Consul General of Israel in New York Ofir Akunis speaking at a reception on Sept. 15, 2025, in New York City to mark the start of the Jewish New Year. Photo: Provided

The consul general of Israel in New York spoke to The Algemeiner about his plans and hopes for the Jewish High Holidays, as well as the security of Israel and the broader Middle East as the Jewish state continues its military campaign targeting Hamas terrorists in the region. 

“The most important thing is the unity. The unity is our strength,” Ofir Akunis told The Algemeiner in an interview last week. “If we continue to stand united as one nation, we’ll defeat all our enemies and bring a better place to the state of Israel and the Jewish communities around the world.”

He also quoted a Hebrew liturgical poem read during Rosh Hashanah prayers called “Ahot Ketanah” which in English means: “May the year end with its curses, and may the new year begin with its blessings.”

Oct. 7 will mark two years since Hamas’s 2023 invasion of and massacre across southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, starting the war in Gaza. Hamas terrorists also took 251 hostages, 48 of whom remain in captivity in Gaza. This year will also be the first time that Akunis is celebrating the Jewish High Holidays — which begin on Monday night with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year — without his two children, who are both serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The consul general said ahead of the holidays he is praying for the speedy return home of the remaining 48 hostages and holds both Hamas and Qatar – a large financial and diplomatic supporter of the terrorist organization – responsible for those still in captivity. Akunis called on the international community to put pressure on Hamas and Qatari leadership to release the remaining hostages.

Earlier this month, Israel launched its ground offensive in Gaza City following weeks of airstrikes, and the military has continued to push deeper into Hamas’s main stronghold. Meanwhile, the Jewish state has also carried out strikes against Hamas leaders in Qatar, which for years has hosted top leaders of the terrorist group, as well as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen. Hezbollah and the Houthis are, like Hamas, internationally designated terrorist groups backed by Iran.

Akunis, who is also the acting consul general of Israel in Miami, defended his country’s escalation of military actions in the Middle East.

“We are a very, very strong nation. One of the most ancient nations in the world, and after a long, long journey, the journey is still ongoing … And what we are doing right now [is] to protect our people, defend our nation,” he told The Algemeiner. “And we didn’t start the fire on Simchat Torah – they did, ” he added, referring to the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, which occurred on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. The holiday celebrates the conclusion of the annual Torah-reading cycle and the beginning of a new one.

“What we are doing now in the Middle East against terror organizations – it’s not against the Lebanese,” the consul general explained. “We want to live in peace with the Lebanese; we want to live in peace with the Syrians like we are living [in peace] with the Jordanians, Egyptians, Moroccans, Emirates, and Bahrainians … It’s not because we have something against the Gazans; we have a lot against Hamas.”

“We want to live in peace in our region,” he continued. “We cannot live with terror organizations around us anymore. Not with Hezbollah. Not with Hamas, the Houthis, or the other Iranian proxies. The Middle East can be heaven on earth, the center of the world. Why not? There’s one reason: The Iranian proxies and the terror organizations. And when we will defeat the terror organization – and it will be very soon – you will see a new Middle East of peace and prosperity.”

Akunis, like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, compared the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, to the Hamas-led Oct. 7 atrocities. When asked for his response to those who criticize Israel’s military actions, Akunis asked, “What would you do? If those monsters would rape your women, will cut your heads, burn you alive – what would you do? And I know the answer. Much worse than Israel.”

The Israeli diplomat also singled out French President Emmanuel Macron for his harsh rebuke of Israel’s war in Gaza, criticism which Akunis claimed is being done because Macron wants “the Muslims in France to vote for him.” France’s Muslim population is over 6 million, making it the largest in Europe.

“We must clean these streets from Hamas terrorists; to destroy all their tunnels,” Akunis said. “Put yourself in our shoes. We must stand as one.”

