Daily Kickoff
Good Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the status of the hostage-release and cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas after the first phase of the agreement ended this past weekend, explore how the U.S.’ new stance on Ukraine is seen in Israel, and talk to U.S. lawmakers about their insights into Israel’s military plans after they met with leaders in Jerusalem. We also cover past comments from Elbridge Colby about a potential strike against Iran, and speak to Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop amid scrutiny from the New Jersey Jewish community towards his gubernatorial run. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Tamar Ish Shalom, Andrew Cuomo and Deborah Lipstadt.
What We’re Watching
- The Anti-Defamation League’s Never Is Now summit kicks off today in New York. We’ll be on the ground at the Javits Center covering the two-day confab’s sessions and speakers. This morning at the opening plenary, the organization’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, will deliver a speech, as well as Rep. Elise Stefanik.
- Israel said it stopped the flow of goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip after the 42-day cease-fire deal expired on Saturday night. More below.
What You Should Know
After another U.S. ally was attacked for not being “thankful” enough for the American military, diplomatic and financial support that it needs in order to continue conducting an extended war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his gratitude to President Donald Trump “for his unwavering support,” in a video message posted on Sunday evening.
Netanyahu’s reassertion of Israel’s close ties to the White House comes after the temporary cease-fire deal in the first phase of the agreement between Israel and Hamas expired, and — amid a lack of progress in the negotiations — Israel’s decision to stop the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, pointing to Hamas’ theft of the supplies. Israel has been trying to extend the first phase of the agreement, rather than move on to the second phase, which requires a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza — a nonstarter for parts of the Israeli government.
“Israel has accepted President Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff’s plan to extend the temporary cease-fire by 50 days, during that time we can discuss the conditions for a permanent cease-fire that will end the war in Gaza,” Netanyahu said. “In Witkoff’s plan, half of the hostages would be released right away and the remaining half would be released if we reach an agreement on a permanent cease-fire.”
“Again, Israel has accepted this plan. I accepted this plan. But so far, Hamas has rejected it. Hamas had also put forward positions for a permanent cease-fire that are totally unacceptable,” Netanyahu added. The time frame of the plan that Israel attributed to Witkoff spans the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began on Friday night, and the Jewish holiday of Passover in April.
The White House backed Israel’s decision to withhold aid, with National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes saying yesterday, “Israel has negotiated in good faith since the beginning of this administration to ensure the release of hostages held captive by Hamas terrorists. We will support their decision on next steps given Hamas had indicated it’s no longer interested in a negotiated cease-fire.”
Whether or not cease-fire talks progress to the second stage will be the Trump administration’s first solo test on Israel. The first stage of the cease-fire was inked in the final days of the Biden administration.
But as the cease-fire negotiations remain up in the air and the fates of the remaining 59 hostages remain in limbo, all eyes in Washington are on what Trump will say in his Tuesday prime-time address to Congress, which is expected to cover both Israel and Ukraine.
Trump is expected to meet earlier Tuesday with released hostages, Eli Sharabi, Doron Steinbrecher, Iair Horn, Keith and Aviva Siegel, and Omer Shem Tov. “Government officials will hear about the urgency of returning all hostages immediately and in a single phase,” the Hostages Families Forum said in a statement.
The White House’s differing approaches to two U.S. alliesunder threat will be put on display during his Capitol Hill address, which comes days after Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance clashed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in front of reporters on Friday.
But while Trump has indicated he may withhold U.S. aid to Ukraine, the administration is moving forward on a series of arms sales to Israel totaling nearly $4 billion. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he had invoked “emergency authorities” to bypass Congress and deliver the aid, which includes 2,000-pound bombs blocked by the Biden administration.
The lesson is clear: Playing to Trump’s penchant for praise pays off — a lesson learned long ago by the Israelis. Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren suggested that in his combative approach to Trump, Zelensky “supplied a textbook example of how not to handle a foreign leader of formidable pride and breakaway policies.”
How either war reaches its conclusion remains an open question. But Trump’s address tomorrow will give his clearest indications yet of how he hopes they will end.
jerusalem jitters
Washington’s U-turn on Ukraine a ‘challenge’ for Israel, experts say
The almost 180-degree shift on Ukraine from the Biden to Trump administrations — from vocal support and a flow of weapons to the threat of a halt of arms shipments and a call to abruptly end the war without security guarantees — is almost a mirror image of the change in Washington when it comes to Israel. Under Biden, there were freezes on some weapons and a cease-fire plan that would keep Hamas in power, and now $4 billion in arms were approved and the White House supports Israel blocking aid to Gaza. Yet, after President Donald Trump’s confrontation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, some experts are warning that the implosion of ties between Washington and Kyiv could have ramifications for Israel, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
‘No holy cows’: According to Chatham House senior fellow and former Knesset member Ksenia Svetlova, “what happened in the White House with Zelensky shows that the U.S. doesn’t have a constant policy or permanent allies. If there are no permanent allies, if Ukraine is thrown into the trash after all these years … no one is immune.” According to Svetlova, the fact that the Biden administration froze some weapon shipments to Israel amid domestic political pressure shows that “there are no holy cows, not even Israel.”
flashback
Consequences of striking Iran worse than Iran getting nuclear weapons, Colby said in 2012
Elbridge Colby, the nominee to be undersecretary of defense for policy, said during a 2012 event that the consequences of attacking Iran to destroy its nuclear program would be worse than Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, in video that has been circulating among members of the Senate Armed Services Committee ahead of his confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Notable quotable: “The only thing worse than the prospect of an Iran armed with nuclear weapons would be consequences of using force to try to stop them,” Colby, who was an analyst at the Center for a New American Security think tank, said in the resurfaced video clip. Colby’s past views on Iran, including his belief that the U.S. can contain Iran and stop it from using a nuclear weapon if it were to obtain one, could be a sticking point for some skeptical Senate Republicans at his confirmation hearing if Colby sticks to those views.
trip talk
U.S. lawmakers say Israel likely to return to military operations in Gaza, after congressional visit
House Republicans who traveled to Israel last month told JI last week that, based on their conversations with Israeli leaders and others, they believe Israel is likely to return to combat operations in Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What they’re saying: Reps. Randy Weber (R-TX), Morgan Luttrell (R-TX) and Mike Flood (R-NE) traveled for a week to Israel during the President’s Day congressional recess on a delegation led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and organized by the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation. The full group included nearly a dozen lawmakers. “I think they’re getting in a position where they’re fixing to go back in,” Weber told JI on Capitol Hill last week, describing the handover of the murdered Bibas children as a moment of clarity.
new york state of mind
Cuomo calls for NYC to lead the fight against global antisemitism in kickoff speech
In his kickoff announcement for his bid for mayor of New York City, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for the city to “be at the forefront” in “leading the fight against the global rise of antisemitism.” In the 17-minute videotaped pitch, which included a photo of an anti-Israel demonstration outside of Fordham University, Cuomo said, “New York City should not be tolerating any harassment [or] disparagement of our Jewish brothers and sisters, and certainly not from our elected officials,” Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Cuomo’s call: “In fact, they should be condemning it,” Cuomo continued. “The law must be aggressively enforced and our New York should go even further and be at the forefront, leading the fight against the global rise of antisemitism. But to do any of this, we need a government that can actually perform. We need a government with leadership that can take a stand and get things done.”
Campus climate: The atmosphere for Jewish students on college campuses nationwide has somewhat improved in the last year, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s second annual Campus Antisemitism Report Card, released today.
full force
Facing Jewish community scrutiny, Fulop attacks opponents in N.J. gov race
Facing scrutiny and increasing criticism from some in the New Jersey Jewish community, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop is suggesting that his top opponents in the state’s Democratic gubernatorial primary aren’t reliable allies against antisemitism and in support of Israel — and is also taking aim at the state’s current governor, accusing him of failing to adequately address the issue, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
On the attack: “When people try to portray me as anything other than a person that understands and supports the Jewish community here, it’s like a laughable accusation, considering my family’s background and my personal trajectory and personal backgrounds,” Fulop told JI. “I stand alone in the sense that I’ve been an advocate for the Jewish community and Israel with no support financially or politically from that community. I do it solely because I believe that what I say is on the right side of the issues. That’s not the same place that the congressional candidates are,” a reference to Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ).
gaining perspective
One of Israel’s best-known journalists sets her sights on understanding American Jews
Tamar Ish Shalom was among the most recognizable faces on Israeli television, anchoring one of Israel’s few nightly news programs for a decade. But last month, Ish Shalom traded in TV cameras for a podcaster’s microphone, hosting “Jewish Crossroads: Jewish Identity in Times of Crisis” from the Jewish People Policy Institute. Ish Shalom is best known for her many years at Channel 10, which later became Channel 13, as anchor of the nightly news and, in recent years, the Saturday night newsmagazine. Speaking with Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov from her new home in New York this week, Ish Shalom said she informed Channel 13 that she wanted a break from the news in September 2023. Weeks later, when the Hamas attacks on southern Israel occurred and the war in Gaza began, she agreed to stay on. “I said as long as there is a war, I will stay. I thought it would take two or three months. At a certain point, though, I said I can’t stay until we reach ‘total victory,’” she said.
Cultural connection: “The American Jewish community fascinates me,” she said, mentioning a 2008 documentary she produced for Channel 10 called “American Novel – A Different Look at American Jewry,” which won a B’nai B’rith Award. Ish Shalom said that American Jewry played a key role in developing her Jewish identity. She lived in New York for four years as a young child and attended The Heschel School, while her father was on a diplomatic mission in the city. At 16, she was an emissary of the Tzofim — Israeli Scouts — at Camp Tel Yehuda, a Young Judaea sleepaway camp, and an exchange student in a Jewish community on Long Island. “I remember the shock coming from Israel,” she said. “In the 1990s, Jewish life [in Israel] was much less varied. I saw the joy in Jewish life for young people. I had never before seen people praying on wooden benches by a river. It was a great spiritual experience, and I’m not a religious person.”
Worthy Reads
Poison Ivy: In The Free Press, Deborah Lipstadt, the Biden administration’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, explains why she turned down a teaching position at Columbia University. “First, I am not convinced that the university is serious about taking the necessary and difficult measures that would create an atmosphere that allows for true inquiry. Second, I fear that my presence would be used as a sop to convince the outside world that ‘Yes, we in the Columbia/Barnard orbit are fighting antisemitism. We even brought in the former Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.’ I will not be used to provide cover for a completely unacceptable situation. Third, I am not sure that I would be safe or even able to teach without being harassed. I do not flinch in the face of threats. But this is not a healthy or acceptable learning environment. On too many university campuses, the inmates — and these may include administrators, student disrupters, and off-campus agitators as well as faculty members — are running the asylum. They are turning universities into parodies of true academic inquiry.” [FreePress]
Einav’s Agony: In The New York Times Magazine, Ruth Margalit spotlights Einav Zangauker, a former supporter of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has become one of the most recognizable faces of the hostage family movement. “The gaze of Einav Zangauker — whose son, Matan, was captured by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and remains a hostage in Gaza — is one that has seen the other side. It’s a gaze of anguish. Of torture, rage, sleeplessness and steel. It’s a gaze that the entire Israeli public has come to recognize, because Einav — she is now known by her first name only — is the country’s most visible representative of the hostage crisis and its fiercest opponent of the war. On a recent Saturday evening, Einav dragged deeply on a cigarette. She was standing in the plaza outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, which Israelis have renamed Hostages Square, shivering in a thin black cardigan and skinny jeans — her legs like two twigs wrapped in bark. She has lost 25 pounds since the attacks, and her frame was that of a girl, though her face looked older than her 46 years.”[NYTimes]
Merz’s Moment: In The Atlantic, Joseph de Weck profiles German politician Friedrich Merz, whose Christian Socialist party won last month’s federal elections. “Merz is a conservative by any measure — social, fiscal, political — and far from being the avatar of a freethinking new generation in Germany, he may wind up being the last chancellor to hail from the old one. But history has plans for him. He will likely step into the highest office of Europe’s biggest economy and most powerful state just as the United States, under Donald Trump, abandons its post–World War II role on the continent. Merz, with his right-wing instincts and establishment roots, will be guiding his country, maybe even the continent, through a period of epochal change. Already, Merz has pledged to increase defense spending and put Paris, Warsaw, and London at the lead of a new policy to shore up Ukraine’s sovereignty and defend Europe from Russia with or without the United States. He has even sought to explore whether France and Britain might extend their nuclear umbrella to the rest of Europe, in place of American protection. At any other time, this agenda of European self-reliance might be a radical one. Now it’s a logical response to events.” [TheAtlantic]
Word on the Street
In an interview with Israel Hayom, published Friday, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog spoke of “dramatic and very difficult moments,” during his tenure, saying that after Iran’s first attack against Israel, the U.S. told Israel not to retaliate. In a meeting with former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Herzog said, “We told them, ‘That’s not how the Middle East works. For us, this is existential.’” …
The Council on American Islamic Relations’ foundation settled a lawsuit with a former employee and a former board member; the foundation would have been forced to reveal its funding sources, which it has long sought to conceal, had the lawsuit moved forward…
The newly created Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism will conduct visits to 10 campuses across the country where antisemitic activity has been reported since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks…
Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) reintroduced legislation barring those involved with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel from entering the U.S….
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) and a bipartisan group of 15 other lawmakersreintroduced legislation urging the European Union to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization…
The New York Times reviews Jewish Country Houses, a chronicle of homes and estates across Europe that are or had been owned by Jewish families…
Kieran Culkin won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in “A Real Pain,” about two Jewish cousins who travel to their grandmother’s birthplace in Poland…
“No Other Land,” an Israeli-Palestinian film about the West Bank town of Massafar Attah, won the Oscar for Best Documentary; co-director Basel Adra criticized the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in his acceptance speech…
Israeli co-director Yuval Abraham, who said Israeli and Palestinian lives are “intertwined,” also called for an end to the war in Gaza and return of the hostages…
Adrien Brody, who won the award for best actor for his performance as a Holocaust survivor and architect in “The Brutalist” — and who won the same award in 2003 for his role in “The Pianist” — said in his acceptance speech, “I’m here once again to represent the lingering traumas and the repercussions of war, and systematic oppression and of antisemitism and racism and of othering” …
Mikey Madison, who is Jewish, nabbed the best actress award for her lead role as an exotic dancer and escort in “Anora” …
Israeli-born chef Michael Solomonov’s new restaurant, Aviv, is set to open in Miami Beach on March 14…
Axel Springer announced the launch of its Global Reporters Network, “offering investigative research, current features, exclusive interviews, and opinion pieces” to its news outlets across the U.S. and Europe. One of the journalists in the program is bestselling author Jamie Kirchick, a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times…
Fanatics is cementing its ties to the Qatari government with a new five-year partnership that includes sponsorship of the company’s flagship New York City fan festival, Sportico reports…
A spokesperson for Argentinian President Javier Milei said the South American leader plans to travel to Israel on March 23…
Former hostage Emily Damari said in a social media post that she had been operated on at Gaza’s Shifa Hospital hours after being taken captive on Oct. 7; Damari, who lost two fingers and was also wounded in her leg during the attack at her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, received corrective surgery in Israel over the weekend to address her injuries…
A man was killed and four people were wounded this morning in a suspected terrorist stabbing attack in Haifa…
Lawmakers in Iran voted to impeach Finance Minister Abdolnaser Hemmati, dealing a blow to President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government…
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in an interview on Friday that he would ask Saudi Arabia to resume a $3 billion aid package to the Lebanese army during his visit to the country this week…
Lebanese officials detained a passenger who arrived from Turkey carrying $2.5 million in cash that authorities said was to be delivered to Hezbollah…
Canadian-Israeli philanthropist Sylvan Adams was named the head of the World Jewish Congress in Israel…
Dore Gold, president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, who formerly served as Israeli ambassador to the United Nations and director-general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, died at 71…
Pic of the Day
Recently released hostage Omer Shem Tov on Saturday greeted the crowds that came to celebrate his return to his family’s home in Herzliya, Israel.
Birthdays
Founder of Bunk1, he is a co-owner of the Miami Marlins, Ari Jack Ackerman…
Australian residential property developer, colloquially known as “High-Rise Harry,” builder of more than 77,000 residential units, Harry Triguboff turns 92… Former justice of the Supreme Court of Israel, Dalia Dorner turns 91… Professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, author of 32 books and the editor emeritus of Dissent magazine, Michael Laban Walzer turns 90… Researcher in Yiddish language at Sweden’s Lund University’s Centre for Languages and Literature, Henrik Lewis-Guttermann turns 76… Best-selling and Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of financiers and politicians, Ron Chernow turns 76… President of CBS News until 2021, she is currently president of See It Now Studios, Susan Zirinsky turns 73… Retired chief investment officer of Neuberger Berman, he served as president of AIPAC, Michael Kassen… Fashion designer and businessman, he is the founder and former CEO of an eponymous publicly traded company, Steve Madden turns 67… NPR personality and the host and producer of the radio and television show “This American Life,” Ira Jeffrey Glass turns 66… Former director of policy for New York State under Andrew Cuomo, David Yassky turns 61… Israeli economist and diplomat, he served as Israel’s ambassador to the UAE from 2021 to 2024, Amir Hayek turns 61… MLB pitcher until 2001, then a pitching coach, his 557 appearances rank second in career games pitched by a Jewish pitcher, Scott David Radinsky turns 57… Co-founder and co-president of Clarity Capital, David Steinhardt turns 56… EVP and general counsel at Eli Lilly and Company, Anat Hakim… President and founder of Heppin Biosciences, his research focused on autism-related genetics, Brett S. Abrahams, Ph.D. turns 52… Screenwriter and columnist in the Israeli newspaper Globes, Efrat Abramov turns 45… British rabbi who has run for mayor of London and mayor of Manchester, Shneur Zalman Odze turns 44… Acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York for the first 24 days of the second Trump administration, she recently resigned the post rather than dismiss charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams, she is a member of the Federalist Society and a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Danielle R. Sassoon turns 39… Vocalist for indie-pop band Lucius, Jess Wolfe turns 39… Senior communications manager for Uber, Freddi Goldstein… Member of AJR, an indie pop multi-instrumentalist trio, together with his two brothers, Ryan Metzger turns 31…
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