U.S. Jewish Groups Warn Trump’s Education Cuts Threaten Fight Against Antisemitism, Haaretz
“The Trump Administration’s persistent attacks on American public education are going to strip support for disadvantaged schools, students with disabilities, and students facing discrimination and unequal treatment – including Jewish students facing antisemitism,” said J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami. “Now is not the time to be abandoning federal protections for students on campus. It’s a core Jewish and American value that every child should have the freedom to access education and build a life better than that they were born into, no matter who they are or where they’re from,” he added.
Israel Tries to Pressure Hamas to Free More Hostages, The New York Times
“The Israeli defense minister tried [today] to turn up the pressure on Hamas to release more hostages, saying Israel was preparing to seize more territory in Gaza and intensify attacks by air, sea and land if the armed Palestinian group does not cooperate.”
Hamas Fires First Rockets Since Israel Broke Recent Ceasefire, NPR
“In Tel Aviv, sirens sounded around the city Thursday, followed by a series of explosions that shook the air. The Israeli military said projectiles were fired from southern Gaza, and were either intercepted or fell in ‘open areas.’ […] the military said it intercepted the missile before it crossed into Israeli territory.”
Arab Mediators Rush To Salvage Gaza Ceasefire As Israel Restarts War, The Washington Post
“Egypt and Qatar, in particular, are pushing the two sides to agree to an emergency truce and Egyptian mediators have already presented a new proposal to Hamas […] The details of the proposal were unclear, but efforts to get the Trump administration — which helped broker the original agreement — to break the deadlock have so far yielded little, the official said, adding that Egypt contacted Washington as soon as Israel resumed strikes in Gaza on Tuesday but had not heard back as of Thursday afternoon.”
Cabinet Fires Shin Bet Chief; PM Claims Lack of Trust in Bar, Who Calls Move Invalid, The Times of Israel
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet voted unanimously in the early hours of Friday morning to dismiss Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, the premier’s office announced. […] Netanyahu claimed that since replacing Bar on the negotiating team with another senior Shin Bet official, ‘the leaks have decreased dramatically, and through very successful negotiations we have managed to return the hostages.’ The currently lapsed ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas was signed in January, weeks before Netanyahu removed Bar from the negotiating team, which has not secured the release of any additional hostages since then.”
U.S. and Israel To Hold High-Level Iran Consultations Next Week, Axios
“President Trump has given Tehran a two-month window to negotiate a new nuclear deal, as Axios reported, and has raised the threat of military strikes on Iran’s nuclear program if no deal is reached. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his team think the odds of a deal are low and want to align on a joint course of action should things escalate to military force, one of the Israeli officials said.”
Judge Bars Deportation of Pro-Palestinian Georgetown University Student, Reuters
“A judge has ordered President Donald Trump’s administration not to deport Badar Khan Suri, an Indian man studying at Washington’s Georgetown University whose lawyer has said the United States was seeking to remove him after it accused him of harming U.S. foreign policy. The order is to remain in effect until lifted by the court, according to the three-paragraph order by U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles in Alexandria, Virginia.”
The Gaza Ceasefire is Over. What’s Next?, Substack
Former Director of Jewish Outreach and Policy Advisor for the Harris Campaign Ilan Goldenberg writes, “Rather than restart fighting, Israel chose to apply more pressure on Hamas—cutting off all international aid and turning off the electricity to a desalination plant that provided water to hundreds of thousands of Gazans. This tactic of collective punishment against Gaza’s civilian population was opposed by the Biden administration… However, Trump, in contradiction to American values, supports it.”
Why Don’t Gazans Rise Up and Oust Hamas? Dismantling a Deeply Dishonest Claim, Haaretz
Dahlia Scheindlin writes, “In sum, [Netanyahu] did not want to topple Hamas, but he expected the people of Gaza to do so. What would have happened had they tried? Especially in recent years, flush with Qatari cash, plenty of arms and de facto power, Hamas would have stamped such efforts out easily and Netanyahu would not have been sorry.”