Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Friday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at the small but vocal group of legislators who are planning to boycott Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s address to a joint session of Congress next week, and report on a push by Senate Republicans for more details on the investigation into Iran envoy Rob Malley’s handling of documents. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Helen Mirren, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Ike Perlmutter.
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: Jake Tapper channels the raucous ’70s in his new novel. Remember Evel Knievel?; Big Ten Conference chief of staff Adam Neuman returns to his flock; A new excavation of an ancient Jerusalem road expected to draw modern-day pilgrims. Print the latest edition here.
Ahead of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s trip to the U.S. next week, President Joe Biden released a statement yesterday previewing the visit. The two presidents will meet at the White House on July 18 and “will discuss opportunities to deepen Israel’s regional integration and to create a more peaceful and prosperous Middle East.” President Biden, the statement said, “will stress the importance of our shared democratic values, and discuss ways to advance equal measures of freedom, prosperity, and security for Palestinians and Israelis.” Also on the agenda will be “Russia’s deepening military relationship with Iran, and Iran’s destabilizing behavior in the region.”
Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with Herzog the following day, when he is also slated to address a joint session of Congress. More on Herzog’s trip below.
A New York appellate court’s decision to order a redrawing of the state’s congressional map — a decision that will be appealed — threatens to complicate the GOP’s path to holding its narrow House majority.
It also guarantees significant disruption within the New York delegation at a time when newly elected lawmakers are getting to know their constituents. Some lawmakers will again find themselves drawn into new districts — outside the typical once-in-a-decade process — and face career-threatening circumstances.
On one hand, the stakes are high: Republicans can’t afford to lose more than four seats in next year’s election. If Democrats can claw back several additional pickups in the Empire State, with an assist from a new map, it could determine the majority. Republicans are already expected to benefit from new maps in North Carolina and Ohio, and another favorable ruling for New York Democrats would neutralize those GOP gains.
But the ultimate decision in New York could be anticlimactic — even if a new map is adopted. Republicans, after all, already hold six districts that President Joe Biden carried in 2020 — several by double-digit margins. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s popularity hasn’t improved much since the midterms, and Democrats still are vulnerable over crime concerns — the driving force in last year’s GOP in-state wave.
And top Democrats are saying they want an independent commission to make the final call on the map this time, in an effort to make their advocacy sound less partisan. If that’s the case (and it’s a big if), a new map would be different from the highly partisan map the state legislature pushed last year, which was ultimately overturned by the state’s high court.
One of the lawmakers with the most to lose is Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who has emerged as a top advocate of the Abraham Accords and against antisemitism during his first year in office. Even a small tweak to his district lines could make a competitive seat that Biden carried into an unwinnable Democratic stronghold.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) teased at an event last night that a formal congressional Jewish caucus — which has long existed on an informal basis — may soon be established. “The Jewish members… I will predict for you, will one day be a caucus in the not too distant future,” she said. Asked subsequently about the remark, Wasserman Schultz told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod to “stay tuned.”
rsvp list
Ocasio-Cortez, Bowman, Omar to boycott Herzog’s speech, others remain mum
While three House progressives have announced plans to boycott Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s address to a joint session of Congress next Wednesday, it appears unlikely, at this stage, that their boycott will be as significant in size as the one that took place during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 2015 speech to Congress. Fifty-eight Democratic lawmakers ultimately sat out Netanyahu’s 2015 address, which occurred as the U.S. was engaging in talks with Iran over its nuclear program, and months before the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was agreed upon. Just three — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who first announced her plans to Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod in a brief interview Thursday afternoon, Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) — have said they plan to skip Herzog’s address.
On the fence: Other prominent critics of Israel remain publicly undecided on attending the speech. Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) told JI to “stay tuned” while Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) responded, “next week.” Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) said she hadn’t yet looked at next week’s calendar, while Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) told JI she hadn’t considered the subject yet. Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) declined to comment.
Attending: Some lawmakers who skipped Netanyahu’s 2015 address, including Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Reps. Katherine Clark (D-MA) — the House minority whip — Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), confirmed to JI that they’re planning to attend Herzog’s speech on Wednesday.
