Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Wednesday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Bill Hagerty about Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s trip to China, and interview Oren Kessler about his new book out today. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Nikki Haley, Tom Friedman and Adam Frisch.
A hovercraft plane used for disaster reconnaissance. Cell-cultured food. Drones that plant trees. Those were some of the exhibits and displays lining the halls of the Jerusalem Convention Center today as OurCrowd summit attendees milled about, exchanging handshakes, hugs and business cards in conversation peppered with English, Hebrew, Spanish and Arabic.
We bumped into Maniv Mobility’s Michael Granoff in the executive suite. “It’s the only place where I run into South Korean and Japanese investors and also my in-law’s neighbors from the German Colony,” he said.
Making his entrance at the morning plenary, OurCrowd founder Jonathan Medved danced onstage to “Come and Get Your Love,” by the ’70s band Redbone. “I’m dancing like Madonna,” he joked. “I don’t know how she does it.”
The summit kicked off with a press conference in which Medved discussed the impact of the Abraham Accords. “The presence of dozens of startups, investors and government officials from these and other countries represents a huge vote of confidence in the future,” Medved said. “The Abraham Accords are now facilitating significant progress on technology, business, and investment between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and we are proud to be playing a catalyzing and facilitating role in this remarkable development.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog took on a somber tone as he addressed the audience. “I think the same way you see the innovative spirit of the State of Israel, you also see it in [Israel’s judicial reform] debate and I am very proud of my brothers and sisters ‒ the Israelis taking an active role in the debate from all of its sides,” Herzog said. “All I can say about myself is that I’m doing my best to direct this debate into a constructive dialogue that will lead to an agreed-upon result that will strengthen, and foster, and protect Israeli democracy.”
In conversation with reporters, Medved touted efforts to work at the intersection of business and philanthropy. “I’m an unabashed venture capitalist, but I’m also very, very committed to making sure that my focus is on companies that have a double bottom line, where you can make money and do good at the same time. I believe strongly that there’s no opposition between those two causes.”
Medved again praised the successes of the Abraham Accords in boosting business and cooperation across the region. “We’re in Jerusalem,” Medved said. “There is a huge booth for Abu Dhabi upstairs. There is a huge booth for Morocco upstairs. This is progress. The young people are excited about it. They want to work with Israelis. The Israelis want to work with them. All my team now, when I say, ‘Who wants to go to Abu Dhabi and work with the team [there]?’ they say, ‘I do, I do!’”
Medved pointed out the natural ties that exist between a majority of Israeli Jews, who have Middle Eastern heritage, and the Arab world. “The majority of Israeli Jews, their families came from this part of the world — this part of the world defined as Iraq, or Morocco, or Yemen…It’s really family. When I sit with my friends in many of these countries, even Saudi Arabia, I’m talking to family. My language, Hebrew, is like Arabic. We share almost the entire alphabet…our language structure, our religion, our food. It’s remarkable.”
Stateside, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will speak at the BBYO international convention on Thursday in Dallas, the White House announced on Tuesday. Other speakers at the gathering, which is expected to draw more than 5,000 Jewish teens, include New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, gun violence prevention activist David Hogg and Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas.
Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is expected to formally launch her campaign in Charleston today. See more below and read Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel’s interviews with conservative Jewish leaders on her run here.
on the hill
Senators raise concerns about deepening Iran-China ties

As Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Chinese President Xi Jinping huddle in Beijing, two senators, one Democratic and one Republican, raised concerns about the deepening ties between the Islamic Republic and China, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Sit-down: Xi pledged yesterday that “China will unswervingly develop friendly cooperation with Iran no matter how international and regional situations change,” while Raisi said he’s seeking to expand economic and trade relations with China, which have faltered in recent years.
Red flag: “It’s a matter of great concern,” Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) told JI yesterday. “We see these authoritarian powers finding more and more common ground. I think it’s something that we should all be deeply concerned about.” Hagerty cautioned that China may be “looking at ways to prop up the Iranian regime by financing them through oil purchases,” and said that deepening Chinese economic ties with Iran could make Beijing an accessory to Iran’s assistance to Moscow in its invasion of Ukraine.
In agreement: “I’ve been very alarmed by the deepening relationship between Iran and China,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who was a prominent supporter of negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program, told JI. “We’re keeping more than an eye on it,” Van Hollen continued. “This started some time ago with their strategic cooperation agreement… I think this is one more reason why we need to make sure we strengthen our hand vis-a-vis China when it comes to global issues.”
Bonus: China will “constructively participate” in efforts to revive Iran’s nuclear deal,” Xi said during Raisi’s visit, Semafor reports, noting that relations between the two countries had grown tense after Xi visited Saudi Arabia, angering Tehran.