Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Monday morning!
First Lady Jill Biden delivered the keynote address at the annual Yeshiva Beth Yehudah dinner in Detroit last night.
Biden noted “almost one year ago we lost the former chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, Jonathan Sacks, a brilliant scholar and teacher.” Biden added, “he once wrote, ‘God does not ask us to save the world — entirely and alone. Instead God asks us to do what we can, when we can. We mend the world one life at a time, one act at a time, one day at a time.’”
An envoy from Shin Bet, Israel’s Security Agency, and a Foreign Ministry representative will travel to the U.S. to present evidence following Israel’s decision to ban six Palestinian human rights groups, a Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed to Jewish Insider.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Friday declared the groups, which he said had ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, as terror organizations. They include: Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees; ADDAMEER — Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association; Bisan Center for Research and Development; Al-Haq Organization; Defense for Children International – Palestine; and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees.
Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told JI that it is “hard to imagine why Israelis are hitting this issue so hard — and so publicly. But once the U.S., U.N. and others questioned the evidence on which these designations were based, the Israelis had no choice but to put up or shut up. Letting it be known that Shin Bet is traveling to Washington to make their case is certainly one way to accomplish the former.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) was among the public officials who condemned the decision, tweeting, “The apartheid regime’s labeling of award-winning human rights groups as terrorist organizations — just because they speak truths about Israel’s violence & its human impact — is grossly antidemocratic and dangerous.”
Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok was arrested by military forces alongside senior government officials on Monday, amid reports of a military coup.
International relations expert Yonatan Freeman told Jewish Insider that the potential impact of this development on the Abraham Accords depends on who is leading the coup.
“If we look generally at what transpired over the past year with normalization desires of Sudan and Israel, we can see the military rather than the civilian part of the government was more for getting closer to Israel than the civilians who were part of this power-sharing government in Sudan,” Freeman said. “So if indeed it seems to be that the military — and the ones that have been talking to Israel and backing the Abraham Accords — they’re the ones who are now doing it, we can foresee that the turn of events bringing Israel and Sudan closer together, that will continue.”
race to watch
Illinois redistricting sets up primary face-off between Newman and Casten

Reps. Sean Casten (D-IL) and Marie Newman (D-IL)
Illinois Democrats unveiled the second draft of a redistricting proposal on Saturday, setting up a possible primary showdown in the Chicago suburbs between two Democratic incumbents, Reps. Marie Newman (D-IL) and Sean Casten (D-IL), Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Round two: The new 6th Congressional District — currently held by Casten — would combine around 40% of Newman’s current constituents with about a quarter of Casten’s, according to Chicago-area political consultant and mapmaker Frank Calabrese, in addition to smaller portions of other surrounding districts. “This is a much better map in terms of partisanship for Democrats,” Calabrese explained. “The current 6th district is based in DuPage County. DuPage is historically Republican. It voted for Biden, but it votes Republican down-ballot still.”
No improvement: For Newman, it’s “hard to say that [the new map] is worse,” Calabrese said. “It is less likely that a Republican could win this district now,” he continued. “But now she is in the same district with a Democratic congressman who has proven he can win tough elections… It is still a more moderate district. Casten is a liberal but he isn’t a ‘Squad’-type liberal like Newman.”
Big differences: Newman’s positions on Israel set her apart from much of the Democratic Party — she was one of eight Democrats to vote against supplemental funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system in a 420-9 vote last month — but Casten, who voted for the funding, falls more within the mainstream. During the May 2021 conflict between Israel and Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza, Casten condemned both Hamas rocket attacks and Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, saying in a statement both “have destroyed the lives of far too many Israeli and Palestinian families, who will continue to suffer from this conflict.”
Endorsements: J Street, which endorsed Newman and held a fundraiser for her weeks after her vote against Iron Dome funding, also endorsed Casten and held a fundraiser for him last year. The Jewish Democratic Council of America also endorsed Casten.
Wildcard: According to Calabrese, it is “hard to say what” this latest proposed map would mean for former Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL), a conservative Democrat who was ousted by Newman in the 2020 primary. Lipinski is reportedly considering a primary bid to reclaim his seat. “He could do well in a three-way Democratic primary,” Calabrese said. “Split the liberal vote [between Newman and Casten] and he can win the moderate vote. Still lots of moderate Democrats in the district.”
Read more here.
Bonus: Claire Wirth, a primary challenger to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), condemned the Kentucky legislator for voting against $1 billion in supplemental funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system in a statement to JI. “Thomas Massie is the most anti-Israel member of Congress — this includes both sides of the aisle… I believe it is our moral and patriotic duty to support our greatest ally, Israel,” she said. “I thought Massie’s ‘No’ vote was shameful, yet not surprising unfortunately.”