Israeli-American firearms academy trains British Jews to fight ‘Islamic extremists’
68/100
Verdict
Mixed
Mixed (Partly Verified; Material Gaps Remain)
High-priority, checkable elements of the article are substantially supported by up-to-date, directly accessible sources: (1) a Firearms News byline by Yonatan Stern offering free defensive firearms training to British Jews and using inflammatory anti-Muslim framing; and (2) a LinkedIn post by Stern claiming dozens of British Jews signed up after the 29 April 2026 Golders Green stabbing and naming UK areas (Golders Green, Hendon, Stamford Hill, plus Manchester and Leeds).
✓ 4 checks out
✕ 0 disputed
? 11 unverified
Full analysis The complete summary ⌄
High-priority, checkable elements of the article are substantially supported by up-to-date, directly accessible sources: (1) a Firearms News byline by Yonatan Stern offering free defensive firearms training to British Jews and using inflammatory anti-Muslim framing; and (2) a LinkedIn post by Stern claiming dozens of British Jews signed up after the 29 April 2026 Golders Green stabbing and naming UK areas (Golders Green, Hendon, Stamford Hill, plus Manchester and Leeds). However, several consequential operational claims in the article (e.g., that “numerous” British Jews travelled, weapon types used, Belfast/Ulster volunteers, and sponsorship of flights by London/Manchester community members) were not corroborated with independent evidence in the research performed here and remain Unverified.
What checked out (4)
- A Firearms News article by Yonatan Stern states that Cherev Gidon Israeli Tactical Training Academy decided to offer FREE defensive firearms training to British Jews, and it contains inflammatory anti-Muslim/anti-immigration rhetoric (e.g., references to “mass Islamic immigration” and “Islamic invaders”).
- A LinkedIn post by Yonatan Stern states: “Since the Islamic stabbing attack targeting Jews last week in Golders Green, dozens of British Jews have signed up for our FREE defensive firearms training program,” and it names volunteers from Golders Green, Hendon, Stamford Hill, Manchester and Leeds.
- An incident occurred in Golders Green on 29 April 2026 that Barnet Council described as a “shocking attack on British Jews”.
- A terror attack on a Manchester synagogue occurred on 2 October 2025 (Yom Kippur), with reporting by AP and other outlets describing a car-ramming and knife attack and the suspect being shot by police.
Unverified claims 11 claims ⌄
- Cherev Gidon is “based in Pennsylvania” (the academy is described as being in Pennsylvania in multiple sources, but this research did not locate an authoritative business registration/address page within the time-boxed targeted search).
- The academy was “founded by an Israeli settler IDF veteran” (parts—IDF background and links to Kiryat Arba—are supported in older reporting, but “settler” and “founded by” need stronger primary corroboration, ideally from Stern/academy bios or official records).
- Cherev Gidon “published a series of posts on LinkedIn explicitly targeting British Jews” (one relevant LinkedIn post is verified; whether it is a ‘series’ and whether the company page itself published them requires collecting multiple posts).
- The Firearms News piece was written “following the Manchester synagogue attack last October” (the Firearms News piece is dated ~8 months ago in the search result snippet; confirming the exact publication date and aligning ‘last October’ precisely requires opening the page and checking its dateline—partially supported but not fully pinned down as stated).
- The LinkedIn posts “published approximately one month ago” (one post was crawled last month; exact posting date/time should be captured from LinkedIn UI metadata for precision).
- The recruitment drive “has already seen numerous British Jews travel to the U.S for firearms training” (this is asserted in-article; no independent corroboration of travel volumes was found in the performed searches).
- Weapon details in training (bolt-action military rifles, pump-action shotguns, .22 semi-automatic rifles including AR-15s) as described in the article (not located in the specific LinkedIn post opened; may exist in other posts not opened/archived here).
- A separate group travelled from Belfast, Northern Ireland for handgun training; that they are “Christian Zionists”, already hold handgun licences, and will protect synagogues/events “throughout Ulster” (no primary post located in the performed searches).
- Travel costs being covered/sponsored by members of London and Manchester Jewish communities (no primary evidence located in the performed searches).
- Stern founded the academy “approximately a decade ago” (not verified via an authoritative timeline/filing; older secondary pieces imply existence since at least 2017–2018 but do not by themselves confirm the ‘~10 years’ claim).
- Stern moved to the United States in 2007 and studied government/counter-terrorism (not verified via an authoritative biography; older reporting suggests years-in-US but not the specific 2007 move date).
Sources & how we checked Search journal, source grades, confidence ⌄
Confidence
Medium — Confidence is medium because the central promotional and rhetorical claims are directly supported by primary artefacts (Firearms News article; Stern’s LinkedIn post) and contemporaneous reporting on the referenced UK incidents. However, multiple specific operational claims (travel numbers, weapon lists, Belfast/Ulster group, sponsorship of flights) were not located in primary form or independently corroborated in the conducted searches, and the article’s own embedded links are incomplete, limiting reproducibility.
Search journal
Cherev Gidon Israeli Tactical Training Academy LinkedIn British Jews FREE defensive firearms training program Golders Green April 29
- https://www.firearmsnews.com/editorial/american-offering-free-training-jews/538276
- https://apnews.com/article/e3d93d116c0334d5c51c1d7c3c933172
- https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/greater-manchester-police-manchester-home-office-jewish-b28...
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Manchester_synagogue_attack
- https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2025/10/02/how-the-manchester-synagogue-security-response-played-out/
- https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/239176
- https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/articles/c20evzk2y37o
- https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/greater-manchester-police-greater-manchester-manchester-jewish-guardian-...
- https://www.barnet.gov.uk/news/message-bcu-commander-barnet-council-chief-executive
- https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/religion-doesnt-matter-man-stop-knife-attack-golders-green-5HjdYfm_2/
- https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/manchester-synagiogue-terror-attack-british-jews-shocked-not-surprised-srq50paq
"Cherev Gidon" LinkedIn "FREE defensive firearms training" "Golders Green" "Hendon" "Stamford Hill"
- https://dk.linkedin.com/company/cherevgidon
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/yonatan-stern-57700723b_british-jews-are-getting-armed-and-trained-activity-...
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/yonatan-stern-57700723b
- https://www.cherevgidon.com/job-opportunities.html
Zev Brenner interview Yonatan Stern Cherev Gidon peaceful people for the most part
Cherev Gidon Israeli Tactical Training Academy Pennsylvania "armed Jew" ready to defend it
- https://www.euronews.com/2018/10/31/fighting-fire-with-fire-jews-train-to-stop-repeat-of-pittsburgh-shooting
- https://forward.com/news/450886/synagogues-security-tactical-israel/
- https://gilad.online/writings/2018/10/29/cherev-gideon-pennsylvanias-israeli-tactical-training-academy
Article metrics
The article we checked Full text as retrieved ⌄
AI-generated promotional post recruiting British Jews to get trained in firearms shooting. Source: Cherev Gidon Israeli Tactical Training Academy on LinkedIn.
**An American firearms academy founded by an Israeli settler IDF veteran is actively recruiting British Jews for fully funded free combat training, inviting them to travel to the US for instruction in Israeli military shooting techniques to fight against “fanatical Islamic extremists.”**
[Cherev Gidon Israeli Tactical Training Academy]( based in Pennsylvania, has published a series of posts on LinkedIn explicitly targeting British Jews, offering free tactical firearms training and framing it as a response to “Islamic terrorism.”
The academy’s founder and director, [Yonatan Stern]( has also published a [full article in Firearms News]( – one of America’s largest gun publications – where he initially made the offer to train British Jews following the Manchester synagogue attack last October.
