Daily Kickoff: Witkoff’s Roman holiday
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we preview this weekend’s Iran nuclear talks in Rome, and look at how Israeli officials are viewing the diplomatic effort. We also interview Pennsylvania Budget Director Uri Monson and report on a California school district vote this week to renew an ethnic studies contract with a vendor accused of antisemitism. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Mark Levin, Jason Friedman and Nicola Peltz Beckham.
What We’re Watching
- Nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran continue this weekend in Rome, a week after a U.S. delegation led by Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Oman for the first round of talks.
- Before heading to Rome, Witkoff is meeting today in Paris with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Mossad head David Barnea.
- Vice President JD Vance is also in Rome this weekend, where he’ll meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni days after her trip to Washington. Vance is also angling for a meeting with the ailing Pope Francis.
- Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will join ABC’s George Stephanopoulos this morning on “Good Morning America” to discuss last weekend’s arson attack on the governor’s mansion.
What You Should Know
Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to Rome this weekend to resume negotiations with Iran over the possibility of a new nuclear agreement that began last week in Oman, at a moment when the United States has squandered some of the negotiating leverage it holds over the Islamic Republic, Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss writes.
The meeting in Rome comes days after The New York Times reported that the Trump administration had nixed plans for Israel to strike nuclear facilities in Iran as recently as next month.
Speaking Thursday afternoon to reporters, President Donald Trump addressed the Times report. “I wouldn’t say I waved off an attack on Iran,” the president said, “but I am not in a rush to do it.”
With the military option at least temporarily off the table, the U.S. has backed itself into a corner with seemingly only one way out: through diplomacy. Trump and Witkoff are two men who have staked their reputations in part on being dealmakers, but their approach to nuclear talks with Iran has left wonks and observers wondering what the administration is trying to get out of Tehran in the first place.
Israel may now be constrained (more on that from JI’s Lahav Harkov below), but Israeli officials are still hoping to impact the negotiations. Before Witkoff heads to Rome, he’ll meet today with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Mossad chief David Barnea in Paris.
Following the first round of negotiations, Witkoff appeared on Fox News on Monday night, pushing a position that focused on implementing a robust verification program around Iran’s nuclear activity — a stance that faced significant pushback from experts as well as Republicans on Capitol Hill. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) sent a letter directly to Witkoff rebuking the remarks.
The pushback was so significant that Witkoff was forced to backtrack a day later, posting on his official X account on Tuesday that “[a]ny final arrangement must set a framework for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Middle East — meaning that Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program.”
Legislators in Washington are increasingly weighing in on Washington’s efforts to negotiate a nuclear deal, wary of the pitfalls of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and cognizant that any new agreement addresses the concerns that remained following the Obama administration’s signing of the deal. (More below on that.)
The initial reports of Tehran’s proposal indicate that some of the Iranian demands differ little from the 2015 deal — a deal Trump ripped up three years later.
Then-Secretary of State John Kerry defended the JCPOA by saying it was better than no deal at all. On the latest episode of Dan Senor’s “Call Me Back” podcast, Senor relayed a recent conversation with an Israeli official who noted that the Obama administration would say any alternative to the JCPOA would be followed by “international backlash” to Israel. But in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, Israel is no longer concerned about backlash, the official told Senor, having faced a torrent of international criticism and retribution for the last 18 months. Further, the official said, there are countries in the region who wouldn’t join any pile-on against Israel should it mount an attack against Iran.
And the U.S. has not fully shut the door on the possibility of military action, having moved a second air carrier to the region, “Call Me Back” guest Jonathan Schanzer, the executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, explained. Now, he said, Iran “has its back up against the wall,” with the very real threat of a U.S.-backed attack.
The ultimate question is whether the White House will lose too much leverage in negotiations to get a better deal or whether it will be military action – or the real threat of it – that will deal a final blow to Iran’s nuclear program.
harrisburg hesitancy
Schumer calls for federal hate crime investigation of Shapiro arson; Shapiro calls it unhelpful
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is pressing the Department of Justice to investigate whether the arson attack on Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence constituted a federal hate crime, suggesting in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi that the federal government’s response has been insufficient thus far, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. But Shapiro himself is deferring to local and federal prosecutors and said Schumer’s letter was unhelpful.
