It’s Wednesday, March 25. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Coleman Hughes debates Glenn Greenwald. Suzy Weiss reviews a Broadway play about Roald Dahl’s antisemitic crashout. Plus: Did a trader get very rich on inside information about the Iran war? All that and much more.
But first: All of Israel’s friends and enemies.
Here’s a strange thing about the present moment: Even as the United States and Israel are fighting shoulder to shoulder against the Islamic Republic, Israel is more unpopular than ever in the United States.
Above the skies of Iran, Israeli and American forces coordinate more closely than ever. Back in the United States, for the first time since Israel’s founding in 1948, more Americans view the Jewish state negatively rather than positively.
It’s a paradox that defines our politics and, in many ways, world events today. And it’s one we’re taking a close look at with a series of stories in our pages today.
Up first, Michael Oren. No one knows the stakes of defending Israel in the public sphere better than Michael—it’s something he’s been doing for half a century, including as Israel’s ambassador to Washington. But as fringe ideologies move into the center and the trick mirror of social media makes lies and conspiracies seem like fact, that work is harder than ever. And the pursuit of truth can feel futile.
Today, Michael explains how the Iran war “further deepened America’s delirium,” why the madness surrounding Israel has a uniquely American quality to it, and how he finds the will to fight the lies, “even if it’s often like firing ping-pong balls at a tank.”
Despite the hatred, Israel continues to defy its detractors with military and diplomatic success. It has established diplomatic relations with Somaliland, allowing a more muscular position against its adversaries along the Red Sea. For the first time ever, six European nations opposed or withheld support for UNWRA—the Hamas-infested United Nations aid agency that has operated in Gaza for two generations. Even some of Israel’s most hostile neighbors are softening their positions. The Lebanese government recently expressed interest in the first-ever face-to-face negotiations between the two countries, and an agreement to disarm Hezbollah may be on the table.
Today, Eli Lake unpacks how Israel is stacking up wins amid falling support, whether its successes can turn the tide of public opinion, and whether it can stand alone as a regional superpower in future conflicts.
Back in the U.S., a recent University of California, Berkeley settlement is another example of how the Gaza war and its aftermath have stoked hostility toward Jews everywhere. The case marks an important milestone, argues Adam Louis-Klein, with Berkeley admitting that excluding “Zionists” is a form of discrimination. Anti-Zionism, writes Adam, is a distinct form of Jew-hatred. And unless universities see it for what it is, they’ll be unable to “withstand another crisis like the one that followed October 7.”
Finally, in the latest episode of Conversations with Coleman, Coleman Hughes debates one of the most hard-line critics of Israel in the public sphere: independent journalist Glenn Greenwald. They discuss U.S.-Israel relations, Tucker Carlson, the line between criticism of Israel and antisemitism, and why Trump chose to strike Iran.
As Coleman writes of the conversation, “If claims this serious are going to be made—and repeated—they deserve close scrutiny, and to be tested in a debate that’s equally serious, direct, and grounded in evidence. That’s what I aimed to do here.”
—The Editors
Minutes before Trump announced he’d had “productive” talks with Iran this week, one or several oil traders placed bets worth more than half a billion dollars that crude prices were about to fall. Sure enough, they did, causing a kerfuffle that reeks of insider trading. It’s only one of many recent bets that appear to have been based on secret government information. The White House has waved away allegations of impropriety. They must do more than that. The right thing to do is simple, write our editors: Investigate the trades—and prosecute any leakers who turn up.
The prevailing Western narrative about the Iran war is one of a larger geopolitical struggle—with questions about nuclear weapons, regional power and, of course, oil. But what if we are misreading the Islamic Republic’s motivations entirely? Today, Yardena Schwartz argues that for Iran, this is a holy war—one aimed to preserve Islam as a colonizing force, seize Israel as Muslim land, and bring the entire Middle East under Islamic rule.
Is Roald Dahl the Kanye West of children’s literature? That’s the question Suzy Weiss had on her mind as she watched Giant, a new Broadway play about Dahl that brings the trope of the antisemitic celebrity crashout to the fore. Today, Suzy reviews the play and asks: How much can we forgive a genius for his ugliest beliefs?
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“We’ve won this. This war has been won,” Trump declared in the Oval Office Tuesday after reporting that Iran made a favorable offer for a peace deal with the U.S. in negotiations that the Islamic Republic said did not take place. The president’s announcement came just hours after news broke that he had approved the deployment of approximately 1,000 additional troops from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.
Senate Republicans sent Democrats a new proposal yesterday to fund 94 percent of the DHS budget and restore pay for TSA workers. “It seems like things are getting back on track,” Senator Chuck Schumer said after receiving the proposal, which left out more controversial budget items—including $5.5 billion for ICE deportation efforts.
The Supreme Court appeared poised to rule in favor of the Trump administration on a major deportation case yesterday that could significantly tighten border controls. At the heart of the case is the constitutionality of “metering,” a border policy that allows officials to indefinitely stall the processing of asylum claims made at overwhelmed points of entry to the U.S.
The Israeli military plans to push its forces further north to occupy all land south of the Litani River—potentially placing about 10 percent of Lebanon under Israeli control. Lebanon has reported over 1,000 deaths and more than a million people displaced since the war began, while two Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon in the same time frame.
A New Mexico jury found Meta guilty of misleading users about the safety of its platforms and enabling child sexual exploitation, a ruling that entails a $375 million fine that the social media company plans to appeal. State attorney general Raúl Torrez accused the company of giving predators unrestricted access to minors and enabling real-world abuse and trafficking.
The Taliban released unlawfully detained American academic Dennis Coyle yesterday after holding him captive in solitary confinement for over a year. Coyle, a researcher studying languages in Afghanistan, was freed “based on humanitarian sympathy and goodwill, and believes that such steps can further strengthen the atmosphere of trust between countries,” the Afghan foreign ministry said in a statement.
Want to fly economy and still stretch out? United Airlines just unveiled its new “Relax Row” that lets travelers book three adjacent seats and turn them into a bed after takeoff. The flat-lying seats are set to debut next year on select flights, though pricing details remain unclear.
Those who are desperate for popularity (think lefties) always hate those who aren't, and right back at 'em.
I see that it's now confirmed that most Americans are shit-for-brains.
Sorry but as an Israeli by which metrics do you account for Israel “winning”? Is it winning that for four weeks the nation has been hiding in bomb shelters day and night whole one third of Israelis don’t have shelter? Or that one tenth of the country is currently unemployed? Or that the soldiers and reservists have been fighting wars for three years with no breaks? Or that the education system is shut down? Or that tourism, a major income generator, is effectively dead? Or that there are barely any flights in and out of the country and we are stranded? This is honestly such a load of horse shit. Who told you Israel is winning? Michael Oren, that total nothing of a has-been? I bet your readers don’t know that Israeli soldiers aren’t receiving proper gear as they go off to conquer Lebanon— this right— go fund me campaigns are set up to raise money for sleeping bags an army boots and ceramic vests. So much winning.