Daily Kickoff
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “All the headlines these days are about #Persians #Greeks and #Jews. Revenge of antiquity.” — @RabbiWolpe [Twitter]
Thank you to the news outlets that linked to Jewish Insider over the weekend. [Politico; Haaretz; HuffPost]
PRE-SHABBAT NEWS DUMP: “U.S. Preparing to Release Convicted Israeli Spy Jonathan Pollard, Officials Say” by Devlin Barrett: “The Obama administration is preparing to release convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard from prison, according to U.S. officials, some of whom hope the move will smooth relations with Israel in the wake of the Iran nuclear deal.” [WSJ] • “Jonathan Pollard eligible for ‘mandatory parole’ in November” [WashPost]
“Spy’s Release Is Unlikely to Assuage Israel on Iran Nuclear Deal” by Jodi Rudoren: “While Mr. Pollard has long been bandied about as a potential diplomatic chit the United States might use to force Israeli concessions, analysts said Saturday that such a linkage had little chance of working now, and could instead provoke a backlash.” [NYTimes] • “Israel wants U.S. to release its spy but not as compensation for Iran deal” [WashPost]
An informed, nonpartisan reader emails… “Very shrewd move by the Admin to leak the Pollard news now. On its face, the move is designed to appear as a concession meant to tamp down Israeli anger over Iran. The problem is that the date of Pollard’s parole has been posted for quite some time so the question is why leak news now? With headlines emphasizing “Israeli spy,” the news could be timed to raise concerns of dual loyalties during a week in which pro-Israel groups have scheduled a large lobbying effort on the Hill against the Iran agreement.”
Report — Ben-Gurion Welcome Unlikely: “Even if he does leave prison exactly 30 years after his arrest, Pollard will likely be released under restrictions. He will have to reside in a defined area in the US and report to a local police station regularly, and will be forbidden to give interviews, write a book or deliver lectures on the affair and on his time in prison. It’s hard to imagine the parole board allowing him, as part of his probation period, fly to Israel, be received at Ben-Gurion Airport as a national hero and launch a series of interviews against the US.” [YNet]
DRIVING THE WEEK: “House Democrats whip for Iran deal” by Lauren French and John Bresnahan: “Buoyed by personal lobbying from Obama, members and Democratic staff say they already have the votes necessary to sustain a veto from Obama if Republicans, as expected, advance legislation to disapprove of the agreement… But with anti-deal groups like AIPAC pouring $20 million to $40 million into TV advertisements blasting the deal, Democratic lawmakers said in interviews they weren’t taking any chances.” [Politico] • “Arizona Republican Senator Jeff Flake May be Only Hope for Bipartisan Support of Iran Deal” [WSJ]
“White House Says Iran Unlikely to Address Suspicions of Secret Weapons Program” by Jay Solomon: “An Obama administration assessment of the Iran nuclear deal provided to Congress has led a number of lawmakers to conclude the U.S. and world powers will never get to the bottom of the country’s alleged efforts to build an atomic weapon, and that Tehran won’t be pressed to fully explain its past.” [WSJ]
Eli Lake and Josh Rogin: “Congress Alarmed by Iran Pact’s Secret Understandings” [BloombergView]
Thomas Pickering defends the deal: “A Guide for the Perplexed: The Iran Nuclear Agreement” [TabletMag]
Aaron David Miller: “The theory that conflict with Iran is inevitable rests on several highly arguable contentions.” [WSJ]
Natan Sharansky: “Jews stood up to the U.S. government 40 years ago, and should again on Iran” [WashPost]
David Rivkin and Lee Casey: “The Obama end-run around the Constitution could yet be blocked if states exercise their own sanctions regimes” [WSJ]
FROM FRIDAY: Kerry at CFR — “I fear that what could happen is if Congress were to overturn it, our friends Israel could actually wind up being more isolated and more blamed.” [CNN]
“Kerry has ‘intense exchange’ with Jewish leaders over Iran deal: One critic was former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, Kerry’s former Senate colleague, who “made some impassioned comments,” according to Hoenlein.” [NYPost; Pic] • “Joe Lieberman: Schumer is ‘key’ to blocking nuclear deal” [TheHill]
Israel’s Response: “In a stern response to Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent comments on the Iran nuclear accord, an Israeli official said Saturday that Israel would continue to criticize the agreement and could not be pressured to stop voicing its objections.” [NYTimes]
SUNDAY SHOWS: Sen Joe Manchin — “I’m leaning strongly in support of Iran Deal” [CBS]
Rep. Juan Vargas, a San Diego Democrat, writes: “Why I oppose the president’s nuclear deal with Iran: The president is right; this agreement is historic, but for all the wrong reasons.” [SDUnionTribune]
2016 WATCH: “Huckabee: Iran nuclear deal will march Israelis ‘to the door of the oven’” by Jerry Markon: “The reference to the Holocaust — in which Jews were killed in Nazi gas chambers and their bodies cremated in ovens — was creating a backlash Sunday among some Twitter users, with Huckabee among the leading topics of discussion.” [WashPost; Politico] • Original interview [Breitbart]
Jeffrey Goldberg: “Among other things, Mike Huckabee doesn’t understand Israel’s ethos and raison d’etre. No one can march Israelis to the oven doors.” [Twitter]
Jewish Dems: “In our eyes, it is almost pointless to demand Gov. Huckabee apologize for his remarks, although he certainly should. This was not a random, off-the-cuff remark, and the Jewish community deserves better than to hear a false apology that we doubt will stop the former Governor from offending again in the future. What we do demand is that Gov. Huckabee’s fellow Republican presidential candidates denounce his offensive statement at once.”
President Obama was asked about Huckabee’s comments today in Ethiopia: “It’s part of a general pattern that you’ve seen that would be considered ridiculous if it weren’t so sad. Maybe it’s just an effort to push Mr. Trump out of the headlines.”
ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt: “To hear Mr. Huckabee invoke the Holocaust when America is Israel’s greatest ally and when Israel is a strong nation capable of defending itself is disheartening.”
Christie in Iowa: “Hey governor, over here. Real Italian food over here,” a woman hawked from a booth for Formaro’s Stuffed. “We’ve got bacon-wrapped dates.” “Oh no no,” Mr. Christie moaned… After making it to the last of the food booths, Mr. Christie was asked by reporters about the billionaire Kenneth Langone, a co-chairman of his national finance team, who had recently denigrated Iowa voters as “old ladies with knitting needles” and, saying “The hell with Iowa,”… “Well, Ken’s wrong. Here I am, O.K.?’’ Mr. Christie said. “Ken helps me raise money. He doesn’t come up with my political advice.” [FirstDraft]
“Jeb Bush Snares a (Jewish) Democratic Moneyman on Hamptons Tour” by Zachary Mider: “Behind a garden modeled on Monet’s, Jeb Bush addressed a lawn-full of chief executives and hedge-fund managers at an East Hampton, New York, estate Saturday morning. While the candidate is no stranger to courting wealthy donors, this time was different: about half the attendees were Democrats. “This guy sells well,” said Kenneth Lipper, the money manager and registered Democrat who hosted the event, after Bush left. Virtually the only one who left without writing a check, Lipper said, was a buck deer that wandered past the group assembled on the wooded grounds.” [Bloomberg]
“Bernie Sanders’s ‘100% Brooklyn’ Roots Are as Unshakable as His Accent” by Jason Horowitz: “As Mr. Sanders, a senator from Vermont, draws large crowds on the campaign trail and enjoys an unexpected surge, his Brooklyn accent and upbringing in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Flatbush off Kings Highway have become a particular point of pride for friends, former schoolmates and fellow progressives in the borough where he was born.” [NYTimes]
BUSINESS BRIEFS: “David Rubenstein Says Private Equity’s Fees, Investors Have Changed” [Bloomberg] • “Marc Benioff’s Salesforce Makes Strides Toward Gender Equality in Silicon Valley” [NYTimes] • “Hillary Clinton Faults ‘Hit-and-Run’ Activist Investors” [Bloomberg] • “A Trio of Fashionable Upstarts Will Take Over Aby Rosen’s Four Seasons Restaurant Space Next Year” [VanityFair] — “Now That The Four Seasons Is Closing, Where Will the Power Lunch Crowd Go Next?”[Town&Country] • “Gawker’s Future: A Conversation With Nick Denton” [NYTimes] • “French-Israeli Patrick Drahi Teams Up With Weill on $670 Million NextRadioTV Offer” [Bloomberg] • “Teva to buy Allergan generic drug business for $40.5 billion” [Reuters]
REAL ESTATE ROUNDUP: “Joel Kestenbaum’s 40-story tower on LICH site could prove contentious” [CapitalNY] • “A $9.2 million Southampton mansion owned by real estate investors Lawrence and Marilyn Friedland went up in flames Saturday” [RealDeal; NYPost] • “David Cordish’s plans reveal 18-story hotel proposal at Maryland Live casino site” [CapGazette] • “Joe Sitt’s Thor backed out of Caiola’s 25-building megadeal” [RealDeal] • Russell Galbut and Baptist Health in ‘slugfest’ with Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami [MiamiHerald] • “Roman Abramovich has already spent nearly $80M on his Manhattan dream house — and he hasn’t even started building it yet” [DailyNews]
J-SUIT: Jdate Sues Competitor Jewish Dating App For Using The Letter “J” — by Gregory Ferenstein: “Jdate’s parent company, Spark Networks, discreetly filed a lawsuit late last year against Jswipe, the ‘Tinder for Jews’ dating app, claiming intellectual property over the letter “J” within the Jewish dating scene… Additionally, Jdate claims it owns the patent on software that “confidentially determines matches and notifies users of mutual matches in feelings and interests.” Jswipe, like Tinder, notifies users when their romantic interest ‘swipes right’ on their picture, violating Jdate’s patent.” [Forbes; TechCrunch]
TALK OF OUR NATION: “The Jews Who Are Determined to Stay in France” by Emily Shire [DailyBeast]
Clicker: Chuck Schumer Celebrates Jon Stewart’s Best Jewish Moments On ‘The Daily Show’ [HuffPost]
NYTimes Wedding — “Gabrielle Karol and Benjamin Jacobs: After Years of Breakup Regret, He Wins Back the One” [NYTimes]
PERFORMANCE: “Ethiopian Jazz, Israeli Beats and U.S. Soul” by Nathan Siegel: “Ester Rada’s take on reggae, Afrobeat, R&B and funk has been making waves among soul aficionados and stars like Alicia Keys, whom Rada opened for when Keys came to Tel Aviv. Lately the Tel Aviv-based singer and actress has been on the festival circuit, playing stages at events like Glastonbury and South by Southwest.” [Ozy]
DESSERT: “The Ancient City Where People Decided To Eat Chickens” by Dan Charles: “An ancient, abandoned city in Israel has revealed part of the story of how the chicken turned into one of the pillars of the modern Western diet. The city, now an archaeological site, is called Maresha. “The site is located on a trade route between Jerusalem and Egypt,” says Lee Perry-Gal… The site contained more than a thousand chicken bones. Perry-Gal could see knife marks on them from butchering. In the history of human cuisine, Maresha may mark a turning point.” [NPR]
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