Daily Kickoff
DRIVING THE CONVERSATION: “White House to U.N.: First Iran, Then Mideast Peace” by Colum Lynch: “The United States has been privately leaning on France and other allies to hold off on pushing a measure at the U.N. Security Council that is designed to force movement on the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process at least until negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program have concluded, diplomats told Foreign Policy.” [FP]
IRAN BILL ON THE HILL: “Senate Votes Against Making Iran Nuclear Deal A Treaty” by Deb Riechmann:
“The GOP-controlled Senate on Tuesday turned back an attempt to elevate any nuclear deal with Iran into a treaty, a vote that gave momentum to Republicans and Democrats trying to pass a bill giving Congress a chance to review and possibly reject any agreement with Tehran. The amendment, filed by Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, failed 39 to 57.” [AP; Reuters] • “2016 politics threaten Iran bill” [Politico]Scot Lehigh talks Iran with John Kerry: “A former member of the US Senate himself, John Kerry is fine with Congress having a role in any nuclear deal the Obama administration and the international community strikes with Iran. But the US secretary of state stresses that the choice the United States faces won’t be between this (still tentative) pact and an even tougher deal. The choice will be this deal or no deal.” [BostonGlobe]
“Marshall Islands Needs U.S. Help in Iran Standoff” by Eli Lake and Josh Rogin: “The Marshall Islands, a small country that gained independence from the U.S. in 1986, will almost definitely have to rely on the U.S. to retrieve a cargo ship flying its flag that was commandeered Tuesday by Iran’s Navy, apparently in Iranian waters.” [BloombergView] • “U.S. Sends Ship, Planes as Iranians Seize Commercial Ship” [WSJ]
HAPPENING TODAY: At 10am, New America NYC hosts “A Conversation with Dr. Mohammaed Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republican of Iran: In partnership with the NYU Center on International Cooperation” moderated by David Ignatius. [Livestream]
At 2PM, House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Hearing on “The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act” with witnesses William Browder, Rebiya Kadeer, Kenneth Weinstein and Daniel Calingaert [House] • “To address the current impetus for expanding the Magnitsky Act, Hudson Institute welcomes Bill Browder, author of Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice.” [Hudson]
2016 WATCH: FIRST JEWISH POTUS? — “Sen. Bernie Sanders to launch presidential bid on Thursday” by Robert Costa and Dan Balz: “One ally — who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Sanders’s timetable — said the 73-year-old senator is expected to make his intentions known this week and hold a rally in Vermont next month. He plans to run as a Democrat, according to his associates.” [WashPost; RIPR]
“Hillary Takes Manhattan” by Julie Bykowicz: “The Democratic presidential contender’s first day of donor hobnobbing for her newly formed campaign included back-to-back-to-back stops at the homes of some of her most loyal supporters in Manhattan. Her haul, based on the number of attendees and price of admission: Somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 million… Marc Lasry told Bloomberg Politics two weeks ago that he intended to raise $270,000 for her campaign in its first week. He did.” [Bloomberg] • “Bill Clinton’s Africa entourage” [Politico]
“Scott Walker Won’t Take Press On Israel Trip” by Rosie Gray: “Gov. Walker’s trip to Israel will be a listening tour,” said AshLee Strong, a spokesperson for Walker’s PAC, Our American Revival, last week. “It’ll happen mid-May and we won’t be having any press join.” [BuzzFeed]
TOP TALKER: “How Jeb Bush Lost the Sheldon Adelson Primary” by Eliana Johnson: “In the Sheldon primary, according to multiple sources, one top candidate is already a dead man. That’s former Florida governor Jeb Bush, whose aides have, for the past several months, been making overtures to Adelson in an attempt to get him to open his wallet to a Bush super PAC that is expected to raise record sums. But at this point, it looks like none of that money will come from Adelson.”
