Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Muslims massacre Christians at a church in Jordan? British-Palestinian scammer "scholar" blames the Jews!

2026-10-25T08:42:51.075-04:00

Three gunmen killed eight churchgoers an injured dozens more during a funeral at a church in Karak, Jordan on Friday.

The terrorists have not been caught, so the motives are not yet known, although ISIS and Al Qaeda have both been blamed for other attacks on Christians in the past couple of decades.

Bu one British Palestinian writer who regards himself as a particularly clear thinker knows who is really behind it.

Professor. Dr. Makram Khoury-Machool, himself a Christian, writes in Rai Al Youm about "The Karak Church Massacre and the Geopolitical Plot!"

As a son of the Arab nation (and one who chooses to intervene politically on selected topics), I observe what is happening from a distance that sometimes allows me to be close and sometimes keeps me far enough to remain clear-headed, using my cold scientific tools and presenting my analysis according to the occasion and the form of the piece....

As scholars of radical extremism, fanaticism, and terrorism, we do not need a “source” to supply us with “information” confirming the involvement of the intelligence services of a neighboring state (or more) in this savage attack that targeted Jordan as a whole. Even if such a source agreed with what we are saying, it would not announce it, so as not to open a diplomatic crisis.

It is true that the massacre directly targeted Arab Christian mourners, but it is broader than that and falls within the geopolitical scheme that aims to empty the Mashriq of its indigenous Eastern Arab Christian component, so that the criminal Netanyahu can more easily portray the conflict as a religious one between “civilized Judaism” and “backward and violent Islam.”

The massacre falls within a project aimed at destabilizing Jordan, as previously happened in Karak in 2016 when ISIS claimed an attack there.

Just as happened in Iraq and Syria over the past two decades, where Christians were killed and displaced according to a broader scheme—this applies to Jordan today. The massacre in Jordan is one of the drawers in the plunderous settlement schemes in Hebron Governorate.

A savage crime of this type cannot be committed without being part of a “Zionist-ISIS” project or a specific, broader external direction.

Who is this clown?

Well, besides describing himself as possessing amazing scientific tools, he also emphasizes on his X and LinkedIn profiles that he is a "PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL."

Anyone who needs to tell people that they are an intellectual is not confident enough in their writings to think that people would come to that conclusion themselves.

Of course, Khoury-Machool described October 7 as "heroic." And it only took him two days to describe Israel's response as "genocide."

Khoury-Machool is also the founder of the Cambridge Center for Palestine Studies. This gets really interesting.

The CCPS is not associated with Cambridge University. It was established in 2015 yet its webpage lists no papers, no research, no journal, nothing. Its list of activities is a list of things it plans to do, nothing that it did. It lists 28 "research clusters," all of which are empty. The entry for its "Library" says that researchers have (partial!) access to the library at Cambridge University.

However, it has a lot of boards! A Board of Patrons, Distinguished Diplomatic Board, Senior Academic Advisory Board, Academic Advisory Board, Senior Board of Practitioners, Board of Practitioners. Many prominent names there, including Richard Falk, Hanan Ashrawi and Joseph Massad.

So here's the scam: Khoury-Machool offers to these people a board set at the prestigious sounding Cambridge Center for Palestine Studies. They ask, what do they have to do? How often do they meet? What are their responsibilities? He answers, "Nothing at all! Just let me use your name and you can use the position title in your bio!"

Every once in a while the CPS organizes a lecture in a room at some university, and pretends that this means it is associated with the university. (By that logic, I am associated with Yeshiva University and Bar-Ilan University because I've given speeches at both places when students got me a room.)

In other words, this "public intellectual" is a scammer, raising funds for a research center that has done no published research in the decade of its existence.

I wonder how many other "research centers" are similar scams.

10/24 Links: Realignment and the Realities of the Middle East; Inside Israel, I see how little haters worldwide understand this election; Ireland, You're Not the Hero You Think You Are

2026-10-24T22:37:58.202-04:00

From Ian:

Realignment and the Realities of the Middle East

Most diplomats are judged by their ability to stay out of the news, but Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack made headlines this week. Speaking at the Global Security Forum in Doha, he said, "America as the guarantor to the world, for the last 80 years, it is no longer there." Accordingly, the United States is changing its posture in the Middle East. The old arrangement, under which Americans provided security for the region's oil exports, is being restructured. "What's happening in this administration is not an abandonment. It's a message for realignment."

Barrack did not announce a change in policy so much as describe a shift that many Americans have hoped would occur for decades. The U.S. military has enabled its regional allies to break Iran's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, but if the allies themselves could keep the Middle East relatively tranquil and allow the oil to flow freely, it would relieve a massive headache for Washington. Saudi Arabia's attempt to stop the Houthis from menacing its territory and the Red Sea shipping lanes shows how difficult this will be to accomplish without first defeating Iran.

The Doha remarks did not announce an immediate withdrawal, and the United States is still very active in the region: The military continues to protect ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, a third aircraft-carrier strike group and another Marine expeditionary unit are on their way there as rumors swirl of intense American and Israeli preparations for a post-midterm strike on the Islamic Republic.

American military might is upsetting Iran's strategy of impoverishing the world by bottling up the Gulf's resources. Thanks to the courage and skill of our service members, and the technical wizards who have found ways to bypass the Strait, more oil is leaving the Gulf now than before the war with Iran began. Gas prices remain high, but the extra output should help drive that down.

America's regional allies are still growing increasingly concerned about our steadfastness. It is not easy to draw a straight line between the foreign policies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden. And as the danger from Iran has grown, princes and presidents have tried to reduce the risk of abandonment. Trump is far more willing to confront Iran than any of his predecessors, but his successors will likely be more cautious, particularly if the political cost to this administration is high.

For most of the last decade, numerous allies have tried to tie themselves more closely to the American-led regional order. Most have sought firmer security guarantees. Last year, President Trump designated Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally and stated in an executive order that the United States would defend Qatar if it is attacked. Many of the Abraham Accords nations began coordinating more openly with Israel on defense issues.

The Netherlands confronts Israel while hiding from its own Jewish history

On September 22 the Netherlands began enforcing a decree that makes it a crime, punishable by up to six years in prison, to buy or sell Israeli goods produced beyond the 1967 armistice line. Customs officers at Schiphol Airport are reportedly searching luggage from Tel Aviv for wine and dates. The government says it is meeting its obligations under international law.

No Dutch decree threatens prison for a bottle of Turkish wine from occupied Northern Cyprus, Moroccan phosphate from Western Sahara, or a cotton shirt from Xinjiang. China, Turkey, Morocco, and many other governments with disputed territory can sell freely in Amsterdam. Of all the countries in the world, the Netherlands wrote a criminal statute for exactly one, and it is the Jewish state.

From most European countries that would be ordinary bias or hypocrisy. From the Netherlands, it is something else. To explain why, we are compelled to share our own families' experience in the country we grew up in, and about what Anne Frank's diary left out.

Many know the Dutch from cheese, herring and Anne Frank. Two of those are accurate. The diary gave the world an image of ordinary Dutch people risking everything to hide a Jewish family. That story is true, but as a portrait of the nation it is almost exactly backwards. The helpers were real, but they were rare. The diary turned these singular saviors into the whole country, and the Dutch were happy to let that be the narrative.

Here is the rest. The Dutch Nazi party had over 75,000 active members during World War 2, several times the few tens of thousands who ever joined the resistance. After the war, 425,000 Dutch individuals were accused of active collaboration with the Nazis, which is nearly 5% of the wartime population.

The machinery of persecution in the Netherlands was Dutch
The Germans did not even bother with a military administration. Unlike France or Belgium, the Netherlands got a civilian one, and the machinery of persecution was Dutch. The municipal registry handed over every Jewish address. Local police carried out the raids. The Amsterdam tram company drove Jews to the collection points and billed the occupier for the fare. In 1943, Dutch civilians formed a unit to collect a German bounty for every Jew in hiding they turned in. The Frank family was discovered, likely on a Dutch tip, and sent through that machinery to Westerbork and then east.

Of about 140,000 Jews in the Netherlands, roughly 102,000 were murdered, three in four, the highest rate in Western Europe. Dutch authorities often implemented the anti-Jewish orders with zeal. Fortunately for our families, that was not the whole population: thousands of Dutch citizens disobeyed their authorities and risked their lives for their Jewish neighbors. But they were the exception. Survivors, our grandparents among them, came home to find neighbors occupying their houses, and in 1946 the city sent them back tax bills covering the years they had spent in concentration camps. Amsterdam's tram company was still chasing the German government in 1947 for payment on its final deportation run. The Dutch government did not apologize for the treatment of its Jews until 2020.

None of this obliges the Dutch to admire Israel's government or policies towards the Palestinians, and we don't doubt that the images from the war in Gaza produced real revulsion. But something else happened underneath it. The Israeli psychoanalyst Zvi Rex once put it in a sentence: the Germans will never forgive the Jews for Auschwitz. If the Jewish state can be cast as the perpetrator of the age, then the descendants of the people it was built for are owed nothing, and the tax bills and the tram fares and the bounties are finally paid off. The Dutch found a way to liberate themselves from feeling guilty.

When NOS, the Dutch public broadcaster, began describing Israel's conduct as "genocidal violence," following a report about Gazan casualties that turned out to be incorrect, leaked emails published online showed the editor-in-chief applauding the decision and justifying it by the lack of complaint emails it received. True, there aren't many Dutch Jews left to write them.

Stephen Pollard: Inside Israel, I see how little haters worldwide understand this election

There is a contradiction at the heart of next week’s election in Israel.

It is, for sure, an election about Benjamin Netanyahu – about his past record and, even more, about where Israel would be be heading were he to remain as prime minister.

But those questions have very different meanings inside and outside Israel.

Outside – for almost the entire rest of the world – the issue of Netanyahu is the issue of the Gaza war, with the prime minister having become a canvas on which Israel-haters draw whatever they wish.

Accusations of genocide and war crimes are directed at Israel generally, but specifically they are thrown at Netanyahu as the exemplification of everything the Israel-haters allege.

In as much as they care about the election, the perception outside Is that it is test to see if Israelis generally are the monsters they allege, or if they have the basic decency to eject him.

I’ve spent the past week in Israel and it’s clear that the Bibi question inside Israel is very different.

For one thing, although there is a debate about the tactics and strategy of the Gaza war, there is no significant debate about the idea of it. Both left and right understand that. Of course they do: Israel itself was traumatised on October 7 – every part of it.

The idea that the Gaza war was an optional fight is not merely a luxury belief held only by those who have never had to fight to exist.

It’s a decadent view by those who want Israel – and Jews – wiped out.

There are of course huge debates about October 7 and its aftermath – not least how it could have happened, and Netanyahu’s refusal to permit a proper state inquiry.

Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Lieberman – anyone with even a faint hope of succeeding Bibi has made setting up such an inquiry their first promise.

But the real Bibi question inside Israel isn’t about Gaza, it’s about Israel.

Until the 7 October massacre, it was not uncommon to hear sane, sensible people talk of civil war, with the protests over the proposed judicial reforms symbolising the raging debate over the future direction of the country.

Israel came together after 7 October, but those divisions have not gone away.

Gil Hoffman: Would ousting Netanyahu cure Israel's chronic public relations failures?

AS I POINTED out in my new book, in a 60 Minutes interview five months ago, Netanyahu blamed antisemitism’s resurgence on “a concerted effort by several states to vilify Israel primarily on social media and the standard media, too, and we have not fought back yet.”

“We have not done well on the propaganda war,” Netanyahu said in the interview. “We have to fight back against these lies, this propaganda, with the only weapon we have, which is the truth.”

“I am trying to do that now, and we will try to do that with much greater effort, because we have left the battlefield to our enemies, and boy do they lie – all the time,” he continued.

If Netanyahu keeps that promise and devotes his next government to the narrative war that he himself admits his governments have not engaged in before, perhaps international perception of Israel will improve with him remaining in power.

But for that to happen, he would need to muzzle MKs in his political bloc, who were quoted in an Associated Press piece that ran in The Washington Post this week, titled: “In their own words: Israeli politicians’ extreme speech surges ahead of elections.”

