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A new walking tour of NYC Israeli restaurants becomes an exercise in togetherness

(New York Jewish Week) — It was a damp, dreary Tuesday evening in Manhattan, but inside the Greenwich Village outpost of Caffe Aronne, the vibe was warm and friendly as a group of 10 people, nearly all of them women, shook off their umbrellas and introduced themselves to one another. 

Most of us were strangers, but we became fast friends over the next few hours as we walked from one downtown Israeli restaurant to the next, sharing details of our lives with one another alongside plates of food. The 10 of us had assembled for the first-ever Delicious Cities tour in New York, a new domestic food tour initiative from Inbal Baum, the founder of Delicious Israel, a company that specializes in food tours of Israel.

Baum, who founded Delicious Israel in 2011, had made a lightning-quick business pivot to New York City-based tours after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas terrorists and the subsequent war in Gaza brought tourism in Israel to a standstill. “Besides the incredible trauma, incredible heartache, incredible pain of everything going on, as a tourism business, and as a tourism business owner, it’s another layer of trauma,” Baum told me. 

“Interestingly, in the pandemic, the entire world was shut down,” she added, referring to a previous massive blow to her business. “Now it’s just Israel.”

But Baum quickly clarified her remark: Day-to-day life in Israel is not shut down, it’s just that the tourists have stopped coming. “Everything is open — well, not everything, but things are open,” she said. “We can do tours, our guides would be happy to show someone something positive and be part of the positivity that we love so much to share.” 

She also thinks there is an appetite not only for Israeli food but for supporting Israelis, wherever they live. “The enthusiasm that I saw when we did a virtual cooking event with The Nosher and 250 people showed up to be together, and to share that moment together around food, was so inspirational and so powerful,” she said, referring to the Oct. 25 gathering as well as other online, food-focused gatherings she’s hosted since the war began. “I knew that that was the direction we had to go: how to bring people together in a way that speaks to what’s happening right now.” (The Nosher and the New York Jewish Week have the same parent company, 70 Faces Media.)

Baum — who said she considers herself American-Israeli when she’s in Israel and Israeli-American when she’s stateside — currently lives with her family in Park City, Utah but lived and worked as a lawyer in New York for six years. In October, she assembled a small team of Delicious Israel guides in New York City and began creating a strategy around tours. “We spent a day running — literally knocking on doors,” Baum said about how she got restaurants to participate. “In the doors that we knocked on where people answered, they were like, ‘We want to be a part of this, we want to support this.’” 

Now working in the fickle business of Manhattan restaurants, Baum and her team are still figuring out the details: Since the test tour this reporter attended ahead of Thanksgiving, the itinerary has changed slightly, Baum said. But, for now, Delicious Cities is running an approximately three-hour Manhattan tour of West Village Israeli restaurants for $160 — with an optional addition of $40 for alcoholic beverages — on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. There are also tours being planned for Brooklyn and Philadelphia.

When asked why it was meaningful for her to support Israeli restaurants stateside, Baum said she’s always cared about the industry and added,  “Now just happens to be a time where we are, unfortunately, having to explain our existence. And so, in my eyes, food has always been the way that we’re able to come together, provide support, provide love.”

That feeling of togetherness was palpable last month as our group — which included a few of Baum’s old friends, some Delicious Israel regulars and two New York Jewish Week journalists — toured Israeli eateries downtown. We began our time together with an icebreaker: Standing in a tight circle inside the tiny Caffe Aronne, participants took turns introducing themselves to the group and sharing a favorite food memory of Israel. Two people mentioned a kubeh selek, a beet soup with meat-filled dumplings, and one woman shared an entertaining story of consuming a few too many shots of arak on a trip to Israel at age 15. 

At the time of our visit, Caffe Aronne had just been in the news for the outpouring of support it received from local Jews when employees allegedly quit the cafe’s Upper East Side branch in protest of the business’s pro-Israel stance. (The story, it turned out, was a bit more nuanced than it first seemed.) Barista Luis, who did not provide a last name, was employed at a different cafe on the day the story broke. He volunteered to pitch in, serving some 500-600 customers that day, he said, and he has stayed with the Israel-inspired cafe since. 

“I like the vibe, the people,” he told us. 

At Aronne, the tour participants had a choice between two special lattes: cardamom pistachio or almond rose. Neither of these drinks were on the compact menu, a reporter pointed out — and that’s by design, explained Baum, as many of the offerings presented on the tour are off-menu or specially curated for the group. 

Tour guide Jordana Meyer gave us a quick rundown of the evening. Explaining that New York is a “chik-chak city” — a Hebrew phrase akin to “pronto” or “chop chop” — she said we would be keeping a brisk pace. 

Getting to know one another is a key part of the Delicious Cities experience; here, guide Jordana Meyer shares with a tour group. (Shai Hansav, courtesy Delicious Israel)

Our next stop was Kubeh, Chef Melanie Shurka’s Sixth Avenue restaurant that’s dedicated to “lesser-known cuisines of the Middle East,” per its website — hand-rolled dumplings, or kubeh, in particular. As we sipped on a wickedly good, almost healthy-tasting cocktail called The Persian — with gin, Persian cucumber and zaatar — and snacked on hummus, muhammara and pita, Shurka told us a bit about her passion for the dumplings. “Kubeh, kibbeh, kabbah — they’re all the same,” she said, explaining that the word comes from the Arabic verb meaning “to roll, make something round.”

Shurka, whose father is Israeli and mother is a Jewish New Yorker, told us how she learned her techniques from Israeli grandmothers. “This is a special place,” she said of her six-year-old restaurant as she served the group both fried kubeh and kubeh in broth. “It’s my first baby. My second was born a year ago.”

Next, it was a short, drizzly walk to Einat Admony’s Balaboosta, where a bartender had laid out a spread that included whipped feta with silan (date syrup), hummus, fresh pita and the restaurant’s signature fried olives. Participants drank Israeli wine and milled about.

“This is Israeli and Jewish spirit and resilience at its finest,” said Eilon Gigi, who had worked for celebrity Israeli-American chef Michael Solomonov in Philadelphia for several years before joining the Delicious Israel team. 

Admony — wearing a bright-orange cap emblazoned with the word “Yalla!” — greeted the group as well. Later, when a reporter asked her how her business was faring in a time of unrest and increased antisemitism throughout the city, the chef responded that Balaboosta has been “very busy.”

“Our community is stronger than hate — we are all doing fine,” Admony said of Israeli and Jewish restaurants in the city.

And yet, Admony said she unabashedly welcomes the extra business brought in by a Delicious Cities group. “It’s New York,” she said. “We always need business.”

Our fourth and final stop was for dessert at Port Sa’id, a restaurant from freshly Michelin-starred Israeli chef Eyal Shani that opened just north of Tribeca over the summer. Chef Victor Gothelf greeted us warmly and gave a short spiel about the restaurant, where dishes are “prepared today, made today, salads cut today.”  

Then, in true Shani style, Gothelf glopped a mess of desserts — including Basque cheesecake, apple crumble and a vegan malabi — directly onto a table covered with butcher paper, then topped the whole thing with strawberry sauce, blackberries, powdered sugar and more. It was a visual feast, as well as an actual one, and Gothelf encouraged us to dig in and share. As he stepped away, he said to our group, in Hebrew, “Am yisrael chai” — the Jewish people live.

With its combination of “really good food — pure, not complicated — and really good music,” Port Sa’id aims to “bring people together,” Gothelf told me later in the evening. 

“People are afraid,” he said when asked about the highly charged climate in the city, “but we won’t back down.”

Gothelf added that he jumped at the chance to add Port Sa’id as a part of the new Delicious Cities tour. “Especially because of the situation right now, I was so happy and eager to be a part of it,” he said. 

As the evening drew to a close, tour participants gathered again in a tight circle, this time with our bellies full and glasses of wine in our hands. We took turns sharing a personal highlight of the experience — several people homed in on the the feelings of camaraderie within the group, saying that at a time of so much turmoil in Israel, it felt good to gather with other Jews in Israeli spaces and break bread. Business cards and hugs were exchanged and, solo or in pairs, participants departed the bustling restaurant and headed out into the dark, rainy New York night. 

