WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

U.S. soldier sets himself on fire in front of Israel Embassy, Harvard professor resigns from antisemitism task force, Trump wants to “bring back Christianity,” and the Yiddish word that Hebrew needs.

ISRAEL AT WAR

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announces his government's resignation on Monday. (Getty)

It’s a busy morning. Let’s begin with the latest news on the war …

• The Palestinian Authority’s prime minister and his entire government resigned on Monday. President Mahmoud Abbas must decide whether to accept the resignations. The move signals a willingness to reform, a prerequisite wanted by the U.S. before the P.A. could govern Gaza after the war.

  
  

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah is inevitable to eliminate Hamas, regardless of a ceasefire deal. “It has to be done,” Netanyahu said. “Because total victory is our goal, and total victory is within reach.”

  
  

• An Israeli delegation is in Qatar today to continue negotiating a hostage-for-prisoner deal. Netanyahu is reportedly insisting Palestinian prisoners convicted of the most serious crimes be deported, and is also demanding a list of which hostages are still alive.

  
  

• A yawning gap remains between Netanyahu and President Joe Biden over what will happen when the Israel-Hamas war ends.

Members of Israeli security forces on horseback try to disperse protesters during an anti-government demonstration Saturday in Tel Aviv. (Getty)

Over the weekend…

• Twenty-one people — including an Israeli hostage freed from Gaza — were arrested Saturday night at a protest in Tel Aviv, as police cracked down on anti-government activity.

  
  

• The co-chair of a newly formed task force fighting antisemitism at Harvard University abruptly stepped down after barely a month at the helm.

  
  

• A U.S. Air Force soldier who said “I will no longer be complicit in genocide,” set himself on fire Sunday outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. A similar incident occurred in December, when a pro-Palestinian activist set themself on fire outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta.

  
  

• A Canadian International Women’s Day event that drew attention for canceling its keynote speaker over her past Israeli military service has itself now been canceled.

Family members and friends on Sunday at the funeral for IDF soldier Sgt. Narya Belete. (Getty)

Plus…

• Two Israeli soldiers were killed in battle in Gaza, the IDF announced Sunday.

  
  

• An American-Israeli ex-FBI informant charged with fabricating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving the Biden family is set to appear in a California federal court on Monday.

  
  

• Anti-Muslim hate in the U.K. has more than tripled since the Hamas attacks, according to a new report.

  
  

• Golda, the 2023 movie starring Helen Mirren as the Israeli prime minister during a time of war, won the top prize from the Cinema for Peace Foundation.

Pro-Palestinian activists march at a Sunday demonstration in Milan, Italy. (Getty)

Opinions…

Opinion | Why is the world not helping Gazans flee a war zone? In most contemporary conflicts, global efforts are made to facilitate the evacuation of refugees. But Gaza is proving to be the exception. “It’s quite an astonishing feat of hypocrisy,” argues Josh Feldman, a writer on Israeli issues. “For months, countless politicians, human rights groups and others have decried the civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, yet few, if any, have shown even the slightest interest in helping Gazans do what millions in previous conflicts have: Find refuge in a third country.” Read his essay ➤

Plus: Conversations about the Israel-Hamas war would benefit from the word kneytsh, Yiddish for “nuance.” Our editor-in-chief, Jodi Rudoren, explains in her latest column.

More opinions…

• What’s the right next move in this war — and why is it so hard to trust anyone’s answer? by Rabbi Jay Michaelson

  
  

• Israel’s greatest threat? Unwavering belief in its own morality by Rabbi Donniel Hartman

ALSO IN THE FORWARD

Gene Siskel, left, and Roger Ebert have parallels to the Talmudic Hillel and Shammai. (Getty)

Why Siskel & Ebert were the Talmudic scholars of their day:As a new book explains, the film critics famously disagreed, but never disparaged. “Many Talmudic sages do not share the same opinions, and they robustly challenge the other’s viewpoint on a particular subject,” writes Rabbi Herbert J. Cohen, my dad (!) and the author of Kosher Movies. “For example, Hillel and Shammai disagree with one another, but disagreement does not mean disengagement from the other. In spite of seeing things differently, they respect the other’s opinion even when it veers from their own.”

Plus…

• Activists who openly espouse and promote Nazi and anti-Jewish views attended the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, also known as CPAC, held in Maryland over the weekend.

  
  

• Hanukkah may be months ago — in fact, it’s almost Purim — but a new baby hippo at a wildlife park outside Wichita, Kansas, was just named in honor of the holiday. Keepers dubbed the calf Latke.

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Former President Donald Trump at the National Religious Broadcasters conference in Nashville. (Getty)

✝️  In a speech at the annual gathering of National Religious Broadcasters, former President Donald Trump claimed that “bad things” were being done to Christian crosses and that he would root out “anti-Christian bias” in a second term. “We have to bring back our religion,” he said. “We have to bring back Christianity.” (Religion News Service)

Related: What is Christian nationalism? David French explains in his latest opinion column in The New York Times.

🗳️  A Georgia man whose daughter died while serving in the Israeli army in November has decided to run in May’s Democratic primary against a state senator who abstained from voting on a measure aimed at combating antisemitism. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jewish Insider)

🇦🇲  Two years ago this weekend, when the war broke out between Russia and Ukraine, many of both countries’ Jews fled to Armenia, increasing its Jewish population tenfold. They are still there. (JTA)

💰  Jewish fundraising for Ukraine has slowed to a trickle. Donor fatigue set in as the war dragged on and, after the Hamas attacks, money shifted to Israel. (JTA)

🇺🇸  The Biden administration named Gabriel Barnett as interim White House Jewish liaison while Shelley Greenspan is on maternity leave. Barnett previously served as the deputy Jewish outreach director on the Biden campaign in 2020. (Jewish Insider)

Mazel tov ➤  To Greenspan and her husband, Reuben Smith-Vaughan, on the birth of a baby boy, Judah Charles.

Get well soon ➤  Pope Francis, 87, has a mild case of the flu.

Shiva calls ➤  Lord Jacob Rothschild, the British financier and member of the famed Rothschild banking family, died at 87 … Charlie Biton, a founder of the Israeli Black Panther movement who helped bring equality to Mizrahi Jews, died at 76.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Business Insider posted to YouTube this weekend an 18-minute documentary about how more Jews are putting on tefillin since the Oct. 7 attacks. The video has over a quarter-million views.

Thanks to Jacob Kornbluh and Jodi Rudoren 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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