Spain’s leading newspaper, El País, came under fire Tuesday for publishing an antisemitic comment about the Jewish background of the judge overseeing the case against deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

In a since-edited story, the left-leaning newspaper reported on Monday that federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein is a highly regarded jurist “despite being a recognized member of the Jewish community.” 

Hellerstein is a 92-year-old Orthodox judge with 27 years on the federal bench in Manhattan, including presiding over high-profile trials such as lawsuits brought in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and a suit against disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. 

“Hellerstein, who studied law at Columbia University (New York), began his career as a clerk in the court he now presides over. Throughout his career, he has issued well-reasoned rulings and strived to maintain impartiality, despite being a prominent member of the Jewish community,” the article stated in Spanish. The end of the last sentence was removed on Tuesday. 

Before it was edited, the story was reproduced by the Uruguayan El País, which also removed the line on Tuesday evening, following an inquiry from Jewish Insider. El País in Spain did not respond to multiple requests for comment from JI. (The two papers share no business connection other than syndication.) 

The European Jewish Congress condemned El País, writing that “Jewish identity is not a conflict of interest. Such language reinforces bias and has real consequences for how Jews are perceived in public life. Media have a responsibility to avoid words that legitimize prejudice and to correct them when they do.”

A new report by the Anti-Defamation League highlights several members of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition team who have used antisemitic tropes and justified Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, among other issues the group flags as “deeply troubling” and that raise further questions about his vetting process.

The document, published on Monday, comes days after the ADL uncovered antisemitic comments by  a top transition appointee, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, who had denigrated Jews in a series of past social media posts. Da Costa resigned shortly after the posts were publicized amid backlash from critics. 

Mamdani said last week that he was unaware of those comments and would hire an outside legal team to assist with the vetting process as he staffs his administration — noting “clear changes that need to be made” and are “underway.”

But the ADL writes in its new document that other appointees merit scrutiny as Mamdani prepares to assume office on Jan. 1. The ADL, which reviewed more than 400 transition appointees announced in November to help fill his administration, identified “many examples of individuals who have engaged in some type of antisemitic, anti-Zionist, or anti-Israel activities” and “have ties to” antisemitic groups and figures, according to the document. 

The organization, which has closely monitored Mamdani’s ongoing transition, says that it “has long distinguished between legitimate criticism of Israeli government policies and antisemitism.”

“The swift action taken in the Da Costa case demonstrates that when clear antisemitic statements are identified, Mayor-elect Mamdani’s team can and will respond appropriately,” the ADL says. “This makes it all the more important to understand how other appointments with concerning backgrounds were made and what this reveals about the vetting standards that will be applied to actual administration positions.”

Among the transition team members the ADL singles out is Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari, co-executive director of Alliance for Quality Education who was named to the youth and education committee and is one of several appointees who expressed support for or participated in anti-Israel campus encampments. 

In one photo uncovered by the ADL, Shaakir-Ansari is pictured in front of a banner with an inverted red triangle — popularized by Hamas to identify targets — and the words “long live the resistance.” The ADL also flagged a cartoon that Shaakir-Ansari posted on social media that depicts “Israel as a dog pushing a person representing Palestine off a bed,” according to the document.

Meanwhile, a day after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, Kazi Fouzia, director of organizing at DRUM Beats and a member of Mamdani’s committee on worker justice, defended the violence in a social media post claiming “Resistance are Justified when people are occupied” above footage of an anti-Israel demonstration in Manhattan, the document shows.

Youssef Mubaraz, director of public relations for of the Yemeni American Merchants Association who was appointed to serve on the committee on small businesses, also dismissed a Facebook video about Hamas’ widespread use of sexual violence on Oct. 7 as “propaganda,” according to the ADL.

The ADL writes that more than 20% of Mamdani’s appointees “have a documented history of making or sharing anti-Zionist or anti-Israel statements.” Mohammed Karim Chowdhury, also a member of the worker justice committee, previously shared a post claiming that “Zionists are worse than Haman of ancient times, the Inquisition, and the Nazis” and that “Zionists are never Jews,” the document notes.

“It’s all about the benjamins!” Rocky Bucano, who serves on the committee on arts and culture, wrote in a 2019 Facebook post that promoted antisemitic tropes “criticizing Israeli and American leaders,” the ADL says.  

At least four transition appointees have ties to Louis Farrakhan, the virulently antisemitic leader of the Nation of Islam, the ADL notes — citing Tamika Mallory, the former Women’s March organizer who was named to the community safety committee, and  Jacques Léandre, who is serving on the legal affairs team, among others. 

Other appointees have “connections to groups that openly promote terror and harass Jewish people,” the ADL says — including Within Our Lifetime, a radical anti-Israel organization that has engaged in antisemitic provocation.

In reviewing the transition team, the ADL writes in its document that many of Mamdani’s committee appointments “are inconsistent with his campaign commitments to prioritize the safety of New York’s Jewish community.”

“The composition of these transition committees will directly influence the administration’s policies and approach to Jewish community concerns,” the ADL states, “and the current appointments raise serious questions as to whether those concerns will not be adequately represented or addressed.”

A transition spokesperson, asked to comment on the report, referred Jewish Insider to Mamdani’s comments made during a press conference on Monday. 

“We must distinguish between antisemitism and criticism of the Israeli government,” he said of the findings, arguing that “the ADL’s report oftentimes ignores this distinction, and in doing so it draws attention away from the very real crisis of antisemitism we see.”

In recent weeks, James Fishback, a 30-year-old Republican investor who last month launched a long-shot campaign for governor of Florida, has drawn online attention for a series of incendiary social media posts attacking Israel and invoking antisemitic tropes.

In addition to praising followers of the neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes, comments for which he has refused to apologize, Fishback has promoted a range of extreme anti-Israel positions, including in a recent campaign ad vowing to defend those who accuse the Jewish state of genocide. He has taken repeated aim at the pro-Israel organization AIPAC, which he calls a “foreign lobbying group,” saying its supporters are “slaves” and that his own “allegiance is to America.”

“I’ll be the first to admit that I fell for the ‘Israel is our greatest ally’ scam and the lie that criticizing Israel is ‘antisemitic,’” he wrote in a social media post this week. “It wasn’t until I was offered a paid trip to Israel this summer (which I never took) that I realized how cringe and pathetic the propaganda was.”

In using such inflammatory rhetoric, Fishback, a political newcomer, is likely seeking to capitalize on the views of a younger audience of far-right voters increasingly fueling anti-Israel as well as antisemitic sentiment in the GOP, which has recently forced the party to confront a growing schism within its ranks over its ideological direction.

But while Fishback has sought to cast next year’s Republican primary as “very clearly a two-person race” between him and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) — the pro-Israel GOP front-runner now dominating the polls while reporting a $40 million fundraising advantage — political operatives in both parties are skeptical his insurgent bid will ultimately amount to any sort of meaningful on-the-ground traction even as he continues to provoke controversy from behind the screen.

“Social media is the only reason anyone has heard of Fishback, and 20 years ago no one would even be talking about him,” Steve Schale, a Democratic strategist in Florida, told Jewish Insider. “Unless he stumbles into a pile of cash, it’s hard for me to see this being more than just an effort to get clicks.”

Fishback, the CEO of an anti-DEI investment firm called Azoria, is hardly the first candidate hoping to translate social media clout into votes or fame. A growing cohort of young influencers seeking office has emerged in recent years, so far with no success. 

Deja Foxx, a progressive TikTok activist who ran for Congress in Arizona this summer, had raised a lot of money and appeared to be gaining momentum near the end of the campaign. But despite the hype, Foxx fell short by nearly 40 points — losing out to a more established local lawmaker.

In the race to succeed outgoing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Donalds, a three-term congressman who is endorsed by President Donald Trump, is heavily favored to clinch the nomination over a handful of lesser-known primary rivals. Multiple surveys have shown him leading by double digits — with support from a range of state elected officials. Fishback, for his part, claimed just 2% of the vote in a recent poll.

“Although we’re still in the early stages of this race, it’s almost game, set, match,” said Ford O’Connell, a Republican strategist in Florida. “Byron Donalds is dominating the field, approaching 50% in the polls. Once voters realize he has Trump’s endorsement, he becomes the clear favorite. In GOP primary politics, Trump’s endorsement is the platinum standard.”

“If you look at any legitimate polling I would say Mr. Fishback has a very tall mountain to climb,” Will McKinley, a GOP lobbyist and government consultant in the state, echoed to JI.

Jim Cherry, a Republican pollster in Florida, said his “firm does political polling and as of this point, no client has requested that we include Fishback in any gubernatorial head-to-head questions.”

A college dropout and former hedge fund analyst, Fishback attracted some attention in conservative circles after he pitched DOGE “dividend checks” to a receptive Elon Musk, though the plan never took off. He later launched a super PAC to oppose Musk when the billionaire mogul fell out with Trump. He announced his gubernatorial bid in mid-November, pledging to “build on” DeSantis’ “historic record.”

Fishback has portrayed himself as a strong ally of DeSantis, who has so far declined to publicly back anyone in the race, while dismissing Donalds’ bid. But Fishback’s hostility to Israel puts him at odds with the governor, who has long touted his support for the Jewish state.

Meanwhile, Fishback’s recent comments on Israel are almost certain to alienate a sizable population of Jewish voters who live in Florida and can help tip the scales in close elections.

“In my opinion, he’s not a serious candidate and is simply trying to be incendiary to get attention,” said Gabriel Groisman, a Jewish Republican donor and a former mayor of Bal Harbour, Fla. 

He declined to comment further, saying that doing so would be “counterproductive.”

In a statement to JI Thursday, Sam Markstein, spokesperson for the Republican Jewish Coalition, dismissed Fishback as “a radical fringe candidate who has decided that the way to run his campaign is to attack the Jewish community and our ally Israel.” 

“It won’t work — and Republican Floridians will resoundingly reject him in the GOP primary,” he said.

Fishback, in response, said the “only poll that matters is on Election Day: August 18, 2026,” adding: “Until then, I am committed to earning Floridians’ votes by visiting all 67 counties to meet folks where they are, hear their concerns and share my vision for a more affordable Florida.”

“If elected, I’ll be a governor for all Floridians,” he continued in a statement to JI. “As a Christian, I have never ‘attacked’ anyone for their faith. I will protect religious freedom and ensure the safety of all Floridians.”

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s newly tapped director of appointments, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, resigned on Thursday afternoon after her history of antisemitic online posts — including complaining about “money hungry Jews” — was exposed.

“Catherine expressed her deep remorse over her past statements and tendered her resignation, and [Mamdani] accepted,” Dora Pekec, the mayor-elect’s transition team spokesperson, said in a statement to Jewish Insider.

Da Costa, who previously served as executive assistant to former Mayor Bill DeBlasio and was appointed by Mamdani on Wednesday, posted a series of antisemitic comments in 2011 and 2012, which were shared by the Anti-Defamation League. Da Costa’s account — and the posts, which had remained online — was deleted once the antisemitism watchdog published her posts on Thursday. 

“Money hungry Jews smh,” Da Costa posted on X in January 2011, according to screenshots. 

“Woo! Promoted to the upstairs office today! Working alongside these rich Jewish peeps,” she posted in June 2011.

In June 2012, Da Costa wrote that the “Far Rockaway train is the Jew train,” a reference to the neighborhood’s sizable Jewish population. 

Da Costa resigned on Thursday, saying that she “spoke with the Mayor-elect this afternoon, apologized, and expressed my deep regret for my past statements. These statements are not indicative of who I am. As the mother of Jewish children, I feel a profound sense of sadness and remorse at the harm these words have caused. As this has become a distraction from the work at hand, I have offered my resignation.”

Sara Forman, executive director of the New York Solidarity Network, praised “cutting ties” with Da Costa as” the right thing to do,” but added that “had she said ‘Zionist’ instead of ‘Jew’ the response from the incoming Mamdani administration and the outcome we just witnessed would likely have been quite different.”

“This is why we have been telling Mr. Mamdani all along that all anti-Jewish rhetoric, including anti-Zionist dog whistles, cannot just be ‘discouraged,’ it must be rejected and condemned outright,” Forman said in a statement.

The Anti-Defamation League of New York and New Jersey condemned the posts on X before Da Costa’s resignation, writing that they “echo classic antisemitic tropes and otherwise demean Jewish people.” 

“We appreciate Da Costa has relationships with members of the Jewish community, but her posts require immediate explanation — not just from Ms. Da Costa, but also from the Mayor-Elect,” the ADL said in a statement. 

The recently unearthed posts come as several of Mamdani’s transition appointees have drawn scrutiny from Jewish leaders, who remain skeptical of the mayor-elect, who takes office on Jan. 1, and his commitment to fighting antisemitism. 

Among the most controversial of his appointments is Tamika Mallory, a former Women’s March leader who stepped down from its board amid allegations of antisemitism, to a newly established community safety committee.

President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that Israel and the “Jewish lobby” have lost their influence in Washington and that Congress is “becoming antisemitic,” in a holiday message delivered to attendees at the White House’s annual Hanukkah party.

Trump expressed concern about the shift while delivering remarks from the East Room to a who’s who of lawmakers and prominent Jewish figures ahead of a ceremonial menorah lighting. The president repeatedly cautioned that the Jewish community and its allies “have to be very careful because bad things are happening” to Jewish people and to Israel’s global standing, citing the deadly attack on a Hanukkah event in Sydney, Australia, over the weekend and the denials of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. 

“You see what goes on in Australia. Or Oct. 7, how about Oct. 7? And then you have people that deny it ever happened. How about the people that deny, like they deny the Holocaust,” Trump said. 

