Israel's prime minister says Trump has invited him to the White House on Feb. 4
WADI GAZA, Gaza Strip — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says President Donald Trump has invited him to visit the White House on Feb. 4, which would make him the first foreign leader to visit Washington in Trump's second term.
The visit comes as the United States is pressuring Israel and Hamas to continue a ceasefire that has paused a devastating 15-month war in Gaza.
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Jewish lawmakers call out silence as antisemitic threats surge in Florida
Sen. Tina Polsky made it clear in a prayer at the beginning of a Florida Senate session: The sound of silence is deadly for Jews in Florida and Jewish communities everywhere. On June 5, the Boca Raton Democrat called on senators to be 'a light in the darkness, to confront hatred with justice and to never stand silent in the face of cruelty.' It was a restatement of a "call to conscience" issued earlier in the day by the 14-member Florida Jewish Legislative Caucus. Since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel, there has been an increase in violence against Jews in Florida, according to 'The Year in Hate and Extremism,' an annual report by Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a nonprofit legal advocacy organization based in Montgomery, Alabama. There were 353 Florida reported antisemitism incidents in 2024, fewer than the previous year but 31% higher than 2022, according to the SPLC. The counties of Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade make up the U.S. third largest Jewish community, after New York and Los Angeles. At the same time, some civil rights advocates and pro-Palestinian groups fear conflating hatred with legitimate criticism of Israeli policies. They caution about suppressing free speech and peaceful protest, calling for a balanced approach that protects Jewish communities while preserving the right to dissent. Earlier during a break in budget negotiations, Rep. Mike Gottlieb, D-Davie, the chair of the Jewish Legislative Caucus, held a news conference to encourage people to speak up and condemn violence because 'silence enables bigotry.' 'We need people to stand with us to fight antisemitism. It is not OK to pick on anybody for any reason. We need Floridians to know that we are uniting people, Republicans, Democrats, independents, Black, White, gay, straight, to say this is wrong and we are not going to tolerate it,' Gottlieb said. The SPLC report finds more than half of the reported incidents involved people harassing Jewish residents over the state of Israel policies. They include vandalism of Jewish institutions and places of worship, intimidating flyers from known hate groups, and outright battery, such as one involving a 68-year-old Broward man near a synagogue. 'People are literally experiencing fear to be Jewish here in America. A year and a half ago, I was talking to a few people. I said, 'We're going to just start getting knocked down in the streets,' and it's happening now,' said Rep. Debra Tendrich, D-Lake Worth. Tendrich organized Thursday's call-to-conscience news conference in less than 24 hours. A discussion with colleagues about three recent high-profile attacks, including two in which 'the attacker tried to burn Jews alive,' prompted her. In the past three months, a suspect has fire-bombed the Pennsylvania governor's mansion after Jewish Gov. Josh Shapiro and family had finished dinner; two Israeli embassy staffers were murdered outside a Washington, D.C., museum; and a man with Molotov cocktails, gasoline, and a make-shift flamethrower sprayed fire on people marching in support of Jewish hostages still held by Hamas. Two dozen colleagues and legislative staffers stood with the 14-member caucus as they voiced disappointment with other elected officials and community leaders for not loudly condemning the acts of violence as hate crimes. Silence is complicit in abuse because it isolates the victims and makes them 'an easy target," Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman explained. Added Rep. Jennifer 'Rita' Harris, D-Orlando, 'Hate wants us to be silent.' Neo-Nazis staged demonstrations and flew banners on highway overpasses two years ago in her district. Earlier this year, Harris co-sponsored a bill that makes Jan. 27 Holocaust Remembrance Day in Florida. Rep. Hillary Cassel of Dania Beach flipped to the GOP from Democrat in December because among other issues she 'felt disconnected' from the Democratic Party after listening to a debate about a Hamas-Israeli ceasefire. She too said she would not be silenced. 'Let me be clear," she said. "Blaming Israel for Hamas terrorism is not activism. It is antisemitic. Shouting 'From the river to the sea' is not a peaceful protest. It is a genocidal slogan for the eradication of Israel and endangers Jewish lives everywhere. Language that advocates the destruction of an entire people is not activism. It is incitement.' Cassel said she was fortunate to live in the state of Florida where the Legislature has delivered "the most protections" in the country for the Jewish community. The past two sessions, the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis has responded to a series of hate crimes: HB 187, which codifies as Florida law the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. Thirty-six other states use the IHRA definition, which emphasizes criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic. HB 1109, which provides funding for security hardening measures at Jewish day schools. HB 269, which created a felony to harass individuals based on their ethnicity or religion and makes it a misdemeanor to leave flyers with hateful images, messages, or any other credible threat on a person's private property. Polsky told the Senate she was grateful beyond words for the allies and friends who have stood beside the Jewish community since the hostages were taken in 2023. She closed with these words, 'May we work together to transform grief into action and despair into hope, so that our children may live in a world free of fear in honor of those injured and to guide our body as we continue to work for the betterment of Florida." James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@ and is on X as @CallTallahassee. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Jewish legislative caucus slams rising antisemitism in Florida, U.S.
