Daily Kickoff
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the reaction on the Hill to yesterday’s call by President Joe Biden for an “immediate” cease-fire, and look at how universities are preparing — or not preparing — for potential graduation disruptions by anti-Israel protesters. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt, Jonathan Levin and Nir Barkat.
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 and eJewishPhilanthropy stories, including: The grassroots efforts to tackle anti-Israel activity as it spreads to communities; How Gaza hospitals have become the front line in Israel’s war against Hamas; Despite war’s challenges, Abraham Accords Peace Institute CEO optimistic about the region’s future.Print the latest edition here.
Yesterday’s call between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — days before Israel marks six months since the Oct. 7 terror attacks and start of the Israel-Hamas war — capped off a week of tensions and mounting fallout over an Israeli strike on an aid convoy that killed seven humanitarian workers, marking a pivotal moment in increasingly strained relations between Washington and Jerusalem.
The IDF earlier todayreleased the conclusion of its investigation into the strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy, which found that “the forces identified a gunman on one of the aid trucks, following which they identified an additional gunman. After the vehicles left the warehouse where the aid had been unloaded, one of the commanders mistakenly assumed that the gunmen were located inside the accompanying vehicles and that these were Hamas terrorists. The forces did not identify the vehicles in question as being associated with WCK.”
“Following a misidentification by the forces, the forces targeted the three WCK vehicles based on the misclassification of the event and misidentification of the vehicles as having Hamas operatives inside them, with the resulting strike leading to the deaths of seven innocent humanitarian aid workers,” the statement continues. “The strikes on the three vehicles were carried out in serious violation of the commands and IDF Standard Operating Procedures.”
The IDF said the brigade fire support commander and the brigade chief of staff will be dismissed from their positions. Additionally, the brigade commander and the 162nd Division commander will be formally reprimanded, as well as the commander of the Southern Command. The IDF reiterated its “deep sorrow” for the incident.
But WCK called for “an independent commission” to conduct its own investigation, saying the “IDF cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza.”
In their call on Thursday, Biden warned Netanyahu that the U.S. is considering changing its policy toward Israel if the country does not take concrete steps toward reducing civilian casualties and addressing the looming famine in Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reported yesterday.
“If we don’t see changes from their side, there will have to be changes from our side,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters after the Biden-Netanyahu call. Secretary of State Tony Blinken used the same language at a press conference in Brussels, demonstrating the unified front from the administration on this shift in rhetoric.
On the call, Biden “made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” according to a White House readout of the call. Biden told Netanyahu that U.S. policy “will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.” He also called for an “immediate cease-fire,” and urged Netanyahu to “conclude a deal without delay” to bring the hostages home. The Prime Minister’s Office did not issue a readout of the call.
The new language from across the Biden administration represents a shift in the White House’s posture toward Israel and the Netanyahu government as it mounts a war against Hamas in Gaza. Until now, the White House — while critical of the death toll in Gaza and the deteriorating humanitarian conditions — has said that changing U.S. policy toward Israel is off the table.
The call was met with immediate steps in Jerusalem, where Israel’s security cabinet voted shortly after the call to increase aid into Gaza to “prevent a humanitarian crisis,” a step it called “necessary to ensure the continued fighting and attainment of the war’s aims.” Israel will temporarily allow aid to enter through the Ashdod Port and the Erez Crossing in northern Gaza, and increase the amount of aid from Jordan entering Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing. “We welcome the steps announced by the Israeli government tonight at the president’s request following his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said. The steps “must now be fully and rapidly implemented.” Read the full story here.
How the Bibi-Biden tensions are playing on the Hill: Some pro-Israel Democrats are distancing themselves from the administration’s escalating rhetoric on Israel, JI’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report from Washington. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who has been unapologetic about his support for Israel since Oct. 7, wrote on X, “In this war against Hamas — no conditions for Israel,” in response to the readout.
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) described the Biden administration as “frustrated” with Netanyahu and his government, “and I think you saw that frustration come to a head today.” But he insisted that the administration “has been unflinching in supporting Israel’s right to defend itself,” and that “it would be folly” for Israel’s enemies to think that the U.S. would abandon it in its fight.” He characterized the administration’s recent moves as expressing “reservations about how Israel is approaching the final phase” of the war, but not a shift in U.S. support for Israel’s defense.
