Daily Kickoff: Cuomo’s comeback campaign courts Jewish community
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the state of the New York City mayoral race as former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is expected to announce his bid in the coming weeks, shores up support from the city’s Jewish community. We also cover the legislative effort to prevent antisemitism in California’s mandated ethnic studies program, and spotlight attorney Yaakov Roth, who was recently tapped as principal deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil division. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Brett McGurk, Mike Pompeo and Yair Lapid.
What We’re Watching
- Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies is holding its annual international conference at Tel Aviv University today. Speaking at the conference earlier today, U.K. Ambassador to Israel Simon Walters said the E3 set a June deadline for a new Iran deal in order to leave time to snap back sanctions on the Islamic Republic if it does not agree to give up its nuclear program. Meanwhile, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said “the moment of truth,” when President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu need to make a decision about striking Iran, may come as soon as this fall if Iran leaves the Non-Proliferation Treaty or comes close to nuclear breakout. Read more here.
- Former Israeli hostage Noa Argamani is slated to address the U.N. Security Council this morning. Argamani’s address marks the first time an Israeli kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, has addressed the body.
- The House antisemitism task force will hold its first meeting of the new Congress today. Reps. Dan Meuser (R-PA), Haley Stevens (D-MI) and Don Bacon (R-NE) were on Monday named the task force’s new co-chairs.
- This afternoon, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) will announce the reintroduction of the American Victims of Terrorism Compensation Act. Joining Lawler at the House Triangle for the announcement will be Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) and Nick LaLota (R-NY).
- Deborah Lipstadt, the former special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, and British lawyer Anthony Julius, who represented Lipstadt in a libel lawsuit brought by Holocaust denier David Irving, are speaking in conversation tonight with former Anti-Defamation League CEO Abe Foxman at the Streicker Center in Manhattan.
- March of the Living is launching its international Eisenhower Family Initiative today in Washington. Merrill Eisenhower, the great-grandson of President Dwight Eisenhower, will speak alongside Holocaust survivor Eva Clarke, who was born in the Mauthausen concentration camp days before its liberation by Eisenhower’s troops.
- In Israel, the funeral for hostages Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, whose bodies were repatriated last week, will take place in a private ceremony on Wednesday morning, The funeral for Oded Lifshitz, whose body was also returned last week, is taking place today.
What You Should Know
As the Democratic Party continues to chart a path back to power, one prominent, albeit scandal-ridden, figure of yesteryear is preparing to showcase the playbook for a political comeback, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned from office amid allegations of sexual misconduct in 2021, is preparing to run for mayor of New York City and is looking like an early front-runner.
He’s running as a moderate in a field filled with progressives, is successfully courting Jewish voters tired of left-wing officials’ indulgence of antisemitism and anti-Israel activism, and is betting that most voters will be overlooking his past scandals in the face of seemingly glaring corruption in New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ office.
Even before Cuomo made an official announcement, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) — a leading face of Democratic pragmatism in the state and a stalwart ally of the Jewish community — endorsed Cuomo’s nascent campaign. Notably, Torres called Cuomo “Mr. Tough Guy,” and said that the city needed a strong leader to deal with the numerous challenges it faces, from crime to homelessness to rising antisemitism. (Torres is reportedly considering challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul from the center in next year’s Democratic gubernatorial primary.)
In a deep-blue city, Cuomo is showing Democrats that unapologetic centrism looks like the pathway to success — and early polling bears that out.
In an Emerson poll conducted earlier this month, Cuomo boasted three times the level of support of Adams, his nearest opponent. Cuomo gains disproportionate support when second-place voters are allocated — as part of the city’s unique ranked-choice primary system.
Cuomo benefits from high name identification, which will continue to give him an advantage in the crowded field of candidates. The mayoral primary is taking place on June 24, less than four months away, and Cuomo’s opponents will struggle to raise enough money to bolster their own political profiles.
But Cuomo’s biggest selling point is the fact that nearly all of the other Democratic challengers hail from the progressive wing of the party at a time when there’s a widespread demand for moderation, even within the Democratic Party.
The list of Democratic challengers reads like a who’s who of hard-left progressives, including former Comptroller Scott Stringer, state Sen. Jessica Ramos, Comptroller Brad Lander and the most radical of all, DSA-aligned state Rep. Zohran Mamdani.
Many Democrats are acting like the left-wing politics of Park Slope translate to all of New York City, at a time when Gotham voters are growing tired of progressive excess. President Donald Trump won 30% of the vote in New York City — the strongest showing in the five boroughs for any GOP presidential candidate since 1988. And even in Park Slope, the anti-Israel, far-left city councilmember (Shahana Hanif) is facing a serious primary challenger from a mainstream Democrat (Maya Kornberg).
