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Speaking to Congress, Herzog laments growing divides in US-Israel relationship
WASHINGTON (JTA) — In his speech to a joint session of Congress, Israeli President Isaac Herzog made sure to repeatedly laud the warm ties between the United States and Israel. And he got the response Israeli leaders have traditionally received from U.S. lawmakers, earning at least 16 bipartisan standing ovations.
But one of his biggest applause lines also alluded to the tension that surrounded his 41-minute speech and that has weighed on the alliance he has come to Washington, D.C. to safeguard.
“Criticism of Israel must not cross the line into negation of the State of Israel’s right to exist,” Herzog said to cheers. “Questioning the Jewish people’s right to self-determination is not legitimate diplomacy, it is antisemitism.”
It was undoubtedly a reference to comments earlier this week by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington state who chairs the party’s powerful Progressive Caucus. She told pro-Palestinian protesters at a progressive event that she understood Israel is a “racist state” — a remark she later walked back, saying she was criticizing the policies of Israel’s government, which includes senior far-right partners.
Jayapal’s statement was just one piece of the troubled atmosphere that has accompanied Herzog’s visit this week. A number of progressive lawmakers boycotted his speech, and in Israel, ongoing protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s effort to weaken the judiciary have grown fiercer.
That planned judicial overhaul — a key portion of which may pass into law soon — is one reason why President Joe Biden waited until this week to invite Netanyahu to meet him in the U.S. Israel’s minister for Diaspora affairs, meanwhile, recently accused Biden of colluding with the opposition to foment the protests.
So while there were cheers, laughter and mutual expressions of support during Herzog’s address, there was also melancholy — a recognition that change was inevitable and, for proponents of the U.S.-Israel alliance, not necessarily for the better.
“I am well aware that our world is changing,” Herzog said. “A new generation of Israelis and Americans are assuming leadership roles. A generation that was not privy to the hardship of Israel’s formative years. A generation that is less engaged in the roots that connect our peoples. A generation that, perhaps, takes for granted the U.S.-Israel relationship.”
Israel and its traditional defenders in the United States are wary of what appears to be growing skepticism of the country on the American left. For the first time this year, Democrats were more likely to sympathize with Palestinians than with Israelis, a Gallup poll showed.
To that effect, Jayapal’s statement raised alarm among pro-Israel members of Congress. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee pushed lawmakers to quickly draft and pass a resolution on Tuesday saying that “the State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state; Congress rejects all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia; and the United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel.”
It passed 412-9, demonstrating that the powerhouse lobby can still garner massive pro-Israel majorities. But the resolution was notably initiated by Republicans, and they were the majority of its sponsors. On Wednesday, six House Democrats associated with the progressive “Squad” boycotted Herzog’s speech.
Bernie Sanders, the Jewish senator from Vermont who is the informal leader of the progressive movement, also did not attend. He did not state that he was boycotting the speech but criticized the Israeli government in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“It is no great secret that I strongly oppose the policies of Israel’s right wing, anti-Palestinian government,” he said in the statement. “We provide them with $3.8 billion in aid. We have a right to demand they respect human rights.”
Herzog also aimed to reassure his audience that the fight over the proposed judicial overhaul would not spell the end of Israel’s democracy — though he said the raucous and often acrimonious debate has been “painful, and deeply unnerving, because it highlights the cracks within the whole.”
“I have great confidence in Israeli democracy,” he went on. “Although we are working through sore issues, just like you, I know our democracy is strong and resilient. Israel has democracy in its DNA.”
In remarks to the Israeli press yesterday, Herzog also doubled down on the strength of the U.S.-Israel relationship.
“It’s not like the relationship between the United States and countries that are very important to it,” he said. “This is a relationship with deep family elements, with mutual concern about what happens in the United States and of course in Israel.”
Herzog also got bipartisan applause for emphasizing points that Biden does not necessarily agree with, opposing any agreement with Iran that does not cut off its path to a nuclear weapon, and principally blaming the Palestinians for the decade-long impasse in substantial peace talks.
Questions about the durability of the two countries’ bond have become sharper as Biden has urged Netanyahu to slow the pace of the judicial overhaul effort in order to reach a broad consensus across Israeli society. This week, Biden invited Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist, to the Oval Office to deliver a warning about how the judicial legislation could harm U.S.-Israel ties — a signal that Biden believes he did not get through to Netanyahu on a recent phone call between the two leaders.
