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DRIVING THE CONVO — 25 Years After Oslo Accords, Mideast Peace Seems Remote as Ever ― by David Halbfinger and Isabel Kershner: “The Oslo accords, first unveiled on the White House lawn with a handshake between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasir Arafat on Sept. 13, 1993, culminated in mutual recognition between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization… and the first formal agreements in a phased effort to resolve the century-old conflict… Today, however, the Oslo process is moribund, having produced neither a peace agreement nor a Palestinian state.”

“In hindsight, many analysts say, it was a mistake for the Palestinians to let the Israelis defer talk of core issues of the conflict… until final-status talks… “What they got,” said [Daniel] Kurtzer, who remembers a sinking feeling evident on the faces of some Palestinians at the 1993 ceremony, “was poorly negotiated.” Others question the wisdom of entrusting the P.L.O. with any counterterrorism responsibility early on. “Arafat didn’t do enough to stop terror,” said David Hacham, who represented the Israeli defense ministry in the Oslo process. “Either because he couldn’t, or because he didn’t see it as important enough at the time.” [NYTimes]

‘The Oslo Diaries,’ a documentary on the secret talks in the early 1990s that led to the Oslo peace accords, will air tonight on HBO at 8 PM EDT.

SCENE LAST NIGHT — The Washington Institute hosted an advanced screening of the HBO film, followed by a panel with Joel Singer, Ghaith al-Omari and David Makovsky and moderated by Dennis Ross. SPOTTED: Susie Gelman, Esther Kurz, Marvin Feuer, Jonathan Schwartz, Jake Walles, Arthur and Barbara Berger, Dina Gold, Ralph Nurnberger, Wolfgang Pordzik, and Daniel Serwer.

Daniel Levy, who served as an Israeli peace negotiator under Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak, writes… “The Oslo Accords Are Dead, but There Is Still a Path to Peace: On this Oslo anniversary, those who care about Israeli-Palestinian peace should set aside nostalgia for a missed opportunity and think instead about the conditions that once made that tantalizing prospect possible—and which could still be within our reach.” [ForeignPolicy]

Jeff Jacoby writes… “The Oslo handshake, 25 years on: The crowd swooned at the White House that day, but it was Rabin whose instincts were right. He should have trusted his intuition and refused to take that anti-nausea pill. Instead he shook hands with a mass killer, and led his nation into disaster.”[BostonGlobe]

The Washington Institute’s Ghaith Al-Omari: “Why Trump’s Closure of the Palestinian Diplomatic Mission in Washington Could Backfire: While the Palestinians may have so far withstood American pressure, they are back in a situation similar to the pre-Oslo days: despite enjoying the support of many in the international community, they are unable to advance their cause because of the lack of U.S. support.” [Time]

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres: American Power Is in Decline, the World Is ‘in Pieces’ — by Uri Friedman: “Asked whether he is worried about a severe disruption like the United States withdrawing entirely from the United Nations, the secretary-general gave an answer that was noteworthy less for what he said than for what he didn’t say: that such a scenario was unthinkable. “I will do everything possible to avoid it,” he responded.” [TheAtlantic]

REPORT — Israel, Saudi Arabia poised to ink Iron Dome sale: “Saudi Arabia has procured an Israeli-made Iron Dome defense system, the Persian Gulf-based Alkhaleej Online website reported Thursday… According to the report, the deal will be brokered by a third party, most likely the United States.”[IsraelHayom]

Haley says Iran is ‘feeling the pain’ from Trump’s revived sanctions — by Gregg Re: “Iran is “feeling the pain” from the sweeping sanctions revived by President Trump in August, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, told Fox News… “They feel weak and we are suffocating them to the point that they have to address ballistic missiles; they have to address their support on terrorism,” Haley told “Special Report” anchor Bret Baier.” [FoxNews] • Iranians Can’t Leave Home, as Sinking Currency Stymies Travel [WSJ]

Bret Stephens writes… “To Thwart Iran, Save Idlib: The Trump administration might still think it can fire off a few cruise missiles and the odd tweet in the face of Assad’s depredations. If so, it will wind up as a midwife to the mullahs’ ambitions, however many sanctions the president might otherwise slap on Tehran.” [NYTimes]

PRIMARY DAY — New York voters will head to the polls today to pick their candidates for the November general election [Vogue] 

RACES TO WATCH — Governor: Andrew Cuomo, the two-term incumbent, is being challenged by actress and activist Cynthia Nixon in the Democratic primary for governor. The winner will face Republican Marc Molinaro, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, and independent Stephanie Miner in the fall general election. Recent polls show Cuomo with a comfortable lead. Nonetheless, Nixon is counting on several missteps made by Cuomo’s team over the weekend to have an impact on the results.

Former Cuomo Aide Drafted Language for Inflammatory Anti-Semitism Flier — by Jesse Mckinley: “Lawrence S. Schwartz, the former secretary to the governor, inadvertently signed off on the flier after its language was drafted by David Lobl, a former special assistant to the governor who was volunteering with the re-election campaign, the campaign said… The correspondence, dated Sept. 1, shows Mr. Lobl outlining text that was later replicated almost verbatim on the back side of the mailer.” [NYTimes]

Grace Rauh: “A Cynthia Nixon aide tells me the anti-Semitic mailer attacking Nixon seems to have broken through. Aide says they’ve heard from voters who are questioning Nixon’s support of Israel. Mailer appears to be working as intended.”

PIC — Nixon’s Jewish supporters share a cinnamon-raisin-lox bagel outside City Hall after press conference condemning Gov. Cuomo for the anti-Nixon mailer [Pic]

A1 Headline — Cinnamon-Raisin Bagels Face a Schmear Campaign in New York [WSJ; Pic]

Lieutenant governor: Councilman Jumaane Williams, backed by Senator Bernie Sanders, is challenging incumbent Kathy Hochul. If Williams pulls off an upset, he could appear on the same ticket as Cuomo in November.

Attorney General: Public Advocate Letitia James, law professor Zephyr Teachout, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) and Leecia Eve are competingfor the seat vacated by former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Teachout is backed by Bernie Sanders and The Jewish Vote, a progressive organization. James, the established candidate, is the favorite candidate among Orthodox Jewish voters.

Headline… Eating Matzo Ball Soup with Zephyr Teachout [GQ]

State Senate: Blake Morris, a progressive candidate supported by Nixon, is challenging Senator Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn), a 3-term incumbent who caucuses with the Republicans, in the State Senate’s 17th District. Felder has faced criticism within the Democratic Party for holding up the state budget over oversight measures of the yeshiva education system. The Orthodox Jewish community has rallied behind Felder…

Julia Salazar, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, is challenging incumbent State Senator Martin Malavé Dilan in the 18th District. Salazar has faced immense scrutiny over the past few weeks… Zellnor Myrie is challenging incumbent Jesse Hamilton in the 20th District, which includes the Crown Heights Chabad community…

Senator Jeff Klein (D-Bronx), who led the now-defunct Independent Democratic Conference, is facing a tough reelection bid in the 34th District, challenged by Alessandra Biaggi, a lawyer who worked on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, who is being supported by mainstream Democrats…

Ross Barkan, a former journalist at the New York Observer, is running in the Democratic primary in the 22nd District to take on Republican Marty Golden in the fall. Barkan quit the Observer, owned by President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, after it was revealed that the then editor in chief, Ken Kurson, helped draft Trump’s speech to AIPAC in 2016.

“When I quit the Observer, I never imagined I’d run for office,” Barkan told Jewish Insider‘s Jacob Kornbluh in an interview. “It was in no part of my mind. I told people at the time this wasn’t about Trump’s politics, necessarily, though I found them abhorrent, and it wasn’t about the AIPAC conference. It was about the fact that my editor, who was supposed to be keeping this firewall between Jared Kushner, who was helping to run the Trump campaign, and the New York Observer, was breaking that firewall. Just as if my editor had helped Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton write a speech, I would have quit. I felt, how could I work for a publication where the person who is overseeing my reporting is also an active participant in a presidential campaign?”

After he quit the Observer, Barkan freelanced for several local publications. In an opinion piece for City and State NY in 2016, he criticized the City Council’s anti-BDS resolution. Barkan also criticized Israel’s response to the Gaza protests last May. “I do believe you can both be a proud Jew and have criticisms of the government,” he explained. “I am a proud American, and I criticize the American government. Just as Barack Obama and Donald Trump are not infallible, I don’t think Benjamin Netanyahu is infallible. There are a lot of people who feel that no government should be above criticism. That all being said, I am very proud of my Jewish identity, and I take it very seriously. I experienced anti-Semitism myself as a child. Both my parents spent time in Israel, so I know the issue well.”

MIDTERMS — Republican House Candidate: Joe Lieberman only supported Iraq War because he’s Jewish: Jim Hagedorn, the Republican nominee in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District once wrote that former Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman supported the Iraq War because he is Jewish. The letters spelling out “Jew or Arab” were bolded in the original post. Hagedorn, who has a history of making incendiary comments on his blog “Mr. Conservative,” was named by the NRCC as one of its “Young Guns” in a fundraising program last week. NRCC chairman Steve Stivers told reporterslast week he was unaware of Hagedorn’s past comments. In a statement to The Daily Beast yesterday, NRCC spokeswoman Maddie Anderson called Hagedorn’s remarks “inappropriate.”

McCain family ‘disappointed’ with GOP attack ads using his words — by James Arkin and Zach Montellaro: “In Michigan, the NRCC’s ad showed [John] McCain criticizing Elissa Slotkin, a former Obama administration official, while she was testifying before a Senate committee in 2014… The ad attacking Slotkin featured McCain telling her she “either don’t know the truth, or you are not telling the truth.” Slotkin is running in Michigan’s 8th district against Republican Rep. Mike Bishop.”

“Democrat Tom Malinowski, who is running in a battleground New Jersey House district, is also running an ad featuring McCain. The ad shows a clip of McCain praising Malinowski for his record opposing torture during Malinowski’s confirmation hearing to be an assistant secretary of state in the Obama administration… Matt Brooks, the executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, criticized Malinowski for using McCain’s praise for political gain… “To wait until the passing of Senator McCain to release a political ad featuring his kind words, and implying support for Malinowski, a claim that McCain is no longer here to refute, is disgusting,” Brooks said.” [Politico]

— Benji Schwartz, Malinowski’s Communications Director: “This is another sad attempt by the RJC to politicize support for Israel — a commitment shared by most Americans of both parties — to distract from their lackluster candidate. The RJC knows that Tom is a strong backer of Israel, and they know Tom and the late Senator McCain had a friendship built upon mutual respect and a dedication to core American values.”

The RJC launched this week a $1 million television and digital ad campaign against Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND). The ad, entitled “Roots,” highlightsHeitkamp’s support for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. “This issue is important to the RJC, but importantly, it matters to all Americans and North Dakotans who care about national security,” RJC’s Matt Brooks said in a statement.

— Last month, Christian United for Israel (CUFI) launched a six-figure TV campaign urging Heitkamp to support the Iran Hostage Act.

2020 WATCH — Hickenlooper moves closer to 2020 presidential bid — by David Siders: “Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is edging closer to a potential run for president, following what he called an ‘encouraging’ summer mulling a campaign. ‘What I saw was an interest … a genuine interest in terms of what we’ve done in Colorado,’ Hickenlooper said.” [Politico]

ON THE HILL — The House passed yesterday the United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2018, which codifies the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the Obama Administration and Israel in 2016. The legislation was introduced by Reps. Ted Deutch (D-FL) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL). The Senate’s version passed on August 1.

— In a speech on the House floor, Deutch thanked Ros-Lehtinen for her “ardent and unwavering support for our ally Israel throughout her nearly 3 decades in Congress.” [Video]

The House has postponed a voteon a bipartisan bill that would elevate the position of Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism to the rank of Ambassador (appointed by the President and requiring Senate confirmation) and prohibit the person from being double-hatted with another portfolio of issues. The legislation was introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), who co-sponsored the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act in 2004.

Republican Rep. Steve King Promotes Another Well-Known White Supremacist On Twitter — by Christopher Mathias: “For the second time in three months, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) has promoted the views of a prominent white nationalist on Twitter. In a tweet posted early Wednesday afternoon, King quote-tweeted Lana Lokteff, a host for the white nationalist media outfit Red Ice… In his tweet, King argued incorrectly that Nazis were part of a left-wing movement.” [HuffPost] 

Eric Trump accused of anti-Semitism after ‘shekels’ remark — by Brent Griffiths: “But don’t you think,” [Eric] Trump said on Fox News, “people look through the fact that you can write a sensational nonsense book, CNN will definitely have you on there because they love to trash the president, and it will mean that you sell three extra books and you make three extra shekels, at the behest of the American people, of our country and our president that is doing a phenomenal job by every quantifiable metric — is that really where we are? I think people read through this.”

A number of writers and journalists on social media questioned why Trump would mention “shekels,” seemingly oblivious to the anti-Semitic connotation coming amid the High Holy Days. “Eric Trump said this morning that Bob Woodward made ‘three extra shekels at the behest of the American people’ with his book,” Bill Kristol… wrote… “Is Eric too stupid to know he’s being anti-Semitic?” [Politico; RawStory]

— “In a brief phone call on Wednesday, Eric Trump declined to comment on his use of the term. “Oh stop, it’s nonsense,” he said.” [WashPost]

Matthew Gertz tweets jokingly: “Very few people know this but the weather machine is coin-operated, three shekels per use.”

HEARD LAST NIGHT — Bob Woodward reacting to Eric Trump’s comments on CNN’s AC360: “I just hope no one would talk like that, frankly… Anyone who talks like that, whether it’s a dog whistle or whatever the intent is, it’s not fitting — I mean, part of the point of this book is that we need to have a serious debate about serious issues, and to use invective rhetoric, or whatever it might be, it sets us back.”

Even Ivanka’s liberal New York haters like her on Instagram — by Annie Karni: “Ivanka Trump’s “likers” include billionaire hedge fund manager Marc Lasry, a major Democratic donor and a close friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton… “Ivanka and Jared are old friends and I like seeing pictures of her and her kids,” Lasry said. “It has nothing to do with politics, but with being friends with someone for a long time.” Even so, those “likes” from Democrats have become a point of fascination among those in her old Manhattan social set. “There is a cocktail party game where everyone opens Ivanka’s pictures to see who in their contact list liked a photo,” said one major New York socialite. “It’s always a surprise.” … David Geffen, known as one of Hollywood’s biggest Democratic donors, “liked” a photo of the Kushner family gathered at Blair House during inauguration weekend in 2017.” [Politico]

SIGHTINGS: Ivanka Trump was spotted lunching with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) yesterday in the Senate Dining Room. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) hosted Jared Kushner for dinner with House Republicans at Joe’s on 15th Street. [Playbook]

Ann Coulter Daydreams About Trump Whacking Jared Kushner —by Lloyd Grove: “If Trump realized that Jared Kushner was ruining his presidency and shot him, and then he fired the U.S. attorney investigating the crime, that would be a textbook case of obstruction of justice,” Coulter writes [in her new book, Resistance Is Futile! How the Trump-Hating Left Lost Its Collective Mind]… “But Trump hasn’t shot Kushner, and he probably won’t, since he doesn’t even realize that Kushner is wrecking his presidency.”[DailyBeast] 

** Good Thursday 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: Why CBS’s Board Turned Against Leslie Moonves [NYTimes] • Viacom CEO Bob Bakish Avoids CBS Talk, Trumps Paramount Turnaround [HollywoodReporter] • At Campbell Soup, Heirs Hold the Key as Activist Daniel Loeb Tries to Remake Board [WSJ] • Tamir Sapir failed to report $194M from partial sale of 11 Madison: IRS [TheRealDeal] • WeWork shells out $100 million for a software startup called Teem [TechCrunch] • Jacob Weisberg Leaves Slate to Join Malcolm Gladwell in Podcast Venture[NYTimes] • Roman Abramovich’s UES megamansion is for ex Dasha Zhukova [NYPost; DailyMail]

Florida mansion used to host political fundraisers asks $8M — by Jennifer Gould Keil: “A posh Palm Beach County manse once used to host fundraisers for American presidential candidates, including the late Sen. John McCain, is now on the market for $7.99 million. Former owner Lothar Mayer, the 87-year-old ex-president of Liberty Hardware Manufacturing, hosted parties that were also attended by Democrats, like former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Joe Lieberman.” [NYPost]

SPOTLIGHT — Bike Maker Peloton Claims Flywheel Copied Its Technology — by Sara Randazzo: “Peloton claims in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Marshall, Texas, that Flywheel… created a copycat of Peloton’s bike using the company’s proprietary patents… The alleged scheme to copy the technology includes a cameo from Michael Milken… At a conference for high-net-worth investors, Mr. Milken approached Peloton Chief Executive John Foley as a potential investor “and pressed for—and obtained—information from Foley about Peloton’s technology and business strategy,” according to the lawsuit.”

Peloton, represented by Hueston Hennigan LLP, alleges Mr. Milken didn’t disclose a multimillion-dollar investment he had made in Flywheel and that Mr. Milken passed on the information to the competitor. A representative for Mr. Milken, who isn’t named as a defendant in the lawsuit, said “any claim that he acted improperly is totally without merit.” [WSJ]

LongRead — Where in the World Is Larry Page? — by Mark Bergen and Austin Carr: “Page has long been reclusive, a computer scientist who pondered technical problems away from the public eye, preferring to chase moonshots over magazine covers. Unlike founder-CEO peers (Mark Zuckerberg comes to mind), he hasn’t presented at product launches or on earnings calls since 2013, and he hasn’t done press since 2015.”

“He leaves day-to-day decisions to Pichai and a handful of advisers. But a slew of interviews in recent months with colleagues and confidants, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were worried about retribution from Alphabet, describe Page as an executive who’s more withdrawn than ever, bordering on emeritus, invisible to wide swaths of the company. Supporters contend he’s still engaged, but his immersion in the technology solutions of tomorrow has distracted him from the problems Google faces today.”

“People who know him say he’s disappearing more frequently to his private, white-sand Caribbean island… Along with Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who’s now Alphabet’s president, Page even occasionally holds court at the company’s weekly all-hands “TGIF” meetings at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters. He sometimes fields questions from employees… Page has reached a point where he takes on only rare projects that deeply fascinate him, like the sci-fi pursuits at X, Alphabet’s secretive research lab.” [Bloomberg]

Leaked video: Google Leadership’s Dismayed Reaction to Trump Election — by Allum Bokhari: “The video is a full recording of Google’s first all-hands meeting following the 2016 election… It features co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, VPs Kent Walker and Eileen Naughton, CFO Ruth Porat, and CEO Sundar Pichai… Co-founder Sergey Brin can be heard comparing Trump supporters to fascists and extremists. Brin argues that like other extremists, Trump voters were motivated by “boredom,” which he says in the past led to fascism and communism.” [Breitbart; Axios]

INTERVIEW — Can Mark Zuckerberg Fix Facebook Before It Breaks Democracy? The most famous entrepreneur of his generation is facing a public reckoning with the power of Big Tech — by Evan Osnos: “I asked Zuckerberg about his aversion to opening up. “I’m not the most polished person, and I will say something wrong, and you see the cost of that,” he said. “I don’t want to inflict that pain, or do something that’s going to not reflect well on the people around me… In an alternate world where there weren’t the compounding experiences that I had, I probably would have gotten more comfortable being more personal, and out there, and I wouldn’t have felt pushback every time I did something. And maybe my persona, or at least how I felt comfortable acting publicly, would shift.”

“In one of our conversations, I asked Zuckerberg whether he finds it insulting when people speculate that he lacks emotions. “Insulting?” he asked, and then paused for several seconds to consider. “I don’t find it insulting. I don’t think it’s accurate. I mean, I definitely care a lot. There’s a difference between letting emotions drive impulsive decisions and caring.” [NewYorker] • Mark Zuckerberg posts 3,200-word battle plan to fight election meddling[FastAndCompany]

Watch — Zuckerberg blowing a several-foot-long shofar on Rosh Hashanah.”I got a little carried away on my Teruah,” Zuckerburg wrote. [Video]

Netanyahu Shared Fake News About Soros. Now He and Facebook Have to Answer to the Court —by Nati Tucker: “Netanyahu and Facebook will have to explain why they allowed the spread of a false story on Netanyahu’s Facebook page that claimed – falsely and misleadingly – that billionaire George Soros was cooperating with the Iranian regime. The lawsuit was filed in Tel Aviv District Court by attorney Shachar Ben-Meir… Ben-Meir is demanding that the court issue a declaratory order stating that Netanyahu’s account did distribute false news, and that it therefore order Facebook to reduce exposure to the post significantly.” [Haaretz]

