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Trump’s calls for protests condemn George Soros, echo Jan. 6 — and draw Jewish concern
WASHINGTON (JTA) — “They’re coming for me,” Donald Trump said in a fundraising email to his supporters, and he immediately made clear who “they” were: “district attorneys hand-picked and personally funded by George Soros.”
The email, sent late Monday, came a day ahead of when, Trump claims, he is likely to be arrested. He says he will be charged for allegedly paying off a paramour to keep quiet about their sexual encounter, and has sent a flurry of appeals calling for protests.
And those appeals have also named a villain: Soros, the Jewish billionaire and progressive megadonor who is at the center of myriad antisemitic conspiracy theories.
In a post in nearly all-caps on his website, Truth Social, on Saturday, Trump railed against the “CORRUPT & HIGHLY POLITICAL MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE, WHICH HAS ALLOWED NEW RECORDS TO BE SET IN VIOLENT CRIME & WHOSE LEADER IS FUNDED BY GEORGE SOROS.”
In that post, Trump also returned to another motif of his with an ominous history. He ended by telling supporters to “PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”
To some, that statement recalled Trump’s tweets more than two years ago, when he urged protesters to come to a “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”
Jewish groups who track antisemitism and Jewish security say they are keeping an eye on Trump’s latest calls for protests, but note that so far those posts have not attracted the groundswell of support that followed his past appeals. Trump’s 2021 post touted a rally that culminated in violence — the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Oren Segal, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, said organized extremists, who have heeded Trump’s calls in the past, are displaying wariness online this time, fearful of being drawn into a trap. A number of them are preoccupied with the aftermath of Jan. 6, as some of their members are being prosecuted for their roles in the riot.
Other groups, Segal said, are preoccupied with this year’s culture wars. “Proud Boys are busy protesting drag queen story hours,” he said, referring to one of the groups implicated in a number of violent protests.
Michael Masters, CEO of the Secure Community network, the consultancy to the national Jewish community, likewise said his group was not seeing any imminent plans for violence. “We are not seeing anything specific to the Jewish community with respect to recent calls or amplification of calls for protests,” Masters said in a text message.
Nonetheless, Trump’s constant invocation of Soros raises concerns, Segal said, especially given reports of substantive spikes in antisemitic attacks.
“The danger of referencing Soros in a call for protests like this, is that you never know what bad actors are interpreting that as,” Segal said. “It’s not unreasonable for the Jewish community, who feels particularly vulnerable, to hear that in a way that is uncomfortable as well.”
Soros, a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor and financier, has been at the center of countless conspiracy theories for decades, and was the target of a 2018 bomb scare carried out by a pro-Trump antisemitic attacker. He featured prominently in the conspiracy theories embraced by the gunman who massacred 11 worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018.
Bragg is among a number of liberal prosecutors backed in recent election cycles by Color of Change, a political action committee that Soros has funded. He was the largest donor to the group in the most recent election cycle, giving it $1 million out of the $4 million it raised.
It’s not at all clear that Bragg is ready to bring charges, or what charges he would bring against Trump. Speculation about a pending arrest has come only from Trump, and after he predicted the arrest over the weekend, one of his spokesmen quickly walked it back, saying that the Trump camp had no new information.
Trump is lashing out as multiple investigations into him appear to be intensifying, including by state officials in Georgia into election interference and by federal authorities into the role he played in spurring the Jan. 6 violence by rioters who believed his falsehoods about the 2020 election and into his alleged mishandling of highly classified documents.
He also is under pressure from a Republican Party that includes members endeavoring to distance themselves from his myriad scandals, even as he seeks the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
One possible crime Bragg might be investigating is whether Trump falsified records to cover up his payment to Daniels, which was made through his former lawyer Michael Cohen.
Trump’s mentions of Alvin Bragg — the Manhattan district attorney investigating his preelection payoff to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress — seem to constantly come with invocations of Soros. In a post late Monday on Truth Social, he suggested he did not believe the NYPD would take orders from Bragg, should he ask them “TO PUT THEIR GREATEST CHAMPION & FRIEND IN PRISON FOR A CRIME THAT DOESN’T EXIST … ALL THE WHILE THE SOROS ALLOWS MURDERERS AND OTHER VIOLENT CRIMINALS TO FREELY ROAM THE SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK?”
Trump is hardly the only Republican invoking Soros. Trump’s likely rival for the 2024 Republican nomination, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, also mentioned Soros and Bragg in remarks on Monday, while getting a dig in at Trump.
