Daily Kickoff
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at how President-elect Donald Trump’s reported picks for secretary of state and national security advisor are playing at home and in Israel, report on Qatar’s official statement denying that it will expel the Hamas officials living in the country and spotlight the GOP Senate priorities in the next Congress. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Steve Schwarzman, USC President Carol Folt and Jonathan Chait.
What We’re Watching
- President Joe Biden and Israeli President Isaac Herzog are slated to meet at 11 a.m. at the White House. Prior to their sit-down, Herzog will hold separate meetings with Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
- The Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly concludes today in Washington. Sheryl Sandberg and Bari Weiss are slated to speak at the closing plenary.
What You Should Know
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped three leading members of his foreign policy team, reassuring traditional conservatives that the incoming president plans to pursue a muscular foreign policy — especially when it comes to deterring China and Iran, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes.
Trump’s expected selection of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) as secretary of state and Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) as national security advisor, bypassing other contenders seen as closer to the isolationist wing of the party, is being viewed as a major victory for the hawkish wing of the party.
Rubio, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, is a stalwart supporter of Israel in the Senate and has been a consistent advocate for tough measures against Iran.
The Florida senator has strong relationships with the state’s sizable Jewish community, and has been a staunch defender of Israel’s military operations against Hamas and Hezbollah.
Rubio also sponsored legislation preventing any president from withdrawing the United States from NATO without approval from the Senate or an act of Congress — another sign of his internationalist credentials.
Waltz has also been deeply involved with national security issues on the Hill. He’s a Green Beret who served as a former policy official at the Pentagon, CEO of a defense contracting company, subcommittee chair on the House Armed Services Committee and member of the Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees.
Like Rubio, Waltz has been an outspoken backer of Israel and has led efforts to punish Iran for its malign behavior in the Middle East. Read more about Waltz’s foreign policy positions here.
“He’ll help Trump restore U.S. deterrence, which has been badly weakened, pressure the Tehran regime, and back Israel advancing both Israeli and U.S. security interests,” Jewish Institute for National Security of America President Michael Makovsky told JI’s Marc Rod.
Both Republicans have also scaled back their support for Ukraine to more closely align with Trump’s views. Both voted against the Ukraine funding legislation that passed through Congress this year on a bipartisan basis.
Rubio was a leader of an effort in the Senate to reinstate the Houthis’ designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Joining Waltz, who led the corresponding push in the House, it seems likely that the Trump administration will move quickly to redesignate the Iranian-backed Yemeni group. Read more here about Rubio’s record on Israel, Iran and antisemitism.
They will be joined on Trump’s foreign policy team by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who was tapped by the president-elect to serve as the ambassador to the United Nations. Stefanik saw her national profile burnished after her aggressive and effective questioning of university presidents about their lackluster handling of antisemitism on campus.
In her statement accepting the job, Stefanik highlighted antisemitism as one of the key issues that she’s aiming to tackle in her new role. In a hint to how she’ll approach her new role, Stefanik has repeatedly blasted the U.N. as systemically antisemitic.
“The work ahead is immense as we see antisemitism skyrocketing coupled with four years of catastrophically weak U.S. leadership that significantly weakened our national security and diminished our standing in the eyes of both allies and adversaries,” Stefanik said. Read more here.
Commenting on the emerging foreign policy team, Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior advisor Rich Goldberg told JI: “The president calls the shots. He is assembling a team that truly understands the complexities of the foreign policy challenges we face, embodies the doctrine of peace through strength, and has demonstrated loyalty to him, which is critical for these posts.”
doha denial
Qatar denies expelling Hamas despite Biden administration claims
The Qatari Foreign Ministry emphatically denied reports of Hamas’s expulsion from Doha, after U.S. officials said that Qatar demanded the Palestinian terrorist group depart. “The media reports regarding the Hamas office in Doha is inaccurate,” the Qatari Foreign Ministry statement from Saturday reads. “The main goal of the office in Qatar is to be a channel of communication between the concerned parties.” A day earlier, Biden administration officials confirmed reports that Qatar told Hamas leadership that they are no longer welcome in their country, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Balancing act: Ariel Admoni, a Qatar expert at Bar-Ilan University, told JI that this kind of triangulation is typical of Doha. “It’s a classic Qatar move to try to try to give both sides something to save face,” he said. Admoni noted that the statement from Doha notes its “firm commitment to supporting the brotherly Palestinian people until they obtain all their rights.” That emphasis by Qatar indicates that the reports of evicting Hamas may have hurt their standing among the terrorist group’s supporters.
