Liberal Michigan rabbis and other Jewish leaders are calling on the Democratic Party to agree to a list of “nonnegotiable” principles about Jewish safety and Israel as the party’s US Senate candidate in the state, Abdul El-Sayed, seeks to make inroads with Jewish voters.

The campaign, backed by a progressive Zionist group, comes as a different subset of Michigan Jewish leaders are urging their community to reject El-Sayed outright and instead vote for his Republican opponent, former US Rep. Mike Rogers.

“I think he has the potential to be an amazing, visionary leader in the state of Michigan and in this country,” Rabbi Josh Whinston, who heads the Reform Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor and has met privately with El-Sayed, said Monday about the Democratic candidate during a press conference. “But his vision needs to be more inclusive.”

Whinston was one of more than a dozen Jewish clergy who signed “Nonnegotiable Michigan,” the open letter. It does not directly address El-Sayed by name but outlines five principles its signers say “leaders who want our votes” must demonstrate. 

The letter lists five “nonnegotiables”:

“Jewish safety — including for Zionist Jews — in Michigan and across America”; 

“Our right to define our own Jewish identities”; 

“Jewish sovereignty in Israel”; 

“Welcoming our full participation in American political life”; and 

“An affirmative vision for a better future in the Middle East.” 

The “Nonnegotiable” campaign is backed by Zioness Action Fund, a registered 501(c)4 associated with the advocacy group Zioness, which bills itself as “Unabashedly progressive. Unapologetically Zionist.” Past Zioness actions have put pressure on progressive spaces to become more welcoming of Zionism as the progressive movement has sharply turned against Israel.

The initial signatories number 16, most of whom are Reform and Conservative rabbis and cantors serving congregations in the state. The initiative was spearheaded by Whinston and Rabbi Aaron Starr, of the Conservative Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, a Detroit suburb. Starr is also president of the Michigan Board of Rabbis.

“We realized we were all having this same experience of our members coming to us and saying, ‘Rabbi, what should I do?’” Starr told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about the letter’s origins.

At the press conference, Starr compared the relationship between Jews and political parties to a marriage. “I would advise against a couple getting married if they can’t ensure each other’s safety and can’t honor each other’s identity,” he said.

It remains relatively rare for Jewish spiritual leaders to directly involve themselves in electoral politics, though a large coalition of thousands of rabbis signed onto a letter opposing “rising anti-Zionism” shortly before the election last year of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a harsh critic of Israel.

The latest letter comes as Michigan’s Jewish community of around 100,000 has been put in the national spotlight in a crucial election for deciding control of the Senate. In late August, El-Sayed, a strident Israel critic who has questioned its future as a Jewish state, apologized to Jewish Democrats for his past comments about the Temple Israel attack in West Bloomfield Township earlier this year. El-Sayed had said of the attacker, who lost family in an Israeli strike in Lebanon, “Hurt people hurt people,” triggering backlash from the Jewish community. 

The candidate has also been meeting with Jewish voters and leaders, and recently told JTA that “safety” is the top concern he hears from them. His campaign intends to hire a Jewish liaison, sources have told JTA.

El-Sayed has not budged on other issues of concern to Jewish voters, including his reticence to back a two-state solution that would specifically recognize Jewish sovereignty — though he has said he would be open to the possibility if Israelis and Palestinians jointly agreed on it. 

Letter was in the works since before El-Sayed’s apology, petition’s leader says

The petition’s leaders told JTA their letter had been in the works since before El-Sayed’s apology, and said he needs to do more. “It took on another level of meaning after his quote-unquote ‘apology,’ which was really only a partial apology,” Starr said.

Following one of El-Sayed’s apologies, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is Jewish, urged the same room of Jewish Democrats ”to place the needs of the world above even our own self-interest and, yes, even our own survival.” Invoking Queen Esther and “Jewish values,” Nessel’s remarks have since been criticized by Jews across the spectrum and spurred renewed debate over the role of Jewish interests in the broader political conversation.

In contrast to Nessel, and to the rival letter urging a Rogers vote, the “Nonnegotiable” campaign does not endorse a candidate. Instead, it argues that Democratic leaders should make clear to Jews that they agree with what the letter defines as central Jewish concerns. 

“Every constituency must occasionally remind its party that support is earned, not owed,” the letter states. “This is a good faith effort to make our needs unmistakably clear, and to invite any candidate seeking public office — now or in the future — to engage, listen, learn, and grow.”

Spokespeople for the El-Sayed campaign and for the Michigan Democratic Party did not immediately return JTA requests for comment. 

Starr said the values articulated in the letter go beyond El-Sayed: Jews, he told JTA, also have “an eye to 2028.”

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US Rep. Chris Pappas swiftly defeated progressive opponent Karishma Manzur in a Democratic Senate primary in New Hampshire on Tuesday, capping off one of several races in which criticism of Israel and AIPAC became prominent talking points. 

The Associated Press called the race just an hour after polls closed, at 6pm, when Pappas accrued 61.9% of voter support to Manzur’s 36.1%, with 22% of ballots counted.

‘We’ve got to turn the page on Donald Trump’s reckless leadership’

“Today, the voters of New Hampshire have sent a clear message: they’re fed up with what’s happening in our politics, and they’re ready for change,” Pappas told supporters on Tuesday evening.  “We’ve got to turn the page on Donald Trump’s reckless leadership, on corruption, on the rigged economy.”

Having secured the Democratic nomination, Pappas is seeking to fill the seat of three-term Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who is not seeking reelection this year. As he and Manzur spoke to the press during the final weeks of the campaign, their messaging often included condemnations of Israeli leadership. 

New Hampshire Democrats chose Pappas, a four-term congressman, as their Senate nominee at a time when their party is hoping to take control of both houses of Congress. Their selection of Pappas, seen as the establishment candidate, could play a pivotal role in November, in a swing state where many voters still split tickets.

Pappas will face former Sen. John Sununu, a Republican who received US President Donald Trump’s endorsement, in the general election. Sununu served one term in the Senate, from 2003 to 2009, immediately following three terms in the US House.

Two other Democratic primaries, for neighboring US House seats, likewise focused outsized attention on Israel in recent weeks. But one of the races featured a decisive victory on Tuesday, while the second was inconclusive as the evening progressed.

The AP declared Goodlander as the projected winner an hour after polls closed

Rep. Maggie Goodlander, a one-term incumbent, trounced progressive state lawmaker Paige Beauchemin in the 2nd congressional district, which includes New Hampshire’s capital, Concord, and the city of Nashua. The AP declared Goodlander as the projected winner an hour after polls closed, when she had earned 79.7% of votes to Beauchemin’s 20.1%, with 16% of ballots counted.

At that point, the race in the next-door 1st congressional district was still too close to call. City councilor Stefany Shaheen and former US Marine Capt. Maura Sullivan were neck-in-neck — the frontrunners in a contest that included numerous other candidates.

The winner of that race will face Republican Anthony DiLorenzo, an automotive executive who has Trump’s support, in the November election.

Shaheen is a healthcare advocate and daughter of Jeanne Shaheen, whose Senate seat Pappas is hoping to secure in November. Her opponent, Sullivan, served as the assistant secretary for Veteran Affairs in the Obama administration.

Similar to the US Senate primary hopefuls, candidates in these two races seemed to share near-unanimous disdain for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They, too, had a spectrum of opinions on the Jewish state, with moderates asserting Israel’s right to defend itself and progressive placing most of the blame for the Gaza war on Israel.

The candidates in the US House races also spent significant airtime in recent weeks blasting the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobbying group. AIPAC has rejected comparisons to corporate PACs, noting that it is membership driven, and claims to be transparent about its funds.

Both Shaheen and Beauchemin accused their opponents of taking AIPAC funds, simply because donors who contributed to the lobby also gave to their campaigns. Sullivan and Goodlander denied these allegations, maintaining that they took no money from AIPAC.

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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Tuesday that evidence recovered from a flight data recorder suggested the pilots of an Amazon Prime Air cargo plane involved in a deadly crash considered aborting the landing after the aircraft touched down.

The 32-year-old Boeing 767 operated by Miami-based 21 Air overran the runway by some 1,300 feet (396 m) and crashed into two vehicles, killing five people and injuring five others on Sunday.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters that investigators would interview both of the pilots on Wednesday and then release details from the cockpit voice recorder.

The NTSB said 30 seconds before the end of the flight data recording, the nose landing gear and right main landing gear touched down on the runway at a speed of 158 knots (181 mph), while 19 seconds before the end of the recording, the left main landing gear touched down at a speed of 134 knots.

A few seconds later, the brakes were released, and the throttles were increased to values consistent with go-around thrust, indicating a late attempt to abort the landing and get back in the air.

But 11 seconds before the end of the recording, throttles were reduced to idle power, and brakes were reapplied. The final ground speed was 65 knots at the end of the recording.

The NTSB said there was no indication in the recorded data that speed brakes or thrust reversers were deployed to help slow the plane.

32 investigators examining case

Homendy is leading a team of 32 investigators at Miami International Airport. She said the NTSB was able to reopen one of the two runways closed since the accident to allow for departures from an easterly direction late on Tuesday.

The Amazon cargo plane was on its third flight of the day, coming from San Juan, Puerto Rico. It had flown from Cincinnati to Miami and from Miami to San Juan earlier on Sunday before the crash at 1:53 p.m. EDT (1753 GMT).

The captain, 55, received his type rating for the 767 in May and has 7,145 hours of flight time, while the first officer, 37, received his type rating for the 767 in April 2025 and has 2,655 flying hours, the NTSB said.

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Iran’s oil export revenue is drying up as a US naval blockade strangles shipments from the Persian Gulf and offshore stockpiles feeding China dwindle, increasing the pressure on Tehran’s already battered economy.

As a US naval blockade obstructs Persian Gulf shipments and offshore oil stockpiles dwindle, Iran’s economy is continually waning, according to a Monday Wall Street Journal report. 

Since the US reinstated its naval blockade in mid-July, no Iranian oil has passed through, the report said, citing maritime shipping data platform Kpler. 

Despite Iran continuing to load small amounts of oil onto ships, the barrels remain stuck inside the Gulf, the report explained. 

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on X/Twitter on Friday that since the reinstatement of the blockade, “no Iranian crude cargoes have successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz to China.”

The post also contained a “Jaws” graphic of a shark and a chart depicting Iran’s falling oil exports and currency.

“Inventory cannot be replenished as crude piles up aboard vessels trapped inside the strait. Iran’s export lifeline is being cut off: stranded oil, finite storage, and rapidly shrinking revenue,” he said. 

Since the U.S. reinstated its blockade, no Iranian crude cargoes have successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz to China. Inventory cannot be replenished as crude piles up aboard vessels trapped inside the strait. Iran’s export lifeline is being cut off: stranded oil, finite… pic.twitter.com/isnCgq5V1T

— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) September 4, 2026

Iranian oil had fallen from 90 million barrels in mid-July to around 29 million barrels, with the oil possibly running out next month, the WSJ reported, citing Kpler. 

Additionally, the WSJ said that Kpler data show that Iran loaded 255,000 barrels per day onto vessels in the Gulf in August, 85% below the February-April average.

Shipping traffic via Strait of Hormuz stays below 10-day average, data shows

Six commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, down from nine a day earlier and below the 10-day average of about 12, preliminary shipping data showed on Wednesday.

The figures could change as some ships typically switch off their transponders during the voyage.

Of the six vessels, five were entering, and one was exiting, initial data from ship tracker Kpler showed at 0200 GMT. They included one Panamax and one intermediate tanker.

Meanwhile, 25 commodity vessels transited the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Tuesday, another major maritime chokepoint in the Middle East, with 11 vessels entering and 14 exiting.

This compares with an average of around 27 ships going through Bab el-Mandeb over the past 10 days.

Among the vessels traveling through the strait were two Suezmax tankers, eight Aframax tankers, and one Very Large Crude Carrier.

As the US war on Iran enters its seventh month, American tactics to choke Tehran’s economy have plunged the Iranian rial, caused inflation to soar, and continue to slide the country’s economy deeper into crisis, said the report. 

Inflation in Iran is more than 80% year-over-year, with the International Monetary Fund forecasting a 5.4% economic contraction for 2026, a figure the WSJ says is the country’s worst since the 1980s. 

The results are testing the US’s bet that economic difficulty will force Iran to concede to US demands, according to the WSJ, but Gulf officials and analysts warn that it could instead provoke more retaliation from Iran.

Economist Hamad Hussain said that results will depend on “the degree of economic pain that the Iranian regime is willing to bear to achieve its military and geopolitical objectives,” according to WSJ’s report. 

“The US campaign will have a significant effect on the average Iranian household. But in terms of Iran capitulating at the negotiating table? I have a lot of doubts,” the WSJ cited Ellie Geranmayeh, an Iran expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, as saying. “The evidence we have suggests the Iranian regime is likely to resist.

Meanwhile, the US continues to issue new sanctions on Iran and other institutions accused of aiding its presence on the global financial stage. 

Bessent announced on Tuesday a fresh round of sanctions under the Trump administration’s “Operation Economic Outcast.” 

“We promised severe consequences for those providing financial lifelines to the Iranian regime. Today, we followed through on that promise with sanctions on companies that continue to support Mahan Air,” said the post. 

“Let this be a warning to anyone doing business with Iran’s remaining airlines, all of which we sanctioned today: You are at risk of being cut off from the global financial system.”

Under Operation Economic Outcast, we promised severe consequences for those providing financial lifelines to the Iranian regime. Today, we followed through on that promise with sanctions on companies that continue to support Mahan Air. Let this be a warning to anyone doing… https://t.co/NPC9FMhmZu

— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) September 8, 2026

According to the WSJ, roughly a third of Iran’s state budget is funded by oil revenue, which also finances the regime’s military. 

According to the US Treasury, armed forces, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), sell crude and supplement budgets by utilizing companies and shadow-fleet networks, many of which have been targets of US sanctions. 

June’s diplomatic efforts to sign a memorandum of understanding allowing Iran to move large amounts of oil overseas for later delivery, WSJ’s report said, with the country continuing to live off the profits from those barrels. 

Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said on Friday that “the process of selling oil and delivering it to customers was carried out thousands of kilometers away from the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman,” according to the report. 

US sanctions could make payments to Iran more difficult

However, Kpler estimates that current deliveries of around a million barrels per day, most of which go to China, could deplete oil stocks by mid-October. Payments for previous cargoes would likely dry up by mid-December, said WSJ. And increasing US sanctions could make those payments even harder to collect.

Not only has Iran been forced to cut production due to the blockade, but land routes only allow a small amount of oil to be transported, according to the report. No more than 40,000 barrels a day via trucks could be moved, a sliver of prewar exports of almost 2 million barrels daily, the WSJ cited head of crude oil analysis at Kpler Homayoun Falakshahi as saying. 

Petrochemicals, Iran’s second-largest source of earnings, have also suffered due to their dependence on seaborne exports, the WSJ said. Loadings have fallen around two-thirds since early 2026, according to Kpler estimates. 

Meanwhile, the US has continued to guide convoys from other Gulf producers through the Strait of Hormuz, while Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been transiting through pipelines that bypass the waterway, the report explained. 

Iran’s overall trade has also fallen since last year

Nonetheless, Iran’s overall trade is continuing, though at numbers lower than last year’s

The regime exported almost $15 million of other goods between mid-March and mid-August, WSJ reported, citing Iranian media. 

Saudi officials have warned that Iran is providing more weapons, personnel, and intelligence to Yemen’s Houthis, threatening Saudi shipping and infrastructure and another possible shipping chokepoint, said the report. 

On Tuesday, the Iran-backed terror group attacked four cities in Saudi Arabia, wounding 73 people, setting oil installations ablaze, and continuing to threaten shipping at the mouth of the Red Sea.

