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Friday, July 04, 2025

07/04 Links Pt2: Despite the surge of antisemitism, America is worth fighting for; Murray: Will NYC fall for the selfie-entitled Zohran Mamdani?; The Case of Dr. Benjamin Bross

From Ian:

Jonathan S. Tobin: Despite the surge of antisemitism, America is worth fighting for
President Donald Trump’s campaign to punish the universities that have tolerated and even encouraged antisemitism since Oct. 7 is evidence that Jews have powerful allies, even if some in the Jewish community are so immersed in the hyper-partisan spirit of the times that they refuse to recognize it. Indeed, in much of the country outside of the deep blue coastal enclaves where most Jews continue to live, the reaction to the uptick of hated and rise of radicals like Mamdani is the sort of disgust and outrage that should reassure the Jewish community that talk of giving up on America is as wrongheaded as it is counterproductive.

If nothing else, the U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities that posed an existential threat of another Holocaust are evidence that America is not a lost cause.

So, as much as it may seem tempting or even rational to talk of abandoning America, that would be a terrible mistake. Though Israel and Zionism still represent the Jewish future in a way that America cannot, Jews cannot give up on this country and certainly shouldn’t even think of doing so without a fight.

We must do so not merely out of a desire to defend our lives here but because a strong America that has not abandoned the best of Western civilization and values is essential to the worldwide struggle against the forces of tyranny—both Marxist and Islamist—that threaten Israel and Jews everywhere.

If Jewish life is unsafe in America, then it will be unsafe everywhere. That’s why it is essential that, rather than giving up or giving in to hysterical talk about the end of liberty and even the end of Jewry in the States, we must recommit to the fight to roll back the woke tide and defeat it.

This may be a generational struggle in much the same way that leftist efforts to impose these false beliefs on America were. Yet it is a battle that is necessary not just to save American Jewry, but to save the canon of Western civilization on which our freedoms rest.

The quintessential American response
A year from now, this nation will attempt to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its independence, and the battle over how to commemorate it has already begun. The contempt for traditional patriotism and belief in the truth that the American republic, flawed though it might be, is a force for good in the world has already been made clear by left-wing elites. As discouraging as this discourse may be, it is a reminder that the stigmatizing and targeting of Jews is part and parcel of the same struggle other citizens are engaging in. The American republic is and has always been exceptional. But it will only remain that way so long as a broad cross-section of Americans—Jews and non-Jews, liberals and conservatives, Democrats as well as Republicans—are willing to stand up against the woke forces seeking to traduce its founding values.

The appropriate answer to attacks on Jews is not flight or a call to shelter in place. The appropriate response is for Jews to speak up and not abandon the streets to antisemites and woke mobs. The rejoinder to anti-Jewish violence is for Jews to act in the most quintessential American way possible: to arm themselves (verbally, legally and literally) and make it clear that they will not be intimidated or silenced.

Those who hate the founding principles of the United States are wrong about the end of American greatness or the need to transform it into some pale reflection of Marxist or Islamist concepts. And so, on this Independence Day, rather than writing off America, we should be embracing it all the more enthusiastically—and pledging to defend it against those who wish to tear it down.
Cary Nelson and Richard Ross: The Case of Dr. Benjamin Bross
Ever since some faculty members exulted over Hamas’s October 7, 2023, murder spree in Israel and then campus encampments began chanting for Zionists to be cast out of the community, we have worried that we would also soon see a quiet, determined campaign to deny tenure to qualified Zionist faculty. The encampments were notable for their noise. The determined assault on pro-Israel faculty would be barely audible, carried out by confidential committees and cloaked in self-righteous if deeply compromised professionalism. We have faced exactly that in our own community, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

As members of the executive committee of Faculty for Academic Freedom and Against Antisemitism, we offer this essay as a warning that it will spread worldwide.

The problem arises when radical anti-Zionists serve on tenure committees that are reviewing expressly Zionist candidates for tenure. When the faculty in both categories are known to hold those opposing beliefs, there is an obvious suggestion of bias and a clear appearance of a conflict of interest. It doesn’t matter how fair and impartial the compromised committee members may be. In the principle that governs both legal and academic professions, among others, the appearance of a conflict of interest must be “managed” by recusal. There is no accusation involved, just the recognizable fact—the appearance of a conflict. There may of course be serious conflicts of interest involved, but managing them by dealing with the appearance of conflicts solves the problem without triggering investigations and hostile confrontations.

At the core of the issue is the academy’s most intractable antisemitic problem: academic disciplines and their local departments that have embraced radical anti-Zionism as part of their core identity. Radical anti-Zionism is an ideology devoted to eliminating the Jewish state. Not to reforming it, not to changing Israeli policies, but rather to erasing Israel as the nation-state and homeland of the Jewish people through violence, boycott, and political implosion, or dissolution into a “one-state solution.” Faculty hopes of harming Zionist Jews have manifested themselves not only through teaching propaganda in the classroom, but also through discriminatory hiring and promotion decisions.

In 2021, some academic departments steeped in the belief that Israel is an unethical state—the only state in the world that does not deserve to exist—began adopting official position statements embodying that conviction. In the wake of 10/7, a still more severe conviction became the norm on the left: that Israel is unreformable, irredeemable, born in original sin. And this belief coalesced around the claim that something evil in Zionism was manifest in the very founding of the Jewish state. The key date for decades had been 1967, when Israel won authority over the West Bank and Gaza from the Jordanian and Egyptian dictators who had ruled there ever since they blocked the local Arabs from their own UN-designated sovereignty. Now the date called out in chants and scrawled on banners was 1948. One could reverse 1967 by making the occupied territories into a Palestinian state. You could only reverse 1948 by eliminating Israel.
Andrew Fox: We’ve seen this before
There are moments in history when the shadows of the past cast such a long menace over the present that they become impossible to ignore. We are experiencing such a moment now. The rise in antisemitism since October 2023 is not a collection of isolated incidents. It is a direct reflection of a darker era.

I gave a talk to Holocaust survivors last month. More than one told me that the mood in the UK for Jews now resembles Germany in the 1930s. The difference between them and others claiming this is that they remember it from the first time around.

They are right. This is no longer hyperbole; it is fact.

The Holocaust didn’t start with gas chambers. It started with graffiti, slurs, and whispers. It began with people asking Jews to account for themselves. Are you loyal? Are you one of us?

In 2025, that looks like: are you a Zionist?

I heard exactly that question last night over a pint with a friend who had attended a Jewish cultural event. The barman (in the Three Crowns in St James, if you're interested) demanded of my friend, "Are you a Zionist?" The implication was clear that support for the Jewish state now carries a moral price tag. It is a litmus test for belonging, for acceptability. That is not political disagreement; it is a modern shibboleth meant to mark Jews for social exile.

We are witnessing a global rise in antisemitism at a scale not seen for generations. Some of it is overt. It is violent, chilling, and reminiscent of the pogroms Europe once vowed never to repeat. In Amsterdam last year, what was initially dismissed as football hooliganism was later revealed, through text messages and court transcripts, to be a lynching of Jews driven by pure racial hatred. Not “anti-Zionism”; pure Judenhass.

At Glastonbury, the "singer" of British act Bob Vylan, repeating popular blood libels against the Jewish state, stood before tens of thousands and chanted for the death of every soldier in the Israel Defence Forces. Again, I’m not being hyperbolic; it was his literal demand. A call for the wholesale killing of Jewish soldiers, which in practice means calling for the deaths of the sons and daughters of almost every Israeli family. That’s not resistance. That’s incitement. When crowds cheer that on, we are no longer in the realm of protest. We are in something else entirely.

What begins as words (“Zionist,” “settler,” “coloniser”) becomes real-world violence in short order. The language matters. Words shape permission structures. They signal what is tolerated and what is forbidden. When an artist calls for the death of every IDF soldier, and the crowd cheers, it gives a green light to every unhinged antisemite listening.


Douglas Murray: Will NYC fall for the selfie-entitled Zohran Mamdani?
As for his claim that white people need to be taxed more, again this is pure “decolonization” bunkum.

All recent studies show other racial groups exceeding the earnings of white Americans in this country.

In fact the two groups which nationwide exceed the earnings of white Americans are Asian Americans and, er, Indian Americans.

I wouldn’t put it past Mamdani to attack these groups as well in due course.

After all, the only sectarian politicking which Mamdani is keener on than antisemitism is his anti-Indian sentiment.

Mamdani is one of those sectarian politicians who is never happier than when accusing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being a “war criminal.”

Modi is one of the international leaders who Mamdani has said he would like to ban from coming to New York.

But it isn’t his grandstanding on the world stage that is his biggest drawback.

Rather it is his incompetence and wishful thinking on the home front.

After all, this city has been run by left-wing politicians for a long time.

If you think the city is unequal, unfair and just begging for more left-wing policies, then why have these policies to date provided such terrible results?

A sensible voter might conclude that it is because left-wing policies don’t work.

A naรฏve voter might be persuaded that it’s because they haven’t been tried enough, and conclude that what New York needs to thrive is for the rich to be chased out and everyone else to be given free stuff.

There are 5 million voters in this city.

The only way that Mamdani can win is if the only people who come out to vote are the minority of New Yorkers who are as delusional as he is.
Nearly 1/3 of New York voters support Mamdani’s statements on BDS, intifada — poll
A new poll found that 30 percent of New York City voters support statements about the anti-Israel boycott movement and the phrase “globalize the intifada” made by Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic party nominee for mayor.

Mamdani is a longtime supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel.

During his campaign for the mayoral primary, he repeatedly refused to condemn and defended the phrase “globalize the intifada.”

A survey released on Thursday by the American Pulse polling firm asked New Yorkers about Mamdani’s backing for BDS and his refusal to “condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada,’ which some interpret as a call to violence against Jews.”

“Does knowing this make you more or less likely to vote for Mamdani?” the survey asked. For all respondents, 30% said they are more likely to vote for Mamdani due to those statements, and 52% were less likely.

Among voters aged 18-44, 46% said they are more likely to vote for Mamdani due to his support for BDS and statements on an intifada. Women are more opposed to the rhetoric than men.

The survey’s sample size is 568, and its margin of error is ±4%.

Mamdani’s stunning win in last month’s Democratic primary leaves him as the heavy favorite to win November’s general election in the mostly Democrat city.

His record of anti-Israel activism, and his vow to adhere to those beliefs while representing the city with the world’s largest Jewish population, has forced Jewish political organizers to wrestle with their strategies going forward, and with the prospect of an anti-Zionist mayor who has said the Palestinian cause is central to his identity.

Mamdani had some Jewish support and was the second or third choice candidate for Jews, but caused repeated controversies with his rhetoric. The most notable was likely his defense of the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which many Jews view as a call to violence. His statements on the slogan came after violent attacks against Jews in Boulder, Colorado, and Washington, DC.
New York rep’s endorsement of Zohran Mamdani roils Orthodox rabbis on Upper West Side
Late last month, a group of around six US Orthodox rabbis called New York City Assembly member Micah Lasher for a conversation about the then-presumptive Democratic nominee in the city’s mayoral race, Zohran Mamdani.

The June 27 call centered on concerns the rabbis and their communities had with a candidate who had refused to condemn the pro-Palestinian slogan “globalize the intifada” and also supported the boycott Israel movement.

According to one of the rabbis on the call, Shaul Robinson of Lincoln Square Synagogue, the callers felt they had been heard.

