Pictures of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip are displayed on chairs in southern Israel, on Jan. 16, 2025. Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90.
  • Words count:
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    Jan. 17, 2025
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Headline
The lump in my throat
Intro
I badly want to believe that with this deal, there is more than meets the eye and it will end well.
text

You know I am an optimistic guy, or at least I am in the public sphere. I definitely have my moments, but I try not to bring others down with me. Usually, I snap out of it quickly. It is 5:38 a.m. as I write these words after I was woken up by the pit in my stomach. I can’t shake the feeling.

Now, I know I’ve shared multiple posts expressing the nuance in this deal and specifically the joy we will all feel seeing live hostages hug their loved ones again. That is true. I await that moment. We all do. We’ve waited for that moment for a year and a half.

Usually, with most events, that positive thought will outweigh the negative. I’d write a post focusing on the positive, hope for the best, and move on. This time is different. I know from past experiences that I should never watch those videos of our enemies celebrating what they call a victory. I know how deeply it disturbs me to see those things. I also know that their celebrations are baseless and that they won nothing.

This time is different.

I do badly want to believe that with this deal, there is more than meets the eye. I so badly want to believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was given a massive incentive to agree to this. Perhaps, there was a guarantee of an Abraham Accords 2.0. Maybe a guarantee that the United States will join Israel when it attacks Iran’s nuclear facilities. Or, maybe, it was a large financial or military incentive. Maybe, if one of those things is part of this deal, then I’d understand why Netanyahu agreed to this deal.

The thing is, I am told by someone in the know that there is no such incentive. I am told that Netanyahu agreed to this months ago, and now that Hamas agreed to it, the pressure was on him to accept “His plan” that he offered all those months ago. I am told that my brother Ari’s murderer could be part of this deal. (I am not saying we know he will be, but it is a possibility.) I find it hard to believe that there is nothing else going on behind the scenes, and I told that to my “source.”

He told me, again, that there aren’t any incentives.

I refuse to believe it. But chances are I am wrong, and I’m being optimistic where there is no room for optimism.

I try to grasp onto the good things, here. We’re getting our people back. “Only 200” out of the thousand we’re releasing are actual murderers. Yes, I fully understand the absurdity of celebrating 200 murderers going free, but I’m grasping here. We will have a few months of relative quiet. Of not losing soldiers. Our soldiers get a breather. My son, Tzvi, is in less danger. (Call me selfish all you want. You can’t understand how it feels until your son enters the hell on earth that is Gaza.)

These things are true, and they are good.

But I simply can’t get rid of this lump in my throat. I can’t get rid of this feeling that this is a disengagement 2.0. That our threats of “If they break the ceasefire … ”  are bogus. That’s what we said after we left the Gaza Strip in 2005, “If one rocket is fired … .” I can’t shake this feeling that in the near future, we will regret this deal when it comes back to haunt us.

Now, many have reassured me that all of this will change when President-elect Donald Trump takes office next week. Maybe they’re right. But how? Will Trump reverse the deal? Obviously not. He’s bragging about it. In fact, there are rumors that he was the one to pressure Netanyahu to take the deal. So, what exactly can Trump do for us when he enters office?

I can’t, for some reason, find optimism here that will overpower the pit in my stomach. Why not? Because this time is different. This deal is killing me. Tragically, I am asking myself, for the first time ever, if those lunatics dancing in the streets of Gaza have a right to dance. Did they win? Now, hold up. There is no universe in which Hamas won this war. No matter how you spin it, they did not win. But did we? Is the war over? Did we fail to achieve both our objectives of obliterating Hamas and bringing our hostages back?

Maybe the war isn’t over, and Netanyahu knows exactly what he’s doing. Maybe. It wouldn’t be the first time. Maybe this is the thought I need to hold onto. Maybe that’ll calm me down. This war isn’t over. We will still win. Maybe Trump promised Netanyahu that as soon as he enters office, he’ll send over a massive amount of weapons that President Joe Biden refused to send and that Netanyahu will be able to instruct the Israel Defense Forces to end Hamas once and for all.

Maybe … but this darn deal. It’s so terrible. Releasing all those monsters? Pulling out of Gaza? Sending in insane amounts of aid to be stolen by Hamas? Not even getting all the hostages back? What the heck, Bibi?! I have muted my social media accounts, and I am going to try hard to ignore all the negativity. I won’t watch their celebrations. I won’t read all the pundits explaining why Israel just shot itself in the foot. I don’t want to know. Call it sticking my head in the sand. I call it maintaining my mental health.

So, here is my take. I can’t wait to see our people back home. The deal—if, indeed, it is simply what you see is what you get—is a disaster of historic proportions. Yet, it can’t be that simple. There must be more to it. And, honestly, the thing that brings me back from the sadness, fear and anxiety that this deal is causing me is one very big thing I am guilty of forgetting. There is absolutely one thing that guarantees that this ends well: Hashem.

