New Jersey

A Modest Theory About Those Drones Over New Jersey

Published

1 year ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

A Modest Theory About Those Drones Over New Jersey

(Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

Getty Images

The welter of stories about unidentified drones over New York and New Jersey multiply, as do the myriad speculations. Thus far the narratives fall into three categories: private drones, those deployed by hostile foreign actors, those belonging to US authorities on a shadowy unacknowledged mission. The media has taken up the cause and the story has gone mainstream, with baffled officials furnishing no unified explanation – and President elect Trump weighing in. This installment of the column will add one more theory to the growing noise, but a theory grounded in full context, covering all the known facts and hopefully all the more plausible for that albeit.

To begin with, let us dismiss the private drone scenario quickly. Any private entity causing such panic would soon admit it and apologize for fear of being found out. The authorities via satellite would know whence they came, track them and reveal the facts. Next, the foreign actor theory – again, as Donald Trump says, the military or intelligence people would know. They might stay silent about it for fear of provoking a confrontation with a foreign power. The US is, sadly, prone to such deliberate passivity, the latest example being the Havana Syndrome findings by Congress which rejected the intelligence community’s previous report that the Syndrome doesn’t exist and no foreign power is responsible. The recent ad hoc Congressional Committee officially found that the Havana Syndrome is real and a foreign state is likely behind it.

So, back to the drones: do the authorities know that a foreign power is responsible for the drone outbreak but won’t say so? Timing is everything in such events. The Biden White House, as we have seen with aid spikes to Ukraine and granting permission to hit inside Russia, is not shy of adding last minute foreign policy complications to the incoming administration. Were it a hostile power, we would know all about who unleashed the drones. Which leaves the third and last category, that the drone phenomenon was a government initiative which authorities do not wish to acknowledge, a stealth operation that went public inadvertently. As this column is focused on geostrategic affairs, the possible explanation falls into its bailiwick.

Nobody has quite understood why the US and Germany refused, until recently, to allow Ukraine to use allied weapons to strike inside Russia (Germany still refuses). All manner of theories have swirled but nothing coherent obtained, other than an abiding fear of Russian retaliation. Yet Washington gave the go-ahead for Ukraine to use American weapons across its border in recent months, especially after Trump’s electoral victory. Did the Russian threat to retaliate against the US diminish? Did the US suddenly get safer? And why did it take so long to grant permission? The truth is, any sort of highly visible and attributable strike against the US was never a risk because Moscow would have suffered devastating retaliation. But an anonymous catastrophe in a major US city would work. A kind of secret Samson Option, or hidden nuclear device in Germany or America should Russian soil be bombed by allied weapons. The great efficacy of such a threat lies not in its use but entirely in the threat, the ambiguity. And the restraint or doubt it induces.

Nor should the threat be too visible or public. Anything that detonates massively raises an outcry, puts pressure on the authorities to find a return address, a clear culprit. No foreign power would risk such a big provocation that it would be identifiable and cause retaliation. Witness 9/11. One has to conclude, therefore, that the real version of such a threat would be scary rather than hugely destructive. The device would need to be constructed discreetly and stowed or delivered equally discreetly. And no foreign state actor would take responsibility. So, a small radiation device fits the bill. And this is precisely what New Jersey officials have been saying about the drone activity, namely that it’s our side looking for a small medical isotope gone missing, one that was aboard a container ship and went missing. But a federal agency has just denied the US was flying drones in search of nuclear radiation. All of which is standard procedure for stifling panic.

Finally, there’s this: the foreign actors would not deliver a direct threat. They would retain deniability, as in the Havana Syndrome. If, indeed, it’s a radiation device, nobody knows who was behind it, though the technical sophistication suggests only rival superpowers qualify as suspects. Which brings us back to the Russian dark ops and the inexplicable restraint of the Biden White House over helping Ukraine.

Source link

New Jersey

Amid rising antisemitism, law enforcement vows to ramp up security

Published

10 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Amid rising antisemitism, law enforcement vows to ramp up security

“Security is no longer a precaution − it is a necessity that comes at a significant cost,” said Katie Katz, Executive Director of Teach New Jersey.

