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The Trump administration has in recent weeks weighed cutting ties with the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), prompting a campaign by diplomats and UN officials to persuade the United States to maintain support, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Eight sources, including diplomats, aid sources and a congressional source, told Reuters that Washington, historically UNHCR’s largest donor, has been considering disengaging from the agency. Several said a decision had been expected last week, but no announcement was made, suggesting that the lobbying effort may have helped delay or avert a move.

Reuters granted the sources anonymity to speak about UN relations with the US

The US deliberations over leaving UNHCR, which was created in the aftermath of World War Two to help refugees fleeing war, persecution and violence, follow a disagreement over the appointment of the deputy high commissioner, five of the sources said.

They said that the agency had informed supporters that it could be placed on a US blacklist, ending funding, and that Washington could also withdraw from its governing Executive Committee.

Any end to US funding would seriously weaken the agency at a time of near-record levels of displacement around the world amid long-running conflicts like Ukraine and Sudan, diplomats and aid officials said.

“People have been alerted by UNHCR to call friends in the administration,” a source at an aid group involved in the talks told Reuters, saying that many had done so. “They are at least thinking about it,” the source added.

Another diplomat said UNHCR officials had asked supporters in the past week to use all available diplomatic channels with the United States to urge ongoing support.

A UN refugee agency spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. “We have no comment on this issue because we have no information on it,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

A State Department spokesperson said there have not been any changes to Washington’s engagement with UNHCR. “As with many other international organizations, we work with and through UNHCR when doing so is useful to advance US foreign policy interests or save lives.”

“We will continue to evaluate the United States’ role in international organizations…” the spokesperson added, referring to a February 2025 Executive Order to review US participation and funding.

Since beginning his second term last year, US President Donald Trump has cut funding for UN agencies and withdrawn from dozens of UN entities, including the World Health Organization. Trump officials have also urged other nations to join a global campaign to roll back asylum protections.

Leadership dilemma

The dispute centers on last month’s appointment of US career diplomat Tressa Rae Finerty as UNHCR’s deputy high commissioner.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih chose Finerty over Simon Hankinson, a US-backed candidate and former foreign service officer who has accused the UNHCR of pursuing “a mass migration agenda.”

“If they wanted reform, a return to UNHCR’s original mission of helping actual refugees, and a careful inspection of budgets and spending, I was the guy,” he told Reuters, calling Finerty a “business as usual” candidate.

Reuters could not reach Finerty for comment.

A former senior UNHCR official said Salih, a former Iraqi president and refugee, would have faced internal “uproar” had he backed Hankinson.

Other UN agencies like the International Labor Organization have also faced dilemmas over appointing US officials amid questions about the US commitment to global cooperation.

Andrew Veprek, Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration who has espoused anti-migration views, was involved in backing Hankinson’s candidacy, two of the sources said. The US State Department declined to comment on his involvement.

UNHCR’s top donor

The US was the top donor to UNHCR in 2025, giving $868 million or about a quarter of the total contributions, according to the agency.

UNHCR is already facing a financial crisis after available funding fell roughly 30% in 2025 compared with 2024, Reuters reported. The agency has cut thousands of jobs and announced further cuts this year.

Diplomats and aid officials said a full US withdrawal would deepen the crisis and undermine support for the 1951 Refugee Convention, the cornerstone of the post-war refugee protection system.

“Rethinking it would be an existential threat for UNHCR,” the former UNHCR official said. “It could have a massive knock-on effect.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted Amazon infrastructure in Bahrain, the terror group claimed on Monday.

According to the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency, Amazon’s central data infrastructure was targeted and destroyed by several cruise missiles.

Tasnim also claimed on Monday that the IRGC had targeted United States military sites in Jordan.

The IRGC also claimed that a missile defense radar system and a US Air Force F-15 fighter jet had both been destroyed in Jordan.

The strike, the IRGC stated, was a “continuation of the operation to clear the region of radars and defense systems, pave the way for more extensive missile and drone attacks, and complete the black night of the American enemy’s radar.”

IRGC claims to strike US drone facilities

On Sunday, the IRGC claimed to have struck and destroyed US drone maintenance facilities at Bahrain’s Sakhir Air Base and vessel preparation sheds at Salman port.

Camp Arifjan in Kuwait was also allegedly struck, according to the Iranian report.

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.

Jerusalem District Police and Border Police officers mobilized to clear roads as haredi (ultra-Orthodox) protests occured across the Jerusalem area, Israel Police announced on Monday night.

The disturbances are occurring on Bar-Ilan Street and Haim Bar-Lev Boulevard in Jerusalem, and Yehuda Hanasi Boulevard in Beit Shemesh.

Protesters were throwing items, blocking traffic, and refusing to follow instructions, the police said, adding that an officer placed a placard at the scene to disperse the demonstrators, but the participants did not respond.

Police forces continue to operate at the scene to restore order and keep roads open, the police said.

Meanwhile, members of the Gur Hasidic community are gathering outside Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara‘s house, chanting “Consult and then act,” according to an N12 News report. 

Haredi activists protest against arrest of draft dodger

The protests are part of a larger wave of haredi demonstrations, with hundreds of Gur Hassidic demonstrators also gathering outside of Military Prison 10 in Beit Lid earlier on Monday to protest the arrest of a draft dodger. 

The IDF nearly fired on five Israeli right-wing activists near the Syrian border two weeks ago after suspecting they were a terrorist squad attempting to enter Israel, public broadcaster KAN News reported on Monday. 

The five suspects were all members of the HaBashan Pioneers movement. After identifying the group on military surveillance near Mount Hermon, Elbit Hermes 450 “Zik” drones were quickly dispatched to carry out an aerial strike, KAN reported.

Just before the attack was launched, observers noticed that the group of men had peyot, or side curls, indicating they were observant Jews and not infiltrating terrorists, KAN noted.

The HaBashan Pioneers movement has been trying to establish Jewish settlements in Syrian territory, and multiple groups of activists have been arrested in recent weeks for trying to cross the border. 

KAN cited an IDF response confirming the incident, saying “The IDF strongly condemns the incident… and emphasizes that [crossing the border into Syria] is a life-threatening criminal offense.”

HaBashan Pioneers still working towards a ‘magnificent Jewish settlement’ in Syria

HaBashan Pioneers claimed that the “shooting was carried out” against the five men before announcing that it would continue its attempts to build Jewish settlements in Syria, despite military intervention at every attempt. 

“Last week, our activists entered and left the area three times without anyone noticing them,” the movement said. “The space is vast, and the army alone is not capable of holding at every point and at every hour. We will not stop until a magnificent Jewish settlement is established in the Bashan region.”

On July 5, about 100 such activists crossed into the Syrian side of Mount Hermon and were detained by the IDF. Though no incidents comparable to a near-strike were reported, the activists accused the military of using “severe violence” to detain them.

The most recent illegal border-crossing attempt was on July 13, and the suspects were detained in the Golan Heights before being transferred to Israel Police for questioning. 

US President Donald Trump unveiled 50% tariffs on a wide range of imports from Canada on Monday in response to what the US administration called its discriminatory treatment of American-made cars, alcohol and dairy goods, threatening a new front in a global trade war.

In slapping import taxes on goods ranging from wine to cement and ice hockey gear, Trump invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which permits a president to impose punitive tariffs of up to 50% against trading partners deemed to have discriminated against US goods. That marked the law’s first known usage in nearly a century of existence.

The new tariffs, set to take effect in 30 days, would also apply to dairy products, swimming pools, furniture, fishing rods, seeds, clothing and wigs, among other items.

The US Trade Representative’s office said that the tariffs would apply to nearly $20 billion of imports from Canada. That’s about 5.2% of the $382 billion in goods the US imported from Canada in 2025, according to US Census Bureau data.

“While the Administration continues to secure fair and reciprocal trade deals with our trading partners, Canada, unlike other partners and allies, continues to retaliate against the United States for its efforts to rebalance trade and protect US industry in national-security sensitive sectors,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement that his government has made comprehensive proposals to resolve trade disputes with Washington, asserting that Trump’s past tariffs violated the North American trade pact.

“This trade dispute has raised costs for families, particularly in the US,” he said. “Canada stands ready to engage intensively to address outstanding issues with the US to the mutual benefit of our citizens.”

My statement on the United States administration’s intention to impose new tariffs on Canadian goods: pic.twitter.com/wl8JtbQjyC

— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) July 20, 2026

The Trump administration has long complained that Canada and China implemented retaliatory measures in response to the barrage of tariffs Trump has tried to impose since returning to the White House last year.

Greer has pointedly left Canada out of negotiations underway with Mexico on changes the US wants in the USMCA. He holds bilateral talks on USMCA in Mexico City this week.

When Trump and Carney met at the FIFA World Cup Final in New Jersey on Sunday, Trump demanded that Carney take action to contain wildfires that have sent smoke billowing across swaths of the US. The US president threatened last week to add the “incalculable cost” of dealing with pollution to existing tariffs on Canadian goods.

First usage of Tariff Act

The Tariff Act of 1930 and its Section 338 are better known for massive US tariff increases and subsequent retaliation that economic historians say worsened the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Section 338 was intended to ensure countries apply tariffs equally and don’t give preferential rates to some countries at the expense of US exports, said John Veroneau, a US trade official in President George W. Bush’s administration who has extensively researched the statute.

He said that some presidents, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, considered imposing tariffs under Section 338, but no record could be found of any president taking such action until Trump’s proclamations on Monday.

“It is ironic, to say the least, to use this authority to impose tariffs to retaliate against tariffs that were imposed in response to actions taken by the US,” said Veroneau, senior counsel with the Covington and Burling law firm.

“These tariffs may be lawful under Section 338, but they at a minimum violate the spirit of Section 338, which was to create a world where countries apply the same tariffs on the same goods to all countries,” he said, adding Trump has moved away from this principle “in a maximalist way.”

After World War Two, major countries created the “most-favored-nation” tariff system through the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to try to prevent a return to the pre-war “beggar-thy-neighbor” economic policies marked by competitive trade restrictions and currency devaluations.

Trump’s new levies are set to take effect on August 19 and apply regardless of whether goods qualify for tariff exemptions under the USMCA, although Trump exempted a range of key goods, including energy, potash, fish, critical minerals, and products already covered by Section 232 tariffs.

Washington cites Canada’s dairy supply system as grounds for tariffs

Among the grounds for the tariffs, the White House cited Canada’s “protectionist” dairy supply management system, as well as tariffs and quotas on cars imported into Canada from the US but not from other countries. Carney said that Canada “as is its right, merely matched” US tariffs on the auto sector that were in violation of the USMCA.

Washington also noted that most Canadian provinces have halted the sale of US alcohol, a move in response to prior US tariffs.

The White House said Canadian imports of US motor vehicles dropped by 22% and of US alcoholic beverages by 81% over the past year.

Diamond Isinger, a former senior adviser to former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau on US-Canada relations, said Carney would have limited ability to compel provinces to resume selling American alcohol.

“Unless there are some sort of extraordinary measures invoked here, the premiers of those provinces are the ones who decide whether to restock alcohol,” Isinger said.

Two women and three men were confirmed dead on Monday in an apparent mass drowning in Ohio after two people entered a river to help a struggling swimmer, followed by two more adults who made an ill-fated rescue attempt of their own, officials said.

According to the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, the tragedy unfolded Sunday night along the Scioto River at the O’Shaughnessy Reservoir, about 10 miles northwest of Columbus, Ohio, the state’s capital and largest city.

A group of at least seven people – two sets of parents, an adult male friend, and two children – were relaxing along the river’s edge around sunset, some of them fishing, when one of the adults ventured into the river to swim, according to Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer.

As the swimmer began to struggle in the water, two other adults tried to assist him but began floundering themselves, leading two more adults to make rescue attempts before all five disappeared in the river, Balzer told reporters at a news conference on Monday.

“It’s not unusual, I think, for one person to be struggling in the water, and other people attempt to save him, yet they don’t have the skills to do that, so we end up with multiple deaths,” the sheriff said.

Authorities were alerted after one of the two children ran to a nearby road and flagged down a motorist, telling the driver “his family was in the river,” Balzer said.

Two women, five men dead, two children in family services agency care

Emergency personnel were dispatched to the scene, where they quickly found two women and pulled them from the water. The women were pronounced dead a short time later at a local hospital, according to Balzer.

The bodies of the three missing men were recovered the next day, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, Tracy Whited, later told news media outlets.

The sheriff said the two children, both under the age of 10, had since been placed in the care of the local family services agency.

Warning: This article contains content that may be disturbing to some readers.

Israel Police arrested a 59-year-old Bat Yam resident on July 12 for committing serious sexual offenses against his two granddaughters on multiple occasions, police confirmed on Monday.

On July 6, police received a report of suspected sexual abuse committed by a resident of Bat Yam against his two granddaughters, both of whom are minors.

An investigation was launched at the Bat Yam police station, during which evidence was gathered, testimony was collected, and the parties involved were questioned.

The investigation found substantial evidence that the suspect had sexually assaulted his granddaughters, claiming he did so to “prepare them for adulthood.”

An indictment is expected

Just under a week after the initial report was made, the suspect was arrested and taken to the police station for questioning.

His detention was extended periodically, and a prosecutor’s declaration was filed against him on Monday morning.

A serious indictment charging him with severe sexual offenses is expected to be filed in the coming days.

Russia said on Monday it had declared two Italian diplomats persona non grata, calling it a reciprocal measure in response to the expulsion of two Russian embassy staff in Italy.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on July 9 that Rome had expelled two military attachés at the Russian embassy in Italy who were allegedly involved in espionage activities.

The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that Vittorio Parrella, the assistant defense attache at the Italian embassy, and Davide D’Aprile, an attache, were persona non grata and must leave Russia with their families within three days.

The ministry also said it had summoned Italian interim Charge d’Affaires Giovanni Scopa in connection with the expulsion of Russian embassy staff.

“The Russian Federation has expelled, without reason, the Italian military attache in Moscow along with one of his collaborators. This is an act of blatant retaliation for the expulsion from Italy of two Russian military attachés, who were indeed caught red-handed while carrying out espionage activities to the detriment of our national security,” Tajani wrote on X on Monday.

Italy expels two Russian embassy staff over spying case

Two weeks ago, the Italian government decided to expel two military attachés at the Russian Embassy in Italy who were allegedly involved in espionage activities after two people were arrested on charges of passing classified information to a Russian agent.

Prosecutors said the main suspect was a former officer of Italy’s Carabinieri police force. Five other individuals are also under investigation.

Tajani said on X that the two Russian officials must leave Rome within three days.

He said Moscow continued to employ “hybrid tools” against Italy and the West, describing this as “serious and unacceptable interference” that threatens national security.

Foreign ministers of the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN will issue a statement on the Middle East crisis after expressing grave concern about the evolving situation, the Philippines‘ top diplomat said on Tuesday.

Maria Theresa Lazaro was speaking to reporters after chairing a closed-door meeting in Manila with her counterparts from the Association of South East Asian Nations.

The meeting comes as tensions between the US and Iran threaten to cast a shadow over a diplomatic gathering in Southeast Asia this week, injecting additional uncertainty into a region grappling with maritime tensions with China and a faltering regional effort to end Myanmar’s civil war.

Meeting to raise economic concerns

Foreign ministers from the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and major partners will gather in Manila against the backdrop of instability beyond the region since the US and Iran resumed open conflict, raising concerns about energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, inflation, and global growth.

“We’re looking at several occasions where they can raise this very, very critical topic,” said Dominic Xavier Imperial, a spokesperson for the Philippines, the meeting host.

But Southeast Asia’s top diplomats meeting on Tuesday face no shortage of challenges closer to home.

They will have an informal consultation on Myanmar’s conflict, as ASEAN’s peace initiative struggles to gain traction, five years after it was launched following a military coup that plunged the country into a civil war that has killed an estimated 100,000 people.

A private intelligence firm’s expose claiming to document corruption in Cyprus may have been part of an effort to harm the Cypriot state, and none of those filmed did anything wrong, an independent investigator said on Monday.

The secretly shot video, released on social media on January 8, showed a Cypriot official, a former energy minister, and a businessman talking with people posing as investors about potential investments and political donations. Two of those featured suggested they had direct access to the upper echelons of government.

All three denied wrongdoing, but the official, Charalambos Charalambous, resigned as a senior aide to Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides after the video’s release.

Black Cube, a private intelligence company founded by former members of Israeli intelligence, said in April it had been involved in producing the video but did not identify its client.

The office of Andreas Paschalides, who was appointed by the state to lead an independent investigation, said in a statement on Monday: “As things currently stand, one can reasonably conclude this video was a form of hybrid attack to harm the Cypriot state.”

It dismissed statements made in the video as “empty talk and bluster.” A hybrid attack is a coordinated influence operation that uses deceptive methods, including misleading information or staged content, to shape public perceptions and harm a target.

Investigators offer immunity to makers of corruption expose video

Cypriot investigators have offered immunity from prosecution to those involved in making the video but will continue to investigate who commissioned the sting, Paschalides’ office said. The Cyprus attorney general will review the investigation to decide if further action is warranted.

Black Cube, which says it follows the law wherever it operates, said in an emailed statement that it “stands firmly behind its evidence uncovering corruption in Cyprus.”

“The authenticity of the evidence was verified by Cypriot authorities,” it said. The investigator said that roughly 26 hours of original footage it obtained were genuine, but the eight-minute version published on social media was “not authentic since it was edited.”

Black Cube said it “awaits the final assessment of the attorney general’s office and is confident it will bring those responsible to justice and facilitate a cleaner business environment. “

Opposition parties reject denial of corruption video

Two opposition parties, the Communist AKEL and centrist ALMA, decried Paschalides’ verdict as a whitewash. “This trivializes institutional collusion,” AKEL said.

The video appeared shortly after the Cypriot government assumed the rotating six-month European Union presidency on January 1. It triggered renewed scrutiny of business tactics in a jurisdiction that has worked hard in recent years to shed a longstanding reputation as a haven for opaque foreign money.

India’s youth-led “cockroach” movement said it would continue its protest demanding the resignation of the education minister on Tuesday, a day after violent protests disrupted central Delhi, injuring scores of protesters and police personnel.

Thousands of protesters from Delhi and nearby cities and towns gathered to march on parliament on Monday, joining a movement that began as online satire but has become the biggest challenge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his third term.

The months-old movement by the self-named Cockroach Janta Party has drawn support from millions of young Gen Z Indians who are demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over examination paper leaks that affected more than 2 million students in May.

It says the leaking of the papers for a national entrance test to medical school in May – which forced students to re-test, and led to some taking their own lives – was a sign of deep-seated corruption in education.

Nearly 180 people were injured and taken to nearby state-run hospitals on Monday, with a majority of them discharged after first aid, after clashes between the protesters and security personnel in which police used cane charges and tear gas.

Delhi Police said that the injured included more than 118 security and police personnel and 60 protesters. Seventy protesters had been detained, and legal action would be initiated against them, it said in a statement late on Monday.

Hundreds of protesters gather in Delhi against Indian Education Minister

Early on Tuesday, about 150-200 protesters gathered at the Jantar Mantar protest site in central Delhi, chanting slogans amid a mild drizzle. Security remained tight with paramilitary personnel patrolling parts of central Delhi and barricades slowing traffic.

“The protest against the Education Minister continues at Jantar Mantar,” the CJP movement said in a post on X.

“We could have done better. I could have done better to protect you from the inhumane actions of the Delhi Police,” CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said in a post on X, apologizing to supporters, especially girls who he said were beaten by male police officers.

I apologise to all our supporters, especially the girls who were brutally beaten by male police officers.

We could have done better. I could have done better to protect you from the inhumane actions of the Delhi Police.

To protect one Dharmendra Pradhan, who is responsible for…

— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) July 21, 2026

The movement galvanized after the support of activist Sonam Wangchuk, who began a hunger strike on June 28, but was forcibly moved to a hospital by the authorities on Saturday.

“They beat us black and blue, and they damaged our protest site,” Sahil Singh, a protester from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, told Reuters. “We want accountability to be set with Pradhan’s resignation.”

On Monday, Health Minister J.P. Nadda met two CJP leaders and sought time to discuss their demands within the government.

The demands include the release of Wangchuk, Pradhan’s resignation and compensation of 10 million rupees ($104,000) for each student ​who died by suicide following the leak. About a dozen students took their own lives after the exam paper leak, local media reported.

Young Indians frustrated by job shortages, exam leaks

The CJP’s surge ‌in popularity reflects ⁠frustrations among young Indians including job shortages as well as exam leaks, which they say happen frequently.

Dipke and his supporters began a sit-in last month seeking Pradhan’s resignation. Some opposition leaders and social media influencers also joined the protest on Monday.

Opposition parties criticized the government for using force against young protesters. Leaders of Modi’s party said the violence seemed orchestrated.

Analysts said even if the talks succeed in calming the protests, the underlying discontent among dissatisfied youngsters has the potential to present the most formidable challenge to Modi’s government going forward.

“This is an issue which affects everyone… any crackdown against the overwhelmingly peaceful protesters, as the government is wont to do, will only serve to fuel anger,” said Pearl Pandya, senior analyst for Asia Pacific at conflict monitoring research group ACLED.

The US Justice Department said on Monday it launched a probe reviewing whether some Harvard University financial aid programs were discriminatory, marking the latest fight against the university by US President Donald Trump’s administration.

“The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced today it is opening a compliance review into Harvard University to determine whether its China-based financial aid programs and practices exclude American-citizen students,” the department said in a statement.

Harvard said on Monday it “does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin in allocating financial aid.”

A university spokesperson said the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Ivy League school was reviewing the DOJ‘s latest letter to Harvard and would engage with the government on the topic.

US law requires universities to report donations from foreign sources exceeding $250,000 in a year. Harvard has previously said it has filed reports for decades “as part of its ongoing compliance with the law.”

The school has also previously cast Trump administration probes as “retaliatory actions against Harvard for its refusal to surrender our independence and constitutional rights.”

A deal to resolve the Trump administration’s broader probes against Harvard remains elusive.

Trump administration threatening Harvard over anti-Israel protests

The Trump administration has targeted Harvard and other top universities with investigations and threats to suspend federal funding over a range of issues.

These include pro-Palestinian protests against the Israel-Hamas War, diversity initiatives, transgender policies, and climate programs. Rights advocates say the federal crackdown threatens free speech, due process, and academic freedom rights.

In its latest probe, the Trump administration’s DOJ alleged Harvard appeared to be accepting funding from Chinese sources that restrict Harvard’s use of those funds.

“Harvard appears to be accepting these funds and, in adherence to their restrictions, providing student financial aid to foreign students, presumably Chinese, based on their national origin – to the potential detriment of students of other national origins, including American citizens,” the DOJ said.

Last month, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from implementing a plan to bar foreign nationals from entering the US to study at Harvard.

China’s position is that “normal education and academic exchange should not be disrupted for political purposes,” the Chinese embassy in Washington said, adding that education cooperation between the two countries was mutually beneficial.

Guyana’s government said on Monday that 27 bodies had been recovered from a ferry that capsized off the coast over the weekend with 179 people on board.

The MV Barima was traveling from the capital Georgetown to the northwest village of Port Kaituma when it capsized. The government’s National Communications Network said on Monday afternoon that 69 people had been rescued, while another 83 remain missing.

The vessel overturned late on Saturday. Authorities had suggested an inaccurate passenger manifest and suspected drug use by the crew may have contributed to the disaster.

By Monday afternoon, the vessel had been found on the seabed in search operations carried out by private company VEHSI in collaboration with Exxon Mobil and local fishermen, Guyana’s Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation, Deodat Indar, said on social media.

Search teams, assisted by private energy sector vessels and divers, had expanded their search area to 1,040 square km (401 square miles).

Captain, crew members in custody with the ongoing investigation

The vessel’s captain and at least one other crew member are currently in police custody after testing positive for marijuana, officials said.

Prime Minister Mark Phillips has launched an investigation into potential institutional failures, promising that anyone found guilty of negligence or misconduct will face legal action.

Synagogue and Jewish school leaders are giving evidence to the Royal Commission on Tuesday about antisemitism and social cohesion, voicing concerns about the future of Australia’s Jewish population. 

The commission was formed in response to the Bondi terrorist attack on a Chabad Hanukkah event that left 15 dead and another 40 injured. 

Rabbi Wolff, the rabbi for Sydney’s Central Synagogue in Bondi Junction, explained to the committee that Australia requires “three complementary pillars: security, legislation and education,” ABC Australia reported. 

“We need all three, but only education really addresses the problem before it begins,” Wolff said. “Education should encompass how Jews live, not only how Jews died.”

Dr. George Foster, a member of the South Sydney Synagogue, told the commission that he does not believe Australia is becoming “another Germany”, saying its institutions are protecting it, ABC Australia reported.

However, Foster warned of “disturbing parallels in the social atmosphere,” noting “warning signs that Holocaust survivors, and indeed the Jewish community, recognize because they have seen where such patterns can lead if they’re left unchallenged.”

Australian Jews say they are ‘fearful’

Tyson Wodak, the president of Bialik College, an independent Jewish school in Melbourne, spoke to the commission next, ABC reported. 

Wodak explained the impact of increased security at the school on the welfare of pupils, including his own children.

“I worry a lot, I fear a lot both as a parent and in my institutional role, about the impact of constant security,” he told the royal commission. “My kids have spent their whole life under security.”

He added that he is worried about how his children’s idea of Australia and their position in the country will be affected by the security.

Melbourne Jewish school employs counterterrorism expert for security

Mr Sztrajt, the principal of Mount Scopus, another Jewish school in Melbourne, also spoke to the royal commission, ABC reported.

He explained that “being probably the most prominent Jewish school or the most well-known Jewish school in the state, that comes with it … being a target.”

Sztrajt explained that the school employs a counterterrorism expert to handle security following a series of antisemitic events targeting the school in recent years.

In 2015, the school changed from unarmed to armed security guards, following antisemitic attacks overseas. In 2025 they appointed a full-time security manager with a background in counterterrorism, Sztrajt told the commission.

He added that “It pains me tremendously to think of the horrendous opportunity cost that the security focus takes away from our school.”

This is a developing story.

“Mouaz, what do you think, should I go?”

The day after Henry Hamra learned that Islamist rebels had ousted Bashar Assad from power, ending more than six decades of Ba’athist rule over Syria, he was on the phone with his friend Mouaz Moustafa, the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force.

The unlikely alliance, a Syrian-American son of Palestinian refugees and a Syrian Jewish cantor whose father was Syria’s chief rabbi, would drive a yearlong campaign to lift punishing sanctions that Moustafa had helped bring about.

It would also place prominent Syrian American Jews opposite Israel’s government, which remains intensely wary of the new regime in Syria.

Hamra fled Syria with his family in 1992, after the Ba’athist government lifted the ban on Jews traveling abroad. Ba’athist restrictions on one of the largest and oldest Jewish communities in the Middle East forced the displacement of more than 30,000 Jews.

Hamra, speaking in a thick Brooklyn accent, recounted how he had watched his country fall apart. There was little he or his family could do from their exile. Henry’s father, Yosef Hamra, was a rabbi and leader of the Damascus Jewish community, and his uncle, Rabbi Avraham Hamra, who settled in Holon, Israel, after leaving Syria, served as the country’s last chief rabbi until 1994.

Moustafa, the son of a Palestinian refugee father and a Syrian mother, had wasted little time before heading back to Syria. By the time Hamra called, he was already there. Moustafa’s reply was immediate, he recalled: “Absolutely, I was just there, and I’m going back. You need to come with me.”

Moustafa founded the Syrian Emergency Task Force in March 2011 in response to the Assad government’s war on civilians in the wake of Arab Spring protests. Over the 14 years of civil war, the SETF became a mainstay of the Syrian opposition in exile, and Moustafa became a well-regarded political operative working on behalf of the Syrian people in Washington.

In 2014, Moustafa was put in touch with a Syrian military police photographer who fled the country with a flash drive containing evidence of systematic torture and mass executions in Assad’s prisons. The whistleblower, known publicly as “Caesar,” was First Lieutenant Farid al-Madhhan, a name he kept hidden for years to protect himself and his family, and only revealed after Assad’s fall in December 2024.

“The pictures were reminiscent of the worst moments of history,” Moustafa said. “Emaciated, tortured bodies, eyes gouged out, men, women, children, elderly, on a massive scale.”

A return to Syria after decades in exile

The images set off a five-year lobbying campaign led by Moustafa, culminating in the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, signed by President Trump in December 2019, which sanctioned Assad regime officials and cut Syria off from the international financial system.

“When we drafted the Caesar Act,” Moustafa said, “we took all of that to pass a law that very specifically addressed the machinery of death of the Assad regime and how it needed to stop.”

After Assad’s ouster in December 2024, the Caesar sanctions, so effective at strangling his regime, threatened to do the same to Syria’s new government. So Moustafa enlisted Hamra’s help.

Moustafa had known Hamra since 2013 through his friendship with Abraham Hamra, Henry’s uncle. They had connected through Moustafa’s efforts to save Judaica from the Jobar Synagogue after it was bombed by forces loyal to Assad.

The friendship would result in Hamra, who still resists describing himself as a political person, running for parliament in Syria’s first open elections since the Ba’ath party seized power in 1963. It would bring his father to recite a blessing over Ahmad al-Sharaa, the Islamist rebel commander who now serves as Syria’s president. And their relationship, and the efforts that followed, would help pave the way for the lifting of the US sanctions regime that had cut Syria off from the global economy.

“Would Caesar have been lifted without the Syrian Jewish community? I don’t believe it would have been,” Moustafa said.

President Donald Trump officially lifted the Caesar sanctions on December 19, 2025, when he signed the FY 2026 NDAA into law, a year after Assad’s ouster. By May 2025, the Treasury had already issued a 180-day waiver on the other sanctions, but the Caesar sanctions remained in place, only to be repealed by an act of Congress.

This was Moustafa’s target, and the first step, as Moustafa recalled, was to help get the Hamras back to Syria. But there was much work to be done between that initial phone call and the moment Hamra set foot in Syria for the first time in more than 30 years.

As Moustafa recalled, he and Hamra spoke by phone every day in the weeks leading up to the trip. Hamra had a list of demands they had to work through, including an official letter from the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcoming the group, meant to ease fears after decades of persecution under Assad.

“They just liberated it. There’s no staff, there’s nothing set up yet. How can I get you a paper?” Moustafa recalled telling him.

Also on Hamra’s list: He wanted at least 10 Jews on the first trip, so his father Yosef could pray with a quorum at the Faranj Synagogue in the heart of Damascus’s Jewish Quarter, the same synagogue where Yosef had prayed as a child and where he last led services before the family left Syria in 1992.

Syrian Jews in America had for years sought to maintain civil relations with a regime that still housed remnants of their family and their properties. A delegation visited the regime in 2004 as Syria sought to head off a sanctions regime, and some in the community marked the death in 2000 of Hafez Assad with a black sash mourning.

That demand proved impossible to meet. As Moustafa and Hamra sought to fill the spots, security concerns led most prospective travelers to back out in the days before departure. The question of whether the trip would happen at all remained unresolved until the day before, when Hamed Khanatri (then the head of Syria’s foreign ministry) called Henry to say: “We’re waiting for you,” he recounted.

“The Syrian Jewish community has suffered enormously, both before the 2011 conflict and throughout it,” Moustafa said. “Like so many Syrians, they suffered under the regime.”

Having seen firsthand what the Assad government had done to Syrian Jews, including property confiscations and travel bans, Moustafa wanted them to see for themselves whether the transitional government meant what it was telling the international community about leaving behind its jihadist past and severing ties with designated terror groups.

In the year between Assad’s fall and the repeal of the Caesar sanctions in December 2025, the SETF organized three trips to Syria, bringing members of both the Syrian and American Jewish communities to meet with high-level Syrian officials and visit Jewish historic sites in the country.

Lawrence Schiffman, professor of Hebrew and Judaic studies at New York University, who joined the first trip in February 2025, said the engagement felt real, even if the motivations behind it were pragmatic.

“I think it was genuine,” he said. “Let’s be realistic. They were setting up an attempt to get into good relations with Syrian Jews, and they needed American help.”

For Schiffman, the motivations of the transitional government mattered less than what it was actually doing, including efforts to document lost Jewish property and begin a process of restitution and restoration for the Syrian Jewish community, according to Hamra.

“Syrian Jews here are partly intentionally serving the same role that certain Jewish organizations served in visiting the UAE and Saudi Arabia, softening the ground before official [state] visits,” Schiffman said. “We did not negotiate with them. We were there to learn what their views are. It was a goodwill mission.”

Rabbi Mendy Chitrik, head of the Ashkenazi community in Istanbul and a key contact for Syria’s Jewish community during the civil war who helped facilitate kosher product deliveries to Damascus, joined another trip. He recalled walking through the lanes of Damascus’ souk wearing his kippah without incident.

“I walked through Damascus freely,” he said. “We did not feel or experience any hostility.”

Syrian Jews push Congress to lift sanctions

The culmination of their efforts, as both Moustafa and Hamra described it, was their visit to Washington in November 2025, the final push before passage of the defense authorization bill, into which they sought to insert a provision repealing the Caesar sanctions.

In a one-on-one meeting with South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, Henry recounted that it was his father’s words that Wilson later said had changed his mind. When Wilson asked whether the new Syrian leadership would be good for Syria, Rabbi Hamra’s answer was simple: “I think everybody deserves another chance.”

A spokesperson for Wilson confirmed the meetings: “Wilson met with Rabbi Yosef and Henry Hamra on multiple occasions in the lead-up to the vote. Their perspective did give the Congressman encouragement,” the spokesperson wrote to JTA. “He mentioned the Rabbi’s stance on multiple occasions when advocating to colleagues.” Wilson has become an outspoken critic of Israel’s post-Assad regime incursions into the country, saying it is inhibiting the country’s rehabilitation.

Henry Hamra said Wilson carried that message throughout the sanctions fight. Moustafa also said it was the Hamra family’s testimony and meetings that helped bring around Rep. Gregory Meeks, the New Yorker who is the senior Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, and Rep. French Hill, an Arkansas Republican, two other figures who had stood in the way of sanctions relief.

Hill did not comment on the role of the Syrian Jewish expats in relieving the sanctions but said in a statement to JTA that the relief was necessary.

“The Trump administration is doing the right thing by re-engaging diplomatically and taking steps to help Syria rejoin the community of nations,” he said. “I will continue to work with my colleagues and stakeholders to ensure that American support advances responsible governance and lasting stability for the Syrian people.”

Meeks did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Al-Sharaa was also in Washington during that period, working to build goodwill with the Trump administration. It was not al-Sharaa’s first meeting with Trump. In May 2025, al-Sharaa met with the president in Riyadh on the sidelines of a Gulf Cooperation Council summit.

Al-Sharaa had himself been designated a terrorist by the United States – a designation that was unwound only after Assad’s fall, with the bounty on his head lifted in December 2024 and the full designation removed in July 2025.

Ahmad Sharawi of the Foundation for Defense of Democracy said that meeting may have been the turning point for Trump’s decision to lift sanctions, which he did by executive order, though only those he could repeal unilaterally.

“What I think happened is that during President Trump’s visit to Riyadh, Mohammed bin Salman spoke with him, and convinced him in what I believe was a single conversation,” Sharawi said. “That’s when al-Sharaa met with Trump as well.”

He added, “I do think they [Syrian Jews] played a role with Congress when it came to the Caesar Act specifically, because it required congressional approval.”

Even with Saudi Arabia lobbying for sanctions relief, and, according to The New York Times, an intensive push by Syrian expatriates in the Gulf with stakes in development contracts and real estate in the rebuilding country, Congress still had to sign off on the repeal. Trump is a fan of al-Sharaa, calling him “attractive” and a “tough guy” when they met in Riyadh in May. Reports have already emerged of a Trump Tower planned for Damascus.

Israel remains wary of Syria’s new leadership

Moustafa knew that one of Syria’s other central challenges would be its relationship with Israel, a conflict that had never been formally resolved since Israel seized the Golan Heights in 1967. In the days after Assad’s fall, Israeli airstrikes destroyed up to 80% of Syria’s strategic military capabilities.

Moustafa vividly recalled the moment a missile struck outside the building where he had just finished a four-hour meeting with President al-Sharaa.

“About an hour after I left that meeting, Israel struck the front door of the presidential palace,” he said. “I heard it and watched it happen.” He added: “The Syrian president said to me, ‘I don’t want to go back to war for 7,000 more years.’”

Israel has maintained a harsh posture toward the new Syrian government since Assad’s fall. Netanyahu declared that Israel would not allow forces loyal to Syria’s new rulers to operate in southern Syria, and demanded full demilitarization of the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa, and Sweida.

An Israeli official told the Times of Israel that Netanyahu personally asked Trump not to lift sanctions on Syria during a visit to Washington, citing fears of a cross-border attack similar to Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault. Ron Dermer, Netanyahu’s close aide and minister of strategic affairs, was widely reported to have lobbied Congress to keep the sanctions in place, or at a minimum, to preserve conditions that would allow them to be reimposed.

Others in the Israeli security establishment are similarly skeptical. Sarit Zehavi, the founder and president of the Alma Research and Education Center in Israel, sees the new Syrian government as Islamist in all but name.

Zehavi’s family is originally from Damascus. As she recounted to JTA, her family of jewelers, among the wealthiest in the city, lived in the historic Beit Lisbona in the Harat al-Yahud, the old Jewish quarter.

When Bashar Assad was finally ousted in December 2024, Zehavi was eager to return and see her family’s home for the first time. Her own staff had to talk her out of it.

“My research staff had to convince me that there is no chance that I am going to Damascus in the near future to see my father’s house because things are not going to get better,” she said.

She was hopeful at first, but reports of massacres committed against Alawites on the coast, and then against the Druze in Sweida, soured her faith in the new government.

“It took a while until I understood that what is happening in Syria is far from liberation,” she said.

Zehavi said she was surprised by the lobbying undertaken by her fellow Jewish expats. “It seems counterintuitive that Syrian Jews living in Brooklyn would try to get the sanctions lifted on someone who was in Al-Qaeda. He’s a jihadist,” she said, while reserving her sharpest criticism for the Trump administration’s decision to lift the Caesar sanctions without conditions.

“You need timed demands and benchmarks that would indicate that Ahmed al-Sharaa is truly what we all hoped he would be,” she said. “They lifted it without any conditions. That’s the main problem.”

Zehavi is skeptical that the Syrian Jewish community’s goals will be served by the move.

“If what they said is true, that this way they can reestablish Jewish institutions in Damascus, that’s a very nice goal, and maybe they’re right,” she said. “But in the bigger picture, I’m not sure it will lead in a positive direction.”

Yosef Hamra had been scheduled to testify before the Helsinki Commission, the US branch of the multiparliamentary human rights monitor, during his visit to Congress in November 2025, but the hearing was canceled. In a copy of his prepared remarks obtained by JTA, he wrote: “It is a shame that today the Caesar Act punishes the Syrian people, Muslims, Christians and Jews, Arabs and Kurds, for the crimes of a regime that has been deposed.”

Before he met with Trump, Yosef Hamra, wearing a kippah, recited a blessing over Ahmad al-Sharaa.

It was an ending fit for such an improbable alliance: a Palestinian-Syrian activist and a Syrian Jewish cantor working together to reopen a country ripped apart by 14 years of civil war. For the Hamras, the blessing was more than a public declaration of faith in the new government – it was proof that something had shifted. But whether Syria’s future would bring democracy and equality for its multi-ethnic population was a question neither Hamra nor Moustafa could answer.

J Street is defending its decision to co-sponsor the College Democrats of America convention after critics accused the liberal pro-Israel group of endorsing the anti-Zionist streamer Hasan Piker, who was a featured speaker at the event.

In a statement posted Monday, J Street said its campus arm, J Street U, spent “a couple thousand dollars for an exhibit table” and had “no role in choosing speakers, no approval over the program and no say in who was invited to address the conference.”

“J Street disagrees with much of what Hasan Piker says and with the way he says it. We won’t hesitate to say so,” the group wrote on social media in a statement first authored by its president, Jeremy Ben-Ami. “But we also reject the notion that the right answer to his invitation is to abandon the very spaces where the next generation of Democratic leaders is debating these issues.”

The convention, which was held in Washington, DC, from Thursday to Sunday, featured a host of speakers, including Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Jewish Democrat in Maryland; Randi Weingarten, the Jewish president of the American Federation of Teachers; and the democratic socialist Colorado congressional candidate Melat Kiros.

The statement followed blowback from several pro-Israel commentators, including author and podcaster Dan Senor, former Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl and Israel historian Sara Yael Hirschhorn, who all said it was inappropriate for a Jewish group to share a tent with an anti-Israel figurehead.

J Street defends College Democrats event sponsorship 

“If J Street knew that he is one of the key speakers and still sponsored this event, it’s a new low,” Nadav Pollak, a lecturer on Middle East affairs at Reichman University, wrote in a post on X/Twitter. “An organization that claims to be ‘pro-Israel’ sponsors an event with one of the most anti-Israel speakers. Shameful.”

Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat and pro-Israel stalwart, also took aim at J Street in an interview on Fox News Sunday.

“Even Jewish kinds of organizations like J Street are doing events with people like Hasan Piker,” Fetterman said. “Hasan Piker, I mean, how can you embrace people like that?”

The online row came amid a growing divide over whether Jewish groups should engage in progressive spaces where anti-Zionist voices have become increasingly influential, or withdraw from them altogether.

J Street U, the group’s college arm, has faced resistance from both directions in recent months, including at Sarah Lawrence College, where the student senate rejected an application for a college chapter over its Zionist identity, even as J Street faced criticism from the right for newly endorsing an end to US military aid to Israel.

Piker, who has drawn fierce condemnation for his rhetoric on Israel and campaigned alongside democratic socialist congressional candidates across the country, used his remarks at the convention to call for an end to US military aid to Israel.

Piker: Democrats who fund Israel ‘betray us’

“No more to the Democrats who compromise, who conciliate, and who betray us,” Piker told the crowd during his remarks. “No more to the fascist reactionaries, but no more to the Democrats who will collaborate and cooperate with the fascists, who will fund ICE, who will fund Israel, who will help poison the planet, who will stiff workers and help bosses.”

J Street said it was committed to advocating for its perspective in ideologically diverse spaces and characterized its presence at the College Democrats convention as a bulwark against extremism.

“Our mission is not to preach to the converted. It is to ensure that a pro-Israel, pro-peace voice is heard wherever the future of American politics is being shaped,” it said. “If we leave those conversations to others, we shouldn’t be surprised when the loudest and most polarizing voices dominate them.”

The escalating conflict between the US and Iran could cause 30 Israeli passenger flights to be canceled each day without Iran even firing at Israel, according to a Monday N12 report.

An emergency meeting was held at Ben-Gurion Airport on Monday, attended by Minister of Transportation Miri Regev, the directors of the Transportation Ministry and the Airports Authority, and other professionals.

They determined that the number of American refueling planes at Israeli airports could cause flights to be canceled during one of the busiest periods for the airports.

N12 reported that if seven more American refueling planes were added to Ben-Gurion Airport, bringing the total number to 40, the airport would be forced to cancel 30 flights a day from August 1.

This would leave approximately 5,000 passengers without flights each day.

Refueling aircraft expected to relocate by July 21

Other Israeli airports are also under increasing strain from US refueling aircraft, as Ilan Ramon Airport is currently hosting 28 American planes, with more than 10 additional refueling aircraft stationed at Israeli Air Force bases across the country.

Last week the Transport Ministry announced that the number of US refueling aircraft at Ben-Gurion Airport would be reduced to 20 by July 21, the number agreed upon by the relevant parties, with the remaining aircraft being transferred to IDF bases designated by the Defense Ministry.

The Transportation Ministry said the move would allow necessary military operations to continue while preserving aviation continuity and minimizing disruptions and cancellations, particularly during the busy summer travel season, when tens of thousands of Israelis are expected to fly abroad.

Reports from N12 on Monday suggest that the Transportation Ministry no longer expects the US to relocate the refuelers and is instead planning for the arrival of more.

One of the more irritating refrains heard whenever Israel comes under attack is that it has “the right to self-defense.”

Of course it does. Every country has the right to self-defense. Every society has the right to protect its citizens from those seeking to murder them.

The problem is that when these words are uttered by Israel’s critics, this right is acknowledged only in theory. The moment Israel actually exercises that right – whether against Hamas, Hezbollah, or Iran – they condemn it. The right exists only so long as it is never used.

The same principle applies beyond the battlefield.

In the modern world, public opinion is also a battlefield. Governments understand this. They spend billions trying to shape perceptions, build support, explain policies, and counter hostile narratives.

They hire public-relations firms, retain communications consultants, partner with influencers, produce digital content, and target audiences through social media.

Governments from the US, Taiwan, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and perhaps most effectively, Qatar, among others, compete every day to shape perceptions.

Double standard applied to Israel

Only when Israel does so is it portrayed as something sinister. That was the unmistakable tone of recent articles in Time magazine and The Wall Street Journal, detailing Israel’s efforts to modernize its public-diplomacy campaign.

Both articles chronicled the government’s decision to hire a former Trump administration digital strategist and to deploy artificial intelligence, social media, influencers, and podcasters to improve Israel’s public standing. The implication was that there is something inherently troubling about this effort.

There isn’t. There is a clear line between covert influence operations and transparent advocacy. If the Israeli government or those acting on its behalf violate American law, conceal their identity, or secretly manipulate public discourse, that deserves scrutiny.

But if they are operating in compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act – which exists precisely because Congress anticipated that foreign governments would seek to influence American opinion – then there is nothing improper about what they are doing.

Indeed, it would be remarkable if Israel were not trying.

Vice President JD Vance recently accused elements within the Israeli government of mounting what he depicted as a nefarious influence campaign to sway American public opinion and policy-makers in an effort to keep the US at war with Iran indefinitely.

Vance’s frustration with the collapse of the Iran Memorandum of Understanding he brokered is understandable, but he is blaming the wrong party: Iran caused the agreement to fail, not Israel for doing what governments routinely do – engaging in public diplomacy.

Israel has an image problem. That is beyond dispute. Polls consistently show support for Israel declining sharply among Democrats and, increasingly, among younger Republicans. For too long, Israel fought this battle with yesterday’s tools – sending Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to debate Hanan Ashrawi on CNN.

Israel fighting on today’s battlefield 

That era is over. Today’s information battlefield is TikTok, YouTube, podcasts, Instagram, X/Twitter, and AI-driven messaging. If Israel wants to reach younger audiences, it must communicate where those audiences actually are, not where they were 30 years ago.

According to Time and The Wall Street Journal, that is precisely what it is now attempting to do. Good.

As long as these efforts are legal, there is nothing untoward about them. As The Wall Street Journal put it, Israel is “trying to shore up its US reputation with help from influencers, Trump insiders and millions of AI-driven texts.”

Its enemies have understood the importance of this battlefield for years.

“Several countries and organizations” have penetrated social media and systematically poisoned minds, especially young minds, against Israel, Netanyahu said in a recent CNN interview.

Israel ignored that reality for far too long. The government’s decision in December to allocate NIS 2.35 billion in this year’s budget for public diplomacy and Israel advocacy is welcome. If anything, it should have happened years ago.

Jews around the world have asked for years why Israel’s public diplomacy is so poor. After the October 7 massacre, that question became impossible to ignore.

Whenever a commission of inquiry is finally established to investigate the failures surrounding that day, it needs to examine not only the intelligence and military breakdowns, but also why Israel entered perhaps the greatest communications battle in its history so spectacularly unprepared and flat-footed.

It is finally trying to correct that mistake. That is neither nefarious nor sinister. Rather, it is imperative and long overdue.

If the phrase Argentina’s Jewish community has adopted to mark the 32nd anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in the country’s history sounds familiar to their compatriots, it’s intentional: “Today we cannot lose … our memory” echoes the soccer-mad nation’s World Cup slogan.

Fans chanting “Today we cannot lose” were ubiquitous throughout the 39-day tournament, which culminated Sunday with Argentina coming in second place to Spain.

Now the Jewish community hopes its spin on the chant will help force a reckoning with the 1994 bombing attack on the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people the day after that year’s World Cup final.

“It is difficult to understand why the process toward a trial in absentia has been allowed to move forward so slowly,” Osvaldo Armoza, the president of the JCC, known as AMIA, said Friday at a ceremony marking the attack.

The country’s Jewish leaders hope a new law allowing trial in absentia will bring some measure of justice for a community that has faced decades of frustrations and obstacles to bring accountability to the Iranian and Hezbollah officials alleged to be behind the attack.

Progress towards justice for AMIA is slow

Senator Patricia Bullrich, a political ally of President Javier Milei’s government, acknowledged to reporters at the event that the process has been slow, but said she is optimistic it will move forward.

