Thursday, November 06, 2025

11/06 Links Pt2: Maccabi Tel Aviv Protests: ‘Its Very Obvious They Hate Jews’; Don’t let Tucker Carlson’s defenders gaslight you about free speech

From Ian:

BBC Arabic promotes terrorist’s new book called The Holocaust Custodian – written by killer of a Holocaust survivor
BBC Arabic is facing further questions about its conduct after the channel showed viewers the latest book by a released Palestinian terrorist called The Holocaust Custodian – without mentioning that one of the people he was imprisoned for his role in murdering was herself a Holocaust survivor.

Last month, the Arabic-language BBC channel, which is partially funded by the Foreign Office, as well as the British taxpayer, interviewed two convicted terrorists, Basem Khandaqji and Nader Sadqa, who were among the hundreds of Palestinian prisoners released by Israel in return for Hamas releasing the remaining Israeli captives it took on 7 October. Both Khandaqji and Sadqa are senior members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) who were imprisoned for their roles in separate terror attacks which killed Israeli civilians. They were not permitted to return to the West Bank, but instead were released into Egypt.

Khandaqji, who wrote books in prison, won an International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2024. In his BBC interview he claimed that he told his Israeli prison guards that “my words will cause your colonialism pain”.

Khandaqji’s latest book is called The Holocaust Custodian; while the BBC interview does not directly ask him about it, it features video footage of him signing copies. The BBC did not see fit to question him about the fact that Leah Levine, one of the victims of the 2004 bombing which Khandaqji helped perpetrate, was herself a Holocaust survivor. Khandaqji’s latest book, “The Holocaust Custodian”, as shown on BBC Arabic

The November 2004 bombing in Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market injured 50 people and killed three – Shmuel Levy, 65, Tatiana Ackerman, 32, and Leah Levine, 64.

A child survivor of the Holocaust, Levine had been featured on Israeli television four years previously after meeting her brother, who had been living in Russia, for the first time since her childhood – at which time she learned her exact birth date.

Amer al-Fahr, a 16-year old from near Nablus, had carried out the suicide bombing. A BBC article from the time cited the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz quoting al-Fahr’s mother, saying “It’s immoral to send someone so young. They should have sent an adult who understands the meaning of his deeds.”
BBC Middle East editor sues Owen Jones for libel at High Court over Gaza article
An article by journalist Owen Jones about the BBC’s coverage of the conflict in Gaza has caused the corporation’s Middle East editor to receive death threats, documents in a High Court libel claim allege.

Raffi Berg, who joined the BBC in 2001 and has been Middle East editor for its news website for 12 years, is suing Jones over an article titled The BBC’s Civil War Over Gaza published on the Drop Site website in December last year.

The claims in the article, which Berg denies, include that BBC staff told Jones that Berg “plays a key role in a wider BBC culture of ‘systematic Israeli propaganda’”.

It also said that staff had told Jones that Berg “reshapes everything from headlines, to story text, to images” and “repeatedly seeks to foreground the Israeli military perspective while stripping away Palestinian humanity”.

In court documents seen by the PA news agency, John Stables, for Berg, said the claims in the article “strike at the claimant’s professional reputation as a journalist and editor”, and had caused Berg to suffer “an onslaught of hatred, intimidation and threats”, including death threats.

Jones said he looked forward to “vigorously defending my reporting”.

The article said that the corporation was facing an “internal revolt over its reporting” of the conflict.

It continued that journalists had claimed that Berg “sets the tone for the BBC’s digital output on Israel and Palestine”, and that complaints from staff about the corporation’s coverage had been “repeatedly brushed aside”.

Jones’ piece also claimed that “facts unfavourable to Israel have been stripped out of Berg’s reports” and that he played a “crucial role” in “conduct that imperils the integrity of the BBC”.

Mr Stables said that following the article’s publication, an online petition was launched calling on the BBC to suspend Berg, who was targeted by protesters at the corporation’s premises in January this year.
Lawsuit Alleging Gavin Newsom 'Facilitated' Anti-Semitic Campaign Against National Guard Commander Headed to Trial, Judge Rules
A former commander of the California National Guard who says Gov. Gavin Newsom (D.) "facilitated" an anti-Semitic campaign that resulted in his wrongful termination will have his day in court, a judge ruled Friday. The move could cause a major headache for Newsom ahead of his expected 2028 presidential campaign.

Former brigadier general Jeffrey Magram is suing the state of California and Adjutant General Matthew Beevers, a Newsom appointee who has faced allegations of denigrating a Jewish subordinate as a "kike" lawyer. Magram alleges that Newsom "facilitated and ratified" a Beevers-driven campaign of anti-Semitic discrimination, harassment, and retaliation against him that started after Magram defended a fellow Jew from Beevers's anti-Semitic rants and ended with Newsom's office signing an order to dismiss Magram in November 2022.

Sacramento Superior Court judge Richard K. Sueyoshi rejected the Newsom administration's efforts to quash Magram's lawsuit in an Oct. 31 ruling authorizing six of its eight counts to proceed toward a trial. The ruling will force the Newsom administration to comply with document discovery and deposition requests that Magram says have been ignored since he filed his lawsuit in January 2024.

The discovery process could provide a window into how Newsom's administration handles accusations of anti-Semitism and risks becoming a political liability for the Democratic governor ahead of a 2028 presidential campaign.

"Beevers and the California Military Department have disregarded complying with public laws and multiple legal requests for documents," Magram told the Washington Free Beacon. "We are very much looking forward to the facts coming out in this case and for the truth to be heard by all."

Those records include documents that may shed light on Newsom's response to several letters Magram wrote to the governor's office warning that Beevers was engaged in a personal vendetta against him driven by his "bigoted beliefs" against Jewish people. Magram alleges in his lawsuit that Newsom "chose to ignore this information and directly ratify the anti-Semitic acts of Beevers" when his office signed off on his termination in November 2022.


Arrests made amid protests outside Aston Villa-Maccabi Tel Aviv game
Six people were arrested amid protests in Birmingham ahead of Aston Villa’s football match with Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv, police said.

Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group announced last month that visiting fans would be barred from attending the match at Villa Park on public safety concerns.

More than 700 police officers were on duty for the Europa League clash on Thursday amid concerns over potential disorder.

Before the match, around 200 protesters including members of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign gathered near Villa Park’s Trinity Road stand to demand Israel is excluded from international football.

Palestinian flags and banners calling for a boycott of Israel had also been placed on the ground beside Trinity Road amid pro-Palestinian chants.

West Midlands Police said a 21-year-old man was arrested for failing to comply with an order to remove a face mask, while a 17-year-old boy was arrested for failing to comply with a dispersal order.

Three other people were arrested for racially aggravated public order offences and another person was arrested for breach of the peace.

Five flatbed vehicles were driven past the ground prior to kick-off carrying electronic billboards showing messages opposing antisemitism.

One of the messages, beside a Star of David, read “Ban hatred not fans” while another carried a quote from Thierry Henry saying football is not about goals but bringing people together.

Around 40 protesters, one carrying an Israeli flag, and others carrying posters saying “keep antisemitism out of football”, gathered on a basketball court on Witton Lane, close to the Doug Ellis Stand, to hear various speakers oppose the ban on Maccabi fans.
‘Its Very Obvious They Hate Jews’ | Aston Villa vs Maccabi Tel Aviv Classing Protests Organised
Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) had barred Israeli fans from attending the 6 November game, a move later condemned by politicians including Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, who pledged government support to reverse it.

However, Maccabi said a “toxic atmosphere” now makes travel unsafe. The club stated: “The wellbeing and safety of our fans is paramount.”

Police have labelled the match “high risk” after previous violent clashes and hate crimes involving Maccabi fans in Europe.

