If you are in New York City and struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. You can also dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
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Yeshiva University is left in mourning after a beloved gay alum dies by suicide
(New York Jewish Week) — Before eulogizing their friend on Thursday night, Beth Weiss draped a rainbow flag with a Jewish star over the podium.
It was a potent symbol of the twin identities that Weiss and others who knew Herschel Siegel said he had struggled to reconcile, particularly as a student and 2021 graduate of Yeshiva University. Siegel died by suicide Friday in Atlanta, where he grew up and had been living.
Weiss said during the eulogy they recalled having “a conversation with a gay friend about what it felt like to be queer in the Orthodox world” for the first time with Siegel, a classmate at Y.U., the Modern Orthodox flagship in uptown Manhattan.
“I can’t tell you how invaluable conversations and connections like that are,” Weiss said. “We talked about our dreams for the future, but also the reality of how our future might look because of our queerness.”
Weiss’ comments, delivered at a memorial held on the Y.U. campus and organized by some of Siegel’s friends from college, reflect a narrative solidifying around Siegel’s death. Many believe — based on their conversations with Siegel, his social media posts and their own experiences — that Siegel had considered that there may have been no place for him as a gay man in the Orthodox community where he grew up and attended college.
Even as some in Siegel’s community have downplayed the focus on his sexuality following his death, friends say his suicide should be a wakeup call at a time when Yeshiva University is deeply divided over whether and how to include LGBTQ students. In recent years, the school has fought not to have to recognize an LGBTQ student group, even petitioning the Supreme Court for relief. A trans woman was also told she could no longer pray in a synagogue affiliated with the school.
Weiss told the New York Jewish Week that there are many “Orthodox queer people who are possibly suffering, who feel like they are alone, and who feel like they don’t have a future,” adding, “I know that Herschel felt that way at points in his life because he told me.”
Experts caution that it is a mistake to attribute suicides to single causes. Still, there is no question that LGBTQ youth are at increased risk, particularly when they are not accepted in their communities. According to a 2023 survey by the Trevor Project, a nonprofit focused on suicide prevention in the LGBTQ community, 41% of LGBTQ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year.
Siegel made his struggle transparent. In an Instagram post from March that has circulated widely after his death, he wrote about how the word “abomination” in a Torah portion brought up trauma for him as a gay man within the Orthodox community.
“According to that trauma, my very EXISTENCE as a gay, Jewish, Male was an abomination,” Siegal wrote. “And even decades later, that fear-based thought pattern erupted into my consciousness, at the most unexpected of times.”
He then asked, “Do we ever REALLY heal from the deeply traumatic memories within us? Or is it rather a Journey, like many other emotions, and then we come to realize that one day we are at ease while riding ‘the trauma-coaster’?”
Siegel ended the post on a positive note, sharing gratitude for anyone who “has ever experienced a profoundly traumatizing event within your lives. … The fact that we made it this far is something to be proud of in and of itself!”
He died a month later, on the eve of the Shabbat when the weekly Torah portion includes the Jewish legal prohibition on homosexual intercourse, calling it an “abomination.”
“I think about the bravery, the heroism, the strength of this kid,” said Mordechai Levovitz, a therapist and the clinical director of Jewish Queer Youth, an organization that seeks to support and empower Jewish LGBTQ teens, with a focus on the Orthodox community. “I think any person at all willing to endure a community in a religion that is very cruel to him — and yet sees the value because there is also still value — is someone that I think we can look up to, and that we can learn from, and that we can be inspired by.”
He added, “But also, we can admit and witness and bear the fact that it is because of the community that we created that this kid could not find a future for himself and thought that it would perhaps be better off if he was not here, or if he did not exist.”
Not everyone who has commented on Siegel’s death is connecting it with his sexuality. Rabbi Ilan D. Feldman of Beth Jacob Atlanta, Siegel’s synagogue, wrote an email to the congregation saying that “our thoughts and tefillos [prayers] go out to the Siegel family, whose agony can never be fully fathomed, and who will be embraced and supported by us, their community.” Siegel is survived by his parents and five siblings.
