EU-backed ‘Josephus’ archive opens digital access to centuries of Greek Jewish history
(JNS) — A recently-launched E.U.-backed digital archive documenting the history of Greek Jews is offering free public access to more than 212,000 documents and over two million digital records, the European Jewish Congress said this week.
The Iossipos (“Josephus”) project, named after the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, has been implemented by the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki with roughly €4 million ($4.3 million) in funding from Brussels’ National Strategic Reference Framework 2021–2027 program.
Described by its developers as a landmark effort in cultural preservation, the website brings together archival material chronicling more than three millennia of Jewish presence in Greece, including Romaniote (Greek-speaking), Sephardic and Ashkenazi communities.
Thessaloniki, once known as the “Jerusalem of the Balkans” following the arrival of Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in 1492, became a major center of Jewish life before the Holocaust devastated its population. Beginning in March 1943, more than 50,000 Jews were deported from the city to Nazi destruction camps, with fewer than 2,000 surviving.
Much of the community’s archives were lost in the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917, which destroyed most of the city, or later stolen by Nazi Germany.
Rio de Janeiro sees wave of antisemitic incidents during Passover
(JNS) — A series of antisemitic incidents in Rio de Janeiro during the Passover holiday has prompted legal action and renewed calls for stronger national measures against antisemitism.
The incidents come amid a sharp rise in reported cases nationwide. According to figures from the Confederação Israelita do Brasil, nearly 1,000 antisemitic incidents were recorded in 2025 — an increase of roughly 150% compared to 2022.
In one case, a bar in Rio’s Lapa neighborhood posted a sign reading “US & Israel citizens Are Not Welcome.” Following public outrage, Rio de Janeiro City Hall and the Brazilian Consumer Protection Agency fined the establishment about $1,850 for severe consumer discrimination. The bar now faces the potential revocation of its operating license.
A separate restaurant expressed support for the bar by posting an image of the Israeli flag marked with an “X” on social media.
In another incident, Brazilian Jewish chef Monique Benoliel reported that a deli refused to sell her matzah for the holiday, with the owner stating he was “tired of Jews.”
“When business owners feel comfortable hanging signs stating that Israelis are not welcome or refusing to sell Passover food to a Jewish customer, it is a severe warning sign for all of society,” stated André Lajst, CEO of StandWithUs Brazil.
Athens and Jerusalem ink $750 million defense deal
(JNS) — Israel and Greece signed a defense deal on Apr 6 valued at about $750 million (€650 million) for the supply of advanced rocket artillery systems to the Hellenic Armed Forces, marking a significant expansion of military cooperation between the nations.
The agreement, signed at Greece’s Ministry of National Defense in Athens, covers the procurement of the Precise & Universal Launching System (PULS), manufactured by Israel’s Elbit Systems. The agreement includes launchers, a range of precision-guided and training munitions, and loitering munitions, the Israeli Defense Ministry said.
Elbit Systems will act as the prime contractor, with the contract set to be implemented over four years, followed by a 10-year sustainment and support period. The agreement will also lead to industrial cooperation, including through the involvement of Greek defense firms in the production of system components.
Senior defense officials from both countries attended the signing ceremony, including IDF Brig. Gen. (res.) Yair Kulas, who leads international defense cooperation at Israel’s Defense Ministry, and Maj. Gen. Ioannis Bouras, director of the Greek Defense Ministry’s General Directorate for Defense Investments and Armaments, according to the statement from Jerusalem.
Israeli, Serbian leaders denounce antisemitic statements at Belgrade protest
(JTA) — Israeli and Serbian officials are denouncing antisemitic comments made by demonstrators during a clash between Serbian students and police at a protest last week.
“Death to Vučić and all the Jews around him,” one protester said in a televised interview, referring to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. “Long live Serbia.”
The protest last Tuesday marked the latest flashpoint in a series of anti-government protests that have erupted across the country over the past year after 16 people died in an accident at a railway station in November 2024. Hundreds of students participated in the protest, which came as Serbian police searched the offices of the University of Belgrade as part of an investigation into the death of a female student. The school’s leadership claimed that the investigation was an “attack on the university” for its support for the student-led protest movement.
Serbia and Israel first established diplomatic relations in 1948, and Vučić told the Jerusalem Post last year that the country “will always appreciate, respect, and like the Jewish people and Israel.”
Nemanja Starović, the Serbian minister of European integration and the chair of Serbia’s delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, called on the protest leaders to “unambiguously condemn these antisemitic incidents and to immediately remove all antisemitic messages and slogans from university premises.”
Iran claims synagogue in Tehran was ‘completely destroyed’ by US-Israeli strike
(JTA) — Iranian state media claimed on Apr 7 that a synagogue in Tehran was “completely destroyed” by a U.S.-Israeli strike.
The claim was impossible to verify. Footage of the alleged attack on the Rafi-Niya Synagogue posted online showed open Hebrew prayer books scattered among the rubble of a building.
The synagogue was damaged when a nearby residential building in Tehran was attacked, according to Iranian news agencies. The Rafi-Niya Synagogue is located near Palestine Square, an epicenter of the Iranian regime’s anti-Israel propaganda.
Israel emphasized that it does not target religious sites.
Homayoun Sameyah Najafabadi, the only Jewish representative in Iran’s parliament, condemned the attack in a video published by Iran’s official IRIB News outlet.
“The Zionist regime showed no mercy towards this community during the Jewish holidays and attacked one of our ancient and holy synagogues,” Najafabadi said. “Unfortunately, during this attack, the synagogue building was completely destroyed, and Torah scrolls remain under the rubble.”
About 8,000 Jews live in Iran and worship in dozens of synagogues. The war has exacerbated their delicate position, as they are technically granted freedom of religion but face peril if they demonstrate any connection to Israel or dissent against their government. Hundreds of Iranian Jews who have applied for refugee status because of religious persecution are trapped in the country after the United States halted refugee admissions.
