Uncategorized
Yair Cherki is famous for making Israelis understand Haredim. Now he wants Haredim to understand that he’s gay.
(JTA) — Yair Cherki, the religion reporter for Israel’s Channel 12, gained a name for his sidecurls, his cheery demeanor and his rapid fire delivery as he has guided his viewers into the lives and homes of Israel’s Haredi community.
On Tuesday, he delivered a different sort of message — a wrenching personal statement posted to Facebook.
“I love guys. I love guys and the Holy Blessed One,” a religious term for God, Cherki wrote. “It’s not a contradiction, and it’s not new.”
He went on to describe how he had grappled with a secret that had tormented him.
“I have always lived with the clash between this sexual preference and faith,” he wrote. “There are those who solved the conflict by saying there is no God, and there are others who have said there are no gays. In my flesh, I know they both exist and I try to resolve this internal conflict in multiple ways.”
What may have been surprising, beyond the content of the announcement itself, was the outpouring of support for Cherki evinced across Israel’s political spectrum.
“I love you my dear brother,” former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is Orthodox, wrote on Twitter. “And I am very proud of you.”
Amir Ohana, the openly gay speaker of the Knesset from the Likud Party, responded with a heart emoji.
“This text is so beautiful and moving,” commented Meirav Michaeli, the leader of the left-wing Labor Party. “Thank you for giving it to all of us.”
Also flooding Cherki’s mentions were rivals from Israel’s usually cutthroat media world. “What a joy you are, Cherki,” wrote Shaul Amsterdamski, the finance reporter for the rival Kan network, Israel’s public broadcaster. (Channel 12 is privately owned.)
His public coming out comes at a time that far-right figures in Israel’s new government have shown an appetite for curbing the rights of the LGBTQ community.
Cherki said he would not quit his faith. “My community is still the religious community,” he wrote. “My tribe, my family and my friends. These are my beliefs.”
Not every Israeli was ready to understand, but some still spoke in loving terms.
“This post made me very sad,” commented Yehuda Glick, a former Likud lawmaker who leads a movement to allow Jewish worship on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. “It doesn’t change the fact that I love you not a single gram less than I loved you before I read it. But in total honesty, it’s a gut punch.”
Uriah Elkayam, a journalist, replied to Glick: “These kind of responses from you and your cohort crush souls and drain the lifeblood from people, because you think you are better Jews. This is a time to hug, or to shut up.”
Cherki, 30, rake-slim, generally sports a dark blue kippah and dark casual clothing.He recently cut off his payos, the sidecurls kept by haredi men.
Cherki made his mark in TV news by taking viewers into the homes of his fellow Haredim and asking them, in gentle, urgent tones, to explain why they believed what they believed.
He endeavored to keep Haredim from being reduced to cliches. A Haredi Knesset cafeteria worker who invited Cherki and another reporter into his home described his admiration for Bennett. The cafeteria worker also explained why he disagreed with Bennett profoundly on issues of national security, and was ready to vote for Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right, religious Zionist politician currently serving as Israel’s national security minister.
Cherki pointed at a cabinet stacked with the writings of the late Sephardic sage, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who founded the Haredi Shas Party. “A Shas house!” he said — a way of noting for viewers that parties which have traditionally represented Haredi Israelis no longer had a grip on their natural constituents.
Cherki’s job also led him into awkward encounters. In a segment on Haredi marriage, a matchmaker he interviewed chided him for not yet getting hitched.
He has been at pains to make clear that he is a believer. Last year, he explained how Haredim in B’nei Brak, a city north of Tel Aviv, were coping with the aftermath of a terror attack. Many believed that the heavily haredi city no longer had the protection of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, an eminent sage who had died days before the attack, and whom they believed protected the city.
The anchorman, Rafi Reshef, asked Cherki incredulously whether he bought into the “narrative” that Kanievsky had protected B’nei Brak.
Cherki shot him a pained look and said it was “a little bit of a private question.” Cherki said.