Bonus: Outgoing Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides landed in Washington, D.C., this morning ahead of Herzog’s visit, the U.S. Embassy in Israel said in a press release. Nides will accompany Herzog in his meetings with senior U.S. government officials, including Biden and Secretary of State Tony Blinken, and will participate in the Israeli president’s program on Capitol Hill. On July 21, upon conclusion of Herzog’s trip, Nides will transfer his authority as U.S. ambassador to Israel to current Deputy Chief of Mission Stephanie L. Hallett, who will become chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.
probe pressure
Senate Republicans push for answers on Malley investigation
Eighteen Senate Republicans urged the State Department’s inspector general to open an investigation into the suspension of Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley’s security clearance, as well as provide updates to Congress on the situation, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Parameters: The legislators asked that the inspector general probe the situation around Malley’s suspension and provide answers to Congress by the end of next week. They requested that the investigation include details of Malley’s suspension, what restrictions were placed on his access before he was placed on unpaid leave, when and how other members of Malley’s staff were informed and what duties Malley continued while his security clearance was suspended and before he was placed on unpaid leave. They also questioned the status of Deputy Special Envoy Abraham Paley, who has been described in some public statements as serving in the role of acting special envoy.
Signatories: The letter was led by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and co-signed by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Tim Scott (R-SC), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Rick Scott (R-FL), John Barrasso (R-WY), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), James Lankford (R-OK), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Ted Budd (R-NC), Mike Braun (R-IN), Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Thom Tillis (R-NC).
budget bill
Newsom, facing pressure from Jewish lawmakers, signs budget funding nonprofit security grant program
With antisemitic incidents spiking in California, Jewish advocates for increased funding for the state’s nonprofit security grant program were bracing for the worst, given the state’s $30 billion budget deficit. But when Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had cut the program in his original budget proposal, signed the state’s annual budget bill on Monday, Jewish leaders were guardedly optimistic at the outcome, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
By the numbers: The 2024 budget commits $20 million to the state’s nonprofit security grant program — nearly $30 million less than last year’s funding level, and far below the $80 million sought by Jewish community activists during their advocacy day in Sacramento in May.
Making do: “Would I have preferred to have $50 million again? Of course I would. But given the real budgetary constraints that we were facing this year, I think this is a good outcome,” California Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, an Encino Democrat who chairs the Legislative Jewish Caucus, told JI, noting that “a lot of programs were completely zeroed out.”
jerusalem of golda
Helen Mirren’s ‘Golda’ comes to life at Jerusalem Film Festival
Oscar-winning British actress Dame Helen Mirren arrived in Israel on Thursday for the screening of her historical biopic, “Golda,” at the opening of the 40th annual Jerusalem Film Festival. Directed by the Tel Aviv-born Guy Nattiv, “Golda,” which hits movie theaters on Aug. 24, offers an up-close look at the role of former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir during the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the controversial — and tragic — decisions that were made at the war’s onset, Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash reports.
Getting into character: “Undoubtedly this is one of the most extraordinary characters I have ever played,” Mirren, dressed in white and accessorizing with a turquoise scarf, told journalists at a press conference at the Inbal Hotel in Jerusalem. “Her history, her commitment to her country, her character in general; she was an amazing person to investigate and live in a small way in her mind and in her skin.” To play the role of Israel’s first and only female prime minister, Mirren, 77, not only closely studied the distinct characteristics and mannerisms of Meir, who was born in Ukraine but grew up in Milwaukee, Wis., before making aliyah in 1921, but also donned heavy prosthetics to appear as the iconic leader’s mirror image.
Grandmother role: The film also stars Liev Schreiber in the role of U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who in one scene feels obligated to eat a bowl of fresh borscht as he tries to convince Meir to accept a cease-fire deal with Egypt – Meir, instead of responding to his request, delights in watching him eat every bite like a doting grandmother. “If you are talking about the history of feminism and women in power, Golda is an interesting example,” Mirren observed during the press conference. “She had immense power and there was a reason why [her government was sometimes] referred to as “Golda’s kitchen cabinet.”
podcast playback
Ruth Marks Eglash: Journalists in Israel face ‘battle of narratives’
Ruth Marks Eglash, Jewish Insider’s senior correspondent, has spent the majority of her career reporting on Israel — she previously worked as chief of communications for Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. and the U.N. Gilad Erdan, and before that worked for eight years as the deputy bureau chief for the Washington Post in Jerusalem. Earlier in her career, she worked for The Jerusalem Post as deputy managing editor and social welfare reporter. She most recently penned her debut novel, Parallel Lines, which tells the coming-of-age story of three teenagers from varying backgrounds living in Jerusalem amid the country’s continuous conflicts. Eglash joined JI’s podcast this week to discuss her new book, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the difficulties of maintaining objectivity as a journalist living in Israel within the country’s current political climate.
