French toast: Kushner slams Macron on antisemitism
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In today’s Daily Kickoff, we have the scoop on World Food Program head Cindy McCain’s trip to Israel this week, and cover the clash between U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner and Paris over rising antisemitism in the country. We talk to Rep. John McGuire about his recent trip to Israel with a Republican delegation, and spotlight Jewish communal concerns over increasingly anti-Israel rhetoric from the head of the American Association of University Professors. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Kevin Youkilis, John Bolton and Rabbi Pesach Wolicki.
What We’re Watching
- Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is in Washington this week for meetings with senior U.S. officials. Sa’ar will meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other officials, as well as Jewish communal leaders from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
- World Food Program Executive Director Cindy McCain is in Israel this week. More below.
- We’re keeping an eye on diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and France following a Wall Street Journal op-ed by U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner in which Kushner wrote that, “not a day passes without Jews assaulted in the street, synagogues or schools defaced, or Jewish-owned businesses vandalized” in the country. France’s Foreign Ministry summoned Kushner following the op-ed’s publication yesterday. More below.
- The U.N. Security Council is set to vote today on a French proposal to extend the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which has operated for decades in the border region between Israel and Lebanon and long faced criticism over its inability to prevent Hezbollah from amassing significant weapons stockpiles in the area. At his confirmation hearing last month, Michel Issa, the Trump administration’s nominee to be ambassador to Lebanon, dodged a question on whether the mandate should be extended, saying that the force’s role was likely to change as Beirut pushes Hezbollah to disarm.
- Nuclear talks between Iran and the U.K., Germany and France are expected to take place this week, ahead of next week’s deadline for the imposition of snapback sanctions on Iran.
- Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency officials are in Washington this week for talks regarding Iran’s nuclear program.
- In Minneapolis, the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting kicks off today. The DNC delegates will be considering two Israel-related resolutions — an anti-Israel measure that calls for an arms embargo and a suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel and a more balanced resolution calling for a ceasefire and the immediate return of hostages, which has the backing of DNC Chair Ken Martin.
- The Zionist Rabbinic Coalition is hosting a seminar today for rabbis navigating topics around Israel and antisemitism in High Holiday sermons.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS
After a tumultuous decade in American politics, both major parties are undergoing ideological and generational shifts that are likely to redefine America’s standing in the world — and its relationship with Israel.
On the left, a new generation of lawmakers from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, many with more critical views of Israel than those who came before them, is making gains in major cities, state capitals and on Capitol Hill. On the right, the ascendance of the isolationist MAGA movement and the decline in support for Israel among younger evangelical Christians, traditionally a bastion of support for the Jewish state, is challenging what has long been traditional, strident GOP support for Israel.
Longtime observers of the U.S.-Israel relationship with whom JI spoke over the weekend expressed concern that Jerusalem has not developed a strategic long-term approach to deal with the emerging political realities in the U.S.
When asked if he believed there’s a serious effort in Jerusalem to address the longterm political challenges in the U.S., former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren was succinct: “I do not.”
The U.S.-Israel relationship, Yossi Klein Halevi, a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, told JI on Sunday, “has never been in bigger trouble.” What’s so significant about this moment, he said, is that “the erosion is happening in both parties.”
In the past, Halevi explained, “we could always rely on one party or the other to bail us out. And of course, in the past, it was usually the Democrats, and the fact that the erosion is now beginning in the Republican Party should be sending major, major alarms in Jerusalem, but I don’t see any indication of that.”
Former Knesset member Einat Wilf told JI that the warning signs had been evident for years, and that she had pushed for conversations on the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship when Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) began to criticize Israel. “I remember at the time I started talking with people,” Wilf recalled, “And I told them, ‘Look, if I’m Israel, then I’m putting a team now. Doesn’t have to be overt, but I’m putting a team now that begins to plan for a world where we don’t have such strong support.’”
scoop
Cindy McCain makes first Israel trip since start of Israel-Hamas war
World Food Program head Cindy McCain is in Israel this week on her first trip to the country since the start of the Israel-Hamas war nearly two years ago, three sources in the U.S. and Israel confirmed to Jewish Insider’s Melissa Weiss.
On the agenda: McCain’s trip comes amid a scaled-up effort to deliver aid to Gaza, following widespread reports of malnutrition, food shortages and distribution challenges. She will meet on Monday with families of some of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza, and is expected to travel to the enclave on Tuesday. On Wednesday, McCain is expected to meet with Israeli and U.S. officials, including Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. She may also meet with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who is in Lebanon this week and expected to travel on to Israel after leaving Beirut.
french face-off
Charles Kushner rebukes Macron for ‘dramatic’ rise in antisemitism in France
U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner on Sunday penned an open letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, published in The Wall Street Journal, criticizing the “dramatic rise of antisemitism in France” and Paris’ failure to address the threat, Jewish Insider’s Melissa Weiss reports.
Summoned by France: In the op-ed, Kushner, who arrived at his posting last month, raised concerns that in France, “not a day passes without Jews assaulted in the street, synagogues or schools defaced, or Jewish-owned businesses vandalized,” citing statistics shared by the country’s Interior Ministry regarding the rise in antisemitism incidents. Kushner called on Macron to “enforce hate-crime laws without exception; ensure the safety of Jewish schools, synagogues and businesses, prosecute offenders to the fullest extent; and abandon steps that give legitimacy to Hamas and its allies.” In response, France’s Foreign Ministry summoned Kushner, issuing a statement calling his comments “unacceptable.” The letter comes weeks after Macron’s announcement that Paris intends to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state at next month’s United Nations General Assembly.
mission creep
Leading Jewish groups slam AAUP for ‘moving away from its mission’ with anti-Israel stance
Two leading Jewish groups aimed at countering antisemitism, along with several faculty, blasted the American Association of University Professors for moving “even further away from its mission” after its president said in a recent interview with Inside Higher Ed that the United States should not send defensive weapons to Israel amid its war against Hamas, which he called a genocide in Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Fueling ‘hostility’: “Such rhetoric is deeply troubling and fuels hostility against Jewish and Zionist individuals in academic spaces and beyond,” the Anti-Defamation League and the Academic Engagement Network said last week in a joint statement to JI, in response to comments made by Todd Wolfson, the president of AAUP. Faculty who are longtime members of the association told JI that Wolfson’s latest remark further enforces a climate where Jewish and Zionist members no longer feel represented or protected within the association. Jeffrey Podoshen, a professor in the business department at Franklin & Marshall College, where he formerly served as AAUP chapter president, has suspended contributing dues to the association “as the organization has become much more politicized over the past number of years” in relation to Israel.
yom kippitcher
Game changer: Kevin Youkilis reflects on Judaism and antisemitism as an MLB all-star
It was 2007 and the Boston Red Sox had just won the World Series in Denver. Back at his hotel, three-time Major League Baseball all-star and World Series champion Kevin Youkilis had a party. “All of sudden, we started breaking out [dancing to] ‘Hava Nagila.’ The pride of celebrating a joyous occasion brought me back to my childhood and the traditions we learned in synagogue,” Youkilis said on Wednesday’s premiere episode of “Game Changers,” the new webseries from the Anti-Defamation League and Maccabi USA, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Minority of one: “I was very lucky, I didn’t have many incidents [of antisemitism],” Youkilis, 46, said during the inaugural webinar, which was moderated by Alex Freeman, ADL’s director of sports engagement, and also included remarks from Morgan Zeitz, a University of Michigan student and Maccabi USA athlete. “Guys would joke around, ripping and good fun, but there was never anything directed at me that I felt was antisemitic,” Youkilis, who primarily played for the Red Sox and had stints with the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox, continued. “People asked questions based on ignorance. Like everything in life, when you are a minority and all these things are happening and there’s a lot of rhetoric out there, you have two ways to go about it. You can get really reactive and angry, or you can educate. I think education is always the best tool.”
