Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani makes statements to the media with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Doha, Qatar, Oct. 13, 2023. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS

The Israeli military has uncovered in Gaza hidden documents which illuminate the depth of collaboration in recent years between Islamist terrorist group Hamas and its longtime patrons, Iran and Qatar, according to Hebrew media.

Israel’s Channel 12 first reported on the documents, which reportedly show that in May 2021, then-Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh told Yahya Sinwar, the Palestinian terrorist group’s leader at the time in Gaza, that Qatari emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani had “agreed on discreet financial support” and that “he agreed in principle to supply the resistance discreetly, but he does not want anyone in the world to know. Until now, $11 million has been raised from the emir for the leadership of the movement.”

Haniyeh requested that Sinwar send a letter to Al Thani “in which you will focus on the military campaign, your urgent needs — and dedicate the victory [in the war] to his highness.”

Sinwar reportedly obliged, writing that month following 11 days of battle with Israel. He told Al Thani that “the Egyptians were attempting to restrain the escalation, and we caused them to leave the picture with empty hands. In their place, the Qataris came, and we gave them an opportunity to dictate the fruits of diplomacy.”

In a 2019 communique to Qatar, Haniyeh had described Al Thani’s desert monarchy as “Hamas’s main artery,” leading Channel 12 to suggest such support was crucial for the success of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, the largest single-day mass killing of Jews since the Holocaust.

The documents also showed, according to Channel 12, that Qatar and Hamas coordinated to oppose the 2020 Israeli-Palestinian peace plan proposed by then-US President Donald Trump, including with a June 2019 emergency meeting called by Al Thani. Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal reportedly told the emir that “we need to cooperate in order to resist the ‘deal of the century’ and thwart it.”

Al Thani reportedly said in a 2020 meeting with Hamas that on the subject of normalization with Israel, “with respect to Palestine — Oman is on one side and we are on the other side.”

According to Channel 12, a secret internal Hamas brief said that if Qatar normalized relations with Israel it would result in “the elimination of the Palestinian national project.”

The document trove also reportedly contains diary notes from the late Haniyeh, who died in a July 31, 2024, targeted killing in Tehran by Israel.

Channel 12 reported that the files also showed close coordination with the Islamic regime in Iran, including that Qatar flew Hamas heads to Iran to attend the funeral of Qassem Soleimani, the powerful commander responsible for overseeing Iran’s proxies and terrorist operations abroad who Trump ordered killed in a Jan. 3, 2020, drone strike that hit Baghdad International Airport. Qatar also reportedly sought to promote the international influence of Iran and Turkey over Egypt.

In May 2022, Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli forces two years later, wrote to Haniyeh that “it is on you all to begin to prepare the campaign. We must begin immediately with our allies — Iran, Qatar, and Turkey. Qatari and Turkish diplomacy must be in a leading role. Our role is to make it hard for the occupation to breathe and ensure the severing of international actors’ diplomatic ties with them.”

Sinwar reportedly explained to Haniyeh in another communique that Iran did not “want calm or agreements” and that “they don’t want us to establish relations with their rivals or enemies, countries that are establishing normalization with America and the Zionist enemy. But they are ready for ties with Qatar and Turkey.”

An undated memo from the document collection also reportedly said that an Iranian diplomatic official told a Hamas delegation “we are happy about the Qatari-Turkish support for you.”

On May 14, Trump visited Qatar during a three-day Middle East tour — which excluded Israel — where he signed a $1.2 trillion deal with the Hamas-supporting authoritarian state.

The Associated Press reported on Saturday that costs for retrofitting the $400 million Qatari “palace in the sky” plane gifted to Trump could reach as high as $1.5 billion according to an unnamed US official. Rep. Joe Courtney, (D-Conn.) estimated a $1 billion price tag. The US Air Force secretary said it would “probably” cost less than $400 million to retrofit.

Trump had said at the time of receiving the plane that “I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’ But it was — I thought it was a great gesture.”

The post IDF Discovers Docs Revealing Intimate Iran-Hamas-Qatar Partnership Against Israeli-Palestinian Peace: Report first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams attends an “October 7: One Year Later” commemoration to mark the anniversary of the Hamas-led attack in Israel at the Summer Stage in Central Park on October 7, 2024, in New York City. Photo: Ron Adar/ SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has signed an executive order which adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, enacting a policy major civil rights groups have said is essential for fighting an epidemic of anti-Jewish hatred sweeping across the US.

“Antisemitism is a vile disease that’s been spreading across our nation and our city. What’s worse, since Hamas’s terror attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, we have seen this hateful rhetoric become normalized on our campuses, in our communities, and online as antisemitic propaganda far too often masquerades as activism,” Adams said on Sunday, announcing the action at the Tribeca Synagogue in Manhattan. “When Jewish New Yorkers make up 11 percent of the population but more than half of all hate crimes, we know this moment demands bold, decisive action to crack down on anti-Jewish hatred.”

He continued, “We must go further. I am calling on the City Council to join this commitment to target antisemitism everywhere it exists and immediately pass a bill to codify this definition into law. It’s time we all come together to eradicate this hatred from our city, once and for all.”

IHRA — an intergovernmental organization comprising dozens of countries including the US and Israel — adopted the “working definition” of antisemitism in 2016. Since then, the definition has been widely accepted by Jewish groups and lawmakers across the political spectrum, and it is now used by hundreds of governing institutions, including the US State Department, European Union, and United Nations.

According to the definition, antisemitism “is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” It provides 11 specific, contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere. Beyond classic antisemitic behavior associated with the likes of the medieval period and Nazi Germany, the examples include denial of the Holocaust and newer forms of antisemitism targeting Israel such as demonizing the Jewish state, denying its right to exist, and holding it to standards not expected of any other democratic state.

New York City’s embrace of the definition comes amid a historic surge in antisemitic incidents.

In 2024, as reported by the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) latest annual audit, there were 9,354 antisemitic incidents — an average of 25.6 a day — across the US, creating an atmosphere of hate not experienced in the nearly thirty years since the ADL began tracking such data in 1979. Incidents of harassment, vandalism, and assault all increased by double digits, and for the first time ever a majority of outrages — 58 percent — were related to the existence of Israel as the world’s only Jewish state.

The ADL also reported dramatic rises in incidents on college campuses, which saw the largest growth in 2024. The 1,694 incidents tallied by the ADL amounted to an 84 percent increase over the previous year. Additionally, antisemites were emboldened to commit more offenses in public in 2024 than they did in 2023, perpetrating 19 percent more attacks on Jewish people, pro-Israel demonstrators, and businesses perceived as being Jewish-owned or affiliated with Jews.

New York State alone had the second most antisemitic incidents in the country with 1,437, an 18 percent increase from the previous year which led the nation. Meanwhile, in March of this year, Jews in New York City became victims of more hate crimes than any other group even as crime across the Five Boroughs fell to ‘historic’ lows.

Jews constituted a disproportionate share of hate crimes perpetrated in New York City in 2024 as well. Of the 641 total hate crimes tallied by the New York City Police Department that year, Jews were victims of 345, which, in addition to being a 7 percent increase over the previous year, amounted to 54 percent of all hate crimes in the city.

During the first quarter of 2025, according to the NYPD, 62 percent of hate crimes were antisemitic.

Adams took the first step towards addressing the issue in May when it launched the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, which will oversee an inter-agency task force assigned with monitoring the city’s approach to antisemitism at every level of government. The effort is “the first of its kind in a major city across the nation,” Adams said last month.

On Sunday, he was commended for following up the announcement by adopting the IHRA definition.

“Antisemitic incidents on US soil are at unprecedented levels — the highest in our lifetime,” said Kenneth Marcus, co-founder of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law who previously served as assistant civil rights secretary in the US Education Department. “IHRA provides a clear framework for law enforcement, educations, and all local officials to properly identify and address antisemitism in all its forms. Mayor Adams’ example should be followed nationwide. Every city and state must follow Mayor Adams’ lead to confront this ugly and dangerous resurgence in Jew-hatred.”

Josh Kramer, regional director of the American Jewish Committee, added, “New York City joins a growing number of governments and institutions committed to fighting antisemitism and safeguarding Jewish communities. With approximately one in ten New York residents being Jewish, and with the largest Jewish community outside of Israel, it is vital that we maintain an environment where all communities are treated with dignity and respect. Adopting the IHRA definition is an important tool to ensuring New York remains a safe and inclusive place for all its residents, including the Jewish community.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

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Candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a Democratic New York City mayoral primary debate, June 4, 2025, in New York, US. Photo: Yuki Iwamura/Pool via REUTERS

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani again defended his support for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel and his promise to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an event at the B’nai Jeshurun synagogue in Manhattan on Sunday.

“I’ve seen the efficacy of non-violent movements in creating compliance in international law, specifically with South Africa. That is what brought me to support BDS, and what I’ve said is that one need not visit Israel to stand up for Jewish New Yorkers,” Mamdani said, referring to the international movement that seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as a step toward its eventual elimination.

Mandani said that he would prefer to combat antisemitism by engaging with New York City Jews on a personal basis and that expressing support for Israel is not necessary to be an ally of the Jewish community. 

“Ultimately, the focus of our mayor should be on the issues of New York City, at hand,” he argued.

Mamdani then defended his vow to arrest Netanyahu if he visits New York, comparing the Israeli premier to Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

“My answer is the same whether we are speaking about Vladimir Putin or Netanyahu. I think that this should be a city that is in compliance with international law,” Mamdani said. “And we have seen, other countries across the world that are signatories of the ICC [International Criminal Court] that they would honor that same request, being Canada or other countries in Europe, and their honoring of it meant that Netanyahu did not travel there.”

Mamdani acknowledged that the United States is not a party to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, but argued that “there are times where courage is required,” comparing his desire to arrest Netanyahu to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to defy federal law and issue marriage certificates to same-sex couples as mayor of San Francisco.

“What I am trying to showcase is a belief that international law is something that should be honored, should be respected, and something that we should actually bring our city into compliance with,” Mamdani said. 

US and Israeli leaders have blasted the ICC’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza, rejecting the allegations as false and decrying the court for drawing a moral equivalence between Israel’s democratically elected leaders and the heads of Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that launched the ongoing war in Gaza with its massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2o23.

Although Mamdani, a representative within the New York State Assembly, entered New York City’s mayoral race as a longshot, polls indicate that the progressive firebrand has made significant strides among the electorate in the past month. Mamdani trails former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo by a margin of 51 percent to 49 percent among likely voters, according to a May 23-26 Emerson College poll.

In the closing stretch of the Democratic primary, Mamdani’s views on Israel and antisemitism have been increasingly scrutinized. Mamdani, a member of the far-left Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) organization, has been under pressure by anti-Israel activists to adopt a more adversarial posture against the Jewish state.

Moreover, the progressive official also sparked outrage after engaging in a series of provocative actions, such as appearing on the podcast of anti-Israel, pro-Hamas influencer Hasan Piker and vowing to arrest Netanyahu.

During an event hosted by the UJA-Federation of New York last month, Mamdani also declined to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.

“I believe that Israel has a right to exist with equal rights for all,” Mamdani said in a carefully worded response when asked, sidestepping the issue of Israel’s existence specifically as a “Jewish state.”

During last week’s New York City Democratic mayoral debate, he once again refused to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, sparking immediate backlash among the other candidates.

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