In Jerusalem, Vance and Netanyahu reject idea that Israel is a ‘vassal state’ of the US
(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday dismissed claims that Israel is a protectorate of the United States, as U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance visited the country to monitor the fragile ceasefire with Hamas.
“One week they say that Israel controls the United States. A week later, they say the United States controls Israel. This is hogwash,” said Netanyahu beside Vance in Jerusalem. “We have a partnership, an alliance of partners who share common values, common goals.”
Vance arrived in Israel Tuesday amid reports that the White House was concerned that Netanyahu would seek to resume the war in Gaza, also rejected the idea that the United States wanted Israel to become a “vassal state.”
He said the goal was to be in “partnership” with Israel in preserving the ceasefire, which he said his visit was part of an effort to monitor.
“This thing takes monitoring, and it’s going to take a lot of work,” Vance said. “It’s not about monitoring in the sense of, you know, you monitor a toddler. It’s about monitoring in the sense that there’s a lot of work, a lot of good people who are doing that work, and it’s important for the principles of the administration to keep on ensuring that our people are doing what we need them to do.”
As the ceasefire deal progresses following the release of the remaining 20 living hostages in Gaza, Vance said he hoped the deal could serve as an “opportunity to build on the Abraham Accords,” a set of deals that established diplomatic ties between Israel and several Arab nations during the first Trump administration.
IDF troops find Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ at Hamas charity in Hebron
(JNS) — Israeli paratroopers operating in the Judea city of Hebron discovered a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and other anti-Jewish incitement in the offices of a charity linked to Hamas, the military said on Thursday.
Hebron’s Islamic Charity Association, which “presents itself as aiding the needy,” covertly worked to “promote incitement to terror and to recruit and channel funds to finance the organization’s terrorist activities,” according to the Israel Defense Forces.
During the operation against the charity, which was said to have several branches throughout Judea and Samaria, troops also confiscated some 165,700 shekels (over $50,000) in terrorist funds, the IDF stated.
Israeli forces moved to “seal off the main entrance of the compound where the incitement materials and funds were located,” it added.
In November 2023, IDF troops operating against Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip discovered a copy of Mein Kampf in a children’s room that was used as a Hamas base, Israeli President Isaac Herzog revealed.
The head of state held up the copy of the Nazi leader’s manifesto during an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation on Nov. 12, 2023.
“This is Adolf Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, translated into Arabic. This is the book that led to the Holocaust and the book that led to World War II,” Herzog stated.
JD Vance condemns Knesset vote on West Bank annexation as ‘very stupid’
(JTA) — Vice President J.D. Vance denounced a vote by Israeli lawmakers to advance West Bank annexation as “weird” and personally offensive, in comments as he departed Israel after a two-day visit aimed at shoring up the Gaza ceasefire.
In part to increase pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right-wing lawmakers signed off on two bills related to annexation on Wednesday in an early stage of the legislative process. Most members of Netanyahu’s party boycotted the votes, and the bills are seen as unlikely to advance to become law.
President Donald Trump has said annexation is off the table in his view as he seeks to solidify peace in the region and secure additional relationships between Israel and Arab nations.
Vance said he was told the Knesset vote was purely symbolic, which he said he did not understand. “If it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it,” he said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is replacing Vance in Israel, two weeks into the U.S.-brokered truce in the Gaza war amid questions over its durability. Trump’s plan said it aimed to create “a credible pathway” toward a Palestinian state, of which portions of the West Bank would be an expected component.
The ring that waited through captivity: Former hostage pops question
(JNS) — Eight months after returning from Hamas captivity in Gaza, Eliya Cohen continues rebuilding his life with an especially significant personal milestone. On Thursday, Cohen proposed to his girlfriend, Ziv Avud.
The pair, who have maintained a close relationship since before the Oct. 7, 2023, kidnapping, endured one of the most challenging periods together and now celebrate the beginning of a new chapter.
The moving proposal occurred on the roof of the Setai Hotel in Tel Aviv with the couple’s family and friends present, against the backdrop of the beaches. Cohen got down on one knee beside an enormous flower arrangement in pure white formed into the shape of a heart.
Cohen, who was freed from Hamas captivity on Feb. 22, 2025, after more than 500 days as a hostage, revealed in recent interviews that he already purchased the engagement ring for Ziv before the kidnapping. Since his release, he has turned a page, starting to lecture worldwide, promoting a large music festival in Israel, and releasing a book describing his time in captivity and the moments forever carved into him.
Yad Vashem workers strike for the first time
(JNS) — Staff at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum went on strike Thursday, October 23, over a wage dispute for the first time in the institution’s seven-decade history.
The museum remained open to visitors despite the daylong strike, a spokeswoman said.
She said it was “regrettable” that the workers union went ahead with the strike despite the fact that a solution was within reach, with 95% of the fiscal issues in dispute already resolved.
Yad Vashem, which was inaugurated in 1953, is the second-most-visited Israeli tourist site, after the Western Wall.
