The JC - Jewish News, Comment & Culture

ISRAEL AT WAR

Trump and Netanyahu will make ‘mutual decision’ on when to end Iran War

‘We’ve destroyed a country that wanted to destroy Israel,’ said the US president

By Jacob Jaffa

1 min read

US President Trump holds a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago club on December 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida (Getty Images)

By Alan Aziz

For this Jew with Iranian roots, the conflict isn’t just geopolitical. It’s geopersonal

I am a descendant of Persian Jews who felt a deep connection and sense of belonging to pre-revolution Iran

2 min read

An Iranian Jew prays in the Rabbi Zadeh synagogue in Shiraz 29 April 2000 (Photo by HENGHAMEH FAHIMI/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran’s next supreme leader owns properties overlooking Israeli embassy in London

Mojtaba Khamenei is also reported to own 11 properties on The Bishops Avenue, also known as ‘Billionaire’s Row’

By Mark Wood

1 min read

Mojtaba Khamenei (centre), the son of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Photo by Rouzbeh Fouladi / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader of Iran?

The second son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the backing of the IRGC and a reputation for brutal suppression of dissent

By Jacob Jaffa

1 min read

Mojtaba Khamenei (C), the son of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, participates in the annual Quds Day rally in Tehran, on May 31, 2019 (Getty Images)

Tom Tugendhat

UK should have bolstered regional defence before Iran strike, former security minister says

By Jane Prinsley

4 min read

An El Al plane at Heathrow Airport (Photo: Getty Images)

Israel-Iran War

‘We are one big family’: The Jewish Londoners opening up their homes to Israelis stranded in Britain

By Jamie Shapiro

4 min read

A US counterterrorism police officer (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel Iran War

Fears that Iran may have activated ‘sleeper cells’ around the world

US law enforcement agencies have received an alert regarding suspected trigger messages of Iranian origin

By Mark Wood

1 min read

Jewish military personnel holding a Torah scroll and wearing tefillin (Photo: Aleph Institute)

Messianic Jews

Messianic military chaplains accused of ‘deceiving’ Jewish soldiers with Star of David insignia

By Daniel Ben-David

2 min read

Belgium

Explosion at Belgian synagogue was ‘violent act of antisemitism’, mayor says

By JC Reporter

1 min read

Israel

One dead after Iranian ‘cluster bombs’ hit central Israel

By Jacob Jaffa

1 min read

Luton Airport enhances staff training after ‘antisemitic’ targeting of Israeli author

‘To get ahead, trust your instincts’ says ‘Strictly’ creator

Israel opens Ben Gurion Airport to repatriation flights

Intermarried couples: from disapproval to engagement

Iran’s new supreme leader will be driven by revenge against Israel, says expert

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Antisemitism

Global incidents of antisemitism ‘jump by a third’ since outbreak of Iran war

Half of the incidents reported tied directly to the conflict, according to data from the Combat Antisemitism Movement

By JC Reporter

1 min read

A window at Temple Emanu-El synagogue in Toronto’s North York area shows bullet damage after gunfire last week struck the building in what police believe was a 'targeted hate incident (Photo: CAM)

Iran

US offers ‘extensive air cover’ for Kurds to seize parts of western Iran

The CIA is reportedly in ‘active talks’ with Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish militias about potential regime change.

By Jamie Shapiro

1 min read

A Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II jet performs a flyover on January 24, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Florida (Getty Images)

Operation Roaring Lion

US releases footage of sinking of Iran’s ‘prize’ warship in Indian Ocean

More than 140 people are believed dead after the attack off the coast of Sri Lanka

By Jamie Shapiro

1 min read

USA

Senate vote to halt extension of Iran War fails

Senators voted largely along party lines to give the Trump administration a broad mandate to continue striking the Islamic Republic

By Jacob Jaffa

2 min read

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) talks to reporters ahead of a vote on a bipartisan war powers resolution that would have prevented President Donald Trump from continuing the military campaign against Iran (Getty Images)

World news

Iran

Mojtaba Khamenei confirmed as new supreme leader of Iran

By Jacob Jaffa

2 min read

Zohran Mamdani

Mamdani distances City Hall from wife’s social media likes appearing to praise October 7

By JC Reporter

1 min read

Smoke and fire rise from the site of airstrikes at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, March 7, 2026 (Credit: ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)

Operation Roaring Lion

Israel strikes Iranian regime’s military fuel facilities

By Joshua Marks

3 min read

US President Trump takes questions from the media during a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office of the White House on March 03, 2026 (Getty Images)

Iran

‘I have to be involved’ in selection of Iran’s new supreme leader, says Trump

By Jacob Jaffa

1 min read

A high speed train travelling between Jerusalem and Ben Gurion International Airport (Credit: AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Shabbat

Chief rabbis say plan to run trains from airport for repatriated Israelis ‘desecrates’ the Sabbath

By Daniel Ben-David

1 min read

Germany

Community leaders give green light for German Jews to serve in army

By Rob Hyde

2 min read

Operation Roaring Lion

People stand next to missile debris after it fell near Qamishli International Airport, near the Turkish border in the Qamishli district of Hasakah, Syria, March 4, 2026 (Getty Images)

Iran denies firing missile at Turkey after Nato interception

Azerbaijan has also summoned the Iranian envoy in Baku after drone strikes on its territory injured two people

By Daniel Ben-David

1 min read

Watch: Israeli F-35 shoots down Iranian fighter jet over Tehran Israeli embassies worldwide could be targeted over Operation Roaring Lion, Iran claims

UK News

Brit milah

CPS drops reference to circumcision as possible ‘child abuse’

Milah UK is satisfied by new guidance for prosecutors that affirms religious significance of the practice

By JC Reporter

1 min read

A brit milah in Germany (photo: Getty Images)

Iranian dissidents

Iranian dissidents rushed to defend London’s Israeli embassy from an anti-Zionist mob

‘We have a moral duty to stand beside our Jewish brothers,’ said one anti-regime Iranian

By Jamie Shapiro

2 min read

Iranian dissidents, Jews and Israelis stood side by side protecting the Israeli embassy in London

Jewish Culture Month

Jewish Culture Month launches programme of more than 100 events

The Board of Deputies is behind the inaugural celebration of the Jewish contribution to UK society

By Alma Green

1 min read

Walking tours of the Jewish East End will feature in Jewish Culture Month (Photo: Getty)

Government

Foreign Office ‘missing in action,’ say furious Brits stuck in Israel

The Prime Minister said efforts to rescue citizens from across the region was ‘one of the biggest operations of its kind’

By Jane Prinsley

3 min read

People say the blessings over Challahs during a Kabalat Shabbat service inside an underground car park bomb shelter on March 06, 2026 in Tel Aviv (Getty Images)

Opinion

xx

By Nicholas Lezard

3 min read

By Stephen Pollard

If the Islamic Republic falls, Islamism may fall with it

The notion that the US has been somehow dragged into the war by a scheming Benjamin Netanyahu utterly misunderstands what’s going on

3 min read

By Ali Hamedani

Day I met the Supreme Leader whose death inspired parties across Iran

Rosewater-scented childhood encounter with Ayatollah Khamenei reveals inner workings of tyrannical theocracy

5 min read

By Roger Macmillan

Khamenei’s death leaves the IRGC stronger – the UK must finally proscribe it

Britain’s response to January’s repression has been limited to condemnations and incremental sanctions – measures which risk looking inadequate in the face of such an extraordinary rupture

3 min read

By Melissa Langsam Braunstein

Is fighting antisemitism a losing battle?

American Jews spend roughly $600 million a year to combat Jew-hatred. What’s needed most is a philanthropic audit assessing what’s actually working

3 min read

By Gio Esfandiary

Iranians in Britain fear the IRGC’s reach on UK soil

Those who fled the Islamic Republic want to live in a safe and stable country. They want to protect the freedoms they came here to enjoy

2 min read

By Lawrence J. Haas

Europe’s Iran stance is a strategic error that hurts its US alliance

Wiser leaders would stop picking fights with Washington over a war they can’t influence and that ultimately advances their own security

4 min read

Life

Purim at the Museum

By Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum

5 min read

Art exhibition

A Jewish love story with art well worth a longer look

The V&A is presenting a deeper dive into 20th-century collectors the Gilberts, writes Eliana Jordan

By Eliana Jordan

4 min read

International Women’s Day

IWD: The female Israeli singers striking a chord for peace in the Middle East

To mark International Women's Day, we speak to three musicians whose work is adored across the Arab and Muslim world

By Florit Shoihet

7 min read

Jewish Comedy

‘The dark humour of Dad, who fled Hitler, runs through my new show’

