Daily Kickoff
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the latest in the hostage-release and cease-fire negotiations that appear to have hit an 11th-hour stumbling block. We also cover Sen. Marco Rubio and Pam Bondi’s Senate confirmation hearings, and an Israeli High Court ruling that Israeli victims of terror can sue the Palestinian Authority for compensation. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Virginia AG Jason Miyares, Lorne Michaels and Scott Jennings.
What We’re Watching
- We’re keeping an eye on statements coming from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, which earlier today denied that Israel had reached a cease-fire and hostage-release agreement with Hamas. More below.
- Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown will hold a farewell reception for President Joe Biden this afternoon at the Pentagon.
What You Should Know
The announcement — made first by President-elect Donald Trump — that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a cease-fire and hostage-release agreement was met with a mixture of relief, joy, concern and nervous anticipation from Capitol Hill to Jerusalem.
But all of that may be short-lived, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office sent out a series of statements pouring cold water on the announcement of a deal.
The first: “Contrary to reports, the Hamas terrorist organization has yet to provide an answer regarding the deal.” The next statement, several hours after Trump’s pronouncement: “Due to the strong insistence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas folded on its last-minute demand to change the deployment of IDF forces in the Philadelphi Corridor. However, several items in the framework have yet to be finalized; we hope that the details will be finalized tonight.”
Then Netanyahu spoke by phone to Trump, releasing a statement shortly after praising the president-elect for his efforts but falling short of confirming a deal had been struck. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu “thanked [Trump] for his assistance in advancing the release of the hostages and for helping Israel bring an end to the suffering of dozens of hostages and their families.”
Despite bold statements from Trump, President Joe Biden and officials in Qatar, Netanyahu has not yet confirmed that an agreement had been reached. Ten minutes after posting about his call with Trump, Netanyahu’s office issued the final statement of the night: “An official statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be issued only after the completion of the final details of the agreement, which are being worked on at present.”
This morning, Netanyahu’s office said new demands by Hamas had created a “crisis” in the negotiations, saying the terror group had “reneged” on parts of the agreement “in an effort to extort last minute concessions.” A Cabinet meeting slated for this morning to approve the hostage deal was indefinitely postponed until after mediators confirm that Hamas has agreed to all of the deal’s conditions. According to the PMO, Hamas wants to revoke Israel’s veto power over releasing “mass murderers who are symbols of terror.” Read more here.
The disconnect between Jerusalem and the U.S. — both the incoming Trump administration and the outgoing Biden administration — prompts the question of whether the announcements from the White House and Mar-a-Lago were intended to push Israel to accept an agreement that had not been completely fleshed out.
But the announcements from Biden, Trump and Qatar were enough to prompt celebrations and statements from across the Jewish community and Capitol Hill. At a gathering hosted by the Hostage Families Forum in Washington last night, former hostage Aviva Siegel — the wife of hostage Keith Siegel — was seen smiling as she toasted to what she hoped would be a reunion with her husband.
The celebrations in Gaza were a bit more raucous. Palestinian commentator Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib posted video from Gaza of Hamas members “literally remerging from displacement tents … with uniforms, insignia, vehicles & guns” — a reminder that Hamas terrorists have throughout the war used the displacement camps to hide among the civilian population.
In the West Bank, where celebrations were also underway, a video of a grieving father went viral after he confronted celebrants in the streets. “What are you celebrating?” the man said angrily. “The blood of our children, or the devastation Hamas has brought upon us?”
Whether or not those celebrations were premature will be determined in the coming days — or even hours — as pressure mounts on all parties to pull together a deal before Trump takes office on Monday.
ON THE HILL
Pro-Israel lawmakers celebrate expected hostage release, even as they warn of deal’s shortcomings
Reports that Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to a cease-fire in exchange for the release of dozens of hostages in Gaza were met by congressional lawmakers with cautious optimism, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report. Once the three-phase agreement was confirmed by the U.S. and Qatar, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle supported the initial hostage release, while many emphasized the need to ensure that the remaining hostages not covered by the first phase of the agreement are released and that Hamas is fully dismantled.
Reax: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) celebrated the developments and pledged that the Senate would stand with Israel in the coming weeks and support efforts to secure the release of every American. “Fifteen months after Hamas launched a brutal war against our allies in Israel, today’s ceasefire and hostage deal is a relief to a world on edge. I am hopeful that this deal will lead to the return of every single hostage taken by Hamas terrorists and ultimately greater peace in the region,” Thune said in a statement.
Read the full story here with additional comments from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Rick Scott (R-FL), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Brian Mast (R-FL), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and Joe Wilson (R-SC).
Communal reactions: Jewish organizations are tempering their optimism over the deal with apprehension, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim reports. The organizations’ statements largely reflect their policy priorities, with the majority welcoming the deal — with varying degrees of concern about the concessions that Israel will have to make — and thanking both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump, while several groups on the right took more hawkish stances, opposing the cessation of hostilities and release of Palestinian prisoners as part of the exchange.
confirmation hearing
Rubio says U.S. should be open to an Iran deal, with conditions
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), the incoming Trump administration’s nominee to be secretary of state, said at his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday that President-elect Donald Trump’s administration is open to a new nuclear deal with Iran, under strict conditions. Over the course of his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio also framed the announcement of a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza and recent losses for Iran and its proxies in the region as creating an opportunity for major steps forward on regional normalization and Israeli-Palestinian peace, condemned the International Criminal Court’s targeting of Israel and spoke forcefully about the need to combat antisemitism globally, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Commitment to Israel: Rubio argued that if Israel had not responded forcefully to the Oct. 7 attack, the country may have faced existential threats from enemies on its various borders. But Rubio said that there has been a potential “dynamic shift in the region” that has “an historic opportunity, if appropriately structured and pursued, that changes the dynamics of what might be possible.” He emphasized that for Israel, its existential safety is the nonnegotiable starting point.
Court qualms: Addressing the ICC prosecutions targeting Israeli leaders, Rubio said that the court had “done tremendous damage to its global credibility” with the effort, calling the case “completely flawed” and “completely offensive” in drawing equivalency between Israel and Hamas.
Combating antisemitism: Rubio committed to Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) that the Trump administration would quickly nominate a qualified individual to serve as U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, saying that the nominee “needs to be someone that enjoys broad support across different sectors.” He also said that the administration would promptly name a deputy envoy to run the office until an envoy is confirmed. Rubio said the antisemitism envoy role is particularly urgent in light of a recent Anti-Defamation League report that showed 60% of people around the world hold some antisemitic views.
Read the full story here.
hearing highlights
Trump AG nominee Pam Bondi: ‘I am very proud’ of lobbying work for Qatar
Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the Justice Department, said at her confirmation hearing on Wednesday that she is “very proud” of her lobbying work for the Qatari government, the first time she has publicly addressed that topic since Trump announced her nomination to be attorney general in November, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
What she said: “I am very proud of the work that I did. It was a short time and I wish that it had been longer, for Qatar,” said Bondi, the former two-term Florida attorney general. She described the work as “anti-human trafficking efforts leading into the World Cup.” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) asked Bondi, who represented Qatar as a partner at lobbying firm Ballard Partners, why she had not disclosed her work for Qatar in official nomination documents. She did not answer the question. “If there are any conflicts with anyone I represented in private practice, I would consult with the career ethics officials within the Department [of Justice] and make the appropriate decision,” she said.
terror on trial
Israeli High Court rules terror victims can sue the Palestinian Authority for compensation
Victims of terror will be able to sue the Palestinian Authority in Israel after Israel’s High Court of Justice rejected the PA’s first-ever petition to an Israeli court this week. The PA asked the court to overturn a law passed in March 2024 that would allow victims of terror and their relatives to seek compensation from Ramallah, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
What this means: Before the law was passed, terror victims and their families could either sue individual perpetrators for damages or receive compensation from Israel’s National Insurance Institute. The new law will allow them to do both, and will raise the level of damages possible for plaintiffs to collect. The law specifies that the PA may be a target of such lawsuits, allowing the family to sue anyone who “provides a salary” for acts of terrorism. The suit notes that the PA “pays monthly salaries to terrorists as remuneration for carrying out such acts.”
terror ties
Virginia attorney general petitions court to enforce order against American Muslims for Palestine
Jason Miyares, the attorney general of Virginia, announced this week that his office had filed a petition to enforce a judge’s order from last July that a pro-Palestinian advocacy group with alleged ties to Hamas turn over closely guarded financial records that could shed light on its donor network — which has faced growing scrutiny in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Seeking compliance: Miyares’ office said in a statement on Tuesday that American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), a nonprofit group headquartered in Virginia that he has been investigating in a probe of its fundraising operations, “has refused to comply” with a civil investigative demand for documents the group has long shielded from public view. The petition “seeks AMP’s immediate compliance” with the demand, the statement said, reiterating that Miyares’ team has been requesting records as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations that the group “may have used” funds “for impermissible purposes, such as benefiting or providing support to terrorist organizations.”
podcast playback
Jake Sullivan: China, Russia, Iran are ‘demonstrably weaker’ at end of Biden term
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, in his final days in office, said on Tuesday that China, Russia and Iran are “demonstrably weaker” after President Joe Biden’s time in office, during a wide-ranging conversation on “The Ezra Klein Show” podcast, Jewish Insider’s Tamara Zieve reports.
