Rules in Gaza to change ‘very soon,’ Netanyahu warns Hamas

JNS Staff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Rafah in the Gaza Strip, July 18, 2024. Photo by Avi Ohayon/GPO

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stern warning to Hamas on Thursday, declaring that the “rules are about to change” as the IDF prepares to expand its offensive in the Gaza Strip.

“To Hamas, I say one thing: The rules are about to change very soon,” Netanyahu said during a visit to reservists of the IDF’s 5th “HaSharon” Infantry Brigade at the Tze’elim training base in the Negev.

“I came to see firsthand the quality of our soldiers—our heroes—in preparation for the intense action we are about to undertake in Gaza,” he said in remarks released by the Prime Minister’s Office.

Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s two key objectives: “First—to defeat Hamas, to be victorious over Hamas, to eliminate Hamas. The second, of course, simultaneously—is to release our hostages.”

The prime minister also marked the anniversary of the 1972 rescue of hostages from Sabena Flight 571—a mission in which he participated, as a member of the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal), and was wounded. “The spirit has not changed—it is the exact same spirit I see here, pulsing among the soldiers and commanders, uniting everyone with one goal—to achieve a great victory.”

That victory at Lod Airport (today Ben-Gurion International Airport) over the Black September Organization, a Palestinian terrorist group, he added, extended beyond the battlefield: “It reverberates throughout the entire region.”

Under his leadership, Netanyahu said, Israel has changed the face of the Middle East by confronting threats from Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Assad regime in Syria. He also pointed to Israel’s recent actions against Iran, which he labeled a key sponsor of regional terrorism. “We still face challenges, but we have strong spirit, and that spirit is embodied by our military.”

The remarks came as the IDF continues operations throughout Gaza, targeting terrorist groups ahead of the expected launch of “Operation Gideon’s Chariots.” The campaign aims to dismantle Hamas and secure the release of 59 remaining hostages held since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist invasion.

The IDF reported striking more than 150 terrorist targets across Gaza over the past 72 hours, including cells, underground infrastructure and command posts. Troops also dismantled Hamas infrastructure and killed gunmen in several areas.

In one strike in Gaza City on Wednesday, the IDF killed Muhammad Rasmi Marzouq Barakeh, part of Hamas’s intelligence division, who took part in the kidnapping of Yaffa Adar on Oct. 7. Adar, 85, a grandmother who was kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, was released as part of a ceasefire deal after 49 days in captivity.

Also on Wednesday, an IDF strike in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah area killed Nasr Sobhi Ibrahim Jumaa, a senior commander in Hamas’s rocket manufacturing unit, according to the Israeli military.

“Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians as much as possible, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence,” the IDF stressed.

In the southern Strip, an IDF aircraft struck several terrorists who tried to plant an explosive device near troops, as well as a weapons depot and a structure from which gunmen had fired toward the soldiers.

Israeli troops are set to “act with great force” until all war goals for Gaza are achieved, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday.

The entire population of the Strip will be evacuated to the southern part of the enclave during the fighting, and the IDF will stay in “every area that is taken,” the defense minister said.

“The operation is intended to defeat Hamas and bring about the release of all the hostages. We will act with great force to destroy all of Hamas’s military and governmental capabilities,” he told soldiers of the 162nd “Steel Formation” Armored Division, which is expected to take part in the campaign.

“From the moment the maneuver begins, we will act with great force and will not stop until all objectives are achieved,” Katz said.

Jonatan Siman Tov, jego żona Tamar, Szahar i Arbel 5,5 letnie bliźniaczki i dwuletni Omer zamordowani w kibucu Nir Oz przez morderców z Gazy.

