Daily Kickoff
TOP TALKER: “Adelson to spend at least $45 million on 2016 races in boost for GOP” by Theodore Schleifer: “The billionaire on Tuesday will disclose having given $20 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC linked to George W. Bush hand Karl Rove and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. A check of a similar size is expected to go to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a similar super PAC focused on the House of Representatives. And to back Trump, a donation of at least $5 million is likely headed to the political operation helmed by the Ricketts family, who are expected to finally spend their fortunes on Trump as well.” [CNN; WashPost]
“After opposing Trump in the primaries, Joe Ricketts will give at least $1 million to support him” by Matea Gold: “TD Ameritrade founder J. Joe Ricketts intends to give at least $1 million to a super PAC supporting Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, a dramatic reversal from the GOP primaries, when he and his wife were top financial backers of an effort to prevent the real estate developer’s nomination.” [WashPost; WSJ]
HEARD LAST WEEK: “Mitt Romney’s former adviser roasted by party bigs” by Ian Mohr:“Dan Senor — former senior foreign policy adviser to Mitt Romney — was roasted at the Plaza by a power group including Romney, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senor’s anchor wife Campbell Brown and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, (who beamed in via video from Jerusalem as a surprise). John Podhoretz emceed the Commentary Magazine event in front of 600 including Dan Loeb, Paul Singer, Boaz Weinstein, Bill Kristol and Rich Lowry. Rabbi Meir Soloveichik told the audience he was searching for the appropriate Jewish prayer for the current state of the Republican party… then proceeded to recite the “Mourner’s Kaddish.”” [NYPost]
DRIVING THE CONVERSATION: “88 Senators Urge Obama to Veto UN Resolutions on Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” by Jacob Kornbluh: “The letter, initiated by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Mike Rounds (R-SD), and also signed by Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine, cites Obama’s 2011 General Assembly address in which he said, “Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the United Nations… Even well-intentioned initiatives at the United Nations risk locking the parties into positions that will make it more difficult to return to the negotiating table and make the compromises necessary for peace.” [JewishInsider; Haaretz]
Sen. Marco Rubio emails: “The fact that U.S. Senators must plead with an American president to not abandon Israel at the United Nations is a disturbing sign of how much the Obama Administration has undermined our alliance with Israel. I join my colleagues in hoping President Obama does not break from our country’s longstanding tradition of supporting Israel at the U.N., but I reject any notion that Israel is at fault in the current impasse with the Palestinians.”
“Some Israelis see $38 billion U.S. military aid offer as a failure” by William Booth and Ruth Eglash: “Leaders in the Israeli defense establishment said the deal should have ushered in a new era of cooperation, but did not… The Israeli media also has piled on, some focused on whether Netanyahu could have, should have, gotten more money if he hadn’t spent the past two years feuding with the White House over the Iran nuclear deal… Many ordinary Israelis say the United States owes Israel something for exposing it to what Netanyahu has repeatedly called the “existential threat” of a nuclear Iran. They stress that Israel is on the front line against Islamist terrorism and worth at least a couple of U.S. aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean Sea. So the United States, they say, should consider itself lucky.” [WashPost]
JI’s Jacob Kornbluh asked Tzipi Livni, who is in New York, if she thinks that Netanyahu’s public feud with the administration over the Iran deal weakened his hand in negotiations on the MOU. “I said it in real time,” Livni, a former justice minister in Netanyahu’s government, said. “His speech in Congress behind the back of the president was a mistake. I believe that we can have differences with the U.S., and even myself as a [former] foreign minister. I usually disagreed on certain issues. But it should be in closed rooms, not in public and not in the way Netanyahu behaved. I believe Israel could have been in a better situation without the speech.”
KAFE KNESSET — Bibi Departs To NYC — by Amir Tibon & Tal Shalev: Prime Minister Netanyahu took off this morning to NYC, where he will meet President Obama on Wednesday and speak before the UN General Assembly on Thursday. Before boarding his flight, Netanyahu told the traveling press he intends to “thank President Obama for the large and important aid package to Israel.” Netanyahu also said his UN speech will focus on the “global fight against terrorism” and the need for the international community to support Israel’s soldiers and police officers, who are at the front of this escalating fight.
Interesting to note: Netanyahu’s recently appointed media adviser, Ran Baratz, isn’t joining the Prime Minister on this visit. Baratz’s appointment created controversy last year when it was discovered that he had publicly accused President Obama of anti-Semitism, and also that he (jokingly) wrote on his Facebook page that Israel’s own President, Reuven Rivlin, should be sent into ISIS territory in Syria. Netanyahu insisted on appointing Baratz despite the criticism in Israel and abroad, but for this visit, he has taken along his spokesperson Boaz Stembler and English-media adviser, David Keyes, leaving Baratz behind in Israel.
Chemi Shalev on what to expect from the Obama-Netanyahu meeting: “Netanyahu preferred to conclude a deal with Obama so that it would bind the entire American political spectrum, including the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party. Although Netanyahu continues to justify and defend his confrontation with Obama over the Iran deal as well as his controversial speech to Congress in March 2015, he grudgingly admits that both damaged Israel’s standing with many Democrats, especially those who admire Obama more than Clinton. The New York meeting is a good opportunity to make amends.”[Haaretz; Newsweek] • Akiva Eldar: Netanyahu-Obama meeting a show for home audiences [Al-Monitor]
Heard at “United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) 2016 Iran Risk Summit” at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York — Joe Lieberman on why most Democrats supported the Iran deal: “I was strongly opposed to the agreement… Having been in the Senate for the first term of Obama, outside since, but talking to colleagues, the president got more involved personally in the advocacy before Congress on behalf of the Iran nuclear agreement than he did on any other issue. He was personally and directly involved in appealing to Democrats to stick with him.”
Lieberman’s advice to the presidential candidates: “Aggressively oversee the deal. Don’t give anybody, particularly the regime in Tehran, the feeling that the U.S. is closing its eyes on any violations of the agreement. Also, to aggressively enforce the considerable non-nuclear sanctions that remain against Iran. And it sounds like both candidates for presidents may have that in mind. We will see. My reaction to questions about the campaign this year, I end up chuckling for some reason. I don’t know what that is.”
Tzipi Livni on the first anniversary of the Iran deal: “The deal postponed the doomsday. This is something we should acknowledge. But the situation is still the same. We are facing an Iran with the same ideology, with an aspiration for nuclear weapons, and we need to address it. I am not the one saying they could never change. I truly hope that Iran will change. But hope is not a working assumption. We cannot afford it. It’s a dangerous word in a tough neighborhood. We need to address reality and the reality is that while the nuclear program was postponed, it still remains a threat that we should acknowledge. And it’s wrong to have this state sponsor of terror be embraced by the international community just because they have agreed not to advance their nuclear program right now. Israel is not the only state that is being threatened by Iran… For so many years, I heard more about the Iranian threat in Arabic than I had heard about it in Hebrew. Stopping Iran from continuing to sponsor regional terrorism should not be done as a favor to Israel or even to the moderate Arab countries. It is the world’s own interest.”
SCENE YESTERDAY IN NYC: New York City Public Advocate Tish James, Comptroller Scott Stringer, Reps. Jerry Nadler and Eliot Engel, Consul General Dani Dayan, Assemblyman David Weprin, Councilman David Greenfield, and State Senator Simcha Felder expressed solidarity with the families of fallen soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul and the two Israeli citizens currently being held captive by Hamas in Gaza. Dr. Leah Goldin, the mother of Hadar Goldin who was killed by Hamas in the summer of 2014 during a UN- mediated ceasefire, recounted “Two years ago yesterday was supposed to be his wedding date. A wedding that never took place.” At the press conference outside the UN HQ, the lawmakers announced their sponsorship of a resolution condemning Hamas in local, state, and federal legislative bodies.
“Trump, Clinton blasted for meeting Egypt’s strongman leader” by Nahal Toosi: “On Monday, a small group of scholars and activists with a focus on Egypt, including some who identify has conservatives, released a letter they had written to both presidential candidates urging them not to meet with Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The letter, dated Friday, states: “Your meeting with Sisi at the UNGA will be taken in Egypt, and around the world, as an endorsement…” The signatories were: Michele Dunne of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Robert Kagan of the Brookings Institution; Elliott Abrams of the Council on Foreign Relations; Reuel Gerecht of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies; Neil Hicks of Human Rights First; and Stephen McInerney of Project on Middle East Democracy.” [Politico]• Readout of Trump’s meeting with el-Sisi last night [Twitter]
“Why This Neocon Spy Chief Is Advising Team Trump” by Eli Lake: “There is also a fourth group this election cycle, those who will actually take the plunge for the candidate promising the kind of reset with Putin that neocons opposed when Hillary Clinton tried it in 2009 and 2010. These include Norman Podhoretz, John’s father, who recently said Trump would be better than Clinton and Dick Cheney… And now this group also includes James Woolsey, Bill Clinton’s first director of central intelligence. In an interview Monday, Woolsey told me that he did not technically endorse Trump. “I agreed to advise the candidate,” he told me… He added that Trump “has a kind of shtick and sometimes people say he shouldn’t have said this or that, but look back, he beat his 16 opponents.” [Bloomberg]
Did Sid Blumenthal really push birtherism?” by Blake Hounshell:“Blumenthal swiftly denied pushing any birther rumors. And [former McClatchy editor James] Asher, when pressed for more detail, was less definitive in an email to POLITICO. “Blumenthal visited the Washington Bureau of McClatchy, where he and I met in my office. During that conversation and in subsequent communications, we discussed a number of matters related to Obama. He encouraged McClatchy to do stories related to Obama and his connections to Kenya. On the birther issue, I recall my conversation with Blumenthal clearly,” Asher said, but acknowledged having “nothing in writing memorializing that conversation.” “This story is false,” Blumenthal reiterated in an email. “I never spoke to Mr. Asher about this. Period.”[Politico]
“Ivanka Trump now has Secret Service protection” by Eliza Collins: “Ivanka Trump has begun to receive Secret Service protection as of Monday morning. The Secret Service confirmed that Trump’s eldest daughter — who is also one of his most trusted advisers — will be receiving the protection.” [USAToday] •
“Trump campaign in Israel enlists ‘thousands’ of right-wingers to get out the vote” by Judy Maltz: “In a statement issued on Monday, the Trump campaign team in Israel claimed that “thousands” of Israelis had in the past three days paid a fee of 33 shekels ($8.75) in order to register as “Friends of the Republican Party in Israel.” According to Tzvika Brot, director of the Trump campaign in Israel, “about 70 percent” of the non-American volunteers who have signed up in recent days identify with the right-wing parties in Israel. “There are many right-wing organizations that are now cooperating with us in the campaign,” he told Haaretz. He stressed, however, that they included “none of the crazy ones.””[Haaretz]
— “The 80-year-old, whose sunny villa in a Jewish settlement was lined with religious tomes, described himself to reporters as “a big Trump supporter” who watches “a lot of Fox News.” He pronounced Trump “good for America and good for Israel.” [WashPost]
“Trump’s Israel ground game” by Katie Glueck: “In some ways, the Trump organizing efforts are more extensive in the West Bank of Israel than in West Palm Beach, Fla.” [Politico]
“Meet Joel Sollender, the Jewish Prisoner of the Nazis Taking it to Trump in Hillary’s Latest Ad” by Yair Rosenberg: “Sollender, who will soon turn 92, lives in California and has been speaking out against Trump and his candidacy for over a year, which is how the Clinton campaign found him. “I was very pleased that they contacted me and that I had a chance to voice my opinion,” he told me. Sollender worked for two hours with the film crew to produce the spot… For reference, he pointed to Sinclair Lewis’s 1935 novel, It Can’t Happen Here, which chronicles the rise of a fascist demagogue to the presidency of the United States. “There are indications that it could happen here,” he said, “and I’ll do whatever I can to stop it.” [Tablet]
TRUMP THE MUSICAL: “Joe Scarborough Has Big Dreams (Including ‘Trump: The Musical’)” by Jason Zengerle: “And now, as we sat in his office at 30 Rock, I wondered what he had to reveal: A damning voice mail from the Donald? A clandestine recording about the nation’s 47 percent? Scarborough had me on tenterhooks. Finally, he gave me his scoop. “I’m working on a musical,” he said. “It’s Trump: The Musical.” … He pressed “play,” the music swelled, and soon a male voice, the titular character, was belting in my ears: ‘…Beloved by Hispanics and Jews, I’m huge…'” [GQ]
**A message from the Israeli-American Council: The 3rd annual Israeli-American Council National Conference is this week! Join thousands of activists, policymakers, diplomats, journalists, Jewish communal leaders, and business innovators from the U.S. and Israel to dive deep into the most pressing issues facing the Jewish people today. All will convene in Washington, DC from 9/24-9/26.[IsraeliAmerican] **
SPOTLIGHT: “George Soros to invest $500 million in help for refugees” by Nyshka Chandran: “Billionaire investor George Soros pledged on Tuesday to invest up to $500 million in programs and companies benefiting migrants and refugees fleeing life-threatening situations. The Open Society Foundations (OSF), a non-profit organization owned by Soros, will be in charge of the funds, the statement said.” [WashPost] • “Donald Trump Jr. inadvertently encourages America to scoop up refugees by the handful” [TheFix]
