Israeli actress Shira Haas, best known as the star of the Netflix four-part series “Unorthodox,” and for her role in the popular Israeli TV drama “Shtisel,” has been tapped to play Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in an upcoming American TV series. The 25-year old actress has won two Ophir Awards – the Israeli equivalent of the Academy Awards — for which she was nominated five times. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy. 

The series is based on the nonfiction work Lioness: Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel by Francine Klagsbrun. The book chronicles the life and career of Meir, one of the most influential figures in the history of Israel.

Barbara Streisand is executive producer. Head writer is Eric Tuchman, writer and producer of the TV series “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

Makua Rothman, the Hawaiian-Jewish surfing star, rode the largest recorded wave on Jan. 16, a swell reportedly more than 100 feet tall. The surfing world and major media outlets were stunned by this phenomenal achievement.

Of his record-riding wave, Rothman said, “I didn’t actually know it at the time, but I could tell it was a special wave. It felt different. Those waves, they create their own wind.”

Rothman is considered one of the best surfers in the world.

Former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former president Donald Trump, and Kushner’s deputy, Avi Berkowitz, have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for their roles in negotiating four normalization deals between Israel and Arab nations, known as the “Abraham Accords.”

Kushner and Berkowitz hammered out the details between Israel and the United Emirates and Bahrain, and later negotiated the deals with Sudan and Morocco. Kushner also laid the foundations for future agreements with other Arab countries.

The two were nominated by American attorney Alan Dershowitz, a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School. Dershowitz defended former president Trump during his first impeachment trial.

The nomination does not imply an endorsement by the Nobel committee, which has received numerous other nominations for the prize, including Russian opposition leader Alexei Nevelny and climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

The family of slain journalist Daniel Pearl said the Pakistani Supreme Court judges who last month ruled to free his killers harbor anti-American bias associated with conspiracy theories around Pearl’s death.

Judea Pearl, Daniel Pearl’s father, told The Forward that the family believes two members of the three-judge panel that voted to free Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh are “anti-U.S.,” a sentiment that Pearl said was associated with a belief that the United States fabricated his son’s murder.

Daniel Pearl was a Jewish Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped by terrorists and beheaded while on assignment in Karachi in 2002. Pearl’s Jewish faith is widely believed to have played a role in his murder. Three accomplices were acquitted by a lower court last April.

Israel’s Ariel University in Samaria has announced that it will award its first honorary doctorate to outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Israel David M. Friedman “in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the diplomatic international relations between the USA and Israel.”

Friedman said in response that he was “deeply honored to be the first recipient of an honorary doctorate from Ariel University, an academic institution that serves students of all faiths and nationalities. Ariel brings a future of peaceful coexistence right to the here and now.”

Friedman served as ambassador to Israel from May 15, 2017 to Jan. 20, 2021. He was appointed to the post by President Donald Trump, who had been represented by David Friedman in connections with bankruptcy negotiations.

Janice Weinman, chief executive officer/executive director of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization for the past nine years, will step down as the organization’s leader on July 1. During her tenure at Hadassah, Weinman helped the organization realize its missions to support Israel, facilitate the work of its two hospitals in Jerusalem; fight antisemitism, and advance the cause of women’s health.

Before joining Hadassah, Weinman served as president of K.I.D.S., an organization supporting children in need around the world; also corporate vice president for external affairs of the Mount Sinai Hospital/NYU Medical Center and Health System in New York City; also executive director and CEO of the American Association of University Women; and executive vice president of the College Board. She also served as the assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Education in the Carter and Clinton administrations.

Two Jews played prominent roles in the second impeachment trial of former president Donald J. Trump. David Schoen, a modern Orthodox Jew from Atlanta, represented Trump at the Senate trial, which began on Feb. 9. Schoen has represented reputed mobster figures; the alleged head of the Russian mafia in this country; Israeli mafia and two Italian bosses.

Most recently, he represented Roger Stone, a longtime Republican operative and an ally of Trump. Stone was convicted of obstructing a congressional investigation into the allegations of Russian collusion during the 2016 presidential election. Days before Stone, who is Trump’s longtime friend and political confidant, was to report to prison in July, the president commuted the 40-month prison sentence.

Leading the House impeachment managers in the trial was Jamie Raskin, who made the case with eight other members of the House of Representatives that the former president had incited insurrection when his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Jan. 6.

Raskin, an American lawyer, has served as the U.S. Representative for Maryland’s 8th congressional district since 2017. He also played a role in Trump’s first impeachment trial.