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A Toronto activist group called for the US to release the Iranian regime proxy group commander who allegedly helped orchestrate attacks on Jewish, Israeli, and dissident sites and individuals across Europe and North America in the name of Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI), in a Thursday statement.

Al-Ahrar Palestinian Prisoner Support called for the immediate release of Kataib Hezbollah commander Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, who had been extradited and charged by the US Department of Justice on May 15 for various terrorism offenses related to 18 attacks.

The Canada-based organization called on activists and organizations to act against the “violent move” by the US, rejecting its criminalization and describing its attacks as legitimate wartime actions.

“Mohammad Al-Saadi deserves widespread and unconditional support for his role in struggling against imperialism, whatever that may have looked like – from having a relationship with martyr leader [IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem] Soleimani to being yet another criminalized Iranian-Arab Muslim man to potentially even being a member of the Resistance to simply stating that the US is committing war crimes against his people while in court – these are all experiences worthy of uplifting and sharing.”

The group condemned Turkey for allegedly arresting Al-Saadi before extraditing him, asserting that the country’s support for campaigns against Israel was limited to “empty statements.”

War brought to the US, expansion of ‘global intifada’

Al-Ahrar, which also has a New York and New Jersey branch, asserted that Al-Saadi had brought the war within the borders of the US, comparing him to Washington DC Capital Jewish Museum shooter Elias Rodriguez. Al-Ahrar signed the May Tariq El-Tahrir Youth & Student Network petition praising and calling for the release of the murderer of two Israeli embassy staff.

Al-Saadi was also compared to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons and Palestine Action vandals in the UK.

“All of these prisoners, many of whom are Palestinian and Arab, facing racist criminalization for participating in the struggle to liberate their homeland, are at the forefront of the movement against state repression,” said Al Ahrar. “Al-Saadi is part and parcel of this movement and international campaign – join us in calling for his liberation!”

The group also affirmed in the statement that it was part of Masar Badil Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path, which organizationally overlaps with Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network. Samidoun is proscribed as a terrorist entity for its links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Al-Saadi pleaded not guilty, ‘we are in a war situation’

The Al Ahrar support of the alleged HAYI mastermind came as Canada and 21 other states condemned Islamic Regime and HAYI attacks in their territories, including a March shooting against the US Toronto consulate. Al-Ahrar defended the shooting on Thursday, saying the consulate represented not only “hundreds of years of genocidal occupation and colonial conquest, but also the infrastructure that continues to facilitate this globally.”

Al-Saadi pleaded not guilty last Monday to the criminal charges against him, according to Reuters, arguing “we are in a war situation.”

Charges against him included conspiring to provide material support to Kataib Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), conspiring to and providing material support for acts of terrorism, attempted acts of transnational terrorism, conspiring to bomb a public site, property destruction by means of fire or explosives, and terrorism.

The plots attributed to him included a plan to carry out attacks against a New York City synagogue earlier this year.

Columbia University anti-Israel student activist Mohsen Mahdawi appealed on Wednesday an immigration court order to deport him to Jordan, according to his legal representation American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Mahdawi, who was arrested last April for undermining US foreign policy and government counter-antisemitism efforts with his pro-Palestinian campus activism, had been ordered removed to Jordan by an immigration judge last Wednesday.

The ACLU and other legal representatives on Wednesday appealed to the First Circuit US Court of Appeals. They have also petitioned on Wednesday to the Second Circuit, where his habeas petition is being deliberated. His legal team argued that his detention and censorship was punitive and served no legitimate purpose.

Mahdawi said that in a statement that as someone who was born in a Palestinian “refugee camp,” he thought he would be able to build his life in the US with the rights he ostensibly lacked there.

“Now the administration is abusing immigration law to silence me for speaking the truth about Palestinian suffering and genocide. When a government weaponizes immigration to punish speech, millions of immigrants and citizens feel that blow,” said Mahdawi. “This fight belongs to all who believe in democracy and every person willing to stand together in defense of the First Amendment. I take this fight to the First Circuit with love and faith – because the First Amendment is sacred, and I refuse to be silenced.”

Deportation to continue after US immigration judge rules Mahdawi not removable 

Deportation proceedings had been reinstated against Mahdawi in early May after the US Board of Immigration Appeals overturned a February decision by a US immigration judge to reject the government’s efforts to deport him, arguing that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) failed to prove he was removable.

“The original immigration judge correctly dismissed Mohsen’s immigration case before she had been fired, and the government cynically appealed the case within the Trump administration-controlled immigration court system knowing that the BIA would reverse,” Mahdawi’s attorney Cyrus Mehta said in a Wednesday statement with the ACLU. “We look forward to vindicating Mohsen’s First Amendment rights in the First Circuit Court of Appeals as well as the First Amendment rights of all other noncitizens living in the United States.”

The 34-year-old green card holder was arrested by DHS agents while he was attending a citizenship interview, with his deportation sought under the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act.

“The secretary of state has determined” that his “presence and activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences and would compromise compelling US foreign policy interests,” was the explanation given for the move.

A judge ruled on the same day of his arrest that Mahdawi could not be removed from Vermont while the petitions against his arrest were being considered.

Petitions against Mahdawi’s detainment have argued that his arrest was a punitive measure over his activism, in violation of a resident’s First Amendment right to protected speech and due process.

The government said that its actions were legitimate under the INA and that the Vermont court lacked jurisdiction over the matter.

Mahdawi leads pro-Palestinian protests

Mahdawi has been a student and activist at various universities in the West Bank and the US since 2014. He was the head of the Fatah Student Movement at Birzeit University in the West Bank, and at Columbia, he was one of the leaders of pro-Palestinian protests. However, Mahdawi said that he stepped back from the role in March 2024.

Mahdawi reportedly co-founded the Dar: Palestinian Student Society alongside activist Mahmoud Khalil, a leader at Columbia University’s Apartheid Divest whose own deportation order is still being challenged.

ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project Deputy director Nate Freed Wessler said that “Mohsen should never have been detained for his speech.”

“The government’s continued persecution of our client for his beliefs should send a chill down the spine of everyone in this country, because once we start allowing exceptions to the First Amendment for speech the current government doesn’t like, there’s no telling where the censorship will stop.”

Before the World Cup kicks off in Mexico City on Thursday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino is fending off concerns over potential visa issues for players and officials entering the United States.

Infantino said FIFA is focused on being a “sports organization” and would not intervene in helping the US determine approvals for entry into the country.

“We try always to find solutions, always,” Infantino said Wednesday in a World Cup news conference in Mexico City. “But then we need to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces, and I don’t know what. We are a sports organization, we try to do our best with the means that we have.”

Without detailing circumstances or sharing knowledge of any context behind the US denying entry to Omar Artan, a referee from Somalia, Infantino called the turn of events “unfortunate.”

One US official said Tuesday night Artan was not accepted when his flight landed in Miami from Istanbul due to an alleged “association with suspected members of terror organizations.” He said FIFA understands there are also times to “chill and relax” when visa issues arise rather than creating additional conflict.

Ticket controversies, visa issues, Iranian participation

“Sometimes, to immediately start screaming and shouting has the opposite effect in terms of finding a solution,” he said.

Infantino said there are no regrets from FIFA about selecting the United States as one of the three host countries for the 48-team tournament.

Asked about the status of the Iranian team, which moved its training to Mexico and will shuttle to games in the United States and then fly back to Tijuana, Infantino clarified he is not suggesting FIFA isn’t active in aiding its tournament participants.

“I don’t mean to chill and do nothing, I mean to trust us that we are working behind the scenes, trying to understand,” he said. “There are things we are told, things we are not told. We always try to make things positive and find a solution.

“It has been successful to bring Iran to play in America, I don’t know who would’ve managed to do that … we don’t live on the moon, we live on planet Earth, and we try our best.”

He said the same applies to the ongoing investigations by attorneys general in New Jersey, New York, California, and Texas over allegations of misleading ticket price structure. FIFA revealed Wednesday that listed ticket prices were sold for an average of less than $500.

Infantino, who claimed only four complaints crossed his desk from “800,000 tickets sold” for matches in San Francisco and Inglewood, California, said FIFA will also take a chill approach to responding to the uproar around ticketing.

Why so relaxed? “Because before starting to sell 7 million tickets, we checked what we would do with the best lawyers or experts,” Infantino said.

“In California, we sold 800,000 tickets for the games in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Out of the 800,000, we had three customers who complained. The fourth one has come since. These cases were solved before the investigations started. We welcome any investigations. We’ll present everything and make our case. But it’s most important that every dollar that we generate goes back into football.”

Trump administration: Somali referee denied US entry over possible terror ties

The Somali referee, who headed to the World Cup, then turned away, was denied entry into the United States over a possible tie to terrorism, a Trump administration official claimed to Fox News.

Omar Abdulkadir Artan, 34, made it to Miami International Airport on a flight from Istanbul on Saturday but was refused entrance into the country by US Customs and Border Patrol.

“Upon further inspection by CBP, derogatory information, including association with suspected members of terror organizations, was discovered, making the traveler ineligible for admission to the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA),” the statement read, Fox News reported Wednesday.

“The traveler was refused admission and given immigration forms that provide the section of law used to complete an expedited removal under 8235 of the INA. President Trump’s administration will not allow any security threat to enter our country – full stop.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino addressed questions about the United States controlling access for entry into the country on Wednesday at his World Cup kickoff press conference and pointed to Artan’s case.

“It is unfortunate what happened to Omar, the referee from Somalia. But again, we don’t control everything,” Infantino said. “We try, we’ll discuss, we’ll see. Maybe sometimes it’s good as well to chill, relax. We work on everything, we try to resolve everything.”

Artan was named 2025 Male Referee of the Year by the Confederation of African Football and would have been the first-ever Somali referee to take charge of a match at the World Cup.

Fox reported Artan had been issued a visa to enter the United States last week, citing the Somalia Embassy in Kenya that processed it.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it launched “self-defense strikes” against multiple targets in Iran at the direction of US President Donald Trump in a post on X/Twitter on Wednesday.

According to Iranian state media reports, after the strikes were announced, explosions were heard in western Tehran and the southern Iranian cities of Sirik and Minab.

CENTCOM stated that it targeted Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communications systems, and air defense sites across Iran with precision munitions. The sites targeted posed a threat to US forces in the region and commercial ships attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, according to the US military.

https://t.co/06XEfevOgs

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) June 11, 2026

“The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression,” CENTCOM asserted, adding that “US forces remain vigilant, lethal, and ready.”

Iran claims Strait of Hormuz closed in response to strikes

According to Reuters, Iran’s top joint military command announced that the Strait would be closed in response to the strikes and that any vessel attempting transit through the waterway will be shot at.

Iranian state media then claimed that two “violating ships” were hit by Iran’s navy.

