Federal authorities have charged an Iran-backed militia commander with plotting to attack Jewish sites in New York City and Los Angeles.

According to a criminal complaint unsealed on Friday in Manhattan, Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi helped plot at least 18 attacks, several of which were carried out in Europe and Canada since late February, The New York Times reported.

Al-Saadi, a commander of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia that is a proxy for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reportedly said he was seeking revenge for the U.S. and Israel’s attacks on Iran. 

Al-Saadi allegedly firebombed a Bank of New York Mellon building in Amsterdam, tried to detonate improvised explosives at the Bank of America building in Paris, stabbed two people in London and carried out two attacks in Canada, the complaint alleges. He also had started planning attacks targeting New York and Los Angeles Jews, including one on a New York City synagogue, according to the complaint. 

Al-Saadi had ties to Gen. Qassim Suleimani, a leading commander in the IRGC, according to the complaint. The U.S. military killed Suleimani in a 2020 strike. 

The circumstances of Al-Saadi’s arrest and transfer to the U.S. have not been disclosed. 

Addressing Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan on Friday evening, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that Al-Saadi allegedly stated he selected a New York City synagogue to target because it was “a beacon of solidarity and support to Israel and the Zionist objectives.”

“The attack didn’t occur because the defendant was plotting with an undercover law enforcement officer,” said Tisch.  

She stated that Temple Emanu-El was not the target but did not disclose the location. The leadership of the synagogue was notified and the NYPD “continues our work with them to ensure the synagogue’s safety,” she added.

“This is an example of our system working exactly as designed,” continued Tisch. “While the details of this case are truly extraordinary, the broader reality is not.” She said that in her 18 years working in government, including in NYPD’s counterterrorism bureau, she has “not seen a threat environment quite like this one … where developments abroad can have immediate consequences here at home.”

Following the launch of the war against Iran by the U.S. and Israel in late February, there has been a global surge in Iranian-backed retaliatory terrorism. In March, the FBI determined that the attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Mich., was “a Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism purposely targeting the Jewish community.” 

As Canadian Jewish families began celebrating the holiday of Passover, a commemoration of Jewish persecution and redemption, many found the ancient narrative colliding with a modern reality of rising fear at home. 

Early Friday, a Jewish-owned restaurant in Toronto was struck by gunfire for the second time in weeks — a targeted, 14-bullet assault that police called a “glaring example of domestic terrorism.” 

The incident marks the latest in a wave of antisemitic attacks, highlighting what Jewish leaders describe as “systemic” Jew-hatred in Canada. And it is even leading some Jewish Canadians to consider their own kind of exodus from their country, with one communal leader saying that “the promise” that Jews could practice their faith openly in the country “has been broken.”

“There’s a real sense — and I don’t want to overstate it — but that the Jewish community in Toronto has felt under siege since [the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel],” Rabbi Debra Landsberg, who leads Temple Emanu-El, a Reform synagogue in Toronto’s North York district, told Jewish Insider.

On March 2, Landsberg’s congregation was shot at several times, as her family and at least one staff member remained near the building following a Purim celebration. No injuries were reported, but the exterior and front lobby sustained significant damage. 

The shooting was the first in a series of three synagogue attacks in Toronto last month. One week after Temple Emanu-El was targeted, the front doors of Shaarei Shomayim Synagogue and The Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto were shot at in the middle of the night, causing damage to both buildings. 

In another recent incident, Canadian law enforcement arrested three Toronto-area men accused of planning violent kidnappings targeting women and members of the Jewish community. 

Israel’s ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed, said that last week’s restaurant shooting “the 12th incident of its kind in the latest wave of antisemitism and violence against the Jewish community in Canada.” UJA Federation of Greater Toronto warned that the incident should cause “all Canadians to be extremely concerned by what’s happening in our country right now.”   

Toronto police have responded to the surge of violence by deploying armed officers at Jewish institutions around the city, an effort that was ramped up during the Passover holiday. 

Canada has experienced some of the most severe manifestations of the global surge in antisemitism since Oct. 7. — with higher rates of antisemitic incidents than other countries but lower conviction rates. 

In the first two months of 2026 alone, 22 antisemitic incidents were reported in Toronto, representing approximately 62% of all reported hate crimes in the country, according to police. Based on population, a Jewish Canadian is 25 times more likely to experience a hate crime than any other Canadian, according to the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).  

Some Jewish leaders told JI they have come to expect sluggish or nonexistent responses from law enforcement and political leadership, a failure that they say exacerbates the problem. 

One month after the synagogue shootings, no arrests have been made. Police say investigations are ongoing. 

A spokesperson for the Toronto Police Department told JI last week that “the synagogue shootings are being examined for potential links … information, evidence, and intelligence are being shared to determine whether there are any connections.” 

“There has been a systemic failure across jurisdictions to face antisemitism,” said Richard Marceau, senior vice president of strategic initiatives and general counsel at CIJA, an agency of the Jewish Federations of Canada. Marceau asserted that society has “a complete misunderstanding” of what antisemitism is, whether it stems from “the far left, far right [or] Islamic circles.”

“There’s also a reluctance to act,” he said. “There’s a desire to say ‘we’ll just let a little steam out and the pressure will go away.’ There’s no consequences to what’s happening [so] people feel emboldened.” 

“In terms of fighting on the criminal legal side, the police are reluctant to press charges and go from a ‘let’s keep the peace’ mentality to ‘let’s enforce the law,’” continued Marceau, a former Bloc Québécois member of parliament. “Charges are dropped by the prosecution for no good reason. Often judges don’t understand what antisemitism is.” 

“If there’s one thing that should be clear it’s that Jews are under threat and this type of thing should not take such a long time,” Marceau said of the investigations into last month’s synagogue shootings. “There should be infrastructure to make sure that the people who attack are quickly found and identified.”

“There’s also a reluctance to act,” Marceau said. “There’s a desire to say ‘we’ll just let a little steam out and the pressure will go away.’ There’s no consequences to what’s happening [so] people feel emboldened.” 

Marceau noted some positive movement since the Toronto synagogue shootings. Bill C-9, which would amend the criminal code to strengthen penalties against hate-motivated crimes, protect religious spaces and ban public display of hate symbols, passed in the House of Commons last month. Marceau called for the Senate “to quickly pass it.” 

“All around, the authorities have been given a failing grade on this. All the lights are flashing on Canada’s dashboard — things need fixing and the fixing needs to happen now,” said Marceau.  

Landsberg, former president of the Toronto Board of Rabbis, said that among her congregants, “everybody is just a little jumpier” since last month’s attack. “The police are responsive but not forthcoming with information. Visible police presence has been noticeable here and at other Jewish institutions. The care and concern from our police has been real.” 

But many questions remain, said Landsberg. “Whether or not they are able to solve this — and what it will take — and do they have the clear support of political leadership, to make Jews safe and feel safe? As time goes on, one imagines that we might live without ever having someone brought to account for this.”

“The political response has been complicated and underwhelming,” continued Landsberg. “Since Oct. 7 at least, the question of whether laws on the books are being implemented when it comes to hate crimes against Jews is an open question. I don’t know many people who are convinced that the law has been applied during some of these protests when there is classic imagery of Jews as rats.” 

Few Jewish institutions have been targeted as severely as Kehillat Shaarei Torah, a Modern Orthodox synagogue that has endured 10 separate attacks in the last two years alone. The congregation is also located in North York, but about 2.5 miles from most of Toronto’s Jewish life. 

Geographic distance hasn’t spared the synagogue from becoming a target of antisemitic incidents, the first of which occurred the Thursday before Passover two years ago when “about six or eight of our windows were smashed by somebody with a hammer who came in the middle of the night,” the congregation’s leader, Rabbi Joe Kanofsky, told JI. 

“We got through Pesach and then there was another by the same person, judging by the security tapes, who came back to get what he missed,” said Kanofsky. “He missed our doors, he came back to smash our glass doors and some more windows. We had a couple more things throughout the summer into the next year.” 

Other incidents included a sign outside of the synagogue calling for the release of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7 being set on fire and dead animals being thrown onto the property. The windows were also smashed several more times. 

Frustrated, synagogue leaders installed a black iron fence around the perimeter of the building in December 2024. That “slowed things down” until November 2025, said Kanofsky, “when we had somebody, possibly the same person, come smash the windows with a hammer again. That was our most recent and brought us up to 10 figures all together.” No arrests have been made in any of the attacks. 

Canada operates under three levels of government — federal, provincial and municipal — and Kanofsky expressed dissatisfaction with the political response, noting that certain branches have performed worse than others. 

“The municipal government seems to be wishing the problem away,” he said. “If they close their eyes they imagine it’s not so bad and maybe they’ll give a little money for increased security so the Jews can take care of that.” In March, days after the Toronto synagogue shootings, the Canadian government announced a new $10 million investment through the Canada Community Security Program to help Jewish institutions enhance security. 

“I haven’t heard much from the provincial government until the three shootings in March happened. Right after that happened, the provincial government called the meeting of rabbis. [Doug Ford,] the premier of Ontario, asked a lot of questions and listened, sharing his plans for beefing up security. After a long time, finally there was some attention from the provincial government, which oversees prosecutions. That’s where things are falling apart, things do not go to trial and if they do they are dropped.”  

“From the federal government, our representatives in Ottawa have been fairly supportive. There’s a bit of a degree of ‘it’s somebody else’s job’ and everyone points to someone else,” continued Kanofsky. “But the police are always there for us before and after we call. If the rest of the levels of government were as determined as the police, we probably would not have this problem.” 

While nearly half of Canadian Jews reside in Toronto — which is home to about 150 Jewish institutions — the problem extends beyond Canada’s largest city. In Ottawa, the country’s capital, a Jewish grandmother was stabbed in August while shopping at a kosher supermarket. In 2024, Jews in Montreal were granted an injunction to prohibit the spate of anti-Israel protests, which included chants of “death to the Jews” in Arabic outside of a school, occurring within 50 meters of dozens of Jewish institutions. 

In what The Atlantic recently called “Canada’s Polite Pogrom,” many incidents targeting Jews have been quieter, without broken glass or bones, but disruptive and exclusionary nevertheless. 

Eighty percent of Jewish doctors and medical students surveyed by the Jewish Medical Association of Ontario reported experiencing antisemitism at work after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. In 2024, more than 100 Jewish doctors stopped acknowledging their affiliation with the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine in protest of what they saw as the school’s failure to protect Jewish students and faculty. Almost a third of Ontario’s Jewish doctors say they are considering leaving Canada because of hostile work environments, according to the JMAO survey. 

A group of Jewish teachers in British Columbia filed a human rights complaint against their own union, accusing the BC Teachers’ Federation of excluding, harassing and silencing its Jewish members. A federal investigation into Ontario’s K-12 schools found nearly 800 antisemitic incidents reported in elementary and high schools since 2023, many stemming from teachers’ conduct. The Toronto International Film Festival briefly dropped a documentary from its lineup that chronicled an Israeli grandfather’s experience rescuing his family from Hamas on Oct. 7, before a global effort successfully pushed for its reinstatement.  

Jewish life in Canada wasn’t always this way, said Irwin Cotler, Canada’s former justice minister. 

“When I was in the Ministry of Justice, at that time we had nowhere near the levels of antisemitism we’re witnessing now,” Cotler, who served as a member of Parliament, attorney general and Canada’s first special envoy on combating antisemitism, told JI. He called the current situation “an unprecedented explosion.” 

“One would have thought that the times since [Oct. 7] would have resulted in actions to combat antisemitism. We’ve had on a public level, tragically almost, denials that Oct. 7 took place or support and justification — even celebration — for it in the public squares,” he said. 

