JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.

WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

Today: ‘60 Minutes’ under fire for biased Israel reporting • Menorah found amidst wildfire rubble • Broadway’s new Jewish romantic comedy • and much more

ISRAEL AT WAR

Demonstrators gathered outside the Israeli Defense Ministry on Saturday in Tel Aviv. (Getty)

Hostage deal could come today

Hamas accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire-for-hostage deal, according to officials involved in the process, with a deal potentially being signed as early as today. (Reuters)

• The deal would see the release of 33 hostages, held for over 15 months and most of them alive, in the first six-week stage. Among the 33 are five female Israeli soldiers, who would each be exchanged for 50 Palestinian prisoners, according to a draft of the deal. (Times of Israel)

  
  

• During this time, Israeli forces would withdraw from parts of Gaza, Palestinians would begin to start moving back home, and a surge of 600 humanitarian aid trucks would be allowed in each day. (Times of Israel)

  
  

• The deal was mediated by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar; President-elect Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, also met with top leaders in the region. “I have learned from my many years of public service to never, never, never, ever give up,” President Joe Biden said during a wide-ranging foreign policy speech Monday. (Times of Israel)

  
  

• Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to lay out a plan for rebuilding a post-war Gaza in a speech in D.C. today. (Axios)

  
  

• Far-right Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, said they would leave Netanyahu’s government coalition if the deal goes through. Ben-Gvir also acknowledged that he repeatedly foiled plans for a deal last year. (Times of Israel)

Opinion | Why is Netanyahu poised to OK a ceasefire that’s favorable to Hamas? One word: Trump

All eyes are on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as hostage deal inches closer. (Getty)

In other Israel news…

• CBS News said Monday it is creating an executive editor position to better oversee standards around “highly complex, sensitive issues like the war in the Middle East,” after a steady stream of criticism, most recently leveled at a Sunday segment on 60 Minutes for being “shockingly one-sided” against Israel. (Jewish Insider, Variety, X)

  
  

• Cuba joined South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of genocide. (Haaretz)

  
  

• British authorities reprimanded a London Chabad for raising funds for an Israeli soldier, as U.K. law prohibits charities from supporting foreign military personnel. (JTA)

  
  

• A group of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank planted 250 olive trees Monday in memory of the late President Jimmy Carter. (Times of Israel)

NEW TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

Rabbi Ari Berman has been president of Yeshiva University since 2017. (Getty)

Rabbi Ari Berman, the president of Yeshiva University, is set to deliver a benediction at Trump’s inauguration next week, along with an imam, an Evangelical pastor and a Roman Catholic priest.

• Under Berman’s leadership, the school has shifted rightward, religiously and politically. A survey by the student newspaper, published ahead of the November election, suggested more than 80% of YU students planned to vote for Trump, and cited Israel as their main reason.

  
  

• After the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, Berman said that he was “heartbroken” witnessing “the attempt to tear asunder the very fabric of our democracy” and condemned the “acts of violence.”

Plus…

• Senate confirmation hearings are set today for Pete Hegseth, Trump’s defense secretary pick, who has views that are consistent with Christian nationalism. (JTA)

  
  

• A reader asks: My non-Jewish colleagues keep saying that Trump “will be good for the Jews.” How should I respond? Our Bintel Brief advice columnist has some ideas.

CULTURE

Peter Gallagher and Julianna Margulies in Left on Tenth on Broadway. (Joan Marcus)

Play time

Director Susan Stroman adapted Delia Ephron’s story of finding her bashert amidst grief and cancer into a new Broadway play starring Julianna Margulies and Peter Gallagher. It’s “a 100-minute romance that is as warm and as culturally Jewish as a bowl of matzo ball soup from the Second Avenue Deli,” writes our Samuel Eli Shepherd. Go deeper ►

Plus: The son of a Hungarian-born Jewish optometrist launched one of the most successful recording studios of the past century, producing hits from Barbra Streisand, Bob Dylan and more.

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Josh Kotler holds his grandmother’s menorah, which was found in the rubble of his family home in Pasadena. (Courtesy)

🕎  A survivor of the Southern California wildfires found hope in the ashes of his home: His bubbe’s menorah. (Forward)

🔥  The Jewish Free Loan Association is offering interest-free loans up to $15,000 to anyone impacted by the wildfires, regardless of religion. (Algemeiner)

🇳🇱  The Netherlands was planning on opening a vast online archive of people suspected of collaborating with the Nazis. But Dutch officials, worried it violated EU privacy laws, tweaked the process at the last moment. People are now required to visit the Hague to see the names. (JTA, Times of Israel)

🤷  A Milwaukee rabbi and his son were arrested for vandalizing an antisemitic mural that depicted a Star of David morphing into a swastika. Their actions have sparked debate: Are they heroes or hooligans? (JTA)

⛪  A burglar broke into a Philadelphia church and stole a 125-year-old bejeweled crown from a Virgin Mary statue. The heist was captured on surveillance video, and police are searching for the suspect. (AP)

Shiva calls ► Martin Karplus, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2013, died at 94 … Hadiya Sittah, one of the last Jews in Damascus, died at 92 … Ishak Haleva, the chief rabbi of Turkey since 2002, died at 84 … Jesse Cogan, the ad exec who coined the slogan “Turn Friday Night into Shabbos,” died at 74.

What else we’re reading ► How Hitler dismantled a democracy in 53 days (The Atlantic) … Pope Francis’ autobiography arrives in bookstores today (The New York Times) … Nearly half of the world’s population holds antisemitic beliefs, the Anti-Defamation League’s CEO writes in an opinion essay (Politico).

PHOTO OF THE DAY

(Getty)

A couple out for a morning stroll Tuesday in the outskirts of Jerusalem found a large chunk of a Houthi missile smashed through the roof of their home. (Times of Israel)

Thanks to Jacob Kornbluh 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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