NY anti-Israel activists recycle 'greedy Jewish landlords' trope

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.

US reporter Luke Tress joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

For the past several years, Tress has noted an uptick in hateful rhetoric and flyers that are attributing housing disputes in New York City to Israel or “Zionists.” The rhetoric appears to mark a growing new front in anti-Zionist activism in the city. We delve into a history of disputes between Jews and their neighbors, including about housing, and what makes this new iteration different.

Security spending for US Jewish communities has surpassed an estimated $1.05 billion per year, a new record, the Jewish Federations of North America said on Thursday. The 2025 average annual security expenditure for a Jewish institution was around $225,000, the federations said, adding that the total cost could be used to provide Jewish day school tuition to around 44,000 children. Tress explains what legislation Jewish leaders are now pushing US lawmakers to pass.

Tress reports on a group of non-Jewish Ukrainian university students who are studying Yiddish in a class at The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, part of a new program between the university and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York City. What brings these young adults to this wacky extracurricular?

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

For further reading:

In protests and politics, ‘Zionists’ are being blamed for NYC housing woes

US Jewish community security costs surpass $1 billion per year — study

War-weary Ukrainian students learn Yiddish to reclaim a Jewish past nearly erased at home

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

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