The JC - Jewish News, Comment & Culture

Boy found dangling on hook above 36-storey building after being ‘miraculously’ saved from fall

1 min read

Close-up of British military personnel marching in camouflage uniforms and boots (Getty Images)

British army

‘British troops may die’ after UK swerves IDF Gaza War training course, claims former soldier

By Jamie Shapiro

1 min read

Maccabi

West Midlands Police relied on ‘false intelligence’ for Maccabi ban, say Dutch authorities

Amsterdam police spokesman said he was “surprised” by the allegations of Israeli violence

By Jane Prinsley

4 min read

Hezbollah

IDF strike kills Hezbollah’s chief of staff amid fragile ceasefire

By Jacob Jaffa

1 min read

The entrance of BBC Broadcasting House (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

BBC

BBC headlines ‘three times more likely to hold Israel to account than Hamas’

By Jane Prinsley

5 min read

Professor Eran Perlson (C) of Tel Aviv University (Tel Aviv University)

Medicine

Israeli scientists record major breakthrough in tackling ALS

By Ben Conway

1 min read

Trump confirms US will ban Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terror group

Mitzvah Day is the best way to show what we stand for

I have just had my bat mitzvah… at the age of 33

Shabana Mahmood reveals she was labelled an ‘infidel’ by Gaza campaigners

Rupa Huq blames a right-wing ‘cabal’ for the BBC’s left-wing bias scandal – naturally

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Latest US News

‘Today you are heroes’: Trump holds White House reception for freed hostages

The president singled out IDF veteran Matan Angrest, who was held in Gaza for more than two years, for praise

By Jacob Jaffa

1 min read

A group of former hostages and their families with US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff (White House)

Imam

New York City imam leads Muslim student walkout of university interfaith event after row with Jewish speaker

The imam, named only as ‘Abdullah’, reportedly went from praising Allah, to advocating Sharia law, to demanding Muslim attendees leave because of the presence of a ‘Zionist’

By Jamie Shapiro

1 min read

The City College of New York (Image: Chijen Wang)

Neo-Nazi

Neo-Nazi admits plot to target Jewish schoolchildren with poisoned sweets

Prosecutors say Michail Chkhikvishvili was also trying to hire a recruit to dress up as Santa Claus and hand out poisoned sweets to minority children

By Jamie Shapiro

2 min read

Michail Chkhikvishvili aka Commander Butcher (Image: US Department of Justice)

Donald Trump

Trump confirms US will sell F-35s to Saudi Arabia

The move has been opposed by the IDF, with some commentators suggesting it could threaten Israel’s security

By Jacob Jaffa

1 min read

President Trump meets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Saudi Royal Court on May 13, 2025, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Getty Images)

World news

Manchester Jewish Museum

Manchester Jewish artist unveils new work to promote ‘harmony and cohesiveness’

By Gaby Wine

1 min read

JW3 Chief Executive Ray Simonson and Marcel Knobil removing padlocks on the Lovelock Bridge at JW3 (Credit: JW3)

Hostages

British Jewish communal leaders rejoice at return of the hostages

By Daniel Ben-David

5 min read

Illustration of Captain Dreyfus on trial in 1894 from Paris newspaper Le Petit Journal (GETTY)

World News Editor

France promotes Dreyfus to brigadier-general 131 years after wrongful conviction

By JC Reporter

1 min read

Melanie Shiraz at Miss Universe 2025 (Image: Instagram/ Melanie Shiraz)

Israel

Israel’s Miss Universe entrant wears dress honouring the hostages for global pageant

By Jamie Shapiro

2 min read

Eurovision

Eurovision set to change rules following Israel’s public vote success

By Jacob Jaffa

1 min read

Bids go in for Gustav Klimt's portrait of Elisabeth Lederer at Sotheby's in New York (CREDIT: Sotheby's)

Art

Gustav Klimt portrait of Elisabeth Lederer sold for £180m at Sotheby’s

By Anthea Gerrie

1 min read

Yiddish

New AI model that can translate handwritten Yiddish will bring ‘the voices of the past’ back to life

The Vilne-Yiddish model will allow anyone, no matter their language, to read historical handwritten Yiddish text

By Jamie Shapiro

1 min read

UK Brexit summit uses statement to condemn Israel UN backs Trump’s Gaza peace plan after Russian abstention

UK News

UK Jewish Film Festival 2025

Why is this UK Jewish Film Festival different from all other years?

