Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Wednesday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to Rep.-elect Jared Moskowitz about freshman orientation on the Hill, and have the exclusive on U.S. legislators joining an international forum to promote projects related to the Abraham Accords. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Amb. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Tom Friedman and Masih Alinejad.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will convene a roundtable conversation about antisemitism at the White House this morning with representatives from 13 American Jewish organizations. Other Biden administration officials in attendance will be White House Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice, Senior Advisor to the President for Public Engagement Keisha Lance Bottoms, Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt and Deputy Special Envoy Aayon Keyak, Deputy Homeland Security Advisor Josh Geltzer, White House Jewish Liaison Shelley Greenspan and Melissa Rogers, executive director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
“For me, this is not the end. This is just the beginning of this conversation. And as long as I have this microphone, I am going to speak out against hate, bigotry and lies,” Emhoff is expected to tell attendees, according to a copy of his prepared remarks obtained by Jewish Insider. “On days like today, I think back to Ellis Island. I think about my family members and I think of the promise of America, that a young boy from Brooklyn, whose family fled persecution, could be sitting here today as the first second gentleman of the United States in the White House.”
The Jewish groups included in the meeting are Agudath Israel, the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), Hillel International, National Council of Jewish Women, Integrity First for America, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Secure Community Network, Jewish on Campus, the Orthodox Union, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
What we’re reading: Politico’s Eugene Daniels and Sam Stein look at how Emhoff conceived the idea for an antisemitism roundtable earlier this fall, and how the convening cements the second gentleman as “one of America’s foremost Jewish political figures.”
The House and Senate Armed Services Committees released their negotiated 2023 National Defense Authorization Act last night, which includes some key Jewish communal priorities but leaves others on the cutting-room floor. The NDAA is the annual “must-pass” defense and national security policy bill, which frequently serves as a vehicle for a range of priorities and other legislation.
Included in the bill, which the House will vote on later this week, are provisions supporting increased funding and greater administrative support for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, pursuing the establishment of a cooperative Middle East air- and missile-defense architecture (the DEFEND Act) and mandating regular reports to Congress on the state of Iran’s nuclear and terrorism activities.
The bill also supports increasing funding for joint U.S.-Israeli counter-drone programs from $25 million to $40 million and expands those efforts to include directed energy weapons; expresses support for the U.S.-Israel relationship; reauthorizes joint missile-defense cooperative programs; mandates the development of a plan for countering Iran-origin drones; reiterates the U.S.’s commitment to prohibiting Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon; and bars the transfer of any currency to the government of Iran.
But provisions establishing a database of security resources for nonprofits (the Pray Safe Act) and clarifying that U.S. sanctions on Iranian weapons proliferation apply to Iranian drones (the Stop Iranian Drones Act) were excluded from the bill. A string of amendments requesting reports on antisemitism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism and extremism also did not make it into the bill.
Amendments repealing the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force in Iraq, limiting offensive sales to Saudi Arabia, blocking the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, condemning Iranian human rights abuses and requesting a report on Iranian internet censorship and surveillance also appear to have been excluded from the final package.
The bill additionally seeks to crack down on and protect against the use and proliferation of foreign commercial spyware, largely in response to hacking controversies such as those surrounding Pegasus software produced by the NSO Group, which raised alarm bells on Capitol Hill.
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) secured his victory by almost three points over Republican Herschel Walker in the Georgia Senate runoff yesterday, giving Democrats a 51-49 majority in the upcoming Senate session. The clear Democratic majority, as opposed to the current 50-50 split, gives Democrats the majority on Senate committees, likely making it easier for them to advance legislation and nominees and granting them unilateral subpoena power.
Last night at The Line hotel in Washington’s Adams Morgan neighborhood, a packed room celebrated the upcoming Bahraini National Day. Bahraini Ambassador to the U.S. Shaikh Abdullah bin Rashid Al Khalifa delivered remarks as attendees snacked on Bahraini pastries.
Tonight in New York, the Israel Policy Forum will hold its annual benefit at the Plaza Hotel. This year’s honoree is former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk, who will be introduced by Special Representative for Palestinian Affairs Hady Amr.
scoop
Abraham Accords caucus leaders join international forum on agreements with 16 countries

Leaders of the congressional Abraham Accords caucuses in the House and Senate joined lawmakers and diplomats from 16 other countries on Tuesday for an international, interparliamentary forum focused on promoting projects related to the normalization agreements, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod has learned.
Guest list: Sens. James Lankford (R-OK), Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), co-chairs of the Senate and House Abraham Accords caucuses, participated in the Abraham Accords Interparliamentary Strategic Dialogue event, alongside representatives from 13 European Union countries, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Canada, an individual involved in organizing the event told JI. The event, held on Zoom, was organized by AIPAC and its charitable affiliate, the American Israel Education Foundation.
Partners: “It is important to have partners like AIPAC as we continue to support Israel and actively engage with dozens of countries to promote normalization between Israel and Arab nations,” Lankford told JI. “We should find as many paths to peace as possible and explore every opportunity for a prosperous future. I am grateful to AIPAC for hosting such a vital conversation as we continue to make remarkable moments of history to come together in peace.”
On the agenda: The goals of the forum, the source said, include bringing together people from multiple countries to promote the Accords, increasing education in other countries about the Accords and their impacts and potential multilateral, jointly funded projects within the region. The source particularly highlighted the possibilities for cooperation in areas relating to education as well as water, energy, sustainability and the climate — especially given that the UAE is hosting COP, the United Nations climate change conference, next year. They noted that European states have particular experience in regional climate and energy work.
Step one: The individual described Tuesday’s convening — which they said was met with significant interest by participants — as the beginning of a larger process and an ongoing method of collaboration among legislators across international borders.
Elsewhere: Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee yesterday that the actual Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ personnel presence on the ground in Yemen assisting the Houthi militia is highly limited — in the “tens.” But, he added, Iran is “getting a big bang for their buck” out of its efforts to support the Houthis. That said, Lenderking said the U.S. is hopeful of movement back toward a political settlement in the coming months, given that cross-border attacks between Yemen and Saudi Arabia have been halted for months.