On Parallel Lines: “I’ve been covering hard news from Israel for more than 20 years, and there’s so many restrictions on the media, on journalism, and I had all these stories that I collected up over the years…that I wasn’t able to put into news stories,” Eglash said. “The side stories, the experiences that I had going out into the field, talking to Israelis, talking to Palestinians, talking to ordinary people as well as politicians, and I felt like I needed an outlet for it…On the other side, I was feeling increasingly frustrated with the challenges faced by the media in covering the conflicts here, not just the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but also the conflicts within Israeli society. It’s increasingly harder and harder, and I know it probably is the same in the United States as society has become more polarized, the news is dismissed as biased or fake or one-sided, and I felt like I needed a place where I could write from all sides, from all angles, and that’s essentially what I did in Parallel Lines.”
On the nature of Israel’s current political unrest: “These protests [against the government’s judicial reform proposals], they haven’t really ebbed and flowed, they’ve been pretty stable, pretty regular, every single week. Last week, we saw a spontaneous protest after the police chief in Tel Aviv said that he was standing down,” Eglash said. “Today we’re seeing a response to legislation that passed its initial readings in the Knesset. But there is a, you know, a core of people, and I would say ordinary people who are very scared…So I mean, there’s very heightened tension here. You know, there’s obviously a political situation that has arisen through the political turmoil in the Knesset, the makeup of the electoral system, that allows for small groups to kind of dictate the agenda, and that is really what’s led us to this point.”
Read the full story here and tune in to Jewish Insider’s podcast here.
Bonus: For CNN, Eglash penned an op-ed in which she provided the backstory to her decision to write a novel about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
on the hill
After GOP moves, Democrats turn against defense bill ahead of final passage vote
The House is set to vote Friday on final passage of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. But after conservative Republicans successfully added amendments on social priorities many Democrats are now expected to oppose the legislation, while some conservative Republicans remain unsatisfied despite a series of wins, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Dilemma: Republicans successfully passed amendments on abortion and LGBTQ policy on Thursday that led prominent Democrats, including the three top members of Democratic leadership and top members of the House Armed Services Committee to announce that they intend to vote against the NDAA. The original bill passed the Armed Services Committee with just one Democrat voting in opposition. Few other Democrats are expected to vote for the bill.
Ramifications: That means that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) will need near-unanimous support from his caucus to pass the NDAA. At least one Republican, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), said she’ll refuse to vote for the bill because her amendments limiting aid to Ukraine were roundly rejected by the House yesterday.
By the numbers: Seventy House Republicans voted to prohibit all Ukraine security aid, while 89 voted in favor of cutting $300 million in Ukraine funding. Both amendments resoundingly failed.
Senate sidebar: On the other side of the Capitol building, an expected fight in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee markup over Israel policy largely failed to materialize. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who has been arguing that Israel is not yet ready to enter the Visa Waiver Program this year, proposed a successful amendment to the 2024 State Department Authorization bill that emphasized requirements for equal treatment of all Americans. The amendment passed via voice vote, with ayes coming from the Democratic side and nays coming from Republicans, according to a pool report on the meeting.
Worthy Reads
🇺🇦 ‘Israel Model’ Implications: In the Washington Post, Jason Willick weighs the implications of President Joe Biden’s recent comments that the U.S. would provide Ukraine with security in a similar fashion that it does for Israel. “The West has calculated that the risk of war with Russia is too great to outline when and how Kyiv can join NATO. The Israel model, broadly defined, is the path of least resistance. But just as the West sometimes tries to restrain Israel — both in its conflict with the Palestinians and in its showdown with Iran — it may also end up trying to restrain an insecure Kyiv amid a volatile security situation that will last for years. If the Israel model is a workable strategy for Ukraine, the West should be clear-eyed about what it means.” [WashPost]
