Paul Jr.’s Tune Inn tirade
Plus, inside Bibi’s secret UAE visit
Add JewishInsider on GoogleGood Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we have the scoop on social media posts celebrating the deaths of Israeli citizens from the father of NY-12 candidate Alex Bores, who has played a role in his son’s election bid, and report on fellow NY-12 candidate Micah Lasher’s hiring of media consultant Morris Katz, who has worked with a range of anti-Israel figures, in his own bid. We look at the state of play in PA-03 ahead of next week’s primary, and report on an incident at a Washington bar in which the son of Sen. Rand Paul made antisemitic remarks at Rep. Mike Lawler, who is not Jewish. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: King Charles III, Emiliano Calemzuk and John Ondrasik and Alon Ohel.
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.
What We’re Watching
- President Donald Trump is meeting today with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. The meeting comes amid a New York Times report that Chinese companies have been negotiating arms sales to Iran that would go through third countries so as to hide the shipments’ origins.
- Among those joining the president’s delegation to Beijing is his son Eric, who is an observer member of the board of fintech startup Alt5 Sigma, which recently inked a memorandum of understanding with China-based chip manufacturer Nano Labs. Zach Witkoff, a son of White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, chairs Nano’s board.
- Israeli and Lebanese officials will meet today at the State Department for the third round of direct talks, days before a three-week ceasefire between the countries is set to expire. Mike Huckabee and Michel Issa, respectively the U.S. ambassadors to Israel and Lebanon, will lead the U.S. delegation. Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter and Simon Karam, Beirut’s former envoy in Washington, will lead the delegations from their respective countries.
- On Capitol Hill, the Abraham Accords Caucus will hold an event on the implications of the tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, featuring Reps. Craig Goldman (R-TX) and Brad Schneider (D-IL) and the Middle East Institute’s Karen Young and Yael Lempert, a former U.S. ambassador to Jordan.
- CENTCOM head Adm. Brad Cooper is slated to testify this morning before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
- In New York, former CENTCOM head Gen. Erik Kurilla is slated to give the keynote address at the Israeli American Council’s Strength in Unity gala tonight. Others speaking at the event, which will honor Yakir Gabay, a member of the Board of Peace’s executive board, and his wife, Elena, include Dr. Miriam Adelson and former Mossad Deputy Director Henrike Weissberg.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S josh kraushaar
As the Democratic Party lurches left in the run-up to the midterms — and amid the rise of high-profile, far-left Senate candidates such as Graham Platner in Maine and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan — candidates affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have gradually been making inroads and positioning themselves to win nominations in several key House races.
This has happened without much protest or opposition from Democratic Party leadership. And given that the urban districts where the DSA-endorsed candidates have the most support are so heavily Democratic, there hasn’t been much incentive for party groups to set red lines against radicals looking to disrupt the party in these lower-profile races.
One of the most insidious aspects of the advocacy of many DSA chapters is the demand that its endorsees cut ties with any Jewish group that recognizes the State of Israel. Some chapters celebrated or justified Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks against Israel.
“They are trying to do in America what [the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement] seems to do internationally, which is to make being Jewish unacceptable in polite society,” Ron Halber, the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, recently said on a webinar of D.C-area Jewish leaders.
But despite the group’s radical views, DSA-endorsed candidates have a real shot at prevailing in several upcoming Democratic primaries in major cities.
Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb, one of several Democrats looking to succeed retiring Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA) in his Philadelphia district, has the notoriety of recirculating an Instagram post blaming the Bondi Beach terrorist attack that killed 14 Jewish Australians on “Zionists,” insinuating the terror attack was a false flag. (His campaign later blamed a former staffer for reposting the item.)
FAMILY TIES
Alex Bores’ father, a key ally in his son’s House campaign, celebrated Israeli deaths, equated Zionists with Nazis
New York state Assemblymember Alex Bores’ father, a former union president, has worked to advance his son’s ambition to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) in a heavily Jewish Manhattan House seat. But William Bores has spent campaign season raging online against Israel and Jewish people more broadly, even cheerleading the killings of Israeli civilians and soldiers, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports.
Online presence: William Bores, a veteran ABC technical director, has also taken to boosting his son’s bid on social media, including on his Threads account. But elsewhere on that account, William Bores — who did not respond to repeated outreach for this story — has in recent weeks equated support for a Jewish national homeland with the ideology of Adolf Hitler, declaring on different occasions: “Zionists are Nazis!,” “Zionism=Nazism” and “Zionists and Nazis, one and the same.”
SCOOP
Micah Lasher enlists Mamdani, Platner media consultant in NY-12 race
Micah Lasher, a Democratic state assemblymember who is running for an open House seat in Manhattan, has enlisted a top progressive consulting firm with ties to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to cut ads for his campaign, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel has learned.
Background: Fight Agency, a media firm co-founded by Morris Katz, who rose to prominence as an advisor for Mamdani’s insurgent mayoral campaign, is working with Lasher as he seeks to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) in a crowded primary in New York’s 12th Congressional District, which has the largest Jewish electorate in the country. Among the Fight Agency’s most high-profile clients this election cycle are Graham Platner, an oyster farmer who is now the presumptive Democratic nominee in Maine’s Senate race, and Abdul El-Sayed, who is running in Michigan’s crowded Senate primary. Both candidates have positioned themselves as staunch critics of Israel.
PHILLY FRONT-RUNNER
Far-left state Sen. Chris Rabb holds late momentum in Philadelphia primary
Ahead of Tuesday’s primary in Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District in the heart of Philadelphia, Chris Rabb seems to be surging, local political analysts said, in spite of recent controversies surrounding the far-left state lawmaker. Rabb is facing off against state Sen. Sharif Street, a former state Democratic Party chair, and Ala Stanford, a physician and activist, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Seizing opportunity: Rabb has most recently come under scrutiny for sharing an Instagram post blaming “Zionists” for the massacre at a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, a post Rabb’s campaign claimed came from an unidentified former staffer. J.J. Balaban, a Pennsylvania Democratic strategist, told JI, that Rabb “has been able to take advantage of opposition that … was surprisingly weak, and present himself as new and different and a break from the local Democratic machine, which had largely coalesced around Sharif Street.”
DRUNKEN DIATRIBE
Sen. Rand Paul’s son goes on antisemitic tirade against Rep. Mike Lawler
William Paul, the adult son of Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), verbally accosted Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) at a popular bar in Capitol Hill on Tuesday evening in a lengthy, public antisemitic tirade, Lawler confirmed to Jewish Insider on Wednesday afternoon, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report.
Drunken tirade: NOTUS, whose reporter witnessed the confrontation, was the first to report the situation. Lawler said that William Paul was visibly intoxicated when he entered the restaurant, the Tune Inn. He said that Paul had confronted him when he first entered the restaurant, and introduced himself as the senator’s son, later sitting next to Lawler at the bar and ultimately interjecting into Lawler’s conversation with the NOTUS reporter. “He goes on a drunken tirade about Thomas Massie, and if he loses, it’s because of my people,” Lawler, who is Catholic, recounted to JI.” “I said, ‘My people, who’s that?’ He goes, ‘Jews.’” Lawler said that Paul went on to rant, “I hate Jews and I hate gay people, and I don’t care if they die.”
MONEY MATTERS
Open Society, which has backed anti-Israel protests, pledges millions to progressive Jewish groups to combat antisemitism
The Open Society Foundations, the major international philanthropy founded by left-wing billionaire George Soros, announced on Wednesday that it had pledged $30 million over three years to combat antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate, directing those funds to a number of progressive groups, some of which are at odds with the mainstream Jewish establishment, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim and Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen report.
Who it includes: Jewish recipients of the funding include progressive Jewish groups such as the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Nexus Project and Jewish Social Justice Roundtable. Alexander Soros, George Soros’ son, was also a founding chair of Bend the Arc Jewish Action, another grantee. The younger Soros is a longtime donor to progressive Jewish causes and chairs OSF’s board of directors.
Party politics: When a group of Jewish Democratic activists and donors convened in Washington this week for the annual leadership summit of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, the group’s top activists made clear that a major concern is making sure pro-Israel Jews continue to be welcome in the party, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports.
TRIP TALK
Netanyahu made secret wartime visit to the UAE
The United Arab Emirates denied a report by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Wednesday that the Israeli leader secretly traveled to the UAE during the war with Iran to meet with Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed, which would have marked the first known meeting between the two leaders since the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. Two Israeli jets landed in the city of Al-Ain in Abu Dhabi in late March, according to flight radars, and headed back to Israel after an apparent four-hour visit.