“I generally believe that the role of righteous people in the place where they live, there is significance,” he said. “The question of, if just because a rabbi died, at that moment, B’nei Brak is more vulnerable than before, is bigger than me. But I can understand and tell you the spirit and the thought processes of people who believe that.”
Reshef apologized. Cherki smiled.
Cherki also speaks to secular Israeli groups about the world of haredi Jews. “If I had to put in a single sentence what I’m trying to do on TV when I talk about Haredim, I want to say ‘They’re not all the same,’” he told a bar full of secular Israelis last month on a TV show that brings together different sectors of Israel’s deeply divided society..
—
The post Yair Cherki is famous for making Israelis understand Haredim. Now he wants Haredim to understand that he’s gay. appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Iran Leaders Join Crowds on Tehran’s Streets to Project Control in Wartime
Iranians gather at a park on Nature Day, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 2, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
After more than a month of being stalked by targeted assassinations, Iran’s leadership has adopted a new tactic to show it is still in control – with senior officials walking openly in the streets among small crowds who have gathered in support of the Islamic Republic.
In recent days, Iran’s president and foreign minister have separately mixed with groups of several hundred people in central Tehran. On Tuesday, state television aired footage of the two posing for selfies, talking to members of the public and shaking hands with supporters who had gathered in public areas.
According to insiders and analysts, the appearances are part of a calculated effort by Iran’s theocratic leadership to project resilience and authority — not only over the vital Strait of Hormuz but also over the population — despite a sustained US-Israeli campaign aimed at “obliterating” it.
One insider close to the hardline establishment said such public outings are intended to show that the Islamic Republic is “unshaken by strikes and that it remains in control and vigilant” as the war grinds on.
The US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28 with the killing of veteran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior military commanders in waves of strikes that have since continued to target top officials.
Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not been seen in public since taking over on March 8 from his father. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, meanwhile, was removed from Israel’s hit list amid mediation efforts last month, including by Pakistan, to bring Tehran and Washington together for talks to end the war.
Talks aimed at ending the war have since appeared to have petered out, as Tehran brands US peace proposals “unrealistic.” Against that backdrop, recent public appearances by President Masoud Pezeshkian and Araqchi appear designed to project defiance, if not a convincing display of public support.
A senior Iranian source said officials’ public presence demonstrates that “the establishment is not intimidated by Israel’s targeted killing of top Iranian figures.”
Asked whether Iran’s foreign minister or president were on any sort of kill list, an Israeli military spokesperson, Nadav Shoshani, said on Friday he would not “speak about specific personnel.”
NIGHTLY RALLIES TO SHOW RESILIENCE
Despite widespread destruction, Tehran appears emboldened by surviving weeks of intense US-Israeli attacks, firing on Gulf countries hosting US troops and demonstrating its ability to effectively block the Strait of Hormuz.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump vowed more aggressive strikes on Iran, without offering a timeline for ending hostilities. Tehran responded by warning the United States and Israel that “more crushing, broader and more destructive” attacks were in store.
Encouraged by clerical rulers, supporters of the Islamic Republic take to the streets each night, filling public squares to show loyalty even as bombs rain down across the country.
Analysts say the establishment is also seeking to raise the “political and reputational” cost of the strikes at a time when civilian casualties are deeply disturbing for Iranians.
Omid Memarian, a senior Iran analyst at DAWN, a Washington-based think tank, said the decision to send officials into gatherings reflects a layered strategy, including an effort to sustain the morale of core supporters at a moment of acute pressure.
“The system relies heavily on this base; if its supporters withdraw from public space, its ability to project control and authority weakens significantly,” Memarian said.
Speaking to state television, some in the crowds voice unwavering loyalty to Iran’s leadership; others oppose the bombing of their country regardless of politics; and some have a stake in the system, including government employees, students and others whose livelihoods are tied to it.
Hadi Ghaemi, head of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, said the establishment is using such loyal crowds as human shields to raise the cost of any assassination attempts.
“By being in the middle of large crowds they have protections that would make Israeli-American attacks against them very bloody and generate sympathy worldwide,” he said.
