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Liberal Jewish scholars, leaders urge increased focus on Palestinians in protests of Israeli judicial overhaul
(JTA) — Ever since hundreds of thousands of Israelis began pouring into the streets to oppose their government’s plan to weaken the courts, the protests have faced a contentious question: How much, if at all, should the demonstrations focus on Palestinian rights?
The answer to that question, over the past seven months, has been very little. While some demonstrators at the main weekly protest in Tel Aviv wave the Palestinian colors or wear t-shirts opposing Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, the focus of the protests has remained squarely on the judicial overhaul in part so that it can maintain a broad tent.
Several large American Jewish groups — which have historically been reticent to publicly criticize Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians — have also come out against the judicial overhaul.
Now, hundreds of American Jewish academics and other public figures, in two letters published in the past week, are calling for U.S. Jewish groups and President Joe Biden to draw a closer link between the overhaul and Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. The overhaul, if passed in its entirety, would sap the Israeli Supreme Court of its power and independence. The first component of the legislative package passed last month along party lines.
In one petition that went online last Friday, titled “The Elephant in the Room” and directed at “leaders of North American Jewry,” 800 signatories “call attention to the direct link between Israel’s recent attack on the judiciary and its illegal occupation of millions of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.” The petition’s lead action item is a call to “support the Israeli protest movement, yet call on it to embrace equality for Jews and Palestinians” both within Israel’s recognized borders and in the West Bank.
The petition is topped with a cartoon by an artist named Shoshke, depicting a large elephant bearing the words “Israeli occupation” and standing in the middle of a progressive American protest. Among the signatories to the petition are professors of Jewish studies at leading U.S. universities and top Israeli professors, from the progressive writer Peter Beinart to Hasia Diner of New York University and Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, the former longtime executive director of Hillel at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Palestinian scholars have also signed on, as have prominent non-Jewish scholars who are experts on Jewish-adjacent issues, including Timothy Snyder, a historian of the Holocaust, and Stefanie Schüler-Springorum, the director of the Center for Antisemitism Research in Berlin.
Separately, the liberal Jewish group Americans for Peace Now sent a letter to President Joe Biden this week thanking him for his outspoken criticism of the overhaul and urging him to extend that pressure to issues concerning the Palestinians. The letter asks Biden to “no longer automatically [prevent] efforts to hold Israel accountable at the United Nations for its settlement activities and human rights violations against Palestinians.”
That letter’s 163 signatories includes rabbis as well as leaders of organizations like T’ruah, a liberal rabbinic human rights group, and the New Israel Fund, which fundraises for progressive and civil society groups in Israel. Also among the signatories are Alex Soros, a funder of liberal Jewish causes who recently took the reins of his father George’s massive charity, and Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers.
The two new statements reflect a growing perception on the left that American Jews and Democrats are becoming less hesitant to criticize Israel.
Omer Bartov, the Brown University professor of Holocaust and Genocide studies who initiated the “Elephant in the Room” statement, wrote in an email that activists have long been frustrated by what they characterize as U.S. Jewish leaders’ inattention to the Palestinian issue. The petition hopes to seize upon the disaffection of many American Jews with Netanyahu’s government, which includes far-right figures in senior roles.
“This may well indicate a watershed moment in American Jewish views about Israel, and a new willingness by public figures, reflecting the sentiments of the younger generation, to honestly criticize Israeli policies,” he said.
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The post Liberal Jewish scholars, leaders urge increased focus on Palestinians in protests of Israeli judicial overhaul appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Washington Warns UK, France Against Recognizing Palestinian Statehood
Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy leaves Downing Street, following the results of the election, in London, Britain, July 5, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Toby Melville
i24 News – The United States has warned the UK and France not to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state at a UN conference scheduled for June 17 in New York, the Middle East Eye reported Tuesday.
France and Saudi Arabia will co-host this conference on the two-state solution, with Paris reportedly preparing to unilaterally recognize Palestine. France is also pressuring London to follow this path, according to sources from the British Foreign Office.
