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Rep. Dan Goldman: Holocaust education should celebrate Jewish life, too
(New York Jewish Week) — Nearly three months ago, Rep. Dan Goldman was one of dozens of cosponsors of a bipartisan bill to monitor Holocaust education across the country. Now, ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day — and in the wake of a report showing antisemitism rising in the United States — Goldman says Holocaust education needs to celebrate Jewish life in addition to combating hate.
“We are learning from experts around the world about different ways, not only of preventing antisemitism but promoting knowledge, education about Jewish life, Jewish history, Jewish culture, and personalizing Jews who have obviously, traditionally borne the brunt of persecution but also who are leaders in so many different aspects of society,” Goldman told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a phone interview Friday.
On Sunday, Goldman is set to speak at the Annual Gathering of Remembrance at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, a Holocaust museum in his district in downtown Manhattan. The event will take place a day before Yom Hashoah, Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins Monday night.
Goldman is a member of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism and was a cosponsor of the Holocaust Education and Antisemitism Lessons (HEAL) Act, which directs the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to determine which states require Holocaust education, and what standards they use.
His speech at the event on Sunday — where Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield will also speak — comes after a report by the Anti-Defamation League showed a spike in antisemitism in the United States last year. The report found that nearly half of the 111 assaults tallied across the United States took place in Brooklyn alone. Goldman, whose district includes the heavily Hasidic Brooklyn neighborhood of Borough Park, called the assaults “unacceptable.”
“They bear the disproportionate brunt of anti-Semitic attacks because of their appearance,” Goldman said of visibly Orthodox Jews. “We need to be doing a lot more in making it clear that it’s unacceptable, holding people who do commit hate crimes to account and also, in my view, adding sentencing enhancements for those who do commit hate crimes.”
Goldman said he has experienced antisemitism while in public life. Social media users, he said, have called him a “Jew” as a slur and said he has a big nose. During Trump’s first impeachment hearings, in which Goldman served as lead counsel, he recalled being referred to as a “New York lawyer” by Republicans, which some consider an antisemitic trope.
“This is something that Jewish public officials deal with all the time,” Goldman said. “I’ve gained some pretty thick skin about it.”
He said former President Donald Trump’s dinner last year with Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes — as well as Kanye West, the rapper who made a series of antisemitic comments — illustrates the importance of Holocaust education. He also called out Republican officials for rhetoric attributing Trump’s recent indictment to George Soros, the progressive megadonor at the center of a range of antisemitic conspiracy theories.
“The urgency of continuing to educate the public about anti-Semitism and the Holocaust specifically has taken on greater meaning when the former president dines with a Holocaust denier,” Goldman said. “We cannot accept continuing to allow for antisemitic tropes, such as George Soros backing prosecutors, which have just very clearly become a euphemism for an antisemitic trope.”
Goldman, 47, is not descended from Holocaust survivors, though he recalled a family story about his maternal grandmother needing to keep quiet as a baby while his ancestors fled persecution in Russia a century ago. But he said Holocaust remembrance is an imperative that links Jews more broadly.
“We are all connected through anti-Semitism and persecution of Jews throughout history,” he said. “And there’s an undying bond among Jews because of our shared history. And so when we do commemorate the Holocaust, I do think we are commemorating all those who have suffered from persecution resulting from antisemitism around the world.”
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The post Rep. Dan Goldman: Holocaust education should celebrate Jewish life, too appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Italy Says It Stands Ready to Train Police in Gaza
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks during an interview with Reuters in Rome, Italy, April 15, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
Italy stands ready to help train police forces in Gaza and elsewhere in the Palestinian territories, its foreign minister said on Monday, as Rome aims to play a role in stabilizing the Middle East.
“We are ready to train a new Gaza police force, and we are also ready to train a Palestinian police force,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told a news conference in Rome.
He confirmed that Rome was ready to participate as an observer in US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace initiative, and Italy had been invited to attend a meeting of the group this week in Washington.
