Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Friday morning!
Ed. note: The Daily Kickoff will be on hiatus for the week of July 4. We’ll be back in your inbox on Monday, July 11. Wishing you a happy Fourth of July!
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: Meet Israel’s next prime minister; How the top U.S. Nazi hunter intends to bring Russian war criminals to justice; Bill de Blasio says he no longer supports AIPAC and wishes Nina Turner was in Congress; Entrée’s Eyal pushed start-ups to raise cash quickly, slash expenses; An Emirati ‘majlis’ spreads out on the National Mall in Washington; Second annual Holocaust Survivor Day aims to show appreciation for a dwindling population; As cost of living rises, Israel’s latest tent protests fizzle out amid political chaos; and Aspen Ideas Festival convenes again, with philanthropy on the agenda. Print the latest edition here.
The Abraham Accords have prompted a “huge sea change” in Israel and the region, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), who is currently leading a congressional trip to Israel, told Jewish Insider during a break in his schedule on Thursday. Gottheimer had last traveled to Israel prior to the pandemic.
Despite the current political turmoil in Israel, Gottheimer said the “message delivered was remarkably consistent” on issues including Iran, the Accords and Ukraine from leaders across the Israeli political spectrum.
The New Jersey congressman, who recently called for an “independent” investigation into the death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, said that Palestinian Authority officials the group met with indicated they would be willing to turn the bullet that killed Abu Akleh over to independent investigators. Gottheimer said that “a country like the United States” would likely have to lead an independent investigation. The Biden administration has thus far resisted calls for a U.S.-led inquiry. Read more about the trip here.
mansour in the middle
Mansour Abbas’ political gambit

Mansour Abbas, head of Israel’s conservative Islamic Raam party, speaks during a press conference in the northern city of Nazareth, on April 1, 2021.
As the already turbulent Knesset neared a vote this week to dissolve itself, Arab-Israeli lawmaker Mansour Abbas, leader of Ra’am (United Arab List), sat calm and collected in his nondescript, sparsely decorated basement-level office. Even as the government he helped create and sustain through the past year collapsed around him, even as he now finds himself in the eye of the political storm — with Israelis, both Jewish and Arab, divided over the participation of an Arab faction in the national government — Abbas remains clear-headed and confident in his conviction that Arab-Israeli citizens must embrace their civic identity and seek representation in Israel’s leadership, Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash reports.
Partnership for good: “On one hand, it’s the fundamental right in every democracy,” Abbas told JI on Tuesday. “On the other hand, the Arab community has real needs that were not dealt with by previous governments, and Arab Knesset members did not have any influence to deal with those problems.” It is on the latter point that Abbas, 48, has focused over the past year. Even as Jewish members of the government squabbled and quit, weakening the coalition and ultimately bringing it to collapse, Abbas, whose party represents the political wing of the Islamic Movement in Israel, has worked diligently to improve the quality of life for Israel’s 1.9 million Arab citizens, roughly 21% of the country’s population. At the same time, he has made clear that Jews and Arabs must work together for the greater good of the country.
Political gamble: It was a political gamble. Never in Israel’s 74 years has an Arab party, let alone one comprised of Islamists, become part of the ruling coalition. And while Abbas and his faction have seen some success in tackling crime and securing funding for the community, it is the very act of being part of the government in the Jewish state that will now be examined and debated as Israelis head once again to the polls. On Thursday, legislators voted to dissolve the parliament and hold a general election — the fifth in less than five years — on Nov. 1. The outcome will depend, in large part, on whether Abbas has proved to his own community, as well as to Israeli Jews, that his unprecedented partnering experiment has been positive.
Continue to coexist: Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at the Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, told JI, “The discourse within Arab society about this experiment is still ongoing. There is a reduction in crime and there are more budgets, but the most important impact is that the Arabs are now part of the circle of decision-making for the first time since 1948.” He said the importance of Abbas’ participation in the government was also important for Jews. “We can’t just look at the political discourse on whether this succeeded or not, we must also look at the broader reality and its impact on relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel – if he [Abbas] collapses, it will have much deeper implications on whether we can continue to coexist.”
Partnering despite disagreements: Abbas made clear that he is a willing partner for whomever Israel’s next leadership might be – if they accept him – including a government headed by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who currently leads the opposition. “My goal is to create a partnership that will make a difference,” he said, acknowledging that his decision to partner with Israel’s government pushed both communities – Jews and Arabs – out of their comfort zones. “It wasn’t comfortable for either of them to confront this question of partnership,” Abbas continued. “But in Ra’am we say that we do not need to agree on everything, we can have partnerships even with disagreements.”