Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Wednesday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we bring you the latest from Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s trip to Washington, and report from Riyadh, where “Davos in the Desert” began yesterday. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Brad Schneider, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik and Taffy Brodesser-Akner.
It’s Jonathan Ferziger here, The Circuit’s managing editor, reporting from the Saudi capital, where more than 7,000 people are attending the country’s Future Investment Initiative conference, better known as “Davos in the Desert.”
The annual extravaganza in Riyadh’s palatial Ritz Carlton Hotel aspires to set the world’s financial agenda like its older counterpart in the Swiss Alps. To get to last night’s opening dinner party, one had to walk through the vaulted marble hallways and between bronze statues of four life-size, wild horses rearing on their hind legs. At the buffet table were endless platters of seared tuna sushi, slow-cooked beef cheeks, lamb mansaf and pistachio baklava for dessert. Non-alcoholic mojitos and lavender spritzers were served at the bar.
Speakers during the three-day confab include FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz, former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Third Point’s Dan Loeb, Starwood’s Barry Sternlicht, Trian’s Nelson Peltz, Canyon’s Joshua Friedman, MizMaa’s Yitz Applbaum, former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN), LionTree’s Aryeh Bourkoff, MHR Fund Management’s Mark Rachesky, Oak Hill Advisors’ Glenn August, Visions of Peace founder Cheryl Halpern, former Trump administration official Brian Hook, former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, Ivanhoe Mines’ Robert Friedland and Aerofarms’ David Rosenberg. More on Davos in the Desert below.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog will meet with President Joe Biden this afternoon at the White House, as well as National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and this evening he will attend a reception at the home of his brother, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog. Yesterday, the Israeli president met with Jewish leaders and spoke at an N7 Initiative event hosted by the Atlantic Council and the Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation. More below.
In New York this morning, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield is meeting with Jewish communal leaders to discuss the recent U.N. General Assembly.
Tonight in Los Angeles, Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) and Rick Caruso will address voters in a mayoral candidate forum hosted by the Anti-Defamation League’s Los Angeles office, The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and L.A. branch of the American Jewish Committee. Last week, JI’s Gabby Deutch took a look at the closely watched race to succeed Mayor Eric Garcetti. Read more here.
presidential visit
In D.C., Herzog highlights Arab-Israeli normalization, Iranian drones in Ukraine

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speak with each other as they arrive to deliver remarks to the press before their meeting at the U.S. Capitol October 25, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog focused on Arab-Israeli normalization and the Iranian drone threat to Ukraine yesterday on the first day of a two-day visit to Washington, D.C, his first since becoming Israel’s president. Herzog met on Tuesday with leaders from the Jewish Federations of North America, the leadership of dozens of American Jewish groups, Secretary of State Tony Blinken and other senior State Department officials and House leadership, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). He also participated in an N7 Initiative event co-hosted by the Atlantic Council and the Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation to discuss Arab-Israeli normalization, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Hopeful Herzog: During the N7 event, moderated by former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, Herzog expressed confidence that there will one day be a Middle Eastern treaty alliance, akin to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. “It may take a generation to get there, but we’re not far away on so many issues,” he said, particularly highlighting the region’s potential as a source for renewable energy.
Sights on Saudi Arabia: Herzog praised President Joe Biden for visiting Saudi Arabia during his summer trip to the Middle East, during which Biden worked to advance Saudi-Israeli normalization. Experts, including Shapiro, told JI last week that recent Saudi-U.S. tensions make normalization between the two countries a more difficult goal to achieve. “I commend President Biden for taking that trip in the region, including going to Saudi Arabia, because I truly believe that Saudi Arabia is a very important player in the region and also a very central pillar in the Muslim world,” Herzog said. “I say that from an Israeli perspective, not related to the American argument with Saudi Arabia these days, but I’m looking at the grand picture. It was an important step moving forward in many respects.”
Eye on Iran: Throughout the day, Herzog highlighted additional evidence that Israel has collected of Russia’s use of Iranian drones in its invasion of Ukraine, and said he plans to discuss the issue with Biden on Wednesday as well. The comments come as Israel faces criticism from some in the U.S., as well as Ukrainian leaders, for refusing to provide weapons to Ukraine. “We all identify with the plight of citizens in Iran who wish simply to express their desires and liberties,” Herzog said. “And if you take this record of spreading terror, weapons, hate all around the region, and now try to apply it in Ukraine, you see that innocent civilians in Ukraine are killed and hurt and wounded and suffering from Iranian weapons.