Latin America is on a roll! With Paraguay’s announcement Thursday of its intention to join the Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), Paraguay became the eighth Latin American country to adopt the alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and the third to request full membership.

Argentina is currently the only state in the region to have attained full member status in IHRA. Uruguay has observer status, and Costa Rica is reportedly pursuing membership.

The process for becoming a full member begins with observer status, which has now been conferred on Paraguay. From observer status, it will graduate to a liaison for IHRA before becoming a full member.

Paraguayan President Santiago Peña (Credit: Santiago Peña)

Paraguay made the announcement at the Argentine Embassy in Washington, D.C. In attendance were Argentine President Javier Milei, the foreign ministers of Argentina and Paraguay, the Argentine ambassador to the United States, and U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun.

Working together, the United States and Argentina, whose president is one of the most pro-Israel leaders in the world, have been pushing Latin American countries to adopt the IHRA definition. The initiative to bring countries into the alliance has been named the IHRA Accords.

IHRA is an alliance of governments that work together to spread Holocaust education and remembrance, as well as to advance research. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, the alliance has 35 member governments along with countries that serve as liaisons or have observer status. It is most famous for its working definition of antisemitism.

“We equip leaders with what they need to craft international policies that support democratic and inclusive societies to help prevent genocide in the future,” the alliance says.

The Argentine Embassy issued a statement about the historic moment, reaffirming its commitment to maintain strong action against antisemitism.

“In a significant diplomatic milestone, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic announced their intention to join the IHRA, reflecting Argentina’s regional leadership and marking an important step toward expanding the Alliance’s presence in Latin America,” the embassy said.

“Today’s gathering reaffirmed that Holocaust remembrance must translate into concrete commitments, stronger partnerships, and collective action against antisemitism across our hemisphere,” it added.

“Argentina will continue to stand firmly alongside those who defend freedom, democracy, and human dignity. In the face of antisemitism and hatred, there can be no room for silence, indifference, or neutrality,” the embassy concluded.

The Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Thursday that it had withdrawn from The Hague Group, a coalition of countries founded in The Hague, the Netherlands, in January 2025 “to isolate and attack Israel.”

“Colombia officially requested its withdrawal from the Hague Group, a group created to isolate and attack Israel. We reject that approach,” said Foreign Minister Omar Bula.

A statement issued by the Foreign Ministry listed the following countries as founding members of The Hague Group: Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal, and South Africa, adding that Bolivia and Honduras had already withdrawn.

Colombian President de la Espriella (left) meets with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.

The purpose of the group was to single out Israel and devise legal and diplomatic measures to hold it accountable for its actions in the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Upon assuming office in August, Colombia’s new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, who views Israel positively, promised better relations with the Jewish state than those maintained under the previous anti-Israel president, Gustavo Petro, one of whose last acts in office was to post “Heil Hitler” on his official social media account. One of de la Espriella’s first acts in office was to announce a resumption of full diplomatic ties between Colombia and Israel, promise to move the Colombian Embassy to Jerusalem, and recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Shortly after de la Espriella took office, a massive earthquake tore Colombia asunder, and Israel answered the call immediately, sending a Home Front Command rescue team, called the “Alliance of Brothers,” to the country. The team located and rescued every missing person at the sites where they were deployed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed Thursday that he had spoken directly to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on July 16 regarding the massacre of Druze civilians in Suweida.

The full exchange, as published by i24NEWS, was as follows:

Netanyahu: I want to be brief. Apparently the message via the mediators didn’t get through properly. A genocide is being committed against the Druze. By 10 p.m. your forces must withdraw from Suweida.

Al-Sharaa: I had hoped our conversation would go differently.

Netanyahu: I’m calling on you to withdraw your forces, or we will intensify our strikes.

Al-Sharaa: I need 48 hours.

Netanyahu: That’s unacceptable. Withdraw the forces first.

Indeed, later that same day, the Israeli Air Force struck the headquarters of the Syrian Defense Ministry and the area near the Syrian presidential palace. These strikes followed others that the Israeli military had conducted since July 13 in support of the Druze community in Syria that was under attack by Syrian forces.

An unnamed State Department official said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun Thursday regarding the seizure of hundreds of kilograms of explosives believed to belong to Hezbollah. According to the official, Rubio urged the president not to return the confiscated explosives to the Iran-backed terror group.

“He urged President Aoun to hold accountable all those who ordered, financed, and directed the shipment, and underscored that returning explosives to Hezbollah should be out of the question,” the official said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced Monday that Lebanese forces confiscated the materials from a truck that was traveling to Beirut. He said that the truck held “hundreds of kilograms of explosives.” While not identifying Hezbollah, he vowed that the government would pursue “truth and accountability” in its investigation.

More explosives were seized in a second operation later the same day at the Syrian border.

Salam noted that C-4 had been used in “several of the infamous political assassinations in modern Lebanese history.”

According to Reuters, a Hezbollah terrorist claimed ownership of the materials on Hezbollah’s behalf and said that the group had intended to use the explosives against Israel.

According to the U.S. official, Rubio also urged Aoun to allow the Lebanese and Israeli militaries to communicate, despite a 1995 Lebanese boycott law barring Lebanese citizens from speaking to Israelis.

The official quoted Rubio as saying that the law “is routinely used for politicized prosecutions that deter steps towards peace,” adding that the secretary of state “emphasized that the law is impractical and urged direct military-to-military communication between Lebanese and Israeli forces for deconfliction, which would help to reduce miscalculation and to advance sequenced implementation of the Trilateral Framework.”

Former NBA superstar and Israeli basketball champion Amar’e Stoudemire has added another unexpected achievement to his extraordinary life story. The six-time NBA All-Star, who embraced Orthodox Judaism after his basketball career, has officially graduated from a Florida police academy at age 43.

Stoudemire completed his training at Miami Dade College’s School of Justice on Wednesday, October 14, and is preparing to serve with the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department. He also received the Harry “Coach” Everett Award in recognition of his contributions throughout the academy program.

For many Jewish and Israeli basketball fans, Stoudemire’s journey carries special significance.

After building an NBA career with the Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat, the 6-foot-10 basketball star took his talents to Israel, where he played professionally, developed a deep connection to Jewish life and ultimately converted to Judaism.

He adopted an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle, immersed himself in Torah study and became one of the most recognizable Jewish figures to emerge from professional basketball.

His latest career move, however, has little to do with basketball or religion. According to Stoudemire, becoming a police officer was a dream long before he ever imagined playing in the NBA.

Growing up in Florida, he was surrounded by relatives who worked in law enforcement, including an uncle and cousin who became police captains. Those early influences stayed with him even as basketball brought international fame and financial success.

Despite earning more than $167 million during his NBA career, Stoudemire returned to the classroom and underwent approximately 848 hours of law enforcement training, including physical conditioning, emergency response, criminal law and practical police procedures.

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, he acknowledged that certain aspects of police academy training were actually more physically demanding than his NBA workouts, particularly the long-distance running.

Stoudemire, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame earlier this year, said his motivation now centers on protecting his community and becoming a positive influence on young people.

His next step will involve additional departmental and field training before independently carrying out police duties.

From NBA arenas to Israeli basketball courts, from embracing Orthodox Judaism to wearing a police uniform in South Florida, Stoudemire continues to demonstrate that a successful first career doesn’t have to define the rest of one’s life.

And at 6 feet 10 inches tall, he may soon be one of the most recognizable officers patrolling Miami-Dade County’s schools.

Reporting based on Miami Dade College’s announcement and interviews published by Sports Illustrated, Local 10 and other outlets.

Otzma Yehudit chairman presents his plan for the Defense Ministry, putting Jewish values and victory over Israel’s enemies at the heart of “The Spirit of the IDF”

Otzma Yehudit chairman and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has presented a sweeping rewrite today of the IDF’s code of ethics, known as “The Spirit of the IDF.” The changes are part of his Defense Ministry plan and aim to strengthen the army’s Jewish identity and restore the value of victory in battle.

Under the plan, the IDF’s purpose is redefined first and foremost as achieving victory over, and the decisive defeat of, the enemies of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. That emphasis runs throughout the new text.

“Righteousness of Arms” replaces “Purity of Arms”

The most prominent change concerns the long-standing “Purity of Arms” (Tohar HaNeshek) clause, which the new text abolishes and replaces with “Righteousness of Arms” (Tzidkat HaNeshek).

The new clause states that soldiers shall use their weapons to defeat the enemy, and that the fundamental Jewish moral principle guiding every soldier in carrying out the mission is the Talmudic rule: “If someone comes to kill you, rise early and kill him first.” The clause also states that each soldier shall preserve his humanity (tzelem enosh) even in combat.

At the same time, wording that restricted IDF soldiers to acting “only to the extent necessary” is removed, as are the provisions specifically prohibiting harm to “uninvolved persons” and prisoners. The reference to “universal moral values” that appeared in the previous version has been deleted entirely.

Jewish sources at the foundation

The new code broadens the army’s sources of values, placing Jewish moral values first: the values of the Tanakh, Jewish ethics, Hebrew law, and the tradition of the Jewish people throughout the generations. These are followed by the values of human dignity, the IDF’s own tradition and combat heritage, and the tradition of the State of Israel with its Jewish and democratic principles, laws and institutions.

The State is defined as a Jewish national home, and the IDF as “the army of the people, a Jewish national army.”

The new core values

• The IDF’s purpose: victory over and the decisive defeat of the enemies of the State of Israel and the Jewish people, and safeguarding the security of the State, its citizens and its residents.
• Love of the People of Israel and the Land of Israel, and loyalty to the State: service in the IDF rests on love of the Jewish people and the homeland, and devotion to the State of Israel as a Jewish state and a democratic national home for the Jewish people.
• Human dignity: every person has worth that is not conditional on origin, religion, nationality, gender, status, or position.
• Mamlachtiyut (Statehood): the IDF is a Jewish national army subject to the authority of the law and the government, and its soldiers act with only the mission, the IDF’s values, and the security of the State before their eyes.

The code goes on to list the values expected of every soldier, including tenacity of purpose and striving for victory, responsibility, credibility, personal example, the value of human life, Righteousness of Arms, professionalism, discipline, comradeship and a sense of mission. It also keeps the duty to give only lawful orders and to refuse manifestly unlawful ones. Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party is running in Israel’s Knesset elections on October 27.

Memos were sent to congressional staffers Thursday notifying them that the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Capitol Police had launched a probe into letters containing a suspicious powdery substance that were sent to election and congressional offices throughout the country.

One of the letters arrived at the office of Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) in Hartford, his spokesperson confirmed.

Election offices in Louisiana and Oklahoma were evacuated after parcels containing the mysterious substance were delivered, but the U.S. Postal Service intercepted others heading to Ohio, Maryland, Mississippi, and South Dakota.

One of the letters bore the acronym “DSA” and a return address associated with the Democratic Socialists of America.

“The FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating a series of suspicious mailings sent to various addresses nationwide, including Secretary of State offices and their related election offices,” an FBI spokesperson said.

“Some of the letters contained an unknown substance and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners to respond to each incident. We are also working with our partners to identify the individual or individuals responsible for the letters,” the spokesperson added. “This FBI will continue to safeguard the public and secure elections for American citizens.”

The Labour Party has cut ties with the Green Party over its motion earlier this month adopting a resolution that stated that Zionism is racism and that called for a democratic Palestinian state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, effectively calling for the eradication of the State of Israel.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, leader of the Labour Party, announced Thursday that all power-sharing agreements with the Green Party would end unless its representatives reject the resolution within seven days.

Addressing Parliament Wednesday, he said, “Mr. Speaker, can I condemn the motion that was passed unequivocally? It is wrong. It is antisemitic, and this side of the House will have nothing to do with it. And we will always take the right response when it comes to any partnerships we have with other parties. We cannot support a partnership with a party that holds a position that has recently been adopted.”

The controversy erupted on Oct. 4 when the Green Party voted on the resolution, which passed by 1,022 votes to 813. The resolution stated that “Zionism should be treated as any other form of racism” and called for the “establishment of a single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.” The resolution also supported the “right of the Palestinian people to resistance and liberation from Israeli occupation” and the right of “oppressed colonial peoples to defend themselves against foreign oppression.”

Even Green Party leaders opposed the motion, with four of the five party MPs signaling their opposition. One Green Party MP said that they would support Jewish members who believed they were targeted as a result of the resolution, since an amendment saying that the motion should not be used to “pressure, proscribe or discipline members based on affiliation with Jewish community institutions” was voted down.

The Green Party motion ignited intense backlash across the political spectrum, with Israel’s Foreign Ministry barring Zack Polanski, the Greens’ Jewish leader, from entry into Israel.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, issued a stern warning to Iran and the Hezbollah terrorist organization against attempting to exploit Israel’s upcoming elections.

“Do not attempt to exploit Israel’s election period. Anyone who dares to attack us will face a devastating response,” Danon declared.

The warning comes as Israeli diplomats serving overseas, including Danon and his staff, cast their ballots early today, October 15, ahead of Israel’s general election on October 27.

Ambassador Danon votes early in NY today

According to Israel’s Central Elections Committee and Foreign Ministry, approximately 4,800 eligible Israeli voters across 99 diplomatic missions worldwide can participate in early voting, including qualifying diplomatic personnel, government representatives, and their spouses.

Jewish Breaking News was on the ground at United Nations Headquarters in New York, covering the ambassador’s remarks and the start of overseas voting firsthand.

🎥Stay tuned for JBN’s exclusive, wide-ranging sit-down interview with Ambassador Danon, covering everything from Zohran Mamdani and the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre to the growing threats facing Israel and the UN’s selection of a new Secretary-General to succeed António Guterres, whose term ends December 31, 2026.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee rejected rumors that President Donald Trump is pushing for a unity government in Israel between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and Lt. Gen. (res.) Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party.

Huckabee reposted a news blurb from Clash Report making the allegation. It said, “The Trump administration is reportedly pushing for a broad Israeli unity government in which Netanyahu would remain prime minister for up to two years before retiring from politics.”

“The proposed coalition, involving Netanyahu’s Likud and Gadi Eisenkot’s party, would seek to end regional wars and secure peace agreements, particularly with Saudi Arabia,” the report continued.

“Eisenkot’s bloc would reportedly demand Netanyahu’s guaranteed retirement, the reversal of judicial reforms, and an inquiry into October 7,” the report concluded, citing Israel Hayom as its source.

Huckabee flatly denied the news report.

“This is absolutely NOT true. Not in the least,” he posted. “The US government is NOT trying to manipulate Israel’s election or telling the Israeli prime minister what to do. Period. Full stop.”

The ambassador called for Clash Report to correct the record, adding, “I hope Clash Report retracts this fake news story.”

Israel’s election is underway, with the first ballots cast at diplomatic missions worldwide ahead of the national vote on Oct. 27. Roughly 4,800 eligible voters can participate at 101 polling stations across 99 missions, in an operation coordinated by the Foreign Ministry and Central Elections Committee.

Voting opened first in Wellington, New Zealand, followed by Fiji, and is moving west across time zones over approximately 30 hours. Los Angeles and San Francisco will be the last to close. New York hosts the largest overseas polling station, with more than 700 eligible voters.

But the opening of embassy polling stations does not mean every Israeli abroad can vote there. Eligibility is restricted to qualifying official personnel and their families; most Israelis overseas must return home to vote. Ballots cast at the missions will be flown to Israel and transferred to the Knesset for counting.

At Israel’s embassy in Baku, President Isaac Herzog marked the opening alongside Ambassador Ronen Kraus, describing the election as a “celebration of democracy.”

The next phase will take ballot boxes to soldiers. Early military voting begins on the evening of Oct. 20, with approximately 850 polling stations planned across IDF units and operational sectors, including beyond Israel’s borders. Around a quarter will be mobile, reaching active-duty troops and reservists at remote positions while military operations continue.

Those mobile stations will travel with armed security, their ballot boxes locked between stops. Soldiers will use double envelopes so officials can check against civilian voting records and prevent duplicate votes. The military says its election operation will remain strictly nonpartisan, allowing troops to exercise their rights without compromising their duties.

Iran has reportedly ordered Hezbollah to significantly raise its military readiness as Tehran prepares for a possible regional war involving Israel and the United States. Lebanese security and military sources told the UAE-based outlet Erem News that Iran believes a wider confrontation could be approaching and has instructed the terrorist organization to prepare for an escalation.

According to the report, Hezbollah has begun summoning all its full-time, salaried operatives and issuing secret instructions directing personnel to new deployment locations. The mobilization reportedly goes beyond routine military preparations, with Hezbollah implementing a new operational framework designed for a potentially imminent conflict.

One of the most significant developments is Hezbollah’s restructuring of its military command. The terrorist organization is reportedly granting field units greater independence, allowing them to continue launching operations even if Israeli strikes eliminate senior commanders or sever communications with central leadership. The changes reflect Hezbollah’s efforts to adapt to the extensive damage Israeli operations have inflicted on its command structure.

The preparations are reportedly being coordinated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other Iranian-backed terrorist organizations across the Middle East. The planning includes the possibility of simultaneous military responses across multiple fronts should renewed large-scale fighting erupt.

The developments come amid mounting regional tensions. Israeli security officials are also warning of possible surprise attacks by Iran and its proxies, while Israel considers extending its special home-front emergency measures amid concerns about escalation before the elections. Separately, Hezbollah acknowledged ownership of explosives recently seized by Lebanese authorities, claiming they were intended for attacks against Israeli forces.

However, Lebanese sources emphasized that Hezbollah’s heightened readiness does not mean a final decision to enter a new war has been made. The reported Iranian instructions represent preparations for a possible near-term confrontation rather than confirmation that an attack has been ordered.

An attendee rushed the Orthodox Jewish council president at a Jackson Township, N.J., council meeting Tuesday evening after accusing him of fascism and supporting genocide, prompting police intervention.

“I thought the mayor and council would at least try to help us, but quickly realized that if you didn’t feel bad about directly contributing to a genocide and abusing your own residents’ trust to make money off of them, then you probably won’t care about a missing person in your own town or lying to us, promising a donation and never donating, using a missing person as a way to generate votes while never actually doing anything at all,” the attendee, a young man wearing an olive-green T-shirt, said.

“[Unintelligible] and Mordechai Burnstein are fascists, and they are unfit to hold positions of power anywhere. How can you justify this?” he added.

Council President Mordechai Burnstein said he found the remarks offensive.

“I’m going to take offense. I don’t think anyone up here is a fascist, and I don’t think anyone here supports genocide,” Burnstein replied. “And the victims of Oct. 7 were victims of terror, and I’m just going to say that, and I’m going to continue to say that.”

“And if you disagree, you’re welcome to disagree. It’s America, and we’re allowed to disagree,” he continued. “But I’m, that’s, you know what I’m going to say when it comes, when it comes to that,” he continued.

At this point, the young man moved threateningly toward the Jewish leader.

“Now, order. Step back. Step back from me,” Burnstein said.

Police immediately converged on the young man, and an officer could be heard shouting, “Do not touch him. He’s talking. Do not intimidate him. Back up. That’s intimidation. 18 U.S.C. § 242, 18 U.S.C. § 241.”

The statutes 18 U.S.C. § 242 and 18 U.S.C. § 241 are federal criminal statutes related to depriving people of their constitutional rights.

When the man refused to comply and became more aggressive, police officers hustled him away.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke at a State Department event Wednesday commemorating the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel, attended by American families of victims of the massacre.

Rubio was reportedly directly involved in planning the event, which was supposed to take place on Sept. 30 but was postponed until Oct. 14. At least 46 American citizens were murdered on Oct. 7 or were taken into captivity in Gaza.

In his remarks, Rubio stressed the barbarity of the terrorists, saying that the word “terrorism” fails to convey the depth of their cruelty adequately.

“These terrorists, and terrorist almost doesn’t feel like that’s a strong enough term to describe who we’re talking about here,” he said. “But these barbaric terrorists, this was not a military operation. These were not warriors. They tried to cast themselves as [if] they had some sort of military operation.”

“This was not an attack on military posts,” he continued. “This was, these gunmen went in house to house, and they hunted families in their kitchens, in their bedrooms. They went into towns. They went into neighborhoods. They went to a music festival filled with young people in the prime of their lives, and they murdered, and they butchered.”

“They murdered parents besides their children. They carried away the elderly and the young, and they turned ordinary homes into scenes of unspeakable slaughter. What the world witnessed that day was frankly an evil that is even now difficult to describe. No language known to man can capture such bottomless darkness,” Rubio said.

Family members of the victims also addressed those in attendance, demanding justice for their slain relatives.

Ruby Chen, father of Itay Chen, who was killed during the massacre, spoke at the event.

Chen said that his son chose to join the IDF instead of going to college.

“He enlisted in the IDF, because he believed that some things are worth standing guard over. He became a tank soldier and on Oct 7 was protecting the Gaza border,” the bereaved father said.

“This recognition, here in Washington, in the shadow of Oct. 7, tells our families something we needed to hear: Your loved ones were Americans. The United States remembers them,” he told the families in attendance.

“This must be a beginning, and not an end,” Chen declared. “The families of Americans killed by Hamas deserve justice, accountability, and the continued support of their government.”

“It is time for the United States Congress to create its own investigation committee,” he said, adding that anyone who contributed financially to the Oct. 7 attack “must be brought to the United States to stand trial for their crimes against American citizens.”

At a State Department commemoration Wednesday of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, families of American victims of the massacre demanded justice for their slain relatives.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was reportedly directly involved in planning the event, which was supposed to take place on Sept. 30 but was postponed until Oct. 14. At least 46 American citizens were murdered on Oct. 7 or were taken into captivity in Gaza.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and head of U.S. Central Command Adm. Brad Cooper attended the event.

The cousin of Carmela Dan, who was killed on Oct. 7 alongside her granddaughter Noya, addressed the attendees.

Itay Chen, a 19-year-old staff sergeant, fell while defending a kibbutz on Oct. 7. (Credit: IDF)

“October 7 was not only a tragedy for Israel,” said Abbey Onn. “Nearly 50 American citizens were murdered, and dozens more were injured. These were our loved ones, people with families who loved them and futures that were stolen from them. We are here to make sure their stories are heard, their memories are honored, and those responsible for their murders are brought to justice.”

Ruby Chen, father of Itay Chen, who was killed during the massacre, also spoke at the event. He had previously said that he had pushed the administration to commemorate Oct. 7.

Chen said that his son chose to join the IDF instead of going to college.

“He enlisted in the IDF, because he believed that some things are worth standing guard over. He became a tank soldier and on Oct 7 was protecting the Gaza border,” the bereaved father said.

“This recognition, here in Washington, in the shadow of October 7, tells our families something we needed to hear: Your loved ones were Americans. The United States remembers them,” he told the families in attendance.

“This must be a beginning, and not an end,” Chen declared. “The families of Americans killed by Hamas deserve justice, accountability, and the continued support of their government.”

“It is time for the United States Congress to create its own investigation committee,” he said, adding that anyone who helped finance the Oct. 7 attack “must be brought to the United States to stand trial for their crimes against American citizens.”

Gabby El-Baba, a Palestinian American who lives in Houston, Texas, posted a video of herself in a Jewish market making derogatory and antisemitic comments about Orthodox Jews.

JBN has tentatively identified the market as Harova Market.

El-Baba self-published two books of poetry and, according to her LinkedIn profile, works as a quality/recovery manager for the homeless in Houston and is a social media content creator. StopAntisemitism, which posted the video, said that she is employed by Curtis and Associates Counseling Services.

LANGUAGE WARNING

In her Amazon author biography, El-Baba describes her struggles trying to reconcile her queerness with her Palestinian roots, ultimately “embracing her sexuality and love for her culture.”

In her video, which she titled “My Palestinian A— accidentally walking into a Jewish market,” the woman said sarcastically, “They’re not all the same,” adding, “Shut the f— up. Yes, they are.” Finding hummus being sold in the store, she accused Jews of cultural appropriation.

“You see, they stole all our food. Nazareth, real hummus. Jerusalem, classic hummus. Holy hummus. I have to get out of here, otherwise I’m gonna end up in jail,” she said.

Harova Market in Houston, Texas, where the video was likely recorded.

Then she described an exchange in which someone she described as the owner asked her if she had seen anyone shoplifting, and she fired back, “Karma’s a b—.”

She concluded the video by shouting at the store after she exited, “F— Israel.”

Since this took place apparently in Houston and the customers in the store are Jewish, not necessarily Israeli, critics say that this proves that the anti-Israel movement isn’t about hating Israel; it’s about hating Jews.

In an interview with AFP, Navi Pillay, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last week, lashed out at President Donald Trump for sanctioning the International Criminal Court, predicted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested, and hit back at the comparison between her and Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.

The former commissioner of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry faced harsh criticism from the United States and Israel over the commission’s report a year ago that Israel committed genocide. The report stripped Israel’s actions of all context, not even mentioning the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack against Israel.

Pillay accused the president of imposing unprecedented sanctions on the ICC in retaliation for her winning the prize, which he had believed was his due. The new sanctions, unlike previous sanctions that affected individuals with ties to the ICC such as judges and prosecutors, target the ICC itself, with the likely effect of disrupting the criminal court’s day-to-day operations.

The former ICC judge said that the sanctions were illegal, and the timing, just hours after she received the Nobel Peace Prize, could only mean that Trump was playing the sore loser.

Directing her words at Trump, she said, “Call in your legal advisers to explain to you what international law is and why you must not interfere in the affairs of an independent international court.”

The South African also said that Netanyahu would eventually be arrested and would face the court, despite the fact that that seems extremely unlikely now.

“Throughout my life, I have seen people overcome obstacles, and that is why I am convinced it will eventually happen,” she said.

Pillay also slammed the comparison between her and Goebbels, which the Israeli Foreign Ministry put forward after she won the Nobel Peace Prize, denouncing her in a harsh statement for her anti-Israel bias and antisemitism.

“If there were an award for lies, hatred, and blood libels, Navi Pillay wouldn’t just be a contender. She’d be a frontrunner,” the ministry posted on X.

“Her role in the relentless, politically motivated demonization of Israel and promotion of the genoLIE speaks volumes,” it continued.

“Awarding Pillay the Nobel Peace Prize isn’t a recognition of justice. It’s the grotesque weaponization of an award to legitimize anti-Israel hatred and prejudice,” the ministry declared.

“Now that the Nobel commission has rewarded the biggest lie of the 21st century, Joseph Goebbels is certainly applauding from hell,” it concluded.

“I find these remarks deeply hurtful and offensive,” Pillay said. “Goebbels had blood on his hands. He was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. Not just Jews, but also people whose skin color is like mine.”

For the first time in history, the United Arab Emirates has joined an international forum on antisemitism.

The UAE’s foreign minister’s envoy for countering extremism and terrorism, Maqsoud Kruse, joined the 15th Special Envoys and Coordinators Combating Antisemitism (SECCA) Forum, which is meeting in Dublin, Ireland, this week. Organized by the World Jewish Congress in coordination with the European Commission, the forum brings together Jewish community leaders from across the world with government envoys from 28 countries, representatives from at least seven international organizations, and executives from technology companies such as Meta.

U.S. Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun addresses the forum in Dublin. (Credit: World Jewish Congress)

“This meeting in Dublin is a much-needed opportunity to reset the conversation between Jewish organizations, governments, and technology companies, including about how to counter online hate,” the WJC said.

Micheál Martin, Ireland’s Taoiseach (prime minister), met with leaders from the WJC, Jewish communities, and Jewish organizations.

“At a time when many Irish Jews feel increasingly isolated and insecure, this forum offers a valuable opportunity for honest and constructive engagement with the Irish Government,” Maurice Cohen, the president of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, said.

Jewish and world leaders meet at SECCA in Dublin. (Credit: World Jewish Congress)

According to U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, Armenia and several other countries are expected to join the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

Sara Friedman, executive director of the WJC, urged world leaders to acknowledge their failures in addressing the scourge of antisemitism that has plagued Jewish communities across the globe since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

“The responsibility for protecting Jewish life cannot rest on Jewish communities alone,” she said. “It requires governments, international institutions, and technology companies to move beyond statements of solidarity and take meaningful action.”

JBN reported Tuesday that Amazon has been selling Halloween items such as lawn decorations and costumes that bear the Star of David, which to some Jews means that the creators of this paraphernalia are deliberately linking a Jewish symbol to representations of evil, such as witches.

But could there be an innocent explanation?

After digging deeper into the historical origins of the hexagram, a shape that is formed by two overlapping triangles, JBN discovered that the symbol predates its Jewish connection and is found across cultures. It appears, for example, in South Asian religious art, representing the union of complementary forces, such as masculine and feminine.

This lawn decoration consists of a classic scary witch holding a grimoire. Is it engraved with the magical seal of Solomon or the Jewish Star of David?

In Jewish history, an early appearance of the hexagram emerges in the Leningrad Codex, the oldest complete surviving manuscript of the Tanach from the early 11th century. During that time period, it was more commonly known as the Seal of Solomon in both the Jewish and Islamic traditions and was believed to contain magical properties, hence its use in amulets.

The Talmud relates a story about the signet ring of King Solomon that was engraved with God’s name and gave him power over demons; later in Islamic tradition the ring was believed to have been engraved with the Seal of Solomon and gave the wearer dominion over demons, jinn, and evil spirits. The adoption of the Star of David a Jewish communal symbol began gradually in the 14th century and by the 19th century was universal.

This Dr. Evil costume comes with a Star of David ring. Or is it the Seal of Solomon?

Now here’s where it gets interesting: In magical rituals, the hexagram was often drawn inside a circle to confine the magical forces within its boundaries.

In both Amazon items that JBN reported on, the hexagram is enclosed inside a circle, which raises the possibility of a simple and innocent explanation: It’s not meant to represent the Jewish Star of David but an ancient magical symbol. So putting it on a witch’s spellbook would make sense in that scenario.

That said, given the current climate of rising antisemitism, it’s a remarkable coincidence, or at the very least, it’s remarkably tone-deaf.

What do you think? Is there an innocent reason for the Star of David on Halloween items, or is it malicious? Please let us know in the comments!

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a stark warning to Hezbollah Wednesday: Join an Iranian attack on Israel, and you will lose more territory.

He also threatened Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Qassem, with the same fate that befell the previous leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

The minister said he had visited the region to offer encouragement to the troops there “who are operating with dedication and bravery within the security zones in Lebanon and Syria to protect the residents of the Galilee and the Golan from threats by jihadist forces,” adding that Israel will not withdraw from the security zones it has already captured.

“If Hezbollah joins Iran in an attack on Israel, it will be struck a severe blow and lose additional territories in southern Lebanon in the areas of Nabatieh and the Litani, which will become part of Israel’s permanent security zone,” Katz warned.

“The IDF is prepared to execute the maneuver,” he declared.

The defense minister outlined the IDF’s next plan to deal a devastating blow to Hezbollah, saying that the Shiite community up to the Awali and Zahle line will be evacuated farther north to enable the IDF to obliterate the terror infrastructure in the region and to eliminate the Hezbollah drone threat to Israel’s northern communities. He also said that the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut will be evacuated, displacing about a million Shiites, in order to deal a devastating blow to the terror infrastructure embedded in the city.

Katz then warned Qassem that if he followed in his predecessor’s footsteps, he would meet the same fate.

“Nasrallah destroyed the Shiite community in Lebanon until he was thwarted, and Naim Qassem may completely devastate it, until he too is eliminated, and sent to meet Nasrallah and his successor in the depths of hell,” the defense minister vowed.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris is criticizing her own administration’s handling of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, arguing that the Biden White House should have pressured Israel earlier and more aggressively.

Speaking in Seoul, South Korea, Harris accused both the Biden and Trump administrations of failing to use American influence to restrain Israel.

Harris said the Biden administration should have acted “sooner and more forcefully,” while accusing President Trump of giving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “blank check.”

She also argued that the United States has a moral responsibility to uphold human rights and international law, including when dealing with close allies such as Israel.

Her remarks mark a public criticism of the Biden-Harris administration’s own approach to Israel during the Gaza war.

Harris is also being discussed as the top contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, with early polls placing her among the party’s leading prospective candidates, despite her defeat to Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

According to RealClearPolling’s October 6 average, Harris leads early surveys of the potential 2028 Democratic presidential field with 26.4% support, compared with 14.4% for California Governor Gavin Newsom. Harris has not announced whether she will seek the nominanation

Friday night is how Jonathan Gellis explains the appeal of Ir Yamim. In his filmed interview for JBN, the Seaview Israel founder describes a Carlebach-style minyan, followed by neighbors visiting one another’s homes for Shabbat meals. For a family considering a home in Israel, it is a revealing detail: an apartment search is also a search for people.

Ir Yamim sits along southern Netanya’s Mediterranean coast, beside Ramat Poleg. Its apartment towers dominate the skyline, but the spaces between them deserve attention. This installment of JBN’s Found in Israel series explores the neighborhood beyond the balcony view, from its beach paths and shops to the community taking shape around them.

Life Between the Beach and the Plaza

Piano, the open-air shopping and dining plaza, offers a useful starting point. Its shape was a deliberate choice: developer Briga says it replaced plans for a four-story rectangular commercial building with a broad, circular courtyard. Shops and restaurants face a shared outdoor space, giving the neighborhood somewhere to gather outside its residential buildings.

Piano Plaza, a place to shop, dine and gather in Ir Yamim.

Ir Yamim Mall provides another shopping destination. The municipal Piano park adds children’s play equipment, lawns and shade. Together, these places offer the ingredients of an ordinary afternoon: an errand, a coffee stop and somewhere for children to play.

There is substance behind the neighborhood’s appeal to walkers, too. The municipality’s Blue Axis runs from Ben-Gurion Boulevard through Ir Yamim toward Poleg Beach, designed for walking and cycling without crossing roads along the corridor. The Green Axis connects Ramat Poleg with the Iris Nature Reserve. That does not make every destination a short walk from every apartment, but it gives residents alternatives to getting into a car.

Ir Yamim Mall, one of the neighborhood’s shopping destinations.

People in JBN’s films describe the attraction in personal terms. A Netanya-born interviewee discusses the city’s welcome to newcomers, including English speakers. Other interviewees talk about relatives buying or moving nearby and their affection for the beach. The appeal they describe combines the setting with the possibility of having family and familiar faces close by.

Tefilat Yamim offers a more concrete introduction to communal life. Serving Ir Yamim, Poleg and surrounding areas, the congregation publishes information in English and explicitly makes welcoming new immigrants part of its mission. Its published programs include Friday-night services, children’s activities on Shabbat, kiddush and community Torah learning. A visit can help a prospective resident picture a week here, not just a vacation.

Jonathan Gellis on life in Ir Yamim and Sea You. Watch the full six-film collection.

New homes are also part of Ir Yamim’s next chapter. In its report for the quarter ending June 2026, developer Y.H. Damri listed the neighborhood’s first YAMA building as completed and a second, 68-apartment building as under construction.

Exploring a Home at Sea You

Sea You is one example of the housing being marketed in this setting. Its developer, Yahalomit Peretz, presents five-room apartments and loft-penthouse designs. Project and sales materials advertise a pool, spa and gym; buyers should confirm which facilities are included, when they will be delivered and whether they are operating.

Living and dining space at Sea You.

For a family exploring Sea You, the useful conversation is about the particular apartment: room arrangements, space for guests and Shabbat meals, and the balcony. The Found in Israel feature page brings the films and property information together. Before choosing a home, request a current floor plan, specifications, availability and handover terms for the particular unit. That is the information needed to judge whether an apartment fits the life a family wants to build here.

Explore the neighborhood films, Sea You interiors and inquiry options on JBN’s Found in Israel feature page. Leave time to walk the beach route, stop at Piano and speak with people who already live there.

Amazon is selling scary costumes and Halloween decorations with Star of David imagery, which can be seen as an attempt to associate the Jewish symbol with evil.

A woman who ordered a witch decoration for her lawn did not realize the spell book in the witch’s hand was decorated with the Star of David, not having taken a closer look after her handyman set it up for her.

The witch sports the classic scary-witch look: bulging eyes, warty nose, mostly toothless gums bared in a terrifying grin, and claw-like hands ending in talons that clutch a faux leather-bound grimoire. The decoration departs from the classic witch look with a Star of David emblazoned on the front and back covers.

The cost of the decoration is $219.

The Brooklyn resident only found out about the symbolism when The New York Post called her to ask about it, and she reacted with horror.

Amazon is selling a Dr. Evil costume with a Star of David ring. The actual movie ring looks rather different. (Credit: StopAntisemitism)

“I’m very upset, this is horrible,” the woman said. “I don’t want to insult any religion. I’m sensitive about these things. I’m a big supporter of Israel and the Jewish people.”

“I didn’t even look at it,” she said. “I should take it up with Amazon.” But for now, she has painted over the symbol to conceal it.

Moshe Spern, an activist and president of United Jewish Teachers, also recoiled from the association of the Jewish symbol with evil.

“Amazon is openly selling a life-size witch reading from a spell book stamped with the Star of David. It’s the oldest antisemitic smear: Jews are sorcerers or practice witchcraft,” he said. 

“This trope is now repackaged as Halloween décor and shipped by the biggest retailer on earth. Somebody at Amazon either didn’t notice or didn’t care. And now it shows up in Brooklyn, New York with all-time highs in antisemitism,” he added.

That is not the only Halloween item stamped with the Jewish star that Amazon is selling. StopAntisemitism posted on X photos of a Dr. Evil costume that comes with a ring bearing the Jewish symbol, unlike the Austin Powers character’s original ring, which sports the letter “E” along with a crest.

StopAntisemitism posted photos of the costume alongside a statement, saying, “Amazon is selling an Austin Powers/Dr. Evil Halloween costume that replaces the character’s original ring with a Jewish Star of David. There’s already more than enough antisemitism in the world. Why put a Jewish symbol on a costume, Amazon?”

A second bomb threat in hours held up a Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Tel Aviv, triggering another security operation after an earlier scare on the same route ended with passengers safely off the aircraft and no suspicious findings at Ben Gurion Airport.

Flight DL234 was preparing to depart John F. Kennedy International Airport when police received a phone call claiming that a bomb had been planted on board. The aircraft was denied takeoff clearance, leaving the Israel-bound service on the ground while authorities investigated.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – MARCH 08: U.S. Air Force refueling tankers sit at Ben Gurion International Airport on March 08, 2026 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Iran fired waves of missiles at Israel after the United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran early on February 28th. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz declared a state of emergency, as Israelis braced for the retaliation. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

According to Israeli reports, departure depends on U.S. security authorities completing their inspections, followed by approval from Israeli security officials and the Transportation Ministry. The flight had been scheduled to leave at 3:40 p.m. New York time, equivalent to 10:40 p.m. in Israel.

Authorities suspect the caller may be the same person responsible for the warning involving a Delta aircraft that landed at Ben Gurion earlier that morning. That connection remains unconfirmed; the first aircraft’s all-clear does not establish the outcome of the separate inspection in New York.

The earlier alert alleged that an explosive device was inside the arriving aircraft’s cargo hold. After landing, the plane was directed to a remote parking area away from the terminal, and all passengers disembarked safely while security personnel conducted a thorough search.

New York mayor Zohran Mamdani looks on during a public safety-related announcement at the headquarters of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in New York on January 6, 2026. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty Images)

Although security officials initially assessed that warning as likely a hoax, they inspected the aircraft before closing the incident. “The incident ended with no unusual findings,” the Israel Airports Authority said, announcing a return to normal operations. No suspicious object or explosive device was found.

The back-to-back disruptions come just over a month after Delta restored its daily JFK–Tel Aviv service following a suspension of more than six months. The airline operates the route with Airbus A330-900neo aircraft, rebuilding a direct connection between New York and Israel after the extended interruption.

When announcing the restart, Delta said the decision followed a thorough review of the regional security environment. It also said it would continue monitoring conditions in coordination with aviation authorities and government agencies.

At the latest published update, the JFK flight was still awaiting clearance. No final inspection result or confirmed departure was available in that report.

A Saudi engineer at OpenAI has been arrested and charged with allegedly planting an audio recorder inside an executive conference room used for confidential discussions about the company’s technology and strategy, federal prosecutors announced.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, was arrested Friday and made his first federal court appearance Tuesday. He remains in custody pending a detention hearing. Prosecutors say he had worked at OpenAI since July 2025; the company has since fired him.

The device was discovered in late September, concealed in toilet paper and plugged into a USB port behind a television. Investigators say it had been installed roughly two days earlier. The room hosted discussions involving proprietary research, upcoming products, government engagements and commercial relationships.

Alfozan was not authorized to access the room, according to the criminal complaint. Surveillance footage allegedly placed him nearby repeatedly before the discovery. After the company installed a camera inside the room, it captured him entering and apparently checking behind the television. Security personnel also found a second recording device in an unattended bag containing his wallet and identification.

Investigators describe another trail: inquiries about executive meeting locations and chatbot prompts concerning the construction, concealment and remote operation of a recorder. The chatbot account was associated with Alfozan’s spouse and shared identifiers with his own account, prosecutors allege. Some prompts included details specific to the recovered device, including its unique network address.

OpenAI says its own AI models helped analyze the device and trace its origins to the employee before the company referred the case to the FBI. It described the recorder as using advanced encryption and a data-transfer mechanism designed to evade monitoring.

The company says it has found no indication that Alfozan improperly accessed or extracted model weights, source code or customer data. That statement does not resolve whether confidential conversations were captured or transmitted.

Federal officials framed the case as a threat to American technological security. “For us it is a matter of national security,” U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian said. However, the DOJ announcement does not identify a foreign government as directing the alleged operation, and the complaint does not explain what Alfozan intended to do with any captured communications.

Alfozan faces a charge of using or attempting to use a device to intercept oral communications, carrying a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. His detention hearing is scheduled for Oct. 19. The FBI investigation continues, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Lawrence Deitch, former treasurer of the Michigan Democratic Party and current regent of the University of Michigan, said he will throw his support behind Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers instead of his Democratic opponent Abdul El-Sayed.

In a letter to The Detroit News, Deitch explained the reasons for crossing party lines to vote for a Republican, saying that it was not a decision he considered lightly given his support for union labor, the LGBTQ community, and DEI, as well as his desire to defeat President Donald Trump.

The university regent gave three reasons for his decision after expressing his disappointment that the Democratic candidate for Senate wouldn’t endorse the five so-called non-negotiables signed by a group of rabbis and clergy that were meant to bring Jewish voters into his coalition.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers. (Credit: Sarah Rice/Getty Images)

He cited as one reason El-Sayed’s decision to campaign with the infamous antisemite Hasan Piker a decision he said “speaks loud and clear as I believe you judge people by the company they keep.”

“I am deeply offended by El-Sayed intentionally fanning the flames of antisemitism for political gain and backing off when it is politically expedient to do so,” he wrote, referring to the candidate’s attempts to distance himself from Piker once he secured his party’s nomination.

Deitch also pointed to El-Sayed’s belated apology for saying “hurt people hurt people” about the terrorist who committed the car -ramming attack against Temple Israel, arguing that it was a non-apology, since El-Sayed only apologized for the timing and not for the actual sentiments he expressed.

“There can never be a justification for an attempted mass murder of young children,” Deitch declared.

The Jewish Michigan Democrat said that the use of the term “genocide” was also disqualifying, noting that while he can accept harsh criticism of the policies of the Israeli government, using the term genocide goes far beyond that, putting “U.S. Jews in danger, as the clear implication is that we are apologists for genocide, since the vast majority of American Jews (of all political persuasions) are proud Zionists.”

Deitch said that after examining Rogers’ record, he felt comfortable casting a vote for him.

“He is a good, decent and honorable American with whom I have various policy disagreements,” he said. “I believe this is the time to choose a good, decent and honorable man without a hint of the vile stench of antisemitism. Policy disagreements can be resolved by people of goodwill. Fundamental character concerns can not.”

After El-Sayed’s primary victory, many Jewish Democrats banded together to support Mike Rogers, citing similar concerns.

An anti-Zionist group is planning to hold a Wikipedia training event in Toronto, Canada.

The post promoting the event invited people to “Join us to populate Wikipedia entries honouring martyred Palestinian artists and exposing the Canadian, Zionist backers of genocide.”

“The evening will begin with Palestinian short films, followed by a Wikipedia 101 session and hands-on editing,” the organizers promised.

They explained that the purpose of the presentation is to teach others how to shape the narrative on the Israeli-Arab conflict on Wikipedia.

“Against attempts to erase Palestinian martyrs and conceal the Imperialist perpetrators of Israel’s genocide, this Wiki Edit-a-Thon remedies the narrative, towards Palestinian liberation,” the organizers said.

It’s against Wikipedia’s policy to promote propaganda on its platform. Wikipedia does not allow promotional articles and has a rule that all content must be presented in a neutral manner.

Nonetheless, Wikipedia has come under fire in the past for biased editing. Ashley Rindsberg, founder of NPOV Media, has conducted extensive studies alleging that a small group of editors have hijacked the Israeli-Arab narrative on Wikipedia.

“In a matter of years since October 7, a handful of Wikipedia editors captured the entire Palestine-Israel Articles topic area,” he posted on X, alongside a link to his media company’s report on the topic.

“NPOV has published a series of reports on the six leaders of this group, revealing the tactics they used to undermine knowledge infrastructure on the most important geopolitical subject today,” he explained.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stated unequivocally Tuesday that he had no plans to fire New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch after his democratic socialist allies called for her resignation following the shooting of a man in New York City by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

The Dominican man, who was in the car at the time of the shooting and was wanted in connection with a previous grand larceny conviction and alleged ties to the Trinitarios gang, was injured, while his 5-year-old son in the back of the car was unharmed.

