A hacking group thought to be tied to Israel is waging a cyberwar on an Iranian cryptocurrency trading platform, and on Thursday, has fulfilled its threat to release the source code for Iran’s Nobitex exchange, according to a statement from the group.

Predatory Sparrow, which often goes by its Farsi name, Gonjeshke Darande, posted on its X account on Wednesday that the Nobitex exchange had 24 hours to withdraw any assets, otherwise the group would release the source codes and information from their internal network.

Nobitex is Iran's largest digital asset exchange, used to access global crypto markets.

https://twitter.com/GonjeshkeDarand/status/1935231018937536681

The hacking group accused Nobitex of being “at the heart of the regime’s efforts to finance terror worldwide, as well as being the regime’s favorite sanctions violation tool.”

Predatory Sparrow further asserted that “these cyberattacks are the result of Nobitex being a key regime tool for financing terrorism and violating sanctions. Associating with regime terror financing and sanction violation infrastructure puts your assets at risk.”

The release of the source code came some 24 hours after the hacking group burned $90 million from Nobitex-held wallets, rather than stealing it, which tech outlet Wired said was an unusual move.

“Most of the addresses where the hacked funds are currently held are vanity addresses, containing some variation of the term “F***IRGCterrorists” within their public key,” according to Elliptic, a British blockchain analytics firm headquartered in London that covers blockchains.

“The hack also does not appear to be financially motivated. The vanity addresses used by the hackers are generated through ‘brute force’ methods–involving the creation of large numbers of cryptographic key pairs until one contains the desired text. But creating vanity addresses with text strings as long as those used in this hack is computationally infeasible,” said Elliptic CEO Tom Robinson.

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Following Israel’s June 13 preemptive strike on Iran, Idit and Kobi Ohel, the parents of Hamas hostage Alon Ohel, appealed to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and international mediators to ensure that any agreement resulting from that war would require Tehran to demand the release of Israeli captives held by its proxies.

“Obviously, I have no power over it. I can only ask and plead for that and hope somebody listens,” Idit Ohel told JNS on Wednesday.

“We want to save our son, we want him to come home, and we are thinking of ways to make that happen. We are very scared about his situation in Gaza; we are scared for his life,” she said.

“I’m just a mother who wants her son to come home. It’s been 621 days, I know it’s taking too long, and I know the IDF and the country are strong. I just want things to work out,” she continued.

On June 13, Israel launched "Operation Rising Lion," a preemptive strike aimed at Iran’s nuclear program, targeting numerous enemy sites, including military and nuclear facilities.

Iran has since fired over 400 ballistic missiles at cities across Israel, according to military estimates.

At least 10 people were seriously wounded by an Iranian missile barrage on Thursday morning. Beersheba’s Soroka Hospital was directly hit, while impacts were also reported in Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan and Holon.

Twenty-four people have been killed in the Iranian attacks since Friday.

"Nobody has talked to me from behind the scenes, I don’t know what is really on the table or what is happening with the hostage situation. Alon’s injury is known and life-threatening. It has to be taken care of; he has to come home,” Ohel told JNS.

Details about Alon’s physical and mental condition have emerged from former Hamas captives Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Eliya Cohen, who were held with him and are part of a group of 25 hostages and eight deceased released during the first phase of a Jan. 19 ceasefire. They revealed that Alon had been injured by shrapnel and was unable to see out of his right eye.

“Until now, no medical doctor has seen Alon. We are worried about that. We need him to come home soon. His situation has not changed; he is still in Gaza, held in harsh conditions, starved, and his legs are chained. The government needs to do everything they can,” said Ohel.

“At the end of it, wars don’t stop through military means; they stop through conversations and negotiations. So, I want negotiations to start so my son can be freed and brought home safely and alive,” she continued.

Idit revealed that she had had many meetings that had to be canceled as Israel’s war against Iran intensified.

“I don’t know what will happen,” she said.

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The Israel Defense Forces is taking a proactive and preventive approach in its operations against Iran and its regional proxies, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir told senior Southern Command officers on Wednesday.

"Important and direct lessons were learned from the events of Oct. 7—we are not waiting. We are preventing threats. We are not waiting for those threats to materialize to the point where it is too late to address them," Zamir emphasized during the situational assessment.

https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1935353939781640641

This shift in doctrine is guiding Israel’s current campaign to neutralize existential threats, particularly those emanating from Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, he said. Zamir highlighted the direct connection between Iran and its regional proxies, underscoring the need for decisive action across all fronts.

"It is now clear to all of you that there is a direct line connecting Iran to the entire axis. Striking Iran means striking the axis—from Yemen to every front you are aware of. And in the end, it reaches close here; it reaches Hamas," he said.

Zamir continued, "Iran is behind arming Hamas, sustaining Hamas, and financing Hamas. That’s why the operation we are conducting in Iran directly affects the situation here as well."

He called Iran "the most serious existential threat we face. It is where we are now operating, and it is where we are focusing the IDF’s efforts." Zamir noted that the military is actively targeting Iran’s strategic capabilities to prevent future attacks and escalation.

Zamir reiterated the dual mission in Gaza—to defeat Hamas and secure the return of hostages—while commending commanders for their professionalism and urging continued dedication despite the heavy toll of recent operations. The chief of staff concluded by affirming that the current proactive strategy is a direct result of the painful lessons of Oct. 7, 2023, aimed at ensuring Israel is never again caught off guard.

The operation being conducted in Iran "will ultimately influence our ability to achieve better conditions to secure the return of our hostages," he said.

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As Israeli forces rack up decisive victories in their war against Iran, a new conversation is quietly unfolding in Washington—and United States President Donald Trump is at the center of it.

Trump began taking decisive steps last Friday, as news emerged that Israel’s operations in its war against Iran were shaping up to be a stunning success against what many view as the world’s most abominable regime. It was in this moment that Trump—beyond his longstanding sympathy for Israel—started aligning his vision of a new world order.

According to sources close to the president, June 13, 2025, marked a significant shift. News out of Israel—precision strikes deep in Iranian territory, the degradation of Tehran’s missile systems, the collapse of key Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (ICRC) command structures—signaled not just a tactical win, but the beginning of something larger: the unraveling of the most dangerous regime on earth.

And Trump is paying close attention.

It was never just about his well-documented affinity for Israel. Now, as Iran teeters, Trump appears to be aligning Israel’s war effort with his own broader vision: the re-establishment of a Pax Americana—a global reset that can roll back the threats of nuclear blackmail and jihadist tyranny for good.

In comments on Social Truth in which he said the U.S. is not assassinating Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei “for now," he invoked a phrase not heard in decades: “Unconditional surrender.” It was the standard once applied to Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. And now, in Trump’s view, it should apply to Khamenei’s Iran: no enrichment, no hegemony, no threats against Israel, no stranglehold on the Iranian people.

Behind the scenes, the options are being weighed. American bunker-busting bombs could soon be in play to target Fordow, Iran’s most fortified nuclear facility. Some Israeli analysts believe Jerusalem might act alone—through an operation so daring it would enter the annals of history alongside Entebbe and Osirak.

But more realistically, the regime is bleeding out. Khamenei’s inner circle is fractured. His ballistic missile infrastructure lies in ruins. Ninety percent of the missiles launched by Iran have been destroyed by Israeli airstrikes or intercepted en route. ICRC has been decimated. What was once the sharp edge of radical Islam is now a cornered beast.

For Trump, this is more than a regional skirmish. This is about energy security. It’s about the Strait of Hormuz, Bandar Abbas and Tehran’s partnerships with Russia, China and even North Korea—which now threatens to intervene. It’s about stopping the metastasis of tyranny.

Since late 2024, Trump had hoped for a diplomatic off-ramp. He dispatched adviser Steve Witkoff to explore a potential deal. He even sent a letter to Khamenei expressing a desire for peace. But the Iranian Supreme Leader refused to halt uranium enrichment. Even this week, he issued fresh threats—against Netanyahu and Trump himself.

That may have been a mistake.

The tide began to turn long before this week. In December, Israel finalized its operational plans. In February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brought Washington new intelligence: Iran’s nuclear program had passed the point of no return. The window to act was rapidly closing.

Trump never slammed the door on diplomacy, but he made peace with the possibility that no agreement was possible. On June 8 at Camp David—briefed by the CIA on Israel’s pending operation—he left the door open for support. Following a long call with Netanyahu, Trump confided to allies: “Maybe I’ll have to help him.”

What’s happening now is not just military. It’s moral. It’s about a nation—Israel—choosing to live. From the pager-triggered strike of September 17 to the elimination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on September 27, Israel has done what no one expected. It held the Syrian border. It took on the Houthis. It plunged into the heart of the storm while the world hesitated.

