Jewish Insider

08/01/2026

Read today's :

🫱 How Mamdani is managing Jewish outreach

Full briefing 👇

The admin is leaning on J Street alum Josh Binderman

08/01/2026

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar made a historic diplomatic visit to Somaliland on Tuesday, marking the first official trip by an Israeli Cabinet minister to the territory and the latest move to strengthen bilateral ties following Israel’s recognition of Somaliland’s independence last month.

In the capital city of Hargeisa, Sa’ar met with Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, with both sides pledging to open embassies in the near future. Somaliland’s foreign ministry said the two delegations held “constructive discussions on strengthening bilateral relations,” focusing on cooperation in diplomacy, security, trade and investment, as well as regional peace and stability.

The trip drew criticism from regional and international actors, particularly Somalia, which considers Somaliland an integral part of its sovereign territory and rejects its independence. Somalia’s foreign ministry condemned Sa’ar’s visit in a statement released Tuesday, calling it an “unauthorized entry.”

Full story: https://ji.news/4ky8j

07/01/2026

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who visited Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia over the weekend, said that the Gulf countries have yet to commit personnel to be directly involved in the International Stabilization Force in Gaza, without which the next phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas cannot proceed.

“All the countries in the region who I’ve met with seem very eager to get to Phase 2. I think the question remains of which countries are willing to put boots on the ground and take the necessary steps to disarm Hamas,” Gottheimer told Jewish Insider.

“We’re all waiting for announcements on who that will be — that’s still the outstanding question … and what level of commitment.”

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

07/01/2026

Likud lawmaker Dan Illouz, in a speech to the Knesset, warned the American right about the dangers of rising antisemitism within its ranks.

“I stand here in Jerusalem to sound an alarm,” Illouz said. “We are used to enemies from the outside … but today, I look at the West — our greatest ally — and I see a new enemy rising from within.”

The right-wing lawmaker called for American conservatives to reject what he called the “poison” of Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, mentioning the podcasters by name.

‘We are the people of eternity. … We will be here long after your YouTube channels are forgotten dust,’ Likud’s Dan Illouz said in a Knesset speech

07/01/2026

Qatar is the top country donating foreign funds to American universities, and Cornell University is its leading recipient, according to a new dashboard from the Department of Education which displays foreign gifts and contracts provided to U.S. institutions.

According to the database, $2.3 billion out of the $3 billion total Cornell has received in foreign funding came from Qatar, which is a key financial supporter of Hamas. Qatar has provided $6.6 billion to universities overall, significantly more than the next leading countries, bolstering criticisms of the Gulf state’s influence over American higher education.

A new dashboard by the Department of Education shows that Qatar has given $6.6 billion to U.S. institutions, with Cornell University its top recipient

07/01/2026

A radical anti-Israel activist group responsible for the disruptive November protest outside of a historic synagogue in Manhattan announced it will hold two similar demonstrations this week, marking the first major test Mayor Zohran Mamdani will face in protecting the city’s Jewish community since he was inaugurated.

Democratic state Assemblyman Sam Berger said Mamdani’s recent revocation of the IHRA definition is ‘all the more concerning’ in light of the threats to Jewish communities

07/01/2026

When Israel announced the day after Christmas that it would formally recognize Somaliland, making it the first country in the world to announce formal diplomatic relations with the secessionist region in the Horn of Africa, even some of Washington’s foremost foreign policy experts were sheepishly asking the same question: What, exactly, is Somaliland?

There was no single event that led to Israel’s choice to recognize the sovereignty of Somaliland, which announced its independence from Somalia in 1991. The territory has functioned independently for 35 years; nothing in its governance changed last year. What changed was Israel — and its geopolitical calculus regarding regional security threats.

Full story: https://ji.news/4kvq2

07/01/2026

ANALYSIS | At the conclusion of the 12-day war in June of last year, both Israel and Iran suspected that the ceasefire brokered by the U.S. would be a pause, not a final cessation of hostilities. That truce has lasted for more than six months, with both sides wary of entering another military conflict — one likely to be more deadly and destructive than the first.

But now, amid destabilizing world events from Venezuela to the Middle East — compounded by growing domestic pressure on the Islamic Republic amid nationwide protests — that ceasefire is even more tenuous, with officials in Tehran and Jerusalem closely watching the other’s every move, careful not to make a potentially disastrous miscalculation — even as both sides make overtures at de-escalation.

Read more: https://ji.news/4kv77

07/01/2026

Read today's :

🗺️ Will the U.S. recognize Somaliland?

Full briefing 👇

Plus, meet Minnesota's new U.S. attorney

07/01/2026

Spain’s leading newspaper, El País, came under fire for publishing an antisemitic comment about the Jewish background of the judge overseeing the case against deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

In a since-edited story, the left-leaning newspaper reported that federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein is a highly regarded jurist “despite being a recognized member of the Jewish community.”

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

07/01/2026

In the aftermath of U.S. strikes in Venezuela and the capture of leader Nicolás Maduro, uncertainty remains over whether the South American country’s ties to key U.S. adversaries and hostile posture toward Israel will change under interim President Delcy Rodríguez.

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

07/01/2026

A significant majority of Jewish Israelis feel that it is safer for them to live in Israel than abroad, according to a new survey by the Israeli Voice Index, reflecting heightened concerns about antisemitism overseas.

While 76% of Jewish Israelis feel that their home country is the safest place for them, only 32% of Arabs feel the same, with 35% of Arab respondents answering that both are equally safe and 29% seeing life abroad as safer.

Researchers at the Israel Democracy Institute, which released the findings of the survey, said the gap in perceptions is likely linked to high levels of violent crime in Arab communities and what they described as an inadequate state response.

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