CENTCOM denied that the Strait of Hormuz has been closed, asserting that “commercial ships are continuing to transit in and out of the Strait” in a post on X/Twitter.

US to ‘hit Iran hard,’ Hegseth warns

The strikes were announced shortly after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, during a security cabinet meeting with Trump, stated that the US was “going to hit Iran hard” on Wednesday, according to an Axios report.

“Those strikes that will happen tonight will be strong and clear and if they have to happen tomorrow night, they will be strong and clear,” Hegseth asserted, adding that CENTCOM will be “busy tonight.”

Hegseth tells reporters at CENTCOM: “CENTCOM will be busy tonight because we are going to hit Iran hard. Iran has a chance to make a great deal. They haven’t been willing to it…they are going to have tap, tap, tap bombs dropping on key facilities in Iran from the U.S. – it is… https://t.co/JLA5UAFL6T

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) June 10, 2026

Hegseth clarified that the strikes on “key facilities” in Iran would be intended to “set the terms for a deal” rather than to restart the war.

He stated that Trump is prepared to make a deal and that “Iran would be wise to take it.”

“If we need to negotiate with bombs, we will negotiate with bombs,” Hegseth added.

Second consecutive night of CENTCOM strikes 

CENTCOM conducted similar strikes against Iran on Tuesday after a US Army Apache Helicopter was downed near the Strait of Hormuz.

In Tuesday’s strikes, the US targeted Iranian air defenses, ground control stations, and radar sites with precise munitions, according to a CENTCOM statement at the time.

Reuters and Danya Saperstein contributed to this report.

The US will continue to heavily strike Iran on Thursday if it does not agree to a deal, US President Donald Trump told Fox News after the US initiated what it claimed were self-defense strikes against Iran on Wednesday.

Trump also asserted that Israel was not involved in the strikes, which reportedly targeted Iranian air defenses and radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz.

According to Fox, Trump said the bombing campaign would stop shortly if Iran agreed to a deal proposed by US negotiators. When asked what would happen if Iran refused, Trump responded: “We’ll bomb the s**t out of them tomorrow night.”

Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst reported that Trump said senior Iranian officials contacted him directly and asked the United States to halt its bombing campaign, which he said consisted of 49 Tomahawk missiles fired at targets in Iran, some of which were only around 40 miles away from Tehran.

Yingst reported that Trump told him the conversation took place while he was in the Situation Room with US Vice President JD Vance and senior advisers.

Iran’s state media denies contact between Iranian officials, Trump

Iran’s state media cited a senior official as denying that Iranian officials were in contact with Trump in the wake of US attacks on areas in southern Iran.

“Trump’s false claim that Iranian officials contacted him is a cover to evade war with Iran,” the unnamed official was cited as saying.

Reuters contributed to this report.

The Defense Ministry on Wednesday announced that President Isaac Herzog awarded a prize to the Mossad for “a classified operational system that significantly expands the Mossad’s collection and operational capabilities across a broad spectrum of missions.” 

This project started as early as 2012 and took 14 years to fully develop. 

Former Mossad chiefs Tamir Pardo, Yossi Cohen, and recently retired chief David Barnea all had a hand in advancing the program, without which it might not have reached the finish line. 

According to the ministry, “The project embodies extraordinary technological innovation and unprecedented operational boldness. The award was presented to the Mossad, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and the Israeli Air Force.” 

Project began under Pardo

The project began in 2012 under then-Mossad chief Tamir Pardo and continued through the tenures of Yossi Cohen and David Barnea before being publicly recognized this week. 

The award was announced days after Maj.-Gen. Roman Gofman formally assumed leadership of the Mossad, succeeding Barnea following the completion of his term as director. 

Broader Mossad transformation

The lengthy development of the project coincided with broader changes inside the Mossad under Barnea’s leadership. Former senior Mossad official Ilan Rom recently told The Jerusalem Post that Barnea led a major organizational transformation within the agency. 

According to Rom, the restructuring enabled the Mossad to carry out dozens of operations simultaneously, compared to earlier periods when it could focus on only one or two major operations at a time. 

Rom said the changes were the result of years of planning and organizational reform, and that they expanded the agency’s operational reach across a broad range of missions. 

Leadership transition

Despite publicly opposing Gofman’s appointment during the legal proceedings surrounding his selection, Barnea called on Mossad personnel to support the incoming chief after the High Court approved the appointment. 

“The success of Maj.-Gen. Gofman is the success of the Mossad and the success of the entire State of Israel,” Barnea wrote in a message to agency personnel following the court’s decision.

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.

Israel’s cabinet is expected to approve a plan to fund the de facto establishment of 61 new settlements in the West Bank on Thursday, according to Axios’s Barak Ravid.

The plan involves the allocation of over 350 million dollars over several years, Ravid wrote in a post on X/Twitter citing a source familiar with the proposal, and is being promoted by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

“Many of the settlements included in the proposal are located in strategically sensitive areas,” Ravid wrote, “including along Highway 90 in the Jordan Valley, in the South Hebron Hills, and in locations designed to create territorial continuity between existing settlements.”

The funding will cover temporary mobile homes, public facilities, community infrastructure and support services, in what Ravid called “one of the most significant settlement expansion moves in decades,” adding that the funding for these structures would begin even before the planning process was fully completed.

In later stages of the proposal, the government would also fund more permanent development work for the settlements, including building roads and installing utilities.

Ravid highlighted that the proposal’s unusual move of allowing a temporary site to be established before planning procedures could be completed would set a significant precedent, allowing the government to set “facts on the ground” to later evolve into permanent settlements.

Right-wing pushing for Israeli sovereignty over West Bank

Right-wing ministers and lawmakers have continuously pushed for Israeli sovereignty over all areas in the West Bank, drawing sharp criticism and condemnation from leaders of various countries worldwide.

In another decision, 2,162 new housing units were approved to be developed in West Bank settlements by the Higher Planning Council, which is a body that operates under the Defense Ministry, Smotrich announced earlier this month.

Smotrich welcomed this decision, saying that “we are continuing to build the Land of Israel in practice.”

He added that the establishment of the new housing units was “not merely planning measures.”

“They are national initiatives that strengthen our hold on the land, reinforce Israel’s security, and establish clear facts on the ground that prevent the creation of an Arab terrorist state in the heart of the country.”

Keshet Neev contributed to this report.

A California Democratic candidate backed by a pro-Israel advocacy group’s spending has lost her spot in a congressional runoff after a progressive critic of Israel overtook her in the vote count more than a week after the primary election.

State Assembly member Jasmeet Bains, a moderate, received around $500,000 in ad buys from Democratic Majority for Israel, according to a Sacramento Bee review of Federal Election Commission filings, in her bid to represent California’s 22nd Congressional District in the Central Valley.

In the days after California’s June 2 primary, Bains appeared on track to finish second and advance to a November contest against Republican incumbent Rep. David Valadao, who has backing from the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC.

But late Tuesday, the Associated Press called the race for school board member Randy Villegas over Bains. As of press time, Villegas held 32% of the vote to Bains’ 27%, with 90% of total votes tallied. Valadao was in first place with 40% of the vote.

Israel emerges as campaign issue

The result sets up another front line in the Democratic Party’s effort to gain control of Congress amid rapidly shifting voter sentiment about Israel. Democrats are hoping to flip the 22nd District, where most residents are Latino, after statewide redistricting this year.

Villegas, who is backed by Jewish progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, called for a ceasefire in Gaza in January 2024 and has called Israel a “genocidal regime.”

According to FEC filings, he received support from American Priorities PAC, a pro-Palestinian super PAC. Multiple media outlets also reported that Villegas received backing from a Republican PAC.

During the campaign, Democratic Majority for Israel president Brian Romick told Jewish Insider that Villegas “consistently has an anti-Israel record.”

But most of the group’s spending in the race did not mention Israel. Instead, the group purchased advertisements suggesting Villegas had been complicit in covering up abuse of minors at his local school district. Local media reported that the ads were misleading.

Mixed results for pro-Israel spending

In a sign of how pervasive anti-Israel sentiment has grown among Democrats, Bains, too, said Israel committed genocide in Gaza before Democratic Majority for Israel entered the race. After receiving its backing, the candidate later walked back that position.

“While we’re disappointed at the outcome of this race, we remain enthusiastic about our record so far this primary cycle,” Romick told JTA in a statement.

He pointed to the group’s backing of Texas Democrat Johnny Garcia against Maureen Galindo, as well as the success of another Democratic Majority for Israel-backed candidate elsewhere in California.

For Democratic Majority for Israel, however, the loss adds to a mixed record in a primary season that has seen Democrats turn sharply against pro-Israel spending. Other candidates endorsed by pro-Israel groups in Illinois, New Jersey and elsewhere have lost to critics of Israel. 

Reps. Dan Goldman and Mike Lawler introduced bipartisan legislation Wednesday aimed at expanding federal security support for Jewish institutions and combatting antisemitism.

The bill, a House companion to Jewish American Security Act in the Senate, would increase Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding to $1 billion, extend funding to Jewish organizations, and allow additional funds to be directed towards law enforcement.

It would also mandate that the Department of Education appoint a dedicated antisemitism coordinator and force social media platforms to explain their handling of online antisemitism.

US Jewish communities facing growing security crisis

“Jewish communities across the United States are facing a real and growing security crisis, and the federal government has a responsibility to ensure that all Americans can gather, worship, and live openly and safely as who they are,” Eric Fingerhut, the CEO and president of the Jewish Federations of North America, which has promoted the bill, said in a statement.

Goldman, a Jewish New York Democrat, cited the March car-ramming attack on Temple Israel in Detroit, saying in a statement that the attack underscored “how essential security is for every single Jewish institution” and that the government should support those costs.

“We should not have to pay a Jewish tax to be able to go to synagogue, and this will not only increase the funding, but it also expands the range of areas that can be funded by the Nonprofit Security Grant to include, very clearly, security personnel and other types of security that have not currently included and that are now clearly essential,” Goldman said.

Lawler, a New York Republican, said in a statement that houses of worship and nonprofit institutions should be “focused on serving their communities, not worrying about whether they have the resources to protect their members from violence.”

Antisemitism ‘should anger each and every one of us’

“I can walk into my church without passing a security guard stationed outside,” Lawler, who is Catholic, said. “Jewish Americans don’t have that luxury, and it’s outrageous, and it should anger each and every one of us.”

The bill adds to a growing list of attempts to advance antisemitism legislation in Congress, including the Antisemitism Response and Prevention Act, which was introduced by progressives in the House, and the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which failed to pass despite backing by Jewish groups.

On Wednesday during a press conference in Washington, DC, Lawler and Goldman were joined by a host of Jewish leaders, including representatives from the Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and American Jewish Committee as well as organizations affiliated with the Reform and Orthodox movements.

Despite it being a foregone conclusion, Graham Platner’s victory on Monday in Maine’s Democratic State primary represents an alarming escalation in the widening fracture between the Democratic Party, its Jewish voters, and Israel.

Platner won the primary after his initial opponent, Gov. Janet Mills, dropped out of the race following a wave of momentum for the energetic, sometimes oyster-farmer outsider to politics. He will now face off in November against Republican incumbent Susan Collins, who has served as Maine’s senior senator since 1997.

Platner, a progressive populist who has garnered grassroots support for promising to focus on the economic woes of the US middle class, is also virulently anti-Israel.

Not in the sense that he thoughtfully opposes the nuances of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government’s policies in defending the country against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran – opposition, which, by the way, aligns him with more than half of Israeli citizens. But rather, Platner has thrown his lot in with those Israel haters who haul out the “genocide” and “baby killers” trope in any instance they can.

His campaign seems to be obsessed with Israel. Platner’s first online ad, released in August, promised that he would never seek or receive the endorsement of the giant Israeli-American lobby group AIPAC because he believed Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.

Platner accused his opposition of being funded by Israel

Last week, at the end of the primary campaign, he had shifted the focus to Collins, suggesting that her campaign was “bought and paid for by Benjamin Netanyahu” and claiming that a third of her campaign funding came from AIPAC.

According to JTA, Federal Election Commission data showed that a third of donations to Collins in the previous quarter were gifts from individuals who used the pro-Israel lobby as an intermediary. Collins also received a small donation directly from the group’s super PAC.

However, Platner’s broad, anti-elitist statement reeks of animosity toward Israel and toward his views about the existence of a Jewish lobby that controls Washington.

The Anti-Defamation League said the remark about Collins “invokes classic antisemitic rhetoric” and added, “Such accusations call up the age-old dual loyalty trope that casts Jewish Americans as more loyal to Israel than their own country.”

And if these were normal times, the revelation that Platner had a Nazi Totenkopf tattoo on his chest for nearly two years, until he drew criticism for it on the campaign trail, would unequivocally answer those questions.

However, Platner’s defenders have doubled down on their support, blaming American supporters of Israel – or Israel itself – for dredging up his past, including recent allegations of misconduct towards women.

Jewish Democrats in Maine must now weigh how to proceed – to vote for a flawed, possibly antisemitic, candidate who will fight against Israel but reflects their core values, from LGBTQ rights to economic issues, or to enable Collins, a supporter of US President Donald Trump, to keep her seat.

For many of these voters, and Democrats in general, the former is the more acceptable option, and they’ll reluctantly decide to forgive his past indiscretions. But for others, there’s total alignment with Platner’s views on Israel.

In a viral video from a weekend rally, a Platner supporter said she had no problem with the Nazi tattoo, which Platner removed earlier this year. However, she stated that if the tattoo had been of the Israeli flag, she would have dropped her support of him.

Jewish Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey reacted by tweeting:

“Are you kidding me? A tattoo of the Israeli flag is worse than a Nazi symbol? This should not be welcome in the Democratic Party!”

Alas, it is becoming the prevailing sentiment.

Hatred of Trump and the damage he has done to the US, and support for a candidate whose views they mostly agree with, who has a good chance of ousting one of the president’s allies, outweigh the glaring warning signs about Platner’s character and past. More so, it reflects the growing mainstream view in the US that, yes, Israel committed genocide and that sporting an Israeli flag is more offensive than proudly displaying a Nazi insignia.

In November, voters in Maine will have to decide if that’s how they feel. The repercussions will be felt 6,000 miles away.

The Knesset passed into law late on Wednesday night a highly controversial bill that places the Police Internal Investigations Department (PIID) under the direct authority of the Justice Ministry, removing it from the State Attorney’s Office.

The legislation was passed with 43 lawmakers in favor and 39 against after a lengthy plenum debate. It was sponsored by Likud MK Moshe Saada.

The PIID currently functions as an independent investigatory body within the prosecution service tasked with probing alleged criminal misconduct by police officers. 

Critics argue that placing the PIID under the Justice Ministry could undermine the independence of investigators and prosecutors.

Senior Researchers from the Israel Democracy Institute, Guy Lurie, Yael Litmanovitz, and Amir Fuchs, have warned that the legislation could impair the ability to operate professionally and effectively, and weaken public trust in law enforcement authorities.

The legislation proposes establishing the PIID into what is said to be an “independent body within the Justice Ministry.”

Under the Justice Ministry, the body would be authorized to investigate and prosecute police officers for criminal offenses, including minor offenses.

The legislation also changes the mechanism for appointing and dismissing the head of the PIID through a five-member committee. The majority of the panel’s members would be politically affiliated appointees. The justice minister would have substantive control over the committee.

The proposal also sets out to establish a reporting requirement under which the justice minister and the national security minister would submit periodic reports to the Knesset on the handling of complaints and offenses attributed to police officers.

A-G, State Attorney warn legislation may expose investigations to political influence

Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara and State Attorney Amit Aisman had issued in February a warning that the legislation risks exposing investigations into police misconduct to political influence at a time of mounting strain within Israel’s law enforcement system.

They argued that the proposed restructuring would create a parallel law enforcement authority operating outside the professional oversight of the attorney-general, raising the prospect of divergent enforcement standards and politically driven investigative priorities.

Supporters of the bill, including Saada – himself a former deputy head of the PIID – have argued that institutional separation is necessary to eliminate perceived conflicts of interest between prosecutors who rely on police investigators in criminal cases and a watchdog unit tasked with investigating those same officers. They have also criticized Baharav-Miara amid the government’s ongoing rift with her. 

Saada said in the plenum that, “Today we are carrying out a reform,” adding that, “There will no longer be criminals serving within the law enforcement system.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir sharply criticized the attorney-general after the bill’s passage, stating that, “It is very good that the PIID will no longer be under the control of a woman with no restraint, who does not hesitate to use any means in order to achieve her goals.”

Meanwhile, MK Gilad Kariv (The Democrats) warned that the legislation is “one of the most corrupt and dangerous pieces of legislation in the judicial overhaul.”

“The law will not help a single citizen who has been harmed by police violence or by the abuse of police powers,” he added.

“Its sole purpose is to deter police officers from fearlessly investigating corrupt politicians and criminals who maintain close ties with politicians, as we have seen in the circles surrounding Ben-Gvir and within various circles of the Likud party,” Kariv stated.

Government attempting to weaken A-G status

The timing of the legislation’s passage comes amid the government’s ongoing attempts to weaken the status of the attorney-general. The A-G’s role combines several functions: legal adviser to the government, interpreter of the law for the executive branch, representative of the state in court, head of the state prosecution system, and final authority on major criminal decisions involving senior public officials. 

The attorney-general has been considered an independent gatekeeper whose legal opinions bind the executive branch.

The current government has repeatedly clashed with Baharav-Miara and voted to fire her last year in August, though the High Court subsequently struck down that decision.

The government has also recently advanced in its first reading the highly controversial bill that seeks to split the role of attorney-general into two, in a move that critics say would hinder the power to influence. 

MK Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionist Party), who chairs the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, has advanced and supported both bills.

Ahead of the expected Knesset dissolution and amid the government’s last term to pass legislation, both laws have been fast-tracked, with numerous lengthy meetings held.

Rothman moved forward to advance the bill to split the A-G on Wednesday in the committee, ahead of its second and third readings. He announced to the panel that the legislation would take effect on January 1, 2027, if passed. This would not be long after the upcoming elections, which are set to take place no later than October. 

Sarah Ben-Nun contributed to this report.

Standing before hundreds of mourners last month, Rabbi David Wise held up a T-shirt with the words “Proud American, Proud Zionist.”

It was the shirt he had planned to wear to the Israel Day Parade that morning. Instead, he carried it to honor Cara Trager, a Queens-based journalist and congregant of his whose sudden death days earlier had left the local Jewish community reeling.

Most in attendance had planned to attend the parade, as did Trager, whose fierce support for Israel was a defining conviction of her life.

“There was nobody more pro-Israel, and a bigger Zionist, than her,” Trager’s husband, Michael, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “The joke I would say is that I knew how to tell her I love you. I had to tell her I’m pro-Israel.”

Trager died May 29 from injuries sustained when she and her husband were struck by a car while returning to their home in Hollis Hills, Queens, from an Israeli restaurant four days earlier. She was 71.

“I will spend the rest of my life missing her, and wishing she was here,” Trager’s son, Eric Trager, said during her funeral on May 31. “My mother, Cara Trager, loved, and was loved deeply. This is how I will remember her, and this is how I hope she will always be remembered.”

Michael Trager said that he and his son both attended the May 27 arraignment of the driver who started the chain-reaction collision, Dawood Faisal.

Faisal, 22, has been charged with manslaughter in the second degree, leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death, reckless driving and other crimes for speeding. Faisal pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Queens Criminal Court, and was remanded to custody without bail.

Michael Trager said that he believed that Faisal had been “looking to do damage in a heavily Jewish area.” Faisal’s attorney, Sara Pervez, did not respond to a JTA request for comment.

“As devastated as the family is, and me in particular, I’d like to at least hope that justice is served, that this puts an end, or at least helps put an end, to senseless violence,” Trager said.

But amid the grief and search for answers, Trager’s family said they remembered her for her resilience, passion and enthusiasm for life.

‘In Judaism, we choose life’

“In Judaism, we choose life, and she chose life again and again and again,” said Trager’s daughter, Rachel Sales. “She was never less of herself, she was always like, you get the full Cara Trager, all her beliefs, all her opinions, all her love, all her energy, all of it, you know, and we weren’t ready for … we weren’t ready, and she wasn’t ready at all.”

In addition to her husband and children, Trager is survived by her daughter-in-law, Alyssa Saunders; her son-in-law, Benjamin Sales, who worked at JTA until last year; and her grandchildren Max, Teddy, Dov and Yael.

Born on May 4, 1955, in the Bronx to Alex and Sylvia Selinger, Trager grew up in a neighborhood with few Jews. While Sales said her grandparents were “super into Jewish identity and very Zionist,” the lack of a larger Jewish community left her mother “hungry for Judaism” throughout the rest of her life.

Trager attended James Monroe High School and then Queens College, where she wrote for the school newspaper and quickly discovered a talent for storytelling. In 1975, Trager met her future husband, Michael, at a mutual friend’s party. When they reconnected at another gathering the following year, Michael Trager said he was smitten immediately.

“I wanted to marry her that night, but you know, it might be helpful to graduate college, which we did,” he said. “And it was a great marriage. It was really a great marriage.”

After graduating from college, Cara Trager went door to door with her resume, and began her career writing for trade publications, according to her family.

“She really, really wanted to be a writer,” Sales said. “And I think people said, like, ‘You’ll never be able to do it, this is impossible,’ and she was dead set on making it work.”

Before having her first child in the early 1980’s, Trager decided to leave the typical newsroom environment and strike out on her own, eventually building a successful freelance business that included bylines in the New York Post, Crain’s New York Business and Newsday, which she continued writing for until her death.

“She was a storyteller, you know, she kind of had like a flair,” Sales said. “She just liked asking a lot of questions. She was very curious about people.”

Alongside her journalism, Trager also produced publications and marketing materials for a host of Jewish organizations, including the UJA-Federation of New York, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Theological Seminary.

“She accomplished so much in her 71 years,” Sales said. “She was definitely a trailblazer in terms of being a journalist, being able to work from home, being totally present for her kids, while also building a full career.”

Beyond her professional life, Trager dedicated herself to supporting local Jewish institutions, including serving on the board of the Solomon Schechter School of Queens, which her children attended, and serving in several leadership roles at the family’s synagogue, Etz Hayim at Hollis Hills Bayside.

Trager remembered as lover of Israel

Trager and her husband visited Israel 11 times together over their lives, and she was also a board member of a children’s home in Israel. Sales said that her mother would frequently tell her and her brother detailed stories about the Holocaust and the birth of the State of Israel when they were young around the dining room table.

“This was really her passion,” Sales said. “We were Conservative. She would never describe herself as observant or religious, but [it was] really more about Jewish identity and Jewish resilience and Israel.”

Known as the matriarch of her family, Trager’s family said she approached motherhood with the same passion she brought to journalism and Jewish activism.

“She was an inspiration,” Rachel Sales said. “She loved people, she loved stories, she loved life, and she was stolen from us, she was 100% stolen from us by, we don’t know why yet, but we’ll find out.”

Antisemitic offenses in Spain rose 86% last year amid the country’s highest total hate incidents on record, according to a report from the Spanish government.

Jews were targeted in 69 hate crimes and incidents in 2025, up from 37 in 2024, according to a report released last week by Spain’s Interior Ministry. Islamophobic attacks also increased from 15 to 35 incidents. 

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said in a video posted on Facebook that his office documented 2,417 total hate incidents last year, the highest figure since it began recording in 2014. Spain is home to about 70,000 Jews, according to the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain.

The ministry defined antisemitism as any act of hatred, violence or discrimination directed against Jews or “nationals of the State of Israel.” 

Spanish PM one of Europe’s sharpest critics of Israel

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has become one of Europe’s sharpest critics of Israel and its military action in Gaza, which he says constitutes genocide. Spain imposed a total arms embargo on Israel in 2025 and permanently withdrew its ambassador in March, following Israel’s withdrawal of its ambassador to Spain in 2024.

The Interior Ministry said hate crimes motivated by racism and xenophobia accounted for the largest number of offenses at 934. Grande-Marlaska called out “public officials” for rhetoric and policies that he said inflamed xenophobic sentiment.

Grande-Marlaska released his report as Spain’s far-right, anti-immigration Vox party advocates for a “national priority” policy that favors Spaniards over others in access to public aid and benefits, such as subsidized housing and healthcare. Vox recently struck deals with the conservative People’s Party to insert the “national priority” clause into coalition agreements in the regions of Extremadura, Aragón and Castile and León.

“The national priority is xenophobia,” Grande-Marlaska said. “It is institutionalized xenophobia, protected and promoted by public officials who legitimize and amplify hate speech that, in the past, would have been condemned when it entered the public sphere.” 

Vox is strongly supportive of Israel, whose government has allied with the party despite a history of neo-Nazis in its ranks. Vox leader Santiago Abascal visited Israel in 2024 to show his support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Sánchez recognized a Palestinian state.

Instead of pride, many Iranian-Americans feel shame about the Iranian team’s participation in the World Cup and are demanding that FIFA remove the country from the competition, protesters said on Wednesday.

The team’s presence is outraging many who see the Iranian government as using the competition to sportswash its killing of dissidents since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Protesters said many thousands have been killed over the years, including during widespread demonstrations in January, and that hundreds of athletes have been among the victims.

“Bringing them here and having them play basically presents a calm face to the world, when in fact back home there is no calmness, there’s only execution and suffering that the regime has brought,” said 21-year-old American-born Ryan Salami, whose parents both fled Iran, in an interview at a protest in front of Los Angeles City Hall.

Many protesters backed the National Council of Resistance of Iran’s call to remove Iran from the tournament. Photographs of dozens of Iranian athletes who died in government custody were displayed in an impromptu open-air gallery in front of Los Angeles City Hall. Speakers, including a number of former Iran national team players, mourned athletes whom they say died after opposing the government and being taken into custody.

Former players join criticism

“This is the ayatollahs’ team,” said Asghar Adibi, who was a member of the Iran national team in 1970, to the crowd. He said the team was controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and that it was wrong to allow an organization “that kills people, tortures people, to have a team representing them.”

Protesters had a variety of views about whether the Iranian players themselves should be seen as part of the regime. Salami said he sympathized with players who might simply be athletes needing to stay silent and obedient to avoid the fate of previous players who have pushed back.

Another protester told Reuters that the IRGC would only allow loyal followers onto the team because she believed it would not want to risk defections, and therefore the players should be seen as little better than collaborators.

‘Players used like tools’

Another protester said the players were being used like tools to help the Iranian government look good on the world stage and that the players deserved little pity.

“They are all attached to the regime in some way,” said Peymaneh Shafi, who said she became an opponent of the Iranian government after gunmen shot her teacher in front of her. “These are the real athletes,” she said, pointing to photographs of athletes persecuted by the Iranian government.

After the rally, which included speeches and calls for regime change in Tehran, protesters marched through the park beside City Hall.

FIFA and Iran’s national team did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

The Iranian team has said that it will stop playing if banned flags or critical slogans appear at matches.

Will Iranian-Americans try to sneak the pre-revolution lion-and-sun Iranian flag into SoFi Stadium and unfurl it when Iran plays?

“100%,” said Nasrin Saifi, who arrived in the United States one year before the Iranian Revolution when she was 17.

In 1998, she smuggled a T-shirt bearing the banned flag into a World Cup match between the United States and Iran in Lyon, France.

She has a ticket for Iran’s first match on Monday in Los Angeles, but is not sure whether she will attend.

With the number of immigrants dying while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention rising, the agency has opted to shrink the scope of deaths it will be required to report.

In a memo sent to employees last Thursday, acting director David Venturella said that ICE is eliminating the requirement to report deaths occurring within 30 days of release from detention.

“ICE is returning to the standard practice of reporting deaths that occur while an individual is in agency custody,” Venturella said in the memo reviewed by the Washington Post. 

The Biden administration introduced a 30-day requirement in 2021, under which ICE was held accountable for the deaths of people who were released from custody with serious health conditions.

“The policy changed to make clear that ICE should not release people simply to avoid deaths in custody,” Deborah Fleischaker, acting chief of staff of the Biden administration, told the Washington Post.

How many people died after being held in ICE detention centers?

This change in policy comes amid concerns about the quality of medical care provided in ICE facilities after 18 deaths were reported in the first five months of 2026.

Notably, last year, ICE documented 30 deaths, its highest number of deaths in two decades.

In an email to the Washington Post, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said: “ICE remains committed to transparency regarding detainee deaths.” 

However, the ICE spokesperson argued that it is “common sense” that ICE should not be responsible for monitoring or reviews “when an individual passes away weeks after leaving their custody.”

ICE’s new death reporting rule dangerous for detainees, lawyers argue

In one such case, Martin Vargas Arellano contracted COVID-19 while in ICE custody at Adelanto Detention Facility in 2021.

Vargas Arellano had pre-existing severe medical conditions that made him especially vulnerable to the disease, and despite pleas for his release, he was kept in detention.

He was released from custody while hospitalized and brain-dead. Three days later, he died.

His family has an ongoing wrongful death lawsuit against the facility’s contractor, alleging that it failed to implement and enforce protocols that could have prevented his death.

Later in 2021, the policy of reporting deaths within 30-days of release was introduced.

“Mr. Vargas Arellano’s case is emblematic of what happens when you don’t have a policy of reporting deaths that occur immediately after release,” Khaled Alrabe, the family’s attorney, told CNN.

“This creates a situation where ICE can basically release people on their deathbed and then not have to worry about having to do any investigations,” he added. “Even when the situation … was a result of the conditions of detention.”

The Washington Post contacted the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which said that not investigating the death of a person who dies shortly after release from ICE custody “is a missed opportunity to improve the care provided and reduce liability.”

A new Steven Spielberg movie is always a welcome event, and his latest film, Disclosure Day, which has just opened in theaters throughout Israel, is an ambitious sci-fi thriller widely hailed as a return to form for the 79-year-old master director, the most beloved and celebrated filmmaker of all time.

The good news is that much of Disclosure Day, in which Spielberg turns his gaze upward again, searching for the heavens’ other forms of life as he did so memorably in such classics as E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, is thrilling. Disclosure Day has many parallels to Close Encounters in particular, and it could almost be a sequel of sorts to that film.

Like most viewers, I was hoping that Disclosure Day would be a real modern-day classic that could stand up alongside Spielberg’s early classics. His previous movie, The Fabelmans, was an uncharacteristically autobiographical film, about how he coped with his parents’ messy divorce and the antisemitism he faced at school by starting to make his own movies.

It was an essential film for anyone whose heart has ever been moved by Spielberg. It followed years of good but not great movies, such as the low-key remake of West Side Story, a sadly bland adaptation of the cult gamer novel Ready Player One, and Bridge of Spies, about a spy swap deal at the height of the Cold War.

But although Disclosure Day has an interesting, suspenseful premise and many beautifully staged sequences, it falls flat toward the end, becoming predictable and even preachy, pitfalls that Spielberg avoided so skillfully in his early sci-fi films. I suspect, though, that many viewers will get so caught up in the story that they will enjoy it despite its flaws.

Disclosure Day returns to a premise that worked so well in E.T. and Close Encounters, in which his human heroes discover the existence of aliens and must protect them from an angry government that wants to destroy them and keep them secret.

Plot and protagonists: alien secrets, corporate intrigue, and global tension

THE MOVIE is being released at a moment when trust in authorities is at what may be a historic low point, as people are increasingly worried about the power in the hands of a few companies that control incomprehensible amounts of data about every aspect of our lives. The advent of AI and the uncertainty about how it will affect the livelihoods of billions is also part of this mistrust.

It opens as the US and North Korea are facing off against each other in a confrontation that looks like it could turn into an all-out nuclear war. During this crisis, the film focuses on two protagonists who have never met but are drawn to each other by what they have gleaned from their previous contact with aliens.

The basic outline of all this can be gathered through the trailer, so none of this constitutes a spoiler. The first hero is Danny Kellner (Josh O’Connor of The Crown and Challengers), a brilliant computer scientist who has stolen a huge cache of data from the evil corporation where he works, Wardex. The data proves that aliens are real and have visited Earth many times.

Wardex is run by Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth, who often brings to mind Mark Darcy, the sometimes grumpy character he played in the Bridget Jones movies, as he scowls his way through this role), a tense tech magnate who will use every dirty trick and billion-dollar piece of technology to keep the truth about the proof of alien life a secret.

As the movie opens, Scanlon and his minions have kidnapped Danny’s girlfriend, Jane (Eve Hewson), to get him to hand over all the data he has stolen, which he planned to release to the press. But he manages to outfox them, and soon is on the run with Jane, aided by his unflappably sweet colleague, Hugo (Colman Domingo).

The most haunting part of the film comes in the early scenes with the second protagonist, Margaret (Emily Blunt, who is also currently starring in The Devil Wears Prada 2), a Kansas City weather reporter who dreams of becoming a news anchor.

When a cardinal flies into her window and disrupts her breakfast with her mellow guitar-playing boyfriend, Jackson (Wyatt Russell), it stares into her eyes. Suddenly, she answers him in fluent Russian, a language she has never studied.

Right after that, she discovers she can read minds. At the television studio, she speaks to a Korean guest in his native language, then goes on the air, making strange clicking noises, and collapses.

Soon, she and Jackson are also on the run, as she begins to realize that a forgotten trauma she experienced as a child mirrors one that Danny experienced and is the key to their bond and their mission:

They must find each other, and together the two of them can tell the world that aliens have been visiting Earth since at least the time of the Roswell incident in 1949, information they must release through a credible platform.

Action, performances, and standout characters in Disclosure Day

THE FIRST part of the movie features some amazing action sequences that will have you on the edge of your seat, and brings to mind scenes from other Spielberg movies, such as The Sugarland Express and Duel.

Much of the action involves Scanlon “diving on” characters such as Jane, which are reminiscent of Spielberg’s Minority Report and the VR battle scenes in Ready Player One. Scanlon sits in a lab attached to electrodes that transport him to the minds of others, and he can see what they are doing and manipulate them.

In a chase movie like this, you must identify with the characters to enjoy it, and Margaret and Danny are extremely likable. At times, I wished Blunt were allowed to show a little more of the snark she became famous for in The Devil Wears Prada movies, but Disclosure Day is going for something different.

O’Connor is always good, but this is the finest performance of his I’ve ever seen. Firth does his best to channel pure corporate, capitalist evil, but any movie that chooses this soft-spoken, thoughtful actor to portray the villain is paving the way for a moment of redemption.

Domingo has charisma, but his nice-guy character doesn’t get too much to do. Wyatt Russell as Jackson is very funny in the kind of role Teri Garr played in Close Encounters: the bewildered partner of someone in touch with extraterrestrial phenomena. Hewson, as Jane, makes a strong impression as a former nun who is caught up in events she struggles to understand.

I had mixed feelings about the glowing portrayal of Catholicism, which is presented here as the ultimate contrast to the corporate overlords. Jane’s mentor, Sister Maura (Elizabeth Marvel), is open-minded and has a wry sense of humor, and everything about her faith is illuminated here. We only see nuns; there are no priests who might remind us of the huge pedophilia scandals in the church.

It seems to me a little disingenuous for a Hollywood liberal like Spielberg to idealize a faith that will not make women equal partners in the hierarchy and which outlaws abortion and condemns homosexuality, but perhaps he is trying to make the point that, despite all this, there are good people who are religious.

SADLY, THOUGH, while the first two-thirds of Disclosure Day are gripping, the third act collapses, turning what had been a complex story into a bombastic struggle between niceness and nastiness.

It was all too clear that there would be some kind of reenactment in which the heroine would confront her childhood trauma. “The only way to know your purpose is to go back to where it all began,” Hugo tells her. This is the kind of sequence that has been in countless movies and has lost any luster it may have once had.

What was great about E.T. and Close Encounters was that we could feel how the heroes identified and empathized with the aliens; we could see it in their eyes. In Disclosure Day, though, Hugo articulates the message that empathy is good in excruciating, preachy detail in a scene that derails the movie.

It takes us out of the action and tells us how we should feel, as he intones, “Empathy is something we all have from when we were children, and we lose it in this cynical world. For us to advance, we have to find that again. That human connection.”

No one is against empathy, just like virtually no one is pro-war, and it’s trite to hear this spelled out. It’s probably not a coincidence that following this, the suspense dissipates.

While I never stopped rooting for Danny and Margaret to triumph, at times I remembered the Tim Burton film Mars Attacks!, in which the aliens were anything but benign and played for laughs.
I also found myself wondering why it was so important that people see proof of alien life, when it seems like at least half the world is already convinced they exist, and it seemed to me the corporate class would welcome aliens and have them start programming AI.

Maybe Spielberg would think this is proof that I am too cynical, that I’ve been co-opted by the big-tech bad guys. But the important thing is that Spielberg kept me entertained for about two hours, and for that I am grateful.

The 43rd Jerusalem Film Festival will open on July 9 with Tell Me Everything (Atzma’ut), the new film by Moshe Rosenthal, the festival announced on Wednesday.

The film, which stars Assi Cohen, Keren Tzur, Yair Mazor, Ido Tako, Mor Dimri, and Neta Orbach, will have its Israeli premiere at the festival’s festive opening-night event at Sultan’s Pool under the stars, in front of an audience of 6,000 viewers and guests. The screening will take place in the presence of the filmmakers and actors.

The Jerusalem Film Festival will run from July 9-19.

Tell Me Everything, which was produced by Green Productions and United King Films, had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, marking the first time in a decade that a full-length Israeli feature film was included in that festival.

Rosenthal’s first feature, Karaoke, won several Ophir Awards and a great deal of critical and popular acclaim. Tell Me Everything stars Cohen, one of Israel’s most beloved actors, in his first film role in 15 years, alongside Tako, a rising star of Israeli cinema.

Roni Mahadav-Levin, CEO of the Jerusalem Cinematheque and director of the festival, and Orr Sigoli, artistic director of the festival, said in a statement: “We are excited to open the 43rd edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival with Tell Me Everything, Moshe Rosenthal’s new and much-anticipated film, which will be screened on the festive opening night at Sultan’s Pool in its Israeli premiere.

Director: Israeli cinema important as industry faces challenges

The choice of an original and sweeping Israeli work as the opening film emphasizes the festival’s commitment to placing local cinema at the forefront, alongside the rich international program and the Israeli competitions, the full details of which will be published soon. We invite the public to an exceptional cinematic celebration that will bring to Jerusalem the best of cinema from Israel and around the world.”

Rosenthal said, “It is a great honor to open the festival with Tell Me Everything and to reveal the film for the first time to the Israeli audience on this impressive stage. At a time when Israeli cinema is facing challenges in the global arena, the support and the platform that the Jerusalem Film Festival gives us are more significant than ever.

Tell Me Everything is a film that takes the personal, the small, and the local, and translates it into a cinematic experience intended for the biggest screen. I am excited for the opportunity to celebrate the film and Israeli cinema together with the audience, and to feel the passion and excitement in the air.”

Alona Refua, the film’s producer at Green Productions, said: “We welcome the choice of our film, Tell Me Everything, as the opening film of the festival. This choice is not self-evident, and we see it as a great honor and an expression of confidence in local creation.”

Set in 1987, the film tells the story of Boaz, who discovers a shocking secret just before his bar mitzvah, about his admired father, Meir. Nine years later, Boaz sets out in search of his estranged father, during which he is forced to confront the memories and choices that have haunted him ever since.

The festival, which was conceived and founded by Jerusalem Cinematheque founder and Israel Prize laureate Lia Van Leer, is the largest, leading, and oldest film event in Israel. Its 43rd edition will feature dozens of world premieres, as well as the first screenings of leading Israeli films and high-profile titles that won prizes or premiered at major international festivals, including Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Sundance, Tribeca, and others.

The festival will award prizes totaling about NIS 1 million in its various competitions, most of them to Israeli filmmakers and film professionals.

Tickets to the opening are now on sale at https://jff.org.il/en

Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow has been mocked in the past for Goop, her New Age wellness site, but that’s nothing compared to the backlash she is facing for becoming the face of 51 Park, a luxury building project in Israel.

Paltrow, who grew up in an interfaith Jewish-Christian family, appears in a commercial that started airing in Israel recently for 51 Park, a luxury housing project in Herzliya.

The commercial shows her waking up in her New York apartment, where she wonders, “Who decided mornings should be so early?” and bemoans the fact that “Even my coffee needs a coffee” before going out for a run in nearby Central Park. While it’s “brutal” for her to start her morning run, she says that, “Once I hit the park, pure energy takes over,” and notes that, “There’s a reason the world’s most iconic buildings are by a park.”

Coming out of her building dressed in a chic white suit, she tells a waiting driver to take her to “51 Park.” He asks, “New York?” and she replies, smiling, “Herzliya, Israel.” A voiceover lists the features of the two-tower development, which will be 51 stories tall and located right next to Herzliya Park.

Paltrow accused of supporting genocide for taking commercial job

Paltrow began to receive online hate after the commercial aired. Most accused her of supporting genocide, and many said she deserved to be beaten, and worse.

“Gwyneth Paltrow promotes $10M penthouses in Herzliya while Gaza burns and Lebanon bleeds,” one user wrote, while another, referencing Paltrow’s phrasing in the announcement of her divorce from Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, said she was “consciously uncoupled from morality.”

Another X user wrote: “Something deeply unspeakably sinister about this thin, wealthy, white woman looking for any possible opportunity to collaborate with a state committing genocide across at least two states,” and others criticized her supposed $10 million contract for the commercial.

Paltrow, who is active on Instagram, did not post the commercial, but many of the comments on her recent posts reiterate these accusations, calling her such epithets as “Genocide Queen.”

Others praised her for her support for Israel and for “being on the right side of history.”

The actress has spoken up about her Jewish roots many times and, during the war with Hamas, posted support for the hostages held in Gaza. Her brother, Jake Paltrow, directed a movie in Israel, the 2022 June Zero, which was co-written by Tom Shoval and which focuses on people involved in the trial and execution of Adolf Eichmann, one of the main Nazi officials behind the Holocaust. Chris Martin has visited Israel several times to spend time at educational programs he supports. 

In recent years, several ad campaigns featuring Hollywood stars have run in Israel, including Morgan Freeman for Tadiran, Snoop Dogg for SodaStream, and David Schwimmer for Meitav.

