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In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we examine the latest Pew survey showing Israel’s favorability ratings hitting new lows among Americans — including American Jews. We interview photographer Bill Aron about his work documenting Jewish communities around the world, and report on the recent vote by the Democratic National Committee blocking a resolution that would have singled out AIPAC for condemnation. We feature an opinion piece by Edmund Case responding to the reports of staff cuts at 18Doors, and one by Ari Hoffnung spotlighting a campaign to pressure corporations into anti-Israel measures; plus Richard D. Kahlenberg recommends strengthening American identity to combat antisemitism. Also in this issue: Bill Ackman, David Cornstein and Debbie Resnick.

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The latest poll by the Pew Research Center reveals that American public opinion is not only moving away from Israel but that the trend is accelerating, with overall favorability dropping eight percentage points over the past year. Six in 10 Americans now have a somewhat or very unfavorable view of Israel, and 37% hold a favorable view. A year ago, there was near-parity, with 53% holding unfavorable views and 45% having favorable ones.

Within the Jewish community, favorable views for Israel are also slipping, and even more sharply. Last year’s Pew study found that 73% of American Jewish respondents held a favorable view of Israel. A year later, that has dropped by nearly 10 percentage points, with 64% holding a favorable opinion of Israel. There was a similar, though less severe, drop among white evangelical Protestants — another key source of support for Israel — whose favorability fell from 72% last year to 65% now.

Addressing this public opinion downturn first requires accepting that multiple things can be true at the same time: There was and is a well-funded, coordinated campaign to undermine the legitimacy of the State of Israel and Zionism. Combating this will take a similarly well-coordinated effort by Israel and its allies in the United States, particularly the Jewish community — a long-called-for feat that has proved elusive. 

At the same time, the drop in public opinion, particularly among the Jewish community, cannot solely be chalked up to bad hasbara, or public diplomacy. Actions, policies and statements by the State of Israel and top Israeli officials have, at the very least, made it far easier for opponents to paint the country as illiberal, expansionist and even genocidal. 

How Israel would go about addressing the issue will surely be a topic of debate in the upcoming Knesset elections. But better outreach to congressional Democrats in the U.S. and improved hasbara will only get Israel so far. War and civilian casualties are not popular things, no matter how justified or well-explained they are.

For some Israeli candidates, the solution will be a shift away from military campaigns in favor of diplomatic solutions to the country’s myriad national security challenges. For certain segments of Israeli society, however, this is a nonstarter. 

Asked about the survey and what Israel has to do to shore up American support, Religious Zionism Party leader and Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told Israel’s Kan broadcaster that one thing the country wouldn’t do is scale back its military control — from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon or the Syrian Golan Heights. “We won’t commit suicide to make them happy,” Smotrich said, presenting it as a binary issue. Instead, he said, the solution is to make Israel indispensable to the world, through its technology, economy and military prowess. 

A potential wrinkle in this plan of having the so-called “start-up nation” save Israel — not addressed in the radio interview — is the growing concern of a “brain drain,” with indications that well-educated Israelis are increasingly moving abroad. If Israel wants its high-tech scene to be its salvation, it will have to counter these emigration trends among the people who are helping make it possible. 

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

Bill Aron, the Jewish sociologist and street photographer known for his images of Jewish life throughout the 1970s and 1980s, is not a philanthropist. At least not in the traditional sense. But earlier this year, he donated his work — a collection of 417 exhibition-quality prints, 2,765 work prints, 158,000 negatives, and personal essays and publications documenting decades of Jewish life — to the American Jewish Historical Society. Several dozen of these prints are on view at the Center for Jewish History in an exhibition titled “The World in Front of Me.” Aron recently spoke with eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim about his donation, the Havurah movement and what makes a Jewish photograph.

ND: Much of your work intersected with Jewish communities supported by philanthropy, particularly during your visit to the Soviet Union. At the time, how aware were you of the potential impact of your photography, and what influence, if any, do you think it ultimately had?

BA: I was not aware. I mean, I was doing what I love to do. …  When I began to organize my archive, a very good friend of mine began to challenge me to put together a booklet for the surviving members of the Havurah. And as I began to do that, I realized that nobody else had photographed the Havurah, that these were really unique images, not only artistically… well in photography, most of the people I know don't refer to their work as artistic, but rather as “strong photographs,” but only in having that challenge, and as I was putting together this booklet, I began to think of my work as having a unique place, and not only in the history of photography, but in the history of the Jewish people.

