Daily Kickoff
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FIRST LOOK — The Atlantic’s Elaina Plott profiles Ivanka Trump, the ‘first daughter’ who spent years rigorously cultivating her image, but who wasn’t prepared for scrutiny as she serves as a senior advisor to her father, President Donald Trump: “Ivanka has not presented nearly as big a target as her husband has. In the president’s view, that’s because she’s ‘a very honest person,’ as he put it to me. A more likely reason is that Democrats are reluctant to go after the president’s children, especially a daughter whom many lawmakers have to come to regard, rightly or wrongly, as relatively benign.”
“Ask White House staffers today about Jared Kushner, and they’ll gripe that he operates as the president’s de facto chief of staff. Ask about Ivanka, and you’ll hear how she always says hello in the hallway and asks after your children. You’ll hear that she is a devoted mother. You’ll hear about the time she saw a positive piece of press on a colleague, printed it out, had her father sign it, framed it, and delivered it to that person as a gift.”
“Ivanka may find it bizarre that, two years into the Trump presidency, many people regard her as party to what they see as destructive policies and hateful rhetoric… Ivanka believes that this won’t harm her in the long term. She is intent on returning to New York when her time in the White House is over. Invitations to the Met Gala, dinners with girlfriends at Italian restaurants, charity events—she is said to be certain that they’re ‘all waiting’ for her. And she could very well be right… Rich Farley, a New York lawyer and the author of Wall Street Wars, is sure: ‘The only unpardonable sin in New York society is poverty.'” [TheAtlantic]
PODCAST PLAYBACK — The New York Times’s Michael Barbaro and Mark Landler discussed whether Israel’s diplomatic gifts from President Trump could be reversed by a future administration on The Daily podcast, published Thursday morning.
Barbaro: So, essentially, the reality on the ground has been changed in such a way that cannot be changed back?
Landler: “Yeah, I think that’s right. These two leaders [Trump and Netanyahu] have changed the facts on the ground in a way that won’t be easily undone no matter how fervent of a supporter of the two state solution follows Donald Trump in the White House or follows Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. They have changed the equation. They have, in a sense, retired the old paradigm.” [TheDaily]
FLASHBACK — A relevant quote from Senator Ben Sasse when Trump pulled out of the Iran deal: “Today is a reminder that if you live by the Presidency, you die by the Presidency… Two and a half years ago, President Obama made a bad deal with Iran without support from Congress, and today President Trump is pulling out of President Obama’s personal commitment, and he doesn’t need Congress’s support to do so. American foreign policy makes lasting progress when it is led by the President, approved by Congress, and presented honestly to the American people.”
JI INTERVIEW — Khaled Elgindy, a nonresident fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings, shared his thoughts about Netanyahu’s re-election and the Trump peace plan in an interview with Jewish Insider’s Jacob Kornbluh.
As the world awaits the release of Trump’s peace plan, Elgindy sounds less optimistic that the proposal would lead to serious negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, questioning whether it will touch on the core issues of the conflict or “if it’ll just be Jason Greenblatt trolling Palestinians on Twitter.”
“I’m not even sure that they’re going to release the plan,” he opined. “I think it doesn’t really matter whether there’s a plan, if it’s 40 pages or 60 pages or even two pages. We already know what the major components of the plan are, which is, he took Jerusalem off the table, refugees are off the table, genuine Palestinian sovereignty is off the table, and removing settlements are off the table. What’s left? What’s left is the size of the Palestinian economy areas and how much money they expect Arab states to pitch in to support it. This is not really something that I think is going to generate much traction, certainly with Palestinians or with Arab states. In that sense, it doesn’t matter whether…they officially release the plan.”
On annexation: “I think it’s really up to Netanyahu. I think he is going to be the deciding factor whether it’s politically wise to move on that. He is, so far, at least before the campaign, he was reluctant to get behind pushing for annexation. I think because the pragmatic side of him is aware that that would trigger consequences to officially take the two-state solution off the table. My sense is that Trump will get behind whatever Netanyahu decides. He probably wouldn’t take steps toward annexation unless he felt confident that the Trump administration would at least acquiesce in it and at least give it a green light, if not openly embrace it.”
According to Elgindy, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s strategy right now might be to wait out Trump and hope that a new Democratic administration would hit the reset button. “I think his inclination is basically to wait for the next administration that would reverse some of these policies and that it’d bring us back to where we were, maybe, under Obama, which wasn’t a good place for them anyway,” he speculated. “My sense is that if a Democrat wins, it would be fairly high on their priority list because of the damage that was done and there would be a desire to undo the damage in the same way that it was a priority for Obama in 2009 to undo some of the damage of the previous administration. That’s a totally hypothetical situation. But for the time being, I don’t see any incentive in the Palestinians engaging with this administration at any level except in the most basic, continuing security coordination.” [JewishInsider]
ULTIMATE DEAL WATCH ― Complicating a previous Reuters report, which Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt linked to on Twitter, ABC Newsreported on Thursday that the Trump peace plan could be rolled out as early as this month, as the administration weighs “a variety of factors.” The upcoming holidays of Passover and Ramadan may delay the rollout.
Greenblatt posted the following message to the Palestinian Authority leadership: “Our plan will greatly improve Palestinian lives and create something very different than what exists. It’s a realistic plan to thrive/prosper even if it means compromises. It’s not a ‘sell out’ — if the plan isn’t realistic, no one can deliver it. The Palestinian future is in your hands — we hope you use your power wisely and in a way that helps Palestinians live happier and better lives. It’s time for them to thrive.”
INBOX — American Jewish organizations, led by the Israel Policy Forum, sent a letter to President Trump on Friday “strongly” urging him to “pledge that any peace initiative your administration proposes will be based upon the principle of a negotiated two-state solution… and that you declare that the United States will not support any Israeli proposals to annex the West Bank, in whole or in part.” Organizations that signed the letter include the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Union for Reform Judaism, Rabbinical Assembly and United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
DRIVING THE CONVO ― Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, was denied entryto the U.S. on Wednesday, while traveling through Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport as he planned to embark on a speaking tour, according to a statement released by the Arab American Institute.
In its statement, the AAI said that despite having appropriate travel documentation, Barghouti was denied entry onto his U.S.- bound flight because of an “immigration matter.” The AAI noted that the order was carried out by the U.S. Consulate in Tel Aviv on behalf of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Of note — Barghouti, the founder of the BDS movement, himself lives in Israel.
AAI President James Zogby said in a statement, “Omar Barghouti is a leading Palestinian voice on human rights. Omar’s denial of entry into the U.S. is the latest example of the Trump administration’s disregard for those rights.” The scheduled events, Zogby said, will now take place via video conferencing.
State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said that visa records “are confidential under U.S. law. Therefore, we cannot discuss the details of individual visa cases.” But he insisted in a press briefing that U.S. law does not “authorize the refusal of visas based solely on political statements or views if those statements or views would be lawful in the United States, no matter how distasteful or objectionable some may find those statements or views.”
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) praised the administration’s move, saying that “Barghouti’s anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hate must not be tolerated, empowered or embraced.”
In a Q&A conducted via video conference with Peter Beinart on Thursday, Barghouti declined to state whether he would give up on the economic battle against Israel in the event Israel withdrew to the 1967 borders and ended settlement activity.
Beinart: Under the three planks of the BDS movement, if, and I recognize it’s not likely at this point, if a Palestinian state were to be created and the Palestinian national movement were to agree to the creation of this Palestinian state near or on the 1967 lines, and there were to be some agreement between Israel and the PLO on the question of refugees. You, as Omar Barghouti, would still support a boycott of Israel because of the third plank having to do with Israel’s internal character inside the 67 lines would still be discriminatory in your view?
Barghouti: “There’s an inner consensus in Palestinian society behind BDS. Almost all Palestinians agree that the rights of refugees are the absolute most important rights. They are the litmus test for justice to settle this colonial conflict and create a sustainable and comprehensive peace… So the issue is not whether a two state solution can address this or not. The issue is that under international law, in a one state or two state or five state solution, all human rights must be accommodated, all people’s rights must be accommodated. You cannot have a two state solution where one of the two states is an apartheid state… [BDS] will continue until the end of occupation, recognition and respect for Palestinian refugees rights, and end of apartheid.”
