Daily Kickoff: Reactions to ‘reasonableness’ removal + Interview with Tzipi Livni
👋 Good Tuesday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to Tzipi Livni about the Israeli government’s efforts to grow and expand the Abraham Accords, and report on this year’s National Security Grant Program acceptances. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Armin Laschet, Jonathan Greenblatt and Samantha Sutton.
After the Knesset passed the first element of the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul yesterday — canceling the reasonableness clause — protests continued late into the night across Israel. Police arrested dozens of demonstrators, and major highways in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem saw scenes of chaos as protestors for hours defied the attempts of police to clear the freeways.
Several petitions have already been filed challenging the law, including by the Israel Bar Association and another by Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, calling on the Supreme Court to intervene. Supreme Court President Esther Hayut and other senior justices cut short an official trip to Germany in order to return home and hold a hearing on the petitions.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation hours after the vote, and called for a resumption of talks between the coalition and opposition to reach an agreement on the rest of the planned judicial reforms during the Knesset recess and beyond, until the end of November. Lapid dismissed the proposal as “another lie, whose only purpose is to lower pressure from the Americans and lull the protests to sleep.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre issued a statement calling the vote “unfortunate,” noting that President Joe Biden “has publicly and privately expressed his views that major changes in a democracy to be enduring must have as broad a consensus as possible.”
Senior White House officials, speaking in a virtual briefing to the American Jewish community hours after the Knesset passed the legislation, highlighted the close ties between Israel and the United States, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
On Capitol Hill, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), a pro-Israel stalwart who is retiring next year, was one of the first lawmakers to comment on the vote, calling a system of “legitimate” checks and balances “essential in all democracies.” In a follow-up tweet, Cardin wrote, “I implore Netanyahu to support the core values that have enabled Israel to flourish and grow.”
Leading Jewish organizations in the U.S. offered a range of reactions, from concern over growing political discord in Israel to outright criticism of the judicial overhaul measure itself. The Jewish Federations of North America said it is “deeply pained over the growing polarization” that has come as a result of efforts to reform Israel’s judiciary, and called on Israeli officials “to suspend any further unilateral changes to the judicial reforms, and urge all parties to return to negotiations under the auspices of President Herzog.”
AIPAC sent a letter to its members stating that the debate over judicial reform has “exposed many deep political divisions in Israel,” describing the Jewish state as a country “deeply engaged in the civic debate.”
The American Jewish Committee “expressed profound disappointment over the passage of the Reasonableness Standard Law in Israel.”
And the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement: “We are deeply disappointed that the Israeli government passed the controversial Reasonableness Bill, failing to heed the call of President Herzog and others to reach a compromise rooted in a broad societal consensus.”
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board described an “overwrought media and political narrative” following the vote, describing the legislation as “modest judicial reform that probably won’t make as much difference as either side claims.” The editorial board suggested that “time may demonstrate that the new ‘reasonableness’ law has changed little,” noting that the justices retain “substantial” power to appoint new justices and “can still hear almost any case.”
“In other words,” the WSJ’s editorial board writes, “the judiciary hasn’t really been reformed, and democracy isn’t dying in Israel.”
In a piece headlined “The ground is cracking under Netanyahu’s feet,” the Washington Post’s editorial board suggests that the Israeli prime minister’s efforts to move forward with judicial reform “endangers Israel’s security, further splinters an already badly divided body politic and strains Israel’s relationship with the United States.”
interview
Livni touts normalization, warns of sidelining Palestinian issue
Tzipi Livni, a former Israeli foreign minister, vice prime minister and minister of justice, celebrated the strength of the Abraham Accords in a conversation with Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod on the sidelines of the Aspen Security Forum last week, but also warned of the potential consequences of sidelining the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and pushing ahead with judicial overhaul plans.
Bright spot: Livni said, based on recent trips to the United Arab Emirates, that the relationships that followed the 2020 normalization agreement between the UAE and Israel are even stronger than expected. “Most of us used to look at it [through our] shared security interest because of Iran, and this [would be] the reason for reaching [out] and signing normalization,” she said. “But I discovered… that they are speaking about it as warm peace — more than we have with other countries that we have signed peace agreements with in the past.”
Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Livni said that Arab leaders’ decision to de-link normalization with Israel from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “created a really new Middle East.” She said that while she celebrates the changes and hopes that Saudi Arabia and others join as well, she also has concerns about the consequences for Israel of sidelining the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Even if Gulf states and Arab states decide to change the linkage [of normalization] to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is our responsibility [in Israel] to [address it],” she argued. “It can be an opportunity, if the Saudis will take steps toward Israel [and] Israel will take steps toward the Palestinians — this can be a win-win.”
scoop
Nonprofit security grant acceptance rate falls to 42%, despite funding increase
The application acceptance rate for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program plummeted to under 42% in 2023, as increased funding provided for the program failed to keep pace with a significant increase in application volume, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
By the numbers: A total of 5,257 grant applications were submitted for the 2023 funding cycle, with 2,201 approved for funding, according to an individual familiar with the data. In total, $679 million in funds were requested, with a pool of $305 million available for the year. Allocations for the NSGP, which provides federal funding for nonprofits and religious institutions to improve their security, were released on Friday.
Looking back: The acceptance rate dropped 10 percentage points from 52% in 2022, and also came in below the 46% acceptance rate in 2021. Funding for the program was increased from $250 million to $305 million for 2023, but application volume also surged; 3,470 applications were submitted in 2022, for a total of $447 million in requests.
never again
German politician fundraises in New York to bring Holocaust awareness to Arab nations
The reach of the Abraham Accords is spreading to Germany, where a member of the German Bundestag, inspired by the historic agreements initially signed by Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, is launching a new nonprofit aimed at raising Holocaust awareness in the Arab world, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen reports.
Big Apple boost: Armin Laschet, vice president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, spent last week in New York raising funds for the new organization. Called the Abraham Accords Institute for Peace and Regional Cooperation, the organization will bring teachers from Arab countries to Germany to learn about the Holocaust, Laschet told eJP during his visit.
Educational endeavor: The idea for the nonprofit came to Laschet soon after the Abraham Accords were signed in 2020, he recalled. “I decided to found an organization to make [the Abraham Accords] more known in Germany,” he said, adding that currently, “Germany has an institute that works across party lines to inform the public and politicians about what the Abraham Accords are and ways towards peace in the region.”
Read the full story here and sign up for eJewishPhilanthropy’s Your Daily Phil newsletter here.
funding feud
Senate’s foreign budget bill sets up clash with the House
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the 2024 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs bill last week, setting up a clash with the House over funding for a range of foreign policy programs, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Debates over topline foreign spending levels and whether and to what extent to continue U.S. support for the United Nations and aid to the Palestinians are likely to be some of many disputes in the coming weeks between the Senate and House as they scramble to finalize 2024 government funding ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline. The stark divisions between the House and Senate’s positions on government funding are fueling concerns about a government shutdown this fall.
By the numbers: Where the House bill seeks to cut much of the U.S. funding to the U.N. and the Palestinians and significantly tighten conditions on such aid, the Senate bill maintains the funding, including $75 million for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency and $225 million for aid to the West Bank and Gaza.
Supplemental: Bipartisan Senate Appropriations Committee leaders also announced plans at their meeting last week to seek additional emergency appropriations for State and Foreign Operations, in addition to other budget areas, above the levels agreed to in the debt ceiling agreement between the White House and House Republicans. House Republicans, meanwhile, are aiming for funding levels below those laid out in the debt ceiling deal.
Funding boost: In a victory for Jewish community advocates, the Senate bill includes $2 million — a $500,000 funding increase — for the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, surpassing President Joe Biden’s budget request, as well as language requiring the State Department to present a strategy on avoiding staff shortages in the office. However, the Senate allocation comes in below the House’s $2.5 million allocation for the office.
international effort
ADL brings together seven large Jewish communities for new antisemitism task force
Umbrella organizations representing seven of the largest Jewish communities outside of Israel joined together this week in a new coalition to combat antisemitism: J7, the Large Communities’ Task Force Against Antisemitism, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports.
The participating countries are: the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Argentina and Australia.
Universal experience: The ADL spearheaded the creation of the task force following regular, informal discussions with representatives of these communities about antisemitism and ways to counter it, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt told eJP on Monday night, before the J7 was announced. “For years, the ADL has worked with our counterparts, agencies and Jewish communities around the world,” Greenblatt said. “Increasingly… we see in liberal democracies all over the Earth intensifying antisemitism, expanding polarization, deepening division. It felt like as we were talking that there were these shared experiences, a similar socio-political context.”
Read the full story here and sign up for eJewishPhilanthropy’s Your Daily Phil newsletter here.
