Breaking down the primaries in Texas, North Carolina
Plus, Gottheimer, Panetta lead Dem push for middle ground on war powers
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In today’s Daily Kickoff, we break down the results of yesterday’s primaries in Texas and North Carolina, and report on Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz’s threat that Israel would make any successor to assassinated Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “a clear target for elimination.” We look at President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s efforts to assert the U.S.’ decision-making power in its initial moves to strike Iran, and report on Alex Soros’ boosting of pro-Iran conspiracy theorist Max Blumenthal. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Rabbi Levi Shemtov and Marc Rowan.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI 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
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine are holding a press conference at 8 a.m. about the ongoing U.S. and Israeli military operations in Iran.
- Legislators on both sides of the Capitol could vote as soon as today on war powers resolutions. More below on an effort by a group of moderate House Democrats to push an alternative resolution that would give the Trump administration some leeway as it continues to strike Iran.
- In Iran, multiday funeral proceedings for assassinated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that were slated to begin today have been postponed. Surviving senior Iranian clerics could announce a successor to Khamenei as soon as today, with his son Mojtaba Khamenei considered a likely contender. More below.
- The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is releasing its annual report this afternoon at an event on Capitol Hill.
- The Heritage Foundation is launching its 2026 “Index of U.S. Military Strength” at an event this morning at the think tank’s Washington headquarters. Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) and Reps. August Pfluger (R-TX), Pat Harrigan (R-TX) and Matt Van Epps (R-TN) are slated to give remarks, along with Heritage’s Rob Greenway and Victoria Coates.
- Reut USA’s “AJ2026: Launching a Decade of Renewal” kicks off today in Miami. Read more here.
- Author Izabella Tabarovsky is speaking tonight at a UJA-Federation of New York event about her latest book, Be a Refusenik: A Jewish Student’s Survival Guide.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
A strong anti-incumbent mood is apparent in the electorate, based on primary results from North Carolina and Texas’ congressional primaries Tuesday night. Meanwhile, one sitting Democratic lawmaker who lost support from AIPAC is narrowly fending off a challenge from a virulently anti-Israel challenger who campaigned in the closing days of the primary against the Iran war.
Big picture: There’s a deep skepticism of the political establishment throughout the country within both parties. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), a center-right hawk who was one of the stars of the 2018 GOP freshman class, badly lost to state Rep. Steve Toth, a right-wing challenger backed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is doing a bit better than public polls suggested, but still is only polling in the low 40s against MAGA-aligned Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a race that’s headed to a runoff.
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), who has been enmeshed in scandal after his extramarital affair with a staffer, who later died by suicide, became public, is leading social media influencer Brandon Herrera, but is also only polling in the low-40s and will also be headed to a runoff.
On the Democratic side, Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC), who was boosted to office in 2022 with AIPAC support but has since grown more critical of Israel, is clinging to a one-point lead (49-48%) over Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam, who would have become one of the most anti-Israel lawmakers in Congress if she was elected. Allam was backed by the far-left Justice Democrats and received support from a new super PAC attempting to elect anti-Israel lawmakers.
The Iran war may have played a key role in the primary. Foushee won the early vote by an eight-point margin, but Allam carried the Election Day vote by six points — after airing an ad blasting the war in Iran and baselessly accusing the United States of targeting civilians.
And in a member-against-member Democratic primary in Texas, Rep. Al Green (D-TX), one of the most left-wing members of Congress who has been a reliable vote against Israel, is narrowly trailing newly elected Rep. Christian Menefee (D-TX), a more mainstream Democrat. Menefee looks like the favorite, but is short of the 50% necessary to avoid a runoff.
Meanwhile, former Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) is on track to reclaim his old suburban Dallas seat, unseating Rep. Julie Johnson (D-TX) in the process. But he’s likely heading to a runoff as well.
All told, pro-Israel Democrats can express a bit of relief toward Tuesday night’s primary results. Assuming Foushee holds on to victory, it blocks the path of a Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) prototype from getting elected to Congress. If Allam prevailed, she could have held that safely Democratic seat — and an anti-Israel platform — for many years.
IN THE CROSSHAIRS
Day 5: Israel vows to eliminate Khamenei’s successor
Any replacement selected to replace Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by Israel on the first day of the war with Iran on Saturday, will be in Israel’s crosshairs, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on Wednesday. “Any leader appointed by the Iranian terror regime will be a clear target for elimination,” Katz said. His remarks came after widespread reports that the slain supreme leader’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, is his likely successor, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Battle rages: Also Wednesday, an Israeli Air Force F-35I fighter jet shot down an Iranian Air Force YAK-130 fighter jet over Tehran, marking the first time an F-35 jet shot down a manned fighter aircraft, the IDF stated. The IDF also continued to hunt missile launchers to degrade Iran’s ability to shoot large barrages around the region, striking a facility used to launch, produce and store ballistic missiles in Isfahan. Iranian missile attacks on Israel injured 45 on Tuesday, according to the Magen David Adom emergency service. From the start of the war with Iran, there have been 12 fatalities and 404 additional casualties in Israel, including two severely injured and 288 who were injured making their way to shelters.
