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Top JNF Official: War Proves Again Israel Must Rely Only on Itself
Samuel Hayek, outside a destroyed house in Be’eri, January 2023 (Photo: Oria Siman Tov)
The war against Hamas in Gaza and the subsequent wave of antisemitism around the world has demonstrated “very clearly” that Israel must rely only on itself and that Diaspora Jews must start a serious debate about the future of their communities, Samuel Hayek, the Israeli-born British chairman of JNF-UK, told The Algemeiner during a visit to Israel.
Hayek, who was visiting some of the southern Israeli communities that were massacred on October 7, said that the existence of Jewish life in the diaspora was of “tremendous strategic importance” to Israel.
But pointing to the UK in particular, Hayek said the Jewish community must begin addressing “hard questions” about its future.
“The most important thing is to create a forum that debates different aspects on Jewish life in the UK,” he said. “We need to ask ourselves, do we want to continue to live in fear?”
“Do we want to live in a place where we need to hide Jewish symbols? Do we want to where people drive through neighborhoods shouting for the destruction of Israel and calling for the rape and murder of Jews with megaphone?” he said, referencing a 2021 antisemitic incident.
Antisemitism in the UK has soared since the Oct. 7 atrocities. Protests occurring most weekends in London have drawn vast crowds, sometimes numbering in the hundreds of thousands, where people have been arrested for either chanting or displaying antisemitic slogans, or for expressing support for Hamas, proscribed as a terrorist organization in the UK.
“I urge everyone to consider the consequences of what we’ve seen in the streets of London, the magnitude of which took nearly everyone by surprise,” he said.
“If we don’t want to live this kind of life, and we don’t see prospects getting better, we need to make a decision about what kind of steps to take,” Hayek went on. He underscored that his views were expressed not in his capacity as the leader of JNF-UK, but rather as a “very worried Jew.”
Hayek praised the British government for its “tremendous support” of Israel in the wake of the attacks, but called on it to do more to combat antisemitism at home.
UK authorities “must take further steps to tighten the laws against antisemitism and enforce them – they must amend some of the laws that allow antisemites to have a free rein that calls for the destruction of Israel, and in effect, the destruction of the Jewish people,” he said.
During his visit to Israel, Hayek also toured Karmei Gat, a newly established neighborhood in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat, where more that 130 apartments have been given to the survivors of Nir Oz, a kibbutz that saw more than a quarter of its members either murdered or taken hostage on Oct. 7.
Thirteen of those apartments were donated by JNF-UK to residents of Nir Oz, including to the family of Sagui Dekel-Chen, who has worked for the JNF-UK for the past decade and who was taken as a hostage to Gaza where he still remains.
In a letter to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on behalf of JNF-UK, Hayek urged the UK to campaign for Dekel-Chen, who he described as a “kind and gentle man,” and take responsibility for the “welfare of a British charity’s employees.”
The UK must pressure all involved entities, Hayek said, including the United Nations and Hamas interlocutors such as the Qatari government, to secure the release of Dekel-Chen and the rest of the 136 hostages held in Gaza.
Until then, he called on Sunak’s government to pressure the International Committee of the Red Cross and other relevant bodies to convey signs of life of the hostages and to enable them to “communicate with their families and be kept safely away from military conflict zones.”
“Hostages like Sagui Dekel-Chen, who has devoted his life to helping others, are
not pawns to be used in the machinations of Hamas terrorists but are human
beings who deserve their life and liberty,” Hayek wrote.
Dekel-Chen’s wife, Avital, moved into the JNF-UK apartment last week with her three daughters, the youngest of whom was born two months after her father’s abduction. His oldest daughter, Gali, who is 6, was photographed this week sobbing while she called out for her father.
The post Top JNF Official: War Proves Again Israel Must Rely Only on Itself first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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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.