At last year’s grand opening for Oro Nami, a kosher sushi spot in Washington, the restaurant’s splashy aesthetic — red velvet booths, multicolor clocks projected on the ceiling, dark walls, a light-up floor — did not exactly align with the clientele: Capitol Hill staffers, new Trump administration appointees, K Street lobbyists and a handful of Orthodox rabbis.

But even if Oro Nami’s atmosphere felt slightly out of place in Washington’s quiet West End neighborhood, where the city’s small Orthodox community is centered, that incongruity was no match for the excitement among observant Jews living in the nation’s capital. For years, people had been clamoring for more kosher dining options in the city, and in particular one that would be open past 8 p.m. Oro Nami seemed like the answer. 

Two U.S. ambassadors highlighted ongoing U.S. efforts to bring Ahlam Tamimi — who was convicted by Israeli courts for her involvement in the 2001 bombing of a Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem that killed 16 people, including three Americans — to face trial in the United States around the 25th anniversary of the terror attack.

Tamimi has resided in Jordan since being released from Israeli custody in 2011 as part of a deal that saw Israel free 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit, who was held hostage by Hamas for more than five years. 

A lawn sign for Rep. Randy Fine’s (R-FL) reelection campaign outside an early voting site in Flagler Beach, Fla., was spray-painted with a swastika over the weekend, local news outlets reported on Monday.

Fine is one of the few Jewish Republicans in Congress and has been vocal about his Jewish identity and advocating for Israel and against antisemitism. He’s being challenged in his primary race by Dan Bilzerian, an openly antisemitic online influencer.

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) on Sunday praised the new mutual defense pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan as an accomplishment by President Donald Trump.

“The mutual defense pact of Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Pakistan is another achievement of [Trump] promoting stability, peace, and prosperity in the Middle East,” Wilson, a vocal supporter of Israel who has also been strongly supportive of Turkey, said in a post on X. “With our prosperous Gulf allies, a liberated Syria, and Lebanese-Israeli negotiations, it is clear the murderous regime in Iran is isolated and the people of Iran can regain a new government worthy of Iran’s rich history.”

A national co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America said last week that she would have attended an anti-Israel rally in Times Square one day after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks had she been in New York City at the time, describing the terror group’s slaughter of more than 1,200 people across southern Israel as “inevitable.” 

“I think that Oct. 7 was largely inevitable. If you put people in an open-air concentration camp and you deprive them of rights, of dignity, of food, of the ability to live in safety, you have to expect that they are going to not take that for that long,” Megan Romer, who has served as a DSA co-chair since 2023, said in a podcast interview with The New Yorker’s David Remnick. “That is not defending any harm of civilians or non-combatants,” she added.

A new app called Sabbath is selling an ancient pitch to a modern, phone-addicted crowd: lock technology away for one sacred day a week.

The app, launched earlier this month by Dig Wells — the makers of the reading app Matter and the habit tracker Halo — is designed to help users unplug from sundown to sundown on either Saturday or Sunday. Users pick the apps they wish to block at no cost, while a paid tier adds custom weekday blocks, such as a daily 5-7 p.m. family time or an hour for morning meditation. 

The University of Washington on Friday reversed its decision to host far-left, antisemitic influencer Hasan Piker, citing a flawed planning process.

Piker, who has an extensive history of antisemitic rhetoric — including justifying Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, calling Orthodox Jews “inbred” and asserting that America deserved 9/11 — was scheduled to appear in January as part of the school’s 2026-27 Speaker Series. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Jerusalem “does not accept the 15-point document” agreed to last month by the U.S.-led Board of Peace and Hamas that would see the eventual disarmament of the terror group and withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip — a rare public break with the White House, which has touted the plan since it was announced.

In comments to his Cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel “would not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed.”