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New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino is no stranger to having partisan attacks lobbied at her. Her public political persona began with a viral video of her as a citizen confronting then Mayor Bill DeBlasio on the street. She then turned a defunct corner of Queens into the Republican hotspot in New York City, winning a council seat (and the admiration of New York Republicans statewide) for her efforts. The Democrats view her as public enemy #1, so they are using their governmental power to file ethics complaints in an attempt to bring her down.

Every year, following the Passover holiday, Israel enters a somber period culminating in Independence Day (Yom HaAtzmaut). Eight days earlier, Holocaust Day (Yom HaShoah) is observed with memorials throughout the country. Stories from the ever-decreasing contingent of survivors are shared on television, in schools, and even in one’s living room: Zikaron BaSalon (remembrance in the living room). Poignant accounts of both loss and survival reawaken us to the Jewish past and, at a time of festering antisemitism, alert us to the dangers of apathy.

Last week, the Department of Justice dropped a political bombshell: A federal grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama, indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on 11 criminal counts. These include six counts of wire fraud, four counts of false statements to a federally insured bank, and one count of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering. According to the indictment, between 2014 and 2023, the SPLC secretly funneled more than $3 million in donated funds to individuals associated with some of the most notorious violent extremist groups in America, including the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, and the National Socialist Party of America. The very organization that built a nine-figure empire by positioning itself as the nation’s premier watchdog against “hate” is now accused of paying the haters themselves.

In Move that Surprised No One, Mayor Vetoes Protection for Jewish Community

Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued his first veto in office last week, and of course, it was against a bill protecting the Jewish community. The bill was Intro 175-B, the NYC Council bill that would have required the NYPD to develop clear, public safety plans for buffer zones and protest management around schools and educational institutions.

Last week’s observance of Israeli independence was customarily observed by Modern Orthodox yeshivahs with the expected simulations of a shuk, where tables displayed falafel, shawarma, and Bissli, with flavors of Prigat to wash down these fast-food dishes. Israeli pop music played to set the mood.

New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino is no stranger to having partisan attacks leveled at her. Her public political persona began with a viral video of her as a citizen confronting then-Mayor Bill de Blasio on the street. She then turned a defunct corner of Queens into a Republican hotspot in New York City, winning a council seat—and the admiration of New York Republicans statewide—for her efforts. The Democrats view her as public enemy number one, so they are using their governmental power to file ethics complaints in an attempt to bring her down.