bennett bring in Kohelet? Didn't he form a government with six seats in his party? When he didn't pass the threshold, did anyone say anything? But I'm under attack from within, and I'm telling you I won't waste votes. Remember this talk, I'll end up with 40–60% more than predicted."

Delayed justice

Disclosure: Ze'ev (Z'abo) Ehrlich, who was killed last year in Lebanon, was my childhood neighbor in Ofra—only three houses down the street.

Second disclosure: 9 Iyar Street in the town that I grew up in is probably the street with the highest concentration of journalists per square meter. Were it not for that—and were it not for the fact that they knew him, his immense contribution to the IDF, and the circumstances of his death—it is possible that the attempts to smear him posthumously would have succeeded, and justice would never have come to light.

For his death last November was exactly the kind of raw material from which blood libels were, until recently, routinely manufactured. On one side, a bearded settler clutching a Bible; on the other, the soldier Gur Kehati, killed alongside him while securing the fatal patrol in which he participated—inside an ancient mosque—and who also happened to be the grandson of a well-connected veteran left-wing activist.

The claim, in short, was that Gur had been sacrificed on the altar of a settler's colonialist archaeological obsession.

Ze'ev (Z'abo) Ehrlich

The principle of "don't speak ill of the dead" was not applied to Ehrlich; instead, the rule that he was guilty until proven innocent was. One senior journalist wrote that he had "perhaps been searching for signs of the grave of an obscure rabbi," accusing him of impersonating an IDF officer and asserting that there was no difference between his case and that of an impersonator from Southern Command.

Haaretz stated as fact that "Kehati was dragged against his will into the irresponsible adventure of the senior settler." Channel 13's cameras—of course—gleefully documented the disruption of a memorial conference held in his honor, attended by members of the Kehati family.

"It is outrageous that the IDF speaks of the fine qualities of a man against whom an investigation is underway," it was declared there, despite the fact that no investigation was ever conducted against him.

Now, the facts: This week, in his initial ruling, the Military Advocate General, Itai Ofir, determined that the patrol had been scheduled in advance in order to investigate the death of Staff Sergeant Uri Nisanovich at the same location two weeks earlier. This was testified to by the patrol commander, who was seriously wounded and hospitalized for an extended period. The patrol would have taken place regardless and was operationally necessary.

Two questions now remain: why was Ehrlich attached to the patrol, and was he properly enlisted.

As for the first question, Colonel Yoav Yarom, who invited him, stated that Ze'ev's expertise was required in order to locate terrorists at the site. Dozens of officers, past and present, had relied on him—from mapping alleys in the Nablus casbah for targeted killings to locating caves in which Hamas murderers might hide. The Military Advocate General ruled that this claim could not be refuted at the criminal threshold.

What remains is the technical issue of Ehrlich not having been properly enlisted. That is irregular, but it is not the fault of the civilian—and it is, of course, entirely unrelated to the original blood libel, according to which soldiers were killed for messianic fantasies.

How much malice can one absorb? How many lies and how much incitement can be hurled at a citizen whose only sins were his place of residence and his extraordinary understanding of archaeology and history?

On tours in Samaria, Ze'ev used to tell hikers, "Be careful not to step on verses." Those of us who rushed to write against him trampled the verse: "Words of hatred surrounded me; they fought me without cause." (Psalms 109:3)

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Israel Hayom has learned that throughout the conflict, Raad Saad deliberately sought refuge in sensitive facilities and densely populated areas, including mosques and hospitals, exploiting worshippers and patients as human shields. This strategy complemented his concealment in underground tunnels across northern Gaza.

This approach prevented his assassination until he was struck in his vehicle alongside three bodyguards on December 13, following multiple failed elimination attempts. One such effort unfolded in summer 2024, when the Israeli Air Force targeted a structure in the Shati camp – an area housing both a mosque and a school.

Saad handled diverse responsibilities within Hamas, spanning the organization's "civilian" infrastructure. Over three decades, he occupied a succession of critical positions directly linked to the October 7 massacre: operations chief, founder of the Nukhba (Hamas's elite commando force), naval force architect, and weapons production director. Throughout the war, he oversaw explosive manufacturing that claimed numerous IDF soldiers' lives. During the ceasefire, he orchestrated the restoration of the organization's strength.

Palestinian Hamas terrorists in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo: AFP/Omar Al-Qattaa) AFP "Generational transition"

Following his elimination, Israel Hayom has learned that Hamas is experiencing an accelerated "generational transition" due to dozens of senior operatives killed across two years. Today, scarce veteran figures populate the leadership, including "military wing head" Izz al-Din al-Haddad and intelligence director Mohammed Awda. They too face mounting responsibility portfolios. According to Asharq Al-Awsat, Awda was appointed commander of the northern Gaza Strip brigade. Al-Haddad himself managed the hostages dossier.

Consequently, the terrorist organization increasingly depends on junior terrorist commanders possessing minimal experience, restricted authority, and diminished capabilities. This dynamic threatens decision-making capacity and strategic planning.

Hamas has enlisted thousands of fresh terrorists throughout the conflict. Nevertheless, these recruits have only basic training, lacking experience and authority, and have marginal capabilities.

Yet alongside them, a hardened nucleus of veteran, proficient terrorists has endured. Therefore, Hamas sustains operations via emergency committees and apparatuses controlling the economy, transit, and education, while attempting to terrorize the population through executions and public prosecutions. Simultaneously, certain local clans demonstrate resistance.

Regarding the Palestinian population, Hamas' core supporter base has remained steadfast. Conversely, support for Hamas has declined according to multiple surveys. Furthermore, numerous Gazans exhibit passivity amid Gaza's humanitarian conditions, particularly during winter storms. Gaza has reported that at least 16 Palestinians have perished from weather-related damage thus far, including building wall collapses.

The post From mosques to hospitals: How senior Hamas terrorist evaded elimination for months appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The 2024 shopping season, which began in late November and continued into early 2025, produced plenty of impressive figures. The most striking was probably the total sales in the US, which crossed the trillion-dollar threshold. Diving deeper into that staggering number reveals a statistic that at first glance looks like an error: during the last two months of 2024, sales of used iPods jumped 15%, and interest in them in Google searches grew 117%.

Not iPad – iPod. Apple's mythological music player, which first launched 24 years ago and whose sale was officially discontinued in 2022. Ultimately, these are still relatively small numbers, but behind them stands an entire industry: add-ons and upgrades that expand storage capacity, enable USB-C connections, and transform the iPod's appearance into something aesthetic and modern. Instructional videos on the subject have reached millions of views on YouTube.

But in a world where a subscription to a streaming service places all music within reach, in a universe where YouTube exists, and in an era when every person carries a technological marvel in their pocket that plays music at the highest quality available why would anyone want to walk around with an ancient, limited MP3 player in their pocket? The convenient explanation is that this is a vintage fashion trend. Gen Z, born into a world where nothing is needed except credit to listen to whatever music they want, enjoys playing in a reality where a dedicated device and computer files are required to reach their favorite song.

Except there's an alternative, more complex explanation. The major streaming services, led by Spotify, don't actually allow us to listen to all the music we might want. Periodically, albums or songs disappear due to conflicts or disputes with studios or artists, for political or geographical considerations. Just recently, we "earned" a reminder of this, with the artist boycott that removed entire catalogs from playability in Israel. Additionally, the algorithms of streaming services aren't really programmed to present us with new music that fits our taste, but rather to direct us toward what increases their bottom line.

The Netflix logo is shown in this photo from the company's website on Feb. 2, 2023, in New York (Photo: AP /Richard Drew) AP

The inconsistency in song availability and suspicion toward the algorithm add to the periodic tendency of streaming services to raise subscription prices. The last element is perhaps the most interesting: the only advantage of a player who can do just one thing is disconnection from the world. No notifications, no pushes, no feed, no social anxiety, no FOMO. It's just us and the music we chose for ourselves, cataloged and uploaded to the device. In other words, the iPod's technological disadvantage turned it into a kind of therapy.

This exact phenomenon occurred a quarter-century earlier, for the previous generation. Napster, the mother of all pirate file-sharing software, solved a particularly frustrating market failure: in the 1990s, greedy music studios reached record profits at the expense of artists and consumers, who were required to pay an average of $17 for a disc where not all the songs were worth the investment. Music collecting has become an expensive business for teenagers, unlike for their parents' generation.

Napster offered a revolution: all the music in the world in one pirate place, in friendly and convenient search - but with a big question mark regarding its legality and morality. At its peak, about 80 million users were registered, sharing about 1.5 billion music files among themselves. The pirates changed the face of the industry and led to the birth of iTunes, and after it, Spotify and its like. And what the music companies understood first came to the television industry very quickly as well.

The fate of "Gozelan" and "Sdarot"

"The word 'piracy' doesn't exist in copyright laws, even though creators use it," says Dr. Carmel Weissman, a digital culture researcher from Tel Aviv University. "It's a word created by corporations to establish the criminalization of copyright infringement in popular culture. The thing is, the metaphor is murky. Piracy isn't good or bad in an absolute sense, it's a matter of perspective. And therefore the image the corporations chose itself became a debate."

Dr. Carmel Weissman (Photo: Yehoshua Yosef) Yehoshua Yosef

Until just over a decade ago, the battle between the pirates and the establishment was waged with intensity across platforms like Kazaa, eMule, and others. At the center stood a market failure: the television industry's business model relied on cable companies, which offered giant packages of countless channels, too little quality content, and prices that never stopped rising. Those who wanted to watch other high-quality content, assuming it was even available in their area, were required to pay premium prices for HBO, Showtime, and other premium networks responsible for the golden age of television in the early millennium.

The inflated content budgets and rise of multiplex cinema complexes turned going to a movie into an experience whose price can reach hundreds of shekels for a family. This is how it happened that viewers chose the freedom and convenience of pirate viewing at home, despite the legal and moral problematic nature.

In Israel, the struggle focused on sites for pirate viewing. The largest and most famous of them was the "Sdarot" site, established in 2011, which offered a wide variety of movies and series for direct viewing (streaming) with built-in Hebrew translation. About 975,000 users were registered on the site, and of them about 10,000 paid a subscription fee of about 50 shekels ($14) per month for access to fast servers that enabled continuous viewing. It was considered at the time one of the most popular sites in Israel, with millions of visits per average month. ZIRA (the umbrella organization representing major media bodies in Israel on copyright issues), led the lawsuit that brought about its final closure in January 2024 (and subsequently required its founder to pay compensation of 5 million shekels, or $1.4 million).

Another prominent case was the "Gozelan" site, which offered pirate content for direct viewing and was closed in 2016 after half a year of activity, during which it climbed into the list of 100 most popular sites in Israel. The court ordered internet service providers to block access to the site, after it accepted ZIRA's claim about copyright infringement that took place on it. Both the "Gozelan" people and the "Sdarot" people, for their part, claimed that their activity was "a necessity of reality against media companies, which exploit the public and the creators."

Israel's copyright law is based on similar laws from other countries, which are anchored in international conventions. According to Attorney Yaakov Lashchinsky, a copyright expert, the law grants only the rights holders the authority to authorize copying and/or make them available to the public for the public's benefit, and any action that takes this authority away from them constitutes a violation of their rights. The initial maximum compensation for copyright infringement, even before proving damages, stands at 100,000 shekels ($28,000) and can grow significantly if it reaches trial.

Although much of the preoccupation with piracy in recent years focuses on the television worlds, the situation in the cinema field was no different. The inflated content budgets and rise of large multiplex cinema complexes turned going to a movie into an experience whose price can reach hundreds of shekels for a family. This is how it happened that viewers chose the freedom and convenience of pirate viewing at home, despite the legal and moral problematic nature, while the corporations conducted a battle to close one pirate platform – only to discover that a host of alternatives arose the day after.

And then Netflix arrived. "In its first years, Netflix was the place to find everything," explains Ido Yeshayahu, a television critic and founder of the "Coffee+Television" blog. "It purchased everything from everyone, and offered this selection in one place for a few dollars. In parallel, it released its series not in weekly broadcast, but all at once, and that was significant. Within a few years, a whole generation grew up for whom this was their way of consuming television, devouring entire seasons within a few days. Suddenly, piracy became irrelevant."

Attorney Yaakov Lashchinsky: "There will always be those who choose to consume pirate content and clean their conscience by tying crowns of 'freedom fighters' and 'heroes.' At the end of the day, the technological revolution happening around us does good for everyone: content prices are laughable compared to the past."

This model was good for Netflix and consumers – but the large entertainment corporations, the third side of the triangle, didn't benefit. Suddenly, Netflix became the place where their series gained popularity. The decision to fight the new queen by building competing services will lead us to the chaos we're immersed in today.

Not ready even for free

The annual report of MUSO, the company specializing in monitoring and measuring pirate downloads, reveals the ongoing tension between consumers and large entertainment corporations. At the beginning of the current decade, a moment before the inflation in streaming services, piracy data reached a low. From a situation where almost a quarter of world internet traffic was used for file sharing, with the rise of Spotify and Netflix there was a decline to single-digit percentages. While piracy didn't become extinct, the trend was consistent: in North America, Western Europe, and the Nordic countries there was a significant decline in pirate content consumption.

Data collection regarding the phenomenon in Israel is very sparse, but the trend is clear: many consume illegal content to one degree or another, even though it's a questionable activity. "The shaming campaign for downloaders is an American cultural thing, which succeeded in creating the symmetry between downloading and theft - and even there it didn't catch on for long," explains Dr. Weissman. "In the rest of the world, piracy is a non-issue, also because very many contents aren't available in them, and in the East it's almost a state enterprise. The story with Netflix and Spotify was a precise, specific answer to changing consumption patterns. If everything is convenient, in one place, and at a sane price – then the problem stops being a problem. People were willing to pay the 'Sdarot' site despite it offering pirate content, because it simply offered a solution."

Spotify logo (Photo: Yoni Mener) Yoni Mener

The great streaming war that broke out at the beginning of the decade led to enormous inflation of competing services: Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Peacock, and more. All produce original content available exclusively to the platform, all charge monthly subscription fees that keep growing – and in the middle are the consumers. A subscription to three-four streaming services reaches the peak prices paid in the past to cable companies. All this, at a time when works disappear and appear on another service on a regular basis, some aren't available in some regions, and in other cases they're perceived as not justifying the money charged for them - exactly like at the beginning of the 2000s with the music industry, and at the beginning of the previous decade with the television and cinema industry.

The "solution" came in the form of a new and improved wave of pirate services. No longer complicated software requiring basic technological understanding and dealing with downloading subtitles and matching them. Services like Stremio look and feel like Netflix's feed: organized lists of series and movies by category, with official posters, a quick and convenient search, and, especially, the availability of all content in one place.

"It's clear there's weight also to the insane cost of living in Israel," explains Yeshayahu, "but I get the impression that many people choose piracy because they don't want to search for where what they want to watch is broadcast. We're also a piracy-loving nation from always, so when a convenient app arrives – it conquers the Israeli audience."

ZIRA, which represents major media bodies in Israel on copyright issues: "We see a sharp transition to decentralized piracy, the kind that isn't through public internet sites, but rather through illegal converters and additional services 'under the radar' of the public internet."

MUSO data reinforces the feeling that the piracy rate worldwide has jumped to an all-time high in recent years. 230 billion visits were recorded on pirate sites in 2023 - almost double the number recorded just three years earlier. In the US, Europe (especially in the East), Asia, Latin America, and even in the Middle East, the piracy rate jumped significantly. In 2024 a slight moderation was recorded, but not because of a return to good behavior: the researchers claim the reason is a decline in content that justifies pirate consumption. In other words, viewers aren't interested in the new content, even when it comes free.

The striking difference is that the current wave of piracy is led by a new generation of young people, Gen Z, which champions values and worldviews different from those of the previous generation. So how is it that they, too, chose the same method?

A process of "enshittification"

One of the recurring concepts in recent years when it comes to services of large technology companies is "enshittification" – from "shit" – which author and blogger Cory Doctorow coined. The concept describes the pattern of operation of platforms competing for our attention: initially they place user experience at the center, to attract more and more subscribers; then they exploit the huge user base to adapt the platform to attracting advertisers and business clients, with the goal of increasing their profit balance; and finally, they trap users and subscribers in a situation where they're dependent on the platform, which serves only them, without motivation to preserve the quality standard. This, in a nutshell, is one of the main reasons for the growing buds of the new rebellion.

"In the days of the British Empire, in many cases the empire would hire pirates to attack the Spanish enemy for it and disrupt its trade – without having to bear responsibility," explains Dr. Weissman. "In this analogy we're the Spanish. Not infrequently, the large companies use piracy to expose products to the public and create buzz around them, and in parallel they try to make the action criminal. But if we're sailing in a sea of enshittification, then the pirates are floating too. So we've made a full circle and returned to the nineties."

Attorney Lashchinsky opposes this determination: "What we're seeing here is Israeli greed. There will always be those who choose to consume pirate content and clean their conscience by tying crowns of 'freedom fighters' and 'heroes.' At the end of the day, the technological revolution happening around us does good for everyone: content prices are laughable compared to what was customary in the past." However, Lashchinsky clarifies that the key lesson from past battles against piracy is to fight the platforms and bodies that enable it, not consumers themselves.

If, in the past, piracy was practical despite its inherent problems, now it's already wearing an ideological cloak. In Sweden, for example, piracy has become "Kopimism" – an official religion protected by law, based on belief in freedom of information and file sharing as a way of life. This is one of the reasons why Pirate Bay, the world's largest torrent site (a method where files are broken into many "puzzle pieces," and thus it's possible to download them from a large number of users), remained active against repeated attempts to close it - because it operates from within the country. The struggle against media companies has become activism in which piracy is not only not shameful but also a utopian fight against corporations and a defense of fairness.

Ido Yeshayahu, television critic: "It's clear there's weight also to the insane cost of living in Israel, but many people choose piracy because of the convenience issue. We're also a piracy-loving nation, so when a convenient app arrives - it conquers the Israeli audience"

"The story of buying iPods by itself is currently a marginal phenomenon, but there's a broad message in it," claims Weissman. "The message is that streaming companies exploit the artists, and also the users. So we, as users, will take it upon ourselves to balance. It's a fairness problem, not a price problem, and this connects very much to the ethos of this generation. There's recognition that piracy can sometimes be perceived as a moral action, a 'Robin Hood' ethos."

The current status quo is problematic for both sides. The intriguing question arising from it is: is there a chance to return to the balance that Netflix and Spotify brought with them at their beginning? "In recent years there's been talk about bundles (combining several services into one subscription, which allows lowering costs; I.K.), but something that will concentrate everything in one place isn't exactly on the horizon," explains Yeshayahu. "A lot of ego of the various companies is involved in this, and it's likely the regulator won't rush to approve such moves either. What is certain is that we'll see acquisitions and mergers. It's not implausible to assume that by the end of the decade we'll see much fewer streaming services, which also means much fewer opportunities for niche works, like in the good days of Netflix."

Dr. Weissman actually believes the coming storm will lead to better results in the future. "Piracy is a tool that challenges power structures that don't serve consumer expectations. The enshittification brought this feeling to a new peak." According to her, the niche phenomena at this stage, of young people completely disconnecting from social networks or choosing to purchase a "dumb phone," may reach the level of a real counter-movement to the current technological reality.

"It's interesting to look at the hypocrisy of defining piracy from the AI direction. After all, what is that if not piracy? An attempt to use copyrights to train technology that serves the corporation. AI is not our liberator - it's the pirate serving the Queen of England. It could be that we'll need to reach some extremism, for example, a significant decline in consumer demand, to lead to change. At the end of the day, these phenomena occur in waves, and those who survive will be those who adapt the products to our need."

Piracy on steroids

ZIRA responded: "Piracy hasn't disappeared, it simply changed form. After years when pirate viewing was conducted on large streaming sites, like 'Sdarot,' today we see a sharp transition to decentralized piracy, the kind that isn't through public internet sites, but rather through illegal converters and additional services 'under the radar' of the public internet. All of these are aggressively marketed on social networks and other communication channels. This formula creates 'digital piracy on steroids': piracy that's faster, more accessible, and at the same time less visible to the eye. The additional disturbing change is the involvement of content giants in providing a stage for enabling and marketing the new digital piracy.

"Piracy constitutes a direct threat to the existence of a diverse and competitive communications market in Israel, and the damage that pirate viewing causes to the content industry in Israel reaches enormous dimensions, estimated at hundreds of millions of shekels per year. This damage cascades through the entire 'food chain' of the industry. Rights holders, broadcast and content bodies, workers in the industry, directors, screenwriters, actors, lighting technicians, editors, musicians, production people, designers, makeup artists, casting directors, graphic designers, and holders of additional roles in this valuable and important industry.

"ZIRA continues in a constant war to eradicate the pirate viewing phenomenon against the entire distribution chain, from the sites and platforms that enable publication or that make the content itself accessible."

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1.

It is no coincidence that for thousands of years the story of Joseph and his brothers has been read during Hanukkah. The long struggle of the Hasmoneans for national freedom, lasting 25 years until the establishment of an independent Jewish state, touched the roots of our identity not only as a people but as a family composed of branches that at times clashed with one another. This Shabbat we read how Joseph emerges from his prison pit and ascends to the exalted position of viceroy of the most powerful empire in the world (Genesis 41:14–43).

We have known such periods in our history, when impressive Jews held decisive positions of influence among the nations. But nothing lasts forever. After they exited the stage, others arose who "did not know Joseph" (Exodus 1:8), and once again we were forced to wander. This was the case with Haman and Esther in the Persian Empire in the fifth century BCE, Shmuel HaNagid in Muslim Granada in the 11th century, Don Isaac Abarbanel in Christian Spain in the 15th century, and even Benjamin Disraeli in 19th-century Britain and Leon Blum in 20th-century France. The list goes on.

The story of Joseph in Egypt is the story of the Jewish people in the exiles to which they were cast, and of their efforts to survive while preserving their ancient heritage. Everywhere we contributed our wisdom, labor and loyalty to the ruling powers, to the economy, to trade, to science, to philosophy, to law, to faith and more. When the decisive moment came, it did not help us. See how the Jews of Australia were abandoned to their fate by a pro-Arab government. Jews fled to Oceania, to the far side of the globe, hoping antisemitism would not reach so far. They were wrong. We must open the foundational book of our people and learn to read history.

2.

Exile and wandering occupy a significant portion of our history, to the point that there were periods when Jews believed this was our destiny: to be a light unto the nations in their lands, while the Land of Israel was deferred to the messianic era. In 19th-century Germany, for example, the Reform movement replaced Jerusalem with Berlin, and even German Orthodoxy viewed life there as an ideal.

Following emancipation and the granting of rights to Jews in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch wrote in his Torah commentary: "Under the increasingly enlightened skies of the nations, they (the Jews) are to utilize the powers that have been enriched and liberated, in order to fulfill their unique mission in exile more completely… and not set their hearts on rivalry with the nations… like Abraham, they will build altars among the nations to God and His Torah… for the redemption of humanity, and will realize the full measure of goodness and truth among many peoples. In the end, the nations will tolerate and honor them."

One hears the heartbreaking yearning of German Jews to be embraced by the German nation. But the deeper their integration into culture and society, the stronger the hatred toward them grew, until the bitter end. This process has repeated itself many times throughout our history, and will likely do so again.

3.

Hanukkah's great innovation lies in insisting on the alternative: independent political life in our homeland, enabling the observance of the ancient tradition without fear. The first stage of the revolt that erupted in 167 BCE under the leadership of Judah Maccabee (from the Hebrew word Makkevet, a hummer) was an uprising against Hellenistic coercion and the prohibition on observing the commandments of the Torah. Once this goal was achieved and the Temple purified, Judah sent most of his soldiers' home and remained with about 800 men. General Bacchides exploited this and surprised them with an army of 20,000 soldiers. The defeat was total. The Jewish battalions were destroyed and Judah was killed.

At this stage, the revolt failed. The decrees returned, Jews were executed and the Temple was desecrated once again.

The remaining Hasmonean brothers fled with their followers to the caves of the Judean Desert. They sent Johanan to lead their families to the Nabateans east of the Jordan, but the Nabateans  murdered them. Despair deepened. Earlier, under Judah's leadership, the success of the revolt had ignited hope, and now it had collapsed. Worse still, the families for whom the revolt had been launched were murdered. The despair intensified. Like Joseph, cast into the pit a second time (Genesis 37:24; 40:15), they found themselves in a deep political, military and personal abyss, in a dire situation.

A Jewish man prays in front Menorah candles on the first night of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City | Photo: Reuters/Baz Ratner REUTERS

4.

At this point, Jonathan, the youngest brother, rose and assumed leadership. We have no choice, he told the few who gathered around him, but to fight for our freedom until victory. We bear responsibility for the continuity of our people and its ancient tradition. Learning from the first phase of the rebellion, they understood that religious freedom and the purification of the Temple were insufficient while enemy forces still surrounded them. Political independence was required.

They fought for about two years in guerrilla operations against General Bacchides until he left the country and returned to Antioch. Then, over the course of about seven years, Jonathan established a standing army of roughly 40,000 fighters. Only in 152 BCE did he liberate Jerusalem, purify the Temple and assume the position of high priest. Herein lies his innovation: he descended to the lowlands and the coastal plain and over roughly a decade cleansed these areas of foreign presence and reconquered them. It seems that nothing like this had occurred since King David.

At a decisive moment, Jonathan erred and trusted his enemy, General Tryphon. He went to Acre, was captured and killed along with his two sons and hundreds of his soldiers in 143 BCE. Of Mattathias' five sons, only Simon remained. With the help of 39,000 soldiers, he expelled Tryphon, completed the purification of the land, and in 142 BCE established the independent Jewish state and was crowned President.

5.

In the middle of the story of Joseph and his brothers is embedded a secondary narrative about his brother Judah, the one who advised selling Joseph to the Ishmaelites (Genesis 37:26–27). While Joseph begins his meteoric rise, Judah descends from his brothers, his two sons die and his daughter-in-law Tamar is left a widow (Genesis 38:1–7). After his wife dies, Tamar disguises herself as a prostitute, and Judah has relations with her without knowing she is his daughter-in-law (Genesis 38:15–16). She gives birth to twins. As the first extends his hand to emerge, his brother bursts forth before him and thus receives his name, Peretz, which means "Break forth" (Genesis 38:27–29), the ancestral father of the Messiah, referred to in the liturgical poem Lecha Dodi as "Ben Partzi" (son of Peretz, Ruth 4:18–22).

The tidings for mending the world come from its depths, and from there, redeeming it.

Joseph, son of Rachel, and Judah, son of Leah, represent spiritual and political forces: Messiah son of Joseph, responsible for building the national body, and Messiah son of David, who builds the spirit and soul of the people. These are also two camps that would later split into two kingdoms, Judah and Israel (I Kings 12). In our own time, these concepts have evolved into today's question of the identity of the people dwelling in Zion: Jewish or Israeli. As part of the profound historiosophical lesson taught by the Book of Genesis, we see that while Joseph ascends, Judah descends, but in his descent, he unknowingly gives birth to the Messiah.

6.

While the national body is being built and Messiah son of Joseph rises and strengthens, the spiritual and religious component is temporarily concealed and the connection to religious tradition appears tenuous. But this is a superficial view, enslaved to daily headlines and blind to the deep meta-historical processes unfolding within us as we return home to Zion and the national spirit that had lain dormant, awakens.

Joseph was thrown into a pit and was sold into slavery (Genesis 37:24–28). Judah descended and fell into a situation in which his daughter-in-law conceived from him (Genesis 38:18). Neither knew at first that this was not the end of the story but the beginning of a vast historical saga destined to change humanity. The Hasmoneans took part in it, and our own generation of wonders is writing another chapter in the Bible, that was never sealed.

Our redemption arrives in the most difficult moments, unexpectedly, from unforeseen directions, When our mind is distracted.

We need patience. And faith.

 

 

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A diplomatic source spoke with Israel Hayom about today's meeting between French, Saudi and US officials with the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces in Paris, on finalizing a framework for establishing a mechanism to disarm Hezbollah.

The source, who is familiar with the discussions, told Israel Hayom that the meeting was badly coordinated and failed to deliver any concrete results.

The source said France has been floating the idea of an international conference on the Lebanese Armed Forces for months, but has yet to determine either a date or a host ciry. While French officials say the event will take place in February, the same assurance has been repeated every month since September, prompting skepticism about whether the plan can actually be implemented.

French President Emmanuel Macron. Photo: AFP AFP

Commenting on Saudi Arabia's involvement, the source said Riyadh is not part of the mechanism at all and has no real role in the process.

The source also addressed the US position, particularly with regard to Lebanon, saying Washington would not be nothing more than an observer at any French-organized conference. They stressed that the US is the largest international contributor to the Lebanese Armed Forces and that its assistance is provided through standard appropriations, not through conferences.

The source stressed that the US continues to back the Lebanese Armed Forces and their efforts to disarm Hezbollah, adding that the criticism was directed solely at the conference being promoted by France.

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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has recently delivered a series of unusually blunt remarks that point to growing despair at the top of the Iranian leadership over the country's situation. Speaking to academics, Pezeshkian sounded exasperated, saying, "I don't know what to do, please don't curse me," and openly acknowledged Israel's advantage over Iran in missile capabilities.

Iran has endured a punishing year marked by drought, an energy crisis and soaring inflation. But if Iranians were hoping their president might offer solutions, Pezeshkian suggested they should not bother. In a string of remarkably candid public speeches in recent weeks, he said the country was facing insurmountable problems and that he had run out of ideas for how to solve them.

A beggar girl in Tehran. Photo: social media

"If anyone can do something, please go ahead and do it," Pezeshkian told students and academics in early December. "I can't do anything. Don't curse me."

In meetings with officials, he admitted the government was "stuck, badly stuck," adding: "From the first day we came in, disasters have been coming down on us, and it hasn't stopped."

He went further, saying Iran's woes were the result of corruption, internal factional infighting and decades of government spending that he described as "what crazy people do," rather than the fault of the US or Israel.

Referring to the fighting during Operation With a Lion, Pezeshkian said that although Iran had launched missiles, Israel's arsenal had proven superior both in quantity and in capability.

Israeli strikes in Tehran. Photo: social media

"It's true that we had missiles, but theirs were more numerous, more powerful, more accurate and easier to deploy," he said. He added, without elaborating, that in the end it was "the people" who thwarted Israel.

At the same time, Pezeshkian rejected calls for Iran to scale back its missile program, describing it as essential to national defense. "They tell us not to have missiles, while they arm Israel to the teeth so it can come here whenever it wants, destroy everything and leave," he said. "I won't accept that."

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A bearded figure sat facing an interrogator from Unit 504 of the Military Intelligence, responding to questions with patience and considerable detail. Several days of interrogations passed during which he attempted to stall, outwit authorities, and conceal information – but once "the dam burst," he revealed everything.

With an Israeli flag hanging on the wall behind him, the detainee detailed trips to Iran, voyages across Africa, clandestine meetings with Hezbollah's chief military commander Fuad Shukr, and directives flowing directly from the organization's leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Throughout the year he remained in captivity, Imad Amhaz, known as "The Captain," systematically laid out the complete picture behind one of Hezbollah's most secretive and organized operations – a strategic, creative, and ambitious project dubbed "The Clandestine Maritime File." Only now can the existence of this underground initiative be disclosed for the first time, along with fresh details about the commando mission to abduct Amhaz from the heart of Lebanon – a bold and extraordinary operation that remained submerged in the depths of memory due to the torrent of wartime events.

This narrative, which could easily become a Hollywood film, might begin on the night of November 2, 2024, when a handful of Shayetet 13 commandos silently raided the Lebanese coastal town of Batroun, located 87 miles from the Israeli border, and removed Amhaz while he slept in his bed without firing a single shot. Alternatively, the story could open with a close-up of Colonel A., head of Naval Intelligence, standing on the dock at the Shayetet base in Atlit, welcoming the fighters returning home from the successful operation, merely patting their shoulders and verifying everyone's health and safety. The account might also start with a scene unfolding in the basements of Dahieh, starring Secretary-General Nasrallah, Chief of Staff Shukr, and "The Captain," where the three architects weave a hair-raising conspiracy.

A poster of former Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah (Photo: Reuters)

However, the story begins with A., a quiet, slender 23-year-old woman who, had you passed her on the street, you would never imagine was primarily responsible for one of the war's most astonishing operations.

A. started her path as an "Arabist" (an Arab world specialist) in Unit 8200, subsequently transferring to serve as an analyst in Naval Intelligence. Today, she serves as a permanent staff member with the rank of Sergeant First Class, whose role is to track anyone who could pose a threat to Israeli Navy vessels. "We have, in Naval Intelligence, operational methods and capabilities that allow us to search for almost anyone in the fringes," she stated.

At the end of 2021, A. began monitoring a mid-level Hezbollah operative named Imad Amhaz, whose organizational nickname was "Jarich." Amhaz, 39, a Shiite native of the Bekaa Valley, joined Hezbollah in 2004. In 2007, he completed a several-month military course in Iran, and upon his return to Lebanon, joined Unit 7900 as a radar operator – Hezbollah's coastal missile unit that has deeply troubled Naval Intelligence personnel since the Second Lebanon War and the deadly strike on the INS Hanit.

The interrogator asked Amhaz: Who knew about the project?

The operative responded: "Who was aware of this was the team itself, Nur al-Din, the operator, Male,k who was the head of the bureau of Fuad Shukr (Hezbollah's Chief of Staff who was eliminated in July 2024), Fuad Shukr himself, and Abu Musa, who came after Fuad Shukr but didn't stay for long. All were killed except Nur al-Din. I don't know if he was also killed while I wasn't (in Lebanon)."

Q: Did you meet with senior officials? For example, with Fuad Shukr?

Amhaz answered: "The first time we returned from the file, he asked to meet with us... This file is related to the maritime domain ... These can be defensive or offensive operations... As long as you have a ship, money, and people, you can operate against anything. Israel is the main target."

Q: Does Hezbollah operate against other targets as well?

Amhaz confirmed: "The organization sees the US as an enemy, for example."

To all appearances, Imad Amhaz was just another Hezbollah operative among dozens who appeared on A.'s radar. Yet something about him was unusual. Despite being a devoted operative who was educated in the Hezbollah youth movement, Amhaz was not a devout Shiite. He spent much of his time at the gym, his body decorated with muscles and tattoos. One of these was a portrait of his wife, who was herself tattooed. "She had tattoos of roses," A. said. "During his interrogation, he shared that he and his wife had many fights, and at one point, they separated. After that, he had to hide the tattoo with her portrait until they eventually reunited. He is not the perfect partner – one who likes to play the field and loves to live the bachelor life, even when he is not single. He cultivates his muscles, a true hedonist. In short, he was not the conservative operative. During this period, I tracked several figures, but Amhaz was always at the back of my mind. Each time I returned to him to see what was new. I tried to understand why he was exposed, what his value was as a Hezbollah operative."

Q: It sounds as though you knew him well.

"Yes. I knew his daily routine, his weaknesses, his character – everything."

Q: And what can you say about his character?

"That he is a good soldier. When he is given an order, he says 'yes' and executes it."

Staff Sgt. A. (right), Rear Adm. A., and Lt. Col. D. (Photo: Yehoshua Yosef) To identify a big fish

I met A. in the office of the Head of the Naval Intelligence Department, Rear Adm. A., who has held the most senior position in Naval Intelligence for the past year. Several floors below us is the unit's "Pit" (underground command center), from which the operation to abduct Amhaz was managed. Joining the conversation was Lt. Col. D., who began her military career as a combat soldier in the Snapir Unit (naval port security unit), fell in love with the sea, and rose through the ranks to become head of the Targeting and Direction Branch in the Naval Intelligence Department.

The branch's production floor is filled with analysts like A., all of whom are Arabic speakers who serve as intelligence detectives. "Fishermen," as the veteran seaman Rear Adm. A. phrased it. "It is like casting a line and seeing which fish is caught on the hook. The point is to identify, amid the blur of people on the other side, who could be a 'big fish' and then focus on him. This is exactly what happened with Amhaz."

From the moment she began to take an interest in Amhaz and to focus more and more of her intelligence resources on him, A. discovered that he held mysterious meetings with senior Hezbollah officials. One of them was Ali Abed al-Hassan Nour al-Din. Nour al-Din is married to the daughter of Fuad Shukr, who, until his assassination in July 2024, served as the Hezbollah Chief of Staff and the right-hand man of Hassan Nasrallah. As such, Nour al-Din managed several of Hezbollah's secret projects, those directed personally by Shukr and Nasrallah. And now, for some reason, it turned out that he was meeting secretly with the muscular and tattooed Amhaz. "They sat at the same table and passed messages," Lt. Col. D. said. Later, during his interrogation in Israel, Amhaz would reveal that he also met Fuad Shukr himself. "This was a great excitement for him," D. said. "The connection to senior officials gave him pride and motivation."

During the interrogation, the goals of these secret meetings were also fully clarified. It turned out that several months before A. began to focus on him, Amhaz was chosen to be the central axis in an ambitious Hezbollah venture – the kind of secret projects that Nour al-Din managed for Shukr and Nasrallah. Amhaz, the organization's leadership decided, would become the captain of the "Secret Naval File."

"A very, very secret strategic project, an event that could have changed the situation against us and also against other countries," Rear Adm. A. said. "This is the big fish we caught on our hook."

"The big surprise"

The "Secret Naval File" germinated sometime in 2016. From fragments of information that reached Israeli intelligence over the years, it became clear that the goal was generally to create a Hezbollah "terror ship" – an infrastructure that would allow the organization to independently operate a large civilian merchant vessel that could roam the seas without suspicion, enter civilian ports, and carry out attacks that would change the balance of terror against Israel and its allies. "To take a civilian vessel under cover and place offensive capabilities on it as far as the imagination can go," Rear Adm. A. said. "Think about September 11 – you take a civilian platform and use it to carry out a strategic terror act. This was the goal."

The project, which, due to its importance, was directed personally by Hassan Nasrallah and Fuad Shukr and whose management passed to Nour al-Din after their elimination, was, as stated, highly compartmentalized and included only a small handful of secret partners. "Nasrallah and Shukr treated this as their big surprise," A. said. "Because of this, everything was managed in a very centralized manner, without intermediate ranks."

After several years of delays due to budget difficulties and internal organizational problems, in 2021, by order of Nasrallah, the project gained momentum. One of the first steps was to choose the captain of the future terror ship, someone who could manage the project from a maritime perspective. The Captain.

Amhaz was the one chosen for the role. Beyond his mysterious meetings with Nour al-Din, he began sailing between European and African countries and gained experience as a worker on cargo ships, all under the guise of an innocent civilian. "He simply boarded ships as a civilian and sailed with them with the aim of gaining maritime experience," D. said. "The ambition was to log enough sea time, rise through the ranks, and eventually become a civilian captain who could lead a civilian merchant ship himself. Alongside the practical hours, he also studied theory, and he progressed. This path gave him both operational experience and civilian cover so that once he became a certified captain of a civilian ship, he would not be suspected. In fact, he was operating under cover."

Haifa port (Photo: Moshe Shai)

What kind of attacks did the leadership plan to carry out using the terror ship that Amhaz would sail? One can only imagine – the hijacking of a passenger ship, an attack on the Karish gas field, a raid by dozens of armed operatives through Israel's Haifa or Ashdod ports. "In the interrogation, we insisted with Amhaz, saying to him, 'Come on, tell us what you planned,'" D. said. "But then we realized the goal was still only to build the capability, this muscle. He said, 'Whatever the organization decides, we will know how to do.' For them, everything was on the table – from hitting strategic points to striking the soft underbelly of Israel."

As part of his training as a civilian captain, Amhaz was absent from his home in the village of Qmatiye for many long months, where he lived with his wife and children. "In the process, he received a salary from Hezbollah, and while he was absent from home, the one who took care of his family was Nour al-Din," A. said.

In 2024, he returned to Lebanon, and in September, he began studying for a captain's degree at the Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute, a civilian institution located north of Beirut in the town of Batroun, a Christian-majority area where Hezbollah has only a minimal presence. Amhaz also rented a vacation cabin in Batroun, even though his home was about an hour's drive away. "He could finish the school day and drive home, yet he chose to rent an apartment in Batroun and sleep there," Lt. Col. D. said. "This is part of his hedonism, perhaps also part of his desire to concentrate on his studies." And Amhaz concentrated very much on his studies. "A diligent student," D. said. "Even in the interrogation, you see that he is an educated person, not a peasant who just came to fight."

In December 2024, after three years of preparation and several more weeks of study in Batroun, Amhaz was supposed to receive his coveted captain's diploma. He never received it. "The moment Amhaz moved to live in the coastal town of Batroun, I realized there was an opportunity here," A. said. "I understood that he could be plucked."

Setting out

Part of the role of analysts like A. in the Targeting and Direction Branch is not only to research the enemy on the other side of the border but also to direct operations toward them. When A. realized that she had indeed caught a big fish on her hook, she began to pull. "A. is the one who brought the initiative, the tug on the sleeve to set out on an abduction operation," her commander, Lt. Col. D., said. "She came and said, 'Someone is interesting here, let's bring him.' And from the moment this idea was thrown into the air, we, as commanders, said, 'There is a cool idea here, let's examine it.'"

The idea, which A. first raised during September 2024, progressed through the chain of approvals at a dizzying speed. "Everyone understood that there was someone privy to the secret, who was part of a strategic capability that Hezbollah is building," D. said. "Beyond that, the timing was good. We were already in Operation Northern Arrows (the military offensive against Hezbollah) and amidst an escalation in the campaign against Lebanon, and it was possible to dare more and challenge the boundaries and carry out operations of this type."

Naturally, the unit chosen to carry out the abduction was Shayetet 13, the elite commando unit of the Navy, which was practically born for operations of this kind. In the Shayetet, they took the mission with both hands, drew on all the intelligence A. had to provide about Amhaz and his daily routine, and within a few short weeks, they prepared a detailed raid plan. "The Shayetet enlisted immediately; they were very enthusiastic," D. said.

Although this was a dangerous move intended to take place deep in enemy territory, within a short time, the operation to abduct "The Captain" had received all required approvals, including that of the prime minister. "It was necessary to convince the appointed levels that the risk level for the force justified this operation," Rear Adm. A. said, who was present at some of these dramatic meetings. "These are places where you feel the weight of responsibility."

When A. received the news that "her" operation was moving forward, she found it hard to believe. "I was in shock, they were so on board," she smiled with embarrassment.

Shayetet 13 combat soldiers (Photo: Oren Cohen)

The operation was carried out on the night between November 1 and 2. Around 1:00 a.m., a small force of Shayetet soldiers positioned themselves at the entrance to Amhaz's vacation cabin in Batroun. The operation was accompanied by Naval Intelligence personnel from within the Navy's Pit in the Kirya (IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv). "It is as if you are part of the force," A. recalled. "We are not physically with them, but we understand exactly what is happening on the ground. Many times, the executing force looks to intelligence for guidance, asking whether the target is at the objective and whether everything is working according to the plan. When you answer 'yes, he is there,' it is a moment with a lot of responsibility, but also a moment of a dream coming true."

According to reports in the Lebanese media, the abduction operation was carried out by a force of about 25 combat soldiers and lasted only four minutes. In a short video recorded by a security camera in the area of the operation, Shayetet personnel can be seen in their combat gear leading Amhaz down one of the streets, his head covered by a shirt.

In an urgent military inquiry conducted in Lebanon in the days following the abduction, it was claimed that the Lebanese Navy did not identify the Israeli infiltration into Batroun and that German naval forces, who are supposed to secure the maritime arena in the area under the UNIFIL mandate, did not report any suspicious movement during the night. "The army cannot identify small boats that slip under the radar," the Lebanese Chief of Staff Joseph Aoun, today the President of the State, was quoted as saying in a local newspaper.

By the time the inquiry was published, Amhaz was already deep in Israeli territory, having vomited several times on the way from Batroun and shown signs of anxiety. "I held my breath until the moment the commandos returned to the country's territory," A. said. "It was a sense of relief. I have been on this thing for two years, and here – we finally reached that moment."

Lt. Col. D. said, "If it were possible to open champagne in the army, we would have done it."

Rear Adm. A. said, "For me, in this event, there were two moments of satisfaction. The first was when they realized the force had arrived in Israel along with Amhaz, and we knew our soldiers had returned safely. I waited for them on the beach at the Shayetet base in Atlit, and it was a great pride. Shayetet 13 is a wonderful, mission-driven unit. It is a cliché, but there is no mission they cannot meet. The second moment of satisfaction came after several days of interrogations, when we realized we had not caught a small fry. The moment he spoke about the 'Secret Naval File,' about what he knows how to do – and it took several days – we realized we had done something valuable that truly contributed to the security of the State of Israel."

Not exactly an "innocent civilian"

The interrogation of Amhaz indeed revealed new details to Naval Intelligence that they had not known about the "Secret Maritime File" and the extent of Hezbollah's seriousness in implementing the project. "At first, he completely denied any connection to Hezbollah," A. related. "But slowly, as time passed, he began to open up. He gave us a lot of information about the file and also revealed to us the meetings with Shukr."

Rear Adm. A. said, "Before that, we knew a general story, and he not only confirmed it for us but fleshed out the details for us. This gave us the understanding that there was a real, actual project here, with intentions."

The publication of details from Amhaz's interrogation, for the first time, may certainly change the narrative built in Lebanon around his abduction. His family took the trouble to demonstrate and be interviewed wherever possible to claim that Amhaz is merely a civilian seaman who was abducted through no fault of his own. "My son is a civilian maritime captain who took a course at the Institute of Marine Sciences in Batroun," his father, Fadel, said in a newspaper interview. "My son is at sea most of the time and has no connection to parties. He is not connected to politics."

The Prime Minister of Lebanon at the time, Najib Mikati, also announced the day after the operation that Lebanon would file an official complaint with the UN Security Council regarding the abduction of Amhaz, and the Lebanese Transport Minister said that Amhaz was a "captain of civilian ships."

"We are now sending a clear message," Lt. Col. D. said in response. "The Navy is not bored and does not abduct innocent civilians. This is an exceptional operative in Hezbollah who was entrusted with a secret project that was supposed to surprise Israel completely. He is as far from innocent as possible."

The Lebanese attempt to attach a civilian image to Amhaz fit well with another move that took place about a year after his abduction – the release of the Israeli Elizabeth Tsurkov from captivity in September 2025, who was kidnapped in Iraq and held there by a pro-Iranian terror organization. The official Iranian news agency Tasnim claimed then that Tsurkov was released in exchange for two Lebanese figures held by Israel, including Amhaz.

Fuad Shukr (Photo: Social media)

In the Naval Intelligence Department, they are not aware of any such thing, and in any case, Amhaz is still in Israeli hands while Tsurkov is at her home. In our conversations, we were unable to confirm that the release of Amhaz was part of the move to release Tsurkov.

Despite Amhaz being in our hands, the analyst A. and her commanders are not at rest. "For us, the operation is not over," D. said. "We are still following the 'Secret Naval File,' and Nour al-Din, who stands at the head of the file, is still with us. To our understanding, he is still promoting this project, and perhaps other secret files as well, and it is important to us that he knows the account with him is open."

Q: By the way, did you meet Amhaz after he was brought to Israel?

D. said, "A. and I were in the same corridor with him, but we only looked at him. Interrogation is less our field. The unit responsible for his interrogation is 504, and there is a clear division between us. Even if Amhaz noticed us, he has no idea who we are and what our connection to him is."

A. said, "We saw him from a distance, but we did not speak with him."

Q: And how did it feel to see "The Captain" like that, face to face, after two years in which you tracked him from afar?

"Shocking," A. said. "Absolutely shocking."

