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JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.

WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

Congressman suggests dropping an atomic bomb on Gaza, Harvard sees drop in applications, two former hostages wed, and Saturday Night Live spoofs Trump’s Bible.

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ISRAEL AT WAR

Tens of thousands of Israelis rallied against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday in Jerusalem. (Susan Greene)

Tens of thousands of protesters, as far as the eye could see, rallied against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem Sunday evening, most calling for his ouster. Demonstrators slammed his government’s continuing war in Gaza, what many see as his abandonment of the hostages still in captivity there, and the corruption charges that continue hanging over him. Sunday’s rally, the start of a planned four-day protest, is said to have been the biggest in Israel since the war began. — The Forward’s Susan Greene, reporting from Jerusalem

In the region…

• Israel’s military withdrew from Gaza’s Shifa Hospital early Monday after a two-week raid, in which it said it killed some 200 militants and detained hundreds more.

  
  

• Netanyahu is recovering following a Sunday hernia operation. It was the 74-year-old’s second surgery since returning to the premiership in late 2022; doctors put in a pacemaker last summer.

  
  

• Israel plans to host subdued celebrations without fireworks for Independence Day next month.

  
  

• Thanks largely to donations from Forward readers, a Palestinian couple from Gaza was able to escape to Egypt. Our editor-in-chief, Jodi Rudoren, shares the update in her latest column.

Elsewhere…

• Rep. Tim Walberg, a Republican from Michigan, said that the U.S. should not be providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, and instead seemed to suggest dropping an atomic bomb. “It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima,” he said in a video that has gone viral. “Get it over quick.”

  
  

• Israelis and Jews attending the Eurovision competition and the Summer Olympics are in terrorists’ “crosshairs,” warned a diplomatic source who deals with foreign terrorism threats.

  
  

• Two Thai nationals who were held hostage in Gaza and were freed in late November got married in a private ceremony in Thailand.

An Israeli soldier dangles underwear over the open mouth of another soldier in a video said to be filmed in Gaza. (YouTube)

Opinion | ‘The most moral army in the world’ is posing with Palestinian women’s underwear in Gaza: “If a society with mandatory conscription is exposing their combatants to this lapse in morality and professionalism, what consequences will the behavior have for Israel’s soul at large?” asks our deputy opinion editor, Nora Berman. “I fear for the spiritual and moral health of a nation that lets such dehumanization slide.” Read her essay ➤

Photo of body of woman killed by Hamas wins prize and sparks controversy: A picture from Oct. 7 of Hamas terrorists driving the dead body of Shani Louk, 22, in the back of a pickup truck took home a top prize in a contest held by the Missouri School of Journalism. More than 50,000 people have signed a petition asking Nikon, a sponsor, to denounce the award. But Louk’s father, along with many journalists, say photos of war are an important way for the public to learn about conflicts. “What is the role of the photographer if it is not to bear witness?” asked one journalist. Read the story ➤

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ALSO IN THE FORWARD

Nathan Leopold Jr., left, and Richard Loeb, were convicted for the kidnapping and murder of Loeb’s cousin, 14-year-old Bobby Franks. (Getty)

Was the Leopold and Loeb case really the ‘Jewish crime of the century?’: One hundred years ago, University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb were tried and convicted for killing Loeb’s second cousin. Members of the Jewish community blamed the crime on the pair’s lack of religious observance and the Ku Klux Klan blamed it on Jewish degeneracy. Speculation as to the murderers’ sexual orientation led to offers for Sigmund Freud to observe in the courtroom or serve as an expert witness. But, for all these Jewish incidentals, Benjamin Ivry writes, those interested in the case still await an in-depth study that sees Leopold and Loeb’s “most unfortunate story in terms of their Judaism.”

First person | How sitting shiva helped me decide to convert to Judaism: Our intern Debrah Miszak, who grew up Catholic, says a knot formed in her when her great-grandmother died on Easter in 2014. “I found myself filled with anger and loneliness, and with no outlet to process it.” Years later, she attended shiva for her friend’s mother, which left an indelible impact. “Although mourners must grieve and remember the dead, they are accompanied by the living, who witness their anguish and take care of them through it.”

Plus: In the early 20th century, a Jewish artist from Odessa pioneered abstract paintings, whimsical furniture and boldly patterned textiles that feel wholly contemporary today.

NEW FROM THE FORWARD

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

📙  Saturday Night Live opened with a skit spoofing former President Donald Trump for selling his own version of the Bible for Easter. “I’m selling Bibles,” said actor James Austin Johnson, portraying Trump. “Look at this beautiful Bible, made from 100% Bible.” (YouTube)

🎒  Harvard University saw a 5% drop in applications for its fall 2024 freshman class, its lowest level in four years. Other Ivy League schools received a record number of applicants. While the reason is unclear, the decrease comes in a year when the school faced upheaval due to the war in Gaza and the Supreme Court restricted how colleges can consider race in admissions. (Wall Street Journal)

🤦  A 28-year-old Republican congressional candidate in Texas posted to his more than 3 million YouTube subscribers “videos replete with imagery, music and jokes about the Nazi regime and the Holocaust.” (Jewish Insider)

🇳🇱  A Chabad emissary in the Netherlands was struck on the head Friday in what is believed to be an antisemitic attack. Police are investigating. (Jerusalem Post)

🚃  Amsterdam’s public tram company is donating 100,000 Euros — and potentially more in the future — to local Jewish groups. It is also placing memorials at three central locations where it transported Dutch Jews to the Nazis during the Holocaust. (JTA)

🧔  The U.S. government believes that California’s enforcement of a state rule requiring prison guards to be clean-shaven amounts to religious discrimination for Sikhs, Muslims and others who wear beards as an expression of their faith. (AP)

Shiva calls ➤  Sami Michael, an award-winning Iraqi-born Israeli author, died at 97 … Paula Weinstein, a movie producer and political activist, died at 78 … Joseph Walder, a philanthropist and biotechnologist behind some of the first COVID-19 tests, died at 73 … Rabbi Eliyahu Zion Sofer, the head of a large Sephardic yeshiva near Haifa, died at 71.

What else we’re reading ➤  The stunning rise, curious suspension and insistent return of Israel’s star spokesman … How Trump infuses Christianity into his rallies … How New York comedians are joking about the war in Israel.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Our editor-in-chief, Jodi Rudoren, spoke about the complexities of covering the war in Gaza last week at Sarah Lawrence College.

Thanks to Susan Greene, PJ Grisar and Jodi Rudoren for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Beth Harpaz for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at editorial@forward.com.

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