Daily Kickoff
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we consider the decision behind and implications of Sen. J.D. Vance’s selection as former President Donald Trump’s running mate. We report on a letter from House Republicans to Harvard’s interim president about the school’s recent antisemitism report, preview today’s Democratic National Committee platform committee vote and talk to the founder of an abortion rights group who was pushed out of her previous job due to her support for Israel. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew, Eric Schmidt, Mort Zuckerman and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
What We’re Watching
- The Aspen Security Forum kicks off this evening. The confab kicks off with a panel discussion on China featuring former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, Under Secretary of Industry and Security Alan F. Estevez, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Anja Manuel, the executive director of the Aspen Strategy Group and Aspen Security Forum.
- At the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, the American Jewish Committee is hosting an event this morning focused on “Israel and the Path to Peace.” This afternoon, AJC will host a diplomatic reception for conference-goers.
- Tonight, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is set to take the stage at the RNC.
- The Democratic National Committee’s platform committee will hold a virtual meeting this afternoon to vote on advancing its 2024 party platform. More below.
- Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer are in Washington this week for meetings with top officials; the two met yesterday with Secretary of State Tony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
What You Should Know
In picking Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his running mate, President Donald Trump focused more on naming a successor to the MAGA movement over picking someone who will give him a clear political bump in the 2024 presidential race, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes from Milwaukee.
A base-first pick such as Vance is a selection made when you feel confident of winning, and want to focus on anointing an ideological heir.
Vance’s main political assets: He has working-class roots, hails from the politically crucial Midwest and is a talented spokesman on national television and will probably be an asset on the debate stage (if there is a vice presidential debate). Trump told ABC News in a phone interview that he wants Vance to camp out in Pennsylvania — a state filled with blue-collar workers that would likely clinch him the election.
But Vance has only run for office once in his life, and underperformed badly in Ohio’s 2022 Senate race compared to the rest of the Ohio Republican ticket. He only won the GOP-friendly state of Ohio by six points, aided by over $35 million in outside support from Republican super PAC spending in the red-state race.
And at a time that Trump is trying to project unity and comity, Vance has a history of impulsivity and occasionally incendiary rhetoric that plays well with the base but could be off-putting to moderate voters.
The biggest consequence of Vance’s selection will be on foreign policy. As JI’s Matthew Kassel reports, Vance is one of the most outspoken opponents of funding Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression and is generally wary of American engagement abroad. But despite his isolationist instincts, he’s also been a strong supporter of Israel and continued military aid to the Jewish state.
In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity Monday night, Vance again reiterated his pro-Israel posture: “Joe Biden has done nothing to help our ally Israel. Joe Biden has made it harder and harder for Israel to win that war. He has prolonged the war to take out Hamas and has made it harder for us to move toward a sustainable peace.”
No. 2
Trump taps Vance as running mate, anointing ideological successor
Former President Donald Trump’s decision on Monday to pick Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his running mate sends a strong signal about the future direction of the Republican Party as Trump indicates he is seeking to cement his movement by anointing an ideological successor, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Isolationist bent: In choosing Vance, a 39-year-old former Trump critic turned MAGA stalwart elected to the Senate in 2022, Trump is elevating a fierce defender of his populist agenda who has worked to pull the party in a more isolationist direction, even as he has continued to express support for Israel. The pick could have implications for key foreign policy decisions, particularly with regard to Ukraine, raising concerns among some pro-Israel donors and GOP hawks who have privately and publicly questioned the tenability of Vance’s approach.
party positions
DNC committee to vote today on 2024 platform
The Democratic National Committee will vote today on advancing a sweeping 2024 platform that affirms the party’s continued support for Israel while acknowledging the ongoing suffering caused by the war in Gaza. Members of the DNC’s platform committee are scheduled to meet virtually for a vote on taking up the 80-page platform, which serves as an outline of the party’s broader policy goals. Democrats announced highlights of their draft platform over the weekend, four days after the platform committee met to debate areas of contention, including the section on Israel, and hear input from activists and voters, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Israel and antisemitism: Should the platform committee vote to advance the platform, it will be voted on by all DNC members at the convention next month. The platform, portions of which — relating to Israel and antisemitism — were obtained by JI, maintains the party’s support for President Joe Biden’s efforts to “build a durable peace in the Middle East, bolstered by regional integration” and “a strong coalition to counter and deter Iran” and a “negotiated two-state solution that ensures Israel as a Jewish and Democratic state with recognized borders and upholds the right of Palestinians to live in freedom and security in a viable state of their own.” This language largely mimics what has been in previous Democratic Party platforms.
