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Tuesday, November 03, 2026

11/03 Links Pt2: The battle for the soul of Israel… and Britain; Australia heightening security for Chanukah after Bondi Beach massacre; Boy George at Nova memorial: ‘I stand with the Jews’

From Ian:

Australia heightening security for Chanukah after Bondi Beach massacre
Australian police are dramatically increasing their security presence for Chanukah next month following last year’s deadly holiday attack.

The police have deployed a newly established 250-member unit armed with assault rifles to conduct high-visibility patrols at major public events, places of worship, and crowded spaces.

The move comes after it emerged that only a handful of general-duty police officers were on duty during the Bondi Beach Chanukah attack in December 2025, despite earlier warnings by the Jewish community over a heightened climate of incitement to violence.

“There is no denying that seeing such heavily armed police officers on the streets of Sydney is deeply confronting, and as someone who experienced firsthand the horrific attack at Bondi, I wish it did not have to come to this,” Arsen Ostrovsky, head of the Sydney office of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) and a survivor of the Bondi terrorist shooting, told JNS on Monday.

“But the reality is that these measures have become necessary to protect not only the Jewish community, but all Australians, from the ongoing threat of terror.”

Australian Jewish organizations have long condemned the government for allowing a climate of incitement to violence following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre to run unchecked, saying it led to a series of hate-based assaults across the country that culminated in the Bondi attack.

Fifteen people, including a 10-year-old girl and an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, were killed by father-and-son gunmen in the shooting at Bondi Beach on the first night of Chanukah 2025.

About 110,000 Jews live in Australia, primarily in Melbourne and Sydney. This year, the holiday begins at sunset on Dec. 4.
Germany sees sharp rise in Islamist-motivated antisemitic crimes since October 7
Islamist-motivated antisemitic crimes are on the rise in Germany, according to a newly published response by the German government to a parliamentary question, citing Federal Criminal Police Office data.

German authorities recorded 670 antisemitic offenses classified as Islamist in 2025, a 6% increase from the previous year.

Greens MP Lamya Kaddor asked the federal government last month what figures it has regarding antisemitic incidents in Muslim or Islamist contexts before and after October 7, 2023.

Parliamentary State Secretary Christoph de Vries responded with data from the Criminal Police Reporting Service for Politically Motivated Crime (KPMD-PMK). This revealed 16 cases of Islamist-motivated antisemitic crimes in 2022 and 33 from January 1, 2023, to October 6, 2023. In the just three months following October 7, 2023, there were 331 incidents. This almost doubled to 631 in 2024, and now 670 in 2025.

Outlet WELT AM SONNTAG gained access to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) breakdown of incidents. It reported that almost half of them concerned the use of signs of banned organizations such as Hezbollah and the so-called Islamic State. In addition, the BKA registered numerous incidents of antisemitic graffiti, insults, and threats. The most serious was attempted homicide: a knife attack by a Syrian on a Spanish tourist at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin in February 2025.

6,548 antisemitic offenses reported in Germany across all ideological categories
On X/Twitter, Kaddor said: “Islamist antisemitism must be decisively combated, without placing Muslims under general suspicion.”

“For this, effective prevention, reliable data, and cooperation with Muslim communities are needed, instead of cuts and generalizations,” she added.

It is important to note that 670 is not the total number of antisemitic crimes in Germany in 2025. The nation recorded 6,548 antisemitic offenses across all ideological categories last year. Of these, 3,163 (48.3%) had an Israel-related connection. Right-wing extremism remained the largest ideological category.

Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews, told German media: “Today, Islamist-influenced hatred of Jews is being unleashed quite openly on the streets, at universities, and on the Internet.”
Toronto Conference Glorifying October 7 Massacre Hints at Terrorist Speaker Line-Up
Several terrorists have been teased as potential speakers a November conference in Toronto organized by a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, according to social media posts from October and November promoting the “Three Years of Al-Aqsa Flood Conference.”

The November 28-29 Canadian conference, organized by Masar Badil Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path, aims to advance “revolutionary” efforts in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks. In posts published in October 20 and November 3, keynote speakers were described as “liberated Palestinian prisoners.”

The term “liberated Palestinian prisoners” and similar phrases have previously been used by Masar Badil and its sister group Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network to refer to terrorists released as part of deals for hostages held captive by Hamas.

Code for Terrorist Guest Speakers
Masar Badil described Hamas international spokesman Hussam Badran as a “liberated Palestinian prisoner” in a February statement. Samidoun used the same phrase in its own statement about a Masar Badil webinar with Badran, who had been released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal. Samidoun used the exact phrase again in a November 2025 statement about terrorists released in exchange for October 7 Massacre hostages. In contemporaneous statements about the release of terrorists during the October 7 War, Samidoun consistently described them as “liberated prisoners.”

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine subsidiary groups have repeatedly hosted or organized talks featuring terrorists released in exchange for October 7 hostages. Hamas terrorist Othman Bilal, who was reportedly involved in the planning of bombings that killed 12 people, was featured alongside Masar Badil co-founder and Samidoun founder Khaled Barakat in a December 2025 webinar. Bilal spoke alongside alongside PFLP commander Nader Sadaqa in an April 2026 webinar in Argentina co-organized by Masar Badil. Fatah terrorist Nael Barghouti, who had been released in both the Shalit and October 7 War deals, spoke to participants in Madrid and Budapest in April events organized by Masar Badil’s youth movement Tariq El Tahrir and Samidoun-linked organization Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Movement. The latter group described Barghouti as a “freed prisoner.”