Hashem, God, has our back. We’ve been through darker times. We’ve been through much harder things. And we made it out alive and stronger. I don’t know how He is going to do it, I don’t know what role Trump will play, but I do know that it’ll be OK. Somehow.

So that’s it. I found the thing I need to grasp to feel optimistic again. Hashem. There. Solved. Thanks for listening. It was very therapeutic for me. Hashem has got our backs. We got this. Now we wait to cry tears of joy together as our loved ones cross the border into the Land of Israel. It is time for me to put away my political science degree, stop watching those infuriating videos and bring out my prayer book. It is time to turn to God and say, “Hashem, we did what we can. Now it’s your turn. Do your thing. Work your magic. Because magic is what we need now for this to end well.”

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  • Words count:
    213 words
  • Type of content:
    Update Desk
  • Publication Date:
    Feb. 14, 2025
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Ahead of the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Women (Kinus Hashluchos) taking place this year from Feb. 19-23 in New York, members of the conference committee met with representatives of New York City law-enforcement agencies this week in preparation for the annual event that draws thousands to the borough of Brooklyn.

Led by Rabbi Mendel Kotlarsky, coordinator of the conference, together with Rabbi Schneur Najar and Rabbi Yaacov Behrman of the organizing committee, the meeting saw participants review security measures to ensure the safety of the world's largest gathering of Jewish women.

New York City Police Department officials from the 71st and 77th precincts, and Brooklyn South, attended the meeting held at the Jewish Children's Museum in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn.

“We are extremely grateful to the members of the New York Police Department for their help every year in caring for the safety of the thousands of participants who will be coming to New York City for the conference,” said Kotlarsky. “Security is our top priority. We are here to ensure everyone in attendance feels safe throughout the conference.”

It will be the first conference without his father, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, who attended every year to address the audience at the gala banquet. He died on June 4, 2024, at the age of 74.

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  • Words count:
    1054 words
  • Type of content:
    COLUMN
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    Feb. 14, 2025

Reading the results of a poll of American Jews demonstrating that a strong majority of the community believes that anti-Zionism is antisemitism, frowning harshly upon the tiny minority of their number associated with the global movement expressing solidarity with Hamas, it struck me that the only reason we pay attention to anti-Zionist Jews is because there are anti-Zionist non-Jews.

The poll, commissioned by a newly formed advocacy organization called the Jewish Majority, reveals that a full 70% of American Jews regard anti-Zionism as antisemitic by definition. An even greater number, 76%, said that the various campus demonstrations and protests in support of Hamas and its Oct. 7, 2023 pogrom in Israel were antisemitic. Asked whether Hamas wanted to commit genocide against Jews and Israelis, 85% answered yes. Between 73% and 79% said they were either members or supporters of mainstream Jewish organizations like the Jewish Federations of North America, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and the Jewish National Fund.

Surveys in other countries where there is both a sizable Jewish community and a coruscating wave of antisemitism have delivered similar results. Hamas and its international cheerleaders are widely detested, and Israel is regarded supportively and affectionately, while tempered, proportionate criticism of Israeli policy—sadly, almost invisible these days—is seen as entirely acceptable and not deserving of the label “antisemitic.” Additionally, these surveys show that many Jews in America and abroad are feeling scared and rejected to the point of hiding their identities, and again, they blame Hamas and its supporters for this wretched situation.

So why do Jews who oppose the overwhelming majority get so much attention? Why can’t we just—as the survey data indicates we should—ignore them?

The answer is that the anti-Zionist non-Jews won’t let us. Even though, as I argued recently, the use value of Jewish anti-Zionism is dramatically declining, and even though antisemitic barbs are far more acceptable now on the anti-Zionist left than they used to be, Jewish anti-Zionists can still provide cover for Hamas advocates when they want to push back against the Jewish community’s concerns. For example, the weekly hate marches mounted by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) in the United Kingdom usually feature a tiny section of demonstrators who call themselves the “Jewish Bloc” (incidentally, so as not to indulge Jewish “privilege,” the Jewish Bloc has now been joined by a Christian Bloc!)

When the PSC tried to organize a demonstration last month in central London on a Saturday—planning to gather in a location two minutes from a synagogue where Shabbat services would be in full flow—the Jewish Bloc was wheeled out as evidence to counter the protests of Jewish leaders that such an assembly risked intimidating those attending the synagogue and even degenerating into antisemitic violence.

The presence of these Jews also helps to enable antisemitism by diverting the wider public from perceiving the myriad connections between obsessive hatred of Israel and the classical antisemitism many of them learned about in school. Pro-Hamas marches invariably feature signs and placards—invocations of the Holocaust, accusations of Jewish media and financial control—that make the slogan “From the River to the Sea” seem mild by comparison. But if you have a photo of a handful of Jews standing alongside looking unperturbed, then where’s the problem?