“On Friday, I, together with many Orthodox Rabbis from the neighborhood, were invited to a conference call with one of our local (Jewish) New York Assemblymen to ‘strategize’ about what to do about the Mamdani candidacy,” Robinson wrote in a Facebook post. “The politician pledged his support for our community, offered to be a sounding board and source of strength in this incredibly threatening time.”

But days after meeting with Lasher, Robinson and other rabbis on the call were taken aback to see Lasher endorse Mamdani, his fellow Assembly member, in a post on X, leading Robinson to write on Facebook that he was appalled.

“And today, this self-same politician endorsed Mamdani’s candidacy. That both appalls me and motivates me to leave no stone unturned. We aren’t going to let New York City become a year-round Glastonbury-style Hate-fest against the Jewish community,” Robinson wrote on June 29, not naming Lasher and referencing a British music festival where a punk rap duo led anti-Israel chants calling for “Death to the IDF” last weekend.

Robinson’s Facebook post about the call and Lasher’s endorsement reflect the anxiety surrounding Mamdani’s candidacy, which to many pro-Israel Jews and their allies represents a mainstreaming of the kind of rhetoric around Israelis and Palestinians that puts Jews in danger, or at the very least flouts years of pro-Israel consensus on the part of many city politicians. By posting about the call and his disappointment in Lasher’s endorsement, Robinson sparked a heated conversation about what a Jewish politician like Lasher owes to the worried Jews in his district, which includes the Upper West Side.

In his endorsement, Lasher wrote that “Zohran has the talent to breathe much-needed new life into City government and the personal gifts to bring New Yorkers together around a positive vision for the future.”

Lasher also acknowledged the concerns of his Jewish constituents, adding that he would “continue to be among those urging Zohran to speak with clarity when it comes to rhetoric — including the invocation or celebration of intifada — that makes Jewish New Yorkers, or any community in our city, feel threatened.”

“As he moves into a position of citywide leadership, I hope that Zohran can come to better appreciate the deeply personal and historical importance that the survival of Israel as a Jewish state holds for Jewish New Yorkers,” wrote Lasher.


Australia, media liken pro-Israel activist to Ye, Candace Owens
Pro-Israel activist and influencer Hillel Fuld, a leading startup adviser, global speaker and tech columnist, was horrified to learn that media outlets have posted quotes comparing him to virulent antisemites Ye (aka Kanye West) and Candace Owens. All three were barred from entering Australia.

Fuld, a 46-year-old American Israeli, had been scheduled to speak on the topic of Israeli tech innovation at two Magen David Adom Australia fundraising events last month. Less than a week ahead of the first event, as reported at the time by JNS, Australia’s Department of Home Affairs informed him that his visa was refused because he posed “a risk to the health, safety or good order of the Australian community” with particular concern for “the Islamic population.”

Fuld’s online comments were “inflammatory,” Home Affairs claimed.

In his latest social media comment on the subject Thursday morning, Fuld expressed outrage that “ABC, NBC, CBS, The Sydney Morning Herald, Times of Israel, The Economic Times, Yahoo, Rolling Stone, The Jewish Independent, Hollywood Unlocked and many, many more” outlets have published statements placing him in the same category as racists Owens and Ye, citing several examples.

“Can’t make this stuff up!” Fuld wrote. “No words.”

For instance, according to a Reuters report on Wednesday, “Last month, Australia banned pro-Israel influencer Hillel Fuld from entering, and in October barred U.S. conservative pundit Candace Owens.”

Among Fuld’s posts deemed inciteful by the Australian authorities was the statement that “Islamophobia is rational.”

Australian Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke told ABC News, “If someone argued that antisemitism was rational, I would not let them come here on a speaking tour. And if someone has the same view of Islamophobia, I don’t want them here when the purpose of the visa is to give public speeches.”

In an interview with JNS on Thursday, Fuld said, “The post that they’re referring to was when I said we have data showing that 10-20% of Muslims worldwide have been radicalized, which equals hundreds of millions of people. So, the fear of 300 million people who look to destroy the West in the name of Islam—fearing that is anything but an irrational fear.”

Fuld noted that “phobia” refers to fear rather than irrational hatred such as antisemitism.
Joshua Namm: The Shoe Is On The Other Foot
Bizarrely, we live in a world where Tucker Carlson sounds more like Rashida Tlaib than like Donald Trump. In fact, to Donald Trump’s credit, he has been publicly rebuking Carlson for his unhinged views.

Then there is Marjorie Taylor Greene. Unlike many of the right-wing antisemites who now feel more emboldened to express their bigotry, Greene has always been a Jew hater. I used to argue that her brand of antisemitism was more innocuous than Omar, Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortez, etc. because while the latter were open about wanting a genocide against the Jewish people (G-d forbid), Greene spouted nonsense that was so crazy only dimwits would believe her. The best example was her amazingly ludicrous claim that “Jewish space lasers” were responsible for a fire in 2015.

After Israel attacked Iran, Greene was at it again claiming (echoing Tucker Carlson) that Israel was setting off a potential global conflict, and that the U.S. should not be involved in any way. Mosty pointedly, like Carlson, she denied that Iran is anywhere near developing nukes (as did the despicable Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard).

Her post was shared by Doug Stafford, who is the chief strategist for Sen. Rand Paul, the Republican Senator from Kentucky.

Mollie Hemingway, prominent conservative and editor in chief of “The Federalist” claimed that by “allowing” Israel to attack Iran, Trump was “betraying” millions of MAGA minded Americans.

Prominent conservative Charlie Kirk made a similar assertion.

I can go on, because there are many other examples.

The far left agreed with their assertions. Proving that the “Horseshoe Theory” is valid. What that means is that on the right, hating Jews has become popular enough that hypocrites are more than willing than ever to relinquish their ideologies to shake hands with evil.

The most galling part: Israel is doing a huge favor for America (Iran was developing ballistic missiles, another thing that was allowed by the JCPOA), which were intended for Europe and the America.