The article features the number two candidate on the Religious Zionist Party and Zehut list, Moshe Feiglin, saying that Gazans “must be expelled by all possible means, such as cutting off their water, and whoever wants to drink a bottle will leave. Killing them all would be incredible.”

Otzma Yehudit’s Yitzhak Kroizer is quoted as saying, “In Jenin, there are no innocent civilians. In Jenin, there are no innocent children.”

And MK Amit Halevi from Netanyahu’s own Likud is quoted about produce from the West Bank, saying, “The bottom line is that the salad you are eating contains a great deal of Palestinian poison.”

The next Knesset could include MKs who care deeply about improving Israel’s public image. I purposely won’t single out a candidate four days before the election, but the forum on Israel’s relationship with the Diaspora hosted this week by the ANU museum (available on YouTube) gives hope.

Maybe too much of the world will hate us no matter who is in the Knesset.

At my election briefing at Shivtei Yisrael synagogue in Ra’anana this week, Australian Jewish leader Danny Lamm, who recently made aliyah, recalled how hard a time he had getting meetings with left-wing leaders for then-Labor Party leader Merav Michaeli when he brought her down under.

And maybe a relationship with the US president matters more than the rest of America.

Trump’s endorsement of Netanyahu was vigorous, and Gadi Eisenkot and his prospective foreign minister Yair Lapid admitted that they tried and failed to persuade the American administration to prevent the endorsement.

The beauty of democracy is that all voters get to decide this big question for themselves if it’s a factor for them when they cast their ballots.

No matter who wins, let’s hope that the polls about Israel and its leadership are better soon – in America and worldwide.

Fleur Hassan-Nahoum: Israel must stop fighting itself and start winning the information war

One of the main reasons I joined Ofer Winter and the People of Israel party is that Winter is the only general I have met who understands that the information battlefield operates alongside the kinetic battlefield – and that both are matters of national security.

The answer is not simply to spend more money. Resources distributed across disconnected bodies can generate activity without results. Israel needs a unified national framework that turns existing capabilities into a coordinated strategic force.

The People of Israel party proposes establishing a National Command for Strategic Narrative and Public Diplomacy, led by Yoseph Haddad. It would coordinate government bodies, communications professionals, technology experts, independent organizations, and international partners, while respecting institutional responsibilities and operational security.

Its mission would go beyond responding to controversies. It would monitor emerging narratives, anticipate information crises, develop proactive campaigns, mobilize credible international voices, and assess whether communications influence understanding and behavior.

The Foreign Ministry, Government Press Office and IDF Spokesperson’s Unit would remain essential. But they should form part of a broader national capability, rather than carry the burden alone.

The command must be led by experienced professionals chosen for expertise, judgment and results – not political loyalty. Public diplomacy needs its own generals: people who understand international media, audience psychology, digital platforms and narrative warfare.

International opinion affects Israel’s diplomatic relationships and its leaders’ freedom of action. Hostile narratives can spread faster than official corrections. Jewish communities and Israel’s supporters are left answering allegations without timely information or coordinated support. Meanwhile, internal disputes consume energy that should be directed toward those undermining Israel abroad.

The irony is painful. Israel has world-leading capabilities in intelligence, cybersecurity, technology and crisis response. It knows how to identify threats, assemble expertise and act urgently when the stakes demand it. The challenge is to apply that seriousness to the information battlefield – and recognize that no political office can own all the talent required to succeed.

The government must decide what it wants to protect: its monopoly over the national message, or Israel’s ability to defend itself in the world.

Israel cannot afford to turn the defense of its international standing into another arena for domestic political competition. The country’s resources and ingenuity should be directed outwards: countering hostile propaganda, strengthening alliances and making Israel’s case to the world.

The government’s responsibility is not to monopolize Israel’s voice. It is to ensure Israel has the strongest possible voice. Until that distinction is understood, we will keep fighting over who controls the effort while our adversaries exploit the vacuum.

The information war will not wait for our politics to catch up.

Report says Netanyahu ordered change to Israel’s position on Falklands; FM denies shift

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told Israeli diplomats to change Jerusalem’s official position over the Falkland Islands, the UK’s The Telegraph reported Saturday amid Israel’s deteriorating relations with the United Kingdom. The Israeli embassy in London denied the report.

According to The Telegraph, which cited anonymous sources, Netanyahu ordered Israeli diplomats to back Argentina’s call for direct talks with Britain over the territory.

Argentina, under President Javier Milei, one of Israel’s staunchest supporters, maintains its longstanding claim to sovereignty over the islands. The two countries fought a 1982 war over the islands.

The Telegraph reported that the shift stopped short, however, of formally endorsing Argentina’s sovereignty claim. The Falkland Islands are officially a British overseas territory, although Argentina claims that it, not the UK, has sovereignty over the islands, which it refers to as Islas Malvinas.

The paper reported the change came amid Israeli anger over British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband’s decision last month to impose economic sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

However, Alex Gandler, a spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Britain, denied the report. “I categorically deny this allegation. No such directive exists,” he wrote on X.

I categorically deny this allegation. No such directive exists. https://t.co/VI2T9u5T9f
— Alex Gandler (@AlexGandler) October 24, 2026

Ricochet Podcast: A Great Deal of Ruin Indeed

The great Douglas Murray, bestselling author of The Strange Death of Europe and On Democracies and Death Cults, joins James and Steve to discuss the mass immigration problem he's been sounding the alarm on for over a decade. As ever, Murray is unflinching in defense of civilization against the barbarous rioters and the myopic elites enabling them. Plus, James and Steve raise an eyebrow each at Ilhan Omar's uncertainty over an important detail about one of her marriages. The duo also talk about all kinds of food: fast, foreign, and regrettable.

travelingisrael.com: Ireland, You're Not the Hero You Think You Are

Ireland has become the most anti-Israel country in Europe. How did that happen?

Never forget three years ago OTD, these words by outgoing UN Secretary General @antonioguterres, just days after the Oct 7th massacre by Hamas, as the bodies were still being counted. An eternal and irredeemable shame on his legacy! https://t.co/icug6DV8ge
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) October 24, 2026

Has @UNRWA ever unreservedly condemned a Palestinian terror attack in Israel?
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) October 24, 2026

Staying neutral? Is that what you call abandoning Israeli hostages in Gaza, not a single one of which did you see in captivity? Eternal shame on you @ICRC!
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) October 24, 2026

The funny thing about this is, at least in Ireland, the complete opposite is true. The most extreme anti-Israel lunatics are rewarded with endless media time and get described as 'human rights activists'. Meanwhile, those who defend Israel are ostracized and bullied.
— ZZ Flop ✡️🇮🇪 (@ZzVvbbbbn) October 24, 2026

Francesca Albanese talking about the “Israelisation of our societies” then describing a normal State response to terrorism. Like Israel invented it or created it for nefarious reasons. This is a classic overlay of antisemitism onto the only Jewish State. https://t.co/HVL0vcA4yw
— Heidi Bachram (@HeidiBachram) October 24, 2026

Iranians scheming to assassinate US personnel, memo to Rubio warns

The Iranian regime has increased efforts to target U.S. officials in the Middle East and elsewhere, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton said in an unclassified memo sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday and obtained by Axios.

“The lethal plotting efforts by Iranians against U.S. citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries,” the memo reads.

The underlying intelligence concerning Tehran’s plotting has already been shared with senior U.S. State Department officials, according to the memo.

As the director of national intelligence, Clayton oversees 18 member agencies of the U.S. Intelligence Community and he serves as the primary intelligence adviser to the president.

Separately, CNN reported on Friday that the U.S. has rushed to reduce its staff in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.

A State Department official told the U.S. network that these countries “will see temporary changes to staffing levels under restricted operations.”

The departures of some diplomats and their family members are described in the report as “chaotic déjà vu” as many of them have only recently returned to their posts in the wake of their previous departures during the war with Iran earlier this year.

“This echoes the chaos families experienced earlier this year. Some had barely settled back in before being told to leave again,” Nikki Gamer, the spokesperson for the American Foreign Service Association, told CNN.

“They are understandably upset, confused, and angry,” she added.

U.S. officials are concerned that the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen could expand their attacks beyond Saudi Arabia to other states in the region, Axios reported.

Iran has begun threatening Israel again, with a map of targets in Israel accompanying the warning. Iran's Ebrahim Azizi cautioned that any move against the country's national security and interests would be met swiftly: "Be aware that in the event of any action against our national security and interests, the de-population of the occupied territories would take less than one hour."
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) October 24, 2026

Turkey opens trial of Netanyahu, 34 other Israelis over Gaza-bound Sumud flotilla interception

An Istanbul court on Friday opened the trial of 35 Israelis, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, over the Israeli Navy’s interception of the Gaza-bound Sumud flotilla.

Following the first hearing, the court ordered authorities to determine whether the defendants own assets in Turkey, upheld their arrest warrants, and called for consideration of legal proceedings against additional Israelis.

The hearing took place at Istanbul’s 11th Criminal Court, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.

Flotilla participants who had filed complaints against Israel attended, along with lawyers and representatives of Turkish organizations. None of the Israeli defendants were present.

The court directed authorities to check whether the 35 defendants own real estate or other property in Turkey. There were no reports that assets had been frozen or property seizure orders issued.

The court also upheld decisions related to requests for Interpol Red Notices. However, there is no confirmation that Interpol itself has issued such notices against the defendants.

The Israeli Navy held a joint drill with the Hellenic Navy in the Mediterranean this week, the military says, in an apparent message to Turkey. The drill involved Israeli missile boats and naval vessels from several Greek units, and was led by Israeli Navy chief Vice Adm. Eyal Harel and his counterpart, Vice Adm. Dimitrios-Eleftherios Kataras, along with the chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, Gen. Dimitrios Choupis. The IDF says the forces "practiced a variety of operational scenarios," during the drill, including "identifying and thwarting threats in the maritime domain, sailing as a joint force, and sinking an enemy vessel using missile fire." "The exercise constitutes another step in deepening operational cooperation between the Israeli Navy and the Hellenic Navy, with the aim of strengthening joint readiness and preserving freedom of action in the Mediterranean," the military says, adding that it also "marks a significant leap forward in naval military cooperation between the two countries." Harel, in remarks published by the IDF, says "the strategic partnership with Greece is a significant force multiplier, strengthening our ability to operate together, defensively and offensively, to safeguard security and freedom of navigation in the Mediterranean."
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 24, 2026

IDF, Shin Bet forcibly evacuate 2,000 Hebron Palestinians in response to deadly Hamas attack

IDF troops, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Border Police officers, and the Judea Regional Brigade forcibly evacuated 2,000 Hebron-area Palestinians and destroyed an unspecified number of structures in the vicinity over the weekend in response to Friday morning’s deadly Hamas terrorist attack.

St.-Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, from Ashkelon, and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, from Hod Hasharon, were killed in the attack, while three others were lightly wounded.

Two terrorists were killed during the confrontation, and the IDF said no additional terrorists were involved.

The attack took place at Judea Junction, where the two Hamas terrorists traveling in a car opened fire on four soldiers stationed at the junction. IDF sources estimated that the attackers had originally intended to continue past the junction and carry out a larger attack on the heavily trafficked Route 35 but opened fire after realizing they would be unable to proceed past the IDF control.

The forced evacuations from Hebron appear to be different from other recent incidents.

Although in early 2025, Israel cleared areas of Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur al-Shams in the West Bank, evacuating close to 40,000 Palestinians, those areas had experienced well-documented mass terror incidents dating back to early 2022.

The IDF carried out multiple temporary evacuations at that time and even sent in the Palestinian Authority to fight large and organized terror groups before undertaking the mass evacuation and destroying several structures in those areas.

In contrast, this time, the IDF provided little information about the offenses of the 2,000 evacuated Palestinians, other than to say that they were familially connected to the Hamas-linked Gaza clan.

