Daily Kickoff
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to former antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt about the Trump administration’s approach to antisemitism in higher education, and look at New York Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani’s continued engagement with far-left anti-Israel figures as he mounts a bid for mayor of New York City. We also cover AIPAC’s ad campaign in states whose senators voted last week to restrict aid to Israel, and report on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting in Washington with conservative podcasters. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Mira Resnick, Mike Huckabee and Dina Powell McCormick.
What We’re Watching
- The Senate is slated to vote today to confirm Mike Huckabee as U.S. ambassador to Israel. The Senate voted yesterday 53-46 to advance Huckabee’s nomination, with only Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) crossing the aisle to vote with Republicans to move the nomination forward.
- The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold its confirmation hearing for Jared Isaacman, the Trump administration’s nominee to be NASA administrator. Read JI’s profile of Isaacman here.
- The House Homeland Security Committee is holding a markup of transnational repression and Syria legislation this morning.
- The American Jewish Committee is hosting its annual Ambassadors Seder tonight in Washington. Former hostage Keith Siegel, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter and Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova are slated to speak at the event.
- Former Harvard President Lawrence Summers will participate in a fireside chat with Sam Lessin this afternoon.
- An immigration judge in Louisiana set a deadline of this evening for the Trump administration to produce evidence in its deportation case against Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia graduate whose green card was revoked by the government over his anti-Israel campus activism.
What You Should Know
One of the major themes we’ve been spotlighting and reporting on: The battles within the two political parties are as consequential these days as the battles between them, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes.
With President Donald Trump back in the White House, it can be hard to identify the core principles of the Republican Party. Is it the party of free trade, free markets, traditional values and a muscular foreign policy? Or is it, in its new MAGA iteration, becoming a party of protectionism, restrictionism and isolationism?
Just over two months into the Trump administration, we’re already seeing some of the ideological fissures crack open. Free-market acolytes, like DOGE leader Elon Musk, are clashing with tariff devotees, such as Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro. Traditional conservatives who believe in using American power to protect our interests abroad — such as National Security Advisor Mike Waltz — are facing a rearguard action from an isolationist faction looking to disengage America from the world.
The internecine fights are getting ugly. On Tuesday, Musk called Navarro “dumber than a sack of bricks” after Navarro went on CNBC to suggest that Musk is opposing the tariffs because of his business interests. Far-right provocateur and 9/11 truther Laura Loomer secured a meeting with the president last week, after which Trump fired numerous experienced staffers on the National Security Council and at the National Security Agency.
Rank-and-file Republicans are trying to figure out where things will land in this volatile moment. Nearly all profess loyalty to the president, but some prominent GOP lawmakers have begun to raise pointed concerns about the impact of the tariffs. Trump’s decision to engage in talks with Iran this week over its nuclear program is another issue that will raise red flags among national security-minded Republicans.
Democrats are battling through a similar identity crisis. The party long associated with representing the interests of the working class has become a coalition focused on elite values. They’ve been slow to react to Trump’s overreach, in part because of their own vulnerabilities on immigration, crime, social justice activism and dealing with antisemitism. They’re trying to figure out how to placate a restive, progressive base while broadening their appeal with middle-of-the-road voters.
As we’ve noted, Trump’s self-inflicted economic challenges could paper over some of the party’s divisions, allowing them to simply run against Trump. But that doesn’t fully address the growing schism between progressives and pragmatists that is proceeding full steam ahead.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has become the target of the left after he decided to support keeping the government open instead of using a funding bill as leverage to press the party’s opposition to the Trump agenda. Since then, a wave of restive lawmakers and new Democratic candidates have emerged slamming Schumer and calling for a new generation of leadership.
Needless to say, making the leading Democratic Jewish officeholder the boogeyman over an internal tactical fight within the party isn’t going to be the best way for Democrats to win back Jewish voters skeptical of the party’s ideological direction. And with voters starting to blame Trump over the shaky economy, Schumer’s decision to avoid a government shutdown is looking like a smarter decision by the day.