12 women cite pattern of improper behavior by PM’s aide Keyes — by Raphael Ahren: “A total of 12 women have accused David Keyes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson to the foreign media, of inappropriate behavior toward them and other women… Several sources, furthermore, have said that Keyes’s alleged improper behavior toward women, which took place before he was appointed Netanyahu’s spokesman in 2016, was so well-known that he was asked to stay away from certain offices that he used to frequent in New York.” [ToI] • Israeli lawmaker asks PM to suspend aide accused of assault [AP]

TALK OF THE TOWN — Nazis Stole His Renoir. His Granddaughter Finally Got It Back — by James Barron: “The canvas, painted by Pierre-Auguste Renoir in the last year of his life, had belonged to Alfred Weinberger, a Parisian collector and dealer who was Jewish… Mr. Weinberger’s granddaughter and only heir, Sylvie Sulitzer, had never seen it — until Wednesday, when the painting, “Two Women in a Garden,” became the centerpiece of an emotional ceremony at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Lower Manhattan… Among the officials were William F. Sweeney Jr., the head of the F.B.I.’s New York office, and Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States attorney in Manhattan, who said before the ceremony that the outcome “brings some measure of justice to the Weinberger family and to Madame Sulitzer.”[NYTimes]

California transit agency allows ad from Holocaust denial group — by Sam Levin: “Bay Area Rapid Transit (Bart) officials defended their decision to allow ads for the Institute for Historical Review (IHR), which the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has classified as a hate group that aims to “defend Nazism” and spread Holocaust denial propaganda. The electronic billboards, which say “History Matters!” and provide the name of the California-based organization, are in rotation at two Bart stations in San Francisco.” [TheGuardian]

Paul McCartney: ‘Hey Jude’ isn’t about the Jews — by Amy Spiro: “Paul McCartney had no idea anybody would associate the now iconic Beatles song “Hey Jude” with the Jews. That was, until he got a very angry phone call… The song, he said, was originally going to be called Hey Jules, for John Lennon’s son Julian. But later, McCartney decided he preferred the name Jude instead. “I didn’t realize it meant Jewish,” the singer said in the video published on Monday… One day in 1968, McCartney said, “I got this furious phone call from this guy, Mr. Leon, who was Jewish, he said: ‘What are you doing, how dare you do this.'” The singer added that “in Hitler’s day, in the Nazi thing, ‘Juden raus’ meant Jews out. And I didn’t connect.” [JPost]

BIRTHDAYS: Television executive who held high level programming positions at CBS, ABC and NBC, Fred Silverman turns 81… Chairman of global brokerage at CBRE, Stephen Siegel turns 74… Senior investigative reporter at The Daily Caller News Foundation, Richard Pollock turns 67… CEO of The Mellman Group, a polling and consulting firm whose clients include leading political figures and Fortune 500 companies, Mark S. Mellman turns 63… Ice dancer, who, with her partner Michael Seibert, won the 1981 and 1985 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Judy Blumberg turns 61… CEO at Civil Media Foundation, she was formerly CEO of NPR (2009-2011), SVP at NBC News (2011-2014) and head of news partnerships at Twitter (2014), Vivian Schiller turns 57… Comedian who earned the title “Roastmaster General” for his Comedy Central celebrity roasts, Jeff Ross (born Jeffrey Ross Lifschultz) turns 53…

Attorney General of North Carolina since January 2017, he was previously a member of the North Carolina Senate (2009-2016), Joshua “Josh” Steinturns 52… Member of the Los Angeles City Council since 2013, he was previously a member of the California State Assembly (2008-2013), Robert J. Blumenfield turns 51… Founder of United Hatzalah of Israel, Eli Beer turns 45… Attorney, triathlete and director of Maryland government and community relations at the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, Meredith Mirman Weisel turns 43… Member of the Colorado House of Representatives since 2012, Jonathan Singer turns 39… Senior analyst at progressive polling and strategic firm Lake Research Partners, Gary Ritterstein turns 35… David Behmoaras turns 27… Founder and president of Reshet Capital, she is also the co-founder of Supersonas, an Israeli women’s business network in NYC, Betty Grinstein… Encino, California resident, Orrie Wilner…