The Latest From @MacTaskForce
At the President’s Residence Independence Day ceremony, Alon Ohel and Dvir Bublil delivered one of the holiday’s most moving moments.
Alon, a survivor freed from Hamas captivity, performed with Dvir, an IDF veteran and hero who was seriously wounded fighting on October 7th.
These two young men refuse to be defined only by what was done to them, but by the strength with which they returned.
British counterterrorism police have arrested nine people in total over an alleged arson plot targeting a venue linked to London’s Jewish community. Seven were arrested on Tuesday, and then two more on Wednesday. The arrests follow a string of attacks on Jewish sites across the city, including firebombing and arson incidents.
British Jews deserve the same basic sense of safety every other community expects. As hateful ideologies rise across Western cities, and particularly in London against Jews, allegations of wider coordinated plots against Jewish sites show how serious the threat has become.
The University of Washington is now under federal civil rights investigation over alleged antisemitism on campus. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said she authorized the DOJ review and singled out a planned event in support of the “Lebanese resistance” by SUPER UW, even though the school says it has already de-registered the group and disavowed it.
According to KUOW, Seattle’s NPR news outlet, that the university has also petitioned Meta to prevent the group from using “UW” in its name on social media.
The university says it will cooperate with the review.
🎥: komo4
Happy Yom HaAtzmaut to Israel on its 78th Independence Day.
Israel’s story is one of courage, perseverance, and national rebirth. Against all odds, the Jewish state has become a beacon of strength, innovation, and resilience all while under the constant threat of existential, genocidal violence against it.
Today we celebrate Israel, its people, and the miracle of its independence, sovereignty, and the freedom it protects for all of its citizens. 🇮🇱
Anderson Cooper’s interview with Rachel Goldberg-Polin on 60 Minutes brought back some painful memories of October 7, including the moment Rachel learned there was footage showing her son Hersh being kidnapped by Hamas after his hand was severed by the terror attack. Cooper said he realized, during an earlier interview with Hersh’s parents, that he had seen their son in that video.
Rachel said that the proof Hersh had been taken alive was in some way a form of hope. Hersh was executed after 328 days in Hamas captivity.
The Goldberg-Polins’ grief is unimaginable, but their strength is far greater.
As the Yom HaZikaron siren sounded in Jerusalem last night, IDF soldiers on duty stood still in silence with the rest of the nation.
This year’s Memorial Day hits especially hard as Israel is mourning the loss of so many brave soldiers who recently gave their lives defending the country against terror, including in the fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The entire nation stands still to remember its fallen heroes and all those innocent lives stolen by terror.
Ahead of Yom HaZikaron, 60 Minutes aired one of the kinds of testimonies that stays with you. Hamas captivity survivor Or Levy, and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son Hersh was abducted by Hamas and later murdered in captivity, spoke about grief, memory, and how to keep living after unimaginable loss. Hersh was executed in a tunnel in Gaza after 328 days in captivity.
For so many, Hersh’s now-famous mantra, taken from Viktor Frankl’s famous book Man’s Search for Meaning, captured something essential: purpose, even in unbearable darkness. As Israel moves into its day of remembrance for fallen soldiers and terror victims, that message lands with even more force.
Yom HaZikaron lives in the voices of survivors, in the words of parents, and in the memories of those who are no longer here. This 60 Minutes segment is a reminder that behind every national day of mourning is a family still learning how to cope with loss.
A remarkable scene in New York: hundreds gathered in Central Park to dedicate a bench to the hostages of October 7, in a ceremony wrapping up more than two years of weekly advocacy for the captives. The new bench honors both the hostages and the people who kept showing up for them, week after week, rain or shine.
The flags in the crowd told the story. Israeli and American flags, and one Lion and Sun flag. Then the crowd sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.” That moment exemplified that the new memorial isn’t only about remembrance but also about the solidarity between free people against terror, and about standing together against the extremist forces that threaten Israelis, Americans, Iranians, and so many others.