Upon completing his term as Canada’s special envoy on combating antisemitism in 2023, just before the Oct. 7 attacks, Cotler recalled reporting that “the conventional paradigm for combating antisemitism on the far right and far left was still true.” But, he continued, “the most important finding I had was that we were witnessing an increasing mainstream normalizing antisemitism and particularly in the campus culture, with an absence of outrage underpinned by indifference and a failure to appreciate that antisemitism is not only increasingly threatening Jews but that it’s toxic to democracies and an assault on our human rights values.”

If not addressed quickly, Cotler warned that there’s “a ticking bomb here in Canada for what will be the Bondi massacre occurring in Canada,” a reference to the December 2025 mass shooting at a Hanukkah gathering at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, that killed 15 people. 

“The synagogue shootings here are part of a pattern. We are experiencing not only the highest level of antisemitic incidents since tracking began in the 1970s, but the real disturbing data has been the dramatic increase in hate crimes targeting Canadian Jews. Hate crimes are different from other forms of antisemitism because they are identity crimes that target the whole community and reverberate within the whole community,” continued Cotler. 

Cotler described law enforcement and government as ineffective. “Arrests are not made or if they are made then charges are not laid. If charges are laid, prosecutions are not proceeded with, or if prosecutions are proceeded with the courts do not sustain it,” he said. 

Canada “needs a wake up call,” continued Cotler, “and it needs a whole government commitment at [all] levels to combat antisemitism. If the government gives a 10 percent increase in community security it’s basically telling Jews to protect themselves and giving a little more money to do that. That’s not a response. If you don’t have leadership at the governmental levels, lack of leadership will trickle down and start to become part of the culture of inaction. What we’re witnessing from the government are performative tweets and virtue signaling, but not effective leadership and action on the ground.”

Last month, frustration with political leadership deepened for many Jews with the election of Avi Lewis, a far-left Jewish anti-Zionist, as the leader of the New Democratic Party, widely described as Canada’s democratic socialist party.

“We are left with a deep sense of sadness,” Marceau and Rachel Chertkoff, senior vice president of community engagement at CIJA, said in a joint statement following the March 29 election. “When a leader declares that Zionism is inseparable from ethnic cleansing, he is not engaging in legitimate policy critique. He is telling Jewish Canadians that a core part of their identity is illegitimate. That is exclusion.” 

Cotler, who was friends with Avi Lewis’ father, Stephen Lewis, said the election left him “concerned — not about criticism of Israel, but engaging in obsessive preoccupation in calling out alleged Israeli genocide.”

As a member of Parliament, Cotler said he was “close” with the NDP. “The astonishing difference [is] now we’ve gone down the road where NDP is no longer a place Jews feel they can be at home,” said Cotler. “It’s tragic because of the important role Jews played in the founding of the NDP.” 

Landsberg noted that the writing was always on the wall: Canadian Jews would face a harsher reality than their American counterparts. 

Canada is “50-plus years slower in reaching integration. In many ways the American story — of freedom and exodus — has been integrated naturally, the early Civil Rights Movement, for example,” Landsberg said. “There isn’t that comparable norming of the Jewish story [in Canada]. The first Jew who made it into a political cabinet position wasn’t until the late 1960s, decades after there were Jews on the Supreme Court in the U.S. Same thing with leadership in medicine and universities. It’s much later here. It’s a much smaller community that is made up of many more immigrants. It’s a different community in that this is home but these are people who have had to flee homes already. Canada’s understanding of Jewish citizens as part of the multicultural story that it has been trying to create has played out differently.” 

Marceau, who splits his time between Montreal and Ottawa, has three friends who have left Canada because of antisemitism. “In discussions around Shabbat tables or at synagogue, [fleeing] is a constant conversation that is happening,” he said. “The promise that everyone could be openly themselves in Canada, to practice whatever faith they want — has been broken — certainly for Jews.” 

Similarly, Kanofsky said that among his 200-family congregation, “people have already received second or third passports through their parents or grandparents. People are gathering their documents. Younger families are looking into Central America or other places that might be more hospitable. These are people that if you would have asked five years ago would have said they have deep roots and are not going anywhere for the long term. The Canadian Jewish community had a very deep-seated feeling of being part of society and being protected. A lot of that has been deeply damaged by the complacency of the government over the last couple of years.” 

“Jewish communities will for sure learn from mistakes from the past and no one will stay longer than is necessary. People in our congregation have already gone on aliyah,” continued Kanofsky. “In a hurry, everybody gained a sense of mobility when they saw the inaction of the government.”

But, even when describing the boarded-up front lobby of her congregation — where leaders are still debating the type of shatterproof glass to install — Landsberg painted a picture of a resilient community with hope for the future.

“This is probably the same for Jews in the U.S.,” she said, “but there’s a sense of clarity that many people are really feeling a deep discomfort with how society here is handling this, and also the sense of strength [because] the Jewish people have been through a lot.” 

President Donald Trump’s decision to launch a military campaign against Iran has earned unexpected support from Western leaders who have otherwise sparred with Trump, particularly on trade policy. Canada and Australia, both of which are led by liberal parties, robustly backed the strikes that began on Saturday morning. 

“We support the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent Iran continuing to threaten international peace and security,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement on Saturday. 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking to reporters during a trip to India, also threw his support behind the U.S.: “Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security,” he said.

Meanwhile, three powerful European allies known as the E3 — France, Germany and the United Kingdom — were more circumspect after the military campaign began, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz calling on Saturday for nuclear negotiations to resume. 

But by late Sunday, as Iran doubled down on its campaign of retaliation against American and Western assets across the Middle East, the E3 nations inched toward support for Washington with a statement strongly calling on Iran to cease its “indiscriminate and disproportionate missile attacks.”

“We call on Iran to stop these reckless attacks immediately. We will take steps to defend our interests and those of our allies in the region, potentially through enabling necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source,” the E3 leaders said. “We have agreed to work together with the U.S. and allies in the region on this matter.” 

Zvi Hershcovich is from Canada, which means he loves hockey. He is also a Chabad rabbi, so helping Jews connect to their faith is his sacred mission. 

Helping a Jewish hockey player wrap tefillin? Life goal achieved.

Yet that wasn’t what Hershcovich expected to happen when he created the X account @JewishHockey, where he posts clips of Jewish hockey players at all levels — National Hockey League superstars, minor league up-and-comers, college athletes — scoring goals and generally looking cool on the ice, usually accompanied by a deeply Jewish caption.

“On the last night of Chanukah, Zach Hyman spins the Dreidel on a backhand and wins the chocolate coins,” one post from @JewishHockey stated on Monday, with a clip showing Edmonton Oilers left winger and Jewish day school graduate Zach Hyman scoring a goal against the Vegas Golden Knights. (The Oilers won 4-3.) 

A day earlier, @JewishHockey spotlighted a goal by Vancouver Canucks center Max Sasson against the Boston Bruins in a game Vancouver won in a shootout. “With seconds left to the period, Max Sasson shakes off his defenseman like powder sugar on a Sufganiya, and buries it like a defiled altar found by the Maccabees,” the post read. 

With 3,900 followers, the nearly two-year-old account doesn’t have a huge audience. But it does have a cult following. That’s where the story with the tefillin comes in. 

“People reach out all the time with different things, and I’ve made some connections with many hockey players,” Hershcovich told Jewish Insider in an interview on Tuesday. “Some of them have been very Chabad-centric, where I’ll connect with someone online or in person. Just last week, I helped a Jewish hockey player get a pair of tefillin.” 

After the antisemitic attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia earlier this month, a hockey player in British Columbia was motivated to wrap tefillin but did not know where or how to do so, so he reached out to @JewishHockey. The closest Chabad rabbi was still a significant drive away, but Hershcovich, who declined to name the athlete, made the shidduch anyway. The two men connected, and FaceTimed Hershcovich to prove it.

“Then I decided, I shot my shot. I said, ‘Hey, listen, would you be interested in wearing tefillin every day if you had your own pair?’” Hershcovich recalled. “He said sure. He gave his word. So I threw it out there on Twitter, and someone who asked to remain anonymous wrote back and said, ‘I’ll sponsor the pair.’”

The hockey account is a bright spot on X, where antisemitism and harassment have grown worse in recent years. 

“Twitter [X] has become a bit of a cesspool thanks to the propaganda of the enemies of the Jews,” Hershcovich said. “Even on posts that I post, you’ll get a lot of hate, but there definitely has been a community rising, and there’s a close knit Jewish hockey community. It’s very neat to be part of it.”

Serving as the unofficial Jewish ambassador to the world of hockey is not Hershcovich’s day job (though it did lead to some freelance work for a Jewish Hockey Hall of Fame being developed in Toronto). His career looks like many other Chabad rabbis. He spent a short stint as a Chabad emissary in Russia more than a decade ago. Now he teaches at a Chabad day school in Philadelphia, creates animated programming for religious children and works on programming for Jewish college students. 

The son of two ba’al teshuva Jews — people who were raised secular but chose in adulthood to become observant — Hershcovich, 43, first connected to hockey through his grandfather, with whom he often watched Montreal Canadiens games. 

“There was Mathieu Schneider on the Canadiens, and he was my grandfather’s pride and joy, that the Canadiens had a Jewish hockey player on the team. So that might be where it started,” Hershcovich said, referring to the hockey Hall of Famer who won a Stanley Cup in 1993. 

Basketball was Hershcovich’s main sport as a child, until he took up hockey at a Chabad camp. Later, his parents subscribed to the Jewish Press and he remembered an article about a Jewish hockey prospect. So he started keeping an eye on the hockey news for Jewish players after seeing how excited that story made his grandfather. 

“I thought I was the only weirdo doing this for many years, following specifically Jewish hockey players,” Hershcovich said. He still plays hockey every Saturday night after Shabbat, and participates in an annual Jewish hockey tournament in Pennsylvania that draws hundreds of athletes and benefits Rofeh Cholim Cancer Society, which supports cancer patients and their families. 

In 2022, as a passion project, Hershcovich drafted a pseudo “Team Israel” for hockey — a fantasy roster of Jewish players from around the world who might join an Israeli team, inspired by the fact that 20 of the 24 players on the Israeli baseball team at the 2020 summer Olympics were American Jews. 

“I had some fun with that, and that led to more fans, more Jewish hockey fans, discovering there was a larger group. So I opened up a Twitter account and started posting highlights of Jewish hockey players, and things kind of blew up from there,” said Hershcovich. “It’s become part of my daily routine. I wake up in the morning, I just breeze through a couple of Google Alerts, and I go through elite prospects, my bookmarked players. It gives you an update over who scored and some basic statistics from the previous night. I’ll look through it. If I see some highlights, I’ll share them. This has been going on as there’s been a huge explosion in the Jewish hockey world.”

Jewish hockey fans have been delighted to see more and more Jewish players on the ice in the NHL in recent years. Hershcovich thinks a “golden age” of Jewish hockey is on the horizon. He has watched with excitement the rise of Zeev Buium, the American son of Israeli immigrants, who was the 12th overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft, now playing for the Canucks. Among younger prospects, there are even more Jewish players.

“The rise of Jewish hockey is incredible. And following along with the youth, there’s incredible talent coming to the NHL. This might be just the start of the golden age of hockey,” said Hershcovich. 

There is perhaps no better time to witness the dawn of that golden age than the holidays, when team Jewish heritage nights take place across the month of December. 

“This Chanukah, Jewish players are no longer anomalies in the NHL … they’re central to the game,” Dan Brosgol, the executive director of Temple Shir Tikva in Wayland, Mass., wrote in a blog post this month after seeing Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman at TD Garden. 

Throughout Hanukkah, hockey teams throughout the league host Jewish heritage nights to bring more Jewish fans and families to the games. These programs often feature public menorah lightings and special giveaways. @JewishHockey, of course, posts about all of them.  

The Florida Panthers had Hebrew-language jerseys. The Pittsburgh Penguins gave out special jerseys showing the team’s mascot underneath Hanukkah candles, with Stars of David scattered across the design. People who purchased a special ticket for the Philadelphia Flyers’ Jewish heritage night received a Flyers-themed menorah, complete with a puck and a hockey stick. 

“Hanukkah seems to have that Christmas feel of the snow and all that, that winter vibe, and therefore to have it with ice hockey really makes sense,” said Hershcovich. “Recently, the teams have been trying to somewhat outdo each other with different shtick.” 

One of the most creative celebrations of Jewish heritage will come in March, when the minor league Tulsa Oilers will host the team’s first ever “Jewish Heritage Game” — and the athletes will take to the ice in specially designed blue-and-white jerseys that say “Jewish Heritage Game” and feature the Oilers’ logo on top of a star of David.

“That’s something that hopefully will get imitated as well. That would bring a tremendous surge of pride,” said Hershcovich.

He’ll be tweeting about it.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday is being overshadowed by European moves to isolate Israel, with the U.K., as well as Canada and Australia recognizing a Palestinian state on Sunday and more to come, as well as an upcoming EU vote on sanctions against Israel.

Netanyahu released a statement, in which he said he has “a clear message to the leaders who recognize a Palestinian state after the terrible massacre of Oct. 7: You are giving a massive prize to terror. … It will not happen. There will not be a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River.”

The prime minister hinted that Israel will increase settlement activity in response: “For years I prevented the establishment of this terror state facing great pressures, domestic and foreign … Not only that, we doubled the Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria. The response to the latest attempt to force a terror state on us in the heart of our land will be given after my return from the U.S. Wait.”

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday that his country is “acting to keep alive the possibility of peace and a two-state solution. That means a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state. At the moment, we have neither.” 

He pushed back against the Israeli argument that recognition of a Palestinian state at this time acts as a reward for Hamas, arguing that “our call for a genuine two-state solution is the exact opposite of [Hamas’] hateful vision. … This solution is not a reward for Hamas, because it means Hamas can have no future.” 

Hamas, however, praised the recognition as an “important move” and called for it to be accompanied by ending the “Judaization of the West Bank and Jerusalem, Israel’s isolation and Israel’s leaders brought before international court,” as well as the recognition of the Palestinians’ “natural right to resistance.”

The High-Level Conference on Palestine Statehood, led by France and Saudi Arabia, is set to take place Monday, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. Nearly a dozen countries have said they would recognize a Palestinian state as part of that effort, following the announcements of the U.K., Canada and Australia on Sunday.

French President Emmanuel Macron argued in an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 News that “recognition of a Palestinian state is the best way to isolate Hamas … What they want is to destroy [Israel], but if we consider that the Palestinian state will always have the objective to destroy Israel, how [do] they want to build a sustainable future? There is no way.” 

A recent poll commissioned by the French-Jewish umbrella organization CRIF found that 71% of French people reject the recognition of a Palestinian state before the hostages are freed and Hamas gives up power. In the U.K., a survey in The Telegraph showed 87% of Britons disagree with recognition of a Palestinian state without preconditions, including 89% of Labour voters. A YouGov poll, however, found that 44% of Britons supported the move, while 18% were opposed and 37% unsure.

U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner noted that in conjunction with his announcement of Palestinian state recognition, Macron called for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, the demilitarization of Hamas and the establishment of strong governance for the Palestinians as preconditions for any recognition of Palestinian statehood. “These were France’s own conditions for recognition of a Palestinian state. How can France move forward with next week’s vote when none of these have been met?” Kushner said.

Netanyahu, who was Israel’s ambassador to the U.N. from 1984-1988, is known to relish his addresses to the U.N. General Assembly, embracing theatrical props, puns and long pauses on a platform where he hopes to capture the world’s attention for Israel’s benefit. 

After his UNGA speeches, Netanyahu holds court, with other leaders visiting him in a conference room in Turtle Bay. This year, he is expected to meet with Argentinian President Javier Milei, the leaders of Paraguay and Serbia and New York Mayor Eric Adams, and there are reports that he will meet with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa ahead of a possible security agreement between Damascus and Jerusalem. Then, Netanyahu is expected to fly to Washington to meet with President Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Foreign Ministry and Economy Ministry, which oversees foreign trade, have been pushing back against proposed European Union sanctions. The European Commission proposed the roll-back of relations between the bloc and Israel after it “found that actions taken by the Israeli government represent a breach of essential elements relating to respect for human rights” given “the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza following the military intervention of Israel, the blockade of humanitarian aid, the intensifying of military operations and the decision of the Israeli authorities to advance the settlement plan in the so-called E1 area of the West Bank, which further undermines the two-state solution.” 

The proposal, if accepted, would suspend free trade between Israel and the European Union, its largest trade partner.

A source in Brussels estimated that the move would cost Israel 227 million Euros ($266 million) in customs duties per year. 

A date has not yet been set for voting on the suspension of free trade, which requires a qualified majority, also known as a “double majority,” meaning 55% of member states, and states representing 65% of the EU population, with at least four states opposed.

Hungary and the Czech Republic said they would oppose the proposal, following calls between their foreign ministers and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. 

Sa’ar called the proposal “morally and politically distorted.”

“Moves against Israel will harm Europe’s own interests,” Sa’ar warned. “Israel will continue to struggle, with the help of its friends in Europe, against attempts to harm it while it is in the midst of an existential war. Steps against Israel will be answered accordingly, and we hope we will not be required to take them.”

Economy Minister Nir Barkat sent letters to Germany, Hungary, Czechia, Italy, Bulgaria, Greece, Lithuania, Cyprus, Croatia and Latvia asking them to oppose the measure to suspend free trade.

The European Commission also suspended 20 million Euros ($23.5 million) in projects with Israel, dealing with civil service training and regional-EU cooperation related to the Abraham Accords, through 2027. The commission was able to end the cooperation without a vote and noted in repeated statements that it was exempting “civil society and Yad Vashem.” 

In addition, the European Commission proposed sanctions against Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, as well as “violent settlers” and 10 members of the Hamas politburo, which would require a unanimous vote by EU member states. The ban on Israelis is unlikely to be approved, especially not the cabinet ministers.

In another sign of Israel’s increased isolation in Europe, several countries’ public broadcasters said they would boycott the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest if Israel were to take part, as it usually does.

Spain, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Iceland and Ireland have said they will not participate in the contest along with Israel, and Belgium threatened to follow suit. 

Israeli public broadcaster Kan said that it will continue to be “a significant part in this cultural event, which cannot become political.”

“Israel is one of the most successful participants in the Eurovision contest — in the past seven years its songs and representatives have finished in 5th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st place,” Kan CEO Golan Yochpaz said. 

Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger, whose country is due to host the Eurovision next year, posted on X that the contest “is a symbol of peace, unity, and cultural exchange — not an instrument for sanctions.” 

A group of 28 Republican lawmakers in the Senate and House wrote to the leaders of Australia, Canada, France and the U.K. urging them to walk back their plans to recognize a Palestinian state this month and threatening potential retaliation if they proceed.

“This is a reckless policy that undermines prospects for peace. It sets the dangerous precedent that violence, not diplomacy, is the most expedient means for terrorist groups like Hamas to achieve their political aims,” the Republicans, led by Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), wrote. “Accordingly, we respectfully request that you reconsider your decision, especially as Hamas continues to hold Israeli citizens hostage while still refusing to agree to a ceasefire.”

The Republicans suggested that the move could prompt “punitive measures” by the United States, without offering further details.

They said that unilateral recognition “undermines the principles of direct negotiations and imperils Israel’s security by removing incentives for Palestinian groups to repudiate terrorism, recognize Israel’s right to exist, and address final-status issues” and is “especially troubling” in the context of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel.

They said that granting statehood now would only serve as a validation of Hamas’ activities and fuel more violence in the future, and that statehood should not be granted “until the Palestinians are willing to take responsibility for their people, renounce terrorism, and come to the negotiating table in good faith.”

They emphasized that France, the U.K., Canada and other countries lost citizens as well in the Oct. 7 attacks and that Hamas continues to hold hostages in “deplorable conditions.”

“Hamas’ war crimes are clear, and its rejection of diplomacy should lead your countries to impose more pressure. Instead, you offer greater rewards,” the lawmakers continued.

They said that the “misguided effort to reward terrorism” will also endanger the Jewish populations in the U.S. ally nations, where they already face rising antisemitism, harassment and attacks.

“You have the responsibility to stand against this scourge, denounce violence, and protect Jewish communities,” the lawmakers argued. “Sadly, your actions to legitimize a Palestinian terror state will only provide greater motivation to the violent antisemitic mobs.”

The letters were co-signed by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR), John Cornyn (R-TX), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Steve Daines (R-MT), Dan Sullivan (R-AL), Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Dave McCormick (R-PA) and Reps. Rudy Yakym (R-IN), Greg Steube (R-FL), Barry Moore (R-AL), Jefferson Shreve (R-IN), Josh Brecheen (R-OK), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Craig Goldman (R-TX), Mike Flood (R-NE), Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), John McGuire (R-GA), Scott Franklin (R-FL), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) and August Pfluger (R-TX) 

Stefanik said in a statement to Jewish Insider, “Unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state undermines the principles of direct negotiation and imperils Israel’s security. This absurd action would reward the behavior of Hamas terrorists and does nothing to secure the release of the 48 hostages still held by Hamas.”

Like most social workers, Jennifer Kogan went into the field to help people. A therapist who works in Ontario, Canada, and Washington, she markets her private practice as “compassion-focused counseling.” Everyone is welcome here, a banner on her website states. 

But Kogan’s understanding of her profession has radically shifted in the two years since the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel. Despite its focus on compassion, the field of social work has been engulfed by antisemitism, according to a new report authored by Kogan and Andrea Yudell, a licensed clinical social worker in Washington and Maryland. 

“Since Oct. 7, Jewish social workers have experienced unprecedented silencing, gaslighting, exclusion, isolation and public targeting in professional spaces,” states the report, which was published on Monday by the Jewish Social Work Consortium, an organization founded shortly after Oct. 7. 

Accusations of antisemitism have roiled the mental health field over the past two years. In April, the state of Illinois formally reprimanded a therapist who had created a list of “Zionist” therapists and encouraged colleagues not to refer clients to them. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) warned the American Psychological Association in May to respond to “persistent and pernicious” antisemitism among its members. 

The report describes Jewish social workers being targeted on industry-wide email listservs, doxed and publicly called out during academic courses and lectures. Many of the allegations took place in academic settings related to diversity, like a panel on “whiteness” at Catholic University’s National Catholic School of Social Service that reportedly called Jewish students “racist” and “white supremacists.” 

“While we are concerned with systemic oppression or bias against all other minorities, I believe the social work profession perpetrates it on the Jews,” said Judith Schagrin, the retired administrator of a municipal foster care agency in Maryland. “I never dreamt that there would be this level of hostility and ignorance. On the other hand, I have believed for many years that just like institutional racism against Black folks lingers right beneath the surface, I firmly believe that institutional antisemitism does as well.” 

Social work is a massive field, referring broadly to a profession that can encompass therapists in private practice, people working in public sector social services organizations, school counselors, religious leaders, administrators, social justice advocates and more. 

The report’s authors claim that antisemitic rhetoric — and, in particular, anti-Israel litmus tests foisted on Jewish practitioners — has become endemic in the field. 

