Daily Kickoff
TOP TALKER: “Hurt Feelings and Other Israeli Crimes” by Eli Lake: “Does anyone think these CAP staffers would protest if their employer had invited, say, Iran’s president to speak? Netanyahu’s errors and sins are worthy of discussion and criticism, but it’s not like the guy has actively aided Syria’s dictator in his brutal campaign against his own population, or supplied terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan with the roadside bombs that killed hundreds of U.S. soldiers. Gharib himself conceded the point. “Would there be petitions asking Rouhani not to talk? Probably not,” he said, referring to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. “But this came out of the Democratic Party’s left, which doesn’t like Israel.” [BloombergView]
Barak Ravid Scoops: “Washington rejects Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s suggestion to U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday to discuss the possibility of U.S. recognition of Israeli rule over the Golan Heights, a senior White House official said.” [Haaretz]
Yossi Melman: “It is said that timing is everything in life. Lacking a sense of timing, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu constantly misses it. Once the nuclear deal was a fait accompli in July, the US administration suggested to Israel to open immediately talks about a “compensation package”… Against the advice of his advisers and the military establishment, Netanyahu refused to talk, fearing he would be labeled a sellout.” [JPost]
“Bibi’s Excellent Washington Adventure” by Aaron David Miller: “Netanyahu knows that more than likely, come January 2017, he’ll be around and Obama won’t. And he also knows that during the U.S. presidential campaign before that point, the atmosphere will be filled with Republicans and Democrats competing with one another to show who loves and admires Israel (and its prime minister) the most… Then the only question is how long it will take the new president and Bibi to start annoying one another.” [ForeignPolicy]
Steven Mufson: “President Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week with an eye on two fronts: the chaotic Middle East and the domestic political campaign, where Democrats are eager to make sure that support for Israel does not become a partisan issue in 2016.” [WashPost]
–Related: Hillary Clinton will likely continue the policies of President Obama when it comes to Israel, a prominent Jewish Democrat said on Tuesday. [JewishInsider]
Bibi wrapped up his U.S. trip on Wednesday after meeting with Sec. John Kerry and touring Mount Vernon.
Peter Beinart: “Netanyahu Shows D.C. Liberals Why He’s the ‘Armor-plated Bullshitter’” [Haaretz]
Benny Avni: “On the big issues, Israel’s left is against Obama & the EU” [NYPost]
“Israeli Opposition Leader Withholds Judgment on Netanyahu’s U.S. Visit” by Rick Gladstone: “The proof of the pudding is in the eating,” Mr. Herzog, leader of the Labor Party, told reporters at a meeting in New York organized by the Israel Policy Forum… Herzog also sought to quash what he described as repeated speculation in the Israeli news media that he might work with Mr. Netanyahu in a government of national unity.” [NYTimes]
SCENE LAST NIGHT: The Israeli Mission to the United Nations and the AJC hosted “The Battle for Zionism,” marking the 40th anniversary of the of the passage of UN Res. 3379 (“Zionism Is Racism”) and Chaim Herzog’s powerful speech denouncing the resolution. Speakers included Sec. John Kerry, Amb. Samantha Power, Opposition Leader Isaac Herzog, Amb. Danny Danon, AJC’s David Harris, Natan Sharansky, Michael Herzog, Gil Troy, and Moran Atias. Kerry said he decided the previous night the he needed to attend this event and subsequently scoured YouTube late at night for speeches by Chaim Herzog. SPOTTED: Mora Moynihan, AIPAC’s Howard Kohr and Robert Cohen, Kenneth Bob, Elisa Sagor, Joey Resnick, David Makovsky, Seffi Kogen, Dan Smith, Yaakov Hagoel, and Rabbi Haskell Lookstein. [Pic]
2016 WATCH: “Ben Carson’s Shrine to Himself Features Jewish National Fund Plaque” [Forward; Guardian]
“Clinton, Bush lawyers square off in FEC proxy war” by Isaac Arnsdorf: “The super PACs’ request for guidance also turned into something of a proxy war for the legal masterminds behind Hillary Clinton’s and Jeb Bush’s campaign. Marc Elias, the lead lawyer for the two super PACs, as well as a lawyer for Clinton’s campaign, in effect asked the FEC to condemn tactics used by Bush this cycle or give Democratic House and Senate candidates permission to do the same. Charlie Spies, who is Elias’ rough Republican counterpart, told POLITICO in an interview that if Bush and his super PAC had crossed a line, then so had Clinton with her family’s foundation.” [Politico]
What Jeb World Is Reading: “Jeb Bush Is 2016’s John Kerry” [PoliticoMag]
BUSINESS BRIEFS: “Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to receive $93M in tax breaks from Chris Christie’s State government” [NJ] • “Carl Icahn to Sell Unfinished Fontainebleau Las Vegas” [CND] •“RXR Realty, in a joint venture with Westbrook Partners, is in contract to buy 47 Hall St. for more than $160 million from a partnership that includes landlord Ruby Schron and the Fruchthandler family” [Crains] • “Seth Klarman’s Baupost Dumps Alliance One” [ValueWalk] • “Valeant, Ackman must face U.S. insider trading lawsuit” [Reuters] • “In the Courtroom, Sheldon Silver Shows a Happy Face” [WSJ; NYT] • “Box CEO Aaron Levie Says Smaller Seed Rounds = Smarter CEOs” [ReCode]
Business leaders spotted at Bibi’s table at the AEI dinner earlier this week: Bruce Kovner, Ravenel Curry, and Tully Friedman. [Pic]
LongRead: “Interview with Bruce Kovner” by Arthur Brooks: “Bruce Kovner was born to a Jewish immigrant family steeped in the belief that you could do anything in America—and young Kovner would soon prove the point. He enrolled at Harvard University, drifted to New York when he stalled in grad school, drove a cab, then found he had a knack for trading commodities. A $5 billion knack, judging from his approximate net worth when he retired in 2011.” [PhilanthropyRoundtable]
STARTUP NATION: “Fiverr raises $60M to help lure freelancers online — and removes $5 minimum charge” by Paul Sawers: “Today’s news takes Fiverr’s total funding past the $110 million mark, and it’s double the amount of its previous biggest round, which came in at $30 million last August. The latest round was led by Square Peg Capital, with participation from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Accel Partners, and Qumra Capital.” [VentureBeat] • “Israel seeks to avoid US securitization mistakes in creating new market” [JPost] • “Israel Unveils Hotel Building Plan in Effort to Lower Prices” [Bloomberg]
SPOTLIGHT: “A Software Firm That Wines and Dines the Restaurant Industry” by Janet Morrissey: “By streamlining the buying process, tracking orders and finding the best prices for items, the app can cut restaurant costs 7 to 15 percent on average, said Guy Praisler, Dine Market’s co-founder… Praisler, who was born in the port city of Ashdod, Israel, in 1968, moved to the United States in 1993… The other co-founder Adi Dror was born in Rishon LeZion, Israel, in 1986, and had worked in restaurants his entire career, from a job as a busboy at age 14 to an eventual position as a restaurant manager.” [NYTimes]
INBOX — from Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop: “I want to invite you to come to City Hall today at 5:30pm to cheer on some new pioneers in our medical community. Over the last year, we’ve been working to set up a new kind of EMT system in Jersey City. It’s called United Rescue, and it doesn’t exist anywhere else in the America. United Rescue is a system that leverages community-trained volunteers and GPS tracking to cut EMT response times in half. United Rescue is based on an extremely successful system from Israel.”
TALK OF OUR NATION: “Would University of Missouri students have needed to go to such extremes if they were Jewish?” by Matthew Fleischer [LATimes]
HAPPENING TODAY: At 2PM, the Brookings Institution hosts Rabbi Jonathan Sacks for a discussion on his latest book “Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence” [Brookings]
HEADLINE: “Jack Yufe dies at 82; he was raised Jewish, his identical twin as a Nazi” [LATimes]
DESSERT: “Kosher Butchers on the Chopping Block” by Leah Koenig: “After decades of decline, the independent stores that remain have to find new ways to survive.” [TabletMag]
L’CHAIM! Trailer for Bravo’s new Real Housewives of Potomac includes Jewish wedding … Overheard: “L’chaim” H/T @HowardMortman [Bravo; WashPost]
BIRTHDAYS: Jeffrey Zients turns 49… Al Michaels turns 71… Dave Weinberg… Bernard Wachsman…