Daily Kickoff
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on how Israelis, American Jewish communities and senior government officials commemorated the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, from Washington to New York to Las Vegas to Tel Aviv. We cover Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s comments this morning in Jerusalem about a potential Israeli strike on Iran and report on clashes between Israel and France over Paris’ recent floating of an arms embargo to Israel. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Howard Lutnick, Todd Richman and Dovid Efune.
What We’re Watching
- This afternoon, the Atlantic Council is hosting a seminar on how the next U.S. administration should approach the threats emanating from Iran. Speakers include former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, former Deputy Director of National Intelligence Beth Sanner and former Australian Ambassador to Iran Paul Foley.
- The Cipher 2024 Threat Conference wraps up this morning in Sea Island, Ga. Former CIA Director Gen. Michael V. Hayden is set to address the confab just after 9 a.m. ET.
What You Should Know
“We can’t make the darkness smaller, but we can enlarge the light.” Israeli singer Shlomo Artzi was repeating the words of his writer daughter, which had stuck with him throughout the day, as he stood on stage last night at the Bereaved Families Oct. 7 Memorial Ceremony at Tel Aviv’s HaYarkon Park, Jewish Insider’s Tamara Zieve reports from the scene. The iconic folk-rock musician dedicated a song to the hostages as he performed alongside 13-year-old released hostage Yagil Yaakov, whose father Yair was kidnapped and murdered by Hamas, and whose body remains in captivity.
And through the many tears shed by the 2,000 audience members — mostly made up of families of Oct. 7 victims — the light in Israel’s diverse society shone as speaker after speaker highlighted the bravery, self-sacrifice, love and unity of both those who fell and those they left behind. Thousands more Israelis watched the ceremony in public gatherings around the country and from their homes, after the event was restricted for security reasons.
Many of Israel’s most prominent singers participated in the civilian-organized ceremony, held directly before and organized as an alternative to the official state prerecorded ceremony, their music poignantly threading together the stories that were shared. Ivri Lider sang “I Was Lucky To Have Loved” together with Nova festival survivor Yuval Sharvit Trabelsi, whose husband, Mor Trabelsi, was murdered in their car where they tried to take cover; Agam Bubut dedicated Idan Raichel’s Arabic “Min Nhar Li Mshiti” (From The Day You Left) to Edna Malkamo, an Ethiopian-Israeli therapist and mother of three who was killed by Hamas terrorists as she was driving home from a night shift; and Breslov Hasidic singer Shuli Rand performed “We Shall Not Ask” together with Mizrachi singer Yishay Levi after Zaka volunteer Shneor Gol spoke of the trauma he has experienced after identifying so many bodies of victims of the terror attacks.
Maysam Abu Wasel Darawshe spoke of the warmth, love and energy radiated by her brother Awad, a paramedic and ambulance driver who was murdered at Nova after staying on the scene to help others. “I hear the words that our mother speaks about you in Arabic, the same language that on that Saturday morning was associated with blood and horrors,” Darawshe said. “For many here, it will be hard to hear, but Arabic is the language of our childhood, the language in which we dreamed of a better future, of love, peace, and life — for all of us. And I will quote our mother (in Arabic): ‘Awad was a gift from heaven; his journey was short, but it carried great and profound meanings: he taught us how to love each other, to help one another, and not to let hatred and jealousy reside within us.’”
Arin Hakba and Ashira Greenberg, Druze and Jewish women whose husbands had been killed in their IDF service, spoke of how they crossed the country, from the Galilee to the Dead Sea and back, to comfort one another and learned about the close bond their husbands had shared. “Tomer and Salman were different from each other — in their cultures and beliefs — but what connected them was much greater: a love for this land and a determination to protect it. It is our duty to bring the unity that exists on the front lines to the home front as well,” said Hakba.
