• We’re watching the unfolding situation in the Middle East after clashes between the U.S. and Iran broke out late yesterday, threatening to end the tenuous ceasefire that went into place last month. President Donald Trump told ABC News on Thursday that the strikes did not constitute a breakdown of the ceasefire, but served as a “love tap.”
• The president took a more hard-line approach on his Truth Social site, writing, “A normal country would have allowed these destroyers to pass, but Iran is not a normal country. They are led by LUNATICS, and if they had the chance to use a nuclear weapon, they would do it, without question. But they’ll never have that opportunity and, just like we knocked them out again today, we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their deal signed, FAST!”
• The strikes came shortly after Saudi Arabia and Kuwait lifted their restrictions on the U.S. military’s use of the countries’ airspace and bases that went into place earlier this week with the start of the Trump administration’s Project Freedom. 
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio wraps up his two-day trip to Italy and the Vatican today.
• In Geneva, the World Jewish Congress will kick off its three-day governing board meeting on Sunday and will also hold a meeting of special envoys and coordinators combating antisemitism. 

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS

All politics is local, as the saying goes. And if true, that could be very bad news for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer following yesterday’s local elections across the country that saw significant losses for his Labour Party — a showing that could prompt party officials to reassess the party’s direction.

With partial results in shortly after polls closed, Nigel Farage’s hard-right Reform U.K. Party appeared to have made significant gains in working-class areas of the country, while Labour lost hundreds of local seats. Farage, who has faced multiple allegations of antisemitism — including bullying Jewish classmates as a teenager and promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories, as well as his multiple appearances on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ show — was the night’s clear victor. 

All told, Labour did not lose as badly as some polls had predicted, but the significant losses it did suffer, compared to Reform’s gains, portend future challenges for Starmer as he works to hold onto the premiership, less than two years into his term. 

The other big loser in the day’s elections was Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative Party, which, aside from reclaiming London’s Wandsworth and Westminster districts (both of which it lost to Labour in the 2022 elections), made few significant gains, while the Green Party fared better than Labour and the Tories, pulling out modest wins and gaining at least a dozen seats. 

That the two parties claiming the best outcomes fall on opposite — and extreme — ends of the political spectrum is deepening concerns among British Jews, who are already on edge amid spiking antisemitism and a wave of violent attacks targeting Jewish communities around the country. The country’s Jewish leaders have not come out in force against Farage, who is broadly supportive of Israel, and his Reform Party in the same way they’ve raised concerns about antisemitism in Labour and the Greens.

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

Financing Foreign Policy: The Economist looks at the Development Finance Corporation and its CEO, Ben Black, describing the agency as “the muscular new finance arm” of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy. “Now money will go wherever America competes with China, and to projects with Mr Trump’s other foreign-policy goals. Do-goodery is out; hard-nosed geopolitics is in. The board, which approves new investments, includes Marco Rubio and Howard Lutnick, secretaries of state and commerce, respectively. … [T]he DFC will operate like a Wall Street investment firm, insiders say. In February Mr Black opened an office in New York. This makes it easier to work with hedge funds, which the DFC favours as partners over development institutions.” [TheEconomist]

Pregnant Pause: In Newsweek, former White House Middle East Envoy Jason Greenblatt considers President Donald Trump’s approach to Iran. “The pause is not capitulation. It is not President Trump’s fear. It is not a response to media criticism. And while some will connect it to gas prices and the approaching midterm elections, I do not believe that is what is driving this. What it is, is a high-stakes decision made under pressure, pressure that President Trump himself has been applying to Iran, not the other way around.” [Newsweek]

Seeing Red in Golders Green: The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg observes the challenges in addressing the U.K.’s antisemitism problem amid regular attacks on the country’s Jewish community. “The responses to the stabbings in Golders Green help explain how this predicament arose — and why it continues. Even as the victims were still in the hospital, an array of online apologists associated with Britain’s ascendant hard-left explained away the incident and its implications. … Whatever the alleged perpetrator’s internal demons, he didn’t travel across London to attack Presbyterians.” [TheAtlantic]

Cleric’s Calling Card: In The Wall Street Journal, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who as a district court judge presided over the case of the “Blind Sheikh,” on whose behalf New Jersey congressional candidate Adam Hamawy testified, raises concerns about Hamawy’s ties to the radical cleric. “Mr. Hamawy was more than a casual traveling companion of Abdel Rahman. He met the Blind Sheikh in 1991 after the cleric had already been charged with providing the spiritual authority for the 1981 assassination of Mubarak’s predecessor, Anwar Sadat, although an Egyptian court acquitted him of direct involvement in that crime. Mr. Hamawy attended several of Abdel Rahman’s sermons, visited the cleric in his home before his trial and provided him with translation services.” [WSJ]

