Daily Kickoff
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on President Donald Trump’s denial of reports that Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will lead the administration’s Iran file, and spotlight Ken Martin, the front-runner to head the Democratic National Committee. We interview newly sworn-in San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie about how he intends to approach antisemitism in the Bay Area, and report on Ireland’s efforts to walk back its anti-Israel trade policy following Trump’s inauguration. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Ted Deutch, Elizabeth Tsurkov and Jordan Roth.
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: Koch-affiliated policy advisor playing key role in isolationist Pentagon appointments; Israeli right still hopeful about Trump presidency despite ‘terrible’ cease-fire deal; and Israeli President Isaac Herzog: Oct. 7 a ‘wake-up call’ for limits of two-state solution. Print the latest edition here.
What We’re Watching
- Later today, Israel will be notified of the four hostages slated to be released from Hamas captivity on Saturday. It is expected that those released today will include some of the female IDF observers who were taken hostage from their army base. More below.
- Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is taking the rare step of keeping the Senate in session through the weekend, aiming to confirm Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem and Scott Bessent to lead, respectively, the Defense Department, Department of Homeland Security and Treasury before Monday, amid delaying tactics from Democrats.
- Israeli President Isaac Herzog will attend the dedication on Sunday of the Altneu synagogue’s new location on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
- The two-day JLI Leadership Summit kicks off on Sunday in Palm Beach, Fla. A panel Sunday afternoon focused on the world stage will include a slate of former U.S. ambassadors, including former Ambassador to the Dominican Republic Robin Bernstein, former Ambassador to South Africa Lana Marks, former Ambassador to France Jamie McCourt, former Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates John Rakolta Jr. and former Ambassador to Romania Adrian Zuckerman.
- Israel is seeking 30 additional days to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, as the Sunday deadline of the 60-day cease-fire agreement with Hezbollah approaches.
- The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, concludes today. Some attendees sticking around for the weekend will be attending the annual Shabbat dinner at the Kurpark.
What You Should Know
The release of the first three hostages last weekend following the implementation of a temporary cease-fire and hostage-release agreement set off what will likely be a grim and anxiety-ridden tradition over the next five weeks: Israelis gathered around their televisions, or in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, or glued to their phones as Hamas releases several hostages who are swarmed by jeering crowds of Palestinian men wearing the terror group’s signature green and black colors as they make their way to Red Cross vehicles.
For many of the hostages, the first moments of their freedom will be the first sign of life since their capture. Of the remaining 30 hostages slated for release over the next five weeks during the first phase of the cease-fire agreement, 22 are believed to be alive, though Hamas has only provided signs of life for a few of those being held.
Israel is pressing for the release of Arbel Yehoud, one of the few remaining civilian women among the hostages. Yehoud was taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz, the same community that Shiri Bibas, the other female civilian in captivity, was taken from along with her husband and two young children.
Russian-Israeli hostage Sasha Trufanov will not be released this weekend but is likely to come in the next couple of weeks, Russia’s ambassador to Israel said on Tuesday, citing the 28-year-old Amazon employee’s poor health. (Men who are injured or in poor health are being released in the first phase of the agreement.)
Later today, Hamas is expected to give Israel the list of the four female hostages set for release tomorrow. Sometime tomorrow, Hamas is expected to give Israel a list of the status of the remaining hostages set for release in the first stage, but according to local media, Israeli officials believe the group may only provide the numbers of living and dead.
As we learned last week, when Hamas did not provide the list of names of hostages slated for release until hours before they were freed — as opposed to the night before, as had been agreed by both parties — the situation is fluid and the terror group cannot be relied upon to abide by the rules of the agreement. Earlier this week, a Hamas official said that this Saturday’s release was being moved to Sunday, before another official walked back that statement and said the group would release the hostages as planned on Saturday.