Israel will get no thanks from Jew haters on the right or the left as a population of less than 10 million people, takes on Iran, a nation of 91 million people, possibly literally saving Western Civilization.

The lesson for us as Jews is, we have to finally come to terms with the reality that our ancestors all understood, the only people we can really depend on are other Jews.

Lastly, all Americans should have learned from World War II that, when evil rears its head, “peace through strength” is the only way of truly “putting America first.”

This is not about parties - antisemitism is a strong drug for these people - we need to remember who we are and put ourselves first. Always.

Never be afraid. Never give up.

Am Yisrael Chai.
Preacher who quoted Nazi text likening Jews to ‘fleas’ to speak at Bradford mosque
An Islamic preacher who once cited a Nazi comparison of Jews to “fleas” is to speak at a mosque in Bradford this weekend.

On Friday, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, was urged to ban Shaykh Ebrahim Bham, a South African cleric, from entering the UK to speak at a conference being held on Sunday.

Mr Bham used his first Friday sermon after the Oct 7 Hamas attacks on Israel to hail the “courage” of the attackers and how they had struck “fear in the hearts” of the Israelis.

Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: “This vile Islamist preacher should be banned from entering the UK – end of. The Home Secretary must revoke his visa immediately.”

Alex Hearn, of Labour Against Anti-Semitism, said: “Bham’s support for banned terrorist groups, violence, racism and homophobia should not be welcome, and we call on Yvette Cooper to bar his entry to Britain.”

Lord Walney, a former Government adviser on political violence, said Mr Bham must be barred because of his praise for Hamas, a proscribed terror group. “Extremist rhetoric directly harms community cohesion and has no place in the UK,” he said.

The Home Office declined to comment on an individual case, but said: “We’re clear there is absolutely no place in our society for the vile preaching of anti-Semitism, and our law enforcement partners are always ready to take the strongest possible action against anyone who breaks our laws and incites hatred in our communities.”

Quoting Goebbels
Recordings of Mr Bham’s sermons previously hosted on the website of South Africa’s Council of Muslim Theologians, of which he is secretary general, reveal him talking about Joseph Goebbels, the chief propagandist of the Nazi party.

In one he says: “Goebbel [sic] was a very famous minister of the Nazis, and he tried to justify the killing of the Jews. Now as far as we are concerned, we do not need to feel apologetic because it was not done by Muslims.

“The Muslims did not do it, but they had to suffer the consequences of the Holocaust. Because Europe, because of its guilt, had to shed its Jews. And they couldn’t put them in Europe, they put them in Palestine at the expense of the indigenous Palestinian Muslim people.”

Quoting Goebbels, he adds: “One day, he said that ‘People tell me that Jews are human beings. Yes, I know they are human beings. Just as fleas are also animals. Just as fleas are also animals, they are also part of human beings like that’.

“Using that example, the psyche of the whole people [Jews] seems to be to mete out the very same treatment to others the way it was meted out toward them.”
Samidoun exposes failures in Canada’s anti-terror efforts
On Oct. 15, 2024, Canada finally added Samidoun to its list of terrorist entities under the Criminal Code. Many observers had long called for this important step, given the group’s well-documented ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a terrorist organization listed in Canada since 2003. The designation came only after mounting public pressure and disturbing events, including a Vancouver rally in which Samidoun-affiliated demonstrators chanted “Death to Canada” and burned our national flag.

Rather than signalling a firm stance against terrorism, the delayed listing highlighted Canada’s reluctance to act until the political cost of inaction became too high. To make matters worse, eight months later, Samidoun continues to enjoy the privileges of a federally registered non-profit.

As Sen. Leo Housakos pointed out last week, this contradiction undermines the very purpose of the terrorist designation process. How can a group be banned for terrorist activity while simultaneously maintaining legal status as a non-profit corporation under Canadian law? The answer lies in the fragmented structure of Canada’s counterterrorism and regulatory systems.

While terrorist listings are administered by Public Safety Canada under criminal law, non-profit status falls under Corporations Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency — separate bodies with distinct mandates, timelines, and evidentiary thresholds. A terrorist designation does not automatically trigger the revocation of a group’s corporate or non-profit status, as it should.

Far from being a bureaucratic technicality, this disconnect has real-world implications. It allows listed entities like Samidoun to continue to benefit from the legal protections and legitimacy of a registered non-profit, even as their assets are meant to be frozen and their activities shut down. The longer Samidoun retains its status, the more it casts doubt on Canada’s resolve — and capability — to enforce its own national security laws.

Samidoun has operated openly in Canada for years, despite credible concerns about its affiliations and activities. Political and bureaucratic reluctance kept it off the terrorist list until public outrage erupted. Even now, no charges have been announced in Canada against key figures like Charlotte Kates or Khaled Barakat, despite their prominent roles in the organization.

As far back as 2016, Barakat publicly shared in a video interview: “I am here to express the views of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.” Israeli authorities have reported that he has been involved in establishing terrorist cells in the West Bank and abroad. His wife, Kates, publicly applauds Hamas as “heroic and brave” and proudly attended the funeral of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last year. None of this information is a secret to Canadian authorities.
Exclusive: Top eye surgeon reposted tweets about ‘cult Zions’ controlling the BBC
Britain’s leading retina specialist, who is a consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, has re-shared posts on social media about “cult Zions” controlling the BBC and remarks about “Tel Aviv Keith Starmer”, the JC can reveal.

Michel Michaelides, who is a professor of ophthalmology at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, has also re-posted denials that rape occurred during the Hamas-led massacre on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The account in Michaelides’s name, which showed his photo and linked to his website in the bio, has been deleted, but the JC has obtained screenshots of dozens of re-posts linked to the conflict in the Middle East.

According to the account’s activity, Michaelides re-posted tweets on X in support of Gary Lineker, the former Match of the Day host who left the BBC earlier than expected after he shared a video on social media condemning Zionism that included a picture of a rat.

One post which he re-shared said: “This is why Gary Lineker was sacked from the BBC after 26 years. The biggest cancel culture cult Zions ordered BBC since he opposed mass murder of children.”

On several occasions, Michaelides retweeted posts on X from the controversial academic David Miller, who has previously called for Zionists to be “targeted” across the world.

One such post called for former IDF soldiers to be “prosecuted” and “De-Zionised in every country from South Africa to the US and Canda and from Argentina to the UK and France”.

On another occasion, Michaelides retweeted a post by George Galloway, the leader of the Workers Party of Britain, where he denied that mass rape occurred on October 7.

“There were no women raped, no babies baked on October 7. It was all part of a PR lie getting you to acquiesce to mass murder,” the tweet read.

Several of Michaelides’s retweets also contained comparisons between the war in Gaza and the Holocaust.
Jonathan Sacerdoti: “What I’ve Learned from 12 Years in Britain” – Rabbi Dweck on Antisemitism, Extremism and Identity
Rabbi Joseph Dweck has spent over a decade as Senior Rabbi of Britain’s oldest Jewish community. Now, as he prepares to leave the UK and move to Israel, he joins Jonathan Sacerdoti for an unflinching conversation about antisemitism, extremism, identity, and the moral decline of Western civilisation.

In this moving and courageous interview, Rabbi Dweck reflects on his years in Britain, the backlash he faced for challenging orthodox norms, and the deep dangers he sees in a society that has lost confidence in itself. From Islamist threats to cultural appeasement, from Jewish pride to political cowardice, he explores what Britain must do to recover – and what Jews must do to survive.

He also opens up about his infamous controversy over homosexuality, the costs of candour in religious leadership, and his growing fear that we are no longer willing to call evil by its name.

๐Ÿ‘‍๐Ÿ—จ Watch if you want to understand Britain’s Jewish future, the ideological crossroads of the West, and why Rabbi Dweck believes it’s time to reclaim faith, identity, and courage.


Radar Festival says it was ‘forced’ to drop Bob Vylan – suggests Kneecap should replace them
Kneecap were suggested as a replacement for Bob Vylan by organisers of a festival who dropped the punk duo after Glastonbury.

Bob Vylan’s performance at Radar festival in Manchester was cancelled after singer Bobby Vylan, whose real name is reportedly Pascal Robinson-Foster, 34, led crowds in chants of “death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)” during their Saturday afternoon set at Glastonbury.

Speaking on the 2 Promoters, 1 Pod podcast, Radar organiser Catherine Jackson-Smith said the festival was “forced into a position” they did not want to take in dropping the band from their upcoming headline slot this Saturday.

On acts that could replace Bob Vylan, Ms Jackson-Smith said her colleague Joe had suggested a Kneecap “secret set” in order to “make a statement”.

“You can say nothing publicly but if you go and book, and as I did mention, Joe’s first response was, ‘What if we did Kneecap as a secret set?’ because that makes a statement, and it makes a statement without having to make a statement and that is what we wanted to do so we are going through options,” she said.

“We might end up with somebody that has no discernible political opinion in any manner at this point because if they’re free and they could play on Saturday, maybe that is the criteria that we’re looking for at this stage.”

Irish rap trio Kneecap, whose member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, also known as Mo Chara, appeared in court in June charged with a terror offence, performed on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury after Bob Vylan.

As of Friday afternoon, Radar has not announced a replacement for Bob Vylan and the festival’s website lists the Saturday line up as “headliner TBA (to be announced)”.


Jewish children approached by strangers shouting ‘Heil Hitler’, principals tell inquiry
Children at Sydney’s Jewish schools are afraid to wear their school uniform and have been approached by strangers shouting “Heil Hitler”, principals have told a parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism.

Moriah College principal Miriam Hasofer told the inquiry on Friday morning that a year 9 girl had been “chased” up Queen’s Park Road near the eastern suburbs school by a woman repeatedly shouting “F--- the Jews” and “free Palestine”.

“This was a child walking to school. She was terrified,” said Hasofer, adding that “what was once repugnantly un-Australian has become disturbingly routine”.

“The unacceptable has been normalised,” she said.

Hasofer said the school has been exposed to a “relentless drip-feed of hate” since the war in Gaza began in 2023, and was averaging “at least one security incident per week” this year.

The NSW Legislative Council launched an inquiry into antisemitism in NSW in February. Its purpose is to consider the “underlying increasing incidents of antisemitism across the state, and the threat that these incidents present to social cohesion”.

Hasofer revealed that, in the days after the October 7 attack, the school received an anonymous Instagram message which described the school as a “disgrace” and said: “I hope all the children, parents and staff get cancer and die a slow painful death, praise Hitler.”

In a separate incident that year, a person drove past the school gates and “gave a Nazi salute”, while in September 2024, a man driving along the road adjacent to the school yelled “F--- the Jews”, and two men “exposed themselves to our security cameras” in June, to “intimidate Jewish children”, she said.


TIMES REPORTER COVERING ISRAEL DEFENDED ‘DEATH TO THE IDF’ CHANT
The first erroneous claim in a Times article by foreign correspondent Marc Bennetts (“How Israeli settlers see life in the West Bank:‘This land is ours’”, June 29) appears in the second paragraph.

Migdal Oz, with a population of about 500, was built almost 50 years ago on a plateau in the West Bank, the Palestinian territory that has been occupied by Israel since 1967.

First, Migdal Oz, though established as an Israeli Kibbutz in 1977, was built on the site of Migdal Eder, a village established in 1927 on land first inhabited by Jews during the Second Temple period. Migdal Eder was destroyed during the 1929 Arab Riots, but was re-established as Kfar Etzion in 1934. It was again destroyed during the Arab Riots of 1936-39. It was re-established a third time in 1943, but, five years later, suffered the same fate as the previous attempts, this time at the hands of Arab forces early during Israel’s War of Independence.

So, the community was not built on “Palestinian territory”.

However, the wording of the article falsely suggests not only that Migdal Oz is ‘Palestinian’, but that all of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) is Palestinian territory. Omitted is the fact that from 1949-1967, the West Bank was illegally occupied by Jordan, which complicates the desired narrative which demands erasing the pre-1967 history of the contested territory.

Further into the article, after two residents of Migdal Oz are quoted saying that, despite the dangers, they are committed for ideological and religious reasons to remain on the land, readers are fed more misinformation:
The religious and political convictions voiced by residents of Migdal Oz are at the heart of what is driving Israel’s latest round of expansion across the West Bank, as well as a surge in deadly violence against Palestinians.

Israeli troops and extremist settlers have killed more than 950 Palestinians, among them 200 children, in the West Bank since October 2023, according to the United Nations. The killings go unpunished in the vast majority of cases. About 40 Israelis have been killed in the same period, government officials say.

First, Bennetts vastly understates the impact of Palestinian terror. According to data from the Israel Security Agency (ISA), between Oct. 7, 2023 and the end of April 2025 there were 8,670 terrorist attacks in the West Bank, which killed 64 Israelis and injured 484.

Further, while there certainly has been a big spike in settler violence since Oct. 7th, the overwhelming majority of Palestinians killed since that date have been terrorists, or those involved with violent clashes with soldiers. According to the IDF, only 4% of Palestinian fatalities during this time frame were civilians who were not terrorists, gunmen or rioters who clashed with troops or carried out attacks.


After Israel’s humiliation of Iran, a historic reshaping of the Middle East may already be underway
On Monday, Netanyahu travelled to Washington for another meeting with Trump – the fourth since Trump entered the White House. Trump, whose domestic and foreign policy is largely conducted through posts on his private social network, TRUTH Social, has already written that he hopes to succeed in securing the release of the hostages and achieving a ceasefire with Hamas.

If that happens – and one must be cautious in predicting, as there have already been dozens of reports of a “dramatic breakthrough” regarding the hostages and Gaza – it could be credited as yet another byproduct of the war with Iran, and noted as an additional achievement for Israel, albeit unfortunately a belated one. After all, it is clear that there were already quite a few opportunities to clinch a deal, but Netanyahu, for personal political and electoral reasons, refrained from making a decision – also due to pressure from his far-right and messianic coalition partners, who threatened to bring down the government if such a deal were made.

In fact, the IDF has completed its missions in Gaza. This was stated explicitly this week by Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir. Critics of the government, as well as ministers within it, believe that the war should have ended a year ago.

Since then, the IDF has simply been treading water and soldiers continue to be killed. Just in the past two weeks, 21 soldiers lost their lives due to the guerrilla tactics of the remaining Hamas fighters, who are carrying out hit-and-run attacks, planting explosives and booby-trapping homes that soldiers enter.

Zamir also acknowledged that the Israeli public is exhausted. The reservists, who bear the brunt of the fighting, are worn out. Some of them have served for nearly 300 days since October 7.

Their businesses are suffering and families are falling apart. Not coincidentally, this week Zamir cancelled the order to call up another reserve brigade. If a deal is reached in Gaza, its significance will go beyond the situation in the Strip.

It could pave the way for establishing an alternative local technocratic administration, backed by Egypt and other Arab countries, to replace Hamas.

In turn, this would trigger a ripple effect throughout the Arab and Muslim world. It could lead to renewed negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, which would prepare the ground for additional peace agreements with Arab and Muslim states such as Indonesia and even nuclear-armed Pakistan.

This, in essence, is Trump’s vision – to expand the Abraham Accords signed with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which were later followed by the renewal of diplomatic relations with Morocco. Currently, talks are under way for normalisation with Saudi Arabia and Qatar – the latter being a key financial backer of Hamas, in the past even with Netanyahu’s encouragement and consent.

Iran, for its part, is beginning to grasp the new reality emerging in the Middle East and the possibility of Israel reaching agreements and normalising relations with more residents of their Middle Eastern neighbourhood – all with the backing of the United States, Western Europe, and the UK.
Israel believes Iranian nuclear program was set back by years
Israel’s successful military campaign against Iran has dealt a devastating blow to all aspects of Tehran’s nuclear program, setting it back by years, according to the Israeli military intelligence assessment.

The comprehensive strikes targeted not only nuclear facilities but the entire “puzzle” of the program, including its top scientists, research archives, production of centrifuges and enrichment facilities.

Now, Israel’s intelligence community is closely monitoring Tehran’s efforts to turn to Russia and China for help in rebuilding the nuclear program, though it remains unclear whether Iran will take any steps soon that would risk further Israeli action.

Speaking on a June 30 webinar held by the Washington D.C.-based Jewish Institute for National Security of America, IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin detailed the systemic nature of the Israeli strikes. He explained that the operation was designed to dismantle every component of the nuclear program to ensure a long-term setback.

“It’s a whole picture. You have to look at it holistically,” Defrin said. “The scientific know-how. We killed their scientists. The top tier of their scientists, most of them over 60 years old. They don’t have any substitutes. There is no one to replace them. It will take them years to build this capacity again.”

Describing the Iranian network as” a vast nuclear program,” Deffrin said Israel had destroyed the Iranian facilities in “a few different places,” including the nuclear site at Isfahan, where centrifuges were produced, the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz and the Arak plant where plutonium was produced.
Last remaining nuclear inspectors leave Iran after parliament outlaws IAEA cooperation
The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff deepens over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel.

Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that that is his top priority.

Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.

“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.

Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.

Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied that it provided diplomatic cover for military action.


