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After losing friends on Oct. 7, this Israeli NCAA basketball player looks for an escape on the court
(JTA) — Romi Levy glides towards the basket, her sole focus on finishing at the net in the University of South Florida’s practice facility. Moments later, during a break in practice, she checks her phone, hoping not to see any alerts about rocket alarms in her hometown of Herzliya, Israel.
More than 6,000 miles from home at a U.S. university, Levy always thought about Israel often. But things changed on Oct. 7, when some of her high school friends were killed during Hamas’ terror attack on the Re’im music festival. Her cousin, one year younger and like “a little brother,” is on the front lines of the war.
“Trying to stay on top of school and basketball and also knowing everything going on at home was hardest the first week, and it still is hard,” Levy told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “I’m just trying to do my best and make sure that everybody at home is OK and try to be there and support them.”
Basketball is an escape. Levy’s time with the team, about six hours per day at the team’s practice facility, gets her away from watching the news “nonstop.”
“I just love basketball so much that when I get on the court I just have fun,” Levy said. “I know that if something were to happen my phone is right there, so I don’t need to think about it when I play basketball.”
She was already looking to turn her college career around on the court this year. This past March, after an injury-plagued three years at Auburn University, Levy put her name in the NCAA transfer portal. More than 40 Division I women’s college basketball programs reached out, illustrating the 6-foot-3 wing player’s potential.
“New life, New team, New position. Starting it all over!” she captioned an Instagram post after transferring to USF.
Born and raised Jewish, Levy is a third-generation standout Israeli athlete. Her grandmother, Tamara Metal Schumacher, was the first female Israeli Olympian, competing in the 1952 Games in the high jump and long jump. She also played for the country’s national basketball team, as did her mother. Levy’s “23” tattoo on her arm honors her grandmother’s Olympic number.
Levy is also a dual Israel-American citizen. Her father, Alon, a former professional soccer player and Ironman triathlete, lived in Los Angeles for a decade and became an American citizen. He and Romi lived in Boca Raton, Florida, during her freshman year of high school, where she attended Olympic Heights Community High School. They moved back to Israel at the end of that school year.
Between graduating from Hof Hasharon High School and beginning college, Levy completed Israel’s mandatory two-year national service requirement. During her service, spent at her parents’ rehabilitation center working with Israel Defense Force veterans, Levy also represented the Israeli national team at the U18 Women’s European Championships, leading the team to a bronze medal.
She enrolled at Auburn in 2020 on the recommendation of Israeli three-time Olympic swimmer Yoav Bruck, a 1994 Auburn graduate and friend of her parents. Levy posted her best season to date as a freshman, averaging 5.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game en route to SEC All-Freshman Team honors.
She then missed her sophomore season due to an ACL tear suffered in her left knee and injured her meniscus in both knees during a preseason practice. She made a strong return, posting 6.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game in 23 appearances for Auburn last season, but Levy played through pain. Unable to straighten her leg all the way, it swelled to the point where she needed it drained and took steroid shots. With Auburn out of any postseason play, Levy sought an MRI. She again underwent season-ending knee surgery in February.
She called Auburn — where she celebrated Jewish holidays with men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl and his family — “a great place for school, but for basketball it wasn’t a good fit for me.” USF boasts a stronger women’s basketball program: While Auburn finished a solid No. 81 out of 361 teams in last year’s NCAA NET Rankings, USF finished No. 39.
Levy likes to play far from the basket on offense. A physical lefty with a deft shooting touch, she flashed 3-point range during her time at Auburn but mainly played with her back to the basket in the post. At USF, she’s transitioning back to her natural position on the wing.
Carsen McFadden, a current member of the Auburn women’s basketball team in Levy’s recruiting class, told JTA she appreciated learning about Jewish and Israeli culture from Levy — such as the fact that Hebrew is written from right to left. McFadden, who called Levy her “best friend,” acknowledged Levy’s efforts to stay positive during a trying time at Auburn, always there to lend a listening ear and a hug.
Outside of basketball, Levy felt comfortable with USF because of its large international student population — more than 50% of the undergraduate population in the fall of 2021, according to the school. At USF, she has also found a larger Jewish community, attending events at the school’s Hillel center and Chabad house and in the greater Tampa community, as her busy schedule permits. She does her best to celebrate all of the Jewish holidays stateside but longs for extended family’s Friday night Shabbat dinners.
Levy struggled with injury issues at Auburn and is looking for a clean start at the University of South Florida. (South Florida Athletics)
“We’d do the Kiddush and all that,” Levy said. “Seeing everyone together is something I miss. Friday nights aren’t as special here as they are in Israel.”
