Daily Kickoff
Good Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we preview the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which kicks off today. We look at the challenges facing vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz as he navigates the intraparty debate over support for Israel, talk to experts about how U.S. pressure on Israel to reach a cease-fire agreement has affected Hamas calculations and report on a new effort by the Community Security Service to teach self-defense methods to Jewish college students. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Tevi Troy, Alex Karp and H.R. McMaster.
What We’re Watching
President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton are headlining the lineup of speakers tonight at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Biden is expected to focus his speech on the defense of American democracy and championing Vice President Kamala Harris.
Today is also the start of a busy week of Jewish programming on the sidelines of the convention — a mix of policy conversations, schmoozing, networking and partying.
There are hundreds of side events taking place that are recognized as part of the affiliated DNC programming, and many more that are not officially part of the convention. A 17-page document listing those official DNC programs provides the name of the event and the location where it is taking place. But on the program, the venue of events organized by the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) is listed as “location to be shared upon confirmation,” reflecting the heightened security environment that Jewish groups are preparing for.
With tens of thousands of people expected to take part in a march on Monday organized by a coalition of anti-Israel activists, Jewish organizations are taking precautions to ensure that only registered attendees can even find where their events are.
This afternoon, JDCA is hosting a panel discussion titled “What this election means for Israel” featuring Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides, U.S. Global Leadership Coalition President and CEO Liz Schrayer, Israel Policy Forum Chief Policy Officer Michael Koplow and JDCA CEO Halie Soifer.
Meanwhile, happening at the same time is an official DNC panel titled “Palestinian Human Rights in the Democratic Party.” The event is taking place at what organizers are calling DemPalooza, the hub of daytime programming at McCormick Place, a major convention center. Speakers include former Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI) , Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Layla Elabed, director of the Uncommitted National Movement.
Tonight, the progressive pro-Israel group Zioness is celebrating the launch of its political arm, the Zioness Action Fund, with a convention after-party that is slated to end at 2 a.m. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) will be among the more than a dozen members of Congress in attendance.
In Israel, Secretary of State Tony Blinken is in Tel Aviv this week following the conclusion of the latest round of cease-fire negotiations. More on the talks below.
What You Should Know
The Democratic National Convention, which kicks off tonight in Chicago, could be a celebratory capstone of the political honeymoon Vice President Kamala Harris has experienced since emerging as the Democratic nominee last month.
Or it could be a reminder of the disruptive power of some outspoken far-left agitators within the Democratic Party coalition and anti-Israel extremists on the streets of Chicago, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes.
Harris has just completed a remarkable political turnaround since President Joe Biden abruptly dropped out of the race several weeks ago. Her favorability ratings, which had been consistently mediocre since becoming a national political figure, have turned around amid mostly positive media coverage. She’s pulled ahead of former President Donald Trump in most national polls — and in a majority of the pivotal battleground states.
Is the Harris bump lasting, or the product of an unsustainable sugar high — what former Obama strategist David Axelrod recently called “irrational exuberance”?
Harris will have a chance to define herself on her own terms in Chicago, both ideologically and biographically. After operating in Biden’s shadow as vice president, where she spent time serving as an emissary to progressive groups, she hasn’t taken the opportunity to redefine herself more in the political middle since becoming the Democratic nominee.
She chose the most progressive running mate among the final round of white, male contenders, proposed a populist economic plan against “price gouging” featuring price controls criticized by mainstream economists and has taken a more critical tone toward Israel than the president, even while stating her continued support for the Jewish state.
But she’s also leaned more into her background as a prosecutor, and has abandoned some of the left-wing platitudes she embraced as a presidential candidate back in 2020.
How she chooses to frame her candidacy will go a long way in signaling the type of campaign she intends on running — and how much additional momentum she will get out of the four-day lovefest. She’ll be helped by a long list of allies and surrogates, led by Biden and former President Bill Clinton, who are hoping to project a sense of Democratic Party unity after a summer where the party was divided over whether Biden should run again.
