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Should synagogues remove the Israeli flag from bimahs now?
After the last of the living hostages in Gaza were released last week, a prominent New York synagogue faced a complicated question: Should it remove the Israeli flag on its bimah?
Central Synagogue in Manhattan had displayed the Israeli flag on an empty chair since the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, along with a count of the days since Hamas killed 1,200 people in Israel and took about 250 hostage.
The Reform synagogue had committed to keeping the flag up “until they all came home,” Rabbi Angela Buchdahl told CBS News.
But after the living hostages had all been reunited with their families, the congregation faced a delicate choice: Is it time to take down that flag? Hamas had not returned the bodies of all deceased hostages, some of whom the group said it is unable to locate. And the Israeli flag’s place on the bimah continued to divide congregants who disagree about the role of the Jewish state in religious services — a debate intensified by Israel’s military campaign in Gaza the past two years.
During last week’s Shabbat service, Buchdahl explained the synagogue’s decision: The flag would be removed from the chair on the bimah — and placed in the Torah ark.
“We must mark this moment ritually,” Buchdahl told the congregation. “We must offer gratitude and celebrate this moment with joy.”
Buchdahl said that in making the decision she drew on customs surrounding Acheinu, the ancient Jewish prayer for the release of hostages, which traditionally is said only for living hostages. “Our tradition is giving us some guidance in this moment,” she said, “that now that our living hostages are returned we must mark this moment ritually.”
After the congregation said the prayer for hostages, Cantor Daniel Mutlu sang “Coming Home” as news clips of hostages reuniting with their families played on screen. Congregants rose to their feet while Dagan Shimoni, the synagogue’s Israeli shaliach or emissary, and Buchdahl folded the flag and the rabbi placed it in the ark alongside the Torah scrolls.
A different symbol would honor the deceased hostages whose bodies have not been returned. Among them is 19-year-old Itay Chen, who was serving in the Israel Defense Forces when he was killed by Hamas on Oct. 7. Chen’s father, Ruby, had spoken at Central and gifted Buchdahl a dog tag necklace in the aftermath of the attacks.
In honor of Chen and the other deceased hostages, Buchdahl and the clergy placed their dog tag necklaces on a Torah scroll. The necklaces will remain in the Ark until all of the bodies are returned, Buchdahl said.
“We know that there has been so much celebration and joy we saw in that video,” Buchdahl said. “But also so much healing that still needs to happen, for all of those returning, for those who are not returning.”
The flag on the bimah
In her Rosh Hashanah sermon, Buchdahl acknowledged how polarizing symbols like the Israeli flag had become.
“There are members of our own congregation who are disturbed by our weekly prayer for Israel,” she said. “Or who object to the Israeli flag on our bimah, even though the empty chair it covers stands for the 48 remaining hostages whose families still await their return.”
In some ways, Central Synagogue was unusual in its choice not to display an Israeli flag before Oct. 7.
In many U.S. synagogues, the bimah is flanked by both Israeli and American flags. The trend dates back to a wave of patriotism during World War I, when the American flag became common in synagogues and churches, according to Perry Dane, a member of the North American Vexillological Association, which studies flags.
The presence of the U.S. flag inspired some congregations to also display what was then the Zionist flag, Dane said. After Israel’s founding in 1948 — and again after the Six-Day War in 1967 — more synagogues added what became the Israeli flag.
But the presence of the Israeli flag on the bimah has long been debated, sparking discussion among Reform and Orthodox rabbis alike.
A 2015 Forward opinion piece by Alex Kane argued that flags “tether a diverse and opinionated Jewish community to nationalistic sentiments some members don’t agree with: support for the state of Israel and the U.S. government.” A response by Menachem Freedman argued for the Israeli flag, countering that the “political wellbeing of the state has a well-established place in the synagogue.”
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza over the past two years have made those discussions even more fraught.
This month, on the subreddit Jews of Conscience, which describes itself as “progressive, leftist” and “anti-Zionist,” members discussed whether an Israeli flag on the bimah would be a deterrent for attending a synagogue — and whether to confront a rabbi about removing it.
“This is not hypothetical for me. It’s why I left my synagogue,” one user wrote.
“Huge dealbreaker,” commented another.
Yet congregations that display the Israeli flag on the bimah may have different reasons for doing so.
Congregation Beth Shalom of the Woodlands in Texas explained in a June statement that the Reform synagogue displayed both American and Israeli flags “to express our gratitude and love for both countries,” quipping that, “We also love Texas, but there is not enough room on the bimah for another flag.”