Darializa Avila Chevalier, with whom Mamdani campaigned and who ultimately won her primary race, said, “The NYPD’s Strategic Response Unit must be dismantled as quickly as possible, and Commissioner Tisch must resign.”

“Jessica Tisch is the police commissioner. I have no plans to change that,” the mayor told reporters in response to a question about her firing.

Mamdani defended Tisch’s record, citing that as the reason he kept her on as commissioner in the first place upon his assumption of the mayoralty and noting record reductions in crime since the beginning of his tenure.

“The reason that I made the decision to have Jessica Tisch as the police commissioner was because of her record of uprooting corruption from the upper echelons of the NYPD while lowering crime across our city,” he explained. “And over the last 10 months that we’ve worked together, we have delivered the lowest recorded number of murders in our city’s history, the lowest recorded number of shootings, as well as shooting victims.”

The mayor and the commissioner hold opposing views on Israel. Mamdani has made his stridently anti-Israel position clear, while Tisch has remained staunchly pro-Israel.

For example, after Mamdani famously refused to join the Israel Day Parade, Tisch said, when asked about the matter, “It’s the mayor’s decision not to march and it’s my decision to march proudly.”

Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate activist turned pro-Hamas agitator who became the face of the Gaza flotilla movement, was spotted in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, attending one of the student protests that have engulfed France since mid-September.

In the footage, Thunberg, who is wearing a keffiyeh, can be seen smiling.

“We are inspired by the young people who are demanding their basic rights,” she told reporters outside Lycée Paul ​Éluard, a high school, where students were gathering.

“Whether it’s not funding schools enough, or the climate crisis, or social injustice crises … it’s about ​time that young people are stepping up and reclaiming that future.”

It seems that sooner or later, if there is a riot, Thunberg will be there.

The protests erupted against the backdrop of weakening growth and burgeoning debt as the government has struggled to perform basic tasks such as passing a budget since President Emmanuel Macron and his allies lost their majority in a parliamentary vote about two years ago.

Students are protesting a long school day that begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m. Others have cited unsanitary conditions such as rat infestations and leaking pipes.

Weeks of demonstrations and rioting have swept across the country in cities such as Marseille, Nantes, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Lyon, Rennes, and Paris, with protesters holding signs that said, “The state has killed national education.”

At times, the protests turned violent, as protesters lit fires in the streets and police used tear gas, batons, and non-lethal grenades to disperse the crowds, leading to more than 6,000 arrests, as well as injuries among more than 700 police officers.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said last week that the protests were the biggest in decades, telling lawmakers that at least 215 teenagers and 85 school staff members have been injured in the riots. He said that this constitutes “the heaviest toll in decades paid by the school system.”

One of the commissioners who authored the U.N. report on genocide that was released last fall stumbled in a debate with U.S. Army veteran Brian Cox and private investor Mark Kuperholz, unable to answer their questions on the report’s accusation that Israel deliberately targeted a fertility clinic in Gaza to prevent live births.

When presented with evidence that Sidoti had testified before the U.N. General Assembly giving one account but gave a conflicting report to the Human Rights council, saying in the first instance that it was an Israeli airstrike and in the second instance that it was a tank shell, Sidoti said he had no recollection of the exchange but insisted it was a tank shell.

Sidoti was one of three commissioners on the United Nations Commission of Inquiry who authored the report. All three violated the U.N.’s own standard to avoid even the appearance of bias, since Sidoti, along with the other two commissioners, boasted a record of antisemitic and anti-Israel activity:

Sidoti, for example, said that every IDF soldier who served in Gaza should be investigated for crimes against humanity. He has called for boycotts against Israel and has complained that Jews were “throwing around accusations of antisemitism like rice at a wedding.” The antisemitic record of the commissioners was so egregious that member nations of the United Nations were moved to issue condemnations.

The transcript of the video clip in which Sidoti was thoroughly humiliated follows.

Kuperholz: This is one of the four areas of genocide that they picked Israel on. And it was a fertility clinic in the middle of a battle. Professor Parrin from the Chicago Law School said the nitrogen had already failed and that 2,000 specimens were sacrificed and thrown away before the staff abandoned the building in late, in the middle of November. So how did your commission confirm that an Israeli tank was responsible?

Sidoti: Firstly, let me say, I can’t give you detailed response because I’ve not looked at this now for two years, that one on the 5,000 or whatever.

Kuperholz: You’ve said Israel committed genocide. You should know your facts.

Sidoti: I know my facts, Mark, but I don’t necessarily sit here without notice being able to go through the information on every single case. But I can tell you that it was a tank shell. Hamas doesn’t have tanks.

Kuperholz: But they’ve got Kornet missiles, they’ve got RPGs, they have multiple…

Sidoti: It was a tank shell. It was a tank shell. Look, I’m stumbling, and I know that I shouldn’t be stumbling in front of this particular audience. But I don’t want to answer the question on this unless I’ve gone back and looked at it again. The one thing that I would add though is that the finding of genocidedal act was not dependent solely on the attack on the facility clinic. Rather, we said that the attack on the facility clinic combined with what appeared to us we concluded to be deliberately targeting of maternity facilities in hospitals, generally indicated that there was an attempt to prevent live births.

Kuperholz: I want to ask you one question. When you reported it to the general assembly, you said that Israel blew it up with a bomb from an airplane.

Sidoti: I didn’t…

Kuperholz: Yes, you did. I’ll I read to you: To the General Assembly on the September 11, 2024, paragraph 30, the clinic was the direct target of an airstrike. And in December 2023, 3,000 embryos were destroyed, which is actually the number your expert gave…

Sidoti: Yeah, I thought it was three.

Kuperholz: CRP.6 on the 13th of March 2025, footnoted, copied back to your own report CRP.3 of the 16th of September with a genocide claim. You changed it to a tank shell and 4,000 embryos plus 1,000 other specimens lost in its entirety when the sperm bank was attacked in early December. And by the way, you can’t date it from the second of December to the second of January. You have no visibility in that period. You don’t know which week it happened. Why? Was your report wrong to the General Assembly or was your report wrong to the Human Rights Council? Same attack, two methods.

Sidoti: I have … no, it was a tank. I have no recollection of saying … show me it to me, Mark. I have no recollection of ever saying it to them.

Cox: But I’ll just say very briefly in response to the fertility clinic issue is even if it was an Israeli tank shell that damaged the fertility clinic, I’ve been involved in street fighting, house to house, street to street; in order for this to be evidence that Israel intends to prevent births in Gaza and is therefore destroying a fertility clinic, we would need to know that the tank driver, or in this case, the gun operator on the tank, was aware there was a fertility clinic, fired the tank shell with the intent to destroy the nitrogen system and destroy the embryos that we’re there.

 If we don’t have that, for me, as someone who has been involved in literally street-to-street, house-to-house fighting, all we have is a case of a tank shell hitting a building; and we have no idea the context of what that person intended at the time, whether it was intending to attack a Hamas fighter who was in this building or maybe to destroy the embryos that were there, and that could be evidence of genocidal intent.

But I would suggest that if our standard is reasonable grounds to believe, reasonable grounds to conclude, we have not met that standard based on the available evidence.

A bomb threat was called into the Betty and Marvin Zale Early Childhood Learning Center in Boca Raton, Fla., Monday, prompting the evacuation of the school and another educational facility nearby.

A student from the nearby Katz Yeshiva High School, which was not one of the facilities evacuated, told The Jerusalem Post that “I was in my classroom during English and we just had an announcement on the loudspeaker that there was a bomb threat at the school next door to us. Traffic was blocked, because they weren’t letting any vans or cars in for carpool.”

“They told us we needed to stay inside for a while, and they’d tell us when it was time to come out,” he added.

The Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center, also in the area, issued a statement later saying that the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office had determined there was no credible threat.

“We are deeply grateful for the swift, professional, and coordinated response of Federation Campus Security, PBSO, and our campus leadership teams,” the JCC said in its statement.

“Most importantly, all students and staff remained safe throughout the incident, and all students were successfully reunited with their families,” it said.

The Jewish advocacy group StopAntisemitism called for a probe into the incident, demanding a full prosecution of the caller, whose identity remains unknown.

“Breaking — a bomb threat has been reported at the Betty and Marvin Zale Early Childhood Learning Center in Boca Raton,” the group posted on X. “No child should have to face this kind of terror at school.”

“Whoever is responsible should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” the group declared.

A parent at the school expressed outrage online, saying that this will not intimidate the parent body.

“To the scumbag who called in a bomb threat at my kids’ Jewish school In Boca Raton today: screw you!” the parent wrote on X. “You will not intimidate us! I hope they catch you and throw you in prison!”

Palestine House in London is paying homage to terrorism with a display of a giant bronze statue of convicted terrorist Marwan Barghouti, his raised hands handcuffed together, on its balcony.

Established in 2024 by Palestinian filmmaker and activist Osama Qashoo, Palestine House is a hub for Palestinians to gather and connect at art exhibitions, book launches, film screenings, poetry circles, cooking courses, and live performances.

Marwan Barghouti serves as the face of the Palestinian “resistance” or “armed struggle,” euphemisms for terrorism against the civilians who live in the State of Israel. He recently made the news when celebrities called for his release from Israeli prison, where he is serving five consecutive life sentences for orchestrating terror attacks that killed five people.

A number of Marvel celebrities, including famous household names such as Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem, and Olivia Colman, called for the release of Barghouti, alleging that he has suffered mistreatment and his rights have been denied while in prison.

Barghouti was convicted by an Israeli court for his role in the 2001 and 2002 attacks that left five Israelis dead. He was sentenced to five consecutive life terms plus 40 years.

Barghouti initially supported the Oslo peace process after the First Intifada but turned to terrorism during the Second Intifada, when he assumed a commanding role in orchestrating the terror wave. He continued acting as the face of the resistance in prison, issuing directives urging “resistance” against Israel, directing prisoner uprisings, and promoting himself as the possible successor to Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority.

An August poll from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research showed that Barghouti was the leading presidential candidate. In a hypothetical matchup against Hamas’ leader Khalil al-Hayya and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the imprisoned terrorist took 54 percent of the vote.

Israeli security officials have identified discussions within Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas about using terrorism to influence Israel’s election and damage Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc, according to a Channel 14 report.

The scenarios reportedly include an attack on election day or shortly beforehand. The objective would be to demonstrate that members of the Iranian-led axis remain capable of striking Israel after roughly three years of war, turning an attack into a political message directed at Israeli voters.

According to the report, a recent security discussion examined these conversations and the calculations behind them. The Iranian axis reportedly believes that replacing Netanyahu’s right-wing government with a left-wing government headed by Gadi Eisenkot would bring the war to an end. That is the adversaries’ reported assessment, not an established prediction of what a future Israeli government would do.

Hezbollah supporters gather to listen to the speech of Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on the first anniversary of the death of the commander-in-chief of Hezbollah’s special operations unit, Ibrahim Aqil, who dies in an Israeli strike on September 20, 2024, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on September 19, 2025 (Photo by Fadel Itani/NurPhoto via Getty Images).

Channel 14 said the specific terrorist scenarios could not be disclosed. Its account describes discussions about possible action; it does not establish that a particular operation has been approved, identify a target or disclose the intelligence underlying the assessment.

The report also cited a public speech by Raed Berro, a Lebanese member of parliament representing Hezbollah. According to Channel 14’s account, Berro said the terrorist organization was calculating its actions with the aim of undermining Netanyahu and the right-wing bloc’s chances of winning.

Separate Lebanese reporting has described Hezbollah’s military decisions through a similar electoral lens, though with a different immediate emphasis. Al-Joumhouria, cited by Naharnet, reported that Hezbollah did not want to give Netanyahu an escalation at a time that would serve his electoral interests. That account concerns the timing of restraint, not independent confirmation of an election-day attack plan.

The distinction matters: evidence that Hezbollah considers Israel’s election when deciding how to act is not, by itself, evidence that a specific terrorist operation is imminent.

Netanyahu has already publicly warned that Israel’s enemies could attempt attacks around the election. Speaking at Tel Nof air base, he said there were indications of such intentions and warned that Israel would strike those responsible wherever they operated.

Broader security consultations are also continuing. An Israeli official confirmed that Netanyahu convened Defense Minister Israel Katz and senior security officials at the Kirya military headquarters for discussions about Iran, Gaza and Lebanon. That confirmation establishes that the meeting took place, but does not independently substantiate Channel 14’s account of the election-related intelligence.

Israeli army main battle tanks move along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on August 27, 2025. Israeli military pressed operations around Gaza City on August 27, as President Donald Trump prepared to host a White House meeting on post-war plans for the shattered Palestinian territory. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Opposition leader Yair Lapid, meanwhile, said in a radio interview that the intelligence available to him did not indicate that a war with Iran was expected before the election. His assessment addressed the prospect of war with Iran, rather than ruling out every possible terrorist threat.

Election preparations are proceeding. The IDF says it plans to operate approximately 850 military polling stations, with early voting arrangements designed to allow soldiers to cast ballots while operational activity continues. The immediate challenge is to protect both the public and the electoral process without allowing reported enemy intentions to be mistaken for a confirmed attack order.

American comedian, actor, producer, and content creator Zach Sage Fox posted a video of public school teacher Mia Kurzer repeatedly saying “Free Palestine” to Oct. 7 victims. She also participated in a protest disrupting a vigil for Oct. 7 victims on the anniversary of the massacre that involved Hamas and Hezbollah flags and Hamas chants.

Moshe Spern, president of United Jewish Teachers, filed a complaint against Mia Kurzer, a special education teacher at The Heritage School in East Harlem, with the Department of Education and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels.

“Last night, pro-Palestinian demonstrators overran an October 7 vigil in Union Square organized by Israelis for Peace, drowned out the reading of the names of people killed, and took over chairs reserved for participants, including Comptroller Brad Lander and Mayor Zohran Mamdani,” Moshe Spern wrote in the complaint.

“Video from the event shows Ms. Kurzer among those occupying those seats while mourners were being shouted down. Chants reported at the scene included ‘[globalize] the intifada’ and praise for the attackers.”

The complaint alleges that earlier in the day, Kurzer, who is Jewish, wore a keffiyeh to school, which “made staff and students uncomfortable and signaled political activism inside a New York City public school.”

“A year ago I notified you that Ms. Kurzer participated in both protests outside Park East Synagogue on November 19, 2025, and May 2026, at which demonstrators chanted ‘intifada revolution,’ ‘globalize the intifada,’ and ‘death to the IDF,’ and Jewish congregants were obstructed from entering their house of worship,” the complaint continued.

“Those demonstrations were widely condemned, including by Governor Hochul, as intimidation of Jewish New Yorkers at a synagogue led by a Holocaust survivor,” Spern wrote, adding that all her actions taken together showed a pattern of hostility to Jews and Israel and calling for an investigation.

“Taken together, the synagogue protests at which intifada was chanted, an unanswered OEO [Office of Equal Opportunity & Diversity Management] referral, disruption of an October 7 vigil, and wearing a keffiyeh in school on 10/7, this is not an isolated incident,” he wrote. “It is a continuing course of conduct by a DOE employee that creates a hostile environment for Jewish students and staff and is incompatible with the Department’s obligations under Chancellor’s Regulation A-830, A-421, and Title VI.”

“Jewish students and staff are entitled to a school that does not employ someone who joins mobs outside synagogues and then marks October 7 with a political symbol in the building,” he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote a letter to top-ranking Israeli officials urging a probe into the participants in the anti-Israel film “NAZA,” which debuted at the Venice International Film Festival to great acclaim, garnering nearly 25 minutes of a standing ovation and winning an award.

Netanyahu said that the film “contains lies, distortions and fabrications that portray the State of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces negatively to the world and cause serious damage to Israel’s standing internationally.”

Addressing IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Shin Bet director David Zini, and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, the Israeli premier said that he requests an investigation into the soldiers who participated in the film, citing disclosure of classified information and breaches of the security of a highly sensitive intelligence unit.

A flyer promotes the anti-Israel documentary “NAZA.” (Credit: X)

He also accused them of defamation and harm to the political and security interests of the State of Israel.

The prime minister also posted a demand for an investigation on social media.

“I demand that the Chief of the General Staff, the head of the Shin Bet, and the Attorney General initiate a comprehensive investigation against the participants in the film ‘NAZA’ and bring them to trial for serious information security offenses, criminal defamation, and harm to Israel’s political and security interests,” he wrote.

Netanyahu charged the film with presenting “a false, misleading, and biased plot that defames the State of Israel and the IDF in the world and severely damages Israel’s standing.”

Previously, the Israeli leader announced the proposal of two bills aimed at those who defame the IDF: stripping them of their citizenship and increasing the ability to be sued twentyfold.

The controversy over “NAZA,” which takes its name from the Hebrew acronym for “collateral damage,” broke out when the film, produced by Rachel Szor and Yuval Abraham, debuted at the Venice International Film Festival on Sept. 10 to great acclaim, garnering nearly 25 minutes of applause and winning an award. By contrast, in Israel, the backlash to the film, which claimed that the IDF uses AI to plan airstrikes that maximize civilian casualties, was intense.

Culture Minister Miki Zohar moved to revoke the Israeli citizenship of producers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. The IDF demanded the full release of the film to give the military a fair chance to rebut its claims. And IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir ordered an investigation into possible leaks of classified material used in the film and also declared that legal action against Abraham and Szor was under consideration.

The IDF published a comprehensive rebuttal earlier this month, asserting that no strikes that killed 500 civilians (as has been alleged in the film) or anywhere near that number were ever considered or carried out, that AI was not used for selecting targets, and that the claims made in the film were unverifiable.

Former President Barack Obama endorsed Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed from Michigan in an ad Monday, saying that the idea upon which the United States was established is “under attack” and that “Michigan is where we fight back.”

The former Democratic president opened the ad by saying, “Two hundred and fifty years ago, America was founded on a simple idea: This country belongs to all of us, not just the wealthy, not just the well-connected, everyone.”

“Today, that idea is under attack. In Michigan is where we fight back,” he continued. “That’s why I’m asking you to support Abdul El-Sayed for the United States Senate.”

Obama referenced El-Sayed’s medical background to showcase his qualifications for the position.

“Abdul is a doctor and he’s taken on special interests to fight for good jobs, better healthcare, and lower costs,” he said. “Abdul has never taken corporate money. He understands that healthcare is a human right, and he thinks we should invest here instead of wasting money on endless wars.”

“So make your voice heard,” he concluded. “Vote. Make a plan to vote by election Day November third at Iwillvote.com.”

The Republican Jewish Coalition has called El-Sayed the “most antisemitic Senate candidate in America,” and long-time Jewish Democrats in Michigan have said they are prepared to cross the aisle to vote for his opponent, former Republican congressman Mike Rogers.

With the last U.S. Senate race in Michigan decided by 19,006 votes, and with 100,000 to 130,000 Jewish residents in Michigan, the Jewish vote could prove to be decisive. Jews have traditionally voted for the Democratic Party, seeing that as part of their identity, but many told Fox News in August that concern over El-Sayed’s anti-Israel positions and his ties to antisemites like Hasan Piker was strong enough to persuade them to cast their votes for the Republican.

More than 80% of religion-based hate crimes in Chicago have targeted Jews in the year-to-date figures, which attributes the finding to official city statistics.

The reported percentage concerns religiously motivated hate crimes, not all hate crimes in Chicago. It describes the concentration of anti-Jewish targeting, rather than an increase in the number of offenses. That distinction matters in a city where falling totals have not necessarily meant fewer violent incidents.

Chicago recorded 79 anti-Jewish hate crimes in 2024, up from 50 in 2023, a 58% increase even as overall hate crimes declined. Jewish residents, estimated by the city at approximately 3% of its population, were the targets of 37.6% of all reported hate crimes that year.

The annual anti-Jewish total subsequently fell to 47 in 2025. But incidents involving physical violence increased from eight to 10, according to Tel Aviv University’s annual antisemitism report, which cited police-recorded complaints. Fewer reports and more violence can occur at the same time.

The figures form the backdrop to a dispute over whether Chicago’s response adequately addresses antisemitism as a distinct threat.

In May, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced a strategy that included a Jewish Engagement Council to connect Jewish residents and community leaders with his administration, alongside a broader Interconnected Chicago Council. The administration described its approach as strengthening cooperation between communities and building a lasting response to hate.

Jewish leaders challenged the approach. Ald. Debra Silverstein said the plan “fails to address the unique nature of anti-Jewish hate,” arguing that it weakened the more targeted response recommended by the city’s own Commission on Human Relations.

The commission had recommended a dedicated antisemitism task force, training for city employees and Chicago Public Schools teachers and students, and a specialized police unit to combat hate crimes. The disagreement was not over whether other communities deserve protection, but whether a broad framework would deliver the specific measures Jewish residents needed.

Chicago’s concerns reflect a wider imbalance. Nationally, FBI figures cited by the American Jewish Committee recorded 1,528 anti-Jewish hate-crime incidents in 2025, accounting for 63.5% of religiously motivated incidents and 14% of all hate crimes. Jews represent approximately 2% of the U.S. population.

That national total was down 21% from 2024. Nevertheless, anti-Jewish incidents still outnumbered those targeting every other religious group combined. AJC also cautioned that hate crimes are widely underreported, meaning official figures cannot capture the full extent of the problem.

The challenge for Chicago is therefore larger than lowering a single annual total. It is ensuring that fewer recorded offenses also mean less violence, more effective protection and greater freedom to live openly as Jews.

Two small donations to Alexei Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation have landed an Israeli-Russian scientist a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence. Her family says she arranged the recurring payments while the organization was legal, then missed news of its ban while conducting research in the Arctic.

Sofia Rosenfeld, 50, was taken into custody in the courtroom after Moscow’s Gagarinsky District Court convicted her of financing an “extremist” organization. Prosecutors had sought five years in a penal colony over two transfers of 1,000 rubles each, totaling less than $30.

The charges concerned payments made in August and September 2021 to the Anti-Corruption Foundation, known as FBK. According to her father, Boris, Rosenfeld had established the standing order before the ban and was away on a scientific expedition when the organization’s legal status changed. She canceled the payments after returning and learning what had happened, but two installments had already gone through.

In court, Rosenfeld acknowledged arranging the donations but denied intending to support extremism. She explained that she wanted to help combat corruption, having witnessed its damaging effects through her work in scientific research and nature conservation. She said she had been out of contact during the expedition.

The prosecution came years later. Her father said Russian authorities raided her Moscow apartment in late 2025, shortly after she returned from visiting Israel. The family had expected a fine or community service, not years behind bars.

Rosenfeld is a senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, specializing in Arctic waterbirds. Her research has taken her to remote northern regions, and she has maintained professional connections in Israel, including volunteering at a birdwatching center in the Hula Valley.

She immigrated to Israel with her family at 14 but returned to Moscow roughly a year and a half later to continue her education. Although she built her career in Russia, she retained Israeli citizenship, visited Israel and remained close to her family here.

Her case illustrates the reach of Russia’s crackdown on Navalny’s movement beyond its leadership. A Russian court banned the foundation and other Navalny-linked organizations in 2021, exposing supporters to prosecution. Amnesty International condemned the decision as a misuse of anti-extremism legislation to suppress government critics. Navalny, a leading opponent of Vladimir Putin, died in Russian custody in 2024.

TOPSHOT – In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin meets with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of an international forum “Interrelation of times and civilizations – basis of peace and development” dedicated to the 300th anniversary of poet Magtymguly Fragi’s birthday in Ashgabat on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Alexander SHCHERBAK / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ALEXANDER SHCHERBAK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Boris Rosenfeld says Israeli officials told him they could provide consular assistance but could not intervene in Russia’s judicial process. Israel’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed that it is in contact with the family and working with Russian authorities to provide consular services.

Her lawyers intend to appeal. She is being held in Moscow pending transfer to a penal colony, while her father hopes public attention will help bring her back to Israel. His request is straightforward: “I want her to be here in Israel.”

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Monday that Iran was “highly likely” to have been behind the thwarted attack on RAF Fairford and that the IRGC was almost certainly involved.

The military base in southwest England was used by the United States to launch attacks on Iran and became the site of a security response after five men were arrested there on Sept. 27 for suspected offenses related to terrorism and explosive activities. Two more men were subsequently arrested, and all were released on bail with restrictions.

U.S. officials told Reuters that there had been suspicion of an Iranian plot to launch a drone attack, and the U.S. withdrew its bombers as a precaution, according to President Donald Trump.

“I can confirm our assessment that it is highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran, almost certainly directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC),” Burnham told Parliament.

“We will not tolerate these threats on our soil,” Burnham said. “We will crack down on Iran’s use of criminal networks, using our full range of powers to target them and their funding streams, and we will bring further sanctions to restrict the capacity of Iran and the IRGC to do us harm.”

The Iranian regime pushed back on the accusation, calling it “unfounded and malicious ​speculations.”

The foreign ministries of the U.S. and 28 other countries, including the U.K., Canada, France, and Germany, issued a joint statement denouncing “Iran’s use of violent attacks, including the acts of lethal plotting, arson, sabotage, cyberattacks, and other hybrid activities against us and our partners.”

“The UK has also concluded this event demonstrates the IRGC’s continued willingness to project hostile activity beyond its borders through covert networks and proxy actors,” the statement said, adding that the RAF Fairford incident follows a “campaign of attacks across Europe targeting Jewish communities, Iranian journalists, and US interests.”

Any Iranian effort to “threaten, silence, intimidate, harass, harm, or coerce people on our territories through proxies or any other means is unacceptable,” the statement added.

The Iranian regime “should be in no doubt that we are united and remain committed to safeguarding our sovereignty and strengthening our international coordination, bolstering our national resilience, protecting our communities, and ensuring that those responsible are held to account,” the countries declared.

Over the weekend, a non-Jewish crash victim repeatedly refused help from Orthodox paramedics in Toms River, a township in Ocean County, N.J., located near Lakewood, N.J.

Hatzalah volunteer Booky Kaluszyner posted about the incident, saying he was dispatched to the site of a car crash in Toms River and noted that the vehicles involved in the crash belonged to non-Jews. When he approached one of the victims, the man said, “Get me the real 911. I don’t want your kind touching me,” according to Kaluszyner’s Facebook post.

Hatzalah then called 911, but the two emergency responders who showed up at the scene were also Orthodox Jews. The man said, again, “Get me the real 911. I don’t want your kind touching me,” Kaluszyner said, forcing the paramedics to wait for community security officers (CSOs) to arrive and assess the patient. After assessing his condition, the CSOs requested paramedics.

Remarkably, the third set of paramedics were also Orthodox Jews: “Two Hasidic paramedics with beards and payos sticking out!” as Kaluszyner described it.

But the story didn’t end there. When the car crash victim finally arrived at a nearby hospital, the nurse attending to his injuries was also Orthodox.

In his post, Kaluszyner highlighted the blind Jew hatred that prevented a person from seeking his own self-interest and accepting emergency medical treatment from people who had dropped everything to help him just because they belonged to the wrong religion.

“You have to wonder whether the patient is more concerned about his injuries or the religion of the people trying to save his life!” Kaluszyner wrote. “And that’s the sad reality of what hatred can do to a person.”

“Imagine being so consumed by hatred toward your Orthodox neighbors that you’re willing to delay your own medical care rather than allow one of them to help you,” he added.

“These are people who dropped whatever they were doing, left their families, their jobs, and their dinner tables to come help a complete stranger, without asking what religion that person practices. When hatred becomes more important than your own health and safety, perhaps it’s time to ask yourself who that hatred is really hurting,” he concluded.

Israel demanded a reversal Monday of the decision to bar Hapoel Beersheba fans from attending a Europa League match in Alkmaar, the Netherlands.

Hapoel Beersheba is scheduled to play against Dutch club AZ Alkmaar Thursday, but Alkmaar Mayor Anja Schouten has barred Israeli fans, classifying the event as “very high risk” out of fear of a repeat of the violent confrontations that happened during the November 2024 Europa League match, when Israelis were assaulted by Muslims across Amsterdam during a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar discussed the matter with Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen, and the Dutch Foreign Ministry has reached out to the Alkmaar municipality to resolve the issue.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it demands that “Hapoel Beersheba fans be allowed to attend the match and that their safety be guaranteed inside and around the stadium.”

West Midlands Police Craig Guildford presided over the Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban fiasco. (Credit: House of Commons/PA Images via Getty Images)

“The foreign minister, the Foreign Ministry and the embassy will continue to act vis-à-vis the government of the Netherlands and the mayor of Alkmaar in order to enable the arrival of Hapoel Beersheva fans and to guarantee their safety,” the statement added.

The ministry also said that it “will continue working with the Dutch government and the mayor of Alkmaar to ensure that Hapoel Beersheba fans are permitted to attend the match and that their safety is guaranteed.”

Jewish advocacy groups slammed the decision to ban fans presumably for their own safety.

“Protecting Israeli fans should mean protecting them from violence, not excluding them from the stadium,” said Creative Community for Peace in a statement.

The ban echoes the decision to ban Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Aston Villa in Birmingham, England, in January.

The decision elicited strong condemnations from political leaders and Jewish advocacy groups, and the Independent Office for Police Conduct launched an investigation into West Midlands Chief Constable Craig Guildford, who resigned over the matter after it was revealed that Guildford did not perform due diligence in overseeing intelligence that turned out to be faulty and that presented the police with an imbalanced view of the Israeli fans.

Federal agents reportedly descended on the Washington, D.C., residence of Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar in a pre-dawn operation, according to a Fox News report.

The report describes Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents executing a search warrant as part of a federal investigation reportedly involving immigration-related documents.

Omar, a Somali-born Democratic lawmaker from Minnesota and one of Congress’s most outspoken critics of Israel, has long faced scrutiny over her immigration and marital history.

For years, rumors have swirled that Omar married her own brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, in 2009 to help him obtain U.S. immigration benefits, potentially including citizenship.

lhan Omar’s “dirty dandy” ex-husband, Ahmed Elmi, is rumored to be her brother. He surfaced in South Africa in November 2025 lecturing at a diversity boot camp.

Although Omar’s marriage to Elmi is documented, the allegation that he is her brother has never been publicly substantiated. Omar has repeatedly denied the accusations.

The congresswoman, a prominent member of the progressive “Squad,” has also faced widespread criticism over statements about Israel and American Jewish political influence that critics have condemned as antisemitic.

🎥 JBN FILE FOOTAGE: Jewish Breaking News reporter Eddie Hammer previously confronted Omar over her controversial tweets, questioning her directly about accusations of antisemitism.

Rather than addressing his questions, Omar refused to comment, claiming she could only speak to her constituents, an explanation that did little to address the concerns raised.

Omar has frequently clashed with President Donald Trump over immigration, Israel and U.S. foreign policy.

No criminal charges against Omar have been confirmed in connection with the reported search, and the allegations surrounding her marriage remain unproven.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced Monday the signing of an expanded cooperation agreement between Israel and Albania, praising the country for its conduct toward Jews during the Holocaust.

“An important diplomatic visit to Albania, which began with a meeting with my colleague, the Foreign Minister Ferit Hoxha, and the signing of an expanded cooperation agreement that will open up numerous business opportunities for Israeli and Albanian companies,” the Israeli foreign minister posted.

“We will always remember the rescue of Jews by Albanians during the Holocaust. Albania is a true friend of Israel, standing consistently by its side.”

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (left) shakes hands with his Albanian counterpart, Ferit Hoxha. (Credit: Ferit Hoxha)

Albania, the only Muslim-majority country in Europe, was also the only country in Europe to emerge from the Holocaust with more Jews living there than before the war. The resident Jewish population in Albania before the war was about 200, but it swelled to 1,800 to 3,000 by the war’s end due to an influx of refugees. Albanian leaders refused to deliver lists of Jews to the Nazis, and many Albanians, both Christian and Muslim, hid Jews in their own homes during the war.

Albania even had its own Oskar Schindler-like figure, a man by the name of Kadri Cakrani, who, as commandant of the Albanian city of Berat, single-handedly saved at least 600 Jews.

In welcoming Sa’ar to Albania, his counterpart referred to this remarkable history.

“It was a particular pleasure to welcome to Albania and meet with my counterpart, Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar,” Hoxha wrote on X.

“This year marks the 35th anniversary of Albania–Israel diplomatic relations, built on a profound and genuine friendship between our peoples, shared democratic values and mutual respect,” he said.

“The unique and inspiring story of Albanians who, at great personal risk, opened their homes and hearts and welcomed, sheltered, protected, and saved Jews during the Holocaust, guided by the enduring values of Besa [the Albanian code of honor and hospitality] and an unwavering commitment to human dignity, stands as a cornerstone of the deep friendship and partnership that unite Albania and Israel today,” he continued.

Israeli and Albanian leaders meet to discuss an expanded cooperation agreement between the two countries. (Credit: Gideon Sa’ar)

“Today, we reaffirmed our shared commitment, strong political will, and growing determination to further deepen our partnership. In this spirit, we signed the Albania-Israel Agreement on General Cooperation, an important milestone that opens new avenues for collaboration and elevates our bilateral relations to a new level,” he said, explaining that the expanded agreement will enhance cooperation across a large number of sectors, including security, technology and innovation, trade and investment, agriculture, culture, and education.

Hoxha said that the two leaders also discussed developments in the Middle East, global security issues, and the Western Balkans, as well as “reaffirming our shared commitment to stability, dialogue, and international cooperation” and Albania’s “unwavering” support of Israel’s security and combating terrorism.

Tourism from Israel to Albania has grown by nearly 1,000 percent, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, turning it into a destination hot spot for Israeli tourists, where Israelis can vacation without fear of speaking Hebrew in public and without fear of harassment.

Geert Wilders, leader of the opposition party in the Netherlands, said that “Jew haters” run the country.

Posting on X alongside a video of protesters holding up signs at the National Monument in Holland saying “We support Hamas,” he wrote, “Amsterdam today. Extreme left mayor and anti-Israeli Prime Minister are silent.”

“The Jew haters rule this land,” he added.

“I would hunt them all down, no support for Hamas in my Amsterdam!” he vowed. “Hopefully soon new elections!”

Wilders had been visiting Belgium, where he had been targeted by a jihadist drone assassination plot. He suspended all campaign activities until the threat against him was eliminated by a successful Belgian police operation, after which he returned to the Netherlands to resume his campaign.

He was apparently not happy with what he found.

“Fans of Hamas. Jew-haters. Extreme left and Islam. Make me prime minister and I’ll hunt down the perpetrators like animals,” he wrote on X.

From the Israeli perspective, Wilders is not far off the mark. Last month, the Netherlands joined 10 other countries in sanctioning Judea and Samaria to punish Israel for its plans to expand settlements and its perceived failure to curb settler violence.

Israel did not take the new sanctions lying down.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar ordered Dutch diplomats working in Ramallah to surrender their Israeli-issued credentials within seven days in retaliation for the Dutch ban on goods and services from Judea and Samaria, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights, saying that their credentials would expire after a seven-day period.

“If the Netherlands wishes to continue representing its interests with the Palestinians, it may do so from Palestinian Authority territory, rather than from the territory of the State of Israel,” Sa’ar said in a statement at the time.

The move followed the expulsion of Dutch diplomats from the Kiryat Gat International Support Center for Gaza after the Netherlands took measures against Israel.

“I reiterate: Israel will not ignore measures intended to harm it,” the foreign minister declared. “Any country that acts in a hostile and unilateral manner against Israel will lose influence and relevance in the region.”

Sa’ar decried the open antisemitism seen on the streets of the Netherlands and blamed the growing problem on the policies of the Dutch government.

“I also reiterate the urgent need to address the growing antisemitism and incitement openly seen on the streets of the Netherlands. Not only are this antisemitism and incitement not being seriously addressed, but the anti-Israel policies of the Dutch Government are fueling them,” he said.

After the Dutch sanctions, which took effect on Sept. 22 and banned goods and services from areas that the Netherlands deemed illegal, passengers arriving from Israel at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol were subjected to unusually lengthy and thorough examinations at customs.

Emergency medical teams and IDF forces are responding to a reported explosion in the Ramim Ridge area along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.

According to initial reports, at least 12 people have been injured. Four are reportedly unconscious, while another four are conscious with injuries of varying severity. The conditions of the remaining casualties have not yet been clarified.

IDF and Magen David Adom (MDA) helicopters have been dispatched to the scene to assist with emergency medical evacuations.

The explosion is suspected to have been caused by old unexploded ordnance that detonated in the area, although the exact circumstances remain under investigation.

The reports are preliminary, and authorities have not yet confirmed the full extent of the casualties or the cause of the blast.

Two Maldivian Flydubai pilots have reportedly been arrested in the UAE as investigators examine the foiled attack on an Israel-bound flight. Adhadhu reported that their families were informed of the arrests by the Maldivian embassy. Government spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef and a foreign-ministry spokesman disputed the report; the pilots’ alleged involvement has not been independently confirmed.

UAE prosecutors said on October 9 that the Omani co-pilot accused of attacking Flight FZ1073’s captain intended to crash the aircraft into Ben Gurion Airport’s passenger terminal, inspired by 9/11. The September 30 flight was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv.

The injured captain resisted the axe attack. Other pilots aboard, assisted by cabin crew and passengers, subdued the suspect and landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Prosecutors say the suspect claimed he acted alone, but possible accomplices and other connections remain under investigation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a rare statement of condolence to Saudi Arabia following a devastating Houthi-led attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that killed at least 12 people and injured more than 300 others.

The attack took place Saturday, with a follow-up strike on Sunday that caused a fire at the airport. Airport operations were suspended, and major carriers, including Lufthansa, Emirates, and Air Arabia, canceled flights, while Western embassies issued travel warnings.

Authorities in Saudi Arabia called the attack a “full-fledged war crime” and vowed retaliation. With Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirming that American citizens were killed in the attack, President Donald Trump said he would consider bolstering the Saudi response with U.S. strikes on the Houthis.

In addition, the Houthis struck King Khalid International Airport Wednesday, killing a Sudanese national. 

The Israeli premier said he strongly condemned the attack while offering his condolences to the people of Saudi Arabia.

“I condemn in the strongest possible terms the horrific terrorist attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which claimed the lives of 12 innocent people and injured hundreds more,” Netanyahu posted on X.

“On behalf of the people of Israel, I extend our deepest condolences to the families of those murdered and our wishes for a full recovery to the injured,” he continued.

“Terrorism targets innocent people and seeks to spread fear and instability. It must be confronted with resolve,” he declared.

“Israel looks forward to a strong Middle East — one that stands united against threats, protects its people, and builds a future of security, cooperation, and prosperity for all the peoples of our region,” he concluded.

U.S. antisemitism envoy Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun said he honored the hero plumber of the dramatic rescue of flydubai Flight FZ1073 from an imminent crash.

The incident unfolded Sept. 30 when a fight broke out in the cockpit of flydubai Flight 1073, which was carrying about 180 Israeli passengers. The alleged hijacker, Hamam al-Hammami, who was a co-pilot, tried to take control of the Boeing 737 MAX, managing to push the aircraft into a nosedive of 14,000 feet in just one minute. Passengers rushed the cockpit, which had been opened by Indian pilot Smit Machchhar just before he lost consciousness, and subdued the potential hijacker. Two pilots who had been on the flight took control and diverted the plane to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where Machchhar and Hammami were taken to a hospital for treatment. Video footage shows that a passenger was wounded and bleeding as well.

A subsequent investigation revealed that Hammami intended to kill the captain and take control of the flight, planning to crash into Ben-Gurion International airport.

A flydubai airplane lands at Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport Nov. 26, 2020. (Credit: Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

Yaniv Hayoun was one of the first people to rush the cockpit. Seeing the co-pilot, Hammami, attacking the captain, the 50-year-old plumber put him in a chokehold and dragged him away. Noticing the captain lying on the floor, he raced to the controls and pulled the plane out of its nosedive seconds before it would have crashed into the desert.

Hayoun, who had never flown a plane before, said he knew what to do because he had watched the aviation documentary series Mayday (Air Crash Investigation).

Kaploun awarded the plumber a State Department prayer book, kippah, and a coin commemorating 250 years of American independence.

“Yaniv is a real-life hero,” Kaploun posted on X.

“After saving countless lives aboard the flydubai flight, Yaniv told me that it was God who gave him the strength. He said he will always pray that good triumphs over evil,” he wrote.

When he raised a triumphant fist in the air, flydubai passenger Asaf Rajuan didn’t realize his pose mimicked President Donald Trump’s after he was shot and a bullet grazed his ear during an assassination attempt in July 2024. Both men struck a pose lifting their right fists in the air with blood dripping down their faces, looking uncannily alike.

The photo went viral, not least because of its coincidental but remarkable resemblance to the iconic Trump photo.

Trump’s photo was taken by Evan Vucci, a photographer for the Associated Press, on July 13, 2024, while the then-presidential candidate spoke at a campaign stop. After a bullet grazed his ear and just before he was swarmed by Secret Service agents, Trump pumped a fist in the air and shouted, “Fight!” The iconic image became an internet phenomenon, besides dominating mainstream media as it became the face of Trump’s campaign for president.

An early post of the photo by Elon Musk garnered 176 million views and 3 million likes.

View from the flydubai airplane approaching Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia. (Credit: Uri Pintov)

Speaking to The Jerusalem Post Sunday about the photo, Rajuan laughed about it, saying, “I didn’t plan it.” Addressing the resemblance between the two photos on Channel 12, he said that the gesture was spontaneous and that he found the incident humorous.

Rajuan said that the photo was taken shortly after the co-pilot had been restrained, and that he hadn’t even noticed he was bleeding.

“People told me to touch my face. I didn’t even understand what they were talking about,” he told the Post.

The incident unfolded Sept. 30 when a fight broke out in the cockpit of flydubai Flight 1073, which was carrying about 180 Israeli passengers. The alleged hijacker, Hamam al-Hammami, who was a co-pilot, tried to take control of the Boeing 737 MAX, managing to push the aircraft into a nosedive of 14,000 feet in just one minute. Passengers rushed the cockpit, which had been opened by Indian pilot Smit Machchhar just before he lost consciousness, and subdued the potential hijacker. Two pilots who had been on the flight took control and diverted the plane to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where Machchhar and Hammami were taken to a hospital for treatment. Video footage shows that a passenger was wounded and bleeding as well.

A subsequent investigation revealed that Hammami intended to kill the captain and take control of the flight, planning to crash into Ben-Gurion International airport.

Israel’s ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed, slammed the Canadian government Saturday night for its recognition of a Palestinian state a year ago, after the conditions it had laid out for the Palestinian Authority never materialized.

The latest in a string of “broken promises” was last week’s announcement that the PA had decided to postpone elections again, the first that would have been held in 20 years. The flimsy excuse given was that Trump’s Gaza peace plan had not effected the changes in Gaza that the PA had hoped to see by now, though the connection between that and the ability to hold elections was not explained.

“One year ago Canada recognised Palestinian statehood in exchange for Mahmoud Abbas’s ‘commitments’ — a list of 30-years long broken promises,” Moed wrote on X.

President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas. (Credit: Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard Berg/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“Now Abbas postponed elections to September 2027… Add that to the continuing Pay4Slay program for terrorists, and many other undelivered reforms,” he added.

“What more is needed to recognise and admit that Canada’s irreversible move was in vain?” he concluded.

As for the move being irreversible, Moed later conceded that pressure indeed should be applied to Canada to reverse the decision.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had announced in February that direct elections for the Palestinian National Council would be held on Nov. 1 and would be open to all Arabs from Gaza, Judea and Samaria, as well as those who now live elsewhere around the world.

The 90-year-old is in the 21st year of the four-year term he was elected to in 2005, yet he has called this year, 2026, “the year of Palestinian democracy.” He has not called for presidential elections, however.

This would not be the first time Abbas has called for elections, but in the past they did not materialize. For this reason, skepticism that elections will finally take place after the latest delay runs high.

Israeli judoka Raz Hershko won the bronze medal in the open-weight category (over 78 kg) at the Judo World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, Saturday.

Hershko began her campaign with smashing victories, winning an ippon victory (the highest score in judo, which immediately and decisively ends the bout) over Ling Fang Chang from Taiwan, then won a match against Estonia’s Emma-Melis Aktas in the round of 16, advancing to the final four, where she defeated Brazil’s Beatriz Souza. After a good run with a more-than respectable showing, she lost to South Korea’s Lee Hyeon-ji in the semifinals, dropping into the third-place match.

The judo athlete won the bronze medal by defeating Helena Vuković of Croatia with an ippon in golden score, which in judo means there is no time limit; however, Hershko bagged the victory in just four minutes.

Israeli officials congratulated Hershko.

“Congratulations to Raz Hershko on winning the bronze medal at the World Judo Championships!” Israel’s ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon posted on X. “Raz continues to prove time and again that she is one of Israel’s greatest athletes and brings us honor and pride in the world.”

“Proud of you!” he added.

Minister of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar posted, “Israeli Pride! Congratulations to Raz Hershko on winning the bronze medal at the Judo World Championships! You continue to prove that you’re one of the best in the world and to bring great honor to the State of Israel. Proud of you!”

 At the European Judo Championships in April, Hershko took home the gold, winning her second gold medal at the European Judo Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, and winning a medal for the fifth time overall.

A passenger on flydubai Flight 1073, the flight that was nearly hijacked and was diverted just before hitting the ground by Israeli passengers before being taken over by pilots who had been on the flight, said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post that he still had questions.

Asaf Rajuan, who had been returning from a family vacation in Thailand, said he saw a woman run down the aisle, where he was seated in 7D, shouting that someone had a knife, then saw his family flung into the air. Thinking they were about to die, he raced toward the front of the aircraft, where he described the co-pilot, Hamam al-Hammami, emerging from the cockpit with a small head wound and covered in blood, some of which was not his own.

In allegations that remain unsubstantiated, Rajuan accused two of the flight attendants of aiding the hijacker. He said that one of them approached Hammami after he had been restrained and began to untie him but stopped after passengers confronted the attendant.

Asaf Rajuan. (Credit: Asaf Rajuan)

Another suspicious act he described was an attendant approaching the captain while he was receiving medical treatment with a tablet. In this case, too, passengers stopped the attendant because it made no sense to administer oral medication to someone in that condition.

Rajuan said that there were repeated confrontations between the attendants and passengers as he described their physical strength and fierce determination to prevent anyone from filming the incident as it unfolded.

Finally, Rajuan had questions about the pilots on board the flight who took control and flew the plane to Saudi Arabia without communicating with the passengers. The former flydubai passenger said that the pilots had to be cajoled and hustled to the cockpit to take over.

“I had to shake them to get them to move to the front and take control of the plane,” Tal, another passenger on the flight, said.

We know the names of the co-pilot, the captain, and all the Israelis involved in the rescue effort, but, as he pointed out, we have not heard from the pilots, nor have they been identified. Rajuan would like to hear their firsthand accounts and the reason for their initial hesitation.

Rajuan said that in such an atmosphere, he and other passengers became paranoid, suspecting everyone and trusting no one, although he admitted to N12 News, “I have no proof.”

“I hope that Israel will investigate it as it should be,” he said. “Because it’s something that needs answers.”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has issued a direct warning to senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, declaring that his turn is coming.

“We eliminated the Hamas leaders in Gaza. Al-Hayya’s turn will also come, and he will be sent to join Haniyeh and his companions in hell,” Katz declared.

The Video That Speaks Volumes:

The accompanying footage takes us back to the morning of October 7, 2023, as Hamas terrorists were slaughtering innocent Israelis, kidnapping families, and carrying out atrocities across southern Israel.

In the video, Khalil al-Hayya can be seen standing beside then-Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, pointing toward a television screen as the Hamas leadership celebrates the carnage their organization had orchestrated.

Also present is Haniyeh’s deputy, Saleh al-Arouri, alongside other senior Hamas officials gathered abroad for what became an infamous prayer of thanksgiving.

While Israeli communities were under attack, Hamas leaders watched the unfolding horror on television and celebrated.

Three years later, the fate of those Hamas leaders has changed dramatically.

Haniyeh was killed in Tehran, Iran, in July 2024. Al-Arouri was eliminated in Beirut, Lebanon, in January 2024. Other senior Hamas figures have also been killed.

Al-Hayya survived an Israeli assassination attempt targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar and remains a prominent figure in the terrorist organization.

Katz also blasted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, accusing him of continuing to support Hamas and allowing the terrorist organization to operate from Turkish territory.

Now, Israel’s defense minister has delivered a chilling message to the Hamas leader seen pointing at the television as the October 7 massacre unfolded.

“Al-Hayya’s Turn Will Also Come.”

The mother of Israeli hostage Avinatan Or said in an interview on Channel 14’s program “The Patriots” Saturday night that his Hamas captor told him that Hamas was too weak to hold on to the hostages any longer.

Ditza Or said that when her son found out that Hamas had agreed to release all the remaining hostages in one fell swoop, he asked his captor why the group would agree to release all of its precious remaining bargaining chips, with which it held such sway over the Israelis.

“Why are you releasing all of us in one day? Everyone you have left, all your diamonds?” his mother quoted him as saying.

The IDF eliminated Hamas terrorist Muhammad Fuad Gasser Sayid, who held Avinatan Or in captivity. Or is pictured here with his captor. (Credit: IDF)

“Hamas is weak. There’s nothing we can do. We have to,” she quoted the terrorist as responding.

According to Ditza, Avinatan recounted the exchange during an interview with “Uvda,” which aired on Oct. 5, but the broadcaster left it out of the final version.

The mother said that when she heard about Avinatan’s exchange with his captor, she felt vindicated.

“We said from the beginning that the only way to bring back the hostages, as many as possible and ultimately all of them, was to defeat Hamas,” she said.

Avinatan Or was released on Oct. 13, 2025, as part of the ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, after 738 days in captivity. The former hostage was arrested alongside his then-girlfriend Noa Argamani on Oct. 7, 2023, at the Nova Music Festival. Their capture became the face of the hostage crisis as wrenching footage of their abduction became one of the most famous videos of that terrible day.

The IDF recently eliminated the terrorist who held him hostage as part of its mission to capture or kill every single terrorist who participated in the Oct. 7 attack or in holding hostages.

Israel Police announced Sunday the arrest of an Arab youth in his 20s on suspicion of intending to carry out an imminent terror attack.

Police said they had received an alert that the young man intended to carry out a terror attack near Maale Adumim in Judea and immediately combed the area, setting up checkpoints in the Jerusalem Envelope and conducting an extensive search. They said they found the suspect near the village of Al Eizariya in Judea with a knife in his possession, along with a glass filled with nails and stuffed with paper, which they believe he meant to ignite before hurling it at civilians.

The police found a glass stuffed with nails and paper in the suspect’s possession. (Credit: Israel Police)

The suspect was arrested and is being held in custody for questioning.

“He was transferred for questioning to the police station in Ma’ale Adumim, after which he was remanded,” police said. “The investigation of the case was assigned to the counterterrorism unit of the Judea and Samaria District’s Central Unit, and it is ongoing.”

Columbia University is facing renewed criticism after a campus dining hall displayed a menu listing “October 7th Blush Sauce” on the third anniversary of the Hamas massacre in Israel.

The controversial wording appeared at John Jay Dining Hall on October 7, 2026, exactly three years after Hamas terrorists murdered approximately 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages.

The pinkish-red pasta sauce was listed alongside ordinary menu options, but the inclusion of the date sparked outrage, with critics questioning how such a reference could appear on one of the most painful days in Jewish history.

Now Columbia University is explaining what happened.

Vicki Dunn, assistant vice president of Columbia Dining, insisted the wording was an accidental formatting error, not an intentional reference to the massacre.

“This was an unfortunate mistake and was not intended as a reference to the events of October 7,” Dunn said.

She explained that the sauce was already scheduled to be served and that the date was accidentally carried over when staff copied the information into the menu template.

Dunn apologized for the confusion and concern, confirming that the signs were removed once the error was discovered.

Columbia also announced that dining menus would undergo an additional staff review before being posted.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 16: Mahmoud Khalil, former Columbia University graduate student known for his role in the 2024 Columbia University pro-Palestinian protests, leads a Pro-Palestinian “March for Humanity” against the humanitarian crisis in Gaza on August 16, 2025 in New York City. A coalition of over 200 groups and organizations, including Palestinian diaspora groups, pro-Palestinian solidarity groups, labor unions, anti-war groups, and faith groups organized the march.(Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

The controversy comes amid years of turmoil surrounding anti-Israel activism at Columbia.

Since October 7, 2023, the university has witnessed massive pro-Palestinian demonstrations, tent encampments, building occupations, arrests, and repeated allegations of antisemitism.

Among the movement’s most prominent figures was Mahmoud Khalil, a leading negotiator for Columbia’s pro-Palestinian protesters. His detention by U.S. immigration authorities in 2025 triggered a national legal and political controversy.

On the third anniversary of the massacre, pro-Palestinian demonstrators also gathered outside Columbia, where protesters chanted slogans calling for an intifada while Jewish students and families commemorated the victims of Hamas.

For critics, the menu controversy has renewed concerns about the atmosphere Jewish students have faced on campus since October 7.

Columbia insists it was an innocent mistake. But critics are questioning how such an extraordinarily insensitive error could have made it onto a dining hall menu on that particular day.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski refused to say that Israel has a right to exist when pressed repeatedly by his interviewer on a BBC Radio 4 program Saturday.

Polanski, who is Jewish, was barred from Israel after his party adopted a resolution a week ago stating that Zionism is racism while he was away on the campaign trail, though he endorsed the resolution.

The resolution, which passed by 1,022 votes to 813, says that “Zionism should be treated as any other form of racism” and calls for the “establishment of a single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital,” which opponents see as a call to eradicate the only Jewish state in the world.

Polanski’s interviewer asked, “What we’re talking about is whether a state created by the United Nations in the aftermath of pogroms and Holocaust, the worst act of racism in the history of the planet, has a right to exist or not. This is a question you have always dodged. Will you now say that you think there ought to be a safe home for Jews in a state called Israel, the state created by the U.N.?”

“I believe everyone deserves a safe home, and I’ve not dodged the question in fact,” the Green Party leader said.

The interviewer pressed him again.

“This motion [the Green Party resolution] was co-proposed by a Holocaust survivor,” Polanski said.

The interviewer pressed him a third time.

“I believe Israelis and Palestinians should have equal rights in a democracy,” Polanski said.

The interviewer, refusing to let him get away without answering, pressed him a fourth time.

After three more times, Polanski finally said, still not answering the question, “I don’t believe that any state has the right to oppress or to commit apartheid, and certainly not genocide on another people. Now it may be that in the future that there is a solution, in which case Israelis and Palestinians can have equal rights.”

President Donald Trump delivered an emotional tribute to the 18 American service members killed during the war with Iran, declaring that their sacrifices helped prevent the Iranian regime from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Speaking at a rally in Tennessee, Trump recalled meeting the families of fallen troops, describing those encounters as among the most painful responsibilities of being commander in chief.

“We lost 18 great people,” Trump said, calling the fallen Americans heroes and acknowledging that others were wounded during the conflict.

But the president insisted their sacrifice had accomplished something of historic importance.

“Those young people did not die in vain,” Trump declared, arguing that the American military campaign had stopped Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

“You just can’t let a total lunatic or a group of lunatics have nuclear weapons,” he warned.

Trump also suggested that Iran could escalate tensions ahead of November’s midterm elections, while emphasizing that the United States retains overwhelming military options.

His remarks come as Washington pursues a possible diplomatic agreement with Tehran while keeping additional military strikes on the table.

The president has pledged to hold off on further attacks until after the November 3 elections, although American military planners have reportedly developed options for renewed operations targeting Iranian military infrastructure.

Vice President JD Vance has meanwhile made clear that any agreement must include meaningful, verifiable restrictions on Iran’s uranium enrichment program.

Despite Trump’s assertion that Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been stopped, negotiations remain unresolved, with Tehran continuing to resist American demands.

The president’s message was unmistakable: The 18 Americans who gave their lives will be remembered as heroes whose sacrifice, he maintains, helped prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.

In an interview with Channel 12 Saturday, Boy George, the 1980s pop icon who composed a musical tribute to the victims of the Nova Music Festival massacre called “We Will Dance Again,” said that he has received threats and has been harassed over his upcoming concert in Israel.

“I’ve had threats, and I’ve had people defacing my pictures and concert posters,” George said. “For me personally, none of those people look like peace.”

“Some of these people do not care about anything,” he added. “Their political views are Dolce & Gabbana [fashion brands]. Suddenly, to have a position on something that I know you don’t care about, it makes me so angry.”

The singer also said that supporting Israel doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about Palestinians.

“I never, ever said I didn’t care about Palestine,” he said. “I just know Jewish people and I know they’re good people, and I know they want to live.”

Boy George described his feelings about visiting an exhibition about the Nova Music Festival massacre and how it inspired him to write “We Will Dance Again.”

He also described how he felt watching news about the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre on TV.

“I saw it on TV, and I remember being absolutely physically traumatized by what I was seeing,” the musician said. “Just so shocked. And to see people with children, and women, saying that it didn’t happen is mind-blowing to me.”

“When I wrote ‘We Will Dance Again,’ I felt like the world had really broken my heart again,” he added, saying that the song was “an emotional statement rather than a political one.”

“It just happened. I was just sitting in my flat on Friday night writing away, writing lyrics, and then I played it back … and I got quite tearful,” he said.

In the interview, Boy George discussed the difficulty of finding musicians willing to perform with him in Israel.

“We are trying to find a band right now,” he said. “We’re working on it.”

Boy George is seen attending the “David Bowie: You’re Not Alone” premiere at Lightroom on April 21, 2026, in London. (Credit: Ricky Vigil M./Justin E. Palmer/GC Images)

“I’m trying to find people who are brave enough to come,” he added.

Tickets to his show, which is scheduled for Nov. 4 in Tel Aviv, are sold out, and he is trying to schedule a second show.

Boy George unleashed a wave of anger and backlash when he released his song “We Will Dance Again” in July, which laid out his sentiments in black and white. In the song, he told his anti-Israel listeners that what they call genocide is in fact a war, and he accused his fellow musicians of acting like sheep, following the herd.

“But if you’re ever confused, I stand with the Jews,” he stated unequivocally in the song.

His record label manager, Tony Pontius, quit over the song, saying he wanted “nothing to do with it.” His manager, Paul Kemsley, pulled him from a two-week performance tour of the hit West End revival of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” in which he was supposed to play King Herod. Bandcamp removed his song and his page from its platform.

A giant London mural of Boy George, painted by international muralist Benzi Brofman to honor the 1980s pop icon for his musical tribute to the victims of the Nova Music Festival massacre, was defaced with a red triangle, the symbol Hamas uses to mark its targets.

Iran retains the ability to manufacture missiles and drones despite U.S. and Israeli strikes, Western officials told Bloomberg, with one saying Russia is supplying Tehran with missiles. The assessment points to an enduring threat as Washington weighs renewed military action against the Islamic Republic.

Officials familiar with intelligence assessments said parts of Iran’s weapons-manufacturing infrastructure survived the strikes, allowing the regime to replenish its arsenal. One official described substantial ballistic missile stocks and remaining anti-ship weapons, with the capacity to produce more relatively quickly. Russia’s Defense Ministry did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment on the reported deliveries.

The White House rejected the assessment. Spokesperson Anna Kelly said Operation Epic Fury had destroyed Iran’s ballistic missiles, production facilities and navy, following earlier U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also maintained that the campaign destroyed Iran’s military-industrial capacity.

WASHINGTON DC, USA – JULY 28: (—-EDITORIAL USE ONLY â” MANDATORY CREDIT – ‘MA’AYAN TOAF / GPO / HANDOUT’ – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS—-) U.S. President Donald Trump meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at White House in Washington DC, United States on July 28, 2026. (Photo by Maâayan Toaf (GPO)/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Surviving production does not necessarily mean Iran has restored its full prewar manufacturing capacity. The reporting describes facilities that remain usable and an ability to replace weapons, not an undamaged defense industry. Neither a verified current production rate nor the types and quantities of the reported Russian missile deliveries were disclosed.

The Russian claim adds another dimension to an established weapons relationship. In 2024, Britain, France and Germany said they had confirmed Iranian ballistic missile transfers to Russia for its war against Ukraine and announced punitive measures. The latest assessment suggests Moscow is now helping replenish the arsenal of the regime that previously supplied it.

TOPSHOT – In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin meets with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of an international forum “Interrelation of times and civilizations – basis of peace and development” dedicated to the 300th anniversary of poet Magtymguly Fragi’s birthday in Ashgabat on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Alexander SHCHERBAK / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ALEXANDER SHCHERBAK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that the Pentagon has developed an option for roughly three days of intensive strikes focused on Iranian missile and drone arsenals. Possible additional targets include energy facilities and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command centers. Trump has publicly ruled out attacks before the U.S. midterm elections; the reported preparations are not an announced decision to launch a campaign.

Separately, Maariv reported that Washington had pressed Israel to strike Iran alone, seeking to avoid the political fallout of restarting the war before the American vote. It said Washington later backed away after IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned that renewed fighting could force Israel’s election to be postponed. The newspaper did not identify sources for that account, which remains publicly unconfirmed.

SHADMOT MEHOLA, ISRAEL – APRIL 3: An Israeli woman with a child looks at the tail section of a ballistic missile launched from Iran, in the Jewish settlement of Shadmot Mehola in the northern Jordan Valley on April 03, 2026 in Shadmot Mehola, Israel. Iran has continued firing waves of drones and missiles at Israel after the United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran early on February 28th. (Photo by Erik Marmor/Getty Images)

For Israel, the immediate concern is another missile barrage. Channel 12 reporting cited an Israeli assessment that Tehran would respond to renewed American strikes with massive missile fire at Israel. The unresolved threat is therefore not simply what Iran has left, but how quickly it can replace what it uses.

A shipment of military components bound for Israel has become the target of a coordinated boycott at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, with cargo workers refusing to load it onto an El Al aircraft and three French organizations seeking an emergency court order to stop its export.

Israeli security officials have intervened to try to resolve the dispute and secure the cargo’s transfer. The shipment, intended for Elbit Systems Land, was scheduled to leave Paris on Saturday evening. The refusal followed a decision by a workers’ committee at a cargo-handling company operating at the airport.

The confrontation followed an earlier, disputed attempt to transport the same consignment through Air France. French unions and pro-Palestinian activists claim their intervention prevented it from departing on Thursday, after which the shipment was rebooked onto El Al. Urgence Palestine says it holds documents supporting the original booking and the subsequent arrangements.

An El Al Israel arlines aircraft is seen on the runway prior to arrival of the Israeli Olympic delegation at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France, on July 22, 2024, as part of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (Photo by Victoria Valdivia / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP) (Photo by VICTORIA VALDIVIA/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)

Air France denies that account. The airline says it had no reservation for the goods on the indicated date or any other date, and that it does not transport weapons or ammunition to Israel. France’s Foreign Ministry repeated the airline’s denial at its latest relevant press briefing.

According to the organizations challenging the shipment, the cargo consists of planetary gearboxes, mechanical components intended for military vehicles, manufactured by Mijno Precision Gearing in Saint-Etienne. They identify the recipient as Elbit’s land-systems division, rather than an Israeli military unit receiving finished weapons directly.

The campaign has now moved into the courts. NIDAL, ASER and JURDI say they filed an emergency application with the Paris Administrative Court, asking authorities to examine the goods’ classification, determine whether an export license was issued and identify the intended end user. They want customs to hold the shipment during that examination and have pledged to appeal if their request is rejected.

The French government, meanwhile, maintains that its military export controls are strict. Its Foreign Ministry says licenses for Israel are permitted only for exclusively defensive purposes or for components incorporated into equipment subsequently exported to third countries. It says those transfers are subject to oversight and safeguards concerning their intended use. Those are France’s stated rules, not confirmation of this particular shipment’s authorization or destination after assembly.

The dispute follows repeated confrontations over Israeli defense companies’ access to French industry events. At this year’s Eurosatory exhibition, 14 Israeli firms were prevented from presenting their systems on opening day. Israel’s Defense Ministry said booths were boarded up despite the companies complying with restrictions requiring defensive displays. Elbit was among the companies whose exhibits remained accessible.

PARIS, FRANCE – JUNE 04: General view of the Eiffel Tower and Jardins du Trocadero on June 04, 2019 in Paris, France. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

This time, the pressure targets the movement of components into Israel, not simply access to an exhibition. The immediate outcome remains unclear: the available reports do not confirm whether the El Al shipment ultimately departed or whether the court issued an order.

Newly released statistics from the British Home Office show that Jews in England and Wales are nine times more likely to be the victims of hate crimes than Muslims.

The figures show that in the 12 months preceding March 2026, Jews suffered from hate crimes at a rate of 116.5 per 10,000 people, while Muslims suffered from hate crimes at a rate of 13.3 per 10,000 people.

The report also included the following sobering statistics:

• Hate crimes increased by 7 percent in the period covered to 146,825 incidents.
• Religiously motivated hate crimes increased by 13 percent to 11,419 offenses.
• Racially motivated hate crimes increased by 9 percent to 107,926 violations.
• Hate crimes against Muslims increased by 15 percent compared to 10 percent for Jews.
• Hate crimes against Jews reached their highest recorded level.

The Home Office said the sharp rise in hate crimes occurred in October 2025 “following a series of antisemitic crimes after the Heaton Park Synagogue terror attack and have been at an elevated level since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict.”

The Community Security Trust (CST), a British charity that protects Jews from antisemitism by raising government funds and organizing security for Jewish institutions and investigating and reporting hate crime data, said, “Antisemitic hate crime remains at an unacceptably high level.”

Citing “an urgent need to reduce the amount of incitement connected to conflict overseas,” the organization added that “much more needs to be done across society to tackle this problem.”

The United States imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court after Navi Pillay, a former judge who authored a United Nations Commission of Inquiry report accusing Israel of genocide, won the Nobel Peace Prize Friday.

Although the investigators on the Commission of Inquiry are supposed to avoid even the appearance of bias, according to the U.N.’s own standards, Pillay, along with the other two commissioners, boasted a record of antisemitic and anti-Israel activity:

• In November 2017, Pillay accused Israel of apartheid.
• In June 2020, she signed the South African boycott, divestment, and sanctions petition against Israel.
• In May 2021, she described Israel’s actions as inhuman.
• In June 2021, she wrote a letter to Joe Biden demanding a call for an end to Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people.

Already back in 2012, Congress had sent a bipartisan letter to the U.N. requesting that Pillay’s term as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights not be extended.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Netherlands. Credit: Shao Haijun/Xinhua via Getty Images)

“President Trump will never allow the International Criminal Court to prosecute Americans,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio ​said in a statement.

“That is why, today, the United States is sanctioning the International Criminal Court. We will ban ⁠transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate,” he added.

However, the sanctions are structured to allow the court to correct course. To that end, the United States issued several exemptions that would permit some transactions for ICC telecommunications, software, and pension payments, as well as transactions linked to ICC detainees.

“Either the ICC ⁠will end ​its threats, or we will end the ICC. We expect our allies, many of whom are part of ​the ICC and that rely on American servicemembers for their defense, to rein in the court,” Rubio said.

“We have structured this action to provide an opportunity for States Parties to negotiate and present a solution to address our ​concerns. If these efforts do not bear fruit, we will continue to adjust accordingly,” Rubio added.

ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan slammed the sanctions and vowed that the ICC would continue its work regardless.

“The sanctions are intended to undermine the ​rule of law internationally and the work that an independent judicial institution is doing,” Khan said. “Our work will continue across all our situations, our investigations, and our prosecutions.”

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is facing fierce backlash following his announcement that the execution of former Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan would be livestreamed for public viewing.

Hasan was court-martialed in 2009 for shooting and killing 13 service members at the military base in Fort Hood, Texas, which resulted in a death sentence. The Pentagon announced that he would face death by firing squad, which Trump had approved earlier this week. It would be the first execution to be carried out by the military since 1961, while last public execution in the United States was in 1936.

American social media platforms will have to deal with the question of livestreaming the execution, since the live broadcasting of executions is strictly prohibited on American platforms.

Former Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. (Credit: Handout/Getty Images)

Republican and Democratic lawmakers and former officeholders united in their vociferous condemnation of returning to America’s past of public executions.

“Hasan should face the death penalty, but making his execution public and streaming it? Beyond disgusting. Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America,” wrote Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on X.

Criticism also emerged from the far-right, with Joe Kent, former head of the National Counterterrorism Center, who resigned in protest over the Iran war, joining the chorus of denunciations.

“There is no doubt Hassan deserves to die. His crimes were demonic and unforgivable—death by firing squad is borderline too merciful. But broadcasting his execution is beneath the dignity & decency of our nation,” posted Kent.

“Americans will use violence if and when justified, but we do not rejoice in it. Kill him swiftly & silently,” he added.

“Streaming his execution is not just a stain on our morality—it also gives the terrorists free propaganda that they will use to radicalize & recruit more terrorists like Hassan,” he declared.

“There is a reason why we treat the meting out of justice with the seriousness it demands,” said Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.). “We are a democratic country and should take the rule of law seriously, not turn it into a spectacle.”

“We can seek justice in this country without glorifying violence and turning an execution into a grotesque public spectacle,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) wrote on X.

“What this criminal did was abhorrent and must be punished—but we as a country cannot condone livestreaming a man’s death for entertainment. We are long past the days of public hangings in the town square. Kids watch what our leaders do and say, is this kind of bloodshed really what we want them seeing?” she added.

“The Pentagon must revoke this decision immediately,” she demanded.

Some Republicans voiced their support for the move, however.

“Excellent. Public execution is what this terrorist deserves,” said Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) on X. “We will be watching.”

The Palestinian Authority decided to postpone legislative elections, the first in 20 years since Hamas seized power in 2006, yet again. The elections were supposed to be held on Nov. 28. Since 2006, Hamas has been ruling in Gaza, while Fatah has been governing in Judea and Samaria.

Citing concerns about the deteriorating political, economic, and security conditions in the territories, Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein Al Sheikh explained in a letter dated Oct. 8 to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot that the elections would be postponed until September 2027.

Al Sheikh said that the Palestinian Authority had set the date of the elections with the expectation that President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan would have effected changes, such as curbing settler violence, the deployment of the international security force (ISF) and Palestinian police in Gaza, the demilitarization of the Strip, and the withdrawal of the Israeli military.

“However, these steps, understandings and promises have not materialized. Rather, conditions have worsened throughout the Palestinian territory,” the letter said.

“The assessment concluded that the anticipated political, security and economic conditions, on which the scheduling of the legislative elections for 28 November 2026 was based, have not materialized,” the letter explained.

“Holding them under the current circumstances faces fundamental obstacles affecting their inclusiveness, freedom of participation and the integrity of the electoral process,” it said.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had announced in February that direct elections for the Palestinian National Council would be held on Nov. 1 and would be open to all Arabs from Gaza, Judea and Samaria, as well as those who now live elsewhere around the world.

The 90-year-old is in the 21st year of the four-year term he was elected to in 2005, yet he has called this year, 2026, “the year of Palestinian democracy.” He has not called for presidential elections, however.

This would not be the first time Abbas has called for elections, but in the past they did not materialize. For this reason, skepticism that elections will take place runs high.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry has unleashed a blistering attack following the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Navi Pillay, a former International Criminal Court (ICC) judge who later chaired a controversial UN investigation accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.

Pillay, an 85-year-old South African jurist and former UN human rights chief, has spent decades in international law, including serving as an ICC judge from 2003 to 2008.

But it was her leadership of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry into Israel and the Palestinian territories that placed her at the center of a fierce international controversy.

In September 2025, the commission accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, allegations Israel categorically rejected as politically motivated and biased.

Following the Nobel announcement, Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded with extraordinary language.

“If there were an award for lies, hatred, and blood libels, Navi Pillay wouldn’t just be a contender. She’d be a frontrunner.”

The ministry accused Pillay of relentlessly demonizing Israel and promoting what it called the “genoLIE.”

Then came its most explosive statement:

“Now that the Nobel commission has rewarded the biggest lie of the 21st century, Joseph Goebbels is certainly applauding from hell.”

Goebbels served as Nazi Germany’s propaganda minister and was a central figure in spreading antisemitic propaganda during the Holocaust.

Pillay’s UN commission operated separately from the ICC and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is hearing South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.

Israel maintains that its military campaign in Gaza was directed against Hamas following the October 7, 2023 massacre, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

The Nobel Committee has highlighted Pillay’s decades of work in international justice and human rights.

Israel, however, argues that honoring the former ICC judge rewards an investigation it considers deeply prejudiced against the Jewish state.

The controversy has now placed one of the world’s most prestigious peace awards at the center of an international confrontation over accusations of genocide, antisemitism, and the credibility of UN investigations.

British Airways plans to resume flights to Tel Aviv beginning Oct. 25, joining other major carriers that have been gradually restoring service since the disruption to their operations in February due to the Iran war.

For example, Delta and United Airlines resumed operations in early September, with Delta offering one daily flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport and United offering two daily flights from Newark Liberty International Airport, following the resumption of flights by major European airlines just in time for the Jewish holiday season.

While travelers are hoping this means a drop in airfare prices, travel agents are cautioning that price drops will take time and will likely not take effect until after the holiday season.

In an interview at the time with an Israel-based outlet, Mark Feldman, CEO of Jerusalem’s Ziontours, noted the discrepancy in pricing between the two major airlines.

“It is curious that while Delta has aggressively been marketing their return with attractive fares, United has taken the opposite approach,” he said. “They have priced their flights for the remainder of 2026 at very high prices in their economy, Premium Economy and Business classes.”

American Airlines is still holding off on providing service until the spring.

Unlike its previous service of two daily flights between London Heathrow Airport and Ben-Gurion International Airport, British Airways will now offer only one daily flight, but tickets are already available for purchase.

About 1,200 Christian leaders from 123 countries visited Shiloh in Samaria Friday to gather and pray at the site of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), where it reposed for more than three centuries before being moved to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in the ninth century BCE.

The group had arrived earlier in the week as part of the Friends of Zion Ambassador Summit for its second annual gathering to commemorate the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and hear firsthand accounts from hostages, survivors, and families of victims.

“God chose Judea and Samaria. This is where it all began,” Mike Evans, the founder of the event, said. “Eighty percent of the stories in the Bible originate in Judea and Samaria. We must secure recognition for Judea and Samaria.”

Miss Universe Israel 2025 Melanie Shiraz, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, and other officials have participated in the event.

Evans said that the purpose of the summit is for Christians to “see Israel for themselves, hear directly from those whose lives were changed forever on October 7,” when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

The main event, which was attended by approximately 2,000 people, was held Wednesday, Oct. 7, at the site of the Nova Festival massacre, where former hostage Noa Argamani and other former hostages received the Hineni award. The event also featured wounded soldiers, victims’ families, Christian and Jewish leaders, and Israeli officials. After the conference, Friends of Zion participants will serve as ambassadors to their communities to fight anti-Israel propaganda.

Israeli Ambassador George Deek, Israel’s special envoy to the Christian world, said the gathering “carries a powerful message: Israel does not stand alone.”

“The bond between Israel and Christians around the world must be built on truth, courage, and a shared determination to confront antisemitism and hatred wherever they appear,” he said.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reportedly announced that Nidal Hasan, the Palestinian-American former Army major responsible for the 2009 Fort Hood terrorist massacre, will face a public execution by firing squad on December 3rd.

Even more extraordinary, the execution would reportedly take place at the very location where Hasan carried out his deadly attack.

“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it. That it’s public. Because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things!”

“He’s gonna get a firing squad of soldiers. As it should be.”

When Jack Posobiec asked whether Hasan had made any final requests, Hegseth reportedly responded:

“Don’t care. We’ll see him on December 3rd.”

On November 5, 2009, Hasan shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he opened fire on fellow service members at Fort Hood, murdering 13 people and wounding more than 30 others.

Hasan, an American-born son of Palestinian immigrants, was sentenced to death in 2013 and has spent more than a decade on military death row.

The Israeli heroes who helped prevent an unimaginable catastrophe aboard Flydubai Flight 1073 were honored today by President Isaac Herzog with the President’s Medal for Civilian Bravery.

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President Herzog praised the extraordinary courage of Yaniv Hayun, known as “Yaniv the Plumber,” Dr. Shota Musayev, Tali and Tzvika Manes, Or Pardilov, and Asaf Rejwan, whose quick thinking and fearless actions helped save the 174 souls aboard the aircraft.

Yaniv Hayun

“We couldn’t hold back tears of excitement in the face of the incredible story of heroism aboard Flydubai Flight 1073,” Herzog said, describing the extraordinary courage and resourcefulness that prevented a devastating tragedy.

Dr. Shota Musayev

And Let’s Not Forget One Of The Youngest Heroes Of All: Little Nina Manes!

It was Nina’s trip to the bathroom that led her mother, Tali, to notice something was terribly wrong near the cockpit. Tali raised the alarm, helping set in motion the extraordinary chain of events that would ultimately save so many lives.

Or Pardilov

See Something. Say Something. Sometimes, Even The Smallest Actions Can Save 174 Lives.

Ordinary Israelis. Extraordinary courage. A miracle in the sky that the world will never forget.

Watch The Most Beautiful And Emotional Moments From Today’s Ceremony.

Tali and Tzvika Manes

About 50 police officers were injured and more than 500 protesters were arrested during clashes near Place de la Bastille in Paris Thursday.

The protest, attended by about 25,000 students, follows days of demonstrations and rioting that swept across the country in cities such as Marseille, Nantes, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Lyon, Rennes, and Paris, with protesters holding signs that said “The state has killed national education.

At times, the protests turned violent, as protesters lit fires in the streets and police used tear gas, batons, and non-lethal grenades to disperse the crowds, leading to more than 6,000 arrests, as well as injuries among more than 700 police officers.

A 15-year-old boy lost a hand Monday after picking up a grenade that was supposed to be non-lethal.

Students are protesting a long school day that begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m. Others have cited unsanitary conditions such as rat infestations and leaking pipes.

The protests erupted against the backdrop of weakening growth and burgeoning debt as the government struggles to perform basic tasks such as passing a budget since President Emmanuel Macron and his allies lost their majority in a parliamentary vote about two years ago.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu described the protests as the biggest in decades, telling lawmakers that at least 215 teenagers and 85 school staff have been injured in the riots. He said that this constitutes “the heaviest toll in decades paid by the school system.”

Macron convened an emergency meeting Tuesday to discuss the situation.

President Donald Trump awarded the National Medal of Science to Elon Musk, as well as to  Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su at the Institute of Peace in Washington. He also awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, and Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, marking the first time he has awarded these medals as president.

Musk became a trillionaire in June, while the other recipients of the award are billionaires; all but Nadella make up four of the seven wealthiest people in the world. In addition, all have contributed financially to Trump and the Republican Party.

“First, we honor an industrial titan, a brilliant engineer, and one of the greatest technology founders to ever live. His name is Elon Musk. Quite honestly, there is nobody like him,” Trump said at the ceremony. “Few Americans in history have done more to advance America’s national interest and Elon, in one field after another, his genius and determination have made science fiction into reality, and that is so true.”

“Nobody thought it was possible to do the things he’s doing, and in so many different ways, SpaceX saved NASA from relying on foreign nations to send our astronauts into space,” Trump added. “And I want to congratulate SpaceX on the safe return of crew 12 from the International Space Station just a few hours ago. Congratulations! Wow. We wanted to make sure.”

“Could you imagine if things didn’t work out so well, it would be not a very happy moment,” he continued. “I wonder if he’d be here. I think he might not be here, but it always works out well for Elon, right? We’re proud of you. Very proud of you. National treasure under Elon’s leadership, space.”

Despite some rocky moments in their relationship, when Musk criticized Trump for his tax-and-spend bill and for his appearance in the Epstein files, prompting Trump to lash out, the two appeared together at the memorial service for Charlie Kirk following his assassination and seem to have gotten along well since then.

The Houthis struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, killing a Sudanese national, according to the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority. The strike hit an aircraft, which ignited on impact and generated thick plumes of smoke.

The attack on one of the most important airports in Saudi Arabia has caused airlines to cancel flights, while Yemen has imposed a no-fly zone in retaliation for what it says are attacks on its civilians.

A strike on Abha International Airport the previous day killed two people, one from Bangladesh and the other from the Philippines, and injured 28 passengers. The strike on King Khalid International Airport injured 89 people. Authorities said all injured people had been transported to the hospital for treatment.

“The Authority continues — in full coordination and continuous cooperation with the relevant security agencies — to assess the damage and take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of passengers and airport employees and to maintain the highest standards of security and safety at the Kingdom’s airports,” the aviation authority said.

After capturing and then losing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Yemen, the Houthis have successfully launched a series of deadly attacks against Saudi Arabia.

A Russian bomb struck two buses in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk Thursday, killing about 30 civilians and leaving debris and body parts strewn across the area.

As Russians step up their aggression in a series of deadly strikes in broad daylight, Ukrainians must remain on the alert around the clock. Another bomb struck a street in the city, adding 18 people to the death toll and bringing the number of those killed over this past week to 78, including children. A deliberate strike on a civilian bus would be classified as a war crime.

WARNING: GRAPHIC

“Doctors are now fighting to save the lives of people injured in the Russian strike on Kramatorsk. As of now, 30 people have been confirmed killed, and sadly, that number may rise,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on X. “The Russian bomb effectively hit two city minibuses. Some of those killed have still not been identified because of the severity of their injuries. My condolences to all their families and loved ones. Another 18 people were injured in the strike. Residential buildings and cars were also damaged.”

“This strike will not go unanswered. Russia is trying to destroy all life in Donbas, and a response from the world is a must. A forceful response — exactly as the Russians deserve for all the deaths they have brought. May all those killed rest in peace,” he concluded.

WARNING: GRAPHIC

Vadym Filashkin, regional governor of Kramatorsk, accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians, forcing him to close down public transportation because of “the sharp deterioration of the security situation.”

Ukraine is struggling to defend itself amid a worldwide shortage of defense missiles driven by heavy use of the missiles during the Iran war. Zelensky has pleaded with the international community to send more military aid so Ukraine can deflect Russian ballistic missiles and drones.

Just yesterday, a series of devastating strikes on Kyiv and several regions across Ukraine, including Pryluky, Dnipro, Kremenchuk, and Oleksandriia, left about two dozen people dead, including five children.

Award-winning Dutch Jewish cookbook author and journalist Jigal Krant was kicked and beaten by an explicitly pro-Hamas mob on Oct. 7 until he was bleeding, then hauled away by police for being the aggressor, according to his own account.

While there is no video footage of the assault as of this writing, there is video of the protest at the train station where the incident occurred.

“Just been besieged, kicked, and beaten by a terrorist Hamas mob at Utrecht Centraal. Until I was bleeding. I had verbally expressed my displeasure. The police left the mob alone and forcibly removed me and demanded my details,” he posted on X.

“I HATE THIS COUNTRY. I HATE IT,” he wrote.

In a fuller statement of the account, Krant said that a mob blocked the entrance to Utrecht Central Station, the Netherlands’ largest train station, forcing him and other commuters to walk through the crowd.

“A day full of pent-up tension came to a head,” he said in a statement on X. “The hateful and hurtful slogans, and the signs and banners with blatant lies, became too much for me.” At that point, he tugged on a flag and expressed his feelings about the mob’s position, telling them that Oct. 7 was the wrong time to “spew their hatred.” He insisted that he did not physically attack anyone or damage any flags.

At the same moment, five or six Moroccan youths rushed him and beat him until he bled, leaving him with a swollen leg, some abrasions, and pain in his arm. He then said that police who had observed the incident hauled him away as the perpetrator.

Krant wrote that this incident “strengthens my conviction that there is no longer a future for us Jews in the Netherlands.”

“The institutions are once again happily falling into step with evil, just as they did 80 years ago,” he said. “How could the municipality of Utrecht have given its approval for this on October 7? Why do the police blindly take the side of that rabble? Why are signs saying ‘we support Hamas’ tolerated?”

JBN reached out to Krant, but he did not wish to comment further on this story.

Yesterday, we remembered October 7. We remembered the more than 1,200 lives lost, the families torn apart, and the communities destroyed. We looked back at the horrors of that day and the people whose lives would never be the same. But today, October 8, I want to focus on something else. I want to remember what happened in the days that followed. While families were still searching for loved ones and the country was trying to understand what had happened, people were already stepping up to help. Israelis opened their homes to strangers, restaurants began preparing meals for soldiers, and volunteers collected everything from clothing to medical supplies. Nobody was waiting around to be asked. They saw what needed to be done and did it.

Some of that spirit was already on display during the massacre itself. At the Nova festival, 22-year-old Aner Shapira stood at the entrance of a bomb shelter, throwing seven grenades back outside before the eighth killed him. Because of his courage, others survived. Youssef Ziadna, a Bedouin Arab bus driver, drove into danger and rescued approximately 30 people fleeing the festival. Neither of them knew what the next day would bring. They simply knew that people needed their help. And those were just two stories among countless acts of bravery, many of which we’ll probably never hear about.

In the days after October 7, something incredible happened across Israel. Dr. Nechumi Yaffe, an ultra-Orthodox Israeli woman, helped organize a volunteer initiative that grew to approximately 14,000 people. Religious and secular Jews, who had spent months disagreeing about so much, were now working together to help their fellow Israelis. Near Metula, a farmer was worried about losing his persimmon harvest because he didn’t have enough workers. His daughter reached out for help, and 170 volunteers showed up. In four days, they picked 40 tons of fruit. Across the country, thousands of people did the same. They helped farmers, delivered groceries, packed supplies, and supported families who had lost everything. Hundreds of ZAKA volunteers spent weeks doing the heartbreaking work of recovering victims so that their families could give them a proper burial. These weren’t all people who had planned to become volunteers. They were people who had jobs, families, and their own problems, but decided that helping others was more important.

And it wasn’t just happening in Israel. In Jewish communities around the world, people were organizing fundraisers, collecting donations, packing supplies, and looking for any way they could help. Here in New Jersey, like in so many other places, it felt as though everyone wanted to do something. People who had never met an Israeli soldier were sending packages. Families who had never visited the communities attacked on October 7 were raising money to help them rebuild. For many young Jews, myself included, those days also changed the way we looked at our Jewish identity and our connection to Israel. Three years later, that connection is still there. Families are returning to the communities that were attacked, homes are being rebuilt, and people are doing their best to move forward while remembering those they lost. It reminds me of a quote I love: “We might be the tiniest nation on earth, but we are, without question, the biggest family.”

That’s what I think of when I hear the words October 8th Jew. Not just the people who performed extraordinary rescues or organized thousands of volunteers, but everyone who decided to do something. The teenager packing a care package, the family opening its home, the volunteer spending a day on a farm, or the person checking in on someone who was struggling. Yesterday, we remembered what was taken from us on October 7, and we must never stop remembering. But today, let’s also remember the incredible amount of good that came afterward. The friendships, the kindness, the generosity, and the feeling that no matter where we lived or how different we were, we were all there for one another. October 7 is the story of what was done to us. October 8 is the story of what we chose to do for one another. And I hope that spirit stays with us long after the anniversaries are over.

Just days after the reported Flydubai cockpit attack that nearly ended in catastrophe, another airline pilot is raising serious questions about aviation security.

An EgyptAir pilot identified as Osama Mansour, who uses the Instagram handle @OsaPilot, posted footage of an Israeli El Al aircraft at an airport in Italy. The exact airport has not been confirmed.

But what makes the video particularly disturbing is the audio Mansour reportedly chose.

It features former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat declaring:

“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and violence for violence.”

These weren’t just random words.

Sadat delivered that warning on October 16, 1973, during the Yom Kippur War, just ten days after Egypt launched its surprise offensive against Israeli forces in Sinai.

Screenshot

In that speech, Sadat warned that Egypt possessed missiles capable of striking deep inside Israel and was prepared to retaliate militarily.

In other words, the pilot reportedly selected audio from a wartime speech specifically directed at Israel, not simply a generic patriotic message.

And there’s more.

The Arabic caption accompanying the video translates to “A surprise entrance that shakes things up,” alongside an Egyptian flag 🇪🇬, a smiling emoji 😊 and a flexing bicep 💪.

The post reportedly remains publicly visible on his Instagram account.

The timing is particularly unsettling following the reported September 30 Flydubai incident, in which a co-pilot allegedly attacked the captain and attempted to bring down an aircraft carrying Israeli passengers. Israeli passengers reportedly intervened and helped avert catastrophe.

Could this be another warning sign that aviation authorities cannot afford to overlook?

While Mansour’s post does not establish any intention to attack an aircraft, the combination of wartime threats against Israel, footage of an Israeli passenger plane and language suggesting a surprise entrance raises legitimate questions.

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Has EgyptAir reviewed the video? Has the pilot been questioned about his intentions? Are aviation authorities investigating?

After Flydubai, should airlines be taking messages like these more seriously before it’s too late?

Former hostage Noa Argamani visited the site of the Supernova Music Festival massacre Thursday for the first time since Oct. 7, 2023, when she was brutally kidnapped, becoming the face of the plight of the hostages as footage of her harrowing abduction captured people’s hearts.

About 1,000 Christian leaders from the Friends of Zion Ambassador Summit accompanied her and fellow former hostages Romi Gonen and Elkana Bohbot, as well as Hila Abir, whose brother was murdered at the festival. The four received the Hineni award from Mike Evans, founder of Friends of Zion.

“Thank you so much for coming to this place. Thank you for everything you are doing, and for all your love and support,” Argamani told the delegation.

More than 1,000 Christian leaders and influencers from 117 countries arrived in Israel Monday for the second annual Friends of Zion Ambassador Summit to commemorate the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and hear firsthand accounts from hostages, survivors, and families of victims.

Evans said the purpose of the summit is for Christians to “see Israel for themselves, hear directly from those whose lives were changed forever on October 7,” when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. After the conference, Friends of Zion participants will serve as ambassadors to their communities, fighting anti-Israel propaganda.

Argamani posted on X that despite the three years that had passed, the pain of Oct. 7 is always with her.

“But at the same time, the pain is always here. It never really leaves, and sometimes, it only gets stronger,” she wrote.

“This year, when I went to visit the graves of my friends, I felt like it had somehow become even harder,” she said.

Addressing a lost loved one, she wrote that perhaps it’s getting harder because everyone who is alive has moved on, while the dead remain frozen in time.

“Maybe because the hostages are finally home. Maybe because I’m no longer part of that fight. Or maybe because everyone else has already graduated, moved to Tel Aviv, and started their careers. And you remain there, like a memory from another life. A life that was innocent, young, and happy. A group of friends simply enjoying life, dreaming big, with no idea how quickly everything could change,” she wrote.

“And for those of us who have lost someone we love, it isn’t easy to watch the world keep moving when some people’s lives simply stopped,” she added.

