Weekly roundup of world briefs

Winter storm Coral: Hermon turns white, rare snow in Mount Carmel

(JNS) — The winter storm “Coral” peaked in Israel on Monday morning, covering Mount Hermon in snow and bringing light snowfall to northern and central Israel.

Light snow fell in the Galilee, the Jerusalem area, and, for the first time in nine years, Mount Carmel. The last time Israel’s capital saw the white stuff was in January 2022.

Unusually cold temperatures were recorded nationwide, dropping below freezing in the north and reaching 32 degrees Fahrenheit in Jerusalem. The coastal plain saw lows of 42.8, with most of the country experiencing temperatures under 50.

Snow fell at elevations of 1,640–1,970 feet but only accumulated in the Upper Galilee. Mount Hermon reported 23 degrees Fahrenheit at its lower station with about 8 inches of snow. In Mount Carmel’s Usfiya village, snow fell for the first time since 2016.

While light snow continued intermittently in some areas, heavy accumulation isn’t expected. The coming days will remain cold, with minimal rainfall limited to light, local showers from the north to the northern Negev.

Two suspects detained after crossing from Jordan into Israel

(JNS) — Israeli security forces detained two people near the Dead Sea who had illegally crossed from Jordan into Israel on Monday night, the IDF said.

The suspects, believed to be migrant workers, were handed over to authorities for questioning, according to Hebrew media.

The incident comes amid increasing tensions along Israel’s eastern frontier with Jordan extending almost 200 miles, making it the Jewish state’s longest border.

Terrorist infiltrators from Jordan shot and wounded two Israelis near the Dead Sea in October.

In September, three security guards at the Allenby Bridge crossing in the Jordan Valley were murdered in a terrorist shooting.

The gunman, who according to the IDF was a Jordanian citizen, was killed. He was later named as Maher D’yab Hussein Jazi, a 39-year-old truck driver from the city of Irbid.

In November, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the construction of a security barrier along the entire border with Jordan to thwart terrorist infiltrations from the east.

This followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s pledge that Jerusalem would work with Amman to strengthen the eastern frontier to maintain “peace and security” in the area.

Argamani to make history as first freed hostage to address UNSC

By JNS Staff

(JNS) — Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, invited Noa Argamani to speak at the United Nations Security Council’s monthly session on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Tuesday, marking the first time a released hostage has briefed the council, according to Israel’s mission to the United Nations.

Israeli rescued Argamani, 27, from a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip on June 8, 2024. She was captured by Hamas at the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im during the terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023 assault.

She has been advocating for the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza, last month attending the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump and meeting with U.S. Congress members.

At the Conservative Political Action Committee just outside of Washington on Saturday, Trump noted that many of the hostages are coming back dead, but emphasized the importance of bringing them home. He recognized several Oct. 7 survivors in the audience, including Argamani and Ilana Gritzewsky, and led the crowd in a round of applause for them, calling them “a beautiful group of people.”

Buenos Aires legislator seeks to rename street in honor of Bibas family

By JNS Staff

(JNS) — An Argentinian lawmaker is proposing that a street in Buenos Aires named after “Palestine” be renamed in honor of the Bibas family.

A bill recently submitted by Yamil Santoro would change Estado de Palestina, or State of Palestine, in the city’s central Almagro neighborhood, to Familia Bibas, in honor of Shiri Bibas and her two young children, Ariel and Kfir Bibas. The Bibas family was kidnapped during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 massacre in southern Israel, and Shir, Ariel and Kfir were murdered in captivity shortly thereafter.

“It is essential to remember and honor the victims of terrorism,” tweeted the lawmaker.

Both the mother and her two sons had Israeli and Argentinian citizenship. Their bodies were returned to Israel last week more than 16 months after they were abducted, and their funeral is set to take place on Wednesday in their agricultural community near the Gaza border. 

While Argentinian President Javier Milei reportedly backs the initiative, the decision on the street name change falls to the city legislature, where there are opposing views. Last week, Milei declared two days of national mourning for the children, who the IDF said had been killed “with bare hands.”

The Argentinian leader has emerged one of Israel’s most vocal supporters, firmly aligning himself with both Jerusalem and the United States. He is expected to visit Israel again at the end of March, after a wartime solidarity visit last year.

Barnard expels two anti-Israel student protesters

By Vita Fellig

(JNS) — Barnard College, which has a partnership with Columbia University, expelled two anti-Israel student protesters, who disrupted a modern Israeli history class at Columbia University in January, according to the anti-Israel student group Apartheid Divest.

