The Mamdani machine
Plus, Israeli alarm over Iran’s role in Lebanon
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In today’s Daily Kickoff, we cover the results of yesterday’s primary elections in New York City and Maryland, and report on criticism by prospective 2028 Democratic presidential contenders of the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding. We also highlight Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter’s statement of concern over the U.S.-Iran agreement to establish a “deconfliction cell” to end military operations in Lebanon and over Tehran’s role in that, and examine the contrasting messaging Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have offered around Iran’s involvement in the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Robert Kraft, Gene Simmons and Sir Liam Fox.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Israel Editor Tamara Zieve and U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik, with an assist from Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- Far-left, anti-Israel congressional candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani swept a trifecta of contested primaries Tuesday night. But pro-Israel stalwart Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) won renomination in a landslide with 72% of the vote, and state Assemblyman Micah Lasher, an ally of Israel who holds close relations with the Jewish community, won the Democratic nomination to succeed Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY). (Read more below.)
- Outside of the deep-blue city, Democrats turned to pro-Israel moderates in key races. State Del. Adrian Boafo, who was the recipient of millions of dollars of supportive ads from AIPAC’s super PAC, easily prevailed in the Democratic primary to succeed retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD). (Read more below.) Military veteran Cait Conley, meanwhile, won comfortably in a crowded Democratic primary, and will face Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) in a swing suburban New York City seat. And in Utah, former Rep. Ben McAdams (D-UT) easily defeated a challenger who campaigned on his anti-Israel bona fides.
- Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-MD) held off a well-funded challenge from former Rep. David Trone. Trone spent over $25 million of his own money on the race, but only won about 37% of the primary vote. And in Montgomery County, Md., progressive Councilmember Will Jawando is currently leading the more moderate Councilmember Andrew Friedson 41-33%in the Democratic primary for county executive with 70% of votes counted.
- President Donald Trump is expected to attend a GOP Senate luncheon as he remains at odds with his party over several legislative efforts. Later, he’ll hold a rally on the National Mall to kick off his 16-day Great American State Fair to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is slated to brief House Republicans as the Pentagon gears up for a contentious fight over an expected $80 billion supplemental funding request to replenish stockpiles and otherwise pay for the war in Iran, according to several reports. Read more here.
- The House Appropriations Committee is set to mark up the 2027 defense spending bill.
- Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) will speak in conversation with Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick as well as leaders from other religious groups, including the Union for Reform Judaism and Orthodox Union, about the Jewish American Security Act.
- Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro’s media site, The Daily Wire, is co-hosting alongside ad agency LSKR a day of programming at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the south of France, marking the company’s debut at the advertising industry’s premier annual gathering.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S WILL BREDDERMAN
It’s New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s party now — even if not everybody in the Big Apple feels invited.
The mayor’s candidates for Congress jumped out to early leads Tuesday night, with former City Comptroller Brad Lander comfortably defeating Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), a stalwart opponent of President Donald Trump who nonetheless lost support from his party’s base over his lukewarm support for the new mayor and longstanding pro-Israel record. Lander won 66% of the vote to Goldman’s 34%, with 90% of the vote counted as of Wednesday morning.
The shocks to the party establishment continued throughout the night, as Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez jumped to a commanding advantage over party favorite, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. Valdez easily defeated Reynoso, 56%-36%, with 92% of the vote counted.
And the capstone on the night for Mamdani’s anti-Israel congressional trifecta came when networks announced the ouster of Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, against radical doctoral student and Columbia encampment leader Darializa Avila Chevalier, whose inflammatory X feed — and attendance at an anti-Israel rally the day after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks — did little to derail her candidacy. In a much tighter race, Avila Chevalier beat the incumbent, 49%-46%, with 88% of the vote counted.
Signs of the ascendance of the far left within overwhelmingly Democratic big cities have been visible for months. Mamdani’s astounding mayoral victory in 2025 mobilized a slew of like-minded candidates to run for office — in New York City and beyond. In Philadelphia, DSA-endorsed candidate Chris Rabb won a Philadelphia-based congressional seat last month. Last week, DSA-backed Janeese Lewis George romped to victory in the race for mayor in the nation’s capital, and is on track to become the city’s next top executive.
ESTABLISHMENT WIN
Micah Lasher, experienced lawmaker with close ties to Jewish community, wins race to replace Nadler
New York state Assemblymember Micah Lasher, a Jewish Democrat, claimed victory on Tuesday night in a hard-fought primary for a coveted House seat in the heart of Manhattan, according to the Associated Press. Lasher had won 39% with most of the vote tallied by the time his race had been called. He prevailed over a fellow assemblymember, Alex Bores, who pulled in 35%, as well as Jack Schlossberg, the Kennedy scion, who came in third with just 10% — followed by Nina Schwalbe and George Conway, both in single digits, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Background: Lasher, 44, a longtime member of the Democratic establishment in New York, pitched himself as the most experienced candidate in the race, leaning into his identification as a policy wonk. He was backed by the district’s retiring congressman, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), as well as Gov. Kathy Hochul. He also drew a significant share of outside support from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who spent $10 million to help boost Lasher’s campaign.
MARYLAND MANDATE
Boafo wins crowded Maryland primary in victory for Hoyer and pro-Israel allies
Maryland state Del. Adrian Boafo prevailed on Tuesday in the crowded Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), who endorsed him, marking a legacy-burnishing victory for the veteran congressman and his pro-Israel allies, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Strong lead: The Associated Press called the race after Boafo had secured 32% of the vote with about one-half of ballots counted Tuesday night. His nearest competitor, businesswoman Quincy Bareebe, lagged well behind with 19%. Boafo’s win came after a forceful push by Hoyer, pro-Israel groups and establishment Democrats to help elevate the congressman’s hand-picked former campaign manager in a race that featured two dozen candidates vying to represent Maryland’s 5th Congressional District.
2028 WATCH
Prospective 2028 Democrats rally against Trump’s Iran agreement
Among the Democrats mulling a presidential run in 2028, there was a unified reaction in February when President Donald Trump decided to attack Iran: opposition to a war they viewed as reckless and unconstitutional. As those Democrats respond to the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding that Trump announced last week, another consensus is emerging, holding that the deal is just another example of Trump’s ineffectual leadership — yet another instance, these Democrats argue, of Trump getting taken advantage of and undermining the American people, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Taking jabs: “They’re negotiating a deal that, truthfully, every single detail we continue to hear just looks like the Iranians continue to do better than us. I think they should have been the one to write The Art of the Deal, not Donald Trump,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said in a TV interview on Tuesday. Rahm Emanuel, the former U.S. ambassador to Japan, member of Congress and chief of staff to President Barack Obama, offered a similar quip at a recent Financial Times event after describing the deal as “the memorandum of misunderstanding.” Emanuel said, “While the president thinks he wrote a book called The Art of the Deal, they’re going to teach him a lesson, which is the Persian lesson: the art of the negotiation. And he just got schooled, unbelievably.”
Deal defense: Breaking with many Senate Republicans who have expressed skepticism about various elements of the Trump administration’s memorandum of understanding with Iran, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) defended the deal on Tuesday, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
DAYLIGHT EMERGING
Israeli Ambassador Leiter expresses concern over Iran-U.S. deconfliction mechanism
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter criticized the Trump administration on Tuesday for agreeing to establish a “deconfliction cell” to end military operations in Lebanon without Israel’s involvement as part of the ongoing peace talks with Iran, the first public statement from Jerusalem denouncing the move, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Ambassador’s alarm: Leiter released a pair of statements in English and Hebrew at the start of the fifth round of multi-day diplomatic talks at the U.S. State Department between Israel and Lebanon, in which he warned that both parties were “heading towards a train wreck.” The ambassador said that while the Israelis “support President Trump’s vision of ensuring that Iran no longer has nuclear capabilities, ballistic missiles or the ability to funnel money to its proxies to threaten its neighbors and maintain its regional hegemony,” he worried “that the concept of ‘deconfliction’ is misplaced.”
Fault lines: Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have offered different messaging around the issue of Lebanon and Hezbollah being subsumed into discussions with Tehran, JI’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports. Vance said on Monday that the U.S. will be counting on Iran to “rein in” its proxy Hezbollah. Rubio, meanwhile, arriving in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, said Iran’s sponsorship of Hezbollah “will be discussed as part of our conversation with the Iranians, but … the future of Lebanon belongs to the Lebanese people, through their sovereign, elected government, and that’s who we’re going to be working with.”
BLINKEN WEIGHS IN
Tony Blinken praises Ro Khanna’s view of the Iran war
Former Secretary of State Tony Blinken offered support for Rep. Ro Khanna’s (D-CA) stance on the Iran war and the U.S. deal with Iran in a post on X on Tuesday. Blinken praised the “wise words from my friend [Khanna],” reposting a Fox News op-ed by the congressman making the case that “stopping the Iran war is good. But Trump’s deal is worse than the JCPOA,” Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Zoom out: He’s the second prominent former Biden administration official to draw closer to Khanna in the lead-up to the 2028 presidential primary, joining former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, who has reportedly been advising Khanna behind the scenes as he prepares for a presidential run. The comments also come as some progressive presidential contenders call for the Democratic Party to purge its ranks of foreign policy advisors who served in the Biden administration, given its general support for Israel.
CONGRESSIONAL REBUKE
Senate approves House-passed Iran war powers resolution in largely symbolic move
The Senate voted on Tuesday to pass a House-passed war powers resolution directing the administration to withdraw U.S. forces from Iran, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. The resolution passed by a 50-48 vote, with Republican Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) again voting in favor and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) voting against it. Ultimately, GOP absences enabled the resolution to go forward.
State of play: But the resolution, now passed by both chambers, came in the form of a concurrent resolution, which is not submitted to the president and, based on past court precedent, is not seen as carrying the force of law. Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and lead Democratic sponsor of the war powers resolution, insisted in a statement, “Regardless of what President Trump says, this measure is binding under the War Powers Resolution, and I will explore all legal avenues to ensure the Executive complies with the will of Congress.”
Worthy Reads
Thin Air: Navy and Army National Guard veteran Brynn Tannehill argues in The Atlantic that the U.S. and Israel’s strategy toward Iran was flawed from the outset because it ignored historical lessons and relied primarily on airpower to force either regime change or surrender. “The U.S. plan for attacking Iran was doomed from the start because it relied on airpower without the benefit of external factors that would have made an air campaign successful. There was no credible threat of mass ground invasion to overthrow the Iranian regime. It was either internal revolution or nothing. The U.S. was also unwilling to inflict the sort of mass casualties and suffering that might have caused Iran to decide that capitulation was less damaging than continued resistance.” [TheAtlantic]
The Burgeoning Question about Burnham: The Jewish Chronicle’s Angela Epstein considers whether Labor MP Andy Burnham’s potential premiership in Britain will be “good for the Jews.” “Look to how recently, when asked for his views on the baseless allegations of genocide in Gaza, Burnham declined to take a clear position. Arguing he was too far removed from the situation to make such a judgement. Why not state plainly that no court has upheld the genocide claim [against Israel]? … So the rap sheet is troubling. Factor in the wider perception of Burnham as a weathervane politician, with an impressive number of U-turns under his belt, and there is justifiable cause for concern for British Jewry.” [JewishChronicle]
The Witkoff-Kushner Show: Journalist and editor Tina Brown, in her Substack “Fresh Hell,” reviews New York Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan’s new book about the first year of President Donald Trump’s second administration. “Surprising to me in these pages is how well the odd couple of global diplomacy, the ever-sunny real estate deal man Steve Witkoff and Trump’s effete-looking son-in-law Jared Kushner, come across. After bringing home the Abraham Accords in the first term and wrangling Bibi and Hamas to a Gaza ceasefire in the second, it’s time to acknowledge that Kushner is a skilled, pragmatic closer and the garrulous Witkoff, dispatched round the world to end three wars at once, never stops trying.” [Substack]
Word on the Street
International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday that inspectors would visit Iranian nuclear enrichment sites, after conflicting remarks on the matter by U.S. and Iranian officials. The parties’ agreement “says explicitly that the nuclear activities that are going to be carried out with the regards to the nuclear material facilities will be supervised by the IAEA — in all letters,” Grossi told reporters.…
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke on the phone with senior Hamas official Basem Naim about the “latest developments” in the region, according to Iranian TV…
Victoria Coates, a vice president of the Heritage Foundation, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, she said in an X post on Wednesday, noting that they discussed “Lebanon, Europe, the future of Western Civilization, and, of course, Iran”…
A U.S. fighter jet pilot who was shot down over Iran and rescued in April told intelligence officials he witnessed Iranian drones flying in a single swarm formation, CNN reports, which would mark a significant advancement in Tehran’s drone technology…
The Washington Post examines how President Donald Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran has impacted his popularity in the United Arab Emirates…
Robert Kraft’s Blue Square Alliance Against Hate announced the formation of its inaugural advisory board, including former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, Dentons CEO Kate Barton, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports exclusively…
The House Rules Committee yesterday teed up amendment votes on the 2027 State Department funding bill on cutting $3.3 billion in military aid to Israel, cutting U.S. aid to Jordan, blocking funding for the United Nations and blocking funding for the Middle East Partnership for Peace initiative. The amendments are expected to come up for votes later this week…
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) reiterated her criticism of Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner and accused him and his supporters of antisemitism at an Orthodox Union event on Tuesday, JI’s Marc Rod reports. “Our support for Israel remains as strong as ever,” Collins said, to a standing ovation. “We must all stand with Israel. In my case, I learned that lesson at an early age”…
New York City’s First Lady Rama Duwaji posted an Instagram story Tuesday flashing an “I Voted” sticker and encouraging her followers to support the two congressional candidates endorsed by both her husband and the Democratic Socialists of America: Assemblymember Claire Valdez and doctoral student Darializa Avila Chevalier. The post excluded Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who alone among Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s candidates identifies as a Zionist, JI’s Will Bredderman reports…
A manifesto allegedly left by the gunman behind Monday’s rampage in Côte-des-Neiges, a heavily Jewish neighborhood in Montreal, repeatedly targeted Jews and Zionists, specifically identifying “influential Zionists” among his intended victims, according to a copy of the document published by Rebel News, JI’s Haley Cohen reports…
Jewish Democrats in Texas are gearing up for the state party’s convention, which starts Thursday, as delegates are set to consider nearly 20 resolutions condemning Israel…
Israeli officials are exploring listing Israel Aerospace Industries and defense manufacturer Rafael on U.S. stock exchanges rather than in Israel, where they may face more burdensome disclosure requirements, according to Bloomberg. The Israeli government is reportedly looking to sell up to a 30% stake in the companies, which manufacture the Arrow and Iron Dome missile-defense systems…
Around 50 career and political appointee intelligence officials have been removed from their roles at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence since Bill Pulte assumed the role of acting DNI last week, CBS reports, including six employees who were fired and 45 who were sent back to other agencies…
Top Senate Democrats sent a letter to Republican committee chairs on Tuesday calling for hearings into a $500 million deal that sold nearly half of World Liberty Financial — a crypto company founded by members of the Trump and Witkoff families — to a group led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security advisor, The Wall Street Journal reports…
Gen. Chris Donahue, the highly regarded commanding general of United States Army Europe and Africa who was seen as a rising star in the U.S. defense establishment, is expected to announce he is stepping down from his role in the coming days, adding to a growing list of senior military leaders who have departed or been pushed out during Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s tenure…
