Daily Kickoff
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the reactions on Capitol Hill and in Jerusalem to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s address on Israel, and preview today’s meeting between Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and President Joe Biden. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Tim Carney, David French and Steve Mnuchin.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent Jewish Insider, eJewishPhilanthropy and The Circuit stories, including: Is Politico rebelling against Axel Springer’s Israel policy?; Israeli communities devastated on Oct. 7 draw thousands seeking to bear witness, support victims; Ohio Senate primary a clash between two different GOP foreign policy visions. Print the latest edition here.
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has seen some of his worstpolling numbers in 15 years — and is in jeopardy of losing the next Israeli election.
But the Democratic Party’s parade of attacks against Netanyahu — with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) all but calling for his ouster in a Senate floor speech on Thursday — could give a boost to the prime minister’s support at home, Jewish Insider senior political correspondent Lahav Harkov writes.
Schumer’s remarks set off an outcry in Israel, not only from Netanyahu’s supporters (the Likud party spokesman said, in response, that “Israel is not a banana republic”) but also from his leading rival for the premiership, war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz.
Gantz posted on X that the Senate majority leader “is a friend of Israel who helps a lot in these days, but he was mistaken in his statement. Israel is a strong democracy, and only its citizens will determine its leadership and its future. Any external intervention on this topic is incorrect and unacceptable.”
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, another Netanyahu rival,posted that Israelis “strongly oppose external political intervention in Israel’s internal affairs… With the threat of terrorism on its way to the West, it would be best if the international community would assist Israel in its just war, thereby also protecting their countries.”
Israel is the second-most pro-America country in the world, and Israelis like President Joe Biden — though that support is starting to slip — but Israelis have long reacted poorly to a sense that they are being treated like Washington’s client state and being told what to do. During a war for Israel’s safety and security, that sensitivity cuts even deeper.
A majority of Israelis oppose holding an election before the war ends, though a majority also support earlier-than-scheduled elections (the next election isn’t slated until 2026) after the war.
In addition, the areas in which Biden and Schumer chose to criticize Netanyahu are the ones in which the prime minister has relatively broad support, such as military maneuvers in Rafah and opposition to a Palestinian state, at least in the near future.
Still, Netanyahu’s most outspoken opponents in the Knesset, such as Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, emphasized the prime minister’s responsibility for “los[ing] Israel’s greatest supporters in the U.S.”
“What’s worse,” Lapid posited, “he’s doing it on purpose. Netanyahu is causing great damage to the national effort to win the war and protect Israel’s security.”
The problem for Democrats who, like Schumer, want Netanyahu out of office, is that criticism from a center-left opponent like Lapid doesn’t do much to disrupt Netanyahu’s shaky coalition at home. For that to happen, such criticism needs to have broader purchase across Israel’s political spectrum.
And as JI Capitol Hill reporter Marc Rod details below, Schumer’s approach ended up backfiring on him at home — with pro-Israel Democrats and mainstream Jewish groups alike disagreeing with the majority leader’s approach of weighing in on an ally’s democratic process.
schumer says
Schumer calls Netanyahu an obstacle to peace, calls for new Israeli elections
Senate Majority Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Thursday described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a major obstacle to long-term Israeli-Palestinian peace, and said that Israel should hold new elections once the war in Gaza begins to wind down. Without a change in course from Israel, Schumer said, the U.S. might have to use “leverage” to compel a change, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Election time: “The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7,” Schumer said. “The world has changed — radically — since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.” He said Israel should hold a new election “once the war starts to wind down,” emphasizing that the U.S. must “let the chips fall where they may” but warning that leaving the current coalition in power could force the U.S. to pursue coercive measures against Israel.
Warning: “If Prime Minister Netanyahu’s current coalition remains in power after the war begins to wind down, and continues to pursue dangerous and inflammatory policies that test existing U.S. standards for assistance, then the United States will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change the present course,” Schumer said.
No conditions: A source familiar with Schumer’s thinking insisted that his references to “leverage” were not an endorsement of calls to condition U.S. aid to Israel. The source noted that no specific references to conditioning aid appear in the otherwise detailed and explicit speech, and said that “those suggesting so are taking thoughtful and specific ideas out of context for self gain.”
