Day 657 - NYC fights antisemitism, anti-Zionism in public and private

The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

The Times of Israel

News

4.4 • 864 Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2025

⏱️ 22 minutes

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Summary

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

New York reporter Luke Tress joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

As New York City Mayor Eric Adams establishes the Anti-Semitism Task Force, Tress examines the comprehensive plans of the citywide project, its political implications, and the recent incidents of vandalism linked to anti-Israel activism.

Following the vandalization of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's office in the Bronx in response to her vote on funding for Israel's Iron Dome defensive system, Tress discusses the trend of activists vandalizing politicians' offices due to their perceived support for Israel.

He also explores the work of an American scholar who studied and wrote about the historical roots of anti-Zionist slogans, tracing their origins back to the Soviet Union and examining how the language of anti-Zionism has permeated modern activism and modern leftist rhetoric, and has roots in Soviet propaganda.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

‘AOC funds genocide in Gaza’: Anti-Israel activists vandalize Ocasio-Cortez’s NY office

Pro-Palestinian activist in New York charged by feds for torching 11 police vehicles

Columbia University suspends and expels dozens of students over anti-Israel unrest

Why are US socialists so anti-Israel? Scholar lays out Soviet roots of anti-Zionist rhetoric

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: Anti-Israel protesters in Times Square, New York City, June 16, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi there, welcome to the Times of Israel's Daily Briefing. It's Thursday, July 24th, and I'm Jessica Steinberg. I'm speaking today with New York reporter Luke Tress. Hey, Luke. How are you? Hey, Jessica. I'm good. Good. Good. Glad to hear it. It is day 657 of the war. The Israeli government is reviewing the latest Khamas response to the ceasefire
0:22.9	proposal as U.S. envoy Steve Wittkov hopes to travel to Doha this week to close the hostage deal.
0:30.2	Meanwhile, Columbia University reached a $200 million settlement with the Trump administration
0:35.9	over campus anti-Semitism, and we'll see
0:39.4	its U.S. federal funding restored to the university. We'll talk about other aspects of
0:44.7	anti-Semitism in New York, including a new task force put together by Mayor Eric Adams, as well as
0:52.0	the vandalization of a U.S. representatives in New York office because of her vote
0:56.2	on an Israeli defensive matter and the origins of anti-Zionist slogans in the Soviet Union.
1:03.1	Stay with us.
1:10.7	In a powerful series of interviews in this season of legends among us,
1:15.8	Rabbi Benji talks with young widows in their 20s,
1:19.5	who lost their spouses in the current war in Israel.
1:23.5	Ordinary people that were so extraordinary,
1:26.1	that most of us never realized it until we couldn't help but
1:30.4	recognize it. And so in 2024, Tafshin Pai Dalit, I invited seven of these legends to have an open
1:38.2	and honest conversation, to reflect on the loved ones they lost, go back to the moment when they found out, and ask
1:45.4	them how they're currently grappling with this incredible loss while it was still fresh.
1:51.1	So much has happened since.
1:53.1	But the freshness of these conversations is crucial as their gaping hole can never be filled.
1:59.2	This first series will invite you into the mind and heart
2:01.9	of our phenomenal heroes, but in the process, I have no doubt that they and their loved ones
2:07.4	will enter your minds and hearts. Rabbi Nachman is quoted as saying,
	...

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