view from israel
Enthusiasm in Jerusalem as Trump national security team takes shape
Israeli officials were enthusiastic about President-elect Donald Trump’s expected incoming national security team, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) as secretary of state and Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Mike Waltz (R-FL) for ambassador to the U.N. and national security advisor, respectively. A source close to Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said he is “expected to warmly welcome” his likely counterpart Rubio. “We’re talking about someone who is not only a firm friend of Israel, but has a consistent track record on the major issues of the day,” such as Iran, the source told Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov.
‘Peace through strength’: Former Israeli National Security Advisor and head of the Misgav Institute for National Security Meir Ben-Shabbat, who served under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during Trump’s first term, said that while he does not know the nominees personally, he is familiar with their stances on matters important to Israel and “there is potential for a dramatic change, to expand the Abraham Accords and continue the vision of the previous term, to bring stability, peace and prosperity, but it must be done through strength.”
gop gathering
With majority, Senate Republicans pledge aggressive action against antisemitism
With Senate Republicans set to retake the upper chamber in January, GOP leaders have started to discuss how they’ll respond to the surge of domestic antisemitism since Oct. 7 while outlining their support for Israel in its multi-front war against Iran and its terror proxies. The GOP conference will gather on Wednesday morning to vote on their next leader, succeeding outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Endorsements for each of the three candidates — Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) — are trickling in from members of the conference and prominent Republicans ahead of the vote, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Antisemitism agenda: Once that contest is settled, Republicans will start organizing their agenda for the next Congress. Numerous GOP leaders, including incoming committee chairs and the leading candidates for majority leader, are touting their efforts to combat domestic antisemitism and support Israel. Republicans have consistently argued since the spring that their conference would take a more hands-on approach to both Israel and antisemitism. Members have criticized Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for refusing to allow for a vote on the Antisemitism Awareness Act despite facing calls from Jewish leaders and a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers to do so; Schumer said in late October that a vote on the AAA would take place after the election.
amsterdam insight
‘We are lucky no one was killed,’ ADL’s Greenblatt says after meeting Dutch leaders
Following meetings with top Dutch leaders on Monday, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt emphasized that the attacks on Jews and Israelis after a soccer match featuring the Maccabi Tel Aviv team in Amsterdam last week could have become a much worse tragedy, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Avoiding catastrophe: Greenblatt met with the Dutch prime minister, justice minister and national security advisor as well as leaders from the local Jewish community and sports club and Uber, drivers for which have been accused of participating in the attacks. “The one thing that I heard today from law enforcement, that I heard today from political leadership, that I heard from the Jewish community is that we are lucky no one was killed,” Greenblatt said. “That is a widespread sentiment that I heard and it’s chilling to think that that’s the good news.”
trump transition
Donald Trump Jr. faces scrutiny for embracing anti-Israel podcaster’s views
Donald Trump Jr. is facing scrutiny for amplifying an outspoken anti-Israel comedian on social media over the weekend, particularly as he takes a leading role in shaping the incoming Trump administration. On Sunday, Trump Jr. voiced his agreement with Dave Smith, a libertarian podcaster and comedian, who in a post on X called for “maximum pressure to keep all neocons and war hawks out of the Trump administration.” The post came shortly after President-elect Donald Trump announced on Saturday night that he would not ask Mike Pompeo, his former secretary of state, and Nikki Haley, who served as his ambassador to the United Nations, to join his next administration, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Implications: By boosting Smith, Trump Jr. was aligning with a fierce critic of Israel and its ongoing war in Gaza — which he has called “every bit as evil as the worst of” Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks, “and on a much larger scale.” The comedian has also claimed that “the way Israel was founded was illegitimate and immoral,” while suggesting that, during World War II, “the Zionist agenda at the time very much lined up with Hitler’s agenda,” among other incendiary remarks.
Worthy Reads
Back to Berlin: In The Free Press, Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner proposes that Germany offer citizenship to Jews in response to increased antisemitism on the continent and the growth of extremism among Germany’s Muslim population. “As the world becomes increasingly antisemitic, Germany could attract the greatest talents in business, science, the arts, and technology. This would send out a signal against antisemitism globally and also be an extremely effective program to boost the well-being and prosperity of Germans. Were Mecklenburg-West Pomerania — a federal state in the East as large as Israel — to become a preferred immigration area for Jewish migrants, I would wager that in 10 years it would have some of the best universities, the greatest density of start-ups, the lowest unemployment, and the highest per capita income in the country. In short, it would become the ‘flourishing landscape’ that Helmut Kohl dreamed of for East Germany.” [FreePress]
Party Down: Puck’s Peter Hamby talks to U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel about Democrats’ Election Day losses and the role identity politics played in the party’s campaign messaging. “Democrats, Rahm continued, need to put aside purity tests and find candidates who aren’t afraid to piss off the language police and progressive scolds that seem to spook so many operatives in the party. … Emanuel said that Democrats need to remind voters that they are the party of the little guy, standing up to big banks and billionaires. He also put a blunter edge on a sentiment I’d heard a lot from pragmatic strategists in recent years: That Democrats can only win when they start punching left and pushing back against the orthodoxies that have spread from elite campuses into party committees and big-city newsrooms. Grad school concepts about identity, gender, race, or crime that are either unpopular, inscrutable, or far removed from people’s daily lives.” [Puck]
Book Balagan: In The Hill, Bruce Hoffman and Casey Babb raise concerns about a recent effort in the literary sphere to boycott Israeli books and authors. “They have not boycotted Russian writers for failing to condemn the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine or writers from Afghanistan who refuse to publicly criticize the Taliban’s barbaric rule and policies or Syrians who have not decried the Assad regime’s barbaric killing of over 200,000 of their fellow citizens since 2011. Even more odiously, this boycott call has nothing to do with improving the lives of innocent Palestinians. Rather, it is meant to punish Israelis for being Jewish and to send a clear message to Israel and Jews elsewhere about the signers’ definition of good Jews and bad Jews. A good Jew denounces the government of the Jewish state; a bad Jew believes in the right of self-determination and nationhood for adherents of the world’s oldest practiced religion.” [TheHill]
Weapons Worries: In The Wall Street Journal, Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh posit that Iran could step up its nuclear efforts in the months before President-elect Donald Trump enters office. “As always, America remains the wild card in [Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s calculations. The American political class doesn’t seem keen on patrolling or disciplining an unruly Mideast—but the U.S. remains a superpower capable of damaging if not derailing the bomb project if it chose to. Mr. Trump’s most consequential accomplishment was killing Iran’s dark lord, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, which spooked the regime. The new president’s unpredictability could slow down the regime’s nuclear aspirations. But the fear of the impending Trump administration could cause the mullahs to dash to the bomb, hoping that American and Israeli intelligence will fail to detect their move.” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
President-elect Donald Trump is tapping former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) to lead the EPA; Trump is expected to appoint Stephen Miller deputy chief of staff…
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday…
Bloomberg looks at how Steve Schwarzman’s early support for Trump during the campaign is likely to position the Blackstone CEO to have some influence in the new administration on economic policies…
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) was declared the winner of Arizona’s Senate race over Republican Kari Lake…
Former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) is mulling a run for New York City Council in lower Manhattan…
University of Southern California President Carol Folt announced she is stepping down at the end of the academic year…
Paris plans to deploy 4,000 police officers and more than 1,500 stadium workers to manage security efforts during an upcoming UEFA Nations League soccer match between Israel and France on Thursday…
Norway will increase its funding for initiatives related to antisemitism awareness and education, including educational trips for students to concentration camps and hate crime trainings for police…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said he would block ministers from the Nemunas Dawn party, which joined a coalition led by the country’s Social Democrats party, from holding ministerial positions; the leader of Nemunas Dawn is currently on trial for making antisemitic statements…
NPR looks at the logistical challenges facing travelers in and out of Israel, and how the dearth of available and reliable flights has led to a windfall for El Al…
Israeli budget airline Israir is seeking FAA approval for a new nonstop flight between Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and Newark-Liberty International Airport…
Lufthansa extended its pause on flights to and from Israel through December 15…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel was behind the September attack that targeted members of Hezbollah who were carrying pagers and walkie-talkies issued by the Iran-backed terror group…
Israeli Defense Ministry Director-General Eyal Zamir submitted his resignation on Monday, nearly a week after Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and replaced him with Israel Katz; however Zamir agreed to stay on for a period of time following a request from Katz…
The IDF released footage it said it collected from CCTV cameras on Gaza that depict the torture of Palestinians in Gaza by Hamas…
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said that talks to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah were making “progress,” while Hezbollah downplayed the ongoing talks…
Palestinian officials are moving toward the formation of a plan that would install a non-political committee of Palestinian technocrats with no affiliations to either the Palestinian Authority or Hamas to manage oversight and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip at the end of the war…
Israel said it expanded a humanitarian zone in southern Gaza ahead of the deadline set by Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to direct more aid into the enclave…
The U.S. carried out strikes on Iran-linked targets in Syria in response to attacks on Americans in the region…
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, speaking at a summit of Arab leaders in Riyadh on Monday, slammed Israel’s attacks on Iran and accused the Jewish state of “genocide” in Gaza…
Iran’s Tasnim news agency said the government was building a “defensive tunnel” near Tehran’s city center, weeks after Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities…
New York magazine’s Jonathan Chait is departing the publication and joining The Atlantic…
Pic of the Day
Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly in Washington yesterday.
Birthdays
Sportscaster for “Thursday Night Football” on Prime Video, after more than 50 years at NBC and ABC, Al Michaels turns 80…
Co-founder and dean of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky turns 100… Professor emerita of history at Columbia University and expert on Japan, Carol Gluck turns 83… Author and senior fellow at USC’s Annenberg School, Morley Winograd turns 82… Accountant and former PwC partner in Phoenix, Ariz., Steven M. Scheiner, CPA… Former New York state senator, he is a descendant of Rabbi Shmuel Salant, the former Ashkenazic chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Stephen M. Saland turns 81… U.S. senator (D-RI), Jack Reed turns 75… Attorney in Brooklyn, Bernard C. Wachsman… Member of the New York State Assembly since 2006, her district includes Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Linda B. Rosenthal turns 67… Author of young-adult fiction and winner of the 2015 National Book Award for Challenger Deep, Neal Shusterman turns 62… Author, journalist and former political advisor to Al Gore and Bill Clinton, Naomi Rebekah Wolf turns 62… University of Chicago professor, he won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics, Michael Kremer turns 60… Mayor of Oakland, Calif., until 2023, Elizabeth Beckman “Libby” Schaaf turns 59… Rabbi of the Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest, Róbert Frölich turns 59… Partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis, Sanford E. (Sandy) Perl turns 59… White House chief of staff, Jeffrey Zients turns 58… British journalist and political correspondent for BBC News, Joanne “Jo” Coburn turns 57… SVP and general manager of MLB’s Minnesota Twins from 2016 until last month, Thad Levine turns 53… Member of the Knesset until 2019 for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Robert Ilatov turns 53… Restaurant critic and food writer for the Boston Globe, Devra First turns 52… Israeli fashion model and actress, Nina Brosh turns 49… Former member of the Knesset for the United Torah Judaism party, Eliyahu Hasid turns 48… Campus support director at Hillel International, Aviva Zucker Snyder… Actress best known for her roles on “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful,” Kelly Kruger turns 43… Co-founder of Purple Acorn, Dave Weinberg… Assistant professor of Jewish studies at Oberlin College, Matthew D. Berkman turns 40… Director of strategic talent initiatives at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Spencer F. Lucker… New Jersey-based primary care physician known as Doctor Mike, he is an internet celebrity on YouTube and Instagram, Mikhail Varshavski turns 35… Activist in the fight against antisemitism on college campuses throughout the U.S., Adela Cojab turns 28… Catcher in the Washington Nationals organization, Cameron J. Stubbs turns 28…
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