Trump’s Kuwait ambassador pick hits GOP wall
Plus, meet Minnesota's new U.S. attorney
Add JewishInsider on GoogleGood Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the resumption of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and talk to legislators in Washington about the repeated Hamas violations of the agreement. We report on the mounting challenges facing Amer Ghalib, the Trump administration’s embattled nominee to be ambassador to Kuwait, and interview Daniel Rosen, who was recently tapped as U.S. attorney in Minnesota. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Bill Ackman, Rep. Elise Stefanik and Itzhak Perlman.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- The World Zionist Congress continues today in Jerusalem. We’re monitoring efforts by the center-left and center-right blocs to broker a coalition agreement that will determine control over national institutions. Voting on dozens of resolutions and amendments that was previously slated for Thursday — including one resolution regarding Haredi military enlistment — was moved to today in an effort to avoid planned protests outside Jerusalem’s convention center by members of the Haredi community.
- Tonight in Washington, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington is holding its annual gala. This year’s gala will honor former Rep. David Trone (D-MD) and his wife, June; JCRC Vice President Behnam Dayanim; and Eva Davis, the co-chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s Network Council.
- The Future Investment Initiative summit continues today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. More below.
- The two men convicted earlier this year for their roles in an Iran-backed assassination plot targeting Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad will be sentenced today in New York. Prosecutors are seeking 55-year sentences for the two men, who are believed to have ties to the Russian mafia.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S EMILY JACOBS AND MATTHEW SHEA
The tenuous ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that had threatened to collapse earlier this week following repeated Hamas violations, including the killing of an IDF soldier in Rafah, and a series of Israeli strikes that killed dozens of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip last night was restored on Wednesday morning.
The Israel Defense Forces announced that in accordance with a directive from political leaders, it had renewed enforcement of the ceasefire. The army said it had hit dozens of terror targets and struck over 30 terrorists holding command positions within terrorist organizations operating in Gaza.
Israel had protested to the White House over what it says are multiple violations of the deal by Hamas — including the terror group’s slow-walking of its return of the bodies of the 13 remaining hostages and its staging of the discovery of additional remains of a hostage whose body was repatriated by the IDF in December 2023. But Trump administration officials, who were presented with evidence of the staging, including drone footage, reportedly told aides to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they didn’t view Hamas’ actions as a breach of the agreement.
But in comments to reporters on Air Force One heading to Seoul, South Korea, President Donald Trump backed the Israeli strikes. “They killed an Israeli soldier, so the Israelis hit back and they should hit back. When that happens, they should hit,” Trump said. “Hamas is a small thing, but they kill people. They grew up killing people, and I guess they don’t stop.”
The ceasefire’s temporary lapse did not surprise some on Capitol Hill. “You’re going to see a lot of this,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told Jewish Insider of the renewed skirmishes in Gaza. “I mean, the Hamas soldiers are not terribly civilized, and the fact that there’s a ceasefire is of no moment to many of them. You’re periodically going to see them continue to shoot at the Israeli soldiers, and when they do, the Israeli soldiers are going to shoot back and kill them.”
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said he felt it was “entirely appropriate” that Israel struck Hamas targets in order to protect Israeli forces. “If Hamas is attacking them, violating, obviously, the ceasefire and attacking IDF soldiers, Israel has been very clear: If you shoot us, we’re going to actually stop you,” the Oklahoma Republican said.
Democrats who spoke to JI on Tuesday were less critical of Hamas’ repeated violations and focused on Jerusalem’s actions. “My question is: Is he trying to undo the deal?” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) asked of Netanyahu. “If he’s trying to undo the deal, then he’s got another problem, which is [that] they [the U.S.] want more nations in the Abraham Accords, and those nations have said we’re not coming in unless there is a path forward to Palestinian autonomy.”
Gaith al-Omari, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, predicted that the breakout of strikes was an isolated episode that would be “contained,” calling this week’s escalation “concerning but not surprising.” Ceasefires, al-Omari added, “take a while to solidify and stabilize, whether because of accidents or because the sides testing the limits of the ceasefire.”
Read more here for additional reactions from the Hill and insights from Middle East experts.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Lindsey Graham says Hamas unlikely to disarm without Israeli confrontation
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) expressed skepticism on Monday that Hamas will comply with disarmament requirements in its U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement with Israel, saying that finishing off the terrorist group may require further confrontation from Israel, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. “To expect Hamas to disarm without the threat of confrontation is unrealistic,” Graham wrote in a post on X. “Therefore, it is my growing belief that Hamas is not going to disarm but instead is in the process of consolidating power in Gaza by attacking those who oppose them.”
Graham’s take: Few Republican lawmakers have thus far questioned if President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan — which has brought all the living hostages back to Israel — will be sufficient to take Hamas out of power in Gaza. “Under the current approach, every day that goes by allows Hamas to get stronger and more lethal,” said Graham. “The world needs to understand that Israel cannot tolerate this outcome. If Israel feels it needs to reengage in Gaza to finish Hamas off, they have my full support.”
POSITION IN PERIl
Trump’s controversial Kuwait ambassador nominee faces mounting GOP opposition
The nomination of Amer Ghalib, the mayor of Hamtramck, Mich., to be U.S. ambassador to Kuwait is facing what appear to be insurmountable odds as opposition to his confirmation grows among Senate Republicans. No Republican or Democratic senators have come to Ghalib’s defense after his performance at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, when he faced a bipartisan grilling over his long record of promoting antisemitic ideas and his embrace of anti-Israel positions as an elected official, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Expressing opposition: Senators on both sides of the aisle had privately expressed reservations about Ghalib’s nomination prior to the hearing, but his attempts to evade responsibility for his record while under oath prompted several Republicans on the committee to go public. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) announced at the end of Ghalib’s hearing last Thursday that he would not be able to support moving his nomination out of committee to the Senate floor. Sens. John Curtis (R-UT), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Dave McCormick (R-PA) have since followed suit. Others on the panel, including Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE), have said they plan to raise their concerns about Ghalib with the committee chairman, Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), and the White House.
TIKTOK TALK
Jewish leaders, tech experts hopeful, but realistic about TikTok deal’s impact on online antisemitism
As a deal to split off TikTok’s U.S. business is set to be finalized between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, antisemitism experts were divided over how likely the agreement will be in transforming the social media platform’s approach when it comes to combating the spread of antisemitism in its algorithm. Among the expected new owners of TikTok is technology company Oracle, which has Jewish ownership and has consistently expressed support for Israel. “We are optimistic about this moment,” Eric Fingerhut, CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, said while moderating a panel discussion on Tuesday about the deal, hosted at the organization’s headquarters in Washington, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Weighing in: The panel featured Sarah O’Quinn, U.S. director of public affairs at the Center for Countering Digital Hate; Daniel Kelley, director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center for Technology and Society; and Yair Rosenberg, a staff writer at The Atlantic. “When people ask, ‘Why would the Jewish Federations of North America be involved in an issue like the TikTok bill?’ our answer was simple,” said Fingerhut. “The No. 1 issue we’re hearing from our communities is the responsibility to address the rise of antisemitism, particularly that’s being directed at our young people, and there’s no way you can do that without tackling the problem on social media, and TikTok was the largest and worst offender.” Rosenberg and Kelley remained skeptical about the deal’s ability to mitigate online hate — stressing the virality algorithms on TikTok and other platforms have demonstrated when showing antisemitic or anti-Israel content.
JUSTICE, JUSTICE HE PURSUES
New U.S. Attorney in Minnesota Daniel Rosen sees history of antisemitism repeating itself
Daniel Rosen earned a unique distinction when he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate early this month to be Minnesota’s top federal prosecutor. The 60-year-old lawyer and Orthodox Jewish community activist is one of the few Orthodox Jews to serve as U.S. attorney. And he is almost certainly the only chief federal law enforcement officer in the county who regularly studies the Talmud, a text, he says, that shares a “phenomenal” range of common principles with the American legal tradition. “The more you study the Talmud, the more you see how rooted in our [Jewish] traditions American law, and the British law from which it emerged, really is,” Rosen explained in an interview on Tuesday with Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel.
Tackling antisemitism: As he acclimates to his new role, Rosen, who had previously worked in private practice, said that one of his “primary motivations” for seeking the position was the “rapid escalation of violent antisemitism” in the United States, calling the “prosecution of violent hate crimes” a top priority for his office. “Jewish history tells us that Jews fare poorly in societies that turn polarized,” he said, arguing that Jewish Americans, in particular, “have a profound and immediate interest in reversing the direction of the violent hatred that’s being expressed in many directions.”
SAUDI SUMMIT
Ackman sees Gaza truce easing Saudi path to Abraham Accords
Milling among the investors crowding the gilded hallways of the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman expressed confidence that the Gulf nation is moving closer to establishing formal links with Israel. Ackman, founder of New York-based Pershing Square Capital Management, told The Circuit’s Jonathan H. Ferziger on Tuesday that he sees the current ceasefire in Gaza easing concerns in the Middle East about joining the 2020 Abraham Accords that normalized Israel’s ties with the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco.
