- Disgraced former president Donald Trump, braver than the troops in his own mind (but we already knew that)

The United States is pressing Israel to downshift its war against Hamas to a more restricted style of fighting that focuses on limited special operations against high-value targets. 
 

• On Thursday, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan reportedly urged top Israeli officials to  wrap up their country’s  large-scale ground campaign in Gaza and transition to a more targeted phase of the  war, as the civilian death toll continues to climb. Sullivan did not specify a timetable for this transition, but other U.S. officials told The New York Times that President Joe Biden wants Israel to move to more precise tactics within about three weeks. 
   

• Differences between the United States and Israel have broadened as conditions in Gaza remain horrific. Biden said earlier this week that Israel is beginning to lose international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing” campaign, in a switch to notably harsher words than he has used before in public. 
   

• Shortly after the Times reported on the discussions between Israeli and U.S. officials, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had “made it clear that Israel will continue the war until we complete all of its goals.” American officials say the White House understands that Israel’s campaign to hunt and kill Hamas leaders will continue for many months, even after the transition to lower-intensity operations.

Tensions continue to rise in the occupied West Bank. 
 

• Israeli troops killed 12 Palestinians during a three-day raid in the West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. One unarmed teenager was shot dead at a hospital, according to Palestinian officials and Doctors Without Borders. The Israeli military said it killed “more than 10” people, whom it referred to as terrorists, in Jenin, and that soldiers had dismantled bomb laboratories. At least 287 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank in the two months since October 7. Israel did not not allow ambulances to enter Jenin’s refugee camp during the raid to transport patients in critical condition, according to the director of the Palestinian Red Crescent there. 
   

• The IDF said on Thursday that it had disciplined soldiers who filmed multiple videos of themselves singing a Jewish prayer at a mosque in Jenin. A military spokesman said the soldiers had acted “against IDF codes of conduct within a religious establishment,” and a post from the military’s social media account said the soldiers were “removed from operational activity.” The brutal Israeli counteroffensive in Gaza and violence in the occupied West Bank appear to have increased support for Hamas, especially in the West Bank, according to a recent poll conducted by a prominent Palestinian research center and a German foundation on Wednesday, although the poll also found that most Palestinians do not support the militant group 

After two months under siege, desperate people in Gaza have taken to stopping United Nations aid trucks in the streets, taking food off of them, and consuming it on the spot, according to the U.N. Officials at the organization and aid workers have been warning for some time now that social order is breaking down in the Gaza Strip. Israel’s assault on the enclave has led to dire shortages of food, clean water, and medicine. Hunger and communicable diseases are spreading rapidly, according to the U.N.

If you’re looking for something to binge this holiday season, Friends of the Pod subscribers now have access to a new “Limited Series” feed where you can listen un-interrupted to This Land, Dreamtown Adelanto and Another Russia right now. Head to crooked.com/friends to sign up and listen!

How about spending the better part of a trillion dollars on bombs, planes, guns, drones and other creative ways to blow shit up? Sound rad? Well, it’s practically the only thing everyone in Congress can agree on. Over two-thirds of the House of Representatives voted to advance the National Defense Authorization Act. The bill includes a record $886 billion in annual military spending and authorizes additional aid to Ukraine and spending to push back against China. This year’s bill is nearly 3,100 pages long, and is, depressingly, one of the only bills that becomes law each year. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, about 582,000 Americans were experiencing homelessness in 2022, and the number has climbed annually since 2017. It would cost $8 billion per year, for 12 years, to completely solve California’s homeless crisis, according to a recent assessment from two non-profits—and that’s the most populous state in the country. That figure is less than 1 percent of what the House just voted to spend on the military. But anyways, congratulations to Lockheed Martin on another banner year of Pentagon money!

President Biden is trailing behind disgraced former president Trump in seven key swing states. Not great, folks!

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Thursday that abortion bans in Poland breached a woman’s rights when she was forced to travel abroad for the procedure when her fetus was diagnosed with a fatal anomaly. 

Some Type 2 Diabetes patients are reporting having difficulty getting reimbursed for drugs like Ozempic as U.S insurance companies are implementing more restrictions to deter doctors from prescribing the medication for weight loss. 

Disgraced former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani followed in the cowardly footsteps of his old boss and decided at the last minute not to testify at his defamation trial. 

The FDA and Customs and Border Protection seized more than $18 million worth of unauthorized e-cigarettes on Thursday. Somewhere, a nicotine-addicted teen is planning the heist of a lifetime.  

Vivek Ramaswamy is now campaigning with professional racist and former GOP congressman Steve King. 

Finland has once again closed its border with Russia, accusing Moscow of funneling migrants through its territory. 

A January 6 insurrectionist claimed he was infected with “Foxmania” from watching too much Fox News as he pleaded guilty to his connection with the attack on the Capitol. These fucking people!

European Union officials made the historic decision to open membership talks with Ukraine on Thursday, ignoring objections from conservative Russia-ally Hungary and giving Kyiv some wind at its back as the war against Russia’s invasion continues. Membership would likely be many years away, but the decision takes Ukraine one step closer to its long-held strategic goal of solidifying its place in the West. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (incredible German guy name) played a definitive role in getting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to leave the room to clear the way for the decision. (We imagine he said something like, “Viktor, would you mind stepping outside for a minute? We have to talk about your surprise birthday party.”) As of Thursday evening, EU leaders were still deliberating on a proposal to grant Ukraine 50 billion euros in financial aid.

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Happy 15th anniversary of an Iraqi journalist throwing a shoe at former president George W. Bush. 

Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Thursday after the Federal Reserve hinted that it may end its aggressive rate-hike campaign. 

Retail sales also unexpectedly rose in November, another sign of the economy’s resilience. 

Over 150,000 registered Republicans in Florida have signed a petition in support of a ballot amendment that would bar the state from banning or restricting abortion “before viability” which is usually 24 weeks or “when necessary to protect the patient’s health.” The petition has 1.3 million signatures total so far.

The Supreme Court refused a motion to block enforcement of the Illinois assault weapons ban for the second time, leaving the ban as is.