Daily Kickoff: Elizabeth Warren withdraws from controversial conference
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s withdrawal from a conference over its organizers’ praise of Oct. 7, report on a new travel authorization program for foreign visitors to Israel and talk to experts about how Oct. 7 and the subsequent war in Gaza has enabled Iran to advance its nuclear program. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Mike Rogers, Rep. Rob Menendez and Michael Makovsky.
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: ‘Opposite of inclusive’: A look inside the increasingly hostile environment for Jewish therapists; L.A.’s Academy Museum (finally) acknowledges Jewish founders of ‘Hollywoodland’; How the ICC, ICJ rulings could have deeper, long-term implications for Israel. Print the latest edition here.
A newly released Pew Research Center poll of Israelis found widespread support for the country’s war against Hamas, with nearly three-quarters of respondents (73%) expressing satisfaction with the country’s military response or saying that it hasn’t gone far enough.
At the same time, support for President Joe Biden in Israel — which peaked in the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7, when the president visited in solidarity — has been on the decline, with a 54% majority of Israeli Jews (and 60% of Israelis overall) expressing disapproval over how he’s handled the war between Israel and Hamas.
Jewish Israelis broadly view the U.S. positively: 77% have a favorable view of the country, including 43% who say they have a very favorable opinion. But among Israeli Arabs, views of the U.S. are at an all-time low, dropping 15 points since 2023.
Israelis are generally optimistic about the direction of the war, even though Hamas hasn’t yet been militarily defeated. Over two-thirds of Israelis believe the war will either “definitely succeed” (40%) or “probably succeed” (27%). Among Israeli Jews, 76% express confidence over the outcome of the war.
And over half of Israelis (53%) said they’re optimistic about the future of Israel’s overall national security, with only 28% expressing pessimism.
There’s a general consensus among Israeli Jews that Israel will need to have some role in a postwar Gaza. A 50% majority said Israel should “govern the Gaza strip” after the war is over, and there was no consensus alternative among those who disagreed. Just 12% said they preferred the Palestinian Authority without Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), 6% said they preferred PA control with Abu Mazen, and 14% said “the people that live there should decide.” (Just 3% of Israeli Arabs wanted an Israeli presence in postwar Gaza, by contrast.)
There’s deep pessimism across the ideological spectrum that peace is possible with their Palestinian neighbors. Only 19% of Jewish Israelis said they thought peaceful coexistence with a Palestinian state is possible — down 13 points since 2023. Israeli Arabs were somewhat more hopeful, with 49% believing it’s possible.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s job approval rating in the poll, which was conducted between March and April, stood at a lowly 41%, with 58% disapproving.
But a new poll, conducted by Channel 12 in Israel, found that for the first time since the Oct. 7 attacks, Netanyahu led rival and war cabinet member Benny Gantz as respondents’ preferred choice for prime minister.
Gantz held an 18-point lead over Netanyahu last December among the same pollster; in the new snap survey, Netanyahu has emerged with a six-point edge.”The simple passage of time has been gradually working to Netanyahu’s advantage,” Times of Israel founding editor David Horovitz wrote, analyzing the new data.
On the campaign trail: The AIPAC-affiliated United Democracy Project is launching a digital advertisement today narrated by Elisha Wiesel, the son of famed Holocaust survivor and activist Elie Wiesel, blasting Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) as an “antisemite,” Jewish Insider‘s Marc Rod reports.
In the ad, which features footage from the Oct. 7 attacks, Wiesel says, “My father taught that antisemitism begins with lies and conspiracy theories and it ends with violence that consumes any society that tolerates it. So I ask you, will you stand up to Jamaal Bowman’s likes and conspiracy theories? Or will you sit by silently?”
Wiesel says in the ad that Bowman “repeated Hamas lies” denying the Oct. 7 atrocities, and criticizes him for co-sponsoring a resolution referring to the founding of Israel as the Nakba — all while voting against a resolution condemning the Hamas attack.
scoop
Elizabeth Warren withdraws from Palestinian conference over organizers’ Oct. 7 praise
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is backing out of appearing at a conference next week for an organization whose leaders have expressed support for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and have ties to U.S.-designated terrorist groups, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Lahav Harkov have learned. The Palestine Digital Activist Forum is a two-day online event that aims to “empower and enrich Palestinian digital activity,” with sessions this year that include “The Palestinian Telecommunications Sector: Between War, Destruction, Innovation and Artificial Intelligence” and “AI in Wartime: Gaza, Automated Warfare, Surveillance and the Battle of Narratives.”
Nixed speech:Warren’s two-minute videotaped speech, which her team tells JI has since been canceled, was titled “How do we protect the public and develop ethical artificial intelligence?” A spokesperson in Warren’s office said, “Senator Warren will not participate in the digital forum. Her office has received a large volume of claims about individuals associated with the event, and, although we do not assume any of the claims are true, we have not had capacity to sift through it all and have decided to focus our time and energy opposing [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s unfolding catastrophe in Gaza in other ways.”
Forum focus: The forum is hosted by 7amleh (pronounced “hamleh”), an organization that “advocates for Palestinians’ digital rights.” A large part of its advocacy efforts push back against Jews’ and Israelis’ efforts to fight antisemitism on social media. The organization has campaigned against Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) policies against incitement to violence, as well as the use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, calling them an attack on free speech.
open mike
Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers slams Slotkin for staying silent on Tlaib
Michigan’s Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers is taking Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and her fellow Michigan Democrats to task for refusing to condemn an anti-Israel conference — featuring speakers with links to terrorist groups — that Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) addressed last weekend. Rogers, who is facing Slotkin in the competitive race for retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s (D-MI) seat, told Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs that Michigan Democrats were failing their Arab constituents who reject antisemitism by avoiding conversations about the behavior of Tlaib and her far-left colleagues.
Rogers’ accusation: “What you’re doing is silencing those Arabs and those Muslims in that district who don’t believe [what Tlaib is saying],” Rogers said, noting that many of them “came to the United States” because they celebrate Western values. He accused Tlaib and others who preach the same message of bringing “the hatred that happens in some of these places around the world to their doorstep.” Rogers continued, “Elissa Slotkin’s refusal to condemn Rashida Tlaib while she continues to spread antisemitism and attends an event with terrorist organizations is pure cowardice. Slotkin’s astounding lack of judgement and the consequences as a result only lead to more antisemitism and violence towards Jews. America desperately needs leaders who will stand up to this hatred and support the entire Jewish community.”
Slotikin’s stance: Slotkin’s campaign spokesperson declined to comment. Asked about Tlaib’s incendiary rhetoric in the days immediately following Oct. 7, Slotkin told CNN that, “I handle my issues with other members of Congress privately, but for me it shouldn’t be hard to condemn terrorists and terrorism.”
octopus strategy
‘A weapon of mass distraction:’ How Oct. 7 enabled Iran to advance its nuclear program
An International Atomic Energy Agency report released this week revealed that Iran has amassed enough uranium for three bombs, enriched to nearly weapons grade – a stockpile that has grown precipitously during the months in which Israel and Hamas have been fighting a war in Gaza. For months, the eyes of the international community and Israel have been elsewhere, enabling the Islamic Republic to continue its race to the bomb, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Priorities: “For the supreme leader, Oct. 7 was a weapon of mass distraction so he can expand his weapon of mass destruction,” Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett posted on X this week that “the goal of Iran’s octopus strategy is to distract Israel with wars against its tentacles (Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas and more) so that we don’t deal with stopping Iran. We cannot fall into this trap and we must not fall asleep at the wheel. There is what to do with operational sophistication and diplomatic wisdom. This is an existential danger that must be a top priority for Israel’s leaders.”
