Daily Kickoff: Indyk's behind-the-scenes look at the failed peace process | Obama's Rosh Hashanah Address | NYTimes A1 covers anti-Semitism

ABBAS TO LEVERAGE UN : His General Assembly address is on September 26th, but Palestinian President Abbas already has a lot to say. “Speaking in New York today as global leaders gathered for the annual UN General Assembly, Abbas said he wants the world body to use its authority to press Israel for a two-state peace accord based on the map from before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. That would uproot thousands of Jewish settlers and give Palestinians sovereignty over lands Israel won from Jordan and Egypt in the Six-Day War. While publicly thanking President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry for “extraordinary efforts” in the peace process, Abbas said that U.S. diplomacy has only given Israel time to expand its settlements in the West Bank and strengthen its hold on east Jerusalem. The Israeli government “has chosen to use the peace process as a smokescreen for more colonization and oppression,” he said.” [Bloomberg]

SUFFOCATION BY SOFT DIPLOMACY: Top negotiator Indyk says “The process that ultimately hurt the peace talks entailed teasing out advances from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding some flesh to them and then bringing them to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, for consideration. But refraining from imposing ideas inhibited the sides — particularly the Palestinians — from embracing them, Indyk said, describing what he said was a “damned if we did, damned if we didn’t” dilemma for the Americans.” [TOI]

EUROPEAN ANTI-SEMITISM OUT OF THE SHADOWS: From ugly threats to uglier violence, Europe is facing a new wave of anti-Semitism. Many Jews are making aliyah in increasing numbers. Thankfully, “This is not the Europe of 1938. French leaders have strongly condemned the violence. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany this month led a rally against anti-Semitism in Berlin at which she told Germans, ‘It is our national and civic duty to fight anti-Semitism.'” [NYT]

ARAB BANK TO BE OUT BILLIONS: “Arab Bank, which is challenging the federal jury’s verdict in the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, may be asked to pay a judgment near or exceeding $1 billion. The Anti-Terrorism Act, for one, automatically triples any jury damages, a significant multiplier considering the sheer number of plaintiffs, who include people who were injured and those whose family members died, or the estates of those who died. Plaintiffs accused the bank of knowingly handling finances for Hamas terrorists, leading to 24 attacks in Israel and the Palestinian Territories in the early 2000s. The bank maintained that it had followed standard compliance procedures and properly checked to see that transactions were not for terrorists.” [NYT]

ISIS: Thomas Friedman writes that Obama’s ISIS strategy has an inherent tension due to trying to accomplish two separate, and often competing goals: searching and destroying the group, but also triggering soul-searching within the Arab world. [NYT] • Perhaps looking to Israel would help us learn how to deal with the threat from ISIS, says Alan Dershowitz. [CNN] • David Brooks says we all need to snap out of it, and realize our global challenges aren’t quite as bad as they seem, and that “instead of sliding into fatalism, it might be a good idea to address our problems without exaggerating our plight.” [NYT]

WHERE DID KHORASAN GO? : American intel detected a plot from Al Qaeda affiliates in Syria to attack the US, until the group mysteriously went off the grid. “American analysts had pieced together detailed information on a pending attack from an outfit that informally called itself ‘the Khorasan Group,’ to use hard to detect explosives on American and European airliners. As the Khorasan Group came closer to executing the attack, however, U.S. intelligence agencies lost track of the plotters. ‘We had some information on their plans that did not pan out over the summer,’ one senior U.S. intelligence official told The Daily Beast. ‘They shut it down and went dark.’” [Daily Beast]

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2016 WATCH: Jeb Bush “will be the star attraction at a Republican fundraiser in South Carolina next month, his first trip to an early presidential primary state as a possible contender for the Republican nomination in 2016.” [CNN] • The former governor “will appear at a grassroots rally and headline a fundraiser for Roberts in Wichita next Monday. His visit will follow visits from both former Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who are hitting the state for Roberts this week.” [The Hill]

Ben Carson is also likely to throw his name into the hat. “Unless the American people indicate in November that they like Big Government intervention in every part of their lives, I think the likelihood is strong,” Carson said Monday night on “The Hugh Hewitt Show.” [Politico]

Jim Webb says he is also “seriously looking at the possibility of running for president,” he told the National Press Club, but may not be quite so serious yet; he purportedly wants “to see if there is a support base for people who would support the programs that we’re interested in pursuing.” [Politico]

REAL ESTATE ROUNDUP: Construction on Bruce Ratner’s planned tallest modular building in the world by Bruce Ratner has been delayed indefinitely. [NY Daily News] • A Manhattan Supreme Court judge yesterday denied a last-ditch effort by Jeshayahu Boymelgreen to avoid handing over financial records as part of a state investigation into the development of 15 Broad Street in the Financial District. [TRD] • Ziel Feldman’s HFZ Capital filed for access to LexLofts-adjacent building. [TRD] • Joseph Sitt’s Thor Equities acquired a rental building on the Upper West Side for $37.4 million [TRD]

OFF TO UKRAINE: Go tens of thousands of Brezlov charedim to visit the grave of their former leader. Despite the political tension, “Ozer Bergman of Jerusalem said that he has “no hesitation whatsoever” about his upcoming trip. ‘With what I know about the Rebbe’s Rosh Hashanah, its personal, national and eschatological value, I’m not about to let some vague possibility of harm get in the way.'” [Tablet] • Life may not be as easy and carefree for the permanent Jewish residents of Ukraine, who’s “70,000-strong Jewish community, the world’s 11th-largest, is undergoing what members describe as its biggest upheaval since the Second World War. Many now face the brutal reality of all-out war on Europe’s fringes. The IFCJ expects to spend some $2 million this year on securing plane tickets to Israel and predicts the number of immigrants could hit 7,000, Yechiel Eckstein, the organization’s founder, told me by telephone from Jerusalem. Under Israel’s Law of Return, any Jew in the world is entitled to Israeli citizenship.” [Atlantic]

PALESTINIAN DEVELOPER: There’s a new building controversy in the West Bank, but this time, it’s not about Israeli settlers; “new settlements in the West Bank are often heatedly discussed in Dubai. But at the emirate’s showcase real estate event Cityscape Global, it was Palestinian, not Jewish building that was on the tips of tongues. Rawabi, a controversial housing project billed as Palestine’s first planned city, was this week being sold to Palestinian investors in the Gulf. Rawabi is eventually planned to become a town of 26 neighborhoods of 5,000 homes, schools, a business center, medical centers and mosques, all of which is expected to cost about $1 billion. The city aims to be a modern metropolis, complete with retail walks, lush green trails, sport pitches and a Roman-style amphitheater.” [WSJ]

AID FOR GAZA:“Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said Tuesday he has asked for $3.8 billion in urgent aid to help rebuild Gaza following its devastating 50-day war with Israel this summer. Hamdallah told The Associated Press that Saudi Arabia has pledged $500 million and other nations have indicated they would join in. He spoke at the end of a donor meeting lead by Norway on the sidelines of a gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.” [AP] • Over at the IAEA conference, Arab states have circulated a resolution focused on addressing Israel (and Israel alone) for its alleged nuclear arsenal. [AP]

STARTUP NATION: Those hoping to settle in Israel and become a part of the Startup nation are facing increasingly arduous immigration challenges. [WSJ]

LONG-READ: Larry Ellison bought an island in Hawaii. Now what? “Ninety seven percent of Lanai may be a lot of Lanai, but it’s a tiny part of Ellison’s overall empire. Ellison, who stepped down as C.E.O. of Oracle on Sept. 18, is estimated to be worth $46 billion. He made an estimated $78.4 million last year, or about $38,000 an hour.” [NYT]

DESSERT: Shanah tovah from President Obama [video] and Coca-Cola. [video]

BIRTHDAYS: Jerry Weintraub, Arthur Blank, Sam Zell.

That’s all folks; we’ll be back in your inbox come Monday.
Shanah tovah from all of us at JI!

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