Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Wednesday morning!
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords. In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at how the Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement fell short of its goals, the impact that the Accords had on the rise of the Israeli right and where the peace process stands in 2023. Read more below for the views from Jerusalem and Washington.
In D.C. yesterday, the State Department was quick to push back on Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s comments, made earlier this week to NBC News’ Lester Holt, that Iran will use the $6 billion it is receiving from the upcoming prisoner exchange as it wishes. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the funds can “only be used for humanitarian purposes” and its usage will be under “strict oversight” from the Treasury Department.
The comments from Foggy Bottom come as Democrats who’ve been skeptical of the Biden administration’s efforts to negotiate with Iran offer restrained responses to the White House’s deal to free American hostages from Iran, in exchange for Iranian prisoners and sanctioned funds. Republicans, by contrast, have blasted the administration and the agreement.
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod yesterday that the agreement “raises the broader question of what are we going to do to tell Americans that there are some countries that they just can’t travel to? Because unless we do that, we are going to be put in a perpetual cycle of hostage-taking and then being put in challenges as it relates to national security issues.”
Menendez said he didn’t “know if [the deal] incentivizes further hostage-taking” as Republicans have charged, but added that “it certainly at the end of the day doesn’t change the way that we deal with this question.” He said he’s mulling legislation to prevent travel to risky destinations like Russia and Iran.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said that the situation appears to remain in flux, telling JI, “I’m looking at the details and I’m not sure if we know all of them yet or even that the deal is final.”
We spoke to the Senate Democrats as the House overwhelmingly approved three Iran-related measures:
The Fight CRIME Act, a sanctions bill addressing Iran’s missiles and drones, passed by a 403-8 vote, with far-left Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Cori Bush (D-MO), Summer Lee (D-PA), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Presley (D-MA) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) joining libertarian isolationist Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) in voting against the legislation.
The MAHSA Act, which levels further sanctions on the Iranian regime, passed 410-3. Bush, Massie and Omar voted against it. A resolution condemning Iranian human rights abuses passed 413-2, with Massie and Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) voting against.
Today, the House Oversight Committee’s National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs subcommittee will hear testimony from Foundation for Defense of Democracies Senior Advisor Richard Goldberg (who has a new op-ed in the New York Post today on the hostage exchange), Jewish Institute for National Security of America President and CEO Michael Makovsky, Stimson Center Distinguished Fellow Barbara Slavin and Victoria Coates, vice president of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy at the Heritage Foundation.
a generation reflects
Thirty years on, are the Oslo Accords still relevant?
It was a moment that remains emblazoned in the annals of history: Two bitter enemies – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat – shaking hands in a public ceremony on the White House lawn on Sept. 13, 1993, and establishing a future vision of two states for two peoples living side by side in peace, dignity and security. While the concept of the “Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements,” or, as it is better known, the Oslo Accords, has endured in the talking points of U.S. and European officials and analysts, for a whole new generation of Israelis and Palestinians, that dream of peace remains elusive. Three decades later, the question lingers as to whether the basic premise of Oslo is in any way salvageable or realistic today, Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash reports.
Time for a new approach: Analysts, experts and even some of those involved in the initial and subsequent agreements interviewed by JI agreed that although part of the fundamental and practical infrastructure of Oslo might remain, the underlying goal of a two-state solution, as envisaged in 1993, has more or less failed. In order to move forward and find a possible solution to this intractable conflict, many said they believe it is time to consider a different approach.
Where we are: “Let’s be clear about this, Oslo was a groundbreaking process,” Dan Miodownik, a professor of political science and international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told JI in an interview ahead of the anniversary of that handshake. “It was an extremely important moment that really filled Israel, Palestine and the region with hope,” Miodownik, a conflict resolution expert, continued. “The fact that the agreement failed in the implementation stage is a huge disaster, and while we can analyze why that happened or who is to blame, the fact is that this is where we are 30 years after the signing.”
