Daily Kickoff
ADELSON PRIMARY — MUST READ: “Sheldon Adelson Is Ready to Buy the Presidency” by Jason Zengerle: “Adelson is said to be conflicted about the various Trump-slayers. Scott Walker, despite intensive lobbying efforts, is viewed by many close to Adelson as insufficiently serious about Israel and foreign policy. Rubio is a personal favorite but might lack the necessary ruthlessness to take out The Donald. Ted Cruz, meanwhile, is well positioned to appeal to the same GOP primary voters Trump’s currently energizing but is probably too conservative to beat Hillary. Which brings Adelson to Jeb Bush, the candidate… whose relationship with the mogul is as vexed as any of the Republican contenders.”
“Today, Bush not only has been stalwart in his own opposition to the Iran nuclear deal but also, according to one veteran GOP foreign-policy hand, has worked to make sure that some prominent Republicans who do support the deal keep their support private. “If you notice, there’s been no major Republican dignitary who has come out for the Iran deal,” says that expert… “Sheldon said they had a good meeting,” says one person who spoke with Adelson about it. “I don’t think Jeb is dead to him anymore.”[NYMag]
Cameos: Morton Klein, Frank Lutz, Noah Pollak, Bill Kristol, Matt Brooks, Ben Rhodes, Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, Ronn Torossian, Lior Suchard, Nick Muzin.
Jay Lefkowitz, along with Scott Arogeti, Sam Fox, Cheryl Halpern, George Klein, Leora & Steven Levy, Joshua Kazam, Morgan & Jonathan Weinberger, Teri & Barry Volpert, Fred Zeidman, Jay Zeidman, will host a luncheon with former President George W. Bush on Thursday in NYC. The event, which costs $5,400 to co-host and $1,000 to attend, will benefit Jeb’s campaign. [Invite]
Huckabee at the Hampton Synagogue: “The synagogue’s founding Rabbi, Marc Schneier, began the Q&A by asking the former governor how he expected to win: “I believe you have a one in 17 chance,” he said. The modern orthodox congregation erupted into laughter. Without hesitation, Mr. Huckabee explained how he came in second to John McCain in the 2008 Republican primary, and that he could have won if he had more money during that race… Hence his fundraising stop at the synagogue.” [27east]
2016 WATCH: “In Iowa, Hillary Clinton Refutes Dick Cheney On Iran” by Jennifer Epstein:“Iran was on a pretty fast track toward a nuclear weapon when Barack Obama became president,” Clinton said at a backyard house party in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. [Bloomberg] • Sidebar: “Hillary Clinton to Show More Humor and Heart, Aides Say” [NYTimes]
HAPPENING TODAY: At 6:15PM, Sen. John McCain and Leon Wieseltier debate Suzanne Maloney and Bruce Riedel on “How Should Congress Vote On The Iran Nuclear Deal?” CBS News’ Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett will moderate the debate, and the audience will have a chance to vote before and after the debate on how their views were influenced. [Livestream]
“In Damage Control Mode, Cory Booker Invites Jews to Emergency Summit” by Ken Kurson: “The meeting, which will take place at the Gateway Center on Tuesday at noon, will be joined by Treasury Under Secretary Adam Szubin… Apparently, there’s a second minyan being convened by Mr. Booker, as well – in Livingston, the heart of Essex County’s Jewish community, at 10 am… Conspicuously absent from the guest list is Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.” [Observer]
“Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Head of D.N.C., Backs Iran Nuclear Deal” by Peter Baker: “I’ll be casting my vote to support the deal and if necessary sustain the president’s veto,” she told Jake Tapper… The congresswoman choked up emotionally as she talked about the difficulty of the decision as a “Jewish mother” and the first Jewish woman elected to the House from Florida. “There’s nothing more important to me as a Jew than to ensure that Israel’s existence is there throughout our generations,” she said.” [NYTimes] • “Wasserman Schultz Iran-deal decision prompts primary threat” [PoliticoFL]
Rep. John Sarbanes’ Statement of Support: “I have decided to support the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action because I believe it will be effective in pulling Iran back from the threshold of becoming a nuclear weapon state and in keeping Iran away from that threshold for at least ten to twelve years.” [Statement; Sun] • Mark Plaster, running for Sarbanes’ seat, emailed… “Rep. John Sarbanes stands with Iran and turned his back on Israel and the sizable Jewish community here in Maryland’s third district. Even worse, he timidly announces his decision in the shadows of a holiday weekend – an old Washington political trick and feeble attempt to avoid scrutiny.”
