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HEARD AT THE ASPEN SECURITY FORUM — President Donald Trump’s chief counterterrorism adviser Thomas Bossert discussed Trump’s certification of the Iran deal: “Our president has been very clear that he believes [the JCPOA] is a bad deal. I believe [the Iranians] have every reason to comply with the letter of a bad deal. It’s a bad deal, so of course, it’s in favor of them… There is no reason to believe that the deal did or did not change their aspirations… We are talking about the arrangement and compliance and the spirit of it- whether they did or did not pay their rent on time or whether they mitigated that letter by paying it late. What I am trying to indicate here is that the Iranians pattern of behavior is more troubling than just the four corners of this document. They have continued to take hostages and they need to release or return Bob Levinson.”

Bossert on cyber security cooperation with Israel: “I flew to Israel and made this arrangement with the Israelis. We announced our first bilateral cyber arrangement between the U.S. and Israel. The administration will probably announce others.” [YouTube] 

CIA Director Mike Pompeo: “When it comes to Iranian compliance with the agreement, Iran is a “bad tenant”, Pompeo said. He likened their compliance to a renter who did not pay rent until the landlord demanded it and then sent a bad check. He said the US president, Donald Trump, had been working with Gulf states and Israel to find a common way to push back against Iranian aggression in the region. What won’t work is appeasing Tehran or forcing them into compliance, he said. “When we have our strategy in place, I’m confident you will see a fundamental shift in policy” towards Iran, Pompeo said. ” [AP]

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) writes in USA Today…“The alternative was a better deal or no deal at all. A better deal is no myth and was absolutely achievable without question. No deal was a better option than what we agreed to. Iranian leadership was desperate for this deal to prop up the current regime, which is the wrong regime. But for some very odd reason, the United States continued to negotiate from weaker and weaker positions. With too much at stake, this historically bad deal should not have been entered into in the first place and not be allowed to continue as is.” [USAToday] 

DRIVING THE DAY — Israel limits Muslim access to Jerusalem site amid tensions: “At one point, an Israeli police officer told the crowd in Arabic that ahead of the noon prayers, worshippers would be able to enter without going through metal detectors. After consultations with religious leaders, the crowd rejected the offer, insisting that the devices have to be removed altogether. Israeli police said in a statement that the metal detectors will remain in place, but suggested police may at times choose to only conduct spot checks. “Israeli police can decide on the level of checks,” said police spokeswoman Luba Samri.” [AP]

“Muslim worshipers confront police as Israel maintains metal detectors at holy site” by Ruth Eglash and William Booth: “Israeli minister Erdan told The Washington Post on Thursday that the measures were implemented purely for security reasons and to prevent copycat attacks. “Many, many mosques around the world have exactly the same security checks, and many use metal detectors. Any protest over this is really an issue over who has sovereignty at the Temple Mount,” he said.” [WashPost]

“Abbas asks Kushner to intervene in Temple Mount crisis” by Elior Levy and Hassan Shaalan: “During their conversation, Abbas attempted to solicit a US commitment to ordering Israel to back away from the area by explaining to Kushner the severity of the crisis, warning that it could spiral out of control if Israel doesn’t withdraw its beefed-up presence and immediately take the detectors down.” [Ynet]

KAFE KNESSET — Metal detector dilemmas — by Tal Shalev and JPost’s Lahav Harkov: Following his five-day visit to France and Hungary, Bibi drove straight from the airport to the Tel Aviv Defense Ministry headquarters, where he convened a special security consultation. This was followed by a four-hour long late night Security Cabinet meeting. In the past few days, the top security brass has been engaged in internal fighting over the metal detectors at the Temple Mount’s entrances. The Police, supported by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, have been opposed to the removal of the metal detectors, and on the other side – the IDF and the Shin Bet are pushing to dismantle the metal detectors in order to defuse tensions and lower the risk of a violent outburst. As always, the disagreements turned political, and Naftali Bennett and the other right-wing ministers pressured Netanyahu all week not to succumb to the Palestinian demands. The PM decided to share the decision-making, perhaps predicting a political fallout from either course of action. Read today’s entire Kafe Knesset here [JewishInsider]

“Jerusalem — an urgent issue for Trump administration” by Aaron David Miller: “This administration has been far more serious than any of its predecessors about moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This mini-crisis should not only give it pause but create a permanent hold on that plan. If mags on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif threaten violence, what would result from the American decision to move the embassy, thereby recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital? … Second, the Trump administration ought to scale back its fantastical rhetoric on reaching the ultimate deal — a deal that would not only need to resolve borders, security, refugees and Jerusalem’s status as the capital of two states, but also the issue of overlapping sacred space on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif.” [CNN]

HAPPENING TOMORROW AT ASPEN SECURITY FORUM — One State/Two State: Is the “two state solution” dead once and for all? In a panel moderated by NBC News reporter Ken Dilanian, Aaron David Miller, Natan Sachs, former US Amb to Israel Edward Walker, and Palestinian strategic affairs advisor Husam Zomlot will discuss the prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinians with President Trump in the White House.[AspenSecurity]

REVEALED: “Netanyahu Secretly Met With UAE Foreign Minister in 2012 in New York” by Barak Ravid: “The meeting was held on September 28, 2012, during the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. A day earlier, Netanyahu gave his “red line” speech about stopping Iranian nuclear weapons production… The sources said bin Zayed only agreed to the meeting after a long period during which Netanyahu sent messages to senior UAE leaders through intermediaries. The meeting was held in the Loews Regency Hotel on the corner of East 61st Street and Park Avenue, where Netanyahu was staying during his visit. The UAE ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba, accompanied bin Zayed to the meeting.” [Haaretz]

“Billionaire Florida GOP donor rails against Trump” by Matt Dixon: ““I am out of the political process. Too disgusted, too expensive, too supportive of ego maniacs whose words have the value of quicksand,” Mike Fernandez wrote in an email to a Republican fundraiser seeking political contributions. In the email, the fundraiser was referred to as “Debbie,” but in an interview he would not identify her… In his email to the unidentified Republican fundraiser, Fernandez recalled a trip he and Weatherford took to Israel, where they met with the late Shimon Peres, the country’s former president and prime minister who died two years ago and was a friend of Fernandez. In the email, Fernandez said that Peres gave one message to Weatherford: “Great leaders serve, they don’t rule.”” [Politico] 

TRUMP TUMULT: “Trump reshuffling legal team” by Gloria Borger, Dana Bash, Pamela Brown and Jeremy Diamond: “Marc Kasowitz, Trump’s longtime personal attorney who has been the lead lawyer on the Russia investigation, will see his role recede… Kasowitz’s role is changing because the needs are more Washington-centric and Kasowitz has done his primary job of putting the team together. Instead, attorney John Dowd, along with Jay Sekolow, will now be the President’s primary personal attorneys for the investigation… Meanwhile, Mark Corallo has resigned from his position as spokesman and communications strategist for Trump’s legal team, a senior administration official told CNN Thursday night.” [CNN; Politico]

“Trump Aides, Seeking Leverage, Investigate Mueller’s Investigators” by Michael Schmidt, Maggie Haberman and Matt Apuzzo: “Mr. Trump liked Mr. Kasowitz’s blunt, aggressive style, but he was not a natural fit in the delicate, politically charged criminal investigation… The shake-up comes weeks after Mr. Dowd and Mr. Kasowitz had a face-to-face meeting with [Robert] Mueller. The lawyers said they hoped Mr. Mueller would conduct a thorough investigation but asked that he wrap it up in a timely manner because of the cloud it had cast over the presidency.” [NYTimes]

Norm Eisen tells us… “Trump pardoning others, much less himself, or firing Mueller, would set off a firestorm the likes of which would exceed Watergate. Nor does a president in my view have self-pardon powers. And a government official like Trump “investigating the investigators” can quickly become obstruction of justice, as Sheriff Lee Baca and those around him discoveredwhen they were successfully prosecuted for doing just that. So Trump and his team had better beware.

“That said, it’s a good team. Cobb as special counsel on the inside, and Dowd as outside counsel bring to the job over a century of experience on criminal and Congressional investigations. I met Dowd on my first day at work as a lawyer and often came across him in my two decades of DC white-collar practice. He’s tough and with Cobb, a formidable pair. As for Kasowitz, he’s a great lawyer who was pressed by his client into a D.C. role he didn’t want; who served the client well by lining up counsel with the right experience; and who is now stepping back from the investigation because that is what his client’s needs dictate. He’s a much different person then the caricature of him that emerges if you only read the particular incidents that received recent press coverage. He and his firm colleagues are very fine lawyers.”

WH APPOINTMENTS — “Trump expected to make Scaramucci communications director” by Jonathan Swan: “President Trump is expected to announce that Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci will be White House communications director… Trump’s plans to appoint Scaramucci came as a surprise to Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who found out after the plans had already been made.” [Axios]

— “Scaramucci met with Trump and his daughter Ivanka in the Oval Office on Thursday where Trump offered him the job, a source with knowledge of the situation said.” [NBCNews]

David Martosko‏: “Trump administration official tells me this morning that the expected Scaramucci appointment to comms director job is not happening.”[Twitter]

“Trump Picks Richard Grenell, Former Diplomatic Aide, as Envoy to Germany” by Maggie Haberman: “Mr. Trump made the offer last week at the White House during a visit by Mr. Grenell, who agreed to take the job if confirmed… Mr. Grenell served four United States ambassadors to the United Nations and worked especially closely during the Bush administration with Ambassador John R. Bolton… Among his roles at the United Nations was working with the Germans on the issue of sanctions against Iran. He has been deeply critical of Iran, and of the deal.” [NYTimes]

PALACE INTRIGUE:  “White House Aides “Furious” with Kushner and Ivanka’s Sun Valley Trip” by Emily Jane Fox: “As much as their attendance got tongues wagging in Sun Valley, their decision to skip town for a billionaire get-together as the West Wing raged ignited flames within the White House. Some aides are “furious” with their decision to attend, according to two people familiar with the reaction. “The optics couldn’t be worse,” one explained.” [VanityFair]

“Steve Bannon’s disappearing act” by Eliana Johnson and Annie Karni: “Bannon’s internal retreat has coincided with distance from other White House aides — most surprisingly [Stephen] Miller, a personal and ideological ally of many years. The two are “no longer working together in any substantive way,” according to a top White House aide. Miller has followed a divergent path, integrating himself into the White House’s staff and building a strong relationship with less-ideological figures like McMaster and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, with whom he has developed an increasingly close relationship as the two have collaborated on dozens of presidential speeches and policy initiatives.” [Politico] 

TOP TALKER: “Jared Kushner’s White House connection still being used to lure Chinese investors” by Drew Griffin and Curt Devine: “The promotions are posted in Chinese and refer to Kushner Companies as “real estate heavyweights,” going on to mention “the celebrity of the family is 30-something ‘Mr. Perfect’ Jared Kushner, who once served as CEO of Kushner Companies.” One posted online in May by the company US Immigration Fund, a private business based in Florida, also contains a reference to Kushner’s appearance on the cover of December’s Forbes Magazine, under the headline “This guy got Trump elected.” … A Kushner Companies spokesperson, in response to CNN’s questions about the webpages, said “Kushner Companies was not aware of these sites and has nothing to do with them. The company will be sending a cease and desist letter regarding the references to Jared Kushner.”” [CNN] • The Trump presidency may not have helped Kushner Companies [Economist] 

“Jared Kushner meets with Lindsey Graham” by Tom LoBianco, Manu Raju, Ashley Killough and Jeremy Herb: “Jared Kushner met Thursday with Sen. Lindsey Graham on Capitol Hill, though the South Carolina Republican said the two discussed immigration policy and not congressional investigations into Russian interference in last year’s US presidential election…Kushner… smiled as he left the meeting but did not answer shouted questions… Graham told CNN he didn’t feel it was appropriate to bring up the Russia meeting in Trump Tower while talking health care and immigration with Kushner. “There’s a way to do this, and there’s a process and it will be followed,” Graham told CNN. “He’ll get to tell his side of the story about all this stuff, and I’m curious to see how it comes out.”” [CNN] • Kushner speech to congressional interns delayed [TheHill]

ON THE HILL — Bipartisan sanctions against Hezbollah introduced in Senate and House — by Aaron Magid: Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) co-sponsored the Senate bill while Reps. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY) introduced the House bill. The bill would assign new sanctions against foreign individuals or companies that assist the Lebanese terrorist organization while strengthening the financial penalties against Hezbollah for narcotics trafficking.

“In the time since the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act was signed into law in 2015, Hezbollah has continued to do Iran’s bidding in the region by threatening Israel’s security and fighting in Syria in support of the murderous dictator Bashar al-Assad,” Shaheen said. Added Rubio, “Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans, and continue to pose grave threats to the United States and our allies, including the democratic state of Israel.”

Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Rob Portman (R-OH) respond to ACLU criticism of the Israel Anti-Boycott Act: “Nothing in the bill restricts constitutionally-protected free speech or limits criticism of Israel or its policies. Instead, it is narrowly targeted at commercial activity and is based on current law that has been constitutionally upheld… The legislation does not encourage or compel persons to do business with Israel, nor does it punish individuals or companies from refusing to do business with Israel based on their own political beliefs, for “purely pragmatic reasons,” or for no reason stated at all.” [Medium]

SCENE AT THE WH:” Trump Unleashes A Show Of Force During New Product Demo At White House” by Randy DeSoto: “That 1,000 pounds is about the same as a punch from a professional boxer,” the business leader also noted. Trump interjected, “People never knew that about me.” “Some of us do,” quipped Reed Cordish from the White House Office of American Innovation, who was standing nearby. “They find out,” Trump responded. “They’ll find out.” [WesternJournalism]

2020 WATCH: “Interior Dept. ordered Glacier park chief, other climate expert pulled from Zuckerberg tour” by Lisa Rein: “The decision to micromanage [Mark] Zuckerberg’s stop in Montana from 2,232 miles east in Washington, made by top officials at the Interior Department, the National Park Service’s parent agency, was highly unusual — even for a celebrity visit. It capped days of internal discussions — including conference calls and multiple emails — among top Interior Department and Park Service officials about how much the park should roll out the welcome mat for Zuckerberg… Interior Department press secretary Heather Swift made it clear that she did not want Glacier National Park Superintendent Jeff Mow involved in the tour… And the Park Service’s public affairs staff was instructed not to post anything about Zuckerberg’s visit on its Facebook or other social media accounts.” [WashPost]

2018 WATCH: “Josh Mandel sides with ‘alt-light’ blogger over Anti-Defamation League” by Andrew J. Tobias: “In a tweet Thursday, Ohio Treasurer and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel expressed support for a prominent California blogger whom the Anti-Defamation League included on a list of figures the league believes are associated with the “alt-right” movement. The Anti-Defamation League this week included the blogger, Mike Cernovich, on a post called “From Alt Right to Alt Lite: Naming the Hate.” … In an email, Erica Nurnberg, a Mandel campaign spokeswoman, said: “As the grandson of Holocaust survivors and as a Marine who defended our freedom, Treasurer Mandel believes the ADL is dead wrong for creating hit lists on American citizens. Of all organizations, the ADL should know that making target lists of people based on their political beliefs is a dangerous practice and slippery slope.”” [Cleveland] 

** Good Friday Morning! Enjoying the Daily Kickoff? Please share us with your friends & tell them to sign up at [JI]. Have a tip, scoop, or op-ed? We’d love to hear from you. Anything from hard news and punditry to the lighter stuff, including event coverage, job transitions, or even special birthdays, is much appreciated. Email [email protected] **

BUSINESS BRIEFS: Loophole Closed: Hedge-Fund Managers Prepare Huge Tax Checks [WSJ] • Dynamic Yield Raises $31 Million From Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners, Others [NYTimes] • Syte.ai, a visual search startup just for fashion, closes $8M Series A [TC] • Apollo Global Preparing IPO for ADT That Could Take Place Around Year-End [WSJ] • Israel considering infrastructure spending to close gap and boost productivity [CNBC]

“Oy vey! Check Point Software shares dive after CEO blames Yom Kippur for weak forecast” by Jack Guez: “If you dig deeper into the report you’ll see the company’s co-founder and CEO, Gil Shwed, is blaming Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement for the lower third-quarter guidance. The 25-hour fast, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, happens to fall on the last day of the company’s third-quarter book. That means the company’s Israel offices will be closed, and they will also close early the day before Yom Kippur. Shwed told analysts the company does a large part of its sales at the end of each quarter, but because of the holiday they’re trying to get sales teams and customers to finish their business before the start of Yom Kippur, sundown on Sept. 29. In a research note after the conference call, Cowen & Co. said the Yom Kippur excuse was “legitimate.” They believe the timing of the holiday could shave $30 million off the company’s bottom line in the third quarter.” [CNBC] 

“Israeli Aid Gives an Unexpected ‘Glimmer of Hope’ for Syrians” by Isabel Kershner: “This week, the Israeli military revealed the scope of the humanitarian aid project, which it calls Operation Good Neighbor and which began in June 2016 along the Israeli-Syrian boundary on the Golan Heights… Military officials say they coordinate directly with Syrian doctors and village leaders to gauge needs… “The aid creates a positive awareness of Israel on the Syrian side,” said Col. Barak Hiram, the commanding officer of Israel’s 474 Golan Brigade, adding that it could lay the “first seeds” of some form of future agreement.” [NYTimes] 

TALK OF THE TOWNS: How to run a city: Forty mayors go back to school: “Thanks to a $32m gift his charity, Bloomberg Philanthropies, along with Harvard’s Business and Kennedy Schools, has created a year-long programme designed for serving mayors. The inaugural cohort began studying on July 17th. Forty mayors, 30 of them from American cities, including the mayors of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Phoenix and Mobile, spent three days back at school in New York… Running a city is harder than running a company, says Mr Bloomberg: the media spotlight is glaring, pressure from unionised workforces can make it hard to cut even bad programmes and regulation can throttle innovation.” [Economist] 

FLASHBACK to AIPAC’s 2014 Policy Conference when Sen. John McCain ‘considered’ converting to Judaism [Video] 

“Stop saying John McCain will beat cancer because he’s a fighter” by Philip Klein: “A member of my extended family died with glioblastoma four Julys ago. He was a man who was born in a Stalin-era gulag, where he spent his early childhood. A victim of anti-Semitism, he fled the Soviet Union for Israel with his mom as a teenager and served as a soldier during the Yom Kippur War. He eventually immigrated to the United States, where he built a family. Possessing a rare combination of grit and cheerfulness, his formative experiences made him unflappable during events in life that others would have considered crises. When diagnosed, he took it in stride and tried every treatment available to him — surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, clinical trials — and he even dabbled in homeopathy. At every step, his loving and supportive family was at his side. But he passed away 20 months after his diagnosis. And it wasn’t because he was less courageous, or had any less fight in him, or had a worse attitude, than somebody with the disease who might have hung on for a few more years.” [WashExaminer] 

“How to Survive a Lavish Wedding” by Jen Doll: “Once upon a time invitations featured coded language: For instance, requesting ‘the honor of your presence’ versus ‘the favor of your company’ told you whether it would be held in a place of worship versus a home,” he said. “Or the use of the word ‘and’ versus the word ‘to,’ that is, “the marriage of someone and someone versus someone to someone.” The first indicates a Jewish wedding; the second a Christian one.” [NYTimes]

DEATH AND MARRIAGE: “How Arline Jacoby, Artist, Spends Her Sundays” by Alexis Cheung: “I read the obituaries religiously, but only about people I think are going to be interesting. I also like reading about people who are getting married. I’m Jewish, and I like to see if they were married by a rabbi. It’s just one of my things.” [NYTimes] 

SCENE THE OTHER NIGHT — in DC: The African Middle Eastern Leadership Project (AMEL) is now an official NGO after hosting its national launch event at the offices of Covington and Burling in DC on Wednesdaynight. The AMEL Project, which trains and empowers the next generation of human rights activists in the Middle East and Africa, is led by a young Sudanese Muslim activist named Mohamed Abubakr, who told the audience that he was willing to defy the Sudanese government’s laws by becoming friends with Israelis. Those laws can carry a punishment up to a death sentence. Mohamed’s willingness to build bridges also inspired Senator Mark Kirk and Ambassador Dennis Ross, who are both on AMEL’s advisory board, to speak at the launch event.

Ambassador Dennis Ross: “You [AMEL] remind me what are the things that I consider to be important. And I hope that everyone who is here will recognize that you’re looking at not only a special person, but you’re looking at an interesting collection of younger people who’ve decided they are not going to settle; they are not going to accept. They are not going to wait for the world to change, they are going to change the world.”

SPOTTED: Congressman Brad Schneider, Justin Hefter, Steven Hefter, Sam Neuberger, ADL’s Evan Bernstein, ADL’s Melanie Robbins, Tiffany Harris, Mary Ann Weiss, Steve Rabinowitz, Interfaith Alliance’s Rabbi Jack Moline, Daniel Charles.

WEEKEND BIRTHDAYS — FRIDAY: Chilean born classical music composer whose themes include many Jewish topics, Professor Emeritus at Tel Aviv University, Leon Schidlowsky turns 86… Escondido, California resident, Leonard Simon Zoll turns 81… CEO of Sony/ATV, a large music publishing firm, he was previously general counsel to the LeFrak Organization and then chairman and CEO of EMI Music Publishing Worldwide, Martin Bandierturns 76… Jerusalem-born, professor emeritus in the Department of Physics at Bar-Ilan University, he has published more than 600 articles and 11 books and serves on the editorial board of five scientific journals, Shlomo Havlin turns 75… Criminal defense attorney, known for representing many politicians, celebrities and organized crime defendants, currently defending “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli, Benjamin Brafman turns 69… Comedian and actor, best known for his five seasons on Saturday Night Live (1985-1990), Jon Lovitzturns 60… Chief Rabbi of Russia since 1993 and president of the Conference of European Rabbis (an organization with 700 members), Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt turns 54… Founder, president and CEO of Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) and the Electrification Coalition, both promoting policies and actions to reduce our dependence on oil, Raphael “Robbie” Diamondturns 43… African-American pro-Israel campus student activist at the U of New Orleans, she is presently director of strategic partnerships at Jerusalem U, a Jerusalem-based educational organization, Chloé Simone Valdary turns 24… President of the Jewish community of Malaga, Spain, Elias Cohen…

SATURDAY: Secretary of Veterans Affairs (the only Trump Cabinet appointee confirmed by a 100-0 vote), he served as Under Secretary of the VA during the last two years of the Obama administration, David Shulkin turns 58… Israeli actress, prominent in both theatre and fiim, Gila Almagor turns 78… British Conservative Party member of Parliament for 36 years (1974-2010), a leading figure in the fight against human trafficking in the UK and world-wide, Anthony Steen turns 78… Historian, author and Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 1975, Judith Walzer Leavitt turns 77… British biochemist and Professor at the University of Dundee in Scotland since 1971, Sir Philip Cohen turns 72… Actor, director and comedian, Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein) turns 70… Past president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Detroit, owner of Nodel Parks (operator of 40 manufactured home parks in eight states), Richard Martin Nodel turns 69… Winner of eight Academy Awards, eleven Grammy awards, pianist and composer of many Disney movie musical scores, Alan Menken turns 68… Born in Norwalk, Connecticut and now based in Munich, Germany where he is the managing director of a public affairs firm and works to ensure that the Holocaust and its many victims are not forgotten, Terry Swartzberg turns 64… Founding partner of the DC-based intellectual property law firm, Greenberg & Lieberman, his focus is on Internet law and domain name litigation, Stevan Lieberman turns 52… Television journalist and news anchor who has worked for Fox News, MSNBC, CNN and Al Jazeera America, David Shuster turns 50… Director of the Field Operations team at the Pew Charitable Trust, Elise Shutzer turns 37… Former White House assistant press secretary, now a writer for the documentary series VICE on HBO, Reid Cherlin turns 36… General Treasurer of the State of Rhode Island since his state-wide election in 2014, he previously worked as a VP at Trillium Asset Management, Seth Magaziner turns 34… Talia Thurm turns 26… Actor and voice actor, his career started when he was 10-years old, he starred as Eric in Netflix’s “Santa Clarita Diet,” Skyler Gisondo turns 21… Executive Director of the American Sephardi Federation, Jason Guberman-Pfeffer… Michael Suissa… Yoela Palkin… Cindy Masters…

SUNDAY: US District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan, appointed by President Carter in 1979, assumed senior status in 1999, he is a past President of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, Judge Avern Cohn turns 93… World-reknowned pianist and conductor (despite a medical condition that deprived him of the use of his right hand for many years), Leon Fleisher turns 89… Banker who distributed $60 million to his 400 employees when he sold City National Bank of Florida in 2008, Leonard L. Abess turns 69… Born in Bucharest, Romania, raised in Los Angeles, at age 35 he was appointed to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by President Reagan, Judge Alex Kozinski turns 67… Billionaire businessman and real estate investor who made his fortune in the trade and manufacture of fertilizer in the former Soviet Union, Alexander Rovt turns 65… Freelance journalist and a former reporter and columnist for Glamour magazine, she is the widow of Daniel Pearl and wrote a book about his kidnapping and murder in Pakistan in 2002, Mariane Pearl turns 50… Dov M. Katz turns 47… Controversial journalist who wrote for the Los Angeles Times and is a regular contributor to Time, Joel Steinturns 46… Former White House intern in 1995-1996, at the center of a scandal involving President Bill Clinton, now an activist, television personality and fashion designer, Monica Lewinsky turns 44… Baseball outfielder in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, he was the starting right fielder for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic, Zach Borenstein turns 27… Associate at The Harris Family Charitable Foundation, Joseph Stern… Melissa Brown…

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