Barghouti also compared President Trump to Bashar al-Assad, the brutal dictator and embattled leader of Syria. “What gives Israel the right to occupy any territory, regardless of who is ruling that country?” Barghouti asked rhetorically when asked about the recent U.S. recognition of Israel’s rule over the Golan Heights. “By this token, the whole world has a right to occupy the United States because it’s ruled by Trump.”
Beinart: “Um. To be fair, I’m not sure Trump is Bashar al-Assad, but I take your point.” [Video]
SCENE YESTERDAY — Elan Carr was sworn in as the 4th Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a closed ceremony at the State Department. The event was attended by leaders from various Jewish and Christian organizations, foreign diplomats and administration officials. [Pic; Pic]
WATCH — Carr addressed the media at the State Department press briefing following the ceremony. Carr refused to make a distinction between Israeli settlements in the West Bank and neighboring Arab villages, calling the boycott of Jewish communities “discriminatory.”
“Refusing to buy products made by Jewish communities and wanting to buy products made by Arab communities that live next door to each other seems to me to be discriminatory. That seems pretty clear to me,” he explained.
Carr on BDS: “Hatred of the Jewish state is hatred of the Jewish people, and that’s something that’s very clear and that is our policy… The BDS movement is well known. This isn’t a ragtag group… and the stated goals on the website of the BDS movement is to deny the state of Israel economic prosperity and to deny legitimacy. That is anti-Semitism.” [CSPAN]
IRAN SANCTIONS ― A group of Republican Senators has sent a letter to President Trump on Tuesday, demanding that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stop letting Iran continue its limited civilian nuclear research program by revoking the waivers given to U.S. allies upon their expiration in May. “There is extensive evidence Iran channeled its nuclear weapons program through civil nuclear projects after 2003,” the senators wrote. They urged the president to “finally end all U.S. implementation” of the 2015 deal.
According to a report by Bloomberg News, people familiar with the administration’s thinking said they expect the nuclear waivers to be renewed. One of the sources said the group of six Senate Republicans are still weighing how hard to fight Trump and Pompeo on the matter, including whether to hold up the confirmations of nominees unless the waivers are scrapped.
European officials reportedly warned the White House in recent days that Iran might walk from the nuclear deal unless waivers on nuclear cooperation are extended. A senior administration official described to McClatchy “tense” meetings at the White House with European Union, French and British diplomats.
FDD’s Behnam Ben Taleblu writes… “Pulling the plug on Iran’s nuclear program: Iran could technically choose to leave the JCPOA at any time, but to date has opted to remain a party to the accord even as its economic dividends are circumscribed. Pinning such blame on the potential revocation of one and suspension of another waiver for civilian nuclear cooperation would be insincere.” [TheHill]
ON THE HILL ― by JI’s Laura Kelly: Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) pressed President Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Turkey, David Satterfield, on recognizing the Armenian genocide, after admonishing the veteran State Department official for failing to meet before a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday.
Menendez: Ambassador Satterfield, I was disappointed that you had to cancel your meeting with me, which I would have looked forward to going through a series of things. So I came to the hearing to ask you them. Let me start off with, do you acknowledge that from 1915 to 1923 nearly 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children were killed by the Ottoman empire?
Satterfield: “We are certainly aware of the facts of that atrocity.”
Menendez: Do you acknowledge it as a genocide?
Satterfield: “Senator, the president has stated that this is one of the most horrific atrocities in the 20th century, and I will abide by those remarks.”
Menendez: This is an artful dance as a nation, in which we do not recognize the historical fact that even the U.S. Holocaust Museum, which is a quasi-governmental entity, acknowledges the facts of the Armenian genocide. But we are incapable of mouthing the comments of an Armenian genocide and we cannot ultimately move to the future if we can’t recognize the past as a simple reality.
Satterfield was also pressed by members of the committee about Turkey’s pursuit of the Russian S400 missile defense system — at the expense of the purchase of F-35 fighter jets from the U.S. — the number of imprisoned journalists in the country, and potential for abuse in Turkey’s elections.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) rushed to the defense of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) on Thursday over her comments, which critics charged trivialized the 9/11 terror attacks. Ocasio-Cortez tweeted criticism at The New York Post for its coverage of Omar’s remarks — which included how “some people did something” on 9/11 — but offered no similar rebuke of her close pal. “I’m not going to quote the NY Post’s horrifying, hateful cover,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “Here’s 1 fact: Ilhan Omar is a cosponsor of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. She‘s done more for 9/11 families than the GOP who won’t even support healthcare for 1st responders – yet are happy to weaponize her faith.”