The post How Hezbollah's 'September 11' was thwarted appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

סטיב ויטקוף פרסם הצהרה בשם ארה"ב, מצרים וטורקיה הקוראת לדון בצעדים הבאים של שלב ב' ברצועה, תוך ציון כי הם דנו בהקמה והפעלה של "מועצת שלום" שתפעל כממשל זמני בעזה - בטווח הקרוב

נראה שיש מי ששאב השראה מהרעיון הנועז של טראמפ להקמת כלא עצום למהגרים שמסביבו יחיו תנינים, כאן בישראל. מדובר בשר איתמר בן גבר שרוצה לעשות "העתק-הדבק" לטראמפ. בשב"ס כבר התחילו לעבוד

בדיווח צוין כי סוכנויות מודיעין מערביות זיהו תנועות חריגות של כוחות החלל של משמרות המהפכה, וזה הוביל לעלייה ברמת התצפית והמעקב אחר פעילויות אלו - כך דווח ב"איראן אינטרנשיונל"

אלפי מפגינים הגיעו הערב לעצרת המחאה המרכזית נגד הממשלה בכיכר הבימה בתל אביב. העצרת החלה בצעדה מרחוב רוטשילד פינת אלנבי לכיכר הבימה

משטרת גלילות חוקרת שני מקרי ניפוץ בגלידרייה בהרצליה, שלפי החשד בוצעו בשל פעילות העסק בשבת. ראש העיר יריב פישר מגיב בחריפות וקורא לתושבים “להצביע ברגליים”

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שחרור נוסף של מסמכים הקשורים לפרשת ג'פרי אפשטיין מצטרף למאגר תמונות שפורסם מוקדם יותר ביום שישי, ובו כ-120 צילומים של ראיות פיזיות שאשף ה-FBI, כולל כוננים קשיחים, מחשבים ותקליטורים ישנים

ראש מערך ההסברה המצרי, דיא רשוואן, הכחיש אמש את הדיווחים לפיהם הנשיא עבד אל-פתאח א-סיסי מתכנן להיפגש עם ראש ממשלת ישראל בנימין נתניהו על רקע הסכם הגז שנחתם: "אין שום הסדר או תכנון כלשהו לפגישה כזו"

אב ובנו נרצחו באירוע ירי בנצרת, וזמן קצר לאחר מכן אדם בן 31 נפצע באורח בינוני בטייבה. מיוזמת אברהם נמסר בנוגע לירי בנצרת: "הפשיעה בחברה הערבית תיפתר רק כאשר אנשים רציניים יטפלו בה ברצינות"

בטקס במספנות באיסטנבול חשף ארדואן כי טורקיה בונה במקביל 39 כלי שיט צבאיים, בהם נושאת מטוסים חדשה, צוללות ומשחתות - כחלק מחיזוק הצי והגדלת הייצוא הביטחוני ל-11 מיליארד אירו

ראש סוכנות המודיעין הטורקית נפגש עם ראש צוות המשא ומתן של חמאס באיסטנבול, כדי לדון בצעדים למניעת הפרות הפסקת אש ובהתקדמות לשלב השני של תוכנית השלום בעזה

מיגרנות הן בין סוגי כאבי הראש הקשים ביותר, ומשפיעות באופן משמעותי על איכות החיים. עם החיפוש הגובר אחר חלופות טבעיות או טיפולים משלימים לטיפולים תרופתיים, ג'ינג'ר מתגלה כאפשרות מבטיחה

בראיון ל-i24 אמר שר הרווחה לשעבר ראג'ב מג’דלה כי אינו מוכן לקבל דיווחים על הזוועות, כולל רצח תינוקות ואונס נשים, ללא הוכחה מצולמת: "לא מקבל דיווחים מאף אחד"; דובר המשטרה לשעבר תקף אותו חריפות

ראש ממשלת לבנון, נוואף סלאם, הודיע כי המדינה ערוכה למעבר לשלב השני בתוכנית הצבא להגבלת הנשק, אשר יתמקד באזור שמצפון לנהר הליטני. לדבריו, השלב הראשון של התוכנית, בדרום הליטני, נמצא ימים ספורים מסיום

ראש הממשלה בנימין נתניהו מתכוון להציג לנשיא טראמפ תוכנית תקיפה אפשרית נגד איראן, וזאת על רקע חששות גוברים בישראל כי טהראן מרחיבה את תוכנית הטילים הבליסטיים שלה ומשקמת את יכולותיה הצבאיות

חשש לחטיפת אזרחית ישראלית במרחב העיר יריחו; ארה"ב יצאה למתקפה חריגה בסוריה בגיבוי צבא ירדן; קנדה: שלושה גברים תכננו פשעי שנאה - בייחוד נגד נשים והקהילה היהודית | סיכום חדשות השבת

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בעקבות פיגוע הירי הקטלני ביותר מאז 1996, ממשלת ניו סאות' ויילס מקדמת חקיקת חירום נגד נשק ושיח שנאה, כולל איסור קריאות לאינתיפאדה והשמדת מאות אלפי כלי ירייה; קריאות להקמת ועדת חקירה מלכותית

לאחר ניסיון חטיפת הישראלית מיריחו, צה"ל והמשטרה סגרו את היציאה מהעיר ומבצעים בידוק לכלל היוצאים מהעיר. בחקירת האירוע משתתף גם השב"כ בעקבות חומרתו, ונבדק מניע לאומני

צילומי לוויין חדשים מעידים כי יתכן ואיראן מנסה לשקם או לבדוק את ממדי הנזק במתקן הגרעין בנתנז שהותקף במסגרת מלחמת 12 הימים. ראש סבא"א דורש מאיראן להעניק לפקחי הסוכנות גישה לאתרי הגרעין

Israeli company Aporia says its artificial intelligence control tool Guardrails has been selected as one of TIME’s 2024 Best Inventions, a list of 200 pioneering innovations redefining the way we live.  

Guardrails, which mitigates evolving risks in AI systems real-time, has been recognized as one of the 10 companies in the AI technology category. 

The list was created following a thorough process in which TIME’s global editors and correspondents assessed each candidate based on several critical factors, such as originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact.

“We’re incredibly proud to see Aporia’s Guardrails recognized by TIME as one of the year’s best inventions,” said Aporia CEO Liran Hason. 

“Aporia is committed to making AI applications safer and more reliable for everyone—from businesses to everyday consumers,” he said. 

We’re developing rigorous Guardrail policies, implementing advanced capabilities to ensure compliance with AI regulations in the EU and US, expanding capabilities to secure a broader range of AI systems, and welcoming new customers. Our Guardrails do more than manage glitches; they empower companies to deploy AI that users can trust.”

The company has also been named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, and recently announced partnerships with Google Cloud and Microsoft. 

The post Israeli AI Safety Tool Among TIME’S Best Inventions For 2024  appeared first on NoCamels.

For more than a decade, NoCamels has written about every aspect of Israel’s high-tech sector, from medical breakthroughs for treatment of deadly diseases to digital developments for both work and leisure and greentech to preserve our struggling planet. 

Here are five favorites from us and five from you, our loyal readers:  

Our Picks: 

Cancer Cures 
With artificial intelligence playing an ever-increasing role in our lives, medtech company OncoHost is using it to help oncologists decide the optimum therapy for their cancer patients. 

The startup’s main focus is determining treatment for a form of lung cancer, with its proprietary PROphet platform scanning up to 7,000 proteins in a patient’s blood in order to see how receptive that person would be to immunotherapy.  

The platform looks for proteins that are present in the blood of patients who did not respond to immunotherapy but absent for patients who did respond. Click here for more

Life Saver 
When Israeli businessman Adam Bismut saw a man lose his life by drowning at the Dead Sea because help was too far away, he was determined to stop such tragedies from happening again. 

Bismut developed Sightbit, a drowning prevention platform that uses AI to spot dangers on and in the water, alerting lifeguards to people in peril in real time. 

Sightbit creator Adam Bismut z”l (Photo: Courtesy)

Tragically, the person who devoted his professional life to helping others also gave his life to protect others, as IDF Sgt. Maj. (res.) Adam Bismut fell in battle in Gaza on January 22, 2024. May his memory be a blessing. Click here for more

Water World 
Building on a water-from-air concept devised by WaterGen, fellow Israeli startup H2oll also produces drinking water from the atmosphere, but more cheaply, more efficiently and more sustainably – and in any climate.

The internal workings of the H2oll machine (Photo: Courtesy)

H2oll has added a new element to the existing technology, by way of a concentrated salt solution. Instead of cooling the whole air mass, it extracts and cools only the moisture molecules – around two percent of air content, depending on humidity – and turns them into water.

The company says it aims to address the global water crisis, especially in the developing world, where countries want to avoid expensive infrastructure, or costly bottled supplies. Click here for more

A Voice For The Voiceless 
The AI-powered Voiceitt platform is designed to recognize and translate speech by people with an underlying medical condition, disability or age-related condition that means their speech is hard to understand. 

Voiceitt lets people with speech disabilities speak spontaneously and be easily understood (Photo: Courtesy)

It works either as voice to text or voice to synthesized speech, with the latter allowing the user to speak in person in real time, as part of a face-to-face conversation, or in a virtual, online meeting.   

The technology is based on machine learning and speech recognition algorithms that are customized to the user, allowing the platform to assimilate each user’s unique way of speaking. It is web based, which means that it can be accessed from any internet-connected device without having to download a program or app. Click here for more

Potato Power
Rumafeed has come up with a way to boost the amount of animal feed produced worldwide by genetically modifying the currently discarded foliage from potato harvests and making it suitable for livestock.  

Potato foliage discarded during harvest could be nutritious feed for livestock (Photo: Depositphotos)

Potato foliage contains glycoalkaloids, which makes it toxic, but by removing this inedible chemical compound, the foliage is transformed from a waste byproduct to a plentiful, viable food source for herds that is rich in nitrogen and protein.  

Potato hay could also be a valuable source of income for farmers, fetching as much as $600 per hectare of land where the tubers are grown, with each hectare capable of producing 3.5 tons of it. Click here for more

Your Picks: The Articles You Read The Most

Ice Cream On Demand
A machine invented by Israeli startup Solato uses a secret process to create super-fresh frozen desserts from liquid in just 60 seconds. It whips up and freezes a range of gelato, sorbet, frozen yogurt, smoothies and even iced coffee.

Solato uses a secret process to create super-fresh frozen desserts from liquid in capsules, in just 60 seconds (Photo: Courtesy)

Solato says it is the first to market with a frozen dessert capsule machine, offering a range of flavors including Amarena cherry and mascarpone, piedmont hazelnut gelato, lychee sorbet, and classics like dark chocolate and vanilla gelato, as well as plain frozen yogurt. 

Each cup-sized capsule of concentrate liquid makes a cup of ice cream. The unique code on each capsule is read by the machine to determine how much it needs to freeze it and how much air it needs to add, to increase its volume. The capsule itself, which is biodegradable, can then be used for serving. Click here for more

COVID Spray 
An Israeli-founded company in Canada has developed a nasal technology to treat and prevent upper respiratory and topical infections such as COVID-19 and successful Phase 3 clinical trials proved it can reduce viral load in people with mild cases of coronavirus.

Enovid reduces COVID viral loads (Photo: Gilly Regev/LinkedIn)

Enovid, the nitric oxide nasal spray (NONS) created by Vancouver-based SaNOtize is designed to treat adult patients who have a risk of progression of COVID-19.  

The patented platform technology allows for the topical delivery of nitric oxide (a naturally occurring nanomolecule with the formula NO, hence the name) to treat a variety of bacterial, fungal, and viral diseases. Click here for more

Chewing Gum Diet 
A chewing gum infused with an ancient sugar-blocking herb may help people lose weight, according to a new consumer study. 

Sweet Victory gum (Photo: Courtesy)

Israeli startup Sweet Victory imbues the Indian botanical gymnema sylvestre into its gum, which blocks the taste receptors for sweetness when it is chewed for just two minutes. The company says that its effects last up to two hours.  

Of the 80 participants in a two-week trial, 87 percent reported experiencing weight loss, at an average of 1.3 kilos per two weeks. An additional 80 percent of the participants significantly reduced their consumption of sweets by the end of the trial, and said they had “better control” of their food choices. Click here for more

Screenless Laptop With Virtual Screens 
Spacetop, billed as the world’s first augmented reality laptop, looks like the keyboard to a standard 13-inch laptop, minus the 13-inch screen.

Spacetop offers dozens of virtual screens for its screenless laptop (Photo: Courtesy)

But with a dedicated pair of glasses and just 20 seconds of training, the user can actually see a dozen or more virtual screens. They can toggle between them, resize and reposition them at will, and even zoom in and out.

Sightful, the company behind the design, says Spacetop has been painstakingly redesigned “from the ground up” with no off-the-shelf components. Everything is custom-made and works on Spacetop OS, a proprietary operating system. Click here for more

Sperm Solution
Israeli scientists at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) haven developed an innovative platform to create sperm in a laboratory through a microfluidic system, which contains hundreds of microchannels for fluids to pass through. 

Sperm grown in the lab can provide a solution for men who have been affected by aggressive medical treatment (Image: Depositphotos)

The sperm was grown on a special silicon chip developed in collaboration with researchers at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The chip enables the researchers to grow cells from the testis in the microchip and add fresh cell culture media designed to support cellular growth. A 3D system was also built and integrated to allow the addition of testicular tissue cells. 

The innovation is designed to help males who receive aggressive treatment for cancer that can damage sperm-forming cells and result in impaired spermatogenesis, the origin and development of sperm cells within the reproductive organs, leading to fertility problems. Click here for more

The post Editors’ & Readers’ Choice: 10 Favorite NoCamels Articles appeared first on NoCamels.

Medical researchers at Tel Aviv University (TAU) have discovered a way to help the body fight cancerous tumors that are even resistant to prevailing forms of immunotherapy.

The researchers found that reversing a mechanism preventing the immune system from attacking tumors can stimulate the immune system to fight the cancer cells. 

The breakthrough was led by Prof. Carmit Levy, Prof. Yaron Carmi, and PhD student Avishai Maliah from TAU’s Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences. The paper was published in the leading journal Nature Communications.

Levy said the discovery occurred at his lab, which studies both cancer and the effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun on our skin and body  – both of which are known to suppress the immune system. 

“Cancer suppresses approaching immune cells and solar radiation suppresses the skin’s immune system,” he explained. 

“While in most cases, we cancer researchers worldwide focus on the tumor and look for mechanisms by which cancer inhibits the immune system, here we proposed a different approach: investigating how UV exposure suppresses the immune system and applying our findings to cancer. The discovery of a mechanism that inhibits the immune system opens new paths for innovative therapies.”

The research was recently published in the leading journal Nature Communications.

The post TAU Team Discovers Mechanism To Eliminate Cancerous Tumors appeared first on NoCamels.

The tech incubator operated by Ashdod Port is investing $2 million in three startups as part of its strategy to foster innovation at the site. 

The sum was approved by the port’s board of directors as part of its Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) investment fund, subject to the approval of the Government Companies Authority. 

Since its establishment in 2021, the incubator has supported more than 90 startups in various fields, including operations, logistics, cyber and safety. 

The three startups were selected following a pilot program lasting an average of six months, during which the technologies being developed were tested in close cooperation with the port’s staff. 

The three startups are:

Makalu Optics, which develops groundbreaking LiDAR technology for various applications  

Treedis, which develops an advanced digitally compatible solution based on virtual and augmented reality  

Flyz Robotics, which developed an autonomous system for miniature drone robots with unique capabilities  

“The Ashdod Port Company views investments in technology companies as a strategic move, which will help us meet both the challenges of the current period of time and the global challenges faced by ports all over the world and, in parallel, optimize our competitive ability,” said Shaul Schneider, the chairman Ashdod Port Board of Directors. 

“We are confident that this investment will yield optimal results for the Port of Ashdod, for the Israeli economy, as well as for the international port industry.”

The post Ashdod Port Investing In Startups As Part Of Innovation Strategy appeared first on NoCamels.

The past year has been a period of great upheaval and uncertainty in Israel, yet the high-tech sector has proven steadfast, despite concerns over investment and durability and swathes of the workforce serving in the IDF reserves for long stretches at a time. 

And as Israel navigates this time of war on multiple fronts – with its troops fighting in Gaza and Lebanon as well as handling attacks from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen – NoCamels asked leaders in the sector to look forwards and share their thoughts on what the future holds for the national high-tech industry, whose strength and vitality earned the country the moniker “Startup Nation.”  

Israeli readiness to embrace innovation, even when it seems somewhat risky, is a long-standing trait that is key to the sector thriving even in wartime – and crucial to it flourishing in the years to come, says Jon Medved, the CEO of Israel’s global investment powerhouse OurCrowd. 

“The fact that Israel grows and it continues to grow its tech sector during war is sort of a core element of who we are,” Medved tells NoCamels. 

“The reason that we’re so strong in the startup arena boils down, more than any other single reason, to our attitude towards risk. We are people who have learned to live with risk, even though I’m not sure we chose it.”  

Limor Nakar-Vincent: Periods of growth follow cycles of tension (Photo: Eyal Toueg)

In agreement with this sentiment is Limor Nakar-Vincent, the Deputy Executive Director of Business at the Binational Industrial Research and Development  Foundation (BIRD), a joint Israeli-American endeavor that brings companies from both countries together on collaborative projects. 

Nakar-Vincent tells NoCamels that the decades of conflict that the country has endured has made its people hardy, and spurred innovation and development. 

She cites the strong sense of solidarity and a highly adaptable workforce whose members often take on additional responsibilities to cover for colleagues called to reserve duty. 

“Israelis are creative and deeply motivated, which helps them navigate challenging times,” she says. “[They] are accustomed to managing through cycles of tension, and historically, periods of growth follow.” 

Going Global

Medved credits the diverse essence of Israel – a rich melting pot of Jews from around the world – with its ongoing and future success on the global stage. This “secret sauce,” he says, allows Israelis to retain ties, language skills and familiarity with global commerce and business on a broad scale – all of which are key, too, to its future success. 

It is this global outreach that is crucial for investment in the sector in years to come, Medved says, as foreign investors are “the main part of the story in the Israeli Startup Nation ecosystem.” 

In fact, he explains, even during the ongoing conflict, Israel reached a record high of 93-percent foreign VC participation in funding rounds for local startups, meaning that just 7 percent of them were solely Israeli efforts. 

And as the sector looks to sustain itself and expand in years to come, Medved believes that in the next half decade or so, Israeli startups must now look beyond becoming a unicorn or decacorn (companies valued at $1 billion or $10 billion, respectively) and seek the attainable target of a $20, $50 or even $100 billion valuation, which means a more international approach.  

“I predict that 10 years from now, there will be several Israeli companies in that $100 billion range,” he says. 

Medtech veteran Mati Gill shares this sentiment, citing a trend of Israeli startups moving into the international arena rather than opting for what he calls “the classical ‘exit’ model” of selling to a larger entity. 

“We saw a generation of Israeli startups that went public and grew globally, [while] maintaining their headquarters and R&D in Israel,” says Gill, who today is CEO of the Rehovot-based Aion Labs medtech venture studio, an initiative of the Israel Innovation Authority that works with global pharmaceutical giants on solutions for some of the most challenging diseases facing humanity. 

In fact, Gill tells NoCamels, the expansion by Israeli startups into areas outside the classic tech and SaaS space into fields such deeptech and biotech has opened new opportunities for Israeli R&D to mature into industry solutions.

Staying Power 

These new opportunities include making headway in the field of sustainability – one of the most innovative and significant in the tech ecosystem – which will create fresh avenues for Israeli startups in the years ahead. This, of course, is  alongside other major areas like cybersecurity and fintech, in which local companies have already built a reputation. 

“The double bottom line of impact investing – doing well and making money at the same time – is very valid and important,” says Medved. 

“Whether it’s in healthcare or climate, access to disabled technologies, foodtech or agtech, transportation, education or financial inclusion, you will see large numbers of Israeli startups on the front lines of this important battleground.” 

Gill, who has worked extensively in medtech innovation, also believes that healthcare – which he describes as the meeting point of technology and life sciences – is an area in which Israel is “uniquely positioned” to become one of the most relevant and leading ecosystems. 

Israel is ‘uniquely positioned’ to lead in the healthcare sector, says Mati Gill (Photo: Elad Malka)

“Our strong research and talent capabilities in both sectors, coupled with the entrepreneurial mindset of Israelis have helped birth a new cluster of startups in the tech bio space in Israel,” he explains. 

This includes significant fundraising achievements, deals and increased interest from pharmaceutical multinational corporations in the past five years alone, he adds.

Medved also highlights the need to ensure that Israeli innovation in these extremely important areas is made available in “every corner of the planet,” regardless of how economically developed a country is. 

To this end, he says, OurCrowd has partnered with the World Health Organization Foundation on a $200 million Global Health Equity Fund to help make these technological advances more equitable.  

Meanwhile, says Nakar-Vincent, the ongoing war will likely lead to growth among companies focusing on dual-use technologies, which serve both civilian and military applications. 

“This sector has garnered heightened interest, leading to increased funding and expedited development processes,” she says. 

In fact, she adds, the experience gained by many Israelis now serving in reserve duty will nurture the establishment of new start-ups in the defense and homeland security spheres.

“It’s essential to consider various forms of support for high-tech companies, especially those facing the ‘valley of death’ but with the potential to commercialize their technologies,” she explains. 

Looking beyond new innovation to the challenges of maintaining its well-respected position in the world’s tech sector, Gill believes that regulatory and geopolitical stability are vital, as well as restored trust in the country’s leadership and maintaining an independent judiciary. 

The latter refers to the domestic political turmoil over proposed judicial reform in the months preceding the October 7, 2023 mass terror attack by Hamas that saw tens of thousands taking to the streets every week to protest.  

Equally important, Gill says, is the ability to produce experienced homegrown talent in the sector and the ability to attract talent from abroad to Israel.  

Jon Medved: Israeli startups must discover new funding sources (Photo: Courtesy)

Medved ties expansion in Israeli high-tech to the need to find novel ways of raising money, in particular for startups in the field of artificial intelligence, which Israeli angel investor and former military intelligence officer Alon Arvatz predicted last year would be accelerated due to its use by the army in the current war.  

“It turns out that to build these AI startups fast, you need a lot of capital and a lot of money for computing and for GPU farms,” Medved says, referring to sophisticated servers that can quickly perform complex calculations.

Ultimately, say both Medved and Gill, it is experiences of extreme challenge that makes Israelis creative, progressive and determined to succeed, and will continue to do so in the future. 

“We are great as a country at staying focused on what matters, delivering results no matter what and adapting to any circumstances – especially when our backs are against the wall,” declares Gill. 

“It’s unfortunately been part of our environment for thousands of years that our risk of survival is simply part of the nature of our society,” says Medved. 

“As a result, we don’t stop creating. We don’t stop celebrating. We move forward with laughter through tears, and if they think they can stop us, they can’t.”

The post Forward Facing: What Does The Future Hold For Israeli High-Tech? appeared first on NoCamels.

With conspiracy theories and so-called fake news rampant on social media, in particular during major election periods, researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have developed a method to help fact checkers keep up with increasing volumes of misinformation on these platforms.

A team led by Dr. Nir Grinberg and Prof. Rami Puzis of BGU’s Department of Software and Information Systems Engineering found that tracking fake news sources, rather than individual articles or posts, can significantly lower the burden on fact checkers and produce reliable results over time.

The researchers’ audience-based models outperformed the more common approach of looking at who’s sharing misinformation by large margins: 33 percent when looking at historical data, and 69 percent when looking at sources as they emerge over time.

The authors also showed that their approach can maintain the same level of accuracy in identifying fake news sources while requiring less than a quarter of the fact-checking costs.

“The problem today with the proliferation of fake news is that fact checkers are overwhelmed,” explained Grinberg. 

“They cannot fact check everything … [and] we know little about how successful fact checkers are in getting to the most important content to fact check. That prompted us to develop a machine learning approach that can help fact checkers direct their attention better and boost their productivity,” he said.  
The team’s findings were published recently in Proceedings of the 30th ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining.

The post BGU Develops Fast Fact Checking Via News Sources Not People appeared first on NoCamels.

Israeli military technology company Elbit Systems has announced that it has been awarded an approximately $200 million contract by the nation’s Ministry of Defense to supply high-power laser systems for the Iron Beam air defense platform.

The mobile Iron Beam system consists of two pivoting laser guns, a surveillance system to track the incoming projectile and a control center staffed by personnel who issue commands to the system. 

The laser gun creates a high-energy beam that can bring down missiles, mortars and drones at a reported maximum range of 10 km. The laser heats its target to incredibly high temperatures very quickly, rendering it obsolete. 

According to the contract, Elbit will supply the ministry with its proprietary high-power laser solution in order to provide a robust defense against a variety of threats. The contract also includes the provision of ongoing support services.

“As Israel’s Laser Center and a global leader in high-power laser technology, Elbit Systems congratulates on the significant progress made in the Iron Beam project and is proud of its contribution to its success. The capabilities developed at Elbit Systems represent a leap forward in future defense against various threats,” said Bezhalel (Butzi) Machlis, the president and CEO of Elbit Systems. 

The Haifa-based company, which has almost 20,000 personnel working across five continents, says its products allow its clients around the world “to address rapidly evolving battlefield challenges and overcome threats.”

The post Israel Gives Elbit $200M Contract For Laser Air Defense System  appeared first on NoCamels.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have found that the Oriental hornet is the only known animal in nature capable of consuming alcohol chronically and in high concentrations with almost no negative effects on their health or lifespan. 

The researchers hope that the discovery could help future studies into alcoholism and how alcohol metabolizes in our bodies. 

The research was conducted under the leadership of postdoctoral fellow Dr. Sofia Bouchebti from the laboratory of Prof. Eran Levin at Tel Aviv University’s School of Zoology and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History. 

The team tested the Oriental hornet’s ability to consume and break down alcohol, and were surprised by the rapid rate at which the insects metabolized it. 

They also found that even high concentrations of alcohol had no noticeable effect on the hornets’ behavior and that there was no difference in lifespan for hornets that only consumed alcohol for their entire three-month lives and those that consumed sugar water.

“This is a remarkable animal that shows no signs of intoxication or illness even after ingesting huge amounts of alcohol,” said the research team. 

“While alcohol-related research is highly advanced, with 5.3 percent of deaths in the world linked to alcohol consumption, we believe that, following our research, Oriental hornets could potentially be used to develop new models for studying alcoholism and the metabolism of alcohol,” said Prof. Levin. 

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).

The post TAU’s Booze-Proof Hornets Could Help Research Into Alcoholism appeared first on NoCamels.

Israeli company Dataloop AI has announced a collaboration with American multinational Qualcomm Technologies, which aims to significantly accelerate AI model development for mobile, automotive, IoT and other computing devices powered by Snapdragon platforms.

Snapdragon is a versatile suite of system-on-chip (SoC) semiconductor products for a range of devices designed and marketed by Qualcomm, including mobile devices, tablets and laptops.

Dataloop enables developers to streamline the entire AI lifecycle through an automated pipeline that includes data curation, labeling, model fine-tuning, and integration with Qualcomm AI Hub, which compiles, optimizes, and profiles the ready-to-deploy model.

“The Qualcomm AI Hub helps enhance the efficiency of AI development. Dataloop’s comprehensive platform simplifies the entire AI lifecycle, while Qualcomm Technologies’ innovations enable models that are optimized and ready for deployment on edge devices, empowering developers to accelerate innovation and bring AI solutions to market faster,” said Dataloop AI co-founder and CBO Nir Buschi.

“Qualcomm Technologies is collaborating with Dataloop to streamline on-device AI deployment,” said Siddhika Nevrekar, senior director of product management at Qualcomm.

“With Dataloop’s automated pipelines and robust data management, developers can effortlessly create powerful AI systems and seamlessly deploy them on-device using our Qualcomm AI Hub.”

The post Israeli, US Firms Team Up To Develop AI Models For Devices appeared first on NoCamels.

NoCamels has recently shone a spotlight on Israeli medical technology and green technology that has the potential to change the world. 

But there are other equally innovative companies whose remit falls outside of these two categories yet have just as much potential impact on our lives. Here we take a look at 10 of them: 

Electric Air Travel

Eviation became the first company in the world to develop an electric plane with its nine-seater aircraft Alice, which it designed from scratch.

In 2022, Alice made a successful eight-minute flight at Moses Lake in Washington State, reaching an altitude of 3,500ft. The company beat the world’s aerospace giants in the race to develop an electric airplane, which in most cases were focusing their R&D on modifying existing petrol planes. 

The plane runs on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that only require 30 minutes to fully charge. It has a top speed of nearly 300 mph, a range of 288 miles and can fly for an hour at a time.

Eviation hopes to launch the plane for short-hop commercial flights in the US in 2027, with the aim of shaping future air travel for both passengers and cargo. Click here for more

Sustainable Sweetness 

A heavy impact on the environment makes globally beloved chocolate a costly affair for the planet. But Israeli startup Celleste Bio has found a way to change that with its lab-cultivated beans that create cocoa indistinguishable from the rest.

Celleste Bio uses lab-grown cocoa beans to create sustainable chocolate (Photo: Depositphotos)

Celleste Bio uses cell culture technology to create the cocoa beans, combined with AI modeling to create optimal growing conditions. The bean cells are used to make the cocoa butter needed to manufacture chocolate, which has the identical chemical profile to the original.

It takes just seven days for the bean cells to mature in their bioreactor so that the butter can be harvested.  

And because the process involves just a couple of beans that can be repeatedly reproduced, the Misgav-based company says the lab-cultivated cocoa is grown without ever needing to cut down a single tree again. 

“We are the first in the world to have been able to produce chocolate-grade cocoa butter,” said Celleste CEO Michal Beressi Golomb. “We’re really excited about it.” Click here for more 

Hunter Drones 

In southern Israel, close to the city of Be’er Sheva, Robotican has been developing a drone that can snatch its target out of the sky and even named it after a bird of prey that grapples with its enemies mid-flight. 

The Goshawk floating above its ‘nest’ (Photo: Ariel Gabay)

The Goshawk fully autonomous drone is a counter-UAS (unmanned aircraft system) designed to detect, track and destroy other craft. It sits in a metal box-like device that Robotican has dubbed its “smart nest,” waiting for its opportunity to strike. 

Once the radar system spots that a hostile drone has infiltrated the no-fly zone, the nest opens and the Goshawk takes to the air, chases it and catches it in a net.  

If the hostile drone is too heavy or if the Goshawk senses other threats, the net is sent plummeting to the ground with its victim trapped inside. Otherwise, it bears it safely to earth unharmed.  

According to Robotican, the Goshawk has already intercepted more than 250 enemy drones in its use by the Israel Defense Forces. Click here for more

Beating Bots With AI  

Tel Aviv-based Cyabra calls itself a “social threat intelligence” company, whose mission is to fight misinformation and expose online risk to individuals, institutions or even governments. 

Cyabra says unlike other cybersecurity companies, it focuses on accounts aiming to cause harm in the social sphere, rather than hackers who pose “classic threats” to infrastructure or hardware.

Cyabra roots out accounts spreading disinformation on social media (Image: Unsplash)

The company says its unique AI software can root out even the most sophisticated threats, quickly identifying malicious actors using social media and other online spaces such as comment sections, to spread false information. 

Hundreds of different behavioral parameters are fed into the Cyabara algorithm, including an account’s online behavior, the accounts that it follows and engages with and those that follow and engage with it.  

The company’s three founders are all veterans of the Israeli high-tech sector and two served in information warfare units in the IDF.  

“They developed the technical tools and skills to be able to track and fight disinformation, and then they started to use those skills for good,” said Cyabra VP Marketing Rafi Mendelsohn. Click here for more

Taxis In The Sky

Israel’s notorious traffic jams have led two companies to develop drones that can carry passengers in urban areas, by passing the clogged roads below. 

Dronery and AIR were both part of the Israel National Drone Initiative (INDI), which five years ago began preparing for the regular use of unmanned flying vehicles to carry goods as well as passengers.  

Dronery’s UAV is designed to carry people through the air for distances of up to 30km (Photo: Mark Nomdar)

Dronery’s Chinese-made, Israeli-adapted craft can carry 220 kg in cargo and fly as far as 30 km, while AIR’s homegrown AIR ONE craft can carry up to 250 kg and for a far greater distance of 160 km. 

Successful test flights last year involved taking off and landing in urban areas while carrying mannikins.  

“We believe that this whole technology is something that can really help solve urgent problems such as traffic and such as air pollution, and help us move things from place to place in a more efficient and safe way,” said Daniella Partem, who headed Israel’s drone project. Click here for more

To Catch A Hacker 

Pentera simulates attacks across an entire organization to pinpoint potentially exploitable gaps that make it vulnerable to potential hacking attempts.  

The company takes the perspective of the hackers in order to highlight the security gaps that would be most appealing to them, rather than just searching for any and all weaknesses. 

Pentera approaches cybersecurity from the perspective of the hackers (Photo: Depositphotos)

The system carries out the assessments automatically, without disrupting an organization’s ongoing operations, and focuses on two particular kinds of threats: exploitable gaps in the external attack surface – an organization’s digital footprint that is visible and accessible to anyone – and potential openings for malicious hackers using compromised credentials like passwords.

It identifies corporate passwords and other sensitive information that were leaked online either through the dark web or other resources used by hackers that make it vulnerable to cyberattacks. 

“Our goal is to find these exploitable gaps so that security teams can remediate the issues before our adversaries have a chance to use them,” said Pentera’s Senior Director of Product Management Ofer Yavelberg. Click here for more

Man Or Machine? 

Can you tell if you are talking to a computer or a real human? It’s not as easy as it might seem. 

A game created by AI21 Labs tests users’ skills in discerning the difference between bot and person with the aim of showing just how far artificial intelligence has advanced. And it even fooled its creator Amos Meron.

The game gives users two minutes to determine if they are talking to a human or bot (Image: Courtesy)

The premise is based on what Alan Turing, the father of modern computing, in the 1950s called the Imitation Game – a time when machines could imitate man so well that it would be difficult to tell from one the other. The test later came to be known as the Turing Test in his honor. 

Using an array of large language models (LLMs), including ChatGPT4 and AI21’s own Jurassic-2, the test makes each bot into its own character, with a name, location and date of birth, that has knowledge of recent events and even the current weather.

The test takes two minutes, which Meron calls the sweet spot as anything shorter is not enough interaction but a longer conversation could be boring or expose the flaws in the bot. Click here for more 

Cybersecurity In The Actual Clouds 

Cyviation says it is the first-ever company to focus on cybersecurity for aircraft, with a software solution that provides multiple levels of safety without having to make changes to the planes themselves.  

Cyvation keeps planes safe from cyberattacks with four levels of protection (Photo: Pexels)

The four-layer system is designed to reduce the risk of cyber attack, help manage such attacks should they occur and support airlines as they implement new and upcoming international regulations regarding cybersecurity in aviation. 

The first layer is a scan of an entire craft to create a virtual “twin” that allows the company to analyze any vulnerabilities on different severity levels.

The second is cybersecurity training for pilots, which the company says had not previously existed at all.  Similarly, the third layer of protection is security information and event management (SIEM), which trains pilots and crew in how to act should a cybersecurity incident actually occur.  

 The final layer is a set of patented devices that can detect any attack in real time, allowing the pilot to react swiftly to the threat. 

“When we look at cyber training, we don’t look at how you protect your password, we look at how you react when there is an event on the aircraft,” said Cyvation CEO Avi Tenenbaum. Click here for more 

Watchers Over The Waves

Drawing on decades of professional experience, two Israeli technology veterans created a new startup to combat cyberattacks on some of the country’s key institutions, including national water company Mekorot. 

IXDen’s founders and co-CEOs Zion Harel and Dr. Leonid Cooperman devised entirely new software from scratch with a focus on artificial intelligence and machine learning. 

IXDen protects the infrastructure of Israel’s national water carrier Mekorot from attack (Photo: Courtesy)

Collecting information from sensors placed around the company’s infrastructure, IXDen uses those algorithms to analyze millions of pieces of data every day in order to spot any anomalies that point to suspicious activity or even to just identify a fault in the system. 

The water company has around 3,000 sites in 10 regions across Israel, including 700 water pumping stations and 20 desalination sites. The IXDen platform is active at each location, analyzing 300 million pieces of data on a daily basis and feeding it all into one centralized system. Click here for more

The post Impact Innovation: Israeli Startups That Could Shape Our Future appeared first on NoCamels.

Leading green power company Enlight Renewable Energy has announced the completion of its Solar and Storage Cluster project in Israel, covering 12 locations in the north and the south of the country. 

The 12 installations were built in cooperation with multiple agricultural communities in Israel, and have a combined solar generation capacity of 254 MW and energy storage capacity of 594 MWh. While portions of it began commercial operation in 2023 and grid connections continued throughout 2024, the process has now been completed.

The Cluster’s entire output will be sold to Enlight’s supplier division, which markets the electricity directly to customers in Israel’s newly deregulated power market. 

The generation volumes of the Cluster currently account for 50 percent of all clean power produced under the new regulatory framework. 

“Today we completed the commencement of full commercial operations at the largest group of renewable energy facilities operating in Israel’s deregulated power market,” said Enlight MENA General Manager Gilad Peled. 

“The Cluster will generate attractive returns for Enlight, while creating a stable and vital source of income for our partners in the agricultural communities of Israel.”

Enlight is headquartered in Rosh Ha’ayin and operates in multiple countries worldwide, including Italy, Spain, Sweden and the US. 

The post Clean Energy Firm Completes Solar Project In North, South Israel appeared first on NoCamels.

An Israeli company that develops cannabis-based therapeutics says its CBD injections have proven effective in providing pain relief for dogs with naturally occurring osteoarthritis. 

According to InnoCan Pharma, a long-term treatment plan consistently demonstrated the LPT-CBD injection’s efficacy in pain reduction and improved mobility, with the effects lasting for several weeks after each treatment. 

This, the company says, demonstrates that LPT-CBD can be a viable treatment option for managing chronic pain and enhancing the quality of life in animals.

Two dogs suffering from osteoarthritis were treated for two years or more with LPT-CBD after failing to respond to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and oral CBD. Both animals showed noticeable pain relief, substantially improved mobility and obvious increased well-being. 

“We are thrilled with these findings, which highlight the long-lasting effects of repeated administration of LPT-CBD to treat chronic pain,” said InnoCan CSO Prof. Chezy Barenholz. 

“These results support the potential of LPT-CBD as a monthly treatment for chronic pain conditions, providing sustained relief. They position LPT-CBD as a breakthrough solution for managing chronic pain in animals and, by extension, human patients,” he said.

“This compassionate therapy has demonstrated significant efficacy in companion dogs and reinforces our commitment to advance FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) approval of LPT-CBD for the treatment of chronic pain in dogs,” said Dr. Eyal Kalo, InnoCan’s director of R&D.

The post Cannabis Therapy Firm: CBD Jab Reduces Pain In Arthritic Dogs  appeared first on NoCamels.

The US government is funding the development of an effective treatment created by Israeli firm RedHill Biopharma for the rare and deadly Ebola virus (EBOV).

The funding comes via the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR).  

A study last year carried out by RedHill found that twice-daily oral doses of its opaganib medication boosted survival from about six days to 11 days in mice infected with Ebola. 

Opaganib is a host-directed therapy, meaning rather than destroying the pathogen directly, it makes its local environment less favorable to grow and live in. 

The drug is also in development as a treatment for multiple cancers, COVID-19 and viral and inflammatory diseases.  

“EBOV is deadly, killing, on average, half of all those who contract it. This year marks 10 years since the West Africa Ebola epidemic in which 11,000 people died, and yet there are still no host-directed, small molecule therapies approved to provide effective and usable treatment strategies,” said RedHill Chief Business Officer Guy Goldberg.  

 “Currently only Inmazeb, a combination of three monoclonal antibodies, and Ebanga, a single monoclonal antibody, are FDA-approved to treat EBOV, as such there is an urgent medical need for additional effective and easy to distribute and administer EBOV therapies,” he said.  

The post US Government Funding Development Of Israeli Ebola Treatment appeared first on NoCamels.

With the adverse impact of climate change becoming clearer almost every day, the role of technology in mitigating these devastating effects has never been more important. 

Israeli innovation – from clean energy to agriculture technology – has made massive contributions to the world’s efforts to  deal with this phenomenon, and NoCamels takes a look at some of the companies that have the potential to make a real difference. 

Making A Splash With Clean Energy  

Eco Wave Power has become a worldwide phenomenon with its ability to transform water into electricity by using the power of waves. 

The company’s unique floating devices are placed in the water, where they rise and fall with the movement of waves, generating energy that is delivered to power stations on land. The power stations then convert that energy into pressure used to spin a generator, thereby producing electricity.

The system is already generating electricity in China, Israel, South America and the US, and the company lately signed an agreement to bring its technology to Taiwan.  

“It seems like slowly but surely the world understands the great potential and undeniable resource, which is wave energy,” said EWP co-founder and CEO Inna Braverman. 

Eco Wave Power’s floater technology draws energy from incoming waves by converting their motion into clean energy (Photo: Courtesy)

Click here for more

Air Con Without Electricity 

With no wires, no plugs and no greenhouse gasses, Green Kinko has developed the world’s first outdoors air conditioning unit to use liquid nitrogen as a power source. 

The Kensho unit quietly emits nitrogen gas at a temperature of -10C (14F) to cool the surrounding area, providing needed relief as the world gets hotter, without contributing to the problem. It even has the option of adding an insect repellent, to keep the mosquitoes at bay while enjoying a cool breeze in the garden. 

Liquid nitrogen is already in wide use as a coolant in multiple industries, and the Shefayim based company came up with the idea of using it to cool the air while working on an unrelated project with cryogenic (very low temperature) liquids.

“We have invented a new generation of air conditioner,” said Green Kinko CEO Tal Leizer. “The technology is unique and amazing.” 

The Kensho unit is the world’s first outdoor air conditioner that works without electricity (Photo: Courtesy)

Click here for more

Taking The Pollution Out Of Plastic  

UBQ Materials says its thermoplastic material, made from unsorted household waste, is considered to have the lowest carbon footprint in the world.

Each year, the world produces more than two billion tons of household waste, most of which is unrecyclable and sent to landfills, for incineration or dumped in open natural spaces. 

The company’s patented technology breaks down the waste into its most basic molecular components and assembles them into the new raw material. It can absorb all kinds of non-sorted household waste, including organic garbage, plastics, papers, cardboard and even dirty diapers.  

The process has zero emissions and uses little energy and no water, giving it a carbon footprint 15-20 times lower than that of alternative resins. 

“By converting solid waste into a sustainable circular thermoplastic that acts as a plastic substitute, we can stop covering up our waste and start transforming and reusing it in safe, affordable and beneficial ways,” said UBQ International Advisory Board member and former White House climate expert Gina McCarthy.  

UBQ Materials takes household waste and converts it into a bio-based plastic substitute (Photo: Courtesy)

Click here for more 

A Breath Of Fresh Air  

Using data from thousands of locations worldwide, BreezoMeter’s app gives users real time information on the air quality in their immediate vicinity – even as they move about. 

The startup takes data from government air monitoring stations – using more than 50,000 sources globally, including satellite, weather and traffic data. Its AI and machine-learning algorithms are then able to track levels of pollution street by street and hour by hour, and are accurate down to five meters (16 feet). 

Its Cleanest Route feature directs pedestrians and cyclists to the least polluted route for them, giving the options a score from 0 to 100, based on air pollution, pollen and smoke in the atmosphere. It also works for motorists, who are actually exposed to higher levels of pollution as they sit behind the wheel.

And so effective is the app, the startup was bought by Google in 2022, in a deal reported to have been worth more than $200 million.

“Our mission is to improve the health and safety of millions of people by reducing their exposure to environmental hazards,” said Tamir Kessel, BreezoMeter’s head of Business Development and Strategy.  

The BreezoMeter Air Quality map tells users how best to avoid pollution in the air (Photo: Courtesy)

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Keeping Urban Landscapes Green And Shady

Trees are one of the biggest casualties of human encroachment into natural landscapes. But one company has found a way to allow trees and technology to coexist – to the benefit of urban dwellers and nature. 

TreeTube’s proprietary tubes are massive, soil-filled cylinders made from inert plastic material (one quarter of which is recycled), which are fitted together like blocks and placed under roads and walkways alongside the infrastructure of modern life.

The tubes allow the roots of the trees to grow in non-compacted soil, unlike the earth needed for pipes and cables, giving them unfettered access to the ground, air and water they need to survive.

The company works primarily with local authorities and landscape architects, and installing the tubes is a quick and efficient process that takes just several hours. The tubes are already successfully in use in Israel, the Netherlands and Estonia, providing shade, keeping down urban temperatures and even reducing carbon emissions in the air. 

“Trees are fantastic filters,” said TreeTube co-founder Jonathan Antebi. “They are one of the utilities that have an actual return on investment to a municipality. 

TreeTube’s plastic-based tubular system is easy to install under sidewalks to let trees flourish in cities (Photo: Courtesy)

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Don’t Worry, Bee Happy  

As the world’s beekeepers warn of the dangers of rapidly disappearing colonies of the honeymakers, Israeli company BeeHero has created a way of monitoring their hives to ensure that the insects inside are happy and healthy. 

Tiny in-hive sensors (about the size of an AirPods case) act as eyes and ears for beekeepers who rely on the bees for honey and pollination of crops. 

They gather a wide range of data from inside the hives, including sound, light, temperature, vibration and humidity. The data is analyzed by the AI platform, which alerts keepers to potential issues that require their attention.

The company says its solution is in use in more than 200,000 hives worldwide and in 2022 alone saved the lives of a quarter of a billion bees, while its precision pollination program tells farmers just how many bees they need and where they need them. 

“I think what is very, very unique about BeeHero is the understanding… that there must be a way to apply Big Data, algorithms, machine learning and artificial intelligence into a legacy industry,” said BeeHero’s VP Global Strategy Eytan Schwartz. 

BeeHero uses sensor technology to monitor the welfare of bees in hives (Photo: Courtesy)

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Meat With Mercy 

The world’s first steak created without killing an animal was the work of Israeli startup Aleph Farms, which grows cultured cow cells in the lab to create meals to satisfy any carnivore. 

Scientists have warned of the environmental impact of the world’s high demand for meat, which requires massive swathes of land for grazing, which not only is resource heavy but also drives up production costs. 

Aleph Farms says its bio-engineering platform, developed in conjunction with the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, means it can grow steak in the lab without the need for vast tracts of land, water, feed and other resources to raise cattle. Nor does Aleph require antibiotics, whose use in animal feed has exacerbated the growing phenomenon of antibiotic resistance.

The startup uses a combination of six unique, innovative technologies, including the bioreactors in which the cells are grown, which also allow it to drop the production costs of the meat.  

“We’re shaping the future of the meat industry — literally,” said Aleph Farms co-founder and CEO Didier Toubia. 

Aleph Farms creates cultivated meat with less resources and animal cruelty (Photo: Courtesy)

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The post Israeli GreenTech Making Our World A Happier, Healthier Place  appeared first on NoCamels.

Israeli company SuperCom, which provides security solutions for digital operations, has been awarded a five-year contract by the government-run Israel Prison Service (IPS) to deploy its PureSecurity Electronic Monitoring (EM) Suite, alongside its prime partner Electra. 

The full-service contract, which is already in effect, includes all EM programs within Israel, including SuperCom’s existing Home Detention Monitoring program and additional GPS Tracking programs.

The program is expected to cover all EM offender programs in Israel, with an estimated 1,500 enrollees and potential for expansion. SuperCom says it will deploy its cutting-edge EM solutions, including PureCom, PureTrack, PureTag, and PureBeacon. 

The contract also includes the option for up to four one-year extensions.  

“We are deeply honored to support Israel’s public safety infrastructure during these challenging times,” said SuperCom CEO and President Ordan Trabelsi. 

“By providing the Israel Prison Service state agency with our advanced electronic monitoring solutions, we reaffirm our unwavering commitment to making Israel safer for all its citizens,” he said.

“We also thank our partner, Electra, one of the most reputable and reliable nationwide security services providers. Together, we offered a winning proposal that combines the most advanced technologies and services to meet the critical needs of the IPS.”  

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CivicLabs, a joint initiative by the Israeli government and private industry to help the high-tech industry in the north, has launched a new program designed to promote startups in the Built Environment (human-created spaces) sector. 

The initiative was devised by Baran Group, Israel’s largest engineering company, and the program focuses on early-stage startups in the sector that have demonstrated both technological and business feasibility.

Forty percent of the startups participating in the program are from the north of Israel, where swathes of the area have been devastated by rocket fire from the Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon since the day after the massive terror attack by Hamas in the south last October.

Over a period of six to eight months, the program will offer professional guidance, access to funding and investment opportunities, support for technological and business development, access to R&D infrastructure, pilot opportunities with potential customers and networking with global investors specializing in the Built Environment. 

The five startups selected for the program so far last week presented their ventures at an event held at Meta’s offices, attended by Alon Stopel, the chairman of the Israel Innovation Authority and chief scientist at the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, along with investors, potential partners and leading industry experts.

“Our vision is not only to provide technological and business support but also to establish a comprehensive connection to the entire ecosystem in the north,” said CivicLabs CEO Yogev Katzir.

“This is crucial during normal times and even more so now. We believe that in this challenging period, breakthrough solutions can emerge that will transform the industry and revitalize the economy in the north. Our goal is to position Israel, particularly the north, as a leading technology hub in the Built Environment sector, thereby developing innovative technologies and strengthening the local economy,” he said. 

“The North needs support now more than ever, and at this moment, we are proud to spearhead a significant change in the industry,” said Baran Israel CEO Zohar Nevo.

“The Startup Nation, which has already demonstrated its leadership in various technological fields, is taking another step toward fostering innovation in the Built Environment sectors, which are essential for the ecosystem, independence, and resilience of the Israeli economy, now more than ever.”

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Israel Aerospace Industries, a world leader in the aerospace and defense sectors, has opened its first American innovation center in Washington, D.C., marking the event with the launch of a new accelerator program. 

The new IAI Catalyst program focuses on a number of fields critical to the future of aerospace innovation, among them AI, quantum science, energy and space technology, with the stated aim of becoming an epicenter for aerospace innovation. 

IAI says the Catalyst program will host two cohorts every year, each comprising four startups who have passed a rigorous screening process. 

The selected startups will be provided with office space, technological and business support from IAI and an investment of $100,000, and will be encouraged to work with IAI engineers on future advanced technologies.

“We are proud to launch the Israel Aerospace Industries Innovation Center in the United States, marking a significant milestone that underscores the deep bond between Israel and the US,,” said Amir Peretz, IAI’s Chairman of the Board of Directors and former Israeli defense minister. 

“This center symbolizes the partnership between Israel and America, and the achievements that are reshaping global defense and technology. Together, we will continue to lead, innovate, and shape the future for future generations,” he said.

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Raanana-based startup Cympire has been selected by the Israel Defense Forces to use its cybersecurity training and assessment platform for training. 

Cympire says its military-grade platform provides hyper-realistic training environments and is designed to meet the needs of military, government, enterprise organizations and higher education, 

The platform enables users to “train-as-they-fight,” offering mission-critical readiness, as well as online training content and services.

“We are honored to be selected by the IDF for this critical project. Cympire’s platform offers the most advanced capabilities for building cyber defense skills, and we are committed to supporting the IDF in maintaining their leading edge in cybersecurity,” said Cympire CEO Yaniv Shachar.

According to Cympire’s senior advisor US Maj. Gen. Neil S. Hersey, the former Deputy Commanding General – Operations at the US Army Cyber Command, the partnership underscores the company’s ability to meet the demands of elite military cyber units. 

“By leveraging Cympire’s platform, the IDF will enhance its ability to counter advanced cyber threats effectively. I am excited to see this technology being utilized in one of the world’s most challenging and dynamic cyber defense environments,” he said.

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American pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has completed its purchase of Israeli medtech company V-Wave, which makes a device to treat heart failure, after the prospective acquisition was announced in August. 

The Israeli company has now become part of Johnson & Johnson MedTech.  

V-Wave’s proprietary, minimally invasive Ventura Interatrial Shunt (IAS) is designed to treat patients with heart failure. The shunt between the left and right atria in the heart aims to reduce elevated pressure in the left atrium. 

It received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation in 2019 and CE mark in 2020, and, according to Johnson & Johnson, has the potential to be the first device of its kind to market.

The American multinational said in August that it would pay up to $1.7 billion for V-Wave. This included a sum of $600 million upfront, followed by further payments totalling some $1.1 billion should V-Wave hit certain regulatory and commercial milestones. 

“We’re excited to officially welcome V-Wave to Johnson & Johnson MedTech,” saif Johnson & Johnson Executive VP and Worldwide Chairman Tim Schmid. 

“V-Wave’s novel implantable device, the Ventura Interatrial Shunt, offers tremendous promise for patients experiencing heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. This technology has the potential to be the first device of its kind to market. We look forward to working with the talented V-Wave team to bring this transformative innovation to patients.”

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Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot have created a new composite plastic that degrades easily using bacteria that is cheap, strong and simple to prepare. 

Seeking to create a composite plastic that would meet the needs of industry while also being environmentally friendly, the researchers decided to focus on commonplace, inexpensive source materials whose properties could be improved. 

They found that molecules of tyrosine – a prevalent amino acid that forms exceptionally strong nanocrystals – could be used as an effective component in a biodegradable composite plastic. 

And after examining how tyrosine combines with several types of polymers, they also chose hydroxyethyl cellulose, a cellulose derivative employed extensively in the manufacture of medicines and cosmetics.

When hydroxyethyl cellulose and tyrosine are combined, they form an exceptionally strong composite plastic made of fiber-like tyrosine nanocrystals that grow and integrate into the hydroxyethyl cellulose. 

The study was led by Dr. Angelica Niazov-Elkan, Dr. Haim Weissman and Prof. Boris Rybtchinski of Weizmann’s Department of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science. 

As both cellulose and tyrosine are edible, the biodegradable composite plastic can actually be eaten. The researchers say, however, that as the conditions in the lab are not suitable for foodstuffs, they have yet to sample their new material.

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The Startup Nation is world-famous for its innovation in a wide range of fields, from cybersecurity that protects from hackers to awe-inspiring defense tech on the ground and in the air that keeps us all safer.  

But for many who find themselves facing the greatest battle of all – for their health – Israeli companies have developed truly life-changing medical technology. 

We take a look at some of the most significant innovations, which have the potential to really make the world a better and healthier place. 

Freezing Out Cancer 

IceCure Medical’s ProSense system does what the name of the company suggests – freezing tumors as a treatment for early-stage breast, lung, liver and kidney cancers. 

Doctors insert a small needle into the tumor, using liquid nitrogen to freeze it to temperatures as low as -170°C, without harming the healthy tissue that surrounds it. The cells die as they thaw, and are then absorbed by the body.

The system can be used in a doctor’s own surgery with no invasive treatment or general anesthetic, involving no hospitalization or tissue removal that can cause scarring. The ice ball also has an analgesic effect, providing additional numbing and pain relief to the treated area.

Today, ProSense currently has regulatory approval in 15 countries, including Canada, the United States and China.

IceCure allows physicians to remove tumors by freezing them with liquid nitrogen – with no need for hospitalization (Photo: Courtesy)

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Wheelchair That Puts Users Back On Their Feet  

The wife of inventor and entrepreneur Dr. Amit Goffer cried when she saw him standing on his own feet for the first time, after almost two decades in a wheelchair, thanks to his UpnRide development.  

The unique mobility device gives users the freedom to sit, stand and travel in an upright position, and can lift the user from a sitting to a standing position – and back again – unaided.

Goffer had lost the use of both legs and some movement in his arms when he broke his neck in an ATV accident in 1997, He had already invented the “bionic” ReWalk, a wearable device that allows paraplegics to walk again, and then began developing a solution for people who did not have the upper-body function it requires.  

And unlike other similar solutions on the market, FDA-approved UpnRide’s sophisticated technology allows the user to travel upright at 4km per hour regardless of terrain, tackling almost all urban environments. Click here for more

Dr. Amit Goffer visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem using the mobility device he invented (Photo: Courtesy)

Delivering An IVF Baby Boom 

Israel loves babies. It is the only developed nation on the planet with an above-average number of births per woman and is by far the world leader in IVF procedures. 

So it is hardly surprising that a major revolution in the efficacy of IVF treatments should be Israeli. 

Tel Aviv-based startup AIVF uses artificial intelligence to select the embryo with the best chance of being successfully implanted into a woman’s womb. 

Using massive amounts of biological data, the EMA platform was trained to understand developmental biology in order to detect milestones and parameters in a developing embryo. 

The founders created the platform based on the premise that AI would be better than the human eye at the “crucial point“ of evaluating embryos in the lab and determining which of a woman’s fertilized eggs was most likely to be viable. 

The AIVF platform predicts which embryos fertilized using IVF are most likely to result in pregnancy (Photo: Depositphotos)

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Tiny Camera Is Canceling Colonoscopies   

Perhaps the most famous of Israeli medtech developments, the PillCam is a non-invasive method of detecting disorders in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. 

Developed by Given Imaging (today owned by American multinational Medtronic), the pill-sized camera is ingested by patients, which allows physicians to visualize the esophagus, colon and areas of the small intestine. This is vital for detecting diseases including Crohn’s, obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB) and even esophageal cancer.

After a 10-hour fast, patients swallow the PillCam that then passes naturally through the digestive system over an eight-hour period. During that time PillCam transmits approximately 50,000 images, which can then be downloaded and reviewed by the physician.  

The pill also costs around $800, making it far cheaper than a colonoscopy that can come with a price tag of more than $4,000 and is often far more uncomfortable. 

Since acquiring Given Imaging, Medtronic has opened development centers in Jerusalem and Yokneam, where it employs around 750 people. 

The PillCam allows physicians to examine the gastrointestinal tract without a colonoscopy (Photo: Courtesy)

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Predicting Strokes With Sensors

Prevention, as the saying goes, is better than a cure, and Avertto’s groundbreaking wearable device alerts people to the dangers of an imminent stroke before it even happens. 

The first-ever device of its kind uses cutting-edge pulse wave analysis technology to monitor changes in the blood flow to the brain through the carotid artery, allowing immediate medical steps to be taken to mitigate the risk. 

Strokes are most commonly caused by a clot blocking the essential supply of blood to the brain, and according to the World Health Organization are the second leading cause of death and the leading cause of disability across the globe. 

Avertto’s device uses sensors placed over the carotid arteries, the two major blood vessels on either side of the neck that provide the blood supply to the brain.

A lower blood flow level indicates potential blockages in the carotid arteries. The device’s AI-based alert system detects these changes and within seconds notifies the wearer, first responders and healthcare providers. 

Avertto’s wearable device monitor changes in the blood flow to the brain via the carotid arteries (Images: Courtesy)

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AI Platform Makes Snappy Work Of Diabetic Eye Test

A store-bought camera and a revolutionary AI platform have made simple work of one of the seemingly endless list of tests required by diabetics to monitor their health – with minimum discomfort and in a convenient setting.  

AEYE Health’s proprietary software analyzes an image of the eye for diabetic retinopathy – damage to the blood vessels in the retina that can lead to blindness – without having to dilate the pupil in an uncomfortable and incapacitating procedure. 

Building the platform, which uses machine learning, involved collecting and analyzing massive amounts of data in order to understand how to differentiate between patients whose eyes needed no immediate further care and those who required a referral to an ophthalmologist. 

The method can be used by a family doctor at a pharmacy or even in a patient’s own home, and yields immediate results, avoiding the discomfort and inconvenience that deters many people from having the crucial annual test. 

So remarkable is the development that AEYE Health CEO Zack Dvey-Aharon was recently named by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence for 2024. 

The AEYE Health technology allows crucial eye tests to be carried out in a convenient setting (Photo: Courtesy)

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Mapping Endometriosis Without Surgery 

Women suffering from endometriosis – when tissue similar to the womb lining grows as “lesions” on other parts of the body – have traditionally had to undergo painful and invasive surgery to properly assess the extent of the debilitating disease.  

So challenging has been the detection of the disease, Yale Medicine says that it takes between four to 11 years from the onset of symptoms to diagnosis and treatment.  

But femtech startup EndoCure has developed an AI-powered ultrasound platform for comprehensive mapping of the lesions, leading to quicker diagnosis and customized treatment options for the one in 10 women of reproductive age worldwide who suffer from endometriosis. 

The lesions appear primarily on the ovaries, bowel and other areas of the pelvic region, causing severe pain and affecting fertility. 

EndoCure’s system integrates with standard ultrasound equipment, streaming the data using its own software as the area is scanned.  It produces 3D imaging that is able to detect lesions smaller than one millimeter, which are extremely hard for current systems to spot.

Scar tissue on a woman’s reproductive system caused by endometriosis (Image: Depositphotos)

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An honorable mention also goes to femtech startup Gynica, which has developed a treatment for endometriosis with cannabinoids, the main component in the cannabis plant. 

The startup’s proprietary slow-release suppository makes use of cannabinoids’ anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, as well as their ability to deter the movement of the endometrium cells to different parts of the body in a three-fold treatment that tackles different aspects of endometriosis. Click here for more

The post Israeli Medical Technologies That Could Change The World appeared first on NoCamels.

The Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) has approved a second year of funding for a joint R&D project to develop CRISPR gene-editing technology for crustaceans that will improve key traits such as growth rate, disease resistance and environmental adaptation. 

The joint project by sustainable aquaculture company Watershed AC, computational biotech firm Evogene and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) focuses on giant freshwater prawn, white leg shrimp and red swamp crayfish.

CRISPR is a powerful gene-editing tool that allows for the modification of DNA with unprecedented precision and ease, making it a valuable tool in various fields of research and biotechnology.

The decision by the IIA – the government agency dedicated to supporting the national tech sector – came after the collaboration partners met their targeted goals in the first year of research. 

Using Evogene’s advanced GeneRator AI tech-engine and other tools, Watershed and BGU successfully produced the first edited giant freshwater prawn with selected gene modifications by using CRISPR.  

In the second year, the collaboration’s main target is to industrially scale-up CRISPR technology for giant freshwater prawn and expand the obtained application to other two crustacean species.  

The collaborators say the global shrimp market, which was worth $40.35 billion in 2023, is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.09 percent and the global crayfish market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 31.5 percent during the next eight years, 

These growing markets increasingly emphasize the need to expand sustainable aquaculture, the team says, making the technology developed in the frame of the collaboration exceptionally relevant.

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Eco Wave Power, an Israeli company that uses waves to create energy, has signed an agreement to bring its technology to Taiwan.

According to the agreement, the Tel Aviv-based company will sell its first wave energy generation unit to I-Ke International Ocean Energy, a subsidiary of leading maritime engineering company Lian Tat.

I-Ke will provide the full financing for the 100KW pilot project, by buying a turnkey conversion unit from Eco Wave Power, the agreement states. The conversion unit includes all the hydraulic and electric conversion parts, coupled with the smart control and automation system.

This agreement is based on a memorandum of understanding signed between Lian Tat and Eco Wave Power in June 2023, and will leverage the latter’s technology to maximize energy extraction on the Taiwanese coastline.

“The construction of Eco Wave Power’s project is relatively easy, and I believe that it will be a significant stepping stone for the development of green electricity in Taiwan,” said Lian Tat Chairman CY Huang. 

“I also think that this will allow Taiwan to break away from existing renewable energy restrictions and develop in the direction of diversified renewable energy,” he said. 

“I am certain that Eco Wave Power’s official visit in Taiwan and the signing of this official collaboration agreement between our companies is the beginning of a true friendship and a productive business collaboration,” said Eco Wave Power founder and CEO Inna Braverman. 

“I believe that this new collaboration will not only be a win-win collaboration for both parties but will also serve as a pioneering step towards the implementation and adaptation of wave energy all over Asia, as this will be the first onshore wave energy array in the region. So let’s change the world together – One Wave at a Time!” 

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A new AI tool created by Microsoft, in association with a group documenting the events of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 of last year, facilitates the preservation of real-time testimonies from that day as part of a collective memory. 

Engineers from Microsoft Israel’s R&D department teamed up with Edut 710 to develop the unique tool, which allows anyone to create a personalized ceremony, event or learning session. 

The ceremony can include video testimonies, background materials, artwork and texts related to the October 7 attack,and creators end up with a customized PowerPoint presentation of their work.

Edut 710 was founded to preserve the memories of the victims of the mass terror attack in southern Israel, collecting testimonies of survivors in full detail. So far, more than 1,200 testimonies have been collected as part of a project to create a comprehensive national archive. This archive could then be used to teach and discuss the attack even when survivors cannot be physically present. 

Browsers of the collective digital memory bank do so with the help of advanced language-learning models (LLMs),which allow it to carry out sophisticated searches across hundreds of testimonies. 

“Collaborating with the amazing employees at Microsoft has allowed us to take another step forward in our commitment to the survivors, their stories, and society at large, ensuring that these testimonies reach a wide audience and are not just preserved in archives,” said Itay Ken-Tor, co-founder and Head of Partnerships and Resource Development at Edut 710. 

“We are excited by the collaboration and the amazing dedication of the Microsoft volunteers who created such an important and impactful platform in such a short time, and we thank them all,” he said. 

“Above all, we are deeply moved by the ability of users to send personal thanks to the survivors whose testimonies they heard. From our experience and consultations with experts, we know how significant this is for them.”

The post Microsoft Creates AI Tool To Help Preserve October 7 Testimonies   appeared first on NoCamels.

Israeli water management pioneer LeakZon has announced the official release of what it says is the first and only dedicated platform designed to significantly reduce water loss rates and enhance the control and clarity of water networks. 

The WEAD (Water Efficiency, Anomaly Detection) platform contains an automated algorithm to identify, categorize and address any anomalies in a water system, monitoring the problem and its performance until resolution.

The  SaaS solution integrates with any Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) platform, and is the only platform available that supports simultaneous integration with multiple AMI platforms. 

The platform, which is available for water utilities, municipalities, smart meter manufacturers and multifamily property owners, also maintains high levels of cybersecurity to safeguard customer data. 

Its capabilities include reducing water loss by up to 66 percent; an intuitive dashboard that provides a clear snapshot of entire water networks; and a Virtual District Metered Area (VDMA) that presents a holistic view of water networks.

“We are thrilled to offer utilities the opportunity to enhance their water loss management,” said LeakZon CEO Dan Winter. 

“With numerous customers already benefiting from our solution, we are confident that WEAD will help utilities, municipalities, and multifamily property owners increase their revenue and significantly reduce water loss. In light of the global climate crisis, LeakZon has made sustainability one of our top priorities, and we are pleased to be able to make our humble contribution to creating a better and safer world.”

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“We will dance again” has become an Israeli mantra of hope and resilience following the massacre at the Nova music festival on October 7, when Hamas terrorists brutally slaughtered 364 people at the dance party and kidnapped dozens more to nearby Gaza. 

Vibez, a unique, young platform for music events, is determined to help Israelis do just that – with major input from a famous Israeli DJ whose son was one of the victims of the Nova attack. 

The memorial to the victims of the massacre at the Nova music festival in southern Israel (Photo: Shlomo Roded/PikiWiki)

The platform is available in app and browser form, and operates as a portal for private communities for specific events, which anyone can apply to join. The platform serves as a complete environment for each event, with social media features, member offers and ticket sales. 

“We built an ecosystem for advanced communities that does much more than just ticketing,” Dovev explains. “We do the whole aspect of member management.”  

And no other platform in the world, he says, has the same range of features as Vibez. 

One of the main communities on the platform – with more than 10,000 members –  is operated by David Abramov, better known in the Israeli music world as DJ Darwish, who is also a member of the Vibez advisory board.   

Abramov’s 20-year-old son Laor was initially declared missing in the chaotic aftermath of the Nova attack and tragically later found to be among the dead. 

Launched just two weeks before the massacre at the Nova festival on October 7, Vibez co-founder and CEO Saar Dovev tells NoCamels that it took until mid-March for Israeli events to begin happening again. 

Nova was a prime example of a community-based music festival, Dovev says. 

Saar Dovev: We realized that events were building themselves communities (Photo: Courtesy)

Each community – be it created by an individual, specific festival or club – has its own pages on the platform, with listings for upcoming events, messages from the operators and special offers exclusive to that group. 

Would-be members ask to join the specific community in order to access their features and, once approved, can interact and receive often exclusive details of upcoming events.  

Dovev explains that each community can also define the levels of membership within it, such as premium or VIP, set up event promotions or even just send messages to its members. A social media aspect, allowing members to chat, is also in development. 

“We are a little bit like Meetup,” Dovev says, referring to the global forum for people to find others in their immediate vicinity who share their interests, “but for nightlife, festivals, parties – everything to do with culture.” 

Dovev set up Vibez in late 2021 with co-founder Yael Dovev, who is the company COO and also his wife, whom he fondly refers to as his “partner in crime.”  

An experienced entrepreneur in the event industry, Dovev had created ticketing platform EventBUZZ more than a decade ago, but came to realize that as events of all kinds were building communities around themselves, they would need a dedicated home to manage all their interactions. 

“Communities became a big thing everywhere, in every segment of life,” he says.  

The founders funded the development of the platform themselves, with no external investment and a small team to write the code and develop the software themselves. 

“I’m very proud of the fact that we are a bootstrap company, and we reached the milestone that we have reached,” Dovev says, adding that Vibez “didn’t spend a shekel on marketing.”  

That milestone includes some 100,000 users in Israel and an app that he says has been downloaded by more than 10 percent of that number – making it the 15th most popular app in the country in less than a year. 

The Vibez app has become one of the most popular apps in Israel (Photo: Courtesy)

Although currently operating primarily in Israel, the platform has also expanded internationally with events in Finland and Thailand, and has already established itself as a firm fixture in the latter. 

Vibez is also hopeful that a large music festival in Europe will be using the platform in the near future, and has its sights set on the US, where it has already registered the company. 

Although the emphasis is on music events, Dovev says the platform is suitable for any kind of cultural experience. 

“If it has culture, if it has music, sound, art, movement, it’s relevant for us,” he says.

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The Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) has announced the 20 Israeli climate tech companies that will be featured at the United Nations COP29 Climate Conference set to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan in November. 

The 20 companies operate in a diverse range of sectors related to green tech – including renewable energy; water; advanced agriculture; and smart transportation – and each has its own innovative solution to combating the global climate crisis.

The various companies were chosen in order to showcase the impact of Israeli innovation in this ecosystem, and will be present at the Israeli pavilion inside the event’s main Blue Zone hub. 

COP29 will be the UN’s 29th climate conference, the largest event of its kind in the world. More than 100 heads of state and over 40,000 participants – including members of governments, the private sector, academia and financial institutions – 

are expected to attend this year’s conference, which will focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change, with an emphasis on innovative and sustainable solutions.

The Israeli companies selected are: 

Airovation Tech: Developed a unique technology for capturing and storing carbon dioxide from the air, enabling industries such as fertilizers, cement and steel to significantly reduce carbon emissions

CarbonBlue: Removes carbon dioxide from ocean water, allowing it to absorb more CO₂ from the atmosphere without requiring water pre-treatment

Rewind: Developed a carbon dioxide removal method involving the storage of biomass in the 2km deep, oxygen-depleted waters of the Black Sea

Momentick: Uses advanced sensors and artificial intelligence to provide precise and autonomous capabilities for detecting and quantifying methane and other greenhouse gas emissions worldwide

Senecio Robotics: Tackles the global mosquito epidemic by developing an AI-powered robotic platform that releases sterile males, dramatically reducing mosquito populations in vast areas

TextRe: Specializes in converting synthetic textile waste into sustainable recycled materials used in various applications in the plastics industry.

Treetoscope: Presents advanced irrigation optimization technology in agriculture, reducing water waste and promoting efficient use of renewable water sources

BlueGreen Water Technologies: Purifies polluted lakes by combining innovative materials and technologies to treat stagnant water sources and rivers

SolCold: Developed a unique nanotechnological coating that cools buildings under sunlight without the need for electricity, making it a perfect solution for extremely hot regions

EZPack: Provides off-grid water solutions for rural areas, with technologies that supply clean water for drinking and agriculture even in harsh conditions

NGV: Offers technology to reduce carbon emissions from polluting industries while creating sustainable products, enabling over an 80-percent reduction in emissions throughout the lifecycle

Envomed: Developed a solution for the treatment of hazardous medical waste, focusing on environmental preservation and reducing pollutant emissions

Reep Technologies: Removes ink from paper in a way that allows paper reuse, reducing pollution in the printing industry

H2OLL: Provides technology to extract drinking water directly from the air, a unique solution for areas with water shortages

Salicrop: Develops environmentally friendly fertilizer alternatives that help plants adapt to harsh climatic conditions

ANINA Culinary Art: Offers unique packaging solutions for healthy, eco-friendly meals that are ready to eat within minutes

CI Sensing: Developed a revolutionary solution for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions based on Optical Gas Imaging technology, which helps energy companies reduce emissions and enhance safety against leaks

Marine Edge: Provides optimization solutions for shipping companies, reducing fuel consumption and pollutant emissions

Terra: Developed technology for managing and monetizing carbon removal for farmers

The post Israel Sending 20 Green Tech Firms To UN Climate Conference appeared first on NoCamels.

One year after the brutal mass attack by Hamas terrorists on southern Israel, and the country is still dealing with the subsequent and ongoing war in Gaza, driving Hezbollah from the northern border, and attacks by Iran and its other proxies in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. 

But during the past year, Israelis have displayed the resilience, determination and creativity that has helped them overcome the threats they have faced since the creation of the state in 1948 and for which they have a worldwide reputation. 

So too has the national innovation ecosystem risen to the occasion, displaying the same tenacity that earned it the moniker Startup Nation, and using it to rehabilitate the country during the greatest challenge of its 76-year history.  

Perhaps in the realest sense of the word rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center – Israel’s largest and internationally ranked hospital – is developing the most groundbreaking surgical techniques to improve the lives of Israeli veterans who were wounded in the line of duty. 

The soldiers underwent what Sheba said were life-changing procedures by Israeli and top global surgeons, with the aim of helping them to reclaim their sense of empowerment and independence. 

The foreign surgeons also worked with their Israeli counterparts on these new techniques, in a joint project by Sheba and Brothers for Life, a non-profit organization providing critical and immediate aid to wounded IDF veterans.

The innovative techniques will now be used to operate on IDF veterans such as Sergeant O., who lost his right leg after stepping on an IED during a mission in the West Bank in January, and who has since  experienced severe pain due to nerve damage. 

Sergeant O. was set to undergo surgery at Sheba to ease the pain, a procedure to be led by Dr. Jason Souza, Director of the Orthoplastic Reconstruction and Advanced Amputation Program at Ohio State University.  

“We are humbled and honored to serve those who have served us. It is our duty to help veterans rebuild their lives and enable them to look ahead to a future filled with hope and possibilities,” said Dr. Avi Avitan, head of Sheba’s Outpatient Rehab Clinic. 

“Our network of healthcare professionals, including surgeons, physical therapists and prosthetists assists patients along every step towards recovery, providing support in every way possible. They fought their battle on the front line, and now it is our turn to fight alongside them in their journey to recovery and rehabilitation,” he said. 

Brothers for Life today works with 2,000 wounded IDF veterans and its co-founder and executive chairman Gil Ganonyan, who was also wounded in battle, anticipates that more veterans will look to the organization for support in the coming months. 

“We are fully committed to continuing our vital mission of supporting the physical and mental recovery of our heroes, putting the puzzle pieces back together to build a stronger, more resilient future,” Ganonyan said. 

Coping with the wounds of the past year also means healing the mental scars, and Israel’s innovation ecosystem has also been hard at work in this sphere too.  

Medical cannabis company SyqeAir – which created the world’s first inhaler with metered doses for pain management – has developed an online questionnaire to recognize early symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and recommendations for professional help for anyone suffering from mental distress. 

The number of Israelis dealing with PTSD has almost doubled in the past year (Photo: Pexels)

According to the Israeli Center for Suicide Research, the number of Israelis dealing with PTSD has almost doubled in the past year from 16 percent to 30 percent. Furthermore, a survey by the University of Haifa also found that approximately 60 percent of the population not directly affected by the war are experiencing acute stress disorder (ASD), which when left untreated has the potential to develop into PTSD.

SyqeAir’s questionnaire asks respondents about their recent emotions and behaviors, and the degree of their intensity, which may reveal symptoms characteristic of PTSD. 

The completed questionnaire is analyzed for signs of symptoms characteristic of PTSD. If such signs appear, the respondent is recommended to contact a professional for a full diagnosis and treatment advice. 

The questions are based on a self-report survey used by the National Center for PTSD at the US Department of Veterans affairs, which assesses 20 symptoms of post-traumatic stress. 

According to SyqeAir, its data shows a 350 percent increase in victims of hostilities being treated with medical cannabis, of which 56 percent are being treated for PTSD. 

The data also shows a 150 percent increase in members of the security forces being treated with medical cannabis, of which 57 percent are dealing with PTSD from the ongoing conflict.

“Professional estimates suggest that by the end of 2025, between 1.5 to 2 million individuals may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),” said SyqeAir CEO Hagit Kamin. 

“Our newly developed digital tool aims to raise awareness about post-traumatic symptoms and offers an early self-identification solution for those in need of help and professional guidance to improve their well-being,” she said. 

“Considering the rapid increase in the number of people experiencing PTSD, we recognize the critical need to provide the general public with an initial identification tool to promote awareness and enable individuals to seek treatment as early as possible.”

Young Israelis are also innovating for better medical solutions, with students at Afeka College of Engineering creating new technologies for emergency medical services in the wake of the October 7 attacks. 

The top three winning entries were an AI-powered platform to streamline patient medical history, thereby reducing time to treatment; a smart bandage that helps prevent sepsis by detecting an infection based on the changes in a patient’s pH levels; and a drone that can deliver medical equipment to remote areas.

The unique solutions for emergency care were created during the Tel Aviv college’s third annual 24-hour hackathon, and is an issue of great importance to Afeka, which has seen 42 percent of its study body serving in the Israel Defense Forces during the course of the war. 

Afeka students beside a Magen David Adom ambulance during the college’s hackathon for medical care innovation (Photo: Courtesy)

The event, dubbed “the MDAthon,” was held in conjunction with Magen David Adom, Israel’s national rescue service, and included multidisciplinary teams of students and alumni, emergency responders and industry professionals. 

“The demand for skilled engineers has never been greater, especially during these critical times,” said Afeka President Prof. Ami Moyal. 

“Our students will be the leaders and innovators that drive future success, will drive our economy, and ensure Israel’s continued success on the global stage.”

The post Rehabilitation Nation: Israeli Innovation On Road To Healing  appeared first on NoCamels.

Israeli medical diagnostic company MeMed has announced the successful completion of the first randomized controlled trial in the US of its test to differentiate between bacterial and viral infections. 

The test could reduce the amount of use of antibiotics, which do not work on viral infections but whose prescription for them plays a part in the growing problem of antibiotic resistance in bacteria.

The company says the trial of the MeMed BV test successfully demonstrates its clinical utility in promoting appropriate antibiotic use, highlighting its potential to improve patient outcomes and healthcare decision making. It also called the trial a critical step toward making the test the standard for distinguishing bacterial and viral infections.  

The randomized controlled trial was conducted across 11 Emergency Departments (EDs) and Urgent Care Centers (UCCs) in the US and Israel, and included 260 adult patients with clinical suspicion of lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI). 

The first small-scale analysis of data from the trial showed a 62 percent relative reduction in unnecessary antibiotic prescription rates, while follow-up data indicated no significant increase in the rate of return ED/UCC visits within 7 days.

“The results of this trial build on a decade-long series of studies involving thousands of patients, demonstrating the high performance of the MeMed BV technology,” said MeMed co-founder and CEO Dr. Eran Eden. 

“This trial marks a significant step forward by generating interventional data and showcasing the test’s actual impact on patients. We are committed to further expanding on these findings, with several additional utility and real-world studies underway,” he said.  

The post Israeli Test To Tell If Infection Bacterial Or Viral Successful In Trial  appeared first on NoCamels.

Tel Aviv University (TAU) has been ranked seventh worldwide and first outside the US in the 2024 Pitchbook Ranking for global entrepreneurship. 

The annual ranking, published by renowned business data research company Pitchbook, tracks startups raising capital in the US, using the number of entrepreneurs among an institution’s alumni to compile the top 50 universities.

TAU says the achievement was driven by 893 alumni with bachelor’s degrees who have founded 755 companies over the past decade, raising $29.8 billion in total capital. 

While TAU joins world-famous US universities such as Stanford, MIT and Harvard in the top 10, it places higher than Yale, Columbia and Princeton, who were ranked 11th, 13th and 14th respectively. 

Pitchbook singled out three companies founded by TAU alumni that have each raised over $1 billion: Generate ($4.3 billion); Lendbuzz ($1.2 billion); and Next Insurance ($1.1 billion).

“TAU continues to be Israel’s main entrepreneurial university and a global leader in producing alumni who become entrepreneurs, found companies, raise venture capital and drive economic progress,” said Prof. Moshe Zviran, the university’s Chief Entrepreneurship & Innovation Officer. 

“TAU’s 7th place in the Pitchbook ranking is another testament to the exceptional quality of our alumni and the impact of our entrepreneurial ecosystem on campus, which actively promotes this mindset,” he said. 

Three other Israeli universities made the list: the Technion – Israel School of Technology in Haifa, which was ranked 16th; the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which was ranked 30th; and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, which was ranked 47th.

The post Tel Aviv University Ranked 7th In World For Global Entrepreneurship appeared first on NoCamels.

Footage shows terrorist advancing towards Israeli forces, who open fire at close range, eliminating the threat.

<p>Western intelligence sources have identified in the past 24 hours “unusual aerial activity” by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force,<i> Iran International</i> reported. The activity includes movements and coordination “beyond normal patterns” between drone, missile, and air-defense units.</p><p><a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/419647">Read more</a></p>

The attack comes in retaliation for the ISIS ambush that killed two US soldiers.

Palestinian Authority security forces locate IDF soldier in Jericho, transfer him to Israeli forces; IDF investigating.

Hamas captivity survivor Eitan Mor lights Hanukkah candles with Israel's 'Meet the Press,' led by journalists Amit Segal and Daphna Liel.

Vandals smash windows of Otello ice cream shop in Herzliya, causing heavy damage.

Judea and Samaria Border Police arrested the owner of a Hebron shop after finding dozens of drones suspected of being intended for use in terrorist attacks.

NYC mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani visits home of American Jewish actor Mandy Patinkin to help make latkes and light Hanukkah candles.

Firefighters extinguish apartment fire in Jerusalem, evacuate seven people from building; fire investigators seeking reason for blaze.

When there was nothing else left to hold on to in the tunnels of Gaza, Omer Shem Tov found a card with a Psalm that gave him strength to survive.

At a virtual Holocaust survivor event on Thursday, beloved Jewish film director Rob Reiner gave a pre-recorded address where he urged those watching to be “resilient.”

For the survivors, families and advocates who tuned into the virtual event hosted by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, or Claims Conference, Reiner’s words carried added weight, having been recorded just weeks before he and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were killed in their home on Sunday.

Ahead of Reiner’s pre-recorded remarks, Greg Schneider, the executive vice president of the Claims Conference, said that Reiner had begun working on the organization’s annual International Holocaust Survivors Night a few years ago, including appearances in the virtual screening in 2023 and 2024. The organization has disbursed restitution money to survivors since 1951.

Schneider then read a quote from a 2017 Jewish Telegraphic Agency interview with Reiner.

“Yes, all this is reflected in my work. It’s my sensibility. I’m a Jew. I was raised a Jew. I value honesty and integrity and knowledge and education and all those values I was raised with,” said Schneider, quoting Reiner.

Concluding his introduction to Reiner’s address, Schneider said, “Rob and Michelle, we will carry on your values of acting with honesty, integrity, knowledge and education.”

As Reiner came on the screen, surrounded by posters from some of his most acclaimed films, including “The Princess Bride” and “A Few Good Men,” he began by describing his family’s “personal connection” to the Holocaust.

“Thank you again for asking me to join your evening, I can tell you that what you’re all about means a lot to me,” Reiner said in the video. “Personally, my wife, her mother, was in Auschwitz, and her whole family died there. Her mother was the only survivor, and my aunt was also in Auschwitz.”

On Wednesday, the USC Shoah Foundation shared a 1994 video of Singer Reiner embracing her mother, Holocaust survivor Nicole Silberkleit, who described her children as “very understanding, loving, and affectionate.”

View this post on Instagram

In his address, Reiner then shifted his focus to urging “resilience,” which was the theme of the virtual event to honor Holocaust survivors.

“I know the theme of the evening is resilience, and if ever we needed to be resilient, it’s now,” he said. “We’re living in a time where what’s happening in our country is scary and reminiscent of what we’ve seen happen in the past, and we just hope that we can all survive this and that we can hold on to our democracy, but I want to just thank everybody for being there, and let’s be resilient.”

The Claims Conference’s event was part of an annual menorah lighting ceremony on the fifth night of Hanukkah to honor survivors. It concluded with around 100 survivors lighting candles at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

This year, Claims Conference officials also used the event to draw attention to antisemitism, with the survivor event taking place just days after 15 were killed during an antisemitic attack on a Hanukkah event in Sydney, Australia.

“Even in these difficult days, when antisemitism is rising and Jewish communities around the world are under attack — this very week on the first night of Hanukkah in Sydney, Australia — we draw strength and inspiration from you, the survivors, from your personal and collective resilience,” Schneider told the group of survivors in Jerusalem.

One of the victims of the attack, Alex Kleytman, was a Holocaust survivor who had passed World War II living with his family in Siberia.

“Lessons from the past should have protected Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman – a husband, a father and a grandfather,” the Claims Conference wrote in a post on Facebook Sunday. “Educating about how words of hate can turn into violence must not be a hollow promise.”

The couple’s 32-year-old son, Nick, briefly appeared in a Los Angeles court Wednesday after he was charged in connection to his parents’ killing. He has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a special circumstance of multiple murders.

The other Reiner children, Jake and Romy, shared a statement with People on Wednesday expressing their grief over the loss of their parents.

“Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day,” the statement said. “The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience. They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends.”

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The post Rob Reiner urges resilience in video address for Holocaust survivor event — recorded just weeks before his murder appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Amid the rumbling vibrancy of Mumbai, a city of around 27 million within a country of nearly 1.5 billion, lies my small yet mighty community where everyone knows each other. We enjoy the everyday treasures of our Indian culture, from Bollywood dancing to savory foods. Many of our friends and neighbors celebrate Diwali in all its richness and spirit, and we, too, celebrate a festival of lights. It just happens a few weeks later and is called Chanukah.

The Jewish community in India, concentrated mainly within Mumbai, includes roughly 4,500 people, with the first Jews having arrived in southern India around the 10th century BCE. Today, we can be found throughout the country and represent homegrown traditions, such as those of my family, the Bene Israel, as well as the Cochini Jews in the Kochi region and those whose ancestors hail from the Sefardi Jews of Baghdad. And as vibrant a community as we have, most people probably wouldn’t have even guessed that we are here.

Indian Jews have always been a tiny community, but knowing we are part of a global Jewish family spread across continents yet connected by tradition, values and shared history gives us a profound sense of belonging.

Our Jewish identities are inextricably linked with our national culture; they are complementary identities, not conflicting ones. Our neighbors not only understand and appreciate this truth, but they are also supportive of it.

Unfortunately, in the global landscape, stories of local Jewish communities past and present are often led with the tales of the antisemitism they face. Ours is a different one.

Our community is largely unscathed by antisemitism and has existed here for centuries, fully integrated as Indians and Jews. However, the global surge in antisemitism has found its way to social media. Some teens in our community face bullying and harassment. What we’re seeing online is not unique to the Jewish people, but we do have unique ways of expressing our Jewishness.

When more than 200 of us gather for our annual Hanukkah event, in a historic theater outside of the Jewish community in Mumbai, it is a celebration in its purest form and demonstrates how integrated we are in Indian life. For the past 25 years, we’ve held “Khai Fest,” which translates to a “festival of life.” Here, the multi-layered vibrancy of our community is on full display. From Bollywood dancing, traditional foods like masala chai and fried desserts, stand-up comedy, and lighting menorahs, there is no shortage of joy and delight.

One of my favorite holiday memories is that of the smiles on the faces of children as they proudly carried handmade menorahs home after the Khai Fest. Teens and young adults participating in a local youth volunteer program took turns working with the children to craft the menorahs, passing on our cherished traditions and Hanukkah’s miracle of increasing holiness and light in our world. This is a joyful testament to my organization’s work to build bridges across generations with creativity and purpose.

This time last year, like many Jews around the world, we took a solemn moment of silence to pray for the hostages and their safe return. This year, our prayers were answered. While there is still much work left to do, creating space for happiness and celebration is a vital part of the healing process. And through this patchwork of emotions, our small community feels connected with our Jewish brothers and sisters around the globe, including our family and friends in Israel. Over the past two years, even our happiest community events and celebrations were quietly marked by reflective moments.

This year, we are mourning the beautiful souls lost in Sydney, whose lives were violently taken while celebrating Hanukkah. The Indian Jewish community stands in solidarity with our fellow Jews in Australia, knowing that any efforts to dim our light require us to glow even brighter.

Khai Fest is a reminder that India makes room for us – our stories, our rituals, our lights. In a world that often fails to celebrate minority identities, ours continues to shine not in spite of our surroundings, but because of them.

This Hanukkah, I hope people around the world take a moment to notice the communities hidden in plain sight, like mine. Our lights may be fewer in number and size, but they burn brightly all the same. Our story is not one of survival, but of belonging. That, too, is a festival of lights worth celebrating.

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The post In India, my Jewish community celebrates Hanukkah not with fear, but in belonging appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

This piece first ran as part of the New York Jewish Week’s daily newsletter, rounding up the latest on politics, culture, food and what’s new with Jews in the city. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

Bowman backs Fuentes statements in viral video

• Former New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman praised statements by Nick Fuentes in a comment on an Instagram video with 2.6 million views.

• The video of Fuentes was posted in September and resurfaced today by Jewish Insider, which identified Bowman’s comment.

• Bowman is a progressive Democrat who lost a primary race last year that was fought largely over Israel. Fuentes is an avowed white nationalist and antisemite who is at the center of tensions around antisemitism within the Republican Party.

• Fuentes said in the clip that President Donald Trump was “better than the Democrats for Israel, for the oil and gas industry, for Silicon Valley, for Wall Street,” but said he wasn’t “better for us.”

• Bowman commented, “Finally getting it Nick. Now go a step further. This is the same playbook they use to divide and conquer us based on race to maintain their oligarchy. It’s us, against the oligarchy. Now no more racist bullshit from you.”

• Some of Zohran Mamdani’s critics have speculated that the mayor-elect could be considering Bowman, a former middle school principal, as a candidate for schools chancellor.

Mamdani appointee resigns over antisemitic posts

• An appointee for Mamdani’s new mayoral administration lasted one day on the job after antisemitic posts from her teenage years came to light.

• Catherine Almonte Da Costa, tapped as Mamdani’s director of appointments for City Hall on Wednesday, resigned on Thursday after the posts resurfaced. She posted about “money hungry Jews” and said “Far Rockaway train is the Jew train” in 2011 and 2012.

• In a statement, Da Costa said she had apologized to Mamdani and the statements were “not indicative” of who she is.

• “As the mother of Jewish children, I feel a profound sense of sadness and remorse at the harm these words have caused,” she said. “As this has become a distraction from the work at hand, I have offered my resignation.”

• The controversy comes as Mamdani’s election continues to roil the city’s Jewish communities, with many staunchly opposing him over his longstanding criticism of Israel.

Etan Katz case resurfaces

• New York City prosecutors asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to restore a murder conviction for the man accused of kidnapping and killing Etan Katz, the Jewish 6-year-old who disappeared in 1979.

• Pedro Hernandez was convicted of the crime in 2017, but his verdict was overturned earlier this year. A federal appeals court ruled that the 2017 trial judge gave a “clearly wrong” and “manifestly prejudicial” response to a jury note.

Harlem Jews get a menorah in Montefiore Park

• We went to the first communal menorah lighting alongside the annual Christmas tree lighting in Harlem’s Montefiore Park on Tuesday.

• The first “Harlem Festival of Lights,” a cross-denominational celebration of both Christmas and Hanukkah, was the fruit of a coalition of civic, Jewish, Black, Dominican and interfaith organizations.

Jewish food report

• We found three places serving unique latkes in New York. Check out our rundown of topped latkes, masala latkes and chickpea flour latkes to enjoy for the rest of Hanukkah and beyond!

Jewish teens play at halftime in Nets game

• Jewish teens played at halftime during the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat game at Barclays Center on Thursday night, as part of a Hanukkah celebration and a tribute to the victims of Sunday’s shooting in Sydney.

• A large basketball menorah was lit by 14-year-old Eli Drizin of Brooklyn, the nephew of Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was killed in the attack.

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The post Jamaal Bowman, former progressive congressman, supports Nick Fuentes’ statements in viral video appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

REYKJAVIK — December light is brief in Iceland. It was not yet 4 p.m., and by the time the giant menorah was lit in downtown Reykjavík, the day had already slipped into darkness. A steady drizzling rain blurred the streetlights and soaked the pavement where fewer than 100 people gathered, roughly half of the country’s Jewish population, which has always been small and largely unseen.

The celebrants were calm, almost subdued; security was not. Armed plainclothes police ringed the area. They moved through the crowd while surveillance drones hovered overhead. Air support was on standby, measures almost unheard of in a country that tops the world’s most peaceful list.

The gathering took place just hours after news broke of the most recent terrorist attack on Jews, this one a celebration of Hanukkah at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.

Rabbi Avraham Feldman and his wife, Mushky, welcomed the crowd, their voices steady but restrained. Iceland’s minister of foreign affairs, Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, followed, and she lit the menorah herself. Curious passersby slowed, some watching silently before moving on. The event passed without incident.

“The attack in Sydney reminds us that darkness is not only something we read about in history books. It still exists in the world and appears suddenly and violently,” said Avraham Feldman, who is associated with the Chabad movement, which makes public menorah-lightings a centerpiece of its outreach around the world.

“Hanukkah does not ask us to deny this darkness,” he added. “Instead, Hanukkah teaches us that each and every one of us can create light and positivity. Even a small light pushes away great darkness. And when many lights stand together, we overpower the darkness.”

In a statement issued the same day, Gunnarsdóttir condemned the attack in Sydney, which took place at a Chabad event. “I strongly condemn the horrific attack on those celebrating Chanukah at Bondi Beach in Australia,” she said. “There is no place, anywhere, for antisemitism or terror. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the victims, their loved ones, and others affected.”

Her presence at the Hanukkah event carried significance well beyond the ceremony itself. Iceland’s government has been among Europe’s most vocal critics of Israel, and public discourse around the war in Gaza has been intense. Jewish teens have reported increasingly tense relationships with their peers, and the national broadcaster recently announced that it would boycott the Eurovision song contest over Israel’s participation.

For some Jews in Iceland, the political situation has shaken their sense of acceptance.

“It has become very different for me since Oct. 7,” said an American Jew living in Iceland who asked to remain anonymous. “Before, I was fairly widely open about being Jewish, but the landscape has changed.”

When he and his spouse moved into a new home last year, he ordered a mezuzah for the front door, but he hesitated to put it up. “For the first time, I found myself concerned about placing my Hanukkah menorah in the window,” he said, even as he added that most Icelanders would likely not recognize the symbol anyway, given the prevalence of seven-armed electric advent lights in windows each December.

For some present, having Gunnarsdóttir at the Hanukkah event offered a rare and meaningful signal that support for a vulnerable minority need not be conflated with geopolitics.

“It’s so special to have the foreign minister join us today, to stand with us, support the community, and offer her continued friendship,” said Mushky Feldman said. “We’re honored to have her speak tonight and light the first candle.”

Jewish life in Iceland has no long historical footprint. There are no historic synagogues, no Jewish neighborhoods, and no centuries-old institutions. Holidays are celebrated in rented spaces or private homes. Until 2018, there was not even a resident rabbi. The community is made up largely of immigrants — including an Israeli jewelry designer who was the country’s first lady for 13 years until 2016 — their children, and Icelanders who have claimed a Jewish identity later in life.

“How do you teach your children what it means to be Jewish without a ready-made community?” asked Reykjavík resident Adam Gordon, an American Jew. “The answer is that we must create that community ourselves.”

Practical challenges abound. “Supplies can be difficult to come by,” said the American Jew, who decided that he would light a menorah. “I finally placed a bulk order from abroad with enough Hanukkah candles to get me through the end of this decade.”

An obstacle is the traditional Icelandic approach to religion. Most Icelanders are nominally Christian but the country is known as one of the most secular in Europe. (Judaism became an official state religion in 2021, following Avraham Feldman’s advocacy.)

“Icelanders see Jewishness as a function of religion, which they largely see as a quaint if outdated view of the world incompatible with their collective level of political and moral evolution,” said Mike Klein, an American Jew living in Iceland.

“Discussions about my being Jewish often become uncomfortable, partly because of the current political predicament, but also because Icelanders find it strange that I would choose to make my life difficult by maintaining my Jewish identity when I’m otherwise relatively well accepted,” Klein added.

Others echo the same tension. A Jewish American living in Iceland, who declined to be named out of concerns about identifying publicly as Jewish, said antisemitism in Iceland is often rooted in misunderstanding rather than explicit hatred. “There is a lot of ignorance,” she said.

“Many Icelanders have no idea that there are only about 15 million Jews in the world, and that while we are few, we are not a monolith. We have different ways of connecting to our Jewish identity, that it is not only rooted in religion, but culture, a shared heritage.”

At the same time, some Icelanders have embraced the community in meaningful ways. Finnur Thorlacius Eiríksson first encountered Jewish life in 2017, when he met an Israeli couple visiting Iceland. When they later moved to the country and invited him to a Passover seder in 2018, he joined.

“The experience was a positive one, which prompted me to attend more events where I got to know the Jewish community in Iceland quite well,” he said.

Eiríksson now holds the distinction of the only non-Jew known to be registered as a member of the official Jewish community. He attends major holidays and events and is even considering converting to Judaism.

“Thankfully, nearly all my Jewish friends are open about being Jewish,” he said. “They know it never helped the Jewish people to hide their identity, so they wear their Jewish identity with pride.”

Andrea Cheatham Kasper, who is Jewish and lives in Iceland with her family, said her Shabbat table has become a cornerstone of connection.

“Our Shabbat table has been central in our home and also as our way to make friends and build community,” she said. “Relationships have grown there, some immediately and some after many meals together.”

Kasper said she does not hide being Jewish or Israeli but avoids online political battles. “My goal is to focus on face-to-face relationships and interactions that are human, not political,” she said. “What I have found is that the noise comes from the loud voices, and they aren’t always representative.”

At the lighting, the menorah flickered against the rain and the early darkness. Children stood close to their parents. Photos were taken to share with family far away, and fresh-baked sufganiyot (jelly-filled donuts) were passed out to the crowd.

“Events like the menorah lighting become these precious moments when we can gather and celebrate together,” said Gordon. “None of us came to Iceland to deepen our Jewish practice, but we don’t want to abandon it. Instead, we want to weave it together with our Icelandic identities.”

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The post In Reykjavik, Hanukkah offers a chance for Iceland’s tiny, isolated Jewish community to come together appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The youngest victim of the Bondi Beach Hanukkah massacre is known by just one name — but it’s all that’s needed to make her a symbol for her fellow Australians.

“I named her Matilda because she was our firstborn in Australia. And I thought that Matilda was the most Australian name that could ever exist,” her father Michael, a Jewish immigrant from Ukraine, said at a vigil earlier in the week. “So just remember – remember her name.”

The poem and song “Waltzing Matilda,” written in 1895, is considered an unofficial anthem in Australia, which has been rocked by the terror attack on Bondi Beach that killed 15 people attending a Hanukkah celebration.

At a vigil on Thursday night at Bondi Pavilion — a public space now transformed into a memorial flooded with flowers and displays of solidarity — hundreds of mourners gathered and sang the song to memorialize Matilda, who at 10 was the youngest among the dead.

Matilda had been filmed shortly before the attack admiring as her father put on tefillin, the phylacteries used in prayer that emissaries of Chabad, the group that organized the Hanukkah celebration, routinely help Jewish men put on to fulfill a religious commandment. She was shot while standing with her mother Valentyna and 6-year-old sister.

Seeking to protect their privacy, the family has asked that their last name not be published in the media. Instead, Matilda has become associated her middle name, Bee.

At the somber memorial, all of the attendees were given stickers with Matilda’s name alongside a smiling bumblebee clutching a menorah, a symbol that has become a quiet emblem of remembrance in the days since her death.

People carry balloons as they arrive for the funeral of 10-year-old Matilda, who was killed in the December 14 Bondi Beach shooting attack, in Sydney on December 18, 2025. (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)

At her funeral on Thursday, held at the Chevra Kadisha Memorial Hall, mourners clutched bee balloons and placed bee posters on the exterior of their cars.

A giant plush bumblebee was placed on Matilda’s small white casket at the funeral, one similar to the many that now adorn the Bondi Pavilion flower memorial alongside illustrations of bumblebees.

On social media, parents and schools around the world have posted children’s illustrations and photos of bees at the request of Matilda’s parents, a tribute that has spread widely as a way of remembering her. On Facebook, Matilda’s father, Michael, has reposted many of the online memorials.

Build a Bear Workshop Australia also announced the production of a limited-edition plush bee in memory of Matilda, with all proceeds going to her family. A GoFundMe page set up by her language teacher has also drawn over $550,000 in donations.

“She loved the outdoors, animals, she went to school, she had friends, everybody loved her,” Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, whose son-in-law, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, was also killed in the attack, said during his eulogy for Matilda. “The tragic, so totally cruel, an unfathomable murder of young Matilda is something that’s painful to all of us as if our own daughter was taken from us.”

Valentyna said at the vigil that until Sunday, she had been happy that her family had moved from Ukraine, which has been at war with Russia since Russia invaded in 2022.

Valentyna, the mother of shooting victim, 10-year-old Matilda, addresses members of the public during a candlelight vigil at Bondi Pavilion at Bondi Beach on December 16, 2025 in Sydney, Australia. (Audrey Richardson/Getty Images)

“I came from Ukraine. I brought from Ukraine my oldest son, with him, and I was so happy that he’s not there right now. He’s not fighting for his land, and he’s safe here,” she said as she broke down in sobs. “I couldn’t imagine I would lose my daughter here.”

Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales, the Australian state that includes Sydney, quoted from “Waltzing Matilda” at Matilda’s funeral.

“She bore the name Matilda to honor this great land, Australia’s heart and spirit forever hand in hand,” said Minns, who wore the bumblebee sticker on his lapel, according to ABC. “Her spirit like a swagman’s will never fade away. She’s waltzing with the angels, where love will always stay.”

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A Wider Bridge, a pro-Israel LGBTQ organization that became a flashpoint in debates over Israel, antisemitism and “pinkwashing” inside the American queer community, announced Friday that it will shut down at the end of the year.

The San Francisco–based nonprofit said it will wind down operations as of Dec. 31, 2025, citing financial strain, according to a statement from board chair Daniel Hernandez that was shared with supporters Friday.

“After 15 years, A Wider Bridge has made the difficult decision to wind down our operations,” Hernandez wrote. “The organization has been weathering difficult financial realities despite efforts to secure sustainable funding.”

The group’s closure also follows a period of internal turmoil. In late 2024, its executive director, Ethan Felson, was charged with sexual misconduct; he pleaded not guilty, and the organization installed interim leadership. Asked whether the case played any role in the decision to shut down, the group responded that the closure was driven by financial realities.

Founded in 2010 by activist Arthur Slepian, A Wider Bridge set out to connect LGBTQ communities in North America with their counterparts in Israel, promoting Israel’s record on LGBTQ rights while pushing back against antisemitism and anti-Zionist exclusion in queer spaces. The group organized trips to Israel, partnered with Israeli LGBTQ organizations, and launched initiatives such as PrideSafe and Queers Against Antisemitism.

Over time, however, A Wider Bridge became one of the most polarizing Jewish organizations in progressive LGBTQ circles, frequently clashing with activists who viewed any pro-Israel presence at Pride as political propaganda.

Critics accused the group of “pinkwashing” — using Israel’s comparatively strong legal protections for LGBTQ people to deflect attention from Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. A Wider Bridge rejected the charge, arguing that LGBTQ rights in Israel were substantive and that efforts to bar Zionist organizations from queer spaces amounted to discrimination against Jews.

Those tensions burst into public view in 2016 at the National LGBTQ Task Force’s Creating Change conference in Chicago, when an event involving A Wider Bridge and an Israeli LGBTQ organization was canceled after activist pressure, reinstated and ultimately disrupted by protesters.

The following year, the group drew national attention after Jewish marchers carrying rainbow flags with Stars of David were asked to leave the Chicago Dyke March. Organizers said the march was anti-Zionist and that the flags made some participants feel unsafe. A Wider Bridge and its allies countered that Jewish identity was being treated as inherently political, and therefore unwelcome, in queer spaces.

The dispute became a template for similar conflicts at Pride events in other cities, as debates over Zionism, antisemitism and Palestinian solidarity intensified inside progressive movements.

In recent years, A Wider Bridge increasingly framed its mission around combating antisemitism within LGBTQ communities, particularly after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza deepened fractures within left-leaning coalitions. It came to the aid of Aguda, Israel’s leading LGBTQ advocacy group, after it was dropped as a member of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Trans and Intersex Association during the war.

The group spent more than it brought in in 2023, according to its federal tax filing from that year. Last year, the group’s budget was more balanced, but it also raised less from supporters, bringing in just $1.1 million, compared to more than $1.6 million in each of the previous two years.

In an email to supporters, A Wider Bridge emphasized what it described as its legacy, pointing to advocacy for LGBTQ rights in Israel, support for Israeli LGBTQ organizations, and efforts to push back against antisemitism and anti-Zionism in queer spaces.

“Though we are winding down, this is not a time to back down,” Hernandez wrote, adding that board members and supporters would continue the work in their individual capacities.

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The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Bay Area is calling for the resignation of a local mayor who reposted conspiracy theories to his Linkedin account that claimed the Bondi Beach attack on a Hanukkah celebration was a “false flag” perpetrated by Israel.

“When an elected official’s words and actions make a segment of the community feel unsafe and abandoned by their government, that official can no longer effectively serve,” the group said in a statement.

“For these reasons, Mayor Eduardo Martinez must resign,” the statement continued. “No community should be led by someone whose conduct contributes to fear, division, and exclusion. This is a stark example of where toxic social media, unchecked rhetoric, and the constant demonization of Israel and Jews can lead—and why it must be confronted.”

Martinez, 76, is the mayor of Richmond, California, a city north of Berkeley that is home to one Reform congregation, Temple Beth Hillel. Elected in 2022, he has been a longtime and vocal critic of Israel.

It is unusual for a Jewish group to call for the resignation of a local elected official. But Martinez’s rhetoric about the Bondi Beach attack, the JCRC said, was “dangerously antisemitic, deeply offensive, and wholly unacceptable.”

Following the attack in Sydney that left 15 killed and dozens injured, Martinez reposted several antisemitic sentiments and conspiracy theories on his Linkedin page.

“The root cause of antisemitism is the behaviour of Israel & Israelis,” read one since-deleted post shared by Martinez, according to J. The Jewish News of Northern California.

Another post shared by Martinez compared the Bondi celebration with hypothetical Hanukkah displays at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, writing that both should be seen as “performative assertions of dominance.”

The post continued: “Hanukkah, traditionally a time of personal and private reflection, has in recent years been appropriated by Jewish Zionist organisations and weaponised as a political tool.” In his repost, Martinez commented, “What are your thoughts?”

Martinez appeared to issue an apology for the post about Israel on Wednesday, as a backlash grew.

“I want to apologize for sharing my previous posts without thinking. Of course we know that antisemitism was here before the creation of the state of Israel,” he wrote on Linkedin. “As I’ve said many times before, we should not conflate Zionism with Judaism. They are two separate beliefs.”

In another apology on Thursday, Martinez distanced his rhetoric from his role as mayor.

“I want to assure everyone that these postings are my opinions (or my mistakes) and mine only. They are not statements from my office or the city of Richmond. If I make a mistake, that mistake is mine only,” he wrote. “Once again, I apologize for posting in haste without full understanding of the posting.”

Following the attack on Sunday, the online antisemitism watchdog Cyberwell said that it had seen a “surge of hatred and incitement” on social media. Australian officials said the two attackers were motivated by “Islamic State ideology.”

“We are also seeing a dangerous denial narrative online that blames the Jewish community itself, falsely labeling the attack a ‘false flag’ or ‘Mossad’ operation, orchestrated to divide Australians,” said CyberWell founder and CEO Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor in a statement.

The latest controversy was not the first time the Richmond mayor has landed in hot water over his commentary on Israel.

In August, while speaking at the People’s Conference for Palestine, Martinez compared Hamas to a child bullied on a playground and said whether he supports Hamas was a “complicated question,” according to J.

“If Palestine were a schoolyard playground, I would be a Palestinian, and that part of me that couldn’t endure the abuse anymore would be Hamas,” Martinez said at the time. While there, he also wore a hat with the letters “DDTTIDF,” an acronym calling for “death to the IDF.”

In the JCRC’s letter, the organization also noted that under Martinez’ leadership, Richmond had passed a resolution two weeks after Oct. 7 condemning Israel and “affirming Richmond’s support and solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza.”

Martinez’ rhetoric following the Bondi attack was also condemned by the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League Central Pacific, Marc Levine.

“There’s no excuse for an elected leader to be amplifying warped antisemitic conspiracy theories that seek to blame the victim,” Levine said in a statement to J. “The Australian community has already faced enough tragedy over the last few days. We hope Mayor Martinez will reconsider his hurtful words, which have absolutely no place in public discourse.”

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Nine federal prosecutors, including at least one Jew, recently resigned from the Justice Department over what they described as the Trump administration’s “fraudulent” handling of its ongoing antisemitism investigation targeting the University of California system.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times last week, the attorneys described an “unserious” and “sham” investigation fueled primarily by Trump’s desire for retribution against higher education and increasingly untethered to legal standing.

“I am highly skeptical of whether this administration actually cares about Jewish people or antisemitism,” said Dena Robinson, a Jewish and Black former senior trial attorney who had volunteered to interview students on three UC campuses for the investigation. Several of the attorneys assigned to UC wound up accepting a deferred-resignation offer in May and left the investigation.

A separate investigation, released last week by ProPublica and the Chronicle for Higher Education, also found that the Trump Justice Department was pressuring investigators to “find” evidence that UCLA had tolerated antisemitism, beyond established legal and procedural norms for such cases.

This rare glimpse behind the curtain of federal antisemitism cases comes as Jewish groups, on campus and off, have become increasingly uncomfortable with the Trump administration’s strong-arming of universities in the name of fighting antisemitism. Several high-profile schools, including multiple Ivy League universities, have struck deals with the administration, in most cases agreeing to large payouts and extensive policy changes in exchange for unfreezing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants.

The UC investigation, which targets the statewide public university system, is seen as one of Trump’s most sought-after prizes. The administration froze more than $580 million in federal funds — an amount that has been whittled to $230 million following court cases — and is pressuring the school system to resolve the case with a $1.2 billion payout, though a federal judge recently blocked their efforts to impose such a fine.

The attorneys told the Times that there was some evidence that Jewish and Israeli students on UC campuses, most notably UCLA, had been discriminated against — but that the amount of resources and attention being thrown at the case was disproportionate.

“I think there were absolutely Jewish people on campuses that faced legitimate discrimination,” one unnamed attorney who had interviewed students at UCLA and UC Davis told the Times. “But the way we were pushed so hard to investigate, it was clear to so many of us that this was a political hit job that actually would end up not helping anyone.”

Ron Avi Astor, a Jewish Zionist faculty member at UCLA who had been targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters over his research into peace initiatives between Israelis and Palestinians, had championed protest restrictions the campus implemented prior to Trump’s reelection. His account of being targeted by the protesters would form a key piece of evidence for the UCLA investigation. Yet Astor told ProPublica that Trump’s cuts to research funds were deeply concerning.

“These are things that save people’s lives. Why are we messing with that? It’s a tool that anyone who’s a scholar would abhor,” he said. “It looks like we’re being used.”

Under Trump, according to ProPublica, antisemitism investigations that could take a year or more under previous administrations were now expected to wrap up in much less time, with an expected finding of wrongdoing by the university. Teams of lawyers were dispatched to multiple UC campuses to interview students in whirlwind time.

Ultimately, the investigation began to focus on UCLA, which offered the most compelling evidence of antisemitism after the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. On that campus, pro-Palestinian protesters had blocked “Zionists” from accessing certain areas. A brawl also broke out between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups on campus.

Earlier this year, the UC system paid more than $6 million to settle an antisemitism lawsuit brought against it by Jewish groups who said students had faced discrimination at UCLA in 2024. Part of the settlement money went to Jewish groups. Yet it had no effect on the Trump investigation, which found UCLA in violation of Title VI civil rights law for the same complaints it had just settled.

Pomona College, a private school in Los Angeles that had experienced elevated levels of antisemitism after Oct. 7, quietly settled its own Title VI antisemitism investigation this month without any payouts to Trump.

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A federal judge in Brooklyn has denied a bid by New York City and the estate of former Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes to throw out a civil-rights lawsuit brought by Hasidic sex-abuse whistleblower Sam Kellner, clearing the way for a jury to hear claims that top prosecutors helped engineer his arrest to benefit a convicted child molester.

The 82-page ruling, by Judge Nina R. Morrison of the Eastern District of New York, is significant, as it effectively strips both the district attorney and the city of the legal immunity they would normally enjoy. Typically, absolute immunity protects prosecutors from civil suits over decisions about whether and how to bring criminal charges, while qualified immunity shields government officials from paying damages unless they violate clearly established legal rights.

“Justice for Sam has been a slow train coming. That train is now about to arrive,” said Niall MacGiollabhui, Kellner’s attorney, in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The long saga leading to the judge’s decision began in 2008, when Kellner, a Borough Park resident, defied communal norms and reported his son’s sexual abuse by a prominent community member, Baruch Lebovits, to secular authorities. Working closely with a detective in the NYPD’s Special Victims Unit, Kellner helped locate and bring forward other alleged victims of Lebovits. His cooperation ultimately helped lead to Lebovits’ 2010 conviction on multiple counts involving another boy, identified as Y.R.

The Lebovits prosecution was a rarity in a community where few child sexual abuse cases ever make it to trial, let alone end in a substantial sentence. At the time, Hynes had been under mounting fire for how his office handled sexual abuse in the Hasidic community, with anti-abuse advocates arguing that the DA went easy on Hasidic offenders in deference to a Hasidic leadership capable of reliably delivering campaign contributions and a bloc vote.

For his involvement in the case, Kellner paid a steep price. Even though he obtained rabbinic permission to go to the authorities, community members branded him an informer or “moser,” a label that has serious consequences in Jewish tradition. He often left his house to find his tires slashed and his van papered with flyers calling for his death; people yelled threats at him on the street. He was also forced out of his synagogue and had trouble finding schools that would enroll his children; securing marriage matches for them took years.

Kellner says he also fielded a steady stream of offers of cash if he would just walk away from the case. He refused them all, saying that his son and the other boys were entitled to justice, even as he sank deeper into debt and isolation, becoming a cautionary tale for both supporters of abuse victims and critics who view cooperation with secular authorities as a betrayal.

But things only got worse for Kellner after Lebovits’ conviction. In 2011, he was arrested by the very same district attorney’s office that had used him to help put Lebovits behind bars. Prosecutors charged him with orchestrating an extortion scheme, alleging that he tried to use the very case he had helped build as leverage to extract hundreds of thousands of dollars from Lebovits’ family, and also accusing him of paying another witness to give false grand jury testimony against Lebovits.

People who had supported him fell away as he was branded an extortionist, a “crook” who would sell out his own son for money. Friends abandoned him, and even some family members kept their distance. “I wanted to vanish. I wanted that the floor would open up and I would fall into it,” he says.

Over time, however, the criminal case against Kellner unraveled amid mounting questions about the reliability and origins of the evidence against him, and in 2014 a Brooklyn judge dismissed the charges after the newly elected district attorney moved to drop the prosecution. Freed of the threat of prison, but maintaining that he had been framed for doing what the system asked of him, Kellner went on to file a federal civil‑rights lawsuit in 2017, accusing Brooklyn prosecutors of conspiring with allies of Lebovits to retaliate against him and upset Lebovits’ original abuse conviction.

In his filings, Kellner argues that these officials prosecuted him even though the DA’s office already possessed powerful evidence of Lebovits’ guilt and internal records suggesting that key witnesses against Kellner had been pressured — and, in one case, financially supported by Lebovits’ backers — turning the machinery of law enforcement against the father of a sex abuse victim in order to free a well-connected, convicted child molester.

For Kellner, the recent ruling is, in part, a kind of personal vindication.

“Wow, what a revenge. Fourteen years later and you exchange places with Charles Hynes. It is such a good felling that they are going to say ‘plaintiff Sam Kellner, defendant the City of New York and Charles Hynes.'”

But, more important, Kellner believes the judge’s decision offers proof that victims in his community can — and should — trust the justice system, no matter how slowly it moves.

“After my arrest, no rabbi was going to let a kid come forward, and then let that kid go to jail while the DA takes the side of the molester,” Kellner said.

Now, he believes, “these animals, these molesters should start feeling that they can no longer continue to molest in this neighborhood, and threaten the victims and get away with it because the DA will be on their side.”

For some, however, recent actions by the current DA, Eric Gonzalez, belie those sentiments. Just last month, Gonzalez drew sharp criticism from anti-abuse advocates for supporting the resentencing request of another convicted child molester from the Hasidic community, Nechemya Weberman, who has served about 13 years of his term.

Weberman was originally sentenced to more than 100 years for the sustained sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl he was counseling, but that sentence was later reduced to 50 years through an administrative recalculation required by New York sentencing law. Gonzalez has argued that even the 50-year term is “unusually harsh” and out of step with sentences in comparable child-sex-abuse cases. His critics say he has caved to pressure from the same communal and political forces that arrayed themselves against Kellner and that his stance betrays survivors and undermines deterrence.

But Kellner still has faith.

“Until now, I was an example of why not to go to the DA,” he said. “They killed me. I am already 65. I was just over 45 when it started. They killed me. But I knew one thing: They are not going to have the victory that no one is going to come forward. Trust the system.”

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The man responsible for two shootings at elite universities that ignited rumors of antisemitism has been found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a New Hampshire self-storage center, authorities announced late Thursday.

Though they did not explain his motives, authorities laid out a facts suggesting that Claudio Neves Valente might have been settling old scores when he targeted Brown University and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor on Saturday and Monday

More than two decades ago, they said, Valente had briefly been a graduate student at Brown in physics, where classes were often held in the targeted building. He also attended university with the MIT victim, Nuno Loureiro, in Portugal in the 1990s.

The incidents, which bookended the massacre on Jews celebrating Hanukkah in Australia, had ignited unfounded rumors of antisemitism among Jews on edge after several recent attacks on Jewish targets.

The shooting took place in a study session of a popular economics class taught by a Jewish professor who is entwined with Israeli academic institutions. She was not present, but speculation mounted online that she had been the target.

Online sleuths also claimed without basis that the shooter had shouted phrases associated with Islamic terrorists or pro-Palestinian activists after news reports quoted students saying he had shouted “something” before opening fire. Two students — a Christian woman from Alabama and a Muslim immigrant from Uzbekistan — were killed in the shooting and nine others were wounded, some seriously.

Armchair investigators posted analyses alleging that a Brown student who had participated in pro-Palestinian activism on the Ivy League campus had committed the shooting. Authorities attempted to tamp down the rumors, which flared as Brown removed webpages about the student in an attempt to curb the doxxing that they said was happening against him.

Laura Loomer, the Jewish far-right conspiracy theorist who is close to President Donald Trump, was among the loudest voices amplifying the idea that the attack had been staged by an Islamic terrorist.

The rumors made their way from the internet into the real world, with law enforcement officials fending off questions about them during press conferences as the investigation proceeded unusually slowly for a mass shooting. A different man was initially arrested and then freed.

The murder of Loureiro in his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, a Boston suburb with a large Jewish population, ignited even sharper unfounded allegations of antisemitic motive.

Antisemitism influencers and watchdogs posted videos saying that Loureiro’s murder showed Jews are not safe. They alleged that Loureiro was Jewish and pro-Israel, and said his murders showed that supporters of Israel were being “hunted down” in the United States.

But Loureiro was neither Jewish nor publicly pro-Israel. An analysis by the Forward found that the rumors could all be traced to a post by Ira Stoll, a former journalist who writes a conservative Substack that frequently takes aim at antisemitism at elite universities. Stoll later edited his post to show that he had learned that Loureiro was not Jewish, but that did not curb the rumors, which ricocheted across an influencer ecosystem that has thrived amid rising antisemitism. The claims were picked up by Israeli news outlets, including the Jerusalem Post, which extended their reach.

The Jerusalem Post also published unattributed claims that Israeli officials were investigating whether Iran had been involved in the murder of Loureiro, a nuclear scientist.

The five-day saga offered a case study in how misinformation can spread — and how the antisemitism watchdog space, already activated by an attack on Jews staged by gunmen whom Australian authorities say had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, can play a role in it.

A viral post attributed to Casey Babb, a Canadian researcher who is affiliated with both independent and pro-Israel think tanks, listed 11 incidents that the post said showed that “Jews worldwide are being hunted down and killed” during Hanukkah. It included the Brown and MIT incidents and said Loureiro was Jewish. Only two of the incidents — the Australia attack and vandalism against a family’s Hanukkah display in California — actually targeted Jews. The post was continuing to spread on Friday morning, even after authorities attributed the Brown and MIT attacks to Valente.

In the end, authorities said, it was an online post that also provided the break that led them to identify Valente and track him to New Hampshire. A Reddit user identified as “John” in police filings posted that officials should look into a particular rental car he said he had seen at Brown. Once they did, they were able to identify Valente as the man who rented it and trace it to the New Hampshire storage center where he was found dead.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha praised John early Friday. “When you crack it, you crack it,” he said.

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Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday as the next special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, an ambassador-level role at the State Department aimed at coordinating U.S. efforts to confront antisemitism globally.

His confirmation fills a post that had been vacant in a period marked by spikes in antisemitic incidents both in the United States and abroad.

Kaploun, a follower of the Chabad Hasidic movement, a Miami businessman and a 2024 Trump campaign surrogate, was confirmed as part of a broader package of nominations after the Senate agreed to bring the slate to the floor for debate and a vote. His confirmation came on a 53-43 vote split strictly along party lines, with Republicans voting yes and Democrats voting no.

Jewish organizations largely welcomed Kaploun’s confirmation.

The World Jewish Congress praised President Donald Trump’s choice, saying it ensures leadership to confront antisemitism at a time of rising threats to Jewish communities worldwide and that Kaploun “has already been working hard, engaging directly with dozens of special envoys and national coordinators from around the world.”

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Anti-Defamation League and the Republican Jewish Coalition offered congratulations, calling the appointment timely and necessary given increasing antisemitic rhetoric and violence.

Kaploun testified in November that education and bipartisan engagement are central to combating Jew-hatred, a theme he reiterated in interviews and hearings leading up to his confirmation.

Kaploun was confirmed despite Democratic opposition, with critics arguing that his past statements and political activity reflected an overtly partisan approach and raised concerns about his ability to serve credibly in a role that has traditionally sought bipartisan trust.

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The Trump administration has extended its travel ban to Palestinian Authority passport holders amid a crackdown on legal immigration and travel.

The White House said the ben was needed because “several U.S.-designated terrorist groups operate actively in the West Bank or Gaza Strip and have murdered American citizens.”

“Also, the recent war in these areas likely resulted in compromised vetting and screening abilities,” the announcement continued. “In light of these factors, and considering the weak or nonexistent control exercised over these areas by the PA, individuals attempting to travel on PA-issued or endorsed travel documents cannot currently be properly vetted and approved for entry into the United States.”

The ban formalizes a practice revealed this fall when the United States declined to issue visas to Palestinian officials, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, to attend the United Nations General Assembly. It includes waivers for certain cases, including athletes traveling to compete in the Olympics or World Cup.

The expansion of the travel ban was condemned by several liberal-leaning Jewish groups, including J Street, a liberal Zionist advocacy and lobby group.

“At a time when the Trump administration claims that it is working to advance the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, its decision to bar Palestinian travel to the US is both deeply damaging and counterproductive,” said Adina Vogel-Ayalon, J Street’s vice president and chief of staff, in a statement. “Rather than advancing stability, this policy further delegitimizes and weakens the Palestinian Authority at the very moment when US policy should be focused on strengthening its capacity to sideline Hamas, improve governance, and help stabilize and secure Gaza and the West Bank.”

Hadar Susskind, the president and CEO of New Jewish Narrative, a progressive Zionist Jewish organization, also criticized the ban.

“We urge the administration to reverse these restrictions and to pursue security policies that are targeted, evidence-based, and consistent with human rights,” said Susskind in a statement. “True security is built through inclusion, engagement, and justice—not through walls or racist bans.”

The White House announced the ban on travelers with P.A. passports on Tuesday along with similar prohibitions on nationals from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria.

The countries join 12 others whose passport-holders were barred from entering the United States starting in June, which included Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

“AMERICA FIRST SECURITY ,” wrote the White House in a post on X. “President Donald J. Trump just signed a new Proclamation, STRENGTHENING our borders & national security with data-driven restrictions on high-risk countries with severe deficiencies in screening & vetting.”

The new additions come as the White House continues to impose severe restrictions on immigration following the shooting of two National Guard members by a suspect who is an Afghan national last month.

Last week, the Trump administration also rolled out new draft regulations that would require travelers from Israel and dozens of other countries to provide five years of social media history for entry to the United States.

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New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s pick for a crucial City Hall position resigned on Thursday, shortly after her history of antisemitic posts on X came to light.

Mamdani had announced his appointment of Catherine Almonte Da Costa as director of appointments, responsible for staffing City Hall, on Wednesday. But on Thursday, several posts on X where she peddled age-old antisemitic stereotypes were published by the Judge Street Journal, a Substack about New York City politics.

“Money hungry Jews smh,” Da Costa posted on a now-deleted account on X in January 2011, when she 19 years old.

In another post from June 2012, she wrote, “Far Rockaway train is the Jew train,” appearing to reference the large Jewish communities off the line.

The Judge Street Journal also highlighted posts that suggested an antipathy to white men by Da Costa, who has worked in diversity, equity and inclusion roles in multiple companies.

As a firestorm grew, Da Costa said she would step down.

“I spoke with the mayor-elect this afternoon, apologized, and expressed my deep regret for my past statements,” she said in a statement shared by the Mamdani transition team. “These statements are not indicative of who I am. As the mother of Jewish children, I feel a profound sense of sadness and remorse at the harm these words have caused. As this has become a distraction from the work at hand, I have offered my resignation.”

Mamdani released a statement of his own. “Catherine expressed her deep remorse over her past statements and tendered her resignation, and I accepted,” he said.

The incident came as Mamdani’s election has roiled the city’s Jewish community, with many expressing fear and discomfort over the mayor-elect’s history of anti-Israel rhetoric and policies. He has emphasized that he aims to make the city safe and welcoming for all of its residents, including Jews, and has condemned antisemitic rhetoric and displays since his election. While Mamdani has made some inroads with Jewish leaders since the election, he has also ignited new controversy with his response to a protest at a synagogue.

The New York and New Jersey branch of the Anti-Defamation League, which launched what it is calling a “Mamdani Monitor” following November’s election, called Da Costa’s posts “indefensible” in a post on X.

“We appreciate Da Costa has relationships with members of the Jewish community,” the group tweeted. “But her posts require immediate explanation — not just from Ms. Da Costa, but also from the Mayor-Elect.”

Several Jewish leaders praised Da Costa’s resignation.

The CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, Halie Soifer, welcomed the news of in a statement Thursday evening.

“Glad to see that Catherine Almonte Da Costa has resigned,” said Soifer in a statement. “The views she expressed are unacceptable and intolerable. Especially at a time of rising antisemitism, she had no place in the mayor’s office of the city with the largest Jewish population in the world.”

Sara Forman, executive director of the New York Solidarity Network, which backed Mamdani’s leading opponent in the election, praised “cutting ties” with Da Costa as” the right thing to do.” But Forman speculated that “had she said ‘Zionist’ instead of ‘Jew’ the response from the incoming Mamdani administration and the outcome we just witnessed would likely have been quite different.”

Da Costa’s husband, Ricky Da Costa, is a deputy in the office of Comptroller Brad Lander, Mamdani’s most prominent Jewish backer during the campaign. He is Jewish and posted on X for the first time in more than a year in a half on Thursday afternoon, in response to the criticism of his wife.

“I don’t come back to this awful place much these days but as the Jew who married Cat, I can guarantee she has grown so much since some dumb tweets when she was 19,” he wrote. “Her remorse, like everything else about her, is deeply genuine & she works so hard for a NYC where everyone is safe.”

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Amid the bitter cold on Tuesday evening, 100 or so neighbors — many of them clutching tiny cups of hot chocolate, holding dogs on leashes, or chasing after small children — gathered in Harlem’s tiny Montefiore Park to watch the neighborhood’s annual Christmas tree lighting.

But this year, the blue spruce — a landmark at the north end of the triangular park that’s been illuminated for Christmas every year since 1992 — wasn’t the only holiday decoration in the park. For the first time, the Christmas tree lighting was accompanied by the kindling of a large electric menorah, in honor of the third night of Hanukkah.

“We’ve lived in the neighborhood for a long time, and we walk by that park every single day,” said Erica Frankel, who with her husband Rabbi Dimitry Ekshtut is the co-founder of neighborhood Jewish community group Tzibur Harlem, which co-sponsored the lighting. “And we’ve been dreaming that one year there would also be a big public display for Hanukkah in the park alongside the tree.”

Dimitry Ekshtut leads the blessings for the menorah lighting. (Jackie Hajdenberg)

The event arose following an inquiry by the couple to the Montefiore Park Civic Association, asking if they could install a large menorah in the park. Instead of a simple “yes,” a broad coalition of civic, Jewish, Black, Dominican and interfaith organizations came together to create the first “Harlem Festival of Lights,” a cross-denominational celebration of both Christmas and Hanukkah. (A Kwanzaa celebration was initially on the lineup, too, but the lighting of the kinara, the seven-branched candelabra that is part of the modern pan-African holiday, was ultimately rescheduled to coincide with the seven-day celebration that begins on Dec. 26.)

In a year marked by antisemitism, both close to home and afar — most recently on Bondi Beach in Sydney, where 15 people were killed at a public Hanukkah menorah lighting event — the cross-cultural display of holiday cheer felt especially meaningful to many of the participants.

As a sign of the times, however, there was a pronounced police presence in the area.

“What we are doing tonight, in lighting a menorah publicly in the city of New York, in Harlem, with our friends, with our community members, with our elected politicians, with our police officers here, with all of you here, is nothing short than a reclamation of identity, a reclamation of ancestry and a public announcement that we are here,” Ekshtut said during his remarks.

“It has not been an easy Hanukkah,” he added. “Hanukkah is about sharing and spreading light. And we started Hanukkah with darkness. And the answer to darkness is not fear, is not hiding, is not running away. The answer to darkness, my friends, is more light.”

Speakers at the interfaith event included City Councilmember Shaun Abreu; Basia Nikonorow and Michael Palma from the Montefiore Park Neighborhood Association; and Victor Edwards from Community Board 9, which represents the area.

“This is an important time of the year where we realize that more than ourselves, we have each other,” said Abreu, the first Latino to represent Manhattan’s 7th District, whose mother works as a bookkeeper at Zabar’s. “And today is a perfect example of that unity. And let’s bring that unity, that unified spirit, into the new year.”

“This is a community of inclusiveness, and we’re here together to celebrate,” Edwards said during his brief comments. “[With] everything that’s going on in the world, there’s no more [better] time to be close together and support each other.”

The festival’s location is tied to Harlem’s rich Jewish history: The pocket park is named for Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, a Sephardic Jewish financier and philanthropist who funded a sanatorium that opened at West 138th Street and Broadway in 1888. At the time, the neighborhood was an increasingly attractive destination for Jews moving from more crowded locations further south in Manhattan. By 1917, Harlem had more than 175,000 Jewish residents, making it the third-largest Jewish community in the world, behind Warsaw and the Lower East Side.

The neighborhood’s Jewish population largely emptied out during the 20th century, as Harlem became an epicenter of African American life and also drew sizable Puerto Rican and Dominican populations. But the local Jewish community is growing and the neighborhood is now home to some 20,000 Jews who are slightly younger on average than Jews in Manhattan overall, according to a 2023 UJA-Federation study. A Jewish community center and a range of congregations serve the population.

As it happens, the Montefiore Park Neighborhood Association had wanted to host a menorah lighting for several years, according to Palma, but due to COVID, park construction, and organizational turnover with their Jewish institutional connections, something always came up.

“This year, we were determined to do everything on time,” Palma said.

Veronica Savage, co-chair of the Landmarks Preservation and Parks Committee for Community Board 9, said she came to show support “just sort of creating this community moment.”

An Upper West Sider named Justin, who provided only his first name, along with his girlfriend and friend, all regularly attend Tzibur Harlem for Shabbat and other Jewish programming. The trio huddled together for warmth.

“They said they were going to have a giant menorah and I was like, ‘I’ve got to be there,’ so I’m here,” Justin said.

“I believe that it’s even more important to show up now that people try to intimidate Jews and make us go hide,” said Paul, an Upper West Sider who declined to share his last name. “I am a Jewish immigrant from Poland, where some of the worst type of intimidation took place. So I’m extra stubborn and attentive to where people try and push us around like that. So I showed up and we lead with positivity. We lead with good effort.”

After some 20 minutes of speeches, the moment for turning on the holiday lights arrived at last. Frankel brought her two young daughters to the front of the crowd to turn on the electric menorah as Ekshtut led the blessings. Moments later, the children in the crowd were invited to count down from 10 to the lighting of the Christmas tree.

The Hanukkah menorah and Christmas tree are side by side at Montefiore Park. (Jackie Hajdenberg)

At first, the tree didn’t light up. And then — five very long seconds later — it did.

“It wouldn’t be a Harlem tree lighting without a delay,” a voice in the crowd quipped.

Following the lighting, guests were invited to an indoor continuation of the celebration. The crowd followed Palma for a few blocks, and then through a labyrinth of an apartment complex basement to a community room where a buffet of Latin soul food and kosher sufganiyot and latkes had been set up.

The festival of lights continued indoors. (Jackie Hajdenberg)

Once the shivering group was inside, Frankel said the blessings and lit an oil menorah — this time, with matches.

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This piece first ran as part of the New York Jewish Week’s daily newsletter, rounding up the latest on politics, culture, food and what’s new with Jews in the city. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

A matzah bakery burns in Brooklyn

• A massive fire ravaged the Boro Park Seder Matzah Bakery in Brooklyn on Wednesday morning, with firefighters working for hours to tame the blaze.

• The bakery has been a staple in the area, home to a large Orthodox Jewish population, for about 40 years. It’s not yet clear how extensively it was damaged.

• “That’s a very huge loss,” resident Abraham Fried told News 12 Brooklyn. “Everything is handmade, and this is one of the few places where we make matzah. We don’t have so many places. They start baking for Passover months ahead.”

• One firefighter and three residents were injured in the fire. The city Department of Buildings ordered the bakery and two neighboring buildings to vacate, forcing families to leave their homes.

Paladino says antisemitism calls for deporting Muslims

• Republican City Council Member Vickie Paladino was rebuked by several colleagues for her reaction to the Hanukkah mass shooting in Sydney, which authorities say was carried out by attackers with ties to ISIS. In a now-deleted X post on Sunday, she called for the “expulsion of Muslims from western nations.”

• Paladino reinforced her comments in an op-ed published in the Queens Jewish Link on Wednesday. “It turns out that visceral hatred for Jews, Israel, America, and Western values as a whole is a fundamental belief for a great many of the people we generously welcomed and provided refuge to,” she wrote.

• Paladino said the threat of “global jihad” may require “massive sweeps of Muslim neighborhoods.” She concluded, “Israel understands the nature of this war, and what we’re up against. Are we ready to do what’s necessary also?”

• Zohran Mamdani condemned Paladino for “vile Islamophobia” on Monday. “A million Muslims live in New York City. We belong here, as does every other New Yorker,” he said on X.

Culture corner

• Errol Louis, a NY1 political anchor, launches a new podcast about former Congresswoman Bella Abzug today. Read how this trailblazing Jewish feminist changed New York history.

• Mamdani was among the celebrities sighted at the New York premiere of “Marty Supreme,” a new Timothée Chalamet movie based on the real Jewish ping pong champion Marty Reisman and directed by Jewish filmmaker Josh Safdie. The Jewish actor Richard Kind posted about his encounter with the mayor-elect.

• Read our obituary of Norman Podhoretz, the New York intellectual who charted a path from Jewish liberal to pro-Israel neoconservative.

• Jewish comedian Alex Edelman lit the first Hanukkah candle and sang the blessings together with a crowd at his show at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Sunday. His praise for the building’s security guards won a long applause.

Jewish food report

• The New Absolute Bagel will officially open in the same Upper West Side storefront as the former Absolute Bagels on Dec. 29, reported the West Side Rag.

• Absolute Bagels closed abruptly in December 2024, sending many New Yorkers into mourning. The New Absolute Bagel has no relation to the Thongkrieng family that ran the original bagel shop.

Brooklyn Nets honor Sydney victims

• The Brooklyn Nets will pay tribute to the Sydney shooting victims during their game with the Miami Heat Thursday night.

• The 14-year-old nephew of Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was killed in the attack, will light a “basketball menorah” at the event. The teenager has the same name as his uncle.

• The Nets roster includes Israeli rookies Danny Wolf and Ben Saraf. Doors open for the game at Barclays Center at 6 p.m., with the menorah lighting at 7:30 p.m.

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After the Washington Post reported last month that the U.S. Coast Guard was reclassifying swastikas and nooses to no longer be considered hate symbols, Jewish leaders voiced their objections.

The Coast Guard’s acting commandant, claiming the report was inaccurate, sought to assure them. There would be no change to its categorization of the symbols, Admiral Kevin Lunday told Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner in emails with the head of the Union for Reform Judaism’s Religious Action Center. Lunday also issued a memo giving an explicit directive not to change them. 

For a time, he seemed to put fears at ease. But this week, another Post report revealed that the Coast Guard had, indeed, quietly gone through with the change. The Nazi insignia and the noose, a symbol closely associated with lynchings, were now labeled as “potentially divisive,” downgraded from hate symbols. The policy had been codified in the Coast Guard’s updated workplace harassment manual on Monday.

Now, Jewish groups are sounding off again — and they’re furious.

“I am outraged and baffled as to how the policy change has, in fact, occurred on your watch,” Pesner wrote in an open letter to Lunday viewed by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 

The rabbi said the admiral had assured him, “The swastika has always been and remains a prohibited symbol of hate in the Coast Guard.” Now, Pesner said, he was doubting the sincerity of the exchange.

“Was your initial reply an outright falsehood?” Pesner asked. “In the last month, has USGC suddenly discovered an affinity for symbols under which millions were murdered, enslaved, oppressed, or otherwise dehumanized? Is there another justification for this newly adopted policy?”

He concluded, “The damage the USGC has done to itself and the United States through this new policy is enormous.”

In an open letter to Lunday on Thursday, leaders of Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America said the group was “deeply disappointed” by the apparent policy reversal.

“The Coast Guard must require active accountability,” Scott Stevens, the group’s National Commander, wrote in the letter shared with JTA. 

Jewish War Veterans had previously posed “four questions” to Lunday seeking more information about how the swastika policy was changed in the first place; but, Stevens told JTA, the group never heard back. In an interview, Stevens expressed surprise and alarm.

“Now, several weeks later, we’re back to the original outrage,” he told JTA. “It makes no sense. Is this bad staffing? Was this intentional? Just what is going on in that office?”

If Lunday was truly unaware of the policy change, Stevens said, “then he should not be the commandant.”

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington also expressed its outrage. “Labeling Nazi swastika symbols and nooses as ‘potentially divisive’ suggests there is some context in which their use is appropriate,” the group’s CEO, Ron Halber, said in a statement. “Nothing could be further from the truth; few symbols have ever conveyed such unambiguous hate.”

The Anti-Defamation League struck a tone of exhaustion, writing on X, “Here we go again.” 

On the Senate floor, Chuck Schumer, the Jewish Senate minority leader, linked the Coast Guard’s actions to the Hanukkah terror attack in Australia over the weekend. 

“Not four days ago, as I mentioned, 15 Jews were slaughtered in cold blood,” Schumer said Wednesday. “And a day later, the Trump administration chose to soften its stance against Nazis and swastikas. Can you believe it? Can it get any lower?” 

Schumer also called the policy change “a ‘stand back and stand by’ in the form of an office memo,” referring to Trump’s remarks directed at the Proud Boys, a far-right group, during his 2020 reelection campaign.

Most significantly, one of Schumer’s Jewish colleagues has taken immediate action in an effort to discipline Lunday. 

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) walks into the Senate Chamber on December 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. Two opposing health care bills intended to avert rising health care premiums have failed. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Late Wednesday, Sen. Jacky Rosen joined Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat and military veteran who is not Jewish, in putting Lunday’s nomination to lead the Coast Guard on hold, citing the swastika policy. Lunday’s bid to become its permanent commandant requires Senate confirmation, with a full vote having been scheduled for this week.

“According to this newest reporting, it seems that Admiral Lunday and the Coast Guard have gone back on their commitment to clearly stating what their policy towards swastikas and nooses is and, instead, have implemented a policy that downgrades the seriousness of these hate symbols,” Rosen wrote on X. She claimed that, after the latest Post story broke, the Coast Guard began to “evade our questions and refuse to give a straight answer.”

“As it appears that Admiral Lunday may have backtracked on his commitment to me to combat antisemitism and hate crimes and protect all members of the Coast Guard, I will be placing a hold on his nomination until the Coast Guard provides answers,” Rosen continued. 

Some Republicans have also expressed concerns about Lunday’s nomination after the swastika stories.

Classifying swastikas and nooses as “potentially divisive,” rather than hate symbols, means that the Coast Guard may not remove them immediately if a service member was found to have used the signage.

The Coast Guard is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security, whose social media accounts in the Trump era have been accused of tweeting antisemitic dog whistles. A DHS spokesperson, while acknowledging rising antisemitism, accused Rosen and others of trying to score “cheap political points.”

“At a time when the threat of antisemitic violence is as widespread as it is right now, using this to politicize one of President Trump’s military nominations is simply disgusting,” spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the Post.

Late Wednesday, the Coast Guard’s official X account again denied the Post’s reporting, stating, “The Coast Guard maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward hate symbols, extremist ideology, and any conduct that undermines our core values.”

This story has been updated with comment from Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America.

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Four progressive House Democrats have introduced a bill aimed at combatting antisemitism in the wake of the attack on Jews celebrating Hanukkah in Sydney.

The Antisemitism Response and Prevention Act would demand a host of policy measures, including fully funding the federal Office of Civil Rights, while also repudiating the Trump administration’s tactics around antisemitism, which its progressive critics have said “weaponize” antisemitism in support of a repressive agenda.

“We all witnessed in horror the antisemitic attack that took place this week in Sydney, Australia. In the wake of this tragedy, I am proud to lead this comprehensive, progressive, and critically important piece of legislation to combat the rising antisemitism in this country,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Congress’ most senior Jewish member and one of the bill’s sponsors, in a statement. “This bill shows that moderates and those aligned with the current Israeli government do not enjoy a monopoly over the fight against antisemitism and hate.”

In addition to Nadler, those sponsoring the bill introduced on Wednesday were Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, Maxwell Frost of Florida and Becca Balint of Vermont. Frost is the youngest member of Congress, while Balint is Jewish.

The bill borrows from the Biden administration’s plan to combat antisemitism. It would fully fund the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education, which handles federal antisemitism investigations in schools, and reopen some of its regional offices that were shuttered by the Trump administration.

The bill would also create a new position, titled the National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism, whose duties would include navigating government-wide efforts to combat antisemitism.

“The terrorist attack against Jewish families in Sydney is a tragic example of how antisemitism is on the rise. As the grandchild of a man killed in the Holocaust, I personally know how attacks like this threaten our identity and community,” said Balint, a progressive who has been strongly critical of Israel during the war in Gaza.

“I am proud to co-lead this legislation to combat antisemitism in our country. This bill would provide resources to prevent and combat antisemitism in our communities and on college campuses,” she said. “It will also ensure strong Congressional oversight and guardrails to prevent any administration from politicizing antisemitism to further attack their opponents. Antisemitism is not just an attack on Jewish people— it is a threat to democracy and the safety of all communities.”

The bill would also mandate the installation of a Title VI coordinator on every college campus, a Democratic counter to the sweeping funding cuts to colleges that the Trump administration issued in its campaign against antisemitism last spring.

As the Trump administration took aim at antisemitism on college campuses last spring, many Jewish groups accused the administration of “weaponizing” antisemitism for political motives.

“Congress has a responsibility to ensure that Federal efforts to combat antisemitism are effective, evidence-based, and consistent with democratic values, and to prevent the weaponization of antisemitism concerns for ulterior political objectives,” the bill says.

The new bill was welcomed by the liberal-leaning Jewish group Nexus Project, which launched in 2019 as a progressive alternative to the Anti-Defamation League as the ADL consolidated around a view that anti-Zionism is antisemitism and an equal danger to other forms of anti-Jewish hatred.

“This bill reflects what the Nexus Project has long championed: that democracy and Jewish safety are inseparable,” said Jonathan Jacoby, the Nexus Project’s president and national director. “At a moment when some are exploiting Jewish fears to advance partisan agendas, Representatives Nadler, DeLauro, and Balint have shown that Congress can take antisemitism seriously while defending the democratic values that have historically kept Jewish Americans safe. We hope all Members of Congress will support this legislation.”

