Weekly roundup of world briefs

Fear forces Berlin Jews to hide their identity in community paper

By Nissan Shtrauchler

(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Growing security concerns have prompted the Berlin Jewish community to implement a protective measure: publishing only the first letter of community members’ surnames, rather than their full family names, in birthday announcements in the community newspaper, Bild reported on Friday.

The community’s monthly journal, “Jewish Berlin,” traditionally includes a section for “Mazel tov” wishes to members over 65 and announcements of children’s bar and bat mitzvah celebrations.

The publication recently added an explanatory note to the section: “Dear community members, in light of current anti-Israel and antisemitic incidents, we are now printing only birthday and bar/bat mitzvah names with abbreviated surnames as a precautionary security measure.”

Speaking with Bild, Ilan Kiesling, spokesman for the Jewish community in Berlin, explained that this decision was implemented shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel, stemming from heightened security concerns for community members.

Kiesling emphasized that this precautionary step aims to “minimize the potential for hostile actions against our community members,” citing specific concerns about Hamas supporter demonstrations in Berlin’s streets and the dramatic increase in antisemitic attacks following Oct. 7.

Ahmed Mansour, an expert on radical Islam based in Germany, commented on the community’s decision to withhold full names from public view, telling Bild: “An increasing number of Jews in this country fear being publicly identified as Jewish and subsequently attacked.

“This represents more than just a tragedy—it signifies a fundamental failure. A failure of our political system, our society, and those who claim that ‘never again’ amounts to more than empty rhetoric,” he said.

Israeli Interior Ministry urges prep ahead of possible ‘widespread’ snowfall

By JNS Staff

(JNS) — Israel’s Interior Ministry instructed local authorities throughout the Jewish state on Sunday to prepare for an “extreme” cold front.

Weather forecasts by the Israel Meteorological Service project that the front will peak Friday through Saturday, with the possibility of snow not only in the north, but also in the Jerusalem and Samaria areas.

“The expectations of low temperatures seem to be at a high level of certainty,” the Interior Ministry noted in the official warning published on Sunday afternoon. “Regarding the expected amounts of precipitation that will affect the accumulation of snow, a lot of uncertainty remains.”

However, “we must prepare for widespread snowfall in the north and center toward Shabbat morning and during Shabbat, including the possibility of blockages and disruptions,” the ministry emphasized.

The Israel Meteorological Service has stressed that accurate forecasts regarding the expected amount of snow can be expected on Tuesday.

Following the report of possible snowfall in Jerusalem, Israel Hayom reported an increased demand for hotel rooms in the nation’s capital. Two hotels cited by the newspaper reported an increase of 20% in reservations.

Israel saw its first snow of the season in the country’s north earlier this month. While it didn’t amount to more than a few inches, it made for picture-perfect scenes in the area, which for 16 months saw Hezbollah rockets and missiles fall from the sky.

Netanyahu: Trump’s rise offers unprecedented opportunity ‘to be rid of our enemies’

By JNS Staff

(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the weekly government meeting on Feb. 16 that the strong ties he has cultivated over the years with members of the Trump team are now paying off, and that the two administrations are working in “complete concert.” 

In the wake of the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to the Jewish state this week, Netanyahu noted that he had cultivated his ties with Republican leaders not in a partisan way, but in “a Zionist way.” 

Israel needed to court public opinion and leadership “on both sides of the aisle in the United States, to support Israel and the outlooks which I am leading,” he said. 

Repeating comments he made during a joint press conference with Rubio earlier that day, Netanyahu said there was “full coordination” between his government and the Trump administration, which are acting with a “common strategy.” 

“I cannot go into details but we have a joint strategy, including when and how the gates of hell will open if all of our hostages, all of them, are not released and do not come back home,” said Netanyahu. 

Trump issued an ultimatum to Hamas last week, warning that if all hostages were not free by noon on Saturday, there would be “hell to pay.” However, only three men were freed.

He added that Israel had not been surprised by Trump’s “revolutionary vision” for Gaza, namely the relocation of its population. The U.S. president first announced the plan during Netanyahu’s recent visit to Washington, D.C.

“We knew about it and we spoke about it beforehand, as was the case with other things that you are now hearing about,” said Netanyahu.

500 days after Oct. 7, over a dozen southern towns still evacuated

By Canaan Lidor

(JNS) — Five hundred days after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, all the evacuated residents of the country’s Tkuma Region have returned home except for those of 13 small communities that are still being rehabilitated, the government said on Monday.