Schneider said he remains opposed to any conditions on U.S. aid to Israel, but also called it “a fair thing to say, in any relationship, there are expectations. We want to see certain steps taken and either until we see those steps or unless we see those steps, it’s going to affect what we do.”
But outside of Israel’s staunchest defenders on the Hill, the WCK strike is driving renewed calls for punitive measures toward Israel. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), a once leading pro-Israel voice in the party who has become increasingly critical of Israel’s operations in Gaza, said on Thursday that he believes the U.S. is “at the point” where conditions on additional aid would be necessary if Netanyahu orders a large-scale operation in Rafah without humanitarian aid and protections.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) called for an end to military aid to Israel. “Look, the bottom line is, we are looking at one of the worst humanitarian disasters that we have seen in a very, very long time,” Sanders told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “We’re literally at this moment looking at hundreds of thousands of children starving to death because Israel is not allowing the humanitarian trucks into Gaza, and especially into the areas where people are in most desperate condition. To my mind, Israel should not be getting another nickel in military aid until these policies are fundamentally changed. So, if — my view is no more military aid to Israel when children in Gaza are starving.” Read more about the conversation on the Hill here.
And a delegation of freshman GOP legislators in Israel this weekwho spoke to JI’s Lahav Harkov focused on supporting the Jewish state when asked about the IDF strike on the convoy. Three members of a delegation in Israel with the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation, Reps. Jen Kiggans (R-VA), Thomas Kean Jr. (R-NJ) and Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), weighed in on Israel’s response ahead of their meetings with Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.
Asked about the World Central Kitchen incident, Kean said that “the IDF has been clear it was unintentional and they apologized for that mistake very quickly and very clearly.” He added: “Now is a time to focus on what Israel and the IDF is doing, which is rooting out the evil that is the Hamas terrorist organization. We need to make sure that Israel has the time, weaponry and resources necessary to conduct the operations to destroy Hamas.” When asked about the deaths of the aid workers, Kiggans, a former helicopter pilot in the U.S. Navy, said that “war is ugly.”
“We should work at all costs to avoid war, and we do that by being strong,” Kiggans said. “The Biden administration needs to look at its foreign policy decisions that made the world less safe. The world is not where we want it to be and civilians were unfortunately killed. We need to work to prevent war and preserve peace.”
Among the other lawmakers joining the delegation were Reps. Mark Alford (R-MO), Aaron Bean (R-FL), Eric Burlison (R-MO), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), Russell Fry (R-SC), Kevin Kiley (R-CA), Nick Langworthy (R-NY), Celeste Maloy (R-UT), Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) and Rudy Yakym (R-IN). Read more here.
What’s next: CIA Director Bill Burns is heading to Cairo this weekend, where he’ll meet with Mossad head David Barnea and Egyptian and Qatari negotiators in an effort to reach a hostage deal.
Back in Washington, the Biden administration is reportedly moving forward with plans to require the labeling of products that come from the West Bank, amid mounting tensions between Washington and Jerusalem over settler violence in the territory.
demonstration dilemmas
University administrators on high alert for Gaza protests at upcoming graduations
At last month’s Honors Convocation at the University of Michigan, one of the first events of the school’s spring graduation festivities, President Santa Ono was shouted down from the stage by protestors holding signs that read “Free Palestine.” The event highlights the challenge universities face as they prepare for the prospect of anti-Israel protests at university graduations across the country this spring. The fact that university administrators have responded to protests that violate campus policies, like the one at Michigan, with inconsistent enforcement of university codes of conduct raises the question of how they will handle similarly disruptive actions at graduation events, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Public protest: Although no protests have been announced yet, some campus activists are already calling on pro-Palestine supporters to wear keffiyehs and bring Palestinian flags to graduation. But whether graduating students are willing to disrupt graduation ceremonies to make a political statement like they did at Michigan — and risk being kicked out of the event — remains to be seen.
Long tradition: Usually, students who want to make a point at graduation do so silently. Occasionally, they even stage a silent walkout, such as students at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., last year who protested Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who delivered the commencement address. The phenomenon is widespread enough that, in 2014, CNN published an op-ed about “the smarter way to protest college speakers,” after three universities reversed course and changed their commencement speakers to respond to student backlash.