Jewish social workers view this discrimination and disrespect as anathema to a key guiding principle of social work: the idea that empathy, and understanding individuals’ personal stories, is critical to “address life challenges and enhance wellbeing,” according to a global definition of social work adopted by the International Federation of Social Workers. They see a double standard applied to Jews, who are often expected to disavow Israel’s actions in Gaza before their concerns are taken seriously. (In January, the IFSW issued a formal “censure” against the Israeli Union of Social Workers because of its members’ history of service in Israel’s military, prompting a rebuke signed by nearly 4,000 Jewish therapists.)

“You’re supposed to extend cultural humility to various different groups, and I saw it extended to so many other groups. There’s Black Lives Matter, and then Asians that were experiencing anti-Asian hate. We were left out of that conversation, even though there were growing statistics that Jewish people were facing antisemitism in many contexts,” said Jodi Taub, a New York-based clinical social worker.

“The whole purpose of the field is, we’re there to support other humans,” added Taub. “Our job is to be supportive individuals, and social justice is supposed to be social justice for all. No one should have to go into graduate school and experience harassment and discrimination.” 

Many of the complaints in the report target the National Association of Social Workers, the field’s leading professional body, with 110,000 members. 

“The silence and negligence of NASW has been especially egregious,” the report’s authors write, referencing the group’s two-month delay in publicly addressing the events of Oct. 7 and its alleged reticence to strongly denounce antisemitism in the nearly two years since. An NASW spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. 

Debates about the war in Gaza have caused turmoil in an NASW listserv, where rhetoric condemning Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza and calls for boycotts of Israel have become increasingly common. Jewish social workers who wrote in the listserv to raise awareness about the hostages in Gaza or to respond to inaccurate messages about Israel often faced harassment.  

Taub said that after posting about the Israeli hostages in Gaza, she was targeted by someone she did not know who shared a screenshot of Taub’s business profile with the word “PROHIBITED” over it in red text, urging people to avoid her. (That social media post was quickly taken down.)

These experiences have colored the way Jewish social workers engage with their colleagues, casting an air of suspicion to interactions between them.

“It’s hard to know who’s safe, like who is someone that basically hates you, or someone who just doesn’t have an opinion whatsoever, or someone that is behind you,” said Kogan. “It’s very dehumanizing to read what people are writing.”

Carole Cox, a professor at Fordham’s Graduate School of Social Service, has worked in the field for decades, with a particular focus on Alzheimer’s caregivers and on grandparents raising grandchildren. Now, she’d think twice about telling a young Jewish person to enter the field.

“”It’s difficult to tell a Jewish person, ‘Yes, go into social work, you will love it,’” Cox told JI. “There were so many Jewish pioneers in the profession, and now many social workers are actually hiding their Jewish identity.” 

Australia expelled the Iranian ambassador in Canberra as well as three other embassy staffers on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accusing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of orchestrating attacks on a synagogue in Melbourne and a kosher restaurant in Sydney.

Albanese, speaking at a press conference alongside the country’s top intelligence official, foreign minister and home affairs minister, called the plots “extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil.” The expulsion of Ahmad Sadeghi marks the first time Australia has expelled a foreign ambassador since World War II.

Canberra also withdrew its diplomatic staff from Iran and has encouraged Australian citizens to leave the country if they are able.

Australian intelligence indicates that Tehran was behind additional antisemitic attacks in the country since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks. The country has seen an explosion of antisemitism, with a 316% year-over-year increase in antisemitic incidents in the year following the attacks.

Mike Burgess, the director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, said that the plots were carried out “through a series of overseas cut-out facilitators to coordinators that found their way to tasking Australians,” describing the scheme as a “layer cake” of middlemen originating with the IRGC.

The expulsion of the Iranian diplomats comes shortly after the arrests of two individuals in connection with the December 2024 Melbourne synagogue attack, in which a synagogue was firebombed while nearly two dozen people were inside. 

The arson at Sydney’s Lewis’ Continental Kitchen, which took place in October 2024, caused $1 million in damage to the kosher restaurant. Court documents released earlier this month indicate that a middleman, Sayed Moosawi, who was directing the Sydney attack, was to receive $12,000 for his work. Prior to the fire at Lewis’ Continental Kitchen, two men directed by Moosawi mistakenly set fire to a brewery with a similar name to the restaurant.

Pro-Israel groups and Canadian politicians expressed outrage on Wednesday after organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival canceled an invitation to show the documentary “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” about the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, at its upcoming festival, citing the use of Hamas footage of the attacks that had not been approved for use by the terror group. 

The documentary tells the story of retired Israeli general Noam Tibon, who raced from Tel Aviv to rescue his son and two young granddaughters trapped in a safe room in Kibbutz Nahal Oz when Hamas terrorists invaded on Oct. 7.

“The Toronto International Film Festival’s reasoning for canceling the October 7 documentary screening is completely absurd and transparently dishonest,” the American Jewish Committee said in a statement. “Pulling a movie because footage wasn’t cleared for copyright by a terror group is so ridiculous that it would almost be laughable — if it weren’t so deeply, shamelessly disturbing.”

In an open letter, Creative Community for Peace, a nonprofit that mobilizes prominent members of the entertainment community to oppose boycotts of Israel, wrote that “instead of advancing peace, TIFF has chosen to amplify hate.”

“This is a surrender to an antisemitic campaign determined to silence Jewish and Israeli voices, at a time when antisemitism in Canada is surging to historic levels. Your decision has only deepened and legitimized that hostility. You claim the cancellation was for security reasons — yet anti-Israel productions face no such barrier.” 

The CCFP letter continued, “You claim that the project couldn’t be screened because the filmmakers didn’t have the rights to footage Hamas — a Canadian designated terrorist group, broadcast to the world on October 7, 2023 when they massacred, raped, brutalized, and kidnaped thousands of innocent people from toddlers to Holocaust survivors — but that strains credibility.”

“By pulling this film, TIFF has silenced a story of extraordinary courage and survival,” Noah Shack, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the advocacy arm of the Jewish Federations of Canada, said in a statement. “This shameful decision comes at a perilous time, as extremists are emboldened by recent plans by Canada and other nations to recognize Palestinian statehood.” 

Toronto City Councillors James Pasternak and Brad Bradford called on the TIFF to reverse its decision. 

“If TIFF does not reverse its decision, [the] Council should demand an investigation into this film banning decision,” Pasternak and Bradford said in a joint statement. “This film tells the story of a heroic rescue in the face of unimaginable violence, yet instead of defending truth and artistic freedom, TIFF appears to have yielded to political pressure and the fear of protests. Intimidation must not dictate which stories can be told. Silencing survivors and granting a listed terrorist organization any semblance of legal legitimacy is not neutrality — it is a moral failure.”

A TIFF spokesperson told Deadline that the invitation was withdrawn “because general requirements for inclusion in the festival, and conditions that were requested when the film was initially invited, were not met, including legal clearance of all footage.”

“The purpose of the requested conditions was to protect TIFF from legal implications and to allow TIFF to manage and mitigate anticipated and known risks around the screening of a film about highly sensitive subject matter, including potential threat of significant disruption.”

The 2024 TIFF festival also did not spotlight an Israeli film. Rather, it featured three anti-Israel documentaries, with four more slated for 2025. The festival is scheduled to run Sep. 4-14.

Good Tuesday morning.

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the latest developments in the war between Israel and Iran, and cover President Donald Trump’s early departure from the G7 in Canada and comments about potential talks with Tehran. We also report on Trump’s rebuke of “kooky” Tucker Carlson over the commentator’s opposition to U.S. support of Israeli strikes, and look at how Jewish LGBTQ community leaders are approaching Pride celebrations that ostracize Jewish and pro-Israel individuals. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Scott Jennings, Jason Isaacs and Jeff Rubin.

What We’re Watching

• We’re continuing to monitor the ongoing situation in Israel and Iran, following another barrage of ballistic missiles fired at Israel by Iran this morning. More below.
• President Donald Trump is back in Washington today, after his early departure from the G7 in Alberta, Canada, where he will meet with senior advisors this morning in the Situation Room to weigh the level of U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine are among those who will be meeting with the president.
• Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) are expected to put forward a war powers resolution today in the House that would force the administration to seek congressional approval ahead of any U.S. attack on Iran. Yesterday, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced a war powers resolution in the Senate. More below.
• Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe are slated to testify this morning before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the administration’s FY2026 budget request for the intelligence community.
• House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) trip to Israel this week, in which Johnson was slated to address the Knesset, has been postponed due to the conflict between Israel and Iran. Read more here.

What You Should Know

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MARC ROD

We’ve written a lot about the so-called horseshoe theory of U.S. politics and foreign policy — the point at which the far left and the far right coalesce into agreement — but the Israeli campaign against Iranian military and nuclear targets is providing a particularly stark example of that convergence. The two factions find themselves openly and publicly aligned in opposition to any form of U.S. intervention in Israel’s campaign and against Israel’s operations in general.

An X post by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on Sunday provided a distillation of that dynamic. Greene claimed that a regional war or global war, which would likely overwhelm the Middle East, BRICS and NATO, is inevitable and that countries would be “required to take a side.” She continued, “I don’t want to see Israel bombed or Iran bombed or Gaza bombed. … And we do NOT want to be involved or required to pay for ANY OF IT!!!”

Among those who supported Greene’s post were CodePink activist Medea Benjamin, who praised Greene’s “incredibly strong anti-war position!” and Drop Site News co-founder Ryan Grim, who called the Georgia Republican “presently the most sensible member of Congress.” Doug Stafford, the chief strategist for Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), shared Benjamin’s post — and has repeatedly shared and praised both her and Code Pink in the wake of the Israeli operation. Read more here.

It’s not just Greene and Stafford. A host of prominent figures on the right, such as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and former Pentagon senior advisor Dan Caldwell are touting narratives about the conflict that would not be out of place at a far-left anti-Israel rally.

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

ISRAEL-IRAN WAR DAY 5

Israel kills Iranian military chief of staff as attacks from Tehran slow down

Israel killed Iran’s new top military commander and confidante of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei days after eliminating his predecessor, the IDF Spokesperson’s Office announced on Tuesday, after a night in which missile launches from Iran towards Israel slowed down significantly. The Israeli Air Force struck a command center in Tehran, killing Ali Shadmani, Iran’s chief of war general staff, who had authority over the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian military. Shadmani, whom the IDF Spokesperson’s Office called “one of the closest figures to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei,” was on the job for four days after Israel killed his predecessor, Alam Ali Rashid, early Friday, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.

Lower volume: Monday night and the early hours of Tuesday morning were the quietest since the beginning of the war with Iran on Friday. The IAF intercepted 30 projectiles launched from Iran toward Israel, with sirens mostly in northern and central Israel and no reports of injuries or damage to property. On Tuesday morning, Iran launched additional missiles at Israel, triggering sirens in the center of the country, including Jerusalem and the West Bank. The IDF said it intercepted most of the projectiles. Magen David Adom reported 14 injuries at eight impact sites, including a bus depot in Herzliya where the blast created a 13-foot-wide hole in the ground.

Read the full story here.

Top target: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not rule out the possibility of targeting Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in an interview with ABC News on Monday, amid widespread speculation in Israel and beyond that the strikes on the Islamic Republic could pose an existential challenge to the regime.

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DIPLOMACY DIARIES

Trump departs G7 early, denies ‘peace talks’ with Iran

President Donald Trump denied on Tuesday that he was attempting to facilitate “peace talks” with Iran as he returned to Washington after prematurely leaving a meeting of G7 leaders in Canada to monitor the ongoing war between Israel and Iran, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen reports.

Word of warning: While still aboard Air Force One, the president told reporters that he wanted “a real end” to Iran’s nuclear program and he would be monitoring developments between Israel and Iran from the White House Situation Room. He suggested that Israel was unlikely to slow its strikes on Iranian targets in the coming days, saying that, “You’re going to find out over the next two days. You’re going to find out. Nobody’s slowed up so far.” But the president stopped short of addressing whether the U.S. would join Israel’s strikes, saying he hopes the Iranian nuclear weapons program “is wiped out long before that.”

French folly: French President Emmanuel Macron suggested to reporters on Monday that Trump had departed the G7 earlier to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, saying that “the U.S. assured they will find a ceasefire and, since they can pressure Israel, things may change.” Trump slammed Macron and denied his claims, posting on Truth Social, “Publicity seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a ‘cease fire’ between Israel and Iran. Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire.” Trump said he had departed for something “much bigger than that.”

Read the full story here.

United front: The leaders of the G7 issued a joint statement on Sunday affirming “that Israel has a right to defend itself,” their “support for the security of Israel” and that “Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror.” They further “urge[d] that the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza.”

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TRUMP CHECKS TUCKER

Trump rebukes ‘kooky Tucker Carlson’ on Iran

President Donald Trump rebuked Tucker Carlson at several points on Monday over Carlson’s comments opposing Trump’s support for Israeli strikes on Iran, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

New nickname: Asked Monday at the G7 Summit in Canada about Carlson’s comments accusing Trump of being “complicit” in the war, Trump quipped, “I don’t know what Tucker Carlson is saying. Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen.” Trump later posted on his Truth Social platform, “Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that, ‘Iran CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!’”

Read the full story here.

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ALLIES AND ARMS

U.S. should help Israel destroy Fordow, some Senate Republicans say

Some Senate Republicans argued Monday that the U.S. should join Israel’s strikes on Iran to help it destroy deeply entrenched nuclear sites such as the Fordow facility, contending that Israel lacks the capacity to do so on its own. Others, though, argued that Israel may have alternative plans to attack Fordow, while still others suggested that the U.S. should hold back and focus on diplomacy unless U.S. personnel are attacked directly, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report.

Unique needs: Assessments have long held that bunker-busting bombs and larger bombers, neither of which Israel has, are needed to eliminate Fordow, though some analysts have speculated in recent days that Israel has been developing alternative strategies to strike that site. “We have to. I think we have to help. I am going to be encouraging the president [to support Israel] because the greatest tragedy in the world would be if we left the Iranian regime in place with a nuclear easy startup. I’d hate to see Israel spending all those resources of people and dollars on getting the job 90% done,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) told JI.

Read the full story here with additional comments from Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE).

War powers activated: Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced a war powers resolution on Monday that aims to block the U.S. from taking military action against Iran in support of Israel’s ongoing operation against the regime, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

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STRANDED BUT NOT ALONE

CNN’s Scott Jennings flew to Israel for the first time to understand Oct. 7 — and then war with Iran broke out

CNN contributor Scott Jennings traveled to Israel last week to bear witness to the atrocities Hamas committed during the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. But in the wake of Israel launching its military operation to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities and prevent the regime from acquiring a nuclear weapon, Jennings is witnessing more than he expected to on his first trip to the Jewish state, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.  

And then some: “Not only did I get to fulfill my mission of understanding deeply the horrors of Oct. 7, but being here watching the war unfold against Iran, I feel like I am here at the beginning of the war to defend Western civilization,” Jennings, who is traveling with the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation, told JI from his hotel in Tiberias on Friday. “I think this has to end with a complete annihilation of Iran’s ability to make a nuclear weapon,” he said, calling on the U.S. to do “whatever we have to do to achieve that in concert with our special partner, Israel.”

Read the full story here.

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PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Proud, but pushed out: Why LGBTQ Jews are creating Pride spaces of their own

In early June, Rabbi Eleanor Steinman wrote to members of Temple Beth Shalom, the Reform congregation she leads in Austin, Texas, sharing the synagogue’s plans to celebrate Pride Month with several events in June. Steinman also revealed that, for the first time in more than two decades, her congregation would not be marching in the Austin Pride parade, which event organizers say draws 200,000 people each August, because of concerns about antisemitism. “The Austin Pride organization took an antisemitic stance in the midst of the Pride Parade and Festival last year,” wrote Steinman, who is gay. Ahead of last year’s Pride parade, slides were leaked from a presentation in which Austin Pride organizers said hate speech against Jews wasn’t welcome, including “symbols, images or flags used by terrorist and hate groups.” It was part of an education campaign for queer activists as anti-Israel sentiment exploded in the queer community after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and the ensuing war in Gaza, as it did in many other progressive spaces, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.

Backfiring and backtracking: But the effort to educate about antisemitism backfired. Anti-Israel activists pressured Austin Pride to disavow that message. Austin Pride not only backtracked on barring those slogans; it issued a statement pledging to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and stating that the organization does not work with the Anti-Defamation League. In the months that followed, Jewish leaders and LGBTQ activists pushed Austin Pride’s leadership to consider changing this stance, to no avail. “Despite attempts to meet with Austin Pride since then, a coalition of Jewish leaders were unable to create an environment where we felt we would be both safe and respected as Jewish LGBTQ+ and allies,” Steinman wrote in the email. It was a remarkable statement, tinged with bitter irony: The synagogue first started marching in Pride so that LGBTQ congregants would feel that they could bring their full selves to the Jewish community. Now some of those same congregants feel that they need to suppress their Jewishness in order to fully belong in the queer community. 

Read the full story here.

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Worthy Reads

Bibi Turns the Tables: The Wall Street Journal’s Walter Russell Mead considers how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pivoted from a series of domestic and diplomatic crises to mounting one of the most significant military operations in Israeli history. “A coalition in revolt, prosecutors on his heels, powerful rivals looking to unseat him, chilly relations with Mr. Trump, growing opposition from Europe, skeptical military and intelligence chiefs and a hostile press — few leaders anywhere have faced this kind of pressure. By week’s end, Bibi had flipped the script. A series of military blows exposed the weakness of Iran’s sulphurously belligerent regime and demonstrated Israel’s military and intelligence supremacy in the Middle East. The government crisis subsided. Mr. Trump praised Israel’s audacious attack. As in the months after Oct. 7, 2023, a determined prime minister harnessed the Israeli military machine to orchestrate a dazzling series of victories that stunned the world even if they did not win it over.” [WSJ]

More Than Bombs: The Washington Post’s David Ignatius looks at potential avenues to regime change in Iran. “You’ll get no argument from me that it’s long past time for political change in Tehran. The clerical regime has been shedding the blood of Israelis, Americans, Saudis and anyone else who opposed its dictates since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The question is how change will come. What’s the road toward a dynamic country that’s worthy of Iran’s creative, cultured people? Here’s one obvious fact: Israel can’t bomb its way to this new Iran. A campaign of bombing of the kind Tehran is experiencing makes people hunker down, turn inward and often fight harder. Strategic bombing didn’t break the will of the British, German or Japanese people during World War II. It hasn’t yet destroyed Hamas in Gaza, either, for that matter.” [WashPost]

Hate’s Not on the Menu: In the San Francisco Chronicle, Manny Yekutiel condemned the recent vandalism of his eponymous Mission District cafe, which was graffitied with anti-Israel graffiti during recent anti-ICE protests. “A disturbing pattern is emerging — one that even here in San Francisco is endangering the core values this city is meant to uphold: tolerance, inclusion, civic engagement and common humanity. The act of hate at Manny’s is part of a larger danger facing the progressive movement and the country. We are living in a moment where real and painful disagreements are being used as an excuse to turn people against one another. Instead of standing together to fight injustice, some are choosing to let hate and bigotry divide us. We cannot allow that. If we lose the ability to sit across from people we disagree with and have hard conversations, we lose the very foundation of this movement.” [SFChronicle]

Word on the Street

Amos Hochstein, a former special envoy in the Biden administration, told CNBC that only the U.S. could dismantle the Fordow nuclear facility in Iran…

The Senate modified provisions of the Educational Choice for Children Act, a tax credit program for scholarships that could help families afford religious schools, in its version of the budget reconciliation bill; the Senate version of the bill decreases the total annual tax credit from $5 billion to $4 billion, but eliminated a sunset provision that had been in the House version of the bill, making the program permanent. The Senate version also modifies portions of religious liberty protections included in the House bill…

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) told Jewish Insider he hasn’t had any discussions about calling a floor vote to discharge Joel Rayburn‘s nomination from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in which it appears Rayburn lacks the votes to advance…

The Florida Legislature earmarked $10 million in funds allotted for Jewish school security, $1 million above the amount recommended by Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this year…

Chalkbeat interviews historian Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, who was tapped by the New York City Department of Education to develop a Jewish American history curriculum…

In an interview with Vulture, “White Lotus” actor Jason Isaacs, who is Jewish, reflected on his relationship with Mel Gibson, saying his “The Patriot” co-star, whose antisemitic rant following a 2006 DUI arrest went viral, has “done some things that are unconscionable and unforgivable”…

The New York Times looks at the legacy of Leonard Lauder, who died last week, on the beauty industry; Lauder was known for coining the concept of the “lipstick index”…

The Wing co-founder Audrey Gelman, who opened a home goods and tchotchkes store in Brooklyn in 2022, is pivoting to hospitality, opening a hotel in New York’s Hudson Valley…

The displays of several Israeli defense firms at the Paris Air Show were covered up during the annual gathering; French officials said the companies, including Elbit and Rafael, had disregarded an agreement not to display offensive weapons, while Israel’s Defense Ministry accused France of trying to tamp down competition…

The Wall Street Journal reports that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman have appealed to the U.S. to pressure Israel to halt its strikes on Iran…

The Associated Press looks at how the escalation between Israel and Iran has affected flights and travelers across the region, stranding many far from home…

The Maccabiah Games, which had been slated to take place next month in Israel, are being postponed to 2026 due to the war between Israel and Iran, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher reports…

Jeff Rubin announced his upcoming retirement from The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where he served as communications director since 2011…

Pic of the Day

Ambassador Jim Jeffrey (center) poses with Antoun Sehnaoui (left) and Daniel Glaser, the co-founders of the U.S.-Israel Opera Initiative, at the organization’s launch on Sunday at the Kennedy Center in Washington. The program featured the premiere screening of the opera “Theodor,” about the life of Theodor Herzl. The performance was dedicated to Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, two Israeli Embassy staffers who were killed in a terror attack at the Capital Jewish Museum last month.

Birthdays

Comedian, actor, director, writer and producer, Michael Showalter turns 55…

Diplomat and attorney, undersecretary of state for International Security Affairs in the Carter administration, longtime U.N. special representative, Matthew Nimetz turns 86… Winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics, professor at Georgetown and UC Berkeley, he is married to former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin, George Akerlof turns 85… One of the world’s best-selling singer-songwriters over the course of seven decades, born Barry Alan Pincus, Barry Manilow turns 82… Former member of the Knesset for the Zionist Union party, Eitan Broshi turns 75… Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission during the Obama administration, Jonathan David (“Jon”) Leibowitz turns 67… Deputy administrator of the Federal Highway Administration during the first two years of the Biden administration, Stephanie Pollack turns 65… President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors until earlier this year, Aaron Dan Peskin turns 61… Singer and composer, a pioneer of the Turkish and Arab music genres in Israel, Ofer Yoel Levy turns 61… Fashion designer, daughter of Reva Schapira, Tory Burch turns 59… Active in interfaith peace initiatives between Judaism and Islam and in encounters for Jews with Eastern religions, Rabbi Yakov Meir Nagen (born Genack) turns 58… Founder and chairman of Shavei Israel, Michael Freund turns 57… British historian, columnist and musician, Dominic Green, Ph.D. turns 55… International human rights attorney who serves as managing director of the law firm Perseus Strategies, Jared Matthew Genser turns 53… Screenwriter, television producer, director and voice actor, Matthew Ian Senreich turns 51… Advocacy, philanthropic and political counsel at Chicago-based Beyond Advisers, David Elliot Horwich… SVP for the economic program at Third Way think tank, Gabe Horwitz… Chief philanthropy officer of the Jewish Community Foundation and Jewish Federation of Broward County, Keith Mark Goldmann… VP of government affairs for the Conservation Lands Foundation, David Eric Feinman… Former rabbi of the Elmora Hills Minyan in Union County, N.J., now an LCSW therapist in private practice, Rabbi Michael Bleicher… NYC-based senior editor for The Hollywood Reporter, Alexander Weprin… Professional surfer and musician, his family owns Banzai Bagels on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Makua Rothman turns 41… Founder and executive director of the Zioness Movement, Amanda Berman… Director of national outreach for the East at the New Israel Fund, Alexander Willick… Award-winning college football and basketball analyst for NBC Sports and SiriusXM, Nicole Auerbach… Member of the U.S. Ski Team’s alpine program, he competed for the USA in both the 2014 (Sochi) and 2018 (PyeongChang) Winter Olympics, Jared Goldberg turns 34… Senior art director at Business Insider, Rebecca Zisser… Shortstop for Team Israel at the 2020 Olympics, Scott Burcham turns 32… Actress best known for her roles in the CBS series “Fam” and the Netflix series “Grand Army,” Odessa Zion Segall Adlon turns 25… D.C.-based freelance foreign media consultant, she is also a real estate agent, Mounira Al Hmoud…

President Donald Trump dismissed Tucker Carlson at several points on Monday over Carlson’s comments opposing Trump’s support for Israeli strikes on Iran.

Trump, in recent days, has distanced himself from isolationist figures in the party who have condemned the strikes on Iran. Asked Monday at the G7 Summit in Canada about Carlson’s comments accusing Trump of being “complicit” in the war, Trump quipped, “I don’t know what Tucker Carlson is saying. Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen.”

Trump later posted on his Truth Social platform, “Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that, ‘Iran CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!’”

Over the weekend, Trump had also criticized isolationists in his party,, declaring in an interview, “I think I’m the one that decides” what constitutes America First, adding, “For those people who say they want peace—you can’t have peace if Iran has a nuclear weapon.”

Carlson, who recently called for the U.S. to abandon Israel and to not provide any further funding or weapons, again criticized U.S. support for Israel in an appearance on former Trump advisor Steve Bannon’s show on Monday, and claimed that the administration was following direction from “foreign governments” aiming to enact “regime change” in Iran and who were dictating to the U.S. who its enemies should be.

While arguing that involvement in the conflict was not in the U.S.’ interests, neither Carlson nor Bannon mentioned or acknowledged Iran and its proxy forces’ role in the deaths of Americans across the Middle East in recent decades.

The United Kingdom, France and Canada threatened on Monday to take “concrete actions” and impose sanctions against Israel if it does not change its policies on humanitarian aid and the war in Gaza, as well as settlements in the West Bank.

The statement from the three countries came in response to Israel’s announcement that it had begun an escalation in the fighting in Gaza, while allowing in a limited amount of food, 11 weeks after blocking all aid in an attempt to pressure Hamas to free more hostages.

The countries said they “strongly oppose the expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza. The level of human suffering is intolerable. Israel’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable and risks breaching International Humanitarian Law.”

In addition, they said that the “basic quantity of food” to be allowed into Gaza “is wholly inadequate,” and that Israel must work with United Nations agencies. Israel and the U.S. have been working on an alternative mechanism to distribute aid rather than rely on U.N. agencies, which have not prevented Hamas from pocketing large quantities of aid and in some cases employed Hamas terrorists.

“If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response,” the statement reads.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in an interview with French radio station France Inter on Tuesday that “further concrete actions” could include supporting a push led by the Netherlands to cancel the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which would in effect downgrade relations between Jerusalem and Brussels. Canada and the U.K. would not be involved, as they are not EU member states.

France, the U.K. and Canada also spoke out against Israeli settlements in the West Bank, calling them illegal and saying they “will not hesitate to take further action, including sanctions.”  

In addition, they called to work towards a two-state solution, arguing that it is “the only way to bring long-lasting peace and security that both Israelis and Palestinians deserve.” 

The three countries said they “have always supported Israel’s right to defend Israelis against terrorism” and called on Hamas to release the 58 hostages held since Oct. 7, 2023, at least 20 of whom are thought to be alive.

A second statement from 23 countries, including most of the EU, plus Australia, Canada, the U.K., New Zealand, Norway and Japan, also called on Israel to “allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza immediately” and enable U.N. agencies to distribute it, and called for a two-state solution. The EU countries that did not sign the letter were Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Romania and Slovakia.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded that “the leaders in London, Ottawa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities.”

“Israel accepts President [Donald] Trump’s vision and urges all European leaders to do the same,” he added. ”The war can end tomorrow if the remaining hostages are released, Hamas lays down its arms, its murderous leaders are exiled and Gaza is demilitarized. No nation can be expected to accept anything less and Israel certainly won’t. This is a war of civilization over barbarism. Israel will continue to defend itself by just means until total victory is achieved.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar shared on X a screenshot of a press release in which Hamas welcomed the countries’ threat, and added: “What a disgrace.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has been increasingly critical of Israel in recent weeks, calling Israel’s Gaza policies “shameful” and saying the EU should consider revoking its free trade agreement with Israel, to which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded that Macron is standing with Hamas. France is also spearheading, together with Saudi Arabia, a high-level meeting at the U.N. next month calling for a two-state solution.

Marine Le Pen, president of the far-fight French party National Rally, told i24 News on Monday that she is “very concerned about the distance that Emmanuel Macron is creating with Israel, if I may put it this way, precisely at the worst possible time. At a time when Israel is fighting a war against terrorism, when it needs the support of its friends, and France has traditionally been a friendly country toward Israel.”

Good Thursday morning.

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s rising poll numbers in the final days before New Jersey’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, and look at how Jews in Australia and Canada are reacting to recent liberal party electoral victories in both countries. We also talk to experts about how Israel is viewing the White House’s warming relations with Syria, and report on a bipartisan, bicameral call to the Trump administration to prioritize hostage-release efforts. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Sen. Lindsey Graham, Josh Kushner and Sarah Abramson.

What We’re Watching

• President Donald Trump arrived in the United Arab Emirates today as he continues on his multi-country Middle East trip.
• The Senate Armed Services Committee is convening a hearing this morning on foreign military sales.
• Also this morning, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding nomination hearings for  Joel Rayburn to be assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs and Chris Pratt to be assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs.
• Politico is hosting its Security Summit today in Washington. Speakers include: former National Security Advisors John Bolton and Jake Sullivan, the White House’s Seb Gorka, Sens. Deb Fischer (R-NE), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Eric Schmitt (R-MO) and Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Rick Crawford (R-AR), Jim Himes (D-CT), Anne Neuberger, former deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technologies, and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Craig Singleton.

What You Should Know

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS

On his first presidential visit to the Gulf nation eight years ago, Trump called Qatar “a funder of terrorism at a very high level.” Last night in Doha, the president praised Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani as an “outstanding man.”

It’s a remarkable turnaround that underscores Doha’s efforts to use its financial largesse to build goodwill and position itself as a global player. 

Doha, which a decade ago was ostracized in the region and on the global stage but has since regained its standing, has in recent years served as an intermediary between the West and malign actors (some of which, like Hamas, it financially supports). Earlier this week, al-Thani acknowledged Qatar’s “long outreach” that has included diplomatic efforts in the Russia-Ukraine war, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Afghanistan.  

And at a state dinner given in Trump’s honor last night in Doha, the president asked al-Thani to “help me with the Iran situation.” (American negotiators reportedly presented Iran with a nuclear agreement proposal during the latest round of talks over the weekend.) As Trump left Qatar today, the White House announced that it had secured deals with the country worth $243.5 billion.

While the current and previous administrations have welcomed Qatar’s efforts (specifically with assistance in negotiations over the Israel-Hamas war), Capitol Hill is taking a more measured — and cautious — approach to the Gulf nation, potentially setting up clashes with the White House.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), who earlier this week had hedged when asked about Qatar’s intention to gift a luxury jet to Trump, took a harder line against Doha days later, saying he trusts Qatar “like I trust a rest stop bathroom.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said on Tuesday that the potential gift “will attract very serious questions.” 

Qatar has long flexed its economic power and vast wealth to spread controlled messaging (as it does with its Al Jazeera network and affiliated channels), exert influence abroad (as it does with its deep-pocketed funding of American universities), avoid punishment for vast human rights abuses (as it did with the construction of the World Cup facilities) and mend frayed relations (as it did with its reentry into the Gulf Cooperation Council). Yesterday, The Free Press’ Jay Solomon and Frannie Block published an 8,600-word piece examining Qatar’s efforts to gain influence across American society.

Doha’s yearslong efforts have even won over some Republican legislators. Following the announcement yesterday that Qatar had inked an agreement to purchase up to 210 Boeing 787s and 777X aircraft — the largest purchase in the aviation manufacturer’s history — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) praised the deal, calling it a “game changer” and noting Boeing’s factory in Charleston. “Qatar Airways’ purchase will ensure the Charleston plant has work for many years to come … I appreciate our allies in Qatar for making this investment in Boeing aircraft and I appreciate everything the Trump Administration has done to make this possible,” Graham posted on X.

But more telling of Qatar’s efforts to boost its image is Sen. Roger Marshall’s (R-KS) 180 on Doha. Six years ago, Marshall blasted Qatar’s “well-documented support for terrorism and extremist groups [that] have fueled violence, civil war and bloodshed.” But in a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on campus antisemitism in March, Marshall denied that documented antisemitic incidents had occurred on campuses that have received Qatari funding and called the Gulf nation “a great ally to America.”

What happened in the intervening years? In 2023, Marshall visited Qatar, where he met with the emir. The following year, the senator met with Qatar’s prime minister in Washington, leading a meeting with a group of Republican senators. In addition, disclosures through the Foreign Agents Registration Act first obtained by the Washington Examiner indicate repeated outreach from lobbyists for Doha to Marshall’s longtime chief of staff, including an invitation to a March 2022 trip to Qatar.  

Successive administrations and Capitol Hill have largely looked away from Qatar’s vast influence network. With the world focused on crises around the world, as well as more pressing concerns over Russia, China and Iran, it has been easy for concerns about Qatari influence to fall by the wayside. Doha’s evolution from regional pariah to global power broker reveals an ugly truth about politics: that enough patience and resources can restore the standing of dangerous entities. In the coming weeks and months, the White House and Capitol Hill may be forced to reckon with the true price of that partnership.

ELECTION JITTERS

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s late surge in N.J. gubernatorial primary alarms Jewish leaders

With less than a month until New Jersey’s June 10 gubernatorial primary, Jewish community leaders are now confronting the unexpected rise of a far-left Democrat whose campaign is surging even as he has faced scrutiny over his record of commentary on key issues including Israel and antisemitism. Ras Baraka, the longtime mayor of Newark, drew national headlines last week after he was arrested by federal agents on trespassing charges at an immigration detention facility where he had been protesting, in a made-for-TV moment caught on video. The high-profile confrontation has helped to propel Baraka, an outspoken progressive who until recently had been seen as a long shot, to the top of a crowded primary field. A new internal poll commissioned by his campaign showed the Newark mayor closing in on Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), the establishment favorite, who led by just four points and claimed only 21% of the vote, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

Community concerns: That Baraka is positioned to pull off a potential upset in the Democratic primary, where a relatively small plurality of the vote could secure his nomination, has raised alarms among some Jewish leaders in the state who have voiced concerns about the mayor’s past praise of Louis Farrakhan, the virulently antisemitic Nation of Islam leader, and his condemnation of Israel’s war in Gaza, among other issues. But as the primary draws closer, Jewish leaders acknowledge that they have not yet developed a playbook to counter Baraka’s ascendance, pointing to a broader pattern of organizational confusion in a state home to a sizable, diverse and politically active Jewish community. “I find the organizing very lacking right now,” one Jewish activist in New Jersey told JI on Wednesday, even as she described “grave concerns” among Jewish community members who have found Baraka’s rhetoric “over the top.”

Read the full story here.

Bonus: Former Anti-Defamation League National Director Abe Foxman endorsed Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) in the Democratic primary.

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DAMASCUS DEALINGS

Trump’s decision to lift Syria sanctions sparks concern in Israel

Lifting all U.S. sanctions on Syria risks bolstering a jihadist regime, Israeli analysts warned after President Donald Trump’s announcement in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. After announcing the removal of sanctions, Trump met the following day in the capital city of Riyadh, with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former head of Al-Qaida in Syria whose nom de guerre was Ahmed al-Jolani. Trump urged al-Sharaa to join the Abraham Accords, and in doing so, recognize and normalize relations with Israel, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.

Israel on the outside: Carmit Valensi and Amal Hayek, researchers at INSS, wrote in a paper provided to JI before publication that “from the Israeli angle, the developments raise many concerns. The Syrian case is an additional expression of Trump’s independent moves that do not necessarily take Israeli interests into consideration.” In addition, Trump’s actions vis-a-vis Syria “show the increased weight given to Turkey and Syria in designing the regional order,” they wrote. 

A different view: But Maj.-Gen (res). Amos Yadlin, the former IDF military intelligence chief, argued against the Israeli establishment view, which, he told JI’s Gabby Deutch, “decided not to give [al-Sharaa] a chance.” Yadlin supported Israel’s destruction of the Syrian military, but not its continued presence and strikes on its neighbor to the northeast. “The fact that [former Syrian President Bashar] Assad is gone is good for Israel, and now we have a new person that we don’t really know whether he is an Al-Qaida terrorist or if he is a new leader for Syria that will take it to a different relationship with its neighbors and a different Syria,” Yadlin said.

Read the full story here.

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community concerns

Jews in Canada and Australia warily eye the future after liberal party electoral victories

In Australia, the much-publicized video of anti-Israel protesters shouting “where’s the Jew?” soon after Oct. 7 was not an anomaly but rather the beginning of a rapid increase in antisemitism in this country whose small but proud Jewish community had previously taken pride in Australia’s welcoming, pluralistic nature. Now, Australian Jews are making sense of a recent election in which the center-left Labor Party that has governed throughout the aftermath of Oct. 7 and the war in Gaza was reelected, giving Prime Minister Anthony Albanese — whose ties to the Jewish community have come under strain — another term in office. Meanwhile in Canada, which also has a sizable Jewish vote and a record of growing antisemitism, another left-learning party recently notched an even more unexpected victory. For Jewish community leaders in both countries, the recent elections present an opportunity to rebuild ties that have frayed. But it won’t be easy, with wounds still raw and antisemitism still elevated, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.

Looking ahead: “Some mistakes were made, and there were some oversights made, but we certainly think that there’s a willingness to make some improvements and to do what they can to improve the lives of Jewish people here in Australia,” said Naomi Levin, CEO of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, which includes Melbourne, of the Australian government. “We didn’t have the leadership that we needed to crack down on it. Now it’s very hard to go back. Once that genie is out of the bottle, it’s very hard to put it back in.” 

Read the full story here.

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UNITED FRONT

Most congressional Republicans insist on no enrichment for Iran

Nearly all Senate Republicans sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Wednesday urging him only to agree to a nuclear deal with Iran that requires the full dismantlement of Tehran’s nuclear program. Eighty percent of House Republicans — 177 lawmakers — signed onto a nearly identical letter, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report.

Red lines: The Senate letter, led by Sens. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) and co-signed by every Republican senator except Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), calls on the Trump administration to follow through on their “explicit warnings” that Tehran “must permanently give up any capacity for enrichment.” The House version of the letter was led by Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX), the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus in the House. The letters, drafts of which were first reported by JI last week, serve as a clear message to the president from congressional Republicans of their expectations that a new nuclear deal with Iran must cut off its nuclear enrichment capabilities permanently, amid inconsistent public messaging from the administration on the subject. The letters frame the appeal as a message of support for Trump’s position on the issue.

Read the full story here.

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EXCLUSIVE

Bipartisan, bicameral resolutions urge White House to prioritize hostage release

New resolutions introduced Wednesday in the Senate by Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Todd Young (R-IN) and in the House by Reps. Haley Stevens (D-MI) and French Hill (R-AR) condemn Hamas’ hostage-taking and other malign activities and urge the administration to focus on freeing the 58 remaining hostages being held in Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Keeping focus: The introduction of the resolutions coincides with President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East and comes days after Hamas released Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander following direct talks with the United States, in which Israel was not involved. The resolution “applauds the Administration for securing the release of Edan Alexander and calls on the White House to continue taking all possible steps to secure the release of all the hostages held captive by Hamas.”

Read the full story here.

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AGREE TO DISAGREE

Graham highlights concerns about Houthi strikes on Israel amid U.S. ceasefire

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) expressed concern on Wednesday about continued Houthi attacks on Israel despite the U.S. ceasefire deal with the group, suggesting that President Donald Trump’s desire to quickly find resolutions to conflicts may not be conducive to U.S. interests, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. It’s the second time in two days the close Trump ally has appeared to put distance between himself and the president on foreign policy issues.

What he said: “I am very sad and disappointed to hear that after all the efforts to deal with the Houthis, they are still shooting ballistic missiles at our friends in Israel,” Graham said in a post on X.  “I appreciate President Trump trying to pursue peace on multiple fronts, however we must hold bad actors accountable when they defy these efforts.” He said he expects Israel may take action against Iran directly in response to the strikes.

Read the full story here.

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Worthy Reads

From Tee to Negotiating Table: In The Atlantic, Isaac Stanley-Becker spotlights Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff – of whose existence Stanley-Becker said “few people outside New York real-estate circles knew” prior to this year — as the White House official leads American teams navigating a series of international conflicts and crises. “[Secretary of State Marco] Rubio came into his role with one enormous disadvantage: He wasn’t a friend of Trump’s. Witkoff very much is. The two men have known each for 40 years. He is a regular at the president’s many golf clubs. Witkoff followed Trump into real-estate investing, a pursuit that made them both billionaires. He has been by Trump’s side through bankruptcy, two divorces, two impeachments, two assassination attempts, and two inaugurations. Now Trump has asked his friend to solve many of the world’s most dangerous problems, problems that have defeated generations of American presidents and diplomats.” [TheAtlantic]

The Trump Doctrine: The Free Press’ Eli Lake considers how President Donald Trump’s approach to global politics differs from traditional thinking. “As Trump sees it, how a government is organized internally — whether it’s a liberal democratic republic or a repressive police state — is irrelevant to America’s national interests. What matters is how that state behaves. If Iran sponsors terrorism and pursues a nuclear weapon, then Trump will use at least economic coercion to punish Iran’s adventurism. So long as Saudi Arabia and its ruling family are willing to invest in America’s economy and act as a stabilizing force in the region, then who cares if it is an undemocratic monarchy accused of murdering its critics abroad? … Trump is partially correct to survey the regime change wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and ask why these countries’ capitals pale in comparison to Abu Dhabi and Riyadh. But he’s wrong to suggest that Iraqis or Afghans were better off living under the tyrannies the U.S. systems replaced. In the case of Afghanistan, the country is back to living under the Taliban and the results are predictably horrendous.” [FreePress]

The Road Less Traveled: The Wall Street Journal’s Ben Cohen profiles AirBnb founder Brian Chesky as the company expands beyond stays and experiences to offer a range of services. “The son of two social workers, Chesky grew up in Niskayuna, New York, tinkering with his sneakers and hockey equipment. As he got older, he asked Santa for poorly designed toys so he could take a crack at improving them. By the time he was 11, he was asking neighbors if he could redesign their backyard decks. (‘No one commissioned me,’ he says.) As a teenager, he convinced his father to buy Disney stock so he could get his hands on the company’s annual reports to study architectural renderings of theme parks. After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design, he took a job in Los Angeles as an industrial designer. Inspired by Walt Disney taking a chance and moving to Hollywood nearly a century earlier, Chesky moved to San Francisco and lived with his RISD buddy Joe Gebbia. … With a design conference coming to town, they realized other broke designers would need a place to crash, so they bought three air beds and welcomed their first guests. Chesky still has the receipt — a memento of the best $55 he ever spent. Before long, Chesky, Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk started a company they called AirBed & Breakfast. [WSJ]

Word on the Street

President Donald Trump, speaking in Doha, Qatar, suggested turning the Gaza Strip into a “freedom zone,” saying, “I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone”…

The National Security Council is expected to be overhauled in the coming days, including staff reductions and a restructuring of decision-making processes, amid a broader weakening of the department under the Trump administration…

Several top Biden and Obama administration foreign policy advisors, including suspended Iran envoy Rob Malley, backhandedly praised Trump’s willingness to bypass Israel in his Middle East diplomacy, in interviews with Axios; “It’s hard not to be simultaneously terrified at the thought of the damage he can cause with such power, and awed by his willingness to brazenly shatter so many harmful taboos,” Malley said…

Former Obama Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes also reacted to Trump’s Middle East policy in the Axios story: “I don’t like Trump’s motivations for lots of things he does but one thing you will say is he’s not tied to this constant fear of some bad faith right-wing attacks or stupid Blob-type, ‘we don’t do this, we must leverage the sanctions for blah blah blah.’ No! Sometimes you just have to try something different”…

The State Department announced sanctions on individuals and entities in China and Hong Kong tied to Iran’s ballistic-missile program…

Axios looks at Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-AR) efforts to exert public pressure on the White House to reject an Iranian nuclear deal that allows Tehran to continue enriching uranium…

Speaking at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Rep. Tim Kennedy (D-NY) criticized the administration’s budget proposal to strip funding from programs designed to combat domestic violent extremism and accused the administration of ignoring the issue and “making excuses for domestic terrorists.” He invoked the white supremacist Buffalo supermarket shooting that took place three years ago yesterday…

The House of Representatives voted 421-1 on a resolution in favor of honoring Jewish American Heritage Month and calling on elected leaders to combat antisemitism, with only Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) voting against it…

Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress and a prolific Jewish philanthropist and GOP donor, appeared among other guests at the Lusail Palace in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday to greet Trump and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen reports…

A former Michigan National Guardsman accused of plotting to carry out a mass-shooting attack on a Detroit-area Army base was arrested by federal agents…

One of the first white South Africans to enter the U.S. through a refugee program was found to have made antisemitic posts on social media; Charl Kleinhaus said one of the posts, calling Jews “untrustworthy” and “a dangerous group,” was a mistake…

Josh Kushner’s Thrive Capital told investors it made a $522 million profit from its investment in Carvana…

Harvard President Alan Garber is taking a voluntary 25% pay cut for the upcoming fiscal year, as the school faces fiscal challenges in the wake of the Trump administration’s federal funding cuts to Harvard…

The Georgetown University researcher arrested by immigration authorities in March and held in a detention center was released following a judge’s order…

A spokesperson for NYU issued an apology following an incident at the Gallatin School’s commencement ceremony earlier this week in which a student speaker condemned “the genocide and atrocities in Gaza”…

The Department of Health and Human Services opened an investigation into Northwestern University’s handling of campus antisemitism; the Evanston, Ill., school was already facing a Department of Education investigation as well as a congressional inquiry on the issue…

The California Department of Education said that a Northern California school district mishandled a complaint that had alleged that a teacher had suggested there were “too many Jews in the district”…

A pregnant Israeli woman en route to a hospital to give birth was shot and killed in a terror attack in the West Bank on Wednesday night; the baby is in serious condition after doctors performed a cesarean section…

The newly created Gaza Aid Foundation said that Israel will resume aid to the enclave after a two-month freeze…

The Atlantic spotlights the challenges facing Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa five months after he led the overthrow of the Assad regime and assumed power in the war-torn country…

Sarah Abramson was named the next CEO of OneTable, succeeding Aliza Kline; Abramson will assume the position in August,eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports…

Physicist Richard Garwin, who played a key role in the creation of the hydrogen bomb, died at 97…

Paul Strassmann, who as a teenager was a Resistance fighter in Nazi Europe and would go on to become an IT whiz in the corporate world, died at 96…

Pic of the Day

Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar visited Israel’s pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, on Thursday.