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When in June the Israeli Air Force launched a high-stakes mission to bomb elements of Iran’s nuclear arsenal, many of the technical crews behind the pilots who executed the operation shared a surprising detail.

They all graduated from the same high school: Holtz Interdisciplinary Air Force High School in south Tel Aviv. The school is part of the Amal Educational Network, an association of 50 schools in Israel including vocational schools that have educated some of young people behind the country’s key strategic defenses.

On its modest campus, Holtz trains high schoolers and graduates who spend two years after high school studying avionics, drone technology, computer engineering and other aircraft-related fields for future careers in air force technology. Despite its relatively aged facilities, Holtz offers one of Israel’s most advanced technical education programs, preparing teens from all walks of life for high-stakes military service in the Air Force’s elite units.

Many alumni play key roles keeping Israel’s Air Force aloft as it continues to monitor Hamas activities in Gaza, respond to threats from Yemen, and carry out occasional operations in such places as Lebanon and Syria.

Founded in 1954, Holtz is one of only three Israeli high schools dedicated to direct Air Force preparation. What makes it exceptional is not only the curriculum, but also its ethos. It is a regional magnet school that draws students from across the country: religious and secular, Jewish and Arab, from development towns and central cities. Many come from families facing serious financial hardship, housing insecurity or trauma. Holtz offers them a structured, supportive environment — and a path to excellence.

“We start in ninth grade with the goal of creating equity,” said Sarit Melamed, 60, Holtz’s principal and an alumna who has worked at the school for nearly four decades. “Some students arrive with gaps in learning and self-confidence. That first year is about leveling the playing field. Our job is to help every child believe they can make it to the top.”

Melamed’s ties to Holtz run deep: Her sister, nephew, and a cousin all studied at the school. After graduating, Melamed trained in avionics and worked on military aircraft and drone systems. She later returned to Holtz as an educator, driven by a passion for helping young people reach their potential. More than technical excellence, Melamed said the school gave her a sense of belonging and mission. 

“This school changed my life. It gave me confidence and direction,” she said. “Now I try to give that back to every student who walks through these gates.”

Ofek Nissan, an alum who now works on the school’s educational staff while serving in the Air Force reserves, said this sense of commitment is deeply felt in the Holtz community. 

“When you walk through these halls you feel it — the teachers, the graduates, the younger kids, everyone is connected. It’s not just a school; it’s a family, and you carry that with you even when you’re in uniform,” he said. “It was always a place I could come back to for advice, support or just to feel like I belong.”

Amal’s director general, Karen Tal, left, at a ceremony for students at the Holtz school in Tel Aviv. (Courtesy of Amal)

One of Holtz’s most distinct qualities is the strong ties between the school and its alumni. Years after graduating, many alumni maintain a relationship with the school, visiting to guest lecture or participate in other events while they’re still serving in the Air Force. Still others return to the school as staff or become donors. 

The school was deeply impacted by the attack of Oct. 7, 2023, and the war that followed. Among the alumni killed in the Oct. 7 attack were Cpl. Karin Schwartman, a recent graduate murdered at the Nova music festival, and Police Sgt. Maj. Aaron Arthur Markovich, who fought Hamas terrorists at the festival until he ran out of ammunition and was shot and killed. The school has a memorial garden for alumni who fell in battle, and it’s now building a study room in memory of Schwartman. 

“We lost students and alumni in the war,” said school educator Moti Peretz, who teaches technology and mentors students. “We’re not just building careers here. We’re carrying memories, shaping identity, living through history.”

For the duration of the war, a large display in the school’s main corridor features the names, photos and bios of all 250 hostages who were taken captive to Gaza on October 7. The display was more than a gesture of solidarity. It reflected how deeply the events of October 7 are etched into the consciousness of the students. Walking past the faces each day reinforced for them that national trauma is personal, that service is meaningful and that their technical training is tied to a larger mission, administrators said.

“These kids carry so much,” said Amal’s deputy director general for education, technology and R&D, Tamar Peled Amir, who previously worked in senior positions in the Prime Minister’s Office for over a decade. “They’re preparing for the most demanding futures while living through national trauma. And they still show up. That’s the power of this place.”

The school has a long list of stellar achievements. But after so many decades of prioritizing academic excellence over investing in the school’s physical facilities, Holtz’s leadership recently decided that some significant infrastructure updates are necessary to meet the needs of its students. 

Principal Sarit Melamed is herself an alumna of Holtz. “This school changed my life. It gave me confidence and direction,” she said. “Now I try to give that back to every student who walks through these gates.” (Courtesy of Amal)

The aircraft hangars, which house some relics of Israeli Air Force planes, are seven decades old, with deteriorating walls and ceilings. The school lacks an auditorium or proper sports fields. When the school wants to hold an event for all its students or parents together, it has no place to do it. 

“We’re doing top-tier training in spaces that are falling apart,” Melamed said. “We need a campus that matches the level of excellence our students achieve.”

The school, which celebrated its 70th anniversary last year at an event attended by many alumni, including senior military and Air Force officials, is currently seeking funding for renovation and reconstruction.

“Holtz students are doing their part for the country,” said Yael Nathanel, Amal’s head of resource development. “We hope Jewish communities around the world will be part of this effort, joining our alumni and local Israeli donors to help bolster this important institution.”

Karen Tal, Amal’s director general, says Holtz represents a model for a new kind of Israeli leadership.

“Shared society, equal opportunity, patriotism with humanity — Holtz brings all of that together,” she said. “We are proving that you can create elite excellence without leaving anyone behind. That’s the foundation of democracy.”

For Melamed and her team, the stakes couldn’t be higher. 

“We are training the people who protect this country. But we’re also building lives, character, hope,” she said. “That’s what Holtz stands for. And we’re just getting started.”

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The Conservative movement, one of the major Jewish denominations, is formally apologizing for decades of discouraging intermarriage and committing itself to a new approach centered on engagement.

The shift marks a significant change in tone for a movement that long treated intermarriage as a threat to Jewish continuity, even as its longstanding ban on clergy officiating at such weddings remains in place.

Leaders of the movement announced the shift in a report released Thursday by a working group representing the denomination’s three main arms: the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the Rabbinical Assembly and the Cantors Assembly.

“For decades, our movement’s approach to families where one partner is Jewish and the other is not was rooted in disapproval and shaped by fears about Jewish continuity,” the leaders wrote in a statement accompanying the report. “But today — as we connect with countless families who want to learn, participate, and belong — we are committed to welcoming people as they are.”

In the report, the movement also accepted responsibility for the consequences of that approach.

“We acknowledge that our movement’s historical stance has resulted in hurt, alienation, and disconnection from our community. We deeply apologize,” the report said.

The report does not itself change binding policy. Instead, it asks the movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, or CJLS, to revisit how its rules are interpreted, while recommending new educational, pastoral and ritual approaches aimed at intermarried families.

“The idea that we could discourage people from intermarrying through disapproval — all that did was push people away who really should have been part of our communities,” Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, the CEO of both the Rabbinical Assembly and United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, said in an interview.

The Conservative movement’s formal ban on officiating at interfaith weddings dates to a 1973 “standard of practice” adopted by the Rabbinical Assembly, which also barred clergy from speaking during such ceremonies. While the rule remains in effect, the report argues that it effectively froze conversation for decades even as intermarriage became widespread across American Jewish life.

“What we stated in 1973 obviously did not deter intermarriage. So moving forward, how do we really embrace these individuals” who are part of intermarried families? asked Shirley Davidoff, a member of the working group and vice president of USCJ’s board.

The ban has long been framed by the movement as a matter of Jewish law, or halacha, which traditionally understands marriage as a covenant between two Jews. While the Conservative movement has historically embraced the idea that halacha evolves over time, leaders have argued that officiating at interfaith weddings raises complex legal and ritual questions that go beyond concerns about continuity.

The report contends, however, that halacha itself contains “expansive, creative” resources for welcoming interfaith families.

“We believe that our halakhic process already contains the necessary ingredients to address the needs of our constituents,” the report said.

The report is the culmination of a nearly two-year process that included responses to a questionnaire from 1,200 people, listening sessions, focus groups and commissioned papers from scholars and rabbis. The 17-member working group included clergy and lay leaders from North America and Israel and operated by consensus rather than formal votes.

The new report builds on a 2024 clergy-led review that maintained the officiation ban but called for greater engagement with interfaith families, expanding that work into a movement-wide process that included lay leaders and focused on repairing trust and widening pathways into Jewish life.

In its section on marriage rituals, the report explicitly notes that there was not unanimity among members, a signal of persistent internal disagreement, particularly over whether and how Conservative clergy should participate in weddings between Jews and non-Jews.

The working group stops short of recommending an immediate end to the officiation ban. Instead, it asks the CJLS to clarify ambiguous terms such as “officiation” and “wedding,” and to consider whether rabbis might offer blessings or other forms of participation before or after a wedding ceremony.

The report arrives amid a broader rethinking of intermarriage in some corners of American Judaism. Reform and Reconstructionist movements have long permitted officiation, and individual Conservative congregations have increasingly tested the boundaries — including a high-profile case last year in Minnesota, where a Conservative synagogue announced it would allow clergy participation short of officiation. In a separate case, a rabbi left the movement rather than face possible expulsion following a complaint to his rabbinical association over his officiation at interfaith weddings.

Blumenthal declined to comment on any internal disciplinary reviews, emphasizing that the report is about setting direction, not enforcing compliance.

“What we hope,” he said, “is that rabbis and congregations will think more deeply about what it means to truly engage people who want to build Jewish lives.”

Rabbi Dan Horwitz of Congregation Beth Yeshurun in Houston is among those opposing a more permissive policy, warning that attitudes in the United States are generally less traditional than elsewhere in the movement.

“Given what I know about the Rabbinical Assembly as a whole, a change in policy would rupture the assembly — particularly among older members and those living in Israel or Latin America,” said Horwitz, who was not involved in the working group and did not have a chance to review its report prior to publication.

But Keren McGinity, who served as director of intermarriage engagement and inclusion at USCJ until her position was eliminated earlier this year, said fears of mass defection have long been overstated.

“I have heard the concern about the fracturing of the movement for years,” McGinity said. “It’s not that no one would leave, but generally speaking, when people make that threat, it’s often hyperbolic.”

While acknowledging deep divisions within the movement, McGinity said she was not convinced that lifting restrictions would fracture Conservative Judaism. Avoiding change, she added, also carries risks, pointing to the 2020 Pew study showing that fewer than half of Jews raised Conservative still identify with the movement. “That,” she said, “is hugely concerning.”

Despite inevitable disagreements over policy and pace, members of the working group said they hope the report itself will be seen as a sign of institutional seriousness and as a unifying moment for the movement.

“I hope people will feel proud that we’re having this conversation,” Davidoff said. “That we’re willing to pull back layers, listen carefully, and include people that want to build a Jewish home.”

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a slew of changes meant to curb antisemitism, including a crackdown on hate speech by extremist clerics.

The announcement comes four days after two gunmen killed 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach in Sydney. Many Australian Jews said they had feared such an attack after years of surging antisemitism and what they said had been an inadequate government response.

Albanese acknowledged the criticism during an address in Canberra, Australia’s capital.

“More could have been done, and I accept my responsibility for the part in that as prime minister of Australia, but what I also do is accept my responsibility to lead the nation, and unite the nation,” he said.

“Anyone in this position would regret not doing more, and any inadequacies which are there,” Albanese added. “But what we need to do is to move forward.”

The new policies would heighten penalties for speech that incites violence, including online; increase the government’s latitude to block or rescind visas for those who spread hate; and penalize organizations whose leaders engage in hate speech.

As is the case in England, where two of the largest police forces announced on Wednesday that they would begin arresting people who use protest slogans seen by many as antisemitic, Australian authorities said they aimed to tip the scales against the kinds of speech that had long been treated as just shy of criminal.

“There have been organizations which any Australian would look at and say their behavior, their philosophy and what they are trying to do is about division and has no place in Australia,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told reporters at Albanese’s press conference. “And yet for a generation, no government has been able to successfully take action against them because they have fallen just below the legal threshold.”

Albanese also pledged to enact a 13-point plan that his antisemitism envoy proposed earlier this year and announced a task force to ensure that Australian schools respond adequately to antisemitism. The moves follow a pledge made in the immediate aftermath of the Bondi Beach attack to tighten access to guns, which one of the alleged attackers had obtained legally.

Albanese’s announcement comes as Sydney is in the midst of days of funerals for the victims, who included rabbis, a Holocaust survivor and a 10-year-old girl. While some local officials have attended the funerals, he has drawn criticism for staying away. Burke was heckled when he visited a vigil at Bondi Beach, with some in attendance shouting, “Blood on your hands!”

Prior to the shooting, Australian Jews were distressed by a string of arson and vandalism attacks on Jewish sites, as well as rhetoric in pro-Palestinian demonstrations seen as stoking antisemitic violence. Officials attributed some of the most searing attacks to criminals working indirectly on behalf of Iran, and Albanese ejected the Iranian ambassador in retaliation earlier this year.

Now, Albanese’s new moves have drawn criticism and concern from some on the left, including a progressive Jewish group, about their implications for free speech. But the main body representing Australian Jews, which on Sunday called for “decisive leadership and action now,” said it wanted more.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry said in a statement that it would reserve a fuller judgment until after the funerals were over and more information was available but indicated that it was not satisfied. Albanese said it could take months to draft legislation to match his commitments.

“We will need to see the details before making an assessment as to whether the measures are likely to live up to their billing,” the council said. “This suite of measures can only be regarded as a first step, but it is an essential one.”

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FILE PHOTO: Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam speaks to journalists at the government headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon, December 3, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

Lebanon is close to completing the disarmament of Hezbollah south of the Litani River, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Saturday, as the country races to fulfil a key demand of its ceasefire with Israel before a year-end deadline.

The US-backed ceasefire, agreed in November 2024, ended more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and required the disarmament of the Iran-aligned terrorirst group, starting in areas south of the river adjacent to Israel.

Lebanese authorities, led by President Joseph Aoun and Salam, tasked the US-backed Lebanese army on August 5 with devising a plan to establish a state monopoly on arms by the end of the year.

“Prime Minister Salam affirmed that the first phase of the weapons consolidation plan related to the area south of the Litani River is only days away from completion,” a statement from his office said.

“The state is ready to move on to the second phase – namely (confiscating weapons) north of the Litani River – based on the plan prepared by the Lebanese army pursuant to a mandate from the government,” Salam added.

The statement came after Salam held talks with Simon Karam, Lebanon’s top civilian negotiator on a committee overseeing the Hezbollah-Israel truce.

Since the ceasefire, the sides have regularly accused each other of violations, with Israel questioning the Lebanese army’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah. Israeli warplanes have increasingly targeted Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and even in the capital.

Hezbollah, a Shi’ite Muslim group, has tried to resist the pressure – from its mainly Christian and Sunni Muslim opponents in Lebanon as well as from the US and Saudi Arabia – to disarm, saying it would be a mistake while Israel continues its air strikes on the country.

Israel has publicly urged Lebanese authorities to fulfil the conditions of the truce, saying it will act “as necessary” if Lebanon fails to take steps against Hezbollah.

Guns seized in the course of the operation. Photo: IDF Spokesperson via i24

i24 News – Israel Defense Forces soldiers conducted an operation on Wednesday in the area of Rafid in southern Syria to apprehend a suspected terrorist affiliated with ISIS, the military spokesperson said on Saturday.

The announcement comes as Washington announced a major operation to eliminated Islamic State terrorists in Syria after three Americans lost their lives in a jihadist attack in Palmyra.

The Israeli soldiers completed the operation in Syria “in cooperation with IDF intelligence,” the statement read, adding that “the suspect was transferred for further processing in Israeli territory.”

Additionally, during the operation, weapons were found and seized.

IDF troops “continue to remain deployed along the Golan Heights border in order to protect the State of Israel and its citizens,” the statement from the spokesperson concluded.

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria

i24 News – The US administration of President Trump vision for the future of Gaza has it transformed into a high-end high-tech hub of luxury and innovation, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

A team of officials understood to be led by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff developed a draft proposal to convert the war-ravaged Palestinian territory into a glittering metropolis, propelling Gazans from poverty to prosperity.

US officials with familiarity with the plan—pitched to foreign governments and delegations as a PowerPoint presentation— are cited in the report as saying that, understandable open-endedness of a project in its early phase notwithstanding, the blueprint has many lacunae and leaves crucial questions unanswered.

Critics cite the plan’s silence on the thorny question of disarming Hamas, the Islamist terror group that ruled Gaza for the past 15 years, and initiated the cross-border incursion and massacre of Israelis on October 7, 2023; the attack launched the devastating war that has left much of the coastal territory in ruins.

The plan’s projected cost is put at $112.1 billion over 10 years, with Washington prepared to commit support to the tune of some $60 billion in grants and guarantees on debt for “all the contemplated workstreams” in that time period.

The question of where two million Gazans would reside during the costly and lengthy rebuilding is also left unaddressed, it is understood.

Similar-sounding plans have been mooted by the Trump administration even before it managed to broker a ceasefire in October that paused the two year-long war.

Members of Bondi Surf Life Saving Club and North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club walk towards Bondi Beach during an event to stand shoulder to shoulder as they observe three minutes of silence to honour victims, responders, and lifesavers following the mass shooting that targeted a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on December 14, in Sydney, Australia, December 20, 2025. REUTERS/Audrey Richardson

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday that the country’s Jewish community was “completely unbreakable” after attending a memorial at a Sydney synagogue for the victims of a mass shooting attack on a seaside Hanukkah celebration.

The mass shooting at Bondi Beach on Sunday, Australia’s worst in nearly 30 years, is being investigated as an act of terrorism targeting Jews. Authorities have ramped up patrols and policing across the country to prevent further antisemitic violence.

Albanese said the event he attended at the Great Synagogue in Sydney on Friday night showed “the spirit of our Jewish Australian community is completely unbreakable.”

“It was a night of unity, resilience, comfort, faith and love,” Albanese said in remarks televised from the capital Canberra, ahead of a national day of reflection on Sunday to honor the 15 people killed and dozens wounded in the attack allegedly carried out by a father and son.

LIFESAVERS RETURN TO BONDI BEACH

Albanese, under pressure from critics who say his center-left government has not done enough to curb a surge in antisemitism since Israel launched its war in Gaza, has vowed to strengthen hate laws in the wake of the massacre.

The government of New South Wales state, which includes Sydney, has also pledged a raft of reforms, including a tightening of hate and gun control laws.

It promised on Saturday to introduce a bill on Monday to ban the display of symbols and flags of “terrorist organizations,” including those of al-Qaeda, Al Shabaab, Boko Haram, Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic State.

“The displaying of these symbols can only be done by someone who’s either deranged or has an intention to insult and intimidate and scare,” state Attorney General Michael Daley told a press conference in Sydney, where 15 of those injured in the attack remained hospitalized.

Around 1,000 surf lifesavers returned to duty at Bondi Beach on Saturday, restarting regular patrols after a halt sparked by the shooting on the first evening of the Jewish festival of lights. After the attack, authorities closed roads across the famed beachside suburb for several days.

The Bondi Beach volunteer and professional surf lifesavers, in their distinctive red and yellow uniforms, lined the sand on Saturday morning for two minutes of silence to honor the victims, Surf Life Saving Australia said.

Peter Agnew, the group’s president, said in televised remarks that the tribute was “out of respect to the Jewish community and also to support each other this morning.”

Australia’s Jewish community on Friday gathered at Bondi Beach for prayers, while hundreds of swimmers and surfers formed a huge circle in the waters off the beach to honor victims.

Alleged gunman Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene. His 24-year-old son Naveed Akram, who was also shot by police and emerged from a coma on Tuesday afternoon, has been charged with 59 offenses, including murder and terrorism, according to police. He remained in custody on Saturday in hospital, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said in a statement.

Authorities believe the pair was inspired by militant Sunni Muslim group Islamic State, with flags of the group allegedly found in the car the two took to Bondi.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, Aug. 10, 2025. Photo: ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS

i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will lay out the case for a renewed attack against the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missile program to US President Donald Trump when the two leaders will meet at Mar a Lago in the last days of December, NBC News reported on Saturday.

While the damage visited on Iran’s ballistic missile program and uranium enrichment program during the 12-day war in June this year is understood to be substantial, Jerusalem is nevertheless concerned that Tehran restarted both, the report said, citing an official with direct knowledge of the matter and four former US officials briefed on the plans.

When the leaders meet at the president’s Florida estate, Netanyahu will make the case that Iran’s rebuilding efforts represent a threat necessitating swift and decisive action.

A White House spokesperson said that “The International Atomic Energy Agency and Iranian government corroborated the United States government’s assessment that Operation Midnight Hammer totally obliterated Iran’s nuclear capabilities. As President Trump has said, if Iran pursued a nuclear weapon, that site would be attacked and would be wiped out before they even got close.”

The visit to Mar a Lago on December 29, confirmed by Netanyahu’s office earlier this week, will mark the premier’s fifth trip to the US since Trump returned to office; it will be his first since the US-brokered ceasefire and hostage release deal in October that has halted the Gaza war after two years.

Candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a Democratic New York City mayoral primary debate, June 4, 2025, in New York, US. Photo: Yuki Iwamura/Pool via REUTERS

An appointee of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani resigned just one day after her selection this week, following the exposure of decade-old social media posts that contained antisemitic language and stereotypes.

Catherine Almonte Da Costa, who had been named Mamdani’s director of appointments, stepped down Thursday after social media posts from around 2011–2012 resurfaced in which she used phrases echoing classic antisemitic tropes, including references to “money hungry Jews.”

The Anti-Defamation League condemned the comments, saying they “echo classic antisemitic tropes and otherwise demean Jewish people,” and questioned how such remarks were not uncovered during the vetting process for a senior role in the incoming administration. Shortly after the controversy broke, Da Costa’s X account was taken offline.

In a statement announcing her resignation, Da Costa expressed remorse for the posts, calling them  and inconsistent with who she is today. In a statement, Da Costa said  she “spoke with the Mayor-elect this afternoon, apologized, and expressed my deep regret for my past statements. These statements are not indicative of who I am.” Mamdani accepted her resignation, stating that he believed her apology to be sincere.

The episode has intensified scrutiny of Mamdani’s transition team and personnel choices as he prepares to take office. Mamdani, a progressive lawmaker, has previously faced criticism from Jewish and pro-Israel groups over his rhetoric and positions related to Israel, prompting heightened sensitivity to issues of antisemitism surrounding his administration.

Jewish communal leaders said the incident underscores broader concerns about tolerance for antisemitic language within progressive political circles and the need for more rigorous screening of public officials and senior staff. Several noted that public servants must be held to a high standard, particularly at a time of rising antisemitism in the United States.

Halle Soifer, the CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, expressed approval of Da Costa’s resignation.

“Glad to see that Catherine Almonte Da Costa has resigned. The views she expressed are unacceptable and intolerable,” she said. 

Sara Forman, executive director of the New York Solidarity Network, also praised Mamdani’s “cutting ties” with Da Costa, but cautioned that ““had she said ‘Zionist’ instead of ‘Jew’ the response from the incoming Mamdani administration and the outcome we just witnessed would likely have been quite different.”

David Friedman, the former US Ambassador to Israel, expressed a more skeptical view of Da Costa’s decision to step down.

“Seems like every Mamdani appointee has something in common — an intense dislike for Jews,” he said.

The resignation marks an early setback for Mamdani’s mayoral transition and is likely to keep questions about antisemitism and accountability at the forefront as his administration begins to take shape. Mamdani has repeatedly stressed his commitment to protecting New York City’s Jewish community amid ongoing concern over rising antisemitism in the city and his own anti-Israel viewpoints.

Mamdani, a far-left democratic socialist and anti-Zionist, is an avid supporter of boycotting all Israeli-tied entities who has been widely accused of promoting antisemitic rhetoric. He has repeatedly accused Israel of “apartheid” and “genocide”; refused to recognize the country’s right to exist as a Jewish state; and refused to explicitly condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which has been associated with calls for violence against Jews and Israelis worldwide. During his tenure in the NYC City Council, Mamdani spearheaded the “Not on our dime!: Ending New York Funding of Israeli Settler Violence Act,” legislation which would ban charities from using tax-deductible donations to aid organizations that work in the West Bank. In 2021, Mamdani issued public support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement—an initiative which seeks to economically and diplomatically isolate Israel in the first step to its eventual destruction.

Notably, on Oct. 8, 2023, 24 hours following the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, Mamdani published a statement condemning “Netanyahu’s declaration of war” and suggesting that Israel would use the terror attacks to justify committing a second “Nakba.” Mamdani then said that Israel can only secure its long term safety by “ending the occupation and dismantling apartheid.”

Illustrative: A police car is seen outside Victoria Station in Manchester, England. Photo: Reuters/Phil Noble

British law enforcement say they are receiving calls from Jewish children — some as young as 10 years old — requesting armed police protection for Hanukkah celebrations, as fears and threats against the UK’s Jewish community intensify in the wake of the Bondi Beach massacre and a surge in antisemitic incidents.

Speaking at the Policy Exchange think tank in London, Greater Manchester Police Chief Sir Stephen Watson said fear within the Jewish community has risen sharply after the Yom Kippur terror attack in Manchester and the deadly attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach — with even young children now asking for armed police protection to simply attend Hanukkah parties.

“We are getting telephone calls into Greater Manchester Police day in and day out over the past few days, where you have a group of 10-year-old girls wanting to go to a Hanukkah party — where they should, frankly, be interested in balloons and bicycles — and are requesting armed police officers,” Watson said.

“Jewish children are the only children in our country who, day to day, go to school behind large fences, guarded by armed personnel, with routine patrols around those areas,” he continued. “Our Jewish communities endure a way of life in this country that no one else has to endure.”

“The intolerable has become normalized and is now almost accepted as the way things are,” he added. 

Manchester police have also been investigating reports that people celebrated last week’s terror attack at Bondi Beach — which killed 15 people and wounded at least 40 others — an act Watson described as “sickeningly distasteful.”

Speaking to the panel, Watson also warned that threats to Jewish communities have surged sharply since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

“October 7 marked a dramatic increase in the threat facing our Jewish communities. The level of fear escalated, and it suddenly became clear that this was no longer an abstract issue — the level of security required by the community had risen sharply,” he said. 

“Over recent months, security has gone from being a necessary measure to something that, despite its presence, was unable to protect people on Yom Kippur from being attacked and murdered,” he continued, referring to the terrorist attack earlier this year that left two Jewish men dead.

“We are now in a situation where the dynamics have continued to shift, but not for the better — everything has worsened. The terrorist threat has increased, and both the number and effectiveness of attacks have grown,” Watson said. “Fear, particularly within our Jewish communities, has intensified, and the reasons driving that fear have become more tangible and realistic.”

With antisemitism continuing unabated and threats against Jews and Israelis on the rise, British authorities are stepping up efforts to crack down on antisemitic incitement, targeting anti-Jewish hatred and bolstering both legal and security measures.

On Wednesday, London and Manchester police warned that anyone publicly chanting to “globalize the intifada” — a popular slogan among anti-Israel activists that has been widely condemned as a call for violence against Jews and Israelis — will be arrested. 

“We know communities are concerned about placards and chants such as ‘globalize the intifada,’” London’s Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police said in a joint statement, pledging to “be more assertive” and take decisive action against anyone inciting violence.

“Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed, words have meaning and consequence. We will act decisively and make arrests,” the statement read. 

Shortly after this new measure was announced, local police arrested two individuals “for racially aggravated public order offenses” after they allegedly “shouted slogans involving calls for intifada” at an anti-Israel demonstration in central London, while a third person was detained for obstructing the arrests, the Metropolitan Police said.

Watson explained that slogans such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” are not outright prohibited, describing their legality as subjective and context-dependent — though he noted it is banned if shouted outside a synagogue.

He also emphasized that while waving a Palestinian flag is not illegal, doing so outside a synagogue could result in arrest.

“From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free” is a popular slogan among anti-Israel activists that has been widely interpreted as a genocidal call for the destruction of the Jewish state, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

Palestinians buy vegetables at a market in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

For years, international NGOs and humanitarian agencies told the world they were working “neutrally” in Gaza. But according to newly declassified Hamas documents, that neutrality never existed.

In a conversation with HonestReporting, NGO Monitor vice president Olga Deutsch explains how Gaza was run not as a normal territory, but rather as a tightly controlled police state where Hamas oversaw almost every aspect of international aid. “No one was neutral or independent in Gaza,” she says. “Hamas controlled everything.”

The documents, seized by the IDF and later declassified, come from Hamas’ own ministries. They show a system in which Hamas approved NGO staff, tracked individual employees, and controlled which projects and grantees received funding.

The “Guarantors” Inside Humanitarian Groups

At the heart of this system is something Hamas called the “guarantor.”

Every international organization working in Gaza had a local liaison, many of whom held senior roles inside the NGOs, and at least some of them were identified as Hamas members or affiliates. That person had two jobs: report back to Hamas on what the organization was doing, and make sure foreign staff didn’t see what Hamas didn’t want them to see.

The guarantors watched staff behavior, tapped phones, monitored social media, and filed detailed reports. Those reports graded organizations as “cooperative,” “medium cooperative,” or “non-cooperative” — but even “non-cooperative” groups still had to toe Hamas’ line if they wanted to operate at all.

It wasn’t just about skimming food or supplies. Hamas treated NGOs as a strategic asset: a way to control the population, gather intelligence, and cover military activity. Aid groups working on agriculture near the Israeli border were of particular interest, because those areas overlapped with Hamas infiltration routes and surveillance of the fence.

One internal report describes a Norwegian Refugee Council delegation visiting an elderly couple whose apartment floor was shaking from below. The couple suspected Hamas was digging a tunnel. The delegation, escorted by Hamas officials, ignored the complaint and moved on. No warning was issued, no public statement was given when the delegation later returned home. Just silence.

Why Gaza Is Different — and Why That’s Not an Excuse

Deutsch acknowledges that working under a terror regime poses real risks for aid workers. But she rejects the idea that this explains everything, or excuses anything.

In other conflict zones, she notes, the same organizations have no problem openly labeling groups like Boko Haram or Al-Qaeda as terrorist organizations, even while negotiating access on the ground. In Gaza, by contrast, Hamas is often softened into “militants” or “fighters,” while Israel is frequently accused of crimes that are never substantiated.

Gaza is also structurally unique. In many war zones, international staff live in fortified compounds separate from the local population. In Gaza, NGOs live and work inside the civilian areas, making it easier for Hamas to monitor their every move — and harder for them to claim they don’t know what was going on.

But whatever the operational challenges, Deutsch says the line was clearly crossed when organizations not only adapted to Hamas rule but then turned around and accused Israel of crimes while hiding what they knew about Hamas’ tactics.

From “Neutral NGOs” to Narrative Warfare

The documents also confirm what Israel has long said about Hamas’ use of hospitals and medical centers.

According to Deutsch, Hamas records show that every hospital and medical center in Gaza had a Hamas wing, with at least one tunnel linked to many of these sites. All the international organizations working there knew that Hamas used protected civilian infrastructure for meetings, medical treatment of operatives, and military activity.

Yet when the IDF struck near these sites after October 7, many of the same humanitarian groups were among the first to accuse Israel of targeting civilians or attacking hospitals, without mentioning Hamas’ presence at all.

Deutsch says part of the problem is what NGO Monitor calls the “halo effect.” NGOs are treated by journalists, politicians, and the public as uniquely trustworthy — as if their reports are objective, apolitical snapshots of reality.

In practice, many of these organizations arrive in Gaza with political assumptions already formed by the media and activist networks back home. They then produce reports that reinforce those assumptions, which are eagerly picked up by international outlets and quoted as fact.

Journalists have told Deutsch they “have to stay neutral,” which, in the Israel-Hamas context, means refusing to label Hamas a terrorist organization even when their own governments have done so. At the same time, these outlets unquestioningly quote casualty figures and narratives that originate with Hamas-controlled institutions.

The result is a vicious cycle: NGOs produce politicized reports, the media amplifies them, and then new NGO staff and donors absorb those narratives as the starting point for their own “humanitarian” work.

From Durban to October 7: This Didn’t Start Yesterday

The entanglement of NGOs, politics, and anti-Israel campaigning is not new. NGO Monitor itself was founded after the 2001 UN Durban Conference in South Africa, where international NGOs embraced the edict that “Zionism is racism” and committed themselves to using human rights language as a strategic weapon against Israel.

What has changed, Deutsch argues, is the intensity. In the last decade, and especially since October 7, accusations that once lived on the fringes — genocide, apartheid, deliberate starvation — have moved into the mainstream language of humanitarian organizations.

At the same time, record levels of antisemitic incidents in North America and Europe have not been treated by major human rights giants as a central human rights crisis, even as those same organizations repeatedly single out Israel.

What the Documents Show — And Why It Matters Now

The Hamas documents at the center of NGO Monitor’s report were seized by the IDF in Gaza and later declassified. Most come from Hamas’ Ministry of Internal Security — the same body responsible for policing dissent, internal surveillance, and managing foreign organizations. A smaller number are linked to the ministries of education and agriculture, where project activity overlapped.

NGO Monitor translated and analyzed thousands of pages, connecting Hamas’ internal tracking of NGOs with publicly available information on the same organizations and their funding.

Deutsch says the timing of the report is critical. As the international community debates how to rebuild Gaza, estimates for reconstruction have reached around $70 billion. If that money is channeled into the same systems that existed before October 7, she warns, the world will simply rebuild the infrastructure that allowed Hamas to thrive.

For individual donors who want to help civilians but fear enabling Hamas or politicized NGOs, Deutsch’s advice is simple: do basic due diligence.

Check an organization’s public statements and social media. See what it says about Israel, Gaza, and the war. Ask whether it operates in Gaza or the West Bank, and what projects it funds there. If the group regularly accuses Israel of genocide, apartheid, or deliberate starvation, that should trigger serious questions.

“Money should be conditional,” she says. “The same logic you use to choose a doctor or a school should apply to the charities you support. Don’t send money blindly.”

A Moment of Choice

Deutsch has been presenting this report in parliaments and policy forums across Europe. For her, the stakes go far beyond the Israeli–Palestinian arena.

The way NGOs, governments, and media handle Gaza’s reconstruction will signal whether the international system is willing to confront how human rights and humanitarian language have been weaponized, or whether it will simply pour money back into an unreformed structure controlled by a terror group.

“If we don’t learn from what these documents show,” she says, “we’re not just failing Israelis or Palestinians. We’re undermining the credibility of humanitarian work and the democratic societies that depend on it.”

To read the full report and learn more about the organization’s critical work, visit ngo-monitor.org

HonestReporting is a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

United States President Donald J Trump in White House in Washington, DC, USA, on Thursday, December 18, 2025. Photo: Aaron Schwartz via Reuters Connect.

US President Donald Trump filed an appeal of a ruling by an Obama-appointed federal judge which restored $2.7 billion in public grants he had impounded from Harvard University over its alleged failure to address campus antisemitism along with other faults.

The move aims to put Harvard on the back foot,  as his efforts to penalize the institution have run into repeated legal roadblocks despite that virtually every other elite institution he has targeted for reform — such as Columbia University, Brown University, and Northwestern University — decided that settling with Trump is preferable to fighting the administration.

As previously reported, by The Algemeiner, US federal judge Allison Burroughs ruled in September that Trump acted unconstitutionally when he confiscated about $2.2 billion in Harvard University’s research grants, charging that he had used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically motivated assault on this country’s premier universities.” Burroughs went on to argue that the federal government violated Harvard’s free speech rights under the US Constitution’s First Amendment and that it was the job of courts to “ensure that important research is not improperly subjected to arbitrary and procedurally infirm grant terminations.”

The ruling conferred a major victory to Harvard, as it had been asked to grant to a wishlist of policy reforms that Republican lawmakers said would make higher education more meritocratic and less welcoming to anti-Zionists and far-left extremists. Contained in a letter the administration sent to Harvard president Alan Garber — who subsequently released it to the public — the policies called for “viewpoint diversity in hiring and admissions,” the “discontinuation of DEI initiatives,” and “reducing forms of governance bloat.” They also implored Harvard to begin “reforming programs with egregious records of antisemitism” and to recalibrate its approach to “student discipline.”

Harvard refused the president his wishes even after losing the money and took the issue to federal court. Meanwhile, it built a financial war chest, leveraging its GDP-sized assets to issue over $1 billion dollars in new debt and drawing on its substantial cash reserves to keep the lights on. It fought on even as it registered its largest budget deficit, $113 million, since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to The Harvard Crimson.

On Friday, Harvard told multiple outlets it is “confident that the Court of Appeals will affirm the district court’s opinion.”

The Harvard Corporation also said on Tuesday that the university will retain Alan Garber as president for an “indefinite” period. Garber was appointed in Jan. 2024 amid antisemitic, pro-Hamas demonstrations on campus and Harvard’s being pilloried over revelations that Garber’s predecessor, Harvard’s first Black president, Claudine Gay, is a serial plagiarist.

Under Garber’s leadership, Harvard has contested a slew of lawsuits accusing school officials of standing down while anti-Israel activists abused Jewish students. It settled some of the cases and prevailed in others. At the same time, Harvard agreed to incorporate into its policies a definition of antisemitism supported by most of the Jewish community, established new rules governing campus protests, and announced new partnerships with Israeli academic institutions. By all accounts, it is in no rush to settle its dispute with the Trump administration.

“Alan’s humble, resilient, and effective leadership has shown itself to be not just a vital source of calm in turbulent times, but also a generative force for sustaining Harvard’s commitment to academic excellence and to free inquiry and expression,” Harvard Corporation senior fellow Penny Pritzker said in a statement. “Alan has not only stabilized the university but brought us together in support of our shared mission.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

Arizona State University Chabad and Downtown Tempe hold Menorah lighting ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023. Photo: Alexandra Buxbaum vis Reuters Connect

Before Hanukkah (and before the Bondi Beach massacre), my son asked me what the holiday is really about. Not the gifts, not the latkes, not even the oil that famously lasted eight days. “But what actually happened?” he pressed. He has been learning quite a bit in Hebrew school and pushed me: “How did a tiny group win when everyone thought they couldn’t?”

It’s a question that lands differently this year. I told him the truth: Hanukkah is the story of a small, outmatched community refusing to accept that the world’s hatred and power alignments would dictate their future.

The Maccabees were not the strongest or the most numerous. They weren’t protected by empires or alliances. They persevered because they believed their identity mattered, their way of life mattered, and their freedom to live as Jews mattered. And that conviction — rooted in faith, courage, and stubborn hope — carried them through the impossible.

He listened, nodded, and then asked the question so many Jewish parents have heard this year: “Is it like that now?”

I wish the analogy didn’t fit. My son is growing up in a moment when open antisemitism spreads faster than any ancient decree; when mobs surround synagogues, when Jewish students are told they don’t belong, when the Internet can turn ignorance into global hate in seconds. He sees the hate filled graffiti around our neighborhood. He hears others in the city talk about Israel with a hostility that has nothing to do with policy and everything to do with identity. He watches the news and senses the unease in our home when we talk about safety.

And so the Maccabean story is not abstract. It is a mirror.

For years, many of us lived Jewishly in a way that was proud but cautious — visible but not too visible, present but politely understated. 

So many American Jews assumed America would always be different, that the ancient need for Jewish vigilance was something our generation might finally outgrow. But my son’s question made clear that those days are gone. 

The world has changed, and our children deserve a model of Jewish life rooted not in caution, but in confidence.

The miracle of Hanukkah is not just that oil burned longer than nature allowed — it’s that Jews did. That our people insisted on lighting a flame even when the world around them demanded surrender. They restored the Temple not because victory was assured, but because Jewish life itself was worth defending whether or not anyone else agreed.

This year, the miracle feels less like ancient mythology and more like a living assignment. It reminds us that Jewish endurance has never depended on winning the popularity contest of nations. The Jewish people have always survived — and often thrived — by holding firm in who we are even when the world misunderstands, resents, or maligns us.

That lesson came into sharper focus when I showed my son the famous photograph in Kiel, Germany, in 1931 of a menorah in the window facing the Nazi flag across the street — one family defiantly insisting on light when every force around them demanded fear. He stared at it quietly. Then he looked out our own window, the same window where just weeks ago we saw protesters screaming about Jewish power, Zionism, and Israel with a rage meant to intimidate. They called for Israel’s destruction, the death of his family members living in Israel, and the murder of Jews in America for simply existing. It didn’t matter that this was New York, not 1930s Germany; the message was unmistakable.

So this year we have placed our menorah in the window — not tucked away, not dimmed, not hesitating. It is our declaration of resilience, a statement of presence, and a call to the world that Jewish life will not retreat. We will not cower. We will not waver in our right to be here, to belong, to live openly as Jews in the United States or anywhere else. We are resolute. We are defiant. And we are proud.

Some insist that Jews and Jewish institutions must bend — moderate our commitments, soften our existence, or “balance” our right to safety with demands that erase the legitimacy of Jewish peoplehood itself.

Hanukkah teaches the opposite: Jews do not need to contort ourselves to appease ideologies that deny our very right to endure. We are allowed to exist openly. We are allowed to be strong. We are allowed to defend ourselves and our communities. We are allowed to assert that our story, our dignity, and our continuity matter. We are allowed to be proud of our faith, our history, and our place in the world.

And America, if it means what it says about pluralism, has obligations too. A free society does not ask minorities to hide the parts of themselves others find inconvenient. A healthy democracy protects its citizens especially when they are under threat — not only when they are easy to celebrate. Jewish belonging is not conditional. It is anchored in centuries of contribution to American civic, cultural, scientific, intellectual, and communal life. Our presence strengthens this nation; our resilience is not a provocation but a fulfillment of America’s promise.

When I look at my son, I see why this clarity matters. He deserves a Jewish life lived without apology or fear. He deserves a community that is strong, grounded, and proud. He deserves to inherit a tradition defined not by defensiveness, but by purpose.

So yes, I told him, the story of a small group doing the impossible resonates now. Not because we are powerless, but because the pressures to retreat, disappear, or doubt ourselves have returned with force. The right response — now as then — is illumination; bringing light into the world  

One candle does not drive away all darkness. It simply refuses to let the darkness win uncontested. That is what we are called to do right now: to insist on our visibility, to teach our children pride rather than dread, to speak plainly even when others prefer we whisper, and to bring light and enlightenment to a world that too often chooses shadows.

This year, as my son places our menorah in the window, he will know that he is part of that unbroken chain; that he, too, inherits the responsibility to kindle light in an age that would rather see it dimmed. And that the enduring miracle of our people is not simply that a flame once lasted eight days, but that we are still here, still proud, and still unafraid to light it again.

May that light shine powerfully, proudly, and without fear.

Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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Ritual is often mistaken for routine. Something done out of habit, inherited without thought. But in times of fear, ritual becomes something else entirely. It becomes resistance. It becomes a declaration of presence.

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The trend toward extravagance, ostentatiousness, and high prices is also relevant in the investment world. I struggle against it with clients. I’m advising them to stick to a sensible investment program, while they are lured by approaches that seem more exciting.

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If you ask me how it is that every empire, without exception, ended up in the trash bin of history while the Jewish people continue to flourish despite continued persecution, I think this picture explains everything.

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Fear reinforces the belief that we don’t deserve love or connection, which in turn fuels anger—the ego’s counterfeit form of control, a desperate attempt to mask powerlessness.

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What was Yosef’s sin that deserved this punishment? Is it not a rule that one should not rely on miracles? Rather, one should try one’s best to solve the situation on one’s own and only when one has exhausted one’s human capacities will G-d take over? So, what did Yosef do wrong?

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I don’t know why Hashem put me in this position, but He surely has a reason, so my job is just to make the best of it. It could be a lot worse, you know.

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Question: If the concern is that hostile gentiles might persecute us, isn’t there the same worry if the menorah is placed indoors? After all, the candles will likely be seen through the window... How would one light in such a circumstance?
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Rabbi Teichman taught everyone how to be a proud Yid through song, humor, and cheer. Rabbi Teichman taught everyone young and old the chashivus of mitzvos, and he made you feel important for doing them.

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What makes this particular edition especially captivating is the language in which it speaks. Judeo-Persian – the literary tradition of Persian-speaking Jews who wrote in Persian using Hebrew characters – is among the most remarkable cultural inheritances of the Jewish world.

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Whether you read this column on Tuesday, Friday, or even Motzaei Shabbat, it’s still Chanukah – and Chanukah parties are still going on. So today I’d like to review some music for Chanukah.

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Do any years have more than one Three-Torah Shabbat? Yes. In Eretz Yisrael, Shabbat Simchat Torah and Shekalim falling on Rosh Chodesh – possible in only one year-type – occurs 4.33% of the time. But no for Chu”L.

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Even if the guy you are hoping for is so outdoorsy he fillets his own fish at restaurants, he is still going to be affected by your appearance.

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The Greeks resent the mitzvot as not rational and because they don’t understand them.

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I learned by listening to the rabbis that the light dispels darkness. By lighting the light for Chanukah, we push back darkness. We push back evil, Walsh said.

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In America, there is a strong tendency to feel that bigger and brighter is always better. Upon deeper reflection, many times this is not the case, however.

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Just as we gradually educate our children in bite-size pieces of knowledge and wisdom as they develop through life and before they come of age, so too did G-d bring this holy light into this lower realm before its time.

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This power to bring about change, that can transform an individual’s status from one minute to the next, precisely defines the energy of Chanukah as well.

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One of the most meaningful parts of the congress was the elections for the Youth Zionist Congress Council (CC). I’m incredibly honored to have been elected as a representative from the U.S., and even more humbled to have been chosen as the Spokesperson of Hasbara.

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When scholars consider whether the swastika was a Jewish symbol in the sense that the Star of David or the Menorah is a Jewish emblem, the answer from mainstream academic literature is that there is no evidence that Jewish religious authorities, rabbinic leadership, or organized Jewish communities adopted the swastika as a recognized symbol of Judaism.

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Eight nights of celebration, gatherings with family, friends, co-workers, and community events at shul, plus the tradition of gift-giving—what better time to open a few great bottles or share them as thoughtful gifts?

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The problem, many argue, is the need to go beyond platitudinous sentiment and take decisive action against the root cause: the incitement of hate against Jews.

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Before Adam sinned, he looked nothing like you or I do today. When we look at one another, all we see is flesh and bone, but if you looked at Adam before he sinned, his appearance was angelic, transcendent, luminescent.

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Naturally, matters aren’t quite so simple. Questions arise, such as: What do we do about the 20% of Israel’s population that isn’t Jewish? What if the Muslims demand that they be judged under sharia law? And how do we deal with the multiplicity of criminal offenses that didn’t even exist in the Talmudic era?

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The words offered it up for a burnt offering in place of his son seem redundant: Given the storyline, it is obvious that the ram was being brought as an offering in place of Yitzchak. Why does the Torah emphasize in place of his son?

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The message of the menorah, as the Rebbe said, is a multiple message but first and foremost, it’s a universal message. We live in a world of darkness. Never more than today do we see the darkness. The menorah comes along and tells every human being, regardless of race, color, or creed, the answer is do not fight it, illuminate it.

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The Chanukah battles were no different. What unfolded in those years in Yerushalayim, and the miracles we witnessed there, sent ripples far beyond the boundaries of our people.

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It is far too soon to truly process or respond to such a heinous crime. But anyone with a sensitive soul cannot avoid the question that rises unbidden in the heart. How do we light candles, gather with family, sing songs of gratitude, spin the dreidel, and eat latkes in the shadow of such devastating loss and tragedy?

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Hallmark holiday movies are famously formulaic. They all have guaranteed happy endings and almost universally involve a homecoming, a life-changing shift in work-life balance and a chaste kiss amid glowing lights. But that doesn’t mean they have to be bad.

Since 2019, Hallmark has occasionally applied this formula to Hanukkah. This is generous of them. It is also where the trouble begins.

Sorry to be a Grinch, but this year’s installment in the Hallmark Hanukkah canon was not only corny (that’s to be expected) but also honestly kind of offensive. In the plot, a rabbi’s son comes home for the holidays and falls for the pastor’s daughter; their families end up combining Hanukkah and Christmas services and traditions to “unite their communities through song,” since, as the logline says, “coming together is the best way for everyone to celebrate the holiday season.”

After watching the movie, two of us — Mira Fox and Benyamin Cohen — cringed in dismay. We thought we could easily write a better plot, one that didn’t seem knocked out by a monkey typing into ChatGPT but still stays true to the frothy hallmarks people love about, well, Hallmark, complete with soapy romance and happy ending, but without the Christian hegemony.

So here’s our attempt. Give us a call, Hallmark.

Related

• What this year’s Hallmark Hanukkah movie says about America

The name

Love at First Light

The plot

Esther Rayzel Stiefel (not all Jewish women have generic names like Rebecca Goldstein) is a high-powered Jewish consultant who flies home to her struggling childhood synagogue to “fix Hanukkah,” a simple marketing mission her boss thinks will somehow reverse decades of suburban synagogue decline through a few simple branding choices.

Naive and headstrong, Esther believes it’s a task she can confidently take care of in one night, with a PowerPoint. Instead, it drags on for all eight days — derailed by committee meetings, Talmudic disputes and the discovery that Hanukkah is, theologically, a minor holiday that has nothing to do with synagogue attendance. This insight comes thanks to Esther’s new study partner: the synagogue’s new, young rabbi, Shaya Carlebach, who is singlehandedly revitalizing the shul’s youth attendance through his impish grin and knowledge of the slang term “6-7.”

Romance, sufganiyot and and a humorous montage of the pair trying to make an “elevated” latke out of everything but a potato ensue.

The cast

Kristen Bell, Emmy-nominated for her role as a non-Jewish podcaster dating a hot rabbi in Netflix’s Nobody Wants This, stars as Esther. Some call it stunt-casting, or worse, others progress: an attractive blond with a normal-sized nose can play a television Jewess.

A shaggy-haired Timothée Chalamet repurposes his Wonka topper as a black hat to play Shaya Carlebach, a Rashi-quoting neo-Hasid who has a penchant for Yiddish EDM and moonlights as a DJ. The supporting cast — including Benny Blanco playing himself as a music industry friend — all correctly pronounce the end of his last name as “CH” and not “CK.”

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• Every American Hanukkah special, movie and TV episode worth knowing about

Jamie Lee Curtis, who has real-life experience restoring a shul, plays Shaya’s widowed mom who falls in love with the equally widowed dad of Esther, portrayed by Kelsey Grammar. The star of Frasier — whose sixth season featured the holiday episode “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz” — already has daddy-daughter chemistry with Bell from their little-seen 2018 film Like Father.

Seth Rogen, his beard dyed white in a nod to Santa Claus, plays Esther’s boss, Nick Frost. Barbra Streisand makes a cameo.

Behind the scenes

Hallmark passes because the jokes have too much Yiddish and the executives didn’t get any of them. Also, Streisand requests fresh rugelach on set, a bark mitzvah for her cloned dog, and $18 million.

Warner Bros. pounces, but the script spends months in development, caught up in the midst of a corporate takeover. David Ellison, the new head of Paramount who is constantly trying to prove his Jewish bona fides, promises he’ll cast an Israeli, but only if he can fund the film using sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia.

Netflix produces the movie instead, repurposing the menorahs from the Nobody Wants This set, and says it will give the film a short theatrical release to qualify for an Oscar. Diane Warren scores the soundtrack and includes a song called “Let the Light Find You.”

The opening scene 

Esther, wearing a power suit that signals both competence and unresolved resentment toward her mother, kisses a mezuzah as she strides through a glossy open-plan office in Manhattan murmuring into her phone buzzwords like “engagement,” “deliverables” and “community buy-in.”

A junior colleague asks the meaning of Hanukkah. Esther pauses, realizes she doesn’t really know, and says, “I’m too farklemt to do this right now.” Also, she’s late for lunch with her mom, who offers to raise a grandchild so Esther can focus on her career if she’ll just pop one out like, yesterday. (Nagging Jewish mothers might be an overdone trope, but this anecdote is straight out of real life.)

Cut to Esther’s boss assigning her the Hanukkah account — Esther’s childhood synagogue, now hemorrhaging members and relevance. “We need to make it festive,” he says. “Warm. Universal. Christmas-adjacent.”

Esther promises quick results. She books a flight home that night. Eight candles appear on the screen. Only one is lit.

The meet-cute

Esther arrives at the synagogue, a product of multiple mergers over the decades, and buys a hot drink from the lobby cafe, The Kiddush Cup. As she reaches to grab the non-dairy creamer, her hand brushes up against Shaya. They both realize they’re lactose-intolerant and have undiagnosed Crohn’s. She introduces herself briskly, explaining she’s here to “optimize Hanukkah engagement.” Shaya smiles and asks if she wants to study.

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• She’s Jewish and wrote 12 Hallmark Christmas movies (and 2 about Hanukkah)

They sit down for a chevruta — Shaya pulls an Artscroll Talmud off the shelf while Esther opens her laptop to Sefaria.org. They both try not to stare at each other. It’s antagonistic, flirtatious and immediately derailed by a congregant interrupting to ask the rabbi whether LED candles can be used in a menorah. In his attempt to summarize the arguments for and against the electric candles, Shaya digresses into recounting Talmudic gossip, like that time one student lay under his rabbi’s bed while he had sex with his wife because “this, too, is Torah.” Esther begins to realize there might be more to Judaism than Hanukkah-print pajamas.

The plot twist

By night four, Esther’s PowerPoint has grown to 97 slides (98 if you’re counting the one showing all the Jewish a capella groups parodying KPop Demon Hunters into Hanukkah medleys.) She has zero buy-in. Every attempt to “rebrand” Hanukkah collapses: Is it about miracles? Assimilation? Resistance? Latkes? Mensch on a Bench?

Esther is beginning to worry that all her ideas about revitalizing Hanukkah are more about trying to imitate Christmas. Hanukkah stockings aren’t going to convince anyone to come to shul.

That’s when Shaya casually mentions Purim. Esther can’t believe she didn’t think of this herself. After all, she is named after the holiday’s heroine. Perhaps it is a nod to the megillah, in which God’s divine hand is hidden.

In their study sessions, Esther and Shaya begin to speak faster and faster, cooperatively overlapping, discussing how the best way to bring people into synagogue isn’t trying to make Judaism closer to Christianity, but instead leaning into real Jewish practices. Hanukkah bushes might be pretty lame but Purim spiels can be outlandish, whip-smart and fun.

“Wow,” Esther exclaims, “It’s pretty ironic how everyone wants to make Hanukkah about Christmas when the whole holiday is about religious zealots resisting assimilation!” They laugh heartily.

The ending

On the eighth night of Hanukkah, Esther finally gives up.

At the synagogue candle lighting, she scraps her prepared remarks — a TED-adjacent d’var Torah about resilience, relevance and light as metaphor — and instead tells the truth. Hanukkah, she says, doesn’t need to be fixed. It resists optimization. It has survived this long without a content strategy.

Still, Esther has to do something to prove to her boss that she succeeded and get a long-awaited promotion, so she and Shaya decide to host a sufganiyot-eating contest in concert with a local bakery; they have their first kiss covered in strawberry jam. But the real moral — and romance — comes in the beit midrash, with Esther’s realization of the real solution to the synagogue’s woes.

What this synagogue needs is a blowout Purim party: Costumes, chaos, congregational email threads. Shaya offers to DJ. Someone starts arguing about hamentaschen fillings. Good thing they have more than eight nights to plan this time. (Coming this spring, A Very Purim Proposal.)

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• Hallmark’s ‘Leah’s Perfect Gift’ gets interfaith relationships right — and a whole lot else wrong
• Hallmark’s newest Hanukkah movie makes fun of Hallmark holiday movies

The post We tried to fix Hallmark’s Hanukkah problem. Here’s the movie we made instead appeared first on The Forward.

(JTA) — At a virtual Holocaust survivor event on Thursday, beloved Jewish film director Rob Reiner gave a pre-recorded address where he urged those watching to be “resilient.”

For the survivors, families and advocates who tuned into the virtual event hosted by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, or Claims Conference, Reiner’s words carried added weight, having been recorded just weeks before he and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were killed in their home on Sunday.

Ahead of Reiner’s pre-recorded remarks, Greg Schneider, the executive vice president of the Claims Conference, said that Reiner had begun working on the organization’s annual International Holocaust Survivors Night a few years ago, including appearances in the virtual screening in 2023 and 2024. The organization has disbursed restitution money to survivors since 1951.

Schneider then read a quote from a 2017 Jewish Telegraphic Agency interview with Reiner.

“Yes, all this is reflected in my work. It’s my sensibility. I’m a Jew. I was raised a Jew. I value honesty and integrity and knowledge and education and all those values I was raised with,” said Schneider, quoting Reiner.

Concluding his introduction to Reiner’s address, Schneider said, “Rob and Michelle, we will carry on your values of acting with honesty, integrity, knowledge and education.”

As Reiner came on the screen, surrounded by posters from some of his most acclaimed films, including “The Princess Bride” and “A Few Good Men,” he began by describing his family’s “personal connection” to the Holocaust.

“Thank you again for asking me to join your evening, I can tell you that what you’re all about means a lot to me,” Reiner said in the video. “Personally, my wife, her mother, was in Auschwitz, and her whole family died there. Her mother was the only survivor, and my aunt was also in Auschwitz.”

On Wednesday, the USC Shoah Foundation shared a 1994 video of Singer Reiner embracing her mother, Holocaust survivor Nicole Silberkleit, who described her children as “very understanding, loving, and affectionate.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/DSYmPLmEshI/

In his address, Reiner then shifted his focus to urging “resilience,” which was the theme of the virtual event to honor Holocaust survivors.

“I know the theme of the evening is resilience, and if ever we needed to be resilient, it’s now,” he said. “We’re living in a time where what’s happening in our country is scary and reminiscent of what we’ve seen happen in the past, and we just hope that we can all survive this and that we can hold on to our democracy, but I want to just thank everybody for being there, and let’s be resilient.”

The Claims Conference’s event was part of an annual menorah lighting ceremony on the fifth night of Hanukkah to honor survivors. It concluded with around 100 survivors lighting candles at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

This year, Claims Conference officials also used the event to draw attention to antisemitism, with the survivor event taking place just days after 15 were killed during an antisemitic attack on a Hanukkah event in Sydney, Australia.

“Even in these difficult days, when antisemitism is rising and Jewish communities around the world are under attack — this very week on the first night of Hanukkah in Sydney, Australia — we draw strength and inspiration from you, the survivors, from your personal and collective resilience,” Schneider told the group of survivors in Jerusalem.

One of the victims of the attack, Alex Kleytman, was a Holocaust survivor who had passed World War II living with his family in Siberia.

“Lessons from the past should have protected Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman – a husband, a father and a grandfather,” the Claims Conference wrote in a post on Facebook Sunday. “Educating about how words of hate can turn into violence must not be a hollow promise.”

The couple’s 32-year-old son, Nick, briefly appeared in a Los Angeles court Wednesday after he was charged in connection to his parents’ killing. He has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a special circumstance of multiple murders.

The other Reiner children, Jake and Romy, shared a statement with People on Wednesday expressing their grief over the loss of their parents.

“Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day,” the statement said. “The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience. They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends.”

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(JTA) — REYKJAVIK — December light is brief in Iceland. It was not yet 4 p.m., and by the time the giant menorah was lit in downtown Reykjavík, the day had already slipped into darkness. A steady drizzling rain blurred the streetlights and soaked the pavement where fewer than 100 people gathered, roughly half of the country’s Jewish population, which has always been small and largely unseen.

The celebrants were calm, almost subdued; security was not. Armed plainclothes police ringed the area. They moved through the crowd while surveillance drones hovered overhead. Air support was on standby, measures almost unheard of in a country that tops the world’s most peaceful list.

The gathering took place just hours after news broke of the most recent terrorist attack on Jews, this one a celebration of Hanukkah at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.

Rabbi Avraham Feldman and his wife, Mushky, welcomed the crowd, their voices steady but restrained. Iceland’s minister of foreign affairs, Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, followed, and she lit the menorah herself. Curious passersby slowed, some watching silently before moving on. The event passed without incident.

“The attack in Sydney reminds us that darkness is not only something we read about in history books. It still exists in the world and appears suddenly and violently,” said Avraham Feldman, who is associated with the Chabad movement, which makes public menorah-lightings a centerpiece of its outreach around the world.

“Hanukkah does not ask us to deny this darkness,” he added. “Instead, Hanukkah teaches us that each and every one of us can create light and positivity. Even a small light pushes away great darkness. And when many lights stand together, we overpower the darkness.”

In a statement issued the same day, Gunnarsdóttir condemned the attack in Sydney, which took place at a Chabad event. “I strongly condemn the horrific attack on those celebrating Chanukah at Bondi Beach in Australia,” she said. “There is no place, anywhere, for antisemitism or terror. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the victims, their loved ones, and others affected.”

Her presence at the Hanukkah event carried significance well beyond the ceremony itself. Iceland’s government has been among Europe’s most vocal critics of Israel, and public discourse around the war in Gaza has been intense. Jewish teens have reported increasingly tense relationships with their peers, and the national broadcaster recently announced that it would boycott the Eurovision song contest over Israel’s participation.

For some Jews in Iceland, the political situation has shaken their sense of acceptance.

“It has become very different for me since Oct. 7,” said an American Jew living in Iceland who asked to remain anonymous. “Before, I was fairly widely open about being Jewish, but the landscape has changed.”

When he and his spouse moved into a new home last year, he ordered a mezuzah for the front door, but he hesitated to put it up. “For the first time, I found myself concerned about placing my Hanukkah menorah in the window,” he said, even as he added that most Icelanders would likely not recognize the symbol anyway, given the prevalence of seven-armed electric advent lights in windows each December.

For some present, having Gunnarsdóttir at the Hanukkah event offered a rare and meaningful signal that support for a vulnerable minority need not be conflated with geopolitics.

“It’s so special to have the foreign minister join us today, to stand with us, support the community, and offer her continued friendship,” said Mushky Feldman said. “We’re honored to have her speak tonight and light the first candle.”

Jewish life in Iceland has no long historical footprint. There are no historic synagogues, no Jewish neighborhoods, and no centuries-old institutions. Holidays are celebrated in rented spaces or private homes. Until 2018, there was not even a resident rabbi. The community is made up largely of immigrants — including an Israeli jewelry designer who was the country’s first lady for 13 years until 2016 — their children, and Icelanders who have claimed a Jewish identity later in life.

“How do you teach your children what it means to be Jewish without a ready-made community?” asked Reykjavík resident Adam Gordon, an American Jew. “The answer is that we must create that community ourselves.”

Practical challenges abound. “Supplies can be difficult to come by,” said the American Jew, who decided that he would light a menorah. “I finally placed a bulk order from abroad with enough Hanukkah candles to get me through the end of this decade.”

An obstacle is the traditional Icelandic approach to religion. Most Icelanders are nominally Christian but the country is known as one of the most secular in Europe. (Judaism became an official state religion in 2021, following Avraham Feldman’s advocacy.)

“Icelanders see Jewishness as a function of religion, which they largely see as a quaint if outdated view of the world incompatible with their collective level of political and moral evolution,” said Mike Klein, an American Jew living in Iceland.

“Discussions about my being Jewish often become uncomfortable, partly because of the current political predicament, but also because Icelanders find it strange that I would choose to make my life difficult by maintaining my Jewish identity when I’m otherwise relatively well accepted,” Klein added.

Others echo the same tension. A Jewish American living in Iceland, who declined to be named out of concerns about identifying publicly as Jewish, said antisemitism in Iceland is often rooted in misunderstanding rather than explicit hatred. “There is a lot of ignorance,” she said.

“Many Icelanders have no idea that there are only about 15 million Jews in the world, and that while we are few, we are not a monolith. We have different ways of connecting to our Jewish identity, that it is not only rooted in religion, but culture, a shared heritage.”

At the same time, some Icelanders have embraced the community in meaningful ways. Finnur Thorlacius Eiríksson first encountered Jewish life in 2017, when he met an Israeli couple visiting Iceland. When they later moved to the country and invited him to a Passover seder in 2018, he joined.

“The experience was a positive one, which prompted me to attend more events where I got to know the Jewish community in Iceland quite well,” he said.

Eiríksson now holds the distinction of the only non-Jew known to be registered as a member of the official Jewish community. He attends major holidays and events and is even considering converting to Judaism.

“Thankfully, nearly all my Jewish friends are open about being Jewish,” he said. “They know it never helped the Jewish people to hide their identity, so they wear their Jewish identity with pride.”

Andrea Cheatham Kasper, who is Jewish and lives in Iceland with her family, said her Shabbat table has become a cornerstone of connection.

“Our Shabbat table has been central in our home and also as our way to make friends and build community,” she said. “Relationships have grown there, some immediately and some after many meals together.”

Kasper said she does not hide being Jewish or Israeli but avoids online political battles. “My goal is to focus on face-to-face relationships and interactions that are human, not political,” she said. “What I have found is that the noise comes from the loud voices, and they aren’t always representative.”

At the lighting, the menorah flickered against the rain and the early darkness. Children stood close to their parents. Photos were taken to share with family far away, and fresh-baked sufganiyot (jelly-filled donuts) were passed out to the crowd.

“Events like the menorah lighting become these precious moments when we can gather and celebrate together,” said Gordon. “None of us came to Iceland to deepen our Jewish practice, but we don’t want to abandon it. Instead, we want to weave it together with our Icelandic identities.”

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(JTA) — Shortly after Thanksgiving, my children develop a refrain: “We have to start decorating for Hanukkah!” They pull out a plastic bin stuffed with decorations — some purchased at Target, others created at their Jewish day school — and transform our front window. They hang metallic dreidel cut outs along the frame. They press gel letters spelling “Happy Hanukkah” against the glass and move a credenza in front of it, arranging the menorahs on top, eagerly awaiting the first night’s candle-lighting.

It’s the kind of scene my grandparents would hardly recognize. Decorations were for Christmas, not Hanukkah. And in the late 1980s, when I was a child, there weren’t many Hanukkah decorations to buy, even if you had wanted them. Global manufacturing had not yet turned every holiday into an aisle of seasonal merchandise.

Some traditionalists might see these store-bought decorations and new customs as inauthentic or overly Americanized. But this doesn’t make my children’s version of Hanukkah “less authentic.” It is simply shaped by a different material and cultural world. Religion, after all, evolves with the people who practice it. My awareness of global, distinct Jewish traditions — whether from Israel, India, Morocco, Argentina or elsewhere — as well as my access to goods from around the world have allowed my family to expand our practices. As my children have grown, my family has experimented, borrowed and adapted. A holiday that once unfolded quietly around the kitchen table now spills out onto our windows and our social media feeds.

For some in the Jewish community, this kind of cultural adaptation reflects a worrying sign of assimilation while for others, a marker of renewed Jewish visibility. But this is not a sign of either decline or triumph. It is what religious life has always looked like — religious expression is continuously shaped by the shifting cultural contexts in which its practitioners live. And once we understand religion as something shaped by people, not simply imposed from above, it becomes clear why attempts to rigidly define it are so misguided.

This is especially true when it is political leaders who try to define what religion should be. Whether the claim comes from the far left, insisting that certain places are too sacred for politics, or from the far right, insisting that real Americanness requires a specific Christian expression, the instinct is the same: to fix religion – and religious expression – as rigidly defined.

The danger of trying to fix religion into a single, approved form is not abstract. When religious expression is narrowed — politically, culturally or physically — it becomes easier to mark some expressions as illegitimate, threatening or disposable. In moments like the shooting in Sydney, which targeted Jews publicly practicing Hanukkah, we see the deadly consequences of a world that struggles to tolerate visible religious difference.

In recent months we’ve seen statehouses mandate the display of the Ten Commandments, often framed through explicitly Christian interpretations, in public schools, while, on the left, some now contend that synagogues should bar certain political themes, reasoning that “sacred spaces” must not be used for events they view as morally or legally objectionable. These impulses differ politically, but they share a desire to police the sacred.

But that’s not how religion actually works. Religious communities are rarely politically neutral and they’re rarely politically uniform. They argue about values, practice, leadership, ethics and identity. They evolve. They absorb the cultures around them. Sometimes contributing and sometimes resisting. The result is not a single expression of religiosity, but a layered tapestry, vibrant and often contradictory. And this debate isn’t uniquely Jewish: Catholic parishes, Black churches, and Muslim communities, among others, are all wrestling with what belongs in their sacred spaces and who gets to decide.

And Hanukkah, of all holidays, should make us suspicious of neat categories. The Maccabees were zealots who not only fought imperial rule but also battled other Jews whom they viewed as insufficiently observant. Yet when Jews came to America, they retold the story of Hanukkah as one about religious freedom — of a small band of Jews, resisting an oppressive empire. The Jewish community in America elevated a once-minor holiday to a new cultural context.

Hanukkah’s evolution shows how religious traditions are shaped by the people who practice them, in the places where they take root, and through the cultural exchanges that surround them. This is precisely why attempts to rigidly define religion now threaten a core tenet of liberal democracy: religious pluralism.

This elasticity is not a weakness of religion. When politicians announce that houses of worship must be apolitical, they are projecting a sanitized ideal on communities that are always grappling with moral questions of their time. When others call on religious institutions to endorse candidates or crusade for partisan causes, they are treating religion as a tool rather than a living tradition.

In both cases, the beautiful variety of actual religious life  is at risk of being lost, threatened by a single official version that bears little resemblance to the lived reality of communities like mine. If we want a healthy democracy, we must resist efforts — from the left or right — to freeze religion into a single, approved form.

That’s why Hanukkah decorations in my window feel especially meaningful this year. They’re not a celebration of purity, or a symbol of moral certainty. They are a reminder of the centrality, and fragility, of religious pluralism to American public life.

Pluralism isn’t about keeping religion out of the public square, and it’s not about demanding that religion speak with one voice. It’s a recognition that healthy democracy depends on many traditions, stories, and forms of expression, none complete on their own. It’s a recognition that America is richer when different communities bring their customs into view, even if those customs evolve or look unfamiliar to previous generations.

When my children decorate our window, they are doing what children in every generation have done, creating and contributing to their tradition through the world they inhabit. And when the candles are lit for each night, they illuminate not a message of religious purity, but the possibility of a society where diverse practices and identities can coexist — messy, imperfect, real and not without risk. That, to me, is a miracle worth publicizing.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

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(JTA) — The youngest victim of the Bondi Beach Hanukkah massacre is known by just one name — but it’s all that’s needed to make her a symbol for her fellow Australians.

“I named her Matilda because she was our firstborn in Australia. And I thought that Matilda was the most Australian name that could ever exist,” her father Michael, a Jewish immigrant from Ukraine, said at a vigil earlier in the week. “So just remember – remember her name.”

The poem and song “Waltzing Matilda,” written in 1895, is considered an unofficial anthem in Australia, which has been rocked by the terror attack on Bondi Beach that killed 15 people attending a Hanukkah celebration.

At a vigil on Thursday night at Bondi Pavilion — a public space now transformed into a memorial flooded with flowers and displays of solidarity — hundreds of mourners gathered and sang the song to memorialize Matilda, who at 10 was the youngest among the dead.

Matilda had been filmed shortly before the attack admiring as her father put on tefillin, the phylacteries used in prayer that emissaries of Chabad, the group that organized the Hanukkah celebration, routinely help Jewish men put on to fulfill a religious commandment. She was shot while standing with her mother Valentyna and 6-year-old sister.

Seeking to protect their privacy, the family has asked that their last name not be published in the media. Instead, Matilda has become associated her middle name, Bee.

At the somber memorial, all of the attendees were given stickers with Matilda’s name alongside a smiling bumblebee clutching a menorah, a symbol that has become a quiet emblem of remembrance in the days since her death.

At her funeral on Thursday, held at the Chevra Kadisha Memorial Hall, mourners clutched bee balloons and placed bee posters on the exterior of their cars.

A giant plush bumblebee was placed on Matilda’s small white casket at the funeral, one similar to the many that now adorn the Bondi Pavilion flower memorial alongside illustrations of bumblebees.

On social media, parents and schools around the world have posted children’s illustrations and photos of bees at the request of Matilda’s parents, a tribute that has spread widely as a way of remembering her. On Facebook, Matilda’s father, Michael, has reposted many of the online memorials.

Build a Bear Workshop Australia also announced the production of a limited-edition plush bee in memory of Matilda, with all proceeds going to her family. A GoFundMe page set up by her language teacher has also drawn over $550,000 in donations.

“She loved the outdoors, animals, she went to school, she had friends, everybody loved her,” Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, whose son-in-law, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, was also killed in the attack, said during his eulogy for Matilda. “The tragic, so totally cruel, an unfathomable murder of young Matilda is something that’s painful to all of us as if our own daughter was taken from us.”

Valentyna said at the vigil that until Sunday, she had been happy that her family had moved from Ukraine, which has been at war with Russia since Russia invaded in 2022.

“I came from Ukraine. I brought from Ukraine my oldest son, with him, and I was so happy that he’s not there right now. He’s not fighting for his land, and he’s safe here,” she said as she broke down in sobs. “I couldn’t imagine I would lose my daughter here.”

Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales, the Australian state that includes Sydney, quoted from “Waltzing Matilda” at Matilda’s funeral.

“She bore the name Matilda to honor this great land, Australia’s heart and spirit forever hand in hand,” said Minns, who wore the bumblebee sticker on his lapel, according to ABC. “Her spirit like a swagman’s will never fade away. She’s waltzing with the angels, where love will always stay.”

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(JTA) — A Wider Bridge, a pro-Israel LGBTQ organization that became a flashpoint in debates over Israel, antisemitism and “pinkwashing” inside the American queer community, announced Friday that it will shut down at the end of the year.

The San Francisco–based nonprofit said it will wind down operations as of Dec. 31, 2025, citing financial strain, according to a statement from board chair Daniel Hernandez that was shared with supporters Friday.

“After 15 years, A Wider Bridge has made the difficult decision to wind down our operations,” Hernandez wrote. “The organization has been weathering difficult financial realities despite efforts to secure sustainable funding.”

The group’s closure also follows a period of internal turmoil. In late 2024, its executive director, Ethan Felson, was charged with sexual misconduct; he pleaded not guilty, and the organization installed interim leadership. Asked whether the case played any role in the decision to shut down, the group responded that the closure was driven by financial realities.

Founded in 2010 by activist Arthur Slepian, A Wider Bridge set out to connect LGBTQ communities in North America with their counterparts in Israel, promoting Israel’s record on LGBTQ rights while pushing back against antisemitism and anti-Zionist exclusion in queer spaces. The group organized trips to Israel, partnered with Israeli LGBTQ organizations, and launched initiatives such as PrideSafe and Queers Against Antisemitism.

Over time, however, A Wider Bridge became one of the most polarizing Jewish organizations in progressive LGBTQ circles, frequently clashing with activists who viewed any pro-Israel presence at Pride as political propaganda.

Critics accused the group of “pinkwashing” — using Israel’s comparatively strong legal protections for LGBTQ people to deflect attention from Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. A Wider Bridge rejected the charge, arguing that LGBTQ rights in Israel were substantive and that efforts to bar Zionist organizations from queer spaces amounted to discrimination against Jews.

Those tensions burst into public view in 2016 at the National LGBTQ Task Force’s Creating Change conference in Chicago, when an event involving A Wider Bridge and an Israeli LGBTQ organization was canceled after activist pressure, reinstated and ultimately disrupted by protesters.

The following year, the group drew national attention after Jewish marchers carrying rainbow flags with Stars of David were asked to leave the Chicago Dyke March. Organizers said the march was anti-Zionist and that the flags made some participants feel unsafe. A Wider Bridge and its allies countered that Jewish identity was being treated as inherently political, and therefore unwelcome, in queer spaces.

The dispute became a template for similar conflicts at Pride events in other cities, as debates over Zionism, antisemitism and Palestinian solidarity intensified inside progressive movements.

In recent years, A Wider Bridge increasingly framed its mission around combating antisemitism within LGBTQ communities, particularly after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza deepened fractures within left-leaning coalitions. It came to the aid of Aguda, Israel’s leading LGBTQ advocacy group, after it was dropped as a member of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Trans and Intersex Association during the war.

The group spent more than it brought in in 2023, according to its federal tax filing from that year. Last year, the group’s budget was more balanced, but it also raised less from supporters, bringing in just $1.1 million, compared to more than $1.6 million in each of the previous two years.

In an email to supporters, A Wider Bridge emphasized what it described as its legacy, pointing to advocacy for LGBTQ rights in Israel, support for Israeli LGBTQ organizations, and efforts to push back against antisemitism and anti-Zionism in queer spaces.

“Though we are winding down, this is not a time to back down,” Hernandez wrote, adding that board members and supporters would continue the work in their individual capacities.

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דאָס איז אַן איבערזעצונג פֿונעם ענגלישן אַרטיקל, וואָס איר קענט לייענען דאָ

דעם פֿאַרגאַנגענעם שבת האָב איך געלייענט וועגן דעם אויסערגעוויינטלעכן וווּקס פֿון דער ישׂראלדיקער בערזע זינט דעם 7טן אָקטאָבער — היפּש בעסער ווי דער אויפֿשטײַג פֿון דער אַמעריקאַנער בערזע.

די 35 ישׂראלדיקע אַקציעס מיטן גרעסטן ווערט זענען זינט דעם 7טן אָקטאָבער געוואַקסן מיט נישט ווייניקער ווי 90 פּראָצענט. במשך פֿון דער זעלבער צײַט איז די אַמעריקאַנער בערזע געשטיגן מיט 60 פּראָצענט.

ס׳איז מיר געווען אַ חידוש פֿאַר וואָס איך האָב פֿריִער נישט געהערט וועגן דעם. דערנאָך האָב איך געלייענט וואָס דער פֿאָרזיצער פֿון דער תּל־אָבֿיבֿער בערזע, יודזשין קאַנדעל, האָט געזאָגט בעת אַן אינטערוויו מיט דער אינוועסטאָרן־צײַטונג Investors Business Daily.

„ישׂראל איז באַפֿאַלן געוואָרן, און ווערט נאָך אַלץ באַפֿאַלן פֿון אידעאָלאָגן, וואָס פֿינאַנצירן ריזיקע קאַמפּאַניעס קעגן אונדז,“ האָט קאַנדעל געזאָגט. „אָבער אַפֿילו במשך פֿון די פֿאַרגאַנגענע צוויי יאָר, האָט זיך נישט אָפּגעשטעלט ישׂראלס צוזאַמענאַרבעט מיט אַזוי פֿיל אָרגאַניזאַציעס, פֿירמעס, רעגירונגען און אינוועסטאָרן, נישט געקוקט אויף די דראָונגען און פּראָטעסטן קעגן איר.“

פֿאַר וואָס הערן מיר נישט וועגן אָט די קאָלאַבאָראַציעס?

כ׳האָב גענומען זוכן מער אינפֿאָרמאַציע וועגן דעם אָבער פּלוצלינג האָב איך זיך דערוווּסט וועגן דעם שיסערײַ אויף דער חנוכּה־מסיבה אין באָנדי־ביטש, אויסטראַליע. מיט אַ מאָל איז בײַ מיר פֿאַרשוווּנדן געוואָרן די שבת־מנוחה, ווי אויך מײַן גריבלען זיך אין די פּרטים וועגן ישׂראלס עקאָנאָמישער צוזאַמענאַרבעט.

איך האָב שוין פֿריִער געקלערט וועגן דעם וואָס טעראָריסטן איבער דער וועלט ווייסן גענוי די דאַטעס פֿון אַלע ייִדישע יום־טובֿים. דאָס וואָס די לעצטע שחיטה איז דורכגעפֿירט געוואָרן חנוכּה איז נישט געווען קיין צופֿאַל, און ייִדן איבער דער וועלט ווייסן דאָס גוט.

מיר לעבן איצט איבער אַ לאַנגע קאַמפּאַניע צו ווירקן אויף ייִדן, זיי זאָלן מורא האָבן זיך אויסצולעבן ווי ייִדן. די אַטאַקן אויף ייִדישע יום־טובֿים זענען אַ מיטל אָפּצומעקן ייִדישע פֿרייד, אָפּצומוטיקן ייִדן פֿון היטן ייִדישע טראַדיציעס און אינעם פֿאַל פֿון חנוכּה —  אָפּצוּווישן די ייִדישע געשיכטע.

און אפֿשר איז דאָס אויך אַ קאַמפּאַניע צו מינימיזירן די אויפֿטוען פֿון דער ייִדישער מדינה.

עטלעכע פּאָליטיקער האָבן דאָס שוין באַמערקט

עטלעכע פּאָליטיקער האָבן שוין אָנגעהויבן זיך פֿאַרנעמען מיט דעם ענין. ברײַען מאַסט, אַ רעפּרעזענטאַנט אינעם אַמעריקאַנער קאָנגרעס, דער פֿאָרזיצער פֿונעם קאָמיטעט פֿון אויסלענדישע ענינים בײַם רעפּרעזענטאַנטן־הויז און אַ פֿלאָרידער רעפּובליקאַנער, האָט געזאָגט אַז ער זעט „אַ ספּעציפֿישע נעץ פֿון גרופּעס, וואָס קאָלאַבאָרירן צו פֿאַרזייען אַנטיסעמיטיזם איבער דער מעדיאַ, סײַ בײַם לינקן לאַגער סײַ בײַם רעכטן, כּדי צו שטערן די באַציִונגען.“

מיט „באַציִונגען“ מיינט ער די צוזאַמענאַרבעט צווישן די פֿאַראייניקטע שטאַטן און ישׂראל.

רעדנדיק אויף אַ קאָנפֿערענץ וועגן אַנטיסעמיטיזם געשטיצט פֿונעם „האָדסאָן־אינסטיטוט“, האָט מאַסט באַצייכנט די נעץ ווי „זייער אַן ערנסטע גלאָבאַלע סכּנה, וואָס פֿאַרשפּרייט זיך איבער פֿיל־לענדיקע אָרגאַניזאַציעס, דער גלאָבאַלער מעדיאַ, אונדזערע קעגנערס און טעראָריסטישע אָרגאַניזאַציעס.“

ווען ער האָט דערמאָנט דאָס וואָרט „מעדיאַ“, האָב איך גלײַך געטראַכט וועגן דעם וואָס כּמעט קיינער האָט נישט געשריבן וועגן דעם אוגעריכטן וווּקס פֿון דער ישׂראלדיקער בערזע און דעם כּוח פֿון די ישׂראלדיקע אַקציעס.

אַ שטיין אַראָפּ פֿון האַרצן

ס׳קלינגט אפֿשר מאָדנע אָבער לייענענדיק מאַסטס באַמערקונגען איז מיר אַראָפּ אַ שטיין פֿון האַרצן. איך האָב אָפּגעאָטעמט, הערנדיק ווי עמעצער באַשטעטיקט אָט דעם פֿענאָמען, כאָטש איך בין נישט זיכער אַז דאָס וואָרט „נעץ“ איז נישט אַקוראַט.

די וואָך בין איך בײַגעווען אויף אַן אומסעקטאַנטישער מסיבה לכּבֿוד די סוף־יאָריקע פֿײַערונגען, און קיינער האָט גאָרנישט דערמאָנט וועגן דעם שיסערײַ אין אויסטראַליע. ס׳איז מיר געווען אַ חידוש. צי וואָלט דער שמועס אויף דער מסיבה געווען אַנדערש, ווען מע וואָלט באַשאָסן אַ גרופּע מענטשן וואָס צינדן אָן אַ קאָמונאַלן ניטלבוים? וואָס וואָלט געווען דער שמועס אויב דער ציל פֿון די טעראָריסטן וואָלט געווען אַן אַנדער גרופּע, נישט די ייִדן?

ס׳איז שווער צו גלייבן אַז יעדער וואָלט געשוויגן; אַז קיינער וואָלט עס נישט אָנערקענט; אַז אין אַ צימער געפּאַקט מיט מענטשן וואָס אַרבעטן טאָג־טעגלעך מיט ווערטער זאָל קיינער נישט אַרויסרעדן קיין וואָרט וועגן דעם.

די דראָונג איז נישט בלויז די דראָונג וואָס דער רעפּרעזענטאַנט מאַסט האָט באַשריבן, אָדער די דראָונג וואָס קאַנדעל האָט באַשריבן. פּונקט אַזאַ סכּנה אויך דאָס שווײַגן — אַ שווײַגן וואָס איז אַזוי בולט אַז מע קען עס זען ווי אַ ליכטל אין דער פֿינצטער.

ווי אַזוי מע דאַרף רעאַגירן אויף דעם שווײַגן

איך ווייס אַליין נישט ווי מע דאַרף רעאַגירן אויף אַזאַ שווײַגעניש אָבער אפֿשר ווייסן קליגערע מענטשן פֿון מיר, וואָס מע דאַרף טאָן.

נעכטן שפּעט בײַ נאַכט האָב איך דערזען ווי עס פֿאָרט פֿאַרבײַ אויפֿן „ניו־יאָרק סטייט טרוּוויי“ (אַ באַקאַנטן ניו־יאָרקער שאָסיי) אַ לאַנגע ריי אויטאָס מיט חנוכּה־לעמפּ אויף די דעכער. די ריי אויטאָס האָט זיך געצויגן און געצויגן. דער שטילער באַטײַט איז געווען: „האָט נישט קיין מורא.“ בײַ מיר איז דאָס קלאָר געווען אַן אָפּרוף אויף „באָנדי־ביטש“.

איך האָף אַז מע צינדט איצט מער חנוכּה־לעמפּ, נישט ווייניקער, ווי פֿריִער. איך האָף אויך אַז מיר קענען אין דער ליכטיקייט אַנטפּלעקן די כּלערליי שיכטן פֿון אמת. אַ מאָל קענען אָט די שיכטן רעפּרעזענטירן סײַ אַ געזונטע דאָזע רעאַליטעט, סײַ אַן אַנטימיטל קעגן ייִאוש.

יאָ, אַ טאַטע און אַ זון זענען באַפֿאַלן די ייִדן אין אַ ייִדישן יום־טובֿ. ס׳איז אָבער אויך וויכטיק און אמת, אַז אַ נישט־באַוואָפֿנטער מוסולמענישער טאַטע און פֿרוכט־פֿאַרקויפֿער מיטן נאָמען אַכמעד אַל אַכמעד האָט געשפּרונגען אויף איינעם פֿון די טעראָריסטן און אַ דאַנק דעם אָן שום ספֿק געראַטעוועט דאָס לעבן פֿון אַ סך מענטשן.

דער ווידעאָ פֿון זײַן העלדישן אַקט דאַרף יעדער איינער זען. עס דערמאָנט אונדז אַז אפֿשר איז אויך דאָ אַן אַנדער „נעץ“ פֿון מענטשן וואָס שטעלן זיך אַנטקעגן אַזאַ שׂינאה. אַכמעד אַל אַכמעד האָט אונדז באַוויזן דעם כּוח פֿון אַ יחיד, און דעם כּוח פֿון איין שיכט פֿונעם אמת.

וואָס שייך דעם שווײַגן וועגן די ישׂראלדיקע פֿירמעס וואָס האָבן מצליח געווען, נישט געקוקט אויף דער מלחמה און די בויקאָטן; וואָס האָבן געהאָלפֿן פֿאַרהעכערן דעם אינדעקס מיט 90 פּראָצענט זינט דעם ערגסטן טאָג אין דער געשיכטע פֿון מדינת־ישׂראל; וואָס האָבן נישט אויפֿגעהערט זייער מיטאַרבעט מיט שותּפֿים איבער דער וועלט, נישט געקוקט אויף דער קאַמפּאַניע זי אויסצושליסן — אַפֿילו אין דער פֿינצטערניש, אַפֿילו דורכן שווײַגעניש, זײַ וויסן, ישׂראל: מיר זעען דיך.

אַבֿיה קושנער איז די שפּראַך־קאָלומניסטקע פֿונעם „פֿאָרוואַרד“

The post Why aren’t we hearing about the dramatic growth of the Israeli stock market? appeared first on The Forward.

(JTA) — Nine federal prosecutors, including at least one Jew, recently resigned from the Justice Department over what they described as the Trump administration’s “fraudulent” handling of its ongoing antisemitism investigation targeting the University of California system.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times last week, the attorneys described an “unserious” and “sham” investigation fueled primarily by Trump’s desire for retribution against higher education and increasingly untethered to legal standing.

“I am highly skeptical of whether this administration actually cares about Jewish people or antisemitism,” said Dena Robinson, a Jewish and Black former senior trial attorney who had volunteered to interview students on three UC campuses for the investigation. Several of the attorneys assigned to UC wound up accepting a deferred-resignation offer in May and left the investigation.

A separate investigation, released last week by ProPublica and the Chronicle for Higher Education, also found that the Trump Justice Department was pressuring investigators to “find” evidence that UCLA had tolerated antisemitism, beyond established legal and procedural norms for such cases.

This rare glimpse behind the curtain of federal antisemitism cases comes as Jewish groups, on campus and off, have become increasingly uncomfortable with the Trump administration’s strong-arming of universities in the name of fighting antisemitism. Several high-profile schools, including multiple Ivy League universities, have struck deals with the administration, in most cases agreeing to large payouts and extensive policy changes in exchange for unfreezing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants.

The UC investigation, which targets the statewide public university system, is seen as one of Trump’s most sought-after prizes. The administration froze more than $580 million in federal funds — an amount that has been whittled to $230 million following court cases — and is pressuring the school system to resolve the case with a $1.2 billion payout, though a federal judge recently blocked their efforts to impose such a fine.

The attorneys told the Times that there was some evidence that Jewish and Israeli students on UC campuses, most notably UCLA, had been discriminated against — but that the amount of resources and attention being thrown at the case was disproportionate.

“I think there were absolutely Jewish people on campuses that faced legitimate discrimination,” one unnamed attorney who had interviewed students at UCLA and UC Davis told the Times. “But the way we were pushed so hard to investigate, it was clear to so many of us that this was a political hit job that actually would end up not helping anyone.”

Ron Avi Astor, a Jewish Zionist faculty member at UCLA who had been targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters over his research into peace initiatives between Israelis and Palestinians, had championed protest restrictions the campus implemented prior to Trump’s reelection. His account of being targeted by the protesters would form a key piece of evidence for the UCLA investigation. Yet Astor told ProPublica that Trump’s cuts to research funds were deeply concerning.

“These are things that save people’s lives. Why are we messing with that? It’s a tool that anyone who’s a scholar would abhor,” he said. “It looks like we’re being used.”

Under Trump, according to ProPublica, antisemitism investigations that could take a year or more under previous administrations were now expected to wrap up in much less time, with an expected finding of wrongdoing by the university. Teams of lawyers were dispatched to multiple UC campuses to interview students in whirlwind time.

Ultimately, the investigation began to focus on UCLA, which offered the most compelling evidence of antisemitism after the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. On that campus, pro-Palestinian protesters had blocked “Zionists” from accessing certain areas. A brawl also broke out between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups on campus.

Earlier this year, the UC system paid more than $6 million to settle an antisemitism lawsuit brought against it by Jewish groups who said students had faced discrimination at UCLA in 2024. Part of the settlement money went to Jewish groups. Yet it had no effect on the Trump investigation, which found UCLA in violation of Title VI civil rights law for the same complaints it had just settled.

Pomona College, a private school in Los Angeles that had experienced elevated levels of antisemitism after Oct. 7, quietly settled its own Title VI antisemitism investigation this month without any payouts to Trump.

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(New York Jewish Week) — A federal judge in Brooklyn has denied a bid by New York City and the estate of former Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes to throw out a civil-rights lawsuit brought by Hasidic sex-abuse whistleblower Sam Kellner, clearing the way for a jury to hear claims that top prosecutors helped engineer his arrest to benefit a convicted child molester.

The 82-page ruling, by Judge Nina R. Morrison of the Eastern District of New York, is significant, as it effectively strips both the district attorney and the city of the legal immunity they would normally enjoy. Typically, absolute immunity protects prosecutors from civil suits over decisions about whether and how to bring criminal charges, while qualified immunity shields government officials from paying damages unless they violate clearly established legal rights.

“Justice for Sam has been a slow train coming. That train is now about to arrive,” said Niall MacGiollabhui, Kellner’s attorney, in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The long saga leading to the judge’s decision began in 2008, when Kellner, a Borough Park resident, defied communal norms and reported his son’s sexual abuse by a prominent community member, Baruch Lebovits, to secular authorities. Working closely with a detective in the NYPD’s Special Victims Unit, Kellner helped locate and bring forward other alleged victims of Lebovits. His cooperation ultimately helped lead to Lebovits’ 2010 conviction on multiple counts involving another boy, identified as Y.R.

The Lebovits prosecution was a rarity in a community where few child sexual abuse cases ever make it to trial, let alone end in a substantial sentence. At the time, Hynes had been under mounting fire for how his office handled sexual abuse in the Hasidic community, with anti-abuse advocates arguing that the DA went easy on Hasidic offenders in deference to a Hasidic leadership capable of reliably delivering campaign contributions and a bloc vote.

For his involvement in the case, Kellner paid a steep price. Even though he obtained rabbinic permission to go to the authorities, community members branded him an informer or “moser,” a label that has serious consequences in Jewish tradition. He often left his house to find his tires slashed and his van papered with flyers calling for his death; people yelled threats at him on the street. He was also forced out of his synagogue and had trouble finding schools that would enroll his children; securing marriage matches for them took years.

Kellner says he also fielded a steady stream of offers of cash if he would just walk away from the case. He refused them all, saying that his son and the other boys were entitled to justice, even as he sank deeper into debt and isolation, becoming a cautionary tale for both supporters of abuse victims and critics who view cooperation with secular authorities as a betrayal.

But things only got worse for Kellner after Lebovits’ conviction. In 2011, he was arrested by the very same district attorney’s office that had used him to help put Lebovits behind bars. Prosecutors charged him with orchestrating an extortion scheme, alleging that he tried to use the very case he had helped build as leverage to extract hundreds of thousands of dollars from Lebovits’ family, and also accusing him of paying another witness to give false grand jury testimony against Lebovits.

People who had supported him fell away as he was branded an extortionist, a “crook” who would sell out his own son for money. Friends abandoned him, and even some family members kept their distance. “I wanted to vanish. I wanted that the floor would open up and I would fall into it,” he says.

Over time, however, the criminal case against Kellner unraveled amid mounting questions about the reliability and origins of the evidence against him, and in 2014 a Brooklyn judge dismissed the charges after the newly elected district attorney moved to drop the prosecution. Freed of the threat of prison, but maintaining that he had been framed for doing what the system asked of him, Kellner went on to file a federal civil‑rights lawsuit in 2017, accusing Brooklyn prosecutors of conspiring with allies of Lebovits to retaliate against him and upset Lebovits’ original abuse conviction.

In his filings, Kellner argues that these officials prosecuted him even though the DA’s office already possessed powerful evidence of Lebovits’ guilt and internal records suggesting that key witnesses against Kellner had been pressured — and, in one case, financially supported by Lebovits’ backers — turning the machinery of law enforcement against the father of a sex abuse victim in order to free a well-connected, convicted child molester.

For Kellner, the recent ruling is, in part, a kind of personal vindication.

“Wow, what a revenge. Fourteen years later and you exchange places with Charles Hynes. It is such a good felling that they are going to say ‘plaintiff Sam Kellner, defendant the City of New York and Charles Hynes.’”

But, more important, Kellner believes the judge’s decision offers proof that victims in his community can — and should — trust the justice system, no matter how slowly it moves.

“After my arrest, no rabbi was going to let a kid come forward, and then let that kid go to jail while the DA takes the side of the molester,” Kellner said.

Now, he believes, “these animals, these molesters should start feeling that they can no longer continue to molest in this neighborhood, and threaten the victims and get away with it because the DA will be on their side.”

For some, however, recent actions by the current DA, Eric Gonzalez, belie those sentiments. Just last month, Gonzalez drew sharp criticism from anti-abuse advocates for supporting the resentencing request of another convicted child molester from the Hasidic community, Nechemya Weberman, who has served about 13 years of his term.

Weberman was originally sentenced to more than 100 years for the sustained sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl he was counseling, but that sentence was later reduced to 50 years through an administrative recalculation required by New York sentencing law. Gonzalez has argued that even the 50-year term is “unusually harsh” and out of step with sentences in comparable child-sex-abuse cases. His critics say he has caved to pressure from the same communal and political forces that arrayed themselves against Kellner and that his stance betrays survivors and undermines deterrence.

But Kellner still has faith.

“Until now, I was an example of why not to go to the DA,” he said. “They killed me. I am already 65. I was just over 45 when it started. They killed me. But I knew one thing: They are not going to have the victory that no one is going to come forward. Trust the system.”

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Hanukkah on Bondi Beach was the coolest party of the year, recalled Yossi Segelman.