Shutting down ceremonies: “The real concern,” said Mark Rotenberg, vice president for university initiatives and general counsel at Hillel International, “is that there will be disruptions so that a congressman, for example, can’t give his speech, or an honorary degree recipient cannot receive their degree, because they are tenured at an Israeli institution of higher education, or that other Israelis in attendance will be badgered, harassed or even attacked.”
Action unclear: When reached for comment, several prominent universities directed JI to their schools’ codes of conduct. All of them agreed that disruptive protests are not permitted at graduation, although they declined to share specifics about their plans for any potential disruptions, citing security concerns. None of them shared how violations would be handled.
cracks resurfacing
As ethos of unity fades, prewar political divisions roil Israel again
Signs reading “we will win together” are still up all over Israel – from all government communications, to banners hanging off of balconies, to billboards advertising everything from falafel to realtors. But that aspirational togetherness that kept Israeli society united in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks has been on the decline in recent weeks. Israeli politics are back and approaching prewar contentiousness, with the return of frequent protests blocking major arteries in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, at times by Haredim opposing conscription into the IDF, other times by protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sometimes both at the same time, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Worn out: Jewish People Policy Institute senior fellow Shmuel Rosner said that the end of the “we will win together” ethos and even the increasingly partisan tenor of the discourse on the hostages is “a natural process. The main thing that changed is the passage of time,” Rosner said. “We know that Israeli society was very polarized on Oct. 6. It united on Oct. 7 because of the events, and around the army and soldiers who went to war, and that held for a certain amount of time, and then started to get worn out.”
Partisan issue: Even the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are becoming an increasingly partisan issue. A core group of protesters who have been taking to the streets to call for Netanyahu’s ouster every Saturday night since 2020 resumed their activities in November. The regular protests to free the hostages generally were separate, centering on the plaza in front of the Tel Aviv Art Museum, but this week, a segment of the Hostages Families Forum announced they were leaving “Hostages Square” and teaming up with the demonstrations against Netanyahu.
Splits between hostages’ families: Divisions among the families about tactics had come to a head in the past. A small group of hostage families founded the Tikvah Forum, which opposes releasing terrorists from prison or ending the war in Gaza in exchange for their loved ones, and others joined with protesters attempting to block humanitarian aid trucks from entering Gaza. “It pains me that there is the Tikvah Forum and the Hostages Family Forum and that we are divided between left and right,” said Yaron Or, father of hostage Avinatan Or, who has also called not to use his photo in political protests and told Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster, on Thursday that “most families think the prime minister is not doing enough, but that the call to resign and for an election is delusional.”
hoosier heartburn
RJC makes $1 million ad buy in Indiana to oppose former Rep. John Hostettler
The Republican Jewish Coalition announced a $1 million ad buy in Indiana’s 8th Congressional District to oppose former Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN), in a sign of the pro-Israel community’s growing concern about the previously under-the-radar race, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Joining the field: The day of the RJC’s announcement, AIPAC’s United Democracy Project super PAC began a $500,000 ad campaign in the district, its first in a competitive Republican primary. RJC has not run television ads in a competitive primary in years, since it helped oust Rep. Steve King (R-IA), who openly expressed white supremacist sympathies, suggesting a significant degree of concern about Hostettler’s candidacy.
Giving support: RJC’s campaign will also support Republican state Sen. Mark Messmer, whom RJC spokesperson Sam Markstein described as the strongest candidate in the wide field to beat Hostettler.
Greatly concerned: “We are deeply troubled by John Hostettler’s past record and RJC is committed to ensuring he does not get back to Congress,” RJC CEO Matt Brooks said in a statement. “Hostettler has consistently opposed vital aid to Israel, trafficked antisemitic conspiracy theories, and voted against a 2000 resolution which supported Israel and condemned Palestinian leadership over the violence of the second Intifada.”
Q&A
Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch and the possible ‘crisis’ facing Reform Judaism
For decades, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch has been an unequivocally pro-Israel voice within the Reform movement, serving as the executive director of its Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA) for more than a decade before moving to a pulpit position in 2004. After authoring several essays, both before and since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, about why the Reform movement is more inclined towards criticizing Israel than other branches of Judaism, Hirsch, senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for the past 20 years, issued something of a cri de coeur, a cry of the heart, in an article last month in the journal SAPIR. During a time that Hirsch, fresh off his latest solidarity visit to Israel, calls “a period [that will] be viewed 100 years from now as consequential in Jewish history,” he sat down with eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen on Thursday to discuss where the Reform movement is now, where it should be and where it is headed.