Samidoun and Palestine Action
Beyond the so-called “liberated prisoners,” other terrorism-tied individuals are expected to speak or attend the two-day conference. On Tuesday it was announced that Barakat, who was previously identified by the PFLP as a leader of its organization, is set to speak at a panel about the “red-green alliance” between revolutionary Islamists and socialists. Barakat was specifically sanction by the U.S. Treasury alongside Samidoun. Samidoun was listed by Canada as a terrorist entity, due to its close links to the PFLP, in a joint October 2024 action with the U.S. Treasury. Barakat’s wife and Samidoun international coordinator Charlotte Kates is also listed as a speaker.

Another speaker are representatives of Palestine Action Canada, a branch of the United Kingdom-based political vandalism network Palestine Action. Palestine Action was designated a terrorist organization by the UK in July 2025 and by the U.S. in August. Palestine Action Canada only recently claimed responsibility for an October attack damaging infrastructure belonging to GeoSpectrum, an Ontario subsidiary of Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems.

Another Palestine Action-link expected to speak at the conference is Calla Walsh. Walsh was one of the founders of Palestine Action US, and like Kates appears to now be based in Beirut. According to the Free Press, she is on a suspicious persons watch list, and regularly appears on Iranian-state media.

Other speakers appear to include participants in the protest encampments that paralyzed academic campuses worldwide during the height of the October 7 War.


The battle for the soul of Israel… and Britain | The Brink x Haviv Rettig Gur
In this special live episode of The Brink, Andrew and Jake join Israeli journalist and political analyst Haviv Rettig Gur in Jerusalem for a joint podcast to explore the future of Israel, the state of Britain, and the growing challenges facing Western democracy.

Haviv examines the fallout from Israel's election, the deepening divide between religious and secular Israelis, and why the country's political system may be struggling to hold its increasingly fractured society together. They also discuss Israel's Arab minority, the threat from Iran and the country's growing international isolation. Turning the tables, Haviv questions Andrew and Jake about rising antisemitism in Britain, mass immigration, Islamist extremism and the decline of British national identity.

The conversation also explores Europe's military weakness, the rise of political extremism, social media radicalisation and whether Britain and Israel can preserve the values and institutions that hold their societies together.

Chapters
00:00 Israel’s Future & The Crisis Facing Britain
02:16 Israel’s Election & The Battle For Its Identity
05:33 Netanyahu, Judicial Reform & Israel’s Culture War
09:55 Is Israeli Democracy Under Threat?
16:35 Why Israel Is A Nation Of Divided Tribes
21:51 The Arab Vote & Israel’s Changing Politics
28:39 Netanyahu, Iran & Israel’s Growing Isolation
32:32 Is Britain Becoming Like France?
41:55 Anti-Semitism, The Green Party & Europe’s Decline
49:23 Social Media, Radicalisation & The Future Of Western Civilisation


Ask Haviv Anything: 158: How do you defeat Iran's proxy armies? With Elizabeth Tsurkov
A note from Haviv to our viewers: Please excuse the video troubles. Elizabeth’s connectivity was limited for the first half hour or so of the conversation. But the audio came through perfectly and we didn’t want to scrap a deeply informative conversation because of those connection issues.

Episode 158: What actually holds Iran’s regional axis together, and why can't military force alone break it? Israeli analyst Elizabeth Tsurkov, now working on her doctorate at Princeton on these and other questions, has spent two decades studying the Arab nations most influenced by Iran’s regime. She also knows firsthand how Iran’s “proxies” in the region operate, having survived 903 days of captivity in Iraq at the hands of the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah.

She joins me to talk about the impending round of war with Iran, the lessons that she hopes were learned from the failure of the 39-day war to topple the regime in the last round, and how Iraq’s militias have evolved from ideological holy warriors into a massive state-looting racket that now bankrolls Tehran.

We also debate whether Israel’s post-October 7 buffer-zone strategy is backfiring in Syria, and whether Jerusalem is blowing a historic opportunity to strike a peace deal with Damascus.

Chapters
00:00 Meet Elizabeth Tsurkov and her regional research
02:43 Why Tsurkov expects renewed conflict with Iran
05:07 Regime change, uranium, and the limits of air power
08:59 What went wrong with the previous Iran strategy
14:50 A longer-term approach: hope, communications, and realistic goals
17:11 Why armed movements retain loyalty
21:24 Wilayat al-Faqih and the ideological core
26:07 How Iraq’s militias grew through wars and state weakness
29:50 Militia salaries, ghost fighters, and patronage
35:56 How militias extract wealth and influence Iraqi politics
42:26 Hezbollah’s institutions and recruitment in Lebanon
46:18 Captivity, education, and ideological narratives
57:05 How ideological thinking can produce strategic mistakes
01:00:54 Syria’s new rulers and the primacy of interests
01:02:48 Syria’s rulers seek power and room to maneuver
01:08:22 The missed opening for an Israel-Syria peace deal
01:12:53 Why Elizabeth questions buffer-zone strategy
01:19:23 From humanitarian ties to growing border hostility
01:24:45 Reports of detention abuse and its consequences
01:28:27 How trauma and political incentives shape Israel’s policy
01:34:21 How HTS changed in Idlib, and what drove it
01:41:01 Pragmatism at the top, radicalization in the ranks
01:48:19 Can societies move away from radical ideologies?
01:54:20 State weakness as a driver of radicalization
01:57:26 Why military gains need a political strategy
02:00:08 A book on HTS’s transformation and Israel’s knowledge gap


HonestReporting: Why Do Some Jews Turn on Israel? Benjamin Kerstein on the Elite Class He Calls Jews of Privilege
"I don't think any of the Jews of privilege see themselves as useful idiots. I think they genuinely believe that they are a caste of saints."

Benjamin Kerstein's new book, Jews of Privilege, argues that the Jews running interference for today's antisemitism aren't just a faction of the left. They're a class: the heirs of an old, assimilated Jewish upper class that dismissed Herzl, while Zionism has always been "the movement of the Jewish masses." He names names, from Peter Beinart and Ben Rhodes to Norman Finkelstein and Richard Falk, and he says the line between them and Jews who criticize Israeli policy is clear: "The tell is the hate."

He knows the other side from the inside. By the end of high school in Boston he was telling people Israel had no right to exist, until the second intifada changed his mind. The day after 9/11, a Boston University professor wrote ISRAEL on the blackboard and called it "the cause." Kerstein never took a class in the U.S. again, instead moving to Beersheva to finish his studies, where he ended up staying for twenty years.

He talks about the Mizrahi Jews, Russian immigrants and a Holocaust survivor who taught him what he calls "the horrors of life," and about the parvenu, the Red-Green Alliance and why young Jews sign on.

Asked whether anyone who has crossed the line can come back? "If I can be converted, anybody can." And he tells us what he would say to a Jewish student today who is standing where he once did: Do you realize what you're giving up?

CHAPTERS
00:00 Cold Open & Introducing Benjamin Kerstein
03:15 From anti-Zionist to Zionist
11:06 Who are the Jews of privilege?
17:26 Where's the line? "The tell is the hate"
28:34 The day after 9/11 at Boston University
31:26 What Beersheva taught him
40:10 "The horrors of life"
43:39 Sanders, Finkelstein and the parvenu
46:57 The Red-Green Alliance and "useful idiots"
52:56 Ben M. Freeman and "out of the tent"
55:30 "If I can be converted, anybody can"
58:31 Who he won't debate, and what he'd ask
1:02:33 The Inquisition question and a place to go
1:07:22 The Z3 Institute
1:08:40 Closing thoughts


Documentary exposing UNRWA corruption, Hamas involvement, screened for United Nations diplomats
A delegation of diplomats at the United Nations attended a screening of the documentary UNravelling UNRWA, which reportedly exposed corruption and Hamas infiltration of UNRWA, on Monday.

“In recent years, Israel has presented extensive evidence of Hamas's infiltration and exploitation of UNRWA's facilities and operations,” Danny Danon, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, said.

Danon claimed that UNRWA schools had disseminated incitement material, that UNRWA members had actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and that weapons had been discovered within its facilities in Gaza.

“The truth about UNRWA is coming to light,” he said in a post on X/Twitter after the documentary was screened.

Jeff Bartos, US Ambassador to the UN, said that "UNRWA has no future in Gaza.

"I have personally worked on this issue for more than 30 years. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, and that is exactly the story of UNRWA," Bartos said.

"President Trump's peace plan and Resolution 2803, adopted by the UN Security Council, offer a better future for the people of Gaza. I want to thank Ambassador Danon for initiating the screening of this important documentary about UNRWA."

The documentary is based on archival materials and interviews, including with former UNRWA leaders such as Scott Anderson and Peter Hansen, and won the Best Investigative Film Award at the 2025 Haifa film festival.
French judges investigating war crimes complaint against IDF over 2024 Beirut strike
France has opened a judicial investigation into a war crimes complaint over an Israeli strike on a residential building in Lebanon in 2024, lawyer Clemence Bectarte told AFP on Tuesday.

French-Lebanese artist Ali Cherri, whose parents were killed in the Beirut strike, filed the complaint as a civil party last spring alongside the International Federation for Human Rights, Bectarte said.

The crimes against humanity unit of the Paris Judicial Court has appointed two investigating judges to the case, she added, hailing the move as “a first.”

AFP has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment. The IDF has previously said it follows international legal norms, strikes only legitimate military targets, and has stressed that Hezbollah operates in civilian areas.

“For nearly two years, I have been fighting… to ensure that the Israeli bombing that killed my parents and five other civilians does not go unpunished,” Cherri told AFP of the November 2024 strike on the residential building in central Beirut.

“What happened to my parents is not an isolated case… I hope this investigation will help break the impunity enjoyed by Israeli officials responsible for attacks against civilians in Lebanon and Palestine,” he added.

The human rights group said the strike hit at about 5:30 p.m. on November 26, 2024, and destroyed a ninth-floor apartment owned by Cherri, as well as apartments on the seventh and eighth floors. The group identified the dead as Cherri’s parents, Mahmoud Naim Cherri and Nadira Hayek, and domestic worker Birki Negesa, among others.

The filing argued that the bombing of a civilian building could constitute a war crime under French criminal law and international humanitarian law. FIDH said it draws in part on analysis by human rights groups Forensic Architecture and Amnesty International.

Amnesty International said at the time it supported the case and that its own investigation found no evidence of a military objective in or near the building at the time of the strike. It also said civilians received no effective advance warning and that the attack should be investigated as a war crime.

The strike came during the 2023-2024 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which began when the Iran-backed terror group attacked Israel in support of Hamas in the wake of the October 7, 2023, massacres in southern Israel.

Some 80,000 residents of northern Israel were displaced due to the terror group’s near-daily attacks.

Israel responded with airstrikes and shelling, and the low-level conflict escalated into full-scale war in September 2024, with an Israeli ground operation in southern Lebanon and the assassination of longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior figures in the terror group.


Ben Saul Attempts to Whitewash $150,000 from China
At an October 22, 2026 UN press conference, Ben Saul, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights while countering terrorism, was questioned about his ties to China. The questions followed a UN Watch report revealing that China had contributed $150,000 to his mandate in 2024, as documented in the UN’s 2024 Special Procedures Facts & Figures report, as well as allegations concerning his close personal ties to a Chinese Communist Party official.

Saul’s claims in response raise several questions which are examined below:



Claim: “China is the second largest contributor to the United Nations budget. Of course, it’s going to fund UN mechanisms.”

Rebuttal: Saul initially suggested that China’s $150,000 contribution was part of its ordinary funding of the United Nations. He emphasized that China is “the second largest contributor to the United Nations budget,” adding that “of course” it funds “United Nations mechanisms, including the human rights system.” He also described the funds as “an allocation which goes to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.”

However, the $150,000 did not come from China’s assessed contributions to the UN regular budget. It was a separate, voluntary contribution specifically earmarked for Saul’s mandate.

Moreover, Saul subsequently contradicted his own suggestion that China’s contribution was part of its ordinary UN funding, asserting that his “mandate and many others get no UN regular budget funding.” Not only did this undercut his earlier explanation, but the assertion itself was false. As OHCHR’s own website makes clear, Special Procedures mandates do receive support from the UN regular budget for various activities, including travel to Geneva and New York to present reports to the Human Rights Council and General Assembly, participation in annual meetings, country visits, and other mandated activities.

This regular-budget support is provided through the UN system and is not separately reported as voluntary contributions in the annual Special Procedures Facts & Figures reports.

Thus, Saul’s explanation was misleading in two respects. First, by invoking China’s status as a major contributor to the UN budget, he obscured the distinction between its mandatory contributions and its separate, earmarked funding of his mandate. Second, his categorical assertion that his mandate receives “no UN regular budget funding” ignored the regular-budget support that OHCHR itself identifies as available to Special Procedures.
What is the importance of Qeshm Island to Iran, why does the US keep targeting it?
The US carried out strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island overnight. This is not the first time the United States has struck the island. In June, it targeted Iranian surveillance installations on Goruk and Qeshm Island. This came after Iran launched drone threats from the area. Al-Ain media in the United Arab Emirates calls the island an “eye” on Hormuz and also a “blind spot” in Iran’s defenses.

The dual nature of the island, as both a threat and a vulnerability to the Iranian regime, is interesting. The same geography that enables Iran to threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz also exposes its military infrastructure to US strikes.

According to Al-Ain News, American forces carried out strikes on Qeshm Island on Monday. The report cited US media accounts and officials who indicated that the strikes were limited in scope. One US official told Reuters that the attacks “appeared to be limited and did not represent a resumption of large-scale combat operations.”

The reported strikes came amid continuing tensions between Washington and Tehran and renewed questions about whether the United States might expand military operations against Iran.

Al-Ain noted that Qeshm is located approximately 22 kilometers south of Bandar Abbas, the Iranian port city that serves as an important center for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy. The island is more than 130 kilometers long and therefore has a lot of coastline threatening the Strait of Hormuz. It is also around 40 kilometers wide at its widest point.

The location of the island gives Iran the ability to monitor shipping and deploy forces to threaten vessels moving through the strait. Tehran has invested heavily in various types of naval threats via the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which uses small, fast boats. Iran also has anti-ship missiles, drones, and coastal surveillance systems.

Al-Ain News reported that Qeshm contains extensive underground military infrastructure associated with the IRGC. These facilities reportedly include weapons depots, missile launch platforms, radar installations, and fortified shelters for naval vessels.


Lebanon's Failure to Confront Hizbullah Leaves Israel No Choice but to Act
Washington has grown deeply skeptical of the Lebanese government's capacity or political will to curb Hizbullah.

Because major state decisions require consensus or involve officials whose political survival depends on avoiding a direct, catastrophic civil clash with Hizbullah, the central government and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) face a profound structural paralysis.

Asking a government heavily influenced or constrained by these power dynamics to dismantle its most powerful armed faction is treated as asking the system to dismantle itself.

The LAF is either unable or unwilling to police Hizbullah's revival efforts aggressively.

This directly undermines the logic of transitional security frameworks such as those discussed during the U.S.-mediated talks at CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa, Florida.

International guarantees that the Lebanese state can police its own territory, such as south of the Litani River, lose all credibility.

If the Lebanese state will not dismantle Hizbullah's infrastructure, Israel reserves the right to act unilaterally without being bound by past constraints or unverified local assurances.


IDF indicted 'fair number' of soldiers over Gaza conduct, 'NAZA' film, military legal chief reveals
IDF Military Advocate-General Maj.-Gen. Itay Offir revealed for the first time on Tuesday that the MAG Corps has filed “a fair number of indictments” against IDF soldiers relating to their conduct in Gaza.

The Jerusalem Post has clarified with IDF sources that “a fair number” meant around five indictments. Two of these indictments related to charges of theft from Palestinians and three to charges of criminally beating Palestinians.

In mid-October, the IDF disclosed for the first time that it has disciplined “dozens” of soldiers for their conduct in Gaza, but Offir’s statement at the Jerusalem conference of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists was the first public mention of multiple criminal indictments.

In addition, Offir revealed that the IDF has obtained convictions against 12 soldiers for criminal actions in the West Bank.

The Post has clarified that most of the convictions related to criminal violence against detainees at the time of their arrest or while bringing them to their detention cells.

For example, it is public record that the IDF has probed or indicted some soldiers for criminal violence against Palestinians, but also against Western foreigners, including members of the media and foreign diplomats.

Offir said that the IDF is working very hard and has adapted new tools, such as prohibiting face coverings, using electronic ankle cuffs, and other means to try to get a handle on Jewish extremist violence.

“We have not yet managed to stop this violence, and a great deal of work lies ahead, but we will work tirelessly to fulfill our responsibility,” to protect both Jews and Palestinians in the West Bank.

Next, Offir said several additional likely indictments against IDF soldiers were on the way, but they were still at the pre-indictment hearing stage (meaning post-investigation), giving soldiers a chance to talk the IDF prosecutor down from their case before a final decision is made.

Previously, Offir said that the IDF opened 150 criminal investigations relating to the war, including the treatment of Palestinian detainees.


IDF Avoids Targeting Hamas Municipal Officials in Gaza
Military sources confirmed to Walla that an IDF decision not to target heads of Hamas local authorities stems from a tangible concern that this could lead to the collapse of governing institutions in Gaza and trigger civilian chaos that Israel would ultimately have to deal with.

At the same time, the IDF and Israel Security Agency are carrying out two to three targeted killings each day against terrorists and Hamas commanders. The killings include terrorists who participated in the Oct. 7 massacre, as well as others preparing attacks against Israel or taking part in rebuilding Hamas's terrorist infrastructure.

Over the past year, there has been a dramatic improvement in developing human intelligence sources on the ground in Gaza. Today, the defense establishment is able to closely track senior terrorists. Hamas has been severely weakened, with fewer hiding places, fewer tunnels, and, above all, a significant shortage of senior commanders with operational experience.


6 West Bank Palestinians arrested for trying to build rockets to launch at Israel
Six Palestinians from the Jenin area in the northern West Bank were arrested for attempting to build rockets to launch at Israel, the Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police announced on Tuesday.

The investigation by the Shin Bet and police uncovered a terror network that had manufactured a rocket and explosive devices and had conducted at least three launch tests, according to a joint statement.

“The investigation also revealed that the cell received information via a messaging app concerning materials required to manufacture explosives, from an outside source who was in contact with the main suspect in the affair,” the Shin Bet and police said.

The main suspect confessed to having established the cell and gave up his fellow members. He claimed the rocket tests had shown successful results in power and range, and that after each test, the cell made improvements ahead of the next.

Another suspect confessed to helping the cell obtain explosives.

Forces seized several weapons, including an assault rifle and an RPG, along with “written materials containing information and instructions for manufacturing explosives, rockets and explosive devices intended for use against the State of Israel and security forces,” the statement said.


Francesca Albanese Media Report: Truth Buried Under Cherry-Picking and Selective Sourcing
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese’s October 25 report engages in selective evidence, hypocrisy, and unprofessional conflations to advance a predetermined narrative that Israel has deliberately targeted Gazan journalists and media infrastructure.

Her report supposedly details how truth is being destroyed as part of a genocidal act in Gaza, which she describes as “mediacide.” Not only does Albanese allege that the Israeli military has a policy of “silencing the witnesses” in Gaza, but also that Israeli media is complicit in genocide through incitement, and international media has adopted Israeli narratives and rhetoric.

Albanese repeatedly makes dramatic allegations, detailing smaller cherry-picked issues that are insinuated to be connected solely through juxtaposition. Any act or consequence that impacts the subject is inevitably by Israeli design and representative of a broader trend. Evidence to the contrary, even published by sources she otherwise regularly cites, has been ignored in the report. The chief among such unsubstantiated claims is her overarching framing that “Israel has systematically sought to silence Palestinian journalism to obscure its oppression of the Palestinian people and avoid accountability.”

Ignoring Terrorists’ Own Admissions About Journalists
The UN rapporteur claimed that since the October 7 Massacre, almost 300 journalists were killed in the war, with almost 70 ostensibly for their work and the others in “indiscriminate” attacks. Aside from the fact that allegations of indiscriminate attacks would be contradictory to claims of a targeted campaign against the journalists, the UN report did not present any new research on the matter, but instead laundered older unverifiable UN claims. The figure cited by Albanese was rounded up from the number produced by the office of UNHCR commissioner Volker Türk. Türk’s office has not published data on this claim for verification, and the figure far exceeds the highest count in any open database, with the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) recording only 262. Albanese does cite PJS eight times, though it is a partisan Fatah organization whose leadership endorses and supports terrorism and terrorists.

The report claims that Israel justified the death of many of these supposed Gazan journalists by branding them combatants, further indicating that any such allegations were nothing but systematically manufactured smears. Albanese appeared to ignore the volumes of evidence that show that terrorists have been widely passed off as journalists. Open-source intelligence collection has shown how family members have eulogized them as Mujahid fighters, such as Al-Sahel Media journalist Yasser Abu Namous, whose wife posted a video of him in military uniform and whose sister called him an Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades fighter. Terrorist organizations have published dozens of martyr posters detailing the membership and military role of supposed journalists within their organizations. This included Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operative and Al-Elamya News Agency photographer Ahmed Abu Skheil, who was killed in the same airstrike as his father, senior Al-Quds Brigade officer Mohammed Abu Skheil, and his sister, freelance journalist Zahraa Abu Skheil.

Not only did Albanese ignore the admissions of terrorist groups and the families of terrorists, but she also selectively ignored the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that she cited regularly throughout the report. With a September 24 audit, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an NGO cited 22 times in the Albanese report, removed 22 media workers from their slain Gazan journalist database for being combatants or non-journalists. This was in addition to the 11 that had been previously removed. An HonestReporting audit found that their database is still half composed of individuals with terrorism ties. By September, the International Federation of Journalists removed several names from their list of media workers, many of which were also removed from the CPJ database. Reporters Without Borders removed five terrorists from its database by October. IFJ and RSF were cited four and three times in the report, respectively. Despite multiple citations of these organizations, Albanese did not note their removal of combatants from amongst alleged journalists.

As evidence for Albanese’s claim that the IDF deliberately targeted media workers, the report cited the August 25, 2025 Nasser Hospital strike, claiming that it was an example of a double tap strike tactic to murder journalists. While Albanese dismissed IDF claims that troops believed that they were targeting a Hamas camera, she didn’t acknowledge that two Hamas terrorists and one Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist were killed in the incident. Another incident that Albanese cited in her report was the April 8, 2026 drone strike that killed Mohammed Washah. The IDF has produced photographs of Washah armed and with Hamas personnel.


Philadelphia anti-Israel groups to stage ‘boycott ride’ past Jewish-owned restaurants on eve of Kristallnacht anniversary
Philadelphia anti-Israel groups are planning a bicycle ride targeting Jewish-owned businesses on the eve of the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the 1938 Nazi-orchestrated pogrom against Jews in Germany and Austria.

The “Boycott Ride,” organized by Philly Bike On Your Left in collaboration with Boycott CookNSolo and Philly Solidarity Calendar, is scheduled for Nov. 8 at 11:30 a.m. at Rittenhouse Square in the heart of Center City. A flier promoting the event states, “No business for Zionists,” adding, “These Zionist establishments must go.”

The flier names several Philadelphia businesses, including Dizengoff, a modern Israeli restaurant; Huda, a sandwich shop; Schlesinger’s Restaurant and Delicatessen, a Jewish deli; Mac Mart, a macaroni-and-cheese kiosk; K’Far Cafe, an Israeli cafe; and Goldie, a kosher falafel shop.

“Ride around Rittenhouse with us as we show these zio business owners that we see them for the disgusting humans they are,” organizers wrote.

The Anti-Defamation League of Philadelphia, American Jewish Committee of Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and StandWithUs released a joint statement on Monday calling the boycott ride “Jew-hatred, plain and simple.”

“The ride falls on the eve of the anniversary of Kristallnacht, Nov. 9-10, 1938, when Nazi-organized mobs destroyed thousands of Jewish businesses, homes and synagogues in Germany and Austria, while thousands of Jews were beaten, assaulted and sent to concentration camps,” the groups stated.

“The public targeting of Jewish businesses should alarm every person of conscience,” they stated. “No business should be targeted because of the identity, heritage or perceived political beliefs of its owners.”

The groups called on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, District Attorney Larry Krasner and other elected officials to condemn the campaign. They also urged the Philadelphia Police Department to ensure the safety of the businesses, their employees and customers. (JNS sought comment from the department.)

The statement also urged Philadelphians to patronize the targeted businesses in a show of solidarity, calling on residents to “counter this discriminatory boycott with increased business and visible solidarity.”
Fetterman, McCormick condemn planned rally against Jewish-owned Philly businesses
Pennsylvania Sens. Dave McCormick (R-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) condemned the planned “Boycott Ride” in Philadelphia this weekend that aims to force Jewish and Israeli-owned businesses out of the city and has sparked alarm in the Jewish community.

Local Jewish groups condemned the rally, which will take place the day before the anniversary of Kristallnacht, as blatantly antisemitic and intended to intimidate the Jewish community.

“This ‘Boycott Ride’ is a disgusting attempt to intimidate Philadelphia’s Jewish businesses. This isn’t the first time Jewish [businesses] were targeted in Philadelphia,” McCormick said in a statement to Jewish Insider. “This is pure, unadulterated antisemitism and echoes some of the darkest chapters of human history. Philadelphians should recognize that the low-lives planning to participate are infected with a deeply sick ideology. My office plans to closely monitor the situation, stand by to assist where we’re able.”

Fetterman, in a statement, expressed solidarity with the business targeted.

“I am proud to stand with these Jewish and Israeli-owned businesses, Philadelphia’s Jewish community and Israel,” Fetterman said. “This ‘Boycott Ride’ in Philadelphia is the Left’s pro-Hamas, Jew-hating, BDS assholes-on-wheels. Every Democrat of conscience should condemn this sick parade of rank antisemitism.”


UK government legally challenged over IHRA antisemitism definition being adopted in British schools
The UK government is facing a legal challenge for encouraging English schools and colleges to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism as part of a sweeping package of reforms.

The recommendation followed a review of antisemitism in schools and colleges in England which said schools and colleges across England must recognize antisemitism as a distinct category of harm.

The review revealed that one-in-five students overall reported witnessing antisemitism, while many cases went entirely unreported by students and teachers due to a lack of confidence that the incidents would be properly addressed.

However, lawfare NGO the Good Law Project has announced its plans to sue the UK government over the IHRA policy.

Following alleged talks with "Palestinian parents and students, as well as academics," Good Law wrote to the UK government on Monday setting out its proposed grounds of challenge and seeking more information about the policy.

"Whether we sue depends on what the UK Government says, but if we do not sue we will share any surplus equally between the Magical Breakfast and Medical Aid for Palestinians," it said.

Good Law Project said schools have legal duties not to "promote partisan political views" and duties to protect free expression.

It called "vigorous" criticisms of Israel’s "appalling actions" "necessary in a moral society," and strongly condemned the IHRA definition which it said prohibits criticism of Israel.

"So, students whose family members have been killed by Israel’s destruction of large parts of Gaza will not be able to say Israel is a racist state or that its actions are reminiscent of the Shoah – the genocide carried out against Jews?," it added, drawing a parallel between Gaza and the Holocaust.


Canada narrowly avoided Yom Kippur synagogue ‘massacre,’ survivors say
Canada came “razor-close” to what could have been “one of the worst mass-casualty events in Canadian history” and the “utter decimation of a small Jewish community” when a gunman opened fire outside a synagogue in Belleville, Ontario, on Yom Kippur, a survivor of the attack said on Monday.

“Even now, I have to admit that it’s difficult to think back to the events in the past month, and causes me and others, I’m sure, a great deal of pain, as the scene that we witnessed inside the synagogue continues to play over and over in my head,” Shima Vigodda, vice president of the Sons of Jacob Synagogue, which was targeted on Sept. 20, said at a press conference on Parliament Hill.

“Hearing the shots, yelling for people to get down, hearing the glass breaking and screams, watching parents hold their children, seeing the fear and panic on people’s faces, not knowing what the next moment would bring,” Vigodda said.

Vigodda spoke about six weeks after the attempted mass shooting, in which Sean Ward, 29, of Quinte West, Ontario, opened fire with a shotgun outside the synagogue, as congregants gathered for High Holiday services.

The shooter died from his injuries in the hospital on Sept. 21.* No congregant was injured.

Chris Malette, a Liberal parliamentarian representing Bay of Quinte, which is about 120 miles east of Toronto, who has lived in Belleville for 47 years, praised the officers who confronted Ward.