BUSINESS BRIEFS: WeWork is bringing its ‘WeLive’ communal living concept to Seattle [GeekWire] • Disney Taps Bruce Rosenblum for Business Post at TV Unit [WSJ] • Carl Icahn slashes Chesapeake Energy stake [CNBC]
STARTUP NATION: “Meet The Man Helping Transform Startup Nation Into Scale-Up Nation” by Eyal Bino: “Born in the U.S., Fuld moved to Israel when he was 15 years old, about 22 years ago. He started his career writing “boring documents” for Comverse, one of the first giant Israeli tech companies which developed and marketed telecommunications software. “One day when I got bored at my job, I decided to start blogging”, he states. Over time, he realized that creating good content and being friendly to startup founders is a unique skill in the competitive and somewhat transactional Israeli culture. In a place where tech founders are excellent at coding and building products but weak at marketing, Fuld became a sounding board for entrepreneurs looking for someone to bounce ideas off of or simply, to get free advice.” [Forbes]
“Anti-Defamation League Boosting Presence In Silicon Valley” by Rosie Gray: “The move comes after significant trolling, particularly on Twitter, of Jewish journalists and other public figures, amounting to a wave of anti-Semitic expression not seen in the American conversation for decades — and as tech companies struggle to reckon with their role in regulating abusive speech. “As a leading civil rights advocacy organization, ADL was early to recognize the burgeoning issue of cyberhate and how extremists were exploiting online platforms to spread antisemitism and target Jews as well as other minorities,” said Brittan Heller, who will become the group’s first Director of Technology and Society, in a statement.”[BuzzFeed]
“U.S. embassy accidentally sends settlement wine as Jewish new year gift ” by Luke Baker:“Ahead of the Jewish new year next month, the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv sent gift baskets to a number of Israeli organizations, as it does every year. Among the recipients was Peace Now, a group opposed to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. There was only one problem – among the gifts in the basket was a bottle of wine made in an Israeli settlement. An embassy official confirmed the baskets had been sent out, saying they were purchased from a vendor who put together the contents, which were not checked before distribution. “This should in no way be interpreted as a change of our policy on settlements, which is long-standing and clear,” the official said… The wine in the basket was from Mishor Adumim, a settlement east of Jerusalem. It was a kosher cabernet sauvignon from the Zion Winery, according to another recipient. [Reuters] • Flashback: “Israeli Embassy Trolls White House, Exclusively Gifts Settlement Goods” [HuffPost]
LongRead: “I Used to Be a Human Being: An endless bombardment of news and gossip and images has rendered us manic information addicts” by Andrew Sullivan: “That Judeo-Christian tradition recognized a critical distinction — and tension — between noise and silence, between getting through the day and getting a grip on one’s whole life. The Sabbath — the Jewish institution co-opted by Christianity — was a collective imposition of relative silence, a moment of calm to reflect on our lives under the light of eternity. It helped define much of Western public life once a week for centuries — only to dissipate, with scarcely a passing regret, into the commercial cacophony of the past couple of decades. It reflected a now-battered belief that a sustained spiritual life is simply unfeasible for most mortals without these refuges from noise and work to buffer us and remind us who we really are. But just as modern street lighting has slowly blotted the stars from the visible skies, so too have cars and planes and factories and flickering digital screens combined to rob us of a silence that was previously regarded as integral to the health of the human imagination.” [NYMag]
AIRING TONIGHT: “They risked their lives to rescue scores of people from the Nazis. Few knew their story until now” by Nick Anderson: ““Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War,” airingTuesday evening on PBS, portrays the courage and sacrifice of an ordinary couple caught in extraordinary times. The story takes place more than 75 years ago, but the questions it poses seem timely now.”[WashPost]
“Dolls snatched from Jewish sisters during Holocaust preserved by three generations of French family” by David Chazan: “A family in the village looked after their dolls for three generations and kept alive the story of how the two girls were lined up in the snow with their parents, grandparents and other members of the Jewish community. Frederique Gilles, a teacher from Gemeaux whose grandmother preserved the dolls, presented them to the Holocaust museum in Paris last week.”[NationalPost]
BIRTHDAYS: Billionaire, businessman, engineer, inventor, philanthropist, co-founder of Broadcom and owner of the Anaheim Ducks, Henry Samueli turns 62… Long-time SVP at Booz-Allen after a career than included two White House staff positions, former CEO of Special Olympics International, Bruce Pasternack turns 69… Civil rights attorney, author and legal analyst on The Today Show, NBC Nightly News and MSNBC, Lisa Bloom turns 55… After a 40 year career at the New York Times, he founded The Hill and then helped to launch Politico, journalist and author Martin Tolchin turns 88… Bloomberg LP’s legal reporter, Drew Singer… Founder of PFAP Consulting and representing ZOA on the Young Professionals Board at the Presidents Conference of Major Jewish Organizations, Melissa Jane Kronfeld, PhD… OneTable’s Zoe Plotsky…
