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Bomb threats target US synagogues during Rosh Hashanah, but few interruptions reported

(JTA) — Police investigated bomb threats at a number of synagogues across the United States during the two days of Rosh Hashanah, as a wave of threats that have interrupted congregations for months continued into the High Holidays.
All of the cases were ultimately deemed not credible and no incidents of violence were reported during the weekend holiday, as thousands of synagogues across the United States convened their members for multiple days of services.
Still, at a handful of congregations, services were evacuated or delayed because of the threats. That was the case, for example, at a Reform synagogue in New Jersey, where 300 congregants were told to leave the building shortly after services began on Friday night.
Jewish leaders had been on high alert because of the series of synagogue bomb threats, which began earlier this summer and which have all been deemed false. The Anti-Defamation League, an antisemitism watchdog, had reported that at least 49 threats had been made against synagogues over the previous two months across 13 states. Security organizations warned going into the holiday that although none of the previous cases were credible, all threats should be taken seriously.
During Rosh Hashanah, the so-called “swatting” calls — which aim to cause disruption and trigger a large-scale police response — broke into public view in at least half a dozen cases. In many cases, the threats have targeted synagogues that livestream their services so the perpetrators can watch the response in real time. That was the case at Temple B’nai Jeshurun in Millburn, New Jersey, whose livestreamed Friday night service was evacuated after a threat was received nine minutes after its scheduled start, according to a local news report. The service was suspended while congregants evacuated and the building was cleared.
Congregation Ahavat Achim, an Orthodox synagogue in nearby Fair Lawn, New Jersey, had been searched and cleared on Thursday night after receiving an anonymous call that warned of “two pipe bombs in a black backpack,” according to a local news report.
“I ask everyone to please stay vigilant and look out for one another, especially during the High Holidays,” New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who is Jewish, tweeted on Saturday afternoon in response to the threats in Fairlawn and Millburn. “To those who made these antisemitic terroristic threats: You are cowards, and we will not back down.”
Threats also occurred in other states over the holiday, which began on Friday evening and ended Sunday night. Services on Sunday at the Reform Temple Beth Am of Merrick and Bellmore, on New York’s Long Island, were delayed by 30 minutes after a threat was received by email. The Conservative Congregation Beth Shalom in Santa Clarita, California, was searched and cleared while services were underway on Saturday after receiving a phoned-in threat.
“I ask that your response to this cowardice act is to show up in strength tomorrow,” Rabbi Jay Siegel told congregants in a statement on Saturday.
In upstate New York, Congregation Berith Sholom, a Reform synagogue in Troy, was searched and cleared after receiving a threat on Sunday morning, according to a local news report; the synagogue did not hold services on the second day of the holiday and no congregants were in the building at the time. The Reform Temple Beth-El in Geneva, New York, was also searched and cleared after receiving a threat on Sunday, according to a news report, as was a church in nearby Fairport on Saturday, where Congregation Etz Hayim holds services.
Multiple congregations were affected by a threat targeting a location near two synagogues in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope. One congregation, Kolot Chayenu, was meeting in a larger space in Downtown Brooklyn. But the other, Park Slope Jewish Center, was briefly locked down while police closed and searched a block where a caller said a black bag with pipe bombs had been placed. The executive director of Kolot Chayenu told a community listserv on Saturday night that local police said the caller had said “they hated Jewish people” and “did not make specific reference to Kolot or any other synagogue.”
This is not the first time false bomb threats have been called into a series of Jewish institutions. More than 100 threats were called into Jewish community centers in the early months of 2017. most of the calls, it was later discovered, came from a teen in Israel. In 2020, dozens of JCCs received a separate series of emailed bomb threats.
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The post Bomb threats target US synagogues during Rosh Hashanah, but few interruptions reported appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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‘With or Without Russia’s Help’: Iran Pledges to Block South Caucasus Route Opened Up By Peace Deal

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – Iran will block the establishment of a US-backed transit corridor in the South Caucasus region with or without Moscow’s help, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader was quoted as saying on Saturday by the Iran International website, one day after the historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Mr. Trump thinks the Caucasus is a piece of real estate he can lease for 99 years,” Ali Akbar Velayati said of the so-called Zangezur corridor, the establishment of which is stipulated in the peace deal unveiled on Friday by US President Donald Trump. The White House said the transit route would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
“This passage will not become a gateway for Trump’s mercenaries — it will become their graveyard,” the Khamenei advisor added.
Baku and Yerevan have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting or forcing almost all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Yet that painful history was put to the side on Friday at the White House, as Trump oversaw a signing ceremony, flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The peace deal with Azerbaijan—a pro-Western ally of Israel—is expected to pull Armenia out of the Russian and Iranian sphere of influence and could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran.
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UK Police Arrest 150 at Protest for Banned Palestine Action Group

People holding signs sit during a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday it had arrested 150 people at a protest against Britain’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action, adding it was making further arrests.
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, chanted “shame on you” and “hands off Gaza,” and held signs such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” video taken by Reuters at the scene showed.
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
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‘No Leniency’: Iran Announces Arrest of 20 ‘Zionist Agents’

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – Iranian authorities have in recent months arrested 20 people charged with being “Israeli Mossad operatives,” the judiciary said, adding that the Islamic regime will mete out the harshest punishments.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri told Iranian media. However, it is understood that an unspecified number of detainees were released, apparently after the charges against them could not be substantiated.
The Islamic Republic was left reeling by a devastating 12-day war with Israel earlier in the summer that left a significant proportion of its military arsenal in ruins and dealt a serious setback to its uranium enrichment program. The fallout included an uptick in executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months. Hit with international sanctions, the country is in dire economic straights, with frequent energy outages and skyrocketing unemployment.
In recent weeks Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi affirmed that Tehran cannot give up on its nuclear enrichment program even as it was severely damaged during the war.
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up of enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the official told Fox News.