JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.

WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

Sources say Israel nixing major Rafah operation, Trump promotes “unified Reich” in social media post, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pushes bill to penalize N.Y. charities backing Israeli settlements, Facebook board to mull posts that call all Israelis criminals, remembering the real-life inspiration for Gordon Gekko, and why Wicked is a very Jewish musical.

CONFLICT ON CAMPUS

Northwestern University President Michael Schill is the only Jewish leader scheduled to testify before Congress on Thursday. (Getty/Courtesy)

Jewish president of Northwestern, under fire for making deal with protesters, is next to take hot seat in Congress

Michael Schill of Northwestern has been depicted as a devil with horns by pro-Palestinian protesters. He also faced fierce calls for his resignation from Jewish nonprofits, including the Anti-Defamation League.

Schill is now headed into the potential inferno, one of three university presidents slated to testify Thursday on Capitol Hill. He is the only Jewish leader on Thursday’s docket — the others are Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway and Michael V. Drake of UCLA.

Those who know Schill well expect him to draw at least in part on Jewish values that he has described as “core to my identity.” Schill’s great-grandfather was killed in a pogrom in Russia in the 1890s, and his aunts, uncles and cousins in Poland were taken to concentration camps four decades later. Universities, Schill once said, “should be a model for how people can bridge difference and polarization.”

We dispatched reporter Duncan Agnew to Northwestern to speak with students and faculty about Schill’s leadership in these tumultuous times.

Related: A class action lawsuit was filed on Monday against Northwestern University over alleged antisemitism on campus.

Plus…

The New School in New York says it has reached a deal with anti-Israel protesters to hold a vote on divestment, in exchange for a Gaza solidarity encampment being dismantled.

The campus at Drexel University in Philadelphia was locked down on Monday, with classes held virtually, as the school threatened to clear an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters.

A professor at the University of Illinois retired early due to what she describes as “institutional antisemitism.”

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ISRAEL AT WAR

The International Criminal Court said that it would seek an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Getty)

President Joe Biden slammed the International Criminal Court on Monday after it announced plans to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, calling the warrants “outrageous” and saying that what’s happening in Gaza “is not genocide.”

Italy’s foreign minister said it was “absurd” for the court to put Israel and Hamas on the same level.

“This is a complete distortion of reality,” said Netanyahu. “This is exactly what the new antisemitism looks like. It has moved from the campuses of the West to the court in The Hague.”

In other news: Israel has reportedly decided to shelve plans for a major offensive in Rafah, after discussions with the U.S. on the matter.

Opinion | Trying to arrest Netanyahu could actually make him more powerful:The court’s decision “could badly backfire, both by harming the court’s standing and by helping the beleaguered Israeli government, and especially its much-criticized leader,” argues Dan Perry, the author of two books about Israel. “That doesn’t necessarily mean the decision is wrong. Just that it is far from a clear victory for opponents of Israel’s war.” Read his essay ➤

NEW FROM THE FORWARD

ALSO IN THE FORWARD

The tomb of Alfred Dreyfus, where Alfred Dreyfus Samuelson left his business card. (Wikimedia)

He’s named after his grandfather Alfred Dreyfus (not that one):When Alfred Dreyfus Samuelson left his business card on Capt. Alfred Dreyfus’ grave, announcing that he shared a name with the persecuted French officer, he couldn’t have anticipated what came next: a call from an actual Dreyfus descendant. Connected by a name, Samuelson and Dreyfus’ great-grandson Jean-Marc Perl began a decades-long correspondence. Earlier this month, they even vacationed together in Normandy. The kicker? Samuelson isn’t even Jewish. “Nobody’s perfect,” Perl jokes.

Plus…

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is trying to revive a controversial bill in the state legislature that would penalize New York-based nonprofits that support activities in Israeli settlements.

France would like to believe that an antisemitic arson attack last week was an aberration, writes Robert Zaretsky. History says otherwise.

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

(Getty)

🤦 A video posted to Donald Trump’s account on his social media network Monday included references to a “unified Reich” among hypothetical news headlines if he wins the election in November. (AP)

💻 The content oversight board at Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is asking for the public to provide perspectives on posts that say “all Israelis are criminals.” The board is also evaluating whether the Palestinian rallying cry “from the river to sea” should be allowed on its platforms. (JTA)

😲 A former professional basketball player turned right-wing podcaster who has criticized “the Jewish elite” and is running for the U.S. Senate won the endorsement of Minnesota Republican Party. (JTA)

🕍 The rabbi who appeared on this weekend’s Saturday Night Live leads a congregation once attended by two of the Three Stooges, Sandy Koufax, actor Shelley Winters and comedians Red Buttons, Jack Benny, Milton Berle, Sophie Tucker and Henny Youngman. (JTA)

Mazel tov ➤ To Fred Heyman, a 95-year-old Holocaust survivor, who recently celebrated his bar mitzvah.

Shiva calls ➤ Yael Dayan, a politician, peace activist and the daughter of Israeli General Moshe Dayan, died at 85 … Ivan Boesky, a Wall Street mogul who inspired the character of Gordon Gekko and whose role in an illegal insider trading scheme in the 1980s rattled a Jewish community to which he had been a generous donor, died at 82.

What else we’re reading ➤ Trump surrogates are making a pitch to Arab Americans who feel betrayed by Biden … What the top U.S. Nazi hunter thinks of claims that Israel is committing genocide … Have you seen the trailer for the upcoming movie Wicked? Here are 11 Jewish tidbits about the Broadway musical and film.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Clockwise from left: Tiffany Haddish and President Joe Biden; Biden, VP Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman; reporters Ron Kampeas of the JTA, Ben Samuels of Haaretz and our own Jacob Kornbluh at the White House. (Getty/X)

President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman, hosted a reception Monday in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month. “My commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad,” Biden told the several hundred gathered in the Rose Garden. “To the Jewish community, I want you to know: I see your fear, your hurt, your pain. Let me assure you, as your president, you are not alone.” Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American-Israeli held hostage by Hamas, were also in attendance. Read the story ➤

Thanks to PJ Grisar, Debbie Miszak, Jake Wasserman and Talya Zax 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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