Daily Kickoff
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on concerns in Australia’s Jewish community over the government’s response to a spate of antisemitic attacks, and cover National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s comments last night in New York City on Middle East stability and integration. We report on a Capitol Hill briefing on antisemitism in the health care field and cover Elon Musk’s praise of a recent Tucker Carlson interview in which Carlson’s guest espoused a number of conspiracy theories about Israel. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Dana Stroul, Ned Segal and Rep. Gerry Connolly.
What We’re Watching
- CIA Director Bill Burns is in Doha, Qatar, today for ongoing cease-fire talks. Burns is slated to meet with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in addition to other senior officials.
- Secretary of State Tony Blinken is speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations this afternoon in New York.
- The early Hanukkah celebrations continue tonight, with parties hosted in Washington by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and the Israeli Embassy in Washington. In Los Angeles, the Jewish Federation is holding its annual “Shine A Light” Hanukkah celebration tonight.
- The Nova Music Festival exhibit opens today in Miami following earlier exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles and Tel Aviv.
What You Should Know
A time-tested rule of thumb in assessing politics: Actions speak louder than spin, polls and even the stated desire for self-correction that we’ve seen so much of from Democrats in the post-election phase.
And while many Democrats are sounding open to moderating their message and moving back toward the center, their recent moves in responding to antisemitism and approaching Israel suggests that the far-left wing of the party is still a force to be reckoned with, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes.
Exhibit A: Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler, one of the leading candidates vying to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee, told JI’s Matt Kassel earlier this week that he would have liked to see a representative of the anti-Israel “Uncommitted” movement to speak at the national convention — as part of a “big tent” strategy making room for both pro-Israel and anti-Israel voices in the party.
While he framed his approachto signal support for a diversity of views within the party, the reality is that Democrats have previously set red lines and set standards against extremism. And Wikler’s comments are a far cry from the position taken by outgoing DNC chairman Jaime Harrison, who told JI in 2021 that “as a party-wide stance, we see Israel as a friend, as an ally and as our greatest ally in that region of the world — and we aren’t moving away from that.”
And it’s not just Wikler, seen as a pragmatist in the field of candidates, who shares that view. All of the leading contenders have expressed similar views in support of making space for anti-Israel voices. Wikler’s top challenger, Minnesota Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin, boasted that his state had the largest anti-Israel faction of “Uncommitted” voters in the entire country.
It’s a far cry from Rahm Emanuel returning from Japan to run the DNC.
Exhibit B: In one of the first major Senate votes after the election, 19 Democrats voted in support of at least one of several resolutions backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) blocking military aid to Israel — even as the Biden administration and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) lobbied against them. (All Republicans voted against the measures.)
The list of Israel critics in the Senate went beyond the typically small number of progressives. They included both Georgia Democrats, including Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), who faces a difficult reelection in 2026. The list of yes votes also included the incoming ranking Democratic member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).
Exhibit C: Democrats have been slow to condemn or react to some of the most disturbing episodes of antisemitism taking place in the country. One particularly egregious example: After a police search found pro-Hamas and Hezbollah propaganda and weapons at the home of two Students for Justice in Palestine leaders at George Mason University, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin told JI that SJP “pose[s] a clear and present threat to Jewish students and the Jewish community in Virginia.” The school earlier suspended the two students for vandalizing school property, and slapped the school’s SJP chapter with an interim suspension.
But most Virginia Democratsdeclined to respond to the incident. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) told JI that the situation is “a matter for local law enforcement and George Mason University.”
One reason why examining Democrats’ records on Israel and antisemitism is valuable is because they’re a useful proxy between the far-left faction of the party and the Democratic party’s mainstream. A clear majority of Americans still view Israel favorably— even though there’s a notable decline in support among progressives and Gen Z voters — and very few Americans have tolerance for antisemitism.
Tuesday’s race between Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to serve as ranking Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee was a useful illustration of where the party stands. The liberal Connolly, who has been far from a consistent pro-Israel lawmaker himself, comfortably won the intraparty skirmish, 131-84. But the fact that one of the most left-wing (and outspokenly anti-Israel) lawmakers in the House won 84 votes is a sign of the Left’s growing influence. Moderate Reps. Pat Ryan (D-NY) and Robert Garcia (D-CA) both spoke on behalf of Ocasio-Cortez.
If Democrats can’t move back to the middle on the simple stuff, it will be awfully challenging to initiate a course correction on more deep-seated challenges limiting the party’s popularity. It’s not a far cry to suggest that the Democrats’ treatment of Jewish voters will go a long way in determining their future political health.
Sullivan speech
Jake Sullivan: Iran at ‘weakest point in decades’
Iran is at its “weakest point in decades,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday, telling an audience at the 92nd Street Y in New York that recent events in the Middle East present a “huge opportunity” to advance regional integration, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. “Is there a huge opportunity right now? Absolutely,” said Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s top foreign policy advisor. “The possibility of a more stable, integrated Middle East, where our friends are stronger, our enemies are weaker — that is real. And in fact, Iran is at its weakest point in decades, in modern memory.”
Knock-on effect: With just over a month remaining in Biden’s term, Sullivan touted his boss’ support for Israel after last year’s Oct. 7 attacks as a factor in Iran’s diminished standing in the Middle East, and as one of the reasons for Assad’s fall in Syria. “One could see the ways in which Israel — frankly, backed by the United States, in terms of much of what it has accomplished — was taking the fight to its enemies. One could see the weakening and the fracturing of the Axis of Resistance and the weakening of Iran. And one could see the pressure on Assad,” Sullivan said. “But the speed, the scope and the scale of the remaking of the Middle East in this short amount of time, I think you’d find very few people who could have predicted all of that.”
Read the full story here.
campaign promise
Trump WH urged to prioritize deportation of foreign students with pro-terrorism views
As Republicans jockey for roles in the Trump administration and interest groups work to get their agendas in front of incoming officials, some conservative activists are pushing President-elect Donald Trump to make good on a campaign promise to deport foreign students who espoused support for terror groups during campus anti-Israel protests after last year’s Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
What’s next: That position has become a routine talking point in the Republican Party, including among some of Trump’s nominees to high-level administration posts, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Trump’s choice for secretary of state, and attorney general nominee Pam Bondi. Whether deporting students for expressing verbal support for terrorist groups would violate free-speech rights remains an open question, and some First Amendment advocates have made clear that they would object to such a policy and challenge any deportations. But the policy’s proponents say just a handful of those deportations, even if they are challenged in court, would send a warning shot to foreign students.
sachs attacks
Elon Musk praises Tucker Carlson interview with Jeffrey Sachs featuring antisemitic conspiracy theories
Elon Musk is facing scrutiny for amplifying Tucker Carlson’s controversial interview with Jeffrey Sachs, the Columbia professor who, in a lengthy discussion with the former Fox News host released on Monday, espoused a litany of conspiracy theories about Israel and the broader Middle East, among other spurious claims that have drawn criticism. “Very interesting interview,” Musk wrote in a post to X, his social media platform, on Monday night, while sharing the conversation with his more than 207 million followers, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
What Sachs said: In the interview, Sachs, who was once a renowned economist but now frequently promotes conspiracy theories on a range of issues, cast the fall of Syria’s authoritarian regime this month as the culmination of a decades-long plot led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to oppose any Middle Eastern government supporting the creation of a Palestinian state. “The United States goes to war on his behalf,” he said of Netanyahu, arguing that “Israel has driven so many American wars.” Invoking a classic antisemitic trope about Jewish control of American politics, Sachs added that the U.S. “gave over Middle East foreign policy to Israel a long time ago, not to U.S. interest, but to Israel’s interest. That is the Israel lobby, and we don’t hear questioning of this at all.”
