Daily Kickoff: Israel’s judicial reform + Inside the Super Soul Parties
👋 Good Monday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to MK Simcha Rothman about the Israeli government’s proposed judicial reforms, and spotlight a new initiative to convene Jewish Democrats in North Carolina. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff, Meir Kay, Dov Zakheim and Keren Hajioff.
Members of the Israeli Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, in a 9-7 vote this morning, passed two clauses key to the government’s proposed judicial reform — changing the system to appoint judges so that coalition members will comprise a majority of the selection committee; and canceling the High Court’s ability to review and change Basic Laws — paving the way for the legislation’s first reading in the Knesset. Committee Chair Simcha Rothman ordered the removal of opposition MKs from the room after they shouted and chanted in protest of the legislation and against Rothman. See more below and read Rothman’s interview with Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash here.
The vote went ahead despite a nationally televised plea by Israeli President Isaac Herzog last night to hold off and to consider a five-point compromise proposal, including a new Basic Law that would set out the relationship between the Knesset and the court, that he called for legislators to discuss. A “very senior” coalition member, however, told the N12 news broadcaster that the coalition would wait a week to bring it to a Knesset vote. Herzog’s call was met with praise by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides, who tweeted, “Great speech tonight by a great leader. Thank you President @Isaac_Herzog.”
President Joe Biden, in his first direct comment on Israel’s judicial reform proposal,toldThe New York Times’ Thomas Friedman over the weekend that “The genius of American democracy and Israeli democracy is that they are both built on strong institutions, on checks and balances, on an independent judiciary. Building consensus for fundamental changes is really important to ensure that the people buy into them so they can be sustained.”
Herzog’s address came the night before a nationwide strike and a demonstration outside the Knesset in Jerusalem that drew tens of thousands of Israelis protesting the proposed judicial overhaul. Hundreds of high-tech companies, law firms and other private sector companies are participating in the strike, as well as thousands of doctors and mental health professionals. Additional protests were held in other cities around the country.
In an op-ed in The Jerusalem Post, the Orthodox Union’s Rabbi Moshe Hauer described both the government’s position and arguments to keep the current judicial system “untenable and should be recognized for what they really are, as opening bids in a bruising legislative negotiation.”
Hauer cautioned that the decisions made by Israel’s government may impact the future of American support for Israel. “While those on both sides of Israel’s political divide must continue to advance their policy debates vigorously, they must recognize that on the sidelines of their political battlefield sit America’s Jews, watching carefully and deciding whether they will be able to identify with the outcome,” he wrote. “To paraphrase Ahad Ha’am, more than American Jewry has maintained Israel, Israel has maintained American Jewry.”
survey says
Forty percent of American Jews feel less secure than a year ago, AJC survey finds
More than four in 10 American Jews felt less secure in 2022 than the year before — a 10-point jump from 2021 — with rising antisemitism resulting in a “frightening impact” on the comfort levels of members of the Jewish community. That was a key takeaway from a survey released Monday morning by the American Jewish Committee, which measured attitudes on antisemitism both within and outside the Jewish community, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Broad look: The survey of 1,507 American Jews, which was conducted between Sept. 28 and Nov. 3, 2022, indicated the widespread impact of antisemitism on the American Jewish community. AJC also surveyed 1,004 members of the American public at large between Oct. 10 and Oct. 18. The first survey found that 26% of Jewish respondents were personally the target of antisemitic incidents in 2022, including antisemitic attacks, antisemitic remarks in person and antisemitic remarks online; 23% are affiliated with an institution that has been targeted by antisemitism in the past five years; and 87% have seen antisemitic content online.
Government assessment: The study also found that American Jews are divided on how well the government is responding to antisemitism. Forty-eight percent said they approved of the job President Joe Biden has done — down from 54% in 2021 — and 34% said they disapproved. But a majority, 56%, said they disapproved of the way Congress has responded, with just 22% approving, down from 28% the year prior. Forty percent of respondents were satisfied with how their state and local governments are responding. “It’s a question of the urgency of taking action,” AJC CEO Ted Deutch said, of the overall survey. “There’s been a call for more action by the federal government for some time. Now, there is an effort, thankfully, to create a national action plan. This highlights why that’s necessary.”
view from jerusalem
Meet the Knesset member at the forefront of the controversial plans to reform Israel’s judiciary
Israeli lawmaker Simcha Rothman on Monday was in the crosshairs of controversial government plans to enact a series of legislative reforms that will change – and, say critics, drastically weaken – the way the country’s legal system, particularly its Supreme Court, functions. As Rothman, a determined legislator and representative of the far-right Religious Zionism party, chaired a stormy session of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee to fast track the judicial reforms, tens of thousands of Israeli workers walked off their jobs and descended on Jerusalem, holding an unprecedented demonstration against the plan, Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash reports.