In reference to a compilation of footage taken during the Oct. 7 attacks and shown to journalists, legislators and other officials, Trump said, “I saw tape that — I wish I never saw it. Actually, I wish I never saw it. … There’s no denying [what took place on Oct. 7], but then they’ll say, ‘Oh, the tape was a rigged tape. It was a tape that never existed. They made it up. It’s just propaganda.’ I don’t know if they believe it. I don’t think they believe it.”

“You have to be very, very careful. Bad things are happening and we’re not going to let that happen while I’m president,” he continued. “The DOJ and Harmeet [Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department], we’re not going to let it happen, but please, please be vigilant and careful because you have some bad people that are now in Congress.” 

The president discussed the changes to Israel’s political standing in the U.S. and the growing number of Israel critics on Capitol Hill, noting his late father’s relationship with the Jewish community in New York, something he mentioned throughout the speech. Trump told the crowd how he and his siblings “grew up respecting and loving Jewish people. You know, you don’t even think about it in Brooklyn and Queens.”

“If you go back 10, 12, 15 years ago at the most, the strongest lobby in Washington was the Jewish lobby. It was Israel. That’s no longer true. You have to be very careful,” Trump said. “You have a Congress in particular which is becoming antisemitic. You have AOC [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)] plus three, you have those people. [Democratic Rep.] Ilhan Omar, she hates Jewish people. You have to be very careful because there’s been a big change.”

“My father would tell me: The most powerful lobby that there is in this country is the Jewish lobby. It’s the Israeli lobby. It’s not that way anymore. You have a lot of people in your way,” he added. “You have a lot of people that don’t want to help Israel. You have a lot of people in Congress that don’t like Israel. You have a lot of people in Congress that in a way … they hate Israel. They hate Israel.”

Trump admitted that the realignment against Israel and the American Jewish community’s inclusion in domestic politics came as a surprise to him.

“If you would have told me 15 years ago that that was possible, I would have said, there’s no way, there’s no way that’s possible, but it’s happening, and obviously, it’s getting progressively worse,” he explained. “Less so in the Senate, but the Senate’s starting also. You get glimmers, you know? When I’m in the back rooms talking to people, you get glimmers of statements that you say, ‘Whoa, where did that come from?’ So we have to be, we have to be very careful, because bad things are happening.”

Among the members of Congress in the crowd as the president spoke were Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Jared Moskowitz (D-NJ), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), David Kustoff (R-TN), Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Max Miller (R-OH), Craig Goldman (R-TX) and Randy Fine (R-FL). Administration officials in attendance included Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick; White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf; Rabbi Yehouda Kaploun, the Trump administration’s nominee to be the State Department special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism; and Harmeet Dhillon.

GOP megadonor Miriam Adelson; Fox News host Mark Levin; Mort Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America; Norm Coleman, national chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition; RJC CEO Matt Brooks; Israeli-American Council CEO Elan Carr; John Catsimatidis, a businessman and talk radio host from New York; far-right commentator Laura Loomer; constitutional scholar Alan Dershowitz; former White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt; Avi Berkowitz, a former White House adviser during the first Trump administration; American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch; former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel; journalist Douglas Murray; Chabad’s Yossi Farro; RNC spokeswoman Liz Pipko; talk radio host Sid Rosenberg; rapper Kosha Dillz; and Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer were spotted at the gathering.

Michael Bornstein and Jerry Wartski, two Holocaust survivors in attendance, watched Trump deliver his remarks from the front of the audience.

Trump invited several guests on stage to offer brief messages of their own, including Adelson, Levin, Rosenberg and Pipko. Adelson, who Trump noted was a top donor in the 2024 cycle, told the crowd she had spoken to Dershowitz during the event about the constitutional viability of Trump seeking a third term. “I said, ‘Alan, I agree with you. Four more years.’ So, we can do it. Think about it,” Adelson told Trump, prompting the room to erupt in applause.

The event, which took place in the East Room amid ongoing construction in the East Wing, came one night after Vice President JD Vance held a Hanukkah gathering at the vice president’s residence at the Naval Observatory. It also came hours after the White House held an afternoon reception for a smaller group of Jewish attendees. Conservative commentator Josh Hammer and former Auburn University men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl were among those spotted at that gathering.

The band at the evening reception played a mix of orchestra renditions of Hanukkah songs and smooth jazz as guests mingled and admired the blue and white Hanukkah ornaments on the four large Christmas trees in the East Room, two at each entrance. 

The menorah lighting was led by Trump, Lutnick, Scharf and Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad). Trump revealed that he did not realize Scharf was a practicing Jew until hearing him recite the prayer so easily on stage.