By the same token, if someone unschooled in these issues sees the name “Jewish Voice for Peace” above a graphic declaring that “death to Israel” is a “moral imperative,” and adding, “may the entire colony burn to the ground for good” (as posted by that organization’s University of Michigan chapter last year) will they grasp that the message is antisemitic and genocidal? And when these groupings refuse to condemn the antisemitism of a Kanye West or a Yahya Sinwar—but not Elon Musk, and only then because he sits at Donald Trump’s right hand—then isn’t it reasonable to assume that their silence equates to acceptance?

Jewish anti-Zionists like to say that the “Jewish establishment”—i.e. anyone who doesn’t share their toxic opinions about Israel—doesn’t represent Jews. It’s past time for the rest of us to retort, “You don’t represent us,” and reflect that sentiment in the manner in which we run our communities.

Every synagogue, every community center, every charitable foundation, every college Jewish association and every communal representative body should declare that Jewish anti-Zionists are no longer considered part of our community. They should do so on the basis of a definition of anti-Zionism: an ideology that prescribes the elimination through violence of the State of Israel; that traffics in antisemitic messages and imagery in pushing its case; and that willfully distorts the meaning of the term “Zionism” beyond recognition, which is why I prefer to write the term “antizionism” without the hyphen.

Some Jews will bristle at this suggestion because we are a people who enjoy debate and disagreement. But there is debate, and there is incitement. Jewish anti-Zionists actively assist our mortal enemies in the most underhand and insidious way. They are the modern equivalent of the Yevsektsiya, the Jewish department of the Soviet Communist Party, whose role was essentially to crush all expressions of Judaism and Zionism alike. If we don’t banish them from our ranks, they will continue, despite their small number, to dangerously undermine our community and confuse non-Jews who might otherwise be sympathetic.

I should be clear that I am not speaking here of excommunication, which is a religious matter. I am addressing the problem in civic terms, arguing that one of the conditions for participation in privately funded, communally run Jewish institutions should be agreement with the proposition that Israel is a central and valued component of Jewish life after the Holocaust.

Eighteen months after the deadliest assault on Jews since the Holocaust by Islamists who murdered and raped and kidnapped in the name of destroying the “Zionist entity,” that shouldn’t be controversial. By publicly disowning and dissociating from those Jews who have joined the enemy camp, we will send a signal to the pro-Hamas movement—overwhelmingly composed, after all, of non-Jews—that their cover is blown, and that we see them for what they are: not critics of Israel, not even merely as “anti-Zionists,” but as die-hard, uncompromising Jew-haters with whom we will never be at peace.

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  • Words count:
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    News
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    Feb. 14, 2025

The majority of Jews in the United States disagree with the views of the anti-Israel activist group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), according to a poll commissioned by the Jewish Majority, which conducts research and provides communal leaders with resources, information and training to educate the public about Jewish priorities.

Jewish Voice for Peace, which describes itself as the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization, played a pivotal role in organizing pro-Palestinian protests that erupted on U.S. college campuses in the wake of the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Jonathan Schulman
Jonathan Schulman. Source: LinkedIn.

Protests in the fall of 2023 became tent encampments in the spring of 2024 that quickly turned from pro-Palestinian to pro-Hamas, with a number of them becoming violent. At some universities, they also had the support of faculty and administrators.

According to the poll, 70% of American Jews consider anti-Zionist movements inherently antisemitic, and 76% believe the 2024 anti-Israel campus protests were antisemitic.

Jonathan Schulman, executive director of Jewish Majority, told JNS that JVP has been falsely presenting itself as a representative of Jewish Americans.

“For a long time, we have seen a well-organized and well-financed movement of individuals speaking up in the media about their anti-Zionism from their position as a Jew, and what we have found is that these positions are fringe and that they don’t represent the majority of American Jews,” he said.

According to the poll, 91% of respondents are concerned that social media amplifies the opinions of fringe movements, making them seem more widespread than they actually are.

JVP has created the appearance of representing the Jewish community by successfully harnessing social media, according to Schulman.

“This is a bit of a wake-up call for the Jewish community because when you are part of a community where there is 80, 85, 90% agreement about supporting Zionism, you don’t feel the need to speak up as much,” he said. “However, when you are part of a very marginal 5% to 10% of the community, like an organization like Jewish Voice for Peace, you think it is your job to constantly speak up and make it appear that your views are more common than they are.”

“My hope is that the American Jewish community will use this data to actually push back and speak up and say, ‘As a Jew, I support the things that most Jews support,”’ he added. “It seems the only time we ever hear somebody say ‘as a Jew,’ they are refuting the views of the majority of the American Jewish community.”

‘Identify culturally or ethnically’

The poll reported that 85% of American Jews believe that Hamas wants to commit genocide against Jews and Israel.

According to a statement written on Oct. 7, 2023, as Hamas terrorists were attacking southern Israel, JVP wrote that “inevitably, oppressed people everywhere will seek—and gain—their freedom. We all deserve liberation, safety and equality. The only way to get there is by uprooting the sources of the violence, beginning with our own government’s complicity.”

The left-wing group has conducted protests in which they block traffic, demonstrate in front of the homes of government officials, and often don masks to hide their identity. According to the poll, 75% of American Jews believe blocking traffic is unacceptable, 60% disprove protesting outside the homes of government officials, and 55% believe protesters should not conceal their identity with masks. 

The survey also revealed that a majority of Jewish Americans are either members of or generally support the policies of Jewish organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, Jewish National Fund, American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Federations of North America.

The poll was conducted from Dec. 16-24, 2024, with 800 Jewish adults by Public Opinion Strategies, a research firm based in Virginia.

William McInturff, co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies, told JNS that the survey included two definitions of Jewish identity.

“First, respondents were asked a religious identification question: ‘What is your religion?’ and in response, 88% of participants selected ‘Jewish’ from the list of options,” he said. “Second, recognizing that some individuals—particularly, among Jewish and Catholic populations—may not actively practice their religion but still identify culturally or ethnically, the survey included an additional criterion.”

“As a result, 12% of participants, while not religiously Jewish, identified as Jewish based on their heritage and cultural background,” he said. “This approach reflects common demographic research practices, where both religious affiliation and cultural identity are considered in defining Jewish identity.”

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JNS CEO and Jerusalem bureau chief Alex Traiman had the privilege of accompanying Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu last week for a historic meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. He joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin in Israel for a behind-the-scenes discussion of what was covered between the two leaders.

They’ll go beyond the headlines for a deep dive look at vital issues that will affect the Jewish state for years to come, including Trump’s Gaza plan; potential landmines between Netanyahu and Trump; internal pressure on Netanyahu; potential military action in Iran; the influence of the “woke right” on Trump; and the future of JNS.

Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on SpotifyApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsiHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel.

https://youtu.be/hEpWjkhaFiY
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https://youtu.be/hEpWjkhaFiY
  • Words count:
    535 words
  • Type of content:
    News
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    Feb. 14, 2025

Linda McMahon, a businesswoman U.S. President Donald Trump nominated to be U.S. education secretary, told a Senate committee on Thursday that she would support a commission to investigate how well colleges and universities are fighting the surge in Jew-hatred since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) told McMahon during the hearing that “antisemitism has become endemic in our universities” and asked the nominee if she would form a new panel to tackle Jew-hatred. “Yes, I would,” she said, inviting Marshall and perhaps other senators on the committee to work with her.

The increase in antisemitic incidents on college campuses came up repeatedly during McMahon’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

“We have seen the most unbelievable pro-terrorist propaganda, and again these universities taking federal money, getting federal funds, not protecting Jewish students, permitting encampments, permitting violence in some instances, attacks on students on their campuses,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). “Will you enforce the law to the hilt and will you make sure Jewish Americans are safe on our campuses are safe, for heaven sake?”

“Absolutely, or face defunding,” McMahon responded.

She told Hawley—who was interrupted twice by protesters, who were removed quickly from the hearing room—that she would move to revoke student visas from foreign students threatening Jewish peers on campus. Revoking such visas would send foreign students back home.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) called the outbreak of antisemitism on campus “disgusting, frankly.” 

McMahon drew a line between protected speech and the attacks on Jewish students.

“I truly believe there should be First Amendment protection for discourse and for freedom of speech,” she said. “But when you become involved in activities that are actually endangering the students that are on campus, that is not what should not happen and those schools that accept federal funding that allow that to happen should face defunding.”

Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said that the Trump administration has put several members of the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights on administrative leave. OCR is charged with responding to complaints about antisemitism, among other alleged bias. Republicans in Congress have proposed sharp cuts to the office. (JNS has reported that OCR rushed to reach agreements with schools in the final days of the Biden administration, according to experts.)

“I would want to make sure we had everything we need to have in place to protect our students on campuses,” Kim said. “I’m frustrated because I feel like this is such a clear place where we just can say, ‘Yes, we want to make sure we have as much resources as possible to be able to fight antisemitism.’”

“When we see a surge in antisemitism, of course, we should have a surge in resources to focus on that,” he added.

McMahon said she would review the staffing once she was confirmed and said she would report back to Kim. She declined to respond to the actions already taken or the GOP proposals to cut funding for the office.

That led Kim to say that “this whole debate feels like it’s untethered from just the reality on the ground.”

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  • Words count:
    1472 words
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    Magazine/Feature
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    Feb. 14, 2025
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The unprecedented rise in antisemitism during the past 16 months is undeniable. Not a day passes without reports of antisemitic incidents worldwide, a relentless surge that began in the wake of Hamas's deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

While American university campuses and European cities have dominated international headlines, the past month saw a specific destination suffering from the hateful phenomenon: Australia.