“There’s singing. There’s dancing. There’s sufganiyot … There’s clowns and petting zoos,” he said. “It brought all people together.”

Segelman, who was born in London, spent 16 years living in Sydney, and now resides in Los Angeles, used to attend the celebration every year.

It was Segelman who drew Rabbi Eli Schlanger, his childhood neighbor in London, to Australia almost 20 years ago. Segelman made the shidduch, or match, between Eli and his wife Chaya’s cousin. As they became family, Segelman and Schlanger also became close friends.

“He was just always happy … a rocket full of joy,” Segelman said. “I knew many people who were personally moved and touched and became more connected to Judaism and to Israel as a direct result of their impact and connection with Rabbi Eli.”

When Segelman logged on to WhatsApp on Sunday, he learned that terrorists had murdered Schlanger at the same yearly Hanukkah celebration. One of his nieces was in surgery.

“I had a number of other family members, nieces, nephews, who were ducking at the tables and had bullets whizzing overhead and had seen things that no one should ever see,” he said.

And yet hours later, Segelman, who is the executive director of the nonprofit Our Big Kitchen Los Angeles, still showed up to lead dozens of people in preparing 600 meals for Angelenos in need.

That Sunday was my second time volunteering at OBKLA. As I snapped on blue nitrile gloves and prepared to scoop meatballs from a tub of ground beef, I was stunned that Segelman felt capable of showing up with one family member dead and another on the operating table.

But he insisted, during the session and two days later when I came back to speak with him, that it’s precisely during dark times that a community needs a space to come together and serve others. As rising antisemitism and violent attacks like the one in Bondi might pressure Jews to turn inward, Segelman’s emphasis on both Jewish pride and welcoming all, no matter their background, offers us a path forward.

Giving back in times of crisis

Schlanger and Segelman both served as chaplains in Australia; Schlanger for corrective services and Segelman for the military.

“We were involved in the same thing and that is to try and bring peace, and comfort, and solace, encouragement, to those who found themselves in difficult situations,” Segelman said.

In parallel to his work as a chaplain, Segelman became involved as an early director of Our Big Kitchen in Sydney, which prepares meals for Australians in need. The organization’s Bondi kitchen is less than a mile from where Sunday’s terror attack took place. Though the food is kosher, most meals go to the broader community, and most volunteers aren’t Jewish.

A few years after moving to Los Angeles, at the height of the pandemic, the Segelman family sprung into action to distribute snacks to hospitals, unhoused people, and first responders. Their impulse to help has since grown into a smooth operation, one the Segelmans activated at full throttle during LA’s wildfires this year.

In his office, Segelman has a basket where he keeps empty rolls from the stickers volunteers use to package food. Each roll signified a thousand meals. The basket was overflowing. In the past year, Segelman said, OBK LA welcomed more than 24,000 volunteers who made 183,574 meals.

Segelman emphasized the impact of the meals not only on the recipients, but also on the volunteers who created them.

“Volunteering, it’s being hands-on. It’s a visceral experience. You’re immersing yourself in an act of goodness and kindness,” he said.

How we respond to terror

Segelman has more practice than most in taking action. But the attack in Sydney posed a new challenge.

“For me to get up Sunday morning and welcome everybody and do what we do usually at OBK with cheer and with love was not easy,” he said. But he knew that his job was “to inspire people, especially when the going gets tough, and to really transform those feelings of helplessness into hopefulness.”

When we spoke on Tuesday at noon, Segelman had just finished an event with 70 school kids, with more programs to come later that day. Schlanger’s funeral, which he would attend remotely, was at 4 p.m. His teenage niece’s operation was successful, though his entire family remained extremely traumatized.

Nevertheless, Segelman insisted the Hanukkah celebration must return to Bondi Beach.

“100%. Bigger and better,” he said. “To cancel events and close down events is contrary to the story of Hanukkah.”

“We need to continue doing what we’re doing, do it stronger, obviously be smart, be vigilant, but absolutely go out there and to continue to do what we do and do it proudly.”

When I asked if a terror attack like Sunday’s might complicate OBK’s practice of welcoming everyone into its kitchen, his answer was adamant: “We are an organization rooted in Jewish values of chesed, of tzedakah, and we’re proudly kosher, and we’re proudly based in the heart of the community. But we welcome absolutely everyone, both to volunteer and to receive a meal.”

Violence cannot shatter our empathy

To be proudly Jewish and yet welcome everyone is an essential message; one whose second component, I think, may be hard for some in our community to hear right now.

The brutality of Oct. 7, of the subsequent rise in antisemitism and terror like the kind unleashed in Sydney, rightfully activates Jewish fears. It also, however, threatens to make a drought of our empathy. At its very worst — as I’ve written about in the case of far-right Jews denying hunger in Gaza or using AI to spread hate — Jewish pain is contorted into a pretext to ignore others’ suffering or even inflict it on them.

But now is the time to lean into our values, not turn away from the rest of the world. Segelman’s message for all of us this Hannukah: Find a way to give our time in service to others, even if it’s just an hour a week, and to provide inspiration or love, even to just one other person.

On Sunday night, a few hours after the OBKLA event, my partner and I welcomed our friends, some Jewish, some not, for the first night of Hanukkah. We fried latkes and schnitzel. My hand shook, then steadied, as I sang and led a menorah lighting for the first time. The candle burned through its wick; yellow and blue wax dripping onto parchment paper. We sat in the gentle glow, affirming joy.

This Hannukah, Segelman and OBKLA show us that when faced with unimaginable violence, the best way to nourish our souls might be to come together, cook, and serve others.

The post He lost family during the Bondi Beach attack. Hours later, he helped feed 600 unhoused people in LA appeared first on The Forward.

(JTA) — Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday as the next special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, an ambassador-level role at the State Department aimed at coordinating U.S. efforts to confront antisemitism globally.

His confirmation fills a post that had been vacant in a period marked by spikes in antisemitic incidents both in the United States and abroad.

Kaploun, a follower of the Chabad Hasidic movement, a Miami businessman and a 2024 Trump campaign surrogate, was confirmed as part of a broader package of nominations after the Senate agreed to bring the slate to the floor for debate and a vote. His confirmation came on a 53-43 vote split strictly along party lines, with Republicans voting yes and Democrats voting no.

Jewish organizations largely welcomed Kaploun’s confirmation.

The World Jewish Congress praised President Donald Trump’s choice, saying it ensures leadership to confront antisemitism at a time of rising threats to Jewish communities worldwide and that Kaploun “has already been working hard, engaging directly with dozens of special envoys and national coordinators from around the world.”

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Anti-Defamation League and the Republican Jewish Coalition offered congratulations, calling the appointment timely and necessary given increasing antisemitic rhetoric and violence.

Kaploun testified in November that education and bipartisan engagement are central to combating Jew-hatred, a theme he reiterated in interviews and hearings leading up to his confirmation.

Kaploun was confirmed despite Democratic opposition, with critics arguing that his past statements and political activity reflected an overtly partisan approach and raised concerns about his ability to serve credibly in a role that has traditionally sought bipartisan trust.

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The 350-square-foot Brooklyn apartment where Malya and William Levin live with their four children is barely big enough for their family, much less their ambitions. From this compressed space, they’re reaching for something vast — the revival of one of America’s first Jewish farms, built by William’s ancestors in rural South Jersey.

Their quixotic quest is larger than acreage; it’s continuity, in a time and place where nothing stays rooted for long. It’s a tight staging ground for an unusually wide dream.

“We aren’t just trying to save land,” Malya said, their toddler Julius perched on her lap. “We are trying to save the story.”

The story she’s referring to reaches back to 1882, when 43 Jewish families fled pogroms in Russia and the Pale of Settlement. They carried what they could — and what they couldn’t bear to leave behind.

Backed by Baron de Hirsch and other Jewish benefactors who believed farming could offer both refuge and respectability, they were sent not to the teeming tenements of Manhattan but to a thousand acres of pine forest and sandy soil.

It was a bold wager: Eastern European Jews, often caricatured in their home countries as “unproductive,” could instead be seen growing their own food as capable, contributing citizens. Those same Jewish immigrants — tailors, peddlers, clerks — could become farmers, rooted and self-reliant, all trying to prove that Jews could stand on American land and make it yield.

“It’s almost a completely different story than we’re used to hearing,” said Adrienne Krone, a religious studies professor at Allegheny College and the author of Free-Range Religion. “We’re used to the Lower East Side and factories and crowded apartments, and what was happening in these farming communities was almost the exact opposite.”

Around the same time, dozens of such Jewish agricultural colonies were established across the United States, including in Louisiana, Utah, and both Dakotas. Yiddish-speaking socialists established a similar settlement, Happyville, in South Carolina.

In New Jersey, they called their 1,000-acre settlement the Alliance Colony.

What began as tents and barracks grew into a rural Jewish community of hundreds of families: homes, vineyards, chicken farms, a school, three synagogues, and a mikvah. The colonists built a tobacco factory that failed, and a button factory that didn’t. Reinvention wasn’t strategy so much as muscle memory.

Among the colony’s early leaders was William’s great-great-grandfather, Moses Bayuk. His generation carved Alliance out of wild ground: clearing land, organizing the community, building the institutions that held it together.

After World War II, a second wave of immigrants arrived in the region — Holocaust survivors who settled in nearby Vineland and Pittsgrove and built successful chicken farms. For decades they sustained a thriving Jewish agricultural center across South Jersey.

But by the 1970s, most families had moved into city jobs. The Jewish presence waned. The land quieted.

What led them back to the farm

For William and Malya, the draw toward Alliance was never just historical. It was personal.

Malya, 41, grew up in New Jersey steeped in Jewish text and memory. She is the daughter of Rabbi Arthur Kurzweil, the noted author whose career has long focused on Jewish continuity. Her childhood was Orthodox, threaded with rituals that made the past feel close enough to touch.

William, 54, arrived at Jewish life differently. He didn’t grow up religious. His first real brush with Judaism came through, of all things, animation: In the early 2000s, before the days of YouTube and social media, he was making viral Jewish videos that somehow found their way across the internet. Several, including a cartoon in which a robot meets 50 Cent and raps about the Ten Plagues, reached millions.

“I didn’t even know what the word frum meant until Frumster hired me,” he said of the Orthodox dating site. “They paid me in a Frumster.com membership.”

It worked.

He met Malya at a Jewish singles event in 2009. They married the next summer, on Tu B’Av, known as the Jewish festival of love.

“We both had a penchant for offbeat stuff,” Malya said. “Neither of us wanted to be accountants and move to the suburbs on Long Island.”

That sensibility carried them to Sukkahfest 2014 at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Connecticut, where they witnessed a modern Jewish farming movement that wove land, ritual, ecology and community into a single experience.

“It was beautiful and intoxicating,” William said.

“All these young Jews were so into farming,” Malya added. “And we were like: Wait, we have the first Jewish farm.”

Their cramped apartment in Brooklyn feels like the furthest thing from this expansive ideal. A desk presses into a couch, the couch brushes against the mattress where William and Malya sleep. In the lone bedroom, their four children climb into a handmade Jenga-tower of bunk beds.

Malya and William Levin with their children left to right: Julius, Mushka, Sammy, and Bari. Photo by Benyamin Cohen

William opens a cigar box filled with brittle letters from Alliance’s earliest families — the kind of fragile paper that survives only because someone keeps choosing to protect it. For the couple, preserving the land has always meant preserving the story stitched through it.

The idea gained force. The place that kept resurfacing was the 85 acres William’s extended family still owned in the old Alliance Colony, land that had never fully slipped from their hands.

So the couple, an animator and an elder justice attorney, did something audacious: They spent their life savings to buy it back.

When the vision met reality

Their vision was expansive. They imagined retreats, Shabbatons, Jewish holidays at the farm, a hybrid life where city and country sat side by side. But figuring out what the land could actually do required trying almost everything.

They planted organic vegetables and heirloom crops. Built raised beds. Experimented with fruit trees. Started a micro-vineyard. (“Who doesn’t want wine tasting on a kosher vineyard in a historic Jewish farm?” Malya asked.) They considered raising geese, then heritage chicken breeds with old-sounding names. Partnered with local growers. Applied for grants. Taught programs on Jewish agricultural history.

Some ideas lived a season. Some never made it out of the notebook. They tried all these things because not trying felt like betrayal.

They fielded proposals — some compelling, some outlandish. A solar company wanted to cover their fields with panels. A hemp grower pitched them on the green rush. One man wanted to install cryptocurrency servers in the barn, a futuristic-sounding plan that fizzled when William learned the man was tied to a dubious investment scheme.

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The Levins were not just fighting weeds and property taxes. They were fighting the economics that hollowed out rural America; the cultural drift that carried Jews away from small towns; the logistical strain of raising four children while holding two demanding jobs.

“We weren’t trying to be homesteaders,” Malya said. “We were trying to find something sustainable that didn’t require uprooting our whole life in Brooklyn.”

Their approach — try, fail, adjust, try again — echoed the original colonists. “Honestly, it’s what we’re doing,” Malya said. “Throwing these things against the wall and seeing what sticks, just like they did.” Reinvention has always been part of Jewish life here, as it is for many small communities trying to stay alive.

Some things they tried did stick.

Descendants began returning for regular Alliance reunions, gatherings that grew each year. Young Jews from the city arrived curious about Jewish farming. And as activity grew, the synagogue — which has hosted High Holiday services continuously since 1889 — flickered back to life, hosting monthly Shabbat services.

A visit to the farm

Driving to the site of the Alliance Colony 60 miles west of Atlantic City, the landscape dissolves into fields of corn, hay and soybeans. The road straightens, the sky widens, and then the white wooden synagogue appears. Tall, narrow, arched windows, still standing after 136 years.

Howard Jaffe is waiting on the steps.

He is 70, with a long white beard, a ponytail, and a gold hoop earring. He looks like a Jewish Santa Claus who once sold jewelry at Grateful Dead concerts — which, as it happens, he did.

His grandfather prayed in this sanctuary. Howard has made it his mission to maintain it. “This place raised me,” he says, and swings the door open. “I guess now I raise it.”

Howard Jaffe inside the Alliance Colony’s synagogue, built in 1889 and still used today. Photo by Benyamin Cohen

The building is neither grand nor fragile. It simply persists. Inside, the sanctuary offers the cool hush of old buildings: sunlight slanting across pews, floorboards worn to a soft gloss by generations of feet from farmers, factory workers, and families.

He walks upstairs to the women’s gallery, a reminder of the building’s Orthodox roots. From here, the sanctuary stretches below like a diorama. Then Howard opens a small doorway into the attic, a low, sloping space where traveling rabbis once slept, the rafters forming a rib cage of wood.

The Alliance Cemetery, 20 acres across the road, tells the story more plainly than any archive. The early graves belong to the colonists who cleared the land; the later ones to the survivors who arrived after the war and tried to build something new.

Howard stops to brush leaves from one stone. Names repeat across the rows: Gershal, Shiff, Brotman — the same names that mark the roads nearby. Some headstones tilt like old teeth; others sink into the earth as if tired of holding their stories upright. A few mark children. Many bear Hebrew inscriptions weathered thin by rain and time.

The cemetery in Norma, New Jersey, is the final resting place for many of the original members of the Alliance Colony, as well as Holocaust survivors who moved to the area to become chicken farmers after the war. Photo by Benyamin Cohen

Deeper in, on a small rise, stands the cemetery’s most arresting structure: a large Holocaust memorial carved with the names of camps: Auschwitz. Buchenwald. Dachau. Treblinka.

It was built in the 1990s, by Irving and Esther Raab, who met in Auschwitz and immigrated to the area after the war. It’s where they built a successful kosher poultry business, at one point employing 12 butchers. Howard worked for them for a stretch, managing the killing room.

Its heavy stone rises among wooden farmhouses built by immigrants who had fled an earlier era of violence. It’s a reminder that the colony, like so much of American Jewish life, was shaped both by those who fled Europe in the 1880s and those who survived it in the 1940s.

Today, thanks to the Levins’ efforts and a new documentary about Alliance, Howard finds himself giving more tours than he has in years — to school groups, descendants, even curious Mennonites.

The work of reanimation

To the left of the cemetery stands a bright mural, painted last summer, which retells the colony’s story in bold colors. A shtetl burning. A steamship crowded with families. A wide field waiting for them. The present looking back at the past, asking what it still requires.

The last panel centers on William’s own lineage. In vivid purples stands Moses Bayuk holding a cluster of grapes from the Alliance vineyards — grapes that Welch’s once bought from this very farm.

The mural is not decoration. It is instruction: a reminder of how the story began, painted so it cannot be forgotten by whoever comes next.

Howard Jaffe next to one section of the mural remembering the history of the Alliance Colony. The painting by Jonathan Blum depicts Isaac Krassenstein, known as the Hasid of Alliance and a kosher butcher. Photo by Benyamin Cohen

Past the mural stands William’s grandparents’ home, which had long sat empty. But the bones were good: the clean lines of midcentury design, a peaceful view of fields, the kind of quiet that city families crave.

So the Levins renovated it.

They’ve now opened it as a kosher Airbnb, a place where Jewish families could spend Shabbat, celebrate holidays, or simply breathe outside the city without worrying about kitchen logistics. It wasn’t the centerpiece of their vision, but it became a steady foothold — a way to bring people onto the land, reconnect them with Alliance, and slowly rebuild around the place.

When the Levins go down to Alliance, they line up events — a tour, a talk, a small gathering — that fold into their monthly visits. The point isn’t profit. It’s presence.

For Krone, the professor who studies Jewish agricultural communities, what the Levins are doing at Alliance is not a resurrection. It’s a reanimation.

“Alliance is unique in that they have this historic connection,” she said. “They’re part of a contemporary movement of Jews reconnecting to agriculture, but they’re doing it in a place where there has been that connection before, and they’re very intentional about that.”

In her view, the Levins have already begun shifting the trajectory.

“I think they’ve reinvigorated it,” she said. “They’re growing food through collaborations, hosting events, drawing descendants back at regular reunions, keeping the synagogue active. The community that’s forming around them — that’s already the project.”

In a world where Jewish stories often end with what was lost, Alliance is a rare one still asking what might yet be found.

When William and Malya talk about Alliance now, they sound like hopeful realists with a mortgage. The early, expansive dream has settled into something steadier — less about rebuilding a vanished colony and more about tending what remains so it can keep growing.

“We really like our life in Brooklyn, but we also really like having this other place that is meaningful,” Malya said. “It’s rare for Jewish kids in America to have a place where their family has six generations of history.”

Alliance has always been an exercise in reinvention: first by the colonists, then by the survivors, and now by a family trying to reconcile two very different forms of Jewish life. The Levins move between the noise of one life and the quiet persistence of another.

They are not trying to rebuild the past. They’re trying to keep it from disappearing. And in doing so, they’ve carved out a place where Jewish life, in all its improvisation and resilience, can still take root.

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The post One of America’s first Jewish farms was nearly lost to history. Now these Brooklyn parents are risking everything to keep their family’s legacy alive. appeared first on The Forward.

(JTA) — The Trump administration has extended its travel ban to Palestinian Authority passport holders amid a crackdown on legal immigration and travel.

The White House said the ben was needed because “several U.S.-designated terrorist groups operate actively in the West Bank or Gaza Strip and have murdered American citizens.”

“Also, the recent war in these areas likely resulted in compromised vetting and screening abilities,” the announcement continued. “In light of these factors, and considering the weak or nonexistent control exercised over these areas by the PA, individuals attempting to travel on PA-issued or endorsed travel documents cannot currently be properly vetted and approved for entry into the United States.”

The ban formalizes a practice revealed this fall when the United States declined to issue visas to Palestinian officials, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, to attend the United Nations General Assembly. It includes waivers for certain cases, including athletes traveling to compete in the Olympics or World Cup.

The expansion of the travel ban was condemned by several liberal-leaning Jewish groups, including J Street, a liberal Zionist advocacy and lobby group.

“At a time when the Trump administration claims that it is working to advance the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, its decision to bar Palestinian travel to the US is both deeply damaging and counterproductive,” said Adina Vogel-Ayalon, J Street’s vice president and chief of staff, in a statement. “Rather than advancing stability, this policy further delegitimizes and weakens the Palestinian Authority at the very moment when US policy should be focused on strengthening its capacity to sideline Hamas, improve governance, and help stabilize and secure Gaza and the West Bank.”

Hadar Susskind, the president and CEO of New Jewish Narrative, a progressive Zionist Jewish organization, also criticized the ban.

“We urge the administration to reverse these restrictions and to pursue security policies that are targeted, evidence-based, and consistent with human rights,” said Susskind in a statement. “True security is built through inclusion, engagement, and justice—not through walls or racist bans.”

The White House announced the ban on travelers with P.A. passports on Tuesday along with similar prohibitions on nationals from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria.

The countries join 12 others whose passport-holders were barred from entering the United States starting in June, which included Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

“AMERICA FIRST SECURITY 🇺🇸,” wrote the White House in a post on X. “President Donald J. Trump just signed a new Proclamation, STRENGTHENING our borders & national security with data-driven restrictions on high-risk countries with severe deficiencies in screening & vetting.”

The new additions come as the White House continues to impose severe restrictions on immigration following the shooting of two National Guard members by a suspect who is an Afghan national last month.

Last week, the Trump administration also rolled out new draft regulations that would require travelers from Israel and dozens of other countries to provide five years of social media history for entry to the United States.

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Bay Area Jewish leaders are calling for the resignation of Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez after he re-shared multiple LinkedIn posts that called Sunday’s massacre of Jewish people in Sydney an Israeli “false flag attack.”

Martinez, who was elected by the city just north of Berkeley in 2023, also shared posts claiming that “the root cause of antisemitism is the behavior of Israel and Israelis.”

Martinez has since removed the posts from his account and apologized for sharing them “without thinking” — but he did not disavow the false flag conspiracy theory about the attack. He clarified only that “we know that antisemitism was here before the creation of the state of Israel.”

“As I’ve said many times before, we should not conflate Zionism with Judaism,” Martinez wrote on LinkedIn. “They are two separate beliefs.”

He later added, “I want to assure everyone that these postings are my opinions (or my mistakes) and mine only. They are not statements from my office or the city of Richmond. If I make a mistake, that mistake is mine only. Once again, I apologize for posting in haste without full understanding of the posting.”

He did not discuss the attack, which killed 15 people and injured dozens.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Bay Area was outraged by Martinez’s online activity and left cold by his apology. It called for his resignation Thursday in a statement posted to JCRC social media.

“These actions reflect a consistent and deeply troubling disregard for the safety and dignity of Jewish people,” the organization wrote on Instagram. “They erode public trust and send a chilling message to Jewish residents that they are neither protected nor respected by their own mayor.”

The local chapter of the Anti-Defamation League, ADL Central Pacific, also condemned the post.

“There’s no excuse for an elected leader to be amplifying warped antisemitic conspiracy theories that seek to blame the victim,” ADL regional director Marc Levine wrote in a statement to J. The Jewish News of Northern California. “The Australian community has already faced enough tragedy over the last few days. We hope Mayor Martinez will reconsider his hurtful words, which have absolutely no place in public discourse.”

The Forward has reached out to Martinez for comment.

Martinez’s LinkedIn posts were the latest in what local leaders say is a slew of antisemitic incidents during the progressive’s tenure. In 2023, just weeks after the Oct. 7 attacks, Martinez

Martinez, a former schoolteacher, posts regularly about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on LinkedIn, sometimes multiple times per day.

In August, speaking at the People’s Conference for Palestine in Detroit, Martinez likened the Oct. 7 attack to someone snapping after being bullied on the playground, J. reported, adding that whether he supported Hamas was “complicated.”

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The post Richmond mayor facing resignation calls over posts calling Sydney massacre ‘false flag’ appeared first on The Forward.

(JTA) — New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s pick for a crucial City Hall position resigned on Thursday, shortly after her history of antisemitic posts on X came to light.

Mamdani had announced his appointment of Catherine Almonte Da Costa as director of appointments, responsible for staffing City Hall, on Wednesday. But on Thursday, several posts on X where she peddled age-old antisemitic stereotypes were published by the Judge Street Journal, a Substack about New York City politics.

“Money hungry Jews smh,” Da Costa posted on a now-deleted account on X in January 2011, when she 19 years old.

In another post from June 2012, she wrote, “Far Rockaway train is the Jew train,” appearing to reference the large Jewish communities off the line.

The Judge Street Journal also highlighted posts that suggested an antipathy to white men by Da Costa, who has worked in diversity, equity and inclusion roles in multiple companies.

As a firestorm grew, Da Costa said she would step down.

“I spoke with the mayor-elect this afternoon, apologized, and expressed my deep regret for my past statements,” she said in a statement shared by the Mamdani transition team. “These statements are not indicative of who I am. As the mother of Jewish children, I feel a profound sense of sadness and remorse at the harm these words have caused. As this has become a distraction from the work at hand, I have offered my resignation.”

Mamdani released a statement of his own. “Catherine expressed her deep remorse over her past statements and tendered her resignation, and I accepted,” he said.

The incident came as Mamdani’s election has roiled the city’s Jewish community, with many expressing fear and discomfort over the mayor-elect’s history of anti-Israel rhetoric and policies. He has emphasized that he aims to make the city safe and welcoming for all of its residents, including Jews, and has condemned antisemitic rhetoric and displays since his election.

Still, his transition period has been dotted with tensions, including While Mamdani has made inroads in the city’s Jewish community since election night last month, the appointment of an official with a visible history of antisemitic rhetoric could pose another hurdle for his incoming term.

The New York and New Jersey branch of the Anti-Defamation League, which launched what it is calling a “Mamdani Monitor” following November’s election, called Da Costa’s posts “indefensible” in a post on X.

“We appreciate Da Costa has relationships with members of the Jewish community,” the group tweeted. “But her posts require immediate explanation — not just from Ms. Da Costa, but also from the Mayor-Elect.”

Several Jewish leaders praised Da Costa’s resignation.

The CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, Halie Soifer, welcomed the news of in a statement Thursday evening.

“Glad to see that Catherine Almonte Da Costa has resigned,” said Soifer in a statement. “The views she expressed are unacceptable and intolerable. Especially at a time of rising antisemitism, she had no place in the mayor’s office of the city with the largest Jewish population in the world.”

Sara Forman, executive director of the New York Solidarity Network, which backed Mamdani’s leading opponent in the election, praised “cutting ties” with Da Costa as” the right thing to do.” But Forman speculated that “had she said ‘Zionist’ instead of ‘Jew’ the response from the incoming Mamdani administration and the outcome we just witnessed would likely have been quite different.”

Da Costa’s husband, Ricky Da Costa, is a deputy in the office of Comptroller Brad Lander, Mamdani’s most prominent Jewish backer during the campaign. He is Jewish and posted on X for the first time in more than a year in a half on Thursday afternoon, in response to the criticism of his wife.

“I don’t come back to this awful place much these days but as the Jew who married Cat, I can guarantee she has grown so much since some dumb tweets when she was 19,” he wrote. “Her remorse, like everything else about her, is deeply genuine & she works so hard for a NYC where everyone is safe.”

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A football star apologized Thursday for an antisemitic gesture he mimicked on a livestream earlier this week. And an apology from a baseball star for saying Jewish people are typically hairy may be forthcoming.

What both incidents had in common: They occurred when the athletes were hanging out with controversial Jewish streamer Adin Ross.

Puka Nacua, a Los Angeles Rams wide receiver, made the gesture Tuesday at Ross’s behest. The video game streamer taught Nacua the pose known as the “covetous Jew” — it involves lowering the head into the shoulders while rubbing a hand over a fist — and suggested he incorporate it into his touchdown celebration.

The next day, a shirtless Ross asked Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts — who, like Nacua, is widely regarded as one of the top players in his sport — if he was hairy.

The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts. Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

“Yeah, you are,” said Betts, himself a podcaster and famously good-natured. “It’s all right, though. Like, typically, you know, people like yourself are hairy.”

Ross replied that he was “Jewish and Italian.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Betts said. “Jewish people typically are — you know what I’m saying?”

Off-color moments are familiar territory for Ross, 25, who was banned from the streaming platform Twitch for more than two years due to his failure to moderate the torrent of racist and antisemitic comments in his stream’s live chat. He has hosted avowed antisemite Nick Fuentes several times on his stream; according to SBNation’s James Dator, “Ross has a reputation for allowing antisemitism on his show, often done under the guise of ‘joking.’” The sports blog Defector said Ross’ “whole brand is built around moronic provocation.”

In spite of the controversy Ross frequently elicits — or perhaps because they know someone who once purchased a Cybertruck for President Donald Trump is unlikely to be offended by political incorrectness — the celebrities who join his stream tend to let their guard down around him, bantering like old friends and gradually revealing their worldview. And if a Jewish person is telling you to do a celebration, can the celebration really be antisemitic? The answer may have surprised Nacua.

Yet some of those guests are beholden to a higher standard of speech than Ross, who is reportedly paid in the five figures hourly by the no-holds-barred streaming platform Kick. And when you say something on a livestream, the stream’s host isn’t the only person who can get offended. Betts and Nacua might have learned this lesson from previous guest Sauce Gardner, a cornerback for the Indianapolis Colts, who told Ross in 2024 that “y’all run the world.” Gardner later apologized.

On Thursday, after Nacua’s gesture was widely condemned online and drew responses from the NFL and the Rams, the receiver — currently second in the NFL in receiving yards — released a statement.

“When I appeared the other day on a social media livestream, it was suggested to me to perform a specific movement as part of my next touchdown celebration,” reads the statement, which featured the branding of Stand Up To Jewish Hate, an organization founded by Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots. “At the time, I had no idea this act was antisemitic in nature and perpetuated harmful stereotypes against Jewish people.”

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“I deeply apologize to anyone who was offended by my actions as I do not stand for any form of racism, bigotry or hate of another group of people,” he added.

Puka Nacua made the antisemitic gesture in an appearance on Adin Ross’ livestream. Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images

Neither the Rams nor the NFL said if Nacua would face consequences for the incident in separate statements Thursday.

“The NFL strongly condemns all forms of discrimination and derogatory behavior directed towards any group or individual,” the league said in a statement Thursday. “The continuing rise of antisemitism must be addressed across the world, and the NFL will continue to stand with our partners in this fight. Hatred has no place in our sport or society.”

The Rams wrote, “There is no place in this world for Antisemitism as well as other forms of prejudice or hostility towards the Jewish people and people of any religion, ethnicity, or race.”

Nacua, who finished second in 2023 voting for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, received backlash over several statements he made during the livestream. He accused referees of bias and making calls for clout, saying: “These guys are lawyers. They want to be on TV, too.” He also claimed that “concussions are all in your head, you just can’t think about it.”

If Betts regrets on his own statement, he hasn’t said so publicly. Nor has his employer, a team famous for fielding Jewish stars like Sandy Koufax. Neither the Dodgers nor Betts’ agency responded to requests for comment.

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The post First Puka Nacua, now Mookie Betts: Why do sports stars keep getting antisemitic around a Jewish streamer? appeared first on The Forward.

Hannah Finkelshteyn and Aakef Khan spent a lot of time in the same building even before they met. Khan’s filmmaking classes at Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts often met on the same floor where Finkelshteyn, a drawing major, had her studio.

But their paths wouldn’t cross in earnest until after Oct. 7 — when they would become unlikely friends and later co-curators of an exhibition bringing together Jewish and Muslim artists. The result is “Open Archways: by the light of the same moon,” opening Thursday at the Bowery Art Collective in Metuchen, New Jersey.

Finkelshteyn, 23, was born in Brooklyn and raised in East Brunswick, New Jersey, in the Modern Orthodox community, attending Jewish schools up until college.

“Oct. 7 and the reaction to Oct. 7 completely shifted my entire experience of college and my ability to learn and my ability to be a part of the Rutgers community,” she told me at a coffee shop in Manhattan. She and Khan took the train into the city together when we met before Thanksgiving.

The first several days after the attacks went by in a haze, Finkelshteyn recalled. She scrolled through articles, and texted and called her many family members and friends in Israel, where she spent a gap year, to ask, “Are you okay?” and “Are you alive?”

“Grief was palpable” among the Jewish community on campus, she said. But as the days went by, she became increasingly aware of responses and social media posts from other classmates that left her feeling confused and isolated. She even dropped a small group course in part because of what she saw her peers saying online.

“I can’t be sitting here being terrified for my family while this person who’s sitting across from me thinks Oct. 7 was a good thing,” Finkelshteyn said.

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The only one in that room who she felt she could have an actual conversation with was a Palestinian classmate. “I asked her if her family was okay, and she asked if my family was okay,” she said. “And we both talked about just not being able to focus on anything.”

Finkelshteyn, who graduated last spring, wanted to talk and to listen, to understand and be understood. But there didn’t seem to be a space for that on campus — until a friend of her then-boyfriend (now husband) suggested they start an “Open Dialogue Table” like one he’d seen elsewhere.

The three of them, along with other like-minded students, began setting up a table on campus in shifts with a sign inviting passersby to come talk about Israel and more. “Once a week, every week, we sat at this table, and we had conversations. And honestly, it made things feel a lot less foggy,” she said.

One day, Khan came over and sat down.

Becoming friends and co-curators

Raised in a religious Muslim family of Pakistani descent, Khan, 22, went to public school during the week and to Saturday school at the mosque in South Brunswick, New Jersey, where he grew up. He first heard news not about the Hamas attacks on the Gaza envelope, he said, but about Israel cutting off water and electricity to Gaza. He and Finkelshteyn were on the same campus, but ensconced in their own communities and vastly different news ecosystems. Khan’s conversations and group chats afterward were full of talk about boycotts and encampments.

“It felt like a big gray cloud was over Rutgers for months,” Khan, who is currently a senior, told me. But as someone who had always felt the urge to ask, “Why?” and challenge his own beliefs, he said he found it unsettling to be surrounded by only one slice of opinions. So he began actively searching for others. “I was looking for a place to feel like I can belong and speak without feeling like I had to censor myself,” he said.

“I need to stand somewhere where I can see both perspectives,” he said he realized, which led him through the doors of Hillel and steered him toward the Open Dialogue Table.

The photo Finkelshteyn and her husband set up. Photo by

When Khan first sat down, he started chatting with Finkelshteyn’s boyfriend, who quickly made the connection that both Khan and Finkelshteyn were art students. And then the two artists were off, chatting about filmmakers and LiDAR camera technology.

“It started with me trying to be like, ‘All right, like, what is up with Israel?’” Khan said. “But it ended up being, ‘Wow, I just made two new friends.’ And I think once I started to look at it that way, things became a lot less scary.”

He began carving time out to go to Shabbat dinners. It was uncomfortable at first to walk into such an explicitly Jewish space, Khan recalled, but it helped to hear Finkelshteyn or her boyfriend shout his name from across the room and enthusiastically motion him over to sit with them and meet their friends.

Khan and Finkelshteyn kept talking — about art, religion, language, community and current events. “Once we can talk about other things that we’re passionate about, now we can sort of hear each other out on Israel-Palestine and all those things, and be willing to see each other’s perspectives as valid, even if ultimately we don’t align,” Khan said.

They became artistic collaborators and genuine friends. “I never expected that I would invite someone I met at the Open Dialogue Table to my wedding,” said Finkelshteyn, who got married this past summer. But she did, and Khan came out to celebrate the special day — his first Jewish wedding — with his new friends.

In the months since, Khan and Finkelshteyn have been hard at work pulling together a larger group of Jewish and Muslim artists around them from Rutgers and beyond to meet, talk, create and show their work together.

“Open Archways” is their small way of trying to lift the heavy fog of tension and misunderstanding that marked their college experiences post-Oct. 7. “I believe that starts with grassroots work like this of creating spaces where Muslim and Jewish people can intermingle and create friendships,” Khan said. “They may not agree on everything, but at least they can see the other side as human.”

Living ‘by the light of the same moon’

Khalid Khashoggi has always had Jewish friends, he said. He was born in Beirut in 1965, but hasn’t returned to Lebanon since he was 10, when the civil war broke out and his family left for Europe.

At the English and Swiss boarding schools he attended, he found it easier to bond with Jewish students than the other boys. Reflecting back decades later, he said he thinks it’s because “there is more in common between Jewish and Muslim/Arab cultures than with any Anglo-Saxon culture.” He’s remained close ever since with two of those friends, who he said treated him like a brother.

“I just want other members of my culture to experience that warmth,” Khashoggi, who moved to the U.S. for college and settled here afterward, told me on a video call. He’s been running an SAT prep school for 25 years and, more recently, working with young artists and curators as founder and director of the Bowery Art Collective. The latter began right before the pandemic, when Khashoggi noticed all the art portfolios the test prep students were carrying around and suggested they use the school’s space to have an exhibition.

When the war threatened to make connections like his boarding school friendships all the more improbable, and as he witnessed “scary” incidents of antisemitism that were more “mean and violent” than he’d ever seen before, he came up with the idea of a joint exhibition.

“I could tell that both sides were getting pushed apart,” he said, recoiling at the idea of being placed in a stance of immutable opposition against people he considered friends. As he put it: “Don’t tell us who we need to hate.”

Part of the installation at the “Open Archways” exhibit. Courtesy of Hannah Finkelshteyn

“Let’s use the magic of art to reconnect these communities, even if it’s just 10 people,” he said. “There’s no way we can solve the world’s problems,” he added. “But at least if we can make some friends while we’re doing this — across two communities that have been told not to be friends — then that would be great.”

“There’s nothing like friendship to dispel stereotypes,” Khashoggi said.

He and Arianna Astuni, his co-CEO at the test-prep company and BAC’s executive director, quickly found Finkelshteyn, at the recommendation of another student who’d worked with BAC. She was in, without hesitation. But their first call for a Muslim co-curator was met with a lot of opinions and no applications.

“We got some backlash at first,” Astuni told me on a joint video call with Khashoggi. “People get so caught up in the largeness of political issues, and then they’re yelling large things that they really don’t know and they really couldn’t possibly feel.”

For Astuni, who said she was used to watching connections being cultivated in their small gallery and community, the response was surprising. And for her longtime test prep and art collective colleague, it was dispiriting.

“I remember having conversations with friends and saying, I don’t know. I think I’m insane,” Khashoggi said. “Everyone’s telling me that what I’m trying to do is not doable. Or they would be like, yeah, it’s a beautiful idea, but it’s just not the time to do that. It’s not the time to normalize relationships.”

Instead of giving up or waiting for some elusive right time in the distant future, they reworked the ad for a Muslim curator and tried again. This time, applications came in for them to consider. Among them was one from Khan, whom Finkelshteyn had encouraged to submit.

Ultimately, Khashoggi felt, “Aakef was the best applicant. It also helped that he had worked with Hannah before, and knew her, and they had a good dynamic,” he said. “That was really important.”

Together, Finkelshteyn and Khan came up with the exhibition’s subtitle: “by the light of the same moon.” In an environment that tends to emphasize only the differences and tensions between the Muslim and Jewish communities, they wanted to speak honestly about the difficulties while also illuminating points of intersection and understanding.

One of those intersections is the lunar calendar, which both religions follow. “The moon governs when we fast,” Khan said, and determines when Jews and Muslims celebrate holidays and perform certain rituals. More than that, Finkelshteyn added, “it’s something that Muslims and Jews have in common that general American culture does not.”

“The waxing and waning of the moon has welcomed Ramadans and Yom Kippurs, Mawlids and Passover Seders. Its cycle has determined which day we gather in the synagogue for Rosh Hashanah, and which nights we fill the mosque for Taraweeh,” reads the exhibition description they developed. The artists, it says, are exploring “the intersections between Muslim and Jewish culture that begin with the use of the moon as our clock.”

Showing up 

“Open Archways” isn’t like most exhibitions, in part because it brings together supposed arch-enemies. That presented a challenge, even among artists interested in interfaith collaborations. “People get worried like, ‘Oh, is there a specific political agenda? If I sign up for this, am I signing my name next to a certain thing that I don’t want to sign my name next to?’” Finkelshteyn said.

But the project veers from a more typical format in other ways, too. Group shows often come together behind the scenes, with curators putting out a call, artists submitting pre-existing work and the selected pieces being presented side-by-side without their creators ever speaking, save for maybe a quick hello at the opening reception. Here, the goal was to facilitate artist meetups as a fundamental part of the process and for these interactions to build little bridges across communities and help inspire the work on display. In practical terms, this meant artists had to be willing to engage and able to make the time commitment.

The artists featured in the exhibition met to facilitate cultural conversation between people on opposite sides of the Oct. 7 divide. Courtesy of Hannah Finkelshteyn

The curators ultimately assembled a group of 15 Muslim and Jewish artists with diverse religious and geographic backgrounds. The Muslim artists have roots in Pakistan, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, Burma and Bangladesh, and their Jewish counterparts in Poland, Austria, Romania, Russia, Azerbaijan, Yemen, Israel and more.

They met as a group twice this fall, first in October at the BAC space in Metuchen with a structured agenda — Khan and Finkelshteyn had everyone sit in a circle, introduce themselves, and share something about their culture that they love, before letting everyone mingle and explore the gallery. The second meetup, at a non-alcoholic “anti-bar” and cafe in the East Village in November, was a little more casual, and allowed the conversations about identity, religion, diaspora, gender and art to expand.

“A lot of it was really oriented around, like, what has your experience been? What is your identity to you? What does it mean?” Miki Belenkov, a participating artist, told me on a video call. One of the themes that emerged in the discussion, they recalled, was around “how do we balance our deep emotional and historical connections to these identities, while also navigating being modern people.”

Belenkov, 28, a queer Jewish artist and art therapist in New York City whose parents were refugees from the Soviet Union — their father is from Muslim-majority Azerbaijan — was raised on ideas of “coexistence and mutual respect and appreciation and sharing of traditions,” they said. “It was exciting to see that here there are people trying to build conversation and space for Muslim and Jewish artists.”

After Oct. 7, which happened while Belenkov was in grad school, “I had to make entirely new friends,” they said. “Pretty much just everyone that I had built a community with did not see me as a community member anymore, because of my identity.” They’ve since focused on attending events that “create joy” and forming “community connections with equally peace-loving people.”

Their large-scale textile work in the exhibition, a tablecloth, references both the struggles of the last couple years — including mezuzahs stolen off doorposts and formerly close friends who’ve blocked them on Instagram — but also focuses on “being able to come together in the midst of all of this and still find joy and light.”

Another Jewish artist, Micah Steinerman, 22, is a senior at Rutgers studying drawing and animation whose family’s roots are in Eastern Europe and Yemen. He created a small triptych depicting the holy sites of Jerusalem, foregrounded by a blossoming fruit tree in the center. This is flanked by smaller canvases on either side: One says shalom, as in peace, and the other adapts a quote from his namesake book in the Bible: “Every person will sit under their own fruit tree, and no one will make them afraid.”

But perhaps the highlight of his experience was a collaboration with Khashoggi that melded Arabic and Hebrew calligraphy. “I had become more closed off about my Jewish identity,” he told me on Zoom. Over the course of several sessions with Khashoggi, who taught him some Arabic and oil painting basics, he realized they both related to “having to feel hidden.”

“The painting experience with Micah reconnected me to my own religion, my own culture, my own language. It was something I’d shoved in a box” after leaving Lebanon as a kid, Khashoggi said. “Micah said, ‘Hey, no, let me look in that box, it’s cool.’” That genuine display of interest by someone from another culture, he said, was “healing.”

Building little bridges

On a recent tour to pick up everyone’s finished artwork for installation, Khashoggi was heartened to see a small sign of the project’s success. One of the Muslim artists came along to assist with pickup, and Khashoggi watched as she greeted one of her Jewish colleagues. You can see “the strength of the connection from the way they hug each other,” Khashoggi said.

“I don’t imagine all of a sudden that all Arabs and Muslims and Jews around the world will start hugging each other the way our artists are,” he said. Still, he said, “we have 15 little bridges that we built.”

Micah Steinerman worked on a piece including Arabic script. Courtesy of Micah Steinerman

Khashoggi’s hope, he said, is that “one or two of the people coming to visit will have the wherewithal, the influence, to allow us to open up another show;” he dreams of another “Open Archways” in New York or Paris or Tel Aviv that would expand the circle of Muslim and Jewish artists who are meeting, talking and collaborating.

The BAC gallery where the exhibition is currently installed is dotted with couches and chairs. On opening night, there will be tea and other refreshments and, the curators hope, an opportunity for people to start conversations — maybe a little bit like the one Finkelshteyn and Khan had at the Open Dialogue Table. The art might help.

“You’re looking at the same thing, and you can talk about that thing,” Finkelshteyn said. “I hope there are a few people who come to this exhibit, who come to this reception, or even who just hear about this reception, and think, ‘Oh, people can talk to each other.’”

That doesn’t mean they’ll always be on the same page. She and Khan aren’t, and they said that was scary at first, as they navigated their fledgling friendship. The first time they didn’t agree, Khan recalled, “it felt like the whole place was burning down.” But they soon realized they can still talk and be friends, while also disagreeing.

They, along with Khashoggi, Astuni, and the participating artists, appear clear-eyed about the scale of change this one show is likely to make. But that micro-movement in the right direction seems to be exhilarating to them all the same.

Ali Saracoglu, 30, a New York City–based Muslim artist who moved to the U.S. from Turkey, put it most poetically. “When we check the news, it doesn’t look good,” said Saracoglu, who works in Ebru art, a traditional Turkish form of paper marbling. “In those moments, I remind myself, for a room to be dark, darkness needs to surround everywhere. But if light finds a tiny crack to come in, that’s usually good enough to illuminate the whole room.”

“This exhibit,” he said, “is a step toward finding that crack, or opening that crack ourselves, for the light to come in.”

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The post A Jewish-Muslim art show builds ‘little bridges’ of coexistence appeared first on The Forward.

An elected official in North Carolina who refused to say “Happy Hanukkah” during a board meeting later confirmed his position during an interview.

“I’m going to defend my right to say ‘Merry Christmas,’ and I’m not going to apologize for saying ‘Merry Christmas,’” Chris Chadwick, chairman of the Carteret County Board of Commissioners, said in a phone interview with the Forward.

Chadwick made the initial comment, first reported by Coastal Review, at a Monday meeting of the commission, which serves beachside towns along North Carolina’s Crystal Coast. The commission has seven members, all Republicans.

As Chadwick was wrapping up the commission meeting, he wished the group a Merry Christmas, and Commissioner Marianne Waldrop whispered, “We haven’t said ‘Happy Hanukkah.'”

“No, we don’t say that,” Chadwick replied, as Waldrop’s mouth fell agape.

Chadwick continued, “I want to wish everybody Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year —”

“And Happy Hanukkah,” Waldrop interjected, louder this time.

“— and we appreciate y’all coming,” Chadwick concluded.

“I was setting you up for success, not failure,” Waldrop said as the board adjourned.

Chadwick, elected in 2022, said Waldrop caught him off guard, and he didn’t appreciate her “trying to tell me what to say.” He said his comment reflected that his family celebrates Christmas, not Hanukkah, but he meant “nothing derogatory to Jewish people or Hanukkah or anything like that.”

He added that “there’s so much political correctness out there now, it’s hard to keep on top of it. It was a simple ‘Merry Christmas,’ and it just got turned into something that it wasn’t.”

Chadwick said he understood why Jews might be sensitive to his comments after Sunday’s deadly attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, but he hadn’t heard about the terror attack at the time of Monday morning’s meeting.

Asked if he would include both holidays moving forward, Chadwick responded that he “could, but we don’t have many Jewish people here, so we’re just not used to doing it.”

An estimated 350 Jews lived in Carteret County in 2024, out of a total population of around 70,000.

Chadwick said he had spoken to a number of Jewish constituents about the incident who “understood completely” and taught him that Hanukkah lasts eight days.

Allison Arnold told the Forward she was the constituent who informed him about Hanukkah. She called him because she “would happily wish him a merry Christmas” and wanted to understand why he wouldn’t do the same for Hanukkah.

Arnold said they had a cordial conversation that lasted about 30 minutes.

“I really did get the sense that he had no idea that it was the middle of Hanukkah,” Arnold said. “He did say to me that he takes responsibility for being unprepared.”

The remark did not sit well with Leonard Rogoff, president and historian of Jewish Heritage North Carolina.

“At a moment when Jews have been slaughtered in Australia for celebrating their holiday, when armed police guard synagogues here in North Carolina as Jews worship, for the county commissioner to refuse to acknowledge his Jewish neighbors and fellow citizens is not in keeping with the spirit of the holidays,” Rogoff told the Coastal Review. “How could Jews not take offense?”

Asked if he would do anything differently in retrospect, Chadwick said “looking back, she probably should have made her comments during her time, and let me make my comments.”