🚨 PRICE TAG: 2,000 EVACUATED IN MASSIVE IDF OPERATION AROUND HEBRON IN REPONSE TO HAMAS TERROR Israeli security forces launched a major counterterrorism operation following Friday’s Hamas attack that killed two IDF soldiers. According to the IDF: ▪️ Around 2,000 Palestinians were evacuated from the area ▪️ Some 200 locations were searched ▪️ 10 suspects were arrested ▪️ Illegal structures obstructing security operations were demolished ▪️ Forces are searching for weapons and terrorist infrastructure throughout the area The operation involves the IDF, Shin Bet, Border Police and the Judea Regional Brigade. It follows Netanyahu’s order to place Hebron under cordon and significantly intensify counterterrorism operations across Judea and Samaria.
— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) October 24, 2026

According to the IDF, Palestinian workers will be barred from entering Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Jordan Valley on Sunday and Monday, except for industrial zones and a few approved areas. On Tuesday, October 27, the restrictions will extend to industrial zones, and all land crossings will close for Election Day.
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) October 24, 2026

They proudly claim to be Qahtanite, with origins in modern-day Yemen. https://t.co/5pnUjZ0chh
— Adin - عدین - עדין (@AdinHaykin1) October 23, 2026

Literally nothing in this tweet @DropSiteNews is an accurate articulation of international law - as usual. Though 4 misrepresentations of int'l law in a fairly short tweet is ... impressive. Let's set the record straight on all 4, shall we? 1. @CIJ_ICJ "ruled" in 2024 @Israel's continued presence in Hebron (located in Judea) is "unlawful." ❌️ False. The ICJ "ruling" in 2024 was an advisory opinion. Unlike ACTUAL "rulings" (decisions) in a contentious case when the parties have agreed to compulsory jurisdiction (ICJ Statute, art. 59), advisory OPINIONS are not legally binding on anyone or anything (same, art. 61). Characterizing advisory OPINIONS as "rulings" & treating them as authoritative is misleading and/or ignorant. For references, see pic 1. 2. Two @IDF troops were killed at an "illegal" checkpoint in Hebron. ❌️❌️ False. The claim that a checkpoint in Judea and Samaria is "illegal" relies in part on the ICJ "ruling" (see above) AND also in part on the assertion that 🇮🇱 "occupation" in "West Bank" is "illegal" in general. This is ALSO incorrect. I've covered this repeatedly here @X so I won't go into detail now (for but one previous analysis, see here: https://t.co/JHDmI3pllD). The short explanation is that the claim that 🇮🇱 remains an "Occupying Power" even after Disengagement in 2005 is based on a false claim from Yoram Dinstein dating to 2009 that "effective control" can, "to some degree, amount to REMOTE control" (pic 2). This assertion is inconsistent with historical OR current state practice examined IN Dinstein's study - yet the "remote control as effective control" construct remains still today the (false) basis for claiming 🇮🇱 is an "Occupying Power" even after Disengagement in 2005 - including in the ICJ "ruling" (advisory OPINION) from 2024. 3. Pursuant to #LOAC, "military personnel are generally legitimate targets, and attacking them is not in itself a war crime, unlike deliberately targeting civilians." ❌️❌️❌️ False - at least under these circumstances. I mean, this IS an accurate statement of int'l law ... BUT military personnel are ONLY legitimate targets for adversarial belligerents with combatant status. AND the terrorists that carried out this checkpoint attack do NOT have combatant status since they are civilians taking direct part in hostilities (DPH). There are conditions pursuant to which civilian DPH can achieve combatant privilege (Geneva Convention III, art. 4A2), but these conditions were not met here. Absent combatant privilege, the civilians DPH also do not have combatant immunity (GC III, art. 99). Without combatant status, ANY act of belligerency can be prosecuted as a violation of MUNICIPAL law (as opposed to international law) - even if it doesn't constitute a war crime pursuant to int'l law. So, these terrorists committed at least 2 counts of murder, among other crimes pursuant to "municipal" law. So yes, "military personnel are generally legitimate targets" - but not for civilians taking direct part in hostilities. There is no such thing as a "legitimate target" for civilians DPH, so this claim is ALSO false. See pic 3 for references. 4. "The act of armed resistance is 'criminal,' however, under Israeli military law, which Israel unlawfully imposes on Palestinians in the illegally occupied West Bank..." since "the UN General Assembly has repeatedly affirmed 'the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples' against 'foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle,' most notably in Resolution 37/43 in 1982." ❌️❌️❌️❌️ False. I mean, the second part IS true - @UN General Assembly HAS "repeatedly affirmed" the legitimacy of armed struggle against foreign occupation - including in UNGA Res 37/43 (1982), among others. BUT this doesn't make the first part true BECAUSE ... that's right. UN General Assembly doesn't have authority to establish binding provisions of international law simply by adopting resolutions. Pursuant to the UN Charter, UNGA has authority to "discuss" matters & "may make recommendations" to the Security Council. But that's it (for present purposes). So, the claim that "armed resistance" is ONLY "illegal" pursuant to Israeli military law, rather than international law, because the General Assembly has passed resolutions repeatedly affirming the legitimacy of armed struggle is ... false. UNGA Resolutions are the only relevant aspect of international law that have repeatedly so affirmed, yet the General Assembly doesn't have authority to established binding international law simply by adopting resolutions in the first place. That means armed struggle is NOT legitimate - pursuant to Israeli military law AND international law. Pretty impressive, actually - to cram 4 misrepresentations of international law into 1 fairly short tweet, as Drop Site "News" does here. In the end, it doesn't actually matter that "no civilians were reported killed in Friday's [terrorist] operation." The civilians taking direct part in hostilities - the terrorists - involved in this "operation" committed murder. And no amount of distorting international law can change that fact. So, let this serve as a periodic reminder that Drop Site "News" is not a "news" outlet at all. At its core, it is little more than a fountain constantly spewing anti-Israel propaganda. And whether it's a media outlet or "human rights" activist or social media troll claiming Palestinians (or any other group, for that matter) have a legitimate "right" to "armed resistance" against an "illegal" "occupier" like 🇮🇱, all they're doing is attempting to justify political violence. And as we've seen EXPLICITLY in public discourse at least since 10/7, the attempt to justify political violence isn't limited to "occupied" Palestinian territories. In the name of "solidarity" & driven by rampant #legaldisinformation such as this tweet from Drop Site "News", these pro-Palestinian "activists" & propagandists increasingly seek to justify political violence at home as well. In doing so, they're simply putting a Western face on Middle Eastern terrorist propaganda. And few do so more brazenly than Drop Site "News". #TheMoreYouKnow #TruthMatters
— Dr. Brian L. Cox (@BrianCox_RLTW) October 24, 2026

What he is drawing attention to is an important point. If one cheers on a conflict then one shouldn't be surprised by it, or the ramifications. There has long been this bizarre lack of awareness among the extremist pro-Palestinian types, that some of them both support the conflict, but then also are surprised by the horrors it unleashes. It never makes sense. Anyone can see that when war begins, or when attacks happen, that there is going to be blowback. Some people rationalize and excuse the attacks by describing the attacks themselves as blowback, as in "right to resist." One can preach all they want about "right to resist" but anyone who studies war will note that just because one can define all sorts of theoretical concepts about the "right" to do something...doesn't mean that it will turn out right. There's a whole fan club of the October 7 attack claiming it is also some "right" to attack and massacre people. Not only is there no such "right"...but even if one could define one...why would they want to unleash a massive war? Even if one can justify war...historically the moral and good people sought to avoid war up until they had no choice. Consider the UK or US before WWII...they sought to avoid war...which is admirable. Let's say one can go back to Thursday evening, when these guys in Hebron were planning their attack, and one could say not to do it. All the theories in the world about their "right" to attack...can go out the window...because it's obvious what the response is going to be. The problem with the cheerleaders, is that they don't weigh the repercussions...they don't see the attack as a preventable tragedy. They too often want "resistance"... It's macabre. No matter how much one might view a cause as just...the good people have always sought to avoid war and cycles of violence. The bad people are there cheering it on. Choose the side of good.
— Seth Frantzman (@sfrantzman) October 24, 2026

This is the person @washingtonpost, @CNN, @IChotiner and others have been using as a source for the settler violence propaganda campaign, to be clear. Here he is describing the murder of two Israelis as a “surgical strike” that is “fully in accordance with international law.” The antizionist-captured media continues its nose-dive into irrelevance and self-delegitimization.
— Adam Louis-Klein (@adam_louis52328) October 24, 2026

If the Israelis armed with M16s wanted to kill you, No retarded Palestinian stone-throwing would have stopped them. They didn’t want to kill you—that’s why you’re alive. The Palestinians threw stones because they’re retards who get free cover by you.
— Adin - عدین - עדין (@AdinHaykin1) October 24, 2026

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗮𝗯 “𝗢𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁” 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮 A handful of Arab olive pickers with half a bucket of olives, dozens of foreign photographers and far left activists facing a single Jewish farmer. 𝗝𝗦𝗥 𝗦𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝗺
— JSR - The Judea & Samaria Situation Room (@JSR_EN) October 24, 2026

I've now catalogued 5,300 confirmed Gaza combatants killed by name, mostly from Hamas & PIJ's own martyr notices, and closing in on 6,000. Analysis & results in process. The evidence documents systematic military use of hospitals, schools, etc. and other human shield practices. https://t.co/YUYflUl0CF
— Aizenberg (@Aizenberg55) October 24, 2026

Police find Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ in home of suspect in deadly shooting near Paris

Police found a copy of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” at the home of the man suspected of a gun attack in the Paris suburbs that killed one person and wounded five, a source close to the investigation told AFP on Saturday.

The source also reported the presence of a Bible and a Quran in the apartment of the 39-year-old suspect, partly identified as Kevin T., in the town of Plaisir outside Paris.

He was arrested Friday in possession of a submachine gun and tear-gas grenades in his car, after the victims were shot as a vehicle drove through the working-class town of Trappes and neighboring La Verriere.

One of those wounded was a 12-year-old girl who was hit by bullets eight times. She is in critical condition, authorities said.

French anti-terror investigators said earlier Saturday they had extended his detention.

President Emmanuel Macron branded the shooting a “racist terrorist attack,” as most of the victims were from foreign backgrounds. Illustrative: A German edition of Adolf Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ (‘My Struggle’) on display at the Institute for Contemporary History in Munich, December 11, 2015. (Matthias Balk/dpa via AP, File)

The victim was identified as Pengo Bossio Wangi, a 26-year-old of African origin who was an up-and-coming mixed martial arts fighter.

Hundreds of people rallied Saturday at the spot where he was killed, brandishing placards that called for “justice” and holding a minute of silence in his memory.

“It could have been anyone. He opened fire on blacks, Arabs. He knew the majority of the population here in Trappes is Muslim,” a local shopkeeper of North African origin told AFP.

Macron says that today’s shooting in Trappes was aimed at migrants and the first terror attack in French history against a group of people targeted because of their skin and religion. He is naturally lying as there have been several such Islamist attacks in France in recent years which were carried out against Jews or Christians. - 2012, Mohammed Merah attacks a Jewish school in Toulouse and murders a rabbi and 3 kids - 2015, Amedy Coulibaly murders 4 Jews at the Hypercacher kosher supermarket in Paris - 2016, Adel Kermiche and Abdel Malik Petitjean storm a church in Normandy and murder the 85-year-old priest Jacques Hamel, by slitting his throat, and also critically wound an 86-year-old man. 2020, Brahim Aouissaoui storms a Catholic basilica in Nice and stabs 3 people to death. Macron stated today: “What happened today is a turning point. It is the first time there has been a terrorist act planned to kill our compatriots, our children, because of the color of their skin or their religion”
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 23, 2026

Myriam Monsonego was murdered by Mohammed Mereh for simply being Jewish in France. https://t.co/1DCkXIlmUy
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) October 24, 2026

@visegrad24 Here is the map of Islamist terrorist attacks since 2012—something Macron has apparently forgotten. https://t.co/LC8QSRnYYh
— Parisis 🕊️ (@melleparisis) October 23, 2026

According to the FBI affidavit, Brinksman held a TS/SCI clearance and allegedly accessed FIVE classified intelligence reports outside the scope of his duties. Investigators tracked more than 800 calls or attempted calls between him and his romantic partner in 2026. Five Substack articles allegedly contained classified information corresponding to the reports.
— Kaelan Deese (@KaelanDC) October 24, 2026

Hey @ryangrim any pieces you can help fill in here? https://t.co/ujAiJ2beJ5
— Kaelan Deese (@KaelanDC) October 24, 2026

Yes, the CIA did secretly fund the American Friends of the Middle East (AFME), a pro-Arab anti-Zionist group founded in 1951 by CIA officer Kermit Roosevelt (with Aramco support). It aimed to counter pro-Israel influence and was exposed by Ramparts in 1967. Historians like Hugh Wilford document this, plus coordination with the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism. State Department Arabists shared similar views and worked with such groups in the late 1940s, though direct State funding is less clear.
— Grok (@grok) October 24, 2026

25 years later and all y’all still haven’t learned a damn thing, huh?
— Jake Donnelly (@RedWhiteBlueJew) October 24, 2026

Ex-Panorama producer accuses BBC of pro-Palestine bias

A former senior producer on Panorama has accused the BBC of bias in its coverage of the conflict in Gaza.

Phil Craig, who spent two decades working for the corporation, claimed a “new, more radical generation” had taken over the broadcaster.

The veteran producer, who was later chief creative officer of Discovery Networks International and head of factual for the Australian broadcaster ABC, warned that output from the BBC was being “insufficiently policed”.

Speaking at the Battle of Ideas festival last Saturday, he said: “I’m afraid as I saw what played out in Gaza, my career-long faith in the BBC, just ebbed away. In its fairness and objectivity.” The ‘outrageous’ hospital moment

Mr Craig, who was recruited by the BBC from Cambridge University, where he read history, added: “Of course, news makes mistakes. We all know news coverage, it can be faulted. There are wars, people spin them, both sides spin, and there’s propaganda.

“But all the mistakes in this particular war seem to be in the same direction. Mistakes of hiring people with incredibly partisan views or maybe even hiring people who were actually part of Hamas. The most outrageous of all, the October hospital moment.”

Mr Craig was referring to the criticism the BBC faced for its coverage of the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, when a correspondent speculated on air that an Israeli air strike was probably to blame. Western intelligence agencies later concluded that a misfired Hamas rocket was to blame.

He said: “It really worried me. I suspect the thing that caused all this is group think. It’s a new generation, perhaps, a new, more radical generation, young people, activists, people insufficiently policed, insufficiently guided, old principles not being enforced in the way they have been on us.”

Recalling his production company’s work on a documentary for the broadcaster in 1998, titled The Fifty Years War: Israel and the Arabs, Mr Craig said they had been held to “super high standards” of balance and fairness.

He later told The Telegraph he had watched the BBC’s coverage of the alleged hospital strike with “mounting alarm and dismay, and noted how it helped fan fires all around the world, including literal fires at synagogues”.

He added: “Anyone who has ever worked for the corporation’s news operation knows its global influence, and in this case it was deployed in entirely the wrong way.”

A former senior producer on Panorama has accused the BBC of bias in its coverage of the conflict in Gaza. Phil Craig, who spent two decades working for the corporation, claimed a “new, more radical generation” had taken over the broadcaster. 🔗 https://t.co/OLEm3G2tDK https://t.co/RCiTrym2Pr
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) October 24, 2026

Two Palestinian terrorists opened fire on Israelis. Meanwhile, Canada's state broadcaster. https://t.co/xMIBYXtAVl
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) October 24, 2026

FBI Raided Home of El-Sayed's Mother, Senate Candidate's Sister Wrote in Unearthed Article

The FBI raided the home of the left-wing Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed's mother in the early 2000s, likely in connection with a terror financing case that shut down the Islamic charity she worked for, according to El-Sayed's sister, Eman Abdelhadi.

Abdelhadi, a University of Chicago professor and the daughter of El-Sayed's Egyptian-born mother, Fatten Elkomy, referenced the raid in a June 2016 article detailing her experience at a New York City vigil for the Pulse nightclub shooting. Elkomy took issue with a line from one of the vigil's speakers, then-New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who promised to "do what we did after 9/11" and "build back a monument better than ever before."

"I flashed back to memories of the FBI raiding mosques, homes—including my own—and Muslim charity organizations," Abdelhadi wrote. "If the crowd remembered how the state had imprisoned thousands of Muslims after 9/11, it certainly did not show it or did not care."

Abdelhadi did not elaborate on the raid in the article. She did, however, further detail her experiences with the FBI in an August 2024 piece in Zeteo headlined, "I Tweeted Chicago Protesters Were 'Ready' for Harris. Then, I Got the Call From the FBI."

"As a Muslim, I am no stranger to FBI surveillance," Abdelhadi wrote. "When I was a teenager, my mother worked for an Islamic philanthropic organization that delivered humanitarian aid to orphans and refugees worldwide. It was one of at least nine muslim philanthropic groups closed by the FBI in the early 2000s."

"Between work, school, and mothering was the FBI," she continued. "I remember watching her comb through our house, our books, our CDs, our cassette tapes for anything that might be misinterpreted if our house got raided," Abdelhadi wrote of her mother, who is also El-Sayed’s mother. "She fielded calls from the FBI every once in a while. I can picture her face after those calls, terrified but defiant. We learned to whisper even in our homes, to be careful what we said over the telephone."

Abdelhadi was describing the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA), where her mother, Elkomy, worked from 1999 through at least 2004, when the nonprofit was shut down after the Treasury Department designated its "worldwide network" for funding terrorism, including the precursor organization of al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and Hamas. The FBI raided the IARA's Columbia, Mo., office, where Elkomy worked, on Oct. 14, 2004, according to a Columbia Daily Tribune article, which notes that "federal agents interviewed Elkomy, 44, for about three hours yesterday. 'All the conversation was trying to find how we do work and how I do work,'" Abdelhadi told the paper.

It's unclear exactly when the FBI raided Elkomy's home, but the raid was likely in connection with the investigation into IARA. The FBI and the Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.

Niraj Warikoo is a writer for the Detroit Free Press (@freep). Just a few clarifications @nwarikoo: - the U.S. has declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terror organization - examples of Sharia law punishments (hudud) include public stoning, amputations of limbs, and execution for homosexuality We think it's safe to say - BAD. Where did you find this guy @DetroitReporter?
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) October 25, 2026

Tucker Carlson tells George Galloway that Trump didn't go to war in Iran because he liked Netanyahu; he actually was just threatened into it from the Butler assassination attempt. “The question is… what was the means of controlling Trump?" “You should take a close look at who shot Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania and why." "I have no proof," he adds. "What wouldn't people do?" After Butler, he says, Trump's cabinet filled up with "Israel shills" "doing the bidding of a foreign power." "I believe there's a connection there." Off the deep end.
— Max 📟 (@MaxNordau) October 23, 2026

The Daily Groyper's editors and official X account are furious about my investigation exposing the outlet's transformation into a relevance-starved husk desperately prostituting its remaining credibility for the approval of Nick Fuentes's fan club https://t.co/9P86vcXTNi
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) October 24, 2026

The Hill just published an op-ed defending Qatar without divulging that its author, William Bennett, is a registered foreign agent of Doha. This should be illegal, with serious consequences for the outlets, agents, and foreign principals that fail to disclose this https://t.co/NkP8Bmcx2y
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) October 24, 2026

As a reminder, Rima was on the Freedom Flotilla last year and claimed that October 7 was a justified action on behalf of all Palestinians. https://t.co/gsc6Qcr6ja
— Claire (@Claire_V0ltaire) October 20, 2026

I was shopping in Brighton and antizionists tried to stop me buying Israeli goods from Waitrose. They said I’d be “racist” to buy them. I asked if it was xenophobic to boycott a whole nation. They had no answers. So I bought LOADS of Israeli products and they were NOT happy. https://t.co/LohsFNCcDM
— Heidi Bachram (@HeidiBachram) October 24, 2026

I've heard a lot of insane ramblings in my time, but I think this one takes the cake for being the worst. You almost think he has something as he talks about how child labor being used to mine the materials used to build IPhones but then he says Apple is complicit in the "Palestinian Holocaust" because... they've donated to the ADL? An American organization that fights antisemitism? I mean, I guess I'm thinking about it too logically. "Surely he has a better argument than that." But he doesn't. Of course he doesn't. Because it isn't a Holocaust. 93% of Poland Jews were systemically slaughtered in the Holocaust, meanwhile the population in Gaza has grown since 2023, that’s not a Holocaust it’s a war. And yes, it is still tragic and horrible but if we're going to give words specific meanings then we can't go calling something by the wrong name. He probably couldn't care less about the child labor anyways, he just needed more stuff to throw at Apple because he has nothing.
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 24, 2026

Yawn 🥱 The fatigue is real with these dregs of society, drugged up misfits.
— Hey Boo Boo🗣🇺🇸 (@HeyBooBoo16) October 25, 2026

AIG Ireland has stated that John Gillick its Marketing & Sponsorship executive is no longer employed by the company. Aprox 9 weeks ago it emerged that he posted on X under the pseudonym Johnny G @JohnnyGpops Vile antisemitic content on his account he alleged resulted from a hack that was being investigated by the Gardai. Content on his account, in addition to antisemitic abuse, included support for the campaign to intimidate the GAA into ending its Allianz sponsorship, a direct competitor of AIG, and an assertion of his intention to drop AIG advertising from Newstalk in retaliation for it promoting on X an interview on antisemitism. Clarity is still required on the following:- Why is Gillick no longer employed by AIG? Was his contract terminated or was his departure negotiated? Has it yet been established that the hack allegation was true or false? Have the Gardai completed their investigation and what, if any, was the outcome? Was X asked to assist in identifying was there a hack and did X co- operate & provide clarity? Has AIG apologised to Allianz? Was Newstalks AIG advertising ended? Why has AIG Ireland issued no further public statement & does it intend to issue an apology to the Jewish community?
— Alan Shatter (@Alan__Shatter) October 23, 2026

Indeed, how can this not be a worry! Story by @suzangiuliani in @dailytelegraph on alleged terrorism financing involving a Western Sydney charity worker. https://t.co/U2piSbSfeM
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) October 24, 2026

Please report him to @EssexPoliceUK / @TerrorismPolice https://t.co/D8pxSOHepD
— GnasherJew®גנאשר (@GnasherJew) October 24, 2026

More here on Cedric Knight: https://t.co/TlzbaEzKYl https://t.co/nOn28frCUm
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) October 24, 2026

The amount of food and luxury in Gaza these days is simply unbelievable. Thailandy Gaza, this week. https://t.co/U3MhoD124R
— GAZAWOOD - The Pallywood Saga - Official (@GAZAWOOD2) October 24, 2026

Hungary’s abandoned synagogues are finding new life — and attracting new congregants

While the Hungarian Jewish community was celebrating the reopening of its 100-year-old Rákospalota Synagogue last month, a local woman approached Rabbi Shlomo Köves.

“She saw the crowd around the synagogue and came over to me and said, ‘I don’t know what’s going on here, but can I join?'” recalled Köves, the head of EMIH, a Hungarian Jewish organization affiliated with the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. “I brought her inside, and then she told me she’s Jewish. It turns out she lives there with her children, and she hadn’t been to synagogue before. Now, she comes every Friday night.”

That story reflects the mission of Köves, whose organization says it has helped reopen eight synagogues in Hungary over the past 15 years.

During Synagogue Week in September, an annual Budapest festival held around the High Holidays, two historic synagogues were rededicated after being stripped of their sacred functions for decades.

The massive Rákospalota Synagogue, designed in neoclassical and Art Deco styles, was reconsecrated after being used as a National Library storage warehouse for 60 years. A second synagogue, dating back to 1870, was reopened as a prayer center exclusively for Jewish teens.

“There are many old synagogues around Hungary, including many that still look like shuls from the outside,” Köves told The Times of Israel on a video call. “We have a historical responsibility to reclaim them. Most of the Jews here don’t have an active affiliation to religion, but this is what connects them to their roots.” Rabbi Shlomó Köves at the reopening of the Rákospalota Synagogue in Budapest, September 17, 2026 (EMIH) A community shattered by the Holocaust

Before World War II, Budapest was home to more than 200,000 Jews, who comprised roughly a quarter of the city’s population. It was a wealthy and culturally active community that financed the building of dozens of grand and ambitious synagogues in neighborhoods across the city, some of the finest in Europe, Köves said.

But about half of the city’s Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, and the communist regime that took hold after the war further weakened religious life. From 1948, the state nationalized some synagogue buildings and bought others from Jewish communities for “symbolic” prices, Köves said. Houses of worship were transformed into studios, warehouses and other public facilities, even as many still looked like synagogues from the street.