The Jewish Division of the Shin Bet has launched an investigation into recent haredi draft protests amid concerns that future demonstrations could target government buildings or officials, Doron Kadosh and Moriah Asraf said in a message to Army Radio via Telegram.

The probe takes a broad approach rather than focusing on a single incident. However, the riot outside Supreme Court Justice Noam Solberg’s home on June 3, along with other disorderly events, helped prompt the investigation.

The riot outside the justice’s home shocked and alarmed both the public and many in government, drawing widespread condemnation.

The President of the Supreme Court, Justice Isaac Amit, and the Director of the Courts, Justice Tzachi Uziel, issued a letter to all judges following the violent incident, saying, “This represents crossing a red line and an attack on the entire judicial system and the rule of law in Israel… The judiciary will not hesitate to take all measures at its disposal to ensure the safety and security of its employees.”

Tomer Moskowitz, head of the Tzur Hadassah local council and a close friend of Justice Sohlberg, deputy president of the Supreme Court, said that the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) protest outside of Sohlberg’s house “wasn’t a demonstration, it was a pogrom.”

Even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the incident outside the justice’s home, saying, “I strongly condemn the violent riot against Justice Noam Sohlberg. Law enforcement must apply the full force of the law against the rioters.”

Over 60 arrests were made following the riot.

Senior Israel Police Superintendent Chaim Taieb clarified that the investigation into the riot was not being treated like a normal protest but rather a  “serious criminal event with real intent to harm.”

Haredi protests remain disruptive, reckless

Prior to the riot at the justice’s home, eight ultra-Orthodox (haredi) protesters were arrested on June 1 after breaking into a police station in Beit Shemesh following the detention of an alleged draft dodger.

During the incident, several rioters managed to enter the station, while others attempted to block traffic and throw stones.

Haredi protests have continued, remaining disruptive and reckless, prompting the Shin Bet’s investigation.

The probe falls within the Shin Bet’s remit, specifically its mandate to protect against threats to the government and the State of Israel.

Eight University of Michigan (UMich) associated anti-Israel activists were indicted for a two and a half year campaign of violent threats and vandalism against university officials, the local Jewish federation, law enforcement, and businesses, the Michigan Eastern District US Attorney’s Office announced on Wednesday.

Twenty-three year old Canton resident Zainab Aliasgar Hakim, 21-year-old Ann Arbor resident Amatullah Aliasgar Hakim, 26-year-old Ann Arbor resident Paige Elizabeth Feyock, 28-year-old Milwaukee resident Ahmet Kerem Korkaya, 22-year-old Ann Arbor resident Jonathan Hongru Zou, 23-year-old Chicago resident Alexander Matthew Sepulveda, 24-year-old Dearborn resident Mariam Muhammed Odeh, and 24-year-old Ann Arbor resident Colin Hunter Weger were indicted by a federal grand jury after they were arrested in a multi-state operation in Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

The activists face a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to transmit threats.

Since the October 7 massacre, the eight anti-Israel activists had allegedly launched a campaign of vandalism and intimidation primarily motivated by a desire for UMich to cut all perceived ties with Israel.

The eight anti-Israel activists allegedly held meetings to identify targets, researching their personal details and business ownership, and discussed methods of harming the targets and their families, including poison, bombs, and psychological torture. Korkaya allegedly stated that one victim’s family was on a hit list, and Feyock allegedly called for the conspirators to get the children of the targets.

“I’m gonna be the dirtiest f***ing doctor ever…I’m gonna be [victim’s] doctor… poison her a** slowly,” Korkaya allegedly said about another victim.

Feyock allegedly said in a meeting that “We need people following [victim]… get into that house then burn it down.”

Homes, businesses vandalized

The defendants operated at night, vandalizing and defacing homes and businesses with spray-painted threatening messages and slogans, including “intifada” and terrorist symbols such as the red inverted triangle, used by Hamas in propaganda videos to denote a target.

On the one-year anniversary of the October 7 massacre, the defendants allegedly vandalized a Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit building and two other businesses with anti-Israel slogans.

The DoJ also cited incidents in which activists targeted the homes of UMich officials, such as in the May 2024 incident in which dozens of protesters erected tents and placed fake corpses wrapped in bloodied sheets on the lawn of UMich regent Sarah Hubbard. The activists played both bullhorns and drums, and taped a list of demands to her front door.

The same morning, masked activists came to the door of UMich Regent Jorda Acker’s residence before dawn, demanding the defunding of police. In December 2024, an object was thrown through the window of Acker’s family home, and their vehicle was graffitied with pro-Palestinian slogans and the red inverted triangles.

JTA reported that in June 2024, Acker’s law office was tagged with the slogans “free Palestine” and “divest now.” Former president Sana Ono and University chief investment officer Erik Lundberg’s homes were vandalized in October, and UMich Provost Laurie McCauley’s home was graffitied with the phrase “free Palestine.”

Acker, Hubbard, and Regent Mark Bernstein had continued to receive email threats as of June, leading the university to assign 24-hour security to its regents and executive officers.

The DoJ said that the defendants participated in actions in which they caulked doors shut, bike-locked entryways, broke windows, and threw glass jars filled with butyric acid and dye into homes. They allegedly posted footage of the incidents online and warned: “You cannot hide.”

Destruction of property, witness intimidation charges

Sepulveda was charged with destruction of property to prevent seizure related to an incident in which he and Zou allegedly threw glass jars filled with food compost through a window of McClauley’s home. Tipped off by an unindicted conspirator that law enforcement was about to search Sepulveda’s home, the defendant allegedly cleared the contents of his phone and laptop. The charge carries a penalty of up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Hakim and Feyock were also charged with witness intimidation, after they allegedly devised a plan to confront a UMich student they believed to be cooperating with law enforcement.

“We have to do something about [victim]… [victim] is actually a liability… the fact that [victim] is naming you to [unindicted conspirator] is a major issue,” Feyock allegedly said, calling for them to be “neutralized.”

Feyock allegedly wanted to “strip search” the victim “to see if he is wearing a wire / not taking no chances with him.”

They confronted the victim in August 2024, and then reportedly told another conspirator that the victim knew not to talk about their activities. Conspiracy to tamper with a witness comes with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Michigan activist groups rallied outside a Detroit courthouse on Wednesday, decrying the arrests as suppression of pro-Palestinian activism.

“As fascism continues to rise, we will continue to see an escalation of state repression. We call on all students and youth to support people facing fascist repression,” the League of Revolutionary Students said on Instagram.

Last May, charges were dropped against 11 activists involved in anti-Israel encampment and other protests at UMich, including charges for trespassing and obstructing police officers. 

Three of the four major Arab parties – Hadash, Ta’al, and Balad – will move ahead with reestablishing the Joint List without the Ra’am Party, led by MK Mansour Abbas, marking a setback in efforts to reunite all major Arab parties under a single electoral slate.

Hadash announced the three parties’ plans on Wednesday, after months during which there had been no official progress on the formation of the Joint List. Negotiations between the four main Arab parties began openly last summer.

The party noted that the “door was still open for Ra’am to join” ahead of the elections, which are scheduled to take place no later than October 27. Polls have shown that if the Arab parties were to run together, they would receive more seats than they would obtain in a separate run.

There had been disagreements in the negotiations with Ra’am on Sunday and Tuesday when the factions discussed their stance, a Hadash party representative told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

Hadash subsequently released a statement that the three parties could no longer wait for Ra’am to join, and that they would progress without Abbas.

Ra’am welcome to join Joint List once disagreements solved

“The establishment of a broad Joint List that includes all components is still the best option for increasing voter turnout and replacing the [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu government. However, our responsibility to the public requires us to move forward and not remain in a state of waiting and uncertainty,” the party stated.

“Therefore, we will work to establish the broadest possible Joint List, while leaving the door open for Ra’am to join the process at any time,” Hadash added.

Without Ra’am, the three parties stated that they accepted the framework for a technical electoral arrangement, noting that this was done despite political reservations and “out of commitment to unity within the Arab public and to increasing its political strength.”

Hadash added that despite the efforts and flexibility shown by Hadash, Ta’al, and Balad throughout the process, a final agreement with Ra’am was not yet reached.

The party also said that even if the Arab parties run on two separate lists, with Ra’am as its own independent party, the sides would still work toward surplus vote agreements and “maintain a substantive and respectful political dialogue, out of a shared commitment to increasing voter turnout and replacing the current government.”

The last major development for the alliance was in January, when all four Arab party leaders, including Abbas, signed a commitment to work toward reestablishing the Joint List bloc ahead of the next elections.

The signing came after tens of thousands of protesters marched in a mass demonstration through the northern city of Sakhnin, rallying against police failure to curb organized crime in Israel’s Arab sector.

The Arab party leaders who joined the protest were called on by the public after the demonstration to unite and make an agreement.

A Hadash-Ta’al Party spokesperson told the Post at the time that public pressure was one of the factors that contributed to the signing, while also noting that more than 80% of the public would want a Joint List.

Since the agreement was signed, Abbas has said he would form an alliance with the other Arab parties as a purely technical bloc, which could split up in the Knesset after the elections. There have been numerous reports of disagreements between the parties throughout the months.

The Joint List has changed multiple times since its original state

The bloc, originally made up of the four parties, began to break apart ahead of the 2021 elections after Ra’am left the alliance. Then, in a dramatic last-minute split in 2022, Balad broke off from the two remaining factions and filed a separate list.

Currently, the two Arab-Israeli parties in the Knesset are Ra’am and Hadash-Ta’al – the latter a reduced Joint List that agreed to run together in the 2022 election.

The Balad Party, not in the Knesset, continues to fail to pass the electoral threshold in polls.

In past elections, the Arab parties had the greatest outcomes when running together, with a peak in success in the 2020 elections when the joint list received 15 seats.

In 2021, the Ra’am Party joined the coalition during the Naftali Bennett-Yair Lapid government, marking the first time an Arab party was a formal member of a governing coalition.

Though Ra’am seeks to be part of the coalition again, most opposition parties in the bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu have rejected the possibility of forming a government with any of the Arab parties.

It is still unclear how the opposition bloc will secure enough seats to form a government without the support of the Arab parties and the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties.

Head of the Rifman Institute for the Development of the Negev, Haggai Reznik, said on Wednesday that there will be a Palestinian majority in Israel’s Negev region by 2050.

“We need to prevent Palestinian women from entering,” said Reznik. “The state funds and allows this. By 2050, there will be a Palestinian majority in the Negev.”

Also on Wednesday, the State Audit Committee met to review efforts to combat illegal weapons, enforcement failures, indictments, and sentencing. The discussion was brief, with many invited officials absent, including the acting director-general at the Prime Minister’s Office, the government secretary, and other key figures.

