Queen Elizabeth’s relationship with Holocaust survivors and the State of Israel

Jews around the world are reflecting on the consequential 70-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II following her death on Thursday and what she meant for the Jewish community. Read more

420-1: The U.S. House of Representarives votes to condemn antisemitism

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly has passed a bipartisan resolution to condemn anti-Semitism. Read more

Deborah Lipstadt confirmed as US special envoy on antisemitism

Deborah Lipstadt, U.S. President Joe Biden’s nominee for the position of Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, was officially confirmed to the position by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday night. Read more

Source: Republican leader whips up votes against antisemitism nominee Deborah Lipstadt

Ahead of a likely vote on the nomination for Deborah Lipstadt to serve as the U.S. State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, how many Republicans, if any, will vote to favorably report her nomination out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee remains to be seen. Read more

Natan Sharansky on Vladimir Putin: He will go as far as the world lets him

Famed Jewish dissident, human-rights activist and former Knesset member Natan Sharansky provided his opinion on the situation in Ukraine on Tuesday, analyzing what could be Russian President Vladimir Putin’s motivations for the invasion into Ukraine, as well as the moral obligation Israel and the West have to support Ukraine. Read more

Ukrainian ambassador appeals for military aid, stronger sanctions amid Russian onslaught

As Russian military forces bore down on Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv on Friday, Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova spoke to over a hundred supporters and leadership of the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry (NCSEJ) on Friday, calling for stronger sanctions and military aid to help Ukrainians repel the invasion. Read more

Under economic and geopolitical pressure, Erdoğan attempts to make nice with Israel

In a virtual discussion held by the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET), Turkish scholar and former politician Aykan Erdemir said Jews should be wary of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s outreach efforts towards Jews and Israel. Read more

Biden administration remains ‘deeply blind’ to inherent flaws of UNRWA, say Mideast experts

The U.S. State Department’s Population, Migration and Refugees Bureau ended 2021 with another payment to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), a move some experts have criticized as wrongheaded and in line with an eagerness to blindly reverse policies put forth by the Trump administration. Read more

Dani Dayan on what Holocaust taught about extremes and how antisemitism persists

In his first visit back to the United States as chairman of the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Centre in Jerusalem, former Israeli Consul General in New York Dani Dayan seek to impart a sense of unity that he believes is an essential piece in the knowledge of the Holocaust and Jewish identity around the world. Read more

US, Israel remain at loggerheads over consulate to Palestinians in downtown Jerusalem

Israel and the United States remain at an impasse about American plans to reopen the U.S. consulate on Agron Road in downtown Jerusalem that was closed under former President Donald Trump. Read more

Anti-Semitism envoy nominee Deborah Lipstadt poised to battle scourge on all fronts

U.S. President Joe Biden’s nominee to serve as Special Envoy for Combating and Monitoring antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt said on Thursday that she was most worried about the rise in casual antisemitism and the questioning of the importance of the Holocaust among today’s society more than overt demonstrations of antisemitism. Read more

Twitter’s new Mideast, North Africa news curator under fire for anti-Israel tweets

Twitter’s new “editorial curation lead” for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) news is drawing criticism from pro-Israel organizations, pointing to her history of anti-Israel bias. Read more

Honouring his father’s story, Elisha Wiesel sees fighting antisemitism inextricably linked to Zionism

The late Holocaust survivor, human-rights activist and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel became the first modern Jew to have a bust of his face sculpted into the stonework of the Washington National Cathedral’s Human Rights Porch on Oct. 12, the last to be installed among four luminaries such as Mother Teresa and Rosa Parks. Read more

At UN, Bennett warns world Iran’s nuclear program at a ‘watershed moment’

Demarking a clear distinction between himself and his predecessor, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that one of the most dangerous problems in the world today is political polarization. Read more

Biden nominates Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt as next antisemitism envoy

After months of pressure from Jewish communal organizations to appoint someone to the position, the Biden administration on Friday nominated Deborah Lipstadt to serve as the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism. Read more

Rumsfeld remembered for leading war on terror and his admiration for Israel

Despite much of the criticism of Donald Rumsfeld for his handling of the Iraq War, the late former defence secretary’s associates praised him for his decisions during an unstable time for American security. Read more

Blinken’s Mideast trip highlights limits of American efforts to isolate Hamas

The Biden administration’s negotiations to reach a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has generally being seen as successful. Read more

In special meeting on conflict, Erdan slams UN for its incessant focus on Israel

Hours before Israel announced a ceasefire between itself and the Gaza-based terrorist organization Hamas on Thursday, Israeli Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations Gilad Erdan said that member states condemning Israel for its actions in Gaza are choosing to side with terror and hurting the chances for peace in the region. Read more