Under communism, Jewish citizens hid their Jewish identities, often from their own children, and assimilation was widespread. Even today, at a Jewish high school associated with his organization, fewer than 5% of students have two Jewish parents, Köves said. Tales of people discovering a hidden Jewish background through a parent or grandparent are common. Shoes on the Danube, a Holocaust memorial to victims of the Arrow Cross who were shot on the bank of the river Danube in Budapest during the Holocaust. (Flickr/Neil)

Demographers disagree about how many Jews live in Hungary today, with estimates ranging from 45,000 to as high as 120,000, depending in part on differing definitions of Jewish ancestry. The vast majority, as much as 95%, live in Budapest, with a small community in the country’s second-largest city, Debrecen, bolstered by about 400 Israeli students studying at the university there, Köves said.

“What’s unique about the Jewish community here is that it’s one of the few places in Europe with deep roots in the country,” said Köves, who tracks his family’s history in Hungary back 250 years. “That is to say, most of the Jews in France are from North Africa, and most of the Jews in Germany immigrated from Soviet states, but this is a population that has remained here for more than two centuries.”

Less than a day after stabbing attack, Chabad man returns to wrapping tefillin in Manhattan

Less than 24 hours after he was stabbed in midtown Manhattan, Yosef, a Chabad-Lubavitch man from Crown Heights, was back on the same street where he’d been assaulted, popping into Diamond District businesses as usual to help employees wrap tefillin.

Yosef, 26, who did not share his last name to maintain his privacy, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he was back on 47th Street on Thursday afternoon, the day after the stabbing, without missing a beat in his Monday-through-Thursday rounds even as police investigate the incident as a possible hate crime.

A number of the people he visited pieced together that the widely circulated footage of a man being stabbed the previous night was of him.

“They were in shock. They were obviously scared for me,” said Yosef, who has been wrapping tefillin and distributing Shabbat candles to Jewish Diamond District employees for about three years. He started that routine when his father, a Chabad Jew who works in the jewelry business, realized he needed his son’s help to handle the demand for those acts. Yosef told Chabad.org that he was “still shaken” by the attack a day later.

'We can't allow hate to stop us,' Yosef urges
Still, he told JTA, “We can’t allow some hate to stop us.”

Yosef said he felt it was important to communicate that message because “we need more mitzvahs in the world, we need more light in the world.”

Yosef was taken to Bellevue Hospital on Wednesday evening around 6 p.m., where medical staff assessed that he had no internal bleeding and would not need stitches. No arrests have been made, but the assailant has been described as a woman in her 40s.

The attack has renewed concerns about security that have faced Chabad adherents and institutions, which often host public events and maintain a visible street presence. But the threat didn’t diminish their presence in midtown Manhattan on Friday.

Multiple Chabad men stood under a bright yellow tent on the sidewalk wrapping tefillin for a steady stream of workers in the heavily Jewish Diamond District.

“The Rebbe says that the way to defeat darkness is only through the addition of light,” said Shmuel Cohen, who was handing out small photographs of the movement’s late leader, the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

Cohen told JTA that he had not heard about the attack that took place just down the block two days earlier, though his partner under the sidewalk tent had. Cohen said that the best way to respond is through “the observance of Torah and mitzvot without being ashamed of our Judaism but presenting it to everyone.”

‘Nobody Wants This’ creator disagrees with star Adam Brody’s ‘genocide’ comments

As Netflix comedy “Nobody Wants This” returns for a third season, creator Erin Foster has responded to comments from one of the show’s stars, Adam Brody, about the Israel-Hamas conflict, saying she disagrees with his claims that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

In a recent interview with GQ, Brody was asked about the conflict and said, “Put me down as thinking it’s a genocide. Put me down as wanting a free Palestine. It’s awful that it’s taken so much death and misery, but it does feel like it’s reaching a breaking point that it should have a while ago. I’m hopeful that another administration can really do some good and correct some of these policies that are helping that situation be as awful as it is.”

Brody, a Jewish actor, plays a rabbi in the Netflix series.

He did not specify what he meant by “another administration.” Israel’s closely fought election will take place on October 27. US midterm elections will take place a week later, with the Democratic Party expected to make gains in the US Congress. US President Donald Trump’s term ends in early 2029.

According to reports by Variety and Deadline, Foster addressed the issue on an upcoming episode of the “Not Skinny but Not Fat” podcast, saying, “I disagree with him, and that’s OK.”

“You know, it’s complicated,” Foster said of Brody’s comments. “I think our work environment, our set, is very similar to dinner tables around the world where people are having debate and discussion and disagreeing. And, you know, while I love Adam, I also disagree with him, and that’s OK.”

Israel has strongly rejected accusations that it committed genocide in Gaza, saying it is fighting against a terror group deeply entrenched within the enclave and operating from within residential areas, hospitals, schools and mosques. It says it makes significant efforts to minimize harm to civilians.

Foster grew up Christian and converted to Reform Judaism in 2019 before marrying her husband, Simon Tikhman, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants.

The hit Netflix series is loosely inspired by her own life experience with Tikhman, a record label owner.

Foster reportedly said in the podcast that the show is a “love letter to Judaism.”

“It’s because of how beautiful of an experience I’ve had becoming Jewish and being a Jewish person. And sitting here right now, at this time in the world when there is almost zero positive representation of Jewish people, I think it’s so important to have that.”

“I want our Jewish fans to know that I see you” After Adam Brody said he supported a "Free Palestine”, the creator of the show, Erin Foster, has spoken out in disagreement. “The show has always been and always will be a love letter to Judaism" While Adam Brody chooses to recite the catchphrase of a movement that has no regard for Jewish or Palestinian lives, Foster understands the importance of recognizing a people who are constantly being targeted by this movement. Brody followed the trend. Foster followed her conscience. Credit: Not Skinny But Not Fat
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 23, 2026

Three years ago today, Israeli hostages Nurit Cooper (then 79) and Yocheved Lifshitz (then 85) were released after being held hostage in Gaza for 17 days. Hamas could have released ALL the hostages stolen on October 7 immediately and unconditionally. They refused to do so. Both Nurit and Yocheved's husbands, Amiram Cooper (85) and Oded Lifshitz (83), were also kidnapped from their homes on October 7, 2023. Both of them were murdered in captivity. May their memories be a blessing. 🕯️
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) October 24, 2026

10/23 Links Pt2: Obama’s Belfast speech was a shameful, distorted rewrite of Israel's history; Douglas Murray: France is a warning – our civilisation is not immortal

2026-10-23T22:59:10.371-04:00

From Ian:

Barack Obama’s Belfast speech was a shameful, distorted rewrite of Israel's history

Never mind 3,000 years of Jewish history, two Temples in Jerusalem, or centuries of Jewish longing for Zion. In Obama’s telling, the Jews somehow became interlopers in their own land.
MORE DISTURBING still was Obama’s treatment of Palestinian violence.

Speaking about Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, Obama declared that “you could not have designed something that was less likely to produce meaningful change.”

Think about that.

When terrorists murder approximately 1,200 people and kidnap 251, the principal issue is not whether their actions will produce meaningful political change. It is that they committed an act of unimaginable barbarity.

By discussing the massacre in terms of its political effectiveness, Obama risks reducing a moral atrocity to a tactical mistake. Would the slaughter have been any less reprehensible had Hamas managed to advance its political objectives?

Indeed, no political claim, no matter how loudly asserted, confers a license to murder families in their homes or drag hostages into Gaza.

And terrorism did not begin with Israel’s founding, let alone the 1967 war. In 1929, Arab rioters murdered 67 Jews in Hebron, destroying an ancient Jewish community nearly two decades before independence.

WHAT OBAMA did in Belfast was more than distort Israel’s history. He turned the descendants of ancient Israel into trespassers in their own homeland, while treating the massacre of Jews as a failed political strategy.

Obama is, of course, entitled to his own opinions. But he is not entitled to his own version of history.

The Jewish people lived in the Land of Israel long before Barack Obama entered the world stage. And they will still be there long after his shameful revisionism has been forgotten.

The Fraud Squad By Abe Greenwald

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There’s a whole lot more to the curious case of Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a.k.a. Ilhan Abdullahi Omar, but it’s best to let the feds sort all that out. The point is, she’s a phony, and she’s made a career of pointing at Israel, AIPAC, the Jews, and the United States to draw attention away from her own fishy shenanigans.

On to Michigan. Abdul El-Sayed describes himself as a doctor and physician, yet he’s never held a license to practice medicine. Lately, he’s been playing up his all-American roots, but he’s also claimed to be an Egyptian citizen. El-Sayed portrays himself as a humble Michigander in a Senate race against fat cat Mike Rogers, who owns a yacht in Florida. But El-Sayed is also rich. He and his wife own properties around the world, including a place in Dubai. When asked about his family’s documented links to the Muslim Brotherhood, he simply lies. So, once again, a con artist.

And, once again, an Israel-hater and terrorist sympathizer. Like Omar, he attacks Israel and AIPAC to cast himself as a saint who wants to ensure that American resources go to Americans in need.

All the flimflam artists are on the same page these days, and it doesn’t matter if they’re associated with the “left” or “right.” Rich-kid socialists think that screaming “intifada” loud enough can drown out those calling them hypocrites. Democrats and liberal journalists regularly stage run-ins with Jews in Judea and Samaria to boost their resistance credibility. Hasan Piker—the Maoist with the $200,000 Porsche—says Israel is worse than Hamas. Tucker Carlson—who claims to have physically wrestled with demons in his bed—peddles Putin propaganda, nicotine pouches, and Jew-hatred. When Nick Fuentes inadvertently streamed himself watching gay porn, he blamed it on Zionist saboteurs.

At least these charlatans and imposters are getting something out of the anti-Semitism racket. Their earnest supporters and fans are just dupes.

Jonathan Tobin: Amanpour leaves ‘CNN,’ but a legacy of anti-Israel media bias remains

Amanpour may like to claim that she was “fiercely independent” and devoted to the facts, though that has never been true of her work. And there is no better illustration than the way she has used her influential perch to skew coverage against the State of Israel, and to depict it and its people as uniquely evil and almost always in the wrong.

Her bosses at CNN and elsewhere have not only tolerated her bias but encouraged it. Indeed, if she’s a role model for the rising generation of the press, it’s because she has practiced a form of journalism and reporting the news from her own biased perspective. From the time she first became a star during the First Gulf War to the present, Amanpour turned the skewing of stories into an art form. She always managed to make whatever she reported conform to her pre-existing ideas about the good guys to be extolled and the bad guys to be vilified.

Coverage of Israel and its ongoing battle for survival against Arab and Muslim opponents who want to destroy it demonstrated this regularly.

The list of outrageous examples of her anti-Israel bias is too long to relate here. Those who want to take a deep dive into the extensive catalogue of her journalistic malpractice can visit the CAMERA media monitoring organization’s website page devoted to her for a taste of the consistent way in which she misrepresented the truth when it came to anything about the Jewish state.

Some of the highlights include incidents such as when she said on air on Oct. 25, 2025 that the Israeli hostages held by Hamas since Oct. 7, 2023, who were tortured, raped and starved by the terrorists, “were probably being treated better than the average Gazan.” Never mind that some of the hostages were actually being abused while held captive by “average Gazans.” While she was later forced to retract that lie, it was in line with the way she and others in corporate media became stenographers for Hamas, accepting every false claim the terrorist organization made, while treating anything coming from Israel with the deepest skepticism.

In 2024, she compared Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti, currently serving a life sentence for five murders, to Nelson Mandela, who was imprisoned in South Africa for 27 years until he was freed and eventually became that country’s first black president.

Her toying with the truth didn’t begin on Oct. 7.

Six months earlier, during Passover, she described a terror attack in Judea and Samaria of a Jewish family in which the wife and two daughters of Rabbi Leo Dee—Lucy Dee, and daughters Maia and Rina—who were ambushed and shot and killed while driving in their car as being a “shootout.” She apologized for this, but the instances in which she “misspoke” (most of which never generated retractions) almost always demonstrated outrageous bias against Jews.

Years before that, she provoked justified anger from the pro-Israel community for her 2007 CNN documentary series “God’s Jewish Warriors.” It depicted all Israeli Jews living in Judea and Samaria, as well as their supporters, as mad fanatics. The series never acknowledges the Islamist extremism that defines mainstream Palestinian Arab opinion and that has impelled them to reject every attempt at compromise for a century.

