Dr. Sharona Nazarian shattered barriers by becoming the first Iranian Jewish woman to serve as mayor of Beverly Hills, marking a significant milestone for the prominent Jewish-Persian community in Southern California.

Dr. Nazarian comes from a prominent and wealthy Jewish-Iranian family in the US, well-known for their steadfast support of Israel. She was appointed by the city council as part of a rotating mayorship.

With deep pride and admiration, I congratulate my relative, Dr. Sharona Nazarian, on her historic appointment as the first Jewish Iranian American woman to serve as Mayor of Beverly Hills.

I watched her rise with integrity and compassion which fills me with immense pride. pic.twitter.com/9hLfecNpM4

— Adelle Nazarian (@AdelleNaz) April 2, 2025

 Media personality and relative of Nazarian, Adele Nazarian, shared Wednesday night on her X account, "With deep pride and admiration, I congratulate my relative, Dr. Sharona Nazarian, on her historic appointment as the first Jewish Iranian American woman to serve as Mayor of Beverly Hills. I watched her rise with integrity and compassion which fills me with immense pride."

This appointment marks a significant milestone for the substantial Persian Jewish community in Southern California, where Beverly Hills has become home to many Iranian Jews who immigrated to the United States following the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. The appointment reflects the growing influence and integration of this community in American politics and civic leadership.

The Nazarian family has established itself as one of the most influential Jewish-Iranian families in the United States, known for their philanthropy and business success. Their support for Israel has been consistent over the years, maintaining strong ties with Jewish communities worldwide.

The post First Jewish Iranian woman becomes mayor of Beverly Hills appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The CAM Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism, the organization's largest such gathering to date, culminated in the launch of the Municipal Antisemitism Action Index, a pioneering tool that evaluates how effectively cities combat antisemitism and protect Jewish residents.

"Antisemitism is at an all-time high, and with Jews around the world feeling unsafe in their communities, we felt that those who are most likely to effect change for the better are local leaders," CAM Chief Executive Officer Sacha Roytman Dratwa told the organization. "The unprecedented attendance at these emergency summits reflects the urgency of our mission."

The Beverly Hills location carried particular significance given Southern California's challenges with antisemitism, especially on college campuses. At the nearby University of California, Los Angeles, pro-Hamas demonstrations have created what Jewish students describe as a hostile environment, including allegations of discriminatory hiring practices and students being prevented from entering classes.

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria emphasized the crucial role of municipal leadership. "Mayors are the most accessible and visible leaders in people's lives. When acts of hate occur in your city, it threatens and undermines stability, and they must be addressed with decisive action," Gloria said. "Rising antisemitism is a local issue where local action can have a profound impact."

The summit's urgency was underscored by a CAM survey released Oct. 7, revealing that approximately 3.5 million of America's 6 million Jews experienced antisemitic incidents last year.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis reflected on recent events: "The horror of October 7, and the challenges that followed, have left an indelible mark on our lives. If it starts with antisemitism, when and where will it end? We must remain steadfast, protect those in need – and educate."

In Vienna, the United Against Antisemitism summit, organized in partnership with the European Leadership Network (ELNET), brought together leaders from politics, academia, and civil society to discuss strategies against antisemitism in education, culture, sports, and digital spaces.

"Antisemitism is a global challenge without national borders. Since October 7, we have seen a resurgence of antisemitism related to Israel in the streets of Europe," said Executive Director of ELNET-Germany Carsten Ovens. "The Vienna conference provides a central platform for deepening dialogue, developing new approaches, and formulating concrete actions and steps against Jew-hatred."

The post Hundreds of mayors unite to combat antisemitism appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Yolanda Sanchez Figueroa, the mayor of Cotija in western Mexico was assassinated just 24 hours after Claudia Sheinbaum was elected as the Latin American country's first female president. The murder cast a pall over Ms. Sheinbaum's historic inauguration, which had raised hopes for transformative change in the nation.

In a statement on X, the interior ministry of Michoacan state condemned "the murder of the municipal president (mayor) of Cotija, Yolanda Sanchez Figueroa." According to local media reports, Ms. Sanchez, who was elected mayor in 2021, was gunned down on a public road.

Authorities have not provided details on the murder, but they said a security operation has been launched to apprehend the killers.

Ms. Sanchez had previously been kidnapped in September of last year while leaving a shopping mall in the city of Guadalajara in the neighboring state of Jalisco. Three days after her abduction, the federal government announced that she had been found alive. At the time, local media reports suggested that the kidnappers belonged to the powerful Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG), a violent group that allegedly threatened the mayor for opposing their attempts to control her municipality's police force.

Michoacan is renowned for its tourist destinations and thriving agro-export industry, but it is also one of the most violent states in the country due to the presence of extortion and drug trafficking gangs.

