Daily Kickoff
SCENE LAST NIGHT: Thousands gathered at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in DC for “A Night To Honor Israel” at the annual Christians United For Israel Washington Summit. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu addressed the crowd via satellite. Other speakers included Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, and Pastor John Hagee. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson received the “Defender of Israel Award.” Rabbi Aryeh Scheinberg delivered the invocation. SPOTTED: Malcolm Hoenlein, William Daroff, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Rabbi Steven Burg, Ezra Friedlander, Leehy Shaer, Pesach Lerner, Howard Teich, Marty Katz of Just One Life, Jonathan Kessler, Adam Teitelbaum, and Shmuel Bowman of operation life shield.
Amb. Dermer’s Speech: “Thank you. Now that’s a better reception than I got on CNN!… Israel appreciates that most responsible leaders around the world have supported Israel’s right to defend itself. And we also appreciate that President Obama and the American Congress have helped Israel develop the Iron Dome missile defense system. Iron Dome saves Israeli lives… and also saves Palestinian lives.
—“But ladies and gentlemen, Israel deserves more than the support of the international community. Israel deserves the admiration of the international community. Because no military in history has taken greater care than the IDF to protect innocents of the other side…” When Code Pink Protesters Interrupted The Speech: “There is a section for moral idiots at the back of the room.” [Transcript]
HAPPENING TODAY: 8am at CUFI, Senators Ted Cruz, Tim Scott, John Cornyn, Jim Inhofe, and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann will speak on legislation affecting Israel and the Middle East… At 12pm, the Heritage Foundation hosts Joshua Muravchik in DC to discuss his new book Making David into Goliath.
DRIVING THE DAY: U.S. Pushes For Cease-Fire: NYTimes – “To Talk With Hamas, U.S. Needs Help From a Testy Trio of Nations” by Michael Gordon: “As Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Cairo on Monday night to try to produce a cease-fire in the Gaza crisis as rapidly as possible, he confronted an uncomfortable reality. The United States must rely heavily on Egypt, Qatar and Turkey to play intermediary and exert their influence, because it has no direct contact and little leverage with the militant group Hamas.” [NYTimes] — Michael Oren: Clearly, Kerry was not invited for ceasefire talks [ToI]
ISRAELI OFFICIAL: “Soldier Missing In Gaza” – An Israeli soldier is missing following a deadly battle in the Gaza Strip, a defense official told The Associated Press on Tuesday. It was not clear if the soldier was dead or alive. The development adds a potential complication to intensive diplomatic efforts meant to end more than two weeks of fighting between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers that has killed at least 570 Palestinians and 29 Israelis.” [AP]
LONE SOLDIER SPOTLIGHT: “American Jews, Other ‘Lone Soldiers’ Serve Israel” – AP:“There are about 2,000 lone soldiers currently serving in the military, said Marina Rozhansky, spokeswoman at the Israel Consul General in Los Angeles” [AP] — Lone Soldier Gets Massive Final Tribute: Some 18,000 people showed up to escort slain IDF Golani soldier, Sgt. Sean Carmeli, an American-Israeli originally from Texas, to his final resting place in Haifa. [JPost] — Mother of Max Steinberg talks to WaPo: “He fell in love with the state of Israel.” – Max Steinberg never wanted to step foot on Israeli soil. In early 2012, Steinberg’s siblings, Jake and Paige, were planning to take a free 10-day trip to Israel sponsored by a private foundation, but Max wasn’t interested. Still, the family tried; it was a free trip to Israel, relatives told him, so why not go? Eventually, he changed his mind — and his life would never be the same. By the fall of 2012, Steinberg would move to Israel and become a sharpshooter in one of the Israel Defense Forces’ most elite units, the Golani Brigade.” [WashPost]
2016 Watch: Hillary Clinton defends Israel on Gaza during Twitter Q&A: “You mention, in particular, the difficulties we currently are seeing in the Middle East,” she said, in response to a question about how Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces use Twitter. “Because of the actions by Hamas, first to rain rockets onto Israel, Israel being provoked — because I do think that was part of the Hamas calculation, to provoke Israel to respond, to defend itself, which any nation has to do if you are under attack like that, and then we see the unfortunate effects of any conflict with innocent people being caught in the crossfires.” [Politico]