High expectations: “I think it’ll be in the relative short term,” Ackman said in an interview at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center, where some 9,000 registrants are attending the conference. “I think there’s going to be a major peace dividend coming out of recent positive developments in the resolution of the Israeli-Gaza situation.” Ackman, 59, whose personal fortune is estimated by Bloomberg at $8.4 billion, bought a nearly 5% stake in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange last year with his wife, Neri Oxman. He said he has also invested in Israeli venture capital funds for the last seven years or so.
Read the full interview here and sign up for The Daily Circuit newsletter here.
BUILDING BRIDGES
Asian Jewish students celebrate intersecting identities, gather for landmark Shabbaton at Yale
The table setting at the inaugural Asian Jewish Shabbaton at Yale University Hillel last Friday night — challah and chopsticks — straddled more than just culinary worlds. It also served as a tangible bridge linking the intersecting identities of the 450 students from 15 universities in attendance. The two-day inaugural Asian Jewish Shabbaton, organized by Yale’s Asian Jewish Union, provided students a place to connect over the challenges around balancing both Asian and Jewish identities — and the associated stereotypes. It also gave participants a chance to explore the natural allyship the two groups share, with an emphasis on their mutual values — such as community and education, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Coming together: “Before this weekend I had met a handful of Asian Jews my entire life,” Aasia Gabbour, a senior at New York University studying global public health and nutrition and food studies, told eJP. “This feels special because it’s something I never got to experience. I’ve always been able to find my community within the Jewish community, but [Asian Jews] are such a niche group that getting the chance to learn there are a lot of us is a unique experience. The groups are natural allies and I especially saw that this weekend,” continued Gabbour. “We all naturally gravitate towards each other. We got to know each other on a deeper level with semi-facilitated discussions.” Those discussions addressed issues relevant to both communities, including a surge in antisemitism and anti-Asian hate seen in recent years. Students asked each other questions, including, “How do you balance your Asian identity with your Jewish identity? What was your experience like growing up? Did you deal with stereotypes?”
Read the full story here and sign up for eJewishPhilanthropy’s Your Daily Phil newsletter here.
Worthy Reads
Eye on Iraq: The Atlantic’s Robert Worth looks at how Iraq is managing its relationships with both the U.S. and Iran as Iranian-backed companies and groups gain footholds in the once war-torn country. “Iran has taken a beating from both the United States and Israel over the past year, and its vaunted ‘Axis of Resistance’ lies in ruins. Iraq finds itself in the uncomfortable position of being the Islamic Republic’s last major ally in the region and an economic lifeline for its cash-starved regime. President Donald Trump has said nothing about this relationship, even as he’s continued to try to choke off Iran’s economy with sanctions. … Recent American presidents have reluctantly accepted the limits of Iraq’s political system, pressing Iraqi leaders to distance themselves from Tehran but avoiding the kinds of measures that would tilt the country back into open conflict. Trump, who is not known for his patience with diplomatic compromise, may take a different approach.” [TheAtlantic]
Ink Stain: The New York Times’ Tressie McMillan Cottom weighs in on the willingness of some Democratic officials’ to overlook concerns about Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s tattoo of a Nazi symbol. “I don’t particularly care about the symbols people use to signal their membership in a group. Maybe you do need a terrifying tattoo to be a real Marine. And maybe sometimes that terrifying tattoo might resemble Nazi iconography. If you are willing to accept that from a distance, as many Democrats say they are, a person may not be able to tell the real symbol of hate from its doppelgänger, that is for you to live with. But, I do care about the political trade-offs we will ask people to make in the name of pragmatism. If the Democratic future requires us to exchange our discomfort with casual Nazism to advance a political agenda, I am not interested.” [NYTimes]
Erdogan’s Ambitions: In Foreign Policy, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Sinan Ciddi and William Doran explore Turkey’s role as a major arms supplier across Africa. “Alongside its diplomatic surge, Turkey has emerged as a major arms supplier. Turkish drone and small-arms exports have surged, while its military footprint — both through the Turkish Armed Forces and Turkish private military companies — has expanded rapidly. These arms exports exacerbate instability in African states facing civil wars, routinely violating international sanctions and ending up in the hands of malicious regional actors. [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan views Africa as an arena where Turkey can meet regional security demands while enhancing its diplomatic standing, military prestige, and market access. Arms sales form the backbone of this ambition.” [ForeignPolicy]
Word on the Street
