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In Israel with fellow Democrats, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries says judicial legislation won’t affect US aid
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Israeli government’s effort to weaken the country’s judiciary will not affect American military aid to Israel, Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on a visit to Jerusalem on Monday.
Jeffries, the Brooklyn congressman and House minority leader, was leading a delegation to Israel of 24 Democratic members of Congress. He spoke to reporters following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said he also seeks broad agreement but has pledged to press ahead with the judicial overhaul, despite ongoing mass street protests.
Jeffries echoed President Joe Biden’s stance that any laws changing Israel’s court system should pass only with broad consensus. The first piece of the legislative package, which was enacted in late July, passed along party lines, with the right-wing governing coalition voting in favor and Israel’s parliamentary opposition boycotting the vote.
“It’s my hope that whatever continued efforts occur related to judicial reform, that there’s a broad consensus across the ideological spectrum before additional changes are undertaken,” Jeffries said in the small press conference at the King David Hotel here. The trip is run by an organization affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.
“It’s not my job to articulate the precise contours of what judicial reform should look like here in Israel,” he added, saying that Netanyahu had also pledged to him that Israel would remain a liberal democracy. “That’s for the Israeli people to decide, through their elected representatives and through their actions to petition the government to perhaps go in a different direction.”
But even if Israel’s government did end up sapping the power of its judiciary, Jeffries said the United States would not reduce its military aid to Israel. That idea, once taboo, has been gaining steam lately, with voices on both sides of the aisle floating it. A number of Democratic members of Congress have called on the United States to establish conditions restricting the use of the nearly $4 billion in annual funding, and last month, New York Times columnist Nick Kristof floated ending aid to Israel entirely.
Jeffries rejected that idea, drawing a distinction between the democratic values Israel shares with the United States and the two countries’ shared strategic interests in the Middle East. Jeffries made clear that an independent and credible judiciary was a component of the United States’ and Israel’s shared values, but said the shared interests would remain in any event.
“At the end of the day, the two things that bind our countries together relate both to our shared democratic values and our shared strategic interests — shared strategic interests related to the very tough neighborhood that Israel lives in,” he said. “The need to make sure that we maintain Israel’s qualitative military edge will still be with us regardless of where Israel lands in terms of the judicial reform.”
In recent months, dozens of Democratic congresspeople have signaled their support for the mass street protests in Israel and abroad against the judicial overhaul. Late last month, a dozen Democratic representatives introduced a resolution in solidarity with the protests and one of them, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, from the Chicago-area, spoke at an anti-overhaul rally in her district. Jeffries indicated support for the protests as well, likening them to the exercise of First Amendment rights in the United States.
“The protesters have a right to express themselves, and their very presence is a sign of strength for Israeli democracy,” he said. “Freedom of assembly and the right to petition your government to demand change — that is exactly what is happening in Israel in a very vociferous way in connection with the demonstrations protesting the judicial overhaul. That’s a sign of a vibrant democracy.”
He denied that Israel’s harshest critics in the Democratic Party had made significant inroads. In July, six Democrats boycotted Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s speech to a joint session of Congress, shortly after Rep. Pramila Jayapal, an influential progressive, called Israel a “racist state” — a remark she walked back. A Gallup poll in March found that Democrats were more likely to sympathize with the Palestinians than with Israel.
Jeffries pointed to a pro-Israel resolution in response to Jayapal’s remarks that passed Congress 412-9.
“The Democratic Party in the House of Representatives will continue to stand with Israel and lift up the special relationship between our two countries and in support of Israel’s right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people, and as a Jewish democratic state, period, full stop,” he said.
Jeffries did not comment on some of the hot-button topics surrounding Israel and its relationship with the United States — including when Biden might invite Netanyahu to the White House. He also did not comment on the possibility that Netanyahu might not respect a potential court ruling striking down the judicial reform legislation. Israel’s Supreme Court is due to hear arguments about the law next month, and Netanyahu has thus far dodged the question of whether he would abide by a court decision invalidating the law.
