Daily Kickoff
DRIVING THE DAY: Vice President Joe Biden will meet with Jewish leaders in South Florida at the JCC in Davie to discuss the Iran nuclear agreement. The meeting comes at the request of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz who has yet to publicly declare her position on the Iran deal.
“Wasserman Schultz’s divided loyalties” by Edward-Isaac Dovere and Marc Caputo:“Thursday morning’s roundtable is supposed to be about Iran. But it’s also seen through a campaign lens as Biden considers jumping in against Clinton. Biden feels the same affection for Wasserman Schultz that she does for him. As for her relationship with Clinton, the 2016 front-runner has never been quite as convinced of their closeness as the DNC chair tends to think.” [Politico]
Later in the day, Vice President Biden travels to Atlanta, Georgia, where he’ll speak at the Ahavath Achim Synagogue for the annual Eizenstat Family Lecture. The 7:30 p.m. speech is free and open to the public. The synagogue’s doors are open at 5:30 p.m. and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Past speakers for the annual lecture include Hillary Clinton (2005), Ron Dermer (2013), Al Gore (2009), Bill Clinton (2003). [Details; Livestream]
Heard Last Night at Biden’s South Florida Fundraiser at the home of Stephen and Sabine Bittel in Coconut Grove: “Biden took a swipe at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He said, donors recalled, that at the beginning of his political career, he raised more money for them than did any other politician. But AIPAC’s opposition to the Iran deal has soured him on the organization. “The ads they’re running now — they’re not true,” Biden said.” [Politico]
Also Fundraising in Miami — The Falic family hosted Ted Cruz last night: “I believe the Jewish community in South Florida and across the country should be profoundly concerned,” Cruz said. “We are reliving Munich in 1938. I agree with [Israel’s] Prime Minister Netanyahu when he has made the point that the one threat on the face of the planet capable of murdering six million Jews is the threat of a nuclear Iran.” [Channel7] • As typical of many Ted Cruz events, there was a shofar blowing [Pic]
TOP TALKER: “Obama secures Iran nuclear deal with Barbara Mikulski vote: “Thirty-four votes are obviously enough votes for the president’s veto to be upheld,” Kerry told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “That is not satisfactory for us. We do want to try to go further. We’ll continue to persuade.” [CNN] • “Kerry Defends Iran Nuke Deal, Assails Critics in Speech” [WSJ]
Coordinated campaign: “Under the direction of Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, and a team of lieutenants, House Democrats orchestrated a daily roll-out of endorsements of the Iran deal from a Capitol war room, tucked into Ms. Pelosi’s office just off the House chamber. They parceled out their statements to make clear that House members were closing ranks behind the agreement.” [NYTimes]
Aaron David Miller: “None of this suggests that controversy over the agreement or Iran’s nuclear program will end or that Iran will become any less controversial in U.S. politics or among some U.S. allies in the Middle East, or somehow more manageable or moderate in a violent region.” [WSJ]
“After Losing Fight for Votes, Opponents of Iran Deal Press for More” by Carl Hulse: “We are in this until the end,” said Patrick Dorton, who has been overseeing a $20 million media campaign against the deal for Citizens for a Nuclear Free Iran. “We think that every vote matters,” he said. “Our view is that proponents of the deal should support an up-or-down vote and not hide behind a filibuster.” [FirstDraft] • “Pro-Iran deal Sen. Chris Coons wants up-or-down vote” [CNN]
“Republicans Weigh New Ways to Upend Iran Nuclear Deal” by Jennifer Steinhauer: “Approving new sanctions, even many set to be lifted as part of the accord, is one possible path, said several aides to lawmakers, because it would both send a message to Tehran and the White House and put Democrats in a difficult position.” [NYTimes; WashPost]
STATE LEVEL: “Gov. Greg Abbott urged Texas’ congressional delegation Tuesday to vote against President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran and said the Lone Star State will continue to prohibit public investment in that country even if the deal goes through.” [HoustonChronicle; Letter]
2016 WATCH: Hillary Clinton tweets — “Great news that the Iran Deal has enough votes; as POTUS, I would aggressively enforce it and counter Iran’s other malicious activities. -H” [Twitter; WSJ] • RoundUp: “Iran deal clinching adds fuel to 2016 race” [CNN]
“Netanyahu to continue vocal opposition, despite Obama gaining enough votes to secure deal” by Herb Keinon: “According to the sources, Netanyahu will continue to speak out because “the stronger the opposition in Congress to the deal, the stronger the message to Iran and to America’s allies in the region, and the greater the likelihood that the message will be reflected in US policy moving forward.”[JPost; Bloomberg]
“AIPAC official: PM’s Congress speech hurt Iran deal opposition: Netanyahu’s speech in Congress made the Iranian issue a partisan one,” the AIPAC official told Israel’s Walla news. “As soon as he insisted on going ahead with this move, which was perceived as a Republican maneuver against the president, we lost a significant part of the Democratic party.” [ToI; Walla]
Efraim Halevy: “[Iran] made concessions … nobody would have dreamed they would have made a year or two ago,” he went on. “They didn’t even agree to talk about it. And now they’re going into all the nitty-gritty, the nuts and bolts of the piping, and this and that. People don’t realize. They think this is a given. It’s not. I think Obama understands this. He can’t say it in the way that I’m saying it, but he understands this,” he said in an interview in a Tel Aviv cafe.” [ForeignPolicy]
Thomas Friedman: “Sorry, General, but the title greatest “purveyors of radical Islam” does not belong to the Iranians. Not even close. That belongs to our putative ally Saudi Arabia… Iran’s nuclear ambition is a real threat; it needs to be corralled. But don’t buy into the nonsense that it’s the only source of instability in this region.” [NYTimes]
HAPPENING TONIGHT: The Israel Forum hosts a debate on the Iran nuclear deal between Alan Dershowitz and Peter Beinart at the JCC Manhattan. The event will be moderated by the Forward’s Jane Eisner [JCC]
At 7PM, AIPAC hosts a rally in Livingston, New Jersey, to “appeal to Sen. Cory Booker that America needs a better deal.” The keynote speaker will be former Sen. Joseph Lieberman.
