Daily Kickoff
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we preview tonight’s presidential debate in Atlanta. We also profile Israeli Brig. Gen. Ofer Winter, report on a letter from House Speaker Mike Johnson to the White House expressing concerns over hostage-release negotiations and cover the final day of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s trip to Washington. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Jordanian Ambassador to the U.S. Dina Kawar, Sen. John Fetterman and Deni Avdija.
What We’re Watching
- The first presidential debate of 2024 starts tonight on CNN at 9 p.m. ET in Atlanta. More below on what we’re looking out for tonight.
- Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) wraps up his trip to Israel today. More below on his meeting yesterday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
- At the Aspen Ideas Festival today, Katie Couric will interview Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this morning about governance in a purple state. This afternoon, Stanford student journalist Theo Baker will participate in a panel on media disinformation. Later in the afternoon, Rabbi Sharon Brous will join faith leaders for a conversation about maintaining hope in troubling times.
- We’re keeping an eye on any public statements from Doctors Without Borders (MSF), a day after the IDF released images of Dr. Fadi al-Wadiya, a MSF staffer whom the military said was a missiles expert associated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad. In the images released by the IDF, al-Wadiya appears in uniform alongside other militants. MSF had denied al-Wadiya’s connection to the terror group after he was killed in a targeted Israeli strike earlier this week, but has not commented since the IDF released the images on Thursday.
What You Should Know
Today marks the beginning of a monthlong stretch that is likely to determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. The first presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will be held this evening in Atlanta, and the stakes couldn’t be higher, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes.
Since Trump’s conviction, Biden has made small gains in national polling, enough to open up a realistic path to victory despite his lagging approval ratings and widespread public pessimism about the direction of the country. Trump still faces persistent questions from the public over his temperament, governing approach and legal exposure. All those vulnerabilities will be coming to a head in the coming weeks.
Tonight’s debate will be Trump’s first big test, and he has a lot on the line. Biden needs to reassure voters he’s up to the job for the next four years, and is able to lay out a vision for a second term. But Trump also needs to show that he can make the argument for why the country needs a change of leadership, without turning the debate into an extended rant against Biden, as he did in the first 2020 debate, to his detriment.
Trump’s campaign operation has been markedly more professional than it was during his last two presidential campaigns, and it will be a chance for the former president to display a more serious side — amid low expectations. But if he reminds voters why they voted him out in the first place, Biden would likely gain momentum from the showdown.
Expect questions about Mideast policy and antisemitism to come up at tonight’s debate, which will be moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. Biden, who has tried to balance his support for Israel while keeping left-wing critics of Israel in the Democratic fold, will also be tested over his increasingly chilly relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his administration’s struggles to reach a diplomatic deal allowing for the release of hostages.
Trump has said that Hamas wouldn’t have attacked Israel if he was president and has called Israel to “finish [the war] and do it quickly,” but has rarely been pressed on his specific views on the war.
Earlier this week, Trump posted on his TruthSocial site, encouraging followers to watch Sheryl Sandberg’s recent documentary “Screams Before Silence,” about Hamas’ widespread sexual assaults on Oct. 7. Earlier this month, the White House hosted an event on sexual violence during which they screened a portion of the film.
But Trump can be unpredictable, and his once-close relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu soured after the prime minister congratulated Biden on his 2020 election win. Trump has since publicly accused Netanyahu of pulling out of a plan to assassinate IRGC Gen. Qassem Soleimani in 2020, which the U.S. carried out alone.
We’d also anticipate questioningon the rise of antisemitism in America to come up during the debate. Biden condemned anti-Israel instigators in Los Angeles for blocking access to a synagogue and turning violent towards Jewish counterprotesters as “dangerous, unconscionable, antisemitic, and un-American” in a statement this week.
The other big decision point in the race is Trump’s selection of a running mate, which looks like it’s coming down to a clash between a more traditional Republican who would reassure some Trump skeptics (North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum) and a contender immersed in the language and priorities of the MAGA movement (Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance).
On the political front, a Vance selection would suggest Trump is confident — if not cocky — about his standing in the race by making a base-first pick at a time when he is slipping a bit in the polls. Going with a businessman-turned-governor with executive experience, like Burgum, would be a sign that he can’t take the race for granted and needs to broaden his coalition.
On policy, the biggest difference between the two veepstakes contenders is over international affairs, and would signal whether Trump wants to break from the long-standing bipartisan consensus of an engaged American role in the world. Vance has gone to great lengths to showcase his support for Israel, but his embrace of an America First worldview would be a departure from the GOP internationalist consensus on foreign policy — and a signal of Trump’s own thinking for a second term.
Finally, mark July 11 on your calendar to see if Trump will face any jail time after his conviction in the New York hush-money case. Odds are he’ll face probation instead, but any sentencing surprises could be one of the few factors that could alter the trajectory of the presidential contest. The week after the sentencing, Trump will be nominated at the GOP’s convention in Milwaukee.
Buckle up for a wild political ride this summer. With a polarized electorate in their own echo chambers, it’s unlikely for any one event to dramatically move the polling needle. But with a race this close, even incremental movement will have an outsized impact.
winter is coming
The hawkish departing IDF officer that right-wing parties are competing to recruit
Brig. Gen. Ofer Winter has become a polarizing figure over the past decade with his controversial remarks and under-the-radar meetings with his friend, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. The IDF released Winter at the rank of brigadier general last month, making headlines across Israel. To the Israeli right, Winter has come to represent a martyr of partisan politics, drummed out of the military due to his ties to the religious Zionist community and hawkish security views — and many view him as a worthy candidate for defense minister. To the left, he is seen as embodying a dangerous combination of religion and militarism, as well as demonstrating a willingness to break the rules and politicize IDF operations and decision-making. Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov profiles Winter and digs into what makes him the hottest name on the Israeli right today.
Who is he? Winter, 53, is a father of eight and a grandfather who lives in a religious Zionist village close to the Sea of Galilee. He grew up in the suburbs of Haifa, and when he was 2 years old, his father, David, fought in the Yom Kippur War in a tank on both sides of the Suez Canal; Winter has cited his father’s experience as an inspiration to him. Winter put himself on the path to a military career as a young teen, attending a religious military boarding school, and then Bnei David, the elite religious Zionist mechina, or pre-military academy, in the West Bank settlement of Eli.
Read the full profile here.
campus beat
Harvard Jewish leaders, alumni disappointed by antisemitism task force recommendations
A six-page set of preliminary recommendations released on Wednesday by a Harvard University task force focused on combating antisemitism at the school falls short of expectations set by Jewish faculty, alumni and a member of the school’s previous antisemitism advisory group who spoke to eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen, reporting for Jewish Insider, shortly after the document’s release.
What it says: The suggestions, which interim President Alan Garber is expected to review, were divided into six areas: clarify Harvard’s values; act against discrimination, bullying, harassment and hate; improve disciplinary processes; implement education and training; foster constructive dialogue; and support Jewish life on campus. The document lacks “comments about hiring faculty, interim and full-time, about rethinking DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] and ensuring sanctions against those who have called for violence,” Rabbi David Wolpe, a former member of a separate antisemitism advisory group that the elite university formed last year amid an academic year marked by strife for Jewish students, told JI.
Bonus: Two Jewish university professors, speaking at a House Education and the Workforce subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, discussed the hostile environments they and other Jewish faculty have faced on college campuses in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
open mike
Johnson has ‘grave concern’ Biden policy making hostage release harder
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) accused President Joe Biden of failing to take adequate action to help free the remaining American hostages being held in Gaza in a new letter to the president sent Wednesday morning, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Notable quotable: “I write today to express grave concern that your administration is not taking sufficient steps to ensure the release of American hostages who are detained by Hamas terrorists in Gaza,” Johnson wrote. He accused Biden of failing to “resolutely support Israel in its military objectives to eliminate Hamas,” which Johnson said has “made it harder to facilitate the release of those being detained.”
Read the full story here.
YG in DC
Gallant says progress made on arms sales, affirms Israeli commitment to hostage proposal
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said during a visit to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday that Israel is committed to the hostage deal outlined by President Joe Biden, and that he had successfully resolved some issues delaying U.S. arms shipments to Israel, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What he said: “During the meetings we made significant progress, obstacles were removed, and bottlenecks were addressed, in order to advance a variety of issues and more specifically the topic of force build-up and supply of munition,” Gallant said. He also affirmed Israel’s commitment to the cease-fire deal. “The State of Israel, the defense establishment — we are all committed to and firmly backing the president’s deal. Hamas must accept it or bear the consequences.”
Bonus: The delivery of 2,000-pound bombs from the U.S. to Israel remains on hold, Axios reports.
on the hill
House votes to boost security grant funding by $30 million
The House voted on Wednesday to add $30 million to its proposed funding allocation for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program in 2025, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. The House initially proposed funding the program at $305 million, repeating 2023 funding levels, which supporters of the program called woefully inadequate, given the rise in threats to Jewish and other communities since Oct. 7 and significant existing funding shortages for the program. The new amendment, approved by a voice vote, would boost that to $335 million.
