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In American first, Manhattan jury indicts Donald Trump, who promptly invokes Soros
(JTA) — A Manhattan grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump in connection with his role in a payoff to an adult film star about their sexual encounter, making history and prompting Trump to once again invoke the name of a Jewish billionaire who is at the center of antisemitic conspiracy theories.
The indictment Thursday means a former president will be arrested, an American first. Trump has called for protests in that event, which could come as soon as next week. Jewish security watchdogs have been on the alert for violence. Trump’s similar calls for protests to overturn the 2021 election culminated in the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol.
Within minutes of the news of the indictment leaking to media including The New York Times, Trump, who is running for a second term in 2024, repeated his claim, now made daily in his campaign fundraising emails, that Jewish billionaire George Soros was behind the charge.
“Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who was hand-picked and funded by George Soros, is a disgrace,” Trump said in emails to reporters and in social media postings. “Rather than stopping the unprecedented crime wave taking over New York City, he’s doing Joe Biden’s dirty work, ignoring the murders and burglaries and assaults he should be focused on.”
Soros, a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor and financier, has been at the center of countless conspiracy theories for decades, and was the target of a 2018 bomb scare carried out by a pro-Trump antisemitic attacker. He featured prominently in the conspiracy theories embraced by the gunman who massacred 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018.
Bragg is among a number of liberal prosecutors backed in recent election cycles by Color of Change, a political action committee that Soros has funded. He was the largest donor to the group in the most recent election cycle, giving it $1 million out of the $4 million it raised. Beyond that relationship, there is no evidence that Soros is pressing any legal case against Trump.
Jewish groups that track antisemitism and Jewish security said they have been keeping an eye on Trump’s recent calls for protests in the lead-up to his indictment but noted that so far those posts have not attracted the groundswell of support that followed his past appeals. It is unclear whether the indictment or looming arrest will further galvanize Trump’s supporters.
There are multiple investigations into Trump, including by state officials in Georgia into election interference and by federal authorities into the role he played in spurring the Jan. 6 violence by rioters who believed his falsehoods about the 2020 election, and into his alleged mishandling of highly classified documents.
The details of the indictment are not yet public,. One possible crime Bragg might be investigating is whether Trump falsified records to cover up his payment to Daniels, which was made through his former lawyer Michael Cohen.
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Far-right UK activist Tommy Robinson visits Israel on invite of Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli
Far-right British agitator Tommy Robinson, known for his anti-Muslim rhetoric and leadership of the now-defunct extremist British Defense League, is in Israel this week on the invitation of Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli.
Together, Robinson and Chikli toured the site of the Nova music festival massacre, explored Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market on Friday morning and met with a prominent anti-immigration activist, Sheffi Paz, in Tel Aviv.
Robinson has been at the forefront of Britain’s anti-immigration movement and has also been imprisoned five times in the last 20 years for fraud, drug offenses and libeling a 15-year-old Syrian refugee. In 2023, he was arrested for attending a march against antisemitism against the wishes of the march’s Jewish organizers.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the largest Jewish organization in the United Kingdom, decried Chikli’s invitation in a post on X last week.
“Tommy Robinson is a thug who represents the very worst of Britain. His presence undermines those genuinely working to tackle Islamist extremism and foster community cohesion,” the group said. “Minister Chikli has proven himself to be a Diaspora Minister in name only. In our darkest hour, he has ignored the views of the vast majority of British Jews, who utterly and consistently reject Robinson and everything he stands for.”
Chikli pushed back on the Board of Deputies’ assessment, and accused them of becoming “openly aligned with left-wing, woke, pro-Palestinian parties.” (In August, the group called for a rapid increase in Gaza aid months after previously disciplining its members for signing an open letter condemning the war in Gaza.)
Now, after arriving in Israel Wednesday, Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, used the opportunity to take aim at U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“I’ve arrived in the beautiful nation of Israel 
,” wrote Robinson, who is not Jewish, in a post on X. “A country with strong, patriotic leadership in @netanyahu and his party. Unlike the weak and cowardly @Keir_Starmer and his party of wrong’uns in the UK.”
Chikli has long associated himself with far-right activists and politicians in Europe, with whom he shares an interest in opposing Muslim immigration. Earlier this year, he stirred controversy by inviting far-right leaders from Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and France to speak at Israel’s International Conference on Combating Antisemitism.
On Thursday, Robinson posted an interview clip with Chikli where he asked the minister whether he believed Britain will “have to experience its own Oct. 7” in order to “realize that these terror organizations must be stopped.”
“I really hope you shouldn’t, but in order to make sure it will never happen, you need all other set of tools to address this challenge, and you need to be far, far more decisive, far, far more aggressive, and to understand that it most likely, it won’t go smooth and it won’t go quietly,” Chikli answered. “But if you won’t do it, I’m not sure there’s going to be Britain.”
Robinson posted videos showing shoppers approaching him and Chikli in Mahane Yehuda to express their support, and their opposition to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who recently recognized an independent Palestinian state over the objections of the organized Jewish community in Britain and the Israeli government.
“Despite @BoardofDeputies saying I wasn’t welcome, the residents of Jerusalem welcomed me with open arms,” Robinson wrote.
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The post Far-right UK activist Tommy Robinson visits Israel on invite of Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Course on Yiddish in Ukraine in the 20th century
ווי בײַ יעדן לערן־זמן פֿון דער ווירטועלער ייִדיש־פּראָגראַם בײַם אַרבעטער רינג, וועט מען במשך פֿונעם האַרבסט־זמן 2025 לערנען אַ צאָל אינטערעסאַנטע ווײַטהאַלטער־קורסן אויף ייִדיש.
