Jesse Orine -

Michael Solomonov’s restaurant group says anti-Israel boycott did not cause closure of 6 locations

July 14, 2026July 14, 2026Jesse Orine

CookNSolo, the Philadelphia restaurant group co-founded by the Israeli-American celebrity chef Michael Solomonov, announced this week that it would close six locations across two of its fast-casual chains. In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, owner Steve Cook blamed the closures on inflation, declining lunch traffic and an oversaturated market for fast-casual dining. But pro-Palestinian […]

Five countries over four days: How Cuba’s Maccabiah Games delegation made it to Israel

July 14, 2026July 14, 2026Jesse Orine

Nearly three decades after Hella Eskenazi’s first trip from her home in Cuba to the Maccabiah Games in Israel, the journey hasn’t gotten much easier. This time, she was joined by dozens of athletes who had to travel through five countries over more than four days to reach Israel — a consequence of both the turmoil […]

UK lawmakers press government on why West Bank imports haven’t yet been banned

July 14, 2026July 14, 2026Jesse Orine

British lawmakers from across the political spectrum are pressing the government to ban imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, saying that explanations for why such a ban has not yet been imposed were inadequate. During a three-hour House of Commons debate on Thursday, lawmakers argued that Britain’s long-standing position that the settlements are […]

EU seeks to advance trade ban on Israeli settlements

July 14, 2026July 14, 2026Jesse Orine

The European Union could be leaning toward banning trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Foreign ministers debated various tactics to respond to the settlements on Monday at their monthly council meeting in Brussels, against the backdrop of rising violence by settlers and efforts by the Israeli government to expand settlements in Palestinian territories. […]

Church of England backs study of Palestinian Christian document accusing Israel of genocide

July 13, 2026July 13, 2026Jesse Orine

The Church of England’s legislative body voted Monday to encourage churches across England to engage with a document produced by Palestinian Christians that accuses Israel of genocide despite requests from Jewish organizations and Britain’s chief rabbi to reject it. The document is titled “Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide” and is also […]

Clavicular cuts a path across Tel Aviv, dividing pro-Israel influencers over his record of antisemitism

July 12, 2026July 12, 2026Jesse Orine

TEL AVIV — When Israeli influencer Aaron Morali realized that the celebrity drawing a crowd at the Loullie beach club on Saturday night was Braden Peters — better known as Clavicular — he alerted staff. He knew that in addition to being a prominent “looksmaxxing” influencer, Peters had appeared alongside the white supremacist Nick Fuentes […]

UK Jewish groups express concern as the likely next PM criticizes Israel over Gaza

July 10, 2026July 10, 2026Jesse Orine

Andy Burnham, who is on track to become Britain’s next prime minister following Keir Starmer’s resignation last month, apologized for his party’s handling of the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas mass killings in Israel, saying that it should have done more to push for a ceasefire and called for exerting greater pressure on […]

Ireland advances ban on imported goods from Israeli settlements

July 9, 2026July 9, 2026Jesse Orine

Ireland’s parliament advanced legislation banning imported goods from Israeli settlements, one of Europe’s most expansive trade measures against Israel. The bill approved Tuesday by the parliament’s lower chamber and drafted by Ireland’s center-right coalition government prohibits imports of goods from “certain Israeli settlements.” The legislation cites an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice […]

Armenia’s Jews hope Israeli recognition of 1915 Ottoman genocide will jumpstart bilateral ties

July 9, 2026July 9, 2026Jesse Orine

YEREVAN, Armenia — Last Friday night, 13 mostly Russian-speaking Jews and three Arab Muslims gathered under a cherry tree next to the popular Common Grounds coffee shop in Yerevan — capital of the world’s oldest Christian country — to welcome Shabbat. Samson Karapetyan — the son of an Armenian Christian father and a Jewish mother […]

Europe’s smallest Jewish community gets a home of its own — complete with geothermal mikvah

July 9, 2026July 10, 2026Jesse Orine

REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Until recently, this city located near the Arctic Circle was one of the few places in Europe where organized Jewish life did not exist — no synagogue, no ritual bath, no communal building. That changed this week, as the Jewish community in Iceland opened the Beit Shvidler Jewish Center of Iceland, the […]