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Israel has barred two Swedish members of the European Parliament from entering the country, citing what officials described as a years-long record of hostile activity against Israel, including efforts to promote international legal action against Israeli officials and accusations that Israel has committed genocide and deliberately targeted civilians.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar requested that the Population and Immigration Authority deny entry to Jonas Sjöstedt and Hanna Gedin, both members of Sweden’s Left Party. The decision was made under the authority provided by Israel’s Entry into Israel Law.

Sjöstedt and Gedin had been scheduled to arrive in Israel overnight before continuing on to the Palestinian Authority as part of their planned visit.

The Foreign Ministry said the two European lawmakers have repeatedly engaged in activities directed against Israel in recent years. Among their actions, according to the ministry, have been calls for international judicial proceedings targeting Israeli officials.

Israeli officials also pointed to a series of public statements made by the lawmakers that Israel considers false and inflammatory. Those allegations have included claims that Israel is committing genocide and intentionally starving Palestinians.

The two have also accused Israel of deliberately targeting children and medical personnel, allegations that Israeli officials have strongly rejected.

A man who pleaded guilty to vandalizing cars with the words “[Curse] Israel” did not commit an act of Jew-hatred, an Australian Supreme Court judge determined in a ruling.

The man, Mohommed Farhat, was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison in November 2025, backdated to February of that year, for vandalizing cars and building walls in Woollahra, in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, with the words “[Curse] Israel,” “PKK” (a reference to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Turkey), “PKK is coming” and an obscene gesture followed by the word “Israel.” Farhat also set a vehicle ablaze, per the judge’s ruling.

The New South Wales government had requested a one-year extended supervision order for Farhat, arguing that he is a terror risk. Desmond Fagan, a judge on the New South Wales Supreme Court, stated in his ruling that “a curse in those terms is not antisemitic, either self-evidently or by any degree of analysis or construction.

“It is a crude political expression of contempt and dismissal of a foreign state,” he wrote.

Fagan denied the state’s request. The state is considering an appeal, according to the Guardian. JNS

{Matzav.com}

The Boston Police Department told JNS that a driver who accelerated into a crosswalk and allegedly shouted at two Jews walking to shul on Aug. 14, a Friday night, did not intend to “drive at somebody.”

“They may have driven through the crosswalk when someone was in the crosswalk, which is a crosswalk violation,” Sgt. Det. John Boyle told JNS.

Boyle added that police are still investigating for “bias indicators.” The driver reportedly accelerated while driving toward the Jewish couple.

“With the Jewish holidays coming up, people are always going to be on edge,” he said. “I don’t want people to be in fear.”

The incident occurred shortly after 7:20 p.m. on Aug. 14, as a husband and wife crossed at Washington Street and Euston Road on their way to Congregation Kadimah-Toras Moshe, a shul in Brighton, Mass.

The driver allegedly shouted, “[Curse] Israel!”

Surveillance footage showed what appeared to be a green metallic Audi A-series sedan with distinctive stickers on its rear bumper, according to an incident report. The driver was listed as an unidentified male.

The couple declined medical evaluations at the scene, and shul staff provided investigators with still images from surveillance footage. JNS

{Matzav.com}

Canada’s Jewish community is calling on the Montreal City Council to reject an “incendiary” anti-Israel motion set to be debated on Monday.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs accused Projet Montréal, the city’s official opposition party, of “importing a foreign conflict” to City Hall “while local emergencies pile up,” including homelessness, drugs and housing. CIJA said the motion does not refer to Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Introduced by Projet Montréal city councilors Nathalie Goulet, Ericka Alneus and Alex Norris, the proposal calls on Montreal to recognize and denounce what it describes as an “apartheid regime” and “genocide” in “Palestine.” It also calls on the city to suspend institutional ties with Israel’s current government, its institutions and municipalities until Israel “returns to internationally recognized borders” and ends what the motion describes as violations of Palestinian rights and international law.

The motion, action on which was postponed after being introduced in June, reaffirms opposition to antisemitism and Islamophobia. It also says Jewish residents and those of Israeli origin should not be held responsible for the actions of the Israeli government.

CIJA and Federation CJA, its Quebec partner, shared a video of Raquel Look, whose son Alexandre was killed in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack at the Supernova music festival in southern Israel. In the video, she urges city councilors to reject the motion.

"Do not let the intolerance that tore my son away from me destroy our city."

Listen to the heartfelt plea from Raquel Look, mother of Alexandre, a Montrealer murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, at the Nova Festival.

While local emergencies pile up (homelessness,… https://t.co/zN8RrYz0ux pic.twitter.com/b1zWxjiuYN

— CIJA (@CIJAinfo) August 21, 2026

“This motion seeks to divide our city,” Look said, adding that violence and hate-motivated acts targeting Jews have risen in Montreal since Oct. 7. She cited statistics showing that Canada’s Jewish community experiences a disproportionate number of hate crimes.

