Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Monday morning!
The Milken Institute Global Conference kicked off yesterday at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, ushering in several days of conversations on topics ranging from impact investing to national security to the future of aging. More than 3,000 leaders and 700 speakers are gathering to schmooze, network and learn — sometimes poolside — at the 25th anniversary of this hot-ticket event.
The theme of this year’s confab is “Celebrating the Power of Connection,” a nod to the difficulty of connecting over the past two years. Milken hosted its last Global Conference in October, but this year’s May gathering marks a return to its usual occurrence as a rite of spring.
Monday’s sessions include solutions-oriented conversations about strengthening democracy in the 21st century, renewing social cohesion and the philanthropic endeavors of tech “disruptors.” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican and potential 2024 presidential candidate, will be interviewed in the afternoon. Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt will speak about his new book.
Jewish Insider will be at Milken until it wraps up on Wednesday with a performance by the Beach Boys and John Stamos. We’ll bring you highlights from Milken’s programming and exclusive conversations with some of the leaders, experts and influencers on the ground. If you’re here in Beverly Hills, come say hi.
Before heading to Milken, Greenblatt said on Sunday that the anti-Israel groups Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) “epitomize the radical left,” describing the groups as “the photo inverse of the extreme right that ADL long has tracked.” Greenblatt made the remarks to a virtual gathering of the organization’s National Leadership Council.
“Unlike their right-wing analogs, these organizations might not have armed themselves or engaged in an insurrection designed to topple our government, but these radical actors indisputably and unapologetically regularly denigrate and dehumanize Jews,” he continued.
Greenblatt pledged to go after anti-Zionist organizations with “our litigation skills to hold them accountable for their harm,” “our advocacy muscles to push policymakers to take action” and “our analytic capabilities to expose their ideas and ideology.”
A group of prominent pro-Israel Republicans is hosting a virtual fundraiser tomorrow for Nevada congressional candidate David Brog, the former executive director of Christians United for Israel. Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman will headline the event alongside Jay Sekulow, who was one of the lead attorneys during former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov defended Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine to “denazify” the country in an interview on Sunday. “So what if Zelensky is Jewish. The fact does not negate the Nazi elements in Ukraine. I believe that Hitler also had Jewish blood,” Lavrov said.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett shot back hours later, calling Lavrov’s comments “untrue and their intentions are wrong. The goal of such lies is to accuse the Jews themselves of the most awful crimes in history, which were perpetrated against them, and thereby absolve Israel’s enemies of responsibility.”
deja vu
Jim Clyburn rouses troops for Shontel Brown in Cleveland primary rematch

Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) speaks during a Get Out the Vote campaign event at Mt. Zion Fellowship on July 31, 2021, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), the powerful House majority whip, was back in Cleveland this weekend to gin up support for freshman Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH) as she seeks her first full term, just under nine months after the closely watched special congressional primary in Ohio’s 11th District. “She has acquitted herself very well as a member of Congress,” Clyburn said in an interview with Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kasselon Friday before leaving for Ohio. “She told everybody when she campaigned that she was going to go to Washington and be supportive of the Biden administration and its agenda, that she would represent the people of the 11th Congressional District in a way that would make them proud, and I think she’s done that.”
Democratic divides: Last cycle, the primary between Brown and former Ohio Sen. Nina Turner took special prominence on the national stage as a fierce proxy battle featuring what many viewed as opposing moderate, progressive and even generational forces within the Democratic Party. Brown, with strong ties to the local Democratic establishment, drew a contrast with Turner, a Squad-aligned former Ohio state senator, backed by Justice Democrats, who had served as an outspoken presidential campaign surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). But Clyburn dismissed such characterizations, noting that Brown, 46, had in many ways bridged such divides over the course of her first months in Congress. “She’s from a bit of a different generation than mine, and I think that she demonstrates to people that this whole notion about there being this generational divide is not quite the case,” Clyburn, 81, argued. “She’s certainly been a big support to the Biden administration. I think that Biden would tell you that.”
Truman ties: Elaborating on his affinity with the congresswoman, Clyburn described himself as a longstanding admirer of Harry S. Truman, in part because of his appreciation for the former president’s decision to officially recognize the State of Israel just minutes after its creation in 1948. “Jim Clyburn, as everybody in the Congress will tell you, is a Truman Democrat,” he told JI, “and Shontel is of that same notion. She doesn’t care how new it is. She wants to be fair.”
Broader than broadband: For his part, Clyburn said Brown had offered crucial assistance as he sought to usher the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package through the House last November, pointing in particular to her support for legislation that would include more than $65 billion for broadband investments. “Shontel was one of my lieutenants when I was working to get people understanding why broadband was so important, not just” in “rural but also urban” areas, Clyburn said. By contrast, Turner opposed immediately approving the infrastructure package at the time, aligning herself with a vocal coalition of far-left House members who voted against the funding while protesting the Senate’s delay in passing a broader social safety net and climate package. Clyburn expressed frustration with such efforts in conversation with JI. “That vote was huge,” he said bluntly. “It goes to the notion that I often say to especially young people: You’ve got to make up your mind,” he explained. “Are you interested in public service in order to make headway, or is your interest to make a headline? Lots of people got some headlines saying uncomplimentary things about that infrastructure bill.”