Republicans get the midterm blues
Plus, Doha doubles down on Al Jazeera
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In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at what yesterday’s blue wave election means for dynamics in Washington for the second half of President Donald Trump’s term, report on the expansion of Qatar-owned Al Jazeera’s broadcasting and digital operations and cover reactions to Trump’s announcement that he made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end aid to Israel by the end of the year. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Alex Karp, Isaac Herzog and Josh Gruenbaum.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with assists from Tamara Zieve and Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
Today’s Agenda
Join Jewish Insider on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET for a conversation for premium JI subscribers with Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar and senior political correspondent Lahav Harkov breaking down the results of the U.S. midterms and Israel’s elections. This online event is open to JI’s premium subscribers. Upgrade your subscription today to join the conversation.
We’re waiting for the results of the final races to be called after yesterday’s midterm elections, which saw Democrats — including a slew of far-left candidates — swiftly retake the House and Senate soon after polls closed. More below.
As results began to trickle in last night, Anti-Defamation League chapters across the country issued rare statements condemning newly elected Democratic House members over their approaches to antisemitism. The representatives-elect include New York’s Claire Valdez, Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier; New Jersey’s Adam Hamawy; Illinois’ Daniel Biss; Pennsylvania’s Chris Rabb; and Colorado’s Melat Kiros. Read more here.
A number of California races have yet to be called, owing in part to the weeklong period after the election in which ballots are still accepted, provided they are postmarked by Election Day. Among those races are the Los Angeles mayoral race, with City Councilmember Nithya Raman holding a slight lead over incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, and the congressional races in the state’s 7th District, where Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) is fending off a challenge from her left from Mai Vang; the 11th District, where state Sen. Scott Wiener is leading San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan; and the 34th District, where Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) is trailing his challenger, far-left activist Angela Gonzales-Torres.
President Donald Trump made himself available to some reporters as results came in, telling The Wall Street Journal and Fox News that the war with Iran played a role in the Democratic sweep in the midterm elections. “Iran was a piece of it,” Trump told the WSJ, adding, “I did the right thing. I would have done it again.” Read the full story here.
Earlier on Election Day, Trump told the Financial Times that there were no immediate plans to strike Iran. “We’re locked and loaded if we need to go, but there may be no reason for it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Iranians commemorated the 47th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by burning Israeli and American flags in a rally outside the former U.S. Embassy.
In Israel, President Isaac Herzog received the official results of the country’s election and will begin meetings this evening with leaders of the parties entering the next Knesset to receive their recommendations for who should be given a mandate to form the next government. Today, he’ll hold separate meetings with the leaders of Religious Zionism, Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu before tomorrow’s marathon lineup of meetings with the rest of the parties.
In New Jersey, Josh Gruenbaum, who serves as a senior advisor to the Trump administration’s Board of Peace, is speaking later today at Princeton University at an event co-hosted by the Scharf Family Chabad House and Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs.
One Thing To Know
analysis
Fueled by voter frustration over the economy, high gas prices, ongoing military operations against Iran and the Trump administration’s corruption and overreach, Democrats won a landslide in Tuesday’s midterm elections, winning back both the House and Senate, and electing lawmakers from some of the reddest states and districts on the political map.
The Democratic rout was thorough. Democrats are expected to win at least seven Senate seats, and over 250 House seats — beyond party leaders’ wildest expectations. They won a Senate seat in Kansas for the first time since before FDR’s New Deal. They ended the GOP’s decades-long winning streak in Texas, electing Sen.-elect James Talarico (D-TX) and ousting longtime GOP Gov. Greg Abbott. Democrats won in ruby-red South Carolina, with Democrat Annie Andrews defeating Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC), the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). And after several election cycles in which she won tough races against the odds, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) finally fell to Democrat Troy Jackson.
The scale of victory was just as sweeping in the House. Battle-tested swing-district Republicans, such as Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Mike Lawler (R-NY), were swept away in the wave. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), one of the party’s leading foreign policy voices, is trailing in a reliably Republican district. Even the chairman of the House Republicans’ campaign committee, Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), couldn’t hang on to his gerrymandered seat. There’s a long list of seemingly entrenched GOP members who didn’t see the Democratic landslide coming.
The Big Reads
SUBURBAN SHIELD
Two centrist, pro-Israel Democrats representing swing House seats on Long Island rode to easy victories on Tuesday, as a suburban Republican in upstate New York with close ties to the Jewish community lost his seat, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports. Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Laura Gillen (D-NY) coasted to victory in suburban Nassau County, where a fifth of households have at least one Jewish member. Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), one of three members of his party nationwide to carry a seat in 2024 won by then-Vice President Kamala Harris, conceded around 11 p.m. to centrist Democrat Cait Conley.
Blue York: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul — along with fellow Democrats Attorney General Letitia James and State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli — easily repelled Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman, a dominant performance that raises questions about her future relationship with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
New York’s new wave: Coming off the socialist wave in the Democratic primaries in June, Mamdani’s candidates for Congress and the state Legislature coasted to victory on election night. Former City Comptroller Brad Lander, state Assemblymember Claire Valdez and grad student Darializa Avila Chevalier easily carried their heavily Democratic seats after Mamdani supported them for the party’s nomination four months ago.
Moskowitz’s moment: Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) won reelection on Tuesday evening in coastal South Florida by four points, 51%-47%, with 99% of the vote counted, despite GOP efforts to redraw the seat to favor Republicans, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
AID ADJUSTMENT
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “months ago” for the U.S. to stop providing military aid to Israel by the end of the year, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. “Now, as far as paying Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal that — we give Israel $4 billion a year, and we made a deal months ago that we’re stopping, and they’re fine with it, because, you know, they’ve become a very successful country,” Trump said in a phone interview on “Fox & Friends.” “We’ve already agreed that by the end of this year we won’t be paying Israel,” he said.
Midterm maneuver: Trump’s announcement is consistent with statements Netanyahu has made in the past year, but experts told JI’s Lahav Harkov the timing of the announcement on the morning of the midterm elections may be a reason for concern.
Aftershock: Meanwhile, Jewish and pro-Israel groups offered mixed reactions to news of the deal, with several expressing concerns or reservations about the premature termination of the 10-year memorandum of understanding on U.S. aid to Israel, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
GAS DOWN, VOLUME UP
Even as Qatar cuts government spending across multiple sectors in response to a steep decline in government revenue following attacks from Iran on its energy infrastructure, Al Jazeera, the influential media network owned by the Gulf state, is undertaking a sweeping expansion of its broadcasting and digital operations, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. The expansion extends to Al Jazeera English, which is pursuing a five-year strategy to push deeper into Africa, Asia and the United States, the channel’s managing director, Issa Ali, told Qatar’s The Peninsula on Sunday. Ali called the U.S. “one of our top priorities” and said the network would build on its existing broadcasting operations in Washington, while developing dedicated programming for African and Asian audiences.
The Rundown
WOLVERINE WAVE
SPLIT TICKET
RARE REBUKE
OPEN FOR BUSINESS
SENATORS SPEAKING UP
PRESCHOOL PRECEDENT
QUEENS ENCOUNTER
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 former top military planner for the Pentagon who was fired last month after being accused of misconduct is under federal investigation and may face a court martial for giving classified information to journalists from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal…
Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf responded to the results of the U.S. elections, posting on X, “Conscience or the cost of living, Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message”…
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that four ships caught fire after striking mines south of Strait of Hormuz…
The New York Times spotlights growing calls in Iran among clerics and officials for the Islamic Republic to pursue nuclear weapons…
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), who has faced intense criticism since switching her endorsement in the Michigan Senate race to the GOP candidate, requested U.S. federal marshals’ protection, citing death threats she had received since her appearance on Sunday with Republican Mike Rogers, who fell short in his bid against Abdul El-Sayed.
An national NBC News exit poll found that 67% of Jewish voters said they backed Democrats…
The U.K.’s Supreme Court will hear a challenge from Palestine Action over the government’s ban on the radical group, which has organized large-scale anti-Israel demonstrations in the country and targeted an Elbit Systems facility, causing more than $1 million in damage…
Israel’s election commission determined that widespread fraud in the Arab community had not taken place during last week’s election, rejecting allegations by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies in the days following the election…
An American high school student who had just arrived in Israel to study at Jewish National Fund-USA’s Alexander Muss High School discovered a three-millennia-old Egyptian-style amulet while hiking in Tel Gezer National Park…
Air Canada plans to resume direct flights between Toronto and Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport at the end of November…
Ruth Bevan Dunner, the founding director of the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Program for International Affairs at Yeshiva University, died at 86…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Drawing a Line: The Wall Street Journal’s William Galston pushes back on the Trump administration’s framework, recently laid out by U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, to remove the U.S.’ security umbrella in the Middle East. “The blowback from Mr. Trump’s decision to attack Iran may bring Tehran closer to its long-term goal of American withdrawal from the region. … I’m all in favor of a realistic foreign policy that sees the world as it is and pursues goals that we have the power to achieve. Regime change in Iran may well be beyond our reach. But there is a line between realism and moral indifference that U.S. officials should not cross.” [WSJ]
Frankly, My Dear: The Atlantic’s Eliot Cohen examines what he sees as Israeli indifference to global public opinion amid increasing isolation in the wake of the Gaza war. “Israelis do not give a damn about criticism from European leaders, or feeble and performative gestures, such as their recognition of a Palestinian state whose rulers have not called an election in two decades. Israelis ignore foreign politicians who make statements and proclamations but do not bother to visit their country. … Thus, Israelis have little use for students in distant lands who are innocent of the experience of war, wearing keffiyehs and blocking campus.” [TheAtlantic]
Picture of the Day
Palantir CEO and co-founder Alex Karp (left) made an appearance at the Ohel, the resting place of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement’s longtime leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, in Queens, N.Y., on Tuesday, where he posed for a selfie with Rabbi Mendy Uminer. Via X
Birthdays
Alon Day, Israeli professional stock car racing driver, he is the first Israeli to compete in one of NASCAR’s top three touring series, turns 35
Rabbi Daniel Sperber, professor emeritus of Talmudic studies at Bar-Ilan University, turns 86
Edward Luttwak, author who has published works on grand strategy, military history and international relations, turns 84
John Yarmuth, member of Congress and chair of the House Budget Committee until 2023, he was Kentucky’s first Jewish congressman, turns 79
Shaul Mofaz, former chief of the general staff of the IDF, then minister of defense and member of Knesset for Kadima, turns 78
Ricardo Ehrlich, Uruguayan biologist, he served as mayor of Montevideo and then education minister, turns 78
James Neuberger, professor of medicine at England’s University of Birmingham and a leading British authority on organ donation and transplantation, turns 77
Dorothy Tananbaum, board member of Jewish Funders Network
Robert L. Kern, marketing and communications consultant focused on Israel advocacy and the Jewish community
David Julius, professor at UCSF and winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in medicine, turns 71
Richard Irwin Harrington, baron of Watford, U.K. politician who served as a Conservative party MP, he was chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel, turns 69
Kenneth I. Gordon, member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives since 2013, turns 67
Kenneth R. “Ken” Weinstein, retired president and CEO of the Hudson Institute where he is now the Japan chair, turns 65
Annabelle Gurwitch, author of six books, comedic actor and television host, turns 65
Claire Elise Katz, professor of philosophy at Texas A&M University, she is known for her expertise on feminist theory and modern Jewish thought, turns 62
Scott Rechler, CEO and chairman of RXR, he also serves on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Board of Directors, turns 59
Eran Kolirin, Israeli screenwriter and film director, turns 53
Jeremy Chwat, general partner at Paragon Strategic Insights, a consulting firm for nonprofits
Benjamin Eli “Ben” Smith, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Semafor, he was previously a media columnist for The New York Times, turns 50
John William Grabow, MLB pitcher who appeared in 506 games over his nine-year career, turns 48
Max Gleischman, global head of communications at McKinsey & Company
Catherine Rampell, economics editor at The Bulwark and an anchor at MS NOW, turns 42
Maggie Goodlander, member of Congress representing New Hampshire’s 2nd District, turns 40
Jared Kleinstein, founder and CEO at Denver-based Fresh Tape Media
Yael Cohen, co-founder of a health organization working for early detection and prevention of cancer, turns 40
Addar Levi, deputy general counsel at Lazard, formerly acting general counsel at the Treasury Department
Julie Brinn Siegel, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, turns 39
Avi Berkowitz, former White House special representative for international negotiations and co-architect of the Abraham Accords
Yoni Zigelboum, recording artist, songwriter and entertainer known as Yoni Z, turns 35
Amanda Eisenberg, consultant for healthcare organizations, she was the founding editor of Healthcare Brew, a vertical of Morning Brew
Bob Rubin
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