Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and rival Benny Gantz on Wednesday formed a wartime unity government. “Every Hamas member is a dead man,” Netanyahu said, as he promised to “crush and eliminate” the group.

The death toll from the Hamas attack has surpassed 1,300 – most of them civilians.

The victims…

‘He lived such a full life’ | In a city on a hilltop, a family mourns its oldest son: Dozens of visitors – including our Laura E. Adkins on the ground in Israel – paid a shiva call Wednesday to the family of Ariel Eliyahu, a 19-year-old killed fighting Hamas this week. Ariel “did so many things in his life,” his father told Laura, ticking off his love of music and of learning Torah. “It’s sad to know that most of these things will not exist anymore.” Read the story ➤

‘I found a hostage!’ | Inside the Tel Aviv war room where civilians locate the kidnapped: Earlier in the day, Laura found herself inside a converted convention center, where 1,500 tech experts are working around the clock to locate the estimated 100-plus people kidnapped by Hamas. This war room is run entirely by civilians — many of them the very same people who marched in the pro-democracy protests in Israel’s streets for 40 weeks. “We know a lot of things that the government doesn’t know,” said Professor Karine Nahon, one of the organizers. Read the story ➤

One of those feared abducted by Hamas is Vivian Silver, a 74-year-old peace activist and grandmother: Prior to Saturday’s invasion, Silver, who lives on a kibbutz, drove to Gaza several times a week and brought Palestinians needing medical care to hospitals in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem as a volunteer for an organization called Road to Recovery. “If there’s anybody who ends up being a hostage in captivity and can organize a meeting, and negotiations between Hamas and their captives, that would be Vivian,” said Maggie Bar-Tura. “She’s indefatigable.” Read the story ➤

What we know about accounts of sexual assault during the Hamas attack: Both President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have described women being raped during the Saturday attack by Hamas, echoing reports circulating widely on social media. We spoke with the Israeli military and a White House official to learn what evidence they have for these claims. Read the story ➤

President Joe Biden at a roundtable with Jewish leaders on Wednesday. (Getty)

More on the victims…

• A mother and daughter flew from Chicago to Israel for the Jewish holidays. Now they’re missing.
  
  
• The number of Americans confirmed to be among the hundreds of people killed is now at 22, with more expected as identities are confirmed.
  
  
• An impassioned President Biden, detailing how he took each of his kids to visit the Dachau concentration camp, told a roundtable of Jewish leaders at the White House Wednesday that the U.S. is deploying experts to assist Israel in hostage recovery.
  
  
• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel Thursday and met with Netanyahu at an IDF outpost. “We’re here,” Blinken said. “We’re not going anywhere.”
  
  
• The mayor of Hollywood, Florida, fought back tears while talking about his family members that he said were “all slaughtered” in Israel.
  
  
• Family members who want their loved one’s sperm extracted and frozen in hopes that a child can be conceived for their genetic legacy to live on have been calling on IVS specialists for help with posthumous sperm retrieval.
  
  
• “We heard booms everywhere”: Survivors recall the massacre at the Israeli rave.

A moment of silence for Israel at the Phillies-Braves game Wednesday night in Philadelphia. (Getty)

More updates on the war…

Weeks ago he was a Columbia University undergrad. Now this American leads an IDF squad near Gaza: David Ben-Naim is a “lone soldier,” one of thousands of foreign volunteers in the IDF ranks. “We may feel that we gave him too much Zionism and suddenly we want to back up,” said his dad, Gal. “But we should be very proud.” Read the story ➤

“It’s dire times on steroids”: She spent months organizing protests in the U.S. against Netanyahu. Now her activism has morphed.

Plus…

• Jewish White House staffers are grappling with how the attack is both a political crisis and, for them, a personal tragedy.
  
  
• Former President Donald Trump criticized Netanyahu and Israel’s intelligence failures in a speech on Wednesday night.
  
  
• Israeli cabinet ministers were heckled out of hospitals as they tried to visit the wounded. “You’ve ruined this country,” one doctor yelled. “Get out of here.”
  
  
• A law firm rescinded a job offer after an NYU law student said Israel was responsible for Hamas’ attack.
  
  
• The U.S. State Department raised its travel advisory for Americans visiting Israel, warning that terrorists and lone actors may carry out attacks. Meanwhile, American Airlines suspended all flights to and from Tel Aviv through Dec. 4.
  
