Jacob Jaffa

Assistant News Editor

Jacob Jaffa is the JC's Assistant News Editor. His specialist topics include UK and US politics, the far-right and antisemitism in Europe. You can reach him on jjaffa@thejc.com

Latest from Jacob Jaffa

Hostages

IDF searching Gaza City cemetery for body of Ran Gvili

Israel has confirmed that the Rafah Crossing will be reopened when the final hostage’s remains are returned

1 min read

Coalition whip and Likud MK Ofir Katz leads a House committee meeting at the Knesset on December 1, 2025 (Flash90)

Coalition delays first reading of state budget amid Charedi draft row

1 min read

Arab-Israeli party leaders celebrate after signing an agreement to revive the Joint List on January 22, 2026 (Hadash-Ta'al)

Arab Knesset parties sign deal to revive Joint List

1 min read

Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, delivers a speech during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos on January 20, 2026 (Getty Images)

Canada booted from Board of Peace after Carney declines $1 billion fee

1 min read

Cool Runnings: Israeli bobsleigh team clinch first-ever Winter Olympics spot

The team qualified for next month’s Games on Thursday, bringing the total delegation of Israeli athletes up to nine

1 min read

January 23, 2026 10:47

Police allow Jewish prayer sheets on Temple Mount in reversal of long-held ban

The change in policy is the latest part of a long-running push by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to revoke the unofficial prohibition on Jewish worship at the site

1 min read

January 22, 2026 14:51

View of the Dome of the Rock and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, as seen from the Mount of Olives observatory, on November 26, 2025 (Flash90)

Palestinian prisoners suffer abuse in four Israeli jails, Justice Ministry reports claim

Prison inspectors from the Public Defenders’ Office reported instances of violence against inmates, poor sanitation and food shortages, with one site described as ‘unfit for humans’

1 min read

January 22, 2026 11:53

The Ktziot Detention Camp on September 13, 2022 (Flash90)

‘Peace in the world’: Trump leads Board of Peace signing in Davos

A bevy of world leaders put their names to the new body’s founding charter, though some were notable by their absence

1 min read

January 22, 2026 10:41

US President Trump leads the Board of Peace signing ceremony at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22, 2026 (BBC News screenshot)

Brother of former Hamas hostage goes missing in Israel

Ashgara Mengistu’s brother, Avera, was held in Gaza for more than a decade after entering the Strip in a state of mental distress

1 min read

January 21, 2026 13:19

High Court denies post-mortems in nursery baby death probe

Charedi rioters have clashed with police in Jerusalem for a second day as they protest the alleged ‘desecration’ of the infants’ bodies

1 min read

January 21, 2026 10:59

Charedi men block a road and clash with police during a protest against the autopsy of toddlers who died in a daycare, in Jerusalem, January 20, 2026 (Flash90)

Netanyahu accepts invitation to sit on Board of Peace

Israel had previously criticised the makeup of the Board’s subordinate committees, following the inclusion of Turkish and Qatari officials

1 min read

January 21, 2026 10:47

US President Trump shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu during a press conference at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club on December 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida (Getty Images)

Settler violence increased by nearly a third in 2025, IDF confirms

Palestinian terrorism in the West Bank saw a significant decline in the same period, though those attacks which did occur were more deadly than in previous years

1 min read

January 20, 2026 15:08

Palestinians inspect the scene of an attack on a Palestinian family by extremist settlers, during which several sheep were killed, in the town of As-Samu, south of Hebron, December 23, 2025 (Flash90)

1500 Isis fighters escape prison camps as Syrian forces push north

Army officials and Kurdish leaders have each accused the other of orchestrating the release of terrorists as Damascus seeks to ‘unify’ the nation

2 min read

January 20, 2026 11:38

Police clash with Charedi rioters over autopsies following baby deaths at ‘unlicensed’ nursery

The infants’ families, who are understood to be members of the strictly-Orthodox community, are opposing post-mortem examinations on religious grounds

1 min read

January 20, 2026 11:20