ISRAEL AT WAR 5786: Time and Again

Tel Aviv-We’re going to be fine


Eylon Levy-tweet-14October2025-Tel Aviv-We’re going to be fine
📌 Tel Aviv

We’re going to be fine

Eylon Levy-tweet-14October2025-Tel Aviv-We’re going to be fine

Eylon Levy-tweet-14October2025-Tel Aviv-We’re going to be fine

7 Hostages Released


Israel Defense Forces-tweet-13October2025-7 Hostages Released
After 738 days in captivity in Gaza, Matan, Gali, Ziv, Alon, Eitan, Omri and Guy are coming home. 🇮🇱

Israel Defense Forces-tweet-13October2025-7 Hostages Released

Israel Defense Forces-tweet-13October2025-7 Hostages Released

 


 

13 Hostages Released


Israel Defense Forces-tweet-13October2025-13 Hostages Released
It’s official: There are no more living Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity.

Israel Defense Forces-tweet-13October2025-13 Hostages Released

Israel Defense Forces-tweet-13October2025-13 Hostages Released


jns-org-logo

22 wounded as Houthi drone from Yemen hits Eilat

Magen David Adom medics treated victims at the scene and evacuated them—including two in serious condition—to Yoseftal Hospital.

Charles Bybelezer

https://www.jns.org/five-injured-as-houthi-drone-from-yemen-strikes-eilat/

 

Israeli security forces at the scene of a Houthi drone strike in Eilat, Sept. 24, 2025. Photo by Yehuda Ben Itach/Flash90.

Israeli security forces at the scene of a Houthi drone strike in Eilat, Sept. 24, 2025. Photo by Yehuda Ben Itach/Flash90.

 

(24September2025 / JNS) Twenty-two people were injured on Wednesday evening when a drone launched by Houthi terrorists in Yemen struck the southern Israeli city of Eilat.

 

Magen David Adom said its medics treated victims at the scene and evacuated them—including two in serious condition—to the city’s Yoseftal Hospital.

 

Video circulating online showed people scrambling for cover as air-raid sirens sounded, with the UAV appearing to strike near a major shopping center adjacent to Eilat’s main boardwalk.

 

The Israel Defense Forces said interception attempts were made, and that search-and-rescue teams were operating at the impact site.

 

The Israeli Air Force opened an investigation after the two Iron Dome interceptor missiles failed to down the UAV.

 


Itay Blumental-tweet-24September2025-Houthi UAV in Eilat
Initial report on the fall of a Houthi UAV in Eilat, the second within a week

דיווח ראשוני על נפילת כטב”ם חותי באילת , שני בתוך שבוע

Itay Blumental-tweet-24September2025-Houthi UAV in Eilat

Itay Blumental-tweet-24September2025-Houthi UAV in Eilat

 

 

The Israel Police urged residents to stay away from the crash site and avoid touching debris, warning it may contain explosives.

 

The military urged the public to continue adhering to Home Front Command guidelines.

 

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday night wished a full recovery to those injured in Eilat.

 

“The Houthi terrorists refuse to learn from Iran, Lebanon and Gaza—and they will learn the hard way,” Katz said, adding, “Those who attack Israel will be struck back sevenfold.”

Israeli security forces at the scene of a Houthi drone strike in Eilat, Sept. 24, 2025. Credit: Israel Police.

Israeli security forces at the scene of a Houthi drone strike in Eilat, Sept. 24, 2025. Credit: Israel Police.

 

Last Thursday, an unmanned aerial vehicle that was launched toward Israel “from the east” impacted in the courtyard of a hotel in Eilat. No injuries were reported.

 

A second drone was intercepted by the Israeli Air Force minutes later, the IDF said.

 

The term “from the east” is typically used by the IDF to refer to attacks by Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.

 

Approximately an hour later, the Houthis fired a ballistic missile that triggered air-raid alerts across central Israel, sending millions of civilians to bomb shelters.

 

On Sept. 16, the IDF struck Hudaydah Port in Houthi-controlled Yemen, accusing the terrorist group of using the facility to transfer Iranian-supplied weapons for attacks on Israel and its allies.

 

The strike targeted a “military infrastructure site,” with the IDF saying it was “in response to the repeated attacks by the Houthi terrorist regime against the State of Israel, including the launch of UAVs and surface-to-surface missiles.”

 

The Houthis have carried out missile and drone attacks on the Jewish state—including a direct missile hit near Ben-Gurion International Airport on May 4—since the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

 

A Houthi explosive drone crashed into Ramon Airport near Eilat on Sept. 7, shortly after the IAF intercepted three UAVs launched from Yemen.

 

Jerusalem has conducted several rounds of strikes against the Houthis, including an Aug. 28 operation that killed their “prime minister” and several other Cabinet officials.

 

Defense Minister Katz said on Friday that Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Houthis, and his government would be sent to “the depths of hell.”

 

“Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, your time will come,” Katz said, adding that he and his subordinates will meet “all the envoys of the Axis of Evil.”

 

The slogan “Death to Israel, curse upon the Jews,” written on the Houthi flag, Katz added, “will be replaced by the blue-and-white Israeli flag that will fly in the capital of united Yemen.”

 

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Israeli forces kill two PIJ terrorists in Samaria

Alaa Ga’udat Bani Ouda and Mohammad Qassem Suleiman were part of a cell planning an imminent attack.