“Finding consensus on controversial areas of policy means taking the time you need,” Biden told Friedman. “For significant changes, that’s essential. So my recommendation to Israeli leaders is not to rush. I believe the best outcome is to continue to seek the broadest possible consensus here.”
Herzog has also focused his efforts on negotiations over the court reform, and has urged Israelis to take Biden’s critique seriously. He met with Biden on Tuesday and was set to meet later on Wednesday with Vice President Kamala Harris. They are expected to announce a joint U.S.-Israel five-year initiative to advance climate-friendly agriculture research and techniques.
“Israel is very important to the world, it’s very important to the region, it’s very important to the United States, and that must also be a consideration to our brothers and sisters in Israel,” he told the Israeli media.
One of his guests at the speech, whom he recognized, was Susannah Heschel, the daughter of the late Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights era. The elder Heschel is emblematic of a liberal American Jewish sensibility that has often clashed with Netanyahu’s outlook.
In one of the rare lines that got more applause from Democrats than from Republicans, Herzog attempted to show that a pluralist sensibility was present in Israel, too.
“Our democracy is also late Friday afternoon,” he said, “when the sound of the muezzin calling to prayer blends with the siren announcing the Sabbath in Jerusalem, while one of the largest and most impressive LGBTQ Pride Parades in the world is going on in Tel Aviv.”
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The post Speaking to Congress, Herzog laments growing divides in US-Israel relationship appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Really? Media Claim Sydney Mob’s Chants for Massacre of Jews Is ‘Celebrating Syrian Regime Change’
Women hold up flags during a a pro-Palestinian rally in Hyde Park, Sydney, Australia, Oct. 15, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Lewis Jackson
The downfall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad marks the end of a brutal, decades-long regime that devastated a country and unleashed one of the most harrowing civil wars in modern history. It’s undoubtedly a moment that many have long awaited.
Scenes of jubilation erupted in Syria and around the world, with refugees from the war-torn country celebrating in the streets, as news spread that Assad had fled following a lightning rebel advance.
But amid the joy, something darker reared its head: the antisemitism we’ve sadly come to expect in such moments.
In Australia, a large crowd of Syrians was filmed chanting: “Khaybar, Khaybar Ya Yahud, Jaish Mohammed Sauf Ya’ud” — a chilling reference to a 7th-century massacre of Jews by Mohammed’s army.
The slogan’s modern-day message is unmistakable: a call for violence against Jews.
“Khaybar, Khaybar Ya Yahud, Jaish Mohammed Sauf Ya’ud” — “Watch Out Jews, Remember Khaybar, the Army of Mohammed is returning.”
No, @newscomauHQ, this is not Australians celebrating Syrian regime change. They are chanting incitement to murder Jews.
https://t.co/T6yDiQqbzy pic.twitter.com/RgAYv2iqTH— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) December 8, 2024
Disturbing as this scene was — a mob in broad daylight in Sydney, brazenly inciting hatred and violence — what followed was arguably worse.
News.com.au, Australia’s most widely-read news outlet, described the incident as “Australians celebrating Syrian regime change” in a video posted on its website.
This gross misrepresentation of the event is shocking — not necessarily because of malice, but because of sheer journalistic negligence.
The journalist likely saw a video of dancing and what sounded like celebratory Arabic chanting and assumed it was innocent.
But ignorance cannot be a defense for journalists and editors.
It is quite literally a journalist’s job to dispel ignorance — not perpetuate it. Their role is to provide facts, context, and explanations, ensuring their audience understands the reality of what they’re seeing.
When confronted with footage of Syrians in Sydney chanting in Arabic, a journalist has a duty to find out what’s being said, especially when that chant carries such an unmistakable tone of hate.
What makes this worse is news.com.au’s response to criticism.
Instead of issuing a correction and apology after HonestReporting raised the alarm, the outlet quietly removed the footage from its website.
Antisemitism in Australia is surging.
Synagogues burned. Cars vandalized. Jews attacked.
Yet the media calls it “suspected arson” or “war-inspired protests.”
This isn’t about Gaza—it’s hate, plain and simple. Silence fuels it. Call it what it is: antisemitism.… pic.twitter.com/ApoPoYCgrP— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) December 9, 2024
Does news.com.au not believe Australians deserve to know that people in their country are chanting violent threats against Jews on Sydney’s streets?
