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. 

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.

Jewish leaders in Massachusetts praised a new report and set of recommendations by a state body that called for K-12 schools to implement the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism. 

The Massachusetts Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism voted unanimously on Thursday to approve their recommendations, which in addition to encouraging schools to embrace the IHRA definition, call on districts to implement anti-bias education that includes antisemitism, to establish an Advisory Council on Holocaust and Genocide Education and to develop curricula around Jewish history and identity.  

A bipartisan group of more than 70 House lawmakers pressed the Trump administration last week about the supplemental round of Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding awarded to more than 500 Jewish groups in June, saying that the administration is withholding information from Congress about which institutions are receiving funding.

Some nonprofits that applied for grants have not, themselves, been told whether their applications have been accepted either, two sources familiar with the situation told Jewish Insider, complicating their efforts to submit complete and accurate applications for 2025 funding. 

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund said on Monday that it was divesting from 11 Israeli companies and had terminated its contracts with external fund managers in Israel over concerns regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank.

“These measures were taken in response to extraordinary circumstances,” Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, said in a statement. “The situation in Gaza is a serious humanitarian crisis. We are invested in companies that operate in a country at war, and conditions in the West Bank and Gaza have recently worsened. In response, we will further strengthen our due diligence.”

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer is considering resigning from the Israeli government in the coming months, Israel Hayom reported on Monday. 

Dermer, a close advisor of Prime Mister Benjamin Netanyahu, has in recent years worked primarily on the issue of the Iranian nuclear threat. He began contemplating his exit after Israel degraded Iran’s nuclear capabilities in June, senior government sources told the outlet. 

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), one of the most strident critics of the Israeli government in the Senate, is set to deliver the keynote speech next month at an Iowa Democratic Party fundraiser that’s a frequent stop for high-profile Democrats and presidential hopefuls.

The Polk County Steak Fry in Des Moines is a highly watched annual event for Democratic politicos, and Van Hollen’s appearance is a sign of the senator’s ambitions for higher office. 

A group of 14 House Democrats, including 11 first-term lawmakers, are currently visiting Israel with the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation.

The group includes Reps. Tim Kennedy (D-NY), Gil Cisneros (D-CA), Josh Riley (D-NY), Nellie Pou (D-NJ), Wesley Bell (D-MO), Laura Gillen (D-NY), Johnny Olszewski (D-MD), Eugene Vindman (D-VA), Luz Rivas (D-CA), Herb Conaway (D-NJ) and George Latimer (D-NY).