Reuters contributed to this report. 

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Right-wing activists placed a flower wreath on Monday at the entrance to the home of Ofer Winter, chairman of the People of Israel Party, in Mitzpe Netofa, protesting his decision to run independently in the upcoming elections. The wreath read “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Gali Baharav-Miara,” in an apparent attempt to argue that the party’s independent run could weaken the right-wing bloc.

The protest came after days of pressure on Winter to join a right-wing party instead of running independently. Despite the pressure, Winter submitted the People of Israel’s Knesset list, making it clear that he intends to run in the elections under the party he founded.

The Am Yisrael party responded to the placement of the wreath outside Winter’s home, saying: “Friends, you have the wrong address. A flower wreath should be sent to those who, for four years, did not send a dismissal letter to the attorney general and instead chose to surrender to her. Those who, for four years, failed to remove Gali Baharav-Miara from her position can keep dealing with gimmicks and flowers while we make changes. What was will not continue.”

Religious Zionist Party chairman and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich criticized Winter on Monday, saying: “The only ones who could benefit from Winter’s refusal to unite with the national camp are Gali Baharav-Miara and Yitzhak Amit and their colleagues on the left.”

“Winter’s stubborn refusal of every offer for unity in the national camp is very disappointing and casts a heavy shadow over his judgment and the credibility of his promise to recommend Netanyahu for prime minister and to go only with the national camp,” Smotrich added.

Winter: ‘We are in the right-wing camp, and we will recommend only Netanyahu’

Despite running separately, Winter has made clear that he views his party as part of the right-wing bloc. At the end of August, he announced that he intends to recommend Benjamin Netanyahu for prime minister.

“We do not work for any person, only for the people of Israel,” Winter said, but emphasized: “We are in the right-wing camp, the leader of the right-wing camp is Netanyahu and we will recommend only him.”

However, Winter has also set conditions for joining a future government led by Netanyahu. Last week, he said that People of Israel would not join a government that does not pass a conscription law before it is sworn in. He added that his party is not closing the door on political alliances, but would agree to them “only with new ones.”

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a 2028 presidential hopeful, ventured farther than ever in his criticisms of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a weekend interview that delved into the Democratic Party’s relationship with Israel. 

“I think it’s overwhelmingly opposed to the current regime in Israel,” Newsom said of the party, in a PBS NewsHour interview with Amna Nawaz.

Pressed by Nawaz on divisions among his colleagues on Israel, Newsom denied that the subject is “even controversial anymore,” stressing that “the condemnation of what Bibi Netanyahu’s doing is almost universal.” The governor slammed the Israeli military’s conduct in Gaza and condemned the settler violence that has expanded in the West Bank. 

“We want a democratic and secure Israel, and we want a secure and democratic Palestinian state as well right next door,” Newsom said, adding that Netanyahu has proved counterproductive to achieving a two-state solution. 

Though he repeatedly maintained that Democrats are not divided on Israel, the governor acknowledged that “some of the language” by fellow Democrats  “has been weaponized.” Certain “aspects of rhetoric” from individual candidates, he added, are on “the spectrum of concern,” Newsom said. 

A number of candidates from the party’s far left place most if not all of the blame on Israel for a war in Gaza that has resulted in tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths. and downplay the role of Hamas in launching the war with the Oct. 7, 2023 raid inside Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were abducted.

Newsom’s rhetoric is in step with party moderates who are critical of the Israeli government but who call for a secure Israel, reject Hamas, and resist pressure from the left to call Israel’s actions “genocide.”

Newsome nonetheless insisted that the party is unified on the issue. “But I think universally, everyone agrees, even if you don’t think it’s genocide, that it’s been a moral catastrophe,” he said of the war in Gaza. “The vast majority of us also agree about the atrocities on Oct. 7th and how horrific and unacceptable it was, and the terrorism that was perpetrated by Hamas.”

Newsom among many US politicians to visit Israel

Newsom was among the many US politicians to visit Israel in October 2023, meeting with survivors and families impacted by the attacks. 

During a March book tour, Newsom sparked a backlash when he said that some people were referring to Israel “appropriately as sort of an apartheid state.” He quickly walked back these remarks, telling Politico that he had used the term “in the context of the direction that Bibi is going.”

“I revere the state of Israel,” he declared at the time. 

The governor warned, however, that if Netanyahu proceeds in the direction of West Bank annexation, apartheid could become “a word you may hear others use.”

In addition to amplifying his condemnation of Netanyahu this weekend, Newsom also addressed the fact that fewer Democrats are accepting funds from political action committees affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobbying group. 

As for Newsom himself, Track AIPAC, an organization that compiles Federal Election Commission data to flag pro-Israel campaign contributions, did not log any such donations to the likely presidential candidate. But the group did flag him as “pro-Israel.”

“It’s a minority of Democrats that are accepting AIPAC,” the governor said, noting a “dramatic change” over the last couple of years. 

“The vast majority of Democrats I talk to, even Democrats in the past that have in the past have taken AIPAC money, are pledging not to now,” Newsom added. “That’s more of a mainstream position, interestingly, within the Democratic Party.”

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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday it had captured a US uncrewed submarine at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, offering a rare glimpse into how underwater drones are being used in military operations.

Iranian state media said the vessel was a Dive-LD, a large autonomous underwater vehicle built by California defense firm Anduril. The 19-foot (5.8-meter) submersible can carry out missions including mine countermeasures, seabed mapping, intelligence gathering, and the inspection of underwater infrastructure such as cables and pipelines, the company has said.

“We trapped one of the most modern, intelligent and unmanned submarines of the terrorist American army at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. This submersible is equipped with the latest technologies,” the Revolutionary Guards Navy said in a statement carried by Iranian state media.

In response, a Pentagon spokesperson said an underwater drone had “malfunctioned more than a day ago.”

“It was surveying regional waters in support of ongoing operations. The defective drone was an older model that neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment,” the spokesperson said.

Reuters could not independently verify Iran‘s claims and the Pentagon did not address them in its statement.

Anduril did not respond to a request for comment.

US military investing in unmanned naval systems

The US military is investing heavily in unmanned naval systems, including underwater and surface vessels, as it seeks cheaper ways to monitor vast areas of ocean, gather intelligence and track adversary ships and submarines without putting sailors at risk.

According to Anduril’s website, Dive-LD can operate for up to 10 days without returning to base and is designed to dive to depths of up to 6,000 meters (19,700 feet). Dive-LD units cost about $2.5 million each, US military news site DefenseScoop reported in 2024.

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Eight years after US prosecutors secretly charged China‘s Huawei Technologies with defrauding HSBC and other banks over its business with Iran, the case is finally heading for trial.

Huawei also faces charges of conspiring to steal trade secrets from five US technology companies, and is accused of lying about its dealings in North Korea and supplying surveillance equipment to Iran to track protesters during 2009 anti-government demonstrations in Tehran. Jury selection began on Tuesday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.

The trial will bring to a close one of the US government’s earliest and most closely watched battles against a Chinese company. The case will play out as tech competition heats up between the two countries and Washington seeks to prevent American technology from aiding Beijing’s military. The US-China tech war has now spread across multiple technology sectors, including artificial intelligence.

The saga began in 2018 with the arrest of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, which sparked a diplomatic crisis involving the United States, China and Canada.

Convictions on the Iran-related charges would bolster Washington’s case for having placed Huawei, one of China’s leading technology companies, on a US trade blacklist in 2019, citing alleged criminal conduct that threatened national security.

The trial before US District Judge Ann Donnelly in Brooklyn, New York, is expected to last about three months and overlap with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s September 24 meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington. Potential jurors have filled out 27-page questionnaires, including about their views on China’s and Iran’s governments.

Other charges include violating US sanctions against Iran, money laundering, racketeering, wire fraud and obstruction. Huawei has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied any wrongdoing.

The criminal case is based in part on Reuters reporting in 2012 and 2013 about close ties between Huawei and Skycom, a firm that operated in Iran.

Reuters reported that Skycom had offered to sell at least €1.3 million ($1.5 million) worth of embargoed Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to Iran’s largest mobile-phone operator in 2010. Reuters also reported that Meng had served on Skycom’s board of directors between February 2008 and April 2009.

Beijing says case aims to undermine Chinese tech

Beijing has long criticized the case, saying it was part of a bigger campaign against China’s technological rise. A Huawei spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday, “The government’s overarching narrative is demonstrably false.”

Today Huawei is a centerpiece of China’s AI chip ambitions, and has diversified beyond network gear and smartphones. It has described the criminal case as an effort to undermine its competitiveness and the theft accusations as a repackaging of long-resolved commercial disputes.

If Huawei is convicted, prosecutors will seek the forfeiture of property or proceeds obtained from its illegal activity. Should the company be found guilty on all counts, experts said it could face a significant financial penalty.

“The penalty is going to be determined by the benefit to the company and then multiplied by how serious the wrongdoing is — and that could range from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars,” said Todd Haugh, a professor of business law at Indiana University Kelley School of Business.

If there’s a guilty verdict, he added, “a big fight is going to be proving how much Huawei benefited from their criminal behavior.”

The case against the company was brought during the first Trump administration, which also took actions to curb the use of Huawei equipment in the US and pressed other countries to drop Huawei from their telecommunications networks, saying China could use its equipment for espionage.

The indictment covers alleged wrongdoing between about 1999 and 2020.

It accuses Huawei of using Skycom to obtain embargoed US goods, technology and services for Huawei’s Iran-based business, and to move money out of that country through the international banking system.

The US said one bank, which was not named in the indictment but which sources and documents reviewed by Reuters identified as HSBC, cleared more than $100 million worth of US-dollar transactions related to Skycom.

Prosecutors accused Meng of misrepresenting Huawei’s ownership and control of Skycom in a presentation to an HSBC executive. She later admitted the statements were false, as part of an agreement with prosecutors to drop the charges against her.

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed two executive orders on Friday related to the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center Attack in preparation for its upcoming 25th anniversary. Following the signing, Mamdani handed off the ceremonial pen to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and reportedly asked her to hand it to Mamdani’s chief legal counsel, Ramzi Kassem. 

Kassem, a law professor at City University of New York (CUNY), served as the lawyer for multiple problematic individuals, including a close ally of Osama Bin Laden, Ahmed al-Darbi, convicted of bombing a French oil tanker.

The first executive order established September 11th as an official Citywide Day of Remembrance and Service; the second established a Continuity and Mission Assurance Team (CMAT) to strengthen preparedness and ensure continued service delivery during emergencies, according to the mayor’s office. 

In an interview with the New York Post, retired detective and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice Michael Alcazar claimed that the choice to give the pen to Kassem was deliberate and intended to send a message. 

“It happened during a ceremony meant to be about the victims,” Alcazar told the New York Post, and no one else. 9/11 families didn’t come to City Hall to watch Mamdani spotlight someone whose work intersects with the very ideology that took their loved ones. Commissioner Jessica Tisch was reduced to a prop rather than acknowledging her role as the leader of the NYPD.”

Mayor releases September 11th documents to public

On Tuesday, Mamdani launched a public online portal for 9/11 records, including the initial release of approximately 170,000 pages on health concerns, air quality, and the city’s response to the attacks. 

“So many of these New Yorkers are ones who made the decision to run towards Ground Zero, and for that, they have suffered medically, and the city should be there for them,” the mayor told CBS correspondent Marcia Kramer earlier in the month.

When asked about the 9/11 documents that have yet to be released, Mamdani told Kramer, “If there are documents that we are able to release, I think that they should always be released.”

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A large Hamas-linked terrorist infrastructure that allegedly recruited cells across the West Bank to carry out attacks against Israeli civilians and security personnel was uncovered in a joint operation by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Israel Police and the IDF, the agencies announced on Tuesday.

More than 30 suspects from Jerusalem and the West Bank were arrested as part of the operation, according to the security agencies. Investigations into some of those detained remained ongoing.

Among those arrested were Jerusalem residents Tzabih Abu Tzabih and Rashid Rishq, whom authorities identified as members of Shabab al-Aqsa, an organization affiliated with Hamas.

Abu Tzabih is the son of Misbah Abu Tzabih, who carried out a shooting attack in Jerusalem in October 2016 that killed two Israelis. The victims in that attack were Adv.-Staff-Sgt.-Maj. Yosef Kirma, 29, a police officer, and Levana Malichi, 60, a former Knesset employee.

Abu Tzabih opened fire near Israel Police headquarters before being pursued and killed by police. 

Rishq was released in 2025 as part of a hostage-release deal, according to Tuesday’s statement.

Broad Hamas terror infrastructure established, armed cells recruited

Three additional Jerusalem residents, Mohammed Abu Tzabih, Mohammed Azmi Bakri and Ahmad Azmi Bakri, were also arrested on suspicion of belonging to the infrastructure.

The Shin Bet and the Jerusalem District Police’s Central Unit investigation found that Rishq and Tzabih Abu Tzabih had allegedly established the broader terrorist infrastructure and recruited armed cells under their command throughout the West Bank, according to the statement.

The cells were intended to carry out attacks against Jews and Israeli security personnel, authorities said. Weapons allegedly intended for attacks, along with other combat equipment, were seized during the investigation.

Investigators also found that Ahmad Azmi Bakri and Rishq allegedly intended to advance an attack at a restaurant in Modi’in where Bakri worked.

Mohammed Bakri allegedly instructed Rishq and Mohammed Abu Tzabih on how to prepare explosive devices after the two told him that they intended to carry out terrorist activity, according to investigators.

Shooting attack planned against security personnel

Rishq and Tzabih Abu Tzabih also allegedly planned a shooting attack against security personnel in Eizariya, east of Jerusalem, the agencies said.

Following the conclusion of the Shin Bet and Jerusalem District Central Unit investigation into the five Jerusalem suspects, an indictment was filed against them on charges including managing a terrorist organization, active membership in a terrorist organization, conspiracy and preparation to commit an act of terrorism involving aggravated murder, weapons offenses, possession of property for terrorist purposes, recruiting and attempting to recruit members to a terrorist organization, and additional offenses.

Authorities said they expected to file indictments against West Bank residents suspected of involvement in the network in the coming days.

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Around 700 displaced Kurdish families returned to an area in northern Syria that was the target of a Turkish invasion seven years ago. Turkey launched what it called the “Peace Spring” operation in the area of Serekaniyeh in northeastern Syria in October 2019. Thousands of Kurds had to flee because of the attack.

Now, the Kurdish media outlet Rudaw says that Kurds can return. This is a result of the new Syrian government’s policies and a reconciliation and integration agreement between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian government. That agreement began in March 2025 but only really got on track after clashes in January. Now that the SDF is being dissolved, there is an expectation that Syria will be largely unified.

This is a major change from years ago. During the Syrian civil war, the SDF was backed by the US to fight ISIS. Turkey viewed the SDF as “terrorists” because it claimed the SDF was linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). As such, Ankara claimed that the US was backing a terrorist army on its border. Turkey reacted to this with several invasions of Syria. The goal of Ankara was essentially to block the SDF advance and then roll back Kurdish gains. The victims were Kurdish civilians who had to flee.

A large-scale disaster for civilians

Ankara began its attacks in 2016 near Manbij and then attacked Afrin in 2018. Serekaniyeh was the final, large operation. Ankara backed Syrian rebel groups it had recruited as proxies, called the SNA, to attack the SDF. Turkey is a member of NATO and a US ally. As such, a NATO ally was using Syrian proxies to fight the US-backed SDF. Instead of Washington or the Pentagon finding a way out of this mess, the fighting was allowed to happen.

Serekaniyeh became a large-scale disaster for civilians. Many of the people in this area had already been victims of the ISIS war. They were trying to rebuild their lives in 2019 when the invasion happened. As fighting broke out between the SDF and Turkey and the SNA, large numbers of people fled.

