Spain recalls ambassador from Israel after Sa’ar accuses Madrid of antisemitism

UN event spotlights history of Jewish refugees from Middle Eastern countries

As the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session opens today, B’nai B’rith International and Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC) are hosting an event to raise awareness of the plight of former Jewish refugees from Arab and Muslim countries.

“Over the course of mere decades in the 20th century, most Middle Eastern lands were collectively emptied of some 99% of their Jewish population, pushed out by expulsion and persecution in one of modern history’s most dramatic but little-recognized mass displacements,” the organizations say in a statement.

The event at the Palais des Nations, the UN’s European headquarters in Geneva, will show that the number of displaced Jews in the Middle East exceeded that of the Palestinian Arab refugees, they add.

Hezbollah official says four members killed in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon’s Health Ministry says Israeli strikes on the country’s east killed at least five people today, after the Israeli military said it targeted Hezbollah positions.

“The Israeli enemy strikes on the Bekaa and the outskirts of Hermel led to a preliminary toll of five dead and five others wounded,” the ministry says, noting the toll was provisional.

A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press, confirms four of the five killed were terror group members.

Times of Israel staff and AP contributed to this report.

IDF says it’s tracking suspected drone that set off sirens in West Bank

The military says it is tracking a suspected drone that entered Israeli airspace a short while ago, setting off sirens near the Dead Sea and in several West Bank settlements south of Jerusalem.

“The target is being tracked by the Air Force, and the incident is still ongoing,” the army says, calling on civilians to continue to follow the Home Front Command guidelines.

UN chief ‘strongly condemns’ deadly Jerusalem terror attack

UNITED NATIONS — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounces today’s “terror attack” in Jerusalem, which killed six people, his spokesman says.

“The Secretary-General strongly condemns today’s terror attack in Jerusalem,” Stephane Dujarric says in a statement, adding that the UN chief was conveying his “heartfelt condolences” to the victims’ families.

Authorities confirm Mohammad Taha, Muthanna Amro as Jerusalem attackers

Authorities confirm the identities of the perpetrators of today’s terror attack in Jerusalem as Mohammad Taha, 21, and Muthanna Amro, 20.

Both are residents of the Ramallah area, and have no prior arrests, Israel Police and the Shin Bet security service say in a joint statement

The two were slain after killing six people and injuring nearly a dozen in the attack.

Palestinian Authority’s school year opens late due to economic crisis

The Palestinian Authority’s school year began this morning after a one-week delay due to the late payment of teachers’ salaries.

Like other PA employees, teachers have been receiving their wages late and only partially. After they had gone about five weeks without pay, the PA announced the start of the school year would be postponed, apparently due to teachers’ refusal to open schools.

Yesterday, the PA Finance Ministry announced that June salaries would be paid that same day, leading the Palestinian Teachers’ Union to declare that the school year would start today.

Sirens warn of suspected drone infiltration in southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem

Sirens warning of a suspected drone infiltration sound in the settlement of Mitzpeh Shalem, next to the Dead Sea in the southern West Bank, as well as in several settlements south of Jerusalem.

The IDF says it is looking into the details.

Earlier, the military said three drones launched by the Houthis in Yemen were shot down over southern Israel.

Far-left Jewish group IfNotNow endorses Mamdani for NYC mayor

Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a rally at the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council headquarters in New York, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The far-left Jewish activist group IfNotNow endorses New York Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, a harsh critic of Israel, in his run for New York City mayor.

IfNotNow and its New York City chapter, IfNotNow NYC, say in a joint statement, “The endorsement is in recognition of Mamdani’s commitment to fighting for a city that is more livable, more affordable, and safer for all New Yorkers as well as his deeply-held commitment to the equality, freedom, and safety for all Palestinians and Israelis.”

The statement also applauds Mamdani’s “commitments to pushing back against the Trump regime’s authoritarian agenda.”

Activists with the group will canvas for Mamdani’s campaign and the members will train progressive Jews “to have difficult conversations with members of their own Jewish communities who are still unsure how they will vote in November,” the statement says.

“As the Trump administration ratchets up its attacks on our cities and our neighbors, we need political leadership who will fight back and put forward a bold vision that works for all of us,” says IfNotNow head Morriah Kaplan. “Zohran Mamdani embodies shared safety for Jewish, Muslim, immigrant, and LGBTQ+ New Yorkers and Palestinians and Israelis. This is how we defeat the Trump regime’s agenda: fighting for all of us, not rolling over in the face of authoritarianism.”

Mamdani caused repeated controversies with his rhetoric about Israel during the primary campaign, particularly his defense of the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which he has since said he would “discourage,” without condemning the slogan. He has identified in the past as an anti-Zionist.

He won a stunning upset in the Democratic party primary in July and is the heavy favorite to win the general election in November.

Mamdani is divisive among Jewish voters. He is the leading candidate among Jews in the four-way race, with around 37 percent support, according to a July poll by the pro-Israel New York Solidarity Network. That figure is similar to his support among the non-Jewish population.

While 60% of Jews are opposed to Mamdani, their support is divided among the other candidates — New York City Mayor Eric Adams, former governor Andrew Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.

Slightly more than half of the city’s Jews believe Mamdani is antisemitic, and 58% believe the city will be less safe for Jews if Mamdani is elected, the poll found.

Far-left groups like IfNotNow, Jews for Economic and Racial Justice, and the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace have backed Mamdani, while Zionist Jewish groups have rallied against him.

Official says Herzog will meet with senior UK government member in London this week

President Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal arrive at Westminster Abbey in central London on May 6, 2023, ahead of the coronation of Britain's King Charles III. (Photo by Andrew Matthews / POOL / AFP)

President Isaac Herzog will meet with a senior member of the British government during his trip to London this week, according to a diplomatic official.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer will likely host him, and possibly Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, according to the official, but neither the UK nor Herzog’s office would comment on the plans. The President’s Residence would only say that he would meet “public representatives” during his three-day visit.

According to The Guardian, Labour Party lawmakers in the UK are urging Starmer and other members of the government to avoid meeting with Herzog, due to the ongoing war in Gaza.

Hundreds in film industry sign pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions implicated in ‘genocide’

A group of people gather behind a banner reading "Free Palestine - Stop Genocide" ahead of the opening ceremony of the 82nd Venice Film Festival at Venice Lido on August 27, 2025. (Tiziana FABI / AFP)

Hundreds of actors and filmmakers sign a petition committing to a boycott of Israeli film institutions they accuse of being implicated in “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza.

The pledge is signed by several high-profile names, including Olivia Coleman, Mark Ruffalo, Ava DuVernay, Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Ayo Edebiri, Riz Ahmed, and Cynthia Nixon.

“The world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice, has ruled that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza, and that Israel’s occupation and apartheid against Palestinians are unlawful. Standing for equality, justice, and freedom for all people is a profound moral duty that none of us can ignore. So too, we must speak out now against the harm done to the Palestinian people,” the pledge reads.

The former president of the International Court of Justice, Joan Donoghue, clarified in an interview following the ruling that judges did not rule that the court believed it was “plausible” that Israel was committing genocide, but that “the Palestinians had a plausible right to be protected from genocide, and that South Africa had the right to present that claim in the court.”

“We answer the call of Palestinian filmmakers, who have urged the international film industry to refuse silence, racism, and dehumanization, as well as to ‘do everything humanly possible’ to end complicity in their oppression,” the film workers say in their petition.

“Inspired by Filmmakers United Against Apartheid who refused to screen their films in apartheid South Africa, we pledge not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions—including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies—that are implicated* in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people,” it says.

A separate FAQ site says that there are “a few Israeli film entities that are not complicit.”

“For best practices, we encourage you to seek guidelines set by Palestinian civil society. We also encourage film workers to ask questions and do their own research about any entity they plan to work with,” it reads.