Connect with us

RSS

Dean Phillips drops DEI label from his presidential campaign website after Bill Ackman contributed $1m

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The change on Dean Phillips’ presidential campaign website was seemingly minor, but the story behind it involved two Jewish public figures and the debate on diversity, equity and inclusion that is roiling the culture wars over Israel, race and other hot-button topics.

In a story posted Tuesday, Politico reported that Phillips, the Jewish Minnesota congressman running a longshot campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, had changed a heading on his campaign website from “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” to “Equity and Restorative Justice.”

The text remained the same. The change came after Bill Ackman, the Jewish billionaire investor, had endorsed Phillips, maxing out his contribution to his campaign at $3,300 and giving a super PAC backing Phillips an additional $1 million. Super PACs are political action committees that may accept unlimited donations but are prohibited from working directly with campaigns.

Ackman gained an elevated public profile in recent weeks as he led the successful effort to force out Claudine Gay, the president of Harvard University, his alma mater. Gay, along with the presidents of two other elite universities, declined to unequivocally say in congressional testimony that calls for genocide against Jews violate school policy.

Ackman has also weighed in on the debate, particularly pronounced among Jewish thought leaders, over diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. Harvard, like most universities and many corporations, has a DEI office which seeks to redress longstanding racial, gender and other inequities. Ackman opposes DEI and says it has an underlying bias that foments antisemitism.

In a statement to the New York Times, Phillips said any focus on the change was a diversion. “I support diversity. Period. I support equity. Period. I support inclusion. Period,” he said. “It is incredible how the media gets all interested in litigating slogans, but has no interest in proposals to solve the problems.”

Phillips and Ackman both denied that the change had anything to do with Ackman’s endorsement or contributions. “I am not paying him money to change his website,” Ackman told the Times.

Ackman had posted his endorsement of Phillips on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, prompting some of his ideological allies to note that Phillips used the phrase on his campaign website.

“I am confident he will get to the right place once he does his homework,” Ackman told one follower. “He is pretty busy right now.”

A number of Jewish figures have said DEI excludes Jews. Some, like Ackman, believe the movement is irredeemably bigoted; others say that the movement has worthy goals but needs to be more sensitive to antisemitism. Still other Jewish leaders say that DEI as it is constituted is the best means of redressing inequity.

The shift is not the first for Phillips as he seeks to unseat President Joe Biden. Once an outspoken defender of Israel who sparred with its most prominent critics in his party, he was among the first to call for a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas.


The post Dean Phillips drops DEI label from his presidential campaign website after Bill Ackman contributed $1m appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Continue Reading

RSS

‘Child Killers’: Jewish Activists Doused With Red Paint in Germany While Hanging Up Hostage Posters

i24 NewsMasked attackers doused with red paint and shoved German Jewish activists hanging up posters of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza in Frankfurt on Friday. The assailants shouted “child killers” and “free Palestine.”

Sacha Stawski, a German-Jewish activist who heads the media watchdog NGO Honestly Concerned, who’s spent decades combating antisemitism, spoke to local media about the incident.

“We attached posters with photos of the 50 hostages still in Hamas’s captivity to a fence in the Frankfurt Grüneburgpark,” Stawski told the Bild outlet. “We were branded ‘child killers,’ and I constantly heard ‘Free Palestine,’ and ‘genocide’ calls.”

The paint also poured over my glasses, making it difficult for me to identify the perpetrator,” he added.

Germany’s ambassador to Israel condemned the incident.

The small pro-hostage rally took place near an anarchist encampment housing several anti-Israel organizations. Stawski said this was announced to the camp organizers.

Meanwhile a German government spokesman said on Friday that Berlin currently has no plans to recognize a Palestinian state because that would undermine any efforts to reach a negotiated solution with Israel.

Continue Reading

RSS

Hegseth Fires Head of Intel Agency Whose Assessment of Damage from Iran Strikes Angered Trump

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on US President Donald Trump’s budget request for the Department of Defense, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

i24 NewsUS Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired a general whose agency’s initial intelligence assessment of damage to Iranian nuclear sites from US strikes sparked the ire of President Donald Trump.

Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse will no longer serve as head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, US media reported, citing sources speaking on condition of anonymity.

The sacking is the latest upheaval in military leadership and in the country’s intelligence agencies, and comes a few months after details of the preliminary assessment leaked to the media.

The assessment found that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back only a few months by the bombings, contradicting assertions from Trump and from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Republican president, who had pronounced the Iranian program “completely and fully obliterated,” rejected the report.

n June, Israel launched a devastating bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, missile production and military leadership, saying the operation was necessary to prevent the mullah regime from realizing its oft-stated plan to annihilate the Jewish state.

During the ensuing 12-day war, the US joined in, striking key Iranian nuclear sites.

Following the June strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, Hegseth lambasted the press for focusing on the preliminary assessment but did not offer any direct evidence of the destruction of the facilities.

“You want to call it destroyed, you want to call it defeated, you want to call it obliterated — choose your word. This was a historically successful attack,” Hegseth said at a news conference at the time.

Continue Reading

RSS

Amid Rising Antisemitism, American Jews Make Aliyah to Israel Seeking Safety, Community, Impact

Olim gather at JFK Airport in New York, preparing to board Nefesh B’Nefesh’s 65th charter flight to Israel. Photo: The Algemeiner

NEW YORK/TEL AVIV — Confronted with rising antisemitism and unease in the United States, a growing number of American Jews are choosing to make aliyah, embracing the risks of war in the Middle East for the chance to build new lives and foster meaningful communities.

On Wednesday, 225 new olim arrived in Tel Aviv on the first charter aliyah flight since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Aliyah refers to the process of Jews immigrating to Israel, and olim refers to those who make this journey.

Nefesh B’Nefesh (NBN) — a nonprofit that promotes and facilitates aliyah from the US and Canada — brought its 65th charter flight from New York, which The Algemeiner joined.

Founded in 2002, NBN helps olim become fully integrated members of Israeli society, simplifying the aliyah process and providing essential resources and guidance.

In partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth, and the Jewish National Fund, NBN has helped nearly 100,000 olim build thriving new lives in Israel.

Shawn Fink is one of the 225 people who embarked on the life-changing journey earlier this week, leaving Cleveland, Ohio, with his wife, Liz, and their son.

For Fink and his family, making aliyah was driven not only by their love for Israel and desire to build a new community, but also by the escalating threats and uncertainties facing Jewish communities abroad since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.

“Mostly, we were frustrated with the direction the United States is taking, and the rise in antisemitism was a major concern for us,” Fink told The Algemeiner.

Like many countries around the world, the US has seen an alarming rise in antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment since the Oct. 7 atrocities.

According to the latest data issued by the FBI, hate crimes perpetrated against Jews increased by 5.8 percent in 2024 to 1,938, the largest total recorded in over 30 years of the federal agency’s counting them.

A striking 69 percent of all religion-based hate crimes that were reported to the FBI in 2024 targeted Jews, who constitute just 2 percent of the US population, with 2,041 out of 2,942 total such incidents being antisemitic in nature. Muslims were targeted the next highest amount as the victims of 256 offenses, or about 9 percent of the total.

Fink explained that the increasing costs of living a Jewish life in the US — from education to kosher food — weighed heavily on his family’s decision to make the move to Israel.

While they first considered making aliyah five years ago, Fink and his family had to put the plans on hold for personal reasons — returning to the idea only in the past few months when the timing finally worked in their favor.

“We started planning it seriously in November and began the entire process with Nefesh B’Nefesh,” Fink told The Algemeiner. “It’s been a nonstop whirlwind ever since.”

For them, the current war did not stop their plans, but it did influence the cities they explored for their new home.

“The war really reinforced for us the importance of supporting Israel and our community,” Fink said. “By making aliyah, we felt we could do even more to help.”

Even though it is difficult to leave behind family and close friends, they look forward to reconnecting with friends in Israel, making new connections, and building a vibrant new community.

“Making aliyah in less than six months has been a whirlwind. I’d encourage anyone considering it to give themselves at least twice as much time, double the budget, and be prepared for plenty of unexpected starts and stops along the way,” Fink told The Algemeiner.

Nefesh B’Nefesh provides assistance to families throughout their entire aliyah journey, offering guidance before relocating and continued support once in Israel.

The Israeli government also complements these efforts with resources and financial incentives to help newcomers settle and ease their transition into their new lives.

“Once the ticket is finally in your hand and you’re waiting to board the plane, you realize that all the challenges and obstacles along the way were worth it,” Fink said.

Veronica Zaragovia was also one of the 225 olim who joined the flight earlier this week.

Similarly to Fink and his family, Zaragovia decided to make aliyah, driven not just by her love for Israel, but also by the increasing challenges of being Jewish abroad and the hope of making a meaningful impact by serving her community.

From Florida, she embarked on the journey alone, excited for all the new opportunities and possibilities that awaited her in her new home.

“I want to take pride in being Jewish and in Israel — that’s why I’m making aliyah,” she told The Algemeiner, reflecting on the move she has been planning for the past two years.

“It’s a huge concern for me that in some places in the US, I can’t — or maybe shouldn’t — wear my Star of David necklace,” she said. “I don’t feel that Jews can be fully safe anywhere in the country. The rise in antisemitism has been truly shocking and deeply concerning.”

Zaragovia, who worked as a journalist in the US, said her love for storytelling and uncovering the truth played a key role in her decision to make this move.

“After Oct. 7, I felt that the way my colleagues and other journalists were covering Israel was wrong and unfair,” she said.

“As someone whose career is built on facts and truth, I didn’t see that reflected in their reporting. That’s why I decided to make a difference by being there myself,” she continued.

Rather than deterring her decision to make a change, Zaragovia explained that the current war only reinforced it.

“It became clear that I needed to go, be there with my people, and make a difference through my work,” she said. “I couldn’t have done this without Nefesh B’Nefesh. They’ve been incredible, guiding me every step of the way from start to finish.”

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2017 - 2023 Jewish Post & News