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Far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich to speak to US-based Israel Bonds group on his first US trip as minister
(JTA) — The U.S.-based Israel Bonds organization is set to host Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right Israeli government minister, at an upcoming conference.
The decision stands in contrast to hundreds of rabbis who have said they will not welcome Smotrich, the finance minister and leader of the far-right Religious Zionism Party, into their synagogues. They have encouraged other groups to follow suit.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency confirmed Wednesday that Smotrich, who has a history of bigoted statements, will be addressing the Washington, D.C. leadership meeting of the Development Corporation for Israel-State of Israel Bonds, which takes place from March 12-14. Smotrich was recently given authority over civilian life in Israel’s West Bank settlements. He has spent the past several days issuing conflicting statements about whether Huwara, a Palestinian village where settlers rioted and burned buildings following the murder of two Israelis, should be wiped out.
A source familiar with the gathering of Israel Bonds, which sells Israeli government bonds to investors abroad, confirmed Smotrich will be speaking. A spokeswoman for the group said it will not be commenting and that the leadership meeting will be closed to press. Israel Bonds CEO Dani Naveh, who is close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, did not return messages sent via email, text message and LinkedIn.
Israel Bonds does have an interest in the particulars of Smotrich’s job. It works closely with the Finance Ministry to determine where to invest in the country’s economy. It has not been shy in the past about featuring its collaboration with previous finance ministers.
The entry of Smotrich’s Religious Zionism Party into the government has triggered a crisis for some American Jewish organizations, who oppose Smotrich’s views on Palestinians and minority groups in Israel. Smotrich supports annexing West Bank settlements to Israel and has called himself a “proud homophobe”.
On Wednesday, he said that the West Bank village of Hawara should be “wiped out” by the government, but later backtracked and wrote on social media that he meant Israel should be “acting in a targeted way against terrorists and supporters of terror.”
More than 330 rabbis have said they will not welcome Smotrich and others in his party into their congregations, and that they will lobby others in the community to boycott them. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations held its colloquy in Israel last month and did not host any sessions with ministers from the Religious Zionism Party, though it did invite them to a lunch for all members of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. Israel Bonds is a member of the conference.
There have been reports that the Biden administration will also not entertain meetings with members of the Religious Zionism Party.
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The post Far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich to speak to US-based Israel Bonds group on his first US trip as minister appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Tucker’s Ideas About Jews Come from Darkest Corners of the Internet, Says Huckabee After Combative Interview
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a combative interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, right-wing firebrand Tucker Carlson made a host of contentious and often demonstrably false claims that quickly went viral online. Huckabee, who repeatedly challenged the former Fox News star during the interview, subsequently made a long post on X, identifying a pattern of bad-faith arguments, distortions and conspiracies in Carlson’s rhetorical style.
Huckabee pointed out his words were not accorded by Carlson the same degree of attention and curiosity the anchor evinced toward such unsavory characters as “the little Nazi sympathizer Nick Fuentes or the guy who thought Hitler was the good guy and Churchill the bad guy.”
“What I wasn’t anticipating was a lengthy series of questions where he seemed to be insinuating that the Jews of today aren’t really same people as the Jews of the Bible,” Huckabee wrote, adding that Tucker’s obsession with conspiracies regarding the provenance of Ashkenazi Jews obscured the fact that most Israeli Jews were refugees from the Arab and Muslim world.
The idea that Ashkenazi Jews are an Asiatic tribe who invented a false ancestry “gained traction in the 80’s and 90’s with David Duke and other Klansmen and neo-Nazis,” Huckabee wrote. “It has really caught fire in recent years on the Internet and social media, mostly from some of the most overt antisemites and Jew haters you can find.”
Carlson branded Israel “probably the most violent country on earth” and cited the false claim that Israel President Isaac Herzog had visited the infamous island of the late, disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“The current president of Israel, whom I know you know, apparently was at ‘pedo island.’ That’s what it says,” Carlson said, citing a debunked claim made by The Times reporter Gabrielle Weiniger. “Still-living, high-level Israeli officials are directly implicated in Epstein’s life, if not his crimes, so I think you’d be following this.”
Another misleading claim made by Carlson was that there were more Christians in Qatar than in Israel.
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Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Not Bow to Pressure Amid US Nuclear Talks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would not bow its head to pressure from world powers amid nuclear talks with the United States.
“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads… but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech carried live by state TV.
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Italy’s RAI Apologizes after Latest Gaffe Targets Israeli Bobsleigh Team
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Bobsleigh – 4-man Heat 1 – Cortina Sliding Centre, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – February 21, 2026. Adam Edelman of Israel, Menachem Chen of Israel, Uri Zisman of Israel, Omer Katz of Israel in action during Heat 1. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Italy’s state broadcaster RAI was forced to apologize to the Jewish community on Saturday after an off‑air remark advising its producers to “avoid” the Israeli crew was broadcast before coverage of the Four-Man bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics.
The head of RAI’s sports division had already resigned earlier in the week after his error-ridden commentary at the Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony two weeks ago triggered a revolt among its journalists.
On Saturday, viewers heard “Let’s avoid crew number 21, which is the Israeli one” and then “no, because …” before the sound was cut off.
RAI CEO Giampaolo Rossi said the incident represented a “serious” breach of the principles of impartiality, respect and inclusion that should guide the public broadcaster.
He added that RAI had opened an internal inquiry to swiftly determine any responsibility and any potential disciplinary procedures.
In a separate statement RAI’s board of directors condemned the remark as “unacceptable.”
The board apologized to the Jewish community, the athletes involved and all viewers who felt offended.
RAI is the country’s largest media organization and operates national television, radio and digital news services.
The union representing RAI journalists, Usigrai, had said Paolo Petrecca’s opening ceremony commentary had dealt “a serious blow” to the company’s credibility.
His missteps included misidentifying venues and public figures, and making comments about national teams that were widely criticized.