Amanpour never hesitated to demonize Israelis. She also played fast and loose with Jewish history. In 2020, she compared President Donald Trump to German Nazis who perpetrated the Kristallnacht pogrom in November 1938, a year before the start of World War II. Under pressure, she again apologized, though later retracted the apology.

In this, Amanpour was a forerunner for what would eventually become standard practice at liberal outlets like CNN or The New York Times. It’s an era in which a new generation of journalists considers it to be their obligation to promote their conception of woke truth, regardless of the facts, and dismiss efforts at objectivity and reporting both sides of a story as the “neutrality” she disdains.

And that’s why she fears any effort to return CNN or any other outlet to upholding honest journalism by Weiss and Ellison.

Douglas Murray: France is a warning – our civilisation is not immortal

Some people think this is pure incompetence. Others believe it is entirely planned. Both have their arguments. In recent days more people have finally realised how completely compromised our institutions of state are. I would normally say that Jonathan Powell – the Prime Minister’s national security adviser – is, like anyone else, entitled to a private life. But Powell is married to one of the most disgusting women in Britain: an activist called Sarah Helm. I had the misfortune of meeting her 20 or more years ago and to say she is a fanatic is to understate things. In recent days more people have discovered just how vicious she is: immediately after the 7 October massacre, it emerged, she devoted her time to contextualising the killing and later questioned whether the mass rape Hamas carried out had actually happened.

Why do we think that we as a country can survive when all the following things happen all the time: we welcome in terrorists, have the people in charge of our security literally sleeping with the enemy and then prosecute anyone British like Danny Tommo who say that they have had enough of all this? While Yaseen walks around the Windsor Co-op, Tommo remains in custody for the ‘crime’ of slashing an inflatable dinghy belonging to an illegal smuggling gang transporting people to break the law by entering Britain.

The French riots have many causes. But among those burning France down are people the French allowed to come into their country. It isn’t that the French somehow failed to give them enough nice things or were racist. They simply invited in people who hated them.

What makes the situation in Britain so different that it hasn’t happened here? Only that the match has not yet been struck.

Of all the things that have been hardest to communicate in my life, this seems the most impossible: that our civilisation is not, by some law of nature, immortal. It has no right or likelihood to continue existing if it insists on committing harakiri. The people who are welcomed onto our airwaves, work in parts of our government and lead some of our political parties include those who would burn down this country in a heart-beat. They would look us in the eyes and kill us. And we know that because they have done it elsewhere.

They don’t do it at the moment because the time is not right. But when they feel it is, they will act. At which point I suppose people will have to decide whether they wish to be spectators at their own funeral pyre or not.

Call me Back Podcast: Paris is Burning, but Europe Is In Denial - with Michael Moynihan and Simone Rodan-Benzaquen

French unrest reveals a society fraying at the edges, leading its citizens toward both political extremes. France’s inability to address its economy, immigration issues, and rising antisemitism aren’t going away anytime soon—and similar issues could be seen throughout Europe soon.

Dan Senor speaks with Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, joining from Paris, and journalist Michael Moynihan, about the forces converging on France, the difficult choices facing French Jews, and the rise of political movements on both the left and right. Beneath the immediate crisis lies a bigger question: can Europe sustain the social and economic model it built after World War II, or is it reaching a breaking point?

𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲:
Who’s really driving France’s unrest?
Why antisemitism is a warning sign for Europe
The European social contract is under pressure
Do French Jews still have a future in France?
Macron’s failure and Europe’s crisis of leadership

From The MEMRI TV Archives: Palestinian Islamic Scholars Preach: Muslim Armies Will Crush Paris With Jihad, Remove Its Corrupt Civilization, And Establish Islamic Caliphate; Infidels May Convert, Pay Jizya Poll Tax, Or Die; French Citizens Are Already Converting To Islam Hourly https://t.co/wTQiGuKx1w
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) October 23, 2026

ACLU of Indiana backs anti-Israel director amid resignations, allegations of Jew-hatred

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana is defending its incoming executive director, Nikkita Oliver, an activist who blamed Israel for Oct. 7. It did so after four of its five principal lawyers reportedly resigned.

The attorneys alleged that Oliver questioned if Jewish lawyers could be fair toward Palestinian clients.

Oliver, who is originally from Indiana, spent years as an activist in Seattle with the Black Lives Matter movement and has called for anti-Israel boycotts and divestment.

On Oct. 18, 2023, soon after the Oct. 7 attacks, Oliver wrote that “if we want the violence to stop, we must stop the root cause. This means ending the occupation of Palestine by Zionist Israel, supporting Palestinian liberation and ending the apartheid state.”

In the same social media post, Oliver called for violent resistance and said that Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “began to see the limits of non-violent protest in the face of an immoral and violent oppressor, who does not see and does not want to see those they brutalize, oppress and occupy as human.”

In November 2023, Oliver wrote that “being pro-Palestinian liberation is not a phase or a fad. It’s not the cute progressive thing to do.”

“It is a commitment to the liberation of all oppressed peoples and stopping the genocide of Palestinians being funded by our U.S. tax dollars that matters right now,” Oliver wrote.

Oliver has accused the Jewish state of “perpetuating the same classist, racist, sexist, ableist system that brutalizes black, indigenous, brown peoples and workers in the United States and globally.”

ACLU of Indiana’s legal director Ken Falk, deputy legal director Gavin Rose and attorneys Stevie Pactor and Josh Bleisch reportedly plan to leave the organization, according to an Oct. 22 Indianapolis Star report, with at least two other employees also submitting resignations.

‘It Blossoms in the Dark’: Mehdi Hasan Presides Over Anti-AIPAC Event Where Conspiracy Theorists Spun Tales of a Jewish Cabal Plotting World Domination

Mehdi Hasan, the fired MSNBC host who now runs the virulently anti-Israel news startup Zeteo, presided Tuesday over a gathering focused on the malign influence of AIPAC—the pro-Israel American lobbying organization—which is being portrayed by a growing chorus of far-left conspiracy theorists as a shadowy Jewish Death Star hell-bent on world domination.

The centerpiece of the evening, held at Chicago’s historic Pickwick Theater, was the screening of Night Flower, a conspiracy theory-packed, Zeteo-produced documentary about AIPAC’s "fight for influence." Following the screening, Hasan led discussions with speakers who conjured up images that mirrored centuries of antisemitic propaganda about Jewish conspiracies. AIPAC was described as a corrupt dark money behemoth operating on orders from the Israeli government to clandestinely secure Jewish dominion over American foreign policy.

"AIPAC is performing antisemitic tropes and then getting mad when you criticize them," Hasan told the crowd during a live discussion after the film ended, quoting a line from Daniel Biss, the former Evanston, Ill., mayor who is currently running for Congress. "I think that was the best line in the film. I think you all did, too, because I know you burst into applause there."

Elsewhere in the discussion, Hasan invoked "moderator privilege," telling his audience that "clearly we need to have a more honest discussion about what Israel is doing in our politics, what they're doing with lobby groups."

America "wouldn't have gone to war with Iran were if not for Israel's role," he said.

Hasan added that while Israel lobbied multiple American administrations to attack Iran, "the only one dumb enough to say yes was Donald Trump."

The crowd of a few hundred at the Pickwick Theater, a historic landmark that boasts glittering marquees frontside and ornate high-domed ceilings within, had excitedly purchased popcorn and other sundries before settling into the theater’s deep red leather seats for the debut screening of Night Flower, which is only currently accessible behind a paywall on Zeteo’s site. Hijabs, keffiyahs, and even some COVID-era face masks dotted the theater hall, and prior to the show, one starstruck young girl argued with her friend about whether she should approach Hasan, who stood near the screen greeting guests. Another attendee approached a Washington Free Beacon reporter minutes before the film started to lobby him on opposing "Illinois’s investment in Israeli bonds," which have become a prime target for supporters of the antisemitic campaign to economically isolate Israel.

The film itself followed former Wall Street Journal reporter Dion Nissenbaum, who previously worked in Gaza, as he attempted to prove that AIPAC is in fact working at Israel’s behest in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, a federal law that requires lobbyists for foreign nations to disclose their work.

AIPAC is run by pro-Israel Americans, many of them Jewish, but its detractors have long smeared the group and its backers with accusations of dual loyalties to Israel and clear-cut violations of federal law. Smears about dual loyalties among Jews are nothing new—the idea of a global Jewish cabal plotting global domination is one of the oldest conspiracy theories in modern existence.

Brad Lander is running for Congress in New York. With Election Day less than two weeks away, he’s in the West Bank picking olives and filming campaign content. He says the trip is about exposing the “reality of the occupation.” But the timing makes the political calculation hard to miss. Instead of spending the final stretch before an election talking to New Yorkers about New York, he’s attaching himself to one of the most viral international stories of the moment. No new policy. No solution. No meaningful change for Israelis or Palestinians. Just a foreign conflict @bradlander turned into congressional clickbait.
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) October 23, 2026

@HeidiBachram Is she looking for the Death Star thermal exhaust port? https://t.co/WbGCnF9AjV
— Adam Ma'anit (@adammaanit) October 23, 2026

New El-Sayed ad features Tucker Carlson, far-right podcaster’s attack on Mike Rogers

A new ad by Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign features far-right influencer Tucker Carlson, who has increasingly engaged in antisemitic rhetoric and hosted a series of extremist guests on his podcast.

The ad aims to attract GOP voters by highlighting what El-Sayed said are areas of agreement between him and the MAGA base. It features clips from a series of right-wing figures to hammer the point home.

“I wouldn’t vote for Mike Rogers at gunpoint,” Carlson states in one clip included in the ad — a criticism Carlson said on the show was driven largely by Rogers’ support for Israel.

The ad also includes a clip of podcast host Saagar Enjeti, who has also emerged as an anti-Israel figure, on Carlson’s podcast, calling El-Sayed, “America first.”

I teamed up with Mandy Patinkin to support Abdul El-Sayed in his race to the senate. Let's get the Muslim Brotherhood back where it belongs -- America! https://t.co/uFEPYd3e5J
— Lyle Culpepper (@ShutupLyle) October 23, 2026

Why wasn’t Jonathan Powell vetted before starting his security role?

UK vetting guidance is clear that ‘national security concerns’ can be triggered by ‘the individual or their family or associates having links with (or giving support to) terrorism’ (our italics.) It seems likely, therefore, that Helm’s activity would have been picked up in the vetting process.

We don’t know what subsequently happened. Was it decided that Helm’s activity did not constitute links with, or support for, terrorism? Or was it decided, as with Mandelson, to overlook any material flagged in the vetting process, and if so, who made that decision? Would it have been too embarrassing to un-appoint Powell ‘just’ because of his wife’s posts? Does he actually have full, unqualified, top-level clearance?

Nobody will say. A parliamentary answer in March stated merely that Powell’s vetting ‘was conducted to the usual standard set for Developed Vetting’ – in other words, a response about the process, not the outcome. It added that the government ‘does not comment on individual vetting cases’. Another question on whether Powell passed vetting without qualification was stonewalled.

Finally, McSweeney’s statements also seem to rule out that Powell already had clearance to the necessary standard from his previous job with Starmer as special envoy for the Chagos Islands between August and November 2024. Parliamentary answers are consistent with this. Unlike the government’s answer from March, which does at least state that Powell was put through the DV process for the National Security Adviser job, a parliamentary question on whether he was vetted for his Chagos role was referred to another response which does not answer the question.

A new question has now been tabled to try to get to the bottom of the mystery. It awaits an answer.

Green council leader claims ‘weaponisation of antisemitism’ amid Zionism row

A Green Party council leader has claimed the “weaponisation of antisemitism” harms Jewish people, just weeks after a synagogue in his borough accused his party of making Jews feel unsafe.

Mark Blake, leader of Haringey Council, made the remarks in a public letter to three Labour MPs following the Green Party’s controversial decision to declare “Zionism is Racism” at its annual conference.

His response to Catherine West, Bambos Charalambous and David Lammy comes after Highgate United Synagogue rejected his earlier attempt at reassurances about Jewish community safety and demanded that he distance himself from the motion.