❌ The Case Against: In The Atlantic, Eliot A. Cohen argues that the “Israel model” won’t work for Ukraine. “Making strategy by dubious analogy is a bad idea. The historical differences are both illuminating and cautionary. America extended its guarantee of a ‘qualitative military edge’ to Israel in the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. In other words, it came after Israel had defeated its Arab enemies in four major conflicts (1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973), in part by taking the war into their territories. Israel staged bombing raids against targets deep in Syria and Egypt, including their capitals, from the 1960s forward, and unlike the Ukrainian drones flying to Moscow, these were not mere symbolic strikes. The Six Day War, in 1967, was an overwhelming Israeli victory, which involved the annihilation of its neighbors’ air forces and the advance of Israeli armor and infantry across the de facto 1949 border. The 1973 war similarly ended with Israeli forces within artillery range of Damascus and on the verge of destroying half the Egyptian force that had crossed the Suez Canal. Is maintaining that kind of capability and superiority what Washington and Berlin intend for Ukraine? Do they understand what it would require?” [TheAtlantic]
🇮🇱 Biden’s Israel Problem? The Wall Street Journal editorial board slams President Joe Biden’s approach to the Israeli government, accusing him of using worse rhetoric against the Jewish state than he does against the Islamic republic. “The President’s Israel policy has been counterproductive. U.S. aid to anti-Israel international bodies has resumed, and all of the West Bank and East Jerusalem is treated as ‘occupied territory.’ This is now a liberal article of faith, but how does it advance peace to indulge Palestinians in the belief that Jews are interlopers in Judea and at the Western Wall? While Mr. Biden undermines the Netanyahu government, Hamas and other Iranian proxies are gaining power in the West Bank, activating another front against Israel. The new wave of terrorism against Jewish civilians will set back the Palestinian cause but advance Iran’s.” [WSJ]
📕 The Oppenheimer Whisperers: In The New York Times, ahead of the release of Christopher Nolan’s film “Oppenheimer,” Andy Kifer goes behind the scenes of the making of the prizewinning biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, completed 25 years after Martin Sherwin took on the project, which he eventually co-wrote with Kai Bird. “Knopf published this masterwork in 2005. But it was only thanks to a rare collaboration between two indefatigable writers — and a deep friendship, built around a shared dedication to the art of biography as a life’s work — that ‘American Prometheus’ got done at all. Oppenheimer would have been a daunting subject for any biographer. A public intellectual with a flair for the dramatic, he directed the top-secret lab at Los Alamos, New Mexico, taking the atomic bomb from theoretical possibility to terrifying reality in an impossibly short timeline. Later he emerged as a kind of philosopher king of the postwar nuclear era, publicly opposing the development of the hydrogen bomb and becoming a symbol both of America’s technological genius and of its conscience.” [NYTimes]
Around the Web
🎙️ Course Correction: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is considering granting more interviews with mainstream media outlets, as he continues to lag behind former President Donald Trump in the GOP primary. Top GOP donor Ken Griffin, meanwhile, is reportedly growing impatient waiting for DeSantis to show progress as a candidate.
👴 Barstool Republicans: The Trump campaign is reportedly focusing its strategic outreach on non-traditional media outlets, specifically those affiliated with male audiences with an interest in contact and combat sports.
💰 Perlmutter’s Position: Former Marvel Entertainment chair Ike Perlmutter is planning a significant donation to the Trump campaign, having given $10.5 million to a pro-Trump super PAC in 2020.
🎙️ Tucker on TV: Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, working with former White House adviser Neil Patel, is looking for funding sources for a new subscription-based venture that would potentially use Twitter as its primary distribution platform.
✋ No Labels, No Problems: In an interview with the Washington Post, former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), a co-chair of No Labels, defended the group against concerns that it could play the role of a spoiler in the 2024 presidential election.
🪖 Calling in Reinforcements: President Joe Biden authorized the military to call up 3,000 reserve troops to support operations in Europe after tens of thousands were sent to the continent after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
🇺🇸🇷🇺 Prisoner Swap: Biden said he is “serious about a prisoner exchange” with Russia to free detained journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been held for more than 100 days.
🎥 Hollywood Strike: Hollywood actors joined more than 11,000 already striking film and television writers this morning, having failed to reach a deal with producers.
⛳ Poach Pact: Facing congressional scrutiny, the PGA Tour and LIV Golf dropped a nonsolicitation clause in a recently inked agreement that forbade each entity from hiring away the other’s players.
🕵️ OpenAI Investigation: The FTC is investigating Sam Altman’s OpenAI over potential violations of consumer protection laws.
👨⚖️ Court of Justice: A federal jury found that Robert Bowers, who was convicted of killing 11 people in the 2018 attack on Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, meets the requirements for the death penalty.
🚓 Pressed Charges: Police arrested a Mississippi man charged with making antisemitic threats against Pennsylvanian synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses.
📺 Mouse Trap: Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC he’s considering selling the company’s linear TV assets — including the ABC television network — as the business struggles during the media industry’s transition to streaming.
