During a visit on Wednesday to the Judea and Samaria Division, Israeli Defense Minister Yisroel Katz told senior officers to ensure operational readiness for extreme scenarios, directing them to “prepare to respond to a possible October 7th-style attack on communities in Judea and Samaria and along the seamline.”
Katz also reaffirmed that the Israel Defense Forces will maintain a sustained presence throughout Judea and Samaria, stressing that the military will function as a physical barrier separating civilians from terrorist networks. He said the same approach used in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza applies there as well, with forces remaining on the ground to block the regeneration of terror infrastructure and prevent attacks.
Pointing to recent security gains, the defense minister said counterterror operations conducted over the past year in the camps of Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur a-Shams led to a dramatic reduction in violence, citing a drop of more than 80% in terrorist activity across Judea and Samaria.
He urged commanders to draw practical conclusions from those results, recommending that the operational model be evaluated for expansion to additional camps and implemented forcefully and consistently over time.
Katz further instructed the military to continue moving ahead with plans to relocate IDF bases to northern Samaria, describing the effort as “it is a historical rectification of both defensive and settlement importance, and that the return to northern Samaria strengthens security and stability in the area.”
{Matzav.com}
On his final day in office, New York City Mayor Eric Adams made public the inaugural annual report of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, formally closing out a year of policy development and enforcement initiatives aimed at addressing antisemitism across the city.
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, praised the mayor’s approach and leadership. “A famous quotation in the movie The King’s Speech is when King George VI says, ‘I have a voice.’ Thankfully, Mayor Eric Adams has been a courageous voice in combatting the scourge of antisemitism in our city,” he said. “While some were silent, he was not afraid to shout and stand in solidarity with the Jewish community. He would remind us that antisemitism is anti-Christianity, anti-Islam, and anti-all faiths. We will always be grateful.”
The report was issued jointly with the office’s executive director, Moshe Davis, and provides a detailed overview of the structures, policies, and legislative planning put in place since the office was launched in May 2025. It represents the first time a major U.S. city has established a municipal agency devoted solely to combating antisemitism.
Davis said the document is intended to serve both as a record of accomplishments and a practical guide for other cities. “We cannot control world events or eradicate centuries-old hatred, but we can do what government does best: create policy, enforce the law, educate, and speak with moral clarity,” he said. “This report is both a record of what we accomplished and a blueprint for what municipal government ought to do.”
According to the report, the decision to establish the office followed a surge in antisemitic incidents after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel. During early 2025, antisemitic incidents made up the majority of reported hate crimes in New York City, which the administration said underscored the need for a coordinated, citywide response.
The document lays out the administration’s central initiatives, including adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism, the formation of an interagency task force involving more than 35 city agencies, and the issuance of four executive orders. Those orders addressed antisemitism in city procurement, public communications, coordination with law enforcement, and enhanced protections for houses of worship.
“After the attacks of October 7, 2023, I wasn’t afraid to say what so many New Yorkers were feeling: We were not alright. That was the truth and a call to action,” Adams said in a statement released with the report. “Confronting antisemitism has been a priority for our administration. New York City is home to the largest Jewish community outside of Israel – a point of pride and responsibility.”
Adams said the administration emphasized pairing strong rhetoric with concrete enforcement. “In a few short months, we delivered four executive orders, built an interagency task force dedicated to coordinating responses, and adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism,” he said, adding that “there is still more work to be done.”
First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro said the report captures a whole-of-government response to a growing problem. “We find ourselves at a crossroad in this city with antisemitism raging,” Mastro said. “Such hate cannot go unchecked here, home to the largest Jewish population of any city in the world.”
Beyond policy summaries, the report includes historical analysis of antisemitism in New York City, legal reviews of executive actions and proposed legislation, and a forward-looking plan that outlines legislative goals, citywide training programs, and expanded enforcement tools. Appendices provide the full text of executive orders, mayoral remarks, and draft legislative proposals.
The publication builds on steps taken throughout 2025, including the formal launch of the antisemitism office, creation of the interagency task force, recognition of the IHRA definition, and executive orders barring discriminatory procurement practices targeting Israel and directing the New York City Police Department to review protest-related policies near houses of worship.
Community leaders also welcomed the report’s release. Hindy Poupko, senior vice president of the UJA Federation of New York, said, “We are grateful to Mayor Adams, First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, and Executive Director Moshe Davis for their unwavering advocacy and support for Jewish New Yorkers at a moment when the community urgently needed government to act.” She added, “The recent antisemitic attack at Bondi Beach underscores the ongoing need for efforts like those undertaken by MOCA, including strengthened enforcement tools and training, streamlined security infrastructure for synagogues and Jewish institutions, and citywide educational initiatives – all helping to ensure that Jewish New Yorkers feel safe and supported.”
The report’s release comes as the city prepares for a transition in leadership. Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is scheduled to be sworn into office on New Year’s Day.
{Matzav.com}
MK Uri Maklev, chairman of United Torah Judaism, delivered a sharp rebuke Tuesday night against organizations promoting Jewish ascent to the Har Habayis, saying that such actions violate broad halachic and public consensus and directly fuel deadly unrest.
Maklev’s remarks were made during a meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee, convened to discuss recognition of nonprofit organizations for tax benefits under Section 46 of the Israel Tax Authority. His comments followed the appearance, on the list of candidate organizations, of an association involved in Temple Mount activity.
In forceful comments, Maklev said that ascending the Har Habayis represents a departure from accepted halachic and communal norms, stressing that the overwhelming majority of the chareidi public refrains from going there in accordance with the unequivocal prohibition issued by all chief rabbis. He added that the halachic ban is one of the few issues that unites most of Israel’s religious public.
Turning to security implications, Maklev warned that such visits are inherently provocative and lead directly to bloodshed. “Every time people go up to the Har Habayis, turmoil erupts, and Jewish blood is spilled like water,” he said.
He went on to level personal criticism at Har Habayis activists, declaring: “Those who went up to the Har Habayis and caused the disturbances — they have blood on their hands. How many Jews were murdered because of this?”
Maklev also rejected claims of sovereignty tied to escorted visits, arguing that an ascent carried out under the protection of hundreds of police officers does not reflect genuine sovereignty. Instead, he said, it only stirs unnecessary agitation with deadly consequences.
{Matzav.com}
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is facing mounting criticism after it emerged that his inaugural committee includes a senior activist from the Democratic Socialists of America who previously praised individuals caught tearing down posters of Israeli hostages.
The activist, Alvaro Lopez, a DSA electoral organizer, reacted in November 2023 to a post on X about a New York Post cover story showing two women ripping down hostage posters on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Responding to the incident — during which one of the women cursed a passerby and shouted “[Curse] you, [Curse] Israel” — Lopez wrote: “All I see are heroes.”
The comment drew sharp backlash at the time and has now resurfaced following Lopez’s appointment to Mamdani’s inaugural committee.
The episode is not an isolated one. In October 2023, Lopez accused Ritchie Torres of complicity in violence, writing in another X post that the congressman had “Palestinian children’s blood on your hands.” In the same post, Lopez asked, “What’s your asking price from APAIC [sic] ?” — a reference to American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Mamdani himself is a member of the DSA, an organization that came under widespread condemnation after promoting a pro-Palestinian rally in Times Square a day after Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 people in Israel on October 7, 2023 — the first of several such demonstrations.
Lopez is one of several figures with records of extreme anti-Israel rhetoric who were selected for the mayor-elect’s inaugural committee. Mamdani has also appointed Ms. Rachel — the online persona of Rachel Griffin-Accurso — who previously appeared in a children’s video with Motaz Azzaiz, a Palestinian activist who had posted “May God curse the Jews themselves” on social media.
Griffin-Accurso has long been accused by critics of echoing Hamas messaging in content aimed at young children, while failing to address the suffering of Israeli children victimized during the October 7 Hamas attacks.
Also serving on the committee is Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace, who previously accused Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of “pledging to commit war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza” following Israel’s announced response to the October 7 massacre.
Separately, Mamdani’s transition team has already been rocked by scandal. His head of appointments, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, resigned last week after past antisemitic tweets referring to “money hungry Jews” resurfaced.
Responding to the renewed scrutiny, Lopez told New York Post that he did not remember making the X post and said, “It’s possible I was talking about the people on the posters. It was a really chaotic time.”
{Matzav.com}
