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| | | In this edition: President Joe Biden, Timothée Chalamet, Bob Dylan, Angelina Jolie, Sen. Joe Lieberman, Salman Rushdie, Donald Trump, Jon Voight and a Jewish canoe-paddling Olympian. |
| | | | “Our fight is your fight,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech to Congress on Wednesday. “And our victory will be your victory.” (Getty) |
| Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a record-breaking fourth address to a joint session of Congress in which he “spoke of the deep historical ties between Israel and the U.S., and thanked President Joe Biden for his support following the Oct. 7 attacks,” reports our Jacob Kornbluh from the Capitol. But Netanyahu also dismissed concerns about Israel’s military campaign and the high number of civilian casualties in Gaza.
First thoughts: “Congress, the world, and American Jews are not living in Oct. 8, as so much of Israel still is,” our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren said in a live discussion with three of our opinion writers. “We are balancing that awful day with the 291 awful days since.” The speech, argues Arash Azizi in an opinion essay, was more evidence that the U.S. is “no closer to encouraging real change in the Middle East, and too caught up in its own culture wars to really encourage it.”
Hostage families: Capitol police forcibly removed from the chamber six relatives of hostages who disrupted the speech. “I couldn’t take it anymore,” one told our Louis Keene. Added Jon Polin, the father of Israeli American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin: “I came here wanting to hear one sentence: ‘Today I announce that the hostages are coming home,’ and I didn’t hear that once.”
Fact-checking the speech: Netanyahu misrepresented comments by the president of MIT, implied that Jewish demonstrators protesting his speech could be funded by Iran and said that college students don’t know the “river” and the “sea” in their anti-Israel chants. (A May poll found two-thirds did.) Our Arno Rosenfeld fact-checked the speech.
Surprise guest: Yes, that was Elon Musk sitting behind Sara Netanyahu at the speech. Here’s why.
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| | Protesters demonstrated near Capitol Hill on Wednesday. (Getty) |
| Covering the protests: Our Lauren Markoe was at the National Mall in D.C. talking with demonstrators, many of whom were organized by Jewish groups, reports our Rebecca Massel. Pro-Palestinian protesters also released insects into the Watergate Hotel where Netanyahu is staying. Online video showed maggots running amok on the dinner table.
In memoriam: Earlier on Wednesday, in a D.C. synagogue, Netanyahu spoke at a memorial service for the late Sen. Joe Lieberman. “The Jewish people have lost one of its most noble sons,” he said.
On the calendar: Netanyahu is set to meet today with President Biden. “I’m going to keep working to end the war in Gaza, bring home all the hostages, and bring peace and security to the Middle East and end this war,” Biden said Wednesday night in an Oval Office address. Netanyahu is also scheduled to meet today with Vice President Kamala Harris, and on Friday in Florida with former President Donald Trump.
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| | | | | Many people online are calling Kamala Harris “Momala.” (Image via Getty; Design by Mira Fox) |
| Kamala Harris’ Yiddish-sounding meme is having a moment. Is that a good thing?The vice president’s stepchildren have long called her “Momala,” and now everyone online seems to be embracing the moniker. “It’s a mixed bag for the Harris campaign,” writes our Mira Fox. “While not everyone might know the Yiddish word, the diminutive, cutesy tone of the name still translates — and diminutive is not an aesthetic anyone typically associates, at least positively, with world leaders.” Read the story ➤
Line of attack: The Republican Jewish Coalition released its first ad against Vice President Kamala Harris, now that she is the presumptive Democratic nominee. It ties her to campus protesters and mocks her for missing Netanyahu’s speech to Congress.
Related: Here’s a nuanced look at how Harris views antisemitism differently from Biden.
Quotable: “Well, it’s amazing, actually, that any Jewish person or any person that believes in Israel and loves Israel can even think about voting for a Democrat,” former President Donald Trump said in an interview. Here’s a list of every time Trump has accused American Jews of disloyalty.
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| | WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY |
| | Clockwise from left: Nick Itkin, Artem Dolgopyat, Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, Amit Elor, Sagi Muki, Jemima Montag, Claire Weinstein, and Daniel Peretz. (Images via Getty; Design by Grace Yagel) |
| 🏅 Dozens of Jewish athletes will be competing at the Paris Games, which kick off with Friday’s opening ceremonies. They include a canoe paddler, a rock climbing champion and the youngest female wrestler in U.S. Olympic history. (JTA)
Related: Here’s a guide to when each of the Jewish athletes will be competing.
😞 Israeli special forces recovered the bodies of five Israelis who were killed on Oct. 7 and dragged into Gaza. (Times of Israel)
🤔 Actor Jon Voight said in a new interview that his daughter, actress and activist Angelina Jolie, has been exposed to “propaganda” because she supports Gaza. “She’s been influenced by antisemitic people,” he said. “Angie has a connection to the U.N., and she’s enjoyed speaking out for refugees. But these people are not refugees.” (Variety)
😲 The man charged with stabbing noted author Salman Rushdie in 2022 now also faces charges for providing support to Hezbollah, court documents unsealed Wednesday reveal. (NY Times)
🇺🇸 Senate Republicans are expected to introduce legislation today “to ban the federal government from contracting with entities that boycott Israel.” (Jewish Insider)
🎒 Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has required public universities in the state to update their discrimination policies to detail consequences for students who engage in antisemitic behavior. Some worry it inhibits free speech. (KUT News)
⛪ After running afoul of zoning regulations, a Colorado church is suing a town for the right to house homeless people in trailers in its parking lot, arguing that helping those in need is a constitutionally protected religious activity. (AP)
What else we’re reading, all Catskills edition ➤ Israeli kids with life-threatening illnesses find respite from war at Catskills camp … The Borscht Belt Festival, honoring the Jewish Catskills, is bigger and broader this year … Is New York’s best Mexican restaurant in the Catskills?
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| | | | From our culture reporter PJ Grisar: The first trailer for A Complete Unknown, the Timothée Chalamet-fronted Bob Dylan biopic takes us back to the singer’s early gigs at The Gaslight Cafe. Eagle-eyed fans will recognize Ed Norton as folk icon Pete Seeger, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez and Elle Fanning as Dylan’s girlfriend, Sylvie Russo. In the trailer, Chalamet sings “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall,” and isn’t half-bad. The flick, directed by James Mangold, is due to hit theaters in December. |
| Thanks to PJ Grisar, Jacob Kornbluh and Arno Rosenfeld for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Beth Harpaz for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected]. |
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