A resident of eastern Jerusalem was arrested on suspicion of planning to murder Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, Pool)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for complete Jewish control of Jerusalem during a Flag Day speech on Wednesday’s Jerusalem Day celebration.
He declared that “Jews prayed freely” on the Temple Mount, an action that flouted the long-standing protocol forbidding Jews from praying on the Temple Mount to avoid sparking interreligious conflict.
Ben Gvir said, “I came back here, for one thing, to convey a message to Hamas…This is our Jerusalem, Our Damascus Gate, our Temple Mount!”
He added, “Today, according to my policy, Jews entered the Old City freely, and they also prayed freely on the Temple Mount. ”
“We say in the simplest way – this is ours. This is the message to Hamas,” Ben Gvir declared.
“I pray for the wounded, I pray for the release of the kidnapped. But I say – we need to defeat Hamas and Hezbollah and win the war,” he explained.”
“This ours, our Temple Mount, our Damascus Gate – let the whole world know it,” Ben Gvir concluded.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement, ‘The status quo at the Temple Mount has not changed and will not change.”
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Jerusalem police announced, “Throughout the day thus far, 18 suspects have been arrested on suspicion of violent offenses, assault, threats, and disorderly conduct.”
The statement continued, “Earlier, some of the blocked roads were reopened, and the police continue to operate to maintain security and order.”
The police arrested five 16-year-olds who threw objects at journalists close to Damascus Gate.
However, some journalists claimed the police, not just the protesters, were restricting their access.
A Yediot Aharonot police correspondent, Inon Yttach, posted on X, “Today, the journalists were the focus of the police and the marchers.”
He added, “During the flag march, the police decided it was inappropriate for newspapers to cover from the steps of the Damascus Gate and began pushing us towards a nearby garden.”
“During the fight, as you can see, the policeman started pinching me in the stomach. They thought they wouldn’t see, but here is the picture before you,” he concluded.
Hochul has taken decisive action in response to the rollout of the state’s cannabis industry. Credit: X.com
Hochul Shelves NYC Congestion Pricing Plan at the 11th Hour Due to Controversy
Edited by: TJVNews.com
In a surprising move, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Wednesday that she is indefinitely postponing the implementation of the highly anticipated congestion pricing plan, according to a report on Wednesday in the New York Times. The decision comes just weeks before the plan was set to go into effect, sparking a wave of reactions from various stakeholders.
Governor Hochul cited the potential unintended consequences of the congestion pricing system as the primary reason for her decision. “After careful consideration I have come to the difficult decision that implementing the planned congestion pricing system risks too many unintended consequences,” she stated, as was indicated in the NYT report. She directed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (M.T.A.) to pause the program indefinitely.
Hochul acknowledged the challenging nature of the decision, noting the ongoing economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on working families. She expressed concern that the toll, which would have charged drivers using E-ZPass up to $15 to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street, could further strain middle-class households. “Let’s be real: A $15 charge may not seem like a lot to someone who has the means, but it can break the budget of a hard-working middle-class household,” Hochul said, as per the NYT report.
The announcement has drawn significant criticism from environmentalists, transit advocates, and economists. Many accused Governor Hochul of abandoning a plan that had been decades in the making, suggesting that the decision was influenced by political considerations in an election year. The information provided in the NYT report said that the congestion pricing plan, which would have been the first of its kind in the nation, was slated to begin on June 30 and was expected to significantly reduce traffic congestion and generate substantial revenue for public transportation improvements.
Environmental groups and transit advocates expressed their disappointment, arguing that the plan was crucial for reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality in one of the world’s most congested urban areas, the NYT report affirmed. They also emphasized the potential benefits for public transit funding, which is desperately needed to maintain and enhance New York City’s aging transit infrastructure.
Economists, who had supported the plan as a means to manage urban congestion and generate economic benefits, were also dismayed by the postponement. Noted in the NYT report was that they pointed out that congestion pricing has been successfully implemented in other major cities around the world, such as London and Stockholm, leading to reduced traffic congestion and improved public transit systems.
In the days leading up to her announcement, Governor Hochul informed the White House and the top House Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries, of her plans. Two individuals familiar with the conversations stated that Jeffries remained neutral on the issue and did not direct Hochul to delay the plan.
The governor’s last-minute doubts began to circulate in Albany on Tuesday night, quickly becoming the focal point of discussion by Wednesday morning, the penultimate day of the legislative session. The NYT report said that while few lawmakers openly supported the optics of taxing their constituents, many had come to see the plan as a necessary evil after decades of debate, hearings, studies, and planning.
Governor Hochul herself had been a public advocate for the plan, telling attendees at the Global Economic Summit in Ireland just two weeks prior that implementing congestion pricing was critical to “making cities more livable.”
The congestion pricing plan is currently facing eight separate lawsuits, with plaintiffs including the Trucking Association of New York and New Jersey Governor Philip D. Murphy. The NYT report revealed that Murphy’s case, being argued in Federal District Court in Newark, is considered the most serious challenge to the plan. The plaintiffs are seeking a more comprehensive environmental study, arguing that the plan’s impacts have not been adequately assessed.
These legal battles highlight the complexity and high stakes of implementing such a significant policy change. The ongoing court cases underscore the contentious nature of congestion pricing and the diverse interests affected by its potential implementation.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has expressed conditional support for a temporary pause to better understand the financial impact on working-class New Yorkers. According to the NYT report, Andy Eichar, a spokesman for Jeffries, stated, “To the extent immediate implementation of congestion pricing is being reconsidered, Leader Jeffries supports a temporary pause of limited duration to better understand the financial impact on working-class New Yorkers.”
The future of the congestion pricing plan remains uncertain. While the temporary pause provides an opportunity for further study and consideration, it also delays the potential benefits that proponents argue are desperately needed. The ongoing legal battles will play a crucial role in determining the plan’s viability and implementation timeline.
Former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, in an interview with army radio on Wednesday, warned that Iran is planning a holocaust for Israel within two years.
He said, “We are being targeted by an Iranian plan for our destruction.”
“After Iran obtains a nuclear bomb… Iran will attack Israel to destroy it from many fronts with tens of thousands of missiles at the same time,” he added.
“They are planning a holocaust for us in the next two years,” Liberman declared.
On Tuesday, Liberman said in an interview on 103FM, “We must understand that Iran is planning an all-out attack within two years, where their entire axis is working against Israel.”
