This Could Never Happen Here, Substack
J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami writes: “I am astounded by how unaware the broader Jewish community is about the role a cabal of right-wing Jewish thugs is playing in fueling this assault on students in the name of fighting antisemitism. It is time for the Jewish community to call these groups out and to distance ourselves from their rhetoric and tactics. And – even more important – it is time to call out President Trump and the far MAGA right for using the fight against antisemitism as a pretext for enacting their anti-immigrant, anti-education, anti-rule-of-law agenda.”
Even Trump Understood: Netanyahu Is Not Israel, The Times of Israel
J Street Israel Executive Director Nadav Tamir writes: “It is now the turn of Jewish organizations in the United States and around the world, and many others in the international community who see themselves as true friends of Israel, to understand that Israel is being led by a person whose path is contrary to the state’s path, diverting it from the course that reflects its most basic interests, and thus jeopardizing it with immediate and significant imperilment.”
Trump Waved Off Israeli Strike After Divisions Emerged in His Administration, The New York Times
“Israel had planned to strike Iranian nuclear sites as soon as next month but was waved off by President Trump in recent weeks in favor of negotiating a deal with Tehran to limit its nuclear program, according to administration officials and others briefed on the discussions. Mr. Trump made his decision after months of internal debate over whether to pursue diplomacy or support Israel in seeking to set back Iran’s ability to build a bomb, at a time when Iran has been weakened militarily and economically.”
Jewish People Fear Scapegoating As Trump Invokes Antisemitism To Justify Crackdowns, Axios
“With antisemitism rising in the U.S., Trump’s repressive crackdown could stoke further animus against Jews, Lauren Strauss, a professor of modern Jewish history at American University, told Axios. ‘Antisemitism is on the lips of people who probably never used that word in their lives,’ Strauss, said. ‘It has entered the American political discourse in a way that really it never has before.’ The administration is not providing tangible solutions to actual antisemitism, she added. ‘The Trump administration’s actions seen by many as violations of people’s civil liberties are not the way to stem this tide’, she added, ‘and to take that even further, could end up hurting the Jews and everyone else more than they help.’”
IDF Says It Is Limiting Gaza Combat to ‘Create Conditions’ for Hostage Deal With Hamas, Haaretz
“Israeli military sources said Wednesday that the army is limiting its operations in Gaza to increase pressure on Hamas to accept a hostage release deal. […] The army also said that forces are advancing slowly in order to protect the soldiers, noting that no other activity is necessary at this time. The IDF also said that military pressure should be followed by a diplomatic effort to return the hostages.”
Israel Strikes Area With Large Tent Camps for Displaced Gazans, The New York Times
“Israel bombarded an area in southern Gaza with large tent encampments for Palestinians displaced by the war and killed at least several people, including children, the Civil Defense emergency rescue service in the territory said on Thursday. […] In video distributed by wire agencies, the strike appeared to ignite a fire that burned some tents and rescue workers attempted to douse the flames in the wake of the strike on Mawasi before driving off with the dead and wounded.”
Trump Administration Says Harvard May Lose Ability To Enroll Foreign Students, Reuters
“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Harvard University will lose its ability to enroll foreign students if it does not meet demands from the Trump administration to share information on some visa holders, marking the government’s latest escalation against the educational institution. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also announced on Wednesday the termination of two DHS grants totaling more than $2.7 million to Harvard. Noem said she wrote a letter to Harvard demanding records on what she called the ‘illegal and violent activities’ of Harvard’s foreign student visa holders by April 30. ‘And if Harvard cannot verify it is in full compliance with its reporting requirements, the university will lose the privilege of enrolling foreign students,’ Noem said in a statement.”
Lebanon Detains Several People on Suspicion of Firing Rockets at Israel, AP
“The army said in a statement late Wednesday that those detained included a number of Palestinians who were involved in firing rockets in two separate attacks toward Israel in late March that triggered intense Israeli airstrikes on parts of Lebanon. Lebanon’s Hezbollah group denied at the time it was behind the firing of rockets.”
Lebanese Army Making Progress in Displacing Hezbollah Near Israeli Border, The Washington Post
“The Lebanese army has increased its deployment in the country’s south over the past few months, confiscating Hezbollah’s arms and dismantling its positions under the terms of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement between the militant group and Israel, according to interviews with Lebanon’s prime minister, Lebanese military officials and diplomats. So far, an additional 1,500 troops have been deployed in the southern part of the country, closest to the border with Israel, bringing the total to 6,000 with 4,000 more still being recruited, military officials said.”
Members of UK Jewish Group Say Can’t ‘Turn Blind Eye’ to Gaza War, Al-Monitor/AFP
“In a major break with the Board of Deputies of British Jews’ policy of supporting the Israeli leadership, 36 of its members criticised the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in Gaza in an open letter published in the Financial Times. ‘The inclination to avert our eyes is strong, as what is happening is unbearable, but our Jewish values compel us to stand up and to speak out,’ said the letter, signed by around one in eight members of the Board of Deputies. It is the first time since the start of the war that members of the body have publicly criticised the Israeli government.”
Israelis Want the War to Stop, but Only Until the Hostages Are Released, Haaretz
Dahlia Scheindlin writes: “The demand for hostage release has justifiably swept Israeli society and represents the most unifying cause in Israel today. But if it remains the only argument for ending the war, this government will soon grasp the cynical benefit of prizing a few more hostages out of Hamas’ clutches, then justifying the next (or ongoing) military rampage. Without a permanent end to the war, followed by a political framework for comprehensive peace – imperfect as it will be – how will the campaign for hostage release protect future victims of the ‘cycle of horror’? If the cycle of war continues, the ugliest manifestations of conflict – hostage taking, civilian deaths, atrocities – are guaranteed to continue as well.”
A Columbia Activist Sought Middle Ground on Gaza. The U.S. Detained Him., The New York Times
“At an appointment to obtain U.S. citizenship on Monday in Vermont, Mr. Mahdawi, who is expected to graduate next month from Columbia, was taken into custody by immigration police. […] Growing up in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank, Mr. Mahdawi, 34, witnessed violence that included seeing his best friend killed by an Israeli soldier. But rather than calling for vengeance, since immigrating to the United States in 2014, he has delivered more than 100 lectures at churches, synagogues and colleges extolling empathy as the key to a resolution in the Middle East. He is a practicing Buddhist, he said.”