Hand in hand: Ben Sabti, a researcher in the Iran Program at the Institute for National Security Studies and a former IDF spokesperson who founded the military’s Persian platform, said that “terror and the nuclear program advance together. The Iranians are positively surprised at how many accomplishments they’ve reached from terrorism, even more than the nuclear file. Nuclear takes years, it’s a big effort to buy and build and train scientists. Terrorism has an impact … that works in an ideal way for them.”
israel bound
Israel to launch travel authorization program for foreign visitors
Israel is set to launch a travel authorization program for foreign visitors to the country, beginning with a pilot program starting on Saturday for travelers arriving from the U.S. and Germany. The program, which is similar to those used in the U.S., Canada and Australia, will require non-Israeli passport holders traveling to the country to obtain electronic travel authorization (ETA-IL) – through israel-entry.piba.gov.il – before setting off on their trip. In a statement this week, Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority said the new program was aimed at improving security, immigration and general services, Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash reports.
Avoiding ‘unpleasant surprises’: The ministry said it would “help the authorities to obtain information about the passenger before he or she even boards the plane, and if a problem arises that prevents him or her from entering Israel, the passenger will be referred to the Israeli embassy in his or her country of residence.” The statement added, “It will prevent any unpleasant surprises for passengers who land at the border and are refused entry.”
Faster process: Israel’s Ministry of Tourism also explained that the new system would speed up online confirmations and “allow for a simplified, stress-free entry process through electronic check-in machines when visiting Israel.” Over the past two years, as Israel slowly reopened its borders following the COVID-19 pandemic, tourists arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv had been subjected to lengthy waits at passport control, while Israelis with biometric passports could whiz through using electronic scanning machines.
Read the full story here.
trials and tribulations
Rep. Rob Menendez faces career-threatening challenge in Tuesday primary
Rep. Rob Menendez’s (D-NJ) political career could be collateral damage from his father’s legal troubles in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 8th Congressional District. His race, against Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, is a test of whether he and the state’s once-powerful political machine can neutralize the political baggage from his suddenly tainted last name. The corruption charges against Menendez’s father, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), are the key reason Bhalla has a solid shot at ousting the incumbent, political observers believe. With the elder Menendez currently on trial over federal bribery charges, that scandal is front and center in the news at an inopportune time for Rob Menendez, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Like father, like son?: David Wildstein, the editor of the New Jersey Globe, told JI that it’s hard to predict the outcome of the race and that “no outcome would surprise me.” The key questions on Tuesday, Wildstein said, will be whether voters hold Menendez responsible for his father’s actions and, at a more basic level, “Are voters really going to know that Rob Menendez isn’t Bob Menendez?” He said that recent ads from Menendez may have helped to push back on associations between him and his father, and he has benefitted from some unexpected developments in his father’s case — a delay in the start of the trial, a weeklong pause in the trial, former President Donald Trump’s New York City trial dominating local and national headlines and diminished media interest in the case.
Divide over Israel: A debate between Menendez and Bhalla earlier this week highlighted the differences between the two on Israel policy. Bhalla said he supports Israel and its right to defend itself, but “there have been way too many so-called accidents that have killed thousands and thousands of innocent lives.” The Hoboken mayor said that “Hamas needs to go, but I’m concerned that the actions of the IDF are exacerbating Hamas’s existence.” Menendez said the U.S. historically does not pressure its allies to withdraw prematurely and should not pressure Israel to end its operations before it’s able to “end the scourge of Hamas.” He alleged that Bhalla’s call for a cease-fire would allow Hamas to survive, and said Hamas has the capacity to end the war by releasing the hostages and surrendering.
report card
JINSA report defends Israel’s conduct in Gaza but critiques its larger strategy
A new report issued by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, authored by former U.S. military officials, largely praises Israel’s conduct of its war in Gaza as justified, legal and reasonable. But it also criticizes Israel’s reluctance to allow significant humanitarian aid, administer cleared areas of Gaza and prepare for a clear post-Hamas Gaza plan, as well as its difficulties communicating effectively in the international media, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Authors: While the report’s praise of Israel’s tactics and conduct in Gaza is unsurprising, the numerous areas where the report critiques Israel’s operations are notable, especially coming from the reliably pro-Israel think tank. The report was authored by the members of JINSA’s Gaza Assessment Task force — a group of retired senior military officials, including Gen. David Rodriguez, Adm. Michael Rogers, Gen. Charles Wald, Lt. Gen. David Beydler, Lt. Gen. Tom Trask, Col. Mark Warren and Lt. Col. Geoff Corn.