Biden’s record: Questioned by Klein about whether President-elect Donald Trump is better suited to bring back international order as “a strongman” leader, Sullivan responded, “I think the endgame for American foreign policy should be: Can we manage that period without our getting dragged into a major conflict? We have done that. Can we manage that period with our alliances stronger than we found them? I think it is indisputable that we have done that. And can we manage that period where our adversaries are weaker than we found them? In all three cases — China, Russia, Iran — I think the record is clear that they are demonstrably weaker.”
Bonus: At the end of the interview, Sullivan gave listeners a book recommendation: Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to A.I., by Israeli writer Yuval Noah Harari, which was published in September 2024. Sullivan said he thinks “everyone should read this book.”
Worthy Reads
Carrots and Sticks: The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg posits that the “Trump effect” brought about a willingness by all parties to move toward a cease-fire — and that the parties are making decisions with Trump in mind. “The Israeli far right, whose lawmakers hold the margin of power in Netanyahu’s coalition, had previously threatened to collapse the government should a deal be reached without Hamas fully vanquished from Gaza. But amid Trump’s return, the radicals have their eyes on bigger prizes, such as the annexation of the West Bank — which the Palestinians claim for their future state — and are loath to forgo such opportunities. For this reason, they will likely vote against the cease-fire but leave Netanyahu in power, allowing him to enact it. Put another way, it’s not that Trump had a stick with which to beat Israel that Biden didn’t have; it’s that his presidency holds out the prospect of carrots that Biden would never offer. It was less the president-elect’s pressure than his potential promise that brought the Israeli far right onside. With Trump, everything is a transaction, and for his would-be suitors — not just Israel, but also Hamas’s sponsors in Qatar — the Gaza cease-fire is a down payment.” [TheAtlantic]
Trump and the Israeli Right: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens considers how President-elect Donald Trump’s proclivity for dealmaking may upend traditional foreign policy thinking. “The president-elect clearly wants an Israeli-Saudi normalization agreement as a capstone to the Abraham Accords he oversaw in 2020. For that to happen, the Saudis will demand a road map for a Palestinian state. Trump may also prefer to use Iran’s current weakness to negotiate a second nuclear deal, when what Netanyahu most wants is American help in an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, possibly in the next weeks or months. Where wisdom lies on either front rests mainly in the details. (I would favor nearly any plausible deal with Saudi Arabia and oppose nearly any likely one with Tehran.) But the larger point is this: Trump is going to scramble traditional foreign-policy assumptions, left or right. Liberals who think Trump’s second term will be one of unbridled bellicosity may be surprised. Conservatives who hope it will bring some overdue toughness on our enemies may be disappointed.” [NYTimes]
Israel’s Catch-22: In The Free Press, former Israeli Ambassador to Israel Michael Oren looks at Israel’s predicament as it works to accomplish its “fundamentally irreconcilable” goals of freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas. “In Tel Aviv, crowds flooded the streets calling on the government to ‘seal the deal’ and asking ‘how much blood must be spilled’ before it does. In Jerusalem, demonstrators claimed the government had no mandate to ‘surrender’ to Hamas. ‘A freed terrorist is tomorrow’s murderer,’ right-wing opponents of the deal bellowed as they blocked traffic near the prime minister’s office. Such discordance is inevitable. … While 33 hostages will be released in the first stage, dozens — alive and dead — will remain in Gaza, prolonging their families’ suffering. The relatives of those killed by the Palestinian terrorists now going free will also be shattered. So, too, will the Israelis who still see soldiers dying in Gaza almost daily while Hamas rocket fire continues. What were all of Israel’s sacrifices for, they will ask. As with previous deals, this one will only encourage further terror and hostage-taking, they’ll warn, and set the stage for a future attack, like October 7.” [FreePress]
Word on the Street
The incoming Trump administration requested the resignations of three senior career diplomats whose purviews include internal structure and coordination…
President-elect Donald Trump is pushing Vivek Ramaswamy as a potential successor to Vice President-elect Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH); Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is expected to announce later this week his choice for who will fill the seat following Vance’s swearing-in next week…
The Creating Change Conference, a major LGBTQ confab in Las Vegas next week, changed the description of a session for Middle Eastern and North African attendees that had previously been described as a “Zionism-free space” to a “closed space, grounded in solidarity with Palestinian liberation and opposition to all forms of occupation,” after facing criticism from Jewish LGBTQ advocates…
Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), a staunch supporter of Israel, was selected as the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Middle East and North Africa subcommittee…
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) removed Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) as head of the House Intelligence Committee; Turner reportedly said he was told Johnson was facing “concerns from Mar a Lago” over Turner’s continued leadership of the committee…
Faiz Shakir, the campaign manager for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) 2020 presidential bid, is launching a longshot campaign to head the Democratic National Committee, which is choosing a successor to Jaime Harrison next month…
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt criticized Sanders for sitting for an interview with streamer Hasan Piker, who has an extensive track record of making antisemitic comments, saying that Sanders’ decision to talk with Piker “says an awful lot about the senior senator from Vermont and the normalization of antisemitism”…
The Atlantic’s Franklin Foer posits that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu misjudged the power balance between himself and Trump.
Apollo Global Management promoted senior executives James Zelter and John Zito, as part of what is seen as a longer-term succession plan for the eventual departure of CEO Marc Rowan…
Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners is set to partner with Emirati businessman Mohamed Alabbar on a luxury hotel in Belgrade, Serbia; Kushner’s father, Charles Kushner, had previously met Alabbar years ago through “a rabbi friend”…
New York City Councilmember Zohran Mamdani, who is mounting a primary challenge to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, said he’s raised more than $640,000 since entering the race in October…
“Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels donated his archives to the University of Texas’ Harry Ransom Center…
In a Daily Caller profile, CNN’s Scott Jennings explained that his Christian faith “plays a role in how I see the world,” adding, “One issue that I carry with me on the air every single day when I wear the yellow ribbon for the hostages, is how I feel about the state of Israel, our relationship with Israel, and what’s happening to the Jewish people in the Middle East”…
Ami Magazine interviewed formerArkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Trump’s choice for ambassador to Israel…
The Wall Street Journal looks at how Israeli hospitals are preparing for the treatment of released hostages in anticipation of their release…
Lufthansa announced plans to restart flights to Israel beginning Feb. 1…
Chip manufacturer Nvidia plans to open a 10,000-square-meter data center in Israel…
Autism therapist Howard Buten, who moonlighted as a clown named Buffo, died at 74…
Pic of the Day
Demonstrators in Tel Aviv rallied on Wednesday night in response to reports that Israel and Hamas had reached a cease-fire and hostage-release agreement.
Birthdays
Author and editor-in-chief for 35 years and then editor-at-large for 15 years at Commentary magazine, he is pictured here with President George W. Bush receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Norman Podhoretz turns 95…
Neurologist and psychiatrist best known for his work on ECT therapy, Maximilian Fink turns 102… Physicist and professor of materials science at Oxford, he escaped Germany in 1939 on the Kindertransport, Sir Peter Bernhard Hirsch turns 100… Founder of Jones Apparel Group (including Jones New York, Stuart Weitzman and Nine West) and film producer, in 2001 he donated $150 million to Johns Hopkins University, Sidney J. Kimmel turns 97… Author of 12 novels for young adults and longtime sports journalist, Robert Lipsyte turns 87… Real estate developer, a superfan of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, he is known for sitting courtside at every home game, Alan “Sixth Man” Horwitz turns 81… Socially conservative talk radio host and relationship advisor since 1975, on Sirius XM Radio since 2011, author of over 20 books, Dr. Laura Schlessinger turns 78… Chef, food writer, culinary editor for the Modern Library, host of PBS’s “Gourmet’s Adventures With Ruth,” recipient of six James Beard Awards, Ruth Reichl turns 77… Sephardi chief Rabbi of Israel until mid-2024 and dean of Yeshivat Hazon Ovadia, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef turns 73… Uzbekistan-born Israeli entrepreneur and industrialist, Michael Cherney turns 73… VP for government affairs and director of the Washington, D.C., office of Agudath Israel of America, Abba Cohen turns 69… CEO of Belfor Property Restoration, he appeared in an Emmy-nominated episode of CBS’ “Undercover Boss,” Sheldon Yellen turns 67… Founder, chairman and CEO of RealNetworks, Robert Denis “Rob” Glaser turns 63… First employee and subsequently first president of eBay, philanthropist and movie producer, Jeffrey Skoll turns 60… Founder and CEO of Cognition Builders, Ilana Kukoff… Senior editorial producer at CNN, Debbie Berger Fox… Chair of the Cheviot Hills chapter of WIZO USA, Amy Graiwer turns 52… U.S. ambassador to Jordan since September 2023, Yael Lempert turns 51… San Francisco-based technology reporter for The New York Times, Sheera Frenkel… Assistant professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, Rob Goodman… Canadian actor and singer, Jacob Lee “Jake” Epstein turns 38… Attorney working in South Florida real estate development, David Ptalis… Left wing for the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, Jason Zucker turns 33… Israeli actress and singer, Diana Golbi turns 33… Israeli professional Muay Thai and kickboxing fighter, Nili Block turns 30… Joseph Bornstein…
Recent Daily Kickoff Newsletters