Cuomo may be on the leading edge of a moderate comeback in heavily-Democratic cities dealing with governing dysfunction.
San Francisco just elected Daniel Lurie, a center-left philanthropist to take over City Hall. Josh Kraft is running a similar playbook to unseat the progressive Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. Next year, businessman Rick Caruso is poised to mount a rigorous challenge against embattled Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass after falling short two years ago.
If there’s a playbook for national Democrats to emulate, it will be from their executive class of candidates who have been unafraid of offending far-left pieties and focused on economic growth and safety for their constituents.
on the calendar
Senate Armed Services Committee to hold hearing for Elbridge Colby on March 4
The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold its confirmation hearing for Elbridge Colby’s nomination to be undersecretary of defense for policy, the No. 3 job in the Pentagon, next Tuesday, March 4, the committee’s chairman said on Monday, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report.
State of play: At least four GOP senators who sit on Armed Services have reached out to President Donald Trump, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles or other top administration officials to voice their reservations about Colby’s dovish foreign policy views. A fifth Republican senator who does not sit on the committee has expressed similar concerns to the White House about Colby and several other isolationist picks at the Pentagon. But one Senate Republican told JI they believe Colby, in his private meetings, is working to address those concerns.
Elsewhere: Senate Democrats say they’re concerned about right-wing podcaster and former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino being named deputy FBI director, a position usually held by a career agent. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) told JI, “another right-wing commentator is the last thing we need at the FBI,” saying it would be “disabling” to the agency’s core functions. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said “it’s another step down the road to chaos for the FBI” and said Bongino “seems to be driven by a far-right fringe view of the world … he seems unqualified.”
building support
Cuomo winning over Jewish voters in his nascent mayoral campaign
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is building support in the Jewish community as he prepares to launch a widely anticipated campaign for New York City mayor in the coming days, even as he continues to face lingering resentment among some Orthodox leaders over restrictions he implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic that were seen as discriminatory. In interviews with Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel on Monday, a range of Jewish leaders in New York said that they were now throwing their support behind Cuomo, a moderate Democrat, praising the former governor as a longtime ally of the Jewish community whose outspoken support for Israel amid a recent surge of antisemitic activity distinguishes him from the rest of the current primary field.
Cuomo’s record: “Gov. Cuomo has a long and strong relationship with the Jewish community going back decades,” said Elliot Gibber, a Jewish communal activist and business leader who serves on the boards of Yeshiva University as well as Teach Coalition, an Orthodox educational advocacy group. Noting that Cuomo “led the nation” in signing the first state-level executive order to target the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, Gibber argued that a growing level of unrest around anti-Israel protests, including a demonstration that turned violent in a heavily Orthodox neighborhood of Brooklyn last week, only further “underscores the need for effective leadership in this moment.”
new gig
Biden Mideast advisor Brett McGurk moves to VC, joins Lux Capital
Brett McGurk, the architect of former President Joe Biden’s approach to Middle East policy regarding the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks and the war in Gaza, is taking his geopolitical expertise to the private sector as a venture partner at the firm Lux Capital, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Announcement: “At a moment when maintaining America’s innovative edge requires both scientific innovation and diplomatic sophistication, few people understand the intersection of technology and operational statecraft better than Brett McGurk,” a press release announcing McGurk’s hiring stated. McGurk has held nonpartisan roles in both Democratic and Republican administrations, and he worked for both former President Barack Obama and, later, for President Donald Trump in his first term.
Pompeo and circumstance: Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will teach a course at Columbia University this spring on diplomacy, decision-making and organizational leadership at the school’s Institute of Global Politics, a prominent conservative hire for the embattled Ivy League school, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
course correction
California lawmakers introduce bill to root out antisemitism in ethnic studies courses
A week after a California school district agreed to stop teaching ethnic studies courses amid accusations of antisemitism in the curriculum, a group of Democratic state lawmakers in Sacramento introduced legislation on Monday to provide greater scrutiny of the ethnic studies course that will soon be a graduation requirement for California students. The bill’s authors made clear that the measure is a response to antisemitic material appearing in ethnic studies courses in California public schools, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Safety threat: “The lack of rigorous curriculum standards for ethnic studies has allowed groups with biased ideological agendas to peddle factually inaccurate and blatantly antisemitic curriculum to school districts, posing a threat to Jewish children’s safety,” said Democratic Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, one of the bill’s authors. “Antisemitism has only increased since the Oct. 7 attacks. We must ensure that ethnic studies has standards like we do for other core curriculum.”
