Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Friday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we feature an interview with Amb. Gordon Sondland on our podcast, and look at a bipartisan effort in Congress to address cyber harassment by terrorists and other foreign actors. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Ken Marcus, Elisha Wiesel and Amb. Deborah Lipstadt.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent Jewish Insider, eJewishPhilanthropy and The Circuit stories, including: Naftali Bennett’s big bet; Showtime’s ‘Ghosts of Beirut’ examines CIA-Mossad op that brought down one of world’s most elusive terrorists; A hotel of firsts reopens in Tel Aviv after a 70-year hiatus; White House faces pressure from the left to buck mainstream antisemitism definition; Lipstadt praises IHRA definition, but declines to say if it will be included in White House strategy; More than 175 American, global Jewish groups urge U.N. to endorse IHRA definition; Abu Dhabi grad school aims to help bridge AI programmer gap; and Chabad rabbis and rebbetzins from far-flung locales gather in Morocco. Print the latest edition here.
Today in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Arab leaders from around the region are gathering for the Arab League summit. Among those in attendance is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose rehabilitation into the Arab League and broader Arab world after more than a decade of isolation has been shepherded by Riyadh.
In addition to Assad, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim ibn Hamad Al Thani, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Vice President Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed, Bahraini King Hamad, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, Omani Deputy Prime Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Affairs Sayyid Asaad bin Tarik Al-Said, Tunisian President Kais Saied, President of the Libyan Presidential Council Mohamed Younis Menfi, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Yemen’s Rashad Al-Alimi, the president of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, are all in attendance in Jeddah.
The Washington Post’s Missy Ryan described Assad’s return as “a major triumph for the once-shunned Syrian leader as he seeks to shut the door on a decade of bloody civil war” that “highlights the stark gap between the United States and some of its closest Middle Eastern partners on an issue that once united them.”
“The rapprochement” between Syria and the rest of the Arab world, Ryan wrote, “reflects a recognition in Middle Eastern capitals that, despite earlier efforts to cultivate a formidable opposition to Assad, the U.S.-led policy of replacing the Syrian leader failed, having set the stage for the rise of the Islamic State and the expansion of Iranian military power on NATO’s borders.”
Next week will mark the unofficial start to Republican primary politics. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to launch his long-awaited presidential campaign next week. In a private call with top donors Thursday, DeSantis made the case that he was the only GOP candidate that would be able to win the primary, and defeat President Joe Biden.
And on Monday, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott is set to formally kick off his presidential campaign in North Charleston, S.C. Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, has been leaning in on his inspirational personal biography (“from cotton to Congress”) and abiding faith to win over religious voters looking for an alternative to both former President Donald Trump and DeSantis.
representation in NY-17
Democrats lack Jewish candidates running in pivotal N.Y. swing seat
When Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) announced her retirement from the House in 2019, it was hardly surprising that most of the candidates who ran to replace her were Jewish. That none of them won, however, was a surprising development in New York’s 17th Congressional District, where voters had long elected Jewish lawmakers such as Lowey, a pro-Israel stalwart who served in the House for more than three decades, writes Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel.
Marked absence: The district itself, which spans the Lower Hudson Valley, has one of the highest Jewish populations in the country. But since 2020, no Jewish candidates have stepped up to run for the recently redrawn swing seat now held by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), a freshman Republican whose narrow victory last November was attributed in large part to strong support from Orthodox Jewish voters in Rockland County, home to the largest Jewish population per capita of any county in the U.S.
Locals unfazed: As Lawler prepares to seek a second term in 2024, the emerging Democratic primary field now looks unlikely to draw any Jewish challengers. Yet while the recent dearth of Jewish candidates from both parties is a setback for Jewish representation, Jewish leaders in the Hudson Valley insist they are largely unfazed by the change.
‘It isn’t enough’: “My sense is, for many Jewish voters, all else being equal, people would probably prefer a Jewish candidate,” Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, a Jewish Democrat and former state senator in Rockland County who lost a reelection bid last cycle, told JI in a recent interview. “But for most voters, including in the Orthodox community, it isn’t enough.”
podcast playback
Amb. Gordon Sondland: U.S. should give ‘complete, unfettered support of Ukraine’ until Russia is driven out
On this week’s episode of Jewish Insider’s podcast, co-hosts Rich Goldberg and Jarrod Bernstein are joined by former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland for a conversation on his work with the Auschwitz exhibition at the Reagan Library, Iran, Ukraine and his testimony during the impeachment inquiry against former President Donald Trump. Below are excerpts from the conversation.
Sondland on his work sponsoring the Auschwitz exhibition at the Reagan Library: “This is a show that was curated elsewhere and traveled to Reagan, and is there now for the better part of the year, and apparently is experiencing, you know, sold out crowds almost every day. It’s quite a show, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about the Holocaust, who has learned potentially to deny the Holocaust, I think it gives a very, very strong and compelling argument that yes, the Holocaust did occur, yes, people, Jews and others were killed, and it’s something that’s never to be repeated.”
On where the Republican party stands on support for Ukraine: “I think the vast majority of the Republican Party, with the exception of a few isolationist hardliners, believe that we need to leave all options on the table vis-à-vis Ukraine. I’m one who goes even further than that, I’m for a complete, unfettered support of Ukraine until they conclusively drive Russia out of all occupied areas, including Crimea, even if that’s done in stages, but I think it’s an existential threat to Europe to have Russia in any way be rewarded for their incursion. I think that most of the Republican Party and certainly the Democrats are there. It’s the ultra-right and the ultra-left that I think have far more of a voice than they deserve in this issue.”
On the EU’s relationship with Iran and the Iran nuclear deal: “I realized that there was a tremendous pride of authorship in the JCPOA, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, by members of the European Union staff, particularly Federica Mogherini, who at the time served as the HR [high representative] VP, which is the equivalent of our secretary of state. And she thought that the deal that they had cut — she and [former U.S. Secretary of State] John Kerry essentially worked together on this deal — she thought the deal that they had cut with Iran was the best possible deal the West could get…”
Read the full story and tune into the Limited Liability podcast here.
on the hill
Citing BDS ‘Mapping Project,’ lawmakers call for DHS assessment on cyber harassment, doxing
Citing the Massachusetts “Mapping Project” that alleged an antisemitic conspiracy theory, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation on Thursday that would require the Department of Homeland Security to assess the threat posed by cyber harassment and doxing by terrorists and malign foreign actors, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Looking back: The “Doxing Threat Assessment Act,” introduced by Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Don Bacon (R-NE) and 23 co-sponsors, would direct DHS to report on the risks posed to both national security and individual privacy by the potential online activities of such malicious actors. A press release by Wasserman Schultz’s office highlighted the fact that the Mapping Project, which was organized by an anonymous group of BDS supporters and included the locations of Jewish groups and institutions across Massachusetts, had been endorsed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Iranian state-run media.
Making connections: Bacon specifically linked the legislation to antisemitic threats in his own statement on the bill. “This is a new frontier, and we need more information on the threat doxing poses, as we have seen anti-Semitic groups weaponize the data of victims. Jewish citizens and businesses have been targeted by this doxing,” he said. “With more information, our law enforcement will be able to develop a more robust approach to the protections of Americans and their data.”
Elsewhere on the Hill: In testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, Samantha Power, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said that the Middle East Partnership for Peace Act board recently visited Israel and the Palestinian territories and was “really blown away by the good that’s being done” and “came back really feeling as if [MEPPA] was exactly the right way to go, especially in this period where not a lot is happening in the political negotiation track.” She noted, however, that increased security threats make the program’s objectives harder to achieve.
author interview
Meet the best-selling Israeli author that few Israelis have heard of
Joel Rosenberg’s 17 novels have collectively sold close to 5 million copies worldwide. His fans include former U.S. presidents such as George W. Bush and Donald Trump, as well as top officials including former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who, this week on Twitter, endorsed Rosenberg’s newest novel, The Libyan Diversion, which is already ranked No. 1 in its genre in Amazon’s Kindle store. In the Middle East, Rosenberg has also experienced success, receiving invitations to the palaces of Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, both of whom had much to say about his wildly popular political thrillers that are often set in the region and inspired by — and sometimes even predict — real events, Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash reports.
