Daily Kickoff
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to Jewish content creators on TikTok about the company’s failure to address the deluge of antisemitism on the platform, and look at how U.S. and foreign airlines are still refraining from flying to Israel. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Mazi Pilip, Matti Friedman and Nelson Peltz.
Welcome back, and happy new year! The festivities were more muted than usual across Israel — but no less quiet. Within seconds of the clock striking midnight on Monday, dozens of rockets were fired into southern and central Israel from Gaza.
The rockets were the first to reach the Tel Aviv area in more than a week, and came as Israel moves forward with efforts to reduce its troop presence on the ground in Gaza, citing the toll that the large number of reservists has taken on the country’s economy. The decision is likely to be welcomed by Jerusalem’s top allies — chief among them the U.S., which in recent weeks has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move to the next phase of the war.
Secretary of State Tony Blinkenheads to the Middle East later this week — his fifth trip to the region since the Oct. 7 terror attacks — for a five-country tour that will include stops in Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Blinken’s trip comes days after the Biden administration bypassed Congress for an emergency weapons sale of “projectiles and related equipment” to Israel, estimated at $147.5 million. More below.
Last week, Blinkenmet with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer in Washington for discussions about getting humanitarian aid to Gaza and securing the release of the remaining hostages. Days after the meeting, Israeli American citizens Gadi Haggai and Judith Weinstein Haggai, who had previously been thought to have been alive in captivity in Gaza, were determined to have been killed in the Oct. 7 attacks; their bodies were taken to the enclave, where they remain. The White House confirmed to Jewish Insider over the weekend that six Americans remain unaccounted for.
The secretary of state’s visit also comes as Washington insists it is not seeking a broader regional conflict, following the U.S.’ sinking of several Houthi boats in the Red Sea that had tried to overtake a commercial vessel, the latest in a series of efforts by the Houthis to hijack transiting ships.
Last week, the Treasury Departmentannounced new sanctions on a group of Turkey- and Yemen-based money exchange services that have been aiding the Houthis in their efforts to destabilize key shipping routes. A former Houthi spokesperson said that the Yemeni terror group would eventually strike Tel Aviv — and that the group’s continued activities in the region, noting in particular its attacks on Israel, have caused its popularity to go “up a lot in the Arab and Islamic world, and even certain Western countries.”
The Houthis’ increased activity is putting pressure on the Biden administration to reinstate the group’s Foreign Terror Organization status, which it pulled in the first weeks of the president’s term. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said on Sunday that the administration’s response to months of Houthi attacks in the region “is giving Iran a total pass and ability to operate without consequences in the area.”
Back in Israel, the country’s High Court of Justice gave Israelis a thudding reminder of the rank partisanship that deeply divided the country before Oct. 7 by weighing in yesterday on a key part of the government’s judicial reform.
The court was split 8-7 on the legitimacy of legislation that would bar judges from ruling on government and ministerial decisions based on the “reasonableness” standard, as opposed to whether those decisions violate written law. At the same time, 12 of the 15 justices wrote that the court has the authority to review Basic Laws.
Netanyahu’s Likud Party called it “unfortunate that the High Court chose to bring a ruling at the heart of social divisions in Israel at a time when IDF soldiers on the right and left are fighting and endangering their lives in the campaign. The court’s decision opposes the nation’s desire for unity, especially in wartime,” it said in a statement.
War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz similarly said that “this is not the time for political arguments…Today we have only one common goal — to win the war, together.” However, he emphasized that “the verdict must be respected.”
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, however, put the onus on Netanyahu to preserve national unity. “The High Court fulfilled its role to protect the citizens of Israel faithfully today, and we fully back it. If the government of Israel once again starts the fight about the High Court then they learned nothing from Oct. 7 nor from 87 days of fighting for our home.”
social pull
Jewish content creators say TikTok not doing enough to stop hate, antisemitism
Jewish content creators on TikTok say they are facing a barrage of antisemitic hate since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel and that the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform is not doing enough to protect them, with lax moderators and policies that are enabling and even amplifying extreme anti-Jewish and anti-Israel voices. In some cases, Jewish creators who have tried to counter the hateful messages themselves by expressing support for Israel — or even just sharing Jewish religious, cultural or historical content — have had their accounts shut down or opted independently to pull back from the social media platform following relentless bullying and a limp official response from moderators and management, Jewish insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash reports.
