Thursday, February 05, 2026

02/05 Links Pt2: You Can Do Anything As Long As You Do It For Palestine; Israel-Haters Are Murdering ‘Public Health’; Mamdani Fires Head of Anti-Semitism Task Force

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: You Can Do Anything As Long As You Do It For Palestine
For those seeking at least a hint as to why the court ruled that smashing in the spines of police officers is officially approved behavior in the United Kingdom, one clue comes to us from the Jewish Chronicle:

“While the jury was in retirement, the court heard posters had been put up on bus stops and lampposts near the building which said: ‘The jury decide not the judge,’ ‘Jury equity is when a jury acquits someone on moral grounds,’ and: ‘Jurors can give a not guilty verdict even when they believe a defendant has broken the law.’

“The prosecution said it was aware of the signs being put up in public places during the trial, which set out the principle of ‘jury equity’ — the capacity of a jury to return a verdict according to conscience — and that police had been taking the posters down.”

Translation: You may find the defendants not guilty if you sympathize with the psychotic “anti-Zionism” that motivated their violence.

Again: the British legal system is a joke.

To be fair to the UK, it is not the first state in Europe to enshrine “the Jewish exception” into law. In 2021 in France, Kobili Traoré was deemed not responsible for his actions by the courts, ostensibly because he had smoked marijuana. What were his actions? He beat 65-year-old Sarah Halimi and then threw her out her window to her death. According to his psychiatric evaluation, he was sent into a violent rage by the sight of Halimi’s mezuzah.

Again, to translate: He realized she was a Jew, so he killed her. This was deemed a psychiatric episode not murder. In France, if you hate Jews so much that it makes you act crazy, you are permitted to murder random Jews. In the UK, if your hatred of Jews compels you to go on a violent rampage, you can count on “jury equity” to find you not guilty of the crimes you admitted to in court.

The sick man of Europe is Europe.
Seth Mandel: Israel-Haters Are Murdering ‘Public Health’
Zohran Mamdani pledging to confront anti-Semitism while his own administration staffers engage in taxpayer-funded Jew-baiting is the kind of hypocrisy we will hopefully never get used to.

The New York Post revealed that city Department of Health staffers have created a “Global Oppression and Public Health Working Group” whose entire reason for existence is to lie about Israel. Take it straight from the horse’s mouth: “We really developed in response to the ongoing genocide in Palestine,” one presenter said while, the Post reports, reading from the group’s mission statement at the beginning of its first meeting on Tuesday.

The blood libel club also vowed it will be “supporting colleagues negatively impacted” by the “trauma” of made-up tales of Jewish crimes.

Since this has nothing to do with “global health,” we are compelled to ask what it is about. And there are two answers.

First, as expected, Mamdani’s victory was taken as a green light for anti-Semites to hijack government services—and there’s no indication Mamdani has any objection to it. On the contrary, Mamdani believes New York City should be engaged in the BDS campaign that supports anti-Jewish boycotts, so he has made clear that he wants public money to be spent on his expensive addiction to anti-Zionism.

There’s no middle ground on “globalize the intifada,” much as Mamdani’s spin doctors would want you to believe otherwise. And Mamdani has made his choice. Why wouldn’t his likeminded fellows come out of the woodwork at the first sign that the coast is now clear; Jew-baiters of the world, unite!

Some of this will play out as Mamdani chooses to surround himself with anti-Semites. And some of it will be anti-Semites choosing to coalesce around Mamdani. Very quickly the difference will become immaterial, if it hasn’t already: This will just be a city government that practices and encourages anti-Semitism. How it got that way is less important than the fact that the one guy who can put a stop to it, won’t.
Joshua Namn: Acknowledging Hatred Against Jews Isn't “Complaining” - It's Life Saving
He was referring to poll by the (liberal) Honan Strategy group. It found that 53% of Jewish voters feel threatened by statements by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his allies, while most non-Jews — 55% — say that’s an overreaction fueled by politics.

Unless you actually believe that the statistics lie, and that attacks on Jews haven’t increased dramatically during the last decade, the most terrifying part of that poll is that more than half of New Yorkers think that we are all just “overreacting.”

Jews are also about 10% of New York’s population. They are the targets of 57% of all hate crimes (all, not just religiously motivated crimes).

The only reason any of this is even possible is precisely because complaining is viewed by the mainstream as an inherently Jewish trait.

We have to reject all negative Jewish stereotypes. It isn’t an issue of pride, but of safety. We left the physical ghettos, now it is time to consign the mental ghettos to that same distant past.

So what’s the best defense against Jewish ghetto stereotypes? Be a proud, unapologetic, warrior Jew (in mitzvot and, if necessary, in unapologetic self-defense). That starts with a psychological willingness to embrace being different. Jewish pride isn’t arrogance: it is confidence.

At the beginning of the Book of Joshua it tells us how to behave when we have to deal with adversity: “Did I not command you, be strong and have courage (chazak v’ematz), do not fear and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your G-d is with you wherever you go.”

Chazak v’ematz: Be strong and have courage.

And THAT is how we fight antisemitism.

Never be afraid. Never give up.

Am Yisrael Chai.
Be’eri to Manchester to Bondi: Antisemitism is the canary in the coalmine for extremism
Just like the Jews murdered in Be’eri, the Jews murdered in Manchester and Bondi did not die because of Middle Eastern geopolitics. They died because the modern strain of an ever-mutating, lethal hate has been normalised as legitimate, in the name of progress, justice, and liberation. Because the hatred of Jews has once again been reframed as a moral critique. Because calls for the elimination of Israel, the Jew among nations, from 'from river to sea' are uniquely tolerated as speech, not genocidal intent.

The victims’ biographies matter. Jews fleeing antisemitism. Jews fleeing war. Jews who believed liberal democracies and universal values would protect them. History tells us otherwise.

But the same ideologies that support ‘globalising the intifada’ are not hostile singularly to Israel or Jews. They are openly hostile to the foundations of democracies: rule of law, pluralism, individual rights, and the very idea of national self-determination. Israel is not the cause of this hostility. It is the testing ground. Antisemitism is not just a weapon in this war. It is the proof of concept.

For the past two years, Israel has been on the front lines of this global threat. The war has not been confined to conventional battlefields. The existential threat is raging as a cultural, legal, informational, and moral war. As Jew among nations, Israel is where an axis of evil tests how far it can go, how much terror can be normalised, how much violence can be justified, how many individual and collective ‘Jews’ can be dehumanised, delegitimised, and applied double standards to - before the world objects.

