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Following Biden’s visit, Israel will allow humanitarian relief to enter the Gaza Strip

(JTA) — President Joe Biden secured an agreement from Israel to allow the transfer of humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip during his visit to Israel on Wednesday, and said the United States would provide $100 million in humanitarian to the Palestinians.

“Based on the understanding that there will be inspections that the aid will go to civilians not to Hamas, Israel  agreed humanitarian assistance can begin to move from Egypt to Gaza,” Biden said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later confirmed the agreement.

Coming away from the trip with tangible progress toward relief for Palestinians in Gaza was a critical takeaway for Biden. The president hopes to sustain international support for Israel as it strikes back at Hamas after the terrorist group’s deadly invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, in which terrorists killed 1,400, wounded thousands and took 200 people captive. Israel’s airstrikes in Gaza have since killed more than 3,200 people.

Biden’s trip was complicated by a blast at a hospital in Gaza City yesterday that Hamas said killed hundreds. Israel has said the explosion was caused by a rocket that was misfired by a terrorist group inside the Gaza Strip — an assessment the Pentagon and Biden have backed up after viewing intelligence. Hamas and the Palestinian Authority blamed the explosion on an Israeli airstrike.

Arab capitals erupted in protests after the hospital was hit, and the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority pulled out of a summit Biden had called for in Amman, Jordan, that was focused on getting humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.

He nonetheless appeared to come away with a deal. Israel confirmed that it would not object to the assistance if it was delivered across the Egypt-Gaza border, rather than via Israel.

“In light of President Biden’s request, Israel will not prevent humanitarian assistance from Egypt as long as it is only food, water and medicine for the civilian population located in the southern Gaza Strip or which is evacuating to there, and as long as these supplies do not reach Hamas,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. “Any supplies that reach Hamas will be prevented.”

What “prevented” means was not clear, as Israel does not control the Gaza-Egypt border. But Israel has in the past conducted airstrikes against weapons transfers to terrorist groups.

In a social media post after his speech, Biden said the U.S. assistance would not reach Hamas. “This money will support over 1 million displaced and conflict-affected Palestinians,” said the post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “And we will have mechanisms in place so this aid reaches those in need – not Hamas or terrorist groups.”

Biden emphasized in his speech, as he has since Hamas invaded Israel, that Israel must observe the rules of war and must distinguish Hamas terrorists from Palestinian civilians. Israeli is on the verge of a potential large-scale ground invasion of Gaza.

“The vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas,” Biden said.

“Like the United States, you don’t live by the rules of terrorists, you live by the rule of law,” he said.  “What sets us apart from a terrorist? Because we believe in the fundamental dignity of every human life, Israeli, Palestinian, Arab, Jew, Muslim, Christian, everyone. You can’t give up on what makes you who you are. If you give that up, the terrorists win, and we can never let them win.”

Biden — who also met with a group of Israelis who have become local heroes for rescuing people on Oct. 7 — began his speech with a vivid description of the stages of grief now assailing the loved ones of the 1,400 Israelis who were killed in the Hamas invasion. He referenced Jewish customs of mourning in the address.

“It’s like there’s a black hole in the middle of your chest,” he said. “You feel like you’ve been sucked into it. The survivor’s remorse, the anger, the questions of faith and your soul. Starting with staring at an empty chair, sitting Shiva. The first Sabbath without them. There are the everyday things, the small things you miss the most. the scent when you open the closet door. The morning coffee you share together. The bend of a smile, the perfect pitch of a laugh.”

As he did when he first arrived in Israel in the morning, he said Israelis should not feel abandoned. “You are not alone,” he said. “The United States stands with you.” He repeated his warning to any adversary of Israel plotting to exploit its vulnerability at a time of war, noting that he had moved U.S. troops into the region. “Don’t. Don’t. Don’t,” he said.

He finished his speech by apologizing for not being able to pronounce a phrase in Hebrew that he favors.

“I’m such a terrible linguist,” he said. “I’ll say it in English. The people of Israel live. The people of Israel live.”

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The post Following Biden’s visit, Israel will allow humanitarian relief to enter the Gaza Strip appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Live from New York: It’s Antisemitism, with Zohran Mamdani

Zohran Mamdani Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

Contrary to what some may believe, we’re not here to critique New York Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani for his grating stint as a rapper.

What’s more troubling is the New York Democratic mayoral primary results last week. There are currently massive efforts to unearth just who Mamdani is behind the cool millennial-politician facade. Here’s what you need to know:

Who’s the Real Zohran Mamdani?

Mamdani, an antisemitic and anti-Israel progressive, is gaslighting the Jews of New York by lying to their faces when evidence of his true stances are plentiful, public, and loud. This clip tells you all you need to know:

 

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Now, even though we aren’t going to make fun of Mamdani for trying his hand at an illustrious F-list rap career, we may as well criticize some antisemitic elements present in his songs.

One example is Salaam, released in 2017. In it, Mamdani praises the Holy Land 5, who were convicted of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas through their organization. Here is what Canary Mission revealed:

Although his political platform seemed to focus on economic policies, The Times of Israel reported that Mamdani declared that the Palestinian cause is “central to his identity and the reason he got into politics” during his victory rally this week. It’s food for thought, to say the least.

Mamdani’s Antisemitic Beliefs Run Deep

While Mamdani is a classic progressive who aligns with the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), his Israel stances are more extreme and deeply ingrained than both her and the typical Qatari-funded university club members he went to school with.

Both of his parents are staunch and well-known anti-Israel activists.

His father, Professor Mahmood Mamdani of Columbia University, is known, according to Canary Mission, to be anti-Israel and consumed with the topic of “colonialism.” Their report also revealed his backing of violent resistance movements, and unsurprisingly, his participation in the 2024 encampment protests.

He was also a featured speaker at one of Columbia’s Center for Palestine Studies (CPS) BDS events — equating South African Apartheid to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and calling to dismantle Israel as a Jewish state.

His mother, filmmaker Mira Nair, also has a history of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) support, including rejecting an invitation to be a guest of honor at the Haifa International Film Festival in 2013. Canary Mission revealed she is a signatory on an open letter that demanded that Israeli actress Gal Gadot be banned from the Oscars this year.

With roots so deep, it isn’t surprising that Mamdani has such hateful views.

Redefining Antisemitism to Please Jew Haters

Media outlets have taken a special interest in Mamdani — plastering heroic profiles of him everywhere. The New York Times, in particular, has taken quite the delusional approach in “The Attacks on Zohran Mamdani Show That We Need a New Understanding of Antisemitism.”

For one, Masha Gessen attempted to redefine what an antisemitic attack is:

Another excerpt describes the unfortunate xenophobia Mamdani has had to deal with, and how broken up he is about being called an antisemite:

When I spoke to Mamdani on the phone a couple of days after that press conference, it became clear to me that there is another reason he chokes up: It’s hard to keep defending yourself against a false accusation.

While there are undoubtedly extremists who went too far in their criticism of him, it is legitimate to say that Mamdani is antisemitic. The mere fact that he praises Hamas terror funders, marched with Hamas supporters, won’t denounce the chant “globalize the intifada” (because he says it is simply a coin of the Palestinian struggle), and decided (though he has no right to) that anti-Zionism is not antisemitism, proves that.

Perhaps Mamdani himself as a non-Jew does not truly understand the significance of all this like a Jew would, but it is ignorant and appalling for a mayoral hopeful of the US city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel to ignore why antisemitism is at an all time high, and more importantly, how anti-Israel rhetoric creates that environment. He’s part of the problem.

Op-Eds are meant for opinions, but facts are facts, and those do not change, no matter how you try to twist them or ignore vital context.

All in all, Mamdani attempts to cover for his past and his current ties by saying that he will fight antisemitism, but uses contradictory language out of the other side of his mouth.