JNS Staff

https://www.jns.org/israeli-forces-kill-two-pij-terrorists-in-samaria/

 

(25September2025 / JNS) Israeli forces operating overnight Wednesday in the Palestinian town of Tammun, eight miles northeast of Nablus in Samaria, neutralized a terrorist cell planning an imminent attack.

 

Acting on intelligence, the forces located members of the cell affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including Alaa Ga’udat Bani Ouda and Mohammad Qassem Suleiman, both armed operatives involved in planning shooting and explosive attacks.

 

During the operation, forces encircled the building where the terrorists had barricaded themselves, engaged them with precise fire, and killed them.

 

During Israeli operations on Wednesday in the Anzah area, near Jenin in northern Samaria, a terrorist hurled an explosive device at soldiers. The troops returned fire, killing the assailant. No IDF injuries were reported.

 

A day earlier, Israeli forces identified a rocket in the Palestinian city of Tulkarem, in western Samaria. The Israel Defense Forces said the rocket was neutralized by Border Police sappers, while troops scanned the area. The military has opened an investigation into the incident.

 

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BACKGROUND: What Israel has to deal with. Mein Kampf


Elder of Ziyon-tweet-4February2025-What Israel has to deal with-Mein Kampf

Elder of Ziyon-tweet-4February2025-What Israel has to deal with-Mein Kampf

Elder of Ziyon-tweet-4February2025-What Israel has to deal with-Mein Kampf

 

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Mein Kampf in Arabic

Mein Kampf in Arabic in Gaza


Israel-tweet-12November2023-Mein Kampf in Gaza
Antisemitism kills.

IDF forces found a copy of Hitler’s antisemitic work “Mein Kampf” in a child’s room of a home in Gaza used by Hamas as a terrorism hub.

The terrorist highlighted portions of the book and included his own notes.

It starts with words. It ends with Jewish blood in the streets.

Israel-tweet-12November2023-Mein Kampf in Gaza

Israel-tweet-12November2023-Mein Kampf in Gaza

 


 

Mein Kampf in Arabic in Judea and Samaria


Rubi Yona-tweet-15October2024-Mein Kampf in Arabic in Judea and Samaria
No, our fighters didn’t find it in Gaza but in “Judea and Samaria” (what the jihadist-loving left calls the “The West Bank”), 20 minutes from our central cities.

This is a school textbook based on Hitler’s “Mein Camp”, on the extermination of the Jewish people, with additions, upgrades and streamlining suggestions for the jihadist Muslims known as “Palestinians”.

We fight monsters.

#AINewsIL #MuslimInvaders #TheWestIsNext

Rubi Yona-tweet-15October2024-Mein Kampf in Arabic in Judea and Samaria

Rubi Yona-tweet-15October2024-Mein Kampf in Arabic in Judea and Samaria

 


 

Mein Kampf sold at many Palestinian stores

SEE: From 9January2014 Sales Of Hitler’s Mein Kampf Are Surging


Eli Kowaz-tweet-4January2024-Mein Kampf sold at many Palestinian stores
While visiting different Palestinian cities in the West Bank, I was shocked to see Mein Kampf sold at many stores (even those that are not bookshops).

When you hear how many Palestinians talk about Hitler, you quickly understand why.

Listen to Yussuf from Bethlehem.

Eli Kowaz-tweet-4January2024-Mein Kampf sold at many Palestinian stores

Eli Kowaz-tweet-4January2024-Mein Kampf sold at many Palestinian stores

 

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israelhayom-com-logo-bring-them-home

Who’s afraid of diplomatic isolation?

There is no Palestinian state not only because Israel maintains full control over the territory, but also because of the Palestinian Authority’s failure to establish functioning governing institutions, and Hamas’ dominance.

by Prof. Eyal Zisser – Published on 09-28-2025 10:05 – Last modified: 09-28September2025 10:15 https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/whos-afraid-of-diplomatic-isolation/
Eyal Zisser is a lecturer in the Middle East History Department at Tel Aviv University.

 

On December 13, 1949, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel and ordered the transfer of state institutions there from Tel Aviv. In the UN Partition Plan of November 1947, Jerusalem was not included in the Jewish state’s territory. During and after the 1948 War of Independence, proposals were even raised internationally to place the city under international rule, or to hand it over to Jordan. Israel effectively set its capital in Tel Aviv, where the president, government, Knesset and other state institutions sat.

 

Ben-Gurion’s announcement came, naturally, as the UN General Assembly was meeting in New York to debate the Middle East. At the time, Israel was waging a tough diplomatic battle to preserve the gains of the War of Independence, against most of the world, which demanded territorial concessions and the return of Palestinian refugees as the only path to peace.

 

But Ben-Gurion did not back down and decided to move the capital to Jerusalem. As expected, the world erupted in protest, condemned Israel harshly, and threatened retaliatory steps. Leading the opposition, as usual, were European countries, joined by the United States, whose ties with Israel in those years were cool and even hostile. But the die was cast, and Jerusalem became the capital. Inside Israel, too, many opposed the move. Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett even submitted his resignation to Ben-Gurion, perhaps as protest, having warned that the step would bring disaster, or perhaps, as he later claimed, because he had not foreseen the diplomatic tsunami that swept over Israel.

 

Today we are once again warned that Israel is on the verge of diplomatic isolation, highlighted by the recognition of a Palestinian state by Britain, France and other Western countries. But such warnings should be taken with a grain of salt. First, most of the world, 147 of the UN’s 193 member states, has already recognized a Palestinian state for years, yet it has not come into being nor is it likely to in the near future. Second, a Palestinian state has not emerged not only because Israel controls the territory, but also because of the Palestinian Authority’s ongoing failure to maintain functioning institutions and, above all, because of the looming threat of Hamas, which could seize control of any area handed over to the Palestinians.

 

In 1955, as Israel battled waves of terrorist attacks while being urged to exercise restraint out of fear of international criticism, Ben-Gurion declared: Only the courage of the Jews established the state, not some ‘UN-shmun’ decision… Our future depends not on what the nations say, but on what the Jews do. Still, Ben-Gurion was mindful of limits and the need for alliances. He launched the 1956 Sinai Campaign only after securing French backing, which for a time provided Israel with political cover and military aid.

 

The historical lesson is clear. A country like Israel, facing existential security challenges in a complex and hostile regional and global arena, cannot base its actions solely on how the world will respond.

 

The decision by some European states and others to recognize a Palestinian state stems from political calculations, appeasing the radical left and Muslim immigrant communities. It carries no real weight or meaning and will ultimately fade into history. Yet Israel must know what it seeks and can achieve, what is worth fighting for, and where to show flexibility. With all due respect to Gaza, it is not Jerusalem. As Menachem Begin once put it: Learn from Masada how not to reach it, and from Modiin how to build it.

 

The real question we must keep in sight is how to preserve cohesion and unity within Israeli society, and around what shared principles and goals to forge broad national consensus.

 

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Politicians Are Speaking Out! A Massive Awakening is Happening in Israel…

Posted 28September2025 JNS-TV:

Most people outside of Israel probably don’t realize what’s happening right now. In the middle of a war, with the country on edge, one unexpected name has suddenly been thrust into the spotlight: David Zini. He’s not a politician or a public figure, but a career IDF general who has just been appointed to head Israel’s most powerful security agency, the Shin Bet. In this episode, we break down who he is, why this move surprised so many, and how his sudden rise is already sparking political battles inside Israel.

 

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Nearly 50,000 Jews celebrate Sukkot in Hebron

Fifty percent more worshippers than last year visited Judaism’s second-holiest site during the first days of the Feast of Booths.

JNS Staff

https://www.jns.org/nearly-50000-jews-celebrate-sukkot-in-hebron/

 

Israel flags decorate the 2,000-year-old Cave of the Patriarchs complex in Hebron in anticipation of Independence Day, May 2018. The same Herodian masonry is used for the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Photo by Yishai Fleisher

Israel flags decorate the 2,000-year-old Cave of the Patriarchs complex in Hebron in anticipation of Independence Day, May 2018. The same Herodian masonry is used for the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Photo by Yishai Fleisher

 

( 12October2025 / JNS) Almost 50,000 Jews visited the Cave of the Patriarchs in the Judea city of Hebron Octoberduring the first two days of the joyous Sukkot festival on Oct. 7-8, according to Israel Defense Forces data.

 

A total of 47,000 Jews visited Judaism’s second-holiest city during the first two days of the weeklong Feast of Booths—1.5 times as many worshippers as last year, the data cited by Arutz 7 on Sunday indicated.

 

The Cave of the Patriarchs (“Mearat Hamachpela“) is the burial place of the Jewish patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and matriarchs Sarah, Rebecca and Leah. According to the biblical account, the cave was purchased by Abraham from Ephron the Hittite more than 3,000 years ago.

 

Hebron is home to some 800 Jewish residents—there is a waiting list to move there—who live surrounded by some 200,000 Arabs.

 

At dawn on Wednesday, thousands of Jewish worshippers gathered at the Cave of the Patriarchs for a traditional Hallel prayer led by Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the chief rabbi of Safed in the Upper Galilee, and Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Schwartz, the chief rabbi of Hebron-Kiryat Arba.

 

Among those attending the service were bereaved Israeli families, IDF troops and their relatives, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and other senior officials.

 

Eliyahu told attendees at the prayer service, “The Zohar [book of Jewish mysticism] teaches that in the future, the enemies of Israel throughout generations will reappear in the enemies of today. At the same time, the patriarchs themselves are revealed through the righteous of our time.”

 

He added that this includes “all the righteous and soldiers who risk their lives not just to save one soul, but to save an entire people—and through them, an entire world.”

 

Also on Wednesday, Ben-Gvir visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, declaring victory at the holiest site in Judaism two years after the Hamas-led Palestinian terrorist invasion of the northwestern Negev.

 

“We are two years after the terrible massacre—here at the Temple Mount there is victory, in every house in Gaza there is a picture of the Temple Mount, and we today, two years later, are victorious at the Temple Mount,” the leader of the Oztma Yehudit Party exclaimed.

 

Almost 70,000 Jews ascended the Mount in the Hebrew year 5785, a 22% increase compared to the previous year and a modern-day record, the Beyadenu—Returning to the Temple Mount group stated on Sept. 24.

 

According to the Israeli advocacy group, 68,429 Jewish worshippers entered Judaism’s holiest site since the previous Rosh Hashanah, or Jewish New Year, on Oct. 2, 2024. In 5784, 56,057 visited the site.

