Daily Kickoff
Ed note: Thank you for bearing with us during this holiday season. We’ll be back to our regular schedule later next week. Until then, enjoy!
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ANTI-BDS BEAT: “Haim Saban Dumps Pro-Israel Coalition Over Sheldon Adelson’s Right-Wing Push” by Nathan Guttman: “Saban, quietly and unannounced, has pulled out of the major anti-BDS initiative he helped launch with Adelson and has also minimized his role in an Israeli-American organization where both billionaires had been deeply involved… “He didn’t like that Adelson was pushing the group towards funding right-wing groups that are only speaking in a right-wing echo chamber — and not towards pushing a message that would actually change hearts and minds,” said an official with a Jewish organization involved in the initiative.” [Forward]
IAC’s Shawn Evenhaim tells Jared Sichel: “The IAC is very proud that Haim Saban has been a champion and major supporter of our organization since its inception. In the near term Mr. Saban is focusing all his efforts on the FIDF and the Saban Forum. We look forward to continuing our work with him.”
TOP TALKER: “Netanyahu Rebukes U.N. Over Iran Accord” by Carol Lee, Jay Solomon: “In his speech to the General Assembly, Mr. Netanyahu thundered that Iranian threats to destroy Israel have been met in the world body by “utter silence, deafening silence.” He then stopped speaking for 45 seconds, panning the hall with a furrowed glare. “Perhaps you can now understand why Israel is not joining you in celebrating this deal,” he said.” [WSJ; JI; Transcript]
Richard Grenell tweets: “State Dept Source: @AmbassadorPower was instructed to skip @netanyahu’s UN speech.”… “more from State Department source on @AmbassadorPower: She was instructed to not lobby against the Palestinians raising their flag at the UN” [Twitter]
“Abbas’s U.N. speech: not a bang but a whimper” by Luke Baker: “Before his speech to the United Nations late on Wednesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas promised to drop a “bombshell”. In the event, he delivered little more than strong words that may amount to a hollow threat… “We therefore declare,” he said, “that we cannot continue to be bound by these agreements, and that Israel must assume all its responsibilities as an occupying power.” But almost as soon as the 80-year-old leader had dropped his supposed bomb, questions were being asked about what it meant in practice.” [Reuters]
REPORT: “Obama brushed off Reid’s plea on Palestinian state” by John Bresnahan and Edward-Isaac Dovere: “Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on two different occasions this year went to White House chief of staff Denis McDonough seeking a public commitment from President Barack Obama that he would veto any U.N. resolution calling for an independent Palestinian state. Both times, Obama did nothing. The repeated requests by Reid and Obama’s unwillingness to make a statement on the issue — confirmed by White House officials and Senate aides — highlights how wide the gulf between the Obama administration and Israeli government has become.” [Politico]
ON THE HILL: “House Passes Defense Bill That Obama Threatens To Veto” by Deb Riechmann: “Separately, the House backed a bill to block implementation of the Iran nuclear deal until Tehran pays some $43 billion in damages that U.S. courts have awarded to victims of Iranian-sponsored terror. The bill passed on a 251-173 vote, but is unlikely to clear the Senate or become law. Obama has threatened to veto it, saying it undermines the international accord that provides Iran billions in sanctions relief in exchange for constraints on its nuclear program.” [AP]
“Senate Dems roll out bill to ‘strengthen’ Iran deal” by Jordain Carney: “A handful of Senate Democrats are pushing legislation they say would help strengthen the Iran nuclear deal, after Congress failed to block the agreement earlier this month. The legislation, spearheaded by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), includes additional assistance for Israel, requires the administration to submit a regional strategy and allows for an expedited process for Congress to consider sanctions for Iran’s terrorism activities.” [TheHill]
Happening Tomorrow: “Sen. John McCain will speak at a town hall in Tuscon, Arizona, Saturday about the impact of the Iran nuclear deal. The event is hosted by Christians United for Israel (CUFI).”
CAFETERIA CLIQUES: “Netanyahu refused to be in same restaurant as Pakistani leader” by Emily Smith: “Israel avoided a potentially uncomfortable New York confrontation with Pakistan during UN General Assembly week by canceling a dinner reservation for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after learning Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would be eating at the same spot.” [NYPost]
SUKKAH SCENE: Aaron Keyak on his party last night — “So, we had to move inside because of the rain and impending hurricane, and we had about 100 people throughout the night. It was bipartisan, multi-denominational, and good times with friends and family. It was a mamash zman simchasenu — despite it being only dairy (plus scotch, beer, and good wine).” Spotted: Avi Goldgraber, Steve Rabinowitz, Sarah Arkin, Eli Lake, Jamie Kirchick, Tevi Troy, from team Nadler: John Doty, Danny Schwartz, and Ben Freeman, Marin Stein, Josh Keating, Ben Weyl, Amb. Norm Eisen, Kesher’s Elanit Jakabovics, TIP’s Omri Ceren, Tim Mak, Hillary Krieger, Arie Lipnick, Sara Sorcher, Adam Kredo, Jonathan Powell, Rachel Snyder, Josh Hantman, Naomi Baum, Robert Zarate, Corey Jacobson, David Weiman.