On non -or-anti-Zionists in the Reform movement: “I hear from colleagues that the numbers are high enough to cause concern and to enact measures in our seminaries to enhance the Zionist identity of future Reform leaders, such as intensifying education around the concept of Jewish peoplehood, Zionism and support of Israel from the earliest possible ages and a rejection of classical Reform Judaism that was anti-Zionist,” Hirsch said. “If we’re a Zionist institution we can’t be ordaining non- or anti Zionist rabbis — it doesn’t make sense. If in fact we are in crisis, and if in fact the younger you go the less committed American Jews are to Israel, and if our future Jewish professional leadership emerges from that environment, that bestows on the current Jewish leadership to do everything we can to identify why that’s happening and reverse that trend. While the anti-Zionists in the Reform community may make disproportionate noise, I do believe they are still a relative minority. So, it’s not too late. But it is late.”
On silver linings: “Yes, we have seen across the board, most notably in younger generations, an increased curiosity about Judaism and about their heritage,” Hirsch said. “We’ve seen increased willingness to interact with the community, attend synagogue and learn about Judaism. But there’s one caveat. I don’t know how deep that development is or how long-lasting it is. At the end of the day, our objective in American Judaism is not to increase awareness of Judaism because of antisemitism. We want to diminish, and hopefully one day eliminate, antisemitism. We don’t want increased Jew hatred to be the cause of coming into Jewish life in a more intense way. But that is one of the effects of this era of increased antisemitism.”
Read the full story here and sign up for eJewishPhilanthropy’s Your Daily Phil newsletter here.
Worthy Reads
No Man is an Island: The Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus reflects on the “existential loneliness” she witnessed on a recent trip to Israel. “Israelis, of all political persuasions and degrees of observance, feel besieged and misunderstood. Six months after a day on which more Jews were murdered than since the Holocaust, Israel finds itself nearing the status of international pariah. How could this have happened? Is this the predictable denouement of a struggle for survival that was inevitably going to involve heartbreaking numbers of civilian casualties and suffering, and the resulting criticism? Or is it the product of a war waged with such heedlessness toward humanitarian concerns that Israel has squandered whatever public sympathy was initially inclined in its direction? Is this the bitter fruit of years of Israeli mistreatment of Palestinians and mistaken policies in the disputed territories? Or does it reflect the ugly reality that much of the world has never accepted the existence of Israel as a Jewish state? A short visit — I came here on a trip organized by my synagogue — cannot answer these questions. But it does suggest a different, and more layered, perspective than from the comfort of the suburban Maryland kitchen table from which I ordinarily write.” [WashPost]
Learning from Lieberman: In The Wall Street Journal, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik considers what lessons can be learned from the late Sen. Joe Lieberman’s religious observance — specifically his keeping of Shabbat. “Lieberman’s devotion to his faith earned the admiration of members of other religious communities. The police escorts, often religious Christians, admired him and sometimes engaged the senator in discussions about the Bible. Another state senator, Con O’Leary, reported that his mother planned to vote Republican in the 1988 presidential race but would back the Democrat for U.S. Senate because ‘I like the fact that Joe Lieberman is a religious man and keeps his Sabbath.’ … His reflections allow us to understand why a man who came within 537 votes of the vice presidency retained his joy even after a tumultuous loss. Turning off his cellphone on Fridays, he reflected to me, was a reminder that the world could endure for 24 hours without him. It is, in other words, through political humility and faith in providence that we achieve spiritual well-being. That comment captured who Lieberman was, allowing us to understand why, even as he was later effectively exiled from the Democratic Party for his unwavering support of the Iraq war, his good cheer remained constant.” [WSJ]
Oct. 7 and the Shoah: In his Substack “Clarity,” former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren looks at how the memory of the Holocaust impacts conversations around the Oct. 7 terror attacks. “Call it Holocaust decoupling or Holocaust severance, but a global movement is now mounting to cut the ties between the Jewish State and the Final Solution and deny the former the ability to adduce the latter in its defense. Europeans, in particular, are welcoming this trend as an opportunity to at last escape the Holocaust’s burden, and even Germany is purportedly reexamining its initial support for Israel’s policies in Gaza. … As soon as this war is concluded, once Israel succeeds in defeating Hamas and begins the process of demilitarizing, deradicalizing, and reconstructing Gaza, we must embark on a quest to reclaim the Holocaust from those who seek to detach us from it and even use it against us. While parts of the world may now contest that ownership, we must nevertheless uphold and preserve it if for ourselves and generations of Israelis to come. We must think twice before squandering our legacy — selling our birthright — for potentially short-term benefits. Girded once more in our past, we can fight more effectively, more morally, for our future.” [Clarity]
After Erdogan: In Foreign Policy, Steven Cook and Sinan Ciddi unpack the results of the recent elections in Turkey that dealt a blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “It is a testament to the political fortitude of Turks and the continuing strength of Turkey’s democratic practices — without the country actually qualifying as a democracy — that people still came out in droves last weekend to register their disapproval of Erdogan and the AKP. At least for the moment, Turkish voters have tempered the idea that the current age is one of illiberalism in which non-democratic leaders can leverage seemingly democratic institutions to advance anti-democratic agendas and consolidate their power. Erdogan was at the leading edge of this phenomenon (even before Hungary’s Viktor Orban became the poster boy for electoral authoritarianism) but now confronts the most serious rebuke of his political career. For the first time in many years, without stretching credulity analysts can imagine what a post-AKP Turkey might look like.” [ForeignPolicy]
Around the Web
New Sanctions: The Treasury Department announced new sanctions against Oceanlink Maritime DMCC and its vessels, citing the shipping company’s role in moving commodities associated with Iran’s military.
Bracing for Retaliation: The Israeli Defense Forces scrambled GPS systems around Israel and canceled leave for combat units out of concern for a potential Iranian attack in a possible retaliation for a drone strike earlier this week in Syria that killed several Iranian generals.
No Candidate: No Labels will not put forward a third-party presidential ticket, citing a failure to find candidates with a realistic path to the White House; the group’s efforts were dealt a significant blow with the death last week of former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), No Labels’ founding chairman.
Urging Gaza Aid: Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Peter Welch (D-VT) urged the administration to surge medical relief to Gaza, blasting Israel for “restrictions on access to humanitarian aid and the harm caused by relentless bombing and shelling.”
Candidates Debate: Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) and Democratic primary challenger Bhavini Patel sparred in a debate that included a segment on the Israel-Hamas war ahead of the state’s primary later this month.
Insider Trading: A federal judge in New York sentenced Joe Lewis to three years of probation and a $5 million fine for his role in an insider-trading operation; the 87-year-old avoided a recommended prison sentence due to his age and poor health.
Movin’ On Up: Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt’s Altneu synagogue in New York closed on an Upper East Side townhouse for $34.5 million; the site will serve as the congregation’s permanent home.
Stanford Selection: Stanford named Jonathan Levin, the current dean of its graduate business school who attended Stanford as an undergraduate, as the university’s next president.
Art Row: A group of artists pulled their submissions to an upcoming art exhibition at San Francisco’s Contemporary Jewish Museum after museum officials refused to agree to a series of demands, including cutting ties with some of the institution’s funders over their views on Israel.
Survivors Speak: The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany launched a new international speakers bureau to connect Holocaust survivors with communities looking for in-person and virtual speakers.
North of the Border: The Canadian Jewish Newsreports on a meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a small group of Vancouver rabbis shortly after Ottawa’s passage of a controversial resolution ending arms sales to Israel.
Burger Buyback: Alonyal CEO Omri Padan, who operates Israel’s 225 McDonald’s fast food outlets, is selling the stores to the McDonald’s global chain.
Qatar Criticism: Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat described Qatar as “a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” suggesting that Doha is an untrustworthy interlocutor in the ongoing hostage negotiations.
Naval Drills: Iran’s volunteer Basij forces, led by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, conducted a series of naval war drills in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman “in support of the Palestinian Intifada.”
Terror Attacks: More than two dozen people were killed in terror attacks carried out by an Iranian militant separatist group in southeast Iran.
Media Beat: Axios’ Barak Ravid was awarded the White House Correspondents’ Association’s Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage for his reporting on the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks.
Transition: Ori Nir is retiring as vice president for public affairs from Americans for Peace Now.
Remembering: Sculptor Michael Singer died at 78.
Wine of the Week
JI wine columnist Yitz Applbaum reviews the Kamisa Sigma Cabernet 2020 and the Jerusalem Winery Windmill Project Petite Verdot:
It has been too long since my last wine column. And so, for the weeks leading up to the Seder, I will review two wines a week. One recommendation will be for the four obligatory ritual cups, and the other will be for wine to enjoy with dinner. Additionally, I will be reviewing wines from wineries that are new to me and hopefully to you.
For your first cup of wine at the Seder, I recommend the Kamisa Sigma Cabernet 2020. The Kamisa winery, located in Upper Galilee, is known for the art of wood. This wine has been aged in oak for 28 months, resulting in a full-bodied taste with hints of smoky barbecued buffalo chips and ripe blackberry astringency. This wine is perfect for the upcoming Passover meal, and it can also be aged for up to 10 years.
For your first dinner wine, try the Jerusalem Winery Windmill Project Petite Verdot. The wine has a mesmerizing, inky PV color and has been aged in French oak for 15 months. This mellows the strong PV bitterness and prepares your palate for the upcoming beef. The long, oaky finish will last long enough until you get to your second glass of wine.
Pic of the Day
Israeli President Isaac Herzog met yesterday with Republican freshman legislators who traveled to Israel this week with the American Israel Education Foundation. Read more here.
Birthdays
CEO of Hess Corporation, John Barnett Hess turns 70 today…
FRIDAY: Former vice-provost of the California Institute of Technology, David L. Goodstein turns 85… Research scientist and former CEO of the Ontario Genomics Institute, Mark J. Poznansky turns 78… Marketing consultant, Eugene Kadish… Professor emeritus in the Department of Jewish thought at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Daniel J. Lasker turns 75… Engineer known for his invention of the Segway, Dean Kamen turns 73… British novelist, author of over 50 books specializing in mystery and suspense, his Alex Rider series is estimated to have sold 21 million copies worldwide, Anthony Horowitz turns 69… Founder of merchant bank Alnitak Capital Partners, chairman of Audiocodes, and president of NORPAC New York, Stanley B. Stern turns 67… Russia editor for BBC News, Steven Barnett Rosenberg turns 56… Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention until last year, Rochelle P. Walensky turns 55… Israeli actress and model, Sendi Bar turns 48… Writer, producer and co-founder of Quantity Entertainment, Lee Eisenberg turns 47… Assistant managing editor for CNN Politics, Dan Berman… Senior director for United Nations and international organizations policy at Microsoft, Howard Wachtel… Singer-songwriter, Marissa Nadler turns 43… VP at D.C.-based Porter Group, Benjamin J. Rosenbaum… Senior political correspondent for Jewish Insider, Lahav Harkov… Israeli political activist focused on disability benefits, Alex Fridman turns 36… Program director at 2U educational technology company, Adam Maslia… Senior director at Bully Pulpit Interactive, Sarah Horvitz… British Labour party Member of Parliament, Charlotte Louise Nichols turns 33… Congressional analyst at GovTrack Insider and box office analyst at BoxOffice Media, Jesse Rifkin… VP at Goldman Sachs, Wilson Shirley… Executive and brand consultant at Creative Artists Agency, Camila Seta… Adam Ross Rubenstein… Harvey Levin…
SATURDAY: Educator often considered the founder of the modern small schools movement, she is a winner of a MacArthur “genius” fellowship in 1987, Deborah Meier turns 93… Holocaust survivor, she moved to Israel in 1978, visual artist, textile designer and art teacher, Helen Berman turns 88… Professor emeritus of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, Mark Mordecai Green turns 87… Head of MTV Documentary Films, she has won 32 individual Primetime Emmy Awards, Sheila Nevins turns 85… Academy Award-winning best director for “Rain Man,” produced and directed many films including “Diner, “Good Morning Vietnam,” “Bugsy” and “Wag the Dog,” Barry Levinson turns 82… Santa