‘We didn’t walk on water, but we have performed miracles,’ Netanyahu tells Indian prime minister
(JNS) — Speaking before a special session of the Knesset in honor of Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, on Feb. 25, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the visiting leader as “even more than a friend, a brother.”
“When you were here last, we were both on the Mediterranean coast. I suggested we take off our shoes and go into the water, the same water we wanted to desalinate, and indeed, we did so using Israeli technology,” Netanyahu said, according to an English translation provided by his office.
“With all due respect to our Christian friends, they said we didn’t just wade in the water, we walked on water. That isn’t true,” Netanyahu said. “We didn’t walk on water, but we have performed miracles since then.”
India and Israel have doubled trade, tripled cooperation and quadrupled their “understandings in ways I cannot begin to describe, and in certain ways that I should not describe,” the Israeli premier said. “But it is a wonderful friendship, both personally between the two of us, between our two countries and between our two peoples.”
Netanyahu added that “India is a giant power of 1.5 billion people” and “Israel is a bit smaller.”
“But Israel is a giant, too. It is a superpower. It is a giant in spirit, a giant in deeds, capable of performing miracles,” he said. “The alliance between us is a massive multiplier of the strengths of each of our countries. It is a multiplier of spirit and a multiplier of actions and capabilities.”
He added that Israel will never forget how India stood with the Jewish state after Oct. 7, clearly, morally and sharply.
Poland’s Jewish museum director returns, 7 years after being pushed out by nationalist politics
(JTA) — The first director of Poland’s leading Jewish museum, squeezed out seven years ago by a nationalist government, is returning to the helm in a symbolic reversal.
Dariusz Stola steered the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw from its founding in 2014 to become a breakthrough in Poland’s recognition of its extinguished Jewish past.
But he clashed with the right-wing Law and Justice party, which governed Poland from 2015 to 2023. The former culture minister accused him of “politicizing” the museum through explorations of antisemitism in Poland, and in 2019, he was pushed out despite winning a competition to extend his tenure.
Now, Stola has been reinstated by the new culture minister Marta Cienkowska, who was appointed in 2025 by centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk. His new term begins on March 1.
“In 2019, the then minister [Piotr] Gliński decided to ignore the results of the competition,” Cienkowska posted. “That appointment should have taken place six years ago. Dear Professor, good luck.”
Stola, a historian of Polish-Jewish relations and professor at the Polish Academy of Sciences, called his return to Polin “a victory of justice and rule of law.”
PA drops UN General Truck ramming at Australian synagogue prompts hate crime charges as antisemitism commission opens
(JTA) — An Australian man is facing hate crime charges after he allegedly rammed his truck into a historic synagogue in Brisbane, in an attack that has spurred calls for increased security from the synagogue’s rabbi.
Matthew De Campo, 32, of Sunnybank, was arrested on Feb. 20 after he allegedly backed his pickup truck into the Brisbane Synagogue in Queensland, Australia, narrowly missing a person as he struck its gates. He has been charged with willful damage, serious vilification or hate crime, dangerous driving and possession of a dangerous drug.
The ramming comes two months after gunmen opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, killing 15 and injuring dozens more. Last month, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the launch of a Royal Commission inquiry.
In the wake of the attack, the Australian government also tightened gun ownership laws and introduced legislation to curb hate speech, efforts that have been echoed by Queensland Premier David Crisafulli, who earlier this month introduced a package of legislation to combat antisemitism.
“This is another signal as to why we have to put strong laws before parliament to protect all people where they worship,” wrote Crisafulli in a post on social media following the attack.
Assembly presidency bid under pressure
(JNS) — Palestinian Authority envoy Riyad Mansour has dropped his bid to preside over the U.N. General Assembly following diplomatic efforts by several countries, Israel’s ambassador said on Feb. 26.
Ambassador Danny Danon said Mansour withdrew his candidacy on Feb. 25 for an appointment for the 2026-27 session, which the Palestinians had sought with backing from the Arab Group.
Danon welcomed the move, calling the bid “yet another attempt to turn the U.N. General Assembly into a political circus against Israel and to bolster the status of the Palestinian delegation through the back door.”
Mansour was nominated for the presidency by the 22-member Arab Group caucus on March 24, 2025.
The 193-member General Assembly elects its president annually under a rotation system, with the larger Asia-Pacific Group — which represents some 55 member states, including Arabs nations — next slated to fill the post.
In May 2024, the U.N. General Assembly approved an unprecedented measure to give the Palestinian Authority novel rights beyond those reserved for a non-state member, including the right to speak on any matter.
The United States on April 18, 2024, vetoed a Security Council resolution that would have afforded the Palestinians full member-state recognition, noting that Ramallah did not have the required elements of statehood.
Herzog begins official state visit to Ethiopia
(JNS) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog began an official state visit to Ethiopia on Feb. 25, marking his arrival in Addis Ababa for a series of high-level meetings.
Herzog was greeted at an airport ceremony by Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos and Israel’s ambassador to Ethiopia, Avraham Neguise.
“I look forward to a series of important meetings aimed at deepening ties between our two nations,” Herzog wrote on social media after his arrival.
Herzog began his visit at the Adwa Victory Memorial Museum, alongside Timothewos, Addis Ababa Mayor Adanech Abiebie and Neguise.
“Ethiopia is a great nation and a pivotal country in Africa,” he wrote on social media. “Today, we are strengthening our historic friendship.”
Herzog then met with Ethiopian President Taye Atske Selassie at the Presidential Palace in the capital, according to his office, receiving an honor guard at an official ceremony before visiting the Presidential Palace Museum and signing the official guest book at the Presidential Palace.
In the official meeting, the two leaders “discussed strengthening the historic bonds of friendship between Israel and Ethiopia and deepening cooperation between the two nations.”
The Israeli president thanked Selassie, noting that it was his third visit to Ethiopia and fourth visit to an African country since taking office.