Levy’s parents still live in Israel, roughly an hour by car from the Gaza Strip. Alon Levy traveled from Israel to Tampa this week to visit his daughter and attend her first game at USF, a 76-61 win over UT Arlington in which Romi scored 10 points across 21 minutes of action. Alon said he and his wife Liat communicate with Romi and their older daughter, Sean, a New York City-based model, daily.
“I can’t explain what we are feeling, but we are in shock, all of Israel is for what happened,” Alon said. “I think almost everybody in Israel has someone that something happened to. There are no words to explain it.”
He told Romi not to look at the news too much and try to focus on her new beginnings in Florida.
“I’m coming now, also, to give her a hug and see how she feels,” he said. “From a distance, you never know exactly how your children are feeling. They always say they are OK. But she’s OK. She’s OK.”
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Ted Cruz Defends AIPAC From ‘Foreign Influence’ Claims, Accuses Tucker Carlson of ‘Antisemitism’
US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaking at a press conference about the United States restricting weapons for Israel, at the US Capitol, Washington, DC. Photo: Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) forcefully defended the role of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in domestic politics, arguing in a newly released interview with well-known far-right provocateur Tucker Carlson that the group does not operate as a “foreign agent” on behalf of the Jewish State.
In a tense interview released on Wednesday, Carlson pressed Cruz on his hawkish stance toward Iran, grilling him repeatedly about basic facts, such as Iran’s population and ethnic breakdown, implying Cruz lacked foundational knowledge despite advocating for imposing maximum pressure on the Islamist regime.
The debate then shifted to US–Israel relations, with Carlson questioning whether Israel’s alleged spying and military actions had US backing, prompting Cruz to defend the alliance while walking back implications of direct American involvement.
The exchange underscores growing fissures within the so-called MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement — the backbone of US President Donald Trump’s domestic political support — between isolationists more aligned with Carlson and voices such as Cruz who advocate a more robust military posture, amid the intensifying Israel–Iran conflict.
During the interview, Carlson directed his focus on Cruz’s connections to the influential pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, questioning whether Cruz was unduly influenced by the organization. Carlson accused him of leaning on AIPAC’s messaging and suggested that the group wields an inappropriate amount of power over American foreign policy. Cruz then accused Carlson of stoking antisemitism with his commentary about AIPAC and Israel.
Sen. Ted Cruz insists AIPAC is not a foreign lobby.
Watch the full episode at https://t.co/kYGlVrKTCX pic.twitter.com/HkAHKFoyOl
— Tucker Carlson Network (@TCNetwork) June 18, 2025
“Are AIPAC’s goals shaped by the goals of the Israeli government?” Carlson asked the senator. “If you say no, I think we both know that’s not true.”
“Does Israel direct AIPAC? No, they’re not lobbying on behalf of them. Do they care about them? Yes,” Cruz responded.
“What you’re now describing, in a very defensive way, I will say, is foreign influence over our politics,” Carlson said.
AIPAC, a US organization composed of Americans that seeks to foster bipartisan support in Congress for the US-Israel alliance, does not receive funding from the Israeli government and operates independently under US law, distinguishing it from foreign agents that register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Cruz responded by forcefully defended the US–Israel relationship and said Carlson’s framing echoed long-standing antisemitic tropes about Jewish control and dual loyalty. Carlson denied the accusation, insisting his criticism was aimed at foreign entanglements and lobbying influence broadly, not solely at Jewish people or Israel.
“By the way, Tucker, it’s a very weird thing, the obsession with Israel,” Cruz said.
“Oh, I’m an antisemite now?” Carlson scoffed while smiling. “You’re trying to derail my questions by calling me an antisemite.”
“You’re asking, why are the Jews controlling our foreign policy?” Cruz stated. “If you’re not an anti-Semite, give me another reason why the obsession is Israel.”
Finally, someone with real power calls out Tucker Carlson straight to his face over his thinly veiled antisemitism. Kudos, @tedcruz pic.twitter.com/b4VDeioDNO
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) June 18, 2025
Carlson has been a fierce critic of the Israel-Iran war, arguing that the US should not lend the Jewish state any support in its efforts to dismantle the Iranian nuclear program. He has framed the conflict as a reckless proxy war, warning that the Israeli military actions could drag the US into a broader regional conflict in the Middle East.
Carlson has faced multiple controversies involving accusations of antisemitism, tied to both his rhetoric and recurring themes on his shows. In 2021, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) publicly called for Fox News to fire Carlson after he promoted the “Great Replacement” theory — which posits that Jewish people are systemically importing masses of minorities into Western countries to erase white people.