Now Rudaw says “a second convoy carrying around 700 displaced Kurdish families is set to return to their homes in Sari Kani, northeast Syria (Rojava), on Tuesday, as the governor of Hasaka said preparations for their return are underway.”

“Preparations are underway for the return of around 700 displaced families from Sari Kani to their villages and homes,” Nour al-Din Ahmed told Rudaw’s Nalin Hassan on Monday. He added that “some of these families will return to the city center under the supervision of a special committee formed to monitor the situation.”

Turkey is now returning parts of northern Syria to the Syrian government

This is an important development and comes after Kurds were able to return to Afrin as well. Around 160,000 Kurds had been forced to flee the Turkish invasion there in 2018. Turkey is now returning parts of northern Syria to the Syrian government. Ankara has good ties with the new Syrian government. This is an issue that has troubled Israel. Some Israeli officials and politicians have expressed support for the Kurds in Syria. The Kurds in Syria have sought to choose a different path than the Druze in Suwayda. Rather than seek to continue fighting and ask for Israel’s backing, they have embraced unification and integration.

This has not gone easily. Kurdish students protested on September 8 about the absence of enough Kurdish language instruction in schools. The Syrian government is pushing a mostly Arabic curriculum. Kurds in eastern Syria have been educated in Kurdish for a decade now. As such, they want Kurdish classes.

One element that has enabled the new shifts in eastern Syria is the fact that the PKK is having peace talks with Turkey and may also be dissolved. As such, Ankara no longer has a pretext for staying in Syria. With the SDF dissolving and the PKK ending its conflict, there is no “threat” to Turkey.

Rudaw noted, regarding the return of the Kurds, that “the first convoy of 410 Kurdish families left the Washokani camp in Hasaka for Sari Kani in mid-August. The Syrian Interim Government provided each family with $10,000 to renovate homes that had been occupied by armed groups.” The report noted that some of the families who returned were attacked, apparently by Arabs who were living in the area.

“This committee includes representatives from the security forces, the district administration, the leadership team, the governorate, and local organizations,” Ahmed stated to Rudaw. “The Sari Kani internally displaced persons committee announced that 689 families in the Washokani camp are preparing to return to their lands. This decision was made after security guarantees were provided.”

The report notes that Serekaniyeh, also known as Sari Kani and Ras al-Ain, is a Kurdish-majority city. Like Kurdish Kobani, it has an Arabic name. This is also a disputed issue, as Kurds want these areas to remain with their Kurdish names.

The return this week helps to address a tragedy that unfolded in 2019. The Turkish attack was well planned. It also came after the US and the SDF had tried to comply with Ankara’s demands. Turkey at the time had demanded the SDF remove any defenses in the area and enable joint patrols. At the time, US Central Command was backing the SDF. Meanwhile, Turkey is part of the US European Command’s area of responsibility. Coordination appeared to break down among the White House, the Pentagon, and the State Department back in 2019. Ankara saw an opportunity and pushed forward with its invasion.

At the time, the US briefly considered leaving Syria. It evacuated some posts in the area, not wanting to be in the middle of fighting. It took time for the area to stabilize. Eventually, the US remained, but an area near Serekaniyeh ended up returning to the Syrian regime, and Russian patrols began. This created a mosaic of control with Turkey, the SNA, the Assad regime, Russians, Americans, and the SDF all in the same area. Clashes near an area called Tel Tamer occurred frequently after 2019.

The entire episode in 2019 and in the years that followed illustrated the complexity of the Syrian war. It also illustrates why many Syrians want a return to peace today. They were fed up with being part of several different conflicts, with Iran, Russia, the US, Turkey, and others all playing a role. 

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Several Portuguese artists have dropped out of a comedy festival in Lisbon headlined by Jerry Seinfeld, citing their support for Palestinians and implying opposition to Seinfeld’s support for Israel.

At least six acts over recent days have canceled their appearances at the MEO Commedia a La Carte Fest, a new international comedy festival in the Portuguese capital. The event from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 has advertised that it will host Seinfeld’s first live appearance in Portugal. 

Though none of the artists who withdrew mentioned Seinfeld by name, some hinted at a boycott against his pro-Israel views. The Jewish comedian has become one of Hollywood’s most prominent advocates for Israel since October 2023.

Actress and comedian Inês Aires Pereira announced on Instagram on Saturday that “one of the names” featured at the festival “persistently defends ideas and acts that I consider indefensible,” adding, “We cannot relativize or normalize a genocide.”

The comedy duo Cebola Mol posted a graphic of themselves with a watermelon, widely recognized as a symbol of solidarity with Palestinians. “We will celebrate justice, freedom and joy with you on another occasion,” they said on Instagram.

The festival announced on Friday that performances by the groups Tributo Pop and Conjunto Cuca Monga were also canceled, but did not provide reasons. Two other acts, comedian Pedro Tochas and visual artist Vhils, shared their cancellations on Instagram without further details.

Seinfeld breaks decades of political avoidance

Seinfeld has aligned himself with Israel during its current conflict in Gaza, following decades of largely avoiding commenting on political issues. He visited Israel in December 2023 to meet with the families of hostages seized by Hamas on Oct. 7 of that year. Since then, he has attracted attention for a series of dismissive remarks toward pro-Palestinian advocates. 

During an appearance last year at Duke University, Seinfeld compared pro-Palestinian activists with the Ku Klux Klan, saying, “The Klan is actually a little better here because they can come right out and say, ‘We don’t like Blacks, we don’t like Jews.’ OK, that’s honest.”

Representatives of Seinfeld and producers of the MEO Commedia a La Carte Fest did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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The foreign ministers of 12 countries confirmed on Tuesday their intention to impose national restrictions on trade in goods from Israeli settlements. Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom jointly confirmed the restrictions.

The 12 nations jointly said that the Israeli government’s actions in the West Bank “damage the possibility of realizing the two-state solution.”

They said that “the situation is deteriorating rapidly against the backdrop of unprecedented levels of settler violence and settlement expansion, including the unacceptable decision to publish tenders for the E1 settlement project,” they stated.

While the countries recognized Israel’s legitimate security interests and reiterated their condemnation of the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, they called on the Israeli government to immediately halt settlement expansion and the expansion of administrative authorities in the West Bank, “ensure accountability for settler violence, and investigate allegations against the Israeli security forces.”

This joint announcement came as something of a surprise; all eyes were on the UK, which was expected to announce its measures on Tuesday; however, the involvement of the other 11 countries was not previewed, and the Israeli government was preparing its response for British measures specifically.

The exact details of the trade bans are not yet clear. For example, countries will need to differentiate between goods originating in West Bank settlements and products “Made in Israel.”

There is also set to be a religious exemption to the goods ban, but what this entails is again unclear.

Countries involved in coordinated trade restrictions host some of Diaspora Jewry’s largest communities

The 11 European countries and Canada backing the settlement trade restrictions are home to roughly 1.2 million Jews, including some of the world’s largest Jewish communities in France, Britain, and Canada. The new restrictions are unlikely to have a major economic impact on these European and Canadian Jews, since they target a relatively small category of settlement-produced goods.

However, Jewish communities in those countries could experience reduced access to some Israeli products, particularly settlement-produced wine and agricultural goods. There would also be implications for businesses and organizations with ties to settlements – and more broadly, concerns about the effects of antisemitism on Jewish communal life and increasingly confrontational UK government policies toward Israel.

France launches process to ban Israeli settlement products

France will also launch a process to ban products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday, amid rising settler violence that further undermines prospects for a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

La France va mettre fin au commerce avec les colonies israéliennes situées dans les Territoires palestiniens occupés, avec onze autres pays qui ont pris des engagements du même ordre.

Pourquoi ?

Parce que la Cisjordanie est au bord de l’explosion : expansion effrénée de la… pic.twitter.com/mJStC3HgOk

— Jean-Noël Barrot (@jnbarrot) September 8, 2026

“France is going to put an end to its commerce with Israeli settlements in Palestine, along with 11 other countries which have also undertaken similar engagements,” Barrot wrote on X/Twitter.

“Why are we doing this? Because the West Bank is close to exploding; there is frenzied expansion of the settlements, a flare-up of violence against Palestinians by extremist settlers, and acts of terror which have been attacked by Israeli authorities themselves,” Barrot added.

The move comes as frustration has grown among some European Union states, which have sought a bloc decision but failed to gain a qualified majority with notable opposition from Germany.

Ahead of the announcement, a French diplomatic source told reporters in a briefing: “Given the situation on the ground, we can’t wait, so we are taking this national decision.” The modalities of the ban have yet to be finalized, and it was not immediately clear when it would be implemented.

“This announcement is part of the joint initiative between the president of the Republic and the prime minister of the United Kingdom, which was discussed in particular during their meeting in London and to which several of our partners in the European Union and beyond have signed up,” the source said, adding that as many as a dozen countries would follow suit.

The source said it was not a boycott of Israel.

“The Government of Israel’s actions in the West Bank are undermining the possibility of a two-State solution,” the statement said.

“Today, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK confirm their intention to introduce national and/or support European restrictions on trade in goods with settlements which are illegal under international law, or that they are actively considering these and other measures, in accordance with their national procedures,” it added.

While British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has not spoken to his Israeli counterpart since entering the role 50 days ago, Burnham did speak to US President Donald Trump on Monday to inform him of the impending pan.

The US government is expected to release a condemnation of the sanctions later on Tuesday. It could also contain implied or actual threats of retaliation against the UK over the decision.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Maccabi Tel Aviv cruised past Hapoel Beersheba 4-1 as Ester Sokler scored a brace in the win that saw the yellow-and-blue pick up their third victory in as many games to start the season.

Helio Varela set the tone early with a screamer of a strike to give Maccabi a 1-0 lead in the opening minute of play. Sokler scored his first of the match from the penalty spot to double the advantage while Eliel Peretz was sent off, leaving the hosts with 10-men.

But right before the break, Amir Ganah pulled a goal back to cut the lead to 2-1 at halftime. Sokler found the back of the net again off a Varela cross, while Peretz added a marker as well to take the 4-1 win.

Up next is the Tel Aviv derby next Monday night as Maccabi will be the hosts against Hapoel, which has a pair of wins and a draw thus far this campaign.

“Hapoel Beersheba is a very good team, and we have to be at the top of our game against them. We started really well, and we took our chances early. We had to make sure that we stayed consistent, and when they went down to ten men, we took the eye off the ball, and I was disappointed and upset, but we made the changes that we needed to at halftime to make sure we picked up the pace.”

Beersheba’s Ran Kozuk looked back at the defeat

“We just didn’t show up, and we started poorly by giving up a goal that wasn’t a Premier League goal. From there, Lucas Ventura was injured, and the snowball kept rolling; then we got a red card that reduced us to 10 men. Maccabi scored a penalty; we knew what type of game they wanted to play and what we wanted to do, and we did the exact opposite.”

At Bloomfield Stadium, Hapoel Tel Aviv crushed Hapoel Ramat Gan 4-0 as the Reds scored all of the goals in the second half to take the win ahead of the derby.

After a goalless first half, Elyaniv Barda scored a deluge of goals as Emmanuel Boateng broke the ice in the 57th minute, while Douglas Owusu scored a magnificent marker off a break down the right flank to double the advantage. An own goal by Dudu Twito made it 3-0, while captain Fernand Mayembo headed home the fourth goal with authority in second-half injury time to wrap up the blowout win.

Elyaniv Barda said at the end of the game, “Even though we didn’t score, I think the first half was good as well, but we didn’t know how to capitalize on our opportunities and score the first goal that would open the floodgates. Thankfully, in the second half, the chances were converted into goals. As for the Derby, I’m not thinking about the next game; I just hope that we can continue playing at this level.”

Ramat Gan coach Messay Dego added: “Nothing worked today. Defensively, we were very deep, which we haven’t been in any game this year. It was very difficult to watch, especially in the first half. I told the players that we were lucky to get away with it. Every two or three passes, we lost the ball. There are days like this, but we cannot fall apart the way we did at the end. That is something I cannot simply let slide.”

In the Galilee, Beitar Jerusalem slipped past Bnei Sakhnin 1-0 as Eugene Ansah scored the lone goal of the contest in the second half off of a corner kick to give Almog Cohen’s charges their first win of the season after a pair of losses.

“Good feeling for sure,” Cohen began. “But it wasn’t a great game. In the second half, we created more chances. For me, the most important thing was the desire and the fighting spirit. It’s difficult to play quality football when you feel the pressure around you. As a coach, I tried to take that pressure off. Football is ultimately about enjoying yourself.”

“It’s frustrating,” Sakhnin coach Yossi Abukasis said. “When you have a good first half, break through the pressure several times and create scoring opportunities, of course it’s frustrating. Unfortunately, we made a mistake and lost the game. In football, at the end of the day, you’re judged by the titles you win. What we were missing was sharpness in front of the goal.”

Finally, Maccabi Netanya and Hapoel Haifa played to a 1-1 draw as Alon Turgeman scored in the first half to give the Carmel Reds the lead, but Matheus Davo’s second-half penalty split the points at the Netanya Stadium.

Diamond City squad coach Roni Levy spoke about the match, “At home, we always want to win and keep the momentum going. We faced an opponent who made things difficult for us. We fell behind because of an uncharacteristic mistake that shouldn’t have happened. We managed to come back, and it was an even game. Our approach in the first half was rather passive. At the beginning of the game, we were still in control, but I think our approach was better in the second half, and we made some changes that helped us.”

Haifa bench boss Haim Silvas also shared his thoughts, “A huge missed opportunity. Usually, I’m very measured, but I feel like we missed a great chance. We played a great game. Although we didn’t start the second half well, we created chances to win. We controlled the game both with and without the ball. It’s a shame we weren’t more clinical. What we were missing was that final touch to turn the game in our favor.”

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“I do so as a proud British Jew,” said UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband on Tuesday, right before announcing the most comprehensive list of sanctions against the only Jewish state in British history.

“Proud Jew” Miliband did this in direct contravention of the wishes of the British Jewish community.

Just over a week ago, he met with UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis to discuss what potential sanctions and trade bans could mean.

Mirvis told Miliband that the UK Jewish community will view such measures with deep dismay, at a time when the vilification of Jews, Judaism and the Jewish State has already reached unprecedented levels.

Mirvis also said that the intended policy will not influence Israeli decision-making in the way the Government intends, and will instead disproportionately affect British Jews.

Labour government blinded by self-interest

“Proud Jew” Miliband did not listen to this. Nor did he listen to similar concerns expressed by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council, Jewish politicians, government counter terrorism officials and more.

The current Labour government is so blinded by self-interest and its own political longevity that the real-life pressing concerns of and tangible threats facing the Jewish community have fallen by the wayside.

On Tuesday, Miliband not only introduced sanctions; he curated a new British governmental narrative that far exceeded any previous government in the nature of its demonization of the Jewish state.

In the same breath as he declared his “unwavering support for the State of Israel,” Miliband accused Israel of ethnic cleansing. He declared the “occupation” unlawful.

To support his words, he cited the very bodies that we know hold Israel to a double standard: the UN and the ICJ. He didn’t present these claims as up for debate; he didn’t cite the extensive body of research that negates the concepts of ethnic cleansing and occupation.

Instead, he chose to add fuel to an already raging fire. It was not necessary to declare that Israel is enacting ethnic cleansing and occupation, but he was surely aware that this rhetoric would curry favor with the very voters Labour seeks to secure in the upcoming by-elections and future general election.

The only ticket to Labour success against the Greens – which seemingly runs exclusively on anti-Israel campaigning – is to use the same language.

