Daily Kickoff
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at a bipartisan push on Capitol Hill to sanction the International Criminal Court over its chief prosecutor’s decision to seek arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, and report on Lehrhaus’ expansion to Washington, D.C., plus an interview with former META COO Sheryl Sandberg after she screened her documentary on 10/7 sexual violence on Capitol Hill last night. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: David Magerman, Maxine Dexter and Klaus Schwab.
Oregon Democrats delivered a victory for political moderation in Tuesday’s primaries, nominating a state legislator broadly supportive of Israel — over the left-wing sister of Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) — in a Portland-area House seat, while also tapping a center-left candidate backed by party leaders over a progressive in a pivotal swing district, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar reports.
State Rep. Maxine Dexter was declared the Democratic primary winner by The Oregonian, after surging to a significant lead over Jayapal in early returns. The Democratic nomination, for the 3rd congressional district seat of retiring Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), is tantamount to an election victory in the deep-blue district.
Dexter told Jewish Insider she opposed new conditions on U.S. aid to Israel, while Jayapal supported withholding weapons to Israel. Jayapal also voted against a resolution in the Multnomah County board expressing support for Israel days after Oct. 7.
Even though AIPAC didn’t endorse Dexter’s campaign, the pro-Israel group celebrated her victory on X, and noted that some of its members supported her candidacy. “AIPAC members were proud to support Maxine Dexter in her race against an anti-Israel opponent endorsed by @BernieSanders, @AOC, and @jstreetdotorg,” AIPAC wrote, referencing Jayapal.
In the race’s final month, Dexter benefited from a surge of donations, some of which came from pro-Israel backers presumably concerned about Jayapal’s record. Jayapal and others in the race attacked Dexter over millions in independent spending, which they said was linked to AIPAC, that boosted her campaign. Dexter herself also disavowed the outside money and received an outpouring of support from in-state lawmakers.
Progressive candidates have tried to turn pro-Israel backing into a liability for their competitors, but the strategy has backfired in recent elections, including a closely watched Maryland race.
In the neighboring 5th District — one of the hotly contested general election battlegrounds — party-backed state Rep. Janelle Bynum, who also had the support of Democratic Majority for Israel, handily defeated the party’s 2022 nominee, progressive activist Jamie McLeod-Skinner. Bynum will face Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) in November.
Despite the district’s Democratic lean, McLeod-Skinner’s left-wing profile proved damaging in the 2022 midterms and cost Democrats a valuable seat. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee endorsed the more-pragmatic Bynum this time around, in hopes of flipping the seat back this year.
In California, state Assemblyman Vince Fong comfortably won the special election to fill the seat of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). Fong, a protege of the former speaker, was endorsed by both McCarthy and former President Donald Trump.
And in Georgia’s 3rd District, former Trump senior adviser Brian Jack finished in first place in a primary in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-GA) — but fell short of the 50% necessary to win the nomination outright. Jack will be facing former state Senate GOP leader Mike Dugan in a June 18 runoff.
One state legislative race in Georgia we’ve been tracking: David Lubin, the father of a slain IDF soldier whose daughter was killed last November in a Jerusalem terror attack, lost in his bid to unseat state Sen. Sally Harrell. Lubin decided to run for the state legislature after Harrell voted against a bill that would define antisemitism in state law.
From the campaign trail to campus craziness: Even as the school year has wrapped up at most universities, campuses continue to deal with the aftermath of now-ended Gaza encampments. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Mark Mone sent an email to the campus community on Tuesday apologizing for a letter he sent last week condemning “genocide” in Gaza and calling for a cease-fire, saying he shouldn’t have “weighed in on deeply complex geopolitical and historical issues.”
The Tuesday email came after Mone faced sustained pushback from local Jewish organizations, who accused him of capitulating to anti-Israel protesters while ignoring Jewish students.
“I acknowledge that it is an increasingly difficult time for many Jewish students at UWM and across America,” Mone wrote, adding that it “distresses” him that some students have not felt comfortable raising their concerns on campus. He didn’t backtrack on the agreement he had reached with leaders of the school’s Gaza encampment, but he condemned antisemitism and Islamophobia and expressed his “dedication to continued listening, conversation and engagement with all our students.”
Meanwhile, faculty at Ivy League universities are flexing their muscle when it comes to student discipline. Faculty members at Harvard and Princeton voted to limit the consequences students faced for breaking campus rules in the course of recent Gaza protests.
Members of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted to add 13 students who had been suspended back to the list of graduates ahead of commencement, which takes place on Thursday. Harvard’s governing board will take up the matter today for a final vote. Princeton faculty voted to support amnesty for 15 students arrested during the recent protests.
Last week, a group of scholars in the humanities and social sciences released an open letter condemning the “alarming trend” of those calling for an academic boycott of Israel, writing that “international exchange – especially in troubled times like these – is essential for maintaining an open and global academic community.” The letter has now been signed by more than 6,100 professors.
icing icc
Push to sanction ICC over Israel warrants wins bipartisan support

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say they’re interested in pursuing the possibility of sanctioning the International Criminal Court and its officials in response to the ICC prosecutor’s decision to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant — as the Biden administration is signaling a willingness to take action, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report.
Blinken’s position: Secretary of State Tony Blinken told lawmakers on Tuesday that he’s willing to work “on a bipartisan basis” with Congress to develop “an appropriate response” to the ICC decision, without specifying what that might entail. He described the ICC prosecutor’s decision as “wrong-headed” and said it harmed hostage talks.
In the works: Some on Capitol Hill, on a bipartisan basis, are pushing for the U.S. to impose sanctions on the court and its officials. Republicans in the House are working on legislation to impose sanctions, and discussions were underway on the House floor on Tuesday evening, while Senate Republicans, including Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Jim Risch (R-ID), are working on legislation of their own and hoping to gather Democratic support.
Considering: Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) told JI he’s been “part of this conversation” and “very clear, [sanctions] should be a part of our conversation, 100%.” Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) said he hasn’t seen specific legislation but that he’s “open to listening to ideas about” sanctioning the ICC.
Examining options: Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told JI he is working with the Biden administration on ways to respond beyond rhetorical measures. He said he believes President Joe Biden and Blinken are amenable to taking action, but was not sure what it would look like. “I want to see what action we can take that can push them [the ICC] in that direction [toward rescinding the warrant request]. I don’t know what that is, and that’s why I’m asking the administration for some help in trying to figure out what would be the most constructive path,” Cardin said.
Bonus: The House Foreign Affairs Committee is set to meet today to vote on a bill requiring a notification period before the administration can suspend any other weapons sales to Israel, and to offer Congress the opportunity to block such a move. Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC), who is co-sponsoring the bill, said she heard there may be an effort at the committee meeting to broaden the legislation, to make it applicable globally, rather than just to Israel.