Daily Kickoff
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ON THE HILL — A group ofHouse Democrats — including House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Eliot Engel (D-NY), Chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee — have circulated the initial text of a resolution that defines and condemns anti-Semitic tropes and stereotypes, a legislative response to recent statements by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) who suggested pro-Israel groups push for “allegiance to a foreign country.”
The resolution, expected to pass on Wednesday, will explicitly address that charges of “dual loyalty” directed at Jews are anti-Semitic in nature and that such rhetoric has no place in congressional discourse. Rep. Omar is not mentioned in the draft by name, a deliberate move by lawmakers who, for days, debated how to respond to her comments in an official manner. The resolution, about four pages long, defines anti-Semitism as “the bigotry faced by Jewish people simply because they are Jews.” It’s unclear whether the group plans to seek Omar’s removal from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
A senior congressional source said that given the Minnesota lawmaker’s repeated offenses, Democratic members felt compelled to devise a more concrete act responding to her comments rather than simply calling for a public apology. “The idea that certain members of Congress seemingly believe it is acceptable to use historic anti-Semitic tropes accusing Jews of dual loyalty, despite the broad condemnation of the entire House Democratic Leadership, is beyond me,” Rep. Gottheimer wrote in an email to Jewish Insider. [JewishInsider]
On Monday, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling for a House resolution rejecting Omar’s “latest slur and make clear that no matter what may divide the 435 members of the House of Representatives, they are united in condemning anti-Semitism.”
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) tells Jewish Insider: “The grotesque anti-Semitic slur of dual loyalty has a long and painful history for Jews around the world, including here in the United States. I hope Rep. Omar will recognize this fact and steer clear of unjustifiably questioning the allegiance of supporters of the US-Israel relationship. Loyal Americans can passionately support the Jewish state and a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, just as they can passionately support the aspiration for a Palestinian state. Personally, as a lifelong supporter of Israel, I remain fully committed to a two-state solution, with a Palestinian state living side by side in security, peace and prosperity with the Jewish state of Israel. That has always been, and remains U.S. policy.”
“Hateful stereotypes of any type have no place in our policy debates. That is why I wholly condemn the racist poster in the West Virginia statehouse attacking Rep. Omar, and indeed all Muslim Americans. We must speak out against intolerance, irrespective of the source or the target.“
Rep. Juan Vargas (D-CA) tweeted: “It is disturbing that Rep. Omar continues to perpetuate hurtful anti-Semitic stereotypes that misrepresent our Jewish community. Additionally, questioning support for the U.S.-Israel relationship is unacceptable. Israel has and remains a stalwart ally of the United States because of our countries’ shared interests and values. I condemn her remarks and believe she should apologize for her offensive comments.”
President Trump commented on Monday night: “Representative Ilhan Omar is again under fire for her terrible comments concerning Israel. Jewish groups have just sent a petition to Speaker Pelosi asking her to remove Omar from Foreign Relations Committee. A dark day for Israel!”
Meanwhile… Ocasio-Cortez defends Ilhan Omar’s tweets about Israel — by Chris Perez: “Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter on Monday night to once again defend Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar over the comments she keeps making about Israel.” [NYPost]
Ilhan Omar is the Steve King of the left — by Henry Olsen: “Democrats might hope that she will straighten up, but as the GOP learned with King, bigotry can be a deep-rooted plant. Keeping Omar on her committees when Republicans have divested King of his harms Democratic claims that their party is pure of heart… If they wish to credibly maintain that they have no tolerance for bigotry in any of its forms, they must be beyond suspicion of such. They must remove Omar from all of her committees now, or forever risk that bigotry will haunt them for the remainder of her time in office.” [WashPost]
HEARD ON THE VIEW — Bari Weiss, co-hosting The View on Monday: “I would say, for the past decade or more I’ve been watching, as all of you have, the rising anti-Semitism across Europe — cemeteries being defaced and a Holocaust survivor lynched in her apartment in Paris by her neighbors, people getting beat up in the street for wearing a yarmulke or for speaking Hebrew in Berlin. I always thought that America was different, but it was different not just because of our love of religious liberty and the fact that the founders themselves always had embraced the Jewish population of this country, but the fact that we don’t have a history of genocide and anti-Jewish pogroms, and the fact that we don’t have a flood of immigrants from it from countries where anti-Semitism is the norm… The fact that I thought America was an exception has changed. I am now worried that what we are seeing in Europe could be coming here.”