Speaking to reporters in Athens Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Iran’s economy is in “total and complete freefall” and that it has “lost complete control of the straits.”

“The Straits of Hormuz are open. There’s almost as much oil flowing out now as there was before this conflict began. So they’ve lost complete control of the straits,” he said, adding that harsh sanctions have achieved their objective of crippling Iran’s economy, bringing the country to “a place few countries in the world have been.”

Because Iran spends all its money on Hamas and Hezbollah, “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, simple, period, end of story,” the secretary of state said.

“And anything they agree to that would be acceptable to the United States has to be something that ensures that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” he added.

Shipping data shows that crude oil exports last week were hovering at around pre-war levels, but attacks on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz continue to increase, reaching their highest level last week since the operation against Iran began in February.

Rubio was in Greece for the dedication of the U.S. Embassy in Greece, which was recently renovated, and for talks with the Greek government on increasing intelligence sharing on counterterrorism. Greece has been a key NATO ally of the United States, helping to protect shipping in the Red Sea and allowing the U.S. to maintain military installations to provide security in the Mediterranean Sea.

Diplomats were seen leaving the nearly 200-year-old British consulate in East Jerusalem Thursday, the deadline for their expulsion that had been ordered by Israel in retaliation for Britain’s sanctions on goods and services from Judea and Samaria.

The U.K.’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, quietly visited Israel last week to discuss a solution that would prevent the closure of its consulate, but the U.K. did not publicly disclose the visit. Israel held firm but agreed to allow seven workers to remain in exchange for Britain allowing Israel’s 27 diplomats to remain in Britain. The consulate has been downgraded to the U.K. Mission, and workers removed the previous signage Thursday.

The spat between Jerusalem and London unfolded after Britain announced measures against Judea and Samaria in September to punish Israel for its proposed construction in Section E1 near Maale Adumim in Judea and for its alleged failure to crack down on settler violence.

The day after British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced the United Kingdom’s intent to sanction Judea and Samaria, the U.K., France, and Canada issued a joint statement about the ban, followed by another joint statement on the ban by Canada, France, the U.K., Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden, in which they signaled that they had already implemented or were planning to implement measures against the region.

Eight Muslim countries praised the sweeping ban on all goods and services in Judea and Samaria.

Israel retaliated by giving the British government 30 days to close its consulate, ordering British officials at the U.S.-led International Gaza Support Center in Kiryat Gat to cease operations, and canceling the British Support Team that trains Palestinian Authority police in Ramallah.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband. (Credit: Screengrab)

Miliband struck a defiant tone Thursday, stating that “We have been clear that we do not accept that the Government of Israel has the legal right to close the British Consulate General in Jerusalem, which has been there for nearly 200 years.”

“The UK Government reiterates its long-standing view that East Jerusalem is occupied territory,” he said.

“Following discussions with the Government of Israel, our Consulate General building will not be closing, and will be known as the UK Mission, Jerusalem from today,” he continued. “The UK Mission, Jerusalem is independent, operational and will continue to deliver vital services and our work with the Palestinian people.”

An Israeli diplomatic source said in a statement to The Daily Mail, “The British consulate is closing. It will no longer have the diplomatic standing of a consulate, nor will it provide consular services. Its operations will be drastically reduced, with diplomatic staff cut from 27 to just seven.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“This decision comes in response to a series of anti-Israel measures taken by the Labour Government, including its recognition of a Palestinian state, renewed funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, sanctions and restrictions on Israeli arms,” the source continued, adding that the “British mission has been operating under Israeli diplomatic privileges and permissions while pursuing policies that Israel considers unilateral, biased and hostile to the state. We are no longer prepared to allow that arrangement to continue.”

Israel’s order to close the East Jerusalem consulate does not affect the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, and Israel encouraged the 30 diplomats it expelled from East Jerusalem to move to the Tel Aviv embassy and continue working from there.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the British government for its hypocrisy in accepting Israeli intelligence that averted the recent foiled terrorist attack on RAF Fairford, which saved an untold number of British lives, while sanctioning Judea and Samaria and engaging in incendiary anti-Israel rhetoric.

“It’s mind-blowing hypocrisy. I don’t know how many lives we have saved giving Britain information about impending attacks,” Netanyahu said.

“They’re appeasing, they’re attacking Israel, [the country] that is fighting the terrorists in the terrorist regime that is attacking them. They appease their enemies, and they attack their protectors, really. That’s what’s happening. But this is a twist of both logic and justice. It doesn’t serve Britain well, it doesn’t serve the world well,” he added.

A pharmacy student from Jerusalem’s Beit Hanina neighborhood has been indicted over allegations that he planned terrorist attacks against Jews using explosive devices and deadly poisons, according to an initial report on the case.

The student had already worked as a pharmacy assistant and frequently consumed content associated with Hamas and ISIS. The allegations describe plans for physical attacks, not simply the viewing of extremist material.

His pharmaceutical background adds a troubling dimension to the alleged poison plot. However, the initial account does not say that he poisoned patients, tampered with medication or used his workplace to obtain dangerous substances. It also does not identify the intended attack locations or establish how close the plans came to execution.

JERUSALEM – DECEMBER 03: The Western Wall stands in afternoon light in the Old City during increased tensions between Palestinians and Israelis on December 03, 2023 in Jerusalem. Gunmen, claimed by Hamas to be members of their group, shot numerous people at a bus stop on Thursday morning on the outskirts of Jerusalem before being shot dead. Israel and Hamas have resumed fighting following a truce that lasted nearly a week. Both sides had agreed on the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, as well as the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The reported consumption of Hamas and ISIS content does not, by itself, establish that either terrorist organization recruited him or directed the alleged plot. Those operational links, along with any alleged accomplices or materials recovered, remain unconfirmed in the information available.

Israeli authorities have previously uncovered alleged ISIS involvement among medical personnel. In a separate case announced in August 2024, the Shin Bet and police said a medical intern at Soroka Medical Center had joined ISIS, pledged allegiance to the organization and intensively consumed its extremist content. Authorities confirmed that an indictment had been filed in that case.

The Beit Hanina report does not identify the defendant, his academic institution or the pharmacy where he worked. For now, the central allegation is a planned terrorist campaign against Jews involving both bombs and lethal poisons; the evidence and precise charges require the full indictment to establish.

Three years to the day after Hamas carried out the October 7 massacre in Israel, federal authorities announced the arrest of an 18-year-old Somali-American accused of plotting a mass-casualty terrorist attack at Minnesota’s Mall of America.

According to U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Dan Rosen, Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud was arrested by the FBI on charges stemming from an alleged plot to carry out a mass shooting in support of ISIS.

Investigators say Mohamud specifically selected the mall because he believed it was Jewish-owned and allegedly hoped to murder between 30 and 60 innocent shoppers.

The teenager allegedly planned to strike on October 24, targeting a crowded public gathering.

But the FBI was already watching.

On October 6, an undercover agent posing as an ISIS operative allegedly sold Mohamud a disabled AK-47 rifle, ammunition and magazines. Federal agents arrested him immediately afterward.

Authorities say the investigation began nearly two years earlier, when Mohamud was just 16.

The timing of the announcement was particularly chilling: October 7, exactly three years after Hamas terrorists murdered approximately 1,200 people in Israel.

From the communities attacked in Israel to a shopping mall in Minnesota, the case highlights the continuing threat of extremist violence and antisemitism.

Mohamud has been charged, not convicted, and the allegations remain to be proven in court.

The massive shopping complex is owned by Triple Five Group, controlled by the Ghermezian family, Jewish entrepreneurs originally from Iran who built one of North America’s largest shopping mall empires. What began as a remarkable immigrant success story allegedly became the very reason an ISIS-inspired teenager wanted to turn the mall into a scene of mass murder.

U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee has rejected reports that Israelis could lose visa-free access to the United States following the attempted terrorist attack aboard a flydubai flight. His intervention followed warnings that failures to screen foreign aircrew could put Israel’s compliance with American security requirements under scrutiny.

“There is no change to the visa waiver for Israelis flying to the United States,” Huckabee said, according to Channel 14’s reporting. The statement pushes back against suggestions that the travel benefit is in immediate jeopardy, while the aviation-security failures remain the subject of investigations.

An airplane of budget airline flydubai lands at Israel’s Ben Gurion aiport near Tel Aviv on November 26, 2020 on the first scheduled commercial service between the two cities, following the normalisation of ties between the UAE and Israel. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

The concern surfaced after Channel 12 reported that an American delegation examining aviation security in the United Arab Emirates was expected to visit Israel to assess compliance with the Visa Waiver Program. Separately, a source familiar with the matter told Walla, in reporting carried by The Jerusalem Post, that Israel could face scrutiny over whether it properly receives and reviews information about arriving passengers and aircrew. A senior State Department official initially declined to comment on possible future actions. Neither report announced a decision to suspend Israel’s participation.

The controversy stems from flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Omani copilot Hamam al-Hammami is accused of attacking Capt. Smit Machchhar with an emergency ax and attempting to crash the aircraft. Israeli passengers and crew intervened, and the plane landed safely in Saudi Arabia. The attack turned the question of who checks foreign pilots into an urgent national-security issue.

The reported failures extend beyond one flight. Roughly 1,240 aircrew members from countries described as hostile entered Israel over the previous year. The Wall Street Journal separately reported that al-Hammami had previously been grounded in Oman over extremist behavior, but those warnings were not shared with the broader aviation-security system.

Israeli authorities also face questions about earlier opportunities to tighten oversight. The Transportation Ministry had rejected offers of security assistance. The ministry said additional funding it requested had not been provided. Transportation Minister Miri Regev is now seeking NIS 40 million and 10 additional staff positions for oversight of charter flights, according to Channel 12.

Regev has also reportedly proposed a special aviation-entry authorization requiring advance approval for arriving passengers and crew, with additional intelligence screening for people from countries designated high-risk. That remains a proposal, not an implemented requirement; officials cited concerns that other countries could impose similar restrictions on Israelis.

Israel joined the U.S. Visa Waiver Program in 2023. Eligible Israelis with qualifying biometric passports and approved ESTA authorization can travel for tourism or business for up to 90 days without obtaining a conventional visa. Huckabee’s latest position is that this arrangement remains unchanged. The immediate challenge is closing the security gaps exposed by the attack, not an announced cancellation of visa-free travel.

President Donald Trump is weighing new strikes against Iran before the U.S. midterm elections, with the White House requesting military options from the Pentagon, according to The Atlantic. The potential targets, scope and decision to proceed remain under discussion.

A subsequent Axios report said the Pentagon had instructed U.S. Central Command to complete preparations for a possible return to major combat operations. No final decision or attack date has been set. Sources said a broader campaign could target Iranian nuclear facilities, energy infrastructure and other infrastructure.

The timing remains contentious. According to The Atlantic’s reporting, some officials favor limited strikes before the vote to demonstrate military progress. Others argue for waiting, warning that renewed fighting, particularly American casualties, could damage Republican candidates. Options for a broader campaign after the elections are also being considered.

INDIAN OCEAN – JANUARY 26: (—-EDITORIAL USE ONLY – MANDATORY CREDIT – ‘U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND / HANDOUT’ – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS—-) Sailors aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) perform routine maintenance as the aircraft carrier sails in the Indian Ocean, Jan. 26. The US deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to the Middle East on Monday as Washington strengthens its military presence in the region. The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier enters the region ‘to promote regional security and stability,’ the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said through the US social media company X. (Photo by CENTCOM/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Even supporters of limited strikes reportedly acknowledge their limitations: bombing alone would not produce an agreement with Tehran, guarantee safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz or bring gasoline prices down before voters cast their ballots.

For Israel, the implications extend beyond Washington’s political calendar. Axios reported renewed consultations between Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while warning that an expanded campaign could trigger another wave of Iranian ballistic missile attacks against Israel.

The nuclear dispute remains the central obstacle to an agreement. Vice President JD Vance told Reuters that Washington requires actual reductions in Iran’s uranium-enrichment capacity, not assurances of future restraint. “We’re not going to trade words for actions,” he said. A senior Iranian official countered that recognition of Iran’s right to enrichment remains a non-negotiable demand.

TOPSHOT – A man poses for a photo next to a fallen rocket half-buried in the ground on the outskirts of Jericho on June 8, 2026, following Iranian and Iran-backed Houthi rebel attacks. Israel and Iran traded fire on June 8, seriously testing a fragile truce and threating hopes for a deal to end the Middle East war. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP via Getty Images) /

The unresolved questions concern both Iran’s capabilities and its nuclear material. Reuters reported that Tehran has not informed the International Atomic Energy Agency how much enriched uranium survived earlier attacks or allowed inspectors back into the bombed sites. Before the 2025 strikes, Iran had accumulated uranium enriched to 60%, approaching the roughly 90% level used in nuclear weapons. Iran denies seeking a nuclear arsenal.

Vance also acknowledged uncertainty over how much authority Iran’s negotiating counterparts actually wield, adding another complication to efforts to turn indirect talks into an enforceable agreement.

Three years ago, my family stood just a few miles from Gaza with absolutely no idea how much our lives, Israel, and the Jewish world were about to change. On Thursday of Chol Hamoed Sukkot 2023, about 36 hours before the October 7 massacre, I toured southern Israel with my extended family. There were around 35 of us. We visited Kibbutz Nahal Oz, ate lunch in Netivot, met soldiers stationed near the Gaza border, and ended the day riding bikes through Kibbutz Be’eri as the sun was setting.

I remember taking a picture of that sunset in Be’eri. It was beautiful and peaceful. At the time, it was just another photo from a family trip. Looking at it now is completely different. Our guide that day was Ilan Fiorentino, a member of Kibbutz Nahal Oz who served as the community’s security chief and spent years helping protect the people around him. He showed us the area, spoke to us about life near the Gaza border, and shared his community with us. I remember how warm he was and how proud he seemed to be of the place he called home.

That would be the last tour Ilan ever gave. Thirty-six hours later, on October 7, he was killed defending his kibbutz from Hamas terrorists. The places we had just visited became scenes of unimaginable destruction. Communities we had walked through were invaded. People we had met were suddenly missing, murdered, fighting for their lives, or taken hostage. For me, October 7 was never something happening in a faraway place on a television screen. I had stood there 36 hours earlier, and three years later, that feeling has never really left me.

So much has happened since that morning. We have mourned families and communities shattered by the massacre, watched Israeli soldiers leave their homes and families to defend the country, prayed for hostages held in Gaza, attended funerals, said Tehillim, celebrated rescues and homecomings, and watched an entire generation of Jews become more connected to one another. There were moments of overwhelming darkness, but there were also moments that showed me what the Jewish people are capable of. I saw that for myself when I returned to Israel just a few months later, in January 2024.

It was a completely different Israel from the country I had left after Sukkot. The war was everywhere. Hostage posters lined Ben Gurion Airport. Israeli flags seemed to hang from every car and building. Families from the South were still displaced from their homes. Soldiers filled the streets, and entire communities had reorganized themselves around helping one another. But what I remember most from that trip is not the fear. It is the strength.

I spent time packing toys and supplies for displaced children and for the children of soldiers, tied tzitzit for chayalim, visited Sderot and saw the physical damage left behind from October 7, stood at the site of the Nova Festival and met families mourning their children, helped prepare food for soldiers near the Gaza border, and picked oranges on a kibbutz whose workforce had been devastated by the attack. I also visited injured soldiers at Tel HaShomer Hospital, danced with soldiers heading to new fronts, spent time with displaced families and children from Sderot, and visited Hostage Square, where I walked through a model tunnel meant to give people even the smallest sense of what the hostages were experiencing.

Everywhere I went, I met people who had every reason to stop, shut down, or give up. Instead, they were thinking about someone else. That trip taught me the real meaning of מי כעמך ישראל. There truly is no nation like the Jewish people.

One image from that trip has stayed with me especially strongly. The South of Israel is famous for its red kalanit flowers. Many of those flowers had been crushed and destroyed on October 7, but only a few months later, they were blooming again. To me, those flowers looked like Israel itself: hurt, changed, and carrying the scars of what had happened, but still growing.

I remember hearing a line during that trip that captured exactly what I was seeing: “Hamas tried to bury us, but they did not realize that we were seeds”. That was Israel in January 2024. In Sderot, at army bases, inside volunteer warehouses, in hospitals, at Hostage Square, at the Kotel, and inside people’s homes, I saw a country in pain that had decided it would keep going. I saw people spending their entire days packing supplies for strangers, Israelis feeding and housing soldiers, families baking challah for the front lines, and Jews from completely different backgrounds coming together to sing, pray, and give one another strength.

At one event for displaced families, a young child was asked what she was thankful to Hashem for. Her answer was simple: “Thank you Hashem for my life.” That answer has stayed with me for nearly three years. After everything she had experienced, that child still chose gratitude. That is the Israel I saw after October 7.

Over the past three years, I have also experienced October 7 from another perspective I never could have imagined on that first morning: through my work with JBN. Working behind one of the largest Jewish social media platforms has shown me a side of the story that most people never see. Behind every breaking-news post is a real family waiting for information. Behind every photo of a fallen soldier is a mother, father, sibling, friend, school, and community whose world has changed forever. Behind every hostage poster is a family refusing to let the world forget the person they love.

There were days when our feeds seemed filled with terrible news: soldiers killed, hostage updates, funerals, attacks in Israel, and antisemitic incidents around the world. Sometimes one heartbreaking story would be followed almost immediately by another. Working with JBN has made me understand the responsibility that comes with Jewish media. A person may see a post for a few seconds before scrolling on, but for the family in that post, it is not content. It is their entire life.

That has changed the way I look at news. It has taught me that we cannot allow people to become numbers. October 7 was not simply a death toll. Every person had a name, a family, a life, and a story. The same is true of every soldier who gave his or her life protecting Israel, and every hostage whose face we shared again and again so the world would not forget. Social media moves incredibly quickly. One story replaces another within minutes, and yesterday’s headline disappears under today’s news. But some stories demand that we stop scrolling. October 7 is one of them.

Three years later, I often think back to something I spoke about just one month after the attacks: the privilege we have to stand tall, stand proud, and stand strong as Jews. At the time, those words were about finding strength during one of the darkest moments our people had experienced in generations. Today, they mean even more.

Standing proud does not mean ignoring the pain of the past three years. It means carrying it with us. It means remembering Ilan Fiorentino and the communities of the Gaza border, remembering the people dancing at the Nova Festival who never came home, remembering the soldiers who ran toward danger to protect others, and remembering the hostages and their families who made sure the world learned their names and saw their faces. It also means remembering what I saw when I returned to Israel just a few months later: a people who refused to let tragedy be the end of their story.

October 7 changed Israel. It changed the Jewish people, and it changed me. When I look back at the sunset photo I took in Be’eri on October 5, 2023, I think about how little I knew in that moment. I had no idea that 36 hours later, everything around me would change. I had no idea that people I had just met would be murdered, or that places I had just visited would become names known around the world for the worst possible reasons.

But three years later, my story with Israel does not end with that sunset.

I just returned from Israel this week after spending Sukkot there, and the country I saw was alive. The streets were full, tourists were everywhere, families were traveling, restaurants were busy, and people were celebrating Sukkot. After everything Israel has gone through over the past three years, there was something incredibly powerful about simply seeing the country full of life again.

One morning, I stood on the Western Wall Heritage Foundation rooftop overlooking the Kotel during Birkat Kohanim. From above, I watched tens of thousands of Jews packed into the plaza below, listening to the Kohanim bless the crowd and then singing Hallel together. Standing there, I could not stop thinking about how far we had come. Three years earlier, we were waking up to sirens, terror, and unimaginable loss. Now I was looking down at tens of thousands of Jews standing together in Jerusalem, singing to Hashem.

That week, I also attended two concerts that captured that same feeling in a different way. At United Hatzalah’s 2026 concert, former hostage Bar Kuperstein walked onto the stage and sang. I immediately thought about the same concert one year earlier. In 2025, Bar was still being held hostage in Gaza. He would come home just one day later. This year, he was standing on a stage in Jerusalem, alive and free.

It is hard to describe what a moment like that feels like after following these stories for years, especially while working at JBN. For so long, these were faces on hostage posters and names in headlines. Then suddenly, you are watching one of them standing on a stage in front of you.

The next night, I went to the Yeshiva University concert. At one point, the entire crowd began singing “Abba Todah,” thanking G-d for everything He has done for us. This year, those words felt different. We were thanking Hashem for the miracles of the past three years, for people who came home, for soldiers who returned to their families, for a country that continued to stand, and for a Jewish people that continued to sing. We were also thanking Him for the miracles of just this past week, including the Flydubai plane incident that could have ended very differently.

Standing there and listening to thousands of people sing “Abba Todah,” I thought back to the sunset in Be’eri. Three years ago, I took a picture of a peaceful sunset 36 hours before everything changed. Three years later, I stood in Jerusalem surrounded by thousands of Jews singing Hallel, singing “Abba Todah,” and thanking Hashem for allowing us to still be here.

There has been so much pain between those two moments. There are names and faces we can never forget, and families whose lives will never be the same. October 7 will always be part of who we are. But it is not the end of the story.

Israel is alive. The Jewish people are alive. And three years later, after everything we have been through, we are still standing together, still singing, and still saying thank you.

Am Yisrael Chai.

The IDF announced Wednesday that it had demolished the home of the terrorist who murdered Netanel Shukrun on the eve of Yom Kippur.

Shukrun, 36, had gone with his son to immerse in a natural spring before Yom Kippur, as is the custom of some Orthodox Jews. The spring was located near Neve Tzuf in Samaria.

The terrorist opened fire on the spring, striking the father of six, who was in his car. His son, who was also in the car, was unharmed. The terrorist then fled on foot but was captured hours later by IDF soldiers, who found him in a hospital in Ramallah.

The demolition took place in the town of Biddu, northwest of Jerusalem.

In addition, the IDF said it “destroyed monuments inciting terrorism and memorials to terrorists throughout the West Bank, as part of the effort against incitement to terror.” It also carried out counterterrorism raids throughout Judea and Samaria, arresting “dozens” of “terror inciters who expressed support for the October 7 massacre,” the military said.

“In addition, they arrested wanted individuals affiliated with Hamas and searched for weapons,” the military added.

Wednesday, Oct. 7, marks Putin’s 74th birthday amid a series of devastating strikes on Kyiv and several regions across Ukraine, including Pryluky, Dnipro, Kremenchuk, and Oleksandriia, that left about two dozen people dead, including five children.

“On Putin’s birthday, Russian generals brought him his favorite present: war crimes,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said.

One Russian official said that the purpose of the strikes is to make Russians afraid to go to sleep.

“That is exactly what the enemy is counting on. For us to be afraid to fall asleep. To let our children out of our sight. To plan anything. So that everyone thinks: Next time it could be my address,” said Vitalii Diakivnych, head of the regional military administration in Kremenchuk.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded for help amid a shortage of defense missiles due to the war in Iran.

