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Benjamin Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor of Nazis at Nuremberg, dies at 103
(JTA) — Benjamin Ferencz, the last surviving member of the prosecuting team at the Nuremberg trials that convicted Nazi ringleaders for crimes against humanity, died Friday evening in Florida. He was 103.
Ferencz was 27 and a graduate of Harvard Law School when he was named as the chief prosecutor at the Einsatzgruppen Trial, in which 20 members of the SS’s mobile death squads were convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Two others were convicted of membership in a criminal organization.
Slight and boyish looking, he is seen in newsreel footage of the trials speaking deliberately and passionately in an accent shaped by his upbringing in Manhattan. “Vengeance is not our goal, nor do we seek merely a just retribution,” he tells the tribunal. “We ask this court to affirm by international penal action, man’s right to live in peace and dignity, regardless of his race or creed. The case we present is a plea of humanity to law.”
Ferencz would go on to play a key role on the team that negotiated the watershed 1952 reparations agreements under which West Germany agreed to pay $822 million to the State of Israel and to groups representing Holocaust survivors. Ferencz was featured in two recent documentaries about the Holocaust and its aftermath: Ken Burns’ PBS series, “The U.S. and the Holocaust,” and “Reckonings: The First Reparations,” a 2022 film funded by the German government with support by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
In a statement about the latter film and his role in the reparations negotiations, Ferencz said: “At the time, we were just trying to do what was right. Looking back, I can see that it was this work, the legal work of negotiating agreements and finding justice, that led to peace. It is the indemnification that allowed both Israel and Germany to find a peaceful path forward and rebuild themselves on the world stage.”
In December 2022, the U.S. Congress awarded him the Congressional Gold Medal, its highest honor, thanks to lobbying by six House members led by Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Florida).
“Ben Ferencz was a giant,” said Menachem Rosensaft, the general counsel and associate executive vice president of the World Jewish Congress, in a statement. “He devoted himself to the very end of his long and distinguished career to making sure that the lessons of Nuremberg would become engrained in both international law and the consciousness of society as a whole. He was also a fierce and tireless champion of providing at least a modicum of justice to Holocaust survivors.”
Born in Transylvania in 1920, Ferencz immigrated to the United States with his Jewish family as an infant. They settled in Manhattan, where he attended City College of New York and law school at Harvard. He joined the U.S. Army after graduation, where he was eventually assigned to the headquarters of Gen. George S. Patton’s Third Army and a team tasked with collecting evidence for war crimes. At Buchenwald, he once recalled, “I saw crematoria still going. The bodies starved, lying dying, on the ground. I’ve seen the horrors of war more than can be adequately described.”
Ferencz was a civilian by the time he led the team at the Einsatzgruppen Trial, one of the “Subsequent” Nuremberg proceedings that followed the 1945-1946 International Military Tribunal. The Subsequent trials, held between 1946 and 1949, were held by U.S. military courts and dealt with cases of crimes against humanity, the use of slave labor and atrocities against prisoners of war and partisans. Of all the cases brought against Nazis, the Einsatzgruppen Trial, which lasted from September 1947 until April 1948, was the only one to have Holocaust crimes as its major focus.
In 2012, Benjamin Ferencz poses in Courtroom 600 of the Palace of Justice, where the Nuremberg Trials were held 65 years earlier. (Adam Jones/Wikipedia)
After the trials Ferencz became director-general of the Jewish Restitution Successor Organization and fought for compensation for victims and survivors of the Holocaust and the return of stolen assets. He entered private law practice, and later worked for the institution of the International Criminal Court, which was established in 2002. He was fiercely critical of the decision by the United States not to ratify the treaty that established the court. “War-making itself is the supreme international crime against humanity and … it should be deterred by punishment universally, wherever and whenever offenders are apprehended,” he wrote in 2018.
From 1985 to 1996, he was an adjunct professor of international law at Pace University in Manhattan. He eventually retired to South Florida, but remained vocal in his opposition to war.
Ferencz is survived by a son and three daughters. His wife Gertude died in 2019.
In 2017, the Municipality of The Hague honored Ferencz for his achievements by naming the footpath adjacent to the Peace Palace after him. That same year, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide launched the Ferencz International Justice Initiative.
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Israeli High-Tech Funding Rises to Nearly $16 Billion in 2025, Report Says
A NVIDIA logo appears in this illustration taken Aug. 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Israeli high–tech companies raised $15.6 billion in private funding in 2025, up from $12.2 billion in 2024, Startup Nation Central said in a report on Monday citing preliminary data.
The tech sector, regarded as one of the largest in the world, accounts for about 20% of GDP, 15% of jobs and more than half of Israeli exports.
It has proved resilient, despite the war in Gaza, which began in 2023, when total funding was $10 billion.
Global giants, such as Nvidia, in 2025 said they would increase their physical and talent presence in Israel.
The number of funding deals, at 717, was the lowest in the last decade, but the deals were higher value. The median private deal, SNC said, reached a record $10 million – up 67% over 2024.
The year 2025 “was not about a return to business as usual; it was a pivot toward high-conviction maturity,” said Avi Hasson, CEO of SNC.
M&A activity reached a record $74.3 billion in value, spread over 150 deals, the data showed.
It was led by Alphabet’s $32 billion purchase of cyber firm Wiz and Palo Alto Networks’ $25 billion acquisition of cyber rival CyberArk.
SNC said the level of M&A in Israel reflected multi-nationals’ efforts “to secure critical innovation.”
“These companies are effectively turning to Israeli startups into their next generation of R&D engines, laying the groundwork for additional acquisitions,” it said.
Funding for tech startups in 2024 was led by $5.2 billion for mid-stage rounds, followed by early-stage investments of $3.9 billion and $2.5 billion for later stages, SNC said.
A number of Israeli companies went public, raising more than $10 billion.
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Turkey Claims Kurdish-Led SDF Does Not Intend to Advance Integration With Syrian State
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during an interview with Reuters at the 23rd edition of the annual Doha Forum, in Doha, Qatar, Dec. 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
The Kurdish–led Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria appear to have no intention of honoring a commitment to integrate into the state‘s armed forces by a year-end deadline, Turkey‘s foreign minister claimed on Monday.
Turkey views the US-backed SDF, which controls swathes of northeastern Syria, as a terrorist organization and has warned of military action if the group does not honor the agreement.
Last week, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Turkey hoped to avoid resorting to military action against the SDF, but that its patience was running out.
‘NO INTENTION’
“We see the SDF has no intention to make too much of an advance [toward integration],” Fidan said on Monday in Damascus after talks between a high-level Turkish delegation and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, and others.
“The SDF is running some of its operations in coordination with Israel, [and this] is actually a major obstacle to ongoing negotiations with Damascus,” he said.
The visit to Syria’s capital by the Turkish officials, who included Turkey‘s defense minister and intelligence chief, came amid efforts by Syrian, SDF, and US officials to show some progress with the deal.
Turkey has accused the SDF of stalling ahead of a year-end deadline and Israel of resorting to “destabilizing” policies in Syria and of causing security risks in the country’s south.
There was no immediate comment on Fidan’s remarks from the SDF or Israel.
Ankara says the SDF presence along its southern borders poses a security threat to both Turkey and Syria, and that the Damascus government must address this. It has said any integration must ensure the SDF is disbanded – in line with a disarmament process between outlawed Kurdish PKK militants and the Turkish state – and its chain of command broken.
DAMASCUS MAKES NEW PROPOSAL TO SDF
Sources have previously told Reuters that Damascus sent a proposal to the SDF expressing openness to reorganizing the group’s roughly 50,000 fighters into three main divisions and smaller brigades as long as it cedes some chains of command and opens its territory to other Syrian army units.
Shibani said Damascus did not see “any initiative or serious will” from the SDF to implement the agreement but had recently proposed to the Syrian Kurds another way to advance the process.
“We received a response yesterday and this response is currently being studied,” he said.
Turkey has conducted cross-border military operations against the SDF in the past.
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Homemade Bombs Thrown Before Bondi Mass Shooting, but Failed to Detonate, Police Tell Court
A CCTV footage shows Naveed Akram and his father, Sajid Akram, both suspects in the shooting attack during a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, carrying items wrapped in blankets, while exiting 103 Brighton Avenue, Campsie, New South Wales, Australia, in this still image taken from a court document released on Dec. 22, 2025. Photo: NSW Police/Handout via REUTERS
Australian police say homemade pipe and tennis ball bombs were thrown at a crowd at Bondi Beach before a mass shooting but failed to detonate, according to court documents released on Monday.
