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New York protestors yell ‘shame’ at Israeli judicial reform architect Moshe Koppel
(New York Jewish Week) — More than 200 American and Israeli Jews gathered on the Upper West Side on Wednesday to protest a private event featuring Moshe Koppel, the cofounder of the Kohelet Forum, the conservative think tank whose ideas undergird the judicial overhaul being advanced by Israel’s government.
As people walked into a building on 86th Street for an event hosted by Aish New York, an Orthodox outreach organization, protestors surrounded attendees and shouted “shame” in Hebrew. The event began late and the protest was audible inside.
The protest was the latest in a series organized by Israelis living in New York City who oppose the judicial overhaul legislation, which would sap the Israeli Supreme Court of much of its independence, and which has led to raucous and widespread street protests in Israel.
“Moshe Koppel is the person behind the judicial coup that’s going on in Israel these days,” said Shany Granot-Lubaton, a leader of the local protest movement. “They are trying to make Israel a dictatorship.”
Some of the protesters were dressed in red robes with their faces covered by white bonnets in the style of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a Margaret Atwood book and Hulu television series about a misogynist Christian dystopia. The costumes have become a popular mode of protest in Israel and have elicited comment from Atwood herself, who called one of the displays “astonishing.”
Granot-Lubaton, who also works at J Street, the liberal pro-Israel lobby, she believes Koppel entered the building through a side door to avoid the protesters. Koppel and Aish CEO Rabbi Steven Burg did not respond to a request for comment.
In a video posted by News Israel 13 journalist Neria Kraus, Koppel can be seen attempting to speak over the protesters, whose cries could be heard inside the walls of the building.
A source who was in the audience for Koppel’s speech, and asked to remain anonymous because the event was supposed to be private, said Koppel was late because of the protests and discussed the judicial reform only during the final third of the speech, which lasted more than 90 minutes. He said Koppel said, as he has for at least a month, that he opposes pieces of the package of legislation currently advancing in Israel. Koppel predicted that a measure allowing Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, to override court decisions with a bare majority would not pass.
The audience member said Koppel spoke to a friendly audience and came off as “a very educated man who holds very strong views on this topic” but who was “very distracted” by the protests.
היו״ר והמייסד של פורום קהלת משה קופל מנסה לדבר בכנס בניו יורק – אבל המפגינים הישראלים עושים כל כך הרבה רעש בחוץ שזה כמעט בלתי אפשרי. pic.twitter.com/MPV6ddyomQ
— נריה קראוס Neria Kraus (@NeriaKraus) March 23, 2023
In a 2019 interview with Ami magazine, an Orthodox publication, Koppel described Kohelet as “the brains of the Israeli right wing,” and conservative politicians in Israel and the United States have thanked the think tank for its work. They include former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who is one of the officials spearheading the overhaul.
But according to the audience member, Koppel acknowledged feeling conflicted about the legislation. At one point, when an audience member asked him about how he feels regarding the seismic changes happening in Israel, Koppel responded, “I don’t sleep at night.”
“Obviously he feels the weight on his shoulders,” the audience member said. “There’s a lot of pressure on him from many different angles.”
Outside the building, Granot-Lubaton said that she felt the protests “had an impact.”
“We showed him that Israelis and Jewish Americans who love Israel are not giving up that easily on democracy,” Granot-Lubaton said. “It was a very important event. We’re going to continue to chase these people who are trying to fund and take down our democracy.”
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The post New York protestors yell ‘shame’ at Israeli judicial reform architect Moshe Koppel appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Teen slashed in Brooklyn synagogue by fellow congregant
(JTA) — A 14-year-old boy was slashed on Monday evening inside a Brooklyn synagogue by a suspect the police called an “emotionally disturbed person.”
The 22-year-old suspect, Krybus Shimon, is a fellow congregant of Yeshiva Gevoah Toldos, an Orthodox synagogue in Borough Park, the New York Police Department said. He was taken into custody and charged on Monday with assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon.
The boy’s hand was slashed with a “cutting instrument” and he was treated by emergency medical services on the scene, police said.
The incident is not currently being investigated as a hate crime, and it’s not yet clear what led to the slashing.
Borough Park is one of the largest Orthodox enclaves in the United States, home to about 96,000 Jews, according to UJA-Federation of New York.
In January, the neighborhood was hit with a spate of antisemitic vandalism. Over 70 swastikas and the words “Adolf Hitler” were sprayed over two days across Gravesend Park, a playground in Borough Park. Two 15-year-old boys were arrested for the vandalism and charged with aggravated harassment and criminal mischief as a hate crime.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last week announced a record $70 million in security funding for houses of worship, schools, community centers and other nonprofit organizations that are vulnerable to hate crimes and attacks because of their ideology, beliefs or mission.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Teen slashed in Brooklyn synagogue by fellow congregant appeared first on The Forward.
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Staunch Israel supporter Coons expected to win Delaware Democratic Senate primary handily
(JTA) — Delaware incumbent Sen. Chris Coons, a longtime supporter of Israel, is expected to easily win Delaware’s U.S. Senate primary on Tuesday, despite criticism from party progressives.
Coons, a mainstay of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has repeatedly backed measures to bolster Israel’s capacity for self-defense. He also joined a bipartisan delegation to visit Israel immediately after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.
