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A few hours after Israeli President Isaac Herzog arrived in Abu Dhabi on Sunday for a historic visit, Houthis fired a ballistic missile towards the UAE capital, the third such attack in recent weeks. The missile was intercepted and caused no damage.
Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) told Jewish Insider on Sunday evening, “The Houthis’ attacks against our partners in the Middle East are terrorism – and the Biden administration must acknowledge that. Removing the Houthis from the list of designated terrorist groups only emboldened them and their Iranian backers and has resulted in attacks against civilian populations and the U.S. embassy in Yemen.”
The president and First Lady Michal Herzog opened Israel’s national day at Expo 2020 Dubai this morning. After visiting the Expo pavilions, Herzog met the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to discuss deepening collaboration in the fields of trade, innovation, tourism and investment.
On Sunday, the Herzogs landed in Abu Dhabi, marking the first Israeli presidential visit to the UAE, and were welcomed by the UAE’s Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The Herzogs later took part in an official welcoming ceremony at the royal palace with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, where the national anthems of both countries were played.
“We are sending a message to the entire region that there is an alternative of peace and living together, and that the sons and daughters of Abraham can reside and dwell together in peaceful coexistence for the benefit of humanity,” Herzog said.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed thanked Herzog for his stance on the recent Houthi terror attacks on civilian facilities in the UAE. “It is a stance that demonstrates our common view of the threats to regional stability and peace,” he said.
Herzog later met with the Jewish community of the UAE. “It was very moving to see the president of Israel, who represents all Jews, in an Arab country for the first time,” Rabbi Elie Abadie, senior rabbi of the Jewish Council of the Emirates, told JI. Rabbi Levi Duchman, leader of Chabad in the UAE, described Herzog’s visit as special. “The UAE has been a beacon of light, tolerance and respect,” Duchman shared with JI. “I think the president was fascinated by it.”
Abadie said that Herzog was extremely moved during the visit, especially at hearing “Hatikvah,” Israel’s national anthem. “He had tears in his eyes,” Abadie said. “He felt very welcomed by the crown prince.” Abadie said he believed that a reciprocal visit would be forthcoming and that Herzog’s visit would help to encourage other countries to join the Abraham Accords and normalize ties with Israel.
“We are now raising the first generation of children after the Abraham Accords,” Duchman added. “To see the Israeli president in the UAE, to see him sitting with the leader of a Muslim country, sends a message of hope, caring and respect – and not only to young Israelis and Emirates but also to young people everywhere.”
Esther Pollard, the wife of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, died today at age 68 after COVID-19-related complications. Pollard, who had been fighting breast cancer for years, was rushed to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem suffering from septic shock. She was known for her devotion to her husband, having fought for years for his release from U.S. prison until his parole restrictions were lifted in 2020.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said, “I was saddened to hear of the passing of Esther Pollard, a woman whose devotion to, and love for, Jonathan Pollard became a symbol of strength, determination and faith. May her memory be a blessing.”
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY)tweeted an image on Sunday with a quote from neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier Kevin Alfred Strom, “To learn who rules over you, simply find our who you are not allowed to criticize,” which the meme incorrectly attributed to French philosopher Voltaire. Massie captioned the image, “You mustn’t question Fauci, for he is science,” referring to National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The Kentucky Jewish Council responded in a statement, “This is sadly not the first time that Thomas Mass[ie] has tweeted blatant antisemitism that originated with white supremacists. The quote… originates with a white supremacist who called for violence against the Jewish people. Unfortunately Representative Mass[ie] does not care.”
the comeback kid’s kid
The quarterback scion in Zion

Nicky Montana
To most Israelis, Nicky Montana appears to be just another ambitious American entrepreneur and investor curious about the start-up nation’s vibrant innovation scene and what it might contribute to our world in the future. For Americans and NFL-knowledgeable Israelis, however, he is sports royalty, as the son of iconic Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana. The younger Montana moved to Israel three months ago and takes all such labels — and his father’s legendary status — in stride. He remains singularly focused on learning as much as he can about what makes Israel’s high-tech sector tick, adding knowledge to his already successful foray into the industry, The Circuit’s Ruth Marks Eglash reports.
Ingrained in tech: “There’s so much interesting stuff that has brought my attention here,” Montana, 29, told The Circuit in an interview at a Tel Aviv cafe last week. “I was here in the past – on a trip with [New England Patriots owner and sponsor of the Israel Football League] Robert Kraft – and that was very different. We went to Jerusalem, and we toured around, the schedule was very regimented. Now I am living here and meeting real people and just kind of getting ingrained in everything, and it’s really been incredible.”
Son of an icon: Born and raised in California, where his father won four Super Bowl championships with the San Francisco 49ers, Montana said his father tried to downplay his fame and “never really talked about any of it really.” He said he only learned the true extent of his father’s celebrity status more recently from the new six-part documentary series, “Joe Montana: Cool Under Pressure,” produced by Peacock.
No pressure: Montana, who said as a baby he initially called his father ‘Hey Joe,’ mimicking the fans who would scream out to the legendary quarterback, also said that growing up, he and his older brother, Nate, were not pressured to pursue the game professionally. (Montana also has two older sisters.) “It was never like, ‘You have to play or we’re going out to the yard now for drills,’ he would never bring it up, really,” said Montana. “I would have to beg him to help with practices, but he was super sensitive because of the pressure that might be put on us from a young age.”
College football: In the end, both brothers went on to play college football. Nicky, a quarterback like his father, first played for the University of Washington from 2009 to 2012, and later for Mt. San Antonio College. After one season with the junior college, he transferred in 2013 to Tulane, where he was the starting quarterback. Eventually, however, he decided not to pursue a career in professional football. “It was always my dream, but towards the end, I kept getting hurt and taken out of the game,” Montana explained. “At a certain point, towards the end, I was just like, I’ve been doing this my whole life and I don’t know what it is, but the feeling is gone.”
Innovation success: Putting his football career behind him, Montana took the skills of leadership and endurance that he learned on the field and turned his attention to the world of high-tech. He began by dabbling in fantasy sports, and eventually sold his own startup, a Y Combinator-backed company called Balto, to FuboTV, the leading sports-first live TV streaming platform in the U.S., in December 2020. Montana then began investing as an angel investor in more than half a dozen companies across the globe. Last year, when Isaac “Yitz” Applbaum, co-founder and partner of Tel Aviv-based MizMaa Ventures, and a close friend of the Montana family (as well as a wine columnist at Jewish Insider), asked if he wanted to move to Tel Aviv and work for MizMaa, Montana hesitated only slightly.
Vision for the future: His friends, he said, thought he was crazy. “All they knew about Israel was camels and rockets,” he quipped. “But the opportunity to come to a place like Israel, given everything that’s going on here, was super enticing – everyone is an entrepreneur here.” Montana, whose focus at MizMaa is on Web3, cryptocurrencies and fintech, continued, “There’s so much ambition and it’s amazing being on the venture side and seeing how everyone thinks the world’s gonna look in the future.”
Read the full story on The Circuit.
Bonus: U.S. financial firm Morgan Stanley Capital International, known as MSCI Inc., is surveying international investors to determine whether Israel will be added to the MSCI Europe Index, boosting investment into Israeli companies. Today is the last day of the survey.