Eliana Jordan speaks to the film-makers behind seven prize-winning shorts portraying weird and wonderful facets of everyday Jewish life in Britain

By Eliana Jordan

7 min read

Why is this UK Jewish Film Festival different from all other years?

Anglo-Jewry

Support for the Green Party and Reform UK surges among British Jews

By contrast, support for the two main parties has fallen below 60 per cent – the lowest combined level ever recorded

By Siam Goorwich

1 min read

Support for the Green Party and Reform UK has increased among British Jews (Picture: Getty)

Refugees

Mahmood’s asylum shake-up will cause ‘lasting harm’ to refugees, Jewish charity fears

‘We have to wonder what such policies would have meant for Jewish refugees who arrived here’, HIAS+JCORE said

By Jamie Shapiro

2 min read

Migrants travel in an inflatable boat across the English Channel, bound for Dover (Photo: Getty)

Jewish life

Nearly half of Britons believe the UK is ‘an unsafe place for Jewish people’

Overall, 45 per cent of Britons surveyed believe the UK is now either a very or mostly unsafe place for Jews, polling has found

By Ben Conway

2 min read

Six in ten Britons now say they worry about a rise in antisemitism as a result of the Israel-Hamas conflict (Photo: Getty)

Opinion

The Democrats’ ominous anti-Zionist turn

AIPAC is increasingly becoming a lightning rod. The question is whether the party will allow its extremist fringe to define its position on Israel, or whether the silent majority will finally speak out

By Melissa Langsam Braunstein

3 min read

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 12: A visitor holds an AIPAC folder in an elevator in Rayburn House Office Building on March 12, 2024 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

By Ian Pace

The targeting of Israeli Professor Michael Ben-Gad: Britain’s academic freedom crisis

This hate campaign exposes a deeper rot in UK universities – beyond antisemitism – where rational inquiry yields to dogma and progressive orthodoxies must not be challenged

4 min read

By Gary Cohen

The Gaza genocide libel: the Big Lie to delegitimise Israel

The falsehood thrives because Western voices keep feeding it. It fits their warped world view and perverted agenda. They repeat it, amplify it, and pass it off as fact

9 min read

By Nigel Biggar

Archbishop of York’s ‘genocidal acts’ charge against Israel is neither wise nor appropriate

Given the Church’s history of antisemitism, the second-most senior Anglican bishop should have thought again before using an accusation that has the stink of prejudice

4 min read

By Yaakov Lappin

Hamas is looking at the 60,000 dead and the Western hatred of Israel and thinking: job done

With the terror group having survived the war, another meeting with the US in the bag and Israel-hate peaking in the West, Hamas sees the last two years as a success

3 min read

By Benjamin Birely

How Italy became the dark heart of European Israel-hate

Anti-Zionism now permeates all levels of Italian society, says an American-Israeli academic living in Naples who has faced relentless prejudice

6 min read

By Maureen Lipman

It’s probably easier to point out great lyricists who weren’t Jewish

From Irving Berlin down through to Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan and my own favourites, Dory Previn and Leonard Cohen, all have the same ethnicity. I’m exaggerating… please don’t write in.

4 min read

Life

I used to perform in the West End on Friday nights. Now I stay in to light Shabbos candles

By Gaby Wine

5 min read

Andrew Lincoln in 'The Walking Dead'. (Photo: AMC)

first person

After my mastectomy, I wondered: Is life too short to watch The Walking Dead?

Despite a golden opportunity to bond with her son, Karen Skinazi weighs up whether watching the 130-hour series is really worth it

By Karen E H Skinazi

2 min read

Books

The Lobbyist review: A fun yarn of bribery, corruption and bonkfests galore

Lionel Zetter’s novel captures the rapacious spirit of Britain’s political centre

By Jennifer Lipman

1 min read

The Lobbyist review: A fun yarn of bribery, corruption and bonkfests galore

ancestry

‘I always felt Jewish – I was thrilled to find out I actually am’: Meet the Jews who are finding their way home to Jewishness

With their Jewish roots hidden for generations, these are the people rediscovering – and embracing – their Jewish identities in adulthood