No stranger to controversy: Appointed chair of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee a little over a month ago, the 43-year-old Rothman, who is a member of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, is used to such turmoil in his committee. At the forefront of the reforms, he has been seen almost daily beating back criticisms and claims by the opposition and a host of former justices and legal experts, local and foreign, decrying his proposed reforms package. Rothman also faces daily scrutiny from most of Israel’s media outlets, and his proposal, combined with a similar reform package being touted by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, have sparked a series of mass protests around the country drawing upwards of 100,000 citizens into the streets each weekend.
Media matters: “If I tried to understand the situation in the U.S. when [Donald] Trump was the president just by watching MSNBC, then I would have thought that the U.S. was going to collapse tomorrow. If I tried to understand what’s happening now in the U.S., during [Joe] Biden’s presidency, only by watching the Daily Wire or Fox News, then I would think that tomorrow morning there will be no U.S., that it’s collapsing,” Rothman, the child of American immigrants, told JI in an interview in his Knesset office on Thursday.
Different views of democracy: According to Rothman, who described criticism of the judicial reform proposals as “fake news,” his plan will fix a branch of government that he believes has long been overstepping the boundaries of logical power in a democracy. Unlike the executive and legislative branches of the government, which are democratically elected, Rothman believes that the judiciary more or less appoints itself as currently, a larger portion of the selection committee’s members come from the sector and, he says, it operates with little oversight by the other two branches. With these reforms, Rothman told JI, Israel will become more democratic, not less. And, he added, “There are way more people who are happy about these reforms and who will be deeply upset if they are not passed.”
sports night
The Super Bowl parties making a difference
A few weeks before the New England Patriots beat the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI in 2017, Meir Kalmanson, better known as Meir Kay, was walking through New York City when he noticed a man on the sidewalk holding a cardboard sign. “I don’t want food, I don’t want a drink, I just want to be seen,” it read, so Kay invited the man for a meal and the two got to know each other. With the experience top of mind and nearing game day, Kay began to think of all the people without friends or family during what has become an unofficial national holiday. When Super Bowl Sunday arrived, he showed up to his friend’s rooftop house party alongside half a dozen homeless individuals he had invited from around the neighborhood. “It was amazing,” Kay recalled to Tori Bergel for eJewishPhilanthropy. “It wasn’t about watching the game or even having a hot meal, which is important, of course, to have that, but it was the interaction, the connection, the eye contact…how these guys [walked] in and how they left, as a whole, was a massive obvious shift.”
Gone viral: Kay posted a video of the party on YouTube; it quickly went viral. A professional filmmaker at heart, Kay started his channel, which has amassed 324,000 followers since its creation in 2008, to spread joy and kindness. The following year, Kay began fielding calls from people wanting to get involved with his next event. “They wanted to bring it to their own town, and honestly, I can’t say it was my intention. I was like, ‘OK cool, I did this thing, it was nice and amazing, but…’ But I realized there was this demand, people wanted to help and there was a need for this,” Kay said. Over the next six years, Super Soul Party would expand, with events in 36 cities by 2022. The parties included much-needed resources for people experiencing homelessness, such as mental health counseling, hot food and clothing drives. The party organizers also switched from street outreach to working directly with homeless shelters, so that more guests could go to and from the events.
Scene in New York: On Sunday evening in New York City, about 200 people, around 100 of whom were experiencing homelessness, showed up at Manhattan’s Sixth Street Community Synagogue — a fortuitous name for such an event — to watch the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles. Walking through the door, there were tables set up along the right side of the room filled with clothing and “dignity bags” containing personal essentials including toothbrushes, tampons and deodorant. In the corner by the entrance, a barber station gave haircuts to anyone who wanted. A buffet of mini hot dogs, chicken and Chinese food — all kosher — sat at the front with volunteers in Super Soul Party T-shirts helping throughout the various stations. People mingled and ate at a handful of round tables or else sat in one of the many rows of folding chairs arranged before a large projected screen across the back wall.
What’s in a name: “To me, it’s all in our name. We’re all super souls, and we’re just here to party. I think you take away the religion, the race, the ethnicity of a person, at the end of the day, you connect on so many levels beyond just finances and how you live.” Ben Kreisberg, a Super Soul volunteer who’s been with the organization since its second year, told JI. “[This event] makes you feel humanized. Sometimes as people living in a big city like New York, it’s very easy to get caught up in our lives and forget [the needs of others], so this is a chance to come back and say, ‘Look, we’re here, we’re one people.’”
Read more here and subscribe to eJewishPhilanthropy’s Your Daily Phil newsletter here.
exclusive
North Carolina Jewish Democrats launch caucus to address local, national issues
Jewish leaders in North Carolina are gearing up to launch a new Democratic Jewish caucus at a founding convention later this month, as part of a broader effort among party activists to boost organizing efforts before the 2024 election. “We think the time is right for a Jewish caucus in the Democratic Party,” Matt Sadinsky, the group’s acting president, said in an interview with Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel on Friday. “The Jewish people share a lot of values with the Democratic Party. These values are now being threatened all around us, and now is the time to fight for them.”
Organizing effort: The North Carolina Democratic Jewish Caucus, as it is officially known, will meet virtually on Sunday, Feb. 26, to adopt bylaws, elect officers and begin the process of establishing county chapters, among other things. After the convention, the group will petition to become formally affiliated with the state party, according to Sadinsky. The creation of the caucus comes in response to a wide range of issues that have caused mounting concern among Jewish Democrats in the Tar Heel State, chief among them the rising threat of antisemitism. “There are a lot of antisemitic words and acts all over North Carolina and over the country, and many of our caucus members have experienced them personally,” Sadinsky, who lives outside Charlotte, told JI. “It seems like hate speech, which was verboten, is now being mainstreamed. We think we’ve got to do something.”
On the rise: In 2021, antisemitic incidents across North Carolina rose by 131% over the prior year, according to the most recent annual audit published by the Anti-Defamation League, which counted 30 reported cases of anti-Jewish harassment and vandalism within the state. Meanwhile, Jewish community members from both parties have raised alarms over North Carolina’s Republican lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, who has refused to apologize for past comments in which he denigrated Jews, Muslims and transgender people, among other groups. Robinson is widely expected to run for governor next year in what could be a hotly contested two-way matchup with Josh Stein, the attorney general of North Carolina, who recently announced his campaign to succeed Roy Cooper, the term-limited Democratic incumbent. Stein, a Jewish Democrat who criticized Robinson’s rhetoric in his launch video, is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the inaugural caucus convention in two weeks.
Platform politics: Sadinsky said the caucus also intends to focus on such hot-button issues as voting rights, abortion access, climate change and Middle East policy, the latter of which has recently emerged as a source of brewing division among Democratic activists in North Carolina. Last June, the state Democratic Party adopted a series of controversial resolutions at its annual convention in Durham, accusing Israel of “apartheid” and calling for “targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes,” on Israelis who have committed alleged human rights violations against Palestinians, among other measures. Prospective members are required to pledge their commitment to the national Democratic Party platform on the Middle East formalized in 2020, which upholds support for “a negotiated two-state solution that ensures Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state with recognized borders,” among other things. “You have to be willing to accept the Democratic platform on Israel, and you have to swear off any kind of hate speech,” Sadinsky told JI.
