By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The Anti-Defamation League says the number of antisemitic incidents in the United States reached a record high last year and notes that 58% of the 9,354 incidents related to Israel, notably chants, speeches and signs at rallies protesting Israeli policies.

In a report released Tuesday, the ADL, which has produced annual tallies for 46 years, said it’s the first time Israel-related incidents — 5,422 of them in 2024 — comprised more than half the total. A key reason is the widespread opposition to Israel’s military response in Gaza after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

The ADL’s findings add grist to an intense, divisive debate among American Jews — and others — over the extent to which vehement criticism of Israeli policies and of Zionism should be considered antisemitic.

Political backdrop

The debate has broadened as President Donald Trump’s administration makes punitive moves against universities it considers too lax in combating antisemitism and seeks to deport some pro-Palestinian campus activists.

The upshot, for numerous Jewish leaders, is a balancing act: Decrying flagrant acts of antisemitism as well as what they consider to be the administration’s exploitation of the issue to target individuals and institutions it dislikes.

“The fears of antisemitism are legitimate and real — and we don’t want to see those real fears exploited to undermine democracy,” said Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. “I feel that a majority of American Jews can believe that two things are true at the same time.”

The ADL said in its new report it is “careful to not conflate general criticism of Israel or anti-Israel activism with antisemitism.” But there are gray areas. For example, the ADL contends that vilification of Zionism — the movement to establish and protect a Jewish state in Israel — is a form of antisemitism, yet some Jews are among the critics of Zionism and of the ADL itself.

Incidents at anti-Israel rallies that counted as antisemitism in the new ADL tally include “justification or glorification of antisemitic violence, promotion of classic antisemitic tropes … and signage equating Judaism or Zionism with Nazism.” Also counted were celebrations of the Hamas attack on Israel and “unapologetic support for terrorism.”

“In 2024, hatred toward Israel was a driving force behind antisemitism across the U.S.,” said Oren Segal, who leads the ADL’s efforts to combat extremism and terrorism.

Keeping Jewish students safe

The report depicted university campuses as common venues for antisemitic incidents, saying many Jewish students “face hostility, exclusion and sometimes physical danger because of their identity or their beliefs.”

The experience of those students was evoked by Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism — an umbrella group for more than 800 Reform congregations in North America — as he discussed the complexities arising from current antisemitism-related developments.

“We have an obligation to our students on campus,” Jacobs said. “Can they go to Seder? Can they feel safe wearing a yarmulke?”

“At the same time, this current administration has weaponized the fight against antisemitism by weakening core democratic institutions,” Jacobs added.

He referred to the detention and threatened deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old graduate student who served as a negotiator and spokesperson for pro-Palestinian activists at Columbia University. Khalil has been detained since March 8 despite facing no criminal charges.

“There has to be a legal case — not just you don’t like what he says,” Jacobs said. “What has kept Jewish people safe is the rule of law, due process. If it is undermined for Palestinians, it will be undermined for all of us.”

Criticism of ADL

The ADL dismayed some progressive Jewish leaders by welcoming Columbia’s acquiescence in March to Trump administration demands and by initially commending the campaign targeting pro-Palestinian activists such as Khalil.

Recent critics of the ADL include Michael Roth, the first Jewish president of Wesleyan University; political commentator Peter Beinart; and Columbia professor James Schamus, who has been urging his fellow Jews on the faculty to oppose the university’s compliance with administration demands.

Washington Post columnist Matt Bai wrote a scathing column about the ADL on April 1.

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“You can’t call yourself a civil rights organization in the United States right now — let alone a civil rights organization for a minority that has been brutally evicted all over the world — and not loudly oppose the cruel and unlawful removal of foreigners whose views happen to be out of fashion,” Bai wrote.

Two days later, the ADL’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, wrote an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy seeking to distance the ADL from aspects of the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists.

“As an organization that has fought for a minority community for more than 100 years, ADL is incredibly sensitive to the importance of allowing all views to be expressed — even those that we or the majority of Americans disagree with,” Greenblatt wrote. “We should be holding people accountable for actual crimes, not Orwellian thoughtcrimes.”

“We can protect the civil liberties of Jewish students even as we preserve the civil liberties of those who protest, harass or attack them because they are innocent until proven guilty,” he added. “If we sacrifice our constitutional freedoms in the pursuit of security, we undermine the very foundation of the diverse, pluralistic society we seek to defend.”

Beyond the Israel-related incidents, these were among the other findings in the new ADL report:

— The total number of antisemitic incidents in 2024 was up by 344% from five years ago.

— 196 incidents, targeting more than 250 people, were categorized as assault; none of these assaults were fatal.

— 2,606 incidents were categorized as vandalism. Swastikas were present in 37% of these cases.

— There were 647 bomb threats, most of them targeting synagogues.

— Antisemitic incidents occurred in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. More than 10% of the incidents occurred in New York City.

— There were 962 “antisemitic propaganda incidents” linked to white supremacist groups. Three groups — Patriot Front, Goyim Defense League, and the White Lives Matter network — were responsible for 94% of this activity.

The ADL says its annual report tallies criminal and noncriminal acts of harassment, vandalism and assault against individuals and groups as reported to the ADL by victims, law enforcement, the media and partner organizations, and then evaluated by ADL experts.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Negotiations between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program will move Wednesday to what’s known as the “expert level” — a sign analysts say shows that the talks are moving forward rapidly.

However, experts not involved in the talks who spoke with The Associated Press warn that this doesn’t necessarily signal a deal is imminent. Instead, it means that the talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff haven’t broken down at what likely is the top-level trade — Tehran limiting its atomic program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

“Agreeing to technical talks suggests both sides are expressing pragmatic, realistic objectives for the negotiations and want to explore the details,” said Kelsey Davenport, the director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association who long has studied Iran’s nuclear program.

“If Witkoff was making maximalist demands during his talks with Araghchi, such as dismantlement of the enrichment program, Iran would have no incentive to meet at the technical level.”

That technical level, however, remains filled with possible landmines. Just how much enrichment by Iran would be comfortable for the United States? What about Tehran’s ballistic missile program, which U.S. President Donald Trump first cited in pulling America unilaterally out of the accord in 2018? Which sanctions could be lifted and which would be remain in place on the Islamic Republic?

“The most important determinant of expert talks’ value lies in whether there is a political commitment to do something and experts just need to figure out what,” said Richard Nephew, an adjunct fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who worked on Iran sanctions while at the U.S. State Department during negotiations over what became the 2015 nuclear deal.

“If the experts also have to discuss big concepts, without political agreement, it can just result in spun wheels.”

Experts and the 2015 nuclear deal

The 2015 nuclear deal saw senior experts involved in both sides of the deal. For the U.S. under President Barack Obama, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz reached an understanding working with Ali Akbar Salehi, then the leader of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Both men’s technical background proved key to nailing down the specifics of the deal.

Under the 2015 agreement, Iran agreed to enrich uranium only to 3.67% purity and keep a stockpile of only 300 kilograms (661 pounds). Today, Iran enriches some uranium up to 60% purity — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency put Iran’s overall uranium stockpile in February at 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds).

The deal also limited the types of centrifuges Iran could spin, further slowing Tehran’s ability to rush for a bomb, if it chose to do so. It also set out the provisions of how and when sanctions would be lifted, as well as time limits for the accord itself.

Reaching limits, relief and timelines require the knowledge of experts, analysts say.

“A nonproliferation agreement is meaningless if it cannot be effectively implemented and verified,” Davenport said. “The United States needs a strong technical team to negotiate the detailed restrictions and intrusive monitoring that will be necessary to ensure any move by Iran toward nuclear weapons is quickly detected and there is sufficient time to respond.”

It remains unclear who the two sides will be sending for those negotiations.

Hiccups already heard in these negotiations

Both the Americans and the Iranians have been tightlipped over exactly what’s been discussed so far, though both sides have expressed optimism about the pace. However, there has been one noticeable dispute stemming from comments Witkoff made in a television interview, suggesting Tehran could be able to enrich up to 3.67% purity. However, analysts noted that was the level set by the 2015 deal under Obama.

Witkoff hours later issued a statement suggesting that comparison struck a nerve: “A deal with Iran will only be completed if it is a Trump deal.”

“Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program,” Witkoff added.

Araghchi responded by warning that Iran must be able to enrich.

“The core issue of enrichment itself is not negotiable,” he said.

Despite that, experts who spoke to the AP said they remained positive about the talks’ trajectory so far.

“Although still early stages, I’m encouraged so far,” said Alan Eyre, a former U.S. diplomat once involved in past nuclear negotiations with Tehran. “The pace of negotiations — to include starting expert level meetings this Wednesday — is good.”

He added that so far, there didn’t appear to be any “mutually exclusive red lines” for the talks as well — signaling there likely wasn’t immediately any roadblocks to reaching a deal.

Nephew similarly described reaching the expert level as a “positive sign.” However, he cautioned that the hard work potentially was just beginning for the negotiations.

“They imply the need to get into real details, to discuss concepts that senior (officials) might not understand and to answer questions. I also think too much can be read into them starting,” Nephew said. “Expert talks can sometimes be a fudge for seniors to avoid working on tough issues — ‘let’s have experts discuss it while we move on to other things’ — or to sidestep big political decisions.”

Corey Hinderstein, the vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former U.S. government nuclear expert, described herself as feeling “cautious optimism” over the expert talks beginning.

