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JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.

WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

Israel preps for possible Iranian attack, judge rules Yeshiva University sex abuse lawsuit can proceed, Netflix’s top show is a series about Moses, why supermarkets can’t get Passover timing right, and Las Vegas planning hotel with kosher restaurants and synagogue.

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OUR LEAD STORY

President Biden speaking with Jewish community leaders at the White House on Oct. 11, 2023. (Getty)

Does Biden have a Jewish voter problem?

Some prominent Democrats are worried that President Joe Biden’s increasingly harsh rhetoric over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza is going to repel Jewish voters, a small but key constituency in a tight presidential race.

After his stalwart support for Israel after Oct. 7, Biden in recent weeks has more explicitly and strongly criticized the war and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And last week the U.S. abstained over a U.N. Security Council ceasefire vote instead of vetoing it.

The change in tone follows a series of successful campaigns to encourage Democratic primary voters frustrated with Biden’s failure to pressure Israel for a ceasefire to cast “uncommitted” or blank ballots. The president’s mounting criticism of Israel may shore up his support among Arab and Muslim voters. But could it cut into his support among Jews?

Related…

• The campaign to protest Biden’s support for Israel at the ballot box declared victory in Wisconsin this week following the Democratic primary as more than 47,000 people voted “uninstructed” rather than supporting the party’s presumptive nominee.

  
  

• Biden wanted to hold an iftar dinner with Muslim leaders at the White House to celebrate Ramadan this year, but many declined the invitation because of tensions over Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

  
  

• Biden is set to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today.

ISRAEL AT WAR

Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages block a road during a rally Thursday in Tel Aviv. (Getty)

The latest…

• Israel is preparing for a possible response from Iran, after a strike in Syria earlier this week reportedly killed several high-ranking Iranian military officials.

  
  

• The IDF confirmed that it is jamming some GPS signals in Israel, which can help prevent a drone attack. Residents of Tel Aviv experienced widespread GPS outages on Thursday, with maps showing motorists in Lebanon instead of Israel.

  
  

• Israeli security officials said it foiled a plot by a group of Palestinians and Arab Israelis to kill Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right member of the Knesset. A plan to place explosives at a soccer stadium in Jerusalem was also foiled.

  
  

• Benny Gantz, an Israeli war cabinet minister, called for the country to hold an election in September.

Gaza residents in a makeshift tent Wednesday made from a parachute used to airdrop food aid. (Getty)

Opinion | Israel killed World Central Kitchen workers. I don’t know if my own aid group can safely work in Gaza: “The heartbreaking reality of making decisions like these is that it is never the perpetrator who pays the price,” writes Chris Skopec of Project HOPE, an NGO that is operating health clinics and providing mental health support in Gaza. “It’s the families of our brave aid workers who are mourning the lives of their loved ones — people they will never see or speak to again. And it’s the innocent civilians throughout Gaza, who are suddenly cut off from the trickle of aid that was already not enough to go around.” Read his essay ➤

Plus…

• Our Susan Greene went inside the tent city in Jerusalem where a handful of hardcore activists, who want an immediate hostage deal and for Netanyahu to step down, have been living for months.

  
  

• A popular WWE wrestler, the son of Syrian immigrants to Canada, has been liking anti-Zionist posts on social media. He is set to compete at the annual WrestleMania event this weekend in Philadelphia.

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ALSO IN THE FORWARD

The three-part docudrama chronicles Moses’ journey from exile to liberator. (Netflix)

Why is Netflix’s No. 1 new show a documentary about Moses? Netflix usually churns out true crime series, reality TV shows and soapy dramas. But in the past week, some different fare cracked its top 10 list: a docuseries on Moses, one full of academic talking heads dissecting biblical grammar. Our culture reporter Mira Fox writes that, counterintuitively, these Talmudic analyses might be the source of its strength.

Inmates sue prison for right to watch solar eclipse, claiming it’s a religious experience: “Religion is the only hobby allowed in prison, so naturally the inmates make the most of it,” said Rabbi Joe Hample, who served for two years as chaplain at a supermax prison in California. He added that during his tenure he saw prisoners who claimed to be a part of the Native American religion because it allowed them to use tobacco. “Who am I to assess Native American authenticity?” Hample asked. “That was not heavily covered at Hebrew Union College.”

Plus: New York City Mayor Eric Adams convened a meeting of Jewish and Black leaders to discuss how the two groups can work together to combat hate crimes. Also discussed: Black poets’ work translated into Yiddish.

NEW FROM THE FORWARD

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

The campus of Yeshiva University in New York City. (Getty)

⚖️  A judge ruled this week that a high-profile civil lawsuit could move forward against Yeshiva University, in which dozens of students from 1955 to 1986 allege they were sexually abused by employees of the school. (Haaretz, Reuters)

✍️  More than two years after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote its first letter, his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog has inked the final letters of a Torah scroll dedicated to peace in both of their countries. (JTA)

🎤  In response to rising antisemitism, the Survivor Speakers Bureau launched on Thursday with the goal of connecting Holocaust survivors in-person or virtually with students around the world. (Times of Israel)

🤦  Some supermarkets began displaying matzo in February, apparently unaware of this year’s Hebrew calendar, which puts Passover at the end of April and, unusually, weeks after Easter. (Wall Street Journal)

🏨  A Las Vegas developer is planning a high-rise hotel that would cater to the Jewish community and include kosher restaurants and a synagogue, according to planning documents filed with the county. (KSNV)

🍽️  Sammy’s Roumanian Steakhouse, the famed Lower East side restaurant which shut down in 2021, will reopen in May. But first it will host two Passover seders. (NY Jewish Week)

What else we’re reading ➤  Leading American medical journal faces down its own history of endorsing Nazi race science … Israelis are booking vacations, choosing destinations that provide a sense of safety and security … I inherited a Nazi helmet from my husband. What should I do with it?

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Celebrate the beginning of baseball season in Yiddish. Actor Mandy Patinkin delivers his rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” (“Nem mikh mit tsu der bol-geym”)  to get you into the spirit.

Thanks to Mira Fox, Jacob Kornbluh and Rukhl Schaechter for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Lauren Markoe for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at editorial@forward.com.

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