—MIDTERMS: “Obama Headlines Fundraiser for Democracy Alliance Group at Jewish DA Donor’s Home”: “A major donor to a secretive club of wealthy Democratic financiers hosted President Barack Obama at her home last week for a fundraiser benefitting one of that club’s most politically active organizations. The president was likely a major draw for high-dollar donors when he headlined a House Majority PAC fundraiser on Thursday at the Upper East Side home of Amy Goldman Fowler.”[FreeBeacon]
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BUSINESS BRIEFS: Urban Compass Raises $40 Million Fundraise at a $360 Valuation – “Ori Allon Sold One Startup To Google & Another To Twitter; His New 1-Year-Old Startup Is Worth More Than Both Combined” by Alyson Shontell: “Ori Allon built and sold one startup to Google, then another to Twitter. His new company, which turned one in May, is now worth more than both of those startups combined. Urban Compass has raised a $40 million series B round at a valuation that exceeds $360 million. The startup helps New Yorkers buy and rent apartments… Allon says investors encouraged he and his co-founder Robert Reffkin to take more money so they could launch Urban Compass in other cities. Urban Compass is expected to roll out in Boston, Washington D.C., Chicago and possibly San Francisco later this year.” [BusinessInsider]
—SWISS BANK JULIUS BAER TO BUY BUSINESSES FROM ISRAEL’S BANK LEUMI:“Julius Baer said it was acquiring Bank Leumi’s Swiss private banking activities, which have 6 billion francs of assets under management, and its Luxembourg private banking subsidiary, with 1 billion francs of assets under management. The Swiss bank is paying 10 million francs to obtain the businesses as Leumi exits private banking in the two countries.” [DealBook]
STARTUP NATION: Can Israel’s Tech Scene Thrive Amid War? Metroclick Co-Founder Eitan Magid, Deltaprintr Co-Founder Shai Schechter and Rewalk Robotics CEO Larry Jasinski discuss investor concerns over the situation in Gaza. Video [Bloomberg]
WSJ: El Al Israel Airlines Sees Revenue Hit From Gaza Conflict: “El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. said on Tuesday it expects its third-quarter revenue to fall by as much as $50 million due to canceled bookings as Israel’s armed conflict with Gaza Strip militants stretches into a third week. The formerly state-owned airline said that both foreign visitors and Israelis, many called to serve in army reserves, have canceled flights in and out of Tel Aviv, and there has also been a slowdown in future reservations.” [WSJ]
AP: ISRAEL VIOLENCE MOVES PRODUCTION OF FX’S ‘TYRANT’: “Production of FX’s series “Tyrant” recently relocated from Tel Aviv to Istanbul, showrunner Howard Gordon told a TV Critics’ panel Monday. “Tel Aviv was under missile fire and people were running into bomb shelters. I don’t think anybody felt physically threatened, but it was not conducive to shooting,” he said.” [AP]
TOP-OPS: Michael Oren: “Hamas Media Strategy Relies On Deaths Of Civilians” [CNN] — Chemi Shalev – “Top six reasons why I hate Hamas” [Haaretz] — Michael Freund: “America’s curiously selective moral calculus vis-a-vis Israel” [JPost] — Matthew Duss: “Gaza Through the Looking Glass”[PoliticoMag] — Thane Rosenbaum: “Hamas’s Civilian Death Strategy” [WSJ] — Lee Smith: “What’s Wrong With Being Reasonable About the Middle East” [TabletMag]
CNN POLL: Americans Stand With Israel: A clear majority of Americans – 57% of the US public said the Israeli actions against Hamas in the Gaza Strip are justified, with 34% saying they are unjustified. 43% of those questioned said Israel’s using about the right amount of force, with 12% saying they‘re not using enough. 45% of Democrats said that Israeli’s military actions in Gaza are justified. That number jumps to 56% among independents and 73% among Republicans. The poll also showed that 60% have a favorable opinion of Israel, down from 72% in February. 38% have an unfavorable opinion of Israel, up 14 percentage points from February. [CNN] NOTE: The poll did not measure the level of support of Israel’s right to defend itself.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (via the AP): 1998 – “Iran tested a medium-range missile capable of reaching Israel or Saudi Arabia.” 2006 – “Israeli tanks, bulldozers and armored personnel carriers knocked down a fence and barreled over the Lebanese border as forces seized the village of Maroun al-Ras from Hezbollah.”
That’s all folks, have a great Tuesday!
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