In addition to Netanyahu, Jeffries met with Palestinian leadership and will meet with Yair Lapid, the centrist leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition.
The Democratic delegation’s visit to Israel also came amid escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence, and Jeffries said his delegation discussed Palestinian terror attacks with Netanyahu, in addition to discussing attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians. Over the weekend, an Israeli settler shot dead a Palestinian in the West Bank, and a Palestinian gunman killed an Israeli security guard in Tel Aviv.
Jeffries advocated for a renewed effort toward Israeli-Palestinian peace and also said Congress would look favorably on a U.S.-brokered normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, something the three countries have reportedly been discussing. But he seemed to acknowledge that a deal with the Palestinian leadership was remote.
“At the end of the day, [there’s a] strong interest in our congressional delegation of getting to a place where we can proceed toward a viable path to a two-state solution, recognizing that we are not at that place right now,” he said. “That is a goal that we should not give up on.”
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Super Bowl Protester Breaks Silence About Disrupting Kendrick Lamar’s Halftime Show With ‘Sudan, Gaza’ Flag
A protester holding a flag with the words “Gaza” and “Sudan” as rapper Kendrick Lamar performed during the Super Bowl halftime show at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Feb. 9, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
The dancer who unfurled a combined Sudanese and Palestinian flag during Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show performance on Sunday night said he felt obligated to draw attention to the “suffering” of those in the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip and the civil war in Sudan.
“I felt like I didn’t have a choice,” Muslim protester Zül-Qarnain Nantambu, 41, told Al Jazeera. “When I saw what my position was, it was a great stage … I had an opportunity on a grand scale to bring awareness or to speak out against wrong of our Muslim brothers and sisters. I didn’t want to face my creator with a sign of weak faith when I knew I had an opportunity to show I didn’t have weak faith.”
“They are oppressed, and suffering, and treated with injustice, and it’s on a wide scale,” he added. “I wanted to show the solidarity for those afflicted by this, that they’re being remembered here in America … I thought that I could contribute to taking it to the next level with this activism and protest and enlightenment to make other people aware of what’s going on in other parts of the world.”
Nantambu was asked if he is worried about the repercussions of his actions and how it might affect his ability to find work in the future. The dancer, who dubs himself a “freedom fighter,” replied, “I trust in God. I fear God more than I fear man or the loss of wealth. I fear losing the pleasure of Allah.”
The Muslim dancer was part of a 400-member dance team that performed alongside Lamar at Super Bowl LIX at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. The show included cameos by Samuel L. Jackson, SZA, Serena Williams, and DJ Mustard.
Toward the end of Lamar’s performance, Nantambu climbed on top of a car used as a prop in the performance and raised a combined Sudanese-Palestinian flag. On the white sections of the flag, he had written “Sudan” with a heart drawn next to it and “Gaza” alongside an image of a solidarity fist. While still displaying the flag, Nantambu jumped off the car and continued to wave it while standing on the ground near other dancers, before security personnel tackled and escorted him out of the stadium. The New Orleans Police Department said no arrest or summons were issued, but the National Football League issued Nantambu a lifetime ban to all NFL stadiums and events.
The NFL added the Nantambu concealed the combined Sudanese-Palestinian flag and unveiled it during Lamar’s performance without prior knowledge by the show’s production team.
Nantambu told CNN he spent two weeks, eight hours a day, practicing with the other dancers to prepare for the Super Bowl halftime show. He did not tell anyone about his plan to unveil the flag during Lamar’s performance.
The post Super Bowl Protester Breaks Silence About Disrupting Kendrick Lamar’s Halftime Show With ‘Sudan, Gaza’ Flag first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Australian Nurses Threaten to Kill Israeli Patients, Leading Jews to Question Safety at Country’s Hospitals
Car in New South Wales, Australia graffitied with antisemitic message. Photo: Screenshot
An Australian hospital is reviewing patient records after two nurses were caught on video vowing to kill Israeli patients, prompting swift action from authorities. One of the nurses has since expressed remorse through a family member and is suffering “extreme panic attacks” in the wake of the scandal, according to her uncle.
