An antisemitic art display at Washington Union Station on Thursday depicting U.S. and Israeli leaders drinking the blood of Gazans is drawing widespread condemnation for echoing the historic blood libel against Jews. 

“This is the kind of stuff that Nazi soldiers were shown during World War II, with the idea to make it that Jewish people were not humans,” Ron Halber, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, told Jewish Insider. “This is exactly what that is in the modern day. It is done to make Jews look like animals.”

The demonstration, displayed both inside and outside of D.C’s main train station, was organized by Hazami Barada and Atefeh Rokhvand, two anti-Israel activists who have been involved in several protests around Washington since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel, including leading a protest encampment outside of the Israeli Embassy and outside of then-Secretary of State Tony Blinken’s home for months in 2024. 

Barada protested a community vigil for the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, which took place at The Anthem, a music venue in the nation’s capital. Rokhvand is an elementary school teacher who spoke at the Muslim Student Association conference in 2024.  

Another local activist, Hasan Isham, took credit on Instagram for 3D printing the masks used in the protest, which featured people dressed in suits wearing masks to resemble Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former President Joe Biden and Blinken. The five officials were sitting at a long “Friendsgiving dinner” table decorated with the Israeli flag while eating doll limbs drenched in fake blood. A menu placard read: “Starter: Gaza children’s limbs.” “Main: Stolen Organs.” “Dessert: Illegally harvested skin.” “Drink: Gaza’s spilled blood.”

Leading Jewish groups condemned the demonstration, with the Anti-Defamation League calling it “nothing less than abhorrent.” 

The American Jewish Committee said that “blood libel was on full display” and called on “leaders and authorities [to] condemn this display and ensure that public spaces are not used to spread dangerous hate.”  

“This was nothing less than the revival of one of the oldest and most dangerous antisemitic tropes in history. Blood libel has fueled violence, persecution, and massacres of Jews for centuries. Seeing it resurface in our nation’s capital is both horrifying and unacceptable,” AJC said in a statement.

Union Station is within U.S. Park Police jurisdiction, which manages its own permits. Park Police did not respond to an inquiry from JI asking whether a permit was provided for the demonstration. First Amendment permits had previously been granted for a pro-Palestinian encampment outside of Union Station, but were revoked after demonstrators burned American flags in 2024. 

The display on Thursday was removed by Amtrak police within five minutes of being fully set up, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. After being removed from Union Station, the organizers moved the display to outside the station.

“Whether inside or outside, this was absolutely disgusting… and done to incite hatred against Jewish people,” said Halber. “The result is that this could lead to violence against Jews. It was designed to use the worst antisemitic stereotypes against Jews to demonize Jews. It’s nothing more than a modern-day blood libel.” 

“This happened at Union Station where members of Congress and people advocating on Capitol Hill pass through,” continued Halber. “This is seen by a lot of people.”

An anonymous manifesto was sent on Wednesday to two Pomona College student-run newspapers by demonstrators who recently stormed a campus vigil for the second anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. The emailed manifesto states that “Zionism is a death cult that must be dealt with accordingly.” 

It was sent days after an on-campus event commemorating the Oct. 7 anniversary was disrupted by four masked and keffiyah-clad individuals who barged in chanting “Zionists not welcome here.” The memorial, sponsored by Hillel in a university building and scheduled on the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the attacks, featured a talk by Yoni Viloga, who survived the attack on his family’s home in Kibbutz Mefalsim. 

The disruption, which also included chants of “Zionism is still a colonial ideology” and “You’re all complicit in genocide,” lasted about two minutes, until campus safety officers arrived. 

The perpetrators of last week’s demonstration wrote in the manifesto that “Viloga served in the zionist occupational forces and is a settler on stolen land. Knowing this, we had to act.” 

The communiqué included several antisemitic and threatening statements, such as, “this moment demands … making modern-nazis feel unwelcome, not just from these college campuses, but everywhere,” and said about the event that “Claremont Hillel and every single zionist in that room advance the genocide.” 

A Pomona spokesperson told Jewish Insider, “The language we saw today is vile, threatening and highly disturbing. It has no place on our campus.”

The university responded to last week’s disruption by opening an investigation the following day. The spokesperson said about the incident that the university has “every intention of getting to the bottom of what happened. As part of this investigation, we are examining our security protocols, and reviewing security and other kinds of footage, with the intention of identifying and disciplining the individuals involved.”

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

The Department of Justice filed a civil suit on Monday against several protesters and anti-Israel groups for their involvement in a demonstration at a New Jersey synagogue, Congregation Ohr Torah, last November.

The DOJ complaint alleges that the Party for Socialism and Liberation-New Jersey, American Muslims for Palestine-New Jersey and six individuals engaged in physical assaults and antisemitic and threatening chants, as well as defying police orders.

The complaint alleges that the defendants broke through a police line, marched onto synagogue property and attempted to physically block Jewish worshippers from entering the synagogue.

Two are accused of using vuvuzelas — large plastic horns typically used at sporting events —  as a “weapon reasonably known to lead to permanent noise-induced hearing loss,” blowing them inches from one attendee’s ear with the intention of causing “serious bodily harm.” One of the same defendants allegedly physically tackled another attendee, grabbed his throat and put him in a chokehold. Another also reportedly “deployed a stink bomb” to obstruct access to the synagogue.

According to the complaint, the event was originally set to take place in a private home, but was relocated to the synagogue “due to credible threats of violence from certain Defendants.” One of the defendants was recorded on camera delivering a threatening letter to that private home, and the home address was posted online.

The complaint alleges that these actions were intended to intimidate Jewish worshipers and prevent their participation in religious observance, in violation of federal law, and that comments captured on video indicate they were motivated by antisemitic animus.

The complaint states that the vuvuzela sounds overpowered the memorial service and Torah sermon.

The suit was brought under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, traditionally used against those who block access to abortion clinics, but which also includes provisions barring the use of force, threats, intimidation or physical obstruction to interfere with the right to worship.

The event in question was an Israel real estate fair and spiritual event, which the complaint describes as “a religious event centered on the Jewish obligation to live in the Land of Israel, a tenet of Jewish faith.” 

According to the complaint, it “was to include prayer, a religious memorial service for the late Rabbi Avi Goldberg, a Torah sermon, religious songs with biblical verses, prayerful dancing, educational activities about the religious obligation to live in Israel, a real estate fair, and a festive barbecue in the synagogue’s parking lot — all part of the religious observance.”

