The Biden administration dispatched the head of the C.I.A. to meet today with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in a push by the U.S. to clinch a deal for a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages. The visit came only hours after the White House confirmed that it was withholding some military aid from Israel.
Together, the moves are among President Biden’s most significant attempts to limit Israel’s military operation in the Gazan city of Rafah and ratchet down the Israel-Hamas war. The hold on weapons is limited to a few thousand massive bombs, but it is the first time since the start of the war that Biden has used his power over aid to influence Israel’s approach.
Here’s the latest.
The U.S. defense secretary publicly linked the withheld shipment to Israel’s long-threatened ground invasion of Rafah, which American officials worry could lead to a humanitarian disaster. Israel has insisted that it needs to invade Rafah in order to dismantle Hamas, and this week Israeli tanks entered the city and took control of its border crossing with Egypt.
Israeli officials have downplayed the disagreement and said they are continuing to negotiate on a potential cease-fire. But experts suggested that the hold was a warning from Biden that he was willing to use U.S. aid as leverage if the Israeli military presses farther into Rafah.
It’s Wednesday, so Biden and Harris are campaigning
President Biden spent his afternoon in Racine, Wis., where he announced that Microsoft planned to build a major artificial intelligence data center there. The project in the battleground state is expected to create thousands of jobs, Biden said, and deliver on his promise to boost domestic manufacturing. The president also held a campaign event nearby targeting Black voters.
Vice President Kamala Harris was on the move as well: She spoke in the Philadelphia suburbs about abortion access.
The flurry of activity has become a Wednesday standard, as my colleague Reid Epstein reported. It’s the off day for Donald Trump’s Manhattan trial, so the White House and the Biden campaign have sought to cut off his chances of driving the news by sending the president and Harris to get voters’ attention.
School leaders rejected charges of ignoring antisemitism
House Republicans questioned public school leaders from liberal pockets of the country, accusing them of “turning a blind eye” to an alarming rise in antisemitism since Oct. 7. But unlike last year, when a similar hearing with college leaders prompted months of upheaval, the school chiefs forcefully defended their actions.
The latest: Police broke up an encampment at George Washington University; U.S.C. scrambled to preserve its graduation; and Chicago officials urged everyone to stop the comparisons to 1968.
France left migrant workers off its Olympic toll
The Olympic flame arrived today in Marseille, where it will begin a 79-day relay across France, culminating in Paris with the start of the Games in July. President Emmanuel Macron said that the infrastructure for the Olympics was built without the hazards that tarnished the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
But the Olympics sites have been more dangerous than organizers have let on. Some fatal accidents were omitted because of narrow definitions for what is Games-related; other cases involving undocumented immigrants were handled off the books.
More top news
‘Planet of the Apes’ continues to deliver
More than half a century ago, filmmakers presented audiences with a goofy premise: What if talking apes overthrew humanity? Now “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” the 10th installment of what has become an uncommonly thoughtful franchise, is arriving in theaters.
Our critic Alissa Wilkinson found it to be a worthy new chapter. Through the apes, the new movie probes the way idealisms can be co-opted and converted into dogmas. Check out Alissa’s review.
LaToya Ruby Frazier heads to MoMA
LaToya Ruby Frazier is now perhaps America’s foremost social documentary photographer. She first made her mark with photos of her family and her industrial hometown, Braddock, Pa., before widening her field to the challenges of working-class Americans across the country.
This weekend, an exhibition of Frazier’s work will open at the Museum of Modern Art. We talked to her about what inspires her.
New York is awash in blue and orange
The New York Knicks — once the laughingstock of the city’s sports world — are now real contenders in the N.B.A. playoffs. They have a legitimate star in Jalen Brunson, who along with a collection of fun and unassuming players are transfixing the city.
Their success has attracted a crush of celebrities and converted many once-uninterested New Yorkers into fans. Maria Luisa Rocca, for example, spent her more than 90 years caring little about basketball. Now, she refuses to miss a Knicks game. “I love this team,” she said.
Have an enthusiastic evening.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew
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