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‘Hamas will be washed away’: Top congressional leaders pledge support for Israel
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The top four congressional leaders told Jewish officials from around the country they were committed to backing Israel’s war with Hamas until the terrorist organization is wiped out.
The comments came Tuesday at a rally of 350 Jewish leaders from around the country organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Jewish Federations of North America. It drew the Senate majority and minority leader and the U.S. House of Representatives majority and minority leader. There is no Speaker in the House currently.
The top-level turnout was a testament the degree to which the pro-Israel community has galvanized the political class since Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,400 people, most of them civilians, and how the support for Israel has not abated even as it mounts a massive counterattack by air and has announced plans for a ground invasion.
Each speaker expressed unstinting support for Israel’s war aim, to destroy Hamas. President Joe Biden, who is flying to Israel on Wednesday, has also said that Hamas must be eliminated.
New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat and the minority leader in the House, cited the week’s Torah portion to justify the removal of Hamas from the earth.
“Noah was the only righteous man in the world consumed by violence, corruption and evil, this land filled with evil — it was described in Hebrew as Eretz Hamas,” he said, repeating “Hamas” for effect.
“The Torah portion ends with a flood that eradicates this evil and an ark that saves Noah from it,” Jeffries said. “These verses remind us of the role that Israel must now play in eradicating evil.”
Like other Democrats speaking, he distinguished between Hamas and the 2 million Palestinian civilians in Gaza. “International law is the law with respect to Palestinian civilians who have been callously put in harm’s way by terrorists,” he said. “However, this is a moment for accountability and Hamas will be washed away.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Jewish New York Democrat who is the majority leader, said he would push through assistance for Israel in the Senate and find a way to get the House to approve it, although that body can barely function while its Republican majority tussles over who should be speaker.
“I will lead the effort of the United States Senate to provide Israel with the support needed to fully defend itself from this monstrous attack,” Schumer said.
Schumer also described meetings he had on a two-day bipartisan visit to Israel this week, when the delegation at one point had to rush to a safe room because of a rocket warning. “We sat down with Israeli leaders. They asked us, they had a list of what they needed — so many things like JDAMs and Iron Dome.” JDAMs convert bombs into guided missiles, and the Iron Dome is Israel’s missile defense system.
“We will not just talk about waiting for the House, we will move aid through the Senate as quickly as possible, and I do believe that we’ll get a strong bipartisan vote in the Senate,” he said. “It will force the House in whatever way they decide,” Schumer said to laughter.
Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, who as majority leader is the most senior Republican while the House awaits the next speaker, said a pro-Israel resolution, with the backing of 423 of the 434 House members, was ready to move as soon as a speaker is in place.
The Biden Administration wants to attach emergency assistance for Israel to a request for assistance to Ukraine, which an increasing number of Republicans oppose — including Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, who is vying for the speakership. Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, is among the Republicans who favor assistance to Ukraine and to U.S. allies in the region of China and suggested that he would back coupling the requests.
“This is what I’ll be fighting for in the coming week as the Senate considers the resources we must put into our defense and the additional assistance we need for Israel and other democracies in Europe and the Pacific,” McConnell said.
Schumer also said he would push for greater assistance for security for Jewish institutions. The grant program for vulnerable nonprofits currently stands at $360 million. Jewish groups want it to go up to $500 million.
Jeffries, who is the first Black major party leader in Congress, said the Jewish community could count on significant support. “You have friends in the African American community, all throughout the country too numerous to mention,” he said.
Alejandro Mayorkas, the Homeland Security secretary, outlined the outreach his department has made in recent days to Jewish communities fearful of a spike in antisemitism because of the war.
“The grief will not subside soon, the hurt will pass from generation to generation,” said Mayorkas, who is Jewish. “So will our resolve, our faith, the practice of it and the values that we have that bind us together. This Department of Homeland Security is here for you. We are here with you.”
A young woman who only used her first name, Noa, described surviving the massive Hamas attack on an outdoor concert, lying under bodies, hearing her friends shot and discovering afterwards that her best friend had been killed.
Fifty of the Jewish leaders were set to travel Tuesday evening to Israel in a solidarity visit. Every seat had a blue ribbon with a pin, a symbol of the demand for the return of some 200 hostages Hamas took during its raid.
Shortly after the rally, which took place at the historic Sixth and I synagogue in downtown Washington, ended, Hamas officials said Israel hit a hospital, killing hundreds. Israel blamed Palestinian Islamic Jihad, saying one of the terror group’s rockets fell short.
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The post ‘Hamas will be washed away’: Top congressional leaders pledge support for Israel appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Belgian Doctor Suspended Over Antisemitic Social Media Posts Amid Rising Antisemitism in Western Health Care
People take part in pro-Hamas protest in Brussels, Belgium, Nov. 11, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman
A Belgian hospital has suspended a physician after discovering antisemitic cartoons on his social media accounts, days after defending him for labeling a patient as Jewish in records for no apparent medical reason.
Last week, Dr. Qasim Arkawazy — a radiologist at AZ Zeno Campus Knokke-Heist in the town of Knokke, Belgium — listed “Jewish (Israeli)” as a medical problem in the report of a nine-year-old girl treated for arm pain.
In Belgium, a doctor examined a sick young girl.
In the “medical issues” section, right after allergies, the antisemitic doctor wrote: “Jewish.”
What’s next, refusing to treat Jews?
This is beyond unacceptable. But after this summer, sadly, nothing surprises me anymore. pic.twitter.com/7acuxeEumZ
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) August 31, 2025
The Jewish Information and Documentation Center (JID), a Belgian nonprofit that combats antisemitism, filed a formal complaint with both law enforcement and the country’s medical authorities, urging a swift response to the incident.
Sparking outrage within Belgium’s Jewish community, this latest controversy reflects a broader wave of antisemitism in health-care settings, raising concern among Jewish patients across Western countries.
Shortly after the incident, the hospital initially defended Arkawazy’s decision to note the patient’s ethnicity “for medical reasons,” later acknowledging it “could be seen as offensive” and confirming that the patient’s digital file had been updated.
However, JID’s complaint prompted an investigation that uncovered several antisemitic posts on Arkawazy’s social media, ultimately leading to his suspension.
According to multiple reports, Arkawazy — a Shi’ite Muslim originally from Baghdad, Iraq — had shared several antisemitic cartoons on Facebook in the months following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
The posts included a cartoon showing several babies decapitated by the tip of a Star of David, along with an AI-generated image portraying Hasidic Jews as vampires poised to devour a sleeping baby.
SIGNALEMENT : Le Dr. Qasim Arkawazy, radiologue d’origine irakienne
exerçant à l’hôpital AZ Zeno dans la station balnéaire de Knokke-Heist, relaie des dizaines de contenus antisémites, islamistes chiites et antisionistes.
Parmi ces publications : un montage ignoble… pic.twitter.com/IDTBYM5j1e
— SwordOfSalomon (@SwordOfSalomon) August 31, 2025
“AZ Zeno immediately launched an internal investigation to carefully map out all the elements; an external investigation is also underway,” the hospital said in a statement.
“The doctor involved was suspended with immediate effect so that the investigation can proceed calmly and thoroughly,” the statement read.
The incident in Belgium comes amid a surge of medical professionals in several Western countries voicing antisemitic sentiments, including outright death threats against Israelis.
Last month, three Dutch hospitals canceled or refused to host lectures by Israeli physician Dr. Amit Frenkel, head of intensive care at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, who was scheduled to speak about treating victims of mass-casualty events, including terrorist attacks.
The hospitals cited “serious concerns” over safety, warning of possible violence from anti-Israel activists.
In Italy, two medical workers filmed themselves at their workplace discarding medicine produced by the Israeli company Teva Pharmaceuticals in protest against the Jewish state and the war in Gaza.
Meanwhile, a doctor in the UK was allowed to return to work last month after praising Nazi leader Adolf Hitler during an antisemitic rant and making racist comments about a colleague.
In the UK, other troubling incidents have drawn attention, including one at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), which recently apologized after a patient reported anti-Israel posters displayed at a facility.
The posters — bearing slogans such as “Zionism is Poison,” “Free Palestine,” and accusations that Israel starves and kills Palestinians — left the patient fearing she might receive substandard care if staff learned she was Jewish.
In a separate incident, midwife Fatimah Mohamied, who resigned from her position after her anti-Israel social media posts were exposed, has now filed a claim against Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, alleging a violation of her rights.
In her posts, Mohamied both defended and celebrated the Oct. 7 atrocities and made other antisemitic remarks.
In other Western countries, hostility toward Israel among health-care providers has at times escalated into violent threats.
In the Netherlands, police opened an investigation into nurse Batisma Chayat Sa’id, who allegedly made antisemitic comments and threatened to administer lethal injections to Israeli patients.
The nurse’s alleged threat mirrors a similar incident in Australia, in which video showed two nurses — Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh — posing as doctors and making inflammatory statements.
The widely circulated footage showed Abu Lebdeh declaring she would refuse to treat Israeli patients and instead kill them, while Nadir made a throat-slitting gesture and claimed he had already killed many.
Following the incident, New South Wales authorities in Australia suspended their nursing registrations and banned them from working as nurses nationwide.
They were also charged with federal offenses, including threatening violence against a group and using a carriage service to threaten, menace, and harass.
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UEFA President Reiterates Objection to Banning Israel as Spanish Club Sparks Backlash for Signing Israeli Player
Udine, Italy, August 13th 2025, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin with Palestinian girl Tala and 9-year old Mohamed from Gaza during the medals ceremony at the UEFA Super Cup match between Paris Saint-Germain (France) and Tottenham Hotspur (England) at Stadium Friuli, Udine, Italy. Photo: Natasa Kupljenik / SPP/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Aleksander Čeferin, the president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), repeated his opposition to banning Israel from international competitions in a new interview with Politico.
The head of European soccer’s governing body made the remarks amid calls to bar Israel from participating in soccer matches around the world, and just as the Spanish soccer team Villarreal caused an uproar among fans for signing Israeli soccer star Manor Solomon.
Čeferin said last month that, in general, he is against banning athletes from competitions. He told Politico the same in relation to Israeli athletes, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, and at the same time condemned what he described as “reckless politicians” for contributing to the “slaughter” of children around the world.
“Look, first of all, what’s happening with civilians there is personally hurting, killing me,” the UEFA president said of Gaza. “From the other point of view, I’m not a supporter of banning the athletes. Because what can an athlete do to their government to stop the war? It’s very, very hard. Now, the ban for Russian teams is, I think, three and a half years. Did the [Ukraine] war stop? It didn’t … I cannot say what will happen. There are talks about everything, but me personally, I’m against kicking the athletes out.”
“I cannot understand how a politician who can do a lot to stop the slaughter, anywhere, can go to sleep seeing all the children and all the civilians dead,” he added. “I don’t understand it. You know, the idea football should solve these problems? No way.”
The UEFA received backlash from pro-Israel supporters in August for displaying a banner on the pitch at the UEFA Super Cup final in Udine, Italy, that said, “Stop killing children. Stop killing civilians.” The UEFA invited two children from the Gaza Strip to participate in the medal ceremony at the same match. The organization was accused of double standards for displaying the banner, since the UEFA bans political messaging at matches and recently launched disciplinary proceedings against the Israeli team Maccabi Haifa after its fans displayed an anti-Polish banner.
Talking to Politico, Čeferin defended the “Stop killing children” banner and insisted that it was not political. He even claimed that he had “full, full support” from the president of the Israeli Football Federation, who he said is a good friend. While expressing support for the banner, Čeferin also suggested that Israel is waging a war in Gaza because of “geopolitical interests,” and not in response to the deadly Hamas-led terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, or in an effort to rescue the hostages abducted by the terrorists and held captive in Gaza.
