• We’re keeping an eye on the “Hands Off” protests slated for tomorrow afternoon in Washington, amid reports that anti-Israel protesters intend to join the demonstrations.
• Saturday night will see the Final Four matchups between the University of Florida (led by coach Todd Golden) and Auburn (coached by Bruce Pearl) at 6 p.m. ET, followed by Duke (and coach Jon Scheyer) vs. the University of Houston at 8 p.m. ET. The winners of each game will advance to the NCAA Finals on Monday. (That Pearl, Golden and Scheyer are all Jewish ensures that at least one Jewish coach will be headed to the championship game.)
• Dina Powell McCormick will discuss the new book she co-authored with her husband, Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), Who Believed in You: How Purposeful Mentorship Changes the World, at a Vital Voices event this evening in Washington.

Until recently, New York City politics had traditionally turned on an assumption that full-throated support for Israel was essential to any winning campaign. 

But as the upcoming June mayoral primary has demonstrated, that tenet is no longer widely held among the top Democratic candidates, many of whom have been muted in their solidarity or expressed hostility to Israel in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks and ensuing war in Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

One prominent exception is former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a moderate Democrat leading a field that is largely populated by left-wing rivals vying to unseat embattled Mayor Eric Adams — who is now running as an independent. 

In his address to congregants at a Manhattan synagogue on Tuesday, Cuomo, wearing a yellow ribbon pin in solidarity with the hostages being held in Gaza, called the rise of antisemitism “the most important issue” in the campaign and touted his gubernatorial record backing key Jewish causes, while accusing several of his opponents of failing to stand with Israel by aligning with an increasingly radical left.

It was the latest and most high-profile example of Cuomo’s ongoing effort to win over Jewish voters as he seeks redemption after resigning from office in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations, which he denies. 

But it also underscored how Cuomo, who has been honing his message on Israel and antisemitism since he left office, is now seizing a chance to dominate an issue his opponents have all but ignored amid a startling uptick in antisemitic activity, stemming in part from anti-Israel demonstrations that disrupted city life in the months following Hamas’ attacks.

In addition to speeches and private outreach to Jewish community leaders, including meeting with a group of rabbis on Wednesday for a conversation about “combatting antisemitism and anti-Israel extremism,” Cuomo’s campaign has unveiled parts of a public safety plan that calls for the city to pass legislation that would adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism into law, among other things.

Following his speech on Tuesday, Cuomo drew backlash from opponents he had attacked, including Brad Lander, the city’s Jewish comptroller, who has himself long faced scrutiny from Jewish leaders for his alignment with far-left critics of Israel. “Andrew Cuomo doesn’t get to tell me how to be Jewish,” Lander said, invoking  a Yiddish phrase for “an evil decree” to “come upon him.”

Zohran Mamdani, a far-left state assemblyman in Queens who is the most outspoken opponent of Israel in the race, accused Cuomo of “weaponizing” antisemitism in his comments, claiming that the former governor “cares about only one thing, and that is himself.”

But in New York City, home to the largest Jewish community outside of Israel, history has shown that Cuomo’s instincts are well-positioned to resonate with voters, even in a polarizing, post-Oct. 7 landscape that has pushed many Democrats to embrace more skeptical positions on Israel and its war with Hamas in Gaza.

“It’s very simple: anti-Zionism is antisemitism,” Cuomo said in his address earlier this week, using rhetoric that none of his rivals have been willing to echo, and drawing applause from the audience.

Tanks Over Tech: The Wall Street Journal’s Rory Jones and Dov Lieber spotlight how IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir’s background — he served as a tank commander, unlike previous chiefs of staff who served in special forces — influences his views on Israeli military strategy. “Zamir is Israel’s first chief of staff to be forged inside a tank. Tall and muscular with a shaven head, he has complained that Israel has too much faith in technology and not enough boots on the ground. In many ways, Zamir encapsulates the broader global debate around how wars are fought and won. New technology has been central to the war in Ukraine, as Kyiv has successfully used cheaply-made drones to neuter Russia’s military might. But Ukraine also has ultimately lost major battles because Moscow has deployed thousands of soldiers in conventional warfare, demonstrating that boots on the ground are still required to take and hold territory. Some Israeli military analysts have labeled Israel’s recent chiefs of staff the ‘paratrooper dynasty’ and argued their overconfidence from belonging to elite units as well as their focus on offense likely contributed to the defensive failure on Oct. 7, 2023.” [WSJ]

Nat-Sec Split: The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols looks at the split between two wings of the Republican Party following a series of firings of defense officials on Thursday after President Donald Trump met with far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer. “The firings at the NSC represent an ongoing struggle between the most extreme MAGA loyalists and what’s left of a Republican foreign-policy establishment. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, for example, has been in an online tussle with the Republican fringe — a group that makes Cotton seem almost centrist by comparison — over Alex Wong, another Trump NSC official, whom Loomer and others have, for various reasons, accused of disloyalty to Trump. Other conflicts, however, seem to center on a struggle between [National Security Advisor Mike] Waltz and the head of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, Sergio Gor, who has reportedly been blocking people Waltz wants on his team because Gor and others doubt their commitment to the president’s foreign policy.” [TheAtlantic]

The Deans’ Dilemma: In The Washington Post, Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the University of California, Berkeley’s law school, raises concerns about the Trump administration’s focus on universities and law firms, citing an effort he led to push a joint statement on the issue by law school deans that garnered fewer signatures than he expected. “Gathering signatures for our letter, I heard several rationalizations for why deans would not sign. More than one said things were not ‘bad enough’ yet to warrant speaking out. … Other deans told me that, as a rule, they do not sign statements or speak out about public issues. One justified this by saying that statements don’t have any effect. Of course, it is impossible to know what the effect will be of speaking out. But at the very least, we have our voice and the authority that comes from prestigious positions. If we do not use them, our silence is a tacit endorsement of what is happening. And some deans told me they are afraid to speak out against the Trump administration for fear that they will make themselves and their institutions targets. I assume that concern is shared by the silent university presidents and heads of law firms.” [WashPost]

The Trump administration is set to pause more than $500 million in federal funding to Brown University as part of its broader crackdown on universities over campus antisemitism…

The government notified the country’s top public education officials that schools with high numbers of minority students risk losing federal funding if they don’t eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programming…

The Pentagon’s inspector general is launching a probe into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s participation in a Signal group in which plans to strike the Houthis in Yemen were shared and discussed by Hegseth and other senior administration officials… 

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) referred to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who is Jewish, as “fuhrer”; Moreno, discussing the Congress’ approach to tax cuts, told reporters, “Here’s the main thing you’ve got to understand. Republicans are independently minded. Democrats are monolithic sheep that follow the Fuhrer Schumer’s orders”…

Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA) and Don Bacon (R-NE) reintroduced legislation aimed at closing gaps in hate crimes data reporting…

The Abraham Accords Peace Institute, founded by Jared Kushner in May 2021, will be merged into the Heritage Foundation; outgoing CEO Aryeh Lightstone, who worked in the first Trump administration, is returning to the White House and will work with Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff…

Israel and the Trump administration will use energy projects to bring greater stability to the Middle East, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said on Thursday, following meetings with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum in Washington, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports…

Tufts University filed a court declaration in support of a Turkish student at the university who was detained by immigration officials following the revocation of her student visa; the Department of Homeland Security has alleged that Rümeysa Öztürk was involved in “activities in support of Hamas,” but has not provided evidence…

Harvard University received a list of demands from the Trump administration listing a series of actions the school would have to take to end the government’s review of approximately $9 billion in funding and grants… 

The Wall Street Journal spotlights University of Florida men’s basketball coach Todd Golden, whose data-driven approach to the sport has helped vault his team to the NCAA’s Final Four…

The Canadian province of Manitoba’s deshelving of American alcohol in provincially run liquor stores in response to the trade war between the U.S. and Canada has caused a shortage of Manichewitz ahead of Passover…

Germany’s Christian Democratic Union and Social Democratic Party, which are working to form a coalition government, are considering the possibility of revoking the citizenships of “terror supporters, antisemites and extremists” who hold a second passport…

France is planning to bring Iran to the International Court of Justice over Tehran’s detention of two French nationals in the country’s notorious Evin prison; the two have been held since May 2022, and denied access to consular services for the last year…

Nicaragua withdrew its request to join South Africa’s case at the ICJ alleging that Israel committed genocide…

The Israeli Embassy in the U.K. condemned recent remarks made by London Mayor Sadiq Khan; the embassy said that Khan parroted Hamas talking points in his Eid al-Fitr message…

Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned President Donald Trump’s threats to attack Iran, calling his comments “illegal and unacceptable”…

Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, who served in the Biden administration as deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, is rejoining the Atlantic Council as a distinguished fellow with the think tank’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative…

The Embassy of Switzerland in Washington hosted an event at its ambassador’s residence on Wednesday night honoring Carl Lutz, a Swiss diplomat whose efforts saved more than 62,000 people during the Holocaust.

Actor and filmmaker, he is best known for his role in 175 episodes of the television series “Scrubs,” Zachary Israel “Zach” Braff turns 50 on Sunday… 

FRIDAY: Author of books about her childhood experiences as a Jewish girl in the Netherlands during the Holocaust, she is a longtime NYC resident, Johanna Reiss turns 93… Retired MLB player for the Orioles, Senators, Athletics, Rangers and Angels, Mike Epstein turns 82… Southern California resident, Gloria Margulies… French-German politician who is a Green Party leader in Europe, Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit turns 80… Hungarian dramatist, novelist and essayist whose recent works are focused upon Jewish characters, György Spiró turns 79… Professor of history at American University in D.C., Allan Jay Lichtman turns 78… Poet and professor emeritus of English at the University of Pennsylvania, Charles Bernstein turns 75… Visiting fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, he is also chief of staff to the former Australian prime minister, Bruce Wolpe turns 74… Petah Tikva-born, Emmy Award-winning film director, producer, freelance journalist and writer, Simcha Jacobovici turns 72… Retired partner from the M&A group at Skadden, David J. Friedman… Former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, William J. Burns turns 69… Director of the Center for Energy, Climate and Environment at the Heritage Foundation, she has held many high-ranking government positions, Diana Furchtgott-Roth turns 67… Former commander of the IDF Air Force, now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amir Eshel turns 66… Founder and president of Stutzman Public Affairs in Sacramento, Robert Stutzman… Chairman of The Western Wall Heritage Foundation and rabbi of the Kotel since 1995, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch turns 55… Tel Aviv-born animator and freelance director in NYC, Tatia Rosenthal turns 54… Former member of the Knesset, he last served in 2019 as a member of the Hatnua party, Yoel Hasson turns 53… Journalist and author, he is a great-grandson of famed Talmudist Rabbi Yechezkel Abramsky, Sasha Abramsky turns 53… Israeli social activist promoting the rights of disabled people, Hanna Akiva turns 51… NYC-based artist and founder of the Midnight Society, an artist-run curatorial project, Abshalom Jac Lahav turns 48… Actress since she was 6 years old, she has appeared in many movies and television series, appearing as Natasha Lyonne, Natasha Bianca Lyonne Braunstein turns 46… Israeli journalist who serves as the senior analyst for The Times of Israel, Haviv Rettig Gur turns 44… Actress and YouTube personality, Lisa “Lisbug” Schwartz turns 42… One of Israel’s top men’s tennis players until he retired, he had broken into the top 30 of world rankings, David “Dudi” Sela turns 40… Fashion editor for Hearst Digital until 2023, now a freelance editor, Daisy Melamed Sanders… Supervising producer at CBS and young leader in the Los Angeles Jewish community, Leslie Schapira… Figure skater, he competed for Israel at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Ronald Zilberberg turns 29… Phyllis Wilner…

SATURDAY: Research scientist and former CEO of the Ontario Genomics Institute, he is a lecturer on Jewish medical ethics, Mark J. Poznansky turns 79… Marketing consultant, Eugene Kadish… Professor emeritus in the Department of Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Daniel J. Lasker turns 76… Engineer, inventor (with over 1,000 patents) and businessman, best known for his invention of the Segway, Dean Kamen turns 74… CEO of Hess Corporation, a global energy company, John Barnett Hess turns 71… British novelist, author of over 50 books specializing in mystery and suspense, his “Alex Rider” series is estimated to have sold 21 million copies worldwide, Anthony Horowitz turns 70… Founder of merchant bank Alnitak Capital Partners and chairman of the board of Sodastream, Stanley B. Stern turns 68… Russia editor for BBC News, Steven Barnett Rosenberg turns 57… Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the first 29 months of the Biden administration, Rochelle P. Walensky turns 56… Israeli actress and model, Sendi Bar turns 49… Film and television writer and producer and co-founder of Quantity Entertainment, Lee Eisenberg turns 48… Assistant managing editor for CNN Politics, Dan Berman… Senior director for United Nations and international organizations policy at Microsoft, Howard Wachtel… Singer-songwriter, Marissa Nadler turns 44… VP at D.C.-based Porter Group, Benjamin J. Rosenbaum… Senior political correspondent for Jewish Insider, Lahav Harkov… Israeli political activist focused on disability benefits, Alex Fridman turns 37… Director of the Jewish Federation of San Diego’s Coalition Against Antisemitism, Adam Maslia… Policy marketing official at Google, Sarah Horvitz… British Labour party Member of Parliament, Charlotte Louise Nichols turns 34… D.C.-based musician and journalist, Jesse Rifkin… VP at Goldman Sachs, Wilson Shirley… Executive and brand consultant at Creative Artists Agency, she was previously director of public relations for the Western U.S. at the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, Camila Seta… Contributing editor at The Free Press, Adam Ross Rubenstein… Harvey Levin…

SUNDAY: Educator often considered the founder of the modern small schools movement, she was a winner of a MacArthur genius fellowship in 1987, Deborah Meier turns 94… Holocaust survivor, she moved to Israel in 1978, visual artist, textile designer and art teacher, Helen Berman turns 89… Professor emeritus of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, Mark Mordecai Green turns 88… Head of MTV Documentary Films, she has won 32 individual Primetime Emmy Awards, Sheila Nevins turns 86… Academy Award-winning best director for “Rain Man” (1988), he produced and directed many films including “Diner” (1982), “Good Morning Vietnam” (1987), Bugsy (1991) and “Wag the Dog” (1997), Barry Levinson turns 83… Santa Monica-based poet, critic and teacher, she earned her Ph.D. studying Jewish American literature, Nancy Shiffrin turns 81… Founder and chairman of Cognex Corporation and a major donor to Technion, Robert J. Shillman turns 79… Founder and CEO of Emmis Communications, he was the owner of the Seattle Mariners until 1992, Jeff Smulyan turns 78… Political activist, artist and author, Mary Fisher turns 77… Former chair of the Federal Election Commission during the Obama administration, she is a lecturer at UC Berkeley Law School, Ann Ravel turns 76… Los Angeles-based playwright, performer and teacher of autobiographical storytelling, Stacie Chaiken turns 71… Principal of the Nellis Corporation and co-chair of the Washington metropolitan area real estate division of AIPAC, Randall J. Levitt turns 71… Movie director, producer, writer and editor, winner of two Academy Awards for best documentary feature, Rob Epstein turns 70… Scholar of piyyut (ancient and medieval Hebrew poetry), head of the Fleischer Institute for the Study of Hebrew Poetry, Shulamit Elizur turns 70… Philanthropist Jeanie Schottenstein… Professor of constitutional law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, Michael J. Gerhardt turns 69… Senior political analyst for CNN and a former senior editor at The Atlantic, Ronald J. Brownstein turns 67… Director, screenwriter and producer of television comedies, Steven Levitan turns 63… Former teacher for 23 years at Congregation Tikvat Jacob in Manhattan Beach, Calif., Deborah Granow… Chair and CEO of the Motion Picture Association, he was previously the U.S. Ambassador to France, Charles Hammerman Rivkin turns 63… Reporter for The New York Times covering the USDOJ, Glenn Thrush turns 58… Screenwriter, producer, actor, director, best known for creating the HBO television series “Entourage,” Douglas Reed “Doug” Ellin turns 57… Serial entrepreneur, he has built, operated and sold over $3.3 billion of Internet media companies, Richard Rosenblatt turns 56… Israel’s consul general in New York from 2007 to 2010, now CEO of Israeli private equity fund Amelia Investments, Asaf Shariv turns 53… Founder and chief investment officer of Hong Kong-based Oasis Management Company, he serves on the board of the Ohel Leah Synagogue in Hong Kong, Seth Hillel Fischer… Chief development officer for Friends of the European Leadership Network, Jay Haberman turns 51… Teacher of classical mandolin at Bard College, Joseph Brent turns 49… Resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute since 2019, he is the founding editor of National Affairs, Yuval Levin turns 48…