Deliberate inaction: Screenshots shared with JI by Jewish employees of the internal messaging system used by TikTok staff appears to back up the claims that antisemitic or false accusations against Jews and Israel are being allowed to slip through the cracks because of weak moderation and regulation of hateful content.
Barrage of hate: One Jewish user who says he received insufficient support or action against constant antisemitic harassment is Gidon Lev, a Holocaust survivor who spent his childhood in the Nazi concentration camp Theresienstadt. Lev pulled his TikTok account with some 460,000 followers in November after the rising online hate became unbearable and inaction by moderators allowed it to continue unabated, Julie Gray, Lev’s life partner, told JI. She described how even prior to Oct.7, the two were forced to contend with neo-Nazi and Holocaust denial comments. But “then the war started,” Gray said, “and we started to get anti-Israel comments too, with people calling Gidon a baby-killer who supports genocide, so we decided to leave the platform because of that.”
Company statement: “We oppose antisemitism in all forms,” a spokesperson for TikTok told JI. “Antisemitism is on the rise globally, and we’re committed to doing our part to fight it. Our Community Guidelines apply equally to all content on TikTok and we invest heavily in training our moderators to apply our policies consistently.”
tourism troubles
With foreign airlines staying away, Israeli tourism sector in free fall
As Israel’s war against Hamas enters its third month, some facets of Israeli life have returned to something resembling normalcy. Most schools, shops and restaurants have long been open. This week, universities started the semester that was scheduled to begin in October. But the tourism industry, which makes up less than 3% of Israel’s GDP, has been unable to bounce back, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Hard data: While tourism to Israel was up 18% overall throughout 2023, there was a steep dropoff after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. Tourism was down 73.1% in October compared to last year — a decline that would have been even more significant if the first week of the month wasn’t Sukkot, when there were many tourists visiting Israel. In November, there were 88.4% fewer tourists from the same period in 2022. Data for December has not yet been released. “There is no expected [time frame] for tourism to return to 2019’s record number of 4.5 million tourists,” Tourism Ministry spokeswoman Anat Shihor-Aronson told JI.
Flight frustration: “The only option is to fly El Al, and it’s very expensive,” said Jonathan Rose, director of marketing and sales for Touring Israel. “I find it very strange that United or Delta haven’t resumed some flights from New York…It’s like COVID revisited…It’s rather ironic that the only foreign airlines flying to Israel seem to be [UAE flag carrier] Etihad and Fly Dubai.” According to the Israel Airports Authority, the only foreign airlines flying to Israel other than the Emirati companies are China’s Hainan Airlines and Russia’s Azimuth. Lufthansa is expected to restart flights to Israel next week, and Tarom, a Romanian airline, plans to start at the end of the month, the IAA said. A spokesperson for United Airlines said that “Tel Aviv flights will remain suspended until conditions allow them to resume.” Delta canceled flights through March 29, 2024, and Jet Blue is code-sharing with El Al. A source on Capitol Hill said that “because Israel is classified as a war zone, the standard liability for the air carriers will not allow them to fly into the area.” Israel’s government provided the country’s airlines El Al, Arkia and Israir with $5 billion in insurance guarantees, enabling them to continue flying throughout the war.
up in arms
Senate progressives gripe about Biden bypassing congressional review for Israel arms sale
A handful of Senate progressives criticized the Biden administration over the holidays for bypassing the congressional review period to transfer around $150 million worth of ammunition to Israel. This was the second time in recent weeks that the administration exercised emergency authorities to bypass the congressional review period for weapons transfers to Israel — during which lawmakers could attempt to force a vote on blocking the arms transfer, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
War worries: Some progressive Democrats who have expressed concerns about Israel’s military operations in Gaza and are pushing for a vote on conditioning aid in the still-pending supplemental aid bill for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, blasted the administration. Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) most explicitly tied his concerns about the weapons sale to concerns about Israel’s conduct in the war, arguing in a statement that the weapons had “been used to devastating effect in Gaza, contributing to the death and injury of countless civilians and the displacement of an estimated 2 million people who are facing daily bombardment without access to adequate food, water, shelter, or medical care.”
Demanding visibility: Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said in a statement that Congress “should have full visibility over the weapons we transfer to any other nation. Unnecessarily bypassing Congress means keeping the American people in the dark. We need a public explanation of the rationale behind this decision — the second such decision this month,” Kaine continued.
Elsewhere in Washington: Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) urged the administration to “further leverage the U.S. partnership with Qatar to secure the immediate release of the remaining hostages” being held in Gaza. “We are concerned that Qatar is not fully utilizing its leverage to seek further concessions from Hamas,” the two senators said. “We ask that you make clear to Qatar that the United States is closely watching ongoing hostage negotiations and convey that Qatar’s inability to deliver on its commitments regarding the safe return of all remaining hostages will significantly impact bilateral relations.”
money matters
Congressional attention turns toward Iran and the International Monetary Fund
As Congress works to cut off potential avenues of funding for Iran in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel, some lawmakers are turning their attention to an avenue that Iran could use to access funds through the International Monetary Fund, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Background: IMF member states are allocated, proportional to the size of their economies, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) — a financial instrument that they can then sell, or loan, to other governments in exchange for currency. Iran holds more than $6 billion in SDRs, a potential financial lifeline for the regime, though it has not sought to tap those funds.
New bills: Lawmakers have sought avenues to choke off Iran’s ability to use these SDRs, most recently with a bill by Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Rep. French Hill (R-AR) introduced in late December that would prevent the Treasury Department from engaging in transactions involving Iran’s SDRs. It also instructs the U.S. to “vigorously advocate” to IMF members not to engage in SDR exchanges with Iran and to oppose any future SDR allocations to Iran.
Difficulties: While the U.S. does have power to block future allocations of SDRs to Iran, efforts to prevent Tehran from using its current SDR reserves are a more difficult task. The IMF does not give the U.S. the power to prevent a country from using SDRs that have already been allocated to it — although such transactions could run afoul of U.S. sanctions on Iran’s central bank. The IMF treaty can also compel countries to buy SDRs from countries looking to sell them if no country is willing to do so willingly.
Worthy Reads
Israel-Diaspora Reset: In The Jerusalem Post, Gil Troy calls for a “resetting” of the relationship between Israeli Jews and Diaspora Jewry. “Let’s be clear. Israelis feel the love in every solidarity trip, every dollar raised, every tear shed, every meme posted, every prayer uttered, every vigil attended, and every demand made on American leaders to stand up for Israel, for American values, for the West’s future. And the global surge in Jew-hatred appalls us and infuriates us. But many Israelis keep cringing, too. We wince when a synagogue relocates its Saturday afternoon services, fearing protesters across the street. We squirm when Jewish students avoid Hillel or their kosher dining hall because of some online threat. We blush when Jews – especially young, healthy students – cower at home because some cowards hiding behind their masks launched yet another ‘Thugs for Palestine’ rally. Grow a spine! You cannot equate the danger Israelis confront in Gaza or on the border facing Hezbollah, when patrolling hostile Palestinian towns, with threats on leafy campuses or at La Cienega Park.” [JPost]
Military Matters: In The Wall Street Journal, The Jerusalem Post’s senior military analyst, Yonah Jeremy Bob, outlines the challenges facing the IDF in its war against Hamas in southern Gaza following his visits to both parts of the enclave. “Since Israel has mostly taken over northern Gaza, Khan Younis is essentially the last fortress of Hamas’s leadership. The terrorists who have controlled Gaza for the past 16 years are fighting there more ferociously than anywhere else. Visiting Khan Younis on Dec. 21, I saw how intense the battle is even after three weeks and despite the Israeli military’s efforts to wrap up the fighting… On Nov. 22, I visited northern Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital and Hamas’s underground tunnels there. After 16 years of treating that hospital as untouchable, Israel now was showing the region that after the Oct. 7 massacres, nothing would stop it from rooting out Gaza’s rulers even in the most sensitive civilian locations. In southern Gaza a month later, I saw what initially appeared to be similar resolve, with a crater where Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar’s house had been. But events in the days immediately before and after my visit revealed inconsistencies.” [WSJ]
