Jewish leaders view Andy Burnham as an ally in the fight against antisemitism, but his expected bid for the premiership is renewing scrutiny of his views on Israel and Labour’s post-Corbyn direction
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Labour Party MP Andy Burnham greets supporters at the Labour campaign HQ on June 18, 2026 in Ashton-in-Makerfield, England.
Add JewishInsider on GoogleBritish Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation on Monday, setting up a leadership battle within the Labour Party and raising the question of how his likely successor will deal with one of the issues that brought Starmer to office in the first place: combating antisemitism.
Starmer was elected as leader of the Labour Party in 2020, inheriting a party in disarray after it had faced electoral losses the year before and was navigating an internal crisis over former party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s approach to antisemitism. In his victory speech in April 2020, Starmer pledged to address the deep-seated antisemitism that had led many Jews to exit the party.
Starmer’s successor is likely to be Andy Burnham, a newly sworn-in Labour MP representing a district that includes parts of the Greater Manchester region. He spent the last nine years as mayor of Greater Manchester, the city with the second-largest Jewish community in the U.K. He declared his intent to run for Labour leader on Monday and quickly earned the backing of Wes Streeting, a former health secretary who was rumored to also be considering a run.
In 2019, as Corbyn’s leadership faced an antisemitism scandal, Burnham met with 80 members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the community’s largest institutional voice.
“It is inconceivable to me that a party which has prided itself on its record on racism could have become embroiled in an antisemitism crisis,” Burnham said at the meeting. “Racism needs to be dealt with firmly, quickly and decisively. I’m afraid that this hasn’t been the response so far and I hope from this point forward this has been understood.”
He said at the time that he still supported Corbyn, “but that support is not unconditional or unchallenged.”
Jewish community leaders in Manchester have close ties with Burnham, whom they view as an ally. In particular, he earned praise for strongly supporting the community after a terror attack on Manchester’s Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation last year on Yom Kippur, in which two congregants were murdered.
“In the aftermath of the Heaton Park synagogue terrorist attack, which was incidentally my synagogue, he was an incredible support to the community,” Raphi Bloom, director of fundraising and marketing at the Fed, a Jewish social services charity in Manchester, told Jewish Insider. “He has been an excellent friend to the Jewish community.”
Burnham’s record on Israel is relatively short — he has not brought Middle East politics into his mayoralty in the way that some other local leaders have focused on the issue. He spoke at a vigil days after the Oct. 7 attacks in 2023, but he also butted heads with the local Jewish Representative Council when he signed onto a petition calling for a ceasefire less than three weeks later.
“At a moment when we felt isolated and vulnerable, he demonstrated that Greater Manchester’s leadership understood the scale of the tragedy and how it affects Jewish people in the U.K.,” Mark Adlestone, chair of the Manchester JRC, wrote in an op-ed in Britain’s Jewish News on Monday. “However, it would be disingenuous to suggest there have not been times when there have been disagreements. Andy led a call from local authority leaders calling for a ceasefire post 7 October, whilst hostages remained in captivity.”
Burnham also served in Parliament from 2001 to 2017, and when he unsuccessfully ran for Labour Party leader in 2015, he expressed strong support for Israel. “I’ve always been a friend of Israel and the Jewish community — that will never change,” he said at the time, and promised that his first foreign trip as party leader would be to Israel.
But even his supporters in the Jewish community acknowledge that the politics surrounding the issue have changed a great deal since then. While remaining outspoken against antisemitism, Starmer has sought to cut off some arms sales to Israel. In September 2025, the U.K. unilaterally recognized a Palestinian state, and Starmer presided over sanctions against Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, two far-right ministers in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Ccabinet.
“I think he’ll be strong on antisemitism, on Holocaust education and on tackling Jew hatred, but it remains to be seen about Israel. I don’t think he’ll change the government’s position much, if at all,” said Bloom, who directs the Fed’s My Voice project, which preserves and shares the stories of Holocaust survivors. “We’re not looking at Andy with rose-tinted spectacles when it comes to Israel, and we will deal with that when it happens as a community.”
In the final days of his recent campaign for Parliament, Burnham was asked if Israel’s actions in Gaza amounted to a genocide, a word Starmer declined to use. Burnham similarly declined to answer but hinted that he may be more willing to engage on the issue once he enters Parliament.
“I can’t judge things of that enormity from where I am as mayor of Greater Manchester,” he said. “But I do have concerns about the disproportionate nature of what has happened in terms of the destruction, and there has to be a full process of investigation and accountability.”
Starmer, in an emotional speech announcing his resignation on Monday, touted his record on antisemitism as one of his signature achievements. Jewish communal leaders said they don’t expect Burnham to return to the Corbyn era, but questions remain about his approach to the party’s past fissures over antisemitism and Israel.
“He probably is more to the left than Starmer is, and so perhaps the people that he will surround himself with, some of them will be more to the left of Starmer, and how that plays out for the Jewish community and for Israel is unknown at this stage,” said Bloom. “I’m 100% sure he won’t be reopening the door to Jeremy Corbyn or Corbynistas to come back into the party.”
Ella Rose-Jacobs, national chair of the Jewish Labour Movement, urged Burnham to follow Starmer’s path.
“Keir Starmer did a lot of the institutional work, but any future leader of the party will also need to vanguard and safeguard the process and the progress that has been made. Progress can be backslid,” Rose-Jacobs told JI on Monday. “The thing that I hope for the future government — and obviously there might be another contender in the race, we don’t know that yet — is that it doesn’t import the politics of foreign conflicts to our shores.”
Plus, Labour's local losses
Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump as he leaves the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2026.
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at what the results of yesterday’s local elections in the U.K. portend for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s premiership and the future of the Labour Party, and report on the introduction of an AUMF by Rep. Tom Barrett, a swing-district Republican facing a tough reelection bid. We interview Rabbi Mike Uram, the incoming chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, about his vision for the institution, and report on the decision by the Sen. Bernie Sanders-aligned Our Revolution to back Alex Bores in the NY-12 congressional race. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Francie Harris, Hussain Abdul-Hussain and James Packer.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with an assist from Danielle Cohen-Kanik. Have a tip? Email us here.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy stories, including: How Yossi Farro, the 22-year-old tefillin wrapper, chases influential Jews from coast to coast; How Rahm Emanuel is recalibrating on Israel ahead of 2028 and CNBC anchor Sara Eisen confronts antisemitism — on air and online. Print the latest edition here.
What We’re Watching
- We’re watching the unfolding situation in the Middle East after clashes between the U.S. and Iran broke out late yesterday, threatening to end the tenuous ceasefire that went into place last month. President Donald Trump told ABC News on Thursday that the strikes did not constitute a breakdown of the ceasefire, but served as a “love tap.”
- The president took a more hard-line approach on his Truth Social site, writing, “A normal country would have allowed these destroyers to pass, but Iran is not a normal country. They are led by LUNATICS, and if they had the chance to use a nuclear weapon, they would do it, without question. But they’ll never have that opportunity and, just like we knocked them out again today, we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their deal signed, FAST!”
- The strikes came shortly after Saudi Arabia and Kuwait lifted their restrictions on the U.S. military’s use of the countries’ airspace and bases that went into place earlier this week with the start of the Trump administration’s Project Freedom.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio wraps up his two-day trip to Italy and the Vatican today.
- In Geneva, the World Jewish Congress will kick off its three-day governing board meeting on Sunday and will also hold a meeting of special envoys and coordinators combating antisemitism.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS
All politics is local, as the saying goes. And if true, that could be very bad news for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer following yesterday’s local elections across the country that saw significant losses for his Labour Party — a showing that could prompt party officials to reassess the party’s direction.
With partial results in shortly after polls closed, Nigel Farage’s hard-right Reform U.K. Party appeared to have made significant gains in working-class areas of the country, while Labour lost hundreds of local seats. Farage, who has faced multiple allegations of antisemitism — including bullying Jewish classmates as a teenager and promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories, as well as his multiple appearances on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ show — was the night’s clear victor.
All told, Labour did not lose as badly as some polls had predicted, but the significant losses it did suffer, compared to Reform’s gains, portend future challenges for Starmer as he works to hold onto the premiership, less than two years into his term.
The other big loser in the day’s elections was Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative Party, which, aside from reclaiming London’s Wandsworth and Westminster districts (both of which it lost to Labour in the 2022 elections), made few significant gains, while the Green Party fared better than Labour and the Tories, pulling out modest wins and gaining at least a dozen seats.
That the two parties claiming the best outcomes fall on opposite — and extreme — ends of the political spectrum is deepening concerns among British Jews, who are already on edge amid spiking antisemitism and a wave of violent attacks targeting Jewish communities around the country. The country’s Jewish leaders have not come out in force against Farage, who is broadly supportive of Israel, and his Reform Party in the same way they’ve raised concerns about antisemitism in Labour and the Greens.
GA STATE OF PLAY
State Rep. Houston Gaines, the 36-year-old Georgia native who has served in the Statehouse since 2019 and has the backing of President Donald Trump, faces a potentially potent challenge in Tuesday’s GOP primary race to replace Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA). Ryan Millsap, a real estate and film industry executive is pumping $4 million of his own money into his congressional bid and made a name for himself locally in a protracted legal battle against far-left agitators who camped out on his land to protest a proposed police training center. The race has turned into a heated battle between the two men, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Matchup: Gaines is leaning on his background in the state Legislature in his run, arguing to JI in an interview that “we need folks in Congress who know how to get things done” and that he’s “proven in my time in the state Legislature” that he delivers results on a variety of issues. Millsap told JI in an interview that his interest in running for office started with his “five-year war with Antifa.” He said, “We can’t just sit around as a society and let violent criminals rule our political process and take over our lands because we’re afraid of violence.”
EYE ON NOVEMBER
Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI) on Thursday introduced an authorization for use of military force (AUMF) in Iran that would limit the length and scope of U.S. military operations, dismissing assertions by the administration that the operation that began in February had already concluded, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. The AUMF marks one of the most concrete actions by congressional Republicans thus far to limit U.S. operations against Iran, and may preview further action by Republicans wary of the undefined and unclear scope of and plans for U.S. action against Iran.
Details: The AUMF would authorize the administration to use U.S. military force against Iran’s nuclear program, against “imminent threats” to U.S. forces or facilities by Iran or its proxies, to blockade Iran’s ports and to protect safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz — but that authorization would terminate on July 30, which falls 90 days after the initial start of operations in Iran, irrespective of the current tenuous ceasefire agreement. Barrett’s AUMF provides a 30-day wind-down period “only as necessary to end the deployment or engagement of the Armed Forces.”
Q&A
Amid intensifying polarization of the American Jewish community, Jewish Theological Seminary Chancellor-elect Rabbi Mike Uram is putting forth his own vision for Conservative Judaism: “the muscular middle,” a movement that can offer a middle ground for all types of Jews. Uram, who assumes the role on July 1, sat down with Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen for eJewishPhilanthropy to discuss his strategy for cultivating the next generation of American Jewish leaders at a fraught time.
Vision: “In terms of how I imagine being able to help JTS go from good to better, I have a strong background in how to use relationship-based engagement to transform outcomes of Jewish organizations,” Uram said. “There’s an opportunity to both cast a wide net to recruit outstanding candidates for rabbinical school but I also would imagine trying to integrate JTS into the larger Jewish ecosystem in different ways and start to focus on centers where there is a high density of outstanding Jewish leaders.”
Read the full interview here and sign up for eJewishPhilanthropy’s Your Daily Phil newsletter here.
SIGNALING SUPPORT
A left-wing group aligned with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and fiercely critical of Israel has backed Assemblymember Alex Bores in the race to succeed Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) in a heavily Jewish Manhattan district, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports.
Backing Bores: Our Revolution, an advocacy group spun off Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, endorsed Bores on Wednesday, news first reported by Politico and subsequently shared on both Bores’ and Our Revolution’s social media pages. Following Sanders, Our Revolution has aligned with student anti-Israel protesters and advocated against military aid to the Jewish state. The group’s endorsement of Bores, who worked for Palantir, emphasized his signature issue: regulating artificial intelligence.
PODCAST PLAYBACK
Hussain Abdul-Hussain has an unusual story: A Shia Muslim raised in Iraq and Lebanon and taught to hate Israel and the West, he is now a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies living in Washington, and the author The Arab Case for Israel. In an interview with Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov and Asher Fredman, executive director of the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, on the “Misgav Mideast Horizons” podcast this week, Abdul-Hussain discussed the journey that transformed him into a prominent Arab advocate for normalization and peace with Israel.
A new perspective: When Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, Abdul-Hussain was covering the events for the now-defunct Daily Star in Lebanon, and drove to the border. “At the time, the border was just a flimsy barbed wire. You could see Israelis on the other side, and I stood there and I watched Israeli families in Metula and all these towns … mothers driving their children to school, men working the fields, some guy driving a tractor. This was the first time that I saw Israelis as humans … as people like us, and this made me so curious,” he recalled.
Worthy Reads
Financing Foreign Policy: The Economist looks at the Development Finance Corporation and its CEO, Ben Black, describing the agency as “the muscular new finance arm” of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy. “Now money will go wherever America competes with China, and to projects with Mr Trump’s other foreign-policy goals. Do-goodery is out; hard-nosed geopolitics is in. The board, which approves new investments, includes Marco Rubio and Howard Lutnick, secretaries of state and commerce, respectively. … [T]he DFC will operate like a Wall Street investment firm, insiders say. In February Mr Black opened an office in New York. This makes it easier to work with hedge funds, which the DFC favours as partners over development institutions.” [TheEconomist]
Pregnant Pause: In Newsweek, former White House Middle East Envoy Jason Greenblatt considers President Donald Trump’s approach to Iran. “The pause is not capitulation. It is not President Trump’s fear. It is not a response to media criticism. And while some will connect it to gas prices and the approaching midterm elections, I do not believe that is what is driving this. What it is, is a high-stakes decision made under pressure, pressure that President Trump himself has been applying to Iran, not the other way around.” [Newsweek]
Seeing Red in Golders Green: The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg observes the challenges in addressing the U.K.’s antisemitism problem amid regular attacks on the country’s Jewish community. “The responses to the stabbings in Golders Green help explain how this predicament arose — and why it continues. Even as the victims were still in the hospital, an array of online apologists associated with Britain’s ascendant hard-left explained away the incident and its implications. … Whatever the alleged perpetrator’s internal demons, he didn’t travel across London to attack Presbyterians.” [TheAtlantic]
Cleric’s Calling Card: In The Wall Street Journal, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who as a district court judge presided over the case of the “Blind Sheikh,” on whose behalf New Jersey congressional candidate Adam Hamawy testified, raises concerns about Hamawy’s ties to the radical cleric. “Mr. Hamawy was more than a casual traveling companion of Abdel Rahman. He met the Blind Sheikh in 1991 after the cleric had already been charged with providing the spiritual authority for the 1981 assassination of Mubarak’s predecessor, Anwar Sadat, although an Egyptian court acquitted him of direct involvement in that crime. Mr. Hamawy attended several of Abdel Rahman’s sermons, visited the cleric in his home before his trial and provided him with translation services.” [WSJ]
A Gulf Between: In the Jewish News Syndicate, Betsy Berns Korn, the chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, reflects on the differences in Israel’s positioning between the 1991 Gulf War and the present conflict with Iran. “Sustained threats from Iran and its proxies have forced countries across the Mideast to reassess both risk and partnership. That reassessment has brought Israel into a more central role, not as a symbol, but as a proven contributor to regional security. This does not resolve the region’s conflicts. … It does, however, mark a shift that few would have anticipated a generation ago. A story that once centered on Israeli restraint now includes Israeli capability. A region that once treated Israel as a liability now increasingly turns to it in moments of danger.” [JNS]
Word on the Street
The Trump administration signed off on the sale of $17 billion in air defense missiles and related weaponry to Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain despite dwindling U.S. stockpiles…
The Economist reports on a proposal from the Russian army’s intelligence unit suggesting that Moscow would offer Iran thousands of high-tech drones for use against U.S. targets in the Gulf; the outlet said it could not confirm if the document, which was undated, was ultimately presented to the Iranians…
The Financial Times spotlights Hezbollah’s scaled-up efforts to attack Israel despite the severe blows it was dealt before the November 2024 ceasefire, finding that the Iran-backed terror group used the period of calm to rebuild and rearm…
In The Washington Post, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who has long faced calls to switch his party affiliation, explains why he intends to remain a Democrat, but warns that the party’s “catering to the fringe” has resulted in a scenario in which “once-common views,” such as support for Israel and secure border, “have become increasingly toxic”…
Puck looks at concerns around the reemergence of National Security Action, the foreign policy group started by former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Obama administration official Ben Rhodes, as former Biden and Obamaworld staffers attempt to influence the Democratic Party’s foreign policy direction…
The Egyptian man who firebombed a hostage-awareness march last year, killing one person and injuring a dozen others, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole…
Authorities in Chicago charged a second man with battery and hate crime charges in connection with the assault of two Jewish students at DePaul University in late 2024…
Cornell University is investigating the circumstances around a confrontation between the university’s president, Michael Kotlikoff, and students who followed him to a parking lot after an event on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; video of the incident showed that Kotlikoff, who said he was harassed by the group, subsequently bumped students with his car as he attempted to leave the premises…
The Free Press interviews GG Gilbert-Soto, the girlfriend of Google co-founder Sergey Brin; in the interview, Gilbert-Soto suggested that Brin, who is Jewish, had been put off by the Democratic Party’s leftward shift, noting that “October 7 was also a big deal for him”…
Australian businessman James Packer is among the backers of Architect Capital’s bid to purchase a 15% share in OnlyFans at a valuation of $3.1 billion following the death of the platform’s owner, Leonid Radvinsky, in March…
Jillian Segal, Australia’s special envoy to combat antisemitism, testified before the royal commission into last year’s Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack as the commission held a fourth day of public comments, during which it heard from a restaurant owner whose business had been damaged in an arson attack; the commission also heard from the head of a Jewish soccer club who detailed the “unprecedented” number of antisemitic incidents club members faced, among other witnesses…
Police in north London are investigating what they called a “religiously aggravated assault” in which a car veered toward a small group of Jewish students near the city’s Hasmonean High School for Boys; no injuries were reported in the incident, which comes amid spiking antisemitism in the country…
The United Arab Emirates sent $100 million to the Board of Peace — the largest sum the group has so far received — to fund training for a Palestinian police force that will operate in Gaza…
A report from the office of USAID’s inspector general found that four additional staffers from the U.N. Relief and Works Agency — three teachers and a social worker — participated in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel…
Talks between Wizz Air and Israel’s Transportation Ministry to create a hub for the discount airline have broken down amid Wizz’s hesitance to restart flights to Ben Gurion Airport in accordance with an advisory from the EU Aviation Safety Agency that instructed European airlines to avoid Israeli airspace amid the war with Iran…
Israel’s Health Ministry said there were no reported cases of hantavirus in the country following a report in Ma’ariv that an individual had been hospitalized with the virus…
An Israeli court indicted a West Bank settler a week after his arrest for the filmed assault of a Catholic nun near Jerusalem’s Old City…
WhatsApp founder Jan Koum’s Koum Family Foundation is making a $200 million donation to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center for the construction of a new medical tower at the hospital’s Jerusalem complex; the donation is the largest ever given in Israel’s healthcare system…
Francie Harris, an alumna of EMILY’s List and the energy, commerce and state departments, has joined Democratic Majority for Israel as chief of staff…
Wine of the Week
JI wine columnist Yitz Applbaum reviews the Shoresh 2024:
Spending one’s days at the source of fine wine is, I confess, the calling I should most like to claim in another life. A recent afternoon at the wonderful Tzora winery in the Judean Hills, in the company of my new friend Nathan, only reaffirmed the conviction. Misty Hills has long enjoyed its reputation as one of Israel’s finest wines, yet the true discovery of my visit lay elsewhere: in the Shoresh 2024, a wine of uncommon grace and quiet authority. It brought me considerable pleasure at the table, and as I had the foresight to acquire the better part of its production, I expect its company for some years to come.
The Shoresh 2024 is a thoughtful blend of syrah, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petit verdot and cabernet Franc, aged for 14 months in French barrique. The nose opens with gentle notes of cedar. The first sip suggests rose petals; the mid-palate yields to the firmer presence of the petit verdot, lending welcome structure beneath the polish. The finish is, in a word, beautiful: long, refined and quietly composed. Pair it with a well-made quiche or fresh brioche, and it should drink wonderfully through the latter half of the decade.
Song of the Day
Iranian rapper 021kid released a Persian remake of the Israeli war anthem “Harbu Darbu” earlier this week. The London-based artist, whose real name is Tony Mohraz, told Haaretz he reached out to Ness and Stilla, the Israeli artists behind the original, in order to rework the song into a protest song against the Iranian regime.
Birthdays
British actress, she is a vocal supporter of Israel, Dame Maureen Lipman turns 80 on Sunday…
FRIDAY: Senior judge in the U.K., Baron Leonard Hubert “Lennie” Hoffmann turns 92… Former president of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Stanley A. Rabin turns 88… International chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, he is a past president of the Canadian Jewish Congress and former Canadian minister of justice and attorney general, Irwin Cotler turns 86… MIT biologist and 2002 Nobel Prize laureate in medicine, H. Robert Horvitz turns 79… Former MLB pitcher who played for the Angels, Rangers and White Sox, Lloyd Allen turns 76… Chief rabbi in Dusseldorf until moving to Israel in 2021, Rabbi Raphael Evers turns 72… CFO for The Manischewitz Company for 13 years until 2024, Thomas E. Keogh… Retired USDOJ official, for many years he was the director of the Office of Special Investigations focused on deporting Nazi war criminals, Eli M. Rosenbaum turns 71… Former president of Congregation B’nai Torah in Sandy Springs, Ga., Janice Perlis Ellin… Third-generation furniture retailer in Springfield, Ill., Barry Seidman… Former president of Clayton, Mo.-based JurisTemps, Andrew J. Koshner, J.D., Ph.D…. CEO and founder of NSG/SWAT, a high-profile boutique branding agency he launched in 2011, Richard Kirshenbaum turns 65… Novelist, author of If I Could Tell You and movie critic for The Jerusalem Post since 2001, Hannah Brown… Co-founder and director of the Mizrahi Family Charitable Fund and a Maryland Climate Commissioner, Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi turns 62… Israeli journalist, anchorwoman and attorney, she is best known as host of the investigative program “Uvda” (“Fact”) on Israeli television, Ilana Dayan-Orbach turns 62… Longtime litigator and political fundraiser in Florida, now serving as a mediator and arbitrator, Benjamin W. Newman… Canadian social activist and documentary filmmaker critical of corporate capitalism, she is now teaching at the University of British Columbia, Naomi Klein turns 56… Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations from 2015 to 2020 and again since 2024, Ambassador Danny Danon turns 55… Stand-up comedian, writer, actress and author, known for appearing on the ninth season of “America’s Got Talent,” Jodi Miller turns 55… Novelist and memoirist, Joanna Rakoff turns 54… Senior advisor at West End Strategy Team, Ari Geller turns 53… Council member of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s Voice of the People initiative and election committee member for the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, David Wiseman… Director of strategic initiatives at J Street, based in Los Angeles, Josh Lockman turns 44… Ice hockey player, Samantha Faber turns 39… Former international spokeswoman for then-Israeli prime ministers Lapid and Bennett, Keren Hajioff turns 37… Founder and CEO at Axion Ray, Daniel First… Canadian beach volleyball player, he competed in the 2016 and 2024 Summer Olympics, Sam Schachter turns 36… Former White House senior policy advisor, now a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, Amiel Fields-Meyer…
SATURDAY: Holocaust survivor, philanthropist and social activist, she marched in Selma, Ala., with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965, Eva Haller turns 96… Academy Award-winning director, producer and screenwriter, James L. Brooks (family name was Bernstein) turns 86… Guitarist and record producer, best known as a member of the rock-pop-jazz group “Blood, Sweat & Tears,” Steve Katz turns 81… Israeli rabbi who is a co-founder of Yeshivat Har Etzion and the settlements of Alon Shevut and Ofra, Yoel Bin-Nun turns 80… Mashgiach ruchani (spiritual guide) of Baltimore’s Ner Israel Rabbinical College, Rabbi Beryl Weisbord turns 79… Winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry, Michael Levitt turns 79… Pianist, singer-songwriter and one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, Billy Joel turns 77… Physician in Burlington, Vt., she was the first lady of Vermont from 1991 until 2003, Judith Steinberg Dean turns 73… Sharon Mallory Doble… Co-founder and board member of PlayMedia Systems, Brian D. Litman… Founding executive director of Chai Mitzvah, The Resource Center for Jewish Engagement, Audrey B. Lichter turns 71… Nursing home entrepreneur, he was nominated last October to become the U.S. ambassador to Hungary, Benjamin Z. Landa turns 70… Film director and producer, Barry Avrich turns 63… Staff writer at The Atlantic and author of five books, Mark Leibovich turns 61… Senior advisory partner of Bain Capital and owner of a minority interest in the Boston Celtics, Jonathan Lavine turns 60… Chief global affairs officer at Meta / Facebook, he was previously the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and a law clerk for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Joel D. Kaplan turns 57… NYC-based celebrity chiropractor, Arkady Aaron Lipnitsky, DC… and his twin brother, managing director at Baltimore’s Pimlico Capital, Victor “Yaakov” Lipnitsky both turn 53… SVP at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Lesli Rosenblatt Gillette… Owner of NYC’s Dylan’s Candy Bar, which claims to be the largest candy store in the world, Dylan Lauren turns 52… Executive director of the Richardson Center and former IDF paratrooper, he has negotiated the release of political prisoners worldwide, Michael “Mickey” Bergman turns 50… Senior policy advisor on the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Aaron Scheinberg turns 45… Legal director at the State Democracy Research Initiative, Danielle Elizabeth Friedman… Opinion columnist and podcast host at The New York Times, he was a co-founder and editor-at-large at Vox, Ezra Klein turns 42… Jenna Weisbord… Principal at Blackstone Growth Israel, Nathaniel Rosen… Graduate of Harvard Law School, Mikhael Smits…
SUNDAY: Scion of a Hasidic dynasty and leader of the Beth Jehudah congregation in Milwaukee, Rabbi Michel Twerski… and his twin brother, who is a professor at Brooklyn Law School, following a career as dean at Hofstra University School of Law, Aaron Twerski, both turn 87… Real estate developer, his projects include NYC’s Deutsche Bank Center, he is the principal owner of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, Stephen M. Ross turns 86… Leading Democratic pollster and political strategist, Stanley Bernard “Stan” Greenberg turns 81… Israeli businessman and philanthropist, his family founded and owned Israel Discount Bank, Leon Recanati turns 78… Founder and CEO of OPTI Connectivity (Operational Productivity Tool, Inc.), Edward Brill… CEO of Medical Reimbursement Data Management in Chapel Hill, N.C., Robert Jameson… American-born Israeli singer, songwriter and music producer, Yehudah Katz turns 75… Claims examiner at Chubb Insurance, David Beck… Anchor for “SportsCenter” and other programs on ESPN since 1979, Chris “Boomer” Berman turns 71… Former NBA player whose career spanned 18 seasons on seven teams, Danny Schayes turns 67… U.S. senator (R-MS), Cindy Hyde-Smith turns 67… U.S. senator (R-UT), John Curtis turns 66… Reform rabbi living in Israel, she is the sister of actress Laura Silverman and comedian Sarah Silverman, Susan Silverman turns 63… Brazilian businessman, serial entrepreneur and partner with Donald Trump in Trump Realty Brazil, Ricardo Samuel Goldstein turns 60… Neil Winchel… Attorney general of Colorado, elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022, he is now running for governor, Philip Jacob Weiser turns 58… Senior rabbi of Houston’s Congregation Beth Yeshurun, Brian Strauss turns 54… Israeli rock musician, singer-songwriter, music producer and author, Aviv Geffen turns 53… Editor-in-chief, recipe developer, art director and food stylist of Fleishigs, a kosher food magazine, Shifra Klein turns 44… Israel-based reporter for the Associated Press, Melanie Lidman… Video games reporter at Bloomberg News, Jason Schreier turns 39… Partner at Converge Public Strategies, Fara Klein Sonderling… Associate director of communications in the D.C. office of Pew Research Center, Rachel Weisel Drian… Freelance reporter, he is the author of a book on the Obama-Biden relationship, Gabriel Debenedetti… Editorial director at The Record by Recorded Future, Adam Janofsky… Actress who has appeared in many films and television series, Halston Sage (born Halston Jean Schrage) turns 33… Scriptwriter and actress, she is the daughter of Larry David, Cazzie Laurel David turns 32… Mollie Harrison…
BIRTHWEEK: Jane Daroff, retired social worker in Cleveland, turned 88 on Wednesday…
Starmer on Friday morning called the results 'really tough,' adding that the outcome 'hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility'
Chris Radburn / AFP via Getty Images
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage poses to show off his socks as he visits a polling station in Walton-on-the-Naze, eastern England on May 7, 2026, to cast his vote in the local elections.
