JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.

WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

Today: Who owns the Gaza Strip? • Why protecting Jews on campus may become harder • UFC fighter clarifies he’s ‘not a Nazi’ • And the Super Bowl ad combating antisemitism.

THE FUTURE OF GAZA

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday. (Getty)

Trump’s vision

World leaders were shocked President Donald Trump upended decades of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East when he said, during a news conference at the White House Tuesday evening with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that he wanted the U.S. to take over Gaza in an “ownership position,” promising to turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

The 2.2 million residents of Gaza have “no alternative” but to leave, Trump said, calling the area “a hellhole.” He said he’s looking for a “good, fresh, beautiful piece of land” to “resettle people permanently.” Trump once again suggested that Egypt and Jordan take in Palestinian refugees. (JTA)

Trump offered scant details. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, called it “ethnic cleansing by another name.” (New York Times)

A source told a Puck News reporter that the idea came from Jared Kushner, who is said to have helped craft Trump’s remarks. Kushner broached the topic as early as March 2024. (Forward, X)

Opinion | Our Tel Aviv-based columnist, Dan Perry, who previously supervised the Associated Press’ Gaza bureau, called the idea “breathtaking and puzzling,” and wondered “who, exactly, would benefit from this dubiously thought out plan?” He adds: “Long-term, being seen as the country that dispossessed Palestinians twice could reasonably be expected to put Israel in even greater legal and diplomatic peril than it has experienced during the war.” Read his essay ►

Aftershocks

In the United States…

On social media, Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted “Make Gaza beautiful again” and Rep. Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, wrote: “Let’s turn Gaza into Mar-A-Lago.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson called the plan “bold action” that could achieve “lasting peace.” (Times of Israel)

Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham, usually a staunch Trump ally, was more tepid. “We’ll see what our Arab friends say about that,” he said. “I think most South Carolinians would not be excited about sending Americans to take over Gaza.” (Jewish Insider)

Among Democrats, the reaction was clear. Sen. Chris Coons called it “insane,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal said it was “crazy,” “deeply dangerous,” and “threatens to blow apart the Abraham Accords.” Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota worried it “could put the ceasefire in jeopardy.” (Times of Israel)

Across the globe…

Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations rejected the idea, Turkey called the plan “unacceptable,” Egypt called for Gaza reconstruction without Palestinians leaving, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said it would be a “severe violation of international law.” (Haaretz, Times of Israel, X)

Trump’s plan was roundly rejected elsewhere as well. France said it would destabilize the region, China said it opposes the “forced transfer” of Gazans, and a top British minister compared Trump to a “bull in a china shop.” (AFP, Guardian, Reuters)

And in Israel…

Jewish settlers living in the occupied West Bank welcomed the proposal, with one group already calling for Jewish settlements in Gaza. (Times of Israel)

Itamar Ben Gvir, the far-right minister who left Netanyahu’s coalition last month after Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Hamas, said he would likely return if Trump’s Gaza plan is implemented. (Times of Israel)

A man rides a donkey-pulled cart past the rubble of destroyed buildings today in the Gaza Strip. (Getty)

Who “owns” the Gaza Strip?

The Gaza Strip is about 140 square miles — slightly larger than Queens and about twice the size of Washington, D.C. — with almost 25 miles of waterfront coastline facing the Mediterranean Sea. It’s surrounded by Israel to the north and east, with Egypt to its south.

No one “owns” the Gaza strip, but it is not an independent sovereign country either. Control over it has moved around the region over the last century.

2007-Present: Hamas has overseen Gaza since 2007, after it won an election considered “free and fair” by international observers.

2005-2007: The Palestinian Authority had governing power over Gaza after international pressure forced Israel to withdraw.

1967-2005: Israel controlled Gaza for most of four decades starting in 1967, when the country captured it after winning the war with Arab states.

1948-1967: Egypt controlled Gaza from the time of Israel’s founding through the 1967 War, also known as the Six-Day War.