Back-and-forth: “Our federal authorities must bring the full weight of our civil-rights laws to bear in examining this matter. No person or public official should be targeted because of their faith, and no community should wonder whether such acts will be met with silence,” Schumer said in his letter. But Shapiro himself is taking a different approach. “‘As to Sen. Schumer or anyone else, I don’t think it’s helpful for people on the outside who haven’t seen the evidence, who don’t know what occurred, who are applying their own viewpoints to the situation, to weigh in in that manner,” he told reporters.
the shomer of pennsylvania’s coffers
From seminary to secretary: How Uri Monson balances Pennsylvania’s budget and keeps Shabbat
Only in a family where everyone is a rabbi does becoming a cabinet secretary in one of the largest states in the nation make you a black sheep. That’s the joke that Uri Monson, Pennsylvania’s budget secretary, likes to make when describing his career as a public servant in the context of his very Jewish family — a brother, father, grandfather and great-grandfather who were rabbis; a stepmother who was a lifelong Jewish nonprofit professional; and a mother who was a renowned Jewish academic and university administrator. But coming out of that kind of lineage, choosing public service as a career was his act of “pseudo-rebellion,” Monson quipped in an interview with Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch earlier this month. He didn’t stray too far from his Jewish values, though — during his first internship, at city hall in Philadelphia, he helped draft the mayor’s speech for Israeli Independence Day.
Path to public service: “I grew up a mile from Independence Hall. I’ve always been an American government junkie, and fascinated by and love[d] government and its ability to really help,” said Monson, 56. “I felt, even at 18, that I could make it better, that it had to be able to be done better, and that started me on that path to public service.” Even if Monson didn’t follow his family members into the Jewish professional world, growing up immersed in deep conversations about the weekly Torah portion over Shabbat lunch and spending his summers at Camp Ramah in the Poconos shaped his approach to public service just as much as his wonky fascination with fiscal policy and his master’s degree in public administration.
JCPOA REDUX?
Israel boxed in as Trump blocks strike on Iran and pursues deal
Israel finds itself in a familiar position this week: Washington is negotiating a nuclear deal with Tehran while blocking Israel from striking Iran at what it sees as an opportune moment, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Difficult position: In contrast with a decade ago, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly campaigned against then-President Barack Obama entering the U.S. into the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to curb Iran’s nuclear activity, President Donald Trump seems to have Netanyahu boxed in. Close Netanyahu-Trump ties and GOP divisions on foreign policy make it harder for Israel to push back against a potentially weak deal.
Doubling Down: Netanyahu made clear that Israel would not be deterred from continuing to counter the Iranian nuclear threat, in a statement released after a report that Trump blocked an Israeli plan to strike the Islamic Republic in May, JI’s Lahav Harkov reports.
warning witkoff
Pro-Israel Dems caution Witkoff that Iran must restore inspectors’ access to nuclear sites
A group of pro-Israel Jewish House Democrats wrote to Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Thursday warning that Iran must restore International Atomic Energy Agency access to its nuclear sites before any deal can move forward in earnest, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod scoops.
Precondition: Under a reported proposal put forward by Iran, Iran would not allow such inspections to resume until well into the implementation of a nuclear agreement. “Absent verifiable data on Iran’s current nuclear activities, it is not possible to conduct meaningful, comprehensive negotiations or assess compliance with any potential future agreement,” Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL), Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Greg Landsman (D-OH) wrote. “The failure to establish a true baseline undermines the credibility of the negotiating process and exposes the United States and its partners to strategic miscalculation.” They said that international inspectors must regain “full, unfettered access to Iran’s nuclear facilities, before establishing final parameters of a possible agreement.”
wheels down in damascus
First American lawmakers travel to Syria to meet with new president
Two House Republicans are traveling to Syria for meetings with new Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and other senior Syrian officials. Reps. Cory Mills (R-FL) and Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) are the first known American lawmakers to travel to the war-torn country and meet with al-Sharaa since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report.
On the agenda: The two will also meet with Syrian Foreign Affairs Minister Asaad al-Shaibani during their visit, which was organized and funded by the Syrian American Alliance for Peace and Prosperity. The delegation is not sponsored by the U.S. government. The lawmakers are also set to meet with other officials from the al-Sharaa government, civil society leaders and Christian leaders. They will also visit a notorious Assad regime prison and areas destroyed in the country’s protracted civil war. In a video taken from the plane en route to Damascus, Mills said that it will be “a real honor to be there. We look forward to having a free, democratically elected Syria, a Syria that’s going to advance forward, build trade and economic relationships with the U.S., and hopefully continue to advance. As we make America great again, let’s make Syria great again.”
school daze
California school district votes to renew ethnic studies contract with vendor accused of antisemitism
A yearslong debate in a California school district over ethnic studies education culminated on Wednesday night with a unanimous vote to renew a contract with a controversial consultant whose curriculum has sparked antisemitism allegations among local Jewish leaders. The move has fueled concern by some of those leaders that the vote could potentially lay the groundwork for other school districts to follow suit, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
BDS bias: Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees voted 7-0 in favor of returning to Community Responsive Education as the vendor to provide consultation on teaching ethnic studies in the district, which is near Santa Cruz. “CRE has produced some frameworks that have [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel] in the curriculum, with no balance about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” David Bocarsly, executive director of the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California, told JI.
Worthy Reads
Leak Origins: Commentary’s Seth Mandel posits that the leaks in the Trump administration were designed to stall Israel’s planned attack against Iran’s nuclear program. “Kicking the can is exactly what this is all about. Trump has been convinced to try his hand at negotiating with Ayatollah Khamenei, who will walk away from the table as soon as Iran’s defenses are in better shape…The detailed leaks are most likely the Gabbard faction’s attempt to delay even that kind of attack by telling the Iranians what to expect. It’s hard to see this as anything other than the director of national intelligence enabling U.S. and Israeli intelligence to be put in front of an enemy state. The leak is the point. It’s a tactical play to more or less help Iran torpedo American action. That’s the intent, anyway. Whether it succeeds might depend on whether Waltz and Hegseth find their voices and their spines.” [Commentary]
Bound By Loyalty and Money: Politico’s Rachel Bade and Megan Messerly spotlight the close relationship between President Donald Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. “Trump and Lutnick’s relationship goes back at least three decades and spans both good times and bad. They became well acquainted at charity events around New York City and bonded after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center that left 658 of the one-time Cantor Fitzgerald chief’s employees dead, including Lutnick’s 36-year-old brother. When Lutnick was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancer in 2021, Trump frequently called to check on him while he underwent chemotherapy. And Lutnick excels at the two things Trump arguably values most: loyalty and money. When Trump turned into a pariah after Jan. 6, 2021, Lutnick still flew down to golf with him in Palm Beach. During rocky parts of the 2024 campaign, people close to Trump say Lutnick ‘stuck by the president’ even on the grimmest days. Not to mention, he’s one of Trump’s biggest donors.” [Politico]
Fortress Mentality: In the Financial Times, Yuval Noah Harari considers how Trump’s worldview is at odds with the traditional liberal world order. “In the Trumpian vision, by contrast, the world is seen as a zero-sum game in which every transaction involves winners and losers. The movement of ideas, goods and people is therefore inherently suspect. In Trump’s world, international agreements, organisations and laws cannot be anything but a plot to weaken some countries and strengthen others — or perhaps a plot to weaken all countries and benefit a sinister cosmopolitan elite. … Trump’s ideal world is a mosaic of fortresses, where countries are separated by high financial, military, cultural and physical walls. It forgoes the potential of mutually beneficial co-operation, but Trump and like-minded populists argue that it will offer countries more stability and peace.” [FT]
Word on the Street
In an interview with Al Jazeera on Wednesday, hostage envoy Adam Boehler suggested that Edan Alexander, the last remaining American Israeli hostage is in “a decent place,” and would not be harmed by Hamas out of the fear that the U.S. would retaliate against the group…
Fox News host Mark Levin was named to the Trump administration’s Homeland Security Advisory Council…
Politico looks at how the Trump administration’s cessation of foreign aid and grants is affecting projects in the Middle East that previously relied heavily on U.S. support…
A former FAA contractor pleaded guilty to acting as a foreign agent of Iran for more than six years, during which time he passed information to Tehran regarding American airports and solar energy…
Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) is expected to announce his bid next week for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) next year…
Chicago businessman and philanthropist Jason Friedman is mounting a bid for Illinois’ 7th Congressional District; Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) has not yet said if he plans to run for reelection…
Columbia University announced the launch of a search for the school’s next president; two interim presidents have led the school since the resignation last August of President Minouche Shafik…
Video footage of the recent arrest of Haley Joel Osment shows the former child star using an antisemitic insult while in a police car following his confrontation with police…
A new coffee book project, Borrowed Spotlight, aims to raise awareness about antisemitism through a series of photographs of Holocaust survivors with celebrities including Jennifer Garner, Chelsea Handler, Nicola Peltz Beckham…
The head of the Board of Deputies of British Jews pushed back on an open letter published by 36 members of the board in the Financial Times earlier this week that condemned the Israeli governments domestic actions and moves in Gaza and the West Bank; Phil Rosenberg criticized the letter’s signatories, noting that the board has more than 300 members and adding that “it is remarkably easy to get the media to listen to you in this country if you highlight your Jewish identity while vocally criticising Israel or its government”…
U.S. officials said that a Chinese company with ties to Beijing’s military is providing the Iran-backed Houthis in Iran with satellite imagery to target foreign vessels transiting through the Red Sea…
The U.S. announced sanctions on the International Bank of Yemen for its role in providing financial support to the Houthis…
The IDF intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile fired earlier this morning, setting off sirens across central Israel…
Pic of the Day
The White House held a Passover celebration this week for dozens of White House staffers and senior administration officials, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf and Martin Marks. Led by Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), attendees and communal leaders said a L’chaim and noshed on matzah, gefilte fish and many other kosher-for-Passover delicacies.
Birthdays
Israeli jazz bassist, composer, singer and arranger, Avishai Cohen turns 55 on Sunday…
FRIDAY: Chief rabbi of the Old City of Jerusalem until 2008, Rabbi Avigdor Nebenzahl turns 90… Senior counsel in the intellectual property law firm of Adwar Ivko, Philip Furgang turns 88… Former executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union for 23 years, Ira Saul Glasser turns 87… Biochemist, geneticist and winner of the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1985, Joseph Leonard Goldstein turns 85… Partner and managing director of fundraising consulting firm, Mirsky, Jaffe & Associates, Michael Jaffe turns 85… English barrister and arbitrator, his clients have included the British chief rabbi in a case which held that the rulings of the Beth Din were not subject to judicial review, Michael Jacob Beloff turns 83… Corporate turnaround expert and mergers & acquisitions specialist, Jerry W. Levin turns 81… Los Angeles resident, Saul Bernstein… Former member of the Vermont state Senate and co-founder in 1984 of Jogbra, Hinda Miller turns 75… Former mayor of Phoenix for eight years after two terms on the Phoenix City Council, Phil Gordon turns 74… Composer, pianist and musicologist, Robert M. Greenberg turns 71… Former college basketball coach for 34 years, he is now an ESPN analyst, Seth Greenberg turns 69… Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and director of the Northeastern University School of Journalism, Jonathan Kaufman turns 69… Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of four acclaimed books, Susan Faludi turns 66… Community leader in Detroit and former president of AIPAC, David Victor… Editor of Commentary magazine and columnist for the New York Post, John Mordecai Podhoretz turns 64… President and dean of Ohr Torah Stone institutions in Israel, Rabbi Dr. Kenneth R. Brander turns 63… VP and deputy general counsel at Scholastic Inc, Mark Seidenfeld… Executive director of the American Zionist Movement, Herbert Block… Emmy Award-winning actress known for her work on daytime television, Tamara Braun turns 54… Film director and producer associated with the horror genre, Eli Roth turns 53… Chabad Rabbi, founder and executive director of the Aspen Chabad Jewish Community Center, Mendel Mintz turns 50… Poet, critic, translator and professor, Ilya Kaminsky turns 48… Under secretary of Homeland Security for strategy, policy and plans during most of the Biden administration, Robert P. Silvers turns 45… Political director for AIPAC’s Florida region, Evan Philipson… Dov Maimon…
SATURDAY: Jocelyn’s father, Robert Brotman turns 88… Legal scholar and public intellectual, now a visiting professor at Cardozo School of Law, Stanley Fish turns 87… Prominent Israeli criminal defense attorney who also served as the attorney general of Israel, Yehuda Weinstein turns 81… Rebbi of the Vizhnitz Hasidic dynasty based in Bnei Brak, Rabbi Yisroel Hager turns 80… Head of Strategic Human Resources at Elliott Investment Management, prominent philanthropist on the board of The Paul E. Singer Foundation, Tikvah Fund, Jewish Food Society, and Startup Nation Central, Terry Kassel… Comedian, actress and mental health campaigner in the U.K., Ruby Wax turns 72… Investor and hedge fund manager, Jacob Ezra Merkin turns 72… VP of GEM Commercial Flooring Company in Kansas, Gloria Elyachar… Angel investment fund manager, he won three Super Bowls during his 12-year NFL career, Harris Barton turns 61… Law professor at Arizona State University and senior fellow at FDD, Orde Félix Kittrie turns 61… Historian, author, screenwriter, political commentator and senior lecturer at the Hebrew University, Gadi Taub turns 60… Israeli entrepreneur, Shai Agassi turns 57… Attorney general of Michigan, Dana Nessel turns 56… French stand-up comedian and actor, Gad Elmaleh turns 54… Author of five books and a frequent columnist in The New Yorker, Rivka Galchen turns 49… Executive director of Honest Reporting, Gil Hoffman turns 48… Award-winning, film, television and theatre actor, his official bar mitzvah was in 2015 at age 37, James Franco turns 47… Toronto-based entrepreneur, philanthropist, CEO and co-founder of Klick Health, Leerom Segal turns 46… Actress, author and fashion entrepreneur, she co-founded Fabletics, Kate Hudson turns 46… Chief development officer at NYC’s Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, Brian Tregerman… Rabbi, philosopher, poet, coach and entrepreneur, he writes a weekly Torah commentary on Substack, Zohar Atkins turns 37… Consultant at Boston Consulting Group, Seffi Kogen… Jake Gerber…
SUNDAY: Art collector and museum trustee in Chicago, he is a retired attorney, Don Kaul turns 90… Stanford University professor and 2020 Nobel Prize laureate in economics, Paul Robert Milgrom turns 77… Chairman of the media networks division of Activision Blizzard, Steve Bornstein turns 73… Philadelphian development professional currently at AJC after a long career for a number of organizations, Andrew Demchick turns 69… Immigrants’ rights activist and professor at Salem State University, she is the eldest daughter of Noam Chomsky, Aviva Chomsky turns 68… Television and radio host, syndicated columnist and political commentator, Steve Malzberg turns 66… Past president and executive director of the DC-based Electronic Privacy Information Center, now at the Center for AI and Digital Policy, Marc Rotenberg turns 65… Executive producer and host at “The Femsplainers Podcast,” Danielle Crittenden Frum turns 62… Semi-professional race car driver and restaurateur, Alan Wilzig turns 60… Television personality and game show host, known professionally as J.D. Roth, James David Weinroth turns 57… British film director, Sarah Gavron turns 55… Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (R-FL) since the beginning of this month, he is one of four Jewish Republicans in the House, Randy Fine turns 51… VP of government and public affairs at Cleveland-based GBX Group, a historic real estate development firm, Seth Foster Unger… Director of speechwriting for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael C. Frohlich… Director of principal gifts at American Promise, Elliott G. Mendes… President and CEO at the Los Angeles-based Skirball Cultural Center, Jessie Kornberg turns 43… Former general manager of Bird in Israel, Yaniv Rivlin… Sportscaster on Fox Sports and NFL Network, he joined ESPN earlier this month, Peter Schrager turns 43… New York-based national security and human rights lawyer, Irina Tsukerman… Writer for The Free Press, Nellie Bowles turns 37… Supervising editor for sports news at CNN, Kyle Feldscher… Policy advisor and counsel to U.S. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), Zachary L. Baum… Systems engineer at Google X, Joseph Gettinger turns 37… Facilitator, coach and workshop organizer, Daniela Kate Plattner… Research analyst at the U.S. Department of State during the Biden administration, David Mariutto… VP at Cedar Capital Partners, Alex Berman… CEO of Social Lite Creative and senior correspondent at Ynet, Emily K. Schrader… Israeli scientist, engineer and artificial intelligence researcher at MIT, Dr. Maor Farid turns 33… Israeli model, swimwear designer and social media star, Neta Alchimister turns 31… Advertising platforms at Apple, McKenna Klein… Former senior associate at LvlUp Ventures, Andrew J. Hirsh… R&B, soul, pop singer and teen actress, at 13 years old she was the runner-up on the second season of “The X Factor,” Carly Rose Sonenclar turns 26… Diane Kahan…
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