All politics is local, as the saying goes. And if true, that could be very bad news for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer following yesterday’s local elections across the country that saw significant losses for his Labour Party — a showing that could prompt party officials to reassess the party’s direction.
With partial results in shortly after polls closed, Nigel Farage’s hard-right Reform U.K. party appeared to have made significant gains in working-class areas of the country, while Labour lost hundreds of local seats. Farage, who has faced multiple allegations of antisemitism — including bullying Jewish classmates as a teenager and promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories, as well as his multiple appearances on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ show — was the night’s clear victor.
All told, Labour did not lose as badly as some polls had predicted, but the significant losses it did suffer, compared to Reform’s gains, portend future challenges for Starmer as he works to hold onto the premiership, less than two years into his term.
Starmer on Friday morning called the results “really tough,” adding that the outcome “hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility.” He insisted he had no intention of leaving 10 Downing St., telling BBC News repeatedly, “I’m not going to walk away.”
The other big loser in the day’s elections was Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative Party, which, aside from reclaiming London’s Wandsworth and Westminster districts (both of which it lost to Labour in the 2022 elections), made few significant gains, while the Green Party fared better than Labour and the Tories,pulling out modest wins and gaining at least a dozen seats.
The Greens’ rise comes as the party investigates more than two dozen members for antisemitism, and as its leader, Zack Polanski, draws heavy criticism for making inaccurate claims about police actions during last week’s terror attack targeting two Jewish men in the London suburb of Golders Green, for which he ultimately apologized.
That the two parties claiming the best outcomes fall on opposite — and extreme — ends of the political spectrum is deepening concerns among British Jews, who are already on edge amid spiking antisemitism and a wave of violent attacks targeting Jewish communities around the country. The country’s Jewish leaders have not come out in force against Farage, who is broadly supportive of Israel, and his Reform Party in the same way they’ve raised concerns about antisemitism in Labour and the Greens.
“Many British Jews have looked on with horror as the traditional domination of two political parties has been disrupted by the rise in support for populist parties on the extremes — both right with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and left with Zack Polanski’s Greens,” Justin Cohen, the editor-in-chief of the U.K.’s Jewish News, told JI. “Both parties have had to remove candidates during this election campaign over antisemitic rhetoric, although the issue does appear more pronounced within the latter.”
“That’s not to dismiss the meteoric rise of Reform,” he added, “which was formed just four years ago and has now for the first time won considerable support at the ballot box. And it would be wrong to claim that the party’s positions on Israel — and claims of easy solutions to the extremism that threatens our community — haven’t attracted support in large sections of the community at a time of unprecedented attacks and fears for the future.”
Ultimately, Cohen said, “Just as there other Jews consider the party’s rhetoric to be utterly abhorrent. Where’s some of the community are happy to dismiss claims of Farage’s own antisemitic comments as a teen, others refuse to do so. Many of them will be hoping that the extra scrutiny that comes with this week’s electoral success, combined with the pressures of power they now hold at local level, will be their undoing before the next general election scheduled for three years time.”
The British PM called for protesters who use the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’ to be prosecuted and for increased security presence in Jewish communities
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UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer talks at a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit by U.S. President Donald Trump, on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, England.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced several new policies aimed at protecting British Jews, including a ramped up security presence, a tightening of immigration laws and a crackdown on extremist charities, in a speech on Thursday following the stabbing of two Jewish men in a suburb of London.
Starmer denounced the rise in antisemitic attacks, naming several that have occurred in recent months, and fear that British Jews experience while conducting everyday life. He listed new government priorities including increasing visible police presence in Jewish communities; increasing investments in Jewish security services; introducing new legislation to prevent “hate preachers” from entering the country and speaking on college campuses; and working to speed up sentencing for perpetrators of antisemitic attacks.
Starmer further condemned those who participate in protests with antisemitic themes. “Of course we protect freedom of speech and peaceful protest in this country, but if you are marching with people wearing pictures of paragliders without calling it out, you are venerating the murder of Jews,” he said.
He added that demonstrators who use the phrase “globalize the intifada” are “calling for terrorism against Jews” and should be prosecuted.
As British authorities are investigating whether a recent surge of attacks targeting Jewish institutions in the country is linked to Iran, Starmer added, “We need stronger powers to tackle the malign threat posed by states like Iran because we know for a fact that they want to harm British Jews, which is why we will fast-track the necessary legislation.”
British Jews have been raising the alarm on rising antisemitism in the country and government inaction to combat it. On Wednesday, two Jewish men, one in his 70s and one in his 30s, were stabbed in the heavily Jewish London suburb of Golders Green. Both were hospitalized in stable condition, according to the Metropolitan Police, which declared the attack a terrorist incident.
The stabbing is the latest in a string of violent attacks against Jewish individuals and sites around London in recent months, which U.K. Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has called a “sustained campaign of violence and intimidation.” He said following Wednesday’s attack that “words of condemnation are no longer sufficient.”
Last week, an arsonist who pleaded guilty to attacking a London synagogue was released on bail. Also this month, two suspects in an arson attack on another London synagogue were similarly released on bail, and a building that used to house the Jewish Futures charity and still bears its name on the side was targeted in a separate arson attack the same week.
Antisemitic attacks in the country have extended beyond London. Last year, during Yom Kippur, two men were killed at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester in a car-ramming and stabbing attack. At the time, Starmer promised to do “everything” in his power to protect the Jewish community, including allocating $13 million in emergency funds to provide greater security.
Canada and Australia immediately offered support; European leaders signaled changing views amid Iran’s indiscriminate attacks in the region
Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images
French President Emmanuel Macron (l-r), German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of Great Britain, meet in The Hague at the delegation hotel on the sidelines of the NATO summit for trilateral talks in the E3 format.
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.”
On Sunday, British Jews marched to protest against rising antisemitism in the country
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Newly appointed U.K. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood leaves Number 10 Downing Street as Keir Starmer holds a cabinet reshuffle after the resignation of Angela Rayner, on September 5, 2025 in London, England.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s recent announcement of a Cabinet reshuffle comes at a tense time for British Jewry and the U.K.-Israel relationship, but experts in London told Jewish Insider on Sunday that new appointees in the Foreign Office and Home Office are likely to maintain the status quo, despite scrutiny of new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s past participation in anti-Israel activism.
Absent from a Sunday gathering of tens of thousands of demonstrators in London to protest against antisemitism was any senior representative from Labour, a party whose previous leader, Jeremy Corbyn, had a history of antisemitic remarks and supporting antisemites, the rally’s organizer, Campaign Against Antisemitism, said.
A new YouGov poll commissioned by the Campaign Against Antisemitism found that the Jewish community is currently experiencing “the worst antisemitism in the U.K. in living memory”: One in five Britons holds antisemitic views and 45% believe Israel treats Palestinians like Nazis treated Jews.
A day earlier, about 1,500 people took part in a protest against the ban on Palestine Action — a group that broke into a Royal Air Force base earlier this year and damaged two planes — and its declaration as a terrorist group. Most of the attendees were arrested, as it is illegal to express support for terrorist organizations in the U.K.
Meanwhile, Starmer made new Cabinet appointments, including Mahmood, the first woman of Pakistani Muslim origin in such a senior Cabinet post, who was scrutinized for her past participation in anti-Israel protests, raising questions on how she would address the frequent demonstrations in the U.K.
A 2014 video of Mahmood resurfaced on X over the weekend, where it received millions of views. Mahmood made the selfie video during Operation Protective Edge, launched by Israel in Gaza after Hamas kidnapped three Israeli teenagers, at a protest outside a Sainsbury’s supermarket in Birmingham calling on the store to boycott Israeli products. Mahmood’s comments at the time, when she was already a member of parliament, focused on boycotting products from Israeli settlements, yet the viral post, boosted by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), falsely claimed she called to “globalize the Intifada.”
Days after the 2014 supermarket protest, Mamhood spoke against Israel at a Palestine Solidarity Campaign rally in London. She told Britons to start “getting involved with the boycott campaign,” and was met with cheers when she said the demonstration outside Sainsbury’s shut down the store for five hours.
“Israel’s actions, killing our children, bombing our schools and hospitals, must be condemned. We know what they do in Israel. If [Prime Minister] David Cameron fails to speak up, it’s a moral outrage. … We will never stay silent,” she said.
In July of this year, Mahmood, who was justice secretary at the time, abstained on the parliamentary vote to ban Palestine Action, though she indicated on Sunday that she would uphold her predecessor’s decision, writing on X that “supporting Palestine and supporting a proscribed terrorist group are not the same thing.” The Home Office, which is responsible for the police, among other things, posted that “she backed [police] officers for arresting those who support … Palestine Action.”
Jonathan Sacerdoti, a British Jewish journalist and columnist for The Spectator, argued that “there is no getting away from who she is and where she comes from.”
“She is not inspiring confidence in any Jews I know,” Sacerdoti added. “She appeals to the more antisemitic elements in the country. She is no friend of Israel and has never been shy about that … Her views are aligned with the Muslim electorate and community in the U.K. and beyond.”
Sacerdoti argued that all Labour politicians face pressure “to placate the Muslim vote and the hard Left.”
“They won’t suddenly find their conscience on Israel,” he added.
Alex Hearn, a director of Labour Against Antisemitism, said of Mahmood: “I don’t think I’ve ever heard so much misinformation about someone.”
Hearn argued that not only was the video of Mahmood at the protest taken during her “pre-government, pre-political life,” but noted she has taken a more nuanced approach as a member of parliament and has “no red flags” in her record on Israel.
“She has attended Palestine Solidarity Campaign protests, but on Oct. 13, [2023], she wrote a letter to her constituents denouncing Hamas and saying, ‘I unequivocally condemn the despicable actions of Hamas,’ and talking about the hostages,” he said.
Of the letter, U.K. Jewish News’ deputy editor, Daniel Sugarman, said that “you can’t take that for granted in this country.”
“I’m not with people saying it’s a disaster and she’s so anti-Israel,” he said. “I don’t think that at all. The reason she got this job is she’s been the most effective member of the government in its first year. She was a big success in her role [as justice secretary] … taking a hard line on criminality.”
Sugarman said “in some ways it doesn’t really matter who’s in those positions. … Every single Labour MP knows they are a potential target in the next election. The last general election was the first time there was a proper effort particularly from the Muslim community to field candidates to challenge Labour candidates who they felt weren’t sufficiently anti-Israel.”
Sugarman called the handful of those candidates who made it into parliament “Gaza independents,” and said that Mahmood only narrowly defeated one in her race.
