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Thirty-seven years ago, a slightly skinnier version of myself entered the Israeli Security Zone in South Lebanon with my Givati platoon. We were all geared up with state-of-the-art tactical battle equipment of the day. 

Being the platoon’s combat medic, in addition to my weapon, helmet, flak jacket, heavy tactical vest, ammunition, and grenades, I had a lot of medical equipment, anti-mine shoes, and a portable stretcher on my back. 

Before we set out on our daily patrols and nightly anti-terrorist ambushes on the other side of the international border, whatever our mission briefing was, it always ended with the same mantra: “Our mission is to defend the northern settlements (from Hezbollah terrorists).”

My 20-year-old self would have been incredulous to learn that, almost four decades later, I am in the same place, with the same mission statement. Despite the intervening years, nothing seems to have changed. It is a depressing situation. 

I see young men and women in my PALMAR medical extraction unit who are not much older than I was the first time I was in Lebanon. The thought that they will be there in another four decades is a grim one.

I would also not have thought when I fought to reenlist in the IDF after the October 7 massacre – thus becoming the oldest combat medic in the IDF – that I would still be serving on an emergency call-up almost three years later, with Hamas still in power in an albeit reduced area in Gaza and Hezbollah – despite being weakened – still calling the shots in Lebanon.

I distinctly remember the feeling of waiting on an ambush in Lebanon. It felt like a game of Russian roulette. 

Many thoughts went on in our heads as we lay for hours in enemy territory protecting our northern border, chief of which was “Will it be our turn tonight to fight the Hezbollah terrorists attempting to infiltrate our homeland to leave a trail of murder and destruction?”

In today’s Lebanon, the troops have a similar feeling when wondering if they will encounter the still unsolved problem of fiber-optic first-person view (FPV) explosive drones.

I attended my first funeral during this time. I remember the sea of purple berets and the bereaved siblings, parents, and grandparents as if it were yesterday. Psychologists refer to this as a “reverse-order death.” In a normal world, children are supposed to bury their parents, not the other way round. 

Nothing seems to have changed, as every week we are still losing our best. As Billy Joel observed, “only the good die young.” This is not even factoring in the many wounded soldiers who my unit treats on an almost daily basis, whose lives will never be the same again. For what?

We never seem to be able to win a war. As Matti Friedman observed, a war needs to have a clear strategic goal to succeed. We are still fighting Hezbollah, which is still entrenched in every element of Lebanese society. We don’t know what victory looks like.

The North has been largely abandoned since October 7. Tens of thousands of residents are still unable, or do not want, to return home. We face the grim reality that this war of attrition seems to be never-ending. 

Israel is the only country that is not allowed, by its “allies,” to win a war. What is it all for, if we are not allowed to win this war?

The writer, currently stationed in Lebanon, is the oldest combat medic in the IDF. His latest book, Heroes of Palmar, How One IDF Unit Revolutionized Combat Medicine in Gaza, is available on Amazon and from Gefen Publishers.

A global conspiracy of “Jewish supremacists” is preventing a Los Angeles man from attending the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, according to a lawsuit filed in the US District Court in Concord.

The plaintiff filed his lawsuit under the John Doe pseudonym to protect himself from the supposedly deadly conspirators. But that could change. On Friday, Judge Stephen McAuliffe ruled that there is no compelling legal reason to allow the lawsuit to proceed anonymously.

“Doe does assert that his physical safety will be threatened if he is not allowed to proceed pseudonymously because ‘Jews commonly harm or murder their opposers.’ But, those allegations, unsupported by any particularized evidentiary showing, are, to put it charitably, not credible,” McAuliffe wrote.

Doe’s original complaint against Dartmouth claims he was rejected from the business school despite having good grades. He is, of course, representing himself.

“Plaintiff applied with a GMAT test score higher than 99% of test-takers and higher than approximately 95% of 2024’s entering class. Plaintiff applied with an undergraduate GPA within the normal range of admitted students and a long career of impressive and unique accomplishments. Despite Plaintiff’s outstanding qualifications, Dartmouth notified Plaintiff on May 2, 2024, that his application for admission was denied,” Doe states.

Doe claims he was rejected for being white

The obvious reason for the rejection, according to Doe, is that he is a White gentile.

“Nearly all ‘White’ students at Dartmouth, including the business school, are Jews. Non-Jewish Whites are nearly completely excluded from admission unless they meet a few criteria that are not required of Jews or non-Whites: they must be female, they must be queer, or they must be veterans of the US armed forces,” Doe claims.

Doe’s complaint against Dartmouth is rife with antisemitic, unfounded claims: Jews oppressed and enslaved the ancient Egyptians; the Holocaust is fictional; Jews committed genocide against Germans during World War II; and Jews murdered President John F. Kennedy.

Notably, Doe is suing other prestigious business schools that rejected him. Doe has a lawsuit against Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. All of Doe’s complaints blame “Jewish supremacists” for his failure to get into an MBA program.

Dartmouth declined to respond to a request for comment.

Does claims ‘HR Jews’ would impede future job search

As in his lawsuit against Dartmouth, judges in the other cases have ruled he cannot pursue his lawsuits and remain anonymous, which Doe claims puts his career and life in danger due to the number of powerful Jews around the world.

He wrote that “HR Jews” would make sure he was never hired at a traditional job, and that “Venture Capital Jews” would make sure he could never get investment funding for any business. Doe argues that if his name were known, he would be called a “Nazi,” which would be a difficult problem for his social life. But the most dire claim is that Jewish agents would target him for assassination. Doe claims to know this firsthand. Possibly.

“Plaintiff may have already survived an assassination attempt by Jewish agents. Through a series of unlikely events, seemingly contrived by apparently conspiring Jews, Plaintiff was enticed by an attractive, busty Jewess and wet his mouth with a drink of partially unknown provenance. Hours later, Plaintiff experienced overwhelming fatigue and ‘twilight consciousness’ for hours – an event never experienced by Plaintiff prior or since. Plaintiff suspects he was poisoned by Jews,” he wrote.

None of this convinced McAuliffe or the other judges.

“Doe fails to plausibly allege with any degree of specificity a legitimate threat to his physical safety,” McAuliffe wrote.

Doe has until next week to appeal McAuliffe’s ruling or file his case under his actual name.

A rabbi in Ocean County is being sued by a woman who claims he sexually assaulted her when she came to him for financial help, then defamed her on a website and in fliers he posted near her children’s school.

Avraham Appel, of Jackson, abused his position as a trusted community leader to sexually assault and exploit the woman, an Israeli immigrant who came to him as a single mother struggling to pay bills, according to the lawsuit, filed in the Superior Court of Ocean County.

Appel is a prominent rabbi and Rosh Kollel, or head of a Jewish institute for advanced Talmudic study, who is based in Lakewood and Jackson, according to court papers filed January 5.

Appel did not respond to calls to his home and cellphone seeking comment on the lawsuit.

The woman claims she confided in one of her children’s schoolteachers in early 2020 that she was in significant financial distress and having trouble paying for daycare.

The teacher suggested she contact Appel, according to the suit.

In February 2020, Appel arranged to meet with the woman at a local Starbucks.

“During that meeting, Appel presented himself to (the woman) as a rabbi, mentor, advisor, and friend whom (the woman) could trust, confide in, and depend on,” the lawsuit states.

Appel, who had experience in real estate, allegedly offered the woman an opportunity to solicit investments on his behalf and to “draw,” or advance, money against future commissions.

Rabbi issues payments to woman after alleged sexual assault

In June and July 2022, Appel issued six payments to the woman, totaling $20,000 and characterized as advances or loans. He also provided the woman with “financial assistance” so she could buy groceries and pay medical expenses and water bills, according to the suit.

The lawsuit claims most of the money was meant to buy the woman’s silence after he attacked her on June 1, 2022.

The suit alleges Appel visited the woman while she was alone at home and sexually assaulted her as she pleaded for him to stop.

“Appel was abusive and unrelenting. The more (the woman) pled for mercy, the more aggressive Appel became,” the suit alleges.

Before leaving her home, he allegedly ordered her to delete Ring camera footage that showed him arriving.

In the months after the assault, Appel “forced himself upon” the woman and took sexual advantage of her on other occasions, the suit claims.

Appel also allegedly bombarded the woman with demands for sexual acts and sent her a barrage of text and WhatsApp messages containing crude and graphic sexual content.

“I want to squeeze your breasts,” one text allegedly said. In another, he sent the woman a photo of his penis, the suit alleges.

In July 2024, the woman met with another rabbi and shared evidence of the sexual assault and “other incidents involving Appel,” the suit claims.

Woman offered $50,000 for therapy after sexual assault

Appel later contacted his attorney and the two offered the woman $50,000 to cover her future therapy expenses.

The money would be available only if the woman signed a release of any claims related to the assault and agreed to keep all incidents between them confidential, according to the suit.

The woman refused to accept the money or sign the agreement, the suit says.

Appel then launched a campaign to destroy the woman “personally and professionally,” according to the lawsuit.

On December 15, 2025, the woman became aware of a website with her photos that claimed she was “a danger to all Jews,” and warned the public to stay away from her, according to the complaint.

The website disclosed the woman’s address, claimed she stole money, and characterized her as a “thief.”

Moreover, Appel and possibly others posted signs smearing the woman. The signs were posted at public locations throughout the community, including the school her two children attended, the suit alleges.

The lawsuit claims sexual assault, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, and conspiracy.

The complaint also alleges Appel breached his duty as a rabbi to conduct himself with loyalty and in good faith.

Senior figures in Israel’s defense establishment voiced frustration during a Security Cabinet meeting this week following the announcement of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the United States and Iran, arguing that the pressure campaign against Tehran was beginning to produce significant results.

According to two sources familiar with the discussion, ministers were told that Iran’s economy had deteriorated sharply under the US-led naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and that the regime was approaching a critical point.

“The Iranians are now on the verge of economic collapse,” cabinet ministers were told.

On April 12, US President Donald Trump announced a naval blockade targeting Iran. Under the operation, the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) imposed restrictions on Iranian ports, preventing Iranian vessels from leaving the Persian Gulf and foreign ships from docking at Iranian facilities.

Israeli officials told ministers that the move had a noticeable impact inside Iran.

“There are shortages of basic goods and medicines, and long lines at gas stations,” senior security officials reportedly said during Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.

IDF officers say economic pressure on Tehran was working

According to participants, senior IDF officials argued that continued economic pressure could have forced Tehran into an even more severe crisis.

“If the Americans had maintained the blockade, Iran would not have been able to withstand it,” senior IDF officials reportedly told ministers and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

One of the sectors hit hardest by the blockade was Iran’s oil industry, a cornerstone of the country’s economy. As one of the world’s largest oil exporters, Iran relies heavily on maritime routes to ship crude oil to international customers. Because Tehran lacks major overland export pipelines, the naval restrictions left the country with growing quantities of unsold oil.

Iran initially stored excess crude in tankers, including older vessels anchored near its ports. But officials told ministers that storage capacity eventually became exhausted.

“The Iranians began reducing oil production, meaning the initial stages of shutting down oil fields had begun,” officials said.

Energy experts warn that shutting down oil fields can cause long-term damage, and in some cases, production cannot be restored quickly or economically. According to officials who briefed the cabinet, continued restrictions could have forced Iran to close additional fields, inflicting potentially irreversible damage on a critical source of state revenue.

Those assessments appeared to align with data released by OPEC last week, which showed Iranian oil production fell by 19% over the previous month, suggesting Tehran had already begun scaling back output.

Iran to resume oil exports

The MoU reached between Washington and Tehran now allows Iran to resume oil exports. As part of the agreement, the US administration agreed to suspend sanctions on Iran’s oil sector for 60 days, a step expected to ease pressure on the country’s energy industry and reduce the likelihood of additional oil-field shutdowns.

Several participants in the cabinet meeting, including ministers and senior security officials, reportedly expressed concern that the agreement had effectively relieved pressure at a moment when Iran appeared increasingly vulnerable.

“They were experiencing severe shortages,” one participant reportedly remarked.

Senior security officials also warned that the influx of funds expected to reach Iran under the agreement would be “like oxygen for breathing.”

Still, some experts cautioned against assuming that economic hardship alone would have compelled Tehran to make broader concessions.

Dr. Raz Zimmt, director of the Iran and the Shiite Axis Program at the Institute for National Security Studies, told The Jerusalem Post that Iran has undoubtedly suffered significant economic damage.

“It is clear that Iran has suffered significant economic damage, stemming not only from the blockade but also from a prolonged economic decline that was deepened by waves of public protests and by the war itself,” Zimmt said.

At the same time, he argued that policymakers often overestimate the relationship between economic pain and political flexibility.

“However, it would be a mistake to translate the depth of the economic crisis into assumptions about the concessions Iran was or would be willing to make. Even if the country had reached a very severe economic crisis, the regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps would likely have found ways to protect their own interests. The people would have been the ones to suffer.”

Zimmt added that severe economic hardship does not automatically translate into political unrest or regime instability.

“Hungry people do not necessarily take to the streets,” he said. “There is an argument that people struggling to secure their daily bread are often more focused on survival than on political activism. And even if protests had erupted, it is not clear that they would have produced different results from those seen during the demonstrations in January.”

IDF Chief Sergeant First Class (res.) Alexander Filin, aged 29, from Haifa, was killed in combat in southern Lebanon, the military announced on Thursday.

Filin was a combat soldier in the 36th Division command post.

He was killed when a team of soldiers from the 36th Division and the Givati Brigade was walking on foot near the Litani River when a Hezbollah IED exploded near them, at approximately 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

During the incident, at least seven other soldiers were wounded, the military noted.

This included an IDF officer, a reserve officer, and an additional reserve soldier who were moderately wounded, the military said.

The officer was identified as the 36th Division’s deputy commander, a Colonel rank, and the reserve officer as the 556th Battalion commander, a Lieutenant-Colonel rank.

Additionally, a combat NCO and three reserve soldiers, one of whom was a woman, were lightly wounded in the incident, the military added.

Following the incident, the IDF targeted terror infrastructure in the area with artillery fire.

The IDF is investigating the incident.

Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav issued a statement, expressing deep sorrow at the news of Filin’s death and expressing condolences to the family.

Double Hezbollah drone attack wounds five IDF soldiers

Meanwhile, in a separate incident on Wednesday morning, two Hezbollah explosive drones wounded five soldiers operating in southern Lebanon.

The first drone exploded near a tank belonging to the Givati Brigade during the early hours of Tuesday. Shrapnel from the drone wounded four soldiers, who were evacuated by helicopter to the hospital for medical treatment.

Shortly afterward, another drone exploded, wounding a fifth soldier, who was also evacuated.

One of these soldiers was severely wounded, while two were moderately wounded and two were lightly wounded.

The IDF also responded to this incident by targeting terror infrastructure with artillery fire.

Amir Bohbot contributed to this report.

Israel has just announced the creation of special tribunals to prosecute those responsible for the October 7 attacks. The news has been welcomed as evidence that Israel acts as a democracy governed by the rule of law, in contrast to the barbarity of its enemies. 

But its usefulness ends there, because the factual and legal framework within which it situates the events paves the way for its own conviction of genocide in international courts.

The consequences are far from theoretical.

They include the proliferation of cases against Israeli citizens in foreign courts, the growing legitimacy and dissemination of hostile narratives across media platforms, and the encouragement such narratives provide to acts of direct persecution and violence in the streets.

The first strategic mistake lies in validating the factual basis upon which the international accusation rests. 

If the cases before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) confine October 7 to a single day’s events in order to portray Israel’s actions from October 8 onward as a separate act of aggression, the Israeli jurisdiction replicates the same framework, adopting its adversaries’ narrative. 

This self-incrimination is serious because the state itself pretends to ignore that the events included kidnappings, enforced disappearances, torture, and murders in captivity – continuing crimes that only ceased on January 26, 2026, when the remains of the last victim were recovered. 

It also disregards the sustained attacks against its civilian population throughout that period. Worse still, it endorses a distortion whose correction would strengthen its own position.

If it is established that Israel’s defensive response began simultaneously with the massacre, then its actions must be understood – from the outset until the cessation of those crimes – as those of a victim responding to an ongoing attack rather than those of an aggressor.

This is no minor issue, since the genocide allegations against Israel rest on the existence of a specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a protected population.
 
Therefore, the more clearly it can be shown that Israel’s actions formed part of a response to an ongoing aggression – aimed primarily at recovering hostages, ending continuing crimes, and neutralizing sustained attacks against its civilian population – the more difficult it becomes to attribute to it an intent to destroy the Palestinian people as such.

The continuing nature of the October 7 crimes also makes it possible to encompass the other aggressors involved in the attack: Hezbollah, from October 8, 2023, onward; and the Islamic Republic of Iran, from June 2024, onward, both largely excluded by the temporal fragmentation advanced by the international accusers.

Why the legal characterization matters

This factual flaw is compounded by a legal one: classifying the events that began on October 7 as “terrorist acts” when they should fall within the category of “genocide” as defined in the Crime of Genocide Law (5710–1950), enacted by the Knesset in 1950. 

The conceptual abdication is significant: “terrorism” describes a method; “genocide” describes a purpose. One explains how an attack is carried out; the other, why it is carried out.

In substance, the overlooked law reproduces the same definition of genocide applied by the ICJ and the ICC: the total or partial destruction of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
 
And it punishes not only the commission of the crime but also conspiracy, incitement, attempt, and complicity, extending potential liability to other actors.

The specific intent required by the law does not appear to be an obstacle. 

The will to eliminate the group (the Jewish people) is set out in Hamas’s founding charter, in Hezbollah’s manifesto, in the repeated programmatic statements of their leaders, and in the explicit promise to repeat October 7. 

When these elements are coupled with the persistent and deliberate attacks against civilians, there is a sufficient basis to sustain a genocide charge under the terms of that very law.

It is difficult to understand why, despite the existence of this law for 75 years, the state chooses not to invoke it at the very moment it faces international accusations of the same crime. 

Especially when it would strengthen its own defense in universal jurisdiction proceedings. 

Because the difference between terrorism and genocide does not merely alter the legal characterization of the aggressor; it also shapes the legal interpretation of the victim’s response to an existential threat. 

In that respect, it matters whether the aggression is understood as a limited cross-border incursion or as an attack aimed at the destruction of the national group itself.

Israel still seems not to grasp that the main battle is being fought not in Jerusalem but in The Hague, where its adversaries have succeeded in consolidating a narrative that reverses the roles, turning the victim into the perpetrator: the genocidal actor is the Jewish state. 

Yet the accused responds in its own courts by assigning quasi-police categories to those who openly seek its destruction.

No one doubts that Hamas will be condemned in Jerusalem. But what value will that have in preventing Israel’s condemnation in The Hague? Because that’s where the serpent’s egg lies. 

That is where the legal truth is forged and spread across the world.

The Hague is the source of the narrative that today legitimizes persecution. Israel still fails to recognize this. It is staging tribunals invoking Eichmann when the historical analogy it faces is that of Dreyfus.

It must be understood: Israel is the accused today. Domestic proceedings may help strengthen its international defense, but they are insufficient to shift the center of gravity of the dispute. 

Israel’s judgments lack resonance beyond its borders. We are no longer in 1962.

Since the entry into force of the Rome Statute in 2002, a transnational legal order has emerged, producing categories, narratives, and decisions capable of shaping legal truth worldwide. 

Yet there remains an alternative: to enter a jurisdiction belonging to that order and take the offensive.

Argentinian jurisdiction appears to be the natural venue for such a strategy.

Not because it could replace the ICC, but because it allows the introduction – within its legal ecosystem – of a reverse prosecution platform capable of issuing rulings that challenge the narrative currently taking shape in The Hague. 

It offers a concrete opportunity to contest that libel before it becomes a verdict. Perhaps it’s time to launch a new J’Accuse…!, in defense of the sovereign Jew.

The writer is an architect, author, and journalist. He has published several books and recently initiated a criminal case in Argentina under international jurisdiction to prosecute the October 7 massacre as crimes against humanity and genocide.

The Islamic regime’s killing of civilians in drone strikes on Bahrain and Saudi Arabia may constitute a war crime, Amnesty International said on Thursday, publishing new evidence detailing the deaths and serious injuries caused by the attacks.

At least 28 people were killed and hundreds were injured after Iran launched unprovoked attacks on GCC countries, though information on said attacks was largely restricted by those states. Despite the strict legislation in place, Amnesty shared that it was able to investigate two attacks by the regime in March, which collectively killed four civilians and wounded at least 12.

The researchers concluded that the Islamic regime likely used Shahed drones in the attack, a relatively cheap weapon able to travel 2,000km at low altitudes. These low-altitude flights have largely enabled the bypassing of a number of air defense systems.

Researchers found that between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. on March 2,  two drones were spotted near the MT Stena Imperative oil tanker while it was still in dry dock undergoing repairs at the Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard (ASRY) in Al Hidd, Bahrain. SM Tareq, a Bangladeshi employee of ASRY, was killed, and two other workers were injured.

A worker who witnessed Tareq’s death told the NGO, “I saw one of my friends on fire, and he had his brain coming out of his head.”

Family members had reported that Tareq had grown fearful of the attacks before his death and had asked his loved ones to pray for his safety.

“The conflict in the Middle East has had a devastating impact on civilians, with thousands killed and injured across the region. Civilians are paying with their lives in attacks by Iran that must be investigated as war crimes,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Director. “Iranian authorities must immediately stop targeting civilian infrastructure. Those responsible must be held accountable, and victims have the right to justice, truth, and reparations.”

Swedish civilian tanker attacks by Iran

The Stena Imperative is a civilian tanker owned by the Swedish company Stena Bulk. Media reports suggest that the IRGC attempted to strike and seize the ship in February 2026 after it had been contracted by the US Maritime Administration’s Tanker Security Program to move fuel. However, at the time it was docked, Amnesty said it was a civilian object in a civilian repair yard.

It is prohibited by international law to directly attack civilians and civilian objects.

Less than a week after the attack on Bahrain, on March 8, Iran struck a labor camp in Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia, at approximately 4 p.m. The attack took the lives of three civilian men and wounded 10 more, with some needing months to recover in the hospital.

The victims of the regime attack were civilian workers of the Al Twaik cleaning company, who were providing general janitor services.

Witness reports, photos, videos indicate Iran’s responsibility for attack

Six witnesses, family members of the victims, and 26 photos and videos of the attack’s aftermath led Amnesty to the conclusion that either Iran or one of its proxies launched a Shahed drone.

One witness told Amnesty International: “One worker, the blast turned him into pieces, and I could smell him burning. The second worker had his legs broken, and something pierced his head. The third was screaming, ‘Save me’. Three of them died: two died on the spot, and one was taken to hospital and died there.”

The three Bangladeshi citizens, Musharaff Hussain, 42, and Abdullah Mamun, and Bachchu Mia, 35 years, were killed were preparing to break their fast during Ramadan when they were killed.

All the witnesses said no military forces, either US or Saudi, were ever in the labor camp prior to the attack, though the IRGC claimed it had targeted a radar system on site. It is likely the regime was targeting the Prince Sultan Air Base, around 15km away from the site.

An 8th-grade Colorado Jewish student was called a ‘stupid k***’ while being strangled by a laptop charging cord, in one of many antisemitic assaults by other students described in a Title VI complaint to Boulder Valley Public School District.

The ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) has filed a federal civil rights complaint with the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, alleging that Jewish Student A was subjected to repeated antisemitic bullying, slurs, and physical assault by multiple fellow students at Southern Hills Middle School (SHMS) throughout 7th and 8th grade. 

In one incident, students in Student A’s PE class attempted to play a game called “Jew touch tag” and said Jews were “dirty” and “contaminated.” 

In another, in December 2025, a classmate reportedly fashioned a Chromebook charging cord into a lasso, threw it around the student’s neck and dragged him backward from a chair while calling him a “stupid k***.” This was deemed severe enough that the Boulder Police Department was called in to investigate. 

Following this particular incident, the Boulder Police Department opened a Juvenile Court Referral for third-degree assault.

ADL says no meaningful action taken by school district over assault

As a result of these incidents, Student A no longer wears a Star of David necklace and does not share his religious identity with anyone.

ADL and the family allege that the school took no meaningful action despite being informed of the situation on multiple occasions. For example, the complaint says the school failed to enforce the no-contact order between Student A and the classmate involved in the Chromebook assault.

The complaint also says that the burden was consistently placed on the victim, such as reassigning his study hall class rather than restricting the aggressor, forcing him to miss a school trip, and asking him to leave class early to avoid crowded hallways.  

“The record here is overwhelming: written pleas from the student’s parents, formal school reports, and a police investigation all point to the conclusion that antisemitic harassment at Southern Hills Middle School was pervasive, escalating, and severe,” said James Pasch, ADL Vice President of Litigation.

“Despite the family’s pleas for help to stop the harassment, the school district failed to effectively address it, a clear violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. No family should have to fight this hard to ensure a Jewish child’s safety at school, and certainly no Jewish student should face the threat of assault or harassment because of their Jewish identity.”

Susan Rona, ADL Mountain States Regional Director, noted that 167 antisemitic incidents were recorded in Colorado in 2025, a “stark reminder that antisemitism is not something abstract – it is showing up in our communities, in our neighborhoods and even in our schools.”

ADL is requesting that the US Department of Education require the district to take steps to comply with Title VI and ensure that this student and all Jewish students feel safe and protected.

Boulder Valley School District said that while it does not comment on ongoing legal matters, “we take all allegations of discrimination and harassment seriously.”

“We continue to focus on improvements to our policies, reporting systems, practices, and education efforts – all with the goal of ensuring every BVSD student feels safe, welcomed, and a strong sense of belonging.”

In Mexico City, thousands of fans are making the pilgrimage to the capital’s cathedral to pray to a baby Jesus dressed in a Mexican soccer kit, asking for a World Cup victory.

The tradition dates back to 1970, when Mexico first hosted the tournament, but this year, a ‘Soccer baby Jesus’ has been placed in the country’s main cathedral, leading to many more visiting fans paying homage and asking for a miracle.

In Mexico, it is common for figures of the baby Jesus to be dressed in different outfits, including as a pilgrim to grant protection to travelers or as a doctor for good health.

The dressing of the baby Jesus in a Mexico soccer outfit started at the San Miguel Arcangel church in a poor area of the city 55 years ago. This year, a new parish priest banned the practice on the basis that it was disrespectful.

Amid growing outrage and fear among some fans that it might impact the team’s performance, Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral decided to display a baby Jesus in the soccer shirt of ‘El Tri.’

‘Soccer baby Jesus’ made its debut at Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral this year

“It’s the first time it’s been here in the cathedral… the people themselves asked for it,” Canon Manuel Corral told Reuters.

Corral said the faithful seeking a bit of extra World Cup edge were not limited to Mexico fans.

“Today, for example, we have Colombians here saying their prayers to ask for victory,” he said on Tuesday, the day before Colombia plays Uzbekistan at the Azteca stadium.

The figure will remain on display in the atrium and in various parts of the cathedral until the end of the tournament, regardless of Mexico’s performance, and will wear one of the national team’s kits.

On Tuesday, the baby Jesus wore a white jersey and green shorts similar to the kit co-hosts Mexico will wear in their match on Thursday in Guadalajara against South Korea.

Fans from Argentina, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, and other countries posed in front of the figure for photos or to ask for victory for their national teams.

Some worshippers were not amused, however.

Eleazar Martinez, a Mexican fan who arrived at the church shortly before noon, said: “As a Catholic, it’s very strange for me to see the baby Jesus dressed like that. I don’t really agree with it.”

Four ancient artifacts were returned to Egypt by an American family in early June, announced the Egyptian Tourism and Antiquities Ministry.

All four had been part of a private collection belonging to a US citizen from Texas.

Following his death, his family reached out to the authorities regarding returning the artifacts to Egypt “in recognition of the civilizational and historical value they represent.”

An international legal expert was hired by the family to act as a liaison between them and the necessary Egyptian authorities.

The artifacts were received in Cairo by representatives from Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities on June 5, before being transferred to the Egyptian Museum for further examination, documentation and restoration ahead of their display in the museum. 

What are the artifacts?

Included in the newly returned artifacts are a granite sphinx head, a bronze hippopotamus figurine, a double bronze statue of a king, and a bronze statue of the Egyptian deity Sobek.

Shaaban Abdel Gawad, director-general of the antiquities repatriation department at Egypt’s Tourism and Antiquities Ministry, noted that the granite sphinx head is the most prominent artifact to be recovered due to its significant artistic value. 

Dated to the 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom, the figure is depicted as wearing the formal headdress of the pharaohs, the Nemes, decorated with a cobra. 

It is believed to be a portrait of either the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Hatshepsut, one of the two known female rulers of ancient Egypt, or of her nephew, Thutmose III.

The recovered bronze hippopotamus figurine, covered with a distinctive green patina, dates back to the 12th Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom.

