Lone Star Jews have the Senate blues
Plus, NYMag responds to Jewish leaders' concerns
Add JewishInsider on GoogleGood Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to conflicted Jewish voters in Texas about the state’s upcoming Senate election between James Talarico and Ken Paxton, have the scoop on a letter from the editor-in-chief of New York magazine responding to Jewish leaders’ concerns over the magazine’s coverage of Israel and Jewish issues, and report on the new guidelines for a federal educational tax credit program that most Democratic governors are still mulling. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Quentin Tarantino, Selma Blair and Maya Regev.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Tamara Zieve.
Today’s Agenda
We’re keeping tabs on the latest developments regarding FlyDubai 1073. This morning, El Al’s repatriation flights from the United Arab Emirates slated for today were canceled after the airline did not receive landing permissions. Some stranded passengers originally scheduled on FlyDubai flew to Israel via Abu Dhabi or European stopovers.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke this morning with Capt. Smit Machchhar, the hero pilot of FZ1073, who recounted the moments after the initial attack when he managed to open the cockpit’s door to allow passengers to overpower his co-pilot. “I had so many injuries, but I told myself I have to get up and act,” Machchhar said. “At the time, I pushed myself to open the cockpit door.”
President Donald Trump suggested on Thursday that, “based on what I’m hearing,” the attacking co-pilot had ties to Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the co-pilot had undergone “Islamist radical indoctrination,” while cautioning that investigators have not yet determined whether he had ties to Iran or other foreign actors or was acting alone. Read more here.
In Yemen, the country’s internationally recognized government said its army carried out 20 strikes on Houthi targets today. Yesterday, Saudi Arabia claimed the Iran-backed terror group attacked a power station in Medina, the country’s second holiest city after Mecca. The Houthis denied responsibility for the attack.
A Washington state man employed by the Department of Energy will make his first court appearance today following his arrest by federal authorities who charged the man with providing material support to the Houthis.
On Saturday, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) will appear with Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed at a town hall in Macomb County, Mich.
One Thing To Know
texas toss-up
By Emily Jacobs
Caught between a scandal-plagued Republican nominee and a young Democrat who tacks further left on Israel than many are comfortable with, Jews in the Lone Star State find themselves in a Texas-sized bind when it comes to the pivotal Senate race between state Attorney General Ken Paxton and state Rep. James Talarico.
“I think Texas Jews are between a rock and a hard place in this race,” Norri Leder, a co-founder of Houston Jewish Women Vote and a board member of the local Jewish Federation, told Jewish Insider. “On one hand, you have Ken Paxton, who has a lot of ethical issues that trouble a lot of voters across party lines. With Talarico, you’ve got someone who, like many Democrats, is just afraid to discuss this subject [Israel] with the Jewish community too much. That’s been hard.”
In fact, Jewish leaders in Texas say, neither candidate has done much in the way of outreach to their community, which has left them seeking more engagement in what is a neck-and-neck race.
The Big Reads
media moment
Weeks after meeting privately with a group of Mizrahi and Sephardic leaders to address their concerns about a recent New York magazine cover package accused of erasing Jews from its narrative, the outlet’s editor-in-chief, David Haskell, vowed in response “to publish journalism that’s both accurate and empathic about the Jewish experience,” even as he otherwise declined to add a requested correction, according to an email he sent on Thursday, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. Haskell’s note to the Jewish leaders, which was reviewed by JI, came as New York has faced mounting scrutiny over its hostile turn against Israel in the years since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, an ideological shift that has sparked internal tensions with some Jewish staffers who have raised objections to the magazine’s direction.
exhibit a
Not one of the 40 leading U.S. art museums evaluated by the Anti-Defamation League includes Jewish identity in its diversity commitments, according to a new report the group released on Thursday, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. At the report’s launch event, held at the Jewish Museum on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, actor Selma Blair, who is Jewish, said she has felt a similar exclusion in Hollywood. After the actor publicly backed Israel in the months following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, “the brands I worked with were gone within a day,” Blair said as she addressed a crowded room of Jewish leaders, philanthropists, artists, influencers and reporters. “A few partnerships I built were shelved. My agency was gone. My lawyer was gone. My publicist was gone. My book agent was gone. My social media manager was gone. My son’s godmother was gone — my best friend.”
education deliberation
With the publication of regulations on Thursday for the new federal educational tax credit program, governors now have until the end of the year to decide whether to opt their states into the program, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Blue-state governors have been caught between cross-pressures from Jewish community groups and other advocates that support the program and teachers’ unions, which vehemently oppose it. Spokespeople for the governors of New York, New Jersey and Illinois, as well as the District of Columbia government all said that they are still reviewing the new guidelines, with an eye toward protecting and supporting public schools.
The Rundown
behind the byline
looking forward
campus divide
mea culpa
minority protections
trump talk
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
The Department of Defense is deploying a third aircraft carrier with up to 10,000 troops to the Middle East; the deployment comes amid a report that Iran has for weeks been conducting near-daily unsuccessful attacks on commercial vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio waived human rights conditions on $320 million in U.S. military aid to Egypt, citing national security interests and Cairo’s “helpful role” following the start of the war with Iran, according to a State Department memo…
The Wall Street Journal does a deep dive into aviation security measures in the Middle East amid the investigation of FZ1073…
The Senate passed, by unanimous consent, a resolution led by Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) honoring the third anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel…
The Senate also passed by unanimous consent a bill providing tax relief to Americans taken hostage, preventing them from facing interest, fines and other penalties for tax payments that were due while they were unjustly held abroad…
A Palestinian man who is a media representative for Hamas based in Gaza was indicted by a federal grand jury in New York on charges that he sent $1.7 million, including more than $600,000 from American donors, to the terror group; two brothers from Louisiana who were arrested last month are being charged with material support for a terror group in connection with the case…
The University of California asked a federal judge to dismiss the Department of Justice’s case against UCLA as it seeks to block a government demand that the school repay more than $2 billion in grants issued in the last several years; a lawyer for the university system accused the Trump administration of “political coercion” and “weaponizing” civil rights laws…
The Denver school board will give an outside investigator one week to look into claims that the board’s vice president used antisemitic language; the board’s president and superintendent accused the vice president of a slew of offenses, including referring to a Jewish member of the board as a “Zionist b***h”…
Israeli President Isaac Herzog criticized the U.K.’s recent ban on settlement products and services, describing the move as “unfair and politically motivated” interference in the upcoming Israeli election…
The U.K.’s Royal College of Nursing cut ties with Teva, one of the largest drug suppliers to the U.K.’s National Health Service, and will not allow the Israeli pharmaceutical company to take part in an upcoming summit on migraines and headaches, citing Teva’s Israeli military ties and concerns over past price-fixing and corporate abuse…
A dual British-Iranian citizen was arrested in London on suspicion of preparing terrorist attacks in connection with a security incident near the U.K.’s RAF Fairford base, which was used by the U.S. in its war against Iran…
U.K. Green Party leader Zack Polanski is facing questions over a speech in which he claimed his family fled Nazi-occupied Poland, despite records indicating that all four of his grandparents were born in the U.K. years prior to the Nazi invasion of Poland…
A French investigative outlet published additional screenshots of antisemitic messages purportedly sent by Jordan Bardella, the leader of the country’s far-right National Rally party, when he was a teenager; Bardella called Mediapart’s initial findings “crude fabrications”…
Anti-Israel protesters in Dublin disrupted a soccer match between Ireland and Austria by throwing tennis balls onto the field as part of a call for the Irish team to boycott its upcoming match against Israel…
Director Quentin Tarantino and his wife, Israeli singer and actor Daniella Pick, announced they are expecting their third child…
Bennett Schachter is joining Centerview Partners as a partner to lead the firm’s Capital Advisory business…
Gil Thompson, who previously served as a senior advisor to Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), is joining the Institute for an Interconnected Middle East as executive director, based in Paris…
French Resistance fighter Lucien Lazare, who assisted Allied troops and fought against the Nazis in southern France before moving to Israel, where he became an educator and peace activist, died at 101…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
A Lot Like Barack: The Atlantic’s Russell Berman spotlights Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s “Obama-esque speeches” and cadence, as attention begins to turn to the 2028 presidential election, for which Shapiro is considered a potential candidate. “Like Barack Obama, Baruch Obama emphasizes pragmatism over doctrinaire progressivism; he has performed well in conservative areas of Pennsylvania that voted for Obama before turning to the right. Shapiro can wield a rhetorical knife, but he infuses his messaging with appeals to hope and optimism. Yet the most obvious similarity is that when Shapiro gives a speech, he really sounds an awful lot like the Democrats’ most renowned speechmaker.” [TheAtlantic]
Claude Consciousness: The New York Times’ Elizabeth Dias does a deep dive into Anthropic’s efforts to engage religious thinkers spanning faiths and denominations as the AI company builds a moral code for its platform. “The religious scholars had come to hear about technology’s next frontier. Now they were being confronted with a mind-bending existential question of almost unimaginable weight: What would it mean for humanity’s future if artificial intelligence systems possessed a consciousness that rivals our own?” [NYTimes]
Picture of the Day
Birthdays
Marek Ariel Schulman, filmmaker and actor, turns 45 on Friday
FRIDAY
Richard Manekin, partner in Baltimore’s Workshop Development and leading commercial real estate broker
Diana Ely Epstein, co-chair of external relations at the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy (Rockville, Md.)
Martin E. Hellman, professor emeritus of electrical engineering at Stanford and an inventor of public key cryptography, turns 81
Samuel Kaplan, Bethesda, Md., resident
Donna Karan, fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels, born Donna Ivy Faske, turns 78
Annie Leibovitz, portrait photographer whose work has been used on numerous album covers and magazines, turns 77
Douglas Norman Cotler, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and composer, focused on Jewish music, turns 77
Yitzhak Cohen, former longtime member of the Knesset for the Shas party, turns 75
Omer Bar-Lev, Israel’s former minister of public security, he is the son of former IDF chief of staff and Minister of Police Haim Bar-Lev, turns 73
Scott Hochberg, former member of the Texas House of Representatives, turns 73
Idan Ofer, Israeli entrepreneur with interests in shipping, drilling, mining and soccer, turns 71
Paula Pretlow, chair and trustee of The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
Bruce Blakeman, executive since 2022 of Nassau County, N.Y., he is running for governor of New York, turns 71
Bruce Sholk, chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee of The Jewish Agency for Israel
Gary Tuchman, former national correspondent for CNN, turns 66
Mark Pelavin, former chief program officer of the Union for Reform Judaism
Alexander Karp, co-founder and CEO of the software firm Palantir Technologies, turns 59
Andrew Weinstein, managing partner of the Fort Lauderdale-based Weinstein Law Firm, he is a major Democratic bundler in Florida
Scott Schoeneweis, former MLB left-handed pitcher with more MLB appearances than any other Jewish pitcher, turns 53
Michael “Mordechai” Gottlieb, insurance agent at Herman E. Wealcatch Inc.
Michelle Sara King, U.S. government official at the International Trade Administration, she serves on the American Jewish Committee’s regional board
Lindsay Gottlieb, head coach of women’s basketball at USC, she was an assistant coach in the NBA, turns 49
Kobi Yakob Arad, award-winning jazz pianist, composer and music producer, turns 45
Jena Griswold, secretary of state of Colorado since 2019, turns 42
Diana Diner, director of community affairs at Israel Bonds
Alex Fullman, associate attorney at Cooley LLP
Benjamin Lasky, rapper and record producer known by his stage name Quadeca, turns 26
SATURDAY
Michael Medved, syndicated radio show host, author and film critic, turns 78
Allyson Schwartz, former five-term member of the House of Representatives (D-PA-13), turns 78
Daniel Friedan, professor of physics at Rutgers, he was named a MacArthur “genius” Fellow in 1987, turns 78
Jeff Morgan, co-founder and owner of Covenant Wines, turns 73
Orna Stern, Westport, Conn.-based holistic health coach
Lisa Leff
Lyor Cohen, global head of music for Google / YouTube, turns 67
P. Shields Ferber Jr., president of The Ferber Company, a privately held real estate development and investment company
Craig Goldman, member of the House of Representatives (R-TX), one of four Jewish Republican congressmen, turns 58
Daniel Marks Cohen, senior director of housing development at LivCor, a Blackstone Company
David Mugrabi, art collector and dealer, who together with his father and brother are reputed to own $5 billion of art including over 1,000 pieces by Andy Warhol, turns 55
Guy Oseary, talent manager whose clients include Madonna and Red Hot Chili Peppers, author of Jews Who Rock, about Jewish influences on the music industry, turns 54
Rabbi Dovid M. Cohen, longtime congregational rabbi in N.Y. and N.J. and author of We’re Almost There
Eli Cohen, Israel’s minister of energy and infrastructure, turns 54
Bradley Tusk, venture capitalist and political strategist, turns 53
Rosalind S. Helderman, reporter for The Washington Post focused on political enterprise and investigations, turns 48
Josh Klinghoffer, longtime guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and a 2012 inductee to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, turns 47
Naomi Firestone-Teeter, CEO at the Jewish Book Council
Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt, rabbi at The Altneu Synagogue in Manhattan, turns 39
Juan Gilces, regional director of the D.C. area for Community Security Service
Noah Cameron Schnapp, actor since early childhood, turns 22
SUNDAY
Robert D. Sack, senior judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, his father served as a rabbi in Brooklyn for 35 years, turns 87
Norman Pearlstine, executive editor of the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2020 after a long journalism career, turns 84
Marvin R. Shanken, publisher of lifestyle magazines including Wine Spectator and Cigar Aficionado, turns 83
Dov Weissglass, chairman of the executive committee at the University of Haifa, he was Israel’s negotiator in the Middle East peace process during the term of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, turns 80
Alan Rosenberg, actor and past president of the Screen Actors Guild, turns 76
Steven Rakitt, senior advisor to the chairman of the Genesis Prize Foundation, formerly the president
Nathan Bergerbest, former deputy chief of staff for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Nitzan Chen, former director of the Israeli Government Press Office, turns 63
Aubrey Dan, Canadian businessman, producer and impresario, turns 63
Liev Schreiber, actor, director, screenwriter and producer, turns 59
Abraham Benrubi, actor and voice actor, turns 57
Lee Goldberg, chief meteorologist at New York City’s WABC-TV, turns 54
Alicia Silverstone, film, television and stage actor, turns 50
Ryan Sadowski, former MLB pitcher, he is now the director of international scouting for the Lotte Giants in the Korea Baseball Organization, turns 44
Ron Katz, former member of the Knesset for the Yesh Atid party, turns 41
Sara Singla, senior director of people and culture at Leading Edge HQ following 11 years at Hillel International
Gefen Kabik, senior policy analyst at the American Action Network and Congressional Leadership Fund
Matt Deitsch, gun violence prevention advocate and political advisor, turns 29
Please log in if you already have a subscription, or subscribe to access the latest updates.
Continue with Google
Continue with Apple