Worthy Reads
🪧 A House Divided: David Horovitz, the editor-in-chief of the Times of Israel, opines on yesterday’s Knesset proceedings. “Thousands of volunteer reservists have said they will not report for service; several hundred of them are pilots in the active reserves, hundreds of others serve in elite units, and their skill, experience and commitment are nothing less than central to Israel’s capacity to defend itself and face down its enemies. Even as the Knesset was debating the law on Monday, [Israeli Defense Minister Yoav] Gallant could be seen in the plenum tussling with [Justice Minister Yair] Levin over the legislation, and endless unsourced reports suggested that he was still trying to broker some kind of eleventh-hour compromise with the opposition. But [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, who at one point had Gallant and Levin sitting on either side of him, openly arguing, chose to let the legislation proceed. Levin and the far-right police minister Itamar Ben Gvir were reported to have told him that either the law passed or the coalition fell. Netanyahu, who looked understandably exhausted amid the political crisis and his medical ordeal, tragically chose the unity of his hardline coalition over his manifest key responsibility as prime minister: the unity of the nation.” [TOI]
👗 Costume Drama: In The New York Times, Reggie Nadelson recounts a recent visit to Manhattan’s Mendel Goldberg Fabrics, the 130-year-old Lower East Side shop that has become a mecca for period costume designers. “Presiding over the shop from her usual perch, above a large wooden table where she measures out the fabric, was proprietor Alice Goldberg, wearing a fitted white blouse, a narrow beige skirt with a zipper up the back and black flats. Goldberg is the fourth generation of her family to run the store since her great-grandfather Mendel founded it. Alongside Luis Ortega, the Goldbergs’ aide-de-camp since 1989, Alice has witnessed a few memorable shopping sprees, including the time a few years back when a group of Saudi princesses spent about 30 minutes in the store, ‘buying like crazy,’ and the day seven bridesmaids purchased beaded sky blue tulle for their dresses.” [NYTimes]
🇮🇱 Identity Politics: In New Lines Magazine, Yehudah Mirksy explores the rise of Israel’s Religious Zionist bloc as the left struggles for definition. “Religious Zionists have gained political traction by aggressive stances toward Mideast conflict, yes, but also by wrestling with questions of identity and belonging — which globalized liberalism regularly fails to provide answers to, such as: Who am I? How am I to choose between right and wrong? What do I really believe? Israel’s moderate center and left have been adrift for years. As this essay goes to press, it is raising its voice with a volume and clarity we haven’t heard for decades. An optimist may wonder whether this will be the beginning of a new center-left that grapples with fundamental questions of national identity and belonging… The sheer passion of radical Religious Zionism, in other words, has been no small part of its appeal. The Israeli left has been adrift since the intifada of 2000 shattered its credibility on security. And the left, like so many liberals elsewhere, has turned inward to private life; its most vociferous public stances have been in support of private lives, of LGBTQ rights in particular.” [NewLines]
🎮 Gaming Theory: In Nikkei Asia, Gedaliah Afterman and Yossi Mann suggest that Japan use its booming gaming industry to deepen relationships across the Middle East. “To keep Japan’s Middle East agenda relevant, it needs a more out-of-the-box approach. Gaming can play an important and positive role in shaping the regional dynamic. In an era where narratives increasingly shape the strategic reality in the Middle East, Japan’s renowned gaming industry could prove a surprising advantage. By tapping into the region’s growing market and fostering connections with its younger generation, Japan can create new business opportunities and exert significant soft power. By building on the new regional dynamic created by the Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel on one side and the UAE and several other Muslim states on the other, Japan can position itself as a significant player in shaping the future.” [Nikkei]
Around the Web
🇺🇦 Ukraine Stalemate: The slow pace of Ukraine’s counteroffensive against entrenched Russian invaders is “dimming hopes that negotiations for an end to the fighting could come this year and raising the specter of an open-ended conflict,” the The Wall Street Journal reports.
👨 Party of One: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), fearing the reemergence of former President Donald Trump, is urging Republicans to consolidate behind one Trump alternative by next February.
💰 Political Pivot: The anti-tax Club for Growth is preparing to spend $20 million to help reelect the 20 House Republicans who opposed Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) speakership bid — but is indicating it won’t be championing a Senate bid from Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT).
🏫 School Choice, Arizona Style: The New York Timesspotlights how Arizona’s effort to provide school vouchers to every student in the state has played out on the ground.
💵 Potential Sale: Altice USA is mulling the sale of Cheddar News, hiring Goldman Sachs to consider alternatives for the network, as co-founder and former COO Armando Pereira is put under house arrest in Portugal amid a broad corruption probe.
📱 Imitation is Flattery: TikTok is copying Twitter and Instagram’s Threads with a new feature that lets users add text posts.
🖼️ Kandinsky Coming Home: A state-owned bank in Bavaria announced yesterday that it would return a painting by Wassily Kandinsky that has hung in a museum in Munich for decades to the descendants of a Jewish family whose art collection was looted shortly after Germany’s invasion of the Netherlands in 1940.
🇪🇸 Far-right Fizzle: Spain’s nationalist Vox party faltered in Sunday’s elections, stalling a surge from far-right parties and prompting sighs of relief from the European establishment.
📈 Soaring Stock: The share price of Israeli company Oddity Tech, the parent company of cosmetics brand Il Makiage, has increased by over 50% since last week’s IPO, making CEO Oren Holtzman a billionaire.
🔥 Enemy’s Reaction: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address yesterday that Israel was on a “path of collapse and fragmentation.”
🔥 Hijab Backlash: Iranian officials shuttered the offices of Digikala, the country’s largest e-commerce company, after it posted photos of a corporate gathering that included images of female employees not wearing the mandated hijab.
🕵️ Spying Game: Iran’s intelligence ministry said it uncovered and dismantled a Mossad-backed network planning acts of sabotage around the country, including an alleged plot at the grave of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.
✈️ Air Power: Iran began its annual air force drill on Sunday, as the U.S. sent more fighter planes to the region to deter Tehran from seizing commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf area.
➡️ Transition: Samantha Sutton, a former political adviser at the United States Mission to the United Nations who also served as chief of staff to then-U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides, is now director for Israel and Palestinian affairs on the National Security Council.
Pic of the Day
Daniel Lippman, a White House and Washington reporter for Politico and former co-author of Politico Playbook, on Saturday married Sophia Narrett, an artist who shows with Kohn Gallery and Perrotin. The couple held a Shabbat dinner with their families at Officina at the Wharf before a ceremony and reception the next day at the Willard InterContinental and an after-party at Old Ebbitt Grill. They met at a mutual friend’s birthday party.
SPOTTED: Kaitlan Collins, Robert Costa, Greta Van Susteren and John Coale, Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) and Megan Beyer, Matt Kaminski, Sam Stein and Jessica Leinwand, Ryan Lizza and Olivia Nuzzi, Tammy Haddad, Juleanna Glover and Christopher Reiter, Jamie Weinstein and Michelle Fields, Hailey Fuchs, Ben Schreckinger and Linnaea Honl-Stuenkel, Patrick Steel and Lee Satterfield, Dafna Linzer and Bart Gellman, Sofia Rose Haft and Michael Haft …
… Craig and Laura Gordon, Jessica and Brandt Anderson, Nihal Krishan and Amirah Sequeira, Tim and Kiki Burger, Blain Rethmeier and Gisele Parrilla, Ben Wofford and Hayden Henderson, Samantha Dravis, Tricia McLaughlin, Jordan Colvin, Ryan Williams, Hanna Trudo, Jeff Solnet and Betsy Klein, Michael and Nolan Greenwald, Shadi Hamid, Lindsey Curnutte and Jeff Naft, Adam and Kim Kennedy, Tim Mak and Trey Herr.
Birthdays
Head coach of the men’s basketball team at Kent State University since 2011, Rob Senderoff turns 50…
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising participant and Holocaust survivor, she is the subject of the 2021 documentary “I am Here,” Ella Blumenthal turns 102… Former publisher and editor-in-chief of Jewish Lights Publishing, Stuart M. Matlins turns 83… Cinematographer, whose work includes “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “The Empire Strikes Back,” Peter Suschitzky turns 82… Former member of the New York City Council, Alan N. Maisel turns 77… Entrepreneur and film producer, he produced “The Woman in Red” and “Weekend at Bernie’s,” Victor Drai turns 76… Former IDF brigadier general (he was part of Operation Entebbe in 1976), then a member of Knesset, Efraim “Effi” Eitam turns 71… Voiceover artist, he is also the producer and narrator of a documentary about the restoration of a NYC synagogue, Peter Grossman… Chairman of Vibrant Capital Partners and chair emeritus of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, Philip Darivoff… Tel Aviv concert promoter, Hillel Wachs turns 63…
Screenwriter, director and producer, best known for creating “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Sex and the City,” Darren Star turns 62… Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist, she is a staff writer at The Atlantic, Anne Applebaum turns 59… Retired MLB pitcher from a small Jewish community in the Dominican Republic, he maintains a kosher home, José Bautista turns 59… Israeli journalist, television news anchor and author of a non-fiction book and a novel, Oshrat Kotler turns 58… National director and CEO of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, Rabbi Steven Weil… Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, he is a NYC-based criminal defense attorney in many high-profile cases, Arkady L. Bukh turns 51… Radio personality on Baltimore’s WBAL and 98 Rock, Josh Spiegel turns 48… Head of communications at Sesame, Erin Seidler… Film and television actor, Michael Welch turns 36… Pitcher for Team Israel at the 2020 Olympics and at this year’s World Baseball Classic, he is also a real estate broker at Avison Young, Joseph “Joey” Samuel Wagman turns 32…
BIRTHWEEK: Member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester, Aviva Futerman turns 39 (was Monday)…
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