Read the full interview here.

Democratic Party activists on Thursday voted to reject a measure that criticized the involvement of AIPAC in Democratic primaries and the American political system. The resolution was debated during a meeting of the Democratic National Committee’s Rules Committee at the DNC’s New Orleans meeting, reports Gabby Deutch for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider.

AIPAC angle: Committee members were considering new policy resolutions, including one introduced by a Florida activist that took aim at AIPAC and the group’s “undue influence over democratic debate and policymaking.” It was voted down in a voice vote. “The DNC made clear today that all Democrats, including millions who are AIPAC members, have the right to participate fully in the democratic process,” AIPAC spokesperson Deryn Sousa told JI. Committee members were considering new policy resolutions, including one introduced by a Florida activist that took aim at AIPAC and the group’s “undue influence over democratic debate and policymaking.”

Read the full report here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here.

“The news that 18Doors has laid off two-thirds of its staff because of a budget shortfall is personally devastating,” writes founder Edmund Case — who retired from the organization InterfaithFamily, which eventually became 18Doors, in 2016 — in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “More importantly, a reduction in 18Doors’ services is a loss to the thousands of interfaith families it serves and to the many Jewish leaders who benefit from its resources and training.”

Real talk: “Some explain 18Doors’ financial squeeze on the understandable current shift in donor giving priorities towards Israel and antisemitism that is impacting other nonprofits. In my opinion, that’s too easy. The truth is that 18Doors and others working to engage interfaith families Jewishly have never been adequately funded. If any good can come from this crisis, foundations and federations have an opportunity now to come together and fund the kind of serious effort to engage interfaith families that has long been needed — and has been clearly outlined for almost 20 years.”

Read the full piece here.

Unexpected shortfall: 18 Doors announced this week that it has cut 11 of its 15 staff members in light of budget cuts…

“At GE Aerospace's upcoming annual meeting, investors will vote on a proposal from the Presbyterian Foundation, an affiliate of the Presbyterian Church (USA) seeking a report on whether the company's defense products could be linked to ‘human rights harms or violations of international humanitarian law’ in conflict zones,” writes Ari Hoffnung, senior advisor on corporate advocacy at the Anti-Defamation League, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

A long, documented history: “Moral conviction has a legitimate place in financial decision-making, and PCUSA has every right to bring its values to bear on corporate governance. But when one nation is scrutinized far beyond all others, and that nation is the only ancestral and national home of the Jewish people, that feels less like moral conviction and more like discrimination.”

Read the full piece here.

“As Americans celebrate the country’s 250th birthday, they are expressing a declining belief in liberal democracy, a faltering faith in the country, rising antisemitism and reduced support for the state of Israel. Chillingly, these challenges show up most acutely among young Americans. How do these problems relate to one another, and what can be done to repair society?” writes Richard D. Kahlenberg, director of the American Identity Project at the Progressive Policy Institute, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

Back to basics: “Today, however, illiberal racial identity politics on both the left and right are undermining a common American identity and feeding antisemitism. … In order to strengthen American democracy and bolster the common aspirational values that hold our society together, policymakers should provide more time, resources and accountability for students to learn their civic inheritance and shared American history.”

Read the full piece here.

Survey Says: In a post for Candid, Stephanie Wormington reports on the findings of a survey of nearly 4,000 U.S.-based nonprofits, fielded between August and October 2024, to determine which revenue sources nonprofits rely on most. “Individual donors were the most common revenue source, followed closely by foundation and nonprofit grants. By comparison, earned income and government funding were less commonly mentioned. Across all four revenue sources, very few nonprofits reported relying on a single one: Just 7% relied solely on individual donors, only 1% on foundation grants, and less than 1% on earned income or government funding.” [Candid]

Don’t Buy the Hype: The funding boosts promised after the racial reckoning in the U.S. sparked by George Floyd’s murder did not come through, James Pollard reports for the Associated Press. “American companies stepped up donations to historically Black colleges and universities. Major climate funders pledged to give more toward minority groups. Large donors sought to narrow the racial wealth gap. But new research released Tuesday shows that such financial gains for many Black-led nonprofits were short-lived, if they happened at all. A subset of large, Black-led nonprofits saw only temporary funding increases between 2020 and 2022, according to the analysis by nonprofit research service Candid and Black philanthropy group ABFE. Smaller organizations saw no significant change.” [AP]