fund feud
New abortion rights group created as safe space for Jews draws antisemitic backlash
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel, Allison Tombros Korman has watched as people she knew and worked with for years in the reproductive rights space turned on her for supporting the Jewish state. The tumult and growing vitriol led her to resign from her dream job atop the DC Abortion Fund, which helps women in greater Washington access reproductive health care, a decision she documented in an essay in Tablet in April. At a time when abortion access is under attack, Korman thinks the simmering antisemitism in her field isn’t just morally wrong, but a dangerous distraction from the work abortion funds actually do. That’s what led her to start the Red Tent Fund, an abortion fund steeped in Jewish values. Korman created the fund in May to allow Jews to be open about their Judaism while continuing to support a cause about which they care deeply, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Mixed emotions: The response Korman has received from within the Jewish community has been “phenomenal,” she said. So far, the fund has raised more than $30,000 and plans to start distributing the money in the next two or three months. Existing abortion funds, however, have not exactly rolled out the red carpet for Korman. The fund’s first Instagram post received a slew of hateful comments: “Feels like not a colleague but a COLONIZER,” one person wrote. “NO ZIONISM IN OUR REPRO MOVEMENT,” another wrote.
taken to task
Harvard antisemitism task force recommendations don’t go far enough, GOP lawmakers say
In a new letter to interim Harvard President Alan Garber sent on Monday, 28 Republican House members, led by Reps. Tim Walberg (D-MI) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY), said that the Harvard antisemitism task force’s recent preliminary recommendations on responding to campus antisemitism don’t go far enough, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Falling short: The lawmakers said they have “serious concerns regarding the inadequacy” of the recommendations, which are “weaker, less detailed, and less comprehensive” than those presented by a previous task force in December 2023. Harvard Jewish leaders and alumni have said they’re disappointed by the recommendations, released in late June.
notes from jerusalem
Lew: ‘Indications’ that Mohammed Deif killed in Israeli strike
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew said on Monday that there are “indications” that Israel eliminated Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. “There are still many questions regarding the results of the attacks against Mohammed Deif,” Lew said in a briefing for the American Jewish community hosted by the White House, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen reports for Jewish Insider. “I can’t confirm whether it was successful or not, but there are indications that they have achieved it,” Lew added. Israel has not confirmed that it had assassinated Deif, the head of Hamas’ military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, who had survived multiple Israeli attempts on his life over the past two decades.
Bibi’s upcoming address: Lew’s comments come a week and a half before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to travel to Washington to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress, and as U.S. officials work to negotiate a cease-fire and hostage-release agreement between Israel and Hamas. Lew said that while he does not have advance knowledge of the contents of Netanyahu’s speech, slated for July 24, he “hopes that [the] speech to Congress next week will include a bipartisan message.”
Worthy listen: Dan Senor talked to journalist Ronen Bergman about the weekend strike targeting Deif on the latest episode of “Call Me Back.”
Worthy Reads
The Musk Effect: Tablet’s David Samuels considers how Elon Musk’s endorsement of former President Donald Trump shortly after the weekend’s assassination attempt could impact the November presidential election. “Through an instant of indelible personal courage, following a mostly disastrous one-term presidency, Trump created an opportunity for redemption, not just for himself but for the portion of the country he represents, the part that the billionaire elite is so eager to discard. Elon Musk grasped Trump’s hand. In doing so, the two men opened up a portal between the American past and the American future that simply didn’t exist before that gun went off. It is now up to Americans to decide whether we want to step into that portal or continue on as bots in a maze administered by narrow technocrats from both parties whose judgment on every significant public issue — domestic and foreign, from education, to building a fair and strong economy, to race, to the Middle East, to Afghanistan and Iraq, to China, to Russia, to COVID — has proven disastrous, and who govern by conspiracy theories, chicanery, and lies.” [Tablet]
Turn Down the Heat: In Newsweek, former White House Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt warns of the rise in inflammatory rhetoric in politics, following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. “In the Jewish tradition, the key principle guiding our behavior toward others is that each person is made in God’s image. Too many politicians, media figures, and political operatives seem to have forgotten that no matter how deeply they believe someone is making wrong, even harmful decisions, human life is equally, infinitely valuable. That is a major problem. In a sense, the rest of our religious and political traditions flow from that principle. Everything we do together as Americans is geared toward seeking to provide others with the opportunity to live as free and dignified equals. When our politics are infected with rhetoric suggesting that violence is appropriate, it is a sign that we have lost sight of the purpose of politics in the first place. It is a sign that we are losing our humanity.” [Newsweek]
Can He Change Iran?:The New York Times’ Farnaz Fassihi profiles Iranian President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian following his victory in this month’s elections. “Mr. Pezeshkian has said that he wants to steer Iran toward becoming more prosperous, more open socially and more engaged with the West. In an opinion column published in The Tehran Times on Saturday, he described his foreign policy as ‘opportunity driven,’ strengthening ties with allies Russia and China, but also open to cooperating with the European Union. He said Iran would not ‘respond to pressure’ by the United States. Whether Mr. Pezeshkian can deliver on these changes remains to be seen. Predecessors tried and failed. But he has an opportunity, albeit limited, because Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the top authority on all major state issues, has endorsed him and instructed subordinates to work with the new president.” [NYTimes]
