“Almost every stone and heritage site contains thousands of years of Jewish history. We are investing in preserving our past to secure our future and pass on our heritage to future generations,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The initiative will fund preservation, development and accessibility of antiquities and heritage sites, establish regional heritage centers, expand tourism infrastructure and increase enforcement against the theft and destruction of antiquities in the area. The centers are intended to serve as hubs for research, education and tourism, alongside multi-year upgrades to visitor infrastructure aimed at attracting Israeli and international visitors.

“The Judea and Samaria region is the heart of our ancestral land and the place where Jewish history was written. We will continue developing tourism and making sites accessible to millions of visitors,” said Tourism Minister Haim Katz.

The plan highlights a number of key heritage sites. These include Tel Shiloh, traditionally identified with the biblical site of Shiloh and an early center of Israelite worship; the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, regarded as the burial place of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs; and Herodium, the fortified palace complex built by King Herod near Bethlehem.

In Samaria, Sebastia preserves extensive remains from the Israelite, Roman and Byzantine periods, while the Judean Desert includes Qumran, associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls. The list also includes Mount Gerizim near Shechem (Nablus), a site of major religious significance for the Samaritan community with substantial archaeological remains.

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said: “This is a Zionist and historical decision. After years in which sites were neglected or looted, Israel is making historical corrections. We are investing in preserving our history and connecting future generations to the Jewish heritage of the land.”

Open confrontations and attacks on Jewish students were not replaced with peace and inclusion; they morphed into normalization. Jewish students were marginalized, isolated and made to feel like pariahs on too many campuses. This onslaught against Jews on campus did not begin after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel Oct. 7, 2023. That’s just when it got much worse.

Hillel is under attack
For a century, Hillel has been a home away from home for Jewish students to find community. From local events to Shabbat dinners, a safe haven for Jews has now become a target.

Students for Justice in Palestine, whose funding networks include groups with reported ties to Hamas-linked organizations, is leading a campaign called Drop Hillel. SJP is pushing university student governments to defund and sever ties with a campus organization that exists solely to support Jewish students. The campaign has been falsely promoted as being Jewish-led; its architect is SJP.

At The New School in New York City, just blocks from New York University at Washington Square Park, the student senate recently voted to defund Hillel and revoke its recognition—the first time a student government has moved to officially cut ties with a campus Hillel. The senate vote was a “painful antisemitic” attempt to isolate Jewish belonging on campus.

The Council on American Islamic Relations-New York applauded the move as a “necessary step.” CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2007 Holy Land Foundation Hamas terrorism-financing trial and faces multiple federal and state investigations.

The New School’s administration blocked the vote and pledged “immediate steps” to prevent similar incidents. The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York praised the school’s “swift rejection.”

Jewish students are not the only ones being marginalized. A House Education committee report found that faculty face “soft” or “shadow” boycotts—academic departments declining to co-sponsor events with Jewish or pro-Israel groups. The recently formed Faculty Against Antisemitism Movement is pushing back.

Progressive Jewish student group is rejected
At Sarah Lawrence College, 20 miles north of New York City, something more telling happened. Jewish student Emilyn Toffler spent months trying to form a chapter of J Street U to have conversations with her classmates about Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

J Street is a progressive group that describes itself as “pro-Israel, pro-Palestinian and pro-peace.” The organization loudly opposes the current Israeli government, challenges U.S. military aid to Israel and its leader stated that Israel may be committing genocide, a false charge.

The student senate rejected the application anyway, comparing J Street U to “a white supremacist organization.” The group’s appeal also was denied. The college’s administration has defended its refusal to intervene. Toffler recently graduated, disappointed that “we never got approval. I think we could have positively contributed to the political conversation on campus.”

She was not asking to defend Israeli policy. She was promoting co-existence on campus and in the Holy Land.

The social cost of refusing to go along with the anti-Israel narrative extends beyond Jewish students. At the University of Wisconsin in Madison, student representative Jianda Ni abstained on an anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions resolution. The law student worried that the rushed bill would increase the already existing fear among Jewish students. After he spoke his mind, a friend from the anti-Israel side cut off communication with him. This is what the mutation of antisemitism looks like.

Graduation 2026: Conflict and consequences
Commencement is supposed to be the one day that belongs to all graduating students. This year, while incidents declined across the country, many Jewish students still encountered a different experience.

Morton Schapiro withdrew as Georgetown University Law commencement speaker after 282 students petitioned for his removal, calling his opinions “controversial, Zionist and harmful.” The former Northwestern University president had written critically of how progressives, university leaders and the media vilified Israel during the war. Georgetown refused the student request, but replaced him with a professor who condemned the Anti-Defamation League and the Brandeis Center for trying to protect Jewish students a few weeks after Oct. 7.

University of Michigan faculty senate chair Derek Peterson used his commencement address to praise pro-Palestinian student protesters, departing from his pre-approved remarks. The professor opened by invoking the memory of Moritz Levi, the university’s first Jewish professor, appointed in 1896. He then pivoted to politics and activists that have often targeted Jewish students: “Sing for the pro-Palestinian student activists who have, over these past two years, opened our hearts to the injustice and inhumanity of Israel’s war in Gaza.” The audience cheered. The university apologized for his comments.

The student government at the University of California Law San Francisco set up an order form for a graduation keffiyeh—a symbolic Palestinian headscarf. The student leaders encouraged faculty and students to wear them and Palestine pins at commencement as a “show of support with Palestinian students, faculty and communities.” The form also acknowledged that students have “expressed fear of conveying their identity and their beliefs” on campus. At campuses across the country, many Jewish students continue to hide who they are, while most of those who target them do not. It’s a false equivalency.

Rutgers University in New Jersey drew a different line. When its invited commencement speaker was found to have posted that Israelis “train dogs to sexually assault prisoners”—a claim with no basis in fact and a blood libel against Jews—the university canceled his invitation.

Points to consider:

1. Campus antisemitism mutated, yet Jewish students are still paying the price.

The encampments came down, headlines moved on, recorded incidents declined—and too many people exhaled. Anti-Jewish hate did not retreat from American campuses. It mutated. What replaced open confrontation is harder to see: Jewish students are hiding their necklaces, staying silent in class and losing their friends. Students watch their speech for fear that their professors will lower their grades in class. The antisemitism virus has spread, and there is no vaccine in sight.

2. The campus hate movement has a sponsor, and it’s not students.

When a student senate votes to defund Hillel or a campus erupts in anti-Israel protests, it can look like organic activism, but it’s usually not. American Muslims for Palestine, which funds National Students for Justice in Palestine, was founded by individuals who previously worked for U.S. nonprofits shut down or found civilly liable for funding Hamas. On Oct. 8, 2023—one day after the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel, AMP and SJP declared they were “part of a Unity Intifada under Hamas’s unified command.” Multiple state attorneys general are currently investigating AMP. This is not a student movement. It is a coordinated campaign being waged against Jewish students on American campuses.

3. Antizionism is antisemitism: A liberal arts college just proved it.

At Sarah Lawrence College in New York, the student senate blocked the creation of a J Street chapter and compared it to “a white supremacist organization.” J Street opposes the Israeli government and challenges U.S. military aid. If this is white supremacy, there is no version of Jewish identity and Zionism that these movements will accept. Former anti-Zionist and liberal atheist Kile Jones recently wrote: “Antizionism is the most socially acceptable way to express antisemitism.” This was never about any Israeli policies. It is about whether Jewish students have the right to openly exist on campus at all.

4. Campus antisemitism is not a Jewish problem, but one for all Americans.

Jianda Ni lost a friend. The non-Jewish law student simply abstained on an anti-Israel resolution because he did not want to increase fear among Jewish students. This is the cost of conscience in today’s America. When student governments weaponize their platforms, professors use their authority to advance political agendas, and universities look the other way, the damage extends far beyond the Jewish community. Free inquiry, open debate and institutional integrity are at risk.

5. Pushback works when university leaders do their job.

The New School’s administration blocked its student senate’s vote to defund Hillel. Rutgers University canceled its commencement speaker after he posted false claims about Israelis. The University of Michigan apologized after its faculty senate chair went off-script at graduation to praise anti-Israel protesters. These actions are proof that when administrators choose to act, they can. The question is whether they will before more Jewish students decide it is safer to hide their identity.

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The ruling Iranian clique also believes that it will be able to keep the blockade around the Strait of Hormuz. According to their take on American domestic politics, they suspect that U.S. President Donald Trump will, in short order, cave under pressure from the American people, who are dealing with a rise in food and fuel prices. They anticipate that this pressure will lead to Republican losses in the upcoming midterm elections and that Trump’s agenda will be disrupted. The radical Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—and their puppet and disabled new Supreme Leader, Mujtaba Khamenei—are convinced they can wait out Trump’s presidency.

In the meantime, Trump is frustrated by the current impasse with Iran. The Iranian response to his proposed peace deal was considered to be “unacceptable,” and he is increasingly impatient with how the Iranians are playing for time. The president has not yet decided whether to go all in, attacking Iran’s remaining nuclear facilities (taking out the 440 kilograms of enriched uranium), as well as the missile arsenals and drones, and then open the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping.

Apparently, there is uncertainty in the administration about a second round of bombing when 42 days of damaging attacks on Iran didn’t bring about a desired diplomatic settlement. Some in the administration are loath to spoil the atmosphere in the United States during the World Cup games scheduled for June and July by waging another kinetic campaign.

What needs to be fully understood by the U.S. administration and the American public is that Iran is ruled by religious fanatics who believe in the advent of the Twelfth Imam (the hidden Messiah who will bring “justice” upon Shi’ite Iran’s enemies) following an Armageddon, of sorts. Their religious doctrine makes compromise much harder since believers are convinced that they are carrying out a holy mission, and opposing the mission (the regime) means betraying God.

The regime has inculcated its supporters with such stark terms as a struggle between good and evil, with the regime’s leadership positioned at the center of this religious mission. This regime believes that if the war resumed and it were able to inflict casualties on American military personnel, along with Israeli and Emirati civilians and troops, they (the United States and Israel) would sue for peace, and the regime would “win” by not having to give up their nuclear material or address any other concessions.

In order to end the resistance of the extremists among the IRGC leadership, Israel and the United States must hit hard enough to bring them so much pain as to compel the regime to ask for peace on terms set by Washington. Although it’s hard to conceive the IRGC and radical mullahs giving up their nuclear ambition, there is a precedent where the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1988, sued for peace with Iraq after devastating losses during the Iran-Iraq War.

It is therefore essential that the American and Israeli militaries wage effective, sustained and massive firepower that would destroy the remaining ballistic missiles and attack drones, as well as their launchers. This would deny the Iranian regime the opportunity to attack the Arab Gulf states’ oil facilities, the Israeli home front and American bases in the Middle East. Economic pressure on Iran would further limit them to use their revenue to purchase essential goods, other than food and medicine. The military action would be limited to targets and infrastructure vital to the regime without hurting the civilian population.

The U.S.-Israeli attacks must include aerial, naval and limited ground forces that could be reinforced by the Iranian-Kurdish militia forces, and perhaps Ahwazi-Arab and Baluchi rebel militias. The ground forces would target major facilities, including the Strait of Hormuz and Kharg Island, and a commando unit would be needed to retrieve the 440 kilograms of enriched uranium buried deep in some underground cave. Naturally, extensive intelligence and strategizing would need to be available in advance of an attack. The ceasefire—now more than a month long—has enabled the Israel Defense Forces and the U.S. Central Command to gather munitions and make logistical improvements.

Once the Iranian regime extremists realize that Iran is militarily defenseless and vulnerable to American and Israeli attacks, in the event that it attempts to rebuild its strategic defenses or suppress the Iranian people from demonstrating for regime change, these extremists will seek a deal for their self-preservation.

No doubt the IRGC extremists recall the U.S. attack on Iraq in 2003 and understand that had Saddam Hussein possessed a nuclear bomb, America would, more than likely, not have attacked. The extremists are digging their heels in and refusing to compromise on a peace deal that would involve their giving up their nuclear ambitions and ballistic missiles, which they perceive as their defense against both internal and external forces. Therefore, only a massive and sustained attack to finish off what remains of Iran’s nuclear and missile arsenals will not only bring them to the negotiating table, but will ultimately expedite regime change.

This is a clear societal norm in any civilized society, applicable whether committed by marginal groups of politically motivated youths, by politically and racially incited mass demonstrators in major cities, by religious groups, or by soccer or other sports hooligans at sports events. Violence should not be tolerated.

Regrettably, the international tendency to generalize and negatively politicize anything connected with Israel appears to be characterizing isolated instances of violence by marginal and irresponsible groups of youth from settlements, as if it were officially sanctioned Israeli government policy of encouraging and generating violence against Palestinians.

This has become the buzz phrase “settler violence” that is now being attributed to Israel. To characterize isolated instances as a systematic government-sanctioned and inspired policy of violence against Arabs, and to dub it “settler violence,” tailor-made to apply to Israel, would appear to be contrived.

To characterize this as if it is an international crime attributable only to Israel and to present this as a reason for overall condemnation of Israel is no less misguided and malicious.

There exists no Israeli policy encouraging or sanctioning violence against Arabs. Such violence is clearly illegal, and as in any normal society, law enforcement bodies are required to act against it.

While laxity in such enforcement may well warrant criticism and require more assertive action by law-enforcement authorities, this cannot and should not be seen as indicative of any officially sanctioned policy of sanctioning violence. As such, the term “settler violence” is misguided, ill-advised and malicious.

Use of buzzwords against Israel

Use of buzzwords and catchphrases appears to have become the international pastime when it comes to finding excuses to vilify Israel.

Not a day goes by without international leaders, parliamentarians, the U.N., international organizations, media outlets, highly organized and orchestrated demonstrations in major world capitals, as well as showbiz celebrities, liberally repeating internationally recognizable catchphrases and buzzwords to associate Israel with some element of international criminality.

These include such false and contrived buzzwords and catchphrases as “genocide,” “apartheid,” “colonialism,” “illegal occupation,” “mass starvation,” “indiscriminate violence” and the like.

Such use of anarchistic templates taken from age-old human-rights abuses by colonial powers attempts to maliciously transpose these abuses onto Israel to equate the Jewish state with the same element of international criminality. Deliberately coining and using such buzzwords carries a clear intent to mislead the public into attributing negative and criminal connotations to Israel.

The incessant and widespread repetition of such phrases and terms in all and any discussion and reporting of events and developments in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is legally inaccurate and blatantly misleading, emanating from acute ignorance as to their genuine meaning, as well as a lack of knowledge and awareness of the facts and legal background of the various issues.

The buzz phrase “settler violence” aims to single out Israel and impute a deliberate, officially sponsored policy of violence against Palestinians, to be deliberately distinguished from any other form of violence.

The absurdity of such a negatively connoted buzz phrase dedicated only to Israel is particularly blatant when one compares this with the massive swath of reported incidents of sports hooliganism throughout the world, and mass-hooliganism at political marches and demonstrations on campuses and on major thoroughfares in Western capitals.

Thousands of instances of hooliganism are regularly reported annually in European and South American soccer involving assault, criminal damage to property, use of weapons and staging illegal pyro-shows at stadiums, use of signal flares and smoke bombs and physical violence against supporters of rival teams, in addition to post-game riots, including car burning and shop windows smashing, often rooted in social conflict, political and racial tension.

However, such instances of violence and fatalities from hooliganism, documented over the years in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Australia, Egypt, Canada, the United States and other countries, have not caused those countries to be internationally condemned and branded as countries sponsoring sports violence, in the same way that Israel is being so branded.

In wide-ranging historic and current instances of violence, including fatalities and use of weaponry during sporting events and mass demonstrations and marches, generated by national, ethnic and religious tensions and large-scale fatalities, there have never been references to any form of institutionalized, state-instigated “football-hooligan violence” in those countries.

Similarly, widespread reports of extreme violence and hooliganism at political marches and demonstrations on campuses and on the streets have become a regular phenomenon in major Western capitals.

Yet sporadic instances of violence by marginal groups of youth living in Israeli settlements are considered by large elements of the international community to be institutionalized and government-sanctioned “settler violence.”

One may wonder why such European and South American countries hosting matches at which hooliganism is a given and constant factor, are not condemned by the international community as states officially sanctioning and condoning such violence?

And similarly, one may wonder why political hooliganism at demonstrations and marches in the West, including violence against law enforcement officials, defacement of national historic monuments and memorials, and attacks on foreign embassies, do not merit equal condemnation as being officially sanctioned violence by the states concerned?

Double standards and singling out

European and North American politicians are on record condemning isolated incidents of violence by hooligans in Israel “as a factor undermining security in the West Bank and the region and threatening prospects for a lasting peace.” They call upon “Israel, as the occupying power, to protect the Palestinian civilian population in the West Bank, and that those responsible for the violence must be brought to justice.”

One wonders why there has been no similar expression of international condemnation against the phenomenon of hooliganism and violence throughout the world’s sports communities, and against the mass demonstrations, as factors that genuinely undermine local security, social and cultural harmony, national and religious integrity, and peaceful coexistence?

The absence of equal criticism for far more serious and widespread outbreaks of violence, as opposed to the constant singling out of Israel, as if Israel maintains an official policy of sanctioning violence, is noteworthy and speaks for itself.

Employment of the buzz phrase “settler violence” to attribute to Israel an official government policy of sanctioning violence against Palestinians by isolated groups of Israeli youth is no less absurd and unrealistic than labeling sport-hooliganism in Europe and the Americas, and violence at mass demonstrations, as officially sponsored, government-sanctioned violence.

This particularly pernicious buzz phrase of “settler violence,” as well as all the other buzz-phrases leveled against Israel, is frequently voiced by international leaders who are completely ignorant and unaware of the facts, and are easily influenced by slanted and openly partisan propaganda.

This regrettable penchant for wild generalization in criticizing Israel is no less applicable in the light of the recent blatantly false and malicious blood libel published in The New York Times, accusing Israel of sexual violence against Palestinians.

It cannot be denied that the tendency to single out Israel emanates from a wide range of historic, economic, social, religious and partisan political interests generated by international politics, coalitions and interests, not to mention even older blights singling out the Jews and their national aspirations.

But this is no justification for the rabid hostility automatically demonstrated against Israel, for no reason, within all sectors of the international community.

Originally published by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.

What does no nukes mean? Are their scientists going to forget what they developed? How long can we keep that in a box? What happens to the enriched uranium? We are told that one, they have enough to make 10 bombs in 11 days; and two, that it takes a matter of weeks to further enrich uranium from 60% to 90% nuclear grade.

What about the plutonium, which no one is talking about? And the ballistic missiles that were destroying targets throughout the Middle East? And the range of those missiles, which can now hit Europe? We didn’t even know how far those missiles could reach. 

I guess all of this will change? The Iranian regime that kicked out inspectors, hid their activities and violated every single agreement it ever signed will have changed because of our military actions? Honestly, does this act or sound like a regime that is defeated or cares about death?

For some reason, the West cannot get its collective head around the fact that the Iranian regime’s mindset is not one of mutual existence. It is a religious, extremist, fundamentalist cult that insists on conquering or destroying all those who do not bend to its ideology.