Laura Rosenbury, the president of Barnard, told JNS that “under federal law, we cannot comment on the academic and disciplinary records of students.”

“That said, as a matter of principle and policy, Barnard will always take decisive action to protect our community as a place where learning thrives, individuals feel safe and higher education is celebrated,” Rosenbury said. “This means upholding the highest standards and acting when those standards are threatened.”

“When rules are broken, when there is no remorse, no reflection and no willingness to change, we must act,” the Barnard president added. “Expulsion is always an extraordinary measure, but so too is our commitment to respect, inclusion and the integrity of the academic experience.”

Brian Cohen, executive director of the Columbia Barnard Hillel, praised Barnard for taking disciplinary action against the protesters. 

“This will send a clear message that the harassment of Jewish students and faculty will not be tolerated at Columbia,” Cohen added.

On the first day of the new semester in January, about half a dozen anti-Israel student activists disrupted a modern Israeli history class at Columbia University taught by Avi Shilon. The professor, who is Israeli, lectures in the university’s Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies. 

“We are pleased to see that two anti-Israel protestors who disrupted a course at Barnard titled ‘history of modern Israel’ and handed out fliers that read ‘crush Zionism,’ were reportedly expelled,” stated the New York and New Jersey office of the Anti-Defamation League. 

‘Status quo isn’t working,’ House panel head says, after meeting education secretary nominee

(JNS) — Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, cited “rampant” Jew-hatred as a major challenge in a statement after meeting on Tuesday with Linda McMahon, U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. education secretary.

“As a successful business executive and the former head of the Small Business Administration, Linda McMahon is uniquely qualified to lead the Department of Education,” Walberg stated.

“The status quo isn’t working,” he added. “From rampant antisemitism to plummeting test scores to the exploitation of women’s sports, it’s clear the current education bureaucracy is not putting students first.”

McMahon told Democratic senators that she agrees “wholeheartedly” with Trump’s plan to abolish the U.S. Department of Education, The Hill reported on Tuesday.

IDF soldiers fire warning shots at Gaza threats

(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces fired warning shots at suspects throughout the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, saying in a statement that the Palestinians posed a threat to troops deployed to the coastal enclave during the ceasefire.

The IDF also opened fire toward “a number of vessels that violated security restrictions in the Gaza Strip’s maritime space,” it stated.

“The vessels did not move away, but after additional firing, they returned to shore,” according to the statement on Tuesday night.

The army reiterated its call to “obey IDF instructions, not approach forces deployed in the area and pass through agreed checkpoints.”

Hamas has agreed “in principle” to bring forward the release of the four remaining hostage bodies scheduled to be returned from Gaza only later this week, an Israeli official told Channel 12 earlier on Tuesday.

The return of the remains would mark the last hostage release of the first 42-day phase of the ceasefire deal, which is expected to end on March 1.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told reporters on Feb. 18 that the Israeli Cabinet has decided to start talks on Phase 2 of the truce, which would see the remaining living hostages—civilians and soldiers—freed in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

As part of the talks, Jerusalem will demand the complete disarmament of Hamas and other terrorist organizations in the Strip, Sa’ar stressed.

Jerusalem will reportedly also demand the expulsion of the Hamas leadership from Gaza and the dismantling of its terrorist army. Israeli officials believe that Hamas is likely to reject these demands.

Freed hostages learned to recite Shabbat liturgy in Arabic

By JNS Staff

(JNS) — Freed Israeli hostage Daniella Gilboa revealed on Tuesday that she and four of her fellow captives learned how to recite a traditional Sabbath song in Arabic during their captivity, out of fear they would be overheard.

Gilboa, one of seven female troops abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre in southern Israel, was released last month after a year and three months in Hamas captivity.

The 20-year-old, who was forced to record a video faking her death in captivity, told Israel’s Channel 13 TV that in addition to learning to recite “Shalom Aleichem” in Arabic, it was extremely important to her and the other hostages to make the traditional Shabbat evening blessing over wine, even over water.

Another 20-year-old female captive, Adam Berger, managed to get her hands on a Jewish prayer book, or siddur, and maintained her religious observance, including keeping a Jewish fast day, strengthening her spiritual resilience, a family friend previously revealed. 

Separately, the mother of released hostage Eliya Cohen, 27, has revealed that her son would recite the passages for donning phylacteries, or tefillin, every day, which he knew by heart. He too, would recite the kiddush over a cup of water on Friday nights, which both strengthened him and uplifted others, she said.

