Daily Kickoff
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we cover yesterday’s Capitol Hill hearing on antisemitism at Columbia University, and do a deep dive into Jordan’s participation in efforts to protect Israel from an Iranian attack. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Zohar Palti, Yarden Bibas and Van Jones.
That antisemitism has been increasing in America is not news to American Jews. Data released by the Anti-Defamation League this week shows that antisemitic incidents reached record highs in 2023.
But on Wednesday, FBI Director Chris Wray offered a shocking figure to demonstrate the severity of the challenge that Jews face, particularly in the heated post-Oct. 7 environment, Jewish Insider’s senior national correspondent Gabby Deutch reports.
Between Oct. 7 and Jan. 30, the FBI opened three times more anti-Jewish hate crime investigations than in the four months before the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, according to Wray.
“Of course that’s on top of what was already an increase from the previous year,” Wray said in a Wednesday webinar organized by Secure Community Network, a security organization that works with Jewish institutions in the U.S. “As I look back over my career in law enforcement, I’m hard-pressed to think of a time where so many different threats to our public safety and national security were so elevated all at the same time.”
The FBI has observed a “marked increase” in hoaxes, Wray said — both active-shooter hoaxes and fake bomb threats. “I don’t say that in any way to downplay the gravity of those crimes, because when hoaxes target synagogues, Jewish community centers and other affiliated facilities across the U.S., they not only disrupt whatever activities are ongoing. They also intimidate people and terrorize entire communities,” Wray explained.
“Please be assured that we are relentlessly pursuing those individuals who conduct those kinds of threats — hoax threats — as well, in addition to the threats posed by homegrown violent extremists and other lone actors, motivated by hate we’ve seen since Oct. 7,” Wray told attendees on the pre-Passover call.
A majority of Americans think that the release of the remaining 133 Israeli hostages should be the top priority in any cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, according to a new survey released this morning by the Jewish Federations of North America. Just 28% of the poll’s respondents support an unconditional cease-fire that would leave Hamas intact. Among Jewish respondents, 80% believe the hostages’ releases should be prioritized, and only 11% support an unconditional cease-fire.
in the hot seat
Columbia president pressed at hearing about profs who support Hamas

Columbia University President Nemat Shafik largely escaped the fireworks at a Wednesday congressional hearing that brought down two of her Ivy League colleagues last year, but nonetheless faced a grilling over the school’s handling of antisemitism, particularly regarding professors who have made pro-Hamas comments, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Status update: Questioning from lawmakers on the House Education and Workforce Committee highlighted Joseph Massad and Mohamed Abdou, who expressed support for Hamas and other terrorist groups, and Katherine Franke, who said that IDF veterans are too dangerous to remain on Columbia’s campus. Shafik said that she was “appalled” by Massad’s comments and condemned them, adding Massad had been “spoken to,” an answer Republican lawmakers found inadequate. Shafik said Massad remains under investigation.
Flip-flop: Massad, lawmakers noted, is also the chair of a review committee in Columbia’s school of arts and sciences. Shafik claimed that Massad was no longer chair of the committee, but walked that claim back when Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said later in the hearing that he still appeared to be named as such on Columbia’s website. She said she’d clarify the record following the hearing. Pressed on whether she would commit to removing Massad as the committee chair, Shafik hesitated, but then said that she would.
Looking ahead: Asked whether Massad could be fired despite his tenure status, Shafik said there are “very complex issues around that.” She suggested the outcome of the school’s investigation could prompt his firing. But she said she would not have approved Massad’s tenure if he were applying today.
Read the full story here.Bonus: Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) wrote to the president of Harvard University to express “serious concerns about the antisemitic harassment and intimidation” of Harvard University student Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Torres constituent, by a Harvard employee.