👀 Coming Soon: Michael Rubin’s Fanatics is launching a live events company called Fanatics Events in partnership with IMG.
🎹 Maestro’s Music: The Jewish Chronicleinterviews Israeli jazz pianist and composer Shai Maestro.
📈 Shekel Surge: Bloombergexplores why the shekel has rebounded against the dollar in recent weeks, despite ongoing protests around Israel.
🛰️ Drone dealings: Iran is evading international sanctions with domestically made components for deadly drones being used by Russia against Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reports.
🕯️ Remembering: Former American Motors Corporation CEO Gerald Myers died at 94. Geneticist Evelyn Witkin died at 102.
Pic of the Day
More than a dozen lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), attended the relaunch event for the Congressional Black-Jewish Caucus, led by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and new co-chairs Reps. Nikema Williams (D-GA) and Wesley Hunt (R-TX).
“One thing people from marginalized communities have known for a long time is that the most powerful thing that we can do is work together. The Black and Jewish relations caucus is our place in the halls of Congress to keep that collaboration going,” said Williams. “I’m going to tell you that as long as we are all advocates for fighting all types of hate, we will ultimately be a better people, we will ultimately be from a better America,” said Hunt.
Birthdays
World-renowned violinist, violist and conductor, Pinchas Zukerman turns 75 on Sunday…
FRIDAY: Architect and urban designer, he is most identified with Habitat 67, a housing complex built in conjunction with Expo 67 (the 1967 Montreal World’s Fair), Moshe Safdie turns 85… MLB pitcher for 11 seasons, now a sportscaster and author, he won the Cy Young Award and was an MLB All Star in 1980, Steve Stone turns 76… Los Angeles resident, Susan Farrell… Film producer, best known for the “Lethal Weapon” series, the first two “Die Hard” movies and the “Matrix” trilogy, Joel Silver turns 71… Co-founder and managing director of Beverly Hills Private Wealth, Scott Shagrin… Chairman and CEO of both Cantor Fitzgerald and BGC Partners, Howard Lutnick turns 62… Venture capitalist at Breyer Capital, James W. Breyer turns 62… Former media columnist for the Chicago Tribune, Phil Rosenthal turns 60… U.S. permanent representative to the U.N. Human Rights Council, she is the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, Ambassador Michèle Taylor turns 57… Principal at Oakland-based Full Court Press Communications, Daniel Eli Cohen… Member of the Washington State Senate until earlier this year, David S. Frockt turns 54…
President and CEO at the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, Renee Wizig-Barrios… Rapper and record producer from Brooklyn known as “Ill Bill,” he is the producer, founder and CEO of Uncle Howie Records, William “Bill” Braunstein turns 51… Professor in the department of genetics at the Harvard Medical School, David Emil Reich, Ph.D. turns 49… Fashion designer and cast member on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” Dorit Kemsley turns 47… Retired mixed martial artist, now a life coach, Emily Peters-Kagan turns 42… Editor-in-chief of the Washington Free Beacon, Eliana Yael Johnson turns 39… Interior designer and owner of Tribe By Design, Tehillah Braun… Professional golfer with four tournament wins in the Asian and European tours, David Lipsky turns 35… Founder at Bashert Group, Daniel B. Jeydel… Program officer at Crown Family Philanthropies in Chicago, Rachel Giattino… Reporter covering housing and the home building industry for The Wall Street Journal, Nicole Friedman… Director of Chabad Georgetown, Rabbi Menachem Shemtov… Creator of the Instagram account Second Date Shadchan, Elizabeth Morgan (Lizzy) Brenner…
SATURDAY: President and chairman of the board of the Annenberg Foundation, Wallis Annenberg turns 84… Member of the British House of Lords, he is a professor, medical doctor, scientist, television anchor and Labour Party politician, Baron Robert Maurice Lipson Winston turns 83… Professional sports bettor and poker player, he is a four-time winner of the World Series of Poker, Mickey Appleman turns 78… Physician and life fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Dr. David H. Lippman… Dean of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, N.J., Rabbi Dovid Schustal turns 76… Congresswoman from Florida for 30 years, during her last two years she served as chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen turns 71… EVP at the Aspen Institute responsible for its policy and public programs, Elliot Gerson… Calif.-based appellate attorney, Feris M. Greenberger… Executive director of Friends of OU (Orthodox Union) Israel, Miriam Baron (Mimi) Jankovits… Board chair of The Jewish Federations of North America, Julie Beren Platt… Professor at the UCLA School of Law, Richard Harold Steinberg turns 63… Political news director at Bloomberg, Jodi Schneider… Member of Congress until earlier this year (D-RI), David Nicola Cicilline turns 62… Anchorage-based attorney, a member of the Alaska House of Representatives since 2012, Andrew Lewis “Andy” Josephson turns 59…
Former U.K. Labour party MP including three years as secretary of state for foreign affairs, now CEO of NYC-based International Rescue Committee, David Miliband turns 58… Co-founder and chief investment officer of Toronto-based EdgeStone Capital Partners, one of Canada’s leading private equity firms, Gilbert S. Palter… Israeli actress and singer, Dafna Rechter turns 58… Senior advisor at investment bank Greif & Co., he is also the CFO of Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles, David S. Felman… Senior business development executive at Gravyty, Sam Kalmowicz… Rabbi, blogger and attorney, he served for almost seven years at the Shul on the Beach in Venice, Calif., Eliyahu Fink… Senior correspondent at New York Magazine and a CNN contributor, she is a co-author of Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Irin Carmon turns 40… Israeli actor, he played Boaz in Season 1 of “Fauda,” Tomer Kapon turns 38… Managing editor of the U.S. deals team at Bloomberg, Liana Balinsky-Baker… SVP of the Milwaukee Bucks and a past candidate for the U.S. Senate from Wisconsin, Alexander Lasry turns 36… Associate VP at Hillel International, Jonathan Steven (“Jon”) Falk… Senior editor at Southern California Public Radio, Ariel Zirulnick… Senior NFL reporter at Yahoo Sports, she is also the author of a biography of a Holocaust survivor, Jori Epstein…
SUNDAY: Former State Department official under JFK and LBJ, later VP of Continental Airlines, and then managing editor of the NYTimes, James L. Greenfield turns 99… Former member of Knesset, winner of the Israel Prize, real estate developer and philanthropist, Ze’ev Stef Wertheimer turns 97… One of the three co-founders of Comcast Corporation, he served as its chief financial officer and vice chairman, Julian A. Brodsky turns 90… Senior U.S. district court judge for the Southern District of New York, Judge Sidney H. Stein turns 78… Co-creator of the first-ever spreadsheet program (VisiCalc), he currently serves as the chief technology officer of Alpha Software, Daniel Singer “Dan” Bricklin turns 72… Former high-ranking civilian official in the Pentagon during the Bush 43 administration, now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, Douglas J. Feith turns 70… Senior rabbi since 1997 at Temple Beth Avodah in Newton Centre, Mass., Rabbi Keith Stern… Los Angeles-based attorney, she is the president emerita of the LA chapter of the Jewish National Fund, Alyse Golden Berkley… Past vice chair of the Board of Trustees of The Jewish Federations of North America, Cynthia D. Shapira… British solicitor, he represented Princess Diana in her divorce and Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt in a libel case, Anthony Julius turns 67… Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter, Tony Kushner turns 67…
Former U.S. ambassador to the EU and a witness at the Ukraine impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump, Gordon David Sondland turns 66… Former airline executive at Northwest and Delta, Andrea Fischer Newman… Former president of Viacom Music and Entertainment Group, Douglas Alan Herzog turns 64… Businessman and philanthropist, Matthew Bronfman turns 64… Canadian journalist, he worked for CNN International for 30 years, Jonathan Mann turns 63… Former Israeli minister of science and technology, now a venture capitalist, Yizhar Nitzan Shai turns 60… Chief of staff of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, Jim Rosenberg… Chicago-based entrepreneur and philanthropist, Victoria Rivka Zell… Former NFL offensive lineman, he is now the president of 8Z Mortgage in Boulder, Colo., Ariel Mace Solomon turns 55… Israeli former professional tennis player, noted for her fitting last name for a tennis player, in 2003 she was ranked 15th in the world, Anna Smashnova turns 47… Founder of Pinkitzel, a cupcake cafe, candy boutique and gift store located in four Oklahoma cities, Jonathan Jantz… National political reporter for The New York Times, Shane Goldmacher… Co-founder of Los Angeles-based Meteorite Social Impact Advisors and director of Civic Alliance, Steven Max Levine… White House liaison to the Jewish community in the Bush 43 administration, now managing partner at Arogeti Endeavors, Scott Raymond Arogeti… Features reporter for Jewish Insider, Matthew Kassel… Founder and managing partner at Vine Ventures, Eric M. Reiner… Lactation consultant, Chantal Low Katz…
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