The incident at Bankstown Hospital in Sydney unfolded after a video surfaced online showing Ahmad Nadir and fellow nurse Sarah Abu Lebdeh — both of whom posed as doctors — making inflammatory statements during a night shift discussion with Israeli social media personality Max Veifer. The footage, which circulated widely, featured Lebdeh stating she would refuse to treat an Israeli patient and would instead kill them, while Nadir used a throat-slitting gesture when he confessed to having already killed many.
“It’s Palestine’s country, not your country, you piece of s—t,” Lebdeh told Veifer.
“One day your time will come, and you will die the most disgusting death,” she added in a sentence riddled with obscenities.
Veifer began asking the two how they would respond if an Israeli seeking treatment landed in their hospital, and Lebdeh, preempting the question, interrupted: “I won’t treat them. I’ll kill them.”
Nadir interjected: “You have no idea how many [expletive] dog Israelis came to this hospital,” and using a throat-slitting gesture, continued, “I sent them to Jahannam,” which is the Islamic word for hell.
New South Wales (NSW) Health Minister Ryan Park confirmed Wednesday that both nurses had been suspended and would be permanently barred from employment within the state’s health system. “They are vile, disgusting, and deranged individuals,” Park said in a press conference.
An internal hospital review found no evidence of discriminatory treatment of Jewish patients, he said.
“To the Jewish community today, I say not only am I sorry, but I can assure you this: the care that you get in our hospitals will continue to be first class,” Park said.
Lebdeh has since expressed remorse through a family member and is experiencing severe anxiety following the release of the video, The Australian reported. Several members of Lebdeh’s family accosted a journalist from the newspaper, with one even grabbing his phone and demanding that footage of the exchange be deleted.
Her uncle, speaking outside her home, said she was suffering from extreme panic attacks. He added that “of course” she was sorry over the incident.
“She will come out and make a statement when she’s ready, but you can’t talk to her now because she’s having a panic attack, an anxiety attack. We might be calling the ambulance for her.”
Lebdeh obtained her diploma in nursing five years ago and began working at NSW Health in February 2021. Nadir, who immigrated from Afghanistan and became an Australian citizen four years ago, issued an apology. “To the Jewish community and anyone I’ve offended, I sincerely apologize,” he said.
The family members of Sarah Abu Lebdah – the Sydney-based Islamist extremist nurse who recorded herself threatening to kill Jews under her care (with the claim of having already done so) – assaulted a journalist from The Australian and stole his phone. pic.twitter.com/B5r7jRgBza
— Imtiaz Mahmood (@ImtiazMadmood) February 12, 2025
The incident came amid a rise in antisemitic incidents across Australia, with Jewish institutions targeted in arson attacks and businesses defaced. Law enforcement in Sydney and Melbourne, home to the majority of Australia’s Jewish population, is actively investigating hate crimes, including the recent discovery of a trailer containing explosives and a list of potential Jewish targets.
Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, described the footage as “utterly sickening.”
“Their unrepentant, gleeful hatred is the precursor to the violence we are experiencing in our country, and it must be stamped out,” he wrote on Instagram. “No doubt we will see the defense that Jews have brought this hatred upon themselves through Israel’s war in Gaza. That these people are merely traumatized from the images of the war. They have it backwards. It is this hatred and dehumanization of Jews that causes wars and the carnage of Oct. 7 and if left unchecked it will further degrade our society.”
Some Jewish Australians responded to the post by sharing personal accounts of what they describe as discrimination in medical settings. One woman recalled that after a doctor noticed her Hebrew tattoo, “the level of care changed,” and she was misdiagnosed before being sent home without pain relief. She wrote that she “knew in my soul” that it was antisemitism. Another recounted being treated warmly by a nurse until she mentioned working for a Jewish organization, at which point “she turned totally cold.”
Shira Nussdorf, a US-born Jewish woman who moved from Israel to Australia six years ago, reflected on the contrast between her past experiences and the country’s current climate.
“Five years ago, while delivering my son in the hospital, my religious head covering fell off and a nurse wearing a hijab gently placed it back. I remember thinking how needless all the fighting in the Middle East was, since when you take two women out of their region, they really have more in common than not,” she told The Algemeiner.
But Nussdorf said the Australia her son is growing up in is a very different place. “In the past year alone, my little boy has witnessed many hostile protests where ‘anti-Zionists’ have actually come into the Jewish community without permits to intimidate us. Time and time again, instead of [authorities] dispersing and arresting anyone in the crowd for screaming racial slurs and threats, Jews are asked to evacuate and told if they don’t run away, they are inciting violence.”
“Now they actually brag online about killing Israeli patients,” she said. “I don’t know how safe I would feel giving birth at that hospital.”
The post Australian Nurses Threaten to Kill Israeli Patients, Leading Jews to Question Safety at Country’s Hospitals first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel’s Military Calls Up Reservists as Gaza Ceasefire in Doubt
An Israeli tank maneuvers on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, as seen from Israel, Feb. 12, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israel‘s military has called up reservists in preparation for a possible resumption of fighting in Gaza if the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas fails to meet a Saturday deadline to release more Israeli hostages and a nearly month-old ceasefire breaks down.
Concern that the ceasefire will collapse is growing as fury mounts in Arab countries over President Donald Trump’s plan for the United States to take over Gaza, resettle its Palestinian inhabitants, and build an international beach resort.
A Hamas official said Egypt and Qatar, which together with the United States mediated the ceasefire deal that went into force on Jan. 19, had stepped up efforts to break the impasse and the Palestinian terrorist group’s Gaza chief, Khalil Al-Hayya, arrived in Cairo to discuss the ceasefire.
Hamas agreed under the ceasefire deal to free three more hostages on Saturday but said this week that it was suspending the handover over what it said were Israeli violations of the terms.
Trump responded by saying all hostages must be freed by noon on Saturday or he would “let hell break out”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then said on Tuesday that his country would resume “intense fighting” if Hamas did not meet the deadline, but did not say how many hostages should be freed.
Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to gather forces in and around Gaza, and the military announced it was deploying additional forces to Israel‘s south, including mobilzsing reservists.
The standoff threatens to reignite a conflict that has devastated the Gaza Strip and pushed the Middle East to the brink of a wider regional war.
The armed wing of Palestinian terrorist group Islamic Jihad, which is also holding Israeli hostages, warned that the hostages’ fate was tied to Netanyahu’s actions.
“The only way to retrieve hostages and for stability to come back is through a [hostage-prisoner] swap deal,” its spokesperson said on Telegram.
In a further sign of Arab anger over Trump’s vision of Gaza, two Egyptian security sources said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi would not go to Washington for talks if the agenda included Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians.
The date for such a visit has not been announced, and the Egyptian presidency and foreign ministry did not comment.
SOME HOSTAGES ALREADY FREED
The Gaza war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken as hostages into Gaza.
In response, Israel waged a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
Hamas has freed 16 Israeli hostages from an initial group of 33 children, women, and older men to be exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in the first stage of the ceasefire deal. It also returned five Thai hostages.
Negotiators hope a second phase of ceasefire talks will secure agreement on releasing the remaining hostages and a full Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza.
Trump meanwhile wants Saudi Arabia, which wields heavy influence in other Arab and Muslim countries, to normalize ties with Israel. Riyadh has previously said it will not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.
Under his first administration in 2017-21, Trump brokered normalization accords between Israel and some Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates.
United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday that peace efforts in the region should be on the basis of a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, state news agency WAM reported.
Trump has said Palestinians in Gaza could settle in countries such as Jordan and Egypt. Both countries reject the proposal and Egypt will host an emergency Arab summit on February 27 to discuss “serious” developments for Palestinians.
The post Israel’s Military Calls Up Reservists as Gaza Ceasefire in Doubt first appeared on Algemeiner.com.