Evangelical audience: Yet, despite being among Israel’s most successful writers, few in the country have heard of Rosenberg. The main reason? His readers are predominantly English-speaking evangelical Christians — such as Pence and Pompeo — not Hebrew-speaking Israeli Jews. Since his first novel, The Last Jihad, was published two decades ago, the 55-year-old has focused his work, which also includes the news website All Israel News, on the English-speaking evangelical community, mainly in the U.S. — an audience of a mere 60 million people. An evangelical Christian himself, Rosenberg, whose father was born Jewish, is one of some 35,000-40,000 evangelical citizens of Israel. He told JI, “I’ve just never had a deal to translate the books into Hebrew, even though it would be fun. It is such a small market anyway, that we haven’t made it a priority.”
Writer’s inspiration: “Where do I get my ideas? The simple answer is that I study evil people and evil organizations and I believe them, I believe what they say,” Rosenberg said. “I think, well, if they could really do all they want to do, what would that look like? How would that play out?” Rosenberg said the idea for The Libyan Diversion was sparked by a conversation he had two years ago with Pompeo, who also served as CIA director under Trump. “[Pompeo] said one of the things that he worries about is ungoverned spaces in northern Mexico,” recalled the author. “He said, ‘during the Trump administration, we tried to do everything we could to seal up that border, we made a lot of progress, but it’s not done and now Biden’s only unraveling that stuff. And that worries me.’”
scoop
Far-left NYC councilmember’s exit from race preempted attack ads
Before Kristin Richardson Jordan abruptly announced on Tuesday that she was ending her campaign for a second term in the New York City Council, rumors had been circulating that the outspoken democratic socialist from Harlem was poised to be hit with a barrage of spending from outside groups. “What I had heard from a bunch of different places and people is that she was about to get destroyed,” said one Democratic insider in Harlem. In fact, Jordan — a hard-left councilmember who had drawn scrutiny for her positions on policing, affordable housing and the war in Ukraine — was just days away from being pummeled by a newly created super PAC that had raised a major cash haul to thwart her candidacy, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel has learned.
‘Opening salvo’: The group, called SAFE NYC, was preparing to release its “opening salvo” this weekend in what was to be a $400,000 independent expenditure including mailers, digital ads and a website, according to Jake Dilemani, a Democratic strategist who helped lead the effort, which has not previously been reported. The first scheduled mailer, which Dilemani shared with JI, highlighted reporting that showed Jordan had missed half of her City Council meetings since last year. “Have you seen this person?” asked the mailer, plastering her face onto a milk carton. The super PAC was also planning to debut a new website, reviewed by JI, that denounced Jordan as an “extremist” with “out-of-touch” positions. The page, which remains private, cites her support for defunding the police and her opposition to a proposed housing development in Harlem that recently became a truck depot. In the coming days, SAFE NYC was set to unveil “several more mailers and a barrage of digital ads,” Dilemani told JI.
Bowing out: Inadvertently or not, however, Jordan preempted the incoming attacks when she withdrew from the June 27 primary, where she was facing three relatively moderate Democrats in one of a small number of competitive City Council races this election cycle. Dilemani, a partner in the New York City office of Mercury Public Affairs, suggested to JI that Jordan “got wind of” the ad barrage “prior to dropping out,” effectively hastening her departure. The freshman lawmaker said in her announcement that there were “many reasons” for her decision. “The behavior of the Harlem Machine is self-centered rather than focused on community,” she said in a sharply worded statement posted to Twitter on Tuesday. “Dealing with these bad-faith actors — as well as the irresponsible journalism that amplifies them — distracts our energy from the real work.”