Trump sees it. And so does his base. His ambassador to Israel and friend, Mike Huckabee, tweeted a letter he had sent to the president, which read: "No President in my lifetime has been in a position like yours. Not since Truman in 1945. I don’t reach out to persuade you. Only to encourage you. I believe you will hear from heaven and that voice is far more important than mine or ANYONE else’s."

Romantic? Perhaps. But not wrong.

What Israel is doing is historic. It’s not just self-defense—it’s reshaping the regional order. Trump, for all his unpredictability, understands what opportunity looks like. And this may be his moment to seize it.

As one Israeli official recently put it: “The foundation of Israel won’t be complete until the threat of annihilation is no longer part of daily life.”

That vision is now within reach.

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In recognition of 20 years since the Gaza pullout, JNS is featuring a series of articles reflecting Israel’s disengagement, speaking with an array of former Gush Katif residents to find out how they perceive the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the Trump plan for the Gaza Strip and the prospect of returning.

Sitting in his backyard in the crisp nighttime air at Mount Hebron, overlooking the holy city of Hebron, Meir Dana-Picard, 45, feels at home.

After his army service, he studied at a yeshivah in Kiryat Arba, the Jewish town bordering Hebron. Then he got married to Adi, and they eventually had a dozen children. Eleven of them still live at home; his eldest, 22, lives in a caravan nearby with her husband. During the video interview (conducted in Hebrew), his youngest, 3-year-old Shalem, kept jumping on the sofa next to him, resisting sleep.

There’s no place like Kfar Darom

Twelve years ago, Dana-Picard founded the Board of Residents in Mount Hebron to advocate for Jewish security in the region. Still, as much as he believes that his home near the Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs (Ma’arat Hamachpelah) represents the fulfillment of an ancient Jewish dream—and destiny—there’s no place like Kfar Darom. For him, the former Gush Katif village, which Israel gave up in 2005, is a sandy extension of Hebron, in body and spirit, although not one Jewish family lives there today.

“It was love at first sight,” Dana-Picard told JNS, recalling his first visit to what was then a farming community of about 65 families. “You get there and right away connect to the place, the atmosphere. People lived there, settled there out of religious Zionism. They would wake up early in the morning to study Torah, pray and then work in the hothouses. Then they’d go home, learn some more and be with their families.”

Dana-Picard came to Jerusalem as a toddler, the son of French olim. He and his wife officially moved to Kfar Darom in 2003, just before Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced the disengagement in 2005. 

A tour guide by profession, Dana-Picard has noticed how most Israelis are unaware of Gaza’s Jewish roots. Continuous Jewish settlement in Gaza dates to the Hasmonean dynasty during the Second Temple period.

Kfar Darom, specifically, is mentioned in the Talmud. In the 1930s, Jews began buying land in the region, and in 1946, a religious kibbutz was founded in Kfar Darom. The fledgling Israeli army made a strategic retreat from Kfar Darom during Israel’s War of Independence after it suffered heavy losses to the Egyptians.

In Gush Katif, Dana-Picard worked in the packaging division of Chasalat, a commercial farm well-known for its bug-free vegetables. Once it became clear that the disengagement was not just “talk,” he helped start a protest movement that began with petitions.

“We were very naive back then,” he said.

Soon enough, he and his neighbors stopped being “naive.” The community deliberately cast itself as one of the most hardline settlements. They rejected the sentimental “We Have Love, and It Will Win” slogan favored by the other settlements and instead embraced: “Kfar Darom will not fall again.” Intent on creating organized resistance, the population doubled to 1,000 souls in the summer of 2005.

“You can’t win a struggle in which you embrace the commander who’s supposed to take you out of your house,” Dana-Picard said.

This meant: No cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces or state institutions. No hugging the soldiers. No pleas to their “Jewish heart.” Protesters blocked roads, created physical barriers and punctured army jeep tires. It was in Kfar Darom that demonstrators threw buckets of paint on IDF soldiers from the barbed-wired roof of the synagogue, producing some of the most iconic images of the disengagement.

“My big regret is that we couldn’t bring our voice to lead the struggle,” he said. “We were on the sidelines.”

‘A strip of land open to all’

In 2014, during the IDF's “Operation Protective Edge” to stem attacks from Gaza, Dana-Picard started a Hebrew Facebook page called “Going back home to Gush Katif.” He didn’t do it because he saw a personal opportunity to return, but because he believed that the only way to ensure security along the border area was to re-establish Jewish communities there.

Such an effort, back then, put him even further on the political sidelines. The Hamas invasion of Oct. 7 has made that goal much less taboo.

“Now, suddenly, you have the most far-left kibbutzniks saying: ‘It’s us or them.’ That’s a Kahanist saying—this complete lack of confidence that we can live together,” he said.

This time, if Israel returns to Gaza, Dana-Picard thinks that it must become a place where all kinds of Israelis feel at home, not just religious Zionists.

“You’ve got to think of it as a continuation of the development of the Negev,” he stated. “Open the borders; develop cities, small towns, recreational tourism and agriculture. It should be a strip of land open to all, not something closed.”

He cautiously welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s February announcement proposing that the United States take over Gaza and resettle its Arab residents.

“It shouldn’t be a place belonging to Trump. He’s here now, gone tomorrow. He’s not doing it as a Zionist but because it solves a problem. We must be careful not to depend on him.”

As the interview came to a close, Shalem was finally in bed. If Dana-Picard’s vision for Gaza comes true, would he pack up and move again?

“If there were a Jewish town there, I’d definitely go back,” he said. “But, of course, we’d have to take family considerations into account.”

Part I: 20 years since disengagement: How former Gush Katif residents are re-engaging with Gaza

Part II: Former Gush Katif resident Laurence Beziz: ‘We won’t say we told you so’

Part III: ‘You don’t look around for a new cemetery,’ says mother of fallen Israeli naval commando

Orit Arfa (www.oritarfa.net) is a journalist and author based in Berlin. At the time of the IDF’s 2005 pullout from Gaza, she was based in Gush Katif and covered it extensively. Her first novel, The Settler, follows its aftermath through the eyes of a young American-Israeli evacuee who “resettles” in Tel Aviv.

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Israel is a strong country because its home front endures impossible travails.

Imagine going through years of running to public shelters, safe rooms, or, when caught in a car during an Iranian, Houthi, Hamas or Hezbollah rocket, missile or drone attack, getting out and lying flat on the ground, hands protecting head.

Israel’s triumph last year over the vaunted Hezbollah—the most lethal weapon in the arsenal of the Islamic Republic of Iran—and its campaign against Iran dubbed “Operation Rising Lion,” will be remembered for generations as a biblical-like victory.

Israel must win its wars because defeat means doom for the Jewish people, not only in Israel but in the Diaspora as well.

In its 1948 War of Independence, Israel stood against well-armed Arab states and murderous militias. The war was right after the Holocaust, and despite tremendous odds, Israel’s small population repelled its enemies using improvised arms and desperate determination. The Jews vanquished the Arab armies, and the country’s narrow and vulnerable borders were expanded. Despite the tremendous casualties suffered by the yishuv, the Jewish community in British Mandatory Palestine, some 1% of its total population, the home front stood firm, knowing that there was nowhere to escape. It was victory or death.

On the eve of the Six-Day War in 1967, the entire nation mobilized. High school students even dug graves in anticipation of high casualty rates. Every family in Israel had a relative or a close friend mobilized in the service of the nation. The triumph against Egypt, Syria and Jordan, aided by contingents from Iraq, Algeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, was spectacular. Jewish pride swelled throughout the Diaspora. Gentiles were surprised by Jewish Israeli bravery and spirit. As one woman remarked at the time, “I didn’t know that Jews knew how to fight.” As an independent people, Jews proved that once free in their homeland, they prepared and trained themselves to defend and, when necessary, to fight like ferocious lions.

More than 2,000 years of antisemitism, persecution, the Holocaust and homelessness, a new breed had been created, native Israelis or sabras, named after a thorny but sweet cactus bush.

Steeped in biblical stories and dwelling in the land of the Bible, they rose to be Gideons, Samsons and Davids: thoughtful, resourceful and strong. They became hardworking farmers, ranchers, business owners and computer scientists, alongside combat soldiers, pilots and naval commandos. Most of all, their accumulated intelligence as a people helped to develop a most fearsome intelligence system.

Overconfidence and a degree of arrogance among the military brass resulted in early tragedies during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Once again, Israeli resilience coupled with the country’s credo of ayn breira, “there is no choice,” turned the initial debacle into a stunning victory, with the Israel Defense Forces reaching the gates of Cairo and Damascus.

