Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Wednesday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we take you into the room at last night’s SelectUSA reception at the Israeli Embassy in Washington and report on Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s remarks at the ADL’s National Summit. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Sean Patrick Maloney, Ahmed Bin Sulayem and Iddo Gefen.
The White House will host a reception to mark Jewish American Heritage Month on May 16, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch. The event comes as the Biden administration prepares to release its national strategy on antisemitism.
The afternoon reception will be hosted by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The event is “not tied to the strategy release,” a White House official told JI on Tuesday.
White House domestic policy chief Susan Rice said in a Monday address to the Anti-Defamation League that the White House plans to release the strategy later this month. Rice, who leads the task force that is working on the strategy, is stepping down from her position at the end of May.
Several Jewish communal leaders tell JI that one detail to track is whether the White House plan embraces the consensus International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. Some groups on the left have advocated against adopting the IHRA definition, which tags certain slurs against the Jewish state (such as applying double standards to Israel and comparing Israeli policy to that of the Nazis) as antisemitic.
Shortly after Biden was sworn into office in 2021, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, in a letter to the American Zionist Movement, said the Biden administration “enthusiastically embraces” the IHRA definition, “including its examples.” Read more here.
On Capitol Hill, Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Jim Risch (R-ID), along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and 24 other co-sponsors introduced a resolution to honor Israel’s 75th anniversary. The resolution is largely identical to a draft reported by Jewish Insider last week, with the addition of language recognizing threats to Israel from Iran and terrorist groups.
In Israel, a cease-fire was reported after 104 rockets were fired from Gaza over the past day, the IDF said, prompting the Israeli army to strike weapons manufacturing sites, military compounds and underground tunnels belonging to terrorist organizations. The latest round of violence flared following news yesterday morning of the death of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader, Khader Adnan, after an 86-day hunger strike in an Israeli prison.
ambassador’s report
Nides: ‘Democracy is alive and well in the State of Israel’

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides said Tuesday evening at the Israeli Embassy in Washington that Israel and its democracy remain strong and stable amid ongoing disputes over Israeli judicial reform efforts, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Nides was addressing a reception for the Israeli delegation to the SelectUSA investment summit, which seeks to promote foreign direct investment in American companies and organizations. Investment and business development officials from federal, state and local governments were also in attendance.
On the record: “Israel is going through a fairly complicated time the last two or three months. I tell people, when they come to me and say, ‘Oh my God, things are on fire,’ I say, ‘What are you talking about?’” Nides said. “Listen, the reality of this is, this is a living breathing democracy in Israel, make no mistake… Democracy is alive and well in the State of Israel.”
In response: Offering a similar argument to other pro-Israel Democrats, Nides said that the ongoing protests both against and in favor of judicial reform, which have resulted in a relatively low volume of arrests, violence and destruction, are proof of the strength of Israeli democracy. Nides’ comments appear to repudiate warnings from some Democrats that the judicial reform plan could imperil Israeli democracy or the U.S.-Israel relationship, which he described as “unbreakable.”
Strong support: “This relationship between the United States and Israel is — I knew it was strong, because I wouldn’t have taken this job if I didn’t — but I didn’t know how strong it was,” he continued. “It’s who we are as people, it’s why we love Israel so much. And by the way, you can also disagree with people, even though you love them.”
Flashback: Nides had said in February, before the judicial reform legislation was paused, that the Biden administration believed Israel’s “democratic institutions are under stress and strain” and warned that the reform efforts could potentially damage Israel’s economy, prompting backlash from Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli.