Jewish News Today: Haley Stevens Endorses Republican Rival Two Days Before Michigan Vote, Frankfurt Opens Germany's First Jewish Academy

Pro-Israel Democratic congresswoman Haley Stevens has crossed party lines to endorse Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan's US Senate race, two days before Election Day, in a dramatic move that has split Jewish Democrats and sharpened tensions around candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Meanwhile, Germany marked a significant cultural milestone as Frankfurt inaugurated the country's first non-university Jewish academy, named in the spirit of Rabbi Leo Baeck.

Stevens Endorses Rogers: Michigan's Jewish Community Caught in the Crossfire

Representative Haley Stevens, who lost the Democratic Senate primary to progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed, announced her endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers on Sunday, two days before Election Day. According to JTA, JNS and the Forward, Stevens cited El-Sayed's past campaigning alongside Hasan Piker as a key reason for her decision — a move the Forward describes as a "stunning break" with her party.

The announcement has fractured Michigan's Jewish Democratic community. JTA reports that some Jewish Democrats have formally disavowed Stevens over the endorsement. Others, according to JTA, have taken a different path entirely, recommending that voters write in Jewish poet Emma Lazarus on their ballots rather than support either candidate.

The Forward notes that the 11th-hour public feud between Stevens and El-Sayed is "further exacerbating tensions" among Michigan's Jewish community, with many feeling caught between a Democratic nominee viewed with deep suspicion over his stance on Israel, and a Republican they would not ordinarily support. JNS frames the episode as rooted in "a growing rift" between Stevens and El-Sayed "over Israel and antisemitism."

For Jewish diaspora communities watching American politics closely, the Michigan Senate race has become a bellwether for a broader question about where pro-Israel Democrats fit within a party whose progressive wing has moved sharply in a different direction.

Frankfurt Opens Germany's First National Jewish Academy

In a landmark moment for the German Jewish community, Frankfurt inaugurated the Jüdische Akademie on Monday morning. According to the Jüdische Allgemeine, German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Hesse Minister-President Boris Rhein attended the formal opening ceremony.

The Jüdische Allgemeine describes the institution as the first supra-regional, non-university Jewish educational establishment in Germany — conceived as a place of discourse and encounter. The opening falls on the 70th anniversary of the death of Rabbi Leo Baeck, who died in London on 2 November 1956. Baeck shaped German Jewry as rabbi, thinker and teacher, and continued to teach and preach even in the Theresienstadt ghetto, according to the Jüdische Allgemeine.

The academy's founding carries obvious significance for a country still navigating its relationship with its Jewish citizens and their history. For Germany's Jewish diaspora community, it represents a formal, state-supported commitment to Jewish intellectual and cultural life — one that arrives at a time when antisemitism news from German university campuses remains troubling.

German Court Recognises Intimidation of Jewish Students

The academy's opening comes against a difficult backdrop on German campuses. The Jüdische Allgemeine reports that an administrative court has, for the first time, taken seriously the intimidation of Jewish students — a development the paper frames as long overdue. According to the Jüdische Allgemeine, commemorations of the 7 October attacks were targeted, a vigil was placed in inverted commas as a so-called "mourning event," remembrance was labelled "Israeli war propaganda," and students faced the accusation of having "blood on their hands." The court's willingness to engage with these complaints is presented by the Jüdische Allgemeine as a meaningful, if belated, step.

Antisemitism in Europe: Youth Movements and Protest Culture

A column published by JNS argues that Jew-hatred has become "the glue binding otherwise disparate protest movements" across Europe, turning what it describes as legitimate social grievances into "something much darker." The piece contends that antisemitism is spreading through European youth culture and political organising in ways that cut across traditional ideological lines. For Jewish communities in the UK, Germany and beyond, this assessment will resonate with lived experience on campuses and in public spaces.

British Jews and Aliyah: Safety Is a Factor, but Not the Only One

Over 1,200 people attended an aliyah event in north London, the Jewish Chronicle reports, with antisemitism on the agenda. The JC notes, however, that many attendees had positive reasons for considering the move — love, work and family among them — rather than being driven solely by a sense of insecurity in Britain. The scale of attendance at a single aliyah information event reflects both the continued draw of Israel for British Jews and the complex mixture of push and pull factors shaping that interest.

Israel's Post-Election Coalition Crisis: Herzog Appeals for Compromise

Following last week's Knesset election, Israeli President Isaac Herzog has urged political leaders to approach coalition negotiations with flexibility and an "open heart," according to JNS and the Jüdische Allgemeine. Herzog is due to begin consultations with Knesset factions this week. The Jüdische Allgemeine reports that opposition party leaders have also begun meeting to explore how a government excluding Benjamin Netanyahu might be formed.

Israel's elections chief has stated that the vote was "conducted properly," according to JNS, and said that a foreign-funding probe — JNS separately reports that Israel is investigating suspected Qatari interference in the election — will not undermine the results. However, JNS also reports that Knesset member Rothman has told the outlet he believes there was "large-scale bribery" in the election. The two characterisations are in direct tension; JNS does not resolve the contradiction. Separately, Avigdor Lieberman has stated he will sit neither with Netanyahu nor with Arab party leader Tibi, according to the Jüdische Allgemeine.

Gaza and the West Bank: Military Developments

The IDF has killed a Hamas commander identified by JNS as Ihab Jamil Abu Taqiya, whom the Israeli military says had custody of at least 13 hostages in Gaza. In the West Bank, JNS reports that the IDF has concluded a ten-day counterterrorism operation in Hebron; the Judea Brigade is now reported to be focusing on its defensive mission ahead of Shabbat Chayei Sarah celebrations in Hebron. Hamas has separately called for an escalation of terror attacks in Judea and Samaria, with Israeli officials and experts warning of the group's active infrastructure in the region, according to JNS. In southern Lebanon, JNS reports that IDF troops discovered Hezbollah weapons and explosive drones inside a private home, along with a children's room bearing symbols associated with the Iranian-backed group.

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