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Jacob Frey, Minneapolis’ Jewish mayor, returns to the spotlight after ICE shooting in his city
(JTA) — Minneapolis’ Jewish mayor Jacob Frey is once again in the spotlight after he delivered a heated message to federal immigration forces on Wednesday after an ICE officer shot and killed a 37-year-old woman: “Get the f–k out of Minneapolis.”
“There is little I can say again that will make this situation better, but I do have a message for our community, for our city, and I have a message for ICE,” said Frey. “To ICE, get the f–k out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here.”
Frey’s comments came shortly after an ICE agent fired into a car during a confrontation, killing a 37-year-old Renee Good, a U.S. citizen.
While President Donald Trump and other administration officials have claimed that the shooting was an act of self defense and that Good tried to had run over the ICE agent with her car, viral video of the incident does not show her car hitting the agent or driving toward him.
The incident comes as the Trump administration has announced the deployment of 2,000 federal agents and officers to the Minneapolis area amid a crackdown on illegal immigration and allegations of fraud.
ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis. pic.twitter.com/1gfFC0Le6Q
— Mayor Jacob Frey (@MayorFrey) January 7, 2026
“Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety, and you are doing exactly the opposite. People are being hurt. Families are being ripped apart,” continued Frey at the new conference.
Frey’s strong stance against ICE in his city is not the first time the 44-year-old Jewish mayor has garnered national attention. When he was first elected in 2017, upsetting an incumbent, he drew attention for his youth and good looks, but he has since intersected with some of the biggest news moments in recent U.S. history.
In 2020, Frey faced condemnation after he declined to throw his support behind abolishing the police in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by four of the city’s police officers. The shooting Wednesday occurred less than a mile from the site of Floyd’s murder, which sparked nationwide protests against police brutality.
In February 2024, Frey vetoed his city council’s resolution endorsing a ceasefire in the war in Gaza, calling it “a one-sided resolution that adds more division to an already fraught situation.”
While Frey said that he supported a ceasefire at the time, he said that the ceasefire resolution “uplifts the history of Palestinians, and all but erases that of Israeli Jews.”
Frey grew up in Oakton, Virginia, in a Reform Jewish household, the son of parents who both worked as professional ballet dancers.
“We weren’t as much religiously Jewish,” he said in 2019, as he first tangled with Trump after saying the city would not foot the bill for security for Trump’s rally there. “I’m not even sure [whether] my mother believes in God or not, but she took tradition very seriously—bagels and lox on Sunday, no questions.”
After Trump tweeted attacks on him at the time, calling him a “lightweight mayor,” Frey received threatening social media messages and phone calls. Some contained antisemitic rhetoric, he said.
Frey attends two Reform synagogues in Minneapolis — Temple Israel and Shir Tikvah — together with his wife Sarah Clarke, a community organizer and lobbyist who recently converted to Judaism. The couple has two young daughters, and Frey frequently posts about celebrating Jewish holidays on his Instagram account.
The mayor draws inspiration from Jewish values, he said in 2019.
“The moral imperative outlined by tikkun olam,” he said, referring to the Hebrew phrase for the Jewish precept to heal the world, “is something I believe in strongly and is foundational both to Judaism but also my philosophy in government.”
In November, Frey, who is a member of the state’s Democratic Farm and Labor Party, won a third term as Minneapolis mayor against a democratic socialist opponent who had said he would not affiliate with “Zionist lobby groups.” His opponent, state Sen. Omar Fateh, drew comparisons to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The post Jacob Frey, Minneapolis’ Jewish mayor, returns to the spotlight after ICE shooting in his city appeared first on The Forward.
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Exclusive: Israeli Officials Harshly Critical of Steve Witkoff’s Influence on US Policy on Gaza, Iran, i24NEWS Told
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – Amid growing disagreements with the Trump administration over the composition of the Board of Peace for Gaza and the question of a strike on Iran, officials in Israel point to a key figure behind decisions seen as running counter to Israeli interests: Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
The officials mention sustained dissatisfaction with Witkoff. Sources close to the PM Netanyahu told i24NEWS on Saturday evening: “For several months now, the feeling has been that envoy Steve Witkoff has strong ties, for his own reasons, across the Middle East, and that at times the Israeli interest does not truly prevail in his decision-making.”
This criticism relates both to the proposed inclusion of Turkey and Qatar in Gaza’s governing bodies and to the Iranian threat. A senior Israeli official put it bluntly: “If it turns out that he is among those blocking a strike on Iran, that is far more than a coincidence.”
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EU Warns of Downward Spiral After Trump Threatens Tariffs Over Greenland
European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on June 17, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Yves Herman
European Union leaders on Saturday warned of a “dangerous downward spiral” over US President Donald Trump‘s vow to implement increasing tariffs on European allies until the US is allowed to buy Greenland.
“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Antonio Costa said in posts on X.
The bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said tariffs would hurt prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic, while distracting the EU from its “core task” of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“China and Russia must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among allies,” Kallas said on X.
“Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity. If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO.”
Ambassadors from the European Union’s 27 countries will convene on Sunday for an emergency meeting to discuss their response to the tariff threat.
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Israel Says US Gaza Executive Board Composition Against Its Policy
FILE PHOTO: Displaced Palestinians shelter at a tent camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Haseeb Alwazeer/File Photo
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that this week’s Trump administration announcement on the composition of a Gaza executive board was not coordinated with Israel and ran counter to government policy.
It said Foreign Minister Gideon Saar would raise the issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The statement did not specify what part of the board’s composition contradicted Israeli policy. An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment.
The board, unveiled by the White House on Friday, includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Israel has repeatedly opposed any Turkish role in Gaza.
Other members of the executive board include Sigrid Kaag, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process; an Israeli‑Cypriot billionaire; and a minister from the United Arab Emirates, which established relations with Israel in 2020.
Washington this week also announced the start of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s plan, announced in September, to end the war in Gaza. This includes creating a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in the enclave.
The first members of the so-called Board of Peace – to be chaired by Trump and tasked with supervising Gaza’s temporary governance – were also named. Members include Rubio, billionaire developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.