In November 1947, the United Nations made Gaza part of the territories allocated to Palestinians, which is why the Gaza Strip (and West Bank) are sometimes referred to as “occupied.”

Prior to the U.N. mandate, Gaza was ruled by Britain and the Ottoman Empire.

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators at an April 2024 protest outside Columbia University. (Luke Tress)

Campus antisemitism

Trump is reportedly preparing to sign an executive order that could shut down key functions of the Education Department and call on Congress to abolish the agency, even as it serves as the main federal body investigating allegations of antisemitism.

The department runs one of the largest civil rights divisions in the government, with 588 employees fielding more than 22,000 complaints in 2024, including more than 100 alleging discrimination against Jewish students as protests against Israel escalated during its war with Hamas in Gaza.

Project 2025, a blueprint for the Trump administration created by the Heritage Foundation, called for moving the agency’s civil rights division to the Justice Department, which has a higher bar for opening cases.

Related….

The House is expected to reintroduce the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act today. A 2024 version passed in the House, but was not taken up by the Senate. (Jewish Insider)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is looking into allegations of antisemitism at four unnamed medical schools related to incidents from last year’s graduation ceremonies. (Bloomberg)

Plus…

Joe Kent, Trump’s nominee to head the National Counterterrorism Center, has ties to white nationalists and neo-Nazis. The position requires Senate confirmation.

The Senate confirmed Pam Bondi as attorney general. Here are five things Jews should know about her.

CULTURE

Annette Insdorf, right, moderated an event with Adrien Brody at the 92nd Street Y. (Peter Jamus)

Echoes from the past

Several Holocaust survivors and descendants of immigrants came out to the 92nd Street Y in New York to hear a conversation with Adrien Brody about his Oscar-nominated film The Brutalist. “To have this movie to kind of support the immigration of not just Jews but a lot of other immigrants, finding their footing, it felt very relevant,” Nikolai Levinsohn told our Samuel Eli Shepherd. “It felt powerful.” Go deeper ►

Mixer mayhem: The New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America planned a Valentine’s Day mixer at Brooklyn’s Silo venue, where the owner has praised Tel Aviv nightlife. Online discourse about the event quickly spiraled into something weird, reports our digital culture reporter, Mira Fox. Go deeper ►

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Two new murals in MIlan by artist aleXsandro Palombo. (Courtesy)

🎨 Vandals defaced two new street art murals in Milan that focus on the Holocaust and Israel. Previous works by the same artist, which often depict Jews in the style of characters from The Simpsons, were defaced last year. (Algemeiner)

🥊 UFC fighter Bryce Mitchell clarified that he is “definitely not a Nazi,” after coming under fire for praising Adolf Hitler and denying the Holocaust on his podcast. (AP, Forward)

⚖️ A man who shouted “Free Palestine” and fired a gun outside Albany’s Temple Israel in Dec. 2023 pleaded guilty to a hate crime. He faces seven to 20 years in prison. (JTA)

👮 After a months-long investigation, L.A. officials ruled as accidental the death of a man claiming to be a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family.

Shiva calls ► Benzion Miller, a renowned Brooklyn cantor, died at 77 … Solly Wolf, a leader of the Jewish community in the United Arab Emirates, died at 75 … The funeral for Ian Douglas Epstein — a flight attendant on the American Airlines plane that crashed in D.C. — will take place today at the Chabad of Charlotte in North Carolina.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism has for the second year in a row purchased a Super Bowl ad; the new one features Tom Brady and Snoop Dogg. “I’ve never seen hate like it is now in this country,” said Kraft, the philanthropist and owner of the New England Patriots. Watch the spot and an interview with Kraft above.

Related: Josh Kraft, son of Robert Kraft, announced Tuesday he is running for mayor of Boston, challenging the incumbent, Mayor Michelle Wu, in the upcoming Democratic primary. (New York Times)

See you tomorrow!

Thanks to Jacob Kornbluh, Arno Rosenfeld, Jodi Rudoren and Talya Zax for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Julie Moos for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at editorial@forward.com.

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