RSS
With Israel visit, Macron seeks to balance solidarity with Israel and calls for peace
(JTA) — French President Emmauel Macron visited Jerusalem on Tuesday, attempting to balance his solidarity with Israel alongside his calls for humanitarian aid in Gaza and a political peace process with the Palestinians.
Thirty French citizens were killed in the Hamas incursion into Israel on Oct. 7, which left over 1,400 people in Israel dead and over 200 taken hostage. Nine French nationals are still missing and believed to be held captive. About 50 other French citizens are stuck in the besieged Gaza Strip, which has been pounded with Israeli airstrikes.
After a closed-door meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Macron said in a press conference that their countries shared the common enemy of terrorism. He added that Hamas’ onslaught dealt France its worst death toll from a terror attack since 2016, when 86 people were killed during a Bastille Day celebration in Nice.
Macron also met with about 30 family members of French and French-Israeli victims of Hamas in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
But he additionally urged Israel to adhere to the laws of war and protect civilians in Gaza, who are living in a dire humanitarian crisis with dwindling access to water, food and electricity. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, the war has killed more than 6,000 Palestinians trapped in the coastal enclave.
“The fight must be merciless, but not lawless, because we are democracies and we are fighting against terrorists,” said Macron. “Democracies respect the rules of war and ensure humanitarian access. Democracies do not target civilians, neither in Gaza nor elsewhere.”
The French president has emerged as one of the most prominent Western voices pushing Netanyahu to allow humanitarian aid in Gaza. He urged Israel to reestablish electricity for hospitals, while ensuring the electricity is not misappropriated by Hamas, which has diverted millions of aid funds in the past.
Macron also warned Israel’s neighbors to avoid escalating the war into a broader regional conflict. He suggested that the international coalition set up to fight the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq could be widened to fight Hamas.
He closed his remarks by insisting on a peaceful, political resolution to Israel’s decades-long conflict with the Palestinians.
“Regional stability and return to normalization can only take place if Israel defends its security, fights against violence but also accepts the legitimate right of Palestinians to have a state, to live in peace and in security side by side with Israel,” he said.
Macron also became one of few Western leaders who has met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah since the start of the fighting, despite a ban by Israel that deemed “security conditions” in the West Bank insufficient. Only Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has also visited Ramallah. On Wednesday, Macron went on to meet King Abdullah II of Jordan and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt.
Meanwhile in Paris, the World Jewish Congress convened a meeting on Tuesday to address a global surge in antisemitic hate speech online. Representatives from across the world reported that Hamas has used internet and social media platforms to fuel a spike in hate speech and disinformation since the Oct. 7 attacks, an effort that the platforms’ content moderation and monitoring strategies have failed to prevent.
According to a report published alongside the forum, Hamas has also amassed support among far-right and racist ideologies, pointing to a shift in extremist circles around the globe.
—
The post With Israel visit, Macron seeks to balance solidarity with Israel and calls for peace appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
RSS
FBI Investigating ‘Targeted Terror Attack’ in Boulder, Colorado, Director Says
FILE PHOTO: FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on President Trump’s proposed budget request for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FBI Director Kash Patel said on Sunday the agency was aware of and fully investigating a targeted terror attack in Boulder, Colorado.
While he did not provide further details, Patel said in a social media post: “Our agents and local law enforcement are on the scene already, and we will share updates as more information becomes available.”
According to CBS News, which cited witnesses at the scene, a suspect attacked people with Molotov cocktails who were participating in a walk to remember the Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza.
The Boulder Police Department said it was responding to a report of an attack in the city involving several victims. It has not released further details but a press conference was expected at 4 p.m. Mountain Time (2200 GMT).
The attack comes just weeks after a Chicago-born man was arrested in the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, D.C. Someone opened fire on a group of people leaving an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that fights antisemitism and supports Israel.
The shooting fueled polarization in the United States over the war in Gaza between supporters of Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
The post FBI Investigating ‘Targeted Terror Attack’ in Boulder, Colorado, Director Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Terrorist Responsible for Death of 21 Soldiers Eliminated
An Israeli F-35I “Adir” fighter jet. Photo: IDF
i24 News – Khalil Abd al-Nasser Mohammed Khatib, the terrorist who commanded the terrorist cell that killed 21 soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip on January 22, 2024, was killed by an Israeli airstrike, the IDF said on Sunday.
In a joint operation between the military and the Shin Bet security agency, the terrorist was spotted in a reconnaissance mission. The troops called up an aircraft to target him, and he was eliminated.
Khatib planned and took part in many other terrorist plots against Israeli soldiers.
i24NEWS’ Hebrew channel interviewed Dor Almog, the sole survivor of the mass casualty disaster, who was informed on live TV about the death of the commander responsible for the killing his brothers-in-arms.
“I was sure this day would come – I was a soldier and I know what happens at the end,” said Almog. “The IDF will do everything to bring back the abductees and to topple Hamas, to the last one man.”
The post Terrorist Responsible for Death of 21 Soldiers Eliminated first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Stanley Fischer, Former Fed Vice Chair and Bank of Israel Chief, Dies at 81
FILE PHOTO: Vice Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve System Stanley Fischer arrives to hear Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney delivering the Michel Camdessus Central Banking Lecture at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, U.S., September 18, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
Stanley Fischer, who helped shape modern economic theory during a career that included heading the Bank of Israel and serving as vice chair of the US Federal Reserve, has died at the age of 81.
The Bank of Israel said he died on Saturday night but did not give a cause of death. Fischer was born in Zambia and had dual US-Israeli citizenship.
As an academic at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fischer trained many of the people who went on to be top central bankers, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as well as Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank president.
Fischer served as chief economist at the World Bank, and first deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund during the Asian financial crisis and was then vice chairman at Citigroup from 2002 to 2005.
During an eight-year stint as Israel’s central bank chief from 2005-2013, Fischer helped the country weather the 2008 global financial crisis with minimal economic damage, elevating Israel’s economy on the global stage, while creating a monetary policy committee to decide on interest rates like in other advanced economies.
He was vice chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2017 and served as a director at Bank Hapoalim in 2020 and 2021.
Current Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron praised Fischer’s contribution to the Bank of Israel and to advancing Israel’s economy as “truly significant.”
The soft-spoken Fischer – who played a role in Israel’s economic stabilization plan in 1985 during a period of hyperinflation – was chosen by then Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as central bank chief.
Netanyahu, now prime minister, called Fischer a “great Zionist” for leaving the United States and moving to Israel to take on the top job at Israel’s central bank.
“He was an outstanding economist. In the framework of his role as governor, he greatly contributed to the Israeli economy, especially to the return of stability during the global economic crisis,” Netanyahu said, adding that Stanley – as he was known in Israel – proudly represented Israel and its economy worldwide.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also paid tribute.
“He played a huge role in strengthening Israel’s economy, its remarkable resilience, and its strong reputation around the world,” Herzog said. “He was a world-class professional, a man of integrity, with a heart of gold. A true lover of peace.”
The post Stanley Fischer, Former Fed Vice Chair and Bank of Israel Chief, Dies at 81 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.