דער פֿאָרשער גענאַדי עסטרײַך וועט לערנען אַ קורס וועגן דער ייִדישער ליטעראַטור אין אוקראַיִנע במשך פֿונעם 20סטן יאָרהונדערט, אַרײַנגערעכנט די שרײַבער פֿון דער „קיִעווער גרופּע“— דוד בערגעלסאָן און דער ניסתּר. מע וועט אויך דיסקוטירן די ייִדישע טאָגשולן אין די 1920ער און 1930ער; די השפּעה פֿונעם „קיִעווער אינסטיטוט פֿון דער ייִדישער קולטור“ און די ווערק פֿון די שרײַבער אַבֿרהם אַבטשוק, איציק קיפּניס, ריווע באַליאַסנע, חיים גילדין און הירש בלאָשטיין.
דער לינגוויסט לייזער בורקאָ וועט לערנען וועגן די ייִדישע דיאַלעקטן בײַ די הײַנטיקע חרדים, אַרײַנגערעכנט דעם אונגעריש־סאַטמערער דיאַלעקט פֿון וויליאַמסבורג, דעם ליובאַוויטשער דיאַלעקט פֿון קראַון־הײַטס און דעם ליטווישן פֿון לייקוווּד.
אָט זענען די אַנדערע קורסן וואָס מע קען אויסקלײַבן:
- אַן אינטענסיווער שפּראַכקורס צו פֿאַרבעסערן דאָס פֿאַרשטיין, לייענען, רעדן און שרײַבן ייִדיש (איוו יאַכנאָוויץ)
- מעשׂיות פֿון יצחק באַשעוויס זינגערס זכרונות, „אין מײַן טאַטנס בית־דין שטוב“ (שבֿע צוקער)
- די לידער פֿונעם אַוואַנגאַרדיסטישן פּאָעט יעקבֿ גלאַטשטיין (אַבֿרהם ליכטענבוים)
- מגילת־אסתּר אין דער מאָדערנער ייִדישער ליטעראַטור (נאַטאַליע קריניצע)
- שלום אַשעס ראָמאַן „קידוש השם“ (קאָליע באָראָדולין)
- ווי אַזוי אַרויסצורעדן און ניצן לשון־קודשדיקע טערמינען פֿון דער ייִדישער ליטעראַטור (יצחק ניבאָרסקי)
- וואָס וועט זײַן מיט דער צוקונפֿט פֿון ייִדישן הומאָר? (דניאל גלאַי)
- שלום עליכמס ראָמאַן „אין שטורעם“ (אַבֿרהם ליכטענבוים)
- אַ שמועסקרײַז מיטן ייִדישן נאָוועליסט און פּאָעט באָריס סאַנדלער
- דאָס קול פֿונעם ייִדישן שרײַבער (שבֿע צוקער)
נאָך מער פּרטים אָדער זיך צו פֿאַרשרײַבן אויף אַ קורס, גיט אַ קוועטש דאָ.
The post Course on Yiddish in Ukraine in the 20th century appeared first on The Forward.
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UK Court to Hear Challenge to Pro-Hamas Group Ban After Government Loses Appeal
Police officers block a street as pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather in protest against Britain’s Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s plans to proscribe the “Palestine Action” group in the coming weeks, in London, Britain, June 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
The British government on Friday lost its bid to block the co-founder of the anti-Israel group Palestine Action bringing a legal challenge over the banning of the group under anti-terrorism laws.
Huda Ammori, who helped found Palestine Action in 2020, was given permission to challenge the group‘s proscription on the grounds that the ban is a disproportionate interference with free speech rights, with her case due to be heard next month.
Britain’s Home Office (interior ministry) then asked the Court of Appeal to overturn that decision and rule that any challenge to the ban should be heard by a specialist tribunal.
Judge Sue Carr rejected the Home Office’s appeal, saying challenging the proscription in the High Court was quicker, particularly where people have been charged and are facing trial for expressing support for Palestine Action.
The court also ruled that Ammori could challenge the ban in the High Court on additional grounds, which Ammori said was a significant victory.
“It’s time for the government to listen to the overwhelming and mounting backlash … and lift this widely condemned, utterly Orwellian ban,” she said in a statement.
The Home Office did not immediately comment.
DIRECT ACTION GROUP BANNED IN JULY
Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organization by the government in July, making it a crime to be a member, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
More than 2,000 people have since been arrested for holding signs in support of the group, with over 100 charged.
Before the ban, Palestine Action had increasingly targeted Israel-linked companies in Britain, often spraying red paint, blocking entrances, or damaging equipment.
It accused Britain’s government of complicity in what it said were Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Israel has repeatedly denied committing war crimes in its two-year military campaign, which began after Palestinian Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel and Hamas agreed a ceasefire last week.
Palestine Action particularly focused on Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems, and Britain’s government cited a raid by activists at an Elbit site last year when it decided to outlaw the group.
The group was banned a month after some of its members broke into the RAF Brize Norton air base and damaged two planes, for which four members have been charged.
Critics of the ban – including United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk and civil liberties groups – argue that damaging property does not amount to terrorism.
However, Britain’s former interior minister Yvette Cooper, who is now foreign minister, previously said violence and criminal damage have no place in legitimate protest.