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QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Jim Torrey wants to be the Penny Pritzker of the Biden campaign” — Draft Biden’s Josh Alcorn, overheard on Amtrak, describing a breakfast meeting he had earlier that day with the Obama bundler. Alcorn was also quoted as saying, “I am 100 percent that Joe is in.” [NR]

POST GAME: “How Obama Out-Muscled AIPAC” by Eli Lake and Josh Rogin: “Democrats feared the president more than they feared the pro-Israel lobby. “Aipac went to the Democrats and said, ‘We need your help as a friend.’ Obama said, ‘If you cross me you are going to make an enemy of my machine forever,’” says South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham… But retribution may still occur. If Aipac is perceived as toothless, many top donors may choose to give elsewhere… Aipac must now choose whether it should battle the friends who defied it or repair the friendships that frayed this summer. It cannot do both.” [Businessweek]

“After Iran Deal Defeat, How Do Pro-Israel Lobbyists Regain Clout?” by Peter Overby: “Nobody on Capitol Hill underestimates the lobbying clout of AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. For six decades — almost since the birth of Israel — AIPAC has presented itself as the deliberately bipartisan, and frequently victorious, voice of American-Israeli unity. So here’s AIPAC’s problem: While it’s been walking that bipartisan line — it maintains its board of directors as a mix of Democrats and Republicans — Mideast politics in Washington have become a partisan football.” [NPR]

On The Hill: “Senate blocks attempt to tie Iran deal to Israel, prisoners” by Karoun Demirjian: “Forty-five Democrats, enough to maintain a filibuster, united to block a resolution that would have tied implementation of the deal to Iran recognizing the state of Israel and releasing American prisoners, including Washington Post Tehran correspondent Jason Rezaian.” [PowerPost] • “Administration prepares to implement Iran nuclear deal as Republicans again fail to stop it” [WashPost; Statement] • “Mitch McConnell should have taken Harry Reid’s deal on Iran, GOP Sen. Jeff Flake said in an interview Thursday.” [Politico]

Some Not Done Yet: “Go ‘nuclear’ to stop Obama’s Iran deal, urge 57 House Republicans in letter” [TheHill; Letter]

Burgess Everett: “Remember when Rubio fought tooth + nail to get a vote on Iran recognizing Israel?… He missed the vote on it today” [Twitter]

2016 WATCH: “Truth about that foreign policy makeover” by Aaron David Miller: “Given the cruel, and unforgiving nature of our world, the impact a predecessor’s policies usually have on their successors, and the risk-aversion of several of the candidates themselves, I’d humbly suggest that a Republican president’s foreign policy will have a lot more continuity than contrast with Obama’s.”

–On US-Israel relations under the GOP: “A note of caution, however. Some of the worst tensions with Israel have occurred under Republican presidents (see Richard Nixon and George H. W. Bush). In fact, there were even tensions with Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, too. Bottom line: Relations will improve. But with Netanyahu as prime minister, there are bound to be tensions too.” [CNN]

“Finger-Pointing, but Few Answers, After a Syria Solution Fails” by Peter Baker: “By any measure, President Obama’s effort to train a Syrian opposition army to fight the Islamic State on the ground has been an abysmal failure… But the White House says it is not to blame. The finger, it says, should be pointed not at Mr. Obama but at those who pressed him to attempt training Syrian rebels in the first place — a group that, in addition to congressional Republicans, happened to include former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.” [NYTimes] • “The Secret Arms Deal Behind America’s Syria Fiasco” [BuzzFeed]

“Netanyahu to Visit Moscow Over Concerns About Russian Moves in Syria” by Isabel Kershner: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel plans to travel to Russia next week for talks with President Vladimir V. Putin about the stationing of Russian forces in Syria. Israel, a strategic ally of the United States, maintains good bilateral relations with Russia, but Israeli and Russian interests in the Middle East differ.” [NYT]

Top-Op: “In the new year, moving forward… together” by Rob Eshman and David Suissa: “A reporter called us one day last month. He had been reading our columns and saw that we were on opposite sides of the Iran deal debate, yet we were working together running the Jewish Journal. How could that be? Our first reaction was a kind of bemused sadness: When two Jews who disagree actually get along, apparently that’s news.” [JewishJournal]

Robert G. Sugarman: “The Day After Is Now” [JewishWeek]

**Good Friday Morning! Enjoying the Daily Kickoff? Please share us with your friends & tell them to sign up at [JI].  Have a tip, scoop, or op-ed? We’d love to hear from you. Anything from hard news and punditry to the lighter stuff, including event coverage, job transitions, or even special birthdays, is much appreciated. Email [email protected]**
BUSINESS BRIEFS: The Charles Schusterman-founded Samson Resources Files for Bankruptcy Amid Oil Slump [WSJ] • “The Dolans, the Clan That Built the Cablevision Empire, Say Goodbye” [DealBook] • “American Eagle’s interim CEO Jay Schottenstein buys 500K shares” [BizJournals] • “One Sign That Manhattan’s Super-Luxury Condo Market Is Over” [Bloomberg] • “Why Adam Neumann’s $10 Billion Company Won’t Pay Janitors $10 an Hour” [VanityFair] • “How Gadi Amit is putting the future of wearables under your skin” [Wired]

STARTUP SPOTLIGHT: “Dan Porter’s Overtime Is A Social Network For The Sports Obsessed” by Christine Magee: “Amidst a sports media world dominated by network TV, Overtime wants to give all fans the ability to create and consume their favorite sports content in the form of 10-second videos and GIFs… Overtime founder Dan Porter previously ran OMGPOP before taking over as Head of Digital at WME.” [TechCrunch]

STARTUP NATION: “This Israeli Ride-Sharing App Is the Utopian, Hippie Uber” by Gabrielle Coppola and Yaacov Benmeleh: “Shay Zluf says he’s hoping to create the anti-Uber. In Israel, the former yoga instructor co-founded La’Zooz, a sort of cooperative ride-hailing service. Through the organization’s app, volunteers give people lifts in exchange for tokens they can later trade for rides.” [Bloomberg] 

DRAMA: “Ron Perelman Bowing Out as Carnegie Hall Board Chairman” by Gregory Zuckerman and Jennifer Smith: “At the heart of Mr. Perelman’s concerns: the venue’s decision to host the Warner Music Prize. It was created with support from the family foundation of Len Blavatnik, the Warner Music Group owner who serves on the hall’s board. Mr. Perelman has said that because Mr. Blavatnik is a board member, the award should be subject to careful review. There is value conferred upon Warner Music by its association with Carnegie Hall through the prize, Mr. Perelman said.” [WSJ; NYTimes]

Philanthropy: “Meet Israel’s Santa Claus, the Trustee Tasked With Handing Out Leona Helmsley’s Billions” [Algemeiner] • “David M. Rubenstein Pledges $4.5 Million to Fund National Zoo Panda Program Through 2020” [NBC; WashPost] • “‘Let my people go’ photo exhibit in Baltimore honors Shoshana Cardin” [JPost]

CAMPUS BEAT: UC regents reject much-hyped ‘principles of intolerance.’ Napolitano: ‘More work needs to be done’ by Jared Sichel: “Richard Blum, a regent who heads Blum Capital and is the husband of Senator Dianne Feinstein, said that he and Feinstein had discussed the statement of intolerance last weekend, and that although Feinstein wants to “stay out of the conversation publicly, [she] is prepared to be critical of this university if we don’t have the kind of, not only statement, but penalties” for certain discriminatory actions.” [JewishJournal]

TRANSITION — Israeli American Council Appoints New Executive Leadership: This week, the Israeli American Council (IAC) announced new appointments to its top lay leadership and professional positions, with Adam Milstein becoming Chairman of the organization’s National Board of Directors and Shoham Nicolet taking over as Chief Executive Officer. [PressRelease]

If You Care To Read More On This… “Ann Coulter Defends ‘F–king Jews’ Rant” by Jay Michaelson [DailyBeast]

SPORTS BLINK:  “While Koufax is rightly lauded, Yom Kippur example set by Hank Greenberg” by David J. Halberstam: “Greenberg’s refusal to play for the Detroit Tigers in 1934 came under generationally different circumstances than those Koufax faced. In the 1930s, American anti-Semitism was intensified by an economic depression at home, political developments abroad and a large influx of Jews in the USA in the early 20th century.” [USA Today]

WEEKEND BIRTHDAYS: Avi Mayer… Zak Sawyer… Harold Rhode turns 66… Ronald Kass… Henry Samueli turns 61…