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President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, which he described as "the most conservative in Israel's history," was losing support because of
its "indiscriminate bombing" in Gaza following Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 attack. The comments marked Biden's most direct criticism yet of Netanyahu as international pressure mounts to ease a
worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Netanyahu said he hoped the U.S. and Israel could settle their differences but that his government wouldn't "give in to international pressure." The
United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday approved a non-binding call for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire. Reuters, The Washington Post
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday made an emotional appeal to congressional leaders for more aid to help his country counter a Russian invasion, reportedly telling lawmakers
that his country was in a do-or-die "fight for freedom." He also visited the White House and asked President Joe Biden to step up his effort to push through a $110 billion package that
includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine. "Mr. President, I call on Congress to do the right thing, to stand with Ukraine, and to stand up for freedom," Zelenskyy said. Congress is deadlocked on
the legislation, as Republicans insist on pairing the aid with measures to increase security at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Associated Press
Harvard's board expressed unanimous support Tuesday for the university's president, Claudine Gay, after she and two other university leaders faced intense criticism over their testimony
during a congressional hearing on campus antisemitism tied to the Israel-Hamas conflict. The board said that after "extensive deliberations" it decided "President Gay is the right leader to
help our community heal" in "this tumultuous and difficult time." Gay and the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and MIT gave what The Boston Globe described as "legalistic and
equivocal answers" when asked during the Dec. 5 hearing whether calls for the genocide of Jews violated school rules. Some wealthy donors, alumni and lawmakers pushed for their removal.
UPenn President Liz Magill resigned Saturday. The Boston Globe
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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in
2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News,
and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.