Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Thursday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we cover Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s meeting with President Joe Biden, as well as an upcoming trip to Israel for Bronx civic and political leaders being led by Rep. Ritchie Torres. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Amb. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Asher Bennett and David Rubenstein.
The United Nations Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is slated to present its controversial report at 10 a.m. ET. Ahead of the session, Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan is scheduled to speak at an event hosted by the activist group StandWithUs, where he will address issues surrounding the commission, which has been denounced by both American and Israeli officials in recent months for its biases against Israel and for including members that have trafficked in antisemitic stereotypes. A cohort of Jewish organizations, including the Jewish Federations of North America, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, is co-sponsoring the event.
The Conference of Presidents called on diplomatic representatives at the U.N. to reject the commission’s findings. The letter, obtained by JI and sent to every U.N. member state, refers to the commission as a “malicious and illegitimate body,” citing antisemitic and anti-Israel comments made by its members.
Efforts to denounce the report extended to Washington, where a readout from President Joe Biden’s meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog noted Biden’s condemnation of “the persistent scourge of anti-Semitism, including anti-Israel bias in international fora.”
And on Capitol Hill, Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), the new chair of the House’s Middle East subcommittee, issued a statement rejecting the findings of the commission, which he said was established “to cherry-pick and work to damage the Jewish State.” In a joint statement, Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Rob Portman (R-OH), the leading voices on the subject in the Senate, called the report “as unsurprising as it is distorted and incomplete,” noting that the document does not address Hamas’ actions during the 11-day conflict in May 2021.
Yesterday, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield met in New York with representatives from roughly a dozen Jewish organizations. “The ambassador certainly discussed broadly the importance of combating the resurgence of antisemitism,” including at the U.N., said Elana Broitman, senior vice president for public affairs at Jewish Federations of North America, who attended the off-the-record meeting. The group discussed the Commission of Inquiry, but Broitman and other participants declined to share specifics from the conversation. Read more here.
The most in-demand ticket for D.C.’s Jewish community last night was a standing-room-only reception for President Herzog, hosted in the scenic waterfront penthouse residence of his brother, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Mike Herzog, with balcony views of the Potomac River, the Washington Monument and the Kennedy Center.
Among those who packed into the Herzogs’ living room were Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides and UNESCO Secretary General Audrey Azoulay.
In remarks at the reception, Ambassador Herzog joked that he “slightly know[s]” the Israeli president, with President Herzog responding that “the real purpose of this trip is that I get a free meal with my brother.” He also thanked President Joe Biden for a “productive and warm and affectionate and open meeting.” More below on Herzog’s second and final day in Washington.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed the maritime boundary agreement between Israel and Lebanon at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem this morning, alongside Israel’s negotiating team, after the Israeli government approved the deal earlier this morning.
At the start of the special cabinet meeting, Lapid hailed the agreement as a security, diplomatic and economic achievement. “It is not every day that an enemy country recognizes the State of Israel, in a written agreement, in view of the international community. It is not every day the United States and France stand behind us and provide security and economic guarantees for an agreement,” he said.
A signing ceremony is set to be held at the U.N. Base in Naqoura, Lebanon, later today with the participation of Israeli, Lebanese, American and U.N. delegations.
presidential parlay
Herzog emphasizes Iran concerns, defends Israel’s stance on Ukraine on second day in U.S.

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog meets in the Oval Office of the White House on October 26, 2022 in Washington, DC. Herzog is in Washington for a two-day visit to meet with U.S. leaders and to discuss security issues. (Photo by Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)
Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with President Joe Biden in the Oval office on Wednesday for a meeting that focused “mainly” on Iran, the Israeli leader told reporters outside the West Wing. The Iran discussion touched on a variety of subjects, including its nuclear ambitions, its crackdown on protesters domestically and its provision of weapons to Russia, which, Herzog added, Russia has used in Ukraine, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Nuclear no-go: A senior Israeli official speaking to reporters said that the Biden administration views talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal as irrelevant at the current time, having concluded, as Israel has, that there are no serious negotiating partners in Iran’s government. Secretary of State Tony Blinken also offered a pessimistic outlook on the status of talks yesterday, saying that he doesn’t expect a return to the deal in the “near-term.”
Antisemitism awareness: Asked by a reporter outside the West Wing whether he was concerned about rising antisemitism in the United States, Herzog confirmed that he and Biden had discussed the subject. “It’s a major issue which we see as the main challenge in various frontiers all over the world,” he continued. “Clearly, as the nation-state of the Jewish people, we care for our brothers and sisters all over the world.” The Israeli president told CNN that Biden had been “crystal clear, was on target in fighting antisemitism with all tools possible” and said he was “extremely pleased to see this overwhelming reaction against the comments by Kanye West.”
Elections watch: Ahead of hotly contested elections in both countries next month — which some fear could sweep far-right extremists into power in Israel — Herzog has emphasized the durability of the U.S.-Israel relationship, regardless of political changes, a message he reiterated in the Oval Office on Wednesday. “One thing is clear, and I think this visit epitomizes it best, is that our friendship and strong bond transcends all political differences and opinions and parties,” Herzog said. Biden offered a similar message, saying, “I’ve said this 5,000 times in my career, the ironclad commitment the United States has to Israel is based on our principles, our ideas, our values.”
Hochstein’s home run: Herzog, who also met with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan yesterday, said he and Biden also discussed the maritime border agreement with Lebanon, regional integration and normalization. Biden praised Israel for agreeing to the deal, which was brokered by Amos Hochstein, the U.S. special energy envoy. “I think it’s a historic breakthrough. It took a lot of courage for you to step up,” Biden said. “It takes real guts and I think it took principle and persistent diplomacy to get it done. And I compliment you and I compliment the government.” A White House readout following the meeting noted the deal would “harness vital new energy resources for the world.”