Feldman presided over a funeral on Sunday that people who were present said was attended by about 200 people, with more than 450 tuning in on Zoom. Levovitz said that at the funeral, the rabbi referred to Siegel as being “mentally ill.” Mental illness is considered the strongest predictor of suicide.
Feldman told the New York Jewish Week over the phone that “even by reducing this story to a one-dimensional story of a guy who was gay, who committed suicide, we’re actually doing a disservice to gay people.” He also said Siegel’s family is distressed by the narrative, which they believe is untrue.
“The storyline of this particular case is an openly gay person who had wonderful relationships with the entire Orthodox community, including haredi Orthodox leaders,” Feldman said. “And now we’re going take this guy after his death, during his shiva while his family is grieving, and start talking about [how] gays are marginalized and whether this drove him to suicide, when this is the one case where an Orthodox community embraced a gay person with love and with no exceptions.”
But he acknowledged that there is “a big difference between pressures from the Jewish community and pressures from Jewish tradition,” which under Orthodox interpretations does not permit homosexuality.
“If he ever felt pressure, it was relieved by the love that he received in the community, but the pressure may have been there because Jewish tradition is inconsistent with gay activity,” Feldman said.
A source in the Atlanta community who said he had known Siegel since Siegel was a child said Siegel’s death comes on the heels of another suicide in the Atlanta Orthodox community, also of a young person who identified as a member of the LGBTQ community.
“There is a cloud of sadness. People just feel confused and lost. This is the second time in six months,” the source said. “It’s just resonating very hard for people. Young people taking their lives, it’s not supposed to be something that is normal and is regularly happening.”
Hundreds of people attended the funeral for Herschel Siegel last weekend in Atlanta. (Courtesy)
Chaim Nissel, a dean at Yeshiva University who was an associate provost during Siegel’s tenure as a student, spoke at the Thursday night gathering and said he had known Siegel well, and even had the student visit his home. (Nissel was originally named in the lawsuit by the YU Pride Alliance against the university but was dropped after Y.U. argued that he did not have authority over whether the LGBTQ student club was approved.)
“He struggled to reconcile his identity and love of Torah,” Nissel said. “He died from mental illness.”
Yeshiva University had previously released a statement about Siegel’s death.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Herschel Siegel, a member of the Yeshiva University family,” the statement said. “We express our deepest condolences to his family. May his memory be a blessing.”
Siegel’s family did not respond to a request for comment. People close to the family said they were too distraught to speak to the press. The source from Atlanta who knew Siegel since he was a child said the family was “angry for the way that this is being spun,” suggesting that Siegel’s sexuality should not be the only focus.
“I do resent anyone that is trying to make this about him being gay,” the source said. “It’s the chicken or the egg situation. Did being gay in the Orthodox community make his depression more triggering, or was it that he was depressed, and felt alone, which made being gay so much harder?”
Even his closest friends say it’s impossible to untangle those forces.
“Herschel struggled with mental illness and struggled with accepting himself as a gay Orthodox man,” said Emily Ornelas, a friend who was close to Siegel when he was at Y.U.
“That’s a reality,” Orneles said. “Gay people in any organized religion struggle with that. But I do wholeheartedly believe that by the end of his life, he had come to terms with and accepted himself and was able to love himself for who he was in whatever capacity he could. I feel that is true.”
Ornelas says she is choosing to remember the many bright spots in her friend’s life, rather than focus solely on trying to identify reasons for his death. She recalled the way he connected with children when the two staffed a Passover retreat, as well as his energy in his many theater performances at Y.U., the way his smile lit up a room.
“I remember that his hugs were absolutely crushing,” Ornelas said. “I think he could have cracked my ribs easily. I remember that when he smiled, he smiled literally with every single one of his teeth. You could probably count them. I can hear his voice. He has a very particular affect to the way he spoke, and I think it was like a tiny bit of a Southern drawl. He was just like a really big part of my life — and all of our lives — for a very long time.”
At the memorial service, Weiss exhorted others who might feel tormented about being gay in an Orthodox community to hold on, despite their pain.