As home secretary, Mahmood “will be a major target,” he said. “Mahmood is now the face of [the Palestine Action] proscription and will be targeted politically by the wider anti-Israel brigade.”
Hearn argued that “the claim that she harbors Islamist sympathies [is] contradicted by … [the fact that she was] attacked by Islamist groups in the last election … The idea that she supports those harassing, intimidating and threatening her doesn’t seem right at all.”
More broadly, Mahmood is on the more conservative wing of the Labour Party when it comes to crime and immigration, Hearn noted, and expressed optimism that she will “do the right thing.”
Daniel Ritterband, director of communications for the pro-Israel group BICOM and a former political campaign director for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, similarly said that Mahmood’s record “exposes the tensions of the Muslim vote. Muslims are conservative in every aspect of their lives, yet they made strange bedfellows with progressives and socialists … [Mahmood] is quite conservative at heart. She has been a loyalist to Keir Starmer and helped rebrand the party and get it into a more centrist space.”
In the decade since Mahmood appeared in the video calling to boycott Israeli products, she “learned how to be a politician. I think she is pragmatic,” Ritterband said.
As such, “there is no reason speaking to Jewish community groups engaged with the Home Office and counterterrorism police wouldn’t continue. It’s beneficial for both sides.”
Mahmood’s predecessor in the Home Office was Yvette Cooper, whom Starmer appointed as foreign secretary succeeding David Lammy, who was named deputy prime minister on Friday – which Ritterband said was a demotion.
Lammy’s ouster as foreign secretary likely had more to do with his past negative statements about President Donald Trump than Israel, Sugarman said.
Lammy was confrontational towards Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to meet with him when he visited Jerusalem. Cooper, Hearn said, “is more nuanced. … She is suited to approaching complex challenges, and there is no challenge more complex than the current-day Middle East.”
Ritterband said that Cooper has a better understanding of the Jewish community’s concerns, noting that her husband, Ed Balls, put Holocaust education into U.K. school curricula when he was education secretary.
According to Sugarman, “Yvette Cooper has a good relationship with people in the [Jewish] community and understands what we’re going through, but I don’t think there will be a magical change of the U.K. stance on Israel from what it has shifted to.”
“I don’t think the U.K. is going to magically not recognize a Palestinian state, unfortunately. Yvette Cooper is coming in the middle of this and she is not going to back out of a policy this government is committed to,” he said.
Similarly, Ritterband said that “it’s fair to say all of Starmer’s decisions on Israel are done for a domestic audience and have nothing to do with Israel.”
“Realistically,” Ritterband added, “Foreign Office civil servants are very anti-Israel and it takes a strong foreign secretary to resist the urges. Lammy made no signs of trying to do that. Cooper has more experience and probably knows how to manage.”
Hearn was optimistic about Cooper: “I think she seems positive towards Israel. She voted to declare Palestine Action a terrorist organization … She’s got a really strong parliamentary voting record. She didn’t sign letters calling for sanctions or to uphold [International Criminal Court] arrest warrants. She’s probably more friendly, even generally supportive, with a track record of opposing extreme pro-Palestinian activism.”
Sacerdoti, however, noted that in her first post on X since becoming foreign secretary, Cooper mentioned Russia and Ukraine, as well as “famine and conflict in Gaza.”
“Not hostages and not Hamas — an imaginary famine,” Sacerdoti said. “It’s clear the agenda won’t change in the Foreign Office … which is traditionally quite Arabist and not in favor of Israel.”
After meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Starmer, the president said the U.S. will be getting more involved in providing aid
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump decried the humanitarian situation in Gaza on Monday, telling reporters that he does “not particularly” agree with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assessment that there is no starvation taking place in the enclave.
“That’s real starvation stuff,” Trump said, following a meeting in Scotland with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “I see it, and you can’t fake that.”
Trump said the U.S. will be getting “even more involved” in taking steps toward addressing hunger in Gaza, including by setting up “food centers.” A White House spokesperson declined to comment when asked for specifics about what this plan might entail. Trump said “all of the European nations” would be part of the project.
“We’re going to do it in conjunction with some very good people, and we’re going to supply funds,” said Trump.
Food distribution in Gaza is currently being operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is backed by both the U.S. and Israel. The organization has faced criticism for failing to meet the needs of Gazans, and scenes of chaos at the gates of its distribution centers have spread online.
Without mentioning GHF by name, Trump appeared to take aim at the existing aid mechanisms, saying that the new “food centers” will not have fences to keep people out.
“We’re also going to make sure that they don’t have barriers stopping people here. You’ve seen the areas where they actually have food, and the people are screaming for the food in there, they’re 35-40 yards away, and they won’t let them because they have lines that are set up,” said Trump. “And whether they’re set up by Hamas or whoever, but they’re very strict lines. We have to get rid of those lines.”
Trump blamed Hamas for the failure of recent ceasefire talks and for prolonging the war, including the humanitarian crisis. The president’s comments come after European leaders have pressed Israel to allow a freer flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“We have a good group of countries who can help with the humanitarian needs, which is food, sanitation, some other things. It’s very difficult to deal with Hamas,” said Trump. “Hamas has become very difficult to deal with in the last couple of days, because they don’t want to give up these last 20 [hostages], because they think as long as they have them, they have protection. But I don’t think it can work that way.”
Fifty hostages remain in Gaza, and Israel believes at least 27 of them are dead. The most recent ceasefire proposal would only have seen the release of about half of the living hostages.
Trump also said Iran played a role in the failure of ceasefire talks, saying Iran “interjected themselves in this last negotiation.”
“I think they got involved in this negotiation, telling Hamas and giving Hamas signals and orders. And that’s not good,” Trump said. “For a country that just got wiped out, they’ve been sending very bad signals, very nasty signals. And they shouldn’t be doing that.”
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