They have told us this. They have written this. They preach this. It is in their books, pamphlets, sermons, etc. It is a revolution without borders, not merely one nation among others. Haven’t we learned this by now? Many Americans have been killed during the last 47-years as a result of the regime’s ambitions.

My greatest concern has always been enforcement, which has not been discussed much even after all of this time. If there is a deal—whatever deal it is, perhaps the greatest deal in the history of deals—again, the regime cheats, lies and hides what it is doing. Our intel and satellites simply cannot catch all of it.

And if we find violations, then what? “Well, we’ll hit them again, Mark.”

Is that what we did before U.S. President Donald Trump? Does anyone believe that’s what we will do after him? Is that what a Gavin Newsom or Kamala Harris or the rest of the Democrats would do if one of them became president?

Heck, even Republican presidents did not act. For crying out loud, look at all the noise—the appeasers, the pacifists, the isolationists. These are loud movements in our politics and government. And look at the reaction to the temporary increase in a gallon of gasoline. Would we have the will even a few years from now?

And what of Hezbollah, still a potent terrorist force? What of Hamas? The Iranian regime will promise not to support them? My response: Is the Brooklyn Bridge still for sale?

And how do we stop the regime if it funds them anyway? What will we do? And the Iranian people … what of them? “They should rise up,” it is said. Well, they did. Without arms. And they paid a horrendous price and still are. I can only imagine what more would be done to them.

Of course, the Europeans will be useless, as they are now. Even with détente with China and something like it with Russia, they still will provide support to the Iranian regime. So will North Korea. We have no control over their sabotage of any deal. This all must be considered.

And the Democrats—always desperate for a political opportunity—will ask rhetorically, “Why did we go to war?” “This is Obama 2.0,” “We wasted billions for nothing,” “Trump is a TACO,” and on and on. I can hear it now. The truth won’t matter. The spin will be constant.

Of course, if the Democrats had their way, the Iranian regime would already have nuclear weapons. But none of that will matter. This could be very damaging for the midterm elections, despite all the demands for “off-ramps.” Yet the problem is the regime itself, is it not? How do we contain it if it survives?

To be absolutely clear, I have no inside information. In fact, as far as I know at the end of another two to three days of negotiations, military action against the regime will resume. But it’s very important to think about these issues and much more.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania presented the award to Mead at PBP headquarters.

Mead and his partner, Michael Smigda, were first on site at the Pittsburgh synagogue in response to 911 calls of an active shooter. He approached the building and was shot through the hand.

Robert Bowers was shot by police and arrested. He was convicted in June 2023 for killing 11 people in the attack.

"Nearly eight years after the shooting, our gratitude and admiration for the heroic bravery and selfless dedication of the first responders that day endures," said U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti. "On the morning of October 27, 2018, Officer Mead walked directly into the line of fire in fulfillment of his sworn duty to uphold the law and protect his fellow citizens. Today, we honor him. He is Pittsburgh’s Hometown Hero."

Born Yitzhak Halali in Hebron on Dec. 1, 1925, he later adopted the name Ben-Hebron in honor of the city in which his family had lived for generations and whose Jewish community he helped rebuild after Israel regained control of it in 1967.

He was just 4 when Arab rioters murdered 67 Jews and wounded dozens more during attacks that devastated the city’s centuries-old Jewish community and led to its expulsion.

Speaking at a family gathering at his son’s home in Kiryat Arba in 2019, Ben-Hebron recalled how his mother had pushed a heavy sewing machine against the front door of their home near the Avraham Avinu Synagogue to keep the attackers out.

A neighbor urged the family to run to the synagogue. Once inside, they climbed onto chairs and escaped through upper windows as rioters rampaged through the city.

His 17-year-old sister had taken refuge in the home of Eliezer Dan Slonim, a prominent banker and member of the Hebron City Council, where many Jews sought protection. The attackers murdered those inside, while she survived by hiding beneath a bed. She later provided testimony about the killings and rapes she witnessed and identified perpetrators in police lineups.

Following the massacre, Ben-Hebron's family moved temporarily to the Beit Hadassah building, only to face renewed threats after local Arabs recognized his sister as a survivor of the riots. The family fled Hebron that same night.

Return to Hebron

As a young man, Ben-Hebron served in the Haganah and Gadna, taking part in the struggle for Israel’s independence. He recalled surviving a fierce firefight during which he vowed that, if he lived, he would one day return to Hebron.

After Israel captured Judea and Samaria in the Six-Day War, he fulfilled that promise. Ben-Hebron was among the first Jews to return to Hebron after the war and help reestablish the Jewish community there.

He joined Rabbi Moshe Levinger and other pioneers seeking to revive Jewish life in Judaism's second holiest city and was among more than 120 people who initially lived in a military compound before the Israeli government authorized renewed Jewish residence in the city. He later became one of the first residents of Kiryat Arba.

"His character and his service in the Gadna and the Haganah helped shape the future of the State of Israel, and thanks to him and many others like him, we built a strong army and an independent state," his granddaughter, Noya Shafi, wrote in a family history project in 2022.

“I have always admired him and was proud that he was my grandfather,” she wrote. “The conversations we had brought us closer together, and I felt as if I had traveled through history alongside him.”

'We were forced to leave once. It won’t happen again'

In recent years, Ben-Hebron lived in Ashkelon while continuing to share his memories of the massacre and the destruction of Hebron’s historic Jewish community.

In a 1988 interview with Maariv during the First Intifada, Ben-Hebron reflected on the experiences that shaped his life. When masked youths hurled a rock through the window of his vehicle near Bethlehem, he stopped, fired warning shots into the air and recalled the trauma of his childhood in Hebron.

“I’m already 63 years old,” Ben-Hebron told the newspaper. “I was born in Hebron, and during the riots of 1929, I was a 4-year-old child. We were forced to leave once. It won’t happen again.”

His son, Amishav, said to be the first Jewish child born in Hebron after the Six-Day War, was traveling with him when the rock struck the vehicle.

“We’re not chasing those youngsters,” Ben-Hebron told his son after firing the warning shots. “The shots into the air were meant to alert the IDF soldiers.”

The interview captured the determination that defined much of Ben-Hebron’s life. Having survived the massacre that ended centuries of continuous Jewish life in Hebron, he dedicated himself to reviving the Jewish presence in the city in which the Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs are buried.

His oft-repeated declaration—“We were forced to leave once. It won’t happen again”—became emblematic of his commitment to Hebron and its Jewish heritage.

Ben-Hebron also preserved a unique relic of the community that was destroyed in the 1929 massacre. According to his testimony, recorded by his granddaughter, a Jewish American journalist rescued a Sephardic Megillat Esther (“Scroll of Esther”) while rioters were burning Torah scrolls and Jewish property.

The scroll was entrusted to a Jerusalem resident, who delivered it to Ben-Hebron after the unidentified journalist learned he had survived the massacre. "The journalist requested that he give the Megillah to me after learning that I was a survivor of the 1929 riots," Ben-Hebron said.

Ben-Hebron treasured the Megillah, viewing it as a tangible connection to the vanished Jewish community of his childhood.

A friend of his, Avraham Kiryati, who also survived the 1929 massacre, died aged 102 on January 22, 2023. Ben-Hebron's death marks the passing of the last known direct witness to the massacre, one of the deadliest anti-Jewish attacks in Mandatory Palestine and a defining event in the history of Hebron.

During a panel, Jeffers said future conflicts will require allied special operations forces to integrate quickly and operate with compatible systems, as militaries expand their use of low-cost autonomous weapons and drones, according to the Pentagon.

"Things are going to happen at a speed [where] human relationships are going to be the thing that gets you [into the fight], but it's not going to let you execute and win," he said. "And we're going to need partnerships that include all of those trust aspects."

"But then, on the outside of that, you're going to need to be able to go to any one of these partners, and we're going to have to be able to scale quickly," he added.

Accompanied by his wife, Orna Zamir, the IDF chief visited the Loewenstein Rehabilitation Medical Center and Rambam Health Care Campus, where he met with troops injured in combat and their families.

During the visits, Zamir toured hospital wards, spoke with wounded soldiers and their relatives, and thanked medical teams and personnel from the IDF Casualties Directorate and RAM-2 medical units for their work.

At Loewenstein, Zamir met with Lt. Col. A., commander of the 52nd Battalion, who was wounded in an explosive drone attack during fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon. At Rambam, he visited Col. Meir Biderman, commander of the 401st Armored Brigade, along with other wounded soldiers, including Staff Sgt. S., who was also seriously injured in Lebanon on Wednesday.

Addressing Biderman, Zamir said the 401st Brigade had repeatedly proven its determination on the battlefield. “All the troops are awaiting your speedy recovery, and now your mission is to regain your strength, rehabilitate and return at full capacity,” he said.

He told the wounded soldiers, “The strength and resilience you and your families demonstrate throughout the recovery and rehabilitation process from complex combat injuries inspire the entire nation of Israel."

The IDF chief added, “Even during the holiday of Shavuot, the IDF remains on highest alert and continues to operate decisively across all sectors, with high readiness and full preparedness for any mission,” he said.

Zamir praised the families of wounded soldiers for their support throughout the recovery process.

“The path you walk alongside your loved ones is inspiring,” he said. “The IDF is committed to continuing to accompany, care for and strengthen all wounded and disabled IDF troops—this is our ethical and moral responsibility.”

The chief of staff noted that the military continues to operate in multiple arenas and is prepared for any development “on land, in the air and at sea” as Israelis celebrate Shavuot.

The unit is composed of combat soldiers, technology personnel, information researchers and artificial intelligence experts, the IDF said in a statement. It will operate collaboratively with all branches and bodies within the IDF to adapt technological solutions to operational users.

The establishment of Alumot reflects the need to continue deepening the military’s information advantage in the combat arena and in the learning competition against the enemy, utilizing artificial intelligence technology, the army added.