The government said it was “deeply saddened” by Maccabi’s decision but respected it, calling it “unacceptable that football is being weaponised to stoke division and fear.”

Kevin O’Sullivan interviews book author Jake Wallis Simons.


'Jewish People Are SCARED' | Schools Close Early Over Aston Villa Football Match Riot Fears
Ahead of Aston Villa’s Europa League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv, Birmingham has been placed on high alert amid fears of violence and antisemitic activity. Pro-Palestinian protesters, some masked and dressed in black, have posted signs and Palestinian flags around the city, while political figures and community leaders have condemned the messages as hate-driven.

With over 700 police officers deployed, early school closures, and a no-fly zone around Villa Park, authorities are taking unprecedented measures to maintain public safety.

The match will proceed without visiting fans, following a ban prompted by security concerns, while counter-protests and calls for Israel to be suspended from UEFA and FIFA have added to the tensions.

Ian Collins interviews talk reporter Nick Ellerby and writer and broadcaster Jonathan Sacerdoti.


‘There Are Thousands of Tickets Unsold’ | Police Begin Operation For Maccabi-Villa Football Match
Ahead of Aston Villa’s Europa League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv, Birmingham has been placed on high alert amid fears of violence and antisemitic activity. Pro-Palestinian protesters, some masked and dressed in black, have displayed signs and Palestinian flags around the city, while political figures and community leaders have condemned the messages as hate-driven.

With over 700 police officers deployed, early school closures, and a no-fly zone around Villa Park, authorities are taking unprecedented measures to maintain public safety.

The match will proceed without visiting fans, following a ban prompted by security concerns, while counter-protests and calls for Israel to be suspended from UEFA and FIFA have heightened tensions.

Peter Cardwell interviews Talk reporter Nick Ellerby and Talk presenter Aston Villa fan Jonny Gould.


‘TOLD To Get Out Of The Area’ | Police Brace For Violence Ahead Of Aston Villa Football Match

Pro-Israel protesters put in 'Jew cage' after ‘death to IDF’ chants ring out at Villa Park
'For me as a Jew, when a bully makes a statement about where I can go in my own country, that makes me go "no, I'm going to come here".'

GB News' Josh Howie details why it was important that he attended the counter-protest against pro-Palestine demonstrators in Birmingham.




Mainstream Journos Simp for Nazi Twink
Nick Fuentes, the "Nazi twink" influencer who recently told "highbrow Groyper" Tucker Carlson about his love of Joseph Stalin, is quickly becoming the mainstream media's favorite "conservative." Earlier this week, New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg anointed Fuentes as the "successor" to murdered activist Charlie Kirk, and blamed the Republican Party for fueling his rise.

The Times column was accompanied by a photo some argue was deliberately selected to promote anti-Semitism by making Fuentes, 27, look way cooler than he actually is. One of many examples: Fuentes has argued that the "only really straight heterosexual position is to be an asexual incel."

The Times has a history of elevating fringe racists and other right-wing cranks in an effort to disparage normal conservatives. Alas, the paper also has a history of lauding the socialist achievements of Fuentes's favorite leaders, Stalin and Adolf Hitler, while downplaying the brutality of their regimes. It's not immediately clear which tradition Goldberg was honoring in this instance. "Why does the Times want [Fuentes] to look cool?" wrote Hill columnist Robby Soave. "Do they want him to be the next Charlie Kirk? Why would that be the case? Hmm. Perhaps there's a lesson to be drawn there."

In any event, the Times columnist assured her readers that Fuentes, who commands an army of morbidly obese basement dwellers known as "Groypers," was one of the most popular figures in conservative politics. His stock has "risen higher than ever," she writes, "revealing a seemingly unstoppable ratchet of radicalization on the right." As evidence, Goldberg cites the musings of Rod Dreher, an obscure blogger based in Hungary who has written extensively about genital abnormalities and the otherworldly demons who keep plotting to turn him gay. Dreher said he was "told by someone in a position to know" that roughly 30 to 40 percent of young GOP staffers were fans of Fuentes.

Axios reporter Mike Allen interviewed Fuentes for his own article about the squirrelly nerd's allegedly influential role in the intra-Republican debate about whether or not to embrace Mamdani-style anti-Semitism. "One side is obviously dug in on supporting Israel," Fuentes said. "I think it's going to get ugly."

Some have likened the mainstream media response—desperately trying to anoint Fuentes as a conservative figurehead—to the anti-Israel journalist Glenn Greenwald's kinky proclivity for worshiping feet.
David Harsanyi: Don’t let Tucker Carlson’s defenders gaslight you about free speech
Now, Fuentes is a ridiculous ignoramus and provocateur, and he’s probably never read a book on Stalin or anyone else, for that matter. There’s no reason to melt down every time he tries to shock people. Carlson isn’t an ignoramus. He knows what he’s doing.

We all know what Carlson looks like debating. Just watch him engage in a hyper-pedantic, bad-faith filibustering of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) not long ago. Though that was the only “debate” he’s had in a long time. Roberts’s good friend is monomaniacally obsessed with Israel and American Jews. But he’s also a coward who prefers giving sycophantic interviews to Chinese Communist Party fans such as Jeffrey Sachs or Holocaust-denying “populist” historians.

Yet, according to Roberts, it’s not Carlson, who says that he hates Christian Zionists such as Cruz and Mike Huckabee more than anyone, but those who are critical of Carlson who are sowing division on the Right.

No one forced Roberts, who directs a prestigious right-wing think tank with revenue of over $100 million, to put his organization’s reputation on the line for Carlson. If members of the Heritage board don’t want to be associated with a person who does these things, they would be exercising their free expression by voting to remove him. If donors no longer want to give money to an organization that spends its time defending one of the leading bigots on the Right, that would be free expression, as well.

People tell me that Roberts is a good man, and I’m sure it’s true. Even good people live with the things they say. And, as far as I can tell, Roberts has yet to walk back his gross insinuation that Israel supporters are prone to dual loyalty and that criticism of Israel is disallowed.

Someone must have forgotten to give the New York Times, Washington Post, and virtually every other leftist outlet in existence the “you can’t criticize Israel” memo, I guess. Of course, oftentimes “criticism of Israel” is just a euphemism for Jew-baiting these days. When alt-right types say you “can’t” criticize Israel, they mean that they don’t like that Israel’s defenders criticize their lies about American Jews. But pretending that your speech is inhibited by a debate is also a way to chill speech.

No one should fall for any of it.


Princeton Announces New Class on 'Gender, Reproduction, and Genocide' in Gaza, Taught by Israel-Hating 'Feminist' Who Denies Hamas Killed Babies, Raped Women on Oct 7
Princeton University is launching a new anthropology course on "Gender, Reproduction, and Genocide" in Gaza, a class whose description puts the Israel-Hamas war on par with the Holocaust. The for-credit, graded course is being taught by a "noted Palestinian feminist" who has made provably false claims that Hamas did not kill babies or rape women on Oct. 7, and also called for an end to the Jewish state.

"Drawing on decolonial, Indigenous, and feminist thought, we examine how genocidal projects target reproductive life, sexual and familial structures, and community survival," the course description reads. "Students will engage reproductive justice frameworks, survivor testimony, and Palestinian feminist critiques of colonial violence, while situating Gaza within comparative histories of the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, and genocide against Black and Indigenous populations."

Undergraduates who take the class can get credit toward an anthropology major or toward a minor in "gender and sexuality studies."

Instructing the course is Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a scholar who "retired" under pressure last year from her professorship at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem after she was suspended—and arrested and briefly detained for incitement—for her inflammatory, anti-Israel rhetoric.

The suspension came in March 2024, after Shalhoub-Kevorkian accused Israel and its supporters of lying about Hamas's atrocities, including rapes and killing babies. She also said the State of Israel should be destroyed.