While last weekend’s hostage release was met with celebration — owing in part to the relatively good health of Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher and Romi Gonen (save for Damari’s hand, which was badly injured when she was shot on Oct. 7), not every hostage repatriation will be as joyous. Some released hostages will come home to discover that loved ones were killed during Hamas’ attacks; conversely, some families will be welcoming home the bodies of their loved ones who were taken hostage alive.
let’s make a deal
Trump denies Witkoff will lead diplomatic efforts with Iran
President Donald Trump refuted reports that Steve Witkoff, his Middle East envoy, will take over the Iran file, while also lauding Witkoff for his work helping negotiate the cease-fire and hostage-release deal between Israel and Hamas, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Negotiable: “No,” Trump said on Thursday after signing a series of executive orders, when asked by a reporter whether he would put Witkoff in charge of Iran strategy and speaking directly with the Iranians. “But he’s certainly somebody I would use. He’s done a fantastic job. He’s a great negotiator.”
Read the full story here.
Step towards sanctions: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) took a procedural step on Thursday to set up a vote in the coming days on the House-passed legislation placing stringent sanctions on the International Criminal Court for issuing arrest warrants against Israeli officials, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
DNC DYNAMICS
Ken Martin emerges as front-runner in DNC chair battle by maintaining big tent
As Ken Martin has emerged as the favored candidate to lead the the Democratic National Committee, the longtime Minnesota state party chairman has won backing from a wide range of activists, including critics of Israel and steadfast defenders of the Jewish state — in a coalition his supporters say demonstrates a proven ability to navigate growing internal divisions over Middle East policy that roiled the presidential election. Martin, 51, has frequently been at the center of ongoing tensions over Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, which fueled protests at the state party convention last year. In Minnesota — where the party’s far-left faction is sizable and outspoken — Martin has forged a delicate balance in handling platform debates on key Middle East issues, while largely resisting anti-Israel demands, according to several Jewish community activists who expressed satisfaction with his leadership, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Keeping it together: But even as Martin has managed to collect goodwill from a broad portion of his base in Minnesota and beyond, some skeptics have raised concerns that his ecumenical approach to party infighting could prove untenable at the national level, especially regarding seemingly intractable debates over Israel that have continued to sow division. “I think the issue that he still has in Minnesota and nationally — if he gets elected as the chair — is how do you keep these factions together that seem to be drifting apart on this issue and on the fundamentals of why did we lose the election?” a pro-Israel party organizer in Minneapolis, who requested anonymity to speak candidly on the DNC race, told JI. “That question sort of still has not been decided, and I haven’t really heard anything from Ken in his platform about that.”
Read the full story here.
VIBE SHIFT
New San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie aims to turn around a city in decline
In a city that arguably invented the notion of “good vibes” in the counterculture 1960s, newly minted San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is looking to lead a vibe shift in a town whose aura has been clouded, and not just by fog rolling in off the Bay. In an interview with Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch last week, the Levi Strauss heir and anti-poverty advocate pitched himself as a politician who will bring the city together as he champions local issues like fentanyl addiction, homelessness and cost of living — and not an ideologue seeking to pander to the city’s progressive reputation. For now, he’s enjoying a honeymoon period before the political challenges of governing set in.
Rabbinic roots: The night before his inauguration, Lurie attended an interfaith ceremony at Congregation Emanu-El, a Reform congregation near the Presidio. His father, Rabbi Brian Lurie, worked at the historic synagogue more than five decades ago. “It was an amazing evening, and we wanted to bring everybody together during this time where there’s just a lot of divisiveness,” Lurie told JI. “It was a signal to the city that we are no longer going to find things that divide us, but we are going to come together.”
Read the full profile for more on Lurie’s approach to antisemitism, and the obstacles he faces as he tries to project an image of unity.
TED TALK
AJC CEO Ted Deutch urges Trump to appoint White House antisemitism coordinator, develop new national strategy
As President Donald Trump’s administration, and the new GOP-controlled Congress, take shape, much is still unknown about how they’ll approach the domestic antisemitism crisis that has accelerated since Trump’s last term in office. American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch, who represented his South Florida district in Congress for 12 years, has some recommendations. In an interview with Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod this week, Deutch urged the Trump administration to follow the Biden administration in issuing its own national strategy to combat antisemitism, as well as appoint a White House official responsible for combating antisemitism full-time.
Strong message: “The president can send a very strong signal by appointing someone to serve in that capacity, to focus on the challenges that we’re seeing across the country domestically,” Deutch said. “And there is — as our call to action against antisemitism makes clear — a need for us to tackle antisemitism using a whole-of-society approach. And the White House can help drive that.”
Taking on Musk: After initially declining to criticize billionaire White House advisor Elon Musk for a gesture that some argued was a Nazi salute, two major U.S. Jewish groups are now condemning him for a series of Nazi jokes he made on social media, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
SET FOR RELEASE
Eight murderers to be allowed back into Israel in hostage deal
Eight terrorists who murdered Israelis are expected to be released in Israel as part of the cease-fire and hostage-release deal with Hamas, according to an analysis by Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs. Among the nearly 2,000 predominantly Palestinian prisoners set to be let out in the framework of the deal, 73 are Israeli citizens or legal residents — the status of most Palestinians in east Jerusalem. Of those prisoners, 45 will be released in Israel. Twenty-one of the prisoners with Israeli citizenship or residency are terrorists serving life sentences for killing people. Though murderers are supposed to be deported in the framework of the deal — likely to Qatar or Turkey — eight of them will be able to live freely in Israel, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Who are they?: Five of the murderers to be released into Israel are Hamas members, and three are from Fatah, the dominant party in the Palestinian Authority. All of them killed Israelis in 2001-2003, during the Second Intifada. Hirsch analyzed the list of prisoners published by the Israeli Justice Ministry on Saturday and found that he was familiar with many of them and their crimes from his time as the IDF’s former director of the Military Prosecution for Judea and Samaria — the official name used by Israel for the West Bank. One of the terrorists to be released into Israel is Nasim Zaatari, one of the bombers of the No. 2 bus in Jerusalem, an attack in 2003 that killed 23 people, including 1-year-old Shmuel Taubenfeld and Shmuel Zagari.
LUCK OF THE IRISH
New Irish government walking back anti-Israel trade policy as Trump takes office
The new Irish government plans to roll back some of its anti-Israel policies, sparking speculation that it is doing so to appease the Trump administration, even as it remains committed to pursuing a war crimes lawsuit against Israel. The Dáil, as the Irish parliament is known, convened with its new members on Wednesday for the first time since the country’s November election, and with a more moderate governing coalition than in previous years, formed by centrist parties Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. The parties approved their 162-page “draft programme for government 2025” this week. The section titled “The Middle East” is focused solely on Israel and the Palestinians, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Rethinking legislation: The document says the new government will “progress legislation prohibiting goods from Occupied Palestinian Territories,” referring to a bill that would ban trade with Israelis in the West Bank. Subsequent governments have blocked the bill despite proclaiming support for it because it would violate EU trade guidelines for Ireland to have its own law on the matter, as opposed to following Brussels’ policy. Incoming Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin told reporters on Sunday that “virtually every section of that bill will have to be amended … I think probably we’ll move towards a new bill in respect of imports into Ireland from the Occupied Territories … It’s acknowledged by all sides in relation to this bill that the bill was unconstitutional as drafted, and in other areas was deficient also.”