Praise: “The IDF has carried out its mission to eliminate the Hamas threat with operational and tactical excellence and in overall compliance with the Law of Armed Conflict,” the report’s authors wrote. “This occurred despite encountering a complex urban and subterranean battlefield in which almost the entirety of Gaza … had been prepared and repurposed by Hamas as fortified fighting positions. The U.S. military would benefit from studying how the IDF fought effectively in this highly complex, multi-domain environment.”
Criticism: “The IDF’s operational effectiveness has been jeopardized by the lack of a clear, announced strategy for a post-Hamas future for Gaza,” the authors said. “Our military experience has taught us that tactical success is often undermined when military operations are not consistently directed toward a well-defined and understood strategic end-state.”
Worthy Reads
Northern Exposure: In Tablet, President and CEO of JINSA Michael Makovsky argues that while much has been said about Israel’s failure to prevent Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, its major strategic failure is its handling of the Hezbollah threat on its northern border. “A 2018 report by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, an organization I head, stated that a vast majority of Hezbollah’s rockets are unguided and short-range, intended to be used “indiscriminately against northern Israeli towns and cities. But, unlike in 2006, Hezbollah now also has several thousand medium-range rockets and several hundred precision long-range missiles capable of striking targets throughout Israel.” At the outset of a conflict with Israel, Hezbollah would be capable of firing at least 3,000 rockets per day, and then settling in on 1,000-1,500 per day. In the 2006 war, Hezbollah fired 200 rockets per day. This is a far greater challenge for Israel than Hamas, and Jerusalem has had no easy answer to this Hezbollah threat. In a war, Hezbollah could overwhelm the air defense capabilities of Israel, a small country with little strategic depth, causing unimaginable damage to strategic targets and population centers. Israel would have to determine which strategic sites and cities to protect and which to leave vulnerable and evacuate.” [Tablet]
Inside Anti-Zionism: Elliott Abrams, the former Trump administration envoy for Iran, writes in Fathom about the evolution of the anti-Zionist movement: “The American Zionist movement dates back to the end of the 19th century and the Zionist consensus dates back over 80 years. The anti-Zionist efforts now underway to shred it are the most energetic, the best financed, and the most dangerous American Jews have experienced. In the current Gaza war we are seeing the younger generation of Israelis act with courage and determination to save the Jewish State — to save the Zionist Entity, if you will. Will younger American Jews see a model for how to live as a Jew and a moral human being in their behavior — or in the siren song of the Left as it maneuvers to undermine the Jewish people and the Jewish State?” [Fathom]
The Smart Money?: Bloomberg’s Amanda Gordon and Sridhar Natarajan highlight the growing number of Wall Street billionaires who are supporting former President Donald Trump’s bid for a second term, despite his criminal conviction. “This much is certain: Some financiers who abandoned Trump after his supporters stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — and kept their distance as he continued to claim falsely that the 2020 election was stolen — are now throwing their weight behind him again. A big reason, in a word: money. Trump has promised to cut taxes for the wealthy and eliminate regulations. President Joe Biden wants the opposite … Privately, Trump’s Wall Street backers insist this is about more than money. Some point to what they view as an increasing tolerance for antisemitism among progressive Democrats, especially after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and the Jewish state’s subsequent bombing campaign in Gaza.” [Bloomberg]
Pictures at an Exhibition: In The Jerusalem Post, Tara Mofarah, the chair of Young UJIA, reflects on her participation in a recent exhibition in London of photographs taken on Oct. 7 by photojournalist Chen G. Schimmel. “As someone who holds a young leadership role in the UK Jewish community, I was uplifted by the unity at these events. It is true that throughout the Jewish world, my generation has experienced a different type of connection to Israel than those who have come before us. However, what I have seen amongst my peers since October 7 isn’t a simple reaction to those awful events. It is coming to the surface of a lifetime of love for Israel and a yearning to be a part of the Jewish people. This exhibition was more than a display; it was a dialogue about tragedy, resilience, and the importance of upholding our shared values in the face of threats to our way of life. It reminded us that in the struggle against those who aim to spread terror, the stories of hope and human strength are beacons of light, guiding our path toward a more understanding and united world.” [JPost]
Around the Web
Verdict Is In: Former President Donald Trump was convicted on Thursday of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal. He is the first American president to be declared a felon after being convicted on all 34 counts. ”The real verdict is going to be November 5th,” Trump said in his first remarks after the decision.
Jail Time? The crime of falsifying business records in the first degree carries a possible sentence from probation to up to four years in prison. Most experts think prison is unlikely. Trump will be sentenced on July 11.
Green Light: The Biden administration secretly gave Ukraine the green light to strike inside Russia using weapons from the U.S., Politico reports.
Miriam’s Mojo: Top Republican donor Miriam Adelson is preparing to help bankroll Preserve America, a new super PAC for Trump. The outside group will be led by longtime GOP strategist Dave Carney.
Ackman’s Choice: Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is expected to endorse Trump for president, the Financial Times reports.
Pennsylvania in Play: The main super PAC boosting Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick reserved $30 million in television ads for the Republican’s campaign against Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA).
Latimer Endorsement: White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach endorsed Westchester County Executive George Latimer over Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY).
Pelted Away: Billionaire investor Nelson Peltz sold his entire stake in The Walt Disney Co., weeks after losing a proxy battle with the entertainment giant.
College Beat: Several major Jewish organizations including the ADL, AJC and JFNA are calling for the immediate removal of Northwestern University President Michael Schill over his handling of campus anti-Israel encampments.
Encampment Ended: Police dismantled a pro-Palestinian protest encampment yesterday at Wayne State University, Detroit.
ICC Sanctions: Two days after the Biden administration said it wouldn’t support sanctions on the International Criminal Court and its officials for seeking arrest warrants against Israeli officials, a group of 19 House Democrats said it supports sanctioning the tribunal’s officials, Jewish Insider has learned.
Rafah Crossing Meetup: The White House is set to hold a trilateral meeting next week with U.S., Egyptian and Israeli officials to discuss reopening the Rafah crossing, securing the border between Egypt and Gaza and maintaining the peace between Israel and Egypt, Axios’ Barak Ravid reports.
Operation Complete: The IDF said its 98th Division had completed its nearly three-week-long operation in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya, during which it said troops killed hundreds of terrorists, recovered the bodies of seven Israeli hostages and destroyed more than six miles of a tunnel network.
Right in Rafah: The IDF confirmed that it is operating in the center of Rafah, calling the offensive against Hamas there “precise” and “intelligence-based.”
Hostage Deal: Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi said in a meeting with hostages’ relatives, “I don’t believe that this government will succeed in completing the entire deal. This government will not take a decision to stop the war for the return of all the hostages.”
Reopening Food Sales: Israel has lifted a ban on food sales to Gaza from Israel and the West Bank for the first time since the beginning of the war in Gaza, according to a Reuters report.
View From Helsinki: Finland’s minister for foreign trade and development said yesterday that he opposes the idea of EU trade sanctions on Israel.
Rehabilitating Assad: Foreign Policy reviews the ramifications of the normalization of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Pic of the Day
Entertainment leaders gathered yesterday in Los Angeles for the first-ever “Countering Antisemitism: An Entertainment Industry Summit,” jointly held by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), Creative Community for Peace (CCFP) and Creative Artists Agency (CAA). From left: CCFP Chairman and Co-Founder David Renzer, CAA Co-Chair Richard Lovett, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, AJC CEO Ted Deutch, CAA Foundation Executive Deborah Marcus.
Birthdays
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, pianist and conductor, Yehudi Wyner turns 95 on Saturday…
Friday: Investment adviser at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, Alfred Phillip Stern turns 91… Owner of one of the nation’s largest privately held industrial empires, Ira Leon Rennert turns 90… Singer and songwriter famous for his lead role in the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, he campaigned for freeing Soviet Jews in the 1980s, Peter Yarrow turns 86… Professor at Yale University and the 2018 winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, William Dawbney Nordhaus turns 83… Food critic at Vogue magazine since 1989 and judge on Iron Chef America, he is the author of the 1996 award-winning book “The Man Who Ate Everything,” Jeffrey Steingarten turns 82… Founder and retired CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council, Alvin “Al” From turns 81… Author, political pundit and a retired correspondent for HBO’s “Real Sports” with Bryant Gumbel, Bernie Goldberg turns 79… Comedian, actress and TV producer, Susie Essman turns 69… Founder and chairman of the Katz Group of Companies with operations in the pharmacy, sports (including the Edmonton Oilers), entertainment and real estate sectors, Daryl Katz turns 63… Reality television personality, best known for starring in and producing her own matchmaking reality series, “The Millionaire Matchmaker” on Bravo TV, Patti Stanger turns 63… Jerusalem-born inventor, serial entrepreneur and novelist; founder, chairman and CEO of CyberArk Software, Alon Nisim Cohen turns 56… Entrepreneur, best known as the co-founder of CryptoLogic, an online casino software firm, Andrew Rivkin turns 55… Former Democratic mayor of Annapolis, Md., now head of policy at SWTCH, Joshua Jackson “Josh” Cohen turns 51… Director of community outreach at the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, Melissa York… Israeli actress, singer and dancer, she played a Mossad agent in the espionage TV series “Tehran,” Liraz Charhi turns 46… Author of the “Money Stuff” column at Bloomberg Opinion, Matthew S. Levine turns 46… Freelance writer in Brooklyn, Sara Trappler Spielman… Attorney and NYT-bestselling author of the Mara Dyer and Shaw Confessions series, Michelle Hodkin turns 42… Senior adviser to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Bert Eli Kaufman… Senior product manager at Tel Aviv-based Forter, Zoe Goldfarb… Stephanie Oreck Weiss… Public affairs and strategy advisor at the Promethean Group in D.C., Brad E. Bosserman… Senior rabbi and executive director of Jewish life at D.C.’s Sixth & I, Aaron Potek… Managing editor at Allbritton Journalism Institute, Matt Berman… Medical student in the class of 2027 at the University of Nicosia Medical School, Amital Isaac… Brad Goldstein… Basketball player in Israel’s Premier League, while at Princeton he won the Ivy League Player of the Year award (2017), Spencer Weisz turns 29… Rapper, singer, songwriter and producer, known by his stage name, King Sol, Benjamin Solomon turns 26…
Saturday: Holocaust survivor as a child, he served as the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel for 10 years and twice as Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv for 16 years, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau turns 87… NYC-based attorney, author of two books regarding the history and operations of El Al, owner of 40,000 plus pieces of memorabilia related to El Al, Marvin G. Goldman turns 85… Grammy Award-winning classical pianist, Richard Goode turns 81… Former member of the Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Shimon Ohayon turns 79… Retired attorney in Berkeley, Calif., Thomas Andrew Seaton… Pediatrician in the San Francisco Bay area, long-time AIPAC activist, Elliot Charles Lepler, MD… Former member of the Knesset for the Shinui and the Hilonit Tzionit parties, Eti Livni turns 76… Founding editor of The American Interest, Adam M. Garfinkle turns 73… Former editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News and co-author with Michael Bloomberg of Bloomberg by Bloomberg, Matthew Winkler turns 69… Senior business editor at NPR for 25 years until his scathing review of bias at the network in April, Uri