Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Tuesday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer following her address to a group of JFNA lay leaders, and interview Israeli actress Swell Ariel Or, star of the Netflix period drama “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem.” Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Victoria Coates, Amb. Deborah Lipstadt and Daniel Norber.
Here’s a clear sign that Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) is emerging as a top draw for donors looking for an alternative to former President Donald Trump, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar reports: He’s headlining a fundraiser on Aug. 9 in the Hamptons featuring some of the party’s heaviest hitters — including former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Donald Trump’s former economic adviser Gary Cohn.
Other big names hosting the VIP reception include billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller, a Trump critic who endorsed Scott’s campaign in June; Marc Rowan, the CEO of Apollo Global Management who was just tapped as board chair of UJA-Federation of New York; and former Trump backer Andy Sabin.
Also listed as a co-host for the event is GOP strategist Nick Muzin, a former senior advisor to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who was Scott’s chief of staff and played a key role in his 2012 Senate bid and has maintained a relationship with the South Carolina legislator over the years.
The renewed interest from donors in Scott’s campaign comes as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been slipping in the polls and laying off over one-third of his campaign staff. Sabin was originally planning to back DeSantis but switched over to Scott during the spring. He has donated the maximum possible amount to Scott’s campaign.
Scott raised $5.8 million in the just-completed second fundraising quarter, and has a cash-flush allied super PAC that brought in $19.3 million in the first half of the year. His biggest backer, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, had poured $35 million into the Opportunity Matter Action PAC between 2021 and 2022. But Scott’s campaign fundraising lagged well behind Trump and DeSantis, the GOP money leaders, raising about as much as fellow South Carolinian Nikki Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
An alum of Memphis’ Margolin Hebrew Academy Feinstone Yeshiva of the South was shot by police after firing shots outside of the Jewish day school and unsuccessfully attempting to enter the building.
The incident comes days after the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bill that would reduce funding levels for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which funds security for nonprofits and religious institutions, by more than $18 million.
One individual familiar with the situation told JI that they felt there had been gaps in Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) office’s engagement in the NSGP funding negotiations this year due to a recent staff change. Schumer has long been supportive of the $360 million funding level. Schumer’s office was not immediately available for comment.
The White House’s antisemitism strategy also requests $360 million for the program — funding it calls “vital to offset the costs of physical security enhancements for Jewish and other communities across the country.” The White House did not comment on its efforts to secure such funding.
Final funding levels are still subject to negotiation between the House, which proposed a slight increase in funding, and the Senate.
egypt aid
Senate Democrats call to withhold military aid to Egypt over human rights violations

Eleven Senate Democrats are urging the administration to withhold hundreds of millions in military aid to Egypt in light of ongoing human rights issues in the country, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Holding back: The lawmakers wrote to Secretary of State Tony Blinken last week urging him to follow through on a provision in the 2022 State Department funding bill instructing that up to $320 million of the $1.3 billion allocated for military aid to Egypt be withheld if Egypt fails to make progress on human rights issues, including rule of law, civil rights, accountability for security forces, extrajudicial killings and disappearances, oversight access for U.S. officials and the release of political prisoners.
The argument: “Over the last year, Egypt’s human rights record has continued to deteriorate, despite the Egyptian government’s claims to the contrary,” the letter argues. The letter also acknowledges the “mutual security concerns that merit the sustainment of our military-to-military relationship” between the U.S. and Egypt, but argues that withholding a portion of U.S. aid would not significantly undermine ties.
Signing on: The letter was signed by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Tom Carper (D-DE) and Ben Cardin (D-MD).