“I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair, I just, I can’t speak to that,” DeSantis said. “But I do know this, the Manhattan district attorney is a Soros-funded prosecutor.”
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France’s Culture Minister Welcomes Israel’s Philharmonic Orchestra for Concert Amid Criticism
A side view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
France’s Minister of Culture Rachida Dati expressed support for the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) visiting Paris for a concert on Thursday after a French union criticized the upcoming performance because of what it called Israel’s “crimes” in the Gaza Strip.
“Welcome to Israel’s national orchestra,” Dati wrote Tuesday in a post on X. “Nothing justifies a boycott call for this moment of culture, sharing and communication. Freedom of creation and programming is a value of our republic. [There is] no pretext for antisemitism.”
The IPO, led by conductor Lahav Shani, is scheduled to perform a sold-out concert at the Paris Philharmonic Hall on Thursday. The venue is a public institution under supervision of the Ministry of Culture and the city of Paris.
The Paris Philharmonic Hall said in a statement on Monday to Radio France that it hopes Thursday’s concert will take place “in the best possible conditions” and the venue welcomes “both Israeli and Palestinian artists.” It added that it never demands visiting artists to take “a position … on the subject of ongoing conflicts or sensitive political issues, which could sometimes have significant repercussions for them in their country of origin.” Musicians “cannot be held responsible for the actions of their government by simple association,” the institution insisted.
In late October, the French union CGT Spectacle – which represents workers in the entertainment industry including cinema and the performing arts – claimed the Nov. 6 concert is “an attempt at normalization by the State of Israel,” which they claimed is “responsible for a genocide against the Palestinian people.” The union said the concert should only take place if the audience is informed about the “serious accusations” against the Israeli government.
“The Paris Philharmonic Hall cannot host the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra without reminding the audience of the extremely serious accusations against the leaders of that country [Israel] and the nature of the crime committed in Gaza,” the union stated. “If culture is meant to be a vehicle for peace among peoples, no progress in this area can be expected without speaking the truth at every opportunity.”
Shani has previously been boycotted for being Israeli.
In September, organizers of the Flanders Festival Ghent canceled a scheduled performance by the Munich Philharmonic due to concerns regarding Shani and his “attitude to the genocidal regime in Tel Aviv.” Shani, the chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, will take over as chief conductor of the Munich orchestra for the 2026/27 season.
After the festival rescinded its invitation, Belgium’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever attended a concert by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra in a sign of solidarity.
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Freed Israeli Hostage Elizabeth Tsurkov Describes Torture, Sexual Assault by Iran-Backed Terror Group in Iraq
Princeton researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, 2017. Photo: Facebook
Freed Israeli hostage Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was released after two and a half years in captivity, recounted being beaten, tortured, electrocuted, and sexually assaulted by the Kataib Hezbollah terrorist group in Iraq, describing the abuse in an interview published on Wednesday.
In her first appearance since being freed in September, Tsurkov told The New York Times that her Iran-aligned captors “basically used [her] as a punching bag”— especially during the first months after her abduction.
Tsurkov, a dual Israeli-Russian national and Princeton University student, was kidnapped in March 2023 after agreeing to meet a woman who had reached out to her on WhatsApp, claiming she needed help researching the Iran-backed Islamist group.
After showing up to the alleged meeting at a Baghdad coffee shop, Tsurkov was forced into an SUV by several men, who repeatedly beat and sexually assaulted her.
“I genuinely believe I would have died,” she said, noting the Trump administration’s “incredible determination” in negotiating and ultimately securing her release.
Tsurkov expressed her gratitude to US President Donald Trump, the administration officials who helped secure her release, and Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for hostages and missing persons, praising their efforts and unwavering support throughout her captivity.
Over the course of more than two years, Tsurkov was held in confinement by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terrorist group that has never explicitly admitted to abducting her, enduring conditions similar to those faced by hostages held by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
Eight months after her abduction, Tsurkov was seen on Iraqi TV for the first time, providing proof she was still alive while being forced to admit she worked as an Israeli and US spy.
During her two years in solitary confinement, Tsurkov said she initially kept her Israeli identity a secret. However, her abductors eventually discovered evidence on her phone and accused her of being a spy.
Even after she tried to demonstrate her pro-Palestinian stance by showing some of her online posts to them, her captors’ treatment of her grew even more brutal.
When she refused to confess to being a spy, Tsurkov said she was “strung up and tortured.”
In her interview, she described one of her captors, referred to as “the colonel,” as “very filthy and very obsessed with sex,” saying he repeatedly threatened her with rape and grabbed a tattoo on her thigh.
In September, Tsurkov was handed over to the Iraqi government, where female doctors examined her weakened physical state, marking her first contact with women since her abduction.
During such a traumatic experience, she recalled that seeing people, including one of her sisters on TV, advocate for her release gave her a sense of hope and helped sustain her strength.
Tsurkov is now in Israel, undergoing rehabilitation for the severe injuries she endured during her captivity. She spends most of her days lying on her back, as sitting or standing remains too painful.
Due to the relentless beatings, she also revealed that she is missing a tooth and continues to suffer constant pain.
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Jewish Groups Vow to Hold Mamdani ‘Fully Accountable’ After Mayoral Victory to Ensure Safety of New York Jews
Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, delivers remarks while campaigning at the Hanson Place Seventh-Day Adventist Church in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, US, Nov. 1, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ryan Murphy
Major Jewish organizations were quick to respond to far-left democratic socialist and anti-Zionist Zohran Mamdani being elected as the new mayor of New York City on Tuesday night.
Mamdani, 34, a fierce critic of Israel who has been widely accused of antisemitism, defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo by a margin of 50.4 percent to 41.6 percent, while Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa received 7.1 percent of the votes.
The Democratic state assemblymember — who has repeatedly accused Israel of “apartheid” and “genocide,” refused to recognize its right to exist as a Jewish state, and supported boycotts of all Israeli-linked entities — will be the city’s youngest mayor in over a century and the first Muslim to hold the office.
Mamdani is a member of the controversial Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) organization and has refused to explicitly condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which has been associated with calls for violence against Jews and Israelis worldwide.
Following Tuesday’s election, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) announced the launch of an initiative to track and monitor policies and personnel appointments of the incoming Mamdani administration in order to help protect Jewish New Yorkers. As part of the new initiative, the ADL is establishing a citywide tipline for New Yorkers to report antisemitic incidents.
New York City has experienced a surge in anti-Jewish hate crimes over the past two years, following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in southern Israel, and many Jewish leaders have expressed concerns that the trend will continue and even intensify with Mamdani in office.
“Mayor-elect Mamdani has promoted antisemitic narratives, associated with individuals who have a history of antisemitism, and demonstrated intense animosity toward the Jewish state that is counter to the views of the overwhelming majority of Jewish New Yorkers. We are deeply concerned that those individuals and principles will influence his administration at a time when we are tracking a brazen surge of harassment, vandalism and violence targeting Jewish residents and institutions in recent years,” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the ADL, said in a statement.
“We expect the mayor of the city with the largest Jewish population in the world to stand unequivocally against antisemitism in all its varied forms and support all of its Jewish residents just as he would all other constituents,” Greenblatt added. “In the months ahead, we will hold the Mamdani administration to this basic standard, and ADL will be relentless and unyielding in our work to ensure the safety and security of all Jewish New Yorkers.”
The United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York, Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, ADL New York/New Jersey, American Jewish Committee of New York, and New York Board of Rabbis said in a joint statement they “cannot ignore that the mayor-elect holds core beliefs fundamentally at odds with our community’s deepest convictions and most cherished values.” They called on Mamdani and all elected officials to “govern with humility, inclusivity, and a deep respect for the diversity of views and experiences that define our city.”
“As we have done for over a century, we will continue to work across every level of government to ensure that our city remains a place where our Jewish community, and all communities, feel safe and respected,” they added. “Our agenda remains clear. We will hold all elected officials, including Mayor-elect Mamdani, fully accountable for ensuring that New York remains a place where Jewish life and support for Israel are protected and can thrive. We will continue to confront, without hesitation, the alarming rise in antisemitism and hate crimes, and loudly call out any rhetoric or actions that delegitimize Israel or excuse antisemitism.”
Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph, executive vice president and COO of the Orthodox Union, said he urges the mayor-elect to “embrace the responsibility of governing for all, protecting the vulnerable, rejecting divisive rhetoric, and ensuring that safety, dignity, and respect are guaranteed to every New Yorker, including Jewish New Yorkers.” The OU is the largest umbrella organization for Orthodox Jews in the US.
Joseph said the OU “is more determined than ever to continue advocating for the needs of the Jewish People and transforming our collective strength into lasting impact at City Hall and beyond.”
New York has the largest Jewish community outside the State of Israel. The ADL’s Center on Extremism recorded 976 antisemitic incidents in New York City in 2024, which is the highest in any US city since the ADL began monitoring such incidents. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) revealed that last year, 54 percent of all hate crimes in New York City targeted Jewish New Yorkers.