Good Wednesday morning!

Tonight in Jerusalem, President Reuven Rivlin will host some 40 world leaders who have arrived to attend tomorrow’s World Holocaust Forum at Yad Vashem, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Spain’s King Felipe VI and U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Vice President Mike Pence, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the U.K.’s Prince Charles are slated to arrive tomorrow. 

Not present: Polish President Andrzej Duda will be skipping the entire program, despite repeated offers from Rivlin to speak at the events. It had previously been reported that Duda’s boycott was a result of not being offered a speaking slot. Rivlin will invite Duda for an official state visit at a later date. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda pulled out of the event on Tuesday in a show of solidarity with Duda.

Safety first: Jerusalem’s King David Street, where many high-end hotels are located, is being “hermetically sealed,” Israeli police told The New York Times. Security measures include the creation of a no-fly zone over parts of Jerusalem, including Yad Vashem and the Crowne Plaza hotel, where Vice President Mike Pence plans to stay because he was late to book, according to The Times. 

This morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Pelosi and a bipartisan delegation of members of Congress at the prime minister’s office. Yesterday, the delegation visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. 

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Annexation Watch

Bibi, Gantz both adopt annexation push

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz traded barbs yesterday over who should be trusted by voters to push for annexation of the Jordan Valley. Jewish Insider’s Jacob Kornbluh recaps the latest developments: 

Rival vows: In a speech to supporters, Netanyahu unleashed a string of attacks against his rival, mocking him for shifting to the right when Gantz declared that he would apply Israeli law over the Jordan Valley, a promise Netanyahu made on the eve of the last election. The Likud leader also pledged to “immediately” extend Israeli sovereignty over West Bank settlements “without exception.”

Friendly reminder: Joint [Arab] List leader Ayman Odeh, who recommended Gantz for prime minister in the last round, and Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz criticized Gantz’s declaration and hinted that he should not take their support for granted. Responding to criticism, Gantz wrote in a Whatsapp group to Blue and White MKs: “Listen to my words and listen carefully to them. They are not in support of unilateral annexation.” 

Gantz’s strategy: Feeling that he has locked up left-wing voters, Gantz is now targeting moderate Likud supporters and liberal right-wing voters to break the tie. “The requirement of support from the international community makes his statement an empty promise,” Susie Gelman, chair of the Israel Policy Forum, explained. “Gantz is aware that support from the international community will never be forthcoming for annexing the Jordan Valley, reducing his statement to a political ploy to attract right-wing voters.” 

Playing into Bibi’s hands? Political commentators were quick to point out Gantz’s shift in position. Just weeks ago, the leader of the center-left bloc said that annexation of the West Bank is a bad move and that the release of Trump’s peace plan in the coming weeks would be considered interference in the election process. The backlash to that statement, and Netanyahu’s push to bring annexation to a vote in the Knesset next week, appears to have pushed Gantz rightward to draw votes from the right-wing bloc. 

Timing: In a series of tweets, Gantz and Netanyahu challenged each other to immediately follow through on their pledge. Netanyahu offered to bring it for a vote during next week’s Knesset session on immunity, while Gantz maintained that it requires just a cabinet vote. On Wednesday, Defense Minister Naftali Bennett called for a cabinet vote to move ahead with the plan. 

Why it matters: Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro tells JI that while this doesn’t mark a shift in Blue and White’s view that the Jordan Valley should be Israel’s security border, the “confusing headlines do open the door for Likud to try to force the issue in a Knesset vote — despite longstanding consensus that annexation is not a decision that a caretaker government has the authority to make.” 

Mission accomplished: Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, two Trump campaign aides, announced on Tuesday that they had ended their work with the Netanyahu campaign, just a month after they were recruited. “We went to Israel to conduct an assessment of capabilities and needs of the campaign. In short order, we helped to stand up a structure that will help the prime minister be successful,” Lewandowski told JI. “It was never our intention to be in Israel full-time — as we are focused on ensuring President Trump is re-elected in November.”

Netanyahu added in a statement: “They did an excellent job and completed their work, we will continue to consult them in the future.”

Watch: At yesterday’s kickoff rally, Netanyahu took the stage to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” a departure from the traditional Likud jingle.

in the race

NYC Councilman Chaim Deutch announces a run for Congress

New York City Councilman Chaim Deutsch on Tuesday announced a run for Congress in New York’s 9th congressional district. The Democrat, whose seat is term-limited, is mounting a primary challenge against seven-term Congresswoman Yvette Clark.

Seven’s a crowd: Deutsch joins a crowded primary field — five others have filed paperwork to run against Clarke, including Adem Bunkeddeko, who narrowly lost his primary bid in the district last cycle; former Republican congressional candidate Lutchi Gayot; and community organizer Isiah James. The June primary will likely determine the winner of the general election; the district is solidly blue, and Clarke beat Gayot, who has since switched parties, by a 79-point margin in 2018. 

Standing up and speaking out: Deutsch has been outspoken about the recent uptick in antisemitism in Brooklyn, telling JI last month, “We have been told over and over again that we are being paranoid and we are making a big deal out of a small problem. Will this most recent attack be the wake-up call that the world needs to stop ignoring our plight and abandoning the Jewish community?” In a since-deleted tweet in 2019, Deutsch blamed Brooklyn activist Linda Sarsour and freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for “using their platforms to normalize anti-Semitism.”

On the issues: Deutsch, a self-described “conservative Democrat,” will be running to the right of Clarke, who supported the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and has been endorsed by J Street. Clarke is one of 23 cosponsors of a bill critical of Israel introduced last year by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN).

small screen

Jeff Goldblum moved to tears tracing his Jewish ancestry

Jeff Goldblum — the actor best known for his roles in “Jurassic Park” and “Independence Day” — always knew he was Jewish. But he knew little about his family’s ancestors and history in Eastern Europe — until recently.

Tracing history: Goldblum appeared on last night’s episode of “Finding Your Roots,” the PBS show hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. There he discovered that his great-grandfather hailed from the town of Starobin in Russia. Within a year of his great-grandfather’s departure, pogroms beset Starobin, with fires lit to strike fear into the Jewish community. And when Nazi soldiers invaded the town in World War II, they rounded up and exterminated virtually all its residents. “It’s very sad for all of humanity,” Goldblum said, “all of us — that we can do this.”  

Fighting family: Goldblum knew his father served in the U.S. Army during World War II, fighting on the front lines in France and Germany. But he didn’t know that his father’s second cousin, Aron Golin, was killed while fighting in the Russian Army against the Nazis during the same period. Gates presented Goldblum with a document from Yad Vashem (“I went there, yes!”) detailing Golin’s life and death.

Synagogue stage: While the actor didn’t grow up with a strong Jewish background, he did have a bar mitzvah — an event he claims sparked his life as a performer. The experience of learning and studying to read from the Torah was almost like his on-stage debut, Goldblum said. “The training that I did before — I remember the joy of working on it, working it up, getting familiar with it,” and afterwards, he recalls thinking, “I kind of like that.”

Moving discovery: Goldblum appeared choked up when presented with Gates’s findings, and suggested he may use the opportunity to dig deeper into his Jewish heritage: “Knowing all this, and making this more specific, these ties that I have — could this be a day when I kind of make a shift, and go back and embrace, providing some nourishment?”  

Moving discovery: Goldblum appeared choked up when presented with Gates’s findings, and suggested he may use the opportunity to dig deeper into his Jewish heritage: “Knowing all this, and making this more specific, these ties that I have — could this be a day when I kind of make a shift, and go back and embrace, providing some nourishment?”  

Worthy Reads

✍️ Take Note: Writing in the Los Angeles Daily News, Nick Melvoin, a member of the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education, expands on the need to adopt a more civil way of discourse and embrace the dignity of difference to combat the rise of antisemitism. [LADailyNews]

🗣️ Outrage Machine: Steven A. Cook argues in Foreign Policy that today’s “outrage culture” and virtue signaling “have made it harder and harder to have a conversation about U.S. foreign policy.” Conversations and debates about international affairs no longer exist, he says, and today everything is viewed through a partisan and political lens. [ForeignPolicy]

🎧 Profile:NYMag profiles Michael Barbaro, the host of popular NYTimes podcast “The Daily.” In a few years, Barbaro has gone from simple Times journalist to celebrity, with a large audience of daily listeners. Alex Halpern Levy, a speechwriter and one of Barbaro’s best friends, revealed that Barbaro carries a microphone around with him to rerecord the “what else you need to know today” segments that end every episode, in case of news developments. [NYMag]

