Breads Bakery employees unionize, call for end to Jewish Israeli owners’ ‘support for the genocide in Gaza’
(JTA) — Employees at New York City’s biggest Israeli bakery chain say they have formed a union — and one of their top demands is “an end to this company’s support of the genocide happening in Palestine.”
As an example, they cited Breads Bakery’s participation in last year’s Great Nosh, a citywide festival of Jewish food held on Governor’s Island.
“The workers refuse to participate in Zionist projects such as fundraisers that support the ‘Israeli’ occupation of Palestine, baking cookies with the ‘Israeli’ flag, and catering events such as the Great Nosh, which are connected to organizations that donate millions each year to the IDF,” the union, which is calling itself Breaking Breads, said in a statement issued Jan. 6.
The employees at Breads, a spinoff of a Tel Aviv bakery with six outposts in New York City, say “over 30%” of the company’s 275 workers had signed cards in support of the union, which will be represented by United Auto Workers. They are alleging poor working conditions, low and unfair pay and a lack of “respect” from management.
But the workers also are calling on the bakery’s operators, CEO Yonatan Floman and founder Gadi Peleg, to end Breads’ ties to Israel. Both men are themselves Israeli, and Breads’ menu features items from across the Jewish diaspora that are popular in Israel, such as rugelach, challah, bourekas and its award-winning babka.
Pardoned Jan. 6 protester Jake Lang throws chocolate coins, Nazi salute during anti-AIPAC demonstration in DC
(JTA) — Pardoned Jan. 6 protester Jake Lang staged an antisemitic demonstration on Jan. 4 outside of the headquarters of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC where he threw chocolate coins and gave a Nazi salute.
As he stood before a banner reading “Make Jerusalem Christian Again,” Lang made a series of threats against AIPAC-funded politicians and peddled a slew of antisemitic tropes, including the Great Replacement Theory, which holds that Jews are orchestrating mass immigration.
“White people in America, you will be replaced, and your children will be Black Muslims if you don’t stand up now,” said Lang, according to a video of the protest posted on social media by journalist Ford Fischer. “AIPAC is one of the main components to the people at the head of Hollywood that are brainwashing your children to vote Democrat, to take your guns and to take your freedom. It’s time we fight back.”
The demonstration hosted by Lang, who is currently vying for a Senate seat in Florida, comes as watchdogs have warned that alt-right figures are increasingly finding a foothold within mainstream conservative politics.
Hilton cuts ties with Minneapolis hotel that refused federal immigration agents
(JNS) — The Hilton hotel chain said it cut ties with an independently franchised Hampton Inn in Lakeville, Minn., after the latter barred federal immigration agents from staying at the property and falsely claimed to have later reversed the anti-government policy.
“The independent hotel had assured us that they had fixed this problem and published a message confirming this,” Hilton stated on Jan. 6. “A recent video clearly raises concerns that they are not meeting our standards and values. As such, we are taking immediate action to remove this hotel from our systems.”
The move followed a statement, the prior day, from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that Hilton had “launched a coordinated campaign in Minneapolis to refuse service to DHS law enforcement.”
“When officers attempted to book rooms using official government emails and rates, Hilton Hotels maliciously cancelled their reservations,” the U.S. agency said. “This is unacceptable. Why is Hilton Hotels siding with murderers and rapists to deliberately undermine and impede DHS?”
According to a screen capture of an email from the hotel, it cancelled the federal agents’ stays after having “noticed an influx of gov reservations made today that have been for DHS, and we are not allowing any ICE or immigration agents to stay at our property.”
“If you are with DHS or immigration, let us know as we will have to cancel your reservation,” the email in the screen capture added.
Jew-hatred remains ‘persistent’ threat, NYPD commissioner says
(JNS) — Antisemitic hate crimes in New York City declined slightly in 2025 but continued to account for the majority of reported hate crimes, according to data reviewed Jan. 5 by New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Despite Jewish New Yorkers making up about 10% percent of the city’s population, antisemitic incidents still accounted for 330 cases, or 57% percent of all hate crimes reported in 2025, Tisch said at a press conference. The anti-Jewish crimes were down 3% from 2024, and the citywide hate crimes fell by 12%, she said.
Tisch delivered the remarks during a morning press conference at One Police Plaza, alongside New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“These numbers remain far too high,” Tisch said. “Antisemitism continues to be the most persistent hate threat that we face.”
“The NYPD will continue to confront hate crimes aggressively and protect every community targeted because of who they are,” she said.
Mamdani said that the city government will continue working to improve public safety.
“As we lead together, I want to see these numbers continue to drop, to continue to nurture the partnership between the NYPD and the communities across the city and to empower our police force to focus on the serious crimes that they signed up to tackle,” he said.
Vance: Antisemitism does not belong in conservative movement
(JNS) — U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance clarified his position on antisemitism in the conservative movement amid a recent backlash to his speech at Turning Point USA’s America Fest, when he defended the conservative movement’s acceptance of Tucker Carlson.
During a Jan. 6 interview with CNN, Scott Jennings said that “there’s been a lot of conversation in the conservative world about certain kinds of views espoused by certain kinds of people, and they try to drag you into this conversation all the time.”
“Just for the record, does the conservative movement need to warehouse anybody out there espousing antisemitism in any way?” Jennings asked the vice president.
“No, it doesn’t, Scott,” Vance replied. “I think we need to reject all forms of ethnic hatred, whether it’s antisemitism, anti-black hatred, anti-white hatred.”
The vice president said rejecting ethnic hatred is “one of the great things about the conservative coalition,” noting that “we are fundamentally rooted in the Christian principles that founded the United States of America. And one of those very important principles is that we judge people as individuals.”
He continued: “Every person is made in the image of God. You judge them by what they do, not by what ethnic group they belong to. And I think that principle is important. It’s something we’ve got to hold onto in the conservative movement because God knows the left abandoned it a long time ago.”
His answer drew criticism on social media for not being specific enough, with many responders comparing it to the way Democrats talk about antisemitism.