When antisemitism spreads unchecked, it emboldens those who seek to dismantle democratic norms everywhere. When Jews are murdered, it signals that the guardrails are down. This is why antisemitism is the most reliable predictor of democratic collapse. It is the siren that sounds before the raging fire engulfs everyone else.

The lesson of Bondi Beach, like Manchester, Pittsburgh, Paris, Brussels, Mumbai, Washington, Boulder and elsewhere, is not merely that Jews remain vulnerable as canaries in the coalmine. It is those societies that fail to confront antisemitism at its ideological roots that will inevitably embolden the extremism it predicts, fueling broader violence. This is not about Jewish exceptionalism. It is about memory as historical literacy.

The axis of evil no longer hides its intent. It slaughters and tortures the people of Iran, emboldened by impunity. It openly declares its desire to collapse the West and to build a Caliphate on its rubble. It does so by using shape-shifting antisemitism as defined by the IHRA in a long democratic process as both weapon and symptom. The recent UK court decision that chants of ‘death to the IDF’ to which all Israelis must conscript at a music festival aired to millions - “does not meet criminal threshold” should trouble all who cherish life and liberty.

Those who continue to treat antisemitism as a marginal issue, or a subset of prejudice, are willfully ignoring history’s clearest warning sign. The siren is sounding again. The question remains whether we will finally recognise the fire before it consumes us all.


The paradox of antisemitism education – and why it backfired
When society fails another minority, the response is guilt and sympathy. When society fails the Jews, the failure is unconsciously inverted. The Jews are not seen as victims of moral collapse, but as its cause.

This does not mean that antisemitism is caused by Jewish behavior, nor does it justify it. Antisemitism long predates modern Jewish life and persists regardless of what Jews do. However, it does explain why certain well-meaning educational strategies inevitably backfire. They collide with a psychological structure that treats Jewish suffering not as a reason for sympathy, but as an accusation.

Traditional bigotry is about disliking the unfamiliar. Antisemitism functions differently. It operates as a moral accusation, in which Jews are not merely seen as outsiders, but as figures held responsible, consciously or not, for the moral condition of the world.

What follows from this is not Jewish silence, retreat, or self-blame, but responsibility. If Jews are treated as moral reference points, then the Jewish task is not to plead for sympathy, but to live and model ethical obligation with confidence in ways that strengthen the moral agency of the wider society. Not to perform virtue for approval, but to bear it as a vocation.

This aligns closely with a core Jewish idea that long predates modern politics. The Jewish people do not exist to occupy a privileged position among nations, but to bear responsibility within history. In classical Jewish thought, that responsibility is universal: a shared ethical baseline for humanity itself, often described through the Noahide framework, as a way of affirming moral responsibility, human dignity, and ethical self-respect across societies.

None of this means Jews should stop defending themselves, calling out double standards, or confronting antisemitism directly when necessary. But it does suggest that guilt-based strategies and victim narratives are not only ineffective, but they may also be counterproductive.

Antisemitism is not ordinary bigotry: It is a moral accusation disguised as prejudice. Treating it like every other form of bias misunderstands its psychology – and strengthens it.

The most effective response to antisemitism may be neither silence nor protest, but a renewed willingness to define Jewish life, for ourselves and for the wider world, as the Torah does: a public discipline of law, responsibility, and teachings that helps ourselves and the whole world to be a more moral, spiritual, and Godly place.
Shai Davidai: Here He Is
“The Maccabees did not wait for a miracle,” Shai Davidai told me. “They stood up, fought and then the miracle came.”

Eleven days after the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, former Columbia professor Shai Davidai posted the video seen around the world. “It felt like the ground dropped from underneath our feet. I was thrown in the deep end, not the shallow water, learning with everyone else. That video was pure grief and pain that is somehow narrated through my intellect.”

In the epic video, taken by his wife, author Yardenne Greenspan, an emotional Davidai said the words we were longing to hear from every American leader but never did: “I am not afraid to speak up. I am speaking up because I am afraid.” Citing his then 7-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter, Davidai said he was speaking both as a dad and a professor: “We cannot protect your children from pro-terror student organizations who view murder, kidnapping and rape as legitimate acts of ‘resistance.’”

For her unconditional support of terrorist organizations and quest to silence him, Davidai spoke directly to then- Columbia University President Minouche Shafik: “You are a coward.”

With that video, Davidai became the leader New York City needed in that moment. He became a beacon of light for most of us, especially after Zohran Mamdani’s foreboding mayoral win two years later.

Unlike so many who have used Oct. 7 to “become famous,” Davidai didn’t want fame. He didn’t even want to be a leader. But like so many Jewish leaders throughout history, G-d had another plan for him.

You’re kind of like a young King David, I said to him. He shrugged, shook his head, and said “maybe more Noah than David.” “The world is being destroyed, and I have a responsibility. We all have a responsibility. We are at war. No one is going to come and save us. We are all potential soldiers. We need to train, fight, win. We are outnumbered, out-cashed, and out-trained, but we have the truth on our side.”
Most US Jews do not identify as ‘Zionists,’ even when they support Israel, JFNA survey finds
Only one-third of American Jews say they identify as Zionist, even as nearly nine in 10 say they support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and Democratic state, according to a new survey conducted by Jewish Federations of North America.

The findings of the survey reveal that American Jews do not have a mutually agreed-upon definition of Zionism, with those identifying as anti-Zionist and those identifying as Zionist ascribing sharply different meanings to the term.

For example, about 80% of anti-Zionist Jews say “supporting whatever actions Israel takes” is a tenet of Zionism, while only about 15% of self-identified Zionists share the belief, according to the survey.

The significance of the survey
The survey marks the most detailed assessment of the sentiments of American Jews about Zionism by a major Jewish organization in the United States, finding that 14% of Jews ages 18 to 34 identify as anti-Zionist and that the only demographic with a majority of self-identified Zionists was Millennials between 35 and 44.

The survey comes as tensions following the Oct. 7 attack, Israel’s war in Gaza, and the election of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani have put a sustained spotlight on the tenor of American Jewish support for Israel - and divided Jewish communities.

The divisions, JFNA is concluding based on the data, are real but often overstated - a matter of concern as Jewish communities and institutions decide whether and how to engage with Jewish critics of Israel.

