Daily Kickoff
HEARD YESTERDAY: “Hostile reaction to Lew at Jewish conference” by David Cohen: “Treasury Secretary Jack Lew was repeatedly booed and heckled Sunday as he spoke in New York City at a Jewish-themed conference sponsored by The Jerusalem Post. Haaretz, an Israeli news organization, characterized the reaction to Lew’s remarks “as one of the surliest reactions ever accorded to such a high-ranking administration official by a Jewish audience in the United States.” [Politico; TheHill; Bloomberg] • “Full text of US Treasury Secretary Lew’s remarks at the JPost Annual Conference” [JPost]
JPOST’S DAMAGE CONTROL: “Lew, Israel’s friend” [JPost] • “Sharansky lauds Lew for helping Soviet Jews” [JPost] • “Shteinitz Defends Lew” [JP]
“Fall of the Israeli Foreign Ministry” by Uri Savir: “A senior diplomat in the Foreign Ministry, who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, said that there was an unprecedented demoralization of the department: “We feel that the Foreign Service has not only become an orphan in this government, but that it is now void of content and clout on key issues, even though the ministry could have obtained important assets for Israel.” He described how the prime minister’s office monopolizes the Israel-US relationship and ties with Washington, which includes not only the White House but all wings of the State Department, Congress, the connection with US public opinion and even the all-important Jewish community and lobby.” [AlMonitor]
“Profit as an Incentive for Israeli-Palestinian Peace” by Jodi Rudoren: “How about $173 billion as incentive for a peace deal? That is how much a new report by the RAND Corporation says the Israeli and Palestinian economies stand to gain over the next decade if an independent Palestine were to emerge tomorrow — admittedly a development that might require divine intervention.” [NYTimes; Rand]
OPS — Jeff Jacoby: “The case for Israel is rooted in more than security” [BostonGlobe] • David Harris: “Why History Matters: The 1967 Six-Day War” [HuffPost] • Edward Grossman: “Can Israel Unite? In Iran’s nuclear program, Israel faces a threat like never before. Can a divided nation pull together in time to confront it?” [MosaicMag]
TOP TALKER: “Turkey’s Ruling Party Loses Parliamentary Majority” by Tim Arango:“Turkish voters delivered a rebuke on Sunday to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as his party lost its majority in Parliament in a historic election that thwarted his ambition to rewrite Turkey’s Constitution and further bolster his clout.” [NYTimes] • “Plunged into uncertainty, Turkey could face early election” [Reuters]
On the G7 Summit Menu: Beer, pretzels and ‘schnitzel’ [TheHill]
FROM THE WEEKEND: “U.S. Billionaires Adelson, Saban Vow to Fight Boycotts of Israel” by Calev Ben-David: “U.S. billionaires Sheldon Adelson and Haim Saban pledged to fight economic boycotts against Israel amid heightened concern over the threat of international sanctions directed against its policy toward the Palestinians. “That he’s a Democrat and I’m a Republican has really very little to do with it,” said Adelson. “We can use our influence, to the extent that both of us have any, with anybody that we know in the Administration and Congress for the betterment of the relations between the U.S. and Israel.” [Bloomberg; IH; ToI] • Video of Saban & Adelson’s Channel 2 interview [YouTube]
“Israel’s Allies in U.S. Challenge Boycott” by Rick Gladstone: “South Carolina has become the first state to enact legislation aimed at thwarting an international pro-Palestinian economic and disinvestment campaign intended to penalize Israel. Illinois will soon become the second, and advocates say plans are underway for similar laws in 18 more states. Alarmed over what they see as the growing influence of B.D.S., Israel’s advocates in the United States, mirroring the reaction among many in Israel, are scrambling to respond. Some have embraced a call by the new Israeli justice minister, Ayelet Shaked, to “boycott the boycotters.” [NYTimes]
2016 WATCH: “George Soros Bankrolls Democrats’ Fight in Voting Rights Cases” by Maggie Haberman: “A Democratic legal fight against restrictive voting laws enacted in recent years by Republican-controlled state governments is being largely paid for by a single liberal benefactor: the billionaire philanthropist George Soros. The lawsuits — which are being led by a lawyer whose clients include Mrs. Clinton’s campaign — are attacking a variety of measures… The lawyer, Marc Elias, who specializes in voter-protection issues, was in contact with Mr. Soros in January 2014.” [FirstDraft]
SCENE LAST NIGHT: “Jon Voight Discusses Republican Candidates at Republican Jewish Coalition Gala” by Reece Ristau: “Jon Voight isn’t yet sure who he’ll endorse for the 2016 presidential race. Voight was honored at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Summer Gala Sunday at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel with the Hollywood Visionary Award. He said he’s impressed with the slew of Republicans who have already declared.” [Variety]
HAPPENING TODAY: The American Jewish Committee’s Global Forum takes place at the D.C. Hilton with over 2,000 participants from more than 70 countries. Speakers today include Deputy Sec. of State Antony Blinken, Israeli Amb. Ron Dermer, Israeli Amb. Daniel Taub, German Amb. Peter Wittig, Jon Huntsman Jr., Amb. Robert Ford, Amb. Thomas Shannon Jr., Dr. Tal Becker, Caroline Glick, Ari Shavit, Yair Lapid, Sen. Bob Menendez, Martin Indyk and Yuval Steinitz. [Webcasts]
The 15th Annual Herzliya Conference on “Israel in a Turbulent Middle East” started yesterday and will feature talks from Shimon Peres, Robert Hutchings, Gil Troy, Tal Schneider, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, Dan Meridor, Daniel C. Kurtzer, Antony Blinken (live from the AJC Forum), MK Silvan Shalom, and former President of France Nicolas Sarkozy. [HerzliyaConference]
TALK ON THE HILL: “You wouldn’t ask a Muslim to pray without referencing Allah usually. Some Christians will argue that they can’t pray without mentioning Jesus. So we have to be sensitive to that,” Bronson said. “We also have to be sensitive to the Jewish staffers or Jewish members.” [RollCall] • According to Howard Mortman, “Since 1917, 16 opening prayers by guest Rabbi chaplains in Congress (9 in the House, 7 in the Senate) have mentioned Moses by name and, since 1989, 11 opening prayers by Rabbis (8 in the Senate, 3 in the House) have mentioned the late Lubavitcher Rebbe.”
BUSINESS BRIEFS: “A private equity gamble in Vegas gone wrong” — Hedge fund honchos David Tepper of Appaloosa and Paul Singer of Elliott Management have made money trading Caesars; buyout specialists Marc Rowan of Apollo and David Bonderman of TPG have spent years trying to limit the losses on their investment” [Fortune] • “How Robert Iger convinced Isaac Perlmutter, a sharp-elbowed Israeli-American businessman, to sell Marvel” [LATimes] • “Arn ‘Herschel’ Tellem will leave Casey Wasserman‘s Media Group for the Detroit Pistons” [Forbes] • “Will email become a thing of the past? Stewart Butterfield thinks so” [USA Today] • “Meet Mark Gurman, Apple PR’s worst nightmare” [Fortune]
SPOTLIGHT: “You didn’t need SkyMall’s pet hammock, you said. Are you sure?” by Andrea Sachs: “In April, C&A Marketing, a manufacturer, distributor and online reseller based in New Jersey, saved the in-flight catalogue from the shredder. About a week after the company closed on the deal, I visited its Ridgefield Park headquarters to ask the new (Jewish) owners some critical questions about the legendary catalogue. I met Chaim Pikarski in a windowless conference room off a display area filled floor-to-ceiling with the company’s own creations… “We need to shift from geeky products that people laugh about,” he said, “to what people actually buy.” [WashPost]
STARTUP NATION: “5 Things NY-Based VCs Look For When Investing In Israeli Startups” by Eyal Bino: “The NYC venture community is still not fully in the “Startup Nation” game. While many VCs are taking meetings with Israeli startups, most are reluctant to pull the trigger. In my experience as a tech investor and a community builder in NYC, there are 5 major things NY-based VCs look for when considering investing in Israeli startups.” [Forbes] • “Israeli Army Builds a Desert Outpost—Tech Firms Follow” [WSJ] • “EndoChoice raises $96m in NYSE IPO” [Globes]
“Venture Firms Develop Their Own Tech to Help Portfolio Startups” by Yuliya Chernova: “On a pleasant Tel Aviv evening in October, about 80 Israeli techies gathered on the rooftop of venture firm Aleph’s offices to watch the classic sci-fi flick “Blade Runner,” drink beer and mingle. The guest list wasn’t just based on people Aleph’s partners already knew. Rather, the firm queried its in-house database that maps the country’s tech scene to figure out who would be the most valuable people for its portfolio founders to meet. Aleph’s database is one result of an initiative to develop software for the firm and its portfolio companies, and part of a trend among venture firms to improve their in-house technology.” [WSJ]
REAL ESTATE ROUNDUP: “Billionaire Safra family puts Manhattan townhouses up for sale” [NYPost; DailyNews] • “Next generation Rudin working hard to build on family legacy” [REW] • “Joe Sitt’s Thor Closes on 734 Broadway for $17M” [Observer] • “Norman Braman takes lumps in ICA Miami bid” [MiamiHerald]
PROFILE: “Daphne Koller on the Future of Online Education” by Alexandra Wolfe: “Dr. Koller has long been familiar with the academic world. Growing up in Jerusalem as the daughter of two teachers, she skipped several grades and graduated from college at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem at 17 with a major in computer science. After three years of Israeli military service, she came to the U.S. in 1989 to earn her Ph.D. at Stanford, eventually becoming a professor there in 1995. She discovered the potential of online education almost by accident, she says. In 2011, she and two other professors offered their computer-science courses online. Each drew over 100,000 students.” [WSJ]
HOLLYWOOD: “Jewish Journal quip in new ‘Entourage’ film” by Naomi Pfefferman: ““Did I tell you the Jewish Journal just named me the best-looking circumcised studio head?” uber agent-turned-mogul Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) crows in Doug Ellin’s new “Entourage” movie. Ellin, who is Jewish, wasn’t available to speak to me about why he mentioned The Journal in the movie, “Entourage” (and no, we don’t publish a list of hunky circumcised moguls). [JewishJournal]
Paragraph in Ari Gold’s new book ‘The Gold Standard: Rules to Rule By’ on Page 72 — “The Jewish Mafia. You can’t just walk up to the temple doors and say, “The password is Fidelio.” This is the kind of club you have to be born into. (Or convert to, but it’s not the same.) Most Jews in Hollywood aren’t religious, myself included, but we all pretend to be—at the bare minimum showing up for high holidays to keep up appearances and exchange information with our other non-practicing kinsmen. Go to temple on Yom Kippur in Beverly Hills and you might as well be at the Golden Globes, there’s so much talent there. If you are Jewish, this is the easiest mafia to infiltrate. If you aren’t, not to worry. Here’s what you do…” [Amazon]
SPORTS BLINK: “American Pharoah Gives Zayat Biggest Prize In Racing” by Richard Rosenblatt: “The gleaming Triple Crown Trophy that went unclaimed for nearly four decades was in the firm grasp of American Pharoah’s owner, Ahmed Zayat. Zayat and his family, who are Orthodox Jews, and friends spent the night before the race in four large RVs, and then walked to the track. Throughout the Triple Crown, he has exuded confidence his son of Pioneerof the Nile was the best of his generation.” [AP] • “Divine Intervention Is a Hope, Not a Horse, in the Belmont” [NYTimes]
BIRTHDAYS: Nicky Oppenheimer turns 70… Dasha Zhukov turns 34… Gabrielle Giffords turns 45…
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