Author: Sara Wood

The Reform movement’s Washington-based advocacy arm is urging Attorney General Pam Bondi not to seek the death penalty for the man accused of killing two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, D.C., in May. Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, the director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, called on Bondi to forgo the death penalty […]

Most Americans — 58% — believe that countries in the United Nations should recognize a Palestinian state, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. The poll surveyed U.S. adults from Aug. 13 to 18, as several world powers announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state at next month’s U.N. General Assembly in New York City. The […]

A speechwriter who joined the Department of Homeland Security in March has in the past promoted the antisemitic “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory and compared conservatives in the United States to Jews in Nazi Germany. The baseless theory alleges that a shadowy cabal, usually of Jews, is working to replace white people with non-white immigrants. The […]

Around 20 masked activists stood on a street corner Tuesday night in Crown Heights, distributing fliers accusing “zionist white supremacists” of murdering a child whose accidental death sparked antisemitic violence in the neighborhood in 1991. Their audience featured both counter-protesters drawn from the Chabad Lubavitch movement they targeted and security officials charged with keeping the […]

A Massachusetts man was sentenced to over two years in prison Thursday for threatening to bomb two local synagogues and to kill Jewish children, the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Massachusetts has announced. John M. Reardon, 60, was arrested in January 2024 for the series of threatening calls, including one voicemail left for Congregation […]

The United States Postal Service announced a new series of stamps honoring Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. Wiesel, who died in 2016 at the age of 87, is the 18th person to be honored in the USPS’ Distinguished Americans stamp series. “The 18th stamp in the Distinguished Americans series honors humanitarian […]

An Ohio man pleaded guilty on Friday to a federal hate crime for assaulting two Jewish students at the Ohio State University in November 2023 after asking if they were Jewish. The Justice Department announced Friday that Timur Mamatov, 20, of Tipp City, Ohio, had pleaded guilty to violating the Hate Crimes Prevention Act for […]

The Department of State has halted a program meant to allow Gazan children who require medical care to receive it in the United States. Laura Loomer, a Jewish provocateur who holds considerable sway in the Trump administration despite holding no official role, took credit for the move, announced on Saturday. A day before, Loomer had […]

Pete Buttigieg said he would support halting U.S. arms sales to Israel and U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state, in a dramatic about-face following backlash over a podcast interview where he expressed cautious support for Israel. The dramatic shift for the 43-year-old former transportation secretary, who is seen as a possible contender for president in […]