Exactly 50 years later, the “conception” of the military brass proved erroneous, once again, by believing that the terrorist organization Hamas was contained. This gave Israel the “Black Shabbat” of Oct. 7, 2023, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. In the aftermath, it was ordinary Israelis on the home front who exhibited the spirit of the nation. People volunteered to help neighbors, especially the families of the bereaved. This connection was something that, just days earlier, would have been unthinkable as the Nation of Israel was on the verge of a civil war after endless antigovernment demonstrations and some pilots even refusing to return to duty as reservists.

Israel’s enemies had sensed that the Jewish state was crumbling, and Iran orchestrated its proxies’ multifront attacks. The will to live turned Israelis into lions. The Gaza Strip was mostly flattened, and Israeli ingenuity produced the beeper campaign that eliminated Hezbollah’s top command. The group’s extensive missile arsenal, which once threatened Israel, was also largely destroyed.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, described as the “head of the octopus,” is Israel’s ultimate target because it serves as an existential threat to the Jewish state. Almost like a repeat of the miraculous Six-Day War, in four days, the mighty Iranian threat has nearly evaporated, as Israeli jets control the skies over Tehran. Media in Arab Gulf states described Iran as nothing but a “spider web” following Israel’s brilliant operation that exposed the nation of about 90 million people as weak and vulnerable. Desperate to prove that they are still relevant and “strong,” the ayatollah regime unleashed barrage after barrage of lethal ballistic missiles and drones on Israel’s civilian population.

Israel’s aerial-defense system intercepted most of the missiles and drones. Unfortunately, the defense system that includes the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and the Arrow system is not a solid, hermetic defensive guarantee. Several direct hits caused death and destruction. Still, the nation of lions urged the government and the IDF to continue the job of dismantling the Iranian nuclear threat. The 10 million Israelis running into shelters and safe rooms have endured, as they have for years.

Significantly, no nation, including the United States, was willing to take on the Islamic Republic of Iran despite its provocations and attempted assassinations in Europe and an attempt on the life of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. Israel alone has done what the rest of the civilized world was reluctant to do by taking on the head of the octopus. Israel deserves credit for saving the world from a nuclear-armed fanatical regime whose messianic beliefs call for an Armageddon that, according to its fanatics, would end with the appearance of the vanished 12th Shi’ite imam.

A nuclear Iran portends a nuclear Holocaust for Israel and the West. Israel displayed the courage and determination to actualize the promise of “Never Again.”

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Hundreds of people showed up at a London court on Wednesday in support of a rapper facing terrorism charges in connection with a video allegedly showing him draped in a Hezbollah flag.

The crowd, many waving Palestinian flags, assembled at the Westminster Magistrate’s Court for the first hearing of Liam O’Hanna, known as Mo Chara, who is standing trial for allegedly supporting the U.K.-designated terrorist organization during a 2024 performance in London, the Belfast Live news site reported.

O’Hanna, who is out on bail, is due to appear for a second hearing on Aug. 20.

He received a round of applause outside the courtroom after the short hearing. In it, he confirmed his identity and heard the allegations against him but did not address the charges.

Prosecutor Michael Bisgrove told the court: “It’s not about Mr. O’Hanna’s support for the people of Palestine or his criticism of Israel,” but about whether he displayed the symbol of a terrorist organization, BBC reported.

Prosecutors accused O’Hanna of displaying a flag “in support of a proscribed organization” while performing with his Irish band Kneecap, which made headlines in April for projecting “F*** Israel, free Palestine” at the Coachella music festival in California.

The charge follows renewed scrutiny after two controversial videos resurfaced online on April 22. One shows a band member shouting, “The only good Tory is a dead Tory” and “Kill your local MP.” In the other, a performer—alleged to be O’Hanna—is seen apparently wearing a Hezbollah flag and shouting, “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah.”

Kneecap has denied supporting terrorist groups or advocating violence, stating it does not “support proscribed terror organizations” and does not “advocate for violence against anyone.”

O’Hanna, who grew up in Belfast, wore a keffiyeh to court and gave a thumbs-up sign to the crowd.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Iran’s "terrorist tyrants" for Thursday morning's ballistic missile attack, which wounded dozens and caused significant damage across the country.