Yigal Cohen, father of fallen soldier Hadar Cohen, who was killed at the Nahal Oz outpost along with 14 other tatzpitaniyot, female lookout soldiers, released 16 white balloons — Noa Marciano was kidnapped and killed in captivity — in their memory, and five yellow balloons for another five tatziptianiyot who were kidnapped and remain in Gaza. Cohen called for accountability for the failures surrounding Oct. 7, as did Jonathan Shimriz, one of the organizers of the ceremony, who called for a state inquiry — a demand met by applause from the audience.
Shimriz’s brother, Alon Shimriz, was taken hostage by Hamas and killed in a friendly fire incident by Israeli soldiers who did not realize that he, Yotam Haim and Samar Tlalka were hostages who had escaped captivity and were appealing to be rescued.
“For five days, they sought the light, but tragically, it was denied them at the last moment,” Shimriz said. “My brother Alon acted against every basic instinct. He initiated and led. He wasn’t afraid to make mistakes; he wasn’t afraid to believe. For five days, he navigated through the heart of a bombarded neighborhood in Gaza, when no one thought it was even possible. Even in the harshest conditions, even when there was no hope, Alon, being Alon, believed and worked towards a good outcome.”
“In his death, Alon bequeathed us the path, the light and the hope,” Shimriz said. “I believe that from the ruins and destruction, from the hell we went through, a new generation is rising. A generation that believes in us, in a reformed and united Israeli society, a generation that believes in the Israeli spirit. A generation that will rebuild the ruins and create a better, more moral country — a country where truth is pursued, sanctified, and never let go.” Read the full story here.
sullivan’s speech
Jake Sullivan: Israel needs a strategy to turn military successes into lasting wins
Biden administration National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, speaking at an Oct. 7 memorial event at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, said that Israel needs a defined strategy to turn its recent military successes against terrorist leaders into a sustainable path forward, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Key takeaways: Sullivan offered praise for Israel’s operations that had killed terrorist leaders responsible for Israeli and American deaths, which he said showed Israel’s “remarkable capacity,” but said that such operations on their own are not enough. “The challenge going forward is to turn tactical wins in battle into a strategy that secures Israel’s people and its future,” Sullivan said. “That takes real discipline, it takes courage, it takes foresight, to match the conduct of war to a clear and sustainable set of objectives and to turn tactical advantage into enduring strategic gains. That is never easy, but it’s imperative, and we are here to work with you on that.”
Elsewhere in Washington: Members of the Jewish community from Washington, D.C, Maryland and Virginia filled the Anthem, a D.C. concert venue, on Monday night for an event commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
tree of life
Harris, Walz honor Oct. 7 victims in D.C. and L.A.
One year after the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel, and with less than a month until the election, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, commemorated the victims of the attacks in events on opposite coasts. In Washington, Harris and her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, planted a pomegranate tree outside of the Naval Observatory as a memorial to those killed one year ago. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Walz visited the “Nova Music Festival Exhibition,” which memorializes the hundreds of people killed at the music festival near Gaza’s border on Oct. 7, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Always remember: “I will never forget Oct. 7, and the world must never forget what is asked of us,” said Harris. “We must work to ensure nothing like the horrors of Oct. 7 can ever happen again, and on this solemn day, I will restate my pledge to always ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself, and that I will always work to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish people here and around the world.”
Speaker’s speech: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on Monday that the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks serve as a cautionary tale against appeasing Iran and other U.S. adversaries funding terrorism. Johnson made the comments while offering his reflections on the one-year anniversary of the attacks and the lessons he had since learned during a virtual event organized by the Republican Jewish Coalition, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
remembering the hostages
Trump makes first visit to Lubavitcher rebbe’s gravesite
Former President Donald Trump made his first visit to the gravesite of the Lubavitcher rebbe in Queens, New York, on Monday, hours before participating in an event in Florida to commemorate Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks. Meanwhile, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), his running mate, was in Washington, D.C., to deliver an address at a pro-Israel gathering on the National Mall, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel and Emily Jacobs report.
Trump at the tomb: Wearing a black kippah, Trump appeared at the tomb of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known as the Ohel, where he prayed for the release of the hostages in Gaza. The former president was joined, among others, by family members of Edan Alexander, one of four American captives still being held by Hamas. Trump’s team initiated the Monday afternoon visit, according to a source familiar with the situation who asked to remain anonymous to discuss a confidential matter. “They wanted this to happen,” the source told JI after the event.
Party switch: Peter Deutsch, a former Democratic congressman from Florida, endorsed former President Donald Trump on Monday, citing concerns over Israel’s security as the top issue motivating his decision, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
de-platformed
Several Jewish federations’ social media accounts disabled before Oct. 7
With the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 terror attacks approaching, JEWISHcolorado — a Denver-based nonprofit affiliated with the Jewish Federations of North America — posted on Instagram on Oct. 1 about the organization’s Oct. 7 commemoration event. The post, though, did not successfully reach community members. That’s because soon after sharing it, JEWISHcolorado’s Instagram account was disabled, making it one of at least four local Jewish federations in the United States to have accounts on Meta-run platforms disabled after posting in the lead-up to the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Unsolved problem: All of the disabled accounts have since been restored — JEWISHcolorado’s after four days, and the Jewish Federation of San Antonio after nearly two weeks. But it took the involvement of a staff member at JFNA, the national advocacy arm representing Jewish federations, who reached out to a contact at Meta directly. “The fact that pages were taken down over Oct. 7 commemoration posts was very disappointing and indicates that there is clearly a problem that still needs to be fixed,” JFNA spokesperson Niv Elis said.
in jerusalem
Sen. Blumenthal warns Israel against strike on Iranian nuclear facilities
Israel should not strike Iran’s nuclear facilities in response to Tehran’s recent ballistic missile attack, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said in a press conference with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in Jerusalem on Tuesday, warning of the chances for a wider regional war in the event of such a strike, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Tehran talk: Asked if the U.S. would support or join a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, Blumenthal said that “widening the escalation of the ongoing war to include Iran at that time may not be in Israel’s interest or that of the U.S.” He added, “A nuclear-armed Iran is a threat not just to the U.S. but to the world order.. It has been the constant policy of the U.S. to try to avoid a nuclear armed Iran … but attacking a nuclear facility right now is perhaps not the wisest course to take.” Graham, who was on his seventh visit to Israel since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, said he would support Israel if it chose to “take the [nuclear] option off the table.”
arm’s length
Netanyahu clashes with Macron over France’s arms embargo
French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clashed on Sunday over the French leader’s call for an arms embargo on Israel on the eve of the first anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel. Yet the halting and slowing down of weapons deliveries from the U.K., Germany, France and others have had little impact on Israel’s ability to prosecute its multifront war, experts told Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov this week, while warning the hold on arms could put pressure on the U.S., the country that matters most.
Crunching the numbers: According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 69% of arms imports to Israel came from the U.S., 30% from Germany, 0.9% from Italy and 0.1% from the rest of the world, including France. The practical impact of these embargoes on the ongoing wars in Gaza and Lebanon has been minimal, several experts told JI. Emmanuel Navon, executive director of the European pro-Israel organization ELNET and an international relations lecturer at Tel Aviv University, said that the only country in Europe that is a significant arms supplier for Israel is Germany. “France is only significant when it comes to air defense, as we saw [in the Iranian attack] in April, but when it comes to military supplies, it’s almost insignificant,” he said.
Worthy Reads
‘Who Will Live…’: The Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus considers the meaning of the Unetaneh Tokef prayer, which is recited during the High Holidays, after a year of trauma for the Jewish people. “The centerpiece of the High Holiday liturgy is the Unetaneh Tokef, which builds on the notion that on Rosh Hashanah our fates are written in the Book of Life, and on Yom Kippur they are sealed. … This prayer has brought me to tears so many times — after losing a parent, grieving in advance for a friend with a terminal illness. Yet it has never felt so powerful, or so problematic, as this year. The Oct. 7 attack and its aftermath remind us of the inescapable fragility of life, with terrors that its ancient author — the prayer dates at least to the 11th century — could scarcely imagine. But, as with the horror of the Holocaust, the prayer also pushes us to grapple with how we think about God’s agency, God’s role in our fate, God’s very existence. Would a just God blow off Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s arm? Could a just God seal his fate, after 329 days in captivity? Would a just God ignore his mother’s prayers, his father’s righteousness?” [WashPost]
Unpoisoned Ivy: New York magazine’s Alexander Nazaryan spotlights Dartmouth President Sian Leah Beilock, who is the only Ivy League leader who has not come under fierce criticism over administrative handling of antisemitism. “Some attribute this to the school’s overall more conservative reputation than its fellow Ivies, but it also has something to do specifically with Beilock, who came to the school with an unusual focus and background on how to promote the mental wellbeing of young people. When she took over in late September, Beilock was the first woman to lead the college in its nearly 300 years. At 48, she is also by far the youngest president in the Ivy League. (Most others are in their 60s.) And she hailed from the social sciences: Before becoming an administrator, Beilock had been a neuroscientist who studied emotional responses to stress. Her declared intent was creating a campus truly optimized for young brains to thrive and to avoid negative vortices of stress and despair — a goal she saw as achievable, but not really being done very well at other colleges.” [NYMag]
Shadow of the Shoah: In The Free Press, Niall Ferguson connects the horrors of the Holocaust to the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks. “I believe there is not a person living in Israel — from the most left-wing journalists of Tel Aviv to the ultra-Orthodox of Jerusalem to the mystics of Tzfat — who did not see what I saw. October 7 was not just another terrorist attack. It was the prelude to Shoah II. That was why, when I traveled to Israel in February, I was not wholly surprised to encounter a people who, despite their compulsive political quarrels, were united in their resolve to do whatever it takes to prevent that from happening. I met no one who dissented from the proposition that Hamas should be destroyed. I met many whose only caveat was that Hezbollah — a bigger threat in military terms — should be destroyed first. I found few takers for the idea that Israel’s security would be enhanced by the creation of an independent Palestinian state. And I can recall nobody — not a single person — who opposed military action to defend Israel against its enemies, even if it meant putting themselves or their sons and daughters on the front line.” [FreePress]
Oldest Hatred, Anew: In The Atlantic, Dara Horn warns of the broader threat that antisemitism poses to the societies it inhabits. “The consequences for Jews of this hatred are obvious. Indeed, many American Jews have changed their behavior, hiding outward signs of Jewish identity and thinking twice before sharing their identity with colleagues and acquaintances. But its consequences for non-Jews are incalculable — not because of the often inaccurate Holocaust-education claim that Jews are the canary-in-the-coal-mine whose persecution indicates that other groups will later be persecuted, but because this permission structure devours human potential. … American institutions that cave to this hatred will also face these costs. Schools and universities lose their credibility and their ability to teach when educators let lies undermine learning. The same is true for other sectors of American life. A literary world where conformity is the price of entry is unworthy of the name. A prejudiced therapist is a contradiction in terms, rendering therapy itself impossible. Patients suffer when ideology derails doctors’ training. When swaths of colleagues are blacklisted and ostracized, untold possibilities for research and innovation are blithely destroyed.” [TheAtlantic]
Word on the Street
CIA Director Bill Burns warned at the Cipher Brief Threat Conference in Georgia on Monday that miscalculations and misunderstandings between Israel and Iran could pose a “very real danger of a further regional escalation of conflict”…
The National Republican Campaign Committee began running a video on the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, targeting swing-seat Jewish voters with graphic footage from the Hamas attack and pro-Hamas demonstrations in the United States. The ad accuses Democrats of endangering Israel and siding with or refusing to condemn such demonstrations, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) used her statement commemorating the anniversary of Oct. 7 to criticize Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his handling of the war in Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports…
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of American-Israeli hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, excoriated Netanyahu in a speech on Monday at an Oct. 7 memorial event organized by the American Jewish Committee, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
The Ohio home of Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) was targeted by masked protesters; the congressman, who is Jewish, and his family had to be escorted to and from their home by law enforcement…
Venture capitalist Ben Horowitz is planning to make a “significant” donation to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign; Horowitz, along with his business partner Marc Andreessen, had endorsed former President Donald Trump in July, before President Joe Biden exited the race…
Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of Trump’s transition team, rejected speculation that he could serve as ambassador to Israel in a potential Trump administration, but expressed openness to serving in the administration in a different capacity…
Todd Richman, a co-founder of Democratic Majority for Israel, was attacked by anti-Israel protesters in New York City in what Manhattan Borough President Marc Levine said is being investigated as a hate crime…
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul warned university leaders that they would face the enforcement of state and federal laws if they “allow for the discrimination of our students on campus, even calling for the genocide of the Jewish people, which is what is meant by, ‘From the river to the sea,’ by the way”…
The Free Press published audio from a CBS staff call in which executives said that anchor Tony Dokoupil’s recent interview of Ta-Nehisi Coates, in which Dokoupil pressed Coates on his anti-Israel positions, fell short of the outlet’s editorial standards; CBS executives received pushback from longtime legal correspondent Jan Crawford, who praised Dokoupil for challenging Coates’ admitted “one-sided account of a very complex situation”…
New York Sun owner Dovid Efune is nearing a deal to purchase The Telegraph for approximately $720 million…
Time magazine spotlights the families of hostages for the publication’s cover story this week…
Writer Joanna Chen, whose Guernica article about building bridges between Palestinians and Israelis triggered mass resignations from the alternative publication, reflects on her interactions with Israeli hostage families, Palestinians in the West Bank and friends in Gaza over the last year…
Haim Regev, Israel’s envoy to the European Union, said that a new governing structure will be put in place in Gaza as the IDF winds down much of its operations in the enclave after completing most of its military objectives…
The New York Times looks at how Israel and the U.S. are approaching a potential strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities…
Senior Al Jazeera journalist Jamal Rayyan praised Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks as a “day that restored the nation’s dignity and prestige”…
Sophie Mirviss, previously the Democratic staff director for the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, is moving to the Pentagon, where she will serve as chief of staff to the deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East…
Author Lore Segal, who escaped the Holocaust on a Kindertransport and whose life experiences worked their way into her novels, died at 96…
Song of the Day
Israeli singer Keren Peles released “In the Endless Field Outside My Home” on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks. Peles filmed the video for the song with children from the Gaza envelope.
Birthdays
Gossip columnist and businesswoman, Rona Barrett (born Rona Burstein) turns 88…
Founder and chairman of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Isadore “Issy” Sharp turns 93… General surgeon in Tempe, Ariz., Agustin Estrada, MD… Author of more than 330 horror fiction novels that have sold over 400 million copies, R. L. Stine turns 81… Former attorney general of Maryland, Brian E. Frosh turns 78… Director of the photography department at Bard College since 1982, more than 25 books of his photographs have been published, Stephen Shore turns 77… Academy Award-winning film producer and director, Edward Zwick turns 72… CEO of Heart of a Nation, Jonathan Kessler… Movie and theater director, writer and filmmaker, Shira Piven turns 63… One of two Jewish Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives (R-TN), David Kustoff turns 58… Los Angeles-based art collector, art curator and art advisor, Stefan Simchowitz turns 54… Scholar-in-residence at UJA-Federation New York, Rabbi Menachem Creditor… Entertainment reporter and sports commentator, Ben Lyons turns 43… Magazine editor Ilana Michelle Blitzer Snider… Research assistant at Israel’s Ono Academic College, Aliyana Traison… Singer and actor, he represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Yaakov “Kobi” Marimi turns 33… Founder of the Knock Knock, Give a Sock organization, Adina Lichtman…
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