Daily Kickoff
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to Canadian Jewish leaders about the Liberal Party’s future following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement that he will step down, and gauge Senate Democrats’ support for legislation sanctioning the International Criminal Court over its issuance of warrants for senior Israeli officials. We also report on President-elect Donald Trump’s sharing of an interview of a professor who has trafficked in antisemitic conspiracy theories, and look at how Los Angeles’ Jewish community is responding to devastating wildfires. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Eric Trager, Leon Black and Polish President Andrzej Duda.
What We’re Watching
- The House is slated to vote today on sanctioning the International Criminal Court. The bill received 42 Democratic votes last year, a number that’s likely to remain largely the same but could change on the margins given that the ICC formally issued arrest warrants for Israeli officials after the first House vote, angering some members who initially opposed the bill. AIPAC is advocating lawmakers to support the legislation. Today’s vote will also be the first legislative test for new members of Congress on Israel, and will be a useful barometer of where new Democrats will land on difficult Middle East votes. Keep a close eye on freshman Reps. George Latimer (D-NY), Wesley Bell (D-MO), Johnny Olszewski (D-MD) and Laura Gillen (D-NY), who all campaigned as pro-Israel stalwarts. More below on efforts to pass the legislation.
- The funeral for former President Jimmy Carter will be held this morning at the Washington National Cathedral. All five living presidents are expected to attend.
- We’re keeping an eye on the situation in Beirut, where Joseph Aoun, the head of the Lebanese army who had been highly favored to win the parliamentary vote to become prime minister earlier today, fell short of the number of votes needed to secure the win.
- In South Florida tonight, writer Ruth Wisse will speak at the Levy Forum for Open Discussion at Palm Beach Synagogue.
What You Should Know
One of the realities that newly empowered, though divided, Republicans in Washington must now face is the difficult path to get significant legislation passed without some degree of bipartisan buy-in, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes.
With a razor-thin majority in the House, a fractious GOP coalition that’s already shown signs of fraying before President-elect Donald Trump takes office and the need for 60 Senate votes to pass legislation outside the budget reconciliation process, there will be plenty of obstacles for the president as he aims to get his agenda passed.
One of the most promising opportunities to put bipartisan points on the board will come on legislation of consequence to the Jewish community – whether it’s the Antisemitism Awareness Act (which stalled in the Senate in the last Congress after passing the House with broad bipartisan support) and legislation sanctioning the International Criminal Court after it issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The ICC sanctions vote in the House is scheduled for today.
Down the road, it’s likely to see a Republican-controlled Congress taking aim at other favored targets, from the United Nations and its anti-Israel agenda to federal funding for universities that have failed to protect Jewish students.
For any such legislation to get to Trump’s desk, House Republicans will likely need a little bit of Democratic support. As JI’s Marc Rod reported this week, more than a dozen right-wing Republicans have opposed their party leadership on bills relating to Israel and antisemitism — particularly when it came to additional aid for Israel without other funding cuts and legislation involving the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism.
To make up for those possible defections, House Republicans can look toward a cohort of reliably pro-Israel Democrats, as well as the moderates that have every incentive to work with a Trump White House. Thirteen House Democrats now represent seats that Trump carried in 2024, and significantly more have been reliable backers of Israel and leaders in speaking out against antisemitism.
And there are now 10 Democratic senators representing states that Trump carried in 2024, making most of them logical pro-Israel allies.
In the Senate, where Republicans hold 53 seats, leadership will be turning to some of the reliably pro-Israel lawmakers and purple-state moderates to hit the 60-vote threshold. Look closely at Democratic senators like Jacky Rosen of Nevada, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Adam Schiff of California, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Gary Peters of Michigan to be pivotal bridge-builders on bills of consequence to the Jewish community.
It will be a test of both Republican and Democratic leadership whether the next two years will feature episodes of bipartisan governance. Will the Trump administration and Republican leadership forego party unity to win over some Democratic moderates? Will Democrats support bills opposed by their left wing, if it exposes uncomfortable cracks within their own coalition?
Recent history suggests any such dealmaking will be difficult. But there are already signs that some Democrats are internalizing the results from the 2024 election, which reflected a rejection of left-wing activism. Sens. Fetterman and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) have already announced support for a Republican-backed border enforcement bill, the Laken Riley Act, and more moderate Democrats are likely to follow suit.Given that public support for Israel and opposition to antisemitism is widespread, those issues present opportunities for Republicans to secure notable legislative victories. Indeed, if Republicans are able to pass a hawkish immigration bill with a significant majority, expect bipartisan momentum for the next big legislation — sanctioning the ICC for its anti-Israel behavior.
emergency action
Jewish community in Los Angeles unites amid devastating fires
As wildfires fueled by high winds swept through the Los Angeles area on Tuesday morning, the teachers and director of Chabad’s Palisades Jewish Early Childhood Center scrambled to evacuate as conditions grew worse. They began calling the parents of over 100 children, telling them to come and pick up their kids due to growing concerns about the fires that were first sparked in the Palisades Highlands not far from the center, Ayala Or-El reports for Jewish Insider from Los Angeles.