maga meets the holy land
A trip to Israel becomes a wake-up call for MAGA influencers
Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, the executive director of Israel365 Action, said he felt compelled to arrange a high-profile visit to Israel this month for a group of young MAGA influencers because of what he perceives to be Israel’s failure to appeal to the Make America Great Again movement amid slippage in support for the Jewish state from younger conservatives. “Let’s put it frankly, the way it came about was that the MAGA movement did not have any authentic voices out of Israel communicating to it in this war,” Wolicki told Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs in an interview last week about the trip. “Once you understand the language [that MAGA supporters speak], you realize how much 90% of the Jewish world does not understand it.”
Background: Israel365 Action, a subset of Israel365, the advocacy group that describes itself as an “Orthodox Jewish institution that believes that Jews and Christians must respect one another,” began organizing the visit late last year, after Wolicki was introduced to a group of pro-Israel individuals involved in managing and promoting conservative influencers. Among the influencers who took part in the delegation were Jayne Zirkle, Xavier DeRousseau, Cam Higby, Fabian Garcia, Lance Johnston and Avery Daye.
Changing minds: Johnston said his experience with Israeli soldiers at a barbecue disabused him of prejudices he previously held about the IDF, believing them to be anti-Christian. “We actually had lunch with these guys and just hung out. They were really, really nice to us and it was a really, really, a stark contrast of what I’d been told online. People were literally saying to me in America: ‘I do not trust the IDF, and I believe if I met them in person, they might beat me up or hurt me just because I’m an American or even Christian.’ I was openly wearing my Christian crosses, and I have a Christian tattoo right on my arm, and I was wearing a short sleeve shirt. They didn’t mention it at all,” the Gen Z influencer said.
trip reflections
Rep. John McGuire advised Netanyahu to ‘get the job done’ in Gaza during Israel trip
Fresh off his first congressional trip to Israel, Rep. John McGuire (R-VA) said that the future of his party remains pro-Israel, despite a vocal fringe of House Republicans opposing U.S. support for Israel amid its war against Hamas. “I don’t know where they are with their thoughts and ideas,” McGuire, a freshman lawmaker representing Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, told Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen last week, referring to attempts to block all U.S. funding to Israel by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).
War plans: McGuire visited Israel earlier this month with the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation, alongside 44 other freshmen House Republicans, a trip that he described as “heartbreaking, inspirational and enlightening.” The group met with leaders including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. McGuire said that he had not heard in meetings with leaders a plan for bringing the war to an end, but said that in a sideline conversation, Netanyahu appeared receptive to his advice to “get the job done,” and remain in Gaza until Hamas is defeated.
Worthy Reads
Statehood Trap: The Washington Post’s editorial board pushes back against recent efforts by Paris, Ottawa, London and Canberra to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state, arguing that the eradication of Hamas must be a prerequisite for statehood. “At the core, the future Palestinian state must recognize Israel’s right to exist and renounce violence and terrorism. That means removing from any government role groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, whose calling cards are the elimination of the Jewish state. It means erasing from the education of young Palestinians in schools and mosques that insidious hatred of Israel and the Jewish people. And it means standing up a reformed Palestinian Authority with the credibility and resources to govern the new entity. The rush to recognize a Palestinian state by some of Israel’s staunchest allies such as France, Britain, Canada and Australia is born of an understandable frustration: mainly their inability to sway Netanyahu’s government to cease its destructive war on Gaza and alleviate the human suffering. Recognizing a Palestinian state is a diplomatic way of kicking over the table to try to restart peace talks from scratch.” [WashPost]
Journalists or Terrorists?: In The Wall Street Journal, Jamie Kirchick reflects on the decision by activist groups to classify Palestinians working for terror-aligned and Qatari-financed media outlets as journalists. “What these men did wasn’t journalism, and claiming otherwise dishonors the real journalists who risk and sometimes lose their lives endeavoring to bring us the truth. To put people who celebrated or participated in the Oct. 7 attacks in the same category as journalists Daniel Pearl, Marie Colvin and James Foley is a disgrace. What’s being hyped as an unprecedented attack on journalists is actually a cynical salvo in an information war. By claiming that Israeli brutality is responsible for the deaths of a ‘record’ number of ‘journalists’ in Gaza, international press-freedom groups have committed a category error. The figure is high because the world has never seen a conflict in which so many people working on behalf of terrorist organizations have been disingenuously characterized as journalists by once-respected watchdog groups. The cause of international press freedom is undermined when its leading institutions launder jihadist martyrdom into journalistic sacrifice.” [WSJ]
Beauty Marks: Puck’s Rachel Strugatz looks at the fallout following beauty influencer Huda Kattan’s posting of a video blaming Israel for both world wars and the 9/11 attacks; Sephora dropped Kattan from its upcoming campaign in response, but didn’t sever all ties. “Kattan’s video and posts were so disturbing, and her apology so insufficient, that Sephora had a moral imperative — and given the current political environment, a fiduciary obligation — to respond. (In Kattan’s apology video, she said her post was ‘misinterpreted and completely misused,’ and denied any allegations of antisemitism.) But Sephora’s business will be impacted, and sales will probably suffer, whether the retailer continues its partnership with Kattan or decides to cut ties with the brand. (Cue the social media boycott on both sides.) Surprisingly, Sephora hasn’t faced this level of backlash and criticism regarding one of its important partners before, and how it handles Huda Beauty will reveal a lot about its priorities and reliance on top brands with bright futures.” [Puck]On the Fringes: In the Jerusalem Journal, Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matt Brooks argues that both major parties should distance themselves from their fringe elements that call for decreased U.S.-Israel ties. “We know that there is a vast difference between criticizing an Israeli policy or politician and calling for the destruction of the one Jewish state in the world, the one democracy in the Middle East. That is a distinction that we must keep making, clearly and loudly. Likewise, we must hold accountable the people who educate, inform, and influence Americans — from universities to news outlets to social media influencers — and not let lies go unrefuted. … It is possible to push extreme ideas and their advocates back to the fringes. The GOP and the conservative movement have done it before. It is possible to hold people accountable and call out anti-Israel and antisemitic words and actions when we see them. It is possible to use every means at our disposal to fight the information war being waged against Israel. It is possible, and it is imperative.” [JerusalemJournal]
Word on the Street
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, weeks after a leaked preliminary DIA report on the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June that suggested that the military action did not fully incapacitate Iran’s nuclear program…
FBI agents raided the home of former National Security Advisor John Bolton as part of a federal security probe…
The Department of Homeland Security, citing “terrorist ties,” canceled dozens of grants issued to Muslim organizations primarily through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program…
The New York Times spotlights the business pursuits of Michael Boulos, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, following his 2021 engagement to Trump’s daughter Tiffany, as Boulos sought to benefit from his in-laws’ professional connections; in one such deal, Boulos, while working for his cousin’s yacht brokerage, overcharged his future brother-in-law, Jared Kushner, for a stake in a superyacht…
Kent Fuchs, the interim president of the University of Florida, said that the school’s search for a new president had become “more challenging” following the UF Board of Governors’ rejection of former University of Michigan President Santa Ono, who had been the only finalist in the previous search; Fuchs is leading the school until the end of the month, when a new interim leader will rotate into the position…
A Georgia man was fired after he and his wife were filmed shouting antisemitic insults at a neighbor whose daughter, an Israeli police officer, was killed in a terror attack in 2023…
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, who had previously served as The Netherlands’ ambassador to Israel, resigned after he was unable to bring sanctions against Israel; members of Veldkamp’s New Social Contract party followed his exit, throwing the existing caretaker government into disarray ahead of October elections…
