Daily Kickoff: Cruz calls for probe into halted Israel flights
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the leftward shift of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who is poised to be the most senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and report on a call from Sen. Ted Cruz for an investigation into potential State Department involvement in U.S. airlines’ decisions to halt direct flights to Israel. We talk to Sen. Ben Cardin as he prepares to depart Capitol Hill and cover a new report that found the Massachusetts Teachers Association was putting anti-Israel content into its curricula. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Jonathan Sarna, Tom Stoppard and Evan Gershkovich.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy stories, including: Minneapolis mayor drew closer to his Jewish identity after Oct. 7, rise in antisemitism; ‘I have to be more out front’; From Shabbat surveillance to city council: The rise of an Orthodox GOP activist in New Jersey; and Leader of U.K. Conservative Party Kemi Badenoch showcases her pro-Israel bona fides. Print the latest edition here.
What We’re Watching
- Secretary of State Tony Blinken is in Turkey today, following meetings with officials in Jordan yesterday aimed at stabilizing the situation in Syria.
- White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is traveling to Doha, Qatar, and Cairo this weekend for negotiations focused on securing a cease-fire and hostage-release agreement. More below.
What You Should Know
It would be the ultimate Hanukkah gift for the estimated dozens of remaining living hostages and all of the hostage families to end what has been a devastating and emotionally fraught 14-month period by the end of the year, Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss writes.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv on Thursday, suggested that such a scenario was possible amid renewed cease-fire and hostage-release talks to secure the release of all 100 hostages. “When I go to Doha and Cairo, my goal will be to put us in a position to be able to close this deal this month, not later.”
“We’ve been close before and haven’t gotten there,” Sullivan acknowledged, “so I can’t make any promises or predictions to you, but I wouldn’t be here today if I thought this thing was just waiting until after Jan. 20,” when President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated.
Sullivan perhaps has some reason for optimism, given a new Middle East landscape that looks drastically different than it did a year ago, with the collapse of Iranian proxies on three of Israel’s borders, Israel’s strike on Iranian air-defense systems and the incoming Trump administration. Last month’s cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, he said, put additional pressure on Hamas.
“For months, we believe Hamas was waiting for lots of other actors and forces to come to their rescue, to come to their aid, and when we got that cease-fire [with Hezbollah], it was clear that the northern front had been decoupled from Gaza, and from that moment forward, we’ve had a different character to the negotiation, and we believe that it puts us in a position to be able to close this negotiation,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan added, “The balance of power in the Middle East has changed significantly, and not in the way that [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar or [Hezbollah head Hassan] Nasrallah” — both of whom have been killed by Israel in recent months — “or Iran had planned.” Sullivan said that he had engaged in “good discussions, constructive and substantive discussions” with Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), the Trump administration’s incoming national security advisor.
Trump himself gave some of his most detailed comments on Israel and the Middle East since the election in a wide-ranging interview published yesterday in Time, which named him 2024’s Person of the Year. (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was shortlisted for the nod.)
The incoming president doubled down on his recent calls for an end to the fighting in both the Middle East and Ukraine. Of Netanyahu, Trump said, “I think he feels very confident in me, and I think he knows I want it to end. I want everything to end. I want, I don’t want people killed, you know? I don’t want people from either side killed, and that includes whether it’s Russia, Ukraine, or whether it’s the Palestinians and the Israelis and all of the, you know, the different entities that we have in the Middle East.”
Sullivan’s trip to Israel came a day after Mossad head David Barnea met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha for continued cease-fire and hostage-release talks. Sullivan is slated to travel to Doha and Cairo in the coming days in an effort to reach a deal.
Secretary of State Tony Blinken, in Turkey today for discussions largely related to Syria, pushed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to pressure Hamas to agree to a cease-fire agreement.
But while the winds appear to have shifted in Israel’s favor, there have been a number of times in the last year in which a deal was close but ultimately fell through.
Different this time is Israel’s positioning in the region, having killed much of Hamas’ top echelon, decimated Hezbollah’s ability to inflict significant damage, seen the downfall of one of Iranian ally Bashar Al-Assad and destroyed the air defenses of Hamas patron Iran, coupled with the threat of an incoming U.S. administration that will take a hard line against malign actors in the region.
But whether that will be enough to reach a deal that would secure the release of the hostages before the end of the year remains to be seen.
scoop
Cruz accuses State Department of influencing U.S. airlines’ decisions to indefinitely suspend flights to Israel
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is accusing the State Department of potentially becoming “inappropriately entangled in deliberations over safety” that have influenced U.S. airlines’ continued refusal to fly to Israel. Cruz, the incoming chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, told Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs that he “welcomes a full investigation of these issues” after more than a year of airlines refusing to resume regular service to the Jewish state.
Cruz control: “The Biden-Harris administration was lax in pursuing why some airlines will not fly to Israel. Indeed, they may have been worse than lax, and the State Department may have become inappropriately entangled in deliberations over safety and subverted the FAA,” Cruz said. “Meanwhile there have been allegations about antisemitic discrimination by airlines and that calls by unions not to fly to Israel were motivated solely by pro-Hamas activists. These allegations are troubling and, of course, American law prohibits American companies from participating in politically motivated boycotts of Israel.” The State Department declined to comment when reached by JI on Cruz’s claims of improper involvement in the matter. The FAA did not respond.
shaheen’s seat
Jeanne Shaheen, who has turned critical of Israel, becomes key foreign policy voice for Senate Dems
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) is set to assume the top Democratic spot on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the new year, just weeks after voting in favor of three resolutions that sought to block certain shipments of military aid to Israel, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Stepping up:Those votes are likely to put her at odds with many in the pro-Israel community as she assumes the key role, taking over a position recently held by vocal supporters of Israel, most recently retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD). The role will give Shaheen influence over policies that can pass through the traditionally bipartisan committee, as well as elevate her voice within the Democratic Caucus on foreign policy issues. “While I will continue to support Israel’s ability to defend itself from terrorist attacks, I voted in favor of the Joint Resolutions today because I believe the Netanyahu government needs to change course on the conduct of the war in Gaza,” Shaheen said in a statement after the aid votes.
sanctions suggestion
Cardin: U.S. should lift Syria sanctions if behavior improves from new government
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), the outgoing chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Thursday that the administration should use its authority to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria should the new government, still in formation, make progress to improve the human rights situation and other violations by the former Assad regime, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Looking ahead: “It’s too early to tell whether the incoming regime’s record will reflect a different way of doing business,” Cardin said at his last in a regular series of sit-downs with reporters before his retirement. “If the corrections are made, if the respect for Syrians is being adhered to as in the language we hear, then it would be totally appropriate to eliminate those sanctions. It’s too early to make those judgments.” Cardin said he’s “very, very pleased that the Assad regime no longer exists” but it’s “not clear” what comes next. He noted that the rebel leaders who pushed out the regime have made encouraging comments but also acknowledged their backgrounds with ISIS and Al-Qaida.
Elsewhere on the Hill: The House Republican Steering Committee on Thursday recommended Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) as the next chair of the Committee on Education and the Workforce and Rep. French Hill (R-AR) as the next chair of the House Financial Services Committee, JI’s Marc Rod reports. Walberg, a longtime member of the Education committee, has been active in the committee’s investigations of and hearings about antisemitism on college campuses, including leading a letter to Harvard University President Alan Garber in July criticizing the recommendations Garber’s task force on antisemitism had put forward. Hill, who also serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has long been active on Middle East issues. In his new role, he’ll have a part to play in efforts to cut off the Iranian regime’s financing and that of its terrorist proxies, and has led legislation on the issue this year.
school blues
New report finds Massachusetts teachers’ union introducing anti-Israel material into schools’ curriculum
A new report by the American Jewish Committee’s New England branch found that the Massachusetts Teachers Association has been actively encouraging members to introduce “overtly political” anti-Israel materials into K-12 classrooms after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, reducing “a complex struggle between two people” to an “extreme, one-sided narrative,” Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. The report, released on Thursday, cites multiple instances in which the MTA, the largest teachers’ union in the state, has embraced activist stances on the ongoing conflict that have drawn allegations of antisemitism from some teachers and parents.
Concerning content: Since last year’s attacks, the MTA has promoted several resolutions that have demonized Israel and accused the Jewish state of genocide, while “failing to mention” the Hamas massacre and “ignoring the plight of hundreds of Israeli hostages” held in Gaza, the AJC report notes. In addition, the union has hosted a controversial webinar identifying support for Zionism as racism and making “false, disparaging assertions about Jews, their values and their beliefs,” according to the report. The MTA also sponsored a three-hour workshop urging teachers to develop lesson plans promoting an allegedly distorted view of the Middle East, among other efforts demonstrating the group’s “intention to provide biased, false and inflammatory curriculum resources,” the AJC claims.
on the hill
77 House Democrats accuse Israel of violating arms sales laws
A group of 77 House Democrats signed on to a letter to the Biden administration on Thursday accusing Israel of violating U.S. arms sales law and of failing to rectify issues, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What they said: While the letter does not make an explicit request to halt aid, it references the statute requiring the administration to cut off arms sales to countries that block delivery of humanitarian aid, and accuses Israel of deliberately restricting aid. “Although overall access to humanitarian aid has improved, it remains insufficient and there are credible reports of potential breaches of U.S. law,” the lawmakers wrote.