The Trouble with Tucker: The Wall Street Journal looks at how a pressure campaign led by Carlson and Donald Trump Jr. against former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo played a role in scuttling Pompeo’s chances of being named defense secretary in the new administration.
health care hazard
Lawmakers, health care providers raise alarm about growing antisemitism in medical field
Speaking on a panel on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, lawmakers, medical professionals and Jewish community advocates sounded the alarm about the spread of antisemitism in the medical field, both within medical schools and in clinical settings, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What they said: They said that the issue deserves and requires greater attention from Capitol Hill, as campus antisemitism has received over the past year. “That’s truly scary, the idea that somehow your religious background or your identity would inform or impact the type of care that you get is not only antisemitic, it’s not only anti-American, it is anti-democratic,” Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), the incoming chair of the House antisemitism task force, said at the Jewish Federations of North America-organized briefing. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said he was “shocked and astonished” by the accounts of medical professionals, who related stories of rampant discrimination and even a push in the therapeutic field to label Zionism as a mental illness.
Read the full story here.
canberra concerns
How Australia went from ‘goldene medina’ to ‘vitriol and vilification’ of Jews
The Adass Israel congregation in Melbourne held a funeral on Tuesday, not for a person, but for two truckloads of religious texts that had been burned in a terrorist attack earlier this month. On the same day, the government of Victoria, the Australian state with the largest Jewish population, moved to ban protests at places of worship, the use of terrorist flags and symbols and face masks during demonstrations. Yet, with the crackdown on incitement coming only after the Dec. 6 firebombing of the synagogue in Victoria’s capital and not during the previous year — which saw regular anti-Israel protests, campus encampments and a 316% increase in reported antisemitic incidents — some in Australia’s Jewish community are saying these steps may be too little, too late, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Turning point: “Until Oct. 7, this was really the goldene medina,” Jeremy Leibler, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, told JI, using a Yiddish phrase meaning “golden land” that usually refers to the U.S. Out of over 26 million Australians, 100,000 are Jewish. Like many Diaspora populations, they punch above their weight in business, politics and the arts, Leibler said, noting that “in Victoria, the arts are entirely built off of Jewish philanthropy.” About half of the Australian Jewish children attend Jewish schools, and the community has a high level of solidarity and is overwhelmingly pro-Israel, influenced in part by the fact that they had the highest proportion of Holocaust survivors than any other Diaspora community, Leibler said.
stroul insights
Assad regime’s fall ‘tremendously resets the table of security in the Middle East,’ former top Pentagon official says
Dana Stroul, a former top Pentagon official in the Biden administration, framed the fall of the Assad regime as a potentially seismic development with significant implications for U.S. policy toward Iran and the region going forward, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What she said: “The Russia-Iran-Assad axis is broken,” Stroul, now the director of research at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said on a webinar with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington on Tuesday. “I think that tremendously resets the table of security in the Middle East and opens space to reimagine what a more stable Syria could look like.” She framed next year as a critical and “very high risk” period for Iran policy, with the upcoming expiration of all United Nations sanctions on Iran in October and Iran’s escalating nuclear activity.
Worthy Reads
A Moment Like This: In Foreign Affairs, Amos Yadlin and Avner Golov argue that Israel’s military successes against Iran and its proxies have positioned Jerusalem, with Washington’s backing, to play a key role in determining the future of the region. “Israel must build on its operational triumphs by clarifying and pursuing a coherent strategic vision of a moderate regional alliance between Israel and the Sunni Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia. It must address key security threats, foremost among them Iran, and present a unified front against Turkey’s and Qatar’s attempts to bolster the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence in the Arab world, a task made all the more urgent following the collapse of the Assad regime. Lastly, the coalition must offer the Palestinians a political future while safeguarding Israel against future terrorist attacks. Israel is now in a strong position to make real progress on bringing this outcome to fruition. But it cannot do so alone. It needs the United States to lead the complex effort and an Arab partnership to provide legitimacy in the Middle East and transform its vision into an effective regional force.” [ForeignAffairs]
Wildcard Approach: In The New York Post, the National Review’s Rich Lowry suggests that President-elect Donald Trump’s hardline approach to Hamas could force the terror group’s hand and secure the release of the remaining 100 hostages in Gaza. “His approach doesn’t represent any particular foreign policy theory. It’s not realist or neo-con or isolationist. It’s less Clausewitz’s ‘On War’ or Thomas Schelling’s ‘The Strategy of Conflict’ than Trump’s own ‘The Art of the Deal.’ The famous line is that the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton; in the same sense, every successful Trump negotiation as president has been won on the playing fields of Manhattan real estate, where Trump first learned his distinctive means of gaining leverage and psychological advantage. His willingness to escalate and follow through means no threat can be completely discounted, while his sheer unpredictability adds to the difficulty of any foreign actor trying to calculate his next move. To the famous Machiavellian axiom, ‘It’s better to be feared than to be loved,’ Trump adds the proviso, ‘and it’s best to keep them guessing, either way.’” [NYPost]
