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An Israeli author was excited for his best friend’s wedding. After Oct. 7, it became a funeral.
(JTA) — Like other Israelis around the world, Iddo Gefen spent the hours of Oct. 7 rifling through various news reports and messages from friends and family about the terror attacks unfolding in southern Israel.
But from his apartment in New York City, Gefen was specifically focused on the news about his good friend from childhood, Sagi Golan. The reservist had left his home in Herzliya, a city just north of Tel Aviv, to help the military efforts in Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the enclaves under attack from Hamas. Golan hadn’t waited for a command to do so — he just grabbed his gear and hit the road.
“He gave me a kiss on the lips, and he said [he’d be back in] ‘Less than a week,’” said Omer Ohana — who was due to marry Golan on Oct. 20.
But Golan wouldn’t return. He died in the fighting at the kibbutz, after saving dozens of people from falling into Hamas’ hands, according to reports that Gefen has heard.
Just over two weeks later, Gefen found himself relaying this story Wednesday night at what was originally planned as a cheerful event to mark his winning this year’s Sami Rohr Prize, a prestigious $100,000 honor given to works that examine the “Jewish experience.” Gefen, 31, won for his short story collection “Jerusalem Beach,” which was first published in Israel in 2017. (The book became the first translated work to win the Sami Rohr Prize.)
In speaking with Gal Beckerman, a previous Sami Rohr winner, at Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, Gefen also talked about how reality has begun to imitate the semi-surrealist stories in his book. In one, “The Geriatric Platoon,” an old man decides to leave his family and enlist in the army in Israel’s south, where he believes Israel’s security is being threatened.
In reality, a 95-year-old man suited up for the war effort in the days after the events of Oct. 7 — which mostly took place in southern Israel, including on some of the same kibbutzes named in the story.
Ezra Yachin, 95, suited up in his Israeli military uniform to join the effort to defeat Hamas in the days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. (MyIsrael/X)
“I heard [Israeli novelist] David Grossman say once that you write sometimes in hopes of protecting the people around you, by creating realities that are far away from what’s really happening,” Gefen told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on Thursday. “Sometimes we hope that literature and writing can be a way of shifting reality in a better way, but sometimes it just creates another angle on the reality we already live in.”
The Israel-Hamas war found its way into every question at Wednesday’s talk, even most of the ones that moderator Sandee Brawarsky — a former New York Jewish Week editor — asked about Gefen’s literary technique. Gefen opened up about his friendship with Golan and offered a specific portrait of what one Israeli deeply affected by the conflict has experienced over the past two weeks.
Since Golan’s wedding would instead be a funeral — which Jews traditionally hold as soon as possible after a person’s death — Gefen showed up at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport on Oct. 8, without a ticket in hand. Flights to Israel were scarce given the security situation, but with the help of volunteers aiding people in the airport, Gefen found himself on one of the few flights departing that day. He said El Al allowed 24 more people than there were seats on the plane; some sat on the ground, others sat in the cockpit or in the back with flight attendants.
He arrived in Israel around 4 p.m., with the funeral scheduled for 5 p.m., so he rushed to the cemetery. Golan’s family handed out flowers that were originally meant to be used in the wedding. Howling in tears, Ohana explained that the family had asked Ivri Lider, one of Israel’s biggest pop stars, to perform the song that Ohana and Golan had chosen for their first dance. Lider — who himself had lost a dear friend on Oct. 7 — showed up and played an acoustic version of the song “I Was Privileged to Love.”
סרן במיל׳ שגיא גולן ז״ל שנפל בעת קרב בקיבוץ בארי נגד מחבלי החמאס, היה מיועד להתחתן עם בן זוגו עומר בעוד שבוע לצלילי השיר ״זכיתי לאהוב״. הערב הזמר עברי לידר הגיע לבצע את השיר בהלוויתו. שגיא ירד ביום שבת, מבלי לחכות לקריאה לקיבוץ בארי כדי להציל חיים ומשפחות נצורות. pic.twitter.com/epOVTVCMnY
— האגודה למען הלהט”ב בישראל | The Aguda (@AgudaIsraelLGBT) October 12, 2023
Gefen had known Golan since childhood and described him as a funny, creative friend who was committed to volunteering and helping others. Gefen dedicated his recent novel to a slapstick character the pair had invented and embellished together.
After serving in an elite intelligence unit of the Israel Defense Forces — ironically one focused on saving hostages — Golan studied economics and political science, eventually finding himself at a high-paying job at a tech company that designed video games. But he left the job to work for TailorMed, which helps patients without health insurance get vital care and medications in emergency situations.
Gefen hasn’t quite fully come to terms with the enormous tragedy of the moment, and he was surprised that Wednesday’s event — which was introduced by George Rohr, son of the prize’s late namesake philanthropist Sami Rohr — went on as planned. But he said he was able to turn it into a kind of therapeutic experience.
Iddo Gefen, at right, speaks with Gal Beckerman and Sandee Brawarsky at a New York Jewish Week event at Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, Oct. 25, 2023. (Philissa Cramer)
“I think one of the things that is important for me in this situation is to talk about Sagi. Having the chance for people to know about him and his story as much as possible — I think that’s one of the motivations of going up and speaking in this time,” he said.
Despite the fact that “Jerusalem Beach” was a hit in Israel and established Gefen as a rising star there, he chose to enroll in a neuroscience PhD program at Columbia University, which he is finishing soon. His research focuses on memory and decision-making, and many of his stories explore that terrain, including “Debbie’s Dream House,” told from the perspective of a man who gets a job manufacturing nightmares. The story, he said, has been optioned by Ryan Gosling’s film production company.
Gefen has already published another novel, “Mrs. Lilienblum’s Cloud Factory,” and an English translation will be out next year. Will he continue working in neuroscience while using the prize money to continue to work on books? He’s not sure. But he does know that his writing feels invigorated with a new sense of purpose.
“When I wrote the book [‘Jerusalem Beach’], if somebody would ask me, do I have any message with my writing, I would say, ‘no, everybody needs to find their own message.’ And today, I think from the last year and especially since the past few weeks, I think in the end, all these stories do talk about the importance of compassion and humanity and the fact that some humans can do horrible stuff, but they’re also there to comfort and help each other,” he said. “And I think literature at its best is also a place people can look to for comfort. It doesn’t always help, but sometimes it has value.”
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Israeli Consulate Officials Targeted in Boston With Flyers as Antisemitic Crime Wave Continues
A vigil for Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, both Israeli embassy staffers who were murdered by an anti-Israel activist, in Washington DC on May 22, 2025. Photo: ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect
Anti-Israel activists in Boston targeted Israeli consulate staff this week by distributing a threatening flyer which included their pictures and names, potentially endangering them amid a recent surge in antisemitic violence across the US.
“They spread war into Syria, Lebanon, and now Iran,” the flyer said, according to multiple reports. “The people pictured above and other staff at the consulate work for the Israeli government. They advocate for laws to censor us. Their education initiatives obscure and cover up their crimes. Their economic missions fund genocide.”
It added, “Don’t work with them. Don’t help them. Tell them to leave Boston.”
The Consulate General of Israel to New England on Wednesday acknowledged the severity of the incident, noting that its connection to recent events is not lost on anyone.
“The consulate immediately notified local law enforcement agencies and is grateful for their swift response and continued cooperation, as well as their commitment to deepening security efforts around this matter,” it said in a statement. “This deplorable act is especially concerning in light of recent horrific incidents where anti-Israel incitement has escalated into antisemitism, hate crimes, and acts of violence and terror, including right here in our region.”