Palestinian POV: Samer Sinijlawi, head of the Jerusalem Development Fund for Education and Community Development, a nonprofit that raises greater awareness of Palestinian issues around the world, told JI, “For my generation, Oslo, initially, looked like the beginning of our dreams. Finally, Rabin and Arafat were shaking hands, it looked like we were no longer enemies,” he reminisced. “It was very symbolic and there was a lot of hope. We [Palestinians] were not a very political people, and we were a little bit naïve back then,” Sinijlawi continued, explaining how while the violence of the First Intifada forced the sides to consider reconciliation, the Second Intifada, which sparked multiple suicide bombings, did the opposite. “It killed the peace camp in Israel and the Israeli confidence in the Palestinians.”
More from Washington: The Washington Post published an op-ed by Dennis Ross and David Makovsky on the 30th anniversary of the Oslo Accords.
rise of the right
The political lessons of Oslo reverberate on the Israeli right 30 years later
With the 30th anniversary of the Sept. 13 signing of the Oslo Accords, the Israeli right is still being shaped by the backlash to what it saw as the pursuit of an agreement with the Palestinians at all costs — even as some of the leading opponents of the peace process movement are now in power and running Israel’s government, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Bibi briefing: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who as opposition leader was an outspoken critic when the Accords were signed in 1993, is still fuming about the consequences — namely the waves of Palestinian terrorism that subsequently transpired during the pursuit of a two-state solution. Earlier this month, when asked about the Oslo Accords in a closed-door briefing, Netanyahu said that the decision to pursue the wide-ranging peace treaty with the Palestinians was “a terrible historic mistake.”
‘Race in the wrong direction’: Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein, a Likud member, recounted living in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc near Jerusalem, at the time. “On the day the agreements were signed, I got a gun license,” he said at a conference of the Bithonistim, a security policy group, and the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security. “I understood the ramifications of the Accords…Processes like Oslo and the disengagement [from Gaza] cannot be theoretical successes. This was a race in the wrong direction, without any thought about the logic behind it.”
Reverberations: The political lessons of the Oslo period — whether the dissolution of a solidly right-wing government that precipitated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s rise, or the mass protest movement of the time — reverberate on the right today. An issue that was secondary at the time, but is now at the fore in right-wing politics, is a sense that the “elites,” in media, academia, government institutions or elsewhere, lean to the left. Though the right has held the majority in Israel for the past 14 years, many activists feel like they’re operating under different standards from the center-left opposition.
rosh hashanah reception
VP Harris: ‘Blast of the shofar’ presents a ‘wake-up call’
New Year’s celebrations unofficially kicked off on Tuesday evening at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, where Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a poolside Rosh Hashanah reception in conjunction with the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies. Roughly 150 attendees including rabbis, senators, activists, Jewish communal professionals and actors — notably “Will and Grace” star Debra Messing and comedian Alex Edelman — mingled over a menu of kosher hors d’oeuvres designed by cookbook author Adeena Sussman, whose new Shabbat-themed cookbook was published last week. Sussman’s lamb kebabs and tahini blondies were a hit among attendees, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Special rendition: Before Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff delivered remarks, musician Regina Spektor played an acoustic piano rendition of “Avinu Malkeinu,” a prayer recited on the High Holy Days.
Fight against antisemitism: Emhoff and Harris touted the Biden administration’s efforts to combat hate and its national action plan to counter antisemitism to great applause.
Quotable: “This is one of those times in the history of our country and the world, where we are being presented with a wake-up call — the blast of the shofar — to challenge ourselves, to ask, ‘What are we doing? What can we do?’ And know that we can do so much,” said Harris.
VP-sealed honey: On the way out, attendees received a classic Rosh Hashanah gift — a jar of honey — adorned with the vice presidential seal.
community briefing
Murphy commits to working for nonprofit security funding boost
In rare public comments on the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Homeland Security, committed on Tuesday to working toward a “big, meaningful increase” for 2024. A bipartisan group of legislators affirmed their commitment to increased funding for the NSGP at a High Holiday Security Briefing held on Capitol Hill, despite intensified funding pressures on Capitol Hill this year, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen report.
Quotable: “My mission — and our mission — is to make sure that when we reconcile the Senate bill with the House bill that we deliver another big, meaningful increase in the not-for-profit security grant program,” Murphy said. “I hope to be able to deliver some very good news for you as we work through the budget between now and the end of the year.”