Drone downed near Iraqi Kurdistan airport where US-led coalition troops are based
A drone was intercepted late on Thursday near Erbil airport, which houses US-led anti-jihadist coalition troops in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, Kurdish security forces said.

“At 21:58 (1858 GMT) an explosive-packed drone was downed near Erbil International Airport, without causing casualties or damage,” said the counterterrorism services of the Kurdistan region.

Erbil airport, which includes a military base of the international anti-jihadist coalition, was a frequent target in previous years for rocket and drone attacks.

A US defense official told AFP, “We are aware of an explosion from a UAV that occurred outside of the airbase in Erbil,” adding that the “incident is under investigation.”

“All US personnel are accounted for and there were no injuries or damage to the base or US assets in the area,” he said.

Dana Tofeek, the airport’s interim director, told AFP that the facility is “safe,” adding that “only one flight was slightly delayed due to security measures.”



There has been no claim of responsibility for the drone attack.

In the past days, drone and rocket attacks have been reported in different parts of Iraq, including drones that landed in open spaces.

Earlier on Thursday, an explosive-packed drone fell near Kirkuk airport, which was struck on Monday by two rockets, a senior security official told AFP.

Kirkuk airport hosts Iraqi army units, federal police, and the Hashed al-Shaabi, a coalition of pro-Iran former paramilitary forces now integrated into the regular armed forces.
Seth Frantzman: Drone attacks surge in Iraq amid rising US security tensions, Iranian military presence
The source told Baghdad Today that “the drone attack near the Harir base, which houses hundreds of American soldiers in Erbil, on Thursday evening, before it was shot down, prompted American forces at Ain al-Assad base to impose strict security measures in anticipation of any emergency."

The source said, “Security restrictions remain in place at the time of writing this report, despite the fact that hours have passed since the attack, which did not result in any human or material losses, according to available information."

The source indicated that "the measures are part of precautionary measures, especially in light of the recent recurrence of missile and drone attacks, amid growing questions about who is behind these attacks, whether in Erbil or Kirkuk."

Asad base is one of the few areas in Iraq where US military personnel are located.

The US withdrew from many sites in 2020 in the wake of numerous rocket attacks by Iranian-backed militias.

The US also has forces in the Kurdistan region. Iran carried out a ballistic missile attack on the Asad base in January 2020 after the US killed Iranian IRGC Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani.

Soleimani was killed by a US drone near Baghdad airport. Abu Madhi al-Muhandis, the leader of Kataib Hezbollah, was also killed.

Kataib Hezbollah is a key Iranian-backed militia in Iraq. It has carried out numerous drone attacks in the past and continues to do so.
Emily Schrader shares the state of the Iranian people during conflict with Israel
A leading advocate of Israel, Israeli-American journalist, author, and social activist Emily Schrader is among the loudest voices coming out of the country. She is also co-author of the recently published 10 Things Every Jew Should Know Before They Go to College.

An ILTV News anchor and The Quad co-host on JNS, she is also a mouthpiece for the suffering of the people of Iran, and vociferous in their defense and in denouncing the Islamic regime on all fronts. In 2023, Schrader initiated an open letter condemning the terror activities of the Islamic Republic and its Hamas proxy, co-signed by 55 female leaders from 12 Middle Eastern countries.

The Magazine spoke with Schrader earlier this week, and she showed us notes and messages from Iranians asking for Israel to attack crucial regime sites.

How have the Iranian people been reacting to Israel’s attacks on the Islamic Republic’s infrastructure?
The Iranians are extremely relieved and happy that Israel has first, intervened, but also targeted not only nuclear sites but IRGC bases and the military structure of the Islamic Republic of Iran as well.

Before the attack, Iranians had expressed concern that Israel would target only the nuclear sites rather than the entirety of the regime.

How did the people react to Israel’s June 16 strike on Iran’s state broadcaster?

There was a huge momentum inside Iran. People have been really galvanized by this because the broadcaster served as a symbol of the regime. It was the literal mouthpiece of [Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei himself.

It was used to air the forced confessions of political prisoners who had been executed. It’s really a horrendous operation of the state. It can’t even be called media, and I think that’s something important to emphasize.

You receive thousands of messages from Iranians. What do they say?

They ask Israel to attack such sites, so this wasn’t something that was done lightly or without consideration by the IDF and the Iranian people.


‘Israelis not welcome’: Milan Jews rattled by surge in antisemitic incidents
On June 26, Afshin Kaboli woke up to a flood of WhatsApp messages from personal contacts and group chats with fellow members of Milan’s Jewish community.

During the night, unknown individuals had put up dozens of posters around the city’s Jewish neighborhoods reading, in broken English, “Israeli not welcome.” Some were hung a few hundred yards from the community’s Jewish school on the same block where Kaboli, 54, lives and runs a kosher bakery.

“I went to check and found the posters in two spots in the neighborhood, even though, by the time I arrived, some of them had already been removed,” Kaboli told The Times of Israel via telephone.

“It made me feel awful,” he said. “The atmosphere has been heavy these past few months. But finding something like this just 200 meters [650 feet] from my home really makes me think. I always thought these things happened in France or other countries, not in Milan.”

The city is home to a community of about 7,000 Jews. Despite its small size, the community boasts at least a dozen active synagogues, three Jewish schools, and several kosher restaurants and grocery stores.

For Kaboli, the fact that the posters were directed at “Israelis,” as opposed to Jews, does not make a difference. Posters reading “Israeli not welcome” appeared in several locations in Milan, Italy on June 26, 2025. (Courtesy of Afshin Kaboli)

“They say Israeli, but they mean Jews and everyone who does not dissociate themselves from what happens in Gaza,” he said. “We are all included, and in my case, even more so since my wife is Israeli.”

The posters are just the latest in a series of episodes that have been making Milanese Jews increasingly uncomfortable.

