Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited President Joe Biden to visit Israel this week, with particulars unlikely to be announced in advance due to security risks. In an interview on 60 Minutes Sunday night, Biden called Hamas a “bunch of cowards,” but warned that it would “be a big mistake” for Israel to reoccupy Gaza.

Overnight…

• Israel announced Monday that it will evacuate residents from 28 communities along its northern border with Lebanon.
  
  
• The U.S. embassy informed American citizens who wish to leave Israel that they should depart by ship Monday from Haifa.
  
  
• The IDF now says there are 199 hostages being held in the Gaza Strip.

Here’s what you should know to start the week…

New polls: Americans are highly supportive of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas and favor continued U.S. assistance to Israel, according to a set of new polls published over the weekend. At the same time, voters remain divided on how Biden is handling the conflict. 

New York City shul raises $18 million for Israel: At Friday night services, Elliot Cosgrove of the Park Avenue Synagogue on the Upper East Side did something unusual for a Conservative rabbi: He asked his congregants to take out their phones. From there, he directed them to scan a QR code on their Shabbat pamphlets. “I have two goals for this moment: both audacious, both doable,” Cosgrove said from the bimah. “First, I want 100%. Second: I want $18 million.” Read the story ➤

Al Friedman walks into JFK Airport on Saturday en route to Tel Aviv to deliver supplies. (Getty)

Bulletproof vests and Entenmann’s donuts: American Jews send supplies to war-torn Israel: Etan Goldman of Los Angeles, who shlepped six suitcases with him to Tel Aviv, is just one of many individuals and groups who are helping out. After dropping off bulletproof vests, knee pads and a case of Fresca, he joined an assembly line of grillmasters, flipping burgers for soldiers. “Never underestimate the power of your presence,” he said. Read the story ➤

Six-year-old Palestinian boy fatally stabbed in Chicago hate crime amid Israel-Hamas war: FBI Director Christopher Wray disclosed in a call with reporters on Sunday that threats against both Jews and Muslims in the U.S. have surged since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 and the ensuing operation in Gaza. Read the story ➤

Plus…

• Five U.S. senators in Israel — including Sen. Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish politician in the U.S. — were forced to twice take cover in a bomb shelter as rocket sirens sounded during their visit to Tel Aviv.
  
  
• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Israel on Monday, following several days of shuttle diplomacy across the Middle East.
  
  
• The U.S. deployed a second aircraft carrier near Israel, further bolstering its military presence in the Mediterranean.

Hundreds of concerned citizens stood outside Friday night to protect a Berlin shul. (Getty)

Around the world…

• The Egyptian president falsely claimed on Sunday that Jews and Egyptians have always gotten along, seeming to skip over the story of the Exodus.
  
  
• Jews around the world grieved and prayed for peace in the first Shabbat services since the Hamas attack.
  
  
• An estimated 350 people stood outside of Berlin’s Frankelufer Synagogue on Friday to symbolically protect it during a day that Hamas deemed a time for international protest against Israel.
  
  
• A synagogue in Portugal was vandalized last week with graffiti that read “Free Palestine” and “End Israel Apartheid.” Now the city’s Jews are bracing for more antisemitism as the war in Gaza escalates.
  
  
• An Israeli diplomat was stabbed on Friday in China and was hospitalized.

Intelligence failures…

• Three IDF balloons monitoring the Israel-Gaza border broke down weeks before the Hamas attack. Israel is now exploring the possibility that Hamas felled the balloons as part of its preparations for its attack.
  
  
• Less than a month before the attack, Hamas posted a dress rehearsal video to social media, showing fighters blasting through a replica of the border gate, sweeping in on pickup trucks and infiltrating a full-scale reconstruction of an Israeli town.

Ifat and Haim Haiman hold a picture of Ifat and their daughter Inbar. She was captured at the Nova music festival by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023. (Laura Ben-David)

Going deeper…

‘At least we know that she’s alive’ | The family of a young woman captured by Hamas insists on hope: Inbar Haiman’s parents have heard eyewitness accounts and seen a video released by Hamas. “Is she eating? Is somebody caring for her if she was wounded? We don’t know,” her dad told our Laura E. Adkins during a visit to their home. “We’re constantly busy, not thinking, working to free Inbar.” Read the story ➤

What does Jewish law say about the war between Israel and Hamas? A rabbi responds: Jewish law “will disappoint both hawks and doves,” writes our columnist Rabbi Jay Michaelson. “But in so doing, it reveals much about how Jews wrestle with problematic values within our tradition.” Read his essay ➤

Your kids’ questions on Israel, Hamas and Gaza, answered: How many people are in Hamas? Do terrorist attacks invalidate Palestinian activists? What do I say to people who are saying all these antisemitic things? When will the war end? Our editor-in-chief offers responses. Read her column ➤

Plus: While hiding from the gunfire behind a trailer, Vladimir Grinevetskiy took out his iPhone 13 Pro Max. He zoomed in to see if it was a terrorist or the Israeli army. The Wall Street Journal’s tech columnist, Joanna Stern, writes about the role of the smartphone in a time of war.

And: In Hamas’ horrific killings, Jewish trauma over the Holocaust resurfaces

Opinions…

• Biden’s antisemitism strategy was made for a moment like this
  
  
• Hamas has always undermined Palestinian safety. The costs have never been more extreme
  
  
• As in 1940 France, Israel’s fortified border protected only a false sense of security
  
  
• 50 years ago, like today, Israel’s failure to anticipate a major attack rewrote the playbook for an entire region

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.

Visit Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark

Visit this exhibition about the Danish Rescue, a civics lesson on courage, moral decision-making, and community. For ages 9+.

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

The 23andMe headquarters in Sunnyvale, California. (Getty)

?  The genealogy service 23andMe was hit with a class-action lawsuit, after a data breach targeting Ashkenazi Jews compromised customer information. (JTA)

?  A man was arrested and charged for cyberstalking in connection with sending threatening, antisemitic emails to a synagogue in Asheville, North Carolina. (Charlotte Observer)

?  Counties in Pennsylvania say it is too late to move up the state’s 2024 presidential primary date. The news comes after weeks of efforts by lawmakers to move up the election, in part to avoid a conflict with Passover. (AP)

? A Tennessee mayoral candidate is accused of refusing to condemn neo-Nazis and white supremacists. “I’m not going to denounce anybody their right to be whatever it is they want to be,” she said, “whether I agree with what they do in their personal life or not.” (Guardian)

?  A 12-year-old boy, Emanuele Di Porto, escaped Nazi deportation from Rome’s Jewish neighborhood 80 years ago thanks to sympathetic tram drivers. A city bus has now turned into a traveling exhibit, opened this month with the help of Di Porto, now 92. (AP)

Shiva call ➤  Piper Laurie, the Oscar-nominated actress best known for her roles in Carrie, Twin Peaks and The Hustler, died at 91. 

What else we’re reading ➤  Two Jewish Democrats seek to capitalize on Georgia’s leftward tilt in 2024 … At New York Comic Con, creators and fans celebrate Jewish identity … Kosher sushi gets an upgrade.

ON THE CALENDAR

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Our senior political reporter, Jacob Kornbluh, appeared on TV to discuss President Joe Biden’s support for Israel, Sen. Chuck Schumer’s trip to Israel and the mounting pressure on the House to elect a speaker to swiftly pass a military aid package.

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Thanks to Laura E. Adkins, PJ Grisar, Jacob Kornbluh 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].