Since leaving Fox News, Carlson’s critical stance toward Israel and organizations like AIPAC has intensified. In interviews and monologues, he has regularly questioned whether US foreign policy is being overly influenced by Israeli interests. Moreover, he has established himself as a fierce critic of Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas, falsely suggesting that Israel indiscriminately targets Palestinian civilians and conducts airstrikes against Christian churches in Gaza. He has also called on other Christians to adopt an adversarial posture against Israel, accusing the Jewish state of oppressing believers of Jesus Christ. Meanwhile, critics point out that Carlson has remained silent on widespread oppression of Christians in Muslim countries, including ones struggling with Islamist extremists such as Nigeria.
The post Ted Cruz Defends AIPAC From ‘Foreign Influence’ Claims, Accuses Tucker Carlson of ‘Antisemitism’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Antisemitic Assaults, Threats Continue Across US With Spate of Incidents
A friend organized a vigil for Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, both Israeli embassy workers who were murdered by an anti-Israel activist, in Washington, DC on May 22, 2025. Photo: ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect.
The American Jewish community continues to be battered by antisemitic hate incidents across the US, forcing law enforcement to stay hot on the trails of those who perpetrate them amid a wave of recent outrages.
In the Highland Park suburb of Chicago, an antisemitic letter threatening violence was mailed to a resident’s home. So severe were its contents that the FBI and the Illinois Terrorism and Intelligence Center were called to the scene to establish that there was no imminent danger, according to local news outlets. Later, the local government shuttered all religious institutions as a precautionary measure.
“Even in Highland Park, where we strive to lead with compassion and inclusion, hate can still find its way to our doorstep,” Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said in a statement addressing the incident. “We are living through a time when antisemitism is rising — not only across the world, but here at home. That reality is painful and for many in our community, it is personal. We understand the fear, the hurt, and the anger that such acts provoke. We also understand the pride and strength that come from standing firm in who we are, and in what we believe.”
She added, “Jewish families have been part of the story and the fabric of Highland Park for generations. Their contributions to our civic, cultural, and spiritual life are deep and enduring. That legacy will not be erased or overshadowed by hate.”
In New York City, where antisemitic hate crimes have been increasing year over year and leading the nation in the statistical category, an elderly man struck a Jewish woman with his cane after shouting “Stupid b—tch. Go back to your country” — as reported by the New York Post. He became even more animated after the helpless woman, who was alone on a subway platform, began recording the encounter with her smartphone. The New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) Crimestoppers division has asked the public to come forward if they recognize the man, whose visage was captured in crystal clear screenshots pulled from footage of the attack.
In Garret Park, Maryland, a middle-aged man, Clift A. Seferlis, was recently arrested by federal authorities for sending a series of threatening messages to Jewish organizations in Philadelphia. Seferlis appears to have been motivated by anti-Zionism, as he referenced the war in Gaza in his communications.
“The Victim Jewish Institution 1 received numerous additional messages since April 1, 2024, which contained a threat to physically destroy the institution,” the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said in a statement. “Prior to the receipt of the May 7, 2025, mailing, Victim Jewish Institution 1 and its employees had received very similar-looking letters, believed to have been sent by Seferlis, which referenced Victim Jewish Institution 1’s ‘many big open windows,’ ‘Kristallnacht,’ ‘anger and rage,’ and a future need to ‘rebuild’ the institution following its destruction.”
Another antisemitic incident motivated by anti-Zionism occurred in San Francisco, where an assailant identified by law enforcement as Juan Diaz-Rivas and others allegedly beat up a Jewish victim in the middle of the night. Diaz-Rivas and his friends approached the victim while shouting “F—ck the Jews, Free Palestine,” according to local prosecutors.
“The group then came after them, and one of them punched the victim, who fell to the ground, hit his head and lost consciousness,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement. “Allegedly, Mr. Diaz-Rivas and others in the group continued to punch and kick the victim while he was down. A worker at a nearby business heard the altercation and antisemitic language and attempted to intervene. While trying to help the victim, he was kicked and punched.”
Violence targeting American Jews has increased in recent months.
Earlier this month, an assailant firebombed a pro-Israel rally with Molotov cocktails and a “makeshift” flamethrower in Boulder, Colorado, injuring 15 people ranging in age from 25 to 88 in what US authorities called a targeted terrorist attack. Egyptian national Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was charged with attempted murder and a slate of other crimes that could land him in jail for more than 600 years if convicted. Prosecutors say he yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack. The suspect also told investigators that he wanted to “kill all Zionist people,” according to court documents.
That incident came less than two weeks after a gunman murdered two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, while they were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum hosted by the American Jewish Committee. The suspect charged for the double murder, 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, also yelled “Free Palestine” while being arrested by police after the shooting, according to video of the incident. The FBI affidavit supported the criminal charges against Rodriguez stated that he told law enforcement he “did it for Gaza.”