“This Justice Department will vigorously enforce the right of every American to worship in peace and without fear,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, who leads the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement. “Those who target houses of worship and violate our federal laws protecting people of faith are on notice that they will face the consequences.”

Nathan Diament, the executive director of public policy for the Orthodox Union, praised the DOJ for filing the lawsuit, and said that he had pressed the Biden administration to file similar cases, but was rebuffed.

“We applaud Attorney General Bondi and Assistant Attorney General Dhillon for bringing this suit to protect the Jewish community and all  people of faith who have the constitutional right to worship without fear of harassment,” Diament told Jewish Insider. “OU Advocacy urged the Biden administration to bring FACE Act lawsuits to no avail. Hopefully, violent protestors will now be held accountable, and this lawsuit will send a strong message to anyone who targets houses of worship.”

The complaint further notes that PSL and AMP have histories of organizing violent protests and other incidents targeting Jewish institutions and pro-Israel events, and that “unless restrained, Defendants are likely to continue violating the FACE Act, given their history of targeting Jewish religious events with violence and intimidation.”

The lawsuit requests a permanent injunction against such activity by the defendants, an order that they be banned from coming within 50 feet of the private home or synagogue and that they pay compensatory damages to victims and a fine to the government.

Days after the University of Michigan kicks off the new school year this week, the campus is slated to host two anti-Israel speakers — former Columbia University protest leader Mahmoud Khalil and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), one of the most outspoken critics of Israel in Congress.  

On Wednesday afternoon, Tlaib is scheduled to speak at an on-campus press conference titled “United Against Genocide, United Against Repression” hosted by The People’s Coalition Michigan. 

“The [UMich] Regents continue to shield their indefensible investments in the genocidal state of israel by attacking anyone who stands in solidarity with Palestine,” the group wrote on social media. “[Tlaib] will join students, workers, and community members to bring attention to the Regents’ long and continuing campaign to suppress free speech.”

Later that evening, the campus chapter of Students Organize for Syria is scheduled to host Khalil, who was released in June from the immigration detention center where he had been held for three months as the Trump administration sought to have him deported. 

One day after his release, the anti-Israel activist appeared at a rally in New York City organized by the National Iranian American Council, a group accused of having ties to the Iranian regime, where he protested U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Khalil, who has repeatedly declined to condemn Hamas, will speak “on liberation and freedom,” according to the campus group. 

The events come days before thousands of pro-Palestinian activists are set to gather in Detroit,  beginning Aug. 29, for the second annual People’s Conference for Palestine, under the slogan “Gaza is the Compass.” 

The three-day conference features several radical anti-Israel speakers including Khalil and Hussam Shaheen, a convicted Palestinian terrorist released from Israeli prison on Feb. 1 as part of a ceasefire and hostage-release deal with Hamas. 

A State Department spokesperson said Friday that all international speakers for the conference will be placed on a visa “look out” status due to concerns surrounding speakers’ ties to terrorism, according to The Jerusalem Post. 

Rev. Johnnie Moore, executive chairman of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, has spent the past two weeks under “24/7 protection while evil wants to kill me,” he told attendees of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute’s annual National Jewish Retreat, held last week at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington. 

Moore was referring to some 50 anti-Israel demonstrators who have protested outside of his Northern Virginia home multiple times in recent weeks — making death threats and painting graffiti.  

“Johnnie Moore is a war criminal … We will remain on the streets, outside these criminals’ homes, until the siege on Gaza is lifted, until aid is allowed in, until we see an arms embargo against the zionist entity, and until all of Palestine is liberated, from the river to the sea,” the Palestinian Youth Movement wrote Saturday on social media, following its most recent demonstration outside of the entrance gates of Moore’s Prince William County neighborhood, about 30 miles outside of D.C.  

Graffiti and signs near Moore’s home on Saturday read, “Johnnie Moore Kills Palestinians For $$$,” “Johnnie Moore Kills Babies” and “Your Neighbor is a Genocider Johnnie Moore.” Moore told Jewish Insider he has also received “two credible death threats,” which are currently under investigation, adding that police have “done an extraordinary job taking it seriously” and made one arrest for destruction of property. 

The group has also protested outside the nearby home of John Acree, the interim executive director of the GHF. 

“I never thought that it would be so life-threatening to do something so obviously right,” Moore told supporters of JLI, an educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, at a VIP reception Thursday night, referring to his work with GHF. 

“If they’re doing this to try and force us to quit, in fact it’s going to have the exact opposite effect because every attack, every threat, every lie is only more proof that what we’re doing is right and it’s essential,” Moore, a member of President Donald Trump’s evangelical advisory committee, told JI. “These profane efforts to stop us from saving lives only makes us more determined to save lives,” said Moore, adding that he views the attacks as “domestic terrorism.” 

“I believe some things are simple, like when Hamas opposes you, it means you’re probably doing the right thing, whatever the secretary-general of the United Nations thinks about it,” he continued, a reference to the U.N.’s calls for the dismantling of GHF.  

GHF has faced mounting criticism in recent weeks — including from some pro-Israel American Jews — amid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Recent reports have claimed that since GHF took over aid distribution in May, with backing from the United States and Israel, Palestinians have been crushed in crowds and killed by live ammunition while waiting for aid. The IDF has admitted to firing warning shots near the aid sites. 

Last month, Moore called reports of civilian casualties at GHF’s aid sites overblown but acknowledged that “there have been some civilian casualties of people trying to get to our distribution sites  — [which] the IDF has said it is responsible for, but we think that’s a relatively small number of people, [although] one person is too much.” 

Moore also spoke at the reception about the partnership between Jews and Christians, which he said “fundamentally comes down to a simple fact — your book is also our book.”

“Your values are our values. Your heroes are our heroes. I stand here today as a Christian blessed because of Israel. Blessed because of the Jewish people because the Bible we love and cherish as Christians is a Jewish book. Your care for the Hebrew Bible, the diligence, reverence of your scribes throughout the centuries, changed our lives.” 

Moore continued, “I’ve been trying to do everything I possibly can — and I don’t know another evangelical leader that isn’t trying to do the same —  [to] fight antisemitism when it rears its head, making sure that the hostages remain a bipartisan issue in the United States.” 

In introductory remarks, Rabbi Hesh Epstein, chairman of the National Jewish Retreat and director of Chabad of South Carolina, called Moore “an international leader and advisor on religious freedom.” The reception also featured remarks from former Israeli hostage Or Levy, who was held by Hamas in Gaza for 491 days after being kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival where his wife, Einav, was killed. 

