Daily Kickoff: Hillary Clinton the Neocon? | New Consul Gen. Dayan on Trump, J St. | Elon Musk visits Israel | AP investigates French-Israeli con man
DRIVING THE CONVERSATION: “Hillary Clinton, Neocon?” by John Hannah: “With terror in Brussels swamping the news cycle last week, speeches delivered to AIPAC’s Policy Conference by four leading U.S. presidential candidates, outlining their approaches to the Middle East, received less attention than they otherwise might have. That’s too bad. The speeches contained plenty of interesting food for thought. But one item in particular struck me as potentially significant and worth highlighting: Though all of the speakers spent time underscoring their determination to confront the threat posed by the Iranian regime, only one of the four — Hillary Clinton — suggested that supporting the people of Iran should also be an essential element of any comprehensive U.S. strategy.”
“Though Clinton didn’t say so, the fact is that the nuclear deal is something of a ticking time bomb. Under the agreement’s so-called sunset clauses, the most important restrictions on Iran’s capabilities disappear in just 10 to 15 years… From that standpoint, it seems clear that Clinton is very much onto something, that the United States should, indeed, have a profound interest in changing the hostile nature of the Iranian regime. Unless a way can be found to short-circuit the Islamic Republic’s hardwiring for external aggression, the nuclear deal runs a high risk of becoming a blueprint for strategic catastrophe.” [ForeignPolicy]
“Hillary Clinton in 2000: Move embassy to Jerusalem” — by Jacob Kornbluh: “In 1999, then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton said “she considers Jerusalem to be the ‘eternal and indivisible capital of Israel’ and will be an active advocate – if elected to New York’s Senate seat – to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem,” CNN reported at the time.” [JewishInsider]
“Bernie and Hillary prep for New York clash” by Annie Karni: “Clinton needs to win her home state decisively to demonstrate there is enthusiasm boosting her campaign ahead of a bruising general election… Sanders, the son of Jewish immigrants who grew up in a tenement in Brooklyn, is also hoping to undercut Clinton’s New York ties — his staffers casually point out that New York is technically Clinton’s third and adopted home state, and there is a grassroots movement here ready to support him. “New York is Clinton country,” said Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf, who is unaffiliated with either campaign. “But if she slips in New York by not winning big, Secretary Clinton will have lots to explain to Democrats and Republicans will have a great day.” [Politico]
“Trump Is Obama Squared” by Bret Stephens: “One man wants to shrink America’s role in the world for the sake of a bigger state; the other man for the sake of shrinking the debt. In either case, the prescription is to put America in retreat. In neither case do they want to address the real driver of the U.S.’s long-term fiscal problems, which are entitlements and welfare (59% of the federal budget), not defense and international security (16%).” [WSJ] • “Mr. Trump’s Dangerous Babble on Foreign Policy” [NYTEditorial]
“Is Trump’s world view immune to foreign policy advice?” by Julianna Goldman: “Since at least September, Donald Trump has been promising to release the names of who exactly he turns to for advice on foreign policy. While he dripped out several names over the last week, it’s unclear how they’re advising him now, or how they’d advise him if he were to win the White House.” [CBSNews]
“Donald Trump’s Success Upends Battle for Control of Congress” by Alexander Burns: “Former Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota, an influential Republican strategist and fund-raiser, said Mr. Trump’s nomination could imperil even the party’s seemingly iron grip on the House. Mr. Coleman said major donors were increasingly focused on building a “firewall” around Congress, because they believe Democrats would easily defeat Mr. Trump and keep control of the White House.” [NYTimes]
“Donald Trump in Yiddish” by Lev Raphael: “People have been using all sorts of juicy Yiddish expletives to describe Trump, but there’s a comical word in Yiddish, not widely known, that fits Trump to a “T.” It’s not vulgar, either, just profoundly sarcastic. The word is “trumbenik,” which The Joys of Yiddish by Leo Rosten says comes from the Polish trąbka (trumpet) and has a few definitions: A blowhard, a braggart, a blower of his own horn.” [HuffPost]
New Israeli Consul Gen. of NY Dani Dayan discusses Trump, J Street: “During an interview with i24News’ “FaceOff” program on Saturday, Dayan said the following: “I prefer the attitude of AIPAC to that of J Street, that endorses all the anti-Israel candidates – the more anti-Israeli you are, the more you are endorsed by J Street. That’s un-Jewish.”
–Dayan On Trump: “Mr. Trump, neither his style nor his substance are my cup of tea. I suppose that if I were to be an American citizen, he wouldn’t be my first choice for president. Maybe not my choice at all,” he told host Tal Shalev. “Having said that, we do not have the privilege, the progogtive not to relate to him what he is now: the front-runner of a mjaor political party for the presidency. Israel has to deal with him. Israel has to make sure that if he [becomes president of the U.S.], he will be pro-Israeli.”[JewishInsider]
Chemi Shalev: “Don’t Shoot the Messenger: Dayan Is an All-too-perfect Israeli Envoy for N.Y”[Haaretz]
TOP TALKER: “An Israeli soldier is accused of killing a disarmed Palestinian. But many think he’s a hero” by Ruth Eglash: “Some political leaders and tens of thousands of citizens have voiced support for the soldier, even as military prosecutors investigate him on suspicion of murder. Solidarity rallies are being planned in at least two cities. Social-media campaigns, some using the soldier’s name and photo, proclaim his innocence, and an online petition demanding that he receive a citation for his actions had garnered more than 50,000 names by Monday.” [WashPost]
Shmuel Rosner: “Shooting in Hebron: Parsing an incident and its aftermath” [JewishJournal]
Ben Caspit: “Why Israelis are defending IDF soldier who shot Palestinian attacker” [AlMonitor]
SCENE LAST NIGHT: The Algemeiner ‘Jewish 100’ gala in Midtown honored British Justice Minister Michael Gove, who was introduced by News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, French humanitarian and philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, and Broadway star Tovah Feldshuh. Spotted: Amb. Ido Aharoni, French UN Ambassador Francois Delattre, Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Malcolm Hoenlein, Abe Foxman, Alan Dershowitz, Ken Abramowitz, Charlie Rose, Izzy Tapoohi, Jeff Mehlman, Shmuley Boteach, Michael Landau, Stuart Kahn, Avi Posnick, Eytan Laor, Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt, Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt, and Gary Emmanuel.
