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Speaking to Israel’s Knesset, Kevin McCarthy demurs on judicial overhaul and warns against China
(JTA) — In a landmark speech to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, on Monday, U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy didn’t mention the judicial reform legislation dividing Israel, instead focusing on what he said was the significant threat from business dealings with China.
McCarthy’s speech and comments took place on the opening day of the Knesset’s summer session, days after the country celebrated its 75th birthday and during considerable strife in the country over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-reaching proposals to weaken Israel’s court system. Netanyahu had suspended the advance of the reforms amid sweeping protests against them, in a pause that was due to end on Monday.
During a press conference after his speech, McCarthy offered a nod toward critics of the proposed legislation who seek to preserve the courts’ independence.
“Israel is their own nation. Israel can decide what they want to do,” McCarthy said. “But I mean, having democracy — you want to have a check and balance, you want to have separation of powers.”
The speech by McCarthy, a Republican, came as he leads a bipartisan delegation to the country days after it celebrated its 75th Independence Day. It also came amid tensions between Netanyahu and Biden, a Democrat, who has not yet invited Netanyahu to the White House.
In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom ahead of the speech, McCarthy chastised Biden for not inviting Netanyahu and said he would invite the prime minister to Washington if Biden did not.
But McCarthy was not at all partisan during his speech or afterwards, pointedly bringing the delegation of Democrats and Republicans into every photo-op. McCarthy spent more time discussing Chinese-Israeli relations, bringing tensions between Israel and the United States on the issue into public view.
“I strongly encourage Israel to further strengthen its oversight of foreign investment, particularly Chinese investment, building on the steps that you first took in 2019,” McCarthy said in his speech Monday, referring to an investment review board Israel launched that year under pressure from the Trump administration. “If we cooperate, then I’m confident we will meet the challenge and ensure a brighter future for both of our nations.”
McCarthy’s speech, the second ever by a U.S. House speaker to the Knesset, contained few surprises. He noted that Israeli pilots trained in his hometown of Bakersfield, California, before the country’s 1948 War of Independence. And he presented the Knesset with a copy of a House resolution passed overwhelmingly last week marking Israel’s 75th birthday. References to the establishment of a Palestinian state, which Netanyahu’s government opposes, were stripped out of the resolution, spurring criticism from Democrats who nonetheless voted for it.
The speaker also recommitted to fully funding current levels of defense assistance to Israel, assuaging concerns that across-the-board spending cuts passed by the House last week could affect the country.
“As long as I am speaker, America will continue to support full funding for security assistance in Israel,” he said.
And McCarthy also rejected attempts to isolate or boycott Israel, promoted peace with Israel’s Arab neighbors and called out shared rivals and enemies, especially Iran.
“We must always remain resolute in our commitment that Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon,” McCarthy said.
Netanyahu, speaking before McCarthy, also noted the Iran threat and took care to say it was a concern shared by both Republicans and Democrats.
“The first and most urgent challenge is the joint effort by Israel and the U.S. to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” he said. Then, referring to the Israel Defense Forces, he added, “The IDF and the U.S. Armed Forces recently completed the largest military exercise in the history of Israel and for this I would like to thank the Biden administration.”
Another issue of bipartisan concern is Israel’s growing relationship to China. McCarthy inserted his warning about Israeli-Chinese ties into the portion of his speech praising U.S.-Israel technological cooperation, an endeavor that Israel considers critical to its security infrastructure.
Israel and Netanyahu particularly have cultivated ties with China and its massive market to advance sales of Israeli technology, and to invite Chinese investment in Israeli sectors. Netanyahu has in the past highlighted his efforts to bring China and Israel into each other’s orbit.
Those efforts have appalled leaders of both parties. One of the areas of consistency between the Trump and Biden administration has been a policy of constraining Chinese influence outside of Asia, as the country seeks inroads into Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. China concerns have been exacerbated in the United States in recent months by perceptions that China is cozying up to Russia in its war against Ukraine, and fears that China may be planning a similar action against Taiwan.
“We’ve seen successes of technological cooperation in so many areas,” McCarthy said. “Today, however, our innovation is at risk from a new threat: The Chinese Communist Party. While the CCP may disguise itself as promoters of innovation, in truth they act like thieves. We must not allow them to steal our technology.”
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The post Speaking to Israel’s Knesset, Kevin McCarthy demurs on judicial overhaul and warns against China appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israel, US condemn Belgium over planned prosecutions tied to Jewish circumcisions
(JTA) — A diplomatic spat erupted on Wednesday after Belgian prosecutors moved to charge two Jewish men tied to ritual circumcisions, prompting Israeli and U.S. officials to accuse Belgium of targeting Jews for practicing their faith.
Gideon Saar, Israel’s minister of foreign affairs, lit into the country in a post on X Wednesday morning, calling the indictments a “scarlet letter on Belgian society.”
“With this act Belgium joins a short and shameful list, together with Ireland, of countries that use criminal law to prosecute Jews for practicing Judaism,” Saar wrote, later calling circumcision a “cornerstone of Jewish faith” and urging the Belgian government to “act immediately and to find a solution.”
Saar’s condemnation was quickly joined by the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, Bill White, who had previously called on Belgium to drop the “ridiculous and antisemitic” investigation of mohels in February.
“This is a shameful stain on Belgium,” White wrote in a post on X. “The prosecution of these religious figures (mohels), one of whom is American, is WRONG and won’t be tolerated. Belgium will be thought of now as anti Semitic by world. Until this is resolved – there is no way around it.”
White, a President Donald Trump appointee who faced criticism for amplifying social media posts by a far-right Belgian political activist convicted of racism and Holocaust denial, added that the “Trump Administration condemns this judicial action” and called on the Belgian government to “work with the Jewish leaders and communities to find a certification solution immediately.”
The condemnation by White and Saar comes after the Antwerp Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that it intends to prosecute two Jewish men on charges related to performing circumcisions, a practice that is required by law to be performed by licensed medical professionals in Belgium.
Last year, Belgian authorities raided multiple sites, including two in Antwerp’s Jewish Quarter, at the beginning of an investigation into illegal circumcisions. Investigators also requested lists of children who had recently been circumcised, according to VRT NWS, the Flemish public broadcaster.
But the sharp criticism by the two leaders was later dismissed by Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot, who wrote in a reply to White’s post that it was “inappropriate to publicly criticize a country and tarnish its image simply because you disagree with judicial proceedings.”
“I recall that the proceedings in question were initiated by representatives of the Jewish community themselves,” Prévot continued. “To portray those as a country’s desire to undermine the religious freedom of Jews is defamatory. This freedom has never been called into question and never will be in our country. Our Constitution protects it. And it is not for an ambassador to dictate the government’s agenda.”
In response to Saar’s post, Prévot wrote, “Enough with these caricatures.”
“Since you yourself recently urged against conducting diplomacy via Twitter, I suggest that we discuss all these issues during a meeting in Israel at a time that suits you best, in order to put an end to any misinterpretations,” Prévot continued.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Israel, US condemn Belgium over planned prosecutions tied to Jewish circumcisions appeared first on The Forward.
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Rutgers disinvites commencement speaker over tweet claiming Israelis ‘train dogs to sexually assault prisoners’
(JTA) — Administrators at Rutgers University have canceled a commencement speaker scheduled for next week, citing an “inflammatory claim” the speaker tweeted about Israel.
Rami Elghandour, a Rutgers alumnus and a producer of an Oscar-nominated docudrama about a Palestinian girl who died in Gaza, was set to deliver the speech at the university’s School of Engineering on May 15. But the university, New Jersey’s public flagship, rescinded the invitation on Wednesday.
The Associated Press was the first to report that Elghandour’s invitation had been rescinded and that the university said social media posts about Israel were the cause.
To the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a university representative specifically cited an April 20 tweet by Elghandour that accuses Israel of genocide and says the Israelis are “running dungeons where they train dogs to sexually assault prisoners.”
The tweet was a response to a post from California Rep. Ro Khanna advocating for cutting U.S. aid to Israel, which was itself a response to a post by AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby that has become a bogeyman in U.S. politics. The unsubstantiated claim that Israel trains dogs to assault prisoners has circulated widely in recent weeks among some pro-Palestinian activists.
“The Rutgers School of Engineering was recently informed that some graduating students would not attend their graduation ceremony due to concerns about the invited speaker’s social media posts, including one that shared an inflammatory claim,” Dory Devlin, a representative for Rutgers University, told JTA in an email. “After discussing these concerns with the speaker, the School of Engineering has rescinded the convocation speaker invitation to Rami Elghandour.”
Elghandour, who owns a biotech company and was an executive producer for the award-winning documentary “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” declined through a spokesperson to respond to a JTA request for comment. The spokesperson pointed to his statement on social media, where he disparaged the school’s decision.
“After a ‘few’ students complained about my selection as speaker because of my social media advocacy for Palestine, Rutgers has canceled my speech,” Elghandour wrote. “They decided that the feelings of a handful of students who said that my social media posts ‘opposed their beliefs’, were more important than the experience of the entire graduating class, the reputation of the school, the dignity and belonging of Arab and Muslim students, and the First Amendment.”
In addition to executive-producing “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” Elghandour was also a producer on the film “American Doctor,” about three physicians — including a Palestinian and a Jew — who traveled to Gaza to aid civilians there.
Rutgers University Hillel, the campus Jewish group that also engages students around Israel, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rutgers settled a federal civil rights investigation into its handling of antisemitism in January 2025. It agreed to update its anti-discrimination policies as investigators were poised to find that the school did not protect Jewish students from antisemitism in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.
The incident adds to a string of dustups over Israel at commencements this year and in the past. The University of Michigan’s president apologized after faculty senate chair Derek Peterson praised pro-Palestinian student protesters during his speech on Saturday; Elghandour shared several posts in defense of Peterson’s speech.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Rutgers disinvites commencement speaker over tweet claiming Israelis ‘train dogs to sexually assault prisoners’ appeared first on The Forward.
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London Police Set Up Specialist Jewish Protection Team
A police officer stands at the scene, after a man was arrested following a stabbing incident in the Golders Green area, which is home to a large Jewish population, in London, Britain, April 29, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Hannah McKay
British police are setting up a new team of 100 officers including counter terrorism specialists to help protect Jewish communities across London after a series of antisemitic attacks including the stabbing of two men.
The plan announced on Wednesday for a dedicated protection team comes as officers announced more arrests for antisemitism, including detaining a 35-year-old man on Saturday after rocks were thrown at an ambulance belonging to the Jewish community.
London‘s top police boss Mark Rowley said Jewish communities were facing “sustained threats” from hostile state actors as well as extreme right-wing groups, elements of the extreme left, and Islamist terrorists.
Detectives are examining whether the arson incidents have possible Iranian links, after British security officials warned that Iran was using criminal proxies to carry out hostile activity.
Since late March, there have been a number of high-profile arson attacks with four Jewish ambulances burned and synagogues targeted. Last week, two Jewish men were also stabbed. Both victims survived the attack.
Over the past four weeks, police said they had arrested around 50 people for antisemitic hate crimes and charged eight individuals. On top of that, 28 arrests have been made as part of investigations alongside counter terrorism policing for arson and other serious incidents.
“This new team will be primarily focused on protecting the Jewish community, which faces some of the highest levels of hate crime alongside significant terrorist and hostile state threats,” said a statement from London‘s Metropolitan Police force.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer convened a meeting on Monday with business, health and cultural leaders aimed at trying to tackle antisemitism.