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Hamas killed her mother and niece. Her children are hostages in Gaza.

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Hadas Calderon flung a printed picture of her mother, Carmela Dan, an American-Israeli who was reported kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, to the floor.

“She’s dead. There’s nothing I can do about her anymore. I don’t even have a minute to think about mourning,” Calderon told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

“But I can save the living. I can fight to save my children.”

Calderon’s comments came as she participated in a press conference in Tel Aviv organized as part of a sweeping, sustained effort to draw local and global attention to the more than 200 Israeli captives now held in Gaza. Thursday’s event focused on just one subset of the group: the children.

Neither Israel nor the Hostages and Missing Families Forum will give an estimate of how many of the captives are children. But videos shared by Hamas and pictures shared by their relatives have seared the faces of several into the international consciousness.

One of the children to gain widespread attention is Calderon’s 12-year-old niece, Noya Dan, who had slept over at Carmela’s home on Kibbutz Nir Oz the night of the attack. A quarter of the kibbutz’s population is now dead or missing; her mother and sister are among the survivors.

A picture of Noya dressed as Harry Potter circulated widely on social media, even drawing amplification from the character’s creator, J.K. Rowling, after Israel asked the British author to publicize her disappearance.

This beautiful 12 year old girl with autism was kidnapped from her home by Hamas terrorists and was taken to Gaza.

Noya, is sensitive, kind, funny and a massive Harry Potter fan. @jk_rowling can you help us get her story out?

Share this and help us bring Noya home … pic.twitter.com/MW4jKnz7Uc

— Israel ישראל (@Israel) October 15, 2023

On Wednesday, Hadas Calderon celebrated her mother’s 80th birthday in her absence. She said the gathering was full of hope that Carmela would be soon released. The following day at 10 p.m. she received a phone call from the army telling her that Carmela’s and Noya’s bodies had been identified. She said she still does not know the circumstances surrounding their death — including on what side of the border they were killed. She wonders whether Noya’s autism might have played a role.

“We don’t know what happened. Maybe [Carmela] couldn’t walk with her anymore so they killed her,” Calderon said. “Which makes us so worried for the others.”

The others include Calderon’s own children, 16-year-old daughter Sahar and 12-year-old son Erez, who were also on the kibbutz that night with their father.

“I can hear every night my son screaming to me, mom, save me,” she said, crying.

Hadas Calderon holds up a picture of her children, Sahar and Erez, at a press conference about child hostages of Hamas in Tel Aviv, Oct. 19, 2023. (Deborah Danan)

She said the army told her that they are likely in Khan Younis, a southern Gazan city just six miles from Nir Oz. With the Israeli army preparing for what it says could be an extended ground invasion of Gaza, she knows her family is at risk.

“Stop immediately any military action” until the hostages are released, she said. “And then make the war. You can’t make a war at the expense of children and babies.”

Some reports have emerged of back-channel negotiations around freeing the hostages, but Calderon joins other families of captives in believing that Israel should be doing more. She assailed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for saying that “bringing back the hostages was part of the goals” of Operation Iron Sword, the army’s name for the war.

“It’s not ‘part of the goal,’” she said. “It’s the only goal.”

Yifat Zailer told JTA that hearing Calderon become so impassioned made her believe she should be doing more to get her family’s message across. Zailer is advocating for her niece and nephew, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, and their family members. Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 10 months, were taken with their mother Shiri, Zailer’s cousin; their father Yarden; and Shiri’s parents, Yossi and Margit Silverman.

Shiri Silberman-Bibas and Kfir Bibas are visible in footage taken by Hamas after they were taken captive on Oct. 7, 2023. (X)

Shiri, Ariel and Kfir became some of the earliest faces of the hostage crisis, historic in its scope, after footage of them aired on Palestinian news and circulated online within hours of the attack. Shiri can be seen crying while carrying Kfir.

All are Argentinian citizens; the family received a picture of Yarden being driven on a Hamas motorcycle, with an obvious severe head wound, and have also advertised that Margit has advanced Parkinson’s Disease and needs medication.

“I can feel the Calderon mother’s pain, and I think maybe I’m not fighting as much or being as militant,” Zailer said. “Because I think my heart is too broken, you know?”

She added, “I’m trying to speak about them in present tense. I’m fighting the natural [instinct to say,] they lived, they used to. But I know they will come back. They were kidnapped alive and they’ll come back alive.”

Zailer, too, said she was concerned that a military operation could put her relatives at risk, though she said she hadn’t come up with an alternative.

“I’m not a politician so I don’t have the right answer,” she said. “I just want no casualties. … Someone needs to intervene, to mediate this differently. And Hamas needs to be taken down.”

Noya Dan and her grandmother, Carmela Dan, were very close. They were murdered together during Hamas’ attack on Israel. (Courtesy Hadas Calderon)

Calderon said she would advocate incessantly until her family is returned, calling on not just Israeli authorities to rescue them but also on the United States, which is trying to broker the situation; Qatar, which reportedly has discussed the hostages with Hamas; and more.

“I’m even asking Hamas: At this moment you have the opportunity to show that you still have humanity,” she said during the press conference.

“I want to believe that Hamas are taking care of them like they would their own children,” she said.

Exactly how much impact the press conference and the other components of the campaign, including “Kidnapped” posters that are being put up around the world, could have remains unclear. But Calderon said she would not relent until her children were home.

“The whole world has to scream,” she said. “Scream until the skies open, ‘Bring our children home.’ They are not soldiers. They have been picked up in their pajamas from their beds.”

—
The post Hamas killed her mother and niece. Her children are hostages in Gaza. appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Ted Cruz Defends AIPAC From ‘Foreign Influence’ Claims, Accuses Tucker Carlson of ‘Antisemitism’

US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaking at a press conference about the United States restricting weapons for Israel, at the US Capitol, Washington, DC. Photo: Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) forcefully defended the role of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in domestic politics, arguing in a newly released interview with well-known far-right provocateur Tucker Carlson that the group does not operate as a “foreign agent” on behalf of the Jewish State. 

In a tense interview released on Wednesday, Carlson pressed Cruz on his hawkish stance toward Iran, grilling him repeatedly about basic facts, such as Iran’s population and ethnic breakdown, implying Cruz lacked foundational knowledge despite advocating for imposing maximum pressure on the Islamist regime.

The debate then shifted to US–Israel relations, with Carlson questioning whether Israel’s alleged spying and military actions had US backing, prompting Cruz to defend the alliance while walking back implications of direct American involvement. 

The exchange underscores growing fissures within the so-called MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement — the backbone of US President Donald Trump’s domestic political support — between isolationists more aligned with Carlson and voices such as Cruz who advocate a more robust military posture, amid the intensifying Israel–Iran conflict.

During the interview, Carlson directed his focus on Cruz’s connections to the influential pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, questioning whether Cruz was unduly influenced by the organization. Carlson accused him of leaning on AIPAC’s messaging and suggested that the group wields an inappropriate amount of power over American foreign policy. Cruz then accused Carlson of stoking antisemitism with his commentary about AIPAC and Israel.    

“Are AIPAC’s goals shaped by the goals of the Israeli government?” Carlson asked the senator. “If you say no, I think we both know that’s not true.”

“Does Israel direct AIPAC? No, they’re not lobbying on behalf of them. Do they care about them? Yes,” Cruz responded. 

“What you’re now describing, in a very defensive way, I will say, is foreign influence over our politics,” Carlson said. 

AIPAC, a US organization composed of Americans that seeks to foster bipartisan support in Congress for the US-Israel alliance, does not receive funding from the Israeli government and operates independently under US law, distinguishing it from foreign agents that register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Cruz responded by forcefully defended the US–Israel relationship and said Carlson’s framing echoed long-standing antisemitic tropes about Jewish control and dual loyalty. Carlson denied the accusation, insisting his criticism was aimed at foreign entanglements and lobbying influence broadly, not solely at Jewish people or Israel.

“By the way, Tucker, it’s a very weird thing, the obsession with Israel,” Cruz said.

“Oh, I’m an antisemite now?” Carlson scoffed while smiling. “You’re trying to derail my questions by calling me an antisemite.”

“You’re asking, why are the Jews controlling our foreign policy?” Cruz stated. “If you’re not an anti-Semite, give me another reason why the obsession is Israel.”

Carlson has been a fierce critic of the Israel-Iran war, arguing that the US should not lend the Jewish state any support in its efforts to dismantle the Iranian nuclear program. He has framed the conflict as a reckless proxy war, warning that the Israeli military actions could drag the US into a broader regional conflict in the Middle East. 

Carlson has faced multiple controversies involving accusations of antisemitism, tied to both his rhetoric and recurring themes on his shows. In 2021, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) publicly called for Fox News to fire Carlson after he promoted the “Great Replacement” theory — which posits that Jewish people are systemically importing masses of minorities into Western countries to erase white people.

Since leaving Fox News, Carlson’s critical stance toward Israel and organizations like AIPAC has intensified. In interviews and monologues, he has regularly questioned whether US foreign policy is being overly influenced by Israeli interests. Moreover, he has established himself as a fierce critic of Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas, falsely suggesting that Israel indiscriminately targets Palestinian civilians and conducts airstrikes against Christian churches in Gaza. He has also called on other Christians to adopt an adversarial posture against Israel, accusing the Jewish state of oppressing believers of Jesus Christ. Meanwhile, critics point out that Carlson has remained silent on widespread oppression of Christians in Muslim countries, including ones struggling with Islamist extremists such as Nigeria.

The post Ted Cruz Defends AIPAC From ‘Foreign Influence’ Claims, Accuses Tucker Carlson of ‘Antisemitism’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Antisemitic Assaults, Threats Continue Across US With Spate of Incidents

A friend organized a vigil for Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, both Israeli embassy workers who were murdered by an anti-Israel activist, in Washington, DC on May 22, 2025. Photo: ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect.

The American Jewish community continues to be battered by antisemitic hate incidents across the US, forcing law enforcement to stay hot on the trails of those who perpetrate them amid a wave of recent outrages.

In the Highland Park suburb of Chicago, an antisemitic letter threatening violence was mailed to a resident’s home. So severe were its contents that the FBI and the Illinois Terrorism and Intelligence Center were called to the scene to establish that there was no imminent danger, according to local news outlets. Later, the local government shuttered all religious institutions as a precautionary measure.

“Even in Highland Park, where we strive to lead with compassion and inclusion, hate can still find its way to our doorstep,” Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said in a statement addressing the incident. “We are living through a time when antisemitism is rising — not only across the world, but here at home. That reality is painful and for many in our community, it is personal. We understand the fear, the hurt, and the anger that such acts provoke. We also understand the pride and strength that come from standing firm in who we are, and in what we believe.”

She added, “Jewish families have been part of the story and the fabric of Highland Park for generations. Their contributions to our civic, cultural, and spiritual life are deep and enduring. That legacy will not be erased or overshadowed by hate.”

In New York City, where antisemitic hate crimes have been increasing year over year and leading the nation in the statistical category, an elderly man struck a Jewish woman with his cane after shouting “Stupid b—tch. Go back to your country” — as reported by the New York Post. He became even more animated after the helpless woman, who was alone on a subway platform, began recording the encounter with her smartphone. The New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) Crimestoppers division has asked the public to come forward if they recognize the man, whose visage was captured in crystal clear screenshots pulled from footage of the attack.

In Garret Park, Maryland, a middle-aged man, Clift A. Seferlis, was recently arrested by federal authorities for sending a series of threatening messages to Jewish organizations in Philadelphia. Seferlis appears to have been motivated by anti-Zionism, as he referenced the war in Gaza in his communications.

“The Victim Jewish Institution 1 received numerous additional messages since April 1, 2024, which contained a threat to physically destroy the institution,” the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said in a statement. “Prior to the receipt of the May 7, 2025, mailing, Victim Jewish Institution 1 and its employees had received very similar-looking letters, believed to have been sent by Seferlis, which referenced Victim Jewish Institution 1’s ‘many big open windows,’ ‘Kristallnacht,’ ‘anger and rage,’ and a future need to ‘rebuild’ the institution following its destruction.”

Another antisemitic incident motivated by anti-Zionism occurred in San Francisco, where an assailant identified by law enforcement as Juan Diaz-Rivas and others allegedly beat up a Jewish victim in the middle of the night. Diaz-Rivas and his friends approached the victim while shouting “F—ck the Jews, Free Palestine,” according to local prosecutors.

“The group then came after them, and one of them punched the victim, who fell to the ground, hit his head and lost consciousness,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement. “Allegedly, Mr. Diaz-Rivas and others in the group continued to punch and kick the victim while he was down. A worker at a nearby business heard the altercation and antisemitic language and attempted to intervene. While trying to help the victim, he was kicked and punched.”

Violence targeting American Jews has increased in recent months.

Earlier this month, an assailant firebombed a pro-Israel rally with Molotov cocktails and a “makeshift” flamethrower in Boulder, Colorado, injuring 15 people ranging in age from 25 to 88 in what US authorities called a targeted terrorist attack. Egyptian national Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was charged with attempted murder and a slate of other crimes that could land him in jail for more than 600 years if convicted. Prosecutors say he yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack. The suspect also told investigators that he wanted to “kill all Zionist people,” according to court documents.

That incident came less than two weeks after a gunman murdered two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, while they were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum hosted by the American Jewish Committee. The suspect charged for the double murder, 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, also yelled “Free Palestine” while being arrested by police after the shooting, according to video of the incident. The FBI affidavit supported the criminal charges against Rodriguez stated that he told law enforcement he “did it for Gaza.”

According to chilling data released by the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) latest Audit of Antisemitic Incidents in April, antisemitism in the US is surging to break “all previous annual records.”

In 2024 alone, the ADL recorded 9,354 antisemitic incidents last year — an average of 25.6 a day — across the US, an eruption of hatred not recorded in the nearly thirty years since the organization 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 Algemeiner parsed the ADL’’ data, finding 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.

“This horrifying level of antisemitism should never be accepted and yet, as our data shows, it has become a persistent and grim reality for American Jewish communities,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “Jewish Americans continue to be harassed, assaulted, and targeted for who they are on a daily basis and everywhere they go. But let’s be clear: we will remain proud of our Jewish culture, religion, and identities, and we will not be intimidated by bigots.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post Antisemitic Assaults, Threats Continue Across US With Spate of Incidents first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israeli Foreign Minister Slams Turkey’s Erdogan for Defending Iran, Comparing Netanyahu to Hitler

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint statement to the media in Baghdad, Iraq, April 22, 2024. Photo: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/Pool via REUTERS

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday for once again comparing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and accusing Israel of committing “state terrorism” in its campaign against Iran.

“The sultan, in his own eyes, in yet another inflammatory speech, continues to incite against Israel and against the Israeli prime minister,” Sa’ar wrote in a post on X.

“Erdogan, who has set a record in suppressing the freedoms and rights of his citizens, as well as his country’s opposition, dares to preach to others,” the top Israeli diplomat continued.

Turkey has been one of the most outspoken critics of Israel on the international stage, even going so far as to threaten an invasion of the Jewish state and calling on the United Nations to use force if Jerusalem fails to halt its military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

“It is particularly ironic that someone who does not hide his imperialist ambitions, someone who invaded northern Syria and illegally holds northern Cyprus, claims to speak in the name of morality and international law,” Sa’ar wrote in his post on X. “A little self-awareness could be helpful.”

During an address to lawmakers from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in parliament, Erdogan said Israel’s military campaign against Iran was illegal and “crazed.”

“Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has long left Hitler behind in terms of genocide,” the Turkish leader said. “It is a very natural, legitimate, and legal right for Iran to defend itself against Israel’s thuggery and state terrorism.”

“We are closely monitoring Israel’s terrorist attacks on Iran,” Erdogan continued.

Last week, Israel launched a broad preemptive attack on Iran — dubbed “Operation Rising Lion” — targeting military installations and nuclear sites across the country in what officials described as an effort to neutralize an imminent nuclear threat.

The ongoing Israeli strikes killed several of Iran’s top military commanders and nuclear scientists and dealt a major blow to the country’s retaliatory capabilities, destroying not only much of its ballistic missile stockpiles but also crippling its launch platforms.

Israel had previously declared it would never allow the Islamist regime to acquire nuclear weapons, as the country views Iran’s nuclear program — which Tehran insists is solely for civilian purposes — as an existential threat.

Iranian leaders have regularly declared their intention of destroying Israel and have for decades supplied internationally designated terrorist groups, such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, with weapons and funding to attack the Jewish state.

Erdogan has frequently defended Hamas terrorists as “resistance fighters” against what he describes as Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, with Turkey long serving as one of the group’s top international backers.

As part of his long history of anti-Israel rhetoric, Erdogan has falsely accused the Jewish state of running “Nazi” concentration camps and compared Netanyahu to Hitler multiple times before.

In March, he threatened to “send Netanyahu to Allah to take care of him, make him miserable, and curse him.”

The Turkish leader has also said that Netanyahu was a “butcher” who would be tried as a “war criminal” over Israel’s defensive military operations in Gaza.

He has also called Israel a “terror state” and expressed solidarity with Iran after it attacked the Jewish state with a barrage of ballistic missiles last year.

The post Israeli Foreign Minister Slams Turkey’s Erdogan for Defending Iran, Comparing Netanyahu to Hitler first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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