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What you need to know today
- Mamdani is more popular with U.S. Jews than Netanyahu, a new poll says. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has 44% approval among U.S. Jews, compared with 32% who approve of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll, which had a 5% margin of error for the 1,022 Jewish adults interviewed, also found that 38% of Jews say the United States is being too supportive of Israel and 30% say that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide.
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Mamdani calls on Platner to drop out. Mamdani and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — two of the most prominent faces in progressive politics in the U.S. — joined calls for Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Maine, to abandon his campaign after a sexual assault allegation. Like Mamdani and Sanders, Platner is a staunch critic of Israel. He previously came under fire for having a Nazi symbol tattooed on his chest, which he has since covered up. Platner told Politico that any “accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue” but has also stepped back from campaigning.
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The Israeli consulate in New York was evacuated after an incident at a nearby building. The consulate was safely evacuated Tuesday morning after structural damage to a nearby high-rise in Midtown, according to Ofir Akunis, consul general of Israel in New York. New York City’s buildings commissioner said late Tuesday that the damaged building was stable for now.
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Columbia University will expand courses on Israel. Several new courses on Israel have been proposed as part of a new undergraduate major at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, reported the Columbia Daily Spectator. In a July 2025 settlement with the federal government, which resolved investigations into antisemitic harassment at Columbia, the school promised to review regional studies and appoint new faculty members for the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies.
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A Chabad rabbinical school bought a $16 million building in Crown Heights. Oholei Torah, an educational institution for the Chabad-Lubavitch community, bought the 58,000-square-foot building to serve as The Oholei Torah Rabbinical Campus.
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Eric Goldstein stepped up to the plate at Citi Field. The outgoing CEO of UJA-Federation of New York threw out the ceremonial first pitch at last night’s New York Mets game. The Mets lost 16-12 to the Kansas City Royals.
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