Just a few weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks in Israel, Haaretz journalist Lee Yaron began gathering testimonies from the massacres and learning the personal stories of their victims. Having been thousands of miles away on the day of the attacks, at Columbia University where the Israeli reporter was on a fellowship, Yaron seized the only tool she felt she had to help the victims — to tell their stories thoroughly and faithfully and ensure they are remembered. In her book, 10/7: 100 Human Stories, which was released in September, Yaron digs deep into the experiences and histories of more than 100 civilians — spanning the gamut of Israeli society as well as foreign victims — through interviews with survivors, the bereaved and first responders.  

Interwoven through the personal stories Yaron, 30, provides Jewish and Israeli historical background as well as political analysis. “I wanted the book to be a way to understand — not just to get to know the victims — but understand Israel and the history of the conflict better,” Yaron said in an interview with Jewish Insider during which she also discussed the impact Oct.7 had on Israel’s peace camp, the reaction of the global left to the Hamas attacks and the gender aspect of Israel’s intelligence failure leading up to Oct. 7.   

A Jewish resident of Oakland, Calif., and his five-year-old son appeared on video being harassed and forcibly removed from a local cafe by its anti-Israel owner over the weekend for wearing a hat that brandished a Star of David, drawing condemnation from local Jewish leaders as well as Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA). 

Video of the incident, which began circulating online on Tuesday, shows Abdulrahim Harara, the owner of Jerusalem Coffee House in North Oakland, speaking to Jonathan Hirsch and his son over the former’s hat, which has a Jewish star emblazoned on the front. Harara said that Hirsch’s cap was “a violent hat, and you need to leave,” as Hirsch’s five-year-old son began crying. 

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson declared his support for Rev. Mitchell Johnson on Wednesday, giving the embattled Board of Education president a lifeline as he faces calls from the City Council to resign over dozens of antisemitic and pro-Hamas Facebook posts authored in the past year.

“Reverend Johnson has been a strong faith leader throughout the state of Illinois and has expressed sorrow and is seeking atonement for the words that he has shared and that he’s expressed,” Mayor Johnson said, a message he repeated several times at a Wednesday afternoon press conference in Chicago.

Former President Donald Trump sent an open letter to Lebanese Americans vowing to “stop the suffering and destruction in Lebanon” and secure “a lasting peace” in the Middle East if elected to a second term next week. 

The letter comes as Trump’s campaign continues its outreach to Muslim and Arab American voters, many of whom feel disaffected by the Biden administration’s broad support for Israel as it continues to fight against Hamas and Hezbollah.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker expressed concern on Wednesday about antisemitic remarks made by Rev. Mitchell Johnson, the president of the Chicago Board of Education, but stopped short of saying Johnson should resign.

“If you’re asking whether I condone the remarks that were made, I do not,” Pritzker said at a press conference. Johnson’s comments were first reported by Jewish Insider. 

Twenty-six aldermen on the Chicago City Council are calling for Rev. Mitchell Johnson to resign from his position as president of the Chicago Board of Education due to his lengthy history of making antisemitic remarks online. 

“We call on Rev. Johnson to apologize and step down from his position immediately,” the 26 aldermen, representing more than half of the body’s members, wrote in a joint letter. “The thousands of Jewish families who send their kids to Chicago Public Schools deserve representation who values them and does not express hate towards the Jewish community.” Johnson’s comments, including a statement saying his “Jewish colleagues appear drunk with the Israeli power,” were first reported in Jewish Insider. 

Mark Dubowitz, the CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, is now calling for Israel to wrap up its major ground operations in Lebanon, with a longer-term goal of converting what he praised as significant battlefield successes into political achievements that will help consolidate recent gains.

“There’s a certain point where you hit the law of diminishing returns,” Dubowitz told Jewish Insider on Monday, noting that he had recently arrived at his conclusion while observing a growing number of Israeli soldiers who have been killed in Lebanon.

Chicago’s Jewish Community Relations Council, Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee chapters slammed Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday for failing to “acknowledge the Jewish community” in a statement after a Muslim man shot a Jewish man walking to synagogue on Saturday in West Rogers Park, home to one of the city’s largest Orthodox Jewish populations.

Three days after the shooting, in which the suspect allegedly yelled “Allahu Akbar” as he exchanged fire with police officers responding to the initial shooting, Johnson wrote on X,  “Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the victim and his loved ones from this weekend’s shooting incident that took place in Rogers Park. All Chicagoans deserve to feel safe and protected across the city. There is more work to be done, and we are committed to diligently improving community safety in every neighborhood.”