 

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Israel will build ‘Independent Arms Industry’ amid worry of international constraints: Netanyahu

Posted 25September2025 The Economic Times:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday (September 16) that Israel will create an “independent arms industry” that can “withstand international constraints”. In his address, Netanyahu spoke about the Israeli economy and that it withheld through two economic crisis, the COVID and the two year war on Gaza. He also added that President of the United States, Donald Trump had invited him to the White House in two weeks, after his speech at the U.N.

 

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breakingdefense-com-logo

Amid embargoes, how independent can Israel’s defense industry be?

Analysts agree with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel could become more self-sufficient, but there are clear limits to the push.

By Seth J. Frantzman on September 30, 2025 12:43 pm  https://breakingdefense.com/2025/09/amid-embargoes-how-independent-can-israels-defense-industry-be/

 

JERUSALEM — Facing foreign arms embargoes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently called for Israel to become far more self-reliant on homegrown defense products, describing his vision of the Middle Eastern power as a “super Sparta.”

 

But analysts told Breaking Defense that while it would be in Jerusalem’s interest to build more defense components and platforms at home, there are clear limits to what the defense industry is capable of on its own.

 

“Israel will not be totally independent,” Yaakov Amidror, who served as Netanyahu’s national security advisor between 2011 and 2013, told Breaking Defense. “It will not produce F-35s or submarines, for example, but Israel can be and should be less dependent on others regarding munitions and spare parts.”

 

In a speech on Sept. 15 Netanyahu acknowledged that economically Israel is “in a sort of isolation.”

 

“I am a believer in the free market, but we may find ourselves in a situation where our arms industries are blocked. We will need to develop arms industries here — not only research and development, but also the ability to produce what we need,” he said. After the comments sparked a vocal backlash, Netanyahu clarified that the defense industry was already “soaring,” but reiterated Israel needed to “achieve security independence.” (Days later, scores of delegates walked out ahead of Netanyahu’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly.)

 

Eran Lerman, a former deputy for foreign policy and international affairs at the national security council in the Israeli prime minister’s office, noted “there is a reason Netanyahu quickly walked back his earlier comment about becoming generally self-reliant — it simply cannot work in an economy fully geared towards export.” Lerman, who is vice president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, added that in more narrow terms relating to military supplies, “it does make sense to generate alternatives to the occasionally problematic chains of supply. But to wrap this in the red battle cloak of Sparta was an obvious mistake.”

 

Yaakov Katz, author of Shadow Strike, a book about Israel’s raid on Syria’s nuclear program and a fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, said that Netanyahu was right regarding Israel’s need to be more self-reliant in terms of weapons production. However, he agreed with Amidror that when it comes to major platforms like warplanes, it won’t be possible.

 

“Take the Air Force as an example: All of the IAF’s aircraft except the trainer aircraft are US made. [These] are F-15s, F-16s, F-35s and so much more. Without spare parts, maintenance and more from the US, Israel will not be able to fly and hence, will not be able to fight. So while independence is important, so is ensuring we have bipartisan support in the US for decades to come.”

 

While some European nations have announced embargoes on arms sales to Israel over its conduct in Gaza, Washington has maintained its close relationship with Jerusalem, even if President Donald Trump appears at times to have been frustrated with Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister concluded a visit to the White House on Monday, after which Trump presented a 20-point plan to end the conflict in Gaza.

 

Meanwhile, Israeli defense firms have been logging record export sales, despite the ongoing war against Hamas. Israel has also been plowing funds into local defense contracts, which Israel’s Ministry of Defense says is part of an attempt to invest in what are called “blue and white” local industries to create “manufacturing independence.” This has included everything from manufacturing munitions to repairing and producing tanks.

 

One way Israel is responding to the new self-reliance drive is to establish a National Armament Council. Israel Ministry of Defense Director General Amir Baram said on Sept. 15 that the new council would “accelerate our preparedness for third- and fourth-tier threats dramatically. This comprehensive body will unite all stakeholders around a unified table: the defense establishment, Treasury officials, the Ministry’s R&D directorate, defense industries, and additional relevant entities.”

 

Speaking that day — a day before Netanyahu’s controversial comments — about Israel’s outlook, Baram noted that “security and economic strength are inextricably linked, particularly in Israel. Fundamental security is a cornerstone of national security — alongside robust economics, social cohesion, and cutting-edge technology.”

 

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jns-org-logo

Biased media fuels American Jewish opposition to Israel

A poll shows that liberals and those who think being Jewish is unimportant are more likely to believe Hamas propaganda that the mainstream press reports as facts.

https://www.jns.org/biased-media-fuels-american-jewish-opposition-to-israel/

 

Jonathan S. Tobin

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of the Jewish News Syndicate, a senior contributor for The Federalist, a columnist for Newsweek and a contributor to many other publications. He covers the American political scene, foreign policy, the U.S.-Israel relationship, Middle East diplomacy, the Jewish world and the arts. He hosts the JNS “Think Twice” podcast, both the weekly video program and the “Jonathan Tobin Daily” program, which are available on all major audio platforms and YouTube. Previously, he was executive editor, then senior online editor and chief political blogger, for Commentary magazine. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of The Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia and editor of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. He has won more than 60 awards for commentary, art criticism and other writing. He appears regularly on television, commenting on politics and foreign policy. Born in New York City, he studied history at Columbia University.