Worthy Reads
Paying a Steep Price: In The Wall Street Journal, Amit Segal shares his concerns about the increasingly high price Israel pays for the release of its hostages. “In recent years, Israel has begun to pay increasingly exorbitant prices for its hostages. The 1968 hijacking — an El Al flight diverted to Algiers — resulted in passengers freed in exchange for 16 terrorists with no blood on their hands. The price of at least 19 female terrorists was paid 41 years later in return for video footage of an abducted soldier. Talk about inflation. Over the years, Israel has abandoned its principles. Once it refused to negotiate with terrorists; today it does. Once it agreed to exchange only bodies for bodies; today it releases live terrorists. Once it insisted on a proportional ratio of those released from both sides; today it sometimes releases 1,000 terrorists in exchange for a single hostage. Once it refused to release anyone convicted of murder; now it’s a given that no security prisoner serving a life sentence will remain in prison forever.” [WSJ]
The Week That Was:The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser reflects on the first week of the Trump administration. “Eight years after the first Trump Inauguration, we know the drill. He loves to drown us in outrage. The overwhelming volume is the point — too many simultaneous scandals and the system is so overloaded that it breaks down. It can’t focus. It can’t fight back. The distractions are just too damn distracting.” [NewYorker]
When in Rome…: The Economist looks at the differing approaches Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Pope Francis are taking toward the Trump administration and foreign policy. “While she was in Washington her foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, was flying out of Rome for talks with his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, and the Palestinian prime minister, Mohammad Mustafa. Ms. Meloni herself will travel to the Middle East on January 26th for a visit to Saudi Arabia. Her talks there will no doubt touch on Saudi Arabia’s conditions for joining Italy, Japan and Britain in a project for the construction of a next-generation combat aircraft. But it would be surprising if Ms. Meloni did not also discuss with her hosts a more lasting solution to the conflict between Israel and Hamas. In Jerusalem, Mr. Tajani announced that Italy was ready to send troops to Gaza as part of an Arab-led international peace mission.” [TheEconomist]
Aussie Ag-tech: The Financial Times’ Nic Fildes looks at how Australia has become a hotbed of ag-tech innovation, attracting agriculture-related startups from around the world, including Israel. “Businesses from overseas are also flocking to the region. Arugga AI Farming, an Israeli agricultural robotics start-up founded in 2017, came to Orange [in New South Wales] in 2020 with the aid of the SparkLabs incubator to test its so-called ‘robotic bee’ — a large autonomous device used to pollinate tomato plants in the absence of insects. ‘Australia presented a great challenge for pollination,’ says Arugga’s founder Iddo Geltner, explaining that, because of biosecurity regulations, the country does not use imported European bumblebees to pollinate tomatoes, as is the case in most countries. That made it an ideal test environment. Arugga AI Israel is another global ag-tech centre, with expertise in greenhouses ‘out of necessity’ owing to the country’s shortage of water, but has seen relatively little deployment of agricultural automation and robotics, Geltner says. Australia, however, was open to adopting his ‘bees’ — robots that trundle between rows of plants, using cameras and AI to spot disease, identify which flowers are ready, then use blasts of air to pollinate them.” [FT]
Word on the Street
President Donald Trump revoked the security details for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Iran envoy Brian Hook; the move comes days after Trump ended the same security protections for former National Security Advisor John Bolton…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar; Sa’ar’s readout of the call said the two discussed “regional issues and bilateral topics” and “the politicized ‘international legal institutions’ and the steps that must be taken in that regard”…
The Trump administration accepted the resignations of U.S. Ambassador to Jordan Yael Lempert and U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Michael Ratley…
The Senate confirmed CIA Director John Ratcliffe by a 74-25 vote. Also, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) were the only Republicans to break from their party to vote against a procedural motion on Defense Secretary-designate Pete Hegseth‘s confirmation, teeing up a narrow but likely successful confirmation vote in the coming days…
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and other GOP colleagues reintroduced legislation aiming to sanction those who facilitate the Palestinian Authority’s “pay-for-slay” payments…
