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Tuesday, June 23, 2026

06/22 Links Pt2: A Jew Among Jews; Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood: BDS is like “taking books off shelves”; Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Hélio Varela scores at FIFA World Cup

From Ian:

A Jew Among Jews By Abe Greenwald
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During Passover, the Free Press published a beautiful piece by Olivia Reingold titled “I Am an October 8 Jew.” In it, she describes how, after October 7, she began to reclaim the Jewish heritage she had all but abandoned as a child. Eventually, Reingold would find herself moved to tears during a recent Shabbat service, “a day that used to mean nothing to me, except more time to scroll online or work.”

I can’t say that I’m an October 8 Jew, as I was devoted to the cause well before then. But something about my Judaism has also changed since October 7.

I’ve long been a passionate Zionist, and I’ve felt that I owe everything to God. While I am a devoted believer, however, I’m a very negligent observer. Having come fully to embrace my Judaism only in adulthood, I’ve done slightly more than the bare minimum to maintain a personal sense of Jewish tradition.

Beginning a few decades ago, I went about kosher eating in my own way (and I’ve got my biblical justifications for it). I wrap tefillin in phases, the way others might go to the gym, slack off, and then resume. I pore over the Hebrew Bible regularly but in no regimented fashion. I tread lightly and humbly into the Talmud.

All of which is to say, I have cobbled together my own version of observance and continue to fine-tune it. Many Jews do the same.

Judaism, as I came to it, was about my relationship with my God, my place in history, and my inheritance. A lot of “my” was involved in this, but somehow “my people” barely came up.

October 7 changed me in this important respect. Before that day, I had never felt much of an ongoing obligation to my fellow Jews around the world. Of course, whenever I heard news of threatened or assaulted Jews, the bonds of history and faith would take hold. But they would once again recede. I didn’t think a great deal about how my actions or words affected the Jews of Australia, Asia, Europe, and elsewhere.

It hadn’t occurred to me that we were all, as Jews, in the same position. Because, at the time, we really weren’t. I was born well into the age of Jewish emancipation, and up until October 7, 2023, the overwhelming majority of the world’s Jews were counted foremost as individual citizens of their countries of residence. Their circumstances varied.
‘Fauda’ producers issue content warning regarding Oct. 7-based episodes
he producers of the action TV series “Fauda” warned viewers on Sunday that they may want to skip the upcoming episodes based on events during the Hamas-led massacre in Israel’s northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023.

“Episodes 7 and 8 [of Season 5], which will air tomorrow [now today] ... include content, sights, and sounds that may be difficult to watch. It’s important for us to say: These episodes return to that terrible day and stand on their own. If watching is too difficult, it’s OK to give up and connect with the season’s plot, which will continue in the episode that will air next week,” Israeli satellite television network Yes said in a statement on social media. The renowned show, which debuted in Israel in 2015, has aired in 190 countries.

The newest season of the series was filmed primarily in Israel and Budapest, Hungary, after plans to shoot its European segments in Marseilles, France, were changed due to security concerns.

It was rewritten to address the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks. The 11-episode Season 5 runs weekly on Yes in Israel and is distributed internationally on Netflix as well.

Israeli actor Idan Amedi, who played undercover agent Sagi Tzur in earlier seasons of the series, does not appear in the latest season due to the serious injury he sustained while fighting against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood compares boycott-led show cancellations to “taking books off shelves”
Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood has likened his gigs with an Israeli artist being cancelled due to boycotts to “taking books off shelves”.

In May 2024 and again in March 2025, Greenwood played in Tel Aviv with Israeli musician Dudu Tassa, incurring criticism from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. A pair of UK performances by the duo, scheduled for June 2025 in Bristol and London, were later cancelled following pressure from pro-Palestinian campaigners.

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) said those cancellations followed “peaceful BDS pressure”, citing what it called the artists’ “clear and irrefutable links to whitewashing Israel’s genocide in Gaza that has killed at least 62,000 Palestinians”. Its post also said: “Dudu Tassa has repeatedly entertained genocidal Israeli forces in between these massacres of Palestinians in Gaza, willingly acting as a cultural ambassador for apartheid Israel.”

Greenwood has now given an interview to El País, in which he was asked to compare his stance on playing in Israel to the cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa in the 1980s.

“I’m a fan of lots of Israeli films and writers and musicians, and the music I make with Dudu is resurrecting songs that are older than most of the countries that are currently fighting each other,” Greenwood responded.

“That’s always going to be more important to me,” he added. “There are bookshops in Madrid that are openly selling Amos Oz’s novels and he’s Israeli. To me, cancelling music is the same as taking books off shelves.”

Greenwood responded in a statement at the time of the cancellations, saying: “The venues and their blameless staff have received enough credible threats to conclude that it’s not safe to proceed.”

“Forcing musicians not to perform and denying people who want to hear them an opportunity to do so is self-evidently a method of censorship and silencing,” he continued. “Intimidating venues into pulling our shows won’t help achieve the peace and justice everyone in the Middle East deserves. This cancellation will be hailed as a victory by the campaigners behind it, but we see nothing to celebrate and don’t find that anything positive has been achieved.”


IN FULL: Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s address to the 2026 JNS International Policy Summit
Across the region, from Iran to Lebanon to Gaza, our enemies are seeking to rebuild, rearm and evolve in order to continue threatening our citizens and terrorizing our people. Israel is not opposed to a diplomatic outcome of the war. On the contrary, we seek peace. We dream of peace on all frontiers.

However, recent developments are generating serious, legitimate concerns in Israel—concerns that must be addressed—because we in Israel are in the line of fire. We are the ones being targeted by Iran’s empire of evil and its proxies. Iran has been threatening to annihilate Israel for decades. Iran’s desire to become a nuclear threshold state is therefore a tangible threat to Israel and world peace and cannot be enabled!

President Trump and American leaders have, correctly, repeatedly made clear that Iran is a threat to world peace. We must also address concerns regarding the financial components of the deal with Iran in order to prevent funds, which Iran will supposedly receive, from being funneled toward its war machine and its proxies.

As for Lebanon, let me be clear: The conflict in Lebanon should be resolved through negotiations between Israel and Lebanon—and not by Iranian extortion. Tying Iran to Lebanon not only leaves Israel exposed to constant threat; it leaves the Lebanese weak and powerless, and will prevent their president and government from moving forward.

Tomorrow, negotiations between Israel and Lebanon will resume in Washington, D.C., under the auspices of the Americans. The disarmament of Hezbollah must be inherent to any solution in Lebanon, and Iran cannot dictate the future of Lebanon—on these fundamental points there is full agreement between Israel and Lebanon.

President Donald Trump is a trusted partner of Israel. Our closest friend and ally and leader of the free world—the leader of the United States of America—has been staunchly combating the empire of evil and promoting stability in the Middle East. We value the president’s ongoing friendship and his administration’s clear stance regarding Iran’s nuclear plans and intentions. We share values and interests, and I have every confidence that together we can find the best formula to tackle this challenge.

I totally reject any derogatory statements aimed at senior officials in the administration.
Mike Huckabee Sits in AWE as President Herzog Sends Message To Trump on Iran!

Netanyahu adviser Caroline Glick says ‘truth will win out’ in battle against anti-Israel disinformation
Despite the rapid spread of misinformation against the Jews and Israel, Caroline Glick, international affairs adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that she is hopeful that the truth will eventually win out.

Speaking at the Second Annual JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem, Glick focused on what she called the “eighth front” in Israel’s war: the battle over information and the spread of anti-Jewish incitement.

“In the same time that information is spreading, disinformation is also being spread deliberately and with malice of forethought,” she said.

False narratives spread quickly, Glick said, because rather than encouraging people to think about how to solve problems, it causes people “to think about who to blame for your problems,” which is a “much easier sell” and aligns with people’s existing prejudices.

As an example, she cited an interview with Jeremy Boreing, co-founder and former CEO of The Daily Wire, in which he said that whenever he posts pro-Israel content on social media, he is inundated with accounts accusing him of being Jewish, which he is not, and targeting him with antisemitic attacks.

Glick said many of those accounts appear to be automated bots activated in response to pro-Israel messaging and designed to divert attention from the original content.

She argued that some online influencers have discovered that antisemitic content generates significantly more engagement than their usual material.

Such influencers, especially among the “woke Right,” have found that “disseminating antisemitic messaging and giving approval to others to feel comfortable in their own antisemitism or to adopt antisemitism as a calling card, even if they hadn’t really thought too much about Jews in the past” is a way to get more subscribers, Glick said.

Glick also accused major media outlets and universities—the “general institutions” that people rely on for truth-telling—of contributing to what she called a broader “complex of un-truth.”

She pointed to how the New York Times won a Pulitzer Prize for using a front-page image of a child with cystic fibrosis as a “blood libel” to say Israel is deliberately starving civilians in Gaza. The Times edited the child’s brother out of the photo, who appeared “healthy” and “well-fed,” according to Glick.
Judge orders pro-Palestine 'legal' body to pay UK-Israeli IDF soldier it attempted to prosecute
The International Center of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has been ordered to pay costs after failing to bring a private prosecution against a dual British-Israeli citizen (called Soldier A) who served in a reserve IDF unit after October 7, 2023. ICJP’s antics were also called “egregious” and “inexcusable” by the presiding judge.

ICJP describes itself as “an independent organisation of lawyers, politicians, and academics” concerned with the situation in Gaza. The attempted summons against Soldier A was the ICJP’s first private prosecution attempt.

