Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Friday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we catch up with YU hoops star Ryan Turell on the eve of his history-making NBA G League debut, and lay out what will happen over the coming days and weeks as former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to form a government following this week’s elections. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Susan Wild, Lisa Scheller, Jonathan Greenblatt and Rep. Ritchie Torres.
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 and eJewishPhilanthropy stories, including: YU hoops star Cruising into NBA history; Russian-Israeli race car driver makes F1 debut; An MTG ally takes on a moderate Jewish Democrat in FL-13; Elaine Luria’s tightrope walk down the center path; What does the botched Ukraine letter mean for congressional progressives’ foreign policy agenda?; Why environmental groups support the Israel-Lebanon gas deal; and Overworked, underpaid and loving it: What this year’s Leading Edge survey shows about the Jewish nonprofit sector. Print the latest edition here.
The Brooklyn Nets suspended Kyrie Irving last night, saying that the point guard is “currently unfit to be associated” with the team. The announcement came shortly after Irving was questioned by a reporter if he held antisemitic beliefs, days after Irving tweeted a link to an antisemitic film. Irving gave a rambling answer and acknowledged that the documentary he shared contained “some things that were questionable in there, untrue.” When pressed again, Irving responded, “I cannot be antisemitic if I know where I come from,” a reference to the Black Hebrew Israelite conspiracy theory that Black individuals and other minorities descend from the 12 Tribes of Israel and that Jewish people are not “real Jews,” but are engaging in identity theft.
Irving had been scheduled to meet with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver next week to discuss the basketball player’s recent sharing of antisemitic content and refusal to give “an unqualified apology.”
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt called Irving’s suspension “well-deserved.” A day earlier, Greenblatt had jointly released a statement with Irving and the Nets in which Irving stopped short of apologizing for his social media activity but pledged — along with the Nets — to donate $500,000 to antisemitism education and awareness efforts. Last night, Greenblatt said his organization planned to reject the donation from Irving based on his latest comments.
Hours after the suspension was announced, Irving posted an apology to his Instagram account. “To All Jewish families and Communities that are hurt and affected from my post, I am deeply sorry to have caused you pain, and I apologize,” Irving wrote. “I initially reacted out of emotion to being unjustly labeled Anti-Semitic, instead of focusing on the healing process of my Jewish Brothers and Sisters that were hurt from the hateful remarks made in the Documentary. I want to clarify any confusion on where I stand fighting against Anti- semticism by apologizing for posting the documentary without context and a factual explanation outlining the specific beliefs in the Documentary I agreed with and disagreed with.”
bibi’s back
Israel’s election: What happens next?

(Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
After Tuesday’s general election in Israel, former Prime Minister Leader Benjamin Netanyahu is poised for a comeback after more than a year leading the country’s opposition. While his path to the premiership seems close to assured, there are still a few stages, and some challenges, he must overcome in order to establish Israel’s 37th government, Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash reports.
Next steps: Israel’s election laws mandate that the vote counts must be completed within eight days of the election, including any recounts or discrepancies. On Nov. 9, after tallying up ballots, the chairman of the Central Election Committee, Justice Yitzhak Amit, will announce the final figures. Then all attention turns to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who will invite the leaders of each party that will make up the 25th Knesset for consultations on who should be tasked with forming the next government. He will then have seven days to consider the candidates – historically, presidents have usually selected the head of the largest party or the party with most support from other factions. In this case, that person is likely to be Netanyahu.
Numbers game: With all the votes counted, the former leader’s Likud party has 32 seats in the Israeli parliament, out of a possible 120. The bloc of right-wing and religious parties that support Netanyahu collectively holds 65 seats – giving Netanyahu the majority he needs in parliament and he will need to decide if he wants to build a coalition with these factions. On the other side of the political map, outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party was at 24, Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s National Unity party received 12, Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman’s Israel Beiteinu party drew 6 seats, and Labor won 4. Only two of the Arab parties succeeded in passing the threshold: Mansour Abbas’ Ra’am party drew 5 seats and Ayman Odeh’s Hadash-Ta’al faction also won 5. Balad, the other Arab party, and the left-wing Meretz party did not pass the threshold.
Problematic partners: To form a coalition, Netanyahu will likely have to work with the far right-wing party, Religious Zionism, whose members have been celebrating their unprecedented win on election night. The party’s demands – as expressed during their weeks of campaigning – include appointing the controversial leaders, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, once considered fanatical and marginalized, as defense minister and public security minister, respectively.
Track record: “On both diplomatic and security matters, Netanyahu has proven to be a cautious leader, and this is not expected to change,” Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, told JI. “The question now is whether Ben-Gvir and other right-wing elements in his future government coalition moderate their behavior once they take up ministerial positions, or will they fan the flames of unrest in Jerusalem and the West Bank – that Netanyahu will be forced to deal with.”
Read the full story here.
Bonus: Lapid conceded defeat yesterday and called Netanyahu to congratulate him on his victory. “The State of Israel is above any political considerations,” Lapid said in a statement. “I wish Netanyahu good luck for the people of Israel and the State of Israel.”