Wall Street Journal cozies up to Qatar
Plus, stars and pols flock to Doha despite baggage
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In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at Qatar’s multifront effort to attract celebrities, influencers, U.S. politicians and media outlets, even as it continues to back destabilizing groups including Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. We have the scoop on a new call from lawmakers in Washington for Lebanon’s leaders to disarm Hezbollah, and report on concerns by the Anti-Defamation League that Sen. Bernie Moreno’s new legislation banning dual citizenship could revive antisemitic narratives. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Daniel Lurie, Jacob Helberg and Michael and Susan Dell.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- The House Foreign Affairs Committee is holding a vote today to advance legislation designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. More below.
- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding a vote this morning on advancing the nominations of Yehuda Kaploun and Tammy Bruce to be the State Department’s antisemitism envoy and deputy representative to the U.N., respectively.
- Jared Isaacman will face the Senate Commerce Committee today for a second hearing to be the administrator of NASA, eight months after his initial nomination was pulled during a spat between Elon Musk, who backed his nomination, and President Donald Trump.
- Elsewhere in Washington, SKDK is hosting a small gathering with the parents of slain Israeli Americans Omer Neutra and Itay Chen and their supporters.
- In Maryland, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington is hosting its annual “Lox and Legislators” event in Rockville this morning. Gov. Wes Moore, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) and Democratic Reps. April McClain Delaney and Glenn Ivey are slated to speak.
- In New York, Israel Policy Forum is honoring Bob Elman and Bob Sugarman this afternoon at the group’s annual gala. The event will also feature a discussion with Ambassador Michael Ratney, Elisa Ewers and Rachel Brandenburg on the future of U.S. leadership in the Middle East.
- White House Deputy Special Envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus is in Israel this week for meetings with senior Israeli officials. Israeli media reported that Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is expected to present Ortagus with recent findings indicating that Hezbollah is rearming itself in Lebanon in violation of a ceasefire agreement inked between Jerusalem and Beirut last year.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S marc rod
Qatar, whose ties to the Muslim Brotherhood have drawn scrutiny in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, is doubling down on a charm offensive focused on a handful of GOP lawmakers and conservative social media influencers, all while hosting two of the most established brands in American news.
A group of House Republicans visited Qatar during the House’s Thanksgiving recess last week, including Reps. Laurel Lee (R-FL), Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ), Ryan Zinke (R-MT) and Lance Gooden (R-TX). The trip occurred just before the House Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled to vote on legislation that classifies the entire Muslim Brotherhood organization globally as a terrorist group.
A group of conservative social media influencers also visited Qatar over Thanksgiving, posting glowing dispatches lauding the country and its role in hosting a U.S. military base.
Rob Smith, one of the invited guests, posted credulously about Qatar on his Instagram feed after the trip, “I wasn’t aware of a great deal of things about Qatar, only misperceptions and half-truths I’d read about online. When the opportunity was presented to me, with full authority and autonomy to ask the tough questions of the officials I’d be meeting with, I decided to risk any potential criticism and to travel and experience it for myself.”
Meanwhile, numerous prominent celebrities — including comedian Kevin Hart, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and tennis star Novak Djokovic — gathered in Doha over the weekend for the 2025 Formula One Qatar Grand Prix.
And this week, the country is hosting the Doha Forum, a conference co-sponsored by CNN. Those attending the conference include several Trump administration officials and ambassadors, politicians and philanthropists, alongside Israel-bashing officials such as former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, sanctioned U.N. special rapporteur Francesca Albanese and former Iran envoy Rob Malley.
Others on the guest list include: Donald Trump Jr., U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker, Trump advisor Alex Bruesewitz, the Heritage Foundation’s Victoria Coates, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates, the Quincy Institute’s Trita Parsi, CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour and other officials, leaders and analysts from around the world.
Also this week, The Wall Street Journal is hosting a technology conference in Doha, featuring business leaders and celebrities, hosted by various Journal reporters. As JI’s Matthew Kassel reports (see more below), the summit is raising ethical questions surrounding the paper’s deepening business ties with Qatar — even as the Journal’s conservative editorial page has slammed the Gulf monarchy as a financial and diplomatic sponsor of Hamas.
Each of these events comes at a time when Qatar’s complicated public reputation in the United States is becoming a flashpoint, particularly inside the conservative movement.
QATAR’S PAPER PLAY
Wall Street Journal expands ties with Qatar, launches glitzy conference in Doha
The Wall Street Journal kicked off its Tech Live conference in Qatar on Tuesday, underscoring a deepening partnership between the publication and the controversial Gulf state. The exclusive summit, making its debut in the Middle East, will continue to be held in Doha, the Qatari capital, for the next five years, according to an initial announcement from Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal. The event is sponsored by the state-owned Qatar Airways, among a handful of other companies, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Growing embrace: Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who spoke at the event on Tuesday in an onstage discussion with Dow Jones’ CEO, Almar Latour, said in a social media post that the conference “represents a key platform to discuss technology’s role in business and advance Qatar’s digital standing.” In addition, Dow Jones recently opened an office in Doha’s Media City as part of an effort to “strengthen its operations throughout the Middle East.”
STATE OF PLAY
Report: Muslim Brotherhood influence ‘increasingly pervasive’ in U.S.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s influence has become increasingly pervasive in the United States, according to a new report by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, titled “The Muslim Brotherhood’s Strategic Entryism into the United States: A Systemic Analysis.” President Donald Trump’s recent instruction to Secretary of State Marco Rubio to take steps toward banning Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated organizations came soon after ISGAP briefed policymakers from both parties and national security professionals, including Trump administration officials, in Washington and beyond about the study, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Group’s goals: “For decades now, we’ve known that Islamism has been a problem within our liberal secular democracies,” ISGAP’s vice president, Haras Rafiq, told the Misgav Mideast Horizons podcast. (Harkov co-hosts the podcast.) The new ISGAP report cites authenticated Muslim Brotherhood documents describing the group’s strategy – called tamkeen, which loosely translates to “empowerment” – of entrenching itself in the institutions of Western democracies.
SCOOP
Lawmakers to Lebanese leaders: ‘Disarm Hezbollah now’ or risk losing U.S. support
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers wrote to the president and prime minister of Lebanon on Wednesday demanding they urgently move forward to disarm Hezbollah, in accordance with the ceasefire agreement signed by Lebanon and Israel in November 2024. The group accused the Lebanese government of failing to fulfill its promises and obligations to disarm the terrorist group and threatened a withdrawal of U.S. support if it does not change course, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What they wrote: “We write to you with a critical message: disarm Hezbollah now, including by force if necessary,” the letter reads. “Empty promises and partial measures that fall far short of disarming the group are clearly not enough. The lack of real progress has enabled Hezbollah to rearm and rebuild its positions, even in areas south of the Litani River, where it is prohibited from operating under UN Security Council Resolution 1701.” The letter, led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), was co-signed by Reps. Jefferson Shreve (R-IN), Don Bacon (R-NE), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Mark Messmer (R-IN), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Don Davis (D-NC) and Jared Golden (D-ME).
HOLDING FIRE
Harmeet Dhillon declines to criticize Tucker Carlson for hosting antisemites on podcast
Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department, defended Tucker Carlson’s hosting of neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes at the Israel Hayom summit on Tuesday. Dhillon took part in a conversation at the gathering, which took place in Manhattan, with the outlet’s senior diplomatic correspondent, Ariel Kahana, about the Trump administration’s efforts to combat domestic antisemitism, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Tucker talk: Asked about Carlson’s interview with Fuentes and what tools the U.S. had to prevent the spread of the antisemitic ideas from the far right, Dhillon distanced herself from Fuentes while calling Carlson a “friend.” Dhillon said, “What we say in First Amendment world is: The antidote to speech that you don’t like is more speech. It isn’t shutting down speech. So, I don’t agree with a single word that Nick Fuentes says or has to say, and the decision of whether or not to platform that person is one for my friend and former client, Tucker Carlson.”
Also speaking at the summit: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned of the influence of social media in shaping young people’s perceptions on Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.
CITIZENSHIP QUALMS
ADL says Moreno’s dual-citizenship bill risks reviving ‘dual loyalty’ narrative
The Anti-Defamation League said on Tuesday that Sen. Bernie Moreno’s (R-OH) new proposal to ban dual citizenship risks reviving an antisemitic “dual loyalty” charge that has historically been used to target Jewish Americans, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report.
ADL’s approach: Dan Granot, the Anti-Defamation League’s senior director of government relations, told JI, “The idea of questioning the loyalty of Americans based on dual citizenship is deeply troubling. Dual citizenship is a lawful and common status that millions of Americans hold, and it does not diminish anyone’s commitment to the United States. Accusations of ‘dual loyalty’ have historically been used against Jews to exclude them from public life and even justify violence, making this trope especially harmful and dangerous.”