Comedian Mark Maier on how the laughter his father brought to his childhood home inspired him

By Miranda Levy

3 min read

Film

The Testament of Ann Lee review: ‘an unexpected use of movement and music’ ★★★★

Brilliant score and choreography breathes life into this haunting tale of vision and faith

By John Nathan

1 min read

Suffering and stoicism: Amanda Seyfried (centre) as the late 18th century Shaker evangelist Ann Lee in Mona Fastvold's film

Cornish-born, Jewish recipe developer and food photographer Trevennon Dakota-Levy (Picture: Trevennon Dakota-Levy)

Jewish food

‘As a boy I didn’t know bagels were Jewish! Now I make the best challah’

By Alma Green

4 min read

Bolo de Amêndoa is a flourless Portuguese cake, which is perfect for Pesach (Picture: Trevennon Dakota-Levy)

Passover bakes

Bolo de Amêndoa – Portuguese almond cake

By Trevennon Dakota-Levy

Cook time: 35 minutes

Dessert

Muriel's bread pudding

By Trevennon Dakota-Levy

Cook time: 75 – 90 minutes

Passover bakes

Perfect Pesach brunch bagels

By Nir Elkayam

The Jewish Chronicle

Trump and Netanyahu will make ‘mutual decision’ on when to end Iran War

For this Jew with Iranian roots, the conflict isn’t just geopolitical. It’s geopersonal

Iran’s next supreme leader owns properties overlooking Israeli embassy in London

Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader of Iran?

UK should have bolstered regional defence before Iran strike, former security minister says

‘We are one big family’: The Jewish Londoners opening up their homes to Israelis stranded in Britain

Fears that Iran may have activated ‘sleeper cells’ around the world

Messianic military chaplains accused of ‘deceiving’ Jewish soldiers with Star of David insignia

Explosion at Belgian synagogue was ‘violent act of antisemitism’, mayor says

One dead after Iranian ‘cluster bombs’ hit central Israel

Editor's Picks

Luton Airport enhances staff training after ‘antisemitic’ targeting of Israeli author

‘To get ahead, trust your instincts’ says ‘Strictly’ creator

Israel opens Ben Gurion Airport to repatriation flights

Intermarried couples: from disapproval to engagement

Iran’s new supreme leader will be driven by revenge against Israel, says expert

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Editor’s Picks

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Community Matters

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Global incidents of antisemitism ‘jump by a third’ since outbreak of Iran war

US offers ‘extensive air cover’ for Kurds to seize parts of western Iran

US releases footage of sinking of Iran’s ‘prize’ warship in Indian Ocean

Senate vote to halt extension of Iran War fails

World news

Mojtaba Khamenei confirmed as new supreme leader of Iran

Mamdani distances City Hall from wife’s social media likes appearing to praise October 7

Israel strikes Iranian regime’s military fuel facilities

‘I have to be involved’ in selection of Iran’s new supreme leader, says Trump

Chief rabbis say plan to run trains from airport for repatriated Israelis ‘desecrates’ the Sabbath

Community leaders give green light for German Jews to serve in army

Iran denies firing missile at Turkey after Nato interception

UK News

CPS drops reference to circumcision as possible ‘child abuse’

Iranian dissidents rushed to defend London’s Israeli embassy from an anti-Zionist mob

Jewish Culture Month launches programme of more than 100 events

Foreign Office ‘missing in action,’ say furious Brits stuck in Israel

Opinion

xx

If the Islamic Republic falls, Islamism may fall with it

Day I met the Supreme Leader whose death inspired parties across Iran

Khamenei’s death leaves the IRGC stronger – the UK must finally proscribe it

Is fighting antisemitism a losing battle?

Iranians in Britain fear the IRGC’s reach on UK soil

Europe’s Iran stance is a strategic error that hurts its US alliance

Life

Purim at the Museum

A Jewish love story with art well worth a longer look

IWD: The female Israeli singers striking a chord for peace in the Middle East

‘The dark humour of Dad, who fled Hitler, runs through my new show’

The Testament of Ann Lee review: ‘an unexpected use of movement and music’ ★★★★

‘As a boy I didn’t know bagels were Jewish! Now I make the best challah’

Bolo de Amêndoa – Portuguese almond cake

Muriel's bread pudding

Perfect Pesach brunch bagels