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At press conference in Tel Aviv, relatives of US citizens plea for government’s help
TEL AVIV (JTA) — In the middle of telling a roomful of about 50 reporters about the plight of his son Itay, who was missing in action, Rivli Chen paused to ask if any representatives of the U.S. government had shown up to the press conference.
No one raised their hands. Cries of “Shame!” in Hebrew began to echo around the room.
“We’ve been in contact with the State Department and the US Embassy,” said Chen. “But there has been no formal or concentrated attempt to talk to us as the group and update us about what they are doing in this matter.”
At the press conference on Tuesday, four families of U.S. citizens who went missing during Hamas’ invasion of Israel spoke about their loved ones and what the Israeli and U.S. governments are doing — and have not done — to secure their release. Chen said that “about 10 other [American] families” with missing family members have been identified by the group, of the more than 100 Israelis taken into captivity on Saturday.
The U.S. government has announced that at least 11 of its citizens were killed in the attack, which killed more than 900 people in total. The government has not released the number of Americans it estimates are held captive.
In addition to Rivli Chen, the speakers at the press conferenceincluded Nahar Neta, son of 66-year old Adrienne Neta; Rachel Goldberg, mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin; and Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of Sagui Dekel-Chen. They sat at a table in front of a row of posters with enlarged photos of their missing relatives.
Neta said there had been “zero communication from the Israeli government” on the situation and that none of the families has received an official notification that their loved ones are being held as hostages. His 66-year-old mother was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri on Saturday, a border town that was also the site of a massacre in which more than 100 people were killed.
“I can appreciate the total mayhem and mess that the combat environment is creating, but I think that after three days… now is more than a reasonable request to have somebody from the Israeli government or the US administration [approach] us with any kind of information that they may have,” he said.
Goldberg-Polin was at the large outdoor festival near Kibbutz Re’im where 260 people were killed. Itay Chen was on a military base.
“I want to speak about the responsibility that the U.S. administration of President Dr. Biden and the Secretary of State Anthony Blinken have for the lives of every US citizen that is out there,” Chen said. “They’re responsible to bring the U.S. citizens back home safe and sound.”
Representatives of each of the four families took turns sharing their horrifying experiences, describing their group as a “new family.” Rachel Goldberg said that they were able to learn from eyewitnesses that her son was last seen leaving a bomb shelter with his “arm severed” but was “put on a pickup truck” with others after Hamas terrorists instructed “anyone who can walk” to leave the room. She added that survivors of the tragedy recounted acts of heroism in which her son helped save lives by tossing back back grenades thrown into the shelter by Hamas attackers. She also heard that he comforted those around him.
Diana, the youngest of Adrienne Neta’s children, contrasted her mother’s dedication as a nurse in Beersheva’s Soroka hospital to the actions of the Hamas terrorists.
“When she walked into a delivery [room] she saw a human being in front of her,” she said. “Not a religion, not a race, not a hijab, not an Orthodox Jew.”
She added, “When Hamas walked into my mother’s room in Be’eri… they did not see a human being.”
Itay, who has not been seen since Saturday morning, chose to serve on his military base last weekend in order to attend his younger brother’s bar mitzvah this coming week, his father said.
He added, “I invite all the people who want to celebrate with us to join the bar mitzvah… and pray for all the hostages who are missing,” and also pleaded to Hamas to “treat him as a prisoner of war according to international law.”
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, who moved to Kibbutz Nir Oz in 1990, described scenes of horror from the “barbaric attack” at the kibbutz in which there are only “160 survivors out of 400 residents.”
His son Sagui, 35, grew up on the kibbutz and is a father of two daughters. His wife is pregnant with a third child. He is missing, his father said, “after having tried to repulse the attack by evidently hundreds of Hamas terrorists and looters.”
“I’m what is called a peacenik in Israel,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen added. “But what we’ve witnessed, this kind of savagery, this kind of inhumanity, must be stopped.”
He added that the family members at the conference “appeal to the United States government and Congress to do what they can on the side of good here. We’re waiting for Sagui to come home.”
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Washington Warns UK, France Against Recognizing Palestinian Statehood
Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy leaves Downing Street, following the results of the election, in London, Britain, July 5, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Toby Melville
i24 News – The United States has warned the UK and France not to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state at a UN conference scheduled for June 17 in New York, the Middle East Eye reported Tuesday.
France and Saudi Arabia will co-host this conference on the two-state solution, with Paris reportedly preparing to unilaterally recognize Palestine. France is also pressuring London to follow this path, according to sources from the British Foreign Office.
French media reports indicate that French authorities believe they have the agreement of the British government. Meanwhile, Arab states are encouraging this move, measuring the success of the conference by the recognitions obtained.
This initiative deeply divides Western allies. If France and the UK were to carry out this recognition, they would become the first G7 nations to take this step, causing a “political earthquake” according to observers, given their historical ties with Israel. The Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer threatened last week to annex parts of the West Bank if this recognition took place, according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
In the United Kingdom, Foreign Secretary David Lammy publicly opposes unilateral recognition, stating that London would only recognize a Palestinian state when we know that it is going to happen and that it is in view.
However, pressure is mounting within the Labour Party. MP Uma Kumaran, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said that the government was elected on a platform that promised to recognize Palestine as a step towards a just and lasting peace. Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, believes that there is no legitimate reason for the United States to interfere in a sovereign decision of recognition, while highlighting the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump on this issue.
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Police, Shin Bet Thwart Suspected Iranian Attempt Perpetrate Terror Attack
A small number of Jewish worshipers pray during the priestly blessing, a traditional prayer which usually attracts thousands of worshipers at the Western Wall on the holiday of Passover during 2020, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 12, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Ronen Zvulun.
i24 News – The Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police thwarted another Iranian attempt to recruit Israelis, according to a statement on Tuesday, arresting a resident of East Jerusalem for allegedly carrying out missions for the Islamic Republic.
Iranian agents recruited the suspect, who in turn recruited members of his family. He is a resident of the Isawiya neighborhood in his 30s, and is accused of maintaining contact with a hostile foreign entity to harm the state by carrying out a terrorist attack against Jews.
The suspect had already begun perpetrating acts of sabotage and espionage, including collecting intelligence about areas in Jerusalem, including the Western Wall and Mahane Yehuda Market. He also hung signs, burned Israeli army uniforms, and more in exchange for payment totaling thousands of shekels.
He was also charged with planning a terror attack in central Israel, including setting fire to a forest, and was told to transfer weapons to terrorist elements in the West Bank.
The suspect’s sought the help of family members, including his mother. A search at his home revealed sums of cash, a spray can used in some of his activities, airsoft guns, suspected illegal drugs, and more.
His indictment is expected to be filed by the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office.
The statement said that the case is yet another example of Iranian efforts to recruit Israelis. “We will continue to coordinate efforts to thwart terrorism and terrorist elements, including those operating outside Israel, while attempting to mobilize local elements in order to protect the citizens of the State of Israel,” the Shin Bet and Police said.
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Pro-Russian, Anti-Israeli Hackers Pose Biggest Cybercrime Threats in Germany
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt holds a chart showing the development of antisemitic crime, during a press conference on Figures for Politically Motivated Crime in the Country, in Berlin, Germany, May 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Cybercrime in Germany rose to a record level last year, driven by hacker attacks from pro-Russian and anti-Israeli groups, the BKA Federal Crime Office reported on Tuesday as the government said it would boost countermeasures to combat it.
“Cybercrime is an increasing threat to our security,” said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. “It is getting more aggressive but our counter-strategies are also becoming more professional,” he said.
Some 131,391 cases of cybercrime took place in Germany last year and a further 201,877 cases were committed from abroad or an unknown location, a BKA report said.
The actors behind the hacker attacks on German targets were primarily either pro-Russian or anti-Israeli, said the BKA, adding targets were mostly public and federal institutions.
Ransomware, when criminals copy and encrypt data, is one of the main threats, said the BKA, with 950 companies and institutes reporting cases in 2024.
German digital association Bitkom said damage caused by cyberattacks here totaled 178.6 billion euros ($203.87 billion) last year, some 30.4 billion euros more than in the previous year.
Dobrindt said the government planned to extend the legal capabilities authorities could use to combat cybercrime and set higher security standards for companies.
The post Pro-Russian, Anti-Israeli Hackers Pose Biggest Cybercrime Threats in Germany first appeared on Algemeiner.com.