Birthdays

Owner/President of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, he is the chairman of the Board of Governors of The Jewish Agency for Israel, Mark Wilf turns 63…

Principal of Queens-based Muss Development, Joshua Lawrence Muss turns 84… Chairman emeritus of The Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States, Rachel Oestreicher Bernheim turns 82… Chairman of the Religious Zionists of America, he was born in a DP camp as a child of Holocaust survivors, Martin Oliner turns 78… Retired major general in the IDF, he served as Israel’s national security advisor and is now a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies, Yaakov Amidror turns 77… Israeli diplomat who served as Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See, Mordechay Lewy turns 77… CEO of Emigrant Bank, real estate developer, financier and philanthropist, Howard Philip Milstein turns 74… Professor of pathology and genetics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, he is the author of Legacy: A Genetic History of the Jewish People, Harry Ostrer turns 74… Professor of Jewish studies at Dartmouth College, she is the daughter of Abraham Joshua Heschel, Susannah Heschel turns 69… Owner of Midnight Music Management and one of the founders of The Happy Minyan in Los Angeles, Stuart Wax… Associate editor and columnist at the Washington Post until two months ago, Ruth Allyn Marcus turns 67… Five-time Emmy Award-winning journalist, producer, filmmaker and Latin media marketing entrepreneur, Giselle Fernandez turns 64… First lady of Israel, Michal Herzog turns 64… Founding rabbi of Kehilat Rayim Ahuvim in NYC and a member of the Talmud faculty at Yeshivat Maharat, Adam Mintz turns 64… Former member of the Nevada Assembly, she served as secretary of the National Association of Jewish Legislators, Ellen Barre Spiegel turns 63… Director, screenwriter and former film critic, Rod Lurie turns 63… Actor and filmmaker known for his collaborations with George Clooney, Grant Heslov turns 62… Vice chancellor of Brown University, she is the founder of Reeves Advisory, Pamela Ress Reeves… Actor and comedian, David Krumholtz turns 47… Executive director in the Office of Crime Victim Services at the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Shira Rosenthal Phelps… Noam Finger turns 47… Director of the center for civics, education and opportunity at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute, Daniel M. Rothschild… Actress best known for her role as Tony Soprano’s daughter, Meadow, Jamie-Lynn Sigler turns 44… Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author, Eli Eric Saslow turns 43… Senior editor at Vogue, Chloe F. Schama… Director of career services at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business, Lisa Dubler… Rochelle Wilner… Ofir Richman…

On Wednesday evening last week, Annamie Paul, Canada’s newly elected Green Party leader, gathered with friends and family for a virtual menorah lighting ceremony on Zoom. Ever since she clinched the leadership role nearly three months ago, Paul has kept up a demanding schedule, including hundreds of events and interviews, but with Hanukkah in full swing, she seemed grateful for the opportunity to briefly slow down and reflect on her achievement in the company of those who are close to her.

“I’m incredibly moved somehow,” Paul, 48, told the group. “I don’t know what exactly it is. I think it’s a combination of things: being with so many people that I have not seen for a long time, seeing some people for the first time that I’ve spoken with on the phone but never actually seen face to face, knowing that we’re celebrating Hanukkah — and that I am the first Jewish woman as a federal leader to be able to do this, and the first Jewish person since 1975.”

Paul, a lawyer who lives in Toronto with her husband and two sons, broke a number of barriers when she prevailed through eight rounds of ranked-ballot voting and emerged victorious in early October to become not only the first Jewish woman to take the helm of a federal party in Canada, but also the first Black party leader in Canadian history. 

“Those were a lot of firsts packed into one person,” Paul told Jewish Insider in a recent interview, noting that she didn’t try to make her identity a central part of her campaign but recognizes that it may have inspired some supporters.

Still, Paul acknowledges that the historic win may give her increased license to help reshape her party’s image, which is often associated with environmental advocacy. “But that’s not really the source of everything,” said Paul, emphasizing her ambition to bring new attention to a broader array of social policies on which, she argues, her party has been at the forefront, such as instituting a guaranteed livable income and decriminalizing illicit drugs.

“I do believe that being who I am gives me more scope to talk about those things because my background — being a Black woman, being a Jewish woman, all of these things — allows people more readily to imagine that I may have other things that I care about beyond the climate,” she mused. “If I talk about affordable housing or urban poverty or systemic discrimination, people don’t question why I’m talking about things, even as a Green Party leader, because of who I am.”

The daughter of Caribbean immigrants, Paul grew up in a Jewish neighborhood in Toronto and has always felt something of an affinity for Judaism. “It was a space and a culture and civilization that I became familiar with at a relatively early age,” Paul told JI. In law school, she met her husband, Mark Freeman, a human rights lawyer who is Jewish. “It was very clear to both of us that we wanted to have a Jewish life and raise a Jewish family,” Paul recalled. “It was something that I knew I would do at some point.”

Paul was drawn to Judaism, she said, because it felt to her like a civilization that is grounded in religion but extends well beyond matters of faith. “The value that was placed on human life, the recognition of our interconnectedness, those were things that really attracted me,” she said. “When I think about it in terms of my life and how I live my life, it’s very attuned and aligned.” 

Annamie Paul poses for a photo with Green Party supporters in downtown Toronto during the 2019 federal election. (Courtesy)

She converted in 2000 during her time at Princeton University, where she received her master’s in public affairs. Her spiritual guide was Rabbi Jim Diamond, the university’s Hillel director, who died in a car crash in 2013. “He was a wonderful mentor,” said Paul, who spent a year studying closely with Diamond. “I knew a lot more than Rabbi Diamond expected,” she said with a laugh, citing her childhood experience parsing Old Testament passages alongside her grandmother, whom Paul described as a religious Christian.

“It’s been 20-plus years now, and it’s an important part of my life,” Paul said of her faith. “We have two kids, and they’re both bar mitzvahed, one in Spain and one here in Toronto.”

Rabbi Edward Elkin, who leads the First Narayever Congregation in Toronto, the independent synagogue where Paul’s younger son had his bar mitzvah, told JI that he followed Paul’s race for the Green Party leadership with interest. “She cares very deeply about Judaism, about the Jewish people, about Israel, and really takes great pride in being the leader of a federal political party in Canada who is Jewish,” he said. “Obviously it’s not her only identity, but it’s a very sincere and central part of her identity.”

“Her prominence as a Jewish woman of color,” Elkin added, “helps us to remind ourselves within the Jewish world that there are Jews of color and they have a voice and a presence and they’ve got a lot to contribute to society at large but also to the Jewish community.”

Elkin’s enthusiasm notwithstanding, Paul was subject to a litany of antisemitic and racist attacks throughout her campaign, including from members of her own party, one of whom, invoking an antisemitic trope, suggested that a reporter should follow her into a synagogue “to observe her membership drives and fundraising.”

Paul fought back against such rhetoric in a July essay for the Canadian Jewish Record, responding to an incident at a virtual debate in which bigoted language appeared on-screen. 

“The moment it became known that I was Jewish, I was bombarded with questions about my positions on Israel, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign and the proposed annexation of West Bank territories,” Paul wrote. “Despite having posted public statements on these matters, questions persist. My loyalty to Canada has also been called into question, and I have been accused of taking bribes from Israel, leading a Zionist take-over of the Green Party of Canada and of spreading hasbarah.”

Paul’s views on Israel are, at least from an American standpoint, primarily aligned with the liberal advocacy group J Street, says Richard Marceau, vice president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and a former member of the Bloc Québécois. 

Paul, who has visited Israel twice because her husband has family there, supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and opposes annexation as well as the BDS movement. In August, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East and Independent Jewish Voices Canada, both non-profit organizations that support BDS, prepared a report evaluating the Green Party leadership candidates on Middle East issues. Paul ranked last, earning a C-. 

Coming in first with an A grade was Dimitri Lascaris, a lawyer and anti-Israel activist who ran for Green Party leader and lost to Paul in the final round of voting. Two years ago, Lascaris came under fire when he suggested that two Jewish members of Parliament were more loyal to “apartheid Israel” than their own party — accusations Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described as “vile antisemitic smears.”

Lascaris is no outlier in the Green Party, according to Marceau. In 2016, the party passed a controversial resolution supporting BDS over the objections of former longtime Green Party leader Elizabeth May, who stepped down from her role last year. May considered resigning in protest of the resolution four years ago but found compromise with a revised policy whose first bullet point called “on the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people and the State of Israel to accord mutually recognized statehood.”

Marceau expressed hope that Paul would push back against BDS during her tenure as Green Party leader. “I think she brings a lot to the discussion,” he said. Still, he argued, Paul could often find herself swimming against the current. “If she wants the party to look like her and sound like her, she has work to do.”

Paul is well-attuned to international affairs thanks to her years working abroad in Europe. In Brussels, she was a political affairs officer at Canada’s mission to the European Union, later serving as an advisor for the International Criminal Court and as the director of a conflict prevention organization called Crisis Action. In 2014, she founded the Barcelona International Public Policy Hub, which advises international NGOs.

But Paul made clear in conversation with JI that she is largely focused on domestic concerns, noting that she had no immediate plans to visit Israel again because she is trying to reduce her carbon footprint.

The Green Party, founded in 1983, has always been something of an underdog in Canadian politics. It currently holds just three seats in Parliament, all of which are in the lower chamber formally known as the House of Commons. By comparison, the Liberals hold 156 seats in the House of Commons, the most of any party, while the Conservatives occupy 121.

Annamie Paul speaking to Green Party members and supporters at the 2019 Toronto Centre nomination meeting. (Courtesy)

Last year, Paul tried to expand the party’s federal presence but lost her bid for a seat in Parliament. She tried once more in a recent October by-election shortly after claiming victory in the leadership race, but lost again.

Despite her defeat, Paul sees it as a promising development that she was able to come in second place with nearly 33% of the vote in a district that has long been regarded as a Liberal Party redoubt. “I really believe that that tells us that people are willing to take a chance on something new,” Paul said, noting that the coronavirus pandemic has only underscored the need for Green Party policies like affordable housing and universal pharmacare.

In her first few months as party leader, Paul has been working around the clock to introduce herself to Canadians while giving them a sense of her approach. Though her relatively low profile in national politics may hinder her effort to popularize Green Party talking points, she believes that the pandemic has forced Canadians to rethink their priorities and embrace a new path forward. “I think it’s very clear that people don’t want to go back to where we were,” she told JI.

“Around the world, when Green Parties make breakthroughs, it’s usually in moments like that, in moments of disruption,” Paul said, “moments where people are ready to take a leap.”