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WELCOME TO MAY… a.k.a. Jewish American Heritage Month: President Obama — “From our Nation’s earliest days, Jewish Americans have been a critical part of our story. In the face of unspeakable discrimination and adversity, they have fought tirelessly to realize their piece of the American dream and the promise of our founding, holding tight to the belief that a better day lies ahead. Their relentless spirit and remarkable achievements have enriched our country, stirred our conscience, and challenged us to extend the miracles of freedom and security. This month, we honor the vast contributions Jewish Americans have made to our world, and we recommit to standing up for the traditions we believe in and the values we share.” [WhiteHouse]

“The White House is testing out a new ambassador to Israel. His name is Joe Biden” by Nahal Toosi: “Biden has become central to the administration’s outreach to pro-Israel activists, joining meetings with Jewish groups at the White House. Just last week, the vice president appeared at the 67th Annual Israeli Independence Day Celebration in Washington, D.C., where he began his speech by declaring, “My name is Joe Biden, and everybody knows I love Israel.”… The 72-year-old former senator spent decades in Congress and has a much longer history of dealing with Israeli leaders than President Barack Obama.” [Politico]

HEARD LAST NIGHT: “Vice President Joe Biden said the United States was willing to go to war to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. War was “unpredictable,” Biden said Thursday evening addressing the 30th anniversary dinner of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, but “if required, it will happen. It is a risk that we may yet have to take should Iran rush to a bomb.” [JTA] • Watch Biden’s speech [WashInstitute]

“Netanyahu Seeks to Defuse Obama Spat With Action on Palestinians” by Jonathan Ferziger: “His decision to release hundreds of millions of dollars his government withheld from the Palestinians was a bid to lower the flames, a confidant said. “We would like to do what we can to remove the unnecessary hindrances in our relationship with the U.S.,” Zalman Shoval, an adviser to Netanyahu and former ambassador to the U.S., said in an interview.” [Bloomberg] • Chemi Shalev: “With Obama’s eyes on Iran, Netanyahu needs only lip service for Palestinians” [Haaretz]

“Iran bill a mess after Cotton, Rubio try to force votes” by Burgess Everett: “After being blocked by Democrats for several days, Cotton (R-Ark.) and Rubio (R-Fla.) used a parliamentary procedure to try to compel votes on amendments that would make Iran relinquish its nuclear facilities before getting economic sanctions relief and require that Iran recognize Israel’s statehood as a condition of any nuclear deal.” [Politico; WashPost; Reuters]

“Rubio’s New and Improved Poison Pill” by Eli Lake: “Rubio’s fact sheet amendment only asks Democrats to vote on whether a final Iran deal should meet the conditions as described by the leader of their own party. If Democrats vote that it should, then Obama may be forced to issue a veto over his own fact sheet as he seeks to make a final agreement more palatable to Iran. If the Democrats vote that it shouldn’t, then they will appear to be conceding the White House either misled the public or bungled the negotiations earlier this month. An irony here is that Rubio himself has said that the deal outlined in the White House fact sheet was too weak. But bad policy in this case makes for very good politics.” [BV]

“Jeb Bush: Iran framework a ‘horrific deal'” by David M. Drucker: “Jeb Bush on Thursday added his voice to the chorus of Republican 2016 contenders who would cancel a nuclear deal that President Obama reaches with Iran. But he appeared more equivocal than some of his competitors for the Republican presidential nomination, saying that he would do so if it made sense for U.S. national security. Bush also appeared to break with some of his party’s White House hopefuls when he offered qualified support for a Senate bill that would force a vote on a deal.” [WashExaminer]

“A Skeptic’s Guide to the Iran Deal” by Jeffrey Goldberg: “On Capitol Hill, I’ve come to rely on the Iran analysis of California Representative Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, who is a moderate’s moderate. Schiff is constructively skeptical of Iranian intentions and moderately worried about the scale of possible American concessions… As a Jew, he is interested in making sure that the U.S. denies an anti-Semitic regime the means to cross the nuclear threshold and gain possession of nuclear weapons. And as an analyst, he is trying not to pre-judge a deal whose creation is still very much in progress.” [TheAtlantic] • “White House Looks to Ease Arab Fears Over Iran Nuclear Pact” [NYTimes]

“In Iran, Fatal Porsche Crash Unleashes Middle-Class Anger at Elites” by Thomas Erdbrink: “It was 5 o’clock on a recent morning as the canary yellow Porsche raced up the treelined Shariati boulevard in Tehran. The young woman at the wheel, it later emerged, came from the poorer south side of the city. The young man next to her, the nouveau riche grandson of an ayatollah, had bought the car just two days earlier. The scene could have passed for normal in North Tehran, where increasing numbers of the children of the well-connected live their lives as if the country’s restrictive Islamic laws were written for someone else.” [NYTimes]

David Ignatius: “U.S. and Iranian officials have been insisting for years that they want to resolve the nuclear issue before discussing the sectarian wars raging across the Middle East. Not anymore. As the battles have escalated in recent months, so has talk about regional diplomacy.” [WashPost]

“After Key Departure, Kerry Reorganizes Leadership Team” by John Hudson: “Following the departure of his top aide, Secretary of State John Kerry is overhauling his leadership team amid concerns about who is running Foggy Bottom while he embarks on another year of high stakes diplomacy and grueling globetrotting, a senior State Department official told Foreign Policy.” [FP]

WHAT GOES AROUND… “Kahlon mulling Michael Oren for deputy foreign minister” by Gil Hoffman: “Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon is considering appointing MK Michael Oren as deputy foreign minister, sources close to him said Thursday… Oren irked the prime minister by criticizing his relations with US President Barack Obama during the election campaign. “Although he’s not too happy with Michael, he would value the help he would bring, especially on the US front,” a source close to Netanyahu said. “I think it’s a good idea,” Danny Ayalon said. “Oren built up great relations with Hillary [Clinton].”[JPost]

“Portman to meet Netanyahu in Israel to talk Iran nuclear deal” by Jack Torry: “Sen. Rob Portman will meet in Tel Aviv with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials this weekend to talk about President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.” [Dispatch; Cleveland]

MD SEN: “In Senate bid, Rep. Donna Edwards faces scrutiny over her views on Israel” by Rachel Weiner: “If somebody could look in her kishkes, I doubt a love for Israel would be found there,” said Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg, using the Yiddish word for guts… As she campaigns for the Democratic nomination, Edwards is facing pushback over votes on Israel that put her to the left of both Cardin and Mikulski.” [WashPost]

2016 TOP READS: “The Unpleasant Charisma of John Kasich” [TheAtlantic] • “Martin O’Malley Was Born to Run” [NYTimesMag; Part2] • “In early horse race, Marco Rubio threatens Scott Walker” [Politico] • “How Rick Perry befriended the real ‘Lone Survivor’ Navy SEAL” [WashPost] • “Roles of Presidential Super PACs Expanding” [WSJ]

**Good Friday Morning! Enjoying the Daily Kickoff? Please share us 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]**
BUSINESS BRIEFS: Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa’s Warby Parker Valued at $1.2 Billion [WSJ] • “Microsoft to Pay Around $30 Million for Israeli N-trig” [Digits; NYTimes] • “Apollo Goes on the Road to Appease Debt Investors” [WSJ]

“Combative Adelson rails against ‘greedy bosses’ in entertaining court testimony” by Chris McGreal: “No one has ever described Sheldon Adelson as a man happy with the world. Happy billionaires do not spend tens of millions of dollars trying to get Newt Gingrich elected president. But it took a hearing in a Las Vegas courtroom to lay bare an unexpected target for the casino magnet’s ire… Adelson peppered his testimony with references to the hardship of his poor upbringing as the son of east European Jewish immigrants in a one-room tenement in Boston before he became a salesman.” [TheGuardian; BI]

COMING SUNDAY: “Self-Made (Jewish) Billionaire’s Passion For U.S. History: The federal government is in debt and could use a hand says billionaire David Rubenstein. So he is donating his own money to fix the Washington Monument, Monticello and the Iwo Jima Memorial. He won’t be fixing his children up with hundreds of millions of dollars, however, telling Morley Safer that to do so might stunt their productivity. Safer profiles the hedge fund founder who is determined to give most of his fortune away – much of it to preserve America’s public treasures – on the next edition of 60 Minutes Sunday.” [CBS News]

SPOTLIGHT: “The Secrets to the Galbut Family’s Success” by Jon Warech: “The Galbut family’s love affair with Miami Beach began in 1931 when Abraham and Bessie Galbut moved to the city, opened Al’s, a shop that was equal parts drugstore, tag agency, notary public, and restaurant, and immersed themselves in the community. Their grandsons, Russell Galbut and Bruce Menin, cofounded with partner Sonny Kahn the development company Crescent Heights and reshaped the city with the Shelborne, the Alexander, the Decoplage, Carriage Club, and the Casablanca—not to mention 35,000 residential units around the country over the past 35 years. Now, Bruce’s nephew, Keith Menin, and a cousin, Jared Galbut, are the next generation taking the town by storm.” [OceanDrive]

REAL ESTATE ROUNDUP: “Shorenstein asking $500M for 850 Third Avenue” [RealDeal] • “Hotel and nightclub mogul Sam Nazarian sued over Miami hotel deal” [LATimes] • “Thor Equities’ Retail Condo at Row NYC Hotel Hits the Market” [Observer] • “After deal with Chaim Miller falls through, Waterbridge to close on $100M-plus Williamsburg portfolio” [RealDeal]

MEDIA WATCH: “Ben Shapiro out, TruthRevolt in turmoil as Horowitz denies shutdown reports” by Becket Adams: “Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro has resigned as editor-in-chief of TruthRevolt, a non-profit news website site that he co-founded just two years ago. Shapiro’s departure from the young media group, which he launched in 2013 along with David Horowitz of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, comes amid the group’s decision to let go of many of its writers — and as Horowitz is hitting back against widespread rumors that the site is sinking.” [WashExaminer]

CAMPUS ROCK STAR: “It paid off for one Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity member who spent his weekend sitting in a rocking chair on the corner of Ninth Street and Broadway. Jason Hoffman rocked for 63 hours straight as other members of his fraternity collected money around Columbia and across the state to raise money for skin cancer research and treatment during their Rock-A-Thon. The fraternity broke the national record for a single chapter philanthropy by raising $132,000.” [Komu]

TALK OF OUR NATION: “We Are All Zionists Now: How EasyJet and anti-Zionism are turning British Jews into Israelis” by Ben Judah and Josh Glancy [TabletMag]

DESSERT: “James Corden and ‘The Late Late Show’ Want to Host Your Bar/Bat Mitzvah” by Sarene Leeds: “The Late Late Show” host James Corden is many things – talented, funny, game for filming from a random guy’s house. But did you know that he’s also a real mensch? After hearing that Nicki Minaj performed at a New York-area boy’s Bar Mitzvah several days ago, Corden decided he wanted to help out kids whose Bar or Bat Mitzvah won’t feature an A-list celebrity appearance. All you (and by “you,” he means the parents) have to do is submit a video to this website (#CordenMitzvah) explaining why “The Late Late Show” should throw your kid the Bar/Bat Mitzvah of the century.” [WSJ]

WEEKEND BIRTHDAYS: Abe Foxman turns 75… Alan Gross turns 66… Penny Pritzker turns 56…

That’s all folks; have a great day!

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