Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Friday morning!
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent JI stories, including: A dispatch from Colleyville following the Beth Israel hostage crisis; Colleyville attacker ‘bought into those antisemitic tropes,’ hostage survivor remarks; In the aftermath of Colleyville attack, Imam Abdullah Antepli has a message for fellow Muslims; New army program takes on growing mental health issues faced by young Israelis; The Arab influencer pushing the Abraham Accords from Abu Dhabi; For two competing Democratic incumbents in Illinois, one dividing issue: Israel; Former Michigan state legislator mounts challenge to Rashida Tlaib; and Paul Packer calls early dismissal from U.S. commission ‘shocking.’Print the latest edition here.
Scoop this morning: Five senators — Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), James Lankford (R-OK) and Rob Portman (R-OH) — are calling on the leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee to raise the funding level for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program in the wake of last week’s armed standoff at a Texas synagogue. JI’s Marc Rod has the details.
The United Nations passed an Israeli-sponsored resolution yesterday denouncing Holocaust distortion and denial. The resolution was adopted by consensus, bypassing a country-by-country vote. Iran was the only member that opposed the resolution, which was cofacilitated by Germany and cosponsored by more than 100 countries.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a joint statement, “We are extremely concerned by the dramatic increase in Holocaust denial, distortion and revisionism. Deeply troubling is also the phenomenon of comparisons being made between current political disputes and the Shoah.”
“Such comparisons are a perversion of history and an injustice to the men, women and children who were deprived of their rights, persecuted and murdered. Those comparisons are a form of antisemitism and stand in direct contradiction to the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition of antisemitism as well as the IHRA definition on Holocaust denial and distortion. They prepare the ground for prejudice and hatred ultimately threatening our societies,” they said.
Mark Weitzman, the lead author of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of Holocaust denial and distortion who is now the chief operating officer of the World Jewish Restitution Organization, called the resolution’s passage “hugely important,” noting that “the people who embrace — particularly — Holocaust distortion are those who want to erode the foundations of the post-WWII liberal society.”
Weitzman told JI it was “appropriate” for the U.N. to have adopted the resolution. “It kind of restored the U.N. to its roots.”
The White House Partnerships Office is hosting a “Pre-Shabbat Briefing” with Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, this afternoon.
podcast playback
Shontel Brown: ‘Good won over evil’ in Ohio special election race

Shontel Brown talks to press after winning Ohio’s 11th Congressional District.
On the night of her election win in the primary race to succeed now-HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge in Ohio’s 11th Congressional District, Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH) — then a former Cuyahoga County Democratic Party chair — made sure to thank “my Jewish brothers and sisters” who had played a role in her victory. “This was an organic, authentic relationship that had been forming for years. I have been working in the community as a legislator for nine years, six of them as a county council representative representing communities with a significantly large Jewish population,” Brown said during an appearance on Jewish Insider’s “Limited Liability Podcast” on Tuesday.
Local issues: Nationally, last year’s off-cycle primary race was widely characterized as a battle between the progressive and moderate wings of the Democratic Party. But speaking on the podcast, Brown maintained that framing had little bearing locally. “I think that the local race was really about results. It didn’t get into this progressive-moderate issue,” she said. “I know the national narrative was different. But it definitely, on the ground, was about who has been doing the work and who has been delivering for the people. And I think that is why I was able to earn the support of so many local elected officials in this race.”
Rough going: Brown’s public support for the U.S.-Israel relationship and her opponent’s critiques of the Jewish state played a prominent role in the race. “It got pretty, I would say, rough at times,” Brown said of the campaign. “But for me, it was an easy, clear decision,” Brown maintained, noting that her 2018 trip to Israel helped her form a better understanding of the region.
High road: Asked on Tuesday about her opponent’s remarks, Brown sought the high road. “I am a person that likes to focus on the positive. I am one that has not really engaged in that type of rhetoric or even acknowledged it in that way, because we know that good, certainly, won over evil in that race,” Brown said. “When I hear things like that, I gotta, you know, just pray for my enemies. That’s all I can say is pray for the enemies and hope that the Lord blesses them in a way that they will be too busy to focus on me,” she added, while acknowledging that a potential rematch with Turner in 2022 is possible.
Lightning round: Favorite Yiddish word? “I like chutzpah.” Favorite Cleveland food? “I am a big fan of lamb chops.” One city or country you hope to visit? “Someplace tropical.”