Battles between the left and center are taking place in key mayoral and Senate primaries across the country. Andrew Cuomo is facing a lineup of progressive opponents in this year’s New York City mayoral primary, and Democratic Senate primaries in Michigan and Minnesota are shaping up to feature a moderate and progressive standard-bearer. These intraparty battles will go a long way in determining which ideological direction the party will take.
In a time of growing polarization and extremism, it’s all too easy to get stuck in an ideological bubble far removed from mainstream public opinion. The party that manages to pivot to the center, and tune out the social media noise, will likely be the one best positioned for the political future.
WEIGHING IN
Lipstadt says Trump admin ‘weaponized’ antisemitism in higher ed policy
Two weeks after President Donald Trump was elected to a second term in November, Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt — then the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism — said she believed the Trump administration would take antisemitism seriously. Now, in her first public comments about Trump’s recent actions to address the rise of antisemitism on college campuses, Lipstadt is raising concerns about the way the president is tackling the issue. “I think it’s been weaponized,” she told Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch in an interview on Monday. “I think they [the administration] take it seriously. But I think the approach has not been as productive as it should be.”
Making martyrs: Lipstadt described herself as being “a schizophrenic person in the middle” in her assessment of Trump’s approach to antisemitism at American colleges and universities. She called the recent actions taken by Columbia University in response to demands from the White House “important steps,” ideas that Jewish students had first raised to indifferent administrators a year ago — with little progress until Trump stepped in to pressure Columbia. “I think that a lot of the issues that the Trump administration are addressing are serious issues, and some of the people they are targeting have done wrong things, bad things, potentially illegal things, or at least broken campus rules,” Lipstadt said. “I have concerns because I think that the impact in certain cases has been to make people who don’t deserve to be look like martyrs.”
new york, new york
Zohran Mamdani deepens his anti-Israel antagonism in NYC mayoral race
As top candidates for New York City mayor have debated their differing approaches to Israel and antisemitism, Zohran Mamdani, a far-left state assemblymember whose insurgent campaign has stoked concerns among Jewish leaders, is doubling down on his anti-Israel positions, appearing with an antisemitic influencer and hiring staff who embrace extreme rhetoric calling for Israel’s elimination. Over the weekend, Mamdani sat down for an extensive interview with Hasan Piker, a popular streamer with millions of online followers who is a staunch opponent of Israel and has stirred controversy for antisemitic comments and for justifying Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks, even as he has forcefully denied some of the terror group’s atrocities, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
What he said: In the interview, Mamdani, a Ugandan-born Muslim, reiterated his claim that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, arguing that “many New Yorkers, far more than the political class would have you imagine, have been rightfully horrified by” the ongoing conflict. The 33-year-old democratic socialist also took aim at former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who in a speech at a Manhattan synagogue last week accused his opponents of failing to stand with Israel and fueling antisemitism by aligning with an increasingly radical activist left. Mamdani has demonstrated major blind spots in addressing rising antisemitism and other issues of concern to Jewish voters.
ON AIR
AIPAC launches ad blitz against senators who voted to block arms sales to Israel
AIPAC launched an 11-state ad blitz on Wednesday focused on the 15 senators who voted last week in favor of resolutions led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to block $8.8 billion in U.S. arms sales to Israel, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Education effort: AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittmann described the campaign as a six-figure ad buy, airing on television and social media. “Bernie Sanders is jeopardizing the safety and security of the Jewish state as it fights a seven-front war against Iran and Iranian-backed terrorists,” Wittmann said in a statement. “These ads will educate constituents of the senators who voted with Bernie Sanders to undermine America’s partnership with our democratic ally.”