Weiss on anti-Semitism on the Left: “The problem with anti-Semitism from the far Left is that often times it is smuggled into the mainstream under the guise of progressive values… And so that kind of language is a siren song, including to Jews — seventy-five percent of whom vote for Democrats… I’m a liberal Zionist. I am very critical of the policies of the current Israeli government. I believe that Bibi Netanyahu is selling out the legacy of the Holocaust when he makes common cue with leaders like Viktor Orban in Hungary. I believe that he is desecrating what the Jewish state is all about when he allows out-and-out racists into his political coalition. I’m saying all of that. I am not an anti-Semite. That’s about criticizing Israel. Where it crosses a line is when it becomes about dehumanizing Israel, Israelis and Jews, and when you say that the largest Jewish community on planet earth seventy years after the Holocaust does not have a right to exist in the Jewish ancestral homeland, that’s when it crosses a line.” [Video]
Dr. Einat Wilf: “The rise of anti-Zionism in left wing and progressive circles in UK/U.S. has little to do with Israel. It is an insidious way of constraining Jewish life in the west. By playing token anti-Zionist ‘good Jews’ against a majority of Jews, it tells Jews ‘you can no longer belong here.'”
2020 WATCH — Here’s The Pro-Israel Lobby’s New Plan To Preserve Its Political Influence — by Noah Kulwin: “Senior figures affiliated with America-Israel Public Affairs Committee, known better as AIPAC, are preparing to launch a new political group called Pro-Israel America to steer smaller-dollar political donations toward pro-Israel candidates… Pro-Israel America hopes to recruit 10,000 donors giving around $200 each in order to send at least $2 million to pro-Israel candidates during the 2020 campaign cycle… The new group’s executive director, Jeff Mendelsohn, served as AIPAC’s director of outreach from 2005 to 2016. The group’s organizers plan to unveil it at AIPAC’s Policy Conference later this month.” [HuffPost]
— “‘Many other people involved in the pro-Israel community, a lot of AIPAC-affiliated members, there’s a lot of concern; there’s a clarion call for activism,’ said Stephen Fiske, who is the chairman of the Florida Congressional Committee that backs pro-Israel candidates… So far, no organized effort to field a primary challenger against Ms. Omar has begun, although Rudy Boschwitz, a former Republican senator from Minnesota who served on AIPAC’s board in the 1990s, said he had ‘suggested that to some people.'” [NYTimes]
Bernie Sanders’ staffers want him to be less grumpy… Top Democratic donors wait for Terry McAuliffe to decide on 2020 bid… Sen. Jeff Merkley opts outof Democratic presidential contest and will run for reelection to Oregon seat… Also not running: Hillary Clinton… Big-dollar donors, including Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump, fueled Kamala Harris’ political rise in California.
PODCAST PLAYBACK — H.R. McMaster, former National Security Advisor and currently Chair of the Board of Advisors at FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power, discusses the Mideast on FDD’s Foreign Podicy podcast with Cliff May: “What Iran is trying to do, I believe, is keep the Arab world perpetually weak so it can apply a Hezbollah model to the greater Middle East and to the Arab world in which they have a weak government in place that is dependent on Iran for support while they create militias and other armed groups that are outside of that government’s control and can be turned against that government if that government acts against Iranian interest… This is what they’ve achieved, in large measure, in Syria… What Iran is trying to do, as well, is place a proxy army on the border of Israel. And so we have to do something about this. Remaining in the northeastern part of Syria gives the United States and our partners some significant leverage.” [FDD]
PROFILE — John Bolton May Save Us All — by Graeme Wood: “[Bolton] is now the most important figure in American national security, and because his position requires no Senate confirmation, he answers to no one but Trump. With the departure of James Mattis as secretary of defense early this year, Bolton is, incredibly, the only senior security official close to Trump who has seen how a normal White House works… Bolton’s return to power has allowed him to pursue his great passions in life, which are outmaneuvering his adversaries, foreign and domestic, and getting America out of treaties.”
“I asked Bolton whether the U.S. should leave the UN, which seems both a logical conclusion of his contempt and a policy that Trump himself might consider. He replied by quoting Jeane Kirkpatrick, who served as Reagan’s UN ambassador: “No,” she said. ‘It’s not worth the trouble.'” [TheAtlantic]
TALK OF THE REGION — Palestinian president slams US administration from Baghdad: “On Monday, Abbas held talks with President Barham Saleh a day after he met with Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi… Abbas said after meeting with Abdul-Mahdi that ‘the current American administration is encouraging Israel to be a state above the law.’ Abbas added that the Trump administration ‘is biased and not suitable to be a sponsor of peace talks.'” [AP] • Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov slams Trump’s ‘deal of the century’ [JPost]
— “A former U.S. ambassador to Israel, Ned Walker, has been an outspoken advocate of moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, but strongly objected to the consulate closing. ‘To put it bluntly, it is a stupid move driven by an ambassador who represents a certain portion of the Israeli political scene — the settlers,’ he said in an email to The Times. ‘It is true that when I cover one eye I can still see, but not as well as with two. Why we want to half-blind ourselves by cutting off the Palestinians makes no sense to me.'” [LATimes]
HEARD YESTERDAY — Former President Jimmy Carter in an interview with Israeli journalist Tali Lipkin-Shahak for the Truman Conference — 40 Years since the Peace Treaty between Israel at the Hebrew University on March 11th, and parts of which were broadcasted Monday on Israel’s Channel 12: “I don’t see any way to make peace with Netanyahu as PM. I don’t think he wants peace, and I am not sure that Abu Mazen (Abbas) does either right now. And you don’t have a trusted mediator who can bridge the gap and secure the step by step, small concessions that are necessary for accommodation. I have talked to President Trump’s son-in-law (Jared Kushner) about the Middle East and urged him to be aggressive and flexible as well and to reach out to the Palestinians as well as to the Israelis and the Arab leaders, and he promised me that he would, but I am not sure that’s being done.”
SCENE LAST NIGHT — by JI’s Laura Kelly: At Washington DC’s historic Sixth and I synagogue, experts from the Israel Policy Forum spoke to a crowded basement room on the crisis in Gaza and chance for a successful Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. [Pic]
“My own view is, I’m deeply skeptical about anything that could come out of this peace plan,” said Ilan Goldenberg, former head of the 2016 negotiating team under John Kerry. Yet, where the Trump Administration has surprised experts in the field, is by putting together an almost 100-page proposal of “describing in full the actual vision of what an agreement looks like. I think that makes more sense because it’s really hard to sell the public and politicians on, ‘Here’s some theoretical stuff without giving you the full picture.’ So you have to make these huge political sacrifices up front without an actual vision of what that end state looks like. They’re actually going to try and sell peace.”
On the Israeli elections and possibility for peace, Goldenberg said in the scenario that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wins, he’ll likely form a far-right government coalition and reject the peace plan out of hand, if it’s released sometime after the elections. If the newly-formed Blue White party headed by Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz and former Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid manage to form a government, by the time they are stable enough to discuss the peace plan, it could have lost its relevancy. “I am personally of the view, that the most likely scenario is this thing never sees the light of day.”
