A new report by Israel Hayom says the two leaders also agreed that the U.S. would recognize Israeli sovereignty in parts of the West Bank and Israel would voice support for a two-state solution

SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the signing of the Abraham Accords.
President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to terms to end the war in Gaza and advance other shared interests in a telephone call held shortly after the U.S. struck nuclear sites in Iran earlier this week, according to a new report by Israel Hayom.
A source familiar with the conversation told the right-leaning Israeli daily that Trump and Netanyahu were joined on the call by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, where the four determined that Israel would end the war in Gaza within two weeks.
This process would include the exiling of what remains of Hamas’ leadership from Gaza, voluntary emigration for Gazans who elect to leave the territory — though which countries would host them was not specified in the report — and the release of the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, less than half of whom are thought to be alive.
Under the terms of the agreement, the UAE and Egypt, along with two other Arab countries, would jointly govern the Gaza Strip after Hamas’ removal.
In addition, the Abraham Accords would be expanded to include Syria and Saudi Arabia, as well as additional Arab and Muslim states.
The plan would also see U.S. recognition of “limited” Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank, while Israel would express support for a future two-state solution premised on reforms within the Palestinian Authority.
Shortly after the publication of the Israel Hayom report, Netanyahu released a statement saying, “We fought valiantly against Iran — and achieved a great victory. This victory opens up an opportunity for a dramatic expansion of the peace agreements. We are working hard on this.”
“Along with the release of our hostages and the defeat of Hamas, there is a window of opportunity here that must not be missed,” Netanyahu added. “Not even a single day must be wasted.”
The following morning, however, Netanyahu’s office released a new statement saying, “The conversation described in the ‘Israel Today’ report did not happen. The diplomatic proposal described in the article was not presented to Israel and Israel obviously did not agree to it.”
The feasibility of this plan remains in question. The Israeli government has been firm in its opposition to a two-state solution and public opposition to a Palestinian state grew after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks. In April, as French President Emmanuel Macron moved to recognize a Palestinian state, Netanyahu “expressed fierce opposition” to the move in a phone call with Macron and conveyed to him that “a Palestinian state established a few minutes away from Israeli cities would become an Iranian stronghold of terrorism; that the vast majority of the Israeli public opposes that categorically — and that this has been the PM’s consistent and longstanding policy,” according to a readout from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Even the potential acceptance of a future Palestinian state could put Netanyahu’s governing coalition at risk, with not only the parties led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar adamantly opposing one, but most Likud lawmakers, as well.
U.S. lawmakers told Jewish Insider last week after a trip to the region that the normalization process between Saudi Arabia and Israel had been dealt setbacks by and since Oct. 7 and that the Saudis were demanding concrete progress toward a two-state solution before moving forward with normalization.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia in March condemned moves by the Israeli government to encourage migration from Gaza. The Arab League, meeting earlier that month, also adopted a plan for Gaza’s reconstruction put forward by Egypt where a committee of Gazan professionals would manage the Strip for a period of time until the Palestinian Authority would take over its governance.
JI’s Tamara Zieve contributed to this report.
Plus, Persian Jews on what’s happening in Iran

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing in ceremony for interim U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. Jeanine Pirro in the Oval Office of the White House on May 28, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Good Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the latest developments in Israel’s war with Iran and cover reactions on the Hill to Israel’s preemptive strikes on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities. We talk to foreign policy experts about how the military action might impact diplomacy efforts, and interview Persian Jews in the U.S. about their response to the war. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Anne Wojcicki, Leonard Lauder and Tracy-Ann Oberman
What We’re Watching
- We’re continuing to follow and report on the ongoing military conflict between Israel and Iran. Sign up for email alerts and WhatsApp updates to stay up to date with the latest news.
- A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) is in the Middle East this week for an Abraham Accords-focused trip that is slated to include stops in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Israel. Read more here.
- President Donald Trump is in Alberta, Canada, today, where he will meet with world leaders at a G7 summit. We expect the president to address questions about potential U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict.
- A France-led conference on Palestinian statehood and the two-state solution, slated to take place this week, was postponed following Israel’s strikes on Iran late last week. Read more here.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH ji’s MELISSA WEISS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has staked everything — his legacy, his global standing, his relationships with world powers — on defending Israel against the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.
The topic has dominated nearly every major address the prime minister has given, from U.N. General Assembly speeches to addresses to Congress, for the last 15 years. And over the last four days, Israel has been forced to put into action a plan that was years in the making — one that could profoundly reshape the Middle East in the days and months to come.
The writer Douglas Murray forecasted exactly this situation 13 years ago, speaking at the Cambridge Union: “When Israel is pushed to the situation it will be pushed to of having to believe [Iran] mean[s] it, and when every bit of jiggery pokery behind the scenes runs out, and when the U.N. and distinguished figures have run out of time, and Iran is about to produce its first bomb,” Murray said at the time, “Israel will strike.”
Israel’s Friday morning strikes came as the Trump administration’s announced 60-day deadline for negotiations expired, and following intelligence reports indicating that Iran was weeks away from nuclear capabilities — as Murray predicted.
What has ensued is the deadliest and most destructive direct conflict between Israel and Iran in history.
war with iran
Eight Israelis killed overnight in five Iranian missile strikes

Eight Israelis were killed by Iranian missile strikes in five locations that occurred Sunday night and early Monday morning. In the central Israeli city of Petach Tikva, five people were killed in a residential building, and in adjacent Bnei Brak, an 80-year-old man was found dead at the site of a missile strike. Two of the people killed in Petach Tikva were inside their safe room, which was directly hit by a missile. Petach Tikva Mayor Rami Grinberg said that the residence was struck by a ballistic missile carrying hundreds of kilograms of explosives, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Additional hits: Tel Aviv sustained two direct missile strikes, one of which lightly damaged the U.S. Embassy Branch Office. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee clarified that “the minor damage to the property were from the shock waves … from the nearby blast … No injuries, thank God!” Among the residents evacuated from buildings in Tel Aviv was a 6-day-old baby, whose mother was found alive minutes later. In Haifa, three people were found dead under the rubble of a burning building where a missile hit, and about 300 people were evacuated. The Israel Electric Corporation said that the strike damaged its power grid, and that “teams are working on the ground to neutralize safety hazards, in particular the risk of electrocution ” Maritime risk assessment company Ambrey reported a fire at the Haifa Port.
TUCKER’S TIRADE
Tucker Carlson splits from Trump, advocates ‘dropping Israel’