In an April 2023 sermon titled “To a Non-Zionist Gen Z-er,” Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of the Conservative Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City spoke about the Israeli flag as core to Judaism.
“Supporting Israel is, in my mind, fundamental to what it means to be a Jew today,” he said. “It is why we have the flag on the bimah, it is why we recite the prayer for Israel, it is why I am a proud Zionist, it is why I am politically engaged on behalf of Israel and why I ask that my congregants be as well.”
For Rabbi Hannah Goldstein of Temple Sinai, a Reform synagogue in Washington, D.C., the Israeli flag can have multiple meanings.
“Some of you have told us that when you see this flag, you see the flag of a modern country, a country that is responsible for the nightmare in Gaza, you see an occupation that has dragged on for 58 years,” Goldstein, who declined to comment to the Forward, said in this year’s Kol Nidre sermon. “And those are painful things to see and feel in a house of prayer.”
But for others, she said, the flag represents “the realization of a dream.’
Goldstein had sometimes “struggled to defend the place of the flag on this bimah,” she said. “But, I can’t seem to let go of the dream. Not the rose colored, incomplete version of my youth — but a dream for what Israel might be.”
The post Should synagogues remove the Israeli flag from bimahs now? appeared first on The Forward.
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Cuba Defiant After Trump Says Island to Receive No More Venezuelan Oil or Money
A view shows part of Havana as U.S.-Cuba tensions rise after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to stop Venezuelan oil and money from reaching Cuba and suggested the communist-run island to strike a deal with Washington, in Havana, Cuba, January 11, 2026. REUTERS/Norlys Perez
US President Donald Trump on Sunday said no more Venezuelan oil or money will go to Cuba and suggested the Communist-run island should strike a deal with Washington, ramping up pressure on the long-time US nemesis and provoking defiant words from the island’s leadership.
Venezuela is Cuba’s biggest oil supplier, but no cargoes have departed from Venezuelan ports to the Caribbean country since the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US forces in early January amid a strict US oil blockade on the OPEC country, shipping data shows.
Meanwhile, Caracas and Washington are progressing on a $2 billion deal to supply up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil to the US with proceeds to be deposited in US Treasury-supervised accounts, a major test of the emerging relationship between Trump and interim President Delcy Rodriguez.
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.
“Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela,” Trump added.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel rejected Trump’s threat on social media, suggesting the US had no moral authority to force a deal on Cuba.
“Cuba is a free, independent, and sovereign nation. Nobody dictates what we do,” Diaz-Canel said on X. “Cuba does not attack; it has been attacked by the US for 66 years, and it does not threaten; it prepares, ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood.”
The US president did not elaborate on his suggested deal.
But Trump’s push on Cuba represents the latest escalation in his move to bring regional powers in line with the United States and underscores the seriousness of the administration’s ambition to dominate the Western Hemisphere.
Trump’s top officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have made no secret of their expectation that the recent US intervention in Venezuela could push Cuba over the edge.
US officials have hardened their rhetoric against Cuba in recent weeks, though the two countries have been at odds since former leader Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.
CUBA DEFENDS IMPORT RIGHTS
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said in another post on X on Sunday that Cuba had the right to import fuel from any suppliers willing to export it. He also denied that Cuba had received financial or other “material” compensation in return for security services provided to any country.
Thirty-two members of Cuba’s armed forces and intelligence services were killed during the US raid on Venezuela. Cuba said those killed were responsible for “security and defense” but did not provide details on the arrangement between the two long-time allies.
Cuba relies on imported crude and fuel mainly provided by Venezuela, and Mexico in smaller volumes, purchased on the open market to keep its power generators and vehicles running.
As its operational refining capacity dwindled in recent years, Venezuela’s supply of crude and fuel to Cuba has fallen. But the South American country is still the largest provider with some 26,500 barrels per day exported last year, according to ship tracking data and internal documents of state-run PDVSA, which covered roughly 50 percent of Cuba’s oil deficit.
Havana produce vendor Alberto Jimenez, 45, said Cuba would not back down in the face of Trump’s threat.
“That doesn’t scare me. Not at all. The Cuban people are prepared for anything,” Jimenez said.
It’s hard for many Cubans to imagine a situation much worse. The island’s government has been struggling to keep the lights on. A majority live without electricity for much of the day, and even the capital Havana has seen its economy crippled by hours-long rolling blackouts.