“Justice is moving forward, although it has been slow, of course. It has been a very complex and difficult case,” she said. “But now, with the trial in absentia, the process is moving ahead, and that is very important.”

Last month, Federal Judge Daniel Rafecas used the new law to order a trial for the current chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Ahmad Vahidi as well as nine others accused by the late AMIA prosecutor Alberto Nisman: Alí Fallahijan, Alí Akbar Velayati, Mohsen Rezai, Hadi Soleimanpour, Mohsen Rabbani, Ahmad Reza Asghari, Salman Raouf Salman, Abdallah Salman and Hussein Mounir Mouzannar.

Armoza, in his speech, said the trial in absentia should not keep the international community from pursuing the arrests of the accused. Iran has refused to cooperate with the red notices, Interpol’s request to member nations to arrest wanted persons and to advance their extradition.

“We call on the Argentine government to take every necessary step to ensure that Interpol maintains these Red Notices in force, and to urge countries around the world not to provide safe haven to the fugitives,” he said.

Milei, who has warmed his country’s ties with Israel, attended the event in the front row. He did not speak. Also in attendance were US Ambassador Peter Lamela and Yair Horn, an Argentine-Israeli who was held hostage in Gaza during the recent war by Hamas, like Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terrorist group.

The stage was illuminated in Argentina’s national colors, sky blue and white, and a video was screened with a song traditionally chanted in support of the national soccer team. The tribute highlighted the major football moments that the victims’ loved ones never had the chance to witness.

Soccer stars showed support in 2011

National soccer stars were prominent in marking the 17th anniversary of the bombing in 2011. Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez posed for a photograph holding up a sign with that year’s commemorative slogan.

At the time, Messi had just been named FIFA World Player of the Year, while Tevez, playing for Manchester City, had finished as the Premier League’s leading scorer. The campaign’s message then read: “The national team does not forget the 85 people killed in the AMIA bombing 17 years ago. Neither should you.”

To date, no one has been convicted for the attack. Argentine courts have classified the bombing as a “crime against humanity,” basing their conclusion in part on Nisman’s findings. There is no statute of limitations for a crime against humanity.

Nisman, who was Jewish, was killed in his apartment in 2015, a day before he was to report on his findings in his wide-ranging investigation into the attack, including incriminating then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in a plot to cover up Iran’s involvement in the attack. Nisman’s killing remains unsolved. Courts eventually convicted Kirchner on unrelated corruption charges.

On Friday, a memorial ceremony will also be held at Argentina’s largest Jewish cemetery, La Tablada Cemetery, marking the anniversary according to the Hebrew calendar, on the 10th of Av.

The ceremony will include a tribute to the victims and the recitation of the Kaddish in their memory.

Iran claimed it targeted US missile and communications systems across three major US military bases in Kuwait on Tuesday morning.

The claims came following missile and drone attacks on Kuwait that activated sirens across the country, according to a Kuwaiti military post on X/Twitter earlier on Tuesday.

تتصدى حالياً الدفاعات الجوية الكويتية لهجمات صاروخية وطائرات مسيرة معادية ، إثر العدوان الإيراني الاثم.

تنوه رئاسة الأركان العامة للجيش أن أصوات الانفجارات إن سمعت فهي نتيجة اعتراض منظومات الدفاع الجوي للهجمات المعادية.

يرجى من الجميع التقيد بتعليمات الأمن والسلامة الصادرة عن… pic.twitter.com/HnuJkXxo2H

— KUWAIT ARMY – الجيش الكويتي (@KuwaitArmyGHQ) July 20, 2026

Kuwait’s air defense system intercepted the strikes, said the army, adding that if sounds of explosions are heard, they are the result of interceptions. 

Three US bases in Kuwait were reportedly targeted

The IRGC claimed to have targeted missile systems in Kuwait’s Camp Arifjan, a major US military base south of Kuwait City, with surface-to-surface missiles, Iranian state TV reported on Tuesday.

The IRGC further claimed it targeted US military facilities at Ahmad al-Jaber base in Kuwait, alongside an MQ-9 drone hangar at Ali al Salem air base.

The Revolutionary Guards also said Iran targeted US radar, communications, and satellite facilities in Kuwait through missile and drone attacks on Tuesday morning.

The military urged citizens to continue to adhere to security guidelines.

At least 20 people were killed in flash floods in northeastern Afghanistan on Monday, the Taliban-run government said.

The death toll was expected to rise, with 100 people still missing on Monday night.

Most of the damage was reported from Parun, the capital of Nuristan, the Taliban‘s National Disaster Management Authority said in a statement. At least 80 people were injured, according to the authority.

Taliban officials said Monday evening that they had launched a search and rescue operation in the remote province on the Afghan-Pakistani border. Rescuers feared “severe financial and human losses,” the National Disaster Management Authority said.

More rain in some areas, less in others

Afghanistan is among the nations most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, which has made some parts of the country more drought-prone and exposed others to more rainfall.

Deforestation in Nuristan and other provinces has further worsened flash floods in recent decades by slowing rainwater absorption into the soil.

Hundreds of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) demonstrators protested outside Military Prison 10 in Beit Lid on Monday over the arrest of a draft dodger, N12 News reported.

According to N12, the protesters belong to the Gur Hassidic sect, as well as the arrested draft dodger, with the Gur Rebbe in attendance at the demonstration.

200 buses from across the country are expected to arrive in the area with thousands of additional demonstrators, the report cited the Gur community as saying.

עצרת ענק של חסידי גור, בנוכחות האדמו”ר, מתקיימת מחוץ לכלא 10. הסיבה: מעצרו של עריק מהחסידות, שהגיע ללשכת הגיוס כדי להסדיר פטור – ונשפט ל-20 ימים בכלא. 200 אוטובוסים מכל רחבי הארץ מביאים את המפגינים למקום, כשישנו צפי של אלפי משתתפים בעצרת. למרות ההנחיות של החסידות שלא לנהוג… pic.twitter.com/dU1xL4DqOB

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) July 20, 2026

Footage of the protests published by N12 showed several rioters attempting to tear down a fence outside the prison, despite calls from the Gur community for demonstrators to avoid violence.

Police initially attempted to prevent the demonstrators from approaching the fence, but eventually relented and opened the gate.

United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yitzhak Goldknopf also attended the demonstration and addressed protesters with a microphone.

The arrested hassidic man had earlier arrived at a draft office to arrange an exemption from service before being sentenced to 20 days in prison, according to the report.

Site of several protests

Military Prison 10 has been the site of several recent haredi protests against the arrest of draft dodgers, with the most recent demonstration taking place on July 9.

At the time, haredi protesters clashed with IDF soldiers outside the prison, with the military describing the protesters’ conduct as “violent.”

In addition, the protesters entered a restricted military area before being forcibly removed, according to the IDF.

The July 9 protest followed a similar demonstration on June 22, when demonstrators swarmed the prison’s entrance, with IDF soldiers attempting to maintain order as protesters shouted and attempted to push aside metal barricades, the military noted.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has failed to restore governance and is contributing to the growth of “Arab autonomy” in the Negev and Galilee, while the next government must exclude ultra-Orthodox and Arab parties, Reservists Party chairman Cmdr. (res.) Yoaz Hendel said in an interview with 103FM on Thursday.

“This is Jewish weakness,” Hendel said. “I think that Ben-Gvir, over the past three years, has damaged the governance of the State of Israel.” 

“Setting aside the fact that he did not serve in the army, and setting aside the fact that he says, ‘I love soldiers,’ but harms us when he encourages draft dodging,” he continued. “In the end, he had one mission: to restore governance to the State of Israel. That is why he was elected, that is what he talked about, that is where he got his TikTok videos from. Every time he says ‘governance,’ there is less governance in the State of Israel.”

Hendel warned that the consequences of Ben-Gvir’s tenure could be severe.

“One of my biggest fears, maybe the biggest threat, is not the northern border and Gaza. My biggest fear is that the State of Israel will break up into ‘Arab autonomies’ in the Negev and the Galilee where there is no law and order, and ultra-Orthodox shtetls where ‘we are the rule of the infidels,’” said Hendel. “We brought the Jews out of exile, but not the exile out of the Jews.”

“Ben-Gvir, with his own hands and through his actions, is nurturing the Arab autonomies,” Hendel continued. “He is nurturing this. He has a total inability to produce results. I think he did good things in the prisons, but when it comes to governance, we are in a much worse situation. Under the cover of the war, we were supposed to have much fewer weapons in the Arab sector and much more control.”

Although Hendel did not rule out joining a coalition with Otzma Yehudit and Ben-Gvir, he sharply criticized the ministry’s performance and Ben-Gvir’s abilities.

Hendel addresses enlistment issue

Later, Hendel addressed the enlistment issue and expressed his appreciation for those serving in the military.

“I love this people, this country. I am coming to this election campaign from reserve duty, from a place that is a nature reserve, a place with the best people in the State of Israel. I see the citizens who contribute,” said Hendel.

“That is why I say that none of these crazy laws, which in my opinion are an insane failure of vision, should pass while the state encourages draft evasion and people like me, at draft-exemption age, have to do reserve duty again and again because there is no other choice,” he added. “We are proud to serve the state, proud to defend it, because there is no other choice.”

Hendel also criticized elected officials for avoiding blame and refusing to take responsibility.

“This method of always saying, ‘Ah, they are not okay,’ leads nowhere. Anyone who wants to look for those responsible should come to me,” emphasized Hendel. “I am responsible for everything. I am willing to take responsibility for everything. I understand that in politics you do not say, ‘I am responsible.’” 

“Those words do not exist, and because I was in politics three times, and for four years a civilian, those words are very significant to me,” he noted. “Therefore, because I have been responsible since October 7, I am fighting to defend the home, and I am entering political life again, which I cannot express how much I think is miserable and tainted by bad feelings and bad people.”

“I am doing it because of hope and because I believe we need to bring a new generation of leaders, people who were there on October 7 and have since been carrying the state on their shoulders,” Hendel added.

Turning to politics, Hendel discussed the political support he believes the Reservists Party can mobilize and outlined his vision for the next government.

“Our voter base is 300,000 people like me, people on the right who look at this government, which supports draft evasion and does not decide on the battlefield,” he said.

‘We will not sit with ultra-Orthodox or Arab parties’

“In the government, they say that even if they call themselves right-wing, it is not right-wing and it is not even Zionist. It is sitting with non-Zionist parties and passing non-Zionist laws. We will not sit with ultra-Orthodox or Arab parties, not because we are against the populations, but because we simply understand that when you sit with non-Zionist parties, you cannot make Zionist decisions.”

Hendel added that he did not believe any coalition working with non-Zionist parties could achieve the results he intended.

“We must not allow 61 seats, with Bibi and the ultra-Orthodox once again taking over all the important assets of this country, and there must also not be a government with Arab parties. It will not work, just won’t work.

“I saw Mansour Abbas in the first operation in which he was part of the coalition, and he simply froze his participation. We understand that tectonic changes are needed in the State of Israel. Hili, I, and the rest of the group made a decision that we do not talk about people, but about principles. Our red line is first of all a Zionist government. That leaves the mathematics of politics, 90 seats from which the government has to be assembled.”

The Democrats Party finalized its Knesset slate on Monday after more than 97,000 of its registered members voted in internal primaries to determine which candidates would be on the party’s list ahead of the upcoming elections.

Party chairperson Yair Golan remained in first place. Current Democrats MK Naama Lazimi secured the second slot on the list. She was followed by fellow Democrats MKs Gilad Kariv in third place and MK Efrat Rayten in fourth.

The fifth through tenth slots went to social and political activist Yaya Fink, former Meretz MK Gaby Lasky, social activist and reservist Omri Ronen, former Meretz MK Michal Rozin, judicial reform protest leader Moshe Radman, and Arab Israeli activist Soumaya Bashir. 

The voting reached an 86% turnout, the party said after the primaries were held. The large group of 112,000 of its registered members was eligible to cast votes virtually for candidates throughout the day.

The left-wing Democrats are one of the core parties in the opposition bloc seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the elections, set for October 27. The party was established in 2024 by the merging of the Labor and Meretz parties. Golan was selected at the time to lead the party.

Voting opened for registered members at 9:00 a.m. By the afternoon, the party stated that approximately 63% of its members, which totaled 70,834 people, had already cast their votes to select the slate.

“The high turnout demonstrates that the value of intra-party democracy is strong and stable,” the Democrats stated.
 
Parties are not required to hold primaries in Israel, and only a few do so. 

Each registered member of the party was permitted to vote for between six and eight candidates out of the 51 contenders competing for spots on the Democrats’ slate.

The Democrats said the list would incorporate gender parity through a zipper system alternating between women and men, while also guaranteeing representation for Meretz representatives, the rural sector, and minority communities. The party described the slate as reflecting a broad cross-section of Israeli society.

בוקר של חגיגה דמוקרטית 🇮🇱
כך נראה מטה הטלפנות שלנו ברגעים אלה ממש!
המשיכו להצביע ולכל תקלה טכנית מוזמנים לפנות
אלינו במספר 03-6215034

ולכל מי שעוד לא הצביעו>>>>>https://t.co/Kx3okabNor pic.twitter.com/6wIsoDxxEX

— הדמוקרטים (@DemocratsIL) July 20, 2026

Democrats party features IDF officers, Arabs, LGBTQ+ members

The candidates included 17 leaders involved in protest movements and public activism, 12 former IDF officers, 11 candidates with backgrounds in the civil service, 19 women, nine candidates under the age of 45, eight former Knesset members, four candidates from the Arab community, three from the Druze community, and two members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Kariv opened the day at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, where he spoke about Democrats party members who had demonstrated there throughout the Israel-Hamas war, calling for a deal to secure the release of the hostages held captive by Hamas after the October 7, 2023, attacks.

“We are bringing the protest into government. We carried out a heroic protest; now we will bring about a historic change,” Kariv added.

היום 113 אלף מתפקדות ומתפקדים יבחרו את רשימת הדמוקרטים לכנסת. בעוד שלושה חודשים ושבוע הרשימה הזו תוביל את המהפך הדמוקרטי.

הדמוקרטים יהיו המצפן והמצפון של ממשלת התיקון 🇮🇱

אני שלכם, והבוקר הזה אני מבקש את האמון שלכם מחדש. pic.twitter.com/RKoZ8GIM38

— גלעד קריב (@KarivGilad) July 20, 2026

He and Lazimi also criticized Netanyahu’s recent attempts to change the Likud party’s system for primaries to allow the premier to have more control over who is in the top spots of the list. There have also been reports that Netanyahu has been considering canceling the Likud primaries entirely.

“The recent reports of Netanyahu’s attempts to cancel the Likud primaries show that the Democrats are the true major democratic party in Israel,” Kariv said.

Golan said at the opening of the party’s primaries that they were “a celebration of Israel’s democracy.”

“This is the time for the public to go out and vote. Only a strong Democrats team in the Knesset and in the next government can save the country and restore to Israel the security, democracy, and hope that it so desperately needs,” the Democrats party leader added.

31,000 מצביעים בשעה הראשונה
50,000 תוך שעתיים וחצי
מתפקדי הדמוקרטים נוהרים לקלפיות (הדיגיטליות)! pic.twitter.com/vRvEXte9Yl

— Yair Golan – יאיר גולן (@YairGolan1) July 20, 2026

Democrats primary conducted digitally for first time

The party’s primaries were conducted virtually for the first time, with voting available via mobile phones and computers, through “a secure digital system” that will be open throughout the day.

The party noted more than 114,000 people have joined the Democrats in total, calling the recent wave of additions “an unprecedented democratic surge.” 

It is the highest membership the party has had since the 1990s.

The regime in Tehran fears its own people more than it fears American bombs. That single fact has been the key to Iranian strategy since this war began, and it should be the key to American strategy for ending it. 

So far, Washington has focused heavily on strikes against military targets and infrastructure and on economic pressure. Both matter, but neither is likely to topple the regime on its own.

Destroyed power plants and refineries can eventually produce popular anger, but that is a slow, indirect route to victory. The current approach gives the regime time to adapt, to blame outsiders, and to keep its grip on the streets. 

Targeting the regime where it is most vulnerable

If America wants a faster, more decisive path to victory, without a single American boot on the ground, there are five things it should do instead.