Co łączy rodzinobójstwo, ludobójstwo i media społecznościowe

Liat Collins
Tłumaczenie: Małgorzata Koraszewska

Protest ruchu Just Stop Oil (źródło zdjęcia Wikipedia)

Nie tylko logika jest pokręcona. Myślenie jest również wypaczone. Pewna komentatorka o żydowskim nazwisku napisała na Facebooku, że „wspierała biegaczkę przebraną za Batmana. Biegła w hołdzie pamięci Sziri, Ariela i Kfira Bibas, dwójki niewinnych dzieci, które kochały Batmana i zostały porwane, a następnie uduszone przez Palestyńczyków w Gazie – ludzi, których reprezentuje Youth Demand”.

Komentarz, w najgorszy sposób mediów społecznościowych, zapoczątkował serię nienawistnych uwag. Jeden przemądrzały dupek – lub przynajmniej dupek i pożyteczny idiota – napisał: „Od kiedy niemowlęta kochają Batmana?” i serię paskudnych komentarzy pod adresem Izraela i IDF. Prawdopodobnie powinnam była posłuchać własnej rady i trzymać się z dala od tej kłótni, ale trudno pozwolić komuś na wyśmiewanie śmierci Izraelczyków w ogóle, a tych dwojga dzieci w szczególności.

Ariela i jego młodszego brata Kfira, którzy zostali porwani 7 października 2023 r. podczas inwazji i mega-okrucieństwa Hamasu i Palestyńskiego Islamskiego Dżihadu, zamordowano w Gazie wraz z matką Sziri. Ich ojciec Jarden został ranny i porwany osobno, i powrócił w lutym na mocy umowy o uwolnieniu zakładników-terrorystów po ponad rocznej niewoli w tunelu terrorystycznym Hamasu.

Napisałam: „Ariel miał cztery lata, kiedy został porwany z domu. Był bardzo entuzjastycznym fanem Batmana. Jego brat Kfir miał zaledwie dziewięć miesięcy, więc masz rację: mógł nie być fanem Batmana, nawet jeśli nosił koszulki z Batmanem. I nigdy nie będzie miał szansy dorosnąć i pokochać Batmana, motyli ani niczego innego, co lubił jego starszy brat. (Kochał psa Tonto, psa uratowanego przez tę rodzinę ze schroniska, którego terroryści z Gazy również zabili.)”

Komentarz o Batmanie był jednym z najłagodniejszych. Wiele komentarzy, zgodnie z powszechnym trendem i papugowaniem kłamstw Hamasu, obwiniało sam Izrael o śmierć chłopców Bibas i ich matki, twierdząc, że zginęli w izraelskim ataku lotniczym. Oskarżenie brzmiało, że izraelskie samoloty nie tylko zabiły zakładników, ale również, że było to celowe.

Zakładając, tylko na potrzeby dyskusji, że raporty z sekcji zwłok przeprowadzonej przez Izrael były błędne i że chłopcy Bibas nie zostali uduszeni (choć wierzę w dowody z sekcji zwłok, które przeczą twierdzeniom terrorystów z Hamasu), nadal nie widzę, w jaki sposób ktokolwiek, kto udaje przyzwoitą, moralną osobę, może usprawiedliwić porwanie tej trójki z ich domu w tę okropną sobotę, Kfira w pieluchach i Ariela ssącego smoczek z wyrazem oszołomienia na dziecinnej, niewinnej buzi.

Inwazja i atak kierowane przez Hamas, wspierane przez Iran, 7 października 2023 r., podczas których 1200 osób zostało zamordowanych, a 250 uprowadzonych do Gazy, zakończyły się takimi okrucieństwami, że stworzono nowe słowo na ich opisanie: rodzinobójstwo.

Słowo to ukuła Cywilna Komisja ds. Zbrodni Hamasu 7 październikaprzeciwko Kobietom i Dzieciom. Jest używane do opisania celowego atakowania rodzin w ich domach – przestrzeni, która ma być bezpieczna – w celu zwiększenia terroru. Terroryści-najeźdźcy celowo torturowali, gwałcili i mordowali członków rodziny na oczach innych, aby nasilić ból; wykorzystując bliskie więzi rodzinne, aby spotęgować horror.

W przemówieniu wygłoszonym na odbywającym się w tym tygodniu w Jerozolimie Międzynarodowym Szczycie Politycznym JNS założycielka i przewodnicząca komisji, dr Cochav Elkayam-Levy powiedziała, że określenie to zostało ustalone wspólnie z międzynarodowym ekspertem ds. praw człowieka i byłym kanadyjskim ministrem sprawiedliwości Irwinem Cotlerem.

Podczas gdy naziści ukrywali swoje zbrodnie, Hamas chwalił się nimi

W przeciwieństwie do nazistów, którzy ukrywali swoje zbrodnie przeciwko ludzkości, terroryści z Hamasu i palestyńskiego Islamskiego Dżihadu chwalili się swoimi. Elkayam-Levy mówiła, że terroryści nagrywali się kamerami GoPro i telefonami komórkowymi i udostępniali nagrania w czasie rzeczywistym. W niektórych incydentach terroryści przesyłali nagrania ataków i morderstw na profile swoich ofiar w mediach społecznościowych, aby ich przyjaciele i rodziny widzieli okrucieństwa w trakcie ich trwania, ale bez żadnej możliwości ich powstrzymania. Dodaj przemoc cyfrową do przemocy fizycznej i emocjonalnej.

Jak powiedziała Elkayam-Levy, morderstwa nie były przypadkowe, lecz dokonywane systematycznie, w celu spotęgowania najbardziej koszmarnych efektów.

Raport komisji zatytułowany “Kinocide: The Weaponization of Families” [Rodzinobójstwo: okrucieństwo wobec rodziny jako broń] można znaleźć na stronie internetowej Instytutu Dvora ds. Studiów nad Płcią i Zrównoważonym Rozwojem, założonego i kierowanego przez Elkayam-Levy. „Raport identyfikuje ‘rodzinobójstwo’ jako problem globalny, wskazując na podobieństwa do podobnych okrucieństw w Iraku, Syrii, Rwandzie, Bośni, Mjanmie i innych strefach konfliktu. Te ustalenia podkreślają pilną potrzebę międzynarodowego uznania i działań w celu zapobiegania i rozwiązywania takiej ukierunkowanej przemocy”, czytamy na stronie internetowej Instytutu Dvora.

Niestety, wciąż dochodzi do straszliwych okrucieństw, w tym masakr w Sudanie i masowych mordów chrześcijan dokonywanych przez dżihadystów w innych częściach Afryki, jednak wydarzenia te przyciągają mniej uwagi mediów i mediów społecznościowych.

Dlaczego terroryści z Hamasu i PIJ chwalili się swoimi zbrodniami, gdy je popełniali? Ponieważ myśleli, że mogą im ujść na sucho – dosłownie morderstwa mogą im ujść na sucho. I do pewnego stopnia, przynajmniej w cyberprzestrzeni i w walce o publiczne postrzeganie, to właśnie im się udało. Masowe protesty przeciwko Izraelowi rozpoczęły się, zanim Izrael zaczął się bronić.

Ich dżihadystyczna inwazja i atak nie są w centrum uwagi świata. To centrum uwagi jest zarezerwowane dla odpowiedzi Izraela. A ciągłe znęcanie się nad pozostałymi zakładnikami – 24 przypuszczalnie żywych z 59 – jest częścią tego zjawiska: terroryści cynicznie publikują rozdzierające serce filmy w ramach wojny psychologicznej, aby zwiększyć ból rodzin i przyjaciół zakładników, i próbują pogłębić rozłamy w izraelskim społeczeństwie wokół dylematu, jak najlepiej poradzić sobie z sytuacją; jak uzyskać uwolnienie zakładników bez narażania kraju w przyszłości z powodu masowego uwalniania terrorystów z izraelskich więzień; i pozostawienia Hamasu u władzy, uzbrojonego i niebezpiecznego.