The unrest could be felt everywhere — in traffic jams, on the airwaves, in WhatsApp groups, even in the waiting room of a dental clinic.

Across Israel yesterday, hundreds of thousands joined a nationwide unofficial strike, led by hostage families and bereaved families, demanding an end to the war in Gaza and the immediate release of the hostages still held there. According to the Hostages Families Forum, over 1 million people participated in protests throughout the day. As the government plans to escalate its military campaign against Hamas, emotions ran high across towns, cities and online spaces, deepening a national rift.

Police clashed with demonstrators blocking roads. In Ra’anana, a truck driver was arrested after allegedly attacking a protester. In a Tel Aviv neighborhood mothers’ WhatsApp group, several members condemned local cafés for staying open, while another defended them for “not strengthening Hamas.” At a dental clinic, a man berated staff for opening their doors, shouting, “What about the hostages!?”

At the heart of the tensions is a painful divide: protesters — including the majority of the hostage families — argue that rescuing the captives must come before all else. Meanwhile, the government and its supporters, and even several hostage families, claim such demonstrations weaken Israel’s negotiating hand and embolden Hamas. Israeli President Issac Herzog, speaking at Hostages Square, said “There’s no Israeli who doesn’t want them back home. We can argue about philosophies, but truly, the people of Israel want our brothers and sisters back home.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on his government’s stance in a public statement, warning: “Those who are calling for an end to the war today without defeating Hamas, are not only hardening Hamas’s stance and pushing off the release of our hostages, they are also ensuring that the horrors of October 7 will recur again and again … to advance the release of our hostages and to ensure that Gaza will never again constitute a threat to Israel, we must complete the work and defeat Hamas.”

Yet recent polls show that a majority of Israelis support prioritizing the hostages’ release and bringing an end to the war.

Israeli journalist and commentator Ben Caspit wrote on social media: “To join the protest strike, you don’t have to be a leftist. Nor a centrist. Nor a rightist…  You need a heart. There on the left side, between the ribs and the lungs. A beating heart that feels the need to express solidarity with our kidnapped brothers, with their families, with the terrible suffering.”

“And no, don’t believe the spin that it ‘helps Hamas.’ It doesn’t. Hamas doesn’t need strike X or demonstration Y to get to know Israeli society. Hamas knows us very well, just as we know them. They are death eaters. We seek life. That’s the whole difference.”

Meanwhile, Amit Segal — a reporter and political commentator often seen opposite Caspit on Channel 12 — offered a more sober take in his newsletter on Sunday: “While the strike will help many Israelis express their frustration and desperation to bring the hostages home, it won’t bring Israel closer to achieving the very thing they’re protesting for.”

Even if that may be, the protests reach further than home: former hostages have recounted the strength they gained from witnessing the demonstrations on the news while in captivity in Gaza. In Tel Aviv, as night fell, thousands of protesters raised their phone flashlights in Hostages Square and the surrounding streets, creating a moment of visual unity. The sea of lights stretched across the plaza and beyond — a simple gesture that carried a message of solidarity for the hostages still held in Gaza.

At the same time, the wheels of war are already turning. While Israelis grappled with grief, anger and hope in the streets, the military was preparing for its next incursion. Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF’s chief of staff, declared yesterday from the Gaza Strip: “Today we are approving the plan for the next phase of the war.”

“We will maintain the momentum of Operation ‘Gideon’s Chariots’ while focusing on Gaza City. We will continue to strike until the decisive defeat of Hamas, with the hostages always at the forefront of our minds,” Zamir said, adding, “Soon we will move on to the next phase” of the operation.

More than 30 anti-Israel demonstrators who occupied a University of Washington engineering building at the end of the spring semester — causing more than $1 million worth of damage — are now being investigated by the university and local attorney’s office for potential criminal charges, Jewish Insider has learned. 

The investigation comes after a recent report put a spotlight on a link between the radical student group that led the takeover and the U.S. designated terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. 

“We have taken this incident very seriously, including having issued emergency suspensions for all students who were arrested in the building and working with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on potential criminal charges,” a University of Washington spokesperson told JI on Wednesday, referring to the demonstration in May in which masked demonstrators blocked entrances and exits to the building and ignited fires in two dumpsters on a street outside. 

The newly constructed engineering building had been partially funded by Boeing, which the student protest group, Students United for Palestinian Equality & Return (SUPER UW), said makes UW a “direct partner in the genocide of the Palestinian people” due to the IDF’s use of Boeing products. Days later, the university suspended 21 students who were arrested during the anti-Israel protests, a marked shift from the school’s reaction to previous anti-Israel activity. 

The incident also led the Trump administration’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism to open a review into the university. 

The Seattle public university’s investigation into criminal charges comes as the Secure Community Network (SCN), a safety and security network for American Jewish communities, found that a manifesto released by SUPER UW — which the student group published on Medium shortly before its building takeover began — was inspired by a foreign terrorist entity. 

The document praised Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel as a “heroic victory” and said the group looks to “the rich history of struggle in our university for strength and inspiration as we take action.” SUPER UW also released a statement of solidarity with the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, a fundraising arm of the terror group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine which was designated as a terror group by the U.S. Treasury Department in October 2024. 

“The fact that this action was inspired by a foreign terrorist entity is gravely concerning and should be an alarm for the broader community,” Solly Kane, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, told JI. “When foreign terrorist organizations are allowed to infiltrate university campuses the implications are significant and we hope the university leadership will continue to follow-up on this incident seriously and with consequences for those responsible, after appropriate due process.”

Miriam Weingarten, co-director of Chabad UW with her husband Rabbi Mendel Weingarten, said she hoped that those responsible for the damage from the May protest would be “held responsible in a way that would deter any future actions.” She said doing so would help Jewish students feel safe and comfortable on campus, and, in the meantime, “Chabad continues to be open as a space for Jewish students to become more confident in their Jewish pride.”

Kerry Sleeper, SCN deputy director of intelligence and information sharing, warned in June at a congressional hearing about the rise of antisemitism that the terror ties associated with UW demonstrators are part of a larger pattern at protests on campuses around the country — claiming that “this is not a protest in the traditional sense; it is an information and intimidation campaign targeting Jewish students and institutions, often through violent tactics.”  

“These trends are fueled by a persistent ecosystem of anti-Israel networks operating in the U.S. and online,” Sleeper said. “Groups such as the Students for Justice in Palestine, Within Our Lifetime, Unity of Fields, and online propaganda hubs such as the emerging ISNAD Network consistently amplify messaging aligned with Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Iranian-backed information operations.” 

“While not all are directly tied to designated foreign terrorist organizations, they help blur the lines between protest and incitement, justifying, glorifying and promoting violence against the Jewish community in the name of Gaza.” 

In a statement to JI, Michael Masters, SCN national director and CEO, said that as students return to campus in the coming weeks, “these threats are not dissipating; they’re evolving.”

“These incidents are not isolated; they are part of a coordinated effort, which has included the circulation of terror toolkits, to intimidate Jewish students and disrupt Jewish life.” 

Masters called for universities to “do more to protect their students and secure Jewish spaces, including allocating the necessary resources and funding for security. Jewish students should never have to choose between their safety and fully participating in campus or religious life.”

The day after Israel’s Security Cabinet voted to seize control of Gaza City, the Hostages Families Forum organized a major protest in Tel Aviv against the decision, warning it would put their loved ones’ lives in danger.

But Tzvika Mor, father of hostage Eitan Mor, has been speaking out against the Cabinet decision for a different reason — he thinks the IDF should be pushing even more aggressively to take over the rest of Gaza.

Nearly two years since his son was kidnapped while working as a security guard at the Nova festival on Oct. 7, 2023, Mor, 48, has not wavered from his position that defeating Hamas must be Israel’s top priority in the war in Gaza, above the hostages.

Mor, who lives in Kiryat Arba, a settlement abutting Hebron in the West Bank, normally works as an ADHD coach. But since the Oct. 7 attacks, he has divided his time between advocating for the country’s victory over Hamas and serving as an IDF reservist in the Paratroopers’ Brigade. In the long term Mor wishes to see the entirety of Gaza become part of Israel, telling Jewish Insider in an interview on Sunday, “It is the land of the Tribe of Judah; it is ours.”

As chairman of the Tikvah Forum, a more hawkish minority group of hostage families than the larger and better-known Hostages Families Forum, Mor and several other hostages’ relatives oppose partial deals and the release of large numbers of terrorists, arguing that only sustained military pressure will bring all of the hostages home. Mor spoke out against the Israeli Security Cabinet’s recent decision in his interview with JI.

“The question isn’t what they’re going to do, but what is the goal. If the goal is to lead Hamas to negotiate, it will fail, just like in Gideon’s Chariots, which took five months and didn’t bring back the hostages and didn’t destroy Hamas,” Mor said, referring to the IDF operation that began earlier this year. “The goal cannot be to bring [Hamas] to talks; it must be to destroy them.”

Hamas, he said, is not motivated to return the hostages, because they have the food, fuel and water that they need to survive, but if they feared for their survival, the situation would be different.

Mor compared the situation to the story in Genesis in which Abraham’s nephew Lot is kidnapped by four kings, and Abraham took an army with him to fight the kings.

Abraham “didn’t talk to them. He didn’t pay them. He fought a war until they surrendered. That is the way,” Mor said. 

Mor said fighting to pressure Hamas to return to the table reflects an order of priorities that is both wrong and ineffective.

“The war cannot be about the hostages, and I say that as the father of a hostage. How many soldiers should be killed for the hostages?” he asked. “You don’t go to war to bring back hostages. You go to war for sovereignty, for deterrence. Then, when you win, you get your captives back.” 

Prioritizing the hostages “not only harms national security, but it also hurts the hostages, because Hamas learns that they’re the most important to us and raises the price all the time. It’s indescribable stupidity,” he lamented.

Mor warned that if Israel “concedes in Gaza, Hamas will never give up all of the hostages … And what would the message be to the Arabs in Judea and Samaria” – he asked, using the biblical name for the West Bank – “that kidnapping Israelis is the best thing to do?”

In the past, Mor said, “it was clear that there was no negotiating with terrorists. We would try to save our hostages and take risks, but we could not give in to terrorism.”

Mor cited research by the Yachin Research Center, which he said showed that four times more Israelis were killed in terrorist attacks between the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 and 2023 than in 1949-1992.

“That means that since Israel gave in to terrorism, more Israelis were murdered. It’s clear … That needs to stop,” he stated.

Asked about the concerns that other hostage families have expressed about expanded military action in Gaza putting their loved ones at risk, Mor responded with a question: “Is our war in Gaza necessary? If there weren’t hostages, would we still need to go to war?”

“The answer is yes, because [Hamas] cannot remain our neighbors after we saw what they can do, or they would do it again. They are religious people; they live for this. They don’t live for a nice house and a car and social status. Not for coffee shops and pilates. They live to kill Jews. They’re like zombies. You have to destroy them. The war would be necessary even if there were no hostages,” he said.

As such, Mor said, Israel must take the necessary steps to win the war in Gaza: “It cannot be that we will endanger 10 million Israelis because of the hostages. We need to solve that problem such that we are not harming national security.”

“We have fears, too,” he added, “but in war, some are hurt. Soldiers are injured in the war too.”

Mor and another one of his sons have been in combat units in the current war. Thirteen soldiers in Mor’s brigade have been killed.

Early in the war, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with members of the Tikvah Forum, Hebrew news coverage accused the forum members of being Likud plants or, at least, being easier for Netanyahu to talk to than the Hostages Families Forum, whose early leadership included political campaigners involved in protests seeking to bring down his government.

Mor, however, has been and continues to be critical of Netanyahu, who he said he hasn’t spoken to in six months, and of Likud ministers who he has spoken to more recently, including Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel and Agriculture Minister and former Shin Bet director Avi Dichter.

“I tell them these things, but almost all of the ministers in Likud align with the prime minister and say we have to agree to partial [hostage] deals,” Mor lamented.

Mor says that he has faced pressure for raising a different voice from the more prominent hostage relatives, and that “people defame and curse me.” In December 2023, the father of another hostage accused him on live television of giving up on his son, leading Mor to start crying. 

“The Israeli media doesn’t help. They lead the campaign” against him, he said. “But I feel that I am a messenger of the people of Israel. It is clear to me that the people of Israel want to win … They are connected to their roots, to the Land of Israel and to Judaism. They don’t want to be sold dreams and delusions that ‘it will all be OK, we can give in to terror and then deal with it later.’ We can’t deal with it. If we surrender, we will pay a higher price.” 

Mor has not seen pictures or videos of his son Eitan, 25, since Oct. 7, 2023, but he said that the most recent sign of life he received was from Israeli intelligence services in February this year. 

