Evanston, Ill., Mayor Daniel Biss, a Democratic congressional candidate, on Monday defended his decision in 2024 to withhold police support requested by Northwestern University to clear an anti-Israel encampment on the school’s campus.

The lack of police support, according to internal communications released by the House Education and Workforce Committee last month as part of an inquiry to Biss, forced the university to reach an agreement with the encampment, lacking the necessary law enforcement personnel to disperse and arrest the encampment members. 

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to put aside the escalating tensions between them, addressing the nations’ leaders directly in remarks at the Munich Security Conference, and warning that continued friction between the two Gulf nations risks benefiting Iran at a critical moment in the Middle East.

“As to [Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan], knock it off,” Graham said from the stage on Saturday. “Saudi Arabia, knock it off. I’m tired of this crap.” 

The Iranian regime may fall within weeks, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said during a press conference in Tel Aviv on Monday.

“We’re on the verge of eliminating the greatest state sponsor of terrorism in the region,” Graham said. “We’re in for weeks, not months.”

Liz Magill, the former University of Pennsylvania president who resigned after facing criticism of inaction against campus antisemitism, was tapped on Friday as the dean of Georgetown University Law Center. 

Magill left her post at UPenn in December 2023, four days after she appeared at a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill where she evaded questioning over whether students who called for the genocide of Jews violated the school’s code of conduct. 

American University has suspended its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine through November 2027, the D.C. private school confirmed to Jewish Insider. 

The organization was suspended for “violations to university policies,” an AU spokesperson told JI, but did not elaborate on details of the violation. 

As Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro walked onstage Thursday night at the opening ceremony for BBYO’s International Convention, the annual global gathering of the world’s largest Jewish youth group, he was beaming — a result, perhaps, of being introduced by his niece, or his excitement at welcoming 3,400 Jewish teens to Philadelphia. 

“It is so good to see you,” Shapiro said to the crowd, before delivering an upbeat speech urging the teens in attendance to be proud of their Judaism and to strive to live out Jewish values as they defend American democracy 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, “right down the street,” Shapiro noted. 

The largest global membership organization for social workers from around the world will vote next week on whether to expel Israel’s leading social work body, sparking a feverish advocacy campaign by Jewish and Israeli practitioners to urge members to vote against the measure. 

The vote by the International Federation of Social Workers is scheduled for Feb. 18, and it comes after several members in the IFSW complained that some Israeli social workers served in combat roles in the Israel Defense Forces during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The IFSW alleges that military service violates social workers’ professional and ethical commitments to nonviolence. 

A who’s who of the world’s major political leaders, past and present, are descending on Munich for the annual Munich Security Conference. After last year’s forum, in which Vice President JD Vance, who was leading the U.S. delegation, took an abrasive tone against Europe in his keynote address that rankled some attendees, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead this year’s delegation.

Unlike last year, when the Israel-Hamas war featured prominently on the agenda, this year’s MSC schedule has relatively little time dedicated to talking about the conflict, with just two sessions expected to touch on Gaza. And while last year’s attendee list included a number of Israelis, including President Isaac Herzog and Defense Minister Israel Katz, there are no current Israeli officials slated to speak. (Former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will join one of the panels on Gaza reconstruction.)