Bloomberg Philanthropies will cover the U.S.’ share of its contribution to the U.N.’s climate change arm — approximately $7.25 million, roughly 22% of its operating costs — following the decision by the Trump administration to cease U.S. funding to the body…
CNN will lay off approximately 200 staffers — 6% of the media company’s employees — as part of a broader company shift toward digital media…
Columbia University suspended one of the individuals who participated in the disruption of a class on Israeli history on the first day of the school semester…
NYU has suspended more than a dozen students over their participation in an anti-Israel sit-in that disrupted last month’s final exams on the campus; affected students were suspended for one year…
Theater producer Jordan Roth will stage a series of live performances in the Louvre this summer…
“The Brutalist,” a new film starring Adrien Brody as a Holocaust survivor in the U.S., garnered 10 Oscar nominations; “September 5,” a film about the 1972 Munich Olympics, was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, while “A Real Pain,” about two Jewish cousins who visit their grandmother’s childhood home in Poland, received nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Kieran Culkin; Timothée Chalamet was nominated for Best Actor for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unkown”…
In a speech to mark the upcoming International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Queen Camilla said that the “deadly seeds of the Holocaust were sown at first in small acts of exclusion, of aggression and of discrimination towards those who had previously been neighbours and friends”…
Speaking at a similar event in Berlin, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for the prosecution of “anyone who supports terrorism” and “anyone who incites antisemitism”…
The Associated Press spotlights the Holocaust survival story of Naftali Fürst, who was 12 years old when he and his family were sent to Auschwitz; Fürst’s granddaughter and her family survived the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where they lived…
A consortium of private U.S. security companies will provide contractors to man a key security checkpoint in Gaza as part of the cease-fire agreement agreed to last week…
Israeli Shas Party chair Aryeh Deri traveled to the United Arab Emirates to discuss “day-after” plans for Gaza with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed…
Iraq’s foreign minister confirmed that Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was kidnapped by an Iraqi militia group in March 2023, is alive and that Baghdad is working on securing her release…
The Wall Street Journal reports on Chinese efforts to aid Iran’s ballistic missile program…
The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations is warning seafarers in the Persian Gulf of attempts by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to force ships into Iranian waters…
The Atlantic Council’s Holly Dagres is departing the think tank to join The Washington Institute for Near East Policy as its Libitzky Family Senior Fellow…
Pic of the Day
A man in Re’im, Israel, wrote pages of a Torah commissioned in honor of Israeli police officer Ran Gvili, who was killed on Oct. 7, 2023, and whose body is being held in Gaza.
Birthdays
Co-founder of the Laura and Gary Lauder Family Venture Philanthropy Fund, Laura Heller Lauder, pictured here with her husband, Gary, celebrates her birthday on Sunday…
FRIDAY: Canadian architect and urban renewal advocate, Phyllis Barbara Lambert turns 98… Singer-songwriter Neil Diamond turns 84… 2011 Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry, professor at Technion and Iowa State University, Dan Shechtman turns 84… Chairman of the Sazerac Company and of Crescent Crown Distributing, William Goldring turns 82… Professor of modern Jewish history at New York University, Marion Kaplan turns 79… Senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, he was previously an official in the Reagan, Bush 43 and Trump 45 administrations, Elliott Abrams turns 77… Professor of alternative dispute resolution and mediation at Hofstra School of Law, Robert Alan Baruch Bush turns 77… Ukrainian-born comedian, actor and writer, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1977 and is noted for the catchphrase “What a country,” Yakov Smirnoff turns 74… Conductor, violinist and violist, who has performed with leading symphony orchestras worldwide, Yuri Bashmet turns 72… VP of strategy at LiveWorld, Daniel Flamberg… Founder of an online software training website acquired by LinkedIn in 2015 for $1.5 billion, Lynda Susan Weinman turns 70… Burlingame, Calif.-based surgeon at Peninsula Plastic Surgery, Lorne K. Rosenfield, M.D…. Beryl Eckstein… Senior correspondent at Newsmax, Rick Leventhal… Former CEO of Ford Motor Company, and now on the boards of Hertz and Qualcomm, Mark Fields (his family’s original name was Finkelman) turns 64… B’nei mitzvah coordinator at Temple Beth Am of Los Angeles, Judith Alban… Former HUD secretary and OMB director, now the President and CEO of Enterprise Community Partners, Shaun Donovan turns 59… Co-founder and executive director of Protect Democracy, Ian Bassin turns 49… Chief legal officer at Ripple Fiber, Joshua Runyan… Sporting director for Hapoel Jerusalem, Yotam Halperin turns 41… Founder and CEO at TACKMA and a principal at Schottenstein Property Group, Jeffrey Schottenstein… Former regional director of synagogue initiative at AIPAC, Miryam Knafo Schapira… J.D. candidate at Brooklyn Law School, Michael Krasna… Musician and former child actor, Jonah Bobo turns 28…
