ToI’s weekly deep dive: SHOWTIME’s ’Ghosts of Beirut’ * Op-Ed: Take back Jerusalem Day * Gaza wetlands * Podcast: What Matters Now to extremism scholar Sara Hirschhorn

[Times of Israel]( [Weekly Deep Dive]( Sunday, May 21, 2023 [Hunting for a ghost: New show depicts CIA-Mossad pursuit of most-wanted terrorist]( By Amy Spiro ‘Fauda’ co-creators Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff team up with Showtime on ‘Ghosts of Beirut,’ a mostly-true account of the assassination of Hezbollah terror chief Imad Mughniyeh Op-ed David Horovitz [Ad-libbed at the General Assembly, Mahmoud Abbas’s full-blown rejectionism]( Speaking at the UN’s Nakba fest, the PA chief contradicted his previous assurances to Israel. In a reflection of the collapse of negotiation prospects, hardly anyone even noticed Op-ed [Jerusalem Day needs to get back to its human story]( By Haviv Rettig Gur Jerusalem Day was once the Jews’ remembrance of visceral relief, safety and restoration. It has since become something narrower and more partisan [Reporter's Notebook / Triumphalism and ethno-nationalism take center stage at Jerusalem Day events]( By Jeremy Sharon [Inside story / On the way up to the Temple Mount, Likud is becoming Otzma Yehudit]( By Shalom Yerushalmi Gaza post-mortem Emanuel Fabian [Operation Broken Record: Israel is already counting down to the next Gaza conflict]( Round of hostilities branded a success due to initial strikes targeting Islamic Jihad leaders, but fighting dragged on longer than expected, with next battle likely not far away [Op-ed / Israel’s Gaza operation met its goals in seconds; trouble is, it went on for 5 days]( By David Horovitz Analysis Tal Schneider [From pariah to bosom buddy in 7 weeks: Netanyahu’s rehabilitation of Yoav Gallant]( It didn’t take long for the prime minister to go from kicking his defense chief to the curb to courting him for photo ops; some of it has to do with national security Analysis [After years of dead-end air campaigns, pinpoint use of ground forces may offer way out]( By Lazar Berman Yet another round underlined the overreliance on fire power and Iron Dome. The IDF doesn’t want to retake Gaza, but has a ‘Concept for Victory’ that puts troops in enemy territory [Analysis / With Erdogan on cusp of keeping power, Israel has reason to root for former foe]( By Lazar Berman Legal Affairs [Menachem Begin championed judicial review now under Likud attack, former aide says]( By Jeremy Sharon Arye Naor says former Likud leader planted concepts now being undone by government in his attorney general Aharon Barak, who was also given larger role to scrutinize decisions Top Ops Michael Oren [When Israel gave Hamas something worth not fighting for]( The latest clash showed that what’s good for Gaza can be good for us – it’s time to implement game-changing humanitarian plans for the Strip Zev Farber [Standing up to Big Pita in the holy land]( In search of a good explanation for why my local shawarma place won’t plate my meat with veg and hold the bread Tehilla Katz [To all the apartments I’ve seen before]( Seeking a rental flat in Jerusalem? Adjust expectations and whatever you do, don’t ask the landlord why there are no doors Benjamin Birely [Fear and loathing at Damascus Gate]( When the teen bullies at the Flag March saw me filming them, they surrounded me and cursed me out, never mind that we all wore the same kippot on our heads Religion [A single absentee mohel is thwarting dozens of converts at very end of their journey]( By Canaan Lidor The government’s Conversion Authority has a long backlog of men waiting for months for a 10-second circumcision inspection to be considered Jewish [Chabad envoys gather in Morocco, the cradle of the emissary project]( By Canaan Lidor [European Jewish leaders gather in Portugal’s Porto to observe community’s revival]( By Canaan Lidor New York [After NYC colleges partner with Jewish groups, campus Zionists call it a fig leaf]( By Luke Tress Pro-Israel student, faculty group say CUNY’s new Jewish advisory council is a ‘shameful disgrace’; US law school again sparks controversy with anti-Israel commencement speaker [New York State lawmakers blast bill targeting charities sending money to settlements]( By Luke Tress Environment [UN breathes life into once-polluted Gaza wetland]( By Sue Surkes Development Program removes 35,000 tons of garbage from Wadi Gaza, plans sports and leisure facilities, as clean water flows in from new treatment plant [CRM]( ToI podcast [What Matters Now to historian Sara Hirschhorn: Extremism is now mainstream]( By Amanda Borschel-Dan For an American scholar of Israel’s ultranationalistic movements, a research trip that coincides with the Jerusalem flashpoint Flag March couldn’t have been better timed Shoah [Now on display, UK Jews’ correspondence shows the Holocaust unfolding in real-time]( By Robert Philpot At London’s Wiener Holocaust Library through June 16, an exhibit of letters from WWII tracks the spread of information by Jews seeking to protect loved ones from the Nazis’ web [Interview / At Sobibor, a filmmaker unearths Nazi Germany’s attempts to cover up its crimes]( By Matt Lebovic [UK posthumously honors Jewish diplomat blocked by Saudis in 1968 for being a Jew]( By Robert Philpot Culture [Israel Museum enters new phase with new director Denis Weil]( By Jessica Steinberg Nation’s largest cultural institution looks to reach new audiences including Arab and Haredi communities, create new programming and develop new tech [Two Arab artists from same hometown but different generations win prestigious prize]( By Jessica Steinberg Interview [Neurodivergent fashion designer-to-the-stars wears his Jewish identity on his sleeve]( By Cathryn J. Prince Tech Israel [From Fruit Roll-Ups to a fish filet, Israeli startup ready to feed its printer]( By Sharon Wrobel Steakholder Foods says it produced world’s first ready-to-cook filet that can go from printer to plate within minutes [Israeli startup to give fans a referee’s-eye view at the EuroLeague final games]( By Sharon Wrobel [IBM buys Israeli cybertech startup to automate cloud data protection management]( By Sharon Wrobel [Finance Ministry cuts economic growth forecasts as tax revenue and investments cool]( By Sharon Wrobel Health [Proton therapy, touted as cancer killer without side effects, set for Israel debut]( By Renee Ghert-Zand Hadassah Medical Center partners with Israeli company P-Cure in study comparing treatment with traditional X-ray radiation; Ichilov inks deal for first proton therapy center [At Biomed Israel conference, medical start-ups discuss challenges in reaching success]( By Renee Ghert-Zand [Knesset Health Committee approves reform of private health insurance market]( By Renee Ghert-Zand Interview [A house divided: New book explores roots of the rifts between Israel’s many ‘tribes’]( By Amy Spiro Archaeology [Mysterious trilingual Cairo Geniza vocab list found to be penned by Maimonides]( By Melanie Lidman Housed at Cambridge University’s Genizah Research Unit, crib sheet with words in Hebrew, Arabic and a Romance dialect gives a glimpse into renowned philosopher’s method of thinking [Archaeology / Academic article on controversial 3,200-year-old ‘curse tablet’ fails to sway experts]( By Melanie Lidman [Archaeology / Swimmer discovers precious marble cargo from 1,800-year-old Mediterranean shipwreck]( By Amanda Borschel-Dan [Archaeology / 2,000-year-old ledger found in City of David points to widespread 2nd Temple literacy]( By Amanda Borschel-Dan From the Blogs [My prayer for the peace of Jerusalem]( By Peta Jones Pellach When we come here, our tribal identities should melt away. Instead of looking sideways to see how we differ, we should look upwards [Unsubscribe from this List]( Email not displaying correctly? [View in browser]( © 2023 The Times Of Israel, All Rights Reserved