‘The View’ co-host argues anti-Israel student wrongfully expelled from Bronx prep school
Intro
“She was discriminated against because she was an antiwar advocate,” the TV personality Sunny Hostin said.
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Parents of Jewish students at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School (ECFS) in the Bronx, N.Y., have long voiced their frustrations about institutional antisemitism, and since Oct. 7, anti-Israel graffiti and taunts of “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Now, co-host Sunny Hostin, 55, of the daytime talk show “The View,” has seized on the case of an “antiwar advocate” who she believes was wrongfully removed by administrators.
Hostin signed a letter sent to the school on July 7 making accusations of “unequal discipline, unfair treatment and biased standards we perceive our children to be subjected to.”
The letter was inspired by an unnamed student expelled after she wore a dress with a Palestinian flag and the protest slogan “Free Palestine.” She is also alleged to have created art featuring the Jewish eliminationist phrase “from the river to the sea.”
The school has not disclosed the offenses that led to her expulsion.
Hostin told the New York Post that the student “was discriminated against because she was an antiwar advocate” and that she “received disparate treatment than other students, and that was the impetus of the coalition forming.”
While not directly addressing the matter at hand, a school spokesperson told JNS: “We are committed to fostering a safe and inclusive ECFS community for all our students, and this absolutely and unequivocally includes our Jewish students.”
As they continue to weather nearly 21 months of a multi-front regional war, Israelis have been reminded once again that some governments in the democratic world are far more reliable than others.
There are those, like Ireland and Spain, that have been truly awful: embracing the Hamas framework for understanding the conflict, trying to change the definition of “genocide” solely to convict Israel of this monstrous crime, and playing to the antisemitic sentiments that have surged among their respective populations.
And there are those, like Canada and Australia, that have been profoundly disappointing, seeking to embargo weapons supplies to Israel, and misrepresenting Israel’s war of survival against Iran and its proxies as a war of choice—again as antisemitism surges among their populations.
Then there are those, like France and the United Kingdom, that have been grimly predictable: vociferously condemning the Hamas pogrom in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and vociferously condemning Israel for trying to eliminate the conditions that enabled the massacre in the first place against a background of widespread, frequently violent Jew-hatred in the public square.
The boycott extends to Coca-Cola, which has been replaced by something called “Gaza Cola,” whose sales proceeds will supposedly fund “humanitarian projects” in the coastal enclave.
Finally, there are those like Hungary, Germany, the Czech Republic and Italy, who have shown pretty much consistent support for Israel.
Yet as Italy demonstrates, just because the central government supports Israel, it doesn’t mean that local governments or the population more generally will follow suit.
Earlier this month, posters appeared across locations in Milan bearing the words—in garbled English that would be comical were it not for their meaning—“Israeli Not Welcome.” One Jewish resident told The Times of Israel, “They say ‘Israeli,’ but they mean Jews and everyone who does not dissociate themselves from what happens in Gaza.”
That such a message could make yet another appearance in a country that allied with the Nazis for most of World War II, having already donated the word “ghetto” to the English language, is chilling enough, especially as it wasn’t an isolated incident. Recent weeks have witnessed at least two violent antisemitic assaults in Milan—where 7,000 of Italy’s Jewish community of nearly 30,000 live—with one incident involving two Jewish teenage boys, one of whom was wearing a kippah, being beaten and robbed by a gang of Egyptian thugs.
The events in Milan are part of a national trend on the streets and at the political level, with a critical role being played by local governments. As the Italian Jewish journalist Daniel Mosseri noted in an excellent recent survey of anti-Zionist agitation in Italy, “city councils and regional parliaments are now lending institutional weight to the hostility.”
This is particularly worrying in a country like Italy, with its infamous electoral turbulence sweeping into power very different kinds of governments through what has at times looked like a revolving door.
Giorgia Meloni, the current right-wing prime minister, has been a firm friend of Israel throughout the conflict, resisting pressure to suspend military, commercial and diplomatic ties with Jerusalem. But the government that eventually replaces hers could plausibly take Italy on the path followed by the Irish and the Spanish. If it is a government of the left, that outcome is frankly likely, as the present situation at the regional level in Italy would seem to indicate.
Already, four Italian regions with leftist governments—Apulia, Emilia-Romagna, Sardinia and Tuscany—have adopted measures to suspend any contact or cooperation with Israeli government institutions or companies unless their interlocutors denounce “Israel’s genocide” and dissociate themselves from the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Other regions are considering similar action.
The impact of these decisions is being felt far beyond local government bureaucracies. As the air has thickened with enmity toward Israel, two supermarket cooperatives managing more than 450 stores in northern and central Italy have announced a boycott of Israeli products. The boycott extends to that unmistakably American product, Coca-Cola, which has been replaced by something called “Gaza Cola,” whose sales proceeds will supposedly fund “humanitarian projects” in the Strip.
The drive to quarantine Israel and Israelis from all aspects of life—and, by extension, the vast majority of Diaspora Jews who must endure these boycotts—is also manifesting through demonstrations and other performative actions.
That such a message could make an appearance in a country that allied with the Nazis for most of World War II, having already donated the word “ghetto” to the English language, is chilling.
One initiative, titled “50,000 Shrouds for Gaza,” draws on traditional Christian anti-Jewish motifs that resonate particularly in Italy, the home of the “Turin Shroud,” an ancient cloth said to have held the remains of Jesus following his crucifixion by the Roman authorities. Artfully connecting Jewish “genocide” in Gaza with the historic libel of Jewish collective responsibility for the execution of Christianity’s figurehead, the Gaza shrouds project calls for the hanging of white sheets on the outer walls of municipal buildings and public squares. So far, nearly 20 major city councils have signed on to the initiative, among them those of Verona and Bologna, as well as dozens of smaller ones.
Separately, a June demonstration convened by three left-wing opposition parties—the 5 Star Movement, the Democratic Party, and the Green and Left Alliance—featured speakers who compared the plight of the Palestinians with the German Nazi Holocaust. The demands of the demonstration focused on suspending relations between the European Union and Israel; unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state; and a formal recognition and condemnation of Israel’s so-called “genocide” and “war crimes.”
Giuseppe Conte, the leader of the 5 Star Movement, which supports sanctions on Israel but has opposed them in the case of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, has even issued what some would consider a barely veiled warning to Italian Jews. “My Jewish friends, distance yourselves—silence is complicity,” he declared in March. Meanwhile, Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein (who, when elected to the party’s helm two years ago, reacted to barbs about her prominent nose by woundedly insisting that hers was a “typically Etruscan nose”not inherited from her Jewish father) has endorsed a total embargo against Israel.
There are no serious indications that Meloni will be swayed by public anger with Israel to pivot to the pro-Hamas bloc in the European Union led by Ireland and Spain, or to take the “even-handed” approach of France and the United Kingdom. Even so, Italy has become yet another illustration of the pattern of antisemitism in this century. Rather than casting Jews as religious or racial outlaws, they are instead defamed as over-privileged political outlaws who must be forced to choose between their desire to remain in Italy and their support for Israel.
As is always the case with anti-Zionism—or antizionism, as I prefer to call it—the ostensible focus is the State of Israel, but the real targets are the Jews who have no option but to share their streets, their offices, their children’s schools and other public spaces with those who agitate against them.
On July 13, Israel successfully launched its most technologically advanced communications satellite, Dror-1, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Developed by Israel Aerospace Industries, the satellite is intended to provide long-term communications capabilities for civilian and security use.
IAI CEO Boaz Levy called the launch "a special event for the State of Israel," and Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Gila Gamliel called the new satellite a “historic milestone,” and a “technological breakthrough.”
The launch marks a shift in national policy, with Israel moving away from dependence on privately operated or foreign-made satellites and toward a model of state-led space infrastructure. Government officials describe the project as a key step in achieving strategic autonomy in communications, reflecting broader efforts to secure critical national technologies.
“One of the critical goals of the new satellite was to ensure that Israel could move forward with such a project by itself. To develop the technology with Israeli innovations and to be as independent as possible,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology told JNS. “Communications independence is critical for Israel, and Dror-1 is a big part of that story.”
Since launching Israel’s first surveillance satellite, Ofek-1, in 1988, IAI has played a central role in the nation’s space program. The company has developed and deployed a variety of communications and reconnaissance satellites, supporting scientific, commercial and national missions domestically and internationally. These deployments had traditionally been heavily dependent on foreign funding, expertise and manufacturing.
That model unraveled in September 2016, when the Amos-6 satellite was destroyed in a launch pad explosion at Cape Canaveral during a routine pre-flight test of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Two days before launch, with the satellite already secure in its capsule atop the Falcon 9 rocket, a malfunction during rocket refueling turned the $200 million Amos-6 into a pile of ash.
This development, one year after the IAI-supporting company Spacecom lost contact with the Amos-5 satellite due to an unforeseen communication error, led to the suspension of the pending acquisition of Spacecom by China’s Xinwei Group. It also led to the cancellation of a planned partnership with Facebook to provide internet access to parts of Africa.
The failure exposed a gap in Israel’s strategic preparedness. With no alternative satellite in place and a growing reliance on commercial infrastructure, there was no immediate replacement for critical communications capabilities.
Spacecom responded by leasing Amos-7 from AsiaSat and later contracted Boeing to build Amos-17, further increasing reliance on foreign manufacturing. The series of setbacks underscored Israel’s vulnerability and led to growing calls within the government to reevaluate the country’s satellite communications strategy.
The Dror-1 satellite. Credit: IAI.
The aftermath of failure
In the aftermath of the Amos-6 failure, the Israeli government launched a formal review of its civilian space policy. A committee led by then–Director General of the Ministry of Science Peretz Vazan, was tasked with examining the long-term viability of the country’s satellite communications capabilities.
One of the committee’s key conclusions was that continued reliance on private firms and foreign manufacturing posed a significant risk to national security and emergency preparedness. The report recommended that Israel invest in an indigenous satellite program to guarantee uninterrupted access to secure communications in times of crisis.
Acting on this recommendation, the government announced in 2018 that it would commission a communications satellite to be developed entirely by Israel Aerospace Industries. This marked the beginning of the Dror program, envisioned as a long-term strategic initiative to restore Israeli control over satellite infrastructure and reduce Israel’s exposure to external dependencies.