“We don’t know anything except that he’s alive,” Mor said.

In May, Eitan’s mother, Efrat Mor, said she learned from another hostage released in the first deal in November 2023 that Eitan is using his “incredible social skills … both for himself and for the other hostages” to lift everyone’s spirits. 

Eitan is the eldest of eight children.

“He is very strong, physically and mentally. He was very Zionist. He was a fighter and commander in the Golani Brigade” of the IDF, his father said. “He’s not soft; he doesn’t whine. He is strong; he’s a leader. We are sure that if he is with other hostages, he is helping them and strengthening them.”

When Hamas terrorists attacked the Nova rave, Eitan contacted an uncle because his parents do not use phones on Shabbat. He said that he and his friends were hiding, and sent videos of terrorists on pickup trucks. He also sent his location so that his uncle could pass it on to the IDF. The last time he was in contact with his uncle was at 10:04 a.m. His parents did not know that he was at the party, and they did not find out about the Oct. 7 attacks or that their son had been taken hostage until the evening.

Later, Nova survivors said that Eitan left his hiding place and saved their lives, which his father said “tells you the most about him.”

“He could have gone home at 6:29, but he stayed to save people,” Mor said. “He hid people and ran with them until he was kidnapped at 12:30, not by Hamas but by Gazan civilians.”

In a move called for by pro-Israel students at Columbia University, the school announced on Friday that disciplinary action and rules surrounding student protests would be moved out of the purview of the faculty-run University Senate and into the provost’s office.

“This is the most encouraging and commendable action taken by Columbia’s administration to address the systemic problems within the university since [the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks],” Noa Fay, a graduate student entering her last year in Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, told Jewish Insider. 

“Revoking the University Senate’s power over disciplinary and rule-making procedures has been top of the institutional reform list for many Columbians who wish to see our university restored to order and excellence.”

Critics of the University Senate say that since Oct. 7 and the ensuing protests that have roiled Columbia’s campus, the 111-elected member body has blocked discipline against anti-Israel protesters and removed protest regulations aimed at protecting Jewish students. 

Earlier this week, when the university released a list of commitments to address antisemitism on campus, several Jewish students expressed concern that structural reform to the University Senate was missing. 

Fay, a student member of the Columbia-SIPA Anti-Hate Task Force, suggested to JI earlier this week that changes to the University Senate are one of the most important measures that could create a safer climate for Jewish students “as it has served most reliably and forcefully to protect those guilty of antisemitic racism at school.” 

Last August, the University Senate passed revised guidelines for the Rules of University Conduct that removed an interim demonstration policy that the university implemented following disruptive — and sometimes violent — Gaza solidarity encampments that spring, put in place to restrict the location and times that protests were allowed.  

Lishi Baker, a rising senior at Columbia studying Middle East history, wrote in a 2024 Columbia Spectator op-ed that the University Senate had refused to let Jewish students share their experiences of antisemitism on campus when the university’s task force on antisemitism presented its second report to the body. 

“I was one of the students asked by the task force to speak,” Baker wrote. “However, when the task force co-chairs informed members of the Senate leadership of their desire to bring students, those Senate leaders dismissed the idea outright.” 

The Senate has been under university review since April. The decision by Columbia’s trustees to diminish the Senate’s power comes as university leadership is in the final stages of talks with the Trump administration to make a deal that would restore some $400 million in federal funding that was cut by the government in March due to the university’s record dealing with antisemitism.

Protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportations that have engulfed San Francisco’s streets this week took an antisemitic turn on Monday night when a local Jewish-owned civic engagement hub and community space had its windows smashed and walls defaced with slurs including “Die Zio,” “The Only Good Settler is a Dead One,” “Death 2 Israel is a Promise” and “Intifada.” 

“There is no justification for attacking me other than the fact that I am Jewish,” Manny Yekutiel, owner of the Mission District event space Manny’s, which is in disrepair following the vandalism and break-in, told Jewish Insider. “My business is not a pro-Israel business. I am not Israeli. This is not a space that represents Israel in any way.”

The space was also the target of antisemitic graffiti in October around the one year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks. The most recent attack is currently being investigated as a hate crime. 

In the Bay Area, over 150 people were arrested on Sunday and Monday following protests against President Donald Trump’s travel ban, latest immigration policies and ICE raids. Similar protests spread across the country — including in Los Angeles where 4,000 National Guard members and 700 U.S. Marines were deployed on Monday. 

Yekutiel believes the protests against ICE are “necessary” because ongoing deportations are “stoking hatred” and “we need to stand with immigrants.” While Yekutiel says he will continue identifying with left-wing causes, he also said the attack on his business makes the protests concerning for Jews.

The attack on Manny’s “undermines the very values such movements claim to uphold” such as “justice and welcome the stranger,” the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area said in a statement.

Monday’s vandalism in San Francisco comes as the Jewish community faces an “elevated threat” following a surge of violent antisemitic attacks across the country in recent weeks, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security warned last week. Last month, two Israeli Embassy employees were killed in a shooting in Washington. Days later in Boulder, Colo., 15 people advocating for the release of hostages in Gaza were injured in a firebombing by an Egyptian national who overstayed his visa in the U.S. 

Trump announced his travel ban — which bars nationals of 12 countries from entering the U.S. — last week following the Boulder attack.

“The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas,” Trump said. “We don’t want them.”

One of Hamas’ top three sources of funding is the U.K., where it is a banned terrorist organization, an investigation from Israel’s Channel 12 found. That funding includes 25% of Hamas’ donors from non-state actors, as well as tens of millions of dollars from the government of the U.K. to a UNICEF program whose beneficiaries are determined by Hamas.

The U.K., France and Canada threatened Israel last week with “concrete actions” if it does not lift restrictions on humanitarian aid and work with United Nations agencies to distribute it.

The U.K., Canada and the European Union — of which France is a member— as well as Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Mauritius and Croatia, sponsored a project through UNICEF, the U.N. Children’s Emergency Fund, for which a Hamas-run ministry provides a list of people to receive funding.

The program provides cash payments of $200-$300 per month to 546,000 needy people in Gaza. UNICEF said that it works with a “beneficiary list from the MoSD,” meaning the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Social Development, to determine who receives the cash. The program uses a digital platform funded by USAID to distribute the cash. UNICEF published an update on the program as recently as November 2024. 

MoSD is led by Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’ politburo, designated a “senior Hamas official” by the U.S. Treasury Department. 

