• CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper is set to brief President Donald Trump today on plans for potential renewed military action in Iran to break the deadlock that has paralyzed talks with Tehran. Options on the table, Axios reports, include “short and powerful” strikes on Iranian targets and a partial takeover of the Strait of Hormuz. The president said on Wednesday that he intended to continue the U.S. naval blockade after rejecting an Iranian offer to reopen the waterway in exchange for delaying talks on its nuclear program.
• Meanwhile, the State Department sent a cable to U.S. embassies this week pressing diplomats to encourage the countries in which they’re stationed to join a new U.S.-led international coalition to assist ships transiting through the strait.
• Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) is expected to force a Senate vote today on his war powers resolution, the sixth attempt to constrain the Trump administration’s military campaign targeting Iran.
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine will testify this morning before the Senate Armed Services Committee, a day after appearing before the House Armed Services Committee. More on their HASC testimonies below.
• The Department of Justice is hosting this year’s annual Interagency Holocaust Remembrance Day event. DOJ Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues Ellen Germain and Holocaust survivor Frank Cohn are slated to speak this morning at the event, which will include prerecorded remarks from Jacob Helberg, the Trump administration’s under secretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment.
• King Charles III and Queen Camilla wrap up their trip to the U.S. today. They’ll visit Front Royal, Va., before departing for Bermuda.
• The annual Jewish pilgrimage to Djerba, Tunisia, begins today. Organizers said that this year’s events — three years after five people were killed in a terror attack during the pilgrimage — will be “open to everyone, Tunisians and foreigners, as part of a gradual return to normal,” following two years of scaled-down celebrations.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

The combination of history and polling is pointing to the likelihood of a Democratic wave election in the 2026 midterms, which would give Democrats control of the House and a fighting chance to claw back a Senate majority.

Polls show Democrats holding a sizable edge on the generic ballot, their favored candidates are running competitively even in red states and congressional districts, all while President Donald Trump’s approval rating is sagging amid high gas prices, executive overreach and an uncertain outcome in the aftermath of the war in Iran. 

But the one X-factor keeping Republicans competitive is the Democratic Party’s lurch leftward in the last year, leading to the emergence of extreme, exotic and out-of-the-mainstream candidates in pivotal battleground races. 

Indeed, a new poll commissioned by The Argument magazine finds that the generic ballot shows Democrats have been stuck with a six-point lead for a while even as Trump’s job approval has declined precipitously in the last several months. They’re voting to put a check on the GOP’s dominance of Washington, without endorsing the direction of the Democratic party. 

“Democrats still have tangible policy misalignments with many voters who dislike Trump,” The Argument concluded in its polling analysis. 

All told, the question becomes: Will the anticipated Democratic wave closely resemble the Democrats’ version of the GOP Tea Party election of 2010? In that election, Republicans swept into power in the House but far-right and extreme Senate candidates in key races blew golden opportunities, costing Republicans the upper chamber. 

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

That’s Oil, Folks: The Wall Street Journal’s Summer Said, Jared Malsin and Dov Lieber do a deep dive into the United Arab Emirates’ decision to break from OPEC — a move hastened by the Iran war, during which the Gulf state suffered more Iranian attacks than any other country in the region. “Confronted with Iranian attacks that imperiled its economic model and frustrated with what its leaders saw as a lack of support from its Arab neighbors, the Emirates doubled down on its partnership with the U.S. and its half-decade-old relationship with Israel — in spite of Arab unease with the instability flowing from the conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. ‘It came as a result of some deep thinking, in light of the 40 days of drones and missiles,’ said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a prominent Emirati political scientist.” [WSJ]

Let Down in London: The Jewish Chronicle’s Stephen Pollard slams the British government for having “bitterly failed British Jews” amid regular antisemitic attacks targeting the community. “We have authorities which have stood and watched as hate marches have taken over the streets and have allowed pure, unbridled Jew hate to run free. Make no mistake: the hate marches are the single biggest factor behind the escalation in Jew hate, not least because they comprise much of that escalation – and inspire the rest. And we have politicians as a class whose response to the rise of Jew hate is to mouth the obscene platitude that there is no place for antisemitism on the streets, when every one of these attacks shows that there is a very large place for antisemitism on our streets.” [JewishChronicle]

No Direction Home: The New York Times’ Jennifer Medina talks to Jewish Democratic officials who feel increasingly isolated by their party’s increasing tolerance for antisemitism. “They have faced antisemitic slurs and menacing voice mail messages, including threats of assassination. Protesters have called members of Congress ‘dirty Jews’ during town hall events and thrown red liquid — meant to look like blood — on their front lawns. For Jewish elected officials trying to navigate this shift, the atmosphere has felt alienating. ‘It is very isolating,’ said Representative Josh Gottheimer, who represents northern New Jersey in Congress. ‘It’s like you’re losing your home in the Democratic Party and in the country.’” [NYTimes]

Blaming Bibi: The Dispatch’s David Drucker talks to Democrats about the party’s leftward shift on Israel, finding that much of the animus toward the Jewish state is focused on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “The blame for growing opposition to Israel on the left belongs entirely to Netanyahu versus some wholesale souring on the Israel-U.S. alliance, Democratic-aligned groups that exist to cultivate support for Israel inside the party asserted to The Dispatch. The prime minister has held Israel’s top post for 19 of the past 30 years and nearly all of the past 17 years, often aligning himself with the GOP during that latter period. And because Netanyahu has been in charge for so long, many Democrats view him as synonymous with Israel.” [TheDispatch]

President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to limit Israeli action against Hezbollah in Lebanon to “surgical” strikes amid a tenuous ceasefire between Beirut and Jerusalem…

Roll Call spotlights Zach Florman, the communications director for Rep. Laura Friedman (D-CA) and creator of The Capitol Wire, an AI bot that tracks upcoming legislation… 

Politico looks at efforts by — and challenges facing — Israeli opponents of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they seek to rebuild relationships with Democrats in the U.S. amid cratering support in the party for the Jewish state…

Rachel Goldberg Polin’s book When We See You Again, about her son, Hersh, who was murdered in Hamas captivity, debuted in the No. 1 spot on The New York Times’ Best Sellers list of hardcover nonfiction a week after its release; read our interview with Goldberg-Polin here…

Yeah That’s Kosher looks at how New York State legislation banning three food additives, including potassium bromate, could impact the state’s kosher baking industry, which relies on the oxidizing agent to give bagels and pizza dough their texture…

The Jewish Theological Seminary announced that Israeli President Isaac Herzog will deliver the school’s 2026 commencement address, and will receive an honorary degree alongside Rabbi Edward Feld, former Washington Post editor Ruth Marcus, actress Debra Messing and rabbinic Judaism scholar Peter Schäfer…

Authorities in Los Angeles are investigating as a hate crime the assault of a Jewish man outside of a synagogue earlier this week in the city’s Pico-Robertson neighborhood that was recorded on security footage…

An interim report from Australia’s royal commission into the December 2025 terror attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Bondi Beach, Sydney, issued more than a dozen recommendations, including calling for better coordination of security efforts for Jewish events, and establishing a full-time position within the federal government of a counterterrorism coordinator…

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will end its funding for LIV Golf when the season concludes, dealing a blow to players in the league who strained ties with the PGA Tour to join the Riyadh-backed circuit… 

Organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla heading to Gaza said that Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla’s boats, which departed from Spain earlier this month, in international waters off the coast of Greece…

The Jewish National Fund-KKL is halting most of its funding to West Bank programs at farming outposts for at-risk Israeli youth amid concerns that the outposts were becoming hubs for settler violence against Palestinians living in the enclave…

Swiss Ambassador to the U.S. Ralf Heckner spoke at an event in Washington on Wednesday co-hosted by the American Jewish Committee and the Embassy of Switzerland, the latter of which is currently chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, to discuss antisemitism across the OSCE region. 

Screen, stage and television actress and singer, Dianna Agron turns 40…

Rabbi, scholar and professor of Jewish studies at Yeshiva University, Saul J. Berman turns 87… Founder and CEO of Kansas City-based American Public Square, he was the U.S. ambassador to Portugal during the Obama administration, Allan J. Katz turns 79… Brooklyn-based clinical social worker, Marsha S. Rimler… Psychologist, author of several children’s books and president of the Saban Family Foundation, Cheryl Saban turns 75… Israeli Supreme Court justice until 2021, he was previously attorney general of Israel, Menachem “Meni” Mazuz turns 71… Partner in the communications and ad agency GMMB, he served as an advisor to President Obama in both his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns, James David “Jim” Margolis turns 71… London-based international real estate investor and developer, Zachariasz “Zak” Gertler turns 70… Cartoonist and illustrator, best known for his over 100 magazine covers appearing in The New Yorker and other publications, Barry Blitt turns 68… Former commissioner at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she was a U.S. Supreme Court law clerk, Chai R. Feldblum turns 67… Professor of sociology at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris, she served as president of Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Eva Illouz turns 65… Senior fellow at Misgav: the Institute for Zionist Strategy and National Security, he is a diplomatic columnist for The Jerusalem Post and Israel Hayom newspapers, David M. Weinberg… New York city comptroller, Mark D. Levine turns 57… CEO of Newton, Mass.-based Gateways: Access to Jewish Education, focused on children with special educational needs, Tamar Davis… Senior director for U.S. Jewish grantmaking at the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, David Rittberg… Executive director of federal affairs at General Motors, Eric Feldman… Senior advisor for policy and communications for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Omri Ceren… Chief operating officer of Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy, Ali Kaufman Yares… Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot turns 41… Senior policy advisor at Alston & Bird in Washington, D.C., Jonathan Jagoda… Chief communications officer at Business Insider, Ari Isaacman D’Angelo turns 41… Founder of Lubin Strategies, he is also an affiliate at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center, Nathaniel “Nate” Lubin… Communications director for Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), Rachel S. Cohen… Associate in the D.C. office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Daniel E. Wolman… Elementary schoolteacher at Broward County Public Schools, Jenna Luks… Economics reporter at The Wall Street Journal, Rachel B. Wolfe… Director of WJC Elevate at the World Jewish Congress, Yonatan “Yoni” Hammerman… Co-founder of Impact Nation and Tech4Cancer, Idan Megidish… Global account sales manager for Isotopia Molecular Imaging, Noam Aricha…