 

(10October2025 / JNS) The data is staggering. No matter how you look at it, a Washington Post poll conducted last month showing that 61% of American Jews believe that Israel has committed “war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza” is shocking for those who worry about declining Jewish support for Israel. The same survey shows that 39% of American Jewry believes that Israel is committing “genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.”

 

The headline on the article discussing the results characterized them as demonstrating that “many American Jews are sharply critical of Israel on Gaza.” It fits with the results that showed them disapproving of Israel’s war in Gaza by a slender but still telling 48% to 46% margin.

 

The ‘genocide’ blood libel

The answers to the questions about “war crimes” and “genocide” demonstrate that—at least as far as the respondents in question—the state of American Jewish opinion about Israel has gone far beyond criticism. It’s one thing for Jewish liberals living in the United States to think ill of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as his coalition of nationalist and religious parties, whose supporters have very different worldviews about a variety of topics, not the least of which is their support for U.S. President Donald Trump.

 

But if a critical mass of those who self-identify as Jewish is willing to swallow blood libels that allege that Israelis are attempting to wipe out an entire people, then clearly something is very wrong. That’s the sort of news that should be enough to send Jewish leaders and organizations into a state of panic, as well as worry Israelis, many of whom have already begun to conclude that their Jewish brethren are far less reliable supporters of their right to live in peace and security than evangelical Christians.

 

This data will, like many other surveys over the years that have provided results that demonstrate a decline in Jewish support for Israel, provoke discussions and plans for more projects aimed at reversing this trend. While efforts along these lines are, in principle, praiseworthy, those friends of Israel who are panicking about this particular poll—and those antisemites and other enemies of Israel that are rejoicing over it—need to place it in perspective.

 

It tells us a lot more about the state of American Jewry in 2025 than it does about Israel’s conduct of the post-Oct. 7 war against Hamas in Gaza.

 

Just as important, the survey answers are in large measure a direct result of the biased coverage of Israel and the war in the Gaza Strip that has been provided by corporate legacy press outlets like The Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN and MSNBC. So, as much as anything else, what the Post is revealing in this poll is that people who depend on mainstream liberal media for their information are frankly ignorant of the truth about the war, believing what the misleading and often downright lying coverage about Israelis and the Palestinian Arabs tells them. No wonder they believe the misinformation they are being fed about the Jewish state committing “war crimes” and “genocide.”

 

The survey’s breakdown of their respondents’ beliefs helps us understand why they are so “critical” of Israel.

 

Decline in Jewish peoplehood

Like more detailed studies of American Jewry, the Post’s sample showed that a significant portion of those who identify as Jewish don’t consider their identity to be very important to them, with 29% saying it meant little or nothing to them and 24% saying they did not consider Judaism to be their religion. Some 42% of them said they had little or nothing in common with Israelis, and 44% said they were not emotionally attached to the Jewish state. If you drill down further into the numbers, you see that those who are not “Jewish by religion” are much more likely to blame Israel for the suffering in Gaza than those who do claim Judaism as their faith.

 

The point being that those who are either more likely to be religious or deeply connected to Israel—or are politically conservative and reject the toxic leftist myths of critical race theory, intersectionality and settler-colonialism that claim Israelis and Jews are “white” oppressors—are more likely to have alternate sources of information about the war and Israel. As a result, they are also less likely to believe the Hamas blood libels about Israeli war crimes and genocide that have been normalized and mainstreamed by international media.

 

Not all the results in the poll are bad news for the U.S.-Israel relationship. A whopping 76% of the respondents say that Israel’s existence is vital to the future of the Jewish people, although considering that about half of the world’s Jews live there, that’s a fairly obvious truth. More of them believe that Hamas—the side that started the war with unspeakable atrocities on Oct. 7, 2023—is more responsible for the war than those who blame the Israelis, who were attacked in the early-morning hours that Saturday, and their leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

 

But most of the results simply reflect what anyone who depends on liberal media like the Post for information, with otherwise little knowledge about the conflict, would be expected to think.

 

It’s also true that the way the questions were framed and the sequencing of them were designed to produce “both sides are bad” answers that inflated the number of those who supported the most egregious accusations against Israel.

 

Yet at its heart, the poll is a reflection of not so much failures in Israel’s information policy and the success of Hamas propaganda (or even genuine evaluations of the shortcomings of Netanyahu’s government) as it is American Jewish demography.

 

As Jews assimilate, drop Judaism as a religion, and even more importantly, lose a sense of Jewish peoplehood in which they identify with and feel responsible for the safety of other Jews and Israel, it stands to reason that fewer of them are supportive of a Jewish state under fire. For these reasons, it’s not surprising that so many of them are willing to believe the outrageous lies about Israel that have gone viral amid a worldwide surge of antisemitism primarily aimed at demonizing the one Jewish state on the planet and its supporters.

 

But their lack of a sense of Jewish peoplehood and the left-leaning tilt of the majority of American Jews also makes them more likely to be consumers of anti-Israel mainstream media, rather than the few independent and/or Jewish news outlets, like JNS, that reject the pro-Hamas spin, and whose coverage tells the truth about the care Israeli forces take to avoid civilian casualties and the way the Palestinian terrorists seek to sacrifice as many of their civilians as possible.