“The bad blood between Bush and Adelson is relatively recent, and it deepened with the news that former secretary of state James Baker, a member of Bush’s foreign-policy advisory team, was set to address J Street. Adelson sent word to Bush’s camp in Miami: Bush, he said, should tell Baker to cancel the speech. When Bush refused, a source describes Adelson as “rips***”; another says Adelson sent word that the move cost the Florida governor “a lot of money.” [NationalReview]
–Jeb Jr. was at the RJC in Vegas: “Jeb Bush Jr. said that he shook hands with Mr. Adelson at an event the night before, and that he “admired him greatly in terms of what he does for this community and for the country.” [NYTimes]
Lonely Jewish Boy — Rep. Lee Zeldin Op: “Why more American Jews are voting Republican” [JTA] • “The Lone Jewish Republican in Congress Is Nostalgic for George W. Bush” [Bloomberg]
Get Smart Quick: “The Shape of Netanyahu’s Emerging Coalition” by David Makovsky [WashInstitute]
STATE VISIT: “Mississippi governor and Israeli ambassador push trade” by Jeff Amy: “Gov. Phil Bryant and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer hosted a trade meeting Tuesday in Jackson. Dermer says Mississippi businesses can benefit from access to Israel’s technological innovation.” [AP; MPB]
SCENE YESTERDAY: Michael Bloomberg announced the nine recipients of the Genesis Generation Challenge, a competition supporting innovative projects guided by Jewish values to address the world’s pressing issues, at the Bloomberg Philanthropies headquarters on the Upper East Side. [PressRelease] • Bloomberg Op-Ed: “The US-Israeli bond endures” [JPost]
SPOTTED: Michael Bloomberg, Michael Douglas, Elie Wiesel, WeWork cofounder Adam Neumann, Stan Polovets, George Klein, Mort Zuckerman, Marjorie Tiven, Jarrod Bernstein, Ken Feinberg, Rabbis Joe Potasnik, Rick Jacobs, Yitz Greenberg, Shmuly Yanklowitz and Michael Miller.
Elie Wiesel spoke at the event saying that being Jewish means more than just being born Jewish. “We believe that to be Jewish is not simply a matter of birth. We must do something with it, with ourselves,” Mr. Wiesel told the crowd. “It doesn’t mean that the Jew is better than anyone else. It simply means, because I am a Jew, I have to do something with my Jewishness. It is the Jew in me who works for human rights … the Jew in me who believes that racism is stupid. Not only evil, but stupid.” [Observer; DailyNews]
“Fareed Zakaria and Haim Saban Clash Over Israel at Book Launch” by Christopher Wyrick: “Fareed Zakaria, celebrity journalist and host of the CNN program GPS, faced off with media mogul Haim Saban on the issue of Israel on Monday night at the Peninsula Beverly Hills. Saban, a major supporter of Hillary Clinton and the Democratic party, was handed the mic following Zakaria’s remarks about the new book and got straight down to business:
“Speaking of education, I think you need an education about what Israel really is.” Saban went on to say: “Your point of view is so anti-Israel, I’m banging my head against the wall every time I watch you. And I keep watching because I am a masochist, right?” Saban pledged to spend as much time as necessary with Zakaria to help him understand the realities Israel is facing.” [HollywoodReporter]
Spotted at the Milken event: Blackstone CEO Steve Schwartzman, financier David Bonderman, Larry Gagosian, Brian Grazer, Mike Medavoy, Nathan Gardels, President of Rwanda Paul Kagame, former California Gov. Gray Davis, former Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz, Norman Lear and Pimco CEO Mohammed el Erian.
MILKEN SPOTLIGHT: “Billionaire investors — Steve Schwartzman and Leon Black — reveal their best investment ideas” by Lawrence Delevingne [CNBC]
LongRead: “A Top Fundraiser for Obama Turns From Wall Street to Drones” by Max Abelson: “Wearing cuff links with the U.S. presidential seal, Robert Wolf was explaining why he loves drones and wants to help big companies fly them. A former head of UBS Group AG’s Americas unit and one of Obama’s most visible Wall Street friends, Wolf explained, “I’ve been in business for 30 years—this is the most exciting thing I’ve ever done. Just to be clear, this is going to change the landscape.” [Bloomberg]
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BUSINESS BRIEFS: “A Conversation With Jared C. Kushner” by Vivian Marino: “Q. Do you get many comments or complaints from fellow developers about The Observer’s real estate coverage? A. People make comments to me. But a lot of the developers don’t understand that I’m not involved in the content — I have several day jobs — and that there’s an editorial team that runs that and I don’t speak with them very often.”