That unity could again be broken if the tens of thousands of anti-Israel protesters make a ruckus in Chicago. Already Democratic officials are warning about the prospect of violence being caused by these radical demonstrators, to the point where congressional security cautioned lawmakers not to sign into hotels under their own names.
Even inside the United Center, anti-Israel Uncommitted delegates are planning to make their presence felt. The Uncommitted activists have threatened to disrupt the convention if Harris does not agree to their demands regarding U.S policy on the war in Gaza. The delegates plan to hold daily vigils inside the arena. And convention planners are still struggling to figure out how to honor the Israeli hostages and speak out against antisemitism without drawing the ire of that outspoken far-left faction.
If Democrats manage to maintain a united front and marginalize the extremes (on the inside and outside of the United Center) after this week’s proceedings, it would count as a major victory for Harris. But if divisions within the Democratic Party reassert themselves — drawing comparisons to the 1968 convention in Chicago — it would be a reminder that the summer political honeymoon is over.
walking the tightrope
Ahead of DNC, Walz treads carefully on Israel and Gaza
As the Democratic National Convention kicks off tonight in Chicago, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the running mate of Vice President Kamala Harris, is facing questions about his past engagement with an antisemitic imam and his ties to some anti-Israel activists who have raised hopes that he will be open to compromise on their demands regarding the war in Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Tim’s take: Walz has been seen by some on the left as “a movable target,” as one “uncommitted” leader from Minnesota has put it. Minnesota claims the largest share of “uncommitted” delegates who opposed President Joe Biden over his support for Israel. Before he joined the Harris campaign last month, Walz described the “uncommitted” activists as “civically engaged” in the primary. “These are voters that are deeply concerned as we all are,” he said in a March interview on CNN. “The situation in Gaza is intolerable.”
the art of the deal
U.S. enthusiasm for a hostage deal encourages Hamas recalcitrance, experts say
As yet another round of cease-fire and hostage negotiations took place in Doha, Qatar, over the weekend and was set to continue in Cairo despite a total rejection by Hamas, President Joe Biden said a deal is “still possible.” Yet a number of experts argue that the Biden administration’s ongoing public drive for a cease-fire has contributed to the elusiveness of such a deal, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Familiar scene: The weekend’s events are part of a pattern that has repeated itself since December: Israel goes to Doha to engage in cease-fire and hostage negotiations. All along, senior American officials, including at times Biden himself, publicly emphasize the importance of reaching a deal. Israel and the U.S. say some modest progress has been made. Hamas rejects the proposal and puts the onus on Israel.
exclusive
DMFI distributing booklet touting Harris’ Israel record at Dem convention
As Democrats gather in Chicago this week to make the case for Vice President Kamala Harris, activists on the sidelines will also be trying to make the case for various issues and causes to each other. The pro-Israel advocacy group Democratic Majority for Israel plans to take their cause to delegates the old-fashioned way: with printed booklets handed out on the ground, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports from Chicago.
Making the case: The DMFI booklet is mostly dense reference material, a ready-made rebuttal to claims that Harris is not pro-Israel (or, as some advocates argue, not sufficiently pro-Israel). Its contents date back to 2004, when Harris traveled to Israel for the first time as San Francisco district attorney. It chronicles her meetings with Israeli leaders since becoming vice president, as well as each statement she has made or vote she has cast related to Israel and the Middle East while in the Senate, on matters including Iran, the Abraham Accords and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
exclusive
Community Security Service to train Jewish college students on self-defense, safety amid campus antisemitism concerns
After a spring semester marked by violent campus protests and anti-Israel encampments, Jewish college students nationwide are bracing for an equally hostile fall. But this year, a Jewish community-based security organization will provide students training in hand-to-hand combat — including learning the Israeli martial art of krav maga — designed to provide tools to counter campus intimidation and harassment, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen has learned.
