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Large Jewish groups in 7 countries team up to fight antisemitism
(JTA) — Large Jewish organizations in seven countries outside of Israel have formed a task force to collaborate on fighting antisemitism.
The task force, nicknamed the “J7” and announced Tuesday, will include representatives from the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Argentina and Australia.
According to multiple recent estimates, those countries have the largest populations of Jews outside of Israel, excluding Russia, which was not included in the task force. Israel will also not have an official representative on the task force, though many if not all of the participating groups see combating anti-Zionism as part of their mandate.
“Antisemitism is rising around the world, especially in countries where there are large Jewish populations,” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, which is one of the group’s members, said in a statement. “And threats to our communities are not contained by continents and borders.”
The task force’s activities will include consultations between the member organizations’ leaders, as well as the formation of working groups to address a range of issues, including tech policy, education, security and extremism, among others. The groups plan to meet at an ADL conference next year, in addition to holding virtual meetings.
The task force is not the first time Jewish organizations and activists have coordinated across borders. Several groups — including the World Jewish Congress, the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency for Israel — have offices and staff in countries around the world, promoting connections to Israel, Jewish education, advocacy against antisemitism or other causes.
And Jewish groups have been coming together across borders to fight antisemitism for at least two decades. As attacks against U.S. Jews have increased, some Jewish security specialists here have considered the approach of European Jewish security organizations as a model.
The groups in the new task force have also collaborated previously. The ADL regularly surveys antisemitic attitudes in countries around the world, and partnered with the Board of Deputies of British Jews last year on an initiative to educate students about Jews and antisemitism. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the task force’s Canadian member, has also partnered with other task force members including the ADL, the Board of Deputies, the French Jewish umbrella group CRIF and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
The task force will also include the Central Council of Jews in Germany, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the DAIA, an Argentinian Jewish umbrella group.
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The post Large Jewish groups in 7 countries team up to fight antisemitism appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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US Moves Patriot Missile Batteries from South Korea to Middle East
A Patriot missile battery. Photo: IDF.
i24 News – American Patriot missile defense batteries will be moved from South Korea to the Middle East, according to reports in Asian media on Friday, amid speculation over a potential military action against Iran’s nuclear program and escalating bombardments of Iran-backed jihadists in Yemen.
US President Donald Trump threatened Iran on Sunday with bombing and secondary tariffs if Tehran did not come to an agreement with Washington over its nuclear program, and the United States has moved additional warplanes into the region.
Washington and Seoul have reportedly recently agreed on the “monthslong” partial deployment of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3, in what is understood to be the first known case involving the relocation of United States Forces Korea (USFK) assets to the Middle East.
Iran in recent years has largely dropped the pretense of enriching uranium for a civilian atomic energy program, as it’s reportedly teetering on the nuclear precipice. Israel believes that a nuclear Iran represents a grave existential threat, consistent with the exterminationist antisemitism of the Islamic Republic’s anti-Israel rhetoric.
After the election of Trump, a known Iran hawk, the likelihood of an U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities has increased precipitously.
The post US Moves Patriot Missile Batteries from South Korea to Middle East first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Iranian Plot to Assassinate Azerbaijani Rabbi Foiled
The Azerbaijani capital of Baku. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – Iran enlisted the services of a Georgian drug trafficker to carry out an assassination of a prominent Azerbaijani rabbi, the Washington Post reported Saturday, citing security officials.
The plot to murder Rabbi Shneor Segal, foiled by the State Security Service of Azerbaijan in early January, also involved a plan to attack a Jewish education center, the officials said.
The plot was set in motion by an officer with Iran’s Quds Force, who met with Georgian criminal Agil Aslanov, handing him a photo of Segal and detailed instructions on how to murder him, the officials cited by WaPo said. Aslanov’s fee for the foiled hit was $200,000.
The State Security Service said the two men “worked to collect information about a member of a religious community, and sent the location of his residence and workplace to a representative of a foreign special service agency via the appropriate mobile phone application.”
Iran is known to be behind multiple plots against Israeli and Jewish targets, many of which have been foiled by Israeli and foreign security services.
However a recent plot saw three citizens of Uzbekistan murder an Israeli rabbi in the United Arab Emirates on Iranian orders. The three were sentenced to death earlier this week for the murder of Zvi Kogan in November.
The post Report: Iranian Plot to Assassinate Azerbaijani Rabbi Foiled first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Netanyahu to Depart for Washington on Sunday Directly from Hungary to Meet with Trump
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, Feb. 16, 2025. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will depart to Washington DC on Sunday directly from Hungary—where he is presently on an official visit—to meet with US President Donald Trump, i24NEWS learned on Saturday from an Israeli source.
The visit comes following a phone conversation between the leaders on Friday, and a call with State Secretary Marco Rubio a short while ago.
As a result, the planned visit to Washington of Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz will be postponed once again.
Topics of discussion between the two leaders are expected to include the possible military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities, the Gaza war and the future of the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave, the US bombing campaign against Iran-backed Houthi jihadists in Yemen, and the recent imposition of tariffs on Israeli products.
The post Netanyahu to Depart for Washington on Sunday Directly from Hungary to Meet with Trump first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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