“If we misread the trend about ‘Zionism’ to mean that large numbers of Jews, especially young Jews, are turning against the existence of Israel itself, we will draw the wrong conclusions and take the wrong actions,” Mimi Kravetz, JFNA’s chief impact officer, wrote in an essay about the survey’s findings. “We risk responding with anger when the moment calls for steady leadership, pulling away when the moment calls for connection, and defensiveness when the moment calls for listening and understanding.”
Unpacking Antizionism with Adam Louis-Klein
Adam Louis-Klein is a writer, anthropologist, and musician, currently completing a PhD in Anthropology at McGill University. His work explores Jewish peoplehood, Jewish sovereignty, and contemporary forms of anti-Jewish hate, drawing connections between civilisational identity and the politics of indigeneity. SBS Hebrew talked to him about his work and understanding of the current times - in particular his analysis of Antizionism as a mythological phenomenon.
Some Jewish groups break with tradition, refuse to sponsor NYC mayor’s interfaith breakfast
Zohran Mamdani is set to host the mayor’s interfaith breakfast on Friday, keeping alive an annual tradition that brings together hundreds of religious leaders — but Jewish involvement in the event will look different this time around.

That’s because at least three groups that have sponsored the last few editions of the event — UJA-Federation of New York, the New York Board of Rabbis and the Anti-Defamation League — are not sponsoring this year’s event.

UJA and the New York Board of Rabbis did not confirm why they are not sponsoring, nor whether the mayor’s office reached out about sponsoring; a City Hall spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

But a local ADL director said that the group was not given a choice.

“For years, ADL has proudly sponsored the NYC Mayor’s annual Interfaith Breakfast as a vital opportunity to build bridges and foster understanding across New York City’s diverse faith communities. This year, ADL was not invited to attend,” said Scott Richman, regional director of ADL New York and New Jersey.

He continued, “While a breakfast itself does not ultimately matter, protecting every Jewish New Yorker does. We call on Mayor Mamdani to serve the entire Jewish community, especially in this time when violent antisemitism is surging.”

Mamdani has had a contentious relationship with the ADL, which established a “Mamdani monitor” that would serve as a public tracker of his policies and personnel appointments, and whose leader, Jonathan Greenblatt, inaccurately accused Mamdani of having never visited a synagogue.
Mamdani taps leader of progressive Zionist group to helm Office to Combat Antisemitism
Wisdom has called on universities not to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

“I am calling upon every university to NOT adopt the IHRA definition but instead make like the Biden administration & adopt an approach that uses some of IHRA and @NexusProjectUS’s definitions,” she wrote in 2024. “The author of the IHRA definition himself has said it’s not for legal codification.”

Wisdom’s stance on the definition drew immediate criticism from Marc Schneier, the senior rabbi of the Hampton Synagogue, who has been a vocal critic of Mamdani.

“The leader of the Office to Combat Antisemitism must understand a basic truth. Israel cannot be bifurcated from Judaism,” he said in a statement. “Ms. Wisdom’s opposition to the IHRA definition of antisemitism, adopted by 50 nations worldwide and 37 of 50 states in America, calls that understanding into question.”

The executive director of the Office to Combat Antisemitism, as outlined in Mamdani’s executive order, is tasked with identifying and developing “efforts to eliminate antisemitism and anti-Jewish hate crime,” and establishing a task force with representatives from agencies including the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, police departments, and the New York City Commission on Human Rights.

Jews are the target of a large proportion of hate crimes in New York City. The NYPD reported 31 alleged antisemitic hate crimes in January, an average of one per day, and a 182% increase from last January.
Ousted NYC Anti-Semitism Czar: Mamdani Replaced Me With Left-Wing Activist Because I'm a 'Proud Jew' Who Doesn't Hate Israel
The recently ousted executive director of New York City Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism told the Washington Free Beacon on Thursday that he believes Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D.) replaced him with a left-wing activist because he is a "proud Jew" who doesn't fit in with the new mayor's agenda. That activist, Phylisa Wisdom, has slammed Israel's defensive operations against Hamas as "state-sanctioned violence" and once tweeted about how she "totally missed Yom Kippur."

"I'm a proud Jew who wears my kippah on my head and is proud of my heritage and the ancient Jewish relationship with the land of Israel," Rabbi Moshe Davis, whom Mamdani replaced on Wednesday, said in response to a question about why Mamdani let him go. "Maybe that wasn't the right vibe for them."

Mamdani appointed Wisdom, the leader of the left-wing group New York Jewish Agenda, to run the office in a move that Davis—who worked in the department for more than three years before becoming its executive director in May 2025—said has little to do with his record, which he said "speaks for itself."

"As I laid out in my 2025 [Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism] report, fighting anti-Semitism means defining the problem and combating it in its modern form," Davis told the Free Beacon. "That includes confronting BDS, not allowing protesters to target the Jewish community, and creating the infrastructure to keep Jewish New Yorkers safe."

Davis referred to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, which seeks to end commercial relationships with companies that do business in Israel. In 2020, the movement's spokesman said that BDS's goal is to bring about the end of the Jewish state. Davis's comments come after Mamdani scrapped an executive order from former mayor Eric Adams that implemented the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism, which states that denying the Jewish people the right to self-determination—as BDS does—is discriminatory.

Mamdani's decision followed a campaign in which he refused to condemn slogans like "globalize the intifada," instead telling a group of New York CEOs that he stands by "the idea" of the phrase; pledged to arrest Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu should he visit New York; and campaigned with a radical Islamist cleric who once urged "jihad" against the city. After his election, when protesters gathered outside a synagogue to hurl anti-Semitic slurs and calls for violence, Mamdani's spokeswoman wrote in a statement that "sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law" because the synagogue hosted a group that helps Jews move to Israel.
BREAKING: Mamdani Fires Head of Anti-Semitism Task Force



New Epstein Files audio reveals Barak-Epstein conversation on Israel 'immigrant quality'
Former prime minister Ehud Barak told Jeffrey Epstein that Israel could “easily absorb another million” immigrants from Russian-speaking countries, according to an undated recording of a conversation released as part of the latest wave of Epstein files documents that were released.

In the audio, Barak said many would apply and adapt under “social pressure,” adding that authorities could be more “selective” than in earlier aliyah waves.

“They took whatever came just to save people. Now we can be selective,” he said.

Barak stated that Israel could “control the quality” of new arrivals more effectively than in past decades and argued that necessity can create “flexibility.”

“I am glad when I was the chief rabbi of Moscow, we stopped this crazy initiative,” former chief rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt wrote on X/Twitter following the conversation’s release.

“Didn’t know then that it was discussed with Epstein.”

Barak joked about Russian-Israeli names, praised impact of post-Soviet immigration on Israel
Barak recalled telling Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel needed “not just one more million,” praising the transformative impact of the 1990s post-Soviet immigration. That wave brought roughly a million Russian-speaking immigrants who reshaped Israel’s economy and culture.


Australian Jewish leaders hit back at Labor MPs’ claims that Israeli President is ‘divisive’
Australia’s Jewish community has pushed back strongly against Labor MPs’ claims that Israeli President Isaac Herzog represents an extreme or divisive political figure.

Leaders of the Australian Jewish community have insisted Mr Herzog’s upcoming visit to Australia was a non-political act of solidarity with a grieving community.

It comes after Labor and Greens MPs, including Ed Husic and Mehreen Faruqi, opposed the visit, saying it made them “uncomfortable” and risked fraying “social cohesion”.

The comments were made despite Mr Herzog visiting to support the Australian Jewish community in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack.

Mr Herzog holds a ceremonial role as Israel’s head of state and has a strong record as a centre-left politician and humanitarian advocate.

Australian Jewish Association CEO Robert Gregory said protests against the visit risked politicising grief and undermining social cohesion.

“President Herzog holds left-wing views but occupies a non-political, symbolic role, comparable to Australia’s Governor-General,” Mr Gregory told SkyNews.com.au.

“That Ed Husic is uncomfortable with the visit raises a serious question about whether he would be comfortable with any Jewish visitor from Israel.

“It is deeply irresponsible for NSW Labor backbenchers to participate in protests against this visit.

“After the Bondi massacre, one would have hoped political leaders would act with care and restraint, mindful of Australia’s already fraying social cohesion.

“Instead, some are attempting to insert themselves into the Jewish community’s mourning and turn a moment of grief into a political statement about themselves.”


‘Huge problem’: Hamas’s ‘very effective propaganda machine’ has made a global impression
Former foreign minister Alexander Downer says the accusation that Israelis were committing genocide in Palestine comes from Hamas and its “very effective propaganda machine”.

“I think this is a huge problem accusing the Israelis of genocide,” Mr Downer told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

“This all comes from Hamas and its very effective propaganda machine.”


Top barrister for antisemitism inquiry has daughter who led pro-Palestine campus protests
The daughter of the senior counsel assisting the antisemitism royal commission is a prominent pro-Palestine student activist, who led the University of Sydney’s student body in rallying against the “ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians” and called for the boycott of Israeli institutions.

Esteemed barrister Richard Lancaster last week announced he had been appointed to assist former High Court judge Virginia Bell in the royal commission called in the wake of the massacre at Bondi Beach in December.

The Australian can reveal his daughter, Lauren Lancaster, was president of the University of Sydney’s Student Representative Council from 2021-22, during which time she seconded a motion criticising Israel’s “militarist apartheid” and endorsed the “international boycott, divestment and sanctions movement”.

The June 2022 motion – which condemned “both antisemitism and the actions of the Israeli state” – sparked criticism at the time from Jewish leaders and vice-­chancellor Mark Scott, who said it did not represent the position of the university and he would not tolerate “antisemitic language or behaviour on campus”.

Antisemitism on university campuses and the safety of Jewish students is expected to form a large part of Ms Bell’s probe. Mr Scott and the powerful Group of Eight universities have announced their willingness to appear before the royal commission if invited.

The University of Sydney has repeatedly been criticised over its handling of pro-Palestine actions in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, including the two-month encampment outside the quadrangle, which was partly organised by the student council.

At a student meeting in May last year, scores of attendees turned their backs on Jewish peers who were pleading for ­support to stamp out antisemitism on campus and defending the existence of a Jewish state.

The Australian is not suggesting Ms Lancaster was involved in pro-Palestine actions after her tenure as student council president. However, the June 2022 motion she seconded said: “Student unions should stand against the Israeli occupation of Palestine and condemn the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. To champion the cause of Palestine is a basic anti-imperialist and anti-racist act.”
Antisemitism barrister’s daughter is a pro Palestine protester A passionate young woman with strong views about Palestine: Lauren Lancaster is unknown outside student politics, but the former University of Sydney student representative council president, who’s condemned Israel for ‘ethnic cleansing’, is the daughter of Richard Lancaster SC, the senior counsel assisting the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.

‘I’m obviously very worried’: Herzog visit sparks security fears in Jewish community
AJAC Executive Manager Joel Burnie says he is concerned about the Jewish community, which has been subject to “increasingly violent events and actions”.

“I’m obviously very worried … my community has experienced … growing and increasingly violent events and actions against it,” Mr Burnie told Sky News host Steve Price.

“Certain members of the Australian public think that it is reasonable to criticise, to attack and to use violent threats against Jewish people for what they think is going on in the Middle East.”


‘Hatred continues’: Anti-Israel sentiment ‘fanned’ by Labor government
Sky News host Chris Kenny blasts the “idiotic” Labor Party for continuing to “demonise” Israel and repeating “Hamas propaganda”.

“Tragically, anti-Israel hatred in this country continues,” Mr Kenny said.

“When it comes to this demonisation of Israel, the Albanese Labor government has always given the wrong lead.

“It has fanned the flames by criticising Israel rather than supporting it, by repeating Hamas propaganda … and by effectively rewarding terrorism when it recognised the non-existent state of Palestine.”




Brendan O'Neill: The tyranny of Palestinianism
Where does this end? What else can you do ‘for Palestine’? Would burning down a building be acceptable? What about hijacking a plane destined for Tel Aviv? What about smashing up Jewish-owned businesses? Oh, wait – Palestine Action allegedly did that already, in Stamford Hill in May last year. The police’s enquiries are ongoing in relation to that suspected act of racially motivated criminal damage. God help us if it’s decided that racially motivated criminal damage also becomes just, or at least forgivable, if the alleged perpetrators are apostles of the cult of Palestinianism, if the fuel of their action is that chattering-class abhorrence for the Jewish nation.

