Daily Kickoff
DRIVING THE DAY: CNN will host two debates tonight at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California. 11 candidates, including Carly Fiorina, will appear in the 8 p.m. debate, and five candidates will appear at the 6 p.m. event. [CNN]
Hugh Hewitt — “The Most Important Person at Tonight’s Debate” by Tim Alberta: “If Hewitt had his way, then, Wednesday’s debate would probably sound a lot like his radio show, pushing candidates to engage in detailed conversations about complex geopolitical subjects. In other words, it would be the worst case scenario for Trump.” [NationalJournal]
Trump’s ‘major’ foreign policy speech: “What was pitched as Donald Trump’s maiden foreign policy address ended up being Donald Trump’s umpteenth stump speech. Trump did once again blast the Iran nuclear deal reached by President Barack Obama and world powers.” [CNN; BuzzFeed]
Mark Cuban: “I could beat Trump and Clinton” [CNBC]
Bill Kristol: “If Trump wins, I’d support a third-party choice” [CNN]
SCENE SUNDAY: Josh Wachs and Molly Levinson hosted Hillary and Bill Clinton on ‘erev-Rosh Hashanah’ at their Cleveland Park home in D.C. Spotted: Sheri Yost, Jason Gold, David & Melissa Seldin, Nicole Elkon, Steve Rabinowitz & Laurie Moskowitz, Rachel Hirshberg, Jennifer Frost, Taryn Rosenkranz, and Neal Wolin. [Pic]
Also Sunday, RJC Chicago hosted former Vice President Dick Cheney at the home of Lori Komisar and Morris Silverman. [Pic]
“Fiorina’s HP Earned Millions From Sales in Iran” by Josh Rogin: “What Fiorina never mentions on the stump is that while she was in charge, Hewlett-Packard used a European subsidiary and a Middle East distributor to sell hundreds of millions of dollars of printers and other computer equipment to Iran.” [BloombergView]
On The Hill: “Senate Democrats again block Iran nuclear deal disapproval: By a vote of 56-42, the Republican-majority Senate fell short of the 60 votes needed in the 100-member chamber to advance the legislation. The result was similar to last week’s procedural vote on the Iran measure but two Republicans opposed to the deal, presidential candidates Rand Paul and Lindsey Graham, did not vote on Tuesday.” [Reuters] • “Obama’s Iran deal will pass Congress, but it keeps losing public support” [WashPost]
“McConnell plans hardball Israel, hostage votes on Iran deal” by Burgess Everett: “The Senate majority leader is preparing to challenge Democrats with proposals that would force Iran to recognize Israel as a state and release Americans held in Iran as the Senate minority continues to filibuster an effort to scuttle President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Tehran.” [Politico]
Robert Satloff: “Letter to Obama on his next Iran legislative challenge” [TheHill]
Thomas Friedman: “Iran Deal Players’ Report Cards” [NYTimes]
Jeffrey Goldberg: “Netanyahu’s Victory Over Iran” [TheAtlantic]
Bill Allison: “How AIPAC May Win by Losing the Iran Deal” [ForeignPolicy]
DEEP DIVE: “The Shady Family Behind America’s Iran Lobby” by Alex Shirazi: “Little known to the American press, the Namazis have rarely acted as spokespersons for their own cause… Those close to the Namazis say that they are savvy financial operators rather than ideologues, eager to do business with the West and enjoy all of its political freedoms and perquisites, and yet ever mindful that they’re straddling the delicate fault-line between cashing in with a theocratic dictatorship and being frozen out entirely.” [DailyBeast]
“The Lobbyist With a Six-Figure Government Job” by Eric Lipton: “Jeffrey Farrow was at once a federal government bureaucrat and lobbyist. The revolving door did not even have to spin. He managed this feat while running one of dozens of agencies that can get lost in the vast United States government — this one responsible for identifying and helping preserve cemeteries and historic buildings in Eastern and Central Europe that are important to American Jews and others, including Orthodox Christians from Kosovo.” [NYTimes]
BUSINESS BRIEFS: “Do the Jewish holidays affect stock prices?” [CBSMoneyWatch] • “The Surprising Target of Jeb Bush’s Tax Plan: Private Equity” by Andrew Ross Sorkin [DealBook] • “Google Bets on Josh Kushner’s Insurance Startup Oscar Health — valuing Oscar at $1.75 billion” [WSJ] • “Ori Allon’s N.Y.C. home finder app Compass looks to expand nationally” [NYBizJournal]
