This article is part of our morning briefing. Click here to get it delivered to your inbox each weekday. Let’s get started with the latest news, and some clarity amid the chaos… - President Joe Biden plans to visit Israel on Wednesday. It is rare for a president to visit a country at war when U.S. troops are not involved, though this will be Biden’s second such trip this year, after traveling to Ukraine in February.
- The U.S. military selected about 2,000 troops to prepare for a potential deployment to support Israel. They would be tasked with advising and medical support, but not serve in a combat role.
- Hamas released the first sign-of-life video from the 199 Israelis taken hostage. It is not clear when the video was taken.
- The Wexner Foundation on Monday ended a program that paid for Israelis to get master’s degrees at Harvard, citing the university’s “failure” to condemn Hamas.
- A handful of Israeli government officials — but not Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — took the blame for the failures that contributed to the Hamas attack. “We failed,” said Knesset minister Bezalel Smotrich. Added Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet security service, “the responsibility for this falls on me.”
- Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned that the Middle East is “on the brink of falling into the abyss.”
- New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Monday that she will make her first-ever trip to Israel. With more than 1.8 million Jews, New York is home to the largest Jewish community outside of Israel.
- The Republican Jewish Coalition was added as a co-host of the upcoming Republican presidential debate as the political conversation shifts to focus on international affairs following the Hamas attack and Israel’s military response.
- Former President Donald Trump pledged at a campaign rally in Iowa that, if reelected, he would reinstate his ban targeting travelers from Muslim-majority countries, and would expel immigrants that support Hamas.
|
A wounded IDF soldier, left, meets with volunteers and their therapy dog, Damka. (Laura Ben-David)
|
Jewish actor Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride) spoke at the protest at the White House on Monday. “Jews are supposed to stand for support of the oppressed people,” he said. (Matthew Litman) |
Postcard from Washington…
More than 1,000 mostly Jewish demonstrators blocked entrances to the White House Monday afternoon to protest Israeli violence in Gaza and call on President Biden to press for an immediate ceasefire in the region. At least 50 people were arrested while singing Jewish folk songs and condemning what many called the prospect of “genocide” in Gaza. “So many Jewish people in my life are grieving horrific murders of family members, loved ones,” Rabbi Miriam Grossman told the crowd. “The answer to all of this grief cannot be mass murder.” |
Taylor Swift performing in Missouri this summer. (Getty) |
From the music world… Plus… |
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+. |
Keren Shem, the mother of Mia Shem, held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza, speaks to the press in Tel Aviv earlier today. (Getty) |
Go deeper… Opinion | Netanyahu has turned his back on Israel’s hostages, and abandoned Israel in its darkest moment: The prime minister and his government have shown a lack of care for the 199 hostages that were kidnapped by Hamas, argues our deputy opinion editor, Nora Berman. Netanyahu has ignored the press and ignored the hostages’ families, leaving them to create ad-hoc war rooms to find their loved ones. The hostages “are now trapped in Gaza,” she writes, “as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right ministers bomb it to bits, with an explicit lack of care as to whether those same hostages are injured or killed.” Read her essay ➤ Opinion | Can we please stop arguing about whether Hamas gunmen are ‘militants’ or ‘terrorists’? This debate, writes our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren, “is a distraction from the much, much more serious issues confronting us right now.” She adds: “We have work to do, and it doesn’t involve the dictionary.” Read her essay ➤ From the pulpit: “There are no words,” Rabbi Angela Buchdahl told her congregation. And yet. “Words bolster nations, build bridges, and bring healing. But words can also become barriers, curses and weapons.” She explained that words can be “very potent,” and that “we also know how silence — the absence of words — can enable evil and chaos.” Read her sermon ➤
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. |
Our Jodi Rudoren along with Arielle Angel, the editor of Jewish Currents, and Jo Ellen Green Kaiser, the CEO of J: The Jewish News of Northern California, spoke to a packed house at Stanford University about the war and the essential role Jewish journalism plays in helping the world understand it. — Thanks to Nora Berman, Jacob Kornbluh, Arno Rosenfeld, Jodi Rudoren 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]. |
|