A 2022 document from the U.K. Foreign Office, uncovered by NGO Monitor, showed that London was aware of Hamas’ involvement with the program and that it had the potential for “severe” reputational damage. 

“The cash assistance component will be implemented in coordination with the Ministry of Social Development MoSD. The MoSD in Gaza is affiliated with the de facto authorities and thus UK Aid can be linked directly or indirectly with supporting the de facto authority (Hamas) in Gaza which is part of a proscribed group,” the document reads.

The U.K. gave about $23.1 million to UNICEF projects in the West Bank and Gaza in 2024, and $4.8 million in 2023. 

NGO Monitor’s legal Advisor, Anne Herzberg, noted that it is unclear how much of that funding went to the Gaza cash program.

“There is very little detail from the U.K. side about how much is going in, what oversight is in place, what exactly they are doing to mitigate the risk” of money going to Hamas, Herzberg told Jewish Insider on Sunday. “A lot of countries are giving funds to the U.N. and just leave it in their hands.” 

Herzberg said that while a lot of attention has gone to UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees and their descendants, which was recently banned from Israel after some of its employees participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, “UNRWA is just the tip of the iceberg, because 13 U.N. agencies are operating in Gaza. There is very little information into how these other U.N. agencies are operating.” 

“Aid diversion is the main problem and why there have been so many issues with humanitarian aid in Gaza,” she said. “It’s inconceivable to me that these governments refuse to deal with this issue. They claim they want to help Palestinians, to end the conflict and bring peace, yet they don’t want to tackle this issue.” 

Beyond government aid going to Hamas, what qualifies the U.K. as the leading non-Muslim country funding Hamas is nongovernmental contributions, Channel 12 reported.

In 2001, Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi founded the Union of Good, a coalition of 50 Islamist charities with connections to Hamas and other proscribed terrorist groups. The group raised hundreds of millions of dollars for Hamas during the Second Intifada.

The organization was banned in the U.S. and U.K., and Qaradawi, who is Egyptian and lives in Doha, Qatar, has been barred from the U.S., U.K. and France.  

Yet the organizations making up the Union of Good continued their fundraising activities.

The Channel 12 report names specific Hamas operatives based in the U.K., including Zahar Birawi, who is the head of the Palestinian Return Center in London, leads Hamas activities in Great Britain and has been instrumental in organizing weekly anti-Israel protests in London. Issam Yusef Mustafa, a former member of the Hamas politburo, is a U.K. citizen and is the biggest fundraiser for Hamas in Europe as the head of “Interpal,” a former Union of Good group sanctioned by the U.S. and Israel.

Herzberg explained that many of the organizations funneling money to Hamas are registered as businesses so they can avoid scrutiny from the Charity Commission.

“The monitoring in the U.K. does not seem as robust as what you see in the U.S., where there are many more investigations going on at the governmental level and more reporting, even though the U.K. government says it has robust control in its laws,” Herzberg said. “It’s unclear how those laws are being enforced.” 

Erez Noy, a former Shin Bet official dealing with terror funding, told Channel 12 that “Hamas is strong in Britain because over the years they got used to being able to do almost anything they want there, compared to other countries in Europe … For years, Britain, for whatever reason, did not handle preventing and taking care of these systems [to fund terror]. When Hamas realizes there is a permissive arena, it tests the limits.” 

Hamas petitioned the U.K. last month to be removed from the country’s list of banned terrorist organizations. 

According to Udi Levy, the former head of the Mossad’s department for fighting terrorism funding, “these are businesses that raise funds under the guise of humanitarian aid, and reach Hamas in Gaza, Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] and anywhere else around the world.”

Levy told Channel 12 that “total victory over Hamas is not just in the Gaza Strip. We are making a huge mistake because even if we kill every last ‘soldier’ in Gaza, there is still a massive Hamas infrastructure that will continue to act and even rehabilitate its activities, unless we start taking care of it.” 

The British Embassy in Israel said in response to a query from JI that “Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organization in the U.K. and funding or supporting it is a crime. We categorically reject the false and irresponsible allegations in the Channel 12 investigation that the UK Government funds Hamas run agencies in Gaza. No UK funding was provided to the Ministry of Social Development in Gaza … We are clear that Hamas must play no role in the future of Gaza. FCDO [the Foreign Office] conducted a thorough due diligence assessment of UNICEF, and we identify how U.K. funds are transferred until they reach the final beneficiaries.”

The embassy interpreted the claim made by the U.K. Foreign Office that “U.K. Aid can be linked directly or indirectly with supporting the de facto authority (Hamas) in Gaza which is part of a proscribed group,” as referring to the Ministry of Social Development in Ramallah run by the Palestinian Authority.

In addition, the embassy stated that it does “not recognize the claim that 25% of Hamas’s non-state funding comes from the U.K. To our knowledge, no official Israeli body has ever made such a claim.” 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) condemned the “inappropriate and unacceptable” scene at Barnard College on Wednesday night when anti-Israel demonstrators stormed the college’s main administrative building and assaulted a staff member, sending him to the hospital.

“It is inappropriate and unacceptable that masked intruders forcibly stormed a Barnard campus building, assaulted a college worker and blocked classroom access. All this in support of other protestors who are being justifiably disciplined for inappropriately disrupting fellow students from learning in a history class on Israel, while spreading antisemitic flyers that encouraged violence and more,” Schumer said in a statement to Jewish Insider.

“Barnard College must stand firm against this behavior and take prompt action to maintain a safe and welcoming environment for all its students,” the statement continued.

Schumer’s statement came as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle began to condemn the violent, six-hour protest, which was held in response to the college’s decision to expel two second-semester seniors who last month disrupted a History of Modern Israel class. 

A spokesperson for the NYPD told JI that a police report has been filed regarding the alleged assault itself, though no arrests have been made as of Thursday and the investigation remains ongoing. 

“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Pro-Hamas mobs have NO place on our college campuses. Barnard College & Columbia University must put an end to the antisemitic chaos on campus,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) wrote on X.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, wrote on the platform that, “On the same day that the world was mourning the burial of the Bibas family murdered by Hamas terrorists, an antisemitic pro-Hamas mob violently took over Barnard College.”

“Students committing these crimes should be immediately expelled and prosecuted by law enforcement. As President Donald Trump outlined in his executive order, any visa-holding student participating in these antisemitic acts must be stripped of their visa and be deported,” she continued.

Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY), the Democratic co-chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, posted on X that, “This violation of university rules and city laws must stop. There should never be demands to follow rules and the law. Universities including Columbia must enforce their own rules so all students feel safe. I look forward to learning what consequences these students face.”

