New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani refused to speak directly to his wife’s inflammatory social media history, a day after First Lady Rama Duwaji indicated in an interview she regrets posting a racial slur online while in high school, but stopped short of apologizing for much more recent activity signaling support for Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks.

The democratic socialist mayor initially dismissed JI’s reporting by asserting his wife was a “private person.” But on Wednesday, Duwaji made the latest in a string of media appearances, discussing her art career with the online cultural outlet Hyperallergic.

The House narrowly voted to block a Democratic resolution to force an end to the war in Iran by a vote of 214-213-1, with all but one of the four Democrats who opposed a similar effort in March changing their votes to support it on Thursday.

Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, had held off on calling a vote on the resolution in hopes that he would be able to win over enough Democratic holdouts and Republican defectors to pass the legislation.

President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon to begin at 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, after holding separate calls with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the day.

“These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE,” the president wrote on Truth Social. He said he had directed Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a Lasting PEACE.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on Thursday that U.S. forces are “maximally postured” to resume military operations in Iran, and specifically target energy infrastructure, should the country’s current leaders not agree to a negotiated settlement to end the war.

Hegseth made the comments during a press briefing at the Pentagon on Thursday morning alongside Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command. The defense secretary spoke directly to Iranian leadership in his opening remarks, cautioning that while President Donald Trump would “rather not have to” resume operations and go after Iran’s energy industry, the U.S. was prepared to do so if negotiations failed.

There’s been a lot of debate lately over whether President Donald Trump is losing some of his grip on the Republican Party, amid growing economic concerns and the ongoing military operations in Iran.  

While the media coverage has been amplifying any sign of intraparty discontent — to the point that former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is getting strange new respect from some Democrats and mainstream press alike — polls continue to show Trump with widespread backing from within his own party, and especially within the MAGA faction of the GOP.

Duke University suspended its Students for Justice in Palestine chapter on Tuesday, one month after students began submitting complaints about an antisemitic Instagram post from the group, which depicted the U.S. and Israel as two pigs frothing at the mouth. 

The post, which has since been removed from Duke SJP’s Instagram page, was advertising a March 19 general meeting of the group, an on-campus discussion about “Iran, Zionism and US imperialism.” 

Amid accusations that Meta’s moderation policies enable antisemitic content to circulate on its platforms, a Meta leader on Tuesday highlighted efforts to combat online Jew-hatred, including restrictions on Holocaust denial.

“We remove Holocaust distortion and denial, not because it’s false, which it is, but because it’s antisemitic. It is hate speech against Jewish people, so we’ve drawn a clear line against it,” said Ben Good, director of content policy at Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. 

A Jewish legal group will convene its inaugural conference on antisemitism and civil rights law at Harvard University on Thursday, an event that was born out of last year’s settlement of a Title VI lawsuit against the school and framed around the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States.

“We’re very excited to have a mix of federal, high-level leadership, prominent scholars, Jewish communal leaders, high-powered litigators and experts in the field,” Ken Marcus, founder and chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, the group hosting the conference, told Jewish Insider.