JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.

WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

Today: Jewish groups sue Trump over immigration policy • Netanyahu issues ultimatum to Hamas • Australian nurses threaten to kill Jewish patients • And more Kanye West fallout.

A SECOND TRUMP TERM

Elon Musk, accompanied by his 4-year-old son, and President Donald Trump took questions from reporters Tuesday in the Oval Office. (Getty)

Musk’s influence

Elon Musk made an Oval Office appearance Tuesday with one of his children, and took questions from reporters as President Donald Trump watched. Musk defended his work leading an effort to slash spending across the government.

• Musk admitted yesterday that his claim that $50 million worth of condoms were allocated to Gaza was false. It was instead meant for the Gaza province in Mozambique. “Some of the things that I say will be incorrect,” he said in the Oval Office. (Times of Israel)

  
  

• One of Musk’s areas of focus is cuts at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which would regulate some functions of X, the social network he owns that has been a hotbed of antisemitism since he loosened restrictions instituted when it was Twitter. (NPR, ISD)

  
  

• Since the inauguration, Musk has engaged with users on X that post racist and antisemitic content, amplifying their messages to his 200 million followers. (Mother Jones)
  

Jewish worry

Opinion | As a rabbi, I’ve never confronted a topic as tricky as Trump: “There are moments when we need our houses of worship to offer us sanctuary from the chaotic and painful challenges of the world outside,” writes Joshua M. Davidson of Temple Emanu-El in New York City. “And yet the Talmud requires that synagogues have windows, because as Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook taught, we must never hide from those challenges. The impulse for religious leaders to hide, now, may be strong; it is also wrong.” Read his essay ►

Related…

• Divided over partisan politics, some rabbis are finding themselves at odds with their congregants. (Jewish Chronicle)

  
  

• Thirty-four liberal Jewish groups signed a statement defending DEI programs as essential for combating discrimination, pushing back against efforts to dismantle them. (JTA)

  
  

• The Trump administration’s recent executive orders, including the recognition of only two sexes and the rollback of gender-affirming care, have heightened concerns within the transgender Jewish community, prompting some families to consider moving. (JTA)

  
  

• More than two dozen Christian and Jewish groups, including the Union for Reform Judaism, sued the Trump administration Tuesday, challenging a policy giving immigration agents leeway to make arrests at houses of worship. (AP)

  
  

• Jewish Family Service of San Diego has issued 60-day layoff notices to migrant shelter workers following federal policy changes that halted new asylum-seeker arrivals. (NBC San Diego)

ISRAEL AT WAR

Protesters demonstrated in front of the prime minister's office Tuesday in Jerusalem. (Getty)

The hostages…

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that “intense fighting” will resume in Gaza if hostages are not returned by noon Saturday. He did not clarify if he meant the original three hostages that were set to be released as part of the fragile ceasefire, or if he was echoing Trump’s call to release all hostages. (JTA)

  
  

• Relatives of the hostages are terrified about what happens next. (AP)

  
  

• Last week’s release of three emaciated hostages shocked the “Bring Them Home” movement, which had been sustained by hope during the ongoing ceasefire. “It looked like the liberation of Auschwitz or Buchenwald,” said Rabbi Naomi Levy. (JTA)

Future of Gaza…

• Reiterating his vision of a U.S.-run Gaza, President Trump said Tuesday, “We will have Gaza,” at a White House meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan. “It’s a war-torn area. We’re going to take it. We’re going to hold it. We’re going to cherish it.” (New York Times)

  
  

• The king rejected Trump’s idea to have displaced Palestinians move to Jordan, but instead said his country would take in 2,000 sick children from Gaza. (New York Times, Times of Israel)

  
  

• Egypt is working on plans for “a comprehensive vision for the reconstruction” of Gaza that “ensures the Palestinian people stay on their land.” (Times of Israel)

Palestinian bookseller Ahmad Muna is escorted by Israeli police into court Monday in Jerusalem. (Getty)

Bookshop backlash

Prominent Israeli writers are protesting the police raid on two bookstores in east Jerusalem and the arrest of its Palestinian owners. “Our people should not be in the business of banning books,” one author noted.  (JTA)

Opinion | “Too often, Israel’s supporters lament the absence of nonviolent Palestinian leaders willing to engage,” writes Yona Shem-Tov. The arrest of the bookstores’ owners “is an indictment not of them, but rather of our own broader failure to recognize our potential partners when they are right in front of us.” Read her essay ►

CULTURE

We’re experiencing a Bob Dylan renaissance. Is that a good thing? (Getty)

Dylan’s new spin

The Oscar-nominated A Complete Unknown has led to Bob Dylan mania across the country. Seth Rogovoy, our music columnist and the author of a book about Dylan, wonders: Is that a good thing? “Not to be churlish or begrudge Dylan this surge of popularity in the twilight of his career,” he writes, “but some may wonder if there is something a little bit off, a little bit gnarly, about Dylan getting this late-career boost due to a Hollywood retelling of his early musical evolution featuring a much-lauded impersonation of him by a matinee idol.” Read his essay ►

Related: Critics said Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show was too loud and hard to understand. They said the same thing about Dylan at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, writes our Olivia Haynie.

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Israeli actress Shira Haas on Tuesday at the Hollywood premiere of Captain America: Brave New World. (Getty)

Today in Kanye…

💻  Shopify shut down Kanye West’s online store that was selling one item: a T-shirt with a swastika on it. West’s talent agent also dropped him on Tuesday. (CBS News, People)

🤦  A Jewish woman who used to work for West sued him on Tuesday for making hateful and antisemitic comments at work from January to June 2024. It is the latest in a string of lawsuits filed by West’s former employees over the past year. (Variety)

🖕  A video going viral on social media shows a litany of Jewish celebrities — including Scarlett Johansson and Steven Spielberg — giving the middle finger to West. It was created by artificial intelligence. (JTA)

📈  Losing track of West’s antisemitic behavior? Here’s a running list that starts in 2013 — and continues through this week. (Forward)

Elsewhere…

🇦🇺  Two nurses at a Sydney hospital were suspended after a TikTok video showed them refusing to treat Jewish patients and making death threats, prompting a police investigation. It is the latest in a string of antisemitic incidents that have roiled Australia. (Times of Israel)

😣  A majority of American Jews — 56% — have changed their behavior in the past year over fears of antisemitism, according to a new survey from the American Jewish Committee. That’s up from 46% in 2023 and 38% in 2022. (JTA)

🍿  Protesters at the Hollywood premiere of Captain America: Brave New World called for a boycott of the film, chanting “Free Palestine” and holding signs reading “Disney supports genocide,” because it features Israeli superhero Ruth Bat-Seraph, also known as Sabra, played by the Israeli actress Shira Haas. (Variety)

What else we’re reading ►

• Who should own Auschwitz? (Wall Street Journal)

• Why Christianity is becoming more popular in Silicon Valley, one of the least churchgoing parts of the U.S. (New York Times)

• Glasgow’s queer-friendly, Yiddish-oriented, anti-Zionist cafe, sets its sights on Brooklyn (New York Jewish Week)

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Comedian Elon Gold has a new special, available to watch for free on YouTube. Come for the spot-on President Trump impression, stay for the jokes about “Rabbi Christ.”

Thanks to Jake Wasserman and Talya Zax 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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