Daily Kickoff
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the emergency aid bill passed in the Senate this morning, spotlight Tucker Carlson’s eyebrow-raising remarks in Dubai and look at how Reform and Conservative rabbinical schools in the U.S. are addressing issues of anti-Zionism. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Israeli Science Minister Ofir Akunis, Samantha Power and Elie Wiesel.
President Joe Biden has publicly continued to insist that any Israeli operation in Rafah, where two hostages were rescued by Israeli forces early Monday, should not proceed without clear plans for safeguarding Palestinian civilians in the area. That’s what he reiterated on Monday when speaking to reporters at the White House alongside Jordanian King Abdullah II, who used his appearance in front of Western media to strongly denounce any Israeli attacks in Rafah.
But the White House’s top national security spokesperson, John Kirby, told reporters that the White House is not opposed to any Rafah operation, Jewish Insider’s senior national correspondent Gabby Deutch reports. In fact, the opposite is true, Kirby said. There are legitimate military aims for Israel in Rafah — but if Israel pursues them, Kirby added, the IDF must protect Palestinians living in the southernmost part of Gaza.
“We never said that they can’t go into Rafah to remove Hamas. Hamas remains a viable threat to the Israeli people, and the Israelis and the IDF, absolutely, are going to continue operations against their leadership and their infrastructure, as they should. We don’t want to see another October 7th,” said Kirby.
“What we’ve said is we don’t believe that it’s advisable to go in in a major way in Rafah without a proper, executable, effective and credible plan for the safety of the more than a million Palestinians that are taking refuge in Rafah,” Kirby clarified.
The difficulty of Israeli operations in a crowded area like Rafah was made apparent during the hostage rescue operation, which also reportedly resulted in the deaths of dozens of Palestinians. The hostages were being held in an apartment building that also housed some civilians.
“While we’re very glad that two hostages are now back with their families where they belong, we certainly mourn any loss of innocent life as a result of those operations,” said Kirby. But, he added, Hamas continues to bear responsibility for the Palestinian civilians killed.
“We do know that Hamas leadership and fighters migrated south,” Kirby said. “By their very presence and their operations down there, they are further endangering the people of Gaza that are now settled or trying to find refuge down there in Rafah.”
Several reporters pressed Kirby on whether the Biden administration would consider limiting or restricting U.S. military assistance to Israel if Israel launches an offensive in Rafah. He insisted U.S. support for Israel would not change.
“We’re going to continue to support Israel. They have a right to defend themselves against Hamas, and we’re going to continue to make sure they have the tools and the capabilities to do that,” he said.
During his press conference with King Abdullah, Biden said the two discussed a U.S. proposal for a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, “which would bring immediate and sustained period of calm into Gaza for at least six weeks, which we could then take the time to build something more enduring,” said Biden. “There are gaps that remain, but I’ve encouraged Israeli leaders to keep working to achieve the deal.”
As Biden and King Abdullah discussed a potential IDF operation in Rafah, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz publicly threw his support behind expanding the IDF maneuvers, JI’s senior political correspondent Lahav Harkov reports. Gantz called the Monday morning rescue of two hostages “proof that we are keeping our promise that terrorism will not have sanctuary cities anywhere.”
“There is no question about the need to act in any place in which there is terror. Broad action in Rafah, as we said in the past, is not in question,” Gantz added.
At the same time, Gantz said that Israel will hold “conversations with our friends in the world,” specifically mentioning Egypt, which strongly opposes Israeli operations in Rafah and has deployed tanks on its border with Gaza. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry denied reports that Cairo plans to freeze its peace agreement with Israel over the matter.
Part of Gantz’s message appeared specifically calibrated towards the White House: “We will take all the steps we can to ensure our freedom to act: evacuating the population as well as securing borders and also preparing the territory for a ground entrance. We will not return [from Gaza] until we reach our goals.” Read the full story here.
On our radar: Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is visiting Israel this week, his first visit to the country since the Oct. 7 attacks.
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survey says
Poll: Roughly half of U.S. Jews changing behavior because of antisemitism
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Nearly two-thirds (63%) of Jewish adults say that American Jews are less secure than they were a year ago. A quarter of U.S. Jews have personally experienced targeted antisemitism. And about half of American Jews have changed their behavior, including where they go or what they wear, because of their fear of antisemitism. Those were some of the findings of a survey released this morning by the American Jewish Committee, which measured attitudes on antisemitism both within and outside of the Jewish community, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen reports.
Turning point: The results are a compilation of data from two surveys. The AJC’s fifth annual survey of 1,528 American Jews was initially conducted on Oct. 5, 2023, with the goal of fully launching the following week; however, fieldwork was paused when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. In response to the attack, and the subsequent increase of antisemitism and anti-Israel activity nationwide, especially on college campuses, the questionnaire was adjusted to add survey items to measure awareness of the terrorist attacks and the impact of those attacks on feelings of safety in the U.S. The revised survey ran from Oct. 7- Nov. 21, 2023.
Generational gap: The report found a sharp disconnect between younger American Jews (18-29) compared to adults over 30. Forty-four percent of the younger demographic said antisemitism is a very serious problem in the U.S., while 55% of those over 30 reported the same.
‘Five-alarm fire’: AJC CEO Ted Deutch told eJP that given the dramatic rise of antisemitism in the wake of Oct. 7, the findings were expected but “it’s shocking how they appear even expecting the results. The fact that over 60% of Jewish adults feel less secure living in America than they did before, says this is a problem for all of America, not just the Jewish community.” Deutch continued. “Big picture is that what had been an enormous challenge for our community already has become a five-alarm fire, and it requires everyone to do something about it.”
Read the full story here and sign up for eJewishPhilanthropy’s Your Daily Phil newsletter here.