 

Biased coverage influences opinions

It’s simply a matter of “garbage in—garbage out” as with any system. If people are fed biased coverage produced by a generation of liberal editors and writers more interested in activism than journalism, and who have already been indoctrinated to believe that Zionism is racism, then why be surprised that a demographic slice of their most loyal readers and viewers—liberal Jews—have been heavily influenced by their efforts?<

 

So, what should be the response of the Jewish community to these troubling results?

 

While an increased campaign to combat anti-Israel disinformation on social media is important, let’s not kid ourselves. Clever use of the tools of modern communication certainly can help. Still, no matter how much effort is put in, it wouldn’t be enough to counteract belief systems that are the result of choices about identity, religion and politics that predispose people on the left to think that Israel is always wrong and the Palestinians are right, no matter what either of them actually does.

 

Encouraging more Jews to care about Israel, and to be willing to listen to the truth and disregard blatant falsehoods about it, involves investments in education and Jewish experiences like schools, summer camps and trips to the Jewish state, not hiring influencers to post on TikTok. And if you want to put them in touch with accurate information about what actual Israelis and Palestinians do and believe, then you have to invest in alternatives to a corrupt and biased mainstream media that is more interested in producing work that conforms to their ideological prejudices about intersectional victims than in telling the truth.

 

It is awful that so many people who claim some sort of Jewish identity are willing to believe the lies spread about Israel. That they do so even while telling pollsters that they feel less safe because of the increase in antisemitism fueled by such coverage is not so much ironic as indicative of the problem posed by the spread of disinformation about Israeli “genocide.”

 

Support alternative voices

The good news is that outlets like the Post, which lie at the heart of the problem in Jewish disaffection, are declining in influence. Even as the liberal-leaning plurality sinks further into assimilation and a willingness to believe smears of Israel as being true, alternatives to mainstream thinking are proliferating. Outlets like JNS, The Free Press, Tablet and a host of non-leftist foundations and educational institutions are gaining in strength and growing both their reach and support. That’s the real story of Jewish revival that papers like The Washington Post and The New York Times ignore while they highlight the activities of anti-Israel and even antisemitic organizations that claim to be Jewish.

 

As this poll shows, much of American Jewry is abandoning its heritage and drifting toward the acceptance of antisemitic blood libels to stay in sync with liberal fashion. We have all witnessed the way antisemitic propaganda has been promoted by the political left, as well as by a loud but influential minority on the political right.

 

But the battle for the soul of America and American Jewry is not lost. Those Jews who understand that their safety—and that of Israel—is bound up with a struggle to defend Western civilization against toxic leftist doctrines, and the bizarre red-green alliance of Marxists and Islamists, are not giving up. More to the point, they are on the same side as the majority of Americans who, with good reason, don’t believe what the liberal press tells them about any topic. The triumph of woke progressivism that is integral to the turn against Israel reached its peak during the Black Lives Matter summer of 2020 and then during the Biden administration. It is now in retreat.

 

As sobering as some of the recent samples of public opinion about Israel may be, we should not be too discouraged. The majority of Americans, and even most Jews, still stand by Israel. Poll results notwithstanding, Jewish backers of Israel are still on the right side of history.

 

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate). Follow him: @jonathans_tobin.

 

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Many American Jews sharply critical of Israel on Gaza, Post poll finds

Most Jews say Israel is committing war crimes — and 39 percent say genocide — while often distinguishing between the country and its leadership.

Updated 6October2025 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/06/jewish-americans-israel-poll-gaza/

 

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Many American Jews sharply disapprove of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, with 61 percent saying Israel has committed war crimes and about 4 in 10 saying the country is guilty of genocide against the Palestinians, according to a Washington Post poll.

 

The findings are striking given the long-standing ties between the U.S. Jewish community and Israel, suggesting the potential for a historic breach over the Gaza war. Two years after Hamas militants poured into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage, Israel’s retaliatory incursion has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry — which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians but says the majority of the dead are women and children — displaced many more, and led to widespread hunger in the territory.

 

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 Most American Jews say Israel has committed war crimes against Palestinians

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 Most American Jews say Israel has committed war crimes against Palestinians

 

American Jews are particularly unhappy with the current Israeli government. Sixty-eight percent give negative marks to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership of Israel, with 48 percent rating it “poor” — a 20-percentage-point jump from a Pew Research Center poll five years ago. But Jews also overwhelmingly blame Hamas, with 94 percent saying Hamas has committed war crimes against Israelis.

 

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 American Jews are much more critical of Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership than in 2020

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 American Jews are much more critical of Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership than in 2020

 

Jews in the poll are almost evenly divided over Israel’s actions in Gaza, with 46 percent approving and 48 percent opposing. That remains more supportive than many other groups: Among all Americans, 32 percent approved of Israel’s actions and 60 percent disapproved, according to a July Gallup poll.

 

Many of those who spoke to The Post in follow-up interviews said they supported Israel’s military incursion at first, given the brutality of the Hamas attack and the need to respond. But as the war has dragged on, with reports of atrocities accumulating and little evident progress, they have recoiled at Israel’s actions.

 

“Initially, Israel in a sense had no choice. You can’t let your national security be threatened that way,” said Julia Seidman, 42, a writer from Issaquah, Washington. “But in no way does that justify what is happening now, two years later. The amount of human suffering that we are seeing now … I’m just disgusted.”