Helping hand: The Community Security Service initiative, which is expected to initially roll out on about 20 campuses nationwide, follows a pilot launched on six campuses last year, including some of the Ivy League universities that have borne the brunt of anti-Jewish incidents. It will be offered in two parts: A multi-class self-defense program based on the Israeli fighting style krav maga will be delivered in partnership with campus organizations — such as Hillel, Chabad on Campus and Alpha Epsilon Pi — and conducted by professional trainers. Additionally, students affiliated with Jewish organizations on campus will be offered situational awareness and safety training to protect their institutions.
Read the full story here and subscribe to eJewishPhilanthropy’s Your Daily Phil newsletter here.
interview
The Karp chronicles
In a Saturday interview with The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd, Palantir CEO Alex Karp opened up about his worldview. Some notable quotes:
On Western exceptionalism: “We have a consistently pro-Western view that the West has a superior way of living and organizing itself, especially if we live up to our aspirations. It’s interesting how radical that is, considering it’s not, in my view, that radical…A lot of this does come down to, do you think America is a beacon of good or not? I think a lot of the critics, what they actually believe is America is not a force for good…Without being Pollyannaish, idiotic or pretending like any country’s been perfect or there’s not injustice, at the margin, would you want a world where America is stronger, healthy and more powerful, or not?”
On his foreign policy views: “I actually am a progressive. I want less war. You only stop war by having the best technology and by scaring the bejabers — I’m trying to be nice here — out of our adversaries. If they are not scared, they don’t wake up scared, they don’t go to bed scared, they don’t fear that the wrath of America will come down on them, they will attack us. They will attack us everywhere.”
On left-wing protests against Palantir: “When you have people working at consumer internet companies protesting us because we help the Navy SEALs and the U.S. military and were pro-border — and you’re becoming incredibly, mind-bogglingly rich, in part because America protects your right to export — to me, you’ve lost the sheet of music. I don’t think that’s good for America.”
On threats from China and Russia: “I think we’re in an age when nuclear deterrent is actually less effective because the West is very unlikely to use anything like a nuclear bomb, whereas our adversaries might. Where you have technological parity but moral disparity, the actual disparity is much greater than people think. In fact, given that we have parity technologically but we don’t have parity morally, they have a huge advantage.”
On how Democrats should project strength: “Are we tough enough to scare our adversaries so we don’t go to war? Do the Chinese, Russians and Persians think we’re strong? The president needs to tell them if you cross these lines, this is what we’re going to do, and you have to then enforce it.”
Worthy Reads
Targeting Shukr: The Wall Street Journal’s Sune Engel Rasmussen, Adam Chamseddine and Carrie Keller-Lynn do a deep dive into the assassination of Fuad Shukr, the senior Hezbollah official killed in an Israeli strike last month in Beirut. “Early on the day Shukr was targeted, Hezbollah sent out orders for high-ranking commanders to disperse amid concerns they were at risk, the Hezbollah official said. After the strike, it wasn’t immediately clear whether he had been killed. Some in Hezbollah thought he might have heeded the evacuation orders and fled, the official said. It took a while to find his body. It had been flung into a neighboring building. Shukr’s death finally brought him out of the shadows. At his eulogy, his face was printed on billboards and footage of his life on the battlefield was projected onto a large screen as a voice-over extolled his virtues at earsplitting volume. He was buried in a public cemetery in Beirut alongside a young man who had died fighting in Syria, according to the fighter’s mother. ‘We’d heard his name, but we never saw him,’ said a young neighbor who sat on the pavement near the building where Shukr was killed. ‘He was like a ghost.’” [WSJ]
