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Matisyahu to Perform at NYC Benefit Supporting Israel’s Southern Communities Impacted by Oct. 7 Hamas Attack
Matisyahu. Photo: Americans for Ben-Gurion University
Jewish reggae singer Matisyahu will perform at a benefit in New York City in September that will raise money to help rebuild and strengthen communities in southern Israel impacted by the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks.
The benefit, hosted by Americans for Ben-Gurion University (A4BGU), is called “One Day,” after Matisyahu’s popular song of the same name, and will take place on Sept. 22. It will be held two weeks prior to the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in southern Israel. Ben-Gurion University (BGU) has a $1 billion global fundraising campaign called Way Forward to help support Israel’s future in the Negev region following the Oct. 7 atrocities, and the “One Day” event in New York will help raise funds for the campaign, which has already garnered more than $380 million.
“During such challenging times for Jews worldwide, it’s essential that we come together to advocate for our people, including by supporting organizations that are leading the way forward for Israel after Oct. 7,” Matisyahu said in a statement. “That’s precisely why I was inspired to use my voice for A4BGU and BGU, who are working to build the Israeli people’s resilience and are playing a central role in their road to recovery.”
Matisyahu dedicated his 2004 song “Warrior” to wounded Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers he met at an event coordinated by A4BGU in Aspen, Colorado. In May of this year, he released a song about antisemitism, and its music video was filmed at the site of the Nova music festival massacre on Oct. 7 and features survivors of the Hamas attack. He has been outspoken in support of Israel following Oct. 7 and talked earlier this month about how his solidarity with the Jewish state has resulted in him being dropped by his manager and having a number of his scheduled concerts cancelled.
“Matisyahu’s song ‘One Day’ expresses a hope for an end to violence and hate, as well as the start of a new era of peace and understanding. After Oct. 7, the world needs this message more than ever,” said Doug Seserman, CEO of A4BGU. “We are thrilled to have Matisyahu lend his voice towards A4BGU’s efforts around the rebuilding of Israel’s South, with Ben-Gurion University leading the way forward as the epicenter of the region and the key to its recovery.”
Among all the academic institutions in Israel, BGU had the highest number of students, faculty, and staff who were killed, injured, missing, kidnapped (including recently freed hostage Noa Argamani), displaced from their homes, and called to reserve duty with the IDF as a result of the Oct. 7 attacks, according to A4BGU. Hundreds of BGU community members are still in active duty. In the aftermath of the attacks, BGU students and faculty members have volunteered in hospitals throughout Israel, cared for children of IDF soldiers who were called up for reserve duty, and have hosted evacuated families, families of casualties, and army reservists in their homes and university dormitories.
The post Matisyahu to Perform at NYC Benefit Supporting Israel’s Southern Communities Impacted by Oct. 7 Hamas Attack first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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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.