“Heads of delegation are responsible for setting strategic goals and defining success,” she said. “But if there is a deal to be made, the technical experts are the ones who will get it done.”

The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By TARA COPP

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pulled the airstrike information he posted into Signal chats with his wife, brother and dozens of others from a secure communications channel used by U.S. Central Command, raising new questions as to whether the embattled Pentagon head leaked classified information over an open, unsecured network.

NBC News first reported that the launch times and bomb drop times of U.S. warplanes that were about to strike Houthi targets in Yemen — details that multiple officials have said is highly classified — were taken from secure U.S. Central Command communications. A person familiar with the second chat confirmed that to The Associated Press.

The information posted in the second chat was identical to the sensitive operations details shared in the first chat, which included members of President Donald Trump’s National Security Council, the person said.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity of out fear of reprisal for speaking to the press.

It’s the second chat involving Hegseth to be called into question

This is the second chat group where Hegseth posted the Yemen airstrike information. The first leaked Signal chat accidentally included the editor of The Atlantic and has caused an inspector general investigation in the Defense Department.

Hegseth has not directly acknowledged that he set up the second chat, which had more than a dozen people on it, including his wife, his lawyer and his brother Phil Hegseth, who was hired as a senior liaison to the Pentagon for the Department of Homeland Security. Instead, the secretary blamed the disclosure of the second Signal chat on leaks from disgruntled former staff.

Hegseth has aggressively denied that the information he posted was classified. Regardless of that, Signal is a commercially available app that is encrypted but is not a government network and not authorized to carry classified information.

“I said repeatedly, nobody is texting war plans,” Hegseth told Fox News on Tuesday. “I look at war plans every day. What was shared over Signal then and now, however you characterize it, was informal, unclassified coordinations, for media coordinations and other things. That’s what I’ve said from the beginning.”

Former defense secretary calls it a ‘serious’ breach

Based on the specificity of the launch times, that information would have been classified, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told the AP in a phone interview.

“It is unheard of to have a Secretary of Defense committing these kind of serious security breaches,” said Panetta, who served during the Obama administration, and who also was director of the Central Intelligence Agency during Obama’s term. ”Developing attack plans for defensive reasons is without question the most classified information you can have.”

The news comes as Hegseth has shaken up much of his inner circle. He is said to have become increasingly isolated and suspicious about whom he can trust, and is relying on an increasingly smaller and smaller circle of people.

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In the last week he has fired or transferred six of his inner support circle, including Hegseth aide Dan Caldwell; the chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, Colin Carroll; and Hegseth’s deputy chief of staff, Darin Selnick.

Those three were escorted out of the Pentagon as the department hunts down leaks of inside information, and in his “Fox and Friends” interview Tuesday, an agitated Hegseth accused those staff — whom he had worked with and known for years — of “attempting to leak and sabotage” the administration.

Hegseth confirmed Tuesday that chief of staff Joe Kasper would be transitioning to a new position. Former Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell is also temporarily shifting to a more direct support role for Hegseth, and former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot announced he was resigning last week, unrelated to the leaks. The Pentagon said, however, that Ullyot was asked to resign.

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal immigration authorities denied Mahmoud Khalil’s request for a temporary release from detention to attend the birth of his first child, who was born Monday in New York, according to emails shared with The Associated Press.

Khalil, a Columbia University activist who has been held in a detention center in Jena, Louisiana for six weeks, requested a two-week furlough on Sunday morning, noting that his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, had gone into labor eight days earlier than expected.

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His lawyers said he would be “open to any combination of conditions” to allow the release, including wearing an ankle monitor and attending regularly scheduled check-ins with immigration authorities.

Around 30 minutes later, Mellissa B. Harper, the New Orleans Field Office Director for U.S. Immigrations and Customs, wrote back: “After consideration of the submitted information and a review of your client’s case, your request for furlough is denied.”

Abdalla said she had to give birth to a baby boy on Monday in New York without her husband by her side, which she called “a purposeful decision by ICE to make me, Mahmoud, and our son suffer.”

“My son and I should not be navigating his first days on earth without Mahmoud,” she added. “ICE and the Trump administration have stolen these precious moments from our family in an attempt to silence Mahmoud’s support for Palestinian freedom.”

A message seeking comment was left with ICE officials.

Khalil is a legal permanent U.S. resident and graduate student who served as spokesperson for campus activists last year during large demonstrations at Columbia against Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and the war in Gaza.

He was detained by federal agents in the lobby of his Manhattan apartment on March 8, the first arrest in President Donald Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists.

The Trump administration has not accused Khalil of criminal conduct, but has argued he should be expelled from the country for his beliefs.

An immigration judge in Louisiana ruled earlier this month that the government’s assertion that Khalil’s presence in the U.S. posed “potentially serious foreign policy consequences” satisfied requirements for deportation.

A lawyer for Khalil said the ruling will be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals.