Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Friday morning!
Ed note: In celebration of the Shavuot holiday, the next Daily Kickoff will arrive on Tuesday morning. Chag Sameach!
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: In Egypt, an effort to restore the country’s historic synagogues; New yeshiva aims to put South Florida on the map for Torah learning; In a first, Israel participates in Global Aerospace Summit in Abu Dhabi; Saudis positioning for next move as Israel, UAE sign free-trade pact, Emirati VC chief says; Arizona Senate GOP frontrunner lays out foreign policy views; DMFI PAC announces new slate of primary endorsements; Former ADL Florida director looks to replace Ted Deutch; General Mills says departing Israel was a business decision, not a boycott; and Why two federations 500 miles apart spent $3 million on a Jewish Eventbrite. Print the latest edition here.
The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, arrived in Israel on Thursday night, meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett early on Friday morning. In an official statement, Bennett said he had expressed Israel’s deep concern to Grossi regarding Iran’s continued progress toward achieving nuclear weapons while deceiving the international community by using false information and lies.
A source familiar with the meeting told Jewish Insider that it was “a significant visit,” with the prime minister making efforts to ensure that the “correct” decisions are made regarding Iran. Grossi’s snap visit comes ahead of a crucial IAEA Board of Governors meeting next week where the international body is likely to decide whether to take action against Iran. Earlier this week, Bennett posted documents he said had been taken from Iran and proved that Tehran had sought to evade international inspectors as far back as 2004.
Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) called the CEO of Lufthansa airlines after the German carrier denied a group of Haredi Jews boarding on a flight to Hungary. “During our meeting, I told him that Lufthansa should be fully transparent once their internal investigation is complete, and they should share the results publicly,” Deutch told JI on Thursday.
Deutch also pressed for Lufthansa to reflect on what they could learn from the May 4 incident and to speak with Jewish community leaders moving forward.
garcia vs. garcia
In South L.A. race, same last name but different political styles — and approaches on Israel

Cristina Garcia, Robert Garcia
In southern Los Angeles County, the retirement of two octogenarian members of Congress — Democratic Reps. Alan Lowenthal and Lucille Roybal-Allard — has created an opening for candidates from a new generation of party leaders to represent a newly drawn congressional district. But despite similarities in the two top candidates’ backgrounds, they differ in their approaches to governing, as well as their views on the U.S.-Israel relationship, according to interviews Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch conducted with both candidates and with California political observers.
Who’s running: Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia and California Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (who are not related), both self-described progressive Latinos in their 40s who worked as teachers before entering politics, are the leading candidates to represent the 42nd District, which stretches from Long Beach to working-class communities in Southeast L.A. like Bell Gardens, where Cristina Garcia grew up. The deep blue, majority Latino district could see both candidates advance in Tuesday’s so-called “jungle primaries,” in which candidates from all parties compete for one of two slots on the November ballot.
Endorsement alert: “Robert Garcia is a little more of a calculated politician. [Cristina Garcia is] more of, like, the on-the-streets activist,” said a California political professional who has worked in Sacramento. Robert Garcia has won the endorsement of major advocacy organizations and Democratic leaders across California, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sen. Alex Padilla, and members of Congress from elsewhere including Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA). Most of Cristina Garcia’s endorsements come from local officials, but she has also earned support from a handful of nationally known progressive leaders, including the labor leader Dolores Huerta and Nina Turner, the former Ohio state senator who recently lost a high-profile congressional race in Cleveland.
Outside support: Robert Garcia has also attracted the support of pro-Israel donors, including Democratic Majority For Israel, which has spent $65,000 on digital advertising targeting Cristina Garcia. AIPAC’s PAC also endorsed Robert Garcia, and AIPAC-affiliated activists in L.A. have hosted fundraisers for him. The more liberal J Street has not endorsed in the race, but a spokesperson said the group has met with some of the candidates and is considering getting involved in the general election. (Most of the $1.7 million of outside spending in the race — all of it supporting Robert Garcia or opposing Cristina Garcia — has come from PACs tied to crypto entrepreneurs.)
Current position: Cristina Garcia did not give a straightforward answer when asked whether she personally supports the BDS movement. “I haven’t been confronted with that. I support in general — it’s different, I think, a movement, versus, like, are you going to use boycotts and divestment and towards what goal,” she said. “Who owns the BDS movement, and how do they define their end goal? That’s actually a question, a real question I have for you.” Robert Garcia said he would oppose any congressional measure that supports the movement. “Obviously, I don’t support BDS,” he said.