“VP Vance says all are welcome on the right, including figures who promote conspiracy theories”

JTA
Vance declines to draw a line against rising influence of antisemitic figures in Republican party
Grace Gilson
December 24, 2025

In the latest round of conservative infighting over the mainstreaming of antisemitic figures within the GOP, Vice President JD Vance has once again declined to draw a red line. At the center of the controversy that has roiled the Republican Party is Nick Fuentes, the antisemitic and white nationalist livestreamer who set off a firestorm after he voiced his disdain for “these Zionist Jews” in a friendly interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson in October…Earlier this month, Vance also dismissed claims that antisemitism is surging within the Republican Party and said that the “the single most significant thing you could do to eliminate anti-semitism” was lowering immigration to the United States. READ MORE

FREE PRESS Eli Lake:Vance Wants Open Borders in the MAGA Coalition Vance has aligned himself with the side that wants to keep the MAGA tent as wide as possible. And that means he is on Team Tucker Carlson. On the other side of the party’s civil war are conservatives like Newsweek senior editor Josh Hammer, Fox News host Mark Levin, and Shapiro. Shapiro’s speech denounced those inside the MAGA coalition who were too afraid to call out conspiracy theory hokum, lest they offend their very-online audiences. In short, Shapiro is asking the MAGA coalition to enforce its own borders and keep out the kooks, conspiracy theorists, and antisemites.

JEWISH INSIDER JD Vance links youth antisemitism to immigration, demographics of Gen Z He blamed the increase in antisemitism on immigration and the demographic makeup of younger Americans. “‘We imported a lot of people with ethnic grievances prior generations didn’t have. We celebrated this as the fruits of multiculturalism. Now we’re super surprised that the people we imported with ethnic grievances still have those ethnic grievances,’” Vance wrote, arguing that “the most significant single thing you could do to eliminate anti-semitism and any other kind of ethnic hatred is to support our efforts to lower immigration and promote assimilation.”

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“On Hanukkah night, amid terror and confusion, the true story was written by Jews who ran toward danger to protect one another”

TABLET MAG
The Maccabees of Bondi Beach
Nicole Wizman
December 21, 2025

…In the hours and days that followed, one story quickly rose above the rest. Footage circulating online showed a heroic bystander, later identified as Ahmed al-Ahmed, rushing toward one of the attackers and wrestling a gun out of the terrorist’s hands. As the footage spread rapidly across social media and news broadcasts, it soon came to dominate the public conversation, increasingly framing the attack as a story of Muslim-Jewish reconciliation rather than an act of antisemitic violence, with Ahmed al-Ahmed becoming the central figure through which the massacre was understood. This reframing allows Australia to look away from its deeper failures that made the attack possible. It also obscures another critical fact: that there were many Jews at the event who also behaved with unbelievable heroism and bravery, whose names have been largely absent from the narrative. READ MORE

NEW YORK POST Muslim Bondi Beach hero who disarmed terrorist branded a ‘traitor’ in Arab media for saving Jewish lives The heroic Syrian-Australian man who disarmed one of the terrorists firing at a crowd of Hanukkah revelers at Australia’s Bondi Beach has been slammed as a traitor by many Palestinian commenters for saving Jewish lives, according to a new report. After the West Bank-based Ramallah News outlet shared a story about the life-saving actions taken by Ahmed al Ahmed, 43, many of the outlet’s readers trashed the Muslim hero and prayed that he would not recover from his serious injuries, according to an analysis by the Israeli-based Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).

JPOST Gefen Bitton, Israeli who tried to stop Bondi Beach shooter, in coma in critical condition Israeli national Gefen Bitton, who ran towards the Bondi Beach shooters to try and stop them, has been hospitalized and is in a coma, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Saturday. Bitton was seriously wounded while trying to assist and stop the attackers. The man in his 30s works as a garage door installer. Although he had initially managed to escape the danger, he chose to return to the scene upon realising what was happening.

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“Australia has long tolerated the proponents of such mayhem and silenced those who raise the alarm”

CITY JOURNAL
The Massacre at Bondi Beach Was Inevitable
Douglas Murray
December 16, 2025

…Just this past June, Australia barred an Israeli called Hillel Fuld from coming into the country. Fuld is a pro-Israel activist whose brother Ari Fuld was stabbed to death by a jihadist terrorist in 2018. Ari Fuld was a hero in his life and in his final moments when, taking on the terrorist, he saved many more lives. But the Australian authorities were persuaded that the brother of the slain Ari could cause a risk to “health, safety or good order” in Australia. And so, he was barred from entry. It is worth digesting that for a moment. A man whose brother was killed by a terrorist should not enter Australia because he could potentially alert people to the threat of Islamist terrorism. Which could in itself cause public disorder. READ MORE

FUTURE OF JEWISH When Jews start packing suitcases, everyone should be concerned. There is a statistic so chilling, so historically resonant, that it should dominate every front page, every political speech, every national conversation in Britain….According to new polling by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, 61 per cent of British Jews have considered leaving the UK. Last year it was 50 per cent. This year, 51 per cent say they no longer believe they have a long-term future in this country…“History teaches us one clear truth: When Jews begin eyeing their suitcases, the whole of society is already in deep trouble. Because whatever corrodes the safety of Jews corrodes the nation that houses them”

YESHIVA WORLD ‘Duty to Kill Jews’: Men Convicted in ISIS-Inspired Plot to Unleash Mass Shooting on Jews in Manchester Two men who plotted a mass-casualty gun attack aimed at British Jews—an assault police say could have become the deadliest terrorist atrocity in UK history—have been found guilty after their plan was dismantled by an undercover operative…The court heard that Walid Saadaoui harbored a “visceral dislike” of Jewish people and was determined to carry out a large-scale shooting at a Jewish gathering, deliberately seeking out firearms and ammunition because lesser weapons were, in his words, “not good enough.”

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The late John Podhoretz: “While he had contempt for the New York City bubble, he remained inside it for most of his life, and couldn’t find his way out, even after the bubble itself lost control of things”

COMMENTARY
A Son’s Eulogy for Norman Podhoretz (1930-2025)
John Podhoretz
December 19, 2025

…And he was witty. So witty. And a generator of wit as well. What he loved, what he treasured, was cleverness—an unexpected turn of phrase, a surprising off-kilter observation that reframes the truth in the right way… He began his hundreds if not thousands of public speeches with the same joke every time, so I’m guessing many of you might have heard it. A great rebbe is dying, and his disciples are weeping at his bedside. “Oh our master is leaving us, he was the wisest of men, who will instruct us in wisdom?” “Oh our master is leaving us, he was the most pious of men, who will instill in us a love of Ha Shem?” “Oh our master is leaving us, he was the holiest of men, who will guide us on the path to righteousness?” The old man uses his last ounce of strength to pull himself up and look them all in the eye and say, “And about my humility you have nothing to say?” READ MORE

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Australia’s Government: ‘Moral Bankruptcy on Parade’

TABLET MAG
The People of Forever Are Not Afraid
Liel Leibovitz
December 14, 2025

Like so many Jews, I was woken up in the early morning today to news of the massacre in Bondi Beach, Australia. Like so many Jews, I personally knew people who were hurt in the attack. And like so many Jews, I grieved for the victims and raged as public officials who cheered on the policies that made the attack possible rushed to publish sanctimonious denunciations, as if they had failed to understand that the shooting was precisely what was meant by “Globalize the intifada.” But amid the profound sadness and the righteous indignation, one timeless truth mustn’t be forgotten: We Jews are going to be just fine. Attack us, as Hamas did Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and you’ll soon discover that Jewish blood is no longer cheap. For more details, kindly consult with Yahya Sinwar, Hassan Nasrallah, or the gentlemen in charge of Iran’s nuclear program. READ MORE

COMMENTARY Seth Mandel: Jews Are Fed Up...Let’s pause here to note that Australia is home to the highest concentration of Holocaust survivors outside of Israel—and that another of those Holocaust survivors was killed on Bondi Beach while shielding his wife from the haze of bullets….The anchors from Australia’s ABC asked Teplitsky how she’s feeling about everything. Teplitsky responded with a message for [Prime Minister] Albanese and the political establishment: “Is this what you wanted? Is this enough now? Will you listen to us? Albanese, [Labour parliamentary leader Penny] Wong, will you listen to us? Will you actually do something? Will you actually—no, you don’t have to stand up and say anything because we don’t believe you