It operates within the IDF’s C4I and Cyber Defense Directorate. The head of the directorate, Maj. Gen. Aviad Dagan, was quoted saying, “The combination of the fighter on the ground and the advanced technological capabilities possessed by the Israel Defense Forces is what enabled many of the achievements of the war.

“The battlefield is evolving before our eyes and requires us to constantly learn and renew ourselves. The Alumot Unit will work to develop and make accessible the information and artificial intelligence capabilities we possess to the fighters at the operational edge,” said Dagan.

The ceremony took place at the Gideonim base near Rishon Letzion and was attended by Dagan; the head of the Information and Artificial Intelligence Division, Brig. Gen. B.; Alumot’s commander Col. S.; the commanders’ forum; and unit personnel.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, military surveillance personnel identified suspicious movement by two armed individuals several hundred meters from the Israeli border in Southern Lebanon.

The suspects were tracked continuously after being spotted and were subsequently killed in an Israeli Air Force strike, the military said.

IDF troops operating in the area conducted searches following the attack and found no indication of additional suspects. The incident was declared over.

Separately, sirens warning of a suspected drone infiltration sounded in the Rosh Hanikra area on Israel’s border with Lebanon.

"Following the alerts, a suspicious aerial target was identified," the IDF said. "Contact with the target was lost before it crossed into Israeli territory. The incident has concluded. No injuries were reported."

According to the military, troops operating in the city detained the suspects during a counterterrorism operation targeting a Hamas-linked terror network. "The terrorists planned to carry out a shooting attack in the near future," the IDF said.

The IDF said the operation was carried out by soldiers from the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion together with reservists from the 5016th Battalion. The suspects were taken into custody for questioning by security officials.

In a separate operation earlier this week, security forces arrested an additional suspect in the village of Deir al-Ghusun, near Tulkarem, whom the military accused of advancing efforts to establish a terrorist network. All four suspects were transferred for further interrogation.

“The security forces continue to operate to thwart terrorism in the area and against anyone who harms or attempts to harm Israeli civilians and security forces,” the IDF said in a statement.

Israeli forces have intensified counterterrorism operations across Judea and Samaria since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, carrying out frequent raids aimed at dismantling terrorist infrastructure and preventing attacks against Israeli civilians and military personnel.

“We appreciate the commitment of [President Donald] Trump and his Administration to enforcing U.S. law under the Taylor Force Act,” Sa’ar tweeted, referring to a 2018 anti-terrorism law proscribing U.S. aid to the P.A. as long as the latter continues to subsidize terrorists and their families.

“The Act prohibits funding that directly benefits the Palestinian Authority for continuing its ‘pay-for-slay’ policy of supporting terrorism. The P.A. must end this evil policy now!” the minister added.

We appreciate the commitment of@POTUS Trump and his Administration to enforcing U.S. law under the Taylor Force Act, and enshrining that commitment for the next 10 years.
The Act prohibits funding that directly benefits the Palestinian Authority for continuing its… https://t.co/SNKVwyhmlH

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) May 21, 2026

On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department reached a settlement to commit to enforcing the Taylor Force Act that Congress passed and Trump signed into law.

In 2022, America First Legal sued the Biden administration on behalf of Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) and the parents of Taylor Force—a 28-year-old U.S. Army veteran and graduate-school student, who was killed in a stabbing attack in Jaffa in 2016—for “unlawfully financing a foreign government that continues to incentivize terrorism,” in violation of the Taylor Force Act.

The suit also included terror-victim advocate Sarri Singer, who was wounded in a suicide bus-bombing in Jerusalem in 2003 that killed 17 people.

Under the new agreement, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, the State Department commits to comply with the Taylor Force Act for the next 10 years and to establish stricter internal review procedures.

Some intend to preach about current politics in Israel as it affects liberal Jews, while others plan to stick strictly to the traditional theme of divine revelation.

Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, of Park Avenue Synagogue, a Conservative congregation, told JNS that he will address "Yizkor, memory and revelation," rather than politics, during Shavuot morning services.

Rabbi Michelle Dardashti, of Kane Street Synagogue, an egalitarian Conservative congregation, told JNS that she intends to speak about what it means to stand together at Sinai at this moment when she addresses attendees at Shavuot Across Brooklyn, hosted by Congregation Beth Elohim, a Reform synagogue.

Shavuot Across Brooklyn brings together most of Brownstone Brooklyn's congregations and will offer 40 learning sessions.

On Shavuot morning, Kane Street plans to welcome a new Torah scroll, commissioned by a longtime member whose grandfather was a sofer, or Torah scribe, and who was murdered in the Holocaust. It will be the first new Torah welcomed by the synagogue in half a century, according to Dardashti.

"In the wake of rising violent antisemitism and Islamophobia, I pray that this Torah will indeed be a source of healing, tikkun, through which we will raise up love," she told JNS. "Love of Torah, love for ourselves and other Jews and for all of God's creatures."

Among the topics listed at a Marlene Meyerson Jewish Community Center of Manhattan gathering for Shavuot are "the fight for Israel's democracy."

The measure includes provisions to refocus intelligence agencies on foreign intelligence, international terrorism and foreign threats to the homeland, prohibits procurement of products and services made in China and establishes a task force to monitor indications of possible Chinese military aggression toward Taiwan.

It would also expand oversight of the intelligence community's use of artificial intelligence and bar intelligence employees and contractors with security clearances from using nonpublic information for prediction-market betting.

Additional provisions would require reviews of foreign real estate transactions near intelligence facilities, extend authorities protecting CIA facilities from unmanned aircraft systems and ensure continued intelligence support to U.S. allies, including Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan.

The panel voted 14-3 to advance the measure out of committee.

"I’d like to thank my colleagues for their work on this bill, which will keep America safe and make our intelligence agencies more transparent and efficient," stated Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), chair of the committee. "The bill will continue to return our intelligence agencies back to their core mission: the collection of clandestine foreign intelligence to protect our homeland."

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chairman of the panel, said that he is proud of the bipartisan legislation.

"This year’s IAA enhances support to and oversight of the intelligence community’s use of artificial intelligence to ensure that this powerful technology keeps America safe without creating unexpected vulnerabilities," he stated. "The bill also ensures continued support to America’s allies and partners, including Ukraine."

Jesse Barnes, chief of the Skokie Police Department, presented the report at the village's Human Relations Commission on Wednesday. The department received 15 reports of alleged hate or bias incidents in 2025, including seven classified as hate crimes under Illinois law, according to the report.

Of the 15 reported incidents, eight targeted Jews, as did five of the seven hate crime incidents, according to the report.

More than 25% of the population of Skokie is reportedly Jewish.

"We believe that safety is in true partnership with the community," Barnes told JNS. "We work closely with them for their specific needs. There's much that goes into a security-layered approach, and as far as I'm concerned, you can never have too many layers."

"We remind people that we can't be everywhere all the time," he said. "We need them to partner with us to make the community safer."

Among the anti-Jewish hate crimes summarized in the report were incidents involving Israeli hostage signs and Israeli flags. In one incident, a man on an electric bicycle rode through a victim's yard and over signs that displayed messages about remembering U.S. and Israeli hostages.

In another, "the suspect exited his vehicle, removed a small knife from his pocket, approached the Israel flag display on the victim's residence and intentionally cut the flag causing damage."

Anti-Jewish incidents also included incidents in which people were targeted based on their religious identity.

In one incident, "a group of juveniles were playing basketball at the park when the victims approached and asked to join the game," per the report. "Members of the group asked if the girls were Jewish. The group then directed antisemitic remarks towards the victims and pursued them with gel blasters, causing the victims to flee the area."

Susan Haggard, president of the Chicago Jewish Alliance, told JNS that "we believe there have been instances where local agencies have taken antisemitic incidents seriously and acted appropriately."

"At the same time, there have also been moments where members of the Jewish community were left frustrated by a lack of clarity, communication, visible follow up or a broader understanding of how these incidents impact community safety and trust," she said. "Because some of the individuals involved may be minors, we have limited information regarding charges or prosecutions."

"That lack of transparency is part of the concern," Haggard told JNS. "Residents want to understand how these cases are being handled, whether broader patterns of antisemitic behavior are being recognized and whether antisemitic conduct is being treated with the seriousness it deserves."

Barnes told JNS that police officers "strive to be as transparent as we can," while balancing privacy protections for juveniles involved in these incidents.

"Stakeholders directly impacted by these incidents always get more information from the detectives that are working with them directly than community members," he noted.

This is the second year that the police department has presented this data, according to Barnes.

Overall, the number of bias-based incidents in 2025 was down from 2024, while hate crimes were up, according to the report.

Recently, my radio went off for a fire at a Talmud Torah school in Ramat Beit Shemesh in central Israel, west of Jerusalem. As a volunteer emergency medical technician (EMT) with United Hatzalah, you learn to move before you even have time to think.

I happened to already be in my car, just about to pull into my parking spot at home, when the call came in. Within moments, I was speeding to the scene of the emergency.

Already en route, something hit me. My nephews go to that school.

I was no longer just a first responder. Now, I was also a concerned uncle.

As I rounded the corner of the main street, I saw a massive plume of smoke rising into the sky. All other thoughts left me; I knew I needed to “get to work.” I was determined! People needed my help. My family needed help. And I knew I had to get there.

When I arrived, I found the typical chaos that accompanies such a situation. Parents gathered around the smoking building. The teachers were already trying to manage the situation. They were getting the kids out of danger.

Soon, the firefighters were preparing their hoses outside the entrance.

Before moving to Israel, I volunteered as a firefighter in Baltimore. Fires are chaotic no matter where they happen—the smell of smoke, the uncertainty, the fear that spreads faster than the flames themselves.

