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WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

AIPAC spent millions on today’s Missouri primary, biblical bear lessons for RFK Jr., Columbia students sue congressional Democrats for “inciting” campus violence, and Jewish sisters win gold at Paris Olympics.

ELECTION 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris and, clockwise, Gov. Josh Shapiro, Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. Mark Kelly. (Getty)

Vice President Kamala Harris is set to reveal her running mate today, and the two will kick off five days of campaigning together across the country. The finalists include …


Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro: Selecting the popular governor of a swing state makes sense electorally, and would also bring a historic choice to an already historic ticket: the possibility of the first Jewish vice president.


Behind the scenes: Shapiro seemed to be taking the hullabaloo around him in stride. He spent Monday afternoon playing basketball with his son in their driveway.


Minnesota’s Tim Walz: The possibility of a no-frills, folksy Midwest governor joining the ticket has picked up steam in recent days, with voters attracted to his charm and ability to get his hands dirty fixing a furnace or a carburetor.


Arizona’s Mark Kelly: The senator, Navy veteran and astronaut is married to Gabby Giffords, the Jewish former congresswoman who survived a mass shooting in 2011. Kelly co-sponsored the bipartisan Countering Antisemitism Act and has visited Israel at least twice since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

Wesley Bell, left, and Rep. Cori Bush are in a heated primary today in St. Louis where Israel has become a central issue. (Getty)

More election news…


‘Antisemitism is on the ballot’ today in St. Louis. What does that mean? AIPAC has poured at least $9 million into the race to defeat Rep. Cori Bush, one of Congress’ harshest critics of Israel, in the Democratic primary. And a new group is trying to turn out Jewish voters. But critics say the nonprofit may be running afoul of tax laws by coming close to endorsing a candidate. Read the story ➤


Related: Here’s a deeper look inside the Jewish angles to the Missouri race


In RFK Jr.’s bear story, a plot worthy of Larry David — or Samson: In the latest bizarre development for the Kennedy campaign, the third-party candidate admitted to dumping the carcass of a baby black bear in Central Park. But in explaining his own actions, Kennedy, a friend of Larry David and the husband of Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Cheryl Hines, accomplished something rare, making his appalling actions seem, at least for a minute, reasonable. As our PJ Grisar writes, Kennedy drew on “all the hallmarks” of a classic Curb episode, and even echoed an anecdote Samson shares via riddle in the Book of Judges. Read the story ➤


Plus…

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ISRAEL AT WAR

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks with Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden on Monday in the Situation Room. (Courtesy of the White House)

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris joined their top advisers in the Situation Room Monday afternoon to discuss a potential Iranian attack on Israel, after Israel assassinated a top Hamas official in Tehran last week.


Arms down? "We are engaged in intense diplomacy, pretty much round-the-clock, with a very simple message: All parties must refrain from escalation,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken after the meeting, adding, “escalation is not in anyone's interests.”


Arms up? A diplomat from a Western country warned, “we’re preparing for several intense days of exchanging blows before there’s even a possibility to turn the heat down,” he said.


Perspective: As Israel braces for attack, ordinary citizens fear that Netanyahu has destroyed a country and a dream, our columnist writes.


‘It’s like living in two realities at the same time’ | Israelis navigate normal life amid danger and anxiety: “Working, kids, ‘routine,’ partying and living life — while dealing with grief, actual threats and uncertainty constantly,” said one Israeli this summer. Sometimes the contrast is striking. Hours after a drone shot from Yemen exploded blocks away from the Tel Aviv beach last month, killing a local worker, the shore was crowded with locals enjoying a weekend in the sun. Read the story ➤


Plus…

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ALSO IN THE FORWARD

The unbrushed look, from left to right: actor Natasha Lyonne, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, actor Helena Bonham Carter. (Getty)

  • Does your coworker have unruly hair? Our Bintel Brief advice columnist has two words of advice. “Here’s how you tell other people what to do with their hair: You don’t.” Plus: “It’s sexist and none of your business — and it might even land you in trouble.”


  • The career of Lou Reed, the legendary founder of the Velvet Underground, was filled with Jewish references and collaborators, a new book explains.


  • Our lox columnist, Len Berk, writes an ode to his three favorite knives at Zabar’s.

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

An April protest outside Columbia University. (Getty)

⛺  Five students filed a class action lawsuit against three congressional Democrats — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jamaal Bowman and Ilhan Omar — for “inciting and encouraging” pro-Palestinian encampents this spring at Columbia University. (NY Post)


👮 Columbia is in the early stages of considering hiring “peace officers” to patrol the campus. (WSJ)


🎒  North Carolina State University has settled a complaint which had accused the school of failing to respond adequately to antisemitic incidents on campus. (Algemeiner)


📈  Antisemitic incidents in the Czech Republic rose 90% in 2023, with a particular spike in the three months after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, the country’s Jewish community wrote in its annual report. (AP)


⚖️  Louisiana’s attorney general is asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by nine families — three of whom are Jewish — that claims the state’s new law requiring public school classrooms display the Ten Commandments violates the Constitution’s separation of church and state. (AP)


Shiva call ➤  Walter Arlen, a Holocaust refugee whose Nazi memories inspired the music he composed, died at 103.

OLYMPIC UPDATE

Noemie Fox of Team Australia celebrates with her sister Jessica Fox after winning gold Monday. (Getty)

Australian kayaker Noemie Fox won gold on Monday, after her big sister Jessica won two of her own gold medals last week. They’re not the only Jewish siblings in Olympic history to win gold.


American wrestler Amit Elor, whom we highlighted yesterday for overcoming personal tragedy and online antisemitism, has advanced t0 the quarter finals.


Watch: You've seen the amazing swimmers at the Olympics; here’s how to talk about swimming in Yiddish.


Here’s a roundup of Jewish athletes at the Games, and when they are competing. Keep up with all of our Olympic coverage.

Thanks to PJ Grisar, Rukhl Schaechter 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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