But by using it, he is playing into the hands of all the quasi-legal pro-Palestine organizations and grassroots antisemites who have been grasping for more legitimacy to their bogus claims.

British Jews can now expect an extra wave of antisemitic acts in the name of the illegal ethnic-cleansing occupation that Britain said Israel is, and it would be effectively in line with government policy.

Perhaps the most egregious element of Miliband’s heroic announcement on Tuesday was the sheer oxymoronic hypocrisy at its nexus.

He declared the Israeli settlements across the Green Line to be illegal, despite the fact that successive peace efforts, from Oslo to Camp David and beyond, have envisaged a final agreement in which this area would remain under Israeli sovereignty.

He said the sanctions regime will target illegal settlements and settlement expansion, not Israel, without acknowledging that he has given further incentive for the demonization of the Jewish State on a very public stage.

A British Jew investing in property in a Jewish neighborhood of east Jerusalem may now face restrictions, yet Britain does not impose comparable restrictions on British citizens buying property in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus.

Miliband argued that holding Jewish people responsible for the actions of the Israeli Government is antisemitism, while simultaneously penalizing them for the actions of a small number of settlers who commit violent acts in a country they may have never been to.

Sanctions will affect Jews in Britain

And why some may say the sanctions won’t tangibly affect British Jews: they will.

British Jewish businesses that supply kosher wine to hundreds of families shouldn’t have to worry about losing half of their inventory.

People who – rightly so – wish to make Aliyah due to rising antisemitism shouldn’t have to fear attending a real estate event that advertises houses in Maale Adumim.

And the other implications: what about the those who obtained a degree at Ariel University; will it be invalid? Can Yeshivat Gush Etzion advertise to British Jewish schoolboys?

Can a Jewish artist in the Jewish quarter of the Old City have their work stocked in a UK store?

These are not questions that British Jews should have to ask their government on the eve of Rosh Hashanah.

In the words of the Chief Rabbi, it “is truly a dark day for British Jews.”

Not especially because of the sanctions – the success of their implementation and enforcement is yet to be seen – but because the government did a Machiavellian display of canvassing Jewish opinion and seemingly taking on board their concerns, only to completely and flagrantly ignore them, and then some.
 
And, funnily enough, these measures may incentivize the very extremism they seek to target.

If, God forbid, another terrorist attack targets British Jews, the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary will undoubtedly stand before the cameras, condemn antisemitism as ‘un-British and an attack on British values,’ and assure the Jewish community that Jews must never be held responsible for the actions of Israel.

They will be right.

But governments cannot simultaneously tell Jews that they are not responsible for Israel while adopting rhetoric that helps activists collapse the distinction between the two.

And Miliband cannot have it both ways: he cannot invoke his identity as a proud British Jew while fueling the very same fire that seeks Jewish destruction. 

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The Health Ministry advanced new regulations on Tuesday that would require table salt sold for household use to be enriched with iodine, after findings showed widespread iodine deficiency among Israel’s population.

According to ministry data, about 60% of children and 85% of pregnant women tested had an iodine deficiency.

The requirement is expected to apply to table salt sold in packages for household use, which the Health Ministry says accounts for about 85% to 90% of household salt purchases in Israel. Salt used by the food industry, coarse salt, and specialty salts would not be subject to the enrichment requirement.

Under the plan, salt would be enriched with 30 milligrams of iodine per kilogram. The ministry estimates that this would add about 45 micrograms of iodine to a person’s daily diet, equivalent to about 30% of the daily reference intake.

The ministry described the dosage as “conservative” and said it would monitor iodine levels in the population after the measure is implemented. The enrichment level could then be adjusted if necessary.

Iodine deficiency in Israel has persisted for years

The decision to advance the regulations follows years of data showing persistent iodine deficiency in Israel.

A 2016 survey of more than 1,000 school-age children and about 1,000 pregnant women from across Israel’s regions and population groups found that about 60% of the children and 85% of the pregnant women suffered from iodine deficiency.

Data from the National Biomonitoring Program in 2020 and 2021 showed a similar picture, with no significant improvement, the ministry said.

One possible reason for the deficiency is linked to Israel’s drinking water. Israel’s location along the Mediterranean coast was once believed to provide some protection against iodine deficiency, but the Health Ministry said that assumption proved incorrect.

The Israeli diet does not rely heavily on iodine-rich foods from the sea, while a significant proportion of food and raw materials consumed in the country are imported.

The widespread use of desalinated water, which contains very low concentrations of iodine, may also contribute to the problem. The ministry cited desalination as one possible factor behind Israel’s low iodine intake.

Why iodine matters and the risks of deficiency

Iodine is an essential mineral used to produce thyroid hormones, which play a role in growth, development, and metabolism.

It is particularly important before and during pregnancy, as well as during breastfeeding, including for the proper development of the fetal and newborn brain. Natural sources of iodine include eggs, seaweed, dairy products, and sea fish.

Iodine deficiency can have a range of health consequences, including cognitive and neurological impairment, enlargement of the thyroid gland, known as goiter, and hypothyroidism.

The Health Ministry said iodine deficiency may also be associated with an increased risk of stillbirth, infant mortality, and congenital abnormalities.

Many countries already enrich salt with iodine. According to the Health Ministry, more than 120 countries have mandatory iodine regulations for salt, and it is considered an effective and safe way to prevent iodine deficiency.

The ministry estimates that the planned enrichment level would not cause iodine consumption to exceed the safe upper limit, even among people with relatively high intake.

Health Ministry stresses: Do not consume more salt

The Health Ministry stressed that adding iodine to salt is not a recommendation to increase salt consumption.

According to the ministry, only about 15% of daily salt consumption in Israel comes from salt added at home or during food preparation, while most salt intake comes from processed and industrially produced foods.

The recommendation to reduce overall salt consumption therefore remains unchanged. However, when using salt at home, the ministry recommends choosing iodine-enriched salt instead of regular salt.

The ministry also noted that iodine can break down or be lost when salt is stored in humid conditions or in unsuitable packaging.

The regulations are therefore expected to include requirements for packaging and stability controls. Consumers are advised to store iodine-enriched salt in a sealed container in a dry place.

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Fifty-four years after 11 members of Israel’s Olympic delegation were murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Games, Israel gathered Monday evening to honor their memory and reaffirm a commitment to carrying their legacy forward through sport.

The 54th annual memorial ceremony for the Munich 11 was held at the Yud-Alef Square in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, as it is every year, with Olympic medalist Arik Zeevi serving as master of ceremonies. Family members of the victims joined athletes, coaches, judges and representatives of Israel’s sporting community, as well as senior government and municipal officials.

Among those attending were Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar, Israel Olympic Committee President Yael Arad, IOC member and Olympic Committee Director General Adi Bichman, Tel Aviv-Jaffa Deputy Mayor Guy Daniel Avner, German Deputy Ambassador to Israel Helena Marks and representatives of the Munich victims’ families.

The ceremony came as Israel continues to face a prolonged security campaign on multiple fronts and as Israeli athletes confront an increasingly complicated international sporting environment. At the same time, Israeli sports officials noted the significant support and solidarity the country continues to receive from leading international sporting organizations.

For Arad, the president of the Israel Olympic Committee, remembering the Munich 11 is not simply an annual act of commemoration, but an ongoing responsibility.

‘Our presence at every competition and on every international stage is more important than ever’

“Fifty-four years have passed, and we continue to remember and remind the world of the 11 members of the Israeli delegation who were brutally murdered in Munich,” Arad said. “Their memory is carried in the hearts of our athletes at every competition and every time the Israeli flag is proudly raised.”

Arad also linked the legacy of the Munich victims to the challenges facing Israeli athletes today.

“At a time when antisemitism and delegitimization of Israel have also entered the world of sport, our presence at every competition and on every international stage is more important than ever,” she said.

While acknowledging the challenges facing Israel, Arad stressed that the country is not alone.

“Alongside our enemies, we also have many friends, more than we are sometimes aware of, courageous people, who stand with us,” she said. “We must continue to confront both through sporting excellence and through the diplomatic arena in which we at the Olympic Committee work every day.”

“The Israeli athletes are a national consensus and exceptional ambassadors for Israel, for the Israeli spirit and for world Jewry,” Arad added.

An enduring part of Israeli sports history

Zohar similarly portrayed the Munich 11 as an enduring part of Israeli sports history while drawing a direct connection between their experience and the pressures facing Israeli athletes today.

“The memory of the 11 members of the Israeli delegation to Munich who were murdered because they were Jews accompanies Israeli sport and will always accompany us,” Zohar said.

“Even today, there are those who seek to keep Israel out of sporting arenas around the world through boycotts, threats, hatred and antisemitism. We will not allow that to happen.”

“We will not bow our heads, and we will not give up the place our athletes deserve on every international stage,” he continued. “We will stand beside them, fight for them in every institution and federation, and continue to compete, win and proudly raise the Israeli flag wherever we are in the world.”

The tragedy being remembered dates to Sept. 5, 1972, when members of the Black September terrorist organization broke into the Israeli delegation’s quarters in the Olympic Village in Munich. Eleven members of the delegation were ultimately murdered in one of the most notorious terrorist attacks in the history of the Olympic Games and the greatest tragedy in the history of Israeli sport.

The victims were David Berger, Yossef Gutfreund, Moshe Weinberg, Eliezer Halfin, Mark Slavin, Ze’ev Friedman, Yossef Romano, Kehat Shorr, Andre Spitzer, Amitzur Shapira and Yaakov Springer.

A German police officer, Anton Fliegerbauer, was also killed during the failed rescue operation.

Tel Aviv-Jaffa Deputy Mayor Guy Daniel Avner emphasized the broader role of sport in Israeli society and the symbolism of the Munich tragedy.

“Sport is a significant part of the life and fabric of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and I see it as a supreme value,” Avner said. “We must continue to give sport the place it deserves, not only as a means of promoting health, but also as a tool for education, bringing people together and building a stronger and healthier society.”

“The athletes in Munich did not go to war. They went to do what they loved, to represent the State of Israel at one of the largest and most important sporting events in the world,” he said.

“Terror entered a place that was supposed to be a symbol of peace, brotherhood and fair competition between nations. The fight against terrorism is a fight for life itself, and our response must be life, action, unity and continuing forward.”

Germany’s Deputy Ambassador to Israel, Helena Marks, also addressed the ceremony, emphasizing the continuing relevance of the Munich tragedy.

“Today we remember the victims who were murdered at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich,” Marks said. “The memory of the 11 Israeli athletes and the German police officer, Anton Fliegerbauer, who fell victim to these despicable acts of terror, reminds us that extremism poses a real threat.”

Marks said the message was particularly important at a time when antisemitic hatred and violence are increasing around the world.

“This is especially significant at a time when antisemitic hatred and violence are increasing around the world,” she said. “These trends also threaten the democracies in our countries. Honoring the memory of the victims, confronting extremism and protecting our democracies are responsibilities that we all share.”

During the ceremony, memorial candles were lit by members and representatives of the victims’ families, including Shelley Shaltiel on behalf of the Halfin family; Mika, the daughter of Mark Slavin; Ze’ev Friedman’s grandchildren; Doris Vecht Nicolau, the niece of Andre Spitzer; Uri Afek on behalf of the Weinberg family; Adi Shorr and his great-grandchildren Omri and Ilay on behalf of the Shorr family; representatives of the Shapira family; and Adi and Alon, the grandchildren of Yossef Romano.

Oshrat Romano-Kandel, representing the families of the Munich 11, called on Israel’s sporting community to continue looking ahead while preserving the memory of those who were lost.

“Continue moving forward with full force toward the next Olympics while preserving the memory of our loved ones,” she said. “We know that this is not an easy task, but it is necessary. They deserve it, and without history there is no future. We will always demand that they be commemorated.”

The ceremony also featured the laying of wreaths representing different generations of Israeli sport. Olympic walker Shaul Adani and swimmer Shlomit Nir-Tur placed the wreath of the Munich delegation, while Olympic athletes Ariel Nasi and Gashau Ayala placed the Olympic athletes’ wreath. Tamar Orchan and Netanel Peleg represented Israel’s Academy for Excellence in Sport.

For the current generation of Israeli Olympians, the Munich 11 represent not only a painful chapter in the country’s history but a responsibility to continue competing on the world stage.

“As Olympic athletes and successors to the Munich 11, it is our duty and responsibility to carry their memory with us at every training session, every competition and on every stage,” Nasi and Ayala said.

“The legacy of the 11 is an inseparable part of the story of the State of Israel and of the Israeli Olympic story that we continue to write.”

The athletes pledged to transform the tragedy’s legacy through sporting achievement.

“We are committed to dulling the black stain left by the massacre with bronze, silver and gold medals, with Israeli flags flying at competitions around the world and with the singing of ‘Hatikvah’ on the winners’ podium,” they said.

“We will continue to represent the State of Israel with pride, to prove that nothing can break our spirit, and to continue the path and legacy of the Munich 11.”

The annual ceremony is organized jointly by the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Sports Authority and the Israel Olympic Committee, ensuring that more than five decades after the Munich massacre, the names and legacy of the 11 remain an enduring part of Israel’s sporting history.

This post was originally published on here. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday presented the candidates he selected to have reserved slots on the Likud’s Knesset slate, near the evening deadline to submit lists for the October elections.

Netanyahu said the elections will decide between a “strong right-wing government led by me – or a weak left-wing government led by [Yashar Party leader Gadi] Eisenkot and the Arabs.”

The prime minister had pushed to expand his control over the party’s Knesset slate, despite fierce internal tensions over changes to the traditional primary process. Last month, the Likud Central Committee granted him the authority to select eight candidates for reserved slots within the first 30 positions on the list. In the August primaries, Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen received the second slot on the list after Netanyahu.

The ninth slot was given to Talik Gvili, mother of fallen soldier and slain Gaza hostage Ran Gvili.

Gvili was killed by a Hamas terrorist on October 7, and his remains were taken into the enclave. He was the final hostage remaining there before his remains were retrieved to Israel for burial in January.

Likud officials say ‘flawed procedure has taken root’ within party

Later in the day, Likud also added Channel 14 commentator and Netanyahu’s confidant Yaakov Bardugo, who received the 11th slot.

The party also announced it would reserve a slot for Elisha Medan, a reservist who was seriously wounded in the Gaza Strip and lost both legs, in the 15th slot.

Attorney David Peter, who represented the government and some of its ministers, will receive the 16th slot on the list.

Peter represented Justice Minister Yariv Levin and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, as well as representing the government in its battle with the High Court of Justice over the closure of Army Radio.

Former Labor MK Eli Goldschmidt, who served in the Knesset from 1992 to 2001, was given the 26th slot.

The 29th slot went to Itzik Bonsel, father of the late Sgt.-Maj. Amit Bonsel,  who was killed in combat during the Israel-Hamas war.

A slot had also been reserved for Brig.-Gen. (res.) Amir Avivi, founder of the Bithonistim (Israel Defense and Security Forum). Avivi, who is also a frequent panelist on Channel 14’s Patriots, was given the 35th slot.

However, later in the day, Avivi resigned from the list, reportedly unsatisfied with the low rung.

Open voting or secret ballots could affect the outcome

The candidates’ announcements came near the 10 p.m. deadline for parties to submit their lists for the elections.

Likud has for years prided itself on conducting primaries in which its registered members are eligible to vote for the Knesset list. Netanyahu pushed to change the system in recent weeks ahead of the primaries, leading to an especially competitive race with even fewer slots available than usual.

Likud has recently polled at around 20 seats, meaning candidates placed within roughly the top 20 spots on the party’s slate would have the most realistic chance of entering the Knesset.

The Likud secretariat approved Netanyahu’s selections for the list in the afternoon.

In August, Netanyahu already had reserved slots for three ministers: Defense Minister Israel Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, and Likud Central Committee chairman Haim Katz, who also holds multiple ministerial portfolios.