In the letter, shared on social media, Blake insisted that criticism of Zionism must not be confused with hatred of Jewish people.

“As politicians, we have a duty to hold anti-Zionism and opposition to antisemitism as two separate truths,” he wrote.

Addressing the MPs directly, he added: “What the motion says, and you have failed to recognise, is that criticism of Zionism is not the same as antisemitism.”

Blake also argued that the “weaponisation of antisemitism” does a disservice to Jewish people, particularly those who support Palestinians.

He went on to defend Palestinians’ right to criticise Zionism, arguing that they should not be expected to abandon opposition to an ideology they believe has been used to justify their displacement.

London Bridge charity gave £1.17m to group linked to charity facing Hamas investigation

A charity responsible for maintaining five of London’s best-known bridges awarded more than £1.1 million to a Muslim organisation whose treasurer also runs a charity being investigated over alleged links to Hamas.

City Bridge Foundation (CBF), which maintains Tower Bridge and London Bridge, gave £1.17 million to the Muslim Charities Forum (MCF) in 2023.

The funding has come under scrutiny after it emerged that MCF’s treasurer, Shuaib Yusaf, is also the chief executive of Al-Khair Foundation, which is being investigated by the Charity Commission over alleged links to the terrorist group.

According to the Daily Mail, the investigation follows the arrest of Mohammad Yousef Hasna, who worked for a charity partnering with Al-Khair to deliver humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Hasna was arrested in Britain on 31 July following an FBI investigation into allegations that millions of pounds intended for humanitarian relief were diverted to Hamas.

US prosecutors have charged him with conspiring to provide material support to Hamas, conspiring to finance terrorism and financing terrorism.

Investigators allege he communicated with a senior Hamas leader about diverting food parcels and money to the group.

Al-Khair Foundation has denied any involvement in funding terrorism and says it is cooperating fully with the Charity Commission’s investigation, launched on 5 August.

The Muslim Charities Forum also insisted that none of the money it received from City Bridge Foundation was passed to Al-Khair or any other member organisation.

It said the grants were used to support its own programmes in Britain, including training and assistance for grassroots charities working with disadvantaged communities in London.

NYC restaurants are standing up to anti-Israel bullies

New York City likes to take pride in how “inclusive” it is, particularly for immigrants, but when it comes to identifiable Israelis, too many of its inhabitants are ready to make an exception.

Every Israeli restaurant owner can tell you that much.

Several times a week for the last few months, a guy has walked by Gazala Halabi’s eatery on the Upper West Side and spit on the window.

One day, Gazala chased him down and asked him why.

“You know why,” he replied. “It’s because you’re Israeli.”

No matter that Gazala is Druze, not Jewish, and makes dishes that have been in her family for generations.

The “I” word was all he needed to know.

Almost every Israeli restaurant in the city has experienced harassment, and often they’re lucky if it’s just spitting.

They’ve endured broken windows, graffiti and even (failed) employee-led boycotts.

Imagine Chinese or even Iranian restaurants treated this way — even though China and Iran, unlike Israel, are truly despotic.

The constant menacing both off and online (I spoke to several owners who all say they’ve been “review bombed” on Google and Yelp) has given way to a new kind of Israeli restaurant: one that doesn’t mention its origin at all.

Billed sometimes as Mediterranean or Middle Eastern, these places offer “chopped salads” instead of evil Israeli ones, or “traditional breakfasts” instead of the oppressive spreads of cheeses Israelis typically start their morning with.

Most of these restaurants are packed with happy diners (Israeli food — no matter what you call it — is great) who enjoy their non-denominational falafel without worrying about upsetting their Instagram followers.

Going incognito is not an easy decision. But the chefs prefer to focus on their dishes rather than have to explain to yet another arrogant graduate of TikTok University that they have every right to prepare food from their country of origin.

Mindless activists have long tried to argue that Israeli food, much like the Jewish state itself, has no right to exist.

Not sure why you’re going through my tweets from 2023, but anyways… Sabich was invented by Iraqi Jews (like my family) in Israel. The only one trying to steal our history is you lot.
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 23, 2026

Political motives don’t excuse Jew-hatred, scholars say in Columbia janitors’ appeal

Three legal scholars urged a federal appeals court on Oct. 20 to revive civil rights claims made by two Columbia University janitors, who say protesters assaulted them and hurled anti-Jewish slurs during their takeover of Hamilton Hall in April 2024.

The friend-of-the-court brief, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, supports janitors Mariano Torres and Lester Wilson, whose claims the court dismissed initially, because it said that they couldn’t prove that they were victims of discrimination and that the protesters had political motives.

“The suggestion that people can’t be guilty of discrimination if they have political motives is profoundly wrong and, if accepted by the Second Circuit, would imperil civil rights protections for all groups,” Matthew Segal, an affiliated practitioner at Yale Law School’s Brodie Center for Jewish and Israeli Law, told JNS.

“People engaged in discrimination often have political motives, too,” he told JNS. “The KKK surely did.”

Segal joined University of California, Los Angeles law professor Jon D. Michaels and George Mason University law professor David E. Bernstein in submitting the brief.

The janitors alleged that protesters used anti-Jewish slurs during their takeover of the building. Torres was called a “Jew-lover,” while Wilson was told that “you work for the Jews,” according to allegations cited in the brief.

Colleen McMahon, a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, dismissed their federal claims on June 1. The amicus brief argues that she improperly resolved disputed questions about the protesters’ motives before the workers could obtain evidence through discovery.

They also challenge the court’s reliance on disagreement among Jews over whether anti-Zionism is inherently antisemitic.

Pittsburgh district defends ethnic-studies course, doesn’t address materials comparing Gaza to Warsaw Ghetto

Pittsburgh Public Schools, which has about 18,000 students in about 55 schools, told JNS that it stands by its ethnic studies curriculum but didn’t comment on an assigned reading comparing Gaza and Judea and Samaria to the Warsaw Ghetto.

A syllabus for a college-credit course at Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy, a public school in the district, assigns a 20-year-old academic article that suggests that Gazans are trapped in the Strip like Jews were in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust, JNS reported on Wednesday.

The North American Values Institute, which obtained materials from the district in a records request, told JNS that it was concerned about that article and about a unit titled “whiteness, privilege and antisemitism” and an assignment that says that “antisemitism, like other forms of racial oppression, has been used to divide marginalized communities and maintain systems of power.”

The public school district told JNS in a 550-word statement that it “strongly disputes the inaccurate and misleading characterizations of its ethnic-studies curriculum presented in a recent report by the North American Values Institute.”

“The report draws sweeping conclusions from materials that do not represent the full district curriculum and mischaracterizes the purpose, content and instructional approach of the course,” the district said.

Jewish groups raise alarm over anti-Israel sessions at American Studies Association conference

Jewish groups are raising concerns about the American Studies Association’s annual meeting, which includes sessions titled “Zionism Is Racism: Introducing the Critical Zionism Studies Syllabus” and “Dezionizing the U.S. University,” as well as the inclusion of a speaker with a history of controversial remarks about terrorism.

The Anti-Defamation League and the Academic Engagement Network said the programming at the three-day conference, which started Thursday in Chicago, presents a one-sided ideological perspective on Zionism and risks making Jewish and Zionist scholars feel unwelcome. The groups also criticized the inclusion of Palestinian American scientist and author Mazin Qumsiyeh, who in a 2016 article praised Bahaa Alyan, the terrorist that participated in a 2015 Jerusalem bus attack that killed three people, listing him among “martyrs of freedom” and describing such figures as “heroes.”

The ADL and AEN argued that the conference programming threatens academic freedom and inclusion, warning that Jewish and Zionist scholars could face marginalization in their own professional communities.

“Academic freedom protects the right to criticize nations, governments, political movements, and ideologies,” the groups said in a joint statement to Jewish Insider. “But it also requires an intellectual culture in which contested claims are subject to scrutiny, disagreement is welcomed, and scholars are not marginalized or maligned because of their identities or beliefs.”

“Professional academic associations shape disciplinary norms, mentor early career scholars, and facilitate professional relationships and collaborations. When an association treats particular political claims and arguments as settled truths and those who disagree as morally suspect, it risks chilling open inquiry and fostering professional ostracism and exclusion,” they continued.

The groups called on ASA leadership “to uphold its stated commitment to critical thinking and public dialogue by reviewing its conference programming and speaker selection practices, creating genuine opportunities for intellectual exchange across differing perspectives, and unequivocally affirming that Jewish and Zionist scholars belong within the association.”

ASA, a scholarly organization with almost 5,000 members, is devoted to the interdisciplinary study of U.S. history and culture and publishes the journal American Quarterly in addition to hosting an annual conference that draws thousands of academics, researchers and educators.

Georgetown Law student association denounces Ted Cruz staffer over Muslim Brotherhood lecture

Georgetown University law school’s Student Bar Association passed a resolution this week condemning a Jewish attorney on Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) team and accusing her of Islamophobia after she appeared on campus to discuss the Muslim Brotherhood and her work representing victims of terrorism.

Erielle Azerrad has served as Cruz’s deputy chief counsel since December and has been heavily involved in the Texas senator’s recent efforts to target the Brotherhood. Prior to joining Cruz’s office, Azerrad — who attended Georgetown Law — co-founded the Center for the Middle East and International Law at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, where she remains a senior fellow. She also served at the National Jewish Advocacy Center.

Azerrad was hosted by Georgetown Law’s Conservative and Libertarian Student Association (CALSA) on Tuesday for an event titled, “The Muslim Brotherhood’s Network in America and Legal Strategies for Confronting It.”

During the hour-long summit, Azerrad delivered a lecture detailing the Muslim Brotherhood’s origins and how the group had expanded its operations in the U.S., according to a transcript of the event reviewed by Jewish Insider. Azerrad also noted the Muslim Students Association’s ties to the Brotherhood, though she disputed that such ties meant all Muslim students, or even all MSA members, were connected to the terrorist group.

“The Muslim Association of America was founded by Brotherhood folks who were upset with the direction of the Muslim Student Association in the United States and thought it had veered too far from Brotherhood principles,” Azerrad said at the event. “Until I see a single MSA chapter come forward and say: ‘We disavow the Muslim Brotherhood,’ I am inclined to believe they are still tied to their foundings. That’s my opinion.”

“I can only presume to answer that the organization itself is tied to the Muslim Brotherhood. I can’t speak to individuals that attend meetings,” she continued. “I do know for a fact that the Muslim Brotherhood embeds itself in the education centers of countries. That’s what it does. It recruits young people and it hopes to shape their minds, and then receives them after they graduate from college. So, I won’t presume to know every single individual who attends an MSA event, what their political leanings are.”

After the resolution condemning Azerrad was passed on Wednesday night, the SBA posted a photo of the document on Instagram. The caption alongside the photo describes it as a “Resolution In Solidarity With The Muslim Law Student Association of Georgetown Law.”

According to the post, the resolution, which does not name Azerrad outright, alleges that, “a speaker was brought to campus who, while here, promoted Islamophobic beliefs and conspiracy theories.” It also claims, without pointing to examples, that the speaker “has a well-documented record of false, bigoted, and harmful anti-Muslim rhetoric” and that “hosting such a speaker endangers Muslim students, undermines their belonging, and erodes their trust in the University.”

After years of monitoring Philadelphia public schools teacher Hannah Gann, CAMERA is not surprised by the recent news that the radical activist lied about her racial identity in order to deceive her fellow antizionists. https://t.co/2SWGL6ZPNr
— CAMERA (@CAMERA4Truth) October 23, 2026

The NEU antisemitism training loop https://t.co/B2AUsIK6tN
— Alex Hearn (@hearnimator) October 23, 2026

Update: antisemite Gabby El Baba of Houston TX, is no longer employed with Curtis and Associates Counseling.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) October 24, 2026

BBC investigates journalist over support for Palestine Action backer Sally Rooney

The BBC is investigating one of its journalists after she signed an open letter supporting an author who pledged to donate her book royalties to the banned group Palestine Action.

Megha Mohan, the broadcaster’s gender and identity correspondent, added her name to a public appeal after defending Irish novelist Sally Rooney after her books were withdrawn from sale in Britain.

According to The Telegraph, the BBC is examining whether Mohan’s decision to sign the letter breached its rules on impartiality.

The controversy follows Rooney’s pledge to use money from her book sales to support Palestine Action, which was banned under UK terrorism laws in 2025.

The group has targeted businesses linked to Israel and British defence sites, with its supporters accusing the UK of helping Israel’s military operations.

The open letter, published in the New Statesman, calls for Rooney’s books to return to British shops and criticises the legislation behind her withdrawal.

It states: “Sally Rooney is a writer, not a terrorist. Her books must be available to the public.”

It adds: “We categorically reject censorship – whether direct or indirect – and urge the Government to change course, amending the legislation which has led us to this point of repressive absurdity.”

Other signatories include former BBC presenter Gary Lineker, actors Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar -Jones, and Irish rap group Kneecap.

Two other figures with BBC links also signed the appeal: documentary-maker Mobbed Azhar and Radio 4 presenter Shahidha Bari.

A BBC spokesman said: “This BBC has strict guidelines on impartiality and where we find breaches, we take the appropriate action.”

Brooklyn Imam Muhammad Albar Shortly After Death of Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh: He Was a Martyr for a True Cause; Will We Fulfill Our Duty by Sacrificing for Allah and Remaining Loyal to the Blood of the Fallen Heroes? A Nation Capable of Producing Mohamed Morsi and Haniyeh Can Produce Thousands More Like Them
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) October 23, 2026

Australian Islamic Scholar Mohamad Doar in Sydney Friday Sermon: In Islam, Men Are in Charge of Women and a Wife Must Obey Her Husband; Satan Tries to Corrupt Muslim Women by Making Them Believe This Is Oppressive or Backward https://t.co/ySFODKBWOV
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) October 23, 2026

Utah synagogue targeted in foiled bombing calls for all congregations to harden security

The president of Congregation Brith Sholem, a Reform synagogue in Ogden, Utah, which was the target of a foiled bombing plot, told JNS that she urges all synagogues that don’t have security “to act immediately to correct that deficiency.”

“Jews can no longer hope for the best and ignore the rampant antisemitism in the world today,” Janice Ward, president of the city’s only synagogue, told JNS.

Ogden is located about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City.

Secure Community Network, the North American Jewish community’s official safety organization, notified police after discovering threatening posts made by Skyler Rose, according to Ward, who said that police responded to the news “rapidly.”

Rose, 22, who prosecutors said used Google Maps to search for the closest synagogue, was indicted on Wednesday. Officers also found pipe bombs in his bedroom and material to make more bombs, two rifles and ammunition.

“The indicted man has been in state custody since last December when the plot was foiled,” Ward told JNS. “The support of the Ogden police and mayor were fantastic along with support from the entire community, the FBI, the Department of Public Safety and other community partners.”

“We have had security at our synagogue for the past three to four years, well before this threat appeared,” she told JNS. “In the past year, we have added security to all our advertised events, either on our campus or off.”

Rest of the filing https://t.co/ULUugKH1PU
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) October 23, 2026

Suspect identified in West Hempstead, NY, synagogue arson attempt

The Nassau County Police Department said that Azzm Khan, of Lakeview, N.Y., was arrested for allegedly trying to burn an Orthodox synagogue in West Hempstead early Thursday morning.

Officers searched for a suspect accused of breaking the side mirror of an official police vehicle when someone stopped them and said that he “saw a person lighting a fire nearby,” the department said.

When officers arrived at the Young Israel of West Hempstead, they found Khan, 29, “and a bush actively on fire,” the department stated.

“During the investigation, it was determined that Khan had taken a lawn sign from the area and set it on fire,” it said. “He attempted to shove the lit sign under the door of the synagogue. He then took the sign and put it in the bush, causing it to ignite and went back to the synagogue door and repeatedly kicked it, causing damage.”

According to the department, Khan was also responsible for the damage to the police vehicle.

“The investigation is ongoing. At this time, there are no known active threats to the community,” it stated.

Khan was arrested without incident, according to the department, and has been charged with two counts of criminal mischief and two counts of arson.

In West Hempstead, NY 🇺🇸, a man was arrested after allegedly attempting to break in and set fire to a synagogue. Azzm Khan initially tried to kick down the front door, but when he failed, he tried to start a fire. Authorities were nearby and were able to take him into custody. When will this madness stop?
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 23, 2026

Teen who spread hatred against Jews admits possessing synagogue killer’s manifesto

A white supremacist teenager who posted material encouraging hatred against Jews has admitted to possessing the manifesto of a neo-Nazi gunman who attacked a German synagogue.

Damien Woolfenden, 18, formerly of Bury, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to 12 terrorism and hate-related offences at the Old Bailey on Friday.

Among the material found on his computer was the manifesto of Stephan Balliet, who attacked a synagogue in Halle, Germany, in 2019, after failing to force his way inside during Yom Kippur.

Woolfenden also possessed the manifesto of American white supremacist Payton Gendron, who murdered 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in 2022.

The court heard that he had published posts on X and Telegram intended to stir up racial hatred against Jewish people and foreigners.

Woolfenden had also written his own “personal manifesto”, with documents suggesting he was considering carrying out an attack using firearms after the elections in 2028.

He admitted sharing footage of the 2019 Christchurch mosque massacre, in which 51 Muslim worshippers were murdered, on a website describing itself as “pro-white”.

He also distributed the manifesto of Norwegian far-right terrorist Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in two attacks in 2011, through a Telegram group.

Police found further documents relating to firearms and bomb-making.

Bill Ackman predicts Israel will produce a $1 ‌trillion company within ten years

Jewish billionaire investor Bill Ackman has predicted Israel will produce a $1 ‌trillion company within a decade.

Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, made the comment at the Sheba Medical Centre’s annual summit in Tel Aviv.

He said he had become very bullish on Israel in the wake of October 7 and ⁠had grown even more optimistic since, describing the economy as one of the best in the world, Reuters reported.

He also argued that Israel’s small population could be an advantage in the age of AI.

"The United States has $40 trillion of debt and a lot of that debt comes from supporting a very ‌large ⁠population.

"There will be a trillion dollar market cap company that comes out of Israel. ⁠I would be surprised if not in the next five years, let alone the next ten," he said.

Ackman said the conflicts in the Middle East had "reset" the region and improved the chances of peace.

He added that if US President were to be successful against Iran, there would be “a massive peace dividend in the region".

He said he viewed Democratic Socialists as a "threat to democracy, capitalism, Israel and the Jewish people".

Israel Weapon Industries delivers anti-drone rifle system to Thailand

Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) has delivered its ARBEL Anti-Drone System (ADS) to Thailand’s Ministry of Defense. The system is deployed and now operational in Thailand’s military, the company reported on Thursday.

The ARBEL ADS is a computerized fire control system designed to improve accuracy. When the shooter pulls the trigger, the first round fires as in a standard rifle. While the trigger remains pulled, the system controls the fire cadence at an optimal rate. This eliminates the need for the controller to operate the trigger, allowing the shooter to focus on target tracking and aiming.

In drone interception scenarios, where targets are small, fast-moving, and maneuver unpredictably at a distance, ARBEL ADS automates follow-up shots to enable accurate engagements.

ARBEL ADS doesn’t require external equipment or retraining. It’s fitted onto a soldier’s existing weapon, letting soldiers use familiar weapons with standard 5.56 mm ammunition. They don’t need to learn a new platform and the system is optics-agnostic and compatible with a wide range of sighting systems.

“Small tactical drones have become a direct and growing threat to soldiers on the battlefield. We developed the ARBEL ADS to give soldiers an effective means of defending themselves against this evolving threat, while providing armed forces with a critical tactical advantage in an increasingly complex battlespace,” said SK Group’s Vice Chairman Ronen Hamudot.

IWI offers two options for the ARBEL ADS: 1) a complete IWI-manufactured rifle or 2) installed in a customer’s existing weapon. Thailand’s defense ministry chose the latter. IWI simply replaced the rifle’s lower receiver with the ARBEL ADS.

Thailand military officials are in discussions with IWI about an additional order for its ARBEL Anti-Drone Systems.

Across Southeast Asia, several countries are at various stages of procuring the ARBEL ADS, with additional deployments expected in the coming months, the company reported.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Lucie Kon to speak at ‘Uncancelled’ conference

Oscar-winning filmmaker Lucie Kon and Oi Va Voi’s Josh Breslaw are among the speakers at the second annual Uncancelled: Jews in the Arts conference in north London next month.

Held by Friends in the Arts (FIA) on the afternoon of November 22, Uncancelled is a solutions-focused conference tackling antisemitism and boycotts within creative industries in Britain.

This year’s programme includes talks by Emmy & BAFTA-winning filmmaker Lucie Kon, whose documentary Mr Nobody Against Putin – on which she was executive producer – won an Oscar, and Oi Va Voi’s founder and drummer Josh Breslaw, who also runs the record label Parallel Skies.

British band Oi Va Voi had two of their UK shows cancelled last year due to pressure by pro-Palestine activists and returned with a new track accentuating their Jewish heritage, Back to My Roots.

Comedian Philip Simon, who had his show at the Edinburgh Festival cancelled by the venue because of his views on the war in Gaza, will also speak, as will choreographer Rosie Kay, who co-founded campaign group Freedom in the Arts to protect freedom of expression, combat cancel culture and support artists experiencing pressure.

The event also features Larry Finlay, former managing director at Transworld Publishing who formed the Jewish Publishing Circle with Stephanie Thwaites, head of the book department at Curtis Brown, in the aftermath of October 7; soprano Ilona Domnich; human rights lawyer Adam Wagner KC; and music producer and composer Itay Kashti.

The Israeli-born musician who immigrated to the UK in 2007 will share his personal experience of the violent antisemitic attack he underwent in 2025, in which he was nearly kidnapped, because of his identity.

Can business save Israel-Australia relations? Ambassador says there is still hope

Relations between Israel and Australia have been something of a roller-coaster, with diplomatic tensions, political disagreements, and growing antisemitism threatening a partnership that Israeli Ambassador to Australia Hillel Newman believes still has enormous potential.

But Newman, who presented his credentials in February 2026, remains optimistic that the two countries can overcome their differences, and he sees business, innovation, and personal relationships as important parts of the solution.

“It’s really been like a roller-coaster journey, which has its ups and downs all the time,” Newman shared during a call with The Jerusalem Post ahead of the media outlet’s November 19 Australia Summit in Sydney. “It’s really upside down.”

The event will bring together senior business leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers, innovators, and decision-makers from Australia, Israel, and beyond for a high-level gathering focused on business, innovation, and collaboration. The summit aims to strengthen relations between Australia and Israel by connecting people and ideas across two countries with strong cultures of entrepreneurship, innovation, and global engagement.

Newman said Israel and Australia have always enjoyed “natural, excellent relations.”

The countries share similar values, with historical ties dating back to before the founding of the State of Israel, when ANZAC forces fought alongside Jewish forces in the campaign against the Ottoman Empire.

However, over the past several years, especially since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre and the ensuing war, there has been a “serious deterioration in relations,” Newman said. That deterioration was amplified by Australia’s decision to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state in the midst of the war.

Still, Newman, who arrived in Australia less than a year ago, said that in nearly every meeting, even at the highest levels, he has encountered a stated desire to improve relations.

At the beginning of the war against Iran, Australia stood with Israel and the US, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government providing strong verbal and strategic support. But as the fighting continued and energy prices rose, public sentiment began to shift.

Newman said he doesn’t believe negative sentiment will last. Although “it’s really difficult to assume how things will be when we have a new government in Israel and the war ends, I assume that things will improve dramatically.”

One of the core challenges, as he sees it, is Australia’s geographical distance from the Middle East. The countries are located more than 12,000 kilometers apart, and Australia, because of its relative isolation, “doesn’t really perceive the threats the same way Israel does,” Newman maintained.

Other major points of contention include the countries’ differing perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the issue of expansion in the West Bank.

Nevertheless, Newman believes trust can be rebuilt and stressed that Israel has both the desire and goodwill to improve the relationship.

“It’s up to Australia, really,” Newman said. “We say all the time that we must rise above the differences of opinion and the different issues.”

From Hamas hostage to a voice for peace! What extraordinary courage by this young Israeli woman, Daniella Gilboa, who will be performing in Australia, including Sydney's Opera House, this weekend! https://t.co/92boRXAr0E
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) October 23, 2026