The development of Dror-1 was formally initiated in 2018 with a government work order to IAI, backed by approximately $200 million in public funding.
The project was coordinated by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology and the Israel Space Agency, which also oversaw the development of key system components, including a dedicated satellite computer built between 2017 and 2022 at a cost of nearly 30 million shekels. More than 500 employees were contracted to work on the project.
While the design phase advanced steadily, physical construction of the satellite faced delays. Global supply chain disruptions and travel restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic slowed work in 2020, while regional events, including the IDF's "Operation Guardian of the Walls" in 2021 and the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in 2023, interrupted engineering schedules.
Despite these obstacles, IAI proceeded with testing, including a vacuum simulation conducted in Munich, and completed the satellite’s assembly in time for its transfer to Cape Canaveral in mid-2025, several months before the launch date.
“The development of Dror-1 had a lot of ups, downs and complications. I'm not sure when a major space project had so many external disruptions, due to the war and Covid,” an IAI employee involved in the Dror-1project told JNS. “Overall, it was an incredible journey and a real demonstration of determination that despite all the issues, the teams just kept pushing forward until we got to the finish line.”
The traumatic memories of the Amos-6 explosion led to a tense weekend leading up to the launch, with most IAI executives choosing not to comment on the upcoming mission because, as one employee put it, “no one wants to cast an evil eye.”
Levy, who was the head of IAI’s Missile and Space Division during the Amos-6 Launch, said he hoped that “a corrective experience could be achieved.”
Israel's Dror-1 satellite. Imaging: IAI.
Operational for up to 15 years
Dror-1 was launched at 8:03 a.m. Israel time. The launch vehicle used a booster stage that had already been used in more than 10 missions, and successfully landed on a drone ship following separation.
Within minutes of liftoff, the satellite's payload fairing (protective nose cone) was jettisoned, and initial signals were received from orbit, confirming successful deployment.
The satellite then initiated a series of post-launch procedures, including the unfolding of its twin antennas and solar panels spanning approximately 17.8 meters, or 58.4 feet.
Over the following two weeks, Dror-1 is expected to gradually raise its orbit using onboard thrusters to reach its final geostationary position, reportedly near 4° west longitude, where it will remain fixed relative to the Earth’s surface. IAI engineers are conducting an on-orbit testing campaign to verify the performance of the satellite’s communications payload and systems before it enters full operational service.
Dror-1 is a geostationary communications satellite designed to operate at an altitude of approximately 36,000 kilometers (some 22,400 miles), with a planned operational lifespan of up to 15 years. Weighing around 4.5 tons, the satellite is equipped with Israel’s largest communications antennas to date, each measuring 2.8 meters (almost 9.2 feet) in diameter. It includes a fully digital payload developed in-house by IAI, which incorporates reconfigurable communications systems intended to provide greater operational flexibility.
The platform supports secure data transmission for civilian and defense users and is described by officials as having "smartphone-in-space" capabilities due to its adaptable digital architecture. The satellite also includes 70 onboard video cameras and is constructed with approximately 28,000 mechanical fasteners. According to IAI, these features are intended to ensure long-term reliability and adaptability in a range of operational scenarios.
IAI has not disclosed the satellite's exact orbital location or whether it will replace either of Israel's aging Amos-2 or Amos-3 satellites.
Leaders in the field hailed Dror-1 as expanding the frontier of Israeli science and once again proving that the Jewish state is a leader of technological innovation.
"The launch of Dror 1 is a real national technological achievement and expresses Israeli scientific excellence and innovation. The satellite … strengthens Israel's position as a global technological powerhouse,” Gamliel said.
Brig. Gen. (res.) Uri Oron, director of the Israel Space Agency, called Dror-1 an “expression of Israeli excellence and proof that Israel continues to lead at the forefront of global technology."
Omer Shechter, director general of the Innovation Ministry, added that in his view, the launch of Dror-1 “demonstrates our ability to lead complex, multi-partner projects that strengthen Israel’s status as a global innovation powerhouse.”
Power in space
Beyond the expansion of science and international prestige, sector leaders also explained that the project led to a critical expansion in Israel's technological and communications independence.
Dror-1 “reflects our commitment to preserving Israel’s strategic autonomy in space-based communications,” Levy explained.
Oron expanded on this point, saying, "Dror 1 symbolizes a new era of independence and Israeli technological power in space. As I have emphasized in the past, we must look at space as a national resource from a national perspective. Today, we are realizing this vision.”
He added that “the satellite will strengthen Israel's international standing in the field of space and will guarantee us independent and advanced communications capabilities for decades to come."
Dror-1 is only the first step in a broader state-backed initiative. The Israeli government has outlined plans for a full Dror series of 10 satellites, with one to be launched approximately every five years.
While discussions around Dror-2 have not yet begun, the long-term objective is to maintain a continuous, domestically produced infrastructure capable of meeting Israel’s evolving civilian and governmental communications needs.
In parallel, the Ministry of Defense is pursuing the development of nanosatellite constellations for intelligence and surveillance. These small, maneuverable satellites, operating in coordinated swarms, are intended to provide persistent, high-resolution coverage over areas of interest and enable more flexible data-gathering operations.
Unlike geostationary platforms such as Dror-1, which remain fixed over a single point, nanosatellites would orbit at lower altitudes and revisit target regions at high frequency. Together, these complementary tracks signal a dual-use strategy aimed at expanding communications capacity and tactical intelligence capabilities through independent space-based assets.
While Israel’s space ambitions remain high, serious challenges threaten their realization. IAI currently produces only one communications satellite every four to five years, a pace far behind industry leaders such as Boeing, which can manufacture up to six annually.
This slow production rate, coupled with high costs, has made it difficult for IAI to stay competitive in the fast-moving global communications market. Without new contracts, the company faces the risk of losing the specialized workforce needed to maintain and advance its satellite-building capabilities, casting doubt on its long-term role in this sector.
British MP Diane Abbott, a prominent far-left figure, has been suspended once again from the Labour Party over controversial comments on racism.
Abbott, 71, Britain’s first black female MP, had only recently been reinstated to the party in the lead-up to the July 2024 general election, after being suspended in 2023 for comments that downplayed the racism faced by Jewish, Irish and Traveller communities.
In a BBC Radio interview on Thursday, Abbott was asked whether she regretted her earlier remarks, which sparked backlash and led to her suspension. “No, not at all,” she replied.
“Clearly, there must be a difference between racism, which is about color, and other types of racism,” she said.
“You can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don't know. But if you see a black person walking down the street, you see straight away that they're black.”
The Labour Party responded swiftly. “Diane Abbott has been administratively suspended pending an investigation,” a party spokesperson said.
The controversy stems from a 2023 letter Abbott wrote to The Observer newspaper, where she asserted that Jews, Irish and Travellers do experience prejudice, and claimed this was “similar to racism” rather than racism itself. “At the height of slavery, there were no white-seeming people manacled on the slave ships,” she wrote.
Following the backlash, Abbott apologized and claimed the published letter was a draft sent in error. “There is no excuse, and I wish to apologize for any anguish caused,” she said at the time.
“Racism takes many forms, and it is completely undeniable that Jewish people have suffered its monstrous effects, as have Irish people, Travellers and many others.”
Abbott previously served as shadow home secretary under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose tenure was marred by widespread accusations of antisemitism in the party.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission found in 2020 that Labour was “responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination” during Corbyn’s leadership.
Current Labour leader and Prime Minister Keir Starmer has made stamping out antisemitism in the party a central focus of his leadership.
Earlier this year, Starmer led a successful push to bar Corbyn from standing as a Labour candidate in future elections, citing his refusal to accept findings about antisemitism in Labour ranks.
Starmer has not hesitated to act against other party members either. Just this week, four Labour lawmakers were suspended for organizing opposition to government welfare policies.
Abbott, first elected in 1987, has previously drawn criticism for other racially divisive remarks.
In 1996, she suggested Finnish nurses were unfit for work in her constituency in London due to a lack of exposure to black people.
In 2012, she tweeted, “White people love playing ‘divide and rule.’ We should not play their game.”
It remains unclear whether Abbott will be allowed to run again under the Labour banner. For now, the party has removed the whip pending the outcome of its latest investigation. Having the whip withdrawn means the MP is effectively expelled from his or her party.
Or Levy, who spent 491 days as a Hamas hostage, spoke out this week about his ordeal and the pain of knowing others remain captive in Gaza.
Levy, 34, was freed in February, his pale, frail frame shocking the world. Nearly all his captivity was spent underground, shackled and starving.
“It’s hard to understand how difficult it is to live on one pita a day for 491 days …, no human should live like that,” he told CNN this week.
Levy was kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. His wife, Einav, was killed in the attack, though he only knew for sure after his release. His first question to Israeli officials was about her.
“I asked about my wife. I said that I think I know, but I’m not 100% certain, and that I want to know,” he recalled.
While in captivity, Levy never asked his captors if his wife had survived. Instead, he focused on his son Almog, then two years old.
His will was strengthened by fellow hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American-Israeli later executed by Hamas.
Goldberg-Polin shared a mantra with Levy: “He who has a ‘why’ can bear any ‘how,’” a quote linked to Friedrich Nietzsche and, more recently, philosopher and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl.
Almog was Levy’s “why.”
On Almog’s birthday last year, Levy spent the day crying, quietly singing “Happy Birthday” underground. He promised himself he would be home for the next one.
Two weeks ago, Levy kept that promise, celebrating Almog’s fourth birthday at home near Tel Aviv.
He later tattooed the life-saving mantra on his arm—the same place he would touch in captivity to keep hope alive.
Levy’s reunion with his son was filled with fear that Almog wouldn’t recognize him. But the embrace washed away that worry. “I remember seeing him, hugging him, hearing his voice … crazy,” he said.
The former hostage now devotes himself to being a full-time father, answering Almog’s growing questions about the “far place” where his dad was held and about his late mother.
“We told him that a big bomb happened and that unfortunately, mom is dead and I was taken to a far place,” Levy explained.
Almog often asks why his mother died and why his father didn’t take him along. Levy responds by reassuring his son that his mother loved him deeply. He keeps her memory alive through stories and photos.
“Even when it’s hard, it’s harder for him to not remember his mother.”
Yet Levy’s ordeal isn’t truly over. “The fact that people are still there haunts me in the night,” he said.
Watching the slow, uncertain progress of ceasefire negotiations is painful. Levy said that when talks stalled, Hamas would often worsen the hostages’ conditions.
“Very easily, I could have been there still,” he noted.
One of those who remain in Gaza is Alon Ohel, 24, an aspiring musician with whom Levy shared most of his captivity.
“I think that nothing is worth more than getting those people home,” Levy said. “I know that we need to push on to get a deal that gets everyone home and finish everything. Finish everything.”
An IDF soldier has been indicted for illicit contact with Iranian officials, following a joint investigation by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), Israel Police and Military Police.
According to the indictment filed on Thursday, the soldier knowingly maintained contact with Iranian operatives and carried out tasks for them in exchange for money. He allegedly sent videos of missile interceptions and photos of projectile strikes inside Israel.
Authorities emphasized that the information passed on was not obtained through the soldier’s military position.
The case comes amid growing concerns about Iranian efforts to recruit Israelis for espionage and sabotage.
Over the past year, Israel has indicted more than 35 citizens on charges related to spying for Tehran. The Shin Bet and police have uncovered more than 25 espionage affairs involving Israeli civilians.
To counter the threat, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Shin Bet launched a national awareness campaign called “Easy Money, Hefty Price" this week. It aims to warn the public about the ease with which Iranian handlers lure Israelis into collaboration.
The campaign also highlights the severe legal consequences for espionage, including prison sentences of up to 15 years.
Officials expect Tehran to ramp up its recruitment efforts in the aftermath of the recent 12-day war, which saw Israel’s “Operation Rising Lion” strike Iranian air defenses, military leaders and nuclear scientists.
Israeli authorities have reported a surge of Iranian-backed plots in recent months. Last week, a 27-year-old from Be’er Ya’akov was indicted for spying on behalf of Iran.
The suspect, Or Beilin, allegedly received about $9,000 in cryptocurrency to spray anti-Israel graffiti, burn IDF uniforms and purchase a drone.
In another case, three Israelis were indicted on July 3 for conspiring with Iranian intelligence, including an attempted plot to assassinate a senior Israeli figure.
Two of the accused, Yoni Segal, 18, and Omri Mizrahi, 20, allegedly scouted malls and hospitals for security vulnerabilities in exchange for promised payments in cryptocurrency and relocation to Iran.
Additionally, Mark Morgain, 33, from the Jordan Valley, faces charges for allegedly moving a grenade and filming missile interceptions for Iranian handlers.
The public is urged to report any suspicious contacts, particularly online, to Israeli authorities. The awareness campaign will be promoted through radio, news sites and social media.
A number of petitions recently brought before the Supreme Court typify much of what’s wrong with the Israeli judicial system. The appointment of new Shin Bet chief Maj. Gen. David Zini, the dismissal of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and the attempt to coerce Justice Minister Yariv Levin into recognizing self-appointed Supreme Court president Yitzchak Amit are but a few of the contentious issues pitting the government against the judiciary.
The clash between these branches of government has been brewing for years, even decades, since past Supreme Court president Aharon Barak undertook to refashion the entire legal system in his own image. “Basic Laws” suddenly had the force of an undeclared Constitution; the attorney general was deemed the executive branch’s final arbiter of the public interest in any legal matter; “unreasonableness” became a sufficient justification to disqualify governmental appointments, annul legislation and single-handedly determine matters of public policy; and the list goes on. Still, Barak had the intellect, political acumen and manipulative adroitness that none of his successors have possessed thereafter. Hence, a slow but growing realization began fermenting amongst the other two competing branches that something had gone terribly awry. Finally, it seems, the cracks are beginning to show, and we have no one to thank for that more than Yitzchak Amit himself.
The scourge of hubris has been described as “pride that blinds,” and Amit exemplifies that self-induced affliction perfectly. According to his dogmatic understanding of bio-anthropology, judges are distinguished from lesser human beings by virtue of their superior “judicial DNA,” and I quote verbatim. When speaking to a group of 12th-graders, Amit was recorded as saying: “Do me a favor, leave me alone about what we call ‘electoral democracy.’ It reminds me of the stale joke about the four wolves and a sheep who took a collective vote to decide whose going to be served for dinner tonight.”
Remember that the next time you go to vote.
Amit had no compunctions about participating in the Israel Bar Association’s annual conference in Eilat (all expenses paid), despite sitting as the senior justice on a pending petition against the Knesset’s decision to cut the organization’s budget by 20%.
Conflict of interests, anyone?
During sessions of the Judicial Appointments Committee, Amit refused to recuse himself even though the deliberations centered around whether or not he should be appointed the next president of the Supreme Court. “I’m sitting here merely as a potted plant,” he smugly quipped. And Levin refused to convene the committee in protest of this insufferable impropriety, Amit’s cronies on the Supreme Court simply usurped such ministerial privilege and bestowed the title of “president” upon their colleague.
We can offer only the highest regard for Levin, who from then onwards has resolutely repudiated this judicial coup, ceasing to cooperate with Amit at all levels and desisting from participating in any ceremony honoring Amit’s fabricated appointment. It’s hard to think of a single politician, past or present, who would so doggedly adhere to his principles; certainly not previous ministers of justice who more often than not immediately capitulate to the whims of the judicial elite. Which is exactly what has caused these oligarchs to go apoplectic over such umbrage to the extent that yet another “public petitioner” has filed suit to coerce Levin into cooperating with Amit or else be removed from office. The fact that this same Supreme Court has refrained from immediately dismissing such dross stupidity serves as yet another example of the absurd depths to which we have descended.
What’s surprising, however, is that the executive and legislative branches of government are, for once, fighting back. A longstanding practice of Supreme Court presidents allows them to determine the panel of judges sitting on particular cases. Initially, this was to ensure that justices with expertise in specific areas of the law would be assigned to handle matters in which they excelled.
Already from the reign of the aforementioned Barak, this powerful authority has been exploited for manifestly political purposes, primarily to ensure a pre-determined outcome in highly sensitive cases. In this regard as well, Amit has proven how sorely he lacks the intellectual stature of this renowned predecessor.
Whereas in the past, fiercely contested issues regarding public policy were brought before an expanded panel of five, seven or more justices, Amit has time and again chosen the “seniority panel” of three—consisting of himself, Deputy President Noam Solberg and Associate Justice Daphne Erez-Barak to adjudicate even the most controversial matters. Given that Amit and Erez-Barak are stalwart activist judges, the majority is preserved, making life remarkably easy for them. Nor do they fail to demonstrate their disdain for Netanyahu’s cabinet and their own unshakable belief that these justices alone stand as the last line of defense before Israel slips into dictatorship.
Yet recently, Amit has unwittingly committed two glaring tactical errors. For reasons unknown, he reassigned the panel hearing the petition against Netanyahu’s decision to appoint Zini to head Israel’s Shin Beit security service. Instead of the usual three senior justices, Amit replaced Solberg and Erez-Barak with Alex Stein and Gila Canfy-Steinitz, two justices sometimes mistakenly considered of a more conservative bent.
What transpired was a rare insight into Amit’s greatest fear that he and his enlightened comrades might lose their singular command over every act and decision undertaken by the executive and legislature. When these two associate justices began dissecting the attorney general’s extremist position that Netanyahu should be stripped of his authority, the terror gripping Amit’s face was apparent for all to see.
Which brings us to his second fatal mistake—allowing the seven-hour session to be live-streamed. Besides witnessing the heart-wrenching execution of his order to have bereaved parents and family members of Hamas atrocities on Oct. 7, 2023, dragged from the courtroom, Amit’s pathetic squabbling with his colleagues on the bench offered a rare insight into his judicial immaturity. Canfy-Steinitz dared refer to a previous Supreme Court ruling that the attorney general’s decisions do not necessarily bind the government. Amit frantically attempted to degrade the importance of such a verdict by pointing out that it was accepted only by a 4-3 majority. To which Canfy-Steinitz shot back, "Now we’re counting by what majority?!”
It seems the government, as well, is at long last coming to realize that Amit cannot be taken at his word. Throughout the marathon hearing on the dismissal of previous Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, Amit repeatedly entreated the parties to reach some kind of consensual arrangement and eagerly offered his services to assist in such a congenial effort.
In the end, the dispute resolved itself: Bar notified that he would be resigning in the following weeks, the government withdrew its decision to fire him, and with that, the case should have been expunged from the record. But then the attorney general’s office demanded that the court nevertheless issue a ruling since the episode addressed “a matter of principle.” If there’s one thing the courts love, it’s when the parties resolve the dispute between themselves on their own. After all, the role of the judiciary is to adjudicate actual controversies and not theoretical ones whose only application is “a matter of principle.”
Furthermore, wasn’t achieving a settlement exactly what Amit had recommended from the very beginning? But he and his accomplice Erez-Barak simply couldn’t help themselves, and despite the litigants themselves having declared their divorce, these justices felt compelled nevertheless to reprimand Netanyahu and declare that he was wrong all along. How can Amit ever be trusted again when proposing that the parties resolve their disputes without the court’s intervention?
It is precisely these and similar judicial machinations that have served as unignorable wake-up calls for the Knesset to set matters right, beginning with a bill currently making its way up the legislature to expropriate the power of Supreme Court presidents to determine which judges hear petitions before the High Court of Justice, and thus guarantee that the process be arranged with pure randomicity.
It’s a small first step, and well overdue, but an important one at that.
Israel has called on the United Nations Security Council to act against the Damascus regime for its role in atrocities being committed against Druze civilians in Syria's Suweida province.
In a letter dated July 17, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar expressed "deep concern" over reports of brutal violence targeting the Druze community in southern Syria.
Sa’ar described acts of “killings and executions, defacement of bodies, public humiliation of captured civilians,” alongside widespread looting and desecration of religious sites.
“These heinous crimes terrorize the local community,” Sa’ar wrote to the Security Council president for July, Pakistani Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad. “In many cases, these acts are committed by the regime, its affiliated militias, or both.”
The foreign minister said the Syrian regime bears responsibility for the atrocities within its borders and must be held accountable by the international community.
Sa’ar warned that these attacks are not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern of persecution of minorities by Sunni Arabs in Syria.
He cited massacres of the Alawite community in the northwest, ongoing aggression against Kurdish populations in the north and jihadist assaults on Christian institutions.
