RSS
Illinois tax credit program for private schools set to end, upsetting Jewish advocates
(JTA) – For the last five years, thousands of Jewish children in Illinois and their families have taken advantage of a state program that lets them defray the cost of private Jewish schools.
Now, those families could see their payments rise after state lawmakers allowed the tuition tax credit program to expire, with little clarity about whether it could resume in the future.
The demise of Illinois’ “Invest in Kids” program points to deep and lasting political divides over the propriety of redirecting public funding for education toward private and religious institutions. The lapse of the program is drawing criticism from Jewish leaders in the state, including some who initially did not go to bat for it.
“There are a wide variety of opinions on the use of these kinds of programs and public funding for private schools, which was the reason we stayed out,” said Dan Goldwin, executive director of public affairs at the Jewish United Fund, Chicago’s Jewish federation. But he said now that he’s seen the benefits, he’s feeling “profound disappointment on behalf of a whole bunch of families and students” about the program’s end.
Invest in Kids, launched in 2018, has given private donors hefty tax breaks if they contribute to a private school scholarship fund for children from low-income families. The program’s proponents said it would give families education options they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford; its critics argued that it would inappropriately deplete the state’s tax revenue.
The program lapsed on Nov. 10 after state lawmakers ended their legislative activity for the year without calling it to a vote, allowing it to expire at the end of December.
The step away from public funding for religious schools in Illinois, which is led by Democrats, comes as other states are moving in the opposite direction. Earlier this year, Orthodox Jewish groups celebrated a new Florida state law that allowed private and religious school students in the state to access up to about $8,000 per year in state education funds.
The Illinois program, too, was beloved by Orthodox Jews, who almost universally send their children to Jewish schools and frequently bear a significant tuition burden, especially if they have larger families. But Jewish advocates for the program say non-Orthodox day schools benefitted, too.
Based on self-reported data from some of the scholarship-granting agencies, at least 1,400 Jewish day school students of all backgrounds and denominations used the program in the 2022-23 school year. Under the program, since 2018, between $40 to 60 million has flowed to Jewish day schools from scholarship funds.
The state’s chapter of Agudath Israel, an Orthodox advocacy group that has been active in pushing for tuition tax credits in multiple states, joined Catholic groups in advocating for the program at the statehouse in Springfield. Now, the group says it is “deeply disappointed” in the legislature for failing to advance the bill.
“The program has been transformative for tens of thousands but I don’t know if everyone initially appreciated how impactful it would be for the Jewish community,” Rabbi Shlomo Soroka, director of government affairs for Agudath Israel of Illinois, told JTA. “It has been a lifeline for thousands of Jewish families.”
In general, research shows that tax-credit programs typically benefit families that are already using private schools, rather than opening doors that would otherwise be closed to low-income students.
JUF did not take a position on the program when it was first enacted six years ago, although it did alert Jewish families to the program’s existence. Godwin said the federation did not typically sound off on “tax-related issues,” and that he was worried that the tax revenue lost as a result of the program could hurt state funding for other social services. But the organization began backing Invest in Kids in 2021 as more Jewish students and day schools benefited from it.
When the legislature reconvenes in January, Goldwin hopes there might be an opportunity to renew calls for a program extension, or, failing that, a “soft landing” that would prevent disruption to students benefitting from the program midway through the academic year.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who is Jewish, has indicated his willingness to sign such a compromise. But a spokesperson for the state’s House speaker, Emanuel Chris Welch, told reporters that he never called a vote for the bill because there was simply not enough support from either side of the aisle.
Public school advocates celebrated the program’s end, with the head of the state’s teachers union saying, “Illinois lawmakers chose to put our public schools first.”
Some of the program’s proponents told JTA that it was especially important to maintain in light of increased antisemitism and anti-Israel activity in public education spaces since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. A handful of teachers unions across the country, including in Oakland and Minneapolis, have put out statements about the conflict that Jewish groups have considered antisemitic. Chicago’s teachers union has not.
Still, some local Jews said the current moment has shown how important it is for Jewish students to attend Jewish schools.
“Even secular Jewish kids have a better shot at identifying as proudly Jewish and pro-Israel if they attend a Jewish day school,” said Rabbi Menachem Levine, head of the Orthodox Joan Dachs Bais Yaakov-Yeshivas Tiferes Tzvi in Chicago, the largest Jewish day school in the Midwest. “But that’s not an option for Jews who aren’t well-off.”