Only last month, two Israeli diplomats, Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26 — a couple about to become engaged — were murdered as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum for young professionals and diplomatic staff hosted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC). Elias Rodriguez, a 31-year-old left-wing and anti-Israel activist from Chicago, was later charged in US federal court with murdering the embassy aides. According to witnesses and federal agents, he chanted, “Free, Free Palestine” — a war cry that has been a staple of the pro-Hamas movement.
An affidavit filed by federal authorities in support of the criminal complaint charging Rodriguez revealed that he also said at the scene of the shooting, “I did it for Palestine; I did it for Gaza.”
Less than two weeks later, 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. Egyptian national Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was charged with attempted murder and a slate of other crimes. 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.
In Boston this week, one of the targeted officials, Consul General Benjamin Sharoni, issued a statement, saying that the flyer “is bullying, it is an intimidation, and a call to hostile action.” Meanwhile, the New England office of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said “it is deeply troubling in the current climate, where anti-Israel incitement has directly led to the brutal murder of two Israeli embassy staff members.”
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, the American Jewish community has been battered by antisemitic hate incidents throughout the country, forcing law enforcement to stay hot on the trails of those who perpetrate them amid a wave of recent outrages.
On Tuesday, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland announced that it has charged Florida native Jackson Traylor, 26, with sending baleful antisemitic messages which alluded to Nazism and the Holocaust. If convicted of the crimes, he could spend up to two years in federal prison.
“Go burn in an oven like your ancestors,” Traylor allegedly texted his victim. “Burn in a god damn oven … Stupid Jew … Hey, Jew, been a while since we spoke. Let me burn you alive like your ancestors Hail Hitler.”
Earlier this month, an antisemitic letter threatening violence was mailed to a resident of the Highland Park suburb in Chicago. 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.
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.
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.
Chilling data released by the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) latest Audit of Antisemitic Incidents in April revealed that 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 Israeli Consulate Officials Targeted in Boston With Flyers as Antisemitic Crime Wave Continues first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Jewish Lawmaker Says He Was ‘Run Off the Road’ by Pro-Palestinian Activist
US Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) says in a video posted to social media that a pro-Palestinian activist ran him off the road. Photo: Screenshot
US Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) posted a video on X/Twitter on Friday morning saying that he was physically threatened by a pro-Palestinian activist.
Miller, who is Jewish, alleged that while driving to work, the activist forced his car off the road to show him a Palestinian flag and called for the destruction of the Jewish state. Miller added that the assailant threatened the lives of himself and his family.
“This morning, as I was driving to work, some unhinged, deranged man decided to lay on his horn and run me off the road when he couldn’t get my attention. Not to mention, ‘death to Israel,’ ‘death to me,’ that he wanted to kill me and my family,” Miller said.
The representative claimed that he obtained the identity of the suspect and that he will be pursuing legal action against him.
The deranged hatred in this country has gotten out of control. Today I was run off the road in Rocky River, and the life of me and my family was threatened by a person who proceeded to show a Palestinian flag before taking off. I have filed a police report with Capitol Police and… pic.twitter.com/H6JnupcRIA
— Max Miller (@MaxMillerOH) June 19, 2025
Miller, who represents the 7th Congressional District of Ohio, has positioned himself as one of Congress’s most outspoken pro‑Israel advocates. Since taking office in January 2023, he has sponsored multiple resolutions in support of Israel, including a July 2023 measure declaring it “not a racist or apartheid state.” He also co‑sponsored the Antisemitism Awareness Act, aligning US education policy with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.
Miller has also been a vocal supporter of substantial US aid to Israel, backing the $26 billion supplemental package in 2024 that he helped guide through the House, and has denounced any Republican measures that tied Israel aid to US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cuts as “disgusting.” His stance extends to public commentary, where he has condemned Palestinian flag displays by Democrats and framed constraints on Israel’s military response to Iran and its terrorist proxy network as misguided.
In the aftermath of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, pro-Palestinian activists have engaged in a great deal of violence in Ohio. According to Anti‑Defamation League (ADL) reporting, the Buckeye State has experienced a near-quadrupling of antisemitic hate crime cases — from 61 in 2022 to 237 in 2023. Notable incidents include vandalism at Ohio State University‘s Hillel Center, swastika carvings on trees in New Albany, and reported assaults on Jewish students. These incidents have prompted new state legislation to define antisemitism under the IHRA framework and expand ethnic-intimidation charges.
The post US Jewish Lawmaker Says He Was ‘Run Off the Road’ by Pro-Palestinian Activist first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Argentina’s Milei Brands Iran an ‘Enemy,’ Reaffirms Unwavering Support for Israel Amid Escalating Conflict
Argentine President Javier Milei speaks during a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Argentine President Javier Milei has branded Iran “an enemy” of his country, reaffirming Argentina’s support for Israel amid its ongoing conflict with the Islamist regime in Tehran.
On Thursday, Milei — who has broken with decades of Argentine foreign policy to firmly align with Israel and the United States — condemned Iran’s attacks on the Jewish state.
“Iran is an enemy of Argentina,” the South American leader said during a new interview on the La Nación+ news channel.
| Milei recordó los atentados a la AMIA y a la Embajada de Israel y afirmó que Irán es un enemigo de la Argentina: “114 muertos. Es un enemigo de Argentina. Cristina va a tener que dar explicaciones a la Justicia por el Memorándum con Irán, y no sé si constituye traición a… pic.twitter.com/MKUgMmyr9p
— La Derecha Diario (@laderechadiario) June 20, 2025
According to local media, Milei spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to express his “support and solidarity” as the war continues to escalate.
In a statement issued last week, the Argentine leader denounced “the vile attack perpetrated by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the State of Israel, through the mass launch of missiles and drones directed at civilian populations.”
He also said that Israel is “saving Western civilization” and accused Iran of trying to destroy the country.
During his interview on Thursday, Milei held Tehran responsible for two terrorist attacks in Buenos Aires: the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy and the 1994 attack on the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center.
The latter was the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentina’s history, in which 85 people were killed and more than 300 wounded.
Earlier this year, the lead prosecutor in the 1994 AMIA bombing case petitioned Argentina’s federal court to issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, over his alleged involvement in the deadly terrorist attack. Milei has also activated Interpol red notices in connection with the case.
In the same interview, Milei suggested that former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — may have committed treason by signing the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Iranian authorities, which was presented as a cooperation agreement to investigate the AMIA bombing.
“Cristina is going to have to give explanations to the courts about the memorandum with Iran. I don’t know if it constitutes treason, but they planted two bombs in Argentina. That’s key,” the Argentine leader said.
In 2006, former prosecutor Alberto Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the 1994 terrorist attack and Iran’s chief proxy, the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, for carrying it out.
Nine years later, he accused Kirchner of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in exchange for Iranian oil, with the alleged cover-up reportedly formalized through their MoU.
Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.
During his latest interview, Milei also noted that his administration has officially designated Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations — making Argentina the first Latin American country to do so, with Paraguay joining the effort in April.
Since taking office over a year ago, Milei has been one of Israel’s most vocal supporters, strengthening bilateral relations to unprecedented levels.
This month, during his 10-day international tour, Milei was awarded the $1 million Genesis Prize in Jerusalem in recognition of his unwavering support for Israel and commitment to Jewish values.
During his three-day visit to the Jewish state, Milei announced that Argentina will move its embassy to Jerusalem next year, joining the US, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Paraguay, and Papua New Guinea in doing so and recognizing the city as Israel’s capital.
The Argentine leader also signed a “Memorandum of Understanding for Democracy and Freedom” with Netanyahu to strengthen cooperation against terrorism and antisemitism.
The post Argentina’s Milei Brands Iran an ‘Enemy,’ Reaffirms Unwavering Support for Israel Amid Escalating Conflict first appeared on Algemeiner.com.