“It was only but for divine intervention, as the solicitor general said, that the officers were there on site to truly save what would have been, I think by all accounts, a massacre,” Malette said.
Israel to file UEFA complaint against Ireland over coach's 'genocide' remarks
The Israel Football Association (IFA) planned to file a formal complaint with UEFA against the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), citing comments by Irish national team coach Heimir Hallgrimsson accusing Israel of "genocide", as well as protests by Irish players during Israel's national anthem, The Times reported on Monday.

The complaint was also expected to address the treatment of Israeli journalists during press conferences before and after the two countries' Nations League matches, according to a separate N12 report.

“We are not playing with genocide; we are playing against genocide. We are playing against Israel; we are not playing with Israel," Hallgrimsson said ahead of the September fixtures.

Irish players also bowed their heads during Israel's national anthem and did not participate in pre-match handshakes, N12 reported. A press conference was also interrupted following heated exchanges involving Israeli journalists.

UEFA examines Israeli fans' conduct
The planned complaint came as UEFA was separately examining allegations of racist chants by Israeli supporters directed at Irish players during the matches. The IFA denied the allegations, according to N12.


South Africa is first country to ban antisemitic conspiracy film saying Jews now aren't 'real Jews'
South Africa has become the first country to issue a nationwide ban on screening and distribution of an antisemitic film that claims Black people are the "real Jews."

Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America is a 2018 film that puts forward the theory that Black Hebrew Israelites are the true descendants of biblical Israelites, and that today’s Jews are not the real Jews. The film also claims there is an international Jewish conspiracy that aims to defraud Black people.

It was screened in June 2023 at the Soweto Theatre in South Africa, and the film was reported to the ombudsman by the local Jewish community.

South Africa's FPB found it 'fundamentally fails' to meet criteria for a documentary
On Monday, South Africa’s Film and Publication Board (FPB) announced its decision to refuse to classify the movie for broadcasting and distribution. The ban does not apply to the book of the same name, from which the film is derived.

FPB found the film to “advocate hatred based on an identifiable group characteristic and constitutes incitement to cause harm based on Holocaust denial, dehumanization, and the promotion of antisemitic views and prejudicial language.”

“Acknowledging that a bona fide documentary must adhere to historical accuracy, by denying the Holocaust, the film fundamentally fails this criterion,” the FPB said in its statement.

The board warned that any person who knowingly broadcasts, distributes, or exhibits the film in public, offers it for sale or hire, or advertises it for exhibition, sale, or hire, will be guilty of an offense. This could be a fine not exceeding R500,000, imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years, or both a fine and imprisonment.

The FPB said the film was found to constitute incitement to cause harm on the basis of Holocaust denial – due to its assertion that the Holocaust is a “falsehood” – and on the basis of dehumanization of Jews and antisemitic views such as referring to Jews as “parasites among the nations.”
Ex-public servant in Bondi synagogue bomb hoax and abuse cases leaves government
A former senior NSW public servant charged over an alleged bomb hoax outside a Bondi synagogue and for allegedly abusing a senior Jewish leader is no longer employed by the Department of Communities and Justice.Francine Clough, 67, a Bondi resident who had worked for the department since 2010 primarily in the domestic violence area, appeared this month at Parramatta’s Industrial Relations Commission against her former employer. The Sunday Telegraph reported that she is no longer employed by the DCJ. She had been stood down after being charged in mid-2025.

A conciliation conference was mediated by Commissioner Janine Webster, who directed that a discontinuance notice be filed as soon as practicable. The matter had been listed to return in November.

A department spokeswoman said the DCJ was unable to comment because of ongoing proceedings. A DCJ spokeswoman told the Telegraph that the department was unable to comment, given the current proceedings and Clough did not respond to the paper’s inquiries.

Clough faces charges relating to an alleged bomb hoax in July 2025: leaving an item intended to create a false belief of danger and intimidating a person.

Police allege she left a shopping bag outside Bondi’s Adass Yisroel Synagogue and claimed it contained bombs, prompting the temporary closure of Old South Head Road. Some reports have described the bag as containing household rubbish.

She was on bail for those matters when, on 22 July this year, she was allegedly involved in a confrontation at Archer Park, the site of the December 2025 Bondi Chanukah massacre that killed 15 people.
Bomb threat targets Haifa-bound Israeli cruise ship docked at Greek island
An Israeli-owned ship preparing to depart for Haifa from the Greek port of Syros in the Aegean Sea was searched by a bomb disposal team following a bomb threat, according to Greek newspaper Kathimerini.

The Panama-flagged cruise ship, Crown Iris, is operated by Mano Shipping, and had 940 passengers and 597 crew members on board, according to information obtained by Kathimerini.

According to reports in the Greek media, the warning was received directly by the captain via radio transmission, claiming that an explosive device was placed on the ship's hull beneath the waterline.

The Coast Guard's Underwater Missions Unit is expected to conduct a second, more thorough inspection after an initial search by the Port Authority found no suspicious objects. Pro-Palestine protest targets ship on multiple occasions

The bomb threat came after local authorities banned a left-wing protest against the docking of the cruise ship at the Syros port.

Pro-Palestinian activists have repeatedly protested at Greek ports where the cruise ship has docked in recent years, including in Syros itself.
Hoax bomb threats disrupt four Europe flights, force temporary airport closure
Four European flights were targeted by bomb threats on Tuesday, forcing the temporary closure of one Warsaw airport, but all planes landed safely and no explosives were found, authorities said.

Two bomb warnings targeted flights heading to the Polish capital of Warsaw, an SAS Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen and one from London’s Heathrow airport operated by Polish airline LOT.

In a third incident, Aena, the Spanish airport operator, confirmed an emergency protocol was activated “due to a bomb alert” on a Ryanair flight from the northwestern UK city of Manchester to Murcia in southeastern Spain.