FDD Could Have Been a Different Scenario’ Chris Minns, the Premier of the state of New South Wales (NSW) in Australia, is under fire over the reported lack of a significant police presence at the Hanukkah menorah lighting ceremony in Sydney in which 15 people were murdered and dozens wounded in an Islamist terror attack. Minns initially claimed that only two officers had been on duty at the Bondi Beach site, but in a later interview, he raised the number to three, alongside a further 20 officers in the wider area. “If the cops had put riot squad cars on the road near the bridge and in the beach car park — [it] could have been a very different scenario,” one of the wounded attendees said.

GATESTONE Australia’s Government: ‘Moral Bankruptcy on Parade’ At present, Australia has naïve policies that allow significant immigration of Islamists from war zones. Despite what the government claims, most of these immigrants do not intend to integrate, assimilate or contribute towards “social cohesion” – as the well-attended marches against Israel and Jews reveal. Many newcomers are ideological enemies of the Western democratic tradition and forthrightly plan to dominate open societies through imposition of Islamic Sharia law.

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“Violence began after inspector issuing parking ticket was attacked by two young men, apparently draft-dodgers, who threatened to ‘slaughter’ him; Rioters also attack bus with soldiers”

TIMES OF ISRAEL
13 cops hurt as ultra-Orthodox riot in Jerusalem; police use tear gas, arrest four
Charlie Summers and Sam Sokol
December 18, 2025

Hundreds of young Haredi men clashed with police in Jerusalem Thursday, injuring 13 officers and overturning a cruiser in a riot apparently sparked by an attempt to issue a parking ticket… The commotion broke out after a municipal inspector who had been issuing parking tickets in the capital came under attack from two young Haredi men, police said. The pair kicked him and made threats on his life, promising to “slaughter” him if he returned to the area. Police officers called to aid the inspector in distress arrested one of the assailants, angering locals. Hundreds then gathered around the officers in an attempt to free the detainee, and events quickly mushroomed into rioting. According to Hebrew outlets, officers had realized that the assailants were draft dodgers and sought to hand them over to the Military Police. READ MORE

X Video of the Haredim rioting

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“May the memories of Boris and Sofia Gurman be a blessing. And may Ahmed al Ahmad heal fully, knowing that Jewish history will remember his name with gratitude”

JEWISH JOURNAL
What Bondi Beach Taught Us About Courage — and Should Teach Us About Preparedness
Micha Danzig
December 16, 2025

…Boris Gurman was celebrating Hanukkah with his wife, Sofia, among hundreds of Jewish Australians and visitors who had gathered to light candles by the sea — an ancient ritual of Jewish continuity performed openly, peacefully, and in public. When the gunmen appeared, Boris did what generations of unarmed Jews have done when history suddenly demands courage: he moved toward the threat…But Boris was almost certainly not trained for combat. He did not — or could not — pull the trigger. In that moment, one of the terrorists shot him. He was mortally wounded, with his wife Sofia at his side, after the two of them had jointly attempted to stop the attack. READ MORE

NBC NEWS Video shows elderly couple trying to stop and disarm Bondi gunman The dashcam video shows a couple who were killed in the attack, identified by their family as Boris and Sofia Gurman, both in their 60s.

FRONT PAGE MAG Bondi Beach: ‘Never Again’ Was an Empty Phrase…For two years now, since Hamas launched its latest war, a wave of anti-Jewish hate has swept through the West. The warning signs have been flashing: in Australia, anti-Jewish incidents tripled in the year after the war began. Similar spikes have occurred across Europe and the USA. Swastikas on schools. Mobs chanting for intifada. Jewish students hiding their Stars of David. It has been escalating steadily. Now the inevitable has happened  again – the hate has turned murderous. We know precisely who helped create this atmosphere. I am looking at everyone who fed this beast. Every single one of them has blood on their hands. Everyone who spent two years spreading antisemitic blood libels straight from Hamas — blood on their hands. (They parroted every lie Hamas spewed, from fake “hospital massacres” to wild casualty figures. They stoked the flames that led directly to Bondi and beyond)