Suffice it to say, what he believes is antisemitism is irrelevant, because he has no right to redefine it. Jews of New York know better, and hopefully, the majority of non-Jewish New Yorkers will wake up before it’s too late.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post Live from New York: It’s Antisemitism, with Zohran Mamdani first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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The ‘Both-Sidism’ of Trey Yingst’s Fox News Coverage

An image showing some of the damages sustained by Colel Chabad’s daycare center in Be’er Sheva as a result of an Iranian missile strike on June 20, 2025. Photo: Colel Chabad/Chabad.org.

Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst claims to be a journalist who reports fairly and accurately. But amidst the fog of war, Yingst’s desire to be “fair” to all sides over the last 21 months has, instead, allowed his bias to seep through.

Yingst often does a professional job and gets it right. In an interview with Vanity Fair in October 2023, he even explains how he prides himself on patience over “being first,” as well as the understanding that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has lots of nuance and there is a deep responsibility to get the story right.

But a scroll down his X (formerly Twitter) feed exposes him not sticking to his own words — all the way back to 2023 and perhaps beyond. And, of course, his appalling report in real time of an Iranian missile strike last week may have made for compelling TV, but it showed blatant disregard for Israelis’ safety.

The IDF issued a warning not to reveal locations of hits, and he chose one of the most sensitive ones to expose.

He may have gotten the footage he needed for a powerful field report, but it came at the expense of his reputation. Yingst may now be regretting that, as the hit, which may be considered “journalism gold,” can no longer be found on his constantly updated, media-filled X feed, and efforts to obscure exact locations when needed have since been honored.

Even so, there are indications of some troubling views and allegiances behind the scenes.

We can gloss over his contacts in Gaza, which include senior officials of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Not only does he make this publicly known, but it’s common practice for journalists to maintain connections with some very questionable characters.

His time at News2Share earlier in his career highlights questionable ties to Hamas-linked Palestinian Ain Media, as well as terrorists who were exposed to be posing as journalists. Though more recently, his tweets and the apparent blocking of pro-Israel accounts are raising eyebrows.

It’s not easy to verify that firsthand, of course, but a number of X accounts have claimed this fact.

One recent tweet that stands out is this attempt at virtue-signaling, and reflects how he suddenly forgot that he knows Israeli hospitals are different from Palestinian ones in Gaza.

Yingst has personally reported on the Hamas weapons inside hospitals and terror tunnels underneath civilian infrastructure, including hospitals. He has seen it with his own eyes. He must know that means these buildings are no longer just hospitals and are not considered off limits under international law.

Here is just one of his reports:

The following tweet could well be indicative of a particular political stance:

Whether Yingst meant it or not, it wasn’t just how he identified this doctor, which in itself is an assumption, as the doctor, working in a Beersheba hospital and living in or near the city, means that he is most likely an Israeli citizen and thus considered Arab-Israeli. It is a passive suggestion that a Palestinian doctor was treating both Jewish and Muslim patients without prejudice, despite Israel’s “deadly war against” the Palestinians.

One more example, which has a pattern of turning up both in Yingst’s reports and on his feed going back to late 2023, is that of Gaza “journalists” allegedly killed by Israel.

Yingst has every right to advocate for the protection of journalists’ lives in a war zone. He knows the region, however, and says he is very familiar with Hamas. So why does Yingst never acknowledge the proof that many of these dead “journalists” are actually Hamas or Islamic Jihad members, among others, and that several were known to be involved in the October 7 massacre?

Maybe Yingst believes that he is attempting to provide perspectives from both sides of the story. But, sometimes “both-sidism” means ignoring the vital context that his audience crucially needs. Having been in the region for several years, he should know better by now.

HonestReporting is a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post The ‘Both-Sidism’ of Trey Yingst’s Fox News Coverage first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Jewish Orgs to Receive $94 Million from DHS to Harden Defenses Against ‘the Deeply Disturbing Rise in Antisemitic Attacks’

US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar stand next to a memorial honoring Yaron Lishinsky and Sarah Milgrom in Jerusalem on Monday, May 26, 2025. Photo: Alex Brandon/Pool via REUTERS

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Friday it would supply 512 Jewish faith organizations with $94,416,838 to strengthen their security measures following a recent spike in antisemitic violence across the US.

The funds will be allocated via a National Security Supplemental through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program and implemented by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

In a release, DHS cited the June 1 attack with Molotov cocktails and a makeshift flamethrower against Jewish demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado at a “Run for Their Lives” event, the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC on May 21 and figures from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) showing a 344 percent increase in antisemitic incidents over the last five years as justifications for the funding surge, saying the money “will be used to help these organizations harden their defenses against attacks.”

“DHS is working to put a stop to the deeply disturbing rise in antisemitic attacks across the United States,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, noting, “that this money is necessary at all is tragic.”

“[A]ntisemitic violence has no place in this country,” said McLaughlin. “However, under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, we are going to do everything in our power to make sure that Jewish people in the United States can live free of the threat of violence and terrorism.”

All faith-based institutions — including schools, houses of worship, medical facilities, and career centers — are eligible to apply for funding through the Security Grant program, which recently received a funding boost from Congress.

The increase in funding comes following a Wednesday gathering in Washington D.C. organized by Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Almost 400 people representing 100 Jewish groups joined together in calling for more federal protection.

Bob Milgrim, father of Israeli Embassy employee Sarah Milgrim, who was killed outside of a Jewish gathering, told attendees that “had there been more security at the event where Sarah and Yaron [Lischinsky] were tragically murdered, had there been more security outside, watching the crowd, I feel that it possibly could have identified the shooter pacing back and forth and possibly disarmed him.”

Police arrested Elias Rodriguez, 30, and charged him with two counts of first degree murder for the May shootings. He allegedly chanted “Free, free Palestine” after the attack.

Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of JFNA, said “we know there are many things on the nation’s agenda, but we must insist that the safety and security of the Jewish community and the battle against domestic terror be at the very top.”

William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents said that “Jewish safety in America is not optional, and the silence in the face of antisemitic incitement, whether it comes from Iran’s Ayatollahs or American campuses, is unacceptable.”

Following the June 25 death of 82-year-old Karen Diamond from burn injuries, prosecutors have now added a first degree murder charge against Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, the man alleged to have attacked her and other Jewish demonstrators in Boulder.

Diamond was a Holocaust survivor.

Rabbi Marc Soloway, who leads synagogue Bonai Shalom, where Diamond worshipped, wrote in a statement Monday that “this event and the tragic loss of someone who has given so much of herself over the years to the Bonai community and beyond, has impacted us all and we are sad and horrified. We will need to support each other as we process this loss.”

District Attorney Michael Dougherty released a statement in which he said that “this horrific attack has now claimed the life of an innocent person who was beloved by her family and friends. Our hearts are with the Diamond family during this incredibly difficult time. Our office will fight for justice for the victims, their loved ones, and the community. Part of what makes Colorado special is that people come together in response to a tragedy; I know that the community will continue to unite in supporting the Diamond family and all the victims of this attack.”

Soliman, an Egyptian national living in the United States illegally, also yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack and reportedly told investigators that he had wanted to kill as many as 20 people. His attorney David Kraut argued to Magistrate Judge Kathryn Starnella that the attack was motivated by anti-Zionism rather than antisemitism and thus should not be prosecuted as a hate crime.

Colorado’s Fox 31 reports that the full list of charges against Soliman includes two counts of first-degree murder, 52 counts of attempted first-degree murder, eight counts of first-degree assault, 18 counts of attempted first-degree assault, two counts of third-degree assault, two counts of using an incendiary device, 16 counts of attempted use of an incendiary device and one count of animal cruelty (a dog was also injured in the attack).

The post Jewish Orgs to Receive $94 Million from DHS to Harden Defenses Against ‘the Deeply Disturbing Rise in Antisemitic Attacks’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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