Illustrative: Pro-Hamas activists. Photo: New Deal Coalition/Instagram

A new lawsuit alleges that Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) in Teaneck, New Jersey punished a Jewish professor and volunteer chaplain for complaining about antisemitic discrimination that officials allegedly refused to quell even as it resulted in violations of civil rights.

“After voicing opposition to the antisemitic discriminatory speech promulgated and antisemitic abuse directed at Jews during a defendant-approved, sponsored, or sanctioned campus event, defendant FSU suspended and effectively terminated plaintiff,” court documents filed in a Bergen County superior court say. “Defendant FDU’s conduct was retaliatory, discriminatory, and violated state law.”

On Monday, Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) told The Algemeiner that the claims are false and will be discredited in court.

“We categorically deny the allegations of antisemitism put forward in this lawsuit, and the facts will show that our students, faculty, and staff have been able to freely study and work at the university without experiencing the type of discriminatory incidents that have been reported elsewhere in the country,” it said in a statement. “The university has not and will not tolerate illegal discrimination against our Jewish community or others based on religion, national origin, or other protected status under law.”

It added, “We believe that the university has consistently fulfilled its mission to promote a respectful forum for the expression and discussion of different viewpoints in a civil manner that does not interfere with the right of any person to study and work at the university, and we will proceed to defend this action.”

The plaintiff, Ira Jaskoll, says his plight began following the explosion of antisemitic hatred set off by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, when masses of FDU students began holding anti-Israel events he describes as hateful and calling for the destruction of Israel. During one such event, an activist from a local anti-Israel group uttered hate speech accusing Israel of “genocide” and “apartheid,” a message allegedly promoted with a stamp of approval from an administrative office which supervises expressive activities.

Jaskoll took umbrage at the speaker’s remarks and assumed the right to express his own views on the matter during the event, triggering his being involuntarily removed from the venue. A cascade of meetings, complaints, and counter-complaints followed this incident, with Jaskoll charging that he had been a victim of flagrantly antisemitic conduct. University officials allegedly disregarded his telling of what transpired and, after declining to file disciplinary charges against anyone responsible for organizing the anti-Israel event, “paused” his serving as a chaplain for Jewish students.

According to the lawsuit, the “pause” would have been lifted had Jaskoll agreed to apologize for disrupting the anti-Israel event, but he declined to do so, citing his conviction that apologizing for someone else’s discriminatory conduct would be immensely unjust. He has not been restored to the position to this day. The complaint alleges that he is “effectively” terminated and entitled to damages, both punitive and compensatory.

Jaskoll is not the first university employee to allege that school officials permitted the escalation of hostile and discriminatory activities.

Earlier this month, a male researcher came forward to join a lawsuit that the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law filed in June against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). According to court documents shared with The Algemeiner, he endured psychological torment, having been swarmed by “masked” pro-Hamas activists clamoring for the destruction of Israel and students who “interrogated” his Jewish identity, pelting him with slurs and threatening to “prevent” his reproducing to bring “more Jewish children” into the world.

While administrators received formal complaints describing in harrowing detail the severity of the bullying being perpetrated against the student, they allegedly took no action. Left to stand alone, the student resorted to concealing his Jewishness on a campus which purports to be one of the most inclusive in the country.

A new survey released this month found that anti-Zionist staff and faculty have accelerated the antisemitism crisis on US college campuses by politicizing the classroom, promoting anti-Israel bias, and even discriminating against Jewish colleagues.

The actions by faculty provided an academic pretext for the relentless wave of antisemitic incidents of discrimination and harassment which pro-Hamas activists have perpetrated against Jewish and Israeli members of campus communities since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel, according to the survey.

Released earlier this month as the result of a joint partnership by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Academic Engagement Network (AEN), the survey of “Jewish-identifying US-based faculty members” found that 73 percent of Jewish faculty witnessed their colleagues engaging in antisemitic activity, and a significant percentage named the Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine (FSJP) group as the force driving it.

Of those aware of an FSJP chapter on their campus, the vast majority of respondents reported that the chapter engaged in anti-Israel programming (77.2 percent), organized anti-Israel protests and demonstrations (79.4 percent), and endorsed anti-Israel divestment campaigns (84.8 percent).

Additionally, 50 percent of respondents said that anti-Zionist faculty have established de facto, or “shadow,” boycotts of Israel on campus even in the absence of formal declaration or recognition of one by the administration. Among those who reported the presence of such a boycott, 55 percent noted that departments avoid co-sponsoring events with Jewish or pro-Israel groups and 29.5 percent said this policy is also subtly enacted by sabotaging negotiations for partnerships with Israeli institutions. All the while, such faculty fostered an environment in which Jewish professors were “maligned, professionally isolated, and in severe cases, doxxed or harassed” as they assumed the right to determine for their Jewish colleagues what constitutes antisemitism.

“Colleges and universities are meant to be open, safe, learning environments where faculty and students alike feel comfortable sharing ideas and having open discourse,” AEN executive director Miriam Elman said in a statement. “It’s disturbing, but perhaps unsurprising, that Jewish and Zionist faculty on campuses across the country are experiencing antisemitic hostility and retaliation for their beliefs.”

She continued, “Administrators must address these issues head-on and take meaningful action to protect the flow of free ideas and open inquiry on their campuses, or their institutions will suffer for generations to come.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

JJ, representing Austria with “Wasted Love”, winner of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest, holds the trophy during the Grand Final, in Basel, Switzerland, May 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Several European countries have expressed their opinions in recent days about efforts to boycott next year’s Eurovision song contest if Israel takes part in the international competition.

Germany’s Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer on Saturday criticized those threatening to pull out of the 2026 Eurovision contest if Israel takes part.

“Eurovision was founded to bring nations together through music. Excluding Israel today goes against this fundamental idea and turns a celebration of understanding between peoples into a tribunal,” Weimer said in a statement. “It’s precisely because Eurovision was born on the ruins of war that it should not become a scene of exclusion. Eurovision is based on the principle that artists are judged on their art and not on their nationality. The culture of cancellation is not the solution — the solution is diversity and cohesion.”

Meanwhile, Poland’s culture minister said she hopes her country will not participate in the 2026 Eurovision if Israel is allowed to join the event. “I believe we should not participate in Eurovision if Israel is taking part. This is my personal opinion,” the minister told the radio station TOK FM on Friday.

The next Eurovision is taking place in Vienna, Austria, in May 2026. Sepp Schellhorn, a senior foreign ministry official in Austria, told the daily Kurier that cultural boycotts are “dumb and pointless.” Over the weekend, the country’s Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger expressed concerns about the boycott efforts against Israel in a statement shared on X. Meinl-Reisinger revealed that she wrote to colleagues in Europe about how such boycotts create division and will not improve the situation in Gaza.

“The Eurovision Song Contest is a symbol of peace, unity, and cultural exchange – not an instrument for sanctions,” Meinl-Reisinger wrote in a post on X. “It concerns me that some countries are now considering boycotting the 70th #ESC in Vienna due to Israel’s participation. Therefore, I have written a letter to my European colleagues with the appeal to promote the important exchange through art and culture and to jointly find ways to actually improve the situation in Israel and Gaza.”

In her letter, cited by Reuters, the minster wrote that excluding Israel from the Eurovision or pulling participation because of Israel’s involvement “would neither alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza nor contribute to a sustainable political solution.”

“Such a rift would only deepen the discord and preclude opportunities for important dialogue between artists and the public – without improving the situation on the ground in Israel and Gaza,” Meinl-Reisinger added.

Spain previously said it would boycott next year’s Eurovision if Israel participated, following similar threats made by the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia, and Iceland.

Austrian singer JJ won this year’s competition in Basel, Switzerland, with his song “Wasted Love.” He has also called for Israel to be banned from the 2026 contest.