“Iran’s terrorist tyrants launched missiles at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba and at a civilian population in the center of the country,” Netanyahu wrote on X.

“We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran," he added.

https://twitter.com/netanyahu/status/1935581234001809807

Israeli President Isaac Herzog emphasized on Thursday that the deliberate targeting of civilians by the Iranian regime underscored the nature of the conflict.

“A baby in intensive care. A mother by their bedside. A doctor rushing between beds. An elderly resident in a nursing home. These were some of the targets of Iran’s missile attacks on Israeli civilians this morning,” said Herzog.

The Israeli president noted that Soroka Hospital is one of Israel’s leading medical centers, serving the entire Negev region. He emphasized that the hospital provides care to all—Israelis of all faiths as well as Palestinians who travel there for treatment.

“Its devoted staff—Jews and Arabs—work side by side in extraordinary harmony, united by the mission to heal,” said the president.

“I send strength and support to the medical teams, to the patients, and to the residents of Beersheva and all cities attacked across Israel this morning. In moments like these, we are reminded of what’s truly at stake, and the values we are defending,” he added.

https://twitter.com/Isaac_Herzog/status/1935576516483506667

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz condemned Iran’s actions, saying the “cowardly Iranian dictator” hides deep inside a fortified bunker while ordering deliberate attacks on hospitals and residential buildings in Israel.

“These are among the most serious war crimes,” said Katz. “Khamenei will be held accountable for his actions.”

He added that he and Netanyahu had instructed the Israel Defense Forces to intensify strikes on strategic sites in Iran, including government targets in Tehran, with the aim of eliminating threats to Israel and weakening the ayatollahs’ regime.

"The Iranian regime deliberately targets civilians," stressed Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar. "The Iranian regime is committing war crimes. The Iranian regime has no red lines," he added.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid posted on X that the Islamic Republic was “trying to kill innocent civilians."

"Show the world the truth about the Iranian regime," he added.

https://twitter.com/yairlapid/status/1935568712532193448

Benny Gantz, head of the opposition National Unity Party, stated that there was no “moral equivalence” between Israel’s actions against Iran and the Islamic Republic’s targeting of civilian sites in Israel.

"While Israel targets Iran’s nuclear and missile programs that threaten not only us but the whole world—Iran targets Israeli hospitals and children," wrote Gantz.

"While Israel targets with precision military & IRGC personnel—Iran targets Israeli civilians," he continued. "There is no moral equivalence, and Israel will not waver in eliminating the capabilities of those who gleefully declare 'Death to Israel, Death to America.'"

https://twitter.com/gantzbe/status/1935579435903729713

Former defense minister and current Yisrael Beitenu head Avigdor Liberman said the strike highlighted the potential damage Iran could do if it had a nuclear weapon.

“We must continue until the nuclear program is completely eliminated, the Iranian regime is overthrown, and the missile stockpile is destroyed,” he posted on X.

https://twitter.com/AvigdorLiberman/status/1935583303458861433

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, labeled the strike “a grave violation of international law by Iran.”

“I call on the United Nations to immediately condemn this Iranian act of terror. We will not allow a terrorist regime to threaten the citizens of Israel. The Iranian regime will pay a heavy price for its unrestrained aggression," wrote Danon.

https://twitter.com/dannydanon/status/1935566709617721614

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Unidentified individuals spray-painted swastikas last week on some 30 headstones in a Jewish cemetery in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, a local rabbi confirmed on Wednesday.

The incident happened last week before the outbreak of war between Iran and Israel, Rabbi Mendy Axelrod told JNS.

Police are working to identify the perpetrators, who did not damage any of the headstones.

Axelrod, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary who has lived in Moldova for more than a decade, said that there had apparently not been an uptick in antisemitic incidents after Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas invaded Israel and plunged the region into a war that has triggered a surge of hatred against Jews worldwide.

“There have been attempts to mobilize people against Israel, in protest rallies and such, but they have been very limited in scale,” said Axelrod. The atmosphere toward Jews in Moldova has not worsened in his opinion, and the incident at the cemetery is a rare occurrence, he said.

The Institute for Jewish Policy Research estimated in 2020 that Moldova has some 1,900 people who identify as Jews.

Neither Moldova, a landlocked nation sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, nor its Jewish community keeps aggregated statistics regarding antisemitic incidents, “mainly because they’re too few to justify this kind of monitoring,” said Axelrod.

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