Punching left: At the same time, the Senate majority leader dismissed arguments made by some of Israel’s strongest critics in the U.S. and internationally, including calls for a binational one-state solution, unconditional right of return for all Palestinians and an immediate permanent cease-fire. “It bothers me deeply that most media outlets covering this war, and many protesters opposing it, have placed the blame for civilian casualties entirely on Israel,” Schumer continued. “All too often, in the media and at protests, it is never noted that Hamas has gone to great lengths to make themselves inseparable from the civilian population of Gaza by using Palestinians as human shields.”
Booking it: The New York Times reports that Schumer has spoken to publishers in recent months about authoring a book on antisemitism.
schumer speech reax
Schumer’s call for Netanyahu’s ouster meets chilly reception in pro-Israel community
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) speech on Thursday calling for new Israeli elections and the ouster of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met with a chilly reception in the centrist and moderate Democratic pro-Israel community, even as some praised portions of the speech but distanced themselves from Schumer’s comments on Israel’s leadership, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
From AIPAC: “Israel is an independent democracy that decides for itself when elections are held and chooses its own leaders. America must continue to stand with our ally Israel and ensure it has the time and resources it needs to win this war,” AIPAC said in a statement. “Hamas bears sole responsibility for this conflict. The hope for a brighter future for the Middle East begins with Israel’s decisive defeat of Hamas.”
AJC reacts: The American Jewish Committee likewise said it does not “believe it is appropriate for U.S. officials to try to dictate the electoral future of any ally.” But AJC praised Schumer for “clearly putting Israel’s security and the plight of the hostages front and center, underscoring the need for new Palestinian leadership, and emphasizing Hamas’s horrific brutality and disregard for the wellbeing of the Palestinian people.”
Inside Congress: Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also offered praise for Schumer’s overall remarks, particularly his comments emphasizing the need for new Palestinian leadership, but stopped short of directly endorsing new elections. “Senator Schumer laid out a comprehensive plan. I give him a lot of credit for spelling out the historic issues and Israel’s needs,” Cardin told JI. “Oct. 7 changed the political landscape in Israel, no question about it. So what democracies do is they elect their leaders. I think what Senator Schumer’s saying [is] it’s now time for the Israelis to speak as to who will represent them as they move forward in peace.” Pressed on whether that means he wants to see new elections, Cardin told reporters, “that’s up to the Israelis to determine how they handle this, I’m not going to tell them how to go about it.”
Read the full story here.
ire of the irish
Gaza at top of the agenda for Irish PM’s White House visit
As the White House readies for St. Patrick’s Day, breaking out the shamrocks and preparing a speech in which President Joe Biden will express pride in his Irish heritage, there’s another item on the agenda that one may not normally associate with a celebration of the Emerald Isle: the war in Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has said he plans to call for an immediate cease-fire in his scheduled meeting with Biden on Friday.
Dublin’s dings: Ireland has long been one of the European countries most critical of Israel, and has been among the most antagonistic Western countries to the Jewish state following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist massacre. Ireland joined an International Court of Justice case examining the legality of Israel’s practices in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem.. When countries withdrew funding from the U.N. Relief and Works Agency due to some of its workers’ participation in the Oct. 7 attack, Ireland announced an additional contribution. Ireland and Spain have asked the European Commission to assess whether Israel is committing human rights violations that would invalidate its trade deal with the EU – Israel’s largest trading partner, accounting for 28.8% of trade.
Boston bluster: In Boston, his first stop in the U.S., Varadkar vowed earlier this week to tell Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, with whom he is scheduled to have breakfast on Saturday, and congressional leaders “how Irish people feel, and that is that we want to see a cease-fire immediately, for the killing to stop, the hostages to be released without condition, food and medicine to get into Gaza and we also want to see a new peace process.” Varadkar praised Biden as “a real supporter of Ireland,” as well as “somebody who wants to see the violence [in Gaza] stop,” and “is working towards a cease-fire.”
What the White House says: A Biden administration official told JI that “the Middle East and our efforts to substantially increase the amount of humanitarian aid flowing into Gaza is one of a range of issues they’re expected to discuss. I would expect them to spend a good deal of time on other topics as well including Ukraine and Northern Ireland.”
cair concern
Confusion over CAIR’s role in planned Biden meeting with Muslim leaders in Chicago
The White House was snubbed this week by the Muslim community in Chicago after Biden administration officials sought a meeting with Muslim, Arab and Palestinian American leaders. At least, that’s what several Muslim advocacy groups said on Thursday. But it turns out that several of the groups that claimed to have turned down the meeting never received an invite in the first place, a source familiar with the planned event told Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch.
Background: More than two dozen Chicago-area groups signed onto a letter stating that the “Palestinian American leadership of Chicagoland has unanimously decided (along with key Muslim and Arab leadership) against attending planned meetings with White House officials in Chicago this week.” The letter was organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy group that has faced criticism over praise from several of its leaders for Hamas — and a group that the White House pledged in December not to meet with, due to its executive director’s comments lauding the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.
White House clarification: No one from CAIR was actually invited to the meeting, according to Andrew Bates, the White House deputy press secretary. The White House no longer invites CAIR to any events, Bates told JI. The White House declined to share a list of organizations or representatives who had been invited to the meeting. Among the groups listed on the letter was American Muslims for Palestine, an anti-Zionist advocacy group with close ties to Students for Justice in Palestine — but the source familiar with the event planning said AMP also was not invited.
on the hill
Republicans dig in against UNRWA funding as lawmakers scramble to finalize 2024 government funding
As they scramble to finalize government spending for the remainder of the year, Republicans and Democrats are butting heads over whether to allocate funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which Republicans say they unequivocally oppose, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Republican position: “We’re not going to fund UNRWA,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s State and Foreign Operations subcommittee, told Jewish Insider on Thursday. “UNRWA is dead to us.”
Democratic side: Meanwhile, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, told JI recently that she wants to see UNRWA funding in the 2024 bill. “Let’s correct what’s wrong,” DeLauro said. “But I think that we can have the appropriations process move forward and continue with funding for UNRWA but with guardrails and reform around their process.” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), the chair of the State and Foreign Operations subcommittee in the Senate, told Politico on Thursday that the UNRWA funding debate is the key stumbling block to completing the 2024 bill.
NSGP funding: Another obstacle to finalizing 2024 funding is funding levels for the Department of Homeland Security. A source told Jewish Insider on Wednesday that wide-ranging cuts were expected across the department, including for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. But Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said that he’s concerned that the bill might not be finalized before the 2024 funding deadline, which could necessitate a full-year continuing resolution, holding funding levels steady for 2024 and staving off NSGP cuts.
Supplemental update: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) confirmed yesterday that he would put aid for Ukraine and Israel on the House floor for a vote. The details of what that would entail remain unclear, as Johnson suggested that the Israel and Ukraine portions could ultimately be presented separately. But he predicted that the funding will have to be approved under a procedure requiring two-thirds support.
Q&A
New book highlights America’s ‘Family Unfriendly’ culture — in contrast with Israel
While Tim Carney was working on his new book, Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be, he joined a Catholic pilgrimage to Israel and found himself in the country with the highest fertility rate of the world’s wealthiest nations. Carney, an American Enterprise Institute fellow and Washington Examiner columnist — but perhaps most importantly to his latest project, a father of six — extended his visit to Israel, seeking to find out Israel’s secret, and how it can be replicated. He spoke with Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov this month about his new book and his findings.
On the ground: “I grew up in New York, and the only people who compete with New Yorkers in willingness to offer their opinions are the people of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem,” Carney told JI. “I interviewed people who identified as totally secular but many had three kids. One guy told me, ‘God has nothing to do with our family planning.’ One Orthodox guy in Jerusalem said, ‘No, it’s just about religion,’ and we had this back and forth and he said, ‘OK, it starts with religion.’ That helped me see it. The broader image I came up with is a garden where the central tree is religion. God’s first commandment is “be fruitful and multiply.” But there are other trees. One person talked about the tribe, another about the preservation of the Jewish people throughout history and from geopolitical threats. These three trees create a garden and a family ecosystem, where, even if you don’t eat from all three of these trees, you still live in a family-friendly environment.”
Culture over policy: “I used to live in Silver Spring, Md., right next door to Kemp Mill [where there’s a large Orthodox Jewish community],” Carney explained. “One year, as part of my reporting, I went to the Purim festival at one of the big synagogues there. This one man said to me, in trying to explain how pro-family he thought Israel was, that the bus drivers in Israel have a real affection for little kids. It’s a beautiful image that everybody out there is looking out for your kids and trying to help you. I’m a fellow at AEI, where we’re doing public policy research. A lot of my friends try to make economic policy about what is going on. I think sometimes culture, which is less measurable, really needs to be considered. Israel really drives home that culture is the most important thing.”
Matters of trust: “The U.S. is steadily becoming a lower and lower trust society, and that has massive negative consequences,” he said. “A great sign of a healthy society is if kids’ bikes are scattered on the front lawns. I saw that even in the Old City of Jerusalem; there’d be a little courtyard with little kids’ bikes not locked up. High trust vs. low trust society is something that has its own momentum. I think we are slipping in the opposite direction…It would be incredibly complicated to tease out the causes of it. Being a higher-trust society makes it much easier to raise children.”
Worthy Reads
BHL on the War: In Tablet, Bernard-Henri Lévy makes the argument for Israel to continue its war against Hamas, despite outside pressure for a cease-fire. “Persist, as the Monsieur Homaises from Flaubert’s Madame Bovary of the white-hot streets of the world do, chanting ‘Cease-fire now! Cease-fire now!’ a solution that would have the obvious effect of handing victory to Hamas; to prolong the hold of a Muslim Brotherhood death cult on a population that serves as its guinea pig in a horrific experiment; to see the aura of the terror cult and its backers grow, and grow again, beyond Gaza, with all the cataclysmic consequences that one can imagine, both throughout the Middle East and in Europe. Or to expect the international community, and even Hamas’ sponsoring countries, to demand of the aggressor two very simple things that would immediately end this atrocious war and the suffering it causes: Liberate the Israeli hostages who are still alive; and lay down their arms, recognizing, in one way or another, defeat. Who has the courage to demand this? Who cares enough about the fate of Israelis and Gazans alike to force the aggressor to stop its monstrous blackmail, instead of telling the victims to submit?” [Tablet]
Under Siege on the Quad: The New York Times’ David French reflects on the spike in antisemitism on college campuses in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attacks. “I spent virtually my entire legal career defending free speech on campus, including the free speech of Muslim students and staff members. I’ve also walked through metal detectors at a tense and volatile Columbia University to defend the academic freedom of Jewish students challenging antisemitic statements made by university professors. And during those decades of litigation and my subsequent years in journalism, I have never seen such comprehensive abuse directed against a vulnerable campus minority group as I’ve seen directed at Jewish students and faculty since Hamas’s terror attack on Oct. 7. … There is no excuse for hypocrisy. There is no excuse for harassment. It seems clear that M.I.T., Harvard and other campuses have failed to uphold their moral and legal responsibilities. Now it falls upon the engine of American justice to impose its consequences and to prove — to this generation and the ones that follow — that this truly is a government ‘which to bigotry gives no sanction, to persecution no assistance.’” [NYTimes]
View from Jerusalem: In The Wall Street Journal, Ofir Falk, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, explains Israel’s looming incursion into Rafah, the last remaining Hamas stronghold. “Asking Israel to stop the war now is akin to telling the Allies to stop halfway to Berlin in World War II. If Hamas isn’t eradicated, genocidal terrorists will continue to emerge. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told new Israel Defense Forces cadets last week, ‘when we defeat the murderers of October 7, we are preventing the next 9/11.’ Global leaders should take note. High-intensity combat will wind down after Rafah, humanitarian aid will no longer be hijacked by Hamas, and safety for civilians can be realized. Total victory is within reach. Israel will finish the job. Anything less will endanger the rest of the civilized world.” [WSJ]
Around the Web
UNSC Draft: The U.S. is circulating a final draft of a U.N. Security Council resolution backing “an immediate and sustained cease-fire” as part of a broader deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
Fraught Friday: Hamas called for confrontations against Israel at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the first Friday prayers of Ramadan.
‘Inflection Point’: A transcript of special counsel Robert Hur’s conversations with President Joe Biden the weekend of Oct. 7 show the president’s initial reaction to the unfolding Hamas terror attacks; Biden suggested that the world was at one of “these major inflection points where what’s happening at that moment — and the two, four years around either side of it — and the outcome of those discussions determine what the next six, seven decades look like,” adding, “the Israeli thing has changed it all.”
Israel’s Assurance: Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signed off on a letter to the Biden administration assuring that Israel will use U.S.-made weapons in accordance with international law and will allow aid into the Gaza Strip; the letter is a response to a national security memo issued last month requiring recipients of U.S. weapons to provide “credible and reliable written assurances” about their use.
Under the Radar: The campaign of Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) quietly removed an endorsement from Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) from its website, weeks after Lee came under fire for planning to speak at a Council for American-Islamic Relations banquet alongside speakers who have espoused antisemitic and homophobic beliefs.