Looking ahead, Baum hopes to attract “anyone who is interested in good food, in supporting these restaurants and learning something new and doing something fun.” 

“I’m a Jewish mom,” she explained. “I’ve been a Jewish mom way before I was a Jewish mom. I have an instinctual desire to feed people and to have them fed.”

—
The post A new walking tour of NYC Israeli restaurants becomes an exercise in togetherness appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Marco Rubio Says US Denying Visas to Foreigners ‘Celebrating’ Assassination of Charlie Kirk

Marco Rubio speaks after he is sworn in as Secretary of State by US Vice President JD Vance at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, Jan. 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that the US is denying visas to foreigners who publicly celebrate the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, a move he cast as part of a broader posture against extremist rhetoric.

While traveling in the Middle East, Rubio told reporters that the State Department has been denying visas to individuals glorifying Kirk’s murder online. He added that officials are also reviewing existing visas and that he expects some to be revoked.

“It isn’t just about Charlie Kirk. If you’re a foreigner and you’re out there celebrating the assassination of someone who was speaking somewhere, I mean, we don’t want you in the country,” Rubio said. “Why would we want to give a visa to someone who think it’s good that someone was murdered in the public square? That’s just common sense to me.”

When asked if the US has actually revoked any visas yet, Rubio responded, “We’ve revoked visas of people. I don’t know if we’ve revoked visas of people that are inside the country. We’ve most certainly been denying visas.”

Rubio also addressed the issue in a social media post on X while sharing a video from a Fox News interview during which he was asked if he planned to restrict visa access or revoke visas for those celebrating Kirk’s killing.

“America will not host foreigners who celebrate the death of our fellow citizens,” Rubio said in the post accompanying the video. “Visa revocations are under way. If you are here on a visa and cheering on the public assassination of a political figure, prepare to be deported. You are not welcome in this country.”

Kirk, a prominent conservative activist and founder of the influential Turning Point USA organization, was shot and killed last week while speaking at Utah Valley University. Authorities have formally charged 22‑year‑old Tyler Robinson of Utah with aggravated murder and several related offenses, including discharge of a firearm, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering.

Rubio’s announcement comes amid intensifying efforts by the Trump administration to expel foreigners who express support for violence or terrorism. The administration has launched an overhaul of the US visa system, part of what officials describe as an effort to root out individuals deemed a potential threat to the country. The sweeping measures include expanded social media vetting for new applicants, continuous monitoring of the 55 million current visa holders, and the revocation of thousands of student visas.

Several of the online posts praising Kirk’s assassination have emerged from the Middle East, with individuals condemning the slain political activist over his vocal support for Israel. During his life, Kirk repeatedly spoke in defense of the Jewish state and expressed support for its military campaign in Gaza.

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau concurred with Rubio’s statement, calling on consular officials to prevent the distribution of visas to anyone “praising, rationalizing, or making light of” the murder of Kirk.

Rubio has not explained the standards the State Department is using to determine what qualifies as “celebrating” the assassination. Some critics have speculated that this ambiguity could set up legal challenges from advocacy groups, who are already warning about the First Amendment and due process implications.

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‘Down With Fascists’: Columbia Activist Who Said ‘Zionists Don’t Deserve to Live’ Celebrates Charlie Kirk’s Murder

Khymani James, Columbia University student who filmed himself saying Zionists should be murdered. Photo: Screenshot

A former leader of the anti-Israel movement at Columbia University expressed full support for the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last week.

Khymani James, who made the posts, was a “campus a leader in the pro-Palestinian student protest encampment” at Columbia, according to The New York Times.

In the aftermath of Kirk’s assassination, James posted on X, “More. MORE!!!,” referencing the killing. He followed up that post by saying, “Down with all the fascists 😍.” (He later also called California Gov. Gavin Newsom a fascist.)

In another post, James wrote, “‘Be careful what you post’ and it’s people rightfully celebrating the inevitable and just fate of fascists. anywho… NO ONE MOURNS THE WICKED 😩🤣.”

In addition to the posts he wrote, James also reposted statements such as “Thoughts and prayers for the bullet,” “rest in piss,” and “saw that s–t and started giggling and kicking my feet and shouting YOOOOOO.”

In James’s biography on the social platform X, he notes, “Anything I said, I meant it. DEATH TO EMPIRE.”

This is not the first time James has rhetorically supported violence. Last year, he was on video saying, “Zionists don’t deserve to live,” and proclaiming that people should “be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists.”

He also said, “I don’t fight to injure or for there to be a winner or a loser. I fight to kill.”

The comments triggered widespread backlash, and James was suspended by Columbia. The incident also resulted in what was widely seen as an apology for James on behalf of Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), one of the most notorious anti-Israel campus groups in the US. Months later, however, the group retracted its previous apology.

“All CUAD organizers were complicit in not maintaining our political line, keeping the statement public on our Instagram, and in neglecting the mental and physical safety of Khymani,” the post read. CUAD apologized for causing “irrevocable harm” to him.

Despite James’s comments about the possibility of murdering Zionists, CUAD’s post claimed that he was criticized and socially ostracized for “fight[ing] back against state violence.”

James also responded to this post, writing on X, “Thank you to my comrades for posting this beautiful, powerful letter. I never wrote the neo-liberal apology posted in late April, and I’m glad we’ve set the record straight once and for all. I will not allow anyone to shame me for my politics.”

“Anything I said, I meant it,” he concluded.

Kirk, 31, was shot and killed during a speaking event at Utah Valley University, where he was engaging in dialogue with students. He is survived by his wife and two young children. A young Utah man — Tyler Robinson, 22 — was taken into custody last week as the suspected shooter, about 33 hours after the assassination, according to state and federal law enforcement.

Kirk was an outspoken supporter of Israel and advocate against antisemitism. He regularly debated students on the subject of Israel and brought his ideas to young people at a time when, according to recent polling, that age group was turning decidedly against the Jewish state.

“There’s a dark Jew hate out there, and I see it,” Kirk told a student during a podcast episode which aired earlier this year. “Don’t get yourself involved in that. I’m telling you it will rot your brain. It’s bad for your soul. It’s bad. It’s evil. I think it’s demonic.”

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Spain’s PM Sánchez Faces Backlash for Fueling Anti-Israel Hostility Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents

Cycling – Vuelta a Espana – Stage 21 – Alalpardo to Madrid – Madrid, Spain – Sept. 14, 2025: Barriers are smashed by anti-Israel protesters during Stage 21. Photo: REUTERS/Ana Beltran

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is facing backlash from his country’s political leaders and Jewish community, who accuse him of fueling antisemitic hostility after incidents at the Vuelta a España disrupted the prestigious cycling race.

Amid a sharp rise in anti-Jewish hate crimes and anti-Israel sentiment, Lorenzo Rodríguez, mayor of Castrillo Mota de Judíos in northern Spain, accused the country’s leader of “fueling a discourse of hatred” against Israel and the Jewish people.

“The government is fostering antisemitism that will prove deeply damaging for Spain,” Rodríguez said in an interview with the local outlet El Español.

“Sánchez’s moves are less about serious foreign policy and more about deflecting attention from his trials and failures in governance,” he continued. “Spain isn’t leading anything — it’s merely whitewashing Hamas and other terrorist groups.”

On Sunday, anti-Israel protests forced the finale of the Vuelta a España cycle race to be abandoned as police tried to quell demonstrations against the participation of an Israeli team.

In his interview, Rodríguez blamed Sánchez for fostering a hostile climate in Spain, saying the country is witnessing “hatred toward an entire people.”

He also criticized the Spanish leader for failing to take a strong stand on other international crises, including those in Russia and Venezuela.

“We all recognize that the Palestinian people are suffering, but the solution cannot be to blame the Jewish people,” Rodríguez said.

“People are afraid. There’s growing concern because our town was recently targeted,” he continued. “We are being singled out and threatened even though we have nothing to do with this war.”