BAKING BUSINESS Avner’s Announces Closure. Sydney-based bakery Avner’s has announced its closure following almost two years of ongoing vandalism, intimidation and and antisemitic harassment. The Surry Hills bakery, which is owned and run by media personality and chef Ed Halmagyi, opened its doors in early 2024. In a note on the bakery’s doors the business announced its closure. “One thing has become clear after Sunday’s attack [at Bondi] – it’s no longer possible to make outwardly, publicly, proudly Jewish places and events safe in Australia,” the note read.

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US visa bans extended to “countries that have been subject to successful efforts to overthrow or undermine their governments, with the result that radical terrorist groups operate with minimal, if any, interference from law enforcement”

JNS
Trump adds Palestinian Authority, Syria to US visa restriction list
December 16, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a new travel and immigration ban on Tuesday for anyone attempting to enter the United States with documents issued by the Palestinian Authority or Syria. The presidential proclamation expands the full and partial bans on 19 countries that was first issued in June to a longer list of 27 countries, mostly in Africa, and the Palestinian Authority. The U.S. secretary of state, attorney general, homeland security secretary and director of national intelligence determined that the countries in question and the Palestinian Authority “cannot meet basic criteria for identifying their nationals and residents who pose national security and public safety threats and for sharing information with the United States.” READ MORE

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“But the most dangerous phase of the war may unfold far from the battlefield. It will unfold in Washington, inside rooms where the real leverage of this conflict now sits”

FUTURE OF JEWISH
Israel faces its most important test since 1973. And it begins in Washington.
Guy Goldstein
December 12, 2025

…Qatar, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan have never been so coordinated. They have agreed, explicitly and implicitly, on one message: If the ceasefire stalls, if its second phase does not begin, if Gaza does not move toward the Arabs’ preferred governance model, the failure is not on them; the failure is on Israel, and Israel is understood to be America’s responsibility. In that framing, any breakdown becomes a political embarrassment for Washington and a personal humiliation for Trump, because the mediator is judged by whether he can deliver the party (Israel) seen as under his influence. Turkish officials have already warned that the deal will fail without strong U.S. pressure on Israel. This is not messaging; it is preparation. Of course, these states are not protecting Palestinians. READ MORE

JPOST Trump’s strategy exposes Netanyahu’s dangerous miscalculation  For years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cast US President Donald Trump as Israel’s greatest ally – a modern Cyrus who recognized Jerusalem, brokered the Abraham Accords, and stands unwavering against Iran. The Trump administration’s newly released National Security Strategy should shatter that comfortable narrative. Far from offering Israel a blank check, the document reveals a fundamental misalignment between Netanyahu’s approach and Trump’s vision for the Middle East – one that threatens to transform Israel from a favored partner into a regional obstacle. Two critical flash points expose this growing rift: Syria and the fate of the Palestinian nationalist movement. On both, Netanyahu’s government has adopted positions directly contrary to stated American interests, mistaking Trump’s past support for permanent indulgence.

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“The friendship between Jews and ordinary Iranians is alive and well, with Iranians taking to social media to express support for Israel after the Bondi attack. We must stand with them in turn”

JPOST
Fifty years of Islamic rule can’t erase 2,600 years of Jewish-Iranian friendship
Alex Winston
December 18, 2025

…It is essential to distinguish between Iran and the regime that has ruled it since 1979. The Islamic Republic is not the inheritor of Persian civilization; it is merely a brief interruption in a long chain of comradeship. Its hostility toward Jews and toward Israel is not rooted in Iran’s ancient history, culture, or collective memory. Rather, it stems from an Islamist extremist ideology enforced on the people. Today, in 2025, the friendship between Jews and ordinary Iranians is alive and well. It was telling that at the Bondi Beach vigil and hanukkiah lighting in London, one of the most prominent flags seen in the crowd was the Lion and Sun flag, the symbol of imperial Iran. It is a flag that has appeared time and time again at marches or gatherings showing support for Israel or Jewish communities post-October 7. READ MORE

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