Daily Kickoff
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the cautious but warm reception a few Republicans on Capitol Hill are giving to President Donald Trump’s Gaza takeover proposal and spotlight Leo Terrell, who was tapped by the administration this week to lead a multiagency task force focused on combating antisemitism. We also report on the launch of the Brandeis Center’s Center for Legal Innovation to address the uptick in campus antisemitism cases, and cover Georgetown Law’s hosting of a PFLP member on campus. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Jay Sures, Rep. Laura Gillen and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
What We’re Watching
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues his trip to Washington on Capitol Hill today. He’ll meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) in the early afternoon, as well as Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
- President Donald Trump will deliver an address at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington this morning.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote this morning on advancing the nomination of Kash Patel to be FBI director.
- In Florida, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is slated to meet with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani.
- The Zionist Rabbinic Coalition is holding a web event with former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren this afternoon.
What You Should Know
President Donald Trump’s comments on Tuesday about the U.S. potentially taking control of Gaza have dominated the headlines for the past two days. But another set of remarks, in which Trump repeatedly expressed his interest in a deal with Iran, could also have significant implications for the region and the new administration’s foreign policy, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report.
“I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper. We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday morning, elaborating on comments he’d made the day before.
The president also appeared to downplay the prospect of a U.S.-backed Israeli strike, an idea supported by a growing number of lawmakers concerned about the threat a nuclear Iran would pose to the region: “Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED.”
The mixed messages on Iran raise questions about whether Trump will maintain the same tough-on-Iran policy he pursued in his first term. One signal that he’s still taking a muscular line: Trump signed an executive order re-implementing maximum pressure sanctions this week (though he said he was “torn” about reimposing them and hoped they wouldn’t have to be used frequently). On the other hand, the administration has brought onmultipleindividuals who favor a more accommodationist approach to a nuclear Iran at the Pentagon and State Department.
Some Republicans, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a close ally of the president who has been urging him to back Israeli strikes, are rejecting the idea of negotiations outright. “I think the idea of having a verifiable agreement with Iran is impossible. I think they’re liars,” Graham told JI. “I think they’re religious Nazis. I think they want a nuclear weapon, and the sooner we can get them out of the nuclear business, the better. It’d be like dealing with Hitler. There is no deal that’s verifiable.”
But other GOP senators are more open to tough diplomacy. “I’m very comfortable that the goal is going to be that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon, they’re going to be held accountable. That Hamas is going to be destroyed, and we’re going to support Israel,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) told JI.
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) told JI that Trump “wants to … make certain that Iran never has a nuclear weapon. I’m clear on that. I haven’t seen the specifics of what he said, but I know from my conversations that’s a nonstarter.”
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said he’d support a deal if it permanently ends Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “It depends on what the deal is,” Kennedy told JI. “If Iran gives up all its nuclear weapons and its capability of making more, then I’m interested.”
Democrats who’ve backed nuclear talks in the past said they’d be supportive of efforts to reach a deal again. “In his first term, when he accomplished a few bold and positive things like the Abraham Accords and [the trade deal with Mexico and Canada], I was supportive. I do not reject out of hand everything he proposes,” one Democratic senator said, adding that they were not surprised that Trump is pursuing a deal.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said he was skeptical that Iran would trust Trump to make a deal after he pulled out of the original Iran deal, but “if he wants to have a dialogue about that, I would applaud that.”
ON THE HILL
Some Senate Republicans cautiously warm to Trump’s calls for a Gaza takeover
Some Senate Republicans are expressing cautious interest in President Donald Trump’s plan for the U.S. to “take over” Gaza — at least as a negotiating gambit — after an initial wave of confusion and opposition. But some Republicans remain stridently opposed to the proposal and most oppose Trump’s calls for U.S. military intervention, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report.
What they’re saying: Some senators framed Trump’s proposal as a tool to reshape discussion and thinking in the Middle East about the path forward for Gaza. “He’s looking outside the box. He’s a real estate developer. He gets the value of it, and if he can tell other people that there’s a value in it, maybe they’ll think twice about trying to have Hamas as their spokesperson,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) told reporters. But Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said, “I’ve been on the phone with [Arab leaders] all day. That approach, I think, will be very problematic … So I would suggest we go back to what we’ve been trying to do: destroy Hamas and find a way for the Arab world to take over Gaza and the West Bank in a fashion that would lead to a Palestinian state that Israel could live with.”
Read the full story here for additional comments from Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), John Kennedy (R-LA) and Chris Murphy (D-CT).
Whose line is it anyway: Trump’s son-in-law and former senior advisor Jared Kushner suggested relocating Gaza’s population and remarked on the real estate potential of its beachfront property nearly a year before the president publicized his proposal on Tuesday, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
senior counsel
The former civil rights lawyer leading the Trump administration’s fight against antisemitism
Former Fox News contributor Leo Terrell was just beginning a new position at the Department of Justice as senior counsel to Harmeet Dhillon, President Donald Trump’s as-yet-unconfirmed nominee to be assistant attorney general for civil rights, when he sent a series of early morning tweets in January decrying allegations of antisemitism at Columbia University and pledging to take action against it. “I want antisemitic conduct [to] stop now! Federal action is necessary and mandatory!” Terrell, who is 70, wrote in one early morning post. His tweets that morning revealed an interest in using his role to combat antisemitism, a goal that was bolstered by this week’s announcement that Terrell will lead a multiagency task force focused on antisemitism, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Social media show: Despite his apparent personal interest in fighting antisemitism, Terrell does not have many connections to advocates in the Jewish community who work on the issue. Ken Marcus, the founder and chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and a senior Education Department official in Trump’s first term, told JI he has never met Terrell, a civil rights lawyer and former-Democrat-turned-Trump-acolyte. “Great messaging though,” Marcus said. “His social media postings have been a real source of encouragement.”
scoop
Schumer to co-sponsor Antisemitism Awareness Act in the Senate
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will be an original co-sponsor of the Antisemitism Awareness Act when it is reintroduced in the Senate in the coming days, Schumer spokesperson Angelo Roefaro confirmed to Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod.
Background: The move is a notable signal from Schumer of his support for the legislation after he fell short of his assurances last year to the Jewish community that he would pass the bill in the previous Congress. Some in the Jewish community, as well as congressional Republicans, blamed Schumer for the legislation’s failure. The episode dealt a blow to Schumer’s relationships with some in the Jewish community, though Schumer’s office blamed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) for the bill’s failure. Some believe that the two leaders share blame.
media payoff
CNN inks deal with Qatar to launch network hub in Doha
A newly announced agreement incentivizing CNN to operate in Qatar is raising questions among media observers about whether the network’s partnership could jeopardize its ability to report objectively on the Gulf state. CNN said on Sunday it plans to launch a media operation in Qatar in the second half of 2025, as part of an ongoing effort to build its presence in the Middle East. The new studio will be based in Media City Qatar, which the emirate describes as “a global hub for media companies” and other businesses in the capital of Doha, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Airing concerns: Some critics are airing reservations that CNN’s agreement with Qatar, which has faced scrutiny for human rights abuses and hosting Hamas leadership before and after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, could introduce conflicts of interest as the network covers the Gulf monarchy and the broader Middle East. According to sources, this agreement entails an annual fee of several million dollars that Qatar will pay to CNN. Adding to those concerns, CNN, now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, has long facedaccusations of bias in its coverage of Israel — criticism that has intensified in the wake of Oct. 7 and ensuing war in Gaza.
Problematic platforming
Georgetown Law student group to host convicted PFLP member
A member of the U.S.-designated terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who failed to disclose to authorities his prior knowledge of the 2019 bombing that killed an Israeli teenager is scheduled to speak at a Georgetown University Law Students for Justice in Palestine event next week, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen has learned.
Imprisoned by Israel: LSJP is hosting a Feb. 11 discussion titled “Palestinian Prisoners, an Evening with Ribhi Karajah, student activist and former political prisoner,” according to flyers posted on campus and the group’s social media. Karajah, a U.S. citizen, served three and a half years in an Israeli prison for his role — along with two other PFLP members — in an August 2019 roadside bombing in the West Bank in which 17-year-old Israeli Rina Shnerb was killed while on a hike with her father and brother, both of whom sustained injuries.
lawyering up
All-star lineup of lawyers band together to litigate antisemitism
As the Trump administration’s Department of Education vows to open investigations into five universities alleged to have discriminated against Jewish students, more than a dozen prominent attorneys are joining together to exclusively litigate antisemitism cases on campus and beyond, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen has learned. Called the Center for Legal Innovation (CLI), the new public interest group launched on Thursday will operate under the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law Center’s umbrella as an expansion of the group’s current civil rights litigation efforts, much of which have recently focused on representing college students alleging antisemitism on campus.
Who’s involved: CLI’s advisory board will include former Attorney General Bill Barr; Paul, Weiss Chairman Brad Karp; former Solicitor General Paul Clement; and Alan Levine, president of the Legal Aid Society of New York. Levine, who served as lead counsel against white-supremacist organizers of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., told JI that the group of lawyers is “bipartisan, across the legal spectrum [and] will attack antisemitism on the right, antisemitism on the left and antisemitism throughout American society today.”
Worthy Reads
No Daylight: In The Hill, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yehiel Leiter touts the deepening relationship between the U.S. and Israel against the backdrop of a “new paradigm” in the Middle East. “Most important, Israel has shown that the principled use of power can engender dramatic change for the better, an idea central to Trump’s goal of a new, safer and more equitable world order. No one imagined that the mass-murdering Assad regime in Syria would ever collapse, but after Israel was forced to decisively use its military to debilitate Hamas and Hezbollah, proxies of Iran’s global terror network, Assad’s Iranian-backed regime washed away like a rope of sand, dramatically changing the regional calculus for the better. But much remains to be accomplished. To achieve the president’s goal of ending wars, in the Middle East as elsewhere, we must end the current conflict differently than its predecessors. History teaches us that half-measures and international monitoring mechanisms against terror organizations simply don’t work. The president recently spoke about America’s own experience with relinquishing strategic territory far from its borders. For Israel, a nation smaller than New Jersey, maintaining security buffers along its borders is not a luxury, but a necessity, for survival.” [TheHill]
Hitting Hezbollah: In Foreign Affairs, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Hanin Ghaddar writes that Beirut’s new government has an opportunity to prevent Hezbollah from regaining control in Lebanon. “Newly elected President Joseph Aoun, the former commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, has said that government troops will move back into southern towns. He has promised that Hezbollah will finally disarm, becoming a normal political party rather than a shadow state with a full-blown military. The parliament’s newly elected prime minister, Nawaf Salam, has also promised to disarm Hezbollah and reestablish the Lebanese state’s authority. Together, Aoun and Salam could usher in a new era for their country and its long-suffering residents. … Aoun, Salam, and their allies can prevent Hezbollah from gaining the upper hand. But they will need to move quickly, while the organization is still dazed. They will have to make sure that Lebanon’s independent institutions, not Hezbollah’s, are in charge of rebuilding the country’s south. They will need a cabinet, central bank, and judiciary that are not beholden to the group. And they will need parliament to finally make clear that Hezbollah has no role in defending the country. If they succeed, Hezbollah might receive an electoral drubbing in the May 2026 parliamentary elections, sending it into a tailspin. But if they fail, the group will start to regenerate.” [ForeignAffairs]
