A group of settler activists and their children crossed the Israeli-Syrian border on Tuesday in an attempt to establish a new settlement inside Syrian territory. The IDF said troops were rushed to the scene after several civilian vehicles were spotted crossing near the border town of Alonei Habashan. Soldiers quickly intervened, escorting the civilians back into Israel. “This is a grave incident that constitutes a criminal offense and endangers both the public and IDF troops,” the army said in a statement. The activists were turned over to police for questioning. The group, identifying itself as the “Bashan Pioneers,” reportedly intended to remain inside Syrian territory with their families and to found a new community they called “Nave Habashan,” according to a report by i24NEWS. The incident comes against the backdrop of Israel’s deepening involvement in Syria. Since the collapse of the Assad regime in December, the IDF has manned nine forward posts inside southern Syria, many within the UN-patrolled buffer zone. The border remains one of the region’s most volatile fault lines. This is not the first time settler activists have attempted such a move. In December, another group illegally entered Lebanese territory — at the time under Israeli control — in a bid to plant a new settlement, before being expelled by soldiers. Support for Jewish settlement in Syria and Lebanon is limited to the fringes of the settler movement, with no mainstream political backing. By contrast, calls to establish Jewish communities in Gaza have surged during the current war, finding vocal support among right-wing ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, who have repeatedly pressed for resettlement of the Strip. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
A radical activist group announced plans Monday for a vigil invoking one of New York City’s darkest episodes of racial and antisemitic violence – the deadly 1991 Crown Heights riots. The group, calling itself Crown Heights Bites Back, issued a statement accusing Chabad-Lubavitch of “brutally killing” Gavin Cato, a 7-year-old boy who died in a car accident in 1991 involving the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s motorcade. The group called the incident as “vehicular manslaughter by a motorcade of Jewish supremacists” and demanded “justice” for Cato. The crash, which also injured Cato’s cousin, ignited days of rioting in which mobs targeted Jewish residents, looted businesses, and murdered Yankel Rosenbaum, a 29-year-old Lubavitch chossid. The vigil is set for Tuesday at Utica Avenue and President Street, just blocks from Chabad headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway — the same intersection where the 1991 accident occurred. “They are attempting to reignite tensions by exploiting the tragic car accident that claimed the life of Gavin Cato — an event that led to the Crown Heights riots and the antisemitic murder of Yankel Rosenbaum,” the Jewish Future Alliance, a neighborhood advocacy group, warned in a statement. “This is a dangerous pattern,” the group added. “While this fringe minority may not represent the broader community, history has shown that rhetoric like this fuels hatred and leads to real violence. It must be unequivocally condemned.” The planned vigil comes amid a series of recent flare-ups in the neighborhood. In April, Crown Heights Bites Back staged a protest that featured explicitly racial messaging, with speakers invoking the 1991 riots and accusing Jews of running over Black children. That demonstration followed a string of tensions, including a widely circulated video of a street altercation between a Jewish man and a Black man in a wheelchair, and a visit by far-right Israeli politician Itamar Ben Gvir that drew anti-Israel demonstrators to Chabad’s headquarters. The NYPD said it is aware of Tuesday’s planned vigil. Jewish leaders are urging officials to ensure that hate-fueled rhetoric does not spill over into violence once again. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Israeli authorities on Monday lifted a years-long gag order shielding the identity of the man behind one of the most terrifying waves of bomb threats ever directed at Jewish communities worldwide. The suspect — long known internationally but never named in Israel — is 27-year-old Michael Kadar, an Israeli-American now fighting extradition from Norway to the United States. Kadar, dubbed the “hacker from Ashkelon,” admitted to placing nearly 2,000 fake bomb threats between 2016 and 2017. His calls targeted Jewish community centers, schools, hospitals, airlines, airports, shopping malls and police stations across the United States and other countries. The threats sparked chaos: fighter jets were scrambled, passenger planes dumped fuel and made emergency landings, schools were evacuated, and parents of Jewish children lived in terror of mass attacks. Authorities say Kadar’s campaign of intimidation extended across continents, from the U.S. and Canada to the U.K., Australia and New Zealand. His digital trail also led to AlphaBay, a now-defunct online black market, where prosecutors say he advertised a “School Email Bomb Threat Service” for $30 per threat, offering surcharges if clients wanted him to frame someone else. Court documents describe chilling threats in which Kadar allegedly claimed to be holding children hostage and threatened to execute them. U.S. officials say his conduct fits squarely within hate crimes statutes. The U.S. Justice Department has indicated Kadar could face decades in prison: up to 20 years for each hate crime charge, 10 years for each bomb threat, and five years for cyberstalking and hoax charges. Kadar was sentenced in 2018 by an Israeli court to 10 years in prison, later commuted to seven, after pleading guilty to hundreds of counts including extortion, spreading panic, computer crimes and money laundering. He was also fined 60,000 shekels. His name, however, remained under gag order in Israel due to his status as a minor at the time of some offenses — even as U.S. prosecutors and international media published it freely. The Tel Aviv District Court’s decision Monday finally removed that protection. It also allowed publication of details about his medical history. His family and defense attorney, Nir Yaslovitzh, pressed for disclosure, arguing that his health — including autism and a brain tumor — is central to his defense. Since completing his Israeli sentence in 2024, Kadar has been living in Norway with his family, where he sought asylum. Norwegian authorities denied the claim and detained him on the U.S. extradition request. His mental health has reportedly deteriorated in custody, with Ynet reporting fears he could be declared insane. Israel’s Foreign Ministry has quietly raised concerns with Oslo about his wellbeing, citing his history of repeated suicide attempts during his time in Israeli prison. His parents maintain that he never understood the gravity of his actions, believing the threats were a “game.” Prosecutors, however, say that whatever his medical conditions, Kadar’s actions were devastating. His bomb threats paralyzed institutions central to Jewish communal life, at a time of rising antisemitism worldwide. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