Bonus: Longtime former Anti-Defamation League National Director Abe Foxman condemned Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ), his home-state senator, for his votes in favor of the Sanders-led resolutions. “I voted for your election to the Senate, having great expectations that you would stand tall and support America’s values and allies,” Foxman wrote on X. “Your votes against supporting arms sales to Israel were shocking and a betrayal of the Jewish community, Democratic party policy and Israel, America’s staunchest ally in the Middle East.”
COLBY CONFIRMED
McConnell opposes Elbridge Colby nomination while three Democrats vote to confirm
The Senate voted on Tuesday morning to confirm Elbridge Colby as undersecretary of defense for policy, capping off a nomination process that highlighted fissures in the Republican Party on U.S. policy toward Iran and the Middle East, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report. Ultimately, every Republican other than Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) fell in line behind Colby while three Democrats, Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ), broke with their party to support Colby.
McConnell’s condemnation: McConnell said in a statement that Colby’s “long public record suggests a willingness to discount the complexity of the challenges facing America, the critical value of our allies and partners, and the urgent need to invest in hard power to preserve American primacy. The prioritization that Mr. Colby argues is fresh, new, and urgently needed is, in fact, a return to an Obama-era conception of a la carte geostrategy.”
troubling trends
Netanyahu pushes back on anti-Israel trends in meeting with podcasters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to push back against anti-Israel trends in the right-wing media world by holding a briefing in the Blair House for podcasters and other media figures on Monday, sources in the meeting told Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov.
In the room: Among those in attendance were podcasters including Dave Rubin, Tim Pool and former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, writers Bethany Mandel and David J. Harris Jr., influencer Jessica Kraus, Commentary senior editor Seth Mandel and Federalist Editor-in-Chief Mollie Hemingway. In addition to Netanyahu, his diplomatic advisor Ophir Falk and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter were present on the Israeli side.
WORD OF WARNING
AJC cautions university funding cuts over antisemitism ‘pose a profound threat’ to higher ed
Sounding an alarm about the Trump administration’s federal funding cuts to elite colleges over inaction against antisemitism, the American Jewish Committee warned in a statement on Tuesday that the cuts “pose a profound threat to the survival of America’s leading universities,” Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
What they said: “AJC has repeatedly insisted that universities must take action to counter and prevent antisemitism on their campuses. However, the broad, sweeping, and devastating cuts in federal funding that a growing number of American research universities have been subjected to in recent weeks, under the auspices of combating antisemitism, will damage America’s standing as a center of innovation and research excellence,” the group wrote. The statement acknowledged that funding cuts or freezes “are essential tools of last resort when addressing discrimination in federally funded programs.” It called for such action to be taken only when it is “plainly understood, publicly transparent, and specifically targeted to address the problem, and must not curtail the autonomy and academic freedom of higher education institutions that allow them to pursue their essential work.”
Pressure rising: Cornell and Northwestern became the latest universities to lose federal funding on Tuesday, following the White House’s announcement that it planned to freeze more than $1 billion in funding for Cornell and $790 million for Northwestern.
Worthy Reads
Stefanik’s Revenge: The Atlantic’s Russell Berman does a deep dive into how Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-NY) nomination to be U.N. ambassador unraveled over House Republicans’ thinning majority as President Donald Trump built his White House team and Cabinet. “In private, people who have followed her career are blunt about how Stefanik could use this setback to her advantage: ‘The president of the United States fucking owes her,’ one GOP official told me, who, like others in this story, was granted anonymity to speak candidly about various party leaders. ‘Many people in the Congress think she needs to be taken care of,’ a Stefanik ally added. Trump seems to understand this too. ‘She’s doing me a big favor,’ he told reporters last week. … Stefanik allies say she could be in line for a top national-security or intelligence appointment later in Trump’s term. Secretary of state isn’t out of the question if Marco Rubio doesn’t stay all four years. Or Stefanik could run for New York governor next year — likely with a Trump endorsement — against the state’s unpopular Democratic incumbent, Kathy Hochul. ‘There are tons of opportunities,’ Stefanik told me. ‘I have not ruled anything out, nor should I rule anything out.’” [TheAtlantic]
Targeting Tesla: In U.S. News and World Report, former White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt criticizes protesters who have vandalized Tesla vehicles and dealerships in recent weeks in protest of Elon Musk’s work through the Department of Governmental Efficiency. “It’s the same playbook used by the cancel culture mobs who seek not to debate but to destroy the careers of those with opposing viewpoints. … All these phenomena share a common mechanism: They raise the costs for associating with certain people, ideas or brands. Don’t like Musk’s politics? Make people worry that if they own a Tesla, it could be defaced with a spray-painted swastika or hit by rocks. Disagree with someone’s opinion on race, gender or another charged topic? Make them fear getting fired for expressing it. Support Israel’s government and its war in Gaza? Face intimidation or worse on campus. Wear traditional Jewish symbols such as a kippah or Star of David? Good luck going about your business in peace at our nation’s finest educational institutions. This approach bypasses reasoned debate. It avoids the messy work of persuasion. Instead, it creates fear: Conform or pay the price. It is social blackmail.” [USNews]
What America Once Was: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens argues that the Trump administration’s approach to deportations highlights a broader indifference that undermines American ideals. “What all of this boils down to is the self-restraint and compassion of the temporarily powerful, the self-respect and absence of self-pity of the temporarily weak, and the shared conviction that strong and weak are united in a common democratic creed. It’s what people used to admire about our national character — mythologized to some extent, but based in something real: understatement and confidence, decency and expectation, the America of Huck and Jim, Bogart and Hepburn, Shepard and Glenn. This is what feels so wholly absent today. … The habits of freedom, 250 years old, still run deep in our bones — deeper than anything this president can ruin over the next few years. But that certain idea of America that once typified us, and for which we were once so admired, is evaporating.” [NYTimes]
Anger Over Ankara: The Economist looks at how tensions between Israel and Turkey are playing out in Syria, where Jerusalem and Ankara have diverging political and strategic interests. “Israel is worried by the scale of Turkey’s involvement in Syria, including its plans to set up military bases and supply the new government’s fledgling army with weapons. Turkey fears that Israel wants to see Syria implode, or break apart. Each accuses the other of preparing to wage war by proxy. … Relations between Turkey and Israel, already poisoned by the war in Gaza, may still worsen. But actual armed conflict between NATO’s second-biggest army and America’s main regional ally is not likely. Neither side has any appetite to fight the other. Turkey and Israel are setting the stage for deterrence, not war. Mr Erdogan regards Donald Trump as an old friend and reckons that, with him as president, there may be an improvement in Turkey’s relations with America, including a chance to unblock the sale of F-35 stealth fighters. He is also hoping to improve relations with Europe, which wants him to help with security guarantees and peacekeeping in Ukraine. Mr Erdogan is unlikely to jeopardise all this by courting war with Israel.” [TheEconomist]
Word on the Street
A State Department spokesperson reaffirmed that nuclear talks slated for this weekend in Oman between the U.S. and Iran would be direct negotiations, while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi doubled down in a Washington Post op-ed on Tehran’s claim that the talks would be indirect…
Politico’s “NatSec Daily” newsletter spotlights Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff as the Trump administration sends him to Oman to lead nuclear talks with Iran…
The acting chief of U.S. Naval Operations said that the Navy is looking into “much more cost-effective” technologies to deal with the threats posed by UAVs fired by the Houthis in Yemen, adding that the Navy needs “more munitions” and “more depth of magazine, if we’re going to get into a protracted conflict”…