In 2025, Israel Police made 758 arrests for weapons offenses in Bedouin communities, setting a new record compared to previous years, according to a report prepared for the Knesset State Audit Committee, chaired by MK Alon Schuster (Kadima).

The State Comptroller’s report, which reviewed all actions related to illegal weapons, documented numerous serious shortcomings and formed the basis of the committee’s discussion.

Data show that arrests for weapons offenses rose from 654 in 2024 to 758 in 2025. Through April 2025, 288 arrests have been made. In 2025, 225 indictments were filed for weapons offenses, up from 174 in 2024, while 133 indictments have been filed so far this year through April.

Authorities also reported 780 incidents in 2025 involving the seizure of illegal weapons, including 1,876 handguns, 886 rifles, 552 grenades, 119 explosive devices, and 95 improvised weapons. In 2024, a record number of illegal arms were confiscated, totaling nearly 760 weapons, including rifles, handguns, and grenades.

Schuster: Balance ‘must be maintained’

“I hope the government will do what it decided on this matter. The challenges are immense,” Schuster said at the start of the discussion. “The balance between public order, governance, and law enforcement, and the citizens’ trust in the authorities, must be maintained.”

He warned of the threat to the legitimacy of Israeli governance. “The existing situation creates cracks in trust and in the government’s sense of ability to enforce law and order in the area in question. Here, there needs to be an organized government work plan. To create a roadmap and set the correct administrative hierarchies, all must be managed centrally by the Prime Minister’s Office. This is not a matter for another ministry.”

Schuster expressed regret that the government secretary and other officials responsible for implementing government decisions were absent. He said he plans to use all available measures to ensure those invited attend a follow-up discussion.

Reznik suggested using a new term to describe the situation in the region. “They talk about a loss of governance in the Negev,” he said. “We need to talk about a loss of sovereignty. Because a sovereign establishes a system of taxation.

“In the Negev, there is an alternative taxation. It’s called protection. They say that law in the Negev is enforced through shootings. The judicial system has been eliminated, and we, that is, the Israel Land Authority, do not manage the state’s lands.”

He added that the loss of governance and sovereignty is total, with a criminal economy present and government action too slow. “The State of Israel is not focused on this. The state does not have the appropriate governance tools to handle the matter.”

Avi Biton, a representative of the Crossing Points Authority, addressed the entry of Palestinian women and explained that the movement of Israelis into Palestinian Authority areas is not treated as a border crossing. “There is no registration of Israelis passing through,” he said. “By contrast, Palestinians entering the country with a permit are registered. They undergo inspection and proper registration.”

Biton added that alternative measures are being considered to regulate the registration of Israelis entering Area A of the Palestinian Authority. “This mainly involves Bedouins entering for family visits, shopping, and so on. We hope this will be handled within the framework of the regulation.”

A representative of the Authority for the Regulation of Bedouin Settlement in the Negev said a special committee is developing recommendations to create a separation between the Negev and the Palestinian Authority. “The entire lack of governance stems from this connection,” he said. “In the coming weeks, we will submit the recommendations to the Prime Minister. I am the last person to say the situation is as it should be.”

Local officials express frustration

Beni Margelishvili, director of municipal supervision and policing in Beersheba, expressed disappointment that the State Comptroller’s recommendations are not being implemented. “I feel frustration and disappointment,” he said. “The absence of government representatives indicates their attitude toward this matter.”

Schuster concluded by stressing that the challenge now falls to the next government. “I hope that any government formed after the elections will not be able to ignore what is happening in the Negev. This is a significant event from every angle. Sometimes one side benefits while the other suffers. No one is satisfied with the situation, and we will call a special discussion to examine the proposals before us.”

While there are several monuments and exhibits to Hamas’s October 7 invasion of southern Israel, the Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center (IICC) recently opened a new, unique one, with authentic items from Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, from invasion plans which he wrote by hand, to his actual vest, shoes, and other clothes.

The IICC is unique because it is run by former top officials from IDF intelligence, the Mossad, and the Shin Bet, and has special, direct access to intelligence from those agencies at various times, in addition to its high-level open-source research.

Already, IICC officials told The Jerusalem Post during a tour of the exhibits on Wednesday that since October 7, IDF intelligence has intercepted and is in the process of analyzing over one million physical Hamas internal documents as well as petabytes (quadrillion bytes) of data.

According to the IICC CEO and Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yuval Halamish, the intelligence center’s director, has been hard at work analyzing waves of documents they receive from IDF intelligence and will likely invest years in the endeavor.

IICC Amit Terrorism and Intelligence Research Institute Head Col. (res.) Shlomo Mofaz noted that his center has already issued many reports on these Hamas documents.

Reports shed light on Hamas members, new operatives, and recruits

One such report described from internal Hamas documents how Hamas restored its training of new “recruits” in Shejaiya in northern Gaza between January and March 2025, during that temporary ceasefire period.

The report details what training measures were taken, names of trainees, how they scored on the shooting range, who passed the various combat courses, who failed, and religious brainwashing processes.  

Part of the IICC exhibit presents physical items that the Hamas Nukhba Force invaders held, such as their infamously precise maps of each Jewish village they were designated to attack.

IICC tour guides remarked that Hamas’s intelligence was at an extremely high level regarding exactly where the most challenging security spots would be in each village, so as to neutralize them effectively.

Also, part of the exhibit was a special addition of the Quran, which Hamas produced for the attack, with a front picture of the al-Aqsa Mosque in the theme of the attack being declared “the al-Aqsa Flood.”

Further, the exhibit had a book of “fatwas”, or Islamic sharia rulings, including from Qatari Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, justifying the mass murder of unarmed Israeli women and children.

According to the fatwas, all Israelis are part of a militaristic cult, with a service in the IDF requirement, making them all military targets in the present or in the future.

The Sinwar documents include his August 2022 written directive for the invasion, linking it to the Walls of Jericho plan, which mid-level IDF intelligence officials knew about but did not pass on to senior levels, considering it a fantasy.

There is a special item listing photos and information about certain Gazan “journalists,” who IDF intelligence later proved from Hamas’s internal documents that they worked for the terror group, and many of whom participated directly in the October 7 invasion.

Moreover, there is a separate exhibit item highlighting UNRWA workers who were likewise dual-hat operatives for Hamas, many of whom took part in the October 7 atrocities.

Hamas weapons, including some likely supplied by Egypt, on display

Another series of items at the exhibit are Hamas weapons from the invasion, including those manufactured by Iran, Russia, North Korea, Egypt, China, and self-made weapons.

The presumption is that the Egyptian weapons were either stolen or provided to Hamas from 2012 to 2013, when Muslim Brotherhood political leader Mohamed Morsi was Egypt’s president.

According to the IDF, Egypt has cooperated with Israel against Hamas, even if with varied levels of commitment, before 2012 and since Morsi was deposed in 2013.

It is unclear how weapons from some of the other countries reached Hamas, although Iran has directly and proudly provided weapons for years.

Yet another set of exhibits includes physical original examples of Hamas trucks or motorcycles used to invade Israel – over 150 trucks and over 300 motorcycles were used – as well as several mauled and bullet-hole-ridden cars from the Nova Festival.

One arrives at the Nova Festival cars by walking through a dark extended tunnel, with haunting voices and noises playing as you cross over.

A large part of the exhibits focuses on Israeli suffering from the attacks.

Photos of all 1,224 Israeli victims of Hamas from October 7 are presented on an extended corridor in alphabetical order.

There are several videos, each addressing different aspects of the slaughter.

For example, one focuses on the Hamas invasion in the big picture, one on the hostages, one documenting how first responders found Israeli bodies mutilated and signs of rape, and another, a more hopeful video of a performance of the song “Habayita,” meaning “Come Home” for the Israeli hostages.

There is also a hopeful exhibit to record the stories of many Israeli heroes of that day, who saved countless additional potential victims.

The beginning of the exhibit hosts an extended, detailed painting portraying well-known Israeli figures, such as the Bibas children, on the morning of October 7, just prior to the invasion.

The IICC exhibits do not delve in depth into who was at fault for failing to prevent the October 7 failure, with very little footage regarding Israeli political officials, and only one video of former IDF chief Herzi Halevi giving a speech in which he took responsibility for the IDF’s part in the failure.

The focus in terms of substance is on Hamas’s strategy, plans, and physical representations of its tactics, and an opening video notes how completely Hamas surprised Israeli border soldiers, but does not set as a goal discussing the chaotic and critical several hours after that in which insufficient reinforcements arrived at the front.

All written items on the tour are translated from Hebrew into English, and all videos have English subtitles available.

Tours of the October 7 exhibits are targeted at persons over the age of 18 due to the extreme sensitivity and graphic nature of multiple exhibits.

Visitors must contact the center in advance to arrange tours.

Small groups may contact the center even only a few days before, but larger groups should contact the center more in advance.

The center can be reached at 03-5472321 or 03-5497019 or by email at mlmhida@intelligence.org.il

Most tours are given in Hebrew or English, but tours can also be scheduled in advance in Spanish or French.

Besides the exhibit and special publications related to the invasion, the Amit Center regularly publishes intelligence updates regarding Palestinian terror, Hezbollah, and Iran at www.terrorism-info.org.il 

“Palestinian civilians are victims of all sides, trapped between the mass atrocities of Israeli forces and settlers and the fear-based rule of Hamas,” the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including east Jerusalem) and Israel said in a new report on Wednesday.

The report found that Israel is primarily responsible for the actions of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, while Hamas-affiliated forces are responsible for acts committed by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza.

In fact, it claimed that Israeli authorities are directly involved in settler attacks on Palestinians by allegedly granting impunity for settler violence for decades.

The Commission wrote that settler violence in the West Bank functions as a “means of implementing Israeli State policy,” including the “maintenance of the unlawful occupation, the entrenchment of illegal Israeli settlements, the annexation of Palestinian territory, and the displacement of Palestinians from their land.”

The UN also accused settlers of assaulting, abducting, and abusing Palestinian children while they were engaged in activities such as playing, going to school, or tending to animals and fields.

It also repeated previous claims of settlers committing or threatening to commit sexual violence against Palestinians to instill fear and humiliation, claims which Israel vehemently denies.

Settler violence a ‘direct outcome’ of Israeli policy, commission chair says

“Violence by settlers is the direct outcome of Israeli policies that support, enable, and protect their actions, whereas Hamas-affiliated forces have exploited the vacuum created by relentless Israeli attacks and widespread destruction of Gaza,” said Srinivasan Muralidhar, chair of the commission.

“What is alarmingly similar is the deliberate infliction of suffering on Palestinian civilians. While their origins and motivations differ, both operate within environments engineered by Israel.”

The UN report essentially places Hamas and Israel on the same plane.

