Daily Kickoff
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we spotlight the challenge facing the RNC as the convention plays host to speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks, talk to the leadership of No Labels about their views of the race following President Joe Biden’s disastrous showing at the presidential debate this month and report on a Virginia court ruling ordering American Muslims for Palestine to turn over financial documents. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Adam Schiff, Bill Ackman and U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake.
What We’re Watching
- At the Republican National Convention this morning, the Jewish Leadership Coalition is holding a Trump 47 Committee kickoff brunch featuring Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Rep. David Kustoff (R-TN) and former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY). In the afternoon, Polaris National Security and the Bastion Institute are hosting a conversation about national security featuring Graham and Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN), hosted by Morgan Ortagus.
- Tonight’s mainstage speeches at the RNC will focus on foreign policy and national security. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) will take the stage for the first time after being announced as President Donald Trump’s pick for vice president.
- At the Aspen Security Forum this afternoon, Roger Carstens, the State Department’s special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, will sit for a fireside chat with NBC News’ Courtney Kube. Later in the afternoon, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper is slated to speak on a panel titled “The Evolving Threat Landscape.”
What You Should Know
In a notable pitch to skeptics of former President Donald Trump during the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night in Milwaukee, Nikki Haley laid out her decision to endorse her former one-time primary rival, underscoring how the traditional and MAGA wings of the GOP are largely uniting behind the former president in the final months of the election, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports from the convention.
To make her case, Haley leaned on her foreign policy experience as a former U.N. ambassador, praising what she described as Trump’s deterrence of violent conflict in Ukraine and Israel and voicing concern about what she called “an obscene rise in antisemitism” during President Joe Biden’s time in office.
“To my fellow Republicans, we must not only be a unified party — we must also expand our party,” she said in her RNC speech, which the Trump campaign had asked her to give after he survived an assassination attempt last weekend. “We are so much better when we are bigger.”
She added: “You don’t have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him.”
Haley’s appeal to Trump skeptics was one of the most striking indicators that the GOP is morphing into a Trump-led party of rowdy contrasts that don’t always cohere into a cogent whole.
On Tuesday, the contrasts were on clear display. The anti-woke provocateur Vivek Ramaswamy, for instance, appeared onstage before Haley, one of his fiercest critics. Elsewhere, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Trump’s newly minted running mate, could be seen schmoozing with former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) on the floor of the convention center.
And two markedly different types of battleground-state candidates for Senate, the right-wing Kari Lake of Arizona and traditional Pennsylvania conservative Dave McCormick, were each introduced within minutes of one another.
In his speech, McCormick, who is challenging Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) in the Keystone State and witnessed the Trump shooting up close on Saturday, cast the election as “a choice between strength and weakness,” while claiming that the U.S. deserves a “president and a Senate that will unite America.”
The issue of antisemitism on college campuses also took center stage on Tuesday. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) drew an enthusiastic response from the crowd as she denounced the “vile antisemitism” on college campuses following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks on what she called “our most precious ally Israel.”
Meanwhile at the Aspen Security Forum, the attempted assassination of the former president is shaking up the conference, which kicked off last night, JI’s Marc Rod reports from the Colorado mountain town. Planned panels with the director of the Secret Service, secretary of Homeland Security and senior officials from the Department of Justice and National Security Council have been called off, with those officials focused on responding to the near-miss attack.
A newly added panel this afternoon, featuring former Defense Secretary Mark Esper and former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, is set to tackle the Trump assassination attempt and other domestic threats head-on. The Trump attack is also a key topic of conversation among attendees.
But the conference is in many ways proceeding as normal. Ng Eng Hen, the Singaporean minister of defense, said last night, breaking into laughter as he looked out on a packed house, “I told my wife, look, ‘There’s a Republican convention going on, they’re investigating the would-be assassination, there won’t be many people in this forum.’ And they all came to listen to me.”
Joseph Nye, the co-chair of the Aspen Strategy Group, contextualized the current moment in his opening remarks. “This is not the worst of times, despite the horrible violence of assassination that we saw this last week, but it’s not the best of times either.”
Nye highlighted that the 1960s saw several major assassinations and major civil unrest in the U.S., but also that the attendees at the forum didn’t imagine three years ago that the Middle East would again be in flames after the promise of the Abraham Accords and the prospect of Saudi-Israel normalization, and that Europe would be engulfed in a multiyear land war.
republican lineup
The GOP’s split screen on antisemitism
The Republican National Convention, which kicked off on Monday, is elevating several speakers who have espoused antisemitic rhetoric — from Tucker Carlson to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) — to primetime roles. At the same time, the convention is featuring party leaders speaking out against campus antisemitism, including Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY). The ideological split screen on antisemitism is a reflection of how the traditional and MAGA wings of the Republican Party are coexisting, however uncomfortably, in former President Donald Trump’s GOP, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports from Milwaukee.