📱Royal Spam: A report in The Guardianaccused the Saudi crown prince of hacking the phone of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, based on a U.N. investigation slated to be released today. The Saudi Embassy denied that the government had any involvement, calling the report “absurd.” [TheGuardian]

Around the Web

🛒 End of an Era: The Fairway supermarket chain, which the Glickberg family first opened in 1933 as a produce stand in Manhattan, is reportedly getting ready to declare bankruptcy and shutter all 14 of its tri-state-area stores.

🎤 Heard Yesterday: Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon appealed to the Iranian people in Persian, declaring “Israel is on your side” during a speech at the monthly U.N. Security Council meeting on the Middle East. During his remarks, Danon held up a picture of 14-year-old Nikta Esfandani, who was killed by regime forces during a protest last November.

⚠️ Welcome Greetings: In an interview with The Times of Israel ahead of the historic Jerusalem summit to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, President Reuven Rivlin cautioned world leaders not to rehabilitate antisemitism and to guarantee Jews can live full, free lives anywhere in the world.

🚫 Testy Ties:The director of the Auschwitz museum called the decision to host the 75th anniversary event in Jerusalem — which the Polish president is boycotting — “provocative and immature.”  

🕍 Hate Spreads: Antisemitic graffiti was discovered outside a synagogue in Wellington, New Zealand today.

👨 Acknowledging Facts:Antwerp Mayor Bart De Wever, who is also chairman of the rightwing N-VA party, said on Monday that the Jewish caricatures displayed at Aalst Carnival last year were “disrespectful.”

👨‍⚖️ Ruling: A German court indicated it will likely reject a Jewish man’s bid to force the removal of a sculpture called “Judensau” (Jew pig) from an ancient church where Martin Luther once preached.

🕯️ Remembering: Ethnologist Katarzyna Kopecka and photographer Piotr Pawlak are trying to recover a lost chapter of Poland’s past by marking the sites of former Jewish cemeteries with transparent “headstones” and documenting it for their “Currently Absent” project.

😮 Oh My: Public relations maven Peggy Siegal compared the negative press coverage she’s endured over her ties to Jeffrey Epstein to the suffering of Jews in concentration camps during the Holocaust.

👩 Lifetime Service: The Palm Beach Postdetails the dedicated work by Ronnie Heyman for breast cancer prevention ahead of the annual Palm Beach Hot Pink Luncheon & Symposium on Feb. 6, where she will be receiving the inaugural Evelyn H. Lauder Humanitarian Award. 

✈️ Air Miles:Fox Newstakes an inside look into the activities of Birthright Israel, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary and has brought more than 750,000 participants from 68 countries to Israel. 

📱 Start-Up Nation: Israeli-founded mobile ad attribution company AppsFlyer has raised $210 million in a new round of funding, bringing its total valuation to $1.6 billion.

🔒 Cyber Security: Israeli cybersecurity startup Snyk just closed a $150 million financing round, increasing the company’s valuation to more than $1 billion.

🎰 Roll the dice: Dan Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins, met with Maryland State Senate leaders to discuss allowing gambling at a future stadium in the state.

⛹️‍♂️ Traveling: Amar’e Stoudemire’s announcement on Tuesday that he’s returning to Israeli basketball and joining Maccabi Tel Aviv shocked not just fans but also his former team (and Maccabi Tel Aviv rival), Hapoel Jerusalem.

📽️ Hollywood: Actor Jesse Eisenberg is portraying Marcel Marceau in a new film, titled “Resistance,” about the famous mime’s time in the French Resistance helping save his fellow Jews from the Nazis. 

🎬 Silver Screen:Netflix has acquired the rights to a biopic about Leonard Bernstein and starring Bradley Cooper, who is also signed on to direct and produce the film.  

🎙️ Lesson of Unity: A joint performance by choirs from Krieger Schechter Day School and the Cardinal Shehan Catholic School on “The View” on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, was brought together by Harrison Fribush, a 14-year-old drummer from the Jewish day school after he saw the Catholic students perform a rendition of Andra Day’s “Rise Up” that went viral.

🤝 D.C. Scene: Former National Security Advisor John Bolton met yesterday with the parents of Otto Warmbier, the American student who died after being tortured in captivity by North Korea.

💔 No Love Lost: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unloaded on her former rival Sen. Bernie Sanders an interview with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the release of her new documentary Hillary. “Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him,” she said. 

🤩 Excited For Mike: Actor Michael Douglas officially endorsed Michael Bloomberg yesterday, saying he “hasn’t been this excited” about a presidential candidate since John F. Kennedy.

📱 On Trial: Federal prosecutors in Brazil have charged journalist Glenn Greenwald with cybercrimes for his role in publishing leaked cellphone messages in The Intercept that tarnished the image of an anti-corruption task force.

🥪 Big Bite: The departed Mensch Jewish Delicatessen in Vancouver is holding a Jewish deli brunch pop-up next month at a local coffee house.

🏀 Paying Tribute: A slew of NBA legends packed into Radio City Music Hall yesterday to pay tribute to former commissioner David Stern, who died January 1. Attendees included Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Mark Cuban, 

👩‍💼 Transition: Sivan Aloni, who served as advisor to Israeli Consul General Dani Dayan, has joined the Genesis Philanthropy Group as project director for its “Our Common Destiny” initiative. 

Gif of the Day

Birthdays

Israeli singer known by the mononym Netta, she was the winner of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon, Portugal, Netta Barzilai turns 27…

Co-founder in 1965 of the Japanese video game company Sega, David Rosen turns 90… Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry in 2000, he is a professor emeritus at the University of California Santa Barbara, Alan J. Heeger turns 84… Los Angeles resident, Ruth Lynn Sobel turns 79… Managing director and founder of Brave Warrior Advisors, an investment advisory firm, he is the son of Hall of Fame baseball star Hank Greenberg, Glenn H. Greenberg turns 73… Ordained at HUC-JIR in 1978, he has served as a rabbi and in other leadership capacities in New York, New Jersey and California, Mark Samuel Hurvitz turns 73… Brooklyn-born conductor, who during his tenure as artistic director of the Kraków Philharmonic became friends with Pope John Paul II for whom he later conducted multiple Papal concerts, Gilbert Levine turns 72… Partner and head of the political law practice in the DC office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Kenneth Gross turns 69…

Founder and executive director of the Brooklyn-based Bridge Multicultural and Advocacy Project, Mark Meyer Appel turns 68… Publisher at Chicago Public Square, Charlie Meyerson turns 65… Director-general of the Israeli Defense Ministry, Ehud “Udi” Adam turns 62… Member of the Knesset for Likud, Katrin (Keti) Shitrit-Peretz turns 60… Justice on the Supreme Court of Israel, Noam Sohlberg turns 58… Freedom of Information Act division director at HHS, Michael Marquis turns 55… Actor best known for playing the lead role in 2008 film “The Spirit” and for his role as Harvey Specter on the USA Network series “Suits,” Gabriel Macht turns 48… Sportscaster and host of a late afternoon radio show on ESPN 630 AM in Washington, Bram Weinstein turns 47… Director of the Chabad House in Kathmandu, Nepal, Rabbi Yechezkel “Chezki” Lifshitz turns 46… Politics editor at Mishpacha Magazine, Yochonon Donn turns 43… Project officer at an International Rescue Committee early childhood development program for Syrian refugee children, Heidi Rosbe turns 40…

SVP at SKDKnickerbocker since 2015, she was previously the press secretary to then-Vice President Joe Biden, Kendra Barkoff Lamy turns 40… Reporter at Politico, Zachary Warmbrodt turns 35… NYC-based manager of strategic partnerships at Politico States and Media, Jesse Shapiro turns 29… Religion reporter for the Washington Post, she is also a professional balloon twister and was a 2018 contestant on “Jeopardy!”, Julie Zauzmer turns 29… A Jewish hockey player, he was a first round pick of the New York Islanders in 2014, Josh Ho-Sang turns 24… 2022 J.D. Candidate at the University of Michigan Law School, he was previously a senior legislative assistant in the DC office of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, Matthew Lustbader… Corporate Associate at Covington & Burling LLP, Mark Donig…