Daily Kickoff
IRAN DEAL: “The ultimate argument in favor of the Iran deal” by Michael Crowley: “In meetings on Capitol Hill and with influential policy analysts, administration officials argue that inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities under the deal will reveal important details that can be used for better targeting should the U.S. decide to attack Iran.” [Politico]
“Future Risks of an Iran Nuclear Deal” by David E. Sanger and Michael R. Gordon: “Obama’s problem is that most of the significant constraints on Tehran’s program lapse after 15 years — and, after that, Iran is free to produce uranium on an industrial scale… Even some of the most enthusiastic backers of the agreement, reached by six world powers with Iran, say they fear Mr. Obama has oversold some of the accord’s virtues as he asserts that it would “block” all pathways to a nuclear weapon.” [NYTimes]
Republican For The Deal — Brent Scowcroft: “In my view, the JCPOA meets the key objective, shared by recent administrations of both parties, that Iran limit itself to a strictly civilian nuclear program with unprecedented verification and monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the U.N. Security Council.” [WashPost]
Democrats Against: “Schumer May Save the Democratic Party” by Patrick H. Caddell and Douglas E. Schoen: “The Iran deal has potential, both because of public opinion and the way the administration is positioning itself, to hurt Democrats in much the same way that the Iranian hostage crisis did in 1980 and 1981. Should New York Senator Chuck Schumer succeed in killing the deal, he will be saving the Democrats from what appears to be a grave political mistake. Listening to the president you would never know that a plurality of Americans, including key parts of the Democratic party’s coalition, are opposed to the nuclear agreement.” [PoliticoMag]
“Harry Reid endorses Iran deal, boosts chances Congress won’t block it” by Paul Kane: “I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure the deal stands,” he said in a telephone interview with The Washington Post from his home in Henderson, Nev., where he has been calling friends to tell them of his decision… Reid declined to discuss his conversation with Adelson, with whom he has a friendly relationship. “I’ll keep that to myself,” he said. [WashPost]
Jon Ralston: “Timing seems linked to POTUS visit to Las Vegas tomorrow. Didn’t want to look like POTUS persuaded. Reid had said he’d wait ’til Sept… There goes his career as a Sheldon Adelson lobbyist.” [Twitter]
Focus on 8: “Eight key Democratic senators who have so far refused to make a decision — at least publicly — on how they will vote. They include Michigan’s Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow; West Virginia’s Joe Manchin; Maryland’s Ben Cardin; Bob Casey of Pennsylvania; Virginia’s Mark Warner; New Jersey’s Cory Booker; and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.” [ForeignPolicy] • “Booker Torn Between Obama and New Jersey Rabbi as He Weighs Iran Vote” [Bloomberg; NorthJersey] • “Quinnipiac Poll: Swing-state voters reject Iran deal” [Politico; Quinnipiac]
ADELSON PRIMARY — Jeb’s wife Columba Bush writes in the Las Vegas Review-Journal: “I recently had the privilege of meeting with Dr. Miriam Adelson during a visit to the clinic she founded with her husband in Las Vegas in 2000. The staff at the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Clinic for Drug Abuse Treatment & Research is committed to treating those who suffer from opioid and prescription drug addiction. I was impressed with Dr. Adelson’s understanding of the complexities of substance abuse, as well as her passion to address this deadly epidemic sweeping across Nevada and the rest of our nation.” [ReviewJournal]
2016 WATCH — Selma and Artie Rabin hosted Hillary in the Hamptons this weekend: “Hillary was fêted at a fund-raiser on the grounds of the Water Mill, LI, home of Selma and Artie Rabin. Guests included Sen. Cory Booker, Bernard Schwartz, Marc Lasry, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Donna Karan, Joy Behar and Peter Glazier, plus Bill, Chelsea and Marc Mezvinsky.” [PageSix] • Queue up the Booker as Hillary’s Veep rumors…
“Donald Trump Pays a Visit to His Not-So-Poor Relations” by Maggie Haberman: “On Sunday, Trump traveled to the Jersey Shore, and the palatial seaside home of Seryl and Charles Kushner, the in-laws of his daughter Ivanka, for a sunny meet-and-greet. The event did not appear to be a fund-raiser. Instead, it was something of a garden party, with children’s rides set up along the extended front lawn at the Kushners’ $6.7 million, block-long beachfront property on Ocean Avenue in Long Branch.”
“Charles Kushner was one of the Democratic Party’s biggest financial backers in New Jersey until he was convicted in 2005 of tax evasion and witness tampering and sentenced to two years in prison (he served one). The United States attorney in Newark who oversaw that prosecution was Chris Christie – now the state’s governor and a rival of Mr. Trump’s in the Republican presidential field.” [FirstDraft] • “Charles and Seryl Kushner, donated $100,000 to the Make America Great Again PAC, a source close to the Kushner family confirmed.” [Politico]
Chemi Shalev: “The Shameful Jewish Silence on Trump’s Anti-immigration Incitement: A century ago, it was the ‘Hebrew hordes’ of Eastern Europe who were portrayed by nativist agitators as inherently criminal.” [Haaretz]
“Reasonable Muslims? Walker says there’s ‘a handful,’ faces backlash” by Mary Spicuzza: “When speaking about radical Islamic terrorism at a campaign stop Friday, Gov. Scott Walker noted that there are a “handful of reasonable and moderate followers of Islam.” His comments at a VFW Post in Derry, New Hampshire, triggered a quick response from a Muslim advocacy organization, which called on him to apologize.” [JSonline]
Tevi Troy: “What Are the 2016 GOP Candidates Reading?” — Highlights: Dan Senor gave Mr. Bush a copy of Bret Stephens’ “America in Retreat” to read, Jeb Bush’s response was, “Oh, I’ve already read this book.”… Scott Walker, as a sitting governor, has been boning up on foreign policy, and has read Henry Kissinger’s “World Order,” as well as “The 9/11 Report”… John Kasich has read Nathan Sharansky’s “Fear No Evil,” about Sharansky’s experiences in a Soviet prison… Chris Christie has met with Kissinger, of course, and read Ken Adelman’s “Reagan at Reykjavik,” about Reagan’s arms talks with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. [Observer]
BUZZ: “Israel abuzz over reports that attacks on Iran were planned, abandoned” by Batsheva Sobelman: “Accounts published in Israel over the weekend suggest that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planned to strike Iran more than once in recent years but met with internal opposition. On Friday, Israel’s Channel 2 news broadcast excerpts from a taped interview that former Prime Minister Ehud Barak gave to the authors of his upcoming biography. Barak, who served as defense minister in Netanyahu’s second government during 2009 and 2013, described three occasions from 2010 to 2012 when plans to strike Iran fell through for different reasons.” [LATimes] • David Horovitz: “Barak’s Iran bombshell sounds like a case of premature detonation” [ToI]
On The Ground: “Gaza Strip’s middle class enjoys spin classes, fine dining, private beaches” by William Booth: “Alongside the Hamas training camps and bombed-out neighborhoods, there is a parallel reality where the wafer-thin Palestinian middle class here is wooed by massage therapists, spin classes and private beach resorts… Rising from the rubble of last summer’s devastating war with Israel are a handful of new luxury-car dealerships, boutiques selling designer jeans and, coming soon to a hip downtown restaurant, “Sushi Nights.”” [WashPost]
BUSINESS BRIEFS: “James Packer opens up about his secret new life in Israel” [CourierMail] •“Harvard Adds Hedge Fund CEO Joshua Friedman, Ex-Fed Governor Jeremy Stein to Endowment Board”[Bloomberg] • “Rupert Murdoch wants Michael Bloomberg to run for president” [CNN] • “Shorenstein Will Refurbish 1407 Broadway for $30M” [WSJ] • “Robert F.X. Sillerman’s Failed Bid, Debts and Growing Losses Test SFX Investors’ Patience” [NYTimes]
LongRead — The Heirs: “A Three-Way Mostly Civilized Family Contest To Become The Next Publisher Of The Times” by Gabriel Sherman: “The House of Sulzberger is made up of four families, all descendants of Ochs’s daughter, and each harbors its own ambitions and grievances. The central rivalry is between the two most powerful wings: the Goldens and the Sulzbergers. But the outcome is not just a matter of family politics; the next publisher of the New York Times will be responsible for preserving the independence of the country’s greatest newspaper in an increasingly challenging media environment.”
“Three finalists have emerged: There’s the current chairman and publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr.’s 35-year-old son, Arthur Gregg “A. G.” Sulzberger, best known for leading the committee that produced the digital wake-up call known as the “Innovation Report”; Sulzberger’s nephew David Perpich, 38, a Harvard M.B.A. who successfully launched the paper’s digital subscriptions; and Sam Dolnick, 34, the son of Sulzberger’s cousin Lynn Golden Dolnick, an influential and outspoken fourth-generation family member.” [NYMag]
Family Business: “Rolling Stone Moves Beyond the Fray” by Ravi Somaiya: “Gus Wenner is 25, not much older than his father, Jann S. Wenner, was when he started Rolling Stone in 1967. Jann Wenner, 69, who has overseen, to some extent, every issue since its founding, is gradually handing over the operation to his son… Current and former colleagues said Gus Wenner is preternaturally self-assured, something that one former employee suggested is a Wenner family trait. He is well liked, and those who have worked with him say he does not fit the stereotype of a privileged scion being handed the family business. But one likened his current challenge to playing football without pads.” [NYTimes]
TALK OF THE VALLEY: “One of Tech’s Best Investors Keeps Passing on Deals Because Valuations Are Too Damn High” by Jason Del Ray: “Jeremy Levine knows a good deal when he sees one. As a top venture capitalist at Bessemer Venture Partners, he has invested in Pinterest, LinkedIn, Yelp and Shopify well before they reached peak popularity and watched as the last three went public. But over the last 20 months, Levine has led just one new investment, which has yet to be announced. The reason for the pause? Valuations are still just too damn high, he says.” [ReCode] • “The ‘Unicorn’ Club, Now Admitting New Members” [NYTimes]
SPOTLIGHT: “Stewart Butterfield’s inspiration came when he was ‘puking my guts out in a hotel in New York'” by Julie Bort: “Butterfield may have been destined for a great career in tech, but he’s had plenty of drama along the way. In the heady days of the 1990s Internet bubble, he joined his friend Jason Classon at Classon’s startup, Gradfinder. A month later, the bubble burst… Then he got on a plane to New York for a speaking engagement and things got worse. “I got food poisoning. I was up all night. The whole idea for Flickr came to me while I was puking my guts out in a hotel in New York.”” [BusinessInsider]
TALK OF THE TOWN: “NYC to probe secular education at Jewish schools” by Karen Matthews: “Now young adults, the two yeshiva graduates echo complaints critics have made for years about the rudimentary level of secular education at private schools serving New York’s Hasidic communities. Now, for the first time, the city Department of Education is investigating more than three dozen of the schools to make sure their instruction is up to the most basic standards.” [AP]
HOLLYWOOD: “Natalie Portman says Jewish community should focus less on the Holocaust” by Heather Saul: “I think a really big question the Jewish community needs to ask itself, is how much at the forefront we put Holocaust education. Which is, of course, an important question to remember and to respect, but not over other things.” Portman said she arrived at this conclusion after visiting a museum about the Rwandan Genocide and realising this was not something she had been taught about in school despite it taking place while she was a student. [Independent]
“Jewish musician faces down controversy with reggae set in Spain” by Tomas Cobos: “Amid a packed audience at the event in Benicassim, near Valencia in eastern Spain, dozens of people whistled in disapproval as Matisyahu took to the stage in the early hours of Sunday, with some waving Palestinian flags and chanting “out, out.”” [Reuters; YNet]
NYPost Editorial: “Denying the Israel-basher — kudos to Oprah and other principled stars” [NYPost]
“A Conversation With the Fat Jew: ‘That’s Not Who I Am or What I’m About’” [Vulture; Today]
SPORTS BLINK: “Israeli Mystery Man Crashes Poker’s Biggest Event” by Josh Nathan-Kazis: “An Israeli mystery man has made it to the final round of the United States’s most prestigious poker tournament, besting some of the world’s top poker players along the way. Unlike other finalists, some of whom are well-known in tournament poker circles, Ofer Zvi Stern has no obvious online presence and hasn’t taken home a major prize in a live poker tournament since 2008… Yet the 36-year-old has qualified for the final round of the World Series of Poker’s Main Event, already winning $1 million in the tournament. He’ll have the opportunity to up that to $7 million when the competition resumes November 8.” [Forward]
BIRTHDAYS: David Gregory, author of the forthcoming book How’s Your Faith?, turns 45… Weil Gotshal’s Phil Rosen… Mike Huckabee turns 60… Bob Corker turns 63… Joe Manchin turns 68… Donna Barwald… Samantha Feinstein… Lonnie Nasatir…
