Daily Kickoff
Good Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff’s recent interview with Tucker Carlson, and talk to Sen. John Fetterman about his trip to Israel last week. We also interview freshman Rep. Laura Friedman about antisemitism legislation, and talk to Jessica Reinmann, who is challenging Rep. Mike Lawler in New York’s 17th Congressional District. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Michael Kotlikoff, Bruce Pearl and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
What We’re Watching
- Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is leading a U.S. delegation meeting with Russian officials in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to discuss a potential ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
- Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) is holding a press conference at the Capitol this morning to call for the release of Israeli-Russian researcher Elisabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton researcher who has been held for two years by an Iran-backed Iraqi militia group.
- The Jewish Funders Network conference continues today in Nashville, Tenn.
What You Should Know
Right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson has raised eyebrows for some of his recent guests, including those who have espoused anti-Israel or outright antisemitic beliefs.
The commentator’s history of platforming extremist voices and conspiracy theorists made White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff’s recent appearance on Carlson’s show, released on Friday, all the more surprising.
Just as surprising was what Witkoff said during the interview — suggesting that Hamas could be “involved politically” in a postwar scenario in Gaza, and praising Qatar’s role in negotiations, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
“What we heard in the beginning of this conflict is Hamas is ideological. They’re prepared to die for a whole variety of reasons,” Witkoff said, adding that he had told President Donald Trump, ‘I don’t think that they are as ideologically locked in. They’re not ideologically intractable.’ “I don’t. I never believed that, by the way. I believe they strap on the suicide vests onto young kids who don’t know what they’re doing, right? And they tell them a story. Once you understand that they wanted to live, then you were able to talk to them in a more effective way.”
As for Doha, Witkoff said, “They’re criticized for not being well-motivated. It’s preposterous. They are well-motivated. They’re good, decent people.”
Witkoff has faced concerns over his conciliatory stance toward Qatar, which has for years housed senior officials from Hamas and funds the Al Jazeera network that spreads anti-Israel propaganda across the region — even as the Gulf state works to portray itself as a regional mediator.
Michael Makovsky, the Jewish Institute for National Security of America’s president and CEO, attributed Witkoff’s approach to Qatar to his past business ties with the Gulf state. “He’s done a lot of business with them,” Makovsky told JI. “He’s gone out of his way, more so than necessary from my perspective or [is] appropriate to compliment them.”
Witkoff’s comments, Makovsky added, “aren’t necessary. If you think [Qatar is] important to work with for this, you can say, ‘OK, they’ve been very helpful,’ but he’s gone beyond that and has been a bit over the top with his comments.”
It wasn’t just Witkoff’s approach to Qatar that concerned observers. Mark Dubowitz, the CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, noted that Witkoff was “adopting the Iran regime’s language” regarding Tehran’s nuclear program, warning that Witkoff’s proposal to set up a “verification” mechanism for Iran — rather than dismantling the program — “would be even worse” than the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action inked by the Obama administration.
Days after the interview aired, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz sought to course correct, calling for a “full dismantlement” of the Iranian nuclear program.
Witkoff himself backtracked on some of his comments made on Carlson’s show, telling “Fox News Sunday” yesterday that he may have been lied to by Hamas. “I thought we had an acceptable deal. I even thought we had an approval from Hamas. Maybe that’s just me getting duped. I thought we were there, and evidently we weren’t.”
It’s an approach that echoes hostage envoy Adam Boehler’s recent overtures to Hamas, including direct negotiations and an admission that Hamas officials are “actually pretty nice guys.” Following a series of interviews about the direct talks, Boehler was pulled off the Israeli hostage file, and it was announced he would operate as a “special government employee,” and would not seek the Senate-confirmable position of special envoy for hostage affairs.
on the ground
In Israel, Fetterman slams party’s ‘pandering’ to far left in face of ‘reality’ on the ground
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was awakened last Thursday morning by an announcement made through his Jerusalem hotel’s intercom system, alerting guests to an incoming ballistic missile attack by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. “I explained to my wife, and I said, ‘Well, this is the kind of reality of Israel, where they have these things,’” Fetterman told reporters in Jerusalem hours later. It’s that reality that Fetterman thinks many in his party don’t understand, Jewish Insider’s Melissa Weiss reports.
Leaning in: “Politics, I describe it sometimes, is the business of backing away from something, and I’ve been very disappointed that my party, some of them have chosen to do that, back away from supporting Israel,” Fetterman said. “I’ve always refused to pander to other factions. Why? I can’t explain. They have their own reasons. But for me, throughout all of it, I think it’s very important to lean in, not back away, or to equivocate or just say, ‘Well, what about this or those things?’ It’s really clear.”
Friedman’s thoughts
Rep. Laura Friedman criticizes Trump’s crackdown on Columbia, while expressing concern over antisemitism
Freshman Rep. Laura Friedman (D-CA), says that the seriousness of the antisemitism problem in the United States can’t be overstated, and concerted efforts are needed to combat it. But she also argued, in an interview with Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod last week, that some of the Trump administration’s high-profile moves responding to campus antisemitism are wrongheaded.
Pulling funding: Friedman, who is Jewish, worked on antisemitism legislation as part of the California state Legislature before being elected to Congress. She told JI that the Trump administration’s move to revoke hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of grant funding from Columbia University in response to its failure to address campus antisemitism is “the absolute wrong approach.” “It’s not going to make antisemitism any better on campuses,” Friedman said. “In fact, it’s going to make Jews responsible for the defunding of programs to deal with cancer research, with science, [which] has nothing to do with antisemitism. I don’t believe that this is a serious attempt to combat antisemitism. I think it’s a way to punish schools that this administration thinks ideologically are not in lockstep with MAGA.”
race to watch
Lawler challenger Jessica Reinmann says she feels a deep personal connection to Israel
Jessica Reinmann, a Democratic nonprofit executive challenging Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) in New York’s 17th Congressional District, said she feels a deep personal connection and dedication to the State of Israel and to the Jewish people, which she traces back to her strong relationship with her grandfather when she was young, she told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod in a recent interview.
Special relationship: Reinmann’s grandfather and his sister were the only children, out of 16 in their family, to survive the Holocaust, but they were separated — her grandfather coming to the United States and his sister going to Israel. Reinmann said that her grandfather would regularly visit his family in Israel and would tell her stories about them, teaching her that Israel is “not just a state” but “our homeland.” Reinmann said that her grandfather also instilled in her a strong sense of Jewish heritage and peoplehood. “For me, Israel’s right to exist, its right to defend itself, its right to be our homeland — the Jewish people’s homeland — located where it is is undeniable,” Reinmann said. “We’ve had a long-standing relationship that not only protects democracy in the Middle East, but it protects all of the Jewish citizens of the United States … and we must maintain that relationship.”
from zero to hero
How an ‘accidental philanthropist’ donated over $700 million to Israeli causes in 15 years
Nearly 20 years ago, attorney Sandor “Sandy” Frankel’s life forever changed as his former client, Leona Helmsley, named him as one of five trustees of her charitable foundation. When she died in 2007, that trust was just a small fraction of what it eventually became, only being used as a vehicle for individual, low-level donations. But as her assets and wealth were posthumously transferred into the trust, it suddenly became worth some $5.4 billion — for him and his counterparts to award as they saw fit. “We had to determine what programs the trust would have. My interest was Israel, and we all agreed on that. That’s how this all started,” Frankel told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
‘No fat on the bone’: Since 2010, the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has issued more than $700 million in grants to institutions and organizations in Israel, mainly universities and hospitals, but also the Jewish Agency for Israel, agricultural projects, emergency services and advocacy programs. Frankel arrived in Israel last Tuesday to review existing grant recipients and consider future ones. “We are going to go to a number of our grantees to see what’s happening on the ground, to some of the hospitals and some of the other places we’ve funded,” he said last Sunday ahead of the 12-day visit. Frankel said that the trust operates with minimal staff — they have no Israel-based personnel — and keeps its overhead as low as possible. “There’s no fat on the bone,” he said. “Our staff is excellent but very small — a program director, two program officers and an executive assistant … We just try to have an impact, and we deal directly with the institutions and the people who will control our money.”