“The international community must not remain silent in the face of such targeted violence,” Sa’ar said. “Nor can it settle for empty condemnations.”
He urged the U.N. to deliver a firm and clear message to the Ahmed al-Sharaa regime, emphasizing that it “will be judged by its actions, not merely by its words.”
Sa’ar requested that his letter be distributed as an official document of the Security Council. He also sent a copy to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.
Israel’s call comes amid escalating tensions in Syria, where minority groups have faced violent repression and systemic persecution, often from both state forces and extremist groups.
On Friday, Sa'ar ordered the urgent transfer of humanitarian aid to the Druze in Suweida.
The aid, worth two million shekels ($600,000), will include food packages, medical equipment, first aid kits and medicine. The budget will come from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The aid will be directed in a targeted manner to the areas in the Suweida province that were directly affected by the violent attacks against the Druze, the ministry said.
The ministry previously send aid to the Druze in Syria in March.
The 700,000 Druze in Syria, some 3.2% of the population, have faced increasing threats in recent months, particularly in the southern province of Suweida.
Despite the community's historical neutrality in Syria’s long-running civil conflict, violence has surged in the area, raising fears of ethnic and sectarian cleansing.
Sa’ar’s letter reflects Israel’s broader diplomatic push to highlight the dangers posed by the al-Sharaa regime and its backers. He made clear that genuine regional stability is impossible without accountability for crimes against minorities.
“The world must act, before more innocent lives are lost,” Sa’ar said.
Meanwhile, Israel's Ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, called out Guterres for his "shameful silence" over the Druze massacre in Syria.
A majority of Israelis want the Gaza Strip to remain under Israeli military rule after the current war ends, according to a survey published by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA) this week.
The poll, conducted by Menachem Lazar of Lazar Research at the beginning of July, found that 52% support an Israeli takeover of Gaza with a temporary military administration—if all hostages are first released. Only 4% believe Hamas should remain in power, whether politically or militarily.
The survey sampled more than 700 Israelis, both Jews and Arabs, aged 18 and up. It explored views on Gaza’s future, a Palestinian state, ties with the Palestinian Authority, and wider regional issues including Iran and Syria.
No to a Palestinian state
According to the JCFA, 64% of Israelis oppose the creation of a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 lines. Just 8% support statehood without conditions, while 17% would back it if Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state and agree to demilitarization.
Among Jewish respondents, opposition is higher—77% overall, and 88% among right-wing voters. Among Arab respondents, 34% support an unconditional Palestinian state, and 26% conditionally.
Even with Saudi normalization on the table, 58% of respondents oppose Palestinian statehood. Only 24% would agree if strict conditions are met, and 8% support it unconditionally. Among Jewish Israelis, 68% remain against.
Distrust of the Palestinian Authority
The P.A. also fares poorly in public opinion. Some 53% of Israelis oppose any role for the P.A. in post-war Gaza, compared to 26% who support involving it. Jewish opposition is stronger at 59%, compared to 30% among Arab Israelis.
Action against Iran
On the Iran situation, 76% of Israelis support further military action if Tehran seeks to rebuild its nuclear or ballistic programs. Of these, 37% favor action if it's coordinated with the U.S., while 39% would also back unilateral Israeli action. Only 13% oppose any strike.
Another massacre
Two-thirds of Israelis (66%) fear another Oct. 7-style massacre, this time from Judea and Samaria. Among Jews, 77% express concern, compared to just 22% of Arab Israelis. Fear of this is highest on the right (80%), with the left less concerned (43% unafraid).
Normalization with Syria
When asked about peace with Syria, only 7% support unconditional normalization of relations. But 72% support a deal if Israel retains security freedom (42%) or if Syria drops its claim on the Golan Heights (23%). Only 10% oppose any agreement.
‘No place for Hamas’
Dan Diker, president of JCFA, said the survey shows a clear Israeli consensus. “There is no place for Hamas in Gaza on the day after the war,” he said. “The public rejects paying the heavy price of war only to restore the status quo of October 6, 2023.”
In December 2024, an evangelical organization erected a tall metal Chanukah menorah near the waterfront in Puerto Montt, southern Chile, to commemorate the holiday. In Chile's anti-Israel post-Oct. 7, 2023, atmosphere, the gesture sparked immediate backlash.
Social media in the city of 250,000 residents, which houses a small Jewish community and serves as a popular destination for Israeli backpackers, erupted with furious posts.
"Remove this symbol of death from here," Sen. Ivan Moreira Barros, who represents the Los Lagos scenic lakes region where Puerto Montt serves as capital, declared on X. He addressed Chilean President Gabriel Boric directly, stating, "You support Palestinian rights in the face of genocide, so make sure this happens."
Following the digital campaign came physical action. Unidentified vandals sprayed the menorah with red paint, scrawled "Murderers" across it in bold letters and damaged its foundation.
Only a handful confronted this vandalism and blatant antisemitism. The nation's Jewish community filed protests while Israeli Ambassador to Chile Gil Artzyeli condemned Moreira Barros and other politicians participating in the incitement.
Among Chilean politicians, virtually only Rodrigo Wainraihgt, Puerto Montt's mayor, who assumed office on Dec. 6, openly opposed these manifestations of hatred and bigotry.