He added, “A credible and severe attack from Iran itself, from Lebanon by Hezbollah, from Gaza by Hamas, from Syria by Sh’ite militias, from Iraq and its [Iran-backed] militias, and from the Houthis in Yemen.”
Liberman concluded, “Of course, they will also try to spark something in Judea and Samaria.”
During a meeting, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh declared that they would see the day when “Israel will be eliminated.”
US TEACHERS PUT POSITIVE SPIN ON HITLER, ASK STUDENTS TO DRAW SWASTIKAS
Haniyeh was visiting Iran, representing Hamas at the funeral of Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash.
“The divine promise to eliminate the Zionist entity will be fulfilled, and we will see the day when Palestine will rise from the river to the sea,” Khamenei told Haniyeh during the meeting.
Haniyeh responded, “God willing we will see that day together.”
Referencing recent anti-Israel protests on college campuses, Iranian religious leader expressed approval of widespread endorsement of their joint cause.
“Who would have believed that one day, slogans in support of Palestine would be raised in US universities and that the flag of Palestine would be raised there?”
Anti-Israel protesters at Stanford University injured a police officer during a vandalism spree inside and outside the president’s office early Wednesday, the last day of classes, and spray-painted graffiti reading, “Kill cops” and “the resistance.” They locked themselves in the building with bike chains and zip ties, forcing law enforcement to break a window to enter.
Sad to see this at Stanford today 😢
University staff are currently taping butcher paper over the vandalism, as it will take careful effort to remove the spray paint from the 135-year-old stone of the Quad. Some damage is permanent, leaving a visible scar. pic.twitter.com/v1OSO532e7
Thirteen students were arrested, according to a Stanford spokeswoman. Stanford’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter in an Instagram post urged supporters to rally in front of a local jail where protesters were detained. The protesters said they were there to pressure Stanford to divest from Israel, disclose past investments, and drop discipline proceedings that administrators have initiated for anti-Israel demonstrations.
“We are appalled that our students chose to take this action and we will work with law enforcement to ensure that they face the full consequences allowed by law,” Dee Mostofi, Stanford’s assistant vice president for external communications, said in a statement. “All arrested students will be immediately suspended and in case any of them are seniors, they will not be allowed to graduate.”
Mostofi noted that protesters shoved and injured a police officer while they were “interfering with a transport vehicle.”
The break-in and vandalism at the president’s office, which the university said led to “extensive damage,” are the latest examples of campus turmoil fomented by anti-Israel activists. Earlier this year, a mob took over the campus green for 120 days and harassed Jewish students. Last month, students launched a “People’s University for Palestine” on campus, prompting disciplinary warnings from administrators—which in turn drew backlash from influential Muslim and progressive groups.
Wednesday’s takeover of the president’s office started at 5:30 a.m., the Stanford Daily reported, as about 10 students locked themselves inside with bike chains, ladders, and chairs, while putting tin foil over security cameras. Around 50 others linked arms around the outside, chanting and spraying graffiti.
Graffiti messages left by the protesters included “F**k Amerikka”–sprayed on a campus war memorial–“Death 2 Isr@hell,” and “Free Palestine.”
One protester, hiding her face behind a mask and sunglasses and wearing a keffiyeh scarf, posted a video of herself from inside the office. She declared that the building would be renamed “Dr. Adnan’s Office” after Palestinian surgeon Adnan Al-Bursh, who died last month in an Israeli prison.
Here is a real live Keffiyeh Karen who took over the office of Stanford Univerisity’s President Waller, stated her demands and refused to leave until all her demands are met.
It ended with her arrest but the sense of entitlement is astounding. pic.twitter.com/wplDbSZY7n
— Manhattan Mingle (@ManhattanMingle) June 5, 2024
The video also features a photograph of Refaat Alareer, a Palestinian who was killed in a December airstrike. Alareer compared progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) to “an Israeli Neo-Nazi” after the congresswoman, who frequently criticizes Israel, condemned Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attacks on women and children. He also asked whether a Jewish infant who had been murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7 had been baked to death in an oven “with or without baking powder.”
Stanford has seen high-profile turnover over the last year, after former president Marc Tessier-Lavigne resigned following claims that he included manipulated data in some of his research. Under his tenure, law school students shouted down a conservative federal judge in violation of Stanford’s free speech policies, only to be defended by Stanford’s diversity dean. Tessier-Lavigne was replaced as president by classicist Richard Saller.
The mob at @Stanford defaced a memorial to Americans killed in the line of duty.
Stanford is just one of many California campuses trying to manage anti-Israel disruptions as the academic year winds down. Across the public University of California system, tens of thousands of academic workers—graduate student teachers and researchers—are striking in alliance with anti-Israel protesters. So far, the strike has spread from UC Santa Cruz to UCLA, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, and UC San Diego, according to social media posts from the union. California’s public employee labor board has rejected pleas from UC administrators to end the strike.
In April, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ Chicago chapter hosted a rally where activists chanted “Death to America” to protest the United States’ handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Now, the Teamsters have joined forces with a controversial labor union that has endorsed Palestinian “resistance” against Israel and refers to Zionism as “inherently evil.”
The Teamsters board of directors voted unanimously on Tuesday to accept the Amazon Labor Union as a formal affiliate, the former union announced. The Amazon union garnered widespread praise after organizing a warehouse in Staten Island in 2022, but has since been marred by financial struggles, mismanagement, and failed efforts to organize two other Amazon warehouses. Amazon union founder Christian Smalls, who has been at the center of the labor group’s infighting, called the Teamsters partnership a “historical day for labor in America” that will allow both to “take on Amazon together.”
The sentiment was echoed by Teamsters president Sean O’Brien, best known for being challenged to a fight by Washington Free Beacon Man of the Year Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.) during a Senate hearing last year.
The alliance raises questions for the Teamsters, which represents 1.3 million workers in the delivery and transportation industries. The Teamsters union has largely avoided weighing in on the Israel-Hamas war, in contrast to counterparts like the United Auto Workers, which has called for an Israeli ceasefire in Gaza.
Amazon Labor Union, along with Smalls, has defended the Hamas attack, accused Israel of waging genocide in Gaza, and referred to Zionism as “inherently violent.” After Hamas’s October 7 attack, Smalls tweeted “from the river to the Sea,” a rallying cry for the destruction of the Jewish state. And Smalls, who once took a makeshift guillotine to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s home, wrote “it’s Viva Palestine all day and all night just like it’s Viva Cuba!”
In December, the union said Palestinians have an “inalienable right to … resistance” against Israel. It called on Amazon to end a cloud computing partnership with the Israeli government, and proposed training sessions for Amazon union members to combat the “lies and disinformation” of “the Zionist regime and its imperialist backers.”
Amazon Labor Union attorney Jeanne Mirer leads a left-wing group that has called for “armed struggle” against Israel over the “unlawful occupation” of Palestinians. The group, the National Lawyers Guild International Committee, urged the United States to remove terrorist designations for Hamas and other groups, claiming they are “engaged in exercising their fundamental and protected right to self-defense.”
The Amazon Labor Union paid Mirer’s law firm $150,000 last year, according to the union’s financial disclosure. Another organization led by Mirer, the International Commission for Labor Rights, donated $425,000 to the union, the largest contribution to the union last year.
The Teamsters vote comes as political observers keep a close eye on the union’s endorsement for the 2024 presidential race. While the union has historically backed Democrats—and endorsed Joe Biden in 2020—it recently hosted a forum for former president Donald Trump. The Teamsters, which has said it will issue an endorsement later in the summer, donated $35,000 to the Republican National Committee earlier this year, its first contribution to Republicans since 2004.
The Teamsters did not respond to a request for comment.
Penn anti-Semitic protesters, Ben Franklin statue (Sawerchessread/Wikimedia Commons
Eyal Yakoby- Free Beacon
This year, the erection of an unlawful tent encampment on the campus green by anti-Israel student groups presented a stark challenge to university administrators: They could act swiftly to restore order so that law-abiding students could take part in storied spring traditions, or they could allow the protesters to run the show, forcing the relocation and rearrangement of several year-end undergraduate rituals.
Although Penn’s interim president, Larry Jameson, cited “credible reports of harassing and intimidating conduct” emanating from the tents and described them as a “blatant violations of university policies,” he remained reluctant to move swiftly and disband it.
I graduated from Penn on May 20 and saw firsthand how that delay—16 days—disrupted traditions like Hey Day and my graduation ceremony.
A tradition that began in the early 20th century, Hey Day marks the ascension of junior year students to the senior class. The event is held on the green outside Penn’s College Hall, where, this year, the protesters had pitched their tents.
Jameson had to clear the encampment or move Hey Day elsewhere. Handing a victory to the protesters, who had six days earlier spray-painted “Zios get fuckt” on a campus statue of Benjamin Franklin, Jameson moved the location of Hey Day, and the encampment remained.
Even after two weeks of dithering, when police moved in to remove the encampment on May 10, gates blocked off the center of campus where I once stood.
For 150 years, graduating seniors walked through campus before receiving their diplomas. This year’s class, of which I am a member, could not and did not follow the path trod by our predecessors during our graduation ceremony.
The modifications may appear small, and maybe we should shrug them off. But they marred the spirit of what should have been purely celebratory events. These are not just formalities but collective experiences that connect the present to the past, and the university leadership’s unwillingness to enforce rules and regulations deprived the law-abiding members of the class of 2024 of the opportunity to participate in shared Penn traditions.
Penn presidents, to my knowledge, managed to uphold these traditions during the Great Depression and through the two World Wars and the Cold War. This university leadership proved unable and unwilling to protect them in the face of an unlawful encampment in 2024, which says more about the nature of the school’s leadership than about the severity of the threat.
A fellow Penn student expressed this sentiment poignantly: “Hey Day has been a tradition for years and years, decades, and it’s been on this grass. This encampment is on property that we pay for as tuition payers.”
That remark echoed a broader sentiment of disappointment and disillusionment among students, including me, who won’t forget that university leaders allowed anti-Semitic protesters a final victory even after the encampment was swept away.
In a harrowing incident on May 21, Rabbi Michael Miller, a prominent Jewish leader in New York City, was struck by a hit-and-run e-bike driver, resulting in a broken leg. The New York Post reported on Wednesday that the incident occurred as Rabbi Miller was returning home from a Jewish heritage event downtown to his Upper East Side residence.
Rabbi Miller, who served as the head of the Jewish Community Relations Council for 35 years and is a retired NYPD chaplain, had just exited the No. 6 train station at 77th Street and Lexington Avenue when he was blindsided by an out-of-control e-bike driver, according to the information provided in The New York Post report. The driver, traveling the wrong way down a one-way street, hit Miller as he attempted to cross Third Avenue at 77th Street.
“I fell on the asphalt and broke my right leg. I suffered a contusion on my left leg,” Miller recounted to The Post. Despite the severe impact, he expressed relief that he did not hit his head during the fall. Writhing in pain on the ground, Miller was further shocked by the driver’s reaction. “The e-bike driver looked at me for 2 or 3 seconds — and then drove off,” he told The Post, describing the heartless nature of the hit-and-run.
“I’m lucky to be alive,” Miller told The Post from his rehabilitation facility, where he is undergoing physical therapy and learning to walk again with the aid of a massive boot and a walker.
Fortunately, a good Samaritan from the neighborhood witnessed the incident and promptly called 911. Emergency medical services arrived quickly and transported Miller to the hospital. Indicated in The Post report was that the NYPD reported that no arrest had been made, and the investigation was ongoing. At the scene, a detective from the 19th Precinct interviewed Miller, leveraging his long-standing connections with the NYPD due to his role as a chaplain.
Rabbi Miller was taken to NY Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Hospital, where he underwent nearly 24 hours in the emergency room. The report in The Post said that during his stay, doctors inserted a titanium rod into his broken leg to aid in the healing process. Despite the serious injury, Miller expressed a sense of gratitude, recognizing that the outcome could have been much worse.
Members of the Jewish Community Relations Council and other community leaders have called for swift justice and increased safety measures for pedestrians.
The incident also highlights the growing concerns over e-bike safety in New York City. The rise in e-bike usage has been accompanied by a significant increase in accidents, often involving pedestrians. The lack of regulation and enforcement regarding e-bike operations on city streets has led to numerous dangerous encounters, prompting calls for stricter controls and better infrastructure to protect both riders and pedestrians.
The day after his surgery, Miller received a phone call from Mayor Eric Adams, a long-time acquaintance. The Post reported that during their conversation, they discussed the urgent need for tougher regulations and enforcement against reckless e-scooter drivers. Mayor Adams expressed his support for Miller and reiterated the city’s commitment to addressing the issue.
Miller has become a vocal advocate for stricter laws to regulate e-bikes and mopeds. He demands tougher licensing requirements and harsher penalties for reckless drivers who endanger pedestrians. “Something needs to be done about electric bikes. People are afraid to walk the streets,” Miller told The Post, emphasizing the disregard many e-bike riders have for traffic laws.
Coinciding with Miller’s advocacy, Mayor Eric Adams and the NYPD announced a summer crackdown to seize illegal motorized scooters, mopeds, bikes, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), and other unregistered vehicles from city streets, according to the information provided in The Post report. This initiative aims to improve pedestrian safety and reduce the number of accidents caused by unlicensed and reckless drivers.
The crackdown is part of a broader effort to address the surge in e-bike usage and the associated risks. The city plans to implement more stringent measures to ensure that e-bike and moped riders adhere to traffic laws and operate their vehicles safely.
Miller’s determination to walk again and his active participation in physical therapy reflect his resilience and dedication. His story serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of community leaders in driving change and advocating for public safety.
Rabbi Attacked Outside Chelsea Synagogue; Assailant Shouts “Dirty Jew”
Edited by: Fern Sidman
In a highly distressing incident on Tuesday outside the Chelsea Shul on West 23rd Street in Manhattan, Rabbi Chezky Wolff was attacked by a man who allegedly hurled anti-Semitic invectives before striking the rabbi with a heavy tote bag, as was reported by the New York Post. This altercation, which took place in front of the synagogue, has heightened concerns about rising anti-Semitism in New York City.
Rabbi Wolff was standing outside the Chelsea Shul when a dog ran towards the synagogue’s open doors. Concerned for the safety and decorum of the space, the rabbi asked the dog’s owner to put the animal on a leash, according to The Post report. The owner, later identified in the media as Aleksander Janik, reacted with hostility. According to Wolff, Janik called him a “dirty Jew,” prompting the rabbi to start recording the encounter on his phone.
ATTN New Yorkers: this man hit Rabbi Chezky Wolff outside of his Synagogue with his bag and called him a “Dirty Jew”.
Location: Chelsea Shul on West 23rd between 6th and 7th avenues.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) June 5, 2024
According to Janik, a well-known personal shopper to the stars, admitted to pushing Rabbi Chezky Wolff, which led to a heated exchange and accusations of anti-Semitism. “Yes, I pushed him. I pushed him with my bag,” Janik told The Post on Wednesday. However, he contested the severity of his actions, insisting that it was a defensive move rather than an aggressive attack.
The confrontation began when Rabbi Wolff followed him and recorded him with his phone after a dispute involving Janik’s off-leash dog near the Chelsea Shul. Feeling harassed, Janik admitted to lashing out to send a clear message. “Please go away. Don’t harass me. He was just constantly behind me and it was just inappropriate to follow me with his phone,” Janik explained to The Post.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) June 5, 2024
“I protect my dog and myself. A stranger man who’s following me with their phone in my face, I ought to protect myself. I don’t know him,” Janik told The Post. He also defended his reaction by pointing out that his dog was not a cause for such intense anger. “When he opened the door, he was very angry, upset. I don’t know why. It’s just a dog. It’s not like you can be upset at a dog.”
Janik’s social media presence, filled with images of him alongside celebrities and attending high-profile events, adds another layer of complexity to the incident. His Instagram account, which prominently features the message “‘Ubuntu’ is an ancient African word meaning ‘humanity to others,’” seems to stand in stark contrast to the aggressive behavior captured in the footage.
Surveillance footage obtained by The Post provides a detailed account of the incident. The video shows Janik first slapping the phone out of Wolff’s hand and then striking Wolff in the head with his tote bag. The Post report indicated that the attack, witnessed by stunned diners nearby, resulted in Rabbi Wolff grabbing his head and picking up his belongings from the sidewalk as Janik, accompanied by his unleashed dog, walked away seemingly unperturbed.
Rabbi Wolff pursued Janik, demanding an explanation for the anti-Semitic slurs and violent behavior. Indicated in The Post report was that the footage shows Wolff persistently following the assailant, who remained indifferent and quickly ducked into an apartment building on the same block.
The NYPD and paramedics responded to the scene, but details about the incident were not immediately available from the police. The rabbi’s lawyer, Cary London of Shulman & Hill, indicated that Janik was hiding in his Chelsea high-rise apartment to avoid identification and questioning, the Post report said. “He’s hiding in his Chelsea high-rise until they identify him,” London stated.
“The assault was provoked when Wolff asked the stranger to put his dog on the leash,” London explained to The Post.
Community leaders and organizations have condemned the attack, calling for swift justice and increased efforts to combat anti-Semitism. The incident calls attention to a broader pattern of escalating anti-Semitic incidents in recent years, prompting renewed calls for vigilance and solidarity.
Despite the attack, Rabbi Wolff did not sustain any serious injuries. However, the emotional and psychological impact of the incident has been profound. Wolff, a father of six, expressed fear and concern over the hate exhibited by his apparent neighbor. Rabbi Wolff’s resilience and continued dedication to fostering unity and peace within the community are commendable.
As of the latest reports, the NYPD has yet to make an arrest in connection with the assault.
Speaking to The Post, Cary London, a member of the Chelsea Shul congregation and Wolff’s lawyer, described the incident in detail. “He stands in front so the dog obviously doesn’t go in and the guy comes up after the dog. [Wolff] says, ‘Can you please just put the dog on a leash,’ and the guy looks at him and goes, ‘Dirty Jews’ in disgust,” London recounted.
London emphasized the upsetting nature of the incident, particularly in the current climate of increasing anti-Semitism. “It’s just upsetting in this environment that this is what the Jews are going through right now,” he said.
FILE - An eBay app is shown on a mobile phone, July 11, 2019, in Miami. Online marketplace behemoth eBay said it plans to no longer accept American Express, Wednesday, June 5, 2024, citing what the company says are “unacceptably high fees” and that customers have other payment options to shop online. I(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
(AP) — Online marketplace behemoth eBay said it plans to no longer accept American Express, citing what the company says are “unacceptably high fees” and that customers have other payment options to shop online.
It’s a notable blow to American Express, whose customers are often the most attractive among merchants and spend the most money per month on their cards. But it’s not the first time merchants have voiced opposition to AmEx’s business practices by walking away, most notably the warehouse chain Costco nearly a decade ago.
“After careful consideration, eBay has decided to no longer accept American Express globally effective Aug. 17 due to the unacceptably high fees American Express charges for processing credit card transactions,” said eBay spokesman Scott Overland, in a statement.
Overland said that eBay customers have become aware of new ways to pay for items, making payments more competitive than ever before, and AmEx was no longer a necessary partner for eBay. eBay has increasingly been offering customers buy now, pay later options on purchases through Apple Pay, PayPal and other companies like Klarna and Affirm as well.
“We know that the vast majority of eBay customers are willing to use alternative payment options to continue enjoying buying and selling on our marketplace,” Overland said.
Online merchants have become increasingly combative with payment processors in recent years over the fees they charge to accept payments. Amazon had a similar fight with Visa in the U.K. roughly two years ago, where Amazon threatened to drop Visa as a payment acceptance type over what it also called high fees.
Visa and Amazon eventually resolved their differences, and there was no disruption of service.
Like other payment processors, AmEx takes a percentage of each transaction a merchant processes on their network. The fee varies from industry to industry, and the fees that the largest merchants pay are typically a closely guarded trade secret.
In a statement, American Express says that eBay’s cost to accept AmEx cards is “comparable to what eBay pays for similar cards on other networks” and that AmEx cardmembers typically spend double what is spent on other networks.
“We find eBay’s decision to drop American Express as a payment choice for consumers to be inconsistent with their stated desire to increase competition at the point of sale,” said Adam Isserlis, a spokesman for AmEx.
Netanyahu’s statement, “If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone,” resonates as a stark reminder of Israel’s readiness to act independently while still acknowledging the global support for its cause from numerous international quarters. Photo Credit: AP
Edited by: Fern Sidman
In a concerted effort to tackle the surge of anti-Semitism on university campuses, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with a delegation of American college students in Jerusalem on Monday. This meeting comes in the wake of Hamas’ brutal massacre on October 7th across southern Israel, which has ignited a wave of hatred and slander against the Jewish community within academic institutions.
Netanyahu emphasized the global struggle against the slander and misinformation targeting both the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Addressing the group, which included current and recently graduated students from prestigious universities such as Tulane, MIT, Columbia, Rutgers, the University of Michigan, and Harvard, Netanyahu emphasized the critical importance of countering lies with truth, as was reported by the Algemeiner.com,
“We’re facing a world struggle to fight slander against the Jewish people and the Jewish state,” Netanyahu stated. “The most important thing is you have to fight. And how do you fight lies? With truth. A lie can circle the earth 1,000 times before a single word of truth gets through, but we have no other choice. We fight by exposing the lies,” he told the students from his office in Jerusalem.
Among the delegation was Talia Khan, a student from MIT who has garnered attention for her outspoken stance against anti-Semitic abuse by anti-Zionist faculty and students at her university. Netanyahu is also an alumnus of MIT. The report in the Algemeiner.com said that Khan, who spoke on behalf of the students, highlighted the growing dangers of anti-Semitism and the support for terrorism on campuses. She told the gathering that she is the daughter of a Jewish woman and an Afghan Muslim father.
“As a Jew, I know the importance of the State of Israel in the shadow of the Holocaust,” Khan remarked. She also shared her unique perspective as a woman of Afghan descent, emphasizing the significance of Western values and the necessity of opposing forces that threaten to reverse societal progress, as per the information provided in the Algemeiner.com report. “As a woman of Afghan descent, I understand the importance of Western values and fighting the forces that are trying to set us back. As a patriotic American, it’s obvious that US interests are best served by providing our best and loyal ally Israel with the tools it needs to continue being a beacon of light and democracy.”
Khan’s plea to Netanyahu was clear and passionate. “For this reason, I ask you, Mr. Prime Minister, to help us become better partners in this war on terror. We all in this room, and many others that couldn’t make it on this trip, we’re all ready to dedicate our lives to protecting democracy, Western values, and Israel and America,” she declared as was reported by the Algemeiner.com
The massacre perpetrated by Hamas has not only escalated tensions in the Middle East but also intensified anti-Semitic sentiments globally, particularly in academic settings. Universities, traditionally seen as bastions of free thought and expression, have become arenas where Jewish students increasingly face hostility and discrimination. The rise in anti-Semitism on campuses has sparked a broader debate about free speech, hate speech, and the responsibilities of educational institutions in safeguarding their students.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s meeting with the American students is part of a larger effort to combat these rising tides of hatred and to foster solidarity among the Jewish community and its allies.
The students were brought to Israel by Olami, a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting young Jewish individuals from around the world. The report in the Algemeiner.com noted that the trip included significant visits, such as a tour of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, and the site of the Nova Music Festival massacre, where Hamas terrorists brutally murdered hundreds of young people on October 7th.
The delegation’s visit to the Kfar Aza kibbutz, where over 50 people were murdered by Hamas, was a deeply emotional experience. The visit to the massacre site left a profound impact on the students. Yasmeen Ohebsion, a recent Tulane University graduate, recounted the harrowing experience of hearing a survivor’s story. “That was incredibly hard to see,” Ohebsion told The Algemeiner.com during an interview conducted in a taxi from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. “A survivor there explained her story. She was trapped under a trash container with 40 people piled on top of her. Only 10 people at the very bottom of the container survived, so she almost suffocated to death because there were limbs and dead bodies on top of her. That was very intense.”
This visit provided the students with a firsthand understanding of the devastating impact of the attacks, fostering a sense of empathy and shared grief that transcended geographical boundaries.
The delegation’s visit comes against the backdrop of an alarming increase in anti-Semitic incidents on US college campuses. Following the October 7th attacks, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recorded 470 anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses within a two-month span, marking a 323 percent increase compared to the previous year, as per the information contained in the Algemeiner.com report. These incidents included demonstrations calling for Israel’s destruction and the harassment of Jewish students.
The hostile campus climate has forced many Jewish students to conceal their identities. According to a survey conducted by Hillel International, more than one in three Jewish college students felt the need to hide their Jewish identity post-October 7th. Additionally, 37 percent of Jewish students reported needing to conceal their identity, while 35 percent noted acts of hate or violence against Jews on their campuses, as was revealed in the Algemeiner.com report. A majority of the respondents expressed dissatisfaction with their universities’ responses to these incidents.
During their visit, the American students also engaged with Israeli leaders to discuss these pressing issues. As was affirmed in the Algemeiner.com report, Ohebsion led a discussion with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, bringing the students’ experiences and concerns to the forefront. This dialogue emphasized the shared challenges faced by Jewish communities globally and the importance of solidarity in combating anti-Semitism.
A vast Jewish Diaspora underwent a process of communal annihilation prior to Israel’s establishment and continued during Israel’s formative years, yet we Israelis rarely talk about or commemorate these historic events. On the eve of the establishment of the State of Israel, at least 800,000 Jews lived in Arab countries. Today, those ancient Jewish Diaspora numbers only a few thousand at best. These numbers alone should give us pause: Emigration of more than 99 percent of the Jewish population in such a short time is unparalleled in modern Jewish history. Even the Jewish communities of Europe, which experienced the most extreme suffering of anti-Semitic violence, did not vanish entirely, or so abruptly. The story of the Jews from Arab lands is a saga that extends over hundreds of years and over a vast geographic region.
More than 800,000 Jews lived in the countries of the Arab world at the time of Israel’s founding. Virtually all of them fled or were forced out of their homes and communities after Israel’s establishment with more than three-quarters of these Jewish refugees moving to Israel. The once-thriving communities they had established in places such as Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Tunisia shrunk and, in some cases, virtually disappeared. The Jews of these Arab nations were forced to leave behind most if not all of their property and businesses with no compensation other than being allowed to remain alive to flee.
Thousands of pages of testimony have been collecting dust in various government offices in Israel since the 1950s. Under the bureaucratic heading “Registry of the Claims of Jews from Arab Lands,” they tell of lives cut short, of individuals and entire families who found themselves suddenly homeless, persecuted, humiliated. Together they relate a tragic chapter in the history of modern Jewry, a chain of traumatic events that signaled the end of a once-glorious Jewish Diaspora. Yet for all its historical import, this chapter has been largely repressed, scarcely leaving a mark on Israel’s collective memory, largely ignored by the mainstream printed and broadcasted media. The issue of Jewish refugees from Arab nations has not been on the agenda of the academic world always in tune to remain politically correct, proactively refraining from endangering the accepted false narrative of Arab refugees central to Palestinian Arab propaganda.
On the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, June 1-2, 1941; 83 years ago, the Muslim residents of Baghdad carried out a savage pogrom against their Jewish neighbors. In this pogrom, known by its Arabic name al-Farhoud, the pogrom of “violent dispossession” was carried out against the Jewish population of Baghdad. Over 180 Jews were murdered and mutilated and thousands wounded; Jews were killed randomly, women and children were raped in front of their relatives, and babies crushed. Jewish property was plundered; homes, business, places of worship, communal institutions were looted, set ablaze and destroyed. Historians have referred to the Farhoud as being a pogrom associated with the Holocaust. The Farhoud has also been called the beginning of the end of the Jewish community of Iraq, propagating the mass migration of Iraqi Jews out of the country, of which the majority made Aliyah in masse to the newly established State of Israel.
The linking of the Farhoud to the Holocaust is based on historical record and involved Muslim leaders who fully identified with the Nazi regime and played an active role in promoting the annihilation of Jewry of the Middle East. At the time, under the auspices of the British Mandate representatives, a governmental commission of inquiry was established concerning the Farhoud, and determined that the Nazi propaganda of Radio Berlin had been one of the massacre’s foremost instigators. The first Arab-language Nazi radio station was launched in Berlin prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, broadcasting anti-British, anti-American, anti-Soviet, and particularly anti-Semitic propaganda. It thus helped spread radical anti-Semitism in the Middle East.
The messages in the propaganda broadcasts were designed to achieve certain goals, such as winning the Arab population’s sympathy for the Nazis and the Führer, stoking Arab national sentiments, incitement against the Jews, and blaming the Jews for being behind all the Arab world’s calamities and failures. The commission’s report also identified the main individuals who had impelled the assault. It pointed to the extensive activity of Dr. Fritz Grobba, the German ambassador to Baghdad, and to the activity of the former mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin Husseini, who had fled to Iraq from Mandatory Palestine in October 1939 and begun inciting against the Iraqi Jews. The mufti had also worked with Iraqi subversive elements, including Rashid Ali, to overthrow Iraq’s ruling Hashemite monarchy and install a pro-Nazi regime.
For those interested in further exploring the rich history of Iraqi Jewry, and learning more about the Farhoud, I highly recommend visiting The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center, located in the central Israeli town of Or Yehuda. The Center was established in 1973 to preserve the history of the Jewish community in Iraq and to ensure that it remains part of the future narrative of the Jewish nation. The Center fosters research, preservation and publication of the culture and folklore of Iraqi Jewry. Adjacent to the Center is the Museum of Babylonian Jewry, opened to the public in 1988 and exhibiting chapters from the history of Babylonian Jewry throughout the generations over the course of more than 2,600 years.
As we in Israel and throughout the Jewish world everywhere process the tragic and painful consequences of the May 7th massacre in Southern Israel, we should always remember that this infamous date will join a long line of dates and events such as the Faroud on June 1-2, 1941 when Jews were murdered for no other reason than being Jews. It is our imperative to give meaning to their deaths by not only commemorating but ensuring that we learn from the past and never forget.
Some 1,500 Israeli Jews ascended the Temple Mount on the occasion of Jerusalem Day on Wednesday, an increase of 26% compared to last year, the Temple Mount Administration NGO announced.
In 2023, the national holiday saw 1,146 Jews visit the Mount in the capital’s Old City, less than a week after Israel and the Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group finalized a truce agreement following four days of rocket attacks.
— Adam Albilya – אדם אלביליה (@AdamAlbilya) June 5, 2024
his year—amid the ongoing war with Hamas, which was triggered by the terrorist organization’s Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel—Jerusalem Day saw 1,445 people ascend over the course of five and a half hours.
As of the afternoon, many people stood in line, hoping to tour Judaism’s holiest site, but it soon closed to Jews for the day.
השר יצחק וסרלאוף וח”כ יצחק קרויזר מעוצמה יהודית עלו להר הבית לרגל יום ירושלים, הרב ישראל אריאל ראש ישיבת המקדש וראש מינהלת הר הבית הרב שמשון אלבוים pic.twitter.com/rXEleWSS2D
— Adam Albilya – אדם אלביליה (@AdamAlbilya) June 5, 2024
Israeli security forces detained several Jews at the exit from the Temple Mount on charges of bowing or prostrating, which authorities say could inflame tensions with Muslim worshippers, HaKol HaYehudi reported.
Israeli rights activist Michael Puah told the news site that he was able to wear tefillin (phylacteries), in defiance of the 1967 status quo arrangement with Jordan that bans Jewish prayer at the site.
“We even said the Hallel [holiday prayers] out loud; a policeman asked us to do it more quietly and didn’t say anything about the tefillin,” he said.
Special for Jerusalem Day: Rare footage from the Temple Mount on the day Jerusalem was liberated.
This is the only known color footage and possibly the only video from that Temple Mount event during the liberation of the historic capital of the Jewish people. ✡️
Israeli security forces detained several Jews at the exit from the Temple Mount on charges of bowing or prostrating, which authorities say could inflame tensions with Muslim worshippers, HaKol HaYehudi reported.
Israeli rights activist Michael Puah told the news site that he was able to wear tefillin (phylacteries), in defiance of the 1967 status quo arrangement with Jordan that bans Jewish prayer at the site.
“We even said the Hallel [holiday prayers] out loud; a policeman asked us to do it more quietly and didn’t say anything about the tefillin,” he said.
Yitzhak Wasserlauf, Israel’s minister for the development of the periphery, the Negev and the Galilee, and lawmaker Yitzhak Kroizer, both members of the Otzma Yehudit Party, also ascended the Mount.
ביום ירושלים 2004 הגעתי לכניסה להר הבית עם קבוצה קטנה מגוש עציון. ההר היה נעול ליהודים אבל אפילו בערוץ 7 לא דיווחו על כך. זה היה רחוק מהלב ומהתודעה. והנה ביום ירושלים 2024 1600 יהודים עלו להר. אנחנו מתקדמים והגאולה בדרך, למרות הצקות, מעצרים והתנכלויות ממסדיות. לחיי המקדש שבדרך pic.twitter.com/McD87FK4Lt
Jordan’s foreign ministry condemned the visit. The ministry denounced the duo’s religious pilgrimage as a “blatant and unacceptable violation of international law.”
Earlier this week, National Security Minister and Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben-Gvir called on all Israelis to come to the capital as a way to “say the Temple Mount is ours and Jerusalem is ours.
“If we see ourselves as the sovereign of the area, our enemies will respect us,” Ben-Gvir said in a statement ahead of Jerusalem Day.
This year’s Jerusalem Day marks the 57th anniversary of the liberation of the Temple Mount, Western Wall, and eastern side of the city, as well as the historic Judea and Samaria regions to the south and north of the city.
The Jewish state entered into an agreement with Amman’s Waqf Islamic trust after the Six-Day War, in which Israel would maintain security control of the Temple Mount while the Waqf would retain religious control.
The Islamic body subsequently forbade Jews from engaging in any kind of prayer there, including moving their lips, bowing and prostrating.
The Israeli government enforces a ban on non-Muslim prayer on the site. Jews who perform any of these forbidden acts are typically removed by the police.
(JNS) Israel vigorously denied as “false” a New York Times report on Wednesday alleging it is running a covert influence campaign on social media targeting U.S. lawmakers and the American public.
The goal of the alleged campaign is supposedly to gain support for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza. Begun in October, the campaign is ongoing on X, the Times claimed.
According to the report, the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, allocated $2 million for the effort, hired Tel Aviv-based political marketing firm Stoic.
At its height, the campaign generated hundreds of fake accounts posing “as real Americans on X, Facebook and Instagram,” the paper said. The fictional Americans, including students, concerned citizens and local constituents, allegedly posted pro-Israel comments.
The ministry flatly denied the “false publication in The New York Times.”
“The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism does not engage in disinformation campaigns,” a spokesman told JNS. “Any claim about a connection between the firm and the Stoic company is without foundation.”
The Times said the campaign targeted more than a dozen U.S. lawmakers, particularly black Democrats. Legislators named in the report were House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Sen. Raphael Warnock, (D-Ga.) and Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.).
Some pro-Israel messages were generated using ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot, the paper said.
The campaign also allegedly generated three fake news sites, which took and rewrote material from CNN and The Wall Street Journal.
The Times based its story on four anonymous sources who are current and former members of the Diaspora Affairs Ministry, and on documentation it said it obtained about the campaign.
Citing social media observers, the Times said the operation was the “first documented case” of an Israeli government-organized influence campaign to influence the U.S. government.
It then lumped Israel in with some of the world’s most malicious actors known to run such campaigns, including China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.
The Times characterized the campaign as “sloppy” and ineffective, citing incongruent messaging and posts mismatched to fake accounts, such as ones purporting to belong to black men, who then posted about being middle-aged Jewish women.
Meta and OpenAI issued reports corroborating that Stoic was behind a fake social media campaign, with Meta saying it had removed hundreds of phony Facebook accounts. It said the campaign didn’t have much impact.
Meta announced it had banned Stoic from its platforms and had issued a cease-and-desist letter “demanding that they immediately stop activity that violates Meta’s policies,” NBC News reported last week.
The best encouragement the students received was from President Joe Biden, who, when asked about anti-Semitism on college campuses, condemned it but then added that he was just as concerned about “those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.” It was, as Alan Dershowitz and Andrew Stein wrote in The Wall Street Journal, a “very fine people” moment for the president. Photo Credit: AP
Kristina Wong(Breitbart)
President Joe Biden, 81, has been struggling behind closed doors during official meetings, according to an in-depth report published Tuesday that described a president in serious cognitive decline.
The Wall Street Journalspoke to more than 45 people — Republicans and Democrats — over several months about these meetings, including to some who said Biden mumbled and spoke so softly people struggled to hear him, closed his eyes for so long people wondered if he had “tuned out,” and had to read from notes to make “obvious points.”
The octogenarian reportedly told House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) a recent policy change was “just a study,” prompting Johnson to believe Biden forgot the details of his own policy. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told the newspaper, “I used to meet with him when he was vice president. I’d go to his house. … He’s not the same person.”
The newspaper said the White House “kept close tabs” on which Democrats they were interviewing, and some of those Democrats shared with the White House recordings or details of the interviews, and requested to speak again and emphasized Biden’s strengths.
One of those Democrats, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), told the WSJ, “They just, you know, said that I should give you a call back.”
RELATED: Just Another Tuesday — Biden Stumbles, Coughs Through Boring Speech
White House
During a January 17, 2024, meeting on Ukraine with nearly two dozen lawmakers, much of the conversation reportedly “didn’t include him,” and when questions came directly to him, he would turn to staffers. “You couldn’t be there and not feel uncomfortable,” said one person who attended told the paper. “I’ll just say that.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who was there, argued that Biden was “incredibly strong, forceful and decisive.” Sen. James Risch (R-ID), who was also there, disagreed, saying, “What you see on TV is what you get.”
“These people who keep talking about what a dynamo he is behind closed doors—they need to get him out from behind closed doors, because I didn’t see it,” he said.