The post Mexican mayor gunned down after historic presidential win appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams took off for Israel overnight Monday in his first trip overseas since becoming mayor.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

In a video posted on Twitter while boarding the plane, Adams said he was going to meet with Israeli officials to "continue to strengthen" Israel-US ties – calling the Jewish state "a real partner in the region" – as well as discuss technology and visit important religious sites.

Video: Adams boarding a plane to Israel / Credit: Twitter

Adams' three-day trip will include a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other leaders to "discuss combined efforts to combat antisemitism," his office said earlier.

Adams was elected on November 2, 2021, becoming the mayor of the five boroughs that encompass NYC –  home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post 'Israel is a real partner': NYC mayor headed to Jewish state appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

A recording has surfaced of New York City mayoral candidate Dianne Morales speaking at an event last December and referring to Israel as an "apartheid state," the Forward reported on Saturday, after obtaining the audio.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

According to the Forward report, Morales – currently polling at around 3% in the mayoral race – met with a group of Jewish high school students and told them she could not advocate for "equity and justice" in New York City while turning a blind eye to "the challenges around those issues in Israel and with the folks living in Gaza and Palestine."

Morales said that while she agreed in principle with a recent initiative by the Democratic Socialists of America that asked candidates for New York City mayor not to travel to Israel if they were elected as a way of demonstrating solidarity with "Palestinians living under occupation," she would not rule out travelling to Israel if she were elected mayor.

In 2015, Morales visited Israel on a junket with the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. She says she does not feel that participants in the trip were given "honest information," the Forward reported.

Israel is so beautiful, Morales reportedly says, that she can understand why "everybody wants a piece of it." Still, the mayoral candidate said that Israel was an "active" participant in infringing and violating "other people's human rights."

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post NYC mayoral candidate labels Israel 'apartheid state' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

                                          Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

International exchanges also occur among this set of legislators that don't often get prime-time headlines. Just recently, in fact, a bipartisan delegation of US mayors – four Democrats and one Republican – visited Israel with the American Jewish Committee's Project Interchange as part of an effort to enhance US-Israel relations and learn practical tools at the municipal level.

Led by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the trip included the following mayors: Shane Bemis of Gresham, Ore., Michelle De La Isla of Topeka, Kan., Rick Kriseman of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Kathy Sheehan of Albany, NY.

"Los Angeles and Israel share so much – vibrant cultures, beautiful landscapes, diverse communities, ties of family and friends, our experiences as dreamers and our common belief in democracy," said Garcetti in a statement by AJC. "Our delegation is showing how cities lead on the world stage, how mayors get things done and how urban centers can tackle everything from innovation and climate change to immigration and economic growth."

According to AJC, the visit is intended to provide these local policymakers with a firsthand understanding of Israel, and its economic and social entrepreneurship. AJC said that the goal is for these mayors to observe Israel's democracy, diverse society, and regional challenges.

During the visit, the mayors met with their Israeli counterparts to discuss best practices for their home communities on smart-city development, economic growth technology startups, urban revitalization and city administration. They also spoke with an executive from Intel in Israel.

"Part of the reason I travel outside of not only my city and state but our country is we see our city as an opportunity, especially in the technology area, wherein Israel it is a startup capital of the world, really, in the largest hub of tech outside of Silicon Valley," said Kriseman. "We think there are opportunities for companies that may have started in Israel to locate a branch of their business, their US location, in our city, so we're going to continue to look for opportunities."

Kriseman mentioned meeting several times in the past with the Florida-Israel Business Alliance and an Israeli business called ECOncrete, which uses environmentally friendly concrete methods and first started in St. Petersburg.

Sheehan told JNS about a meeting with one Israeli startup that could help them better connect with their constituents.

This startup has "a new product that is focused solely on municipalities and helping us to better understand public sentiment, so that's something that's of interest to me to follow up on," he said.

"AJC has worked closely with mayors and municipal leaders for decades on issues of mutual concern," said Melanie Maron Pell, AJC managing director of regional offices, who joined the delegation in Israel. "The mayors learn a great deal about high-tech and economic development, immigration absorption, diversity and emergency services that will assist them in their governance of their respective cities."

In addition to visiting significant historical and cultural sites, the delegation visited Tel Aviv; Haifa; Israel's borders, including up north near Lebanon; and Jerusalem, including the Old City. The delegation also met with Palestinian civic and business leaders in the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Several sessions dealing with Israel's strategic environment, diversity and coexistence, and interreligious cooperation were discussed, according to AJC.

Sheehan mentioned hearing about "some of the approaches around workforce development and workforce issues," adding that while Israel currently has a low unemployment rate, the West Bank and Gaza exhibit the opposite.

On the trip, she did observe efforts in the West Bank to recruit engineers in improving the area's technology sector and universities "to ensure that they're accessing the full workforce that is available."

The mayors also met with top leaders across the political and social spectrum, including President Reuven Rivlin, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, high-ranking government officials, leaders of Israel's minority communities, and Jewish and Arab civil society leaders. They also received a briefing from Brig. Gen. Nitzan Nuriel regarding the security situation in neighborhoods near the Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip.