Pennsylvania Politics: The centrist Moderate PAC is making a $270,000 ad buy in Pittsburgh-area markets in which it accuses Lee of having an “extreme socialist agenda.”
Sagging Support: Democratic senators are privately cautioning the White House that there is not likely to be enough support to confirm a judicial nominee who, if confirmed, would be the first Muslim-American on any federal appeals court.
TikTok Buyers: Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said he and a group of investors were interested in purchasing TikTok, calling the social media platform “a great business.”
One Year On: The New York Times’ Sarah Wildman reflects on the anniversary of the death of her teenage daughter from brain cancer.
Those Who Serve:The Wall Street Journal spotlights the army service of members of Israel’s Aramean Christian community.
Up in the Air: Delta will resume its direct flights between New York’s JFK airport and Tel Aviv in early June.
Bibi and Biden: In The New York Times, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Aaron David Miller examines President Joe Biden’s recent handling of the Israel-Hamas war as the president takes into consideration his own feelings about Israel and its leadership.
Different Strokes: In The Wall Street Journal, Richard Haass provides a critical assessment of what says are “counterproductive” decisions Israel has taken in fighting its war against Hamas.
Doha Proposal: The emir of Qatar reportedly floated to Secretary of State Tony Blinken the possibility of expelling Hamas leadership from Doha in the days following the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks.
Talking to Tehran: The U.S. held secret, indirect talks with Iran earlier this year aimed at pressuring the Houthis to end their attacks on vessels transiting through the Red Sea.
Remembering: Attorney Ira Millstein, who was instrumental in Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court confirmation, died at 97.
Song of the Day
Shlomi Shabat’s song “A Letter from Yossi,” written from the perspective of a soldier writing home to his wife.
Birthdays
Retired MLB infielder, he now owns Loma Brewing, a brew pub in Los Gatos, Calif., he was Team Israel’s batting coach in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Kevin Youkilis turns 45…
FRIDAY: Theoretical chemist and winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry, Martin Karplus turns 94… Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony Award-winning actor, Judd Hirsch turns 89… UCLA professor, biochemist and biophysicist, David S. Eisenberg turns 85… First-ever NYC Public Advocate starting in 1994, he is an author of 23 books, Mark J. Green turns 79… British businessman, former chairman of retail conglomerate Arcadia Group, Sir Philip Nigel Ross Green turns 72… Managing member at Buena Vista Fund Management in San Francisco, Robert Mendel Rosner… Animator and director of numerous episodes of “The Simpsons,” David Silverman turns 67… Real estate agent at Signature Realty Associates in the Tampa and Florida Gulf Coast market, Ze’ev (Wolf) Bar-El… Real estate investor, Steve Witkoff turns 67… Los Angeles-based writer, director and producer, Andrea Blaugrund Nevins turns 62… Freelance writer and consultant, Bathsheva Gladstone… AVP of JFNA’s LiveSecure program, Debra Barton Grant… Member of the Knesset for the Likud party, currently serving as speaker of the Knesset, Amir Ohana turns 48… Global business editor for Defense One, Marcus Weisgerber… Psychotherapist based in Raleigh, N.C., Mindy Beth Reinstein Brodsky… Born in Jerusalem, she is a member of the New York State Assembly for the northeast portions of Queens, Nily Rozic turns 38… Rapper, comedian and actor, better known by his stage name Lil Dicky, David Andrew Burd turns 36… Board chair at the African Middle Eastern Leadership (AMEL) Project and executive director of the 30 Birds Foundation, Justin Hefter… Co-founder of Punchbowl News, Rachel Schindler… and Rachel’s twin brother, college admissions consultant and SAT/ACT tutor, Max J. Schindler… Zach Shartiag… Professional wrestler, Maxwell Jacob Friedman turns 28…