Weekend RoundUp: “I will vote against the Iran deal” by Sen. Ben Cardin [Medium] • Colin Powell: Iran Deal Is a ‘Pretty Good Deal’ [NBC] • “Dem. Patrick Kennedy Slams Iran deal” [Newsmax] • “Congress Plunging Into Debate on Iran Deal: The question as Congress reconvenes Tuesday from a five-week break is whether the disapproval resolution will get through the Senate – or whether Democrats will have the votes to block it with a filibuster.” [AP]
Top-Ops: “By fighting Iran deal, Netanyahu made key win over Obama: As the debate progressed, the transformational approach – based on Iran evolving toward normalcy and engagement – was progressively muted, and administration spokespersons sold the deal describing it as the least bad choice.” [Haaretz] • David Rothkopf: “The Curse of the Obama Doctrine” [ForeignPolicy] • “A side agreement could void the Iran deal” by Mike Pompeo & David Rivkin Jr. [WashPost] • Bill Kristol: “The first resolution the House should consider should be stating that Congress has not been provided the material it needs” [Statement] • Jonathan Chait: “The Iran Deal and the End of the Israel Lobby” [NYMag] • Avi Shafran: “Iran Deal Opinions Gone Wild” [Cross-Currents]
LongRead: “Yousef Al Otaiba is the most charming man in Washington: He’s slick, he’s savvy and he throws one hell of a party. And if he has his way, our Middle East policy is going to get a lot more aggressive.” by Ryan Grim and Akbar Shahid Ahmed: “Otaiba also often invites members of Congress, staffers, White House aides and other influential Washingtonians to dinner at the UAE’s monumental embassy off Van Ness Street or at his home, a mansion on the Virginia bank of the Potomac. These gatherings can sometimes serve as an audition. “If they come and they engage, what often follows is an invitation to travel to the UAE,” says a former Hill staffer who was glad to land such an opportunity.”
“There is a point, of course, to all of this socializing… The role of Israel and AIPAC in opposing the Iran agreement is well known. But Otaiba has played a critical role in casting doubt on the administration’s efforts to engage with Iran rather than isolate it. “He’s influential with certain parts of the Hill, making them doubt what this administration is doing with regard to Iran. And it feels less partisan because it’s not Israel but an Arab country,” says the second senior U.S. official. The first U.S. senior official added that Otaiba and Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer are very close. “They agree on just about everything,” he says. (Excluding the Palestinians, he clarified.)” [HuffPost]
“U.S-Israel Spat Over Iran Deal May Sideline Palestinians” by Dan Perry & Josef Federman: “A U.S. State Department official told The Associated Press that the U.S. is not planning any bold new diplomatic initiatives after the Iran deal makes its way through Congress. “There is no sign that the Americans will present anything new,” said Nabil Shaath, a senior Palestinian official.” [AP]
BUSINESS BRIEFS: “Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone Feels the Agony of Victory” [NYTimes] • “Glencore Investors Force CEO Glasenberg to Prepare for Doomsday” [Bloomberg; WSJ] • “Mark Zuckerberg Appears to Be the Buyer of 157 West 12th Street” [Observer] • “Billionaire Jeff Greene realizes his house is not as great as he thought it was, cuts price to $149M” [LLnyc] • “Joe Lacob’s Basketball Arena Battles for San Francisco’s Heart” [NYTimes] • “Microsoft is set to buy Israeli cloud cybersecurity start-up Adallom in “one of the largest” of the group’s recent acquisitions” [CNBC] • “Israeli bubble maker that employed Scarlett Johansson is closing a factory” [WashPost]
STARTUP NATION: “Israel Could Grow Into A Global Cannabis Startup Superpower” by Dennis Mitzner: “Today, Israel is at the precipice of becoming a major force in the field of cannabis and medical marijuana, but country’s successes are often hindered by external forces, but today – according to the leader of the cannabis movement – the enemy comes from within.” [TechCrunch] • “Stef Wertheimer still dreaming of miracles at his Nazareth industrial park” [Haaretz]
TALK OF OUR NATION: “To See Those Pews Full Again, Synagogues Should Learn From Best Buy” by Liel Leibovitz: “Best Buy’s new CEO, Hubert Joly, did what all frustrated rabbis dream of doing and turned a collection of largely unvisited physical spaces into thriving and exciting destinations. Best Buy, they realized, offered consumers something they desperately craved, the ability to walk into a store, hold that camera and see just how much it weighs, play around with that phone and see how snugly it fits in your pocket, or test drive that laptop and check out its display. That desire for tactility is engrained in us, and it’s the one thing no Internet retailer could ever provide. Synagogues would do well to adopt the same logic.” [TabletMag]
“A Look at the Lives of Hollywood’s Most Glamorous Jews, Through Warhol’s Lens” by Alanna Martinez: “In a special exhibition opening later this month at The Jewish Museum, the stories of Monroe and Taylor’s conversions are told through photographs, letters, ephemera, and iconic portraits done by pop artist Andy Warhol.” [Observer]
Oliver Sacks on Gefilte Fish: “When I was growing up, my mother would take off from her surgical duties early on Friday afternoon and devote her time, before the coming of Shabbat, to preparing gefilte fish and other Sabbath dishes… While I have conscious memories of gefilte fish from about the age of four, I suspect that I acquired my taste for it even earlier, for, with its abundant, nutritious jelly, it was often given to infants in Orthodox households as they moved from baby foods to solid food. Gefilte fish will usher me out of this life, as it ushered me into it, eighty-two years ago.” [NewYorker] • Atul Gawande remembers Oliver Sacks [NewYorker]
Kosher Tweets: Dan Senor — “Best way to enjoy the #USOpen2015…with a kosher sausage.” [Twitter]• Ivanka Trump — “Happy to be home! [at 2nd Ave Deli]” [Instagram]
TALK OF THE TOWN: “Bill de Blasio’s Battle to Save New York—and Himself” by Bryan Burrough: “Chronic tardiness is just one of the complaints New Yorkers have voiced about their mayor of not quite 21 months. On the Upper West Side the gripes are about potholes; on the Upper East Side, uncollected garbage; in Greenwich Village the talk is of abandoned storefronts occupied by the homeless. After 20 years of plunging crime rates, crime is again part of the New York conversation… Bill de Blasio is unlike any New York mayor in recent memory, a staunch progressive, a crusader against income inequality and for affordable housing, a man who has as little use for Park Avenue elites as they do for him.” [VanityFair]
PROFILE: “How a Chabad Hasid Became a South Bronx Middle School Legend” by Deena Yellin: “Enter Tuvia Tatik, dean of the seventh grade. He is dressed in a crisp white shirt, along with khakis and with tzitzit that sway as he walks… His role as dean is to handle behavior and disciplinary issues in the seventh grade. “I’m not a policeman,” Tatik said, asserting that he doles out discipline rather than strict punishment. “I’m here to help them become good citizens and train them for a good life.””[Forward]
SPORTS BLINK: “NHL lawyer may become first female head of men’s sports league” by Hillel Kuttler: “Jessica Berman, 37, has been employed by the National Hockey League for nearly a decade and currently is a vice president and deputy general counsel. She fell for the sport as a teenager. Some foresee Berman as the first female commissioner of a men’s professional sports league. She helped negotiate key labor agreements with the players’ union, including the deal ending the 2004-05 lockout and the 10-year pact signed two years ago.” [JTA]
DESSERT: “These Are the Best Police Reports from the Hamptons This Summer” by Emily Jane Fox: “According to police blotter activity printed each week in The East Hampton Star, it’s been a very busy summer for officers, who were up against the inane, the intoxicated, and the thieves lurking in the hedges… That’s all to say nothing of the headlines coming out of the Hamptons this summer. How are the Catskills sounding right about now?” [VanityFair]
WEEKEND WEDDINGS: Danielle Weisberg, Adam Heller — “Danielle Merriah Weisberg, a daughter of Gabrielle A. Weisberg and Donald J. Weisberg of Chicago, was married Saturday evening to Adam Robert Heller, the son of Cathy S. Heller and Lloyd J. Heller of New York. Rabbi Michael Sternfield officiated at the Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago. The bride is a founder and a chief executive of the Skimm… The groom, who also has an M.B.A. from Columbia, owns a commercial real estate development company with his father in New York.” [NYTimes]
Michele Levbarg-Klein, Max Rayden: “Rabbi Peter Rubinstein, rabbi emeritus of Central Synagogue in New York, Rabbi Lionel Rosenfeld of Western Marble Arch Synagogue in London, and Rabbi Jeremy Rosen of New York were co-officiants at the ceremony, which took place at the Pierre Hotel… The bride, who is a member of The Breakers and Club Colette in Palm Beach and the Harmonie and Doubles clubs in New York, is an assistant buyer for Berdorf Goodman. Her father, a former president of the Central Synagogue, is an attorney and a member of the Town of Palm Beach Planning and Zoning Commission. After a honeymoon in Hawaii, the couple will live in New York and Palm Beach.” [PalmBeachDailyNews]
BIRTHDAYS: Bernie Sanders turns 74… Honorary MOT James Packer turns 48… L Brands CEO Leslie Wexner turns 78… Howard Lorber turns 67… Philadelphia Eagles’ owner Jeffrey Lurie turns 64… Adam Goldsmith… Jay Abarbanel… John Catsimatidis (yesterday)… Erica Brown (yesterday)…
