Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... British Jewish groups say they are alarmed about revelations that a fraternal society for Muslim police officers published a policy paper that described Zionism as a form of anti-Muslim hatred and called the Israeli army a “Zionist terrorist group.” The Board of Deputies of British Jews called the paper posted by the National Association of Muslim Police “disturbing” in its presentation of Jewish identity, history and the nature of antisemitism.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Gwyneth Paltrow has drawn backlash after appearing in a new advertising campaign for 51 Park, a luxury residential development in the affluent Israeli coastal town of Herzliya. The commercial shows the 53-year-old Oscar-winning actress and lifestyle entrepreneur waking up in a New York luxury high-rise apartment and going for a run through the city.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Jacob Reses, the Jewish chief of staff to Vice President JD Vance, is leaving the administration at the end of the summer, a source confirmed to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on Thursday. Reses, who’s been in his role since Vance and President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, is perhaps the closest Jewish official in Vance’s orbit. He has had a close relationship with the vice president since Vance’s 2022 Senate campaign in Ohio.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... When Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor was a young girl, her Jewish mother, during an argument, once called her the N-word. “She never used the word with me again,” Pryor, whose father is Black, recalled to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency of her mother, who belonged to the Jewish socialist group Workman’s Circle.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... British actor Helen Mirren criticized Israel at a film festival in Italy, in her first public comments since security footage of a November incident where she was accused by a stranger of being an “evil Zionist b—h” went viral late last month. “Evil forces are rising everywhere, even in a country like Israel,” Mirren said in an interview with journalists at the Taormina Film Fest in Sicily, according to reports in entertainment media.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... When dozens of Jewish girls emerged from a storm drain in Nyack, New York, Wednesday after becoming lost on a school trip, local officials described the episode as a fortunate ending to a potentially dangerous situation. On social media, however, the incident quickly drew a slew of antisemitic comments. “They can’t help it. Roaches and rats love the sewers,” wrote one Facebook user on a post by the Rockland Daily.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... A version of this piece first ran as part of the New York Jewish Week’s daily newsletter, rounding up the latest on politics, culture, food and what’s new with Jews in the city. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. U.S. officials nixed Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s meeting with Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a vocal critic of Israel. Mamdani was scheduled to meet with Petro on Friday.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Jerry Seinfeld offered a three-word response when asked to say “free Palestine” while leaving Madison Square Garden after the New York Knicks game on Wednesday night. “It doesn’t exist,” the Jewish comedian said, laughing. He was responding to a request from a streamer, FinesseFave, who spotted him outside the arena where Seinfeld watched the Knicks’ NBA finals comeback to defeat the San Antonio Spurs.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... When the U.S. squad suits up Friday night to face off against Paraguay in its opening contest in the 2026 World Cup, one Jewish player will be in the mix. Goalkeeper Matt Turner is not only the lone Jew on the U.S. team but he could well be the only Jewish player in the entire tournament, which is being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada starting on Thursday.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... The FBI arrested eight pro-Palestinian demonstrators connected to the University of Michigan Wednesday, charging them with conspiracy to threaten university leaders and their families as part of a pressure campaign to get the school to divest from Israel. The charges were filed May 20 and unsealed Wednesday following arrests in multiple states.