Columbia Questions: The New York Times’ Sharon Otterman explores how Columbia University President Nemat Shafik avoided a public relations crisis over the school’s response to the Israel-Hamas war and campus antisemitism. “Board members, including pro-Israel voices, say they are pleased at how the president has maneuvered. ‘I think it’s very difficult, but I think she did as well as anyone could have done,’ said Victor Mendelson, a Columbia trustee who supports Israel and Dr. Shafik. ‘She’s been responsive. She’s been out and about on campus and she’s been very careful to try to make everyone feel welcome. I mean, everyone who is following the rules, obviously.’ … But student organizers see her differently. The request to self-police protest chants feels like a trap and not free speech, said Mohsen Mahdawi, a co-founder of Dar, the school’s Palestinian student union. ‘I am all for compassion and tolerance,’ he said. ‘But there should be no double standards. People have to be treated equally with dignity.’” [NYTimes]
War Games: In The Free Press, Matti Friedman suggests that Hamas was more strategically savvy than initially thought in how it’s conducting its war for public sympathy following the Oct. 7 attacks. “My experience in the Western press corps was that sympathy for Hamas was not just real but often more substantial than sympathy for Jews. In Europe and North America, as we’ve now seen on the streets and on campuses, many on the progressive left have arrived at an ideology positing that one of the world’s most pressing problems is the State of Israel — a country that has come to be seen as the embodiment of the evils of the racist, capitalist West, if not as the world’s only ‘apartheid’ state, that being a modern synonym for evil. Jews could no longer officially be hated because of their ethnicity or religion, but can legitimately be hated as supporters of ‘apartheid’ and as the embodiment of ‘privilege.’ The pretense that this is a critique of Israel’s military tactics, or sincere desire for a two-state solution, has now largely been dropped.” [FreePress]
Around the Web
Let the Games Begin: The House Democrats’ campaign committee is up with its first attack ad against Republican Mazi Pilip ahead of the closely watched NY-03 special election next month in Long Island. The ad portrays Pilip, a Nassau County legislator, as part of the MAGA movement and accuses her of supporting cuts to entitlements and social services.
Field of Dreams: Nikki Haley’s campaign and allied super PAC are spending the most money on television in the two weeks before the Jan. 16 caucuses in Iowa. Her super PAC is spending $3.3 million in the state — including this new spot slamming Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as soft on China — while her campaign has reserved $1.3 million in ads.
Maine Squeeze: Maine’s secretary of state ruled that former President Donald Trump was ineligible to appear on the state’s ballot, making Maine the second state where the GOP frontrunner was barred from its primary ballot.
Boebert’s Switcheroo: Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) will switch districts and run in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, which is a more heavily Republican constituency than her current 3rd District, following Rep. Ken Buck’s (R-CO) decision not to seek reelection.
Fetterman’s Friendship: In an interview with Politico, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) doubled down on his support for Israel’s efforts to eradicate Hamas, saying he “would be the last man standing to be absolutely there on the Israeli side on this with no conditions.”
Call on Washington: In The Wall Street Journal, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett calls for Washington to take more direct action to counter Iran.
Nabbed: The Department of Justice announced the apprehension of a New Jersey man who, inspired by the Oct. 7 terror attacks, traveled to Africa for training with Al Shabaab. Karrem Nasr, who was arrested in Kenya, was charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
SBF Reprieve: Federal prosecutors dropped efforts to pursue a second trial against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was found guilty on seven criminal counts earlier this year and will face sentencing in March.
Princeton Vandalism: Several areas of Princeton’s campus were vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti over the school’s winter break.
Ye-a Culpa: Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, issued an apology last week — in Hebrew — on his Instagram page “for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions.”
DEI Drop: End-of-year data from Indeed found a steep drop in postings for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) jobs from the prior year.
Cold Shoulder: Nelson Peltz, a board member of Unilever, resigned last month from the board of the Simon Wiesenthal Center over a social media post in which the group urged against purchasing products from Ben & Jerry’s, a Unilever subsidiary.
Dallas Deal: The NBA’s Board of Governors approved Mark Cuban’s sale of his majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks to Dr. Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont.
Meyers’ Money: L’Oréal heir Françoise Bettencourt Meyers became the first woman to reach a net worth of more than $100 billion.
Marble Arc: The New York Timesspotlights the work of Israel-born sculptor Hanna Eshel, whose marble pieces were largely unappreciated until her final years.
