Thursday, May 15, 2025

05/15 Links Pt2: Israel’s Yuval Raphael qualifies for Eurovision final; The Future of American Jewry After October 7; Leo XIV: A papacy anchored in Israel’s embrace?

From Ian:

Dan Senor: The Future of American Jewry After October 7
‘The time is now.’ In January 1948, Golda Meir delivered a famous speech to a group of Jewish leaders in Chicago a mere four months before the establishment of Israel. Her message was clear: The future of the Jewish state hung in the balance. The Jews in Palestine needed every cent American Jews could spare.

“I beg of you—don’t be too late,” she said. “Don’t be bitterly sorry three months from now for what you failed to do today. The time is now.” She intended to raise $25 million; by the end she had raised $50 million. (In today’s dollars, that would be nearly $700 million.)

The tables have turned. Israel is going to be fine, in part because of Israeli strength and resilience, backed up by the Diaspora’s continued commitment. But I do think the future of American Jewish life hangs in the balance. And I don’t want any of us—whatever our resources—to regret not doing more.

We really do have the tools to rebuild American Jewish life. The question is: Do we have the sense of purpose—the why—to match?

Hersh Goldberg-Polin spent just three days with a fellow hostage named Eli Sharabi in the tunnels of Gaza. In that time, Hersh taught Eli a lesson that would change his life. He quoted the psychologist and Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl: He who has a “why” will find the “how.”

Israelis have a why. Many who may have forgotten it were reminded of it on October 7, when everything changed. Since then, Israelis have seen the why come roaring back.

Agam Berger, held in captivity for 450 days, had a why. “I learned,” she said after her release, “as my forebears did, that imprisonment can’t overwhelm the inner spiritual life. Our faith and covenant with God—the story we remember on Passover—is more powerful than any cruel captor. Even as Hamas tried to coerce me into converting to Islam—at times, forcing a hijab on my head—they couldn’t take my soul.” Her friend, Liri Albag, fashioned a Haggadah out of whatever materials she could find in captivity, and they marked the Passover Seder together, yearning for redemption.

Aner Shapira had a why. In a bomb shelter beside Hersh on October 7, he faced a death squad and chose to act. He hurled seven live grenades back at the terrorists before the eighth took his life. He died saving his friends—and strangers—because he knew he served a people greater than himself.

Ben Zussman had a why. A reserve officer in the IDF, he wrote a letter before heading to the front lines in case the worst came to pass. And when his parents opened the letter after his death, they found these words: “If you’re reading this, something must have happened to me. As you know about me, there’s probably no one happier than me right now. I’m happy and grateful for the privilege to protect our beautiful land and the people of Israel.”

We—the Jewish people—should look to Israel not simply for its defense innovation or health care advances. We should look to Israelis for their clarity, their purpose, their deep sense of identity. Hersh, Eli, Agam, Aner, Ben—very different people, very different lives. But each of them met this moment with courage. With faith. With an unshakable sense of why.

The deepest question. What is our why? Why are we here? Are we truly owning the story we’re living in? These are not theoretical questions. They are practical and will determine the future of our families and our communities.

The state of World Jewry depends on how we answer.

If we answer in the way I’m suggesting, by resolving to live Jewish lives, and making sure our children do as well, we will begin to find that answer. The road in the near term will not be smooth. We know enough to know that we are witnessing another story, another chapter in Jewish history. There will be libraries invaded by campus mobs, there will be Nazi graffiti scrawled on the walls of subway cars, there will be another podcaster spreading libels about the Jewish people. Of this, we can be sure. I am confident, however, that in the long term, if we strengthen our Jewish identity, our people will not be prominent but weak. They will be Jewish and strong.

Many young American parents over the past 18 months have chosen to pay tribute to some of the Israeli heroes we lost in this war. Everywhere you look, it seems, you might meet a young baby Hersh—named for Hersh Goldberg-Polin—or baby Carmel, for Carmel Gat, or Ori, for Ori Danino, or Maya, for Maya Goren.

These young American Jews will carry their names into the future. I imagine, 18 years from now, young Hershs and Carmels and Oris and Mayas walking onto the quad together, on one of a thousand American campuses. And my prayer is that as much as they carry their names, they will also carry their courage, their essence. That they will know who they are, where they come from—and where they’re going.
Leo XIV: A papacy anchored in Israel’s embrace?
Political Without Partisan Delusion
The political instincts of Leo XIV defy the taxonomy beloved by pundits. He is not a banner-waving conservative, but neither is he a proxy for the Soros-funded clerical avant-garde. His experience in Latin America made him wary of both economic oligarchy and class warfare slogans. He has spoken of inequality as a moral concern, not a campaign slogan. He supported Francis’s environmentalism only insofar as it remained moral, not technocratic.

Prevost sees the modern state as both necessary and dangerous—a position closer to Hobbes than Rousseau. He believes in order. He respects subsidiarity. He doubts that bureaucracies can save us. In today’s Rome, this qualifies as heresy.

Trump: Enemy, Ally, or Interlocutor?
He has never commented on President Donald Trump directly, and he likely never will. But his Vatican record is revealing. When some U.S. bishops tried to aggressively discipline pro-Trump clergy or push blanket condemnations of “Christian nationalism,” Prevost counseled caution. Not because he supports the former president, but because he understands what Trumpism represents: a political insurgency born of cultural dislocation.

In a Church hemorrhaging the working class, Prevost knows better than to treat populists as lepers. He doesn’t moralize about MAGA hats. He listens. In an ecclesial environment increasingly dominated by NGO-speak and bourgeois sensitivities, that makes him both countercultural and, paradoxically, pastoral.

Zionism and the Jews: A Return to Dialogue
If Francis’s Vatican flirted with fashionable anti-Zionism—hosting Mahmoud Abbas, parroting UN talking points—Leo XIV is a corrective. Prevost has visited Israel repeatedly. He has expressed admiration for the resilience of Jewish life and has cultivated ties with Jewish leaders in Peru, the United States, and Europe. He does not sentimentalize the Palestinian cause, nor reduce the Middle East to a victim-oppressor binary.

According to sources in Rome, Prevost views Israel as “a moral project within history”—a phrase that startled the Latin desk at the Secretariat of State. He has called Netanyahu “a necessary man in dangerous times,” which, in Vaticanese, borders on radical candor. There will be no warm embraces for Hamas delegates under this papacy.

On May 12, three days after his election, Pope Leo XIV has chosen to reaffirm his commitment to Catholic-Jewish relations as his first official act. In a letter to major Jewish organizations, he pledged to continue and deepen the Church’s dialogue with the Jewish people, invoking the spirit and principles of Nostra Aetate, the landmark declaration of the Second Vatican Council, which repudiated antisemitism, rejected the charge of collective Jewish guilt for the death of Jesus, and called for mutual respect and understanding between Catholics and Jews.
Seth Mandel: Universities Are Proving How Avoidable This Anti-Semitism Fight Was All Along
I didn’t realize that school officials could respond immediately to stunts like this. I was under the impression that administrators who criticize students are violating the constitutional protections that the Founders enacted to let kids do whatever they want with no consequences.

Further, the statement is one of shocking clarity for a university. It actually says something.

Which leads me to believe that schools can, in fact, crack down on idiotic rulebreaking. And that they could have done so all along. Now it can be told!

And third: Much of the argument around academic freedom these days is a dodge. Long before anyone was threatening to cut funds going to schools that violated the civil rights of Jewish students, the affected students had come to administrators with a simple ask: that schools enforce their rules consistently with no double standards.

That’s it. Really. It’s hard to remember, but that’s how all this started—with Jewish students asking universities to stop enforcing rules only on behalf of favored identity groups.

And that simple request is what sent schools into a tailspin. No, they said—you can’t make us! Then eventually a president came along who said: Well yes in fact I can, because it’s federal law.

We’re here because universities refused to enforce their rules equally or consistently. Are they happy now with how far this fight has escalated? I don’t know, but that escalation was their choice. And there’s really no denying it anymore.


Israel’s Yuval Raphael qualifies for Eurovision final
Yuval Raphael, Israel’s contestant, qualified for the Eurovision final in the second semifinal at the 69th Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland, on Thursday night.

Raphael sang “New Day Will Rise,” a song by Keren Peles that references the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel. Raphael, herself a survivor of the massacre at the Supernova Music Festival, looked radiant and sang beautifully.

For any Israeli, it was impossible not to be moved by her performance, as she sang the chorus: “New day will rise/ Life will go on/ Everyone cries/ Don’t cry alone.” The song is mostly in English, with some lines in French and English.

Raphael hit every note; she belted out some lyrics and almost whispered others, with poise and style that recalled the young Barbra Streisand.

While some audience members waved Palestinian flags and booed as she performed –as they did earlier Thursday at Raphael’s final rehearsal – the 24-year-old singer was not rattled, and many in the auditorium cheered.

At the end of the song, she said, “Thank you, Europe! I love you! Merci, toda.”

Before taking the stage, she gave an interview to Keshet 12 and emphasized that competing in Eurovision was a huge personal goal.

“It's a crazy feeling to be here. From a personal perspective, it feels like a huge victory. Like a huge win to fulfil my dream, which has always been there," Raphael said.

On October 7, she hid in a bomb shelter where nearly 40 people were killed after terrorists threw in grenades and fired into the crowd. She was one of 11 who made it out and has spoken of her ordeal in interviews, including recently with the BBC.


Jonathan Sacerdoti: Palestine and the truth about the Nakba
Within the broader Muslim world, this pattern of interpreting political defeat as a sacred humiliation has been even more pronounced. The collapse of the Ottoman Caliphate following the first world war was not seen merely as the end of an empire but as a theological calamity.

Movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood were born out of this moment, viewing the political subjugation of Muslims as divine punishment for collective moral decay. Their solution was not diplomacy, not secular nationalism, but a return to jihad and religious renewal to return glory to the Islamic empire. Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait and the swift international response were similarly reframed by many as yet another imperialist humiliation of the Muslim world, with little reflection on Iraq’s own culpability. The devastating defeat of Arab armies in the Six-Day War was likewise interpreted not as the fruit of reckless brinkmanship but as a profound insult to Islamic honour, fuelling a potent blend of grievance and religiosity that persists to this day. While these were not the only interpretations, time and again, when the secular project failed, the holy grievance reflex stepped in to explain why.

At the heart of this theological reading of history is a deep conviction that military defeat signals divine displeasure. The Qur’anic verse ‘whatever misfortune befalls you is because of what your own hands have earned’ has been used to reflect this idea. In this line of thinking, losses are not accidents of geopolitics; they are cosmic verdicts. The proper response, in this view, is not compromise but repentance – and, crucially, the renewal of jihad as a sacred duty: only through Islamic governance and renewed piety can true victory be achieved.

It is from this soil that modern jihadist ideologies have sprung. Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, warned that Muslim dishonour flowed directly from abandoning holy struggle. Osama bin Laden, echoing the same logic, framed his war against the West as an attempt to restore the dignity of a humiliated Islamic world, not out of hatred but out of perceived religious obligation.

Within this framework, the existence of Israel – and more specifically, the sovereignty of Jews over Jerusalem – becomes an unbearable theological insult. Under traditional Islamic rule, Jews had lived as dhimmis, tolerated but subordinated. Their rise to power, military success, and control over land once part of the Islamic ummah is experienced by many not merely as a political reversal but as a violation of divine order. Radical preachers have long invoked Qur’anic verses depicting Jews as cursed, weaponising ancient theological tropes to justify unrelenting hostility. Even the oft-repeated claim that ‘Al-Aqsa is in danger’, regardless of factual basis, taps into this deeper sense of cosmic disorder: that Muslim dignity itself has been defiled by the continued existence of Jewish sovereignty.

In this eschatological vision, Israel is not a permanent state to be grudgingly accepted, but a temporary aberration destined for destruction. Islamic eschatology, particularly hadiths that predict a final apocalyptic battle between Muslims and Jews, fuels the belief that Israel’s eradication is both inevitable and divinely mandated. For groups like Hamas, the establishment of Israel is akin to the Crusader states of the Middle Ages: a foreign intrusion that will, sooner or later, be swept away by righteous force. No political agreement, no matter how carefully negotiated, can override what is believed to be the arc of sacred destiny.