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This article has been updated with comment from Allison Arnold. 

The post This politician refused to say ‘Happy Hanukkah,’ then blamed ‘political correctness’ for the backlash appeared first on The Forward.

(JTA) — After the Washington Post reported last month that the U.S. Coast Guard was reclassifying swastikas and nooses to no longer be considered hate symbols, Jewish leaders voiced their objections.

The Coast Guard’s acting commandant, claiming the report was inaccurate, sought to assure them. There would be no change to its categorization of the symbols, Admiral Kevin Lunday told Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner in emails with the head of the Union for Reform Judaism’s Religious Action Center. Lunday also issued a memo giving an explicit directive not to change them.

For a time, he seemed to put fears at ease. But this week, another Post report revealed that the Coast Guard had, indeed, quietly gone through with the change. The Nazi insignia and the noose, a symbol closely associated with lynchings, were now labeled as “potentially divisive,” downgraded from hate symbols. The policy had been codified in the Coast Guard’s updated workplace harassment manual on Monday.

Now, Jewish groups are sounding off again — and they’re furious.

“I am outraged and baffled as to how the policy change has, in fact, occurred on your watch,” Pesner wrote in an open letter to Lunday viewed by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The rabbi said the admiral had assured him, “The swastika has always been and remains a prohibited symbol of hate in the Coast Guard.” Now, Pesner said, he was doubting the sincerity of the exchange.

“Was your initial reply an outright falsehood?” Pesner asked. “In the last month, has USGC suddenly discovered an affinity for symbols under which millions were murdered, enslaved, oppressed, or otherwise dehumanized? Is there another justification for this newly adopted policy?”

He concluded, “The damage the USGC has done to itself and the United States through this new policy is enormous.”

In an open letter to Lunday on Thursday, leaders of Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America said the group was “deeply disappointed” by the apparent policy reversal.

“The Coast Guard must require active accountability,” Scott Stevens, the group’s National Commander, wrote in the letter shared with JTA.

Jewish War Veterans had previously posed “four questions” to Lunday seeking more information about how the swastika policy was changed in the first place; but, Stevens told JTA, the group never heard back. In an interview, Stevens expressed surprise and alarm.

“Now, several weeks later, we’re back to the original outrage,” he told JTA. “It makes no sense. Is this bad staffing? Was this intentional? Just what is going on in that office?”

If Lunday was truly unaware of the policy change, Stevens said, “then he should not be the commandant.”

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington also expressed its outrage. “Labeling Nazi swastika symbols and nooses as ‘potentially divisive’ suggests there is some context in which their use is appropriate,” the group’s CEO, Ron Halber, said in a statement. “Nothing could be further from the truth; few symbols have ever conveyed such unambiguous hate.”

The Anti-Defamation League struck a tone of exhaustion, writing on X, “Here we go again.”

On the Senate floor, Chuck Schumer, the Jewish Senate minority leader, linked the Coast Guard’s actions to the Hanukkah terror attack in Australia over the weekend.

“Not four days ago, as I mentioned, 15 Jews were slaughtered in cold blood,” Schumer said Wednesday. “And a day later, the Trump administration chose to soften its stance against Nazis and swastikas. Can you believe it? Can it get any lower?”

Schumer also called the policy change “a ‘stand back and stand by’ in the form of an office memo,” referring to Trump’s remarks directed at the Proud Boys, a far-right group, during his 2020 reelection campaign.

Most significantly, one of Schumer’s Jewish colleagues has taken immediate action in an effort to discipline Lunday.

Late Wednesday, Sen. Jacky Rosen joined Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat and military veteran who is not Jewish, in putting Lunday’s nomination to lead the Coast Guard on hold, citing the swastika policy. Lunday’s bid to become its permanent commandant requires Senate confirmation, with a full vote having been scheduled for this week.

“According to this newest reporting, it seems that Admiral Lunday and the Coast Guard have gone back on their commitment to clearly stating what their policy towards swastikas and nooses is and, instead, have implemented a policy that downgrades the seriousness of these hate symbols,” Rosen wrote on X. She claimed that, after the latest Post story broke, the Coast Guard began to “evade our questions and refuse to give a straight answer.”

“As it appears that Admiral Lunday may have backtracked on his commitment to me to combat antisemitism and hate crimes and protect all members of the Coast Guard, I will be placing a hold on his nomination until the Coast Guard provides answers,” Rosen continued.

Some Republicans have also expressed concerns about Lunday’s nomination after the swastika stories.

Classifying swastikas and nooses as “potentially divisive,” rather than hate symbols, means that the Coast Guard may not remove them immediately if a service member was found to have used the signage.

The Coast Guard is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security, whose social media accounts in the Trump era have been accused of tweeting antisemitic dog whistles. A DHS spokesperson, while acknowledging rising antisemitism, accused Rosen and others of trying to score “cheap political points.”

“At a time when the threat of antisemitic violence is as widespread as it is right now, using this to politicize one of President Trump’s military nominations is simply disgusting,” spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the Post.

Late Wednesday, the Coast Guard’s official X account again denied the Post’s reporting, stating, “The Coast Guard maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward hate symbols, extremist ideology, and any conduct that undermines our core values.”

This story has been updated with comment from Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America.

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דער דײַטשישער וויסנשאַפֿטלעכער פֿאַרלאַג De Gruyter האָט לעצטנס אַרויסגעגעבן אַ באַנד פֿאָרשונגען וועגן רבנישע כּתבֿים אויף ייִדיש און לאַדינאָ, רעדאַקטירט דורך קאַטיאַ שמיד (מאַדריד), דוד בוניס (ירושלים) און חוה טורניאַנסקי (ירושלים). די עלעקטראָנישע ווערסיע פֿונעם בוך איז צוטריטלעך צו אַלעמען, פֿרײַ פֿון אָפּצאָל.

אויף ייִדיש זענען פֿאַראַן צוויי ווערטער, וואָס באַצייכענען דעם אונטערשייד צווישן הייליקע ספֿרים און וועלטלעכע ביכער. דער חילוק איז אָבער נישט אַלעמאָל קלאָר. אַ פֿילאָסאָפֿיש, מעדיציניש צי פֿילאָלאָגיש ווערק אויף לשון־קודש אָדער לשון־תּרגום איז גיכער אַ ספֿר, און אַ הלכה־חיבור אויף ייִדיש קאָן מען אָנרופֿן אַ „בוך‟, ווײַל ייִדיש ווערט, בדרך־כּלל, אַסאָציִיִרט מיט דער וועלטלעכער זײַט פֿון דער ייִדישער קולטור, און די סעמיטישע שפּראַכן – לשון־קודש און אַראַמיש – מיט פֿרומקייט.

אויף לאַדינאָ אָדער דזשודעזמאָ איז אַזאַ אונטערשייד נישטאָ, נאָר די ייִדישע אינערלעכע צוויי־שפּראַכיקייט איז בנימצא; די נאַטירלעכע ספֿרים־שפּראַך איז לשון־קודש. אַמאָל האָבן די ספֿרדים אין דער מיטל־עלטערלעכער מוסולמענישער שפּאַניע אָבער געשריבן גאָר ערנסטע רבנישע ספֿרים דווקא אויף אַראַביש.

אינעם נײַעם בוך איז אַרײַן אַבריאל בר־לבֿבֿס אַרטיקל וועגן דער אַשכּנזישער טאָפּל־שפּראַכיקער קולטור. דער פֿאָרשער ווײַזט, אַז די אַלטע ספֿרים אויף אַראַביש האָבן משפּיע געווען אויף הרבֿ משה פֿראַנקפֿורט; ווי באַלד די הייליקסטע ייִדישע טעקסטן, אַרײַנגערעכנט די גרמא און דעם זוהר, זענען אָנגעשריבן אויף אַן אומגאַנג־שפּראַך, אַראַמיש, קאָן מען ממילא שרײַבן ערנסטע ספֿרים אויף ייִדיש. אַזוי האָט אויך געטאָן זײַן טאַטע, הרבֿ שמעון פֿראַנקפֿורט.

אין אַן אַנדער אַרטיקל וועגן דער אַשכּנזישער און ספֿרדישער שפּראַך־פֿילאָסאָפֿיע פֿונעם 19טן יאָרהונדערט ווײַזט מיכאל זילבער, אַז הרבֿ עקיבֿא־יוסף שלעזינגער (1837 – 1922) האָט אויסגענוצט דעם זעלבן אַרגומענט לטובֿת ייִדיש ווי אַ נאַציאָנאַלע ייִדישע שפּראַך אין זײַן ספֿר „לבֿ העבֿרי‟ – לאַנג פֿאַר דער טשערנאָוויצער קאָנפֿערענץ.

אין דער עסטרײַך־אונגערישער אימפּעריע האָבן געוווינט סײַ אַשכּנזים, טיילווײַז דײַטשיש־ און אונגעריש־רעדנדיקע, סײַ לאַדינאָ־שפּראַכיקע ספֿרדים. אַ וויכטיקער צענטער פֿון זייער צונויפֿטרעפֿונג איז געווען ווין. די טראַדיציאָנאַליסטן אין ביידע עדות האָבן געהאַלטן, אַז ייִדן מוזן אָפּהיטן זייער גערעדט לשון; דאָס האָט אויך געשטימט מיטן גײַסט פֿונעם אונגערישן נאַציאָנאַליזם. אין זײַן ספֿר „מעשׂה אָבֿות‟ ברענגט הרבֿ שלעזינגער בײַשפּילן פֿון מיזרחדיקע ייִדן, וועלכע האָבן באַטראַכט זייער ייִדיש־שפּאַניש (לאַדינאָ) און ייִדיש־אַראַביש ווי טראַדיציאָנעלע הייליקע מאַמע־לשונות.

צו דער גאָר אינטערעסאַנטער אינפֿאָרמאַציע קען איך צוגעבן דעם בײַשפּיל פֿונעם מונקאַטשער רבין חיים־אלעזר שפּירא (1868 – 1937). אין זײַן רוף צו רעדן דווקא אויף ייִדיש האָט ער אויך באַטאָנט, אַז די ווינער ספֿרדים דאַרפֿן ווײַטער רעדן אויף זייער אייגן לשון. כ׳האָב געשריבן וועגן דעם אינעם פֿאָרווערטס.

משה טאַובע באַהאַנדלט די אינטערעסאַנטע קשיא: צי קען מען אָננעמען די אַלט־ייִדישע גבֿיות־עדותן אויף ייִדיש ווי אויטענטישע מוסטערן פֿון דער גערעדטער שפּראַך? למשל, הרבֿ בנימין פֿון סלאָניק, פּוילן, האָט אינעם יאָר 1605 ציטירט אָט אַזאַ גבֿית־עדות: „איך אונ׳ איין וועלשער יהודי זיין גיזעסין צו יאס אין דער וואלח״יי אונ איז גיוועזין בייא אונז איין יהודי פון לעלוב ושמו היה אייזיק גלעזער, ער האט גערביט חמאה וגבינה‟. אויפֿן הײַנטיקן ייִדיש מיינט עס: „איך און איינער אַ רומענישער ייִד האָבן געוווינט אין יאַס, רומעניע, און בײַ אונדז איז געווען אַ ייִד פֿון לעלעוו, וועלכער האָט געהייסט אײַזיק גלעזער;  זײַן מלאָכה איז געווען פֿוטער און קעז.‟ צי האָט יענער ייִד טאַקע גערעדט ממש אַזוי, מיט גאַנצע לשון־קודשדיקע אויסדרוקן, אָדער האָט דער בית־דין זיי אַרײַנגעשריבן? זיכער האָט יענער עדות געזאָגט „אַ ייִד‟, נישט „איין יהודי‟.

אינעם בוך דערציילט קלאַודיאַ ראָזענצווײַג אַן אַנדער מעשׂה וועגן דעם זעלבן פּוילישן רבֿ, בנימין סלאָניק. זײַן פּאָפּולער ייִדיש הלכה־ספֿר פֿאַר פֿרויען, „סדר מצות לנשים‟, איז אַרויס אינעם יאָר 1577 אין קראָקע און דערנאָך אין עטלעכע אַנדערע שטעט. דער איטאַליענישער רבֿ יעקבֿ היילפּרון האָט עס איבערגעזעצט אויף ייִדיש־איטאַליעניש און אַרויסגעגעבן אין 1616 אין ווענעציע. היילפּרון איז געווען אַ מחבר פֿון ייִדישע ספֿרים, אַרײַנגערעכנט אַ געגראַמטע איבערזעצונג פֿון שלמה אבן גבֿירולס מיסטישער פּאָעמע „כתר מלכות‟. אבן גבֿירולס היימישע שמועס־שפּראַך איז געווען אַראַביש – נאָך אַ בײַשפּיל פֿון אַשכּנזיש־ספֿרדישע פֿאַרבינדונגען. אַגבֿ, אינעם ייִדישן דיאַלעקט פֿון איטאַליעניש איז אויך פֿאַראַן דאָס וואָרט „ספֿר‟.

בנימין הוניאַדיס פֿאָרשונג איז אויך געווידמעט דעם פֿריִער דערמאָנטן הרבֿ עקיבֿא שלעזינדער. ס׳רובֿ אַנדערע אַרטיקלען זענען געווידמעט דער רבנישער ליטעראַטור אויף לאַדינאָ. ייִדיש ווערט דאָרט עטלעכע מאָל דערמאָנט, אָבער נישט צו אָפֿט. צום בײַשפּיל, ד״ר אַנאַבעלאַ עספּעראַנצאַ פֿאַרגלײַכט די תּחינות און חסידישע ניגונים מיט די ספֿרדישע „קאָפּלאַס‟ אָדער „קאָמפּלאַס‟ – פֿרומע לאַדינאָ־לידער.

ווי עס זעט אויס, איז דאָס פֿיל־קולטורעלע עסטרײַך־אונגערן געווען די וויכטיקסטע קאָנטאַקט־זאָנע צווישן די אַשכּנזים און ספֿרדים. אויף דעם שפּראַכלעכן באַוווּסטזײַן פֿון ביידע ייִדישע גרופּעס האָבן משפּיע געווען די נאַציאָנאַלע באַוועגונגען פֿון אַנדערע באַלקאַנישע און מיזרח־אייראָפּעיִשע פֿעלקער. דאָס נײַע בוך איז אַ וויכטיקער, אינפֿאָרמאַטיווער שטאַפּל אין פֿאַרגלײַך־פֿאָרשונגען פֿון ביידע לשונות, ווי אויך אין דער אַלגעמיינער ייִדישער געשיכטע פֿון „היימישע‟ עסטרײַך־אונגערישע מקומות און צענטראַל־אייראָפּע בכלל.

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Vance comment on criticising Israel raises concern in Tel Aviv  Middle East Monitor

Panathinaikos fan assaults Hapoel Tel Aviv owner in EuroLeague game: 'dirty Jew'  Ynetnews

Ticketless teen boards flight out of Israel, casting doubt on Ben-Gurion Airport security  Haaretz

Tel Aviv Loses Its Scientific Elite.. For the First Time, the Number of Departing Academics Exceeds Returnees  وكالة صدى نيوز

Maccabi Tel Aviv Fined by UEFA, Banned From Selling Tickets to Fans for ‘Racist’ Chanting  Algemeiner.com

Maccabi Tel Aviv handed €20k fine and fan ban over racist chants  TheNational.scot

Arab activist addresses Tel Aviv rally, says government ‘happy’ about Arab crime wave  The Times of Israel

Muslim woman blows out menorah in Tel Aviv mall  The Jerusalem Post

Netanyahu calls Israel a ‘superpower’ at groundbreaking for Tel Aviv subway  The Times of Israel

Daddy Daily Deli: An upscale deli in Tel Aviv’s Basel Square - restaurant review  The Jerusalem Post

Court rules Israelis can wear anti-police shirts to games  The Jerusalem Post

Bat Yam: from overlooked beach city to investor hotspot  Ynetnews

Netanyahu breaks ground on long-awaited Tel Aviv metro  Ynetnews

Security footage shows woman blowing out Hanukkah candles at Tel Aviv mall  The Times of Israel

Ofer Yanai shoved, harassed at Greek basketball match  The Jerusalem Post

Dubai Basketball-Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv| Round 16 highlights | EuroLeague 2025-26  Euroleague Basketball

Police open investigation after woman blows out Hanukkah candles in Tel Aviv mall  The Times of Israel

Questions for UK embassy in Tel Aviv over employee who owns home in illegal settlement  The Guardian

Maccabi Tel Aviv FC given fan ban and €20,000 fine by UEFA for 'racist' chanting  Sky News

Israelis protest in Tel Aviv after Netanyahu seeks pardon on fraud cases  Al Jazeera

Police apologise to Jewish leaders over Maccabi Tel Aviv report  The Times

Anand summoned Israel’s envoy to explain turning away of MPs at West Bank border post  The Globe and Mail

Democrats Sound Like They’re in Doha  The Atlantic

Netanyahu plans to brief Trump on possible new Iran strikes  NBC News

Raja Shehadeh Believes Israelis and Palestinians Can Still Find Peace  The New York Times

Netanyahu finally announces October 7 inquiry: Why are Israelis furious?  Al Jazeera

Trump administration sanctions two more International Criminal Court judges for investigating Israel  CNN

Egypt says major natural gas deal with Israel is ‘purely commercial,’ not ‘political’  The Times of Israel

Opposition unity is Israel’s path to defeating Benjamin Netanyahu  The Jerusalem Post

'Germany Must Stop Trading Arms With Israel. What Will Hurt Netanyahu's Government More?'  Haaretz

MAGA infighting over Israel and 2028 heats up at the Turning Point USA conference  NBC News

Israel's cabinet set to vote on Army Radio closure proposal  The Jerusalem Post

Opinion | Weighing Politics and Morality in the Israel Debate  The New York Times

There seems to be no limit to the ridiculousness of Israeli polls  The Times of Israel

Lessons From Israel’s Supreme Court  City Journal

Cairo: Gas deal with Israel ‘strictly business’  Cleveland Jewish News

Can Standing Together bear the weight of its contradictions?  +972 Magazine

Egypt: Gas Trade With Israel Is ‘Business, Not Politics’  Modern Diplomacy

Israel and Egypt Sign Record $35 Billion Gas Deal  Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Why Sharren Haskell should be the leader of Israel  The Jerusalem Post

How much is US support for Israel costing Donald Trump?  Al Jazeera

Poll: Likud loses two seats, opposition nears full gov't  The Jerusalem Post

Arab Israelis push for political unity ahead of elections  The Jerusalem Post

Egypt: Gas deal with Israel is 'purely commercial'  The Jerusalem Post

How to regulate synagogue protests? Marginalize anti-Israel blood libels  Cleveland Jewish News

Taylor Swift, Israel, and the Politics of Presence  The Times of Israel

Egypt Says Israel Gas Deal Is Strictly Commercial With No Political Dimensions  i24NEWS

Israel Approves $35 Billion Natural Gas Export Deal With Egypt  Politics Today

'Who said I'm a part of your block': Recording from Gantz raises question of role in next Knesset  The Jerusalem Post

Iran suspected as influence op targets Arab community and Israel's crucial election nears  Haaretz

Israeli officials to meet with Lebanese, US representives  The Jerusalem Post

Is Israel’s genocide economy on the brink?  +972 Magazine

Buoyant stock market lifts Israel to 3rd in Economist ranking of 2025’s best economies  The Times of Israel

Israel on the path to $1 trillion: Strong economy, weak infrastructure - opinion  The Jerusalem Post

Why Gaza’s Aid Effort Will Fail Without Cash  lawfaremedia.org

Israel economy powered to 12.4% gain in Q3 after end of Iran conflict  Reuters

Israel’s economy set for strong rebound, OECD says  CTech

Israel’s Zombie Economy (Part 2): The Counter-Revolution of the Israeli Arms Industry  Jadaliyya

Israel’s once-robust wartime economy starting to show signs of strain  NPR

Backlash over Gaza war hits parts of Israel’s economy. Will it last?  The Christian Science Monitor

How Israel’s War Economy Defied Economic Predictions  Jacobin

Israel (ISR) Exports, Imports, and Trade Partners  The Observatory of Economic Complexity

Two years after Hamas attack, Israel's economy weakened by international isolation  RFI

OECD sees Israel economy rebound following Gaza ceasefire, but warns of risks  The Times of Israel

Israel Approves $35 Billion Deal To Export Natural Gas to Egypt  Bloomberg.com

Netanyahu announces landmark gas deal with Egypt, largest in Israel's history  Ynetnews

How the War with Hamas Has Impacted the Israeli Economy  American Jewish Committee

Israeli economy proves resilient, despite wartime pressure  JNS.org

Israel’s economic comeback: The next phase  The Jerusalem Post

Breakingviews - Israel’s economy faces an uncertain truce dividend  Reuters

What's next for Israel's economy after two years of war?  The Jerusalem Post

China urges Israel to curb illegal settlers' violence, lift restrictive measures on Palestinian economy  Anadolu Ajansı

US power, Israeli settler colonialism, and the UN: The political economy of impunity  Middle East Monitor

‘I lit up at every sentence Trump said’: business leader sees boom in US-Israel economic ties  Ynetnews

Israel Has Been Mired In Controversy During Its War With Hamas. Big Tech Investment Tells A Different Story.  Investor's Business Daily

Can Israel's economy withstand multiple conflicts?  DW

Israel's economy has been severely damaged by war  The Jerusalem Post

Israel’s economy slumps 3.5%, as Iran war squeezes consumer spending and business  The Times of Israel

Israel's Zombie Economy Part 4: Is Israel's Economy on the Verge of Collapse?  Jadaliyya

Netanyahu is undermining Israel’s economy  Financial Times

How can Israel's economy survive the war?  The Jerusalem Post

Gaza’s tech workers code from rubble as Israel’s war destroys digital life  Al Jazeera

Nvidia picks Kiryat Tivon for large R&D campus, bringing tech jobs north  The Times of Israel

As Intel stumbles, Nvidia emerges as Israel’s anchor tech employer  CTech

Nvidia declares huge campus project in ‘second home’ Israel  JNS.org

Nvidia doubles down on its 'second home' Israel, officially announces major new campus  Ynetnews

From yellow list to gold club: How Israel won unrestricted access to the AI supply chain  CTech

Israel’s Latest Military Tech: Tested in Gaza, Wanted by the West  wsj.com

Israel’s Tech Lab: How Surveillance Sustains Occupation and Spreads Worldwide  Washington Report on Middle East Affairs

US said to pitch ‘Project Sunrise’ — $112B plan to rebuild Gaza as luxury destination  The Times of Israel

How Israel hijacked US politics, media and tech – without Americans even realizing  Press TV

Israel Tech Deal Activity Rebounds in 2025 as IPOs and Global Buyers Return  TipRanks

Germany invests in Israel's Arrow defense system  The Jerusalem Post

Israeli startup Cyera valued at $9 billion after Blackstone-led deal  JNS.org

New mentorship program helps women who immigrated during the war join Israel’s tech industry  Ynetnews

Gaza doctors use 3D tech to save limbs shattered by Israel from amputation  Al Jazeera

Brought together by war, defense-tech partnerships put startups on front lines  The Times of Israel

Israel defense tech reshaping Greece security  The Jerusalem Post

Gaza’s tech workers contend with little electricity, limited internet  Al Jazeera

Despite war, tech exits soared to $59 billion in 2025 thanks to Wiz deal — report  The Times of Israel

Huang declares Israel Nvidia’s “second home” with record-breaking campus investment  CTech

The U.S.–Israel Relationship in 2025: Tested, Evolving, Enduring  The Times of Israel

Nvidia to Build ‘Multibillion Shekel’ Research Hub in Israel, Advancing AI Technology  Palestine Chronicle

Israel Has Been Mired In Controversy During Its War With Hamas. Big Tech Investment Tells A Different Story.  Investor's Business Daily

Israel's tech economy emerges stronger from wartime crisis - analysis  The Jerusalem Post

When things get real, countries seeking defense tech put politics aside and go for Israel  The Times of Israel

Tech Giant David Siegel’s Relocation to Israel Opens Many Doors to Others  The Media Line

Israel’s high-tech resilience: How 2025 became a record year amid war and uncertainty  CTech

Israel’s next big bet: the innovations redefining Startup Nation in 2026  Ynetnews

Bolivia And Israel Form Lithium And Technology Alliance  Forbes

Israel’s tech industry girds itself amid two years of war  jweekly.com

Thousands of Israelis receive text messages from Tehran’s spies  JNS.org

A Security Arrangement with Syria in a Space of Uncertainty and Perceptual Gaps  Alma Research and Education Center

Opinion | Weighing Politics and Morality in the Israel Debate  The New York Times

Bondi Beach massacre exposes Israel’s limits, forcing a rethink on Jewish security abroad  The Jerusalem Post

Beyond the U.S.-Israel MOU: The Case for a Strategic Partnership Agreement  Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Israel arrests Russian citizen on suspicion of spying for Iran  ایران اینترنشنال

Israel’s New Strategic Opportunity  The Jerusalem Strategic Tribune

IDF says West Bank troops kill 2 Palestinians who attacked them; footage raises questions  The Times of Israel

Killing the ‘brain trust’: How Israel targeted Iran’s nuclear scientists  The Washington Post

Turkey troops in Gaza could limit Israel’s security options  Ynetnews

Conflicts to Watch in 2026  Council on Foreign Relations

US breaks with UN Security Council peers on Israeli settler violence in occupied West Bank  TRT World

Rubio says US 'hopeful' Lebanon-Israel talks will lead to deal  Naharnet

Israel uncovers Iran spy network, charges Russian citizen  middle-east-online.com

The international community, Israel’s security narrative and the two-state paradigm  Middle East Monitor

'Continuation of security dialogue aimed at ensuring Hezbollah disarmament'  i24NEWS

US backed Israel's Operation Narnia on Iran's scientists  The Jerusalem Post

In interview, Sa’ar says Israel seeks security deal with Syria, has no territorial ambitions  The Times of Israel

Israel mulls joint force with Greece, Cyprus against Turkey  The Jerusalem Post

The U.S.–Israel Relationship in 2025: Tested, Evolving, Enduring  The Times of Israel

Hamas security forces in Gaza end amnesty programme for collaborators with Israel  Middle East Eye

IPC monitor says now no 'famine conditions' but Gaza food security still 'critical'; Israel rejects findings  The Times of Israel

Netanyahu to lead team shaping probe into October 7 massacre, Israel's security failures  Yahoo

Israel could be bringing back the death penalty — but only for Palestinians  CBC

Katz, Smotrich declare West Bank waste fires a security issue, unveil emergency plan  The Times of Israel

CENTCOM deputy promoted to fill post tasked with boosting Israel-PA security ties  The Times of Israel

Jordan-Israel security cooperation continues quietly but unabated  Atlantic Council

Israel's Annual Homicide Rate Hits 300 for Second Time Under Ben-Gvir's Tenure  Haaretz

Russian migrant worker indicted for spying for Iran on Israeli military sites  Haaretz

Israel’s Security Needs Less Shooting, More Talking  Bloomberg.com

IDF says it killed two terror operatives crossing Yellow Line  The Times of Israel

IDF says West Bank troops kill 2 Palestinians who attacked them; footage raises questions  The Times of Israel

Israel-Gaza live updates: IDF launches series of strikes in south Lebanon  ABC News

IDF Publishes Footage From Interrogation Of Top Hezbollah Terrorist  i24NEWS

IDF establishes AI division in response to Oct. 7  The Jerusalem Post

Expanded $6.5B Arrow agreement with Germany now largest Israeli defense export deal  Breaking Defense

IDF rescues civilian abducted to Jericho area  JNS.org

Israeli Forces Massacre 6 Palestinians Celebrating Wedding at Gaza School Shelter  Common Dreams

Israel’s $2 Iron Beam Laser Could Disrupt Missile Warfare  The National Interest

Israel’s IDF Bans Android After Attacks—Secure Your Phone Now  Forbes

IDF says it nabbed suspected ISIS jihadist in southern Syria operation  The Times of Israel

IDF Nabs Islamic State Terror Suspect In Syria  i24NEWS

From Kenya to Israel: Asher Amir is joining the IDF, learning about Judaism  JNS.org

Israel detains suspected ISIS operative in southern Syria  The Jerusalem Post

US-led meeting on Gaza International Stabilization Force inconclusive, IDF reports 12 Gaza ceasefire violations from December 4 to 18  Long War Journal

Germany invests in Israel's Arrow defense system  The Jerusalem Post

Israel’s Elbit expects Greek PULS artillery deal  Breaking Defense

5 said killed in Gaza City strike; IDF says it’s investigating, regrets any civilian harm  The Times of Israel

IDF kills two terrorists who attempted attacks in West Bank  The Jerusalem Post

How onetime rising star Eli Zeira’s successive miscalculations cost his country and career  The Times of Israel

IDF reveals Shayetet 13 raid that foiled Hezbollah at sea  The Jerusalem Post

IDF ignored October 6 intel warning of Hamas attack the next morning – report  The Times of Israel

Israel's cabinet set to vote on Army Radio closure proposal  The Jerusalem Post

IDF says it nabbed suspected ISIS jihadist in southern Syria  The Times of Israel

German parliament approves $3.5 billion expansion of Arrow 3 deal with Israel  The Times of Israel

Israeli operations in Lebanon against Hezbollah: December 8–14, 2025  Long War Journal

IDF: Troops killed dozens of terrorists along Yellow Line in Gaza  JNS.org

No THAADs ’til 2027: Missile defense experts warn of interceptor ‘gap’  Breaking Defense

Germany to increase Arrow 3 interceptor and launcher deal with Israel  Defense News

Israel defense tech reshaping Greece security  The Jerusalem Post

How Israel's amateur radio operators used quiet diplomacy, saved lives on Oct. 7 - opinion  The Jerusalem Post

Iran’s Deadly Crackdown on Alleged Israeli Spies Intensifies  Modern Diplomacy

Before diplomacy begins, Israel moves on ground in Syria | Daily Sabah  Daily Sabah

Israel-Egypt: When gas is stronger than diplomacy  The Times of Israel

How Israel And U.S. Combined Secret Strikes And Diplomacy On Iran During Nuclear Talks  i24NEWS

Understanding Judea and Samaria: Historical, Strategic, and Political Dynamics in U.S.–Israel Relations  House.gov

Trump’s deal-making diplomacy and the limits of peace  defence24.com

Killing the ‘brain trust’: How Israel targeted Iran’s nuclear scientists  The Washington Post

International report - Turkey and Iran unite against Israel as regional power dynamics shift  RFI

Lebanon ‘far from’ diplomatic normalization with Israel, prime minister says  PBS

Zalman Shoval on the Staying Power of US-Israel Relations  The Jerusalem Strategic Tribune

Mike Huckabee: 'I hope there won’t be a war, Iran will come to its senses'  Ynetnews

Isolate Israel for the sake of peace  Jewish Voice for Liberation

Fixing Israel's reputation: A case for innovation diplomacy  The Jerusalem Post

A country that refuses to look in the mirror  The Times of Israel

Egypt: Gas Trade With Israel Is ‘Business, Not Politics’  Modern Diplomacy

FM Sa'ar: Israel Seeks Peace With Lebanon, Blames Hezbollah And Iran For Regional Conflicts  i24NEWS

Report: Netanyahu, Trump planned Iran strike far in advance, ran deception campaign  The Times of Israel

Can Diplomacy Disarm Hezbollah Before the Ceasefire Fails?  Modern Diplomacy

US, Saudi Arabia, And France Convene To Address Hezbollah Disarmament  i24NEWS

Delegitimization in Action: Turkey’s Diplomatic, Judicial and Public Diplomacy Campaign Against Israel  Moshe Dayan Center

Pompeo to i24NEWS: 'I think we should leave it to the Israeli people to sort out who should lead them'  i24NEWS

The U.S.-Saudi Reconfiguration Is Real and It No Longer Depends on Israel  War on the Rocks

Egypt: Gas deal with Israel is 'purely commercial'  The Jerusalem Post

Israeli officials to meet with Lebanese, US representives  The Jerusalem Post

Can the Gaza Ceasefire Hold? Stakes, Challenges, and Scenarios  Modern Diplomacy

US hosts forum in Qatar on international Gaza force, with Turkey left out  The Times of Israel

Israeli cabinet weighs new Gaza operation amid US diplomacy shift fears  Yeni Safak English

Israel And Bolivia Officially Restore Diplomatic Relations  i24NEWS

Bondi Beach Attack Puts Albanese Under Israeli and Domestic Pressure  Modern Diplomacy

Smotrich appears to say Israel will ‘certainly’ defeat Hamas before next elections  The Times of Israel

Iran suspected as influence op targets Arab community and Israel's crucial election nears  Haaretz

Arab Israelis push for political unity ahead of elections  The Jerusalem Post

Israeli elections 2026: Meet the parliament—MK Avichay Buaron  JNS.org

Zionist opposition bloc one seat short of a majority if elections held today – poll  The Times of Israel

'An Electoral Liability' | Majority of Young Republicans Oppose Aid to Israel, Poll Finds  Haaretz

Jeffrey Epstein Claimed to Have Meddled in Israel’s Elections  Jacobin

As elections loom, can Netanyahu balance Trump, Mohammed bin Salman, and his political future?  Atlantic Council

Israel’s opposition is plotting a return to power. But it remains its own worst enemy  +972 Magazine

Entering election year, Netanyahu’s government targets Israel’s free press  CNN

Poll: Netanyahu Coalition Would Gain Only 51 of 120 Seats in Case of Elections  Haaretz

Israel's 2026 budget may hold key to government's survival or new elections  Reuters

3 in 4 Republicans Under 45 Say They Prefer US Fund Health Care Over Israel  Truthout

Editorial: Israel’s Upcoming Elections  Washington Jewish Week

What will 2026 bring for the Middle East and North Africa?  Atlantic Council

Elections cannot be held in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, Zelensky says  The Times of Israel

Opposition unity is Israel’s path to defeating Benjamin Netanyahu  The Jerusalem Post

Don't Rule Us Out of anti-Netanyahu Coalition After Elections, Arab Political Leaders Say  Haaretz

The new political parties that could shape Israel’s next elections  The Times of Israel

Israeli elections: Likud gains seats in Poll, RZP falls  The Jerusalem Post

Sweeping victories and upsets mark Likud’s first internal elections in 14 years  The Times of Israel

Lapid: If Netanyahu wins the next election, ‘it will be the end of Zionism’  The Times of Israel

Netanyahu re-elected as Likud leader, set to run in Israel’s upcoming elections  Anadolu Ajansı

Israel’s Netanyahu plans to move up general elections to June 2026  Anadolu Ajansı

Six elections to watch in 2026  GZERO Media

Israel Two Years On: Politics After the Ceasefire  J Street

Israel 2026: The Next Elections  The Times of Israel

Israel: Netanyahu considering early election but can he convince people he’s winning the war?  The Conversation

Elections 2026: Israel at a Crossroads  The Times of Israel

PM Netanyahu Confirms He Will Run In Israel's 2026 Election  i24NEWS

Another infant dies from flu in Israel's North  The Jerusalem Post

RWJBarnabas Health Invests $2 Million to Launch The Bridge Project in NJ, Deliver Direct Cash Assistance to Low-Income Mothers  RWJBarnabas Health

Israel's Health Ministry Cancels Infant Mortality Prevention Program for Bedouin Community  Haaretz

3 in 4 Republicans Under 45 Say They Prefer US Fund Health Care Over Israel  Truthout

‘Stay indoors’: Health Ministry tells central town to shelter due to toxic waste fires  The Times of Israel

No essential supplies in truce: Gaza’s healthcare system broken by Israel  Al Jazeera

Press Release | Sep 15, 2025 — Israel’s Health Ministry Gives Top Marks to Hadassah’s Medical Center  Hadassah | The Women's Zionist Organization of America

How an American-Born Jewish Feminist and Zionist Helped Build Israel’s Healthcare System  Jewish Journal

Travel advice and advisories for Israel and Palestine  Travel.gc.ca

Gender-Affirming Care  Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Health system at breaking point as hostilities further intensify in Gaza, WHO warns  World Health Organization (WHO)

Bodies of 15 Palestinians returned by Israel, health officials in Gaza say  MPR News

Health Ministry tells at-risk Israelis to mask up amid flu  The Jerusalem Post

Over 60,000 Palestinians have died in the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza’s Health Ministry says  PBS

Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Hosts Its 13th Annual Ray Murphy Men’s Health Night  RWJBarnabas Health

Who are the 95 Palestinian healthcare workers held captive by Israel?  Al Jazeera

Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of New Jersey Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Partners in Progress  RWJBarnabas Health

Gaza’s medical students help health system decimated by Israel’s war  Al Jazeera

Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Hosts Its Annual Resident and Fellow Graduation at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center  RWJBarnabas Health

Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Hosts 11th Annual Women’s Health Day  RWJBarnabas Health

Strike on Hospital Highlights Israeli Attacks on Gaza Health System  The New York Times

More than 70,000 killed in Gaza since Israel offensive began, Hamas-run health ministry says  BBC

Gaza Health Ministry says more than 63,000 Palestinians killed as Israel-Hamas war drags on  PBS

The Joint Canada-Israel Health Research Program for Human Developmental Biology (Phase II)  fundsforNGOs

Lebanon: Israeli attacks on health facilities, ambulances and paramedics must be investigated as war crimes  Amnesty International

Israel faces ‘mental health tsunami’ after two years of war, report finds  Middle East Eye

Palestinian health authorities say Israel kills 44 waiting for aid as war death toll tops 56,000  PBS

Israel Sends Horrifying Health Report on Hostages to Red Cross  ONE FOR ISRAEL Ministry

Mental health in emergencies feature profile: Dr Israel Ying Ding, Mental Health Officer, WHO Office in Myanmar  World Health Organization (WHO)

Explainer: How many Palestinians has Israel's Gaza offensive killed?  Reuters

US backed Israel's Operation Narnia on Iran's scientists  The Jerusalem Post

Israel had assassinated Iranian scientists before, but always with deniability. In June, Israel’s hand came out of the shadows. It had become emboldened as it openly decimated Iranian proxies in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria. https://wapo.st/3KBdrab  facebook.com

Killing the ‘brain trust’: How Israel targeted Iran’s nuclear scientists  The Washington Post

The strange death of Nuno Loureiro  The Times of Israel

Israel investigating whether Iran was involved in murder of MIT nuclear prof Nuno Loureiro: report  nypost.com

Not a Hypothesis: Boycott Against Israeli Science Spreads 'Like a Virus' - Israel News  Haaretz

Iranian missile strike devastates two buildings at Israel’s Weizmann Institute  Science | AAAS

Iranian missile strikes Israel's ‘crown jewel of science'  NBC New York

‘Science is happening’: Israeli and Palestinian scientists continue collaborations amid conflict  Nature

Israel’s Symbol of Science Will ‘Build Back Better’ After Iranian Attack  Washington Jewish Week

Weizmann Institute missile strikes hits EU-funded research projects  Science|Business

2 new initiatives strengthen Harvard’s academic engagement with Israel  Harvard Gazette

Israeli scientists say artificial rock weathering can remove CO2 from atmosphere  The Times of Israel

Israel signs NASA deal, aims for woman in space  The Jerusalem Post

How we’re rebuilding the Weizmann Institute — and our hopes for a better future  Nature

Newly discovered RNA molecule could lead to new treatments in war against ‘superbugs’  The Times of Israel

Israel's science teams conclude olympiad season with record 26 medals  The Jerusalem Post

Israeli Science’s Historic Post-War Opportunity: Health Tech Valley  The Times of Israel

Hope Walks Again with Israeli Science  The Times of Israel

From heart tissue to DNA samples, Weizmann scientists mourn work vaporized in Iran attack  The Times of Israel

Bringing Israeli physicians and scientists back home  The Jerusalem Post

'We Were Targeted': Iran Put Israel's Scientific Research High on Their Kill List  Haaretz

When Science Meets Service: Israel Davila-Aleman Brings Faith to the Forefront of Research  BYU Life Sciences

Nonviolent Action, Militarism, and Israel-Palestine  War Prevention Initiative

2025 Laureates of the Prestigious Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in Israel Announced  The New York Academy of Sciences

European Commission Proposes Suspension of Israel From $110 Billion Science Research Program  Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Iran missiles severely damage Weizmann Institute labs, 'irreplaceable' samples destroyed  The Jerusalem Post

Belgian universities renew call to suspend Israel from Horizon Europe  Science|Business

EU-Israel tensions over Gaza risk country's scientific research, Israeli academics warn  Haaretz

Post-Attack Assessment of the First 12 Days of Israeli and U.S. Strikes on Iranian Nuclear Facilities  Institute For Science And International Security

While war takes toll on Israel tourism, faith-based travel adapts  Travel Weekly

Israel is seizing an ancient historical site to turn it into a tourist site  NPR

Along with Sudan, Iran and North Korea: why travel insurance for Israel is vanishing from US markets  Ynetnews

The fate of the Israeli tourism industry  The Jerusalem Post

Christmas festivities, tourism slowly returning to Israel after ceasefire  The Baptist Paper

Winds of war begin to calm, but tourists unlikely to rush back immediately  The Times of Israel

Travel advice and advisories for Israel and Palestine  Travel.gc.ca

Israel’s Tourism and Hospitality Outlook – From Recovery to Reinvention  Hospitality Net

War in Gaza Took a Big Toll on Israel Tourism: 'Where Are All the People?'  cbn.com

Filipinos reject Israeli tourism amid the Gaza genocide  Mondoweiss

Azerbaijan Enhances Its Tourism Profile in Israel as Trade Partnerships Deliver Sustained Growth  Travel And Tour World

This Is How Tourists to Israel Can Get Out of the Country  TravelAge West

Tourism in Israel suffers even after Iran ceasefire, long recovery ahead  The Jerusalem Post

US plans to order tourists, including from Israel, to disclose social media histories  The Times of Israel

Exploring Israel: What to Expect from Israel’s Expanding Tourism Sector  Travel And Tour World

‘The world is boring’: Nas Daily on Israel, tourism and why Asia beats Europe  Ynetnews

Airlines return as Israel tourism revives  The Jerusalem Post

Tourism Rebounds In Israel With Surge In Hotel Stays  Travel And Tour World

Israel prepares for 40,000 Christian pilgrims for Christmas  Ynetnews

Tourists return as Israelis head abroad, CBS data shows  The Jerusalem Post

Asian markets emerge as new tourism focus for Israel following major survey  Ynetnews

Israel Says it is ‘Open, Safe and Ready to Welcome Tourists’  Travel Market Report

Israel’s tourism industry remains on brink of collapse despite ceasefire, sector chief warns  Ynetnews

PR News | Targeted Victory Does Media Work for Israel Tourism - Wed., Sep. 3, 2025  O'Dwyer's PR

Israel's tourism push: UK flights resume, WTM showcased  The Jerusalem Post

Hungary Sees Record Growth in Israeli Tourism, With Rising Popularity Linked to Strong Support for Israel and Safe, Welcoming Environment  Travel And Tour World

‘They Know Where To Hit Us’: Houthi Threats Target Israel’s Tourism Lifeline  The Media Line

Israeli tourists, pro-Palestinian groups clash in Italy  The Jerusalem Post

Saudi Arabia, Peru, China, Israel, Greece, Italy Poised for Growth in Heritage Tourism with Focus on Educational and Pilgrimage Travel  Travel And Tour World

Airlines are returning, tourist sites are open – so is Israel now safe for a holiday?  The Telegraph

'Butcher’s Stain' lands Oscars shortlist as Israel shut out of international feature race  The Jerusalem Post

Nazareth’s classical Christmas concerts return home  The Times of Israel

Let's Be Honest: The Israeli Mainstream Simply Has No Patience for Arabs  Haaretz

Israel’s culture minister vows to defund ‘Israeli Oscars’ after film about Palestinian boy wins big  CNN

How an Oklahoma wedding taught its guests to care about Judaism  The Forward

How Israeli Football Culture Became a Weapon of Genocide  THE HIND RAJAB FOUNDATION

Our Community Shlichim  Jewish Federation of Greater Washington

Hollywood stars back boycott as Israel's minister targets film academy  NPR

Why was Gal Gadot Chosen to be the 2026 Laureate of the $1 Million Genesis Prize?  The Jerusalem Post

Israel’s culture minister threatens national film awards after Palestinian story takes top prize  The Guardian

Hamas Is Winning the Culture War  Tablet Magazine

Israel Says It Will Defund Film Awards After Palestinian Win  The New York Times

Israel’s “Culture of Cruelty” Inspires the Far Right Worldwide, Says Pankaj Mishra  The Intercept

Drama about Palestinian boy is Israel's Oscar entry amid Hollywood boycott of Israeli film institutions  Jewish Telegraphic Agency

German broadcaster backs Israel in Eurovision debate  France 24

Spurning Ophir Awards, government announces alternate film awards ‘to tell our story’  The Times of Israel

Israel’s isolation deepens as backlash and international sanctions mount  CNN

Israel's culture minister calls a Palestinian-Israeli film's Oscar a 'sad moment'  NPR

Efforts to punish Israel over Gaza war intensify in sports and cultural arenas  The Times of Israel

Government cuts off funding for Ophir awards after film about Palestinian boy wins  The Times of Israel

Israel decries Hollywood boycott — while silencing its own critical filmmakers  +972 Magazine

Israel threatens national film awards after Palestinian story wins top prize  BBC

Eurovision Song Contest changes voting rules for Israel  The Jerusalem Post

Music Showcase Festival brings showbiz to Israel, in spite of growing cultural boycott  The Times of Israel

From Eurovision boycott to import bans: Israel faces rising global condemnation  EL PAÍS English

Gov't says it will cut Film Academy funding after film 'depicting Israel negatively' wins  Haaretz

Secret Harvard archive preserves Israeli publications ‘in case Israel ceases to exist’: Report  Anadolu Ajansı

Efforts to punish Israel over Gaza grow in sports and cultural arenas  AP News

Israel freezes film awards funding after 'pro-Palestinian' movie wins top prize  TRT World

‘No Other Land’ Oscar Win a “Sad Moment,” Says Israel’s Culture Minister  The Hollywood Reporter

IOC says Indonesia has not met requested guarantees after denying visas to Israeli gymnasts, violating policy  Fox News

Challenge to Israel Police ban on Hapoel Tel Aviv fans  The Jerusalem Post

Spain's prime minister calls for Israel sports ban  ESPN

UEFA held meetings with pro-Palestinian campaign over possible Israel suspension after ceasefire - The Athletic  The New York Times

Hope and Rehabilitation Through Strength: How Sports Empower Israel’s Wounded Heroes  Combat Antisemitism Movement

Spanish minister calls for Israel to be banned from sport  Al Jazeera

International sports federations refuse to suspend Israel despite destruction of sports in Gaza and killing of hundreds of athletes  Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

Boycott Israeli Sports!  CODEPINK - Women for Peace

Israel is committing genocide. Why is it still welcome in global sports?  Sports Politika

Efforts to punish Israel over Gaza war intensify in sports and cultural arenas  The Times of Israel

Efforts to punish Israel over Gaza grow in sports and cultural arenas  AP News

Irish governing body overwhelmingly backs call for UEFA to ban Israel  Reuters

OPINION - Ban Israel from global sports now, before it is too late  Anadolu Ajansı

How Israeli Football Culture Became a Weapon of Genocide  THE HIND RAJAB FOUNDATION

Spanish PM calls for Israel to be barred from international sport  BBC

Emotional Beitar win and league chaos across Israel  The Jerusalem Post

Spanish PM calls for Israel’s ban from sporting events over Gaza genocide  Al Jazeera

Israel facing growing backlash from sports world over its genocide in Gaza  Anadolu Ajansı

Israelis face danger, risks in sport contests abroad  The Jerusalem Post

Turning Israel into a sporting pariah is misguided, harmful  The Jerusalem Post

Israel Olympic Committee appoints Adi Bichman CEO  The Jerusalem Post

Report: UEFA expected to vote to suspend Israel  ESPN

United Nations experts ask FIFA, UEFA to suspend Israel as 'necessary response' to conflict in Palestine  CBS Sports

US to fight efforts to ban Israel’s football team from World Cup 2026  Al Jazeera

How Norway vs Israel became football’s most controversial fixture - The Athletic  The New York Times

Israel Premier Tech barred from Italy cycling race  ESPN

All’s Fair in Love and Sport: Why Israel Is Not Russia  Honest Reporting

Court rejects Israeli gymnastics’ appeals to be included in world championships - The Athletic  The New York Times

This week in Israeli sports  JNS.org

Iran Calls on Spain to Lead Sports Boycott Against Israel  Algemeiner.com