Shortages of food, fuel and medicine have put Cubans on edge and have prompted a record-breaking exodus, primarily to the United States, in the past five years.
MEXICO BECOMES KEY SUPPLIER
Mexico has emerged in recent weeks as a critical alternative oil supplier to the island, but the supply remains small, according to the shipping data.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum last week said her country had not increased supply volumes, but given recent political events in Venezuela, Mexico had turned into an “important supplier” of crude to Cuba.
US intelligence has painted a grim picture of Cuba’s economic and political situation, but its assessments offer no clear support for Trump’s prediction that the island is “ready to fall,” Reuters reported on Saturday, citing three people familiar with the confidential assessments.
The CIA’s view is that key sectors of the Cuban economy, such as agriculture and tourism, are severely strained by frequent blackouts, trade sanctions and other problems. The potential loss of oil imports and other support from Venezuela could make governing more difficult for Diaz-Canel.
Havana resident and parking attendant Maria Elena Sabina, a 58-year-old born shortly after Castro took power, said it was time for Cuba’s leaders to make changes amid so much suffering.
“There’s no electricity here, no gas, not even liquefied gas. There’s nothing here,” Sabina said. “So yes, a change is needed, a change is needed, and quickly.”
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NATO Should Launch Operation to Boost Security in Arctic, Belgian Minister says
Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken speaks to journalists as he arrives to an informal meeting of European Union defence ministers in Copenhagen, Denmark, August 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Tom Little
NATO should launch an operation in the Arctic to address US security concerns, Belgium’s defense minister told Reuters on Sunday, urging transatlantic unity amid growing European unease about US President Donald Trump’s push to take control of Greenland.
“We have to collaborate, work together and show strength and unity,” Theo Francken said in a phone interview, adding that there is a need for “a NATO operation in the high north.”
Trump said on Friday that the US needs to own Greenland to prevent Russia or China from occupying it in the future.
European officials have been discussing ways to ease US concerns about security around Greenland, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Francken suggested NATO’s Baltic Sentry and Eastern Sentry operations, which combine forces from different countries with drones, sensors and other technology to monitor land and sea, as possible models for an “Arctic Sentry.”
He acknowledged Greenland‘s strategic importance but said “I think that we need to sort this out like friends and allies, like we always do.”
A NATO spokesperson said on Friday that alliance chief Mark Rutte spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the importance of the Arctic for shared security and how NATO is working to enhance its capabilities in the high north.
Denmark and Greenland‘s leaders have said that the Arctic island could not be annexed and international security did not justify such a move.
The US already has a military presence on the island under a 1951 agreement.
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IDF Strikes Hezbollah Weapons Sites in Lebanon After Army Denied Its Existence
Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah’s terror infrastructure. Photo: Via i23, Photo from social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law.
i24 News – The Israel Defense Forces carried out airstrikes on a site in southern Lebanon that the Lebanese Army had previously declared free of Hezbollah activity, Israeli officials said on Sunday, citing fresh intelligence that contradicted Beirut’s assessment.
According to Israeli sources, the targeted location in the Kfar Hatta area contained significant Hezbollah weapons infrastructure, despite earlier inspections by the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) that concluded no military installations were present.
Lebanese officials had conveyed those findings to international monitoring mechanisms, and similar claims were reported in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.
Israeli intelligence assessments, however, determined that Hezbollah continued to operate from the site.
During a second wave of strikes carried out Sunday, the IDF attacked and destroyed the location.
Video footage released afterward showed secondary explosions, which Israeli officials said were consistent with stored weapons or munitions at the site.
The IDF stated that the strike was conducted in response to what it described as Hezbollah’s ongoing violations of ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon. Military officials said the targeted structure included underground facilities used for weapons storage.
According to the IDF, the same site had been struck roughly a week earlier after Israel alerted the Lebanese Army to what it described as active terrorist infrastructure in the area. While the LAF conducted an inspection following the warning, Israeli officials said the weapons facilities were not fully dismantled, prompting Sunday’s follow-up strike.
The IDF said it took measures ahead of the attack to reduce the risk to civilians, including issuing advance warnings to residents in the surrounding area.
“Hezbollah’s activity at these sites constitutes a clear violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and poses a direct threat to the State of Israel,” the military said in a statement.
Israeli officials emphasized that operations against Hezbollah infrastructure would continue as long as such threats persist, underscoring that Israel retains the right to act independently based on its own intelligence assessments.