For the first time, luxury publisher Assouline is bringing its signature lens to Israel. Famous for transforming cities into vibrant $105 coffee table books, the French publisher just quietly launched Tel Aviv Spirit, featuring over 200 photographs of the Mediterranean metropolis. 

The muted rollout follows last month’s splashy launch of Beirut Habibi, another addition to Assouline’s Classics Collection, the publisher’s line of glossy travel photography books that has over the years cast a spotlight on many Middle Eastern cities including Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. 

LAS VEGAS — Jewish House Republicans said during the Republican Jewish Coalition’s leadership summit in Las Vegas earlier this month that there’s little appetite among Republicans to end U.S. aid to Israel as the two sides look toward the end of the current memorandum of understanding on military aid.

They also said they do not have serious concerns about antisemitism on the right, and argued that it did not stand any real chance of encroaching into the GOP.

A new survey of 470 Middle East scholars finds that nearly three-quarters believe American academia is less equipped to pursue truth than it was at the time of the 9/11 attacks, while two-thirds lack confidence that their students understand the attacks and say American academia has provided cover for ideologies, regimes or groups hostile to the United States.

The findings, released this week by the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11, reflect what ASMEA’s executive director, Asaf Romirowsky, described as a broader failure by American universities to maintain objectivity and intellectual rigor in the quarter century since the attacks.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) criticized Democrats in Texas for their muted reaction to far-left streamer Hasan Piker being invited by the University of Texas’ College Democrats chapter to speak on campus later this month — despite his record of antisemitic rhetoric. 

Cruz told Jewish Insider in a statement on Thursday that Piker’s upcoming appearance at UT Austin and the lack of condemnation from Democrats in the state was indicative of the broader state of the Democratic Party. 

Nearly four in five American 8th graders score below proficient in civics, the federal government spends roughly 100 times less per student on the subject than on STEM and about one-third of Americans under 30 say democracy is no longer a viable system of government. 

A new report from the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) argues those trends are connected — and warns they pose a particular threat to Jews and to support for Israel.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that the U.S. should take a “very tough position” if Israeli voters reelect the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel’s upcoming elections, but said a new Israeli government could provide opportunities for more constructive progress.

“If the Israelis want to vote for that again, then I think the United States has to take a very tough position,” Clinton said during an appearance on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe.” “I think we could work with a new government.”

The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law wrote to Qatari Ambassador to the U.S. Sheikh Meshal bin Hamad al-Thani on Wednesday amid a back-and-forth online, urging the Qatari Embassy to release a full public accounting of its funding to U.S. colleges and universities.

“There is a straightforward way for the Government of Qatar to demonstrate that public accounts of its activities are inaccurate or misleading: full disclosure,” Brandeis Center CEO Kenneth Marcus said in a letter to Al-Thani. “We therefore respectfully ask Qatar to provide a complete public accounting, to the people and the Congress of the United States, of the funding and other financial support that its government, the Qatar Foundation, and other Qatari governmental or government-controlled entities have provided to U.S. colleges and universities.”

Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Jewish Insider last week that he’s likely to support the administration’s proposed nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, which would reportedly allow for joint U.S.-Saudi nuclear enrichment efforts inside Saudi Arabia.

Mast’s support, as the chair of a committee that will be responsible for reviewing the deal during a mandatory congressional oversight period, is a strong sign that many congressional Republicans coalesce behind the administration in support of the agreement. Democrats have voiced concerns, particularly related to potential nuclear proliferation.