Where Israel Goes Next. The Real War on Christmas. Plus. . .

It’s Wednesday, December 24. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Why Gen-Z New Yorkers are heading to church, the festive traditions under attack in Europe, the China hawks rattled by Donald Trump’s rhetoric, and much more.

But first: Israel takes stock after a year unlike any other.

Vertigo. That’s the word The Free Press’s Jerusalem-based columnist Matti Friedman chooses to describe the feeling at the end of Israel’s 2025 in his essay for us today. You might think Israelis would be experiencing some kind of optimism, or at least relief, as the year draws to an end. There is a ceasefire in Gaza and the hostages are free, “the closest thing possible to a resurrection of the dead.” The country is dusting itself down after 12 months that have contained every extreme of human emotion.

But, Matti writes, “2025 seems less like the end of something than the beginning of something else—of a new era for Israel and beyond, in which the old order no longer applies.”

Read Matti’s latest dispatch to understand the mood in Israel at the end of a bewildering year—and where the country is heading next.

Here in the U.S., 2025 has seen more debate over America’s relationship with Israel than in decades. That’s true on both the left and the right—with the divides among conservatives on display at the Turning Point USA conference over the weekend. The most prominent critic of U.S.-Israeli ties is the podcaster Tucker Carlson. Speaking at the Qatari-government-funded Doha Forum earlier this month, he dismissed Israel as a “completely insignificant country” and asked of our relationship with the Jewish state: “What are we getting out of this?”

In The Free Press today, Mike Doran offers his answer to that question.

—The Editors

And in case you missed it, do read the launch essay of this America at 250 series, in which Meir Soloveichik recounts how faith fueled the American Revolution, and inspired a radical idea: that human equality rests on divine authority, not political power:

This Week on Tough Love with Abigail Shrier

The latest reader question for Tough Love has arrived! This week, Abigail is going to answer a question from a woman who’s considering severing ties with her brother because he won’t vaccinate his kids. How should she balance her love of family with the obligation to protect it? Read her note here, and if you want to make sure that Abigail’s reply goes straight into your inbox every week, click here! Her answer will land on Thursday afternoon.

The Justice Department released a second batch of Jeffrey Epstein files on Tuesday. (US Justice Department/Anadolu via Getty Images)

• The Justice Department released a second batch of Jeffrey Epstein files on Tuesday, adding around 30,000 additional pages to its website. They include a fake passport and a copy of Epstein’s will. Some of the documents reference President Trump, but the Justice Department said in a statement that the newly released files “contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election.”

• The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked the president’s deployment of National Guard troops in Chicago, to which Illinois officials had objected. The preliminary decision is a rare defeat for the administration in the Court. Read Jed Rubenfeld’s June piece on “Trump, the Troops, and the Law.”

• New government data show that the U.S. economy grew at 4.3 percent during the third quarter. The unexpectedly high figure was driven by robust consumer spending and is the fastest quarterly rate of growth in the past two years.

• Russia launched a round of missile and drone attacks into Ukraine on Tuesday morning. The latest round of strikes came just hours after ​​President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine called the American-backed peace plan “quite solid.”

• The Food and Drug Administration approved a pill version of the hit weight-loss drug Wegovy on Monday. The pill will be available in the U.S. in early 2026. For more on the GLP-1 revolution, read Suzy Weiss’s essay on the subject.

• George Conway, a former ally of President Trump who has since become a vocal critic, filed paperwork launching his bid for the U.S. House of Representatives. Conway is targeting New York’s historically Democratic 12th District in Manhattan, where the retirement of longtime liberal leader Representative Jerry Nadler has opened up a freshly competitive race. Read Will Rahn on the cast of characters vying for Manhattan’s most illustrious House seat.

• Brown University announced Monday that it is placing campus police chief Rodney Chatman on administrative leave, and hiring retired Providence, Rhode Island, police chief Hugh Clements Jr. as an interim replacement. The change comes just as the Department of Education announced a probe into the university following its devastating campus shooting. For more on the aftermath of this tragedy, read Jillian Lederman’s op-ed: “Brown University Deserved Better.”

• A federal judge extended her restraining order barring the U.S. government from taking Kilmar Abrego Garcia into custody. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said that she was “growing beyond impatient” with the government’s representatives in court on Monday, adding, “Why should I give the respondents the benefit of the doubt?”

• Two men in the UK were found guilty of plotting an Islamic State-inspired mass shooting targeting Jews in Manchester. Had the men not been stopped, their attack would have been “one of, if not the, deadliest terrorist attack in UK history,” said Robert Potts, the head of counter-terrorism policing in northwest England.

• The Kansas City Chiefs announced on Monday that they will be leaving Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri for a brand-new domed facility in Kansas. The Chiefs’ move marks the third National Football League franchise that has left Missouri.

• Legendary bourbon producer Jim Beam announced that it is shutting down one of its Kentucky distilleries for at least a year. The news follows an approximately 5 percent drop in sales for the wine, beer, and spirits sector over the past year, as the percentage of young Americans who do not drink goes up.