Palestinian terrorist falls to death week after release

By JNS Staff

(JNS) — A terrorist, Nael Obeid, released to east Jerusalem as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement fell to his death from the third floor of a building near his home, Palestinian media reported.

The circumstances of his death were not clear.

Obeid spent 21 years in Israeli prison before returning to the Arab neighborhood of Issawiya in northeastern Jerusalem, where he grew up, Palestinian outlets reported.

He was a member of the terrorist cell that assisted a suicide bomber in the 2003 attack at Café Hillel in Jerusalem, in which seven Israelis were murdered and more than 50 others were wounded.

Obeid was serving seven life terms plus 30 years in prison before he was released as part of the hostage-prisoner exchange deal that was reached on Jan. 15.

National, state, city and local NY reps respond to impending closure of Mount Sinai Beth Israel

(JNS) — Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y) released a joint statement with 13 state, city and local leaders about a state Supreme Court judge’s dismissal of a suit and a temporary restraining order seeking to block the closure of Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital in the Gramercy neighborhood of lower Manhattan.

Mount Sinai Health System, which operates the hospital and which has Jewish origins, plans to open an urgent care facility to serve patients, per the lawmakers.

“While there is no substitute that will entirely make up for the closure of a full-service general hospital, Mount Sinai has committed, at our insistence, to open a new 24/7 Urgent Care+ facility,” they stated. “We believe that this will provide much needed continuity of care for MSBI patients.”

“Our offices will continue to work together to ensure that Mount Sinai opens the urgent care center within 24 hours of the announced March 26th closing of Beth Israel and fulfills its additional commitments to mitigate the impacts the closure will have on patients,” they added.

Harvard Poll: 77% of Americans support Israel against Hamas

By David Isaac

(JNS) — Americans’ support for Israel over Hamas in the Gaza conflict remains high, with 77 percent of voters supporting the Jewish state, according to poll results released on Feb. 24.

The February Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll is a monthly collaboration between the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard and the Harris Poll and HarrisX.

Some 67 percent of voters have heard of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal that the United States should take over the Gaza Strip to redevelop it, the survey found. And 47 percent believe Trump was being serious, while 53 percent believe he was posturing to start negotiations.

A total of 70 percent said the United States taking over Gaza is a bad idea, while 56 percent opposed removing Arabs from Gaza to rebuild the territory.

So far, 54 percent of voters support Trump’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

A strong majority of voters, 76 percent, say Iran’s nuclear-weapons facilities should be destroyed. Fifty-seven percent of voters say the United States should support Israel in airstrikes on such facilities.

The survey was conducted online within the United States by the Harris Poll and HarrisX on Feb. 19-20, among 2,443 registered voters.

Israel’s biggest mall opens north of Tel Aviv

By JNS Staff

(JNS) — The biggest mall in Israel opened in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat HaSharon on Thursday.

The inauguration of the $560 million mall in the upscale community is a sign of the resilience of the Israeli economy despite the war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, even as many businesses in the hard-hit north and south remain abandoned.

The BIG Fashion Glilot strip mall, located adjacent to Cinema City Glilot, is spread over almost 11 acres. The mall will be open on Shabbat.

Michelle Trachtenberg, Jewish ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘Buffy’ star, dies at 39

(JTA) — Michelle Trachtenberg, who starred in films and TV shows ranging from “Harriet the Spy” to “Gossip Girl,” has died at 39.

She was discovered Feb. 26 in a Manhattan apartment complex, according to the New York Post. The cause of death was not immediately clear.

Trachtenberg was Jewish, and she said her mother immigrated from what is now Russia. She grew up in New York speaking English and Russian.

Trachtenberg got her start as a child actress on Nickelodeon and had a breakout performance as the title character in 1996’s “Harriet the Spy.” From there, she starred in a variety of shows and movies in teenage roles. She was one of a trio of Jewish actresses to star in the supernatural series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” along with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan, and later appeared in a recurring role on the prep school drama “Gossip Girl.” In between, she starred in the raunchy 2004 teen comedy “EuroTrip.”

She did not have any prominent roles in more recent years, though she appeared in two episodes of the “Gossip Girl” reboot in 2022.

On Instagram, Trachtenberg made occasional references to her Jewish identity, posting about a Chanukah celebration a decade ago and again about the holiday in 2022. Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that launched the war in Gaza and touched off a wave of global antisemitism, Trachtenberg has posted photos of herself wearing a Star of David necklace and another, last year, of a Mickey Mouse Chanukah backpack along with the caption “Please stop hatred towards the innocent .”