TEANECK — Local law enforcement vowed to step up security measures ahead of Passover, amid a global surge of antisemitism that has left North Jersey Jews grappling with anxiety.

Nearly 150 people gathered with local leaders and law enforcement at a community safety meeting held at Heichal Hatorah/The Jewish Center of Teaneck on March 25 to discuss strategies for securing houses of worship.

The event, organized by Deputy Mayor Elie Katz, came just a week before the beginning of Passover and in the wake of a March 8 incident in which a 19-year-old Jewish Teaneck resident was shot 10 times with gel pellets outside another Orthodox synagogue.

Days later, a Michigan man rammed an explosives-laden truck into a suburban Detroit synagogue and preschool, the latest in a string of anti-Jewish attacks that have picked up pace since the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran.

In Teaneck, home of one of New Jersey’s largest Jewish communities, residents expressed concern about recent antisemitic events and how to combat them. Shari Silverstein, a mother of two college students, asked law enforcement if she can carry pepper spray to defend herself.

She was reassured that she’s legally permitted to carry the substance, but “it’s not the most effective because it tends to get all over the place, including on yourself,” said Seth Kriegel, Deputy Chief of the Teaneck Police Department.

Others were concerned about whether there would be adequate patrols of the neighborhood over the Passover holiday, when many people will likely be walking around the neighborhood late at night to get to and from synagogue and their Passover seder, or ritual feast. Law enforcement officials said they were aware of the unique schedule of each Jewish holiday and would have extra police patrols.

Tim Torell, Jewish Community Security Director at Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, said the local community has had numerous incidents in which Jewish people were targeted even while walking to and from synagogue. “Things were thrown at them from vehicles and people shouted at them,” he said. “The number of antisemitic incidents are vastly underreported,” he said, emphasizing that it’s important to report every incident, even if it seems minor.

The number of assaults against Jews worldwide has increased by 34% since the joint attack on Iran by Israel and the US, according to research by the Combat Antisemitism Movement, a non-partisan group based in Kansas devoted to fighting antisemitism.

Attacks have multiplied around the globe in recent weeks: In the Netherlands, bombs were planted at Jewish institutions; in Toronto, synagogues were sprayed with gunfire; and in Jackson, Mississippi, a synagogue was set afire by someone who announced he wanted to hurt Jews.

‘Targeted purely because I am Jewish’

Closer to home In Teaneck, police arrested two teens after they reportedly targeted Jewish worshippers on March 8, including a 19-year-old by the pellet gun attack outside of Congregation Bnai Yeshurun. According to authorities, occupants in the car first asked him whether he supported Israel or Palestine.

The victim of that incident − a Yeshiva University student named Netanel who asked that his last name not be used − spoke at the event. He said that on the evening of the attack, he was walking near his synagogue wearing a prominent white kippah, skullcap, and tzitzit, ritual fringes, which were visible against his black clothing.

“I was targeted purely because I am Jewish…The purpose of actions like this is clear: The perpetrators want to instill fear in us so that we feel uncomfortable living openly as Jews in our own neighborhoods. They want us to hide,” he said.

He asserted that he will never hide and never be afraid to be afraid to publicly identify himself as religious Jew.

He urged the prosecutors of their case to “make an example out of these Jew-hating assailants” for anyone else considering a similar hateful act that they will be punished “with the full severity of the law.”

Police, who did not identify the teens because they are minors, said they will be prosecuted in the Family Division of New Jersey Superior Court.

That decision led Elie Rubin of Teaneck to ask the community to push for a tougher punishment. “We have to show that the law matters. If they are old enough to drive a car and serve in the military, why can’t they be charged as adults. This was more than one bias incident. No one stopped them the first time. We need to send a message that they can’t do this.”

But before that incident, Teaneck had heated protests outside of the council chambers and in front of synagogues in which rhetoric against Jews and Israel grew nasty. There were reports that some participants said: “Gas them, you filthy Jews.”

