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A 2nd Avenue rally and Tisha B’Av service laments the state of Israeli democracy
(New York Jewish Week) — The thermometer crept close to 100 degrees Thursday afternoon as a crowd of people who mostly had not eaten all day donned woolen prayer shawls outside the Israeli Consulate near the United Nations.
The group was there to mark Tisha B’Av, the saddest day of the Jewish calendar, in a location that symbolized to them yet another calamity to befall the Jews: this time, the Israeli parliament’s passage earlier this week of legislation restricting the judiciary’s ability to strike down laws.
The legislation has deeply divided Israel since it was proposed six months ago. Leaders of the right-wing Israeli government say the changes are needed to rein in a judiciary that is out of step with Israeli voters. A massive protest movement argues that the changes are weakening the country’s democracy and putting vulnerable populations at risk. Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who visited New York City last week, has warned that the tensions could yield “a real civil war.”
The parallels between this moment in Israeli politics and Tisha B’Av were drawn throughout the rally, which mixed prayer and protest.
“We are familiar with the teaching that says that our Temple was destroyed and our sovereignty in the land ended because of sinat chinam, because of baseless hatred, not from our enemies toward us, but from each of us towards our fellow, our supposed ally,” one speaker told the assembled crowd.
Signs at a New York City Tisha B’Av protest against the Israeli government’s judiciary changes connected the calamities commemorated on the day of mourning with the current government of Israel, July 27, 2023. (Jackie Hajdenberg)
“1. Nebuchadnezzar. 2. Titus. 3. Netanyahu,” one man’s sign said, adding the current prime minister’s name to the pair of leaders who presided over Jerusalem when the ancient Jewish temples were destroyed.
The prayer service marked the first time that the protest movement of Israelis abroad, UnXeptable, had partnered with local synagogues and organizations outside of a progressive coalition. Among the co-sponsors of the event were the Marlene Meyerson JCC, the Jewish Theological Seminary and Park Avenue Synagogue.
“Being an American Jew, our community hasn’t really supported these protests enough, so I thought it was important to come,” Tzvi Mackson told the New York Jewish Week. “Also Tisha B’Av has this amazing resonance on a day like this and with this cause, so it seemed like the perfect day to come despite the heat and everything else.”
New York Jews, including Park Avenue Synagogue Senior Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, wearing tefillin at center left, participate in a Tisha B’Av prayer service and protest outside the Israeli Consulate in New York City, July 27, 2023. (Jackie Hajdenberg)
Mackson and his wife, Rachel Landsberg, said they had been inspired to attend after hearing Esther Sperber, an Israeli American architect who has been a protest leader, speak at an earlier rally. Both had been fasting since sundown Tuesday.
“I’m an observant Jew, and it was very meaningful to be here in front of the consulate being visibly observant and really thinking about what we mourn,” Landsberg said.
Sperber was one of the speakers at the rally. “We are here during a severe heat wave, with chances of thunderstorms, while fasting, on Tisha B’Av, because this is very important,” she said, adding, “We know these are not only liberal democratic values, but these are also our Jewish values.”
Israelis held fresh protests in Tel Aviv Thursday night after the conclusion of the holiday there. Sperber said that she believed the movement would ultimately prevail, despite this week’s setback.
“Along with my anger, I also have hope,” she said. “While we lost this particular battle, and unreasonable things may soon happen, we will not lose this fight.”
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The post A 2nd Avenue rally and Tisha B’Av service laments the state of Israeli democracy appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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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.