Daily Kickoff
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on Israel’s overnight ground incursion into Lebanon and the response — or lack thereof — from former President Donald Trump and Capitol Hill Democrats to Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah. We talk to House lawmakers about efforts to restore funding to UNRWA after the head of the agency’s teachers’ union in Lebanon was found to be a senior Hamas official and report on an effort by authorities in Johannesburg, South Africa, to rename the street where the U.S. consulate is located after terrorist Leila Khaled. We alsoreport from the Israeli Embassy in Washington’s Rosh Hashanah event, where Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog spoke about the soul searching required of the Israeli people after Oct. 7.Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Noam Shazeer, Trey Yingst and Erin Foster.
What We’re Watching
- Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) will face off for a vice-presidential debate tonight at 9 p.m. ET in New York.
- President Joe Biden is holding a Jewish communal call this morning in advance of the High Holidays.
What You Should Know
The IDF launched a ground incursion into Lebanon on Monday night after almost a year of conflict with the Hezbollah terror group, which has been firing rockets into Israel since Oct. 8, Jewish Insider‘s Lahav Harkov reports. The army launched “targeted and limited” raids against Hezbollah forces close to the border with Israel, while the air force continued striking the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahiyeh, abutting Beirut.
Jerusalem updated the Biden administration in advance of the incursion, unlike when Israel launched strikes that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday. Before Israel’s security cabinet had authorized Monday’s operation, various American media reported that a U.S. official had briefed that an Israeli invasion was imminent, followed by false reports in Arab media that Israeli tanks were already rolling into Lebanon.
Cabinet ministers expressed angerat the leaks from Washington, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reportedly grumbling in the closed-door meeting that the IDF spokesperson had to comment before the incursion began because of the persistent foreign media reports. Cabinet observer and Shas leader Aryeh Deri had alluded to the accuracy of the reports by posting the prayer for IDF soldiers on X.
The ground operation in southern Lebanon — Israel’s first ground invasion of the country since 2006 — is limited to “targets and infrastructure of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in a number of villages near the border, which pose an immediate and real threat to Israeli towns on the northern border,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesman, announced. Its goal is to allow the over 60,000 Israelis evacuated from their homes near the border with Lebanon to be able to return safely.
Hours after the ground incursion began, sirens sounded across central Israel, including parts of Tel Aviv, after rockets fired from Lebanon triggered Israel’s defensive systems.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin supported Operation Northern Arrows in a call with Gallant after the incursion began. “Secretary Austin reaffirmed U.S. support for Israel’s right to defend itself against Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and other Iran-backed terrorist organizations. We agreed on the necessity of dismantling attack infrastructure along the border to ensure that Lebanese Hezbollah cannot conduct October 7-style attacks on Israel’s northern communities,” the Pentagon readout stated.
Yet the Biden administration made it clear that it wants the incursion to end before it really gets started. When President Joe Biden was asked in a press conference if he was aware of and comfortable with Israel’s plans, he answered: “I’m more aware than you might know and I’m comfortable with them stopping. We should have a cease-fire now.” Austin emphasized to Gallant “the importance of ultimately pivoting from military operations to a diplomatic pathway to provide security and stability as soon as feasible.” State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller also said that “while we support their right to defend themselves against terrorism, we support efforts to ensure that Israeli citizens can return to their homes, ultimately we believe a diplomatic resolution is the best way to accomplish that.”
the sound of silence
Trump’s silence on Israel’s Hezbollah attack draws GOP scrutiny
Former President Donald Trump’s continued silence with regard to Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday is drawing scrutiny in some Republican pro-Israel foreign policy circles, particularly as Vice President Kamala Harris had been quick to personally voice her approval of the stunning attack shortly after it occurred. Trump himself has not yet weighed in on the attack, nor has his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) — who is currently preparing for his first and only debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday. Representatives for Vance declined to comment on the Nasrallah assassination, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Non-statement: Meanwhile, three days after the assassination, a Trump campaign spokesperson shared a statement with JI on Monday that made no mention of the assassination and took aim largely at Harris, while touting the former president’s pro-Israel record. “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we had historic peace in the Middle East,” said Karoline Leavitt, a national press secretary for the Trump campaign. “Now, all of the progress made by President Trump in the region has been unraveled by Kamala Harris’s weakness and America Last policies. When President Trump is back in the Oval Office, Israel will once again be protected, Iran will go back to being broke, terrorists will be hunted down, the hostages will be brought home, and the bloodshed will end.” The statement was received with skepticism and even hostility by some conservative foreign policy hawks, who questioned why the campaign, which has often been reticent to respond to major events in the Middle East, had not credited Israel for killing Nasrallah — long one of the country’s top military targets.
funding feud
House lawmakers maintain support for restoring UNRWA funding despite new Hamas revelations
House Democrats leading a bill seeking to restore U.S. funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said the revelation on Monday that Hamas’ commander in Lebanon was an UNRWA teacher hasn’t changed their thinking on restoring funding, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
How they’re responding: A group of more than 60 House Democrats recently introduced a bill to restore funding to the scandal-plagued U.N. agency. Two of the bill’s lead sponsors, Reps. Andre Carson (D-IN) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), are largely saying the incident does not represent UNRWA’s staff as a whole, that the agency took appropriate steps to respond and that funding for the agency remains necessary. UNRWA critics say the new revelations are proof that the agency needs to be shut down or fundamentally reformed.
no comment
Progressive Democrats largely silent on Nasrallah assassination
Some progressive Senate Democrats, including several who have been critical of Israel’s war in Gaza, celebrated the news of Israel’s assassination last week of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and other top leaders of the terror organization, while the majority of left-wing House lawmakers refrained from commenting. Most House progressive and far-left lawmakers have either condemned Israel’s military actions in Lebanon without mentioning Hezbollah or not commented publicly on the developments. Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reached out to over two dozen progressive lawmakers, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and other proponents of cutting off some military aid to Israel, for comment on the elimination of Hezbollah’s leadership. (Ocasio-Cortez didn’t respond to the request for comment.)
Statements of support: “Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah have been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Israelis and Americans, including 241 members of our U.S. Armed Forces in 1983. I fully support Israel’s right to defend itself – and that includes targeted attacks against Hezbollah leaders and commanders as part of the effort to stop Hezbollah from launching missiles at Israel,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) told JI in a statement. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) expressed support for Israel’s actions against Hezbollah.
honoring a hijacker
Johannesburg set to rename U.S. consulate’s street after Palestinian terrorist
The City of Johannesburg, South Africa, plans to rename the road on which the U.S. consulate is located after Palestinian terrorist Leila Khaled. Sandton Drive is a central artery in Johannesburg, and Sandton, the neighborhood in which the road is located, is home to many of South Africa’s 50,000 Jews. The area is also home to at least four synagogues among other Jewish institutions, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Motion for name change: Johannesburg acted on a proposal adopted by the City Council in November 2018 to rename the road, publishing a notice of the change and inviting the public to send in any comments by Oct. 15. The motion to change Sandton Drive’s name to Leila Khaled Drive was proposed by then-City Council member Thapelo Amad, who on Oct. 7 of last year posted online: “We stand with Hamas, Hamas stands with us, together we are Palestine and Palestine will be free. With our souls, with our blood, we will conquer Al Aqsa.”
wider frame
An NRCC video casts Sue Altman as supporting Columbia protests. The full clip tells the opposite story
On Friday morning, the National Republican Campaign Committee shared an audio clip on X which appeared to depict Sue Altman, the Democratic candidate challenging Rep. Tom Kean (R-NJ) in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, endorsing antisemitic campus protests at Columbia University, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. But the full clip tells a very different story, in which Altman clearly condemned the protests as antisemitic and unacceptable.
What she said: Altman, in the excerpt posted by the NRCC said, in general terms, that “an anti-war movement is something that is honorable and part of Columbia’s history, and I’ve always respected good old protests.” But she went on to say that at Columbia and many other schools, “what should have been an anti-war movement and a movement for [a] peace that is sustainable, which would have included returning the hostages, not just a one-sided unilateral peace had, in my opinion bled over into antisemitism.” She said that she’s been “very disappointed and appalled” at the activity of the protesters at Columbia, her alma mater.
soul searching
Ahead of Rosh Hashanah, Michael Herzog calls for Israel to ‘reflect deeply’ on mistakes surrounding Oct. 7
Connecting the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on the themes and traditions of the Jewish High Holiday season, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog said the Israeli people need to “reflect deeply” to understand how the Hamas attack happened, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What he said: “There is an internal logic to this cycle, because during these holidays, we first do a big soul searching, where we went wrong and to understand what mistakes we made,” Herzog said speaking at an atypically somber Rosh Hashanah ceremony at the Israeli Embassy in Washington. “Definitely, we as a people need to reflect deeply on what happened, what went wrong that allowed Oct. 7 to happen. Then we repent our mistakes. Then we commit to learn from our mistakes and correct our path.”
Worthy Reads
She’s Free, Her Husband Still Captive: The Associated Press’ Tia Goldenberg interviews released hostage Aviva Siegel, whose husband, Keith, remains in Hamas captivity in Gaza. “The militants led the Siegels out of their house, shoved her husband, breaking his ribs, and shot him in the hand, Siegel said. They were forced into their own car and driven into Gaza, where crowds of onlookers cheered at their capture. Their first stop was a home with a living room that opened up into an underground tunnel. ‘And there’s somebody underneath the hole, in the hole underneath the ground, that’s waiting with a smile, happy as can be. I’ll never forget his face,’ she said. They climbed down a steep ladder into the tunnel, one of several they were held in throughout Siegel’s 51 days in captivity. All told, Siegel was moved around 13 times, held in both tunnels and militants’ homes, she said. On the first day, they were joined by other hostages and they were brought pita and cheese, which hardly anyone ate because they were all in shock. But throughout her captivity, food was scarce and Siegel said there were entire days when she wasn’t brought anything to eat. ‘They used to starve us while they ate in front of us and not bring us water for hours and days. I had an infection in my stomach, I was dehydrated. We had to beg — beg — for water. Beg and beg for food.’” [AP]
Bibi’s Boost: The Wall Street Journal’s Walter Russell Mead suggests that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategic decisions in recent weeks have provided a massive benefit not just to Israel but to the Western world. “Fortunately for himself and the nation he leads, Mr. Netanyahu had the clarity of mind to ignore Washington’s standard talking points. The result was Israel’s greatest string of triumphs since the Six Day War. It was also a significant boost for American and Western interests at a dangerous time. Nothing as vulgar as military success, however, can shake the loathing of the West’s diplomatic establishment and chattering classes for Israel’s prime minister. There are deep-seated reasons for this. Western foreign-policy elites desperately want to believe that we live in a stable, rules-based international order and that successful foreign policy in our enlightened era depends less on military strength and more on diplomacy, respect for international law and scrupulous attention to human rights. The further that reality diverges from this pleasant illusion, the more desperately many in the diplomatic and journalistic establishments cling to their dreams.” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
NBC News reports on President Joe Biden’s concerns, which the president has voiced to those close to him, that the accomplishments and achievements of his administration are disappearing from the national conversation as focus shifts to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign…
The man who shot two Jewish men as they were leaving a synagogue in Los Angeles’ Pico-Robertson neighborhood last year was sentenced to 35 years in prison…
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro opted against endorsing the Democratic nominee for state treasurer, Erin McClelland, who had criticized Shapiro when he was under consideration to be tapped as Harris’ running mate…
Google acquired AI developer Noam Shazeer’s Character for $2.7 billion, three years after Shazeer left Google when it opted not to release the chatbot technology he developed…
The Columbia Spectator spoke to half a dozen Jewish college students who turned down their acceptances to Columbia University and Barnard over the schools’ handling of antisemitism…
The Los Angeles Times interviewed writer Erin Foster, the creator and executive producer of Netflix’s “Nobody Wants This,” a rom-com starring Adam Brody as a rabbi…
The New York Times talked to the son of Oct. 7 victim Vivian Silver, who had been a peace activist, about his efforts to continue his mother’s work after she was killed in her Kibbutz Be’eri home last year…
CNN’s Nic Robertson embedded with the Israeli Defense Forces for its longest-range combat mission in nearly 40 years, targeting the Houthi-controlled port in Hodeidah, Yemen…
The U.S. is moving military forces across the Middle East in response to Israel’s campaign targeting Hezbollah officials in Lebanon and ground incursion into the country…
A new poll from Israel’s Channel 12 on Sunday shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a boost following the assassination of Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah and targeted attacks on Hezbollah officials in Lebanon…
Vanity Fair published an excerpt from Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst’s new book, Black Saturday, which is out today…
Philanthropist Joel Fleishman, who served on an array of boards and promoted Jewish education efforts, died at 90…
Pic of the Day
Clay pomegranates collect dust at the kindergarten in Kibbutz Nir Oz, a year after the kibbutz’s students, which include hostage Ariel Bibas, made them for last year’s High Holidays.
Birthdays
Film director, screenwriter and producer, Stacie Passon turns 55…
MLB second baseman who appeared in 18 straight All-Star Games, he is immortalized as Jewish in Adam Sandler’s “Chanukah Song,” Rod Carew turns 79… Senior judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Andrew David Hurwitz turns 77… Professor at the Technion, he won the 2004 Nobel Prize in chemistry, Aaron Ciechanover turns 77… Co-founder of the publicly traded TechTarget, Bruce Levenson turns 75… Copy editor at Politico since 2009, Andrew Goodwin… Film, stage and television actress and, since 2009, an ordained Jewish cantor, Lorna Patterson turns 68… The first-ever Jewish chief justice of the Washington State Supreme Court, Steven C. González turns 61… Reality television personality, model and actress, Cynthia Dawn “Cindy” Margolis turns 59… Democratic candidate for Congress in CO-3, Adam Bennett Frisch turns 57… Recently retired director of philanthropic partnerships at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Robert A. Rosen… Partner at FGS Global, Robert Bennett Seidman… Regional development director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Samantha J. (Greenberg) Weinberg… MBA candidate at Georgetown, Samuel Koralnik… Business development manager at Cympire, Yossi Raskas… Scott Rosenthal…
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