  
• A congressional resolution supporting Israel is backed by 90% of the House. But it’s going nowhere because there is currently no speaker of the House.
  
  
• Rukhl Schaechter, our Yiddish editor, shares how her sister in Israel is helping Haredi women cope as warplanes fly overhead.
  
  
• More than 5,000 medical personnel from around the world volunteered to travel to Israel. Israeli officials say they are not needed – yet.
  
  
• A young couple in Israel rushed to get married this week before the groom was deployed into battle.

Terrorists after crossing the border fence with Israel on Saturday. (Getty)

Around the world…

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants to visit Israel in a show of solidarity.
  
  
• A number of European countries are considering suspending their financial assistance to the Palestinians.
  
  
• France reported dozens of antisemitic attacks since Saturday, including harassment of Jewish children by fellow students at school.
  
  
• In Britain, there are reports of a 300% increase in antisemitic incidents (89 incidents Oct. 7-10), compared to the same time period last year.
  
  
• The government in Sydney, Australia, apologized for a pro-Palestinian rally that included “gas the Jews” chants.
  
  
• Air Canada said it took a pilot out of service after he penned a number of disturbing posts following Hamas’ attacks on Israel over the weekend.
  
  
• Dozens of Japanese people gathered in a public square in Tokyo to sing “Oseh Shalom” while waving Israeli flags.
  
  
• The Arch of Titus, the Roman landmark celebrating the ancient destruction of Jerusalem, lit up in in tribute to Israel.

Opinions…

• How Netanyahu exploited the politics of fear in a country that now fears for its survival
  
  
• Justifying Israeli deaths is antisemitic. Yet many progressives are doing just that
  
  
• Spare us your explanations about what’s happening in Israel — now is the time for grief
  
  
• Hamas is guilty of inhuman violence. What about the Palestinians who cheered them on?
  
  
• How do we forge ahead after calamity? The Jewish way of mourning offers a roadmap

How you can help: Here’s where U.S. Jews can donate to support Israel’s hospitals, troops, survivors and more.

Stay informed: You can follow our partners at Haaretz for live updates throughout the day. And we’ve taken down our paywall for coverage of Israel’s war with Gaza. Read all of our stories here.

Join the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies & The Naomi Foundation for the 2023 Naomi Prawer Kadar Annual Memorial Lecture with academic and cultural critic Dr. Ilan Stavans, a virtual talk titled “Yiddish and Ladino: Forking Paths.”  This event will take place at noon on Wednesday, October 25 on ZOOM.

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month. (Getty)

Canadian government has given $2 million to Ukrainian Canadian groups that celebrate Nazi collaborators: Canada’s political leaders have expressed shock and shame that their Parliament last month honored a Ukrainian immigrant who fought in a Nazi unit during World War II. But a Forward investigation found that the Canadian government has given some $2.2 million over the last seven years to at least eight groups that have championed the same unit’s veterans or otherwise lauded Nazi collaborators. Read the story ➤

How a new generation of labor organizers is using the legacy of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire: More than a century after the fire killed 146 workers – many of them young Jewish women – a new memorial opened Wednesday in New York City. It comes at a time when activists are leading a “union renaissance” — and drawing on the historic disaster to make the case for organized labor – at companies like Amazon and Starbucks and in the auto industry and Hollywood. Read the story ➤

Shiva call ➤  Florence Fisher, an advocate for open adoption records who led a movement to help millions of people find their birth parents, died at 95.

ON THE CALENDAR

On this day in history (1930): Jack Gottlieb, a composer and confidante to Leonard Bernstein, was born. Gottlieb was the first director of Hebrew Union College’s School of Sacred Music, and had his works performed in settings sacred and otherwise across the country. But he was best known for his relationship with Bernstein, whom he met while in graduate school at Brandeis and worked with for decades, including editing many of Bernstein’s books. Gottlieb died in 2011, at age 80.

Tonight at 7 p.m.: If you’re in the San Francisco area, our Jodi Rudoren will be speaking at Congregation Emanu-El about reporting and media responses to the war in Israel.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

“The open questioning of the government’s response, in the first two days especially, is something I’ve never seen before in a time of war,” Jodi told Alex Wagner Tuesday night on MSNBC. Watch the segment above.

—

Thanks to Jacob Kornbluh, Arno Rosenfeld, Sam Lin-Sommer and Talya Zax for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Beth Harpaz for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected].