Daily Kickoff
Good Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to lawmakers about the ouster of Hamas officials from Qatar, report on comments by former Trump administration officials about how the incoming administration may approach Iran and interview MK Yuli Edelstein about Israel’s Haredi conscription bill. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Elise Stefanik, Josh Harris and Tali Farhadian Weinstein.
What We’re Watching
- Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer is in Washington today for meetings with officials aimed at reaching a cease-fire in Lebanon. Dermer reportedly traveled to Russia last week for similar conversations…
- The Jewish Federations of North America’s annual General Assembly continues today. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) will address the morning plenary, while Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Jewish Agency for Israel Board of Governors chair Mark Wilf, Rabbi David Wolpe and Rabbi Sharon Brous will be among those speaking at the afternoon plenary.
- Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, is in France today as part of a trip to Europe to discuss antisemitism on the continent with stakeholders and officials.
- Saudi officials are hosting a summit for Arab leaders in Riyadh today, with the gathering set to focus on uniting on strategy among Arab states ahead of the start of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.
What You Should Know
In pre-election conversations with conservatives concerned about President-elect Donald Trump’s relationships with isolationist advisers, the most frequent refrains of reassurance were: 1) Judge Trump by his first-term actions, not his allies’ rhetoric and 2) He’ll pick hawkish Cabinet figures like former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) to fill out his Cabinet.
Less than a week after the president’s decisive victory, there are growing worries that Trump could pursue a very different foreign policy than he did in his first term — one more consistent with his populist, isolationist campaign rhetoric and closer to the instincts of his formerly Democratic advisers Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes.
Based on the buzz from Mar-a-Lago, RFK Jr. and Gabbard are exercising outsized influence on Trump’s personnel picks — including on national security — while the president-elect publicly ruled out Pompeo and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley as part of his new administration.
Cotton, meanwhile,quickly took his name out of contention for a leading Cabinet post despite being touted as a candidate for secretary of defense or CIA director.
Many mainstream Republicans were taken aback after Trump publicly ruled out Pompeo and Haley by name in a Saturday evening Truth Social post. While Haley was not considered a contender for a top Cabinet spot, Pompeo was rumored as a serious contender to lead the Pentagon.
Pompeo, in response, tweeted: “I was proud to work with you too. As you said, when we were together last week, you and I built the plan that made the world safer & led to no new wars. America firmly rejected the Biden-Harris foreign policy agenda. We have a duty to put America First again.”
Haley, who despite endorsing Trump was not invited to campaign for him, responded on social media that she “was proud to work with President Trump” during his first term and that she wished “him, and all who serve, great success.”
Adding insult to injury, Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. on Sunday quote-tweeted an anti-Israel podcaster who demanded the administration “keep all neocons and war hawks out of the Trump administration” — tagging his effort as part of a “stop Pompeo movement.” The president’s son, who is playing an active role in Trump personnel decisions, said: “Agreed! 100% I’m on it.”
To be sure, these positions are consistent with Trump campaign rhetoric that was broadly pro-Israel but which also called on ending wars, including urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to finish the wars in Gaza and Lebanon as quickly as possible. It was clever rhetoric that allowed him to make significant inroads with both Jewish and Arab American voters.
But now that rhetoric is in the process of being translated into policy, there are signs that Trump is accommodating the views of both the MAGA base and new supporters like RFK Jr., who share a generally isolationist worldview.
Those familiar with Trump’s thinking remain confident that a future Trump administration will maintain the pro-Israel policies of his first term — and pursue a muscular stance against Iran, which has tried to assassinate the president-elect.
Trump defenders also note much of Trump’s public distancing from Haley and Pompeo stem from their outspoken support of U.S. backing of Ukraine as it defends itself against Russian aggression as well as their roles as Trump rivals during the 2024 presidential campaign. (Pompeo ultimately didn’t run, but leveled some tweaks at the former president as he mulled a campaign.)
But there’s no doubt that when the president’s son is amplifying attacks from anti-Israel voices against “war hawks” on the same day Pompeo was very publicly rejected from Trump’s Cabinet, there’s good reason to wonder where Trump’s second-term policies in the Middle East will lead, as well.
doha dealings
Lawmakers applaud move to expel Hamas from Qatar, but some say it’s too late
On Capitol Hill, critics of Qatar applauded the country’s decision to expel Hamas’s leadership, which Qatar has sheltered for years, from the country. But they also expressed frustration that the decision had taken so long, and some argued that kicking out Hamas leaders isn’t enough — and that Hamas officials should instead be detained and extradited, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What they’re saying: Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC), among the most vocal critics of Qatar in the Senate, said that the news was “welcome, but long overdue” in a statement. Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) said, “Qatar has, so far, failed to force Hamas to come to the table and make a deal to release the Israeli and American hostages. It is crystal clear that Hamas is not a good-faith negotiator and must never receive shelter from partners of the United States.” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) called it “utterly inexplicable” that the push hadn’t come sooner.
Read the full story here and read more about Qatar’s demand to Hamas here.
amsterdam accountability
Jewish lawmakers press Dutch ambassador for answers on Amsterdam attack
A group of Jewish House members spoke to the Dutch ambassador to the United States on Friday, asking her for information about the mob attack on Israeli and Jewish fans of the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team in the streets of Amsterdam on Thursday, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What they discussed: Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), who organized the call, told JI that all individuals involved need to be held fully accountable for their actions under Dutch law, including facing deportation if applicable. Sherman said the Dutch ambassador, Birgitta Tazelaar, will be briefing lawmakers again next month with further details, including authorities’ failure to detect efforts to plan for the attacks and previous reports that some Dutch police officers had refused to protect Jewish sites.
tehran talk
Former Trump officials confident president-elect will pursue muscular policy against Iran
Elliott Abrams, the first Trump administration’s special representative for Iran, and Gabriel Noronha, who previously worked on the Iran file at the State Department, predicted on Friday that President-elect Donald Trump will usher in a more muscular policy toward Iran when he takes office in January, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
The short term: Abrams, speaking alongside Noronha on a Jewish Institute for National of America webinar, said that — though Trump has called for a prompt end to Israel’s wars against Hamas and Hezbollah — he expects Trump will place less pressure on Israel to curtail its operations in Lebanon and Gaza and will remove any delays on arms shipments. Abrams suggested that Iran may delay its plans to retaliate against Israel following Israel’s bombing attacks last month, because Israel would “feel less constrained by what the Biden administration wants” in its own response to such an attack and could retaliate more forcefully than it did last month.
knesset conversation
Edelstein remains defiant amid Netanyahu moves to reinstate Haredi exemption from IDF
Foreign Affairs and Defense has long been the most prestigious and powerful of the Knesset’s committees, but in wartime, its oversight of all of Israel’s national security bodies takes on additional importance. The government of Israel is required to report to the committee declarations of war or operations that could lead to war, emergency call-ups of reserves, regulations related to a state of national emergency, and more. The panel is also responsible for legislation related to national security — including a Haredi conscription bill. Presiding over all of this throughout Israel’s multi-front war with Iranian proxies – with a higher security clearance and greater access to intelligence than most Israeli cabinet ministers and in some cases, even members of the smaller security cabinet – has been Likud lawmaker Yuli Edelstein, who sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov in his Knesset office last week.
Draft dodging: Edelstein announced last week that he would not support the “daycare centers bill” that would cancel one of the major sanctions against Haredim who dodged the IDF draft. A response was quick to arrive: Likud whip Ofir Katz barred Edelstein from submitting legislation for a month. Edelstein did not take the punishment for standing up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu too seriously. “It was important [for the Likud] to show that my opposition didn’t pass unnoticed, and therefore they sanctioned me, but I smiled at this, after all my years in the Knesset,” Edelstein told JI.
where the jews at?
Politicians, celebrities highlight need to combat antisemitism, support Israel to sparse crowd at ‘Standing Together’ event in D.C.
Thousands of people stood together in Nationals Park on Sunday for the Jewish Federations of North America and Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations’s unity event, where speakers highlighted the need for the Jewish community and the wider world to combat antisemitism and to work to secure the release of the 101 hostages still being held by Hamas, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen and eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim report.
Notable quotable: Speaking at the event, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said that post-election “we must move forward and focus on solving problems.” Whitmer, a Democrat, added, “We stand with the people of Israel. We share their pain. We are committed to their safety.” Whitmer’s comments were met by thunderous applause, particularly from Michigan’s federation delegations, even as Whitmer has come under scrutiny from Jewish leaders in recent months for a muted reaction to the spate of antisemitic incidents in her state.
Worthy Reads
Going Dutch: In The Free Press, Auburn University lecturer David de Bruijn, a native of The Hague, reflects on the antisemitism he grew up with in the Netherlands following last week’s attack on Israeli and Jewish soccer fans in Amsterdam. “Self-protection was a constant — and to me, natural — part of Jewish life. Leading youngsters to a summer camp in northern Friesland meant bringing a dedicated security team and, when possible, keeping quiet the fact that it was Jewish children gathering here. … As the situation worsened over the years — motivating some, including me, to move, others to adjust, and so many to worry — one of the most painful aspects was the way the Jewish community was gaslit. Dutch society repeatedly told its post-Holocaust Jewish remnant — and itself — that ‘never again’ was not merely a concrete promise, but a core concept of modern Dutch morality. However, the dominant culture of the country’s immigrant communities has proven manifestly hostile to that worldview — and to Jews.” [FreePress]
City Center: Washington Post business columnist Heather Long writes about the urban shift toward Republicans in the 2024 election. “It’s the urban areas that should unnerve Democrats most. These places are led by liberal mayors and city councils. They are diverse, and they are economically powerful. Take a look at America’s 50 biggest local economies (as measured by GDP in 2022). In 2020, Trump won only one of them. In 2024, he took nine and made significant gains in nearly all of them. He flipped Miami, Phoenix (Maricopa County), Orange County, Calif. (near Los Angeles) and Nassau County, N.Y., on Long Island. It was the best showing in urban areas for a Republican since 2004. His gains reversed an urban shift toward Democrats that had seemed locked in since the Obama years.” [WashPost]
Liability of the Left: The New York Times‘ Maureen Dowd suggests that Democrats’ efforts to placate the far-left wing of the party proved to be a major cause for the party’s election underperformance. “One thing that makes Democrats great is that they unabashedly support groups that have suffered from inequality. But they have to begin avoiding extreme policies that alienate many Americans who would otherwise be drawn to the party. … On CNN, the Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky said: ‘Hey, college kids, if you’re trashing a campus of Columbia University because you aren’t happy about some sort of policy and you’re taking over a university and you’re trashing it and preventing other students from learning, that that is unacceptable.’ But we’re so worried about alienating one or another cohort in our coalition that we don’t know what to say.’” [NYTimes]
Word on the Street
The Financial Times reported that Jared Kushner ruled out serving in the second Trump administration, but could potentially serve in a White House advisory role…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’s spoken with President-elect Donald Trump three times since Trump’s victory last week, and is sending Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer to meet Trump in Mar-a-Lago later this week…
Trump offered Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), currently the House Republican Conference chair, the position of U.S. ambassador to the U.N.…
The Free Press’ Jay Solomon does a deep dive into the divisions among senior Trump aides and advisors over the composition of the next administration’s national security team…
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is making efforts to work with the incoming Trump administration, speaking by phone with Trump on Friday; a readout from the Palestinian Authority said Trump “emphasized his commitment to the stop the war and reiterated his willingness to collaborate with President Abbas, as well as other regional and global stakeholders, in efforts to achieve peace in the region”…
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) said he was notified by police he was targeted as part of an assassination plot; “The individual in question was arrested not far from my home; he is a former felon who was in possession of a rifle, a suppressor, and body armor. Found with him was a manifesto that, among other things, included antisemitic rhetoric and only my name on the ‘target’ list,” Moskowitz said in a statement…
In an interview with Semafor, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) criticized third-party voters who opted against voting for Vice President Kamala Harris over the administration’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war. “If you’re on the side of these protesters that say these kinds of ridiculous things like ‘from the river to the sea,’ go ahead, but the vast majority of voters are never going to want to stand with that,” Fetterman said…
The Atlantic interviewed Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) about the Democratic Party’s missteps that led to resounding defeat in last week’s election…
Former Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) was declared the winner of Las Vegas’ mayoral race…
President Joe Biden announced that he will nominate attorney and former Manhattan district attorney candidate Tali Farhadian Weinstein to a seat on the court of the Southern District of New York…
Federal prosecutors announced charges against two men who had plotted to kill Iranian dissident and human rights activist Masih Alinejad…
Australian-Jewish philanthropist Anthony Pratt will move to the U.S. after receiving his green card last month…
The Wall Street Journal reports on an effort by Jane Lauder to reportedly oust Estée Lauder executive chairman William Lauder, who is her cousin, prior to the company’s C-suite shakeup last month that saw Stéphane de La Faveri selected to be the company’s new CEO…
Bloomberg calls the Washington Commanders “the most exciting team in the NFL,” citing the efforts of the Commanders’ new owner, Josh Harris, to turn the team around…
Endeavor’s Ari Emanuel has raised more than $100 million to buy live-entertainment properties; Emanuel is reportedly looking to purchase, among other entities, the Miami Open, Madrid Open and Frieze Art Fair…
The Washington Post looks at how pro-Hamas messages are gaining traction on college campuses…
Police in Washington, D.C., are investigating the weekend vandalization of Char Bar; two of the kosher eatery’s windows were broken in an incident that coincided with the anniversary of Kristallnacht…
Jonathan Powell, who served as chief of staff to then-U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair from 1997-2007, was tapped to be the U.K.’s national security advisor in Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government…
Dutch authorities said that the attacks targeting Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam last week were premeditated by perpetrators calling for a “Jew hunt” following smaller clashes earlier in the week…
The Washington Post talks to American Jews who chose to move to Israel following last year’s Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks…
Two Saudi soldiers were killed after a soldier from the exiled government in Yemen opened fire on Saudi troops conducting an exercise in eastern Yemen…
Palestinian civilians, including some injured by Hamas, who fled their homes in Jabaliya, Gaza, described to Channel 12’s Ohad Hemo how Hamas ruined their lives and expressed support for Israel’s efforts to destroy the group; “Hamas brought a Nakba on us, we are a poor nation,” one Gazan woman told Hemo. “Exterminate Hamas from the world! We are with you! All the good comes from you — you are the blessing. I swear that I was happy when you assassinated Sinwar. With the help of Allah, destroy them, keep going until you eliminate them” …
Felice Gaer, the longtime director of the American Jewish Committee’s Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, died at 78…
Illustrator Bruce Degen, who did the art and drawings for The Magic School Bus children’s book series, died at 79…
Pic of the Day
Children in Berlin participated in an event over the weekend commemorating the anniversary of Kristallnacht.
Birthdays
Founder of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Ken Grossman turns 70…
Professor emeritus at Princeton University, a scholar of nineteenth and twentieth century literature, Victor Henri Brombert turns 101… Retired psychiatric nurse now living in Surprise, Ariz., Shula Kantor turns 97… Retired television and radio sports broadcaster, Warner Wolf turns 87… Former Democratic U.S. senator from California for 24 years, Barbara Levy Boxer turns 84… Author, best known for her 1993 autobiographical memoir Girl, Interrupted, Susanna Kaysen turns 76… Television personality (former host of “Double Dare”), known professionally as Marc Summers, Marc Berkowitz turns 73… Attorney in Miami-Dade County, Fla., Louis Huss turns 70… Founder and president of D.C.-based Plurus Strategies, David Leiter… President at American Built-in Closets in South Florida, Perry Birman… Aish HaTorah teacher in Los Angeles and co-founder of a gourmet kosher cooking website, Emuna Braverman… Talk show host and president and founder of Talkline Communications, Zev Brenner turns 66… Founder of NYC-based alternative investment firm Portage Partners, Michael Leffell… Professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Steven M. Nadler turns 66… Former U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic, Ambassador Norman Eisen turns 64… Venture capitalist and physicist, Yuri Milner turns 63… Founder and executive director of Los Angeles-based IKAR, Melissa Balaban… Israel’s commissioner of police until about four months ago, Kobi Shabtai turns 60… Emmy Award- and People’s Choice Award-winning television producer, Jason Nidorf “Max” Mutchnick turns 59… Former member of the Knesset for the Likud party, she was previously a model and a television anchor, Orly Levy-Abekasis turns 51… Tel Aviv-born actor and screenwriter, he is best known for his roles in “The Young and the Restless” and “NCIS,” Eyal Podell turns 49… Defender for the Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer, Daniel Steres turns 34… Finance director at the campaign for Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA), Shelly Tsirulik… Survivor of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, he has become an advocate against gun violence, Cameron Kasky turns 24… Russian-Israeli researcher, she has been held hostage by an Iran-backed Iraqi militia since March 2023, Elizabeth Tsurkov…
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