IDF chief: We’ll cope even without US in Syria * PM: Erdogan is an ’anti-Semitic dictator’ *

IDF chief: We’ll cope even without US in Syria * PM: Erdogan is an ’anti-Semitic dictator’ * When calling someone ’Reform’ gets you sued * Last Warsaw Ghetto fighter dies

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THE DAILY EDITIONSunday, December

IDF chief: US troops leaving Syria is ‘significant,’ but no need to overstate it BY JUDAH ARI GROSS In first comments since American announcement of pullout, Gadi Eisenkot says Israel will keep fighting Iran in Syria independently

Erdogan tells Turkish youths: ‘Jews in Israel’ beat Palestinian women, kids BY TOI STAFF AND AFP Turkish president promises ‘We’ll teach them a lesson’; Netanyahu, in response, accuses him of massacring Kurdish women and children

LIVE UPDATES Netanyahu calls Erdogan an ‘anti-Semitic dictator’ in escalating war of words BY MICHAEL BACHNER PM fires back after top Turkish diplomat calls him a ‘cold-blooded murderer,’ in latest round of years-long verbal spat with Ankara

Abbas: Netanyahu responsible for West Bank terror, due to payments to Hamas BY TOI STAFF But Palestinian chief also says Ramallah ‘will not accept condemnation of Hamas’; PA said to ask Israel to change 1994 economic agreements

Hamas says it’s weighing response to Israeli ‘arrogance’ after 4 killed in riots BY TOI STAFF As Abbas reiterates plans to dissolve PA parliament, Hamas warns of chaos BY AGENCIES AND TOI STAFF

Simcha Rotem, last surviving fighter in Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, dies at 94 BY TOI STAFF AND AFP Rotem fought Nazis in city streets, later helped rebels flee through sewers; Netanyahu says, ‘His story will forever be with our people’

ANALYSISERIC CORTELLESSA Trump decision to pull troops from Syria puts pro-Israel groups in a bind Organizations that once applauded the president for moving the US embassy and leaving the Iran deal are now navigating their first major disagreement with the administration

Israel media review /Allies shmallies: 6 things to know for December 23 BY JOSHUA DAVIDOVICH Trump’s 2018: A year in a stranger-than-sitcom presidency BY CALVIN WOODWARD

Former state prosecutor: ‘Unthinkable’ PM still serving under cloud of probes BY TOI STAFF Moshe Lador says Netanyahu’s ‘personal considerations are influencing matters of security and diplomacy,’ claims almost no chance he won’t be indicted

Death toll rises to 222 after volcano-caused tsunami in Indonesia Over 800 injured and 28 reported missing; Anak Krakatoa volcano had spewed plumes of ash thousands of feet into the air for days

In Israel, calling someone ‘Reform’ may get you sued for libel BY CNAAN LIPHSHIZ Adina Bar-Shalom — a daughter of former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel Ovadia Yosef — sues Rabbi David Benizri, asking that court recognize the term as a slur

TOP OPS

ELISE RONAN What is healthy? 3 years and counting It’s time to talk about the physically debilitating effects of the drugs that keep me (blessedly) alive, post-cancer SHUKI FRIEDMAN Anti-Zionism is a dangerous form of anti-Semitism The Jewish state is a refuge for any Jew in need, which means that anyone standing against Israel stands against Jews

MORE HEADLINES

Silver lining / With rain radar down, Israel’s forecasters use Saudi, Jordan weather maps BY TOI STAFF Aussie school under fire for photos of students in blackface, Hitler costume BY TOI STAFF Michael Oren: I am the most qualified person to be immigration minister BY RAOUL WOOTLIFF Netanyahu tells cabinet he’ll name immigration minister by midnight BY RAOUL WOOTLIFF Egyptian security forces kill 14 Islamist fighters in Sinai BY AFP Incredibly cool / Mars orbiter sends striking photos from icy crater BY TOI STAFF UK says resurgent al-Qaeda plans to target planes and airports BY TOI STAFF Tel Aviv stock market slumps at opening, following week of losses on US markets BY AGENCIES AND TOI STAFF