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How Jesse Jackson changed his mind about Jews — and what Abe Foxman made of it
As Reverend Jesse Jackson navigated a tricky relationship with the Jewish community in the late 1980s and early 1990s, former ADL chief Abraham Foxman had a front-row seat.
“I was very critical of him publicly, with his meeting with Arafat, with Farrakhan,” Foxman told me in a phone call, referring to Jackson’s public meetings with PLO leader Yasser Arafat in 1979 and Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan in 1984. And “with ‘Hymietown’” — Jackson’s infamous reference to New York City using a slur for Jews during his ’84 presidential campaign.
But as Jackson changed in the face of Jewish uproar, so did Foxman’s criticism of him. In the late 1980s, when the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that Jackson had been taking pains to grow closer to the Jewish community, Foxman told them that “It is a different Jackson in 1988 than in 1984.”
“One has to recognize and welcome that certain sensitivity he is now showing,” he said.
Things still weren’t always rosy between the duo. In 1990, Foxman accused Jackson of using a prayer service for then-New York Mayor David Dinkins as an occasion to “attack Israel”; at the event, Jackson had said “the birthplace of Jesus the Christ is under occupation.” But still, the two leaders developed a cordial relationship over the years — so much so that Jackson spoke at a 2015 dinner marking Foxman’s retirement.
In a phone interview after Jackson’s death this week at age 84, Foxman held much the same line as he expressed in 1987. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What did you make of the arc of Jackson’s relationship with the Jewish community?
Look, we’re a strange people. We want people to love us. We want people to come around, and when they do, we don’t trust them, and we’re not always willing to accept people’s change of heart. Now, people would always say to me, you don’t know what’s in the kishkes. True. You don’t know. But it’s also very important what’s on the tongue.
He was a politician, and as a politician, he was smart. At least pragmatically, not only did he say the right things, but you know, he was the guy who couldn’t pass the synagogue without going in. He was available to the Jewish community. He stood up on Soviet Jewry, on Iranian Jewry, on Syrian Jewry, on Ethiopian Jewry. He couldn’t miss a minyan.
He was there for us, which was very important. Because in the struggle to get freedom for Jews in all these places, we needed more than just the Jewish community.
What lessons do you think we as a community should take from his turnaround?
We have to learn that people can change their minds and hearts. I think Jesse Jackson is a great example for us, having gone from “Hymietown” to Arafat, when Arafat was really a terrorist, and to Farrakhan, who was probably the most significant antisemite all these years. If people can understand that they can come around from being a bigot, then I think it serves us. It serves them. It serves the community.
What was your personal relationship like?
Basically, when we needed him, I would pick up the phone and say, “Listen, can you be at such and such a rally on behalf of Soviet Jewry,” or “we need you to reach out to the president of Syria.” He said to me, “Abe, if you need me, call me.” And so when I felt we needed him, I called him. And there were no excuses. He said, “I’ll look on my calendar, if I can be there, I’ll be there.” And most of the time, he was there.
What would you say to people who are still skeptical about whether he really did change his perspective on Jews?
We’ll never know. The fact is, he was a symbol. People would ask me, “well, how do you know what he really feels?” And I’d answer, “I don’t know.” I don’t know what a lot of people think, you know, especially when they’re politicians, but it’s important that they’re on your side.
We live now in a time where there’s no civility. There’s no truth. If you get people to be civil to each other, to respect each other, to stand with each other, we’re ahead.
I think these are tougher times to get people to change their minds and hearts, because we don’t talk to each other. But we shouldn’t hesitate to reach out if we think there is a chance to change people’s hearts and minds.
The post How Jesse Jackson changed his mind about Jews — and what Abe Foxman made of it appeared first on The Forward.
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Israel Expands Iran Strikes as Tehran Moves to Name New Supreme Leader
People stand near a destroyed vehicle as smoke rises after a reported strike on Shahran fuel tanks, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Israeli forces expanded their bombardment of Iran overnight, striking fuel depots near Tehran, while Bahrain said an Iranian attack had damaged one of its desalination plants, signaling a widening assault on vital infrastructure across the region.
As fighting escalated on day nine of the US-Israeli campaign against Iran, Tehran moved closer to naming a new supreme leader after the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with every indication suggesting his powerful son Mojtaba could take charge.
Israel’s military threatened to kill any replacement for Khamenei, while US President Donald Trump said the war might only end once Iran’s military and rulers had been wiped out.
BLACK SMOKE HANGS OVER TEHRAN
Thick, choking black smoke hung over Tehran on Sunday, residents said, after strikes on oil storage facilities had lit up the night sky with plumes of orange flame.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the large-scale attack marked a “dangerous new phase” of the conflict and amounted to a war crime.
“By targeting fuel depots, the aggressors are releasing hazardous materials and toxic substances into the air, poisoning civilians, devastating the environment, and endangering lives on a massive scale,” he wrote on X.
Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters the depots were used to fuel Iran’s war effort, including producing or storing propellant for ballistic missiles. “They are a legal military target,” he said.
Shortly after the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government would press on with the assault and strike Iran’s rulers “without mercy.”
“We have an organized plan with many surprises to destabilize the regime and enable change,” he said in a video statement. “We have many more targets.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he was not interested in negotiating an end to the conflict that has sent energy prices skyward, hurt business and snarled global travel.
“At some point, I don’t think there will be anybody left maybe to say, ‘We surrender,’” Trump said.
IRANIAN DRONES STRIKE GULF STATES
The governments of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain reported Iranian drone attacks in their countries on Saturday and early Sunday, with a huge fire engulfing a government office block in Kuwait.
Kuwait’s interior ministry said two of its officers were killed “while performing duties,” while the UAE said four migrant workers had died in Iranian attacks there so far.