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Holy sites in Jerusalem have reopened following the U.S.-Iranian ceasefire, which went into effect earlier this week…

Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport has also resumed operations, with several international carriers announcing that they will resume flights, though ticket prices remain high… 

Organizers of the annual Wireless festival in the U.K. canceled the three-day festival after British authorities revoked the visa of Kanye West, who had been scheduled to headline the event despite numerous incidents in which the artist invoked antisemitism language; the U.K.’s Home Office said the visa revocation was “made on the grounds that his presence would not be conducive to the public good”…

The Wall Street Journal examines investor Bill Ackman’s recent social media post in which he complained about a former employee’s demands for higher severance pay, drawing public support from fellow billionaires…

U.S. fertility rates hit a new low last year as fewer teenagers and young women had babies…

In a New York Times opinion piece, Jeff Coller highlights the transformative potential of gene editing for treating rare diseases...

Los Angeles’ Getty Center is shutting down for a year for renovations… 

The Associated Press spotlights Colby College’s Center for Small Town Jewish Life, which aims to support and strengthen small Jewish communities around the country…

A Pakistani man pleaded guilty in a New York federal court to a terrorism charge over a failed plot to attack a Jewish center in Brooklyn…

The Village of Old Westbury, N.Y., will pay $19 million to its local Chabad, following nearly 20 years of legal battles around the Chabad center’s plans for expansions… 

The Times of Israel interviews foreign students at Israeli universities about their experiences in the country during the war with Iran…

Diplomat David Cornstein, who served as U.S. ambassador to Hungary from 2018-2020 and played a key role in deepening ties between the Orbán government and President Donald Trump, died at 87…

Debbie Resnick was named the next board chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh…

Paramount President Jeff Shell departed the company following an investigation into allegations he shared confidential company information with an outside consultant…

ALEXI ROSENFELD/GETTY IMAGES

A DJ wearing traditional Moroccan clothes plays music for attendees at a Mimouna event on Wednesday night — a leavened food-filled North African celebration held at the end of Passover — in a bomb shelter under Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Center. 

The celebration was held the evening after President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, following more than a month of regular ballistic missile attacks by Iran.

 JOHN NACION/FILMMAGIC

Chair of the board of The Estée Lauder Companies, he serves on many charitable boards including the University of Pennsylvania and the 92NY, William P. Lauder turns 66 on Saturday… 

FRIDAY: Past president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, he was previously an executive of both the L.A. Lakers and the L.A. Clippers, Alan Rothenberg turns 87... Author of four novels and two political history books, he is a former senior editor at The New Yorker and a deputy editor of the “Outlook Section” in The Washington Post, Jeffrey Frank turns 82... Author of 265 books including 56 books in the Cam Jansen series, 68 biographies and books for youth on the Holocaust, David Abraham Adler turns 79... Naomi Eisenberger Atlani... Former member of the Knesset for 26 years, he once served as vice prime minister, Haim Ramon turns 76... Founder of Gantman Communications, he was the vice president of global strategic communications at the Motion Picture Association of America, Howard Gantman... Scarsdale, N.Y., resident, Robin Stalbow Samot... Soviet-born Israeli-American pianist, Yefim "Fima" Bronfman turns 68... Member of the Knesset for the Likud party for 23 years, now chairman of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Yuval Steinitz turns 68... Author of four books (including one made into an award-winning miniseries), she was the chief national correspondent at Yahoo News, following 30 years at The New York Times, Lisa Belkin turns 66… Former CEO of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, she stepped down last month, Shirley Ann Bloomfield... Tom Kohn... Author of five best-selling memoirs and six novels, she has also written for magazines such as The New Yorker, The Oprah Magazine, Vogue and Elle, Dani Shapiro... Host of Radio Atlantic and a senior editor at The Atlantic, she was born in Israel and moved to Queens when she was 5, Hanna Rosin turns 57... Governor of Missouri from January 2017-June 2018, Eric Greitens turns 52... Co-CEO of NJI Media and co-founder of FamousDC blog, Josh Shultz... Movie producer best known for the 2016 musical romantic-drama film "La La Land," Jordan Horowitz turns 46... Israeli journalist, television personality and a political columnist for the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Amit Yitzhak Segal turns 44... Senior vice president of entertainment and news media at Disability Belongs, Lauren Appelbaum... Attorney who has clerked for two federal judges, he also served as a fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General, Yishai Schwartz... White House liaison to the American Jewish community during the Biden administration, Shelley Greenspan... Associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Daniel E. Wolman... Basketball player for Klosterneuburg Dukes in the Austrian Basketball Superliga, Sylven Landesberg turns 36... Israeli singer-songwriter, actress and model, she represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, Noa Kirel turns 25… Phil Hayes... Susie Diamond…

SATURDAY: Actress who played the title character on the 325-episode soap opera satire "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," Louise Lasser turns 87… Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and syndicated columnist, she is the co-founder of "The Conversation Project," focused on end-of-life care, Ellen Goodman turns 85… Founder and CEO of the USA Network in 1977, she is the co-founder and chairman of Springboard Enterprises, Kay Koplovitz turns 81… West Bloomfield, Mich.-based inventor on more than 40 patents, Barry Schwab… Actor, director and screenwriter, he played the role of a crooked politician in “The Sopranos,” Peter Riegert turns 79… Sarita Dery… Former deputy director of WomenStrong International, Sydney Rubin turns 74… Managing partner and a founder of L.A.-based law firm Glass & Goldberg, Marshall F. Goldberg… Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives since 1999 from the Pittsburgh area, Dan B. Frankel turns 70… Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author, Michael Vitez turns 69… Australian industrialist, executive chairman of Visy Industries and Pratt Industries US, the world's largest privately owned packaging company, Anthony Pratt turns 66… Provost of Harvard University, formerly dean of Harvard Law School, John Francis Manning turns 65… General counsel of the Department of Homeland Security during the Biden administration, Jonathan E. Meyer turns 61… Scholar of Eastern European Jewry, with a focus on the social history of Hasidism, Glenn Dynner turns 57… Retired Olympic breaststroke swimmer, he competed for the Soviet Union and then Israel, Vadim Alekseyev turns 56… Co-founder of Caracal Global Strategies and founder and CEO of Brigadoon, Marc A. Ross turns 55… Fashion designer, entrepreneur and author, founder of Body by Julia shapewear, Julia Haart turns 55… Professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University, he has held a variety of administrative and educational roles at Yeshiva, Rabbi Ezra Y. Schwartz turns 52… Head of fixed income sales at Citadel LLC, he was previously a Major League Soccer midfielder, Jordan Cila turns 44… Professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University and a dayan/judge at the Beth Din of America, Rabbi Itamar Rosensweig turns 37… Youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona House of Representatives, she is a convert to Judaism and worked for Tucson's JCRC, Alma Hernandez turns 33…

Sunday: Founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel, Pastor John Charles Hagee turns 86… Former national correspondent for "CBS News Sunday Morning," where she worked for more than 50 years before retiring in March 2025, Rita Braver turns 78… Attorney and bestselling novelist of 13 legal thrillers and author of three nonfiction books, combined he has sold more than 30 million copies, Scott Turow turns 77… Television producer, he serves as chairman of the Liverpool Football Club and the Boston Red Sox, Thomas Charles Werner turns 76… Senior vice president at UJA Federation of New York, Stuart Tauber… Fashion designer, he is a co-founder of the Guess clothing and accessory brand, Paul Marciano turns 74… West Bloomfield, Mich., resident, Ron Mitnick… Washington, D.C., attorney, Norman B. "Norm" Antin… Member of the House of Lords and Parliamentary under-secretary of state for patient safety, women's health and mental health, she previously served as chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews from 2014-2021, Baroness Joanna Merron turns 67… U.S. District Court judge for the Southern District of New York, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer turns 65… Twin brothers, both real estate agents starring in the Netflix original series "Selling Sunset," Jason and Brett Oppenheim both turn 49… Actress, director and writer, Jordana Spiro turns 49… Realtor focused on the Boston area, Ilya Jacob Rasner… President at National Student Legal Defense Network, Aaron Ament… California state senator (D-27), Henry I. Stern turns 44… Attorney, general counsel of an international technology firm, chair of the GI Research Foundation, board member of multiple biotech companies, and controlling owner of OnlyFans following the death of her husband Leonid Radvinsky in March 2026, Yekaterina "Katie" Chudnovsky… Member of the Seattle City Council, Daniel Aaron Strauss turns 40… Comedian, writer and actress, best known for co-creating and co-starring in the Comedy Central series “Broad City,” Ilana Glazer turns 39… Israeli actress best known for her lead role in the 2012 film "Fill the Void," Hadas Yaron turns 36… Actor, he starred as Big Red in the Disney series “High School Musical,” Larry Saperstein turns 28…