In the incident with Johnson, Biden reportedly pulled the speaker aside for a chat about what it would take to bring Ukraine aid to the House floor for a vote. Johnson reportedly brought up a new Biden administration policy that halted future permits for shipping LNG to countries while the issue was being studied. Biden told Johnson that it was not true that future permits were being halted, and said it was only a study.
While the White House called the account “false” and said the halt does not affect current exports, no new Energy Department permits for LNG exports have been issued since the policy was announced.
Biden also performed poorly during a May 2023 meeting with Republicans over increasing the debt limit, according to some Republicans there.
“He would ramble,” McCarthy said. “He always had cards. He couldn’t negotiate another way.” McCarthy said Biden did call him one day from Air Force One, and that he was “more with it than any other time.” However, the next day, during a meeting, Biden lacked that same vigor. “He was going back to all the old stuff that had been done for a long time,” McCarthy told the paper. “And he was shocked when I’d say: ‘No, Mr. President. We talked about that meetings ago. We are done with that.’”
During that meeting, Biden reportedly told the same story more than once about his experiences with the DuPont company during his time as a Delaware senator. White House aides pushed back against the characterizations, calling him a “savvy and effective leader,” and “sharp and engaged.”
“Congressional Republicans, foreign leaders and nonpartisan national-security experts have made clear in their own words that President Biden is a savvy and effective leader who has a deep record of legislative accomplishment,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates told the WSJ. “Now, in 2024, House Republicans are making false claims as a political tactic that flatly contradict previous statements made by themselves and their colleagues.”
RELATED: GET IT TOGETHER, JOE! Biden Appears Confused During Veterans Day Ceremony
C-SPAN
Still, not much will likely change public perspectives of Biden. In a March WSJ survey of voters in seven battlegrounds states, only 28 percent said Biden was better suited physically and mentally for the presidency, while 48 percent said Trump. And the WSJ noted, there have been few opportunities to see Biden in unscripted moments.
According to the paper, by the end of April, he had given fewer interviews and press conferences than any of his recent predecessors. His last wide-ranging town-hall-style meeting with an independent news outlet was in October 2021 — more than two years ago, the paper noted. Biden is expected to debate former Trump later this month, on June 27.
Mobile Billboard Truck in NYC Screens Footage of Female Soldiers’ Kidnapping by Hamas
Edited by: TJVNews.com
In a poignant display of public diplomacy, the Consulate General of Israel in New York has launched a mobile billboard truck to traverse the city, screening footage of the kidnapping of female soldiers from Nahal Oz. This initiative, following a similar screening in Times Square two weeks ago, aims to bring widespread attention to the atrocities committed on October 7th and to counter the narratives propagated by Hamas and its supporters.
The initiative was unveiled in a launch ceremony at Times Square, where Ambassador Ofir Akunis, Consul General of Israel in New York, emphasized the importance of presenting the truth to the American public. “We will continue telling the truth about the atrocities of October 7th in any way we can,” Akunis stated. “This billboard truck’s screening of the terrible footage of the kidnapping of female soldiers is just one part of our relentless public diplomacy efforts to present the facts to the American public, in the face of incessant lies from Hamas and its supporters.”
The truck, emblazoned with the slogan “Let My People Go,” will navigate through Manhattan’s business districts, ensuring that the harrowing footage reaches a broad audience. The mobile screens will display the kidnapping of the female soldiers, accompanied by detailed descriptions of their fate and a strong call to action. The aim is to galvanize public support and to urge international efforts to pressure Hamas for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages.
This initiative is part of Israel’s broader strategy to engage in public diplomacy and raise awareness about the crimes committed by Hamas. By bringing the footage directly to the streets of New York, the Consulate General seeks to cut through the misinformation and highlight the human suffering caused by the kidnappings. The move also aims to foster solidarity and support among the American public, encouraging them to join the call for justice and the release of the hostages.
The screening of the footage in Times Square two weeks ago had already become a media event, drawing significant attention and sparking discussions about the ongoing conflict and its humanitarian impact. The decision to extend this initiative with a mobile billboard truck underscores the Consulate General’s commitment to maintaining visibility and continuing to push for international intervention.
The footage, depicting the brutal reality of the kidnappings, serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing crisis. By leveraging high-traffic areas in Manhattan, the Consulate General aims to keep the issue at the forefront of public consciousness and to mobilize broader support for their cause.
The mobile billboard truck initiative by the Consulate General of Israel in New York represents a determined effort to shine a light on the atrocities committed by Hamas and to advocate for the immediate release of the kidnapped female soldiers. As the truck makes its way through Manhattan, it serves not only as a powerful tool for public diplomacy but also as a call to action for the international community to stand against terror and support the victims of these heinous acts. Through relentless efforts like these, the Consulate General hopes to bring justice and relief to those affected by the conflict.
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir speaks during a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting, Feb. 15, 2023. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said his Otzma Yehudit party would refuse to vote with the coalition unless Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu provided more details about the newest hostage release and ceasefire deal.
“As long as the prime minister continues to hide the details of the deal, Otzma Yehudit will disrupt his coalition,” Ben Gvir tweeted.
Ben Gvir and other ministers said they would refuse to agree with a hostage release deal that requires a complete and permanent ceasefire, a condition imposed by Hamas up until now.
On Friday, US President Joe Biden urged Israel to accept a 3-part ceasefire and hostage deal and declared, “It’s time for this war to end.”
The first phase of the ceasefire would require the release of the women, elderly, wounded, and ill hostages, as well as the bodies of deceased hostages.
The second phase of the deal would see the release of the remaining hostages, including male soldiers, and a withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza.
r Gaza” and the release of the remainder of the bodies of Israeli hostages.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Ben Gvir have threatened to leave the government if Netanyahu approves the ceasefire deal.
Ben Gvir said he and other ministers would “dismantle the government” if the deal were approved and called it a “total defeat” for Israel.
Smotrich “made it clear” to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his party “will not agree to the end of the war before the destruction of Hamas, nor to doing serious damage to the achievements of the war so far through the withdrawal of the IDF and the return of Gazans to northern Gaza, and nor to the wholesale release of terrorists who, God forbid, will return to murdering Jews.”
Smotrich sought support from ultra-orthodox leaders earlier in the week, but on Tuesday, it was announced that Israel’s ultra-Orthodox parties expressed support for the hostage deal with Hamas currently on the table.
“The faction decided to fully support the Israeli proposal, which includes far-reaching measures for the return of the abducted and the observance of the mitzvot of redeeming captives,” read a statement released by the Shas Party.
