Wednesday 23 Iyar – UK suspends trade talks with Israel – US terminates $60 million in Harvard grants, saying it failed to address antisemitism – Delta Airlines resumes flights to Israel, Lufthansa extends suspension

Has the UK Forgotten October 7th?

I was deeply shocked and disturbed by David Lammy’s recent statements, which clearly reflect a one-sided and biased view of the current conflict. His failure to acknowledge the brutality of Hamas — a recognised terrorist organisation — and his silence on the plight of innocent Israeli hostages still held in Gaza is both morally indefensible and politically dangerous.

Let us be clear: Israel did not start this war. On October 7th, it was Hamas that launched a barbaric attack, murdering civilians in cold blood and abducting women, children, and the elderly. Since then, many of those hostages remain captive, and yet the world — including nations like the UK, France, and Canada — appears more concerned with appeasing those who glorify terror than advocating for the victims still suffering.

What has David Lammy said about the hostages? What has the international community done to pressure Hamas to release them? The silence is deafening. Instead, we hear moral outrage aimed only at Israel — a democracy trying to defend its citizens.

Is this the Britain we want to live in? One that turns its back on its Jewish citizens and allies in their time of need? If leaders like Lammy represent the future, many will be forced to question whether the UK remains a safe and fair place for Jews at all.

This is not just about politics. It’s about right and wrong. And right now, too many are on the wrong side of history.

Sincerely,

Yakov shein

Better to Daven Than to Publicly Name

I certainly and fully support naming the moiser who has been waging a one-man war against Yiddishkeit here in Antwerp for the past 13 years, ever since his arrival in the city. This campaign has now culminated in last week’s police raid on two mohalim.

However, while naming him may feel justified, doing so would likely only escalate the situation. He would almost certainly discover it and report to the authorities that the community is threatening his life.

The most effective and dignified response, in my view, is simply to have “the Antwerp moiser” in mind when we recite V’lamalshinim. No doubt, HaKadosh Baruch Hu knows exactly who we mean.

Sincerely,
Y. Bas
Antwerp

 Don’t Blame Torah Papers — Blame the Latecomers

I believe Mr. D. Leitner is very wrong to criticise Torah newspapers, which in fact enhance the atmosphere of the shul and have nothing to do with the current chinuch crisis. These beautiful publications provide a meaningful opportunity for people to bring a nice dvar Torah or an interesting halacha to the Shabbos table, and may even encourage some to arrive a few minutes earlier to shul.

What is far more damaging is the blatant chutzpah of those who consistently arrive late to davening. Where is the kavod for Hashem? Once a minyan has begun, latecomers should make an effort to attend another minyan that has not yet started.

Sincerely,
Y. P.

Britain has suspended trade talks with Israel and summoned its ambassador to London over Israel’s “intolerable” military expansion in Gaza, the foreign secretary has announced.

Speaking to the House of Commons, David Lammy criticised Israel’s “egregious actions” and accused Binyamin Netanyahu’s government of “isolating Israel from its friends and partners around the world”. He said events in Gaza were damaging Britain’s relationship with Israel.

Lammy’s comments represent Britain’s strongest condemnation of Israel since the current war with Hamas started.

In response, Netanyahu wrote on X that “the leaders in London, Ottowa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities”. He called the conflict “a war of civilization over barbarism”.

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Drivers returning to the UK from Europe and leaving behind unpaid traffic penalties, face a new crackdown as the UK government seeks to fast-track plans to share vehicle registration details held by the DVLA with the European authorities.

The first UK-EU summit since Brexit in 2020 took place in London on 19 May, as prime minister Sir Keir Starmer hosted the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission in what has been described as an effort to ‘reset’ the relationship following angsty Brexit negotiations in 2020.

A wide-ranging agenda that focused on fishing rights, passport controls and youth mobility, also included a clause on speeding up a deal for the exchange of vehicle registration details between European states and the UK. Since Brexit, there’s been no official mechanism for Europe’s police forces to follow-up traffic offences committed by Brits driving their cars abroad, because they haven’t been able to forward speeding fines or penalty notices without access to the DVLA’s database of names and addresses.

The US Department of Health and Human Services said on Monday that it was terminating $60 million in federal grants to Harvard University, saying the Ivy League institution had failed to address antisemitic harassment and ethnic discrimination on campus.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has frozen or ended federal grants and contracts for the university worth nearly $3 billion in recent weeks.

Since taking office in January, the Republican president has sought to use federal research funding to overhaul US academia, which he says has been gripped by anti-American, Marxist, and “radical left” ideologies.

Trump has targeted Harvard, citing allegations of antisemitism on campus during pro-Palestinian protests against Israel over the war in Gaza with Hamas, which sparked the fighting with its October 7, 2023, terror onslaught.

Trump has alleged pro-Palestinian protesters are antisemitic and sympathetic to Hamas. Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly conflates their criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza with antisemitism and their advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.

New York’s Columbia University has also been targeted over alleged antisemitism.

“Due to Harvard University’s continued failure to address antisemitic harassment and race discrimination, HHS is terminating multiple multi-year grant awards … over their full duration,” the health department said in a post on X on Monday.

Harvard University did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Delta Air Lines said Monday it will resume daily nonstop flight services to Tel Aviv from New York’s JFK airport starting the next day, while the Lufthansa group said it would extend its suspension until June.

On May 4, both carriers joined a list of foreign airlines canceling flight services to Israel, after a ballistic missile fired by Iran-backed Houthis from Yemen struck an area of Israel’s main international Ben Gurion Airport.

In a statement, Delta said, “The decision to resume the route on May 20, which was temporarily suspended in response to ongoing conflict in the region, follows an extensive security risk assessment by the airline.”

“Delta is continuously monitoring the evolving security environment and assessing operations based on security guidance and intelligence reports.”

The US carrier said a travel waiver will be valid for customers who purchased tickets to Tel Aviv on or before May 5 for travel through May 25.

Meanwhile, the Lufthansa group of carriers said it was extending the suspension of flight services to Ben Gurion Airport, which it previously had said would end this week.

The Lufthansa group – whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines, and Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings – said that “due to the current situation” in Israel it had decided to extend flight suspensions to and from Tel Aviv through June 8, from the previously announced date of May 25.

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New intelligence obtained by the United States suggests that Israel is preparing to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, CNN reports, citing multiple US officials familiar with the matter.

It’s not clear whether Israeli leaders have made a final decision, CNN adds, citing the officials.

Released hostage Yarden Bibas describes meeting Yahya Sinwar while in captivity, when the former Hamas leader allowed him to remain with his best friend, David Cunio, who is still held captive in Gaza, for around two weeks before they were separated.

“David is my best friend, he has been with me my whole life,” Bibas tells Channel 12 news.

Bibas says he met Cunio on the day his wife, Sharon Aloni Cunio, and their twin daughters were released from captivity on November 27, 2023, as part of a temporary ceasefire deal.

“He was moved to me in the tunnel. When he saw me for the first time, he was in shock. He thought he saw a ghost. I hugged him, and then he continued to the next place,” Bibas says.

“When Sinwar arrived at the tunnel, I said to him that this is my best friend and I want to stay with him. He said there was no problem, you can stay with him. After around two weeks, they separated us. I don’t know why,” Bibas says.

Sinwar was killed by IDF troops in Gaza in October.

For the UK Jewish Orthodox Community
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