In a lengthy statement on X, the president described the attack and closed with an expression of gratitude for assistance rendered.

“Today, as a birthday ‘gift’ to Putin, the Russian army destroyed a residential building in Pryluky, in the Chernihiv region,” he wrote. “Tragically, as of now, five people have been reported killed and 26 injured, including five children. There may still be people under the rubble. First responders are working nonstop at the site — doing everything possible to find every person.”

“Russian missile strikes also damaged five apartment buildings in Dnipro and four high-rise buildings in Kremenchuk,” he continued. “Tragically, two people were killed and eight injured … My condolences to all the families and loved ones of those killed.”

“Overall, infrastructure in Kyiv and 12 regions came under attack last night. One of the key targets was our energy infrastructure. The Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively. This was one of the most vile strikes: 70 missiles in total, many of them ballistic, as well as ‘shaheds.’ Unfortunately, only some of them were shot down,” he said.

“Russian ballistic missiles remain the greatest challenge. And air defense packages for us right now are a vital necessity. That is why every day we are looking for missiles for Patriot systems that can and must actually protect people’s lives here, in Ukrainian skies. Thank you to everyone who is helping us,” he concluded.

Kyiv was prepared for the assault, but due to the lack of defensive missiles for its Patriot air defense system, the Ukrainian army could not deflect all the strikes.

The most famous landmark in Berlin, Germany, the 18th-century neoclassical monument known as the Brandenburg Gate, is lit up in the colors of the Israeli flag to mark the anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct.7, 2023, attack on Israel in which the terrorist group murdered 1,200 Israelis and took another 251 hostages.

“Berlin is sending a signal to the world that we stand with Israel, that we hope with the families of the hostages that humanity and compassion will always be stronger than hatred,” said Kai Wegner, the mayor of the German capital.

“Berlin is the city of freedom,” he added.

The iconic gate was also illuminated with the slogan “Bring them home now,” the slogan chanted by hostage supporters to urge action on behalf of those in Hamas captivity after they were kidnapped from their homes or from the Nova Music Festival and brought to the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor thanked the city for its show of support.

Israeli ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, poses in front of the Brandenburg Gate, spectacularly illuminated in the colors of the Israeli flag. (Credit: Ron Prosor)

“Three years after October 7, the Brandenburg Gate is illuminated in the colors of Israel,” the diplomat wrote on X. “I thank Mayor Kai Wegner for this from the bottom of my heart. It is an important gesture to all Jews who must hide their identity every day on Berlin’s streets.”

“The Israel-haters have not succeeded in driving a wedge between us. We know exactly who stood by our side in these three years. Because true friendship is only revealed in difficult times. Toda raba,” he added.

The Metropolitan Police announced Wednesday that it had arrested a number of masked protesters outside the office of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, a group established in 1760 that represents the Jewish community in the United Kingdom.

Police said they had arrested five protesters “for inciting racial hatred, involving allegedly shouting or chanting slogans calling for intifada. They remain in police custody,” adding that the protest was effectively over.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews issued a statement denouncing the protesters and vowing to keep standing up for the Jewish community.

“On the anniversary of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, masked protesters demonstrated outside our office today, chanting about ‘intifada’ and harassing our neighbours. We are grateful to the Metropolitan Police for their swift response and making arrests on the spot,” the group wrote.

“We will not be threatened or intimidated by this small and extremist minority of British society. We will continue undeterred to advocate for the Jewish people, here and around the world, and to stand up for peace and security for Israelis, Palestinians and the wider Middle East,” it concluded.

Video footage posted by an anti-Israel news organization called The Canary shows protesters chanting outside the office of the Board of Deputies of British Jews in the Camden neighborhood of London. One of the neighbors emerges from her home and shouts at them to go away, telling them she lives there.

A couple who co-wrote a play commemorating Oct. 7 based on survivors’ testimonies staged the first showing of the play at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., Tuesday, but the performance was disrupted by the fire alarm.

The husband and wife team, Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney, is calling on police to investigate the incident.

In an interview with an Israel-based outlet, McAleer said, “these people are demonic.”

“Disrupting the truth, disrupting stories of tragedy and heroism. They should be ashamed of themselves,” he said. “This just makes us all the more determined to take this play to every campus across America.”

“The police must investigate this,” he told the outlet. “The people responsible must be found and prosecuted.”

McElhinney posted about the incident on X along with a video of the alarm going off and people evacuating.

“Right now at Northwestern Our play October 7 has been disrupted by someone setting off a fire alarm. The whole theater has to be evacuated. This hits even stronger because it’s already October 7 in Israel,” she wrote.

The disruption delayed the finishing of the performance even more than a simple evacuation would warrant because, while security allowed the attendees to return to their seats, they searched everyone first. Nevertheless, the play finished to a standing ovation.

Security cameras caught French member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan knocking down an Israeli flag Tuesday at an exhibit commemorating the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis, leaving both the Israeli flag and the EU flag lying on the floor. The MEP is under investigation for the incident.

Hassan defended herself, saying she did not intentionally knock down the EU flag but that it fell after she pulled down the Israeli one.

“I did not touch the European flag. It simply fell after the Israeli flag,” she said under questioning by the president, Roberta Metsola.

Hassan’s staff issued a statement saying that Hassan “removed the Israeli flag from its stand. The European Union flag, attached to the same base, then accidentally fell due to the loss of balance. Neither flag was trampled or damaged.”

“Our action was part of denouncing the ongoing genocide being perpetrated by the Israeli government,” but was “in no way aimed at the people this event sought to honour, nor at their memory,” it added. “It is entirely possible — as we did with our group — to commemorate the victims of October 7 without associating ourselves with the genocidal Israeli state.”

Metsola denounced the action at the European Parliament.

“We take this extremely seriously,” she said. “This house is a place where all of us must feel safe and secure, and we reject, in the strongest possible terms, any action by any person that feels or makes anyone feel less protected here … we cannot have actions that could make people fearful of speaking. We cannot have damage to property, and we cannot have attempts to intimidate rather than to debate.”

The president added that at the Oct. 7 commemoration event, the victims would be remembered with the “dignity that they deserve.”

“So, at a time of rising global anti-Semitism, we owe it to Europe’s Jewish community to ensure that when they look to us, they see that this is their house too. So, tomorrow we will mark another anniversary since that Black October 7 three years ago, and on your behalf, I will speak at the event, and we will remember the victims with the dignity that they deserve.”

Hassan joined the flotilla to Gaza that attempted to break the blockade. She was detained by the Israeli authorities and deported.

The European Jewish Congress fiercely condemned Hassan for her action, saying it was “appalled” and calling on the EU to conduct a full investigation.

“This goes far beyond political disagreement or provocation,” the group stated on X. “These flags formed part of a memorial to the victims of the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and to those abducted by Hamas. To deliberately interfere with such a memorial, on the eve of the anniversary of the attacks, would show a profound contempt for their memory and for the suffering of their families.”

“We call on the Parliament to establish exactly what happened, make the relevant evidence public and, if the allegations are confirmed, take appropriate disciplinary action. The victims of October 7 and the hostages deserve dignity and respect. Their memory must never become a target for political provocation,” the EJC said.

In a post marking the commemoration of Oct. 7, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “We will never forget this act of barbarism.”

Rubio is in Athens, Greece, for the dedication of the U.S. Embassy in Greece, which was recently renovated. While there, he posted an Oct. 7 message on X.

“Three years ago today, Hamas terrorists tortured, mutilated, and murdered 1,200 innocent civilians in Israel,” the secretary of state wrote.

German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz. (Credit: Friedrich Mertz)

“Among those slain were men, women, and children — including dozens of Americans,” he added.

“We will never forget this act of barbarism against an ally and recommit ourselves to the defense of civilization,” he declared.

World leaders also commemorated the day that Hamas invaded Israel and massacred 1,200 Israelis in the most brutal ways imaginable and took 251 hostages, touching off a long, grinding war in which Israel has sharply reduced the threat from Hamas by decimating its leadership and destroying its military capabilities.

German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz said that antisemitism was rising to historically high levels and that his government would do everything in its power to combat it while reaffirming his commitment to the two-state solution.

“Germany stands firmly by Israel’s side. Our Israeli friends can count on our commitment to ensuring that such a crime never happens again,” he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron. (Credit: Emmanuel Macron)

“We do not forget the names or the faces: those of Maya, Ohad, Valentin, and so many others,” said French President Emmanuel Macron. “Combating antisemitism and terrorism, everywhere and always, working for peace and the security of all: that is France’s commitment.”

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham posted a lengthy statement on X commemorating Oct. 7, acknowledging the rise in antisemitism in the United Kingdom, and vowing to fight it, though he did not address criticism that his anti-Israel policies were contributing to the rising hostility toward Jews.

“Three years on from the October 7 attacks on Israel, we remember those who were senselessly killed by Hamas terrorists,” the premier wrote. “The impact of the attacks has been felt not just in Israel, but in Jewish communities across the world who still bear the burden of the tragic events that day.”

“In the years since, we have seen a disturbing rise in antisemitic behaviour in the UK,” he added. “A year ago we witnessed a horrifying terrorist attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester, with further attacks against Jewish people and institutions since.”

Burnham said he stands with the Jewish community and pledged his aid to fight antisemitism.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham. (Credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images)

“I want Britain’s Jewish community to hear this from me directly. We stand with you. Abuse and violence against you, in any form, will not be tolerated. Not on our streets, not online, not in our schools or universities,” he wrote. “That’s why we are funding protection for synagogues, schools and community buildings, and why we will come down hard on antisemitism wherever it is found – in classrooms, on campuses and in neighbourhoods.”

“At home, we are committed to protecting our citizens from vile hatred. Abroad, we continue to work towards a two-state solution, with Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace and security,” he continued.

“An attack on Jewish people in Britain is an attack on all of us. Antisemitism has no place in this country, and we will do everything we can to stamp it out,” he concluded.

Israeli broadcaster Kan News aired a documentary earlier this week featuring newly released security footage from Soroka Medical Center, part of Clalit Health Services in Beersheba, showing the chaos of the day and the frantic efforts to save the lives of critically wounded victims of the attack.

The documentary, titled “The Shift” and broadcast on Kan’s “Zman Emet” program, showed 674 patients arriving from the site of the massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, when hordes of Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel and massacred hundreds of Israelis at the Nova Music Festival and kibbutzim near the border, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

The hospital, located in the largest city in Israel’s south, took the lead in treating the victims of the horrific massacre, treating hundreds of patients in one day, an unprecedented amount of care by any standards.

The security cameras show harrowing scenes of wounded victims streaming into the hospital, family members desperately searching for relatives, and the staff working tirelessly to treat patient after patient.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the film “a historical document,” saying “The film captures the scale of the trauma and the magnitude of the heroism on October 7th.”

Dr. Ori Galante, head of the internal medicine intensive care unit, said the film honors “the extraordinary people of Soroka, every single one of them, women and men, each in their own role, from the first cleaner to the last doctor.”

“These are people who put their own lives at risk, left their families at home, and rushed to the hospital that Saturday, driven by a deep inner conviction to help others, regardless of their religion, race, gender, or political beliefs,” Galante said.

“A hospital is not supposed to be able to function under circumstances like these. The reason we succeeded, and what made all the difference, was the people,” he added.

Lenny Steinberg, director of the Oregon Hillel Foundation, was shocked and outraged to discover that posters had been hung all over campus bearing his photo and the caption “Enemy of the People” and accusing him of supporting genocide, along with the injunction to get “Hillel off campus.”

“There was a huge level of, like, I saw this coming, and that’s absolutely absurd in and of itself,” he said. “This is my face being plastered in places and falsely accusing me of things I don’t actually support, and this is really truly affecting my staff, our students, our parents.”

Two Democratic senators and one Democratic representative from Oregon issued a joint statement condemning the action, saying that “we should all unequivocally condemn the antisemitic targeting of Oregon Hillel and its executive director on the University of Oregon campus.”

Lenny Steinberg, director of the Oregon Hillel Foundation. (Credit: Oregon Hillel)

“Targeting Hillel and its leadership with this hateful rhetoric is a blatant effort to intimidate and demonize a Jewish organization and the Jewish students it represents,” they added.

Karl Scholz, the university president, sent a campus-wide message also condemning the posters and vowing that action would be taken.

“While we do not know if the flyers were posted by someone affiliated with our university, this type of language on our campus—language that targets based on religious and ethnic identity—is reprehensible,” he wrote.

The flyers “promoted isolation and fear, and fear erodes the foundation of our community,” he added. “Antisemitism, violence and threats have no place here.”

Jewish advocates and advocacy groups also expressed outrage over the posters.

“It takes true cowardice and real depravity to target a Hillel international director whose job simply is to support Jewish life on a college campus. This kind of campaign isn’t free speech; its targeted harassment and the University of Oregon must take action,” wrote Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, on X.

CAM Alerts noted that these wanted-style posters constituted intimidation, not protest.

“Campus posters branded Oregon Hillel director Lenny Steinberg an ‘Enemy of the People’ and demanded ‘HILLEL OFF CAMPUS!!!’ Wanted-style targeting of a Jewish campus leader is intimidation, not protest,” the group posted on X.

Steinberg said that after viewing the posters, he felt “sad, angry, and scared.”

In an interview with an Israel-based outlet, he said it was “heartbreaking” to see this happen around the same time Hillel’s sukkah was stolen.

“To have to send my community two messages of, ‘Hey, this happened and guess what, now this happened,’ I don’t want to be sending these messages,” he told the outlet. “I want to be promoting Jewish joy and having smiling students go on hikes and sing prayers with us and be in the sukkah.”

“It’s not fair,” he said.

Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 released the recordings of calls made by hero paramedic Amit Mann during her final hours as she desperately tried to save lives and herself before her tragic murder in Kibbutz Be’eri at the hands of Hamas terrorists.

Mann made urgent calls to police and Magen David Adom from the dental clinic at the kibbutz, where she had arrived shortly after 7 a.m. and set up a makeshift hospital to treat the wounded.

“I don’t understand what is going on,” she said in her first call to police, her voice audibly trembling. “There are a lot of wounded people here, and there are a lot of dead people here. There is still active shooting here, and there are no forces that can evacuate the wounded?”

“I think there are still terrorists walking around, these are the reports we are receiving from the entire kibbutz,” she added. “What can we do? Is the army here? Are there police officers here?”

In this video, Amit Mann shows her vibrancy and joie de vivre. (Credit: X)

The dispatcher said that the police were aware of the situation and advised her to stay inside and keep calm. “We’re on our way to control the situation,” he added.

“Just tell me you’re here,” she answered in panic as the dispatcher attempted to keep her calm.

Mann made seven calls to MDA before making her final call to police. In one of her calls to the ambulance service, she said, “Listen, there’s a terrorist infiltration in Be’eri. Get an ambulance or police here! Urgent! Urgent!” In another call, she said she didn’t have enough equipment while saying that there was shooting going on, adding that she was treating a man at the time.

At 10:41 a.m. she made a final call to police pleading for help.

Mann’s sister Haviva discovered the existence of the recordings when she contacted MDA for information about the exact times Mann called for a presentation about her sister. Once that discovery was made, the family requested that the government compile a database of victims’ last phone calls.

Haviva told Channel 12 that hearing the recordings broke her heart, adding that despite her sister’s distress, she put on a brave front and mustered up her strength so she could tend to the wounded.

Haviva spoke to her sister one final time shortly after 2 p.m. that day, when Mann told her she had been shot. Then the phone disconnected.

Mann died in the makeshift hospital she had set up for the injured.

As videos and photos circulated online showing the scale of devastation in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces published a video showing what lies beneath the rubble: a vast network of heavily fortified tunnels. Beneath the surface, Hamas built a military fortress that housed its military equipment and weapons arsenals and provided places for its terrorists to hide and conduct ambush-style raids on Israeli troops.

In the video, satellite photos of Rafah were shown, overlaid by bright red lines crisscrossing over each other to form a complex maze. These images were followed by actual footage taken by IDF soldiers inside the tunnels.

“This is the terror hidden beneath Gaza’s neighborhoods, stadiums, mosques, schools, owner compounds, hospitals, and civilian homes,” the narrator said. “Hamas will stop at nothing to spread terror, exploiting civilian infrastructure to carry out its attacks. This is why the IDF continues to operate: to protect Israeli civilians from Hamas’s terror.”

Civilian infrastructure that is used to house or protect military targets loses its protection under international humanitarian law. Hamas’ ploy to dig a massive and complex tunnel network beneath the entire Strip endangered all of Gaza by rendering nearly all of the civilian infrastructure a legitimate military target. The IDF has accused Hamas throughout the war of using civilians as human shields, for which the tunnel network provides ample evidence.

A classified Knesset hearing was told Tuesday that 1,240 airline crew members from countries without diplomatic relations with Israel had entered the country, including citizens of Syria, Lebanon and Oman. The disclosures emerged during an Intelligence Subcommittee examination of security failures surrounding the attempted terror attack aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073.

According to i24NEWS, a Transportation Ministry representative was surprised by the figures, said he had been unaware of them and asked to submit a formal inquiry on the issue.

The hearing also addressed tighter screening. Ynet reports that the National Security Council was asked to coordinate with the Mossad and Shin Bet on identifying high-risk countries, with crew lists from those countries to be submitted 48 hours before flights to Israel for security review and approval.

“The face of civil aviation in Israel will change from today,” committee chairman Boaz Bismuth said afterward, adding that the relevant agencies would be required to complete internal reviews and provide clear answers.

Bogdan Klich, the Polish chargé d’affaires at the Polish Embassy in Washington, D.C., lashed out at Tucker Carlson for recent comments he made regarding World War II, calling them “Nazi propaganda” and demanding an apology.

In an Oct. 2 podcast with British politician Jacob Rees-Mogg, Carlson claimed that “Hitler said 15% of Poland was once Germany and it was given to Poland at the Treaty of Versailles. That was German territory with Germans in it,” adding that “Hitler did not want to go to war with the United Kingdom.” He then asked Rees-Mogg whether Britain would have benefited more from Hitler’s victory rather than from his defeat.

Addressing his statement directly to Carlson, Klich wrote, “I am outraged by the false and deeply troubling statements you made regarding the outbreak of the Second World War during your recent conversation with Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg.” The diplomat added that Carlson’s justification for “Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939” is “a colossal insult to the millions of victims of Nazism, including hundreds of thousands of American soldiers who had been killed or wounded while liberating Europe from the occupation by the Third Reich.”

Bogdan Klich, chargé d’affaires at the Polish Embassy in Washington, D.C. (Credit: Bogdan Klich)

Klich took Carlson to task for denying the historical truth that the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany not only because of their obligation as allies but also because war was coming to their borders regardless, since Hitler’s intention was to conquer the world. The envoy also lectured him for abandoning journalistic ethics.

“As an American journalist who enjoys the democratic right to the freedom of speech, you have now become an apologist for Adolf Hitler. In doing so, you resort to lies, completely falsifying the documented historical record,” he said.

Klich then schooled the former Fox News host in the facts.

“Let me therefore remind you of the indisputable facts,” he said. “Nazi Germany’s attack on Poland on September 1st, 1939 was a meticulously planned and brutal war of aggression. Hitler’s objective was the complete destruction of the Polish state and the physical extermination of its population, followed by a continued bloody conquest of the world. Hitler acted in collusion with another totalitarian criminal, Joseph Stalin. Together, they planned what is known as the fourth partition of Poland, set out in the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, which paved the way for the tragedy of millions of people in Central and Eastern Europe, including the near-total extermination of Europe’s Jewish population.”

The Polish diplomat concluded his statement with a demand for an apology and a warning.

“I demand that you immediately and publicly retract and apologize for these deceitful and disgraceful statements,” he said. “Nazi propaganda cannot be rehabilitated under the guise of free speech, nor should the freedom of speech be used to desecrate the memory of the victims of the Second World War.”

“History must not be distorted. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” Klich warned.

The Dawson College chapter of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) is organizing an Oct. 7 walkout for Wednesday at 1:30, with a flyer instructing attendees to enter through the De Maisonneuve Entrance of the college in Montreal, Quebec.

In its social media post promoting the event, the group, which uses the Hamas red triangle as its logo, said that the walkout will mark three years of “genocide” and “resistance,” adding that the student group refuses to be “silenced.”

Critics have said that “resistance” is merely a euphemism for terrorism.

The event will “mark 3 years of genocide, and 3 years of resistance of our people in Gaza,” the statement said. “The student movement has stood resilient in the face of the increased repression and punitive measure by our government and administrations to discourage students from standing against the zionist entity.”

SPHR’s flyer promoting its Oct. 7 walkout. (Credit: SPHR)

“We, the students, will not be intimidated into silence and continue to support the brave people of Palestine, we continue to struggle until the hour of liberation. The student intifada lives,” SPHR added. “Gaza remains our compass, and we will gather on October 7 to remind ourselves of the role of our movement, and show our support for Palestinian liberation.”

“As students, we must not forget,” the group declared. “Let us show the world that Palestine will not be forgotten and that our voices will not be silenced.”

SPHR also called on the school to cut ties with Israel.

“As Palestinians continue to face violence and displacement Gaza and the West Bank, the University of Calgary continues to call itself inclusive while maintaining ties and relationships that contribute to its complicity,” the group said.

“We’re calling on our university to take accountability its complicity,” it concluded.

Critics blasted anti-Israel events scheduled for Oct. 7.

“They could protest any day. They’re choosing Oct 7th for a reason,” one social media user posted.

“This is like walking out on 9/11…a hate-filled spit-in-the face of AMERICANS taken hostage on Oct 7 by terrorists and murdered,” posted another, adding that colleges should expel anyone who participates.

Human rights activist and Jewish advocate Emily Schrader agreed.

“Anyone ‘walking out’ on October 7th should not be allowed to return. Immediate expulsion for terror support,” she wrote.

Jews were blocked from joining the Cable Street March in London Sunday, a march that commemorates the Battle of Cable Street in 1936, when thousands of London’s Jewish residents stood shoulder to shoulder with Irish dockers, trade unionists, and socialists in an anti-fascist march to stop the followers of Oswald Mosley, a British fascist politician, from marching through London’s East End.

When Jewish leaders tried to coordinate with the event’s organizers, they were met with hostility and were told they were unwelcome, forcing them to organize a separate event.

A Jewish man who tried to join the main event was forcibly ejected simply because he was Jewish and was then escorted away by police.

Josh Howie, reporting live from the scene, said that “the Jews had to basically come on our own march,” adding that relatives of the original marchers and even one old man who had marched at the Battle of Cable Street attended the Jewish event.

“We have the relatives here of the people who attended 90 years ago who fought back against the fascists,” he said. “I marched next to a man, Michael. He’s 94 years old. He was here on that very day, yet it’s shameful that Unite the Unions, who are also organizing another march, which is just running parallel to us, basically could not guarantee the safety of the Jews and the relatives of the Jews who were here 90 years ago.”