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Alleged Bondi Beach Gunman Makes First Court Appearance
People stand near flowers laid as a tribute at Bondi Beach to honor the victims of a mass shooting that targeted a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on Sunday, in Sydney, Australia, Dec. 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Flavio Brancaleone
A man accused of opening fire on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach in an attack that killed 15 people appeared in court for the first time on Monday, Australian media reported.
Naveed Akram, 24, faces 59 charges over the Dec. 14 attack, including 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of wounding with intent to murder, and a terror offense.
Police allege he carried out the mass shooting with his father Sajid, 50, who was shot dead at the scene.
During a brief status mention at a Sydney court on Monday, Akram appeared via video link from Goulburn Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison southwest of Sydney, where he is being held on remand, media reported.
Akram wore prison greens and sat mostly in silence during the proceedings. He spoke only to acknowledge that he heard a discussion about extending non-publication orders for the details of the victims.
Outside court, Akram’s lawyer Ben Archbold said his client was doing “as well as he can be” given the “very onerous conditions” in prison.
Archbold said it was too early to say how Akram would plead and that he had not discussed details of the alleged attack with him.
“I haven’t spoken to him about the attack in that regard,” he told reporters.
“All that we’re doing at the moment is starting the process … we’re waiting for the brief to be served; there’s nothing more I can say.”
Archbold added that he had visited Akram in prison.
“He’s just a client, and he’s a client that needs to be represented. And we don’t let our personal view get in the way of our professional obligations. The matter has been adjourned; I have nothing more to say.”
The case is expected to return to court in April.
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Israel Post-War Economy to Grow Further in 2026 After 3.1% Gain in 2025
Israeli national flags flutter near office towers at a business park also housing high tech companies, at Ofer Park in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 27, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Israel‘s economy grew 3.1% in 2025, official data showed on Monday, rebounding from a 1% pace in 2024, with growth expected to accelerate sharply as long as a fragile Gaza ceasefire holds.
Growth last year was led by a 7.1% rise in investment and a 5.9% gain in exports, along with a modest uptick in consumer spending. Heavy state expenditure during the two-year Gaza war, particularly on defense, gave an added boost to the economy, economists noted.
“The economy is recovering,” said Yonie Fanning, chief strategist at Mizrahi Tefahot Bank. “The indications for the first quarter of 2026 are also positive – you see that in the trade balance data, etc. So, I think it … sets the basis for continued recovery.”
Israel‘s economy in 2025 outpaced an OECD average of 1.7% and 2% growth in the United States. It also was above the Bank of Israel‘s estimate of 2.8%. The central bank projects a 5.2% growth spurt this year.
“What you’re seeing now is excess demand coming after the war, which is coupled with an increase of supply also, for example, in real estate. And so, you see that in investment, and you should see that more going forward in 2026,” Fanning said.
Per capita growth was 1.7% in 2025.
In the fourth quarter, gross domestic product grew an annualized 4.0% from the prior quarter, powered by a 33% jump in exports following an October ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
“This is relatively robust print, especially the business sector activity, impacted by a strong contribution from net exports,” said Leader Capital Markets Chief Economist Jonathan Katz.
A Reuters poll of economists had forecast an annualized 2.6% rate in the final three months of 2025.
Third-quarter GDP was revised to an annualized rise of 12.7% from a prior estimate of 11.1%.
The GDP data follow data published on Sunday showing Israel‘s annual inflation rate eased to 1.8% in January – its lowest level since June 2021 – from 2.6% in December, increasing pressure on the Bank of Israel to lower short-term interest rates next week for a third straight meeting.
Following the inflation data, “most people [in the market] don’t expect it to stay on hold,” Fanning said.
The shekel was flat at 3.09 per dollar, close to a 30-year peak hit earlier in February. Tel Aviv share indices gained as much as 0.3%.