Worthy Reads
👩 Lipstadt in the Limelight: The New York Times’ Elizabeth Williamson spotlights Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the State Department’s antisemitism envoy, ahead of the release of the White House’s strategy to combat antisemitism. “The special envoy’s role was created two decades ago, but Dr. Lipstadt, the highest-profile scholar to hold the position, serves a president doing something new: seeking Europe’s help in battling a 2,000-year-old prejudice resurgent in America. In February, Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, hosted European special envoys at the White House to advise the United States on a national strategy for combating antisemitism. The move surprised some envoys more accustomed to the United States’ lecturing on the topic. ‘This was an acknowledgment that antisemitism is a serious problem in the U.S. too, and an action plan has to be worked out in order to address it more strategically, not only as a reaction to antisemitic incidents,’ said Felix Klein, a German government commissioner for Jewish life and countering antisemitism, who attended the conference. ‘It’s a much more cooperative approach.’” [NYTimes]
✡️ All About IHRA: In the Washington Examiner, Ken Marcus, the founder and chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, makes the case for the Biden administration to include the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism in its forthcoming antisemitism strategy. “The IHRA’s definition has been adopted by over 30 nations and more than half of U.S. states. It is the indispensable cornerstone of any meaningful approach to addressing the contemporary forms that antisemitism takes in the U.S. and throughout the world. Embracing the IHRA definition should be easy. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stated that the Biden administration “enthusiastically embraces” it. While some on the far Left have opposed the IHRA definition, the Biden administration would be wise to avoid their counsel. The Biden plan will succeed only if it is demonstrably bipartisan. The IHRA definition is supported by both Democrats and Republicans of every political persuasion. Making the IHRA definition the centerpiece of the Biden plan would signal that Biden intends to address antisemitism on both the Left and the Right. Failure to do so would send a very different signal about his intentions. It would also indicate a basic lack of seriousness.” [WashingtonExaminer]
😠 Not In His Name: In The Hill, Elisha Wiesel decries the effort by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) to “weaponize” the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Act to target Israel. “These false charges of genocide against Israel are smears long used by critics who apply classical anti-Semitic tropes to the Jewish state. And they have consequences. These forms of blood libel fan the flames of hatred towards Jews as surely as the medieval claims once did that we murdered Jesus or were killing Christian infants. To utilize my father’s name in such vile accusations is so far beyond the pale that I am staggered by the silence in response. I cannot figure out why some within the progressive movement are so unfailingly obsessed with attacking Israel, to the point that prominent politicians such as Jeremy Corbyn nearly brought Britain’s Labor Party down over it. Why would they do this, when it distracts their energy from causes that are worthy and which they might just win? I remember my father telling me: We have always been hated. The root cause of the conflict is not Israel’s aggression. It is Israel’s existence. It is our existence.” [TheHill]
🇮🇱 Jerusalem of Old: On the occasion of Jerusalem Day, in the Wall Street Journal, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik considers the standing of both Jerusalem and Israel in the world, amid rising global antisemitism. “Those gathered in prayer in Jerusalem know its conflict with its enemies won’t be resolved in the near future and that the ‘wisdom’ offered by much of the world will be of little help. These Jews know that Jew-hate has been part of Jewish history from the beginning — and they’re grateful that they now have a Jewish army to protect them. But what will happen in the long term is beyond question. During the Camp David negotiations of 1978, President Jimmy Carter warned Prime Minister Menachem Begin that the accords were Israel’s last opportunity to achieve peace. Begin replied: ‘Our people lived thousands of years before Camp David and shall continue to exist thousands of years after. . . . There are no last opportunities or chances.’ The endurance of the Jewish people — and the indestructibility of its bond to Jerusalem — is assured.” [WSJ]
😔 Managing Grief: The New York Times’ Sarah Wildman reflects on the recent death of her teenage daughter after a bout with cancer. “In late 2008, toward the end of my pregnancy with Orli, I interviewed the actor Harvey Fierstein, then starring in ‘Hairspray.’ As I made my way through the crowd backstage at the Neil Simon Theater, past cast members and stage managers, hangers-on and well-wishers, Mr. Fierstein caught a glimpse of my belly. ‘Make way!’ he barked, raspily. ‘This woman is carrying the hopes and dreams of her entire family!’ Everyone laughed. I have thought of that moment often in the bewildering, terrible weeks since Orli’s death, at 14. I have thought of how incredibly buoyant I felt, how much anticipation we all seemed to share. I thought of that night when I added woeful words to my vocabulary. My partner, Ian, and I are, in Hebrew, ‘av shakul’ and ‘em shakula’ — a bereaved father and mother. In English the term ‘bereaved’ feels polite, even sanitized. I needed a word as crushing as the experience. We are parents who have seen a future stolen. To raise a child is to assume you will leave that child first, but we have buried our firstborn.” [NYTimes]
Around the Web
📄 Republican Resolution: Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) and 11 Republican co-sponsors introduced a resolution condemning terrorist attacks on Israel by Iranian proxies and recognizing Jerusalem as the legitimate capital of Israel.
🚫 Fighting BDS: Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Mike Braun (R-IN), Rick Scott (R-FL), Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Steve Daines (R-MT) reintroduced legislation aiming to support state and local anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions efforts. In the previous Congress, the bill had bipartisan support, being co-sponsored by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV).
🤨 Staffer Saga: A group of Jewish House Democrats is calling on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to censure Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) over the Arizona Republican’s employment of a staffer who has expressed white nationalist beliefs.
✋ Feinstein’s Frailty: The New York Times reports on the severity of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) medical complications as the senior senator from California returns to the Hill following a prolonged absence as she recovered from shingles.
🇮🇱 The Times They Are A-Changin’: In the New York Post, Alan Dershowitz and Andrew Stein caution that President Joe Biden may be Democrats’ last pro-Israel president, arguing that shifting political currents in the U.S. and Israel are changing the calculus in Washington.
🕍 Sacred Spot: The Capital Jewish Museum will open in Washington, D.C., next month, at the site of the city’s first synagogue.
🪦 Police Probe: Police in Hartford, Conn., are investigating the desecration of a mausoleum in a historic Jewish cemetery in the city.
🚘 Take Two: California startup Ample is launching a new kind of battery-swapping station for electric vehicles, nearly two decades after the folding of Shai Agassi’s Better Place battery-swapping company.
💲 Saving Face: U.S.-based skincare company Murad will pay $3.3 million to settle allegations that it exported millions of dollars in goods and services to Iran.
🇳🇱 Going Dutch: Israel and the Netherlands inked a defense deal that will see Jerusalem provide Amsterdam with more than $300 million worth of artillery systems.
🇮🇱 Flag March: Thousands of Israelis participated in yesterday’s Flag March to mark Jerusalem Day, which concluded without any major incident.
📺 Seeing Red: Israeli channel Reshet 13’s hit drama series “Red Skies” was renewed for a second season.
🕯️Remembering: Real estate investor Sam Zell, who bought out the Tribune Company in 2007, died at 81.
Pic of the Day
Global health advocate Chelsea Clinton was one of six recipients of honorary doctorate degrees from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, which was presented at this week’s Board of Governors meeting on the Marcus Family Campus in Beersheva. Other recipients included philanthropist Patrick Drahi, water engineer professor Menachem Elimelech, philanthropist Esther Halperin, plant biologist Dr. Segenet Kelemu and former Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein.
Birthdays
Miss Israel 2014, she is now chief of staff to the chairman at Ampa Capital, Doron Matalon turns 30 on Saturday…
FRIDAY: Retired senior counsel in the D.C. office of Blank Rome, Harvey Sherzer… Retired chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals, now of counsel in the NYC office of Latham & Watkins, Jonathan Lippman turns 78… Clinical psychologist, author, teacher, public speaker and ordained rabbi, Dennis G. Shulman turns 73… Former member of the California State Senate, Hannah-Beth Jackson turns 73… Israeli novelist and journalist, Edna Shemesh turns 70… Nurse and former member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, Sandra (Sandy) Pasch turns 69… Harvey D. Harman… Retired chief of the general staff of the IDF, now a member of Knesset, Gadi Eizenkot turns 63… Chief rabbi of Russia, Rabbi Berel Lazar turns 59… Journalist, teacher and playwright, Gersh Kuntzman turns 58… Born in Kyiv, he is a professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago, Alex Eskin turns 58… Author of 28 novels that have sold over 40 million copies in 34 languages, Jodi Picoult turns 57… Business manager for NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, Estee Portnoy turns 56… Former CEO of Bend the Arc, Stosh Cotler… Israeli-born chef and owner of multiple NYC restaurants, Einat Admony turns 52… Israeli actress and fashion designer, Dorit Bar Or turns 48… Canadian food writer and cookbook author, Gail Simmons turns 47… Member of the Knesset for the Likud party since 2019, Ofir Katz turns 43… Pitcher for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic, now pitching coach for the UC Davis Aggies, Zachary “Zack” James Thornton turns 35… Activist and advocacy educator, Natalie Warne… Professional ice hockey forward currently playing for Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, Brendan Leipsic turns 29…
SATURDAY: CEO at Kings’ Care – A Safe Place, operator of multiple drug and alcohol rehabilitation and treatment centers, Ilene Leiter… Canadian businesswoman and elected official, she served in the Ontario Assembly and in the Canadian House of Commons, Elinor Caplan turns 79… Former member of the New York State Assembly until 2020, Ellen Jaffee turns 79… Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-CT) for 20 years, he was born in a DP camp in Germany after WW2, Sam Gejdenson turns 75… Chagrin Falls, Ohio, attorney, Robert Charles Rosenfeld… CEO emeritus of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Michael S. Miller… Seamstress and weaver, Bernice Ann Penn Venable… Five-time Emmy Award-winning producer and writer who has worked on “Saturday Night Live,” PBS’ “Great Performances,” and “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” Alan Zweibel turns 73… U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) turns 72… Former director of international affairs, policy and planning at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Michael Alan Salberg… Professor at Tulane U, he retired as president of the Aspen Institute in 2017, Walter Isaacson turns 71…
Born in upstate N.Y. as Michael Scott Bornstein, former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and then a member of Knesset, Michael Oren turns 68… CEO and founder of Abrams Media, chief legal analyst for ABC News and the founder of Mediaite, Dan Abrams turns 57… NYC location scout and unit production manager for feature films and television commercials, David Brotsky… EVP of Resolute Consulting, Ami Copeland… Emmy Award-winning singer and songwriter, Rachel Platten turns 42… Manager of privacy issues for Amazon’s public policy team, Philip Justin (PJ) Hoffman… Program officer at the Michigan-based William Davidson Foundation, Vadim Avshalumov… Founder and CEO of Berkeley, Calif.-based Caribou Biosciences, a genome engineering company, Rachel Haurwitz, Ph.D…. Floor director and legislative director for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Lauren D. Wolman… Senior communications advisor at the U.S. Department of State, Susan Sloan… VP of digital advocacy at McGuireWoods Consulting, Josh Canter… Senior associate at Number 10 Strategies LLP, Aylon Berger turns 23… Conservative political activist, he is a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Kyle Kashuv turns 22…
SUNDAY: U.S. postmaster general under Presidents Reagan and Bush 41, Anthony Melchior Frank turns 92… Former U.S. senator from Minnesota, he was previously a comedian, actor and writer, Al Franken turns 72… Guitarist and composer, Marc Ribot turns 69… EVP of American Friends of Bar-Ilan University, Ron Solomon… Chief rabbi of Mitzpe Yericho and dean of Hara’ayon Hayehudi yeshiva in Jerusalem, Rabbi Yehuda Kroizer turns 68… CEO of the Boston-based hedge fund Baupost Group, Seth Klarman turns 66… Former legal analyst at CNN, Jeffrey Toobin turns 63… Founder and former co-owner of City & State NY, Thomas Allon turns 61… Director of antisemitism education and associate director of the Israel Action Program at Hillel International, Tina Malka… Actress and playwright, Lisa Edelstein turns 57… Former head of Dewey Square’s sports business practice, now a freelance writer, Frederic J. Frommer… U.S. cyclist at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, she is now the director of transportation for Newton, Mass., Nicole Freedman turns 51…
President and CEO of the Michigan-based William Davidson Foundation since 2015, Darin McKeever… University chaplain for NYU and chief rabbi of the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue of the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Rabbi Yehuda Sarna turns 45… Senior principal at Cityfi, Brandon Pollak… Professor of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin, Scott Joel Aaronson, Ph.D. turns 42… SVP and general counsel at Sinclair Broadcast Group, David Gibber… President of Mo Digital, Mosheh Oinounou… International fashion model for Versace, Sharon Ganish turns 40… Managing partner at Miller Strategy & Creative, Steve Miller… Windsurfer who represented Israel in the Olympics (Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016), she is now a project manager at SolarEdge, Maayan Davidovich turns 35… Player on the USC team that won the 2016 NCAA National Soccer Championship, she is now an associate in the L.A. office of Foley & Lardner, Savannah Levin turns 28… Comedian, actress and writer known for starring in the HBO Max series “Hacks,” Hannah Marie Einbinder turns 28…
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