Netanyahu condemns ‘unimaginable cruelty’ of Hamas after hostages mobbed
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday condemned the crowds of Gazans that mobbed three Israeli hostages as they were being released by Hamas.
“I view the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages as very serious,” wrote Netanyahu after the release of Arbel Yehud, Gadi Mozes, Agam Berger and five Thai citizens, all of whom were abducted to Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.
“This is further proof of the unimaginable cruelty of the Hamas terrorist organization. I demand that the mediators ensure that such horrific scenes do not recur, and guarantee the safety of our hostages. Those who dare harm our hostages do so at their own peril,” Netanyahu wrote.
Footage from the release shows massive crowds, apparently in a state of jubilation, swarming around cars transporting the hostages and around the Hamas terrorists escorting the Israelis from the vehicles.
Terrorist who captured IDF soldier Naama Levy was killed in a drone strike, army reveals
(JNS) — An Israeli drone strike in September eliminated the Palestinian terrorist who kidnapped Israel Defense Forces field observer Naama Levy during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border massacre, the military revealed on Thursday.
The news of Muhammad Abu Aseed’s death in Gaza was kept classified until the return of the five female soldiers who were taken hostage alongside Levy and held captive for almost 500 days.
The footage of Levy’s abduction from the IDF’s Nahal Oz base was widely shared on social media.
The video from Gaza showing the then 19-year-old being dragged bloodstained from a jeep with her hands bound became a symbol of the brutality of the terrorist attack, in which 1,200 people were murdered.
Levy, now 20, was freed on Saturday as part of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas, alongside soldiers Liri Albag, 19, Karina Ariev, 20, and Daniella Gilboa, 20. On Thursday, Agam Berger, 20, became the last of the hostage IDF field observers to be released by the terror organization.
One of the abducted observers, Ori Megidish, was rescued alive by the IDF in October 2023, while the body of a second one, Noa Marciano, was recovered by Israel a month later, after she was murdered by Hamas.
Lapid: ‘Israel stands with the American people’ after deadly plane crash
(JNS) — Israeli opposition Leader Yair Lapid on Thursday extended his condolences to the American people following the deadly crash between a passenger plane and military helicopter over Washington, D.C on Wednesday night.
“We are all deeply shocked at the tragic plane crash near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. Israel stands with the American people at this difficult moment,” posted Lapid.
Israel’s embassy in Washington said in a social media post it was “horrified to learn about the mid-air collision near Reagan Airport last night.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and first responders,” the diplomatic mission said.
American Airlines confirmed that 60 passengers and four crew were aboard the commercial jet that crashed into the Potomac River late on Wednesday.
“American Eagle Flight 5342 en route from Wichita, Kansas (ICT), to Washington, D.C. (DCA) was involved in an accident at DCA,” according to a statement from the airline.
At least 28 bodies were recovered, Associated Press reported, citing officials.
Three U.S. soldiers were aboard the Black Hawk helicopter.
Officials said they were still searching but did not believe there were any survivors, which would make the crash the deadliest in the U.S. in over two decades.
Israel’s new envoy in DC starts work ahead of Netanyahu trip
(JNS) — Israel’s new ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, started work this week ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled trip to Washington on Tuesday.
Leiter told JNS that the upcoming White House visit, the first of any foreign leader in the second Trump administration, is a symbol of the close ties between Washington and Jerusalem.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s historic visit to Washington will mark a significant moment in Israel-U.S. relations, setting a tone of close cooperation and friendship between the Israeli government and the Trump administration,” Leiter said.
“His visit will spur bilateral efforts to promote security and prosperity in the United States, Israel and the Middle East,” he added.
After officially starting work in Washington on Monday, Leiter introduced himself in a video on social media on Wednesday.
“I grew up in Scranton. I remember raising the American flag in the morning and taking it down in the evening before going home,” Leiter said in the video. “I moved to Israel when I was 18 and served in the IDF in the first Lebanese war.”
A rabbi with a doctorate in the history of political philosophy, Leiter is also a former political aide to Netanyahu and has a more politically active and right-wing background than did his predecessor, Michael Herzog, whose term overlapped with most of the Biden administration.
Sa’ar hails Trump’s executive order to curb ‘disease’ of Jew-hatred
(JNS) — Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Thursday praised U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order to counter the scourge of Jew-hatred.
“Thank you, President Trump, for your executive order to combat the disease of antisemitism. This critical step sends a clear message: the antisemitic support for Hamas’ October 7th atrocities will not be tolerated,” Sa’ar posted on social media.
“Your important decision helps ensure the safety of the Jewish people on campuses and elsewhere in America,” he added.
Trump signed a sweeping executive order on Wednesday that he said both reinstates an order combating Jew-hatred from his first term, which the Biden administration “effectively nullified,” and “directs additional measures to advance the policy thereof in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, against the people of Israel.
“These attacks unleashed an unprecedented wave of vile antisemitic discrimination, vandalism and violence against our citizens, especially in our schools and on our campuses,” the president stated. “Jewish students have faced an unrelenting barrage of discrimination, denial of access to campus common areas and facilities, including libraries and classrooms, and intimidation, harassment and physical threats and assault.”
The order states that U.S. policy is “to combat antisemitism vigorously, using all available and appropriate legal tools, to prosecute, remove or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence.”