ICJP made the application for the summons of Soldier A on November 6, 2025, with the aim that he be charged under Section 4 of the Foreign Enlistment Act 1870. However, UK Lawyers for Israel intervened and pointed out that the offense could only be committed by “a British subject” and that, by virtue of Section 35 of the British Nationality Act 1981, a British and/or Israeli citizen is not a British subject. UKLFI also pointed out that successive UK Governments have also explicitly stated that the FEA does not apply to British dual nationals serving in the IDF.

Judge Paul Goldspring of Westminster Magistrates’ Court ultimately ruled on April 8, 2026 that ICJP’s application was “fundamentally misconceived in law,” as the FEA does not apply to dual nationals.

“For a dual national, service in the armed forces of his other state of nationality is not ‘foreign enlistment’ in any meaningful sense,” Goldspring wrote in his decision.

The case, which had no legal basis, still failed due to lack of admissible evidence
Goldspring also said that Soldier A did not actually “enlist” on October 8, 2023, but merely reported for reserve duty pursuant to his existing liability under Israeli law.

He also dismissed the ICJP’s argument that Israel was at war with a state friendly to the UK (the FEA requires that a foreign state be at war with a friendly state).

Goldspring then went on to say that, even if the ICJP’s legal case were sound, “which it is not,” the application would still fail due to lack of admissible evidence.
What I saw in Israel changed the way I read the news
When I traveled to Israel earlier this month as part of a student journalism trip, I went expecting to learn about the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack, the war with Iran, and the broader conflicts involving Gaza, Lebanon, Hamas, and Hezbollah.

I had followed the headlines from the United States. I had seen the social media clips, campus slogans, and commentary from both sides.

Being there with The College Fix and Passages made the limits of that coverage obvious.

In the West, Israel is often treated less like a country and more like a symbol. For many on the left, it is the permanent villain, blamed for nearly every crisis in the region. To parts of the right, the conflict is reduced to an unwanted foreign entanglement, as if Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah are not part of a larger ideological and strategic threat.

Both views egregiously misrepresent the people who live with the consequences.

I stood at holy sites where Jesus performed miracles and gave his life. I also stood in villages and saw the devastation wreaked by Hamas terrorists three years ago on Oct. 7: bullet holes, blackened walls, posters with the faces of people who were murdered.

But the trip’s most important lessons came from the people I met directly: Israelis still grieving their dead, Palestinians explaining the complexity of life in the region, former IDF members describing the realities of war, and survivors whose stories made it impossible to dismiss the conflict as just another overseas war measured by its effect on gas prices.

The conflict is not a clean morality play. It is a long and painful history shaped by religion, conquest, exile, terrorism, failed leadership, regional power struggles, and the basic desire of ordinary people to live day-to-day without rockets overhead.

One of the most important conversations I had was with Shadi Khalloul Risho, an Aramean Maronite Christian and former IDF officer. His argument is not that Israel is above criticism. It’s that much of the criticism begins from a false history.

“The Jewish people didn’t come here on behalf of a mother country like Britain or France to exploit resources,” he told me. “One cannot colonize a land where his ancestors’ language is written on the ancient stones, where your kings ruled, and where your prophets walked.”


HonestReporting: There Were Two Refugee Crises in 1948. Why Does the World Only Know One?
In 1948, the same year Israel was established, over 850,000 Jews were expelled from Arab countries and Iran. Their property was seized. Their communities, some dating back 2,500 years, were erased. Libya had 38,000 Jews in 1948. Today: zero. Iraq had 150,000. Today: three. This is the story almost no one tells.

Dr. Henry Green, founder of Sephardi Voices and professor at the University of Miami, has spent 15 years racing to record the last testimonies of these forgotten refugees before the witnesses disappear forever. He's testified before Congress, presented at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, and his forthcoming book puts a forensic dollar figure on what was lost: an estimated $250 to $260 billion in seized assets.

In this episode of The Honest Take, Ben Chertoff sits down with Dr. Green to discuss:

Why the Jewish exodus from Arab lands has been erased from the history books
The Farhud, the Nazi-inspired pogrom in Baghdad in 1941 that most people have never heard of
Operations Magic Carpet and Ezra and Nehemiah, the secret Mossad airlifts that rescued tens of thousands
How Jews went from being ministers of finance in Baghdad to being stripped of citizenship overnight
The $250+ billion in stolen assets and the case for reparations
Why you cannot honestly discuss one refugee story of 1948 without telling the other
What the Abraham Accords could mean for recognition and reconciliation

00:00 The Ethnic Cleansing of Jews From the Arab World
01:58 How an Ashkenazi Kid Discovered the Sephardi World
03:19 The Founding of Sephardi Voices
04:46 Who Were the Jews of the Arab World?
07:08 What the Expulsions Actually Looked Like on the Ground
17:35 Secret Mossad Operations: Magic Carpet and Ezra and Nehemiah
30:49 Escape Stories: Dressed as a Muslim, Rolled in a Carpet
40:23 From Beirut to Baghdad: The Trauma That Followed Them
47:49 Were the Nazis a Factor in the Arab World?
57:00 Ashkenormativity & Why the Diaspora Has Ignored This Story
59:12 Testifying Before Congress and the UN
1:02:33 What Would Justice and Reparations Look Like?


Being Jewish with Jonah Platt: Call Me Back meets Being Jewish! Dan Senor and Jonah Platt FINALLY Talk Israel, Podcasting and More!
Finally, the Jewish podcast crossover you’ve been waiting for: Dan Senor, host of Call Me Back, the essential podcast for anyone trying to understand Israeli culture, politics, current events, and the world after October 7th, joins Jonah Platt on Being Jewish for a full on Podcasterpalooza.

Dan and Jonah go deep on why Call Me Back exploded after October 7th, how a podcast with no whiteboard and no master plan became a trusted home for Jews, non Jews, journalists, Israelis, and people around the world trying to understand what Israel is actually debating. Dan explains why the mission was never about slogans or spin, but about giving English speaking audiences access to the real, complicated, good faith conversations happening inside Israel.

If you want to go deeper beyond the podcast, join the Being Jewish Kehillah, our subscriber community that gives you access to exclusive bonus content, merch discounts, live office hours with Jonah, special community events, and more. Join the Kehillah today at http://beingjewishpodcast.com/join

In this episode, Jonah and Dan talk about October 8th Jews, why diaspora Jews felt like they were suddenly under attack, what it means to create a conversation people can trust, why left of center Jews feel politically and communally homeless, and why podcasting has become one of the most powerful ways to process complicated Jewish and Israeli realities in real time.

They also get into the future of Jewish life: why Jewish day school has become too expensive for too many families, what it would take to make Jewish education more accessible, why philanthropy after October 7th may be shifting, how adult Jews can find meaningful Jewish connection, and why this moment of crisis could still become a renaissance in Jewish life.

Plus: Dan takes on Jonah’s Israeli lightning round, Zeh or Zeh, including Mets vs. Yankees, Shabbat in New York vs. Shabbat in Jerusalem, Startup Nation vs. Genius of Israel, and the most important question of all, challah, rip or slice?

00:00 Podcasterpalooza: Call Me Back Meets Being Jewish
00:36 Why Call Me Back Took Off After October 7th
03:37 October 8th: Diaspora Jews Under Attack
05:00 A Safe Space For Good Faith Israel Debate
08:08 Where Good Faith Criticism Ends
12:41 How Is This Not Dan’s Day Job?
17:27 Why Podcasting Beats Cable News
20:33 Left Of Center Jews Looking For A Home
24:39 Jewish Education & The Cost Of Being Jewish
41:13 Dan Senor Plays Zeh Or Zeh


Collins accuses Platner of antisemitism, defends support for Israel
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) accused Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner of antisemitism and defended her support for Israel in a Fox News interview on Monday.

“I remain a very strong supporter of Israel, the one democracy in the Middle East, our true ally in the Middle East,” Collins said when asked about increasing hostility to Israel and AIPAC among the American public. She attributed such trends to “rising antisemitism in our country that Graham Platner certainly is part of, and has been since his high school days. That’s been a consistent theme throughout his entire life.”

Collins pointed to Platner’s accusations of genocide against Israel and his comments praising Hamas’ tactics in a raid that killed multiple Israeli soldiers, as first reported by Jewish Insider in April, calling his activity “appalling.”

“AIPAC is made up of Americans who care deeply about our relationship with Israel,” Collins continued. “Platner makes it sound like this is some sort of evil foreign influence, and that is absolutely wrong.”


Angry Coffee Shop Owner Who Smeared Jewish Rep Dan Goldman as a ‘Fascist’ Sipping ‘Genocide Juice’ Is a Graham Platner Donor Cited for ‘Filth and Flies’
A New York City coffee shop told a Jewish member of Congress—who brought his young daughter by the store— to stay away, saying his "AIPAC" money was no good there, and smeared him as a fascist who sips "genocide juice."

On Monday, Poetica Coffee, an East Village roastery, posted a surveillance image on Instagram of Rep. Dan Goldman (D., N.Y.) at its cash register and launched into an invective-laden screed against the congressman, who's locked in a tight primary race that's focused heavily on his support for Israel.

"Hey @repdangoldman, we see that you stopped by our shop today for a coffee. Do you see how it doesn't taste like genocide juice? Or are you still having a hard time telling the difference? See, here at Poetica, we don't serve racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers, or anyone in between," the account said.

"Too bad we didn't recognize you right away, or we would have turned you away. We issued you a refund—we don't need your money (it's probably coming from AIPAC anyways). Enjoy your loss on Tuesday. Don't ever come to Poetica."

In a response, Goldman on Instagram said he had stopped by so his daughter could use the restroom and had purchased a coffee out of politeness.