SATURDAY: Former CEO and chairman of Citigroup, Sanford I. “Sandy” Weill turns 91… Dean emeritus and founder of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center and its Museum of Tolerance, Rabbi Marvin Hier turns 85… NYC tax attorney and litigator, he served as a tax assistant to the solicitor general of the U.S., Stuart A. Smith turns 83… Actress and film director, she was married to Leonard Nimoy from 1989 until his death in 2015, Susan Linda Bay Nimoy turns 81… Computer scientist and author of multiple textbooks, he is a professor emeritus at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Andrew S. Tanenbaum turns 80… Israeli singer, the original singer of “Jerusalem of Gold,” Shulamit “Shuli” Natan turns 77… Film, stage and television actor and singer, Victor Garber turns 75… Customer service associate at Jewish Free Loan Association of Los Angeles, Judy Karta… Mathematician, technology innovator (with 260 patents) and founder of four technology companies, he is the creator of the first camera phone, Philippe Kahn turns 72… Peabody Award and Emmy Award-winning NPR journalist since 1977, now a host of NPR’s “Weekend Edition Saturday,” Scott Simon turns 72… Retired VP of external affairs and government relations at the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, Amy Reich Kaplan… Film producer, production designer and adjunct faculty member at Chicago’s Columbia College, Gail Sonnenfeld… Adjunct professor at both George Washington University Law School and Stanford In Washington, Andrew D. Eskin… U.S. deputy secretary of transportation, Polly Ellen Trottenberg turns 60… VP for talent, booking at Disney / ABC Television Group, Eric Avram… President of the Ruderman Family Foundation, in 2005 he enlisted in the IDF, Jay Ruderman turns 58… Actor and comedian, best known for playing the role of writer Frank Rossitano on the NBC sitcom “30 Rock,” Judah Friedlander turns 55… Senior producer of “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” at MSNBC, Amy Shuster… Head of the financial services practice at the BGR Group, Andy Lewin… Former speechwriter for President Joe Biden at The White House, now a partner at Bully Pulpit Interactive, Jeff Nussbaum turns 49… Co-founder of Chochmat Nashim, Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll… Former president and managing director at SKDKnickerbocker Digital, Jason Rosenbaum… Winemaker at Covenant Wines and Hajdu Wines, Jonathan Hajdu… Retired soccer player in the Israeli Premier League who is now the first team manager of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Yoav Ziv turns 43… Detroit-based founder and managing partner of Ludlow Ventures, Jonathon Triest… Public policy director at Meta / Facebook’s Israel office, Jordana Cutler… Managing director at Finsbury Glover Hering (now, FGS Global), Adam Blickstein… Director of global corporate partnerships at Global Citizen, Alexandra Stabler… Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter at The New York Times, Brian M. Rosenthal turns 35… Director in the New York office of the Jewish National Fund, Sarah Azizi… First baseman for MLB’s Pittsburgh Pirates, Ryan John “Rowdy” Tellez turns 29… Former senior legislative assistant at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, now an associate in the Philadelphia office of Morgan Lewis, Nathan Bennett… Jackie Stern… Jeremy Levin…
SUNDAY: Washington columnist for The Dallas Morning News, Carl Leubsdorf turns 86… Retail and real estate executive, CEO of Wilherst Developers and trustee of publicly traded Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust, Mark K. Rosenfeld… Oral and maxillofacial surgeon in Fort Wayne, Ind., Michael Iczkovitz… Susan Schwartz Sklarin… USDOJ official for 20 years, he has also served as a defense attorney, author of a NYT bestseller about his time working on the Mueller Investigation, Andrew Weissmann turns 66… Founder, president and CEO of Laurel Strategies, Alan H. H. Fleischmann turns 59… Director of legislative affairs at B’nai B’rith International since 2003, Eric A. Fusfield… Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, she served on the board of the San Francisco JCRC, Myrna Elizabeth Melgar turns 56… Lead field/floor reporter for CBS Sports football and basketball broadcasts, Tracy Wolfson turns 49… CEO and president at Las Vegas-based Gold Coast Promotions, Richard Metzler… Hasidic singer, entertainer and composer, Lipa Schmeltzer turns 46… Television writer and producer, Andrew Goldberg turns 46… Actor, music producer and stand-up comedian, best known as Gustavo Rocque on the Nickelodeon television series “Big Time Rush,” Stephen Kramer Glickman turns 46… Musician and digital strategy executive, Rick Sorkin turns 45… Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit since 2019, Judge Robert Joshua Luck turns 45… Digital reporter and producer for ABC News including “World News Tonight With David Muir,” Emily Claire Friedman Cohen… Associate professor at GW University in the School of Media and Public Affairs, Ethan Porter turns 39… Senior grants officer at the Open Society Foundations, Jackie Fishman… Senior director and general manager at Uber Eats, Annaliese Rosenthal… Los Angeles-based tech journalist and founder of the TechSesh blog, Jessica Elizabeth Naziri… Account executive at Winjit, Zachary Silver… Director of e-commerce strategy at TAGeX Brands, Zach Sherman…
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