The Jewish leaders said they were galled that none of the Jewish lawmakers in the Springfield statehouse supported the bill. “We are especially disappointed in those state lawmakers that represent portions of our Jewish community who refused to support our efforts, or were even obstructive,” Agudath Israel said in a statement bemoaning the end of the program.
The Illinois Legislative Jewish Caucus has 15 members across both chambers of the state assembly. An informal leader for the group, Rep. Bob Morgan, who represents the northern suburbs of Chicago, declined to comment to JTA.
While Goldwin wants to see the program resurrected, he said he wouldn’t cite antisemitism in public schools as a factor.
“The impact of antisemitism in schools and elsewhere is profound regardless of the scholarship situation,” he said. “I’m not frankly aware of a mass exodus out of the public schools because of antisemitism.”
—
The post Illinois tax credit program for private schools set to end, upsetting Jewish advocates appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
RSS
Hamas Warns Against Cooperation with US Relief Efforts In Bid to Restore Grip on Gaza
Hamas terrorists carry grenade launchers at the funeral of Marwan Issa, a senior Hamas deputy military commander who was killed in an Israeli airstrike during the conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the central Gaza Strip, Feb. 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
The Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza has warned residents not to cooperate with the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, as the terror group seeks to reassert its grip on the enclave amid mounting international pressure to accept a US-brokered ceasefire.
“It is strictly forbidden to deal with, work for, or provide any form of assistance or cover to the American organization (GHF) or its local or foreign agents,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement Thursday.
“Legal action will be taken against anyone proven to be involved in cooperation with this organization, including the imposition of the maximum penalties stipulated in the applicable national laws,” the statement warns.
The GHF released a statement in response to Hamas’ warnings, saying the organization has delivered millions of meals “safely and without interference.”
“This statement from the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry confirms what we’ve known all along: Hamas is losing control,” the GHF said.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May, implementing a new aid delivery model aimed at preventing the diversion of supplies by Hamas, as Israel continues its defensive military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group.
The initiative has drawn criticism from the UN and international organizations, some of which have claimed that Jerusalem is causing starvation in the war-torn enclave.
Israel has vehemently denied such accusations, noting that, until its recently imposed blockade, it had provided significant humanitarian aid in the enclave throughout the war.
Israeli officials have also said much of the aid that flows into Gaza is stolen by Hamas, which uses it for terrorist operations and sells the rest at high prices to Gazan civilians.
According to their reports, the organization has delivered over 56 million meals to Palestinians in just one month.
Hamas’s latest threat comes amid growing international pressure to accept a US-backed ceasefire plan proposed by President Donald Trump, which sets a 60-day timeline to finalize the details leading to a full resolution of the conflict.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump announced that Israel has agreed to the “necessary conditions” to finalize a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, though Israel has not confirmed this claim.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with Trump next week in Washington, DC — his third visit in less than six months — as they work to finalize the terms of the ceasefire agreement.
Even though Trump hasn’t provided details on the proposed truce, he said Washington would “work with all parties to end the war” during the 60-day period.
“I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,” he wrote in a social media post.
Since the start of the war, ceasefire talks between Jerusalem and Hamas have repeatedly failed to yield enduring results.
Israeli officials have previously said they will only agree to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms, and goes into exile — a demand the terror group has firmly rejected.
“I am telling you — there will be no Hamas,” Netanyahu said during a speech Wednesday.
For its part, Hamas has said it is willing to release the remaining 50 hostages — fewer than half of whom are believed to be alive — in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war.
While the terrorist group said it is “ready and serious” to reach a deal that would end the war, it has yet to accept this latest proposal.
In a statement, the group said it aims to reach an agreement that “guarantees an end to the aggression, the withdrawal [of Israeli forces], and urgent relief for our people in the Gaza Strip.”
According to media reports, the proposed 60-day ceasefire would include a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a surge in humanitarian aid, and the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas, with US and mediator assurances on advancing talks to end the war — though it remains unclear how many hostages would be freed.
For Israel, the key to any deal is the release of most, if not all, hostages still held in Gaza, as well as the disarmament of Hamas, while the terror group is seeking assurances to end the war as it tries to reassert control over the war-torn enclave.
The post Hamas Warns Against Cooperation with US Relief Efforts In Bid to Restore Grip on Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
UK Lawmakers Move to Designate Palestine Action as Terrorist Group Following RAF Vandalism Protest
Police block a street as pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather to protest British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s plans to proscribe the “Palestine Action” group in the coming weeks, in London, Britain, June 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
British lawmakers voted Wednesday to designate Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, following the group’s recent vandalizing of two military aircraft at a Royal Air Force base in protest of the government’s support for Israel.
