Daily Kickoff
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meetings with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris yesterday. We talk to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell about support for Israel and the 2024 presidential election, spotlight a Senate roundtable discussion with college students about antisemitism on campus and talk to colleagues and friends of Martin Indyk, who died yesterday at 73. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin and Darius Jones.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy stories, including: Netanyahu’s Hill speech forcefully rebuts Israel’s detractors, draws polarized response; In Washington, American and Israeli statesmen remember Sen. Joe Lieberman; Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly emerges as top veepstakes contender; A deep dive into the world of Jewish influencers. Print the latest edition here.
What We’re Watching
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago today. It will be the first meeting between the two in years. The relationship between the two men soured when Netanyahu congratulated President Joe Biden on his 2020 win. Last night, Trump told Fox News that Israel needs to end the war in Gaza “and get it done quickly,” citing Israel’s worsening public image as the war nears its 10th month.
- Israeli President Isaac Herzog will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris at noon local time. Later this evening, Herzog will attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games — and will walk back to his hotel, as the ceremonies get underway just before the beginning of Shabbat.
What You Should Know
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)sat down with Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs on Thursday for an interview about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, the surging rates of antisemitism in the United States and the foreign-policy divisions within both parties.
Some of the highlights from the conversation:
McConnell, on his differences with Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), on Ukraine: “On the Ukraine issue, I was pleased that at the end, 32 of our members in the Senate voted for it, the speaker of the House voted for it, the majority leader of the House voted for it, the whip over in the House voted for it. So even though we had entirely too long of a discussion, in which we diverted off the U.S. border issue, at the end it was substantial support for Ukraine. I think that will be the majority view in the next administration if it’s a Trump administration. I have a difference of view on this subject, but I’m not leaving the Senate and intend to be pretty outspoken about it.”
On Vice President Kamala Harris: “My assumption is her policy would be the same as Biden’s. She’s been a part of this administration for the last three and a half years. My assumption is her views are likely to be the same, but if you go back to her Senate career, she was pretty much on the far political left on a whole lot of issues, unrelated to the one we talked about, but pretty far. But the president has been that way too, so I don’t know how to distinguish between them.”
On Democratic infighting over Israel: “I think the Democrats in the United States are confused about which side we ought to be on, unequivocally on. They’re divided between a fanatically sort of anti-Israel crowd. Frankly, I’ve been surprised by the level of antisemitism in this country. I had no idea, I thought this was something we had gotten past years ago. I’m pleased that in my party, there seems to be no confusion about which side we ought to be on.”
On support for Israel becoming a partisan issue: “I’ve been here a long time and on Israel support, it’s always in the past been almost totally bipartisan. There were always some fringe groups usually on the left that saw some kind of moral equivalence between the Palestinian leadership and Israel. I don’t see any. I mean, you had Hamas in Gaza, the PA in the West Bank with corrupt leadership forever … So I’m not confused about this at all. Frequently, we have tough decisions to make around here. I don’t think this should be tough at all.”
Read the full transcript of JI’s interview with McConnell here.
sending a message
Harris affirms ‘unwavering commitment’ to Israel after meeting with Netanyahu
After a 40-minute meeting on Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Vice President Kamala Harris declared her “unwavering commitment” to the State of Israel, in her first remarks on the Middle East since becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee over the weekend, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. “From when I was a young girl, collecting funds to plant trees for Israel, to my time in the United States Senate and now at the White House, I’ve had an unwavering commitment to the existence of the state of Israel, to its security and to the people of Israel,” Harris said in a six-minute address following the meeting. “I’ve said it many times, but it bears repeating. Israel has a right to defend itself, and how it does so matters.”
Same page as Biden: Harris’ remarks offered an important look at how the vice president seeks to present her approach to Israel and Gaza. While she spoke emotionally about the scale of humanitarian suffering in Gaza, her pronouncements about the course of the war and efforts to end it largely echoed the beliefs of President Joe Biden: that Washington will continue to support Israel while negotiating a cease-fire deal that leads to the release of Israeli hostages, brings humanitarian relief to Gaza and ensures Israel’s security.
Condemning the protesters: A day after anti-Israel protesters burned flags outside of Union Station in Washington, D.C., and vandalized a statue with pro-Hamas graffiti during Netanyahu’s address to Congress, Harris blasted the “despicable acts by unpatriotic protesters” and condemned “dangerous hate-fueled rhetoric.”
behind the scenes
Netanyahu delegation discouraged after meeting with VP Harris
Members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s delegation to Washington were disappointed after their meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a senior Israeli diplomatic source, expressing concern that the likely Democratic presidential nominee wants to create more daylight between the U.S. and Israel. Netanyahu and Harris’ meeting was closely watched by analysts as a likely indication of how the newly minted presidential candidate will position herself on Israel and the war in Gaza. The members of Netanyahu’s delegation to Washington didn’t have an encouraging first impression with the vice president, according to multiple Israeli sources, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Hostage negotiations: Netanyahu believes that a united front between Israel and the U.S. strengthens the Jewish state’s position in the indirect negotiations with Hamas to release the 120 hostages it is holding in Gaza. According to a source in his delegation, Netanyahu views Hamas as having walked away from negotiations in March when it saw greater pressure on Israel from Washington. Another Israeli diplomatic source specifically described Harris’ reference to ending the war through a hostage deal as problematic, because Israel ensured in its negotiations that the war can continue if Hamas does not release more hostages after the first 42-day stage of the deal. ”I hope this does not bring about a regression” in negotiations, he said.
speaking out
Congressional Democratic leaders condemn pro-Hamas demonstration in D.C.
Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill joined the growing chorus of lawmakers and officials condemning the violent pro-Hamas demonstration outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress on Wednesday, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What they said: “Hamas is a terrorist organization. Exalting them and burning the American flag is disgraceful and wrong, and defacing public property is illegal,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a statement to JI. “Hateful and antisemitic messages and threats against Jews have no place in America and must be universally condemned.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said that “Anyone who engages in that activity should be held accountable to the full extent of the law.” He also addressed Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s (D-MI) protest during Netanyahu’s speech.
McConnell’s move: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called on the Department of Justice to pursue the same maximum sentences for those involved in the defacing of Union Station that prosecutors sought “for the Capitol rioters of Jan. 6,” JI’s Emily Jacobs reports.
missouri matters
Cori Bush faces diverse coalition of opponents looking to oust her from office
The National Black Empowerment Action Fund, founded by AIPAC alumnus Darius Jones, recently began spending in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District to raise awareness around what Jones called Rep. Cori Bush’s (D-MO) underwhelming “job performance” on such issues as school choice, public safety and infrastructure investment, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Matthew Kassel report.
Stacking up: The group’s move comes as outside spending in what’s expected to be a tight race has been quietly adding up. The Aug. 6 primary has become one of the most expensive of the congressional cycle, with more than $11 million in independent expenditures — fueled largely by AIPAC’s active engagement in the contest.
remembering
Former U.S. ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk dies at 73
Martin Indyk, a veteran Mideast peace envoy and former U.S. ambassador to Israel who was the founding executive director of an influential Washington think tank and was a go-to source for interpreting the complexities of the Middle East, died on Thursday at his home in Connecticut following a battle with esophageal cancer. He was 73. Indyk, who held several prominent roles, including the first executive director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, ambassador to Israel in the Clinton administration and special Middle East envoy in the Obama administration, was remembered by friends and colleagues for his sharp foreign policy analyses and relentless pursuit of peacemaking in the Middle East, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen reports for Jewish Insider.
‘American success story’: Born in London and raised in Australia, Indyk was “a true American success story,” Robert Satloff, Indyk’s successor as the current executive director of The Washington Institute, said. While obtaining his Ph.D. in international relations at the Australian National University, Indyk came to the U.S. in 1982 for a sabbatical at Columbia University. His career in Washington started soon after, first as a researcher for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Satloff said in a statement that Indyk “came to Washington to have an impact on the making of American Middle East policy and that he surely did – as pioneering scholar, insightful analyst and remarkably effective policy entrepreneur.”
campus concerns
Rosen, Lankford host Senate roundtable on campus antisemitism
Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK), the chairs of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, hosted a roundtable with six Jewish students from around the country on Thursday morning to discuss campus antisemitism, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Work-around: The event came following pressure — thus far unsuccessful — from the two lawmakers, and others, for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), to hold a public hearing on campus antisemitism. The Senate has held no formal hearings on the issue since Oct. 7.
