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100 Days: Life on the Israeli Home Front
The bodies of people, some of them elderly, lie on a street after they were killed during a mass-infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel, Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
More than 100 days have passed since October 7, when the world changed for Israelis and all Jews.
On that “Black Shabbat,” as we refer to it in Israel, I woke up expecting to celebrate my wedding anniversary and the holiday of Simchat Torah.
Within minutes, it became clear that what was unfolding was a day that would be seared into the Israeli psyche forever. We are still reeling from the shock, trauma, and grief of the barbaric massacre that took place on October 7, and every moment since, we have been grappling with desperation for our hostages, and the effects of a war that was forced upon us by the Iran-backed Hamas.
We Israelis wake up every morning with a sense of dread, checking the news to see the names of fallen soldiers that have been “cleared for publication.” Still living under the threat of rocket barrages, we are also in a state of constant anxiety about the possibility of an additional front escalating on our northern border.
Last Saturday night — Day 99 since the Hamas Massacre — I went to “Hostages Square” in Tel Aviv to demonstrate solidarity with the families of those being held captive in inhumane conditions in Gaza, without having had even one visit from the Red Cross. The next day, bringing to mind some kind of perverse reality TV show, Hamas began releasing “teaser” videos as part of their campaign of psychological warfare, taunting Israelis to guess which hostages were alive and which were dead. In a sick follow-up video, they revealed the results, blaming the IDF, of course, for the deaths of two men from Kibbutz Be’eri.
On Sunday — Day 100 — I met with fellow Israeli members of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) Jewish Diplomatic Corps to discuss the volunteer endeavors we have been engaged in. One person has been documenting testimonies of sexual assault that occurred on October 7th. Another had just been released after 70 days of reserve duty. Another has been involved in initiatives to help the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Israelis who can’t return to their homes in the north and south of the country. These are just a tiny fraction of the heroic efforts of Israeli civil society in the wake of the war. Indeed, the resilience and solidarity demonstrated by the Israeli people has been a glimmer of light and hope in what is otherwise one of our darkest hours.
On Monday — Day 101 — as I was working away at my desk, my thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of ambulance and police sirens. A terrorist attack by two Palestinians from the West Bank had struck my suburban town of Ra’anana, killing one elderly woman and wounding 17 others, including children, just a couple of minutes away from my home.
My own children were placed in lock-down in their schools and kindergarten until the police gave us the all-clear that they could be picked up. That night, my husband and I comforted them, telling them that it was OK, that they are safe. But we exchanged a look, knowing that as much as we want to promise them that, there are no guarantees.
And all the while, the battles against Hamas in Gaza rage on — a just war if there ever was one, despite what malevolent actors and states around the globe contend. In my capacity as a member of the WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps, every evening I compile a list of antisemitic incidents around the globe for security officials — a daily reminder that the war is not only being waged here in the Middle East.
And every day, throughout it all, one thought echoes continuously in my mind: We are living in an upside-down world. The fact that Israel is on trial at the International Court of Justice for alleged genocide, the most egregious of all crimes, as it is conducting a war of self-defense against an enemy that truly is genocidal, is a deliberate and malicious inversion of reality.
If the international community truly cared about the Palestinians’ plight for a sovereign state, they would be siding with Israel wholeheartedly, and certainly with not the oppressive terrorist regime who uses its own civilians as human shields, prevents their access to humanitarian aid, and educates its population — with the help of UN funding — to kill Jews wherever they are.
As long as there continue to be forces in this world who sympathize with terrorists, negate Israel’s right to defend itself against those who seek its destruction, and protest Israel’s very right to exist in so-called “pro-Palestinian” marches, the Palestinian leadership has nothing to gain from seeking a two-state solution. They have no incentive to embark on the arduous task of state-building and living alongside a Jewish state, if their wish to destroy Israel is backed by so many.
How can any well-meaning person advocate for a death cult that is supported by the world’s most abhorrent regimes, rather than for the liberal and democratic State of Israel? Is it due to willful ignorance? The success of a disinformation campaign? Plain old antisemitism?
A significant comfort of living here in Israel — even, and perhaps especially, during wartime — is being surrounded by people who “get it.” Jews, Arabs, Israeli citizens from across the political spectrum are painfully aware of who the enemy is and why it is so crucial to defeat them.
Although we disagree on plenty of things, we are united behind one cause, one truth: Israel, though perhaps imperfect, is our home and it must be defended. It is the homeland of all the Jewish people, and it must remain strong, especially in light of the skyrocketing levels of Jew-hatred we are witnessing around the globe. And it is strong.
Israeli society has proven time and time again just how strong, moral, and irrepressible it is. And that is why I know that “Together we will win” is more than just a wartime slogan — it is a promise, and it is our only option.
Ariel Rodal-Spieler is a member of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) Jewish Diplomatic Corps, a worldwide network of 400 members in 60 countries supporting the global Jewish community through diplomacy and public policy, under the vision and leadership of WJC President Ronald S. Lauder. Ariel is a translator and writer.
The post 100 Days: Life on the Israeli Home Front first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Vows to Hold Iran Responsible for Houthi Attacks, Warns of ‘Dire Consequences’
A Houthi fighter mans a machine gun mounted on a truck during a parade for people who attended Houthi military training as part of a mobilization campaign, in Sanaa, Yemen, Dec. 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
US President Donald Trump has declared that Iran will be held directly responsible for any future attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have targeted US and Israeli ships in the Red Sea in retaliation for Jerusalem’s ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip.
“Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social account on Monday.
Over the weekend, the US military launched strikes against the Houthis in Yemen after the Iran-backed terrorist group declared they had resumed attacks on ships “linked to Israel” in the Red Sea.
Since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023, the Houthis — whose slogan is “death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory to Islam” — have targeted over 100 merchant vessels in the Red Sea with missiles and drones. They asserted that these attacks, which caused a massive disruption of global trade, were a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza following Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The attacks have forced vessels to avoid the Red Sea and Suez Canal in favor of longer routes around Africa, driving up travel and insurance costs.
“The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthi, the sinister mobsters and thugs based in Yemen, who are hated by the Yemeni people, all emanate from, and are created by, IRAN,” Trump wrote in his post on Truth Social.
“Any further attack or retaliation by the ‘Houthis’ will be met with great force, and there is no guarantee that that force will stop there,” he continued.
According to US officials, several senior Houthi commanders have been killed during the attacks. Meanwhile, local media reports said the Houthis claimed at least 53 people have been killed and 98 wounded as a result of the strikes.
CENTCOM Forces Launch Large Scale Operation Against Iran-Backed Houthis in Yemen
On March 15, U.S. Central Command initiated a series of operations consisting of precision strikes against Iran-backed Houthi targets across Yemen to defend American interests, deter enemies, and… pic.twitter.com/u5yx8WneoG
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 15, 2025
On Sunday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Washington would conduct “unrelenting” strikes against the Houthis until the terrorist group ceases their military actions targeting US assets and international shipping.
“Iran has played ‘the innocent victim’ of rogue terrorists from which they’ve lost control, but they haven’t lost control,” Trump wrote in his post on Truth Social. “They’re dictating every move, giving them the weapons, supplying them with money and highly sophisticated Military equipment, and even, so-called, ‘Intelligence.’”
Over the weekend, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi called for mass protests, urging Yemenis to take to the streets in response to US airstrikes. Demonstrations were held in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and other Houthi-controlled areas, with crowds chanting “Death to America! Death to Israel!” during a rally broadcast on the Houthis’ Al-Masirah television network.
The Yemeni terrorist group warned that its attacks on shipping in the Red Sea will continue until US military strikes on Yemen stop. The Houthis also claimed two attacks in the past 24 hours against the USS Harry S. Truman in the northern Red Sea.
In January, the group signaled it would limit its attacks in the Red Sea corridor to only Israeli-affiliated ships after a ceasefire began in the Gaza Strip but warned that broader assaults could resume if necessary. Reports have indicated that the Houthis used Iranian-supplied ballistic and cruise missiles to carry out its attacks.
Earlier this month, Washington imposed sanctions on seven senior members of the Houthis, shortly after the Trump administration officially redesignated the Iran-backed rebels in Yemen as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).
Several countries — including Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Israel — currently designate the Houthis as terrorists.
Last month, the United Nations announced it suspended its humanitarian operations in areas controlled by Houthi rebels, after they detained dozens of UN staffers, who remain unreleased.
The Houthis have been waging an insurgency in Yemen for two decades in a bid to overthrow the Yemeni government. They have controlled a significant portion of the country’s land in the north and along the Red Sea since 2014, when they captured it in the midst of a civil war.
