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Multiple US synagogues hit with anti-Israel, antisemitic graffiti 7 weeks into Israel-Hamas war
(JTA) — Over the course of a week, three synagogues across the United States were tagged with anti-Israel and antisemitic graffiti.
The vandalism follows weeks of similar defacement at a variety of American Jewish sites, including cemeteries, Chabad Jewish centers, and Jewish buildings on university campuses. The incidents occurred more than a month into the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, which has come alongside a reported spike in antisemitism nationwide.
The recent vandalism targeted synagogues affiliated with three different religious denominations. In Washington state, the FBI is investigating anti-Israel vandalism on Nov. 22 at Herzl-Ner Tamid, a Conservative synagogue in the Seattle suburb of Mercer Island. About 20% of the island’s households identify as Jewish, the Seattle Times reported.
The graffiti, which was spray-painted in red and black in several places across the exterior of the synagogue, included phrases such as “Stop killing,” “Shame on Israel” and “You know better.” The incident follows an FBI investigation into the delivery of suspicious packages to at least five Jewish institutions in the Seattle area. Four of the five envelopes contained white powder, and all five have been determined to be non-hazardous, according to the Seattle Times.
Over Thanksgiving weekend, B’nai David-Judea Congregation, an Orthodox synagogue in Los Angeles, was also the site of anti-Israel graffiti reading, “Israel bombs, we pay,” according to a post by Forward reporter Louis Keene on X. A representative of the synagogue did not respond to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency request for comment.
And on Nov. 21 at Romemu, a Jewish Renewal congregation on New York’s Upper West Side, a vandal left antisemitic and white supremacist symbols on the door last Tuesday, including a swastika, a hammer and sickle, a Star of David, and multiple Ks, presumably a reference to the Ku Klux Klan, among other symbols. Law enforcement identified the perpetrator as a person with cognitive impairment who was already known to the police,and said the individual posed no further threat.
The graffiti has already been removed, and in an email sent to community members on Wednesday, Romemu executive director Jeffrey Cahn and Rabbi David Ingber said the incident had already been reported to the NYPD’s hate crimes unit, UJA-Federation’s Community Service Initiative and the ADL.
“These symbols of hate will not deter us from our mission of love, acceptance, and understanding,” Cahn and Ingber wrote in an earlier email Tuesday, alerting the community of the incident. “We are resolute in our commitment to building a world where prejudice has no place, and where the power of compassion and unity prevails.”
This week has seen more vandalism of a Jewish sacred space. On Monday afternoon, a Boston man was charged with multiple counts of destruction of property, destruction of a place of worship, and defacing a burial site for vandalizing the New England Holocaust Memorial in that city as well as the graves of Paul Revere and 19 others.
The acts of vandalism come amid what law enforcement and Jewish security agencies say is a rise in anti-Jewish activity. The Anti-Defamation League reported a 388% rise in antisemitic incidents in the United States between Oct. 7 and Oct. 23 compared with the previous year. Between those dates, 190 out of 312 recorded antisemitic incidents were “directly linked to the war in Israel and Gaza” the ADL’s Center on Extremism reported.
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Former Columbia University President Appointed as UK Economic Adviser
Columbia University administrators and faculty, led by President Minouche Shafik, testified before the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce on April 17, 2024. Photo: Jack Gruber/Reuters Connect
i24 News – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has named Minouche Shafik, former president of Columbia University, as his chief economic adviser at Downing Street, a move aimed at stabilizing the country’s fragile economy and averting a potential budget crisis.
Shafik, an economist of Egyptian origin with dual British and American nationality, has held senior roles at the Bank of England, the IMF, and the World Bank.
She later led the London School of Economics and was elevated to the House of Lords in 2020.
Her tenure in the United States was more turbulent. Shafik stepped down as president of Columbia University in 2024 after just a year in office, amid fierce criticism over her handling of pro-Palestinian protests following the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza.
US officials accused her of failing to confront antisemitism on campus, while students and faculty condemned her decision to call in police to dismantle protest encampments.
Since returning to Britain, Shafik has played an active role in policy and cultural institutions. She advised Foreign Secretary David Lammy on international aid reform, has chaired the Victoria & Albert Museum since January, and led the “Economy 2030” inquiry for the Resolution Foundation, where she argued for reforms to the UK’s system of wealth taxation.