Out Today — “Let There Be Water: Israel’s Solution for a Water-Starved World” by Seth Siegel: While one might anticipate a book regarding water policy to be a bit dry, Seth ‘Yossi’ Siegel’s Let There Be Water is anything but. Siegel relates the story of Israel’s journey to water security and independence, and how the rest of the world can follow suit before it’s too late. Siegel draws a contrast between Israeli and U.S. cultures, noting how in Israel water conservation is engrained in society from a young age. One lighter example: nursery rhymes. American toddlers are taught “Rain, rain, go way, come back another day!” while their Israeli counterparts sing “Rain, rain, from the skies, all day long, drops of water, drip drop drip drop, clap your hands!” In the book, Siegel coins a new term ‘hydro-diplomacy’ where water policy presents Israel the unique opportunity to open new diplomatic relations throughout the world as “hardly anyone will be unaffected by the coming water shortages.” Jacket blurbs include: Michael Bloomberg, Tony Blair, Shimon Peres… $15.39 [Amazon]
Dan Senor, author of Start-up Nation, emails us… “Over the next several decades, Israel will have an extraordinary opportunity to lock arms with countries throughout the developing and developed world to help them solve their most perplexing problems. Water innovation will be one of those areas. Yossi’s book is chock full of stories about what Israel has already done in this sector, and it reminds us what Israel’s role can be in the water innovation revolution around the world. It is an important book at an important moment.”
STARTUP NATION: “Ex-Spies Join Cybersecurity Fight” by Orr Hirschauge: “When firewalls fail to thwart cyberattacks, former Israeli spies are coming to the rescue. Their job: Befriend hackers to find out about attacks before they even happen… Black Cube and peer Diskin Advanced Technologies Ltd. were both started by veterans of the Israeli intelligence services.” [WSJ]
STARTUP SPOTLIGHT: “Bandura Games aims to create world peace through mobile games” by Dean Takahashi: “Justin Hefter wants to change the world through games. He hopes to create lasting peace one relationship at a time, mainly by getting people from different cultures to play games with each other. That’s why he launched Bandura Games, which was created to promote world peace by three founders: an American, an Israeli, and a Palestinian.” [VentureBeat]
HOLLYWOOD: “The Young Master Out to Shake Up Hollywood” by Sean Braswell: “Since Megan Ellison (daughter of billionaire and fifth-richest man on the planet Larry Ellison) founded Annapurna Pictures, the savvy heiress has invested in the kind of smart, original stories that the Hollywood studios have largely abandoned. Call it youthful exuberance, call it hubris, call it the fruits of inherited wealth, but for all of us who love the movies, Megan Ellison is helping to make going to them far more bearable.” [Ozy] • “Television Academy to Name New Building for Saban Family Foundation”[Variety] • “Natalie Portman’s A Tale of Love and Darkness Is the Most Revolutionary Jewish Movie Since Schindler’s List” [Esquire]
TALK OF OUR NATION: “In the ‘shmita’ years, Jewish farmers can keep the produce coming—by sneaking into Jordan” by Inna Lazareva: “Suddenly, the rabbis no longer appear to be Jews, but rather Arab farmers. Guarded by Jordanian police, they are escorted through passport control toward an armed convoy of four-by-four jeeps with reflective windows. Far from prying eyes, at the Israeli-Jordanian border, this unusual kind of religious hocus-pocus has been taking place for the past 12 months.” [TabletMag]
TALK OF THE TOWN: “New York judge rules that Jewish chicken-whirling ritual can continue” by Harriet Alexander: “Kaporos, a Jewish ceremony in which chickens are killed to atone for sins, can go ahead in Brooklyn after a judge ruled that the ritual was not a public nuisance.”[Telegraph; NYPost]
NYT features Ruderman Foundation — “When Family Members Run Foundations, Scrutiny Never Ends” by Paul Sullivan: “Jay Ruderman went to work in his family’s foundation after careers as a lawyer, political lobbyist and captain in the Israel Defense Force. He hadn’t imagined that he would become a professional philanthropist, charged with giving away $8 million to $10 million a year. But he found that he liked the role immensely… Yet as a family member and not a person hired from outside, he also has to worry about giving an unfair advantage to family members, including himself.” [NYTimes]
BIRTHDAYS: Jason Zengerle… Jonathan Medved… Amy Kauffman (Monday)…