 

Still, the poll finds that many American Jews retain strong emotional, cultural and political bonds with Israel and its identity as a Jewish state. About three-quarters, 76 percent, believe Israel’s existence is vital for the future of the Jewish people, and 58 percent say they have some or a lot in common with Israeli Jews.

 

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 How connected American Jews feel to Israel

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 How connected American Jews feel to Israel

 

“When things get tough, the first suspects and therefore the first victims are Jews, so I think the existence of Israel is very important to the Jewish people,” said Bob Haas, 71, a business consultant in Devon, Pennsylvania, whose grandfather fled to the United States to escape pogroms in Poland. “But the way the Netanyahu government has conducted itself does nothing to safeguard Jews, in Israel or around the world.”

 

The poll reflects a community in deep turmoil, with multifaceted and sometimes conflicting feelings about the Jewish state 77 years after its founding. The Gaza war in a sense accelerated trends that were already underway, as a relatively liberal U.S. Jewish community has for years been edging away from an increasingly militant and conservative Israeli leadership.

 

The Gaza war has also torn apart the population of Israel itself, with tens of thousands of Israelis regularly taking to the streets to protest policies that are isolating the country globally. Many Israelis say Netanyahu is prolonging the war for his own political benefit, hoping to postpone his corruption trial and an inquiry into the security failures of Oct. 7.

 

The growing divide between American Jews and Israel may have consequences for U.S. politics as well. Top Democrats, including Jewish lawmakers, are far more critical of Israel than in the past, and they arguably face less risk of a backlash from Jewish voters deeply skeptical of Netanyahu.

 

When the Senate in July voted on two resolutions to block the sale of arms to Israel, most Democrats voted yes, although the resolutions failed in the face of Republican opposition. The resolutions were offered by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who is both a prominent Jewish politician and a leading voice urging consequences for Israel’s actions in Gaza.

 

Also in July, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) and other Jewish senators, including California’s Adam Schiff and Hawaii’s Brian Schatz, led a call for a major expansion of humanitarian aid in Gaza. Schumer last year called for Netanyahu to step down and allow new elections.

 

The mix of emotions among many Jews — concern for Israel combined with abhorrence at its behavior — has yielded complicated feelings about how much America should keep supporting the Jewish state, the poll suggests. Most American Jews, about 6 in 10, say they want the U.S. to keep sending military aid for Israel’s fight against Hamas.

 

But when the merits of the U.S.-Israel alliance are divorced from the Gaza war, 47 percent say U.S. support for Israel is at about the right level, with 32 percent — about a third — saying the U.S. is too supportive of Israel and 20 percent saying it is not supportive enough. The share saying the U.S. supports Israel too much is up 10 points since 2020 and 21 points since 2013 compared with Pew surveys conducted those years.

 

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 Share of American Jews saying the U.S. is too supportive of Israel

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 Share of American Jews saying the U.S. is too supportive of Israel

 

Max Parke, 38, a software engineer in Brooklyn, said the fastest way to improve conditions in Gaza is for the U.S. to restrict aid to Israel or impose conditions on it.

 

“Jewish principles would say we need to respect everyone’s humanity,” he said. “In Israel, that is not the case; it privileges Jewishness in countless policies, without following actual Jewish principles.”

 

President Donald Trump, unlike many Democrats, has strongly embraced Netanyahu’s prosecution of the war in Gaza. Still, his pro-Israel message sometimes appears aimed more at his conservative and evangelical Christian supporters than at American Jews, who he has complained are insufficiently appreciative of his positions on the Middle East.

 

Trump and Netanyahu met at the White House on Monday, and Trump put forward a multipart peace deal for Gaza that Netanyahu said he accepted.

 

But with 22 hostages remaining in captivity, many complications remain. Hamas said on Friday that it would accept the deal to release all the hostages, but with unstated conditions and a call for continued negotiations over many of the details.

 

Among the poll’s most striking findings is the relatively large minority of American Jews who believe that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

 

The term genocide was introduced in 1944, amid revelations of the Nazis’ killing of millions of Jews and a sense that a new word was needed to describe the enormity of trying to wipe out an ethnic group. The state of Israel, born four years later, was seen by many Zionist leaders as a safeguard against anything like the Holocaust happening again.

 

The accusation that Israel itself is committing genocide — reiterated by a team of United Nations experts last month — has prompted furious reactions. Netanyahu’s government sharply denounced it, saying it mischaracterizes a war aimed at defeating a terrorist group after a savage attack.

 

Yet a significant minority of American Jews agree with the U.N. panel’s conclusion.

 

In the poll, respondents were told that the United Nations defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.” Asked whether they thought Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, 39 percent said yes, 51 percent said no, and 10 percent had no opinion.

 

Dana Witten, 59, who lives in Boston, was among those respondents who rejected the genocide allegation. The Israelis are clearly not trying to eliminate all Palestinians the way the Nazis sought to erase every Jew, he said.

 

“To call it a genocide is a false equivalence to in some ways demean the Jews, because they should know better or something,” Witten said. “I don’t understand that. And it’s harmful to the discourse. It’s craziness to say it’s genocide.”

 

In an illustration of how the genocide question has split the Jewish community, Seidman, the writer from Washington state, said she and her husband have had “repeated disagreements” about it. Seidman said she is not an expert on the definition of genocide but is open to the possibility that it is occurring.