Fifteen people were killed and dozens injured in the mass shooting at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Bondi on Dec. 14. The attack has shocked the nation and sparked calls for tougher gun laws and heightened efforts to stop antisemitism.
One of the alleged gunmen, Sajid Akram, 50, who was shot dead by police, owned six firearms. His 24-year-old son Naveed Akram has been charged with 59 offenses, including murder and terrorism, according to police.
The alleged gunmen had planned the attack for several months and visited the Bondi beachside park for reconnaissance two days prior, said a police fact sheet released by the court.
Pictures included in the police report showed the father and son allegedly training with firearms in an isolated rural part of New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state which includes Sydney.
Police found a video taken in October on one of the gunmen’s mobile phone showing them sitting in front of an image of an Islamic State flag and making statements in English about their reasons for the attack, while condemning the acts of Zionists.
Just after 2:00 am (1500 GMT) on the day of the attack, the men were captured on CCTV video carrying long and bulky items wrapped in blankets from a short-stay rental house in the suburb of Campsie to a car, said the police report.
They later drove to Bondi around 5:00 pm (0800GMT).
Police believe the items wrapped in the blankets were two single-barrel shotguns, a Beretta rifle, three pipe bombs, a tennis ball bomb, and a large improvised explosive device.
Police allege the men threw the pipe bombs and tennis ball bomb at the crowd in the Bondi park before they began shooting, but the explosive devices did not detonate, according to the statement tendered to the court.
Police said that they later found 3D printed parts for a shotgun component at the Campsie house, bomb making equipment, and copies of the Quran.
TOUGH NEW GUN LAWS
The parliament of New South Wales state was recalled on Monday to vote on proposed new laws that would impose major curbs on firearm ownership, ban the display of terror symbols, and restrict protests, following the mass shooting.
The state legislation would cap the number of firearms a person can own at four, or up to 10 for certain groups, such as farmers.
Although Australia has some of the toughest gun control laws in the world after a 1996 shooting that killed 35 people, the Bondi shooting has highlighted what authorities say are gaps.
In New South Wales, there are more than 70 people in the state who own more than 100 guns, a police firearms registry shows. One license holder has 298 guns.
The proposed legislation would also give police more powers to remove face coverings during protests or rallies. The state government has vowed to ban the chant “globalize the intifada” which it says encourages violence against Jews and Israelis worldwide.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns told reporters outside parliament that he expected opposition to the legislation, which includes restrictions on public assemblies in the aftermath of a terrorism event, but said it was needed to keep the community safe.
“We have got a responsibility to knit together our community that comes from different races and religions and places from all over the world. We can do it in a peaceful way,” he said.
‘I AM SORRY’ PRIME MINISTER SAYS
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has faced mounting criticism from opponents who argue his government has not done enough to curb a rise in antisemitism. He was booed by sections of the crowd during a memorial event in Bondi attended by tens of thousands of people on Sunday, one week after the shooting.
A poll conducted for the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper among 1,010 voters released on Monday found Albanese’s approval rating slumped 15 points to -9 from +6 at the beginning of December, the lowest since his resounding election win in May.
Albanese on Monday said he understood that some of the anger in the Jewish community in the aftermath of the attack was directed toward him and pleaded for national unity.
“As prime minister I feel the weight of responsibility for an atrocity that happened whilst I am prime minister and I am sorry for what the Jewish community and our nation as a whole has experienced,” he told reporters in Canberra.
Albanese’s government says it has consistently denounced antisemitism and highlighted legislation passed over the last two years to criminalize hate speech and doxxing. It also expelled Iran’s ambassador earlier this year after accusing Tehran of directing antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
Further measures to stop hate speech proposed by Albanese’s government on Monday include a new offence of adults seeking to influence and radicalize children.
Authorities on Monday started clearing flowers, candles, letters, and other items placed by the public at Bondi Beach.
The tributes would be preserved for display at the Sydney Jewish Museum and the Australian Jewish Historical Society, authorities said.
Thirteen people remain in hospital, including four in critical but stable condition, health officials said.