Read the full story here and sign up for eJewishPhilanthropy’s Your Daily Phil newsletter here.
Worthy Reads
What Schumer Believes: The Atlantic’s Franklin Foer interviews Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) about how the New York Democrat views his faith and political obligations, following the release of Schumer’s new book focused on antisemitism. “But then, on October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, and Schumer felt a new sense of responsibility. … Witnessing the outpouring of anti-Semitism on the left, which focused its harshest criticisms on Israel rather than Hamas, Schumer felt compelled to fully embrace his identity, in all the ways he’d historically resisted. His decision to expend so much time talking about anti-Semitism didn’t please his aides, who urged him to steer clear. On the political merits, his staff had valid arguments. Schumer planned on chastising the left, attacking members of the party he led. He writes that he was determined to make a fervent case for Israel, despite that country’s diminishing popularity among die-hard Democrats. He recalls telling himself, ‘You are no great Jewish sage or scholar, you are no King Solomon or Maimonides or Elie Wiesel, but for better or for worse, you are here, and you ought to try to do some good.’” [TheAtlantic]
America’s Absence: In Politico, Jamie Kirchick raises concerns about the new era taking shape under the second Trump administration. “Opponents of the American-led liberal international order harp endlessly upon its faults while taking its virtues — free and open sea lanes, the spread of liberal democracy, values-based alliances, the protection of human rights — for granted. Eager to lambaste the order for its many faults, they prefer not to grapple with the international system rapidly taking its place, a dog-eats-dog world where America has abdicated its role as global policeman and authoritarian states gain spheres of influence in which less powerful countries must bend to their will. Even the most vociferous critics of American global power may come to miss it once Russia, China and Iran gain dominance over Europe, Asia and the Middle East.” [Politico]
Word on the Street
Columbia University agreed to meet the Trump administration’s demands, including rules around the wearing of masks on campus as well as oversight of the school’s Middle East studies department, as a first step toward restoring $400 million in government funding…
The Trump administration said that Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia University graduate student facing potential deportation over his anti-Israel organizing activity on campus had failed to disclose parts of his professional background when applying for his green card, including work he had done for the British government as well as his affiliation with a U.N. agency that works with Palestinians…
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, the Trump administration’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Israel, visited the Ohel in Queens, N.Y., the site where Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson and his father-in-law are buried, over the weekend…
The U.S. is sending the USS Carl Vinson carrier group to the Middle East from its current positioning in the Asia-Pacific, as the Houthis escalate their attacks on Israel and Israel resumes fighting against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon…
An Orthodox man is suing United Airlines, alleging that the pilot forcibly removed him from the bathroom and made antisemitic comments while doing so…
Cornell University named Michael Kotlikoff as the school’s new president; Kotlikoff had been serving as the school’s interim president since July…
Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl, speaking at a press conference after the Tigers’ 82-70 win over Creighton in the NCAA tournament, called for the release of Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander…
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Elon Musk, former Deputy National Security Advisor Dina Powell McCormick and Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA)were among the notable attendees at the Division I NCAA wrestling championships in Philadelphia over the weekend…
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced snap elections that will be held in late April; Carney will face off against Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre…
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned a weekend attack on the chief rabbi of the French city of Orleans…
Israel struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon following the launching of several rockets into northern Israel…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet moved toward removing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara from office, passing a no-confidence motion on Sunday despite Baharav-Miara’s objection that the vote was not part of the formal process required for her dismissal…
An elderly man was killed and an IDF soldier was severely injured in a terror attack this morning near the town of Yokneam in northern Israel…
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Iran’s Houthi proxies in Yemen act independently of Tehran, following a warning from President Donald Trump to Iranian leaders over the Houthis’ continued attacks in the region…
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said that the U.S. approach to nuclear talks with Iran must change in order for negotiations to move forward…
A Turkish court ordered the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a prominent critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan; the Turkish opposition leader was seen as a likely challenger to Erdogan in the event snap elections are called…
Rabbi Eliyahu Fink, who ran the FinkorSwim blog, died in a tragic car accident early Friday morning at 43…
Kitty Dukakis, the wife of Gov. Michael Dukakis who was a key player in the creation of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, died at 88…
Former New York Times Executive Editor Max Frankel, who escaped Nazi Europe as a child, died at 94…
Former Rep. Mia Love (R-UT) died at 49…
Pic of the Day
Attendees at Combat Antisemitism Movement’s student summit pose with former Israeli hostage Emily Damari, who joined the convening virtually. Other speakers at the weekend confab in New York included Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon, Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) and Sheryl Sandberg.
Birthdays
Actor who is best known for his roles on the Fox medical drama series “House” and the USA Network’s science fiction drama “Colony,” Peter Jacobson turns 60…
Beverly Hills-based estate planning attorney, Ronald M. Kabrins turns 87… Co-owner of Bond Distributing Company until 2022, Rochelle “Ronnie” Footlick… Member of the House of Lords and star of the U.K.’s version of “The Apprentice,” he was the chairman of Tottenham Hotspur, Baron Alan Sugar turns 78… Film and television actress and director, Donna Gail Pescow turns 71… Attorney in Tarzana, Calif., Paul Marshall Leven… Jewish community activist in Austin, Texas, Deborah E. Rudy… Owner of Joslynda Capital, Michael Weiss… Former CEO of Microsoft, he is the owner of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, Steve Ballmer turns 69… Veteran of four NASA space shuttle missions, he had a mezuzah on his bunk in the space shuttle, Scott Jay “Doc” Horowitz turns 68… Professor emerita of art history at Hofstra University and widely published poet, Martha Hollander turns 66… Professional wrestler under a series of ring names including “The Star of David,” his wrestling career spanned from 1979 until 2000, Barry Horowitz turns 65… President of American Jewish University, he was previously president of both the Newseum and of Colgate University, Jeffrey Herbst turns 64… CEO of The Female Quotient, Shelley Zalis… Former official at UJA-Federation of New York and JDC, now at NYC’s 92nd Street Y, Laura Spitzer… Partner and co-founder at Renegade Axis Media Group, Fred Menachem… Veteran journalist, now working for the AFP news agency in Jerusalem, Ruth Marks Eglash… Actress Alyson Hannigan turns 51… Director and senior tax counsel at Federal Policy Group, Aharon Friedman… Rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel – West Side Jewish Center on 34th Street in Manhattan, Jason Herman turns 48… Actor best known for his role as FBI Special Agent Aram Mojtabai in NBC’s “The Blacklist,” Amir Arison turns 47… Director of marketing at Window Nation, Eric Goldscher... Executive editor at Bloomberg Green, a vertical and print magazine focused on climate change, Aaron Rutkoff… Famed NYC photographer now working for the MTA, he is known for wearing vintage suits and hats daily, Marc A. Hermann turns 43… Pitching coach at San Jacinto College, he pitched for Team Israel in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and in the 2020 Olympics, Josh Zeid turns 38… Director of communications at the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, Joshua D. Cohen… Venezuelan-born featured celebrity chef, she is a caterer and a private chef in Los Angeles, Deborah Benaim turns 37… Program director at The Jewish Woman Entrepreneur, Jenna Nelson Beltser… Three-time all-star hockey player, now with PWHL Boston of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, Kaleigh Fratkin turns 33… COO at Bnai Zion Media until three months ago, Justin B. Hayet… Competitive pair skater for Israel at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, now a software development engineer for Amazon Web Services, Andrea “Anya” Davidovich turns 28…
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