Daily Kickoff
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at Sen. Marco Rubio’s shifting foreign policy views as former President Donald Trump considers the Florida senator as a potential running mate, report on how French Jews are reacting to this week’s elections results and preview next week’s commemoration in Buenos Aires of the AMIA Jewish Community Center bombing. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Mark Pincus, Andrei Kozlov and Emmanuel Nahshon.
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: Va. court to decide whether American Muslims for Palestine must hand over financial documents; Why Camp Ramah in New England drew a red line against anti-Zionism among its staff; Israel’s Olympic team prepares for sport and security. Print the latest edition here.
What We’re Watching
- Republicans from around the country will head to Milwaukee, this weekend ahead of the Republican National Convention, which kicks off on Monday.
- The U.N. Relief and Works Agency is holding a donor fundraising conference in New York today. UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini is expected to release a planned statement of political support for the embattled U.N. group — and the U.S. is one of the more than 80 signatories to the letter, two sources in Israel and one in the U.S. confirmed to Jewish Insider yesterday. This comes despite the U.S. freeze on funding to the organization through early 2025, which it began earlier this year following the revelation that numerous UNRWA employees in Gaza hold membership in Palestinian terrorist groups and that some participated in the Oct. 7 terror attack. The conference comes a day after a report that Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent UNRWA officials a letter alleging that the agency is employing 100 known members of terror groups. Lazzarini acknowledged in a letter to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was viewed by JI, that at least 11 of the 100 identified Hamas members employed by UNRWA have been hired in the last 14 months.
- Israel is sending a delegation to Cairo to continue talks aimed at negotiating a cease-fire and hostage-release agreement that have been ongoing over the last week between Cairo and Doha, Qatar.
- U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy is headed to Israel this weekend for meetings with senior Israeli officials. Lammy, who was appointed the U.K.’s top diplomat following elections last week, will also visit Yad Vashem on the trip.
What You Should Know
Anticipation for President Joe Biden’s press conference on Thursday night was sky high as he faced a growing mutiny from within the Democratic Party following his poor performance at the first presidential debate. By the time the press conference began, 14 House and Senate Democrats had already called for him to step aside, with more anticipated, Jewish Insider’s senior national correspondent Gabby Deutch reports.
For nearly an hour, Biden fielded questions from reporters on NATO, Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war and — of course — his fitness to serve a second term in office and his ability to defeat former President Donald Trump.
The Biden onstage last night was who Democrats had hoped to see at the debate: occasionally rambling, sometimes bungling names, but generally cogent and forceful. He spoke in detail about defense policy and the economy, rattling off facts and figures of his administration’s accomplishments. And he pledged to stay in the race.
“I’m in this to complete the job I started,” Biden said, making clear that he is ignoring the pleas of a growing number of Democrats for him to step aside. He cast doubt on a slew of recent polls showing him losing to Trump while also saying polls don’t matter, because the race doesn’t start “in earnest” until after Labor Day.
“A lot can happen. But I think I’m the best call. I believe I’m the best qualified to govern, and I think I’m the best qualified to win,” he said.
At one point, the president quipped that his “numbers in Israel are better than they are here,” a reference to recent polling that shows him lagging behind former President Donald Trump in several critical states.
In response to a question about his handling of the war in Gaza, Biden criticized Israel’s leadership, urged the country to accept a cease-fire deal and noted that Israel can still pursue Hamas’ leaders even after the war ends.
“There’s a lot of things in retrospect I wish I had been able to convince Israelisto do, but the bottom line is we have a chance now. It’s time to end this war. That doesn’t mean walk away from going after [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar and Hamas,” Biden said. “I support Israel. But this war cabinet is one of the most conservative war cabinets in the history of Israel. And there’s no ultimate answer other than a two-state solution here.”
At one point, Biden claimed that Hamas faced “growing dissatisfaction” in the West Bank. But recent polling from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research indicates that support for Hamas among West Bank Palestinians is on the upswing — and that the terror group is actually viewed more positively in the West Bank than in Gaza.
After Biden wrapped up the press conference, reporters started shouting questions, and he took a final one: Would he reconsider his decision to stay in the race?
“No, unless they came back and said, there’s no way you can win,” Biden said, adding in a whisper: “No one’s saying that. No poll’s saying that.”
But even as Biden’s performance quieted some of his critics, another trickle of House Democrats — including House Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes (D-CT) — called on him to step aside. The end result is Biden pressing ahead with his reelection, his party divided and no clear end to the stalemate. The fight for the soul of the Democratic Party grinds on.
rubio’s run
How Marco Rubio’s changed foreign policy views are making him more palatable to Trump

As former President Donald Trump finalizes his choice for a running mate, allies of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), a top contender for the vice presidential slot, have argued that he would be a valuable addition to the ticket, citing his appeal to Latino voters, his ties to key donors and his foreign policy chops, among other draws. But Rubio’s rise has also raised concerns among traditional GOP hawks and conservative pro-Israel foreign policy experts who once viewed the Cuban American senator as one of the strongest defenders of a muscular approach to international engagement that has struggled to compete with the ascendant populism dominating the party, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
‘Trumpier’ turn: Now, some of his critics say, Rubio’s conversion from an erstwhile Trump critic to a MAGA ally has cast doubt on the sincerity of his commitment to the hawkish foreign policy vision he had long espoused, most notably as a presidential candidate in 2016, when was highly critical of Trump’s America First platform. Rubio, now 53, “was very much in the McCain and McConnell internationalist camp as a candidate for president in 2016,” one prominent former supporter who has served in Republican administrations told JI earlier this week, referring to the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). “The switch to a Trumpier line seems motivated partly by Trump’s influence on the party, and in that sense Rubio may be moving closer to the average Republican voter.”