KAFE KNESSET — Bibi Rallies the Likud — by Neri Zilber: In an overflowing hall packed with Likud activists outside Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially launched the party’s campaign with a rousing, spirited forty-three minute speech that hit all the expected notes. The PM touted his government’s accomplishments over the past decade, especially in foreign affairs (“the Left always warned us about…international isolation, but we chose a different path — one of honor, strength, pride and spirit”); attacked the media and the Left (“they’re usually the same thing”); and hammered home the point that his main challengers in Blue and White were closet leftists (“Purim came early — they’re dressing up pretending to not be Left”). At one point the PM led the crowd in chants of “it’s Bibi or Tibi,” a reference to prominent Arab MK Ahmed Tibi. Nevertheless, as many observers pointed out, the PM’s speech was riddled with inaccuracies. Arguably the biggest news was the pre-speech handshake Netanyahu shared with Gideon Sa’ar, a popular former senior Likud minister who Bibi had accused of plotting a putsch against him. Read today’s entire Kafe Knesset newsletter by subscribing here [KafeKnesset]
BUZZ ON BALFOUR — Netanyahu Faces Indictments and a Rising Opposition — Could He Lose Reelection? — by Bernard Avishai: “Polling conducted by the Times of Israel on the eve of the indictments found that, ‘if charges are announced,’ more than a quarter of those who had planned to vote for the Likud would not. Then again, defiance is Netanyahu’s brand. His supporters admire his strength, his spite. Mandelblit has handed him a new foil.” [NewYorker] • Netanyahu is going down, but what about his powerful accomplice? [Haaretz]
WATCH — Former PM Ehud Olmert on CNN with Christiane Amanpour: “I think that Benjamin Netanyahu has finished his service as the leader of the state of Israel… Towards the end of the year, Netanyahu will have to spend most of his time in the District Court in Jerusalem and not in the Prime Minister’s Office.” [Video]
— Israel’s Channel 12 News anchor Yoni Levi: “Indeed the ground is shaking under [Netanyahu’s] feet… but it’s very early to rule him out.” [Video]
NEW DETAILS — Lawyer for Michael Cohen Approached Trump Attorneys About Pardon — by Rebecca Ballhaus, Joe Palazzolo and Michael Rothfeld: “Mr. Cohen’s attorney at the time, Stephen Ryan, discussed the possibility of a pardon with lawyers for Mr. Trump in the weeks after the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Mr. Cohen’s home, office and hotel room… The president’s lawyers, including Jay Sekulow, Rudy Giuliani and Joanna Hendon, dismissed the idea of a pardon at the time… But at least one of them, Mr. Giuliani, left open the possibility that the president could grant Mr. Cohen one in the future. Mr. Ryan also brought up the subject of a pardon with Alan Futerfas, an outside lawyer for the Trump Organization, and the company’s general counsel, Alan Garten.” [WSJ]
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BUSINESS BRIEFS: Leslie Wexner’s L Brands Faces Pressure to Separate Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works [WSJ] • Surfing, Schools and Jets: WeWork’s Bets Follow CEO Adam Neumann’s Passions [WSJ]• Bowery’s Ace Hotel is getting an $80 million refinancing package from Bank Hapoalim [RealDeal] • China’s AliExpress is Bringing Turkey and Israel Together [Calcalist]
MEDIA WATCH — Daily Mail Owner to Spin Off Euromoney Stake to Shareholders — by James Ludden and Thomas Seal: “The owner of Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper will distribute its stake in the publisher of Euromoney magazine to shareholders in a move that will tie the fortunes of Chairman Lord Rothermere closer to the company… Euromoney CEO Andrew Rashbass said it supported DMGT’s latest move, which would underline the publisher’s ‘status as a fully independent company.'” [Bloomberg]
SPOTLIGHT — After 25 years as partners, Soffer siblings of Turnberry, Fontainebleau part ways — by Rene Rodriguez: “Jeffrey Soffer and Jackie Soffer, the brother-and-sister team of the formidable Turnberry Associates development firm, are going their separate ways. Jeffrey Soffer is launching a new company, Fontainebleau Development LLC, that will focus on taking the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hospitality brand to international markets… Jackie Soffer will remain chairman and CEO of Turnberry, the development firm launched by their father Don Soffer. She will continue her role as major partner of Aventura Mall and the Miami Beach Convention Center hotel. Both Soffers will continue to share ownership of several properties, including JW Marriott Nashville, Hilton Downtown Nashville and Fontainebleau Aviation. They will also share ownership of the Solé Mia residential development in North Miami, which they are developing with Richard LeFrak and his family.” [MiamiHerald]
HOLLYWOOD — Spielberg, Netflix Clash on Streaming’s Eligibility for Oscars — by Hailey Waller: “Steven Spielberg is taking on Netflix Inc. At this year’s annual post-Oscars meeting, the filmmaker, who’s representing directors as an Academy governor, will speak out against considering streamed films for awards, IndieWire reported… ‘Steven feels strongly about the difference between the streaming and theatrical situation,’ a spokesperson from Amblin, Spielberg’s production company, told IndieWire, adding that the Hollywood director hopes others will join his campaign at the meeting next month… Netflix fired back late Sunday, without naming Spielberg, in a tweet that proclaimed the service’s love of cinema and said it also loves providing wider access to movies and ‘giving filmmakers more ways to share art.'”[Bloomberg]