“I didn’t know he was that Jewish,” Trump said to Scharf with a smile. “You are seriously Jewish.”

Shemtov thanked Trump for showing “solidarity with the Jewish people and Israel,” telling the president as he stood just off stage, “You don’t just express solidarity. You practice solidarity with the Jewish people. And you practice solidarity with Israel, perhaps in a way we’ve never seen before.” 

Trump’s support for the Jewish community, Shemtov said, was “to the extent that many people say and many people believe that you may very well be — even among the friends of Israel and the Jewish people we’ve had — the most, the strongest, the deepest friend that Israel, and the Jewish people have ever had here in the White House.”

Republican consultant Arie Lipnick hosted an afterparty following the official White House reception. Attendees included Kaploun, Shemtov, Fine, Singer, Adam and Ellen Beren, Jewish Federations of North America CEO Eric Fingerhut, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations William Daroff, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Rob Garson and Johnathan Burkan, former Deputy Special Envoys to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Aaron Keyak and Ellie Cohanim, NORPAC NY Chair Trudy Stern, Commerce General Counsel Pierre Gentin and Michael Oved from the White House Council of Economic Advisors.

President Donald Trump and senior U.S. officials took a moment during the start of Hanukkah to reflect on the deadly antisemitic terrorist attack over the weekend at a holiday celebration in Sydney, Australia. 

The attack, which occurred Sunday when two gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah event on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killed at least 15 people, including a Holocaust survivor. Over 40 others were injured.

Speaking at the White House Sunday night, Trump called the shooting a “purely antisemitic attack,” and praised Ahmed al Ahmed, a Muslim man and bystander who stepped in to disarm the gunman at Bondi Beach. Ahmed is undergoing surgery for gunshot wounds. 

“It’s a very brave person actually who went and attacked one of the shooters, and saved a lot of lives,” said Trump. “Great respect to that man that did that.”

Trump added that in the wake of the attack, Jews should celebrate Hanukkah “proudly.” The president has largely dismissed safety concerns in the U.S. and told reporters on Fox News on Sunday that Jewish Americans should “be proud of who you are.” 

Antisemitic incidents have been on the rise around the world, particularly since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on Israel. On Friday night, a California home decorated for Hanukkah was the target of a drive-by shooting. In Amsterdam on Sunday, anti-Israel protesters gathered and set off smoke bombs near a venue that was scheduled to hold a Hanukkah concert performed by Israeli cantor Shai Abramson.  

During the National Hanukkah Menorah lighting ceremony in Washington on Sunday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick echoed Trump’s message about the attack and insisted that Jewish Americans “celebrate proudly.”

“Today we light the light of Hanukkah to bring light to much of this darkness,” said Lutnick. “It is a difficult and tough day for what we’ve lost, but we must always celebrate being Jews.”

On Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a call with Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong to discuss the attack in Sydney. 

“The United States strongly condemns the heinous terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Hanukkah celebration hosted by Chabad-Lubavitch of Bondi,” said State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott. “We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community and with the Australian people as we pray for the victims and their families. We are grateful to Australian first responders and bystanders for their heroic response.”

In his statement, Pigott called rising antisemitism a “scourge that must be confronted and defeated.”

“No community should have to fear publicly celebrating their faith and traditions due to the threat of extremist violence and terror,” said Pigott. “There can be no compromise with antisemitism.”

New Jersey’s largest teachers’ union, the New Jersey Education Association, cut ties with an editor of its magazine on Friday, following criticism from top state officials over her antisemitic and pro-Hamas posts on social media.

Ayat Oraby’s since-deleted posts on X, screenshots of which were viewed by JI, claimed Israel “killed many of its citizens” during the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks and voiced her support of Hamas, praising its actions on social media as “resistance,” among other views.  

Oraby, who started at the NJEA Review magazine in August, told the New Jersey Globe, the first outlet to report her termination, that her “intent has always been humanitarian: to stand against the killing of civilians and to advocate for peace. When compassion is politicized, even empathy can be misread.” 

Local Jewish elected officials voiced worry about Oraby’s appointment in October, sending a letter to NJEA with 24 signees, expressing “deep concern.” 

“We are disappointed that no corrective action has yet been taken despite clear evidence and mounting public concern. Words matter and silence in the face of hate speech is complicity,” the signatories wrote. “We strongly urge you to act immediately to remove Ms. Oraby from any editorial or leadership role within the NJEA and to reaffirm the Association’s commitment to ensuring that all educators, students, and families regardless of religion or background can feel safe, respected, and represented.”

The letter followed one sent by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) to the NJEA, also voicing concern.  

