Daily Kickoff
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we interview U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick and report on the anti-Israel activity taking place at Columbia University as freshmen head to campus. We also have an exclusive on a new letter from Rep. Ritchie Torres to the heads of New York universities about “code words” used by students and faculty to shield against allegations of antisemitism and spotlight N.J. state Sen. Nellie Pou, who is expected to succeed Rep. Bill Pascrell. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Josh Kushner and Karlie Kloss, Gen. CQ Brown and Neil Parrott.
What We’re Watching
- National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is slated to travel to China today to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi; the trip is Sullivan’s first to Beijing as national security advisor.
- Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Reps. Jim Banks (R-IN), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) and John Curtis (R-UT) are in Israel this week. The group met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday.
- Sens. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Ted Budd (R-NC) and Reps. Mike Rogers (R-AL), Adam Smith (D-WA), Dale Strong (R-AL) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY) are visiting Finland this week. Yesterday, the delegation met with Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
What You Should Know
In the early hours of Sunday morning in Israel, it seemed as though the country was on the brink of the broader war promised for weeks by Iran and its terror proxies.
But by the time most Israelis woke up, Hezbollah’s response to Israeli strikes on targets in Lebanon had concluded, the fighter jets were no longer buzzing over cities and flights in and out of Ben Gurion Airport had resumed, Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss reports.
For most of the country, the remainder of the day was unnervingly…normal.
Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah claimed victory — though the fallout in Israel was minimal, with a single military fatality and structural damage to buildings hit by Hezbollah’s barrage. Hezbollah’s face-saving strike — which fell short of its goal to hit key Israeli military and intelligence installations — was, experts believe, the extent to which the Iran-backed group plans to retaliate for Israel’s assassination of senior official Fuad Shukr in Lebanon last month.
Now, the bigger question is whether Iran will strike Israel over the assassination of Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month. Israel has still not confirmed its role in the attack, in which the Qatar-based official was killed by an explosion inside an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps building while in Tehran for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
“War has many forms,” Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday. “It doesn’t always mean holding a gun. It means thinking correctly, speaking correctly, identifying correctly, aiming accurately.”
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, who arrived in Israel over the weekend shortly before the strikes, said following his visit that he believed the risk of a broader war had, at least temporarily, subsided. “You had two things you knew were going to happen,” he said. “One’s already happened. Now it depends on how the second is going to play out.”
The experts we spoke to last night said that the decision for any regional escalation — or lack thereof — comes from one place: Tehran.
“We’re in this phase of hyper-aggressive ‘mowing the lawn,’ with zero advancement towards any kind of sustainable solution,” the American Enterprise Institute’s Danielle Pletka told us. “It’s Iran first, second, and always. And for as long as Israel (and we) don’t know what to do about Iran, this will be the scene we watch again and again.”
Iran and its terror proxies in Lebanon and Yemen, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Mark Dubowitz explained, “have much to gain from a permanent state of escalation with Israel as Iran’s supreme leader advances his strategy of destroying the Jewish state.”
For Khamenei, Dubowitz continued, “this is [a] grinding war of attrition to cause as much damage as possible, drive out the most skilled and flexible Israelis and leave behind an outmanned and outgunned rump that steadily loses support from the West, which, in the face of nuclear intimidation, limits Israel in how it can fight back. Then Khamenei can move in for his kill shot.”
While the latest stage of escalation in Israel’s north ended before it got off the ground, there is no sign that Hezbollah is deterred from continuing the regular barrages of rockets and drones keeping 80,000 Israelis evacuated from their homes, making it hard for many to view one morning’s success as a real victory. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer described the current situation in Israel’s north as “not sustainable.”
In order for Israel to come out on top, Dubowitz said, it “must flip the script, go on offense and support Iranians to bring down the Islamic Republic. That’s the only long-term escalation that will enable Israel to win.”
pennsylvania politics
The GOP Senate candidate betting on the Jewish vote to win Pennsylvania
Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick, running in the politically pivotal battleground of Pennsylvania, is focused on winning over Jewish voters who have become disillusioned with the Democratic Party as part of his campaign against Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports. McCormick has regularly highlighted his stalwart support for Israel as it defends itself against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran — and been a leading voice in condemning rising antisemitism, especially against the anti-Israel activism taking place at universities, including at the University of Pennsylvania.