A new Pew Research Center survey found that a majority of Americans (53%) have an unfavorable opinion of Israel; the survey also found that a near-equal share of Republicans under 50 have a negative view of Israel as have a positive one…
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee postponed a Wednesday meeting in which the committee was expected to vote on the Antisemitism Awareness Act and another piece of antisemitism legislation, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report…
The body overseeing the World Zionist Congress’ elections, which are taking place this month, is investigating allegations of widespread voter fraud after thousands of ballots were cast using similar email addresses and prepaid credit cards, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim reports…
Mira Resnick is joining Saronic Technologies as senior director for global policy and defense cooperation; Resnick was previously the deputy assistant secretary of state for regional security in the Biden administration…
Former Deputy National Security Advisor Dina Powell McCormick will appear alongside former Facebook/Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg on Monday at a bipartisan event at Stanford University promoting McCormick’s new book, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs has learned…
Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled yesterday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cannot replace Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar for now, giving the government and attorney general an April 20 deadline to reach a compromise…
A senior Hezbollah official said the Lebanese terror group was open to engaging in conversations over its weapons stockpile if Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon and ends its military campaign against the group…
The Wall Street Journal looks at the challenges facing American negotiators ahead of talks with Iran over its nuclear program, noting Tehran’s advances since the U.S. withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2018…
Pic of the Day
At the invitation of President Donald Trump, former hostages Aviva Siegel, Keith Siegel and Iair Horn took the stage at last night’s NRCC President’s Dinner at the National Building Museum in Washington.
Keith Siegel, who was released in February following 484 days in captivity, said onstage that Trump “made the hostage crisis a top priority” and “got 33 of us home. Please continue your tremendous efforts, tremendous actions, and tremendous accomplishments.”
Birthdays
Former president of CNN Worldwide and CEO of RedBird IMI, Jeffrey Adam “Jeff” Zucker turns 60…
Retired singer-songwriter, satirist and mathematician, Thomas Andrew “Tom” Lehrer turns 97… Board certified internist, he is a consultant at the Disney Family Cancer Center at St. Joseph Hospital in Burbank, Calif., Lester Simon Garfinkel, MD turns 90… Retired fighter pilot and brigadier general in the Israeli Air Force, credited with 7.5 enemy fighter jets shot down, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest-ever and longest serving combat pilot, Uri Gil turns 82… EVP at nationwide homebuilder KB Home, former chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Albert Zane Praw… Dean at Reichman University in Herzliya and emeritus professor at Tel Aviv University, Zvi Eckstein turns 76… Gail Kritz… CEO at Nationwide Investigations and Yale Brokerage Corporation, Jeffrey H. Rosenberg turns 73… Former chair of the board of Goucher College, she is retired from a 36-year career as an officer of Citigroup, Ruth Shapiro Lenrow… Rabbi, author, and environmental activist, Nina Beth Cardin turns 72… Fashion designer for his own worldwide chain of eponymous stores, he was previously the creative director for Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs turns 62… Visual artist, performance artist and co-founder of Processional Arts Workshop, Alex Kahn turns 58… Attorney, author, political commentator, movie critic and blogger, Debbie Schlussel turns 56… Clinical psychologist in Boca Raton, Fla., Dr. Lori Gutmann Fineman… Executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East and the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa, Asaf Romirowsky turns 49… Arts marketing manager at the JCC in Washington, Jill Gershenson-Cohen… Program director of the Sonabend Center for Israel at JCC Manhattan and a facilitation associate with Resetting the Table, Moshe Samuels… Founder and CEO at NYC-based Wall to Wall Communications, Ross M. Wallenstein… Actress and writer best known as the model for a series of RGX body spray commercials, Rachel Sarah Specter turns 45… Israeli actress who has appeared in Israeli films, Italian films and U.S. television programs, Moran Atias turns 44… Former associate at White & Case, now the owner of DC’s Baked by Yael, Yael Krigman… Film, television and stage actress, Lili Mirojnick turns 41… Corporate strategy and development official at NextSilicon, Soraya Hoberman Alden… Figure skater, she competed for Israel at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang in pairs skating and a team event, Paige Conners turns 25… Zurich resident, Jonathan Marc Bollag… Herbert Levine…
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