“Ms. Oraby has an extremely troubling public record of promoting divisive, violent, and hate-filled rhetoric that has no place in our great state, and that must be addressed immediately,” Gottheimer wrote on Oct. 6. “It is clear that Ms. Oraby should not be involved in any publication sent to New Jersey’s educators or, for that matter, have any role in educating our teachers or children.”

Oraby told the New Jersey Globe that Gottheimer was unfair to condemn her for a post she deleted that compared Israel to Nazi Germany, a claim she said “reflects public opinion and legitimate criticism, not hatred.”

Gottheimer also denounced NJEA earlier this month over its plans for an anti-Israel “Teaching Palestine” session scheduled during the union’s November conference. 

NJEA’s parent organization, the National Education Association, has also faced scrutiny for anti-Israel and antisemitic actions, including a vote, which was eventually overturned, to disassociate from the Anti-Defamation League. 

Pomona College opened an investigation on Thursday after an on-campus event held Wednesday commemorating the second anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks was disrupted by four masked and keffiyah-clad individuals who barged in chanting “Zionists not welcome here.”

“While we have not yet identified the individuals, we are examining video footage taken during the event, as well as security footage to determine how access could have been gained,” Gabrielle Starr, the college’s president, wrote in a campus-wide email. “We are also reviewing our security protocols for on-campus events.” 

“Antisemitic hate cannot be tolerated here,” Starr wrote. 

The memorial, sponsored by Hillel in a university building and scheduled on the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the attacks, featured a talk by Yoni Viloga, who survived the attack on his family’s home in Kibbutz Mefalsim. 

“The event was meant to be an opportunity for students to reflect on what happened two years ago. The disruption was very unsettling, I saw students with tears in their eyes,” Bethany Slater, director of Pomona Hillel, told Jewish Insider. The disruption, which also included chants of “Zionism is still a colonial ideology” and “You’re all complicit in genocide,” lasted about two minutes, until campus safety officers arrived. 

While the liberal arts college in Claremont, Calif., has faced several anti-Israel demonstrations since the Oct. 7 attacks, Wednesday evening’s protest was the first to occur in an expressly Jewish space on campus. It also came days after Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire and hostage-release deal. 

“This is the first time Hillel has been targeted. Demonstrations have always been directed at the [university] administration because they were calling for [Boycott, Divest and Sanctions measures],” said Slater. “This is the first time a Jewish event has been targeted at all, which is just shocking that it would happen now in the context of the ceasefire agreement.” 

Pomona College is among the dozens of universities currently under investigation by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights for its alleged failure to address campus antisemitism.

Pomona administrators have responded quickly to a number of anti-Israel incidents that have occurred on campus in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks and ensuing war in Gaza. In April 2024, police officers dressed in riot gear arrested at least 20 masked students after some 150 people stormed the university president’s office and refused to leave for more than three hours. Organized by the student-led group Pomona Divest Apartheid, the demonstrators from Pomona, as well as the affiliated Scripps and Pitzer Colleges, were protesting the removal of an anti-Israel “mock apartheid wall” on campus. 

The following October, when an on-campus demonstration — which involved anti-Israel students taking over and shutting off access to a campus building — took place on the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks, Pomona suspended 10 involved students through the end of the 2024-25 academic year. 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) first became a household name for her embrace of a range of wild conspiracy theories — including antisemitic claims about the Rothschild family like the idea that space-based weapons controlled by the Jewish banking family were the cause of California wildfires.

But as the congresswoman has emerged as an unlikely star in liberal circles and mainstream media after breaking with her party on the government shutdown, health care funding and the Jeffrey Epstein files, her erstwhile critics have all but ignored her increasingly frequent use of antisemitic tropes and embrace of conspiracy theories targeting Jews.

Earlier this week, the controversial Georgia congresswoman vowed on X, “No bar codes on me. I’ll never take 30 shekels. I’m America only! And Christ is King!”

Her rejection of “30 shekels” appears to be a reference to the pieces of silver paid to Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus, and the currency of Israel. Greene’s mention of “bar codes” refers to claims by former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) about AIPAC fundraising events, which AIPAC has denied.

She has also repeatedly boosted claims that Israel and Jewish people were involved in last month’s killing of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and are seeking to co-opt his organization.

“Do not allow a foreign country, foreign agents, and another religion tell you about Charlie Kirk,” Greene said on X. “And I hope a foreign country and foreign agents and another religion does not take over Christian Patriotic Turning Point USA.”

Last week, Greene reposted an X post by Holocaust denier Evan Kilgore, in which Kilgore shared a video of Candace Owens — a primary propagator of Israel-related conspiracy theories about Kirk’s death — claiming that Kirk had announced prior to his death that he was abandoning his support for Israel.