HEARD LAST NIGHT — President Obama at the 2016 Toner Prize Ceremony at the Mellon Auditorium in DC: “I had an in-depth conversation with President Putin a while back about Syria and Ukraine. And he had read an article in The Atlantic that Jeff Goldberg had done about my foreign policy doctrine. And he said, well, I disagree with some of the things that you said in there. And Jeff is a remarkable journalist who I admire greatly, and all the quotes that were directly attributed to me in there I completely agreed with. I said, well, but some of the things that were shaped may not fully reflect all the nuance of my thoughts on the particular topic that President Putin was mentioning. But I pointed out to him, of course, that unlike you, Vladimir, I don’t get to edit the piece before it’s published. (Laughter and applause.)” [CSPAN]
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: “We are facing an unprecedented age of terror” [Telegraph]
BUSINESS BRIEFS: “KKR Said to Mull Record $9 Billion Target for Third Asia Fund” [Bloomberg] • “Meet The Man Democratizing Venture Capital For Everyday Investors and Founders” [Forbes] • “Inside Dan Loeb’s Activist Stance in Japan” [Bloomberg] • “Westbrook, Andrew Chung to buy LIC warehouse for $195M from Ruby Schron and the Fruchthandler family” [RealDeal] • “From Israel to Colombia, who’s laundering money in China” [WashPost]
SPOTLIGHT: “AP Investigation: How con man used China to launder millions” by Erika Kinetz, Tia Goldenberg, Daniel Estrin and Raphael Satter: “Gilbert Chikli was rolling in money, stolen from some of the world’s biggest corporations. His targets: Accenture. Disney. American Express. In less than two years, he made off with at least 6.1 million euros from France alone. But he had a problem. He couldn’t spend the money. A tangle of banking rules designed to stop con men like him stood between Chikli and his cash. He needed to find a weak link in the global financial system, a place to make his stolen money appear legitimate. He found it in China. The French-Israeli man told the AP he laundered 90 percent of his money through China and Hong Kong, slipping it into the region’s great tides of legitimate trade and finance.” [AP]
STARTUP NATION: “Elon Musk visits Mobileye in Israel” by Dubi Ben-Gedalyahu: “A few weeks ago billionaire Elon Musk, owner of electric car maker Tesla and promoter of various energy and space ventures, secretly visited Israel. Musk flew to Israel in a private plane to visit Mobileye, which is developing key components for Tesla’s automatic driving system Autopilot, which the company intends to launch commercially within the next few years.” [Globes]
Israeli Amb. Ron Dermer tweets yesterday: “Test driving Tesla Motors Model X which is using the Israeli Mobileye technology” [Twitter]
“High-tech companies tempt Israel’s ultra-Orthodox into work” by John Reed: “People need to eat,” she says. “There is a feeling that the world is progressing, and . . . that there is not a contradiction between work and the Torah.” Last month, Israel marked a milestone when data were published showing that more than half of Haredi men were working for the first time in more than a generation. This is good news for Israel.” [FinancialTimes]
LongRead: “The Third Rail: In Baltimore, public investment — and disinvestment — in transportation have figured greatly in the persistence of racial and economic inequality” by Alec Macgillis: “Once, the city’s thriving Jewish community had gathered in dignified temples on the rim of Druid Hill, stunning markers of immigrant success over a couple of generations. But in the postwar years these were abandoned for wan substitutes like the synagogue in the Owings Mills business park, across from the ready-mix concrete plant.” [PlacesJournal]
TALK OF THE TOWN: “Muslims face backlash over proposed cemetery in Dudley” by Brian MacQuarrie: “When Amjad Bhatti looks at the site, he sees space for 16,000 graves in what would be the largest Muslim cemetery in the state. “Maybe my daughter and sons can go there and pray for me,” said Bhatti, who left his native Pakistan for the United States in 1996. Those prayers will not happen here if a vocal segment of Dudley’s population has its way. In packed public hearings, impassioned residents have made it clear that a Muslim graveyard is not welcome.” [BostonGlobe]
“Hacker Says He Printed Anti-Semitic and Racist Fliers at Colleges Across U.S.” by Alexandra Markovich: “A well-known computer hacker who goes by the name of “Weev” said he was behind a wave of anti-Semitic, racist fliers that appeared on printers at more than a dozen college campuses last week.” [NYTimes]
DESSERT: “An ‘Upscale’ Jewish Deli and Appetizing Shop is Opening in Greenpoint” by Serena Dai: “A new Jewish deli and appetizing shop is opening in Greenpoint this week, run by young Upper West Side brothers who are “paying homage” to old school places like Barney Greengrass and Russ and Daughters. Frankel’s Delicatessen and Appetizing, owned by Zach and Alex Frankel, will be debuting this week.” [Eater; NYTimes]
BIRTHDAYS: Hollywood superagent Ariel Zev ‘Ari’ Emanuel turns 55… JoAnne Papir… Biologist Richard Lewontin turns 87… NYU’s Professor of Economics Nouriel Roubini turns 58…