Daily Kickoff
PROXY WAR: New York Observer goes after Speaker Paul Ryan and his donors — “Paul Ryan to Attend Secret Donor Meeting Next Week in Manhattan: Despite denials, Speaker plays footsie with GOP money men” by Ken Kurson: “The Ricketts Family and Ms. Kendrick have collaborated on political efforts already this campaign. He is the CEO of the Ending Spending Super PAC, which she has supported. She donated and raised money for the Our Principles super PAC, which was founded by Mr. Ricketts’ mother, Marlene Ricketts, who seeded the organization with $3 million. Our Principles was formed earlier this year as an eleventh hour effort to stop Donald Trump from winning the Republican nomination.” [Observer]
“Paul Ryan, a Mirage Candidate, Wages a Parallel Campaign” by Jennifer Steinhauer:
“He visited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, where he also met with local reporters and made several statements affirming the United States’ commitment there, before heading to other Middle Eastern nations and Germany to discuss security and intelligence issues.” [NYTimes]“Why Ryan Won’t Run” by Jake Sherman: “Paul Ryan’s confidants see it as one of the great, strange conspiracy theories of 2016. Somehow, by deciding against running for president, and repeatedly saying he has no interest in running for president, Paul Ryan is secretly running for president. Raising money in New York? Ryan is running! Except it’s just a National Republican Congressional Committee event with rich GOP donors. Met with Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem — he must be fortifying his foreign policy chops for the Oval Office. Except the trip was long planned, and most senior politicians — and many no-name, back-bench members of Congress — get an audience with the Israeli prime minister.” [Politico]
TOP TALKER: “Donald Trump’s ‘Get Out the Vote’ Effort Failed to Register His Children” by Eric Levitz: “They had a longtime register and they were, you know, unaware of the rules, and they didn’t, they didn’t register in time,” Trump told Fox & Friends, explaining that Eric and Ivanka Trump would not be voting to make America great again in New York’s April 19 primary. “So they feel very, very guilty.” [NYMag]
Bill Kristol tweets: “Ivanka and Eric can’t say what they think–but indicate their true view of Trump as president by “forgetting” to register in time to vote.” [Twitter]
“The Troubled In-Laws of the 2016 Race” by Allison Kaplan Sommer: “It’s fair to say that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the respective front-runners for the Republican and Democratic parties, would oversee very different kinds of White Houses should one of them get elected. But the two candidates do have one odd thing in common: an in-law from hell, one who would bring potentially embarrassing baggage into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue when he comes to visit.” [PoliticoMag]
NEW YORK PRIMARY: “Distancing Herself From Obama, Clinton Embraces Israeli Views” by Gary Rosenblatt: “Signaling to Jewish voters that she would be more openly supportive of Israel and tougher on Iran than President Obama, Hillary Clinton told The Jewish Week in an exclusive interview that “it is unfair to put the onus on Israel” for the lack of progress on the Mideast peace front. And she asserted that “Iran should be sanctioned” for the recent launch of missiles Tehran says were designed to be able to hit the Jewish state, something the administration has not been prepared to do.”
“As for Sanders’ views on the Mideast, she said, “his comments will have to be read and evaluated by readers.” She emphasized that she believes “national security is of vital importance,” and pointed out that Sanders chose not to go to Washington to address the AIPAC policy conference.”
“Asked how having a Jewish son-in-law and, according to religiously liberal Jews, a potentially Jewish granddaughter, has had an effect on her family’s dynamics, Clinton said her son-in-law, Marc Mezvinsky, is “wonderful,” and that he and her daughter, Chelsea, are “very thoughtful and concerned parents” who “respect each other’s faith and support each other.” “Over the years I have learned to accept positions that responsible adults make,” she continued, regarding interfaith marriage. “As a person of faith … I believe it is a great loss for people not to be exposed to teachings in the Judeo-Christian traditions.”[JewishWeek]
“Bill Clinton visits Bronx’s Hebrew Home, touts Hillary’s commitment to elderly and Israel” by Edgar Sandoval: “Bill Clinton on Monday told the whole mishpacha at the Bronx’s Hebrew Home for the Aged that his wife, presidential candidate Hillary candidate, is anything but meshuga. In a campaign event at the predominantly Jewish nursing home in Riverdale, the former President received a warm welcome, touting to hundreds of receptive residents Hillary’s competence on issues like national security, keeping Social Security intact and protecting Israel.” [DailyNews]
“At Jews for Bernie event, anger boils over at Sanders campaign” by Uriel Heilman: “Sanders campaign blunders on issues of Jewish concern, several of them complained, are making it more difficult to make the case to fellow Jews to support the Vermont senator in his bid for the White House. When campaign staffers at Sunday’s event tried to steer the public conversation away from those concerns to focus on the logistics of canvassing, a few attendees became visibly irritated.” [JTA]
“Trump Spox Refuses to Back Off from ‘Gestapo’ Characterization” by Sam Reisman: “CNN’s Wolf Blitzer grilled Donald Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson for the campaign’s use of the phrase “Gestapo tactics” to describe the Ted Cruz campaign’s winning Colorado’s delegates. Despite Blitzer’s insistence that “Gestapo” referred to very specific time and place in world history and that “it should not be used,” Pierson refused to admit that the use of the word may have been inappropriate. “Is it appropriate to use the word ‘Gestapo’?” Blitzer asked. “I assume you know what the Gestapo did.” “It is a word to define exactly the type of malice that is involved with going after some of these delegates in a very hostile and intimidating way,” Pierson insisted.” [MediaIte]
Happening today in Brooklyn: John Kasich to visit Satmar matzah bakery in Williamsburg and a Shema Kolainu school in Borough Park.
Kasich to Speak at Great Neck Synagogue Saturday — by Jacob Kornbluh: “Republican presidential candidate John Kasich will address a Jewish audience at The Great Neck Synagogue on Long Island this Saturday, according to an invitation obtained by Jewish Insider.” [JewishInsider]
COMING ATTRACTION: “Biden will speak at J Street gala” by Steven Mufson: “Vice President Biden will address J Street’s annual gala next week, marking the second time he has spoken to a national gathering of the organization that bills itself as an alternative to traditional, mainstream Jewish American groups. Biden spoke at the AIPAC conference on March 20 and angered some supporters of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by taking aim at Israel’s settlement policies.” [WashPost]
Nathan Guttman: “Can he re-use his AIPAC speech?” [Twitter]
“The Double Edged Sword of the Qualitative Military Edge” by Jordan Chandler Hirsch:“The qualitative military edge (QME) isn’t an esoteric battlefield concept or peace process buzzword. For decades, it has undergirded the U.S.-Israel alliance: Washington’s legally binding vow to ensure that Jerusalem can “counter and defeat any credible conventional military threat from any individual state or possible coalition of states or from non-state actors.” In challenging it, Obama raises the question of what role the QME currently plays in the U.S.-Israel relationship—and whether the policy is less an advantage than an albatross for both parties.” [MatzavBlog]
“Time to take aim at Iranian missiles” by Michael Makovsky and Charles Wald; “It should be U.S. policy to utilize its existing BMD capabilities, starting immediately, to intercept the short- and medium-range ballistic missiles Iran has been testing and make painfully clear to Iran’s leaders that we are prepared to do so. Intercepting Iran’s missiles would deny Iran the technical benefits of successful test launches, blunting its progress on longer range, more survivable and more accurate missiles — including an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the continental United States later this decade.” [TheAgenda]
“Boeing Meets With Iranian Airlines to Discuss Jets, Aircraft Services” by Jon Ostrower and Robert Wall: “Boeing said Monday it had begun preliminary discussions in Tehran with Iranian airlines about the potential sale of its planes and aircraft services… A spokeswoman for Sen. Ted Cruz, a presidential candidate, said Monday the lawmaker would write the Obama administration to formally oppose any Boeing sales to Iran.” [WSJ]
BUSINESS BRIEFS: “Coffee Schmoffee — Can Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz Fix America?” [Ozy]• “Google, Facebook, eBay and other tech firms targeted by new Israeli tax rules” [TheGuardian] • “Accel Defies Startup Anxiety With $500 Million EU, Israeli Fund” [Bloomberg; VentureBeat] • “Och-Ziff, Authorities Spar Over Bribery Settlement Terms” [WSJ] • “Sumner Redstone Might Not Want to Sell Paramount After All” [HollywoodReporter] • “Michael Dell plans to IPO a company bought for $612 million and make it worth $1.4 billion” [BusinessInsider] • “A conversation with Uri Levine: Advice, anecdotes from the man who sold Waze to Google for $1.1 billion” [DailyNews]
SCENE LAST NIGHT: Success Academy Charter Schools held their annual benefit at Cipriani 42nd Street honoring Jenny and John Paulson. The evening’s keynote speaker was Dr. Roland G. Fryer Jr., Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Julian Robertson pledged $25M in honor of the organization’s 10th anniversary. Spotted: Dan and Margaret Loeb, Success Academy Founder Eva Moskowitz, Joel Klein, Rupert Murdoch, Dan Senor and Campbell Brown, Joel Winton, Nathaniel Rosen, Rep. Ed Royce, Bruce Kovner, Google’s Jared Cohen.
Bruce and Suzie Kovner have been selected as the recipients of the 2016 William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership: “Bruce Kovner was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family shaped by the immigrant experience; his grandparents fled to the United States to avoid pogroms in Poland and Russia in the late nineteenth century.” [PhilanthropyRoundtable]
TRANSITION: “The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) is proud to announce that Melanie Roth Gorelick will be joining the JCPA team as a Vice President of the organization. Melanie brings ten years of experience as a leader in the Jewish community relations field to her new position. Most recently, she has served as the Director of the Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ.”
HEARD LAST NIGHT: Jodi Rudoren and Ethan Bronner, the two most recent New York Times Jerusalem Bureau Chiefs, discussed their role in covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the NYTimes’ coverage of Israel during a panel moderated by Jordan Hirsch at Columbia University. “It is silly to think that journalists created this hyper focus on this place. It is a reflection of other factors,” Rudoren said. The two also defended the paper’s coverage of Israel by pointing out that it is a reflection of the way the situation has changed for the Jewish people from when Israel was an underdog as a suffering people in the time the state of Israel was established to now being one of the most powerful countries in the world. During a lightning round, Bronner said that Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer – as a senior advisor to Netanyahu – was an “unbelievably useful source to me to understand the Prime Minister’s thinking, especially on Iran but also on the Palestinian issue. He really is a very smart guy.” Rudoren relied similarly on former PLO spokeswoman Diana Butto and referred to her as a ‘resource.’
DESSERT: “Sesame Extends Its Sweet Reach Beyond the Middle East” by Julie Moskin: “When the chef Danielle Oron was growing up in the New Jersey suburbs, she knew that her Israeli family’s habits of dousing vanilla ice cream with tahini and spreading halvah on toast would be considered odd. Sesame was for cold Chinese noodles, bagels and not much else. “My American friends wouldn’t have understood that tahini is an addiction for Israelis; that we eat it out of the jar,” she said.” [NYTimes]
“Burger King Makes its Kosher Return to Israel with 2 New Locations” by Dani Klein: “This past Thursday marked the opening of Burger King’s return to Israel as a kosher restaurant. A kosher ברגר קינג opened in Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Center. A second kosher Burger King is opening today at the Azrieli Center food court.” [YeahThatsKosher]
BIRTHDAYS: Robert F.X. Sillerman turns 67… Norman Antin… Attorney and bestselling novelist of legal thrillers Scott Turow turns 67…