Worthy Reads
👴 Bibi’s Legacy Moment: In The Hill, former U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Dov Zakheim raises concerns that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu risks losing the economic gains he has made for Israel during his tenures in government if the current coalition pushes through a series of governmental reforms that have drawn the ire of the business community. “The chaos that Netanyahu’s government has engendered is spooking technology companies already operating in Israel and, of even greater concern, international investors, whose confidence and support are the lifeblood of the country’s highly advanced economy. The CEO of Papaya Global, an international payroll firm valued at over $3.5 billion, has announced that it will move the company’s funds from Israel in protest of the government’s policies. The CEO of Verbit, a $2 billion Israeli company that specializes in artificial intelligence-driven speech recognition software, likewise has announced that the firm is leaving the country in protest of the government’s plan to undermine the Supreme Court’s authority. More high-tech firms could follow their lead.” [TheHill]
🗳️ Eye on 2024: Politico’s Daniel Lippman spotlights Republican entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who is mounting an unconventional bid for the White House in 2024. “‘We were taught that you satisfy a moral hunger by going to Ben and Jerry’s and ordering a cup of ice cream with some social justice sprinkles on top,’ he told the crowd, a line he repeated multiple times during his trip to Iowa. ‘But we’ve learned in the last couple of years that you cannot satisfy that moral hunger with fast food. And the good news is I think we’re getting hungry again. And I think there’s an opportunity to fill that hunger with something deeper.’ Ramaswamy was there to do what people with ambition, a thirst for the spotlight and an overflowing sense of self-confidence occasionally go to Iowa to do. He is exploring a run for president, testing, among other things, whether his warnings about the dangers of ‘wokeism’ and socially-responsible investing — in business vernacular what’s called environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing — has political currency with Republican politicians, business leaders and, yes, farmers.” [Politico]
🇺🇦 Ukrainian Support: In The Jerusalem Post, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Mark Dubowitz makes the case for Ukraine to support Israel amid a spike in terror attacks that have largely been funded by proxies in Iran, who are also Moscow’s primary allies in its invasion of Ukraine. “The murderers were Palestinian but Tehran helped put their fingers on the triggers. The Islamic Republic is the main foreign sponsor of Palestinian terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and has a hand in the influx of smuggled firearms into Israel, including into the West Bank…. While it fights against the brutal Russian onslaught, Ukraine should similarly rise to the defense of its citizens abroad, even as it strives to protect them at home. While it may be too preoccupied with wartime struggles to prosecute individual cases, Kyiv should go beyond its condemnation of the recent Palestinian terror attacks to a fuller review of policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” [JPost]
🏫 DEI Doctrine: In the Wall Street Journal, Hillsdale College Vice President Matthew Spalding raises concerns over the proliferation of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs on college campuses. “Diversity is no longer a term to describe the breadth of our differences but a demand to flatter and grant privileges to purportedly oppressed identity groups. Equity assigns desirable positions based on race, sex and sexual orientation rather than character, competence and merit. Inclusion now means creating a social environment where identity groups are celebrated while those who disagree are maligned. ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ — the compound form of these modern concepts — is especially toxic. It divides us by social identity groups, ranks those groups on privilege and power, and excludes those who fail to honor the new orthodoxy. Rather than being equally endowed with innate dignity and fundamental rights as human beings — best judged by our character and not skin color — we are supposed to discriminate and confer status based on race, sex and cultural affinity.” [WSJ]
⛪ Church Chatter: In The New York Times, Esau McCaulley dissects how the Black Hebrew Israelite movement’s core beliefs place it at odds with Black churches. “The wider society may know little of the group, but a recent study found that 4 percent of African Americans describe themselves as Hebrew Israelites. They have become well known in Black religious spaces for assembling outside churches and aggressively evangelizing. Much of the outreach literature created by this group is peppered with antisemitic ideas and disparagements of the Black church. For many members of these groups the fullness of salvation is only for God’s chosen people: Black people, Native Americans and Hispanics. All other ethnic groups will have a lesser role (if any) in the world to come. For them, white Jews are not the real Jews but, along with Christians and Muslims, are part of a plot to keep Black people from understanding their true identity… The Black church does the important work of correcting the record and writing Black people back into a story that colonization and white supremacy tried to erase. But that work can be done without displacing anyone else or assuming that the harm we experienced is someone else’s destiny.” [NYTimes]
Around the Web
👩 Honing in on Haley: The Associated Presshighlights the challenges former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley may face in a Republican presidential primary, ahead of the launch of her campaign on Wednesday.
👴 Spotlight on Sanders:The New York Times looks at the power wielded by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who has not announced whether he plans to run for reelection — or mount another presidential bid — in 2024, as chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
🖼️ Art of the Deal: World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder reached an agreement with the descendants of a Jewish woman who fled Europe prior to WWII, and will pay restitution and repurchase a painting by Gustav Klimt that had been in the woman’s possession until the 1930s.
👀 Background Check: The Washington Post looks into the family history of Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), who claimed to have some Jewish roots but whose grandfather was found to have fought for Nazi Germany during WWII.
⛪ Mormon Money Mess: The SEC is investigating whether the Mormon Church evaded efforts to disclose its financial holdings.
🏢 Black[stone] and Blue: The Wall Street Journalexplores the challenges facing Blackstone following a market downturn after the firm’s creation of the Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust.
🏀 Passing the Buck?: Marc Lasry is reportedly in talks to sell his stake in the Milwaukee Bucks.
🗞️ Big-League Assist: The Poynter Institute explores how the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Washington Post collaborated to finish reporting out a story that Review-Journal reporter Jeff German had been working on at the time of his murder.
🎨 Antisemitism in Art: A report on a German art show that was mired in controversy over antisemitic works found that Documenta 15 “served as an echo chamber for Israel-related antisemitism and sometimes pure antisemitism.”
✂️ Severed Ties: The mayor of Barcelona severed the city’s relationship with Israel, including a twinning program with Tel Aviv, accusing Israel of “apartheid.”
📗 Bookshelf: The Wall Street Journalreviews Oren Kessler’s Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict.
🚑 Calling Out Terror: The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain condemned Friday’s terror attack in Jerusalem that killed three Israelis.
🪖 Military Matters: The IDF and CENTCOMM launched a joint drill dubbed Operation Juniper Falcon on Sunday.
🚀 Israel-Gaza Tensions: The Israeli army struck an underground rockets-manufacturing complex and additional Hamas military posts in Gaza overnight in response to a rocket launch from the enclave on Saturday evening.
🏘️ Government Signoff: Israel’s security cabinet on Sunday approved the legalization of nine West Bank outposts.
🍇 Wine Time: The Circuit interviews Israeli vintners who are turning the Negev desert into wine country.
🛰️ Detained: Iran claims to have arrested the main perpetrators of a drone attack on a weapons facility in Isfahan, in which it says “Israeli mercenaries” were involved.
➡️ Transition: Keren Hajioff, formerly the international spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, is joining the Foundation for Defense of Democracies as a senior advisor on Middle East affairs and strategic communication.
🕯️ Remembering: Morris Amitay, who served as executive director of AIPAC, vice chairman of JINSA and the founder and treasurer of the Washington Political Action Committee, died at 86. Rebbetzin Henya Federman, who with her husband founded the Chabad Lubavitch of the Virgin Islands, died at 40. Journalist Jerrold Schecter, a former Time magazine bureau chief in Moscow, died at 90.
Pic of the Day
Thousands of women pose for a group photo outside of Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Friday. The women are among some 3,900 emissaries and community leaders who participated in the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries over the weekend.
Birthdays
Former CEO of the Cleveland Browns and president of the Philadelphia Eagles, Joe Banner turns 70…
Rabbi and Talmudic scholar, also emeritus professor of economics at New York University, closely identified with the Austrian school of economic thought, Yisroel Mayer Kirzner turns 93… Former chair of the Toronto-based Mackenzie Institute think tank, he was a North York and Toronto City Councillor, Norman “Norm” Gardner turns 85… Professor at American Jewish University in Los Angeles and scholar of biblical literature and Semitic languages, Ziony Zevit turns 81… Longtime host of the tabloid talk show “The Jerry Springer Show,” former Democratic mayor of Cincinnati, Jerry Springer turns 79… Newsletter editor specializing in U.S. intelligence, military and foreign policy issues, Jeff Stein turns 79… U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) turns 77… Professor of anthropology at the University of Toronto, author of ‘I Did Not Know You Were Jewish’ and Other Things Not to Say, Ivan Kalmar turns 75… Radio broadcaster for the New York Mets, Howard “Howie” Rose turns 69… Former president of the United Jewish Community of Ukraine, Ihor Kolomoyskyi turns 60… Casting director, Amy Sobo… President and CEO of the congressionally chartered National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Jeffrey Rosen turns 59… Internet entrepreneur best known as the co-founder of Zynga, Mark Pincus turns 57… Immediate past chair of national women’s philanthropy of The Jewish Federations of North America, Rochelle “Shelly” Kupfer… Former senior speechwriter for Treasury Secretaries Geithner and Lew and speechwriter for Senator Frank Lautenberg, Mark Cohen… Retired Israeli soccer player, he made 89 international appearances for Israel and won nine league championships, Alon Harazi turns 52… Founding partner of Drowos Wealth Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors, Bryan M. Drowos… Publisher of Southern California’s Jewish Link Magazine, Dov Blauner… Corporate crisis correspondent at Reuters, Mike Spector… Director of media relations for Columbia University, Samantha Slater… Principal at Health Supply America, Jonathan Neuman… Director of philanthropy at LPPE LLC, Daniel Sperling… Founder and owner at Miami’s Cadena Collective, Alejandra Aguirre turns 32…