But this felt different. This was not some anonymous building or unfamiliar street. This was our neighborhood. Our school. Our children.

Thank God, the staff acted quickly. Everyone got out safely, and there were no injuries, including my nephews.

You train your entire life to stay calm during emergencies. To focus. To think clearly under pressure. But emergencies have a way of reminding you that behind every dispatch alert are real families and real lives.

At United Hatzalah, the line between first responder and community member almost never exists. The people responding to emergencies are often neighbors, cousins, parents from the school pickup line or the guy you sit next to in synagogue.

Sometimes, the person you are rushing to save is someone you know or love, and sometimes, it’s a complete stranger. But the mission remains the same.

Run toward the emergency. Protect the people around. And pray that everyone makes it home safely.

The Trump administration sanctioned Albanese, who has a history of making antisemitic and anti-Israel statements, in July for what it said was an intimidation campaign against U.S. companies and groups with ties to Israel.

Richard Leon, a U.S. district court judge, ruled that the sanctions likely violated Albanese’s free speech.

Brett Shumate, U.S. assistant attorney general, challenged the judge’s injunction in a filing on Thursday with the Court of Appeals for the District Court of Washington, D.C.

Albanese is a foreign national, who has not lived in the United States for a decade and whose speech in question was expressed outside the United States, making her ineligible for American free speech protection, according to Shumate.

The Justice Department also decried the sanctions being lifted due to claims from Albanese’s husband and daughter, who weren’t sanctioned but say that they were affected deeply. The latter two’s grievances “could easily be addressed by exempting them from the sanctions” without absolving Albanese, the department said.

“The injunction is both legally indefensible and overly broad,” it told the court.

The Justice Department warned that if the injunction stands, “it will undermine important national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.”

The department is asking the court for an immediate administrative stay of the injunction while it considers the motion.

Amid concern that the stalled effort to get the terror group to lay down its arms will leave Gaza’s recovery paralyzed, Mladenov, a former U.N. envoy for the Middle East peace process, addressed the Security Council on Thursday.

“There is no recovery in Gaza,” he said.

Mladenov briefed the council on the board’s first report on the state of affairs in Gaza, coming six months after Israel and Hamas signed on to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire plan.

The Board of Peace, established by U.S. President Donald Trump, was created to bring about a permanent cessation of hostilities in Gaza and to provide a roadmap for governance, recovery and reconstruction in the Strip following the two-year war between Israel and Hamas.

A central obstacle remains Hamas’s refusal to surrender its weapons, a condition Israel and the board have described as essential to long-term stability and the phased withdrawal of Israel Defense Forces troops from Gaza.

“Reconstruction financing will not follow where weapons have not been laid down,” Mladenov said. “No investment, no movement, no horizon.”

He warned that failure to advance the disarmament process could entrench Hamas’s rule over part of the enclave indefinitely.

“The risk is that the deteriorating status quo becomes permanent—a divided Gaza, Hamas holding military and administrative control over two million people across less than half the territory,” Mladenov told the Security Council.

“This is a version of the future that Israelis, Palestinians and the region should all fear and all mobilize to avoid,” he said.

The Security Council endorsed the broad framework of Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan in a resolution passed in November, backing efforts to establish the proposed groundwork for Gaza’s future governance and recovery.

Tammy Bruce, U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said at Thursday’s meeting that “there are still significant challenges to overcome.”

She noted that “the virtual elimination of aid diversion and overall increase in humanitarian assistance flowing into Gaza.”

'Dangerous illusion'

Several council members, including Greece and Panama, welcomed the fact that the ceasefire has largely held despite near-daily violations, while expressing concern that humanitarian aid levels have not been scaled up to desired amounts.

“The path towards a just, dignified and sustainable peace between Israelis and Palestinians doesn’t need to be reinvented,” said Eloy Alfaro de Alba, Panama’s U.N. ambassador. “It needs political will to be implemented.”

France argued that reconstruction efforts should proceed regardless of whether Hamas disarms.

Jérôme Bonnafont, France’s U.N. ambassador, said that Paris can’t “accept that the restoration of decent living conditions is being subject to the success of this disarmament process, because that would be tantamount to giving Hamas the keys of the future” of the Palestinian territories.

That would make the civilian population bear the brunt of the deadlock, he said.

He called for the installation of the Palestinian technocratic transitional government envisioned under the Board of Peace framework, alongside a new Gaza police force and the proposed International Stabilization Force.

Moscow, meanwhile, cast doubt on the initiative's viability.

Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s U.N. envoy, noted he abstained on a Security Council vote on the board’s formation to give it a chance, but that the concerns he expressed then have borne out.

“Those who read the Board of Peace report may come under the impression that Hamas alone is to blame for all the misfortunes facing Gaza,” Nebenzia said.

“In fact, Israel continues to withhold aid and dangle promises of skyscrapers and jobs, even as it occupies Gaza and embraces provocative policies,” he added.

Jonathan Miller, Israel’s deputy U.N. ambassador, rejected that criticism, cautioning of a “dangerous illusion taking hold in this chamber.”

That illusion, he said, is that “diplomacy can succeed while terrorist organizations are allowed to hold diplomacy hostage.”

Pointing to similar obstructionist tactics employed by Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, Miller said that “diplomacy can only work when the parties involved are prepared to treat it as a path to implementation, rather than as a mechanism for delay.”

“When terrorist organizations use each round of talks to obstruct progress, preserve their weapons and strengthen their position on the ground, the international community must be careful not to confuse process with progress,” he said.

Romick spoke with JNS after the Democratic National Committee released a 192-page “autopsy” report of the 2024 presidential election, which doesn't address Israel or Gaza, or even the Middle East more generally.

The report concludes, in part, that the “national campaign did not effectively drive Trump’s negatives, and the White House did not effectively support Vice President Harris over three-and-a-half years to improve her standing before the candidate switch.”

“Harris wrote off rural America, assuming urban-suburban margins would compensate,” it adds.

“We need to learn the lessons of 2024, so we can be successful in 2026, 2028 and beyond,” Romick told JNS.

“What is clear, autopsy or not, is that a majority of Americans, including Democrats, support the U.S.-Israel relationship,” he said. “That support was not the reason Vice President Harris lost the election.”

“We will continue to support pro-Israel Democrats and help us form a durable coalition that can govern,” he added.

Ken Martin, who chairs the Democratic National Committee, stated that the report didn’t meet his standards and that he cannot “put the DNC’s stamp of approval on it.” He stated that it needed to be released anyway to be transparent.

The beginning of the report states that it “reflects the views of the author, not the DNC” and that the committee was “not provided with the underlying sourcing, interviews or supporting data for many of the assertions contained herein and therefore cannot independently verify the claims presented.”

Sam Markstein, national political director at the Republican Jewish Coalition, told JNS that “the Democrats are tearing themselves apart as they appease the ascendant far-left extremists in their party, from Maine to Pennsylvania.”

“It’s bad policy, and it’s bad politics,” Markstein said. “The GOP is the only party where it’s safe to be proudly Jewish and pro-Israel. This was evident at the 2024 Republican National Convention, where Jewish voices were elevated, versus the Democratic Convention, which was a fiasco.”

“Republicans are righteously taking on the tough fights and winning,” he told JNS, “while Democrats continue to whistle past the political graveyard.”

DG Bodyworks, owned by Denise Gebroe, displays two Israeli flags in its front windows. Photos from the scene show "Free Palestine" and "F*** Israel" scrawled in purple paint on the windows over the flags. State police said surveillance footage showed an individual using purple spray paint at about 1:55 a.m. on May 20 to scrawl “free Palestine” and "f**k Israel" across the windows.

“The Vermont State Police will inform the Attorney General’s Office of this case as a possible hate crime under the Bias Incident Reporting System,” police stated.

Police released surveillance images of the suspect, described as a male wearing a dark T-shirt, tan shorts and a face covering. Investigators asked anyone with information to contact the Westminster Barracks.

Hen Mazzig, senior fellow at the Tel Aviv Institute, condemned the vandalism, saying that “targeting someone for simply hanging a flag is not activism, and it will not change the actions of the Israeli government.”

The Middle East Media Research Institute published a video on Thursday of Lander, who is Jewish, attending Friday prayers at the Al-Khoei Islamic Center on May 15.

“I believe, as a proud Jewish New Yorker, that Israel’s genocide in Gaza is a desecreation, is a violation of the understanding that everyone is created in God’s image,” Lander said.

He added that he believes that the Israeli “occupation” of Lebanon is “on its way potentially to being a genocide as well.”

Lander, who is running in New York’s 10th Congressional District, then recited, in Arabic, the Quran’s Surat al-Ikhlas, which includes verses that God is “begetteth not nor was begotten, and there is none comparable unto Him.”

David Frum, the former Bush administration speech writer and writer for the Atlantic, who is Jewish, said that those verses are a sectarian rejoinder to Christians.

“The verse Lander recited was an Arabic-language denunciation of the Christian doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ,” Frum wrote. “Jewish candidates for office normally show more respect for the majority faith in this country.”

In the video clip of Lander speaking at the mosque, which has gone viral on social media, the prayer leader of the mosque can be heard reciting the Shia Ziarat of Imam Mahdi, which prays for the Mahdi, a messianic figure in Shia Islam, to bring about “the killing of the infidels with your sword.”

The prayer is commonly recited by Shia Muslims on Fridays.

The Al-Khoei Islamic Center also has a history of Holocaust denial and of supporting Hamas, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Thursday.

The mosque’s sheikh, Fadhel Al-Sahlani, who has also met with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, said in a 2006 interview with the New York Sun that the Nazis’ murder of 6 million Jews “has been exaggerated.”

“The numbers which have been mentioned are too much,” the sheikh said. He allowed that the killing of Jews during the Second World War was “an injustice.”