A Gulf Between: In the Jewish News Syndicate, Betsy Berns Korn, the chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, reflects on the differences in Israel’s positioning between the 1991 Gulf War and the present conflict with Iran. “Sustained threats from Iran and its proxies have forced countries across the Mideast to reassess both risk and partnership. That reassessment has brought Israel into a more central role, not as a symbol, but as a proven contributor to regional security. This does not resolve the region’s conflicts. … It does, however, mark a shift that few would have anticipated a generation ago. A story that once centered on Israeli restraint now includes Israeli capability. A region that once treated Israel as a liability now increasingly turns to it in moments of danger.” [JNS]

The Trump administration signed off on the sale of $17 billion in air defense missiles and related weaponry to Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain despite dwindling U.S. stockpiles…

The Economist reports on a proposal from the Russian army’s intelligence unit suggesting that Moscow would offer Iran thousands of high-tech drones for use against U.S. targets in the Gulf; the outlet said it could not confirm if the document, which was undated, was ultimately presented to the Iranians…

The Financial Times spotlights Hezbollah’s scaled-up efforts to attack Israel despite the severe blows it was dealt before the November 2024 ceasefire, finding that the Iran-backed terror group used the period of calm to rebuild and rearm…

In The Washington Post, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who has long faced calls to switch his party affiliation, explains why he intends to remain a Democrat, but warns that the party’s “catering to the fringe” has resulted in a scenario in which “once-common views,” such as support for Israel and secure border, “have become increasingly toxic”…

Puck looks at concerns around the reemergence of National Security Action, the foreign policy group started by former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Obama administration official Ben Rhodes, as former Biden and Obamaworld staffers attempt to influence the Democratic Party’s foreign policy direction…

The Egyptian man who firebombed a hostage-awareness march last year, killing one person and injuring a dozen others, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole…

Authorities in Chicago charged a second man with battery and hate crime charges in connection with the assault of two Jewish students at DePaul University in late 2024…

Cornell University is investigating the circumstances around a confrontation between the university’s president, Michael Kotlikoff, and students who followed him to a parking lot after an event on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; video of the incident showed that Kotlikoff, who said he was harassed by the group, subsequently bumped students with his car as he attempted to leave the premises…

The Free Press interviews GG Gilbert-Soto, the girlfriend of Google co-founder Sergey Brin; in the interview, Gilbert-Soto suggested that Brin, who is Jewish, had been put off by the Democratic Party’s leftward shift, noting that “October 7 was also a big deal for him”…

Australian businessman James Packer is among the backers of Architect Capital’s bid to purchase a 15% share in OnlyFans at a valuation of $3.1 billion following the death of the platform’s owner, Leonid Radvinsky, in March…

Jillian Segal, Australia’s special envoy to combat antisemitism, testified before the royal commission into last year’s Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack as the commission held a fourth day of public comments, during which it heard from a restaurant owner whose business had been damaged in an arson attack; the commission also heard from the head of a Jewish soccer club who detailed the “unprecedented” number of antisemitic incidents club members faced, among other witnesses…

Police in north London are investigating what they called a “religiously aggravated assault” in which a car veered toward a small group of Jewish students near the city’s Hasmonean High School for Boys; no injuries were reported in the incident, which comes amid spiking antisemitism in the country…

The United Arab Emirates sent $100 million to the Board of Peace — the largest sum the group has so far received — to fund training for a Palestinian police force that will operate in Gaza…

A report from the office of USAID’s inspector general found that four additional staffers from the U.N. Relief and Works Agency — three teachers and a social worker — participated in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel…

Talks between Wizz Air and Israel’s Transportation Ministry to create a hub for the discount airline have broken down amid Wizz’s hesitance to restart flights to Ben Gurion Airport in accordance with an advisory from the EU Aviation Safety Agency that instructed European airlines to avoid Israeli airspace amid the war with Iran…

Israel’s Health Ministry said there were no reported cases of hantavirus in the country following a report in Ma’ariv that an individual had been hospitalized with the virus…

An Israeli court indicted a West Bank settler a week after his arrest for the filmed assault of a Catholic nun near Jerusalem’s Old City…

WhatsApp founder Jan Koum’s Koum Family Foundation is making a $200 million donation to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center for the construction of a new medical tower at the hospital’s Jerusalem complex; the donation is the largest ever given in Israel’s healthcare system…

Francie Harris, an alumna of EMILY’s List and the energy, commerce and state departments, has joined Democratic Majority for Israel as chief of staff…

JI wine columnist Yitz Applbaum reviews the Shoresh 2024:

Spending one’s days at the source of fine wine is, I confess, the calling I should most like to claim in another life. A recent afternoon at the wonderful Tzora winery in the Judean Hills, in the company of my new friend Nathan, only reaffirmed the conviction. Misty Hills has long enjoyed its reputation as one of Israel’s finest wines, yet the true discovery of my visit lay elsewhere: in the Shoresh 2024, a wine of uncommon grace and quiet authority. It brought me considerable pleasure at the table, and as I had the foresight to acquire the better part of its production, I expect its company for some years to come.

The Shoresh 2024 is a thoughtful blend of syrah, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petit verdot and cabernet Franc, aged for 14 months in French barrique. The nose opens with gentle notes of cedar. The first sip suggests rose petals; the mid-palate yields to the firmer presence of the petit verdot, lending welcome structure beneath the polish. The finish is, in a word, beautiful: long, refined and quietly composed. Pair it with a well-made quiche or fresh brioche, and it should drink wonderfully through the latter half of the decade.

Iranian rapper 021kid released a Persian remake of the Israeli war anthem “Harbu Darbu” earlier this week. The London-based artist, whose real name is Tony Mohraz, told Haaretz he reached out to Ness and Stilla, the Israeli artists behind the original, in order to rework the song into a protest song against the Iranian regime.

British actress, she is a vocal supporter of Israel, Dame Maureen Lipman turns 80 on Sunday…

FRIDAY: Senior judge in the U.K., Baron Leonard Hubert “Lennie” Hoffmann turns 92… Former president of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Stanley A. Rabin turns 88… International chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, he is a past president of the Canadian Jewish Congress and former Canadian minister of justice and attorney general, Irwin Cotler turns 86… MIT biologist and 2002 Nobel Prize laureate in medicine, H. Robert Horvitz turns 79… Former MLB pitcher who played for the Angels, Rangers and White Sox, Lloyd Allen turns 76… Chief rabbi in Dusseldorf until moving to Israel in 2021, Rabbi Raphael Evers turns 72… CFO for The Manischewitz Company for 13 years until 2024, Thomas E. Keogh… Retired USDOJ official, for many years he was the director of the Office of Special Investigations focused on deporting Nazi war criminals, Eli M. Rosenbaum turns 71… Former president of Congregation B’nai Torah in Sandy Springs, Ga., Janice Perlis Ellin… Third-generation furniture retailer in Springfield, Ill., Barry Seidman… Former president of Clayton, Mo.-based JurisTemps, Andrew J. Koshner, J.D., Ph.D…. CEO and founder of NSG/SWAT, a high-profile boutique branding agency he launched in 2011, Richard Kirshenbaum turns 65… Novelist, author of If I Could Tell You and movie critic for The Jerusalem Post since 2001, Hannah Brown… Co-founder and director of the Mizrahi Family Charitable Fund and a Maryland Climate Commissioner, Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi turns 62… Israeli journalist, anchorwoman and attorney, she is best known as host of the investigative program “Uvda” (“Fact”) on Israeli television, Ilana Dayan-Orbach turns 62… Longtime litigator and political fundraiser in Florida, now serving as a mediator and arbitrator, Benjamin W. Newman… Canadian social activist and documentary filmmaker critical of corporate capitalism, she is now teaching at the University of British Columbia, Naomi Klein turns 56… Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations from 2015 to 2020 and again since 2024, Ambassador Danny Danon turns 55… Stand-up comedian, writer, actress and author, known for appearing on the ninth season of “America’s Got Talent,” Jodi Miller turns 55… Novelist and memoirist, Joanna Rakoff turns 54… Senior advisor at West End Strategy Team, Ari Geller turns 53… Council member of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s Voice of the People initiative and election committee member for the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, David Wiseman… Director of strategic initiatives at J Street, based in Los Angeles, Josh Lockman turns 44… Ice hockey player, Samantha Faber turns 39… Former international spokeswoman for then-Israeli prime ministers Lapid and Bennett, Keren Hajioff turns 37… Founder and CEO at Axion Ray, Daniel First… Canadian beach volleyball player, he competed in the 2016 and 2024 Summer Olympics, Sam Schachter turns 36… Former White House senior policy advisor, now a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, Amiel Fields-Meyer…