Sydney-based Dionne Taylor navigates this new reality through dual roles: as a global PR manager and Australian emissary for ISRAEL-is, an Israel advocacy organization, and as a mother of daughters aged 10 and 14 during Australia's most volatile climate for Jews.

'The police did nothing'

Q: Recently, we witnessed a sudden wave of antisemitism across Australia. Were these incidents surprising? How has the atmosphere in Australia been lately?

A: "On Oct. 9, 2023, we got messages from our community security group saying, "If you are Jewish, do not leave your house for your own safety." That night, protesters at the Sydney Opera House burned the Israeli flag and chanted, 'F*** the Jews,' 'Gas the Jews.' The police stood there watching it happen and did nothing," Taylor said.

"There had been a few turning points that have made this situation so much worse, but that night, two nights after Oct. 7, Israel hadn't even gone into Gaza. The kibbutzim were still on fire, and this permitted the antisemites in Australia to behave this way. I feel like we've reached a fever pitch with the attacks that we've had just this last month. There was lots of spray-painting on cars and homes, firebombings of cars, a firebombing of a childcare center, and a synagogue. It's just been terrible."

Taylor emphasized most of the time, the attacks' victims have not been Jews. "So they firebomb someone's car and they're not Jewish. They spray 'F*** the Jews' or 'F*** Israel' on someone's home, and they're not Jewish. It's affecting the everyday Australians.

Dionne Taylor. Credit: Courtesy.

"A turning point was when they discovered a caravan in Sydney, about an hour away from where I live, that had explosives in it with instructions to blow up the synagogue and individual people's homes. It was a very targeted mission. This was intercepted, and incredibly terrifying. They said that if they were successful in achieving this attack, it would have gone down in history as the biggest terrorist attack in Australia that we've ever had."

Australia's historically low rate of violent crime and strict gun control laws make these incidents particularly alarming.

"[In terms of] terrorist attacks here in Australia, the Lindt Cafe was it," Taylor explained, referring to the 2014 attack in Sydney. "This was a major thing in Australia and it took everyone by surprise. We just don't have this type of, behavior or experience here until now," she added.

"The police suspect that it's an organized crime syndicate where they're hiring hitmen and paying them money to do it. The people who are actually committing the crimes are these lowlife losers, doing it just to get money. They're not necessarily antisemitic. They're just carrying out the act."

'Oct. 8 Jew'

Q: How did Oct. 7 affect the Jewish community in Australia? 

A: "The police have definitely stepped up their presence—it's called Operation Task Force Pearl. They've put on hundreds of policemen that are roaming our streets—I live in a densely Jewish-populated suburb.

"My kids are at a Jewish school and we pay security fees to have armed guards all the time. We've got police presence at synagogues and public Jewish gatherings. We had police helicopters flying right overhead trying to catch people who are doing these acts in the middle of the night. It's quite terrifying," she shared.

However, beyond the challenging reality faced by Australian Jews, Taylor pointed to an interesting phenomenon that emerged in the wake of Oct. 7: "I can tell you now that the Jewish community in Australia has their body in Australia, but their hearts in Israel. You know there's an expression, an 'Oct. 8 Jew'?"

A pro-Israel rally in Sydney. Credit: Courtesy.

The term, she explained, refers to Jews who found a renewed connection to their heritage and community following Hamas's attack.

"Now, the attendance in the synagogue and communal events is much bigger. That need to feel unified and united amongst your community has been amplified. We are leaning on each other for support here, and the Oct. 8 Jew is exactly that. It's the one who proudly wears Magen David now."

Q: You would assume Jews abroad would conceal their identity due to fear.

A: "For me personally, it just was never a thing. Being Jewish was always important to me, but it never truly defined who I was. Now, I feel it's very much defined who I am and my values, and I'm not the only person that feels that way. 

"For my children, this is the most heartbreaking thing. They take the bus to school and they stop wanting to wear it. This was early on in the war, and then it started again recently, because we just went back to school. They wanted to take off their Magen David, and I said, 'No, you should wear it. You'll wear it proud.'

"But the fact that it's in their psyche—a 10-year-old child should not be worried about that. Now I feel like it's in her mindset forever. That's really sad."

'Everyday Australians are victims too'

Q: There has been a lot of criticism directed at Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's response to rising antisemitism since Oct. 7, even from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself. Do you think this might have perpetuated the current incidents?

A: "We've had weak leadership from the start," Taylor said. She pointed to Albanese's delayed response to antisemitic incidents and Foreign Minister Penny Wong's refusal to visit southern Israel's attack sites as examples of what she sees as insufficient government action. "He simply cannot continue to be our prime minister. We need better role models here," she added.

An installation in Sydney calling for the Israeli hostages' release from the Gaza Strip. Credit: Courtesy.

Taylor identified two other factors fueling antisemitism: insufficient consequences for hate crimes and the growing influence of social media.