Elsewhere: Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), a potential 2028 presidential candidate, is sparring with AIPAC on social media over ads the group ran criticizing his support for a House resolution describing the war in Gaza as a genocide, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
PAPAL PRAISE
Pope’s praise of Erdogan as a peacemaker raises eyebrows
Following a visit to Turkey on his inaugural international trip last week, Pope Leo XIV lauded Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his peacemaking abilities and said Turkey has “an important role that it could play” in advancing peace in the Middle East and effectuating a two-state solution. The pope’s comments and decision to share pleasantries with the Turkish leader have struck some in the pro-Israel community as out of touch and are part a pattern of recent remarks from the Vatican that have been critical of Israel, most notably in its handling of the war against Hamas in Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.
Reactions: Steven Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, called the pontiff’s comments on Turkey “odd,” adding that his intentions were likely to “flatter his hosts but have little connection to reality.” Sinan Ciddi, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, agreed, calling the pope’s comments “flawed” and “fantasy.” However, he noted that popes have a “record of being idealists.”
Worthy Reads
The Instagram Mayor: The Wall Street Journal’s Jim Carlton spotlights San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s embrace of social media as a means to boost the city’s standing after being elected on a platform of revitalizing the Bay Area, which for years had been plagued by economic and safety issues. “The 47-year-old Levi Strauss heir has become ubiquitous on the city’s social-media scene. He posts musings every day from his wanderings around San Francisco, some on somber topics like ongoing drug use but most are upbeat — even a bit hokey. … Social media, he added, is his way of telling San Franciscans — and the world — how the city is progressing. ‘It’s about being unfiltered, speaking directly to the people of San Francisco,’ the mayor said as he walked along the city’s waterfront last month after one of many stops, holding an umbrella against a cold, light rain.” [WSJ]
Having Hurwitz’s Back: In the Jewish Telegraph Agency, Jarrod Bernstein, Shelley Greenspan and Chanan Weissman, all former White House Jewish liaisons, defend former White House speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz amid a deluge of online criticism over a misleadingly edited video clip in which Hurwitz discussed how Holocaust education has impacted conversations about the Israel-Hamas war. “What followed was a torrent of outrage from people who claimed Sarah was arguing that we shouldn’t teach Holocaust education because doing so makes young people think the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is a genocide. Others claimed she was saying that genocide only matters when it’s perpetrated against Jews. Such sentiments would obviously be obscene, and we were shocked that people would attribute them to Sarah, someone who just published a book in which she expressed profound anguish about the unbearable deaths of civilians in Gaza. … Sarah was also conveying that, contrary to the impression young people get on social media, what happened in Gaza is not analogous to the Holocaust. It was a devastating war that does not fit neatly into a simplistic frame of oppressor versus oppressed. That black and white paradigm disregards the complex challenges that continue to stymie a resolution to this heartbreaking conflict.” [JTA]
Spotlight Shapiro: The Atlantic‘s Tim Alberta profiles Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, amid speculation that the moderate Democrat could mount a presidential bid in 2028. “For a man with such an established public profile—years as a congressional aide, decades in various elected offices, a network as extensive as that of any Democrat in office today—Shapiro remains something of a mystery, a man whose real views and motives are widely debated but ill-defined. In conversations with dozens of people who know the governor, a certain irony is inescapable. Shapiro seems to believe that he is uniquely equipped to run for president and repair the Democratic Party’s deficit of trust and authenticity. Any such campaign, however, would expose deficits of his own.” [TheAtlantic]
Word on the Street
The State Department’s Jacob Helberg said that the U.S. is looking to lock in agreements with eight countries, including Israel and the United Arab Emirates, that will strengthen supply chains for computer chips and minerals critical to the production of AI technology; the White House is hosting the first meeting with officials from the countries on Dec. 12…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed openness to a U.S.-brokered security deal with Damascus involving southern Syria, with the caveat that Syria respects the buffer zone between the countries…
Republican Matt Van Epps defeated Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn by nine points in the special election in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District…
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) ruled out a primary challenge to Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), announcing on Tuesday that she’ll run for reelection in Massachusetts’ 7th Congressional District…
James Solomon won Jersey City’s runoff election for mayor, besting former Gov. Jim McGreevey…
Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Claudia Tenney (R-NY) wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to work to secure the release of Kamran Hekmati, an American-Iranian dual citizen and member of the Persian Jewish community arrested in Iran earlier this year for having visited Israel 13 years ago…
The New York Young Republican Club is slated to honor far-right Alternative for Germany senior official Markus Frohnmaier at its upcoming annual gala…
A new offer from David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance for Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly has backing from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi; Paramount made the higher, second-round bid for the entire company, while Netflix and Comcast submitted bids for only Warner Bros.’ studios and streaming business…
Philanthropists Michael and Susan Dell are donating $6.25 billion to back the creation of seed investment accounts for children in the U.S. as part of the “Trump accounts” program…
The family of Holocaust survivor Erno Spiegel donated the pen he used to falsify records to save dozens of sets of twins who were subject to medical experiments at Auschwitz…
OneTable laid off 25% of its employees as it undertakes a “planned, strategic shift” in its staffing…
The U.K.’s independent advisor on antisemitism told Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee that U.K. police altered evidence it used to justify banning Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from attending a recent soccer match against Aston Villa…
U.K. Attorney General Richard Hermer urged Nigel Farage to apologize to former classmates over what they claimed were repeated antisemitic and racist insults from the Reform UK leader during his teenage years…
Israel is finalizing the handover of its Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile defense system to Germany, marking, at $4.2 billion, Jerusalem’s largest defense export deal…
Israeli officials said that remains transferred from Hamas to Red Cross officials on Tuesday do not match either of the remaining two hostages in Gaza…
The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt is slated to reopen in the coming days, allowing access out of the enclave to Palestinians who have been approved by Israeli security officials…
Pic of the Day
Lockheed Martin, together with Israel’s Industrial Cooperation Authority, signed an extension this week for the Umbrella Industrial Cooperation Agreement (UICA) through the end of 2029. The ceremony was led by Israeli Minister of Economy Nir Barkat (center left), Lockheed Martin Chief Operating Officer Frank St. John (center right), Lockheed Martin Israel Chief Executive Tal Galor (right), the ministry’s Head of Industry Division Nurit Tsur-Rabino and Head of Industrial Cooperation Authority Division Yazeed Sheick-Yousif.
Birthdays
Professional tennis player with a WTA doubles ranking that reached as high as 21, Sharon Fichman turns 35…
Close associate of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and influential leader within Chabad, Rabbi Chaim Yehuda “Yudel” Krinsky turns 92… Founder of a successful wedding gown business and a lifestyle coach, Sandy Stackler… 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winner for his book on Arabs and Jews in Israel, he was a long-serving foreign correspondent and Washington bureau chief for The New York Times, David K. Shipler turns 83… Member of the New York State Assembly since 1994, Jeffrey Dinowitz turns 71… Former Argentine minister of foreign affairs, Gerardo Werthein turns 70… Miami-based criminal defense attorney whose clients have included O.J. Simpson and Charlie Sheen, Yale Lance Galanter turns 69… Painter and art teacher residing in Maryland, her teaching career started in Petach Tikva, Heidi Praff… Former editorial page editor at USA Today, William “Bill” Sternberg… Former member of the House of Representatives (D-NC) until January, now chair of Democratic Majority for Israel, Kathy Manning turns 69… British publicist, music manager and former tabloid journalist, Rob Goldstone turns 65… President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 2023, Sally A. Kornbluth turns 65… Aerospace and technology executive, entertainment attorney and media mogul, Jon F. Vein turns 62… Former member of the Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Eli Avidar turns 61… Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California, she won Adam Schiff’s House seat in 2025, Democrat Laura Friedman turns 59… First VP at Adat Ari El Congregation in Valley Village, Calif., Malinda Wozniak Marcus… Cellist and associate professor at McGill University, Matt Haimovitz turns 55… SVP of strategic initiatives at NBC News until 2024, now a communications consultant, Alison “Ali” Weisberg Zelenko… Associate professor of Jewish history and chair of Jewish studies at Yeshiva University, Joshua M. Karlip, Ph.D. turns 54… French journalist, author, television and radio personality, Marie Drucker turns 51… Emmy and Grammy Award-winning comedian and actress, she discovered her Eritrean Jewish roots as an adult, Tiffany Haddish turns 46… Financial trader and founder of XTX Markets, Alex Gerko turns 46… CEO of Solar One, he was a member of the New York City Council through 2021, Stephen T. Levin turns 44… Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, Rachel Sarah Bloomekatz turns 43… Hasidic singer, his music videos have 120 million views on YouTube, Benzion Hakohen “Benny” Friedman turns 41… Founding partner and head of business strategy at Triadic, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Edelman…
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