“Q. Is it hard finding properties? A. Developers complain that it’s hard finding property these days, but it’s always hard to find deals. I think you just have to work a little bit harder and be creative. New York is such a dynamic market that as the market evolves and the living patterns change, you just have to be very in tune with them so that you can try to create the supply that’s meeting the changing demand. We’ve done over $5 billion of acquisitions over the last four and a half, five years.”
“Q. Is your father, Charles Kushner, actively involved in the business? Yeah, my dad’s involved and I’m very lucky to work with him every day. He gets involved in all the projects that he wants to. My dad gets involved with our New York apartment business; he gets involved in some of our redevelopments.He knows a ton about real estate… Do you think your father-in-law Donald Trump will make a serious run for president? A. You’d have to ask him that. But if he did do it, he’d be great.” [NYTimes]
REAL ESTATE ROUNDUP: “Big-name developers Adler Group and Related compete to build at Metrorail” [MiamiToday] • “Eli Tabak’s Bluestone Group Seeks to Foreclose on Restivo’s Home”[Observer] • “Melohn paid nearly $198M for 32 Old Slip interest” [RealDeal]
STARTUP NATION: “ICONYC Labs Builds A Bridge Between Israeli Tech And NYC’s Startup Scene” by Jonathan Shieber: “Eyal Bino has been working for years to bring Israeli entrepreneurs into the New York City tech ecosystem, and his latest venture, ICONYC Labs is the culmination of that work. Together with his partner Arie Abecassis, a partner and mentor at Dreamit Ventures, Bino has established an accelerator for young entrepreneurs coming from Israel to build out their businesses in the hear of New York’s burgeoning technology scene.” [TechCrunch]
“Israel Evacuates Surrogate Babies From Nepal” by Debra Kamin: “An Israeli Boeing-747 returned from Nepal to Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport on Tuesday afternoon, and among its 229 passengers were 15 Israeli babies, all born within the last six weeks to surrogate mothers in Nepal.” [TimeMag] • “Israel’s aid team to Nepal larger than any other country’s” [ToI]
“Actress Sophia Bush posts tribute to her Jewish Google exec ex-boyfriend killed on Everest during earthquake” by Aly Weisman: “Among those killed in the Nepal earthquakes was Google executive Dan Fredinburg, head of privacy for Google X, who survived last year’s deadly avalanche on Mount Everest, according to media reports and his Instagram account.”
Sophia Bush wrote, “There are no adequate words. Today I find myself attempting to pick up the pieces of my heart that have broken into such tiny shards, I’ll likely never find them all. Today I, and so many of my loved ones, lost an incredible friend. Dan Fredinburg was one-of-a-kind. Fearless. Funny. A dancing robot who liked to ride dinosaurs and chase the sun and envision a better future for the world. His brain knew how to build it… Please remember that each person who is now gone was someone’s Dan. Please remember that our time on this Earth is not guaranteed. Please tell those you love that you do. Right now. This very minute.” [BusinessInsider; JewishJournal]
MAKING HISTORY: “17-Year-Old Makes the First-Ever Charge From an Orthodox Yeshiva to West Point” by Joseph Berger: “When Rachelle David applied for admission to the yeshiva high school here, her interviewer wrote in his notes: “This girl is going to be a general in the army someday.” Four years later, that prediction is still on track. Ms. David has accepted an offer of admission to West Point, which would, according to the military academy’s officials, make her the only graduate of an Orthodox yeshiva, male or female, to attend West Point in its 213-year history.” [NYTimes]
BIRTHDAYS: Bernie Madoff turns 77… Jerry Seinfeld turns 61… Sam Neuberger…
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