World News
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Israel and US go for regime change in Iran, with leaders few trust
TEL AVIV, Israel — We were woken just after 8 a.m. by a siren, followed within minutes by the notification that there were in fact no incoming missiles. It appeared the government had decided to use the alert system as a kind of national alarm clock, to let the country know that the war had…
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US, Israel strike Iran: Trump, Netanyahu call for regime change in Tehran as Israelis take shelter
(JTA) — This is a developing story and will be updated. The United States and Israel jointly launched what U.S. President Donald Trump called “a major military operation” in Iran on Saturday morning, ending weeks of speculation. Iran immediately retaliated by launching missiles toward Israel and U.S. positions in the Middle East, sending Israelis across…
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In a viral social media showdown, a glimpse of the real Israel
In amateur video footage circulated across Israeli social media in recent weeks, a disturbing scene unfolds. A young man in his mid-twenties, wearing a military-style jacket, looms over a silver car in the heart of Tel Aviv. Inside the vehicle sits an 89-year-old man, mouth agape, expression frozen. “Dictator! Khamenei!” the young man shouts, his…
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Trump’s pick for surgeon general gets her ‘daily dose of inspiring Kabbalah wisdom’
Casey Means, President Trump’s nominee for U.S. surgeon general, preaches a broad, loosely-defined spirituality that blends ideas such as the “divine feminine,” meditation, and connection with nature. In her email newsletter, she has endorsed practices such as full moon rituals and talking to trees. And, though she was raised Roman Catholic, she has expressed interest…
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More Americans now sympathize with Palestinians than with Israelis, new poll finds
(JTA) — Another major poll has founded that sympathy has surged among Americans for Palestinians and now exceeds support for Israelis. Gallup, one of the country’s most respected polling outfits, found that 41% of Americans say they sympathize more with the Palestinians, compare to 36% who sympathize more with the Israelis. A year ago, a…
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Is goy a slur, an antisemitic dogwhistle or a word for non-Jews?
Suddenly the term goy is trending. X is full of memes about “goy pride” and goyim “waking up.” People are debating whether goy is an antisemitic term, or, well, an anti-goyish term. Google Trends shows searches for the term have nearly quadrupled in the last four months. Why is everyone suddenly obsessed with this bit…
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A conservative Jewish professor who rejected Hitler comparisons now invokes one — for Tucker Carlson
(JTA) — In the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, Jeffrey Lax, a descendent of Holocaust survivors who has lobbied against antisemitism at the college where he teaches, criticized liberals who compared Donald Trump to Hitler. Now Lax, a law professor who defines himself as center-right and appears frequently on Newsmax and Fox News, is…
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Antisemitism emerges as a defining issue in 2026 California governor’s race
(JTA) — In a state where housing costs, wildfires and water shortages usually dominate campaign rhetoric, the 2026 race for California governor is being shaped to a significant extent around a different flashpoint: antisemitism. At a packed gubernatorial forum Thursday night at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, five leading candidates — Democrat Rep.…
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Far-right mobs have been targeting a pioneering Arab Israeli journalist for encouraging Arab Israelis to vote
(JTA) — Lucy Aharish was supposed to be in the United States this week, delivering a lecture at Stanford University in honor of Daniel Pearl, the Jewish journalist murdered by jihadist militants in Pakistan in 2002. Instead, the Arab Israeli journalist was hunkered down in her native Israel, trying to keep her family safe from…
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Purim gives us an imperative to resist authoritarianism. Here’s how to start
The fear and spectacle of state violence is a fundamental theme of Purim. Haman’s plan to use his powerful position in the Persian empire to perpetrate official violence against the Jewish people is a reminder of how easily a government can instill terror in those who live under it. Today, the parallel between this story…
