Anti-Israel protesters occupy Barnard building, demand ‘amnesty’ for expelled peers
(JNS) — The Empire State Building was lit orange on Wednesday night in memory of Shiri Bibas and her sons Ariel and Kfir, whom Hamas killed in captivity and who were buried earlier in the day in Israel. Some four-and-a-half miles north in Manhattan, anti-Israel Barnard College students took over an administrative building on campus.
Classes were canceled, and a Barnard staff member was assaulted and hospitalized, Jewish Insider reported. Kassy Akiva, a reporter for Daily Wire, wrote that Barnard spokesperson told her that “a small group of masked protesters forcibly entered Milbank Hall and physically assaulted a Barnard employee, sending them to the hospital.”
“They encouraged others to enter campus without identification, showing blatant disregard for the safety of our community,” the spokesperson added. “We have made multiple good-faith efforts to de-escalate. Barnard leadership offered to meet with the protesters — just as we meet with all members of our community — on one simple condition: remove their masks. They refused.”
The spokesperson said that Barnard doesn’t know if those in the building are part of the college. “If they do not agree to leave the building by 9:30 p.m., Barnard will be forced to consider additional, necessary measures to protect our campus,” the spokesperson said. (JNS sought comment from Barnard.)
Just 33% of Democrats have a favorable view of Israel, Gallup poll finds
(JTA) — Just a third of Democrats have a favorable view of Israel, a steep decline from just a few years ago, according to a Gallup poll.
That’s in contrast to 83% of Republicans who view Israel favorably — a partisan gap of 50 points. Responding to the results, Jewish Democratic leaders said they remained confident in their party’s pro-Israel bona fides — though one sounded notes of caution. Jewish Republicans celebrated the poll.
The poll, published on Monday, is the latest stark sign that Democrats are losing their love for Israel. Previous polls taken during the Israel-Hamas war have shown that Democrats are more likely than Republicans to blame Israel for the fighting and to be more sympathetic to the Palestinians than to the Israelis.
And the gap in this week’s poll shows that, after decades during which Israel was seen as a bipartisan issue, there is now a chasm between how voters from both parties view the country. The poll’s analysis attributed the gap to the Israel-Hamas war as well as polarization over President Donald Trump.
Elon Musk suggests ‘deep state’ behind Netanyahu’s trial
(JNS) — Elon Musk suggested on Monday that the corruption trial of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was orchestrated by the “deep state.”
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the co-head of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, made the remark on a social media platform that he owns. He wrote: “the deep state is everywhere,” quoting and reposting a tweet by conservative Mark Levin. The tweet contained a URL to a documentary about Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial.
The term “deep state” refers to bureaucracies, especially within the executive branch of government, that exercises power regardless of the policies of elected politicians who are nominally in charge of those bureaucracies.
Netanyahu has consistently denied the allegations against him and denounced the charges against him as political persecution by judicial means.
Donald Trump posts AI video showing ‘Trump Gaza’ as a beachside paradise
(JTA) — Is Donald Trump backing away from his vision to transform Gaza into a beachside resort? Not according to a video the president posted late Tuesday to his social media account that imagines the Palestinian enclave as “Trump Gaza.”
The AI-generated video opens with an image of destruction, dated 2025, then asks the question “What’s next?”
The answer: a thriving beach community, complete with (bearded) belly dancers, Elon Musk eating hummus, happy children and a giant golden statue (and balloon) of a heroic Trump.
“No more tunnels, no more fear, Trump Gaza is finally here,” a song says over the video, which at one point shows Trump lounging poolside next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, both of them shirtless.