Hatred Then and Now: In The Times of Israel, former Bloomberg reporter Gwen Ackerman, who is a dual Israeli-American citizen, reflects on antisemitism past and present. “Today, when I listen to the news from the U.S., and how university students suffer, I cry. And I wish there were more people that age who would stand up and fight against this insanity. I wish that there was a student like the one who stood up for me multiplied by tens of thousands who would stand against those crazy crowds. … I think I always suspected it would happen again. And now, as a people, we are facing a potential disaster far wider, broader, and possibly more deadly Holocaust than what we have ever faced before. A friend recently wondered aloud if we would be the ones to live through or die in the next destruction of the House of Israel. Another pondered if we would be fighting in tunnels like the Maccabees of old.” [TOI]
Word on the Street
President Joe Bidensaid in an interview released on Monday that he “did more for the Palestinian community than anybody” while reasserting that he was a Zionist and saying that “there’s a need for [Israel] to be strong, and a need for Israel to be able to have after World War II … the ability for Jews to have a place that was their own”…
Philanthropist Mort Zuckerman, who in 2012 pledged $200 to Columbia University to endow the Mind Brain Behavior Institute, cut his financial giving to the university over its handling of antisemitism on campus…
A federal appeals court in Californiarejected an attempt by Palestinian activists to sue the Biden administration over its response to the Israel-Hamas war, saying that a lower court that had ruled in favor of the plaintiffs lacked jurisdiction on the case…
TechCrunchreports that the deal between Alphabet and Assaf Rappaport’s Wiz that is now in advanced talks first began just a few weeks ago when Thomas Kurian, head of Google’s cloud division, approached Wiz about a potential acquisition…
Israel and Egyptare discussing the possibility of an Israeli withdrawal from the Egypt-Gaza border, which has been a key Hamas demand for a potential cease-fire…
A Syrian businessman sanctioned by the U.S. for his ties to ISIS and close relationship with the Syrian government was killed in an Israeli airstrike near the Lebanon-Syria border…
The European Unionannounced it is imposing sanctions against five Israeli individuals and three entities, including the Tzav 9 group, alleging “serious and systematic human rights abuses”…
Massachusetts’ Valley Newseulogized longtime educator Susan Finer, the mother of Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer, who died last month…
Rabbi Andrew Sacks, the former longtime director of the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly of Israel, died at 70…
Correction: Yesterday’s edition of the Daily Kickoff incorrectly stated that Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s (D-MD) office had been contacted for comment prior to the initial publication of our story about his upcoming trip to Israel.
Pic of the Day
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Monday in Julis, Israel, with the families of Druze IDF soldiers who have been killed in battle.
Birthdays
Businessman and philanthropist, owner of interests in many Israeli firms including IKEA Israel, Matthew Bronfman turns 65…
Industrialist, former member of Knesset, winner of the Israel Prize, real estate developer and philanthropist, Ze’ev Stef Wertheimer turns 98… One of the three co-founders of Comcast Corporation, he served as its chief financial officer and vice chairman, Julian A. Brodsky turns 91… Senior U.S. district court judge for the Southern District of New York, Judge Sidney H. Stein turns 79… World renowned violinist, violist and conductor, Pinchas Zukerman turns 76… Co-creator of the first-ever spreadsheet program (VisiCalc), he currently serves as the chief technology officer of Alpha Software, Daniel Singer “Dan” Bricklin turns 73… Former high ranking civilian official in the Pentagon during the Bush 43 administration, now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, Douglas J. Feith turns 71… Senior rabbi since 1997 at Temple Beth Avodah in Newton Centre, Mass., Rabbi Keith Stern… Los Angeles-based attorney, she is the president emerita of the LA chapter of the Jewish National Fund, Alyse Golden Berkley… Past vice chair of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Federations of North America, Cynthia D. Shapira… British solicitor, he represented Princess Diana in her divorce and Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt in a libel case, Anthony Julius turns 68… Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter, Tony Kushner turns 68… U.S. ambassador to the EU in the Trump administration, Gordon David Sondland turns 67… Former airline executive at Northwest and Delta, Andrea Fischer Newman… Former president of Viacom Music and Entertainment Group, Douglas Alan Herzog turns 65… Canadian journalist, he worked for CNN International for 30 years, Jonathan Mann turns 64… Former Israeli minister of science and technology, now a venture capitalist, Yizhar Nitzan Shai turns 61… Chief of staff of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, Jim Rosenberg… Chicago-based entrepreneur and philanthropist, Victoria Rivka Zell… Former NFL offensive lineman, he is now the president of Collective Mortgage in Colorado, Ariel Mace Solomon turns 56… Israeli former professional tennis player, in 2003 she was ranked 15th in the world, Anna Smashnova turns 48… Founder of Pinkitzel, a cupcake cafe, candy boutique and gift store located in four Oklahoma cities, Jonathan Jantz… National political correspondent for The New York Times, Shane Goldmacher… Co-founder of Los Angeles-based Meteorite Social Impact and Health Action Alliance Advisors, Steven Max Levine… White House liaison to the Jewish community in the Bush 43 administration, now managing partner at Arogeti Endeavors, Scott Raymond Arogeti… Features reporter for Jewish Insider, Matthew Kassel… Founder and managing partner at Vine Ventures, Eric M. Reiner… Lactation consultant, Chantal Low Katz…
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