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Taylor Swift’s bodyguard returns to Israel to fight in the war
(JTA) — An Israeli bodyguard who has been working for superstar Taylor Swift on her global “Eras” tour has returned to Israel to fight in its ongoing war against Hamas.
Eran Swissa, an entertainment reporter for the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, conveyed the news on Sunday. “I have a pretty great life in the U.S., a dream job, great friends, and a comfortable home,” said the guard, who chose not to share his name. “I didn’t have to come here, but I couldn’t stand by while families were slaughtered and burned alive in their homes. Don’t stand by and do nothing. Don’t be on the wrong side of history.”
Taylor Swift’s security guard, a former IDF soldier, came to Israel to volunteer in the army. pic.twitter.com/G9NS09sh64
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 15, 2023
The guard had gone viral over the summer for his attentiveness while protecting Swift. Clips of him closely watching the crowd while escorting Swift into and out of her concerts were the subject of several videos and posts across social media.
“That man just scanned a thousand people in the crowd in six seconds, six seconds flat. Whatever Taylor Swift’s paying him, it’s not enough,” one user said in a TikTok video in July that received 1.3 million likes.
In his statement to Swissa, the guard strongly condemned Hamas, writing that “those are not human beings.” He went on: “I’m not only standing here with Israel and actually standing here. I’m standing here with humanity. Don’t be on the wrong side of history!! Don’t stand on the sidelines and say nothing… Stand with Israel, stand with HUMANITY!!!!!”
Swift, who has spoken out on political and current events in the past, has so far not publicly commented on the war in Israel. That silence has elicited criticism from some of her fans, especially as she promotes her new concert film, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” which opened in theaters on Friday and set a box office record.
Nicole Rose, a Jewish jeweler with 150,000 Instagram followers, wrote: “Terrible timing. Kids are getting raped. Innocent people are dying on both sides. Hamas!! a terrorist organization is slaughtering Israelis… but it’s ‘launch day’??? I’m super disappointed in her.”
While presale tickets for the “Eras” film had been selling quickly in Israel, all movie theaters are currently closed due to the war, according to the Jerusalem Post.
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The post Taylor Swift’s bodyguard returns to Israel to fight in the war appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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UN Security Council Meets on Iran as Russia, China Push for a Ceasefire
Members of the Security Council cast a vote during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at UN headquarters in New York, US, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/David Dee Delgado
The U.N. Security Council met on Sunday to discuss US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites as Russia, China and Pakistan proposed the 15-member body adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East.
It was not immediately clear when it could be put to a vote. The three countries circulated the draft text, said diplomats, and asked members to share their comments by Monday evening. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China to pass.
The US is likely to oppose the draft resolution, seen by Reuters, which also condemns attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites and facilities. The text does not name the United States or Israel.
“The bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States marks a perilous turn in a region that is already reeling,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Sunday. “We now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation.”
“We must act – immediately and decisively – to halt the fighting and return to serious, sustained negotiations on the Iran nuclear program,” Guterres said.
The world awaited Iran’s response on Sunday after President Donald Trump said the US had “obliterated” Tehran’s key nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.
U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that while craters were visible at Iran’s enrichment site buried into a mountain at Fordow, “no one – including the IAEA – is in a position to assess the underground damage.”
Grossi said entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit at Iran’s sprawling Isfahan nuclear complex, while the fuel enrichment plant at Natanz has been struck again.
“Iran has informed the IAEA there has been no increase in off-site radiation levels at all three sites,” said Grossi, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran requested the U.N. Security Council meeting, calling on the 15-member body “to address this blatant and unlawful act of aggression, to condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
Israel‘s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement on Sunday that the U.S. and Israel “do not deserve any condemnation, but rather an expression of appreciation and gratitude for making the world a safer place.”
Danon told reporters before the council meeting that it was still early when it came to assessing the impact of the U.S. strikes. When asked if Israel was pursuing regime change in Iran, Danon said: “That’s for the Iranian people to decide, not for us.”
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Israel Rejects Critical EU Report Ahead of Ministers’ Meeting
FILE PHOTO: Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
Israel has rejected a European Union report saying it may be breaching human rights obligations in Gaza and the West Bank as a “moral and methodological failure,” according to a document seen by Reuters on Sunday.
The note, sent to EU officials ahead of a foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday, said the report by the bloc’s diplomatic service failed to consider Israel’s challenges and was based on inaccurate information.
“The Foreign Ministry of the State of Israel rejects the document … and finds it to be a complete moral and methodological failure,” the note said, adding that it should be dismissed entirely.
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Pope Leo Urges International Diplomacy to Prevent ‘Irreparable Abyss’
FILE PHOTO: Pope Leo XIV holds a Jubilee audience on the occasion of the Jubilee of Sport, at St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican June 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo
Pope Leo on Sunday said the international community must strive to avoid war that risks opening an “irreparable abyss,” and that diplomacy should take the place of conflict.
US forces struck Iran’s three main nuclear sites overnight, joining an Israeli assault in a major new escalation of conflict in the Middle East as Tehran vowed to defend itself.
“Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility: to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” Pope Leo said during his weekly prayer with pilgrims.
“No armed victory can compensate for the pain of mothers, the fear of children, the stolen future. Let diplomacy silence the weapons, let nations chart their future with peace efforts, not with violence and bloody conflicts,” he added.
“In this dramatic scenario, which includes Israel and Palestine, the daily suffering of the population, especially in Gaza and other territories, risks being forgotten, where the need for adequate humanitarian support is becoming increasingly urgent,” Pope Leo said.
The post Pope Leo Urges International Diplomacy to Prevent ‘Irreparable Abyss’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.