“Actions have consequences. Barnard was right to expel the students who disrupted class & distributed fliers calling for the death of Jews. Negotiating with pro-terror protesters who are breaking campus policies should be out of the question,” the House Education and Workforce Committee stated in a post.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), the previous chair of the committee, wrote in a separate post on X: “Expel them all.”

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) called the situation “disgraceful.”

“Pro-Hamas protesters force their way into Barnard College, assaulting an employee in the process. This is not “activism” — it’s lawlessness and intimidation. Every student involved should face serious consequences. No excuses,” he said in a statement. 

Rep. Laura Gillen (D-NY) said in a statement, “This is despicable: hate-filled anti-Israel protestors stormed a school building at Barnard and assaulted a staff member. The university must hold them accountable.”

It hasn’t been an easy few months for Jacob Frey. 

The 38-year-old Minneapolis mayor, a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, saw his city unravel this spring as demonstrators took to the streets en masse to protest the killing of George Floyd. Frey, who is more than two years into his first term, ran on a campaign to reform the police department, and he supports the structural changes that activists have called for. 

But on a Saturday in early June, he was booed out of a public demonstration in a tense moment that made national news. Asked by a woman standing on a stage before him if he would commit to defunding the police, Frey, in a baseball tee and a black mask hanging loosely on his face, shook his head. “I do not support the full abolition of the police department,” he said quietly to a hushed crowd which, with prodding from his interlocutor, erupted in anger.

“Go home, Jacob, go home!” the protestors yelled in unison as Frey exited the throng, his arms hanging limply at his sides. “Shame, shame, shame!” they yelled later. Reflecting on the episode a month later, Frey seemed calm and composed during his interview with Jewish Insider. “These issues are controversial and they’re tough,” he said. “But that’s what I love.” 

The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. 

What’s going on in your world?

As mayor, the days are always incredibly busy. But when you have one crisis sandwiched on top of another sandwiched on top of another, it’s all around the clock. So now we’ve got, obviously, a homeless crisis on top of an economic downturn, a budgetary crisis on top of a public health emergency, and then, of course, George Floyd, so it’s all of those things kind of compounded on one another. 

The mood in the city was pretty tense not too long ago. What does it feel like now?

There is a sense of urgency to see clear action on everything from economic inclusion to deep structural reform to our police department to addressing our housing crisis. I have that sentiment along with them. There’s a lot of pain and anger and frustration that is not limited to the killing of George Floyd, but obviously includes it. And it’s our task now to harness all of that energy and channel it to something productive, which is what we’re working toward right now.

The Minnesota state legislature just announced some police accountability measures. Do you think they go far enough?

No, not at all. We can go through all sorts of different policy reforms, but culture eats policy for breakfast, and we need a massive culture shift in how our police department, and, frankly, police departments around the country, operate. Culture is about people; it’s about personnel. And so what we need is to have the ability to bring in the officers who have the right mentality, who are subscribing to our chief’s notion of integrity and service and compassion. We need the ability to get out officers that do not have that mentality, and right now we have major impediments in the form of the collective bargaining agreement and the police union contract. 

But for purposes of the state legislature, most importantly, there’s an arbitration provision which requires [that] instances of termination or discipline get appealed up to this arbitration. And around 50% of the cases get returned right back to our police department. So we can terminate and discipline someone, but that person oftentimes gets sent right back to the police departments to continue damaging trust with the community. We need the ability to terminate and discipline, and this is a major impediment. So that was the big thing that they did nothing on.

Where do you stand on police reform now? Do you still think that defunding the police is a bad idea? 

When people say the word defunding, there are some who actually want to get rid of all police and there are some who just want to have changes where we have safety beyond policing. So here’s where I am: If we’re talking about safety beyond policing, I’m all on board. If we’re talking about having mental health co-responders respond to calls as opposed to officers, or with officers, I’m all on board with that, and in fact, we have a mental health co-responder program citywide. If we’re talking about social workers, to the extent we can have social workers take some of the calls that police would otherwise do — assuming the incident is safe — absolutely. If we’re talking about decriminalizing addiction, again, I’m on board. But if we’re talking about just abolishing all police, all law enforcement — no, I’m not. That’s not something that — I mean, we still do need law enforcement to address and to respond to serious and dangerous incidents that take place in our city. 

Can you give a rundown of what happened in June, from your perspective?

There was a group of protesters that came to my home, and they asked me to come out. I came out to sit with them — and, of course, I’m very supportive of deep structural change. I called for the termination of the officers and for the charging of Derek Chauvin, I did that right away — and then at some point they called me up front. They asked me, would I commit to defunding the police, and I asked — you can watch the video — I asked what they mean by that because I wanted to make sure that I was being clear. And the response was, “We don’t want police. No more police. Get the police off the streets. We want no more police in our neighborhoods ever.” That was the response. And I answered honestly. These are difficult times and my first responsibility is to be honest and to do the right thing, and as difficult as it was, it was the right thing to do.

Demonstrators booed Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey out of a rally on Saturday after he declined to commit to defunding the police. Read more about the protests in the U.S. here. https://t.co/zHv8ocIPXj pic.twitter.com/8WPMnyFXjP

— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 7, 2020

What was going through your head in that moment? Were you frightened, or nervous?

No. I mean, obviously, it was a tense moment. But no, I stand by my values, and I tell the truth no matter who I’m talking to. And I did. And if you can ground yourself in that, that’s all you can do. It’s what you do. And by the way, since then, the support I’ve gotten has been constant. The support from telling the truth, in that particular event, especially from our Black community, has been overwhelming. 

Were you surprised when they started chanting “shame!” at you? It seems so medieval. 

As mayor, you’re frequently a focal point and a target from all sides. The top two criticisms that you get are too much force/not enough force, or too many police/not enough police. In Minneapolis, we have a very activist-oriented and engaged community, so it’s not the first time I’ve been protested and it certainly won’t be the last. I don’t know about surprised. I mean, I was calm. I told the truth. I was calm and I told the truth. By the way, I didn’t leave either. I was there for 45 minutes afterward answering every last question that any reporter or activist had for me. I do not hide from difficult situations just because the optics are tough.

Did you sleep well that night? 

Yeah, I did. 

Any nightmares?