The post Trump Vows to Hold Iran Responsible for Houthi Attacks, Warns of ‘Dire Consequences’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Australian Jewish Leader Urges Continued Vigilance on Antisemitic Hate Crimes After Police Label Bomb Threat ‘Fake’
Car in New South Wales, Australia graffitied with antisemitic message. Photo: Screenshot
A top Australian Jewish leader has expressed disappointment with a recent announcement by police that an incident involving an abandoned caravan filled with explosives and antisemitic writings was “fake,” arguing law enforcement downplayed the severity of a recent spree of crimes targeting the Jewish community.
Alex Ryvchin — co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), an organization which advocates upholding the civil rights of the country’s some 120,000 Jewish citizens — on Monday urged Australian authorities to remain vigilant against antisemitism.
“We learned that in addition to everything we faced over the past 17 months, the doxxing, the vilification, the harassment, everything happening at schools and universities,” Ryvchin said during an appearance on Sky News. “On top of all that, you now have hardened criminals paying off lowly hoodlums to set fire to our buildings and cars and set our streets ablaze with reckless disregard for what happens.”
He continued, “But for some reason, the police in announcing this chose to completely downplay it, refer to it as a con job, and a fake.”
Ryvchin explained the framing had now “allowed negative actors who have tried to downplay it [the rise in antisemitism] this whole time to now galvanize and to try to dampen all the momentum and the enthusiasm for actually solving this problem. So, it’s really incredibly disappointing.”
Earlier this month, Australian police announced that an organized crime group had created a fake bomb threat intended to draw law enforcement resources, rather than a genuine targeting of Jews.
“It was about causing chaos within the community, causing threat, causing angst, diverting police resources away from their day jobs, to have them focus on matters that would allow them to get up to or engage in other criminal activity,” Dave Hudson, New South Wales (NSW) Deputy Police Commissioner, said in statement.
Krissy Barrett, the Australian Federal Police’s Deputy Commissioner for National Security, described the incident as “fake,” a “fabricated terrorism plot,” and a “criminal con job,” adding, “The plan was the following: organize for someone to buy a caravan, place it with explosives and written material of antisemitic nature, leave it in a specific location and then, once that happened, inform law enforcement about an impending terror attack against Jewish Australians. We believe the person pulling the strings wanted changes to their criminal status but maintained a distance from their scheme and hired alleged local criminals to carry out parts of their plan.”
Then last week, NSW Police and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) released a statement that they had arrested and charged 14 members of an organized crime group, allegedly involved in a series of antisemitic hate crimes.
“None of the individuals we have arrested … have displayed any form of antisemitic ideology,” Hudson said. “I think these organized crime figures have taken an opportunity to play off the vulnerability of the Jewish community.”
However, Ryvchin told ABC Radio that law enforcement should not be so quick to dismiss the role fo antisemitism, noting the historic surge in antisemitic attacks across Australia in recent months.
“I don’t feel we can definitively draw that conclusion,” he said. “Ultimately, the things that we’ve seen took place. They weren’t hoaxes. This is part of something transpiring in broader society. The fact that a criminal network with no apparent ideological links to antisemitism thought fit to latch on to what’s happening shows how deep-seated the problem already was.”
The Australian Jewish Association (AJA) has challenged the claim that the crimes were hoaxes, sharing a news article last week reporting that the man charged with allegedly orchestrating the series of crimes had posted antisemitic comments online.
Surprised?
So the Islamic alleged mastermind of the ‘not antisemitic’ bomb targeting Jewish institutions has a history of making Nazi and anti-Israel posts.
We know the Albanese Govt pressured the police to declare the explosives targeting the Jewish community were not… pic.twitter.com/8Ed6hndFpM
— Australian Jewish Association (@AustralianJA) March 14, 2025
Also last week, NSW Premier Chris Minns pushed back against calls for repeals of news laws passed in response to the recent wave of hate crimes. Among other measures, the laws imprison those who make terror threats or perform Nazi salutes.
“While these laws were drafted in response to horrifying antisemitism, we have always made clear they would apply to anyone, preying on any person, at any time. In response to calls for the laws to be scrapped, doing so would be a toxic message to our community that this kind of hate speech is acceptable when it’s not,” Minns said. “These laws are very important to maintaining social cohesion.”