Do Jews in Sydney not have a right to know about these incidents for their own safety?
Yet, this episode isn’t just about one video — it’s part of a broader pattern of declining journalistic standards. Increasingly, reporters fail to identify language, symbols, and imagery tied to terror groups, or worse, avoid addressing such hatred when they recognize it at all.
We’ve seen this pattern repeated during the wave of anti-Israel hate rallies in major cities worldwide following the Hamas terror attacks on Israel on October 7 last year.
Protesters held signs glorifying Hamas, waved the flags of proscribed terror organizations, called for a violent intifada, and brandished placards promoting conspiracy theories, such as “Zionists” controlling the media.
Antisemitism on full display
“Who controls Britain? It’s the Jewish people that control Britain! 40% of the MPs are Jewish and that’s why these police are under there…”
FYI 40% of MPs are not Jewish. H/T @MahyarTousi pic.twitter.com/3zSiRd3iI6
— Harry’s Place (@hurryupharry) March 30, 2024
Yet, the media largely refused to identify and call out the antisemitism on show at these rallies.
By sanitizing or mischaracterizing such demonstrations, outlets aren’t just failing their readers — they’re complicit in promoting this hatred. The media have no defense. Their silence or misrepresentation isn’t neutrality; it’s enabling.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Really? Media Claim Sydney Mob’s Chants for Massacre of Jews Is ‘Celebrating Syrian Regime Change’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Arrow of Bashan’: Israel Destroys Most of Syria’s Strategic Weapons
Israeli soldiers operate in a location given as southern Syria, in this screengrab from a video obtained by Reuters on Dec. 9, 2024. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
JNS.org — Israel struck most of Syria’s strategic weapons arsenal since the ouster of President Bashar Assad, the IDF announced on Tuesday night, preventing them from falling into the hands of Islamic terrorists.
The military confirmed earlier reports that the Israeli Air Force conducted more than 350 aerial strikes, with hundreds of hours of flight time logged over Syrian airspace. The targets included anti-aircraft batteries, Syrian Air Force airfields, and dozens of weapons production sites in Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia, and Palmyra.
Strategic weapons were neutralized, including Scud tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, surface-to-sea, surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, drones, fighter jets, attack helicopters, radar systems, tanks, and hangars.
The IDF has named the large-scale operation “Arrow of Bashan.”
On Monday night, Israeli Navy missile ships attacked two Syrian Navy facilities simultaneously: Al-Bayda Port and Latakia Port, where 15 Syrian naval vessels were docked.
During the maritime operation, dozens of sea-to-sea missiles with ranges of 80 to 190 kilometers (50 to 120 miles) and carrying heavy explosive payloads were destroyed.
In addition, the IDF Northern Command’s Fire Control Center conducted airstrikes against 130 enemy assets in Syria, including weapons depots, military structures, launchers, and firing positions.
The hundreds of strikes marked the heaviest air campaign against Syria since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
It is believed that the Syrian Air Force could be destroyed in its entirety “within a few days,” Ynet noted, which would substantially reduce the threat posed to the Jewish state by the incoming Syrian government.
The last time Israel destroyed an entire air force was in 1967, when the Egyptian Air Force was wiped out in the first hours of the Six-Day War.
Assad fled Damascus on Sunday as a coalition of rebel groups stormed the capital, ending his family’s five-decade rule.
“The tyrant Bashar Assad has been overthrown,” a rebel spokesperson declared in a statement carried on state television on Sunday morning.
Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on Tuesday that any entity threatening Israel’s security would face dire consequences.
Speaking at a naval base in Haifa, Katz revealed that Israeli forces had destroyed Syria’s navy.
“The IDF has acted in recent days to attack and destroy strategic capabilities that threaten the State of Israel,” Katz said, cautioning rebels that “whoever follows in Assad’s footsteps will end up like Assad did.” He emphasized Israel’s resolve to prevent any “extremist Islamic terror entity” from operating against it.
Katz also announced the establishment of a temporary demilitarized zone beyond the buffer zone Israel has taken over in the border area. This “sterile defensive zone” in southern Syria aims to prevent terrorist threats.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned during a meeting at the headquarters of the Israel Defense Forces in Tel Aviv on Tuesday that if the new Syrian jihadist regime befriends Iran, Israel will take decisive action against it.
“If this regime allows Iran to regain its foothold in Syria, or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah, or attacks us, we will respond forcefully and we will exact a heavy price from it,” Netanyahu said. “What happened to the previous regime will happen to this regime as well.”
