Daily Kickoff: Zooming in on the Garden State U.S. Senate race
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at the Democratic primary field taking shape in New Jersey, where Rep. Andy Kim and First Lady Tammy Murphy are seeking the seat currently held by Sen. Bob Menendez, and report on the conversations happening in Munich about the Israel-Hamas war. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Hillary Clinton, Tony Blinken and Ken Moelis.
The IDF released avideoon Monday of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas, along with her sons Ariel and Kfir, taken shortly after their abduction into Gaza from Kibbutz Nir Oz, Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss reports. Security footage obtained by the IDF in Khan Younis shows Bibas, along with her two sons, being moved into a car. Her husband, Yarden, who was taken from a separate area of the kibbutz, does not appear in the video. In November, Yarden Bibas appeared in a hostage video in which he was told that his wife and sons had been killed; the IDF has said there is not enough proof to verify Hamas’ claims.
The video marks the first images of Bibas and her sons since footage from Oct. 7 showed the Argentinian-Israeli woman holding the boys and wrapped in a blanket while surrounded by Hamas terrorists.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the IDF’s chief spokesman, said during a press conference yesterday that the IDF is “very concerned about the fate of Shiri and the children.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the video, saying it is “heart wrenching and reminds us who we are dealing with – the brutal kidnappers of babies.”
“We will settle accounts with them,” he added.
Yarden Bibas’ sister Ofri reacted to Netanyahu’s comments in an interview with Channel 12 last night, saying: “Before we settle accounts with the kidnappers, let’s bring back the hostages. That needs to be the first priority, first of all, they don’t have time and I am really asking leaders of the world, the EU, the prime minister, the cabinet, the president, everyone, to do everything to bring these children home, to bring this family home, together with all the hostages.”
Former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, said that Israel will move forward with operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah if the remaining 134 hostages are not released before Ramadan, which begins in mid-March.
Speaking to leaders from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, Gantz backed the Israeli government’s public position against unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood, following weeks of chatter in Washington and London over such a possibility. The U.K. was forced to walk back Foreign Secretary David Cameron’s comments that recognition of a Palestinian state could jump-start discussions on a two-state solution; in Washington, Axios reported last month that the State Department was considering policy options related to unilateral recognition.
“War now, peace later,” Gantz said, later adding, “After October 7, the pathway to regional stability and peace is not through one-sided actions like recognition of a Palestinian state.”
That Gantz, a political moderate to the left of Netanyahu, is backing the government’s continuation of the war undermines criticism from politicians in the U.S. and U.K. who have attempted to frame the war as driven by Netanyahu and the far-right members of his government — even though none of those ministers sit in Israel’s war cabinet.
In an opinion piece published in the Washington Post on Friday by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Peter Welch (D-VT) that focused on humanitarian aid to Gaza, the legislators refer six separate times to the “Netanyahu government” and its operations in Gaza — disregarding that the majority of Israelis, as well as Israel’s ideologically diverse war cabinet, back the war effort.
In an interview with the U.K.’s Novara Mediaover the weekend, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) criticized “Netanyahu and his right-wing lunatic friends” for the situation in Gaza. “Right now, maybe, maybe if we tell Mr. Netanyahu that he’s not getting a check for $10 billion more to continue his aggressive action,” Sanders said, “he and his right-wing friends may decide it is not a good idea to continue to do that.”
Earlier in the weekend, a Qatar-based Hamas official told Reuters that roughly 6,000 of its fighters had been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The number does not include the roughly 1,000 terrorists killed on Oct. 7 in Israel.
An Israeli security official disputed the figure last night, telling JI that the number of Hamas fighters killed is at least 10,000, with an additional 10,000 injured.