"It’s time to abolish Zionism," she said, according to the Times of Israel. "It can't continue, it's criminal. Only by abolishing Zionism can we continue. They will use any lie. They started with babies, they continued with rape, and they will continue with a million other lies. We stopped believing them, I hope the world stops believing them."

She also claimed Israelis act scared when they hear her speaking Arabic, adding they "should be afraid because criminals are always afraid. They cannot dispossess my land, they cannot displace my people. They cannot kill and not be afraid, so they better be afraid."

In late March, Shalhoub-Kevorkian changed her tune and, according to a university official she met with, "clarified" that, as a feminist, she believed Oct. 7 victims' claims that they were raped. She did not retract her allegation that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.

Seven months later, Princeton welcomed Shalhoub-Kevorkian to its anthropology department as a Global South Visiting Scholar. She was later named the Stanley Kelley, Jr., Visiting Professorship for Distinguished Teaching.
Event Featuring Officer of Alleged Hamas Front Set to Take Place at Cambridge Public Library
The Harvard Book Store will host an “evening of solidarity” on November 17, 2025, featuring readings from the book “We Are Not Numbers: Amplifying the Voices of Gaza’s Youth” and remarks from its co-editors, Ahmed Alnaouq and Pam Bailey. The tax exempt Cambridge Public Library will physically host the event.

Jewish Onliner previously reported on the alleged ties between the We Are Not Numbers project (WANN) and Hamas. Additionally, Alnaouq has been found to have documented familial ties to Hamas members.

Alleged Hamas Ties of WANN
WANN is fiscally sponsored in the U.S. by Nonviolence International and registered in Gaza under the umbrella of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (EuroMed), for which Alnaouq also works as the Outreach and Advocacy Officer.

EuroMed’s founder and current chairman, Ramy Abdu, along with former chairman Dr. Mazen Kahel, were both named in a 2013 list released by the Israeli government identifying Hamas operatives and affiliated institutions in Europe. Another watchdog group, Honest Reporting, has described EuroMed as a “Hamas front org.” Hamdan: We made great efforts to prevent the regime from becoming embroiled in Palestinian bloodshed.

In March 2025, Abdu inadvertently disclosed that he is the brother-in-law of deceased senior Hamas official Muhammad Daoud Ismail al-Jamassi, as Jewish Onliner previously reported.

Moreover, Abdu publicly divulged that he is childhood friends with Assad Abu Sharia, allegedly the founder and leader of the Mujahideen Brigades—a Hamas-affiliated terrorist group that played a key role in the kidnapping of the Bibas children during the October 7th massacre.
Revealed: The devastating memo that plunged the BBC into crisis
The Telegraph has published the internal dossier that has plunged the BBC into crisis.

The document, written by former journalist Michael Prescott and sent to the BBC board, exposes a string of incidents that demonstrate serious apparent bias in the corporation’s reporting.

They include evidence that BBC Panorama “doctored” a speech by Donald Trump to make it wrongly appear as though he directly called for violence on the day that his supporters stormed the US Capitol.

Mr Prescott, who until June 2025 was an independent adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Board, also highlights serious problems with BBC Arabic’s reporting on Gaza, in which it apparently gives extensive space to the views of Hamas.

Elsewhere, he raises concerns that a unit of rogue LGBT+ reporters is censoring coverage of the trans debate, and highlights how the BBC’s own flagship fact-checking service, Verify, produced a “thoroughly wrong” report suggesting car insurers were racist.

Mr Prescott’s warnings were ignored by senior executives.

The Telegraph’s reporting on the memo has led to calls from Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservatives, for “heads to roll” at the BBC. Donald Trump Jr has accused its reporters of being “dishonest” and Israel’s deputy foreign minister has demanded that Tim Davie, the BBC director-general, be sacked.

Lord Grade, head of the broadcasting regulator Ofcom, has written to Samir Shah, the BBC chairman, urging him to “thoroughly” examine the claims, while Mr Prescott himself is to give evidence on the memo in a parliamentary inquiry next week.


Pregnant Jewish women are enlisting doulas to keep them ‘safe’ when they give birth with the NHS
Jewish mothers-to-be are hiring doulas to protect them and their babies from NHS antisemitism, the JC can reveal.

Shoshana Maurer, a London-based doula – a non-medical professional who supports women during childbirth – said almost every pregnant Jewish woman who had hired her since October 7 feared antisemitism among medics.

Maurer estimated that at least 11 mothers-to-be had employed her specifically for this reason in the past two years.

This number did not include the women who had sought her advice and voiced the same fears, she added.

“There is no question that nearly every Jewish client I’ve had since October 7 has had the same anxiety about antisemitism in hospitals: are they going to be treated the same way as everyone else, will they be treated badly?” said Maurer. One British Jewish mother who recently gave birth and spoke on the condition of anonymity said during her pregnancy – in the weeks and months after October 7 – she felt “extremely anxious”, and asked a Jewish doula to accompany her to the birth to help her feel safer.

A flurry of antisemitic posts she saw on social media left her feeling “really nervous” about her Jewishness being exposed.

“I was really nervous that I didn’t know who from the NHS would be delivering my baby, and I became increasingly preoccupied with who that might be,” the mother said.

“I recognised that to have a good birth I really needed to relax. If had a midwife who might have an opinion on this stuff [the Israel-Hamas conflict], that might put my emotional safety at risk. I felt inherently unsafe [and] an awareness of my vulnerability within that space.”

The mother asked a Jewish doula to be present for the birth alongside NHS staff. “Giving birth a few months after October 7, it felt like I needed her to be there from an emotional safety perspective,” she said.

Numerous allegations of antisemitism have been levelled against medical staff from a range of NHS trusts in the past two years.
I survived the Terf wars, but that didn’t prepare me for the Zio battles
The warning signs were there on October 8 when pro-Palestinian activists started protesting against Israel online and in-person. On a day when Israel was still fighting Hamas terrorists in kibbutzim and in towns and cities near to Gaza, when Israel was still trying to locate the dead, the missing and the kidnapped, students in UK universities were already protesting against that country. And it only got worse from there.

We all know about the encampments. The physical and verbal abuse of Jewish students. The occupation of university buildings. The demands for boycott, divestment and sanctions. The use of UK universities for radical Islamist anti-Semitism and for far-Left anti-Semitism. The protests, cancellations, violence, and intimidation. As with the sex-and-gender battles, some universities dealt with it well, others clumsily, and yet more hoped it would just go away. Many thought that with the ceasefire in Gaza there would be a change on campus. They were wrong.

On October 7 2025 there were protests against Israel at Edinburgh University. This would be like protesting against America on September 11 2003. The university was told repeatedly about the protest and did nothing to protect Jewish staff and students. And of course, it was not the only one. In the two weeks since then, we have seen targeted campaigns against Israeli academics. Students moved from online protests to storming into Prof Michael Ben Gad’s lecture at City University, threatening to behead him for the crime of being Israeli.

Banners are waved stating “No Zios on Campus”. The effect is chilling. Not only for those individuals, but for anyone who is Israeli or who has connections – work, personal, or otherwise – with Israel.

It is clear that the anti-Semitic protestors want to delegitimise and then eradicate the State of Israel. They are demanding that universities cut all ties with Israel, its institutions, and its citizens. They want curriculum and classrooms to be free of anything related to Israel. It isn’t that they want capitulation to their point of view, which is what the trans rights activists demanded. These protestors want erasure and eradication.

Not enough is being done to hold students and staff to account where they break the law or breach university policies. As with the Terf wars, this will not stop unless or until the sector stands up, from Universities UK and Advance Higher Education to individual universities and to the silent majority on campuses.

