Maccabee Task Force - We Combat Antisemitism on Campuses

How Our Model Works

MTF’s Israel trips are not the finish line. They are the catalyst for long-term campus impact.

Identify

We identify influential student leaders who shape campus culture, including student government officials, journalists, faith leaders, activists, campus organization heads, and other high-impact students.

Bring to Israel

We bring them to Israel for immersive educational trips that challenge misinformation, deepen understanding, and build real relationships with Israelis, Jewish peers, and one another.

Follow Up

After students return, we maintain engagement through reunion programs, coalition-building events, mentorship opportunities, leadership development, and continued campus support.

Activate

Trip alumni, Fellows, and student allies help organize coalitions, respond to antisemitism, challenge anti-Israel campaigns, and support Jewish students when campus tensions rise.

Lead

Over time, these students become leaders in student government, campus media, professional networks, and broader civic life.

The result: MTF does not simply change minds. We build networks of students with the influence to change campus outcomes.

Our Programs

MTF is building a campus leadership infrastructure that reaches students before, during, and after the moments when antisemitism and anti-Israel activism surface on campus.

Israel Trips

MTF brings influential non-Jewish student leaders to Israel for immersive educational trips that challenge misinformation, build relationships, and help students overcome the false and malicious narratives they’re subjected to on campus.

MTF Fellows

Our Fellows are student leaders on campus who build coalitions, recruit allies, organize programming, respond to antisemitism, and help sustain student engagement beyond the trip experience.

Post-Trip Engagement

The real work begins after the trip. MTF keeps alumni engaged through reunion programs, campus events, coalition-building opportunities, leadership development, and continued support.

Mentorship & Professional Networks

MTF connects high-potential students and young alumni with Israeli and Israel-connected professionals, helping them build lasting relationships with Israel through business, law, technology, medicine, public policy, and other fields.

International Campus Work

From England to South Africa, MTF operates in some of the most challenging campus environments in the world, developing courageous student allies in places where Jewish students often face intense hostility and where non-Jewish leadership can have an outsized impact.

Alumni Engagement

MTF’s work does not end at graduation. We are building long-term pathways for star trip alumni, Fellows, and student leaders to remain connected as mentors, speakers, advocates, professionals, and future leaders.

WHAT STUDENTS SAY

“Nothing I read in the States compared to hearing directly from Israelis on the ground. The trip forced me to confront how much of my perspective had been shaped by oversimplified and misleading narratives. If you’re serious about understanding Israel as it actually is, not as it’s portrayed, you have to see it for yourself. It's an incredible place filled with people seeking peace.”
— Kelly B., non-Jewish student at Harvard Law School

MTF reaches the students who are often least likely to attend a traditional pro-Israel campus event and gives them the opportunity to encounter Israel directly. For many participants, the trip replaces slogans and assumptions with firsthand experience, real relationships, and a more accurate understanding of Israeli society.

“My MTF Israel trip experience was genuinely life-changing and by far the most transformative trip I have ever taken. Before visiting Israel, much of my understanding came from narratives I had absorbed on campus and online. Speaking directly with Israelis and Palestinians, and seeing the realities of the region firsthand, challenged many of those assumptions and helped me understand why Israel must exist. I also met individuals who had endured hardships I could barely imagine which gave me a new perspective on resilience and gratitude. I knew I couldn’t simply leave that experience behind when I returned to campus, which is why I chose to become an MTF Fellow and stand up for the Jewish community at Hopkins”
—Jack E., non-Jewish student at Johns Hopkins University

The Latest From @MacTaskForce

A federal indictment has exposed an alleged international fundraising network accused of channeling more than $1.7 million to Hamas under the guise of humanitarian aid for Gaza.

Alleged Hamas member Saleem Alzaq was indicted in New York on charges including conspiring to provide material support to Hamas, money laundering, and sanctions violations. Prosecutors allege he helped operate the fundraising network while in Gaza.

Two Louisiana brothers, Abdel and Omar Adhami, were arrested last month and charged with allegedly helping raise and transfer funds to Alzaq. 

Investigators say the brothers used social media to solicit donations and allegedly used coded language to conceal transfers to Hamas. At least $626,000 was raised from U.S.-based donors, according to prosecutors.

Humanitarian aid channels should never become pipelines for financing terrorism.

The investigation is a stark reminder that Hamas fundraising networks can operate internationally and covertly, and that financial support for terrorism can hide behind the language of humanitarian assistance.
When Flydubai FZ1073 began to spiral out of control, Israeli passengers didn’t wait for someone else to act.

Tzvika Manes, an Israeli bank executive, was among the Israelis who entered the cockpit and helped overpower the co-pilot after he allegedly attacked the captain. Video from the flight shows Manes, alongside other passengers, helping restrain the attacker while the wounded pilot was treated.

Other passengers and crew members joined the effort, while off-duty pilots and others helped stabilize the aircraft before it ultimately landed safely in Saudi Arabia.

The immense courage of these passengers and crew saved the lives of all 174 passengers on board, including 27 children.
Authorities say they stopped an alleged plot to attack the Texas State Capitol before it could be carried out.

Texas DPS says it received credible information about a violent attack allegedly planned for October 1 and, working alongside the FBI, arrested 40-year-old Benny Caldera Jr. at his home early Wednesday morning.

Caldera was initially charged with a felony terroristic threat against a public servant. He was later taken into federal custody to face additional charges related to the alleged plot.

According to an arrest affidavit reported by NBC 5, a friend told investigators that Caldera threatened to go to the Capitol and “shoot it up.” The affidavit also states that Caldera expressed anger toward AIPAC and said that “these people have to be exterminated.”

The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities have not yet established the full circumstances or motive behind the alleged plot.

Threats of violence must be taken seriously: particularly when warning signs include rhetoric about “exterminating” people in connection with a pro-Israel organization.

We thank the Texas DPS, FBI, and law enforcement officials whose actions helped stop this alleged plot before anyone was hurt.
Israeli journalist Neria Kraus explained on Fox News how Indian Captain Smit Machchhar fought to save Flydubai FZ1073 after his co-pilot allegedly attacked him in the cockpit.

Despite being stabbed, Machchhar fought back and managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to intervene and help stop the attack.

His actions were a crucial part of how all 174 people aboard ultimately survived and the aircraft made an emergency landing safely in Saudi Arabia.

Captain Machchhar’s courage under unimaginable pressure deserves to be remembered. A true hero.
Zohran Mamdani repeatedly said New York City would seek to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if the Israeli prime minister came to New York.

When Netanyahu arrived for the UN General Assembly, that promise went nowhere.

Months earlier, Mamdani acknowledged what legal experts had already made clear: New York City does not have the independent legal authority to enforce the ICC warrant.

MTF National Student Spokesperson Taryn Thomas, who was once part of an anti-Zionist movement on Stanford’s campus, examines the political rhetoric surrounding Israel and what some activists are looking for from public officials who claim to speak for them.

Her message to her peers is simple: Do not just listen to the viral speech. Ask what comes next.

When a public official promises dramatic action using the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a wedge, ask one question: How would they actually do it?
Mike Sweetney’s life was about much more than basketball.

A friendship that began in high school with Tamir Goodman, the “Jewish Jordan,” became a lifelong bond. When Mike’s NBA career ended and he went through some of the darkest chapters of his life, Tamir reached out and helped him find a new purpose through coaching, mentorship, and service.

Mike went on to pour himself into the Jewish community. He coached and ran basketball camps for Israeli and Jewish youth, including children with special needs, and became an assistant coach at Yeshiva University during one of the most remarkable runs in college basketball history.

After October 7, he was there again checking on his Jewish friends, standing with Israel, and advocating for the hostages. He was often the first to reach out, not because he had to, but because that was who Mike was.

Mike showed us what Black-Jewish allyship can look like when it is lived, not just spoken about: showing up, building relationships, serving others, and standing with your community when it needs you.

Taryn Thomas, MTF’s National Spokesperson, created this memorial video to honor a man who became a hero to so many.

May his memory always be a blessing. 🕯️
The passengers of Flydubai FZ1073 have arrived safely back in Israel after being flown home on another Flydubai flight from Saudi Arabia, where the aircraft made an emergency landing following the incident.

About half a day after taking off from Dubai for Tel Aviv, the 174 passengers of flight FZ1073 including 27 children, have all returned to Israel. 

Some of the Israelis were reportedly initially unwilling to board another flight operated by the Emirati airline but were persuaded after being told there was no alternative, and after Saudi Arabia refused to authorize an Israeli rescue flight.

What happened aboard that flight demanded extraordinary courage. Welcome home to Israel’s newest heroes. 🇮🇱
Footage posted by GB News shows the dramatic flight path of Flydubai FZ1073 as the aircraft suddenly descended from roughly 34,000 feet to around 14,000 feet before diverting to Saudi Arabia.

As chaos unfolded onboard, heroic Israeli passengers and members of the crew intervened, helped regain control of the situation, and enabled the aircraft to land safely in Tabuk.

Every second mattered. Their courage helped prevent what could have been a devastating tragedy.

All 174 people onboard made it safely to the ground.

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