News Digest — 9/3/26
“Never Let Hatred Define You — Be Proud Of Who You Are”
Hundreds of thousands of Jewish students around the world will receive a personal letter and video message from 98-year-old Holocaust survivor and educator Nate Leipciger as they return to campus for the new academic year, amid rising antisemitism since October 7.
The international initiative, led by the International March of the Living, brings together Jewish organizations and student groups worldwide to distribute Leipciger’s message calling on young Jews to take pride in their identity, stand against antisemitism and remain connected to Israel.
Participating organizations include the World Union of Jewish Students (WUS), The Jewish Agency for Israel, ASHER, the World Zionist Organization, IAC and Students Supporting Israel (SSI), among others.
The letter began distribution on September 1, the anniversary of the outbreak of World War II.
Leipciger was 15 when the Nazis deported him and his family from the ghetto to Auschwitz-Birkenau. He was separated from his mother and sister, whom he never saw again. Leipciger and his father survived Auschwitz, the death march and several other concentration camps. For almost three decades, he has shared his testimony with younger generations through the International March for Living.
In his letter, Leipciger urges students: “Please remember: You are not responsible for the hatred directed at you. You do not have to conceal who you are to earn the right to belong. Never permit those who hate you to define you. Do not allow anyone to force you into a false choice between your Jewish identity and your place in the wider world. No one should demand that you deny Jewish history, disown the Jewish people or surrender your connection to Israel. Be courageous, but do not stand alone. Find one another. Support the classmate who is afraid or isolated. The future of Jewish life is passing into your hands. Carry it without apology, with compassion and strength.”
Nate Leipciger’s full open letter: https://motl.org/an-open-letter-to-jewish-students-never-let-hatred-define-you/
The initiative comes as Jewish students have faced heightened antisemitism on campuses since October 7, including harassment, exclusion and hostility related to their Jewish identity and connection to Israel. In the letter, Leipciger draws a distinction between legitimate criticism of any government, including Israel’s, and discrimination against Jewish students.
Leipciger’s appeal also comes months after mezuzahs were torn from the doors of apartments belonging to elderly Jewish residents, including Holocaust survivors, in the Toronto building where he lives.
This past April, Leipciger participated in the International March of the Living for the 22nd time, more than any other Holocaust survivor from the Diaspora who has accompanied young people through the program. At 98, he once again walked from Auschwitz to Birkenau alongside thousands of participants, continuing his decades-long commitment to preserve Holocaust memory for the next generation.
Leipciger also calls on Jewish students to support one another, strengthen their knowledge of Jewish history, build alliances and stand against racism, antisemitism and all forms of discrimination.
‘Iran Likes To Attack During Jewish Holidays,’ Warns Israeli Defense Minister
Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Wednesday (2nd) that Iran could launch an attack on Israel during the upcoming Jewish holiday period, saying the country is closely monitoring Tehran and is prepared to respond with overwhelming force if targeted.
“The Prime Minister and I are following this on a daily basis, along with the IDF – sometimes in the middle of the night on the red phone,” Katz said.
“We are not taking any information lightly. We do not want to be surprised – we are prepared.”
Asked specifically about the possibility of an Iranian attack during the approaching High Holiday season, Katz said Tehran has previously sought to exploit Jewish holidays.
“They like to attack on Jewish holidays because they hate Jews,” Katz continued.
“Look at many things that have happened in the past. But we are prepared both defensively and offensively, in coordination with the United States in this area.
Rosh Hashanah begins on the evening of Sept. 11, followed by Yom Kippur beginning Sept. 20, and Sukkot beginning Sept. 25.
Israel has historically maintained heightened security around major Jewish holidays, including following the surprise Egyptian-Syrian attack that began the Yom Kippur War in October 1973 and the Hamas-led Oct.7, 2023 attack, which occurred on Simchat Torah.
Katz stressed that Israel would not depend on the United States to retaliate if Iran directly targeted Israeli territory.
“If they attack us, we will respond with great force, independently of anyone else,” he said.
“For now, they are striking throughout the region except us,” Katz added. “But there is a possibility that they will attack us. We are prepared for that defensively.”
His comments came a day after a major escalation in the US-Iran conflict.
Israel has so far remained outside the latest direct exchange between Washington and Tehran, but Katz said the Israeli Air Force is prepared to intervene immediately if Iran changes course.
“If they attack because of Lebanon, because of the West Bank, because of Gaza, or simply because they feel like it, our planes are ready to take off,” he said.
Israel launched Operation Rising Lion against Iran earlier this year, targeting nuclear facilities, ballistic missile infrastructure, air defenses and senior Iranian military and political figures.
The United States subsequently joined attacks on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, including using B-2 Stealth bombers and massive bunker-buster bombs against the underground Fordow facility.
“Our most dangerous enemy was struck and now is significantly weaker than us,” Katz concluded.
Katz: No Solution For Gaza Without Emigration, But Trump Temporarily Froze Plan
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday (2nd) that plans to facilitate Palestinian emigration from Gaza remain under consideration but have been frozen by President Donald Trump, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Strip and vowed Israel would maintain its military positions there.
Speaking at Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth’s “Time for Decision: Democracy and Society” conference in cooperation with the Israel Democracy Institute, Katz said Israel was prepared to facilitate departures from Gaza by sea, air or other routes, but not through Egypt.
“There is ultimately no real solution for Gaza. The Emigration Administration is ready to do it by sea, by air and by any means. Egypt is not prepared for it to happen through its territory,” Katz said.
Katz said countries potentially willing to accept Gazans are seeking US backing. “80% of Gazans want to emigrate. We check this constantly in polls,” he said. “Hamas does not allow it, and there are no countries in the world taking them in. What is holding it up is that the countries willing to receive them want US support.”
Katz said Trump had suspended rather than abandoned the proposal following pressure from Arab countries.
“Every country that is willing wants American backing. Right now Trump has not canceled it, he has frozen it,” Katz said.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, visited an IDF position near the Yellow Line on Wednesday morning (2nd), which separates Israeli-controlled territory from territory controlled by Hamas.
He was accompanied by IDF Chief of Staff LTG Eyal Zamir. With them was Southern Command chief MG Yaniv Asor and 99th “Flash” Division commander BG Elad Tzuri.
“We’re not withdrawing: we are staying on this line. We control 60% of the Strip and there is more to come because we are eliminating the terrorists who threaten us, doing so day after day,” Netanyahu said.
Katz separately said Israel strategically controls Gaza, with Hamas remaining in an enclave covering slightly more than 30% of the territory.
The IDF said Wednesday (2nd) that Northern Brigade and Yahalom forces have neutralized more than 26 kilometers of tunnel routes since the ceasefire began.
‘We’ll Do What Needs To Be Done:’ Erdogan Warns Greece Over Israeli Defense Deal
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded Wednesday (3nd), for the first time, without mentioning Israel by name to the air defense deal signed with Greece earlier this week. “What are we supposed to do? What is our responsibility? To do what needs to be done,” Erdogan said in response to a reporter’s question. “Whoever interprets Turkey’s calm and rational approach as weakness is making a serious mistake. Greece must abandon its wrong path.”
Erdogan made the remarks on a flight back from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. Asked how Turkey would respond if Greece continued to militarize the Islands in the Aegean Sea, he said, “We tell Greece that we will move forward on the basis of good neighborliness. We have been the constructive side, however, most of the time, we have not seen a reciprocal response to our good intentions,” he said. He added, “Greece must understand something: Turkey does not covet anyone’s territory, but it will not allow anyone to violate its rights.”
On Monday (8/31), Athens signed a deal worth approximately $3.2 billion to purchase a multi-layered air defense system from Israel, part of a doctrine Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias has dubbed the “Achilles’ Shield.” Greece plans to deploy the system first in the northeast of the country and on islands in the eastern Aegean Sea, islands that sit close to the Turkish coast.
Erdogan added that “ignoring and violating international treaties will benefit no one,” and called on Greece “to stop the militarization of the islands whose status is demilitarized.” He closed his remarks with a warning tone, “History is a very good guide for those who need to learn from it. We will continue to work for peace, security and stability in our region.”
Earlier Wednesday (2nd), the Turkish newspaper Milliyet reported that Ankara had sent Athens an official note stating it would not allow any action that would change the status quo in the Aegean Sea. According to the report, which cited diplomatic sources, the note was delivered following three spatial planning programs Greece announced during August in the fields of tourism, renewable energy, and industry, and it argued that “raising maximalist claims under the guise of environmental planning is unacceptable.”
Turkey has claimed for decades that the arming of the eastern Aegean islands violates the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which banned the establishment of naval bases and fortifications in the sea, and the 1947 Treaty of Paris, which transferred the Dodecanese islands from Italy to Greece. Athens rejects the claim, arguing, among other things, that Turkey is not even a party to the Treaty of Paris, and justifies the arming of the islands as a matter of self-defense against the Turkish forces deployed opposite them.
The World’s Double Standard Toward Israel: Prejudice Dressed As Principle – Amb. Alan Baker
Why has Israel become the convenient scapegoat for virtually every political, social and humanitarian problem in the Middle East – and increasingly, in the wider world? Why are Jews, representing barely 0.2% of the world’s population, so frequently portrayed as responsible for events over which they have neither control or influence? And why is Israel held to standards that are applied to virtually no other country?
These questions go to the heart of a disturbing phenomenon in contemporary political discourse: the normalization of anti-Israel prejudice, frequently dressed up as legitimate political criticism. There is a fundamental difference between legitimate criticism of Israeli policy and the systematic, blind and naive demonization of Israel as uniquely evil, illegitimate or criminal by much of the international community.
Where are the comparable demands for international sanctions against countries that deliberately murder, torture or expel their own populations? Where is the same outrage directed at regimes that suppress women, persecute minorities, imprison political opponents or launch wars of aggression?
Israel did not create the Arab-Israeli conflict, It did not initiate the rejection of the 1947 United Nations partition proposal. It did not invent terrorism as a political instrument. And it did not compel generations of Palestinian and Arab leaders to reject opportunities for negotiated accommodation. Nor did Israel create Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah or Iran’s policy of seeking Israel’s destruction.
Yet, whenever Israel defends itself against terrorism or armed attack, the aggressor disappears from the narrative, while Israel becomes the principal culprit. This inversion of responsibility is not merely intellectually dishonest, it can have deadly consequences.
The Oct. 7 massacre demonstrated what happens when a terrorist organization operates on the assumption that Israel’s response will be constrained by international condemnation while the terrorists themselves will be shielded by political rhetoric. The victims of terrorism are then transformed into the perpetrators, while those who deliberately attack civilians are presented as freedom fighters.
Israel should be judged by the same standards as every other country – certainly not by impossibly higher ones. The alternative is not justice. It is prejudice masquerading as principle.
The writer, former Legal Adviser and Deputy Director-General of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, heads the international law program at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
