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Aaron Blake writes in the Washington Post that Joe Biden's efforts to be supportive of Israel’s war against Hamas are getting him in trouble with the Democratic Party’s base:

Three new polls this week showed how views of the war have shifted since last month. And in all three, there’s evidence of Democrats souring in their views of Israel’s cause and conduct.

…Biden came out strongly in support of Israel early on and has mostly stuck to that, though he and his administration have moderated their tone somewhat in recent weeks and taken issue with certain actions by Israel.

…While Americans overall continue to side strongly with Israel, this issue has long divided the Democratic base more or less down the middle. And some of the groups least enthusiastic about Biden’s presidency and 2024 candidacy happen to be the same groups most aligned with the Palestinian cause — young people, African Americans and Hispanics.

NPR: As Democrats stay divided on Israel, Jewish voters face politically uncertain future

Yaffa Rubinstein has long voted for Democrats. She's a strong supporter of President Biden's handling of Israel's war against Hamas… Now, she feels betrayed by what she describes as "anti-Israel" sentiment from some left-wing Democrats.

…Sam Markstein of the Republican Jewish Coalition says he thinks this could be a moment to win over some Jewish voters to the GOP. He notes that his organization co-hosted the most recent Republican primary debate.

"The Democratic Party of today has had a very loud and growing and ascendant anti-Israel voice and wing and they've been coddled and enabled by leadership for years," Markstein said. "That, I think, has led to a point where you will see Jewish voters who may have never voted Republican in their lives seriously considering voting Republican for the first time ever in 2024."

Aaron MacLean and Gabriel Scheinmann, writing at The Dispatch, ask these disturbing questions about America’s long-term military capabilities:

How long is [military support to Israel and Ukraine] materially sustainable given well-reported strains on defense supply chains? Even if Congress ultimately approves supplemental funding for military assistance to Ukraine and Israel, can the US industrial base cash the checks? If so, what is the harm to the increasingly dangerous security situation in the Pacific—the only critical Eurasian region spared an open war at this moment—where China is testing American resolve in the South China Sea and preparing for a war over Taiwan?

In other words, are there enough guns, bullets, and bombs to sustain America’s global strategy, long underpinned by our status as the free world’s armory? Or will reality ultimately force us to retrench? The current polycrisis may be manageable for now, but the instrument panels for both our security abroad and our defense supply chains at home are flashing red—even without the United States engaged in combat.

Read their analysis and recommendations here.

Volunteering in Israel: A Report

Robert Parker is an attorney in Washington, DC, and a valued member of the Jewish Policy Center. He followed his instincts in the wake of October 7 and Israel’s subsequent defense. A civilian volunteer, he is recounting his experience for those of us at home. His first-hand reports of Israel at war are worth your time. Installments one, two, three, four, and five – and much more important analysis and commentary – can be found on the Jewish Policy Center website.

Herf: From the River to the Sea

Jeffrey Herf explains how Hamas’ relatively recent rewriting of its genocidal charter predicted the October 7 attack and reflects the influence of the organization’s apologists in democratic nations: "There is no precedent in modern history in which a movement such as Hamas, with roots in both the racist ideologies of Nazism and in Islamist religious obscurantism, has been so successful in finding supporters or at least excuse-makers among those who regard themselves as secular leftists. For its entire modern history, anti-fascism had been a defining feature of leftist or progressive politics. Beginning in the 1960s, however, leftists in Europe and the United States redefined anti-fascism in a way that severed it from its meaning in the 1940s and, amazingly, turned it against Israel. For the generations who have come of age since the 1960s, the language of anti-racism and anti-colonialism, mistakenly applied to Zionism and Israel, has facilitated the emergence of a kind of magical thinking that transforms Hamas from an inherently racist and antisemitic terrorist force into a member in good standing of the struggle of the wretched of the earth against colonialism and Western domination."

Satloff: How the Washington Post turned a feel-good story into an anti-Israel attack

Robert Satloff writes: "Strange story indeed – in a war filled with death, the Washington Post took a fundamentally good news story about premature babies from Gaza cared for by compassionate people across enemy lines and turned it into a horror story, with diabolical Israelis lurking overhead. Along the way, reporters who stated with precision what infant items are on the floor of blown-out buildings in faraway Gaza repeated unverified accusations against unnamed Israeli authorities by unnamed administrators in unnamed hospitals in unnamed Israeli cities."

NJ.com: The Jewish college basketball coach who isn’t afraid to speak — or post — his mind about Israel

Auburn University men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl is an outspoken and fearless defender of Israel. He has continued to spread the truth about Israel, Hamas, and Iran in the weeks since October 7. He told an interviewer that he gets "lot of calls and texts from other Jewish coaches and people in the media and friends that are like, 'Thank you for being willing to stand up.'" Also: "'This is not politics, this is good vs. evil,' he said. 'This is calling out atrocity. It’s condemning Hamas, and Hamas must be eliminated and destroyed.'" Read more about Coach Pearl here.

The Focus Project: Thanksgiving Thoughts

"Gratitude has a deeper meaning this Thanksgiving. In the face of sadness and loss – kidnapped men, women, children and elderly, murdered families, raped women, burned babies – Thanksgiving this year will take on a somber tone for many Americans and yet it still has great meaning. We can still be grateful for the gifts of life all around us. Everyone who knows where their loved ones are right now has a reason to be grateful. Everyone who gets to say ‘good morning’ to their spouse or partner has a reason to be grateful. Everyone who gets to tuck their children in at night has a reason to be grateful. Gratitude and hope are two things we must all safeguard and hold tightly. Those serve as anchors in the roiling waters of uncertainty."

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