"I'm sorry to see this post. The barista could not have been nicer to my 7-yr-old daughter and me," Goldman said. "I made sure to buy a coffee in return for her kindness. I hope you at least make sure she gets the tip that she deserved."

The coffee shop is owned by Parviz Mukhamadkulov, an immigrant from Uzbekistan who is a donor to far-left Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner and who, closer to home, has publicly complained that his Brooklyn neighbors were not tipping enough.

The post instantly made waves on social media, and within hours of it going online, Poetica Coffee had taken down its entire Instagram account.

On its website, Poetica incongruously touts its "radical hospitality" and proudly notes that guests are "sacred" and "the door is open to everyone."


Ro Khanna signs pledge from antisemitic group TrackAIPAC to win endorsement
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) announced last week that he had been endorsed by the anti-Israel group TrackAIPAC, which has faced widespread accusations of antisemitism, after he became the first politician or candidate to sign a new “pledge” promulgated by the group.

TrackAIPAC has garnered ongoing accusations of antisemitism for its targeting of individual Jewish donors with, in some cases, distant or long-ago ties to pro-Israel organizations, fueling accusations that the group aims to broadly stigmatize Jewish political participation. Its inconsistent methodology and practices for determining which politicians it labels as “pro-Israel” have also generated criticism.

The group faced further scrutiny for endorsing antisemitic Texas Democratic candidate Maureen Galindo, though it belatedly revoked its endorsement after her antisemitic stances gained widespread national attention.

The “PEACE Pledge” requires signatories to reject any support from AIPAC, Democratic Majority for Israel, Republican Jewish Coalition, Christians United for Israel “or similar organizations and large donor networks promoting unconditional support for Israel” and to “reject spending and funds routed by groups like AIPAC and their allies through intermediary organizations or coordinated donor activity.”
Natasha Hausdorff: How Mayor Mamdani gets it wrong on international law and Israel
The false projection of this term and inversion of the allegation is no accident. It is calculated in order to inflict yet further harm on the Jewish People. Further to that, the Mayor’s invocation of this false claim renders the term “genocide” meaningless and dramatically degrades the credibility of the international legal framework and undermines the values it was designed to uphold.

Then there are the Mayor’s threats against the political leadership of a key ally of the US. Mamdani’s vow to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu in New York is certainly dangerous rhetoric, but it is also legally illiterate. Quite apart from this baseless threat being contrary to US federal law, it threatens foundational pillars of customary international law designed to uphold state sovereignty and facilitate international relations.

The Mayor’s own abuse of international law builds upon the abuses already on display at the International Criminal Court (the ICC) itself.

In pursuing its anti-Israel agenda and issuing arrest warrants against Israel’s Prime Minister and its former Defense Minister, the Court has acted contrary to its own jurisdiction, its own rules, and on the basis of demonstrably false allegations.

The canard of deliberate starvation is easily refuted by the publicly available information on the COGAT website, which documented throughout the war in Gaza the volume of aid which was facilitated into the Gaza Strip by the Israeli army. The pursuit of charges by the ICC despite the clear evidence to the contrary is demonstrative of the political agenda now pursued by the Court. The United States has been the sole nation to hold the ICC to account, despite not even being a member of the institution.

Mamdani’s position is hardly surprising, given his hardcore anti-Israel activism and hostility to the New York Jewish community. But his false invocation of international law should be challenged. His attempts to mask his hostility to Israel and the Jews by falsely deploying international legal concepts and phraseology should be called out.

Ultimately, the Mayor is simply peddling modern blood libels against the Jewish state through misuse of these legal terms that inverts their meaning. The impact on Jews is obvious. The impact on international law may be less obvious, but is no less dangerous.

What starts with the Jews rarely ends with the Jews. Anyone who prizes the freedoms of the United States—life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness—and enjoys the privileges of life in the Free World, should recognize the urgent need to challenge the weaponization of international law. Time is not on our side.
Mamdani amplifies attacks on AIPAC that drew outcry from Jewish groups
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani doubled down on his rhetorical assault on AIPAC on Monday, after Jewish groups over the weekend criticized his comments about the pro-Israel organization at a Thursday rally last week that they argued evoked classic antisemitic tropes.

Mamdani defended naming AIPAC among the “monsters who move dark money,” maintaining that he was quoting 20th century Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci’s comment about living in a “time of monsters.” But the phrase is a notorious and widely known misquote of Gramsci’s, though the mayor evinced no awareness of the inaccuracy — and backed up his argument with statistics from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry alleging the death of more than 1,000 Palestinians at the hands of the IDF since the ceasefire last fall.

“When I am speaking about AIPAC, I am speaking about an organization that has been supportive of the status quo, that has fought any attempt to actually deliver to not just people in Palestine but frankly through much of the region,” he asserted on Monday following an unrelated event at City Hall. “Oftentimes they also support the status quo through dark money, by filtering money that would’ve previously been directed from AIPAC, now through other shell organizations whose identities of their contributors are only made clear after the election.”

Candidates Mamdani has endorsed for Congress have received the backing of multiple large PACs, including Justice Democrats, that received money through organizations that mask the identities of their contributors through the exact mechanisms he lamented on Monday.


Progressive Long Island congressional candidate caught liking anti-Jewish posts: ‘horrible antisemitic and ugly’
A Long Island Congressional candidate’s social media “likes” are full of hate.

Suffolk County political hopeful Lukas Ventouras keeps giving the digital thumbs up to posts by Slums of the Hamptons, a year-old Instagram account studded with content which mocks Jews’ fears of rising antisemitism, lampoons Jewish celebrities and the Israeli Defense Forces.

The 25-year-old NYU grad — who faces off against 36-year-old Chris Gallant in the June 23 Democratic primary — is vying to represent tens of thousands of Jewish people in the First District, which stretches from parts of northern Suffolk County to include all of Long Island’s tony East End.

In May, Ventouras commented with a laughing emoji on a vile Slums of the Hamptons post that implied Jerry Seinfeld flosses with human organs from Palestinians, according to a review of his social media, a move which felt “like a gut punch,” locals said.

“It felt like he really identified with his horribly antisemitic post,” one Hamptonite lamented to The Post. “It tells me that he endorses this antisemitic blood libel.”

The law school student — who in a debate last month demonized Israel for “land stolen from Palestinians”— has also “liked” crass posts about Jews and trafficked in harmful antisemitic tropes from his official candidate account.


Who is Andy Burnham? Potential future UK PM's stance on Israel, antisemitism
Burnham was the mayor of Manchester at the time of the October 7 Hamas attacks. On October 13, 2023, about a week later, he released a statement condemning “without reservation the appalling attacks in Israel by Hamas.”

“Nothing justifies the taking of innocent lives in such a barbaric and indiscriminate manner,” he said.

He also acknowledged the heightened concerns of many members of Manchester’s Jewish community and said he had spoken to the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, who assured him that there would continue to be an increased police presence in all areas of the city-region with Jewish organizations.

Burnham also said that, while people must always be free to demonstrate peacefully and display flags if that is their wish, it is not acceptable to display “flags being used to provoke confrontation, displaying the flags of proscribed organisations, or the making of inciteful, hateful, and inflammatory statements.”

He then added that “Israel has the right to defend itself and protect its citizens in line with international law.”

However, just under two weeks later, on October 27, Burnham, along with the deputy mayor and local councillors, released a statement calling for a ceasefire at a time when hostages were still being held by Hamas.

“We condemn unreservedly the appalling terror attacks on innocent civilians in Israel by Hamas on October 7,” the statement read.

However, it added: “We also have profound concerns about the loss of thousands of innocent lives in Gaza, the displacement of many more, and widespread suffering through the ongoing blockade of essential goods and services.”

“Given the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza, the mayor, deputy mayor and the ten leaders of Greater Manchester join the growing international calls for a ceasefire by all sides, and for the hostages to be released unharmed.”

This was criticized by Adlestone, who said that, “although much of the content was well-constructed and demonstrated an awareness of the situation’s complexity, I agreed with the majority in our community that the request gave insufficient weight to Israel’s right and obligation to defend her citizens.”

At the start of this month, Burnham notably declined to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide, causing significant upset within the pro-Palestine space.

Burnham was reportedly asked about foreign policy during an interview with The Guardian and allegedly declined to say Israel has committed genocide, explaining: “I can’t judge things of that enormity from where I am as mayor of Greater Manchester.”

Pro-Palestinian activists and left-wing media sites have since been circulating a video clip from the 2015 Labour Leadership Election where Burnham said: “The first country I will visit if elected is Israel” and called the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement “spiteful.”
Keir Starmer resigns, hailing his achievement in curing Labour of antisemitism
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced his resignation less than two years after coming to power, triggering a Labour leadership contest with Andy Burnham seen as his likely successor.

In a statement outside 10 Downing Street, Starmer revealed his party had questioned whether he was best placed to lead Labour into the next general election. He said, “I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.”

Jewish Labour peer Lord Mike Katz paid tribute, telling Jewish News: “Keir Starmer was true to his word: he promised to rip the poison of antisemitism out of the Labour Party, and he did just that.”

Starmer spent the weekend considering his future with his wife, Lady Victoria Starmer, as support at Westminster dwindled.

Addressing supporters outside No.10 with his wife Victoria, Starmer explained: “The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead the party into the next general election. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party.”

Starmer said he had informed King Charles of his decision and asked Labour’s governing body to set a timetable for his replacement, beginning July 9 and concluding before Parliament returns in September.

During his speech, Starmer — his voice cracking with emotion as he praised his wife as his “rock” — reflected on leading Labour after Jeremy Corbyn and his efforts to root out antisemitism.

“Six years ago, I inherited a Labour Party that was politically, financially, and thoroughly bankrupt,” he said.

“I was told time and again that my party was finished, consigned to history—that a majority, let alone a landslide, was impossible. But we proved them wrong by changing our party: ripping out the poison of antisemitism, restoring trust in the economy, defence, and national security, and standing proudly with our national flag.”


A Parliamentary debate over ‘pro-Israel influence’ sends a dreadful message
At a time when the number of antisemitic incidents in the UK are running at near-historic levels, it beggars belief that, this week, our parliament will stage a debate on “pro-Israel influence on politics and democracy in Britain”.

Jews have been stabbed in the streets, murdered at their synagogues, and harassed and intimidated in schools, hospitals and campuses and, somehow, the real problem Britain faces is the alleged outsize influence of the “pro-Israel lobby”.

This is not parliament’s doing or the government’s. It’s the result of a petition pushed by a plethora of extremist groups – like 5Pillars, an Islamist news site, which hosts fascists and neo-Nazis like Mark Collett and Nick Griffin to rail against Zionists – clearing the 100,000 signatures requiring a parliamentary debate.

This debate is nothing short of an opportunity for centuries-old antisemitic tropes about Jews, money and power to be peddled and propagated in the mother of parliaments. It is a dark, disturbing day for Britain – a country which the Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, once described as “being good to the Jews” as well as “the Jews being good for Britain”.

As we all know, antisemitism has metastasized in recent decades. As the late Lord Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi, suggested in 2017: “In the Middle Ages Jews were hated because of their religion. In the 19th and early 20th century they were hated because of their race. Today they are hated because of their nation state, the state of Israel.”

Consequently, the myth of an all-powerful Jewish conspiracy pulling the world’s strings – most notoriously propagated by that infamous forgery, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion – has evolved over time.

But the essence remains the same: that Jews are engaged in a surreptitious and malevolent effort to subvert the national interest to promote their own agenda – and, when they’re caught out, they attempt to deflect criticism by raising the false charge of antisemitism.

This is unsurprising: anti-Zionism – the all-consuming hatred of the world’s only Jewish state which is today so prevalent in many of our public institutions and culture – was contrived in Stalin’s Soviet Union by a group of far-right nationalist authors who, as expert Izabella Tabarovsky put it, “rewrote the antisemitic conspiracy theory of the Protocols as a Marxist-Leninist critique of Zionism fit for consumption by Soviet Communist elites and the global left”.
Pro-Israel influence debate in Westminster sparks outcry over antisemitism
Parliamentarians from across the political spectrum have condemned the staging of a Westminster debate on alleged pro-Israel influence in UK politics.

A succession of MPs warned that its premise echoes antisemitic conspiracy theories at a time when Britain’s Jewish community faces mounting threats and attacks.

Monday’s debate, prompted by a public petition calling for an inquiry into the influence of pro-Israel groups, was held against the backdrop of increased antisemitic incidents in the UK.

Many MPs argued that the very nature of the petition risked legitimising age-old prejudices.

“Why is Israel singled out in this way? Why not Gulf countries, Iran, eastern Europe or the USA?” asked Andrew Mitchell, Conservative MP and former minister.

“The petition is being discussed at a time when the Jewish community are clearly under threat and are suffering numerous hideous attacks.

“I am not sure I trust the motivation of the petition organisers. I fear the whole thing smacks of an antisemitic conspiracy theory.”

Jewish Labour MP Peter Prinsley echoed these concerns at the debate, held in Westminster Hall.

“Shame on those who have orchestrated this regurgitation of antisemitic tropes,” he said. : It is ancient just as it is predictable. … The idea that Jews exercise hidden influence over politics, democracy and society is not new, it is an ancient conspiracy theory repeatedly used to isolate Jews, undermine social cohesion and stoke hatred.

“Let us come to our senses. We must reject antisemitism in all its forms, reject conspiracy theory dressed up as political analysis, and defend a politics based on evidence, decency and truth.”


Eight Palestine Action activists ‘planned Elbit attack to cause maximum damage’
Eight Palestine Action supporters allegedly organised an attack to cause “the maximum amount of damage” to an Israel-linked weapons manufacturer in the UK, a court has heard.

The defendants are jointly charged with criminal damage and violent disorder at an Elbit Systems’ factory in Filton, near Bristol, on August 6 2024.

None of them was at the scene at the time, but their plans included compiling an equipment list, reconnaissance, and purchasing tools and weapons used by others, Deanna Heer KC told the Old Bailey on Monday.

The prosecutor said in her trial opening: “The defendants in the dock may not have gone to the premises that night, but they are equally responsible for what happened there because they were responsible for planning and organising the attack and ensuring that it was executed so that the maximum amount of damage was caused.”