SATURDAY: Holocaust survivor, philanthropist and social activist, she marched in Selma, Ala., with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965, Eva Haller turns 96… Academy Award-winning director, producer and screenwriter, James L. Brooks (family name was Bernstein) turns 86… Guitarist and record producer, best known as a member of the rock-pop-jazz group “Blood, Sweat & Tears,” Steve Katz turns 81… Israeli rabbi who is a co-founder of Yeshivat Har Etzion and the settlements of Alon Shevut and Ofra, Yoel Bin-Nun turns 80… Mashgiach ruchani (spiritual guide) of Baltimore’s Ner Israel Rabbinical College, Rabbi Beryl Weisbord turns 79… Winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry, Michael Levitt turns 79… Pianist, singer-songwriter and one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, Billy Joel turns 77… Physician in Burlington, Vt., she was the first lady of Vermont from 1991 until 2003, Judith Steinberg Dean turns 73… Sharon Mallory Doble… Co-founder and board member of PlayMedia Systems, Brian D. Litman… Founding executive director of Chai Mitzvah, The Resource Center for Jewish Engagement, Audrey B. Lichter turns 71… Nursing home entrepreneur, he was nominated last October to become the U.S. ambassador to Hungary, Benjamin Z. Landa turns 70… Film director and producer, Barry Avrich turns 63… Staff writer at The Atlantic and author of five books, Mark Leibovich turns 61… Senior advisory partner of Bain Capital and owner of a minority interest in the Boston Celtics, Jonathan Lavine turns 60… Chief global affairs officer at Meta / Facebook, he was previously the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and a law clerk for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Joel D. Kaplan turns 57… NYC-based celebrity chiropractor, Arkady Aaron Lipnitsky, DC… and his twin brother, managing director at Baltimore’s Pimlico Capital, Victor “Yaakov” Lipnitsky both turn 53… SVP at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Lesli Rosenblatt Gillette… Owner of NYC’s Dylan’s Candy Bar, which claims to be the largest candy store in the world, Dylan Lauren turns 52… Executive director of the Richardson Center and former IDF paratrooper, he has negotiated the release of political prisoners worldwide, Michael “Mickey” Bergman turns 50… Senior policy advisor on the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Aaron Scheinberg turns 45… Legal director at the State Democracy Research Initiative, Danielle Elizabeth Friedman… Opinion columnist and podcast host at The New York Times, he was a co-founder and editor-at-large at Vox, Ezra Klein turns 42… Jenna Weisbord… Principal at Blackstone Growth Israel, Nathaniel Rosen… Graduate of Harvard Law School, Mikhael Smits…

SUNDAY: Scion of a Hasidic dynasty and leader of the Beth Jehudah congregation in Milwaukee, Rabbi Michel Twerski… and his twin brother, who is a professor at Brooklyn Law School, following a career as dean at Hofstra University School of Law, Aaron Twerski, both turn 87… Real estate developer, his projects include NYC’s Deutsche Bank Center, he is the principal owner of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, Stephen M. Ross turns 86… Leading Democratic pollster and political strategist, Stanley Bernard “Stan” Greenberg turns 81… Israeli businessman and philanthropist, his family founded and owned Israel Discount Bank, Leon Recanati turns 78… Founder and CEO of OPTI Connectivity (Operational Productivity Tool, Inc.), Edward Brill… CEO of Medical Reimbursement Data Management in Chapel Hill, N.C., Robert Jameson… American-born Israeli singer, songwriter and music producer, Yehudah Katz turns 75… Claims examiner at Chubb Insurance, David Beck… Anchor for “SportsCenter” and other programs on ESPN since 1979, Chris “Boomer” Berman turns 71… Former NBA player whose career spanned 18 seasons on seven teams, Danny Schayes turns 67… U.S. senator (R-MS), Cindy Hyde-Smith turns 67… U.S. senator (R-UT), John Curtis turns 66… Reform rabbi living in Israel, she is the sister of actress Laura Silverman and comedian Sarah Silverman, Susan Silverman turns 63… Brazilian businessman, serial entrepreneur and partner with Donald Trump in Trump Realty Brazil, Ricardo Samuel Goldstein turns 60… Neil Winchel… Attorney general of Colorado, elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022, he is now running for governor, Philip Jacob Weiser turns 58… Senior rabbi of Houston’s Congregation Beth Yeshurun, Brian Strauss turns 54… Israeli rock musician, singer-songwriter, music producer and author, Aviv Geffen turns 53… Editor-in-chief, recipe developer, art director and food stylist of Fleishigs, a kosher food magazine, Shifra Klein turns 44… Israel-based reporter for the Associated Press, Melanie Lidman… Video games reporter at Bloomberg News, Jason Schreier turns 39… Partner at Converge Public Strategies, Fara Klein Sonderling… Associate director of communications in the D.C. office of Pew Research Center, Rachel Weisel Drian… Freelance reporter, he is the author of a book on the Obama-Biden relationship, Gabriel Debenedetti… Editorial director at The Record by Recorded Future, Adam Janofsky… Actress who has appeared in many films and television series, Halston Sage (born Halston Jean Schrage) turns 33… Scriptwriter and actress, she is the daughter of Larry David, Cazzie Laurel David turns 32… Mollie Harrison…

BIRTHWEEK: Jane Daroff, retired social worker in Cleveland, turned 88 on Wednesday…