A Wizz Air flight from Bergamo, Italy, was inspected after landing at 9:10 a.m. GMT in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, a Bulgarian interior ministry spokesperson told AFP.

On Monday, fighter jets were scrambled when a Wizz Air flight from London’s Luton airport to Sofia was diverted following a bomb threat and forced to make an emergency stop in Budapest.

Tuesday’s Ryanair flight landed without incident in Murcia, and the emergency plan was deactivated after checks by Spain’s Civil Guard.
Son of South Lebanon Army Family Joins Israeli Diplomatic Service
Lebanese-born Christian Jonathan Elkhoury, whose family belonged to the South Lebanon Army (SLA) - the Lebanese force that fought alongside Israel in southern Lebanon from 1977 to 2000 - was one of 36 chosen from 2,000 applicants to join Israel's Foreign Ministry cadet program.

Elkhoury wrote on Facebook, "For me, it was the most natural step in my life story, a direct continuation of the alliance my parents forged with the State of Israel."

"After nearly 15 years of public activity in international public diplomacy, working with SLA families in Israel and, in recent years, in the media, I am taking this step with a genuine sense of mission and pride in officially representing my country."

Speaking to the cadets on Monday, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said: "Represent Israel with a profound sense of justice. That is the essence of the mission."

"We are fighting a battle over public perception against enormous forces, and if we do not know how to tell our story and present our narrative, no one else will do it for us."
Legendary 1969 Eurovision winner Lenny Kuhr makes aliyah with husband
Legendary Dutch singer-songwriter Lenny Kuhr, co-winner of the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest, made aliyah on Monday.

Accompanied by her husband, Robert, the 76-year-old cultural icon touched down at Ben-Gurion Airport to begin a new life, declaring that despite regional tensions, Israel is where she finally feels at home.

Kuhr and her husband were met on the tarmac by officials from the Aliyah and Integration Ministry, who are assisting the couple with their initial acclimation and paperwork.

While Kuhr’s decision to move was heavily motivated by a desire to be close to her children and grandchildren who already live in Israel, she has been candid about the deteriorating social climate for Jews in her native country. Earlier this year, Kuhr announced her retirement from the stage, pointing directly to a rise in antisemitic harassment.

“The situation in Europe is difficult,” Kuhr remarked emotionally upon her arrival. “As a singer, I am experiencing show cancellations and have even received death threats. I want to live in a country that I love, and I look forward to improving my Hebrew, living here with my husband, and being near my daughter.”

Kuhr targeted by pro-Palestinian activists
The singer’s concerns follow a string of targeted incidents. In March 2024, pro-Palestinian activists aggressively disrupted her performance in Waalwijk, shouting insults at her from the stage. In May 2026, a prominent Dutch care home abruptly canceled a scheduled concert on her farewell tour out of fear of protests, drawing sharp criticism from community advocates who viewed the move as a troubling capitulation to intimidation.

Kuhr, who converted to Judaism in the 1970s and scored the massive Dutch hit “Visite” in 1980, has maintained lifelong ties to Israel. Her family has also been directly impacted by recent conflicts; her grandson was wounded while serving in the IDF during the Gaza war.

Welcoming her at the airport, Deganit Sankar-Lange, Aliyah Ministry director-general, expressed the nation’s embrace.

“Today, we embrace Lenny warmly and welcome her as she joins the family of olim in Israel,” she said. “After years of moving audiences from the stage, she is now beginning a new chapter here, close to her family. The ministry will continue to support her throughout her journey, helping her settle in and feel at home. Lenny, welcome to Israel.”
Visiting the Nova Music Festival Site
Standing at the Nova Music Festival site, survivor Sean Burns recounted his morning of Oct. 7, 2023.

Sean described how angels saved him and his girlfriend: the left turn he made when others ran right, the policeman who suggested he turn his car around, the sound of a helicopter firing overhead as he hid in a bush for hours with his girlfriend and an injured man he had saved; and, finally, leaving that hiding place at precisely the right moment, only to look back and see a terrorist peering into the very bush where they had been hiding.

I spent the next thirty minutes walking through the memorial site where 378 innocent live music fans were tortured, raped, and murdered.

The silenced faces and biographies of the victims, displayed throughout what was once the Nova dance floor, now stand as gravestones to their lives cut short.
Boy George at Nova memorial: ‘I stand with the Jews’
“I feel odd being thanked for doing what’s just normal,” iconic singer and Culture Club frontman Boy George said at a press conference on Tuesday, at the site of the Nova music festival massacre in Re’im, speaking about the reception he had received in Israel.

Boy George, who arrived on Saturday, will perform on Wednesday and next Saturday in Tel Aviv, and said that they would feature his recently released song, “We Will Dance Again,” a phrase which had become the motto of Nova survivors. Over 360 festivalgoers were killed at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, and dozens more were taken hostage.

“I’m afraid with ‘We Will Dance Again,’ there was no secrecy or subtext whatsoever,” he said. The deliberately provocative song opens with the lines, “You say genocide, I say war,” and the singer has spoken out in solidarity with Jews and Israelis frequently in the years following the October 7 massacre.

Sylvan Adams, president of the World Jewish Congress Israel, arranged the concerts and the press conference.

He thanked Boy George for his solidarity and said that his decision to come to Israel was particularly meaningful at a time when other international artists had chosen to boycott the country.

1500 tickets to concert made available to survivors and families
Adams announced that 1,500 tickets to the November 7 concert, dedicated to the Nova community and featuring a special appearance by DJ Ofer Nissim, had been made available to survivors and their families through a collaboration with the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem.

The Tribe of Nova Foundation, which was represented at the press conference by Nova survivor Ofir Amir, and the Foreign Ministry also supported the concerts and Boy George’s visit.

Adams paid tribute to the Nova community’s resilience. “The music will not stop, our spirit will not be broken, and yes, we will dance again,” he said.



 

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