Saudi-U.S. nuclear negotiations draw lawmaker scrutiny
Plus, Platner's problematic posts
👋 Good Friday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s boosting of an antisemitic conspiracy theorist, and talk to Capitol Hill lawmakers concerns about a potential U.S.-Saudi nuclear treaty. We profile New Mexico gubernatorial candidate Sam Bregman (yes, the father of Chicago Cubs star Alex Bregman), and report on the upcoming release of a book of spiritual wisdom taken from conversations with Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was killed in the December attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Australia. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Jared Isaacman, Oz Pearlman and Cindy McCain.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with an assist from Danielle Cohen-Kanik. Have a tip? Email us here.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy stories, including: Democratic governors facing push from Jewish groups to embrace education tax credits; Atop a Tel Aviv tower, Israeli tech leader Yasmin Lukatz reflects on philanthropy, entrepreneurship; and State Dept. Shabbat dinner draws UAE, Saudi ambassadors and senior Trump officials. Print the latest edition here.
What We’re Watching
- Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi is set to meet today in Washington with Vice President JD Vance and other senior White House officials, a day after Al Busaidi mediated nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran in Geneva. Vance told The Washington Post yesterday that there was “no chance” of the U.S. becoming involved in a yearslong war in the region, but added that he doesn’t know what PresidentDonald Trump will ultimately decide to do.
- Trump, who was briefed on Thursday afternoon by CENTCOM head Adm. Brad Cooper on options for potential military action in Iran, will miss today’s meeting with Al Busaidi as he flies to Corpus Christi, Texas, this morning before traveling on to Palm Beach, Fla., this afternoon for the weekend.
- The USS Gerald Ford is arriving in Israel today as the U.S. continues its military buildup in the region. This morning local time, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem announced voluntary authorized departures for non-emergency embassy staff and families of embassy staffers. An email from U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee to embassy staff stressed that if they wanted to leave the country, they “should do so TODAY.”
- Amid the escalating tensions, House Democratic leaders plan to force a vote “as soon as Congress reconvenes next week” on a resolution blocking military action against Iran without congressional authorization, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
- J Street’s annual convention kicks off in Washington tomorrow. Speakers at this year’s conference include Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Brian Schatz (D-HI); Reps. Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Sean Casten (D-IL) and Madeleine Dean (D-PA); Rev. Al Sharpton, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Israeli Arab MK Mansour Abbas.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jerusalem this week was an important geopolitical moment for Israel.
The biggest tangible outcome of the visit is that, according to Indian media, Israel plans to transfer Iron Dome and Iron Beam missile-defense technology to India, as part of a defense deal reaching as much as $8 billion-$10 billion. The governments only officially acknowledged “significant growth made in defense cooperation … both in scope and scale.”
As for confirmed deliverables, Israel launched expedited free-trade negotiations with the world’s most populous country and fastest-growing economy. The governments released a nine-page statement announcing agreements in a range of areas, including mineral exploration, AI, agriculture, cultural exchange and recruitment of up to 50,000 Indian workers to Israel in the next five years — fulfilling a major need for Israel, which revoked most work permits for Palestinians after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.
But the real impact is likely greater than any specific agreement. It’s the alliance on display between Israel and India — a “special strategic partnership,” as the countries are calling it — that bolsters Israel’s global position at a time when many of the Jewish state’s traditional partners have turned away.
Lauren Dagan Amoss of Bar-Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies and a leading India analyst in Israel, characterized Modi’s speech to the Knesset as “a threshold moment … designed to justify an upgrade from cordial relations to a partnership with strategic depth and deliverables. … The message was aimed at external stakeholders … especially Washington, the Gulf states, and the broader economic-technological community … rather than treating Israel as a standalone bilateral track.”
PLATNER’S PLATFORM
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner boosts antisemitic conspiracy theorist online

Graham Platner, a far-left Senate candidate in Maine, amplified a social media post on Thursday from a far-right conspiracy theorist well-known for viciously antisemitic commentary — before quickly deleting the statement, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
What he posted: In a comment to X late Thursday morning, Platner approvingly boosted a remark from Stew Peters, an extremist radio host who has frequently promoted antisemitic tropes and engaged in Holocaust denial, calling a war with Iran “the only thing Republicans and Democrats have both given a standing ovation for.” Platner, a 41-year-old Marine veteran turned oyster farmer who has sharply criticized U.S. military engagement abroad, wrote in his own post, “As always, there’s one thing that brings Republican and Democratic politicians together: sending other people’s children to die in stupid wars in the Middle East.” He deleted the post an hour or so after it had been flagged by online observers who noted that he was elevating a problematic figure with a long record of hostile rhetoric toward Jews.











































































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