Daily Kickoff
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at how administrators are addressing protests, encampments and clashes on campus, and report on today’s expected vote on the Antisemitism Awareness Act. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Sheryl Sandberg, Ofir Akunis and Amy Schumer.
Secretary of State Tony Blinken is in Israel today for meetings with top officials, including President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Blinken’s visit to Israel follows a two-day trip through the region that included meetings in Jordan and Saudi Arabia aimed at discussing cease-fire negotiations and a day-after plan for Gaza. The trip comes as Israel prepares for a Rafah operation, following Netanyahu’s comments earlier this week that such a move was imminent, “with or without a deal” to reach a cease-fire and free the remaining hostages. More on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s comments about a potential Rafah invasion below.
“Bringing the hostages home is at the heart of everything we’re trying to do,” Blinken tweeted earlier today. “We will not rest until every hostage — woman, man, young, old, civilian, soldier — is back with their families, where they belong.”
Thousands of miles away from high-level diplomatic conversations aimed at ending a monthslong war, American college administrators are conducting their own negotiations — with anti-Israel student protesters — in an effort to restore calm on campuses across the country in the waning weeks of the spring semester.
With final exams and commencements around the corner, this time of year is usually one of packed libraries, graduation celebrations and senioritis. Not so this year on a number of campuses, where student protesters from Columbia to Northwestern to the University of North Carolina to UCLA continued to sow chaos on campus, in some cases moving from the encampments they constructed last month to take over university buildings, as they did with the takeover of Columbia’s Hamilton Hall. In other cases students commandeered university property, as students at UNC did when they took down an American flag and hung a Palestinian flag in its place.
At UCLA, overnight protests turned violent, with clashes between pro- and anti-Israel student demonstrators breaking out in the area around the encampment. At Columbia, police with riot shields arrested dozens of protesters in Hamilton Hall, effectively bringing an end to the protesters’ siege of the administrative building. Overnight, the campus encampment was cleared after two weeks.
Administrators from Evanston, Ill., to New York to Chapel Hill, N.C., have varied in their approaches to the demonstrators and their demands. Read below for more on the concessions that administrations have made to campus protesters below.
Following Columbia protesters’ takeover of Hamilton Hall earlier this week, White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates released a statement condemning antisemitism and the extreme tactics of the students.
“President Biden has stood against repugnant, antisemitic smears and violent rhetoric his entire life. He condemns the use of the term ‘intifada,’ as he has the other tragic and dangerous hate speech displayed in recent days,” Bates told JI. “President Biden respects the right to free expression, but protests must be peaceful and lawful. Forcibly taking over buildings is not peaceful — it is wrong. And hate speech and hate symbols have no place in America.”
Bates did not say whether Biden planned to speak about the issue publicly, or to meet with Jewish students. In a proclamation announcing Jewish American Heritage Month, which begins today, Biden addressed the situation on many campuses.
“Here at home, too many Jews live with deep pain and fear from the ferocious surge of antisemitism — in our communities; at schools, places of worship, and colleges; and across social media. These acts are despicable and echo the worst chapters of human history,” Biden said in the proclamation.
Meanwhile, a new Harvard/Harris poll found that 80% of Americans support Israel in its war against Hamas; that number drops to 57% among the 18-24 year-olds surveyed. Those numbers are perhaps best reflected in a statement released by College Democrats of America on Wednesday, showing support for the encampments and anti-Israel protesters.
Today in Washington, Jewish students from Northwestern will meet with legislators to discuss their experiences on campus in recent days, ahead of a House vote on the Antisemitism Awareness Act. More on the legislation from JI’s Marc Rod below.
The events on campus are raising concerns among congressional lawmakers. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Tuesday called on Columbia administrators to “bring order to their Manhattan campus” and compared the behavior of Columbia’s student protesters to the “brand of aggressive lawlessness” shown by “the student Nazis of Weimar Germany.”
A day prior, a group of 21 pro-Israel House Democrats sent a letter blasting Columbia and accusing administrators of failing to break up the campus’ anti-Israel encampment. The legislators alleged that failing to do so constitutes a violation of Jewish students’ civil rights. The letter, led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Dan Goldman (D-NY), describes the encampment as “the breeding ground for antisemitic attacks on Jewish students, including hate speech, harassment, intimidation, and even threats of violence.”
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) is preparing a measure to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for her comments last week referring to Jewish students as either “pro-genocide or anti-genocide”; the Minnesota congresswoman made the comments while visiting Columbia University.
House Education and Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC) invited the heads of Yale, UCLA and the University of Michigan to speak at a hearing later this month focused on “Calling for Accountability: Stopping Antisemitic College Chaos.”
Meanwhile, House and Senate Republicans’ campaign arms are planning to use footage that has emerged in recent days in ads targeting vulnerable Democrats who have not condemned the protests. Among those the NRSC and NRCC plan to target: Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Bob Casey (D-PA) and Jon Tester (D-MT), as well as Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who is mounting a Senate bid in Michigan.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said yesterday at a Senate hearing that “what is happening on our campuses is abhorrent.”
“Hate has no place on our campuses and I’m very concerned with the reports of antisemitism,” Cardona said. He added that “unsafe, violent” protests and attacks on students are not protected by the First Amendment.
Cardona said that support for Hamas, the “from the river to the sea” slogan and calls for Jews to go back to Poland or be killed are “absolutely not” acceptable. He told lawmakers the department needs additional funding and investigators for its Office of Civil Rights to respond to the spike in incidents and investigations.
northwestern negotiations
Jewish leaders slam Northwestern agreement with anti-Israel protesters
After an anti-Israel encampment was erected at Northwestern University last week, the school’s president on Monday reached an agreement with protesters to end the encampment — acceding to several of their demands in the process, which drew strong condemnation from many in the Chicago and national Jewish communities, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Message received: In a letter to university President Michael Schill, the Jewish United Fund — Chicago’s Jewish federation, which also oversees Northwestern Hillel — excoriated the administrator for embracing “those who flagrantly disrupted Northwestern academics and flouted those policies. The overwhelming majority of your Jewish students, faculty, staff, and alumni feel betrayed. They trusted an institution you lead and considered it home. You have violated that trust,” the letter said. “You certainly heard and acted generously towards those with loud, at times hateful voices. The lack of any reassuring message to our community has also been heard loud and clear.”
Resignation call: The Anti-Defamation League, StandWithUs and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law joined together to call for Schill’s resignation after the agreement was announced. “For days, protestors openly mocked and violated Northwestern’s codes of conduct and policies by erecting an encampment in which they fanned the flames of antisemitism and wreaked havoc on the entire university community,” the groups said in a statement. “Rather than hold them accountable – as he pledged he would – President Schill gave them a seat at the table and normalized their hatred against Jewish students.”
Notes from New England: Brown University administrators reached an agreement with encampment organizers to put the issue of divesting from Israel up for a vote when its largest governing body, the Corporation, meets in October.
schumer says
Schumer accuses ICC of ‘long term, anti-Israel bias’ amid Israeli arrest warrant fears
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) accused the International Criminal Court on Tuesday of a decades-long bias against Israel as it weighs issuing arrest warrants for Israeli officials on charges relating to the war in Gaza. Schumer said in an exclusive statement to Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs that he has “always had deep concerns about the ICC’s long term, anti-Israel bias. And I am urging the Biden administration to send a very strong stance against possible arrest warrants that the ICC could issue against top Israeli officials.”
Reported charges: Schumer’s statement comes in response to a series of reports in recent days alleging that the ICC is planning to order the arrests of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his war cabinet over their handling of the war in Gaza. The New York Times reported that if the warrants were issued, the officials would be charged with preventing humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza and with responding too “excessively” to the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks. Senior members of Hamas leadership would also be charged with committing war crimes as part of the case.
NSC comment: Reached for comment on the probe, a National Security Council spokesperson said in a statement to JI on Monday that, “As we have publicly said many times, the ICC has no jurisdiction in this situation and we do not support its investigation.”
Read the full story here.