Eisenkot, who has been beating Netanyahu’s party in most polls, sharply criticized his reserved slots.

“Reserving spots on the Likud list for Netanyahu’s mouthpieces is nothing less than a distribution of spoils and a reward for blind loyalty,” he said on Tuesday.

He called it a prize for those who have turned “division, incitement, and a culture of lies into everyday tools in Netanyahu’s personal service.”

“The currency that matters is not public service, integrity, or Israel’s security, but the degree of devotion and willingness to deepen the rift in Israeli society and strengthen the leader at any cost.”

Anna Barsky contributed to this report.

This post was originally published on here. 

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced on Tuesday an import ban on goods from “illegal” settlements in the West Bank, as well as sanctions against specific individuals and businesses providing services such as construction, instruction, financing or real estate for settlement expansion.

Miliband fronted his Commons speech by saying he is “Proud of [his] Jewishness and unwavering in [his] support for the state of Israel,” and that there is “absolutely no contradiction between this and [his] support for the state of Palestine.”

He said the new measures come in light of what the UK government believes is a clear attempt by Israel to bury the two-state solution.

“Our government has not done enough, so today marks the beginning of a new approach,” he said. “What we seek today is to salvage the only cause for peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians: the two-state solution.”

‘Our argument is with the conduct of Israel’s government’

Ed Miliband has told MPs that Israeli settlers are committing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in parts of the West Bank.https://t.co/zjBlyUTiWU pic.twitter.com/0blxeTMjYQ

— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 8, 2026

As such, for the first time, Miliband said the government’s official position is that Israel’s “occupation” of the West Bank is unlawful. This aligns with the 2024 ruling by the International Court of Justice.

Miliband’s speech was significant for other reasons; it marks the first time anyone in the the British government has accused Israeli settlers of ethnic cleansing.

This new stance on the illegality of the settlements must therefore be manifested economically, he continued.

UK Foreign Secretary accuses some Israeli settlers of ethnic cleansing

“I do not believe that the British people want us supporting the occupation by accepting products from settlements in our shops and supermarkets,” he said, adding “I can announce today that we will introduce an import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories.”

He noted there will be religious exemptions, but it is unclear what these will be; for example, a large amount of the kosher wine imported to the UK is made in settlement wineries. It is unclear if this would be exempt.

In addition to the goods ban, the UK will take action against specific companies and individuals that provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing, or real estate for settlement expansion. 

“So to those who finance or facilitate illegal settlements, let me say this, you will face the full force of UK sanctions,” Miliband added.

Further sanctions include an extension of the existing global human rights regime such that it will enable swifter action to deter settlement expansion, including the development of E1, as well as the immediate cessation of all license applications for arms and other exports that “materially contribute to the occupation, in effect a double lock against arms sales.”

The news was not totally unexpected: On August 19, UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said he would introduce a comprehensive set of measures in “the coming weeks.”

The UK will stand up for what is right. pic.twitter.com/0jbDiQ7vVC

— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) September 8, 2026

Nevertheless, the timing has been criticized, coming just days before the Jewish High Holiday season begins – which has already been flagged as a dangerous period for Jews and a high risk for antisemitic terror attacks.

There is also significant speculation that the Labor Party wished to finalize the new legislation ahead of three major upcoming events: first, a UK by-election in which the anti-Israel Greens are its main rivals; second, the upcoming Labor Party Conference; and third, the Israeli elections in October.

West Bank settlements ban worst-case scenario for what some Jewish groups predicted

Furthermore, the new announcements are the worst-case scenario at the end of what some Jewish groups were expecting, which was purely a goods ban and not a services ban.

Jewish groups, including the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council, have expressed concern that the sanctions could further damage the UK-Israel relationship and have a harmful impact on British Jews.

Jewish groups, including the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council, have expressed concern that the sanctions could further damage the UK-Israel relationship and have a harmful impact on British Jews.

UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the UK government’s intended sanctions would be “counterproductive and even endanger such a vision of peace.”

Many members of the Jewish community view the measures with deep dismay, he said, adding that they risk spiraling into a de facto boycott of Israel and threatening the livelihoods of tens of thousands of Palestinian workers.

“These measures will also disproportionately affect British Jews because of our close religious, family, charitable, and educational ties to Israel,” Mirvis said.

UK Shadow Foreign Secretary says ban will damage relations with Israel and embolden extremists 

Shadow Foreign Secretary Tom Tugendhat on Sunday said damaging diplomatic relations with Israel could harm British citizens.

Terrorist attacks on British soil had been foiled by the UK’s security services as a direct result of Israeli intelligence sources sharing information with their British counterparts, he told The Telegraph.

On Tuesday, Tungendhat said, “The Israeli election is in just seven weeks, and many have argued correctly that this action will help the extremist candidates’ campaigns, and not help those who are making the moderate arguments for a united Israeli.”

Former independent reviewer of Prevent Sir William Shawcross said “This reckless anti-Israel stunt will embolden our extremist enemies and drive further anti-Jewish racism.”

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told the BBC he doesn’t know if the UK is “really aware of the implications and how it’s going to affect Brits.”

He noted the fact that many pharmaceuticals used in the UK are made in Israel. While he placed the figure at 25%, NHS data places it at around 1 in 7.

“This is an irrational action, I don’t understand what it is supposed to achieve,” Huckabee continued. “If the UK is really interested in dealing with issues they feel like are wrong, where are the sanctions against North Korea, China, Russia?”

“It’s discrimination against the Israeli government, discrimination against the Jewish people, and I don’t understand the rationale of it.”

While British PM Andy Burnham has not spoken to his Israeli counterpart since entering the role 50 days ago, Burnham did speak to US President Trump on Monday to inform him of the impending pan.

It is understood that the US government is preparing to release a condemnation of the sanctions later on Tuesday.

It could also contain implied or actual threats of retaliation against the UK over the decision.

Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report

This post was originally published on here. 

The Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday strongly denied the Haaretz report, which alleged that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was warned by the United Arab Emirates about Hamas’s October 7 attack, writing that the “press reports are false.”

“No warning was given to the Prime Minister from the United Arab Emirates before October 7th. If there was any relevant information, it was passed through intelligence channels between the two countries,” the PMO stated.

The Prime Minister’s Office:

The press reports are false. No warning was given to the Prime Minister from the United Arab Emirates before October 7th. If there was any relevant information , it was passed through intelligence channels between the two countries.

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 8, 2026

The UAE Foreign Ministry also published a statement on the report, saying it refuses to comment on “speculation” about whether the two countries spoke. Notably, however, the UAE did not confirm or deny the Haaretz report. 

“UAE and Israeli government entities have maintained open and direct lines of communication since the inception of the relationship more than five years ago. When necessary, all relevant intelligence has been and continues to be communicated between the relevant entities.”

UAE officials also indicated that, from their perspective, it is not their role to issue a denial in response to every media report published in Israel. The message conveyed was that the UAE does not interfere in Israeli elections and will not serve as the government’s “public relations office.”

UAE declines to enter political dispute

In a conversation with Ben Caspit on 103FM on Tuesday, Yinon Magal presented the prime minister’s denial and said Netanyahu maintained that no such conversation had taken place.

The Prime Minister’s Office:

The press reports are false. No warning was given to the Prime Minister from the United Arab Emirates before October 7th. If there was any relevant information , it was passed through intelligence channels between the two countries.

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 8, 2026

Magal said that if such an event had indeed occurred, it could also be verified with the head of the National Security Council and other officials who would have been expected to know about the conversation.

Caspit, by contrast, said he was convinced that the report was credible. He said former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who is close to bin Zayed, had confirmed the account, and argued that the fact that officials in Abu Dhabi had not rushed to deny the report further strengthened its credibility in his view.

“The Emirates is a tremendous ally of ours. If he remains silent, as far as I’m concerned, that is also a statement,” Caspit said.

Caspit also linked the report to earlier warnings from Egypt before the attack.

“This joins the Egyptian warning that was published in a million places,” he said, arguing that as more reports accumulated, they strengthened the picture, in his view, that actors outside Israel had warned of an unusual move by Hamas.

“The ‘why didn’t they wake him up’ campaign is now becoming the question, ‘why didn’t he wake us up?’” Caspit said.

Dispute continues over credibility of report

Caspit added that, in his assessment, Haaretz would not have published such a claim without cross-checking sources. He called for waiting to hear from former CIA director William Burns, who, according to the report, was also involved in warnings from bin Zayed.

Magal, however, rejected that argument, saying that if such a conversation had indeed taken place, there would have been documentation and records of it. Therefore, he said, it was difficult to believe that Netanyahu would issue such a sweeping denial.

“If there had been a conversation, the prime minister would not say there wasn’t one, because there are records. Someone would already have leaked that it happened,” Magal said.

Caspit again argued that the report fit, in his view, into a series of warnings and pieces of information that had accumulated before the attack. He added that the central question was now not only what the security agencies knew on the night between October 6 and 7, but also what warnings reached the political leadership in the weeks beforehand and what was done with them.

Recent reports have examined additional claims about warnings received before October 7, including accounts of Naftali Bennett confirming the UAE warning report and earlier reports of warnings from Israeli security officials.

The dispute between the two ended without agreement. Magal demanded evidence that the conversation with bin Zayed had in fact taken place, while Caspit argued that the collection of reports and sources strengthened the credibility of the report in his view.

This post was originally published on here. 

The last remaining parties submitted their Knesset lists throughout Tuesday, ahead of the final deadline for all parties to submit their slates before the October elections.

With the lists submitted, parties can no longer form new alliances or mergers, bringing an end to months of speculation and negotiations over which factions would join forces ahead of the election.

Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party submitted its list without merging with any other party, and will be running in the elections despite months of polling showing it unable to pass the required electoral threshold. Numerous members of Blue and White had left in recent months as Gantz continued to lose public support.

Second on the list after Gantz is current Blue and White MK Pnina Tameno-Shete, third is former Beit Shemesh mayor Aliza Bloch, fourth is reservist commander Roee Konkol, fifth is reservist activist Rotem Avidar Tzalik; and sixth is current Blue and White MK Alon Schuster.

The party said the list will include 50% women among its top 10 candidates, in positions 2, 3, 5, 8 and 10. It will also include two residents of northern Israel, three residents of the Gaza border communities, two kibbutz residents, a moshav resident and a member of the Druze community.

Parties that waited until close to the deadline to submit their lists included Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party (RZP), which merged with the Zehut party led by Moshe Feiglin.

RZP-Zehut announced a list with Smotrich first, Feiglin second, Settlement and National Missions Minister Orit Strock third, and MK Simcha Rothman fourth, with the party polling on the edge of the threshold and aiming to enter with the minimum of four seats.

The merger also left out of realistic spots different RZP veterans who served as MKs in the last Knesset, such as MK Zvi Sukkot (7th place) or MK Ohad Tal (12th place). 

Shas adds IDF reservist to list with major changes

Shas submitted and released its candidate list on Tuesday following days of internal debate over major changes to its parliamentary lineup.

Ultimately, party leader Arye Deri and the Council of Torah Sages opted for a smaller-scale update. Most of the parliamentary core remains intact, though Yinon Azoulay moved to second place, and two new candidates have joined the slate.

The most notable newcomer is Lt.-Col. (Res.) Dror Amos, head of the Haifa Religious Services Board, who was placed directly in the sixth spot. Senior lawmakers Yoav Ben-Tzur and Moshe Abutbul, both rumored to be facing dismissal in recent days, secured viable positions on the ticket.

Amos’s placement is the standout addition to the new slate. He served in the IDF for 25 years and retired from full-time service as a lieutenant colonel.

Over the years, he established Chesed Chaim V’Emet, an organization assisting bereaved families with religious funeral customs. Following the October 7 massacre, he founded the “Kaddish for Every Holy Soul” initiative, pairing volunteers with the families of victims and fallen soldiers to ensure memorial prayers were recited in their honor.

Amos emerged as Shas searched for a high-profile candidate with a military background. Yossi Levi, CEO of the ultra-Orthodox military unit Netzach Yehuda, was also considered, but Amos ultimately became the top choice.

Amos’s high position reflects the importance Shas places on his r The sixth spot is virtually guaranteed, giving the party a religious candidate with decades of military service behind him.

Party strategists hope his background will appeal to traditionalist and military-serving voters – demographics that have long been crucial to the party’s base. The timing is equally strategic: with military conscription for the ultra-Orthodox set to dominate the upcoming election campaign, Shas can now highlight a veteran reserve officer high on its ballot.

A major shake-up also occurred at the top of the ticket. Yinon Azoulay, who ranked seventh in the 2022 elections, was promoted to second place, directly behind Deri. He is followed by Michael Malkieli in third, Yoav Ben-Tzur in fourth, and Chaim Biton in fifth.

Azoulay’s leap to second place positions him as the party’s second-in-command behind Deri. The shift became possible after the departures of Ya’akov Margi, who held second place on the previous ticket, and Moshe Arbel, who held sixth.

The candidate rankings continued to shift in the final hours of drafting. An initial version submitted for rabbinical review placed Yonatan Mishraki seventh, Yossef Taieb eighth, Uriel Buso ninth, and Abutbul tenth.

In the final version, Abutbul moved up to seventh, Buso to eighth, Taieb to ninth, and Mishraki down to tenth. These last-minute adjustments show that even after the candidate pool was finalized, the internal fight over ticket placement remained intense.

Haredi Public Party announces list with first woman to be in an ultra-Orthodox party

The new ultra-Orthodox party, Haredi Public, which seeks to offer an alternative to the two haredi parties in the Knesset – Shas and United Torah Judaism – also submitted its list.

Haredi Public party chairman Moti Leitner, Asher Freddy, Dr. Nechumi Yaffe, and Ziva Glantz will hold the top four slots of their list.

The party positions itself as an alternative for members of the ultra-Orthodox community, who often feel that representatives in the existing political realm do not reflect the socioeconomic and legal needs of average families.

Leitner, who previously served as deputy mayor of Beit Shemesh, said in a statement released by the party: “Behind every name on this list stand tens of thousands of Charedim who, for years, have been dismissed, ignored, and pushed aside by an old and disconnected leadership… Today, for the first time, there is an alternative.”

Among the parties that submitted their lists the day ahead of the deadline on Monday were Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar, Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad, Yair Golan’s The Democrats, Yoaz Hendel’s The Reservists party, and Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am.

Anna Barsky and Jonah Davidov contributed to this report.

This post was originally published on here. 

The Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities has renewed its warnings regarding persistent antisemitism within the Left Party (Vänsterpartiet), following a fresh wave of expulsions involving local candidates.

The renewed scrutiny comes after the Left Party removed eight additional candidates from its electoral lists.

According to reporting by Expressen and regional media outlets, the candidates faced disciplinary action after internal investigations and journalistic exposés revealed they had shared antisemitic conspiracy theories, praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, and expressed support for Hamas.

According to public broadcasts by Sveriges Radio, these latest removals bring the total number of candidates ousted from the party over antisemitism, Holocaust denial, support for terrorism, homophobia, and praise for authoritarian regimes to 33.

Aron Verständig, chairman of the Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities, stated on X/Twitter on Monday that the council previously criticized the Left Party in the autumn of 2024 because the party “had failed to distance itself from the antisemitism that leading representatives had spread during the summer.”

Problems with antisemitism in the party were structural

Verständig noted that when distances and expulsions were eventually enacted, they met with heavy resistance from large parts of the party.

“It became clear to me that the problems the party had with antisemitism were not limited to a few individuals but were structural,” he stated, adding that the council raised this directly in meetings with party leadership.

Verständig criticized the leadership’s ongoing approach, pointing out that media outlets have repeatedly uncovered representatives spreading explicit antisemitism.

While noting that the party has acted against these individuals, Verständig emphasized, “to my knowledge, it has never taken the initiative to investigate its own representatives.”

He added that apologetic explanations from party sympathizers surface with every new revelation. “It is simply frightening that this has been allowed to go this far,” Verständig stated, expressing deep alarm that “there are other parties that are considering cooperation with the Left Party.”

The Left Party did not respond to an emailed request for comment by the time of publication.

This post was originally published on here. 

In a few weeks, I will leave Jerusalem for Charlotte, North Carolina – a city I have known for only two weeks, yet am preparing to call home.

At a time when every departure from Israel risks being interpreted as a political statement – as an expression of despair, protest, or escape – I want to be clear about what this move means to me. 

I am not running away from Israel or from the complexity of life here. I am moving toward a responsibility: helping ensure that Israel remains a living, human, and meaningful part of Jewish life in one American community.

This October, I will become the founding director of the new Israel Center at the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte. The Center will work with local organizations, educators, community leaders, and Israeli partners to strengthen existing relationships, create new ones, and expand opportunities for Israel education and engagement.

Israel is increasingly encountered abroad as a question that must be answered. It appears through war, government decisions, campus confrontations, antisemitism, political debate, and controversial statements. 

These issues are real, consequential, and impossible to ignore. But when they become the only ways through which people encounter and understand Israel, an entire country – and the millions of lives within it – gets flattened into an argument.

Israel is more than its government, just as Israelis are more than the positions attributed to them. It is a place where people raise families, build businesses, teach, create, grieve, volunteer, complain, and dream about a better future. It is a society filled with disagreements and contradictions, extraordinary solidarity and painful divisions.

Humanizing Israel does not mean sanitizing it. It means refusing to reduce it.

The relationship between the United States and Israel is being debated and reassessed almost daily. Governments, diplomacy, and security cooperation will continue to shape that relationship. 

But official ties cannot sustain it on their own. Its durability has always depended on something deeper: people who know one another, communities that remain curious about one another, and relationships strong enough to survive disagreement.

That is particularly important for American Jewish communities. 

If Israel is present only during moments of crisis or political controversy, it will understandably feel distant to many people – especially younger Jews. A meaningful relationship with Israel cannot be built through demands for automatic agreement, nor can it survive through avoidance. It requires knowledge, experience, and room for honest conversation.

American Jews should not have to choose between uncritical advocacy and complete disengagement. There must be space for affection and frustration, identification and questioning. A mature relationship can hold all of those things. An abstract one quickly collapses into slogans.

With legacy comes great responsibility

My own connection with Charlotte began on a much smaller scale. In 2025, I arrived there for a two-week assignment on behalf of the Jewish Agency. I expected a brief professional experience. Instead, Charlotte stayed with me.

I encountered a warm, thoughtful community with a genuine desire to deepen its relationship with Israel – not simply by adding more events, but by creating more meaningful opportunities to learn, meet, and engage. 

People wanted to encounter an Israel larger than the one presented in the news. They were also willing to ask difficult questions and genuinely listen to complicated answers.

I left feeling that those two weeks had opened a door rather than completed an assignment. Now, I am returning through it.

The new Charlotte Israel Center has been made possible through the legacy of Irving Bienstock, entrusted to the Federation by his family. A Holocaust survivor and pillar of Charlotte’s Jewish community, Irving devoted much of his life to Jewish memory, education, and service. 

His legacy is now helping create something intended to endure: deeper relationships with Israel, stronger Jewish identity, and future generations of Charlotte leaders who feel knowledgeable, connected, and responsible for a shared future.

I do not take that responsibility lightly. I feel the weight of what his family has entrusted to the Federation and of the role I am being asked to play in carrying it forward. My task is to help ensure that what grows from Irving’s legacy is worthy of the values behind it.

Establishing a new center might create the temptation to begin by inventing something entirely new. That is not my intention. Charlotte already has committed organizations, educators, rabbis, lay leaders, Israelis, and community members doing important work around Israel. My first responsibility will be to listen, understand that landscape, and build trust.

The Center should serve as a connector and catalyst: strengthening what already exists, helping organizations work together more effectively, and creating opportunities that none could develop as successfully alone.

A crowded calendar is not the same thing as a strategy. We will need clear goals, honest evaluation, and a shared understanding of whom our work is intended to reach.

That will mean developing educational opportunities that present Israel in its fullness, giving educators and community leaders useful tools, strengthening institutional and personal relationships with Israeli partners, creating encounters that extend beyond occasional visits, and making room for informed, critical, and constructive discussion.

Some initiatives will come from the Center. Others will emerge from the community or from partners in Israel. The measure of success will not be who receives credit, but whether people feel better equipped to understand Israel and more able to build their own relationship with it.

Israel also needs this work. A country encountered only through political arguments becomes easier to caricature and harder to care about. 

Direct relationships cannot eliminate disagreement, but they make indifference and dehumanization more difficult. They remind us that what happens between Israel and the American Jewish community is not merely a matter of foreign policy. It is primarily a relationship between families, institutions, histories, and people.

Perhaps it sounds idealistic to place so much faith in human connection at such a fractured moment. But I have already seen what a brief encounter can set in motion. Two weeks in Charlotte became a lasting relationship. That relationship is now becoming a new chapter for my life and for the community that welcomed me.

I am not leaving Israel behind. I am carrying it with me – not as a political case to defend but as a home to introduce honestly.

The writer is an Israeli journalist and communications professional and the incoming founding director of the Charlotte Israel Center. He previously served as the spokesperson for Masa Israel Journey and as a Jewish Agency emissary in Australia and New Zealand.

This post was originally published on here. 

Sara Netanyahu’s remarks suggesting that Yair Golan knew about the October 7 attack are not merely a brazen lie aimed at a political rival ahead of crucial elections. They are also an irresponsible legitimization of conspiracy theories targeting Israel and Jews at a time of an explosion in radical anti-Zionism and antisemitism.

Speaking on Israeli television, Sara implied that Golan, leader of the opposition party The Democrats, who behaved with exceptional bravery that day, had known about the October 7 attack in advance. 

This defense was primarily intended to exonerate her husband while accusing the country’s security services of failing to inform him in time, either to put him in difficulty or because they did not trust him. 

It is also symptomatic that this attack came at exactly the same time as the prime minister himself was declaring that the security services – headed by IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Ronen Bar, and former head of the IDF Intelligence Directorate Aharon Haliva – had not deemed it necessary to wake him even as warning signs multiplied, because they anticipated a strong and determined response from him, which they wanted to avoid for fear of escalation. 

This genuine revisionism would be pathetic and ridiculous if it did not once again highlight Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s absolute inability to accept even the slightest share of responsibility, instead shifting the blame onto others – the security services, members of the “elites” and the “deep state” against whom he has fought throughout his political career in the name of the Israeli people, according to his own mythical and mendacious narrative.

Golan, a former deputy chief of staff, is the archetype of this despised and supposedly untrustworthy army. By insinuating that Golan “knew,” Sara Netanyahu merely reinforced her husband’s narrative of deflection with the conspiratorial overtones that have proliferated in Israel and elsewhere since October 7. 

That is precisely what makes her statement not only disgraceful, but irresponsible.

Antisemitism and radical anti-Zionism have exploded since October 7, with a particularly painful summer of 2026. They feed on clichés, simplifications, false and reductive accusations, and also conspiracy theories, which have always accompanied waves of antisemitism throughout history. 

As New York prepares to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attack on the Twin Towers, the theory that Jews did not go to work at the World Trade Center and that the Mossad was behind the operation continues to thrive. 

In the hours following the October 7 attack, theories began circulating that the Israeli army had known about it, that the people killed had been killed by the IDF, and that the army had allowed the incursion to unfold so that it could better justify the attack on Gaza and subsequently the “genocide” of Palestinians. 

These theories gained even more traction because the image of an invincible, technologically advanced army was incompatible with the picture of a major defeat at the hands of Hamas, which was able to massacre 1,200 people within hours and take more than 250 hostages back to Gaza.

Adding fuel to the fire

In Israel, some of these theories circulated very early on in another form, particularly among Netanyahu supporters seeking to exonerate him, as his wife has done this week, by blaming the army, which supposedly concealed crucial information from him to make him bear responsibility for the failure surrounding this catastrophe, force him to resign, and thereby take revenge for the judicial reform he had initiated, which had brought hundreds of thousands of Israelis into the streets to oppose it.

Sara Netanyahu has therefore just added fuel to this infernal machine of lies with her latest remarks. Politically, they were undoubtedly foolish, because they resulted in television screens being flooded with images of Golan in uniform heading to the Nova festival to save young people. 

But above all, they are a gift from heaven to all the antisemitic conspiracy theorists who can now bolster their lies with the words of the Israeli prime minister’s own wife. 

The accusations of “genocide” can now be reinforced by claims of “premeditation by a murderous Zionist regime” that knew what was coming but allowed it to happen in order to indulge its “genocidal passion,” thanks to an irresponsible first lady who will undoubtedly be portrayed as a courageous whistleblower by antisemites such as Candace Owens, Nick Fuentes, or Tucker Carlson.

Congratulations, Mrs. Netanyahu.

Born and raised in France, the writer is the correspondent of French Jewish radio, Radio J, and of the French paper librejournal.fr in the US, where he has been living for 16 years. He is also a contributor to the European review K. He also holds US and Israeli citizenships. His opinions are his only.

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Donald Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Tuesday that he wanted a swift end to the war in Ukraine, which would allow US-Russia ties to be fully restored, the Kremlin said, adding that Putin had supported the US president’s view.

The call, which the Kremlin said lasted an hour, followed a weekend visit to Moscow and Kyiv by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who are trying to revive stalled talks designed to find a way to end the fighting.

Their weekend diplomacy did not appear to produce any immediate public breakthrough, although they did raise the possibility that three-way talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States could resume. The Kremlin, which has said it does not rule that out, made no mention of the possibility in its readout of the Putin-Trump call.

Instead, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that the two leaders had rated the US envoys’ weekend diplomacy “with a plus sign” and that Putin had told Trump what he believed the United States could do to help end the conflict and given him an assessment of the situation on the battlefield.

Trump, Ushakov said, had made it clear he wanted the war quickly finished.

Trump emphasized bringing the conflict to an end

“Donald Trump clearly emphasized the desirability of bringing the conflict to an end as soon as possible, which would immediately open up prospects – impressive and far-reaching ones at that – for the full restoration of relations between the US and Russia,” said Ushakov.

“In his view, this would have a particular impact on trade and economic ties, promising enormous benefits for both countries. Donald Trump is keen to see a breakthrough achieved during his presidency. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin supported this approach.”

Russia and Ukraine remain far apart on how to end the war, the deadliest in Europe since World War Two, and both sides have escalated their attacks on each other in recent months. A person close to the Kremlin, speaking before the trip by Trump’s envoys, said Putin remained intent on taking full control of the remainder of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, something Kyiv has vowed to continue fiercely opposing with every weapon at its disposal.

Putin, Trump agree to continue prisoner exchanges

Ushakov – who said Putin and Trump had also agreed on the need to continue prisoner exchanges – said he was not able to get into more detail about what had been discussed, but described the conversation as constructive and said the two leaders had agreed they would stay in touch and speak to each other by phone again if the need arose.

He said Putin had told Trump that Russia had no hostile intentions when it came to Europe despite repeated claims to the contrary by various European politicians.

“In light of speculation regarding Russia’s alleged hostile intentions towards European states, it was emphasized that we have absolutely no aggressive plans whatsoever towards Europe,” said Ushakov.

“The myths being spread about the Russian threat merely serve as a pretext for Europeans to ramp up their support for Ukraine and their own military spending,” he added.

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British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband invoked his family’s Holocaust history and his childhood memories of Israel on Tuesday as he delivered one of the UK government’s harshest speeches on Israeli policy and announced a ban on imports from West Bank settlements.

Opening his statement to the House of Commons, Miliband described himself as a “proud British Jew” and said he felt deep gratitude toward Israel for providing a home to his grandmother after the Nazis murdered her husband, Miliband’s grandfather, and 60 other members of their family.

Miliband recalled visiting his grandmother in Tel Aviv during the 1970s and spending time on the kibbutz where his cousins lived. He said his family’s experience was one reason he rejected attempts to challenge Israel’s existence as the homeland of the Jewish people, describing such efforts as an “erasure of Israel.”

The foreign secretary then addressed the October 7 Hamas massacre, saying the attack demonstrated the grave threats facing Israel and affirming its right to defend itself. He also identified Iran as a threat to Israel and Jews around the world and said Britain would continue security cooperation with Israel on shared national-security interests.

Miliband announced sanctions against Hezbollah’s financial arm, Al-Qard Al-Hassan, and said Britain was reimposing major economic sanctions on Iran and would join allies in referring Tehran’s nuclear violations to the UN Security Council.

Miliband: British antisemitism a ‘scourge and evil’ 

Miliband also devoted a significant part of the speech to antisemitism in Britain.

He contrasted his own experience attending school without fear in the 1980s with that of Jewish children today who require security guards outside their schools. He cited recent antisemitic attacks and announced that Britain was investing an additional £250 million in security for Jewish communities.

He called antisemitism a “scourge and an evil” and said Britain would host representatives of the J7, a grouping of countries with large Jewish populations, in October to discuss combating antisemitism, including online hate.

Miliband also drew a sharp distinction between criticism of Israel and attacks on British Jews, saying that holding British Jews responsible for decisions made by the Israeli government constituted antisemitism.

He said he remained unwavering in his support for Israel while also supporting Palestinian statehood, presenting the two-state solution as the central principle of Britain’s policy.

Miliband cites personal family history as he bans trade with West Bank

The tone of the speech shifted sharply as Miliband turned to Gaza and the West Bank.

He said he felt “a deep sense of shame” over Palestinian suffering during the past three years and described events in Gaza as a stain on the conscience of the international community.

In the West Bank, Miliband accused violent settlers of carrying out ethnic cleansing in some Palestinian communities and said the British government believed Israeli authorities had too often failed to prevent forced displacement. He formally declared that Britain considered Israel’s occupation of the West Bank unlawful.

Miliband announced that Britain would ban imports from Israeli settlements, prohibit advertising for settlement property in the UK and impose sanctions on companies and individuals involved in financing, construction, infrastructure and other activity supporting settlement expansion. The legislation is expected to take effect within six to nine months.

He stressed that the measures targeted settlements rather than Israel within the Green Line and said Britain would continue what he described as important trade with Israel. He also said he opposed the broader Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

Turning to Gaza, Miliband said there was growing evidence that war crimes may have been committed and backed international legal proceedings examining Israeli conduct. He stopped short of determining that genocide had occurred, saying Britain would await the conclusions of competent courts.

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Thames Valley Police will significantly increase security measures to protect Jewish communities across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire during the High Holy Days, it said.

Beginning with Rosh Hashanah on Friday, the specialized operation, designated Op Tishrei, will encompass subsequent religious observances, including Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah. Residents can expect heightened police activity around synagogues and surrounding neighborhoods, featuring high-visibility patrols from neighborhood policing teams alongside armed officers, Project Servator deployments, and specialist resources.

According to law enforcement, the enhanced security comes in response to international increases in antisemitic incidents since the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks. Officials explicitly noted subsequent fatal attacks, including last year’s synagogue shooting in Manchester on Yom Kippur and the assault at a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach in Australia.

Assistant Chief Constable Christian Bunt, who is leading the operation, stated that authorities recognize local Jewish communities will be concerned for their safety ahead of the holidays.

“We have a dedicated operation to protect our Jewish communities, alongside the Community Security Trust, throughout the period so people can expect to see an increased police presence near synagogues and the local areas during this period,” Bunt said. “There will be armed and unarmed officers on patrol, support from specialist units, and engagement staff speaking with our communities, alongside our partners, as well as security measures people will not see.”

Security operation supported by government funding and Jewish security group

The intelligence-led operation is designed to deter criminality and ensure a swift response to any incidents. The initiative is supported by Home Office funding through the Protecting Jewish Communities Fund and is being executed in close cooperation with the Community Security Trust.

“There has been a huge amount of preparation ahead of the High Holy Days, with CST working closely with police forces up and down the country to ensure that the strongest possible security measures are in place. Our priority is for the community to be able to come together safely and celebrate the High Holy Days,” a CST spokesperson said. 

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The prestigious Al-Hurriya Institute in Damascus, formerly known as the Laïque Institute, has sparked outrage among Syrians after the once-secular school announced plans earlier this week to segregate students based on their gender in a now-apparently deleted Facebook post.

The secular French school, established by the Mission Française in Syria during the mandate, said that the segregation plans would go ahead “to avoid some of the problems that occurred previously.”

“We ask God Almighty for guidance and success in what is best for our children,” the secular school posted.

Critics claim the policy is a sign of Syria’s Islamist future

“Similar spaces” have been constructed for female students, the school said, adding that the students would remain separated both in the classrooms and on the playgrounds.

The move has sparked concern among teachers, who fear that they will need to teach the same lessons twice, and among parents angered that the school has not focused on infrastructure improvements, according to the Syrian Observer.

Critics of the change have complained online that segregating the school is a sign of the country’s Islamist future.

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Dozens of businesses owned or operated by women immigrants to Israel, offering food, clothing, accessories, jewelry, and more, were featured last Thursday evening in central Tel Aviv at an olot (female immigrants) night market held as part of the HER Tel Aviv International Summer Festival.

According to HER Tel Aviv, more than 50 female-driven businesses participated in the event.

The organization’s founder and CEO, Sivan Hadari, said organizers worked on the festival for more than six months, bringing together 50 olot-owned small businesses and 35 workshops in English, French, and Spanish.

“We really want to show the diversity and the connection and the love for Israel,” she told The Jerusalem Post.

Hadari said the festival was also part of HER Tel Aviv’s broader effort to help women who have immigrated to Israel build lives in the country.

“Being a woman is a journey, being a Jewish woman is a journey, and being a Jewish woman who made aliyah is a wild journey,” she said. “Our goal at HER is to help olot stay in Israel, thrive and live the Israeli dream, so no olah feels alone ever again.”

Among the businesses featured at the night market was The Pickle Jar, run by couple Jake and Ofir. Jake, an oleh (immigrant) from the United States, founded the business seven years ago. Ofir, who “joined along the way,” has since become the owner.

‘I came to this country on a whim’

“I came to this country on a whim and I made my first jar of pickles on a whim,” Jake told the Post. “They kind of came in the same month, and everyone loved the pickles, so I just kept making pickles.”

“People are going crazy on these,” Ofir said. “It’s going to be a community. A pickle community.”

The Pickle Jar offers a variety of flavors, including sour and spicy pickles. Its stand featured samples for market-goers to try and drew a steady stream of visitors throughout the evening.

Another business owner at the market was Talia, an olah from Belgium who was selling glasswork and jewelry from her business, Talia C.

“I made aliyah in 2012, and I opened my business in 2021,” she said. “I make Judaica and jewelry, but I also specialize in wedding keepsakes. Everything is handmade.”

Showing some of her work, she explained that she uses items from weddings to create commemorative pieces.

One example was a mezuzah made from the glass shattered under the chuppah. She also displayed pieces containing preserved flowers, allowing wedding bouquets to be incorporated into lasting keepsakes.

Tides Accessories was another business represented at the market. Its owner, Shirelle, an olah from New York, showed off the hair scrunchies, headbands, and bandanas she makes for swimmers.

“Everything is made from bathing suit material, so it’s quick to dry and it’s really comfortable in your hair,” she said. “You can use them at the beach or the pool instead of regular scrunchies or hair ties.”

Shirelle said that growing up near the beach, her curly hair would regularly become tangled after swimming, while ponytails would often break or stretch out.

“So, I thought of this idea and they hold much better,” she said. “It’s much more comfortable, and also they’re really cute and stylish and fun.”

Beyond the night market, the festival also featured a panel of women who hold influential roles in Israel.

One of the speakers, Women’s International Zionist Organization chairperson Ora Korazim, told the Post that starting a business as a woman comes with additional challenges.

“Starting a business in Israel is not easy, and mainly not for women,” she said.

Korazim said that challenges ranging from navigating life amid war to pregnancy, childbirth, and maternity leave can disrupt a business.

She added that WIZO works to support women in overcoming such difficulties.

“We are providing some support for these women,” she said. “We are also supporting them by organizing a sort of market for them to expose their businesses and the products they are producing, quite similar to the bazaar they have organized here.”

Another panelist who spoke to the Post was Yocheved Ruttenberg, founder of the Sword of Iron – Israel Volunteer Corp, an organization dedicated to facilitating and bolstering volunteerism in Israel.

Ruttenberg said that although starting an organization outside the US presented certain challenges, being a woman had also been an advantage.

‘Taking action’

“Being a woman has been one of the greatest assets that I have in building this,” she said. “So many people want to help me. It’s like, ‘It’s a young girl, doing something, taking action.’”

Nevertheless, she said, building the organization has required creativity.

“You don’t have access to the normal things you would typically have in America,” she said. “So, you have to be very innovative, think on your feet, be quick. But there’s no better place to build community or to build something that you want to build than Israel.”

In addition to the market and the panel, the HER Tel Aviv International Summer Festival also featured live music, workshops, a language-exchange cafe, a letter-writing booth for IDF soldiers, and an English-language comedy show featuring female comedians.

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The fourth annual MEAD conference opened in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, bringing together senior figures from the United States, Israel, and the Middle East at one of the most consequential moments since the forum was established.

Representatives from 24 countries, including 12 Middle Eastern states, are expected to participate, marking the largest international representation in MEAD’s history.

The gathering comes amid continued uncertainty over Iran, navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, the situation in Lebanon, and efforts to advance a political and security framework for Gaza.

At the same time, regional governments are examining new security frameworks and possible mechanisms for greater cooperation, as energy security and freedom of navigation are increasingly viewed as strategic concerns rather than solely economic issues.

Regional leaders meet in Washington as Iran conflict dominates Middle East 

The conference will convene senior figures from the US administration, security and intelligence establishments, the Israeli government, and Middle Eastern states, alongside leading representatives from technology, business, energy, finance, and government.

Its broader objective is to strengthen American engagement in the Middle East, deepen ties among regional partners, and explore new avenues for regional integration amid profound uncertainty.

The conference is also taking place ahead of elections in Israel and the US midterm elections, two political events that could significantly shape the future of US-Israel relations and American policy in the Middle East.

This year’s gathering includes representatives from 12 Middle Eastern states, including countries that do not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel.

Their participation has been made possible by the conference’s longstanding rules on confidentiality and participation, which allow officials and senior figures from countries without formal diplomatic ties with Israel to join strategic discussions.

The presence of officials from across the region reflects MEAD’s evolution in recent years into an influential forum for dialogue among American, Israeli, and Middle Eastern policymakers.

One of MEAD’s defining features is its operation under the Chatham House Rule, which allows participants to use information received during discussions while preventing them from identifying the source or publicly attributing individual remarks.

The framework is designed to facilitate frank exchanges, including on highly sensitive issues that officials would be unlikely to address in a public or formal diplomatic setting.

The confidentiality afforded by the conference is especially important at a time when virtually every public statement concerning Israel and the Middle East is subject to intense scrutiny.

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The Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday allowed a tender for 1,234 homes in the E1 area to move forward, but did not decide whether the underlying construction plans are legal.

That means the government may continue looking for developers, but the ruling is not final approval for construction. Three petitions challenging the E1 plans remain before the court, which could still cancel or change them.

E1 is a largely undeveloped area between Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim. Its location has made it one of the most disputed construction projects in the West Bank.

Supporters say building there will strengthen the connection between Ma’aleh Adumim and Jerusalem. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who holds authority over civilian affairs in the West Bank, has also presented the project as a way to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Opponents say Israeli construction in the area would interrupt Palestinian territorial continuity between the northern and southern West Bank and further separate east Jerusalem from surrounding Palestinian communities.

Judge rejected request to freeze the tender

Judge Nimrod Flax rejected a request by Palestinian residents and Israeli rights groups to freeze the tender until those

Judge Nimrod Flax rejected a request by Palestinian residents and Israeli rights groups to freeze the tender until those petitions are decided.

A temporary freeze is intended to prevent something irreversible from happening before a court can rule on the main case. Flax found that no such danger existed at this stage because construction is still far away.

Contractors have until October 19 to bid for the project. Their proposals must then be examined, winners selected, and building permits obtained before work can begin.

Flax said the court was likely to decide the petitions before any physical change took place at the site.

The state has also promised that it will not later argue that the tender has progressed too far for the court to intervene. Prospective contractors have been warned that the project is under legal challenge and that any rights they receive will depend on the final ruling.

In other words, a company may win the tender but cannot rely on that victory if the court later cancels the plans.

Palestinian residents file a request to freeze the tender from proceeding

The request for a freeze was filed by Palestinian residents and the organizations Ir Amim, Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights, and Peace Now.

They argued that allowing the tender to advance would draw private developers into the project and make it increasingly difficult to stop. If contracts were signed before the petitions were decided, they said, the court might be left with fewer practical ways to remedy any problems it found.

The petitioners also accused the government of rushing to advance the project before the October 27 election.

The tender was published on August 18 without advance notice, despite an earlier undertaking by state attorneys to alert the petitioners before it was issued. The petitioners described the move as an attempt to create facts on the ground before the election and before the court could intervene.

The state acknowledged that its lawyers had not been informed before the tender was published because of an internal error. It argued, however, that the promise to provide notice was informal and that the mistake did not justify stopping the tender.

It also maintained that the danger described by the petitioners was still theoretical, as no bids had yet been submitted, no developers had been selected, and no construction was imminent.

Ma’aleh Adumim Municipality, which also opposed a freeze, submitted aerial images that it said showed that the area covered by the tender was empty of buildings. It agreed to notify the court seven days before physical development begins if the petitions have not been decided by then.

Petitioners say the project would force Palestinian communities from surrounding area

The petitioners argue that the harm cannot be measured only by whether buildings currently stand on the specific construction plots. They say the wider E1 project would eventually force Palestinian and Bedouin communities from the surrounding area and lead to home demolitions.

Tuesday’s ruling addressed only whether the tender had to be paused while those claims are examined.

The three main petitions challenge two plans for approximately 3,400 homes in E1. They allege that the plans were approved through a defective and discriminatory process that failed to properly consider their effect on nearby Palestinian communities.

The state and Ma’aleh Adumim reject those allegations and argue that the plans were lawfully approved. They say stopping the project would delay housing and development intended to meet the needs of the area’s growing population.

The court previously refused to freeze the plans in October and November 2025. In June, however, it declined to dismiss the petitions and ordered the state to answer them in detail.

The petitioners argued that the June order showed that their case had gained strength. Flax rejected that interpretation, explaining that asking the state for a full response was a procedural step and nothing more.

Those larger questions remain unresolved. The tender may continue for now, but the project remains subject to the court’s final decision.

Separately on Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband accused settlers of carrying out ethnic cleansing in parts of the West Bank, saying the Israeli government had too often turned a blind eye and that some of its members had supported forced displacement. He separately cited E1 as a project that would cut across land sought for a future Palestinian state and put a two-state solution at risk.

Reuters and Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.

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Advocacy groups and social media accounts have launched public witness appeals following reports that a Jewish schoolboy was beaten outside Belsize Park station in northwest London last Friday.

The appeals state that the victim was attacked on his way home from Hasmonean Boys Middle School on Friday afternoon. According to notices circulated online, a pictured group of boys was allegedly involved in the assault. Some social media posts noted that the police were appealing for information.

A young Jewish boy from a local Jewish school in Belsize Park, NW London was beaten badly by these lads pictured below👇

Police are looking for this group of boys in connection with an alleged assault involving a Jewish schoolboy.

If you recognise anyone pictured or have… pic.twitter.com/n1jhUh9o5x

— James J. Marlow (@James_J_Marlow) September 6, 2026

In response to inquiries from The Jerusalem Post, both the Metropolitan Police and the British Transport Police stated they had no record of any report matching the incident or any active official police appeal.

Met has no record of police report

A media officer for the Metropolitan Police stated that after speaking with the duty inspector for Central North London, “the Met has no record of any report of this nature on the date and location you’ve given – so any appeal for information has not come from us.” 

Witness appeal.

Police are appealing for information about three boys after reports of a Jewish boy being viciously attacked outside Belsize Park station at the end of last week.

The boy was on his way home from Hasmonean Boys Middle School – a nearby Jewish school – on Friday… pic.twitter.com/VusuHzLNaT

— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) September 7, 2026

A media officer for the Metropolitan Police said, after speaking with the duty inspector for Central North London, that “the Met has no record of any report of this nature on the date and location you’ve given – so any appeal for information has not come from us.”

Similarly, a media relations advisor for the British Transport Police stated, “I can’t see anything on our logs since Monday last week referring to an assault at Belsize Park, and cannot see that we’ve put out an appeal in relation.”

Jewish Schoolboy Beaten Outside London Station

Witnesses are sought after the alleged attack near Belsize Park station. Anyone with information or footage should contact the Metropolitan Police. pic.twitter.com/7qhsclDlNy

— Eli Goldman | אלי גולדמן (@EliGoldman) September 6, 2026

The Campaign Against Antisemitism urged witnesses to come forward with information and direct any details to community channels. Hertfordshire Friends of Israel shared a public notice asking anyone who recognizes anyone pictured or who has information to send a private message, while advising the public not to approach anyone they believe may be involved.

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Reports from Yemen that express optimism and portray a new offensive against the Houthis as potentially successful may be part of a path to reshape the Middle East.

Some had assumed that the US and Israeli strikes on Iran in February would lead to a new Middle East. Under this concept, the Iranian regime would either collapse or be so weakened that the whole region would change.

The Iranian regime has withstood the blows so far. It’s possible that the regime won’t collapse and that it will continue on, in much the same way Saddam’s regime continued on throughout the 1990s.

If the Iranian regime doesn’t collapse, that doesn’t mean change is stymied. In fact, a blockaded and weakened Iran may not be able to support its proxies as much.

The Houthis have, to some extent, become the “last man standing” among the Iranian proxies. This is because they have not faced the pressure or the fighting that the other proxies have faced.

Iranian proxy forces heavily degraded

Hezbollah has seen its rocket arsenal badly degraded. Hamas has lost half of Gaza and many of its fighters. It can be argued that Hamas and Hezbollah are now weakened back to their 2002-2006 levels. They are still dangerous. However, they are different. Israel’s defense technology has also improved exponentially since the 2002-2006 era.

The area that is controlled by Hamas and Hezbollah is today quite small, considering the size of the Middle East. Iran, for instance, is around 150 times larger than Lebanon.

Hezbollah only controls several areas in Lebanon today. The strength of Hezbollah lies in its support among the Shi’ite minority in Lebanon. The Shi’ites also support Amal, another party. Amal generally runs interference for Hezbollah, tacitly supporting it in some ways, or at least excusing its activity.

Amal’s leader, Nabih Berri, was born in 1938 and has been Speaker of Parliament in Lebanon since 1992. With Hezbollah weakened and a potential leadership crisis in Amal, change in Lebanon is plausible over time.

Another pro-Iranian axis in the region is the Shi’ite militias in Iraq. They have some 100,000 fighters. They are divided into numerous brigades of various militias.