The double bronze statue depicts a king wearing the Hedjet (White Crown of pharaonic Upper Egypt) while being accompanied by the ancient Egyptian falcon-headed god Horus. It dates back to the 26th Dynasty of Egypt’s Late Period.

Also dating to the Late Period is the bronze statue of the ancient Egyptian crocodile god Sobek.

Egypt’s Tourism and Antiquities Minister thanked the American family for their gesture, adding that the recovery of the pieces reflects the growing global awareness of the importance of preserving cultural heritage.

US repatriates 13 artifacts to Egypt

The return of the four artifacts in early June follows an upward trend of international repatriation of cultural and historical artifacts to their home countries.

Back in April, the United States returned 13 artifacts to Egypt that had been smuggled from the country illegally. 

Among the 13 were an alabaster vessel dated to the seventh century BCE used for storing oils and perfumes, a kohl container from the New Kingdom in the shape of a monkey, a cosmetics container in the shape of a cat from the Middle Kingdom, a vessel from the Ptolemaic era, a ceremonial cup, and several other containers from the Middle Kingdom. 

Part of a vessel depicting a child hiding amid marsh plants, believed to be connected to the deity Horus the Child, a pottery piece in the shape of a duck from the Ptolemaic era, and a ceramic decoration bearing the head of the Greek god of wine Dionysus, were also returned. 

Further included in the returned artifacts was a statue of the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis in the form of Aphrodite (Greek goddess of love), dating back to the second century CE, and a block statue of an individual named “Ankh-en-Nefer” from the Late Period.

Gulf states will likely be reluctant to contribute to the minimum $300 billion promised to Iran for reconstruction in the Memorandum of Understanding after months of unprovoked attacks, regional experts told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump denied on Wednesday the reports of the fund, asserting that neither the US nor Gulf partners would be expected to contribute to the endowment, though Vice President JD Vance earlier told CBS that Iran could receive a $300 billion reconstruction fund backed by Gulf states if it complies with the agreement.

The MoU demands “The United States of America undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan with at least USD 300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The mechanism for the implementation of this plan will be finalized as part of a final deal within 60 days. All required licenses, waivers, and permissions needed for the relevant financial transactions will be granted by the United States of America.”

Such a commitment would not be easily accepted by Gulf States, Bahraini analyst Dr. Ahmed Alkhuzaie, a managing partner at Khuzaie Associates, told the Post. While Gulf states were likely relieved by what they see as a “tactical pause,” there is an obvious fear that the financial terms of the agreement would allow Iran to further destabilize the region.

The pause, which has allowed energy exports to finally continue after months of disruption, “welcomes a deeper unease,” he explained. There is a well-founded fear that the release of frozen Iranian funds and the lifting of sanctions could “empower Tehran’s regional networks of militias and proxies, reinforcing the very threats the MoU was meant to contain.”

$300 b. in funds frees resources for militias in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen

Though the funds would undoubtedly help stabilize Iran’s flailing economy, he explained that it would also free resources for Iran to invest in its militias in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, “that directly threaten Gulf security,” he highlighted.

“This is why Gulf leaders frame the MoU as fragile: while they welcome the ceasefire and reopening of Hormuz, they fear the agreement may empower Iran rather than restrain it.”

After suffering months of attacks from Tehran, the American commitment raises “the uncomfortable question of whether Gulf states would indirectly contribute to rebuilding the very adversary that targeted their infrastructure,” he noted, adding that Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Manama all feel that the fund “risks rewarding aggression and undermining deterrence.”

Even Muscat and Doha, the lowest advocates for mediation, would also “struggle to justify Gulf financial participation when public opinion remains raw from the damage inflicted on energy facilities, ports, and civilian infrastructure,” he claimed.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told al Arabiya on Wednesday that he had “no details” on the fund or the “concept behind it,” but admitted that there was a significant loss of trust in Iran, which was “only just” beginning to recover following the Beijing agreement in 2023. He asserted that the trust would need to be rebuilt before financial investments could be addressed.

With that mentality shared by regional leaders, Alkhuzaie said there has been a push to see the fund tied to verifiable limits on Iran’s “regional interference and nuclear ambitions. Without such safeguards, Gulf capitals worry that today’s truce could become tomorrow’s strategic miscalculation, leaving them to face a more resilient and emboldened adversary.”

Practically, there are also apparent limitations that need to be addressed. Investments, he noted, require conditions that Iran cannot yet meet, such as the aforementioned trust, legal protections, and political stability, he continued. “Between enemy states, this mechanism simply cannot function: investment is not just financial, it is also a vote of confidence in the host country’s future. In the case of Iran, the situation is even more stark.”

“Sanctions, opaque regulations, and the ever‑present risk of conflict make Iran an unattractive destination for foreign direct investment. For Gulf states that have suffered direct attacks, the idea of channeling funds into Iran’s reconstruction is not only politically implausible but economically irrational, as it would expose investors to heightened risks while strengthening a state still perceived as a strategic adversary,” he continued.

Tehran’s rampage halted, relieving Gulf states

International relations expert Dr. Arman Mahmoudian, research fellow at the University of South Florida’s Global and National Security Institute, took a slightly different stance, telling the Post that Arab states were likely relieved as the war’s extension meant facing off against an increasingly trigger-happy Tehran.

While not willing to risk the agreement by openly rejecting the promised fund, Mahmoudian stressed that the US made the sizable commitment on behalf of its allies, meaning that Arab states can maintain distance with the simple explanation that it was never their initiative.

Other states may also see the potential fund as an opportunity to cage Tehran in financial interdependence, he added. “By investing in Iran and becoming more valuable economic partners, they may hope to reduce the likelihood of being targeted by Tehran,” Mahmoudian said.

Oman was targeted significantly less than other Gulf countries during Tehran’s rampage, which notably came as the Islamic regime courted the country into a deal to govern the Strait of Hormuz together.

Though many states would be unwilling to threaten the agreement, Mahmoudian noted that there were deep concerns about what the MoU meant for the psychology of Tehran. Largely presenting itself as a victor in the negotiations, there is a fear that the regime could become “more assertive” and bolder in its moves across the region.

“The fact that Iran was persistent and successful in including Lebanon in the MoU suggests that Tehran has no intention of resetting or reducing its regional ambitions. This is one of the main issues that worries Arab states,” he noted, referencing the inclusion of Israel’s war against Hezbollah in the agreement.

Though Trump denied his goal was to install regime change, the war has restructured Tehran, leaving the Islamic Revolutionary Guards with greater power. The new status quo in Iran has Arab states feeling increasingly nervous, aware that the IRGC “has held a hostile view of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, accusing them of collaborating with the United States, supporting Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War, and, in some cases, pursuing overt or covert normalization with Israel,” Mahmoudian continued.

Many of the IRGC’s more pragmatic voices were killed during the war, or the war in June, leaving “the likelihood of more radical and aggressive factions gaining influence is higher,” he highlighted.

Tempering the hardline voices is the fact that Iran has been in a near-constant state of instability. The June war, January protests, ongoing drought, years of sanctions, the blockade of Hormuz, damage to its proxy network, and the March war will likely mean Tehran avoids immediately provoking tensions, he theorized.

“Despite what it may gain from the MoU and any future deal, Iran has a great deal to reconstruct, recover, and rebuild, both domestically and regionally… Tehran is not in a position to enter another round of major hostilities. It needs a brief window for recovery,” Mahmoudian continued, though he disclosed he expected the regime to immediately begin refinancing and rebuilding its proxy networks.

Having learned the importance of maritime security through the blockade, Mahmoudian suggested that Iran’s first action would be to invest in the Houthis’ strength and loyalty, so that the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is ready for the next round of conflict.

There is an ongoing heated debate about the positives and negatives of US President Donald Trump‘s new deal with Iran – a debate that will likely be resolved by whether a few major nuclear issues are properly resolved in the next several months.

But on Wednesday, Trump thrust himself into a major and unnecessary unforced error, actually proactively endorsing Iran keeping its ballistic missile program.

To understand why this statement was so much worse than anything else which has happened to date related to the deal, one needs to understand that the main reason Israel went to war in February of this year was not because of regime change (which was long shot), and not even because of the nuclear threat (which was already hammered in June 2025), but to get Tehran to back off an existential ballistic missile threat.

To clarify further, if the problem were just Iran having one or two missiles, as Trump seemed to be implying, there would be no problem.

Iran had 2,500-3,000 missiles for decades, and Israel was ready and able to defend against such an arsenal.

But in late 2024/early 2025, Iran learned how to hyper-speed up its ballistic missile production pace to 200-300 per month, something which could have gotten it to 4,000-6,000 missiles in 2026 and 8,000-10,000 missiles in 2027-2028.

Long before 2027, it appears that Iran would have hit a volume of missiles that Israel could not have defended sufficiently.

When Trump said that missiles can hit one target, but cannot destroy the world, he is either showing shocking ignorance or is trying to aggressively pull the curtain down over the public’s eyes.

The power of an Iranian ballistic missile

Israelis saw up close that one Iranian ballistic missile – as opposed to a weak Hamas or Hezbollah rocket – can destroy eight homes at once, wound dozens of people, and damage hundreds of nearby residences with the shock wave.

Iran fired around 550 missiles at Israel with around a 90% shoot down rate, leading to around 50 getting through and dozens killed, thousands hospitalized, and close to 30,000 property damage claims.

Imagine if it fired 5,000 missiles and “only” 10% got through, meaning 500 or 10 times what got through during this war.

Would Tel Aviv and Haifa be half-destroyed? Would thousands or tens of thousands be killed, and a much larger number wounded?

Preventing this is why Israel went to war in 2026.

Iran is down to 500-1,000 missiles right now and cannot rebuild in large numbers, probably for a couple of years – one of the biggest successes of the war.

And the Islamic Republic was never going to give away those 500-1,000 missiles, and it did not need to.

But there should have been a clear and unequivocal “opening the gates of hell” threat if Iran dared to try to cross a volume of missiles that would be more than Israel can handle.

Hopefully, at the negotiation table, Trump and his team will take a harder line on missiles, even if they do not remove them, by setting a cap.

If not, and if the Iranians take this statement as encouragement, Trump will have just made another war between Israel and Iran much more likely and much sooner than might have been.

A San Diego resident was arrested on suspicion of raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for Hamas through fundraising campaigns that appeared to be humanitarian aid efforts for residents of the Gaza Strip, the US Justice Department announced Wednesday.

Reda Mazen Rida Sabassi, 38, of San Diego, California, was charged in a five-count criminal complaint with terrorism, sanctions evasion, wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements, according to the Justice Department.

Sabassi was arrested Tuesday and appeared before US Magistrate Judge Steve B. Chu in the Southern District of California. If convicted, he could face significant prison terms. Each of the four charges carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

According to the complaint, Sabassi allegedly operated social media accounts, crowdfunding websites, and a purported charity called Ikram – The Arab Charity Foundation Inc. Through them, prosecutors said, he solicited donations from around the world, including from US citizens, while claiming that the funds were intended to provide humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. In practice, prosecutors alleged, the money was intended to support Hamas.

Court documents allege that between December 2023 and February 2024, Sabassi raised approximately $600,000. Of that amount, he allegedly sent approximately $116,000 to a Hamas member and attempted to convert approximately $382,000 into cryptocurrency in order to transfer the funds to Hamas through Gaza Now, a Hamas-linked fundraising organization.

Sabassi publicly expressed support for Hamas on social media

Investigators also alleged that Sabassi publicly expressed support for Hamas on social media. Among other things, he allegedly created an hour-long propaganda video about the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre and posted it to at least two social media accounts that he controlled, including around the second anniversary of the massacre.

The complaint further alleges that in private conversations with one of his co-conspirators, the two joked about naming the fundraising campaign after the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, before ultimately deciding to use the name of Sabassi’s charity, Ikram.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said Sabassi allegedly exploited the October 7 attacks in order to draw donors to fraudulent “humanitarian” causes.

“He allegedly raised hundreds of thousands of dollars through this scheme, which he then funneled to Hamas to help finance that group’s terror and violence and to line his own pockets,” Eisenberg said.

US Attorney says Hamas had promoted attacks against the US and murdered dozens of Americans in acts of terrorism

US Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York said Hamas had promoted attacks against the United States and murdered dozens of Americans in acts of terrorism.

“Our arrest of Reda Sabassi demonstrates our whole-of-government commitment to prosecute those who provide financial support to a malign terrorist regime that hates America,” Clayton said.

The FBI also stressed the severity of the allegations.

“The defendant allegedly claimed to be raising money for charity but was actually funding the terrorist organization Hamas and also lining his own pockets,” said Donald Holstead, assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division.

The Justice Department said the charges are accusations and that Sabassi is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Hassan Khomeini, grandson of the founder of the Islamic regime, Ruhollah Mostafavi Musavi Khomeini, hailed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as a major “victory” for Tehran, promising that the “greater jihad” would now begin, according to a speech aired by state media earlier this week.

Khomeini advised that to maintain victory, Iranians “must stay away from pointless disputes, disputes that are the product of ego and self-centeredness.”

While it is unclear which disputes he was referring to, the regime has struggled to suppress growing domestic dissent, most visibly during the January demonstrations that erupted over the country’s worsening economic conditions.

Human rights organizations say tens of thousands of protesters were killed and tens of thousands more detained by security forces. During the crackdown, the regime imposed a nationwide internet shutdown, preventing independent observers from documenting and investigating the repression.

The war with Israel and the United States has also led many to witness seeming divides in the regime’s senior leadership. Criticism from Iranian parliamentary hardliners, unapproving of the MoU, has led to a number of street demonstrations by the regime’s supporters.

Terms favorable to the regime, though many Iranians condemn MoU

The hardline Paydari Front has vocally condemned the regime for engaging in the negotiations, despite many experts viewing the agreed-upon terms as largely favorable to the regime.

At some demonstrations, protesters have even been recorded calling for the execution of Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi.

“The kind of actions the Americans took could have brought many countries to their knees,” Khomeini said of the US’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. “The capacity of the Islamic Republic and the people of Iran is extremely great; that is the lesson we take from all of this.”

US President Donald Trump reportedly received a warning in recent weeks that keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed would “trigger a global recession – not just in the US, but across the entire world.”

The warning came from several economists and senior Trump administration officials.

As a businessman, Trump was deeply concerned by these warnings. They were reinforced by arguments from top White House aides and Republican Party figures that if the war with Iran continued and fuel prices for US consumers rose, then Republicans would almost certainly lose the November midterm elections.

Such a loss would hand Democrats control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, effectively preventing Trump from advancing his agenda during the final two years of his presidency.