Over the weekend, Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) traveled to Israel for meetings with top officials, including Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Garden State Race
Rep. Andy Kim keeps his distance from some progressive backers
In the first New Jersey Senate debate on Sunday night, the two leading Democratic candidates, Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) and First Lady Tammy Murphy, each spoke briefly on the Israel-Hamas war, reiterating their commitment to immediately freeing the hostages and voicing concerns over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. But whereas Murphy refrained from addressing calls for a cease-fire, Kim said he was open to what he described as a “chance for a bilateral cease-fire” conditioned on releasing the captives held in Gaza, marking the first instance in which he has publicly taken a position on an increasingly polarizing issue, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Key question: Days before the debate, a spokesperson for Murphy’s campaign, Alex Altman, confirmed to JI that the first lady “believes that we cannot have a conversation about a cease-fire until the hostages are home — including Edan Alexander of Tenafly, N.J., whose parents she has met with recently.” Even as the two primary rivals are largely aligned on Israel, their differing answers to a key question underscored the first Middle East policy contrast in a close race driven so far by competing claims to party loyalty and qualifications for office.
Expressing hope: In an interview with JI late last week, Kim emphasized that he is willing to entertain the possibility of a bilateral cease-fire if it is part of a negotiated diplomatic agreement where the remaining hostages are safely returned, which he called a “critical component” of any potential resolution. Even as he stressed that Hamas “cannot be trusted,” Kim expressed hope that an eventual cessation of hostilities could be realized with the help of regional allies while ensuring that Israel “has the resources it needs to be able to defend itself.” No deal is “going to be perfect,” he added. “But if we can try to move in terms of that kind of direction, I really do think that the magnitude of this crisis right now does demand at least an effort to try to see if something more durable can come out of this.”
Drawing distinctions: “It can’t be something that’s just unilateral on either side,” Kim clarified. “Otherwise it wouldn’t be an actual cease-fire.” In drawing such distinctions, Kim, 41, was tacitly distancing himself from some of his progressive backers calling for a unilateral cease-fire, most notably including the left-wing advocacy group Indivisible, which endorsed his campaign earlier this month.
interfaith initiative
U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield brings young Jews, Muslims together to discuss antisemitism, Islamophobia
When a group of more than a dozen young Jewish and Muslim activists — among them several people of both Israeli descent and Palestinian descent — met in New York last week to discuss their experiences with antisemitism and Islamophobia after Oct. 7, organizers knew that breaking the ice, at a time of rising tensions, might be difficult. So the roundtable conversation, hosted at the United Nations by U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, began with what one attendee described as “food diplomacy”: croissants from Librae, a Bahraini-owned bakery in the East Village, and black and white cookies from famed Jewish appetizing shop Russ & Daughters, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Co-hosts: Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Rashad Hussain, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, also hosted the Thursday event, one of the first hosted by the Biden administration after Oct. 7 with the goal of fostering dialogue between Jewish, Muslim and Arab Americans.
Unified against hate: “I left the meeting with them hopeful,” Thomas-Greenfield told CNN. “But one thing that came out that I thought was extraordinarily powerful was the power of hate, the unifying power of hate — that the same people who hate Palestinians, hate Muslims, hate Jews, hate Blacks, are unified in their hatred. And we need to be unified in our understanding and in our love to find a path forward.”
Boundary breaking: “Words like complex, words like conversation, have almost become taboo. To even say that this is something that we can come to the table and discuss together has been such a taboo topic on campus and on social media among my generation,” Julia Jassey, CEO of the nonprofit advocacy group Jewish on Campus, told JI. “I think what was really encouraging for me was that this kind of broke that assumption.”
Read the full story here.
down to the wire
Rep. Michael McCaul predicts Israel, Ukraine package will come to the floor by April
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) predicted that the House will ultimately vote on a combined Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan aid package — either with the support of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) or through a procedural workaround — by April, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Tough choice: “[Johnson is] either going to have to do it, put it on the floor himself, or it’s going to be by virtue of a discharge petition,” McCaul told reporters at an event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. “I think Republicans that would be supportive of Ukraine wouldn’t support a discharge because it’s really going around leadership altogether. I think that’s going to be the difficult choice for him because [some conservatives are] threatening a motion to vacate” — kicking Johnson out of the speakership if he allows a Ukraine vote.
Next steps: McCaul predicted that Congress will be able to advance aid for Ukraine by April, which has been Ukraine’s target for beginning a new counteroffensive against Russia, but said he doesn’t expect the House to begin its work on the subject until after the March 8 government funding deadline. That could also have consequences for Israel, given that sources tell JI that the country needs assistance immediately. McCaul said he thinks a majority of the House would support the aid package, if it comes to the floor. But he also said the House will put its own mark on the package.
Saudi talks: McCaul said he’ll be traveling to Saudi Arabia next month to discuss a potential security agreement among Saudi Arabia, the United States and Israel, to produce a united front against Iran and its proxies. He had dinner at the Saudi Embassy with other lawmakers on Thursday to discuss the possibility. Saudi Arabia, he said, is “interested in getting this done as soon as possible — in fact I think there will be a draft document prior to my trip in March.” He indicated that a U.S.-Saudi deal would have to be signed first, as a precursor to a Saudi-Israel deal.
CLINTON’S CAMPUS QUALMS
Hillary Clinton, now a Columbia professor, decries campus antisemitism in Munich address
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton decried antisemitism on U.S. college campuses on Saturday, telling an audience at the Munich Security Conference that young people in America are “woefully uninformed” about antisemitism and the Holocaust, reports Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch.
Israel only: Clinton, now a professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, described an atmosphere in which students who are highly engaged on global issues only regularly protest Israel, despite a lack of knowledge about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. At a series of conversations about conflict-related sexual violence in several countries, only Israel was protested.
Invidious antisemitism: “You just have to ask yourself how you could have an event focused on using rape as a tactic of war against women and girls, which is [used] in conflict across the world, and you include the most recent horrendous example out of Israel, and that brings out the protesters,” Clinton said. “There is an invidious strain of antisemitism that has never gone away, but we had hopes it had been, certainly, submerged, that has been poking its head up for quite some time now.”
heard at munich
Harris reasserts U.S. support for Israel, defeat of Hamas
Vice President Kamala Harris declared Washington’s continued support for Israel in its goal of defeating Hamas in a Friday speech at the Munich Security Conference, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Solid support: Harris’ remarks at the annual confab, focused on promoting the Biden administration’s vision of global engagement, come as the White House faces pushback from the left over its defense of Israel. Harris was seen by many as a conduit from the White House to the progressive left, tasked with delivering a more pro-Palestinian message to them. But her Friday speech — focused mainly on Ukraine, with a brief message about the Israel-Hamas war — took a strongly pro-Israel tone.
Middle East goal: “We are working to end the conflict that Hamas triggered on October 7th as soon as possible and ensure it ends in a way where Israel is secure, hostages are released, the humanitarian crisis is resolved, Hamas does not control Gaza and Palestinians can enjoy their right to security, dignity, freedom and self-determination,” Harris said.
Worthy Reads
Unraveling UNRWA: In Semafor, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) calls for the dissolution of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency tasked with serving Palestinians. “The UN’s failure to rectify its maltreatment of Israel also undermines innocent Palestinians. Hamas often siphons UNRWA humanitarian aid for its own malicious ends. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), while imperfect, can better serve Palestinians than an agency with ties to the terrorists ruling over them. Recognizing that UNRWA is the only agency capable of aiding Palestinians right now, once the war is over, the UN ought to dissolve UNRWA and transfer its resources and responsibilities to the UNHCR without diminishing any aid for Palestinians. It should also dismantle the infrastructure which spews propaganda seeking to delegitimize and demonize the Jewish State.” [Semafor]
View From Ottawa: In the National Post, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is in Israel this week, backs Israel’s efforts to dismantle Hamas in Gaza. “The systemic nature of the killing and the evident glee with which it was being undertaken by its participants betrayed something darker than war itself. It recalled the things my father’s world had witnessed. This was not random murder. It was more than some settling of inter-communal scores. It was beyond even brutal military action. These were acts of extermination — the killing of no mere enemy, but of those who, in the killers’ eyes, were less than human, whose very existence was to be viewed as a scourge. It was, in short, the urge to commit genocide at its most evil. This may not have been a Holocaust in scale, but it was in kind. And, for the Israeli nation, born as it was in the shadow of the Holocaust, it can be interpreted no other way. Nor can this be regarded as some isolated episode of anti-Israeli violence. It was the consequence of decades of institutionalized antisemitic indoctrination of a population — indoctrination to the point where such murderous acts become regarded as not merely expedient or tolerable, but as necessary and praiseworthy.” [NationalPost]
A Mother’s Strength: The Wall Street Journal’s Elizabeth Bernstein profiles Rachel Goldberg-Polin, who has become one of the most prominent voices in the effort to secure the release of the hostages, including her son, Hersh. “People often ask Rachel how she goes on. Her answer is simple: She has no choice. ‘I can’t drop dead from grief and sorrow, because he is going to come back and he needs his mother,’ she says. … Rachel doesn’t allow herself to envision his release. It’s too painful, because she knows he will need to heal. But she does conjure up joyous scenes further in the future. She imagines Hersh at his wedding, being lifted into the air on a chair, according to Jewish tradition, laughing and raising his prosthetic arm. And she pictures herself holding his baby. ‘I want the privilege of all three of my children burying me,’ she says.” [WSJ]
Dubious Tactics: Politico’s Michael Schaffer spotlights the increasingly vitriolic and personal attacks leveled against Secretary of State Tony Blinken and his family, including his young children, outside the family’s home. “As the car carrying the kids rolled up, the group took their places. Some shouted: ‘YOUR FATHER IS A BABY KILLER!’ Some waved signs: ‘WAR CRIMINAL BLOODY BLINKEN LIVES HERE.’ Another poster featured a blown-up image of an old Blinken tweet of him and Ryan holding the children as infants. It was annotated with a chilling stat from the Gaza war: ‘10,000+ fathers have lost their children.’ … If the tiny passengers in the back seat of the car had any reaction, no one could tell. But the fact that we even have to ponder the merits of strangers yelling at preschoolers is a sign of something troubling in our political culture — something that existed long before the Gaza war. It’s also a commentary on the dubious efficacy of this very of-the-moment variety of direct action. A cathartic thrill for the righteously indignant, showing up at the homes of Washington bigwigs also creates optics that turn demonstrators into bullies and their targets into victims, hardening the hearts of just about everyone in sight.” [Politico]
Around the Web
Protecting Civilians: Speaking at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations’ annual mission in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the IDF was making serious efforts to protect civilians in Gaza, adding, “We have to finish the job.”
Resolution Round-up: The U.S. is expected to veto an Algeria-led U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, which could be presented as soon as today, but has reportedly drafted a resolution warning against an Israeli military incursion in Rafah and calling for a temporary cease-fire conditioned on the release of all remaining hostages.
Hostage Diplomacy: The National Security Council’s Brett McGurk is in Israel and Egypt this week for discussions with officials about the impending IDF incursion into Rafah and efforts to release the hostages. Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh is reportedly scheduled to arrive in Cairo today with a Hamas delegation.
Hit on Houthis: The U.S. struck Houthi underwater vessels in the Red Sea, the first time since the escalation in tensions that an unmanned vessel has been targeted; a U.S. Navy admiral told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that the ongoing battle against the Houthis in the Red Sea is the Navy’s largest battle since WWII.
Malley Probe: The State Department is conducting an internal probe into the circumstances surrounding the suspension of Iran envoy Rob Malley, whose clearance was revoked last spring.
UNRWA Funding: Speaking at an event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, David Satterfield, the Biden administration’s special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues, addressed the White House’s recent decision to halt funding to UNRWA, saying, “It’s not a suspension. It is a prohibition on providing further funding.”
Not Running: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) ruled out a 2024 presidential run, saying he “will be involved in making sure that we secure a president that has the knowledge and has the passion and has the ability to bring this country together.”
Talking Joe: A new documentary about former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is slated to be released in September. h/t Politico‘s Daniel Lippman
Molinaro’s Moment:Politico spotlights Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY), a moderate Republican from upstate New York whose district could determine control of the House in the next Congress.
Survey Says: A new Pew report found that about three-quarters of Americans (74%-75%) believe that the conflicts between Israel and Hamas, China and Taiwan and Russia and Ukraine are important to U.S. interests.
Making a Comeback: Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is slated to headline next month’s Rolling Loud festival in California alongside rapper Ty Dolla Sign; Ye’s new album “Vultures 1” topped the Billboard 200 chart this week.
Statue Defaced: A statue of Amy Winehouse, who was Jewish, in London’s Camden Town neighborhood was defaced, with a Palestinian flag sticker put on top of the deceased singer’s Star of David necklace.