Thus, the Nakba is not merely a political grievance. It has been transfigured into a sacred wound, a living symbol of dishonour that demands redress through religious struggle. Under Islamic influence, the land of ‘Palestine’ is not just contested territory – it is a waqf, a sacred trust consecrated for Muslims until the end of time, inalienable by human agreement or negotiation. To recognise Israel’s legitimacy would be to acquiesce to a theological defeat as well as a political one.

This is why the Israeli conflict with the Palestinian Arabs is not merely a struggle over borders, rights, or resources, but a confrontation rooted in existential and theological perceptions of justice, honour, and destiny. Understanding this deeper religious framework is crucial to grasping why the conflict resists conventional solutions. Until the theological dimensions of the Nakba and its aftermath are acknowledged, diplomatic efforts will continue to founder against the unyielding belief that compromise is not only a betrayal of the past but an affront to the divine.


NGO Monitor: NGOs and “Nakba Day”: Another anti-Israel Propaganda Platform
For Palestinians and other Israel rejectionists, the failed 1948 war and Israeli independence was a “catastrophe” – marked annually on May 15 as “Nakba Day.” Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) engage in campaigns and demonstrations – not to commemorate or mourn the consequences of the war, but to demonize Israel’s very existence.

In recent years, particularly after October 7, 2023, NGOs have taken a leading role in Nakba Day events calling for the dismantlement of Zionism and Israel, as well as full arms embargoes against the Jewish state.

United Nations
On May 15–16, 2025, the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) will convene a conference titled “International Action Towards Ending the Nakba and Realizing the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.” According to the agenda, the conference will feature presentations from NGOs, UN Special Procedures, and legal professionals on efforts to “hold Israel accountable for its war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.”

The conference will contain a plenary session with Belgium-based NGO Hind Rajab titled “Best Practices to Bring Accountability and End the War: Recent Civil Society Legal Actions and Arms Embargo.” Hind Rajab is a pro-terror NGO that pursues Israeli soldiers around the world, having filed complaints against Israeli soldiers in Ecuador, Belgium, UAE, Brazil, Argentina, Sri Lanka, France, Netherlands, Cyprus, Thailand, and the UK.

Jacob “Jake” Romm, Hind Rajab’s US representative is speaking on the NGO’s behalf. On March 27, 2025, Romm tweeted, “Hamas is the only group meaningfully working to return the hostages. If you wear the dumb yellow ribbon you should also pop on the green headband for consistency, because they’re your only allies in that fight.” On March 7, 2025, Romm tweeted, “Ansar Allah [Houthis] is the only group in the world that is treating the Genocide Convention and the principle of the Responsibility to Protect with sufficient respect that they are a designated ‘terror’ group by the US should tell you something about the structure of international law.”

Other notable participants at the conference include Apartheid Free Policy Coordinator for the Palestinian BDS National Committee Saleh Hijazi, Diakonia Senior Policy Advisor Magnus Walan, Zochrot Director Maya Yavin, and Center for Constitutional Rights attorney Diala Shamas.
‘Squad,’ other House members introduce ‘nakba’ bill in Congress
Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) introduced legislation in Congress on Wednesday recognizing the 77th anniversary of the nakba, the Arabic term Palestinians use for the “catastrophe” or “disaster” associated with the founding of the modern-day State of Israel.

“The nakba never ended. Today, we are witnessing the Israeli apartheid regime carry out genocide in Gaza,” Tlaib stated. “It is a campaign to erase Palestinians from existence.”

The congresswoman, a member of the left-wing, progressive “Squad” in the U.S. House of Representatives, has a long history of anti-Israel statements. She has referred to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “war criminal” who has “threatened to ethnically cleanse the entire Palestinian population in Gaza, annex the land and permanently occupy it.”

Reps. André Carson (D-Ind.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) also sponsored the resolution.

“They failed. They lost the war. The nakba and great catastrophe is that Palestinians then and now continue to refuse peace and coexistence,” wrote Rabbi Elchanan Poupko, a writer and educator.
Daniel Greenfield: The Palestinian Myth
‘Palestinianism’ claims that the Arab Muslim settlers have a deep and ancient connection to the land. Surely this should be reflected in the geography and in the names of their cities?

The name of the Muslim settlers for Jerusalem is Al-Quds or Holy City because that was the only way the Arab Muslims of Arabia could describe a city they had heard about, but never visited. What the Jews call Judea and Samaria, the Arab Muslim settlers call ad-difa’a al-gharbiya or the West Bank. These names show no actual historic connection to the land.

The Arabic for Bethlehem is ‘Bayt Lehem’ or a translation of the Hebrew ‘Beit Lehem’. Is Nablus part of the great and ancient Palestinian heritage? But Nablus isn’t Arabic, it’s the Arabic mispronunciation of Neapolis, which means “New City” in Latin. Much like ‘Palestine’, it’s another borrowing from the Romans by foreign settlers with no ancient roots in Israel.

Ramallah, the capital of the Palestinian Authority, is an Arabic translation of the nearby ancient Jewish city of Beit El. It was barely inhabited under Muslim rule and dates back to the 16th century when a group of Christian Arabs crossed over from what is today Jordan fleeing Muslim persecution. Under Jordanian rule, it was overrun by Muslims and now has a Muslim majority.

When the capital of your people was founded by Christians from the other side of the river in the 16th century and its name was taken from an ancient Jewish city and it wasn’t actually your capital until the bygone days of the 1990’s, and it only became your capital because you drove out its original residents in the 1950’s, then your ancient civilization doesn’t actually exist.

The ‘Palestinians’ are not just an invented people. They’re a badly invented people with no history, no past and whose only talent is for stealing the identities of the ancient indigenous peoples that their invading ancestors from Arabia conquered, persecuted and enslaved.

When the indigenous Jewish people freed themselves, the conquerors switched to pretending to be the conquered, the oppressors played the oppressed and the invaders posed as the indigenous to justify their genocidal plans to conquer, oppress and invade Israel all over again.


Exposing the Islamophobia hoax
Progressives believe any mention of antisemitism must be counterposed to “Islamophobia.” The National Lawyers’ Guild, a far-left, self-described alternative to the American Bar Association, responded to the October 2018 mass shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Synagogue—the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history—by issuing a “Statement against antisemitism and Islamophobia” that condemned not only the massacre, but also the Israeli government and its “virulent Islamophobia,” basically condemning antisemitism while simultaneously committing it.

Many media can’t mention antisemitism without also invoking Islamophobia, though the two crimes are unrelated, and the incidence of the latter is only a small fraction of the former. Examples include a Guardian headline reading, “Islamophobia and antisemitism on rise in U.S. amid Israel-Hamas war,” and a Reuters headline saying, “U.S. antisemitic Islamophobic incidents surge with war, advocates say.”

Reasons for antisemitism and Islamophobia are worlds apart. Yet we see headlines like “Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are equally wrong” in The Washington Post. Antisemitism is generally the hatred of a people, not a religion. Hence, Nazis didn’t equivocate; Jewish converts to Christianity were identified as Jews and ruthlessly persecuted. Likewise, non-religious Jewish university students are attacked for being “Zionists.” In contrast, no one considers Islam an ethnicity or speaks of “Muslim blood.”

While no doubt some cases of anti-Muslim hate are products of irrational bigotry, the term “Islamophobia” connotes a fear of the religion. Yet, Islam’s detractors generally don’t fear the religion or its peaceful adherents, but rather fear and criticize Islamist extremism, which evidence suggests is responsible for a large majority of terrorist attacks worldwide. A “bias” against a religion based on empirical behavior is no more “racist” than a bias against communism or fascism.

Furthermore, it seems the motive behind the false equivalence of antisemitism and Islamophobia is to dilute and minimize today’s rampant Jew-hatred. Thus, the media can’t talk about massive antisemitism by itself—political correctness requires that they counterpose it with an “equal” evil done to the enemies of Jews.

Research shows that antisemitism is most prevalent in Muslim societies. The Anti-Defamation League’s Global 100 Index notes that the overwhelmingly Muslim Middle East and North Africa is the most antisemitic region on earth. Together, the West Bank and Gaza Strip display the highest amount of antisemitism, with 97% incidence, while Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world, is a close second. Yet media and leftists are quick to pair talk of antisemitism with Islamophobia, and they rarely mention the antisemitism that infects Islam worldwide. Nor do they mention that Jews are almost never implicated in anti-Muslim or anti-Arab hate crimes.

Attempts to compare antisemitism and Islamophobia are a hoax. Antisemitism is a centuries-old racist hatred that ranks among the most frequent hate crimes worldwide. In contrast, “Islamophobia” is a new and relatively minor occurrence, and frequently a label leveled to whitewash Jew-hatred, while deflecting criticism of Islam and Islamism.

Criticizing empirical Islamist behaviors, goals and values is not racism. Defenders of Jews, Israel and truth have every right and reason to expose fake accusations of “Islamophobia.”
Seth Mandel: Please Don’t Troll the Scroll
Republicans’ increasing embrace of Jews and Jewishness, quite apart from issues related to Israel, has been a welcome trend.

But not everybody on the left is happy about it. Which is how we got a recent New York Times story that I struggled to believe was even real at first.

The piece begins with a heartwarming anecdote. Lee Zeldin, a descendent of rabbis and the first Jewish director of the Environmental Protection Agency, affixed a mezuzah to the doorpost of his office at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. (The mezuzah is a scroll of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah that is put at the entrance to a Jewish home and the rooms within it.)

Zeldin invited media to attend the very brief ceremony, consisting mostly of a blessing, in which the mezuzah is installed because, the Times writes, he wanted to offer others “a moment to take a break from their normal routine, and to reflect and think about some other spiritual aspects of their day and their life.”

Sounds great, right? It gets better: “He was joined by other members of the Trump administration and representatives from several Jewish organizations. A rabbi attached a second mezuza to another door frame inside the office suite.”

What a beautiful sentiment.

You’re sensing a “but…” aren’t you? Of course:

“Many Jewish religious leaders praised Mr. Zeldin for publicly celebrating his identity. But for Jewish environmental activists, the reflection was on something different: Mr. Zeldin’s role in weakening rules designed to limit pollution and global warming.”

Amazing.
How extremism reaches from Gaza into American classrooms
A recent report published by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) highlighted a connection between the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA), makers of the “Teach Palestine Project,” and the Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC) in Gaza, which has financial and personnel ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

The PFLP is a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. Connections between the terror group and UHWC came to light after the 2019 murder of 17-year-old Israeli Rina Shnerb, and was reported on by Matthew Levitt for the Washington Institute for Near East Affairs.

The main link between MECA and the UHWC is Dr. Mona el-Farra, MECA’s director of Gaza programming and a former deputy director of the UHWC.

MECA is open about the fact that it has sent money directly to UHWC, and claims the money was for “humanitarian purposes.” As for el-Farra, according to her bio, which accompanied an article, “From Gaza with rage,” she wrote just days after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that she is a “member” of UHWC, not just a former deputy director.

MECA works with numerous community organizations to provide teacher training and curriculum development. Its “Teach Palestine Project” is one of their main programs in the United States. Its curriculum whitewashes Hamas’s actions and rebrands terrorism as “resistance.”

The Teach Palestine Project took a delegation of teachers to Israel and the Palestinian areas in 2019, and described the trip as an “intense 10-day exploration of the impact of the Israeli occupation on Palestinian youth and their families.” The visit was used to form curriculum for elementary school, middle school and high school students.

Teach Palestine lessons use a distorted view of the situation in Israel and the Palestinian areas to teach American children about youth resistance.

While there is no reference to Hamas, the curriculum does address the events of Oct. 7. It says that “fighters in Gaza, who were angry about how Israel has been treating people in Gaza, broke down the wall and killed many Israeli soldiers and some Israelis who were at a music festival.”


No more 'Mr Nice Guy': Gary Lineker has made his feelings clear - when will the media wake up?
The BBC's core mission of impartiality, quality and education is being damaged by this doctrine — Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone had to be pulled because it failed basic journalistic standards until it effectively became a Hamas propaganda exercise. The BBC seem unable to even call Hamas terrorists.