These concerns were likely a major factor behind Trump’s decision to reach an agreement with Iran, even at the cost of making significant concessions.

Just a month earlier, he told reporters that “economic considerations are not a factor in war, and the only thing driving me is the desire to prevent a nuclear Iran.” But at a press conference held on Wednesday in France, his tone had changed. “I wanted to prevent an economic catastrophe,” Trump said.

Trump says desire to avoid being remembered as this generation’s Herbert Hoover

“There is only one president I never want to become, and that is Herbert Hoover,” he added.

The Great Depression, which began with the dramatic collapse of Wall Street in 1929 during Hoover’s presidency, triggered a severe economic crisis in the US and around the world that lasted more than a decade.

Within the US, unemployment reached 25%, and GDP contracted by 60%. The economic turmoil abroad caused severe hardship and soaring unemployment in Germany, contributing to the rise of the Nazis in 1933 under the claim that “our enemies and the Jews want to weaken us,” and ultimately paving the way for World War II several years later.

Hoover failed to address the economic crisis effectively, and when he ran for re-election in 1932, eggs and rotten vegetables were thrown at his car. He was eventually defeated in a landslide by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Economic concerns, fear of Republican losses in election, explain Trump’s rush to sign Iran MoU

These concerns help explain why Trump repeatedly emphasizes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as one of the key achievements of the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran.

“Not a single dollar will come from the pockets of American taxpayers, and fuel prices will fall,” Trump and senior members of his administration have repeatedly said.

In other words, as James Carville, the strategist behind Bill Clinton’s election victory in 1992, famously put it: “It’s the economy, stupid.” Once again, the economy dictated the outcome: First end the war, then deal with everything else afterward.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett established an advisory committee on artificial intelligence ahead of the upcoming elections to advance and develop a long-term national policy on AI, his office announced on Wednesday.

The plan is said to be aimed at boosting the country’s technological edge and positioning Israel as a global and regional leader in artificial intelligence.

Bennett’s Together Party is one of the leading parties in the opposition bloc seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections, which are set to take place no later than October 27. 

His party merged with opposition leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid in April.

The AI advisory committee will work to develop policy recommendations for the government in areas that include innovation, education, regulation, and security, Bennett’s office stated.

AI opportunities and challenges for Israel’s economy, society, security

The committee is said to be aimed at promoting the use of AI technologies for the benefit of the public and the economy.

The committee is also expected to examine the opportunities and challenges posed by AI for the country’s economy, society, and security. 

Bennett’s office noted that the initiative seeks to strengthen Israel’s advantage in a field that has yet to reach its full potential.

The committee includes several experts in AI, technology, academia, and the technology industry, among them Prof. Yoav Shoham, professor emeritus of Computer Science at Stanford University; Daniel Schreiber, co-founder and CEO of Lemonade; and Prof. Meir Feder, founder and head of the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science at Tel Aviv University.

A 21-year-old Israeli man was arrested in Cyprus on Wednesday for attempted murder after allegedly stabbing three people.

A local youth and two security guards were stabbed during the brawl, which occured outside of a nightclub on Louka Louka Street in the resort town of Ayia Napa at around 4:30 a.m.

A 22-year-old Israeli, a friend of the suspect, was also injured and arrested for his suspected involvement in the incident.

According to the investigation by the Famagusta District Police, the two Israelis got into a dispute with a Cypriot youth. Two security guards from the nearby club rushed to separate the parties, at which point the 21-year-old suspect allegedly drew a knife and stabbed all three of them.

The 25-year-old security guard was stabbed in the abdomen and underwent emergency surgery; his condition is serious but stable, and it has been reported that he is out of life-threatening danger. The second security guard, aged 41, was stabbed in the leg. The Cypriot youth was also injured.

Knife seized at scene, additional charges added for breach of public order

The 22-year-old Israeli sustained head and facial injuries during the brawl.

A knife was seized at the scene and taken into evidence. When police officers arrived at the location, the primary suspect cursed at them, leading to an additional charge against him – breach of public order and insulting public servants. The court in Paralimni extended his detention by eight days, and the investigation is ongoing.

Ayia Napa, the popular resort town in Cyprus, is known for its vibrant nightlife but also for periodic incidents of violence involving tourists.

Cypriot authorities have not yet released further details regarding a motive.

Dream, a company that builds artificial intelligence and cyber‑defense systems for governments and critical infrastructure, has raised $260 million in new funding, pushing its valuation to $3 billion just three years after its founding.

The round was co‑led by Bicycle Capital and Group 11, with additional participation from Antler, Bain Capital Ventures, Tru Arrow Partners, and other investors. The company said the financing follows nearly $300 million in total contract value since it began commercial operations in late 2024.

Dream positions its technology as sovereign AI, with its platforms designed to run entirely within government‑governed environments, allowing national authorities to secure and use their data without depending on foreign technology providers.

Sebastian Kurz, Dream’s president and co-founder, said governments are moving from asking whether to use AI to determining how to maintain control over it. He described sovereign AI as a foundation for national resilience and competitiveness.

Speaking to The Jerusalem Post from Tel Aviv, Kurz said that he and Hulio started Dream together “with the idea that AI would change the world and how cyber attacks are working.”

And as the United States and China continue to lead the AI sovereignty race, “other countries need this technology and not be dependent on others.” 

According to him, Europe is behind in the race, “and this is why we, as a European-Israeli company, can contribute a lot.” 

“Nations will become supernations if they use AI,” Kurtz said. “In the past, a nation was a super nation if they had nuclear power. But if you look to the future, things will be more digital. Cyber, quantum, and AI will be the key.”

Shalev Hulio, Dream’s co-founder and CEO, said the rise of AI represents a shift comparable to earlier eras of strategic infrastructure investment, which were the foundation of economic growth and national security. He explained that the company’s mission is to help governments protect and operationalize their information as AI becomes central to national security and public services.

“Land created empires. Industry created nations. Artificial intelligence will create the next super nations,” he said. “Every nation has data. Few can protect it. Fewer can use it. Sovereign AI is the key. We built Dream to help governments secure their information, transform it into knowledge, and convert that knowledge into national capability,” he shared. “The future of a nation should never depend on technology it does not control.”

The former chancellor of Austria said that the disruptive power of AI will allow for more efficiency across all sectors. Dream, he explained, offers “AI in a box. Systems that are built for nations and critical infrastructure.”

Dream currently offers three main platforms. Sphere provides unified national‑level cyber defense capabilities, combining cyber intelligence, exposure management, attack‑path analysis, digital‑twin modeling, and AI‑driven detection and response. 

Hero functions as an autonomous AI security researcher that identifies vulnerabilities and continuously tests defenses. Atlas is the company’s sovereign AI system, designed to connect fragmented government data and generate structured insights within secure, government‑controlled environments.

“The future is all about data,” Kurtz told the Post. “You just need the capabilities to make something out of it.”

Growing footprint

Investors said the company is emerging at the intersection of AI, cybersecurity, and government technology. 

“Governments around the world are increasingly seeking secure and sovereign ways to deploy artificial intelligence,” said Shu Nyatta, co-founder and managing partner of Bicycle Capital. “Dream has built a unique platform at the intersection of AI, cybersecurity, and government technology. The company is defining one of the most important technology categories of the coming decade.”

Founded in 2023 by Hulio, Kurz, and Gil Dolev, Dream employs about 350 people across Tel Aviv, Abu Dhabi, and Vienna. The company said the new capital will accelerate deployment of Dream’s sovereign AI and national cyber defense platforms across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas. With the latest round, Dream has raised $412 million to date.

In February, the company opened a sovereign AI data center near Modi’in. The facility, which is part of a tens‑of‑millions‑of‑dollars investment, is designed to serve national agencies and critical infrastructure operators that require full control over data, model training, and deployment environments.

The data center includes a GPU cluster built on NVIDIA B200 systems, enabling DREAM to train proprietary language models and domain‑specific AI systems. The company develops its own models rather than relying solely on public foundation models, targeting sectors such as cybersecurity, healthcare, transportation, and finance, as well as decision‑support systems for government agencies.

With the data center in Moddin, DREAM aims to strengthen its role in Israel’s growing AI ecosystem, which includes defense‑oriented AI initiatives, secure cloud environments, and national cyber capabilities. The company said the facility will support long‑term investment in AI systems that must operate under the highest levels of security, reliability, and accountability.

Senator Rick Scott, continuing his quest to block the former Kanye West from performing in Tampa, showed up to the Florida Holocaust Museum on Monday with a lot of questions.

“Why on Earth would we use tax dollars to fund someone who has called himself a Nazi and praised Adolf Hitler?” he asked at a news conference. “There’s countries all over the world that have banned him, and we’re going to allow him to come to our state and our city?”

Scott’s concerns were echoed in speeches from fellow Florida politicians, Jewish leaders, and even some local Holocaust survivors, drawing national attention.

They wanted to know why the Tampa Sports Authority, the public agency that manages Raymond James Stadium, had inked the contract for not one, but two concerts. They questioned whose funding the shows. They demanded answers.

But despite mounting pressure, the Sports Authority says it has no intention of canceling Ye’s concerts on June 26 and 28.

Antisemitism condemned, free speech affirmed

“We condemn antisemitism from any source. However, we also respect free speech rights guaranteed under the US Constitution, even when we disagree with that speech,” the Authority wrote in a statement on Monday. “In addition, no taxpayer money is being used for staging the Ye concerts.”

So, are Hillsborough taxpayers footing the bill? Could political pressure force a cancellation? To find out, the Tampa Bay Times obtained a copy of the contract for the concerts. Here’s what it shows.

Scott’s campaign to stop the concerts kicked off on June 4 with a public letter addressed to the Tampa Sports Authority. It wasn’t just a problem that Florida, a state with a large Jewish population, would host an artist who has sold swastika merchandise, he wrote. While Ye apologized earlier this year for his antisemitic remarks and actions, Scott also took issue with the idea of taxpayer funding going toward the shows.

“The Raymond James Stadium is a publicly owned venue made to be safe and serve the interests of Hillsborough County and Tampa residents,” he wrote. “No taxpayer dollars should be used to give a vocal antisemite a stage in Florida, and I am sure that you will take appropriate action to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Sports Authority spokesperson Bobby Silvest said in an email that all costs will be covered by the event’s promoter, Ikon Global, LLC, not the Sports Authority.

“To suggest otherwise is false,” read a statement from the agency on Monday.

The contract for the two shows outlines the promoter’s contribution: A one-dollar license fee and a $1.5 million fee to cover the Authority’s expenses – including security, law enforcement, cleaning, and other services.

For every ticket sold, the promoter will also collect and pay the Authority a five-dollar facility fee and a ticket surcharge of no more than $2.50. Ikon Global will also reimburse the Authority for other “ancillary expenses.” After those fees and any others are paid, the promoter will keep the remaining net ticket revenue.

Silvest said in an email that the Authority “retains or controls all ticket sales, parking, merchandise, food and beverage revenue” until all payments are settled after the events. “In simple terms,” he said, ”TSA is always in control of the money.”

The Authority expects a profit of around $1 million per show, Silvest said.

It is not yet clear how much money Ye is expected to make. A ticket manifest obtained by the Times shows that, with a capacity of more than 72,200 seats at an average price of more than $200 per seat, the potential revenue could climb to more than $14.8 million per show.

Anthony Palermo, an assistant professor of law at Stetson University College of Law, said in an interview that “the contract is structured and designed to make the event revenue-positive for the TSA.”

He added that “any public facility requires funds for its general upkeep,” and the contract “doesn’t prove that public resources won’t be used or advanced before the event.” But, he said, there are plenty of avenues to recoup any money spent.

First Amendment protections, legal challenges, hate speech

Palermo said the contract also raises questions about First Amendment protections – and potential legal challenges the Authority could face if it cancels the shows.

A clause states that the Authority cannot cancel or interfere with the events “based upon artist identity, prior or past public statements, public perception, political viewpoints, or the anticipated or actual content of the performance,” as long as Ye’s concert doesn’t run afoul of any laws or venue rules.

Silvest said the provision isn’t normally included and was requested by Ikon Global, the promoter.

The Sports Authority’s general counsel, Jeffrey W. Gibson, took up the First Amendment question in a memo to CEO Eric Hart this week. The stadium, he wrote, “should not discriminate against speech based on viewpoint.” He cited a 2017 case in which the US Supreme Court protected “the freedom to express hated thoughts.”

Raymond James Stadium has a history of hosting free expression, and the county and Authority can’t now favor a certain perspective over another, Gibson wrote. The choice to restrict speech because of a disagreement with a speaker’s viewpoint would, he wrote, violate the First Amendment.

Palermo agreed, adding that canceling the shows could lead to both First Amendment and breach of contract challenges.

But several elected leaders have called for greater scrutiny because of the stadium’s status as a public facility.

Sen. Ashley Moody said the Sports Authority “hid behind free speech and contractual obligations.” Hillsborough County Commissioner Chris Boles said he believes in free speech and Constitutional principles, but added, “Free speech does not entitle anyone to a public stage backed by public resources.”

Scott, who began the campaign, said, “If you have a public venue, you don’t get to go say, ‘Oh, I’ve got to let all (of) everybody there.’ You do not.”

Suspects who planned to attack the White House over the weekend sought to target lawmakers who received money from pro-Israel groups, according to federal law enforcement officials.

Five men were charged on Tuesday for allegedly plotting to kill government officials and others attending the Ultimate Fighting Championship event at the White House on Sunday, the Justice Department said.

The Jerusalem Post, at the time, cited US officials saying that targets included politicians who had received money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

One of the suspects, 19-year-old Tycen Proper, was part of a Christian “ultra-religious and anti-government” group online, according to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent on Sunday.

Proper’s mother called local police in Ohio about his recent behavior, which included communicating with the group and buying firearms. She said Proper mapped locations in the Washington area and told her his group intended to conduct “recon” and “hit and run missions.”

Proper’s family members also said that he made “concerning statements” in recent months, such as “sympathetic comments about Adolf Hitler” and “antisemitic comments on Facebook,” according to the affidavit.

Coordinated attack against US government during Trump’s UFC event

Proper admitted to investigators that his group planned a coordinated attack against the United States government during the UFC event. A search of his cell phone revealed that he specifically sought to attack lawmakers who received support from AIPAC.

Proper identified Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn as a “possible target.” When asked why, he said, “She’s taken money from the Israel pro-Israel lobby and supports them.”

