Mark Gitenstein speaks during an interview with AFP at his residence in Bucharest on December 12, 2012.

As Russian troops expand their invasion across Ukraine, President Joe Biden will travel to Brussels today for a series of high-level emergency meetings with NATO and European Union officials. When he lands in Europe, he will be greeted by a familiar face: Mark Gitenstein, the U.S. ambassador to the EU — and the president’s best friend. At a time when Russia is upending geopolitics on the European continent, Gitenstein suddenly finds himself as one of Washington’s most important representatives abroad, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.

Important organization: “The European Union is the most important organization in the world to which the United States does not belong,” said Daniel S. Hamilton, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for European affairs and a non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Understanding Eastern Europe: Gitenstein, a lawyer, previously served as U.S. ambassador to Romania under President Barack Obama. Former colleagues and foreign policy experts suggest his time in Eastern Europe will leave him well-equipped to navigate the crisis in Ukraine. “I think he must bring with him a sensitivity to the concerns and the historical experiences that countries in the eastern part of Europe bring with them, post-communist countries still dealing with lots of legacy issues from a Soviet time,” said Hamilton. Gitenstein did not respond to a request for comment.

Direct line: That Gitenstein already served as an ambassador for three years could help him in his current posting at this high-stakes moment. And Gitenstein’s relationship with Biden doesn’t hurt: “It’s not like Mark picks up the phone once a day and says, ‘Joe, how are you?’ But the fact that he could do that at any time gives him a gravitas and credibility in his dealings abroad,” said Howard Gutman, who served as U.S. ambassador to Belgium when Gitenstein was in Romania. During an October 2009 visit to Romania, then-Vice President Biden called Gitenstein “my best personal friend.”

History matters: One lesson Gitenstein may have learned from his stint in Romania is that “history can have a very real impact on what goes on today,” particularly at a moment when Putin is trying to rewrite the history of Europe, said Andrew Baker, director of international Jewish affairs at the American Jewish Committee, who has worked with Gitenstein on Holocaust-related issues, including the delicate internal politics around the dedication of Romania’s Holocaust memorial in 2009.

Supporting democracy: Ukraine and Romania are young democracies, and both countries have faced challenges in their transitions out of communism. Gitenstein is familiar with those challenges. A White House press release announcing Gitenstein’s nomination to his current post highlighted how he “focused on fighting corruption and preserving democratic institutions” when he was in Romania.

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This illustration photo shows a clock in the background of a smartphone showing the time after daylight saving time was implemented in Los Angeles, California, on March 15, 2022.

It’s a race against time for groups representing Orthodox Jews as they work to lobby Congress against making Daylight Saving Time permanent, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. The Orthodox Jewish community sprang into action last week following the Senate’s unexpected passage by unanimous consent of a bill eliminating the twice-annual time change, an accomplishment that reportedly even surprised some senators who opposed the legislation.

Blindsided: “We were completely blindsided,” Rabbi Abba Cohen, Agudath Israel of America’s vice president for government affairs, told Jewish Insider. “This has been going on — it has a history already over the years — there should have been more notice and there should have been an opportunity for groups to really weigh in in a serious way and there wasn’t.”

Jumping to action: Agudath Israel, the Orthodox Union and the Rabbinical Council of America sent letters in recent days to House leadership raising concerns about the legislation, arguing that it would force young children to travel to school in the dark and also make it difficult, if not impossible, for many Orthodox Jews to attend morning prayers prior to going to work at some points of the year. The OU and RCA also argue that the shift would have long-term negative health impacts on all Americans.

Slow motion: Cohen and Nathan Diament, executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, said the House has already appeared to slow down on the legislation, following initial speculation that the lower chamber might seek to fast-track the legislation as well. “I think the reality is setting in in the House that we need to really think through this and discuss it more,” Cohen said. “It’s basically a different reality even just a few days later.”

Road ahead: Cohen recounted that a previous push to address time changes around 2005 was defeated by a coalition including Orthodox Jewish groups, farmers, school groups and transportation groups. “I think if we can form that coalition and get to that bottom line and educate people in the House, I think we can turn it around,” Cohen said, adding that he believes the new legislation can still be defeated. “There’s an effort right now on the Hill to find the allies that existed years ago and rebuild the coalition. So I know that effort is underway.”

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Bonus: The Wall Street Journal reports that sleep experts are warning against a permanent move to Daylight Saving Time, arguing that year-round adherence to DST will disrupt circadian rhythms and sleep patterns, affecting overall health.

Josh Mandel speaks at the FreedomWorks Forum for Ohio’s Republican Senate Candidates on March 18, 2022, in Columbus, Ohio.

A range of prominent pro-Israel advocates will host a virtual fundraiser next month for Josh Mandel, a leading candidate in Ohio’s hotly contested Republican Senate primary, according to an invitation distributed by his campaign and obtained by Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel.

Who’s going: The Zoom event, scheduled for April 12, will include such hosts as Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus; Houston-based businessman and GOP donor Fred Zeidman and AIPAC lay leaders Howard Friedman and Michael Tuchin. David Friedman, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel, is billed as a “special guest.”

Round two: Friedman was also a guest last spring at a similar fundraising event for Mandel, a former Ohio state treasurer who is among five top-tier GOP candidates vying to succeed outgoing Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) in the May primary. Portman, whom Mandel has described as a “mentor,” endorsed former Ohio state party chair Jane Timken in February.

‘Anti-establishment’? Appearing recently on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, Mandel, 44, argued that Timken “is running the total establishment campaign. I’d say most of the political establishment in Washington, most of the political establishment in Ohio, is behind Jane.”  He added: “I’ve been anti-establishment my whole career.”

Playing catch-up: Mandel began the new year with nearly $6 million on hand but has struggled to keep up with other well-heeled contenders such as Cleveland businessman Mike Gibbons, who has personally loaned his campaign more than $11 million. During a debate last Friday, Mandel and Gibbons exchanged insults in a heated, near-physical confrontation that drew national attention.

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Laura Gillen

In just four terms in Congress, Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY) has garnered national attention as a dissident in the Democratic caucus pushing for new leadership. Her surprise announcement last month that she would not seek reelection sent shockwaves through the party, and through her Long Island district. The first Democrat to announce a run to succeed the former Nassau County district attorney in New York’s 4th Congressional District, which includes the heavily Jewish Five Towns community, was Laura Gillen, a former Hempstead, L.I., town supervisor. She’s since been joined in the race by an array of other local officials, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Next up: Gillen’s quest to frame herself as Rice’s natural successor received a boost on Monday when Rice endorsed Gillen, saying in a statement that Gillen “has already proven her political tenacity with a strong record of getting things done,” and praising her work on women’s rights, gun safety and tax reform. In an interview with Jewish Insider in early March, Gillen described herself as a “moderate to conservative Democrat.” She said she is eager to pursue “fiscal responsibility” and is interested in joining the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus and building cross-party dialogue.

Standing firm: Rice made a name for herself as an occasional antagonist to Democratic Party leadership, notably opposing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) bid for the speakership after Democrats reclaimed the House in 2018. “I’m certainly not afraid — if I believe that the leadership of the Democratic caucus is going in the wrong direction — to voice my opinion,” Gillen said, when asked if she envisions a similar role for herself. “For example, if the leadership went into a far-left extremist kind of anti-Israel position, I would fight that and I would fight that leadership.”

Looking east: Gillen was also quick to make clear to JI that supporting Israel “will be at the forefront of my agenda in this campaign because I have a significant Jewish population that I would represent.” Like Rice, Gillen opposed the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran. “I didn’t think it was properly constructed and it didn’t sufficiently address what we know are clearly Iran’s nuclear ambitions,” she said, pointing to the original deal’s sunset provisions and “insufficient monitoring.” She called for “really, really strong sanctions” in lieu of reentering the deal.

Kudos: The former Hempstead town supervisor sees more positive signs elsewhere in the region. “[The Trump administration] had a real win with the Abraham Accords,” she said, describing herself as “motivated and encouraged” by the normalization agreements with four Arab countries.

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