According to chilling data released by the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) latest Audit of Antisemitic Incidents in April, antisemitism in the US is surging to break “all previous annual records.”
In 2024 alone, the ADL recorded 9,354 antisemitic incidents last year — an average of 25.6 a day — across the US, an eruption of hatred not recorded in the nearly thirty years since the organization began tracking such data in 1979. Incidents of harassment, vandalism, and assault all increased by double digits, and for the first time ever a majority of outrages — 58 percent — were related to the existence of Israel as the world’s only Jewish state.
The Algemeiner parsed the ADL’’ data, finding dramatic rises in incidents on college campuses, which saw the largest growth in 2024. The 1,694 incidents tallied by the ADL amounted to an 84 percent increase over the previous year. Additionally, antisemites were emboldened to commit more offenses in public in 2024 than they did in 2023, perpetrating 19 percent more attacks on Jewish people, pro-Israel demonstrators, and businesses perceived as being Jewish-owned or affiliated with Jews.
“This horrifying level of antisemitism should never be accepted and yet, as our data shows, it has become a persistent and grim reality for American Jewish communities,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “Jewish Americans continue to be harassed, assaulted, and targeted for who they are on a daily basis and everywhere they go. But let’s be clear: we will remain proud of our Jewish culture, religion, and identities, and we will not be intimidated by bigots.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Antisemitic Assaults, Threats Continue Across US With Spate of Incidents first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Foreign Minister Slams Turkey’s Erdogan for Defending Iran, Comparing Netanyahu to Hitler
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint statement to the media in Baghdad, Iraq, April 22, 2024. Photo: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday for once again comparing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and accusing Israel of committing “state terrorism” in its campaign against Iran.
“The sultan, in his own eyes, in yet another inflammatory speech, continues to incite against Israel and against the Israeli prime minister,” Sa’ar wrote in a post on X.
“Erdogan, who has set a record in suppressing the freedoms and rights of his citizens, as well as his country’s opposition, dares to preach to others,” the top Israeli diplomat continued.
The Sultan in his own eyes, in yet another inflammatory speech, continues to incite against Israel and against the Israeli Prime Minister.
Erdogan, who has set a record in suppressing the freedoms and rights of his citizens, as well as his country’s opposition, dares to preach…— Gideon Sa’ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) June 18, 2025
Turkey has been one of the most outspoken critics of Israel on the international stage, even going so far as to threaten an invasion of the Jewish state and calling on the United Nations to use force if Jerusalem fails to halt its military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
“It is particularly ironic that someone who does not hide his imperialist ambitions, someone who invaded northern Syria and illegally holds northern Cyprus, claims to speak in the name of morality and international law,” Sa’ar wrote in his post on X. “A little self-awareness could be helpful.”
During an address to lawmakers from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in parliament, Erdogan said Israel’s military campaign against Iran was illegal and “crazed.”
“Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has long left Hitler behind in terms of genocide,” the Turkish leader said. “It is a very natural, legitimate, and legal right for Iran to defend itself against Israel’s thuggery and state terrorism.”
“We are closely monitoring Israel’s terrorist attacks on Iran,” Erdogan continued.
Last week, Israel launched a broad preemptive attack on Iran — dubbed “Operation Rising Lion” — targeting military installations and nuclear sites across the country in what officials described as an effort to neutralize an imminent nuclear threat.
The ongoing Israeli strikes killed several of Iran’s top military commanders and nuclear scientists and dealt a major blow to the country’s retaliatory capabilities, destroying not only much of its ballistic missile stockpiles but also crippling its launch platforms.
Israel had previously declared it would never allow the Islamist regime to acquire nuclear weapons, as the country views Iran’s nuclear program — which Tehran insists is solely for civilian purposes — as an existential threat.
Iranian leaders have regularly declared their intention of destroying Israel and have for decades supplied internationally designated terrorist groups, such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, with weapons and funding to attack the Jewish state.
Erdogan has frequently defended Hamas terrorists as “resistance fighters” against what he describes as Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, with Turkey long serving as one of the group’s top international backers.
As part of his long history of anti-Israel rhetoric, Erdogan has falsely accused the Jewish state of running “Nazi” concentration camps and compared Netanyahu to Hitler multiple times before.
In March, he threatened to “send Netanyahu to Allah to take care of him, make him miserable, and curse him.”
The Turkish leader has also said that Netanyahu was a “butcher” who would be tried as a “war criminal” over Israel’s defensive military operations in Gaza.
He has also called Israel a “terror state” and expressed solidarity with Iran after it attacked the Jewish state with a barrage of ballistic missiles last year.
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