Paul Berliner… Founding rabbi of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, N.Y., Rabbi Moshe Weinberger turns 67… Former IDF officer and now a London based political scientist and journalist, Ahron “Ronnie” Bregman turns 66… Former member of the Knesset for the Shas party, Amnon Cohen turns 64… Owner of MLB’s Oakland Athletics, his parents were the co-founders of Gap, Inc., he is the chair of Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) Foundation, John J. Fisher turns 63… Poet, performance artist and essayist, Adeena Karasick, Ph.D…. Founding editor and publisher of the Dayton Jewish Observer, Marshall J. Weiss… Television personality and matchmaker, Sigalit “Siggy” Flicker turns 57… Actress, voice actress and film director, Danielle Harris turns 47… Journalist and writer, Spencer J. Ackerman turns 44… Comedian, writer, actress, director and producer, Amy Schumer turns 43… Partner in Oliver Wyman, a global management consulting firm, Daniel Tannebaum… Musician, songwriter, author, actor and blogger, Ari Seth Herstand turns 39… CEO of The Good Food Institute, Ilya Sheyman turns 38… Political reporter for NBC News and MSNBC, Alex Seitz-Wald… Senior business reporter at CNN, Nicole Goodkind… Former engineering lead at Palantir Technologies, now in a MPP program at Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, Naomi S. Kadish… Associate advance director for VPOTUS, Isabel Keller… NYC-born Israeli pair skater, she competed for Israel at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Hailey Esther Kops turns 22…
Sunday: Former member of the British Parliament from Manchester and then a member of European Parliament, David Anthony Gerald Sumberg turns 83… Co-founder of ReelAbilities, a film festival by, or about, people with disabilities, Anita Altman turns 79… Israeli entrepreneur and inventor, founder of Indigo Digital Press and known as the father of commercial digital printing, Benny Landa turns 78… Johns Hopkins University professor and a pioneer in the field of cancer genomics, Dr. Bert Vogelstein turns 75… Writer-at-large for New York magazine since 2011, following a 31-year career at The New York Times, Frank Rich turns 75… Chief development officer at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Jordan E. Tannenbaum… Commissioner of the National Hockey League since 1993, Gary Bettman turns 72… Holiday and weekend cantor at the Los Angeles Jewish Home for The Aged, Ben Zion Kogen… Former board chair of Sapir Academic College in the western Negev, he was one of Israel’s senior peace negotiators at the Camp David summit in 2000, Gilead Sher turns 71… Founder of Newark, N.J.-based IDT Corp and numerous affiliates and spinoffs including an energy exploration company, Genie Energy, Howard S. Jonas turns 68… Aerospace engineer and a former NASA astronaut, he flew on three shuttle missions and took a memento from the U.S. Holocaust Museum into space, Mark L. Polansky turns 68… Dinorah Cecilia Baroody… General manager of Harmonie Club, a NYC private social club, Davina Weinstein… Radio and television talk show host, Andrew Joseph (Andy) Cohen turns 56… President of Marvel Studios and chief creative officer for Marvel Comics, Marvel Television and Marvel Animation, Kevin Feige turns 51… Special counsel focused on land use and zoning at NYC-based law firm Goldstein Hall, Jessica Ashenberg Loeser… SVP of EnTrust Global, Jordan David Kaplan… Director of technology at Santa Monica-based Action Network, Jason S. Rosenbaum… Grandmaster chess player, she won the 2004 Israel Women’s Chess Championship, Bella Igla Gesser turns 39… Equestrian show jumper, she represented Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Danielle “Dani” Goldstein Waldman turns 39… Co-founder and former CEO of The Wing, now the owner of The Six Bells (“a new old country store”) in Brooklyn, Audrey H. Gelman turns 37… Founder and CEO at Stealth Startup, Jared R. Fleitman… CEO and co-Founder at Platform Cannabis Advisors, Benjamin G. Sheridan… Theater, television and film actor best known for his lead role in “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical,” Ethan Samuel Slater turns 32… Israeli K-Pop singer, Ella-Lee Lahav turns 21…
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