Last month, members of the UK-based anti-Israel group Palestine Action broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, a county west of London, and vandalized two Voyager aircraft used for military transport and refueling — the latest in a series of destructive acts carried out by the organization.
Palestine Action has regularly targeted British sites connected to Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems as well as other companies in Britain linked to Israel since the start of the conflict in Gaza in 2023.
Under British law, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has the authority to ban an organization if it is believed to commit, promote, or otherwise be involved in acts of terrorism.
Passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 385 to 26 in the lower chamber — the House of Commons — the measure is now set to be reviewed by the upper chamber, the House of Lords, on Thursday.
If approved, the ban would take effect within days, making it a crime to belong to or support Palestine Action and placing the group on the same legal footing as Al Qaeda, Hamas, and the Islamic State under UK law.
Palestine Action, which claims that Britain is an “active participant” in the Gaza conflict due to its military support for Israel, condemned the ban as “an unhinged reaction” and announced plans to challenge it in court — similar to the legal challenges currently being mounted by Hamas.
Under the Terrorism Act 2000, belonging to a proscribed group is a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison or a fine, while wearing clothing or displaying items supporting such a group can lead to up to six months in prison and/or a fine of up to £5,000.
Palestine Action claimed responsibility for the recent attack, in which two of its activists sprayed red paint into the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyager aircraft and used crowbars to inflict additional damage.
According to the group, the red paint — also sprayed across the runway — was meant to symbolize “Palestinian bloodshed.” A Palestine Liberation Organization flag was also left at the scene.
On Thursday, local authorities arrested four members of the group, aged between 22 and 35, who were charged with conspiracy to enter a prohibited place knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the UK, as well as conspiracy to commit criminal damage.
Palestine Action said this latest attack was carried out as a protest against the planes’ role in supporting what the group called Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza.
At the time of the attack, Cooper condemned the group’s actions, stating that their behavior had grown increasingly aggressive and resulted in millions of pounds in damages.
“The disgraceful attack on Brize Norton … is the latest in a long history of unacceptable criminal damage committed by Palestine Action,” Cooper said in a written statement.
“The UK’s defense enterprise is vital to the nation’s national security and this government will not tolerate those that put that security at risk,” she continued.
The post UK Lawmakers Move to Designate Palestine Action as Terrorist Group Following RAF Vandalism Protest first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
US-backed Gaza Relief NGO Vows ‘Legal Action’ Against AP Claim Group Fired on Palestinian Civilians
Palestinians collect aid supplies from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US-backed nonprofit operating aid distribution centers in the Gaza Strip, is pushing back forcefully against an Associated Press report alleging that its contractors opened fire on Palestinian civilians.
The GHF is accusing the AP of withholding key evidence and relying on a “disgruntled former contractor” as a central source.
“In response, we are pursuing legal action,” the organization said in a statement released Wednesday.
GHF said it conducted an “immediate investigation” after being contacted by the AP, reviewing time-stamped video footage and sworn witness testimony. The group concluded that the allegations were “categorically false,” stating that no civilians were fired upon at any of their distribution sites and that the gunfire heard in the AP’s video came from Israeli forces operating outside the vicinity.
“What is most troubling is that the AP refused to share the full video with us prior to publication, despite the seriousness of the allegations,” the statement read. “If they believed their own reporting, they should have provided us with the footage so we could take immediate and appropriate action.”
The nonprofit’s public rebuttal raises sharp questions about the AP’s reporting process, suggesting the outlet declined to engage with the organization in good faith and instead leaned on a source GHF describes as having been terminated “for misconduct” weeks prior. The group also claimed the AP’s recent coverage of its activities had begun to “echo narratives advanced by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health.”
The AP has not yet responded publicly to the GHF’s accusations or provided clarification about its decision not to share the video footage before publication. The original report alleged that American contractors employed by GHF had fired weapons near or toward civilians.
The GHF statement confirmed that a contractor seen shouting in the AP’s video had been removed from operations, though the group insisted this was unrelated to any violence and did not constitute evidence of wrongdoing.
GHF, which describes its mission as delivering food to Gaza “safely, directly, and without interference,” said it remains committed to transparency but would not allow its operations to be “derailed by misinformation.”
The dispute highlights the fraught information environment in Gaza, where limited access and competing narratives frequently complicate the verification of on-the-ground events.
The post US-backed Gaza Relief NGO Vows ‘Legal Action’ Against AP Claim Group Fired on Palestinian Civilians first appeared on Algemeiner.com.