Luke Tress

Luke Tress is an editor and a reporter in New York for The Times of Israel.

One World Trade Center in New York City is lit up yellow to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, 2022. (Courtesy/World Jewish Congress)

January 28, 2022, 2:05 am

New York lights Niagara Falls, other sites yellow for Holocaust memorial

‘We remember the millions murdered’: State leaders commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day, as hate crimes remain high and awareness of genocide drops in US

By Luke Tress

Ramapo police officers escort Grafton Thomas from Ramapo Town Hall to a police vehicle, December 29, 2019, in Ramapo, New York. (AP Photo/Julius Constantine Motal)

January 26, 2022, 11:49 pm

Man charged in deadly 2019 New York Hanukkah attack again deemed unfit for trial

Judge says Grafton Thomas, who allegedly attacked worshipers at a rabbi’s home in town of Monsey, is incompetent due to mental illness

By Luke Tress

A gazelle in southern Israel, July 14, 2017. Ice Age humans feasted on gazelle, along with smaller prey animals, according to a new Hebrew University study. (Haim Shohat/Flash90)

January 26, 2022, 10:32 pm

Ice Age humans in Israel lived the good life while contemporaries starved — study

Hunter-gatherers on the Sea of Galilee 23,000 years ago enjoyed a broad diet and abundant food sources during an era of global scarcity, Hebrew University researchers say

By Luke Tress

A woman who allegedly spit on Jewish children in New York seen in security camera footage from January 14, 2022. (Screenshot/NYPD)

January 21, 2022, 1:20 am

NY police seeking woman seen spitting on Jewish kids, threatening to kill them

NYPD investigating incident, in which woman told children outside Brooklyn synagogue that ‘Hitler should have killed you all,’ as a hate crime

By Luke Tress

Former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, right, is interviewed by Amos Yadlin at the Institute for National Security Studies annual conference in Tel Aviv on January 27, 2019. (INSS)

January 21, 2022, 12:48 am

Societal rifts a larger threat to Israel than foreign enemies, ex-IDF chief says

Gadi Eisenkot says national security requires solidarity within country’s borders; bemoans declining enlistment numbers and popularity of cyber units

By Luke Tress

Students train Krav Maga through the Legion Self Defense program in New York City. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

January 19, 2022, 1:09 am

‘Not small, not a victim’: Self-defense program trains US Jews to fight it out

Legion organizes Krav Maga classes, connects Jewish Americans with defense training, as antisemitic attacks remain most common hate crime in New York

By Luke Tress

Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, on January 4, 2022. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

January 19, 2022, 12:13 am

US warns against travel to Israel due to surging Omicron infections

Jewish state among 22 countries newly added to CDC’s ‘high risk’ category, taking total up to around 100

By Luke Tress

Right-wing activists protest against the government at the Chords Bridge in Jerusalem, on January 18, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

January 18, 2022, 11:04 pm

‘Bennett is a danger’: Thousands of right-wing protesters rally against government

Demonstrators gather at sites across Israel to decry coalition, call for Netanyahu to halt any plea deal negotiations

By Luke Tress

Police near Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, January 15, 2022. (Andy Jacobsohn/AFP)

January 16, 2022, 4:27 am

Police step up security for Jewish communities in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas

Jewish security organization says no known threats to other institutions after attack on Texas synagogue

By Luke Tress

A law enforcement officer walks across an intersection near the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue on January 15, 2022 in Colleyville, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images/AFP)

January 15, 2022, 7:30 pm

All 4 hostages freed, captor dead, at Texas synagogue

Saturday’s ToI liveblog: How the US kidnapping drama played out, step by step

By TOI staff and Luke Tress

Illustrative: A Yeshiva University building in New York City. (Luke Tress/The Times of Israel)

January 13, 2022, 8:25 pm

Yeshiva University pledges change amid uproar over alleged sexual assault

School vows to ‘restructure’ its Title IX office in light of allegations a basketball player raped another student; student activists say it’s progress, but not enough

By Luke Tress

The suspect in a hate crime against a Jewish man in Brooklyn in footage released by the NYPD. (Screenshot)

January 12, 2022, 7:47 am

Man charged with hate crimes for attack on Jew in Brooklyn last month

New York police announce arrest of Othman Suleiman for allegedly punching Jewish college student, calling him a ‘dirty Jew’

By Luke Tress

Onlookers including Orthodox Jewish residents stand on the corner of Forshay Road in Monsey, New York, December 29, 2019, down the street from the scene of a stabbing rampage that occurred late the previous day during a Hanukkah celebration. (AP Photo/Allyse Pulliam)

January 11, 2022, 5:02 am

‘An act of pure evil’: NY leaders hold 2-year memorial for deadly antisemitic attack

Governor, senators, attorney general and Israeli envoy commemorate 2019 machete assault on Hanukkah worshipers in Monsey that killed 1, injured 5

By Luke Tress

Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, right, walks with Poway mayor Steve Vaus, left, as he arrives for a news conference at the Chabad of Poway synagogue, shortly after a deadly shooting at the congregation, April 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

January 5, 2022, 1:08 am

Rabbi hailed as hero after Poway synagogue shooting gets prison time for fraud

Despite plea deal, Yisroel Goldstein, wounded in 2019 attack that killed one congregant, gets surprising 14-month sentence for years-long, multi-million dollar financial schemes

By Luke Tress

Washed up parts of a military helicopter lie on the ground after it crashed off the coast of Haifa on the night of January 3, 2022. (Alon Nadav/Flash90)

January 4, 2022, 3:33 am

Bennett: IDF pilots killed in helicopter crash were ‘the best of us’

Prime minister sends condolences to families after two soldiers die in training accident; Defense Minister Gantz vows thorough investigation

By Luke Tress