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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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U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan calls Israeli government ‘evil’ like Hamas
Abdul El-Sayed, a U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan, said in an interview aired Sunday that the Israeli government is as “evil” as Hamas, sharpening his criticism of Israel in the closely-watched Democratic primary.
“Killing tens of thousands of people makes you pretty damn evil,” El-Sayed told CNN congressional reporter Manu Raja on the network’s Inside Politics program. “It’s not how evil is this one versus that one — Hamas: Evil, Israeli government: Evil. We can say both.”
El-Sayed, 41, is a physician and the son of Egyptian immigrants. He is seeking to channel the energy of the 2024 Uncommitted movement, which protested the Biden administration’s support for Israel in the war against Hamas in Gaza. He is also hoping to build on the surprise success of the New York City mayoral campaign of Zohran Mamdani in taking on the Democratic establishment.
He is locked in a dead heat with state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Rep. Haley Stevens. The primary is set for Aug. 4.
Earlier this month, El-Sayed faced backlash for appearing alongside streamer Hasan Piker, who has been accused of antisemitic rhetoric — including saying that Hamas “is a thousand times better” than Israel. McMorrow, who is married to a Jewish man, and Stevens, who is closely aligned with AIPAC, have both criticized El-Sayed.
In the CNN interview, El-Sayed defended his decision to campaign with Piker, framing it as an effort to reach voters who feel alienated from traditional politics. “My understanding of America is, it’s a place where we have freedom of speech,” he said.
#MISen Abdul El-Sayed on CNN Inside Politics: @mkraju: You said Israeli government is evil. Do you think they’re just as evil as Hamas?
El-Sayed: “Yes, killing tens of thousands of people makes you pretty damn evil. It’s not about how evil one is versus the other. Hamas —… pic.twitter.com/4GfJ5oCtqR
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) April 19, 2026
The Michigan Senate race is shaping up as one of the starkest tests of the Democratic coalition and how the party navigates policy towards Israel in Congress amid the wars in Gaza and Iran. The state is home to the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the United States.
Last week, 40 Senate Democrats voted to block $295 million for the transfer of bulldozers, used by the Israeli military to demolish homes in the West Bank and Gaza; 36 of them also supported a measure to block the sale of 1,000-pound bombs to the Jewish state. It shattered a previous high of 27 Democrats who backed a similar pair of resolutions of disapproval to block some weapons transfers last year.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who is Jewish, was among those who voted for the measures. In remarks as they announced their votes, Democrats highlighted their opposition to the Israeli government’s policies in the occupied West Bank, the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the war with Iran.
The post U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan calls Israeli government ‘evil’ like Hamas appeared first on The Forward.
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NYC Mayor Mamdani Unveils Major Tax Hike on Unoccupied Luxury Real Estate
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani holds a press conference at the New York City Office of Emergency Management, as a major winter storm spreads across a large swath of the United States, in Brooklyn, New York City, US, Jan. 25, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Bing Guan
i24 News – NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has officially introduced a controversial new tax targeting secondary residences valued at over $5 million.
The measure, designed to tap into the city’s vast concentration of unoccupied luxury wealth, is projected to generate roughly $500 million annually for the municipal budget.
“This tax is specifically aimed at the ultra-rich,” Mamdani stated, highlighting high-profile examples such as Ken Griffin’s $238 million Midtown penthouse and Alexander Varshavsky’s $20.5 million Columbus Circle residence.
While the city has yet to finalize specific evaluation criteria or the methods for distinguishing primary from secondary homes, the proposal has already become a flashpoint for economic debate.
The move has drawn sharp condemnation from billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who argued that the policy is fundamentally flawed.
Ackman contended that owners of luxury secondary residences contribute significant capital to the local economy without utilizing costly municipal services. He warned that the tax would likely trigger a corporate and high-net-worth exodus to low-tax jurisdictions like Miami, ultimately harming the city’s tax base.
President Donald Trump also entered the fray, denouncing the policy as “totally misguided” and claiming it is “destroying New York.” Trump, whose own extensive real estate holdings in the city could be impacted, argued that such taxation serves only to drive away the international investors who fuel New York’s development.
Implementation remains a significant question mark, as the tax could potentially affect nearly 13,000 property owners, including major figures like Jeff Bezos. Financial analysts point out that many of the city’s most expensive apartments are held through complex offshore structures and shell companies, making the identification and appraisal of these properties an immense administrative challenge for the city.
As the debate intensifies, the Mamdani administration faces a difficult path ahead in balancing its “tax the rich” mandate with the practical realities of New York’s competitive global real estate market.
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Iran Rebuffs Trump Announcement of New Peace Talks, State News Agency Reports
Iran rejected new peace talks with the United States, its state news agency reported on Sunday, hours after US President Donald Trump said he was sending envoys for talks in Pakistan and would launch new strikes on Iran unless it accepts his terms.
Trump posted on Truth Social that his envoys would arrive in Pakistan on Monday evening for negotiations, a timetable that would leave only a day for talks to make progress before a two-week ceasefire ends.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” he wrote. “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”
Iran’s official IRNA news agency cited no specific source in its report that Iran had rejected the talks.
“Iran stated that its absence from the second round of talks stems from what it called Washington’s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire,” IRNA wrote.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Iran’s rejection of the talks.
Earlier, a White House official said the US delegation would be headed by Vice President JD Vance, who led the war’s first peace talks a week ago, and also include Trump’s envoy Steven Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Trump had initially told ABC News and MS Now that Vance would not go.