"Some digital influencers in Australia, that have gathered huge momentum, are digital terrorists," she said. "We also need stronger punishment. Someone got arrested for I think it was the spray-painting of one of the synagogues, and they got a $1,500 [$950-U.S.] fine. That was it. It's nothing. The punishment does not fit the crime."

Q: What are your thoughts about the new hate-crime legislation?

A: "I'm in support of anyone getting punished for doing bad things, but it's not enough. We've got about 100,000 Jews mostly concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne, and every single Sunday in the city, there are these pro-Palestinian protests in provocative places outside synagogues. They've made a law that now you can't protest outside of places of worship—so it's not right outside, but it's down the road. Why don't they just ban it? I heard it costs the taxpayer a lot of money to fund the police presence at these rallies.

"Everyday Australians are getting fed up with it, because they have to pay to keep it safe at these rallies. We had some Jewish rallies that were all very peaceful; we held hostage signs and a few people spoke, and we sang 'Hatikvah,' and that's it. We're not marching, it's not intimidating, we're not chanting hate speech. It's a very obvious difference between their rallies versus our rallies.

"The everyday Australians get caught up in this hatred. We need them to speak up, because they're victims of the antisemitic attacks too. Unfortunately, the loud minority is getting covered in the media. These behaviors are very un-Australian. We're peace-loving.

"At ISRAEL-is we've got some big goals here in Australia, because we've got a lot of antisemitism. I think we're the laughingstock of the world. We've got a very Zionist community, a very engaged community, and there's a lot of opportunity for us to do good work here."

Dionne Taylor holding former hostage Liri Albag's poster. Credit: Courtesy.

As I was about to wrap up our interview, I discovered Taylor draws inspiration from an unexpected source.

"I've been to every single rally that has ever occurred in Sydney. And at every rally, they hand out a hostage poster. Every single time, without fail, I randomly received Liri Albag's poster," she shared.

"I've always felt—I know this sounds weird—a connection to her. And when she came out [of captivity], all the stories that I've read about her and her character, her leadership, and her stamina, I've decided that I'm changing my Hebrew name to Liri. I've connected to her. I would love to meet her and just hug her."

Originally published by Israel Hayom.

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Three hostages are set to be released by Gaza-based terrorist groups on Saturday, according to a Hamas official on Friday, in line with terms of the ceasefire with Israel.

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office published their names after it said the list was received from Hamas via mediators Qatar and Egypt. Scheduled for release are Russian-Israeli Alexandre (“Sasha”) Troufanov, 29; American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36; and Argentinian-Israeli Yair Horn, 46.

https://twitter.com/StandWithUs/status/1890374467404308706

The Prime Minister's Office added that the names were being shared with the consent of their families.

The Hamas official confirmed to Reuters that Dekel-Chen was among those set to be freed. Separately, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group said it would release Troufanov as part of the arrangement.

Israel is expected to release 36 terrorists on Saturday who are serving life sentences and 333 terrorism suspects arrested in the Gaza Strip after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of the northwestern Negev, according to figures from the Palestinian Authority Prisoners Ministry.

Israel has stated it will resume combat in Gaza if three hostages are not freed on time after Hamas announced it was delaying the releases in response to alleged Israeli ceasefire violations.

Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump called for the ceasefire to be abandoned if Hamas did not release all hostages held in Gaza by noon Saturday.

Since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19, 16 Israeli and five Thai hostages have been released in exchange for 566 Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli prisons. This will be the sixth round of hostage releases.

During the first six weeks of the ceasefire, a total of 33 hostages are set to be freed in exchange for approximately 1,900 Palestinian terrorists held in Israel. Hamas says eight on the list are dead.

The war began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when gunmen killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.

Seventy-six hostages remain in Gaza, including 73 kidnapped on Oct. 7.

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It turns out there are some people who still believe in the symbolism and power of full-page advertisements in The New York Times. Among them are a great many Jewish celebrities and rabbis who believe the institution that remains the most important forum for left-wing journalism is the right place to feature their views about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs and President Donald Trump’s policies.

So it was to the print edition of the Times that these quintessential “as a Jew” types turned to vent their anger about Trump’s proposal to send Palestinian Arabs out of Gaza. To them, the idea of taking a population primarily composed of people who claim to be refugees out of an area that has been devastated by war and giving them an opportunity for a new and better existence represents “ethnic cleansing.”

It was signed by a variety of “a,” “b” and “c” list actors and celebrities, as well as a few hundred liberal rabbis. You’ve heard of some of them: actors Joaquin Phoenix, Wallace Shawn and Debra Winger and playwright/screenwriter Tony Kushner. The names of others, like Jonathan Glazer, who got his 15 minutes of fame by denouncing Israel at last year’s Oscars ceremony when accepting an award for a movie about the Holocaust, may also ring a bell. Still others have attained a degree of notoriety by being inveterate Israel-bashers and anti-Zionists like writers Peter Beinart, Judith Butler and Naomi Klein.

The rabbis are a mixed lot. Some are still trying to maintain a line between what we used to call “liberal Zionism” and the intellectually fashionable stance of those who are explicit about favoring the destruction of Israel. Some of them gave up that pretense and are among those who seek to give a dubious religious endorsement to a position opposing the defense of the one Jewish state on the planet against genocidal terrorists.

But wherever they fall on that spectrum, they are the contemporary public face of those who seem to think that the essence of Jewish identity is to be found in that disreputable stance.

They are the “as a Jew” Jews.

Full-page ads in the Times may still cost a lot of money, even in an era when the overwhelming majority of those who read news outlets do so digitally rather than in print or only on social-media platforms. But the choice to go that route is more about serving notice to the left-wing political ecosphere that many prominent Jews take the side of those who oppose Israel’s existence and against those, like Trump, who have made it clear that they wish to eradicate Hamas terrorists rather than the Jewish state.

Oscars, 96th Academy Awards
From left: James Wilson, Leonard Blavatnik and Jonathan Glazer accept the Oscar for Best International Feature Film “The Zone of Interest” during the live “ABC” telecast of the 96th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on March 10, 2024. Credit: Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

Can Trump succeed?

The feasibility of the president’s idea is debatable.

It’s not clear how it will be implemented, or if any Arab or Muslim nation is prepared to take in and absorb anything more than a token number of Palestinian Arabs, as Jordan’s King Abdullah was strong-armed by Trump to do in a visit to the White House this week. And there’s no doubt that Hamas and its many enablers in the West, as well as among nations in the region, are bitterly opposed to it. They’re against anything that will reduce their ability to use civilians as pawns in their ongoing efforts to turn back the clock to a point in time when the modern-day State of Israel didn’t exist.

If it is to happen, it would be predicated on a resumption of fighting in the Strip, presumably after the ceasefire-hostage release deal inevitably collapses. Despite the green light he received from Trump this week to return to the effort to eradicate Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prefers to stick to the terrible deal he was forced into accepting if it means that more of the remaining Israeli hostages are released. But given that Hamas will never agree to give up power in Gaza or its goal of returning the conflict to where it was on Oct. 6, 2023—meaning that it would be free to make good on its pledge to launch more Oct. 7-style atrocities—the war is bound to resume sooner or later.

The existential nature of the battle against Hamas is clear to almost all Israelis, including those who oppose Netanyahu. But it is of no interest to the “as a Jew” Jews, be they film industry figures, anti-Israel scribblers or liberal rabbis.

Their effort is spearheaded by a group calling itself “In Our Name.” Its website states a goal of raising money to help “organizations that support Palestinian-led efforts to build safety, dignity and self-determination in Palestine, and that support solidarity and other organizing among Palestinian and other Arab and Muslim communities in the United States.”

Ignoring the reality of Oct. 7

The language it employs is an effort to distinguish itself from the allegedly more avowedly anti-Israel groups like Not in Our Name, Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow. Even in the first days after the attacks on Jewish communities in southern Israel, members of this group were already fundraising and organizing to oppose Israel’s efforts to defend itself against those who had committed mass murder, rape, torture, kidnapping and wanton destruction on Oct. 7.

But any spin of In Our Name supporters as being somehow more principled or humane than those extremists is a distinction without a difference. Like those who have been demanding a cease-fire from the moment Hamas’s invasion of Israel was turned back, all of these people remain, at best, Hamas’s “useful idiots.”

Those who are raising funds to be employed in Gaza for the purposes stated are, whether they fully understand it or not, essentially propping up what is left of the rule of Hamas over the Palestinians. To speak of Palestinian “self-determination” in the context of the current war or to help bolster the network of pro-Hamas organizations that have spread the message of hatred for Israel in the United States should not be mistaken for neutrality about the terrorist movement that launched this war and seeks to keep it going until Israel surrenders or collapses.

While the supposed stated purpose is merely “humanitarian aid,” the world has seen in the last 16 months that most, if not all, of the money sent into Gaza is used in one way or another to bolster Hamas.

The signers of the letter might disavow any connection to antisemitism. But their willingness to stand behind the anti-Israel movement that has flourished on college campuses and in the streets of American cities is nothing less than an endorsement of the surge of Jew-hatred that has been mainstreamed on the left since Oct. 7.

Woke antisemitism

At the heart of this form of activism is more than the unrelenting hostility to Trump felt by many Jewish liberals and left-wingers. It’s also rooted in the toxic myths of critical race theory and intersectionality, as well as the associated woke catechism of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Trump is successfully opposing these terrible ideas as he seeks to roll back the hold that these leftist beliefs, which fuel antisemitism, have had on American society and governance.

The “pro-Palestinian” movement on the left isn’t a philanthropic effort to help Palestinian Arabs who have been used as props in the futile century-old war on Zionism. If it were, they’d be cheering Israel’s efforts to get rid of Hamas or the concept of resettling the descendants of the 1948 Arab refugees just as the even more numerous Jews who fled or were forced out of their homes in the Arab and Muslim world were long ago resettled.