SATURDAY: Senior partner of The Mack Company and a director of Mack-Cali Realty, David S. Mack turns 83… Israeli peace activist and author, David Grossman turns 71… Editor-in-chief of The National Memo, Joe Conason turns 71… Retired in 2023 as dean of the Jerusalem campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Naamah Kelman-Ezrachi turns 70… SVP and senior portfolio manager in the Los Angeles office of Morgan Stanley, Robert N. Newman… Actress and television director, Dinah Beth Manoff turns 69… Los Angeles resident, Helene S. Ross… Agent at Creative Artists Agency, Michael Glantz… Chief correspondent and executive editor for CBS News’ “Eye on America” franchise, Jim Axelrod turns 62… Former member of Knesset for Yesh Atid, he also served as minister of education, Shai Moshe Piron turns 60… Founding partner of merchant bank Finback Investment Partners, John Leachman Oliver III… Member of the Canadian Parliament from Montreal since 2015, he won 12 medals in swimming at the 2013 and 2017 Maccabiah Games, Anthony Housefather turns 54… Author of multiple novels, she is a writer-in-residence in Jewish studies at Stanford University, Maya Arad turns 54… Toronto-born actress, Mia Kirshner turns 50… National political reporter at the Washington Post, Michael Scherer… Director of finance and operations at JQY, David Newman… President of Ukraine since 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky turns 47… Member of the U.S House of Representatives (D-FL), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick turns 46… Benjamin L. Newton… Managing VP of executive operations for the National Association of Manufacturers, Mark Isaacson… Member of the Arizona House of Representatives until 2023, Daniel Hernández Jr. turns 35… Actress, writer and director, Pauline Hope Chalamet turns 33… Assistant director of foreign policy at JINSA, Ari Cicurel…
SUNDAY: Investigative journalist and D-Day veteran, Morton Mintz turns 103… Actor, film director and playwright, Henry David Jaglom turns 87… Pioneering computer scientist, Barbara Bluestein Simons, Ph.D. turns 84… Cookbook author and journalist, she has been referred to as the “matriarch of Jewish cooking,” Joan Nathan turns 83… Singer-songwriter, socialite and political fundraiser, Denise Eisenberg Rich turns 81… Economic and social theorist, author of 23 books, Jeremy Rifkin turns 80… New Haven, Conn.-based personal injury attorney, Herbert Ira Mendelsohn… Publishing professional, Agnes F. Holland… Professor emeritus of modern Judaic studies at the University of Virginia, Peter W. Ochs turns 75… Two-time Emmy Award-winning film and television director, Mimi Leder turns 73… President of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, Rabbi Marc Schneier turns 66… Senior rabbi of Manhattan’s Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, Ammiel Hirsch turns 66… Argentina’s largest real-estate developer, president of Chabad Argentina, president of Hillel Argentina and president of Taglit Birthright Argentina, Eduardo Elsztain turns 65… President of HSK Consulting, Hilary Smith Kapner… Former CNN anchor and correspondent for 12 years, author of two books, she runs a website and newsletter focused on uplifting and positive news, Daryn Kagan turns 62… Co-founder of Boardroom One, Brent Cohen… Actress, comedian and television screenwriter, Claudia Lonow turns 62… Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives for most of 2023, Kevin McCarthy turns 60… Maj.-Gen. (res.) in the IDF, now serving as director general of the Ministry of Defense, Eyal Zamir turns 59… Senior strategist and consultant at Hillel of Broward and Palm Beach, Jill Weinstock Deutch… Oakland County (Mich.) clerk and register of deeds, Lisa Brown turns 58… Educator and scholar, Raizi Chechik… Middleweight boxing champion, he retired in 2003 with a 37-1-1 record, now a credit union loan officer, Dana Rosenblatt turns 53… Retired tennis player, Justin Gimelstob turns 48… Actress, she hosted The CW reality series “Shedding for the Wedding,” Sara Rue (born Sara Schlackman) turns 46… Of counsel at Morrison Cohen LLP, previously an Obama White House Jewish liaison, Jarrod Neal Bernstein turns 45… Senior advisor at the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and president of the Palm Collective, Tamar Remz… Former Olympic figure skater, now head of athlete success at Grandstand, Emily Hughes turns 36… Blues and jazz musician, Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton turns 36… Former member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives, Jonathan Aaron Regunberg turns 35… Co-founder and CEO of Folio, Fay Goldstein…
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