“Listen to me, Edan. I'm here. I'm with you. I love you. Just protect yourself. Just be safe.” These were the last words Yael Alexander spoke to her then-19 year old son, Edan, on the morning of October 7, 2023. Edan was later taken hostage by Hamas terrorists. Yael joins us from her New Jersey home to tell her story.
Everything You Need to Know About Israel
American Jewish Committee (AJC) works to set the record straight on Israel, calling out fact from fiction and standing up to those seeking to tear down and discriminate against the region’s only democratic nation and world’s only Jewish state.
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What the Mother of Hostage Edan Alexander Wants the World to Know
Honoring Israel’s Lone Soldiers This Thanksgiving: Celebrating Service and Sacrifice Away from Home
Supporting lone soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)—those serving without immediate family in Israel—has never been more crucial. This Thanksgiving, hear from lone soldiers Kerren Seidner and Nate LeRoy about their experiences and how they support fellow soldiers through Ach Gadol (Big Brother), an organization dedicated to helping those serving without family support.
The Nova Music Festival Survivor Saved by an 88-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor
“I want to show the word that you can choose light . . .no matter how much dark you saw, or what's going on in Israel now, or what's going on in the world, there's still a choice.” As we mark one year since Hamas’ massacre of Israelis, Israeli DJ Daniel Vaknin, 30, shares his harrowing experience from the Nova Music Festival, where 340 attendees were brutally murdered in the deadliest event in music history.
The Wounds of October 7 Are Still Fresh
As we approach Oct. 7, 2024, the first anniversary of the day Hamas terrorists waged the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust — slaughtering babies, raping women, burning whole families alive, killing more than 1,200 people, and taking 250 people hostage, we will remember. But it is not yet a memory.
How Jewish Summer Camp Heightened my Connection to Israel
When news broke over Labor Day weekend that six of the hostages held in Gaza by Hamas terrorists had been executed by their captors, it was a gut punch, one acutely felt by the Atlanta Jewish community. Among the murdered was American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin. His family would meet at Camp Ramah Darom, about 100 miles north of Atlanta, each Passover to celebrate the holiday. Many in the Atlanta Jewish community are connected to the family, either from this camp or others.
For the Neutras, A Year of Agony
Getting all the hostages out of Gaza must remain a top priority. There can be no lasting ceasefire until all are released. The Biden administration made their plight the centerpiece of a three-phase proposal released in May that could not only end the war, but deliver relief to beleaguered Gazans victimized by a terrorist regime using them as human shields.
One Year Later, Why Can’t the UN Lay Blame for October 7 Where it Belongs?
As world leaders gather in New York for the U.N. General Assembly next week, there should be one item that tops their agenda: Condemn Hamas for the atrocities of Oct. 7 and demand the release of the hostages.
Celebrating the 4th anniversary of the Abraham Accords
Despite Iran’s pursuit of Israel’s annihilation, the agreements have held, granting Israel a cushion of regional support as it fights for its borders
For our community, the silence over Jewish deaths is tormenting
All across the country and around the world, the Jewish community gathered earlier this month in profound grief and solidarity to honor the memory of those taken from us by an act of pure evil committed by Hamas terrorists. We stood together, united in our sorrow and determination, that the lives of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, Almog Sarusi, Alex Lubnov and Ori Danino will not be forgotten, and that no other living hostage will meet the same fate.
What Would You Do If Your Son Was Kidnapped by Hamas?
This heartfelt conversation with Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, the parents of 23-year-old Hersh, was recorded before the 23-year-old, Israeli-American was murdered by Hamas terrorists in captivity in late August 2024. In this episode, Polin and Goldberg detail what they knew about their son’s abduction from the Supernova music festival on October 7 and the challenges they faced in trying to secure his rescue.
"As The Trauma Continues Unresolved": Mourning and Hope on Tisha B'Av
It is too soon to tell whether Tisha B’Av will be elastic enough to include October 7. The horrors of the Holocaust were too vast and required their own day of remembrance. And October 7’s date on the Hebrew calendar, Simchat Torah, among the most joyous of holidays, may prove difficult as an official day of mourning for the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
Nagasaki bombing ceremony misses an important invitation: Israel's
This Friday, Nagasaki will commemorate the 79th anniversary of the detonation of the atomic bomb over that city in 1945. The commemorative event, in support of peace and deterrence of nuclear armament, has in the past been apolitical, with representatives from across the world invited to participate. This year is different.
Jews Worldwide Should Stand By the Druze Community in Israel
The Druze community is an essential part of the Israeli social fabric. It is well-respected, admired for its loyalty and courage. Similarly to the Jewish communities in the US that make approximately 2% of the population, the Druze are approximately 1.6% of Israeli society. Just like the Jewish communities in the US, which are well integrated in multiple walks of life, the Druze, too, are in such a position.
Rebuilding Israel’s Devastated Negev Region Post 10/7
The October 7 Hamas attack severely affected Israel’s Ben Gurion University (BGU) and its surrounding community. Doug Seserman, CEO of Americans for Ben Gurion University, joins us to discuss the impact on BGU and Israel’s Negev region.
The 2024 U.S. Presidential Election: What Does it Mean For Israel?
Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, and Morgan Ortagus, former Spokeswoman for the Department of State under the Trump administration, engaged in a debate on the 2024 presidential election and its impact on the global Jewish community, Israel, and the future of democracy-live on the AJC Global Forum 2024 stage.
Seven Months In: What Israelis Think About the War Against Hamas, Campus Antisemitism in America, and More
Jacob Magid, U.S. Bureau Chief for the Times of Israel, provides his take on Israel's efforts to destroy Hamas in Gaza, the U.S-Israel relations, the anti-Israel campus protests, the Israeli public’s reaction to rising antisemitism abroad, and the challenges he has faced as a journalist since October 7.
Genocide and Hamas Go Hand in Hand
The torrent of hatred directed against Israel since the brutal Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas in Israel has been unrelenting. A common, libelous trope among the haters is that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, as Donna Nevel inaccurately asserted in the Palm Beach Post. It is totally beyond the pale – a complete inversion of reality – and it must be condemned. Genocide is defined as violent attacks with the intent to destroy in whole, or in part, a national ethnic, racial or religious group. This in no way describes the facts on the ground in Gaza.
Iran and the Failure of Diplomacy
The Iranian regime unleashed an unprecedented attack against Israel on the night of April; 13-14: a barrage of 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles.
Mah Nishtanah, How Is This Night Different?
How does one celebrate Passover and sing the songs of jubilation when Israel and the Jewish people feel – and actually are – so threatened? The Seder and the Haggadah (literally, the telling) tell us how to do it. Denialism is not an option, the reality is not good, yet perspective and hope (tikvah) are a must. Nowhere is this more palpable than in Israel, today’s Jewish centerpiece.
Unilaterally Declaring Palestine a State will Torpedo Peace Prospects
Two initiatives that claim to help the Palestinian people are currently making waves at the UN. Both support the unilateral and unconditional advancement of Palestinian statehood. Sadly, if successful, these resolutions would have the opposite effect, setting back the fulfillment of Palestinian national aspirations.
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