The 13 locales—including kibbutzes Be’eri, Kfar Aza, Nahal Oz and Nir Oz—are currently uninhabitable because their infrastructure was so badly damaged, the Tkuma Directorate wrote in a status report they published on the 500-day mark from the attack.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group representing relatives of hostages that has pushed for far-reaching concessions to Hamas to retrieve their loved ones from Gaza, called for a nationwide fast on Monday to raise awareness of the plight of those still alive among the 73 hostages the terrorist group is believed to still be holding.

The forum is planning rallies at Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square and elsewhere in Israel.

The Tkuma Directorate has spent about 7 billion shekels ($2 billion) of its 5-year budget of 19 billion shekels ($5.3 billion), it said in its status report. The 10 hardest-hit communities have received 1.1 billion shekels ($309 million).

Some 85 percent of the 64,000 residents of the Tkuma Region, who were almost all evacuated following Oct. 7, are back home, with only 11,000 living in temporary, state-funded accommodations.

The rehabilitation and repopulation of nine out of the 13 evacuated communities is scheduled to happen this year. Nir Oz, Be’eri, Kfar Aza and Holit may take until sometime in 2026 to prepare for repopulation, the Tkuma Directorate said.

Netanyahu rejects reports of Gaza power transfer to PA

(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Monday his rejection of a role for the Palestinian Authority in post-war Gaza governance, at the same time reaffirming his support for U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal for the coastal enclave.

“Just as I have committed to, on the day after the war in Gaza, there will be neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority. I am committed to U.S. President Trump’s plan for the creation of a different Gaza,” the premier said.

This marks his second dismissal on Monday of unconfirmed reports from Arabic media suggesting that Hamas has agreed to transfer control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority as part of negotiations for a “permanent ceasefire.”

Trump’s plan for Gaza envisions relocating its two million residents and undertaking a comprehensive clearing and reconstruction process under U.S. oversight.

Chief rabbi expresses ‘greatest appreciation’ for Trump support of Israel

By JNS Staff

(JNS) — The Chief Rabbi of Israel has written to U.S. President Donald Trump and expressed his greatest appreciation on behalf of the Jewish people for his support of Israel and efforts to attain world peace.

“It has been a short while since you assumed your office as president, and you have already had a significant positive effect over events unfolding in our country and in the world at large,” the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Kalman Ber wrote in the letter.

He cited Trump’s outspoken stance against antisemitism, his assistance in bringing home Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, and strong support for Israeli security forces.

“We have the greatest appreciation for your efforts for world peace, particularly in places where bloody wars are being fought,” the rabbi wrote to the U.S. leader.

“May the creator and sustainer of the world bless you with longevity and good, pleasant years, and may you live to witness eternal peace between men, and a world better fitting your ideals, in the biblical spirit as mentioned by the Prophets of Truth and Justice ‘therefore love truth and peace’ (Zechariah),” he wrote.

Iran renews missile threat against Israel

By JNS Staff

(JNS) — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) renewed its threats on Tuesday to launch a third direct missile assault against Israel.

“True Promise III will be carried out at the appropriate time,” Brig. Gen. Ali Fadavi, the IRGC’s second-in-command, threatened in remarks published by Tehran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency.

Last year, the Islamic Republic conducted two major attacks against Israel, launching nearly 500 missiles and drones against the Jewish state.

The assaults, which were largely ineffective thanks to Israeli and allied defense measures that intercepted the vast majority of the projectiles, including guided ballistic missiles, were codenamed “True Promise I” (on the night of April 13-14) and “True Promise II” (on Oct. 1) by Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in November that Tehran reserves the right to respond to Israeli “aggressions,” emphasizing that action will be taken “at an appropriate time and in a way we think is right.”

Araghchi made it clear that Iran considers Jerusalem’s October response that reportedly took out most of Tehran’s air defenses as warranting a separate response.

In a separate announcement carried by Mehr on Tuesday, Brig. Gen. Alireza Sabahifard, the commander of Iran’s Air Defense Force, said that Tehran was “ready to deal with any threat because all the equipment we currently have is 100 percent indigenous.”

Sabahifard claimed that the Iranian-produced Bavar 373 air-defense battery “cannot be compared to any defense system in the world.”

Fiji’s deputy PM: Jerusalem embassy will ‘most definitely’ be inaugurated this year

By Etgar Lefkovits

(JNS) — The South Pacific island nation of Fiji has approved plans to inaugurate an embassy in Jerusalem later this year, the country’s deputy prime minister said on Wednesday.

