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Employees of Popular NYC Bakery Move to Unionize Over Company’s Support for Israel, ‘Zionist Projects’
A Breads Bakery location in New York City. Photo: ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect
Staff members at the extremely popular New York City establishment Breads Bakery announced they are unionizing over working conditions, unfair wages, and the company’s support for Israel.
Over 30 percent of workers across the company’s locations in New York have signed authorization cards to join the newly formed Breaking Breads Union, which will be represented by United Auto Workers. They compared their hardships as staff members of the company to so-called “genocide” taking place in the Middle East and are demanding that the bakery sever all ties with Israel.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the workers said they refuse to participate “in Zionist projects” such as fundraisers that support what they claim is Israel’s “occupation of Palestine.”
“We demand a future with a redistribution of profits, safer working conditions, more respect, and an end to this company’s support of the genocide happening in Palestine,” they previously said in statement released on Jan. 2. “We cannot and will not ignore the implicit and explicit support this bakery has for Israel. We see our struggles for fair pay, respect, and safety as connected to struggles against genocide and forces of exploitation around the world. There are deep cultural changes that need to happen here, and we need to see accountability from upper management.”
Staff members supporting the union said they delivered the same statement as a speech in front of the bakery’s owner and Israeli founder Gadi Peleg as well as its CEO, fellow Israeli Yonatan Floman, inside the bakery’s Union Square flagship location and also outside of the establishment.
The New York City bakery produces artisan, handmade breads and pastries, but is most famous for its babka. It has five locations across Manhattan, has been featured on television, and has done collaborations with high-profile figures including chefs and cookbook authors Martha Stewart, Padma Lakeshmi, Katie Lee Biegel, and Molly Yeh, as well as Israeli chef Ben Siman-Tov. The bakery regularly sells pastries or breads inspired by the Jewish holidays, such as Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah, and Purim. It is reportedly a spinoff of a Tel Aviv bakery, and its menu includes challah, bourekas, and other traditional Jewish foods.
Following the deadly Hamas-led terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Breads Bakery launched a project called “Strand With Us,” in which they sold special heart-shaped challahs on Fridays and sent all profits to support Magen David Adom emergency medical services in Israel. The bakery raised more than $20,000 as part of the project. The company also donated its signature black-and-white cookies to a bake sale fundraiser that raised $27,000 to help a Tel Aviv-based organization preparing meals for displaced families and hospital workers in Israel. The bakery additionally sold cookies featuring the Israeli flag, according to Breaking Breads, and annually participates in the Great Nosh, a Jewish food festival on Governor’s Island that is supported by some pro-Israel groups that donate to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
In November 2023, one location of Breads Bakery in Manhattan was vandalized after someone spray-painted with red graffiti the message “Free Gaza” on the store’s window.
In a statement on Wednesday, Breads Bakery said it is concerned about “divisive political issues” in its bakeries.
“Breads Bakery is built on love and genuine care for our team. We make babka, we don’t engage in politics. We celebrate peace and embrace people of all cultures and beliefs,” the company said. “We’ve always been a workplace where people of all backgrounds and viewpoints can come together around a shared purpose, the joy found at a bakery, and we find it troubling that divisive political issues are being introduced into our workplace.”
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UK Man in Court Charged With Arson at Former London Synagogue
Orthodox Jews stand by a police cordon, after a man was arrested following a stabbing incident in the Golders Green area, which is home to a large Jewish population, in London, Britain, April 29, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A British man charged over an arson attack at a former synagogue in east London last week was in contact with someone using an Iraqi phone number shortly before the fire, prosecutors told a London court on Tuesday.
Moses Edwards, 45, appeared in the dock at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and was remanded in custody until a further hearing next month. He gave no indication of any plea.
The fire at the former East London Central Synagogue was caused by wine bottles filled with an accelerant, which exploded damaging the outside of the building, prosecutors said.
The incident followed a series of arson attacks on Jewish targets in previous weeks, with police saying they were investigating possible Iran links to some of the fires.
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Israeli Para-Athlete Wins Gold at European Taekwondo Championships, Beats Opponent From Azerbaijan
Asaf Yasur, center, posing with his gold medal during the awards ceremony at the 2026 European Taekwondo Championships in Munich, Germany. Photo: Facebook/Israel Taekwondo Federation
Israeli Paralympic athlete Asaf Yasur took home the gold medal in the 2026 European Senior Taekwondo Championships being held this week in Munich, Germany.
The 24-year-old competed in the men’s under-58kg weight category, and on the first day of the championships he beat Azerbaijan’s Sabir Zeynalov 2-1 in the finals after being victorious over Turkish athlete Hamza Tehrani 2-1 in the semifinal. Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah,” played in the arena during the medal ceremony, as Yasur stood on the podium with his gold medal.
The Jerusalem native had both of his hands amputated when he was 13 years old following an electrocution accident. Earlier this year, Yasur won gold at the 2026 US Open Paralympic Taekwondo Championship. He previously took home gold medals at the 2024 Paris Paralympics — where he made his Paralympics debut – the 2024 European Championships, and the 2023 World Para Taekwondo Championships. He also won the 2021 and 2023 World Para Taekwondo Championships and silver at the 2023 European Para Championships.
The European Taekwondo Union organizes the European Senior Taekwondo Championships, which is held every two years. This year marks the fourth time the championship is taking place in Germany, after previous being held in Bonn in 2006, Stuttgart in 1984, and Munich in 1978.
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China and US Agree on Opposing Hormuz Tolls, State Department Says
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Musandam, Oman, May 8, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer
Senior US and Chinese officials agree that no country can be allowed to exact shipping tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, the State Department told Reuters on Tuesday, in a sign that the two countries are trying to find common ground on efforts to pressure Iran to give up control of the vital waterway.
The statement by the State Department comes ahead of a high-stakes summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week, where Iran‘s chokehold on the strait will be on the agenda.
Iran‘s near-complete closure of the vital trade artery since the joint Israeli-US airstrikes on the country on Feb. 28 has sent shockwaves through global energy markets.
The State Department said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the issue in an April phone call.
“They agreed that no country or organization can be allowed to charge tolls to pass through international waterways like the Strait of Hormuz,” department spokesman Tommy Pigott told Reuters in response to questions about the call. The State Department has not previously provided a readout of the call in a break from its usual practice.
China’s embassy did not dispute the US account of the discussion, saying it hoped all sides can work together to resume normal traffic through the strait, which before the war handled one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply.
“Keeping the area safe and stable and ensuring unimpeded passage serves the common interest of the international community,” embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told Reuters.
Tehran has demanded a right to collect tolls on shipping traffic as a precondition for ending the war. The US has imposed a naval blockade on Iran, and Trump has floated the possibility of imposing its own fees on traffic or working with Iran to collect tolls. After domestic and international pushback, the White House has since said Trump wants to see the Strait of Hormuz open up for traffic without any limitations.
Chinese officials so far have avoided direct mention of tolls, even while condemning the US blockade.
‘NORMAL AND SAFE PASSAGE’
Two sources briefed on the Wang-Rubio exchange said Rubio had raised the prospect of Chinese vessels paying tolls, which they said appeared aimed at encouraging Beijing to apply more pressure on Tehran to bring the conflict to an end.
China maintains ties with Iran and remains a major consumer of its oil exports. Trump has been leaning on China to use its influence to push Tehran to make a deal with Washington.
In a subsequent meeting with Iran‘s foreign minister, Wang said the international community shared a “common concern about restoring normal and safe passage through the strait” while reiterating that China supports Iran in “safeguarding its national sovereignty and security.”
China vetoed a US-backed resolution in the United Nations last month encouraging states to work together to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, arguing it was biased against Iran. That prompted US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, to argue that Beijing was tolerating Iran holding the global economy at gunpoint.
Washington together with Bahrain has drawn up another UN resolution demanding Iran halt attacks and mining in the strait, but diplomats say this is also likely to meet with Chinese and Russian vetoes if it comes to a vote.
That resolution also calls for an end to “efforts to exact illegal tolls” in the strait.
China has ordered its companies not to comply with US sanctions against Chinese oil refineries over purchases of Iranian crude, measures intended to isolate and pressure Tehran.