Showing the intensity of the offensive, the UAE said air defense teams had knocked out 16 ballistic missiles and 113 drones fired towards the Gulf state on Sunday. One missile fell in the sea and four drones hit the country’s territories.
Bahrain said on Sunday that an Iranian drone attack had caused “material damage” to a desalination plant, though the country’s electricity and water authority said the strike had not disrupted water supplies.
It was the first time an Arab country has said Iran targeted a desalination facility during the conflict. On Saturday, Iran said a US attack had struck a freshwater desalination plant on its Qeshm Island, disrupting water supplies in 30 villages, calling it “a dangerous move with grave consequences.”
Saudi Arabia has told Tehran that continued Iranian attacks on the kingdom and its energy sector could push Riyadh to respond in kind, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Lebanon has also been pulled into the conflict after the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah launched rockets and drones into Israel last week, with nearly 400 people killed by Israel over the past week, the health ministry said.
Israel killed at least four people when it struck a hotel in central Beirut on Sunday, saying it had targeted Iranian commanders operating in the city — the first such strike on the heart of the Lebanese capital — amid heavy bombardment of the southern suburbs and the country’s south and east.
IRAN GETTING CLOSER TO NAMING A NEW LEADER
The clerical body charged with choosing Iran’s next supreme leader could meet as soon as Sunday to name a successor to Khamenei, who was killed in an attack early in the conflict, Iranian media reported.
A majority consensus over the successor has more or less been reached, said Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Mohammad Mehdi Mirbaqeri, according to the Mehr news agency.
Another member of the council, Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, said in a video that a candidate had been selected based on Khamenei’s guidance that Iran’s top leader should be “hated by the enemy.”
Two Iranian sources told Reuters last week that the clear favorite was Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who amassed power under his father as a senior figure in the security forces and the vast business empire they control. Choosing him would signal that hardliners remain firmly in charge.
Trump has justified the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq by saying Tehran posed an imminent threat to the United States, without providing evidence. He has also said Iran was too close to being able to build a nuclear weapon.
The US and Israel have discussed sending special forces into Iran to secure its stockpile of highly enriched uranium at a later stage of the war, Axios reported, citing four people with knowledge of the discussions.
Asked on Saturday about sending ground troops to secure nuclear sites, Trump said it was something they could do “later on.”
The US-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, according to Iran’s U.N. ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani.
Iranian attacks have killed 10 people in Israel. At least six US service members have been killed, with Iran saying on Sunday it had struck US bases in Kuwait. Israel said on Sunday that two of its soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon.
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Iran Has Lost Nearly 70% of Its Missile Launch Capabilities
An Iranian missile is launched during a military exercise in an undisclosed location in Iran, Aug. 20, 2025. Photo: Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran has reportedly suffered a significant reduction in its missile launch capabilities since the start of the military campaign.
According to information broadcast Saturday evening by Israeli public broadcaster Kan, a large portion of Iran’s missile launch systems have been destroyed or disabled during ongoing strikes carried out by Israel and the United States.
Estimates suggest that roughly 70% of Iran’s missile launchers have been either destroyed or rendered inoperable since the beginning of the offensive. Prior to the campaign, intelligence assessments indicated that Iran possessed approximately 420 missile launchers. Current estimates now place the number of operational systems at around 100.
Reports indicate that about 150 launchers were completely destroyed in precision strikes, while another 150 were damaged in air attacks, leaving them temporarily unusable. Some of the damaged launch systems are believed to have been moved into underground facilities, preventing their immediate deployment.
Despite these losses, military operations are continuing with the objective of further weakening Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities.
The broader military campaign has entered its eighth day. The strikes are targeting not only missile launch platforms but also wider military infrastructure and institutions linked to the Iranian regime.
According to the report, the campaign is being coordinated between Israel and the United States, with each focusing on different operational zones across Iran.
Israel is primarily targeting missile launch sites in western Iran, which are viewed as posing a direct threat to Israeli territory.
US forces are concentrating their strikes in southern Iran, where missile launches have previously targeted Gulf states and American military bases in the region.
The ongoing air campaign is part of a broader strategy aimed at permanently degrading Iran’s offensive missile capabilities and limiting its capacity to carry out long-range strikes across the Middle East.
Military operations remain active, and regional tensions continue to run high as the conflict enters its second week.
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Two Israeli Soldiers Killed in Southern Lebanon, Israel Military Says
The late Master Sergeant Maher Khatar, 38. Photo: IDF Spokesperson
i24 News – The Israel Defense Forces announced that Master Sergeant Maher Khatar, 38, from Majdal Shams, was killed during combat operations in southern Lebanon. Khatar served in the Combat Engineering Corps in the 91st Division.
The IDF said another soldier was also killed in the incident, though the name has not yet been cleared for publication. In addition, one combat officer was lightly injured and was evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment. The officer’s family has been notified, the military said.
According to the military, Khatar fell during an overnight incident in which missiles were fired toward IDF soldiers operating in the area.
The troops were attempting to retrieve a broken vehicle from a position in southern Lebanon when the attack occurred. The specific type of missiles used in the strike has not yet been determined, officials said.
Immediately following the attack, Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck multiple targets in the area, while Israeli forces carried out heavy fire against positions linked to the attack, according to a military official.
The IDF said its forces remain deployed in forward defensive positions along the northern front in order to protect residents of northern Israel. Military officials said regional divisions are conducting ongoing situational assessments and remain prepared for potential escalation.
“The IDF will continue to operate with force and determination to prevent enemy attacks and eliminate any threat posed to the State of Israel and its residents,” a military official said. The army added that it shares the family’s grief and will continue to support them.