HIAS, the Jewish refugee advocacy group, laid off 12% of its workforce based in the United States on Tuesday after discovering errors that led to “unsustainable” spending late last year.

NEW from Arno Rosenfeld and Louis Keene:

forward.com/news/601816/hi…

NEW: HIAS was forced to lay off dozens of workers Tuesday after discovering financial mismanagement w/Louis Keene

forward.com/news/601816/hi…

The band is called HaYehudim — “The Jews,” in Hebrew.

And that simple statement of identity was apparently political enough for music venue the Brooklyn Monarch to cancel the band’s scheduled May show.

forward.com/culture/601645…

A pro-Palestine group at Harvard has organized a student referendum proposing that the university divest from institutions connected to Israel.

forward.com/fast-forward/6…

Jeanne knew the park well — Blaze had played there often growing up — and knew there was a wilderness area north of it.

But Sam's claim that he could see Blaze enter it from the parking lot didn't track.

'I knew he was lying,' she said.

After they hung up, she called the cops.

Jeanne had her daughter, Zoe, record the call, which took place on speakerphone with Jeanne, Blaze's dad Gideon and Zoe in the room.

Sam said he and Blaze had driven to Borrego Park, where Blaze had later gotten out of Sam's car and walked off into the wilderness.

Day 3 of the Blaze Bernstein/Sam Woodward trial🧵

Jeanne Pepper, Blaze's mother, is resuming her testimony of Jan. 3. We'll hear the call between Sam and the Bernsteins, who were frantically looking for Blaze.

They'd seen Sam and Blaze's Tinder convos:
forward.com/news/601567/bl…

Only two U.S. universities — Brandeis and Elon — earned a top grade, an “A” for being “Jew-friendly” in a new ranking from the ADL released Thursday.

With the sole exception of Dartmouth, all Ivy League schools earned a “D” or a failing “F” grade.

haaretz.com/us-news/2024-0…

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that Israel will open a new land crossing and “flood Gaza with aid.”

About 500 aid trucks are expected to cross through daily.

timesofisrael.com/gallant-says-i…

Hamas says it does not have 40 hostages who meet the proposed criteria for releasing captives in exchange for a ceasefire, CNN reported Wednesday, raising worries that more hostages are dead than previously thought.

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I’ll be tweeting updates from Day 2 of the Samuel Woodward trial today.

When we left off, his attorney was showing the first Tinder conversation between Woodward and Blaze Bernstein, which took place after they matched in June 2017.🧵

(Catch up here: forward.com/fast-forward/6…)

In my morning newsletter > Israel to send 500 aid trucks daily into Gaza + Trump: Jewish Democrats ‘should have their head examined’

Plus: U.S. believes Iranian missile strike on Israel is imminent, only two universities score “A” on new ADL campus report card, men behind tunnel…

In my morning newsletter > Congress to introduce bipartisan Combating Antisemitism Act, death threats sent to Israel’s Eurovision contestant, venue cancels concert by band named The Jews, a sneak peek of Harvey Keitel’s new Holocaust miniseries, and New York cracks down on…

Pew Research poll:

69% of Jewish voters identify as Democrats and 29% affiliate with the Republican Party.

'The share of Jewish voters who align with the Democrats has increased 8 percentage points since 2020.' pewresearch.org/politics/2024/…

NEW: NYC Mayor Eric Adams says he 'will not succumb' to pressure to back ceasefire in Gaza.

“I’m going to continue to say it: the hostages should be returned, Hamas should be destroyed, and we don’t want innocent children to die, nowhere.”

forward.com/fast-forward/6…

Lead prosecutor says the state will argue that 'the defendant killed Blaze Bernstein because he was gay.'

Gideon and Jeanne Bernstein, Blaze's parents, will testify.

A recording of a phone call from Gideon to Woodward when Blaze was missing will also be played during the trial.