“We are absolutely excited about coming to Jerusalem and we most definitely will be there this year,” Deputy Prime Minister Viliame Gavoka told JNS in a telephone interview.

He said that the initiative—which was originally planned for last year but got delayed by the war against Hamas in Gaza—was approved by the country’s Cabinet on Tuesday.

Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka confirmed the plans during a meeting last week with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

“I commend the Republic of Fiji’s government for its historic decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people,” tweeted Sa’ar.

Six countries currently have their embassies in Israel’s capital—the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Paraguay and Papua New Guinea.

All other countries that maintain ties with Israel have their embassies in Tel Aviv or its suburbs.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in 2018 set the stage for other countries to follow suit, with additional nations expected to make similar announcements in the near future.

WJC president meets Abbas, King Abdullah in Jordan

By JNS Staff

(JNS) — World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder on Sunday met in Jordan with the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah in an effort to advance efforts to reach a solution to the conflict in Gaza.

The meeting in the Jordanian capital came as Israel remains adamant that the P.A. not take over post-war Gaza from Hamas, and as the Arab world is mulling an alternative to U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to relocate Palestinians from the war-torn territory.

Lauder also met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo after last week’s Munich Security Conference.

Famous Samaria lookout point to be rebranded ‘Trump Observatory’

(JNS) — Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan decided to rename the “Balcony of Israel” observatory—which overlooks the Jewish state’s central region from the western Samaria town of Peduel—after U.S. President Donald Trump, Hebrew media reported on Tuesday.

The famous lookout point, to which Dagan often takes foreign dignitaries to illustrate the strategic importance of Jerusalem’s control over Judea and Samaria, will be named “Trump Observatory,” he announced.

In a letter to the president cited by Israel Hayom, Dagan said he was “happy and excited to write to you on behalf of the residents of Samaria and the entire State of Israel because we have decided to name one of the most strategic and impressive observation points in Israel after you.”

The decision was taken in light of the U.S. President’s “extensive work” on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people, according to Dagan’s missive.

Trump’s achievements on Israel during his first term included moving the U.S. embassy to the country’s capital; recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights; and recognizing that Jerusalem’s control over Judea and Samaria is not necessarily illegal under international law.

Since returning to the White House on Jan. 20, the president has, among other moves on Israel, lifted Biden-era sanctions on Jews in Judea and Samaria, signaled support for moving Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip and sanctioned International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, who has been pursuing arrest warrants against Israeli leaders.

Mobile ad campaign in Manhattan marks 500 days of hostages in Gaza

By Izzy Salant

(JNS) — Pedestrians walk along a busy street in Manhattan and cars drive past, as a black truck displays large images of the hostages who Hamas holds in Gaza. Digital images on the side of the truck display, in orange and white text, “500 Days in Hamas’s Hell.”

The Consulate General of Israel in New York posted video footage of its ad campaign, which marks 500 days since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack in southern Israel.

“We remind the people of New York and the world that 73 hostages—men, women and children—are still being held by Hamas, an organization no different from the Nazis,” stated Ofir Akunis, consul general of Israel in New York. 

“They are being kept under horrific, inhumane conditions in tunnels beneath Gaza. We demand: Let them go,” he added.

The campaign, per the consulate, serves “as a stark reminder of the urgency and moral obligation we all share to bring all the hostages home.”

The truck was scheduled to drive around Manhattan, mostly midtown, on Tuesday, the consulate told JNS.

“Today, we also bow our heads and salute the 846 fallen heroes from all battlefronts—brave soldiers who fought to defend the State of Israel against its barbaric enemies,” the consulate stated.

The truck ad comes 10 days after a consulate ad in Times Square also raised awareness about the hostages.

‘Resistance’ to Israeli forces in post-war Gaza, Abbas adviser threatens

(JNS) — Mahmoud al-Habash, a senior adviser to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, threatened that Israeli soldiers, who remain in Gaza after the war against Hamas, will become a “legitimate target for various actions” by Gazans.

“There is no alternative to the Palestinian Authority in Gaza,” al-Habash told Omri Haim, Arab affairs correspondent at Channel 14 News. “Neither Netanyahu nor the Netanyahu government are the owners of Gaza.”

“If Israel remains in the Gaza Strip, it will be considered an occupying power and dealt with as an occupying power, including through popular resistance,” al-Habash added.

The latest comments by Abbas’s confidant came in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s renewed rejection of any role for the Samaria-based Palestinian Authority in post-war Gaza governance.