Down to Earth: In the Toronto Star, aerospace enthusiast and philanthropist Howard Wolfond reflects on his recent trip to space with Blue Origin. “From above, the lines that divide us disappear. What remains is a shared planet, where we are all in this together. We must remember that our differences do not need to separate us; instead, they can serve as a source of strength and enrichment. … Just as space exploration requires the collaboration and dedication of many individuals, the fight against hate requires all of us to work together. Now that I am back down on Earth, I am calling on allies of the Jewish community — politicians, friends, neighbours, colleagues, and strangers — who share the values that make this country great and asking them to step forward and speak out against all forms of hate. It is up to all of us to create a world where no one lives in fear because of their identity or beliefs.” [TorontoStar]
Word on the Street
The Antisemitism Awareness Act was not included in the stopgap government funding legislation released last night. Angelo Roefaro, a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), blamed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who has publicly insisted on a standalone Senate vote. “Senator Schumer will continue to work tirelessly across the aisle to pass AAA until we succeed,” Roefaro said, declining to specify if Schumer had other plans to try to pass the bill this year…
Mark Mellman, president of Democratic Majority for Israel, shot back at new comments from Ben Wikler, a top candidate to lead the Democratic National Committee, that an anti-Israel activist should have spoken at the party’s convention. “We weren’t opposed to having a Palestinian American speaker at the DNC,” Mellman told JI’s Matthew Kassel. “We were opposed to having someone who would have attacked the party platform and our nominee from the podium. In fact, we provided names of Palestinian Americans to be considered as speakers”…
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)threatened to impose sanctions on Turkey if Ankara does not pressure Syrian rebel groups, which it backs, into agreeing to a cease-fire with Syrian Kurds…
A dozen right-wing House Republicans voted against legislation extending Holocaust education programming through the Never Again Education Act, a bill that passed the House by a 402-12 vote. The legislation already passed the Senate by unanimous consent and now heads to the president’s desk, JI’s Marc Rod reports…
Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX), the incoming progressive caucus chair, and Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) led 18 Democratic colleagues on a letter calling on the administration to withhold offensive military aid from Israel…
The New York Times reports on an upcoming gathering of Democratic donors organized by American Bridge, slated for early 2025, to discuss the party’s future…
In the Washington Post, outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, who is considering a bid to lead the Democratic National Committee, suggests how Democrats can rebuild the party after their 2024 electoral losses…
The Anti-Defamation League and JGO: The Jewish Graduate Organization announced a new partnership to support Jewish graduate students on campus, which will include enhanced antisemitism reporting tools for graduate students, Jewish Insider‘s Haley Cohen has learned…
Former Twitter CFO Ned Segal was tapped by San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie to be the city’s first head of housing and economic development…
Ohio’s state Senate passed legislation adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism by a 27-4 vote…
The great-nephew of a German-Jewish man whose vast art collection was looted by the Nazis in the lead-up to World War II is seeking the restitution of several works, including a Picasso bust, as his legal effort remains mired in legal red tape…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking yesterday during a visit to Mt. Hermon, said that Israeli forces will remain in the Golan Heights buffer zone between Israel and Syria until the implementation of an arrangement “that ensures Israel’s security”…
A lawsuit filed against the State Department on behalf of five Palestinians living in Gaza, the West Bank and the U.S. alleged that Foggy Bottom circumvented U.S. law to send weapons to Israel…
International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi acknowledged that Iran’s nuclear program had advanced to such a point that efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal are irrelevant…
The U.K., France and Germany blasted Iran for escalating its effort to enrich uranium, saying there was no “credible civilian justification” for Tehran’s current levels of enrichment…
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is expanding its control over the country’s oil exports…
The Swiss parliament voted to ban Hezbollah, despite opposition from Zurich…
Christen Broecker was named the director of the American Jewish Committee’s Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights…
Pic of the Day
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) gathered on Tuesday to take part in a pre-Hanukkah menorah lighting ceremony at the Capitol, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
The three congressional leaders were joined by Chabad Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch, who led the prayer portions of the gathering and helped light the menorah candles, and at least a dozen House lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, some of whom noshed on sufganiyot while making the rounds.
Among the lawmakers in attendance were Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Al Green (D-TX), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Tim Burchett (R-TN). Deborah Lipstadt, the State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, and William Daroff, the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, were also spotted in the crowd.
Birthdays
Winner of the 1989 Nobel Prize in Medicine, he served as director of NIH for 7 years and then director of the National Cancer Institute for 15 years, Harold Eliot Varmus, pictured here with his wife, turns 85…
Founder of supply chain firm HAVI, active in over 100 countries, in 2019 he and his wife Harriette pledged $25 million to BBYO, Theodore F. Perlman turns 88… Professor emeritus of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies at the Hebrew University, Moshe Sharon turns 87… Office manager in the D.C. office of Kator, Parks, Weiser & Wright, Ramona Cohen… Co-founder of DreamWorks Studios, Academy Award-winning director of “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan” plus many other box-office record-setters like “E.T.” and “Jaws,” Steven Spielberg turns 78… Member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 2009 (R-FL), he did not run for re-election in 2024, William Joseph (Bill) Posey turns 77… Former CFO of the Pentagon in the Bush 43 administration, he is presently a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Dov S. Zakheim turns 76… Film critic, historian and author of 15 books on cinema, Leonard Maltin turns 74… Winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Economics, he is a professor at Stanford and professor emeritus at Harvard, Alvin Eliot Roth turns 73… Network engineer sometimes called “the mother of the Internet” for her inventions of the spanning-tree protocol (STP) and the TRILL protocol, Radia Joy Perlman turns 73… Diplomat and ambassador, until April he served as President Biden’s special envoy for humanitarian issues in Gaza, David Michael Satterfield turns 70… Television writer, producer and director, best known as the co-creator and executive producer of the award-winning series “24” which ran for eight seasons on Fox, Joel Surnow turns 69… Labor leader and president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten turns 67… Founder and chief executive of Third Point LLC, Daniel S. Loeb turns 63… Retired editor of The Jewish Chronicle, Stephen Pollard turns 60… Member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Gael Grunewald turns 60… Associate director of development at Ohel Children’s Home, Erica Skolnick… Partner at the communications firm 30 Point Strategies, formerly a speechwriter and Jewish liaison in the Bush 43 White House, Noam Neusner… Special envoy of Israel’s Foreign Ministry to combat antisemitism, former member of the Knesset, Michal Cotler-Wunsh turns 54… Motivational speaker and teacher, his book about his own coping with Tourette syndrome was made into a Hallmark movie, Brad Cohen turns 51… Member of the House of Representatives (D-FL) since 2023, he was re-elected in 2024, Jared Moskowitz turns 44… Director of policy for New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul until earlier this year when he successfully ran for the State Assembly, Micah Lasher turns 43… Manager of public policy and government relations for Wing Australia at Google, he was a White House aide in the Bush 43 administration, Jesse Suskin… Executive producer at CNN’s “State of the Union,” Rachel Streitfeld… Multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator, known for his double bass performances, Adam Ben Ezra turns 42… Winner of four straight NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championships while at UCLA, Jillian Amaris Kraus turns 38… AVP of external affairs at the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, Marc Ashed… Eliezer H. (Elie) Peltz… Consultant at Brussels-based Trinomics, Jessica Glicker… Intelligence lead at ActiveFence, Emily Cooper…
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