These are not pedantic concerns. Court outcomes send signals. And the signal sent by this case – and more importantly by the cultural elites’ giddy crowing over the acquittals – is that the neo-religious belief that Israel is a genocidal entity enjoys special protection. It shields you from normal ramifications. For me, this case confirms that Israelophobia has become a kind of sainted theology, the most cherished bigotry of the establishment. And that compels us to ask what other kinds of behaviour might be permitted in its holy name. For the sake of our civilisation we need to know where the line will be drawn. Or if a line will be drawn.

I fear the emergence of a brutish system of two-tier morality, where those who hold ‘elite views’ are treated more leniently than those who do not. For example, I ‘genuinely believe’ – to quote the Palestine Action case – that a man cannot become a woman. Does that give me the right to trespass into Stonewall’s offices and smash the computers with which they propagate the trans lie? I ‘genuinely believe’ that non-crime hate incidents are an abomination against liberty. Would I be justified in showing my ‘defiance’ and ‘dedication’ on that matter by storming a police station and laying waste to all their logs of such incidents?

Of course not. It’s highly unlikely a court would acquit me for such behaviour. I’d probably be had up for the hate crime of ‘transphobia’ and for interfering with police business. And that suggests one thing very clearly – that in our supposedly free society, establishment beliefs enjoy greater legal protection than non-establishment beliefs. I am, by virtue of my moral convictions, a lesser citizen than those sons and daughters of privilege who have obediently imbibed their class’s contempt for Israel.

This is not an attack on trial by jury. It should always be juries that decide cases like these. But supporting jury trial doesn’t mean thinking juries always get it right – a jury convicted the Birmingham Six after all. No, the problem isn’t juries, it’s the culture. It’s the tyranny of Palestinianism. It’s the elite’s ceaseless promotion of the Israelophobic menace on our streets, in our institutions, in our media. Nothing good will come from giving free rein to the regressive loathing for the world’s only Jewish state.
Stephen Pollard: The Palestine Action acquittals are telling British Jews they have no future here
To cut a long story short, the message of the case is this: you can smash the spine of a police officer and so long as you are doing it because of “Palestine”, you can walk home free.

How do I tell my children that they are safe when they walk the streets? If a Free Palestine protester decides to assault them because they look Jewish and so must be complicit in genocide – to use the blood libel de nos jours – will a jury decide the protestors were, indeed, protesting? So it seems.

This is a vital, real question, not just because it goes to the heart of whether there is a future for Jews in the UK, but because similar incidents are happening now. Recent cases include a knifeman running into a kosher shop and attacking Jews. He walked home after court.

And last month a huge mob terrified people inside a restaurant in West London with Israeli connections. The police stood and watched (and have subsequently apologised for their refusal to act). A convoy of cars drove through Jewish areas in north west London screaming “F--- the Jews, rape their daughters”. No one was prosecuted. And that’s not even to mention the hate spread in mosques, when no action is taken.

After any incident politicians mouth the ludicrous mantra, there is no place for anti-Semitism on the streets of Britain, when the evidence shows there is a very welcome place for it here. It may be that it’s now over for Jews in Britain.


Palestine Action activists bailed ahead of possible retrial over violent break in
Prosecutors argued against bail on the grounds that there were substantial grounds to believe they would commit further offences.

In response, Mr Menon told the court: “There is absolutely no evidential basis at all in this case for such a fear – the very last thing that Charlotte would want to do, if granted bail, is to get involved in any political activity in the foreseeable future as she has been locked up now for nearly 18 months.”

He added: “She just wants to breathe fresh air and be free, she wants to spend time with her family and her friends – she wants to eat a home-cooked meal and wants to not be put in handcuffs on a daily basis.”

Mr Justice Johnson acknowledged the “considerable amount of time” she has spent on remand.

He concluded: “I believe that that risk can now be appropriately manage by the imposition of bail conditions.”

The conditions include that all five must only have one electronic device with internet access, and it must be made available for inspection on demand by police.

Defence barrister Tom Wainwright said there is “no way on earth” his client Mr Corner would reoffend.

However, Mr Justice Johnson acknowledged the prosecution’s position that Mr Corner “used considerable violence” to a police officer.

He denied Mr Corner bail, adding: “It is, however, a position that should be kept under review, particularly as the length of time that Mr Corner will remain on remand pending trial is uncertain.”

Their next hearing is on February 18.
Police Federation rebukes Polanski over celebratory Palestine Action trial tweet
The Police Federation has strongly rebuked Green Party leader Zack Polanski after he posted a celebratory message about the acquittal of Palestine Action protesters who broke into an Israeli defence firm—while failing to acknowledge that a police officer’s spine was fractured with a sledgehammer during the incident.

In a public letter, the national staff association for police officers in England and Wales warned Polanski that his comments “risk sending a message that injury to police officers is an acceptable consequence.”

The letter continued: “When an officer is seriously injured, basic human decency would suggest this fact warrants acknowledgement, whatever one’s views on the wider political cause or the outcome of the trial.”

The Federation also reminded Polanski that police officers “are not responsible for foreign policy or defence contracts,” responding to his remarks following the trial of six people accused of targeting Elbit Systems’ Bristol factory last year.

Confirming the letter had been sent, the Federation said: “While political debate and differing views on protest are entirely legitimate, the serious injury of a police officer during these events went unacknowledged. That omission matters.”

They added: “Police officers are not political actors. They are public servants enforcing the law impartially, often in highly charged and confrontational environments. When officers are seriously injured in the line of duty, basic empathy and recognition should transcend political positions. Public figures carry influence. How harm is acknowledged or overlooked sends a signal to those policing future protests. Empathy costs nothing. Its absence can have serious consequences.”


Holocaust survivor rejected from speaking to NYC students over Israel-Gaza war finally gives talk — gets no apology
A Holocaust survivor who was rejected from speaking to Brooklyn middle schoolers because of the war in the Middle East finally gave his talk Thursday — but got no apologies for being snubbed.

Sami Steigmann, 86 — who was denied a chance to tell his riveting story by MS447 principal Arin Rusch in December — said his presentation centered on combating hate and steered clear of politics.

“Did I say anything about Palestine, did I ever mention it? No,” he said at a press conference at the Boerum Hill school Thursday.

“The Holocaust must be taught forever and ever because it’s the best example [of] what hate can do — not only to a person, but to a group of people, to a nation, to the world,” he said.

“The whole world was involved in trying to annihilate only one group of people,” he said, adding, “Israel is disproportionately vilified.”

After his speech, Steigmann said he cordially met Rusch, who denied his earlier request to speak about antisemitism due to his pro-Israel views two months ago.

“I said, I hope that you find that I am qualified to speak, because at one time, she said that I’m not qualified to speak at public schools,” he said.

“And she said, I never said that.”

Steigmann still has no clue why he was rejected, or why the decision was apparently reversed — and that he’s received no apology from the school, he said.

“I don’t hold a grudge. It’s not important,” he said.

Rusch didn’t immediately return a request for comment from The Post Thursday.

Steigmann said the students’ inspired reactions to his speech made it all worthwhile.

“A number of [kids] came to me. They thanked me, they loved it,” he said.
Haverford College permanently bans protester who disrupted Israeli journalist’s talk
Haverford College in the Philadelphia-area suburbs has permanently banned an individual who disrupted a campus talk on Feb. 1 featuring Israeli journalist Haviv Rettig Gur, the college announced following an investigation by Campus Safety.

Video of the incident circulating on social media shows an anti-Israel protester draped in a keffiyeh using a bullhorn to shout over Rettig Gur during the event. The protester yelled about “children slaughtered by the IOF,” an acronym used by critics to refer to the Israel Defense Forces, and warned the audience, “When Gaza is burned, you will all burn too.”

After the protester was escorted from the room, Rettig Gur told the audience, “It crossed our field of experience and evaporated. And do you know what it was? The howling cry of a lonely, uneducated human.”

In a Feb. 4 letter to the campus community, Campus Safety Director Jerry Fayette stated that the college launched an investigation after witnesses observed “clear violations of Haverford’s Policy on Expressive Freedom and Responsibility.” The letter was provided to JNS by the college.

Fayette said the investigation identified “both the individual who used the bullhorn and an audience member who initiated physical contact” with that person. Neither individual is a student or a member of the Haverford College community, he said.

“As we conclude our investigation, the persons in question will be considered persona non grata, which bans them from our campus indefinitely,” Fayette wrote. “If they are found to be on Haverford’s campus, their presence will be considered trespassing, and the college will contact local police.”
University of Nebraska regents rule out Israel divestment vote approved by Lincoln student govt
While the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s student government approved a bill on Wednesday calling for the university’s divestment from Israel, Paul Kenney, chair of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, ruled out any actions on the measure.

“While the University of Nebraska respects student governance and our students’ right to voice their perspectives, the members of the NU Board of Regents do not have plans to act on the divestiture resolution,” Kenney stated on Thursday.

The motion, backed by Students for Justice in Palestine and titled the Divest for Humanity Act, passed by a 22-10 vote after several hours of debate on Wednesday night. It called on the university’s student association to explore divestment from weapons manufacturers, sought to encourage the university’s Board of Regents to amend investment policies and cited a “moral imperative” to oppose Israel, with added references to “apartheid” and “genocide.”

While the resolution mentioned other global conflicts, it only called for action against Israel.

SJP, which has been banned on multiple campuses across the United States due to its use of violence, harassment and other conduct violations, claims that the University of Nebraska’s system invests $9 million into defense contractors, including Boeing and General Dynamics, which do business with Israel.

Leo Terrell, chair of the U.S. Department of Justice Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, wrote ahead of the vote that SJP is “a group that has celebrated attacks by terrorist organizations and is now targeting American companies through its BDS campaign.”


How a Small-Town U.S. Magazine Published October 7 Atrocity Denial
In Northern California, just south of the renowned Silicon Valley, lies the small town of Gilroy, home to roughly 60,000 residents. Gilroy markets itself as a place defined by a tight-knit community and abundant nature. It is best known for its annual garlic festival.

That is why it is so striking to find a piece in its community lifestyle publication, Gilroy Morning Hill TODAY, about the Israel-Hamas war that is so far beyond the pale – so riddled with distortions and omissions – that it reads less like a misguided explainer and more like an exercise in moral inversion.

In “Finding Our Feet in a World Upside Down: Why Facts Matter in Our Small Towns,” Mike Sanchez, more troublingly the magazine’s editor, presents a narrative that does not merely criticize Israel, but systematically distorts the war itself: downplaying Hamas’s atrocities on October 7, including sexual violence now attested to by freed Israeli hostages, eyewitnesses, forensic experts, and international bodies, while omitting Hamas’s governing role in Gaza, erasing its responsibility for civilian suffering, and recycling a familiar catalogue of anti-Israel claims stripped of context and agency.

Rewriting October 7
Sanchez’s description of October 7, 2023, is revealing. He writes that “Hamas fighters breached the fence enclosing Gaza” and overran “21 Israeli settlements,” killing hundreds of Israeli soldiers and civilians. He claims they “stumbled upon” the Nova music festival, where festival-goers were hunted down, gang-raped, murdered, and kidnapped, violence he elsewhere casts doubt upon or dismisses entirely. He further suggests that the IDF was responsible for many civilian deaths that day, alleging soldiers were “instructed to kill everyone in sight, including comrades and civilians.”

Sanchez also writes that “Palestinian civilians who entered through the breaches were also caught in the bloodshed.” This phrasing erases the documented reality that many of those civilians actively participated in looting, assaults, kidnappings, and the abuse of hostages, including the scenes of Israeli hostages being paraded through Gaza and spat upon by crowds.

Perhaps recognizing, at some level, how offensive this framing is, Sanchez briefly acknowledges that October 7 was “horrific.” But the concession is fleeting. Gaza, readers are told, is equally “horrific,” before the article devotes the next page and a half to a familiar catalogue of false accusations against Israel, presented as settled fact.


Abbas's PA Election Plan Defies Reform
Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is turning the PA into a Soviet-style democracy in which everyone can vote, but only for one party. The PA is scheduled to hold municipal elections on April 25, 2026, and has issued several decrees in preparation, including one on Jan. 27.

The decree limits participation in the elections to lists and candidates that commit to the PLO platform and its international commitments. Since Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) do not accept the PLO's hegemony, they will be excluded from participating in the elections.

At the same time, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a murderous terrorist organization that has always rejected the Oslo Accords and openly rejects Israel's right to exist, remains to this day a member of the PLO and would be allowed to participate.

Moreover, while Hamas did participate in the PA's 2006 general elections, it boycotted the PA's 2017 and 2021 municipal elections and prevented those elections from taking place in Gaza. Yet Abbas will no doubt point to his success in preventing Hamas participation.


Paris court denies Jewish family compensation for stolen Baghdad home
A court in Paris has denied a Jewish family from Baghdad compensation for their former home, which was stolen from them and now houses the French embassy in Iraq.

In its ruling on Monday, the Administrative Tribunal of Paris said that it lacked jurisdiction to rule on the family’s claim and referred the matter to Iraqi authorities, should the family wish to further pursue it, AFP reported.

The claimants are descendants of two Jewish Iraqi brothers. Last year, they filed a claim for $22 million in back rent and an additional $11 million in damages from the French government.

The court adopted the position of the state verbatim, the lawyers representing the claimants, Jean-Pierre Mignard and Imrane Ghermi, told AFP in a statement. The court “considers itself incompetent: In other words, it is referring us to the Shi’ite court in Baghdad,” the lawyers said. “We think this is surreal. We will discuss further action with our clients,” they said, adding, “We will not let this stand.”

One of the claimants, Philip Khazzam, the grandson of Ezra Lawee, told The Globe and Mail last year that, at the urging of Saddam Hussein’s government, the French government ceased paying rent to the Lawee family and appears to have redirected the money to the Iraqi treasury.

In the 1950s, the Iraqi government nationalized Jewish property and stripped Jews of their citizenship. This led to a mass exodus of the Jewish community, with many immigrating to Israel.

Iraq’s nationalization and confiscation of Jewish property picked up pace significantly after the Ba’ath Party’s rise to power in 1968, with Saddam, then the country’s vice president, later becoming president in 1979.

Ezra and his brother Khedouri Lawee were wealthy, as General Motors’ concessionaire for a region of the Middle East. They vacated their home in 1951 under duress, relocating to Montreal. They managed to hold on to the title of their Baghdad home and had a caretaker look after it.

The brothers say that France started leasing the house as its embassy in 1964 and had continued to pay rent to the Lawee family through 1974, even after the Ba’ath takeover. Paris also paid rent to the Iraqi treasury at the same time.

The French stopped the double payments in 1974, Ezra Lawee told The Globe and Mail. The French would only explain that the Iraqis had sequestered the building, he said.

“You have France sitting in a house for 55 years, not paying rent to the family that owns it,” Khazzam told The Globe and Mail. “This is a world leader in human rights, and this is what they do?”
'Cheap Jew': NJ police officer punished for reporting antisemitism, lawsuit says
A Livingston, New Jersey, police officer has filed a lawsuit against the township, claiming he was punished after reporting other officers for making antisemitic remarks.

Officer Christopher Wagner, who has been with the Livingston Police Department since 2005, claims that several officers have repeatedly made discriminatory remarks and jokes about Jewish people, according to court documents.

During pro-Palestine and pro-Israel demonstrations in the township in 2025, some officers would comment to Wagner, “Your people are out there,” referring to demonstrators backing Israel, states the lawsuit, filed in Essex County on Jan. 30.

'Hebrew 500'
When officers were assigned to monitor traffic outside a local temple, some referred to the assignment as the “Hebrew 500,” a reference to the Daytona 500 speedway, the suit alleges.

One officer, who was not Jewish, often referred to himself as “a cheap Jew” in front of Wagner and others, the suit says.

On Nov. 25, 2025, Wagner says he found a book titled “The Jew” on top of his locker, which he reported to a sergeant.

The alleged discriminatory comments and harassing behaviors were also reported to township officials and managers, “who took no action in response,” the lawsuit says.
North Carolina neo-Nazi gets five years for threats to kill Jewish state rep, rabbi
Ariel Collazo Ramos, 32, of High Point, N.C., was sentenced to five years in prison—the statutory maximum—and then three years of supervised release on Wednesday for threatening to kill Georgia state representative Esther Panitch and the rabbi of Temple Beth Israel in Macon, Ga.

“Both women publicly backed the passage of Georgia House Bill 30, the state’s first legislation defining antisemitism,” the U.S. Justice Department said.

“Individuals like this defendant will face federal prosecution for criminal acts driven by hatred,” stated William Keyes, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. “This case underscores that crimes rooted in antisemitism and any hate crime against race, religion or protected groups will be prioritized.”

Rabbi Elizabeth Bahar, of the Reform congregation Temple Beth Israel, testified in front of the Georgia Senate Judiciary Committee to support HB 30, which Panitch cosponsored, in January 2024. The prior June, neo-Nazis had gathered outside the temple on Shabbat, as the congregation worshiped inside.

The morning that the bill was signed into law, Jan. 31, 2024, Ramos sent Panitch an antisemitic postcard, and he sent another antisemitic card to Bahar the following day, according to the Justice Department.

“At the time, Ramos sold candles, postcards and other products depicting racial, antisemitic and white nationalist themes out of his home,” it said.

The postcards that he sent to Bahar’s and Panitch’s homes referred to “gas the Jews,” Zyklon B (which the Nazis used to murder Jews) and Jews being rats, per the department.

“Both Rabbi Bahar and Rep. Panitch testified at trial the steps they took for their own safety in response to receiving the threatening postcards,” the Justice Department said. “Rabbi Bahar and Rep. Panitch had family members murdered by Nazis using Zyklon B during the Holocaust.”
Florida city adopts IHRA definition of Jew-hatred in unanimous vote
The city commission of Parkland, Fla., unanimously adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism on Wednesday, amending city provisions to guide how Jew-hatred and hate crimes are considered in enforcing local laws.

The ordinance creates a new section of the city’s code formally adopting the IHRA definition and incorporates language from Florida state law addressing antisemitism and hate crimes. City officials stressed that the measure does not restrict speech or infringe on First Amendment rights.

According to the meeting agenda, the ordinance is intended to “demonstrate the city’s commitment to combat antisemitism” and includes provisions governing implementation, conflicts, severability, codification and an effective date.

Public comment featured testimony from members of Parkland’s Jewish community, all of whom spoke in support of the measure. No speakers testified in opposition.

Rabbi Shuey Biston said he was speaking “not only as a rabbi but as a 28-year Parkland resident who has built a life here, raised a family here and believes deeply in the moral soul of Parkland.”

Biston referenced an incident involving a man who allegedly had writings and a manifesto describing violent fantasies, including targeting Chabad of Parkland and former Parkland commissioner Jared Moskowitz.

“That knowledge reminded us that antisemitism is not abstract,” Biston said. “It’s not hypothetical, and it’s not someone else’s problem.”

He said adopting the IHRA definition would provide clarity for confronting antisemitism, adding that it was meant “not to criminalize speech, not to silence disagreement, but to give our city moral clarity.”


'F*** Israel, F*** Jewish people': Teen charged for kicking door of Michigan Jewish center
An 18-year-old man has been charged for reportedly kicking the door of a Jewish resource center and yelling slurs outside.

The teen is facing a misdemeanor charge of prowling, according to court records. He is not affiliated with the University of Michigan, said Chris Page, spokesperson for the Ann Arbor police.

MLive/The Ann Arbor News does not typically name people who have not been charged with felonies.

The 18-year-old was seen on surveillance footage around 1:42 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 26, kicking the front door of the Jewish Resource Center, 1335 Hill Street in Ann Arbor. He could be seen running up to the door before kicking it and running away, according to footage shared by the Ann Arbor Police Department.

Someone can also be heard screaming “F*** Israel, F*** the Jewish people” as the man runs down the sidewalk.

There was no damage to the Jewish Resource Center, which hosts Shabbat meals and works as a community center for Jewish students.

The charge, submitted to the Ann Arbor attorney’s office, was authorized in November 2025 in the 15th District Court. He was seen Jan. 8 before 15th District Judge Karen Valvo and is set to be seen again on Feb. 12 by Judge Tamara Garwood.




Tel Aviv Stock Exchange up nearly 100% since Gaza war
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange reached record highs last year, outperforming global markets, including the U.S., despite the war against Hamas in Gaza and military strikes in Iran, according to data the TASE released on Wednesday.

The TA-35 Index of blue chip companies surged by 51.6%, and the TA-90 Index increased 46.6% last year, according to the TASE 2025 Annual Review. By comparison, the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 increased 17.9%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was up 21%.

Since the initial plunge in the Tel Aviv market triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, the TA-35 index has surged 98%, and the TA-90 index jumped 94%, the Tel Aviv bourse data showed.

Foreign investors purchased local shares worth $1.27 billion last year, primarily of companies in the financial and defense sectors, after a sell-off the previous year, the report showed.

Trading volumes on the Tel Aviv stock market also broke records last year, increasing 57% compared to 2024, to a daily average of $1 billion.

“The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s exceptional performance in 2025 is a testament to the profound resilience of the Israeli economy,” Yaniv Pagot, EVP/head of trading in the TASE, told JNS on Wednesday.

“Even amidst a complex multi-front conflict, our flagship indices reached historic highs, frequently outperforming global benchmarks and solidifying Tel Aviv as a premier destination for international capital,” Pagot said.


New Wingate papers shed light on British officer revered in Israel as ‘the friend’
The archives of Orde Charles Wingate, a senior officer in the British military during the pre-state Mandate period, arrived recently at the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem, offering insight into the mind of an extraordinary figure who is still revered in Israel over eight decades after his death.

Among the items given to the library are Wingate’s notebook, personal diary, detailed plans for the formation of a Jewish military, battle plans against Arab militias and dozens of photographs that had previously not been made public.

According to the National Library, the newly published archives further prove Wingate’s “deep identification with the Zionist movement and his significant contribution to the security of the state-in-the-making.”

Now known in Israel as “the friend,” Wingate arrived in then-British Mandatory Palestine in 1936 after spending a decade in the military, mostly in Sudan. He was assigned as an intelligence officer tasked with quelling Arab unrest that had ramped up in those years.

As an ardent Christian Zionist, Wingate quickly formed deep ties with Jewish political and militia leaders, believing that the formation of a Jewish state in British Palestine was of both religious and security necessity.

The young Wingate wrote extensively in his notebook and journal, using them to study Hebrew, which was quickly becoming the main spoken language among Jews in Mandatory Palestine.

The journal also shows Wingate’s fluency in Arabic, which he learned while stationed in Sudan, and his familiarity with counterinsurgency tactics that he would introduce to the Haganah, the paramilitary forerunner to the Israel Defense Forces, which had been struggling to organize against attacks by Arab militias during the 1920s and 1930s.

In 1938, Wingate formed the Special Night Squads (SNS), a joint British-Jewish militia force modeled in part on the famed British-Nepali Gurkha units, tasked with cracking down on Arab insurgency.

Yitzhak Sadeh, then-commander of the Haganah’s elite Palmach units and future founder of the IDF, sent Wingate 25 of his best troops, and the British officer drilled them into shape, turning the SNS into a well-oiled counterinsurgency force.

According to the library, Wingate’s SNS “operated in the Galilee and the Jezreel Valley and developed an innovative combat doctrine based on offensive activity beyond the boundaries of the settlements, precise intelligence, initiative, and covert night operations.”
600-year-old Hebrew prayer book sells for $6.4 million at auction
Sotheby’s sold a 15th century Hebrew prayer book, the Rothschild Vienna Mahzor, for $6.4 million on Thursday in what it said was “one of the strongest results ever achieved for an illuminated Hebrew manuscript at auction.”

The book, which the auction house called “supremely rare” and a “masterpiece of medieval Jewish book art,” sold to an online bidder, Sotheby’s said. It added that the book embodies “faith, sumptuous illumination and profound historical resonance in a single monumental volume.”

“It is extraordinarily moving to witness a manuscript of this magnitude continue its journey with such strength,” stated Sharon Liberman Mintz, international senior Judaica specialist at Sotheby’s.

The mahzor is “not only a masterpiece of medieval illumination, but a document of faith, survival and memory that has endured for more than six centuries,” Liberman Mintz stated. “Seeing it resonate deeply with collectors today—and begin its next chapter after restitution—feels profoundly meaningful for everyone who has cared for its story.”

The High Holidays mahzor, which was created in 1415 in Vienna, Austria, is the only of the top selling Hebrew manuscripts to have been restituted, the auction house said.

“Written in an elegant Hebrew script, the mahzor preserves the liturgy for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur,” Sotheby’s said. It added that the volume is “remarkably well-preserved and distinguished by an extraordinary provenance.”

“The Rothschild Vienna Mahzor is only the second monumental illuminated Ashkenazi mahzor to appear on the market in more than a century and is one of just three such manuscripts known to remain in private hands,” it said.




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