By Lianne Kolirin

7 min read

‘I always felt Jewish – I was thrilled to find out I actually am’: Meet the Jews who are finding their way home to Jewishness

Books

What Have I Done? review: A highly entertaining autobiography by the oft-maligned ‘Blackadder’ writer

Jewish comedian and writer Ben Elton settles old scores in this frank account of his life in showbiz

By Jenni Frazer

3 min read

Ben Elton's new autobiography 'What Have I Done?' (Photo: Macmillan)

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Kosher chef

Review: London roots, Israeli soul: Katzir is Tel Aviv’s tastiest kosher story

By Debbie Kandel

4 min read

Vegetarian recipe

Burnt courgette, basil and cannellini bean stew

By Xanthe Ross

Cook time: 50 minutes

cheese recipe

Bubala’s halloumi with black seed honey

By marc summers

Cook time: 30 minutes

Salmon recipe

Simple salmon tikka skewers

By Maunika Gowardhan

Cook time: 10 - 12 minutes

Boy found dangling on hook above 36-storey building after being ‘miraculously’ saved from fall

‘British troops may die’ after UK swerves IDF Gaza War training course, claims former soldier

West Midlands Police relied on ‘false intelligence’ for Maccabi ban, say Dutch authorities

IDF strike kills Hezbollah’s chief of staff amid fragile ceasefire

BBC headlines ‘three times more likely to hold Israel to account than Hamas’

Israeli scientists record major breakthrough in tackling ALS

Editor's Picks

Trump confirms US will ban Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terror group

Mitzvah Day is the best way to show what we stand for

I have just had my bat mitzvah… at the age of 33

Shabana Mahmood reveals she was labelled an ‘infidel’ by Gaza campaigners

Rupa Huq blames a right-wing ‘cabal’ for the BBC’s left-wing bias scandal – naturally

Insights Delivered Daily

Unlock access to our community and get the latest news straight to your inbox!

The Daily

Editor’s Picks

The Israel Briefing

Community Matters

Latest US News

‘Today you are heroes’: Trump holds White House reception for freed hostages

New York City imam leads Muslim student walkout of university interfaith event after row with Jewish speaker

Neo-Nazi admits plot to target Jewish schoolchildren with poisoned sweets

Trump confirms US will sell F-35s to Saudi Arabia

World news

Manchester Jewish artist unveils new work to promote ‘harmony and cohesiveness’

British Jewish communal leaders rejoice at return of the hostages

France promotes Dreyfus to brigadier-general 131 years after wrongful conviction

Israel’s Miss Universe entrant wears dress honouring the hostages for global pageant

Eurovision set to change rules following Israel’s public vote success

Gustav Klimt portrait of Elisabeth Lederer sold for £180m at Sotheby’s

New AI model that can translate handwritten Yiddish will bring ‘the voices of the past’ back to life

UK News

Why is this UK Jewish Film Festival different from all other years?

Support for the Green Party and Reform UK surges among British Jews

Mahmood’s asylum shake-up will cause ‘lasting harm’ to refugees, Jewish charity fears

Nearly half of Britons believe the UK is ‘an unsafe place for Jewish people’

Opinion

The Democrats’ ominous anti-Zionist turn

The targeting of Israeli Professor Michael Ben-Gad: Britain’s academic freedom crisis

The Gaza genocide libel: the Big Lie to delegitimise Israel

Archbishop of York’s ‘genocidal acts’ charge against Israel is neither wise nor appropriate

Hamas is looking at the 60,000 dead and the Western hatred of Israel and thinking: job done

How Italy became the dark heart of European Israel-hate

It’s probably easier to point out great lyricists who weren’t Jewish

Life

I used to perform in the West End on Friday nights. Now I stay in to light Shabbos candles

After my mastectomy, I wondered: Is life too short to watch The Walking Dead?

The Lobbyist review: A fun yarn of bribery, corruption and bonkfests galore

‘I always felt Jewish – I was thrilled to find out I actually am’: Meet the Jews who are finding their way home to Jewishness

What Have I Done? review: A highly entertaining autobiography by the oft-maligned ‘Blackadder’ writer

Support the world’s oldest Jewish newspaper

Review: London roots, Israeli soul: Katzir is Tel Aviv’s tastiest kosher story

Burnt courgette, basil and cannellini bean stew

Bubala’s halloumi with black seed honey

Simple salmon tikka skewers