One of the eight anti-Israel activists indicted on Wednesday over allegedly threatening University of Michigan officials seen as pro-Israel and vandalizing local Jewish organizations was on the staff of far-left U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed as recently as April.

The federal indictment lists Mariam Odeh, 24, of Dearborn, Mich., as one of the defendants who allegedly carried out a series of coordinated actions targeting university leaders or organizations with connections to Israel following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks. 

President Donald Trump named Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, as his nominee to replace Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, after a two-week furor over his plans to name federal housing chief Bill Pulte to the role.

But the nomination likely comes too late to prevent a lapse on Friday of federal foreign surveillance authorities under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which Democrats have refused to reauthorize in protest of the Pulte pick.

J Street, the progressive Israel advocacy group, is for now withholding an endorsement of Graham Platner, the scandal-plagued Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, underscoring the extent to which even some left-wing Jewish activists appear skeptical of his insurgent campaign.

A spokesperson for J Street told Jewish Insider on Wednesday that the group did not “have anything to share at this time” about a Platner endorsement but would provide more information “if that changes.”

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that negotiations with Iran had reached a breakthrough and that he expected there to be a signing, possibly in Europe, in the coming days. With the diplomatic developments, Trump said he would cancel planned strikes against Iran, and call off an operation to take control of Kharg Island.

“Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s draft of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act includes a provision based on the FUTURES Act, establishing a U.S.-Israel Defense Cooperation Initiative, according to an executive summary released on Thursday by the committee and congressional officials.

A similar provision in the House version of the bill attracted significant controversy in anti-Israel circles — with critics falsely claiming that the measure would irrevocably merge the U.S. and Israeli militaries or undermine U.S. sovereignty — with multiple House members vowing to try to strip the provision from the bill. Top lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have defended the provision.

Jacob Reses, the longtime chief of staff to Vice President JD Vance, will depart the Trump administration at the end of the summer, a source familiar with the matter confirms to Jewish Insider.

Reses, 35, became a confidante to Vance in 2021, advising the vice president through the heated primary and general election contests for the Ohio Senate seat Vance briefly held before being tapped by President Donald Trump as his running mate in 2024. Vance named Reses his chief of staff immediately after winning the Senate race. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who had employed Reses as a senior advisor in his Senate office, was among those who encouraged Vance to pick Reses as his chief at the time, according to two sources familiar with the matter. 

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) announced her endorsement on Thursday of Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) in Minnesota’s Senate primary, calling the moderate congresswoman “a leader and a fighter” who has “stepped up” while serving in the House.

“The Democratic Party needs a new generation of leadership, and we need more of those leaders to be from the Midwest — Angie Craig is both,” Slotkin, a Jewish Democrat viewed as a potential 2028 presidential contender, said in a statement. “I hope to serve with her in the U.S. Senate.”

The Likud party’s statement on Wednesday confirming that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would stand on the ballot this fall put to bed long-swirling rumors that the prime minister was considering forgoing another run — potentially in exchange for the government dropping its legal case against him.

That speculation had deepened earlier in the week, when President Donald Trump publicly mused whether Netanyahu, whom Trump referred to as “a wartime prime minister,” might decide to exit politics. A survey released this week by the Israel Democracy Institute found that 61% of Israelis — including 57% of Jewish Israelis and 87% of Arab Israelis — think Netanyahu should refrain from seeking another term.