SPORTS BLINK — Revolution to play Chelsea in charitable match — by Nate Weitzer: “The Revolution will team up with English Premier League power Chelsea FC to play a charity match at 8 p.m. May 15 at Gillette Stadium. The exhibition match, dubbed the ‘Final Whistle on Hate,’ was conceived in November without a specified time or date. Proceeds from the match will be dedicated to initiatives to combat anti-Semitism and all hate crimes, including the World Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Holocaust Educational Trust. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and Revolution owner Robert Kraft will also donate $1 million each in support of the cause.” [BostonGlobe]
Ajax’s ‘Super Jews’ keep on singing amid rising anti-Semitism — by James Masters and Sean Coppack: “Speaking to CNN, a number of Ajax supporters who refused to give their names, insisted the use of Jewish symbolism had nothing to do with religion. ‘I think it’s a kind of culture, every club has that,’ one fan said. Another added: ‘It’s nothing to do with that (religion), it’s just nostalgia for them.’ … Off the field, the Dutch football authorities have made the eradication of anti-Semitism a priority. Since 2016 the KNVB, the governing body of Dutch football, has met with Jewish groups to discuss tackling anti-Semitic chanting.” [CNN]
Do the Jews really need their own Nobel Prize? — by Jonathan Tobin: “If we gave as much publicity to honoring an exemplary Jewish teacher or organization as we do to a ‘Jewish Nobel’ driven as much by fame as it is by good deeds, we might do more to inspire Jewish youth (Genesis’ purpose), who tend to regard the celebrity-driven ceremonies with the sort of cynicism that is already killing Jewish life. It would be far better to embrace a more intellectual model for a Jewish award — one not based on worshiping the rich and famous.”[JNS]
STATE-SIDE — Pepperoni served at reception for Connecticut’s first Muslim state legislator — by Neil Vigdor: “M. Saud Anwar is Connecticut’s first Muslim state legislator — so it raised eyebrows when pepperoni was served at a reception for the Pakistani-American at the Capitol. Pepperoni is a pork product and is not halal under Islamic law, which is similar to the kosher tradition in Judaism… The episode recalls a 2005 diner stop by Connecticut’s then-U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman in Greenwich, where Prescott Bush Jr., the late brother of President George H.W. Bush was coincidentally having breakfast and innocently offered Lieberman some bacon. Lieberman eats kosher food and observes the Sabbath.” [Courant]
TALK OF THE TOWN — Amid Measles Outbreaks, States Seek to Force Parents to Vaccinate Children — by Kate King: “New York’s measles outbreaks have largely been concentrated in Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn and Rockland County. Rockland County’s outbreak has infected 143 people, mostly children under age 18, since October. No one has died, but several people have been hospitalized, said county Health Commissioner Patricia Ruppert. Public and private health providers have given out more than 16,000 vaccines since the outbreak began, mostly in the Orthodox community… Rabbi David Zwiebel, executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America in Manhattan, an Orthodox advocacy group, said he believes most parents in the Orthodox Jewish community vaccinate their children, but rabbis have differing opinions on vaccines.” [WSJ]
Art Collected by Jewish Lawyer Before WWII Goes to Auction: “About 200 works of art from a Jewish lawyer’s collection that were spirited out of Nazi Germany to the U.S. are going up for auction. The works collected by Ismar Littmann being offered Tuesday at Swann Auction Galleries in New York are mostly drawings, etchings and lithographs. They were once part of a collection of about 6,000 pieces he amassed. The works being auctioned are pieces brought out of Germany before World War II by Littmann’s son, who eventually settled in Texas.” [AP]
Vatican to Open Archives on World War II Pope Pius XII — by Francis X. Rocca: “Pope Francis said on Monday that he would open the Vatican archives on Pope Pius XII, bowing to decades of requests from historians and Jewish groups who have questioned why the wartime pope stayed silent during the horrors of Nazi-controlled Europe. Pope Pius has been criticized for his failure to speak out against the Holocaust, as well as for his earlier record as the Vatican’s Secretary of State, when he negotiated a concordat establishing the Holy See’s relations with Nazi Germany.” [WSJ; TheAtlantic]
ACROSS THE POND — Jeremy Corbyn is thoroughly indecent — by James Kirchick: “The majority of Corbyn’s parliamentary colleagues agree that he should not be prime minister. In 2016, they voted 172 to 40 against him in a vote of no confidence. But the exigencies of the parliamentary system mean that as long as they stay in the party, Labour MPs will be working toward a Prime Minister Corbyn at the next election. And what would it signify if, in the words of its own former MPs, a ‘sickeningly, institutionally racist’ party that poses ‘a threat to national security’ and is a ‘danger to the cohesion of our society’ ever came to power? Britain would boast the dubious distinction of having the first anti-Semitic government in Western Europe since the Third Reich.” [WashPost]
BOOK OF THE WEEK — Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel by Matti Friedman (on sale today, $17.67 on Amazon)
TRANSITION — Dr. Noam Wasserman has been appointed as Yeshiva University’s new Dean of the Sy Syms School of Business, effective May 2019. Wasserman was a professor at Harvard Business School (HBS) for 13 years before serving as the Lemann Chair in Entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California (USC) and the founding director of its Founder Central initiative.