Israel struck Houthi targets in Yemen on Sunday; the strikes followed the Houthis’ firing on Friday of a ballistic missile with a cluster bomb attached, the first such warhead that has been fired by the Iran-backed terror group…
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in his first public address since the 12-day war with Israel in June, effectively ruled out nuclear talks with the U.S., accusing President Donald Trump of wanting Tehran to “surrender”…
Iran’s defense minister said the country was planning to manufacture weapons outside of Iran, with factories being built in several countries…
Hundreds of inmates have been returned to refurbished areas of Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, which was damaged in the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June…
NPR’s Ari Shapiro is departing the public broadcaster, where he has co-hosted “All Things Considered” for a decade, next month; the departure by Shapiro, who joined NPR 25 years ago, comes amid a number of exits by other high-profile NPR staffers…
The New York Times’ “Vows” section spotlights the nuptials of Camp Social founder Liv Schreiber and Kyle Sidi Shaub…
Anne Neuberger, who served as deputy national security advisor for cybersecurity and emerging tech in the Biden administration, is joining Andreessen Horowitz as senior advisor focused on AI and cyber…
JI senior congressional correspondent Marc Rod and Olivia Truesdale, a program manager at FMC (Former Members of Congress), got engaged while vacationing in Venice, Italy. Marc proposed during a private breakfast at their hotel. They met in 2018 while they were editors for the Claremont Colleges’ student newspaper, and began dating shortly after…
Television and theater actor Jerry Adler, whose credits included “The Sopranos” and “The Good Wife,” died at 96…
Shelly Zegart, a founder of the Kentucky Quilt Project who sought to connect the craft to the American experience, died at 84…
Birthdays
Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration from 2009 until 2016, she now serves on the board of directors of Stewart Title Co., Deborah “Debbie” Matz turns 75…
British novelist, he is known for writing comic novels that revolve around the dilemmas of Jewish characters, Howard Jacobson turns 83… Bass guitarist and co-lead singer of Kiss, his birth name is Chaim Witz, known professionally as “The Demon” and Gene Simmons, he turns 76… Chairman of the board emeritus at the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, Lorin M. Fife… CEO of The Joel Paul Group, a division of Merraine Group, specializing in executive recruitment for the nonprofit sector, William Seth Hochman turns 70… Former member of the Knesset for the Blue and White party, he is a retired major general in the IDF, Elazar Stern turns 69… Former program director at the St. Paul, Minn., JCC, Manfred “Fred” Haeusler… Former Trump fixer, he was the key prosecution witness in the 2024 Trump criminal trial brought by the Manhattan DA, Michael D. Cohen turns 59… Professor of mathematics at Harvard University (tenured at age 26, the youngest ever), pianist and chess national master, Noam David Elkies turns 59… U.S. senator (R-Ohio), appointed in January to fill the seat of VPOTUS JD Vance, Jon Husted turns 58… Musician, singer songwriter, author and record producer best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Wilco, Jeffrey Scot Tweedy turns 58… Former Canadian MP, now VP for external affairs and general counsel at Canada’s Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Richard Marceau turns 55… Regional marketing director at UJA-Federation of New York, Suzanne Schneider… Executive director at the Religious Zionists of America, Alicia Post… Actress and musician best known for playing Melanie “MelRose” Rosen on the Netflix series “Glow,” Jaclyn Tohn turns 45… Director of development for South Florida’s JVAC – Jewish Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Sarah Schreiber… Founder and managing partner at Commonweal Ventures, Nathaniel Loewentheil… Director of state and local government relations at multinational conglomerate Philips, Evan Hoffman… Managing director in the D.C. office of SKDK, Daniel Barash… Canadian actress, Stacey Farber turns 38… Director of product marketing at LinkedIn, Sam Michelman… Founder and CEO of DLP Labs, Ryan Kuhel… Founder and CEO at the Center for Intimacy Justice, Jackie Rotman… Senior director of editorial strategy and operations at Axios, Neal Rothschild… Jane Wasserman… Investigative counsel for the House Education and the Workforce Committee, Jenna Lifhits Berger… Operations and accounting specialist at HealthSource Distributors, Adam Aryeh Friedman… Israeli singer-songwriter, Eden Hason turns 31… Carina Grossmann… Robert Cohen…
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