Daily Kickoff
Good Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we have the latest on the dissolution of Israel’s war cabinet, report on the University of Minnesota’s revocation of a job offer to an academic who accused Israel of genocide and spotlight an art exhibition that aims to reimagine Israel’s flag. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Jerry Seinfeld, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, and Alex Katz and Jessica Dean.
As the Biden administration pressures Hamas to accept a hostage and cease-fire deal, Vice President Kamala Harris will host an event today spotlighting conflict-related sexual violence, including war crimes committed by the Palestinian terrorist group on Oct. 7 and in the months since, Jewish Insider senior national correspondent Gabby Deutch reports.
Harris will deliver remarks at the event, which will also feature a partial screening of “Screams Before Silence,” Sheryl Sandberg’s documentary about Hamas’ sexual violence, according to a White House official. Harris plans to argue that “more must be done by the international community to promote justice and accountability,” the official told JI. The plans for the event were first reported by CNN.
The White House event has been in the works for several months, according to a White House official, who said the timing is unrelated to President Joe Biden’s advocacy for Hamas to accept a cease-fire deal in Gaza.
The event is being spearheaded by the White House Gender Policy Council, which has been working closely with the National Council of Jewish Women and the Hostage and Missing Families Forum in recent weeks. The two organizations brought a delegation to the White House last month with female relatives of hostages as well as women who have been released from Hamas captivity, according to a source involved with that work. One of the released female hostages is slated to attend today’s event.
The Gender Policy Council sent invitations to all the major feminist and women’s rights organizations, according to one person involved in organizing the event. U.S leaders and Jewish women’s organizations have sharply criticized prominent advocates for the rights of women and girls for staying silent after the Oct. 7 attacks and for ignoring widespread reports of sexual violence committed by Hamas that day — so keeping an eye on the audience of the event will be revealing.
Members of Congress are not expected to attend the event, which falls during a House recess period. A bipartisan delegation of nine House members, led by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), touched down in Israel last night for a four-day congressional delegation that will include meetings with top Israeli officials. Reps. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Jake Ellzey (R-TX), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Glenn Ivey (D-MD), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Lucy McBath (D-GA), Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) and Joe Wilson (R-SC) are joining Hoyer in Israel.
Also in Israel today is White House senior advisor Amos Hochstein, who is slated to meet with officials this afternoon in an effort to calm escalating tensions between Israel and Lebanon. He met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant this morning and will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former war cabinet member Benny Gantz before heading to Lebanon.
While Hochstein is in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for meetings, Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Council Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi are traveling to D.C. for meetings in Washington.
Gallant, meanwhile, is slated to travel to Washington next week at the invitation of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
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Israeli cabinet dissolved after Gantz resignation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed members of his security cabinet on Monday that he had dissolved the country’s war cabinet after eight months. “There is no more war cabinet,” Netanyahu said, according to a source in the security cabinet. “It was part of the coalition agreement with [former minister Benny] Gantz, at his demand. The moment Gantz left, there is no such forum anymore,” Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports. Gantz and his National Union party resigned last week from the coalition, which it joined shortly after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. In their departures, Gantz and then-minister Gadi Eizenkot, a war cabinet observer, cited disagreements with Netanyahu about his handling of the war, hostage negotiations and other issues.
What it means: The forum’s dissolution is unlikely to have any real impact, since Gantz and Eizenkot were no longer members. Netanyahu noted in the security cabinet meeting that he will still be able to hold consultations with the remaining members — Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and observers Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Shas leader Aryeh Deri — and he can make decisions about the war with Gallant. That would still leave National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich out, despite their demands to join the war cabinet.
Army argument: But Gantz’s departure, which took effect on Thursday, means there is no counterbalance to Netanyahu’s left in the coalition and gives Netanyahu less political and diplomatic cover to say that Israel’s maneuvers have support from both sides of the aisle. Under pressure from ministers in his newly narrow coalition on Sunday, Netanyahu rapped an announced pause in the IDF’s fighting in Rafah to deliver humanitarian aid as “unacceptable.” A diplomatic source said that “when the prime minister heard the reports in the morning about a humanitarian break for 11 hours a day, he contacted his military secretary to say that this is unacceptable.” The source added, “Following clarifications, it was reported to the prime minister that there is no change in the IDF’s policy and fighting in Rafah is continuing as planned.”