The previous week, two Jewish teens aged 17 and 15, one of them openly wearing a kippah, the other a baseball cap, were attacked, beaten, and robbed by three aggressors, all underage, of Egyptian origin.

A few weeks earlier, a Jewish man was attacked by two men after they spotted him wearing a Star of David necklace. In May, a crafts store in an elegant street in the city center put up a sign in Italian reading, “Zionists and Israelis are not welcome.”


The opera singer who won’t be silenced on Israel
Arriving to meet me, Ilona Domnich glances up at the bright sapphire sky. The sun is out, but the weather is crisp, even a little cold, and Londoners rush around us in summer clothes better suited to last week’s heat than this morning’s chill. “In opera, the weather always reflects the emotions,” she says with a smile, “so maybe our conversation might be more chilling than expected.” It was a warning from an artist whose sunny disposition masks a complex inner conflict of identity, resilience and belonging.

Now an acclaimed soprano, Domnich arrived in the UK from Jerusalem over twenty years ago to study at the Royal College of Music. She was advised that she would be better received as a “Russian soprano”; presenting herself as Israeli, she was told, would not be “helpful” to her career. The advice, delivered with business-like detachment, shaped her early professional image. “They said if you call yourself a Russian soprano, it would sound exotic,” she tells me. Russia, after all, came with cultural gravitas. Israel, not so.

And so began a life of shape-shifting, not just as an artist but as a woman negotiating the public gaze through a tangle of overlapping national identities: born in St Petersburg to Jewish parents—one Ukrainian, one Russian, grown in Jerusalem, professionally honed in London. Domnich’s identity has never fitted neatly into any one box.

“In Russia, I was the Jew. In Israel, they called me the Russian. Here in the UK, I’m the Russian and now the Jew,” she told me, unflinchingly. It is, as she observed, a form of exile that doesn’t depend on borders but on perception. And yet, for all its destabilising effect, it has also been a wellspring of strength.

“I am a human, a woman, a musician,” she says. “I contain all these parts, and I’m not embarrassed by any of them.”

Domnich’s story might once have rested there, a patchwork of identities wrapped in music. But the events of 7th October 2023 thrust her, unwillingly, into the political spotlight. In the days following the Palestinian attack on Israel, she began to posted online. Her comments were simple, and deeply personal. She appealed for compassion for hostages. She condemned Hamas. She spoke with nuance.

And then, the cancellations began.

“I didn’t expect that,” she admits. “I lost work, I lost income. I was surprised. I thought I lived in a century where people cared about inclusion, about human rights. But apparently, not for Jews.”

One company she had worked with in Liverpool, she tells me, had centred a production around the Holocaust, and its reverberations in other genocides. But when she asked, as the only Jewish member of the cast, to include a short statement against antisemitism in the wake of October 7, they refused. “They were happy to talk about the past, to use the Holocaust with their agenda, but not the present. Not if it involved Israel. They basically took my voice away.”

The irony is brutal. An artist who has spent a lifetime mastering nuance – “music is all the shades between the black and white” – found herself erased by a culture increasingly allergic to subtlety. She quit the production. “I don’t consider myself famous,” she says. “But I believe my voice matters on some level, right? If I believe in something, I have to say it.”

It would be tempting to read this as a story of loss. And in some ways, it is. She has lost professional allies, been warned by friends that her career might be over, watched the offers fall silent. But Domnich has also gained something rarer: clarity.

All of this pushed her to look inwards. This talent, skill, ability she has nurtured and perfected wasn’t simply there to embellish her own ego. “So I asked myself, why am I doing this?” As she recounts her internal dialogue, she seems to be asking herself anew: “Why am I singing? I’m not vain. I don’t care about fame. I realised that God gave me this voice, and I must use it.”

And she has.

Her recording of “Hatikvah”, the Israeli national anthem, is a haunting, layered arrangement. She commissioned the piece with precise instruction: a journey from darkness to light. “I wanted it to contain Jewish pain, and anxiety, and joy, and hope,” she says. The result is an aching tribute to resilience. “This is my voice,” she says. “And I’m not going to stay silent.”


travelingisrael.com: How to Visit the Temple Mount - 9 Gates for Muslims, 1 for Everyone Else
How do you visit the Temple Mount — and why are there no signs telling you how?
This video breaks down everything you need to know: where to go, when to go, what to bring (and what not to).
I also explain why this sacred place has only one gate for non-Muslims, and why most Israelis don’t even realize they can visit.
If you've ever been curious about the Temple Mount, this is the guide no one else is giving you.


Israel to send clean water systems to Ukraine to replace those damaged by Russia
The Foreign Ministry said Friday that it has approved a new humanitarian aid package for Ukraine, intended to provide clean water to areas that no longer have functioning water infrastructure as a result of more than three years of Russian bombardment.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar spoke with the Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, on Thursday and shared the details of the aid package with him, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“It will consist of a number of water systems, each of which will be able to supply water for tens of thousands of people. The drinking systems will be installed in Ukraine’s eastern provinces, an area where infrastructure was damaged by Russian bombings and the population suffers from water shortages,” the statement read.

“This aid package joins the humanitarian assistance that Israel has provided to Ukraine since the outbreak of the war in February 2022. As part of this assistance, Israel operated ‘air and ground bridges’ to Ukraine delivering food, medicine and other essential supplies; a field hospital was established at the beginning of the war; and during the first quarter of 2025, hundreds of electricity supply units were distributed in regions affected by the bombings,” the statement added.

In 2024, Global WASH Cluster, a UNICEF-led water sanitation monitoring network, estimated that some 9.6 million people in Ukraine, or roughly a quarter of the population, are without adequate water and sanitation services.

Israel has periodically provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022.

It has declined, however, to send military aid — a decision that has irked Kyiv — due to Jerusalem’s need to maintain diplomatic relations with Moscow.




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