Community concerns: “A lot of Jewish voters that I encounter are wrestling with their political allegiances, wrestling with what they’re seeing play out from their television, wrestling with how to think about their strong support for Israel and their dismay at the antisemitism,” McCormick told JI last week. “This election really is forcing a lot of soul-searching, and I’m hoping to be able to win their confidence as someone who’s a strong voice on these issues and will be a strong voice as their senator.”
garden state update
State Sen. Nellie Pou on track to claim Bill Pascrell’s seat
New Jersey state Sen. Nellie Pou now has the inside track to the Democratic nomination to replace Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), a close ally of the Jewish community who died last week, in Congress, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Pou locked down the endorsements of the three Democratic county chairs in the district on Monday, making it likely she’ll have sufficient support to win the nomination — to be selected by local Democratic leaders on Thursday.
State of the race: Pou would be the first Latina congresswoman in New Jersey history, in a district that is 42% Hispanic. The candidate selected by party officials will appear on the November ballot against Republican Billy Prempeh and is likely to claim Pascrell’s seat in the safely Democratic district. Pou traveled to Israel with the New Jersey State Association of Jewish Federations in 2014, and has condemned various antisemitic incidents in the state in recent years. She also voted for anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions legislation in the state Senate and other legislation to counter hate and bias.
back to school
Columbia University’s new school year starts off with disruptive anti-Israel protests
More than 1,000 new students kicked off their freshman year at Columbia University this week. But even with all the institutional changes that took place over the summer, including the naming of a new president, several aspects at the prestigious New York school are already reminiscent of the chaos last academic year — one that was marred by occasional violent anti-Israel disruptions, amid scrutiny of university leaders for not enforcing rules that would keep Jewish students safe, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen reports for Jewish Insider.
It begins: At a convocation event to welcome incoming freshmen on Sunday, about 50 members of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, wearing masks and keffiyehs and holding megaphones and drums, disrupted the event from just outside of the campus gates with chants of “Free Palestine.” The group, which labels itself a “student intifada,” distributed fliers around the convocation that told students they were sitting “through propaganda being delivered to you by war criminals of an administration.” A Columbia University spokesperson told JI that the NYPD was present at the protest in case it was needed.
And in upstate New York: Cornell University’s main administrative building was vandalized on the first day of classes, with red graffiti reading “Israel bombs, Cornell pays” and “Blood is on your hands.” The student activists who graffitied the building told the student newspaper that the university is “working tirelessly to uphold Cornell’s function as a fascist, classist, imperial machine.”
exclusive
Torres urges NY college leaders to ensure policies account for antisemitic ‘code words’
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), called on the leaders of several New York-area universities on Monday to ensure that their policies acknowledge that “Zionist” and other “code words” are used in the perpetuation of antisemitism on college campuses, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What he said: The letter sent by Torres, addressed to the leaders of Columbia University, the State University of New York system, Cornell University, the City University of New York and Fordham University, praises New York University for updating its policies to reflect that speech and activity targeting “Zionists” can be a violation of campus rules.
parrott’s problems
Maryland GOP congressional recruit facing scrutiny over past votes on Israel and antisemitism
A Republican running for an open House seat in a Maryland swing district is drawing criticism from his Democratic rival for past votes on Israel and antisemitism, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. Neil Parrott, a former Maryland state delegate, was among a small minority of lawmakers who in 2020 opposed a bill banning individuals from placing swastikas on properties without the owner’s consent. In 2014, he voted against a budget bill that included an amendment condemning antisemitism and academic boycotts of Israel.
Delaney responds: April Delaney, a former Biden administration official facing Parrott in Maryland’s 6th Congressional District, took aim at the votes in a statement to JI. “In a time of rising antisemitism and hate, including instances of vandalism in our public schools and harassment online,” she said, “my opponent’s past failures to stand up against antisemitism are unacceptable, disturbing and emblematic of his radical and extreme record that made him ineffective in the state legislature.”
