Daily Kickoff
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the waves of visitors to Israel’s devastated south, and report on concerns raised by Maryland rabbis over Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s rhetoric on Israel. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, Matisyahu, Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz.
Bhavini Patel, the Democratic challenging Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA), is up with her first ad against the Pennsylvania lawmaker, casting her as an anti-Biden radical who wants to dismantle the Democratic Party and defund the police. The ad is a “significant” buy, according to the Patel campaign, and will be airing across broadcast, cable and digital platforms across the Pittsburgh-based district.
The ad doesn’t make mention of Lee’s anti-Israel posture, which has received widespread attention across Pittsburgh — and beyond. But it’s part of a successful playbook by pro-Israel candidates, pointing to vulnerable incumbents’ splits with President Joe Biden as an illustration of their extremism and ideological breaks with the party.
For anti-Israel Democrats, that stance is typically part of a longer record that’s out of step with mainstream Democratic opinion.
The ad also touts Patel as a bridge builder (literally), who backed Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill, which helped the city of Pittsburgh quickly rebuild the Fern Hollow Bridge. The ad notes that Lee voted against Biden’s infrastructure bill.
Democratic operatives view Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) as the most vulnerable Squad-affiliated lawmakers, but Lee is looking more vulnerable lately.
The Pennsylvania legislatorrecently canceled a scheduled appearance at a gala for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, where she would have appeared alongside speakers with a long history of making antisemitic and homophobic comments. A group of Pittsburgh-area rabbis — including the rabbi of the Tree of Life synagogue — wrote a letter denouncing Lee over her long history of anti-Israel rhetoric.
Lee is the first embattled Squad member to face a primary. Pennsylvania’s primary is scheduled for April 23.
And in Washington, Columbia University’s president and board co-chairsare set to testify at a House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing dedicated to antisemitism on the New York campus on April 17, the committee announced on Monday.
Columbia’s presidentwas initially asked to testify at a disastrous December hearing that contributed to the resignations of the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, but was unable to do so because of a scheduling conflict. Now, the school’s leaders will have their turn in the hot seat.
“Some of the worst cases of antisemitic assaults, harassment, and vandalism on campus have occurred at Columbia University,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), the committee chair, said in a statement. “Due to the severe and pervasive nature of these cases, and the Columbia administration’s failure to enforce its own policies to protect Jewish students, the Committee must hear from Columbia’s leadership in person to learn how the school is addressing antisemitism on its campus.”
Columbia’s president, Nemat Shafik, and Board of Trustees co-chairs Claire Shipman and David Greenwald will be testifying at the hearing. The committee requested last month that Columbia provide documents to the committee on its handling of campus antisemitism.
“Columbia is committed to combating antisemitism and we welcome the opportunity to discuss our work to protect and support Jewish students and keep our community safe,” a university spokesperson said in a statement to JI.
tragedy tourism
Israeli communities devastated on Oct. 7 draw thousands seeking to bear witness, support victims
A macabre type of tourism has defined the trips of many visitors to Israel since Oct. 7. While some struggle with the concept of visiting the sites of the Hamas massacres, wary of invading the privacy of the victims, especially when the grief is still so raw, the act of bearing witness, showing solidarity and support and fundraising are among the key reasons why thousands of people have visited the affected Gaza border communities since security restrictions were lifted for civilians who wish to travel to the area, Jewish Insider’s Tamara Zieve reports.
Fundraising: Since Oct. 7, the Jewish Federations of North America and the individual federations have run at least 60 solidarity missions to Israel, bringing some 1,000 community leaders on brief visits, usually lasting about 48 hours, to show their support for the country and to bear witness to the atrocities committed during the massive Hamas terror attacks. A JFNA spokesperson told JI that these trips are part of the reason that the umbrella organization has managed to raise over $783 million in emergency fund allocations for Israel, $360 million of which has been allocated to supporting the affected communities, helping provide food, housing, mental health services and special needs. The money also goes toward supporting the Jewish Agency’s fund for victims of terrorism, as well as funding rebuilding plans and business loans.
Diaspora duty: Mark Medin, executive vice president of UJA-Federation of New York, has led some of these trips, one of which was attended by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last October, just weeks after the Hamas attack. ”I think bearing witness and understanding the scope of what happened and having people be able to serve as ambassadors to tell the story, I think is an essential component of diaspora Jewish responsibility right now,” he told JI. “There are two wars going on. There’s a physical war that 9 million Israelis are in the middle of and hundreds of thousands of Israeli young boys and girls, young men and women are fighting on the front lines every day. And [there’s] an information war for the Jewish world that the diaspora Jewish community has to fight as well, in order to help support the physical war that’s happening on the ground.”
Grasping the scale: But some Israelis also wish to bear witness. Lee Sefton, a British immigrant to Israel, joined a tour led by Yossi Hoffman, a ZAKA volunteer, who was among the first responders to the Oct. 7 attack. Despite her apprehension about participating in the tour, Sefton ultimately decided to go. “I felt it was important for as many people to see the devastation with their own eyes, to bear witness to the brutality that took place on Oct. 7 and to share it as widely as possible given the extent of the denial that I’d seen on social media,” she said. “I also felt it was difficult to grasp the scale of the atrocities through the fragments you see on the news.”
intelligence update
Warner: Netanyahu’s war ‘threatens to undermine’ long-term support for Israel; DNI report paints bleak picture
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war strategy risks undermining international support for Israel and, thereby, Israel’s long-term security, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Quotable: “I worry that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s conduct in the war threatens to undermine support for Israel in the long term, including in the United States,” Warner said. “This international support has been key to Israel’s security and, as a longtime friend of Israel, this is a concerning and potentially significant legacy of this war.” Warner’s comments came at an Intelligence Committee hearing with the heads of U.S. intelligence agencies, who delivered a report on global security issues.
Intel assessment: In a written report published in conjunction with the testimony on Monday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence assessed that Israel is likely to face “mounting international pressure” in the coming year as a result of the war in Gaza, and that there is a high risk of destabilization and interstate conflict across the region. The report states that Israel will likely face “lingering armed resistance… for years to come” from Hamas and “struggle to neutralize” Hamas’s tunnel system. It also describes Israel’s governing coalition, led by Netanyahu, as potentially “in jeopardy,” making “a different, more moderate government… a possibility.”
Iran’s involvement: The report assesses that “Iranian leaders did not orchestrate nor had foreknowledge of the Hamas attack against Israel,” but have “encouraged and enabled” its proxies across the region to strike Israeli and U.S. targets across the region since Oct. 7. The report assessed that strikes against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria “almost certainly” will resume, adding that Houthi attacks in the Red Sea “create a real risk of broader escalation.”
Budget request: President Joe Biden’s 2025 budget request includes $386 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. The request maintains full funding for the U.S.-Israel memorandum of understanding, and increases West Bank and Gaza aid from $225 million in 2023 to $235 million. It doesn’t feature a specific line-item request for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. It maintains funding for peacebuilding programs like the Middle East Partnership for Peace, as well as provides a $22 million boost for the Department of Education’s Office for Civil rights over 2023 levels.
maryland matters
Maryland rabbis urge Van Hollen to change course on Israel rhetoric
In a scathing letter, a group of more than 70 Maryland rabbis from across the denominational spectrum accused Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), a leader among critics of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, of spreading falsehoods about Israel and stoking “divisions” and “isolat[ing]” Israel and the Jewish community in his state, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Stoking division: The letter states that, at a time when American Jews are facing record levels of antisemitism in the U.S., Van Hollen’s “efforts in the Senate have only stoked deeper divisions and further isolated Israel and our Jewish community.”
Aghast: The rabbis wrote that, “While Israel fights against terror and threats of annihilation, we are aghast by [the senator’s] claims about war crimes and your portrayal of Israel as the aggressor,” slamming Van Hollen for efforts to condition or cut off military aid to Israel, which the letter describes as necessary to protect Israelis and Palestinians from Hamas. They also took umbrage with what they characterized as Van Hollen’s claims that Israel “should be solely blamed for the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.” They argued that Hamas is “indisputably” responsible for the crisis and for years of Palestinian suffering. They also accused Van Hollen of “falsely suggest[ing] Israel is deliberately withholding aid” from innocent civilians.
Van Hollen’s response: In a statement to JI, the Maryland senator said he welcomes the “feedback from my constituents” and will continue to discuss the issue. He insisted that he has supported Israel’s right to defend itself and condemned the Oct. 7 attack but, “I also believe that a just war must be fought justly. That is why I have continued to express my deep concerns about the actions taken by the Netanyahu government in the face of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”
Elsewhere in Washington: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jim Risch (R-ID) said he’s blocking the confirmation of the State Department’s top legal adviser in protest of the administration’s refusal to provide information on the suspension of Iran envoy Rob Malley, even in a classified setting. He further said the committee should subpoena the State Department for answers.
making connections
South Africa’s chief rabbi tells AIPAC African countries could be key allies to U.S., Israel
Rabbi Warren Goldstein, the chief rabbi of South Africa, addressed an AIPAC leadership summit in Washington, D.C., this week with a forward-looking message, casting South Africa and other African nations as potential key partners for Israel and the U.S. going forward, in spite of the current South African government’s hostility toward Israel and alignment with authoritarian powers, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
War of delegitimization:In his speech, Goldstein compared South Africa’s government to Hamas, describing it as a “diplomatic proxy” of Iran carrying out “the diplomatic equivalent of the Oct. 7 attacks” in its pursuit of a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. He argued that this “diplomatic war of delegitimization” is “ultimately the most serious national security threat facing Israel,” because it could “turn Western opinion against the Jewish state, forcing it into self-destructive negotiations with its enemies through which it might be slowly dismembered or, left without the means or support to defend itself, simply overrun.”
Potential partners: Nevertheless, the South African rabbi told the AIPAC crowd that diplomatic alliances among African nations, Israel and the U.S., are the best way to counter delegitimization efforts. “Africa, a continent with more than 50 votes on global fora, with a young and growing population, with huge potential economic growth, where 600 million Christians, the largest such community in the world on one continent, who understand firsthand what it means to be attacked by Jihadi terror groups — can, in the long run, become a more reliable ally for Israel and America, than even Europe.”
Time to engage: “It was really a message to say that now’s not the time to disengage from South Africa,” Goldstein told JI. “One’s got to distinguish between the South African government and the South African people. And actually, within the South African people, there’s a lot of potential allies.”
conference circuit
NSC’s Brett McGurk addresses AIPAC leadership meeting in Washington
Brett McGurk, the National Security Council’s coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, addressed an AIPAC leadership meeting in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod has learned. McGurk’s appearance was not previously announced by AIPAC; a spokesperson had not addressed questions about whether any administration officials would be appearing at the closed-door conference of approximately 1,600 AIPAC leaders and activists. The NSC official has been a particular target of criticism from progressives over the Biden administration’s Israel policy, partially due to his reported prioritization of normalizing Israeli-Saudi relations.
Additional participants: In addition to McGurk, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) spoke to the conference on Monday. Other lawmakers, including Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) were also in attendance, JI has learned.
Schumer’s speech: In his remarks, a prepared copy of which was obtained by JI, Schumer vowed unwavering support for Israel. Schumer’s speech, which closely echoes many he has given since Oct. 7 to pro-Israel audiences, comes in contrast to recent rhetoric by President Joe Biden and a growing number of members of Schumer’s Democratic caucus, who have been increasingly critical of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, threatened conditions or cuts to aid to Israel, disavowed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or called for a cease-fire.
aid arguments
GOP candidate in Virginia swing district says he opposes additional aid to Israel, then backpedals
Cameron Hamilton, a Republican candidate in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District — a key swing seat between Washington, D.C., and Richmond — said in a media interview last week that he doesn’t support providing additional aid to Israel, but walked the comment back when pressed by Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod.
What he said: “I’m a big supporter of Israel. I don’t know that their economy needs it right now,” Hamilton said last week in an interview on Real America’s Voice, a far-right streaming and TV channel, when asked if he supports additional funding for Israel. “I believe that we should renegotiate any of those trade alliances. I’ll always defend Israel… But again, I don’t know that we should be sending more and more money overseas right now when we are operating at a hundred-billion-dollar-a-month deficit.”
Walk back: “In the last seconds of a rapid-fire interview segment I responded to multiple topics at once and my long-standing and public stance on support for Israel was not properly reflected. I stand with Israel 100%, I believe Hamas needs to be eradicated, and that as our greatest ally in the region Israel should get all the American support that they need to ensure their safety,” Hamilton told JI in response to a follow-up question. “I do not support the Senate bill that improperly joined aid to Israel with aid to Ukraine, but I would 100% support a stand-alone aid bill for Israel. I have made my stance in support of Israel clear publicly and repeatedly in interviews and public statements, and any insinuation to the contrary is completely false.”
About the campaign: Cameron is running in the Republican primary for the seat currently held by Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), who is leaving Congress for a gubernatorial run. Cameron is currently third in fundraising among Republicans, behind top GOP recruit Derrick Anderson and entrepreneur Bill Moher. Despite his expressed skepticism of additional foreign aid, Hamilton said in the interview he’s running primarily on his national security background.
Worthy Reads
Red Line Rumination: In The New York Post, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Rich Goldberg raises concerns about President Joe Biden’s recent comments on his “red lines” for Israel’s operations in Gaza as it seeks to root out Hamas. “Biden today is wielding Hamas disinformation as a weapon in pressuring Israel not to enter Rafah. An estimated 1 million Palestinians who fled south during the war have taken refuge there, and the White House claims it has seen no plan from Israel to safely evacuate that population before commencing major operations against Hamas. Washington and Saudi Arabia could put pressure on Egypt to open its border and allow for temporary tent cities to be established in the Sinai. The Saudis could finance this with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees coordinating aid. This would be the easiest way to minimize civilian harm, yet Biden chooses to pressure Israel into a Hamas victory instead of threatening American aid to Cairo if Egypt doesn’t comply. In the face of Egyptian intransigence, Israel is reportedly planning to establish 15 sites with medical field clinics across the southwestern part of the Gaza Strip. It did everything possible to enable civilian evacuation in every other major city where it defeated Hamas — and it will surely do the same in Rafah. A recent poll found 75% of Israelis from across the political spectrum support completing the takedown of Hamas in Rafah. They know the alternative puts an egg-timer on Israel’s future.” [NYPost]
Schoenberg in Hollywood: The New Yorker’s Alex Ross spotlights the music of Vienna-born composer Arnold Schoenberg, who fled Nazi Europe and settled in Hollywood. “He once wrote, ‘If it is art, it is not for all, and if it is for all, it is not art.’ The prevailing attitude in the Hollywood film industry, the dominant cultural concern in Schoenberg’s adopted city, was the opposite: if it’s not for all, it’s worthless. Yet there he was, the composer of ‘Transfigured Night’ and ‘Pierrot Lunaire,’ living in Brentwood, across the street from Shirley Temple. He took a liking to Jackie Robinson, the Marx Brothers, and the radio quiz show ‘Information Please.’ He played tennis with George Gershwin, who idolized him. He delighted in the American habits of his children, who, to the alarm of other émigrés, ran all over the house. (Thomas Mann, after a visit, wrote in his diary, ‘Impertinent kids. Excellent Viennese coffee.’) He taught at U.S.C., at U.C.L.A., and at home, counting John Cage, Lou Harrison, and Oscar Levant among his students. Although he faced a degree of indifference and hostility from audiences, he had experienced worse in Austria and Germany. He made modest concessions to popular taste, writing a harmonically lush adaptation of the Kol Nidre for Rabbi Jacob Sonderling, of the Fairfax Temple.” [NewYorker]
Around the Web
Condition Concerns: President Joe Biden is reportedly considering conditioning aid to Israel if the IDF moves forward with an invasion of Rafah.
Fetterman’s Response: In response to the report that the White House is mulling conditioning aid, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) posted on X that “Israel has the right to fully engage Hamas to its end. Hamas deliberately harms and hides behind civilians, not Israel. Until Hamas surrenders, frees the hostages, and ends this humanitarian tragedy, I do not support any conditions.”
Trump’s Take: The Return of Great Powers, a new book out today by CNN’s Jim Sciutto, includes an interview with Gen. John Kelly in which the former Trump administration chief of staff details the former president’s praise of Adolf Hitler.
Against AIPAC: A group of 20 leftist Jewish organizations and Muslim and Arab groups formed a coalition called Reject AIPAC in an attempt to challenge the group’s efforts to back primary challengers to anti-Israel congressional candidates.
Trouble in Teaneck: Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters demonstrated outside a synagogue in Teaneck, N.J., on Sunday while the synagogue hosted an event for Israeli real estate companies to showcase their properties.
Holy Land Bound: Singer Matisyahu will return to Israel next month for two shows, following a string of cancellations at venues in the U.S. where event staff refused to show up for work.
Campus Beat: Administrators at Middlebury College, which is being investigated by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights over its handling of antisemitism, suggested that a vigil for murdered Israelis in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks be stripped of mentions of Jewish victims, and that the event, billed as a vigil to “Stand in Solidarity With the Jewish People,” pay tribute to “all the innocent lives lost.”
This Old Mural: A century-old Jewish mural was discovered in an apartment building in a Boston suburb that had previously housed a synagogue.
Lima Beat: Authorities in Peru arrested an Iranian man believed to be a member of Iran’s Quds Force planning an attack on an Israeli citizen.
Apprehended: Three Palestinian men in Italy were arrested on terrorism charges, accused of planning attacks against civilian and military targets.
Terror Targets: The Wall Street Journalreports on a rash of new threats to Jewish and Israeli institutions and individuals across Europe tied to the Israel-Hamas war.
Mia’s Moment: Freed Israeli hostage Mia Schem, who was in the U.S. last week for meetings with officials, attended Elton John’s Oscars party on Sunday night, wearing a white dress adorned with a yellow pin to raise awareness about the remaining 134 hostages.
Naming Rights: Officials in the West Bank town of Jericho named a street after Aaron Bushnell, a U.S. Air Force service member who killed himself in an act of self-immolation outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington last month.
Aid Shipment: The first maritime shipment of aid bound for Gaza departed Cyprus this morning.
Saudi Slight: A delegation of members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom cut short a trip to Saudi Arabia when Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the commission’s chair, was asked to remove his yarmulke at the Diriyah UNESCO World Heritage Site in Riyadh.
Northern Border: Hezbollah launched roughly 100 rockets at northern Israel and the Golan Heights after an Israeli strike targeting a Hezbollah aerial facility in Lebanon.
Closer Ties: Newsweeklooks at how Azerbaijan’s warming ties with Israel potentially complicate its efforts to work with neighboring Iran.
Iran’s Crackdown: A report issued by the U.N.’s Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights found that some of Iran’s “repression of peaceful protests” has amounted to human rights violations and “crimes against humanity.”
Terrorist Dead: Al-Qaida announced that the head of its Yemen branch had died, but did not give the circumstances of his death.
Pic of the Day
Season 5 of “Fauda” will be “totally different” from previous seasons as the acclaimed show takes on the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks and its aftermath, the show’s creators said on Monday evening at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C.
The event, hosted by Jewish Insider and America Abroad Media, featured a panel discussion with Lior Raz (right) and Avi Issacharoff, moderated by Aaron Lobel, the founder and president of America Abroad Media. Raz and Issacharoff told the roughly 50 attendees that the next season is expected to premiere in 2025 — and provided insight into the impact Oct. 7 will have on the show.
“We try to give faces to the other side and feel compassion for the other side,” Raz said of the taut political drama. “Now I assume it’s going to be very hard to do that, after we saw what they did to our people and our country. I don’t think it will be possible to show Hamas as humans, but we have to bring a good story… It will be totally different than what we’ve done until now because there is a lot of range.” Read the full story here.
Birthdays
Chief Washington correspondent for CNN and co-host of the Sunday morning program “State of the Union,” Jacob Paul “Jake” Tapper turns 55…
Rabbi Yitzchak Abadi turns 91… Photographer, musician and author of 15 children’s books, Arlene Weiss Alda turns 91… Carol Margolis… U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) turns 77… Director, producer and screenwriter, Rob Cohen turns 75… Born in Bombay, British sculptor, he won the 2017 Genesis Prize, Sir Anish Kapoor turns 70… Pitching coach who has worked for the Yankees, Reds, Braves, Marlins, Cubs and Padres, Larry Rothschild turns 70… Past president of AIPAC, he is the founder and CEO of R.A. Cohen & Associates, Robert A. Cohen… Former member of the Knesset for the Likud party, Ayoob Kara turns 69… Founder of hedge fund Lone Pine Capital, Stephen Mandel turns 68… Sales representative at Paychex, Lynne Blumenthal… Director of constituency engagement at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Diane Saltzman… Senior attorney in the D.C. office of Squire Patton Boggs, Stacey Grundman… Sportscaster for ESPN and a host of SportsCenter, Steve Levy turns 59… Born in Haifa, he served as president of the Central Bank of Brazil and is now president of the Inter-American Development Bank, Ilan Goldfajn turns 58… U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) turns 56… Founder and CEO at Miller Strategies, Jeff Miller… Israeli film and television actor, Tzachi Halevy turns 49… VP of communications at the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, Brian T. Weiss… Founder and publisher of Fleishigs kosher food magazine, Shlomo Klein… Actor and comedian, Samm Levine turns 42… Lead public affairs specialist at the Association of American Medical Colleges, Talia Schmidt… Member of Congress (D-NY) since 2021, Ritchie Torres turns 36… Senior Middle East analyst at Leidos, Aaron Magid… Founder and CEO of Serotonin and co-founder and president of Mojito, Amanda Gutterman Cassatt turns 33… CEO and co-founder of Wonder Media Network, Jennifer Manning Kaplan… Figure skater who won the 2016 World Junior championship, he competed for Israel at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Daniel Samohin turns 26… Israeli Internet personality, model and singer, Anna Zak turns 23…
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