Netanyahu on Wednesday completed his testimony, after 98 hearings over the past year and a half, in his ongoing corruption trial…
Israeli-born KISS co-founder and bassist Gene Simmons tells The Wall Street Journal about the impact his mother, who was a Holocaust survivor, had on his worldview…
Breaker Media reports that New York Times columnist Bret Stephens was briefly mistaken by security for an intruder as he arrived at Times Publisher A.G. Sulzberger’s annual Catskills BBQ wearing a fedora, which is usually worn by Breaker Media’s reporter when he stakes out media gatherings…
The Wall Street Journal reports on how Larry Ellison quietly donated $45 million to a pro-Trump political nonprofit in 2024 — one of the largest single injections of capital that cycle — and how his private friendship with Trump has since paid dividends for both his tech company Oracle and his son David‘s growing media empire…
The New York Times spotlights the annual Great Nosh picnic that took place on Governors Island on Sunday, calling it “a kind of New York-centric Coachella for Jewish food and culture”…
“SportsCenter” anchor Linda Cohn, who presented more episodes of the ESPN show than anyone else in its history, is set to retire at the end of the month…
Longtime New Yorker staff writer Mark Singer, who specialized in profiles, died on Friday at 75…
Pic of the Day
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), (left), and Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Eric Burlison (R-MO) spoke at a launch event on Tuesday for the Abraham Accords Prosperity Group in Washington hosted by Sir Liam Fox (second from left), a former British minister. The group aims to promote investment and collaboration across the Abraham Accords countries.
Birthdays
Actor and singer, Elizabeth Greer “Beanie” Feldstein turns 33…
Activist investor, he is a co-founder of Trian Partners, Nelson Peltz turns 84… Professor emeritus in the Lam Family College of Business at San Francisco State University, Sam S. Gill turns 84… Former chairman and CEO of New York Life Insurance Company, Seymour “Sy” Sternberg turns 83… Professor of philosophy at American Jewish University and founding dean of its rabbinical program, Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff turns 83… Founder of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, he is also the founder of Yeshivat Maharat for Orthodox women, Rabbi Avraham Haim Yosef (Avi) Weiss turns 82… Former secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, he is an author and professor emeritus at UC Berkeley, his newest book came out in 2025, Robert Reich turns 80… Former member of Knesset and former chief of staff of the IDF, Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon turns 76… Early childhood specialist at Columbus City Schools and Columbus School for Girls in Columbus, Ohio, Carol Glassman… Former EVP at Edelman, he is the author of a book on the Saatchi & Saatchi ad firm, Kevin Goldman… President and CEO of public relations firm Steinreich Communications, Stanley Steinreich… U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Florida, Beth Francine Bloom turns 64… Principal from 2007 to 2023 of Mount Scopus Memorial College located in Melbourne, Australia, Rabbi James Kennard turns 62… The first on-air talent of the NFL Network when it debuted in 2003, he has become the face of the network, which merged with ESPN in 2025, Rich Eisen turns 57… Israeli businesswoman and owner of the soccer team, Hapoel Beer Sheva, her brother-in-law is Israel’s minister of economy, Nir Barkat, Alona Barkat turns 57… Author and columnist, he is the managing editor at Shtetl, Shulem Deen turns 52… Singer and songwriter known professionally as Ariel Pink, Ariel Marcus Rosenberg turns 48… Film director, screenwriter, producer, editor and cinematographer, Todd Strauss-Schulson turns 46… Director of domestic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, he is the son-in-law of political analyst and commentator Bill Kristol, Matthew Continetti turns 45… Digital marketing manager at Guardian Pharmacy Services, Brett Rosner… VP of Houston-based RIDA Development, a multi-national real estate development company, Steven C. Mitzner… A 2015 contestant on “Jeopardy!” who earned $413,612 by winning 13 consecutive episodes, he is a son of United States District Court Senior Judge Amy Berman Jackson, Matthew Barnett “Matt” Jackson turns 34… Director of legislative fiscal affairs at the Rockland County (N.Y.) legislature, Moshe Gruber… College basketball player for the Harvard Crimson until 2022, then a graduate transfer player at NYU until 2024, Spencer Freedman turns 28… Lois Charles…
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