Trump touches down in Switzerland
Plus, Israel joins the Board of Peace
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In today’s Daily Kickoff, we preview President Donald Trump’s address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, happening later today, and talk to Democrats on Capitol Hill about Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s allegation that the Harris presidential campaign asked him if he’d been an agent of Israel. We look at how J Street is navigating a political environment that is increasingly hostile to Israel, and spotlight Deep33 Ventures as the VC, launched this week, aims to counter China through U.S.-Israel tech collaboration. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Noam Bettan, Mark Carney and Rep. Mike Lawler.
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
- President Donald Trump will speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this afternoon local time after a delayed arrival resulting from an electrical issue on Air Force One that forced the initial plane to return to Joint Base Andrews after an hour in flight to be swapped out.
- We expect Trump to speak at length about the Board of Peace he is assembling, a day after the president told reporters at the White House that the body could serve as an alternative to the U.N. Earlier today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel would join the body, after previously criticizing the inclusion of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on the board’s executive committee.
- The president’s address will be preceded by an interview with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, and followed by a session focused on the political realignment of the Middle East. Speakers in the latter session include Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, U.K. Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper and International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi.
- Later in the day, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) is slated to speak at the WEF about the U.S.-China relationship.
- We’re continuing to monitor the situation in the Middle East, as the U.S. deploys an aircraft carrier and fighter jets to the region. Trump issued his harshest warning yet to Iran, vowing in an interview with NewsNation last night to “wipe them off the face of this Earth” if Tehran makes an assassination attempt against him. “Anything ever happens, the whole country is going to get blown up,” Trump said.
- In Washington, the House Foreign Affairs Committee is holding its markup of the Eastern Mediterranean Gateway Act.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV
When President Donald Trump first raised the idea of establishing a Board of Peace in October, it was as part of his 20-step ceasefire plan for Gaza. The board was meant to oversee a committee of Palestinian technocrats — whose composition was announced last week — and “set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza … [and] call on best international standards to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza and is conducive to attracting investment.”
The following month, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution supporting the ceasefire plan and “welcom[ing] the establishment of the Board of Peace,” authorizing it to operate in Gaza until the end of 2027.
But the board’s charter describes a body concerned with peace worldwide, not with removing Hamas’ terror threat in Gaza, and in fact, it does not mention Hamas, Gaza or Israel at all. Its expansive, stated role is to “promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.”
Indeed, it appears to be an attempt to compete with the United Nations. Its preamble says: “Declaring that durable peace requires pragmatic judgment, common-sense solutions, and the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed … Emphasizing the need for a more nimble and effective international peace-building body.” Asked at a press conference on Wednesday if he intends for the body to replace the U.N., Trump said it “might.” “I wish the United Nations could do more. I wish we didn’t need a Board of Peace,” he said.
QUESTION OF CONCERN
Moderate Dems alarmed by Harris team’s grilling of Shapiro over Israel ties
Several moderate House Democrats said they were concerned and frustrated by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s account, which emerged over the weekend, of being questioned by Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, as part of his vetting as her potential running mate, about whether he had ever been an agent of Israel. Shapiro, who volunteered on a kibbutz and briefly on an Israeli army base while in high school, also said that the campaign had pressured him to walk back condemnations of antisemitism on college campuses, and emphasized that he took offense to the scope and persistence of the questioning he faced about Israel, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report.
Reactions: “Totally insane,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) told JI. “I don’t know how else to describe insanity. Literally insane.” Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) said the questioning was “concerning” and that he was “glad Josh had the courage to say what happened. Hopefully people will appreciate that you shouldn’t do that. … It’s a long-standing antisemitic trope that we’re all agents of the Israeli government, that we’re all working for this global Jewish cabal. And so that’s problematic,” Landsman, who is Jewish, continued.
Bonus: In Shapiro’s new memoir, which comes out next week, he recalls how his turbulent childhood — marked by his mother’s mental health challenges — shaped his approach to family and politics.
‘A new normal’
J Street hopes to capitalize on growing Democratic frustration with Israel
Three months after a ceasefire largely ended the fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the battle over the future of U.S.-Israel relations still rages in Washington. Both the left and the right face an erosion of support for traditionally pro-Israel positions. Amid the upheaval, the progressive Israel advocacy group J Street sees an opportunity: a chance to solidify Democrats’ shift away from unconditional support for Israel and its security needs. At the start of an election year, interviews with J Street’s top political official and its policy chief make clear that the group is eager to create space for Democrats who have taken a more critical approach to Israel, reflecting and reinforcing a shift toward greater distance in the historically close U.S.-Israel alliance, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Shifting tide: “There’s going to be a new normal,” Ilan Goldenberg, J Street’s senior vice president and chief policy officer, told JI in an interview. “There were two years of trauma that, I think, with the return of the hostages and the end of the war, people can finally start processing, but things are not going back.”
SUCCESSION RACE
Brendan Gill emphasizes support for Israel in crowded primary field to replace Sherrill
Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, one of the leading Democrats running for the vacant 11th Congressional District seat in New Jersey, told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod he would be a strong supporter of Israel and the continued U.S.-Israel relationship, while also expressing concerns about the current Israeli government.
Background: Gill — a longtime New Jersey political hand who has previously worked as a staffer for or on the campaigns of Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), former Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), who died in 2013, and former Reps. Steve Rothman (D-NJ) and Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) — said his time working with each of those lawmakers, all strong supporters of Israel, has served as his “North Star” for his policy toward the U.S.-Israel relationship. “I very much believe that we absolutely can respect the ability to disagree with decisions that are made by an elected government that we might not agree with, but still at the same time never waver on Israel’s right to exist, never waver on protecting the strategic partnership in that region of the world that the United States has enjoyed with the only democracy that exists, to continue to aid Israel in ways that are both important to its own protection and, by extension, the protection of our own national interests,” he said.
TAKING AIM
Mike Lawler condemns campaign ad against him as antisemitic
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) condemned as antisemitic an ad running in New York’s suburban 17th Congressional District that targets him for his support for Israel and for receiving support from pro-Israel donors, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. “This ad is a disgrace,” Lawler said in a statement. “This kind of politics has no place in the Hudson Valley. I am calling on every candidate running in NY-17 to publicly and unequivocally denounce this ad immediately. Silence is an endorsement.”
What it says: The advertisement, paid for by the Institute for Middle East Understanding, attacks Lawler for supporting U.S. aid to Israel, claiming that such aid is depriving Americans of government-funded benefits programs. “Israelis enjoy universal healthcare, while Americans go bankrupt from medical bills,” the ad’s narrator states. “Lawler’s reward? Giant campaign donations from AIPAC and the pro-Netanyahu lobby.”
TEHRAN TALK
House Dems call for steps to restore communications access in Iran, but stay mum on military strikes
At a press conference outside the Capitol on Tuesday, House Democrats called for action by the U.S. government to ensure free internet access and telecommunications for Iranians amid a crackdown by the Iranian regime, but largely withheld comment on whether the administration should undertake military strikes on the regime in support of the protesters, as President Donald Trump has floated, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Reconnecting: “People cannot reach loved ones, plan and organize or reach unbiased information. They are literally being kept in the dark by their own government, and it could very well be permanent,” Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), the daughter of Iranian immigrants and the first Iranian-American Democrat in Congress, said. “It’s why long-standing bipartisan efforts to ensure internet access in Iran cannot be left on the back burner. This access could save lives, and this is all very personal to me.” She thanked colleagues for signing on to a bipartisan resolution expressing support for the Iranian protesters and calling for steps to restore internet access.
Scoop: Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) will reintroduce legislation on Wednesday to address the threat of killer drone strikes by the Iranian regime and other foreign adversaries through increased cooperation between the U.S. and Israel, Jewish Insider has learned.
TECH TOGETHER
Deep33 Ventures aims to counter China in U.S.-Israel tech alliance
A new deep-tech investment firm seeking to help Israeli startups fundraise and collaborate with U.S. companies emerged from stealth mode on Tuesday, announcing the launch of its $150 million fund. Called Deep33 Ventures, the firm will be led by serial entrepreneurs and investors Lior Prosor, who has invested in companies including Via Transportation, Lemonade Insurance and Carbyne, and Michael Broukhim, the co-founder of FabFitFun, who has invested in companies such as SpaceX, Stripe and Hut8, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
‘Allied infrastructure’: The fund, which already secured $100 million in capital commitments from its first group of investors, will focus on deep tech — which includes quantum computing, advanced energy and autonomous systems. “There isn’t a deep tech fund focused on Israel’s ecosystem. One of our biggest differentiators is the overlap of being deep tech and concentrated on Israel,” Broukhim told JI. With offices in Tel Aviv, New York and Los Angeles, the firm aims to create what it calls a U.S.-Israel “allied infrastructure corridor” combining the two countries’ technological strengths to counter China.
Worthy Reads
Pressing For Change: The Atlantic’s Arash Azizi talks to Iranians about potential U.S. military action against the Iranian government and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “Ultimately, Iran’s next chapter will be the outcome not only of what America does or does not do but also of the interactions among regional actors, protesters, and the regime’s web of factions. How these will unfold is all but impossible to predict. But one thing is clear. Until a few years ago, millions of Iranians repeatedly voted in the country’s mostly unfree elections, hoping that regime insiders could pave a path for reform. They wouldn’t have dreamed of demanding change from American bombers or drones, or of asking the U.S. president to please kill the supreme leader for them. Khamenei’s obstinate refusal to effect any meaningful change and his bloody massacre of civilians in droves have brought Iranians to this point.” [TheAtlantic]
Government Without Jews?: In Tablet, former White House official Tevi Troy, looking at the history of Jewish participation in government since the U.S. was established, considers what that participation could look like in the future as both major political parties increasingly welcome antisemitic elements. “While the current attacks on Jews from both the left and the right are by no means unique in the context of Jewish history, they are alien to American political culture — which is what makes this moment frightening. The attempt to mainstream antisemitism on both the left and the right should be properly understood as an attack by extremists in both parties on the existing political culture and on the principles of the American founding. The American tradition is far more closely linked to the Jews and their many contributions to it than it is to the antisemites of the left or the right, whose hatred of the Jews reveals a rejection of that tradition — which they hope to reorder and replace with various European-born ideologies, from communism to fascism to theocracy, that have proven toxic to their political hosts.” [Tablet]
A Spin on Jewish Manhood: In The New York Times, Esther Zuckerman reflects on the Jewishness of the title character in director Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme,” a mid-century table tennis phenom whose religion is a critical component of his upbringing and shapes his decision-making as advances in the sport. “The brand of Jewish man who interests Safdie is not a model minority. The director is drawn to brash hustlers who make decisions that get themselves and the people around them into loads of trouble. And yet these characters are written with love and a deep understanding of the evolution of Jewish New York. … Marty Mauser may not achieve the greatness he longs for, but he is a representative of a generation of Jews whose dreams didn’t quite come true but who deserve recognition all the same. That’s the big-picture version of what Safdie and his cohorts are doing with ‘Marty Supreme.’ In the narrative, they dig deeper into the knotty reality of what it would have been like for a 23-year-old Jewish American man in 1952.” [NYTimes]
Word on the Street
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, argued in his speech to attendees that there had been “breaking of the world order, the end of a pleasant fiction and the beginning of a brutal reality where the geopolitics of the great powers is not subject to any constraint”…
Elsewhere at Davos, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign affairs minister, said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s proposed Board of Peace represents the only viable path forward for Gaza, confirming that Doha has been invited to join the initiative, Jewish Insider’s Mathew Shea reports…
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi defends Tehran’s violent crackdown on protests in the country and threatens that Iran will be “firing back with everything we have if we come under renewed attack” by the U.S.; in response, the WSJ’s editorial board, which called Araghchi the “soft face” of the regime, said the diplomat’s threat “betrays Iran’s harsh reality”…
Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and more than 70 Senate and House colleagues wrote to President Donald Trump urging the U.S. to intervene to stop potential Israeli annexation of the West Bank, and to reimpose sanctions on violent settlers…
Goldman Sachs and the Qatar Investment Authority announced the expansion of their strategic partnership, with the QIA potentially committing up to $25 billion in Goldman Sachs’ asset management arm..
The Supreme Court declined to hear a case brought forth by Agudas Chasidei Chabad, a Brooklyn-based umbrella group representing the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, against Russia over the return of sacred Jewish texts that had been taken by the Nazis and are now held in Russia…
With worshippers at Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Miss., still reeling from a Jan. 10 arson attack that severely damaged the historic synagogue, Congress appears poised to provide $300 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program for 2026, a small boost from the funding provided in 2024 and 2025, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
Miami Beach, Fla., nightclub Vendôme apologized for a now-viral incident in which far-right influencers were seen inside the venue as it played a Kanye West song praising Adolf Hitler; Vendôme said that three staff members that had been involved in the incident were no longer employed there…
Following the Buffalo Bills’ latest postseason loss, Gary Ginsberg laments in The New York Times about his hometown team’s lifelong failure to win a Super Bowl while expressing hope that revitalization efforts in the city could boost the team to a history-making championship win…
Israeli singer Noam Bettan won the season finale of popular Israeli singing competition show “Rising Star,” becoming Israel’s entrant to the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest…
Israel began demolishing the east Jerusalem headquarters of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, following the passage of a law banning the agency, which works with Palestinians, over what Israel says is its support for terrorism and staffers’ ties to terror groups…
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces are facing pressure from Damascus and Washington to agree to integrate into the Syrian government, days after the implementation of a ceasefire between the two…
Jacob Reses, chief of staff for Vice President JD Vance, and the Foundation for American Innovation’s Rachel Altman, got married on Sunday in Rockville, Md….
Literary agent and Holocaust survivor Georges Borchardt, who found a publisher for Elie Wiesel’s Night and represented the estates of such writers as Tennessee Williams and Hannah Arendt, died at 97…
Philadelphia attorney and community activist Daniel Segal died at 79…
Pic of the Day
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (left) and Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka spoke on Tuesday in Prague during an official visit by Sa’ar to the Czech Republic.
Birthdays
Actor, director and producer, he is the voice of Beast in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” Robby Benson (born as Robin David Segal) turns 70…
Writer specializing in modern Judaism and women’s issues, Blu Greenberg (born Bluma Genauer) turns 90… Philanthropist, co-founder and chair emerita of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Lynn Schusterman… Owner of the NHL’s Boston Bruins and chairman of Delaware North, a global food service and hospitality company, Jeremy Maurice Jacobs turns 86… Literary critic, feminist, writer on cultural and social issues, Elaine Showalter (born Elaine Cottler) turns 85… Retired Israeli ambassador to Cyprus, New Zealand, Turkmenistan and Estonia, Shemi Tzur turns 81… Israeli visual artist, he taught at Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Arts for 30 years, Zvi Goldstein turns 79… Attorney general of the U.S. during the Obama administration, now a senior counsel at Covington & Burling, Eric H. Holder Jr. turns 75… Past chairman of the Zionist Organization of America and chair of the real estate group at the NY/NJ law firm of Sills Cummis & Gross, Mark Levenson turns 69… CEO of UJA-Federation of New York since 2014, he will retire in June, Eric S. Goldstein turns 66… U.S. senator (R-ND), Kevin Cramer turns 65… Chairman and CEO of Norfolk, Va.-based Harbor Group International, a $21 billion real estate investment firm, Jordan E. Slone turns 64… Executive editor digital at the Washington Monthly, Matthew Cooper… Chief operating officer of OneTable, Andrea Greenblatt… Senior fellow at the USC Annenberg School, she is the former editor-in-chief of both Glamour and Self magazines, Cindi Leive turns 59… CEO at C-SPAN, Sam Feist turns 57… President and CEO of The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Rachel Garbow Monroe… Director, producer and screenwriter of films, best known as the producer or director of the eight films in the “Paranormal Activity” series, Oren Peli turns 56… Christian Zionist, television host and presenter of “The Watchman” sponsored by Christians United for Israel, Erick Stakelbeck turns 50… CEO at Shpait.AI, Shlomo Einhorn… Peruvian model and TV host, she represented her country in Miss Universe 2009, Karen Schwarz turns 45… D.C.-based staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, Jennifer Haberkorn… Israeli actress, screenwriter and filmmaker, Romi Aboulafia turns 42… Vice president, chief of staff and senior counsel at Children’s National Hospital, Jordan Grossman… Samuel Z. Eckstein…
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