The plan was to “to shut Elbit down for as long as possible”, Ms Heer said.


Two terrorists killed after firebombing near Karmei Tzur
Israel Defense Forces soldiers killed two terrorists and neutralized a third during a counterterrorism operation near the community of Karmei Tzur in Judea on Sunday, the military said.

According to the IDF, troops identified several suspects burning tires and hurling fire bombs toward the community, endangering residents and security forces.

The soldiers opened fire, killing two of the terrorists and neutralizing an additional suspect. No Israeli casualties were reported.

The military said the burning tires sparked a fire in an area adjacent to Karmei Tzur. Firefighters were dispatched to the scene and worked to extinguish the blaze.

IDF troops launched a search for additional suspects believed to have been involved in the incident. The Israeli military said its forces would continue operating to thwart terrorist activity and maintain security for residents in the area.


Seattle soccer league glorifying terrorism used public parks without permits
A Seattle soccer league that has glorified terrorism and the Islamic Republic of Iran in its promotional materials has been using athletic fields at public parks without the required permits, according to Seattle Parks and Recreation.

JNS asked the department whether the Fedayeen Football League, which has hosted weekly matches at Cal Anderson Park in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood and at Green Lake Park, had obtained permits to use the public athletic fields.

“This group did not submit a permit for this event,” Christina Hirsch, a spokesperson for Seattle Parks and Recreation, told JNS. “Their athletic field use would need a permit, of which they did not have for either of these two advertised athletic dates.”

Seattle Parks and Recreation requires permits to reserve athletic fields and other park facilities for organized events and public gatherings. Organized sports teams are generally required to obtain field reservations or permits for scheduled games and exclusive use of park facilities.

The soccer club, which is named for the Arabic term for “those who sacrifice themselves,” has promoted its events with materials depicting armed militants wearing keffiyehs, missiles striking urban areas and clips from news articles referencing attacks on Israel and the deaths of Israeli soldiers.

Hirsch told JNS that even if the group had applied for a permit, the parks department “does not review or moderate marketing materials, fliers or social media content for permitted events.”


Pro-Israel candidate wins Colombian presidential election
Colombian conservative candidate Abelardo de La Espriella has clinched a narrow victory in Sunday’s presidential election, according to official results, in another gain for the right-wing wave sweeping across Latin America.

De La Espriella won 49.7% of the vote, and his left-wing rival, Sen. Ivan Cepeda from outgoing President Gustavo Petro‘s party, received 48.7%, with nearly 100% of the ballots counted in the runoff election.

A 47-year-old lawyer and political outsider nicknamed “El Tigre,” or “The Tiger,” de la Espriella pledged during the election campaign to open an embassy in Jerusalem and renew a strategic alliance with Israel.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar congratulated de la Espriella on his victory.

“The Tiger won, Colombia won!” he posted on X. “Congratulations to my friend Abelardo “The Tiger” de la Espriella on his impressive win in Colombia’s presidential election. We expect to work with President-elect de la Espriella to revive relations between Israel and Colombia and bring them to an all-time high.

De La Espriella will enter into office on Aug. 7.

Petro severed diplomatic ties with Israel in 2024 over the Gaza war triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack and expelled Israeli diplomats from the South American country.

The right-wing has made gains across Latin America, including in Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica, Bolivia and Ecuador, where voters concerned by high crime and a weak economy voted for conservative presidents in their most recent elections.


Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Hélio Varela scores at FIFA World Cup
Cape Verde winger Hélio Varela, who plays for Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Tel Aviv, scored with his first touch after coming off the bench in a 2-2 World Cup group-stage draw against Uruguay in Miami on Sunday evening local time.

Varela, 24, found the net in the 61st minute, moments after entering the match, helping Cape Verde secure a point. Born in Portugal, he represents Cape Verde at the international level.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry and Maccabi Tel Aviv highlighted the goal on social media.

“Looks like Maccabi Tel Aviv players are making an impact wherever they play,” the ministry wrote on X.

Maccabi Tel Aviv also celebrated the strike, posting in Hebrew: “One touch, and the rest is history.”


Yoga enthusiasts salute the Tel Aviv sun
Hundreds of yoga enthusiasts performed a series of 108 sun salutations at the Tel Aviv port on Sunday to mark the 12th International Day of Yoga.

The yogis and yoginis gathered at the invitation of the Indian embassy in Israel, which has been hosting the annual June 21 yoga event since 2014, when it was first declared by India as a global celebration.

This year’s event focused on the continuous sequence of sun salutations, a series of meditative and active yoga postures that warm up the body.

The number 108 has special significance in yogic philosophy, with 108 sun salutations traditionally performed in succession to mark transitions or major life events.

The 12th International Day of Yoga revolved around the theme of graceful aging, through yoga activities.

The sun salutation event was sponsored by the embassy in collaboration with the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality and EllaYoga, a Tel Aviv yoga studio.





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