Israel has no intention of interfering in Syria’s internal affairs, the prime minister said, but would take action it deemed necessary for its security.
In this context, he said he had authorized the Israeli Air Force to bomb “strategic military capabilities left by the Syrian army so that they would not fall into the hands of the jihadists.”
The post ‘Arrow of Bashan’: Israel Destroys Most of Syria’s Strategic Weapons first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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House of Commons tables report on antisemitism with recommendations for Canadian universities
The House of Commons has tabled a comprehensive report addressing antisemitism on Canadian university campuses, presenting 19 recommendations for federal, provincial, and institutional action.
Issued on Dec. 10, the report emphasizes the enforcement of campus codes of conduct, the prevention of hate speech, and the provision of antisemitism education through organizations that recognize the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
It also calls for universities to unequivocally denounce antisemitism, uphold academic freedom, and oppose anti-Israel movements such as Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS).
Additional measures include the creation of a national anti-hate fund, enhanced police training on hate crimes, and funding for Holocaust education that incorporates modern-day antisemitism.
Federal recommendations propose establishing a national review committee to assess the impact of campus antisemitism, creating specialized prosecution roles for hate crimes, and ensuring that Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) frameworks include Jewish identity. The report also suggests banning symbols of terrorist organizations, standardizing definitions for hate crimes, and ensuring that Zionists have fair access to public spaces.
Montreal MP Anthony Housefather, who initiated the Justice Committee hearings earlier this year and serves as the special advisor to the prime minister and cabinet on Canada’s Jewish community, expressed hope that the unanimous report will inform both federal and provincial governments on ways to address rising antisemitism in Canada.
Housefather and Deborah Lyons, the special envoy on Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism, spent the summer consulting with university administrators and Jewish campus organizations to develop recommendations aimed at enhancing the safety of Jewish students.
Housefather told The Canadian Jewish News that, while challenges persist, there has been progress: “While there have been a lot of problems we’ve had on campuses, we have not had encampments [this past semester],” he said, adding that “the codes of conduct have been enforced better at most universities.”
Pro-Palestinian groups established encampments at many Canadian universities last spring and summer, and in some cases were removed only after court injunctions or by police.
Canadian universities, such as Concordia and McGill, saw intensifying animosity by anti-Israel groups throughout the last year, with demonstrators carrying out violence, verbal threats, and property destruction at both Montreal campuses.
Schools such as the University of Calgary saw anti-Israel protesters trapping Jewish students in a lecture hall in November during a talk with former Israeli spokesperson Eylon Levy.
Abuse of podium infractions have occurred at schools such as York University and University of Toronto, where teachers have called Zionism a form of social violence and have expressed anti-Israel views to students.
Lyons expressed the critical need for action in the House of Commons report. “When our Jewish citizens are targeted, it threatens the democratic ideals of equality and justice for all Canadians,” she said. “We pride ourselves on being a diverse and inclusive multicultural society. In this moment, we are being put to the test. It is not an overreach to say that our shared humanity is at stake.”
In the report’s introduction, Nati Pressman, founder of Canadian Union of Jewish Students, is also quoted. “Across the country, Jewish students who used to wear Jewish symbols, like the Magen David, now hide them as they walk past protests, including my friends who used to wear kippot, who now instead wear baseball caps going to class. This is not because we are any less proud to be Jewish, but because our universities have allowed an environment where being openly Jewish could be a threat to our safety,” she said.
The dissenting report from Conservative members of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights emphasizes a “disturbing and unprecedented rise in antisemitism and hate crimes” under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government. It highlights a 165 percent increase in hate crimes since Trudeau took office, with 5,791 antisemitic incidents recorded in 2023 alone, following the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks in Israel.
The report stresses that “Jewish Canadians have the right to live in safety and without fear,” and calls for a unified response to combat violence, discrimination, and hatred.
While supporting most of the recommendations in the main report, the Conservative MPs argue that the Liberal government’s current approach to addressing antisemitism “is not working.”
They offer additional recommendations to strengthen Canada’s efforts, citing witness testimony and firsthand experience. “To protect our communities and uphold the values of equality and respect, it is imperative that we take decisive action against groups and ideologies that promote violence, hatred, and division,” says the dissenting report.
The post House of Commons tables report on antisemitism with recommendations for Canadian universities appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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