Axios

An increasing proportion of U.S. adults believe that Israel's military response in Gaza has "gone too far," according to a new AP/Norc poll published Friday.

Why it matters: The findings underscore how divided Americans are over the Israel-Hamas war, which has become a lightening rod everywhere from college campuses to workplaces across the U.S.

China's hacking operations pose the biggest existential threat to the safety of U.S. critical infrastructure — but despite years of investment, the U.S. is far from nailing the cyber basics.

Why it matters: U.S. cyber officials warned Congress this week that China has shown a persistent interest in not only stealing state secrets, but also disrupting basic services, like access to clean water and electricity.

Former President Trump's privacy lawsuit against former spy Christopher Steele and his consultancy firm was dismissed by a British High Court judge in London on Thursday.

The big picture: Trump's lawyers argued the controversial 2017 "Steele dossier," authored by the former MI6 agent that included salacious but unverified claims about the 2024 Republican primary front-runner, violated data protection laws.

A former CIA software engineer who was convicted of carrying out the largest data breach in the agency's history was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Thursday, the Department of Justice announced.

The big picture: Joshua Adam Schulte's "transmission of that stolen information to WikiLeaks is one of the largest unauthorized disclosures of classified information in the history of the United States," the DOJ noted in a statement.

Hours before traveling to Michigan, a key epicenter of Arab American outrage over the war in Gaza, President Biden signed an unprecedented executive order targeting Israeli settlers who attack Palestinians.

Why it matters: The timing may have been coincidental, but the Biden administration is eager to present deliverables to Arab and Muslim American voters who have threatened to sit out or actively work to defeat the president over his support for Israel.

It's an almost forgone conclusion that El Salvador President Nayib Bukele will be re-elected on Sunday, but what he'll do with an unprecedented second term while effectively controlling nearly all branches of government is less certain.

Why it matters: Bukele's harsh anti-gang measures have resulted in a drastic drop in violent crime, making him wildly popular in many quarters. But critics say the measures have been at the expense of civil rights and that other major issues such as food insecurity have been largely ignored.

A Russian court on Thursday extended Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva's pre-trial detention by another two months.

Why it matters: Kurmasheva, who has dual U.S.-Russian citizenship, was the second American journalist detained by Russia last year. Moscow has intensified its crackdown on independent media and critics since launching its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

President Biden on Thursday signed an executive order allowing the U.S. to impose new sanctions on Israeli settlers — and potentially Israeli politicians and government officials — involved in violent attacks against Palestinians.

Why it matters: The unprecedented executive order is the most significant step any U.S. administration has ever taken in response to violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

A group of Jewish leaders has sent a letter to Harvard defending criticism of Israel from scholars and supporting the embattled co-chair of the school's task force on antisemitism, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Derek Penslar, the task force's co-chair and a professor of Jewish history, has come under fire for once signing a letter attacking the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians.