Daily Kickoff
Good Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the unfolding situation around a leak in the U.S. intelligence community of alleged Israeli plans to strike Iran and look at what the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week means for the trajectory of the Israel-Hamas war. We also have the exclusive on a push from Rep. Josh Gottheimer to pass legislation redesignating the Houthis as a Foreign Terror Organization, talk to Elliott Abrams about his new book on American Jewry and cover Sen. Ted Cruz’s threat to defund the United Nations if the Palestinian Authority moves forward with an effort to boot Israel from the global body. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Eugene Vindman, Jeff Yass and IDF Col. Ehsan Daqsa.
What We’re Watching
- Vice President Kamala Harris is focused on outreach to anti-Trump Republican voters as she embarks on a campaign swing Monday with former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) through Chester County, Pa.; Oakland County, Mich.; and Waukesha County, Wis. Harris and Cheney will appear with conservative radio host Charlie Sykes and former GOP operative Sarah Longwell.
- The White House’s Amos Hochstein is in Beirut today in an effort to negotiate a diplomatic solution to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Hochstein’s visit comes days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented to the White House Israel’s conditions for ending the war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
- Reps. Tom Cole (R-OK), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), John Rutherford (R-FL), Ed Case (D-HI) and Mark Alford (R-MO) are in Israel today for a one-day CODEL. Cole and DeLauro hold the top positions on the House Appropriations Committee.
- The annual Eradicate Hate Summit kicks off today in Pittsburgh. White House Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall and Foundation to Combat Antisemitism President Tara Levine will deliver today’s keynotes.
- This evening, the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia is hosting “The Abraham Accords: Past, Present, and Future,” with a panel discussion hosted by Jordan Hirsch that will feature former United States Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy Dina Powell McCormick, former White House Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt and former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Danny Ayalon.
What You Should Know
The U.S. is conducting an investigation into how alleged intelligence documents detailing plans for an Israeli strike on Iran were leaked to an Iranian Telegram channel, Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss reports.
The leak’s revelation, first reported by Axios over the weekend, triggered bipartisan condemnation from Capitol Hill, with legislators calling for a full investigation into the leak, which included the release of classified documents that detailed a potential Israeli plan to retaliate against Iran for its Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack on Israel.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) called the leak “very concerning” during a weekend appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” while Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), told JI’s Marc Rod that he had requested a briefing on the situation. More here on the response from the Hill.
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Jonathan Schanzer told JI’s Lahav Harkov that Israel is in a position in which it “is fighting a war it didn’t start or want… and anytime they do anything the administration goes apoplectic.”
“It’s bizarro world,” Schanzer added. “The U.S. is not forceful in curbing Iran’s malign activity, but it is sanctioning elements in Israel and leaking information. They’re fine with targeted sanctions and missile defense… Is that going to stop Iran’s campaign of aggression? I don’t think so.”
The leak underscores tensions in the Biden administration over the White House’s relationship with Israel as the war in Gaza — and with an array of Iranian proxies and Tehran itself — enters its second year, just weeks before the U.S. election.
Compounding concerns over the relationship between the administration and Jerusalem are comments made by Vice President Kamala Harris on the campaign trail over the weekend, when Harris responded to an anti-Israel protester alleging Israel was committing genocide by saying, “What he’s talking about, it’s real. That’s not the subject that I came to discuss today, but it’s real and I respect his voice.”
A Harris campaign official told JI that the protester’s allegation of genocide was “not the view of the Biden administration or the vice president,” but did not clarify what Harris meant was “real.”
Taken separately, the incidents could be seen respectively as a gaffe and an instance of dissent within the administration. But the series of events over the weekend is likely to deepen concerns among Jewish voters over how a potential Harris administration would address issues related to Israel. A former U.S. diplomat told JI yesterday that support for Israel in the Biden administration is centered among a handful of senior officials, none of whom are expected to retain their posts in a Harris White House.
what’s next
After death of Sinwar, ‘day-after’ obstacles in Gaza remain

The killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week did not end the war in Gaza, but it is a potent symbol of a new phase, in which the terrorist group is mostly defeated and resorting to guerrilla warfare to continue its attacks against Israel. And as large-scale fighting appears to be winding down in the enclave, the question of who will govern Gaza after the war is more relevant than ever, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Unlocking collaboration: Israel hopes to work with friendly Arab states such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to help stabilize and deradicalize Gaza. Some experts say Sinwar’s death will help start that process, while others said it remains unlikely regardless of Hamas’ decapitation. An Israeli official told Jewish Insider that Sinwar’s death “lowered barriers” among Arab states, for whom Hamas’ continued grip on Gaza was the main obstacle to their involvement in reconstruction and deradicalization efforts. But while “the killing of Sinwar is a great opportunity for a lot of changes,” there are a lot of factors that need to be considered before Gulf states would get involved, the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs’ Yaara Segal said, including “how Israel will act after killing Sinwar.”
Read the full story here, and see our previous coverage of the attack that killed Sinwar, the Biden administration response and the reaction from hostage families and Israeli officials.