“I am begging you,” Look said. “Do not let the intolerance that tore my son away from me take root and destroy our city.”

A Jewish couple visiting South Florida from New York was allegedly targeted in an antisemitic assault in Surfside, with a man accused of punching the husband in the head, threatening to kill him, and directing antisemitic remarks at the couple. Local rabbonim condemned the attack while stressing that it appeared to be an isolated incident that does not reflect the broader Surfside community.

Rabbi Gavriel Koskas of Magen David Congregation of Surfside-Bal Harbour described the alleged attack as “deeply disturbing and unacceptable” but said it appears to have been “an isolated incident.”

“It is important to put it in perspective,” the rabbi of the shul said. “This appears to have been an isolated incident involving individuals who are not Surfside residents, and it does not reflect the community we live in.”

The incident reportedly occurred on the night of Aug. 16 as the Jewish man and his wife were visiting the area from New York. According to news reports citing a police report, the man was struck in the head and threatened during the confrontation. JNS requested an incident report from local police.

The suspect, identified as 35-year-old Jorden Stephen Perozo, allegedly approached the couple while riding an electric scooter. News accounts citing police said he began cursing at the husband, his wife, and other members of the Jewish community before allegedly punching the man.

“Now you’re going to die,” Perozo allegedly told the man, per the report. “Walk away before I kill you.”

Perozo allegedly continued directing antisemitic comments at the couple while also making statements about Israel and “Palestine.” The victim’s wife reportedly captured part of the encounter on her cellphone.

Police reportedly located and arrested Perozo on Wednesday at Flanigan’s Bar & Grill, where he was employed. He faces one count of battery with prejudice and another count of harassing or intimidating a person based on religious or ethnic heritage.

As of Thursday, Perozo was reportedly being held on $6,000 bond.

Rabbi Zalman Lipskar of the Shul of Bal Harbour, a Chabad synagogue, praised law enforcement agencies in the area for maintaining a close relationship with the local Jewish population and working to protect residents.

The local police departments “work very closely with the Jewish community and are doing an amazing job ensuring the safety of all our residents.”

“We are very grateful to them for their tireless efforts to protect our community,” he said.

Koskas noted the particularly prominent Jewish presence in Surfside and said the proper reaction to incidents of antisemitism is increased awareness and preparation rather than allowing fear to take hold.

“Surfside has a very visible and vibrant Jewish population” and “we should respond with preparedness, vigilance and confidence, not fear.”

Koskas said Jewish institutions must recognize the importance of establishing serious and organized security systems rather than relying on informal precautions.

“At our synagogue, we have developed a comprehensive security team, both inside and outside, working alongside professional security and law enforcement,” he told JNS. “I would urge synagogues and Jewish institutions everywhere to develop similarly strong security protocols appropriate to their circumstances.”

He cautioned that the mere presence of armed security personnel does not, by itself, constitute an adequate security strategy.

“Simply having armed people present is not a security plan,” Koskas said. “Anyone entrusted with protecting a congregation must be properly trained, coordinated, disciplined, and know exactly how to respond in an emergency.”

Despite the alleged assault, Koskas said Surfside’s Jewish community is not living in fear. He credited state and local authorities in Florida with consistently supporting and protecting Jewish residents.

“We are extremely fortunate that in Florida, our state and local leaders and law-enforcement agencies have consistently been vigilant, responsive and strongly supportive of the Jewish community,” he told JNS.

Koskas said antisemitic incidents must be treated with seriousness but cautioned against allowing a single attack to characterize an entire community.

“Antisemitism is something we must always take seriously and condemn unequivocally,” Koskas said. “But we should respond with preparedness, vigilance and confidence, not fear. One isolated incident should not define Surfside.”

“This remains a community where Jewish families feel safe and supported,” he added.

Perozo reportedly had another encounter with law enforcement earlier this summer. On June 15, Miami Beach police arrested him after accusing him of slashing a large inflatable FIFA World Cup soccer ball that was on display in Miami Beach.

The Torah community in Bnei Brak is mourning the passing of Rebbetzin Simcha (Simone) Barchatz a”h, a renowned mechaneches and the wife of Rav Yehoshua Barchatz, rosh kollel of Kollel Eitz Chaim and a leading rov for the French Jewish community in Bnei Brak. She was 79.

Rebbetzin Barchatz passed away Sunday at Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak following a period of severe yissurim, which she endured with remarkable faith and acceptance.

She was born in Morocco on the 22nd of Tishrei 5707 to her parents, Rav and Rebbetzin Yosef Berdugo zt”l. She was a great-granddaughter of the renowned gaon and tzaddik Rav Raphael Berdugo zy”a, known as “the Malach,” and descended from an illustrious lineage of distinguished gedolei Torah.

For decades, Rebbetzin Barchatz devoted herself to chinuch, earning a reputation as an exceptional educator. She guided thousands of kallos at Seminar Ohr Hachaim as well as at numerous other seminaries.

Her influence extended well beyond the classroom. Through her extraordinary acts of chessed, she helped establish numerous Torah homes, while her own home served as a bais vaad lachachomim. Its doors were always open to guests, and she was known for exceptional hachnosas orchim and gemilus chassadim.

Throughout the years, Rebbetzin Barchatz stood devotedly alongside her husband as he dedicated himself to harbotzas haTorah. With tremendous mesirus nefesh, she enabled and supported his Torah endeavors while together they raised generations of accomplished bnei Torah.

She merited to leave behind sons and sons-in-law who are prominent marbitzei Torah and talmidei chachomim. Her sons are Rav Reuven Barchatz, one of the rabbonim of Kehillas Yaaros Devash; Rav Yosef Barchatz, a prominent rov in Elad; Rav Rachamim Barchatz, one of the leading rabbonim of the Kol Yaakov shul in Elad; Rav Raphael Moshe Barchatz, a United Hatzalah volunteer in Elad; and Rav Avraham Yeshaya Barchatz, head of the Kerestir kehillajh in Yerushalayim.

Her sons-in-law are Rav Moshe Cohen, a ram at Yeshivas Mishkan Chaim in Yerushalayim; Rav Goel Elkaref, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Derech Chaim in Bnei Brak; Rav Eliyahu Cohen, mashgiach at Yeshivas Heichal HaTorah in Bnei Brak; Rav Raphael Tzadka, rov of the Shaar Hashamayim shul and community; and Rav Yehuda Lev of Kollel Bais Hillel.

The levayah was held this evening at 6 Rav Sorotzkin Street in Bnei Brak’s Ramat Aharon neighborhood and proceeded to the Ponevezh bais hachaim, where Rebbetzin Barchatz was laid to rest.

The family is sitting shivah at the Barchatz home at 6 Rav Sorotzkin Street in Bnei Brak.

Yehi zichrah baruch.

{Matzav.com}

Americans could see dramatically later sunsets during the darkest months of the year if Congress approves permanent daylight saving time, but the extra evening daylight would come with a major trade-off: In many parts of the country, the sun would not rise until well after 8 a.m., and in some locations, darkness could linger past 9 a.m.

With the annual return to standard time approaching — and arriving as early on the calendar as possible this year — President Trump is continuing to press the Senate to approve legislation that would eliminate the twice-yearly clock change and establish daylight saving time throughout the year.

Such a change would noticeably alter winter mornings and evenings across much of the United States.

The Sunshine Protection Act would keep participating states on daylight saving time year-round. Hawaii and most of Arizona, which currently remain on standard time throughout the year, would continue to be exempt.

For most of the rest of the country, both sunrise and sunset would occur an hour later by the clock during the period between early November and March, when standard time is currently observed.

That would mean some particularly dark winter mornings. Large portions of the country would experience at least some days when sunrise does not occur until after 8 a.m., while certain areas would remain dark until after 9 a.m.

The benefit would come at the opposite end of the day, with Americans gaining an additional hour of evening daylight.

Many communities currently experience winter sunsets during the 4 p.m. or 5 p.m. hours. Without the November switch back to standard time, a 4:30 p.m. sunset would instead occur at 5:30 p.m., while a sunset shortly after 5 p.m. would move to shortly after 6 p.m.

Some locations could even experience winter sunsets after 7 p.m., something that does not occur under the current clock system.

Juneau, Alaska, for example, currently experiences 40 winter sunsets during the 3 p.m. hour. Under permanent daylight saving time, all of those sunsets would instead occur during the 4 p.m. hour.

Communities accustomed to months of particularly early darkness would experience an especially noticeable change. Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Burlington, Vermont, each currently have more than 90 winter days with sunsets before 5 p.m. Permanent daylight saving time would push those sunsets into the 5 p.m. hour.

Other cities would experience surprisingly late sunsets as winter nears its end. Juneau, Indianapolis, and Louisville, Kentucky, would see some of the latest, with sunsets occurring after 7:40 p.m. in early March.

But those same cities illustrate the central drawback of keeping daylight saving time permanently: extremely late winter sunrises.

Juneau’s latest winter sunrise would not occur until after 11 a.m. Indianapolis and Louisville would experience periods when the sun rises at or after 9 a.m., while Grand Rapids, Michigan, would have one of the latest winter sunrise times in the continental United States, at approximately 9:14 a.m.

Those dark mornings have helped derail previous attempts to establish permanent daylight saving time. Critics have also raised concerns about possible health effects, difficulties for religious observance, and complications for airline schedules, particularly during the transition to a new permanent system.