COUNTERCULTURAL — Israeli Millennials, Tilting Right, Helped Elect Netanyahu — by Felicia Schwartz and Dov Lieber: “Born close to or after the 1993 Oslo peace accords between the Israelis and Palestinians, and coming of age during a wave of violence known as the second Palestinian intifada, Israel’s millennials take a harder line on security and peace than older generations. ‘The hope or yearning for peace is foreign to them,’ said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, a think tank in Jerusalem. Mr. Netanyahu saw youth voters as a key bloc of support, said his pollster, John McLaughlin.” [WSJ]
Concession call — Three days after the election and the day after the Central Election Committee announced the final results, Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz called Prime Minister Netanyahu to congratulate him on a decisive electoral victory.
HEARD LAST NIGHT — Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) addressed the alarming rise of antisemitism in the U.S. at a panel discussion with historian Deborah Lipstadt and New York Times journalist Jonathan Weisman at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Reid, who co-hosted the event, urged everyone to take a stand against antisemitism and hate. “I believe that we must, whether it’s at a ballgame or a party at your house or just with your family, when we hear something said, speak up against it,” Reid said. “Don’t let it go.” [Pic]
2020 WATCH — Former DNC Chairman Steve Grossman endorsed South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg… Buttigieg attracting praise from an unexpected audience — conservatives… Early fundraising by 2020 Democrats shows they are in for a long, drawn-out fight… Far-left policies will drive a 2020 defeat, centrist Democrats fear. So they’re floating alternatives… Terry McAuliffe fuels speculation with Twitter post.
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BUSINESS BRIEFS: Disney CEO Bob Iger announces 2021 retirement[USAToday] • WeWork spent $2.5bn on global expansion last year[FinancialTimes] • Meet Marilyn Simons, wife of James Simons and the bricklayer’s daughter who became a philanthropist [Bloomberg] • Ron Burkle, Billionaire Investor, Is Said to Be in Talks to Buy National Enquirer [NYTimes]
CALLED ‘MOONSHOT’ FOR A REASON — Israel came close to becoming the fourth nation, after Russia, the U.S. and China, to land on the moon. The privately-funded Israeli spacecraft, Beresheet, crashed into the lunar surface in the last seconds of touchdown. ‘“We had a failure in the spacecraft. We, unfortunately, have not managed to land successfully,” said Opher Doron, the general manager of Israel Aerospace Industries’ space division. “We made it all the way to the moon. This is a great accomplishment. We are the seventh country to make it all the way to the moon.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was at mission control when it happened, said: “If at first you don’t succeed, try again.”
XPRIZE Awards $1 Million ‘Moonshot Award’ to Team SpaceIL: “‘As a testament to the team’s passion and persistence, we are presenting this $1 Million Moonshot Award to the SpaceIL team at our annual Visioneering Summit in October 2019, with the hope that they will use these funds as seed money towards their education outreach or Beresheet 2.0, a second attempt to fulfill the mission,’ said Anousheh Ansari, chief executive officer of XPRIZE.”[Businesswire]
SIMON WIESENTHAL DINNER SCENE — Disney Chief Bob Iger Calls for Civil Discourse, Warns ‘Hitler Would Have Loved Social Media’ — by Scott Feinberg: “‘We are losing ground,’ warned Disney chief Bob Iger in a fiery speech about the collapse of civility in America as he accepted the 2019 Humanitarian Award at the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s annual National Tribute Dinner. ‘Hate and anger are dragging us towards the abyss once again, and apathy is growing… consuming our public discourse and shaping our country into something that is wholly unrecognizable,’ he told a ballroom full of Hollywood’s most powerful players.” [Pic]
“The 68-year-old Iger was one of four honorees at the fundraising event, which took place at the Beverly Hilton. The other three, who received Medals of Valor, were Jeffrey Myers, the rabbi at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue… Kurt Kleinmann, whose late brother chose to accompany his late father to Auschwitz rather than be separated; and Florence Phillips, who has tailored ESL courses for immigrants seeking to become American citizens.” [HollywoodReporter; LATimes]
BOOK REVIEW — Roger Cohen reviews Marc Weitzmann’s latest book, The Rising Tide of Anti-Semitism in France (and What It Means for Us):“In Europe, where the Israeli-Palestinian conflict spills over (another Gaza war, another synagogue desecrated), the anti-Semitic surge has been particularly marked. France, home to the continent’s largest Jewish and Muslim communities, cradle of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the emancipation of the Jews in 1791, has been its epicenter… Weitzmann sees his country at war with modernity, one part aligned with the universalism of the Enlightenment, the other decrying the loss of nation and identity in rootless globalization — for which the stateless Jew becomes a symbol.” [NYTimes]
TOUGH READ — The Collapse: Is this the end of American Jewry’s golden age? — by Adam Garfinkle: “As the shine comes off the Zionist apple, religious Jews in America retain the option to seek solace in the abiding rituals of their faith communities—or to leave America for Israel. But most nonhalachic Jews lack such options, because ritual for them has long since become ceremony—performative displays for the sake of others rather than inward acts for the sake of self. And few will emigrate to a place that is no longer shiny. That is why, of the three shards of American Jewry sketched above, it is the third group of confused, politically homeless Jews who are most likely to contribute to the downward-tilted demographic “event” at hand. Many American Jewish leaders ignore or misunderstand what is happening because it is hard to admit that they and those they purport to represent are in big trouble.” [Tablet]
TALK OF THE TOWN — New York City vaccination order shines spotlight on insular Jewish community — by Lenny Bernstein, Lena H. Sun and Gabrielle Paluch: “Even among New York’s Hasidic Jews, members of the ultra-Orthodox Satmar sect are known for their strict religious and cultural traditions… Now the refusal of some parents to vaccinate their children — a decision not based on any religious proscription — and a resulting measles outbreak have brought public health authorities to their doorsteps in a collision of cultures that could turn messy. On Wednesday, the city sent 15 to 20 ‘disease detectives’ into the community, some with Yiddish interpreters… With only a week until the Jewish Passover holiday, when families gather in large groups and travel to see relatives and friends, city officials thought they had to move quickly to try to stop the spread of the disease.” [WashPost]
How Russia Sows Confusion in the U.S. Vaccine Debate — by Katherine Kirk: “A recent study from David Broniatowski, a professor at George Washington University, and his co-authors found that thousands of Russian accounts used to spread disinformation had seized on anti-vaccine messaging… They had turned to vaccines as a wedge issue in an effort to ramp up social discord, erode trust in public health institutions, and exacerbate fear and division in the United States.” [ForeignPolicy]
Russia’s representative Vassily Nebenzia at the UN Security Council Meeting on Venezuela this week: “Did you know that the government of New York proclaimed an emergency situation regarding a measles epidemic that broke out in the vicinity of the UN Headquarters — in Brooklyn?”
DESSERT — One of the World’s Great Party Restaurants Comes to New York — by Kate Krader: “Eyal Shani is one of Israel’s top chefs and the judge of Master Chef Israel. But he’s best known for the raucous wedding-party-style dinners he hosts at his Tel Aviv restaurant HaSalon which happen two nights a week (with two seatings per night)… Now he’s bringing the singular experience to New York’s Skyline Hotel, which will open three nights a week, Thursday through Saturday.” [Bloomberg]
REMEMBERING — Margit Kirsche dies; Holocaust survivor founded Skokie’s Hungarian Kosher Foods — by Maureen O’Donnell: “Decades after being held in a Nazi concentration camp, a Minneapolis man named Hymie Kane was shopping at Hungarian Kosher Foods in Skokie and saw a customer he thought might be an old friend. He screams down the aisle, ‘Are you Shloime from Bergen-Belsen?’’ said his son, Sheldon Kane. The other man turned, shocked to recognize another survivor. And the store on Oakton Street at Crawford Avenue in the north suburb suddenly was filled with weeping and shouts of joy. Caryn Bean, a longtime employee, was there and will never forget that day. ‘It was a meeting place,’ she said of Hungarian… Margit Kirsche, who was born in Hungary, and her husband and fellow Holocaust survivor Sandor Kirsche opened the business in 1973 and helped create that heimish — cozy — atmosphere. Mrs. Kirsche was buried last month in Israel after she died at her North Side home at 96.” [ChicagoSunTimes]
WINE OF THE WEEK — Pre-Passover Edition — by Yitz Applbaum: “As I do every year, here are my suggestions for the four cups of wine we drink during the Passover Seder. I have added an additional four cups for those who keep two days of Chag, or for those who keep just one but want to make their Seder more meaningful and enjoyable. These are in a recommended, but not hard-and-fast order:
First night: “Tzora Shoresh Cabernet — what better way than to kick off your Seder with this delicious, slightly edgy, and soulful blend of Cabernet, Syrah and Petit Verdot? Staying on the topic of edgy — a wine that will surely help you transition into dinner is the Recanati Wild Carignan. It has deep plum flavors that will prepare you for the roasted lamb which will soon grace your table. For the third glass, why not try the Samaria-based Tura Mountain Heights Merlot? Aged for twenty-two months in French oak barrels, this wine has a spicy forward and a toasted finish that will coat your throat and prepare you for the singing portion part of the Seder. And for the last cup of wine, let us finish with a bang and drink the Or Haganuz Har Sinai. This wine is a blend of many different grapes. It has a sweet prune-like taste on the forward and will prepare you for a post-Seder cognac.”
Second night: “For your second night, or for the Passover meal, I suggest the following wines which will help you properly appreciate your meal, though excessive consumption might come at the risk of being late to synagogue the following morning. Flam Noble — this brilliant, supple and elegant wine is always an integral part of my Seder meal. The grapes from the Judean Hills remind me of where I always want to be for Passover; LeShana Habah! Har Odem Alfasi Cabernet Merlot is a spectacular blend of boldness and serenity and will transport you to the northern most part of Israel for a dreamy moment of escape that you will carry you through the rest of the Seder. Yatir Forest Cabernet — one of the most consistently high-performing wines from Israel. What better way to be transported to the deserts of Israel then through this bold wine from the Negev? Yarden Katzrin Red — this wine will cap off what will have been a great Seder, and help to prepare you for the eight days ahead by awakening your spirit, keeping your tongue alive and helping you drift off to a deep sleep.”
WEEKEND BIRTHDAYS — FRIDAY: Phoenix, Arizona resident, Anita Rochelle Goldberg turns 82… Son of NYC real estate mogul Seymour Durst, and the elder brother of Douglas Durst, head of the Durst Organization, he is linked to three murder investigations, Robert Durst turns 76… Businessman, media entrepreneur and philanthropist, he built SFX Entertainment (a concert and stage performance promoter that was sold to Clear Channel in 2000 for $4.4 billion), Robert Sillerman turns 70… Attorney and best-selling novelist of ten legal thrillers and author of two nonfiction books, Scott Turow turns 70… Television producer, screenwriter, director and businessman, he serves as chairman of the Liverpool Football Club and the Boston Red Sox, Thomas Charles Werner turns 69… Senior Vice President at UJA Federation of New York, Stuart Tauber turns 67… Moroccan-born fashion designer, businessman, investor and philanthropist, he is a co-founder of the Guess clothing and accessory brand, Paul Marciano turns 67…