At the National Mall on Thursday: From Steve Rabinowitz — “The White House and the USDA celebrated Sukkot on the National Mall for the second year in a row. Originally scheduled in front of the USDA sukkah in their People’s Garden on the Mall, the event was moved inside USDA’s Whitten Building into its formal Patio. The brief ceremony, in front of 50 people, featured a welcoming (and closing) by USDA Senior Advisor Max Finberg; remarks from the White House Jewish Liaison Matt Nosanchuk; Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb of Adat Shalom; Meryl Harrel, USDA’s Natural Resources and Environment COS; Rachel Laser of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and by Mazon’s Rabbi Erin Glazer, and prayers from Rabbi Jack Moline of the Interfaith Alliance.”
At Farragut Square on Wednesday: Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld held a lunchtime Sukkah party with kosher pizza and musical entertainment from the IRS’ Kenny Jeruchim. Spotted: AJC’s Richard Foltin, National Affairs’ Ben Silver, Yehuda Sugarman, and Tevi Troy.
2016 WATCH: “Hillary Clinton Raises $28 Million in Third Quarter, Barely Beating Bernie Sanders” by Jennifer Epstein: “Sanders held just a handful of fundraising events all quarter, instead building his war chest through hundreds of thousands of online donations.” [Bloomberg] • “Insiders: Sanders needs big money” [Politico]
Charles Lipson: “A small incident during Bernie Sanders’ recent talk at the University of Chicago reveals how the progressive left has turned against Israel. First of all, Bernie said, Israel has a right to exist. It was supposed to be an applause line, but it fell flat. There was only a smattering. That changed when he said he strongly favored a Palestinian state. For that, the applause was loud and sustained.”[RealClearPolitics]
Thousands Attend Funeral for Murdered Couple in Jerusalem: “Rabbi Eitam and Naama Henkin, the young couple murdered Thursday night in front of their children by Arab terrorists near Itamar in Samaria, were laid to rest on Friday morning.” [INN; ToI] • “Several Jewish organizations, including Amcha-The Coalition for Jewish Concerns, are expected to gather outside the Palestinian UN Mission on Park Avenue in Manhattan on Friday for a memorial vigil for the Israeli couple killed in the West Bank on Thursday.” [JI]
BUSINESS BRIEFS: “Jewish Hedge Fund Titans Clobbered by Market Turmoil” [Forward; Reuters]• “At Glencore, a Mining Emperor — Ivan Glasenberg — Tries to Save His Realm” [WSJ] • “Patrick Drahi’s Altice Selling $2 Billion of Shares to Fund Cablevision Deal” [Bloomberg] • “Paul J. Taubman’s M&A Boutique to Go Public” [WSJ] • “Aquarium, Legoland center are latest additions to Ghermezian’s American Dream project” [NJ] • “Sean Ludwick taps celebrity lawyer Benjamin Brafman” [RealDeal] • “The Carlyle Group’s David Rubenstein on pandas, government shutdowns and his own mortality” [BizJournals] • “Eli Broad Donates His Papers to UCLA” [LAMag] • “Matt Damon, George Clooney Share Stories at Jerry Weintraub’s Memorial” [HollywoodReporter] • Emily Lazar Profile: “Meet the woman behind Stephen Colbert’s game-changing guest-booking strategy” [FastCompany]
STARTUP NATION: “Google Patents Holograms For Glass, Which Could Involve Israel’s Magic Leap” [TechCrunch] • “Israel-based StoreDot’s One-Minute Phone Charge” [Businessweek] • “Israel’s Mellanox to buy EZchip for $811 million” [Reuters] • “‘Temporariness’ of the sukkah inspires app hackathon” [ToI]
TALK OF THE TOWN: “What A “Kosher” Taxi App In Jerusalem Really Looks Like” by Miriam Berger: “With just one touch of a button in Jerusalem, you can now order a taxi with a baby car seat, a cold drink, fresh flowers — or a “kosher” driver. Gett’s “kosher” taxi fleet — Gett Mehadrin — allows customers to order a driver who does not drive on the Jewish Sabbath, from Friday evening to Saturday night, in keeping with strict Jewish law. The new service, depending on whom you ask, is either entirely reasonable, entirely racist, or not something the average Jerusalemite thinks twice about having these days.” [BuzzFeed]
Suit: “Gym threatened to arrest Orthodox woman for wearing a skirt” [NYPost]
TALK OF OUR NATION: “For ultra-Orthodox newspapers, women and the Web present growing challenges” [CJR]
DESSERT: “This Montreal Jewish Bakery Doesn’t Want to Be Called Modern” by Caitlin Stall-Paquet: “Jeffrey Finkelstein opened his Montreal bakery and casual restaurant Hof Kelsten on St-Laurent Boulevard just north of Mont-Royal Avenue, a part of town that used to be the city’s Jewish heartland. Schwartz’s, Moishe’s, Beauty’s, and Wilensky’s Lite Lunch are all within a few blocks of Hof Kelsten, and are still going strong. If you want a taste of old-school Jewish Montreal at those mainstays, odds are you’ll need to be patient and wear comfortable shoes to stand through the wait.” [Munchies]
For Daroff, Deutch & Booker: “Vegans Go Glam” [NYT] • “In Israel, Veganism for the Masses” [Haaretz]
BIRTHDAYS — Extended Weekend Edition: Andrew Weinstein… Alex Fullman… Mark Pelavin… Yossi Raskas (yesterday)… Guy Oseary turns 43… Robert Rechnitz… Benjamin Goldschmidt… Akiva Gerstein… Adam Curtis… Sen. Ben Cardin turns 72… Michael Jacobs… Morton Meltzer… Elliot Karp… Hindy Poupko Galena… Michael Hershfield… Evan Bernstein… Joel Weingarten… Rosanne Selfon…