Jewish Identity Politics: In The New York Times, Jamie Kirchick considers how the national conversation around Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Jewish faith affected Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision not to select him for the ticket. “One reason Kamala Harris is on the Democratic ticket is because of her identity. One reason Josh Shapiro isn’t on the ticket is because of his. … None of this is to say that the Democratic Party is institutionally antisemitic, just that it may have taken into consideration the tacit threat by ‘darker parts in the party’ to disrupt its convention had Mr. Shapiro been selected. I worry that this is yet another sign that the extremist fringes are increasing their influence over American politics and public life. Next week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago will reveal much. Will speakers denounce the platform’s declaration that ‘a strong, secure, and democratic Israel is vital to the interests of the United States?’ Will those who endorse it be booed?” [NYTimes]
Ezra’s Ascent:Semafor’s Max Tani spotlightsThe New York Times’ Ezra Klein, the Vox co-founder and podcast host who has grown his own following through his coverage of the Democratic Party. “Now ‘Ezra’ is a first-name-only figure in liberal family group chats. His show is popular among Democratic staffers and the media and Hollywood elite. NBA commissioner Adam Silver is a fan; he and Klein were spotted chatting when ESPN cut to them during the broadcast of a WNBA game. Podcast godfather Ira Glass, the creator of This American Life, is a fan too, telling audiences onstage at Hot Pod Summit earlier this year that The Ezra Klein Show was his favorite new podcast. The former HBO executive Richard Plepler, who first met Klein when he was running Vox, briefly interrupted his summer vacation in the south of France to heap praise on Klein when Semafor asked about his podcast’s increasing popularity among liberal figures in the entertainment industry. ‘He writes and thinks like [Roger] Federer swings,’ Plepler told me. ‘There’s a kind of precision and effortlessness to the quality of his intellect and the way he expresses himself.’” [Semafor]
Word on the Street
New New York Times/Siena polling of battleground Sun Belt states shows Vice President Kamala Harris with momentum over former President Donald Trump, holding narrow leads in Arizona and North Carolina, while trailing in Georgia and Nevada. President Joe Biden trailed Trump in all four states in the last pollster’s surveys…
The Harris campaign announced it is already reserving $370 million in campaign ads — on television and digital platforms — across all the battleground states; the campaign is also staffing up its legal department, putting together what The New York Times describes as “expansive senior legal team that will oversee hundreds of lawyers and thousands of volunteers in a sprawling operation”…
Trump’s campaign is up with its latest campaign ad tying Harris to Biden’s record on the economy…
Speaking in Pennsylvania over the weekend, Trump said that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was not chosen to be Harris’ running mate “because he’s Jewish”…
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff monitors coverage of his wife “so closely that he has flagged negative news articles when her aides tried to hide unflattering headlines from her or buy time before briefing her on them,” according to a New York Times deep dive of the vice president’s inner circle…
White House Deputy Communications Director Kristen Orthman is joining the Harris campaign; Herbie Ziskend will take over Orthman’s White House role…
Former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster announced his upcoming book, At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House, coming out Aug. 27…
Chicago Mayor Brendan Johnson said that Israel’s actions in Gaza are “genocidal”…
The New York Times looks at how debates over the Israel-Palestinian conflict could play a role in next year’s New York City mayoral elections…
The FBI arrested Washington, D.C., Councilmember Trayon White on charges that have not been made public; in 2018, White drew widespread scrutiny for a series of antisemitic comments…
A New Jersey man was sentenced to seven years in prison for vandalizing more than a dozen properties with antisemitic graffiti…
The Wall Street Journal interviews university presidents about the scourge of resignations of their Ivy League colleagues amid the fallout on campuses from the Israel-Hamas war; The New York Times examines how the situation at Columbia University devolved over the course of the academic year, culminating in the resignation of the school’s president last week…