“You are not alone,” they said, holding back tears. “You have a future, and you have people who love and see you fully. You have people who celebrate all the wonderful, beautiful parts of you. And if it feels like you don’t have those people yet, we are here waiting for you with open hearts.”
They then shifted to a “a message to everyone else here with us tonight” — those who identify as allies, and those who are just deeply sad about their friend’s tragic death.
“Be like Herschel,” Weiss said. “Be like Herschel and embrace and love each of us with enthusiasm and with joy. Be like Herschel and see us as the full, valid and nuanced human beings that we are. Be like Herschel, and support us unconditionally. Be like Herschel so that we can continue to be here even though Herschel can’t. And be like Herschel, so that this never ever happens again.”
—
The post Yeshiva University is left in mourning after a beloved gay alum dies by suicide appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Murderer of Couple and 9-Year-Old-Son — ‘A Badge of Honor’ for Palestinians
Hamas gunmen stand guard on the day that hostages held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack, are handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as part of a ceasefire and hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
While the world is focused on the war to dismantle the danger to all humanity from the terror state of Iran, the Palestinian Authority (PA), clearly, wants to be the new terror state in the region.
The PA’s official TV station welcomed two terrorist murderers, recently released in the Hamas extortion deal in exchange for Israeli hostages, to its weekly TV program honoring terrorists.
While some naïve observers of the PA were surprised when Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) exposed that the PA supported the Oct 7 atrocities, which included mass murder of families, it should not have been a surprise as PA policy has always been to support and glorify mass murder.
And just two weeks ago, the PA did it again.
On its weekly show to honor terrorists, official PA TV interviewed two murderers. One was serving 7 life sentences, responsible for the deaths of Rabbi Ya’akov Yosef Dikstein, his wife Chana, and their 9-year-old son Shuvel Zion, and others. The terrorists were introduced as “dear brother … We will always view you as badges of honor on the Palestinian chest.”
Since the PA continues to define mass murderers as “badges of honor,” this again confirms what PMW has been insisting. The proper action for the international community is not to grant the PA statehood, but to designate it as a terror organization:
Official PA TV host: “Our two guests will be dear brother Khalil Abu Arram ‘Abu Jihad’ [i.e., terrorist, responsible for murder of 5], who was sentenced to 7 life sentences… Also with us is our dear brother Nidal Amar [i.e., terrorist, murdered 1]. Blessings to him as well. He is a free prisoner after more than 14 (sic, 12) years. His sentence was life imprisonment … We will always view you as badges of honor on the Palestinian chest.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Giants of Endurance, March 24, 2026]
That terrorist murderers are heroes and role models for the entire society is the ideology that the PA feeds Palestinians from early childhood and through all the years in the PA education system.
A high school in Jenin planted a “Martyrs’ Garden” honoring among others arch-terrorist Abu Jihad, responsible for murdering 125, and Walid Obeidi, responsible for murdering 11. At the inauguration of the Garden of the Martyrs event, at which PA Security Forces officers were also present, a Fatah official explained the rationale behind the Martyrs’ garden: Teaching youth to desire becoming terrorist “Martyrs.” He said: “Whoever honors the Martyr walks in his path,” and also stated that terrorist “Martyrs” are “more noble and precious than all of us”:
Insan National Action Association Chairman Fida Turkeman: “In honor of Palestinian Martyrs’ Day, we inaugurated the Garden of the Martyrs of Palestine here at the Jenin Vocational School…. We are proud of these important and great figures… They sacrificed their lives for Palestine, for the Palestinian cause, for liberation, for the right of return, and for the establishment of the Palestinian state on all national lands, on the occupied Palestinian lands, 1948 and 1967 [i.e., all of Israel]…”
Member of Fatah Jenin branch Osama Bazzour: “As we always say, whoever honors the Martyr walks in his path. We came to plant an olive tree… in the name of all the Martyrs of the Palestinian revolution and our Martyrs, who are more noble and precious than all of us… We will continue to walk in their path until victory, liberation, and return, Allah willing.”
