Jewish Insider

12/11/2025

EXCLUSIVE | Major New York Jewish groups criticized former Assemblyman Michael Blake, who is running in the Democratic primary against Rep. Ritchie Torres, for featuring a clip of an influencer who supported the shooting of two Israeli Embassy employees at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington in his campaign launch video.

“Hurling a bus load of antisemitic tropes and platforming bigots who cheer antisemitic violence in a launch video is not the pro-humanity flex one thinks it is,” the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York said in a statement.

The ADL of New York and New Jersey said that “we can all agree that Michael Blake’s platforming of anti-Zionist influencer Guy Christensen should be roundly condemned.”

Full story: https://ji.news/4dzhm

12/11/2025

Read today's :

🎯 Socialists set sights on Congress

Full briefing 👇

Plus, Dermer departs

12/11/2025

The official reason that more than 100 college students from across Washington gathered in a ballroom at George Washington University last week was for a formal dinner billed as an opportunity to build bridges between the Black and Jewish communities.

But what really got the students — undergrads from GWU, American, George Mason, Georgetown, Howard and the University of the District of Columbia — talking at this event, which was meant to highlight commonalities and spark deep connections between students from different backgrounds, was a breezy icebreaker: Is a hot dog a sandwich?

That was one of several lighthearted prompts for the students to discuss as they settled into dinner and got to know each other at tables of 10.

Full story: https://ji.news/4dx37

11/11/2025

Long before Oct. 7, parents — especially Jewish parents — wondered and at times struggled with how to speak to their children about antisemitism. In the midst of the antisemitism that exploded in the wake of the attack on southern Israel and continued to rise through the ensuing war between Israel and Hamas, journalists Bianna Golodryga and Yonit Levi found themselves navigating that challenge — and found no help to guide them.

As a result, Golodryga said in an interview with Jewish Insider’s Melissa Weiss, “Yonit and I decided to try to write the book we couldn’t find.”

The result was their debut book, "Don’t Feed the Lion," released today.

“The fact that our kids are talking about it, [it’s] something I’m dealing and grappling with in New York City in 2023 at the time,” Golodryga, a CNN news anchor, told Jewish Insider.

“I never thought that we’d be having to address [it] so directly. But there were no resources on this issue. I asked my kid’s school about it, [saying], ‘What are you doing to address antisemitism?’ And in a longly worded statement, it was clear that there were no resources. They weren’t really doing anything.”

Full story: https://ji.news/4dwiw

11/11/2025

Israel’s influential minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, resigned from his post on Tuesday, three years after assuming the role.

Dermer has led Israel’s ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations since February. He is expected to stay on as Netanyahu’s envoy to continue handling the future of the Gaza portfolio, political sources recently told Jewish Insider.

‘This government will be defined both by the attack on October 7th and by the prosecution of the two-year, seven-front, war that followed,’ Dermer wrote in his resignation letter to the prime minister

11/11/2025

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed sidestepped a question about Israel’s right to exist during an interview with the anti-Israel media outlet Zeteo last week.

Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan asked El-Sayed how he would respond if and when he faces questions on the campaign trail about whether he supports Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. El-Sayed initially responded by calling the question hypocritical and again dodged when pressed.

He said that most U.S. presidents have expressed support for a two-state solution, and “Israel exists. Palestine doesn’t. And so I always wonder why nobody asks me why Palestine doesn’t have a right to exist.”

Full story: https://ji.news/4dw3x

11/11/2025

ANALYSIS | With a week since the off-year gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, a clear dynamic is emerging: President Donald Trump’s gains with nontraditional GOP voters — especially working-class Black and Hispanic voters and Gen Zers — are not translating into support for the Republican Party this year.

If Republicans are unable to recreate the Trump 2024 coalition without Trump on the ballot, they will face serious political disadvantages for the midterms and beyond.

The double-digit margins of victory of incoming Democratic governors Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger in Virginia speak volumes about the current political environment. Their sweeping wins underscore that, while Democrats may be divided as a result of ideological infighting, the antipathy towards Trump and the GOP is the glue that holds the party together.

The historic tendency of voters taking out their dissatisfaction on the party in power is alive and well, and is much more of a factor than the favorability ratings of the political parties.

Read the full analysis by Josh Kraushaar: https://ji.news/4dvhc

11/11/2025

In the wake of a global rise in antisemitism not seen in generations, World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder told some 250 attendees at the organization’s annual gala dinner that the “only” solutions are “creating more Jewish schools” and “taking the high ground in public relations.”

The event, held at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, honored Rep. Elise Stefanik and Sen. John Fetterman with WJC’s Theodor Herzl Award for the lawmakers’ pro-Israel advocacy and opposition to antisemitism.

“The entire education system — K-12 to college — must be retaught. Laws must be passed that will focus on no racism, no antisemitism and no anti-Western civilization being taught,” said Lauder.

“It’s [also] time we fight back with stronger PR to tell the truth about [antisemitism and Israel]. If Israel doesn’t want to do this, we in the Diaspora will help."

Full story: https://ji.news/4dv7s

11/11/2025

Israeli diplomats and experts have expressed concern as the U.S. seeks a two-year United Nations Security Council mandate for an international stabilization force in Gaza.

The force is part of Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza, which Netanyahu agreed to in September. However, the broad plan did not provide details on most of its points and did not mention a U.N. mandate.

Full story: https://ji.news/4duey

11/11/2025

Senators offered a positive readout from a dinner meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Sunday evening prior to al-Sharaa’s Monday summit at the White House with Trump.

Attendees described the meeting as “open,” “moving” and “constructive,” and said they discussed progress toward sanctions relief as well as counterterrorism efforts.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin told Jewish Insider that al-Sharaa was “very charismatic” and “had a very open conversation” about his “checkered past” with senators.

“I found it to be straightforward. I thought his answers were what we needed to hear, but I think he honestly believed it too,” Mullin said of the dinner.

Full story: https://ji.news/4dtnn

11/11/2025

Read today's :

🥗 Syria Caesar sanctions on the White House menu

Full briefing 👇

Plus, Israel's concerns over the Gaza stabilization force

11/11/2025

Trump indicated that he expects Syria to join the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State during his meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the White House.

“Yes, you can expect an announcement on Syria,” Trump said to reporters in the Oval Office. “We want to see Syria become a country that’s very successful. And I think this leader can do it. I really do.”

The president said to expect an announcement after meeting with President Ahmad al-Sharaa, on a move that JINSA’s John Hannah called a ‘sweeping ideological reversal’