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Nanny on trial for allegedly poisoning Jewish family in France ‘because they have money’
(JTA) — A nanny from Algeria went on trial Tuesday in a suburb of Paris for allegedly poisoning the Jewish family she was employed by because of their religion.
The defendant, identified as Leïla Y., 42, had been living in France illegally when she was first hired by the Jewish family in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, in November 2023, according to the French outlet Le Parisien.
Two months later, the mother of the family, who has three children aged 2, 5 and 7, went to a local police station after she tasted cleaning products in her family’s food and wine and experienced a burning sensation in her eyes when using her makeup remover. Her 5-year-old daughter then said she had seen the nanny putting a soapy product into a bottle labeled “Jerusalem,” a brand of kosher alcohol, according to Le Parisien.
Following an investigation, toxicology reports found high levels of polyethylene glycol and other chemicals in the home’s wine, whisky, fig brandy, grape juice and pasta, which were “harmful, even corrosive, and can cause serious injuries to the digestive tract,” according to a committal order from the criminal court obtained by Le Parisien.
During her arrest and a subsequent search of the home on Feb. 5, 2024, Leïla Y. told police, “Because they have money and power, I should never have worked for a Jewish woman; she only brought me trouble.”
While in custody, she also told officers, “I was angry, they were disrespecting me,” adding, “I knew it might cause them pain, but not enough to kill them.”
The trial comes as antisemitic incidents and attacks in France have surged since Oct. 7, with the first six months of 2025 seeing 646 antisemitic acts, according to the French Interior Ministry.
“This is a particularly well-documented and illuminating case concerning the reality of everyday or pervasive antisemitism,” said Sacha Ghozlan, a lawyer for the family, in a statement to Le Parisien.
In recent years, other trials concerning antisemitism in France have also roiled the local Jewish community. In 2021, French Jews demonstrated after a court ruled against that a man accused of killing his Jewish neighbor, Sarah Halimi, was too high on marijuana to be criminally responsible for his actions. In June 2024, the trial and conviction of two teenage boys for the antisemitic gang rape of a 12-year-old girl also sparked protests by local Jewish groups.
Yonathan Arfi, the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France, was called as a witness in the trial of Leïla Y., telling Le Parisien that the case, “reveals a structural violence, the singular gravity of which must neither be minimized nor concealed.”
The Union of French Jewish Students and International League Against Racism and Antisemitism both joined the family’s civil case.
“Since October 7th, France has seen an unprecedented explosion of antisemitic acts: threats, violence, intimidation, vandalism,” wrote the UEJF in a post on Instagram. “We call on the justice system to establish the whole truth and to fully recognize the antisemitic dimension of these acts. We express our entire solidarity with the targeted family, which has been betrayed in its most essential intimacy: that of the protection of its children.”
In a post on X, the American Jewish Committee also wrote that it was “horrified and outraged” by the alleged poisoning, citing a 2024 survey of antisemitism in France conducted by the organization which found that “one in four French Jews say they have been the victim of an antisemitic act since October 7, 2023.”
Leïla Y. is being tried on numerous charges, including falsifying documents and “administering a harmful substance resulting in incapacity exceeding eight days, committed on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion.”
Her lawyer, Solange Marle, argued that Leïla Y.’s statements were “focused on a class issue and financial resentment,” according to Le Parisien.
But according to the outlet, the children told police that she had “regularly asked them questions about religion” and that the younger child saw her “repeatedly knock on mezuzots.” The defendant also reportedly googled “Berber Jewish women” and “religious practices of Judaism” in December 2023, and told a security guard at the family’s school, “But they have money, they can give it to me.”
The mother of the Jewish family, who has requested anonymity, told Le Parisien that the alleged poisoning had left them with “indelible scars.”
“We live in constant fear; we no longer trust anyone,” the mother said. “Even though I’m not responsible for what happened, I live with the guilt of having let someone into our home who endangered what we hold most dear in the world: our children.”
The post Nanny on trial for allegedly poisoning Jewish family in France ‘because they have money’ appeared first on The Forward.
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Trump Says Gas Prices May Remain High Through November Midterm Election
U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters while Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio look on, as they attend a meeting with oil industry executives, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 9, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the price of oil and gasoline may remain high through November’s midterm elections, a rare acknowledgement of the potential political fallout from his decision to attack Iran six weeks ago.
“It could be, or the same, or maybe a little bit higher, but it should be around the same,” Trump, who is in Miami for the weekend, told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo” when asked whether the cost of oil and gas would be lower by the fall.
The average price for regular gas at US service stations has exceeded $4 per gallon for most of April, according to data from GasBuddy. Trump’s comments on Sunday came after weeks of asserting that the spike in prices is a short-term phenomenon, though his top advisers are cognizant of the war’s economic impacts, officials have said.
Earlier on Sunday, Trump announced on social media that the US Navy would blockade the Strait of Hormuz and intercept any ship that paid a crossing fee to Iran, after marathon talks between the US and Iran in Pakistan over the weekend did not yield a peace deal.
“No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Any US blockade is likely to add more uncertainty to the eventual resolution of the conflict, which is currently subject to a tenuous two-week ceasefire. The new tactic is in response to Iran’s own closure of the strait’s critical shipping lanes, which has caused global oil prices to skyrocket about 50%.
UNPOPULAR WAR HITS TRUMP’S APPROVAL
The war began on February 28, when the US launched a joint bombing campaign with Israel against Iran. The scope quickly expanded as Iran and its allies attacked nearby countries, while Israel targeted Hezbollah with massive strikes in Lebanon.
The war has buffeted global financial markets and caused thousands of civilian deaths, mostly in Iran and Lebanon.
Trump’s political standing at home has suffered, with polls showing the war is unpopular among most Americans, who are frustrated by rising gasoline prices.
The president’s approval rating has hit the lowest levels of his second term in office, raising concern among Republicans that his party is poised to lose control of Congress in the midterm elections. A Democratic majority in either chamber could launch investigations into the Trump administration while blocking much of his legislative agenda.
US Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, questioned the strategy behind Trump’s planned blockade.
“I don’t understand how blockading the strait is going to somehow push the Iranians into opening it,” he told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
In a separate appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Warner said the blockade would not undermine Iranian control of the waterway.
“The Iranians have hundreds of speedboats where they can still mine the strait or put bombs against tankers in closing the strait,” he said. “How is that going to ever bring down gas prices?”
Although Trump has repeatedly said that the war would be over soon, Republican US Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday that achieving US aims in Iran “could take a long time.”
“It’s going to be a long-term project,” said Johnson, who was not asked about Trump’s proposed blockade. “I never thought this would be easy.”
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Israel’s Ben-Gvir Visits Flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound
Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir walks inside the Knesset, in Jerusalem, Oct. 13, 2025. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Pool via REUTERS
Israel’s far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Sunday, saying he was seeking greater access for Jewish worshipers and drawing condemnation from Jordan and the Palestinians.
The compound in Jerusalem’s walled Old City is one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East. Known to Jews as Temple Mount, it is the most sacred site in Judaism and is Islam’s third-holiest site.
Under a delicate, decades-old arrangement with Muslim authorities, it is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and Jews can visit but may not pray there.
Suggestions that Israel would alter the rules have sparked outrage among Muslims and ignited violence in the past.
“Today, I feel like the owner here,” National Security Minister Ben-Gvir said in a video filmed at the site and distributed by his office. “There is still more to do, more to improve. I keep pushing the Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) to do more and more — we must keep rising higher and higher.”
A statement from the Jordanian foreign ministry said it considered Ben-Gvir’s visit to be a violation of the status quo agreement at the site and “a desecration of its sanctity, a condemnable escalation and an unacceptable provocation.”
The office of Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said such actions could further destabilize the region.
Ben-Gvir’s spokesman said the minister was seeking greater access and prayer permits for Jewish visitors. He also said that Ben-Gvir had prayed at the site.
There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office. Previous such visits and statements by Ben-Gvir have prompted Netanyahu announcements saying that there is no change in Israel’s policy of keeping the status quo.
Muslim, Christian and Jewish sites, including Al-Aqsa had been largely closed to the public during the Iran war. There was no immediate sign of unrest on Sunday after Ben-Gvir’s visit.
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Netanyahu Visits Troops Fighting Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, Aug. 10, 2025. Photo: ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon on Sunday as military operations against Hezbollah-linked targets continue.
Netanyahu toured forward positions alongside Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, Eyal Zamir, and Northern Command Commander Rafi Milo, meeting troops and receiving operational briefings from commanders on the ground.
Speaking to soldiers, Netanyahu praised their performance and said operations in the Lebanese security zone were ongoing.
“The war continues, including within the security zone in Lebanon,” he said, adding that Israeli forces were working to prevent infiltration attempts and neutralize threats such as anti-tank fire and missiles.
He described the northern campaign as part of a broader regional struggle involving Iran and its allies, saying Israel’s adversaries were now “fighting for their survival” following sustained Israeli military pressure.