For many Jewish Americans, the shocking uptick in antisemitic incidents have confirmed their worst fears about their safety in America. It also highlights the need to counter the extremism through more education and to take more vigorous measures to defend themselves.

Increased security

As antisemitic crimes have soared in recent years, many synagogues in New Jersey and around the country have installed security systems and hired trained guards. Some Jewish institutions organized a volunteer security force called Community Security Service, which has trained nearly 20,000 volunteers in 20 states since it was established in 2007.

Katie Katz, Executive Director of Teach New Jersey, which advocates for funding for nonpublic schools, said that the dramatic escalation in antisemitism across the country has forced Jewish schools to rethink what it means to keep students safe.

“Security is no longer a precaution − it is a necessity that comes at a significant cost. Since Oct. 7, the average school’s security expenses increased by over 84% over two years and amounted to over 3% of the average school’s budget,” she said. Many schools now spend more than $400,000 annually just on security, she added.

Katz urged the community to lobby their legislators to ensure that safety is a priority for nonpublic as well as public school students. “This is a tight budget year for New Jersey and there will be pressure to cut… We cannot allow security for our children to be one of those cuts.”

While some in the Jewish community have suggested that they should hide their Jewishness to avoid being targeted, most of speakers and the attendees interviewed at the event expressed defiance, asserting that the only way to approach hate is to practice their faith with greater pride.

“We need to be joyous and be proud. Antisemitism is not your fault. You didn’t create it by anything you did,” said Rabbi Daniel Fridman, leader of the Jewish Center of Teaneck in his address to the crowd. He added that it’s imperative that the Jewish community continue to celebrate their traditions and “don’t let them ever take that away from you.”

Source link

New Jersey

New Jersey Becomes the 10th State with a Law Barring Local ICE Contracts – Bolts

Published

22 hours ago

March 25, 2026

Press Room

New Jersey Becomes the 10th State with a Law Barring Local ICE Contracts – Bolts

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill on Wednesday signed legislation banning local law enforcement agencies from partnering with federal immigration authorities, making it the 10th state to adopt laws that prohibit such collaboration.

The new law codifies a 2018 order by then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, known as the Immigrant Trust Directive. That directive barred state and local authorities from entering into ICE’s 287(g) program, which deputizes local officers to enforce federal immigration laws. It also restricted law enforcement from detaining people on ICE’s behalf and asking about citizenship status when it doesn’t relate to a criminal investigation.

The directive forced several local sheriffs to end their partnerships with ICE but it was not codified into law, worrying immigrants’ rights advocates that a governor and attorney general more favorable to Donald Trump’s deportation agenda could come into office and undo those rules. The GOP’s candidate for governor last fall campaigned on ending the 2018 directive and ramping up partnerships with ICE, but he lost to Sherrill by a large margin.

Nedia Morsy, director of immigrant advocacy organization Make the Road New Jersey, told Bolts that the adoption of the law this week signals that “the state legislature and the [Sherrill] administration is recognizing that there is rising authoritarianism and there is a need to act.”

New Jersey joins nine other blue states—California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Maine, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington—in prohibiting participation in the 287(g) program. It’s the fourth state to do this so far this year.

Four states governed by Democrats, including neighboring Massachusetts and New York, still have local or state agencies with 287(g) contracts, though a bill to restrict those agreements is currently on the governor’s desk in Virginia.

Sherrill also signed two other pieces of legislation aimed at protecting New Jersey’s immigrants: The Privacy Protection Act, which restricts when local and state agencies can collect information about immigration status or share it with the federal government; another law requires ICE agents to show their faces and provide identification before making an arrest.

“My focus as governor remains on keeping the public safe,” Sherrill said in a statement her spokesperson sent to Bolts on Wednesday after the governor signed the legislation. “As we’ve seen across the country, Donald Trump’s untrained, unaccountable, masked ICE agents are putting people in danger. That’s why in New Jersey, we are protecting our communities—strengthening our protections, banning ICE agents from wearing masks, and protecting residents’ privacy from federal overreach.”