On Monday, the Palestine Action Group reportedly filed suit in the NSW Supreme court, charging that the laws were unconstitutional, infringing on “constitutional freedom of communication on government or political matters.”
Southeastern Australia saw a string of hate crimes targeting Jews from November through January. These included cars set on fire and antisemitic graffiti targeting synagogues as well as other Jewish buildings.
That followed the ECAJ releasing a report last year showing that antisemitism in Australia quadrupled to record levels over the past year, with Australian Jews experiencing more than 2,000 antisemitic incidents between October 2023 and September 2024.
The post Australian Jewish Leader Urges Continued Vigilance on Antisemitic Hate Crimes After Police Label Bomb Threat ‘Fake’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Chuck Schumer Postpones Book Tour on Antisemitism Amid Planned Protests, Outrage Over Funding Bill
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) holds a press conference in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, April 23, 2024. Photo: Annabelle Gordon / CNP/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s upcoming tour to promote his new book on antisemitism has been postponed for “security reasons” amid outrage over his decision to prevent a government shutdown last week
“Due to security concerns, Senator Schumer’s book events are being rescheduled,” a spokesperson for the New York Democrat said in a statement.
Schumer, who is Jewish, was slated to hold multiple events this week promoting his book, Antisemitism in America: A Warning, which is set to be released on Tuesday.
One of the events was supposed to take place at Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center in New York City. Information regarding the event, which was set to be moderated by US Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), was removed from the venue’s website.
Schumer’s other promotional events in Washington, DC and Baltimore were also shelved on short notice. The venues did not provide a reason for nixing the senator’s scheduled appearance.
Jewish activists planned a protest of Schumer’s now-cancelled New York City book event, lambasting the Democratic leader for failing to advance the Antisemitism Awareness Act to the Senate floor for a vote. In addition, the left-wing anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace organized a protest of his Baltimore book event, accusing the senator of helping facilitate Israel’s so-called “genocide” in Gaza.
The Democratic leader has also faced tremendous blowback over Senate Democrats’ decision to help pass a continuing resolution and thwart a government shutdown. The Senate voted 54 to 46 to pass the funding bill. Schumer argued that a government shutdown would provide US President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk a greater amount of unchecked power.
“I know a lot of members didn’t like the CR [continuing resolution — the government shutdown would be far worse. A government shutdown gives Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and DOGE [the US Departmet of Government Efficiency] almost complete power … to close down because they can decide what is an essential service,” Schumer said in a statement.
In the 17 months following the Hamas terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, Schumer has struggled to coalesce strident support for the Jewish state among Democratic senators. Although Democrats have repeatedly issued nominal support for Israel’s right to “self-defense,” liberal lawmakers have steadily adopted a more adversarial posture against the Jewish state. In November 2024, 17 Democratic senators voted to impose a partial arms embargo on Israel, citing frustration over mounting civilian casualties in Gaza.
Furthermore, critics allege that Schumer has not done enough to fight antisemitism in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 atrocities. According to a report by the US Committee on the Workforce and Education, Schumer advised embattled administrators at Columbia University to “keep heads down” amid outrage over surging antisemitism within the student body.
Nonetheless, Schumer has continued using his platform to voice support for Israel’s right to defend itself. In a recent interview with the New York Times, Chuck Schumer defended Israel from false accusations of “genocide” in Gaza and lambasted the United Nations as “antisemitically against Israel.”
“Genocide is described as a country or some group tries to wipe out a whole race of people, a whole nationality of people. So, if Israel was not provoked and just invaded Gaza and shot at random Palestinians, Gazans, that would be genocide. That’s not what happened,” Schumer told the Times. “In fact, the opposite happened. And Hamas is much closer to genocidal than Israel.”
Schumer lamented the rising tide of anti-Jewish hatred across the country, claiming that antisemites often use the word “Zionist” as a placeholder for “Jew.”
“I’ve criticized the Israeli government, and I’ve criticized [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, as you know. Criticism of Israel and how it conducted the war is not antisemitic. But it begins to shade over, and it shades over in a bunch of different ways. When you use the word ‘Zionist’ for Jew — you Zionist pig — you mean you Jewish pig,” Schumer said.
The post Chuck Schumer Postpones Book Tour on Antisemitism Amid Planned Protests, Outrage Over Funding Bill first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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