Joy and tragedy overlapped in Israel this weekend as special forces carried out a daring military operation on Saturday rescuing four hostages who had been held in Gaza by the militant Islamic terror group Hamas since its barbaric attack on southern Israel eight months ago. As the news broke of the rescue of the four Israelis taken captive by Hamas from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, ordinary Israelis took to the streets – and beaches – in celebration, Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash reports.

A huge achievement: Joyous images and videos were soon released of the four — Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41 — touching down at Tel Aviv’s Sheba Tel-HaShomer Medical Center in military helicopters and being tearfully reunited with family members and friends. 

Mixed emotions: The joy was quickly mixed with sadness, however, as the families of those who remain in Gaza released a statement urging the government to “remember its commitment to bring back all 120 hostages still held by Hamas.” At rallies around the country on Saturday night, thousands took to the streets expressing joy that the four were rescued but demanding that the government work to reach a deal with Hamas, who in a statement hours after the rescue operation said that the remaining hostages were now in “great danger” and Israel’s actions, which it said killed more than 200 people, would “have a negative impact on their conditions and lives.” 

Tragic news: Additionally, it was later revealed that Meir Jan’s father died of a heart attack just hours before the army arrived to deliver the news of his son’s rescue. The daring mission, which took place “Fauda”-style in broad daylight in the center of one of Gaza’s most densely packed neighborhoods – the Nuseirat camp – also took the life of Arnon Zamora, 36, a chief inspector in the Israel police’s special Yamam forces, who led part of the mission.

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A Palestinian journalist and his family held three Israeli hostages captive in their home in the Gaza Strip until their rescue on Saturday morning, the Israeli Defense Forces said on Sunday, Jewish Insider’s Melissa Weiss reports. 

Army findings: “Following the completion of IDF and ISA examinations of reports on the subject, it can be confirmed that Abdallah Aljamal was an operative in the Hamas terrorist organization, who held the hostages Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv captive in his family home in Nuseirat,” the IDF said in a statement. Aljamal, his father and wife were killed during the IDF operation.

Published works: Aljamal was a contributor to The Palestine Chronicle, and published frequently on the site. On June 3, he published an article with the headline “My House Will Always Be Open – Stories from the Gaza Siege.” The Palestine Chronicle is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization registered in the U.S. with the official name People Media Project.

Al Jazeera aspect: In 2019, Aljamal published an article tagged as an opinion piece on Al Jazeera’s website. Al Jazeera attempted to distance itself from Aljamal on Sunday, saying, “This man is not from Al-Jazeera, and he did not work for Al-Jazeera at all, and he is not listed as working for Al-Jazeera neither now nor in the past. We do not know him, and all the rumors that have been spread are empty of content and not true at all.”

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Minister Benny Gantz resigned from the Israeli war cabinet on Sunday, taking his party out of the coalition while accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not putting the country’s best interests first, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports. “Months after the October disaster, the situation in the country and the rooms in which decisions are made changed,” Gantz said. “Strategic, fateful decisions are met with hesitations and deferrals out of political considerations … Netanyahu is preventing us from progressing to true victory.”

Pushing Gallant: Gantz called on Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, of Netanyahu’s Likud party, to quit as well, and said that an election should be held, “after which a government can be established, with the trust of the people, that can meet our challenges.”

Consequences: While the war cabinet minister’s departure from the government would not necessitate an election, as Netanyahu still has a 64-seat coalition, the move is likely to be destabilizing. A Knesset vote on a bill regarding Haredi conscription to the IDF, which the Supreme Court ordered but is opposed by Netanyahu’s coalition partners Shas and UTJ, is expected to test the strength of the government on Monday. Gallant plans to vote against the government-sponsored bill, a step that would normally trigger an automatic resignation by a minister, but wouldn’t necessarily in this case because of a technicality — though it could lead to his dismissal by the prime minister. 