I’ll tell you what, I would not have slept well had I tried to obfuscate or avoided the question or lied. If you tell the truth, you try and do the right thing, you hold your head high and you can sleep at night — and that’s what I did. And sure, it was tough. It’s tougher for your family and friends to see a video like that. But the response that we’ve gotten from the vast majority of my constituents has been very clear, which is, you know, ‘thank you for telling the truth.’ What we hear is people are appreciative of the willingness to go into some of these situations and still be honest.

What was it like inside your house when you were called out?

I was talking with Sarah, my wife — she was also at our home at the time — and she is just a backbone of steel. She’s so tough and courageous and loving. And we were just discussing, all right, what should we do? We don’t presently have security right now. Or at least in any number. What should we do? And she’s like, you do what you always do. You go out there, you listen, you’re compassionate, and you tell the truth.

You and your wife are expecting a baby in September. How does it feel to be bringing a child into this moment in history?

As unfatherly as this may sound, my focus over the last couple of months has very much been on our city. Not only is Sarah pregnant — she’s working full-time, [and] she’s taking the bar exam in a week. And so she’s been studying non-stop, and I’ve been obviously working around the clock as well. Babies usually bring a sense of optimism, of hope, that the next generation will do things better than we have. And that hope, that sense of optimism, is clearly in the back of my head right now, but front of mind is getting through these crises, with a complete transformation to how our city does business.

Rahm Emanuel famously said you should never let a crisis go to waste.

In a way, yes, it is an opportunity to do things differently: to center Black and brown voices, to see through to true economic inclusion. If we utilize both this opportunity and the energy to reshape a system for the better, that’s an outcome that we can be proud of.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey speaks on July 10, 2020 at a protest by the Oromo people over the unrest in Ethiopia. (Chad Davis/Flickr)

How do you unwind? You’re a runner, right?

I run. Ideally, I’d like to get out the door five times a week or so. I used to run professionally, like as my job, and now it’s really for emotional and physical well-being. Ideally, I get out the door five times a week or so. Not long, but enough to breathe and to sweat, and that certainly helps. I think better, I feel better, I make better decisions when I’m able to get out for runs.

What kind of precautions are you taking to avoid getting the virus, aside from wearing a mask? Do you get tested?

I’m actually going to get tested fairly shortly here. Some of our police administration got the virus — quite a bit of our police administration got COVID-19 — and so I intend to get tested myself. Right now, I’m one of the only people in the office. Much of our connection is done remotely through [Microsoft] Teams or Skype or whatever. And we have a plan that’s instituted at the office for how we still remain relatively socially distant. I’ll say that through certain courses of the pandemic, full social distancing was not possible. And so the likelihood of exposure was almost definite.

Are you saying you were exposed to the virus?

I don’t know that to be the fact. I’m just saying that, during a crisis like the one we faced, you do come into contact with people, inevitably. There were instances where, yes, we had to be closer together.

Like during the protests?

A protest would have been one example, to operating through the emergency operation center, or in the office. Yes, I did come into contact with people. Just to be clear, I’m not saying I was exposed. I’m saying the likelihood is high. 

You attend two Reform synagogues in Minneapolis. Are you a regular, and if so, has it been difficult not being able to go to services recently?

I didn’t go to Shabbat services every week or anything. My wife converted about a year and a half ago. She’s serious. She’s into it. I mean, I’m obviously proud of her and proud to have her as a member of the tribe, but it was not like any sort of pressure from either me or my family. She did so because she wanted to, and she’s informed, she’s well-read, and is very grounded in Jewish thought and philosophy, which I find pretty cool. And so, if anything, she’s been the one to encourage me to attend more often. 

It seems to happen sometimes that people who convert become more devout than their spouses.

That’s definitely the case here.

You’re the second Jewish mayor of Minneapolis, yes?

That is correct. I had previously for a little while thought I was the first, but no, Art Naftalin was also Jewish. Minneapolis, sadly, has a fairly antisemitic history. We have maps to the city that quite literally designate North Minneapolis as a slum for Blacks and Jews. This is dating back, you know, 70 years ago. And Minneapolis is not unique to this, but many law firms in the city — for instance, I believe, including the one that I worked for when I first came out here — previously did not allow Jews. 

Do you feel self-conscious about being a Jewish mayor of a city with that kind of history?

It’s funny. Before, I would say, last year, I had not thought of myself as much as a Jewish mayor. That’s just not how I would have thought of myself. Now, over the last year, the number of antisemitic attacks that we’ve been subjected to has been through the roof, whether it’s from the far right or the far left. Usually, it’s from some of these Donald Trump supporters. Most of them don’t live in Minneapolis. Minneapolis, as you know, is a very progressive city. But the uptick in antisemitic hatred, especially after I asked for Donald Trump to pay his bill, was through the roof.

So that’s changed your perception of yourself?

It has. I don’t know that it’s necessarily changed how I go about my day. I grew up, I would say, quite culturally Jewish but not very religious. You know, I’m not even convinced that my mom believes in God, but she believes firmly in bagels and lox on Sundays. You were there for bagels and lox on Sundays without excuse. And that sort of ethnic and cultural identity, I think, has come to the forefront more over the last year for me personally. I don’t know that it’s really had an impact on my governance, but certainly on a personal level, it has had an impact.

You came to Minneapolis in 2009, and you seem pretty settled there. But could you ever see yourself moving back to your native East Coast? Would you ever want to run for Congress?

I love Minneapolis. God bless congressmembers, and thank you for them, but that’s not my interest. One, because you can kind of work hand-in-hand with the community around a common idea, and it’s complex, it’s controversial. Oftentimes, the most difficult issues get left for cities to handle. And we’re seeing that right now, not just in Minneapolis, but around the country. I mean, you’ve got mayors just getting pummeled. They’re doing their very best — you see it in the news all the time, and these issues are controversial and they’re tough. But that’s what I love. Not to mention, I wouldn’t want to be in Congress just because we’re having a baby, and I don’t want to be flying back and forth between D.C. and Minneapolis. I want to be with my daughter and my wife.

It’s your birthday on Thursday. What are you planning to do?

Right now, nothing. You know, if I could grab a socially distanced beer with a few friends, I’d certainly welcome that. It’s not anything beyond that, though. I mean, 39 is not really a marker, you know? Gosh, before COVID-19 and before all of this — the summers in Minneapolis are extraordinary — and before all this, I was certainly looking forward to enjoying the full scope of summer, with events and activities and Pride Parade and Aquatennial, these big celebrations that we have, and just having this last summer where I don’t have a child and having any freedoms that are associated with that. And it clearly has not worked out that way.