First, demand public proof of life of Mojtaba Khamenei. Since February 28, every statement attributed to the man now treated as Iran’s supreme leader has been a written text, never a video or even an audio recording. 

This is a sharp break from his father’s practice of frequently appearing on camera, including from hiding. This is not a security precaution; it’s a pattern that points to one conclusion: he is likely dead or incapacitated.
 
Every round of negotiation with Iran rests on the claim that “the supreme leader” must approve any deal. 

Washington should say plainly, and publicly, that it will not continue talks through any mediator until it receives verifiable proof that the man supposedly making these decisions is alive and functioning. 

The regime cannot produce that proof. And the resulting crisis of legitimacy, made visible to the Iranian public, would do more damage to the regime’s standing than another round of strikes on civilian infrastructure.

Second, give Israel a free hand to finish Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Hezbollah is not a Lebanese militia that happens to receive Iranian support; it is Iran’s foreign legion, the ground force of a regime whose army was never built for conventional deployment. 

Washington should say so explicitly, recognize the Lebanon front as part of the war against Iran, and let Israel dismantle Hezbollah both for Israel’s security and for Lebanon’s own future as a state at peace with its neighbors.

Third, call the Iranian people back into the streets, and protect them.

Trump should publicly urge Iranians to resume the protests that have repeatedly shaken this regime, paired with an announcement that Israel will provide drone cover over Iranian cities to shield demonstrators from the Basij and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). 

Make clear that regime officials will be held personally responsible and personally targeted for any protesters killed.

Targeting the regime’s true source of power

Fourth, stop bombing infrastructure and start hunting the enforcers.

In the weeks before the ceasefire, Israel had already shifted tactics, striking Basij checkpoints and IRGC positions used to suppress demonstrations, rather than national infrastructure. 

That is the model to expand, not abandon. The regime will not fall because a power grid goes dark; it might, eventually, if people take to the streets over the resulting hardship, but that is the slow and uncertain route. 

Targeting the IRGC and Basij directly where they are, the men manning the checkpoints and running the crackdowns, is faster and more direct. 

It intimidates the enforcers into desertion and gives ordinary Iranians the space to protest without immediately facing the boot of the regime’s own security services.

Fifth, shut down Pakistan’s overland lifeline to Iran. 

Since the American blockade began, Pakistan has opened six overland trade routes into Iran, undercutting the sanctions regime that Washington claims to be enforcing. 

The US has known about these routes for months and said nothing. If it is serious about economic pressure, it should say publicly and forcefully that Islamabad must close them and call out Pakistan’s role in helping the regime survive.

None of this requires American troops on Iranian soil.

It requires a shift in focus: away from the assumption that enough physical destruction will eventually break the regime and toward the more precise and more honest recognition of what the regime actually fears, namely, its own people seeing it exposed as weak, illegitimate, and unable to protect its own enforcers. 

Proof of life of the supreme leader, a free hand for Israel against Hezbollah, protection for protesters, pressure on the IRGC instead of the power grid, and an end to Pakistan’s sanctions-busting trade routes – these are the fastest routes to the outcome everyone says they want: an Iran without this regime.

In September 2025, Khalil Al Hayya was in Doha, Qatar, when an Israeli airstrike was carried out. “Senior Hamas official Hayya, targeted with others in an Israeli operation in Doha on Tuesday,” The National in the UAE noted at the time.

It also said he had been leading the group’s negotiations. “Hamas’s six-man leadership targeted in Doha by Israel,” the report said. Now reports say that he has been named the new head of the group’s political bureau, in essence replacing Yahya Sinwar.

Hayya is expected to play a key role going forward. Since he is not in Gaza, it will continue to mean that Hamas in Gaza will live in the shadows, in an opaque leadership style that benefits its ability to remain. Hamas has claimed it is ready to hand over governance.

By having its leaders abroad, it can claim it handed over control and still maintain power behind the scenes. Hayya will be key to this next step.

From Hamas founder to political bureau chief

Hayya is a member of the original Hamas generation. Born in 1960 in Gaza he grew up with other leader members of Hamas who lived in Gaza. The group formed in the 1980s due to the inspiration of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. He joined the group when it was founded during the First Intifada in 1987.

He was detained by Israel in the 1990s and served three years in prison. He eventually became the deputy to Sinwar but left Gaza before October 7, 2023, and ended up in Doha with other Hamas heavyweights.

Before October 7 Hayya was already well known inside Hamas. He was also known in Israel. For instance, in November 2023 Khalil Hayya was 63 years old. At the time, he was running a communications office for Hamas and was a deputy to Sinwar.

“Hayya’s past includes a three-year stint in an Israeli prison, and he has survived multiple attempts on his life. These assassination attempts led to the death of nineteen of his family members. Currently, Hayya resides in Qatar,” Ynet noted at the time.

He appeared in semi-public events in Qatar in the past. For instance in August, 2024 he appeared at a mourning event for assassinated Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Doha. Asharq al-Awsat noted that “Hayya has been widely seen as Hamas’ most influential figure abroad since Haniyeh’s death.

He is part of a five-man leadership council that has led Hamas since Yahya Sinwar’s death. Hailing from the Gaza Strip, he has lost several close relatives – including his eldest son – to Israeli strikes.”

Hayya has also claimed that Israel has been trying to assassinate him since at least 2007. Palestinian media has repeated this claim. Back in 2007, he claimed that Israel struck his house, “killing seven of his children and family members,” the Palestine Information Center claims.

“In 2014, Israel tried once again to assassinate him, failing, but spilling more of his family’s blood,” the report argues. It’s impossible to verify this. Clearly he has made the losses within his family a key part of his identity.

His son was killed in the 2014 war. TRT also claimed in 2025 that “in August, Israeli media reported that two of al Hayya’s nephews, Ayman Abd al Salam al Hayya and Mu’az Abd al Salam al Hayya, were killed in Gaza while cutting firewood in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood.”

Hayya’s role in Hamas negotiations and leadership

His narrative has been that he will continue the course of Haniyeh and Sinwar. This would mean endless war and Hamas continuing to try to rebuild. A 2025 article at The Dispatch noted that “Hayya has long held roles in Hamas’ leadership. He served as the group’s lead negotiator in the talks that followed the wars Hamas fought in 2012 and 2014 against Israel. He was the leader of Hamas’ parliamentary bloc in the Palestinian Legislative Council from 2006.

In 2017, Yahya Sinwar, then the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, appointed Hayya as his deputy, and Hamas’ political bureau reelected Hayya for that role in 2021.” It goes on to note that he was involved in contacts with the Assad regime in 2022 to repair Hamas-Assad ties. The group left Syria in 2012.

The report added that “interestingly, Hayya’s role as hostage deal negotiator for Hamas is not a new one for him. He participated in the hostage negotiations after Hamas kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006, and Israel subsequently traded 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for his release in 2011.

Hayya was hardly the only Hamas leader to say it, but he proclaimed that the Shalit deal proved that kidnapping works, and he promised more abduction.” He is educated, having received a doctorate in Sudan. He was involved in academic research for several years in the late 1990s. He also ran in Palestinian elections in 2006.

Hayya continues to support the October 7 massacre. In a 2025 interview shown on CGTN Europe it noted that “senior Hamas leader Khalil Hayya lauded the October 7 attack on Israel as a significant achievement, claiming it would be remembered with pride by future generations of Palestinians.” He also angered Egypt and Jordan by calling for their citizens to march toward Gaza.

What Hayya’s appointment could mean for Hamas

He has been widely seen as a candidate for top leadership for years. He was already a member of the triumvirate of leadership that emerged after Sinwar’s death. He worked alongside Hamas Shura Council chairman Mohammed Darwish, Zaher Jabarin, and Khaled Meshaal.

Considering his long background, it appears Hayya is not well placed to bring change to Hamas. In fact, it appears likely that he will seek to continue the same path that other leaders around him, some of them now deceased, have been doing for decades.

Jewish Hungarian chess legend Judit Polgar said on Monday that she will not accept the nomination for president, only a day after Prime Minister Peter Magyar said he would ask her to take up the largely ceremonial role.

Electing a new president and drafting a new constitution are key elements ​of Magyar’s plan to dismantle former premier Viktor Orban‘s bastions of power, for which Magyar says he received ‌a strong mandate from voters.

Magyar ended the 16-year rule of Orban’s nationalist Fidesz party with a landslide election victory in April.

On Saturday, Hungary’s former President Tamas Sulyok signed a constitutional amendment passed by Magyar’s ruling Tisza party, ending Sulyok’s term as head of state.

Magyar said on Sunday that he would ask Polgar, widely regarded as the greatest-ever female chess player, to serve as president until a new constitution is passed.

Polgar said in a Facebook post that she was grateful to be asked.

“However, I do not feel enough strength within me to take on the historic responsibility of uniting a divided nation, so I am unable to accept the request,” she wrote.

First female chess player in world’s top 10

Polgar, the subject of the documentary Queen of Chess released in February, is the only female player to have been ranked in the world’s top 10 in a male-dominated sport.

She is the only woman to have surpassed the 2700 rating, the threshold many consider the definition of a “Super Grandmaster.”

Hungary’s parliament will elect a new president who will serve until a planned new constitution takes effect, or for a maximum of five years.

“The president of the republic must be a person who guards the unity of the nation and constitutionality,” Magyar told parliament earlier on Monday.

The president of the Jewish Community of Milan (Mosaico), Walker Meghnagi, has gravely condemned online forms urging people to report the presence of Israeli citizens and Italian Jews staying in Italian hotels and other tourist accommodations.

“I think we’re going back to the 1930s, to hunting Jews,” Meghnagi said.

The forms were removed following intervention by General Pasquale Angelosanto, Italy’s National Coordinator for the Fight Against Antisemitism.

The Google form that was circulated – before its removal – read: “This form is intended to record cases of Zionist tourism, property purchases, and, more generally, Zionist neo-colonization in Italy. The data collected will be received by the Global Sumud Movement and will remain protected and confidential. However, we ask you to provide a source so we can verify the information, coordinate possible initiatives, and support areas affected by the phenomenon.”

It then said: “The sole purpose is to map the spread of the phenomenon and its various forms.”

Form asks if groups were ‘manageing phenomenon’ of Jewish visitors

According to Italian paper La Repubblica, subsequent pages of the form asked respondents to report on locations where Jewish or Israeli visitors were seen, whether local organizations or activist groups were already “managing the phenomenon,” and other information.

The stated objective of the form was to map the phenomenon and coordinate unspecified future initiatives.

“What is happening today shows that there are unbalanced individuals out there, and if this kind of message spreads widely enough, you are certain to find someone willing to act on it,” Meghnagi said.

“For this reason, mapping where Jews are is extremely serious.”

The Jewish Community of Milan said it will not launch its own legal initiative but has already forwarded the questionnaire to the relevant authorities.

The Global Sumud Movement – infamous for coordinating flotillas to Gaza – denied any involvement with the forms when contacted by La Repubblica.

“Zionism is one of the issues we work on, but we do not hunt Jews, and we know nothing about this questionnaire,” it said. “We did not commission it and had not even seen it before it was taken offline. We only learned about it through the newspapers, and we reserve the right to take appropriate action, including issuing an official statement.”

‘Those responsible must not go unpunished,’ Deputy Secretary of State Alessandro Morelli says

Deputy Secretary of State Alessandro Morelli condemned the form as “abhorrent,” adding “those responsible must not go unpunished.”

“This is a deliberate campaign based on disinformation and propaganda that seeks to push society toward hatred and prejudice by literally pointing the finger at Jews and Zionists as the outcasts of our time,” Livia Ottolenghi, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI), said.

“We are witnessing a new escalation of antisemitism that cannot be underestimated. This time, with an online form, we have arrived at new ‘yellow stars’: reporting and cataloging alleged ‘Zionist colonies’ in Italy, marking Jews, and insinuating dark conspiracies that simply do not exist. It is the culture of conspiracy theories that takes us back to the period before Italy’s 1938 racial laws.”

“The appearance online of a questionnaire designed to map and catalog Israeli citizens, businesses and hotels in our country is not an act of political criticism, but a form of intimidation that drags Italy back to the darkest periods of the twentieth century,” commented Davide Riccardo Romano, director of the Jewish Brigade Museum in Milan.

“History shows that when propaganda identifies a target and provides the coordinates to find it, violence ceases to be a possibility and becomes a certainty,” he added.

The IDF killed two Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists in separate strikes directed by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) in the Gaza Strip, the military said on Monday.

The first PIJ terrorist, Taher Ahmad Salem Abd al-Wahed, infiltrated the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, and commanded the abduction of Haifa resident Inbar Hayman‘s remains, after she was killed by infiltrating terrorists.

The IDF killed him in a strike on Friday, the military confirmed.

The other PIJ terrorist, Salah Subhi Salah Qatrawi, was killed after planning attacks against IDF soldiers in the area of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution centers, the military stated.

Hayman was 27 years old when her death was confirmed to her family by Israeli authorities in December 2023, with her body held in Gaza for over two years.

Hayman was the only woman left in Hamas captivity for most of the war’s duration, following the release of almost all the female hostages held by Hamas during the November 2023 releases.

She had served as a commander in the IDF’s mixed-gender Caracal Battalion, a detail confirmed by the military following the release of her body.

The ‘Free Pink’ slogan

Hayman was known through her graffiti art as “Pink” and “Raven,” which led to the slogan “Free Pink” being used as a call for her release following the massacre.

She had attended the Nova festival as a “helper,” supporting dancers who were feeling unwell.

“Our beloved Inbar has come home, to her parents, to her brother, and to us,” her family said in a statement shared through the Hostages and Missing Families Forum upon the release of her body.

“This is a feeling that cannot be described, joy mingled with profound sadness,” the family said. “Now, Inbar will receive the rest and honor she so profoundly deserves.”

“We are sure that if Inbar were here with us today, she would have urged us to continue fighting for all 19 of her fellow hostages who remain in captivity,” the family continued.
 
“Our Inbar, the salt of the earth, served as a commander in the Caracal Battalion for three years,” the forum relayed. “We salute you and invite the entire public to join us in honoring you, a hero of Israel.” 

Sam Halpern and James Genn contributed to this report.

The IDF legal division’s rollout of its probes into alleged war crimes in its conduct of the Gaza War has been delayed again, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

On June 18, the Post exclusively reported that IDF Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Itay Offir would be issuing multiple major decisions regarding the Gaza war crimes allegations within the coming weeks.

The April 2024 World Central Kitchen incident, the March 2025 International Red Crescent incident, and a few other high-profile incidents, in which sizable numbers of foreign aid workers or civilians were killed, were expected to be among these decisions, which were to be the first that Offir would have been publicizing relating to Gaza since he took office in November 2025.

The source for the delay is unclear, but it appears to be based on pressure from outside the IDF legal division, and possibly outside the IDF itself.

Further, the Post has received the impression that the Justice Ministry would have supported publication of the reports as originally scheduled.

Moreover, the Foreign Ministry did not deny that it had sought to delay publicizing the report, though it also did not confirm.

Prime Minister’s Office denies being source of delay

The Prime Minister’s Office responded that they were not the source of the delay.

However, generally Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar have taken a combative approach, as opposed to a dialogue approach, to any allegations of IDF war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) specifically, and by international judicial bodies in general.

While the dialogue approach of sharing the maximum amount of information available and as rapidly as possible from IDF probes was Israeli policy before October 7, 2023, since the start of the war, prying loose details about IDF probes has been more like pulling teeth.

Top Israeli legal officials have expressed concern that any data they provide could be abused by the ICC, the International Court of Justice, and others in war crimes cases.

In 2024, the IDF issued a couple of very general and generic updates about its probes, but the last update was filed in August 2024.

As early as mid-2024, and then again in January 2025, and in multiple instances since then, top IDF sources committed to or implied to the Post that decisions on high-profile probes would be published very soon.

However, it appears that when IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir replaced Herzi Halevi, the rollout was delayed, and eventually there were other delays, likely with pressures from beyond the military.    

The next watershed moment came in October 2025, when Offir’s predecessor, Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi, suddenly resigned along with some of her top staff. She resigned after admitting to illegally publicly leaking a video of evidence in the Sdei Teiman saga.

It was clear that when Offir took office, there would be some kind of a pause in rolling out public announcements, as he would need time to study the cases himself before making decisions and approving material for publication.

Some sources are at least hopeful that the report will still be published before Israel’s upcoming October 27 elections, and that such election considerations will not delay the report further.

WCK, Islamic Red Crescent high-profile alleged war crimes incidents

Regarding the WCK incident, a fascinating twist is that Offir himself is not making the decision.

In prior capacities as the Defense Ministry legal adviser, Offir apparently worked very closely with IDF Col. Nochi Mendel, one of the key commander-suspects, on a number of projects.

Although this does not necessarily violate the “conflict of interest” definition to technically disqualify him from rendering a decision the way it would if the two were family members, Offir did not feel that he could objectively judge Mendel, or at least wanted to remove even any perception of favoritism.

For that reason, IDF Chief Prosecutor Col. Eli Levertov will be issuing the decision regarding WCK.

Levertov became IDF chief prosecutor in August 2025, only around two months before Tomer-Yerushalmi’s resignation.

However, regarding the International Red Crescent case and a couple of other case decisions which will be issued, Offir’s broader approach is clear.

He will not look into these cases in a vacuum or from the perspective of a law school professor in an ivory tower.

Looking at the cases in perspective

Rather, he will look at the cases from the perspective of the IDF having been engaged in a war to topple Hamas in Gaza as a response to a massive and monstrous invasion.

He will also take note of all of Hamas’s techniques of systematically using human shields and civilian locations throughout the Strip to fight the IDF, including using women and children with white flags to try to entrap and kill IDF soldiers.

In other words, there will be a heavy burden of proof to meet before concluding that an IDF soldier who killed innocent Palestinians did so with deliberate intent, as opposed to by mistake in difficult circumstances and the gray fog of war.

There may be indictments and punishments for harming or killing Palestinians, such as an incident in February where IDF soldiers were recorded beating an innocent Palestinian without any obvious cause or an incident earlier this month in which IDF soldiers killed a Palestinian baby in a car.

The Post understands that there are more than five additional incidents where IDF soldiers beat Palestinians in the West Bank and are being probed or prosecuted since Offir took office.

One difference between Offir and other MAGs could be he may also make less of a public show around such cases. Still, Israel may decide on a diplomatic level to privately report them to international bodies like the International Court of Justice so such bodies cannot claim that Israel does not prosecute its own.

The US has been carrying out strikes in Iran for nine days, including a number of attacks on bridges and tunnels near the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas. What comes next in the American conflict with Iran?

This is an important issue because both the US and Iran have goals in this conflict, but those goals are not entirely clear, and they are definitely not the same.

Iran wants to preserve its ability to terrorize the region and carry out attacks across thousands of miles of front line stretching from Iraq and Jordan to Bahrain and Oman in the Gulf.

The US, on the other hand, wants the Strait of Hormuz to be open to shipping. It is worth recalling that prior to the recent round of attacks, there was a Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Iran that was supposed to move toward some kind of deal.

However, the Iranians continued to attack ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian attacks on ships culminated in several attacks on July 6 and 7. It was those Iranian attacks on shipping that led to the recent US strikes. The strikes have gone on for around nine days, but they basically began in the wake of the July 7 incidents.

US focuses on logistics targets near Gulf

What matters for our purposes is what exactly the US tactic or strategy is. So far, US Central Command has been carrying out strikes on a number of logistics sites, such as a terminal at a port in southern Iran, as well as bridges and some tunnels, and obviously a long list of other Iranian capabilities.

These targets are mostly close to the Gulf and include air defense systems, radars, command-and-control systems, and other assets that would help the Iranians to terrorize vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

The big question mark is whether Iran takes these strikes seriously, whether its capabilities are being degraded, and whether it feels that it should return to the negotiating table.

Iran may hint that it is willing to hold talks again and continue to play the “good cop, bad cop” game it has played in the past. In this scenario, the IRGC acts as the bad cop while the Iranian government plays the good cop.

The government pretends that it wants to negotiate, while the IRGC carries out attacks. The government then pretends that it didn’t know about them, or claims it will try to get the IRGC to moderate its behavior.

Iran has played this game repeatedly. This strategy works in Iran’s favor because it allows the regime to remain opaque and get away with attacks.

The US has recently shown that it is not going to let Iran get away with as many of these incidents. However, it is not entirely clear if the US wants a wider and larger war.

US pushed for stronger retaliation

A series of escalations has led to a push for the US to be stronger in its retaliation: The killing of two Americans in Jordan and a missing third American as a result of Iranian attacks; and the killing and wounding of Americans in Iraq

This leads to several questions about what comes next in the last week of July.

Will the US increase the attacks? Does Iran think that it can call what it perceives to be a US bluff? Does Iran think the US will run out of munitions, or that the US is not serious about some sort of ground offensive?

Clearly, the Iranian regime thinks that the sheer size of Iran, being a very large country that is four times the size of Iraq, means that Iran is insulated to some degree from a very costly ground war.

Then the question remains whether the US can get something from the Iranians in terms of opening the Strait of Hormuz, or whether the strait will continue to open and close amid rounds of violence over the coming years. Will this simply mean that countries in the region will move their exports of oil and other goods to other routes?

It is already clear that some of these countries are beginning to focus on Syria and other places as potential alternative routes.

The reality experienced by both Israelis and Palestinians resembles an endless television series. Each episode reinforces the same storyline. Every character knows the role they are expected to play. Every new event is interpreted through the same familiar script. The story teaches us that leaving the narrative is an act of betrayal, while remaining faithful to it guarantees our identity – and perhaps even our survival. Whether or not the metaphor is perfect, it captures something profoundly important about our conflict.

Both societies have developed powerful national narratives that shape not only our political opinions but also our understanding of ourselves. Families, schools, religious institutions, political movements, media, and social circles reinforce these narratives every day. They often tell us who we are long before we have the opportunity to discover who we might become.

Within such a narrative, questions become dangerous. Curiosity becomes suspicious. Listening to the other side becomes an act of disloyalty. The goal is no longer to search for truth but to protect the story itself.

The problem is not that Israelis and Palestinians remember history differently. Every nation has its own collective memory. The problem begins when our identities become dependent upon denying the legitimacy of the other’s story.

Once that happens, the conflict ceases to be merely political. It becomes existential. Every compromise feels like surrender. Every acknowledgment of the other’s pain appears to diminish our own. This intellectual prison has become one of the greatest obstacles to peace.

A great political opportunity

Ironically, we may now be approaching one of the greatest political opportunities in decades. Israel is expected to hold national elections in October. Palestinians are scheduled to elect a new parliament in November – the first national election in nearly 20 years. If both elections take place as planned, new political leadership could emerge on both sides within weeks of one another. Many already speak of political change. But political change alone will not be enough.

If new leaders continue speaking only within the boundaries of the old narratives, little will truly change. Governments may change, while the assumptions, fears, and intellectual walls that have trapped both societies remain exactly where they are.

The challenge before us is therefore much deeper than elections. We need the courage to step outside the narrow angle from which we have learned to see one another.

Perhaps the most difficult question is also the most important: Where should this new conversation begin? Many naturally prefer to speak only with those who already agree with them. That is comfortable, but history is rarely changed by comfortable conversations.

The dialogue that is needed

On both sides of this conflict, there are communities that have shaped the dominant narratives more than any others. Within Israeli society, religious Zionism has become one of the most influential ideological forces. Within Palestinian society, political Islam has profoundly influenced public identity and political discourse.

If we truly seek lasting change, these communities cannot remain outside the conversation. Ignoring them will not make them disappear. Defeating them rhetorically will not produce reconciliation. Sustainable political change will require engaging those who have the greatest ability to shape the future of their own societies.

That dialogue must happen on two levels. First, within our own communities. Israelis need difficult conversations among Israelis. Palestinians need equally honest conversations among Palestinians about identity, democracy, religion, violence, and the future they wish to build.

Second, across the border. Israelis and Palestinians who seek change must learn to speak directly with one another – including with those whose worldviews appear the furthest from their own.

This is not an exercise in public relations. It is an exercise in intellectual courage. It asks us to search our history not only for the reasons we have fought but also for the moments that remind us we have always lived alongside one another. It asks whether our religious traditions contain resources for coexistence instead of endless confrontation. Above all, it asks us to rediscover our shared humanity before asking one another to accept political compromise.

None of this requires Israelis to abandon their commitment to the security and future of the Jewish state. Nor does it require Palestinians to abandon their aspirations for freedom, dignity, and independent statehood. It requires something both simpler and more difficult: that we stop defining ourselves primarily through our opposition to each other.

The coming elections may open a political door unlike any we have seen for a generation. Whether we simply walk into another season of the same old story or begin writing a different one depends on whether we have the courage to step outside the narratives that have imprisoned us for generations. That may be the most frightening step either society can take. It may also be the most important.

The writer is a Palestinian political activist and reform advocate. He has become a prominent voice for democratic renewal, national elections, and institutional reform. He is a founder and head of New Path (Masar Jadid), a new Palestinian political party seeking to build a modern, accountable, and democratic political alternative.

The Islamic Republic’s decision to attack Kuwait’s infrastructure is “unlikely” to push Gulf states to enter the war, even as civilians continue to pay the price for Tehran’s assault,  Dr. Courtney Freer, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies at Emory University and a senior nonresident fellow at the Gulf International Forum, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.

Over the weekend, Iranian attacks caused significant damage at a power generation plant, a water desalination plant and several residential areas in Kuwait, attacks that Freer noted would have a significant impact on civilian life.

“It is worth pointing out that these could have a major effect on the country, given that this is the hottest time of the year,” she explained. “In past years, Kuwait has suffered electricity blackouts due to high demand for air conditioning as temperatures soar, so attacks on electricity infrastructure make the situation more precarious in summer.”

On Monday, temperatures in Kuwait reached a high of 41 degrees, and maximum forecasts for this summer predict some days to exceed 50 degrees.

Iranian attacks may lead Gulf states to pressure Trump to end war

“Iranian attacks on civilian infrastructure therefore may be an attempt to turn Kuwaitis and others in the Gulf states against the war, such that they will pressure the Trump administration to end the fighting,” Freer continued. “In the longer term, Iran wants the Gulf states to abandon their security ties with the United States, but this seems unlikely.”

Adding further weight to this, Iran’s IRGC put out a direct message to Kuwaiti and Jordanian citizens in mid-July, calling on them to expel American “occupiers” from their countries’ territory and “not to miss any opportunity to destroy the aggressive American institutions and to liberate the Islamic lands.”

Beyond creating pressure on the Gulf states to push the US to end the war, Freer noted that targeting civilian infrastructure was likely “tactically easier” for Iran to achieve given that there are more air defense systems in place over bases.

“Beyond that, attacks on US troops could bring a harsher response from the US,” she noted.

Iran claims Gulf states targeted Iranian infrastructure

Mirroring similar comments made to the Post by international relations expert Dr. Arman Mahmoudian, a research fellow at the University of South Florida’s Global and National Security Institute, Freer said that Iran has largely justified the attacks on civilian infrastructure by claiming its own infrastructure was targeted by Gulf states, despite evidence and statements to the contrary.  

“These claims have been repeatedly denied, as the Gulf states have explained that attacks are coming from US aircraft carriers and that US troops have remained on their soil for defensive purposes,” she said.

Though Iran has given no indication of letting up on its attacks on civilian infrastructure, Freer concluded her comments to the Post by stating that Gulf states are “likely to continue to pursue restraint and diplomacy.”

“They have said from the beginning that this is not their war, and so they, in my view, are unlikely to get involved aside from defending themselves and seeking to mediate, including through direct talks with Iran,” she said. “There has been a lot of talk about strengthening regional cooperation among the Gulf states, and I think that could be a longer-term shift, as well as the development of local defensive and military capabilities.”

Every year, Tisha B’Av asks the Jewish people to undertake a difficult act of memory. We mourn the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem and the calamities that followed. The day reminds us that Jewish history has known exile and return, despair and renewal.

This year, its lessons feel especially urgent.

The Jewish people face a period of profound tumult. Elections loom in both Israel and the United States. Debates over security, democracy, the balance of power between Israel’s institutions, religious pluralism, and the future of the Jewish state have grown increasingly bitter. Disagreements that once remained vigorous have, in too many cases, become personal.

At the same time, antisemitism remains alarmingly high. Jewish students face harassment on university campuses. Jewish institutions confront continuing security threats. Violent rhetoric has become increasingly common. At a moment when outside pressures demand unity and resilience, we too often direct our frustrations at one another.

Last month, I visited the Maimonides Synagogue in Cairo, the historic synagogue associated with the Rambam, one of Judaism’s greatest sages.

Standing there, not far from the pyramids, I thought about the endurance of Jewish civilization. We did not survive because history treated us kindly. We survived because Jews remained committed to Judaism and to one another.

Maimonides lived through exile, upheaval, and fierce intellectual disagreement. Yet he devoted his life to preserving a common Jewish inheritance. In The Guide for the Perplexed, he wrestled with the relationship between philosophy and faith. In the Mishneh Torah, he organized Jewish law so that it could remain accessible wherever history carried the Jewish people.

His work reflected a belief that disagreement need not divide a people, provided the argument remains grounded in responsibility for their shared future.

That lesson belongs at the heart of Tisha B’Av.

Our tradition teaches that the Second Temple fell because of sinat chinam, baseless hatred among Jews. Historians rightly point to the political, military, and economic forces that led to Jerusalem’s destruction. Our sages chose to emphasize the moral failure within the Jewish community.

Their warning has lost none of its force. Division does not merely make a people angrier; it makes them weaker.

Jewish tradition has never demanded uniformity. The Talmud records disagreement on nearly every page. Jews have argued over law, theology, philosophy, and politics for thousands of years. Those arguments helped sustain Judaism across continents and centuries.

The danger begins when disagreement hardens into contempt and political opponents begin treating one another as enemies.

There is a difference between arguing over the future of the Jewish people and arguing that someone has no place in it.

We should not abandon our convictions or pretend that the questions facing Israel and the American Jewish community lack consequence. They deserve serious debate and passionate advocacy. But those with whom we disagree remain part of the same people.

How to preserve the Jewish people

History shows what happens when factionalism overwhelms shared purpose. Internal discord has weakened the Jewish people before, often at moments when threats from beyond demanded cohesion. We should not assume that our generation is immune from the same mistake.

That danger is particularly clear today. Those who attack Jews do not distinguish between Orthodox and Reform, Progressive and Conservative, American and Israeli. They do not ask how we voted, what we believe about the Israeli government, or which synagogue we attend.

To them, we are Jews.

Our enemies understand that we are one people. We should not need their hatred to remind us.

That recognition should not erase our differences. It should place them in perspective.

Tisha B’Av is not merely a day to mourn what was destroyed. It is a day to consider what we are responsible for preserving. The Temple fell nearly 2,000 years ago. The Jewish people endured. Through exile, persecution, and dispersion, Jews carried forward a civilization grounded in covenant, learning, and responsibility for one another.

The question on Tisha B’Av is not only what destroyed Jerusalem. It is what we are doing to preserve the Jewish people now.

As another season of difficult political choices approaches, we should remember that strong disagreements need not become permanent divisions. We can defend our principles without denying one another’s place within the Jewish people.

The Romans destroyed the Temple. We bear responsibility for ensuring that our own divisions do not weaken what generations of Jews struggled to preserve.

The writer is CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the 50 members of the Conference.

Rabbi Dov Lando, spiritual leader of the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Degel Hatorah faction, attacked the religious Zionist community, accusing them of waging wars that were not for Israel’s protection.

“If the country sends people, soldiers, in the name of the country’s honor, and they kill people, is that also allowed?” he questioned. “It’s simply murder. So they’re inciting to murder, that’s what they’re doing.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Lando’s words, saying that IDF soldiers deserve gratitude and appreciation.

“IDF soldiers – religious, secular, and ultra-Orthodox – leave their homes, their work, and their families and risk their lives to defend the State of Israel, its citizens, and the entire people of Israel,” Netanyahu stated.

“They deserve deep appreciation, gratitude, and full support from every part of the public, and certainly from the world of Torah as well.”

מתקפה חריפה במיוחד – מנהיג דגל התורה הרב לנדו על הציבור הדתי לאומי: “הם מסיתים לרצח, הם עושים מלחמות לא לשם הצלה – רק לשם כבוד המדינה” pic.twitter.com/WFCNnOnKvE

— דניאל גרובייס Daniel Grovais (@daniel_grovais) July 19, 2026

Degel Hatorah later responded to Netanyahu, warning him not to attack the spiritual leader.

“The words of the great Torah scholars are the holy of holies of the people of Israel, and we live by them,” Degel Hatorah stated. “Those who do not live the world of the Torah and do not understand the depth of their words, it is better not to rush to interpret them, and certainly not to attack them. Beware of their burning embers.”

Lando orders students not to cooperate with IDF

Earlier this month, Lando instructed haredi students to not cooperate with the IDF or respect any drafting orders.

Lando argued in his ruling that throughout Israel’s history, there was an understanding with the “army authorities” that yeshiva students would not be drafted, and ultra-Orthodox leadership cooperated with the authorities in order to regulate the exemption.

However, according to Lando, the current situation is that the High Court has “declared war against the world of Torah,” and since the IDF was subject to the High Court ruling, ultra-Orthodox men should no longer cooperate

Joel Tauber has been through many an election in his 92 years. And, with the exception of “one out of 100 times,” he’s always backed a Democrat, something even more important in the current midterm cycle, he believes.

“Winning the Senate and the House is the beginning of a way back to our democracy,” Tauber, a founding chair of Jewish Federations of North America who has hosted former President Bill Clinton and other Democratic leaders, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “It’s really, really important to me.”

But Tauber is a Michigan resident, and the state’s upcoming US Senate primary is making him deeply uneasy. Like many a Jew in the mitten state, he is pulling for pro-Israel centrist US Rep. Haley Stevens to win on Aug. 4. 

Should her opponent, former county health official and staunch Israel critic Abdul El-Sayed, prevail instead, Tauber would take a step he’s said he’s never done before: leave the Senate ballot blank.

“I’d sit it out,” he said, of the general election. Of El-Sayed, he said, “There’s no way that I could vote for him.” 

Traditionally Democrat fundraisers shift to planning for Republicans

Some Jewish Democratic leaders in the state are prepared to go even further. Several prominent Metro Detroit Jews who have traditionally fundraised for Democrats are also planning fundraisers for the presumptive GOP nominee, former US Rep. Mike Rogers, as a “hedge.” Others are planning to help him if El-Sayed wins the Democratic nomination, one Jew who is close to the Stevens campaign told JTA.

Others affirmed the idea that the Jewish Democratic donor class, feeling abandoned by the party, would back Rogers.

“There are leaders in our Jewish community who are longtime, lifelong Democrats and Democratic fundraisers, who are very concerned with where their party’s going,” said Dennis Bernard, national chair of government relations for the nonpartisan JFNA and a metro Detroit resident. “And if this is the case, they’ve made it clear, both financially and with their vote, that they would support Mike Rogers in the event El-Sayed wins the primary.”

Detroit-area Jewish Democrats have asked Bernard, over golf outings, for introductions to Rogers, he said. 

The reason: They see El-Sayed, who has questioned whether Israel should be a Jewish state and suggested that Democrats who support Israel only do so because of financial motives, as portending an existential threat to the national Jewish community. If he wins in a purple state, one in which pro-Israel Jews have for years butted heads with US Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the pro-Palestinian Democrat, some fear more candidates with similar views will follow, and lead to an unsafe environment for Jews in Michigan and beyond. They worry that increasingly hostile discourse creates an environment in which antisemitic harassment becomes more acceptable and Jewish political activism is considered suspect.

“This is a truly once-in-a-lifetime moment where you have to become a single-issue voter,” Bernard said. “And that issue is antisemitism, our Judaism and Israel. This is where you put party third: our people first, our country second.”

Left-wing congressional primary wins in New York, Colorado and other states have stoked anxiety over the Senate race here, as Michigan, also home to a large Arab/Muslim population, is morphing into a litmus test for the relationship between pro-Israel Jews and the Democratic Party. For the majority of American Jews who back liberal policies, a decades-long bond is being tested like never before.

A similar dynamic played out on a smaller scale after Zohran Mamdani, a vocal anti-Zionist, secured the Democratic nomination in New York City’s 2025 mayoral election. Then, several prominent Jewish donors backed a rival bid by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent while maintaining Democratic ties. Despite recent polling showing that 44% of American Jews hold a favorable opinion of the mayor, a higher favorability score than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pro-Israel voters still regard his pro-Palestinian rhetoric as disquieting.

Gaza war and calls to boycott AIPAC strain Jewish-Democratic bonds

The backlash against Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza and growing calls to shun the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC are further straining Jewish-Democratic bonds, and, for some of the most influential of Michigan’s estimated 129,000 Jews, are on the verge of breaking them. 

Another Jewish leader told JTA that there was also an effort underway to convince pro-Israel Republicans to vote for Stevens in the state’s open primary, even if they later decide to vote for Rogers in the general election.

“Anyone who cares about the future of the US-Israel relationship, Democrat or Republican, needs to vote for Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary,” they said, requesting anonymity because they did not want to be seen as speaking for the community. The Republican Party is currently engaged in its own tug-of-war over Israel and antisemitism, with Vice President JD Vance recently criticizing Israel while entertaining conspiracy theories about its ties to Jeffrey Epstein on a popular podcast. 

When contacted by JTA, Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America (which is phone-banking for Stevens) and a native of East Lansing, Michigan, declined to comment directly on the possibility of the state’s Jewish Democrats backing Rogers over El-Sayed.

“Our focus is ensuring Haley Stevens wins the primary election,” Soifer said in a statement, also saying that El-Sayed’s “views are not aligned with the vast majority of Jewish Americans.”  

At Michigan’s Democratic convention earlier this year in Detroit, Stevens was booed by the rank and file while state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who was then also running for the seat, alleged that an attendee directed an antisemitic remark at her Jewish husband. At the same convention, a lawyer for pro-Palestinian encampment participants, who himself had a history of social media posts supporting Hezbollah and retweeting antisemitic conspiracy theories from far-right podcaster Candace Owens, ousted a pro-Israel Jewish incumbent for the party’s nomination for University of Michigan board of regents, a statewide elected position. 

The convention was an inflection point for many top Jewish Democratic supporters. Many of these Jewish leaders declined to comment to JTA. Others said much of the enthusiasm for the broader party goals among the staunchly pro-Israel Jews of the Detroit suburbs has been drained.

“I’m feeling kind of confused, and it must be how my Republican friends felt once the Tea Party took over,” said Neil Gorosh, a retired commercial mortgage banker in West Bloomfield and past president of a local Jewish senior living community. 

Gorosh ran for office once: a local parks-and-recreation position in 1988. A Democrat during the George H.W. Bush-led GOP wave, he lost. Since then, he said, he has always backed Democrats while developing an elections calculus: He leads with local issues on local races, but Israel on contests of national import.

Accusing the Democrats of “completely rejecting Israel,” he added, “I’m rudderless right now.”

“If it came down to Mike Rogers and El-Sayed, I will vote for Mike Rogers,” Gorosh said. “I wouldn’t write a check, but I would vote for him, and I would tell my like-minded friends to do the same, and the reasons why.”

‘The Supreme Court is too critical to not support a Democrat,’ some believe

Michelle “Decky” Alexander, the Michigan Jewish Democratic caucus chair, was one of a very few Jewish leaders who told JTA on the record she would back El-Sayed over Rogers. She insists that there are many others. 

“This is what I’ve heard from Jews, even in Detroit: The Supreme Court is too critical to not support a Democrat,” she said.

Alexander recently had an hours-long sit-down with El-Sayed, she said, and believes “he absolutely would be open to dialogue.” In his rallies, the candidate has welcomed Jews and stated, “AIPAC and Israel are not the same as Judaism and the Jewish people.”

For now, though, the focus is purely on Stevens, who is not herself Jewish but represents a large slab of Oakland County, affluent, heavily Jewish Detroit suburbs that have trended liberal over the last few election cycles after formerly electing Republicans. While the Stevens campaign has not responded to interview requests for JTA, she recently told The New York Times that Israel is not a central issue for her and added, “I am not a Netanyahu apologist.”

The congresswoman’s Jewish backers are hoping to drive a strong enough voter turnout to neuter both El-Sayed and the national progressive insurgent movement he represents. (The Democratic Socialists of America are behind many of the emerging candidates, though El-Sayed himself is not a member of the group and has distanced himself from the socialist label.) 

Stevens’ supporters point to a growing number of encouraging signs, including endorsements from party leaders such as retiring Sen. Gary Peters, whose seat she hopes to fill. Chuck Schumer, the Jewish Senate majority leader, has also endorsed her. A recent poll commissioned by the Detroit News shows her ahead by seven points, though social media in recent days has been flooded with so many unflattering memes of Stevens on the campaign trail that El-Sayed himself denounced his supporters’ behavior. 

Another Detroit News poll this week shows that most likely Democratic voters have a negative view of AIPAC, which, according to an AdImpact analysis of the most recent filings, has spent more than $28 million for Stevens to date. AIPAC’s support of Stevens is one of El-Sayed’s biggest attack lines. The candidate recently claimed that the group has spent more than $50 million against him, though a campaign representative told JTA that figure includes $20 million from new super PACs that have not disclosed their funding sources and have no immediately apparent links to AIPAC. 

The Jewish Stevens supporters who spoke to JTA, some of whom are or have been AIPAC supporters themselves, argue that AIPAC has been unfairly demonized compared to other lobbying groups. 

They also shrug off Stevens’ recent critiques of Netanyahu during a debate, at which she said the Israeli prime minister “is a danger to Jews in America and around the world.” Many of her backers chalked up the language to a new political reality for Democrats that rewards criticism of Israel, rather than a shift in her own thinking.

“It’s the needle Democrats have to thread to have any credibility path at all,” Gorosh said. Referring to Israel’s own upcoming elections, he added, “I think he’ll [Netanyahu] be gone after October, but he’ll be gone eventually. Then what do you criticize?”

El-Sayed also has Jewish supporters, most notably former US Rep. Andy Levin, a progressive member of a powerful Michigan political family who lost his House seat to Stevens after AIPAC spent heavily for her in 2022. There is also a Jews For Abdul affinity group.

Speaking to JTA, Levin dismissed concerns about Jewish Democrats rejecting El-Sayed in the general. He said the conversation was being dominated by hardline pro-Israel donors in the community who have pushed similar red lines for decades, rather than being a new shift from the Jewish mainstream.

“I do not take a backseat to any of these so-called ‘lifelong Democrats’ about self-determination for the Jewish people in the holy land, about fighting antisemitism at home and abroad,” he said. “I just have a different view of how we accomplish these things, and they do not have a monopoly in the Jewish community.”

Levin also defended El-Sayed’s record on Jewish issues, saying, “He is a strong advocate for Jewish safety here, in our community.” 

For Jews who have long seen themselves as committed Democrats, the prospect of leaving the party is a tough sit. Tauber, for his part, says he still can’t bring himself to vote for any Republican “who is so controlled by Trump, who’s a man of immorality, no values.” (Rogers’ campaign touts his Trump endorsement, and the candidate has also backed Trump’s unfounded claims about election fraud in the state as well as supported the president’s holding up of an international bridge in Michigan. The candidate has also acknowledged antisemitism on the right.)

The Rogers campaign did not respond to a JTA request for comment. 

Republicans reach to appeal to Jewish Democrats

The nationwide importance of this race and the Jewish vote was evident when New York state Republicans recently made an explicit appeal for Jewish Democrats, stating in a digital ad campaign that Jews were leaving the party “in droves” “from Maine to Michigan.” Before he dropped out last week as the Democratic Senate nominee in Maine over sexual assault allegations he has denied, Graham Platner put anti-Israel criticism near the center of his platform.

Some Jews who spoke to JTA comfort themselves by insisting that the House, at least, seems likely to flip, providing a check on Trump even if the Senate remains led by Republicans. 

Shimon Levy, an Israeli-American entrepreneur who has lived in the Detroit area since 2014, said he was unconcerned about the prospect of Republicans keeping the Senate.

“F*** that,” Levy told JTA. Levy has drifted between the parties over the years, he said, but “I stand and I lead with my Jewish identity. Safety and security of the Jewish community is my first and foremost goal.”

That wouldn’t be possible with El-Sayed on the ticket, he insisted: “El-Sayed has done nothing but put Jews at risk and in danger, and through his words has been so poisonous and has ostracized and villainized, single-handedly, the Jews of Southeast Michigan.” 

He added, “If today, as a Jew, you’re still like, ‘Democratic all the way, Democratic down the ticket,’ you need to rethink your survivalist instinct.”

Recently, Levy, who describes himself as a reluctant political activist, hosted a candidate meet-and-greet fundraiser that brought in more than $70,000 for Stevens. Attendees were not just Jewish, and not just Democrats. Republicans, too, showed up: “People who are concerned about common-sense politics, who would vote for Haley in a heartbeat.” 

The question of how Jewish safety is linked to Israel discourse isn’t abstract in Michigan. West Bloomfield’s Temple Israel was the site of an attack this spring by a Michigan resident whose family members were killed when Israel targeted a Hezbollah outpost in Lebanon. The incident became a factor in the Senate campaign after El-Sayed said of the attacker, “Hurt people hurt people,” which critics felt minimized the crime and equated the attacker with his intended victims.

In late June, the temple itself, the largest Reform congregation in the country, sent an email to congregants stating, “This year, antisemitism is on the ballot.” Without naming candidates, the unsigned message concluded, “The Talmud reminds us that our leaders are chosen by us; silence is not a choice we can make right now.” 

Mailers funded by AIPAC’s United Democracy Project and sent to some voters in Michigan and circulated online attacked El-Sayed for his friendship with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker and for his statement after the Temple Israel attack. 

The mailers accused El-Sayed of having “rationalized a terrorist attack on a Michigan synagogue filled with Jewish children.” (The synagogue preschool was open at the time of the attack.) El-Sayed had condemned the attack, but the mailers accused him of equivocating.

This was not a total break with all Democrats, many emphasized. Jewish pro-Israel state Sen. Jeremy Moss, who is running for Stevens’ congressional seat, and gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson, along with others, continue to receive high marks from the Jewish donor class. 

Across Michigan, particularly in the Detroit area, there are (literal) signs of strain. Last month, the Oakland County roads commission ordered the removal of Adopt-a-Road signs, located a few miles from Temple Israel, that had been sponsored by a group called “Voices for Palestinians” after temple members voiced objections. A Fourth of July parade in Huntington Woods, another heavily Jewish suburb in the county, was briefly disrupted by a protest after parade organizers had put in place rules forbidding pro-Palestinian signs from being displayed.

In early July, the state Anti-Defamation League chapter, together with Temple Israel, hosted a bipartisan delegation of Michigan lawmakers on the site of the attack, and advocated for increased synagogue security funding. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Jewish Democrat, as well as Rep. Shri Thanedar, a Democrat who has tacked from the left to the center on Israel since his election and is now facing a primary challenger endorsed by El-Sayed, were among those in attendance.

Rabbis at the temple gave voice to the uneasiness of the political moment for Jewish liberals. 

Rabbi Paul Yedwab, who called the state Democratic convention “a shonda,” or shame, in a recent sermon, said during the same sermon, “The glib answer would be to say, I guess you become a Republican. But that is not as easy as it seems for a liberal Jew.” He went on to criticize the Trump administration’s legal assault on the Southern Poverty Law Center, a monitor of far-right extremism.

Yedwab concluded, “From here on in, it will be incumbent upon us as Americans and as Jews to evaluate each proposal, each issue, each platform, and, indeed, each candidate according to our own independent set of values.”

Iran’s Science, Research, and Technology Ministry sent orders to the country’s academic institutions on how to suppress the September 2023 protests, which broke out on the anniversary of the regime’s murder of Mahsa Amini, according to documents newly released by the Amirkabir NewsLetter, a student-run media outlet.

The ministry, in a letter addressed to the heads of universities, higher education institutes, and research institutes across Iran, demanded that protests be met with a harsh response.

“Rioting must come with a cost, and a passive stance will embolden the rioters,” Ebrahim Hosseini, then-director general of the Office for Coordinating Administrative Misconduct Committees for Employees and Faculty Members, wrote.

افشای دستور محرمانه وزارت علوم برای سرکوب وحشیانه دانشجویان و اساتید

بر اساس اسناد افشا شده که نسخه‌ای از آن به دست #خبرنامه_امیرکبیر رسیده است، وزارت علوم تحقیقات و فناوری در تاریخ ۵ شهریور ۱۴۰۲، طی نامه ای به روسای دانشگاهها و موسسات آموزش عالی سراسر کشور، پژوهشگاه‌ها و… pic.twitter.com/YwDwR2Lrnt

— Amirkabir NewsLetter خبرنامهٔ امیرکبیر (@autnews_org) July 19, 2026

The letter explicitly called for institutions to follow directives issued by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, including the suppression of demonstrations.

“Distinguished university presidents can also have a preventive aspect; explaining the results and effects of these measures in making educational and research environments healthy will play a significant role in strengthening and influencing the concept and position of the rule of law in the process of investigating violations.

“Therefore, it is hoped that the preparation of the requested report and its submission will be put on the agenda as a matter of urgency,” Hosseini wrote.

Women, Life, Freedom protests followed Amini’s killing by regime’s security forces

Protests broke out across Iran a year after 22-year-old Amini was killed by the regime’s security forces for not wearing her head covering properly.  

Her father, Amjad Amini, was briefly arrested on the anniversary of her death, and security forces surrounded the family home to prevent them from attending a graveside ceremony, sparking further public outrage.

In the Women, Life, Freedom demonstrations that followed Amini’s murder in 2022, more than 500 people, including 71 minors, were killed, hundreds were injured, and thousands were arrested, according to multiple human rights groups.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett met with 30 leaders of Israeli women’s organizations on Sunday as part of his election campaign, he announced on X/Twitter.

He met with the leaders to help shape the Together Party’s policy on women, which he said would be spearheaded by MK Meirav Cohen and Liran Avisar Ben Horin.

He criticized the current government’s policies toward women, claiming that its recent legislative blitz had “deliberately harmed” them.

“The past four years have been years of darkness and chaos,” Bennett said.

Bennett contrasted the current government’s record with that of his own, noting that his government included more female ministers and directors-general than any previous government in Israel’s history.

הבוקר נפגשתי עם למעלה מ-30 מובילות של ארגוני הנשים בישראל.
נשים שפועלות כל יום למען שיוויון וביטחון לנשות ישראל.

באתי קודם כל להקשיב.
לשמוע מה קורה בשטח, ומה המדינה צריכה לעשות אחרת – כחלק מגיבוש תוכנית “ביחד” בהובלת ח״כ מירב כהן ולירן אבישר בן חורין.

והמצב קשה.
ארבע השנים… pic.twitter.com/QJZ4hdTnsV

— Naftali Bennett נפתלי בנט (@naftalibennett) July 19, 2026

Bennett’s government set record for women in senior roles

“A record then, compared with the low point we are seeing now,” he said. “This is a government that tells women: ‘No, you can’t!’”

Bennett also cited a troubling statistic, saying that the number of women killed because of their gender reached a record high this year and is expected to double within two years.

Bennett pledged that his government would act firmly and professionally, using “the tools available to the state” to combat violence against women.

In his statement, he also pledged to “repeal laws that discriminate against and exclude women” and to “transform early childhood education to reduce the economic and professional price paid by mothers.” He also vowed to “establish a dedicated body for reservists’ families.”

“And with God’s help,” he said, “we will break our own record for women’s representation in every center of decision-making.”

“We will fix this too, together,” he concluded.

For many people, the Orthodox Union is synonymous with the small “OU” symbol found on millions of kosher products. But  Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Rabbi Josh Joseph says that’s only one piece of the organization’s story.

“The OU is very well known for its kashrus with 1.5 million products worldwide,” Joseph told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. “It is a huge part of what we do, and we’re a nonprofit. But that money goes back into the community and into all of our actions and activities and programs and projects.”

Founded in 1898 as an umbrella organization for Orthodox synagogues, the OU initially focused on representing Jewish communal interests. Kosher certification was added in 1916 and has since become its most recognizable function, but far from its only one.

Some of the OU’s most well-known projects outside of kashrut are NCSY (the international youth movement), Yachad (the National Jewish Council for Disabilities) and JLIC (Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus). It also runs a Daf Yomi initiative, with 10,000 plus people learning the Talmud daily.

Then there are other subsets that don’t necessarily have the OU’s name on them.

The Teach Coalition, for example, is a grassroots organization that fights for equitable government funding, security resources, and affordable tuition.

“When it comes down to it, it’s about support, and it’s about relationships and growing those relationships externally, but also within the community,” Joseph told the Post.

Of course, in many ways, the nature of the OU’s advocacy and relationships has shifted since October 7th.

“Absolutely yes there’s challenges. Yes, there’s antisemitism around the world. In America. And yes, there’s challenges in Israel. But that also means that Hashem is asking each one of us what our role is in fixing it instead of just sitting back.”

Joseph says one of the OU’s values is being solution-oriented.

“You can point things out, you can complain. But then what are you going to do about it? What’s next? How are you going to try and make it better?”

On October 6th, 2023, there were 304 Jewish Student Unions (JSUs) in US public schools. And “really overnight, without doing any recruitment, it went from 300 to well over 500 clubs across the country,” Joseph told the Post.

What he found interesting was that the JSUs were not interested in asking the OU to come to the schools and talk about combatting antisemitism.

“They told us: ‘We want to know what it means to be Jewish. What does it mean to have a Jewish identity? What does it mean to be proud of your Judaism? Give us some content. Give us some context. Give us some something that’s genuine and that’s authentic and that’s content rich.'”

“So there is a moment of opportunity right now at every stage for us to talk about Torah, Torah concepts. It’s not necessarily about making people orthodox, but to share thousands upon thousands of years of godly ideas with the entire Jewish world.”

“What we find inside is a spark. And if we can connect that spark to God and to inspiration and to spirituality, then we have a chance to light the world on fire.”

Combating the divide

Joseph noted that the relationship between American orthodoxy and Israel is changing, but nevertheless remains at the heart of US Jewry.

“What happens in Israel really matters to us in America and certainly in the Orthodox circles. When a member of Knesset might do something or say something that gets our politicians all riled up, there’s no separation.

“We are one community. And yet there is a divide that we need to keep working on.”

In order to combat this divide, the OU organizes many trips to Israel for people of all ages; “In both directions, we can learn about each other, and we can talk to each other face to face.”

Joseph doesn’t agree with the idea that Jews worldwide must be unified. He says a little fraction is okay.

“We can disagree as long as we can do that agreeably. There are different pathways, but we’re all ending up at the same place.”

In terms of combatting antisemitism, Jospeh says what works best is one-on-one conversations.  

“It’s going to somebody and saying, come visit the Holy Land with me, and then coming to Israel and taking them to the Valley of Elah and showing them where Goliath stood and where David stood. That’s a different conversation than I’m going to take you to Nova. Both are important. Both have a role, and some people might need to see one and some people might see others, and some people might need to see both.”

When it comes to political antisemitism, Joseph stressed the importance of thanking supporters instead of just criticizing opposition.

“There were 104 Democrats who voted for the Massie Amendment. But there were also 98 Democrats who voted against it. Did anybody reach out and say thank you?”

“Nathan Diamond from the OU put out an action order to not the 104, but also to thank the 98 for standing up.”

“It’s very hard to go one-on-one, especially when there are maybe 15 million Jews, but the more we can have some of those engagements, I think the better shot we have,” he concluded.

Multiple teenage girls and young women in Iran have reportedly died by suicide or in honor killings after their photos were published on a Telegram channel alongside accusations regarding their sexual conduct, according to Iranian media reports and legal organizations.

Over the past week, two girls in Lorestan province ended their lives after their photos were leaked on the Telegram channel. The Iranian newspaper Sharq reported that several others also attempted suicide after having their photos published without consent.

Weeks earlier, a 16-year-old girl and a 20-year-old woman were also reported to have ended their lives in two separate incidents linked to claims published about them on the Telegram channel. However, an informed source told IranWire that the photo used of the young woman was “just an ordinary photo, not even a private one, taken directly from her Instagram page.”

انتشار تصویر یک زن در شهر ما ممکن است موجب مرگش شود.

پنج دختر خودکشی کردند و یک دختر توسط پدرش به قتل رسید.#لرستان#زن_کشی

— فرشته تابانیان ⁦ (@Fereshtetabani1) July 14, 2026

One of the two 16-year-old girls, identified as “Esma,” was buried in the Khazar Cemetery without a reception ceremony and in the presence of only a few friends and relatives, against local customs, according to the legal advocacy network Dadbaan.

Women across the provinces of Lorestan, Kermanshah, and West Azerbaijan have experienced extortion attempts connected to the channel, according to reports. The channel’s administrators reportedly demanded payment in exchange for removing posts.

In addition to the suicides and suicide attempts, Sharq reported at least one case of honor killing linked to the channel’s actions. Defense attorney Fereshteh Tabanian said online that a young girl had been killed by her father in connection with a post made about her.

IranWire also reported that one woman lost her job, another was expelled from her home by her husband, and another had her engagement called off as a result of the channel.

Reports link Telegram channel to suicides and honor killing

“From a criminological perspective, this case illustrates how the combination of cyber violence, social stigma, and cultural pressures related to the concept of ‘honor’ can inflict severe psychological harm on victims, especially teenagers. Preventing the recurrence of such incidents requires not only criminal prosecution of the offenders but also strengthening psychological support for victims, digital literacy education, and combating victim-blaming culture,” Dadbaan published in a statement.

افزایش شمار جان‌باختگان پرونده انتشار تصاویر خصوصی زنان در لرستان

روزنامه شرق در ایران با انتشار گزارشی از افزایش شمار جان‌باختگان پرونده انتشار تصاویر خصوصی زنان در لرستان خبر داده است.

بر اساس این گزارش انتشار تصاویر خصوصی زنان در یک کانال تلگرامی و اخاذی از قربانیان، به… pic.twitter.com/j2YijQ0AqW

— دادبان (@dadban4) July 19, 2026

IranWire, citing an informed source, claimed that student groups affiliated with universities in Khorramabad and Borujerd were targeted by the channel. The situation escalated, however, as “some individuals began sending in photos of other people’s daughters and sons out of personal grudges and enmity, accompanied by highly offensive and immoral captions.”

The channel initially claimed to be “punishing the regime’s parastous (honeytraps),” but has largely targeted those labeled “enemies of the state” as well as pro-regime figures, according to IranWire.

Activists warn misogyny-fueled abuse campaign

Samaneh Sawadi, a lawyer and gender equality activist based in the United Kingdom, told DW Persian that “this is a cybercrime and a violation of women’s privacy, but those who committed such an act knew in what context and culture they were doing it. They took advantage of the misogynistic atmosphere and touched on parts of the culture that could have led some of those women to a point where some of them were willing to lose their lives, and some were forced to delete social networks and leave cyberspace.”

“When society does not think that the presence of women is fundamentally sinful, it will not resort to such tactics to eliminate them. We can certainly report them, but then another channel will emerge. We need to see in what context these channels are created; in a context where the family considers the daughter and niece as its own personal property and sees her body, face, and social presence as its own, and turns her decision to have a profile into a tool and says, ‘I will not allow you to do this,’” she added.

Police arrest three suspects, search for fourth continues

Some reports have claimed that despite promises from the police and judiciary, no action has been taken to remove the Telegram channels or follow up on numerous complaints filed in connection with the account. However, the Lorestan prosecutor’s office reported that three of the channel’s operators were identified and arrested by police, while an ongoing search remains underway for a fourth suspect.

Five members of the Council for Higher Education (CHE) resigned on Monday in protest over legislation expanding gender-segregated academic studies, warning that the law constituted “unprecedented interference” in the council’s independence and could lead to the exclusion of women from Israeli academia.

According to Israeli media reports, four of the members submitted a joint resignation letter to President Isaac Herzog and Education Minister Yoav Kisch, who serves as chairman of the council. A fifth member, Moshe Vigdor, resigned in a separate letter.

The four signatories were Hebrew University chemistry Prof. Edit Tshuva, a former deputy chairwoman of the council; Technion Prof. Marcelle Machluf of the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering; Ben-Gurion University computer science Prof. Jihad El-Sana; and Prof. Lia Laor of the Levinsky-Wingate Academic College. Vigdor is CEO of the Mandel Foundation Israel, a former director-general of the CHE, and served on the council as a public representative.

CHE members cite threat to academic independence

“Approval of the law concerning gender segregation in advanced-degree studies in academia constitutes unprecedented interference in the independence of the Council for Higher Education,” the four wrote.

The intention to advance separate study programs was expected to severely harm the fundamental values on which Israel’s higher education system was based, including “academic freedom, equality, excellence and pluralism,” they said.

The amendment represented a substantive change in the nature of Israeli higher education and could lead to the exclusion of women as students, researchers and faculty members, they warned. It could also harm academic standards, public trust in the system and the international standing of Israeli academia.

“In these circumstances, we cannot continue to serve as members of the council and thereby grant legitimacy to steps that contradict the values for which we were asked to serve,” they wrote, announcing their immediate resignations.

Vigdor said separately that the legislation had undermined the council’s ability to bear responsibility for academic standards, equality, academic freedom and diversity.

“The law will grant state legitimacy to the exclusion of women in academia, and subsequently in additional public spaces,” he wrote, per reports.

“In the situation that has been created, in which the Council for Higher Education may become a rubber stamp for measures that contradict its scientific and ethical foundations, I cannot lend a hand to this – not through my voice and not through my silence.”

Vigdor stressed that his decision was not political, saying he had served as a public representative for approximately a decade out of a belief that a strong, free, equal and excellent academic system was a central component of Israel’s national resilience. Reports of the resignations said they were submitted one day before the council was due to hold its first discussion on implementing the legislation.

Knesset expands legal basis for gender-segregated programs

The Knesset approved the amendment to the Student Rights Law in a 52-43 vote early Thursday. Sponsored by Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech, it expressly permits the CHE to approve separate programs for men and women in bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral studies.

At institutions that otherwise teach men and women together, separation is limited to classrooms, and enrollment must be voluntary. The legislation also states that operating separate institutions or programs for religious reasons will not, in itself, be considered discrimination. Son Har-Melech has argued that the legislation expands freedom of choice and allows religious students to pursue advanced degrees without abandoning their way of life.

High Court petition challenges new law

Six haredi women and 10 academics petitioned the High Court of Justice against the law hours after it passed, asking the court to strike it down or interpret it narrowly.

The petitioners argued that the amendment dismantled the safeguards on which the High Court relied when it upheld the council’s previous, limited framework for gender-segregated studies in 2021. That framework was restricted primarily to haredi students studying for bachelor’s degrees, limited separation to classrooms, and prohibited the exclusion of female lecturers.

The Council for Higher Education has yet to issue a response.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry has received 45 reports of antisemitic incidents against Israelis abroad since July 2025, the ministry revealed in its new “Map of Distress.”

According to ministry officials, this is a record number of antisemitic incidents. It included physical assaults, fights, spitting, verbal abuse, denial of service, and expulsion from hotels, cafes and restaurants.

“Over the past year we have seen a phenomenon we had never encountered on this scale before: Israelis contacting us after experiencing antisemitic incidents while abroad,” said Deputy Director-General for Consular Affairs Eli Yifrah.

“In several countries, there were reports of Israelis being identified because of their nationality or visible Israeli symbols and becoming targets of harassment, threats and even physical attacks.”

Alongside the 45 cases of antisemitic incidents, there were 384 cases involving missing persons or loss of contact, 292 arrests of Israeli citizens, 196 Israelis hospitalized abroad, 149 rescue operations from dangerous areas and 23 Israelis involved in natural disasters.

The countries with the highest number of cases where assistance was provided were the United Arab Emirates (615 incidents), Thailand (347 incidents), Greece (206), the US (202) and Italy (181).

Data collected from TravIL app

Overall, consular systems processed nearly 200,000 cases during the first half of 2026. This included the sensitive task of arranging the return of 846 deceased Israelis for burial in Israel, most of whom were from New York and Paris.

The newly released data follows the successful launch of the TravIL emergency app two weeks ago.

The Foreign Ministry said the figures demonstrate exactly why the app is needed. TravIL was developed to help prevent these situations and provide critical assistance during emergencies.

The app includes a secure digital document vault where travelers can store copies of their passport, helping speed up the replacement process and reducing bureaucracy. It also has a location-based emergency button that instantly transmits your GPS coordinates directly to the ministry’s Situation Room in Jerusalem.

“The Foreign Ministry’s consular network continues to operate around the clock, 24 hours a day, through Israel’s missions worldwide, providing assistance and services to Israeli citizens in a wide range of routine and emergency situations,” Yifrah said.

He told Israeli media that the increase in consular activity reflects both the growing number of Israelis traveling abroad and the complex security situation since the outbreak of the Swords of Iron War.