DESSERT — What Happens to London’s Food Scene After Brexit? — by Yasmeen Serhan: “Britain’s impending (and ever more uncertain) departure from the European Union has prompted some people to start preparing for the worst. Many of the country’s top retailers warn that in a worst-case scenario, lettuce and fresh fruit could disappear from supermarket shelves… Yotam Ottolenghi isn’t one of those people. The renowned Israeli-British chef does have his own reasons to be concerned about Brexit, though: His London restaurants and eponymous deli chain are known for incorporating fresh, seasonal ingredients into their recipes and, like the rest of the country, a significant chunk of the fruits and vegetables he serves comes from continental Europe… Ottolenghi opened his first deli with his business partners Sami Tamimi and Noam Bar nearly two decades ago in Notting Hill… Ottolenghi and Tamimi focused their efforts on the food, which was influenced in large part by their shared hometown, Jerusalem.” [TheAtlantic]
How To Decode A Kosher Label — by Shira Feder: “Less than 2% of America’s population is Jewish, yet 41% of America’s packaged food is kosher. According to marketing firm Lubicom, there are 35 million non-Jewish consumers of kosher products. By 2025, the kosher food market is projected to grow 11.6%. And as kosher gets bigger and bigger, the world of kosher certification industry — and the public’s questions — grow with it.” [Forward]
BIRTHDAYS: Israeli-American psychologist, winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work with Amos Tversky on the psychology of decision-making, Daniel Kahneman turns 85… Former University Counsel for California State University, Donald A. Newman turns 76… Partner emeritus of Los Angeles law firm, Gordon, Edelstein, Krepack, Grant, Felton & Goldstein, LLP, Mark Edelstein turns 74… President of Los Angeles PR firm Robin Gerber & Associates, Robin Gerber Carnesale turns 73… Managing partner at Lerer Hippeau, a NYC-based VC firm, he co-founded Huffington Post and is chair of BuzzFeed and serves on the boards of Group Nine Media, Blade and Thrive Global, Kenneth B. Lerer turns 67… Founder and CEO of the DC-based News Literacy Project, he was a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter with the Los Angeles Times for 21 years, Alan C. Miller turns 65… Artist, writer, and professor of computer science at Yale University, he was a national fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior fellow in Jewish thought at the Shalem Center, David Hillel Gelernter turns 64…
Founder of BVision Sportsmedia dedicated to making sports more accessible to women, she has been a national board member of AIPAC, Betsy Berns Kornturns 51… President and founder in 2013 of West End Strategy Team, he was previously managing partner of Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications, Matt Dorfturns 49… Los Angeles area builder and developer, Michael Reinis turns 48… President of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association since 2018, he was previously in public affairs at the US Department of Commerce (2010-2016), Michael N. Kruger turns 43… Director of strategic communications for the House Judiciary Committee, he previously held a similar position for the committee’s chairman, Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-10), Daniel S. Schwarz turns 34… Co-founder and CEO at ImpactTechNation, he is also a co-founder of Wake-Up Jerusalem, a social-political movement in Israel for young adults, Hanan Rubin…