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Israeli Education Minister Unexpectedly Praises Columbia University for Response to Campus Antisemitism

Israel Education Minister Yoav Kisch and Columbia University interim president Katrina Armstrong photographed together on Feb. 19, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kisch met with higher education leaders in the New York City area on Tuesday and used the opportunity to comment on which universities he feels have made progress in combating campus antisemitism.
During the trip, Kisch — a Likud Party member who served in the Israeli parliament since 2015 before being appointed as education minister by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2022 — visited Columbia University for a meeting with its interim president, Katrina Armstrong.
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, Columbia University is being scrutinized by US federal lawmakers over its past policy of amnestying miscreant anti-Israel protesters and perpetrators of antisemitic discrimination. While the university has formally committed to addressing antisemitism, it was recently asked by the chairman of the US House committee on education and the workforce, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) to hand over dozens of disciplinary records as proof that it is honoring its pledge.
In a letter demanding the documents, Walberg cited as cause for doubting the university’s sincerity a damaging education committee report, published in August, which revealed that only a few students who were involved in occupying the Hamilton Hall administrative building in April 2024 were ultimately punished despite the university’s threatening to expel them.
Columbia has taken recent steps to reverse the impression that it condones anti-Jewish bigotry. It recently, for example, imposed disciplinary sanctions on several students who disrupted an active class and proceeded to utter pro-Hamas statements while distributing antisemitic literature, banning them from campus. Later, it denounced a group of students who poured concrete into toilets located inside its School of International Affairs as “deplorable,” adding that it is “acting swiftly to address this misconduct.”
But many Jewish faculty remain dissatisfied with the administration’s efforts. Earlier this month, nearly 200 Columbia University faculty signed an open letter urging administrative officials to do more, such as adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which is widely used by governments and private entities around the world, banning the wearing of face masks which conceal the identities of those who commit violence and destroy school property, and expelling students who, for the purpose of furthering an extremist political agenda, occupy buildings and invade classrooms.
Joseph Massad — an anti-Zionist professor who in 2023 cheered the Hamas-led terrorists who murdered young people attending the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7 in southern Israel as “the air force of the Palestinian resistance” — also emerged as a key area of concern of the letter, as he remains permitted to teach the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his courses. At least one professor has resigned in protest of Massad’s good standing with the administration. In doing so, he denounced Massad’s presence on campus as “a complete abandonment of academic integrity and unbiased scholarship.”
Kisch on Tuesday praised Columbia University’s efforts to combat antisemitism.
“The fight against antisemitism on American academic campuses is essential, and I am pleased to see that Columbia University interim president Professor Armstrong is committed to this issue and is taking decisive action to eradicate this phenomenon,” Kisch said in a statement. “This is an important step, and I hope other universities will follow her and take responsibility for ensuring a safe environment for Jewish and Israeli students and faculty.”
He was not as forbearing toward New York University (NYU), a higher education institution which has, on paper, enacted robust proscriptions of both antisemitic and anti-Zionist discrimination. In August 2024, it amended its code of conduct to acknowledge the “coded” subtleties of antisemitic speech and its use in discriminatory conduct that targets Jewish students and faculty, updating its Non-Discrimination and Harassment Policy (NDAH) with language which identified “Zionist” as a racial dog whistle.
The updated NDAH listed numerous examples of the use of “Zionist” in perpetrating discriminatory behavior, including, “excluding Zionists from an open event, calling for the death of Zionists, applying a ‘no Zionist’ litmus test for participating in any NYU activity, [and] using or disseminating tropes, stereotypes, and conspiracies about Zionists.” Other examples included “demanding a person who is perceived to be Jewish or Israeli to state a position on Israel or Zionism, minimizing or denying the Holocaust, or invoking Holocaust imagery or symbols to harass or discriminate.”
NYU president Linda Mills, however, declined an invitation to meet with Kisch while he was in New York, leading him to release a statement lambasting the school.
“It is unacceptable for a respected academic institution to allow antisemitism to run rampant on its campus while evading responsibility for protecting its Jewish and Israeli students and faculty,” Kisch said in the blistering statement. “The administration’s silence is a tacit approval of incitement and hatred. I call on all Jewish donors and Israel supporters of NYU as well as members in the community to halt your donations to the institutions until its president condemns campus antisemitism and commits to preventing it.”
NYU disagreed with the education minister’s analysis in a statement shared with The Algemeiner. It contained many hyperlinks that the paper was asked to reproduce in this story.
“Among American universities, NYU has been at the forefront of working to reduce and eliminate antisemitism on campus,” wrote long-time NYU spokesman John Beckman. “NYU has notably earned praise from elected officials such as Congressman [Ritchie] Torres (as well as this) and Congressman Daniel Goldman, from organizations at the forefront of fighting antisemitism (such as the ADL and its leader, the Academic Engagement Network, and the Jewish Community Relations Council), for being among the first universities in the US — if not the first — to issue a Guidance and Expectations for Student Conduct Document that clarified that the use of code-words such as ‘Zionist could violate the University’s Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment policies.”
He continued, “NYU was also the first university to issue a 10-Point Plan to address safety, bigotry and antisemitism, and to announce the appointment of a Title VI Coordinator. In addition, NYU has launched a Center for the Study of Antisemitism; taken a leadership role in multi-university conferences on combating antisemitism, such as the summits convened by the American Jewish Committee, Hillel International, and the American Council on Education (here and here); and required that students undertake training on the university’s non-discrimination and anti-harassment policy, which includes training on reducing antisemitism.”
Beckman added that NYU did not intend to snub Kisch, saying, “It was not possible to accommodate the request on the president’s schedule. NYU administrators frequently meet with both consular officials and other officials.”
Kisch’s visit to the US follows the release of new polling data showing that many Jewish students feel that college professors across the US are promoting antisemitism and fostering hostile learning environments.
Roughly one-third of students, 32 percent, hold such feelings, according to the American Jewish Committee’s “State of Antisemitism in America 2024 Report,” which contains copious data on the Jewish experience in the US.
Of those who responded, 35 percent said they had personal encounters with antisemitism, 20 percent of whom did so more than once. Meanwhile, 32 percent reported feeling uncomfortable on campus, and 34 percent found ways to conceal that they are Jewish. Forty-three percent refuse to discuss Israel and the conflict with the Palestinians for fear of being identified as a Zionist.
Additionally, 22 percent of Jewish students reported feeling that groups and campus events have excluded them because of anti-Jewish animus.
“How are Jewish students supposed to show up and engage in class or have trust in their educators if they feel that their professors are creating a hostile environment for Jews on campus?” AJC chief executive officer Ted Deutch said in a statement. “If students feel that they need to just keep their head down and earn their grade, they are not fully participating in the educational experience that they have a right to and deserve.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Israeli Education Minister Unexpectedly Praises Columbia University for Response to Campus Antisemitism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials

FILE PHOTO: The atomic symbol and the Iranian flag are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iranian and Iran-affiliated media claimed on Saturday that the Islamic Republic had obtained a trove of “strategic and sensitive” Israeli intelligence materials related to Israel’s nuclear facilities and defense plans.
“Iran’s intelligence apparatus has obtained a vast quantity of strategic and sensitive information and documents belonging to the Zionist regime,” Iran’s state broadcaster said, referring to Israel in the manner accepted in those Muslim or Arab states that don’t recognize its legitimacy. The statement was also relayed by the Lebanese site Al-Mayadeen, affiliated with the Iran-backed jihadists of Hezbollah.
The reports did not include any details on the documents or how Iran had obtained them.
The intelligence reportedly included “thousands of documents related to that regime’s nuclear plans and facilities,” it added.
According to the reports, “the data haul was extracted during a covert operation and included a vast volume of materials including documents, images, and videos.”
The report comes amid high tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, over which it is in talks with the US administration of President Donald Trump.
Iranian-Israeli tensions reached an all-time high since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, including Iranian rocket fire on Israel and Israeli aerial raids in Iran that devastated much of the regime’s air defenses.
Israel, which regards the prospect of the antisemitic mullah regime obtaining a nuclear weapon as an existential threat, has indicated it could resort to a military strike against Iran’s installations should talks fail to curb uranium enrichment.
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Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israeli military has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday.
Nattapong Pinta’s body was held by a Palestinian terrorist group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved earlier this week.
There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreign national. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive.
The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase.
Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US, Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered.
US-BACKED AID GROUP HALTS DISTRIBUTIONS
The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.
Aid distribution was halted on Friday after the US-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations. It was unclear whether aid had resumed on Saturday.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It says it has provided around 9 million meals so far.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to U.N. and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
The war erupted after Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel’s single deadliest day.
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US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say

Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former US officials, a move that would involve the US more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos.
The sources and former US officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the US State Department.
The plan has met resistance from some US officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said.
The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May 19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume.
The foundation has seen senior personnel quit and had to pause handouts twice this week after crowds overwhelmed its distribution hubs.
The State Department and GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters has been unable to establish who is currently funding the GHF operations, which began in Gaza last week. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, has an “economic interest” in the for-profit US contractor overseeing the logistics and security of GHF’s aid distribution hubs in the enclave.
While US President Donald Trump’s administration and Israel say they don’t finance the GHF operation, both have been pressing the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it.
The US and Israel argue that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.
USAID has been all but dismantled. Some 80 percent of its programs have been canceled and its staff face termination as part of President Donald Trump’s drive to align US foreign policy with his “America First” agenda.
One source with knowledge of the matter and one former senior official said the proposal to give the $500 million to GHF has been championed by acting deputy USAID Administrator Ken Jackson, who has helped oversee the agency’s dismemberment.
The source said that Israel requested the funds to underwrite GHF’s operations for 180 days.
The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two sources said that some US officials have concerns with the plan because of the overcrowding that has affected the aid distribution hubs run by GHF’s contractor, and violence nearby.
Those officials also want well-established non-governmental organizations experienced in running aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere to be involved in the operation if the State Department approves the funds for GHF, a position that Israel likely will oppose, the sources said.
The post US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.