WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

Today: Harvard punches back at White House • Russell Brand defends ‘Heil Hitler’ song • New Fox series will follow women of the Torah • And much more.

PRESIDENT TRUMP

The new data is being published two weeks after the conclusion of Trump’s first 100 days in office. (Getty)

American Jews say Trump is fueling antisemitism — not fighting it

About half of American Jews, 52%, view President Donald Trump as antisemitic, while few believe his campus crackdown is helping, according to a poll out this morning.

• Standout stat: Nearly half said the funding cuts to universities have made antisemitism worse. “It is very striking that a lot of things that are being done in the name of combating antisemitism, Jews in America actually believe that these things increase antisemitism, instead of reduce antisemitism,” said Jim Gerstein of GBAO Strategies, which conducted the survey for the nonpartisan Jewish Voters Resource Center.

  
  

• Other findings: About 70% said the words “fascist” and “racist” describe Trump very or somewhat well, and 64% disapprove of how he’s combating antisemitism.

  
  

• Zooming out: The results echo a late April poll that found 72% of American Jews disapprove of Trump’s overall job performance.

President Donald Trump was greeted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riydah on Tuesday, the start of a four-day visit to the Gulf region. (Getty)

Trump’s Middle East trip…

• In a surprise announcement, Trump said Tuesday he plans to lift sanctions on Syria and, in his clearest remarks yet, voiced openness to talks with Iran — a shift that suggests a new U.S. foreign policy approach with no “permanent enemies.” (Axios)

  
  

• Trump also urged Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to sign onto the Abraham Accords with Israel. (Times of Israel)

  
  

• Trump said a luxury jet from Qatar would only serve as a temporary Air Force One until long-delayed newer Boeing planes arrive. (Bloomberg)

  
  

• The gift has sparked ethical and security concerns — and drawn rare criticism from prominent Jewish voices in the MAGA movement, who object to accepting a jet from Qatar, a key Hamas backer. (Forward)

Harvard is asking a judge to declare the Trump administration's actions unlawful. (Getty)

On campus…

• The Trump administration on Tuesday canceled $450 million in research grants to Harvard, in addition to the $2.2 billion it had already frozen. The government didn’t add new accusations, but said the university has failed to address the “pervasive race discrimination and antisemitic harassment” they said is “plaguing” the campus. (New York Times)

  
  

• In response, Harvard expanded its lawsuit against the government, first filed in April. “The government has not identified — and cannot identify — any rational connection between antisemitism concerns and the medical, scientific, technological, and other research it has frozen or terminated,” the lawsuit said. (Crimson, Reuters)

  
  

• “The grief your mother and I feel is but one drop in a sea of sorrow that Palestinian families have drowned in for generations,” Mahmoud Khalil, the pro-Palestinian Columbia activist who has been detained since March, wrote in a public letter to his newborn son. (Guardian)

Opinions…

Rob Eshman | The staggering hypocrisy behind Trump’s deal to free the last living American hostage

Aviya Kushner | Though sworn enemies, Hamas and Donald Trump seem to share a common language

From our Sponsor, Reichman University

ISRAEL

People check a bus inside a crater this morning in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. (Getty)

The latest…

• Israeli fighter jets bombed southern Gaza Tuesday in an effort to kill Muhammad Sinwar, Hamas’ top leader in Gaza and the brother of a leader killed last year. His fate remains unclear. (CNN)

  
  

• While visiting Edan Alexander at a Tel Aviv hospital, Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff gave the freed hostage a Star of David necklace that had belonged to his late son, Andrew, who died in 2011. (Jerusalem Post)

  
  

• For the Lag B’Omer holiday, which begins Thursday night, police plan to cap attendance on Mount Meron at 63,000 people at a time. An estimated 100,000 people gathered in 2021, when a stampede at the celebration killed 45, including children. (Times of Israel)

  
  

• Israeli President Isaac Herzog is set to attend the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV in Rome on Sunday. (Times of Israel)

Palestinians work to get a ration of hot food from a charity kitchen set up in Gaza on Monday. (Getty)

Gaza food crisis…

While Israel’s government publicly denies a food crisis in Gaza, some military officials privately admit the territory is nearing widespread starvation without renewed aid deliveries. (New York Times)

Opinion | Our columnist Jay Michaelson supported Israel’s actions in Gaza back in 2023. But not anymore. “I haven’t fundamentally changed my beliefs, hopes, and dreams about a just future for Israel and Palestine,” he writes. “But the Israeli government’s strategies and tactics have changed. Hundreds of thousands of people are starving in Gaza because of the avoidable, unnecessary, and genocidal actions of the Jewish state. What a terrible, morally repugnant tragedy.” Read his essay ►

The front pages of newspapers from around the world covering Israel’s declaration of independence on May 14, 1948. (Collage by Matthew Litman)

On this day in history…

Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948. Newspapers around the globe cataloged the confusion and chaos brought by the official expiration of Britain’s mandate over Palestine, and the alarm at how rapidly war seemed to be unfolding.

We’ve rounded up the front pages of 18 newspapers from that historic moment — spanning Bangor to Boston, Hollywood to Honolulu and beyond. Here at the Forward, we splurged the extra gelt for red ink to mark the occasion.

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Zellnor Myrie, a New York City mayoral candidate, highlighted his “special relationship with the Hasidic community,” in a new memo. (Getty)

In New York…

👮  New York City Mayor Eric Adams launched a new office to combat antisemitism. Brad Lander, the city’s highest-ranking Jewish elected official, who is running to replace Adams, called it a “cynical” move, adding “Jews are not pawns.” (New York Jewish Week, X)

🗳️  As rivals talk about antisemitism and Israel, mayoral candidate Zellnor Myrie made a bread-and-butter appeal to Hasidic voters, outlining policy proposals on affordable housing, taxes, education and public safety. (Forward)

🚶 The Jewish National Fund for the first time will be allocating $100,000 toward New York City’s annual Israel parade, set for Sunday. (JTA)

And elsewhere…

🎙️ Russell Brand, the actor and podcaster who is currently facing rape charges in London, defended Ye’s new “Heil Hitler” song calling the rapper, formerly known as Kanye, a truth-teller. (JTA)

✝️  Rev. Calvin Robinson lost his license in the Anglican Catholic Church in January when he appeared to give a Nazi-like salute days after Elon Musk had done something similar. He’s now been given a temporary license from a different Anglican jurisdiction. (Religion News Service, JTA)

💻  A legal watchdog warned Microsoft that it may be violating federal civil rights law by refusing to recognize a Jewish employee group, while supporting others based on race, ethnicity, age, or sexual orientation — but not religion. (Jewish Insider)

🕯️ A Holocaust museum opened on the site of the Czech factory where Oskar Schindler saved 1,200 Jews, timed to mark the 80th anniversary of World War II’s end. (AP)

🙏  Fox has greenlit a new limited series about five “courageous and passionate, yet flawed women” from the Old Testament: Sarah, Hagar, Rebekah, Leah and Rachel. It is set to air in the spring of 2026. (Hollywood Reporter)

What else we’re reading ► Haunted by history, Persian Jews wary of Trump’s Iran approach (Jewish Insider) … Dutch-led team digitizes 100,000 documents to preserve Jewish history in the Caribbean (AP) … A Queens community garden said its members must be anti-Zionist. Now it’s facing eviction. (Gothamist)

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Hen Mazzig, a pro-Israel social media influencer and “whisperer to the stars on the Middle East conflict,” sat down with Mayim Bialik for the latest episode of his podcast. They chatted about the war in Israel, being a Jew in Hollywood … and how Yiddish words often have double meanings.

Today’s newsletter made me:

🤓 Confident I understand issues impacting American Jews.

🔗 Connected to the Jewish world.

💡 Curious to learn about something I read.

🤷🏽‍♀️ No different.

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