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Ghislaine Maxwell identifies as Jewish in prison, tapping into resources for incarcerated Jews
(JTA) — Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex abuse ring, is receiving services from a nonprofit that supports Jewish prisoners.
Maxwell, whose father was Jewish, did not publicly identify as Jewish previously and is not considered Jewish under traditional Jewish law. The news was first reported by The Sun, a British newspaper, which said that Maxwell “has been rewarded with better food and more time off work.”
U.S. prisons are obligated to honor inmates’ religious obligations in most cases — meaning that Jews are often given access to kosher food, prayer supplies and changes in work schedules to account for Shabbat and holidays.
Prisons also offer services based on inmates’ self-identified religions, although chaplains may be asked to certify whether inmates hold sincere religious beliefs. (Certification requirements have faced legal challenges.) Sometimes the services are provided by nonprofit groups, even when the prisons employ religious chaplains of their own.
The nonprofit that is providing services to Maxwell at the Federal Correctional Institute in Florida is called Reaching Out, according to The Sun. It is one of several organizations operated by people affiliated with the Chabad-Lubavitch movement to serve those who are incarcerated; another, the Aleph Institute, supports prisoners with not only their religious needs while incarcerated but also in seeking clemency or parole.
Chabad is one of the most extensive purveyors of services to Jewish prisoners across the United States, in keeping with its mission to bring as many Jews as possible closer to their religion.
“We’re not helping them get out of prison, we’re helping them spiritually — to bring them to a state of mind which had they had exposure to, maybe they wouldn’t have done what they did,” Rabbi Zvi Boyarsky, now an Aleph Institute director, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2009.
Other organizations supporting Jewish prisoners include Jewish Prisoner Services International, founded in 1984 by B’nai Brith, and a newer group, Matir Asurim, founded by rabbis affiliated with Reconstructing Judaism. Its name comes from the prayer thanking God for setting free those who are imprisoned.
While the exact number of prisoners who identify as Jewish is unknown, the number appears to have risen over time. (That number played a bit part in deliberations over sentencing for the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter, condemned last week to death.) A chaplain working in the New York state prison system told JTA in 2009 that the rise reflected a growing sense that Jewish prisoners had access to more perks.
One of those perks is kosher food, which a man incarcerated in Washington State praised in a 2021 JTA essay as good — “a rarity in prison.” It has not always been available: In the 1980s, a Texas prison canceled its kosher food option, saying that none of the prisoners using it were authentically Jewish — leading to a 1986 Supreme Court case ruling that rabbis, not prison officials, should determine who counts as Jewish. And Florida reintroduced a kosher food program in its prisons only under legal duress in 2013.
In some cases, people who are incarcerated have self-identified as Jewish or even converted to access kosher food. A character on the prison drama “Orange is the New Black” converted for that reason, reportedly prompting inmates as far afield as Scotland to do the same.
Maxwell’s claim to a Jewish identity runs through her father, a media magnate and possible spy who fled the Nazis as a child and was buried in Jerusalem after dying under mysterious circumstances in 1991.
Maxwell reportedly made use of her Jewish ancestry a few years ago, when she was alleged to have taken refuge in Israel while under investigation for her role in Epstein’s sex abuse scheme. She was arrested in 2020, convicted in 2021 and sentenced last year on five charges related to sex trafficking of minors as part of a scheme with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York City jail in 2019.
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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.
The post Washington Warns UK, France Against Recognizing Palestinian Statehood first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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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.
The post Police, Shin Bet Thwart Suspected Iranian Attempt Perpetrate Terror Attack first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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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.