Days after the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas began, Delta airlines announced plans to resume flights to Tel Aviv. 

Delta’s decision to restart flights to Israel comes after a 15-month hiatus in operations to the Jewish state since the war broke out in October 2023 following the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7, with the exception of two brief periods in 2024.

Palestinian construction magnate and activist Samer Khoury gave credit to President Donald Trump for securing the cease-fire and hostage-release deal underway between Israel and Hamas, while downplaying President Joe Biden’s willingness to engage.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Khoury, chairman of the multibillion-dollar construction conglomerate Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC), which operates primarily in the Middle East, said about the cease-fire deal, “I have to give credit to Mr. Trump and his team. He appointed an envoy two weeks before he was in charge, while the Biden administration, whenever we used to talk to them, they said this is not important. They never appointed a single focal point for our issue.”

Eight terrorists who murdered Israelis are expected to be released in Israel as part of the cease-fire and hostage-release deal with Hamas, according to an analysis by Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.

Among the nearly 2,000 predominantly Palestinian prisoners set to be let out in the framework of the deal, 73 are Israeli citizens or legal residents — the status of most Palestinians in east Jerusalem. Of those prisoners, 45 will be released in Israel. Twenty-one of the prisoners with Israeli citizenship or residency are terrorists serving life sentences for killing people. Though murderers are supposed to be deported in the framework of the deal — likely to Qatar or Turkey — eight of them will be able to live freely in Israel.

The new Irish government plans to roll back some of its anti-Israel policies, sparking speculation that it is doing so to appease the Trump administration, even as it remains committed to pursuing a war crimes lawsuit against Israel.

The Dáil, as the Irish parliament is known, convened with its new members on Wednesday for the first time since the country’s November election, and with a more moderate governing coalition than in previous years, formed by centrist parties Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. 

As President Donald Trump’s administration, and the new GOP-controlled Congress, take shape, much is still unknown about how they’ll approach the domestic antisemitism crisis that has accelerated since Trump’s last term in office. 

American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch, who represented his South Florida district in Congress for 12 years, has some recommendations.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) took a procedural step on Thursday to set up a vote in the coming days on the House-passed legislation placing stringent sanctions on the International Criminal Court for issuing arrest warrants against Israeli officials.

The legislation passed the House for a second time by a bipartisan 243-140 vote earlier this month and Thune had pledged to make it a top priority to pass the legislation promptly, even as the Senate works to confirm members of Trump’s Cabinet. The bill will need 60 votes, the filibuster threshold, to pass the upper chamber. 

President Donald Trump refuted reports that Steve Witkoff, his Middle East envoy, will take over the Iran file, while also lauding Witkoff for his work helping negotiate the cease-fire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas. 

“No,” Trump said on Thursday after signing a series of executive orders, when asked by a reporter whether he would put Witkoff in charge of Iran strategy and speaking directly with the Iranians. “But he’s certainly somebody I would use. He’s done a fantastic job. He’s a great negotiator.”

After initially declining to criticize billionaire White House advisor Elon Musk for a gesture that some argued was a Nazi salute, two major U.S. Jewish groups are now condemning him for a series of Nazi jokes he made on social media.

Musk came under fire on Monday after he repeatedly performed a gesture resembling a Nazi salute at a Monday rally for the presidential inauguration. The Anti-Defamation League defended Musk, arguing that the gestures were not intentional and suggested he made an “awkward gesture.” The ADL faced criticism, predominantly from liberals,for defending Musk. The American Jewish Committee did not weigh in at all.