Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Thursday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at the findings of the latest Arab Youth Survey, and see which pro-Israel amendments were included in yesterday’s National Defense Authorization Act markup. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Tevi Troy, Dennis Ross and Alex Edelman.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will speak before a joint session of Congress today, ahead of a state dinner tonight. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) have announced that they plan to boycott Modi’s address.
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and at least 25 Republican co-sponsors are set to reintroduce the Iran Sanctions Relief Review Act today, a bill that would require a congressional review process before the president can terminate any sanctions on Iran.
According to a statement obtained by Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod, the reintroduction comes in response to recent reports of renewed talks between the U.S. and Iran. “As Iran’s terror-sponsoring regime continues to pursue nuclear weapons to harm Americans and our regional partners and allies, it is critical to provide insurance if President [Joe] Biden keeps trying to run around Congress and relieve sanctions on Iran,” Hagerty said. “My legislation will make it abundantly clear to the Biden Administration that any agreement made with Iran that involves sanctions relief must be submitted for Congressional review.”
The legislation, first introduced in early 2021, never received Democratic backing or moved ahead in the Senate. A companion bill was introduced by House Republicans, but it’s unclear if one will emerge in the new Congress. Additional co-sponsors may join the Senate bill ahead of its announcement today.
Yesterday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to advance bipartisan legislation — which was introduced well before the renewed talks were revealed — to remove sunsets on the U.S.’ 1996 sanctions on Iran’s energy sector.
HFAC Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) reiterated his concerns about the new Iran talks at yesterday’s meeting, arguing that it is “important that Congress lead the way in showing our sanctions on Iran will only be lifted if Iran stops its malign behavior.”
Ranking Member Greg Meeks (D-NY), while avoiding mention of the renewed talks, expressed support for the original 2015 Iran nuclear deal, but argued that the sanctions legislation “sends an important message to Iran and promotes our national security.”
Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC) — a Democratic opponent of the nuclear deal — said, “now is the time to maintain pressure on Iran and continue to enforce the strong economic sanctions that we have in place… Going forward, I hope we can implement a comprehensive, long-term strategy for dealing with Iran’s malign behavior and preventing its nuclear program.”
Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, HFAC’s subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights and International organizations will hold a hearing on antisemitic and anti-Israel bias in the United Nations, Palestinian Authority and NGO community today. The full House Appropriations Committee will mark up the 2024 Defense Appropriations bill tomorrow.
Yesterday, the Appropriations Committee approved the 2024 Homeland Security Appropriations bill, which includes a $10 million funding boost for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. Jewish groups have generally said they plan to keep pushing for an additional $45 million increase to $360 million. The Jewish Federations of North America praised the additional allocation, and said that the umbrella group “will keep advocating for the program to be funded at $360 million so that every synagogue, church, mosque, and nonprofit has the resources it needs to protect itself.”
Up in New York’s Hudson Valley, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) met last Friday with the Grand Rebbe of Satmar Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum in Kiryas Joel, N.Y. The Hasidic community is a key voting bloc in Ryan’s district, which helped drive him to victory in the midterms. Ryan said that the group “discussed our crucial work on education, increasing access to clean water, and leveraging the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to improve roads, bridges and broadband in NY-18.”
Jeffries described the meeting as “a thoughtful and meaningful discussion on issues related to the education, infrastructure and housing needs of this vibrant community.”
During the meeting, both Ryan and Jeffries wore kippot that were given out at the 2003 bar mitzvah of Daniel Torres, Ryan’s deputy chief of staff and district director.
survey says
Majority of Arab youth in UAE, Egypt and Morocco strongly support normalization with Israel, according to new poll

Arab youth in the United Arab Emirates and Morocco, two signatories to the Abraham Accords, strongly support the normalization of ties with Israel, according to the just-released 2023 Arab Youth Survey. Young Arabs in Egypt also strongly favor normalization with Israel, while the majority of respondents in other Arab countries from Algeria to Iraq to Saudi Arabia, and including Bahrain, another signatory to the Accords, oppose warmer ties with the Jewish state by large margins, Jewish Insider’s Tori Bergel reports.
Details: On the normalization question, 75% of young Arabs in the UAE, 73% in Egypt and 50% in Morocco “strongly support” or “somewhat support” ties with Israel. In Bahrain, the figure dropped to 30%, with 53% “strongly opposing” or “somewhat opposing” normalization with Israel. Of the other 14 countries included in the survey, most saw opposition percentages in the 80s and 90s, with respondents in Iraq and the Palestinian Territories both 100% against warmer ties.