Bonus: Sens. Peter Welch (D-VT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) introduced legislation to codify sanctions on those responsible for violence in the West Bank, which have been used to target Israeli settlers.
center stage
At No Labels conference, centrist legislators push a unifying message
Scores of political leaders, including nearly two dozen members of Congress from across the ideological spectrum, gathered in Washington, D.C., on Thursday for No Labels’ national conference to emphasize the importance of bipartisan dealmaking and nonpartisan governance in the next legislative year. Legislators in attendance — eight senators and 15 House lawmakers — said they were optimistic about opportunities for bipartisan cooperation on legislative issues, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Sidelines chatter: Speaking to JI on the sidelines of the event, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who will be a key swing vote in the Senate and spoke at the gathering about her expectation that new centrist coalitions would form in this next Congress, said that it is “still early to identify where we might find common ground,” but that she was “still meeting some of the newcomers that are coming in. We had a few core members that are going to be moving on both sides of the aisle, so how we look at these areas and say, ‘You know what, we need to be working together on this. Let’s make this happen,’ I think we’ve got some time before you’re going to see those gel out.”
Worthy Reads
‘I Never Stopped Reporting’: Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained by Russia for more than a year on false charges, published his first story since his release — about the secretive Russian counterintelligence unit responsible for his arrest. “The spy at the front of the cabin drew open the curtain. Wearing a sand-colored jacket and brown shoes, with a salt-and-pepper goatee, the man had spent the past few hours organizing the final preparations for the largest East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War. … Scanning the passengers, he locked his eyes squarely on one of those prisoners — me. He said nothing, staring in silence for nearly a minute. Then he turned and walked back to his curtained-off section of the presidential jet. I was left to wonder about this man at the helm of the exchange, who appeared to hold my fate in his hands. When I was arrested by Russia’s security forces in 2023 — the first foreign correspondent charged with espionage since the Cold War — I never stopped reporting. On my release I set out to identify the man who had taken me, and to learn more about the spy unit that had carried out his orders.” [WSJ]
Power Dynamics: In Foreign Affairs, the Brookings Institution’s Suzanne Maloney considers how the power balance has shifted in the Middle East over the last year — and how the incoming Trump administration can capitalize on it. “But Trump also says he wants to end the war in Gaza and to expand the Abraham Accords by adding Saudi Arabia. He wants to avoid further U.S. military commitments while lowering energy prices, creating a more docile China, and terminating Iran’s nuclear program. These aims require difficult tradeoffs, and they will necessitate a more sophisticated strategy than merely attacking Iran and its proxies. If past is prelude, Trump’s resulting approach will likely be highly disruptive — especially since some of his goals are mutually incompatible. That may not seem like the best recipe for stability in the Middle East. Yet this may be just the moment for the unconventional, unpredictable, and unintentional chaos that appears to be on order from a Trump presidency. A dexterous Washington, unencumbered by any fidelity to principles or predictability, might just succeed by brandishing American muscle alongside a transparent infatuation with dealmaking. Trump’s grand ambitions and his transactional approach to foreign policy are surprisingly well suited to today’s Middle East, where regime interests and opportunistic investments are the lingua franca.” [ForeignAffairs]
Word on the Street
President-elect Donald Trump’s senior advisors are mulling the possibility of preventative airstrikes on Iran in an effort to stop Tehran’s nuclear advancement…
The New York Times does a deep dive into the background of Massad Boulos, the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany, who was tapped as a senior advisor on Middle East affairs in the new administration…
Former Israeli Defense MinisterYoav Gallant met on Thursday with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon…
Amb. Deborah Lipstadt, the State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, will rejoin Emory University as a distinguished professor when she concludes her tenure in Washington next month; prior to her confirmation as special envoy, Lipstadt taught at Emory for nearly 30 years…
Democratic leaders in New Jersey, including Gov. Phil Murphy, committed to moving the date of the state’s 2025 primary, which falls on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, a week after Jewish Insider first reported on the issue…