Johnson’s call: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) called on the Biden administration to join him in urging the ICC not to issue arrest warrants for top Israeli officials on charges relating to the war in Gaza. Johnson said in a statement provided exclusively to JI that it is “disgraceful” that the ICC is “reportedly planning to issue baseless and illegitimate arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials.”
on the hill
House vote on IHRA codification likely to divide Democrats
The House is set to vote today on the Antisemitism Awareness Act (AAA), which would codify the Trump administration executive order declaring that antisemitism is a prohibited form of discrimination on college campuses, as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Outlook: The vote is one in a series of moves by House Republicans to respond to escalating anti-Israel protests on college campuses. Even though it has 15 Democratic co-sponsors in the House, the support of more than 30 Jewish organizations, including Democratic Majority for Israel, and strong bipartisan support in the Senate, the bill is likely to see opposition from a significant number of Democrats due to the codification of the IHRA definition, and its examples stating that some criticism of Israel is antisemitic.
Two proposals: Discussion in the run-up to Wednesday’s vote has also appeared to pit the AAA and another bipartisan antisemitism bill, the Countering Antisemitism Act (CAA), against each other, even though major Jewish advocacy groups and some of the bills’ sponsors sponsors see the two bills as complementary, not competing.
Going deeper: Like the AAA, the CAA also endorses and utilizes the IHRA definition, albeit without its examples, and states that it “should be utilized by Federal, State and local agencies.” CAA also has strong bipartisan support in both chambers, as well as the backing of some more liberal-leaning Jewish groups that haven’t endorsed the AAA.
What they’re saying: Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC), the lead House sponsor of the CAA, told JI she’ll vote for the AAA and called on Congress to promptly consider the CAA. “I support passage of H.R. 6090, the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which would require the Department of Education to continue considering the IHRA working definition as it investigates anti-Jewish discrimination and enforces federal civil rights law,” Manning told JI. “Making use of this definition would enhance the Department’s ability to respond to antisemitism on college campuses.”
exclusive
House members urge ‘highest possible funding’ for Holocaust education amid campus antisemitism
Amid rising antisemitism on college campuses and around the country, a bipartisan group of 20 House members urged key leaders to provide “the highest possible funding” in 2025 for the Never Again Education Act, which provides funding and resources for Holocaust education efforts through the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Quotable: “The distance in understanding between today’s youth and those who witnessed or survived World War II is widening,” the lawmakers warned in a letter to the leaders of the House Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the issue. “It is critical to institutionalize education about the events and ideology of the Holocaust before this knowledge is lost to history. Tragically, this reality is closer than we think.”
Drawing connections: The letter points to surveys showing shrinking knowledge of the Holocaust among millennials and members of Gen Z and research suggesting links between inadequate Holocaust education and antisemitic beliefs. It draws a direct line between the encampments and other anti-Israel and antisemitic activity at a growing number of colleges and a lack of education about the Holocaust.
Signatories: The letter was signed by Reps. Buddy Carter (R-GA), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Mike Bost (R-IL), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Katie Porter (D-CA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Nikema Williams (D-GA), Jared Golden (D-ME), Joe Neguse (D-CO) and Maxwell Frost (D-FL).
troop talk
U.S. hasn’t seen moves needed to support Rafah invasion, Lloyd Austin says
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday the U.S. still hasn’t seen the steps it expects from Israel before it can support an Israeli invasion of southern Gaza city of Rafah, the same day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s intentions to conduct operations in the city, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
No steps: The U.S. has said for months that it will not support a large-scale operation in Rafah without a plan from Israel to protect civilians from throughout Gaza who are sheltering in Rafah. Austin told members of the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the U.S. has so far not seen steps by Israel to remove those civilians from harm’s way.
But: He did say, however, that the U.S. sees “some signs that they are moving towards that direction,” but “we have not seen a number of things that we believe will have to happen.” He said an Israeli plan must include provisions not only for moving “the preponderance” of civilians, including housing and medical care. Austin also said that “there have been far too many civilian deaths already” and that the U.S. “would want to see things done in a much different way” in Rafah.
Force protection: The defense secretary was pressed on how the U.S. will address attacks — which have reportedly already begun — on U.S. troops assembling and operating a humanitarian aid pier on the Gaza coastline. Austin said that Israel would “do everything possible” to provide security for the mission, a prospect that some Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), suggested they found troublesome, given concerns about Israel’s military operations in Gaza. He also said U.S. troops would have the right to defend themselves, including returning fire from the pier if they are attacked.
Read the full story here.
Elsewhere in Washington: Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) blasted the Biden administration over a report that it’s considering allowing Palestinian refugees from Gaza to the U.S. “Not a single Hamas sympathizer should be let into this country, and I will use every resource at my disposal to ensure this radical Biden policy never sees the light of day,” Scott said, claiming, “We have no clue who is coming into our country.”
Q&A
Ofir Akunis ready to fight antisemitism as Israel’s new consul-general in N.Y.
When Ofir Akunis arrives in the U.S. today to begin his tenure as Israel’s consul-general to New York, he will be, like many of the envoys Jerusalem has sent to the city in recent years, on his first diplomatic posting, but with many years of political experience under his belt. But unlike some of the other Likud politicians sent to the Big Apple, who were popular with the party base but headaches for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for various reasons, Akunis, 50, spent most of his political career being identified closely with the prime minister. He spoke with Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov during Passover, three days before he was set to begin his new role, saying that he will not be cowed by the increasing antisemitism in the city that he will call home in the coming years.
Wartime challenges: “I feel that I am starting in a historic era, with what is going on in the entire West, not just in the U.S. and New York and college campuses. I spoke and met with almost all of my predecessors, and I think that it is the most challenging time in the last 30 years, if not more, for a consul-general of Israel in New York,” Akunis told JI. “I like challenges. When I’m challenged, I know how to express our stances. Our position is just as Zionists and Israelis. When I resigned from the government, I said I am doing so as a Jew, a Zionist and an Israeli, in that order. Zionism comes from Judaism and being Israeli comes from Zionism. That is how I plan to act – as a proud Jew. I don’t plan to apologize to anyone…certainly not for the chain of events beginning on Oct. 7.”
Campus concerns: “Certainly, the current events require an immediate intervention in what is happening on campuses. I view the incitement and the violence with horror. They are built on antisemitic foundations, not only anti-Israel ones… It’s clear as day that this is organized and funded. We see students who have no idea what they’re talking about when you ask them what ‘from the river to the sea means.’ If you support Hamas and Islamic Jihad, you’re saying you want to destroy Israel and establish a Muslim caliphate instead,” Akunis said. “We have to fight them off, with basic unity with the Jewish communities and groups of Israelis who live there. We have to operate as one body. That is how I plan to act. I feel that this moment requires unity. I visited New York less than a month ago and felt there was unity between the Jewish community establishment and the Israelis on this, and I hope it will be preserved. When we stand united, we will succeed.”
Worthy Reads
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner: In The Atlantic, University of California, Berkeley School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky reflects on a recent incident that culminated with anti-Israel student demonstrators disrupting a dinner in his home. “Overall, though, this experience has been enormously sad. It made me realize how anti-Semitism is not taken as seriously as other kinds of prejudice. If a student group had put up posters that included a racist caricature of a Black dean or played on hateful tropes about Asian American or LGBTQ people, the school would have erupted — and understandably so. But a plainly anti-Semitic poster received just a handful of complaints from Jewish staff and students. Many people’s reaction to the incident in our yard reflected their views of what is happening in the Middle East. But it should not be that way. The dinners at our house were entirely nonpolitical; there was no program of any kind. And our university communities, along with society as a whole, will be worse off if every social interaction — including ones at people’s private homes — becomes a forum for uninvited political monologues.” [TheAtlantic]
AI Alliances: In Bloomberg, UAE Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba touts efforts by Abu Dhabi and Washington to invest in the field of artificial intelligence. “To secure the advantages AI offers, governments must race to realize the technology’s potential — and limit its harm. Who controls the data and computing power? What rules are necessary to create fair and responsible access in both emerging and mature markets? Where is the clean energy needed to operate the data centers that are the brains and muscles of AI? To meet these challenges, the UAE is working with the US and other partners to write a new playbook for this breakthrough technology. It involves resetting government regulations, reimagining public-private sector collaboration, and reshaping our relations in the world. And it is based on core principles that enable AI to flourish, while putting in place a regulatory framework to ensure its just and ethical use.” [Bloomberg]
Where Is the Outrage?: The Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus interviews Sheryl Sandberg about her new documentary, “Screams Before Silence,” about the sexual violence that took place on Oct. 7. “The world that assails Israel for its conduct of the war in Gaza should be speaking out about Hamas’s concerted assault on women. The terrorist group can deny this all it wants, but any repudiations are belied by the facts: The sexual violence was not isolated but repeated and methodical, from bloody venue to bloody venue. … Where is the outrage? Where is the condemnation? ‘I think politics are blinding us,’ Sandberg, the former chief operating officer of Facebook, told me in a Zoom call. ‘I think people have become so polarized and so bought into their frameworks that they’re not able to see information that doesn’t align with those frameworks.’ Sandberg paused, then added, ‘I think there’s some antisemitism happening as part of this.’” [WashPost]
Encampment Conversations: In The Wall Street Journal, Dr. Michael Segal, a Harvard alumnus, shares what he learned from a conversation with students involved in the school’s anti-Israel encampment. “Today’s demonstrators aren’t showing the same intellectual vitality. In our discussions, they professed a vague vision of Arabs and Jews all living together in peace, sharing the land. I told them that this vision died on Oct. 7, and that outsiders interpret their ‘from the river to the sea’ signs as calling for the brutality of that day to be repeated throughout Israel. They told me that the slogan was years old, but I pointed out, and they agreed, that the original version was ‘from the water to the water, Palestine will be Arab.’ They told me that [the] original slogan wasn’t anti-Jewish because the Jews of the Middle East once referred to themselves as Arab Jews. I allowed that such a vision wasn’t entirely crazy, recounting my experience with how Arab doctors, nurses and patients get along fine with their Jewish counterparts in Israel’s hospitals. But although this is a cheery vision, the events of Oct. 7, which many groups at Harvard rushed to praise, and similar events going back a century, killed that vision. I was surprised by how much the students didn’t know. None had heard of the Farhud, the 1941 slaughter of Jews in Baghdad — something that can’t be blamed on the 1947 partition plan for the Palestine Mandate.” [WSJ]
Around the Web
Foggy Bottom Factor: The State Department determined that five IDF battalions committed human rights violations prior to the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks; four of those battalions have resolved the violations, while Foggy Bottom mulls action against a fifth, the Netzah Yehuda battalion.
Moscow Meddling: U.S. intelligence officials cautioned that Russia is using AI, fake social media accounts and its own state-run propaganda to exploit divisions in the U.S. over the Israel-Hamas war.
Trump Time: In an in-depth interview with Time magazine, former President Donald Trump discusses his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the possibility of a two-state solution and Israel’s prosecution of its war against Hamas.
Omar’s Aim: Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) introduced a resolution to block more than $650 million in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, citing Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and the UAE’s support of the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan.
Hitting the Houthis: Reps. Mark Green (R-TN), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) and Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Del. Aumua Amata Radewagen (R-AS) introduced the “Combating Houthi Threats and Aggression Act” to impose additional sanctions on the Houthis and their backers.
RJC Targets: The Republican Jewish Coalition said it will back “credible” primary challengers to Republicans who voted against last month’s Israel funding bill.
First in JI: Twenty-seven Republican governors signed onto a statement recognizing May as Jewish-American Heritage Month and standing “in solidarity with the Jewish community, especially at a time when Jewish people around the world face persecution.”
Prize Patrol: Fox News Israel-based reporter Trey Yingst was awarded the Axel Springer Academy’s George Weidenfeld Prize for his reporting; Axios‘ Barak Ravid was given the White House Correspondents’ Association’s award for journalistic excellence.
Released: A Tennessee man jailed on charges of shooting a gun near a Jewish day school in Memphis last year was released on bond.
Guess Who’s Back: A Cornell professor who is on a leave of absence after coming under criticism for praising the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks returned to the Ithaca campus to join anti-Israel protests at the Ivy.
PEN-ned In: The Atlanticreports on the challenges facing PEN America — including the decision not to hold its annual conference following a series of speaker cancelations — as it faces criticism for its refusal to accuse Israel of genocide.
Labor Pains: A group of former Google employees who were fired for protesting the company’s ties to Israel filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over their terminations.
Done Deal: WeWork struck a new restructuring agreement with its top backers to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy; the deal omits founder Adam Neumann, who had floated a proposal to purchase the company back for upwards of $500 million.
Schumer in the Spotlight: Varietytalks to comedian Amy Schumer about her rise to fame and, since Oct. 7, antisemitism she has faced and the responses she’s gotten over her support for Israel.
Active Voice: The Wall Street Journalinterviews musician John Ondrasik, also known as Five for Fighting, about his outspoken support for Israel and concerns about support for Israel in the entertainment industry.
Across the Pond: U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron pushed back against calls to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terror group, saying that such a move would “weaken” London’s negotiating position.
Down Under: Prosecutors in Sydney, Australia, charged four teenagers with a plot to purchase weapons and carry out a terror attack against Jews.
Court’s Call: The International Court of Justice rejected a Nicaraguan request to order Germany to halt its transfers of weapons and aid to Israel.
Lapid in Abu Dhabi: Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid is in the United Arab Emirates today; The New York Timestalked to Lapid over the weekend for the debut edition of its new weekly series, “The Interview.”
Searching for Answers: The Wall Street Journalreports on the efforts of Israeli parents to discover how their children — who were killed in Gaza after being taken hostage — died.
The Best Defense: 1948 Ventures’ Aaron Kaplowitz said that Israel’s defense technology could be used to address issues from climate change to energy costs.
Aid Endeavors: World Central Kitchen resumed its Gaza operations weeks after an Israeli strike killed seven aid workers; in a Washington Post op-ed, founder José Andrés explains the decision to return to the enclave.
Remembering: Writer Paul Auster, author of The New York Trilogy, died at 77. Dr. Werner Spitz, a forensics expert who played a role in numerous high-profile cases, including that of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., died at 97.
Pic of the Day
Secretary of State Tony Blinken met on Wednesday in Tel Aviv with the families of American-Israelis being held hostage by Hamas terrorists. A statement from the Hostage Families Forum said that Blinken expressed “cautious optimism” about the potential for a deal to secure the release of some of the remaining hostages.
From left: Lee Siegel, the brother of hostage Keith Siegel; Blinken; Aviva Siegel, who was held hostage by Hamas for 51 days; and Elan Siegel, the daughter of Aviva and Keith.
Birthdays
Israeli entrepreneur and software engineer, founder and CEO of Conduit, Israel’s first billion-dollar internet company, Ronen Shilo turns 66…
Progressive political activist, literary and political journalist, Larry Bensky turns 87… Retired national director of the Anti-Defamation League, now national director emeritus, Abraham Henry Foxman turns 84… Assistant professor at Yeshiva University and editor emeritus of Tradition journal, Rabbi Shalom Carmy turns 75… Deborah Chin… Boston area actor, David Alan Ross… Brigadier-general (reserves) and former chief medical officer in the IDF, he was also a member of the Knesset for 10 years, Aryeh Eldad turns 74… Of counsel at D.C.-based Sandler Reiff where he specializes in redistricting law, Jeffrey M. Wice… Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-CO) from 2007 until 2023, Edwin George “Ed” Perlmutter turns 71… Austrian-Israeli singer-songwriter, Timna Brauer turns 63… Real estate entrepreneur, he is a co-founder of the Israeli American Leadership Council (IAC) and supporter of FIDF, Eli Tene turns 61… Member of the board of governors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester, Rina F. Chessin… Member of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, David R. Karger turns 57… Israeli judoka, she is a member of the International Olympic Committee and the head of the merchandise division of Paramount Israel, Yael Arad turns 57… Majority leader of the Washington State Senate, he is a co-owner of minor league baseball’s Spokane Indians, Andrew Swire “Andy” Billig turns 56… Senior attorney in the Newark office of Eckert Seamans, Laura E. Fein… Political columnist at New York magazine since 2011, Jonathan Chait turns 52… Radio personality and voice-over artist, Gina Grad turns 46… Attorney and co-founder of I Am a Voter, a nonpartisan civic engagement organization, Mandana Rebecca Dayani turns 42… D.C.-based political reporter, Ben Jacobs turns 40… Senior video journalist covering investigative and national news for the Washington Post, Jonathan Gerberg… Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, Marina Tauber turns 38… Operations manager at GrowthSpace, Jenny Feuer… Principal at Forward Global, Omri Rahmil… Photographer and digital media editor at the Jewish Women’s Archive, Hannah Altman turns 29… Sam Zieve-Cohen…
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