Monica-based poet, critic and teacher, Nancy Shiffrin turns 80… Founder and chairman of Cognex Corporation, Robert J. Shillman turns 78… Founder and CEO of Emmis Communications, he was the owner of the Seattle Mariners until 1992, Jeff Smulyan turns 77… Political activist, artist and author, known for her speeches at the Republican National Conventions in 1992 and 1996, Mary Fisher turns 76… Former director of the digital deception project at MapLight, she was chair of the Federal Election Commission during the Obama administration, Ann Ravel… Los Angeles-based playwright, performer and teacher of autobiographical storytelling, Stacie Chaiken turns 70… Movie director, producer, writer and editor, winner of two Academy Awards for best documentary feature, Rob Epstein turns 69… Scholar of piyyut (ancient and medieval Hebrew poetry), head of the Fleischer Institute for the Study of Hebrew Poetry, Shulamit Elizur turns 69… Philanthropist, Jeanie Schottenstein… Professor of constitutional law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, Michael J. Gerhardt turns 68… Senior political analyst for CNN and a senior editor at The Atlantic, Ronald J. Brownstein turns 66… Director, screenwriter and producer of television comedies, Steven Levitan turns 62… Deborah Granow… CEO of the Motion Picture Association, he was previously the U.S. ambassador to France, Charles Hammerman Rivkin turns 62… Reporter for The New York Times covering the USDOJ, Glenn Thrush turns 57… Screenwriter, producer, actor, director, best known for creating the HBO television series “Entourage,” Douglas Reed “Doug” Ellin turns 56… Serial entrepreneur, Richard Rosenblatt turns 55… Israel’s consul general in New York from 2007 to 2010, now CEO of Israeli private equity fund Amelia Investments, Asaf Shariv turns 52… Founder and chief investment officer of Hong Kong-based Oasis Management Company, he serves as vice chair of the Ohel Leah Synagogue in Hong Kong, Seth Hillel Fischer… Chief development officer for Friends of the European Leadership Network, Jay Haberman turns 50… Actor and filmmaker, he is best known for his role in 175 episodes of the television series “Scrubs,” Zachary Israel “Zach” Braff turns 49… Teacher of classical mandolin at Mannes College in NYC, Joseph Brent turns 48… Resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute since 2019, he is the founding editor of National Affairs, Yuval Levin turns 47… Co-founder and executive editor of Modern Loss and features editor for Chalkbeat, Gabrielle Birkner… Member of the Knesset for Likud since 2019, now serving as the minister of communications, Shlomo Karai turns 42… Owner-chef of Ramen Hood in Los Angeles, he was the winner of the second season of Bravo television’s “Top Chef,” Ilan Hall turns 42… Executive director of the Jack Miller Family Foundation, Jacob Millner… Head coach of the New York Institute of Technology Division II NCAA men’s basketball team, Evan Conti turns 31… Asher Liam Senor…SUNDAY: Professor emerita of philosophy at Vanderbilt University, Marilyn Ann Friedman turns 79… President of Yale University for 20 years, then CEO of Coursera, Richard Charles “Rick” Levin turns 77… Consulting research scholar at the Stanford Center on Longevity, Naomi Karp turns 74… Software engineer at FlightView, Jonathan Ruby… Professor emeritus at Pennsylvania State University, Simon J. Bronner turns 70… Los Angeles-based casting director, Jane Sobo… Director of project staffing at Tower Legal Solutions in Addison, Texas, Ilene Robin Breitbarth… Member of the House of Commons of Canada from the Winnipeg area, Martin B. Morantz turns 62… Screenwriter, actress and director, Andrea Berloff turns 50… The Congress and campaigns editor for USA Today, Darren Samuelsohn… Co-founder of Project Shema, Oren Jacobson… Author and travel expert now living in Thailand, Justin Ross Lee… Communications director for the national security sector at Leidos, Gregory Hellman… Reporter covering the White House and Washington for Politico, Daniel Lippman… Director of Camp Seneca Lake for the JCC of Greater Rochester, Marissa Wizig Klegman… Professional golfer who joined the PGA Tour in 2015 when he won Rookie of the Year, he has since won four tournaments, Daniel Berger turns 31… Managing partner of Reno-based Mazal Capital, David Farahi… Pitcher and first baseman for Team Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Ben Wanger turns 27…
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