More to do: Jewish groups applauded the move, but at least one Jewish community advocate said the funding level is still far below what’s necessary, highlighting the demonstration, which turned violent, outside a Los Angeles synagogue over the weekend as evidence of the need for the NSGP.
heard in aspen
Jordan’s U.S. ambassador: ‘Israel is losing all of the Arab countries’
Jordanian Ambassador to the U.S. Dina Kawar warned on Wednesday that Israel is at risk of losing its relationships with Arab nations, including Jordan, with which Israel has had a peace deal for three decades, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. “Israel is losing all of the Arab countries,” Kawar said during a panel at the Aspen Ideas Festival. “At this point they have the treaty with Jordan, with Egypt — Saudi Arabia was supposed to be signed, but with UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and others. And right now, the Arab population and the Arab public opinion is so upset at seeing the images that we’re seeing in Gaza. So this is really also a loss for any future for the region.”
Also on the panel: Kawar spoke alongside Tom Nides, who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel until July 2023. Nides, who was a champion of the Abraham Accords during his time in Jerusalem, said that Israel and Saudi Arabia are close to a normalization deal — but only after the war ends. “My hope, my prayer, is that we help rebuild Gaza with the help of the Arab countries, with the with the countries including Jordan and Egypt and the Emiratis, and my hope is that — with Qatar and Kuwait — and possibly out of this, we’re going to get a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia,” Nides said. “The power of normalization, as Jordan knows, if we get a possible Saudi normalization, it could change the Middle East forever. And we’re on the cusp of that. We have to get the war done.”
Worthy Reads
Northern Exposure:The Atlantic’s Graeme Wood travels to Israel’s north to better understand the threat posed by Hezbollah in Lebanon as a war with the Iranian proxy looms. “Conversely, if Hezbollah wished to avert an Israeli invasion, some say, it could just stop firing missiles into Israel and allow residents to return to their homes and farms. But a promise from Hezbollah to stop firing rockets would not, under Israel’s post–October 7 doctrine, be enough. After Hamas’s attack, Israel decided that an enemy’s promises are not sufficient, and instead Israel must degrade the enemy’s ability to invade and slaughter Israeli communities. Yaakov Amidror, a former Israeli national security adviser, told me that the principle applies equally to the north and south. ‘It’s no longer about what an enemy has in its mind,’ he said. ‘It’s not about ideology. It’s about what they can do.’ He said that Hezbollah would need to retreat from the border, far enough to prevent it from launching a surprise attack resembling Hamas’s on October 7.” [TheAtlantic]
L.A. Law (and Disorder): In The Free Press, Noah Pollak recounts his experience attempting to access the recent Israeli real estate event that was met with violent protests. “In Los Angeles and other big cities, and on many elite campuses, the message from authorities is essentially: things would be so much easier if you stayed off campus, avoided the library, didn’t go to your synagogue, and overall just stayed away from the mobs that regularly gather to confront you. It’s important to note that this approach applies only to certain kinds of people. If a hundred masked Christian Republicans, say, had gathered in front of a Los Angeles mosque on Sunday and assaulted Muslims, we would now be several days into a national news cycle about Islamophobia and injustice in America. There would be joint LAPD-FBI task forces kicking down doors, and press conferences, vigils, presidential speeches, and multipart investigative reports from numerous leading publications.” [FreePress]
Bowman’s Fall: In The Nation, Alexis Grenell considers the reasons that Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) fell short in his primary earlier this week. “Bowman lost J-Street’s endorsement and Jewish voters who’d previously supported him not only because he moved away from this position but also because he flirted with and then fully ingratiated himself to a section of the left that does not believe in Israel’s right to exist at all, often bleeding into an antisemitism that I’ve written about extensively. Bowman went deep down this spiral when he could’ve more easily faced his voters if he’d stuck to a substantive critique of US foreign policy. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), who campaigned with Bowman in the Bronx, describes himself as ‘pro-Israel and pro-Palestine,’ and managed to unequivocally condemn Hamas while cosponsoring a resolution calling for a cease-fire as early as October. He is neither a favorite of AIPAC nor beloved by hardline pro-Palestine activists who demonstrated against him at a concert.’” [TheNation]
Word on the Street
Egypt and the United Arab Emirates are reportedly on board to participate in an international security force in postwar Gaza…
Israeli officials criticized U.N. organizations for causing bottlenecks in aid delivery in Gaza; Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer noted that non-U.N. agencies haven’t had the same difficulties providing aid in the enclave…
Israel reestablished its working groups on Iran, a year and a half after they halted meetings…
Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) introduced an impeachment resolution yesterday accusing President Joe Biden of abuse of power for withholding weapons from Israel for personal political benefit…
Legislators in California killed a bill in the state Legislature that would have provided unemployment benefits to striking workers, citing anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric present at some of the recent strikes in the state protesting the war in Gaza…
The state Legislature in North Carolina approved a bill adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism…
Trustees at the University of Central Florida approved changes to the school’s rules on camping and public gatherings; days earlier, Florida State University adopted similar policies…
The University of California, Berkeley will expand antisemitism education to all incoming freshmen for the next five years; Chancellor Carol Christ also committed to expanding its Center for Jewish Studies and creating a minor in Israel studies…
The New York Times looks at how debates over the Israel-Hamas war are playing out in New York City’s private schools…
Attorney Roberta Kaplan is departing Kaplan Hecker & Fink, the law firm she co-founded, following allegations of staff mistreatment…
The Wall Street Journal interviewed Ben & Jerry’s co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield about their political activism and the fury over the 2021 decision to attempt to halt sales in parts of Israel and the West Bank…
Actor Josh Malina will star in the London production of a stage adaptation of Nathan Englander’s “What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank”; the play was revamped by Englander and director Patrick Marber in recent months to address the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks…
Deni Avdija is headed to the Portland Trail Blazers after four years with the Washington Wizards…
CNN spotlights towns on the Lebanese border with Israel as tensions between Hezbollah and Israel continue to rise…
Iranian presidential candidate Ghazizadeh Hasehmi dropped out of the race a day before voters head to the polls; such withdrawals are common in Iranian elections in order to allow support to coalesce around fewer hard-line candidates…
Russia said it is in the final stages of negotiating a new bilateral cooperation agreement with Iran…
Human rights activist Leah Levin, who was active in South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement before moving to the U.K., died at 98…
Pic of the Day
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) met yesterday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports. Fetterman is making his first trip to Israel this week.
“We’ve been through dark times in these months of anguished war. And during that time, I can say that Israel has had no better friend than Sen. John Fetterman,” Netanyahu said in the video while standing alongside the senator.
“I want to thank you for your courageous statements that show moral clarity and moral courage,” he continued. “You just say it the way it is. And we appreciate this friendship at all times, but especially in these times, so welcome, friend.”
Fetterman responded by telling Netanyahu, “We stand with Israel through this, and I’m so sorry for what’s been done to this nation, but [it’s] just an honor to be here today.”
Birthdays
Author of fiction and nonfiction books, she is the founding president of the Mayyim Hayyim mikveh in Newton, Mass., Anita Diamant turns 73…
One of the heirs to the Bronfman family fortune, a co-founder of Taglit Birthright, the first Chairman of the United Jewish Communities and former owner of MLB’s Montreal Expos, Charles Bronfman turns 93… One-half of the husband-wife screenwriting and television production team, Richard Allen Shapiro turns 90… Brooklyn resident, Meyer Roth… Former member of both houses of the Pennsylvania Legislature, Constance Hess “Connie” Williams turns 80… Former commander of the Israeli Navy, head of the Shin Bet and member of Knesset, Amihai “Ami” Ayalon turns 79… First-ever woman ordained as a rabbi by HUC-JIR, Sally Jane Priesand turns 78… New Jersey resident, Kenneth R. Blankfein… Democratic member of both houses of the Florida legislature: House of Representatives until 2018 and Senate since, Lori Berman turns 66… Managing director at Osprey Foundation, Louis Boorstin… and his twin brother, senior advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group, Robert O. Boorstin, both turn 65… British historian and award-winning author, he is a great-great-nephew of Sir Moses Montefiore, Simon Sebag Montefiore turns 59… Southern California-based accountant, Susan M. Feldman… Creator of multiple TV series including “Felicity,” “Alias,” “Lost” and “Fringe,” and director and producer of many films, Jeffrey Jacob (J.J.) Abrams turns 58… President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland (Ore.) since 2010, Marc N. Blattner turns 55… South Florida resident, Gordon M. Gerstein… Reporter for The New York Times on the climate desk, Lisa Friedman… Member of the Knesset for the United Torah Judaism alliance, Yoel Yaakov Tessler turns 51… Senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute, Ilya Shapiro… Israeli judoka, best known for his default victory at the 2004 Summer Olympics when his Iranian opponent refused to fight him, Ehud Vaks turns 45… Director of stakeholder advocacy at Ford Motor, Caroline Elisabeth Adler Morales… Singer and musician, best known for being Avril Lavigne’s lead guitarist, Evan David Taubenfeld turns 41… Executive talent partner at Greylock Partners, Holly Rose Faith… Foreign policy adviser to Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Charles Dunst…
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