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Israel’s UN envoy says he’ll wear Nazi yellow star until other countries condemn Hamas
(JTA) — Israel’s envoy to the United Nations,took an unusual step on Monday while exhorting the international body to condemn Hamas, the terrorist group that his country is trying to defeat.
Ambassador Gilad Erdan pinned to his suit jacket a yellow Star of David, telling those in attendance that he would wear the symbol — which the Nazis required Jews to wear during the Holocaust — until the United Nations votes to condemn Hamas. His version bore the words “Never Again,” a longtime rallying cry for those who want to prevent another genocide of Jews.
“Some of you have learned nothing in the past 80 years. Some of you have forgotten why this body was established,” Erdan said. “So I will remind you. From this day on, each time you look at me, you will remember what staying silent in the face of evil means.”
He added, “Just like my grandparents and the grandparents of millions of Jews, from now on, my team and I will wear yellow stars. We will wear this star until you wake up and condemn the atrocities of Hamas.”
Earlier this week, the United Nations General Assembly rejected a motion to condemn Hamas, whose attack on Oct. 7 killed 1,400 Israelis, mostly civilians. Instead, the body passed a call for a ceasefire. Israel rejects the call for a ceasefire, which would allow Hamas to remain in place in Gaza.
Some within Israel have taken to comparing Hamas to the Nazis, citing the gruesome atrocities carried out against Jews in the course of murdering them. But the Israeli government and military have more often cited ISIS, the Islamic terror group, as an apt comparison, even releasing a video showing captured Hamas terrorists agreeing with the comparison. The United Nations and world leaders around the globe have condemned ISIS and sought to eliminate the group.
Not everyone within Israel is on board with Erdan’s display. Several representatives of the Foreign Ministry told Haaretz that Erdan’s “media gimmick” was not coordinated with the country’s strategy on discussing Hamas and seemed like more of a political gambit than a strategic one.
And Yad Vashem chair Dani Dayan criticized his display, saying it “disgraces both Holocaust victims and the state of Israel” because Israel, unlike the Jews of the Holocaust, has the capacity to defend itself.
“The yellow star symbolizes the Jewish people’s helplessness and their being at the mercy of others,” he tweeted. “Today we have an independent state and a strong army. We are the masters of our fate. Today we shall wear a blue-white flag, not a yellow star, on our lapel.”
The appropriation of the yellow star in other settings has drawn criticism before, including when people opposed to vaccination requirements and other public health measures during the pandemic donned them to suggest that they were being persecuted the way the Nazis persecuted the Jews.
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The post Israel’s UN envoy says he’ll wear Nazi yellow star until other countries condemn Hamas appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israel Readies for a Nationwide Strike on Sunday
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are calling on for a general strike to be held on Sunday in an effort to compel the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal with Hamas for the release of their loved ones and a ceasefire. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, of whom 20 are believed to be alive.
The October 7 Council and other groups representing bereaved families of hostages and soldiers who fell since the start of the war declared they were “shutting down the country to save the soldiers and the hostages.”
While many businesses said they would join the strike, Israel’s largest labor federation, the Histadrut, has declined to participate.
Some of the country’s top educational institutions, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University, declared their support for the strike.
“We, the members of the university’s leadership, deans, and department heads, hereby announce that on Sunday, each and every one of us will participate in a personal strike as a profound expression of solidarity with the hostage families,” the Hebrew University’s deal wrote to students.
The day will begin at 6:29 AM, to commemorate the start of the October 7 attack, with the first installation at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Further demonstrations are planned at dozens of traffic intersections.
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Netanyahu ‘Has Become a Problem,’Says Danish PM as She Calls for Russia-Style Sanctions Against Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become a “problem,” his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen said Saturday, adding she would try to put pressure on Israel over the Gaza war.
“Netanyahu is now a problem in himself,” Frederiksen told Danish media, adding that the Israeli government is going “too far” and lashing out at the “absolutely appalling and catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza and announced new homes in the West Bank.
“We are one of the countries that wants to increase pressure on Israel, but we have not yet obtained the support of EU members,” she said, specifying she referred to “political pressure, sanctions, whether against settlers, ministers, or even Israel as a whole.”
“We are not ruling anything out in advance. Just as with Russia, we are designing the sanctions to target where we believe they will have the greatest effect.”
The devastating war in Gaza began almost two years ago, with an incursion into Israel of thousands of Palestinian armed jihadists, who perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
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As Alaska Summit Ends With No Apparent Progress, Zelensky to Meet Trump on Monday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the press conference after the opening session of Crimea Platform conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 August 2023. The Crimea Platform – is an international consultation and coordination format initiated by Ukraine. OLEG PETRASYUK/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – After US President Donald Trump hailed the “great progress” made during a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he was set to meet Trump on Monday at the White House.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway,” Trump told reporters during a joint press conference after the meeting.
Many observers noted, however, that the subsequent press conference was a relatively muted affair compared to the pomp and circumstance of the red carpet welcome, and the summit produced no tangible progress.
Trump and Putin spoke briefly, with neither taking questions, and offered general statements about an “understanding” and “progress.”
Putin, who spoke first, agreed with Trump’s long-repeated assertion that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Trump been president instead of Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump said “many points were agreed to” and that “just a very few” issues were left to resolve, offering no specifics and making no reference to the ceasefire he’s been seeking.