Uncategorized
Will Jack Schlossberg’s Jewish roots help him in bid for Nadler’s seat?
Jack Schlossberg, an online influencer and the only grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, has formally entered the race to succeed longtime Congressman Jerry Nadler, two months after he teased a run on social media. The announcement comes just a week after Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, won a competitive New York City mayoral race with an energetic, youth-driven campaign that thrived on social media engagement.
Though raised Catholic by his mother, Caroline Kennedy, the 32-year-old Schlossberg identifies as Jewish.
The Manhattan district he’s eyeing has one of the largest Jewish electorates in the nation. Jews in the 12th Congressional District account for about 30% of the vote in the Democratic primary.
When Nadler ran for reelection in 2022, he campaigned on the need to preserve Jewish representation from New York City in Congress.
Two of the candidates to succeed him, Micah Lasher and Liam Elkind, are also Jewish. Other candidates include Assemblymember Alex Bores, whose wife, Darya Moldavskaya, is Jewish; and Councilmember Erik Bottcher.
Some voters say Israel and rising antisemitism will be central for them in the Democratic primary, given the district’s large Jewish community and history of Jewish representation. “I think that this is a district where people want to see staunch support for Israel and commitment to Israel’s security,” said Amanda Berman, founder and chief executive of the pro-Israel progressive group Zioness and a local resident, citing the vulnerability felt by American Jews.
Schlossberg’s Jewishness
He is the son of designer and artist Edwin Schlossberg, who was born to Orthodox Jewish parents of Ukrainian descent. “I am my father’s schnoz!” Schlossberg wrote on X last year, using the Yiddish slang for nose to describe his resemblance to him. His grandfather, Alfred, was president of the Park East Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. “He was in the shmatte business,” Schlossberg told The New York Times, using the Yiddish slang for ragged garments.
Jack Schlossberg was educated in his mother’s Catholic faith and posted online that he believes in “one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church.” Nevertheless, the family observed Jewish holidays and upheld Jewish traditions. “We incorporate Hanukkah. We light the menorah and play dreidel and sing songs at our holiday party,” Kennedy told Newsday in 2007.
In an interview with Hey Alma, Schlossberg said he identifies as culturally Jewish. “I feel I’m at least 100% half Jewish ;),” he said.
The political scion often invokes his Judaism online and in his political debates.
In the New York City mayoral primary, he responded to people who criticized him for backing Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist with a long history of criticizing Israel and associations with pro-Palestinian groups, by highlighting his identity. “Yeah, I’m Jewish,” he said. “And don’t f@cking tell me who I can and can’t support based on if my dad is Jewish.” He added, “If you think that Zohran doesn’t like Jews, you’re f**king brainwashed.” Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo won the House district. Nadler and Lasher endorsed Mamdani after his primary victory made him the Democratic nominee.
In an interview with the Times after Mamdani’s victory in the general election, Schlossberg said it served as an encouraging sign for his own campaign.
In a since-deleted post, Schlossberg mocked his cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now head of the Department of Health and Human Services, who trademarked the slogan “Make America Healthy Again.” He shared a parody recipe for “MAHA energy balls” that listed “2 ounces of Jew blood (Ashkenazi, not Sephardic)” — a jab at RFK Jr.’s 2023 claim that the coronavirus was “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews.
In June, Schlossberg accused the New York Post of antisemitism for spotlighting his Jewish roots in a piece criticizing his online behavior. The tabloid quoted an unnamed source close to the family saying, “Jack’s more Schlossberg than Kennedy in attitude,” and noted that his father “comes from a prominent Jewish New York family.” In a video, Schlossberg called it an “extremely antisemitic comment” and described it as a pattern for the Post.
Views on Israel
His views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are not well known. Schlossberg temporarily deleted his social media accounts in February following a series of offensive posts about his family and TV host Megyn Kelly.
But like many young Americans and a growing number of Democratic politicians, Schlossberg believes that criticism of the Jewish state is fair game. He has spoken out against the Trump administration’s crackdown on universities for failing to address antisemitism or anti-Israel rhetoric. “Whether you support Israel or not is besides the point,” he wrote in one post. “What does this do to help solve that problem? What other problems does it create?”
Schlossberg told the Times he wouldn’t describe the war in Gaza as genocide, but rather that Israel was “committing atrocities” in the enclave. And he said he disagreed with the new mayor-elect’s pledge to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York.