And she lauded a eulogy delivered by far-right commentator Tucker Carlson at Kirk’s funeral, in which Carlson compared Kirk’s killing to the death of Jesus.

“It’s becoming increasingly clear that no matter which party is in charge, the secular government of Israel always gets its way,” Greene wrote on X.

Greene has been one of the few Republican lawmakers to attack AIPAC and other pro-Israel advocacy groups, accusing them of exercising malign influence over the U.S. government and demanding they register as foreign agents. AIPAC is funded and led by American citizens, not the Israeli government.

She has accused Israel of “meddling in campaigns and elections” and of “meddling in government policy — government of the United States policy — as well as dictating what America does in foreign wars.”

“It’s becoming increasingly clear that no matter which party is in charge, the secular government of Israel always gets its way,” Greene added on X.

Regarding the war in Gaza, Greene has employed language sometimes indistinguishable from that of far-left Israel opponents, accusing Israel of committing genocide and of deliberately killing innocent people and children, particularly Christians. She led an effort in the House to cut off U.S. missile defense aid to Israel, which failed overwhelmingly.

She also shared posts suggesting that Israel had foreknowledge of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and chose to delay its response, and claimed that “Most of America has Israel fatigue” because politicians ignore domestic problems in order to “talk about Israel all day” and that a GOP colleague is “fighting for his life to maintain his pro Israel money.”

“I am not suicidal and one of the happiest healthiest people you will meet. I have full faith in God and Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. As a sinner, I am only saved through His grace and mercy,” Greene said. “With that said, if something happens to me, I ask you all to find out which foreign government or powerful people would take heinous actions to stop the information from coming out.”

Greene described the Anti-Defamation League as a “dangerous hate group that targets Christians,” praising the FBI for recently cutting ties with the group.

Amid her escalating social media campaign against the pro-Israel world and her advocacy for the release of files related to the Epstein investigation, Greene suggested last month on X that a foreign government or other powerful individuals were planning to assassinate her.

“I am not suicidal and one of the happiest healthiest people you will meet. I have full faith in God and Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. As a sinner, I am only saved through His grace and mercy,” Greene said. “With that said, if something happens to me, I ask you all to find out which foreign government or powerful people would take heinous actions to stop the information from coming out.”

The post was widely interpreted — including by at least one fellow lawmaker — as a suggestion that Israel or Jewish people were targeting Greene.

“Why do crazy people keep thinking ‘the Jews’ are trying to kill them?” Rep. Ted Cruz (R-TX) replied.

Greene has also claimed Israel is operating a social media campaign targeting her.

Outside of Israel policy and the Jewish community, Greene has also continued to lean into other conspiracy theories, such as posting in August that it is “oddly consistent and strange” that several mass shooters have authored manifestos, asking, “who tells them to do that?” In the past, she has repeatedly spread conspiracy theories about mass shootings, speculating that demonic possession or military mind control may be responsible for school shootings.

Last month, she also shared a Carlson documentary claiming the truth of the 9/11 attacks had been covered up and convened a congressional hearing on weather modification that heavily featured conspiracy theories and false and misleading claims.

“The RJC has endorsed multiple GOP primary challengers to Marjorie Taylor Greene. She is out of step with the Republican Party, and with President Trump. The people of Georgia deserve better — and we are determined to do what we can to retire her,” RJC CEO Matt Brooks said.

“While the president and congressional Republicans back our ally, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is aligned with Reps. Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to demonize Israel and weaken a partnership that makes America safer, strong and more prosperous,” AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittmann told Jewish Insider. “Our 5 million members will not be deterred by her rancid anti-Israel and unhinged raving.”

The Republican Jewish Coalition, which has repeatedly opposed Greene, said it continues to support efforts to defeat her.

“The RJC has endorsed multiple GOP primary challengers to Marjorie Taylor Greene. She is out of step with the Republican Party, and with President Trump. The people of Georgia deserve better — and we are determined to do what we can to retire her,” RJC CEO Matt Brooks said.

Greene did not respond to a request for comment.

Greene has recently been a thorn in the side of GOP leadership for a number of reasons, including criticizing the party’s approach to a health care tax credit central to the current government shutdown, critiquing the Trump administration’s mass deportation strategy and Middle East policy, backing an effort to force a House vote on the release of documents related to the Epstein investigation, accusing the party of blocking women from leadership roles and voting against other elements of the House Republican leadership’s agenda.

Her disputes with the Trump administration could create an opportunity for a Republican primary challenger to make a run against her — though Trump hasn’t personally spoken out against Greene as he has against Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), another anti-Israel House GOP colleague, and Greene has continued to profess her loyalty to Trump and his movement.

She does not yet face any serious primary competition.

Greene previously accumulated influence in the House as a close ally of Trump and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) but has found herself increasingly sidelined. National Republican Party leaders did not back her as she considered a run for Georgia’s Senate seat against Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) or the state’s governorship.

Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. on Thursday compared congressional efforts to block U.S. weapons transfers to Israel to the antisemitic “blood libel,” the false accusation that medieval Jews used the blood of Christian children to cook Passover matzah — and he took aim at Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for leading the charge.

Speaking at a Rosh Hashanah reception at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Ambassador Yechiel Leiter said in a fiery speech that Democratic proposals in Congress to restrict military aid to Israel during its ongoing conflict amounted to “a modern-day blood libel,” and warned that the rhetoric could have deadly consequences.

“I was told that if we really wanted to, we would feed the Gazans appropriately,” Leiter said of a recent conversation with a lawmaker. “I said, ‘Do you put blood in the matzos that you eat on Passover?’ There is no distinction between the two. This is a blood libel. Blood libels cost lives.”

Leiter did not refer to Sanders by name, but the Jewish Independent from Vermont has been at the forefront of a series of recent Senate resolutions calling on Congress to block certain arms sales to Israel. The most recent, in August, did not pass, but 27 Democrats, the majority of the caucus, voted for it. 

“Somebody claiming the mantle of Jewish pedigree actually leads the charge — an embargo on Israel, an embargo on weapons to Israel at a time of a seven-front war,” he said. “Where is the outrage? Where are we being called to order that this is no different than putting blood in the matzos on Passover?”

The ambassador’s speech, delivered to a group that included Democratic and Republican lawmakers, Trump administration officials and Jewish communal leaders, came hours after two Israeli soldiers were killed at the Allenby Crossing from Jordan into the West Bank by a Jordanian driving a Gaza-bound truck of humanitarian aid, and after four Israeli soldiers were killed by a bomb in Gaza. 

Leiter warned that Israel is “facing something now that we haven’t faced perhaps since the 1930s.”

“It’s a contagion of lies that we have to battle together, because if you don’t battle lies, you end up battling for your life,” said Leiter. “This era of Rosh Hashanah, please be aware: the Protocols of the Elders of Zion 2.0 are being written right now.”

He castigated European governments for moves toward recognizing a Palestinian state, calling it “an award for terrorism” and accusing France and Britain of “moral depravity.” He also directed his ire at the Jewish actress Hannah Einbinder, who in an Emmy acceptance speech last week said “F*** ICE, free Palestine.”

“Maybe you deserve an Emmy, but what you don’t deserve is a platform to libel your own people and to libel people standing opposed to moral depravity on the international stage,” said Leiter, who did not mention Einbinder by name. 

“Israel is standing alone in the world,” the ambassador said — except for “with our dearest friends in the Congress of the United States and the Senate of the United States and the administration of President [Donald] Trump, the best friend Israel ever had in the White House.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is holding firm in his choice not to label the arson attack that targeted the governor’s mansion on Passover as antisemitic or a hate crime, saying in a Friday interview on ABC News’ “Good Morning America” that he will leave that question to the prosecutors. 

“I think that’s a question for the prosecutors to determine. They’re going to determine motive,” Shapiro said. “I recognize when you’re in these positions of power, there are people out there that want to do you harm, but I try not to be captive to the fear, and I try not to worry or think about why people want to do that harm.”

ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos pressed Shapiro on the question, noting that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called on the Department of Justice to investigate the attack as a hate crime. Shapiro stood by his statement made on Thursday that Schumer’s letter was not “helpful.”

Stephanopoulos followed up with an opportunity for Shapiro to address antisemitism by connecting the attack on the governor’s mansion to the 2018 Tree of Life shooting. 

Shapiro’s job, Stephanopoulos argued, “is to combat the kind of conditions we’re seeing to create the opportunity for situations like this. Pennsylvania is no stranger to this,” he said. “We saw the attack in the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018. How do you combat this kind of hate?”

Shapiro pivoted away from the comparison. “By speaking and acting with moral clarity,” Shapiro responded.

Rather than mentioning antisemitism in his response, Shapiro instead spoke about political violence. He talked about the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in Butler, Pa., last summer and mentioned the arrest of Luigi Mangione, the man charged with murdering the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, in Altoona, Pa. 

“I think it’s also important when you’re not dealing with a traumatic event, in Butler, in Altoona or here in Harrisburg, to be leading every day in a way that brings people together and doesn’t just continually divide us,” said Shapiro.