POTENTIAL PROTESTERS STAY OFF STREETS AT NIGHT
The Islamic Republic emerged from a 1979 revolution backed by millions of Iranians. But decades of rule marked by corruption, repression and mismanagement have thinned that support, alienating many ordinary people.
While there has been little sign so far of anti-government protests that erupted in January and abated after a deadly crackdown, the establishment has adopted harsh measures – such as arrests, executions and large-scale deployment of security forces – to prevent any sparks of dissent.
Rights groups have warned about “rushed executions” during wartime after Iran hanged at least seven political prisoners during the war.
“Many potential protesters are frightened by the continuing presence of armed men and violent crowds in the streets and largely stay at home once darkness falls,” Ghaemi said.
Uncategorized
US Fighter Jet Shot Down Over Iran, Search Underway for Crew, US Officials Say
FILE PHOTO: A U.S. Air Force F-16 jet fighter takes off from an airbase during CRUZEX, a multinational air exercise hosted by the Brazilian Air Force, in Natal, Brazil November 21, 2018. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker/File Photo
A US fighter jet has been shot down over Iran and a search-and-rescue operation is underway for any survivors, two US officials told Reuters on Friday, in the first such known incident since the war began nearly five weeks ago.
The Pentagon and US Central Command did not respond to requests for comment.
The prospect of US pilots being alive and on the run inside Iran raises the stakes for the United States in a conflict that has struggled to win popular support among Americans, according to opinion polls.
It also presents a challenge to the US military, which faces the twin goals of trying to save the lives of any surviving U.S. crew and safeguard whoever is involved in perilous rescue missions.
Iranian officials called on civilians to be on the lookout for survivors and have flooded social media with images that purport to show wreckage from the aircraft.
The governor of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province said anyone who captured or killed the crew “would be specially commended,” Iran’s semi-official news agency ISNA reported.
The incident follows threats by US President Donald Trump to bomb the country back to the “Stone Age,” including to attack Iran’s energy infrastructure and desalination plants, as he presses Tehran to end the war on US terms.
So far, 13 US military service members have been killed in the conflict and more than 300 have been wounded, according to the US Central Command. No US troops have been taken prisoner by Iran.
While Trump has repeatedly sought to portray the Iranian military as defeated, Reuters has reported on US intelligence showing Iran retains large amounts of missile and drone capability.
As of last week, the United States could only determine with certainty that it has destroyed about a third of Iran’s missile arsenal. The status of around another third was less clear but bombings likely damaged, destroyed or buried those missiles in underground tunnels and bunkers, Reuters’ sources said.
Uncategorized
Trump: US ‘Hasn’t Even Started Destroying What’s Left in Iran’
US President Donald Trump speaks on the day he honors reigning Major League Soccer (MLS) champion Inter Miami CF players and team officials with an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 5, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
i24 News – US President Donald Trump said Israel will halt its military campaign against Iran when he decides to end the war, while also signaling in recent conflicting statements that US strikes on Iranian targets could intensify.
Trump emphasized coordination with Israel, stating, “They’ll do what I tell them… They’ve been a good team player. They’ll stop when I stop. They’ll stop unless they’re provoked.”
At the same time, Trump indicated that the US has not yet fully escalated its military campaign. In a statement on Truth Social on Friday, he said, “Our military… hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran. Bridges next, then electric power plants!” He added that Iran’s new leadership “knows what has to be done and has to be done FAST.”
According to a TIME report, Trump is weighing how to balance further military action with growing domestic pressure. Advisers warned him that public support for the war is declining as fuel prices rise and economic concerns mount in the United States.
The conflict has had global implications, particularly through disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for oil shipments. The report notes that prolonged instability in the waterway could deepen economic strain and impact global markets.
At the same time, the administration has highlighted military achievements while acknowledging uncertainty over how to achieve broader goals such as limiting Iran’s long-term capabilities. Trump has expressed interest in ending the war but also in ensuring what he views as a decisive outcome.
The report indicates that the US is pursuing multiple options, with Trump seeking a way to conclude the conflict while maintaining pressure on Iran through continued or expanded strikes.