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A survey of the U.S. Jewish community by the American Jewish Committee found that a significant majority of the U.S. Jewish community harbors deep concerns about antisemitism in the United States and remains strongly supportive of Israel. It also suggested that a much-speculated swing in the Jewish vote this November may not materialize, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Antisemitism: The survey found that 93% of Jews think that antisemitism is a problem, with 56% calling it a “serious” problem. And 87% said antisemitism has increased since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, with 55% saying it has increased “a lot” since the attack.

Israel: On Israel, 85% of Jews said it’s important for the U.S. to continue to support Israel, with 60% rating it very important. Seventy-eight percent of Jews said they are paying more attention to news about Israel since Oct. 7. The survey also found that pluralities of Jews feel more connected to Israel — 45% — and to their Jewish identities — 48% — since the Oct. 7 attack.

Election watch: The survey suggested that predictions that Trump would do significantly better among Jewish voters in 2024 are overstated. Sixty-one percent of respondents said they plan to vote for President Joe Biden, roughly in line with the 64% who reported, in the same poll, having voted for Biden in 2020. Trump won 23% of the Jewish vote in the AJC poll, while 10% of respondents said they planned to vote for someone else, and 6% said they do not plan to vote. 

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In a scathing new letter to the leadership of Northwestern University on Friday, House Education and Workforce Committee chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC) threatened to subpoena the school. Foxx also accused Northwestern President Michael Schill of providing false testimony in a committee hearing last month, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Schill stress: Foxx’s letter alleges that “rather than being cooperative and transparent, Northwestern has obstructed the Committee’s investigation of” antisemitism and Schill “refused to answer questions,” “made statements at odds with the public record” and “demonstrated an overall attitude of contempt” for the committee.

Non-compliance: The letter accuses Northwestern of failing to comply with a previous request for documents on the school’s handling of antisemitism and anti-Israel demonstrations. Foxx said in the letter that she’s prepared to subpoena the school for documents and testimony, and that the committee will hold the school’s full Board of Trustees responsible for following her requests.

What they want: The letter gave Northwestern 10 days, until June 17, to provide a series of documents and communications relating to the encampment, antisemitism, board meetings, antisemitism advisory committee meetings and donations from Qatar, or face a subpoena.

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Also on the Hill: Members of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee wrote to the leaders of a series of federal agencies about potential violations of the Civil Rights Act, relating to campus antisemitism, at schools receiving funding from the agencies, including for science-based scholarships and research grants. They highlighted that events on campus may make schools ineligible for such funding and requested that each agency review civil rights compliance at the schools receiving funding from them.

Kesher Israel Congregation, a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Washington, D.C., has a storied, even mythic, history among Jews of the nation’s capital. What it doesn’t have is anything approaching a modern building. That’s about to change as the synagogue, which has remained largely untouched since it was built in 1931, is set to undergo a major renovation, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. 

Distinguished: For decades, Kesher was the only Orthodox synagogue in central Washington (a distinction it now shares with a Chabad House). It has been home to generations of Jewish politicians, including Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Jack Lew, now the U.S. ambassador to Israel. It’s a frequent stopping point for Jewish dignitaries visiting Washington. 

But underwhelming: “Sometimes people walk in, they’ll be like, ‘I’ve heard so much about Kesher Israel, it has such a big place in people’s minds and in the eyes of the Jewish people,’” said Kesher Rabbi Hyim Shafner. “They’ll walk in and be like, ‘This is it?’” The synagogue has no lobby, leading guests to sometimes wonder if they are at the right entrance. It is inaccessible to people with disabilities; all spaces are reachable only by climbing up or down stairs. Its social hall can fit no more than 50 people for a Shabbat dinner, despite the synagogue’s membership of more than 300 people. Critically, the building lacks the security protections that are common in many other synagogues. 

Major project: The synagogue recently won approval from the requisite zoning and governmental boards in Georgetown to begin construction, not an easy task in the preservation-obsessed neighborhood. Now Kesher’s leadership is preparing for a major renovation and expansion project that is estimated to cost at least $12 million and take more than two years to complete.

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