But now the BBC's highest paid presenter has shared a post with a prominent rat image to 'explain' Zionism — the concept of Jews having a nation state. Following criticism, it was deleted, but in place of an apology was a statement by his agent claiming 'Gary did not notice' the hideous racism he shared.

Gary Lineker not only enjoys the authority of being the most prominent face of the BBC, but he shared this with his 1.2 million Instagram followers. It's not his first problematic post but 'national treasures' are inoculated from criticism by the image they have constructed. Lineker is 'Mr Nice Guy,' a former football star who never even got a yellow card. He speaks out against racism, so those speaking out against him run the risk of being ostracised.

To further his political point of view about unfair immigration policy, Gary Lineker used inappropriate comparisons with Germany in the 30's, but now he has accurately demonstrated how propaganda from that era became socially acceptable.

There should be no exceptions for racism, but don't hold your breath. The BBC was accused of gaslighting 200 Jewish staff over the handling of detailed antisemitism complaints. The group called for an investigation over a 'serious institutional racism problem' which BBC chair Samir Shah refused, while BBC Director-General Tim Davie has repeatedly rejected offers of training on anti-Jewish racism.

A significant amount of the license fee goes towards Mr Lineker's wage bill, and the prestige of the BBC must not be used to launder hate any longer. Labour Against Antisemitism have now written to the BBC asking for action to be taken. No more 'Mr Nice Guy.'
Gary Lineker interview: If you are silent on Gaza, you are complicit
Lineker risks being portrayed as having selective sensitivity, only reacting to one side of the story. For example, on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an attack of psychopathic brutality that ended in 1,141 deaths, the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, he apparently had nothing to say, his only tweet declaring: “Super Spurs are top of the league.” Journalist Nicole Lampert later confronted him in person over this, reflecting that his failure to address the dozens of Israeli hostages in Gaza left her “shaking with anger”. Some 19 months on from those atrocities, he is still in no mood to adjust the balance of his commentary.

“It has been completely out of proportion to what happened,” he says of the Israeli response. “Obviously October 7 was awful, but it’s very important to know your history and to study the massacres that happened prior to this, many of them against the Palestinian people. Yes, Israelis have a right to defend themselves. But it appears that Palestinians don’t – and that is where it’s wrong. Palestinians are caged in this outdoor prison in Gaza, and now it’s an outdoor prison that they’re bombing. Israel say it’s self-defence, but really? Self-defence against what now? Yes, I understand that they needed to avenge, but I don’t think they’ve helped their own hostage situation at all. People say it’s a complex issue, but I don’t think it is. It’s inevitable that the Israeli occupation was going to cause massive problems, and I just feel for the Palestinians.”

When I stress to him that he is bound to spark a backlash with these remarks, he shoots back: “I don’t really care about the backlash. I care about doing the right thing, or what I think is the right thing. Some people can disagree, that’s fine. But I have to look at myself in the mirror. I think if you’re silent on these issues, you’re almost complicit.”

What about the fury he had already unleashed within the Jewish community, even before this week? “Well, even some of their people have changed lately,” Lineker says. “The real heroes are the Jews who have spoken out against it. It’s the Israeli government I’m critical of, not Jewish people. Most Jewish people recognise this for what it is now, that it’s wrong.”

And for Lineker, the subject of right and wrong is simpler than it may be for others.


Labour MP Burgon speaks at pro-Palestine event with lawyer linked to terror group
Labour MP Richard Burgon appeared as a speaker at an event held inside Westminster at which the main address was delivered by a man repeatedly linked to a Palestinian terrorist organisation, Jewish News can reveal.

The Leeds North MP spoke on Wednesday night at a hush-hush event held in a Westminster committee room at which the controversial Palestinian activist Shawan Jabarin gave the main speech.

Jabarin, now director of the Al-Haq organisation, was convicted in 1985 by Israel of recruiting and arranging training for members for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Subsequent evidence provided by Israel over many years has continued to show Jabarin’s close links to the PFLP, who were one of the Palestinian terror organisations involved in the 2023 October 7 attacks inside Israel.

One attendee at Wednesday evening’s meeting said pro-Jeremy Corbyn MP Burgon was loudly applauded after he delivered his speech to a full room at the event ahead of Jabarin’s main address.

Video footage in 2017 showed Jabarin participating at a meeting of Palestinian groups that included the PFLP and Hamas, who were represented at the time by Yahya Sinwar, widely regarded as the mastermind behind the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel.

The PFLP, an EU-designated terror group and longtime ally of Hamas in Gaza, participated in the atrocities of October 7, and shared videos on its website celebrating the attacks against “occupation army troops and the herds of their settlers” in southern Israel.

Burgon, who has long been outspoken on the Palestinian issue, appeared on a panel at Tuesday’s meeting which was organised by the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign and the British Palestinian Committee.


Is it time for Jews to leave Yale?
Through it all, Yale’s administrators, faculty and students largely stood by. Even the Hillel Slifka Center, meant to protect Jewish life, failed the Jewish students.

According to CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, Slifka staff allegedly pressured students to delete videos documenting harassment, and stood by while extremists took over their communal spaces.

Now, after federal scrutiny under Title VI, Yale has finally acted: Revoking Yalies4Palestine’s recognition, initiating disciplinary measures and issuing long-overdue statements.

But these reactive steps raise a deeper question: Is it already too late?

Some faculty still refuse to face reality. In a recent Yale Daily News op-ed, humanities professors Greta LaFleur and Catherine Nicholson defended the encampment as a peaceful protest that was unjustly punished. They framed the demonstration that blocked access and glorified terrorism as a noble act. Their essay doesn’t defend free speech; it defends impunity. It’s a staggering inversion of moral clarity, emblematic of a faculty culture more interested in ideological posturing than in teaching or protecting Jewish students’ rights and safety.

Yale’s recent decision to revoke Yalies4Palestine’s recognition, initiate disciplinary proceedings and issue public statements condemning antisemitism are important and overdue. If the school really wants to rebuild trust, these actions must mark the beginning, not the end, of accountability.

The university must commit to a sustained, public course correction:
The administration should issue a standing public statement reaffirming that antisemitic harassment, including anti-Zionist harassment, is unacceptable.
Yale should create an investigation timeline for complaints against faculty, share clear disciplinary protocols and set up an independent faculty review board that includes Jewish representation. Publish a protest handbook with clear rules and consequences.
Deploy staff to monitor protests and stop harassment.
Develop annual antisemitism and bias training co-designed with Jewish campus groups and external experts.
Establish a confidential reporting mechanism specifically for antisemitism.
Appoint a Jewish life coordinator independent of Slifka, who would report to the administration.
These are not radical demands. They are the bare minimum to restore safety, fairness and dignity. These measures do not suppress speech. Bigots are free to spew their views until they trample others’ rights. This would only help ensure that Jewish students can thrive without fear.

If Yale, with all its prestige, refuses these protections, the question isn’t how to fix the school. It’s whether Jewish students should stay at all.
Georgetown professor says schools should be ‘tolerating’ antisemitic speech
The U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce convened a hearing on May 7 about antisemitism at college campuses beyond the Ivy League schools. The presidents of DePaul University, Haverford College and California Polytechnic State University were called to testify about their institutions’ persistent failures to protect Jewish students from rising antisemitism.

One witness stood out not for shedding light on the problem, but for embodying it: David Cole, the former legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union and professor at Georgetown University Law Center.

The ACLU has long styled itself as a staunch defender of free speech, famously backing the right of neo-Nazis in the late 1970s to march in Skokie, Ill., a town with a large percentage of Holocaust survivors.

But since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the organization has increasingly positioned itself not as a neutral speech advocate but as a defender of pro-Hamas activists who often trample the rights and threaten the safety of Jewish students.

In recent years, and especially since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the ACLU has openly opposed efforts to combat campus antisemitism. It criticized both U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2019 executive order targeting antisemitism in education and its 2025 update. On Nov. 1, 2023, the ACLU sent a letter to more than 650 colleges discouraging investigations into pro-Hamas demonstrations.
Anti-Israel Rutgers Center Teaches Students How To Thwart ICE
A Rutgers University center under congressional investigation for its connections to anti-Semitic and pro-terrorism activity is advising Palestinian and Muslim students about how to subvert U.S. immigration officials, suggesting they lock smartphones and take other "digital hygiene" measures to avoid deportation.

The Rutgers Law School Center on Security, Race and Rights, led by Palestinian-American activist Sahar Aziz, hosted so-called Know Your Rights seminars on April 28 and May 7 as a response to the Trump administration’s crackdown on international students involved in anti-Israel campus protests and others who harbor pro-Hamas sympathies.

Golnaz Fakhimi, the speaker at the April 28 event, encouraged students "not to have Face ID or thumbprint ID turned on, to set passcodes that are long and strong" in order to prevent immigration officials from accessing smartphones during immigration stops.

Fakhimi, who referred during the seminar to the "ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza," informed students that federal agents at airports and border checkpoints are able to use forensic tools to access "content that is deleted from a device."

The May 7 seminar, led by Raquel Aldana of the University of California, Davis, asserted that universities "shouldn’t be collaborating with ICE" by providing information on international students and faculty. She also called on schools to "clearly define what is a private space within universities, like dorms, classrooms, clinics, labs," to prevent student interactions with ICE officials.
Student Arrested for Violent Storming of Columbia Library Was Featured Once at Anti-Hate Summit Hosted by NYC Mayor Adams
A student arrested last week for storming a Columbia University library—during which radicals distributed pro-Hamas propaganda and injured two security officials—was once hosted by New York City mayor Eric Adams, who lauded her commitment to peace and dialogue.

Dima Aboukasm, an anthropology student at Barnard College who studies "the intersection of healthcare and social justice," went to Gracie Mansion—Adams's official residence—as an honored guest at his "Abate Hate Summit." She attended the July 2024 event with Columbia student Eliana Goldin, who Adams said had managed to find friendship despite their different views about Israel's war in Gaza.

"Eliana Goldin and Dima Aboukasm are two @Columbia students who have found productive, peaceful ways to discuss political issues they disagree on and maintain a friendship. We can all learn something from their example," Adams said in an X posting. "Our nation is threatened by rising levels of dangerous political rhetoric that's turning into violence. We hosted the 'Abate Hate and Hate Violence Summit' to find productive ways to talk about hard issues, especially religious bigotry."

The conference brought together dozens of city officials, advocates, and students. The unlikely friendship between Goldin and Aboukasm was "one of the highlights" of the one-day summit, PIX11 reported. The event was organized by Norman Siegel, a longtime civil rights attorney in New York City.

Goldin declined to comment. Adams's spokeswoman, Kayla Mamelak Altus, told the Washington Free Beacon that the mayor stands by his remarks.

"The mayor’s comments remain accurate—this is a painful conflict, and while healing takes time, we should always try to speak to one another, not past each other," she said. "What we can also learn from this example is if you break the law, you will be arrested."
Raiding the Most LIBERAL College in America: Harvard



Salman Rushdie pulls out as Claremont McKenna College graduation speaker
Novelist Salman Rushdie has decided not to deliver the graduation speech for Claremont McKenna College, pulling out days before the Saturday, May 17, commencement.

The decision follows criticism from Muslim advocacy groups and students.

Rushdie, an Indian-born British and American author known for writing about religion and politics, has drawn controversy before, including receiving death threats in the 1980s for his novel, “The Satanic Verses.”

“I write with news that Sir Salman Rushdie notified us yesterday of his decision to withdraw as our keynote commencement speaker,” Claremont McKenna President Hiram Chodosh wrote in a campus-wide email provided Tuesday, May 13, by the Claremont Colleges Muslim Students Association.

“This decision was his alone and completely beyond our control,” Chodosh wrote. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to Sir Salman’s visit to CMC and have extended an open invitation to him to speak on our campus in the future.”

Kumail Afshar, co-president of the Muslim students group, welcomed the news.

“I’m surprised, relieved and happy,” Afshar said after learning Tuesday that Rushdie had withdrawn.


NBC News Is Quietly Rewriting Its Own Reporting on the Israel-Hamas War
The most recent example came buried in a news report that casually claimed Israel had unilaterally broken a ceasefire with Hamas — a striking departure from what the same outlet had previously reported.

