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Ed note: In honor of Shavuot, there will be no Daily Kickoff on Wednesday or Thursday. Chag Sameach!

DRIVING THE CONVERSATION: “White House faces deadline for clarity on Israel embassy move” by Michael Wilner: “Once every December and June since 1998, the White House has exercised its authority to waive an appropriations requirement that would suspend 50% of the State Department’s buildings maintenance budget until the Secretary of State verifies he has opened a Jerusalem embassy. Given that the law requires confirmation of an embassy opening – not simply of a president’s general intent – it seems likely that US President Donald Trump will issue his first of these waivers later this week. But conservative American Jewish groups and Israel advocacy organizations in favor of the move hope that he will attach an addendum to the waiver notice, outlining his plans to relocate the embassy in due time… White House officials told The Jerusalem Post they have nothing yet to announce on the matter.” [JPost]

“What Trump not signing a Jerusalem embassy waiver would really mean” by Eugene Kontorovich: “The law says nothing about “moving” the embassy. Rather, the requirement is to “officially open” an embassy, which can be done with a mere declaration upgrading the status of one of the existing consular facilities in the city… Non-waiver would be a wise tactical move for Trump. If he signs a waiver, he is certain to face deep pushback from his base at a time he needs its support the most… But if Trump simply does nothing, he gets a clear and easy win on a campaign plank at a time when his agenda seems to have gotten bogged down.” [WashPost]

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: “Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner taking ‘heads down’ approach” by Betsy Klein: “The official said the two share a “healthy understanding that there’s attention on you when you’re at this level,” adding that they are “unfazed” by the scrutiny of the past week… The couple spent the weekend at Trump’s Bedminister Golf Club, where they married in 2009, for a planned trip with their three small children. Back in Washington on Sunday afternoon, Ivanka Trump was spotted outside the White House, chatting with lawyer Marc Kasowitz before boarding an SUV together.” [CNN]

“Investigation Turns to Kushner’s Motives in Meeting With a Putin Ally” by Matthew Rosenberg, Mark Mazzetti and Maggie Haberman: “[Hope] Hicks said the meetings were part of an effort by [Jared] Kushner to improve relations between the United States and Russia, and to identify areas of possible cooperation. After the first meeting with Mr. Kislyak, she said at the time, the Russian ambassador asked for a follow-up discussion to “deliver a message.” Mr. Kushner sent Avrahm Berkowitz, a longtime associate and now a White House aide. At that session, Mr. Kislyak told Mr. Berkowitz that he wanted Mr. Kushner to meet Mr. Gorkov, Ms. Hicks said…. She said then that during Mr. Kushner’s meeting with Mr. Gorkov, there was no discussion about the Kushner company’s business or about American sanctions against Russian entities.” [NYTimes]

REPUBLICANS TURNING ON KUSHNER? “John McCain fires at Jared Kushner” by Jonathan Swan: “I don’t like it, I just don’t,” McCain told ABC’s Leigh Sales… Why this matters: This is a break from the GOP line. McCain’s hawkish ally in the Senate, Lindsey Graham, said he didn’t believe the news reports about Kushner, and national security figures in the administration are unified in saying they’re not concerned about Kushner’s conduct. What’s next: The risk for the White House is that McCain could be paving the way for others to condemn Kushner… [McCain:] “I don’t think it’s standard procedure prior to the inauguration of the President of the United States by someone who is not in an appointed position.” [Axios] • Republican Senator Chuck Grassley calls for probe into promotion of Kushner Cos deal [Reuters]

“The Politics of Clan: The Adventures of Jared Kushner” by David Brooks: “We tell young people to serve something beyond self, and Kushner seems to have been fiercely, almost selflessly, loyal to family. But the clannish mentality has often ill served him during his stay in government. Working in government is about teamwork, majority-building and addition — adding more and more people to your coalition. It is about working within legal frameworks and bureaucratic institutions. It’s about having a short memory and not taking things personally… We don’t know everything about his meetings with the Russians, but we know that they, like so much other clan-like behavior, went against the formal system.” [NYTimes]

ON THE HILL — Bipartisan bill introduced to bolster sanctions against Hamas — by Aaron Magid: Representatives Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Brian Mast (R-FL) introduced new bipartisan legislation to increase sanctions on foreign governments who assist Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Ed Royce (R-CA), Ranking Democratic Member Eliot Engel (D-NY) and chairperson of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) all support the legislation. The “Palestinian International Terrorism Support Prevention Act” does not mention Fatah or the Palestinian Authority (PA) unlike the Taylor Force Act pushed by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), which would cut off all US assistance to the PA if they don’t quit paying terrorists and their families, that has stalled in committee. [JewishInsider] • Report: After years of stagnation, Iran to resume funding Hamas [IsraelHayom] 

