Daily Kickoff
DRIVING THE DAY: President Obama will address the Jewish community at 2:10 PM ET via a webcast hosted by the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The President, speaking from the White House, is expected to address concerns from the community regarding the Iran deal. [Webcast] • Tablet Magazine asked their readers — including Jonathan Greenblatt, Yishai Schwartz, Thane Rosenbaum — what they’d like to hear from the President today [TabletMag]
“Obama’s Sanctions Chief to Defend Iran Accord in Israel” by Julie Hirschfeld Davis:
“The Obama aide, Adam J. Szubin, the top Treasury Department official who helped negotiate the accord between Iran and six world powers, will meet with Israeli government officials and foreign policy experts to make his case during a three-day trip, administration officials announced on Thursday.” [NYTimes]Juan Zarate and Chip Poncy: “Using financial sticks to control Iran” [WashPost]
“Iran may have built extension at disputed site: U.N. nuclear watchdog” by Shadia Nasralla: “Iran appears to have built an extension to part of its Parchin military site since May, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said in a report on Thursday, as part of its inquiry into possible military dimensions of Tehran’s past nuclear activity.” [Reuters; WSJ]
TOP TALKER: “Congressional Fight on Iran Deal Is All But Over” by Eli Lake and Josh Rogin: “Opponents of the Iran nuclear deal in Congress admit they can no longer kill the accord. Their focus now is making sure there will be a vote on the agreement at all, and salvaging some political benefit from their well-funded bid to stop it. Republicans are using the issue to batter their Democratic opponents for 2016 in ads, and the nuclear deal has already become a factor in Senate races in Ohio and Pennsylvania.”
“I’m hoping Democrats filibuster the vote. As an opponent of the deal who seeks to delegitimize this deal, nothing could be better,” said Mark Dubowitz. If Congressional oversight is stifled, that will only bolster the ability of the next president to scuttle the deal, or at least tighten its enforcement and punish Iran’s other illicit activities. Dubowitz claimed the drive to delegitimize the deal has succeeded, even if it failed to stop its implementation: “On policy, deal opponents won. On politics, deal supporters won.” [BloombergView]
“10 Questions for President Obama About Iran” by Jeffrey Goldberg: “It is not too late to strengthen the Iran deal, Robert Satloff says.” [TheAtlantic]
Brent Sasley: “Don’t Be So Quick To Count AIPAC Out: Nobody in Congress is going to ignore AIPAC when it comes to thinking about the next foreign aid bill or funding for an Israeli anti-missile system. Nobody is going to refuse an invitation to its annual policy conference. Nobody did any of these things after previous defeats to American presidents on specific issues.” [MideastMatrix]
“Top House Democrat Steny Hoyer talks Iran deal during California visit” by Javier Panzar:“The president is working it very hard, the administration is working it very hard. They feel very strongly that this is the best deal that we could get and that we are much better off if we approve this deal,” Hoyer said. “I think that is the administration’s case, I think Nancy shares that view. I’m not sure I share that view.” [LATimes]
“Divided Democratic Party Decides Against Openly Debating Iran Deal” by Evan McMorris-Santoro: “Democratic Party leadership decided against putting forth, and thus openly debating, a resolution on President Obama’s Iran deal at an operational meeting Thursday — a potential acknowledgement of just how divisive the issue is within the party.” [BuzzFeed]
“Jewish Activists Focus Intense Anger on Jerold Nadler” by Ken Kurson: “Private email chain reveals plans to hound Congressman with demonstrations and media campaign over Iran vote” [Observer] • “Iran Deal Opens a Vitriolic Divide Among American Jews” [NYTimes]
“Ted Cruz and Donald Trump will rally against Iran nuclear deal at the Capitol” by Sylvan Lane: “The Texas GOP senator’s campaign announced Thursday that he’s invited Trump to join a rally planned at the Capitol soon to pressure lawmakers on opposing the nuclear agreement. The rally is sponsored by Tea Party Patriots, Center for Security Policy, and the Zionist Organization of America. Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, said the rally is tentatively slated for Sept. 9.” [DallasNews; Politico] • “Super PAC’s Ad Plays Up Christie’s Iran Deal Criticism” [WSJ]
–Dan Pfeiffer: “This is an amazing strategy to ensure the #IranDeal passes. Nothing will unite Dems like Trump and Cruz together.” [Twitter]
2016 JI SCOOP: Jeb Bush will speak at the Hampton Synagogue this weekend during Shabbat morning services. Marco Rubio, wearing a kippah, spoke at the Synagogue during the same time slot two weeks ago. [Twitter] • We haven’t seen Jeb don a kippah yet. He could ask his dad and brother for tips. Pics [41; 43]
Reactions: RJC’s Jeremy Wynes — “I love it, obvi, but at this point Hampton Jews reaching Iowa-level spoiled w/GOP presidential candidate access!” [Twitter]
Rob Eshman: “JebBush spending Shabbat in NY shul, Rick Santorum in LA shul. I formally invite Donald Trump to Nashuva.” [Twitter]
Noted Hamptonite Eric Cantor endorsed Jeb yesterday: “In the coming months, Bush is expected to “engage” with Cantor on foreign policy and ask the Virginia Republican to serve as a lead surrogate to Jewish Americans, according to campaign aides… Cantor was courted intensely by other candidates. Cantor retains a strong political network in Virginia, a key primary and swing state. And he has enviable connections among Jewish business leaders who can be key supporters and donors.” [WashPost; Politico]
Donald Trump: “Who wants the endorsement of a guy (@EricCantor) who lost in perhaps the greatest upset in the history of Congress?” [Twitter]
Excerpts from Scott Walker’s prepared remarks for a foreign policy speech later today at The Citadel: “ISIS enslaves Christian minorities, targets the Jewish people and burns innocent Muslim victims alive in cages… ISIS is a radical perversion of Sunni Islam, but there is another face of Islamic extremism, and that is the Shiite regime in Iran. Iran is not a country we should be doing business with. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is right when he says the deal ‘puts us all in danger.’”
“Confronted by these two forms of evil, President Obama and Hillary Clinton seem to believe they can sit on the sidelines, hoping Iran will defeat ISIS for them. They fail to realize that, in the prevailing anarchy, the two sides feed off of each other, growing stronger at the expense of our Sunni and Shia allies trapped in the middle.” 12PM [CSPAN]
Headline Du Jour: “Why Does Marco Rubio Want To Lock Up Observant Jews? by David Benkof: “Rubio may not know, though, that his position could destroy the lives of some Orthodox Jews like me. Because in our faith tradition, abortion to save the life of the mother is not “permitted.” It is mandatory.” [DailyCaller]
HAPPENING TODAY — 11AM: “The summer meeting of the Democratic National Committee gets down to business on Friday with speeches by four of the party’s presidential candidates — Lincoln Chafee, the former Rhode Island governor, and Hillary Rodham Clinton in the morning, Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland governor, and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the afternoon – to hundreds of activists who are plenty familiar with their political speeches and policy views.” [FirstDraft; CSPAN]
BUSINESS BRIEFS: “Two Rescued From Sheldon Adelson’s Venetian Hotel Casino’s Canal” [AP] • “The Reichmann family feud: Son sues parents over income disagreement” [Globe&Mail] • “Multifamily divided: Aaron Jungreis sues nephew Raphael Toledano over $100M Village deal” [DailyNews; RealDeal] • “Aby Rosen sues owner of Peter Elliot Blue boutique” [RealDeal] • “Branch founder Josh Miller leaves Facebook” [VentureBeat] • “Heard of China’s Fake Rolexes? Now There’s a Fake Goldman Sachs” [Bloomberg] • “76ers owner Joshua Harris to give largest gift in Phila. PAL history” [Philly]
STARTUP NATION: “The Heart of Israeli Cyber, a Check Point Brotherhood” by Inbal Orpaz: “Alumni of the veteran Israeli computer-security company are behind an outsize number of successful startups in the same area. Last spring they all got together when Check Point acquired the startups Hyperwise and Lacoon… Gil Shwed, Shlomo Kramer and Mickey Boodaei, the granddaddies of Israeli cybersecurity, were reunited after years of parallel but separate careers in the field.” [Haaretz]
LongRead: “Inside the ‘conspiracy’ that forced Dov Charney out of American Apparel” by Jim Edwards: “In person, Charney is by turns infuriating, charming, arrogant. He can cycle through manic and depressive phases within a single sentence. His retail empire was built with his own hands, in round-the-clock workdays, across three decades. Everyone who knows him agrees the success of American Apparel is 100% because of Charney. He is the epitome of hard work, old-school Jewish garment-trade moxie, and the American dream, all rolled into one. But that wasn’t enough to protect him.” [BusinessInsider]
“The Struggles of New York City’s Taxi King Gene Freidman” by Simon Van Zuylen-Wood:“According to the city, the Taxi King controls 860 cabs (Freidman says he actually operates more than 1,100). That’s more than anyone else in town. Factor in the hundreds of vehicles he has in Chicago, New Orleans, and Philadelphia, and he’s almost certainly the most powerful taxi mogul in the country. Freidman makes money by leasing the cabs to drivers on a daily or weekly basis.” [Businessweek]
TRANSITIONS: “Alan H. Gill, JDC CEO, to Step Down in 2016: Alan H. Gill, CEO of the American Jewish Joint distribution Committee (JDC), announced today his plans to step down in 2016 after more than two decades of service with the Jewish aid group.” [EJP]
TALK OF OUR NATION: “The American Jewish future: More Shmuley Boteach than Woody Allen?” by David Bernstein [WashPost]
“How Moishe House is helping turn social lives into Jewish life” by Aron Chilewich: “Moishe House is a well-subsidized experiment whose goal is to ensure the future of Jewish engagement among young adults through interpersonal — not virtual — social networking. The organization offers housing subsidies and grants to groups of young adults, who agree to turn their homes into centers of Jewish life.”[JewishJournal]
Ahead of his 60th birthday tomorrow, Jack Lew carved out time this week to see Hamilton, the hit musical about the debonair founding father and first man to hold Lew’s current job.spoke with New Yorkabout the man, the musical, and the controversy over Hamilton’s place on the $10 bill. [NYMag; NYTimes]
“The Bernie Madoff movie is getting closer to happening: HBO Films has found a cast and director for its movie about Bernie Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme.” [BI; Deadline]
Kosha Dillz Op-Ed: “My Experience With Anti-Semitism Around the World” [Billboard]
DESSERT: “Calcutta’s Last Jewish Bakery Makes the Best Bengali Desserts” [Munchies]
Yitz Applbaum on the Wine of the Week: “One of the greatest kosher wines ever produced is the Segal Unfiltered Cabernet Sauvignon. The flavors include cherry, black currants, smokiness from what must be slightly charred barrels, a magnificently fruity open, a warm mid palate feeling and then a very long chocolate and velvet finish. All of the flavors and the textures of the wine blend together for a remarkable experience. The 2010 Cabernet, being sold now, has all of these flavors. The wine is 100% Cabernet and aged in new and used French oak barrels for 20+ months. I’m drinking Segal unfiltered from the early 2000’s and so this wine should hold for a long time. Drink that wine with everything. It takes some mental preparation but, once you get your mind around the wine, it will be a great experience.”[Segal]
WEEKEND BIRTHDAYS: Gary Ginsberg… U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Joseph ‘Jack’ Lew turns 6-0… Charlie Spies… Jane Denkensohn… Joe Lissak… Warren Stern… Mati Geula Cohen…
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