The University of Michigan fired an administrator who worked on the school’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programming over claims she made antisemitic comments at a conference earlier this year; Rachel Dawson, who heads Michigan’s office of academic multicultural initiatives, was accused by two Jewish academics of suggesting that Jewish students are “wealthy and privileged” and did not need support from her department…
Longtime Brandeis professor Jonathan Sarna taught his final class at the university this week…
The National Association of Independent Schools issued an apology to American Jewish leaders and laid out steps that it is taking after hosting a conference in which speakers made anti-Zionist remarks that caused some student attendees to hide their Jewish identity and leave early, eJewishPhilanthropy reports…
The Washington Post interviews playwright Tom Stoppard, whose Tony-winning play “Leopoldstadt,” about antisemitism in pre-WWII Vienna and the Holocaust, is playing at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman Hall this month…
The California Department of Motor Vehicles issued a statement apologizing for the issuance of a license plate that read “LOLOCT7” and said the agency would “immediately strengthen our internal review process to ensure such an egregious oversight never happens again”…
The Holy See removed a Palestinian keffiyeh from a nativity scene on display at the Vatican after receiving significant backlash…
Paraguay inaugurated its embassy in Jerusalem, after moving its diplomatic headquarters in Israel from Tel Aviv…
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Syrian rebel group that overthrew Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, offered to help the U.S. locate American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria in 2012…
The Washington Post looks at efforts in Syria to find — and in some cases destroy — chemical weapons following the collapse of the Assad regime…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that IDF troops would remain in Syria “temporarily” until the installation of a “new force” in the country that adheres to Israeli security needs…
The New York Times reports on the upcoming Sotheby’s auction of a stone tablet etched with the Ten Commandments that is believed to be at least 1,500 years old, despite concerns over the artifact’s authenticity…
The Associated Press spotlights a new documentary taken from leaked footage of police interviews with Netanyahu, his family and his associates and looks at how Israelis are bypassing the country’s block on the film — due to privacy laws — to view it…
Comparative literature scholar Victor Brombert, who as a teenager fled Nazi Germany and would return to the continent as one of the U.S. Army’s “Ritchie Boys,” died at 101…
Henri Borlant, who was one of the few children to survive Auschwitz, died at 97…
Pic of the Day
Swedish Crown Princess Victoria attended the opening on Thursday of a new exhibition, “Untold,” about Nazi crimes toward Roma and Sinti people, at the Swedish Holocaust Museum in Stockholm.
Birthdays
Actor, writer and musician, he is known for his roles as a rabbi in “Nobody Wants This” and as Seth Cohen on “The O.C.,” Adam Brody turns 45 on Sunday…
FRIDAY: Former New York State senator for 28 years, Suzanne “Suzi” Oppenheimer turns 90… California-based real estate developer active in the revitalization of downtown San Jose, Lewis Wolff turns 89… Real estate developer and a minority-owner of the Minnesota Vikings, David Mandelbaum turns 89… Past president at UCLA Faculty Women’s Club, Bette Billet… Senior rabbi emeritus of Temple Israel of Hollywood, John Rosove turns 75… Executive chairwoman and chief media officer of Eko, Nancy Tellem turns 72… Chair of the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Poverty and Social Exclusion at the University of Haifa, Roni Strier turns 72… Former chairman of the Federal Reserve from 2006 to 2014, he won the 2022 Nobel Prize in economics, Ben Shalom Bernanke turns 71… Hedge fund manager, investor, writer and adjunct professor at Columbia University, Joel Greenblatt turns 67… Former assistant secretary for management at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, David F. Eisner turns 67… Member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 2017 (D-MD), Jamin Ben “Jamie” Raskin turns 62… President of the American Academy in Rome, Peter N. Miller turns 60… Chairman and CEO of Fontainebleau Development, Jeffrey M. Soffer turns 57… Co-founder and principal of The Lead PR, LLC, Jeffrey W. Schneider… Mayor of New Rochelle, N.Y., from 2006 until 2023, Noam Bramson turns 55… Comedian and actor, known by his stage name and alter ego, Wheeler Walker, Jr., Benjamin Isaac Hoffman turns 50… Chair of the Florida Democratic Party, Nicole “Nikki” Heather Fried turns 47… Head of communications at Google Bard and Assistant, Riva Litman Sciuto… American-Israeli basketball player who played for three NCAA collegiate programs, then on the rosters of four Israeli teams, Eli Abaev turns 26…
SATURDAY: President emeritus of The George Washington University, Stephen Joel Trachtenberg turns 87… Co-founder of Creative Artists Agency and former president of the Walt Disney Company, Michael S. Ovitz turns 78… Retired N.Y. State Assistant Housing Commissioner, he also served as a military chaplain for 38 years, Jacob Goldstein… President of Bard College since 1975, he is also music director of the American Symphony Orchestra and conductor laureate of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein turns 78… Retired SVP at Warner Brothers, involved with the Platform Committee of the Democratic party on the national and state levels, Howard Steven Welinsky… Retired U.S. Air Force general who served as the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, he is currently the president and CEO of the Institute for Defense Analyses, Norton Allan Schwartz turns 73… Director of government affairs at the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Robin Schatz… Member of Knesset for the Likud party, now serving as the Minister of Agriculture, Avi Dichter turns 72… Co-founder of several companies, including Beanstalk, Sixpoint Partners and Vringo, author of New York Times bestseller Let There Be Water, Seth (Yossi) Siegel turns 71… Hedge fund manager, John Paulson turns 69… Owner of Bundles of Boston, Sheree Boloker… Retired CEO of San Francisco-based Jewish LearningWorks, David Jonathan Waksberg turns 68… Nurse and mental health counsellor, Martina Yisraela Rieffer… Founder of the Center for Class Action Fairness established to combat abusive class-action settlements, now a division of the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute, Ted Frank turns 56… Partner and COO of Chicago-based Resolute Consulting, David Smolensky… British chef, restaurateur (he is a co-owner of nine delis and restaurants in London) and food writer, Yotam Assaf Ottolenghi turns 56… Senior rabbi of the Beth Jacob Congregation of Beverly Hills, Calif., Kalman Topp turns 52… Policy counsel in the criminal defense practice at The Bronx Defenders, Eli Clemans Northrup turns 40… Co-CEO of Health Consulting Services, Matt Kosman… Former NFL player, he was on the Patriots when they won three Super Bowls, Nathan “Nate” Ebner turns 36… Speech-language pathologist, Leora Neuberger… Former offensive lineman for the New York Giants, now a medical sales representative at Stryker, Adam Bisnowaty turns 31… Co-director of Chabad of Macalester-Groveland in the Minneapolis area, Tzemach Feller… Television, teen theater and voice actress, Mia Sinclair Jenness turns 19…
SUNDAY: Former member of the New York State Assembly, attorney general of New York and member of the New York City Council, Oliver Koppell turns 84… Senior rabbi emeritus at Congregation Mt. Sinai in Brooklyn Heights, now EVP of the New York Board of Rabbis, Rabbi Joseph Potasnik turns 78… Film, stage and television actress and voice artist, Melanie Chartoff turns 74… Owner of the largest construction company for gas pipelines in Russia, Arkady Rotenberg turns 73… University of Wyoming professor for over 20 years, now president of the Colorado Hebrew Chorale, Seth Ward turns 72… President and CEO at JFCS of the Suncoast in Sarasota, Florida, Dr. Helene Lotman… Chairman and founder of BizBash, David Adler turns 71… Sportscaster, he has been the radio voice for the Alabama Crimson Tide football team for 36 years, ending before the current season, Eli Gold turns 71… U.S. senator (D-VA), Mark Warner turns 70… Executive chairman of South Africa’s Resolve Communications, Tony Leon turns 68… Executive director at Silicon Couloir in Jackson Hole, Wyo., until earlier this year, Gary S. Trauner… Partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz specializing in M&A, Adam O. Emmerich turns 64… Actress, singer and songwriter, she appeared in the title role of the 1984 film “Supergirl,” Helen Slater turns 61… Television and movie producer, screenwriter and executive, producer of the first eight seasons of the “Pokémon” TV series and writer of most of the “Pokémon” films, Norman J. Grossfeld turns 61… Rabbi serving communities in California’s Central Valley, Paul Gordon… Chicago-born stand-up comedian and author, Joel Chasnoff turns 51… Director of community relations and Israel affairs at the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte, Tal Selinger Stein… Former mayor of Bal Harbour, Fla., Gabriel Groisman turns 44… Washington, D.C.-based chef and restaurateur, Spike Mendelsohn turns 44… Israeli singer-songwriter and actress, she played the role of Hila Bashan on Season 3 of “Fauda,” Marina Maximilian Blumin turns 37… Client solutions manager at Samsung Ads, Julie Winkelman Lazar… Musician and actress, her first major film, “Licorice Pizza,” was released in 2021, Alana Mychal Haim turns 33… Principal at Activate Consulting, Lily Silva… and her twin brother, a special policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Nicholas Silva… Figure skater who represented the U.S. at the 2014 and 2022 Winter Olympics, Jason Brown turns 30…
Recent Daily Kickoff Newsletters
