Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Wednesday morning!
The Washington Wizards celebrated “Jewish Heritage Night” at last night’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Capital One Arena in D.C. The Wizards’ second-year Israeli small forward Deni Avdija was the star of the show, appearing in several videos during the timeouts, including one listing his favorite places in Israel.
Israeli pop star Noa Kirel’s music was blasting on the loudspeakers during player warm-ups. The Wizards’ starting lineup appeared in Hebrew letters on the jumbotron, and Israeli flags were sprinkled throughout the crowd. On-court performances included dance numbers from Avirah Israeli Dance Company and Dance Yesodot, and the national anthem was sung by Temple Rodef Shalom member Arianna Zuckerman. Throughout the game, Jewish facts were displayed across the video board, including the meaning behind the two stripes in the Israeli flag and a description of babka.
The Wizards won the game 122-118 after Kantavious Caldwell-Pope broke a fourth-quarter tie with a clutch three-pointer in the final minute. Avdija contributed seven points on 3-for-4 shooting with two rebounds and one steal in 18 minutes off the bench.
Following the game, Avdija spoke in a special Q&A session with Wizards’ play-by-play announcer Justin Kutcher about the support he receives from the Jewish community.
The Shalom Hartman Institute blasted New York-based communications firm Big Duck for declining to work with the organization, which has offices in both Israel and North America. The institute said that Big Duck questioned the nonprofit over its political positions regarding Israel before declining to take them on as a client.
“Big Duck’s decision represents a moving of the goalposts on BDS from Israel to North American Jewish organizations, and applies a standard on North American Jewish commitments that would exclude the vast majority of the members of our community,” the Hartman Institute said in a statement. Read more here.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), a Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee whom antisemitism envoy nominee Deborah Lipstadt accused of “white supremacy/nationalism” in a tweet last March, told reporters yesterday that he is not personally holding up the nomination and hasn’t asked for an apology.
Some in the GOP are considering asking Lipstadt to publicly apologize to Johnson before they allow her nomination to move forward, according to a New York Times report last weekend.
Lipstadt had also tweeted criticisms of committee member Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) during his presidential campaign in 2012 — criticizing Romney for failing to speak out in support a moment of silence for Israeli Olympic athletes killed at the 1972 Munich Olympics when Romney led the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002 and opposing Romney’s views on abortion.
The committee will vote this morning on advancing University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann’s nomination to be U.S. ambassador to Germany and hold a hearing on Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s nomination to be envoy to India.
scoop
Rand Paul takes heat from pro-Israel groups for stalling Iron Dome funding

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is seen in the Senate Reception Room before the fifth day of the Senate Impeachment trials for former President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill on February 13, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
A coalition of pro-Israel organizations sent a letter to Senate leadership on Tuesday taking aim at Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) for blocking supplemental funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system and arguing that folding the funding into a larger package would “undermine Israel’s security,” Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod scooped yesterday.
On the list: The letter — sent to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) — was signed by Christians United for Israel, The Jewish Federations of North America, the Orthodox Union, Hadassah, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaisim, the Union for Reform Judaism and the Anti-Defamation League.
Paul patrol: “[The funding] has bipartisan support in the Senate, although passage has been stymied,” the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Jewish Insider, reads. “One person’s objection should not undermine the overwhelming bipartisan will of the Senate nor stand in the way of ensuring Israel has the tools necessary to keep people safe.”
No-go: A Senate source told JI in December — after Paul blocked a unanimous consent request to pass the funding on the Senate floor for the fourth time — that the “next chance” to approve the funding would be in a possible omnibus government funding package in February. On Tuesday, the organizations wrote that they oppose this strategy. “While we understand the supplemental Iron Dome funding would likely be included in a final omnibus spending package, the delay and even the prospects of a second continuing resolution undermine Israel’s security when the need to replenish this defensive system is urgent,” the letter reads.
Pushback: Schumer spokesperson Angelo Roefaro emphasized to JI, in response to the letter, that “[t]he Democratic side of the aisle wants to pass the bill by unanimous consent, but Senator Paul continues to block the bill from going to the president’s desk.” A Senate source told JI that Democrats still seek to pass the funding by unanimous consent, and that the omnibus is still a “plan B” if Paul does not pull his objections. “A lot of those groups don’t understand how floor time works and certainly aren’t advocating the shelving of other domestic priorities in the short term,” the source added.
Taking flack: The omnibus plan “puts a lot of faith in Congress’s ability to pass an omnibus. And for an important partner like Israel — they shouldn’t have to wait nine months for replenishment of defensive, life-saving equipment,” a senior government official with knowledge of Iron Dome funding told JI.
Part two: A second letter, from some overlapping groups — the American Jewish Congress, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Agudath Israel of America, Ameinu, B’nai B’rith International, Hadassah, Israel Policy Forum, Jewish Women International, Rabbinical Assembly, Orthodox Union, Union for Reform Judaism and Zionist Organization of America — was also sent to the Senate leaders on Tuesday. The letter’s signatories “implore [Schumer and McConnell] to not allow any more needless delays in passing this legislation.”