President-elect Donald Trump’s nominations of prominent Israel supporters Pete Hegseth, Rep. Elise Stefanik, and Mike Huckabee respectively as Defense Secretary, US Ambassador to the UN, and US Ambassador to Israel, brought out cheers among my colleagues at this newspaper. They are familiar faces that we’ve seen at pro-Israel fundraising dinners, on missions to Israel, and in the news.

The best-known photo of Theodor Herzl shows him learning on a hotel balcony in Basel, where he organized the First Zionist Congress in 1897. That shot became part of Jewish popular culture, appearing in mosaics, puzzles, carpets, and a flag flying on the side entrance at Temple Emanu-El on the Upper East Side. The flag serves as an introduction to All About Herzl, an exhibit on his lasting image and impact at the temple’s Bernard Museum.

On Thursday night, every Jewish WhatsApp group lit up with horrific videos coming out of Amsterdam.  A roving mob of Arabs carried out a coordinated attack on Jews in what amounted to a pogrom.  This was eerily timed around the anniversary of Kristallnacht and is a shocking reminder of Europe’s dark history and its fragile present. 

In the years following the development of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, Israeli military control was ensured by constructing military roads through the territory, subjecting residents to checkpoints between population centers. Upon returning to Gaza following the October 7 attack by Hamas on southern Israel, security corridors were brought back on the Egyptian border and south of Gaza City.