In a follow-up interview with BeliefNet after his comments sparked controversy, Al-Sahlani said there are “great scholars,” who dispute the number of Jews killed and who believe that it was “done by the Zionists.”

He confirmed to the interviewer that his source for that belief was the infamous Holocaust denier David Irving.

Al-Sahlani also praised Hamas in November 2023, one month after the Oct. 7 attacks, as having made “great change.”

“Hamas has made a big difference not only for the Arab Muslim world, but the whole world, the whole world, mashallah,” he said, expressing gratitude to God.

JNS sought comment from Lander about his visit to the mosque.

An Emerson College poll released on Thursday suggests that Lander holds a commanding lead in the Democratic primary for 10th district in his challenge against incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.).The race is widely seen as a reflection of the state of Democratic politics in New York City, pitting the AIPAC-endorsed, pro-Israel Democrat Goldman against Lander, a progressive and early Mamdani ally, who routinely accuses the Jewish state of genocide.

The Emerson poll has Lander leading the race with 57% of the vote against Goldman’s 23%.

Originally scheduled to take place just before Passover, the annual events were forced to be rescheduled due to the war with Iran and restrictions on public gatherings. A similar bat mitzvah event for girls was held earlier in the year.
 
The day-long celebration began at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, where the boys and their families were escorted with song and dance from the plaza down to the Kotel, where they donned their new tefillin gifted to them by Colel Chabad and were called up to the Torah. Each of the boys had lost a parent due to tragic circumstances, due to illness, terror attacks, in war or due to an accident.
 
Rabbi Sholom Duchman, director of Colel Chabad—Israel’s longest-running social services organization since 1788—addressed the boys at a celebratory dinner and gala celebration held at Jerusalem’s Binyanei Hauma International Convention Center.

“You should always remember that this is not simply a ‘coming of age’ experience that we typically think of for a bar mitzvah,” Rabbi Duchman said. “You are carrying a message of faith and hope, and that light can win out over darkness. I know that each of your parents are looking down from above with incredible pride and that their souls are in the room dancing along with all of us.”
 
Among the honored guests at the event was Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who shared a message of strength with the boys and their families. “From too young an age, you have been exposed to immense pain and have had to grow up too quickly. All of you have grown out of hardship; you have learned to grow amidst the pain and alongside it. You are not only coming of age, you are also overcoming—and each and every one of you is a hero.

“Today, together with the fragmentation, we rejoice with you from the depths of our hearts,” he said. “We are proud of you, and we wish that you will continue to grow, to rejoice, to flourish, to dream, to dare and to succeed.”
 
Dr. Jonathan Donath, founder and president of DailyGiving.org, a popular micro-giving initiative that allows individuals to give charity every single day to different organizations, including Colel Chabad, was on hand at the Kotel to help celebrate with the boys.
 
“Speaking on behalf of the more than 24,000 daily givers in 51 countries who contribute to Daily Giving, we know that the sensitivity and impact that Colel Chabad has for the people it helps is so incredibly moving,” he said. “Witnessing the level of compassion and intentionality at this event, where every kid is able to feel so cared for, gives us great honor to be bringing happiness to families who have experienced such loss and sadness.”

I have no doubt that Galindo—a breathtakingly stupid individual who nonetheless says she is a “marriage and family therapist” by trade, and who came first in the March 2026 Democratic primary with 30% of the vote—is deeply disturbed. She is clearly in thrall to her perverted fantasies of state-orchestrated violence against those with whom she disagrees. But I’d also argue that her mental stability is beside the point.

Were Galindo a Hamas politician in Gaza or one of the handful of female parliamentarians in Iran, a statement like hers would hardly be remarkable. In the West, however, where we consider ourselves sufficiently civilized to automatically eschew such proposals as heinous incitement, we have a tendency to fall back on the term “mental illness” to describe those who go against the grain.

I don’t want to play that game. The solution for someone like Galindo is not therapy. Rather, we should take her at her word and recognize her as the budding genocidaire that she clearly is. As the scholar Naya Lekht correctly observed in a post on X, Galindo belongs among the volunteer women who served as guards at Nazi concentration camps, “known for brutality and active participation in mass murder operations.”

Galindo later replaced her Instagram post with a pathetic attempt to portray the reaction against her as a distortion of what she originally said. “Billionaire Zionists” were, she insisted, organizing a “blitz campaign” falsely claiming that she “wants Jews in warehouses.”

Actually, the post she took down was far more graphic.

Galindo pledged to turn the Karnes detention center near San Antonio “into a prison for American Zionists,” adding that the facility could also function as “a castration processing center for pedophiles, which will probably be most of the Zionists.”

She wasn’t just simply using dehumanizing language in associating “billionaires” and “pedophiles” with Jews: Galindo announced a plan of action to launch a second Shoah, along with a venue to begin its implementation.

To cover herself—in the slimy, cowardly manner that comes naturally to Jew-haters—she resorted to the trick of replacing “Jews” with “Zionists,” so that any legal scrutiny of her comments would conclude that she was targeting, however distastefully, a political group that she opposes rather than an ethnic group with immutable characteristics.

Just because the First Amendment sets an extremely high bar for speech to be deemed as incitement to imminent violence doesn’t mean that we are obliged to give Galindo a pass. We know exactly what she means, even if she worded her remarks in such a way as to give herself some legal wiggle room.

Galindo is emblematic of a process that I’ve previously described as the “Nazification” of anti-Zionism. She should not be seen as an outlier, but rather as a faithful representative of the monstrosity that anti-Zionism, which I prefer to call “antizionism,” has become.

The fact that not a single one of the organizations that celebrated the Hamas massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has condemned Galindo is no accident. She speaks for them. Her agenda is their agenda. The pogromists who have gathered in mobs outside synagogues in New York—egged on by the city’s Islamist Mayor Zohran Mamdani—share her views. The student encampments displaying signs urging the exclusion of “zios” share her views. The social-media influencers and podcasters of left and right, who have bonded through their hatred of Jews, share her views.

Every single one of their utterances contains the inner logic that Galindo articulated, in a faithful reflection of the historical trajectory of antisemitism as described by the late Holocaust scholar Raul Hilberg: “You have no right to live among us as Jews; you have no right to live among us; you have no right to live.” The only change is replacing the word “Jews” with “Zionists”; the fundamental intent is exactly the same.

Jews in America need to equip themselves with the tools to fight back, and they need to do so quickly. That means embracing the self-defense and weapons-training programs that are increasingly available to members of the community. It means boycotting, undermining and relentlessly attacking any politician, like Mamdani, who seeks to destroy the national rights and the general security of the Jewish people through the elimination of the State of Israel.

Above all, it means educating ourselves and our allies outside the community about the lethal nature of antizionism.

The current tool communal organizations are using to determine whether something is antisemitic—the definition of antisemitism promoted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance—is simply not up to this task. While it contains examples of when rhetoric directed against Israel is antisemitic, it does not include the terms “Zionism” or “anti-Zionism,” nor does it state explicitly that the goal of eliminating Israel “from the river to the sea” correlates to the elimination of Jews.

What’s required is a new definition that puts anti-Zionism, which is the primary expression of antisemitism in this century, front and center.

This would involve acknowledging Zionism, understood as the spiritual and political redemption of the Jewish people in their own state, as an integral, non-negotiable component of Jewish identity. It would involve interrogating and exposing the concepts—such as nakba and “genocide”—that undergird attempts to portray the Palestinian Arabs as the passive, innocent victims of rapacious Jewish colonists. It would stigmatize attempts to exclude Jews from the public square through groundless accusations such as “dual loyalty,” proudly asserting that there is no tension and no contradiction between being a patriotic American and supporting the Jewish state.

As the late President John F. Kennedy once stated, Israel, like America, “carries the shield of democracy and honors the sword of freedom.”

As I witnessed for myself at a symposium on anti-Zionism held last weekend in Toronto, where I was among the panelists, a good number of scholars and activists have now begun this important work in earnest.

The goal is not to seek an accommodation with the anti-Zionists or to engage them in the honest debate that they are morally and intellectually incapable of. It is to silence them, defeat them and drive them out of public life. After nearly three years of unceasing harassment, violence and terrorism aimed at Jews inside and outside the State of Israel, we cannot settle for anything less.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of her and mourn her loss, while also recognizing that it could happen to any Jew at any time anywhere at this point,” Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, co-founder of the Jewish Federation of Annapolis and Chesapeake, told JNS.

“There is not a day that goes by that I’m not working on fighting antisemitism and creating more security for Jews in my community,” she said. “Every single day, I am working on security for Jews, because I know that what happened to Sarah could happen to any of us anywhere at this time.”

The American Jewish community remembered the two Israeli embassy staffers on Thursday.

Milgrim and Lischinsky, who planned to get engaged, had left a Jewish young professionals event at the Capital Jewish Museum on May 21, 2025, when a gunman, who shouted “free Palestine,” killed the two.

Elias Rodriguez faces federal hate-crime and murder charges in connection with the shooting, and the U.S. Justice Department said that it is seeking the death penalty.

“It’s hard to believe that it’s a year ago, because it feels like yesterday,” Ron Halber, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, told JNS. “We think about Yaron and Sarah every day.”

“It was a killing of two young, beautiful people, because they were Jewish and the irony is that this couple, who worked at the embassy, were working on coexistence efforts and modeling what they hoped would be a brighter future for the Jews and the Palestinians,” Halber said.

Milgrim was Jewish. It wasn’t clear if the gunman assumed that Lischinsky was as well.

An audit of incidents of Jew-hatred, which the Anti-Defamation League released recently, found that while incidents were down overall, they still remained elevated since Oct. 7 and violence against Jews was on the rise.

This shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum resonated in particular, because a lot of people knew Milgrim and Lischinsky, according to Halber.

“I was surprised at how many people knew them,” he told JNS. “Personally, I think it had a tremendous impact, and I think it’s viewed very personally.”

Laszlo Mizrahi said that she continues to work on the climate issues, upon which she worked with Milgrim, while also focusing on fighting Jew-hatred.

“It has changed my actions dramatically to see how close to home this is, and then it could happen to any of us,” she told JNS.

Halber told JNS that Jewish institutions, which already operate with tighter security, have stepped that up even more, as they continue to press for more grant funding.

But more needs to be done, he thinks.

“These deaths were caused by a man who was radicalized by antisemitism,” Halber told JNS. “This is what happens when antisemitism spreads, like wildfire, and it’s not checked by responsible people in the middle and on the left and on the right.”

“So on this one year anniversary, I’d like to see more people pledge that when they hear ridiculous antisemitic tropes on social media to fight back,” he said. “I want to hear more elected officials standing up to reject this.”

“And Americans have to step up and say, ‘This is not acceptable,’ and to voice that in the public square and in social media,” he added, “so we diminish the amount of hatred online and reduce the possibility of these sort of attacks occurring in the future.”

The U.S. Department of the Treasury stated on Thursday that the individuals sanctioned include officials embedded in Lebanon’s parliament, military and security services who “seek to preserve the Iran-backed terrorist group’s influence over key Lebanese state institutions.”

“Hezbollah’s continued militant activity and coercive influence over the Lebanese state undermine the Lebanese government’s ability to assert its authority over state institutions and disarm the terrorist group,” the department stated.

The action comes as U.S.-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon, focused in part on Hezbollah’s disarmament, are expected to hold a fourth round in early June.

Among those designated were two members of Lebanon’s security apparatus. Col. Samir Hamadi, identified by Treasury as chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces Intelligence Directorate’s Dahiyah branch, and Brig. Gen. Khattar Nasser al-Din of the Internal Security Forces’ General Security Directorate, were accused of sharing intelligence with Hezbollah during the ongoing regional conflict.

Also sanctioned were Mohamed Abdel-Mottaleb Fanich, a former Lebanese minister and lawmaker described as heading Hezbollah’s executive council; Hezbollah lawmakers Hassan Fadlallah, Ibrahim al-Moussawi and Hussein al-Hajj Hassan; and Amal Movement security officials Ahmad Asaad Baalbaki and Ali Ahmad Safawi. Treasury said Safawi has directed attacks against Israel.

The designation also included Mohammad Reza Sheibani, Iran’s ambassador-designate to Lebanon, whom Lebanese authorities had previously declared persona non grata and ordered to leave over alleged interference in domestic affairs. He has reportedly remained in Lebanon despite the order.

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott stated that “anyone still shielding or collaborating with this terrorist organization, or otherwise undermining Lebanon’s sovereignty, should understand that they will be held accountable.”

“The United States stands ready to help the people and the government of Lebanon in charting a path to a better, more peaceful, and more prosperous future,” he added.

Golan, speaking on Wednesday during a debate with opposition lawmaker Gilad Kariv, a Reform rabbi and member of the Knesset opposition, said he was “marrying dogs in your delusional synagogues.” She also mocked Kariv’s association with Women of the Wall, the group that advocates for egalitarian prayer practices at the Western Wall.

Leiter called Golan’s comments “disgusting and reprehensible, worthy of excoriation and rebuke,” noting his own status as an Orthodox Jew.

“Theological, political and ideological differences are fine, even necessary for a healthy people. But there is a line that cannot be crossed,” Leiter wrote. “It is a line that divides debate from hate and separates altruism from populism.”

The ambassador said he plans to meet with Reform movement leaders in the United States “soon” in order to “apologize on Israel’s behalf.”

While Orthodox Jewry is the fastest-growing segment of American Jewry, the Reform movement remains the largest Jewish denomination in the United States.

Leiter’s statement followed controversy over earlier remarks in which he called the advocacy group J Street “a cancer within the Jewish community,” prompting calls for an apology from Reform leaders, including Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, and Rabbi David Saperstein, director emeritus of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

On Wednesday, the ambassador accused Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of “reckless grandstanding” after he circulated videos showing himself mocking detainees from a Gaza-bound flotilla intercepted by Israeli authorities.

The U.S. government on Tuesday imposed sanctions on several organizers of the flotilla over alleged ties to designated terrorist groups, including Hamas.

The footage showed Ben-Gvir confronting activists with their hands bound while accusing them of supporting terrorism.

“Ben-Gvir’s antics take a sledgehammer to our diplomatic efforts while Israel’s enemies gleefully jump on every unfortunate nonsense to discredit and demonize,” Leiter wrote.

The company, previously owned by businessmen Simon Falic and David Herzog, has been acquired by New York-based tech entrepreneur and businessman Reuven Moskowitz, together with Tom Zadok, who has served as the company’s CEO in recent years and will continue to lead it moving forward.

All ILTV operations and business partnerships will continue without change.

As part of its new vision, the company has developed a strategic growth plan aimed at expanding its international presence beyond traditional news and current affairs. The plan includes the development of new formats across culture, music, entertainment, lifestyle and podcasts, while maintaining the company’s core news operations, alongside expanding its live broadcasting capabilities and strengthening the brand’s digital and social-media presence.

In addition, the company plans to invest significantly in technological innovation and the integration of AI systems into its production, editing, distribution and content workflows, as part of its adaptation to the rapidly evolving media landscape and the content consumption habits of younger generations.

Since its establishment in 2015, ILTV has become one of the leading English-language media platforms covering Israel for international audiences, delivering live news broadcasts, original programming, real-time updates and digital content distributed worldwide.

The company operates a live news channel broadcasting 24/7 and is distributed across more than 10 television networks and international streaming platforms. Additionally, it has built a social media audience of more than 2.2 million followers across its platforms.

In April, during the recent conflict with Iran, the company reached record-breaking audience engagement, surpassing 100 million monthly views across its social media and digital news platforms. Today, ILTV has approximately 846,000 YouTube subscribers, more than 800,000 Facebook followers, close to 300,000 Instagram followers and approximately 130,000 TikTok followers.

Throughout the months of conflict, for many around the world, ILTV became one of the leading English-language sources for real-time information and updates about events unfolding in Israel.

The company’s primary audience includes English-speaking Jewish communities worldwide, particularly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, alongside pro-Israel audiences and evangelical communities.

"ILTV is entering a new era," said Tom Zadok, CEO of ILTV. "I would like to thank the company’s outgoing owners, Simon Falic, David Herzog, Jess Dolgin and Yaakov Berg, for their trust, support and partnership throughout the years. Together, we built a media platform with global impact during a significant and complex period for Israel and the Jewish world.

"I am proud and excited to begin this new chapter together with Reuven Moskowitz, and I believe that the combination of vision, innovation, and belief in our path will allow us to lead ILTV into the biggest, most meaningful, and most successful years in the company’s history.”

More than 30 years and 20 Israeli medals later, the legendary judoka, who is now president of Israel’s Olympic Committee, is traveling across the United States to raise support for Israeli athletes ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics.

“We feel that Israeli athletes are doing much more than sports,” Arad, 59, told JNS on a visit to New York.

She was in town meeting with Jewish leaders and philanthropists to raise money for programs ranging from mental-health support and security to cycling technology and new sailing boats.

“It’s a lot about being ambassadors of the Israeli spirit and the Jewish spirit,” she told JNS.

Arad, who also manages commercial rights of Paramount Global in Israel, said that her Olympic work is all on a volunteer basis. In recent weeks, much of her focus has been on strengthening ties with the U.S. Jewish community ahead of the Los Angeles games.

“This is our opportunity, like we did in Paris and Tokyo, to really show Israel the way we believe it is,” she told JNS, after a series of meetings in Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and New York.

“That’s why we’re engaging leaders of the Jewish community, philanthropists, businesspeople and organizations,” she said. “Not only to support the journey but to be part of it and cheer us on.”

JNS asked the former Olympian why the Israeli delegation, expected to include 70 athletes in Los Angeles, needs additional fundraising from a volunteer.

The budget which the Israeli government provides is “never enough” for its athletes to reach their highest potential, she told JNS.

“We’re a small country competing against 205 other delegations,” Arad said. “When we come from a country dealing with such difficult times, even with support from the government and in terms of budget, it’s never enough if you really want to maintain your abilities, move the needle and succeed.”

Arad has been part of Israel’s Olympic Committee since 2013 and has served as its president since 2021. Under her leadership, Israeli athletes have recorded some of the strongest Olympic performances in the country’s history, winning seven medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics. It previously won four at the Tokyo games and two in Rio.

U.S. philanthropy is already helping support 11 programs tied to Israel’s Olympic preparation, including in judo, sailing, beach volleyball and cycling, as well as wider investments in innovation, technology and sports science, according to Arad.

A UJA-Federation of New York spokesman told JNS that it is not involved in fundraising for the upcoming Olympics, which it said tends to come from corporate sponsorships. JNS also sought comment from the Jewish Federations of North America.

Philanthropic funding helped purchase four new boats in Los Angeles for Israeli sailing athletes to train ahead 2028, eliminating the need to repeatedly transport equipment from Europe to California, according to Arad.

She told JNS that extra effort has gone into supporting the mental health of athletes after the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terror attacks and after Israeli athletes had to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics amid anti-Israel protests, online harassment and repeated threats to their safety.

Prior to Oct. 7, Israel’s Olympic Committee had spent years building a mental resilience program that pairs athletes and coaches with psychologists and mental trainers throughout the athletes’ Olympic preparation and competition. Since Oct. 7, funding for the program has increased to about $500,000 annually, according to Arad.