The Case for the Takeover: The Wall Street Journal’s Elliot Kaufman suggests that President Donald Trump’s proposal to move the population of Gaza out of the enclave runs counter to global pressure for the Palestinians to maintain unending refugee status. “Even as Arab states claimed Israel was slaughtering Palestinians indiscriminately, they insisted Gaza’s borders stay shut. When Palestinians tried to flee the war, as is their human right, Egypt forcibly closed the border — with the support of the international community. I wrote on these pages in May that backing Egypt in this decision was Joe Biden’s worst mistake of the war, making it longer, bloodier and less decisive than it ought to have been. When Mr. Trump says he would like to ‘resettle people permanently in nice homes and where they can be happy and not be shot, not be killed,’ he is accused of inhumanity. The humane solution, by liberal lights, is to sacrifice another generation of Palestinians to permanent refugee status and a forever war on Israel. That’s what life in Gaza holds for them.” [WSJ]
Good for Gazans?:The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg posits that Trump’s proposed solution to addressing Gaza falls short, but highlights a key challenge for global powers to resolve. “With significant revisions, this proposal could contain a semblance of something workable. Temporarily housing Gazans in dignified conditions elsewhere while the devastated territory is rebuilt under the watchful eyes of America and its allies would provide the Gazan people with much-deserved relief while depriving Hamas of its source of power and income. The civilians would no longer be shields for Hamas to place between itself and Israel, and Hamas would no longer be able to skim funds from the population’s aid. Ultimately, the Gazan people could then return to a home no longer hostage to either Hamas or Israeli blockade. Should Trump’s Arab allies talk him into something like this, it would certainly be better than rerunning the old playbook and expecting a different result. Trump’s proposal could be a negotiating tactic — a grandiose plan intended to be bargained down to something practical. It could be a flight of fancy that won’t survive contact with the regional players, or a vision he intends to push through with American might. No one honestly knows.” [TheAtlantic]
Word on the Street
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump had “not committed” to sending American troops to Gaza, shortly after the president announced a proposal to take over the enclave…
In a Truth Social post this morning, Trump suggested that Israel would turn over control of Gaza to the U.S. at the end of the war for the U.S., “working with great development teams from all over the World,” to “slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind”; Trump also suggested that “Palestinians, people like [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer [whom Trump has previously said “has become like a Palestinian” and is “a proud member of Hamas”], would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities”…
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz called on the IDF to prepare plans for Palestinians in Gaza to voluntarily depart the enclave, following Trump’s proposal…
A group of U.S. hostage families met yesterday with Adam Boehler, the Trump administration’s special envoy for hostage affairs…
Politico looks at Howard Lutnick’s past business dealings in the sports gambling world, ahead of Lutnick’s Senate confirmation vote to be commerce secretary…
Rep. Laura Gillen (D-NY) wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to secure “strong, public commitments” from U.S. allies not to enforce the International Criminal Court‘s arrest warrants for Israeli leaders…
Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) reintroduced legislation that the House passed nearly unanimously last year to ban those involved with the Oct. 7 attack from entering the U.S….
The chairman of Arab Americans for Trump said the group would rebrand and change its name to Arab Americans for Peace in protest of the president’s announcement on Gaza this week…
A new survey by The Conference Board think tank found that corporate philanthropy leaders expect to reduce their support for progressive causes in the wake of Trump’s election, particularly in the areas of racial and gender equality, the environment and immigrant resettlement…
The FCC released the full transcript of a “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris in which Harris’ full answer on Gaza was edited for length…
A New York judge denied a motion by Cooper Union to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Jewish students who allege the university committed Title VI violations during an October 2023 protest on campus where some visibly Jewish students were forced to shelter in a library…
Anti-Israel protesters demonstrated outside the Brentwood, Calif., home of University of California Regent Jay Sures, a year after Sures introduced a policy that prohibited university departments from making political statements…
A Jewish city councilor in western Massachusetts resigned from the Easthampton City Council, alleging he was targeted for censure after pushing the local education committee to do more to address antisemitism in the city’s schools…
Australia passed a series of hate crime laws in an effort to stem the surge in antisemitic incidents; the laws will, among other things, impose mandatory minimum sentences for terror offenses and the display of hate symbols…
The Wall Street Journal does a deep dive into the recent increase in antisemitic incidents in Australia…
Reuters is expanding its Middle East presence by launching a Gulf-focused Arabic website and bringing its Reuters NEXT leadership summit to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates…
Two IDF soldiers were killed and eight others wounded in Gaza in a crane collapse resulting from strong winds…
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran was open to renewed diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran; the official’s comments came a day after Trump reimposed his “maximum-pressure” campaign against Iran…
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called on OPEC members to unite against potential U.S. sanctions…
Trey Yingst, Fox News’ Israel-based chief foreign correspondent, will be honored by the RTDNA Foundation at next month’s First Amendment Awards ceremony…
Historian Anson Rabinbach, the U.S.-born son of Jewish immigrants who became a leading expert on Nazi culture, died at 79…
Pic of the Day
Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), left, who lost both legs in an IED explosion while serving in Afghanistan in 2010, met on Tuesday in Washington with IDF soldier Ari Spitz, who was severely injured while fighting in Gaza last year.
Birthdays
Television and film actress, writer and producer, best known for her role as Pepper in the FX series “American Horror Story,” Naomi Grossman turns 50…
Israeli pediatric endocrinologist, winner of the 2009 Israel Prize, in 1966 he described the type of dwarfism later called Laron syndrome in his name, Dr. Zvi Laron turns 98… Advertising entrepreneur and founder of Global Water Resources, William Levine turns 93… Member of the New Jersey Senate for 17 years including 10 years as Senate majority leader, Loretta Weinberg turns 90… Rosalyn Kaplan… Cantor of Congregation Hugat Haverim in Glendale, Calif., Harvey Lee Block… Syndicated columnist for The Washington Post for 43 years, Richard Martin Cohen turns 84… Actor, best known for his role in 172 episodes of the television series “L.A. Law,” Michael Tucker turns 80… Pulitzer-Prize winning author and vice chairman of S&P Global, Daniel Yergin turns 78… Professor at McGill University since 1975, Yitzchak M. “Irv” Binik turns 76… Louisiana commissioner of administration for eight years until last year, after serving as lieutenant governor of Louisiana for the prior six years, Jay Dardenne turns 71… Professor concurrently at both Harvard and the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Michael Pollan turns 70… Past chair of the board of UJA-Federation of New York and a part owner of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, David Lewis Moore… Los Angeles attorney specializing in criminal and civil appeals, Paul Kujawsky… President of Brown University since 2012, Christina Hull Paxson turns 65… Former longtime foreign correspondent for NPR in many capitals including Jerusalem, author of the NYT-bestseller The Geography of Bliss, Eric Weiner turns 62… Special events producer at Ballas Bloom Creative, Jacquelyn Ballas Bloom… NFL long snapper for eighteen seasons between 1994 and 2011, David Aaron Binn turns 53… Rabbi and author of eight books, Danya Ruttenberg turns 50… Former tenured professor at MIT, she is the co-trustee of the Pershing Square Foundation, Neri Oxman turns 49… Israeli-French singer-songwriter whose hit single “New Soul” was used by Apple in a 2008 advertising campaign for its MacBook Air, Yael Naim turns 47… Equestrian show jumper who competes for Israel, Danielle “Dani” Goldstein-Waldman turns 40… AIPAC’s Mid-Atlantic regional political director, Stephen Knable… Data science manager at EDO, Steven I. Weiss… Deputy division director, public diplomacy and international relations at the Israeli Ministry of Health, Adam Cutler… Member of the Australian parliament, Joshua Solomon Burns turns 38… Corporate procurement director for IKO North America, Yadin Koschitzky…
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