These militias also come under the government-backed Popular Mobilization Forces. The US is pressuring Iraq to rein in the militias.

Some militias might agree to place their arms under state control. Others are saying they will not. They want the US to fully leave Iraq by September 30. Then they say they may consider the changes to their armament. If they do agree to some changes, this could fundamentally reshape Iraq.

The spotlight now focuses on the Houthis. Cut off from Iranian funding, supplies, and Iranian know-how for missiles and some components, they may be weaker than before. Iran used to smuggle weapons to them using various types of ships. Now the US has a blockade off the coast of Iran.

Perhaps the ships have stopped. Saudi Arabia and its allies in the Yemen government forces may sense an opportunity. Optimism is rising in the Yemen government ranks and among supporters of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

Houthis poor at city, coastal defense, but hard to dislodge from highlands

Michael Knights, an Adjunct Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and an expert on Yemen and the fighting there, wrote on X/Twitter on September 7 about the challenges facing Yemeni forces fighting the Houthis.

He noted, discussing the Houthis that they are “serially poor at defending cities and coastal areas; but they would be harder to dislodge from highlands and no Yemeni offensive has ever successfully developed a ‘second echelon’ of forces to exploit an initial break-in onto the centrally massif. The Houthis only still hold terrain because of the weakness of Yemeni/int’l forces, not intrinsic Houthi strength.”

Knights has written two important books on the war in Yemen, including ‘25 Days to Aden: The Unknown Story of Arabian Elite Forces at War’ and ‘The Race For Mukalla: Arabian Elite Forces and the War Against Al-Qaeda.’

He also noted on X on September 7 that “the winning formula against the Houthis is a concentric attack on [more than] 6 fronts with air power intervening as needed. The Houthis have never successfully defended terrain, even plateau, under such conditions.”

The Houthis are now facing pressure. The question is whether they will begin to lose ground or if this offensive will stall. Even if it does stall, lessons may be learned.

Iran is having a harder time backing its proxies. This is a far cry from where Iran was a decade ago. It used to feel that it controlled much of the region. The IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani had encouraged Moscow to intervene in Syria in 2015.

The Houthis were on the march toward Aden. Hamas felt confident in Gaza. Hezbollah was able to threaten Israel in Lebanon and Syria.

Now, much of that map of Iranian expansion in the region has changed. Iran has still seen successes. It didn’t collapse under US and Israeli airstrikes.

It has lashed out around the region and threatened US bases in the Gulf. It has launched 1,000 missile and drone attacks on Iraq and appeared to pre-empt a Kurdish uprising. Iran is still hollowing out countries in the region. However, it’s possible that some more of its dominoes may fall. Decades of Iranian investment in proxies is no longer paying off. Soleimani was killed in 2000 alongside Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

Iranian proxies have fired their last shot in some cases. Recovery for them will take time. Pressure on them could lead to a lasting defeat for the proxies.

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German sportswear giant Adidas has issued an apology following backlash and international calls for a boycott of the company over a local marketing campaign in Israel.

The promotion featured Shalev Biton, a disabled veteran and former soldier in the Israel Defense Forces who lost his leg during the May 2021 conflict in Gaza, to highlight the company’s single shoe service.

The initiative, which was restricted to local Israeli outlets rather than running globally, included posters and videos showcasing disabled athletes who require only one shoe due to amputations. Biton, who served in the Nahal Brigade’s Battalion 931, was seriously wounded in May 2021, during Operation Guardian of the Walls, when an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza struck his military vehicle on the Israeli side of the border.

Following extensive rehabilitation, he returned to running with a prosthetic limb.

The Adidas campaign quickly drew sharp criticism and coordinated boycott calls across social media platforms from pro-Palestinian activists and international figures, including Spanish actor Javier Bardem. Critics pointed to the severe humanitarian crisis and high number of amputees in Gaza resulting from ongoing hostilities, arguing that featuring an Israeli military veteran was insensitive.

Adidas says campaign was not intended to cause offense

In a statement addressing the controversy, Adidas’s global headquarters distanced itself from the regional initiative and apologized for any distress caused. The company stated that “it was never our intent to cause offense and we apologize for anyone affected.”

The company emphasized that the single shoe service was designed to promote inclusion for people with limb differences, having launched initially in Europe in partnership with disability groups, and noted that the program expands across various international regions, including the Middle East. Adidas added that it takes the feedback seriously and will “continue to listen, learn, and work to ensure that our actions reflect the inclusive values we stand for.”

Biton describes sustained online harassment, turns to supporters for backing

Biton took to social media to address the intense wave of hostility directed at him online.

Writing to his Instagram followers, Biton posted that he had “been hit by an absolutely insane wave of hatred and reports from all over the world,” noting that “some of the biggest pro-Palestinian pages in the world, with millions of followers and millions of likes and shares, have been posting about me again and again, and the abuse and reports just don’t stop.”

Expressing gratitude to his supporters, Biton urged them to help strengthen his online space against the campaign of mass reporting and harassment, writing, “I want to feel that you’re here with me.”

This post was originally published on here. 

The Iran conflict will “only be resolved through a deal,” Qatari Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told CNN on Monday, arguing that the “nucleus” of the broader regional crisis was the war Israel fought in Gaza.

Acknowledging that sanctions have been a “staple” in diplomacy in the Middle East for some time, Ansari claimed that it hadn’t “yielded the results that have been expected.”

Arguing that sanctions only impact the economy, the people, and the state’s ability to survive, Ansari asserted that “this issue will only be resolved through a deal. It will only be resolved at the negotiation table.”

“Whatever leverage is used on either side will end up as an item on an agreement that (4:51) is signed at the end,” he reasoned. “The sooner we get to that agreement, the less suffering that will be had on the international economy, [and]  also on the peoples of this region.”

Qatar, like many of Iran’s neighboring Gulf states, has been repeatedly attacked by the Islamic Republic since Israel and the United States struck Iran at the end of February. Despite Doha’s economy and energy infrastructure not being spared from Iranian drones and missiles, Ansari framed the attacks as the consequence of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

‘The nucleus of this issue was what happened in Gaza’

“We’ve said always in Qatar and in the region, the nucleus of this issue was what happened (0:50) in Gaza, and we need to go back to that, starting with the recent developments in the Strait of Hormuz and ending with finding a solution to the Palestinian issue,” Ansari said. “This cannot be dealt with as an afterthought. It has to be something that we work on carefully, regionally, and working with the international partners.”

Dr. Ariel Admoni, a researcher with Ariel University and Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, told The Jerusalem Post that Ansari’s framing of Gaza, and by extension the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is typical of Qatar’s narrative.

By presenting the current regional climate as a “spillover” from the Gaza war, Admoni said that Doha could adopt an “I told you so” stance with other powers in the region and attempt to create its own version of peace in the region. Admoni warned that Doha’s version of peace would rely on security concessions from Israel and the West.

Ansari said that Qatar’s two main priorities were saying the strait is open and ensuring there is “no military escalation in the region, whether it be the missiles falling on our residential areas in the Gulf or the attacks on Iran.”

Admoni suggested that Ansari’s rather forgiving stance toward the Islamic Republic could be connected to the LPG shipments Qatar has been able to make to India and Japan.

Three liquefied natural gas cargoes loaded in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates were transferred between ships outside the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks for delivery to India and Japan, according to ship-tracking firms. Unlike crude oil, ship-to-ship (STS) ⁠LNG transfers are unusual.

“This kind of coordination appeared because most likely Qatar promised Iran amounts of money, while at the same time coordinating with Trump some kind of maneuver regarding Qatari gas,” Admoni theorized. “From their perspective, you need Qatari gas for stability, or at least to reduce instability… Qatar tried to project an image that without Qatar and Qatari gas, the international economy is fragile and in danger.”

Ansari said he doubted there was an immediate solution to the crisis, suggesting instead that the “stalemate” between Washington and Tehran could only be phased out rather than ended immediately.

Admoni noted that the comments came at a time when Europe is increasingly concerned about having sufficient gas supplies for the winter, with Qatari LNG exports still disrupted. He argued that Ansari’s remarks therefore serve as a form of international pressure that benefits Qatar.

Adding to that pressure, Ansari warned CNN that closing the Strait of Hormuz could not become normalized, especially given there are other waterways that could be “weaponized in this way” and with potentially more “damaging consequences.”

“We need to kill this in its infancy. It cannot become the new normal in war for countries to just close waterways in this way,” he said. “We’ve seen death and destruction at unbelievable levels as a result of maritime security being affected. The world today, with just one strait being affected like this, is facing inflation problems, is facing energy security problems, food security problems. We are facing an industrial catastrophe if this continues, and this is just one waterway.”

US officials assessed that Hormuz was losing its strategic value

Though Ansari insisted that the continued closure of the strait has been a catastrophe, former Wilson Center global fellow Thomas O’Donnell told the Post only weeks ago that US officials were correct in assessing that Hormuz was losing its strategic value. New pipelines are being created which bypass Hormuz entirely.

Admoni said that in the latest round of conflict, GCC states had also been less “convincing” on a unified approach toward Iran, and the intensity of the attacks has weakened. 

This post was originally published on here. 

The United Kingdom’s recent decision to impose sanctions on Israeli settlements and individuals in the West Bank is a “disgusting” political calculation that could bankrupt major British companies, Florida Congressman Randy Fine (R) warned in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.

Fine, a leading voice in Florida’s pro-Israel legislative efforts, reacted sharply to the UK’s policy shift, attributing it to Britain’s changing demographics and what he described as a “desperate effort” to appeal to certain voter blocs.

“I think it’s disgusting, and I think it shows the risk of the mass Islamification of Western societies,” Fine said. “This is a political calculation. They let all of these people in who hate Britain, and now they’re catering to them for votes.”

He said Britain’s trajectory should serve as a “warning sign” for the United States on immigration and social integration.

Fine, who helped craft Florida’s anti-BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) legislation, said the consequences for the UK would be legal and economic, not merely rhetorical. Under Florida law, the state is prohibited from doing business with companies or entities that boycott Israel.

‘The law in Florida… if you boycott Israel, we boycott you’

“The law in the state of Florida is that if you boycott Israel, we boycott you,” Fine stated. “It is the law of Florida, and it will be enforced. It will destroy the British economy because Florida is not the only place that passed that law.”

Fine cited Airbnb’s 2018 decision to delist properties in Israeli settlements as an example. Florida responded by moving to place the vacation rental company on its list of scrutinized companies, threatening the platform’s ability to operate in its largest market.

“Airbnb needed to work with the state of Florida to collect the taxes on its bookings, and the state said, ‘We can’t do that anymore,’” Fine recalled. “A few days later, they abandoned the policy. There are dozens of British companies that have major operations in Florida. They may all go bankrupt as a result of this.”

Asked whether a trade dispute with the UK could also damage Florida’s economy, Fine dismissed the concern, pointing to the size of US state economies.

Economies of Florida, Texas larger than UK

“I think they’re wrong,” Fine said. “The economies of Florida and Texas combined are larger than the economy of the UK. We will be fine. That tiny little island will not.”

Fine said that between 18 and 38 other US states have enacted similar anti-boycott laws, creating what he described as a potential “ripple effect” that could see British firms blacklisted across much of the American market.

He argued that pressure was likely already mounting within the UK’s private sector. “I suspect what is happening right now is major British companies are going to 10 Downing Street and saying, ‘Your idiotic effort to cater to Muslim voters is going to bankrupt our business. You need to stop it.’”

Fine concluded that enforcing the statutes was a matter of settled law in Florida, regardless of any diplomatic tensions that might follow.

“Enforcing the law is not optional. This law has been on the books for eight years,” Fine said. “We’re going to stand up to Muslim terror, whether it’s in Florida, whether it’s in Israel, or whether it’s in the UK”.

This post was originally published on here. 

The Palestinian Authority’s Embassy in London welcomed Tuesday’s announcement by British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband stating that the UK will ban all trade with West Bank settlements.

The embassy stated that the announcement “affirmed the illegality of Israel’s occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including east Jerusalem, in line with international law and the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion, and consequently adopting a set of measures, including a full ban on trade with Israeli settlements in Palestine that are illegal according to international law.”

Israel disputes the legality of the status quo in the West Bank, and counts east Jerusalem as full sovereign territory of the State of Israel as part of its capital city.

Today marks a turning point in UK–Palestine relations — from recognition to action, from condemnation to consequence. This is my message following the historic announcement by the Rt Hon Ed Miliband in the British Parliament earlier today. pic.twitter.com/OJRQZqkZim

— Husam Zomlot (@hzomlot) September 8, 2026

“This important action and policy demonstrate[s] that international law must be upheld and implemented without fear or favor, and that violations must have consequences,” the PA Embassy wrote.

“This decision gives practical effect to the international legal consensus, including the July 2024 Advisory Opinion of the ICJ, which affirmed the obligation of all states not to recognize as lawful, or assist in maintaining, the illegal situation arising from Israel’s occupation,” the embassy claimed.

The UK’s decision also “contributes to implementing UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which reaffirmed that Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, have no legal validity and constitute a violation of international law,” the embassy added.

PA’s UK Ambassador Zomlot praises Britain’s ‘leadership’

The PA’s Ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, also issued a personal statement reacting to Miliband’s statement, praising the UK’s “leadership in translating recognition and international legal obligations into effective action to uphold the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and viability of the state of Palestine.”

“We welcome this decision as a turning point in the UK–Palestine relationship and commend Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband for their leadership in translating recognition and international legal obligations into effective action to uphold the… https://t.co/0Q2uSmTc0j

— Husam Zomlot (@hzomlot) September 8, 2026

The decision is a “turning point in the UK-Palestine relationship,” and comes as a “natural” follow-up to the UK’s recognition of a Palestinian state one year ago at the UN General Assembly in September 2025.

“It represents continuity of purpose, not an end in itself,” Zomlot said, referring to the UK’s 2025 decision.

“Recognition cannot be meaningful if the territory of the recognized state is simultaneously being taken from its people in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” he claimed.

“Protecting the Palestinian people from illegal occupation, annexation and apartheid, ending the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and holding to account those who have committed war crimes – these are essential for making that recognition real, meaningful, and enduring,” Zomlot claimed.

The accusations of Israel pursuing apartheid policies, or having committed genocide or war crimes during the Israel-Hamas War or other periods in the conflict, are heavily disputed by Jerusalem.

“The UK has a unique historic responsibility towards Palestine,” Zomlot said, hinting at the role the UK played during the British Mandate period between World War I and the establishment of an independent State of Israel in 1948.

“With today’s announcement, the UK has an opportunity to assume a leading role by bringing together partners across Europe, the Commonwealth, and the wider international community to end complicity in violations of international law. No state, company, or institution should contribute to, facilitate, or profit from illegal settlements or the annexation of occupied Palestinian land,” Zomlot stated

“We call on the UK Government to adopt a comprehensive set of measures to ensure that all sectors of the British state and economy are free from complicity in the illegal occupation and settlement enterprise,” he said.

PA ‘ready to work’ with UK gov’t on Israeli arms embargo, sanctions on settlement sponsorship, end to ‘illegal dealings’

“We stand ready to work with the UK Government and British authorities to ensure remaining legal obligations are met, including a full arms embargo, sanctions on agencies and institutions of the Israeli State that sponsor illegal settlements, and an end to illegal dealings in the OPT by the business and financial services sectors,” Zomlot added.

“These courageous steps by the leadership of the United Kingdom, grounded in international law, will contribute to advancing peace, security, and stability, preserving the two-state solution, and bring justice through accountability and the ending of Israel’s unlawful occupation,” he claimed.

“They will help pave the way for the independence of the State of Palestine on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and for the realization of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,” he concluded. 

This post was originally published on here.