The debate has now returned to Congress. The House has already approved the Sunshine Protection Act of 2026, but the Senate remains in recess until September. It remains uncertain whether senators will bring the measure to the floor — or whether supporters have enough votes to send it to President Trump for his signature.

Lawmakers are considering several other approaches as well. Two House bills would allow individual states to choose permanent daylight saving time, while another proposal would establish a permanent half-hour shift between standard and daylight saving time.

Yet another bill takes the opposite approach, proposing to end seasonal clock changes by making standard time permanent, subject to certain exceptions.

Today, Sunday, 10 Elul 5786, marks the 35th yahrtzeit of Yankel Rosenbaum HYD, the Lubavitcher bochur who was brutally murdered during the Crown Heights riots in 1991.

Rosenbaum was killed on 10 Elul 5751, in an attack that became one of the defining and most horrifying episodes of the days of antisemitic violence that engulfed the Crown Heights neighborhood.

Thirty-five years ago, a furious mob pursued Rosenbaum through the streets while shouting, “Kill the Jews!” When he reached the area of President Street and Brooklyn Avenue, Rosenbaum was surrounded by attackers who viciously beat and stabbed him.

In the decades that followed, Rosenbaum’s only sibling, Norman Rosenbaum obm, devoted himself relentlessly to seeking justice for his brother. Living in Australia, Norman traveled to New York more than 250 times as part of his years-long effort to ensure that Yankel’s murder would not be forgotten and that those responsible would be held accountable.

Norman continued those efforts for decades. On the 25th anniversary of Yankel’s murder, he returned to Crown Heights and participated in a memorial at the corner of President Street and Brooklyn Avenue, near the site where his brother had been attacked.

Norman Rosenbaum passed away in 2020, leaving behind a legacy of determined advocacy on behalf of his brother and an unwavering effort to preserve the memory of Yankel.

{Matzav.com}

Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed renewed his criticism of Vice President JD Vance and brought Vance’s wife into the dispute over the weekend after the vice president accused El-Sayed of defending Sharia law and portraying its critics as white supremacists.

Vance raised the issue during a recent address to American workers, invoking his grandfather while arguing that El-Sayed’s views were far removed from the Democratic Party his grandfather knew.

“El-Sayed, this guy running for senate in Michigan, he once argued not too long ago that criticisms of Sharia law were rooted in white supremacy. I’d love to go back in time and tell my Papaw that there’s a man who claims to stand for working people who says not only should we have Sharia law, but if you criticize it you’re a white supremacist. That’s not my Papaw’s Democrat Party, my friends,” Vance said.

Vance on El-Sayed: I would love to go back in time and tell my papaw, that there is a man who claims to stand for working people, who says not only should we have sharia law, but if you criticize it, you are a white supremacist. pic.twitter.com/t7RqCCJt5Y

— Acyn (@Acyn) August 21, 2026

El-Sayed responded on social media by turning the reference to Vance’s grandfather toward the vice president’s wife, Usha.

“So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no…” El-Sayed wrote.

Usha Vance and her family are Hindu and do not adhere to Islamic Sharia law.

The latest remark follows previous criticism from El-Sayed involving Vance’s wife and family. El-Sayed declined earlier this year to apologize for controversial comments he made about them.

The controversy also comes amid scrutiny of El-Sayed’s own relationship with Sharia law. His campaign has confirmed that he follows Sharia in his personal life, after comments from 2009 resurfaced in which he characterized doing so as a lifelong “obligation.”

El-Sayed subsequently addressed Vance’s remarks during an interview, arguing that the vice president’s comments were intended to portray him as somehow less American because of his background and religious beliefs.

“He’s painting this picture of going back in time to talk to his Papaw, about me. Now why is he pointing to me? Why is Donald Trump pointing to me? They’re pointing to me to try and say somehow I’m less of an American than they are. What does that have to do with? I don’t know, the color of my skin, how I pray? But the confusing thing about it is that he thinks there are some people who are more American than others because they can point to their Papaw who was here earlier.”

El-Sayed: Well, I’ll tell you this. Every time J.D. Vance opens his mouth, the first two things I can think are, man, that guy is boring. And second, Peter Thiel had to spend a ton of money to get that man elected, barely in the state of Ohio. 

But the confusing thing about it… pic.twitter.com/nfpbPRgoN2

— Acyn (@Acyn) August 23, 2026

El-Sayed then again invoked Vance’s family, questioning how the vice president could reconcile that alleged implication with the immigrant background of his in-laws.

“And my question to him is simply why is it… how do you look your parents-in-law in the eye and say that somehow they’re less American than you are. Because that’s what he’s implying there,” he added.

The increasingly heated exchange comes as El-Sayed faces Republican nominee Mike Rogers in what polling indicates could be a highly competitive Michigan Senate contest. A recent AARP survey found Rogers and El-Sayed virtually tied in the general election race.

{Matzav.com}