Crime Time: A Milwaukee police officer was injured by an anti-Israel protester in a confrontation at a birthday fundraiser for Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI); the protester told the officer, who is of Palestinian descent, that he was on the wrong side of the conflict.
Campus Beat: Harvard is investigating social media posts shared by several student and faculty groups that contained antisemitic imagery; Rabbi David Wolpe, a former member of the school’s antisemitism advisory board, called the posts “despicably, inarguably antisemitic.”
Gulag Letters: The Free Press published correspondence between former Soviet refusenik Natan Sharansky and Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was reported to have died in a Russian prison last week.
Policy Shift: U.K. Labour party head Keir Starmer called for an “immediate cease-fire” in Israel and Gaza, a shift in policy after months of calling for a “sustained cease-fire.”
GDP Blow: An initial report from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics found that the country’s GDP dropped by 19.4% in the final quarter of 2023, a result of the Oct. 7 terror attacks and Israel-Hamas war.
Court Concern: In The Wall Street Journal, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Orde Kittrie raises concerns about the background of the chief judge of the International Court of Justice, a Lebanese politician who as Beirut’s ambassador to the U.N. for a decade frequently cast votes against Israel.
Back to Brasilia: Brazil recalled its ambassador to Israel, following comments from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva comparing Israeli actions to those of the Nazis, which resulted in Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz summoning Brasilia’s ambassador to Yad Vashem for a public dressing-down.
Gulf Goal: Bloomberg spotlights the long-term efforts of Wall Street veteran Ken Moelis to build up his investment bank’s operations in the Gulf.
Remembering: Rebbetzin Chaya Chana Twersky, the wife of the Skvere Rebbe, died at 81; New York City Mayor Eric Adams praised her as the “scioness to a distinguished dynasty” who “led the emergence of Hasidic Jewry throughout New York State.” Rabbi Jules Harlow, whose prayer books were mainstays in Conservative synagogues, died at 92.
Pic of the Day
Israeli swimmer Anastasia Gorbenko reacts to jeers by a crowd at the Doha World Championships in Qatar after finishing second in the women’s 400-meter individual medley on Sunday.
Birthdays
Actor best known for his role as Joel Maisel on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Michael Zegen turns 45…
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) turns 82… Former head of the Shin Bet and later a member of the Knesset for Yesh Atid, Yaakov Peri turns 80… Co-owner of NYC-based TF Cornerstone, Kamran Thomas Elghanayan turns 79… Screenwriter, film director and novelist, he wrote the screenplay for “Blazing Saddles,” Andrew Bergman turns 79… University professor at Brown University, winner of a 2015 Pulitzer Prize for biography, David Kertzer turns 76… Physician and acupuncturist based in Valley Village, Calif., Andrea Hoffman Kachuck… Nursing home administrator in Hazlet, N.J., Benzion Schachter turns 73… Founder and publisher of Punch, M. Sloane Citron turns 68… Former SVP of News at CBS-owned local television stations, David M. Friend turns 68… Former NFL player who played for seven different teams over 16 seasons, he was one of the NFL’s original long snapper specialists, Adam Blayne Schreiber turns 62… Senior editor at Politico, David Cohen… Professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago, Shmuel Aaron Weinberger turns 61… U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) turns 60… Pulitzer Prize-winning staff writer for The New Yorker, Emily Nussbaum… Senior cantor at University Synagogue in the Brentwood area of West Los Angeles, Kerith Carolyn Spencer-Shapiro… Actress, comedian and writer, Andrea Savage turns 51… Emmy Award-winning film and television producer, Todd Darren Lieberman turns 51… Comedian, actress and writer, best known for portraying Gina Linetti on Fox’s series “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” Chelsea Peretti turns 46… Owner of a baseball development facility in Denver, he was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball, Jason Hirsh turns 42… Philanthropy consultant, Aimee Weiss… CEO at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Amy Spitalnick… Israeli fashion model and television personality, winner of the Israeli version of “Big Brother,” Tahounia Rubel turns 36… Boca Raton, Fla., resident, Levi Shemtov turns 31… Ice hockey defenseman for the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings, Jake Walman turns 28… Former Capitol Hill staffer, Harrison Gordon turns 26…
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