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) will introduce a resolution this week affirming Israel’s sovereignty over the Temple Mount, a sacred site for Jews, Christians and Muslims, and demanding equal freedom of worship for all, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs has learned…
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who is mulling a bid for governor of New York, is releasing a book that does a deep dive into what she describes as “far-left indoctrination, division, and moral rot” in higher education; Poisoned Ivies, which was born out of Stefanik’s now-viral grilling of university presidents during a December 2023 Capitol Hill hearing, will be published in April 2026…
Tarek Bazrouk, an anti-Israel activist who attacked Jews at Israel demonstrations in New York City on three separate occasions over the last two years, was sentenced to 17 months in prison…
Authorities in Alabama arrested a man who had issued threats against Jewish institutions in the state; officials said Jeremy Wayne Shoemaker had been stockpiling ammunition, body armor and “other items related to the plans of violence”…
Several members of the Muslim Student Association at a Fairfax County, Va., high school were suspended following an outcry over the group’s posting of videos of students imitating hostage-taking…
Violinist Itzhak Perlman will appear as the featured guest on the next episode of The Food Network’s “Be My Guest with Ina Garten,” airing this weekend…
The New York Times reviews Barak Goodman’s new two-part documentary “Kissinger,” about former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s life and career, which debuted this week on PBS…
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen said that the ice cream company’s parent Unilever prevented the ice cream maker from creating a “flavor for Palestine” and that he would make his own watermelon-flavored ice cream instead…
British Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis spoke to Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday outside of the Vatican as the Holy See marked the 60th anniversary of the Nostra Aetate that reshaped Catholic-Jewish relations…
The children of a Jewish-German couple that fled Nazi Germany in 1936 and was unable to recoup the proceeds of the sale of their art collection, which was forfeited to the Nazis, are suing the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a Greek museum over Vincent Van Gogh’s 1889 “Olive Picking,” which had belonged to their parents and is now on display at the Goulandris Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens…
More than 150 Hamas terrorists who were recently released as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire were reportedly moved from the luxury resort in Cairo in which they were staying, following a report earlier this week that the released prisoners were being housed in a hotel alongside tourists…
Writer Barbara Gips, who crafted the taglines for dozens of movies including “Alien” and “Fatal Attraction,” died at 89…
Pic of the Day
Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed the 39th World Zionist Congress, at the International Conference Center in Jerusalem, last night.
Birthdays
Emmy Award-winning television producer, writer and actor, best known for NBC’s “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation,” Michael Schur turns 50…
Haifa, Israel-born director and screenwriter of animated and live-action films including “The Lord of the Rings,” Ralph Bakshi turns 87… Dean emeritus of the Yale School of Management, he has served in the Nixon, Ford, Carter and Clinton administrations, Jeffrey E. Garten turns 79… Academy Award-winning actor, who played Yoni Netanyahu in the 1976 film “Victory at Entebbe,” Richard Dreyfuss turns 78… Retired CEO of the Center for the National Interest and publisher of its namesake foreign policy magazine, The National Interest, Dimitri Simes turns 78… Former director of the social justice organizing program at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Mordechai Eliyahu Liebling turns 77… Pulitzer Prize-winning author and editor of The New Yorker since 1998, David Remnick turns 67… Bernard Greenberg… Rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom in Phoenix, Dana Evan Kaplan turns 65… Author, satirist and public speaker, Evan Sayet turns 65… Classical pianist, Susan Merdinger turns 63… Sports agent who has negotiated over $10 billion of player contracts, Drew Rosenhaus turns 59… Actor who appeared in 612 episodes of daytime soap opera “As the World Turns,” his mother, Rina Plotnik, served in the IDF, Grayson McCouch turns 57… Screenwriter and film director based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Andrea Dorfman turns 57… Mathematician, cryptologist and computer scientist, Daniel J. Bernstein turns 54… Israeli collaborative artist, designer and photographer, Moshe Hacmon turns 48… VP for strategic communications and business development at Anchorage-based Northern Compass Group, Rachel Barinbaum… Jockey who has won more than 1,740 races with earnings of more than $67.6 million, David Cohen turns 41… Marketing director for Fox Lifestyle Hospitality Group, Leigh Shirvan Helfenbein… Senior product manager at Audible, Samantha Zeldin… Former national spokesperson for the Harris Walz campaign, now an AVP for public affairs at the NYC Economic Development Corporation, Seth Schuster… Ph.D. candidate in Russian and East European history at Harvard, Leora Eisenberg… Booking producer at NBC Universal’s “The Beat with Ari Melber,” David Siegel…
Recent Daily Kickoff Newsletters