West Bloomfield, Michigan resident, Ron Mitnick turns 65… Consulting Counsel in Holland & Knight’s Washington, D.C., office, Norman B. “Norm” Antin turns 63… Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews since 2014, she is a former British Labour Party Member of Parliament (1997-2010), Gillian Joanna Merron turns 60… US District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York, appointed by President Obama in 2011, he was a law clerk for Justice Thurgood Marshall (1988-1989), Judge Paul A. Engelmayer turns 58… Realtor and VP for Keller Williams focused on Cambridge and Somerville, Massachusetts, Ilya Jacob Rasner turns 38… Comedian, writer and actress, best known for co-creating and co-starring in the Comedy Central series Broad City, Ilana Glazer turns 32… Israeli actress best known for her lead role in the 2012 film, Fill the Void, she won the Israeli version of an Oscar and Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival, Hadas Yaron turns 29…
SATURDAY: Curator and then director of the Louvre (1994-2001), he is the son-in-law of the late Alain de Rothschild, Pierre Rosenberg turns 83… Geneticist and Nobel Prize laureate (1985), Michael Stuart Brown turns 78… Actor who won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Vincent in the television series “Beauty and the Beast,” Ron Perlman turns 69… Longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and the bandleader for Conan O’Brien on The Tonight Show, Max Weinberg turns 68… Member of the UK Parliament (1992-2005), she served as the UK’s first ever Minister of State for Asylum and Immigration under then-PM Tony Blair, Barbara Roche (née Margolis) turns 65… Principal of Dubin & Co., co-founder of Highbridge Capital Management, and a founding board member of the Robin Hood Foundation, Glenn Dubinturns 62…
Author of six books and co-host of Democracy Now!, a daily, global, independent news hour, Amy Goodman turns 62… Aide to President George W. Bush (2002-2006), he then became the youngest-ever Federal Reserve Governor (2006-2011), he is married to Jane Lauder, a granddaughter of Estée Lauder, Kevin Warsh turns 49… Guitarist and founding member of the rock group “Staind,” he has also enjoyed a successful solo career in country music, Aaron Lewis turns 47… Executive director since 2016 of DC’s Sixth & I, Heather Moran turns 46… Director of government affairs at CUFI (Christians United for Israel) Action Fund, Alexandria Paolozzi turns 30… Director of operations at Dataminr, Morgan Hitzig turns 29… Major gifts officer for OneTable, Lauren Epstein… Chief of staff at Israel on Campus Coalition, Ian Hersh… Helene Cash…
SUNDAY: Anne Monk turns 71… Member of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (2008-2013), including a four-month stint as SEC Chair, she is currently on the Board of Governors of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Elisse B. Walter turns 69… Senior editor and news analyst for the Haaretz newspaper, Chemi Shalev turns 66… Media executive, who with her family are majority owners of CBS Corporation, Viacom, MTV Networks, BET and Paramount Pictures, Shari Redstone turns 65… Jose Ramon Preciado Cordova turns 65… Glenn Starr-Conner turns 63… Film, television and theater producer, his credits include the widely acclaimed 2016 film La La Land, Marc Platt turns 62… Professional makeup artist and the founder of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, author of eight books about makeup and beauty, Bobbi Brown turns 62…
Birmingham, Alabama-based post denominational rabbi, known on social media as “Deep South Rabbi,” Barry Altmark turns 62… Former US Ambassador to Mexico (2016-2018), she was previously Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs (2012-2016), Roberta S. Jacobsonturns 59… Manager of MLB’s Los Angeles Angels, he was previously the manager of the Detroit Tigers (2014-2017), an MLB catcher (1993-2010) and manager of Israel’s national baseball team, Brad Ausmus turns 50… Los Angeles-based freelance editor and writer, Robin Heinz Bratslavsky turns 50… VP of newsgathering for CNN’s Washington bureau, overseeing reporting including national security, law enforcement and enterprise stories, Adam Levine turns 47… Emmy Award-winning actress, producer, and entrepreneur, best known for her portrayal of Buffy Summers on the WB series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003), Sarah Michelle Gellar Prinze turns 42…
Author of three books, journalist for Monocle and Bloomberg Politics, co-founder of Votecastr to track elections in real-time, Sasha Issenberg turns 39… Founder and CEO of Develop, LLC, an advisory firm focused on Opportunity Zones, he was a senior economic adviser in the Obama administration until 2013, Steve Glickman turns 39… Director of education at Bnei Akiva Schools of Toronto, Hillel David Rapp turns 39… Founder and CEO of Charity Bids, Israel “Yummy” Schachter turns 38… Co-founder and co-CEO of BurnAlong, an online fitness platform, he is the co-author of the NYT bestseller, “The Black Banners,” Daniel Freedman turns 37… Documentary filmmaker, Nicholas Ma turns 36… Washington-based technology policy reporter for The Information, she worked previously for Politico and the BBC, Ashley Gold turns 30… Co-founder of Young Jewish Conservatives, Yitzchok Tendler… Moriah Elbaz… Casey Tepper… Isaac Hasson… Jon Fine…