This was made explicit by their statement in which they specifically support “Palestinian liberation.” They made clear that they don’t believe that working to destroy the Jewish state—something that could only be accomplished by the genocidal plans of Hamas—is antisemitic. They think that liberal Jews can only demonstrate their virtue by joining the left’s crusade to delegitimize Israel’s self-defense.

The push for Palestinian “self-determination” is a thinly veiled version of the idea that Israel is an illegitimate “settler-colonial” and “apartheid” state that should be dismantled. The notion that the conflict can be solved by a two-state solution is a myth that has been debunked repeatedly since 1948 as the Palestinian Arabs have rejected every offer of statehood and independence. They have told us again and again that they refuse to accept the legitimacy of a Jewish state, no matter where its borders might be drawn. To continue pushing for Palestinian statehood after those rejections is tantamount to acquiescence or endorsement of the struggle to destroy Israel, and has absolutely nothing to do with wanting peace.

Real ‘ethnic cleansing’

Moreover, the irony of Jews who think expelling hundreds of thousands of Jews in Judea and Samaria from their homes to create a Palestinian state is a virtuous cause expressing horror about “ethnic cleansing” is lost on the political left.

Equally important, those who claim the Palestinians must stay forever in Gaza aren’t interested in their welfare. Suffice it to say that the real “ethnic cleansing” movement is not the idea of resettling people who claim to be refugees someplace other than one run by terrorists whose only goal is to use it as a launching pad for unending war on the Jews. Ethnic cleansing of Jews from their ancient homeland isn’t just the goal of Hamas. It is inextricably tied up with Palestinian national identity and also backed by other supposedly more “moderate” Palestinian factions.

Post-Oct. 7, to refuse to see this isn’t just a matter of ignorance or deliberate blindness to the nature of a conflict that even most left-wing Israelis understand is about their existence. At this point, to ignore the truth about the political culture of the Palestinians is tantamount to supporting Jewish genocide.

The Times ad doesn’t express the views of a significant number of American Jews or even most liberal Jews. But it does provide a degree of intellectual cover and legitimacy to the antisemitic movement that seeks to label Israel as a pariah state. As such, it is part of the effort to complete the transformation of the Democratic Party into a bastion of anti-Zionism and antisemitism, as well as boost efforts to enshrine it as the orthodox position in left-wing outlets like the Times.

A line must be drawn

That is why the response of American Jewry to this latest iteration of the “as a Jew” phenomenon should not be complacency or ignoring it as insignificant.

As much as many Jews regard Trump as beyond the pale, they need to understand that whatever their feelings about him, opposing his pro-Israel policies and realism about the Palestinians isn’t routine partisanship or liberal idealism. We’ve come to the point that it must be seen as an expression of neutrality or even tacit support for a Nazi-style war against Jewish existence being waged by a bizarre red-green alliance of leftist ideologues and Islamists.

It’s time to tell these “as a Jew” renegades that we will not accept their claim to the moral high ground against Israelis or even Trump. Functional support for Palestinian “self-determination,” which means backing Hamas and its war, isn’t morally neutral or an expression of liberal Judaism’s universalist and humanitarian ideals. It is an immoral stance that puts its supporters on the side of 21st-century Nazis. Such persons deserve to be held up for opprobrium, not lauded for their supposed “courage” for opposing Trump, conservative Jews or Israel. It is they—and not Netanyahu or Trump—who must be treated by all decent persons, no matter their political affiliations, as pariahs who richly deserve our contempt.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate). Follow him at: @jonathans_tobin.

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A man in his 60s was attacked with an ax in his yard in the Gan Ner community in northern Israel's Gilboa region on Friday.

The victim, who sustained light wounds, was taken to Emek Medical Center in Afula, while the attacker fled the scene.

Residents of Gan Ner were instructed to stay indoors until further notice, as security forces searched for the attacker.

Initial suspicions indicate it was a terrorist attack, and the assailant is believed to be an Arab.

The community is located around 18 minutes from Jenin, where the Israel Defense Forces are carrying out "Operation Iron Wall" targeting terrorist infrastructure in northern Samaria. As part of the operation, Defense Minister Israel Katz has authorized the destruction of buildings tied to terrorist activities.

Police rule out security threat in Tamra

Earlier on Thursday, police ruled out a security incident after arresting a suspect near Tamra, an Arab city in the Lower Galilee, about 12 miles east of Acre. Authorities initially investigated whether the suspect was carrying an explosive belt.

The suspect, who appeared agitated and uncooperative, was detained when officers noticed concealed electronic devices on his person. Following an initial investigation, the devices are suspected to be connected to an exam-cheating scheme.

Three individuals have been arrested as the investigation continues, with the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) also involved in the case.

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