Other parts of the report were dedicated to Hamas’s use of physical violence and extrajudicial killings.
In Gaza, the Commission identified 249 cases of executions and severe physical violence in 2024-2025, resulting in at least 108 deaths and 384 injured.

The Commission found that Hamas-affiliated forces were involved in at least 60 of these incidents, including two public executions of 11 men. These acts amount to the war crimes of murder and torture, and abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law.

“The Commission is gravely alarmed by the severity and public nature of Hamas’s punitive measures in Gaza, which inflict profound trauma on an already severely traumatized civilian population,” said Muralidhar. “Any future framework for peace and stability in Gaza must include a clear and enforceable commitment to accountability.”

While the report noted the increase in the killing and harming of Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups and Palestinian individuals in 2023, it said that many of the measures imposed by Israel in response to attacks, including the recently passed death penalty law, are “incompatible with international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and may amount to international crimes.”

‘Persistent bias against Israel,’ UN Watch legal advisor accuses

Dina Rovner, legal advisor at UN Watch, said the reporting continues to reflect a persistent bias against Israel.

She noted that the inclusion of violations by both Israelis and Palestinians is an effort to project even-handedness, but that the distribution of attention “tells a different story.”

“More than half of the report focuses on Israeli violations against Palestinians, while only approximately 9% addresses Palestinian attacks against Israelis. Another 34% examines Hamas abuses against Palestinians in Gaza.

Even in those latter sections, however, the Commission repeatedly contextualizes or shifts blame to Israel, attributing lawlessness, repression, and social collapse primarily to Israeli actions rather than Hamas governance, effectively minimizing Hamas’s responsibility for its own crimes,” she wrote.

Rovner said that at the heart of the report is a false moral equivalence between Israeli civilians residing in the West Bank and jihadi terrorist organizations.

“The issue of extremist Israeli violence is real and should be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. However, the existence of a small number of violent Jewish extremists does not warrant the collective stigmatization of hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians,” she wrote.

Approximately 482,000 Israelis currently live in communities in the West Bank, whereas only 300 individuals are known to have engaged in violence.

Rovner also drew attention to other issues in the report.

For example, the Commission stated that it “consulted multiple sources of information,” yet much of the report relies on anonymous interviews, unattributed allegations, and undisclosed materials. This means that many supposedly factual assertions cannot be independently verified.

Additionally, Rovner highlighted the Commission’s attempts to distinguish between Hamas’s “military wing” and Hamas governing institutions, a distinction which she said (and many others say) Hamas itself does not make.

She quoted Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who explicitly rejected such separation, stating: “We cannot separate the wing from the body. If we do so, the body will not be able to fly. Hamas is one body.”

As proof of this, the US, UK, and other countries that have proscribed Hamas have done so for the whole group, and not just its so-called military wing.

Furthermore, the Commission criticized Israel for referring to Palestinian stone-throwers as “terrorists” over what it characterizes as “some stone throwing,” and gives only a brief discussion of Hamas’s torture and sexual abuse of Israeli hostages. The UN report concludes that hostages were merely “mistreated in captivity.”

The Jerusalem Post also noted that the section about settler sexual violence against Palestinians is stated as an indisputable fact, whereas it said it “documented reports by at least six released hostages (three men and three women) stating that they had been subjected to sexual and gender-based violence.”

“The tainted by selective evidence, double standards, disregard for due process, and conclusions that appear predetermined from the outset,” lamented UN Watch Director Hillel Neuer.

The Post reached out to Danny Danon for comment.

The Board of Peace (BoP) has decided not to wait any longer for a response from Hamas regarding the terrorist group’s disarmament, a source within the council told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

According to the source, the absence of a response thus far is being treated as a violation of Trump‘s 20-Point Plan.

“This constitutes a serious breach of the agreement, and from the Board of Peace’s perspective, it effectively amounts to a negative response from the terrorist organization,” the source told the Post as talks are underway in Cairo between Hamas and the mediating countries: Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey.

“As long as this remains the situation, we will not permit investment in long-term infrastructure or housing projects in areas under Hamas control until the organization is both disarmed and dismantled,” the source continued.

The BoP emphasized that, in the meantime, short-term initiatives will continue to be advanced in areas not under Hamas control.

Among the projects currently being promoted by the BoP in territories outside Hamas control are the construction of temporary alternative housing, efforts to address education and healthcare needs, and the deployment of the Palestinian technocratic government, the NCAG, and the multinational stabilization force, the ISF.

In recent days, discussions have been taking place between senior Hamas officials and representatives of the mediating countries. The talks aim to draft a framework document for Hamas’s disarmament.

Gaza terror groups reach common position

A source familiar with the matter told the Post that all terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip have coordinated a common position ahead of the negotiations taking place this week.

Another source familiar with the discussions told the Post that “the talks are not simple, partly because of the current situation in Gaza. However, there is a desire to make progress.”

So far, despite reports in Arab media suggesting progress, the BoP has not received any official document demonstrating an agreement between Hamas and the mediators on a concrete disarmament plan that could be formally reviewed by the BoP.

The anti-IDF draft extremist haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jerusalem Faction (Peleg Yerushalmi) protested at the Russian Compound in Jerusalem, Nitzan Prison in Ramla, Hadarim Prison near Netanya, and the Abu Kabir Prison in southern Tel Aviv, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.

“We call on the public of Torah scholars, and those who fear the word of God throughout the country, to go out in a widespread protest against the extradition process,” the Jerusalem Faction said.

The protesters denounced the detention of 19 haredi draft dodgers, with the Jerusalem protesters attempting to block vehicles transporting detainees from a nearby detention center, according to a statement by Israel Police.

Reports indicated that dozens of vehicles were blocked at the Russian Compound in downtown Jerusalem.

Israel Police said later on Wednesday that the Jerusalem protests had been dispersed and roads had reopened to traffic.

Three suspects have been arrested for rioting and attacking police officers.

Advance notice of protests

The Jerusalem Faction issued an advance notice to residents of central Israel ahead of the protests.

“Residents of the center, pay attention!” said the notice. “There will be a protest in the coming days, and this area will be closed to traffic due to the continued arrest of yeshiva students and the persecution of the Torah world.”

The notice included a picture of Shoham, Ben Gurion Airport, Lod, Ramla, Petah Tikva, Yehud, and Rishon LeZion, and stated that routes 1, 6, 40, 431, 44, and 443 would be closed to traffic.

On Tuesday, haredi protesters blocked a Jerusalem road in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, Ynet reported.

According to Ynet, the protest was sparked by false reports of a draft dodger’s arrest.

Rioters, eight of whom were arrested, started fires and broke into a police station.

“We will not tolerate any harm to the symbols of government and to the valuable police officers who work to protect the law and the public,” said Jerusalem District Police Commander Avshalom Peled.

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.

The United Kingdom introduced a new bill on Tuesday, which would allow the home secretary to designate foreign state-linked organizations, notably Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a threat to Britain’s national security.

The National Security (State Threats) Bill, which could be implemented as soon as next month, would permit Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to designate state-linked groups responsible for “foreign power threat activity.” Such “threat activity” includes assassinations, surveillance, and sabotage.

The legislation would make it illegal to express support for designated proxies or to take money from them, providing for jail terms of up to 14 years.

Last year, the director-general of Britain’s MI5 (security service), Ken McCallum, confirmed that the UK had seen a 35% increase in state threat activity from the previous year and that the security service had tracked more than 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots.

Though UK says Iran could be behind attacks, no immediate proscription expected

In recent months, there have been numerous arson attacks on Jewish sites, with police saying they were investigating possible Iranian links. Meanwhile, there have been convictions for people accused of spying or acting on behalf of Russian and Chinese organizations.

Despite British intelligence exposing a number of Iran-backed plots on UK soil, it is not yet clear whether the proscription of the IRGC would be immediately included under the new legislation, with only 10 or fewer designations expected in the first year after it becomes law.

Labour MP Luke Akehurst, one of the leading voices calling for the IRGC’s proscription in the House of Commons, told The Jerusalem Post, “As well as brutally repressing freedoms within Iran, the IRGC poses a dangerous threat here in the UK, which our existing terrorism proscription regime was ill-equipped to deal with as it is a state actor.”

He said, “I had been campaigning for the government to address this for many years, so I commend ministers for introducing crucial new powers to allow us to clamp down on the danger posed by state entities and their activities.”

Last week, an Iraqi national denied involvement in multiple attacks against American and Israeli interests in Europe, including some of the recent attacks in Britain, during a US court appearance.

He is accused of directing people to carry out attacks in the name of Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI), a component of an Iran-backed militia which the US considers a terrorist organization directed by the IRGC.

Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of State Threats Legislation, noted last month that there were significant failings in Britain’s current counter-terrorism legislation. He specifically highlighted that the National Security Act of 2023 has been less effective at disrupting proxies than foreign intelligence services.

IRGC poses different threat than ISIS, al-Qaeda, expert tells ‘Post’

Dr. Lynette Nusbacher, a former British Army intelligence officer, explained to the Post that Britain’s counter-terrorism laws had originally been designed for terrorism from Northern Ireland and adapted to address ”the threat of overseas Islamist terrorist groups operating globally, and homegrown Islamist terrorist groups operating in the UK. It was not designed to deal with foreign government agencies conducting covert operations in the UK.”

“This new bill is designed to enable the UK police and security services to deal with foreign government agencies like Iran’s IRGC Quds Force, its foreign operations unit, an armed force that is part of – indeed arguably the ruling part of – the Iranian government,” she noted.

Nusbacher advised against treating the IRGC like a typical terrorist organization by ignoring the fact it is backed and legitimized through the Islamic Republic. The previous legislation couldn’t account for this, nor tackle threats from other state actors like Russia and China, she added.

Though this new legislation is a step in the right direction, Nusbacher warned that police and security services lacked the appropriate resources to investigate hostile-state-linked threats, and so “the police and security services will have additional powers, but without the resources to exercise them.”

Nusbacher was also afraid of how such loose paradigms would be applied, particularly in relation to Israel.
“There is very little to distinguish the armed forces operating in wartime from terrorists, except in some particularly sophisticated definitions largely used by theorists and academics.

“We have seen in recent years, for instance, that the use of armed force has attracted accusations of state terrorism and accusations that operations of war amount to war crimes and genocide. It is a virtual certainty that if His Majesty’s Government applied the Terrorism Act to members or supporters of the IRGC, the same legislation would fairly soon be applied to members, veterans, or supporters of the IDF,” she warned.

“The wrong answer would have been to pretend that the IRGC is like Daesh/ISIS or al-Qaeda, when the IRGC is a lot more like the KGB in the old days: a government agency acting with ruthless violence as well as clever disinformation to spy on and to disrupt the United Kingdom,” Nusbacher concluded.