Daily Kickoff
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RISING STAR PROFILE: “The Magic Skin of Glossier’s Emily Weiss: How fast can a beauty blogger become the millennials’ Estée Lauder? About three years” by Amy Larocca: “Emily Weiss has been something of a millennial icon, the star of her own fairy tale, ever since 2007, when she showed up on three episodes of MTV’s The Hills… Weiss herself is obviously Glossier’s secret sauce—its gloriously friendly, photogenic, hardworking face, the Estée of this baby Lauder. But maintaining both that image and distance from it is a complicated dance—there are thousands of pictures of Weiss out there in the world, so many Q and As, and it takes a while to figure out how carefully drawn and maintained her boundaries are… That two-step is not unusual for Weiss— gestures of intimacy deployed alongside strategic walls. She gets right in there on the comment boards, replying to her customers one-on-one, but you never get the sense that Weiss is vulnerable…”
“This isn’t a traditional, top-down, lifestyle, myth-creation, inspiration story,” she says. “This isn’t a Tory Burch, a Ralph Lauren, an Estée Lauder. A lot of our customers don’t even know who I am.” Weiss sees herself not as a visionary but as someone who realized something was happening—social media was transforming the way beauty products were talked about and bought— and then worked her ass off to get on top of it. If people want to be like her, well, it is the era of the aspiring she-E-O. “Me being CEO is probably aspirational to a lot of customers,” she admits. “There were very different value systems when a lot of different beauty brands were created in the ’40s and ’50s, and it had to do with glamour and a life of luxury. I think right now it’s about power.”” [NYMag]
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg, with clerk hires, signals desire to outlast Trump” by Joan Biskupic: “The cultural icon known as the “Notorious RBG” recently signaled that she intends to stay at least through 2020 by hiring law clerks for at least two more terms. Ginsburg, who turns 85 in March, would have to stay another decade to near the record of William O. Douglas, who served the longest at 36 years… If Democrat Hillary Clinton had won the presidency in 2016, liberal Ginsburg would likely have announced her retirement by this spring. Instead the justice… is not counting on leaving the stage any time soon.” [CNN]
DRIVING THE CONVO — “California Republican Rep. Ed Royce won’t seek reelection” by Christine Mai-Duc and Sarah Wire: “Surprised party leaders learned that Royce would not seek reelection when the 13-term congressman published his announcement on Twitter, saying he wanted to concentrate on his final year as [House Foreign Affairs] Committee chairman… Royce… was among the House lawmakers considered vulnerable in the upcoming midterm elections…” [LATimes]
Sander Gerber, the hedge fund manager behind the Taylor Force Act, tells us… “Ed Royce is the most humble champion of Israel in the House. After he saw the Palestinian Authority’s pay to slay laws, he did whatever he could to build support for their eradication. From personally walking me over to discuss the issue with Senator [Bob] Corker to holding hearings in Congress and ultimately passing the Taylor Force Act. And he gladly made himself available at all hours via cell, because he really cares.”
Joel Mowbray, who has spent much time on the road with Chairman Royce, shared his favorite story: “I was with him when he confronted Mahmoud Abbas in the Palestinian Authority presidential palace in Ramallah during an AIEF [America-Israel Educational Foundation] trip. There were four Jewish Democrats with him, he was the sole Republican on the trip… After the cameras left the room, Royce, in this toe-to-toe setting, confronted Abbas on his Holocaust denial and said, ‘Dr. Abbas, I know we’re supposed to call you doctor because you have a PhD in Holocaust denial. Abbas’s face goes ashen white, and he said, ‘I want to talk to you about an interview you gave recently to an Iranian-owned Hezbollah radio in Lebanon, in which you yet again denied the Holocaust. You know, my father was a Forward Observer in Patton’s Third Army,’ and Royce pulled out this full-size manila envelope with photos that his father took and starts putting them onto the table that’s set up between them and he says, ‘These are photos that my father took on the day Dachau was liberated. These photos represent one day at one camp. There were countless other such examples that occurred, and for you to say what you have said and continue to say about the Holocaust is deeply dangerous.’ He even, by the way, put one of the photos in Abbas’s lap, because he refused to look at them. To me, that sums up everything that Ed Royce is... The mark of Ed Royce is fearlessness, especially in terms of dealing with other people in diplomatic settings.”
