In Washington… David Pressman, the Biden administration’s outgoing ambassador to Hungary, shared a grim picture of that country under the governance of the far-right Viktor Orbán — who has so far been friendly with Trump — saying that “George Soros was a device that the Hungarian government has and continues to use as this shadowy, oligarch Jewish billionaire who is attempting to undermine Hungary’s sovereignty at every turn.” (New York Times)
Trump appointed Mel Gibson as one of three “special ambassadors” to Hollywood. Gibson has a long and colorful history of antisemitism — remember when he asked Winona Ryder if she was an “oven dodger”? (JTA, Forward)
Internationally… A German neo-Nazi serving 18 months on charges related to hate has legally changed gender as part of a bid to be reassigned to a women’s prison, citing fears of “discrimination” in the men’s prison. (New York Post)
Rome’s chief rabbi spoke out against Pope Francis’ increasing criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza, saying the pontiff has dedicated disproportionate attention to that conflict in comparison to brutal wars in Sudan, Syria and elsewhere. (Reuters)
A home in Sydney, Australia that was owned by a Jewish community leader was vandalized Friday; two cars on the property were set on fire, one of which was also painted with an antisemitic slur. Separately, a Sydney man accused of making death threats toward a Jewish organization became the first person to be charged under new efforts dedicated to addressing antisemitism. (Reuters, Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Frank Auerbach, a renowned Jewish painter who fled Berlin as a child in 1939 and whose parents were both killed in Auschwitz, will posthumously receive his first exhibit in the city. (Guardian)
Shiva call ➤ Michael (Menachem) Fox, a Yiddishist author, songwriter and psychologist, died at 79; Shirah Neiman, who broke ground as a female prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York’s criminal division, died at 81.
What else we’re reading ➤ “Why Zora Neale Hurston was obsessed with the Jews” (New Yorker) “The insane story of How Ben Platt came out to his Jewish day school” (Hey Alma) “Sotheby’s to auction ‘the most complete Jewish baseball card collection in the world’” (JTA) | 