Daily Kickoff
By Jacob Kornbluh & JI Staff
Heard On Michael Fragin’s ‘Spin Class’ Radio Show — BuzzFeed: Eric Cantor Blames Democrats For Defeat, Supporter Phil Rosen Says: “What we’ve discovered is that out of the 60,000 people who voted in the Republican primary, 15,000 of them were Democrats and all of those votes — 100% of those votes — went against Eric Cantor,” Rosen said. “That factor is giant.” “I’ve heard it not just from Eric, I’ve heard it from 2 other people involved in politics in Virginia,” Rosen said.[BuzzFeed] — Open Primary: With Virginia’s open primary system, Democrats could attempt to influence the outcome of the race—and it appears that they may have tried to some degree. Virginia has no party registration, so voters can easily vote in a Republican primary one year and a Democratic primary the next. [Politico] — Ben Smith gets back to writing inside Jewish politics baseball in his piece “Eric Cantor, Anomaly – Jewish Republicanism never amounted to much. But can anyone hold the Kock and Adelson wings of the party together now?” [BuzzFeed]
—PAGE6: Eric Cantor heads to the Hamptons for Shabbat despite criticism for spending too much time there: “Cantor is due to appear Saturday at a “Father’s Day Sabbath” at the Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton Beach, where he’s expected to speak. A synagogue rep said, “As of this moment, Eric Cantor is still going to appear.” An unnamed top Republican had told Politico that Cantor lost because he “spent too much time on the road and in the Hamptons.” [PageSix]SENDING LETTERS: 88 U.S. Senators signed on to a bipartisan letter to the White House, written by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), warning – “The recent formation of a Palestinian Authority unity government supported by Hamas, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization that has never publicly accepted the Quartet principles, represent a serious setback to efforts to achieve peace.” 12 Senators who did not sign include: Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Harry Reid (D-NV), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Bob Corker (R-TN), John D. Rockefeller (D-WV), Thomas Carper (D-DE), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Tom Harkin (D-IA), James Inhofe (R-OK), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
—@Yair_Rosenberg tweeted: “Considering that he supports defunding the Palestinian Authority, interesting that @SenRandPaul didn’t sign the Senate letter against Hamas unity government”
—“Congress warns Obama: Nuclear deal with Iran may not be enough to lift sanctions” by Michael Wilner: “The leading Democrat and Republican of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and ranking member Eliot Engel (D-NY), wrote a letter intended to remind the White House of Congress’ role in any future nuclear pact forged with Iran: specifically, the legislature’s role in easing, lifting or repealing sanctions levied against the Islamic Republic.” [JPost]
2016 WATCH: Hillary Attacks PA Unity Gov’t, Not Administration’s Decision To Work With ‘Em: “Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas on Thursday, but not the Obama administration’s policy choice to work with the interim government. In a conversation with the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Clinton said that the merger was an “unfortunate development” that she worked to prevent in her four years at the helm of the State Department. “In my time, we were constantly speaking out against the Fatah-Hamas merger,” she said. “Whether it can be turned into some potential opportunity or not, it’s too soon to tell.” Hillary suggested she would adopt a similar policy toward the interim body if she were still in office. “There are a lot of hard choices, to coin a phrase. But I hope that we follow it closely and make no big decisions right now until we figure out better what’s actually happening on the ground.” [JPost] Full transcript [CFR] — “As Jewish Dems get ‘Ready for Hillary,’ others question her record on Israel” by Dmitriy Shapiro [JNS]
2014 WATCH: WashPost’s GovBeat – “Billionaire benefactor Sheldon Adelson eyes Florida, Pennsylvania races”: “Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on Republican candidates around the country. Now, he’s turning his attention to statewide races — including a ballot initiative that would legalize medical marijuana in Florida. Adelson has donated $2.5 million to oppose that measure, through a ballot initiative committee run by longtime friend Mel Sembler, the big-dollar Florida Republican bundler (and RJC board member).” [WashPost]
TOP TWEET: Senior Political Reporter at The New York Observer @RossBarkan: “Everyone should get on @JacobKornbluh’s Jewish Insider morning read. He’s the Jewish @mikeallen (assuming Mike Allen isn’t Jewish?) [Twitter]
**Good Friday Morning! Enjoying the Daily Kickoff? Please share with your friends & tell them to sign up at [JI]. Have a tip, scoop, or op-ed? We’d love to hear from you. Anything from hard news and punditry to the lighter stuff, including event coverage, job transitions, or even special birthdays, is much appreciated. Email [email protected]**
NYTimes: “Methodists to Sell Shares as a Protest Over Israel” by Laurie Goodstein on page A20: “The pension board of the nation’s largest mainline Protestant denomination, the United Methodist Church, has decided to divest its shares in a British company that supplies security equipment to Israel for use in prisons and in the occupied West Bank… The Methodist Church’s investment in the company, G4S, involves only about $110,000 worth of stock holdings, said David Wildman, executive secretary for human rights and racial justice for the church’s General Board of Global Ministries.
“Next week, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), at its general assembly in Detroit, will consider a motion to divest from three companies that supply equipment to Israel. At its assembly two years ago, a divestment resolution was narrowly defeated, by a vote of 333 to 331, with two abstentions… Jewish leaders who oppose the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, known as B.D.S., and a few who support it, plan to be in Detroit to lobby the delegates.” [NYTimes]
Al Jazeera America covers CUFI, AIPAC, & Israel Allies Foundation: “Advocacy groups woo US lawmakers amid fervor over prayer at Temple Mount” by ‘investigate journalist’ Sarah Posner: “At a reception celebrating Jerusalem Day last month on Capitol Hill, Rep. Andy Harris, a Maryland Republican, recounted a recent trip to the holy city. While there, he said, “I had the privilege” of visiting the Temple Mount, where “the real discrimination occurring right now is not, as some have suggested, on the part of Israel,” but rather “on the part of the group that held Jerusalem before 1967 — you all know who I mean.” [AJA]
ICYMI: Israel Is Tending to Wounded Syrian Rebels: “Israel is quietly cultivating ties with moderate Syrian rebel groups operating along the country’s U.N.-monitored cease-fire line with Syria, providing medical care and other unidentified supplies to the insurgents while potentially extracting a valuable vein of intelligence on the activities of President Bashar al-Assad’s army as well as extremist opposition forces within Syria.” [ForeignPolicy]
BEATS HIS OWN RECORD: Ohio buys $47.8 million in Israel bonds: “For the second straight year, Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel is making history. On June 2, Mandel purchased $47.8 million in Israel bonds, the largest single government purchase of Israel bonds ever in the United States. It surpassed the record he established in March 2013, when he made an Israel bonds purchase of $42 million. The investment increases the total amount of Israel bonds in the Ohio Treasury portfolio to more than $105 million – the largest amount of Israel bonds held by a state treasurer in the U.S., according to Mandel’s office in Columbus.