Ahmad Rashid, school principal: “We hope that this [garden] will bring glory and eternity to the Martyrs of Palestine.” [emphasis added]
Some of the same arch-terrorists were honored by Fatah and the PLO at a Palestinian Martyrs’ Day event at Al-Burj Al-Shamali refugee camp in Lebanon. At the terrorists’ memorial, a PLO official explained that “Martyrdom is the path to victory [and] freedom of Palestine”:
Text on screen: “On behalf of [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas]: Palestinian Ambassador [in Lebanon] Dr. Muhammad Al-As’ad lays wreaths on the monument of the Martyrs of the Palestinian revolution”
Secretary of Fatah and the PLO factions in Lebanon Nasser Al-Lahham: “Many are the Martyrs of Palestine who sacrificed their lives for their freedom and our freedom, and no brave person can equal them and compete with their Martyrdom, because Martyrdom is the path to the approaching victory, which leads to the freedom of Palestine and its people.” …
In the background of the stage was a large poster featuring PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and former head of the Black September terror organization Salah Khalaf “Abu Iyad.”
Reporter:“At every turning point in our national cause, the last wills of the Martyrs and their sacrifice continue to serve as a roadmap towards Palestine.”
Participants in the event carried a large poster featuring terrorist Khalil Al-Wazir “Abu Jihad” who was responsible for the murder of 125 people, Salah Khalaf “Abu Iyad,” Mahmoud Abbas, and former PLO and PA Chairman Yasser Arafat.
Text on poster:“Here we remain” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV News, Jan. 7, 2026]
Earlier this year, a Fatah official also used the term “badges of honor” to describe terrorist prisoners serving long-term sentences:
Follow-up Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs Director and Fatah member Amin Shuman: “[The prisoners] merit to be a symbol for all our Palestinian people who appreciate the prisoner (i.e., terrorist) who is serving more than 20 years and even 25 years, and even the administrative detainees, the female prisoners, the children, and all the models of the prisoners’ movement inside the Israeli prisons … They are a badge of honor on the forehead of every Palestinian and Arab and every free person in this world.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, Dec. 30, 2025]
So, as Israel and the US fight to destroy one terror state, the PA is actively building another beside Israel.
The author is the founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.
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Jews in Curacao: A Remarkable History (PART ONE)
A look inside the exhibit “Longing for Freedom. The World of Anne Frank” opening at the Jewish Museum Curacao. Photo: Anne Frank House
Curacao is a small island in the Atlantic Ocean near Venezuela known for its rich Jewish history. Covering 170 square miles, it is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Curacao may ring a bell as the place Jews escaping Lithuania named as their final destination in escaping Europe, but its Jewish roots go back much further, to when it was called the “Mother Congregation of the Americas.”
This is the story of Curacao.
Curacao was conquered by a Spanish expedition in 1499 and remained under Spanish control until 1634. At that time, the Dutch decided to capture Curaçao from Spain in response to Spain’s seizure of Saint Martin from the Dutch West India Company (WIC).
In April 1634, the WIC sent Admiral Johannes Van Walbeeck to take Curacao and Bonaire from the Spanish. These islands were important for their location near the American continent and for their role in trade and shipping,
In May 1634, Van Walbeeck departed from Holland with a fleet of four ships, 180 sailors, and 250 soldiers. To their good fortune, the Spanish had mostly abandoned Curacao, which facilitated the Dutch conquest. During this time, Curacao’s first known Jew, Samuel Cohen, arrived to serve as an interpreter for the Dutch. On August 21, the Spanish forces surrendered, and Van Walbeeck was appointed the first governor of the Netherlands Antilles.
Arrival of the First Jewish Settlers
At first, the Dutch used Curaçao as a naval base against Spain. After the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the island lost its strategic value, so the WIC encouraged Dutch settlers to farm there. In 1651, Joao d’Yllan, a Portuguese Jew, and 12 Jewish families from Amsterdam’s Portuguese community moved to Curacao. They were promised religious freedom, land, tax breaks, exemption from guard duty on Shabbat even during war, and government protection. This was the earliest charter of its kind for Jews in the New World.
The families established a plantation called Plantation De Hoop (Plantation of Hope).
A larger group of Jewish settlers came in 1659, bringing a 14th-century Torah Scroll from the Amsterdam community. This Torah is still used today at the Mikveh Israel-Emmanuel Synagogue. Most of these settlers were refugees from the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions. After first moving to the Netherlands or Northern Brazil, they now settled in Curacao, starting a new chapter for the Jewish community there.
Farmers? Not Quite. Financiers — Absolutely!
The settlers first tried to farm, but the dry soil made it difficult. By 1660, the Jewish community moved to Willemstad and began trading between Northern Europe and South America. They found great success in this new focus.
Once trade routes connected Curacao with Northern Europe and South America, business on the island grew quickly. The Jewish community became the largest and wealthiest in the Americas. From 1670 to 1900, Jews in Curacao owned over 1,200 sailing ships, with at least 200 Jewish captains. A 1728 report said, “the lion’s share of shipping is in Curacao Jewish hands.”
Due to the risks involved in shipping, marine insurance was invented to help distribute the risk of loss of ships or cargo among the parties involved. Most of the insurance brokers were Jewish, and they eventually also became the bankers of Curacao. By the early 20th century, three commercial banks owned by Sephardic Jews were established in Curacao: Maduro’s Bank, Curiel’s Bank, and Edwards Henriquez & Co.’s Bank. (The first two merged in 1932 to form Maduro & Curiel’s Bank, which is the oldest and most extensive bank in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.)
An archived photo in Maduro’s bank. Photo: provided.
In another successful business, Jewish businessmen Haim Mendes Chumaceiro and Edgar Senior started Senior & Co. in 1896 to make Curaçao liqueur. It was first made for medicine but soon became a popular drink. The founders’ families still run the company, and they are the only ones who use Curacao-grown larahas in their liqueur. The product is also Star-K Kosher certified.
Interestingly, the Jews of Curacao also provided refuge and funds to Simon Bolivar, known as the “George Washington of South America” when he was fighting for freedom from Spain. As the Jews of Curacao shared his hatred for Spain, due to their experience of the Inquisition, they were eager to help him. They provided a place for Bolivar and his family and Curacao’s Jews even served in his army.
In short, over the years, the Jewish community in Curacao gained great wealth and influence, and, as we will see, they used it to strengthen their own community and support other communities throughout the Americas.
Building The Community
While still in its early years, in 1659, the Jewish community of Curacao created Haskamos, defining how the community would be governed. A key component of rulership was a Machamad (the equivalent of a board) that would govern the community for years to come.
The Machamad was a mixed blessing. They had control over all that went on within the community, and in good times, this was positive, but in times when the members of the Machamad were more concerned with their own power than the good of the community, this led to divisions and strife that would ultimately lead to the demise of the proud Curacao community.
The Haskamos of the Curacao community were patterned after those of the Portuguese Talmud Torah Kehillah in Amsterdam, from where most of them had come, and to which they would remain deeply connected. Over the coming centuries, Rabbis for Curacao would be sent from Amsterdam, and Amsterdam would continue to lead and direct the Jewish community from across the ocean.
In 1651, the community established itself as Congregation Mikveh Yisrael. By 1674, the community had grown enough in size and finances to buy its first shul building in Willemstad. In 1703, they rebuilt it with a larger structure, and in 1730, they tore it down and constructed a magnificent edifice that remains in use to this day. It was built by a master carpenter brought in from Amsterdam and was completed by Pesach of 1732. The beautiful shul is called the Snao (which means synagogue in Papiamentu, the language of Curacao). It has 50-foot-high ceilings and 18th-century copper chandeliers, and it was built to resemble the shul in the Amsterdam community from which most Jews in Curacao had come. The shul is large enough to seat 600 people. Today, it is a major tourist attraction in Curacao.
The shul is unique for its sand-covered floors. Some believe the sand is to remember the forty years the Jewish people spent in the desert. Others say it recalls God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as many as the stars and the sand. Another idea is that it comes from Jews who prayed in secret during the Inquisition and used sand to quiet their footsteps and prayers.
Inside a shul with a sand-covered floor. Photo: provided,
By the late 1740’s, the Jewish community had expanded beyond Willemstad into its neighboring Otrabanda, where a new shul, Neve Shalom, was founded in 1746. Over the next few years, disagreements arose over whether Mikveh Yisroel shul should make decisions for the new community or whether Neve Shalom was now an independent community. The conflict grew to such an extent that it affected the island’s economy (indicating the Jewish community’s importance to Curaçao’s economy), and the government got involved.
In 1750, the Prince of Holland ordered the two communities to make peace. His royal order required Neve Shalom to follow the leadership of the Machamad and the board of Mikveh Yisroel, and to obey the directives of the Portuguese community in Amsterdam.
The Curacao community had many organizations that helped the poor and the sick. In fact, the community was so renowned for taking care of the needy that the Kehillah of Amsterdam would pay the travel expenses for poor members to go to Curaçao and settle there, knowing they would be well cared for. This occurred so frequently that by 1736, Governor Juan Pedro van Collen asked the West India Company to stop giving passports to poor Jews because he worried that they would become a burden to Curacao.
The Rabbis of Curacao
The Jewish community in Curaçao was deeply committed to their faith. In the 1600s, Jews there had more rights and freedoms than anywhere else in the Western world. While more rights often led to assimilation in other places, this was rare in Curacao. For the next two centuries, the community remained strong. Unlike other Jewish communities in the Americas, they made Jewish education a top priority and worked hard to give their children a strong religious foundation.
In 1674, Chacham Josiau Pardo arrived from Amsterdam to become Curacao’s first rabbi. He came from a family of rabbis, and in fact, his father had served as a judge in the Amsterdam Jewish court of law alongside the famous Rabbi Menashe ben Israel. Rabbi Pardo’s focus was on the Torah study of the community. He set up a medras (beit medrash study hall) for the children of the community.
With Chacham Pardo as leader, the community required boys to attend the medras from age five to sixteen, showing their strong commitment to Torah study. In Europe then, only wealthy or very dedicated boys continued learning after bar mitzvah, yet in Curacao attendance was mandatory. Families that did not send their sons to the medras could be fined or even forced by the government to comply.
Chacham Pardo also started the Yeshiva Eitz Chaim v’Ohel Yaakov to train teachers, Chazzanim, and those who wanted to study Torah for additional years. This was the first yeshiva-like school in the Western Hemisphere, and many of its graduates would go on to lead Jewish communities in the Americas.
In 1683, after Rabbi Pardo moved to Jamaica, there was no rabbi for the community until 1696 when Rabbi Eliau Lopez arrived in Curacao. He had previously served as the Chacham of Barbados and as the leader of the Curacao community until his passing in 1713.
Rabbi Raphael Jesurun, a student of the Eitz Chaim Yeshiva in Amsterdam, served as rabbi from 1717 to 1748. Rabbi Raphael Mendes de Sola, who had been a rabbi in Amsterdam, came to Curacao in 1744 to serve as an assistant Rabbi to Rabbi Jesurun. After his passing, he served as the Chacham until his passing in 1761.
The next rabbi was Rabbi Isaac Henriquez Farro from Amsterdam. Tragically, he passed away just a few days after arriving in Curacao in July 1762. At this point, the community persuaded Rabbi Raphael Chaim Yitzchok Karigal, who was a Torah scholar and a fundraiser for the community of Chevron, to serve as rabbi until the native Curacaon Rabbi Jacob Lopez da Fonseca would return with semicha from the Eitz Chaim Yeshiva of Amsterdam, as he was expected to become the next rabbi of Curacao. Rabbi Karigal agreed and stayed for two years. He later became a rabbi in Newport, Rhode Island, and New York City.
Rabbi Jacob Lopez da Fonseca returned to Curacao in 1764 and served as the Chacham until his passing in 1815. He was the first Chacham born in Curacao to serve the community.