Używanie mediów społecznościowych w dzisiejszej wojnie jest, w pewnym stopniu, kontynuacją palestyńskich ataków terrorystycznych z lat 70., w tym masakry na Olimpiadzie w Monachium w 1972 r., kiedy terroryści Czarnego Września wzięli członków izraelskiej drużyny jako zakładników, ostatecznie mordując 11 z nich, cały czas wykorzystując uwagę mediów na temat Igrzysk. Palestyńscy terroryści i ich zwolennicy są doskonali w porywaniu ludzi i opinii światowej.

Ale wróćmy do Londyńskiego Maratonu. Antyizraelska akcja PR Youth Demand nie była jedyną zniewagą, jaka dotknęła wydarzenie, które jest poświęcone dobrym intencjom i zbieraniu pieniędzy na cele charytatywne.

Ostatnie praktycznie słowo należało do Nike: w osłupiająco źle pomyślanej kampanii reklamowej firma produkująca artykuły sportowe umieściła na billboardach wzdłuż trasy tablice z napisem: „Nigdy więcej, do przyszłego roku”.

Przekształcenie słów „Nigdy więcej”, powszechnie kojarzonych z obietnicą, że Holokaust się nie powtórzy, w slogan marketingowy, to coś więcej niż zły smak. Kampania marketingowa była wynikiem albo szokującej nieczułości, albo rażącej ignorancji. Tak czy inaczej, jest problem. I trzeba go uznać i rozwiązać, aby „Nigdy więcej” cokolwiek znaczyło.

Liat Collins – Urodzona w Wielkiej Brytanii, osiadła w Izraelu w 1979 roku i hebrajskiego uczyła się już w mundurze IDF, studiowała sinologię i stosunki międzynarodowe. Pracowała w redakcji “Jerusalem Post” od 1988 roku. Przez wiele lat kierowała The International Jerusalem Post. Obecnie na emeryturze.

Media lies about fake martyrs and famines fuel antisemitism

Jonathan S. Tobin

People gather for a rally in support of Columbia University student activist Mohsen Mahdawi and Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk in Foley Square in New York City on May 6, 2025. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images.

The unprecedented surge of antisemitism throughout the United States since the Hamas-led Palestinian terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has created a new reality for American Jews, especially Jewish students on college campuses. But perhaps the most sinister aspect of what has unfolded in the last 19 months is not just the way elite universities were transformed into hostile environments for Jews.

The scariest part of this tragic saga is the way that antisemitic organizations and activists, actively assisted by some of the most prestigious and powerful media outlets in the country, have been gaslighting Jews. They’ve been doing everything they can to convince the victims of this hateful campaign that the people who have been targeting them are actually against antisemitism while promoting propaganda aimed at depicting Israel and the Jews as evil oppressors.

While this has been the game plan all along for those cheering on Hamas terrorists since Oct. 7, it became even more obvious in the past week as the liberal press engaged in an effort to portray Mohsen Mahdawi, a leader of the mobs harassing Jews at Columbia University, as not only a martyr to free speech but someone who stands against antisemitism. These same outlets have been resurrecting an already debunked canard about Israel causing a famine in Gaza.

The press, led by legacy media companies like The New York Times, CBS News and the cable-news station MSNBC, has gone from tacit support for the post-Oct. 7 demonization of Israel and Jews to active participants. In doing so, they have demonstrated once again that they’ve discarded journalism and what was left of their credibility for left-wing activism.

The impact of their coverage of the agitation on college campuses and the war against Hamas in Gaza, which the groups behind the hate surge use as justification for their efforts, transcends the question of the decline of trust in the media. Their journalistic malpractice has become the primary engine driving the intimidation and vilification of Jews.

Lionizing a mob leader

Mahdawi became just the latest example of the liberal media’s infatuation with people arrested by the Trump administration. A Palestinian Arab who holds a green card, he was detained while undergoing an interview for his application for American citizenship as part of the government’s efforts to crack down on those foreign nationals involved in the pro-Hamas mobs targeting Jewish students at Columbia.