Other angles: Murphy said that he believes that “just as much — probably much more” funding is needed to root out the causes of hate and extremism as for addressing physical security needs. He mentioned education for children and efforts to identify and shut down extremist groups as crucial to addressing the heart of the issue. “This becomes a very difficult conversation that I’m really eager to have. Because there is no doubt increased physical security matters. Sometimes it just matters for peace of mind,” Murphy said. “But what matters more than peace of mind? But in the end, as we have seen in elementary school, after elementary school, no matter the amount of security you have, you are very rarely ever truly safe, so long as that dangerous hate exists.”
Importance of IHRA: Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), the co-chair of the Senate’s bipartisan antisemitism task force, emphasized the importance of addressing the “basis of hate.” He called for the widespread adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, advocated for expanding and improving education on antisemitism and highlighted the need to keep combating antisemitism as a bipartisan issue.
Elsewhere on the Hill: Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) wrote to the presidents of Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania on Monday about course readings and campus speakers that Gottheimer, a UPenn alum, described as antisemitic. Regarding Princeton, Gottheimer wrote, “Princeton University must protect all students, including Jewish students made to feel unsafe by curricula that incites violence and signals tolerance for Jewish hate and anti-Israel rhetoric. Given New Jersey’s strict anti-BDS laws and Princeton’s own anti-discrimination policies, the University is not only reminded, but obligated, to safeguard its students.”
Worthy Reads
🗺️ Regional Realignment: Princeton University professor Bernard Haykel assesses in an article for the Hoover Institution, the changing power dynamics in the Middle East. “The Biden administration has adopted an interest-first approach to foreign relations and in so doing has come closer to Saudi Arabia’s way of doing things. A more capacious view of both interests and values now prevails so that what Saudi Arabia has been doing in favor of women’s rights and with the reform of education and the religious sector, as well as Riyadh’s attempt to end conflicts in Yemen and ease tensions with Iran, are all better appreciated in Washington. And while human rights inside the Kingdom remain an important concern, an exclusive focus on this will mean missing other opportunities that fall squarely in the national interest of the United States. Among these are the transformation of Saudi Arabia into a responsible and stabilizing regional power with a thriving domestic economy, peace with Israel and all the benefits that will accrue from this, as well as the push to keep China from becoming a more important strategic ally of Saudi Arabia. A senior Saudi intelligence official describes the Kingdom as a ‘garden in the middle of a fire.’ It is a good thing that the Biden administration has finally realized that this garden needs to be tended. A better U.S.-Saudi relationship will lead to changes inside the Kingdom that will serve America’s interests and hopefully also those of the peoples of this troubled region.” [Hoover]
📰 Documenting History: GQ’s Tom Lamont interviews Thomas Will, part of the last generation of Nazi hunters, who heads a German agency that investigates individuals believed to have aided and abetted the Holocaust. “When I first met Will, I had wondered why on earth he and his colleagues continued to put in so much effort under conditions that were increasingly futile. They were stuck on one of history’s stranger cul-de-sacs, hastening toward a visible dead end that came closer every day. Now I saw that the effort was the point. Their work is a gesture. It is supposed to be noticed by those who would commit war crimes now or in the future. It is a warning to wavering abettors, that a killing can be passive as well as active, brought about by standing guard at a gate or tapping at keys on a typewriter. The work done in Will’s office is a quiet but noble statement for the record: If you put people in pens, if you help kill their dads or their babies, then someone somewhere will sit in a room one day and sift through a million files to learn your name.” [GQ]
🤑 Funding Fury: In The Hill, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Rich Goldberg (also JI’s podcast host) and David May call for the cessation of funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. “The Palestinians are the only people for whom the UN operates a separate refugee agency. This unique agency has a uniquely expansive definition of who constitutes a refugee, allowing the status to be passed automatically to male descendants of actual refugees. Patrilineal-inherited refugee status has led UNRWA’s refugee numbers to swell from 750,000 to 5.9 million. These inflated numbers have led to inflated budgets. UNRWA allocated nearly $125 million of its $911 million 2021 budget estimate to Lebanon. In 2023, Lebanon accounted for $160 million of UNRWA’s $436.7 million emergency appeal. Despite the ever-increasing budgets, the number of Palestinian refugees — according to UNRWA’s definition — living in Lebanon has plummeted from 500,000 to fewer than 250,000 in recent years. Meanwhile, since President Joe Biden took office, his administration has lined UNRWA’s coffers to the tune of approximately $1 billion.” [TheHill]
🍏 Rosh Hashanah Reflection: In The New York Times, psychologist David DeSteno contemplates how societies approach the concept of death. “Unlike so many other New Year’s traditions, the Jewish holiday asks those who observe it to contemplate death. The liturgy includes the recitation of a poem, the Unetaneh Tokef, part of which is meant to remind Jews that their lives might not last as long as they’d hope or expect. “Who will live and who will die?” the poem asks. ‘Who will live out their allotted time and who will depart before their time?’ And we’re not talking about a gentle death at the end of a reasonably long life; we’re talking about misfortunes and tragedies that can cut any of our lives short. ‘Who shall perish by water and who by fire,” the poem continues, ‘Who by sword and who by wild beast / Who by famine and who by thirst / Who by earthquake and who by plague?’ This focus on death might seem misplaced, bringing gloom to the party. But as a research scientist who studies the psychological effects of spiritual practices, I believe there is a good reason for it: Contemplating death helps people make decisions about their future that bring them more happiness. This is an insight about human nature that the rites of Rosh Hashana capture especially well, but it’s one that people of any faith (or no faith at all) can benefit from.” [NYTimes]
🏫 Campus Beat: In the New York Post, World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder raises concerns about antisemitism on college campuses. “When more than half of young Jews trying to get an education have endured antisemitic harassment, when one in six students polled questions the reality or scale of the Holocaust and when leading universities like Princeton turn a blind eye to blood libels — it is clear something has gone horribly wrong at America’s institutions of higher learning. In short, our universities have become complicit in the spreading and normalization of anti-Jewish bigotry. So here is my solemn pledge: From this day forward, the World Jewish Congress will devote every resource at our disposal to confronting bigotry at American universities and educating youth about the dangers of antisemitism. University presidents and boards will be held to account, with legal action if necessary. Public officials will be called out for inaction. Our voices will be heard. That’s because history confirms the dangers of silence.” [NYPost]
Around the Web
🐢 Turtle Bay Talk: President Joe Biden is expected to meet next week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York — and not at the White House, as Netanyahu had previously said — the first meeting between the two since Netanyahu returned to office. Netanyahu is also slated to meet Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky on the sidelines of the annual confab.
🇮🇷 Invite List: The Council on Foreign Relations is facing criticism for its decision to host an event with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi next week while he is in the U.S. for the U.N. General Assembly.
🤔 Global Network: The Treasury Department brought sanctions against a family network between Lebanon and South America, including a Lebanese man involved in the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires and the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in the Argentinian capital.
🤔 Campaign Conundrum: The Washington Post’s David Ignatius suggests that Biden forgo his presidential reelection bid, citing both his age and choice of Vice President Kamala Harris as a running mate despite low favorability ratings.
✖️ Twitter Trouble: The New Hampshire campaign chairman for GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy tweeted that he believes “Israel is an apartheid state”; Ramaswamy later tweeted that Bruce Fenton was “dead wrong” about his position on Israel, which the candidate described as “the only pluralistic, thriving democracy in the Middle East.”
💰 Money Talks: The Financial Timesexamines how the GOP donor class is approaching the Republican presidential primary, with many giving to various campaigns but overall not coalescing behind a single candidate.
🏦 Banker Bluster: A former HSBC banker alleges that he was subjected to antisemitic discrimination while at the company that began after he requested time off for Jewish holidays.
🗳️ Race Results: Democrat Sam Berger beat Rabbi David Hirsch in the special election to succeed New York state Assemblymember Dan Rosenthal in Queens.
🏃 Judgment of Solomon: Pennsylvania state. Rep. Jared Solomon launched a bid for attorney general in the Keystone State.
✋ Master’s Move: Former Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters, who has been mulling a second run, reportedly told former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake that he will hold back on a bid if she intends to run for the seat.
🪧 Paying Tribute: Los Angeles renamed the intersection of Westwood Boulevard and Rochester Avenue, located in the heart of the Iranian diaspora community in the city, “Women Life Freedom Square.”
🎥 New Endeavor: The Anti-Defamation League launched its Media & Entertainment Institute to combat stereotypes of Jewish people and other forms of antisemitism in the entertainment industry.
🎉 Party Pooper: A party was thrown in Manhattan on Friday for fashion photographer Steven Meisel, attended by many in the industry, but not by the man of honor himself.
🎧 Listening to Liev: Actor Liev Schreiber will narrate the audiobook version of Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos and the Washington Post, the upcoming book by former Washington Post Executive Editor Marty Baron.
📜 A Scroll Returned: Congregants from a San Diego synagogue that houses a Holocaust-era Torah scroll from Roudnice, Czech Republic, read from it outside the remnants of the Roudnice synagogue. The Torah scroll was saved by Nazis for use in the once-planned “Museum of Extinct People” and was brought to San Diego in the 1980s.
🇬🇧 Across the Pond: Nine individuals who were named as complainants in a leaked document about antisemitism within the Labour Party dropped their lawsuit alleging that the party did not do enough to protect their identities.
❌ Israeli Denial: Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) denied reports that the U.S. transferred weapons to the Palestinian Authority, stating that “no weaponry has been transferred to the Palestinian Authority during the past year.”
📺 Bibi TV:The New York Timeslooks at the rise of Israel’s conservative, pro-Netanyahu Channel 14.
📽️ Coming Back: The hit Israeli series “Fauda” was renewed for a fifth season.
🍯 Shana Tovah!: United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al Otaiba delivered a Rosh Hashanah greeting message by video.
🧵 Tatreez Tradition: The New York Timesspotlights efforts to revive the Palestinian embroidery tradition of tatreez.
🇲🇦 Rocky Relief Response: Morocco has been slow to accept offers of aid from foreign governments as the North African nation continues rescue-and-recovery efforts following the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the country last week.
🕯️ Remembering: Former New York City Police Commissioner Howard Safir, the only Jewish person to hold the job, died at 81.
Pic of the Day
Workers at a factory in Tel Aviv make shofars on Sunday, ahead of Rosh Hashanah, which begins Friday at sundown.
Birthdays
Columnist, author and etiquette authority known as Miss Manners, Judith Perlman Martin turns 85…
Retired motion picture editor, Avrum Fine… Chairman of global brokerage at CBRE, Stephen Siegel turns 79… Folk artist, photographer and writer focused on European Jewish history, Jill Culiner turns 78… Retired reporter for the Washington Examiner, Richard Pollock… CEO of the Democratic Majority for Israel, Mark S. Mellman turns 68… Ice dancer, who, with her partner Michael Seibert, won five straight U.S. Figure Skating Championships (1981 to 1985), Judy Blumberg turns 66… Executive director of Aspen Digital, Vivian Schiller… Senior lecturer at Ner Israel Rabbinical College, Rabbi Chaim Kosman… Comedian known as “Roastmaster General” for his Comedy Central celebrity roasts, Jeffrey Ross Lifschultz turns 58… Attorney general of North Carolina, running for governor in 2024, Joshua Stein turns 57… Member of the Los Angeles City Council, Robert J. Blumenfield turns 56… Founder of United Hatzalah of Israel and president of Friends of United Hatzalah, Eli Beer turns 50… Member of the Knesset for the Shas party, Uriel Menachem Buso turns 50… Regional director at the Anti-Defamation League, Meredith Mirman Weisel… Former nine-year member of the Colorado House of Representatives, Jonathan Singer turns 44… Advocacy strategist with experience in opinion research, Gary Ritterstein… Editor at Cook Political Report focused on the U.S. House of Representatives and redistricting, David Nathan Wasserman turns 39… Founder and president of Reshet Capital, Betty Grinstein… Director at Finsbury Glover Hering, Walter Suskind… Director of programs and partnerships at Israel Policy Forum, Sierra DeCrosta… Senior software engineer at Capital Connect by J.P. Morgan Chase, David Behmoaras… Managing director at Page Four Media, Noa Silverstein…