Worthy Reads
Bibi in the History Books:The Wall Street Journal’s Walter Russell Mead considers how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be looked at by future generations. “The Jewish state’s survival remains a work in progress. The conflict with Iran and its growing network of regional proxies remains unresolved. Relations with the U.S. under a Harris administration would likely be difficult. Domestically, the deep rifts between religious and secular Israelis, European and Middle Eastern Jews, and Jewish and Arab Israelis remain. The human costs of the Gaza war will add new depths to the bitterness of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet one thing seems clear. Win, lose or draw, Bibi Netanyahu is leaving deep footprints in the sands of time. Unlike most of the mediocrities who hold office in countries around the world, he won’t be quickly forgotten. He will occupy an outsize place not only in the history of Israel and the modern Middle East, but in the history of the Jewish people.” [WSJ]
Mourning a Muse: In The New York Times, comedian Alex Edelman reflects on the death of his producer and close friend, Adam Brace, weeks before the Broadway debut of “Just For Us,” the show on which they had spent years collaborating. “The experience of grieving Adam was going to be braided with the thing that could bring me closest to him, which was a gift. The show had always been a conversation between us. Why should that stop? We had worked on it together, and after a day spent thinking about him, I got to go onstage and live inside our collaboration. For 12 hours I’d walk around in a fog, but for 90 minutes I was fully present. Doing the show felt painful but appropriate, like reciting Kaddish, the Jewish daily mourning prayer. … My dad pointed out that you stop saying Kaddish after 11 months. In mourning in Judaism, you eventually let go and try to move on. I decided to stop the tour at the very end of March, 11 months after Adam died. About 10 minutes before the end of the last show, at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, the last venue Adam had talked to me about playing, I realized that Adam had said all he was going to say. Which was fine. He’d done enough.” [NYTimes]
Word on the Street
A senior U.S. official said that cease-fire and hostage-release negotiators in Cairo are discussing the “nuts and bolts” of a potential deal, following progress made over the weekend…
Foreign Policy reports on the backlog of Senate-confirmable positions, including ambassadorships and national security positions, that has left dozens of positions open, some for several years; the outlet says that the vacancies, which are the result of political infighting and a clogged congressional calendar, pose “a national security risk as the United States tries to compete on a global scale with adversaries”…
In a letter to the head of the House Judiciary Committee, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he now disagrees with the Biden administration’s move to pressure Facebook to censor content related to the COVID-19 pandemic…
Edgar Bronfman Jr. dropped his bid for Shari Redstone’s National Amusements, clearing a path for a deal between the Paramount parent company and David Ellison’s Skydance Media…
Joshua Kushner and Karlie Kloss purchased Malibu’s mid-century “Wave House” for $29.5 million…
Pennsylvania’s Allentown Art Museum will reliquish a 16th-century portrait that had belonged to a German Jewish couple who fled Nazi Europe in 1938; the 1538 painting will be sold at auction, with the proceeds split between the museum and the couple’s descendants…
The New York Times’ Michal Leibowitz spotlights what she calls “abstainers” — people who do not engage in gossip — as part of a broader essay on the concept…
Saudi Arabia condemned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over his recent comments suggesting that he would support the establishment of a synagogue at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount…
Health officials in Gaza are overseeing the distribution of more than 1 million polio vaccines in the enclave, following the first reported case in the territory in 25 years…
The Wall Street Journal reports on the “two realities” in Lebanon — Hezbollah’s war with Israel that has beset the south, and relative normalcy in northern, more affluent areas of the country…
Pic of the Day
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown met on Monday with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (center) and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (right) in Tel Aviv.
Birthdays
Israel’s ambassador to the Czech Republic, Anna Azari turns 65…
Chatsworth, Calif., resident, Ruth Ann Kerker Hapner… Board chair for North America at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, Mark S. Freedman turns 73… Author, essayist and journalist, Michael Wolff turns 71… President of the Israeli Jewish Congress focused on battling antisemitism, he is a former senator in the Russian Federation, Dr. Vladimir Sloutsker turns 68… President of Cornell University until eight weeks ago, Martha Elizabeth Pollack turns 66… Governor of New York State since 2021, Kathy Hochul turns 66… Director of the White House National Economic Council in the early years of the Trump administration, he was previously the president and COO of Goldman Sachs, Gary Cohn turns 64… Executive director of J Street Israel, Nadav Tamir… Contributing editor at the National Interest, he is also chairman and CEO of Widehall, Steve Clemons turns 62… Private equity investor and a trustee of the Jewish Federations of North America’s Board, Neil A. Wallack… Israeli-born CEO of Insitro, she was a professor at Stanford for 18 years and a 2004 winner of a MacArthur genius fellowship, Daphne Koller turns 56… Co-founder of the 2017 Women’s March which she eventually left citing concerns over antisemitism, Vanessa Wruble… Portfolio manager and founder of NYC-based G2 Investment Partners, Joshua Goldberg… Former director general of the Israeli Ministry of Finance, now CEO of the Strauss Group, Shai Babad turns 48… Mayor of Evanston, Ill., Daniel Kalman Biss turns 47… Senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Richard Goldberg turns 41… Director of the JCRC at the Jewish Federation & Foundation of Northeast Florida in Jacksonville, Nelson France… Co-founder of theSkimm, Danielle Merriah Weisberg turns 38… Member of AJR, an indie pop multi-instrumentalist trio, together with his two brothers, Adam Metzger turns 34… Michael Weiss… Director of the Botanical Garden and senior lecturer both at Tel Aviv University, Yuval Sapir… Talia Rubin…
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