This is part of NBC’s increasingly disturbing trend: a pattern in which its journalists appear to be reshaping the facts in Gaza — not because new evidence has emerged, but because the old facts no longer serve the narrative.

And these aren’t obscure details NBC somehow missed. These are facts the news outlet had already acknowledged. Now, they’re being walked back — replaced with a storyline that casts Israel as the aggressor and Hamas as the victim, resulting in some of the most distorted coverage of the conflict in recent months.

The ‘Shattered’ Truce That Had Merely Run Its Course
Among the issues NBC has fumbled most egregiously is the temporary ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, struck in January 2024 and expired in March — after Hamas refused to move forward with the next stage of the deal, which would have required it to release the remaining Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7.

At the time, NBC got it right. On March 1, its headline declared the “Gaza ceasefire [was] in doubt,” citing the expiration of the deal and the lack of ongoing negotiations. The subheading noted that Israel wanted to extend the truce — though, tellingly, it left out that Hamas’ refusal stemmed from the hostage issue.

But within weeks, that reporting had been scrubbed from memory.

By April 17, NBC was writing that Israeli forces had “shattered the fragile truce” the previous month — implying that the breakdown of the agreement was an Israeli initiative, not a consequence of Hamas stonewalling the next phase.




Human Rights Commission to hold hearing on ‘worldwide persecution of Jews’
Experts will make recommendations to the U.S. Congress during a scheduled May 20 hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on “worldwide persecution of Jews,” the commission announced.

American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch, Anti-Defamation League senior vice president Marina Rosenberg, B’nai B’rith International legislative affairs director Eric Fusfield and Hannah Rosenthal, a former U.S. special envoy for monitoring and combating Jew-hatred, are the scheduled witnesses.

The hearing, which is open to the public and will be livecast, will offer “a global overview of antisemitism,” including its prevalence and forms “in various parts of the world.”

It will also, the commission stated, address “governmental responses to antisemitism—whether they seek to combat it or foster, and assess the effectiveness of government policies to combat antisemitism and what is and can be done with governments that foster antisemitism.”

The commission added that the hearing comes “at a time when governments and civil society are evaluating the effectiveness of previous measures to combat antisemitism.”
‘Happy Nakba Day’: vandals deface Jewish building in Manchester
Vandals spray painted a Manchester building housing Jewish businesses on Thursday morning.

Rico House in Prestwich was targeted on Nakba Day, Arabic for ‘catastrophe’, marking the anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel.

The words ‘Happy Nakba Day’ were scrawled in white graffiti on one external wall, whilst several windows were sprayed with bright red paint.

A spokesperson from the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester told Jewish News: “We have been informed that overnight there has been an attack on a Jewish owned building housing businesses in the heart of our community. Those responsible for such appalling vandalism are seeking to intimidate the Jewish community.

“We will not tolerate our community being targeted by antisemitic vandals who are using the Middle East conflict as a cover to attack Jewish people across the country.”

In a statement posted on social media, CST said it was “appalled” by the attack and are “working closely with police and the location, doing our utmost to help identify the antisemitic vandals and to give security support.”


Seth Frantzman: Greek-Israel relations 'transformed from basic collaboration to a robust alliance' - interview
A recent defense exhibition in Greece illustrates how Greece-Israel relations have improved over the past several years. Amid other focuses in the Middle East, such as US President Donald Trump’s trip to the Gulf and the continued conflict in Gaza, the issues of the Eastern Mediterranean have been out of the spotlight.

This is natural because the crises in the region have shifted. Turkey has been creating less tension with Greece in recent months, and rhetoric has toned down. At the same time, Jerusalem’s relations with Athens continue to grow.Greece hosted the Defense Exhibition Athens (DEFEA) from May 6-8. The organizers of the exhibition said it highlighted “innovation, strategic dialogue, and international collaboration.”

The United Arab Emirates was one of 18 countries to have a pavilion at the expo, and the Hellenic Armed Forces discussed its capabilities and development.

Israel’s Defense Ministry also participated, along with 25 Israeli companies that showcased everything from “autonomous drones and secure communication solutions to innovative energy technologies changing the game’s rules in the modern battlefield,” the Defense Ministry said.

Lena Argiri, the White House correspondent for Greek Broadcasting Corporation ERT Kathimerini, had several important insights about the trends in Greece-Israel ties.

“The two countries have also increasingly prioritized drone technology as a central part of their expanding defense and security cooperation, recognizing the strategic value of unmanned aerial systems for surveillance, reconnaissance, and combat operations in the volatile Eastern Mediterranean,” she said.
US Marines order $112 million in night-vision goggles from Elbit
Elbit Systems of America recently received a delivery order valued at $112 million for Squad Binocular Night Vision Goggle (SBNVG) systems from the Marine Corps Systems Command, the company announced on Wednesday.

The night-vision systems will be produced at the company’s facility in Roanoke, Virginia through December 2026. The delivery order was placed under a multi-year contract secured in 2023.

Elbit Systems of America, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is the U.S. branch of Elbit Systems, Ltd., an Israeli defense firm specializing in unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic warfare and night vision, among other systems.

“Production of more than 20,000 Squad Binocular Night Vision goggle systems—and continued orders —demonstrate their impact and effectiveness for the U.S. Marine Corps,” said Erik Fox, senior vice president and general manager of Warfighter Systems at Elbit America.

“SBNVGs provide our Marines a decisive advantage. They can see, detect, and react more quickly than their adversaries—an edge that’s critical in today’s complex battlefield,” he said.

Elbit America’s goggles are lightweight, helmet-mounted systems that combine a binocular with high-performance white phosphor image intensification tubes and an enhanced clip-on thermal imager, according to a company statement.

“Elbit America’s Squad Binocular Night Vision Goggle system enhances the capabilities of our Marines, making them an unmatched force on the battlefield,” said Elbit America President and CEO Luke Savoie.

“These advanced systems build on more than six decades of night vision innovation, enabling the U.S. Marine Corps to operate with precision, accuracy and confidence,” he said.


How Oct. 7 revealed Israel's true friends in America | Think Twice
American Jews need to recognize that their most reliable allies are conservative Christians and not the liberal groups that have abandoned them. According to JNS editor-in-chief, these Christians have been at the heart of the pro-Israel movement in the United States. But this has never been more important than it has since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel which led to a surge in left-wing antisemitism.

He’s joined on this week’s episode of Think Twice by Heather Johnston, the founder and CEO of the U.S.-Israel Education Association. Johnston spoke of the importance of changing the way Palestinian Arabs are educated. For decades, Arabs in Gaza and Judea and Samaria have been indoctrinated in hatred for Israel and Jews with the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) largely responsible for this problem which ensures the perpetuation of their century-old war on Jews and Zionism.

Johnston and her group are also promoting a program they call “friendshoring.” That will incentivize American companies to relocate their factories from hostile nations like China to friendly ones, primarily Arab and Muslim countries that are part of the Abraham Accords and have relations with Israel. In doing so, the U.S. will potentially alleviate its supply chain problems while also encouraging peace.

She believes that the key to achieve these goals is for Israel to completely defeat Hamas in Gaza rather than allowing it to survive the war it started. Her group, which arranges for members of Congress to tour Israel, especially in the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, believes that Israel should extend its sovereignty to the territories. But she acknowledges that will have to wait until the war against Hamas is won and the Trump administration can succeed in expanding the Abraham Accords. Prior to that though, she believes it is vital that Iran is forced to give up its entire nuclear program, which is the number one threat to Israel’s existence.

Chapters
00:00 Founding the U.S.-Israel Education Association
01:33 The Role of Christian Support for Israel
04:16 Education Initiatives: The Aegis Fund
07:03 Challenges in Gaza and Judea & Samaria
09:20 Congressional Perspectives on Palestinian Statehood
10:10 The Role of UNRWA in the Conflict
14:44 Experiencing Israel: Congressional Tours
19:24 Friend Shoring: Strengthening U.S.-Israel Ties
26:06 Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria
30:12 Normalization and the Palestinian Authority
34:53 Engaging the Jewish Community


1,500-year-old African figurines discovered in the Negev desert
Five tiny figurines—including black wood-carved heads depicting African figures—have been uncovered in Israel’s Negev Desert, offering rare insight into unexpected cultural connections in the region some 1,500 years ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced on Wednesday.

The statuettes were discovered in 2017 during an excavation at Tel Malhata in the Arad Valley, in graves belonging to women and children. The findings date to the Byzantine period and suggest trade or cultural ties that extended far beyond the immediate region.

The research, conducted jointly by Israeli and German archaeologists, was recently published in the IAA’s academic journal, ʻAtiqot.

“The figurines indicate that a Christian community lived in the southern region of the country around 1,500 years ago, with some members possibly originating from Africa,” the researchers stated.

The exceptionally well-preserved artifacts were carved from bone and ebony—a rare material sourced from southern India and Sri Lanka—and depict male and female figures with distinct African facial features. Each figurine includes a small hole, suggesting they were worn as pendants or amulets.

“It is possible that the figures represent ancestors, and thus they reflect traditions passed down from generation to generation—even after the adoption of the Christian religion,” they said.
2,000-year-old road linking ancient mikveh to Temple Mount unearthed in Jerusalem
A 2,000-year-old road believed to have carried pilgrims from a ritual bath to the steps of the Temple in Jerusalem has been unveiled by archaeologists in the City of David, in what experts say is one of the most significant biblical excavations in modern history.

Stretching 600 metres from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount, the Pilgrimage Road was likely used by Jewish worshippers during festivals like Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot. Its rediscovery beneath a burst sewage pipe led to years of excavation and legal battles over its importance, which culminated in Israel’s High Court ruling it a site of “national and international importance”.

“This is the road our ancestors – yours and mine – would have walked 2,000 years ago to go up to the Temple,” Ze’ev Orenstein, Director of International Affairs at the City of David Foundation, told The Jerusalem Post. “Conservatively speaking, the likelihood that Jesus walked on this road is 100%.”

Archaeologists say the road’s massive width – up to 30 metres in parts – and the remains of coins, weights and market stalls indicate it was also a major commercial hub. “It’s like the ancient Mahane Yehuda,” said Orenstein, referring to Jerusalem’s modern market.

Pottery, oil lamps, and bronze coins dating to the Great Revolt were discovered beneath its drainage system, evidence that Jewish rebels once hid there from Roman forces in the 1st century CE.

“The City of David predates even the Old City,” said Orenstein. He emphasised that this excavation doesn’t just confirm stories in scripture – it roots them in the very stones beneath our feet.
IDF soldier who fell in 1949 laid to rest 76 years later
After more than seven decades of uncertainty, the final resting place of fallen Israel Defense Forces soldier Pvt. Arthur Gasner has been identified, the IDF announced on Thursday. The discovery brings long-awaited closure to his family and concludes a complex investigation by the military’s Missing Persons Branch.

Gasner fell in battle on April 20, 1949, during an IDF operation near the village of Duweima in the Judean hills. His unit, part of the Negev Brigade’s 8th Battalion, engaged in a fierce clash with infiltrators. Twelve soldiers were killed, and three—Gasner, Gabriel Magnagi and Kalman Chepnik—were initially declared missing in action.

Subsequent intelligence and diplomatic efforts revealed that the bodies of the three soldiers had been taken by local Arab villagers to a cave in the nearby village of Idna, which at the time was under Jordanian control. On May 6, 1949, the IDF carried out a special mission to retrieve the soldiers’ remains. While two of them—Magnagi and Chepnik—were identified and buried in a mass grave at the Rehovot Military Cemetery, Gasner’s body remained officially unaccounted for.

In 2020, the IDF reopened the investigation into Gasner’s fate. A special investigative team launched a multi-year effort, combining archival research, witness interviews, soil analysis and archaeological surveys. Their findings led to the conclusion that Gasner was, in fact, buried alongside his comrades in the Rehovot cemetery.

Last week, his family, including a surviving niece, was informed of the discovery by the IDF’s Head of Human Resources, Brig.-Gen. Edna Ilia. A ceremony to add Gasner’s name to the shared grave will be held soon, bringing a formal end to his status as missing in action.

The announcement comes amid continued IDF efforts to recover captives and missing persons, particularly in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. The military emphasized its unwavering commitment to accounting for all its fallen soldiers and hostages.




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