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The Jewish Star 01-29-2026

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‘Zionist millionaires’ in Riverdale control Ritchie Torres, rival says

By The Jewish Star and JNS Seeking to unseat Rep. Ritchie Torres in this year’s Democratic primary, Jose Vega released a campaign video last week alleging that Zionists in Riverdale “bought and controlled” Torres and are keeping the Bronx poor. Torres, whose district includes both Riverdale and poorer Bronx neighborhoods, has been a bold advocate for Israel and the fight against antisemitism, as well as various progressive causes. In the video, Erik Warsaw, a conspiracist who traffics in assertions that cast Jews in a poor light, asked Vega how is it that “the Bronx is one of the poorest districts in America, but also has some of the richest Zionist millionaires in America too.” “Because rich people like to live in areas where they can buy the politicians easily, like Ritchie Torres, who is bought and controlled by Zionist influencers and millionaires who all live in Riverdale,” answered Vega, noting that beyond Riverdale, “this district, being one of the poorest congressional districts, has the lowest voter turnout rate. So the less people that vote, the easier it is to buy a politician.” Torres responded to the video: “My opposition sees antisemitism not as a tragedy, but as a strategy.” He added that “no amount of defamation or disinformation will ever shame me out of representing every community in my district. We are One Bronx, and no amount of Jew-hatred will divide us.” See Zionist on page 23

In antisemitic rant, Jose Vega is cheered by unhinged conspiracist who says that Israel was behind 9/11.

Right: Rep. Ritchie Torres speaks last year at a summit on Jew-hatred sponsored by the Combat Antisemitism Movement and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Left: In a video last week, rival Jose Vega (at left with Jewish-conspiracist Erik Warsaw), said Torres was a “bought and conrolled” by millionaire Zionists in Riverdale.

Rubio’s remarkable rise: How former Trump rival became his foreign policy powerhouse Backgrounder by Or Shaked and Dudi Kogan Israel Hayom On March 24, 2025, the Atlantic exposed one of the biggest scandals in American national security history, a field not unfamiliar with scandal. Jeffrey Goldberg, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, described how Mike Waltz, President Donald Trump’s national Security adviser, had mistakenly added him to a Signal group called “Houthi PC small group” — a group that included 18 senior administration officials. Goldberg watched in real time as senior administration officials received briefings on a military strike against the Houthis in Yemen, includ-

ing targets, weaponry, timing and sequence of operations. None of them knew a senior journalist was in the group. Waltz paid the price and was moved to the position of UN ambassador. The person appointed to the position of national security adviser in Waltz’s place was Marco Rubio, who simultaneously served as Secretary of State. He thus became the first person after the mythological Henry Kissinger to hold both positions simultaneously. Rubio’s senior status with Trump is particularly surprising if you go back about a decade to the two men’s contest in the Republican Party primaries, that sometimes deteriorated into ugly mudslinging.

Just over three weeks ago, on Jan. 3, Delta Force fighters burst from the darkness into the hiding place of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. At the end of the operation, the two landed on US soil and were transferred to a secure prison in Brooklyn. At a press conference, Trump declared that the United States would “manage” Venezuela. In a post a few days later, he responded to someone who called Rubio “the de facto president of Venezuela” by writing, “Sounds good.”

Everything from above

Rubio (54, married and father of four) was

born in Miami to parents who emigrated from Cuba shortly before it fell to communism in the 1950s. His father worked as a bartender, his mother as a housekeeper, and the “American Dream” was for him a biography, not a slogan. In the family living room, politics was not an abstract concept but a living memory — stories of lost freedom and a regime that turned millions into refugees. This was his first political education. His faith is one of the defining factors of his character and his politics. “His faith, his Catholicism has really defined his political life,” a senior State Department official See Marco Rubio on page 2


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