Daily Kickoff
NEW JI FEATURE — MEET THE CANDIDATE: MARK DUNEC, NEW JERSEY’S 11TH: Mark Dunec is unapologetic about his Judaism. A practicing Orthodox Jew, Dunec does not work after 2 PM on Fridays or campaign on the Sabbath. “I’m the shmuck sending emails at 10 PM on a Saturday,” Dunec tells Jewish Insider, and notes his irregular Friday to Sunday schedule is a running office joke. Dunec’s foreign policy positions are unambiguous: the United States has a responsibility to take swift, decisive, and effective action against threats to the security of the US and her allies. He sees the problems of ISIS and the Iranian nuclear threat as intertwined, and believes that “the UN, for all intents and purposes, is a complete failure.” [JewishInsider]
PALACE INTRIGUE: DEMS TURN ON WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ: “DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is in a behind-the-scenes struggle with the White House, congressional Democrats and Washington insiders who have lost confidence in her as both a unifying leader and reliable party spokesperson at a time when they need her most. According to multiple people familiar with the president, Obama’s opinion of the National Committee Chair was sealed back in 2011. Shortly after becoming chair, she pushed hard for a meeting with the president that she kicked off by complaining that she had been blocked from hiring the daughter of a donor — who’d been on staff in her congressional office — as a junior staffer to be the DNC’s Jewish community liaison.” [Politico; BuzzFeed]
SCENE LAST NIGHT: Top Tweet – @Daroff: “The joys of post-partisanship! At @AmbDermer’s #RoshHashanah party with @NJDC’s Jack Moline + @RJCHQ’s @Mbrooksrjc!” [Twitter]
BRET STEPHENS REVIEWS ‘ISRAEL: IS IT GOOD FOR THE JEWS?’ BY RICHARD COHEN:“Can a reviewer go on strike? Though I am not a member of any union, there were moments while reading Richard Cohen’s book when I was tempted to throw up a literary picket line. Mr. Cohen, a longtime Washington Post columnist, originally titled his book “Can Israel Survive?” but renamed it “Israel: Is It Good For the Jews?” for final publication. He fails to answer either question. Yet that’s far from the only problem with this well-meaning volume that flirts too often with outright illiteracy.” [WSJ]
IRAN TALKS: “Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns, Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy R. Sherman, and Senior Advisor Jacob J. Sullivan will travel to New York for consultations with Iranian officials September 17-18. Following these bilateral meetings, Under Secretary Sherman will participate in the comprehensive nuclear negotiations of the P5+1 and European Union with Iran beginning September 18. [State Department] — Diplomatic Breakthrough Unlikely [Reuters; NPR; AFP]
HAPPENING ON THE HILL: At 11:30AM, Sec. John Kerry will appear before the House Foreign Affairs Committee to discuss U.S. strategy in the Middle East [HFA] — Also at 11:30AM, Defense Sec. Chuck Hagel will discuss MidEast strategy before the House Armed Services Committee [HAS] — At 3PM, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will host a joint subcommittee hearing on “The Struggles of Recovering Assets for Holocaust Survivors.” Witnesses include Survivor Jack Rubin, Daughters of Survivors Klara Firestone and Eugenie Lieberman, as well as Barbara Paris, M.D. [HFA]
‘PRIVATE MAN’ – Bloomberg profiles Jewish billionaire Rubin Schron: “The Briar Wyck and dozens of similar buildings in New York’s outer boroughs are owned by Rubin Schron, a Brooklyn investor who has amassed a $1.6 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The 77-year-old, Schron owns about 75 percent of Cammeby’s property holdings, and has never appeared on an international wealth ranking. “Mr. Schron doesn’t speak to the press very often, if at all,” a Cammeby spokeswoman said by phone. “He’s a pretty private man.” Schron is probably the second-largest closely held landlord in the northeast after the LeFrak Organization. Unlike LeFrak’s tenants, Schron’s renters probably haven’t heard of their landlord, who hasn’t named any properties after himself.
—When he accepted an award from Agudath Israel of America this spring, Schron tried to explain why he’s so low profile, according to a video of his speech posted online. “If you run away from honor, the honor will chase you,” he said. “If you run after the honor, the honor will run away from you. I try to run away. Maybe at this stage it’s hard for me to run so fast.” An Orthodox Jew with eight children, the billionaire is sometimes addressed in almost reverential terms. One rabbi, writing online, related a story of how a young Schron found a box of diamonds in a house he bought for his family and returned it to the seller even though legally he had a right to keep the gems, which were worth about $40,000. “He always does what he says, so he is a little bit old school,” said Harmon, who brokered Schron’s $250 million purchase of the Monterey last year. “He’s not a high-levered guy. He’s a straight-forward, block-and-tackle type investor, and very substantial. Whenever I deal with him — and I have dealt with him for many years — it’s always a pleasure.” [Bloomberg]
BUSINESS BRIEFS: Source denies report that Barry Diller’s IAC offered to buy Israel’s Perion for more than $500 million. [Reuters] — Sieman’s Backs Israeli ‘Predictive Malware’ Cyber Firm CyActive [WSJ] — Israel’s Mobli Media Buys Social Media Platform Pheed For $20M [Mashable] — Brown Shoe Company, Founded 1878, Invests in Ariel Nelson and Lane Gerson’s Jack Erwin Shoe Startup, Founded 2013 [ReCode] — Russell Galbut Proposes Big Boxy Building In Miami Beach [Curbed]
#KeepingItTogether: Shabbat Project 2014 Debuts Welcome Video [YouTube]
NYTimes Profiles: Harry Wall, the founder of Jewish Discoveries who captures images of Judaism in its different global manifestations. [NYTimes] • Josh Ostrovsky, who is Jewish and weighs a paunchy 250 pounds, would prefer that you not call him a fat Jew. But he does hope millions more people will soon come to know him as “The Fat Jew.” It is his comedic alter ego.. [NYTimes]
ON THIS DATE IN… (via the AP): 1851 – “The first edition of The New York Times was published.”2009 – “Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in defiance of Iran’s Islamic leadership, clashing with police and confronting state-run anti-Israel rallies.” [AP]
ICYMI ROUNDUP: Sarah Palin Chats with Jewish Tourists Who Visited Her House [JSpace] — Eli Lake to anti-Israel C-SPAN caller: ‘I Wish You Luck with Your Mental Illness’ [Mediaite] — This American Life on the East Ramapo School District Dispute [TAL] — Ted Cruz will not join a protest of The Death of Klinghoffer after all [Slate]
DESSERT: Fancy a cold one? if you’re in Israel, you can reach for an I.S.I.S. [Al Monitor]