Bonus: Dozens of people aboard an Iranian warship sunk off the coast of Sri Lanka were rescued by Sri Lankan authorities, while more than 100 remain missing.
PUTTING OUT FIRES
Trump, Rubio push back on narrative that Israel forced the White House’s hand on Iran
A chorus of senior Trump administration officials, including White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, sought to offer a decisive rebuttal on Tuesday to what they deemed to be a false narrative which had spread like wildfire a day before. Based in large part on a viral post on X from the White House clipping an excerpt of Rubio’s comments, the narrative spread that Trump decided to strike Iran because Israel was already planning an attack, which would then prompt Iranian retaliation, thus putting American troops at risk, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch and Emily Jacobs report.
Damage control: The question that was then posed dozens of times by reporters to policymakers: Had Israel forced America’s hand and dragged the U.S. into war? Never mind that Rubio also said in those same remarks the U.S. was not “forced” to strike because of an impending Israeli action. “No matter what, ultimately, this operation needed to happen,” Rubio said. The White House shared that sound bite on X Tuesday morning, drawing 500,000 views, a fraction of the visibility of the earlier post. “No, Marco Rubio Didn’t Claim That Israel Dragged Trump into War with Iran,” was the headline Leavitt posted on X. But the damage had already been done. A reporter posed the question to Trump directly on Tuesday during an Oval Office meeting between the president and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “No,” Trump said decisively. “I might have forced their hand.” Hegseth then chimed in on X boosting Trump’s message: “This is 100% correct.”
Hill reax: Following a classified briefing on Tuesday, Senate Republicans strongly rejected claims that Israel had effectively forced the U.S.’ hand into conflict with Iran or dictated the timeline of the conflict, while Democrats also distanced themselves from the narrative, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Matthew Shea report.
SEEKING MIDDLE GROUND
Moderate House Democrats pitch alternative war powers resolution on Iran
A group of six moderate House Democrats introduced an alternative war powers resolution on Iran, which — rather than demanding an immediate end to the ongoing U.S. operation — would give the administration 30 days in which to either end the campaign or come to Congress to seek approval for continued strikes, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Who’s on board: The resolution is sponsored by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Jared Golden (D-ME) and Jim Costa (D-CA). It signals concern from the group of hawkish pro-Israel House Democrats about the efforts by their colleagues to demand an immediate end to operations in Iran, though at least some of the sponsors of the resolution still plan to vote for the existing war powers resolution this week as well.
Policy spotlight: At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, a parade of Democratic senators pressed Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby about the U.S.’ strategy and goals in the war with Iran, criticizing the campaign and its execution without congressional authorization.
DAMAGE CONTROL
Under fire for Iran remarks, Zohran Mamdani acknowledges Tehran’s atrocities
After his statement solely attacking the U.S. and Israel over Saturday’s strikes on Iran provoked backlash from members of the Iranian dissident and diaspora communities, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani acknowledged the “systematic repression” of the Iranian people by the regime — even as he declined to criticize the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports.
What he said, and what he didn’t say: The mayor’s remarks followed an unrelated press conference on Tuesday, following criticism from Iranian Americans and regime refugees who accused him of ignoring the Islamic Republic’s abuses of its own citizens and its neighbors. But even as he acknowledged Tehran’s bloody suppression of protesters, Mamdani did not directly answer a reporter’s question about whether the Middle Eastern nation was better off without the radical cleric who ruled for nearly 37 years. “The Iranian government has engaged in systematic repression of its own people, even killing thousands of Iranians who were seeking to express the most basic forms of dissent earlier this year,” Mamdani said. “It is a brutal government.”
UNSAVORY TIES
Alex Soros boosts pro-Iran conspiracy theorist Max Blumenthal on social media
The left-wing philanthropist Alex Soros on Monday boosted a social media post from Max Blumenthal, a prominent anti-Israel conspiracy theorist who has spread misinformation questioning Hamas’ atrocities on Oct. 7, 2023, while promoting sympathetic coverage of Iran and Russia as well as the toppled Assad regime in Syria, among other authoritarian countries, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Soros’ stance: While the content of Blumenthal’s X post was relatively benign, citing a Washington Post report on concerns over American military casualties in the ongoing Iran war, Soros’ decision to elevate a known conspiracy theorist raises questions about the media sources he consumes, as he now leads a multi billion-dollar grantmaking network that has funded a range of groups and causes shaping views on the Middle East. Soros, one of the progressive movement’s most influential donors, has been outspoken against President Donald Trump’s unilateral decision to attack Iran in a joint operation with Israel, praising Spain for refusing to allow the U.S. to use bases on its soil and reprimanding other European countries for not doing the same.
PAC ATTACK
Stratton, Pritzker-backed PAC hit Krishnamoorthi over vote condemning antisemitism after Boulder attack
In the increasingly heated Illinois Democratic Senate primary, one claim has become a familiar refrain from Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and her allies, that Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) “voted to thank” Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
In the race: But the attacks don’t tell the full story. They refer to a resolution that was principally focused on condemning the firebombing attack on an Israeli hostage awareness march in Boulder, Colo., last summer, which also included language about immigration enforcement. “I want to abolish ICE. My opponent voted to thank them,” Stratton has repeated in at least four separate interviews and candidate forums over the past few weeks. It’s an attack that has also been repeated in an ad campaign against Krishnamoorthi by Illinois Future PAC, a super PAC largely funded by Gov. JB Pritzker and others in his family.
Worthy Reads
Regional Realignment: In The Wall Street Journal, Shimon Refaeli, an advisor to former Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, posits that Iran’s attacks on Arab countries across the Middle East underscores the importance of a new regional order — proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2024 — that brings together Israel and moderate Arab states. “A regional alliance could evolve from a mechanism to contain Iran into a broader framework for regional stabilization and deterrence. In this sense, the emerging alliance is an expression of a deeper structural change in the region: the convergence of moderate states around shared interests of stability, technology, air defense, trade routes and maritime security. The Iranian threat exposed the need for an integrated system. Even if the threat diminishes, that need won’t disappear. It will become the foundation for a long-term security architecture.” [WSJ]
Minority Rights: In The Washington Post, Aram Hessami argues that Iran’s ethnic minority groups — which comprise approximately half of the Islamic Republic’s population — are a key cog in any future Iranian government. “Even as Iranian minorities endured decades of discrimination at the hands of the theocratic regime, they built networks of civic engagement, political leadership and social organization that make them uniquely capable of contributing to a future state grounded in pluralism and citizenship. … Their organizational depth and their long history of fostering political associations and activism qualify them to defend against tyranny and help lay the foundation for democratic, pluralistic, lasting governance.” [WashPost]
Crying Over Khamenei: The Atlantic’s Gal Beckerman reflects on the emotional response of Iranians, both pro- and anti-regime, to the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “It would be easy to reduce these tears to simple expressions of either happiness or sadness. But if we recognize the deeper well they are drawn from, the implications for what happens next are much more troubling. You can’t just wipe away that feeling of rupture, or the decades of fear that preceded it. People become comfortable with the reality they know; they will mourn even an abusive father, and might require a lifetime to overcome the abuse. Even those who unreservedly despised him, but had no other leader, might not know what to look for in an alternative, or whether to trust a good steward if one comes along.” [TheAtlantic]
Word on the Street
Facing concerns from Senate Republicans over her agency’s preparedness, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday defended the department’s ability to respond to potential Iranian sleeper-cell threats as the Department of Homeland Security remains unfunded and under a partial shutdown amid an escalating conflict with Tehran, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports…
Axios reports on a Feb. 23 call between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which Israel shared intelligence indicating that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his top advisors would be meeting in a single location, prompting the strikes that would take place days later…
The Wall Street Journal does a deep dive into the hour-by-hour U.S. and Israeli military moves that took down the top echelon of the regime…
Politico spotlights Iran’s Kharg Island, which houses the Islamic Republic’s most important oil facility, as Trump faces calls to seize the Persian Gulf island…
Talking to Fox News’ Sean Hannity, White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said that on three occasions, talks with Iran “opened up with the Iranian negotiators telling us they had the inalienable right to enrich all the nuclear fuel that they possessed,” with Witkoff and Jared Kushner responding “that the president feels we have the inalienable right to stop you dead in your tracks”…
Hannity told podcaster and former White House official Katie Miller that his former colleague, far-right commentator Tucker Carlson, is “not the person that I knew when he was at Fox”…
A new poll from Fox News found Americans split 50-50 on U.S. military action targeting Iran…
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who voiced support over the weekend for strikes against Iran, said that the U.S.- and Israeli-led war is “another example of the failure of the international order”…
In an interview at Bloomberg Invest 2026, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan said that Iran was “a problem that needed to be dealt with, and if it were dealt with in other years, it would have been more difficult. And so the notion that it’s being dealt with today in some ways is reassuring, notwithstanding the current instability”…
Democratic lawmakers speaking at the Monday evening gala of J Street’s Washington conference argued that the joint U.S.-Israel operation that killed many top Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would ultimately make Iranians, Israelis and the United States less safe, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
In an event to promote his upcoming book, California Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested that the U.S. may have to rethink its military aid to Israel, and said that it would be accurate to describe Israel as “sort of an apartheid state”…
The Jewish Agency for Israel is launching a new fund to provide direct and immediate grants to victims of Iranian attacks in Israel during the current conflict,eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports…
The Department of Homeland Security is opening an investigation into antisemitic comments allegedly made by Greg Bovino, the former head of U.S. Border Patrol, complaining about the inaccessibility of the U.S. attorney in Minnesota, who is Jewish, over Shabbat…
The King County Prosecutor’s Office in Washington state filed criminal trespass charges against nearly three dozen people accused of taking over a building on the University of Washington’s flagship campus last spring, but stopped short of charging them with vandalism despite the demonstrators having caused more than $1 million in damage to the building…
An X account believed to belong to the man who killed three people in Austin, Texas, over the weekend was found to contain numerous antisemitic and pro-Iranian regime posts…
Police in San Luis Obispo, Calif., are investigating an incident that took place outside the house of the California Polytechnic State University chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi in which a group of men yelled antisemitic slurs at members of the Jewish fraternity; the incident comes as the university faces congressional scrutiny over its handling of antisemitism on campus…
A Toronto synagogue was shot at Monday night, causing damage to the building’s exterior, according to police. Toronto Police Service said that there were several bullet holes in the front windows of Temple Emanu-El in North York; no injuries were reported, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…
Team Israel played an exhibition game against the Miami Marlins ahead of the team’s first game in the World Baseball Classic this upcoming weekend…
The German Culture Ministry, which provides funding for the annual Berlinale, is creating a board of advisors to oversee the film festival’s executive director and instituting a code of conduct regarding antisemitism after incidents last year in which award winners used their speaking time to criticize Israel…
Geraldine Schottenstein, who with her husband, Jerome, was a major donor to Jewish causes in the Columbus, Ohio, area, including Jewish Columbus and the newly renamed Jerome and Geraldine Schottenstein Chabad House Student Center at The Ohio State University, died at 93…
Pic of the Day
American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad)’s Rabbi Levi Shemtov led a Megillah reading yesterday in the Indian Treaty Room at the White House for over 50 senior administration officials and staff.
Birthdays
British promoter of rock concerts, charity concerts and television broadcasts, Harvey Goldsmith turns 80…
Composer, conductor, author and music professor, Samuel Adler turns 98… Broadcast journalist and author, she is best known as a correspondent for the ABC news magazine “20/20” for almost 30 years, Lynn Sherr turns 84… Board member emeritus at New York City Center, Perry B. Granoff turns 83… North American representative of World ORT for 20 years, Harry Nadler… Screenwriter and director, she is the mother of actors Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal turns 80… Retired CEO of LCH Clearnet LLC, a clearinghouse affiliated with the London Stock Exchange, David A. Weisbrod… Former director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America, Rabbi Avi Shafran turns 72… U.S. Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) turns 68… Founder and CEO of Success Academy Charter Schools, Eva Moskowitz turns 62… President of the New England Patriots, Jonathan A. Kraft turns 62… Manager of the Louvre’s restitution investigations of art looted from Jewish families during the Nazi and Vichy regimes, Emmanuelle Polack turns 61… U.S. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) turns 58… Former member of both the New York City Council and state Assembly, now at the Brandeis Center, Rory I. Lancman turns 57… Evan L. Presser… Staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, Emily Bazelon… Chief of staff at Goldman Sachs, Russell Horwitz… First Jewish player to be selected in the top round of the NHL Draft (1998), Michael Henrich turns 46… Member of the Knesset for the New Hope party, Sharren Haskel turns 42… VP of public policy at the International Council of Shopping Centers, Abigail Goldstein “Abby” Jagoda… Brazilian entrepreneur and software engineer who co-founded Instagram in 2010, Michel “Mike” Krieger turns 40… Singer, music producer and composer, Aryeh Kunstler turns 40… Chief of staff for New York state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, Victoria “Tori” Burhans Kelly… Israeli-born basketball player who played for the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans, Gal Mekel turns 38… Model and actress, she was a lead Victoria’s Secret model, Erin Heatherton (born as Erin Heather Bubley) turns 37… Foreign policy advisor for U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL-22), Jennifer Miller… Ice hockey goaltender for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the American Hockey League, Yaniv Perets turns 26…
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