• We’re keeping an eye on cease-fire and hostage-release talks, with White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff slated to travel to Doha, Qatar — where discussions are restarting today — in the coming days for continued discussions. Over the weekend, Israel halted electricity to Gaza as it looked to increase pressure on Hamas into releasing the remaining hostages. More below on the status of the negotiations.
• President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney are expected to speak in the coming days following Carney’s election to lead Ottawa’s Liberal Party, succeeding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced in January that he was stepping aside.
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Witkoff are heading to Saudi Arabia for Riyadh-brokered discussions with Ukrainian officials.

For the first time, several leading conservative voices are warning about the growth of noxious antisemitism emanating from far-right fever swamps — and increasingly finding a receptive audience on podcasts and social media platforms, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes. 

We reported last week about Joe Rogan platforming some of the most vile antisemitic conspiracy theorists and Holocaust deniers on his show, which is one of the most popular in the country. We broke the news about how the Trump administration’s new Pentagon deputy spokeswoman, Kingsley Wilson, is a prolific purveyor of neo-Nazi tropes and antisemitic bile.  

And we’ve long been tracking the rise of antisemitism on the right,noting last summer that Republicans were tolerating the promotion of many of these extremist voices, most prominently talk show host Tucker Carlson, who received a prime-time speaking spot on the final day of the Republican National Convention.

There’s been only a little public pushback from Republicans against the growth of antisemitism on the far right — just as we witnessed far too little pushback from Democrats as pro-Hamas sentiment metastasized on campuses after Oct. 7. 

Republican lawmakers who have been typically outspoken against the rise of antisemitism on the left had little to say about the Pentagon’s hiring of an unadulterated antisemite. Few spoke out when Carlson hosted a Holocaust denier on his show or when Candace Owens trafficked in antisemitic tropes and blood libel, all too content that they were only speaking for a tiny fringe. 

But that fringe is growing, and in the no-holds-barred world of social media, is hard to contain. There’s a marketplace for extremism in a media ecosystem where winning a few thousand devoted supporters — with nutty but dangerous views — can be as lucrative as building a broader, mainstream audience. Many prominent conservatives are now noticing — and are alarmed.

Palantir founder Joe Lonsdale, a Trump supporter,wrote over the weekend in response to some of the antisemitic slurs circulating online: “For the first time in my lifetime, a lot of successful Jewish friends called me worried this week — names we all know — asking what is going to happen as these libels re-enter the mainstream, and are shared by millions.”

Trump’s former Secretary of State Mike Pompeowrote on X in reaction to anti-Israel tropes circulated by Carlson: “As a Christian, Judaism is the foundation of my faith. Israel provides more freedom and protection to Christians than Iran does even for Muslims—while it slaughters Christians… Those who assert moral equivalence between the US/ Israel and Assad/Khamenei should be ashamed.”

Hudson Institute senior fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs added: “Our Jewish friends and neighbors have millions and millions of allies who see this too. A threat to our Jewish neighbors is a threat to freedom and security for all of us.”

What’s even more concerning, as a tracker of public opinion, is that polls show that the highest levels of antisemitism are concentrated among the youngest Americans — on the left and on the right alike. Not only does that underscore the problems of social media and the failures of our educational system, but it also suggests antisemitism will only be getting worse in the coming years — at least without a concerted effort to turn things around.

The words of the late, revered Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks,delivered during a 2018 House of Lords debate, ring true in this fraught moment: “Antisemitism, or any hate, becomes dangerous in any society when three things happen: when it moves from the fringes of politics to a mainstream party and its leadership; when the party sees that its popularity with the general public is not harmed thereby; and when those who stand up and protest are vilified and abused for doing so.”

Top Cop, Heimische Roots: New York magazine profiles New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, as the city’s top law enforcement official manages the department as the city’s mayor, Eric Adams, finds himself with mounting legal and leadership challenges. “She and her family are close, but it’s her mother’s side — which included a rabbi and a Jewish community-center principal from the immigrant, working-class heimische era of the Lower East Side — where Jessica had her strongest bond. She was her maternal grandmother Sylvia Hiat’s favorite and vice versa. ‘I think perhaps a lot of my strength comes from having someone who was just so unconditionally focused on me,’ she says. When she decided to go into policing, Sylvia was the most supportive. When Jessica later became Sanitation commissioner, responsible for cleaning up the city after a snowstorm, Sylvia ‘would wake up every morning, four in the morning — she was in her 90s at this point — and pray to Hashem that it wouldn’t snow. Every day, 365 days a year, even in the summer,’ Tisch says.” [NYMag]

Trump World Order:The Wall Street Journal’s Yaroslav Trofimov looks at the global implications of the Trump administration’s shift away from decades of traditional U.S. foreign policy. “In his first presidency, Trump openly questioned the value of alliances and free trade, while expressing admiration for authoritarian leaders and contempt for fellow democracies, particularly in Europe. But today, with virtually no opposition in Congress or within the administration, those impulses are pursued with unrestrained, and unmatched, vigor. There is also a new, much more destabilizing ingredient: predatory claims on foreign land, such as Canada, Greenland, the Panama Canal and even the Gaza Strip. ‘In his first term, Trump believed that America was played for a sucker. His response was retrenchment,’ said Michael Fullilove, executive director of the Lowy Institute think tank in Australia. ‘In his second term, the same conviction is pushing him outwards. Now Trump wants more protection money and more territory — and he is prepared to use coercion to get those things.’ Trump administration officials frequently refer to their policy in the Western Hemisphere as ‘Monroe Doctrine 2.0’ — a new incarnation of the 19th-century claim to dominate the Americas.” [WSJ]

Hamas at the Table: In the Jewish Telegraph Agency, retired IDF Gen. Noam Tibon argues in favor of negotiating with Hamas as a last resort to bring about the release of all the hostages held in Gaza. “If I found myself sitting across the table from one of the top leaders of Hamas, I don’t know if I would have been able to control my emotions and not try to kill him. On October 7th, when I drove from Tel Aviv to the Gaza border area, in order to save my family and their neighbors, I saw with my own eyes the cruelty, sadism, and hatred of this evil terror organization. But if someone had told me that by sitting across the table from these monsters, and negotiating with them instead of trying to kill them, I would increase the likelihood of releasing our hostages from the dark tunnels of Gaza, I would absolutely do it, without any hesitation. Not because I have any bit of sympathy for Hamas, but because after 17 months of war, it is time to put an end to the hostage crisis, and bring home all our people.” [JTA]

Kicking Up Some Dust: The Financial Times’ Brooke Masters interviews Boaz Weinstein following the Saba Capital founder’s effort to move into the U.K.’s investment sector. “By the time we dig into the lamb steak, the restaurant has grown noisy as the rest of the staff arrive and start setting up for dinner. Our conversation has also started ranging more widely, from his general political views — ‘slightly conservative but not on social issues’ — to how his status as the child of a Holocaust survivor affects the way he thinks about the Israel-Palestine conflict. He is critical of current prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu but sharply rejects those who see Israel as a coloniser. He was so disappointed by the candidates in last November’s presidential election that he did not vote at all, but now he says he welcomes Elon Musk’s current efforts to disrupt the way the US government does business. ‘I am so thankful that really smart people are kicking up a dust storm on government bureaucracy,’ he says.” [FT]

Lone Wolf: The Detroit Free Press’ Mitch Albom spotlights University of Michigan basketball player Danny Wolf, as the Wolverines enjoy a 22-8 run in the lead-up to the NCAA’s March Madness. “Wolf is not ‘accidentally’ Jewish, i.e. the non-practicing son of a mixed religious marriage, or someone Jewish by birth who can’t tell you where a synagogue is. Quite the contrary. Wolf, whose parents are both Jewish, attended a Solomon Schechter Jewish day school until fifth grade, where Hebrew and biblical lessons were part of the curriculum. He keeps kosher at home and on the road. … ‘The most beautiful thing about Judaism,” he says, ‘is the way it connects me with my family. It transcends other things and brings us together.’ Now let’s be honest. It’s common in sports to hear Christian athletes speak loudly of their faith, cite its influence, point to the heavens, credit Jesus before issuing postgame comments. But how often do you hear testimonials from a Jewish player? It’s not only rare, but in today’s climate of ever-growing antisemitism, it’s also brave. Wolf doesn’t look at it that way. He’s just being who he is.” [Freep]

The Trump administration’s halting of most foreign aid in January froze funding to two programs that assist international nuclear inspectors; the funding to one of the programs has since resumed…

Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and Bill Keating (D-MA) introduced legislation to require the administration to determine whether to sanction the Houthis under additional sanctions laws and report to Congress on Houthi human rights violations and obstruction of humanitarian aid. It also condemns antisemitic indoctrination by the Houthis…

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) reintroduced legislation last week targeting universities that have failed to stem the surge of antisemitism taking place on college campuses, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports…

President Donald Trump announced the nomination of Hamtramck, Mich., Mayor Amer Ghalib to be ambassador to Kuwait; Ghalib had worked to boost support for Trump among Arab Americans in Michigan during the campaign…

Film director Brett Ratner is working on a documentary about the Abraham Accords, including interviews with Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman…

The Wall Street Journal does a deep dive into FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s efforts to secure a pardon from Trump; prior to the collapse of his company and his subsequent arrest, Bankman-Fried, who is serving a 25-year sentence for fraud, had been a major Democratic Party donor…

An anti-Israel referendum will not move forward in Pittsburgh’s upcoming elections after the measure’s organizers failed to secure enough signatures to appear on the ballot, ending weeks of legal tumult following pushback from the city’s Jewish community and city controller, who opposed the referendum…

A group of Syrian American Jews met with White House officials last week to push for the lifting of sanctions on Syria that they said was affecting efforts to restore the country’s historic Jewish sites…

Israel’s Defense Ministry said that it would allow Syrian Druze workers to enter the Golan Heights from Syria…

More than 1,000 people were killed in weekend attacks by Syrian forces targeting backers of the ousted Assad regime…

IDF Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin will succeed Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari as the army’s spokesman…

Recently released Israeli hostage Agam Berger, a musician, was gifted a violin whose original owner was a Czech Jewish man who was killed in the Holocaust…

A Turkish defense firm is reportedly supplying Sudan’s army with drones and missiles for use in the country’s ongoing civil war; the U.S. determined in January that a genocide was taking place in the African country…

Children’s book author Uri Shulevitz, who incorporated his experiences surviving the Holocaust as a child into his works, died at 89…

Voice actor George Lowe, who voiced the title character in the Cartoon Network’s “Space Ghost: Coast to Coast,” died at 67…

Singer Yuval Raphael, Israel’s performer in this year’s Eurovision, released the music video for “New Day Will Rise,” Israel’s entry to the annual singing competition.

Record producer, former co-president of Columbia Records and a co-founder of Def Jam Records, Frederick Jay (“Rick”) Rubin turns 62… 

Member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he played for the San Diego Chargers of the AFL and then for the Oakland Raiders of the NFL, Ron Mix turns 87… Long Beach, Calif., general surgeon, Leonard M. Lovitch, MD… Author and publisher of the Phoenix Scottsdale Jewish Friendship Trail Guidebook, Michael Alan Ross… Senior cryogenics engineer at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, he is also an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona, Lawrence Sobel… Founder and CEO of Cambridge, MA-based Pegasystems, Alan N. Trefler turns 69… CEO at two Israeli companies, Strategy3i Ltd. and Fluenzy, Jeffrey Kahn turns 67… Winner of four gymnastics medals (including one gold and one silver) in the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, now in the reverse mortgage business in Sarasota, Fla., Mitch Gaylord turns 64… Peabody Award-winning financial journalist and market news analyst for CNBC and one of the co-hosts of its morning show “Squawk on the Street,” David Faber turns 61… Former executive director the America Israel Friendship League, Wayne L. Firestone turns 61… Stage, screen and television actor, he is the son of novelist Norman Mailer, Stephen Mailer turns 59… Investigative reporter for The New York Times since 2000, Danny Hakim… Former White House official in the Clinton administration, she is now the first lady of Pennsylvania, Lori Shapiro turns 52… Co-founder of Twitter, and then Jelly which he headed from 2014 until its acquisition by Pinterest in 2017, Christopher Isaac “Biz” Stone turns 51… Real estate agent on Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing,” Josh Altman turns 46… Former IDF officer, then a financial executive, Aliza Landes… Former deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. State Department, now executive director at The Vandenberg Coalition, Carrie Filipetti… Actor and director, Sawyer Avery Spielberg turns 33… Editor-at-large of Mishpacha Magazine, Binyamin Rose…