Thinking on their feet: “We decided to self-evacuate, we didn’t feel good about the smoke that was there,” said Rabbi Zushe Cunin. “We safely walked [the children] across the street through [the Pacific Coast Highway]. It was very congested, but we managed to get there safely and reunite the children with their parents.” This swift decision spared many parents from potential anguish. Shortly afterward, Pacific Palisades residents found themselves trapped in traffic jams, with some abandoning their cars and fleeing on foot to reach safety. Later, dozens of vehicles were bulldozed to clear the roads for first responders, destroying some of them in the process.
Oh, Canada
Has the Canadian left lost the Jewish community for good?
As Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prepares to step down amid widespread voter dissatisfaction with his leadership, Jewish leaders who felt increasingly alienated by his government’s approach to Israel and handling of antisemitism say they are not particularly optimistic his Liberal Party can muster any meaningful course correction on key issues in the immediate future, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. Trudeau has drawn criticism for what many Jewish leaders viewed as a hostile turn against Israel in its war with Hamas and a failure to address a startling rise in recent antisemitic attacks at day schools and synagogues, among other Jewish institutions.
Loss of faith: Jewish Canadians on heightened alert amid a surge in antisemitic activity sparked in part by Israel’s ongoing war have felt abandoned by Trudeau’s response to such incidents, regarding his condemnations as equivocal and performative at a moment of increased anxiety about hate crimes. “Canadians lost faith in Trudeau because he has repeatedly failed to stand up for our values,” Michael Westcott, the CEO of Allies for a Strong Canada, a newly created advocacy group dedicated to combating antisemitism, told JI. “The candidates who seek to replace him must learn from his mistakes and stand up for Canadian values and against the hate that is filling our streets and neighborhoods.”
voting plans
Can ICC sanctions get to 60 votes in the Senate?
Legislation imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court is expected to pass the House on Thursday with bipartisan support, but it remains unclear whether it can pick up sufficient Democratic backing in the Senate to meet the 60-vote threshold in the upper chamber, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report.
Whip count: Depending on when it comes up for a vote, the legislation will need around seven to eight Democratic senators’ votes to pass. There are early signals that some Democrats will back the bill, but none are offering concrete stances yet. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who voted for the bill as a House member last year, told JI that she hadn’t given the issue any thought yet, but “I tend to vote consistently.” A spokesperson for Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) told JI she supports sanctions in concept, but will want to review the specific bill that Republicans plan to bring forward. Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) also voted for the sanctions in the House.
Read the full story here.
Bonus: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said yesterday that the Senate will vote on the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act “soon,” JI’s Emily Jacobs reports.
arms arguments
Republicans blame Biden admin for Israel’s decision to seek ‘armament independence’
Several Senate Republicans said on Wednesday that Israel’s announcement this week that it plans to ramp up domestic weapons production to reduce its reliance on the United States is a predictable consequence of what they described as a misguided approach from the Biden administration since Oct. 7, 2023, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report. Last spring, the administration withheld a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs from Israel. Israel’s Defense Ministry said this week that it is aiming to achieve “armament independence” in the coming decade, including ramping up domestic production of heavy bombs.
‘Predictable outcome’: “Israel’s interest in reducing dependence on the United States is the predictable outcome of the Biden administration’s policy of withholding arms sales from one of our closest allies during a time of war,” Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told JI. “Biden’s attempt to leverage arms sales to constrain Israel’s war aims was targeted at satisfying the left wing of the Democratic Party prior to our elections.”
Read the full story here with additional comments from Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Brad Sherman (D-CA).
scoop
Eric Trager to fill top Middle East slot on Trump’s National Security Council
Eric Trager, currently a staff member for Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a former Washington Institute for Near East Policy fellow, is set to be the National Security Council senior director for the Middle East and North Africa in the new Trump administration, two sources familiar with the selection told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod.
About the pick: Brett McGurk, who has played a key role in shaping the Biden administration’s Middle East policy, is currently the NSC coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa. Trager, whose research has focused on Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood, has alsopreviously served as a staff member for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Middle East and North Africa issues. He authored a 2016 book, Arab Fall: How the Muslim Brotherhood Won and Lost Egypt in 891 Days, assessing the rise and fall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in the early 2010s.
controversial post
Trump reposts clip from professor who traffics in conspiracy theories, attacks Netanyahu’s ‘power’
President-elect Donald Trump shared a video clip this week featuring comments from a controversial professor who has promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories and denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the video, Jeffrey Sachs, an economist at Columbia University who has frequently stirred controversy over his views on foreign policy and other issues, calls Netanyahu a “dark son of a bitch” and accuses him of a decades-long plot to lure the U.S. into a series of military conflicts with Iraq, Syria and Iran, Jewish Insider’s Mattew Kassel reports.
Request for comment: Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, said in a brief text message to JI on Wednesday that the post “is clearly referencing Obama’s failed policies and the corrupt media.” But he did not respond to a request for clarification that Trump was not endorsing Sachs’ condemnation of Netanyahu, whom he described in the video as an “obsessive” leader “still trying to get us to fight Iran to this day.”
Worthy Reads
School Daze:The New York Times’ Pamela Paul reflects on the recent passage by the American Historical Association of a resolution denouncing Israel’s “scholasticide” in Gaza. “But no matter how good the resolution makes its supporters feel about their moral responsibilities, the vote is counterproductive. First, the resolution runs counter to the historian’s defining commitment to ground arguments in evidence. It says Israel has ‘effectively obliterated Gaza’s education system’ without noting that, according to Israel, Hamas — which goes unmentioned — shelters its fighters in schools. Second, the resolution could encourage other academic organizations to take a side in the conflict between Israel and Gaza, an issue that tore campuses apart this past year, and from which they are still trying to heal. … Those who approved this current resolution may believe they are acting on a moral imperative. But historians are trained to take into account the long view. I would argue that while historians should be free to take part in public affairs on their own, it would be better if the A.H.A. as an institution never weighed in on political conflicts.” [NYTimes]
Annexation Advocate: In The Wall Street Journal, Amit Segal suggests that Israel annex parts of the Gaza Strip as part of its effort to destroy Hamas. “In the Palestinian dialect of Arabic, sumud, or ‘steadfastness,’ is closely associated with the concept of attachment to the land. Territory is the most precious and stable currency in the region. The worst outcome of a war meant to conquer Israel would be Israel’s ending with more territory than when it began. … During Mr. Trump’s first term, he signaled his openness to rethinking the Middle East by recognizing both Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights and some form of Israeli sovereignty over Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria. Mr. Biden, for his part, tacitly permitted the IDF to create a buffer zone in portions of southern Syria. Mr. Trump can extend this approach to Gaza to signal that terrorism doesn’t pay. This map change could represent a significant advancement toward peace in the Middle East.” [WSJ]
Push for Peace: In the Jewish Chronicle, Palestinian commentator Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib posits that many Palestinians are supportive of peace with Israel. “I am talking about Arab and Muslim officials in the Middle East and beyond who describe their sincere desire for the war in Gaza to end, Hamas’s rule over Palestinians to be terminated, and the prospects for a Palestinian state rejuvenated to solve this conflict once and for all. Many of these voices, which are plentiful and exist all over, are smothered, intimidated and forced into silence by the loudmouths who promulgate unhelpful entrenched narratives and demand obedience to a singular anti-Israel worldview, lest one be called ‘a Zionist sell-out’ or traitor. The number of people who privately and regularly share with me how much they appreciate my voice and thank me for saying what they know is true but can’t say so publicly has been one of the few causes of hope to sustain my advocacy and public engagement efforts since October 7. Jewish and pro-Israel advocates need to acknowledge that the Palestinians are not monolithic: the cause has been hijacked by extremists.” [JewishChronicle]
Word on the Street
The Biden administration will not remove Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s Foreign Terrorist Organization designation in the final days of the term, leaving the decision of whether to revoke the Syrian group’s FTO status up to the incoming Trump administration…
State Department officials warned their incoming Trump administration counterparts that Gaza could face a potential humanitarian “catastrophe” following the passage of a law in Israel outlawing work with the U.N. agency tasked with working with Palestinians…
An aide for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Israeli leader will not travel to Washington for the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump later this month…
Trump, who was on Capitol Hill yesterday, told Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs yesterday that his message to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is, “I wish him luck”…
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrats’ 2024 vice presidential candidate, endorsed Minnesota Democrats chair Ken Martin to helm the Democratic National Committee, ahead of a leadership vote next month…
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) will chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, a key promotion for the second-term lawmaker…
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) sounded positive after meeting with U.N. Ambassador-nominee Elise Stefanik, saying in a statement she “look[s] forward to working with her in this role” and that they had “discussed the United Nations’ anti-Israel bias, and how she plans to push back on politically-motivated actions against our democratic ally.”…
Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), the ranking members of the Senate Armed Services and Judiciary committees, indicated they’re deeply skeptical, respectively, of Pete Hegseth and Pam Bondi, the nominees for secretary of defense and attorney general, after individual meetings with them today…
New York State Assemblymembers Aron Wieder, Simcha Eichenstein, Kalman Yeger and Sam Berger were sworn in on Tuesday in Albany; the Met Council’s David Greenfield joked that the “Yarmulke Caucus” had arrived in the Capitol…
Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black is in talks to become the main investor in the purchase of the U.K.-based Daily Telegraph…
The American Friends Service Committee canceled plans to run an ad in The New York Times after the paper refused to allow the Quaker group to use the word “genocide” in reference to Israel…
Polish President Andrzej Duda requested that authorities in the country not act on an International Criminal Court warrant to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should the Israeli leader travel to Poland later this month for the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz; Netanyahu’s office said he had not yet received an invitation for the event, slated for Jan. 27…
Police in Paris and the northern French city of Rouen are investigating at least 10 incidents of antisemitic vandalism targeting Jewish homes and businesses…
Israeli officials are meeting with potential investors in London as Israel looks to issue eurobonds during the first fiscal quarter of 2025…
Israel confirmed that it had recovered the remains of Yousef Al-Ziyadnah, 53, who had been taken hostage alive along with three members of his family on Oct. 7; two of the Bedouin Israeli man’s children were released last October, and the IDF said it had “grave concerns” for the life of Al-Ziyadnah’s son Hamza, who was taken hostage with his father on Oct. 7…
Israel is changing its rules on media engagement following a Brazilian investigation into a former soldier traveling in South America; under the new restrictions, the faces and identifying details of most lower-level soldiers will be obscured in media reports going forward…
U.S. Central Command confirmed it conducted airstrikes targeting Houthi facilities in Yemen on Wednesday…
Israel’s defense industry is seeing an increase in foreign demand for weapons following 15 months in which Israeli military capabilities have been on display over the course of the country’s wars with Hamas and Hezbollah…
Iran is pushingChina to allow it to sell $1.7 billion in oil that has been held in Chinese ports for the last six years while Tehran has been under sanctions…
Reutersdoes a deep dive into Iran’s efforts to sell oil as it evades global sanctions…
The head of Iran’s military operations in Syria said that the fall of the Assad regime last month had dealt “a very big blow” to Tehran’s operations in the country…
Pic of the Day
Chief Rabbi of France Haim Korsia (left) speaks with French President Emmanuel Macron during an event on Tuesday marking the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper and the Hypercacher Jewish supermarket in Paris, which occurred 10 years ago today.
Birthdays
Former governor of the Bank of Israel, she served from 2013 to 2018 and was the first woman to hold this post, Karnit Flug turns 70…
Law professor at Georgetown University, he is a founder of New Israel Fund and board member of Americans for Peace Now, Peter Edelman turns 87… Former member of the Swiss Federal Council and president of the Swiss Confederation in 1999, she is the first woman to ever hold this position, Ruth Dreifuss turns 85… Rabbi emeritus of Kehilath Israel Synagogue in Overland Park, Kansas, Herbert Jay Mandl turns 80… Vice chairman of the private equity firm Gilbert Global Equity Partners, Steven Kotler… Pulitzer Prize-winning Supreme Court reporter for The New York Times for 40 years, she is now a lecturer and senior research scholar at Yale Law School, Linda Greenhouse turns 78… Retired MLB umpire, he worked in 3,392 major league games in his 26-year career, his family name was Sklarz, Al Clark turns 77… Presidential historian, university lecturer, and spokesman for the 9/11 Commission, Alvin S. Felzenberg turns 76… Composer and singer who has released seven albums under the name “Country Yossi,” Yossi Toiv turns 76… Actress, singer and songwriter, she is the half-sister of Barbra Streisand, Roslyn Kind turns 74… Australian author of more than 40 books of children’s and young adult fiction, including a five-book series about a 10-year-old Jewish boy in Nazi-occupied Poland, Morris Gleitzman turns 72… Dean of the Bar-Ilan University law school, Michal Alberstein turns 56… Investment banker, Joel Darren Plasco turns 54… Justice of the High Court of Australia, James Joshua Edelman turns 51… Russian-born American novelist, journalist and literary translator, Keith A. Gessen turns 50… Filmmaker, she is the second lady of New York State, Lacey Schwartz Delgado turns 48… NFL insider and reporter for the NFL Network, Ian Rapoport turns 45… Film producer and the founder and CEO of Skydance Media, David Ellison turns 42… Israeli actress and model, best known for her role as Nurit in “Fauda,” Rona-Lee Shimon turns 42… Director of development and community relations at Manhattan Day School, Allison Liebman Rubin… Pulitzer Prize-winning staff writer at The New Yorker, Ben Taub turns 34… MBA candidate at University of Virginia, Madeline Peterson… Television and film actress, Nicola Anne Peltz Beckham turns 30… With his wife, Corinne, leader of the Orthodox Union’s inaugural young professionals Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus in Tel Aviv, Rabbi Joe Wolfson…
Recent Daily Kickoff Newsletters
