Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Wednesday morning!
Ed. note: In celebration of Purim, the next Daily Kickoff will arrive on Friday. Happy Purim!
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will address Congress virtually at 9 a.m. ET, part of an effort to engage with world powers amid the invasion of his country by Russian forces.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told The New York Times that the speech is “bringing Congress together in a way, frankly, I haven’t seen in my 12 years.”
A day after all 25 Jewish House Democrats issued a statement condemning Amnesty International USA Director Paul O’Brien’s comments on American Jews and Israel, 11 of those members wrote another letter to the organization’s international chief on Tuesday expressing concern that O’Brien’s full comments were “even more troubling” than the remarks initially reported by Jewish Insider.
Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod obtained the letter from the lawmakers to Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard, which reads, in part, “Mr. O’Brien’s comments, coupled with Amnesty International’s report released last month, appear to be part of Amnesty International’s continued dangerous degree of bias and denial of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. Amnesty International cannot credibly advance human rights around the globe while simultaneously denying the only Jewish state their right to self-determination.”
The letter was organized by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), who was joined by Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Elaine Luria (D-VA), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Mike Levin (D-CA), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Kim Schrier (D-WA) and Dean Phillips (D-MN).
“Mr. O’Brien’s comments, if not denounced, lay bare the real purpose of Amnesty International’s report on Israel,” the letter continues. “It is not an attempt to give a fair analysis of Israel and its policies, nor an effort to support the aspirations of both the Arab and Jewish people. Rather, it is a tacit attempt to delegitimize and ultimately destroy Israel as the only Jewish state in the world.”
The signatories call on Amnesty International to clarify whether it “seeks to advance peace for both Israelis and Palestinians,” “whether or not it accepts Israel as a democratic, Jewish state” and whether it supports a two-state solution.
Amnesty’s spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on whether O’Brien’s remarks reflect the organization’s views.
review or not review
Will the Biden administration allow Congress to review a new Iran deal?

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) questions Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on the CARES Act, at the Hart Senate Office Building on September 28, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Menendez (D-NJ) said on Tuesday that he wants the Biden administration to submit any new nuclear agreement with Iran for congressional review “if it does meet the obligations” of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) — but said he plans to hold hearings even if it does not, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Under the microscope: The 2015 legislation mandates a review period — during which time no sanctions can be removed — for Congress to review any nuclear deal with Iran. “I will check to see what the agreement is and look to apply INARA,” Menendez told reporters on Tuesday. “If it doesn’t meet the obligations under INARA, then no. Although I still would want to have hearings. If it does meet the obligations of INARA, then yes, it should be pursued under INARA.” Menendez said he would “have to see what the specific agreement is” before deciding whether INARA applies.
Next steps: The debate over the applicability of INARA has taken on increasing prominence in recent days as talks on Iran’s nuclear program in Vienna progress, and has been listed as a top issue by House and Senate Republicans, as well as a bipartisan House group — including a dozen Democrats — that recently expressed concerns about the negotiations to the Biden administration. A congressional staffer familiar with the deliberations said that the administration has confirmed both publicly and privately that it will submit the deal to Congress for INARA review if a deal is finalized.
Looking foggy: The Biden administration declined to specifically guarantee in a statement to JI on Tuesday that it will submit any agreement to Congress under INARA. A State Department spokesperson told JI, “The administration will carefully consider the facts and circumstances of any U.S. return to the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] to determine the legal implications, including those under INARA. We are committed to ensuring the requirements of INARA are satisfied.”
Off the Hill: Outside of Congress, analysts offer a range of assessments of how they think the administration will proceed. Dennis Ross, a fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said he initially heard that the administration was planning to argue that it is only reentering the 2015 agreement, which was already reviewed by Congress, making a new review unnecessary. But he has “heard conflicting things since then.” Joel Rubin, a deputy assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs in the Obama administration, told JI he has heard that the INARA review is predicated on whether the yet-to-be-finalized deal is different from the 2015 agreement.
Skeptics: Some skeptics of the original deal insist that the administration is seeking to dodge congressional scrutiny. Rich Goldberg, a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and a former National Security Council and Hill staffer who co-hosts JI’s “Limited Liability Podcast,” said that the administration’s “very strict, disciplined messaging” that the deal is a reentry into the 2015 agreement rather than a new agreement leads him to believe that they are “preparing legal arguments to avoid submitting this agreement to the Congress.”
Bonus: Punchbowl News reported that a dozen Jewish House Democrats clashed Saturday with National Security Council Middle East Coordinator Brett McGurk over being kept in the dark on Iran talks. They also raised concerns about the potential parameters of the deal and accused the White House of failing to sell it to Congress. During a House leadership meeting on Tuesday, concerns were also raised about forcing vulnerable House Democrats to vote on the deal, according to the story.