“When you see children dying all around the world because of — it’s a diplomatic statement, if I say — reckless politicians. Whoever thinks that ‘Stop Killing Children, Stop Killing Civilians’ is a political message is an idiot, for me,” Čeferin said. “We don’t interfere in politics, but we will not say that killing children anywhere or civilians is a good thing. We have to say we despise it, and we will always say it.”
“If such a big thing is going on, such a terrible thing that doesn’t allow me to sleep — not me, all my colleagues — nobody in this organization said we shouldn’t do it. No one. Then you have to do what is the right thing to do,” he told Politico. “It’s terrible that children are dying because of political interest, starving to death. Mohamed, who was giving the medals [at last month’s UEFA Super Cup] with me, lost his mother and his father [in Gaza]. And he was heavily injured. I’ve never seen a child hugging me so much as he did. He needs love. He doesn’t need another bomb on his head because of a geopolitical interest.”
In August, the Association of Italian Coaches demanded, “on behalf of the Palestinian people,” that Israel be temporarily suspended from international competitions held by the Italian Soccer Federation, UEFA,and FIFA. Earlier in the month, the German soccer club Fortuna Düsseldorf backed out of signing Israeli striker Shon Weissman after the athlete expressed support for Israel’s military actions in Gaza during its war targeting Hamas terrorists who orchestrated and perpetrated the attack on Oct. 7, 2023. The Norwegian Football Association also recently condemned what it claaimed were “disproportionate attacks” against civilians in Gaza and said it will donate profits from an Oct. 11 game against Israel to aid humanitarian causes in Gaza.
On Monday, Spain’s soccer club Villarreal announced that it signed a deal with Tottenham Hotspur to have Solomon join the Spanish team on loan. The news resulted in a social media frenzy in which Villarreal fans said the left winger was “not welcome at Villarreal and does not deserve the affection of its supporters.” Fans urged the team to boycott the Israeli forward while the Kfar Saba native, who previously played for Israel’s national team, was accused of being a “genocide supporter” and called antisemitic names for being a Zionist.
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Distributor Seeks UK Broadcaster to Back Docuseries About British Monarchy’s Ties to Hitler, Nazi Germany
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor photographed with Adolf Hitler, Oct. 22, 1937, during their visit to The Berghof, his country house in Berchtesgaden. Photo: Provided
The content producer and distributor Keshet International (KI) has signed a deal with the Scottish production company Caledonia TV to co-develop a three-part historical docuseries about the British royal family’s controversial connections to Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, KI announced on Wednesday.
Keshet International and Caledonia TV are looking to partner with a British broadcast on “Hitler’s Favorite Royals” before launching pre-sales at MIPCOM, the annual trade show for the television industry held in Cannes, France, that will take place in October. The series is being produced by Caledonia TV.
“From Queen Victoria’s dynastic ties to Germany to Hitler’s attempts to leverage those connections during World War II, the series will expose secret meetings, coded correspondence, and covert diplomacy between London and Berlin,” according to a description of the docuseries provided by KI. “With newly uncovered evidence and expert insight, it reveals how these links were later concealed through buried archives and suppressed records, shining new light on the monarchy’s entanglement with Nazi Germany.”
“Hitler’s Favorite Royals” is being executive produced by award-winning producer and historian Dean Palmer. The docuseries will be created based on Palmer’s 2021 book, Tea with Hitler: as well as research with the University of London of new archival materials. KI’s SVP of Acquisitions and Co-production Anke Stoll said the “extensive research and access to new archive materials adds layers of extra color, depth and detail to what we already think we know about the Royal Family’s connections to Hitler and the Nazis.”
“This series rips the lid off one of the monarchy’s darkest secrets – what the Queen’s German cousins did during World War II and their ties to Hitler,” said Palmer.