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In notable stand, Israel’s ambassador to US says ‘trans rights are human rights’
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Israeli ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, who represents the most right-wing government in the country’s history, called for a stand against “intolerance and bigotry” targeting the LGBTQ community in the United States and Israel.
“We must also recognize the many challenges that remain, and actively take a stand against those voices — in Israel, here in the U.S. and across the globe — who seek to spread intolerance and bigotry,” Herzog said at a Pride event Thursday at the Israeli embassy. “The struggle for LGBTQ+ rights is far from over, and there must be open cooperation between government and civil society to achieve this important goal.”
Herzog also embraced rights for transgender people, a fraught issue in the current U.S. political climate. He finished by saying, “Gay rights are human rights! Trans rights are human rights! And ultimately — love prevails.”
The embassy has for years hosted a Pride event in June, during Pride month. But rights for the LGBTQ community have drawn intensified conservative opposition in the last year or so, both in Israel and the United States. There are hundreds of proposed laws initiated by Republicans at the state and federal level that would roll back some LGBTQ rights and restrict gender-affirming health care.
Herzog’s unapologetic defense of LGBTQ rights is more notable given the fact that there are a number of self-declared “homophobes” in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition.
The headline speaker at the event was Rachel Levine, the Jewish and openly transgender assistant U.S. Secretary for Health, appearing in person, in her uniform as an admiral, the rank conferred on assistant secretaries of health. Last year Levine delivered a video message to the event.
Levine also spoke out for transgender rights. “This has been a very hard year for transgender people and trans youth in particular, across the United States,” she said, referring to the wave of anti-trans bills that have arisen over the past year.
“These ideological and politically motivated attacks in numerous states are not grounded in science, or evidence of any kind. Gender-affirming care is essential health care!” she said to applause.
Netta Barzilai appears at a Pride event at the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. on June 29, 2023. (Shmulik Almany, Embassy of Israel)
The featured performer was Netta Barzilai, the Israeli winner of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest who has become a favorite of the LGBTQ community. Accompanying herself on a looping machine, she sang four songs that she said encouraged the embrace of one’s identity, including “Toy,” the Eurovision-winning song, and “I Love My Nails.” The lyrics include: “I, I love my nails, I, I love my nails/Oh my God, I can’t stop looking at myself.”
Introducing the song, Netta, as she is known onstage, said she learned to love herself at the manicurist. “I made myself so unique and peculiar that nobody could compare me to anyone,” she said. “And after that, I became so confident, so in love with [my] physique, I’m so in love with my personality that nobody could ever take that away from me.”
The Pride event Thursday was unlike previous affairs at the embassy, which had mainly been occasions for speeches. Guests were encouraged to wear bold colors and clothing. Herzog’s wife Shirin wore a tuxedo shirt with a pink men’s tie featuring a penguin pattern. (Penguins, who occasionally pair as same sex couples, are an LGBTQ symbol.)
Cocktails flowed freely, in the colors of the Pride flag: sangria (red); whiskey sour (orange); tequila sunrise (yellow); mojito (green); blue lagoon (blue); and purple rain (purple).
Herzog’s brother is the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, who is addressing Congress on July 19 to mark 75 years of the U.S.-Israel relationship.
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The post In notable stand, Israel’s ambassador to US says ‘trans rights are human rights’ appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Former Columbia University President Appointed as UK Economic Adviser
Columbia University administrators and faculty, led by President Minouche Shafik, testified before the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce on April 17, 2024. Photo: Jack Gruber/Reuters Connect
i24 News – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has named Minouche Shafik, former president of Columbia University, as his chief economic adviser at Downing Street, a move aimed at stabilizing the country’s fragile economy and averting a potential budget crisis.
Shafik, an economist of Egyptian origin with dual British and American nationality, has held senior roles at the Bank of England, the IMF, and the World Bank.
She later led the London School of Economics and was elevated to the House of Lords in 2020.
Her tenure in the United States was more turbulent. Shafik stepped down as president of Columbia University in 2024 after just a year in office, amid fierce criticism over her handling of pro-Palestinian protests following the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza.
US officials accused her of failing to confront antisemitism on campus, while students and faculty condemned her decision to call in police to dismantle protest encampments.
Since returning to Britain, Shafik has played an active role in policy and cultural institutions. She advised Foreign Secretary David Lammy on international aid reform, has chaired the Victoria & Albert Museum since January, and led the “Economy 2030” inquiry for the Resolution Foundation, where she argued for reforms to the UK’s system of wealth taxation.
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Israel Mulls West Bank Annexation in Response to Moves to Recognize Palestine
The Jordan Valley. Photo: Юкатан via Wikimedia Commons.
Israel is considering annexation in the West Bank as a possible response to France and other countries recognizing a Palestinian state, according to three Israeli officials and the idea will be discussed further on Sunday, another official said.
Extension of Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank – de facto annexation of land captured in the 1967 Middle East war – was on the agenda for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet meeting late on Sunday that is expected to focus on the Gaza war, a member of the small circle of ministers said.
It is unclear where precisely any such measure would be applied and when, whether only in Israeli settlements or some of them, or in specific areas of the West Bank like the Jordan Valley and whether any concrete steps, which would likely entail a lengthy legislative process, would follow discussions.
Any step toward annexation in the West Bank would likely draw widespread condemnation from the Palestinians, who seek the territory for a future state, as well as Arab and Western countries. It is unclear where US President Donald Trump stands on the matter. The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar did not respond to a request for comment on whether Saar had discussed the move with his US counterpart Marco Rubio during his visit to Washington last week.
Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the prime minister supports annexation and if so, where.
A past pledge by Netanyahu to annex Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley was scrapped in 2020 in favor of normalizing ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in the Abraham Accords brokered by Trump in his first term in office.
The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The United States said on Friday it would not allow Abbas to travel to New York for the United Nations gathering of world leaders, where several US allies are set to recognize Palestine as a state.
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Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Netanyahu to Convene Security Cabinet
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Israeli forces pounded the suburbs of Gaza City overnight from the air and ground, destroying homes and driving more families out of the area as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet was set on Sunday to discuss a plan to seize the city.
Residents of Sheikh Radwan, one of the largest neighborhoods of Gaza City, said the territory had been under Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes throughout Saturday and on Sunday, forcing families to seek shelter in the western parts of the city.
The Israeli military has gradually escalated its operations around Gaza City over the past three weeks, and on Friday it ended temporary pauses in the area that had allowed for aid deliveries, designating it a “dangerous combat zone.”
“They are crawling into the heart of the city where hundreds of thousands are sheltering, from the east, north, and south, while bombing those areas from the air and ground to scare people to leave,” said Rezik Salah, a father of two, from Sheikh Radwan.
An Israeli official said Netanyahu’s security cabinet will convene on Sunday evening to discuss the next stages of the planned offensive to seize Gaza City, which he has described as Hamas’ last bastion.
A full-scale offensive is not expected to start for weeks. Israel says it wants to evacuate the civilian population before moving more ground forces in.
HAMAS SPOKESPERSON TARGETED
Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that Israeli forces had targeted Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson of Hamas’ armed wing. Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Abu Ubaida was killed. Two Hamas officials contacted by Reuters did not respond to requests for comment.
Gaza health authorities said 15 people, including five children, were killed in the attack on a residential building in the heart of Gaza City.
Abu Ubaida, also known as Hozayfa Al-Khalout, is a well-known figure to Palestinians and Israelis alike, close to Hamas’ top military leaders and in charge of delivering the group’s messages, often via video, for around two decades, delivering statements while wearing a red keffiyeh that concealed his face.
The US targeted him with sanctions in April 2024, accusing him of leading the “cyber influence department” of al-Qassam Brigades.
In his last statement on Friday, he warned that the planned Israeli offensive on Gaza City would endanger the hostages.
On Saturday, Red Cross head Mirjana Spoljaric said an evacuation from the city would provoke a massive population displacement that no other area in the enclave is equipped to absorb, with shortages of food, shelter and medical supplies.
“People who have relatives in the south left to stay with them. Others, including myself, didn’t find a space as Deir Al-Balah and Mawasi are overcrowded,” said Ghada, a mother of five from the city’s Sabra neighborhood.
Around half of the enclave’s more than 2 million people are presently in Gaza City. Several thousand were estimated to have left the city for central and southern areas of the enclave.
Israel’s military has warned its political leaders that the offensive is endangering hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza. Protests in Israel calling for an end to the war and the release of the hostages have intensified in the past few weeks.