 

“He believes you shouldn’t use the word unless it absolutely meets the textbook definition,” Seidman said. “It’s not because he thinks what is going on is excusable; it’s certainly not. But if we muddy the waters by calling it genocide when it’s not, he thinks we risk losing the moral authority. I am much less certain about that.”

 

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 More than twice as many American Jews blame Hamas than Israel

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 More than twice as many American Jews blame Hamas than Israel

 

The Post poll also revealed a generational divide. While 56 percent of Jewish Americans overall say they are emotionally attached to Israel, among those ages 18 to 34, that drops to 36 percent. But that share rises steadily for older groups, jumping to 68 percent for those over 65. Younger Jews are also more likely to say Israel has committed genocide, with 50 percent of those ages 18 to 34 saying so and the number hovering in the 30s among older groups.

 

On other issues, the generations are far more aligned. More than 80 percent of Jews of all ages said they are concerned about civilian deaths in Gaza and Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas. And majorities across age groups say they are concerned about the safety of Israeli soldiers in Gaza and the threat Hamas poses to Israel.

 

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 Most American Jews voice concern over Israeli hostages

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 Most American Jews voice concern over Israeli hostages

 

Jewish Americans’ views of the war also split sharply by partisanship, gender and education. More than 8 in 10 Jewish Republicans support Israel’s military actions in Gaza, compared with about half of independents and roughly 3 in 10 Democrats. A 56 percent majority of men approve, while 55 percent of Jewish women disapprove. And although 54 percent of Jews with some college education or less approve of Israel’s actions, that falls to 47 percent among those with bachelor’s degrees and 36 percent of postgraduates.

 

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 American Jews are split on whether they approve or disapprove of the military action Israel

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 American Jews are split on whether they approve or disapprove of the military action Israel

 

Overall, American Jews’ view of the situation unfolding in Gaza appears to be that everyone involved bears some culpability. Asked who is responsible for the war’s continuation, 91 percent say Hamas bears responsibility, 80 percent say Israel does and 86 percent say Netanyahu bears responsibility. A 61 percent majority holds the U.S. responsible.

 

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 Most American Jews say Hamas and Netanyahu bear a great deal of responsibility

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 Most American Jews say Hamas and Netanyahu bear a great deal of responsibility

 

But as reports of hunger and starvation multiply, 59 percent of American Jews say Israel is not doing enough to allow food into the territory, while 30 percent say it is doing enough. Israel has denied that people are starving in Gaza, questioning international organizations that say otherwise and insisting it has made efforts to improve the humanitarian conditions.

 

Despite the bleak assessment, many Jews remain optimistic that Israelis and Palestinians can ultimately reach a peace agreement. The poll finds that 59 percent say a way can be found for Israel and an independent Palestine to coexist peacefully, while 41 percent disagree.washingtonpost poll 9-2025 A majority of American Jews say Israel and an independent Palestinian state

 

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 A majority of American Jews say Israel and an independent Palestinian state

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 A majority of American Jews say Israel and an independent Palestinian state

 

Yet challenges are apparent even in this modestly hopeful outlook.

 

Sixty-two percent of American Jews say it would be acceptable for Gaza to be governed by an elected Palestinian government, and only 4 percent say it would be acceptable for it to be governed by Hamas. Yet when elections were held in the Palestinian territories in 2006, it was Hamas that emerged victorious.

 

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 Most American Jews accept Gazans being governed by leaders of their choice but reject Hamas

washingtonpost poll 9-2025 Most American Jews accept Gazans being governed by leaders of their choice but reject Hamas

 

For many Jews, the rise in antisemitism has only bolstered the sense that a Jewish state is necessary.

 

“I think that it’s the only place they can call home,” Witten said. “It’s certainly the only place that can feel, you can’t say safe, but at least they have a place they can defend. It’s hard. When there is antisemitism running rampant in Europe and our own country, at the highest levels of academia, what does a Jew do?”

 

But for Jews like Parke, Israel has forfeited any claim to represent the Jewish people. He said he has taken to distinguishing between Israel as a nation, a land and a state.

 

“As a nation, the Jewish people around the world, that is a connection I feel,” Parke said. “Israel as a place, a land where we have history, that is a connection I could see myself having. But Israel the state — even though it has the same name as the land and the people, it does not speak for me.”

 

The Washington Post poll was conducted Sept. 2-9, among a random national sample of 815 Jewish Americans drawn through SSRS’s Opinion Panel, an ongoing survey panel recruited through random sampling of U.S. households. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.7 percentage points.

 

The sample includes adults who identify as Jewish by religion as well as those who identify as adults with no religious affiliation but Jewish ethnically, culturally or through their family background — and either were raised Jewish or have a parent who is Jewish.

 

In all, 76 percent of the sample was Jewish by religion and 24 percent was Jewish without a religious affiliation.

 

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Sept. 2-9, 2025, Washington Post Jewish Americans poll

Results from a nationwide survey of Jewish Americans on views of Israel, Gaza and other topics.

6October2025
By Washington Post staff  https://www.washingtonpost.com/tablet/2025/10/06/sept-2-9-2025-washington-post-jewish-americans-poll/

 

Click to download PDF file Click to download PDF file  Many American Jews sharply critical of Israel on Gaza, Post poll finds

 

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