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$65M deal to sell American Jewish University’s LA campus collapses, throwing school’s finances into question
(JTA) – The financial future of American Jewish University is in flux again after a plan to raise a reported $65 million by selling its 22-acre campus in Los Angeles to a Swiss education company fell through.
Nine months after the university announced a deal had been reached to sell the property, the prospective buyer, EF Education First, said it was pulling out and abandoning its plans to establish a language school for international students at the site because of the opposition of residents in the highly affluent neighboring community.
“This is obviously a disappointment, but we will regroup to ensure that we use our land and facilities in the best way possible,” AJU president Jeffrey Herbst said in an email to the campus community Wednesday.
Proceeds from the deal were expected to alleviate the financial pressures faced by AJU, which shut down its undergraduate program in 2018 and whose Conservative rabbinical school, like many other seminaries, has struggled to attract applicants. Under Herbst, the university dedicated itself to expanding its online educational offerings.
Only last month, AJU’s Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies announced it would relocate to a leased space in a commercial office building in Pico-Robertson, a Los Angeles neighborhood with a large concentration of Jewish institutions and businesses. A spokesperson said AJU was not prepared to comment on what might happen to that plan given the cancellation of the sale.
In response to questions regarding the announcement, the university released a statement saying it would explore its options for the future of the campus. It is unclear whether the university will try to revive a previous offer from Milken Community School, a Jewish day school, to purchase the site for a reported $60 million, and whether Milken is still interested.
Milken’s head of school Sarah Shulkind declined to comment.
In a letter to the Los Angeles Planning Commission, which was overseeing the proposed conversion of the campus, EF blamed xenophobic complaints by neighbors for its decision to cancel the deal.
“Based on the comments we have heard and the letters submitted in opposition, it is crystal clear to us that there are individuals in the neighborhood who do not want international students in their community,” reads the letter signed by EF Vice President Shawna Marino. “This is the first time we have experienced this level of fear and bias.”
The company declined to respond to questions.
A leader of the local homeowners opposing the sale rejected the company’s characterization of the opposition and said neighbors were worried about the effects of the company’s plans to increase the level of activity at the site, including the housing of up to 700 students, especially in the case of an emergency evacuation in the wildfire-prone area. In one letter to the association, a resident of the adjoining development called the Education First plan “incredibly disturbing and dangerous” while saying that he wanted the land to be used by a school.
“Our concerns were always about safety, security and parking that logically flow from their high enrollment numbers,” Elizabeth Barcohana, vice president of a homeowners association representing nearly 100 nearby homes, told the Forward.
For some in Los Angeles’ Jewish community, the collapse of the sale revived previously abandoned hopes that the campus, with its major library and community ritual mikvah bath, would be handed over to another Jewish institution.
Immediately after the Jewish Journal broke the story of the deal’s cancellation on Wednesday, the Los Angeles newspaper’s publisher, David Suissa, published a short post saying that when Milken’s bid for the campus wasn’t accepted, “there was some bad blood” and that a new deal could bring reconciliation.
“We don’t always get second chances in life,” Suissa wrote. “This is one of them. Hanukkah seems to have come early for our community.”
A proposed law could open the door to other uses for the land. Spearheaded by a legislator who says he is driven by his Jewish identity, the California Senate recently voted to allow colleges and religious institutions to build affordable housing on their properties — even if they aren’t zoned for residential use. The legislation still needs approval from the California’s Assembly and governor. who has made the state’s housing crisis a top priority.
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Dutch Appeals Court Rejects Bid to Stop Arms Exports to Israel
An Israeli tank stands on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, in Israel, Oct. 19, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
A Dutch appeals court on Thursday confirmed a decision to throw out a case brought by pro-Palestinian groups to stop the Netherlands exporting weapons to Israel and trading with Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories.
The court said it was up to the state to decide what actions to take and not judges.
In a written ruling, the court said it could not order a blanket ban because the anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian groups had not shown that the government was routinely failing to consider whether exported arms or dual-use goods would be used to violate rights.
The court in The Hague added that the Dutch government already did enough to discourage companies from working in the territories.
The plaintiffs, citing high civilian casualties in Israel‘s war in the Gaza Strip, had argued that the Dutch state, as a signatory to the 1948 Genocide Convention, has a duty to take all reasonable measures at its disposal to prevent genocide.
Israel has repeatedly dismissed accusations of genocide and said its Gaza campaign was focused solely on fighting Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that started the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel communities.
The court said the Netherlands did have that obligation under the Genocide Convention and that there was “a grave risk” that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
But it backed a decision by a lower court in December last year. In that case, the judges sided with the Dutch state which had said it continually assesses the risk around exported arms, and that it has refused some exports.
The pro-Palestinian NGOs had said the Netherlands had exported radar systems, parts for F-16 fighter jets and warships, police dogs and cameras, and software for surveillance systems.
The Dutch government says that it has halted most arms exports to Israel and only allows parts for defense systems such as the Iron Dome.
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Pelosi won’t seek reelection, ending the pioneering congresswoman’s decades of Jewish outreach
(JTA) — Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the long-serving former Speaker of the House, will step down from Congress at the conclusion of her current term in 2027, her 40th year in office.
Pelosi’s retirement caps an historic career in politics that included extensive outreach toward the Jewish community, from the 85-year-old’s home district of San Francisco to the halls of Israel’s Knesset and beyond.
“Because of your trust I was able to represent our city, our country, around the world, with patriotism and pride,” the representative told her home district Thursday in a social media video announcing her decision. “I will not be seeking reelection to Congress. With a grateful heart I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative.” The Roman Catholic also invoked “the spirit of St. Francis.”
Her replacement could very well be Jewish, as well: California state Sen. Scott Wiener, a co-chair of the state’s Jewish caucus, launched his own bid for Congress weeks before Pelosi’s announcement, saying he would challenge Pelosi if she ran again.
First elected to Congress in 1987, Pelosi was elected speaker in 2007 — the first woman to hold the title. She remained the top House Democrat until stepping down from the leadership role in 2023.
Her father, congressman Thomas D’Alesandro, was active in advocating for a Jewish state in the 1940s. He later became close with Baltimore’s Jewish community in his second political life as that city’s mayor, which meant Nancy often attended bar and bat mitzvahs as a child.
Pelosi carried that spirit into her own time in Congress, visiting Israel and hosting Israeli politicians multiple times. She became especially close with Dalia Itzik, the first woman speaker of the Knesset. Along with most establishment Democrats of the era, she forged close relationships with pro-Israel lobbying giant AIPAC and major pro-Israel donors like Haim Saban, and she would advocate on behalf of Israeli hostages and their families from past regional conflicts.
She also formed bonds with American Jewish leaders including Rabbi David Saperstein, a Reform movement leader who advised her when she first became speaker, and played a key role in elevating the profiles of many Jews in Congress including Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Jamie Raskin and Adam Schiff. Pelosi has several Jewish grandchildren.
She would have faced a formidable challenger in Wiener had she remained in the race — and not just because of growing voter antipathy to long-tenured Democratic leaders. Wiener, who is gay, has sought to inherit the mantle of beloved local Jewish legend Harvey Milk in his progressive politics. The state senator also has notched several victories for California Jews specifically, as his legislative caucus has lobbied the state to create a new office to combat antisemitism in public schools, among other accomplishments.
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Afghanistan and Pakistan Exchange Fire as Peace Talks Begin
People inspect houses and vehicles destroyed during an airstrike, following a temporary ceasefire, amid the conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan, in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, Oct. 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer
Afghan and Pakistani troops briefly exchanged fire along their shared border on Thursday, both nations said, on the same day talks to find a lasting peace restarted in Istanbul.
Each nation blamed the other for starting the exchange of gunfire near Spin Boldak, an Afghan border town towards the south of their 2,600-km (1,600-mile) frontier.
There were no reports of casualties, and spokespeople for both sides said they remained committed to a ceasefire and continued dialogue in Istanbul.
Militaries from the South Asian neighbors previously clashed last month, with dozens killed in the worst such violence since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021.
Both sides signed a ceasefire in Doha on Oct. 19, but a second round of negotiations in Istanbul last week ended without a long-term deal, due to a disagreement over militant groups hostile to Pakistan operating inside Afghanistan.
“We hope that wisdom prevails and peace is restored in the region,” Pakistan‘s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told reporters on Wednesday.
He said Islamabad was pursuing a “one-point agenda” of convincing Afghanistan to rein in militants attacking Pakistani forces across their shared border, allegedly with the Taliban’s knowledge.
Two government sources said the head of Pakistan‘s military intelligence wing, Asim Malik, was leading the Pakistani delegation.
The Afghan delegation is led by intelligence chief Abdul Haq Wasiq, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told state broadcaster RTA.
TALKS AIMED AT PREVENTING REPEAT OF VIOLENCE
Pakistan and the Taliban had for decades enjoyed warm ties, but relations have deteriorated sharply in recent years.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban of harboring the Pakistani Taliban, a separate militant group that has clashed repeatedly with the Pakistani military. Kabul denies this, saying it has no control over the group.
The October clashes began after Pakistani airstrikes earlier in the month on Kabul, the Afghan capital, among other locations, targeting the head of the Pakistani Taliban.
The Afghan Taliban administration responded with attacks on Pakistani military posts along the length of the border, which remains closed to trade.
While the ceasefire between the two nations’ militaries had held until Thursday’s exchanges, clashes have continued between the Pakistani military and the Pakistani Taliban throughout the period, with multiple deaths reported on both sides.