It’s Tuesday, December 2. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: How Trump’s latest lawfare efforts backfired. The end of deafness could be nearer than you think. Is designing your baby’s genes unethical—or a moral imperative?
But first: Will Israel pardon Bibi?
Presidential pardons have become a routine part of American political life. When Joe Biden pardoned members of his family just before leaving office, the outrage lasted only as long as it took for Trump to pardon hundreds of people for their actions on January 6.
In Israel, however, presidential pardons are a lot rarer, and they come with strings attached. That is why the news that Benjamin Netanyahu has formally requested a pardon is so seismic.
For more than five years, and throughout the war against Hamas, the Israeli prime minister has been appearing in court—sometimes as often as three times a week—to defend himself against charges of corruption. But on Sunday, Netanyahu wrote to the country’s president, Isaac Herzog, and said that while he was personally willing to keep fighting to clear his name, he thinks it’s time for the nation to move on.
For some Israelis, a pardon would be akin to a Nixon moment, drawing a line and bringing the country back together. But for others, it would be a blow to the rule of law—and a favor to a man they see as irredeemably corrosive to the nation’s politics.
Today, Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., breaks down what a potential pardon would mean for Netanyahu, Israeli society, and the country’s soul.
—Josh Kaplan
Believe it or not, President Trump is proving to be worse at lawfare than his Democratic opponents. In the last two weeks alone, two Trump-appointed federal prosecutors were disqualified from their positions: Alina Habba and Lindsey Halligan. These two share a trait common among Trump prosecutors: no prosecutorial experience. Now, the judicial hiccups caused by their disqualifications are delaying multiple hearings, including on drug- and gun-related charges. “For a man who calls himself ‘tough on crime,’ prosecuting actual criminals seems awfully low on the president’s list of priorities,” write our editors. Read our editorial on Trump’s latest lawfare efforts—and how they are backfiring before his very eyes.
Richard Vigilante once thought his cochlear implants would be life-changing. Now he wonders if he is among the last people who will ever need them. Thanks to rapid advances in AI, the implants—and even sign language—may soon be relics of a bygone era. In his essay, Vigilante explores what the end of deafness could mean for the culture that once grew around it, now slowly slipping out of sight—and earshot.
Should we use genetic engineering to spare our future children from devastating diseases, or does designing embryos push us toward neo-eugenics? In this debate moderated by Bari Weiss, four experts discuss whether editing embryos is a moral obligation or a Rubicon we must not cross.
Instagram Teen Accounts default teens into automatic protections for who can contact them and the content they can see.
President Trump came out in support of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as Congress continues to investigate whether he ordered the military to strike two survivors of a “narco” boat attack. On Sunday, Trump said he had “great confidence” that Hegseth hadn’t ordered the hit. “I wouldn’t have wanted that. Not a second strike. The first strike was very lethal. It was fine,” Trump added.
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner headed to Moscow on Monday for another round of peace talks with Russia. The trip comes on the heels of a meeting with Ukrainian officials in Florida on Sunday, which a top Ukrainian defense official called “productive and successful.”
Luigi Mangione, the alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, began his latest round of court hearings on Monday. Mangione’s lawyers are attempting to block prosecutors from using any of the evidence obtained during his arrest, citing alleged unconstitutional conduct by police.
A surge of flooding devastated vast swaths of South and Southeast Asia last week. The natural disaster has killed over 1,100 people, and at least 800 were missing as of Monday.
U.S. consumers were expected to spend $14.2 billion on Cyber Monday, according to Adobe Analytics. That’s an increase of 6.3 percent from 2024, a gain largely attributed to the ease of AI-powered shopping. “AI is the ultimate purchase accelerator, guiding consumers with clear intent straight to the buy button,” said Caila Schwartz, director of consumer insights at Salesforce.
Missouri officially launched its legal sports betting initiative on Monday. The new initiative comes as the sports industry continues to be rocked by betting scandals. (For more on gambling’s impact on pro sports, read Zac Bissonnette’s excellent piece.)
Zootopia 2, the sequel to an animated movie about a city of animals, broke box office records at its opening. The movie has earned over $556 million since its release Wednesday, the highest international opening ever for an animated movie—and the fourth-highest global debut for any kind of film.
Hey Josh, if you think that the outrage over Joe Biden's pardons of his family members only lasted as long as it took Trump to pardon the January 6 protesters you must have your head up your ass! I, for one, am still pissed about Biden's "blanket pardons" of his cohorts for any and all unspecified crimes that they may have conceivably committed. The fact that you make a biased reference to such in a post about Netanyahu is evidence of how screwed up TFP has become under the new ownership. Never miss a chance to take a swing at Trump, even if it has no relevance to the issue that you are purporting to address!
Please start following the Muslim invasion of America through the building of religious schools.
Their biggest offensive weapon will be the Federal
Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act 2000.
Look it up.