Conflicting statements: The Prime Minister’s Office said that the meeting “resulted in a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.” However, the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement hours later calling the claims “entirely unfounded.” The statement read: “The United Arab Emirates denies reports circulating regarding an alleged visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the UAE, or receiving any Israeli military delegation in the country.”
Worthy Reads
America’s Shabbat: Ahead of this week’s “national Sabbath” celebration announced by the White House, Danielle Greenbaum reflects in The Washington Post on the origins and importance of keeping Shabbat. “Shabbat isn’t simply about putting down tools or closing the laptop. The Talmud describes a concept called techum — a boundary beyond which Jews are not permitted to walk on Shabbat. You are, literally, not supposed to leave your city. The idea isn’t confinement. It’s the opposite: a weekly insistence that you turn inward. Toward your home, your table, your family, your community and, if you’re religious, your God. The wellness industry is now selling this back to the world at luxury retreat prices. The rabbis figured it out 2,000 years ago.” [WashPost]
Beyond the Nashville Skyline: The Atlantic’s Rose Horowitch spotlights the rise of domestic satellite university campuses, calling the creation of academic outposts across the country the “logical extreme” of elite universities that previously expanded their footprint across the globe. “Typically, these outposts are either overseas or limited to a graduate program or two. The Vanderbilt expansion, set to open in 2027, will be different: It will include a full-blown, four-year undergraduate college, not in Abu Dhabi but in the San Francisco Design District. … If it works for Vanderbilt, other selective institutions are likely to follow — because no one really wants to be the Harvard of the South. Everyone wants to be Harvard. Perhaps the way for excellent regional schools to develop a national reputation is to set up shop around the nation.” [TheAtlantic]
Word on the Street
Members of the Trump administration’s Board of Peace, including the board’s director, Nickolay Mladenov, met in Jerusalem on Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as Axios reports that the group wants to move forward on implementing its plans for governance and reconstruction in areas of the Gaza Strip not under Hamas control…
A federal judge overturned the Trump administration’s sanctions on U.N. special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, ruling that her “extensive connections” to the U.S. provide her with First Amendment protections…
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) called for a dramatic increase in funding of the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program, telling a group of Jewish activists on Wednesday that it should receive $1 billion — up from the $300 million that Congress allocated in last month’s homeland security funding bill, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports…
Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) urged the Jewish and pro-Israel communities to go on the offensive against antisemitism and anti-Israel attacks, in remarks on Wednesday at an event hosted by the Israeli Embassy in Washington commemorating the 78th anniversary of Israel’s founding, JI’s Marc Rod reports…
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) became the latest of a small number of Senate Republicans to break ranks and vote with the majority of Democrats in favor of an effort to force an end to the war in Iran on Wednesday, JI’s Marc Rod reports…
The Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh to be the new chair of the Federal Reserve, succeeding Jerome Powell, in a 54-45 vote that largely fell along party lines…
A social media account for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul dismissed as “lies” a claim from far-right influencer Laura Loomer that Hochul had communicated with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani about issuing a stand-down order to the NYPD for the upcoming Israel Day on Fifth parade slated for the end of May…
The man who repeatedly ran his car into the headquarters of Chabad Lubavitch in Brooklyn, N.Y., earlier this year pleaded guilty to federal charges of damaging religious property…
A Georgian national who led an Eastern European neo-Nazi group was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in plots to attack Jewish communities in New York, including a scheme to give poisoned candy to Jewish children…
China-based tech mogul Neville Roy Singham’s People’s Forum purchased a $5.15 million Manhattan home to serve as the Marxist group’s headquarters; read JI’s deep dive into Singham’s financial network, including his ties to the group behind a pro-Hamas demonstration near a Queens synagogue earlier this year…
The Jewish Telegraph Agency reports on unsuccessful efforts by students at Sarah Lawrence College to establish a J Street U chapter on campus; the students’ application was twice rejected by the student government, and university officials have so far opted against intervening…
Australia’s royal commission into antisemitism in the country rejected an effort from the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network for representatives to speak during the commission’s public hearings, telling the group it did not have a “direct and substantial” interest in the hearings…
A newly surfaced email from Australia’s Community Security Group to counterterrorism officials indicates that the Jewish security group warned police in 2019 about one of the gunmen in the deadly attack targeting a Hanukkah celebration Sydney’s Bondi Beach last December…
In an address to Parliament outlining the British government’s priorities for the coming year, King Charles III said that the government “will take urgent action to tackle antisemitism and ensure all communities feel safe”…
In The New Statesman, Prince Harry warns of a “deeply troubling” rise in antisemitism in the U.K.; the Duke of Sussex noted that despite “deep and justified alarm” over the destruction of parts of Lebanon and Gaza, “Nothing, whether criticism of a government or the reality of violence and destruction, can ever justify hostility toward an entire people or faith”…
The Washington Post spotlights Vienna’s MQ Kantine, which is serving as a hub for supporters of Israel’s delegation to the Eurovision Song Contest being held in the city; the cafe offered to step in after Israel was initially omitted from the “Eurofan Cafe” list by Eurovision organizers…
Reshet Media CEO Emiliano Calemzuk is stepping down amid an effort by an investment group led by Wiz co-founder Assaf Rappaport to purchase the channel from Len Blavatnik…
Lufthansa and Wizz Air are set to resume flights to Israel in the coming weeks; Swiss Air plans to resume flights to Ben Gurion Airport in early July…
Senior IDF officials reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that up to 80% of recorded incidents of violence in the West Bank are settler attacks targeting Palestinians…
Historian and Princeton professor Bernard Haykel, who has a relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, told the Financial Times that Riyadh’s recent strike on Iran, which was first reported this week, “was done in a very deliberate and co-ordinated way, with the Iranians being informed by the Saudis and with the aim of reaching a modus vivendi…”
Pic of the Day
Singer John Ondrasik, whose stage name is Five for Fighting, performed his hit song “Superman” this week accompanied by former Israeli hostage Alon Ohel on the piano. Read our 2024 interview with Ondrasik following his first trip to Israel here.
Birthdays
Center for the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, he was a member of the United States team that won the gold medal in the 2026 Winter Olympics, Jack Hughes turns 25…
Born in Casablanca, Morocco, and raised in Paris, NYC hair stylist and owner of La Boîte a Coupe salon, Elie Laurent Delouya turns 78… Physician and social activist, she was the Green Party’s nominee for POTUS in 2012, 2016 and 2024, Jill Stein turns 76… Professor emerita of computer science at Technion, Orna Grumberg turns 74… Dean of UC Berkeley Law School, he is one of the most frequently cited American legal scholars on constitutional law and federal civil procedure, Erwin Chemerinsky turns 73… Los Angeles city attorney from 2013 to 2022, Mike Feuer turns 68… Author of seven international bestsellers on topics such as strategy, power and seduction, Robert Greene turns 67… Head of school at the Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School in Palo Alto, Calif., Daniel L. Lehmann turns 64… Former member of Knesset for the Meretz party and a major general (res.) in the IDF, he now leads the Democrats party, Yair Golan turns 64… Former ESPN anchor and football sideline reporter, Suzanne Lisa “Suzy” Kolber turns 62… Retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and former defense staffer on the Hill, Robert Levinson turns 61… CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, she is a former seven-term Connecticut state senator, Gayle Slossberg turns 61… Education program lead of Bloomberg Philanthropies, Howard Wolfson turns 59… Record producer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, he has won nine Grammy Awards, Greg Kurstin turns 57… Managing partner of Alexandria, Va.-based MVAR Media and a leading strategist in Democratic politics, Jon Vogel… Political director for the Northeast region at AIPAC, Jason Koppel… Emmy Award-winning executive producer at NBC’s “Meet the Press,” David Philip Gelles… Director of media relations and a spokesman at Chabad Lubavitch, Rabbi Mordechai “Motti” Seligson… Chairman, CEO and co-founder of Meta/Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg turns 42… Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Businessweek reporter covering the union movement, labor law and related policies and politics, Josh Eidelson… Actor who has appeared in 13 movies, she is the daughter of Steven Spielberg, Sasha Rebecca Spielberg turns 36… Senior managing director of government relations at The Blackstone Group, Alex I. Katz… Associate at O’Melveny & Myers, he is a former track star and then football player at Harvard, Andrew Ezekoye… Former pitcher for Yale and then Team Israel, he is now an analyst at Citadel, Eric Brodkowitz turns 30…
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