Daily Kickoff
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we speak to Sen. Marco Rubio about his recent trip to Israel and to Rep. Brad Schneider about his visit to Riyadh last weekend, and report on the mass resignations of members of Northwestern University’s antisemitism task force. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Josh Harris and Jeffrey Yass.
Amid rising antisemitism and domestic political tensions over the Israel-Hamas war, the White House announced on Wednesday two major upcoming engagements with the Jewish community, reports Jewish Insider senior national correspondent Gabby Deutch.
President Joe Biden will deliver the keynote address on Tuesday at the “Days of Remembrance” ceremony, an annual event at the U.S. Capitol hosted by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to mark Yom HaShoah and remember the victims of the Holocaust.
“At this time of alarming antisemitism and Holocaust denial, remembering the history and lessons of the Holocaust is crucial,” the museum’s chairman, Stuart Eizenstat, said in a statement. “We are honored that President Biden will deliver the keynote address and that House Speaker [Mike] Johnson (R-LA) and Minority Leader [Hakeem] Jeffries (D-NY) will also participate. The combined presence of these leaders is an important statement to our nation at this very challenging moment.”
A White House officialtold Haaretz that Biden will also “discuss our moral duty to combat the rising scourge of antisemitism — and the Biden-Harris administration’s work implementing the first-ever National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism — to make real the promise of ‘Never Again.’” The May 7 address will mark the first time Biden has spoken publicly about antisemitism in several months.
Also on Wednesday, the White House sent out invitations to a Jewish American Heritage Month celebration that will take place later this month, according to an invitation obtained by JI. The May 20 celebration, hosted by Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, will take place a year after the Biden administration released the antisemitism national strategy. Biden and top administration officials have recently touted the document as they’ve responded to the global spike in antisemitism that occurred after the Hamas attacks in Israel on Oct. 7. Read more here.
And on Capitol Hill, the House passed the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act codifying the Department of Education’s use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism by a solid 320-91 vote; 70 progressive Democrats and 21 far-right Republicans voted “no.” But the vote still stoked political fires across Capitol Hill, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
Opposition from the far left to the bill was expected — although some noted critics of the IHRA definition, such as Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), voted for the bill, and the legislation secured a significant majority of Democratic support. But it also brought out vehement opposition from some on the far-right.
Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) issued striking statements rejecting the IHRA definition over language in its associated examples noting that accusing the Jews of killing Jesus is antisemitic. That, the two far-right firebrands declared, would mark the Bible as antisemitic.
Even staunchly pro-Israel Democrats such as Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), a co-sponsor of the bill, said the House vote was an effort by Republicans to use antisemitism as a political wedge issue. Schneider also said that some Democrats opposed the bill “for the exact same reason.”
The bill now moves to the Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) hasn’t committed yet to moving the bill forward, despite bipartisan support in the upper chamber. And it falls in the jurisdiction of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Sanders has defended anti-Israel protests on campus, leading advocates to look for alternative pathways to advance the bill.
House Democrats are also continuing to push hard for another bill, the Countering Antisemitism Act, which would implement a national coordinator for antisemitism among a host of other steps across the government. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) framed the bill as a cornerstone of Democrats’ approach to tackling the situation on campuses and antisemitism elsewhere.
The divisions around the Antisemitism Awareness Act and efforts to pit it against the Countering Antisemitism Act have caught some advocates in the Jewish community off guard, as they insist the bills are complementary and that both should be advanced.
The Countering Antisemitism Act also has bipartisan support but it’s not clear how House Republicans will proceed from here.
diplomatic efforts
Hamas appears to reject cease-fire as Blinken ends Middle East trip to push for hostage deal

Secretary of State Tony Blinken’s seventh trip to the region since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, meant to bring about a temporary cease-fire in exchange for the release of hostages from Gaza, was punctuated by a signal of rejection by the Palestinian terrorist group. As Blinken wrapped up his visit to Israel on Wednesday night, Lebanon-based Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Hezbollah TV channel Al Manar that the terror group’s “position on the current negotiating paper is negative.” However, Hamas said it will continue negotiating, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
‘Only obstacle’: But Blinken’s time in Israel began with a declaration that he is “determined to get a cease-fire that brings the hostages home and to get it now,” as he said in his meeting with President Isaac Herzog, the first of a series of meetings he held with Israeli officials throughout the day. In that meeting and others, Blinken emphasized that “the only reason that [deal] wouldn’t be achieved is because of Hamas.” A day earlier, President Joe Biden posted on X that “Hamas…is now the only obstacle to an immediate ceasefire and relief for civilians in Gaza.”
Rafah plans: Netanyahu made clear that Israel plans to enter Rafah, a message he touted repeatedly the day before Blinken’s arrival. “The idea that we will end the war before reaching all of its aims is not under consideration,” Netanyahu told the Tikvah Forum, a group of hostages’ relatives opposed to releasing terrorists in exchange for their loved ones. “We will enter Rafah and destroy the Hamas battalions there, with or without a deal, to attain total victory.” Netanyahu reportedly told Blinken in their meeting that Israel wants to reach a deal and then complete its mission to eliminate Hamas with an operation in Rafah.
Aid focus: The secretary of state also spent much of his time in Israel pushing for more humanitarian aid to Gaza. He toured the Gaza border area with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, including Kerem Shalom, one of the crossings through which aid is delivered to Gaza, where they observed an inspection. Blinken also made his first trip to an area targeted by Hamas on Oct. 7, with a brief visit to Kibbutz Nir Oz. Nearly a quarter of the kibbutz’s residents were killed or taken hostage during Hamas’ terror attack.