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Israeli UFC fighter Natan Levy beats up online troll who supports Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes
(JTA) — As only the third Israeli to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, Natan Levy is not afraid to showcase his Jewish identity in and out of the ring.
He gave himself the chance to do just that as he invited a follower of white supremacist provocateur Nick Fuentes to a fight that was filmed and posted to YouTube on Thursday.
Levy and the man, identified only as Ben, had dueled on Twitter before doing so in person.
“I’ll drive to Vegas any day of the week to spar you on behalf of Nicholas J. Fuentes and America First,” Ben wrote to Levy, referencing Fuentes’ online show where he regularly espouses antisemitic rhetoric and Holocaust denial.
Levy accepted Ben’s challenge, even offering to pay for his gas. (Last year, Levy had issued a similar warning to rapper Kanye West after he praised Hitler, telling him, “if you’ve got a problem with me or my people, come see me, bro.”)
In the video, Levy is shown greeting Ben at a mixed martial arts dojo in Las Vegas. Levy wears a shirt with his “Jew-Jitsu” nickname.
Ben explains to Levy that Fuentes is a leader of the “America First” movement, which he describes as “a political movement based on furthering Christian values in the United States.” He says he was just “messing around” online and claims he is “not a hateful person.”
When Levy points out that Fuentes is a Holocaust denier, Ben says that Fuentes is merely a “revisionist.” And when Levy asks Ben how many Jews were killed in the Nazi genocide, Ben said, “I wouldn’t know that off the top of my head… they say six million.”
“He’s just a kid, probably a dumb kid,” Levy said to the camera before they step into the ring. “I’m not gonna hurt him too bad, but a lesson has to be taught here about trolling. Education is painful sometimes.”
They fight for two rounds, with Levy pinning Ben both times. At the end of the second bout, Ben can be heard saying “I’m sorry.”
After the fighting is over, Levy and Ben stood outside the ring, arms around each other, as Ben looks into the camera and says, “Six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust.” Levy corrects his verb choice, interjecting with “murdered,” before adding “F–k Nick Fuentes!”
Ben admitted he “needs to be more well-researched,” while Levy offered a warning: “This one wasn’t that painful. The next one will be twice as painful.”
The video then ends by showing Shimon Smotritsky, an Israeli mixed martial arts fighter, heading into the ring with another man, identified as Cee-Jay, who said he’s “not defending Nick Fuentes, I’m defending my friend’s honor.” Their fight doesn’t last long, but it ends in bloody fashion.
“Don’t talk sh–t about Jews, baby,” Smotritsky says with a wink.
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The post Israeli UFC fighter Natan Levy beats up online troll who supports Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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‘With or Without Russia’s Help’: Iran Pledges to Block South Caucasus Route Opened Up By Peace Deal
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – Iran will block the establishment of a US-backed transit corridor in the South Caucasus region with or without Moscow’s help, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader was quoted as saying on Saturday by the Iran International website, one day after the historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Mr. Trump thinks the Caucasus is a piece of real estate he can lease for 99 years,” Ali Akbar Velayati said of the so-called Zangezur corridor, the establishment of which is stipulated in the peace deal unveiled on Friday by US President Donald Trump. The White House said the transit route would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
“This passage will not become a gateway for Trump’s mercenaries — it will become their graveyard,” the Khamenei advisor added.
Baku and Yerevan have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting or forcing almost all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Yet that painful history was put to the side on Friday at the White House, as Trump oversaw a signing ceremony, flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The peace deal with Azerbaijan—a pro-Western ally of Israel—is expected to pull Armenia out of the Russian and Iranian sphere of influence and could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran.
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UK Police Arrest 150 at Protest for Banned Palestine Action Group
People holding signs sit during a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday it had arrested 150 people at a protest against Britain’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action, adding it was making further arrests.
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, chanted “shame on you” and “hands off Gaza,” and held signs such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” video taken by Reuters at the scene showed.
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
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‘No Leniency’: Iran Announces Arrest of 20 ‘Zionist Agents’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – Iranian authorities have in recent months arrested 20 people charged with being “Israeli Mossad operatives,” the judiciary said, adding that the Islamic regime will mete out the harshest punishments.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri told Iranian media. However, it is understood that an unspecified number of detainees were released, apparently after the charges against them could not be substantiated.
The Islamic Republic was left reeling by a devastating 12-day war with Israel earlier in the summer that left a significant proportion of its military arsenal in ruins and dealt a serious setback to its uranium enrichment program. The fallout included an uptick in executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months. Hit with international sanctions, the country is in dire economic straights, with frequent energy outages and skyrocketing unemployment.
In recent weeks Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi affirmed that Tehran cannot give up on its nuclear enrichment program even as it was severely damaged during the war.
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up of enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the official told Fox News.