He later sent a message that said, “These are people we’re going to focus on,” followed by images of West Virginia’s four Republican members of Congress, Sens. Jim Justice and Shelley Moore Capito, and Reps. Carol Miller and Riley Moore.

The images of the lawmakers appeared to be taken from Track AIPAC, a website affiliated with the progressive movement that documents AIPAC’s financial contributions to federal officials. The images appeared to include information about how much money each lawmaker received from “pro-Israel PACs,” according to the affidavit.

US must be ‘torn down,’ governed by elites ‘involved with Jeffrey Epstein’

Members of Proper’s group said the United States had to be “torn down so that it could be rebuilt” and that “people who were involved with Jeffrey Epstein should not govern the country.”

Proper has been charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and attempted murder of an officer or employee of the United States, among other offenses.

The details of the plot prompted condemnation from New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Jewish Democrat who has championed measures in Congress to defend Israel and send it military aid.

“This is a stark reminder that anti-Israel hatred has been far too normalized in our politics, with real and deadly consequences,” Gottheimer said in a statement, adding that “targeting Americans because of their support for the US-Israel alliance stems from antisemitism.”

Officials at other federal law enforcement agencies have criticized FBI Director Kash Patel for revealing details of the early-stage investigation into the plot against the White House. Matthew Quinn, the deputy director of the Secret Service, criticized the disclosure without naming Patel in a press conference on Tuesday.

“I’ll tell you a phrase I learned early in my career in the New York field office, and that’s ‘Don’t choke on your own smoke,’” Quinn said. He added that “some” of the details revealed by the FBI were accurate, but the Secret Service “chose not to leak” its investigation as more suspects remain at large.

Shir Perets contributed to this report.

Jackson Lahmeyer, a pastor who supports Israel and believes the Antichrist will be Jewish, drew enough votes Tuesday to force a runoff in his district’s Oklahoma congressional primary.

But on Wednesday, Lahmeyer announced that he was suspending his campaign “after prayerful consideration,” saying that he did “not want to be a distraction to my family, my church, and the great people of Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, who deserve a strong conservative voice representing them in Washington.”

Lahmeyer had been seen as a favorite in the crowded race after earning US President Donald Trump’s coveted endorsement, but his star fell in the days before the primary amid revelations that he had exchanged text messages with a former Miss Oklahoma.

He said he had “crossed a boundary,” but said the episode was a private matter and in the past, and Trump reaffirmed his endorsement following the revelation. On Wednesday, Trump rescinded his endorsement.

Lahmeyer’s exit clears a path for Mark Tedford, a member of the state House of Representatives from Tulsa, to be elected in November. The district is solidly red, virtually assuring the Republican candidate of victory.

GOP, MAGA divided on many lines: Israel, tradition, Christianity

The runoff would have pitted candidates with two very different approaches to politics and Israel against each other at a time when the Republican Party is divided on multiple lines.

Lahmeyer is part of Trump’s MAGA movement, while Tedford is a more traditional conservative. Both men promote a hard line on immigration, but Lahmeyer’s rhetoric has been peppered with incendiary claims about efforts by Muslims to establish “sharia law” in the United States.

While both competitors are also evangelical Christians with training in ministry, Lahmeyer works as a pastor and preaches an end-times theology that includes an Antichrist with Jewish heritage. Lahmeyer is also a vocal supporter of Israel, in keeping with his Christian Nationalist outlook, while Tedford has made few, if any, public comments about Israel or the war in Gaza.

The two candidates pulled far ahead of the pack in Tuesday’s crowded primary, which attracted 11 candidates to fill an open seat. Tedford received 32.1% of the votes, and Lahmeyer drew 25.9%, according to the Oklahoma State Election Board.

MAGA leads the GOP, victory requires a Trump endorsement

Few, if any, of the eight candidates who did not make the runoff were part of the MAGA movement, suggesting that Lahmeyer’s path to a runoff victory would have been challenging.

“We need everyone who came out today to keep fighting until we succeed,” Lahmeyer said in a statement to local media late Tuesday. “Let’s send a Trump-endorsed warrior to fight for Oklahoma values in Congress.”

The Democratic candidate, John Croisant, is a Tulsa school board member who has not spoken publicly about Israel or Gaza, issues that are occupying some Democrats.

This story has been updated since publication to reflect Lahmeyer’s decision to suspend his campaign.

The Middle East and wider region have positive expectations regarding the new agreement between the US and Iran. As this develops, it is clear that many countries and companies will now be seeking to take advantage of the potential reduction in conflict to secure new trade deals.

One of the key features of this new regional order will be investment in new pipelines and energy projects.

The conflict with Iran exposed the problem countries face in relying on one maritime method of exporting oil. It has also illustrated how Iran is a destabilizing force in the region.

Many countries also feel that Israel is destabilizing. That means they will want to secure routes that avoid being close to Iran and Israel. A ready-made route is the one through Syria or Turkey.

According to Syrian state media, “Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falih al-Zaidi and US presidential envoy Tom Barrack discussed plans to rehabilitate the Kirkuk-Baniyas oil pipeline during talks in Baghdad, as the two sides also reviewed regional developments and security issues.”

Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline enables Iraq to export via Turkey

In another development, Iraq has also requested an extension of an agreement related to the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline. This is important because it is a pipeline that enables Iraq to export via Turkey.

In another development, the website offshore energy reports that “US-headquartered energy giant Chevron has signed on the dotted line to acquire a majority stake and operatorship in a block off the coast of Greece, currently solely owned by Helleniq Energy, a Greek integrated energy player.”

Beyond the energy deals, there is also more work being done by the US on issues in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted on June 12 that “Israel, Greece, Cyprus, and the United States have launched the East Med Energy Center, a new platform for cooperation in energy, technology, innovation, and research.

The initiative will strengthen cooperation on energy security, cybersecurity, innovation, and critical infrastructure while bringing together governments, universities, researchers, and industry leaders.” This is important. Israel views it as a “major step forward in strengthening regional cooperation and building a more secure and connected Eastern Mediterranean.”

In addition, there is a new focus on rail and trade links in Syria that would link Turkey to countries such as Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.

This is a kind of new “Great Game” in the region as countries rush to invest in Syria and work with Iraq and other countries to develop trade routes and corridors.

It will take time to see how this plays out. However, the Iran war has likely accelerated some of these processes. 

As the US and Iran sign a Memorandum of Understanding intended to pave the way for a broader agreement, there is a lot of commentary about the emerging deal.

The view among many is that this has been a loss for the US and Israel. The same voices that were very confident on February 28 when the conflict began are now resigned to what they see as a bad deal that will empower Iran and somehow leave Israel more isolated.

It’s worth considering that, like in any conflict, the “enemy gets a vote.” Iran is a key player in what has transpired, and it’s worth considering what the regime’s game plan has been.

Over the years, Iran has generally sought not to sit down with the Trump administration. The regime didn’t want talks with the first Trump administration, especially after the US walked away from the 2015 JCPOA. The Supreme Leader in Iran, who was killed at the opening of the February conflict, was suspicious of the West. When Trump walked away from the Iran Deal, it cemented a perception among Iran’s leadership that the US and the West could not be trusted.

This set in motion an Iranian attempt to basically turn off relations with the West and shift towards China. Iran already had close ties with Russia, but after 2018, it increasingly pursued a policy of working more closely with China and developing infrastructure to create a north-south economic corridor and expand trade with Central Asia. This didn’t all pan out because Iran’s economy is in bad shape. Iran and China moved toward a 25-year agreement, but little Chinese investment flowed into Iran.

Iran brings nothing to Beijing in return

Beijing views Iran as a chaotic regime that doesn’t offer a return on investment. As such, Beijing assumed it could actually get more trade with the Gulf and other countries than with Iran. Economic groupings such as BRICS, the SCO, and others offered Beijing more opportunities abroad. Iran was simply one of many countries.

Iran believed it would benefit from the October 7 war. It sought to create a multi-front war against Israel. This didn’t succeed. Instead, Iran saw Hamas weakened and its Hezbollah partner badly beaten in the fall of 2024. Iran’s goal after this was to try to salvage its proxy network.

When the new Trump administration appeared, Iran signaled it was open to indirect talks. The indirect talks format meant any discussions would be slow. Iran and the US turned to Oman to be a mediator. The talks failed when Israel began airstrikes in June 2025. The US followed this up with strikes of its own, and Iran and the US turned to Qatar to end the conflict.

From Iran’s point of view, the June 2025 attacks showed that Iran’s air defenses and many other weapons programs were a paper tiger. Iran had launched large numbers of missiles at Israel, not only in June 2025 but also in two large salvos in 2024. Iran saw that its missile attacks would not win a war with Israel. Now Iran was presented with a strategy against Israel similar to the one Hezbollah was conducting. The goal was for the regime to survive and continue low-level attacks. It couldn’t win, but by not losing it could claim a kind of victory.

When Israel and the US attacked Iran on February 28, the Iranian regime was already prepared for a strategy of “not losing” as a way of “winning.” Iran is a large country, some 150 times larger than Lebanon. If Israel couldn’t defeat Hamas or Hezbollah, Iran reasoned that it could hold out as well. Holding out became Iran’s strategy.

The US and Israel didn’t have a clear strategic goal

The US and Israel didn’t have a clear strategic goal. Israel’s Prime Minister in March did claim that Iran had been so decimated that it could no longer enrich uranium or produce ballistic missiles. Ostensibly, these were Israel’s war goals.

But the goals had mission creep. Mission creep worked in Iran’s favor. Rather than a short conflict as in June 2025, Iran faced a long conflict of diminishing returns for the US and Israel, the kind of conflict that might benefit Tehran.

Iran acted to close the Strait of Hormuz and attack the Gulf and Iraq. Iran assumed that it could more effectively wage war in its neighborhood, while clawing back some influence over policy in Lebanon. As such, Iran’s goal was to prolong the conflict and negotiations. As long as Iran could return to something like a status quo, it could say it had won.

In any kind of game, if one side wins by not losing and the other side has to win, then clearly the side that needs to win has a much more complex road ahead.

Israel and the US chose this path, which put them at a potential disadvantage. Now that the result has been what many cynics might have predicted, there is a tendency to portray Iran as having achieved a lot. However, the reality is that Iran set itself very low goals and a low bar of success here.

During the war, much of the commentary on the conflict seemed to miss key points about Iran. For instance, some argued that precision strikes on a few IRGC positions would make IRGC members fearful and make them lose morale and desert. However, in a country as large as Iran, with so many IRGC members, is it likely that a few strikes on a few IRGC checkpoints will demoralize a group of tens of thousands? Most IRGC members probably never saw an airstrike during the conflict. How can they be demoralized by something they never experienced? Soldiers in the trenches in the First World War survived, and so did soldiers in Stalingrad.

The Iranian soldiers didn’t experience anything like that kind of war. Anyone who follows the regime knows that its ideology is rooted in the experience of the war with Iraq in the 1980s. If the regime survived that and was steeled by it, its troops are likely capable of withstanding some precision airstrikes. 

An LGBTQ organization in Kalamazoo issued a public statement this month labeling the Israeli flag a “harmful” symbol after two volunteers, working in the beer tent at a Pride festival, wore outfits in support of the country.

At the June 6 event, Michelle Zukowski-Serlin, 64, of Comstock Township, wore a dress that featured the Star of David, while her husband, Troy Zukowski-Serlin, 62, wore a hat with the Israeli flag on it.

Amid opposition by some to Israel’s military operations in the Middle East, the couple, both of whom are Jewish, said their clothing spurred a mixture of positive feedback but also what Troy described as “blowback.”

Three days after the event, OutFront Kalamazoo, which put on the festival, posted on Facebook saying the organization had heard from “many community members who were hurt, distressed, or angered by the presence of Israeli flags worn by volunteers.”

“For LGBTQ+ people with family, heritage, or lived experience connected to Palestine and the broader Levant region, including Lebanon, Syria, and other communities impacted by Israeli military actions, these symbols carry deep trauma and represent ongoing violence, displacement, and loss of life,” the statement said. “We want to acknowledge that pain clearly.

OutFront Kalamazoo says future of ban unclear, reviewing LGBTQ guidelines 

“We are sorry for the pain caused, and we will do better.”

The seven-paragraph social media post was titled, “Our Statement Addressing Harmful Symbolism at Kalamazoo Pride 2026.” It had generated more than 300 responses on Facebook as of Wednesday afternoon.

The statement also said OutFront planned to review its policies and procedures to “better address situations where political symbolism may create an unsafe or exclusionary environment.”

Christopher Terkos, executive director of OutFront Kalamazoo, said no decision had been made on banning symbols from future events.

“We are reviewing our guidelines to ensure Pride remains a space where all LGBTQ+ people can participate without fear or retraumatization,” Terkos said in an email to The Detroit News. “This review is focused on community safety, not banning cultures, religions, or religious imagery.”

In an interview, Michelle and Troy Zukowski-Serlin, both social workers and supporters of OutFront, voiced frustration with the Facebook post from OutFront Kalamazoo and the criticisms they faced from some individuals at the festival.

‘Genocidal baby killer,’ harmful, hateful, antisemitic remarks

“Saying that symbols of Judaism are harmful and hateful, that is antisemitism,” Michelle said.

Troy said people who are Jewish often feel they have to dial down their support for Israel to be accepted in progressive circles. That’s despite the fact, he contended, that Israel is the only place in the Middle East where LGBTQ people are safe.

“If you go to Gaza, you’ll probably be thrown off a roof if you’re gay,” Troy said.

The situation in Kalamazoo comes during a pivotal political year in Michigan. Voters will select a new governor and a US senator this fall, and the debate over US foreign policy toward Israel has become a key topic in Democratic primary races.

Michelle described the overall response to her dress at the Pride festival as warm.

But she also acknowledged that someone handed her a note that said, “You’re a genocidal baby killer.”

Michelle said she handed the note back to the person.

“They spit on the floor. Not at me. I want to be clear. It was nowhere in my direction. Then, they stomped off,” Michelle Zukowski-Serlin told The Detroit News.

At one point, during the festival, Terkos told Michelle the organization had received 100 complaints, she said.

In the organization’s Facebook statement, it said OutFront stands with Palestinians and rejects antisemitism.

“The outfits in question did not violate our current conduct policies in a way that allowed removal from the festival,” the statement said. “However, we recognize that its presence caused real harm for many attendees. That harm is real, and it deserves to be taken seriously.

An Israeli labor union warned Social Equality Minister May Golan (Likud) on Wednesday that her ministry’s reported decision to stop funding municipal LGBTQ+ coordinators could lead to layoffs and reduce services for vulnerable communities across the country.

Histadrut HaMaof, a branch of Israel’s national labor federation that represents workers in local government and public-sector administration, sent a letter to Golan, Federation of Local Authorities in Israel chairman Haim Bibas, local authority heads, and municipal directors-general.

The union demanded that the government halt the move and hold talks with workers’ representatives before any funding is cut.

In Israel, many social services are delivered through municipalities and regional councils, known collectively as local authorities. These bodies often depend on national government funding to operate programs for specific populations, including youth, senior citizens, people with disabilities, immigrants, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

The municipal LGBTQ+ coordinators work inside local authorities and help develop community programs, connect residents with social services, advise municipalities on LGBTQ+ needs, and support people facing social, family, or welfare-related distress.

LGBTQ programming promoting tolerance, inclusion, safety, and belonging

The program is connected to the Social Equality Ministry, which is responsible for promoting policies for various population groups in Israeli society. Under previous ministry frameworks, local authorities received state support for LGBTQ+ programming aimed at promoting tolerance, inclusion, safety, and community belonging.

Histadrut HaMaof said the reported funding halt could lead to the dismissal of municipal workers, harm workers’ rights, cancel community programs, and weaken services used by residents who need support and guidance. The union warned that the impact would be especially severe in poorer municipalities and towns in Israel’s periphery, where local authorities have fewer independent resources to replace state funding.

“The decision by the Ministry for Social Equality to stop funding LGBTQ+ coordinators in local authorities is a grave and unreasonable decision that could lead to the dismissal of dedicated workers and harm populations that need the services and assistance they provide,” said Adv. Gil Bar-Tal, chairman of Histadrut HaMaof.

“This is a move with deep social consequences, made without sufficient dialogue and with disregard for the heavy price that will be paid by the workers, the local authorities, and the public,” he added.

LGBTQ issue has become politically charged

The dispute comes amid broader criticism from LGBTQ+ organizations and local officials over the direction of LGBTQ+ policy under Golan, a Likud lawmaker who serves as minister for social equality and the advancement of the status of women.

The issue has become politically sensitive because LGBTQ+ services in Israel are often provided through a combination of national ministry budgets, local authority staff, and civil society organizations. When ministry funding is delayed, reduced, or canceled, municipalities may be forced to scale back programs or end staff positions.

Hebrew media previously reported that dozens of local authorities had LGBTQ+ coordinators whose work depended on ministry funding. Reports over the past year described uncertainty around renewed state support, warnings from municipalities about possible dismissals, and criticism from LGBTQ+ groups that the ministry was weakening existing services.

The ministry also faced controversy after reports that LGBTQ+ programs had been instructed to remove the Social Equality Ministry’s logo from publicity materials. Golan denied that this reflected official policy and said the instruction had been issued without authorization.

Union frames the move as a labor-rights fight

While much of the public debate has focused on LGBTQ+ rights and social policy, Histadrut HaMaof framed the issue as a labor dispute as well.

The union said the decision was made within a short time frame, without sufficient consultation with workers’ representatives, and without properly considering the employment and social consequences.

“LGBTQ+ coordinators are not a luxury,” Bar-Tal said. “They are an inseparable part of the community-service system in local authorities, and every day they provide support, guidance, and accompaniment to thousands of citizens.”

He said some of the work helps prevent situations of risk and distress among teenagers and young adults.

“At a complex social and economic time, the state should strengthen services like these,” he said.

Bar-Tal called on the government and local authorities to stop the move, continue funding the program, and hold “real dialogue” with workers’ representatives before making unilateral decisions.

“Dedicated workers and the communities they serve must not become the victims of a mistaken and short-sighted decision,” he said.

The ministry had not issued an immediate public response to the Histadrut demand as of Wednesday evening.

The US Air Force on Wednesday awarded production contracts to General Atomics and Anduril Industries to build its first fleet of semi-autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), moving a program that began just over two years ago from prototype to full-scale manufacturing.

The department awarded production contracts to both companies — General Atomics for the FQ-42 and Anduril for the FQ-44, the Air Force said, without disclosing the cost or size of the order.

The contracts were awarded months ahead of schedule, a sign that both aircraft meet mission requirements and are ready for manufacturing.

“By moving fast from competitive selection into full-scale manufacturing, we position ourselves to field highly credible and combat-ready semi-autonomous systems to stay ahead of the pacing challenge,” said Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink. “These contracts reaffirm our confidence in the strategic path forward for the program to procure over 150 combat capable CCA by the end of the decade.”

In a press release, Anduril said that the contract “establishes a structure for the Air Force to buy additional lots of production FQ-44 aircraft across the next several years, providing a clear path for the Air Force to rapidly and affordably expand fighter capacity.”

According to the company, the timeline from prototype award in April 2024 to production contract represents the fastest path from prototype to production for a fighter aircraft in more than 50 years.”

Alongside the hardware contracts, the Air Force simultaneously moved forward on the software side of the program, awarding mission autonomy production contracts to a pool of six vendors: Anduril, General Atomics, Lockheed MartinLMT.N, Northrop GrummanNOC.N, RTX’s RTX.N Collins Aerospace, and Shield AI.

In a notable departure from traditional Pentagon procurement, the Air Force is pursuing a strategy it calls “software sold separately,” deliberately decoupling the purchase of the CCA’s mission autonomy software from its airframe.

CCA is key component

The CCA program is a key component of the USAF’s future force design, intended to distribute combat power, reduce risk to human pilots, and expand the reach of crewed aircraft that are intended to serve as force multipliers and expand the lethality of manned aircraft, such as the F-35 and Boeing’s F-47 fighter jet for the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) platform that will replace the F-22 raptor.

The Air Force ultimately intends to field about 1,000 combat-capable CCA, using continuous competition among vendors to drive down costs while scaling fighter capacity. According to Anduril, the production line is currently capable of delivering up to 150 aircraft per year.

The CCA program emphasizes human-machine teaming, allowing pilots to command multiple autonomous aircraft that can scout ahead, engage targets, and absorb enemy fire. CCAs offer a cost-effective means of expanding airpower, allowing militaries to deploy large numbers of capable aircraft without the logistical and human constraints of traditional fleets. 

Their AI-driven autonomy enables rapid decision-making and mission adaptability, particularly in scenarios where communication may be degraded or denied. Moreover, by placing unmanned systems in high-risk roles, commanders can reduce the exposure of human pilots to hostile fire, thereby enhancing survivability and operational resilience.

The YFQ‑44A and related platforms will eventually support missions ranging from electronic warfare and surveillance to strike operations, depending on the needs of the battlespace. 

Firefighters rescued 25 trapped individuals from a flaming apartment building in Netanya early on Thursday morning, the Israel Fire and Rescue Authority confirmed.

Of those rescued, 13 were evacuated to the hospital for further medical treatment, of which 10 were listed to be in mild condition, and three, a mother and her children, were listed as being in satisfactory condition, according to the announcement.

The fire, which occured on Macdonald Street in Netanya, was reported at 11:34 p.m. to Magen David Adom’s Emergency Dispatch Center in the Sharon region, MDA confirmed.

MDA, United Hatzalah attend scene, provide medical aid

Firefighting and rescue teams, including those from MDA and United Hatzalah, gained control of the fire, preventing it from spreading throughout the building, and searched the premises extensively to ensure that everyone was evacuated safely.

The source of the outbreak is currently under investigation by IFRA.

Organizers of the Great Israeli Real Estate Event held in London on Sunday have apologized amid revelations that the event showcased offerings in the West Bank, contradicting their assurances that it would not.

The owner of a real estate agency that had a booth at the event, meanwhile, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that she had obscured the name of a city in the West Bank from a poster but also passed “two flyers under the table” to attendees who expressed interest in properties in contested areas of Jerusalem.

Ahead of the event, the organizers, along with the synagogue that hosted the event and the Board of Deputies of British Jews, publicly rejected claims by pro-Palestinian activists that properties beyond Israel’s internationally recognized borders would be promoted.

They had faced sharp pressure over the claims from dozens of British lawmakers and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and had to find a new space after the venue that was initially set to host the event pulled out abruptly.

Organizers apologize after revelations

Following a protest outside the synagogue where the event took place, the Board of Deputies’ acting president, Adam Cohen, said the event organizers had “publicly refuted claims that it was marketing real estate over the Green Line” separating Israel from the West Bank and alleged that the claims were being used to justify antisemitism.

“The false pretenses seem to be little more than an excuse to harass and intimidate members of the Jewish community,” he said.

The Board of Deputies declined to comment on the subsequent revelations that West Bank properties were advertised at the event.

But the organizers, who have staged similar events in the United States, issued a statement to the UK’s Jewish News that both apologized for mentions of East Jerusalem settlements in a brochure distributed at the event and rejected the idea that British Jews should face constraints in where they are offered property.

“We would like to re-emphasize that the venue made it clear to us that we were not in any way to promote the sale of Israeli real estate over the Green Line, and all participating vendors agreed to abide by that requirement,” the statement said. “At the same time, we believe it is outrageous that in this day and age, anyone would seek to deny British Jews the right to purchase property anywhere in the world, whether in Paris, New York, or Israel.”

The statement also described social media claims that “stolen Palestinian land” was being sold at the event.

“These allegations are simply untrue. No one at the event promoted or spoke about properties in the ‘disputed territories’, such as Givat Zeev or Kfar Eldad,” two East Jerusalem settlements, the statement continued. “Their mention in the event brochure was made in error, for which we apologize.”

Flyers advertised West Bank properties

The revelations came after attendees photographed flyers promoting West Bank settlements and posted them on social media.

The Guardian reported that it had obtained brochures from the event advertising properties not just in Givat Ze’ev and Kfar Eldad but also in Ma’ale Adumim and Teneh Omarim in the West Bank, and Ramat Eshkol and Givat Hamatos in East Jerusalem.

Guy Zilberman, a member of the pro-Palestinian group Jewish Anti-Zionist Action, posted a video showing footage from inside the event where he received brochures from companies selling homes in several of those locations. He said a salesman “directly offered us properties in ‘Judea and Samaria,’” the Israeli term for the West Bank.

The footage showed Zilberman then revealing himself in a conference room and denouncing the event while exhorting attendees in Hebrew not to steal, before being removed by security.

An unnamed member of Jewish Anti-Zionist Action told Sky News, “I visited Tivuch Shelly’s stall and was given a leaflet advertising properties in Ma’ale Adumim, which is an illegal West Bank settlement.”

Legal questions and settlement sales

The locations cited highlight the complexity of Israel’s geography and the pressures facing those trying to sell property in the region.

The UK considers expansions of Israeli settlements a violation of international law, posing potential legal challenges to efforts to sell homes there. The United States does not consider the settlements illegal, making real estate events there less vulnerable to legal scrutiny even as they have drawn fierce protests.

Settlements within the municipality of Jerusalem, such as Ramat Eshkol and Givat Hamatos, pose another wrinkle. While Israel recognizes that the West Bank is disputed territory, it does not consider any part of Jerusalem as such. East Jerusalem was incorporated into the state in 1980, and under Israeli law, both West and East Jerusalem form the state’s complete and undivided capital.

Ma’ale Adumim, meanwhile, is a city of approximately 40,000 that is located in the West Bank and has long been seen as likely to remain under Israeli control if a Palestinian state is created through negotiations in the future.

Tivuch Shelly’s owner and founder, Shelly Levine, told JTA in a phone interview that her company never actively promoted properties in Ma’ale Adumim at the event. She said the words “Ma’ale Adumim” were covered up with tape on their booth.

But she said they gave out “two flyers under the table” with Ma’ale Adumim properties because the company had received emails in advance of the event from people who said they were specifically looking for properties in that area.

She said she did not recall the names of the people but said she had handed over the brochures “in a bag and we told them they were not allowed to take them out or look at them in this building because we are not selling Ma’ale Adumim at this event.”

Levine said she now believes those emails were “a setup” to trick her into sharing incriminating material that could be handed to the media.

Unless people went to Tivuch Shelly’s website, Levine said, “Nobody would know that we advertise in Ma’ale Adumim. We did not break our word to the event organizers; we posted no brochures, put nothing out on our tables.”

Protests, arrests and government scrutiny

Even before the revelations, the lead-up to the event had been fraught for weeks, with the original venue pulling out of hosting less than 48 hours before Edgware Synagogue agreed to host it. And while the venue remained secret until less than 24 hours before the event, almost 1,000 demonstrators showed up outside the synagogue, from both the pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel camps.

Despite police being deployed to the scene to keep the groups separate, 14 people were arrested, including seven pro-Israel and six pro-Palestinian supporters, for offenses including violent disorder, assault, and public-order offenses.

More than 100 members of parliament and peers wrote to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper ahead of the event, calling on her to halt the event because selling properties in the West Bank is a violation of international law.

On Tuesday, Cooper told members of Parliament that the government had asked a national regulator to look into complaints connected to both the advertising of the event and promotional material.

“We have asked the authority to urgently look into the matter and reassure us that, if there is any evidence of the advertising or promotion of property in illegal settlements at that event or any others, it will uphold the law, regulations and guidance that apply,” Cooper said in response to a question from a local lawmaker about why the government had allowed the Great Israeli Real Estate Event to go on.

“It is extremely important that those standards are met in the UK, and that is exactly why we have raised the matter so seriously with the Advertising Standards Authority,” she continued.

That was not enough for Zack Polanski, the anti-Zionist Jewish leader of the Green Party, who sent a letter later on Tuesday to Khan demanding action, including from London’s police force.

“This needs to be escalated to the Metropolitan Police Service immediately,” Polanski wrote. “Anything less fails to reflect the seriousness of the situation.”

The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), a pro-Palestinian organization that pursues IDF soldiers who served in Gaza when they travel abroad, demanded on Tuesday that the US Justice Department arrest a dual Israeli-American IDF veteran who arrived in Los Angeles for World Cup matches.

The HRF, whose founder and director is affiliated with Hezbollah, previously filed a complaint against him when he was vacationing in Sri Lanka in May.

The organization reiterates its claims that he is an IDF soldier in “D” Company of the 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion, which operates under the 7th Armored Brigade.

According to the foundation, he is a young man who volunteered for service following the events of October 7, 2023, and was subsequently deployed to the Gaza Strip, where he participated in military activity that was extensively documented by the organization’s “investigators.”

HRF claims that the 603rd Battalion has become, “based on extensive documentation,” a central unit in the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

Although it is defined as an engineering unit whose duties include mine clearance and fortification, the foundation claims its activity in practice focused on the systematic destruction of civilian areas.

HRF hunts IDF veterans overseas, makes demands of Justice Department

The foundation claims to have documented at least 65 controlled demolitions carried out by the battalion between October 2023 and mid-2025. It alleges these actions targeted residential buildings, mosques, agricultural lands, and industrial facilities. It is further claimed that the unit was involved in attacks against hospitals, as well as the unlawful detention and abuse of civilians.

According to the foundation, these actions are part of a broader operational pattern designed to render large parts of Gaza uninhabitable and enable territorial division, partly through the creation of military corridors such as the “Morag Corridor” in the southern part of the Strip.

HRF claims its investigation revealed that the soldier is “directly linked to at least one incident of unlawful destruction in Khan Yunis during October-November 2025.”

The foundation further claims that the accused veteran himself posted photos and videos on social media proving his presence inside the Gaza Strip, including in Khan Yunis and Rafah. In one instance, the foundation claims he is seen holding the detonation cable of an explosive charge inside a destroyed civilian structure alongside other soldiers, “indicating active participation in a controlled demolition.”

In another instance, it is alleged that he published a video of a demolition action geolocated to Khan Yunis, which bore his company’s insignia.

Since he is an American citizen and is currently staying in the United States, HRF claims that the United States has “jurisdiction and even a legal obligation to prosecute him for war crimes, genocide, and other serious offenses under US law.”

The organization is demanding that the Justice Department arrest him, immediately launch a criminal investigation against him, and prosecute him in a competent federal court.

The organization states that, alternatively and until then, US authorities must prevent him from leaving the United States until the investigation is complete, and alert immigration and border authorities to prevent his “escape.”

Jake Rome, a representative of the anti-Israel organization in the United States, stated in reference to the young man, that: “The War Crimes Act was enacted to prevent any war criminals, regardless of their nationality, from finding safe haven in the United States. When American citizens travel abroad and commit war crimes and genocide, the obligation to prosecute them is even more vital.”

“Many of our politicians have condemned what they call the genocide being committed by Israel in Gaza, but condemnation is not enough – those responsible must be brought to justice,” said the foundation representative, who curiously operates within the US despite the fact that his founder and director is affiliated with Hezbollah, which is recognized there as a terrorist organization.

“It is time for these politicians to call for the arrest of any Israeli suspected of committing such offenses within the jurisdiction of the United States, so that the law and the commitment to accountability do not become a dead letter.”

He further claimed that “the law requires this, the American public demands this, and above all – justice demands this.”

IDF General Staff Order 08.107 (“Soldiers’ Use of Online Space”) strictly forbids soldiers from uploading documentation, photos, or videos linking them to military activity to social networks.

Despite this regulation and repeated directives from the IDF Spokesperson and military officers, the phenomenon of soldiers documenting themselves in combat zones (such as the Gaza Strip and the West Bank) continues, repeatedly drawing public criticism and even causing international complications for Israel, occasionally prompting urgent behind-the-scenes intervention.

However, despite the directives and the lack of real enforcement within the IDF, the HRF organization – founded just about two years ago – has so far filed around a hundred complaints in dozens of countries based on information uploaded to the web.

HRF filed similar complaints in India, Peru, Brazil, Romania, and Chile

Earlier this month, the organization filed a similar complaint against “A.G.”, a young Israeli man who arrived for a trip in India.

No response of any kind has been reported from the authorities there, and the Justice Department, as in the past, is expected to shelve HRF’s complaint and disregard it.

However, in Peru, Brazil, Romania, and Chile, various legal proceedings have been opened against soldiers as a result of these complaints, and in Peru, there was a relatively clear indication of progress beyond the mere receipt of a complaint.

It should be noted that, in addition, the foundation submitted the names of approximately 1,000 soldiers to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by IDF soldiers and officers during the fighting.

The foundation filed additional complaints within this framework against senior commanders and the political leadership, including former chief of ftaff Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Herzi Halevi, then-IDF spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari, former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The founder of the “March 30 Movement” and its subsidiary “Hind Rajab Foundation,” Dyab Abu Jahjah – a 54-year-old Lebanese national born in the Bint Jbail district – obtained Belgian citizenship through marriage to a Belgian woman, whom he has since divorced.

Abu Jahjah himself is a Shia and, as noted, close to Hezbollah. He is banned from entering the United Kingdom and appears on the No-Fly list for flights passing through United States airspace.

In a militant post recently, he voiced support for the Hezbollah terrorists who the IDF surrounded in Bint Jbail.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he had signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at ending the war with Iran, according to Reuters, with the White House later publishing footage of the signing in an X/Twitter post.

A White House official said earlier on Thursday that Trump signed the agreement, with a United States official adding that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had also signed the document.

US Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf digitally signed the agreement, with Trump witnessing the signing, according to the US official.

🚨 President Donald J. Trump has SIGNED the Iran Memorandum of Understanding at Versailles in France. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/JQ6qlbvFAF

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 17, 2026

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said that Iran’s nuclear materials would not be sent outside the country, saying that the agreement gives the regime the option of uranium dilution.

He added that the regime would consider continued Israeli attacks in Lebanon as a “breach of commitment.”

Baghaei also discussed the issue of Iranian ballistic missiles, saying that they are “only meant to be fired, not to be negotiated.”

“Iran’s defensive capabilities will not be discussed in any process or with any party,” said Baghaei. “Our missiles don’t like it at all when anyone talks about them.”

Baghaei: 60-day agreement begins today

Baghaei said later on Thursday that negotiations to establish an enforcement mechanism for the MoU would “start immediately.”

He said that the Farsi document is “similar” to the English one, calling that agreement “commitment in exchange for commitment.”

“The US is committed to removing all obstacles when it comes to Iran’s frozen funds,” said Baghaei.

He added that the 60-day commitment begins “today,” noting that the US “should not increase its military presence in the region or issue new sanctions” during the agreement.

He further called for sanctions against Iranian oil to be lifted, saying that the country should be allowed to start selling its oil “starting today and for 60 days.”

Baghaei claimed that the responsibility for the Strait of Hormuz lies with Iran and Oman, saying that the Islamic Republic would collect fees for “services given to ships” passing through the waterway.

Regarding planned talks between the US and Iran set for Friday in Switzerland, Baghaei said they are yet to be confirmed.

“The Friday meeting was confirmed until a few hours ago, but when it was decided that the presidents of the two sides would sign the agreement, it was decided to pause consideration of the Friday meeting for now,” he said.

Alex Bores, who’s running to succeed Rep. Jerry Nadler in Congress, is threading a very delicate needle.

On the one hand, Bores, a two-term New York State Assembly member from the Upper East Side, has garnered support from several Jewish leaders and political moderates who tout his backing for Israel. He marches annually in the city’s Israel Day Parade and has resisted growing calls for Democratic politicians to support conditioning military aid to Israel.

At the same time, he’s being backed by a number of left-wing groups and individuals calling for those very conditions.

Those two camps seldom coexist on a single candidate’s list of endorsements, especially as Israel has become a major wedge issue this midterm election cycle. But Bores, who has made a promise to regulate artificial intelligence at the center of his campaign for New York’s 12th Congressional District, has managed to maintain the coalition.

“You could make a sitcom,” said Cameron Kasky, a former candidate in the race who’s now backing Bores, referring to what he called the “Boalition.” “If you put 12 Alex Bores endorsers in a mansion together and showed up with a reality TV crew, you could make the most must-watch television in the entire world.”

Scroll through the “Endorsements” page on Bores’ campaign website, and you’ll find Chi Osse, the democratic socialist City Council member who’s called for divesting city pension funds from Israel bonds, just a couple rows down from Carolyn Maloney, the former Upper East Side representative who was a staunch supporter of Israel in Congress.

Progressive groups such as Bernie Sanders’ Our Revolution and PSC-CUNY, the City University of New York’s staff-faculty union, are backing the same candidate who drew the support of ActJew, which supports more centrist candidates and calls itself “a response to a political and social landscape that normalizes antisemitic and anti-Israel activity and rhetoric.”

Bores’ endorsers include some of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s political allies, such as failed City Council candidate Lindsey Boylan, as well as vocal critics of the mayor, including Fabien Levy, a Jewish spokesperson for Mamdani’s predecessor, Eric Adams.

“I can’t imagine the Bores campaign hasn’t occasionally looked at each other and been like, ‘What is happening right now?’” Kasky said.

A coalition across the Israel divide

So how is Bores pulling it off?

For progressive groups, the answer lies, at least in part, in Bores’ work on AI.

“He put forward the country’s strongest regulation of the AI industry to protect Americans from those who want no rules and only care about unfettered power and profit,” wrote Our Revolution’s executive director, Joseph Geevarghese, in an endorsement announcement. Geevarghese was referring to the RAISE Act, a state law that Bores introduced to impart transparency and safety regulations on AI models.

As an elected official, Bores is no political outsider, though the 35-year-old’s background in the tech industry differentiates him from fellow frontrunner Lasher, who’s spent decades working for politicians such as Nadler, Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Mike Bloomberg, the former mayor.

Bores’ resume includes a nearly five-year stint at the tech company Palantir, starting as a data scientist in 2014 and working his way up to become the US government lead. That gig has complicated how some progressives view Bores, given Palantir’s work with ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that Bores himself has called for abolishing. He has repeatedly said that he quit Palantir over its contract with ICE back in 2019, and that he chose “principle over my career and millions of dollars.”

Pundits such as center-left commentator Matthew Yglesias, who has also joined the Bores coalition, say there is a “unique value” to him winning because of his promise to enforce AI regulations and the message that it would send to the anti-regulation PACs that have been spending against him. Yglesias added that Lasher, too, would be “an above-average House member.”

But in a race with little daylight between the two frontrunners, particularly regarding the US-Israel relationship, Bores’ AI focus is setting him apart. And rather than sit out the race due to differences on Israel, a number of progressive groups are backing him anyway.

“I think progressives see something in Alex that is a testament to a resolve he’s going to bring,” said Kasky, who has advocated for policies such as an arms embargo on Israel. “And I think that that is enough for progressive groups to cede ground on the issue of Israel-Palestine, and frankly, the issue of Israel and the Middle East region as a whole, which is getting increasingly severe.”

Israeli politics in a heavily Jewish district

The makeup of the district itself plays a role as well. As one of the country’s most heavily Jewish districts, NY-12 is seen as less hospitable than other deep-blue districts for a “Squad”-type insurgent candidate. John F. Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, is the only major candidate who calls for conditioning aid and blocking weapons sales to Israel, but he has dropped in recent polls as he’s faced questions over his lack of experience.

Bores, Lasher, and Schlossberg are all listed as “primary approved” candidates by J Street, the liberal pro-Israel organization.

Bores has confirmed that Our Revolution asked him about Israel and gave him its endorsement despite not being aligned on the issue. During a candidate forum in May, he said that “we need to make it acceptable for there to be people in progressive spaces that still believe in the right of Israel to exist and to defend itself.”

Michael Miller, who was CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York for 36 years, is endorsing Bores and wrote in a Facebook post that Bores is a “steadfast supporter of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.”

In an interview, Miller, whom Bores named at a recent Temple Emanu-El forum as a Jewish American he admires, said he felt assured that Bores’ support from groups such as Our Revolution was mostly due to his AI work.

“The fact that he’s receiving support from a coalition that includes decidedly left-wing supporters doesn’t trouble me for as long as the issues of central concern to me, antisemitism and support for Israel, are those issues where he has given his support and with which he has identified,” Miller said.

Miller added that he believes Bores’ Jewish family, his wife, Darya (who recently appeared in a campaign ad), and son, Charlie, who is also Jewish, play a “large role in how he thinks about matters of concern to the Jewish community.”

Praise and skepticism from Jewish groups

A number of Jewish celebrities in the district have embraced Bores. The Oscar-winning songwriter Benj Pasek and Jewish cookbook author Jake Cohen posted photos on social media showing them at a Bores event in a private home that included a conversation with journalist Laurie Segall about AI.

On the same day, Miller and more than 20 other local Jewish leaders and elected officials signed a letter endorsing Bores. The letter emphasized his record of combating antisemitism, pointing to measures such as securing funds for Holocaust survivor programs, funding security for synagogues and Jewish institutions, and organizing trips for students to Jewish museums.

But for some Jewish groups, Bores’ support from left-wing groups critical of Israel has given them pause.

Moshe Spern, a board member of the group ActJew, called on Bores to drop his PSC-CUNY endorsement back in March, saying the union is “consistently calling for divestments from Israel” and has “downplayed and ignored Jewish students/faculty experiences since 10/7.” PSC-CUNY revoked a pro-BDS resolution against Israel in February 2025, after its initial passage sparked backlash, including from Hochul and CUNY itself. Spern told JTA he pushed for the group to rescind its endorsement, but was outvoted.

Bores replied to Spern’s tweet, writing that “every major candidate pursued PSC-CUNY’s endorsement,” and that his endorsement interview focused on funding public education and regulating AI. Bores added that he has “spoken out against antisemitic incidents on campuses (including CUNY specifically) and will continue to do so.”

Meanwhile, some progressive groups have refrained from endorsing Bores because of his pro-Israel politics.

“It’s pretty much a non-starter for us to endorse someone who wouldn’t sign on to the Block the Bombs,” said Sophie Ellman-Golan, director of communications of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, referring to the Block the Bombs to Israel Act that would prohibit certain weapons sales to the country. She added that Bores also voted for a statewide “buffer zone” bill meant to curb protests outside houses of worship, which Lasher introduced, and which JFREJ has vehemently opposed throughout the year.

According to the latest polling data, despite Bores’ greater support from the left, there’s been little difference in the number of voters who are responding to each candidate.

“You go into any Jewish WhatsApp chat, I see this as an Upper East Side resident myself, and there’s no consensus,” said Michael Harris, ActJew’s CEO. “The consensus is Bores or Lasher.”

The emerging US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding may reduce the immediate danger of a wider regional war. Israel has every interest in serious diplomacy, especially diplomacy that prevents Iran from advancing toward nuclear weapons and keeps the region from sliding into another catastrophic front.

But diplomacy cannot become a substitute for security, and on the northern border, that distinction is no longer theoretical. Rather, it is the difference between a family returning to Metula, Kiryat Shmona, Manara, Shlomi, or the Galilee, and another year of empty streets, shuttered businesses, improvised schooling, and lives lived in suspension.

The full text of the US-Iran understanding has not been officially published. According to public reporting, Israel was not permitted to review it before the expected signing, even as its reported clauses touch directly on Israeli security.

The reported draft is said to call for an end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, while other reports describe provisions related to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, sanctioned Iranian funds, and broader economic rehabilitation for Iran.

Western diplomats told The Jerusalem Post that the framework is expected to affect Israel-Lebanon negotiations. Previous understandings among Israel, Lebanon, and the United States reportedly conditioned a ceasefire on Hezbollah withdrawing from southern Lebanon and disarming, with the Lebanese Armed Forces entering designated areas as the IDF withdrew from them.

That was the correct direction: strengthen the Lebanese state, weaken Hezbollah, and separate Lebanon’s future from Tehran’s agenda.

New US-Iran deal risks empowering Hezbollah in negotiations

The new US-Iran framework risks doing the opposite. By placing Lebanon inside the Iran track, it effectively ties Hezbollah’s fate to Tehran’s leverage. Iranian officials and Hezbollah’s political allies are already treating Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon as part of the next stage of US-Iran negotiations.

That is precisely the danger: Israel’s northern border becomes another bargaining chip in a deal whose central parties are not the people who live under Hezbollah’s rockets.

This does not mean Israel should reject every diplomatic initiative. Israel needs the United States, needs working ties with neighboring countries, and should support any serious effort to turn Lebanon into a sovereign state capable of enforcing its own territory. If the Lebanese Armed Forces can genuinely replace Hezbollah south of the Litani, that is an Israeli interest.

But hope is not a security mechanism. A ceasefire that leaves Hezbollah armed, politically emboldened, and protected by Iranian patronage is not a solution; it is quietly purchased on credit, and the bill will come due in the North.

Northern residents have paid too much for temporary quiet. Since October 7, they have endured evacuations, rocket and drone fire, destroyed homes, collapsing local economies, and the humiliation of not knowing when their own state can safely tell them to return. This is not just a military problem – it is a civic failure.

For years, the state underinvested in the North, neglected emergency preparedness, and allowed border communities to live with insecurity that would be intolerable in the center of the country. The result is a slow hollowing-out of the Galilee.

People leave because they cannot build a future on a warning siren, businesses close because uncertainty is not a business model, and communities meant to embody national resilience become evidence of national neglect.

Israel cannot accept less than dismantling Hezbollah

This is not new, but today it receives a different kind of validation. When an international framework appears to prioritize regional calm over dismantling Hezbollah’s threat, residents hear the same old message: wait longer, trust more, accept less.

Israel cannot accept that.

A responsible Israeli position should be firm, not reckless. Any arrangement must include enforceable benchmarks for Hezbollah’s withdrawal and disarmament, a credible Lebanese or international mechanism on the ground, and explicit recognition that Israel retains the right to act against imminent threats. It must not allow Iran to trade Lebanon’s stability for nuclear concessions, or ask Israeli citizens to return home based on diplomatic language that Hezbollah has not implemented.

Israel should welcome diplomacy that makes the North safer – and resist diplomacy that merely makes that danger quieter.

The people of the North do not need another declaration; they need protection, reconstruction, accountability, and a border secure enough to come home to.

Flights from Ben-Gurion Airport Terminal One are expected to reopen on June 28 ahead of the school holidays.

Domestic flights will resume from Terminal One on June 28 followed shortly by international flights on July 1st, as “part of the preparations for the expected increase in the number of passengers during the summer months,” the Israel Airports Authority (IAA) announced on Wednesday.

Terminal One is mainly used by budget airlines due to its lower 

Domestic and international flights have been operating exclusively from Terminal Three for the past four months.

In May, IAA Director General Sharon Kedmi told KAN News that up to three million Israelis would have their flights canceled due to American military activity at Ben-Gurion Airport, which was reportedly using 70% of the airport’s capabilities.

Maariv: US aircraft to be moved from Ben-Gurion

Maariv reported on Sunday that approximately half of the US refueling aircraft currently stationed at Ben-Gurion Airport are expected to be relocated to Israel Air Force bases to reduce the risk of flight disruptions during the summer travel season.

In addition, parking spaces at other airfields, including Megiddo, will be cleared for use by the IAF.

The relocation plan, managed by National Security Council Director Shmuel Ben-Ezra, is expected to be finalized in the coming days.

Anna Barsky contributed to this report.

An asteroid around the size of 38 Lubavitcher Rebbes is set to pass the Earth on Thursday, June 18, which is the anniversary of the Rebbe’s death, according to NASA’s asteroid tracker. 

The asteroid in question has been designated 2003 LN6, and is set to fly past the planet at a distance of a little over 1.4 million kilometers, according to the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

The relatively close – but safe – flyby will occur during the yahrzeit of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the famed leader of the hassidic Lubavitch sect and the founder of the global Chabad movement. 

The Asteroid Rebbe? How big is the asteroid heading for Earth?

Asteroid 2003 LN6 has an estimated diameter of as much as 67 meters, according to NASA’s calculations. 

But why count all of that when we can instead make a timely reference to one of the most influential Jewish religious leaders of the modern era?

Yes, I am referring to the Lubavitcher Rebbe himself, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. 

While he is often referred to as a giant of Torah and Judaism, his physical size was far more realistic. 

According to records from the Rebbe’s 1941 arrival in the United States by way of the Portuguese ship SS Serpa Pinto to Ellis Island, the man himself stood at a height of five feet, nine inches. 

Now we normally like to do these calculations to appease the metrically-challenged readers, but this time we will do so for the metrically-inclined. Five foot nine inches is roughly 1.75 meters. 

Now the fun part, imagining how many Rebbes can we fit inside the diameter of an asteroid. The answer is approximately 38. 

Unfortunately, the result didn’t come out to any of the more significant Chabad numbers like 770. 

However, if one were to look at chapter 38 of the Tanya, the text that embodies the core of Chabad philosophy and authored by one of the previous Lubavitcher rebbes, we see the following quote: 

“[For] even the material body, and furthermore, even the very stones and earth which are absolutely inanimate – has within it light and vitality from God, so that it should not revert to naught and nothingness as it was.”

The interpretation of this is that even inanimate beings, such as asteroids, have a divine life force maintaining its existence. 

Scientifically, this pairs well with the fact that asteroids are essentially made of the same materials as Earth – both formed of the space dust and minerals from the birth of the Solar System. The origins of the Earth, and all life on it, are in a sense tied to the origins of asteroids. 

Adoneinu, moreinu, ve-asteroid: Will asteroid 2003 LN6 hit the Earth?

It should be noted that asteroid 2003 LN6’s orbit will take it closer to the Earth than what is normal for most asteroids. However, at a distance of over one million kilometers, it still won’t be close enough to cause any danger. 

For context, the Moon is much closer at around 387,000 kilometers. So while the words of the Rebbe may be close to the hearts of the untold masses of Jews around the world, the asteroid I am measuring using him will be far off. 

The Messiasteroid: How can the Earth be protected from asteroids?

Is the Lubavitcher Rebbe the Messiah? Does Chabad think that he was the Messiah?

Officially the answer to both is no, though there are some within the Chabad movement that hold this belief. Regardless, the idea of the Messiah as the redeemer who will save the world is an important one in many hassidic movements. 

But who will protect the world from asteroids?

We may not have a Messiah now, but we do have something else: scientists.

Those working in the field of planetary defense have been hard at work developing ways to monitor asteroids in space and predicting any that could pose a danger to the planet. Some methods have even been put forward to prevent a potential asteroid attack. One such method, that of kinetic deflection, was even put to the test with NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission. 

So while the Messiah may not be here yet to save the world, scientists can at least make sure the world is still around for when he does come.

Last year, I had the privilege of attending the biennial Friendship Circle gala. I’d long heard about the worldwide organization that supports individuals with special needs and their families. On a basic level, they do incredible work: they send volunteers to play and spend time with individuals with special needs, giving heroic parents a well-earned break, hosting joy-filled events, and building a supportive community where everyone belongs.

I was invited to the gala by my dear friend Rabbi Levi Shemtov, who, together with his wife Bassie, founded Friendship Circle in 1994 in Detroit, Michigan. I always knew that Friendship Circle was more than just a “hug fest,” although that love and thoughtfulness are essential parts of the magic. But what I witnessed there blew me away. I realized that Friendship Circle was, in fact, a revolution in how we understand human value.

Let’s be honest: when most people see someone with special needs, they may feel sympathetic, maybe inspired, but generally, their expectations are low. People acknowledge that everyone has a place in society, but do we truly believe that people with special needs have something meaningful to contribute?

Sure, people will gush over an art project or applaud a musical performance, but deep down, many still see these gestures as symbolic. “Let them just be happy,” some may think. “Let them live a peaceful life. That’ll be enough.” It’s a sentiment that sounds kind but writes off their potential.

Friendship Circle flips that on its head. They say, “You are a human being.” That fact means you have something to give. The world needs you, and without your contribution, we are all missing something.

It’s not just a feel-good slogan. They mean it. And what’s more, it’s true.

Friendship Circle reframes how we see people with special needs and, most importantly, how they see themselves. Their programs make participants feel unique and special, help them understand that it’s okay to be different, and show them that they belong.

The Rebbe: Term ‘disabled soldiers’ misses the point

The next day, I had lunch at Soul Café with Rabbi Shemtov and his friend, Dr. Stephen Shaya (now my friend too). We spoke about the philosophy behind Friendship Circle. “Where does this worldview come from?” he asked. A little later, he answered his own question.

The highlight of the dinner had been a video of the Rebbe speaking to a group of injured Israeli soldiers, men who had sacrificed their bodies in service of their people. The Rebbe honored their courage, but didn’t let the moment settle into pity. He challenged the very name of their group: “disabled soldiers.” That label, he said, missed the point entirely.

Instead, he urged that they should be called “exceptional soldiers,” people to whom God entrusted exceptional challenges because they have exceptional strengths. Not only were they not “done,” they were just getting started.

That viewpoint is the beating heart of Friendship Circle and, frankly, the way we should look at every human being.

We’re all born with purpose. And purpose is expressed through contribution. That’s not a luxury for the elite or the gifted. It’s not reserved for the successful or the brilliant. It’s a basic part of what it means to be human.

The Rebbe insisted that regardless of our perceived abilities, each of us has a unique mission, something only we can bring into the world. And the moment we lose sight of that, we shrink the very definition of humanity.

The Rebbe’s legacy

On Thursday, June 18, Jews around the world mark Gimmel Tammuz, the 32nd anniversary of the Rebbe’s passing.

On this day, many people study the Rebbe’s Torah teachings, visit his gravesite in Queens, or attend events at their local Chabad House. In addition, what better way to honor the Rebbe’s legacy than by adopting his revolutionary lens on human potential?

His belief was that every person is an indispensable piece of the puzzle and that the picture is incomplete without them. Their contribution might not land on the front page of the newspaper. It might not look revolutionary. But it’s theirs. It’s real. And the world needs it.

No, not every autistic child is a card-counting savant. Not every blind person can play piano at the age of three. But every human being has something to offer.

Sometimes, it takes time to discover. Sometimes, it takes a whole community to believe in you before you believe in it yourself.

That’s what Friendship Circle does. They don’t stop at love and hugs. They roll up their sleeves. They search, they support, and they help each person shine and then share that light with the world.

So the next time you see someone who looks or speaks differently, ask yourself:

When I look at a human being, what do I see?

To learn more about Friendship Circle, visit FriendshipCircle.org.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Wednesday that Israeli settler groups could be added to a global blacklist for violations against children as he voiced alarm at a “staggering” rise in violations against Palestinian children.

The world body’s annual report on Children and Armed Conflict recorded 38,558 “grave violations” globally in 2025, affecting 24,174 children, the latter figure a record since CAAC’s mandate began in 1996.

The data showed 14,224 children killed or maimed, with a 34% rise over 2024 in the number killed to 6,266. It said the United Nations had verified the killing of 2,668 Palestinian children in Gaza and 57 in the West Bank.

The Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures. Israel responded with a large-scale military campaign that has since killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.

“Countries with the highest levels of violations in 2025 were the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Myanmar, and Somalia,” a senior UN official said in a briefing on the report.

SETTLER GROUPS IN FOCUS

Israel itself already features in the report’s so-called list of shame annexes for alleged violations, but the latest version for the first time highlights settlers as a potential future listing.

“I am appalled by the magnitude of grave violations against children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, notably by the widespread use of explosive weapons in populated areas,” Guterres said in the report.

“I am deeply alarmed at the staggering rise in attacks carried out by Israeli settlers resulting in grave violations against Palestinian children,” Guterres added.

He said Israeli settler groups should be listed if the high number of violations is repeated in 2026.

The report said 9,465 grave violations were attributed to Israeli forces and 326 to Israeli settlers.

It defines grave violations as including the killing and maiming of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and attacks on schools and hospitals.

Israel’s UN mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

HAMAS REMAINS ON BLACKLIST

The report continues to blacklist Hamas’ armed wing and affiliated factions for killing and maiming children and for abductions, and attributes 2,806 violations to Palestinian armed groups.

The new report comes weeks after Guterres infuriated Israel by adding it to a separate UN blacklist of countries and parties suspected of committing sexual violence in conflict zones, a move that prompted Israel’s foreign ministry to say it would sever all ties with him.

Guterres said he was alarmed by the high number of children detained by Israel and reports of severe physical violence and poor conditions during detention, saying these “may constitute inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

Being blacklisted does not automatically trigger sanctions but causes reputational harm and requires negotiating action plans to secure delisting.

Israel Police, working in coordination with the Southern District Unit and the National Headquarters for Economic Counter Terrorism under the Defense Ministry, confiscated property on Wednesday linked to drone smuggling into the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the year.

Officials said the operation marks the first time this type of enforcement has been used in the drone field.

As part of the move, Defense Minister Israel Katz imposed economic sanctions based on precise intelligence and evidentiary material collected and transferred by Israel Police, even though the vehicle owners, residents of Bedouin communities in the Negev, were not caught in the act.

Authorities said the measure is intended to target the financial infrastructure behind smuggling activity, disrupt ongoing operations, and strengthen deterrence against individuals and networks assisting terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.

“Anyone who smuggles weapons, equipment, or funds to terrorist organizations in Gaza is part of the terrorist network itself and will pay a heavy price,” Katz said in a statement.

New policy broader than terrorism alone

Katz added that he had decided to impose economic sanctions on those involved in drone smuggling into the Gaza Strip, as part of a broader policy aimed not only at terrorists but also at the economic and logistical systems that enable their activity.

Southern District Unit commander Chief Superintendent Shimon Portal added, “This is another significant enforcement tool in our fight against smuggling infrastructures.

“Alongside operational and intelligence activity on the ground, we are also working to damage the economic capability of those involved, thereby disrupting their activity, deterring additional actors, and preventing the strengthening of terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip,” he added.