“What started as a normal sports mental-health program became much more important after Oct. 7,” she told JNS. “We realized how important it is to support the coaches and the athletes beyond the sport itself.”

The Israeli delegation was prepared not only for competition at the Paris games but also for protests, media attention and the pressures surrounding the Jewish state’s participation in the games, according to Arad.

Ahead of the competition, French authorities placed Israeli athletes under constant police protection following reported threats against the athletes’ lives, she added.

“The fact that we won seven Olympic medals and 10 Paralympic medals during such a difficult time showed the resilience of these athletes,” she told JNS. “They brought a lot of pride to Israel and to Jewish people around the world.”

Arad said that security for Israeli athletes is coordinated between the International Olympic Committee, local authorities and the Israeli government.

Israel has also brought its own security to the Olympics since the 1972 Munich massacre, when eight Palestinian terrorists infiltrated the Olympic Village, took hostages and murdered 11 Israeli athletes and coaches, Arad told JNS. Two decades later, she said that the silver medal that she won was in honor of those victims.

“I dedicated my Olympic medal and success to the memory of the athletes murdered in Munich,” she told JNS. “For me, it felt like closing a circle in Israeli sports.”

“Today, we always come with our own security, and we cooperate with the organizing committee, local police, federal security and the Israeli government,” she said. “It’s low profile and behind the scenes, but we put a lot of effort into making sure our athletes are safe at every competition and training.”

JNS asked Arad if she believes that the International Olympic Committee does enough to protect Israeli athletes. The organization is “doing everything needed,” she said.

Arad described Israel’s relationship with the committee as “very good cooperation.”

“They are allowing us to have everything we need,” she told JNS. “They listen to all our needs.”

Arad hopes that politics can remain separate from sports.

“You have to look at it in a few layers,” she said. “First, there are the athletes themselves. We work very hard to remind them that they are athletes, and that the Olympic values are about building bridges between people and nations, not political arguments.”

The delegation is certainly “proud” to represent the Jewish state, but the committee teaches athletes to focus on competition, not outside pressures.

“Of course, they feel very strongly about Israel, and they are very proud to represent the country,” Arad told JNS. “It gives them a lot of motivation, especially during these times. But we teach them to keep politics out of their relationships and discussions with others.”

“We want them to focus completely on their sport,” she said. “We believe that by showing the Israeli spirit and the bright side of Israel to the world, they are already making a very strong statement.”

For Arad, politics were never a central part of her athletic career. Raised in Tel Aviv in the 1970s by two journalists, she described herself as a “tomboy” with endless energy.

When one of her three brothers began taking judo lessons, Arad tagged along to what she said was the only judo club in Tel Aviv at the time.

“I was 8-years-old, and from the very first training, I fell in love with judo,” she told JNS. “I loved throwing the boys on their backs, and I was quite talented from the beginning.”

Her coach noticed her abilities early, and by age 9-and-a-half, she was already competing in her first Israeli championship.

“A year later, I became Israeli champion,” Arad said. “From there, training went from twice a week to four times, then six times. I became addicted to judo, to the camaraderie and to the club.”

At 16, she decided she would become “the best in the world.”

She soon began traveling and training internationally, including solo trips to Japan and a stint at a European training camp.

Judo, at the time, was still a relatively small sport in Israel, according to Arad.

“Step by step, more children started joining clubs, but it was only after I won my Olympic medal that judo really became a major sport in Israel,” she told JNS. “It still is today.”

Being Israeli didn't affect Arad’s experience rising through the ranks of international judo.

“In the sports world, athletes build relationships,” she told JNS. “You compete against each other, but at the same time you travel together, train together and become friends. People judge you by your personality and your abilities.”

“I was an athlete. It was pure sport,” she added. “It was already difficult enough trying to become the best in the world when you came from such a small country, with no real history in the sport. Nobody expected us to win.”

She said becoming an Olympic medalist had long felt like an impossible dream, even to many around her. The moment still feels difficult to put into words to her.

“To know you’re going to the Olympic final, that you’re about to become one of the best in the world, and then to win the first Olympic medal in Israel’s history—it was something incredible,” she told JNS.

“It’s impossible to really describe in words. It was a mixture of my own dream and destiny, together with the pride of being Israeli,” she said.

Arad hopes that the next generation of Israeli athletes will experience that same feeling.

“I want them to fulfill their dreams,” she told JNS. “I believe we can do great things.”

Congratulations to Mohamed Hagi on making history as Somaliland’s first ambassador to Israel, marking a bold diplomatic breakthrough. His arrival, coinciding with the 35th anniversary of Somaliland’s May 18 independence declaration, carries unmistakable symbolic weight. The ambassador has announced that the embassy will be established in Jerusalem, with reports of reciprocal Israeli diplomatic presence in Hargeisa, signaling a significant and assertive deepening of bilateral relations.

The Egypt-Eritrea alignment is often presented as a Red Sea stabilization effort. In reality, their publicly stated positions and recent diplomatic engagements point to something sharper: a political alignment driven less by integration and shared development, and more by coordinated hostility—toward Ethiopia, Somaliland’s independence and Israel’s expanding diplomatic presence in the Horn of Africa.

At the center of this convergence is a set of overlapping political narratives and security priorities that reflect a shared emphasis on preserving Somalia’s territorial integrity, particularly in relation to Somaliland’s independence, while resisting external realignments involving Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia that could alter the strategic balance of the Red Sea corridor.

Eritrea’s President Isaias Afewerki has repeatedly framed regional developments through the lens of foreign interference and geopolitical encirclement. In public remarks in a July 2025 televised interview, he has alleged that the UAE and Ethiopia are advancing Israeli strategic interests in the Horn of Africa. Also, diaspora figures aligned with Eritrea’s dictator have promoted this narrative, portraying Somaliland and Ethiopia as part of a broader Israeli regional project.

Within this worldview, Somaliland’s push for independence is not treated as an isolated constitutional or legal question, but as part of a broader regional struggle over sovereignty, influence and control of maritime corridors.

He has also publicly indicated willingness to participate in regional cooperation aimed at preserving Somalia’s unity, including references to potential military support or deployment in Somalia in coordination with allied regional actors. In the same interview, he further claimed that Eritrea had trained and deployed approximately 10,000 Somali soldiers as part of this effort, and many defected to Al-Shabab.

This position was formally reflected in the October 2024 trilateral summit in Cairo, where the presidents of Egypt, Eritrea and Somalia reaffirmed their commitment to Somalia’s territorial integrity.

The meeting underscored a strategic convergence: a shared interest in reinforcing Somalia’s unity at a moment when Somaliland’s international engagement is gradually expanding, including reported discussions around Israel’s recognition, alongside broader speculation that the UAE, Ethiopia, the United States and others could eventually follow.

The summit thus reflected not merely bilateral cooperation, but an emerging alignment in the Red Sea-Horn of Africa theater between Egypt and Eritrea centered on preserving Somalia’s territorial integrity and opposing Somaliland’s independence, including through the possibility of coordinated security or military involvement.

Since the late 1990s, Eritrea’s posture toward Israel has increasingly taken on an adversarial tone, reflected in a series of publicly observable positions: opposition to Israel’s engagement in African Union observer frameworks, diplomatic friction with Israeli representation in Asmara and closer alignment at various points with actors hostile to Israel’s regional interests, including Iran.

Eritrean official rhetoric has also, at times, framed Hamas as a “resistance” movement, while offering limited public response to maritime attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea involving Israel-linked shipping near Eritrean waters. In this evolving context, newer political narratives have further linked Israel’s regional engagement—alongside the UAE, Ethiopia and Somaliland—to alleged geopolitical designs in the Red Sea corridor.

Eritrea’s authoritarian leader has backed and participated in the Saudi-led, Egypt-backed Red Sea and Gulf of Aden regional framework, which excludes Israel, despite its clear geographic status as a Red Sea littoral state. As the leader of the only non-Arab and non-Muslim coastal member, one would expect him to oppose Israel’s isolation on geographic grounds and the Tigrinya, the overwhelming majority in Eritrea's strategic security, economic and cultural interests.

Egypt’s alignment with the Eritrean dictator is primarily shaped by its long-standing dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which Cairo views as a direct national security concern. It reflects a classic “enemy of my enemy is my friend” dynamic, reinforced by Eritrea’s own tensions with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Against this backdrop, Egypt has expanded security and military cooperation with Somalia in recent years, including defense coordination and training arrangements aimed at reinforcing Somalia’s central authority, with implications for limiting Somaliland’s independence and counterbalancing Ethiopia’s regional engagement.

Within this framework, Somaliland’s pursuit of recognition is seen in Cairo as a potentially destabilizing precedent that could undermine the principle of Somali territorial integrity. Israel’s recognition and expanding diplomatic engagement with Somaliland adds an additional layer of complexity to Egypt’s regional calculus.

Taken together, the Egypt-Eritrea alignment reflects not a strategic bloc but a publicly stated position shaped by overlapping defiance against a perceived common enemy.

These include resistance to Ethiopia, Somaliland’s independence trajectory and shared skepticism toward evolving diplomatic realignments involving Israel and the UAE in the Horn of Africa.

What binds this alignment is not a shared economic vision or a strategic agenda, but a common agenda to undercut Somaliland’s independence and Israel’s diplomatic engagement in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea, alongside hostility toward Ethiopia over its perceived role in advancing these regional realignments.

Somaliland recognition is no longer just a Somali territorial issue; it has become part of a broader geopolitical struggle over Red Sea alignment and increasingly tied to Israel’s expanding engagement in the Horn of Africa.

Good luck to Ambassador Hagi. Strong bilateral relations between Israel and Somaliland could encourage the UAE, Ethiopia and others to follow suit, and eventually position the United States to align with this evolving diplomatic trajectory.