“This purchase is consistent with our strategy of making sound investments that prioritize the safety and security of Ohioans’ hard-earned dollars,” Mandel said. “Just four years ago, Ohio’s fiscal condition was ranked 43rd in the nation – and today we’re ranked seventh. This improvement in Ohio’s financial health has been a team effort, and I’m proud to be doing our part from the state treasurer’s office.” “We are fortunate that since the Ohio Revised Code was amended in 1993 to allow the state to invest in foreign bonds, every Ohio treasurer, whether Democrat or Republican, has invested in Israel bonds,” said Jay Schottenstein, chairman of Central Ohio State of Israel Bonds. “Our sincerest thanks to Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel for not only continuing that support, but reinforcing Ohio’s confidence in the state of Israel by confirming a new record-level of investment.” [ClevelandJewishNews]
START-UP NATION: Roman Abramovich Invests $10 Million in Israel’s StoreDot [WSJ] — Israel’s SiSense raises $30 million in new financing [Reuters] — Israeli expert ‘white hat’ hacker saves Gmail from ‘killer’ hack [ToI] — Starbucks adds Israeli Duracell Powermat technology to its stores [NPR]
BUSINESS BRIEFS: NYC’s Katz’s Deli sues to stop Florida deli from using the same name [Reuters] —Klarman’s Baupost Buys Stake in Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd. as the Austrailian company considers further projects to follow its proposed $3.5 billion U.S. venture [Bloomberg] — Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood seeking buyer for Baccarat Hotel [NYPost] — Versace mansion owner Ralph Nakash snaps up apartment on Fifth Avenue’s gold coast [DailyNews] — Gary Barnett’s Extell to put up affordable tower at Cherry Street development [RealDeal] — Paul Singer’s Argentine Default Payoff Seen Delayed [Bloomberg] — Profile of a Sulzberger scion [CapitalNewYork] — What Israeli apartments do foreigners want? [TheMarker]
SPORTS BLINK: Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Coach David Blatt Moving On To Coach NBA: David Blatt stepped down as coach of European club champion Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday, saying he wanted to pursue his dream of coaching in the NBA.Blatt, 55, told a news conference he was weighing offers from unnamed teams and had “a few good options.” [SportingNews] — Cleveland Cavaliers to interview David Blatt next week for head coach position [PlainDealer] — Related: Single Dad’s Hoop Dreams Come True in Tel Aviv – When the NBA passed on him, guard Tyrese Rice found a home in Israel—and led Maccabi Tel Aviv to its sixth Euroleague crown [TabletMag]
—Source: Donald Sterling hires investigators: “A person with knowledge of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s legal strategy says his team of lawyers has hired four private investigation firms to dig up dirt on the NBA’s former and current commissioners and its 29 owners.” [AP]
TALK OF THE TOWN: “In pursuit of pre-K goal, city goes to great lengths to enlist yeshivas” by Patrick Wall & Jackie Schechter: “As the city scurries to make 53,000 full-day pre-kindergarten slots available this September, every seat counts. But when officials tried to round up pre-K seats in Jewish schools, the largest group of non-public schools in the city, some ultra-Orthodox yeshivas hesitated to add full-day programs that would limit their time for religious instruction. So the administration came out with a set of guidelines tailor-made to ease their concerns.” [Chalkbeat] — Will Jewish Pre-Schools Comply With Secular Universal Pre-K? [City&State] — Josh Nathan-Kazis: Why Would Yeshivas Reject Pre-K Program Designed for Them? [Forward]
—SCENE LAST NIGHT: In a rare moment of unity, representatives from various Jewish advocacy groups and institutions gathered on Thursday evening for a roundtable discussion on Jewish education at Michael Landau‘s apartment on the Upper West Side. The meeting was coordinated by NYC Councilman Mark Levine and was attended by Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal, Councilman Chaim Deutsch and representatives of State Senator Brad Hoylman and State Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal. Also spotted: Shelly Fine, Vice President of COJO, Maury Litwack and Jeff Leb of the Orthodox Union’s Advocacy Center, and philanthropist Sam Domb.
Museum Chronicles 100 Years of Jewish Humanitarian Group: “A 100-year-old humanitarian assistance organization that helps Jews and non-Jews around the world is the focus of an exhibition opening Friday at the New-York Historical Society. “I Live. Send Help” chronicles the work of theAmerican Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) through photographs, artifacts, films and audio recordings. The JDC was founded in New York in 1914 to help Jews in the Middle East and Europe suffering at the beginning of World War I. As new crises emerged, it expanded its efforts to more than 70 countries. More recently, it distributed relief supplies to typhoon victims in the Philippines and currently offers cultural and educational opportunities to the Jewish community in Ukraine.” [WSJ]
That’s all folks, have a great Friday!
**Have a tip, suggestion, or even an op-ed? We’d love to hear from you. Email [email protected]**
