Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met quietly in recent days with Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot amid the final stretch of Israel’s high-stakes election campaign, Gili Cohen reports for Jewish Insider — the first known time U.S. officials have met with the former IDF chief of staff, who is considered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief rival in the contentious race…

Eisenkot vowed in a speech today that he would end Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip within 18 months of becoming prime minister, either through fully enacting the U.S.-led Gaza peace plan or through military action if necessary…

In a combative interview on NBC yesterday, Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed dismissed his half-sister’s past comments about his family’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood as “hearsay,” JI’s Marc Rod reports.

El-Sayed has denied that his family has any connection to the Muslim Brotherhood, but newly resurfaced tweets by his half-sister threw those denials into question, as she repeatedly said that family members of theirs, including their mother, had long been Muslim Brotherhood members. “You want to ask me about what was happening in Egypt in 1970. Are you serious?” El-Sayed told host Tom Llamas. “I have no ties. We have no ties. … I have never had these conversations with my mother. I wasn’t raised by my mother”…

Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced a joint resolution of disapproval today that aims to block the U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal, allowing the Democrats to force a vote on the deal as soon as Nov. 29, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

It appears unlikely at this point that the GOP-controlled Congress will vote to block the deal, with most Republicans expressing support for it, though some GOP holdouts have voiced their concerns…

The 10-year-old son of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar wrote to his father that he wanted to “hold the Kalashnikov and shoot the Jews” when he grows up, accompanied by drawings of tanks, rifles and rockets, according to letters recovered by the IDF in Gaza and provided by the military to The Telegraph…

James Talarico, the Democratic Senate nominee in Texas, reiterated his sharp criticism of Israel at a CNN town hall yesterday, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of targeting Palestinian civilians and restricting humanitarian aid, JI’s Emily Jacobs reports.

Speaking onstage with the rabbi of a Reform congregation in Dallas, Talarico acknowledged the scale of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks and Israel’s right to defend itself, adding, “I don’t believe that Benjamin Netanyahu has a right to wage war against civilians or use collective punishment or restrict aid to civilians”…

Talarico’s campaign reported today that he brought in $64 million in the third quarter of the year, which the campaign said is the most any candidate for U.S. Senate has raised during that period. Talarico’s GOP opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, reported raising $18 million during the third quarter, though most of the spending on his behalf in the race has come from outside Republican groups…

Former President Barack Obama criticized Israel’s security policy as having “ceded moral ground” and said that Israel’s founding had unjustly taken land from Palestinians in remarks in Belfast, Northern Ireland, this week, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

“The fact is that the Jewish people for millennia were oppressed, discriminated against, killed. … They understandably sought a refuge in a place where they had historic ties. That is undeniable,” Obama said. “What is also undeniable is that they took the land of people and they were expelled. And those people, understandably, said, ‘This is an injustice, and I want my land back,’” he continued…

Voting in Israel’s Oct. 27 election began overnight as polls opened at Israeli diplomatic missions worldwide, allowing roughly 4,800 eligible voters — diplomats, emissaries and their families — to cast ballots at 101 stations across 99 missions over a roughly 30-hour window. The largest overseas polling station is the Israeli consulate in New York City, where more than 700 people are eligible to vote…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at how the New York Jewish community is responding to City Comptroller Mark Levine’s decision not to reinvest city pension funds in Israel Bonds.

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) launched a bus tour across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula today, continuing with several rallies in the Detroit area tomorrow.

President Donald Trump will host a $1-million-per-plate fundraiser for his super PAC, MAGA Inc., at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, as the group sits on a more than $400 million war chest just weeks before the midterm elections.

The Jewish Democratic Council of America and the Westchester Jewish Democrats will hold a door-knocking and canvassing event on Sunday for Cait Conley, the Democratic nominee for New York’s 17th Congressional District, as she seeks to unseat Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY).

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will campaign with Democratic Florida Senate nominee Angie Nixon across the Sunshine State this weekend, as the democratic socialist attempts to unseat Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) in the largely conservative state.

We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat shalom!

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Former Vice President Kamala Harris said today at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, South Korea, that the Biden administration should have acted “sooner and more forcefully” to restrain Israel during the war in Gaza, Jewish Insider’s AJ Rodriguez reports, as Harris has become more critical of the Biden administration’s policy towards Israel since leaving office…

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani today sharply criticized Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman — the GOP nominee for New York governor — calling the Republican’s assertions that he would not protect Jewish communities from arson and sexual violence “directly racist,” JI’s Will Bredderman reports.

Referring to Blakeman’s comments in a private meeting with Hasidic leaders in Williamsburg that Mamdani would likely do little “if there is rioting here, if they’re burning down the yeshivas and your shuls, and burning down your house and raping your women,” the mayor said, “It’s not even a dog whistle. It’s just directly racist to say that I would not respond to Jewish New Yorkers being killed and raped”…

Mamdani also said today that he “welcome[s]” the decision by New York City Comptroller Mark Levine not to reinvest portions of the city’s pension system in Israel Bonds, which Levine said was solely a financial consideration and not an ideological one.

“It is something that I’ve said in the past that I don’t believe that our city should purchase Israel Bonds. We don’t purchase the bonds of any other sovereign nation. I don’t think that we should make an exception when it comes to Israel,” Mamdani said…

Addressing the House of Commons today, U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham denounced as “wrong” and “antisemitic” a recent motion passed by the Green Party defining Zionism as racism, JI’s AJ Rodriguez reports. Burnham stated that the Labour party would “have nothing to do with” the motion and would not sit in a coalition with the Green Party while it maintains such a policy…

The mayor of Reggio Emilia, Italy, defended the city’s handling of a controversy where Israeli and American Jewish preschool teachers were asked to condemn Israel’s actions in Gaza before being permitted to join a trip to his town, denying that the pledge was a requirement to attend, JI’s Haley Cohen reports.

After outreach from the State Department, Mayor Marco Massari said the city’s Charter for Democratic and Participatory Education, a document associated with Reggio Emilia’s early childhood education approach, was intended to be an “open document” and not a requirement that visitors sign on to a particular position…

The Herbert Park Hotel in Dublin canceled 70 rooms booked for participants of an international conference of envoys for combating antisemitism, JI’s Lahav Harkov reports.

Maurice Cohen, the head of the Irish Jewish Representative Council, said at the opening of the summit that the hotel canceled the group’s reservation made in May after finding out the nature of the event and after inquiring if the IDF would be involved, despite having no relevance to the topic of the gathering…

The Israeli Defense Ministry and the Pentagon signed an agreement today for Israel to acquire 12 Boeing-made Apache “Echo” attack helicopters for the IDF, wtih delivery scheduled to begin early next decade…

Colombia opened its embassy in Jerusalem today, fulfilling a campaign pledge by President Abelardo de la Espriella and marking a further restoration of ties with Israel under his right-wing party…

Israeli President Isaac Herzog met today with Bahraini Foreign Affairs Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani while attending the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia being held in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Herzog said the two “discussed the friendship and ties between Israel and Bahrain, as well as the importance of the U.S.-led Abraham Accords in strengthening security, stability, and prosperity in the Middle East”…

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin announced that the council will allocate $1.25 million to the Blue Card program — which provides financial assistance to families of Holocaust survivors — to develop a virtual Holocaust education experience and expand educational opportunities for students across the city…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for coverage of today’s memorial event at the State Department for the American victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.

National security veteran Brett McGurk will sit in conversation with Washington Post columnist David Ignatius at the Atlantic Council to discuss McGurk’s new book, Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7th Hostages.

The annual Hillary Rodham Clinton Awards Ceremony for advancing women in peace and security will be held at Georgetown University.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump declined today to answer whether he had decided to order U.S. strikes on the Iran-backed Houthis, telling reporters only that the group is “behaving very badly,” and later wrote on Truth Social that he “thought they learned their lesson a year ago when we bombed the HELL out of them … but now they’ve emerged again, probably at the behest of Iran.” Trump separately said the administration expects to determine its next steps on Iran “very soon”…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken with Trump several times about the possibility of striking Iran before the U.S. midterms and Israeli elections, Axios reports, with the Israeli leader pushing to address Iran’s apparent efforts to reconstitute its nuclear program — though Trump has recently said he has no intention to resume operations against Iran before November…

The Houthis reportedly attacked today the headquarters of Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia, after Riyadh targeted a Yemen Petroleum Company fuel depot; the extent of the damage to Saudi Aramco was unknown, though one source told the Financial Times that the site caught on fire…

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani told reporters today that he has no plans to fire NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, as parts of his socialist base have called for him to do, and commended her success in combating violent crime and corruption…

The Congressional Leadership Fund, the independent expenditure arm of the House GOP aligned with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), is reportedly withdrawing plans for independent spending against Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH), alongside several other swing districts the PAC is seen as essentially surrendering to Democrats, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Landsman has been one of the most outspoken pro-Israel Democrats and is running comfortably ahead in a Cincinnati-area district Trump won in 2024…

MI5, Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, is now devoting more resources to countering state threats than during the Cold War, Director General Ken McCallum said today, as the country works to fend off attacks from Iran and Russia. The U.K. has “entered a new era of national security,” McCallum continued, with terrorist and state-threat operations now “pretty much of equal scale”…

Representatives of the J7 Task Force Against Antisemitism, a body representing the seven largest Jewish diaspora communities, gathered at Herzog Park in Dublin — named for Chaim Herzog, the Dublin-raised sixth president of Israel, which activists have sought to rename — in order “to stand in solidarity with Ireland’s Jewish community and raise concerns about antisemitic rhetoric and actions in Ireland.” The group also conveyed those concerns directly to Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Foreign Affairs Secretary-General Joe Hackett…

Canada, Australia, France and the U.K. said in a joint statement today that they “deeply regret” the Palestinian Authority’s decision to postpone its elections until September 2027 and urged it to hold a vote “without further delay.” The countries also called on Israel to refrain from actions that could impede the vote and reiterated that Hamas should have no role in the future governance of the Palestinian territories…

A Delta Air Lines flight arriving in Tel Aviv from New York was cleared today at Ben Gurion Airport after an anonymous report indicated that a “suspicious” device was on board…

Asked if he’s considering running for president in 2028, Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a co-chair of the House Antisemitism Task Force, said during a recent podcast appearance, “I won’t lie — yes, I would love to, but I would also just be happy to be the right-hand or the left-hand man to someone else that has the same values”…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at how the Washington-area restaurant Busboys and Poets is alienating Jewish customers by promoting its new “free Palestine” drink.

The State Department, along with the American Jewish Committee, will host an event honoring the 46 Americans killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks in Israel, JI’s Marc Rod reports, after postponing the event from its original date in late September.

Leo Terrell, chair of the Justice Department’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, will speak at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Mich., for the first stop of the task force’s “American Tour Against Hate.”

The 2026 American Foreign Service Association awards ceremony will be held at Georgetown University, where former CIA Director Bill Burns will be honored for his “lifetime contributions to American diplomacy.”

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the House of Commons today that the suspected plot targeting the U.S.-run RAF Fairford air base was “highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran” and “almost certainly directed by” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

In a joint statement, the U.S. and 27 other countries backed Britain’s assessment, condemned Iran’s use of proxies for attacks on Western soil and vowed to identify, disrupt and prosecute those responsible…

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband agreed today to host a meeting of officials from seven countries to coordinate efforts against antisemitism, Jewish Insider’s AJ Rodriguez reports, following talks in London with representatives of the J7 Task Force Against Antisemitism — a body of organizations representing the seven largest Jewish diaspora communities.

William Daroff and Betsy Berns Korn, respectively CEO and chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told JI that their discussion with Miliband was “frank and direct. We called him to task for the U.K. government’s sanctions against Israel and its rhetoric, which exacerbate antisemitism and increase the risks Jewish communities face. We made clear that these consequences cannot be brushed aside,” they said.

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt told JI that, “while there are areas of strong disagreement [with Miliband], we identified some common concerns including our shared view on the bigoted antizionism of the Green Party … But this was just the first conversation. We intend to keep pushing for action and demanding accountability”…

Former President Barack Obama officially endorsed Democratic Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed in a video where he praised El-Sayed for refusing corporate money and for supporting “invest[ing] money here, instead of wasting money on endless wars.” Asked about his past criticisms of Obama following his 2012 reelection, El-Sayed said on “Meet the Press” this weekend that he was “younger” and “angry about circumstances” back then…

El-Sayed’s opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), released an ad pushing back on El-Sayed’s claim that neither he nor his family have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, highlighting a social media post from his sister that said, “My family has long been MB [Muslim Brotherhood],” among other similar reports…

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) told reporters today that Lebanese and Israeli leaders both expressed to him strong interest in the Michigan Senate race while he was on a trip to the Middle East last week, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

Among his conversations, Lankford said Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri told him there was an “extension of [his] party in Michigan that he just initiated.” Berri leads the Amal Movement, a Shia political faction allied with Hezbollah….

A teenager was killed and 24 others were injured today when an unexploded Hezbollah cluster munition detonated during a school hike in northern Israel near the Lebanon border. The IDF said the explosive had remained in the area from an earlier Hezbollah attack and that the incident remains under investigation…

American citizens have been detained in Saudi Arabia for photographing recent missile or drone incidents, the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh confirmed today, as it warned Americans not to film or share images of intercepted projectiles or impact sites so as not to violate Saudi law…

Speaking at the TRENDS conference in Abu Dhabi, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo predicted that “the large Islamic nations,” including Malaysia and Indonesia, will “come to see that something akin to the Abraham Accords makes sense for their countries as well,” given Iran’s destabilizing actions in the Middle East…

A federal court in California denied a motion by The Pokémon Company International attempting to dismiss a discrimination lawsuit brought by an Israeli American professional Pokémon player, who claims he was banned from all Pokémon competitions over his efforts to lobby the gaming company to host official tournaments in Israel. The court found that the allegations represent a “plausible claim of discrimination and retaliation,” allowing the case to proceed…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at the small Israeli political parties that could end up playing kingmaker in the upcoming elections.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington will hold a forum this evening focused on issues of concern to the Jewish community for candidates running in contested races for the Montgomery County Board of Education.

The USC Shoah Foundation will mark the grand opening tomorrow of its first office in Washington with a Q&A with Wolf Blitzer on his family’s experience in the Holocaust.

The Israeli Embassy in Washington will present a screening tomorrow of “NAZA: The Real Story,” a documentary meant to counter the controversial film “NAZA” that alleges the IDF intentionally targeted Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Former Rep. Max Rose (D-NY), a staunchly pro-Israel Jewish Democrat, will host a fundraiser in New York tomorrow for Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and singer Bobby Pulido, who is running as a Democrat in Texas’ 15th Congressional Distrct.

The Heritage Foundation will host a conversation tomorrow with Ben Black, CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, on American investment abroad.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post today that the U.S. is having “productive discussions” with Iran and that he “want[s] to make it clear” that Washington will not attack Iran before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, after reports indicated the president was considering such a move…

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani today shrugged off the protest — which featured jeers of “traitor” and chants of “long live Hamas” — that sought to drown out an event he attended last night memorializing the victims of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports.

“I was proud to attend last night’s vigil, as I did last year, to listen to testimonies from family members of those who were killed on Oct. 7, and those who’ve been killed in the three years since, and all of whom united in a vision for peace and an end to the genocide in Gaza,” Mamdani told reporters. “As for those protesting me, I am the mayor of New York City, and this is what I signed up for”…

A planned trip to Reggio Emilia, Italy, for some 100 Jewish early childhood educators from the U.S. and Israel was canceled after participants were required to sign a statement condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza.

The educators were meant to study the Reggio Emilia Approach to early childhood education, a method long embraced by Jewish preschools. But ahead of the trip, participants were asked to sign a statement declaring, “I distance myself from the occupation of Gaza and the violation of children’s and human beings’ rights in the occupied territories as well as in every places [sic] in the world,” according to a screenshot obtained by JI’s Haley Cohen…

An ad set to air during the Michigan Senate debate tonight, paid for by a pro-Mike Rogers super PAC, features a mother of a student at Temple Israel who said she identified as a lifelong Democrat but will be voting for Rogers due to remarks by Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed seeming to justify the attack on the synagogue earlier this year…

British counterterrorism police arrested two Latvian men today after they were found inside RAF Molesworth, an air base used by the U.S. military and NATO for intelligence operations. The men were detained on suspicion of entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the U.K.; police said there is no evidence at this stage linking the incident to the suspected Iran-related plot at RAF Fairford…

The Israeli Defense Ministry opened a national pavilion and led a delegation of defense firms — including Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael — at the Marrakech Airshow in Morocco this week, marking Israel’s first official participation in a Moroccan defense exhibition since signing the Abraham Accords…

The first Iron Dome Tamir interceptor fully produced and assembled in the United States was delivered to the Israeli Defense Ministry at a ceremony yesterday in East Camden, Ark., attended by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The Raytheon-Rafael facility is the first site outside of Israel to manufacture complete Tamir interceptors, part of the U.S.-Israel missile-defense cooperation program…

Several speakers at the right-wing National Conservatism Conference in Jerusalem this week berated Jews for speaking out against antisemitism, accused Israel of drawing the U.S. into wars and mocked evangelical Christian beliefs about Israel, JI’s Lahav Harkov reports.

Amanda Milius, a conservative documentarian, portrayed those accusing others of antisemitism as being “in a fit of hysteria” and said that doing so is “at risk of becoming [Black Lives Matter] to the younger American right. They are correctly sick of being called racists”…

Trump clarified that his recent comments about Iran bombing Los Angeles and San Diego were not invitations for Tehran to do so, writing on Truth Social that he only meant to make a comparison between the “small price to pay” of increased gasoline prices amid the Iran war and the regime potentially bombing major U.S. cities…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for an interview with Nechumi Yaffe, the first woman to run for Knesset on a Haredi party ticket, who spoke with JI’s Lahav Harkov about her new party’s push to transform ultra-Orthodox society — from conscription and the workforce to secular education — all while refusing to call it “change.”

Saturday will mark one year since President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan took effect. While the truce halted full-scale fighting and secured the release of the remaining hostages, the plan’s broader goals remain stalled: reconstruction of the enclave has made little progress, the International Stabilization Force has yet to deploy and Hamas is not yet disarmed.

Vice President JD Vance will make a campaign stop in Ohio tomorrow to boost Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) in his bid to keep his seat against former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH). Trump may make a stop in Alabama, pending a possible hurricane.

We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat shalom!

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today to wish him and the Israeli people well on the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks. Trump called the attacks “a horrible tragedy” and said “the other side is paying a very big price for what they did on Oct. 7”…

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani observed the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks with a statement that opened with a denunciation of Hamas and the “horrific war crimes” it committed that day, but spent most of its length excoriating the Israeli response — drawing fierce criticism from mainstream Jewish organizations, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports.

“Many New Yorkers are reckoning with this unbearable grief, and we mourn alongside them — all while knowing that our tax dollars fund these war crimes,” Mamdani’s statement said. “Three years later, we must refuse to accept a world in which occupation and apartheid continue, where war crimes are met with impunity, and our federal government continues its complicity with every arms shipment.”

UJA-Federation of New York accused Mamdani of choosing “to respond to the grief of Jewish New Yorkers by advancing false and inflammatory attacks against Israel — not only inappropriately shifting the focus away from Hamas’s cruelty, but also placing Jewish New Yorkers at risk”…

Metropolitan Police in the U.K. arrested 11 individuals today at anti-Israel marches, including five at a “spontaneous protest” outside the Camden headquarters of the Board of Deputies — the representative body of British Jews — for “inciting racial hatred, involving allegedly shouting or chanting slogans calling for intifada,” according to a police statement…

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot visited Hostages Square in Tel Aviv and Kibbutz Be’eri today, saying in a statement that France “will never forget” the victims of the Oct. 7 attacks — “Nothing will erase their faces or their names,” he added. A French official told The Times of Israel that Barrot has no plans to meet with Israeli officials during his visit, as Jerusalem and Paris continue to be at odds over issues including settlements in the West Bank and the war in Gaza…

The White House has asked the Pentagon to prepare potential options for strikes in Iran to be executed before the midterm elections, The Atlantic reports, as the president considers avenues to signal strength before voters head to the polls…

Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed recently called far-left influencer Hasan Piker to warn him that his extreme rhetoric was costing the candidate votes and asking him to stop, CNN reports…

In a lengthy profile on El-Sayed, CNN revealed that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel avoided attending religious services for the High Holy Days after she endorsed El-Sayed, knowing her position was controversial among the Jewish community. Speaking to the outlet, she credited El-Sayed with largely having stopped attacking AIPAC in his public statements, which she said she asked him to do.

Lansing, Mich., Mayor Andy Schor, a Jewish Democrat, also told CNN that he won’t endorse El-Sayed without having spoken to him, and his campaign has not yet made contact. El-Sayed also seems aware of his shortcomings: “I’m not the Democrat the Democrats want, but I am the Democrat that Democrats have,” he told the outlet…

As of this afternoon, El-Sayed still had not issued a public statement about the Oct. 7 anniversary, unlike many other candidates and elected officials across the country…

Meanwhile, the Republican Jewish Coalition announced today a $2 million ad campaign targeting Jewish voters in Michigan, highlighting Jewish Democrats who refuse to support El-Sayed, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

Ads from the group call out El-Sayed’s response to the terrorist attack earlier this year on Temple Israel, featuring several self-described lifelong Democrats saying they will not vote for El-Sayed, including a woman who says in the ad that her grandson attended preschool at the synagogue…

New YouGov polls of key midterm Senate elections found Democrats ahead in Kansas, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio as well as Texas, where state Rep. James Talarico is leading his GOP opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, by six points (50%-44%)…

In an address today at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed Western civilization, drawing a contrast between the Iranian regime, which he cast as a “cult of death” that glorifies martyrdom, and the West’s tradition of loyalty and sacrifice.

Rubio warned that the West has lost its will to fight and its drive to excel, saying that “the ideal of many ideologies in our time has, frankly, become a world of perfect safety, a world devoid of risk or failure” — one in which “we hold the most exceptional things among us hostage to the average, the ordinary, the mediocre”…

Former Boca Raton, Fla., Mayor Scott Singer, the Republican candidate running against Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) in South Florida, traveled to Qatar in 2024 where he met and was photographed with Qatar’s minister of municipality, Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, during a visit to the Qatar Economic Forum with other mayors from around the U.S., JI’s Marc Rod reports.

Singer and Moskowitz have been battling over which one of them is the stronger and more reliable supporter of Israel, in a district with a substantial Jewish population that could be up for grabs in the midterm election…

The authors of a play about the Oct. 7 attacks are calling for a police investigation after a fire alarm disrupted a showing of the play at Northwestern University yesterday. Alleging that someone intentionally pulled the alarm, playwright Phelim McAleer told Jerusalem News Syndicate, “These people are demonic.” Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) similarly called for an investigation into the incident, calling it “unacceptable”…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at GOP concerns with a provision regarding cooperation with Israel in the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act.

El-Sayed and his GOP opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), will participate in a debate tomorrow evening airing on a local Detroit TV station. 

Israel is expected to close the British consulate in east Jerusalem tomorrow in retaliation for London placing sanctions on Israeli settlements; reports indicate the U.K. intends to expel dozens of Israeli diplomats if the closure is enacted.

● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.

The White House stood by comments made by President Donald Trump on Monday that Iran could “take out” major California cities, including Los Angeles and San Diego; Trump’s comments prompted condemnation from Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state officials…

Vice President JD Vance said that Iran would have to make a “meaningful” change to its enrichment capacity in order to reach an accord with the U.S. to end the war, adding, “If you don’t want a nuclear weapon, then why do you need 60% enriched fuel? And if you want to show commitment to not building a nuclear weapon, don’t build highly enriched fuel. That’s a very basic threshold issue”…

During Maine’s Senate debate last night, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said she supports continued aid at current levels to Israel, while Democratic challenger Troy Jackson said he does not want “any more offensive weapons going to murder people in Palestine”; he added that he believed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a “war criminal, but Sen. Collins likes him”…

The Cook Political Report shifted its ratings of three key Senate races — in Kansas, New Hampshire and North Carolina — to further favor Democrats…

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, who had previously defended far-right commentator Tucker Carlson over his friendly interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes — prompting a series of resignations from the right-wing think tank — told The New Yorker in an exposé on Heritage that he now believes Carlson is “exacerbating antisemitism in America”…

The Wall Street Journal profiles WeWoreWhat founder Danielle Bernstein, who has amassed a large social media following even as she has courted controversies that have garnered her the tabloid nickname “America’s most hated influencer”… 

Politico profiles Berlin mayoral candidate Elif Eralp, whose Left Party has galvanized younger supporters even as it faces antisemitic incidents within the party; media have dubbed Eralp the “Berlin Mamdani,” owing to her progressive politics and campaign style, which were influenced by political consultant and Mamdani advisor Morris Katz, who is also advising Eralp…

The New York Times spotlights former hostages Gali and Ziv Berman, twins from Kibbutz Kfar Aza who were among the last living hostages to be released, as they adjust to life post-captivity…

The Wall Street Journal interviews young Americans who chose to immigrate to Israel following the Oct. 7 attacks…

British Airways is set to resume daily nonstop flights between London and Israel on Oct. 25…

The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen struck two airports in Saudi Arabia overnight amid a Riyadh-backed effort by Yemen’s internationally recognized government to retake areas claimed by the Houthis…

Counterterrorism officials in the U.K. arrested a seventh man in connection with an investigation into a security incident near the country’s RAF Fairford base, which had been used by the U.S. during its operations against Iran…

Actor Eva Marie Saint, known for her role in “Exodus,” died at 102…

Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.

Foreign Influence Peddling: In The Washington Post, Sander Gerber and Eugene Kontorovich argue that the government has a role to play in addressing covert foreign influence operations on social media. “Most of us calibrate our opinions at least in part by watching our neighbors. When a foreign government floods our Instagram feed with counterfeit neighbors, real citizens see a consensus that may not exist — and subconsciously adjust toward it. The deception lies in trying to pass off foreign (and often foreign-based) — and perhaps not even human — messages as apple-pie American.” [WashPost]

Seeing Red Over the Greens: In The Free Press, former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair raises concerns about the rise of the country’s Green Party, amid its vote over the weekend in favor of a single Palestinian state. “For most of its history, the Green Party was a party on the margins. Today it is a significant force in British politics. It won its best-ever results in this year’s local elections, and its membership has almost tripled. And it has moved itself, and many of its supporters and sympathizers, from condemnation of Israel’s conduct in the Gaza war to a full-on denial of the State of Israel’s right to exist.” [FreePress]

Coons’ New Tune on Israel: Politico’s Daniella Cheslow looks at Sen. Chris Coons’ (D-DE) political evolution on Israel in the three years since the Oct. 7 attacks as he positions himself to assume control of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee if Democrats flip the Senate. “Coons depicted his approach as providing moral clarity to an ally in an uneasy time. Oct. 7, Coons said, made Israelis ‘dramatically more concerned about security and less willing to tolerate or engage in conversations about a two-state solution or a path towards peace with Palestinians.’” [Politico]

On the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks, an Israeli soldier crouched to light a candle Wednesday morning at the memorial to the victims of the Oct. 7 attacks at the Nova music festival. John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images

Matthew Sklar, composer for musical theater on Broadway and the West End, television and film, turns 53

JOHN NACION/GETTY IMAGES

Robert Ian Kaufelt, former owner of Murray’s Cheese, the nation’s leading purveyor of artisanal cheese, turns 79

Allan Nelkin, retired chairman and CEO of Halco Lighting Technologies

Margery Nyberg, Highland Park, Ill., resident

Barry Curtiss-Lusher, co-founder, chair and former CEO of energy company Nexus BSP, he is a former national chair of the Anti-Defamation League, turns 75

Jill Smith, former chair of the Jewish Foundation for Education of Women and chair of the Prize Committee of the Genesis Prize Foundation, turns 73

Bruce Lawrence Bialosky, founder of the Republican Jewish Coalition of California and a former member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, turns 73

Ron Vosatka, former deputy director of community security at the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County

Michael W. Sonnenfeldt, entrepreneur and political activist, he co-founded the Israel Policy Forum in 1993, turns 71

Kenneth L. Marcus, founder and chair of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, he served as assistant secretary of education in the Trump administration, turns 60

Eli Saulson, president of Detroit’s Imperial Management and a board member of the William Davidson Foundation

Gabriele Corcos, creator, host and producer of “Extra Virgin” on the Cooking Channel, turns 54

Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner, rabbi of Temple Emanu-El in Closter, N.J.

Arie Lipnick, political fundraiser and strategist, advisory board chairman of the Combat Antisemitism Movement

Michael Malchieli, member of the Knesset for the Shas party and former minister of religious affairs, turns 44

Natalie Lascar Lefkowitz, SVP of the leadership institute at AIPAC

Adam Teitelbaum, founder of Level III Industries after holding roles at the Jewish Federations of North America, AIPAC and AEPi

Daniel Mael, CEO of Holbrook, N.Y.-based MW Impressions

Tayla Harris, executive assistant for global client operations at WPP

Barbara Martinez, an original Politico staffer, now a manager of editorial and content strategy for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum 

Sam Schear, principal on the real estate team at Korn Ferry

Tamara Harel-Cohen, co-founder and chief growth officer at Riseup

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Speaking at the National Conservatism Conference in Jerusalem today, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that Israel “can and must bear a growing responsibility for its own security, develop military and economic independence and stand up for its own interests,” and that Jerusalem “respect[s] the right and the duty of the United States to put the American people at the top of its policy priorities”…

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said similarly at the conference that, “if Americans put America first, like Israelis put Israel first … we can stand up to this new threat and, bound firmly together, toss red-green leftism into the ash heap of history”…

Roberts told The New Yorker in an exposé on the right-wing think tank released yesterday that he now believes far-right commentator Tucker Carlson is “exacerbating antisemitism in America,” after having previously released a video defending Carlson amid backlash over his friendly interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes — a move that fractured the organization…

The Telegraph reports that the Green Party member who proposed the “Zionism is racism” motion recently adopted at the party’s conference is a self-described close friend of an al-Qaida terrorist jailed for a foiled 2011 plot to bomb travelers arriving at Heathrow from Israel.

Lubna Speitan had offered to testify in defense of Minh Quang Pham — now serving a 44-year sentence for the plot — and confirmed to the outlet that the two remain friends, suggesting he had been wrongly “targeted” by “the system”…

Meanwhile, the European Green Party said the British Green Party’s “Zionism is racism” policy runs counter to its support for a two-state solution and that it would immediately seek clarification from the British party’s leadership. German Greens co-leader Felix Banaszak separately called the policy “intolerable and unacceptable”…

British counterterrorism police arrested a seventh suspect today in connection with the alleged plot targeting the U.S.-run RAF Fairford air base, detaining a 22-year-old British man in London on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts. The other six suspects have been released on bail as the investigation continues…

The Cook Political Report changed its ratings of three key Senate races further in favor of Democrats: Kansas switched from “Lean Republican” to “Toss Up,” New Hampshire changed from “Toss Up” to “Lean Democratic” and North Carolina shifted from “Lean Democratic” to “Likely Democratic.” The three races will be critical to deciding which party takes control of the upper chamber…

Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore would not commit to serving out a full second term if reelected in November, amid speculation that he plans to run for president in 2028: Asked at a gubernatorial debate today if he would serve the entirety of his next term, Moore said, “I would not be running for reelection if I was not committed to the people of Maryland,” and declined to comment further when pressed for a yes or no answer…

Member of Knesset Zeev Elkin met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today as part of an Israeli delegation to Ukraine marking the 85th anniversary of the widespread extermination of Jews by the Nazis at Babyn Yar. Zelensky said the two discussed Iran’s cooperation with Russia as well as regional issues, and stated, “Strong relations between Ukraine and Israel could certainly contribute to our shared security”…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a special edition of the Daily Kickoffhighlighting stories from former hostages, college students and the security sector marking the third anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel.

Others around the world will be marking the anniversary by protesting against the Jewish state, including on several college campuses and at New York City Hall, where anti-Israel groups including PAL-Awda, Within Our Lifetime and the youth chapter of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America are promoting a rally with a flyer that features the phrase, “Glory to the martyrs, victory to the resistance.”

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch vowed today at a press conference alongside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani that “Jewish institutions will not be left to protect themselves without a strong partner in the NYPD” amid the demonstrations.

Elsewhere in New York, Jaser AbuMousa, a father from Gaza who lost several family members to Israeli airstrikes during the Israel-Hamas war, and Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the father of former Israeli hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, will sit in conversation at the 92nd Street Y.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and her Democratic challenger Troy Jackson will face off tonight in their first debate, one of four to be held in the next two weeks, after Jackson was selected to replace Graham Platner as the state’s Democratic Senate nominee in July.

The National Conservatism Conference continues tomorrow in Jerusalem with speakers including former Polish President Andrzej Duda; Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli; former Israeli National Security Advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat; and Sebastian Gorka, senior director for counterterrorism at the U.S. National Security Council.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore will speak at an event tomorrow hosted by the Jewish Federation of Annapolis & the Chesapeake about the third anniversary of Oct. 7 and his commitment to combating antisemitism. The event will also feature a screening of the documentary “Torn: The Israel-Palestine Poster War on NYC Streets,” about the clashes in New York City as pro- and anti-Israel activists put up and tore down the “kidnapped” posters raising awareness about those taken hostage by Hamas.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) argued during her first joint campaign appearance with Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed that the Jewish vote is not a monolith and that some Jewish voters are prioritizing issues other than Israel and antisemitism in the state’s upcoming competitive Senate race, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

“There’s no such thing as the Jewish voters, just like there’s no such thing as the Muslim voters or the Black voters. People have their own views and the things that they prioritize are going to drive their vote,” she said during a joint appearance on MS NOW, after participating in a town hall with El-Sayed over the weekend. “But I think frankly … people want to see a Jewish woman and a Muslim man being able to get along, debate, push and pull each other, and move the state forward”…

Appearing on Fox News this afternoon, El-Sayed declined to answer directly when asked if he supports U.S. terror designations for Muslim Brotherhood chapters in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan. “I will support a terrorist designation for any organization that is engaged in or committed to political violence,” he said.

He also praised the Israelis who thwarted the attack on the FlyDubai flight last week, calling terrorism “awful and terrible”…

Also lending a hand to El-Sayed on the campaign trail is former President Barack Obama, who is set to campaign with the Senate candidate, as well as Michigan Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson, in Detroit on Oct. 24…

Turkey and Pakistan will deploy troops to Saudi Arabia, the three countries said in a joint statement today, as the Kingdom continues to battle the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen. The activation of the countries’ trilateral mutual defense pact “demonstrates the credibility of the commitment to collective defense” and “strengthens the effectiveness of deterrence,” the statement said…

Speaking today at a memorial in Jerusalem for those killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “settle accounts” with the remaining “human beasts” who planned and carried out the attacks; Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that 4,000 of the terrorists who entered Israel on Oct. 7 have already been killed, while 2,000 remain at large…

Asked if he thinks Iran was responsible for the attack on FlyDubai FZ1073, President Donald Trump told reporters today, “I personally do,” even as investigators have not officially determined Iranian involvement…

Trump also said that the U.S. moved its B-1 bombers out of the RAF Fairford air base in the U.K. due to “some threats, and rather than tempting the enemy, we’ll capture the enemy and beat the enemy.” Vice President JD Vance said similarly today that the planes were moved “out of an abundance of caution, trying to protect our guys” from an unspecified threat from Iran…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Netanyahu while en route to Iceland today, according to a State Department spokesperson…

British National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell reportedly visited Israel last week in an effort to prevent the closure of the British consulate in east Jerusalem; Israel ordered the consulate closed in response to British sanctions on West Bank settlements, and an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson said it will shut Thursday as planned…

A Kuwaiti national who attempted to attack the Israeli Embassy in London last year was sentenced today to life in prison with a minimum term of 20 years after being convicted of preparing a terrorist act. Abdullah Sabah Albadri, 34, was arrested outside the embassy armed with two knives and carrying a note indicating he was prepared to die as a “martyr”…

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) is continuing his travels in the Middle East in Saudi Arabia, where he met today with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, of whom he’s been a vocal critic. In a video update, Murphy said he pressed MBS about Gulf investments with the Trump family and freedom of political speech and discussed the Iran war and Palestinian statehood.

Murphy also visited the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, which was struck by Iranian drones early in the Iran war. He claimed, based on the damage, that the strikes would have caused a “mass casualty event” if they had occurred while the building was occupied…

Ambassador Yehuda Kaploun, the State Department’s antisemitism envoy, said at a press conference today that countries including the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Guatemala, Paraguay, Costa Rica and Chile are considering adopting or have already decided to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, as several Latin American countries have recently shifted more favorably towards Israel and prioritized combating antisemitism…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a dispatch from the Israeli Embassy in Washington’s Oct. 7 memorial event taking place this evening.

The National Conservatism conference kicks off tomorrow in Jerusalem with speakers including Israeli scholar Yoram Hazony; Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts; writer Rod Dreher; Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich; and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.

National security veteran Brett McGurk’s new book, Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7th Hostages, about his experience negotiating for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas during the Biden administration, will hit bookshelves tomorrow.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

The co-pilot who attacked his captain yesterday during a FlyDubai flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel “underwent Islamist radical indoctrination,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed on Fox News this morning based on initial findings from the investigation, and had asked his crewmates after being captured to “kill me.”

Netanyahu acknowledged concerns about how the assailant was able to serve as a co-pilot on a flight to Ben Gurion Airport as an Omani national, given that the Abraham Accords bar pilots from countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Jerusalem from flying into Israel…

While Netanyahu cautioned that investigators have not yet determined whether the attacker had ties to Iran or other foreign actors, President Donald Trump told reporters today that, “based on what I’m hearing,” the pilot was in fact linked to Tehran and “could have been” associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps…

Netanyahu also said on CBS yesterday that Israel provided the U.K. with intelligence about an “Iranian-sponsored attack” on British soil, “and pretty much the next day they slapped sanctions on us,” referring to the new British sanctions regime targeting Israeli settlements.

Meanwhile, British counterterror officials arrested a 27-year-old dual British-Iranian national in London today on suspicion of plotting a terror attack in connection with the security incident at the U.S.-run RAF Fairford air base over the weekend. Five British men who were initially arrested near the base on suspected explosives and terror offenses have since been released on bail…

Trump told Time magazine in an interview published this morning that he “can’t imagine” Netanyahu ignored warnings from both the UAE and Egypt in weeks ahead of the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks, after reports emerged that the prime minister had been notified of the threats ahead of time.

“You know, I think if he would have known, he would have done something about it. Certainly, he would have had people at least alert,” Trump said…

Democratic Majority for Israel released a proposal today for a “modernized U.S.-Israel relationship,” with a focus on reimagined ties between the countries following the end of the current memorandum of understanding on military aid, set to expire in 2028, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

The group urged focusing on “more joint development and production in missile defense, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies” but did not fully rule out the potential for “some” continued military aid and missile-defense funding past 2028 — though the group suggested that such aid would likely be phased out “over time, and by mutual agreement”…

Roughly 20 empty Iranian oil tankers have been stranded off Sri Lanka’s coast — drifting with idled engines as food, fuel and water run low — since July, when the U.S. reimposed its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz. Washington has since pressured Sri Lanka into barring local ships from resupplying the vessels and their crews, according to The Wall Street Journal…

The Pentagon is reportedly sending a third aircraft-carrier strike group and additional Marine Corps ships to the Middle East — adding roughly 9,000 to 10,000 troops — which are set to arrive in the region in November, as Trump publicly weighs renewing strikes on Iran after the midterms. The buildup could bring the U.S. to three carrier-strike groups in the Middle East for the first time since April…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio waived human rights conditions on $320 million in U.S. military aid to Egypt, citing national security interests and Cairo’s “helpful role” following the start of the war with Iran, according to a State Department memo…

A CNN investigation found that Jared Kushner‘s private equity firm, Affinity Partners, is the largest shareholder in an Israeli financial group, Phoenix Financial, that holds stakes in Elbit Systems and at least eight other companies supplying the Israeli military — even as Kushner has served as a lead U.S. negotiator in the Gaza war.

Critics say his envoy status — which lets him avoid financial-disclosure requirements — blurs the line between his public role and private profit, though CNN found no sign that Kushner’s diplomacy affected the investments and his attorney said he has never directed Phoenix’s decisions…

While hundreds of students gathered at the University of Texas at Austin last night to hear far-left streamer Hasan Piker speak about the future of progressive politics, former Israeli hostage Maya Regev was across campus recounting her 50 days in Hamas captivity at a counter-event organized by campus pro-Israel groups in response to Piker’s appearance, JI’s Haley Cohen reports…

The superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools acknowledged today that the district needs to do more to combat antisemitism, responding to a letter earlier this week from more than 40 local rabbis and cantors who warned that school leaders have failed to adequately address a rise in antisemitic incidents, JI’s Haley Cohen reports.

In his reply, Thomas Taylor called the school district’s response after a swastika was drawn on a student’s desk last month at Walter Johnson High School a “misstep,” and pledged to address concerns about staff training, student education and harmful social media behavior…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at how Jewish voters in Texas are viewing the state’s hotly contested race for U.S. Senate between state Attorney General Ken Paxton and state Rep. James Talarico, as community leaders say neither candidate has made a meaningful effort to engage with the local Jewish community.

Israeli carriers El Al, Israir and Arkia will begin repatriation flights tomorrow to bring Israelis stranded in the United Arab Emirates back to Tel Aviv after FlyDubai suspended its 8-10 daily flights to the Jewish state. Meanwhile, we’ll be watching developments in the investigation into the attack as authorities work to officially determine whether the assailant had ties to Iran or other actors.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) will appear on Saturday with Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed at a town hall in Macomb County, Mich.

We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat shalom and chag sameach!

● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.

Iran said it received a formal response from the U.S. regarding its proposal to end the ongoing war, but did not elaborate on the contents of the response; President Donald Trump, who publicly rejected Tehran’s proposal earlier this week, said on Wednesday that a decision on Iran — either to “blow them up” or “make a deal” — was coming “very soon”…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the immediate removal of Iran’s delegation to the U.N. General Assembly, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, from the U.S. earlier this week after Qatar-mediated talks again reached an impasse…

U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said London believes that Iran “played a part” in a weekend incident in which five men were arrested on suspicion of explosives violations and terrorism near the RAF Fairford base, which was used by the U.S. to conduct strikes on Iran during the height of hostilities earlier this year…

Politico looks at the efforts of Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang to pitch the White House on a voluntary but binding “AI accords,” the basis for which originated at last week’s state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping, during which Zuckerberg pitched House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and then Huang on the idea…

Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson apologized for comments made earlier this week in which he suggested that it was “unfortunate” that Jewish residents in the state were uncomfortable using the term genocide to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza and that they “don’t like to use that term only because they’re Jewish”…

A former bodyguard for former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), with whom the former lawmaker was romantically involved, said that he caused $200,000 worth of damage to Sinema’s home and tried to force the former senator to post a decades-old video from one of his deployments to Iraq because he was angry about her post-Senate work with companies he believed contributed to the wars in Gaza and Iran…

The head of the University of Oregon’s Hillel said that a sukkah that had been constructed in front of the building was taken from the property earlier this week, adding that he was unsure if the incident was “common theft” or something “more hostile and antisemitic in nature”… 

Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz was named co-CEO of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, serving alongside CEO David Ellison, after a judge on Wednesday issued an order allowing Paramount’s acquisition of WBD to proceed… 

The Wall Street Journal spotlights efforts by Nathan Kirsh, the 94-year-old philanthropist and businessman, to build out what is likely to be one of the largest family offices established in recent years, following the sale earlier this year of Kirsh’s Jetro Restaurant Depot to Sysco for $29 billion…

The New York Times profiles actress and comedian Ivy Wolk, whose provocative social media videos have elicited negative responses that have propelled her to stardom…

Authorities in Texas said they foiled an imminent terror plot targeting the Texas State Capitol in Austin; a friend of the individual arrested in connection with the threat said Benny Caldera Jr. had told the friend he was angry with AIPAC and that “these people have to be exterminated”…

Israel’s Supreme Court cleared for publication the name of the senior Israeli intelligence official believed to be involved in the army’s intelligence failures leading up to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks; Lt. Col. Aryeh Amidror, the son of former National Security Advisor Yaakov Amidror, was identified as the Gaza Division’s intelligence officer during and before the attacks…

British broadcaster and philanthropist Dame Esther Rantzen, the longtime host of “That’s Life!” — one of the most popular episodes of which featured Sir Nicholas Winton and several dozen of the adults he saved when they were children during the Holocaust — died at 86…

Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.

Midair Melee: The Atlantic’s Graeme Wood considers the political implications of yesterday’s attack on a FlyDubai flight to Israel. “The next step will involve determining whether the pilot acted alone — not a good look for Flydubai, to have suicidal or terrorist pilots — or at someone’s behest. The latter possibility could, if confirmed, have serious implications, depending on who directed the attack. Many have a motive: Sunni jihadists (al-Qaeda or the Islamic State), Hamas, and of course Iran and its proxies.” [TheAtlantic]

Strait Man: Bloomberg’s Alex Dooler, Dinesh Nair and Laura Gardner Cuesta spotlight Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan as the Emirati official, who helms a $300 billion sovereign Abu Dhabi wealth fund, looks to find alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz amid tensions with Iran. “He is known to lean heavily on a small group of Emirati officials, some childhood friends and others who have steered Abu Dhabi’s economy for decades. … According to one former teacher, a young Sheikh Khaled was at ease even in a class of students who went on to become top political scholars in Middle Eastern geopolitics. He’s known to prefer to observe before offering careful interventions.” [Bloomberg]

Yaniv Hayoun (center), one of the passengers who helped incapacitate the attacker on the FlyDubai aircraft bound for Israel from the United Arab Emirates, was welcomed after arriving at the Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday night, still wearing the blood-stained shirt from the attack. Jamal Awad/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

Rod Carew, former MLB second baseman and Hall of Famer who appeared in 18 straight All-Star Games, he is immortalized as Jewish in Adam Sandler’s “Chanukah Song,” turns 81

Lynn Steven Adelman, U.S. District Court judge for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, turns 87

Andrew David Hurwitz, senior judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, turns 79

Aaron Ciechanover, professor at the Technion, he won the 2004 Nobel Prize in chemistry, turns 79

Lynn Ahrens, Tony Award-winning writer and lyricist for the musical theater, television and film, turns 78

Bruce Levenson, former co-owner of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks and founding board member of the publicly traded TechTarget, turns 77

Israel Jacob Yuval, professor emeritus of Jewish history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, turns 77

Andrew Goodwin, copy editor at Politico since 2009

Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, a native of Scranton, Pa., turns 67

Steven C. González, the first-ever Jewish chief justice of the Washington State Supreme Court, now serving as an associate justice, turns 63

Cynthia Dawn “Cindy” Margolis, reality television personality, model and actor, turns 61

Adam Bennett Frisch, member of the Aspen City Council from 2011 to 2019, turns 59

Robert A. Rosen, founder of Peak Impact Advisors after 17 years at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Stacie Passon, film director, screenwriter and producer, turns 57

Rob Seidman, partner at FGS Global, specializing in telecommunications, technology, consumer protection and privacy for companies in regulated industries

Michael J. Koplow, chief policy officer at Israel Policy Forum

Rebecca L. Taibleson, former law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia, now a judge on the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, turns 43

Samantha J. Weinberg, director of investor relations and strategic engagement at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Samuel Koralnik

Yossi Raskas, account manager at Fiserv

Scott Rosenthal

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Details continue to emerge about the suspected terror attack this morning on a FlyDubai flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel, where a co-pilot stabbed his captain and attempted to crash the plane.

Upon landing safely back at Ben Gurion Airport — after making an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, where video showed Saudi attendants offering medical assistance to the Israelis — a group of passengers met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. One man, Yaniv Hayoun, described how he burst into the cockpit to subdue the attacker; watch the video of his account with English subtitles here.

The injured captain was identified as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national who has 13 years of experience as a pilot, who is reported to be in stable condition. One passenger was also lightly injured and treated by Magen David Adom in Israel…

Israel will now ramp up security checks on pilots flying into the country, the Prime Minister’s Office said, including verifying the identities of pilots on both Israeli and foreign carriers…

Netanyahu spoke with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed following the attack and was expected to speak with President Donald Trump about the matter afterward, according to Hebrew media…

FlyDubai said it is temporarily suspending all flights to Israel as the incident is under investigation, while El Al announced it expects to restart its Tel Aviv-Dubai route in November…

U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in a BBC interview today that there are “strong indications” Tehran was involved in the suspected terror plot near a British air base housing U.S. military assets for operations against Iran…

The New York Public Library is coming under scrutiny from Jewish leaders after it hosted author Benjamin Moser at an event where he mocked Jewish fears of antisemitism, ridiculing what he called the “poor me thing that all these Jews are suddenly having,” according to a recording of the event obtained by Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen.

During an event promoting his new book lauding anti-Zionism, Moser also accused “almost all of the main Jewish institutions” in America of having “supported this genocide” — referring to Israel’s war in Gaza — and said “nothing has made Jews look worse in history” than Zionism…

Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani today defended his administration’s strategy to combat antisemitism by spending heavily on nonprofit-based hate crime prevention, while keeping up his fierce criticism of Israel.

Pressed by JI’s Will Bredderman about the effectiveness of allocating tens of millions of dollars to his Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, which has already seen a boost in funding while antisemitic hate crimes in New York have increased, Mamdani pivoted to discussing his experience learning about the Holocaust as a teenager and pointed to declining public awareness of it…

The Democratic National Committee announced the launch of a new Jewish constituency council in order to organize and engage Jewish Democrats in advance of the 2028 election, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports.

Adam Goldwyn, a North Dakota state representative who will chair the Jewish American Council, said it is intended to “support critical organizing needs to win elections and ensure Jewish Americans know that a vote for their Democratic candidate is a vote for their values,” as a growing number of Jewish Democrats have felt unwelcome in the party amid rising antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment…

Senate Democrats told JI’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs that they’d plan to use federal funding authorities to force the Trump administration to negotiate with the Iranian regime and end the Iran war if their party regains the majority in the next Congress.

In addition to potentially blocking funds for military operations undertaken without congressional authorization, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said Democrats could threaten White House operations funding to put pressure on Trump…

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a new four-star military command dedicated to drone and robotic warfare, aimed at speeding up how the Pentagon buys and deploys unmanned systems. The “Autonomous Warfare Command,” set to be running by October 2027, is meant to give the U.S. a homegrown supply of cheap drones…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at the Los Angeles mayoral race, after Democratic Socialists of America-aligned candidate Nithya Raman said during a Jewish forum last night that she continues to back the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

The Senate is expected to depart this evening for recess until after the midterm elections. When the chamber returns, it will have to confront a series of pressing challenges, including the National Defense Authorization Act and government funding, which have already led some senators to warn that they’re preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas recesses to be canceled.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and the YM & YWHA of Washington Heights & Inwood will host a “Fiesta Sukkot” tonight, marking the holiday of Sukkot during Hispanic Heritage Month. Speakers are set to include outgoing Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) and other Hispanic elected officials alongside Jewish community groups including UJA-Federation of New York and the New York Board of Rabbis.

● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.

The Treasury and State Departments announced sanctions on 13 individuals and entities alleged to have assisted Iran in procuring weapons…

Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, SpaceX’s Elon Musk, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and former White House AI czar David Sachs were on hand at a press conference following a meeting on AI between President Donald Trump, White House officials and the tech leaders…

Organizers of a16z‘s upcoming Tech Week in San Francisco said that a hackathon event associated with the conference had been removed from its calendar for violating Tech Week’s terms of service after an Israeli applicant was told he could not participate by an organizer who cited Israel’s 2024 pager attack on Hezbollah, saying, “Hackathon participants carry pagers, smartphones and laptops … What happened in Lebanon shouldn’t happen in California”…

Immigration officials are moving to deport an anti-Zionist Israeli member of the Satmar Hasidic community who was present during an incident in which an Israeli flag was removed from a local government building in Rockland County, N.Y….

A new report from the U.K.’s Community Security Trust found that antisemitic incidents at universities in the country rose by 14% during the 2025-26 academic year, with 95 reported incidents compared to 83 the prior year…

Several dozen West Bank settlers clashed with Israeli security forces, several of whom were injured, as they were attempting to help a Palestinian family return to its home in the village of Jalud, from which the family had fled in July amid ongoing attacks by settlers…

eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher spotlights the Har Initiative, a post-Oct. 7 donor collective that plans to distribute $120 million in the coming months to groups fighting antisemitism; the initiave, which is made up of 12 funders including The Tepper Foundation, The Einhorn Collaborative, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies and Maimonides Fund, is being led by Lindsey Spindle, president of the Samueli Foundation, and Fay Twersky, president of the Arthur Blank Family Foundation…

Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and former top Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan, an advisor to Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed, have reportedly agreed to form a coalition in the Nov. 28 Palestinian election if Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas allows the election to move forward; Abbas has repeatedly postponed national elections, which have not happened in 20 years…

UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Tuesday, marking the first high-level bilateral meeting since tensions between the two Gulf countries erupted publicly over Yemen last year…

Moroccan King Mohammed VI appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as the country’s first female prime minister on Tuesday, after her Authenticity and Modernity Party won the most seats in last week’s parliamentary election…

Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) is joining PhRMA as CEO after more than a decade at Moelis & Company…

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The Missile Mess: The Atlantic’s Christopher Leonard spotlights the challenges associated with THAAD missile interceptors, which were frequently used by the U.S. and its allies during the height of tensions with Iran despite their high cost and dwindling stockpiles. “Munitions stockpiles have long been a neglected element of U.S. military strategy. Pentagon budget writers favor flashier line items, such as new fighter jets and naval destroyers. And munitions procurement relies on a fragile U.S. industrial base that is plagued by points of failure. They are produced by large U.S. defense contractors — such as Lockheed Martin, which makes the THAAD — whose business models constrain them from ramping up production even when a missile shortage is evident.” [TheAtlantic]

Mideast Misadventures: Wall Street Journal columnist William Galston considers the lessons learned over the course of the conflicts with Iran. “This is America’s third Middle Eastern misadventure in the past quarter-century, and likely the last. It signals the end of our effort to dominate the region, and it could set in motion a gradual drawdown of U.S. forces. … Our allies will have to choose between yielding to Iran’s regional dominance and creating a formal anti-Iranian alliance that could eventually include Israel.” [WSJ]

An Oct. 7 Reckoning: In the Jewish Review of Books, Matti Friedman reviews journalist Amos Harel’s 06:29: Anatomy of a Failure, a Hebrew-language account of the events of Oct. 7, 2023, and its aftermath. “Harel has no state budget, team of lawyers, or power of subpoena. But this book is the closest thing we have so far to a comprehensive and public reckoning with the failures that led to October 7. 06:29 is yet another example of a scenario that we in Israel have seen again and again since that fateful hour nearly three years ago, and that indeed can be said to have saved the country: The state fails, and a citizen rises to the occasion.” [JewishReviewofBooks]

Interviewed by The New Yorker‘s David Remnick (left) at New York’s Streicker Center on Tuesday night for the launch of his new memoir, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich (right), who was wrongfully detained in Russia for 16 months, reflected on the country he covered for six years — and on how dramatically life there has changed for Russian Jews since the start of the war in Ukraine. Read more from Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen here.

Natan Levy, mixed martial artist who competed in the lightweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, turns 35

Ehud Olmert, former prime minister of Israel, turns 81

Sanford Kadish, retired volunteer and tutor

Rochelle A. “Shelly” Kassen, past president of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, she is on the board of the Tikvah Fund

Adam Maximilian Aron, chairman and CEO of AMC Entertainment, he is a former co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, turns 72

Fran Drescher, actor and activist, she was president of the SAG-AFTRA labor union, turns 69

Ehud Hrushovski, professor of mathematical logic at Oxford, turns 67

Haim Taib, founder and president of the Menomadin Group and president of the Menomadin Foundation, turns 66

Allison Sommer, journalist for Haaretz since 2012

Jonathan Gruber, professor of healthcare economics at MIT and an architect of Romneycare and Obamacare, turns 61

Leora Lily Ihilevich Usman

Lisa K. Robbins

Gilad Menashe Erdan, Israel’s U.N. ambassador from 2020 to 2024, now global president of Magen David Adom, turns 56

Anastasia Goodstein, senior digital director at Inseparable

David Herszenhorn, international editor for The Washington Post

Jacques Stambouli, CEO of Via Trading Corporation, a liquidator of consumer merchandise

Rabbi Eliezer Kaunfer, president and CEO of Hadar Institute in Manhattan

Hildy Kuryk, founder and partner at Artemis Strategies, a boutique consultancy, turns 49

Ari Michael Shapiro, CNN contributor, former host of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” turns 48

Daniel Grossberg, member of the Kentucky House of Representatives since 2023, he lost his May 2026 Democratic primary, turns 48

Jonathan Peter Kasdan, screenwriter, director, producer and actor, turns 47

Yonatan Neril, founder of the Jerusalem-based Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, turns 46

Stephen Cohen, computer scientist and entrepreneur, he is best known as a co-founder and president of Palantir Technologies, turns 44

Steven Russolillo, chief news editor at Business Insider

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

In a video address this morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Jerusalem has received “indications that, ahead of the [Israeli] elections, our enemies will try to attack us,” and warned such adversaries, “Don’t mess with us — not now, and not ever. Our long arm will reach you anywhere, at any time.”