Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Monday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we interview Sen. Joni Ernst about Riyadh’s role in the Middle East, and profile Liron Zaslansky, Israel’s top diplomat in Dubai. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Scott Wiener, Gaby Aghion and Mark Dubowitz.
Just over a week since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Allenby Bridge Border Terminal launched a 24-hour operational schedule yesterday — a key project pushed by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides — which seeks to ease passage for Palestinians traveling between the West Bank and Jordan.
Accompanied by representatives from the U.S. Embassy and USAID, as well as Israeli officials from the Israel Airports Authority and COGAT (the Israeli military authority that coordinates government activities in the West Bank), Nides told Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash, “We’re in the middle of Ramadan right now and anything that keeps things calm is very important.”
“I am focused on the security of Israel, and I fundamentally believe that a better life for the Palestinian people also helps the security of Israel,” Nides explained, describing the scene at the crossing as still “chaotic.” He added that the next stage of the plan is to find investments and funding that will improve the physical access to the border crossing.
The border crossing will now remain open through the night, five days a week – reducing hours only for the Jewish Sabbath starting Friday evening through Saturday night, at least through the summer months. Read the full story here.
Is a regional realignment in the Middle East in sight? Saudi Arabia plans to invite Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Riyadh for an Arab League summit in May, in a move that would formally end Damascus’ isolation in the region.
Syria and Egypt are also reportedly in talks to restore full diplomatic relations after more than a decade, in what The Wall Street Journal described as “fast-evolving developments that are reshaping the Middle East’s geopolitics.” A meeting between Assad and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi could come shortly after Ramadan ends later this month, the Journal reports.
Where is the White House on this? The Biden administration, the Washington Post’s Josh Rogin writes, “has abdicated diplomatic leadership to Moscow and is turning a blind eye as Gulf states welcome the Assad regime back into the diplomatic fold.”
“Washington is sorely mistaken if it thinks that allowing regional players to reestablish diplomatic and economic ties with Bashar al-Assad will lead to greater stability,” Rogin adds.
Mark Dubowitz, the CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told us this morning that the regional shift “is a major victory for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Vladimir Putin as well as Assad. It sends a signal that no matter how horrendous your war crimes, eventually you can be rehabilitated if you’re sufficiently ruthless and patient. It’s a shameful display from Gulf countries who have welcomed Assad back into the fold. But it is also a disappointment for those who believed the Biden administration would vigorously enforce the Caesar Act, a 2019 human rights law passed overwhelmingly by Congress.”
Even if a regional realignment is in sight, one thing has not changed: tensions along Israel’s border with Syria. The Israeli military said it shot down a Syrian drone that had crossed into Israeli airspace, hours after Syrian officials accused Israel of conducting airstrikes in the Homs province.
podcast playback
Ernst: Riyadh an ‘incredibly important partner’ on security and economy

Having served 23 years in the United States Army — during which time she spent a year on the front lines in Kuwait as a commanding officer during the Iraq War — Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) became the first-ever female combat veteran elected to federal office when she assumed Iowa’s open Senate seat in 2015. Ernst is also the first woman to hold an Iowa congressional seat in either chamber. On this week’s episode of Jewish Insider’s podcast, Ernst, who is a co-founder of the bipartisan Senate Abraham Accords Caucus, joined co-hosts Rich Goldberg and Jarrod Bernstein for a conversation on Israel’s current political climate, U.S.-Middle Eastern relations, China, Iran and American foreign policy.
On engaging with Saudi Arabia: “I think we absolutely must pay attention to Saudi [Arabia] and we’ve had our own disagreements with Saudi Arabia, and they are by no means perfect, but that nation is so critical,” Ernst, who recently traveled to the region, noted. “The relationship with Saudi Arabia is so important, they are probably one of the most significant partners in the region, and we really do need to promote closer cooperation on those issues of mutual interest, including regional security cooperation, which is why we continue to encourage them to engage in activities like the Abraham Accords.”
On Israel’s proposed judicial reform: “Well, I simply believe that we shouldn’t be dictating to other countries what their judicial systems are, any more than we would want them dictating to us. So I really disagreed with President [Joe] Biden and the way he handled this,” Ernst said. “I think it’s important that we focus on our judiciary and other countries focus on theirs. And the thing to remember here is that Israel has a very robust democratic process, and that sometimes will include protests, it will sometimes include dissent, and we’re seeing that in Israel right now. But again, it’s not unlike our own system here in the United States.”
Bonus lightning round:Favorite Yiddish, Hebrew or Arabic word or phrase? “I would probably have to say ‘schlepping.’” Favorite place visited in any Abraham Accords country? “I’m gonna pick this one because it’s also important to my dear friend and brand new senator, Katie Britt of Alabama. In the Old City, one of the little shops in Jerusalem is an actual Alabama store. And so Katie Britt and I, and the rest of the members of the congressional delegation, visited this store and I bought a T-shirt. OK, I’m not an Alabama fan, but I bought a T-shirt from there, because half of it was in Hebrew, the other half in English — it was obviously ‘Roll Tide’ — and it was just a reminder that our countries are so interconnected.” Favorite Jewish food? “Matzah ball soup.”