attorney appointed
Supreme Court litigator Yaakov Roth tapped for senior Justice Department role
The Trump administration tapped Jones Day partner and Supreme Court litigator Yaakov Roth for a high-profile job at the Justice Department, where he will serve as principal deputy assistant attorney general for the civil division, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Legal eagle: Roth, an Orthodox Jew who grew up in Toronto, clerked for former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia after graduating from Harvard Law School. Much of his practice has focused on regulatory issues and white-collar defense, and he recently represented former Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) in his corruption trial. He has argued three cases before the Supreme Court, including winning a case that limited the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency.
falling in line
Lapid praises Trump’s Gaza plan, pushes for Arab-led takeover of the Strip
Yair Lapid, Israel’s opposition leader, praised President Donald Trump’s controversial plan for Gaza at an AIPAC summit on Monday, while saying that Arab states should manage the territory and work toward an ultimate political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Compatible visions: Lapid said he wants to see Israel’s military gains “turn … into lasting diplomatic achievements,” through a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia, which he said should lead to an Arab coalition taking over Gaza and standing with Israel against Iran, as well as working toward a “separation between Israel and the Palestinians.” He suggested he sees that vision as compatible with Trump’s calls for the U.S. to “take over” and redevelop Gaza and relocate its Palestinian population, a plan which Lapid praised as hopeful and forward-looking. “The day after President Trump announced his plan for Gaza, I spoke with the leader of one of the Gulf states. I asked him, ‘So what did you think?’ And he said, ‘I was excited,’” Lapid recounted.
Worthy Reads
Comic Relief: The New Yorker’s Rebecca Mead interviews British comedian Amelia Dimoldenberg, whose “Chicken Shop Date” web series has gained a cult following. “Dimoldenberg grew up in northwest London, not far from Paddington Station. Her mother is a retired librarian; her father, a director at a public-relations firm, is a member of the local government, representing the Labour Party. Their home was middle class, but the social environment that Dimoldenberg grew up in was economically diverse, and she attended local, state-funded schools that had students from a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Dimoldenberg was one of the few Jewish students in her elementary school. ‘When it was show-and-tell, I did Jewish prayers — that was my talent,’ she told me. At home, she was known for her creativity — she was always roping her younger sister into putting on plays — and, as a teen-ager, for her stinging sarcasm. Her mother, Linda Hardman, told me, ‘She’s lovely now, but she could be quite alarming at times — but in a way that was probably funny if you were watching it.’” [NewYorker]
Deafening Silence: In The Baltimore Sun, former Maryland state Sen. Bobby Zirkin, a Democrat, raises concerns about the approach of Democratic lawmakers in the state to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Members of the Maryland congressional delegation bemoaned the loss of life in Israel and Gaza but somehow failed to mention that the sole reason for that loss of life was Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the terror atrocities of Oct. 7 committed by terror groups and Gazan citizens. Van Hollen and others scream for a two-state solution but refuse to answer the most basic questions, such as who would run that state, would it simply be a new state devoted to more terrorism and war, and how can Israel guarantee security for its people? They criticize Israel at every turn but offer no solutions for the return of hostages or real peace for Israel. And as hostages, both dead and alive, have been paraded through the streets of Gaza like terrorist trophies, these representatives have said nothing.” [BaltimoreSun]
Crashing the Classroom: In The Forward, Columbia University lecturer Avi Shilon reflects on the recent disruption of his Israeli history class by anti-Israel activists. “To my eyes, it is clear that the demonstrators at the very least hold a different attitude toward Jews than toward other groups. Otherwise, it is hard to understand why their moral outrage was not directed, for example, at the study of Russia following the war in Ukraine, among many other injustices unfolding today. They struck me, clearly, as narrow-minded individuals who, at best, have an overly one-sided view of reality. I saw the impact of their protest right away. After the incident, one of my female students even requested to switch to studying via Zoom. American culture is rooted in politeness and equivocal speech, whereas in Israel people tend to bluntly impose their opinions on one another; this division also reflects the difference, I think, in how Israeli and American Jews perceive such protests. In other words, for my American Jewish students, this kind of outburst is an aberration, far removed from their normal day-to-day existence. It’s a chilling reminder that they are minorities in this country, whereas when an Israeli is attacked, he still feels that he is part of the majority in his own country.” [TheForward]
Word on the Street
The Trump administration repealed a national security memorandum signed by former President Joe Biden that sought to monitor the use of U.S. arms by foreign countries; the May 2024 memo had been issued amid pressure on the Biden administration from some Democrats over weapons sales to Israel…
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman on Monday at the Pentagon; Hegseth said prior to the meeting that the two would discuss how the U.S. might defend Riyadh in the event of an Iranian attack…
The Treasury Department announced sanctions on more than 30 people and oil tankers involved in financing Iran and its proxy network…
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in his speech Monday at an AIPAC summit that the blows dealt to Hamas and Hezbollah provide a “real opportunity for peace,” spokesperson Angelo Roefaro told JI. Several other senators also told JI they were headed to the AIPAC event on Monday evening…
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) declined to comment to JI on Monday on whether he plans to force votes on his new resolutions blocking weapons shipments to Israel; the shipments include 500-pound bombs, bomb-guidance kits, Hellfire missiles and artillery shells…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated FBI Director Kash Patel on his confirmation to lead the bureau…
The U.S. and Israel voted against a U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning Russia for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine…
Apollo Global Management will buy real estate company Bridge Investment Group for $1.5 billion in stock…
MSNBC cut Ayman Mohyeldin’s weekend show, amid a broader shakeup at the network that resulted in the departure of Joy Reid following the cancellation of her show…
Jury selection began yesterday in the trial of the man accused of killing seven people at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill., in 2022…
Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk told The New York Times that it would have been “impossible” for him to back the terror group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel had he known the impact of the resulting war in Gaza…
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert revealed the map for a two-state solution he had proposed to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in 2008, which would have created a Palestinian state on more than 94% of the West Bank…
Two EU lawmakers were denied entry into Israel; one of them, a far-left French minister, had previously advocated for boycotts of Israel…
More than six dozen Washington-area rabbis signed onto a letter calling for the “accelerated” release of the remaining hostages in Gaza…
Rabbi David Sevi was named the new chief rabbi of Turkey, following the death last month of Chief Rabbi Ishak Haleva…
Pic of the Day
The Tribe of Nova Association will open a community center, whose rendering is above, to provide services and support in Netanya, Israel, by the end of the year, following a $2 million donation from UJA-Federation of New York, the organizations announced yesterday, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim reports. The association represents the survivors and families of victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack at the Nova music festival.
Birthdays
Comedian, actress and writer, Chelsea Joy Handler turns 50…
Former talk show host, Sally Jessy Raphael turns 90… Owner of both the MLB’s Chicago White Sox and the NBA’s Chicago Bulls, Jerry M. Reinsdorf turns 89… President of the Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore until 1986, then EVP of the UJA-Federation of New York until 1999, then the first-ever CEO of United Jewish Communities, Stephen Solender turns 87… Science and medicine reporter for The New York Times and author of six books, Gina Bari Kolata turns 77… Graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, formerly CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Steve Gutow turns 76… Jerusalem-based attorney and chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel, Marc Zell turns 72… Former minister of foreign affairs for Israel, he was chief of the general staff of the IDF until 2011, Gabi Ashkenazi turns 71… Opinion columnist for The New York Times since 2016, after nine years as the NYT’s editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal turns 69… VP of communications at CNN until 2022, Barbara Levin… Policy editor at The Bulwark, Mona Charen Parker… CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo from 2015 until 2024, now a senior advisor there, Rob Goldberg… Co-president of Paterson, N.J.-based JNS-SmithChem, Michael F. Smith… Former U.S. ambassador to Israel, now vice chairman at Blackstone, Tom Nides turns 64… Former mayor of Burlington, Vt., Miro Weinberger turns 55… Founder of “News Not Noise,” Jessica Sage Yellin… VP of global curation for Meta/Facebook, Anne Elise Kornblut turns 52… Co-founder of Singapore-based Alchemist Travel, Lauren Raps… Actress best known for her roles in NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” and Fox’s “Boston Public,” Rashida Jones turns 49… Managing director of Covenant Wines in Berkeley, Calif., Sagie Kleinlerer… Former assistant director at San Francisco-based EUQINOM Gallery, Lyla Rose Holdstein… Founding partner of Parallel Capital and board chair of the Holocaust Museum of Los Angeles, Guy Lipa… Actor best known for his role in Fox’s “Malcolm in the Middle,” Justin Berfield turns 39… Correspondent on CNN’s Media team, Hadas Gold turns 37… 2013 U.S. national figure skating champion, now a regional VP at ProShares, Maxwell Theodore “Max” Aaron turns 33… Julie Goldman…
