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Rep. Dan Goldman: Holocaust education should celebrate Jewish life, too
(New York Jewish Week) — Nearly three months ago, Rep. Dan Goldman was one of dozens of cosponsors of a bipartisan bill to monitor Holocaust education across the country. Now, ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day — and in the wake of a report showing antisemitism rising in the United States — Goldman says Holocaust education needs to celebrate Jewish life in addition to combating hate.
“We are learning from experts around the world about different ways, not only of preventing antisemitism but promoting knowledge, education about Jewish life, Jewish history, Jewish culture, and personalizing Jews who have obviously, traditionally borne the brunt of persecution but also who are leaders in so many different aspects of society,” Goldman told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a phone interview Friday.
On Sunday, Goldman is set to speak at the Annual Gathering of Remembrance at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, a Holocaust museum in his district in downtown Manhattan. The event will take place a day before Yom Hashoah, Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins Monday night.
Goldman is a member of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism and was a cosponsor of the Holocaust Education and Antisemitism Lessons (HEAL) Act, which directs the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to determine which states require Holocaust education, and what standards they use.
His speech at the event on Sunday — where Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield will also speak — comes after a report by the Anti-Defamation League showed a spike in antisemitism in the United States last year. The report found that nearly half of the 111 assaults tallied across the United States took place in Brooklyn alone. Goldman, whose district includes the heavily Hasidic Brooklyn neighborhood of Borough Park, called the assaults “unacceptable.”
“They bear the disproportionate brunt of anti-Semitic attacks because of their appearance,” Goldman said of visibly Orthodox Jews. “We need to be doing a lot more in making it clear that it’s unacceptable, holding people who do commit hate crimes to account and also, in my view, adding sentencing enhancements for those who do commit hate crimes.”
Goldman said he has experienced antisemitism while in public life. Social media users, he said, have called him a “Jew” as a slur and said he has a big nose. During Trump’s first impeachment hearings, in which Goldman served as lead counsel, he recalled being referred to as a “New York lawyer” by Republicans, which some consider an antisemitic trope.
“This is something that Jewish public officials deal with all the time,” Goldman said. “I’ve gained some pretty thick skin about it.”
He said former President Donald Trump’s dinner last year with Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes — as well as Kanye West, the rapper who made a series of antisemitic comments — illustrates the importance of Holocaust education. He also called out Republican officials for rhetoric attributing Trump’s recent indictment to George Soros, the progressive megadonor at the center of a range of antisemitic conspiracy theories.
“The urgency of continuing to educate the public about anti-Semitism and the Holocaust specifically has taken on greater meaning when the former president dines with a Holocaust denier,” Goldman said. “We cannot accept continuing to allow for antisemitic tropes, such as George Soros backing prosecutors, which have just very clearly become a euphemism for an antisemitic trope.”
Goldman, 47, is not descended from Holocaust survivors, though he recalled a family story about his maternal grandmother needing to keep quiet as a baby while his ancestors fled persecution in Russia a century ago. But he said Holocaust remembrance is an imperative that links Jews more broadly.
“We are all connected through anti-Semitism and persecution of Jews throughout history,” he said. “And there’s an undying bond among Jews because of our shared history. And so when we do commemorate the Holocaust, I do think we are commemorating all those who have suffered from persecution resulting from antisemitism around the world.”
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The post Rep. Dan Goldman: Holocaust education should celebrate Jewish life, too appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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New Evidence in Leaked Classified Documents Case Links Netanyahu Advisor
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 – During an appeal hearing at the District Court over the decision not to extend restrictions in the classified documents case, police revealed new correspondence between Yonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein.
The messages suggest that Feldstein, an advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was aware of the secret document and its potential leak.
Feldstein was also summoned for further questioning at Lahav 433 amid suspicions of obstruction during a late-night meeting in a parking lot.
The correspondence, dated October 13, 2024, was exchanged on the encrypted messaging app Signal. Feldstein reportedly wrote to Urich that he was considering taking advantage of a visiting Bild reporter to discuss the document. Urich responded: “Let Hasid handle it, why waste your time on it,” referring to the reporter as a “nuisance.”
Police stated that the messages contradict Urich’s previous claims that he had never seen or heard of the secret document, showing that he was not only aware of it but also discussed its publication with Feldstein.
Last Thursday, the court rejected a request to remove Urich from the Prime Minister’s Office and denied lifting restrictions on Chief of Staff Tzachi Braverman and Omer Mansour. Judge Menachem Mizrahi wrote that the requests lacked “evidentiary, substantive, proportionate, or purposeful justification,” and saw no reason to extend prohibitions on contact or work for the respondents.
The new revelations are likely to intensify scrutiny of the roles of senior aides in the handling of classified material within the Prime Minister’s Office.
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Senior Iranian UN Diplomat in Geneva Defects, Seeks Asylum in Switzerland
Swiss flags flutter on the Swiss Parliament Building (Bundeshaus), after the weekly governmental meeting in Bern, Switzerland, Jan. 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – A senior Iranian diplomat posted to the United Nations’ European headquarters in Geneva has reportedly defected and applied for political asylum in Switzerland, according to diplomatic sources cited on Sunday by the Iranian opposition outlet Iran International.
The diplomat, Alireza Jiranieh Hokambad, served as a minister-counselor, the second-highest-ranking position in Iran’s UN delegation in Geneva.
According to the report, he left his post and submitted an asylum request for himself and his family, citing fears of persecution should he return to Iran.
Sources said Hokambad’s decision was driven by concerns over the ongoing political and social unrest in Iran, as well as doubts about the stability of the Islamic Republic’s governing structure. Swiss authorities have not yet issued an official response to the asylum application.
Hokambad joined Iran’s Geneva delegation in 2017 and represented Tehran in several UN-affiliated economic bodies, including forums focused on trade, development, and investment.
Diplomatic sources noted that increasing international support for protesters in Iran, coupled with strong criticism from European leaders, has heightened unease among Iranian diplomats stationed across Europe.
According to the report, several other Iranian diplomats have discreetly contacted European authorities in recent weeks to explore the possibility of seeking asylum.
European sources added that some governments are considering easing asylum procedures for Iranian diplomats, even in cases where applicants are unable to demonstrate an immediate and direct threat to their lives.
Defections by Iranian diplomats during periods of domestic unrest are not without precedent. In the aftermath of Iran’s 2009 “Green Movement” protests, a number of senior diplomats posted in countries including Norway, Finland, Italy, and Belgium resigned and sought asylum, publicly condemning the Tehran government’s violent crackdown.
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World Leaders Show Caution on Trump’s Broader ‘Board of Peace’ Amid Fears for UN
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump is interviewed by Reuters White House correspondent Steve Holland (not pictured) during an exclusive interview in the Oval Office in the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
Governments reacted cautiously on Sunday to US President Donald Trump’s invitation to join his “Board of Peace” initiative aimed at resolving conflicts globally, a plan that diplomats said could harm the work of the United Nations.
Only Hungary, whose leader is a close Trump ally, gave an unequivocal acceptance in response to the invitations, which have been addressed to some 60 nations and began arriving in European capitals on Saturday, according to diplomats.
Other governments appeared reluctant to make public statements, leaving officials to express concerns anonymously about the impact on the work of the U.N..
The board would be chaired for life by Trump and would start by addressing the Gaza conflict and then be expanded to deal with other conflicts, according to a copy of the letter and draft charter seen by Reuters.
Member states would be limited to three-year terms unless they pay $1 billion each to fund the board’s activities and earn permanent membership, the letter states.
“This simply offers permanent membership to partner countries who demonstrate deep commitment to peace, security, and prosperity,” the White House said in a post on X.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, visiting South Korea, told reporters her country was “ready to do our part,” although it was not clear whether she was specifically referring to Gaza or the broader peace.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Sunday he had agreed to Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza in principle although details were still being worked out.
The Board of Peace’s mandate was only authorized by the United Nations Security Council through 2027 and was solely focused on the Gaza conflict.
‘DARK TIMES’
The inclusion of a “charter” in the invitation letter stoked concerns among some European governments that it could undermine the work of the United Nations, which Trump has accused of not supporting his efforts to end conflicts around the world.
“It’s a ‘Trump United Nations’ that ignores the fundamentals of the U.N. charter,” said one diplomat.
Three other Western diplomats said it looked as if it would undermine the United Nations if it went ahead.
A further three diplomats and an Israeli source said that Trump wanted the Board of Peace to eventually have a broader role beyond Gaza that would oversee the other conflicts that Trump has said he has resolved.
The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Australia, Canada, the European Commission and key Middle East powers were among those invited to sit on the Board of Peace, according to officials.
“Declaring that durable peace requires pragmatic judgment, common-sense solutions, and the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed,” the document showed.
In what appeared to be directed at the United Nations, the document added that there was a “need for a more nimble and effective international peace-building body.”
Trump, who covets the Nobel Peace Prize, said in the letter that the board would convene in the near future, adding: “This board will be one of a kind, there has never been anything like it!”
In public comments in response to a reporter’s question, a senior UN official did not address the plan directly, but said the United Nations was the only institution with the moral and legal ability to bring together every nation, big or small.
“And if we question that … we fall back and very, very, dark, times,” Annalena Baerbock, president of the United Nations General Assembly, told Sky News, adding that it was up to individual states to decide what to do.
The White House on Friday named some individuals who will sit on the board, which would outlive its role supervising the temporary governance of Gaza, under a fragile ceasefire since October.
They included US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, former British prime minister Tony Blair and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas signed off on Trump’s plan, which says a Palestinian technocratic administration will be overseen by an international board, which will supervise Gaza’s governance for a transitional period.
TRUMP GOES FOR GLOBAL PEACE ROLE
“It’s going to, in my opinion, start with Gaza and then do conflicts as they arise,” President Donald Trump told Reuters in an interview earlier this week.
Many rights experts and advocates have said that Trump overseeing a board to supervise a foreign territory’s governance resembles a colonial structure, while Blair’s involvement was criticized last year due to his role in the Iraq war and the history of British imperialism in the Middle East.
The White House did not detail the responsibilities of each member of the board. The names do not include any Palestinians. The White House said more members will be announced over the coming weeks.
It also named a separate, 11-member “Gaza Executive Board” to support the technocratic body.
This would include Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, U.N. Middle East peace coordinator Sigrid Kaag, United Arab Emirates International Cooperation Minister Reem Al-Hashimy, Israeli-Cypriot billionaire Yakir Gabay and officials from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the composition of this board had not been coordinated with Israel and contradicted its policy – possibly a reference to Fidan’s presence, as Israel objects to Turkish involvement. Israel’s government also has a tense relationship with Qatar. An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment beyond the statement.