ON THE HILL — The House will vote today on H.Res. 676 – supporting the rights of the people of Iran to free expression, condemning the Iranian regime for its crackdown on legitimate protests, and for other purposes – legislation sponsored by Rep. Ed Royce.
IRAN DEAL — “Trump plans to enforce sanctions against Iran state TV, says source” by Saeed Kamali Dehghan: “The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB)…. has been subject to US sanctions since 2013, but both Barack Obama and Donald Trump have signed presidential waivers every 180 days to prevent them coming into force. The Guardian understands Trump is planning not to sign the waiver in regards to the state broadcaster when it comes up for renewal at the end of January, meaning the sanctions will become active… “It is a symbolic act. It will send a strong message to Iran without imposing more hardship on Iranians like other sanctions,” the source said.”[TheGuardian] • Iran’s Zarif to powwow with Europeans on saving nuclear deal [ToI]
“On Iran, Trump Should Be Like Reagan” by Richard Goldberg and Dennis Ross: “The JCPOA must not prevent us from fulfilling our international obligations on human rights, terrorism and proliferation… Of course, the Iranian dictators… might even claim such sanctions violate the nuclear deal and threaten to abandon their commitments. But they would be wrong—and they alone would bear the blame and consequences of exiting the JCPOA.” [Politico]
TALK OF THE REGION — Egypt denies report it pressured the press on Trump’s Jerusalem move, despite tapes: “The Egyptian State Information Service (SIS)… [issued] a three-page statement saying that… The [NY] Times article didn’t provide any proof that [Captain Ashraf] al-Kholi is, indeed, an intelligence officer. The security service noted that Egypt has articulated a clear and consistent position on Jerusalem and submitted a resolution to the UN Security Council demanding that Trump reverse his decision to move the US embassy there.” [France24]
‘Nephew of French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe among three tourists stabbed in Israel” by Peter Allen: “The nephew of French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe was among three tourists repeatedly stabbed in the Israeli seaside resort of Eilat… The wounded holidaymakers… were found lying on the promenade last Wednesday after being targeted by a gang of Israeli men. It comes at a time of heightened tension between France and Israel, as President Emmanuel Macron and Mr Philippe refuse to accept Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city.” [Telegraph]
“Trump’s peace deal: A Gaza-centered Palestine” by Ben Caspit: “There isn’t a single member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet who has any expectations about President Donald Trump’s peace initiative. Instead, they share a rare consensus: It’s all about nothing, and it will never amount to anything. The same sentiment prevails in Ramallah: Trump’s “ultimate deal” is dead and buried…”
“The basic idea includes an extensive territorial exchange, in which Egypt would cede a piece of the Sinai Peninsula to the Gaza Strip. With this, Gaza’s territory would extend southward along the seashore, making it three or four times larger than it currently is. This would make it possible to relieve some of the pressure in Gaza… According to this plan, the center of power in the future Palestinian state would be in the Gaza Strip, expanded toward the north of Sinai, rather than the West Bank. In exchange… the Palestinians would give up territories in the West Bank, allowing Israel to annex the settlement blocs along with a generous amount of land around them… At the same time, Israel would give Egypt a narrow strip of territory along the lengthy southern border between the two countries.” [Al-Monitor]
Ilan Goldenberg, a former State Department official under John Kerry, tells us… “The Palestinians are not going to trade high quality land in the middle of the West Bank for a bunch of sand in the Sinai.”
NEW DATE — After a couple delays, Vice President Mike Pence is expected to visit Egypt, Jordan, and Israel next week. According to the schedule released by the White House yesterday, Pence will arrive in Egypt on January 20 to meet with President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, and the following day, meet with King Abdullah II in Jordan. The Vice President will then spend two days in Israel, where he will hold meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin, address the Knesset, and visit Yad Vashem and the Western Wall. “The Vice President is traveling to the Middle East to reaffirm our commitment to work with the United States’ allies in the region to defeat radicalism that threatens future generations,” Pence spokeswoman Alyssa Farah said in a statement.
NEW PLAYER: “’Walking a line’ — The shrewd tactics of the White House’s evangelical gatekeeper” by Michelle Boorstein and Sarah Pulliam Bailey: “As Israel has shot to the top of President Trump’s agenda, world leaders have looked for the perspective of one of Trump’s biggest and most reliable voting blocs. And Johnnie Moore, the White House’s evangelical gatekeeper, has been there to provide it. Moore, a wunderkind PR executive, has served through the Trump candidacy and presidency as the shepherd for many conversations between Trump aides and conservative evangelical leaders who, like Moore, consider the Jewish state — and the status of Jerusalem in particular — to be at the top of their priority list. At 34, Moore has been consulted about the topic at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave… Moore’s pragmatism appeals to Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean at the Simon Wiesenthal Center… Cooper has become tight with Moore since Moore moved with his family from Virginia to Orange County, Calif., a couple of years ago. Now the pair travel together to places that include D.C. and Bahrain to promote religious tolerance, particularly of Jews and Christians.” [WashPost]
HEARD YESTERDAY — MSNBC host Katy Tur asks Michael Wolff, author of ‘Fire And Fury,’ if he thinks Trump is anti-Semitic? Wolff: “I don’t know… I think he’s aware of who is Jewish in a way that might give — that might, that feels creepy.” [Video]
TOP TALKER — “The White House struggles to silence talk of Trump’s mental fitness” by Philip Rucker and Ashley Parker: “He is absolutely no different than the day he got elected, and he has used this unconventional but very effective manner of managing for the 30 years that I’ve known him in business, finance, media and now governing,” Thomas J. Barrack Jr., Trump’s longtime friend and inauguration chairman, said in an interview Monday. “It’s not mental instability,” Barrack added. “It’s management by controlled and orchestrated chaos.” [WashPost]
Ronald Lauder notes working with Trump on “diplomatic challenges” in a statement about the president’s fitness for office: “I have known Donald Trump for over 50 years, dating back to his time as a student at the University of Pennsylvania. And I now have had the privilege of working with him on some of the most complex diplomatic challenges imaginable. The President I have seen is a man of incredible insight and intelligence. But he is not a politician and that confuses his critics. When President Trump refuses to speak in stale political platitudes, his critics think he is missing something. But the truth is President Trump speaks to the country in an authentic and genuine way that Americans understand and appreciate.”
David Brooks writes… “The Decline of Anti-Trumpism: People who go into the White House to have a meeting with President Trump usually leave pleasantly surprised. They find that Trump is not the raving madman they expected from his tweetstorms or the media coverage… People who work in the Trump administration… think he is merely a distraction they can work around. Some think he is strange, but not impossible… I mention these inconvenient observations because the anti-Trump movement, of which I’m a proud member, seems to be getting dumber. It seems to be settling into a smug, fairy tale version of reality that filters out discordant information… I’d like to think it’s possible to be fervently anti-Trump while also not reducing everything to a fairy tale.” [NYTimes]
OPRAH 2020 TALK — “Oprah 2020? Democrats Swing From Giddy to Skeptical at the Prospect” by Alex Burns and Amy Chozick: “David Axelrod, the former chief strategist for Barack Obama… questioned, however, whether Ms. Winfrey would be the right fit for 2020: “Would she want to submit herself to the unforgiving, relentless and sometimes absurd process of running for president?” he wondered, adding: “Will there be hunger in 2020 for someone with some experience in government, after Trump?”” [NYTimes]
“Ivanka Trump praises Golden Globes speech that ignited ‘Oprah 2020’ speculation” by Samantha Schmidt: “Ivanka Trump on Mondaynight tweeted praise for Oprah Winfrey’s Golden Globes speech, describing it as “empowering” and “inspiring.” The tweet, posted about 24 hours after the Golden Globes awards show, also included a link to Winfrey’s speech.”[WashPost] • Ivanka Trump’s Tone-Deaf Praise For Oprah’s Speech Didn’t Go Over Well [HuffPost; DailyBeast]
Jonathan Swan: “I’m getting texts re this.. some raised eyebrows in the WH.”[Twitter]
MARK CUBAN WEIGHS IN… “The Case Against President Oprah” by Ben Smith: ““What I think voters will sour on by 2020 is the concept that they will trust the skill set of a famous person simply because they are wealthy, famous, or both,” celebrity business guy and oft-mentioned potential candidate Mark Cuban told me in an email this morning.” [Buzzfeed; BunsinessInsider]
2018 WATCH — Robert Barr raises big money in first bid for House race — by Deirdre Shesgreen: “Cincinnati Democrat and congressional candidate Robert Barr raised more than $230,000 in his first fundraising quarter, a surprisingly big sum for an otherwise little-known challenger in a Republican-leaning district. Barr is a rabbi and a newcomer to politics, aiming to oust incumbent GOP Rep. Steve Chabot of Westwood… “People want something different,” Barr said in a statement touting his fourth-quarter fundraising totals.” [Cincinnati]
“’Hillbilly Elegy’ author Vance urged to run for Senate” by Seung Min Kim and Kevin Robillard: “Top Senate Republicans have quietly reached out to J.D. Vance — the star author of “Hillbilly Elegy” — about running for Senate in Ohio after the abrupt withdrawal of GOP candidate Josh Mandel last week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has spoken with Vance about a potential bid.” [Politico]
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BUSINESS BRIEFS: Telecom Mogul Patrick Drahi Reorganizes Altice in Separate Companies for U.S. and Europe [Variety; Bloomberg] • Kushners’ Observer Media names new president: James Karklins will need to win over advertisers wary of doing business with the family [Crains] • Israel’s religious parties get more control over Saturday trading [Reuters]
BUZZ ON BALFOUR: “Recording of Netanyahu Son Outside Strip Club Aired on Israel TV” by Jonathan Ferziger: “Yair Netanyahu was recorded while cruising between strip clubs in downtown Tel Aviv in a government-supplied armored car with one of the sons of Isramco Negev 2 LP shareholder Jackob Maimon, according to Hadashot TV news… Amid raunchy jokes about a night of drinking at the adult clubs, the younger Netanyahu can be heard complaining that the friend won’t lend him money to pay a dancer even though his father benefited from the lucrative gas business with the government.” [Bloomberg; TheGu
HOLLYWOOD: “Oscars: How Real-World Events Could Impact the Foreign-Language Race” by Scott Roxborough: “The most obviously political football in the race is Samuel Maoz’s Foxtrot, from Israel. The film, a look at the ongoing conflict between Palestinians and the Israeli soldiers who man security checkpoints, has plenty of fans in the Academy. And Israel, which has been nominated 10 times for the foreign-language Oscar, is arguably overdue for a win. But at home Foxtrot has proved controversial, in particular for a scene in which Israeli soldiers kill a family in their car and then cover up the act… Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel… adds another twist. Will Academy voters view support for Foxtrot as tacit support for Trump’s Middle East politics?” [HollywoodReporter]
Jerry Seinfeld and Family Visit Anti-terror Fantasy Camp in West Bank: “Comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his family visited the Caliber 3 Israeli Counter Terror and Security Academy during their visit in Israel, revealed Caliber 3 in a Facebook post on Monday. “Finally we are allowed to tell you!! The legendary Jerry Seinfeld and his family were at Caliber 3 during their visit to Israel last week, they came to us for shooting training with displays of combat, Krav Maga, assault dogs and lots of Zionism. It was great,” said the post.” [Haaretz]
PICS OF THE DAY — Jeff Ross poses with Chris Rock and Anthony Jeselnik in Israel [Pic]
Alex Soros posts from Mismeah Yeshua Synagogue in Myanmar: “In December 2010, I came with my family to Myanmar for the first time. I arrived a few days after my father who had already seen Yangon’s only synagogue and said that I must go see it too. It was one of the first things that I saw in Myanmar and today I reconnected with it on Shabbat. The Mismeah Yeshua Synagogue was built in 1896 on a street that is filled with Muslim and Hindu shops. At the start of #WorldWar2 there were 2500 Jews here and an amazing 126 Torah scrolls. Today there are less than 20 Jews left in Myanmar…”[Instagram]
Gwyneth Paltrow engaged to Jewish TV writer-producer: “Gwyneth Paltrow is engaged to television writer-producer Brad Falchuk. The couple told “Good Morning America” in a joint statement that they felt “incredibly lucky.” Falchuk, 46, who is Jewish and whose mother Nancy Falchuk served as president of the Hadassah Women’s Zionist Organization of America from 2007 to 2011, co-created the television series “Glee” with Ryan Murphy.” [ToI]
DESSERT: “Eyal Shani, an Israeli Celebrity Chef, Makes His New York Debut” by Florence Fabricant: “Whole roasted cauliflower as interpreted by Eyal Shani, an Israeli celebrity chef, is about to make its debut in New York. The chef’s signature dish will be on the menu at a branch of Miznon, his global group of casual counter-service restaurants, opening at Chelsea Market in a couple of weeks… Whether or not he was first, whole cauliflower and cauliflower steaks have become an international trend. And to hear this 59-year-old chef with impressively sculpted hair tell it, the cauliflower is only one of his achievements, including, as he claims, inventing “the first carpaccio in the world made from fish.” He also boasts about his tomato sashimi. “The world started copying me, and nobody gave me credit,” he said.” [NYTimes]
“Midtown spot to be replaced with new kosher restaurant” by Steve Cuozzo: “It took just two weeks for Eastern Consolidated’s James Famularo team to bring a new, up-market kosher restaurant to 211 E. 46th St., where Indian eatery Tulsi was. Famularo and Jeff Geoghegan… brought in chef Joshua Kessler, a veteran of Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group and kosher eatery Mike’s Bistro… The site is on a busy block between Third and Lexington avenues across the street from Sparks Steak House.” [NYPost]
CONGRATS to our friend Rick Sorkin on the release of his new song ‘There’s a Calm’ [Spotify]
BIRTHDAYS: Novelist, with eight books that have been turned into mini-series, Judith Krantz turns 90… Law professor at Georgetown University, high-ranking HHS official during the Clinton Administration, a founder of New Israel Fund and board member of Americans for Peace Now, Peter Edelmanturns 80… Swiss politician, member of the Swiss Federal Council (1993-2002), President of the Swiss Confederation in 1999, the first woman to ever hold this position, Ruth Dreifuss turns 78… Rabbi Emeritus of Kehilath Israel Synagogue in Overland Park, Kansas, Herbert Jay Mandl turns 73… Vice Chairman of the private equity firm Gilbert Global Equity Partners, long-time executive at investment banks Schroder & Co. and its predecessor firm, Wertheim & Co., Steven Kotler turns 71… Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the New York Times for 40 years, covering the US Supreme Court for most of that time (1978-2007), Linda Greenhouse turns 71…
Presidential historian, spokesman for the 9/11 Commission, visiting fellow or lecturer at Harvard, Princeton, Yale, GW, and Hopkins universities, Alvin S. Felzenberg turns 69… Composer, singer Yossi Toiv turns 69… Australian author of more than 40 books of children’s and young adult fiction, including a five-book series about a 10-year old Jewish boy in Nazi-occupied Poland, Morris Gleitzman turns 65… Governor of the Bank of Israel since 2013 (succeeding Stanley Fischer), the first woman to hold this post, Karnit Flug turns 63… Program Officer at Maimonides Fund, Allison Liebman Rubinturns 31… Former contestant on the third season of NBC’s “The Voice,” now a contributing writer at The New Yorker, writer of many articles on Syria, Ben Taub turns 27… Born in Saugatuck, a small town in western Michigan, now an associate at DC-based Bluelight Strategies, Madeline Peterson turns 26… Television and film actress, starred in 2014’s “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” daughter of businessman Nelson Peltz, Nicola Peltz turns 23… Co-chairman of NYC-based investment bank, Dalmore Group, Joel Plasco…
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