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Israel Mulls West Bank Annexation in Response to Moves to Recognize Palestine
The Jordan Valley. Photo: Юкатан via Wikimedia Commons.
Israel is considering annexation in the West Bank as a possible response to France and other countries recognizing a Palestinian state, according to three Israeli officials and the idea will be discussed further on Sunday, another official said.
Extension of Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank – de facto annexation of land captured in the 1967 Middle East war – was on the agenda for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet meeting late on Sunday that is expected to focus on the Gaza war, a member of the small circle of ministers said.
It is unclear where precisely any such measure would be applied and when, whether only in Israeli settlements or some of them, or in specific areas of the West Bank like the Jordan Valley and whether any concrete steps, which would likely entail a lengthy legislative process, would follow discussions.
Any step toward annexation in the West Bank would likely draw widespread condemnation from the Palestinians, who seek the territory for a future state, as well as Arab and Western countries. It is unclear where US President Donald Trump stands on the matter. The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar did not respond to a request for comment on whether Saar had discussed the move with his US counterpart Marco Rubio during his visit to Washington last week.
Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the prime minister supports annexation and if so, where.
A past pledge by Netanyahu to annex Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley was scrapped in 2020 in favor of normalizing ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in the Abraham Accords brokered by Trump in his first term in office.
The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The United States said on Friday it would not allow Abbas to travel to New York for the United Nations gathering of world leaders, where several US allies are set to recognize Palestine as a state.
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Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Netanyahu to Convene Security Cabinet
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Israeli forces pounded the suburbs of Gaza City overnight from the air and ground, destroying homes and driving more families out of the area as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet was set on Sunday to discuss a plan to seize the city.
Residents of Sheikh Radwan, one of the largest neighborhoods of Gaza City, said the territory had been under Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes throughout Saturday and on Sunday, forcing families to seek shelter in the western parts of the city.
The Israeli military has gradually escalated its operations around Gaza City over the past three weeks, and on Friday it ended temporary pauses in the area that had allowed for aid deliveries, designating it a “dangerous combat zone.”
“They are crawling into the heart of the city where hundreds of thousands are sheltering, from the east, north, and south, while bombing those areas from the air and ground to scare people to leave,” said Rezik Salah, a father of two, from Sheikh Radwan.
An Israeli official said Netanyahu’s security cabinet will convene on Sunday evening to discuss the next stages of the planned offensive to seize Gaza City, which he has described as Hamas’ last bastion.
A full-scale offensive is not expected to start for weeks. Israel says it wants to evacuate the civilian population before moving more ground forces in.
HAMAS SPOKESPERSON TARGETED
Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that Israeli forces had targeted Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson of Hamas’ armed wing. Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Abu Ubaida was killed. Two Hamas officials contacted by Reuters did not respond to requests for comment.
Gaza health authorities said 15 people, including five children, were killed in the attack on a residential building in the heart of Gaza City.
Abu Ubaida, also known as Hozayfa Al-Khalout, is a well-known figure to Palestinians and Israelis alike, close to Hamas’ top military leaders and in charge of delivering the group’s messages, often via video, for around two decades, delivering statements while wearing a red keffiyeh that concealed his face.
The US targeted him with sanctions in April 2024, accusing him of leading the “cyber influence department” of al-Qassam Brigades.
In his last statement on Friday, he warned that the planned Israeli offensive on Gaza City would endanger the hostages.
On Saturday, Red Cross head Mirjana Spoljaric said an evacuation from the city would provoke a massive population displacement that no other area in the enclave is equipped to absorb, with shortages of food, shelter and medical supplies.
“People who have relatives in the south left to stay with them. Others, including myself, didn’t find a space as Deir Al-Balah and Mawasi are overcrowded,” said Ghada, a mother of five from the city’s Sabra neighborhood.
Around half of the enclave’s more than 2 million people are presently in Gaza City. Several thousand were estimated to have left the city for central and southern areas of the enclave.
Israel’s military has warned its political leaders that the offensive is endangering hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza. Protests in Israel calling for an end to the war and the release of the hostages have intensified in the past few weeks.