Immigrant rights advocates in New Jersey had long pushed for legislation guarding against ICE abuses, and in January lawmakers passed another bill that codified the Immigrant Trust Directive and also created additional protections.

In one of his final acts in office, Democratic Governor Phil Murphy vetoed the legislation, saying he feared that it would prompt new lawsuits from the Trump administration. Two federal courts, including a Trump-appointed judge, have already upheld the AG’s existing directive, but Murphy said provisions of the bill went beyond that directive and could still invite legal challenges.

The legislation signed by Sherrill more closely mirrors the Immigrant Trust Directive than the bill that Murphy vetoed in January.

While the legislation still largely prohibits local authorities from keeping someone in jail just because ICE requests it, the version Sherrill signed allows for broader exceptions because it says jails can honor ICE’s detention requests when someone is subject to a final order of removal. Jails can also honor these requests when someone has been convicted of a crime.

In a public statement on Wednesday, Sherrill sounded defiant about defeating any lawsuits over the reform.

“We know the Trump administration has challenged some of these measures in the past,” the governor wrote. “We beat them in court then—and we’re happy to meet them in court again if they decide to sue now.”

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill signed the restrictions on ICE collaboration into law this week. (Photo via Mikie Sherrill/Facebook.)

New Jersey already banned local jails and sheriffs from entering into Intergovernmental Service Agreements, or IGSAs, to rent out space for ICE to detain immigrants, but a federal appeals court last year allowed private detention centers to continue operating in the state. The centers have drawn large protests over the last year.

Immigrants’ rights advocates say they’ll keep pressing for additional protections in the state. “As the Trump administration attempts to erode due process protections, it is more important than ever that New Jersey affirmatively stands up for them,” said Ami Kachalia, campaign strategist for the ACLU of New Jersey. She would like to see increased funding for immigrants facing deportations to access legal counsel.

Morsy said that Make the Road New Jersey will continue to educate local officials on how they can protect against ICE. In Hoboken, for example, the city council adopted an ordinance that restricts the city from using its resources on federal immigration enforcement.

She said her organization plans to stress to local officials that they shouldn’t provide assistance to ICE unless there’s a warrant signed by a judge. They could also agree to commit to reviewing all of their vendors to ensure that data isn’t being shared with ICE, Morsy added.

“I do think it’s important to remember that these bills set a standard for protection, but they aren’t the ceiling,” she said. “Elected officials at all levels of government have the opportunity and are still called to make a very honest assessment about the need and the urgency to go beyond this standard.”

Source link

New Jersey

Monmouth County town named one of New Jersey’s best places to live

Published

1 day ago

March 25, 2026

Press Room

Monmouth County town named one of New Jersey’s best places to live

If you’re seeking the best, New Jersey has it all!

From the best beaches, best steakhouses to the greenest cities, the Garden State has wanderers covered.

And, as one of safest states in America, it also offers the comforts of suburban living and the conveniences of being near big cities, says travelandleisure.com.

The travel magazine report on 10 best places to live in New Jersey sourced real estate experts from the entire state to find the towns that offer idyllic living.

Out of the top 10 picks of New Jersey cities, towns, and boroughs one on the list resides on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County.

Asbury Park was ranked as the second best place to live in New Jersey. In addition, this Jersey Shore town was crowned the Best small beach town in America.

Below is what the writers said about Asbury Park:

The shore town is best known for its boardwalk and the music venue, as well as a freewheeling vibe that makes it as enticing for visitors as it is for residents.

Located on the Jersey Shore about 60 miles south of New York City, the beach town’s average home sales were around $662,000 accordig to zillow.com rates. Plus, there’s been a 58.7 percent increase in owner-occupied households, according to a Point2Homes study, showing folks are making their moves more permanent.

Here is what real estate editors said about Asbury Park:

Bruce Springsteen was onto something when he named his 1973 album “Greetings from Asbury Park.” “Everyone loves to live here with the art and music scene, the food, the balance of being in a peaceful neighborhood within walking distance of a vibrant downtown with tons of thriving small businesses, and obviously the beach!” Chin said.