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Two 21-year-old British men narrowly avoided serving prison time after admitting to filming a TikTok video in which they walked through a heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in London carrying a fishing rod while announcing they were “catching Jews.”

According to a report published by the London Evening Standard, both men pleaded guilty and were each sentenced to six weeks in prison. However, the sentences were suspended for 12 months, allowing them to avoid immediate incarceration.

The incident occurred on May 7 in Stamford Hill, home to one of the largest Orthodox Jewish communities in the United Kingdom. During the video, the pair joked about going “fishing for Jews” and verbally harassed a local Jewish resident as part of content they intended to post on social media.

The Metropolitan Police said the suspects attempted to flee when officers arrived at the scene but were quickly caught and taken into custody.

In addition to the suspended prison sentences, the court ordered each defendant to complete 150 hours of community service and participate in 20 days of rehabilitation. They were also directed to pay £85 in court costs.

The case comes amid a significant increase in antisemitic violence across Britain. Among the recent incidents was the stabbing of two Orthodox Jewish men in the Golders Green neighborhood in late April.

Following that attack, British authorities raised the nation’s terrorism threat level from “substantial” to “severe,” marking the first such increase in more than four years.

According to figures released for 2025, the United Kingdom recorded the world’s highest per-capita rate of violent antisemitic attacks, documenting 121 serious assaults against a Jewish population of roughly 300,000.

{Matzav.com}

As the Israeli government moves toward revoking tax-deductible donation status for yeshivos that enroll students classified as military draft evaders, Rav Nachum Bombach, chairman of the board of Yeshivas Itri and a certified public accountant, said the measure would undoubtedly create challenges but expressed confidence that the Torah world would endure.

Speaking with Avi Mimran on Kol Chai Radio’s central news program, Bombach explained that Section 46 of Israel’s Income Tax Ordinance allows donors to approved public institutions to receive a tax credit equal to 35 percent of their contribution, making it a significant incentive for charitable giving.

Even so, Bombach said it remains unclear how severely the proposed change would affect donations.

“A person who donates to a yeshiva is not donating because of the tax benefit,” he said. “After all, 65% of the donation isn’t recognized anyway. If someone chooses to support a yeshiva, it’s possible that the tax benefit is only a secondary consideration. It could even motivate people to continue giving despite losing the benefit. We simply don’t know what the actual impact will be.”

Bombach acknowledged that eliminating the tax incentive appears to be a serious financial blow but noted that yeshivos have already weathered more difficult crises, including the sharp reductions in government funding over the past year and a half.

“Clearly, on the surface, this seems like a significant blow, but we’ve dealt with things that were even worse. The yeshivos survived the budget cuts, and we’ll get through this as well.”

During the interview, Bombach was also asked whether yeshivos could preserve their Section 46 status by placing students classified as draft evaders into a separate nonprofit organization while maintaining the primary institution’s eligibility.

He dismissed the idea as unrealistic.

“I don’t think it’s a practical solution at all. The state would argue that it’s a fictitious arrangement and would never allow it.”

Concluding the interview, Bombach addressed the broader legal and political battle surrounding the draft of bnei yeshivos, saying he believes there are those who are actively seeking to undermine the Torah world.

“We have to deal with the situation,” he said. “We hope that Hakadosh Boruch Hu will bring us better times. For now, this is the reality. The yeshivos have survived, they will survive, and they will continue to grow even stronger.”

[Video below.] Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu pushed back against Vice President J.D. Vance’s recent assertion that the United States is Israel’s only significant ally, saying that while President Donald Trump has been Israel’s greatest friend in the White House, the Jewish state also enjoys strong relationships with many other countries around the world.

During an interview Sunday with Fox News anchor Jacqui Heinrich, Netanyahu was asked about remarks Vance made during a White House briefing last month.

At that briefing, Vance said, “Donald J. Trump the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time. And he happens to be the head of state of the world’s superpower. If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”

Heinrich then asked Netanyahu, “What was your reaction when you heard that?”

The Israeli leader began by expressing respect for Vance while making it clear that they do not always see eye to eye.

“First of all, I respect J.D. Vance,” Netanyahu began. “We have a very good relationship, but it doesn’t mean that I agree with everything that he says, and I have to point out this: Donald Trump is a great, the greatest friend we’ve ever had in the White House, and I stand by that completely.”

Netanyahu went on to argue that Israel’s network of allies extends well beyond Washington, pointing to India as one example of a nation that has shown tremendous support.

“Secondly, we have some other friends like the small country of India, you know? It has 1.4 billion people. And, boy,” Netanyahu chuckled, “do we have tremendous support there. I have this Facebook thing,” he laughed again. “I’m just flooded by the overwhelming support there. And we have many others.”

Expanding on that point, Netanyahu said many foreign leaders privately express admiration for Israel despite anti-Israel sentiment in their own countries.

“Let me tell you where we have support, because it’s fashionable now, you know, in many countries, because their media and their social media are inundated with anti-Israel, antisemitic material. Many leaders, you know, call me up and say, ‘Hey, look, I’ve got this problem with public opinion, but I want you to know, we respect you, and can we make some deals? And can you teach us some of the things that your military does? And can we have some of your AI and cyber expertise?’ You know, Israel is the number two country in cyber in the world. And our technology is, it’s so good. So, the relations are not quite as they appear. And we have many, many friends.”

[Video below.] Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie launched a blistering attack on President Donald Trump during an appearance on ABC’s This Week, accusing the president of treating the White House as a vehicle for personal enrichment after reports that Trump earned $1.4 billion last year through his family’s cryptocurrency ventures.

Christie argued that Trump and his family view their return to office as permission to capitalize financially on their political success, comparing the situation to the conduct of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“He and his family believe they are entitled to this,” Christie said. “This is an entitlement to them. They believe, when they came back and won this election the second time, that that gave them license. That the American people gave them license to essentially go and take whatever they could take over this period of time. And, quite frankly, you know, when you look at the scale of this, here’s another thing apparently that Donald Trump learned from Vladimir Putin during his first term. This is Putin-esque type of corruption and self-enrichment!”

Trump has rejected suggestions that he is personally involved in managing his financial holdings. Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, he said he has no role in overseeing his investments.

“I don’t get involved in my personal — we have funds that run my money…I don’t talk to them. I never — I don’t even speak to them. So I have many people — I don’t know what they call it — closed accounts, or something. You put your money in, and that’s it.”

While Christie acknowledged that existing ethics laws do not prohibit the president from engaging in such financial arrangements, he suggested there could be constitutional issues. His remarks prompted host George Stephanopoulos to interject.

“Potentially the Constitution does, the Emoluments Clause,” Stephanopoulos said.

Christie agreed and pointed to Qatar’s gift of a new Air Force One aircraft as another example of what he believes are constitutional concerns. He also argued that repeated statements by Trump about the costs of various projects have damaged his credibility.

“I mean there’s a difference between, obviously, as you know, between the individual ethics laws, which do not apply to him, but the emoluments clause, when you look at the plane. And what I think will start to hurt him more is that he says things that turn out to not be true. Oh, the plane is a gift. It won’t cost us anything. Well, no, it costs us hundreds of millions of dollars to get it up to Air Force One level of operation. Every time he says one of those things, the ballroom won’t cost anybody anything. Now we’re talking about them wanting to move a billion dollars to work on the ballroom.

He concluded by arguing that voters are increasingly taking notice of the controversy.

“The American people are starting to catch up to this. You can feel it.”

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}