Jewish Jeb News: “On Saturday, after remaining with the congregation for a singing of the hymn “Adon Olam,” set to the tune of “God Bless America,” Mr. Bush walked out of the synagogue toward his waiting sport utility vehicle.” [NYTimes] • “Jeb Bush Says He Helped Save Thousands of Ethiopian Jews. Here’s What Really Happened.” [MotherJones]
BUSINESS BRIEFS: “Is Netflix expanding to Israel?” [JPost] • “Construction for Russell Galbut’s 1212 Lincoln Road delayed” [RealDeal] • “Gary Barnett’s Extell Nabs Three-Story 8,890-SF Chelsea Building for $8.7M” [Observer] • “Retailer Edmond Creed helped put Toronto on fashion map” [Globe&Mail] • “The Israeli challenging Google’s autonomous car” [Globes]
SPOTLIGHT: “Jewish Media Mogul: Fear of failure made me a billion: Richard Desmond has told how fear of ending up sleeping on a park bench drove him to becoming one of Britain’s richest men… Desmond was speaking in front of a packed auditorium at a special event at the JW3 Jewish Community Centre in Swiss Cottage, north west London.” [DailyStar]
TALK OF THE VALLEY: “Is Silicon Valley in Another Bubble . . . and What Could Burst It?” by Nick Bilton: “While the rest of the country has spent the past year debating gay marriage, policing tactics, Obamacare, and Deflate-gate, the inescapable topic of discussion in Silicon Valley is whether we are in a technology bubble.” [VanityFair]
STARTUP NATION: “The only shopping app you’ll ever want to use. Seriously.” by Sara Ashley O’Brien: “Israeli entrepreneur Liat Zakay feels this pain — and she’s come up with a formidable solution. Donde has developed an app that brings artificial intelligence to mobile shopping. It’s eliminated the need to plug in a bunch of keywords, instead letting users tap style preferences that match what they’re looking for.” [CNN] • “Many online reviews have relevance to specific store locations, but are managed separately by the e-commerce team. Software from Israeli startup Yotpo helps Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores capitalize on those comments.” [Fortune] • “Is Tel Aviv the best beach city for expats”[BBC]
TALK OF OUR NATION: “Six journalists debate the question of why shrill partisanship is tearing apart the Canadian Jewish community: Left- and right-wing Jews in Canada have been disagreeing about all manner of issues for generations. This is not new. But what is new in this election cycle is the way that these longstanding disagreements have mapped closely onto a partisan framework. Stephen Harper’s commitment to stand by Israel “through fire and water” has inspired the view, among some, that voting for anyone but the Conservatives is a sellout of Israel, and even of Judaism more generally.” [TheWalrus]
PROFILE: “Chiara Vigo: The last woman who makes sea silk” by Max Paradiso: “Some believe it was the cloth God told Moses to lay on the first altar. It was the finest fabric known to ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, and one of its remarkable properties is the way it shines when exposed to the sun, once it has been treated with lemon juice and spices… Her family remains Jewish, unlike many others in southern Italy and Sardinia who converted to Christianity long ago, but continued to set a table for the Sabbath on Friday evenings well into the 20th Century, without knowing why.” [BBCMagazine]
“Harold S. White, Jewish chaplain at Georgetown, dies at 83” by Emily Langer: “For 41 years, Rabbi White was known as one of the most charismatic presences on the Georgetown campus in Washington. His appointment in 1968 made him the first Jewish chaplain hired by a Catholic university in a full-time job.” [WashPost]
IMPACT: “Payday for Ice Bucket Challenge’s Mocked Slacktivists” by Nicholas Kristof:“Scientists studying A.L.S. have reported a breakthrough that could lead to therapy, not just for A.L.S. but for other ailments, too. And they say the money raised in the ice bucket challenge was crucial.” [NYTimes]
SPORTS BLINK: “Noah Kales Puts the Jew in Jiu-Jitsu” by Louie Lazar: “Noah, who lives with his mother and father in the North York section of Toronto and is now studying for his bar mitzvah, is a six-time Ontario provincial jiu-jitsu champion. He has been dominating his age and weight class ever since he took up the sport, at age 6.” [TabletMag]