Academic freedom does not provide a free pass for harassment, abuse, or campaigns of terror. And there needs to be action taken against students – and even academics – behaving in this manner.


Away from Military Bases, Close to Terror: The New Iran
Here is interesting real estate information from Iran: since June, on the Iranian housing classifieds website, apartment owners have been proudly noting that their property is far from military bases. If the Revolutionary Guards or similar installations are nearby, the property value plummets — out of fear of an Israeli strike.

The water pipes in Tehran are shut down six hours a day, but the gallows operate 24/7. Since the beginning of 2025, the Iranian regime has executed 1,500 civilians. Anyone who knows the Mossad knows that the number of its agents will never even approach a fraction of that number. The ayatollahs use mass executions to terrorize the public.

The goal of the war in June, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it, was not only to eliminate the existential threat of the nuclear program, but also to eradicate a new existential threat: thousands of ballistic missiles. Meaning: they are not only a shield against Israeli attacks — they are also a sword.

The Iranians have internalized the message well. They have not resumed the nuclear program, fearing President Trump’s response. Most efforts are now directed at rebuilding their missile program.

The first part is relatively easy — clearing rubble from the underground launch and storage sites. The IDF had blocked them off during the war to prevent massive launches, and now bulldozers are clearing debris. Tehran’s attempt to replenish stockpiles has run into more difficulties after production sites were destroyed, but at the end of each day, Iran still ends up with more missiles than it had that morning.

Nonetheless, Israel is not lacking in options. In Operation Rising Lion, the IDF refrained — on the cabinet’s orders — from two strategic steps: eliminating Iranian leadership and eliminating the country’s economy. Both missions are still possible, and are meant to deter Iran from further military adventurism. To the best of Israel’s knowledge, Iran does not seek to initiate another war, but fears an Israeli strike — and the gap between fear and miscalculation is small.
Kanye West, after antisemitic tirades, meets prominent kabbalist to ‘make amends’
Ye, the rapper and fashion designer formerly known as Kanye West, met with Israeli-Moroccan Orthodox Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto, a prominent kabbalist, to apologize for his series of antisemitic outbursts over the past few years.

Ye began issuing antisemitic tirades on social media and in other forums in 2022, vowing to go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” and making a stream of other anti-Jewish remarks. The invective has badly damaged his career, including by leading Adidas to cut off its partnership with Ye in 2022.

His antisemitic vitriol has since surfaced intermittently. This year, he aired a Super Bowl ad in February for a website selling a swastika T-shirt, and then, in May, released a song called “Heil Hitler,” featuring a recording of the Nazi leader, that garnered millions of views on social media.

Less than six months later, he came to Pinto to say he wanted to “make amends.” He did not refer directly to his antisemitic remarks in the footage and attributed his behavior to bipolar disorder, which he has often spoken openly about.

“I feel really blessed to be able to sit here with you today and just take accountability,” Ye, wearing what appears to be a black poncho and baseball cap, told the rabbi, communicating to him through a translator.

“I was dealing with some various issues, bipolar, also, so it would take the ideas I had and… take them to an extreme where I would forget about the protection of the people around me, or myself,” he said.


Christians protest Amsterdam venue’s Chanukah boycott
Leaders of Dutch Christian Zionists protested on Thursday in Amsterdam against the Royal Concert Hall’s decision to cancel a Chanukah concert because it features a cantor who serves in Israel’s army.

Separately, France’s culture minister, Rachida Dati, condemned calls to boycott the Israel Philharmonic and prevent that orchestra from performing in Paris on Thursday at the seat of its local counterpart.

Dati tweeted “welcome” to the visiting orchestra, saying, “Nothing justifies boycotting culture right now,” and adding, “Antisemitism has no pretext.” It was a response to calls for a boycott by anti-Israel groups, whose activists police feared would try to disrupt the concert.

Regarding the boycott action in Amsterdam, Amichai Chikli, Israel’s minister for Diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, on Tuesday wrote to Femke Halsema, the city’s mayor, asking her to condemn the Royal Concert Hall’s decision. “Silence now would be complicity,” Chikli warned her. Amsterdam, he added, “must not remain silent while its institutions single out Jews and contribute to the isolation of a small and already vulnerable community.”

Pieter van Oordt and his brother Roger, two leaders of the Christians for Israel movement in the Netherlands, arrived at the Royal Concert Hall on Wednesday and Thursday with banners that recalled the institution’s firing of its Jewish staffers in 1941, to protest the current leadership’s decision to cancel the Channukah concert held there annually because of the Israeli cantor, Shai Abramson.

One banner read: “Royal Concert Hall: Jews banned in 1941, banned for Israeli Jews in 2025.” Another read: “Banned for Israeli Jews now, soon banned for all Jews?”

Since Oct. 7, 2023, several Dutch venues have banned Jewish and Israeli speakers at events, including last month’s elections event organized by the Center for Information and Documentation in Israel, which is Dutch Jewry’s pro-Israel lobby group.


Israel to grant new immigrants two-year income-tax exemption
New Jewish immigrants and citizens moving back to Israel in 2026 will pay no income tax during their first two years in the country, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Thursday.

The tax reform for olim, which is part of next year’s state budget and was first announced during a ceremony at the Jerusalem headquarters of Nefesh B’Nefesh Thursday, seeks to attract immigrants and returning residents from Western nations amid a global surge of antisemitism.

“This is a Zionist and economic revolution,” Smotrich declared, speaking alongside Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer.

“Zionism has always relied on three pillars—settlement, security and aliyah,” he added. “These past two years, we invested heavily in security, and the State of Israel is now in a different place. The year 2026 will be a year of revolution in aliyah not as a slogan, but as a practical work plan.”

Sofer called immigration “of Zionist, social and economic importance to the State of Israel,” emphasizing that aliyah “strengthens our social fabric, brings high-quality human capital and directly contributes to growth, innovation and economic development.”

Under the tax reform, new immigrants who make the Jewish state their home and Israelis who return after living abroad for 10 or more years will be charged a zero-percent income tax rate in 2026 and 2027.


Holocaust survivor and educator Manfred Goldberg dies aged 95
Manfred Goldberg MBE – one of Britain’s most admired Holocaust educators and a familiar voice to thousands of school pupils – has died aged 95.

Born on 21 April 1930 in Kassel, central Germany, he grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family and experienced the escalating antisemitism that defined the Nazi rise to power. His father managed to escape to Britain in August 1939, but Manfred, his mother and younger brother were forced to remain.

In 1940, his school was shut down by the Nazi authorities. A year later, the family was deported by train to the Riga Ghetto in Latvia, where starvation, slave labour and the constant fear of mass murder shaped daily life. Amid the brutality, he marked his Bar Mitzvah in secret in March 1943 – a moment he would later describe as a defiant act of faith.

Weeks before the ghetto was liquidated, Manfred was transported to a nearby labour camp and then to Stutthof concentration camp near Danzig, today Gdańsk. He endured more than eight months of forced labour in Stutthof and its subcamps, including Stolp and Burggraben.

Just days before Germany’s surrender, prisoners were evacuated on a death march. Manfred was liberated in the town of Neustadt on 3 May 1945.

He arrived in Britain in September 1946 and was reunited with his father. After mastering English and rebuilding his lost education, he graduated from London University with a degree in electronics. He later married, raising four sons and becoming a proud grandfather.

In later life, Manfred devoted himself to testimony and education, regularly speaking in schools and travelling with the Holocaust Educational Trust to guide young people at sites of genocide. His calm, dignified storytelling made him one of the most respected witnesses of the Shoah in Britain.

His contribution was recognised in June 2024 when he was made an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours for services to Holocaust education and remembrance. King Charles, who met Manfred earlier that year at Buckingham Palace, hailed him at the time as “very special”.


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Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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