Puerto Montt Mayor Rodrigo Wainraihgt during his visit to Israel's Gaza area communities, July 2025. Credit: Courtesy.
"I clearly supported Jews' right to celebrate Chanukah peacefully and quietly, which is why I sharply criticized this act and those responsible for it," Wainraihgt told Israel Hayom during his visit to Israel as part of a Latin American mayors' delegation that attended the Muniexpo 2025 local government conference at Expo Tel Aviv on July 15-17.
Following the menorah vandalism, leftist forces in his city and nation have branded Wainraihgt an "Israel supporter," labeling him "pro-Zionist," "genocide supporter," "friend of the Jews" and worse.
"I'm neither pro-Israeli nor pro-Palestinian," he said. "I consider myself neutral. Unlike others, I listen to both sides before forming opinions about a country I don't truly know and a problem where I lack expertise. This is precisely why I wanted to come here and witness reality firsthand."
Wainraihgt faced intense criticism for his decision to tour Israel (he was the sole Chilean accepting the invitation), yet he remains undeterred. "There were numerous personal attacks from various people on social media, but I'm acting for my city's benefit and my people's welfare. For this purpose, I remain courageous and unmoved by those who merely sit on the sidelines and criticize."
In 2025, Chile, neutrality constitutes taking sides. Under Boric's populist leftist leadership, the nation has embraced aggressive anti-Israel policies. In early June, the president announced he was withdrawing the country's military attachés from Israel, considering military import suspensions, supporting legal proceedings against Israel in The Hague, backing arms embargoes and banning imports from Judea and Samaria.
Previously, he recalled Chile's ambassador from Israel, reducing diplomatic relations between the nations to near-complete suspension.
"The president repeatedly claims there's 'genocide' in Gaza while ignoring Hamas's actions, a murderous terror organization seeking not only Israel's elimination but the entire Western world's destruction," Wainraihgt, a Renovación Nacional (National Renewal) party member from Chile's center-right, asserted.
"He ignores the murders, rapes and Israeli suffering. Through his statements and actions, he severely damaged relations between the two countries that previously maintained very friendly ties based on extensive technological, military and academic cooperation.
"I hope our next president will restore Chile-Israel relations," Wainraihgt said. The country faces general elections in November 2025. Constitutional restrictions prevent Boric from seeking another term, while his support ratings have plummeted following his unpopular social and economic policies.
The Gaza war won't dominate the presidential campaign, yet regardless of the next president's identity, Israel will likely remain a target of government criticism.
A primary factor is the political influence of Chile's Palestinian minority, which numbers approximately 500,000 people (out of a population of some 20 million)—the highest Palestinian concentration outside the Arab world.
This large, vocal and assertive minority significantly impacts the young South American democracy's internal politics.
Major Chilean cities have witnessed numerous turbulent anti-Israel demonstrations, both before Oct. 7, 2023, and especially in the wake of the Gaza war that followed the Hamas massacre. Anti-Israel rhetoric is extreme, aggressive and deliberately conflates "Israel," "Zionism," "Jews," "imperialism," "occupation," "genocide" and other code words that Latin America's extreme left frequently employs to inflame emotions.
The new jerseys of Santiago's Palestino soccer club. Source: Social media.
Santiago's Club Deportivo Palestino soccer club from the country's premier league exemplifies this phenomenon, transforming every match into a public anti-Israel display, including featuring a "Liberated Palestine" map on players' jerseys.
The combination of Palestinian lobby activities with Marxist and anti-American ideology that has consistently flourished in Chile, both before and after Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, created an explosive mixture, making Boric's administration the continent's most extreme symbol of anti-Israeli policy.
"The Palestinian community contains an extreme minority wanting to drag us into confrontation with Israel," Wainraihgt said. "But we cannot permit this. We must not abandon dialogue and joint efforts. I hope post-election Chile will renew good relations with Israel, which are important and stronger than any single president's politics."
Wainraihgt described how alongside his visit's human dimension, including touring the Supernova music festival memorial site and kibbutzim severely damaged on Oct. 7: "As a father of three children, my emotions were overwhelming. I witnessed bloodstains where they murdered a father before his children's eyes and heard testimonies about the horrific acts innocent young people endured who simply wanted to dance."
His primary objective involves establishing connections with Israeli companies and organizations to help his city advance technologically.
"We have much to learn from Israel," he said. "You possess extensive knowledge, tools and experience in technological and innovative initiatives that transformed and improved your economy and society.
“This inspires admiration. Puerto Montt and the Los Lagos region host major industries such as salmon exports, but we want to advance other important sectors too, requiring us to embrace innovation concepts, advanced academic research and current technology. Without these elements, we cannot truly progress," he said.
"I believe shared interests can bridge any dispute," he added. "From the Israeli side, I observed tremendous willingness to help and cooperate, despite the problematic situation between our governments. I'm departing with an extensive list of contacts and experts who offered assistance—this alone provides reason for optimism.
“If state-level problems exist, then local government and citizen levels can restore relations. This approach can repair what was nearly broken—and I hope during my next visit here, peace will return, the world will address extreme groups like Hamas, and genuine coexistence will emerge. Until then, I hope my city advances and Chile returns to normalcy," said Wainraihgt.