In his post defending his support for Mamdani, Schlossberg said, “We cannot have this thing where if you disagree with Israeli policy, you hate Jews. That’s not good and that’s not fighting antisemitism. That’s horsesh*t. That’s a cop-out.”
This article was originally posted on Sept. 8, 2025, and republished after the formal announcement.
The post Will Jack Schlossberg’s Jewish roots help him in bid for Nadler’s seat? appeared first on The Forward.
Uncategorized
Trump Safe After Being Rushed from White House Correspondents Dinner, Shooter in Custody
U.S. President Donald Trump is escorted out as a shooter opens fire during the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 25, 2026, in this screen capture from video. REUTERS/Bo Erickson
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner by Secret Service agents on Saturday night after a man armed with a shotgun tried to breach security, officials said.
A man armed with a shotgun fired at a Secret Service agent, an FBI official told Reuters. The agent was hit in an area covered by protective gear and not harmed, the official said.
All federal officials, including Trump, were safe. About an hour after Trump was rushed from the event, he posted on Truth Social that a “shooter had been apprehended.”
“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job,” Trump added.
Shortly afterwards, he posted, “The First Lady, plus the Vice President, and all Cabinet members, are in perfect condition.” He said he would be holding a White House press conference on Saturday night.
Anthony Guglielmi, a Secret Service spokesman, said the service was investigating a shooting near the main screening area at the entrance to the event.
After the sound of shots, dinner attendees immediately stopped talking and people started screaming “Get down, get down!”
Hundreds of guests dove under the tables as Secret Service officers in combat gear ran into the dining room. Trump and the first lady had bent down behind the dais before being hustled out by Secret Service officers.
Many of the 2,600 attendees took cover while waiters fled to the front of the dining hall.
Uncategorized
Trump Cancels Envoys’ Pakistan Trip, in Blow to Hopes for Iran War Breakthrough
US President Donald Trump speaks on the day he honors reigning Major League Soccer (MLS) champion Inter Miami CF players and team officials with an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 5, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
President Donald Trump canceled a trip by two US envoys to Iran war mediator Pakistan on Saturday, dealing a new setback to peace prospects after Iran’s foreign minister departed Islamabad after speaking only to Pakistani officials.
While peace talks failed to materialize Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his troops to “forcefully” attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, his office said, further testing a three-week ceasefire.
Trump told reporters in Florida that he decided to call off the planned visit by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner because the talks in Islamabad involved too much travel and expense, and Iran’s latest peace offer was not good enough for him.
Before boarding Air Force One on Saturday for a return flight to Washington, Trump said Iran had improved an offer to resolve the conflict after he canceled the visit, “but not enough.”
In a social media post, Trump also wrote there was “tremendous infighting and confusion” within Iran’s leadership.
“Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!” he posted on Truth Social.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi earlier left the Pakistani capital without any sign of a breakthrough in talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other senior officials.
Araqchi later described his visit to Pakistan as “very fruitful,” adding in a social media post that he had “shared Iran’s position concerning (a) workable framework to permanently end the war on Iran. Have yet to see if the U.S. is truly serious about diplomacy”.
Iranian media reported that Araqchi had flown to Oman’s capital Muscat, saying he will meet with senior officials to “discuss and exchange views on bilateral relations and regional developments”.
Sharif wrote in a post on X that he spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian about the regional security situation and told him that Pakistan was committed to serving “as an honest and sincere facilitator — working tirelessly to advance durable peace and lasting stability.”
Tehran has ruled out a new round of direct talks with the United States and an Iranian diplomatic source said his country would not accept Washington’s “maximalist demands.”
IRAN AND US AT AN IMPASSE
Washington and Tehran are at an impasse as Iran has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, while the US blocks Iran’s oil exports.
The conflict, in which a ceasefire is in force, began with US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28. Iran has since carried out strikes against Israel, US bases and Gulf states, and the war has pushed up energy prices to multi-year highs, stoking inflation and darkening global growth prospects.
Araqchi “explained our country’s principled positions regarding the latest developments related to the ceasefire and the complete end of the imposed war against Iran,” said a statement on the minister’s official Telegram account.
Asked about Tehran’s reservations over US positions in the talks, an Iranian diplomatic source in Islamabad told Reuters: “Principally, Iranian side will not accept maximalist demands.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had said the US had seen some progress from the Iranian side in recent days and hoped more would come over the weekend, while Vice President JD Vance was ready to travel to Pakistan as well.
Vance led a first round of unsuccessful talks with Iran in Islamabad earlier this month.
Uncategorized
Hezbollah Says Ceasefire ‘Meaningless’ as Fighting Continues in South
Israeli military vehicles and soldiers in a village in southern Lebanon as the Israeli army operates in it as seen from the Israeli side of the border, April 23, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Ayal Margolin
Lebanon’s Hezbollah said a US-mediated ceasefire in the war with Israel was meaningless a day after it was extended for three weeks, as Lebanese authorities reported two people killed by an Israeli strike and Hezbollah downed an Israeli drone.
US President Donald Trump announced the three-week extension on Thursday after hosting Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors at the White House. The ceasefire agreement between the governments of Lebanon and Israel had been due to expire on Sunday.
While the ceasefire has led to a significant reduction in hostilities, Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have continued to trade blows in southern Lebanon, where Israel has kept soldiers in a self-declared “buffer zone.”
Responding to the extension, Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad said “it is essential to point out that the ceasefire is meaningless in light of Israel’s insistence on hostile acts, including assassinations, shelling, and gunfire” and its demolition of villages and towns in the south.
“Every Israeli attack… gives the resistance the right to a proportionate response,” he added.
Hezbollah is not a party to the ceasefire agreement, and has strongly objected to Lebanon’s face-to-face contacts with Israel.
BUFFER ZONE
The April 16 agreement does not require Israeli troops to withdraw from the belt of southern Lebanon seized during the war. The zone extends 5 to 10 km (3 to 6 miles) into Lebanon.
Israel says the buffer zone aims to protect northern Israel from attacks by Hezbollah, which fired hundreds of rockets at Israel during the war.
Hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on March 2, when the group opened fire in support of Iran in the regional war. The ceasefire in Lebanon emerged separately from Washington’s efforts to resolve its conflict with Tehran, though Iran had called for Lebanon to be included in any broader truce.
Nearly 2,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since March 2, the Lebanese health ministry says.
ISRAELI MILITARY WARNS RESIDENTS TO LEAVE TOWN
Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli airstrike killed two people in the southern village of Touline on Friday.
Hezbollah shot down an Israeli drone, the group and the Israeli military said. Hezbollah identified it as a Hermes 450 and said it had downed it with a surface-to-air missile.
An Israeli drone was heard circling above Beirut throughout the day on Friday, Reuters reporters said.
The Israeli military warned residents of the southern town of Deir Aames to leave their homes immediately, saying it planned to act against “Hezbollah activities” there.
Deir Aames is located north of the area occupied by Israeli forces, and it was the first time Israel had issued such a warning since the ceasefire came into force on April 16. Posted on social media, the Israeli warning gave no details of the activities it said Hezbollah was conducting in the town.
The Israeli military also said it had intercepted a drone prior to its crossing into Israeli territory, and that sirens were sounded in line with protocol.
WAR-WEARY RESIDENTS SEEK END TO FIGHTING
The continued fighting has angered war-weary Lebanese, who say they want to see a genuine ceasefire put a full halt to violence.
“What’s this? Is this called a ceasefire? Or is this mocking (people’s) intelligence?” said Naem Saleh, a 73-year-old owner of a newsstand in Beirut.
Residents of northern Israel had mostly returned to daily life, but expressed pessimism about the longevity of the ceasefire with Lebanon.
“I believe that the ceasefire is so fragile, and unfortunately it won’t stand long, in my opinion,” said Eliad Eini, a resident of Nahariya, which lies just 10 km (6 miles) from the border with Lebanon.
On Wednesday, Israeli strikes killed at least five people in the south, including a journalist.
Israel’s Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter, in his opening remarks at Thursday’s talks, said “Lebanon should acknowledge the temporary presence of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and the right of Israel to defend itself from a hostile force that is firing on the population.”
Lebanon’s Ambassador to the United States Nada Moawad, in a written statement sent to Reuters, called for the ceasefire to be fully respected and said it would allow the necessary conditions for meaningful negotiations.
Lebanon has said it aims to secure the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from its territory in broader talks with Israel at a later stage.
Trump said on Thursday that he looked forward to hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the near future, and said there was “a great chance” the two countries would reach a peace agreement this year.
Hezbollah attacks killed two civilians in Israel after March 2, while 15 Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon since then, Israel says.