Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

New York state sends police chiefs to Israel for 'counterterrorism' training
Middle East Eye Staff
17 Sep 2025
🖨️ Print Article
NYPD
NYPD officers arrest a pro-Palestinian activist during a protest to mark 76th anniversary of the Nakba on 15 May 2024 (Leonardo Munoz/AFP)

This is the second training visit for US officers that has been hosted by an Israeli government agency during Israel's war on Gaza.

Originally published in Middle East Eye.

More than a dozen police officers from the state of New York are on a training trip to Israel despite human rights experts saying that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Police officers have already been accused of being heavy-handed against pro-Palestine protestors both on student campuses in the state and in New York City.

The 13 officials are said to be learning about security issues facing Israel, undertaking counterterrorism training to protect Jewish communities, and learning about antisemitism.

The training comes the same week Israel launched unprovoked air strikes on the sovereign territory of Qatar on Tuesday in violation of international law, killing five Palestinians and one Qatari. Israel then killed 46 people and wounded 165 people in an ongoing exchange of strikes on Wednesday in Yemen.

According to a report in JNS, Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs has been running the government training programme for US law enforcement officials for six years and has been dubbed “Birthright for American police chiefs,” in reference to free trips to Israel offered to young Jews who live outside of Israel.

The training session is reportedly the second since the war on Gaza began in October 2023. Michel Kopy, commissioner of public safety for Rye, in Westchester County, told JNS, “The resilience of the Israeli people just stands out."

Long history of collaboration

US police trainers have been trained by their counterparts in Israel for more than two decades. Thousands of officers have learned crowd control, use of force, and surveillance from Israel’s police, military and intelligence services, according to an article by Amnesty International.

The article said that while pro-Israel groups privately fund some of these trips, most of these trips are taxpayer-funded.

In 2016, the Department of Justice published a report which found that the Baltimore Police Department “makes stops, searches and arrests without the required justification; uses enforcement strategies that unlawfully subject African Americans to disproportionate rates of stops, searches and arrests; uses excessive force; and retaliates against individuals for their constitutionally-protected expression”.

Critics of Israel’s military training programme have said that it exacerbates American police brutality, increases racial profiling of brown and Black people, represses social justice movements and contributes to the proliferation of surveillance and a police state.

Human rights experts say the Israeli military teaches American police officers potentially illegal and unconstitutional policing tactics for training its officers.

The practices of draconian policing were seen in the killing of unarmed Black civilian George Floyd by white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who asphyxiated Floyd by putting his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes.

The killing, which was caught on camera, sparked national and international outcry and protests.

Activists pointed out that more than 100 Minneapolis Police Department officers were tactically trained on using one’s knee to restrain civilians at a counterterrorism event at the Israeli Consulate in Chicago in 2012, which was led by the Israeli military and police.

NYPD
Israel
Police

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
An open letter to the honorable people of the United States of America
07 October 2026
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has issued a letter addressed to the American people, outlining its views on recent developments a
Dr. M. Reza Behnam
Three Years of Genocide: How ‘Never Again’ Lost Meaning in Gaza
07 October 2026
If international law and justice are buried in the rubble of Gaza, the global community will ultimately be digging its own grave.
Sami Al-Arian
Why Hamas believed the status quo was more dangerous than its 7 October gamble
07 October 2026
Three years into Israel's genocide in Gaza, the consequences of a decision driven by siege, settlement expansion, and assaults on Al-Aqsa are s
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Defending a Non-Existent International Law
30 September 2026
The Hague Group’s goal is to “. . .
Roberta Rivolta
Western Activism and the Axis of Resistance
23 September 2026
Western pro-Palestinian activism isolates Palestine from its regional allies, depoliticizing its struggle and reinforcing colonial
Dhoruba bin-Wahad
Guardian Foray: All That's Not Real Is Camouflage
09 September 2026
An Open Letter from the American "Left" allegedly on behalf of unnamed persons said to be Iranian political prisoners has provided co
Libertad para Fergie
Free Fergie Chambers: Solidarity Is Not a Crime
09 September 2026
Fergie Chambers is an American philanthropist who was arrested on July 10 in Ibiza, Spain, by order of the Trump Administration.
Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective
AISC Red Paper #2: The Multiple Fronts of Iranian Anti-Imperialism
26 August 2026
The Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective (AISC) offers an analysis of the Ramadan War and the multiple fronts of Iranian anti- imperi
Ramzy Baroud
Solidarity Is Not Enough
19 August 2026
Why the world must force accountability on Gaza now.
Hedelberto LĂłpez Blanch
A Shady Figure Will Preside Over Colombia
19 August 2026
Colombia's new president has ties to paramilitaries and drug traffickers, but Trump's endorsement swept his crimes aside as he embraces Washing

More Stories


  • When we vote we win
    Joseph Massad
    Why even progressive US voters are America Firsters
    06 Nov 2024
    The fate of billions whom the US dominates and oppresses is effectively exchanged for a few possible reforms in domestic policies that affect parts of middle-class America
  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio November 1, 2024
    01 Nov 2024
    In this week’s segment, we hear about the U.S. government's censorship of the news and the end of Radio Sputnik. We also hear Margaret Kimberley at a Julian Assange freedom celebration and the…
  • Green Party of NY logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Green Party of New York Wages Write-In Campaign for Voter Choice and Ballot Status
    01 Nov 2024
    We’re joined by Peter Lavenia, co-chair of the Green Party of New York. He explains why there is this lack of choice in the New York elections and how voters can choose the Green Party presidential…
  • The Critical Hour
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    US Censorship and the End of Radio Sputnik
    01 Nov 2024
    Garland Nixon is a veteran journalist and the former co-host of the program The Critical Hour, once heard on Radio Sputnik before that outlet disappeared from the airwaves. Garland Nixon joins us to…
  • Assange Defense
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Julian Assange Freedom Celebration
    01 Nov 2024
    Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report Executive Editor, spoke at an event in Berkeley, California celebrating the release of political prisoner Julian Assange. She connected his case with that of…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us