Rabbi Menachem Levine is the CEO of JDBY-YTT, the largest Jewish school in the Midwest. He served as Rabbi of Congregation Am Echad in San Jose, CA, from 2007 to 2020. He is a popular speaker and writes for numerous publications on Torah, Jewish History, and Contemporary Jewish Topics. Rabbi Levine’s personal website is https://thinktorah.org A version of this article was originally published at Aish.
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Palestinian Officials Say Oct. 7 Was Israeli ‘Plot’ to Control the Entire Middle East
Israeli protestors take part in a rally demanding the immediate release of the hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, and the end of war in Gaza, in Jerusalem September 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
During the Oct. 7 war, the Palestinian Authority (PA) spread different libels about Israel, ranging from claims that the massacre did not happen at all, to lies that Israel wanted the war and even planned it in advance as a way to gain control over the entire Middle East.
This libel is still alive and well. It not only whitewashes Palestinians of any responsibility for their massacre and murder of over 1,100 Israelis and foreigners in one day but also cements the PA’s narrative of victimhood that casts Israel in the role of existential danger that threatens not only the PA, but the entire region.
PA leader Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, has adamantly promoted this PA narrative, and did so again recently:
PA Chairman Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “Some people even speculate that Oct. 7 was an Israeli plot.
Some say this, even in the Palestinian street. They say that Israel dragged Hamas and the Palestinian street into this bottomless abyss to later justify everything it is doing as part of its desire to control either Palestine primarily or the Arab region in general, the entire Middle East.” [emphasis added]
[Mahmoud Al-Habbash, YouTube channel, March 14, 2026]
Palestinian Media Watch reported this month on similar accusations against Israel, claims that Israel “shares goals with Iran” to “weaken the Arab states.”
The spokesman for Abbas’ Fatah party also portrayed Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as “a danger to the whole region”:
Fatah Movement official spokesman and released terrorist Abd Al-Fattah Doleh:“Today the whole world is preoccupied with Iran. The one who is benefiting the most from this is [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu, who has committed all kinds of aggression and used all justifications not to adhere to [US President] Trump’s plan [for Gaza]… Today the issue of Iran came on a silver platter, and all eyes and attention were directed there…
We told [the Arab states] at the start of the war against us: The danger is not only to the Palestinian people, the danger is to the region, and if you remain silent on Netanyahu, the danger will reach [you] everywhere… Netanyahu and the occupation is the greatest danger to peace, security, and stability.” [emphasis added]
[Al-Alam radio station (Hebron), Facebook page, March 7, 2026]
A regular columnist of the official PA daily has also promoted the libel that Israel “turned a blind eye to Hamas’ weapons and tunnels” to serve its “mission” to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state:
It was no secret that the governments led by Benjamin Netanyahu gave Hamas and the armed groups in the Gaza Strip golden opportunities to enhance their power and capabilities, in order to carry out the mission that is to prevent any chance of establishing the exclusivity of the legitimate PA institutions, and specifically the official legitimate [PA] Security Forces
… No one can convince us that the military and civilian intelligence forces of the occupation system— which worked for 15 years, spent about $320 million on the operation of blowing up about 5,000 pagers with a single button press — and managed to land a blow on the Hezbollah forces in Lebanon in an unprecedented operation in the history of global intelligence – were in a deep sleep and were surprised by the Oct. 7, [2023] operation… The crime of assassinating the Palestinian state… required turning a blind eye to Hamas’ weapons and tunnels until the moment the organization expired. [emphasis added]
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 8, 2026]
During the Oct. 7 war, Al-Habbash claimed Israel benefited from the massacre as it enabled them to carry out a “premeditated plan” to “destroy the Palestinian people”:
Al-Habbash: “Israel is behind all the obstacles and reasons leading to the continuation of this war of annihilation [i.e., Oct. 7 war].
It wanted it and pursued it and took advantage of the opportunity presented to it on Oct. 7 to execute this plot, to carry out this plan that was premeditated and incubated in the minds of the leaders of this right-wing Israeli government: The attempt to destroy the Palestinian people.” [emphasis added]
[Mahmoud Al-Habbash, YouTube channel, Aug. 27, 2025]
The author is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this story first appeared.