In the Washington Post, Gordon Sander reflects on his mother’s most prized possession: a sketchbook that had belonged to her boyfriend during WWII, which had been smuggled out of the Westerbork camp in 1942 and delivered to her family while in hiding; the artist, Edgar Reich, and his family were killed at Auschwitz…
Sam Altman’s Worldcoin AI initiative is facing pushback from governments and regulators over privacy concerns…
A Scottish theater canceled the upcoming performance of American comedian Reginald Hunter, who at an earlier show during Edinburgh Fringe compared Israel to a domestic abuser…
Israeli authorities are investigating an explosion that took place in Tel Aviv on Sunday night; Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, in which the only fatality was the individual attempting to carry out the attack…
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Israeli authorities are conducting a “robust investigation” into accusations of abuse of Palestinian prisoners in the IDF’s Sde Teiman detention center…
An Israeli man was killed in a terror attack in the West Bank…
The New York Times reports onHezbollah’s challenge as it seeks to avenge the recent Israeli assassination of a top official without causing significant damage in Lebanon…
Biomedical researcher Leonard Hayflick, whose work in cell development and aging uncovered why humans have finite life spans, died at 96…
Pic of the Day
Author and presidential historian Tevi Troy spoke in conversation on Sunday night with his brother, author Gil Troy, at the Jerusalem launch for Tevi’s newest book, The Power and the Money: The Epic Clashes Between Commanders in Chief and Titans of Industry, ahead of its release on Tuesday. Spotted: David Weinberg, Greer Fay Cashman, Don Futterman, Adele Raemer, Steve Greenberg, Gil Hoffman, Aylana Meisel and Dan Troy.
Read Troy’s interview with The New York Times’ DealBook here.
Birthdays
Executive editor of The New York Times, Joseph Kahn turns 60…
Early Silicon Valley investor with positions in Intel and Apple, Arthur Rock turns 98… Ventura County, Calif., resident, Jerry Epstein… Past member of both houses of the South Dakota legislature, Stanford “Stan” M. Adelstein turns 93… Broadway producer and founder of The Fortune Society, David Rothenberg turns 91… Retired as president of Ono Academic College in Israel, she was Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations from 2008 to 2010, Gabriela Shalev turns 83… Professor emeritus of religion and philosophy at the University of Toronto, he is the author of 19 books, David Novak turns 83… 42nd president of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton turns 78… Retired reading teacher for the New York City Department of Education, Miriam Baum Benkoe… Actor and director, Adam Arkin turns 68… Gavriel Benavraham… Managing partner at Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz, Mark C. Rifkin… Co-founder of Apollo Global Management, he is the board chairman of the UJA-Federation of New York, Marc J. Rowan turns 62… Chairman of the FCC in the Obama administration, he is now a senior advisor at the Carlyle Group, Julius Genachowski turns 62… Managing partner and talent agent at William Morris Endeavor, he is very active in the contemporary art world as a collector, Dan Aloni turns 60… Former member of Knesset, he is the son of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Omri Sharon turns 60… Executive administrator of Ventura, Calif., accounting firm Morgan, Daggett & Wotman, Carolynn Wotman… Actress and producer, known for her role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson in the 109 episodes of the TNT crime drama “The Closer,” Kyra Sedgwick turns 59… District attorney of Queens, Melinda R. Katz turns 59… CEO of The Friedlander Group, Ezra Friedlander… Private equity financier and a founding partner of Searchlight Capital Partners, Eric Louis Zinterhofer turns 53… Chair of the Orthodox Union and immediate past chair of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore, Yehuda L. Neuberger… Contributing editor for The Daily Beast and the author of three books, Molly Jong-Fast turns 46… Businessman and investor, Brett Icahn turns 45… Managing partner of Handmade Capital, Ross Hinkle… Laser radial sailor, she represented Israel at the 2008 (Beijing) and 2012 (London) Olympics, Nufar Edelman turns 42… Rapper, singer and songwriter, known by his stage name Hoodie Allen, Steven Adam Markowitz turns 36… Digital marketing and PR consultant, Cassandra Federbusz… Founder of Aron’s Kissena Farms, Aron Hirtz… President of Eighteen Capital Group, Isaac Gortenburg…
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