Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Wednesday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on last night’s House of Representatives vote on support for the U.S.-Israel relationship, and look at how Nikki Haley is positioning herself on abortion as the Republican presidential primary heats up. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Jeffrey Katzenberg, Tali Dee and Harry Belafonte.
Israel marked the 75th anniversary of its founding in a ceremony for exemplary IDF soldiers in Jerusalem this morning at the residence of President Isaac Herzog. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi were all in attendance.
“Over 75 years of hope and resurrection, we have attained a whole raft of achievements, some extraordinary and groundbreaking — even by global standards. We could not have done any of this if we hadn’t done it all together,” Herzog said. “On the eve of independence, Ben-Gurion described the state of the nation: splintered into organizations, factions, an array of bodies and competing and conflicting interests. He wrote about how, in his view, with the formation of this marvel, the proclamation of sovereignty, ‘all the walls came crumbling down’ and an astonishing unity was forged. ‘It is hard to say which of these two miracles was the greater: the miracle of the restoration of our sovereignty, or the miracle of Israel’s unity,’ wrote Ben-Gurion.”
“In these days too, in this time of discord, we must remember: the Israeli mosaic — the stunning diversity where arguments, voices, opinions, and positions abound, is not a weakness,” Herzog continued. “The wonderful Israeli mosaic, which includes Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Circassians; the religious, the secular, the traditionalist, and the ultra-Orthodox; veteran Israelis and new immigrants; people of all worldviews and lifestyles — this mosaic is our special power. It is our miracle.”
This afternoon, Herzog will host a diplomatic reception at the residence.
In a statement commemorating the day, President Joe Biden said, “When David Ben-Gurion declared Israel’s independence in 1948, he announced the birth of a state ‘based on freedom, justice and peace.’ Just 11 minutes later, President Truman announced that the United States would be the first nation to recognize the government of Israel.”
“Today, we are still proud to be counted among the first of Israel’s friends and allies,” Biden continued. “And the United States recognizes the resilience of Israel’s democracy — the bedrock for our robust and special relationship.”
In Washington, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will meet today to debate and vote on the MAHSA Act, which instructs the administration to examine whether top Iranian leadership is subject to further U.S. sanctions, and levy any sanctions it determines are applicable. Ahead of the meeting, tensions have risen between the committee’s Republican chair, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), and some House GOP offices and activists supporting the legislation. The legislation is sponsored by Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) and has 90 co-sponsors — 48 Republicans and 42 Democrats.
The debate surrounds a proposed amendment McCaul released earlier in the week that would revise language in the original bill directing that the administration “shall… impose all applicable” sanctions to instead state that the administration “shall… pursue applicable sanctions.” Critics claim that McCaul’s proposed change would make the bill essentially nonbinding. McCaul did not respond to requests for comment.
The proposed amendment prompted backlash among some supporters of the bill on and off the Hill. Multiple GOP offices reached out to the committee expressing concerns that McCaul’s substitute text had made the bill ineffectual, according to a staffer for one of the offices involved.
“The supporters of the MAHSA Act don’t want a process, they want the sanctions designations,” Jason Brodsky, the policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran, told JI. “There’s a concern that just solely including that ‘pursue’ language in there would not be as stringent as having an ‘impose’ as the word… It’s very important that… we don’t have a loophole for the executive branch to decide that it’s not going to impose sanctions.”
The National Union for Democracy in Iran said in a statement that its staff had met with HFAC staff on Tuesday and suggested that McCaul’s office was working toward a compromise solution that would apply the “impose” language to statutory sanctions authorities — those approved by Congress — and the “pursue” language to sanctions established through presidential authority in executive orders. NUFDI said it would support such a compromise.
Jewish Insider learned that an amendment to this effect is expected to be introduced during the HFAC meeting by Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL). It’s unclear what form of the bill will emerge from the markup, or how recent developments could shape Democratic views on the bill.
Elsewhere on the Hill, U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power is set to testify today before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding her agency’s 2024 budget.
on the hill
House passes pro-Israel, Abraham Accords resolution in 400-19 vote

The House voted 400-19 on Tuesday evening in favor of a resolution expressing support for the U.S.-Israel relationship and the Abraham Accords in honor of the 75th anniversary of Israel’s founding, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. The resolution represents a strong bipartisan show of support for the U.S.-Israel relationship and highlights the robust support that Israel continues to enjoy in Congress.
Sponsor speaks: Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO), the lead sponsor of the resolution, said in a statement following the vote that the “bipartisan passage of this resolution reaffirms our commitment to the people of Israel and promotes vital security assistance so they can defend themselves in the face of an increasingly aggressive Iran.”
Roll call: Eighteen Democrats and one Republican voted against the resolution: Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Cori Bush (D-MO), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Summer Lee (D-PA), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), Andre Carson (D-IN), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) and Delia Ramirez (D-IL).
Second statement: Reps. Kathy Manning (D-NC), Mike McCaul (R-TX) and Brad Schneider (D-IL) were original co-sponsors of the legislation. However, a statement issued by a group of Democrats that included Manning and Schneider raised concerns about the resolution text’s omission of support for a two-state solution. “Unlike previous resolutions honoring Israel’s birthday and achievements, this resolution, principally drafted by Republicans, broke the longstanding bipartisan tradition of acknowledging the importance of achieving a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians,” the statement read. “However, the strong bipartisan vote on [the resolution] was an important opportunity for the House to formally express our support for Israel as we have on similar occasions in the past.” Signatories to the statement also included Reps. Greg Meeks (D-NY), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Dean Phillips (D-MN), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), David Cicilline (D-RI) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL).