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Jewish lawmaker Vernikov holds seat, Kagan loses in closely watched NYC council elections
(New York Jewish Week) — One Jewish Republican lost his New York City Council seat and another retained hers in a pair of contested elections on Tuesday.
Republican Ari Kagan lost his seat to Democrat Justin Brannan in Brooklyn’s 47th district, with most of the votes counted, and Republican Inna Vernikov held a commanding lead over challenger Amber Adler, a Democrat, in the 48th district, with 85% of the votes counted. Both Brannan and Vernikov declared victory by Wednesday morning.
Brannan and Kagan were both city council members going into the closely watched race for the newly formed 47th district, which includes Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge, Coney Island and parts of Bath Beach. The majority of voters in the district identify as Democrats.
Kagan, an honoree in the New York Jewish Week’s “36 to Watch” list in 2022, switched from the Democratic to the Republican party last year, saying the Democrats had moved too far left. Brannan’s ties with the Democratic party leadership frayed shortly before the race due to his alleged involvement in a harassment case, allegations he denies.
Brannan and Kagan sparred over the war between Israel and Gaza during the campaign, with Kagan accusing Brannan of taking a soft stance toward hardline pro-Palestinian protesters in the district. Brannan lashed Kagan for the comments, saying he supported both Israel’s right to exist and Palestinian aspirations for a state. The district has significant populations of both Jews and Palestinians.
Kagan accused Brannan of “radioactive cowardly silence” following “pro-Hamas chants, anti-American and anti-Semitic signs in his own backyard.”
“He’s trying to use the Israel-Hamas war to score political points,” Brannan said. “He has no shame.”
Brannan had the backing of Jewish U.S. Rep. Daniel Goldman, who said he had campaigned for the candidate the day before the race.
Kagan, who was born in Belarus, and Vernikov, originally from today’s Ukraine, are staunch supporters of Israel and are tied to southern Brooklyn’s Russian-speaking Jewish community.
Vernikov’s 48th district covers Brooklyn’s Homecrest, Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach neighborhoods. Vernikov, elected in 2022, serves as the Republican party minority whip in the council. Independent candidate Igor Kazatsker also ran for the district, falling well short of Vernikov and Adler. Democrat Adler is also Jewish, a fact she highlighted shortly before the race with a visit to the Chabad rebbe’s gravesite in Queens.
Vernikov was arraigned just days before the election for illegally bringing a pistol to a pro-Palestinian protest last month. Vernikov has a permit for the weapon, but under New York law, a demonstration is considered a “sensitive location” where firearms are prohibited.
All 51 seats in the City Council were up for election on Tuesday, although some candidates ran unopposed. Eric Dinowitz, the chair of the Jewish Caucus, is set to hold his seat in the 11th district, and Kalman Yeger is set to defeat Heshy Tischler in the 44th district in a race pitting two well-known Orthodox Jews against each other.
Voters were focused on migrants and crime more than other issues, but the Middle East war was also a factor, according to a Siena College poll released late last month.
A majority of voters — 57% — favored more aid to Israel, while 32% were opposed. Jewish voters favored more aid to Israel by a wide margin of 81% in favor and 8% opposed.
Half of New Yorkers, including a majority of Democrats and Independents, were concerned that Israel’s counter-offensive will harm Palestinian civilians, while about one-third said Israel had to make sure another Hamas attack needed to never happen again, regardless of casualties, Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a favorability rating of 27% and an unfavorability rating of 32%, with Republicans holding a higher opinion, and Democrats and Jews more opposed, Greenberg said.
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The post Jewish lawmaker Vernikov holds seat, Kagan loses in closely watched NYC council elections appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.