French media reports indicate that French authorities believe they have the agreement of the British government. Meanwhile, Arab states are encouraging this move, measuring the success of the conference by the recognitions obtained.
This initiative deeply divides Western allies. If France and the UK were to carry out this recognition, they would become the first G7 nations to take this step, causing a “political earthquake” according to observers, given their historical ties with Israel. The Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer threatened last week to annex parts of the West Bank if this recognition took place, according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
In the United Kingdom, Foreign Secretary David Lammy publicly opposes unilateral recognition, stating that London would only recognize a Palestinian state when we know that it is going to happen and that it is in view.
However, pressure is mounting within the Labour Party. MP Uma Kumaran, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said that the government was elected on a platform that promised to recognize Palestine as a step towards a just and lasting peace. Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, believes that there is no legitimate reason for the United States to interfere in a sovereign decision of recognition, while highlighting the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump on this issue.
The post Washington Warns UK, France Against Recognizing Palestinian Statehood first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Police, Shin Bet Thwart Suspected Iranian Attempt Perpetrate Terror Attack
A small number of Jewish worshipers pray during the priestly blessing, a traditional prayer which usually attracts thousands of worshipers at the Western Wall on the holiday of Passover during 2020, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 12, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Ronen Zvulun.
i24 News – The Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police thwarted another Iranian attempt to recruit Israelis, according to a statement on Tuesday, arresting a resident of East Jerusalem for allegedly carrying out missions for the Islamic Republic.
Iranian agents recruited the suspect, who in turn recruited members of his family. He is a resident of the Isawiya neighborhood in his 30s, and is accused of maintaining contact with a hostile foreign entity to harm the state by carrying out a terrorist attack against Jews.
The suspect had already begun perpetrating acts of sabotage and espionage, including collecting intelligence about areas in Jerusalem, including the Western Wall and Mahane Yehuda Market. He also hung signs, burned Israeli army uniforms, and more in exchange for payment totaling thousands of shekels.
He was also charged with planning a terror attack in central Israel, including setting fire to a forest, and was told to transfer weapons to terrorist elements in the West Bank.
The suspect’s sought the help of family members, including his mother. A search at his home revealed sums of cash, a spray can used in some of his activities, airsoft guns, suspected illegal drugs, and more.
His indictment is expected to be filed by the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office.
The statement said that the case is yet another example of Iranian efforts to recruit Israelis. “We will continue to coordinate efforts to thwart terrorism and terrorist elements, including those operating outside Israel, while attempting to mobilize local elements in order to protect the citizens of the State of Israel,” the Shin Bet and Police said.
The post Police, Shin Bet Thwart Suspected Iranian Attempt Perpetrate Terror Attack first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pro-Russian, Anti-Israeli Hackers Pose Biggest Cybercrime Threats in Germany
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt holds a chart showing the development of antisemitic crime, during a press conference on Figures for Politically Motivated Crime in the Country, in Berlin, Germany, May 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Cybercrime in Germany rose to a record level last year, driven by hacker attacks from pro-Russian and anti-Israeli groups, the BKA Federal Crime Office reported on Tuesday as the government said it would boost countermeasures to combat it.
“Cybercrime is an increasing threat to our security,” said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. “It is getting more aggressive but our counter-strategies are also becoming more professional,” he said.
Some 131,391 cases of cybercrime took place in Germany last year and a further 201,877 cases were committed from abroad or an unknown location, a BKA report said.
The actors behind the hacker attacks on German targets were primarily either pro-Russian or anti-Israeli, said the BKA, adding targets were mostly public and federal institutions.
Ransomware, when criminals copy and encrypt data, is one of the main threats, said the BKA, with 950 companies and institutes reporting cases in 2024.
German digital association Bitkom said damage caused by cyberattacks here totaled 178.6 billion euros ($203.87 billion) last year, some 30.4 billion euros more than in the previous year.
Dobrindt said the government planned to extend the legal capabilities authorities could use to combat cybercrime and set higher security standards for companies.
The post Pro-Russian, Anti-Israeli Hackers Pose Biggest Cybercrime Threats in Germany first appeared on Algemeiner.com.