Joining Up: The Washington Postreports on the members of Israel’s Haredi community who have enlisted in the Israeli Defense Forces since Oct. 7.
Syria Strikes: Israel conducted strikes against military targets in Syria overnight, in response to missile launches at northern Israel.
Hostage Testimony: Mia Schem, an Israeli-French woman who was released from Hamas captivity in Gaza at the end of November, recounted her experiences as a hostage in interviews with Israeli media.
Rare Apology: Former Israeli Information Minister Galit Distel Atbaryan, a lawmaker for Likud, apologized for her role in destabilizing the Israeli government ahead of the Oct. 7 terror attacks.
Court Concern: South Africa submitted a case to the International Court of Justice alleging that “acts and omissions by Israel” since Oct. 7 “are genocidal in character,” a move that Israel rejected “with disgust.”
Bad Taste: McDonald’s Malaysia is suing the organizer of Israel boycotts in the South Asian nation, alleging that BDS Malaysia issued a series of “false and defamatory statements” that it says affected profits.
Transition: Daniel Rosen was named the new president of the American Jewish Congress, succeeding his father, Jack Rosen.
Remembering: Former Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), who owned the Milwaukee Bucks for nearly three decades, died at 88. Developer Irwin Cohen, who was the force behind New York City’s Chelsea Market, died at 90. Actor Mike Nussbaum, who starred in the Broadway production of “Glengarry Glen Ross,” died at 99. Woodcarver Gerry Holzman, who spearheaded the carving of the Empire State Carousel, died at 90. Philadelphia-area book editor Carol Hupping Fisher died at 74. Las Vegas comic Shecky Greene died at 97. Zvi Zamir, the fourth director of the Mossad, died at 98.
Pic of the Day
Amit Zander lit a candle earlier today in the bomb shelter where his 23-year-old daughter Noa was killed by Hamas terrorists at the Nova festival on Oct. 7.
Birthdays
Actress best known for her role in the 1990s television series “Beverly Hills, 90210,” in 2016 she was elected president of SAG-AFTRA trade union, Gabrielle Carteris turns 63… Co-owner of The Wonderful Company which operates businesses including POM, Fiji Water, Teleflora, Wonderful Pistachios, Lynda Rae Resnick turns 81… Poet and past professor at Columbia, Princeton, Brooklyn College, Cooper Union and William Paterson University, David Shapiro turns 77… Founder and CEO of Boston-based investment firm, Weiss Asset Management, he is also an emeritus professor at Boston University, Andrew M. Weiss turns 77… Pulitzer Prize-winning ex-reporter for The New York Times, she went to jail to protect her source in the Valerie Plame matter, now an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute, Judith Miller turns 76… Long-time journalist for The New York Times, also author of two books including a memoir about fighting cancer, Joyce Wadler turns 76… Former executive director of the Western Publishing Association, Jane Silbering… Former prime minister of the Czech Republic and then minister of finance, Jan Fischer turns 73… Past president of the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum, Alice M. Greenwald turns 72… CEO of Loews Corporation since 1999, James Tisch turns 71… Cantor at Agudath Achim Synagogue in Shreveport, La., Neil Schwartz turns 71… Commissioner of Israel’s Civil Service Commission, he is a congregational rabbi in Haifa, he was previously the president of Bar-Ilan University, Daniel Hershkowitz turns 71… Israel’s ambassador to Denmark until 2021, he was previously Israel’s ambassador to Sweden, Benny Dagan turns 67… Of counsel at Shulman Rogers, Anita J. Finkelstein… President of the D.C.-based S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, he was a member of Congress (D-FL) until 2010, Robert Wexler turns 63… Former financial advisor at First Manhattan and then Ally, Julia Beth Rabinowitz… Justice on the Supreme Court of Israel since 2012, she was previously dean of Tel Aviv University’s law school, Daphne Barak-Erez turns 59… Executive director of The Charles Bronfman Prize, co-founder Momstamp and a co-founder of Ikar, Paulette Light… Writer, artist, baseball player and coach, he was the bullpen coach for Team Israel at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Nate Fish turns 44… Film and television actress, Lauren Storm turns 37… VP of growth at the Consello Group, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Langer… Network analyst at the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Tandameshia “Kensi” Hastings…
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