But the senator has faced pushback in recent months for his refusal to back measures that would cut military aid to Israel.
This past spring, he was one of just seven Democrats to join Republicans in voting against a resolution authored by independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, which sought to stop the sale of military bulldozers to Israel. Coons was among just 11 Democrats who opposed a second Sanders resolution that proposed similar sales bans on massive bombs and other defense equipment.
Coons has served nearly three terms in the Senate. He won a special election in 2010, about a year after Joe Biden resigned to become U.S. vice president, and then went on to secure two full terms in 2014 and 2020.
In Tuesday’s primary, he will face off against artificial intelligence systems builder and historian Jeff Appelhans, naval architect and marine engineer Mary Louve and a former business executive who changed his legal name from Eric Hansen to E. No-Trump Hansen.
While Coons has earned endorsements from establishment Democrats, such as Delaware Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester and Gov. Matt Meyer, he has drawn criticism from party progressives for both his support of Israel and the financial backing he gets from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobbying group.
Of Coons’s opponents, the most vocal critic on Israel-related policy has been Appelhans, whose campaign priorities included ending U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Appelhans slammed Coons for voting against the Sanders bills, writing on his campaign site that “the liberal consensus moved to block the sales.”
Appelhans condemned Coons’s voting record on “moving armaments to Israel,” noting in a recent interview that “there’s never been a vote that he’s stopped” on this issue. He was speaking with Delaware Public Media last week as part of a series of candidate interviews.
Regarding the conflict in Iran, Appelhans slammed “Congress’ unwillingness” to challenge the president, noting that “there was very much a sense that Israel would be a staunch ally and they could sort of get this done really easily.”
In the same radio series, another candidate, Louve, expressed uncertainty as to “why we’re still backing Israel,” while acknowledging the country’s history as a U.S. ally.
“Is it worth us continuing to step up for a bully?” she asked. “It’s aggression that is unnecessary that’s continuing to escalate because we’re helping it.”
Hansen did not participate in these conversations, Delaware Public Media stated.
This summer Coons pledged to stop taking donations from the data company Palantir, which has come under scrutiny for its work with the Israel’s Defense Ministry, the U.S. military and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the nonprofit news site Spotlight Delaware.
Despite his more centrist reputation, Coons has had significant criticism for the Trump administration’s strategies in Iran. In his own Delaware Public Media interview, Coons accused the president of selling the conflict “as a cheap, quick war.”
While little polling data was available ahead of Tuesday’s race, the Polymarket predictions site gave Coons a 99.7% chance of winning as of Monday evening. In his last primary in 2020, Coons defeated a progressive opponent, Jessica Scarane, with nearly 73% of voter support.
Regardless of Tuesday’s outcome, the victor is expected to easily defeat the Republican challenger in the November general election, with the Cook Political Report deeming Delaware “solid” Democratic territory.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Staunch Israel supporter Coons expected to win Delaware Democratic Senate primary handily appeared first on The Forward.
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Noah Wyle wins an Emmy for playing one of TV’s most Jewish doctors
(JTA) — Noah Wyle on Monday night won his second consecutive Emmy for playing Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch on “The Pitt.” The win also marked a second victory for one of television’s more fully realized Jewish characters.
The actor won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the HBO Max medical drama, which also won Outstanding Drama Series for the second year in a row. In his acceptance speech, Wyle recalled growing up in Los Angeles and said, “This is all I’ve ever wanted to do, and this is the only club I’ve ever wanted to join.”
For Jewish viewers, the significance of Wyle’s victory goes beyond the actor’s own Jewish ancestry. In the first season, Robby was seen reciting the Shema at one of his lowest moments, turning what might have been a throwaway piece of character background into an intimate expression of fear and faith.
In the second season, Wyle, who is also a writer and executive producer on the show, pushed that dimension further. An episode he wrote dealt with the trauma of the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, while also exploring Robby’s complicated relationship with his Jewish faith.
Wyle has described Robby’s faith as something he is still “grappling” with — including the question of whether he has faith at all. The Shema scene, he said, functioned almost like a child’s primal plea for help.
Wyle was not the only Jewish winner of the night. Saul Metzstein, the Scottish Jewish director whose father was the prominent modernist architect Isi Metzstein, won Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for “Slow Horses.” Metzstein had been competing against Wyle, who was nominated for directing an episode of “The Pitt.”
Those two wins were among the relatively few Jewish victories at this year’s ceremony. Jewish actors including Jason Segel, Lisa Kudrow, Harrison Ford and Hannah Einbinder were among the nominees but did not win in their categories.
“Nobody Wants This,” the Netflix show about a rabbi’s romance with a non-Jewish podcaster, was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series but lost to “Widow’s Bay.”
An Emmy was also awarded to a Jewish actor and director whose death in 2025 stunned the industry and a legion of fans. Rob Reiner, who was killed in December with his wife, Michele, won a posthumous Emmy for his guest role as a kind dispenser of business advice on “The Bear.” Reiner’s award was presented at the Creative Arts Emmys earlier this month, rather than Monday’s televised ceremony.
Reiner, before going on to direct Hollywood classics like “This Is Spinal Tap,” “The Princess Bride” and “When Harry Met Sally” won his first two Emmy awards in 1974 and 1978 for playing Mike Stivic, the liberal son-in-law of Archie Bunker on “All in the Family.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
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