The U.S. Department of Justice informed the federal court in Vermont, where Mahdawi had been arrested, that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was revoking his green card because the “activities and presence of Mahdawi in the United States undermine U.S. policy to combat antisemitism.” It also noted that efforts to disrupt university life that Mahdawi led at Columbia “potentially undermine the peace process underway in the Middle East.” Both points are legitimate reasons to deport Mahdawi, but a sympathetic judge has released him pending further legal proceedings.

Since being freed, he has become the toast of the corporate media, authoring an op-ed in The New York Times and being the subject of a fawning profile on CBS’s “60 Minutes” program, in which he was allowed to pose as both a martyr to free speech and an advocate for peace. This narrative, depicting him as the subject of persecution by the administration, was further amplified by coverage in outlets such as NPR. That story actually claimed that he was the victim of ill treatment by supporters of Israel because they were chanting for the release of the abused hostages taken by Hamas while Mahdawi was ranting about Gaza with a bullhorn on campus. Mahdawi’s claims that he opposes antisemitism and wants peace went unchallenged. Meanwhile, other left-wing outlets like New York Magazine cheered him as a hero of the anti-Trump and anti-Israel “resistance.”

Contrary to the way that he has been portrayed in these accounts, Mahdawi is no advocate for peace. A leader of the pro-Hamas illegal encampments and building takeovers at Columbia, he supported the murderous Hamas assault on civilians in the Jewish state and repeatedly called for Israel’s destruction, an outcome that could only be obtained by the genocide of its population. As a more accurate article in The Free Press noted, he was personally involved in several incidents in which he harassed Jewish students, including one where he blared a siren at them. While Columbia gave Mahdawi a pass for his law-breaking activities, a Jewish student was subjected to disciplinary action for calling the terrorism backer a “Nazi.”

Moreover, he has a record of antisemitic utterances and support for terrorism going back to 2015, when he said, “I like to kill Jews,” as he was seeking to acquire a sniper rifle. Mahdawi has close family ties to convicted Palestinian terrorists he has praised as heroes and martyrs, rather than disassociating himself from their actions as someone who was a peace advocate would do.

As for his claim to be an advocate for peace, or, as he did in one video, argue that the genocidal chant of “from the river to the sea” doesn’t mean Jewish genocide, that is nothing but gaslighting. Suffice it to say that anyone who thinks the only way that peace can be achieved is the destruction of the one Jewish state on the planet, shouldn’t be taken seriously as anything but a rabid antisemite.

Opposing Trump

None of this matters to those who have elevated him to the status of a “free speech” martyr.

Part of the reason for this is partisan politics. Many on the left are prepared to lionize anyone targeted for deportation by the Trump administration as victims who have been abducted by the government, rather than lawbreakers and threats to public safety. Just as Democrats rallied to the cause of MS13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia, so, too, did Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) when he visited Mahdawi in jail, and then echoed lies about the agitator seeking peace and making common cause with Jews.

Sadly, the same motivation is behind the decision of 500 Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist rabbis to sign a letter opposing President Donald Trump’s efforts to force institutions of higher learning to take action against antisemitism on their campuses as well as to drop the woke leftist ideologies that are fueling the hate against Jews.

What’s happening here is not merely a wave of sympathy for those threatened by deportation by the administration. These attempts to treat terror supporters who have organized and taken part in thuggish efforts at intimidating Jewish students and even faculty members as victims are linked to similarly dishonest media coverage of the post-Oct. 7 war that Israel is waging to eradicate Hamas.

Indeed, many in the mainstream liberal press have been acting as Hamas’s stenographers since Oct. 7—accepting flagrantly false statistics about civilian casualties as truthful, downplaying or denying the Islamist group’s genocidal goals, and falsely alleging that the Israel Defense Forces have been committing war crimes when, in fact, they take greater care to avoid civilian loses than any other modern army.

The famine myth

Currently, the main anti-Israel media talking point is an effort to revive the myth that there is a famine going on in Gaza. The drumbeat of accusations lobbed at Israeli forces of deliberately starving Palestinians has been going on since the war began, even though the United Nations, which is profoundly hostile to the Jewish state, admitted it wasn’t true.

But with Hamas refusing to release the remaining Israeli hostages it still holds, and also showing itself unwilling to lay down its arms and give up control of the Strip, Israel has stopped the flow of aid into areas the terror group controls. It also plans on taking control of the distribution of food and fuel in the coastal enclave to prevent Hamas from continuing to steal most of it.

Palestinians in Gaza are suffering from Hamas’s continuation of the war it began on Oct. 7, but there remains no evidence of famine or anything close to it. Yet newspapers like the Times ignore these facts in order to keep pushing a narrative about Israelis oppressing Palestinians. The responsibility for this situation belongs to the terrorists, not the nation they attacked. Nevertheless, claims of a humanitarian catastrophe are largely part of an effort to allow the Islamist group to retain control, something that will ensure that the Jewish state will suffer more barbaric atrocities like those that began this struggle. The only way to alleviate the situation is not to lift the siege of Hamas but to force its surrender.

Meanwhile, the inflammatory coverage of Gaza is doing more than harming Israel’s image while largely giving the Palestinians a pass for their continued efforts to slaughter Jews. The myths about “genocide” or “famine” going on are also putting wind in the sails of Hamas’s supporters in the United States and their campaign against Jews. Without the widespread publication and broadcast of falsehoods about Israeli actions of self-defense, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for people like Mahdawi to get away with their bigoted thuggery. Nor would he be treated as a hero if not for the fact that liberal outlets give credence to the deceptive narrative about Israeli actions to ultimately exonerate those responsible for Oct. 7, as well as those, like Mahdawi and other Palestinians, who continue to applaud such barbaric crimes.

The media’s embrace of stories about a fake famine and fake martyrs among those slated for deportation has legitimized a mindset among many Americans who see Jewish rights and Jewish lives as unworthy of respect or protection. It’s bad enough that Mahdawi is allowed to get away with misinformation about his criminal actions and toxic beliefs about Israel, and that news organizations absolve Hamas for the impact of the war it launched. However, it is the acceptance of the Hamas narrative about Gaza and schools like Columbia that have been key to the rise in Jew-hatred.

To “so-called” progressives steeped in ideas like critical race theory, intersectionality and settler-colonialism, the delegitimization of American Jews is the inevitable corollary to their attacks on the Jewish state. Despite the lip service paid to condemnations of Jew-hatred, defeating antisemitism will be impossible so long as major journalistic outlets continue to bolster this mendacious campaign.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of the Jewish News Syndicate, a senior contributor for The Federalist, a columnist for Newsweek and a contributor to many other publications. He covers the American political scene, foreign policy, the U.S.-Israel relationship, Middle East diplomacy, the Jewish world and the arts. He hosts the JNS “Think Twice” podcast, both the weekly video program and the “Jonathan Tobin Daily” program, which are available on all major audio platforms and YouTube. Previously, he was executive editor, then senior online editor and chief political blogger, for Commentary magazine. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of The Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia and editor of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. He has won more than 60 awards for commentary, art criticism and other writing. He appears regularly on television, commenting on politics and foreign policy. Born in New York City, he studied history at Columbia University.

Antisemitism Skyrockets in 7 Countries With Largest Jewish Populations, Global Report Finds

David Swindle

Norwegian student Marie Andersen carries an antisemitic sign at an Oct. 21, 2023, pro-Hamas demonstration in Warsaw, Poland. Photo: Screenshot

The seven largest Jewish communities outside Israel have reported record spikes in antisemitic activity in recent years, largely driven by a wave of anti-Jewish hatred in the aftermath of Hamas launching its war against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to a new report released to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Holocaust.

On Wednesday, the J7 Large Communities’ Task Force Against Antisemitism — a coalition of Jewish organizations in Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States — released its first J7 Annual Report on Antisemitism on the eve of Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, when Nazi Germany formally surrendered to Allied forces on May 8.

Affirming the findings of other recent research, the report described how from 2021 through 2023, antisemitic incidents increased 11 percent in Australia, 23 percent in Argentina, 75 percent in Germany, 82 percent in the UK, 83 percent in Canada, 185 percent in France, and 227 percent in the US. The data also showed a jump on a per-capita basis, noting that Germany saw more than 38 incidents per 1,000 Jews while the UK saw 13 per 1,000.

Common trends the seven communities identified included jumps in violent incidents, repeated targeting of Jewish institutions, rising online hate speech, and increasing fear among Jews, often prompting them to hide their Jewish identity.

The number of antisemitic outrages in all seven countries spiked to record levels following Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza.

Different organizations from each of the seven countries authored the various sections of the report highlighting the surge in anti-Jewish animus.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews wrote the section on the UK, outlining the findings of the Community Security Trust (CST), a nonprofit charity that advises Britain’s Jewish community on security matters. CST recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents for 2024, the country’s second worst year for antisemitism and an 18 percent drop from 2023’s record of 4,296. These incidents included 201 physical assaults, 157 instances of damage to Jewish property, and 250 direct threats.

The report also noted that polling suggested that “approximately 6.7 million people in the UK ‘harbor elevated levels of antisemitic attitudes,’ roughly the population of London, the UK’s capital and most populated city.” The group also expressed concern for “an increase in AI-generated deepfakes depicting Jewish individuals using harmful stereotypes and embedding hate symbols in otherwise innocuous images.”

“We must insist on zero tolerance of antisemitism and ensure that this message gets through to lawmakers wherever we live,” said Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies.”

For Canada’s section, the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) provided the information and analysis. The group reported that the Jewish community “was easily the most targeted religious minority, accounting for some 70 percent of religiously motivated hate crimes (with 900 total hate crimes against Jews recorded). Hate crimes against Jews increased by 71 percent from 2022 to 2023, and 172 percent in total since 2020.”

Toronto’s police also counted 164 hate crimes targeting Jews as of October 2024, a 74.5 percent jump from 2023’s statistics.

CIJA also pointed to the increase in antisemitic attitudes among some groups, notably college students (with 26 percent holding some antisemitic views) and Muslims (52 percent). Additional polling showed these numbers reflected in the feelings of Canadian Jews, 98 percent of whom say that antisemitism is a serious or somewhat serious problem and 82 percent who say the country has grown less safe for Jews following the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel.

“Since Oct. 7, Canada has experienced a wave of antisemitic attacks — with Jewish schools shot at, synagogues firebombed, Jewish-owned businesses vandalized, and neighborhoods targeted,” CIJA Interim President Noah Shack said in a statement. “In the wake of last week’s federal election, we have a clear expectation that the next Parliament will move urgently to advance serious and impactful solutions to combat hate and protect Jewish Canadians. What is at stake is not only the safety and well-being of our community, but the future of a Canada where everyone can live free from fear and discrimination.”

The report’s section on France, contributed by the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), said that “Palestine” appeared in 30 percent of last year’s antisemitic acts in the country. Schools also saw a surge of incidents, jumping to 1,670 in the 2023-2024 school year, compared to 400 the previous year. Specific hate crimes spotlighted in the report included the assault and rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl, whose attackers cited her “bad words on Palestine” to justify their cruelty.

A November 2024 CRIF study examining the antisemitic attitudes of the public found that 46 percent of the French people believed at least six antisemitic stereotypes. CRIF stated in the report that “in France, the extreme left instrumentalizes antisemitism as a political tool, while the extreme right instrumentalizes the fight against antisemitism as a political tool.”

“What we are witnessing is not just a statistical increase, it is a societal warning sign,” said CRIF president Yonathan Arfi. “This is not a crisis for the Jewish community, it is a test for our democracies. The escalation in hate speech, threats, and physical assaults against Jews around the world reminds us why international cooperation, like that of the J7, is more vital than ever.”

The Central Council of Jews in Germany provided the facts and analysis for their nation. While the government had not yet released 2024 hate crime statistics, the group said that “there were also more than 5,000 crimes reported by the German police in connection with the Israel-Hamas war that were not labeled as motivated by antisemitism.” The group pointed to a January 2025 study which showed that approximately 40 percent of 18-to-29-year-old Germans did not know that the Nazis exterminated 6 million Jews.

“Oct. 7, 2023, has massively accelerated a development that was already looming. Jews in Germany are under threat. A front has formed, cutting across the left and right, from Islamists to the very center of society,” Dr. Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said in a statement. “This coalition questions the self-evidence of today’s Jewish life as well as Germany’s culture of remembrance. These developments are overlapping and mutually influencing online and offline. We are seeing similar developments in all the J7 countries, and I am glad that this strong task force exists.”

The Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA) explained the situation for Jews in Argentina, where the 2024 hate crime figures had also not yet appeared. The group pointed to the Anti-Defamation League’s 2024 Global 100: Index of Antisemitism, which showed that 39 percent of Argentinians (12.8 million) embraced six or more stereotypes about Jews and that 60 percent believed a small group controlled the world.

DAIA also described how “the political landscape in Argentina shifted significantly with the election of President Javier Milei at the end of 2023. His administration’s alignment with the United States and support for Israel has resulted in an increase in antisemitic and other conspiratorial rhetoric, which has become intertwined with broader geopolitical narratives.”

DAIA’s president, Mauro Berenstein, said in a statement that “in Argentina, we see with concern the exponential rise of antisemitism, in educational, academic, and professional settings, where many people, under the guise of critical thinking or a just cause, reproduce age-old prejudices. Social media has amplified these narratives. What was once whispered now goes viral in seconds. Therefore, more than ever, memory and education are not just tools of the past: they are a duty of the present and a hope for the future.”

In Australia, 64 percent of Jews called antisemitism “very much” a big problem in the country, a tenfold increase since 2017.

“This report presents the most comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of antisemitism in the western world since Oct. 7,” saidm Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. “All of our communities have been afflicted by this, but the situation in Australia presents a particularly staggering depiction of how healthy multicultural societies can be captured by networks of extremists who succeed in fundamentally altering relations between Jews and non-Jews and causing the Jewish community to question its future in a country where its roots are deep and its contributions have been profound.”

Ryvchin said that his country’s recent experience showed that “when antisemitism is not met with sufficient force of policing, law, and political leadership, it can escalate into devastating violence and can attract the most vicious elements of society ranging from religious and ideological fanatics to organized crime. The importance and value of this report is a testament to the work of the ADL [Anti-Defamation League] in convening the J7 and the outstanding cooperation between its member communities.”

As for the US, the ADL and Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations wrote the section, which noted an “alarming rise” in antisemitic incidents. Last month, the ADL released its own report revealing antisemitism in the US surged to break “all previous annual records” in 2024, recording 9,354 antisemitic incidents.

“Eighty years after the end of World War II, Jewish leaders from across the world have come together to reaffirm a simple truth: that we will never allow hatred to define our future,” said Betsy Berns-Korn, chair-elect of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “Rooted in memory, guided by justice, and strengthened by unity, we reaffirm our commitment to securing a safer and more inclusive world for generations to come.  This inaugural report reflects the strength of our collective voice and unwavering resolve.”

Przez Kneecap wstydzę się, że jestem Irlandczykiem

Brendan O’Neill
Tłumaczenie: Małgorzata Koraszewska

Brendan O’Neill – brytyjski dziennikarz, redaktor naczelny magazynu „Spiked” , autor głośnej książki A Heretic’s Manifesto: Essays on the Unsayable