The LinkedIn posts, published approximately one month ago, claimed that the recruitment drive has already seen numerous British Jews travel to the U.S for firearms training.
“Since the Islamic stabbing attack targeting Jews in Golders Green on April 29th, dozens of British Jews have signed up for our FREE defensive firearms training program,” the academy stated in a [LinkedIn post.](
[](
**Free training for British Jews**
It named specific UK locations from which volunteers had come: “Those taking the training are members of volunteer security teams protecting Jewish communities in Golders Green, Hendon, and Stamford Hill, alongside several volunteers from Manchester and Leeds.”
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The posts go further, detailing the weapons being used in the training. “The training is taking place primarily using bolt-action military rifles, as well as on pump-action shotguns and .22 caliber semi-automatic rifles including AR-15s,” the academy stated.
[](
Jewish man training with a gun. Via Cherev Gidon Israeli Tactical Training Academy on LinkedIn.
It also disclosed that a separate group had travelled from Northern Ireland: “We also have a team of volunteers coming in from Belfast in Northern Ireland for handgun training who are Christian Zionists and already hold handgun licenses. These volunteers will be protecting Synagogues and Jewish events throughout Ulster.”
Cherev Gidon also revealed that the travel costs for these volunteers had been covered by members of the British Jewish community. “We would like to thank those in the London and Manchester Jewish communities who sponsored the flights and other travel expenses of these volunteers,” the post read.
The framing of the recruitment campaign is explicitly framed as a Jewish defence against “Islamic fanaticism”.
“British Jews are under attack by fanatical Islamic extremists that were allowed to invade the UK en-masse over the last several decades by successive British governments,” the academy wrote. “So, we decided to do something about it. We are encouraging and empowering British Jews to defy the rules prohibiting armed self-defense in the UK.”
[](
Promotional post recruiting British Jews to get trained in firearms shooting. Source: Cherev Gidon Israeli Tactical Training Academy on LinkedIn.
In his Firearms News article, Stern was also careful when addressing the legal risks posed to British Jews travelling abroad for such training.
“It goes without saying that anyone even mentioning the idea of self-defense as a reason for applying for a firearm certificate will have it automatically denied, and anyone actually using a firearm for self-defense in Britain will almost undoubtedly face criminal prosecution,” he wrote. His response: “It’s better to be judged by 12 than carried by six.”
**Anti-Muslim immigrant rhetoric**
Stern’s wider commentary on the situation of British Jews “under attack” also included many inflammatory statements. He described the country as having been made vulnerable by what he called “many years of open borders with mass Islamic immigration” and characterised Muslims as “Islamic invaders, hell-bent on erasing Britain’s European heritage, and replacing it with an Islamic caliphate ruled by Sharia law.”
In a separate LinkedIn post, he shared an image stating “Just 6 pounds of Sterling in the hands of British girls would end all UK rape gangs. Pity their government sides with criminals.”
[](
Via Cherev Gidon Israeli Tactical Training Academy on LinkedIn
Cherev Gidon describes itself as America’s premier Israeli firearms training school, offering courses ranging from basic firearms safety to advanced close-quarters combat. Its stated goal is for every synagogue to have “an armed Jew ready to defend it.”
**Israeli founder**
Stern founded the academy approximately a decade ago. He is a former IDF soldier and Israeli police volunteer who grew up in Kiryat Arba, a hardline Israeli settlement adjacent to Hebron in the occupied West Bank. He was 16 when the Second Intifada began and spent the next seven years in the area.
“You saw gun battles day after day, you saw people being hit,” he said in an [interview piece]( for Jewish media. He moved to the United States in 2007, studied government and counter-terrorism, and founded the academy several years later.
Stern has been explicit on the record about the limits of his advocacy. When asked whether American Muslims should have the same right to arm and defend their mosques, he said: “If they were peaceful people yes, but the reality is that they, through their own actions, are showing us that they are not a peaceful people for the most part.”
[](