Before the incidents on Sunday that led to the race’s cancellation, Sánchez expressed “admiration for the Spanish people mobilizing for just causes like Palestine” through their protests.

Madrid’s Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida strongly condemned Sánchez’s statement, accusing him of encouraging hostility and fueling tensions.

“The prime minister is directly responsible for this violence, as his statements this morning helped instigate the protests,” Martinez-Almeida said after the race was canceled.

“Today is the saddest day since I took office as mayor of this great city,” he continued.

Santiago Abascal, leader of the far-right Vox party, also criticized Sánchez’s remarks, accusing him of stoking division to maintain his hold on power.

“The psychopath has taken his militias to the streets,” Abascal wrote in a post on X. “He doesn’t care about Gaza. He doesn’t care about Spain. He doesn’t care about anything. But he wants violence in the streets to maintain power.”

Shortly after the incidents, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain (FCJE) publicly denounced the violence, urging authorities to respond quickly and decisively.

“Violence and intimidation have no place in a democratic society and cannot be excused under the guise of freedom of expression,” FCJE said in a statement.

“These violent demonstrations fuel hatred and contribute to a concerning rise in antisemitism in Spain, which we have been warning about over the past two years,” the statement read. “It is unacceptable that violence is justified on ideological grounds and hostility is directed toward the Jewish community”

Since the start of the war in Gaza, Spain has become one of Israel’s fiercest critics, a stance that has only intensified in recent months, coinciding with a shocking rise in antisemitic incidents targeting the local Jewish community — from violent assaults and vandalism to protests and legal actions.

On Monday, Sánchez called for Israel to be barred from international sports events after pro-Palestinian activists disrupted the finale of the Vuelta cycling race in chaotic scenes in Madrid.

“The sports organizations should ask whether it’s ethical for Israel to continue participating in international competitions. Why was Russia expelled after invading Ukraine, yet Israel is not expelled after the invasion of Gaza?” Sánchez said while speaking to members of his Socialist Party.

“Until the barbarity ends, neither Russia nor Israel should be allowed to participate in any international competition,” the Spanish leader continued.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned Sánchez’s remarks, labeling him “an antisemite and a liar.”

“Did Israel invade Gaza on Oct. 7th or did the Hamas terror state invade Israel and commit the worst massacre against the Jews since the Holocaust?” the top Israeli diplomat wrote in a post on X.

The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas started the war in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, when it led an invasion of southern Israel, murdered 1,200 people, and kidnapped 251 hostages while perpetrating widespread sexual violence against the Israeli people.

Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military capabilities and political rule in Gaza.

As part of its anti-Israel campaign, Spain announced on Tuesday that it will boycott next year’s Eurovision Song Contest if Israel participates, citing the country’s military offensive against Hamas in the war-torn enclave.

Last week, Sánchez also unveiled new policies targeting Israel over the war in Gaza, including an arms embargo and a ban on certain Israeli goods.

The Spanish government announced it would bar entry to individuals involved in what it called a “genocide against Palestinians,” block Israel-bound ships and aircraft carrying weapons from Spanish ports and airspace, and enforce an embargo on products from Israeli communities in the West Bank.

In one of its latest attempts to curb Israel’s defensive campaign in Gaza, Spain has canceled a €700 million ($825 million) deal for Israeli-designed rocket launchers, as the government conducts a broader review to systematically phase out Israeli weapons and technology from its armed forces.

Saar has denounced Sánchez’s latest actions, accusing the government in Madrid of antisemitism and of pursuing an escalating anti-Israel campaign aimed at undermining the Jewish state on the international stage.

“The government of Spain is leading a hostile, anti-Israel line, marked by wild, hate-filled rhetoric,” Saar wrote in a post on X, accusing Sánchez’s “corrupt” administration of trying to “divert attention from grave corruption scandals.”

“The obsessive activism of the current Spanish government against Israel stands out in light of its ties with dark, tyrannical regimes — from Iran’s ayatollahs to [Nicolás] Maduro’s government in Venezuela,” the Israeli diplomat continued.

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