Controversial choices: The four-day event has given prominent placement to speakers accused of promoting antisemitic tropes, including Charlie Kirk, the founder and CEO of the pro-Trump campus group Turning Point USA, who has stirred controversy for defending Elon Musk’s endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory, among other things. Along with Kirk, the Republican convention on Monday featured Mark Robinson, the lieutenant governor of North Carolina now running for governor, whose extensive history of antisemitic comments has long raised concerns among Jewish community members in his state.
clarity in hindsight
No Labels’ ‘told ya so’ moment
The centrist advocacy organization No Labels earned the ire of Democrats for coming close to fielding a third-party candidate in this year’s presidential election, which the group pursued while arguing that Americans aren’t happy with their choices in Biden and former President Donald Trump. While they didn’t follow through on the effort, No Labels’ leaders feel vindicated by what they’re seeing now, as they hear from some Democrats who are telling them they were right — maybe another option actually would’ve been useful right about now. No Labels’ top strategists even feel a touch of schadenfreude. Mostly, though, what they feel is fury, the group’s leaders told Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch.
New fans: “There are people on the Democratic side who have convinced themselves that Trump is so bad, that anything they do in their mind to stop him, the ends always justify the means, except here’s the problem: The things they’re doing are gonna put him back in the White House,” No Labels chief strategist Ryan Clancy told JI on Friday. Since Biden’s debate performance led Democrats to question whether they should try to replace him in the weeks before the party’s convention next month, No Labels has “gotten tons of correspondence from people who said, ‘I finally understood what you were trying to do,’” Nancy Jacobson, the group’s founder, said.
terror funding
Virginia judge rules pro-Palestinian group required to disclose donor documents
In a major court ruling in Virginia on Tuesday, a Richmond judge ordered that a pro-Palestinian group with alleged ties to Hamas must turn over closely guarded financial documents requested by the state attorney general as part of an investigation into its funding sources, according to a statement released by his office, Jewish Insider’s Mattew Kassel reports.
Significant setback: The highly anticipated decision represents a significant setback for American Muslims for Palestine, a Virginia-based nonprofit organization that could now be compelled to turn over sensitive financial records, including donor information it has long successfully shielded from public view.
vance’s views
Vance on Iran: ‘If you’re going to punch the Iranians, you punch them hard’
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), the newly minted running mate of former President Donald Trump, is embracing a hawkish approach to American engagement in the Middle East. “If you’re going to punch the Iranians, you punch them hard,” he said in comments to Fox News in Milwaukee, where the Republican National Convention began on Monday, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Exception to the rule: The Ohio senator has generally espoused an isolationist message in the Senate — most notably on the war in Ukraine. But in recent months, Vance has more openly sought to carve out an exception for Israel and the Middle East, amid concerns from some pro-Israel donors and GOP hawks who have raised questions over the consistency of his America First foreign policy views.
assist for bush
Cori Bush received multiple donations from NBA player Kyrie Irving
Rep. Cori Bush’s (D-MO) election campaign has received multiple large donations from Kyrie Irving, the NBA star who was condemned by Jewish groups over antisemitism, including his promotion of a film that spread Holocaust denial, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Based on Federal Election Commission records, Bush is the only candidate to whom Irving — who has no apparent ties to St. Louis — has donated.
By the numbers: Those donations include a $6,600 donation — the maximum allowable under federal law — in November 2023, as well as a $5,511 donation in March 2023, a $2,211 donation in March 2023 and a $1,089 donation in November 2023. The $2,211 donation and the $1,089 donation were refunded last year, while the $5,511 donation was refunded in April 2024, according to Bush’s latest campaign finance filing. Such refunds are required when donations exceed legal limits.
heard at aspen
Singapore’s defense minister says Gaza war has ‘radicalized another generation of would-be terrorists’
Ng Eng Hen, the defense minister of Singapore, warned on Tuesday that the war in Gaza has “radicalized another generation of would-be terrorists in Gaza and elsewhere,” Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports from the Aspen Security Forum.
Driving discontent: Ng, whose country is 15% Muslim, said that there has been “anger” about the war in Gaza, and that the U.S. and other governments’ reputations are suffering among younger generations. “We’ve lost the young on this,” he said. “The young are, even in Singapore, particularly incensed about the violence and the fact that nothing is done to stop it.”
Worthy Reads
Message of Unity: In The New York Times, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie writes that former President Donald Trump has an opportunity to meet the moment and move forward with a message of unity following the weekend assassination attempt on his life. “The harsh truth is that the only way forward is if we have the will. We must look forward as a nation. Blame will not change the course we are on. We need to have the will to say we want to be better. That this is not who we are and who we want to be. This can be a moment to choose the country we want to be. One where we have love in our hearts for every American, no matter who you are or where you come from. Our differences have always been our strength as a country, not a weakness. A country that understands that we have always been a place where people want to come in search of a better, freer life. That hope is a strength, not a weakness. A country whose leaders understand the fears Americans have about the future and that working to alleviate those worries, not exploit them, is a strength. So is a country that supports our friends around the world and doesn’t think twice about the fact that dictators and despots are not our friends.” [NYTimes]
Gaza Endgame: The Washington Post’s David Ignatius looks at the remaining disagreements holding up the implementation of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. “Let’s assume that a cease-fire is actually announced in Gaza over the next several weeks, as framed by the Biden administration and endorsed by the United Nations. What comes next? The White House should move urgently with Israel and other key allies to fill in the blank spaces in the transition plan. The horrific Gaza war is entering an endgame. But without better planning for ‘the next day,’ that may not mean an actual end. As hard as the Biden administration has labored on the cease-fire plan, it has more work to do.” [WashPost]
Campus Concerns: The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Riley considers whether universities are prepared for the fall semester, citing the Ivy League schools that have taken little action against students who participated in anti-Israel — and at times antisemitic — demonstrations on campus. “The inability or unwillingness of our elite schools to clean up their act helps to explain why future employers are taking matters into their own hands. Sullivan & Cromwell, a top Wall Street law firm, announced last week that it will screen applicants from top universities to determine whether they participated in antisemitic campus protests. Rival law firms have already implemented the practice, as have federal judges looking to hire law clerks. To the extent the other employers in other professions decide that products of elite schools who exhibit such hatred need not apply, these institutions will be forced to re-evaluate what constitutes tolerable student behavior.” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who is mounting a Senate run in California, warned that Democrats risk losing control of the Senate and will not win back control of the House with President Joe Biden atop the ticket in November…
Biden, meanwhile, is reportedly growing frustrated with the ongoing concerns raised by Democrats over his ability to prevail in the general election; in an interview with BET, the president said that he initially intended to serve as a “transitional” president, but cited the divisiveness in the country as a reason to stay in the race, saying “the only thing age brings a little bit of wisdom”…
But a new polling memo from BlueLabs Analytics, obtained by Politico, found other candidates — including Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — running ahead of Biden in key states…
The Democratic National Committee’s platform committee voted on Tuesday to adopt the draft of the party platform, which affirms the party’s continued support for Israel while acknowledging the ongoing suffering caused by the war in Gaza. A final vote on the platform will take place at next month’s Democratic convention…
In an interview with Bloomberg about what a second term could look like, former President Donald Trump hinted at a potential Cabinet pick: “Trump says he’s changed his view of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, whom he assailed last year as a ‘highly overrated Globalist.’ The Republican said he could envision Dimon — thought to be contemplating a political career — as ‘somebody that I would consider’ for Treasury secretary”…
The U.S. Secret Service had in the weeks prior to the weekend assassination attempt on Trump ramped up his security detail, following a credible threat that Iran was planning an assassination attempt on the former president; the Saturday attack, in which Trump was lightly injured, does not appear to be connected to Iran…
The FBI used technology developed by Israeli digital intelligence company Cellebrite to access the cellphone of the gunman who attempted to assassinate Trump on Saturday…
Axios reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is working behind the scenes to repair his relationship with Trump, which was damaged after Netanyahu congratulated President Joe Biden on his 2020 win; in addition to a video message recorded shortly after the assassination attempt on Trump, Netanyahu has posted several additional public statements in a show of solidarity…
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is facing calls to resign from the majority of Senate Democrats after being found guilty on 16 counts, including bribery, extortion and wire fraud, in connection with his position as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee…
CIA Director Bill Burns said in a closed-door conference over the weekend that Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar is under increased pressure from senior Hamas officials in Gaza to accept a cease-fire deal with Israel that would effectively end the war…
The U.S. lifted recently imposed sanctions against an Israeli man who was confused for a right-wing activist with a similar name; Aviad Shlomo Sarid briefly had his credit card and bank account blocked when the State Department confused him with Tzav 9 co-leader Shlomo Yehezkel Hai Sarid…
Former Israeli hostage Noa Argamani and her father, as well as the mother of her still-captive boyfriend, will travel to Washington next week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his address to a joint session of Congress…
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake plans to leave his posting in early September after three years as the top U.S. diplomat in Ankara…
A Georgian national and leader of a neo-Nazi group was arrested and charged with planning to poison children and members of ethnic minorities, including Jews, in New York City…
New York State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani is considering mounting a primary challenge to New York City Mayor Eric Adams in next year’s mayoral race; others expected to enter the race include Comptroller Brad Lander, former Comptroller Scott Stringer and state Sen. Zellnor Myrie…
Pouria Zeraati, a London-based Iranian TV presenter who was attacked in March by individuals believed to be acting on orders from the Iranian government, has moved to Israel, fearing for his safety if he continued to reside in the U.K….
Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman is telling potential investors that his social media presence will give a boost to his Pershing Square USA investment fund…
The Milwaukee Bucks’ Patrick Beverley is planning to sign with Hapoel Tel Aviv BC after 12 years in the NBA; Beverley previously played for the Philadelphia 76ers…
The secretive espionage trial of falsely accused Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in Moscow was moved up a month, and will begin this week…
The New York Times published a collection of Dr. Ruth Westheimer’s “tips for a happy life,” drawn from interviews the famed sex therapist, who died over the weekend at 96, gave in recent decades…
The IDF’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, which handles aid to Gaza, launched an online dashboard that logs humanitarian aid going into Gaza; previously, the only publicly available data was posted by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency…The families of five female Israeli surveillance soldiers who were taken hostage on Oct. 7 released photos taken of the women in captivity; several appear to have facial and head injuries in the images, which were obtained during IDF operations in Gaza…
The IDF will begin sending draft notices to Haredi men on Sunday, following a court order mandating that they perform military service…
The Wall Street Journal spotlights the mista’arvim — Israeli commandos who disguise themselves to blend into local Arab populations in order to carry out missions; the IDF’s use of covert operatives in Gaza was critical in the successful rescue of four hostages last month…
The IDF announced that it has killed half of Hamas’ military leadership since Oct. 7…
A new report from Human Rights Watch found that Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel was a coordinated, “systematic” effort and condemned the “deliberate and indiscriminate attacks against civilians” as well as other human rights violations…
Dozens of rockets were fired at northern Israel last night and early this morning, which Hezbollah said was in response to Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon that reportedly killed five Syrians, including three children; Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened to target additional Israeli towns if the IDF “continues to strike civilians”…
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz denied a request from Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide to conduct an official visit to the country, weeks after Oslo unilaterally recognized Palestinian statehood…
Rabbi Meir Soloveichik was appointed to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom…
Malka Simkovich was named editor-in-chief of The Jewish Publication Society…
Song of the Day
The Jerusalem Youth Chorus, comprised of Israeli and Palestinian singers, advanced through the audition phase of “America’s Got Talent” after performing a rendition of Phillip Phillips’ “Home.”
Birthdays
Founder of the Frommer’s series of travel guides, Arthur Frommer turns 95…
Professor emeritus at Tel Aviv U., he served as a member of Knesset, minister of foreign affairs and as ambassador to Spain, Shlomo Ben-Ami turns 81… Emmy Award-winning play-by-play announcer on radio for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Charley Steiner turns 75… Retired in 2014 after 27 years as senior vice president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Martin Raffel turns 75… Co-editor of the classic The Big Book of Jewish Humor, Rabbi Moshe Waldoks turns 75… Civil rights and criminal defense attorney, he is the co-founder of the Innocence Project, Peter J. Neufeld turns 74… Former chairman of the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, he is now a lecturer at UConn law school, Robert K. Yass… Rabbi emeritus at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, Pa., Lance Jonathan Sussman, Ph.D. turns 70… Managing GP and co-founder of Pitango Venture Capital, he serves as chairman of The Peres Center for Peace & Innovation, Nechemia (Chemi) J. Peres turns 66… Chair of Samson Energy Company, co-founder of Granite Properties and chair of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Stacy Helen Schusterman… Business development team lead at Quorum, Steven Lebowitz… Television and film director, Joshua Seftel turns 56… Actress best known for playing Sharona in the television series “Monk,” Elizabeth Natalie “Bitty” Schram turns 56… Rabbi of Young Israel of Woodmere (Nassau County, N.Y.), Rabbi Shalom Axelrod turns 55… Founder and CEO of Zeta Global, David A. Steinberg turns 54… Stand-up comedian, he was a finalist on the NBC reality-talent show “Last Comic Standing” in two seasons, Gary Gulman turns 54… Treasurer of Australia until 2022, he has previously served as minister for the environment and energy, Joshua Anthony “Josh” Frydenberg turns 53… Blogger, journalist and science fiction author, Cory Efram Doctorow turns 53… President and CEO of Mashber Strategies, Matthew E. Berger… Public television host, Shannan Butler Adler… Member of the Knesset for the Yesh Atid party, Boaz Toporovsky turns 44… Emmy Award-winning actor, comedian, podcaster and writer, Brett Goldstein turns 44… Healthcare reporter for Barron’s, Josh Nathan-Kazis… Senior account manager at Red Banyan, Jared Sorhaindo… Virtual banking strategy lead and executive director at JPMorgan Chase, Melanie Ettleson…
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