Worthy Reads
New York State of Hate: In The Wall Street Journal, Allan Ripp writes about his recent assault in New York’s Central Park by an assailant who attacked Ripp while shouting antisemitic slurs. “I was walking my daughter’s dog Biscotti on a sultry Saturday evening in Central Park, just below one of the cast-iron bridges leading to the reservoir. It is a shady, idyllic spot I’ve traversed thousands of times since moving to the neighborhood in 1976. A man on a CitiBike rode past and gave me a hard shove with his left elbow. I’m not one to call out cyclists for disregarding park rules, but the push was so intentional that I blurted, ‘Hey, you’re not allowed to ride your bike on the path.’ He immediately slammed on his brake, threw the bike aside and stormed toward me, his eyes bugging with rage. I tried to apologize, but he was already wound up. ‘You f—ing Jew pig. I am going to kill you and your animal,’ he screamed. In seconds he was upon me, spitting at me and hurling ‘Jew! Jew! Jew!’ while pummeling my face.” [WSJ]
Fearing the New Semester: In Newsweek, rising Vanderbilt University senior Ilana Drake looks ahead to fall as she prepares to return to a campus ahead of what is expected to be a tumultuous semester in part due to fallout from the Israel-Hamas war. “Yet, as the Israel-Hamas war continues with the real possibility of the war expanding to Lebanon, I must prepare for a more realistic senior year where antisemitism pervades the college experience. … I worry that the encampment that stayed up until early May will reappear on campus. I am afraid that round two of the rhetoric around the Israel-Hamas war will be more tense and harm Jewish students on campus. As we enter the upcoming election and look towards the fall, the warm temperature in Nashville might become hotter. I worry about entering a high-energy semester when I still feel burnout. I have spoken with my Jewish and non-Jewish peers at universities across the country where their learning has been harmed because of the political reactivity on campus. Yet, it is important to recognize what happens in regional and national scenes, too.” [Newsweek]
Stress Test: In Foreign Policy, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Aaron David Miller reflects on what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands to gain from his trip to Washington this week. “Indeed, the visit was important not so much for what it actually achieved but much more for what it reflects. And that’s this: What we call the U.S.-Israel operating system is, well, still operating. U.S. domestic politics and policy are still shaped by a profound commitment to the security of a Jewish state in a hostile neighborhood, a reality that sustains Israel’s leverage on the United States and reduces the United States’ on Israel. But that system is under severe stress as Netanyahu’s Israel has become a deeply partisan and divisive issue in U.S. politics. Whether a putative Harris administration would adopt a tougher approach toward Israel, especially regarding its policies toward Palestinians, remains to be seen. But for Netanyahu, who has allied himself with the Republican Party, repairing his ties to Donald Trump has become more important than ever.” [ForeignPolicy]
Harris’ Tightrope: The Atlantic’s Gal Beckerman considers the challenges facing Vice President Kamala Harris as she lays out her own Middle East positions while facing attacks from both the right and the left. “Even as she should insist that it is neither anti-Semitic nor anti-Israel to show concern for Palestinian civilians in Gaza, she has to keep her distance from those on the left whose activism and concern are more about anti-Zionism than being pro-Palestinian. And she seems primed to do this, issuing a statement that strongly condemned yesterday’s protests in Washington, D.C., against Netanyahu’s visit, denouncing activists who engaged in Hamas cosplay as ‘despicable’ and ‘abhorrent.’ In addition to defusing the tensions over student activism, Harris’s facility with expressing empathy gives her a chance to win over those 100,000-plus voters in Michigan who voted ‘uncommitted’ in February’s Democratic primary as a protest against Biden’s Israel policies. But if Harris does so by moving too far toward those whose sympathies are not as evenhanded and generous as hers seem to be — such as Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, who talk of a ‘genocide’ — that will be both a mistake and a political problem: [former President Donald] Trump’s refrain about her being an enemy of the Jews will be in regular rotation.” [TheAtlantic]
Word on the Street
Vice President Kamala Harris said she was ready to debate former President Donald Trump on Sept. 10, the date initially set by the Trump and Biden campaigns for a second debate; a Trump campaign spokesperson said a debate date “cannot be finalized until Democrats formally decide on their nominee”…
The Associated Press looks at how Harris’ religious and cultural backgrounds have shaped some of her political positions…
Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, endorsed Harris’ presidential bid…
In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley criticized both Harris and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), the GOP’s vice presidential nominee, for skipping Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday…
Clean-up began around the area around Washington’s Union Station where anti-Israel protesters defaced buildings and structures; efforts to remove the graffiti are expected to take several days…
NBC News interviewed Republican politicos who suggested that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro would be a strong running mate for Harris and could complicate GOP efforts to retake the White House; meanwhile, Harris plans to announce her running mate by Aug. 7…
Israel is increasing pressure on the White House to fast-track a number of weapons systems it says it needs for protection; members of the delegation reportedly handed out lists of the specific weapons systems to legislators at the end of Netanyahu’s Capitol address…
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) released a poll showing her with a 60-33% lead over Don Samuels ahead of the Aug. 13 primary…
Prosecutors in Washington, D.C., dropped charges against 11 people arrested during Wednesday’s protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu near the Capitol; six others were released pending their next hearings…
A bipartisan group of Senate and House lawmakers introduced a bill on Thursday that would place new sanctions on those involved in the Palestinian Authority’s payments to the families of dead and imprisoned terrorists, with some sponsors arguing that previous legislative efforts to end the program, like the Taylor Force Act, have fallen short, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin is looking for a buyer for up to $1 billion of his stake in the company, following a drop in the sports merchandiser’s profits this year…
The Wall Street Journal looks at efforts by Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman to leverage his social media popularity and bring in capital ahead of the launch of his new publicly traded investment fund…
The Canada Revenue Agency is planning to revoke the nonprofit status of Canada’s Jewish National Fund; the agency alleged that JNF Canada had supported Israeli military infrastructure in violation of its status as a charitable group…
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz notified French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné that Iran was planning to attack Israelis at the Summer Olympics in Paris, which begins tonight; France’s railway system suffered a “coordinated sabotage” this morning that shut down a number of train lines throughout the country…
Anshel Pfeffer is departing Haaretz and joining The Economist in a full-time capacity…
Comedy writer Bob Booker, who was not himself Jewish but whose hit albums included “You Don’t Have to Be Jewish” and “When You’re in Love the Whole World Is Jewish,” died at 92…
Pic of the Day
President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Thursday with families of the American hostages after a bilateral sit-down at the White House.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Special Envoy for the Middle East Brett McGurk, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew, Israeli Brig.-Gen. (Res.) Gal Hirsch, Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Mike Herzog joined the meeting.
Birthdays
Real estate developer who founded Aspen Square Management, he heads an eponymous foundation known for its flagship program PJ Library, Harold Grinspoon turns 95 on Saturday…
FRIDAY: Retired member of the British House of Lords, Baroness Sally Oppenheim-Barnes turns 96… Former mayor of Las Vegas for 12 years, where he was succeeded by his wife who is still serving as mayor, Oscar Goodman turns 85… Former administrator at the University of Illinois and the University of Houston, chancellor of the California State University system and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, Barry Munitz turns 83… Journalist and author or co-author of nearly two dozen books, both of her parents were killed in Auschwitz, Paulette Cooper turns 82… Author, podcaster, columnist and rabbi, Shammai Engelmayer turns 79… Member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2012 to 2016, Richard Stark turns 72… President and chief medical officer at Laguna Health, Alan H. Spiro, MD, MBA… Film and television director, Lesli Linka Glatter turns 71… Sports columnist, author, television and radio personality, he works for ESPN’s Charlotte-based SEC Network since 2014, Paul Finebaum turns 68… Venture capitalist and brother-in-law of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, James W. Breyer turns 63… Tel Aviv legal headhunter, Minna Ferziger Felig turns 62… Actor, comedian and producer, Jeremy Samuel Piven turns 59… Former correspondent at ABC News for 23 years, now co-founder at Ten Percent Happier, Daniel B. “Dan” Harris turns 53… Founder and chairman of the DC-based consulting firm, Stonington Global, Nicholas Muzin turns 49… U.S. Sen, (R-OK), Markwayne Mullin turns 47… Actress best known for her role in the “Spider-Man” trilogy, Mageina Tovah Begtrup turns 45… Managing partner of the D.C. office of ColdSpark, Nachama Soloveichik… Political correspondent at Israel’s Walla News, Tal Shalev… Israeli born classical music composer, Gilad Hochman turns 42… Israeli born R&B singer and songwriter, Hila Bronstein turns 41… Former manager of clinical communications at Henry Ford Health, Lauren Garfield-Herrin… Actress and filmmaker, Hallie Meyers-Shyer turns 37… Member of the comedy group “The Try Guys,” Zachary Andrew “Zach” Kornfeld turns 34… Analyst at the congressionally created Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Drew Gerber… Running back for the NFL’s New York Jets, Tarik Cohen turns 29… Pitcher on the Israeli Women’s National Softball Team, Tamara “T” Statman Schoen turns 27… President at B&B Digital Media, Tomer Barazani…
SATURDAY: Forensic pathologist known for his HBO show and his work investigating high-profile deaths, Michael M. Baden turns 90… Managing partner of Access Fund Management Company, he is a past President of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, Harold Zlot… Former deputy secretary of defense and then CIA Director in the Clinton administration, now a professor emeritus at MIT, John M. Deutch turns 86… Steven M. Mizel turns 85… Former chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Stephen M. Greenberg turns 80… Artist and museum founder focused on Fusionism, Shalom Tomáš Neuman turns 77… Israeli author and television producer, Yarin Kimor turns 72… Israeli-born fitness personality, Gilad Janklowicz turns 70… Comedian, writer, producer and actress, Carol Leifer turns 68… Washington bureau chief and White House correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, Linda Feldmann… Former VP of global communications, marketing and public policy at Facebook, he previously held a similar position at Google, Elliot Schrage turns 64… U.S. Army Colonel (retired), Jeffrey Brian Carra… Israeli television and radio personality, Erez Moshe Tal turns 63… Heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, now a film producer, Jean “Gigi” Pritzker turns 62… Former CEO of the Rabbinical Assembly, she is now the managing director at Leading Ethics, LLC, Rabbi Julie Schonfeld… Member of the Hungarian Parliament for 20 years, then a member of the European Parliament since 2009, Tamás Deutsch turns 58… Rabbi at Kesher Israel: The Georgetown Synagogue, Rabbi Hyim Shafner… Former national platform director for the Democratic National Committee, now a political consultant and recruiter, Andrew Grossman… Former chief of staff of the House Republican Conference, he is now the managing partner at Capitol Venture, LLC, a boutique public affairs firm, Jeremy Deutsch… SVP of marketing at Xometry and winner on “Jeopardy!” in 2019, Aaron Lichtig… D.C. area political activist, Benjamin Rothenberg… SVP at Upland Workshop, Jeremy Adler…
SUNDAY: Survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau as a teen, he emigrated to Israel and became an artist, Yehuda Bacon turns 95… Chicago radio news personality, Walter David Jacobson turns 87… U.S. District Court judge in Manhattan until 2006, then U.S. attorney general for the last 14 months of the Bush 43 administration, now of counsel at the international law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton, Michael Mukasey turns 83… Swedish industrialist and former chairman of the Nobel Foundation, Marcus Storch, Ph.D. turns 82… In 1986 she became first woman in the IDF to hold the rank of brigadier general, she then served as a member of Knesset, and now serves on multiple for-profit and nonprofit boards, Amira Dotan turns 77… Oldest active quarterback, he also manages football teams in Baltimore and Jerusalem, Joe Pollak turns 74… President of the Council on Foreign Relations for 20 years until he retired in 2023, Richard N. Haass turns 73… Sports columnist, commentator and author of 44 sports-related books, John Feinstein turns 68… Tel Aviv-born real estate developer, he has restored many historic buildings in Downtown Los Angeles, Izek Shomof turns 65… Partner and managing director of Meadow Lane Advisors, he serves on the board of American Jewish World Service, Marty Friedman… French-Israeli hairdresser and entrepreneur, Michel Mercier turns 63… Sports executive, attorney and former president of basketball operations for the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, David Kahn turns 63… Television and radio personality in Atlanta, Mara Davis turns 55… Tech entrepreneur and investor, Joshua M. “Josh” Linkner turns 54… Co-founder and CEO of 23andMe, Anne Wojcicki turns 51… Actress and reality show personality, Elizabeth Berkley Lauren turns 50… Inaugural Jewish life venture fellow at the William Davidson Foundation, now deputy CEO at UpStart, Jennifer Lew Goldstone… Jerusalem-born actor with more than 30 movie and television roles in the U.S., Ori Pfeffer turns 49… Associate justice of the Supreme Court of California, Leondra Kruger turns 48… Israeli journalist and former member of the Knesset, Ksenia Svetlova turns 47… Managing partner at Altitude Ventures, a healthcare venture capital firm, he is a former White House liaison to the Jewish community, Jay Zeidman… Senior reporter at Bloomberg News, Laura Nahmias… CEO and CTO at Diagnostic Robotics in Jerusalem, the firm produced an app for managing COVID patients during the pandemic, Kira Radinsky, Ph.D. turns 38… VP of player personnel at MLB’s Miami Marlins, Samuel Mondry-Cohen… Director of operations at Lehigh Valley Homecare in Allentown, Pa., Menachem (Mark) Perl… National political enterprise reporter at the Washington Post, Ruby Cramer… Larry Gordon…