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
IDF detains Gaza-bound vessel carrying Greta Thunberg: ‘The show is over'
Israeli forces early Monday detained an aid boat bound for Gaza while carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists. The Israeli Defense Forces confirmed that it detained the Madleen, along with all its passengers, and diverted the vessel to Israel. A video from the ministry posted on X shows an Israeli Navy officer engaging with the approaching "selfie yacht." Israel Vows To 'Act Accordingly' As Thunberg Sails Toward Gaza On Palestinian-flagged Vessel "Using an international civilian communication system, the Israeli Navy has instructed the 'selfie yacht' to change its course due to its approach toward a restricted area," a post from the ministry read. The video shows a Navy officer telling them that the maritime of the Gaza coast is closed to traffic. She instructs the activists on board that they must deliver aid through established channels. Read On The Fox News App The Israel Foreign Ministry said the passengers were "safe and unharmed" and had been provided sandwiches and water. "The show is over," the ministry said. Israel had vowed to stop the so-called Freedom Flotilla Coalition in the days leading up to its arrival. Third Round Of Hostage Releases Begins As Part Of Hamas' Gaza Ceasefire Agreement With Israel Thunberg, a 22-year-old climate activist from Sweden, set sail aboard the Madleen last week, hoisting a Palestinian flag with 11 other activists, including "Game of Thrones" actor Liam Cunningham and Rima Hassa, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent. The groups' aim was to reach the shores of the Gaza Strip to bring in some aid and raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis there. According to the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, the aid on the ship was less than a single truckload. "The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the 'celebrities' will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels," the ministry said. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has instructed the IDF to screen the footage of October 7 to participants of the Gaza-bound flotilla. Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano contributed to this report. Original article source: IDF detains Gaza-bound vessel carrying Greta Thunberg: 'The show is over'
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The Greta photo that exposes the hollowness of Leftie activism
The picture of Greta Thunberg being offered a sandwich and a bottle of water by an IDF soldier is perfect. Here she is, smiling sheepishly, revealing the utter hollowness of her activism. That awkward moment when the Israel Defence Forces spoil your Instagram story. Thunberg and her fellow passengers aboard the MV Madleen, the boat which tried to run the naval blockade of Hamas-run Gaza, have been now taken into custody by the Israeli navy. No injuries are reported among the passengers, though some poor Israeli marine has probably had the 'How dare you!' treatment by now. Israel described the Madleen as a 'media provocation', but whatever images the activists hoped to come out of their voyage it was probably not Thunberg being given food and water by an Israeli soldier. It is an embarrassing end to a vanity mission for Thunberg, the climate change activist turned ego warrior who has adopted Palestine as her latest cause. 'There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip – they do not involve Instagram selfies,' the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs said. (Even more cattily, the ministry's statement referred to Thunberg and her chums as 'celebrities', enclosing the word in deliciously bitchy quotation marks.) Ah, but Thunberg meant well. It was an act of resistance, a show of solidarity, a sincere effort to get aid to a desperate civilian population. These excuses are somewhat undermined by the discovery on board of less than one truckload of aid, according to the Israeli authorities. For context, Israel sent 1,200 truckloads of aid into Gaza in the past fortnight in addition to the 11 million meals delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. While it's amusing to see HMS TikTok provoke the IDF into nothing more drastic than snack distribution and a free trip to Tel Aviv, no one should doubt the dangerous folly of Thunberg and her companions. However strongly they might feel about the current conflict in Gaza, attempting to break the maritime embargo was foolhardy. For one, that embargo is a lawful security measure which is in place for a reason. We know it's lawful because in 2011 a UN Secretary-General's Panel of Inquiry, the Palmer Report, concluded that it was 'a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons from entering Gaza by sea' and Israel's implementation of the blockade 'complied with the requirements of international law'. For another, the reason the Palmer Inquiry was established was the MV Mavi Marmara incident in 2010, which saw a Turkish-registered boat attempt to run the blockade in the name of getting aid to Gaza. When the IDF boarded that vessel, the soldiers came under attack from some of the passengers and opened fire, killing nine of the activists. This is not social media. This is real life. This is a war zone and the stakes are nothing less than life and death. It is worth recalling another finding from the Palmer Report: 'Although people are entitled to express their political views, the flotilla acted recklessly in attempting to breach the naval blockade.' To re-chart the Marmara's reckless course, in the knowledge that it concluded in blood and chaos, is impetuous vanity masquerading as humanitarian concern. Greta Thunberg should be grateful to the IDF for their care and professionalism in ensuring her publicity stunt ended in sandwiches and not fatalities. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