ULTIMATE DEAL UPDATE: “Israeli right convinced Netanyahu will soon swerve left” by Ben Caspit: “A popular conspiracy theory making the rounds on the right has it that the deal between Netanyahu and Trump has been finalized… Zero hour is supposed to occur after the Labor Party primaries in July. Netanyahu is supposed to push through his Cabinet controversial measures, such as handing over some West Bank territory that is now wholly under Israeli control (known as Area C) to Area B, administered by the Palestinian Authority under Israeli security control. This move, along with a declaration by Netanyahu of the resumption of talks with the Palestinians on a two-state solution, is expected to result in Bennett pulling out of the coalition. When he does, the Zionist Union will immediately take his party’s place… Knesset member Tzipi Livni, [Isaac] Herzog’s partner… will be named justice minister and tasked with responsibility for the negotiations with the Palestinians. Herzog will be appointed foreign minister.” [Al-Monitor] 

BEHIND THE SCENES: “American plan is to deal with northern Samaria first” by Alex Fishman: “A secret and very politically sensitive tour was scheduled to take place last Thursday, under the media’s radar. Jason Greenblatt… requested to tour an area in northern Samaria which Israel had evacuated during the 2005 disengagement from Gaza. The Trump administration has already marked northern Samaria as a possible area for an Israeli move, which would convey to the Arab world that Israel is committed to recognizing the two states… The news that the American administration had raised the idea of handing lands over to civil Palestinian responsibility was leaked to Channel 10 on Wednesday evening, and Greenblatt’s tour of Samaria was called off.” [Ynet]

KAFE KNESSET — Blank Check — by Tal Shalev and JPost’s Lahav Harkov: Hearing the Right wing’s loud and vocal celebrations of Trump’s pro-Israel stance during the visit, Netanyahu used the Likud weekly faction meeting yesterday to bring his colleagues back to reality and clarify that some tough decisions may be underway. “We do not have a blank check with the Administration,” he told the MKs and ministers. “It is true that there is a warm relationship and a great understanding of our fundamental positions but we are not in a blank check reality.”

Moving on to the White House peace plans, Netanyahu stressed that “we do not have a blank check on the political level… You heard President Trump, he came here and did very important things here and touched the core of our soul, but he also said that he believes that Abbas wants peace. He said that I wanted peace and he said that he believed that an agreement could be reached and that we should reach it. We are in this situation and I am dealing with this right now. Over the years I have proven that I take care of our vital interests in a responsible and clever manner and I will continue to do so, but if anyone thinks we have a blank check – he is mistaken.”

Netanyahu’s comments come after Jason Greenblatt’s follow-up tour in the region last week, in which he continued discussions on the Israeli Palestinian issue. While many of Greenblatt’s talks on the Israeli side focused on economic initiatives and confidence building measures, a senior Israeli source told Kafe Knesset that Greenblatt stressed that the President wants to deal with the core issues of a final status agreement such as borders and security. “We are serious and we mean business,” Greenblatt said, according to that source. Another well informed source said that the Administration has already given Israel its position papers on some of the issues, but the PMO declined to confirm. Greenblatt did not reveal what the next US step is and senior Israeli officials said that, in contrast to reports about a Netanyahu-Abbas summit in the coming weeks, Jerusalem is under the impression the Administration needs more time to work out a formula that will bring the sides back to the negotiation table. Read today’s entire Kafe Knesset here [JewishInsider]

“Ex-UN envoy Bolton to JPost: Trump has no chance at ultimate peace deal – Arab-Israeli Conflict” by Yonah Jeremy Bob: “Speaking just before he received the Guardian of Zion Award from Bar-Ilan University’s Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, Bolton said Trump “is an optimistic man and can take a good shot at it, but I don’t think the conditions exist. I don’t think the two-state solution is viable anymore. It is not a question of personality or effort, it is just undoable. There has been a 70-plus year effort for the two-state solution,” which has failed, he said, adding, “You can’t put it back together again.”” [JPost] 

Michael Oren: ‘If we give the Palestinians a state tomorrow, it will fail in days or even hours’ — “While Oren, a member of the centrist Kulanu party, hopes and believes that Trump’s efforts could succeed in bringing Israel and the Palestinians to the negotiating table, he warned against expectations for an immediate positive outcome. “If we give them a state tomorrow, it will fail in days or even hours,” he said. In fact, while espousing negotiations, Oren questioned whether the Palestinians could ever be ready for a state. “I know this may be controversial,” he said, “but not every society organizes itself according to nation-states. We are seeing today the failure of European efforts to impose a nation-state on people who don’t organize themselves like that.” [ToI]

2018 WATCH: “Democrats are pushing an unlikely source — Jerry Springer — to run for governor in Ohio” by Allan Smith and Maxwell Tani: “Influential Ohio Democrats are pushing former Cincinnati mayor and daytime TV host Jerry Springer to run for Ohio governor in 2018, more than half-a-dozen Democrats familiar with the race told Business Insider… Springer’s proponents have highlighted his ability in the era of President Donald Trump to provide his own funding for a campaign, and to connect with working-class voters familiar with his television show and history in Ohio politics.” [BusinessInsider]

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