Our 10 most-read Jewish news stories of 2024

In a year when Israel was at war, a U.S. presidential election found Jews on both sides of the political divide, and rising antisemitism persisted in the aftermath of Oct. 7, these stories most captured the attention of JTA’s readers in 2024. 

1. Marjorie Taylor Greene says she opposed antisemitism bill because it rejects ‘Gospel’ that ‘the Jews’ handed Jesus to executioners 

In May, the House of Representatives passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act,  a bill that would define antisemitism for the purposes of using it to address complaints of civil rights violations — but not unanimously. Progressives said it would inappropriately inhibit criticism of Israel, but conservatives had a different concern: that the bill threatened Christian expression. “Antisemitism is wrong,” tweeted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, “but I will not be voting for the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023 (H.R. 6090) today that could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing the Gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews.” The bill died in the Senate.

2. Adam Schiff, California’s Jewish senator-elect and Trump’s nemesis, says the US is ‘very much weakened as a democracy’

A few weeks after the U.S. presidential election in November, we profiled Adam Schiff, the senator(-elect, at the time) from California who seemed to be heading straight into hostile territory. Donald Trump, livid at Schiff for investigating him and trying to remove him from office in his first term, had grouped the incoming senator under the broad category of “the enemy within” and demanded that he be put on trial. Schiff told us, “Where it’s necessary to stand up to the president to push back, to defend the rights and interests of Californians, I will do it, and I will do it unhesitatingly.”

3. Tim Walz wrote a master’s thesis on Holocaust education, just as his own school’s approach drew criticism

In August, after Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate in the presidential election, Jewish Democrats wanted to learn more about Walz and his views on all things Jewish. We tracked down Walz’s master’s thesis, which called for changes in Holocaust education — a topic he covered as a high school teacher and advocated as the state’s top elected official.

4. Randi Weingarten, teachers union boss, calls JD Vance ‘gross’ for saying she ‘doesn’t have a single child’

After he was tapped as Trump’s running mate, a series of unearthed clips made the rounds in which J.D. Vance denigrates people without children, famously referring to them as “childless cat ladies” and “sociopaths.” In one clip, Vance derided Randi Weingarten, the Jewish president of the American Federation of Teachers, the country’s second-largest teachers union. “She doesn’t have a single child,” Vance said. “If she wants to brainwash and destroy the minds of children, she should have some of her own and leave ours the hell alone.” Weingarten, who describes herself as a “mother by marriage” to the two children of her wife, Sharon Kleinbaum, the recently retired senior rabbi of New York City’s premier LGBTQ+ synagogue, said in a statement that Vance “lacks an empathy gene.” 

5. Pete Hegseth, Trump’s defense secretary nominee, has Christian and Crusades-inspired tattoos

When Trump tapped Pete Hegseth as nominee for U.S. secretary of defense in November, Hegseth drew attention with his slew of religiously inspired tattoos, including the Jerusalem cross that was used in the Crusades. According to a senior scholar specializing in American Christianity, Hegseth’s tattoos, political views and religious affiliation and background are consistent with an extreme strain of Christian nationalism which believes in applying biblical Christian law to society, exclusively male leadership, and actively preparing the world for the prophesied return of Jesus. Crusader symbols have also grown popular on the far right, which sees the imagery as a nod to an era of European Christian wars against Muslims and Jews.

6. 2 Jews who left Biden administration over handling of Gaza now say they’ll back Harris

Two Jews who’d publicly resigned from posts in the Biden administration over its handling of the Gaza war published a joint op-ed on the eve of Election Day, expressing anger that the Harris campaign did not publicly call for an arms embargo on Israel. Yet they added that — unlike some of their fellow pro-Palestinian activists who may not have voted for either major party — they were willing to pull the lever for Harris because they saw it as the best chance to curb violence in the Middle East. “Under a Harris administration, we believe there will be a wider gap in the armor that protects Israeli impunity,” they wrote.

7. The only rabbi in Springfield, Ohio, says local Haitian migrants lack ‘Western civilized values’

After Trump amplified rumors about Haitian migrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, a leading Jewish group called the whole episode a “blood libel.” But one Jew said the Haitians were indeed harming Springfield: the city’s only congregational rabbi. “This is about a culture clash,” Rabbi Cary Kozberg of Temple Sholom told us. “We, as the citizens of Springfield, are being disenfranchised.” Like Trump, J.D. Vance and others who have taken aim at Springfield’s immigrant population, Kozberg said he believed the new arrivals — most of whom are in the country legally — were changing the city’s character for the worse. “Haiti is not known for its, shall we say, adherence to Western civilized values,” Kozberg said.

8. As Israel braces for potential Iranian attack, US warns Americans in the country to exercise caution

As warnings of an Iranian attack on Israel intensified in April, the United States barred government personnel and their families in Israel from traveling outside several major urban areas. Concerns had mounted over Iran’s potential response to an alleged Israeli strike on an Iranian embassy building in Syria the previous week that killed several Iranian officials. “The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem reminds U.S. citizens of the continued need for caution and increased personal security awareness as security incidents often take place without warning,” the alert said.

9. In a change, the Biden administration is now signaling that it backs an Israeli strike against Iran

In October, an Iranian missile barrage hit Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv. In response, Joe Biden gave Israel a green light — albeit with qualifications — to strike back. This came as a change from April, when Biden had helped Israel repel an Iranian missile onslaught but advised Benjamin Netanyahu against retaliation and to “take the win.” Middle East watchers said the change was due to the unprecedented breadth and potency of Iran’s attack, and the greater dangers it posed. Israel would later slam Iran’s military facilities, setting back its biggest adversary.

10. The campaign to tank Josh Shapiro’s VP chances is gathering steam — and accusations of antisemitism

Before Kamala Harris picked Walz as her running mate, six frontrunners reportedly led the way, each with pro-Israel bona fides. But only one, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, faced a campaign to keep him off the ticket because of his stance on Israel. The stop-Shapiro push included articles in left-wing publications and a website and Twitter feed called “No Genocide Josh.” Some prominent voices said they thought Shapiro was facing an antisemitic double standard. Shapiro himself ultimately said he did not think antisemitism factored into his not getting the job.