Bemis recalled that one of the most memorable moments of the trip was going to an event at a small community school in Kiryat Shmona.

"It felt exactly like I was in my own city. The parents were the same, videotaping … the kids. Parents had smiles on their face. The kids were singing the same way, albeit in a different language," he described. "And the grandparents were there."

He continued, saying "it was just so familiar to the mayors because it was like, 'Kids are all the same, no matter where they are. Obviously, parents are still the same, no matter where they are."

City issues are comparable

The delegation also observed how Israel balances the preservation of its heritage with modern municipal management and the provision of social services.

Sheehan said that Haifa, like Albany, is a diverse city, specifically in terms of religion.

"In looking at the differences even among communities we visited in Israel, it also sort of resonated because I look at New York State, for example, and you have New York City with its own issues," she said. "And then you have the rest of New York State, which is very different."

"You sort of see the same thing in Israel," she continued. "There's Tel Aviv, which is a very different place than some of the cities we visited that were clearly different from the cities we visited in the West Bank, but also different from some of the northern cities we visited."

While the mayors saw many of the aspects that make Israel special, one of the biggest takeaways was that no matter whether they are in small-town America or in the Middle East, many of the daily challenges remain comparable.

"The issues of a mayor are not that dissimilar, no matter where they are in the world," said Bemis, who cited garbage pickup and potholes as examples. "One of the other big takeaways that the mayors felt was that a mayor is a mayor, no matter where they're at. The issues are almost always the same."

 Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

The post 'All politics is local': US mayors travel to Israel to enhance relations on municipal level appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

But Daitsh, an ultra-Orthodox Jew and Jerusalem's deputy mayor, is trailing three liberal candidates ahead of the Oct. 30 ballot, when municipal polls are held nationally.

Some political analysts see that as a sign that the haredim (ultra-Orthodox) are starting to feel freer to vote according to their personal preferences, independently of their rabbis' directives.

If so, the Jerusalem mayoral race could be a bellwether of ultra-Orthodox integration into wider Israeli society, despite long-time resentment over welfare benefits and military draft exemptions that the haredi community enjoys.

But reluctance among the ultra-Orthodox to rally around any single candidate also points to long-standing political splits among the community's three main streams in Jerusalem, which has had only one haredi mayor, Uri Lupolianski, who served from 2003 to 2008.

Yair Ettinger, a scholar with the Israel Democracy Institute and the Shalom Hartman Institute, noted that ultra-Orthodox society is at a turning point, with some members breaking away from rabbis' rulings, and "this may well manifest in the Jerusalem election."

Ultra-Orthodox men have traditionally stayed out of the military and workforce in Israel, devoting themselves entirely to full-time religious studies. While the haredi community feels that Torah study is no less of a contribution, secular and national religious Israelis resent having to "shoulder the burden" without the help of this substantial sector.

The haredi lifestyle has raised concern that a lack of skills within the community will ultimately harm Israel's long-term economic health and many Israelis would rather see them integrate into mainstream society.

Fueled by high birthrates, the ultra-Orthodox make up about 12% of Israel's majority Jews, and triple that – 36% – in Jerusalem.

In the Jerusalem municipality's administrative city council, haredim hold 14 of the 31 seats. One survey, on Oct. 12, predicted that this figure could drop to 8 in the upcoming vote – indicating a shift of haredi support to non-Orthodox party lists.

In Jerusalem, 21% of the Jewish population is secular, like the election frontrunner – former Deputy Mayor Ofer Berkovitch – and the outgoing incumbent mayor, Nir Barkat. Another 43% are religiously observant but not ultra-Orthodox.

Black-coated and heavily bearded, Daitsh, a 50-year-old grandfather, has cast widely for votes. His online biography plays up his years of army service, a haredi rarity. He joined Twitter last month and sent his first selfie last week.

He has been endorsed by one ultra-Orthodox stream, while the two others have backed career bureaucrat Moshe Lion, a non-haredi candidate opinion polls put in second place.

The post Jerusalem election offers glimpse into ultra-Orthodox trends appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Israel Hayom reported in November that Barkat was considering making a move to national politics, which at the time he denied.

However, Barkat has been investing money and effort to lay the groundwork for an official announcement of his Likud candidacy. As part of his activities to garner support in the party, Barkat has hosted large conferences with thousands of participants.

Barkat told Israel Hayom in a previous interview that if and when he should decide to run in the Likud primaries, he would aim for a major executive role.

In response to the latest reports, sources in the Jerusalem Municipality said, "There is no news. On Thursday, Barkat is slated to approve the largest budget in Jerusalem's history in the city council, thanks to support he enlisted from various government ministries. As he promised, after the budget is passed, he will announce his decision [about running for a third mayoral term]."

The post Jerusalem mayor expected to announce he is running in Likud primaries appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.