Talk show host Tucker Carlson broke with President Donald Trump on Iran on Friday, writing in a scathing commentary in his daily newsletter that the United States should “drop Israel” and “let them fight their own wars.” Carlson wrote of Israel’s preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, “If Israel wants to wage this war, it has every right to do so. It is a sovereign country, and it can do as it pleases. But not with America’s backing.” Trump, for his part, has endorsed Israel’s attacks, which he called “very successful,” and underscored in an interview with Fox News on Thursday night that the U.S. would defend Israel if Iran retaliates. He also warned that the situation “will only get worse” if Iran does not agree to a nuclear deal “before there is nothing left,” Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Tucker talk: In recent days, Carlson has argued that fears of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon in the near future are unfounded and said that a war with the Islamic Republic would not only result in “thousands” of American casualties in the Middle East but “amount to a profound betrayal of” Trump’s base and effectively “end his presidency.” Carlson reiterated that claim in his newsletter, accusing Trump of “being complicit in the act of war” through “years of funding and sending weapons to Israel.”
Trump hits back: Trump defended his “America First” worldview as in line with his support for Israel’s strikes, telling The Atlantic in regards to his critics: “Well, considering that I’m the one that developed ‘America First,’ and considering that the term wasn’t used until I came along, I think I’m the one that decides that. For those people who say they want peace — you can’t have peace if Iran has a nuclear weapon.”
Envoy response: U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee noted on X that “700,000 AMERICANS live in Israel. That is equivalent to a full House District. More Americans here than in any other country except Mexico! Iran isn’t just attacking Israel but your fellow Americans who live here.”
hope prevails
Persian Jews in the U.S. watch Israeli strikes on Iran and dare to hope

As grainy videos of Israel’s strikes on Iran spread in WhatsApp groups and Telegram channels used by the Iranian diaspora, Persian Jews in the U.S. are viewing this moment with a mix of trepidation and excitement — the first time in decades, some say, that the Iranian regime truly appears vulnerable. That has prompted cautious optimism about a future in which Iranians might live free from the oppression of the Ayatollah, several activists in the Persian Jewish community told Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch on Friday, and where they might be able to bring their children to visit their native land. But the escalation has also brought fear about what comes next, and that even an Israeli military success might not effect change on the ground for Iranians.
Mixed emotions: Sharon Nazarian, a philanthropist and Jewish communal leader in Los Angeles who left Tehran with her family in 1978, said she has felt “two striking, opposing feelings” since Israel’s attacks began. “One of utter hope and the possibility that maybe one day we can go back to our country of birth to bring our children,” Nazarian said. “We are [also] very fearful that this regime, although it’s at its weakest point it’s been since 1979, it will survive, and it will, yet again, find a mechanism both to manipulate and to force its way into maintaining the stranglehold it has on the Iranian people and the country of Iran.”
ON THE HILL
Successful Israeli strikes on Iran elicit divided response from Senate Democrats

Israel’s strikes on Iranian military and nuclear targets are prompting fractured responses from Senate Democrats, with a few offering full support for Israel and others forcefully condemning the strikes, while some have sought to carve out a path somewhere in the middle, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What they’re saying: “The Iranian regime and its proxies have been very public about their commitment to the destruction of Israel and Jewish communities around the world. We should take them at their word,” Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) said. “Israel acted in self-defense against an attack from Iran, and the U.S. must continue to stand with Israel, as it has for decades, at this dangerous moment.” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the strikes are “an escalation that is deeply concerning and will inevitably invite counterattacks.” She added that they endanger nuclear talks and U.S. servicemembers. Read the full story here with additional comments from Chris Murphy (D-CT), Mark Warner (D-VA) and Chris Coons (D-DE).
Schumer’s support: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) stood strongly behind Israel in his first public comments on its strikes on Iran and its nuclear program on Friday afternoon — a response that was notably more forceful in its support for Israel than those of many prominent members of the Senate Democratic Caucus, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
Straight talk: Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) criticized his Democratic colleagues in Congress who have spoken out against Israel’s attack on Iran, telling JI’s Emily Jacobs it was “astonishing” to see members of his party treat Israel’s actions as escalatory.
Republican voice: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told JI’s Emily Jacobs that he’s urging U.S. support for Israel’s campaign to destroy Iran’s nuclear program as a means of “substantially undoing the damage caused by the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal” during the Biden administration.
Pressure push: A bipartisan group of nine House members wrote to the Trump administration on Friday emphasizing — as the administration continues to push for a nuclear deal — that U.S. negotiators must not allow Iran to maintain any nuclear enrichment capacity if a deal is reached, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
OUT IN LEFT FIELD
Tim Walz: Maybe China can negotiate a Middle East peace deal

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, criticizing Israel’s strikes on Iran and the Trump administration’s global posture, suggested on Friday that China might be better positioned than the United States to broker peace in the Middle East, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
China First: “Who is the voice in the world that can negotiate some type of agreement in this, who holds the moral authority? Who holds the ability to do that? Because we are not seen as a neutral actor, and maybe we never were, I don’t want to tell anybody that … but I think there was at least an attempt to be somewhat of an arbitrator in this,” Walz said at a Center for American Progress event. “Consistently, over and over again, we’re going to have to face the reality, it might be the Chinese and that goes against everything [the Trump administration] say they’re trying to do in terms of the balance of power.”
BARUCH DAYAN EMET
Leonard Lauder, who supercharged his family’s cosmetics firm and became an arts patron, dies at 92

Leonard Lauder, arts patron and billionaire heir of Estée Lauder Companies, died on Saturday at 92. Remembered as an innovative thinker and a connoisseur of the arts, Lauder was born in 1933 to Joseph Lauter and Josephine Esther Mentzer, the founders of the Estée Lauder Companies cosmetic firm, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim reports.
A giant in philanthropy: The descendant of Jewish immigrants to New York, the first-born Lauder grew up alongside the budding business. He earned his bachelor’s degree from University of Pennsylvania and served in the U.S. Navy before eventually joining Estée Lauder Companies in 1958. Alongside his parents, he helped scale the company from making under $1 million in sales annually to a multibillion-dollar prestige brand. Lauder went on to become a giant in American philanthropy — gifting over $2 billion throughout his lifetime — particularly focused on science, education and the arts. As an influential art collector and patron, in 2013, Lauder famously gifted over $1 billion in Cubist paintings to the Metropolitan Museum of Art — one of the most significant gifts in the museum’s history, according to The New York Times. In 2008, Lauder, a longtime chairman and chairman emeritus of the Whitney Museum of American Art, donated $131 million to support the museum’s endowment.
Read the full story here and sign up for eJewshPhilanthropy’s Your Daily Phil newsletter here.
Worthy Reads
What’s at Stake In Iran: In Politico, Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner pens an op-ed titled “Iran’s Target Isn’t Just Israel. It’s Us,” in which he warns that Iran, alongside China and Russia, has global ambitions that extend beyond its war with Israel. “It is therefore surprising that Israel is not being celebrated worldwide for its historic, extremely precise and necessary strike against Iranian nuclear weapons facilities and for the targeted killing of leading terrorists, but that the public response is dominated by anti-Israel propaganda. The intelligence and precision of Israel’s actions are not admired but are instead used here and there to perpetuate blatantly antisemitic stereotypes. This attitude is characterized not only by racist undertones, but also by a strange self-forgetfulness.” [Politico]
Oldest Hate, Renewed: The New York Times editorial board warns against the country’s “worst surge of anti-Jewish hate in many decades,” citing agitators on both the left and right that have stoked tensions. “Americans should be able to recognize the nuanced nature of many political debates while also recognizing that antisemitism has become an urgent problem. It is a different problem — and in many ways, a narrower one — than racism. Antisemitism has not produced shocking gaps in income, wealth and life expectancy in today’s America. Yet the new antisemitism has left Jewish Americans at a greater risk of being victimized by a hate crime than any other group. Many Jews live with fears that they never expected to experience in this country.” [NYTimes]
Iran on the Ropes: In The Wall Street Journal, former National Security Advisor John Bolton considers how Israel, the U.S. and Arab allies could potentially deal a death knell to the Iranian regime. “Despite outward appearances of solid authoritarianism, the regime in Tehran faces widening discontent. The opposition extends across Iran, in the smaller cities and countryside, far beyond Tehran, where the few Western journalists congregate. Iran’s economy has been parlous for decades, and Israeli strikes on oil refineries may weaken it further. Citizen protests in 2018-19 provoked heightened nationwide repression. International antiproliferation and antiterrorism sanctions caused part of the distress, but the fundamental lesson is plain: Never trust your economy to medieval religious fanatics.” [WSJ]
The Rising Lion Inside Iran: In The Free Press, Masih Alinejad reacts to Israel’s military campaign against Iran, which has conducted numerous attempts in recent years to kill or kidnap the Iranian dissident and writer. “Now, the world faces a choice. It can focus solely on missiles and maps, treating this as another geopolitical chess move. Or it can recognize the human story unfolding beneath the surface, the story of a nation rising from the shadow of its captors. The story of a rising lion. Israel’s strike may have taken out top military figures. But the real victory is still ahead: the day the Islamic Republic falls under the weight of its own crimes and the strength of the people it has tried so hard to suffocate and silence.” [FreePress]
What else we’re reading: “Israel Had the Courage to Do What Needed to Be Done” by The New York Times’ Bret Stephens… “Israel’s Nuclear Good Deed Against Iran” by The Wall Street Journal editorial board… “Bombs Rain Down — and a Divided Israel Unites Behind the War” by The Free Press’ Matti Friedman… “We’re witnessing a historic test of two assumptions about Israel” by Natan Sharansky in The Washington Post… “Zionism Has Been Vindicated” by Commentary’s John Podhoretz…
Word on the Street
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave his first interview since Israel began its operation in Iran on Fox News’ “Special Report” with Bret Baier on Sunday. He confirmed Iran had actively tried to assassinate President Donald Trump, calling Trump Iran’s “enemy No. 1,” and said Israel had shared intelligence with the U.S. that Iran was working to weaponize its enriched uranium: “They would achieve a test device and possibly an initial device within months, and certainly less than a year. That was the intel we shared with the United States”…
U.S. officials told Reutersthat Trump vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei; Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi denied the reports outright, calling it “fake news of the highest order”…
Israel’s leadership is concerned that international pressure may force the IDF to stop striking Iran before its mission is complete, an Israeli security source told Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov on Sunday…
Jewish Insider spoke to Jason Brodsky, the policy director for United Against Nuclear Iran; Daniel Shapiro, a deputy assistant secretary of defense in the Biden administration, U.S. ambassador to Israel in the Obama administration and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council; and former Kamala Harris Middle East advisors Phil Gordon and Ilan Goldenberg about their views on Israel’s military strikes against Iran…
International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said on Monday that no additional damage had been done to the Natanz or Fordow nuclear enrichment sites in Iran since Israel’s initial strikes on Friday…
Police in Minnesota arrested the man alleged to have shot two state lawmakers last week, killing one of them as well as her husband…
The Christian Science Monitor interviews Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, formerly the chair of the board of trustees of the Illinois Holocaust Museum, about rising antisemitism and his personal connection to Judaism as he emerges as one of the most vocal public figures opposing the Trump administration…
The U.S. Agency for Global Media instructed employees of Voice of America’s Persian-language service, who had been placed on administrative leave amid the Trump administration’s degradation of the agency, to return to their positions to provide programming to counter Iranian state-run media…
Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta was reelected as a Democratic National Committee vice chair after the DNC revoked the results of an earlier election in which Kenyatta and activist David Hogg had been elected; Hogg, who opted not to run again, had riled DNC officials with his super PAC’s plans to back challengers to sitting Democrats, prompting calls for a new election based on concerns over the demographics of the newly elected leadership…
New York City Mayor Eric Adams c0-hosted a livestream with Sneako, a far-right internet personality who has a history of making offensive and antisemitic comments; last spring, the livestreamer said “Down with the yahud [Jews]” and had previously appeared on livestreams with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and Ye…
Police in Brookline, Mass., are investigating after a brick painted with “Free Palestine” was thrown through the window of a kosher grocery store in the city…
Anne Wojcicki’s nonprofit TTAM Research Institute won a bid to purchase 23andMe, which Wojcicki had co-founded and led until earlier this year, when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Wojcicki tendered her resignation…
The Wall Street Journal spotlights Simon Property Group CEO David Simon, the country’s largest mall operator, who is continuing to work as he battles pancreatic cancer…
Former Hillary Clinton political aide Huma Abedin and Alex Soros were married at Soros’ Water Mill, N.Y., estate on Saturday…
Two French teenagers convicted of raping a Jewish girl in 2024 were sentenced to seven and nine years in prison; a third teenager, who was 12 at the time of the assault, was sentenced to five years in foster care due to his age…
Israeli officials confirmed that the IDF had recovered the body of hostage Aviv Atzili from Khan Younis, Gaza, last week; Atzili, a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz, was killed battling terrorists who had overrun the kibbutz and his body taken to Gaza…
The Wall Street Journal looks at how the Mossad smuggled drone parts into Iran for use in its preemptive attack on Iranian military and nuclear sites last week…
Elon Musk said he activated his Starlink internet service in Iran after the government cut off civilian internet access across the country…
A former senior Syrian general told U.S. investigators in Beirut that American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria in 2012, was dead, and provided a possible location of Tice’s body…
Saudi Arabia executed a journalist who had been convicted of treason for his alleged running of a social media account that accused members of the Saudi royal family of corruption…
“Eastenders” actress Tracy-Ann Oberman was awarded an MBE for her services to Holocaust education and combating antisemitism in the U.K….
Stage and film actor Harris Yulin, who was often cast in villain roles, died at 87… Marthe Cohn, a Jewish nurse who worked with the French resistance as a spy in Germany, died at 105… Video artist Dara Birnbaum died at 78… Sculptor Joel Shapiro, best known for his life-size stick figures, died at 83… Civil rights litigator Alex Polikoff, who won a landmark Supreme Court housing desegregation case and spent decades advocating to have the ruling enforced, died at 98…
Pic of the Day

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog visited the site of an Iranian missile attack in Petach Tikvah earlier today.
Addressing the media, Herzog said, “What I’ve seen upstairs in the destroyed apartment is evil, pure evil in and of itself. It’s evil aimed at innocent civilians all over Israel. But I have news to for the Iranian regime. You think you’re going to tire us or fatigue us, you’re absolutely wrong. We’re a very strong, resilient nation with very strong capabilities in all fields. I think you’re feeling it out there in Iran, and I think the Iranian people are fed up, and they want change. And so, of course, do the entire region, we deserve change.”
Birthdays

Pitcher for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, he is now in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, Zachary D. “Zack” Weiss turns 33…
Professor of theoretical physics at Stanford University, Leonard Susskind turns 85… Brigadier-general (ret.) in the IDF, then a member of Knesset, then chairman of Ha’aguda Lema’an Hachayal, a nonprofit IDF veterans group, Avigdor Kahalani turns 81… Former dean of Yeshiva College, U.S. ambassador to Egypt for President Bill Clinton, and U.S. ambassador to Israel for President George W. Bush, Daniel C. Kurtzer turns 76… Professor at Nanjing University and China’s leading professor of Jewish studies, Xu Xin turns 76… Rickey Wolosky Palkovitz turns 76… Investigative reporter who worked for Newsweek, NBC News and then Yahoo News, Michael Isikoff turns 73… UC Berkeley professor and WSJ columnist, Alison Gopnik turns 70… Professor of Jewish studies at the University of Freiburg (Germany), Gabrielle Oberhänsli-Widmer turns 68… Distinguished fellow in Jewish studies at Dartmouth College, in three weeks he will start as a tenured professor at Harvard Divinity School, Shaul Magid turns 67… Southern California resident, Roberta Trachten-Zeve… Senior project executive at Kansas-based Stuart & Associates Commercial Flooring, Matthew Rafael Elyachar… Pulitzer Prize-winning business reporter and bestselling author, he is a past president of Washington Hebrew Congregation, David A. Vise turns 65… Former chair of the Broward County, Fla., JCRC, he is the co-founder of The Alliance of Blacks & Jews, Keith Wasserstrom… Actor, screenwriter, producer and director, Daniel Zelman turns 58… Senior correspondent for military and intelligence affairs for Yedioth Ahronoth and contributor to the NYTimes, Ronen Bergman turns 53… Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, Julie Rikelman turns 53… CEO and founder of NYC-based Marathon Strategies, Philip Keith (“Phil”) Singer… Israeli photographer, digital artist and artificial intelligence researcher, Dina Bova turns 48… Geographer and writer, Joshua Jelly-Schapiro turns 46… Singer and songwriter, Benjamin Lev Kweller turns 44… Comedian, actor and YouTuber with almost 100 million views, Adam Ray turns 43… Portfolio manager on the Jewish life and Israel grantmaking team at One8 Foundation, Alyssa Bogdanow Arens… Head video producer at Ocean One Media, Perry Chencin… Catcher on Israel’s National Baseball Team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, now a business transformation consultant for EY, Tal Erel turns 29… Israeli artistic gymnast who won a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Artem Dolgopyat turns 28…
'I think the timing just becomes all that much more important,' Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), who is leading the trip, told JI

Alex Brandon/AP Photo
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, stand on the Blue Room Balcony during the Abraham Accords signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, in Washington.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is departing today for Saudi Arabia, the first leg of an Abraham Accords-themed congressional delegation that also plans to visit Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Israel and meet with leaders in each country. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), who is leading the delegation, told Jewish Insider that the trip will take place even as Israeli strikes against Iran continue.
“I think the timing just becomes all that much more important,” Schneider said in an interview on Friday. “Last night, Iran took a significant hit to its nuclear program and its military. So I think and hope maybe it opens up possibilities. We’ll find out.”
Other members attending the trip, which is hosted by the Atlantic Council’s N7 Initiative, include Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Zach Nunn (R-IA).
“During these times of instability in the region, support for the Accords is necessary to enhance Israel’s security and stability, as well as a way to counter threats posed by Iran,” Bacon said in a statement.
It has been nearly five years since Israel normalized ties with the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco in the Abraham Accords, which were widely viewed not just as a diplomatic accord but also a counterweight to Iran’s influence in the region.
“The Arab countries around Israel remain committed to this idea of a better future, a pathway to peace, and I believe the Abraham Accords are that path,” said Schneider. “The purpose of the trip, before the strikes against Iran, was to talk about that. That doesn’t change.”
At the National Security Council, top officials focused on Israel and the Middle East were pushed out last month as President Donald Trump seeks to centralize foreign policy decision-making in the Oval Office

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing in ceremony for interim U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. Jeanine Pirro in the Oval Office of the White House on May 28, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Another week, another round of evidence showing that a growing faction of isolationist-minded foreign policy advisors — or, in the parlance of some on the MAGA right, the “restrainers” — are slowly but surely gaining influence in the Trump administration’s second term.
If personnel is policy, it suggests the second Trump term will feature a markedly different approach to the Middle East than his record from 2017-2021, which included the signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel and four Arab countries, the elimination of Iranian Revolutionary Guard leader Qassem Soleimani and the withdrawal from former President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.
We reported this week that the Senate will soon consider the nomination of Justin Overbaugh to be deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security. Overbaugh is just the latest of several senior Pentagon nominees who come from Defense Priorities, a Koch-backed think tank that has generally argued the U.S. should scale back its involvement in global conflicts, including in the Middle East.
It’s not just at the Defense Department. A senior State Department official told Jewish Insider that at Foggy Bottom, too, the “restrainers” are ascendant. Morgan Ortagus, an Iran hawk who has been serving as deputy Middle East special envoy under Steve Witkoff, plans to depart the office. At the National Security Council, top officials focused on Israel and the Middle East were pushed out last month as President Donald Trump seeks to centralize foreign policy decision-making in the Oval Office.
This story is more than just a gossipy tale of White House palace intrigue. This factional foreign policy battle is set to have major global consequences. The impact is already clear: Trump is pursuing nuclear negotiations with Iran, led by Witkoff, that may result in a deal — one that reportedly could allow Iran to at least temporarily continue enriching uranium, a position that would have been unimaginable in Trump’s first term.
The ongoing, ever-extending negotiations and apparent concessions to Iran — along with occasional leaks from unnamed American officials telegraphing Israel’s military plans — have reduced the leverage to pressure Iran to make significant concessions. While Trump has threatened military action if the talks break down, the actions from the U.S. side suggest they’re eager to make a deal at any cost.
It’s not a coincidence that malign actors are taking advantage of American goodwill. Last month, Trump abruptly abandoned a bombing campaign against Yemen’s Houthi militia, announcing a truce with the Iranian proxy even as the group continues to threaten Israel with missiles. While Trump claimed to have reached a ceasefire with the Houthis to make the trade lanes safer, commercial shipping companies are continuing to avoid the Red Sea and Suez Canal shipping lanes, according to The New York Times.
Trump’s reassignment of hawkish former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz to serve as ambassador to the United Nations last month was the first of a series of moves that have since diminished the influence of those advocating a more traditional conservative foreign policy worldview of peace through strength, and projecting military power to deter American enemies.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also serving as U.S. national security advisor, would’ve been considered firmly in that camp until this year. But since joining the Trump administration, Rubio has managed to maintain his influence by accommodating the ascendant faction of isolationists in the administration.
The meeting was the third of the Abraham Accords Interparliamentary Strategic Dialogue and the largest yet

Kevin Carter/Getty Images
The U.S. Capitol Building is seen at sunset on May 31, 2025 in Washington, DC.
A group of lawmakers from more than 30 countries came together on Wednesday to discuss ways that the Abraham Accords can be leveraged to address energy security issues in the Middle East, the Caspian Sea Basin and the Eastern Mediterranean, Jewish Insider has learned.
The event, hosted by AIPAC and the European Jewish Association, was the third such meeting of the Abraham Accords Interparliamentary Strategic Dialogue, which has focused on energy issues. The meeting was the largest yet in the series, in terms of the number of countries represented.
Participants included Abraham Accords Caucus co-chairs Sens. James Lankford (R-OK) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and parliamentarians from Israel, Morocco, Jordan, Azerbaijan, Greece, Cyprus, Japan, Paraguay, Bahrain and a range of European Union nations.
Richard Goldberg, a senior energy official in the Trump administration and former senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, briefed the group on behalf of the Trump administration.
“Advancing normalization between Israel and its Arab neighbors and strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship are two of my top priorities,” Rosen said in a statement. “As one of the co-founders and co-chairs of the Senate Abraham Accords Caucus, I’ve seen firsthand how these agreements are reshaping the Middle East — improving regional security, expanding economic opportunity, and creating people-to-people ties that make peace real and lasting. Today’s conversation made clear the importance of continuing our efforts to strengthen these ties, fostering cooperation, and widening the circle of peace and progress.”
The secretary of state also assured lawmakers that all Trump administration officials are unified in their opposition to Iran maintaining domestic nuclear enrichment capabilities

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies before a House Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs hearing on the budget for the Department of State, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on May 21, 2025.
In his second consecutive day of hearings on Capitol Hill, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that he expects that additional Arab countries will join the Abraham Accords by the end of the year, if not earlier.
“We do have an Abraham Accords office that is actively working to identify a number of countries who have lined up and already I think we may have good news, certainly before the end of this year, of a number of more countries that are willing to join that alliance,” Rubio said a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday.
The comments are consistent with other recent remarks by President Donald Trump and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
Rubio added that the administration is currently working on selecting an ambassador for the Abraham Accords, as required under law, to submit for congressional confirmation.
He said that there is “still a willingness” in Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel, but “certain conditions are impediments,” including the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel and the ensuing war.
Rubio’s testimony largely reinforced and added on his comments the day before, on issues including Iran and Syria.
He again insisted that all elements of the Trump administration, including Vice President JD Vance and Witkoff, are unified behind the position that Iran cannot be allowed to maintain its capacity to enrich uranium.
And he affirmed that U.S. law requires that any deal with Iran be submitted to Congress for review and approval, noting that he had been in Congress when that law was passed.
At an afternoon hearing with the House Appropriations Committee, Rubio again said that sanctions relating to Iranian proxy terrorism or other malign activities will not be impacted by a nuclear deal that does not address those subjects. Republicans in the past have questioned the distinction between nuclear and non-nuclear sanctions, particularly as part of the original 2015 nuclear deal, which took a similar approach. And they’ve argued that any sanctions relief would allow Iran to expand its support for regional terrorism.
Rubio said the administration is continuing to ramp up sanctions on Iran, and said that European parties to the deal are “on the verge” of implementing snapback sanctions on Iran. He said that the administration would support legislation to implement additional sanctions on Iran’s oil sector.
He denied knowledge of a Tuesday leak by administration officials that Israel was making plans to strike Iran’s nuclear program, adding, “I also don’t think it’s a mystery, though … that Israel has made clear that they retain the option of action to limit Iran from ever gaining a nuclear capability.”
Expanding on comments he made the day before, Rubio said that he favors moving the mission of U.S. security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian territories under the authority of the U.S. ambassador to Israel so that it can be a better-integrated part of the U.S.’ Israel policy. But he vowed that the core function of the office will continue.
Rubio denied reports of talks between the United States and Saudi Arabia about potential nuclear cooperation outside of a “gold standard” deal, which would include banning domestic enrichment.
The secretary of state reiterated comments about the critical necessity of providing sanctions relief to Syria to help contribute to stability, but he said that continued sanctions relief “does have to be conditioned on them continuing to live by the commitments” that the Syrian government has made verbally, including to combat extremism, prevent Syria from becoming a launchpad for attacks on Israel and form a government that represents, includes and protects ethnic and religious diversity.
He indicated that the U.S. is not actively working to shut down the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, but pledged that the United States will not be providing any further aid to or through that organization and will use its power and funding to look for alternatives.
He said it will be up to other countries whether they continue working with UNRWA, though he noted that the U.S. has been the agency’s largest donor.
Rubio said that he would be supportive, in concept, of legislation to expand current U.S. anti-boycott laws to include compulsory boycotts imposed by international organizations. That legislation was pulled from a House floor vote after right-wing lawmakers falsely claimed it would ban U.S. citizens from boycotting Israel.
Pushing back on calls for the U.S. to withhold weapons sales to the United Arab Emirates over its support for one of the parties involved in the Sudanese Civil War that the U.S. has found is committing genocide, Rubio said that the U.S. is not fully in alignment with the UAE but argued that it’s critical for the U.S. to continue engaging with and maintain a strong relationship with the UAE for its broader foreign policy goals in the Middle East.
He said that maintaining such a relationship and expanding the U.S.’ diplomatic and economic relationship with Abraham Accords countries is also important to ensuring that the Accords continue to be successful.
Rubio said that the State Department had approved restarting aid programs for Jordan that remained frozen — though he noted most were initially exempted from the administration’s blanket freeze. He acknowledged that the frozen programs had been “a source of frustration for [Jordan], and frankly for me.” He continued, “Ultimately, we’re going to get all those programs online, if they’re not online already.”
In a heated back-and-forth with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who was brandishing a pocket Constitution, Rubio again defended the administration’s policy of revoking student visas from individuals accused of involvement in anti-Israel activity on college campuses, saying that they are coming to the United States to “tear this country [apart]” and “stir up problems on our campuses.”
Addressing the case of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University graduate student that supporters have said was detained solely for writing an op-ed in a student newspaper criticizing Israel, Rubio claimed the situation is not as has been represented. “Those are her lawyers’ claims and your claims, those are not the facts,” Rubio said.
Asked by Jayapal about a comment — “Jews are untrustworthy and a dangerous group” — made by an Afrikaner refugee recently admitted to the United States from South Africa, Rubio said that he would “look forward to revoking the visas of any lunatics you can identify.”
But when presented with the fact that the individual in question was admitted as a refugee, not on a visa, Rubio said that refugee admissions are “a totally different process,” adding “student visas are a privilege.”
Plus, Trump's Gulf tour underscores Israel’s diplomatic disadvantage

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt/X
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, President Donald Trump and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meet in Riyadh, May 14th, 2025
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on President Donald Trump’s meeting earlier today with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and analyze the findings of a new poll from the Jewish Voter Resource Center. We also talk to Sen. Katie Britt about recent attacks on Sen. John Fetterman, and spotlight the Zachor Legal Institute’s call for the IRS to investigate a key fiscal sponsor of anti-Israel agitators. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Dan Senor, former Vice President Mike Pence and Rabbi Noam Marans.
What We’re Watching
- President Donald Trump continues his Middle East trip today as he flies to Qatar this afternoon. Earlier today, Trump met with Gulf Cooperation Council leaders in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, including a side meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Read more about the meeting between Trump and al-Sharaa here.
- The House Homeland Security Committee is holding a hearing this morning with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
- The Department of Justice is holding its 32nd Annual Federal Interagency Holocaust Remembrance Program this morning.
- The Israeli American Council is holding a Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration tonight at the Library of Congress.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JOSH KRaushaar
A new poll commissioned by a Democratic Jewish group suggests that concerns over antisemitism have receded a bit since post-Oct. 7 record levels, with younger voters notably less concerned than their parents and older generations. The survey, conducted by GBAO, also finds the depth of attachment for Israel, while still at high levels, has also dipped somewhat as time has passed since Hamas’ attacks, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes.
The big toplines from the Jewish Voter Resource Center survey, which polled 800 Jewish voters between April 22 and May 1: Only one-quarter of Jewish voters view President Donald Trump favorably. Among respondents, Democrats hold a commanding 70-22% lead on next year’s generic congressional ballot. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s standing among American Jewish voters is also low, with only 34% viewing him favorably, while 61% see him unfavorably.
Over two-thirds (69%) of Jewish voters profess an attachment to Israel, which is down from 82% a month after Oct. 7 but at a similar level to the years preceding the attack. Nearly two-thirds of Jewish respondents (62%) said they’re very concerned about antisemitism — a historically high number, but a marked dropoff from the 79% who expressed the same sentiment in November 2023. Notably, only 33% of younger Jewish voters ages 18-34 said they’re concerned about antisemitism.
Asked whether right-wing or left-wing antisemitism was a bigger threat, respondents were more divided. Nearly half (47%) said right-wing individuals and groups were more responsible, while 34% viewed left-wing groups as a bigger problem. And Democrats fared relatively poorly on which party is better equipped to handle antisemitism, holding just a seven-point edge (34-27%) over Republicans despite a much greater overall partisan advantage.
The most significant takeaway from the survey is the gaping divide within the Jewish community when it comes to Jewish observance — secular and less observant Jews hold diametrically opposing views on many issues compared to their more observant coreligionists.
For instance, 75% of Orthodox Jewish respondents said they approved of Trump’s job performance, compared to only 18% of Reform Jewish voters. While 69% of Orthodox Jews and 60% of Conservative Jews have a “very strong” attachment to Israel, that number falls to 35% among Reform Jews (and 22% among those unaffiliated).
On domestic policy issues, the gap is similar. Most Orthodox voters (78%) favor eliminating DEI initiatives that receive federal funding, while only 21% of Reform respondents say the same. The poll also found two-thirds of Orthodox Jews backing the president’s original punitive tariffs against China, while just 14% of Reform voters agreed.
The results underscore that one of the biggest challenges in both Israel and the United States’ Jewish community is internal divisions that make it harder to present a united front externally. Those divisions are slowly, but notably, percolating even on issues that once united the Jewish world post-Oct. 7.
ON THE SIDELINES
Trump’s Gulf tour underscores Israel’s diplomatic disadvantage

If there was any doubt about President Donald Trump’s increasing reliance on checkbook diplomacy, and his disapproval of America’s past approach to the Middle East, he left little room for dispute in a keynote address on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia that sharply critiqued “interventionalists” and “neo-cons” while calling for an end to regional wars. The message in Trump’s speech, and the optics of a visit to the Middle East that doesn’t include a stop in Israel, were met with concern by pro-Israel Republicans and hawkish foreign policy experts, who worry that his turbo-charged dealmaking with the oil-rich Gulf nations — cemented this week with trade deals in the hundreds of billions of dollars — puts Israel at a diplomatic disadvantage, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Dollar signs: “His approach is obviously completely transactional. If he has a view about the U.S. national interest, that view revolves around financial and commercial interests, and that obviously diminishes the value of the alliance with Israel, which is not primarily financial and commercial,” said Elliott Abrams, a former longtime Republican official who served as Iran envoy in Trump’s first term. “It’s based on values. It’s based on military cooperation. It is based also on high-tech cooperation, but Trump seems to be less interested in that and more interested in the dollar signs.”
Presidential address: “The gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the so-called nation-builders, neo-cons, or liberal nonprofits like those who spent trillions failing to develop [Kabul], Baghdad, so many other cities,” Trump said in a speech on Tuesday at a U.S.-Saudi Arabia investment forum event in Riyadh. “In the end, the so-called nation-builders wrecked far more nations than they built and the interventionalists were intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand themselves. Trump also condemned American presidents who “have been afflicted with the focus that it’s our job to look into the souls of foreign leaders and use U.S. policy to dispense justice for their sins.”
AIRING CONCERNS
More Republicans voice concern about Qatari jet, as Dems pursue blocking efforts

A handful of congressional Republicans voiced fresh concerns on Tuesday about President Donald Trump’s plans to accept a gift of a Qatari luxury jet worth $400 million to join the Air Force One fleet, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report. Democrats, meanwhile, stepped up their efforts to block the gift.
Growing worries: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), expanding on comments he’d made the previous day, said that there “will be plenty of scrutiny” for the transfer if it occurs. “There are lots of issues around that that I think will attract very serious questions if and when it happens.” But he also downplayed the gift as purely “hypothetical” at this point. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) came out more strongly against the gift, saying, “I’m not a fan of Qatar, I think they have a really disturbing pattern of funding theocratic lunatics who want to murder us, funding Hamas and Hezbollah and that’s a real problem. I also think that the plane poses significant espionage and surveillance problems, so we’ll see how this issue plays out, but I certainly have concerns.”
Bonus: Bloomberg looks at the potential security risks associated with Qatar’s proposed gift of a luxury jet to the Trump administration, citing expert concerns over “opportunities for surveilling, tracking or compromising communications.”
FAIR-WEATHER FRIENDS
Sen. Katie Britt slams Democrats for not defending Fetterman

Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) is criticizing Senate Democrats for declining to challenge media reports about Sen. John Fetterman’s (D-PA) mental health, attributing their reticence to the Democratic senator’s independent approach to Israel and immigration, and his support for several of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Independent streak: Britt, who has grown to be one of Fetterman’s closest personal friends in the Senate since both were elected in 2022, raised concerns about the implications of Senate Democrats remaining silent as one of their own is targeted over his highly publicized mental health struggles during National Mental Health Awareness Month. “John has been a voice for Israel. He has been a voice for the Jewish people. He has been willing to take a look at nominees and approach things in a common-sense way. He understands the need for a secure border and interior enforcement. He was out front on the Laken Riley Act. I would say that part of [Democrats’] silence has to do with his independence,” Britt told JI.
STATE OF THE JEWS
Dan Senor: Jewish day schools, summer camps key to thriving U.S. Jewry

Jewish day schools and summer camps as well as gap years in Israel are some of the strongest contributors of a solid Jewish identity — ones that provide the tools that are needed at this precarious moment to “rebuild American Jewish life” — podcast host and author Dan Senor said on Tuesday night as he delivered the 45th annual State of World Jewry address at the 92NY in Manhattan, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Jewish giving: “But here’s the uncomfortable truth,” Senor said, pointing to a statistic that of the 33 Jewish individuals on the Forbes 400 list with publicly reported charitable giving, no more than 11% of their giving went to Jewish causes. “I am not suggesting Jewish generosity to the broader civic square come to an end,” Senor said. “But I am arguing that it is time for a recalibration in favor of our community’s needs. We need to invest so that we can look back on this moment decades from now and say: American Jewish life was not the same after that. It was better.”
Read the full story here and sign up for eJewishPhilanthropy’s Your Daily Phil newsletter here.
scoop
Syrian diaspora group’s Capitol Hill conference abruptly canceled amid anti-Israel, Assad regime concerns

A Syrian diaspora conference in a House office building meeting room was abruptly canceled on Monday after a lawmaker raised concerns about the group and its leadership, sources familiar with the situation told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod.
What happened: A member of Congress reserved the room on the group’s behalf, but that member withdrew their sponsorship on Monday after the event had begun, a source said. Per House policy, the group would have been required to leave the room once it lost that sponsorship. The group in question denied that the event had been canceled or disrupted. In the days before the conference, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) wrote to the chair and ranking member of the Committee on House Administration urging them to intervene to cancel the event, citing concerns about alleged ties to the Assad regime and comments the group’s counsel had shared in support of the Houthis and about Israel.
Bonus: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a close ally of President Donald Trump, called for a cautious and deliberate approach to removing sanctions on Syria and emphasized that Congress has a significant oversight role to play, hours after Trump announced in a speech in Riyadh that he plans to lift “all” U.S. sanctions on Syria, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Reactions from others on Capitol Hill to the news have been decidedly mixed across both parties.
money matters
Antisemitism watchdog calls for IRS to investigate fiscal sponsor of anti-Israel agitators

The Zachor Legal Institute, a legal think tank in Montana focused on combating antisemitism and boycott campaigns against Israel, is calling on the IRS to review the tax-exempt status of a nonprofit group involved in fundraising for pro-Palestinian activism, claiming its fiscal sponsorship of a radical anti-Zionist organization accused of advocating for political violence may be in violation of federal law, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
The argument: In a complaint filed Wednesday morning, Marc Greendorfer, the president and co-founder of the Zachor Legal Institute, formally urged the IRS to begin an investigation of the WESPAC Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in White Plains, N.Y., over its ties to Within Our Lifetime, an extreme activist group at the forefront of anti-Israel demonstrations across New York City in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. “Through its fiscal sponsorship of Within Our Lifetime, a violent, radical and anti-Israel organization, WESPAC may have violated both the public policy doctrine and the illegality doctrine that the IRS uses to analyze and discern whether a 501(c)(3) charitable organization can maintain their tax-exempt status,” Greendorfer wrote in a letter to Michael Faulkender, the acting commissioner of the IRS, arguing that a “thorough investigation” of the matter “is warranted.”
Worthy Reads
Doha’s Dollars: The Free Press’ Jay Solomon and Frannie Block do a deep dive into Qatar’s efforts to establish footholds across American society. “Qatar has spent almost $100 billion to establish its legitimacy in Congress, American colleges and universities, U.S. newsrooms, think tanks, and corporations. Over the past two decades, it has poured those billions into purchases of American-made weapons and business investments ranging from U.S. real estate to energy plants. It built — and still pays for — the Al Udeid Air Base, even as the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have ended. Doha finances research and campuses at prestigious American universities. And its lobbyists have the connections needed to open all the right doors in Washington. Since 2017, it has spent $225 million on lobbying and public-relations efforts in the nation’s capital. … The influence built by Qatar in the U.S. has no modern parallel, The Free Press found, whether compared with large American companies seeking to influence antitrust policy, energy firms trying to win new drilling rights, or other foreign governments aiming to shape U.S. policy—or shield themselves from it. For comparison, Qatar spent three times more in the U.S. than Israel did on lobbyists, public-relations advisers, and other foreign agents in 2021 — and nearly two-thirds as much as China did, according to the government’s latest reports.” [FreePress]
Dealmaker or Wrecker?: The Washington Post’s David Ignatius looks at President Donald Trump’s unconventional approach to foreign policy as he balances multiple conflicts and a trade war with China while in the middle of his first trip abroad. “‘America has no ‘permanent enemies,’ Trump said in his discussion of Iran. That simple statement will reverberate across the region, especially in Israel, which views Iran as a deadly adversary. Israeli anxieties might be eased by Trump’s warning that if Iran didn’t agree to a nuclear deal and make peace, it would face ‘massive maximum pressure.’ Trump’s comments in Saudi Arabia cap a remarkable few weeks in which he has bent policies, including his own, to accommodate what he evidently concluded were limits imposed by global reality. … My takeaway: Trump remains a disrupter and a dealmaker — with big ambitions for ending global conflicts and boosting America’s economy. He can also be a wrecker, as in many of his domestic policies that have savaged universities, law firms, medical research, government agencies and anyone on Trump’s retribution list. But abroad, he appears to have recognized the constraints imposed by the financial markets, the resistance of China and other big trading partners, the danger of wasting money on inconclusive wars, and the inescapable fact of global economic interdependence.” [WashPost]
Full-Court Press: In an essay adapted from a speech he gave at the Notre Dame Kellogg Institute for International Studies, New York Times Publisher A.G. Sulzberger reflects on the role a free press plays in society. “And the press is far from the only American institution that finds itself under pressure. We’re seeing direct efforts to go after government agencies, universities, cultural institutions, research organizations, advocacy groups and law firms. We’re even seeing challenges to the authority of Congress and the courts to serve as a check on executive power. Like all of those institutions, the free press is imperfect. And like all of those institutions, the free press is a load-bearing pillar in a free society. … Let me pause to say plainly that as a champion of independent journalism, I believe our job is to cover political debates, not to join them. We’re not the resistance. We are nobody’s opposition. We’re also nobody’s cheerleader. Our loyalty is to the truth and to a public that deserves to know it.” [NYTimes]
Word on the Street
Iranian officials said that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi proposed a joint nuclear-enrichment venture in its negotiations with the U.S.; a representative for Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff denied the report…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Witkoff held a meeting on Wednesday in Jerusalem, the second time in three days the two have met…
Speaking at an event hosted by the Buckley Institute, former Vice President Mike Pence expressed “concerns” about the Trump administration’s revocation of Harvard’s tax-exempt status, stating, “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If we establish the precedent of taking away tax-exempt status from certain institutions that reflect discriminatory practices or antipathy toward right-wing views, we might find ourselves in an America where subsequent administrations think the same”…
The Trump administration announced it is cutting an additional $450 million in federal grants to Harvard, citing the school’s “pervasive race discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment”…
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he would “assess” a 2028 presidential run, after declining to mount bids for Senate and governor in Michigan, where he resides…
A legal watchdog group sent a warning letter to Microsoft on Monday alleging that it is violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by refusing to recognize a Jewish Employee Resource Group, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen has learned…
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck hosted a 30th anniversary reception in its new office in Washington; speaking to the dozens of Capitol Hill legislators in attendance — including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), , Chair John Barrasso (R-WY), NRSC Chair Tim Scott (R-SC), Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ted Budd (R-NC), Susan Collins (R-ME), Chris Coons (D-DE), Steve Daines (R-MT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), James Lankford (R-OK), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), David McCormick (R-PA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Tina Smith (D-MN), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI); House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Jeff Hurd (R-TX), Lisa McClain (R-MI), Chris Pappas (D-NH), Greg Stanton (D-AZ), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Rob Wittman (R-VA) and Ann Wagner (R-MO) as well as Hill staff, administration officials, clients and friends of the firm — founder and Chairman Norm Brownstein reflected on the firm’s start “in a small office above the Capital Grille”…
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the creation of the city’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, staffed by Executive Director Moshe Davis…
A community garden in the Ridgewood neighborhood of Queens, N.Y., is facing eviction after requiring prospective members to sign a “statement of values” that included opposing Zionism…
In a letter to Rabbi Noam Marans, the American Jewish Committee’s director of interreligious affairs, Pope Leo XIV pledged “to continue and strengthen the Church’s dialogue and cooperation with the Jewish people.” Prominent Jewish Italian journalist Maurizio Molinari commented to Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov that the letter shows the new pope’s “deep understanding of the damage caused by his predecessor. … He understands that the very base of the dialogue with the Jews was put at risk” by his predecessor, Pope Francis….
U.K. broadcaster Gary Lineker is again facing criticism after sharing a social media post comparing Israel to a rat…
Workers in Argentina discovered a trove of Nazi-era documents in the basement of the country’s Supreme Court, where the propaganda materials had been kept for eight decades after being seized by the government during a customs search in 1941…
The IDF targeted Hamas leader Mohammad Sinwar in a strike on the European Hospital in southern Gaza yesterday, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen reports…
Israel intercepted Houthi ballistic missile attacks on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning; the missiles set off sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem…
Natan Sachs, formerly the director of Brookings’ Center for Middle East Policy, is joining the Middle East Institute…
Pic of the Day

Israeli President Isaac Herzog (right) presented German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier with the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor at a ceremony on Tuesday at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.
Birthdays

Actress who has appeared in 13 movies, she is the daughter of Steven Spielberg, Sasha Rebecca Spielberg turns 35…
Born in Casablanca and raised in Paris, Midtown NYC hair stylist and owner of La Boîte a Coupe salon, Elie Laurent Delouya turns 77… Physician and social activist, she was the Green Party’s nominee for POTUS in 2012, 2016 and 2024, Jill Stein turns 75… Professor emerita of computer science at Technion, Orna Grumberg turns 73… 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 72… Los Angeles city attorney from 2013 until 2022, Mike Feuer turns 67… Author of seven international bestsellers on topics such as strategy, power and seduction, Robert Greene turns 66… Head of School at the Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School in Palo Alto, Calif., Daniel L. Lehmann turns 63… Former member of Knesset for the Meretz party and a major general (reserves) in the IDF, he now leads the Democrats party, Yair Golan turns 63… Former ESPN SportsCenter anchor and football sideline reporter, Suzanne Lisa “Suzy” Kolber turns 61… Retired U.S. Air Force lt. colonel, now serving as director of the U.S. Office of Global Shield, Robert Levinson turns 60… CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, she is a former seven-term Connecticut state senator, Gayle Slossberg turns 60… Education program lead of Bloomberg Philanthropies, Howard Wolfson… Record producer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, he has won nine Grammy Awards, Greg Kurstin turns 56… 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 41… Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Businessweek reporter, Josh Eidelson… 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 a senior associate on the Surveyor Capital team at Citadel, Eric Brodkowitz turns 29… Center for the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, he was the first pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and is the son of hockey star Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, Jack Hughes turns 24…
‘We think [we] will have some, or a lot of announcements, very, very shortly, which we hope will yield great progress by next year,’ the Middle East envoy said

CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
White House special envoy Steve Witkoff briefly speaks to reporters as he walks back into the West Wing following a television interview on the North Lawn of the White House on March 19, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
Speaking at an event celebrating Israeli Independence Day on Monday, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff suggested that he expects additional countries will join the Abraham Accords in the coming year.
“We think [we] will have some, or a lot of announcements, very, very shortly, which we hope will yield great progress by next year,” Witkoff said of the prospects for additional normalization between Israel and Arab states, at an event organized by the Israeli embassy in Washington.
Witkoff only gave a glancing mention of Iran, with which he is the lead U.S. negotiator, in his brief remarks, pledging that Tehran would never obtain a nuclear weapon, but not elaborating on the talks beyond that.
The U.S. envoy emphasized the need for Israeli unity, saying, “I urge the Israeli people to choose unity over division, vision over disagreement and hope over despair. When you do, Israel’s future will shine brighter than ever.”
Witkoff also said that one of the most joyous moments of his life was visiting with recently freed hostages from Gaza and singing Am Yisrael Chai with them and their families. He pledged to work “tirelessly this year” toward “peace, prosperity and for Israel, unity.”
The event for Yom Ha’Atzmaut also featured remarks from Secretary of Energy Doug Burgum.
The lawmakers lambasted Biden for failing to nominate someone to fill the position, which was created in December 2023

GPO
Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump, and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan during the Abraham Accords signing ceremony at the White House on Sept. 15, 2020.
A group of 47 House Republicans led by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) urged President-elect Donald Trump to immediately nominate an ambassador-rank special envoy for the Abraham Accords, a position that has been left empty since it was created by Congress in late 2023.
Lawler and Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) introduced legislation in 2023 to create a new ambassador-level position for the Abraham Accords, Negev Forum and Middle East regional normalization, which was incorporated into and passed into law through the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act in December 2023.
But the position was left empty as normalization efforts became a secondary priority in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
In a letter to Trump on Thursday, the lawmakers said that they’re confident Trump will “prioritize” expanding normalization agreements between Israel and the Arab world in his second administration, and said that having a dedicated official leading those efforts would be “key to a cohesive, effective, and long-lasting normalization effort.”
The lawmakers said that the Biden administration’s failure to fill the slot — in spite of bipartisan pressure to do so — showed “clear indifference to the Abraham Accords,” which they described as “incomprehensible, bad policy, and after the NDAA’s passage in 2023, unlawful.”
“In light of President Biden’s shortcomings, we urge you to make this nomination an immediate priority,” the lawmakers continued. “We know expanding the Abraham Accords remains a key priority for your Administration and having a Presidential Envoy will be a key player in spearheading these efforts. We look forward to working with both you and the Presidential Envoy in the future to strengthen Israel’s role in the Middle East and reach long-lasting stability in the region.”
Lawler, in a statement, again condemned Biden, calling it “unacceptable” that he had not nominated an ambassador.
“This willful ignorance of a position designed to support our closest ally, Israel, in formalizing normalization agreements with its neighbors and other nations around the world speaks volumes about the Biden Administration,” Lawler said. “I am hopeful that President Trump will take swift action on day one to right this wrong and begin to work towards a lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors.”
It’s not clear how responsibilities would be divided in the incoming Trump administration among Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East; Massad Boulos, Trump’s senior advisor for Arab and Middle East Affairs; and the prospective Abraham Accords ambassador.
Prior to the Oct. 7 attack and passage of the Lawler-Torres bill, the Biden administration had named former Ambassador Dan Shapiro as a senior advisor for regional integration in the State Department, filling a similar role to the ambassador post, without Senate confirmation. But Shapiro moved to the Defense Department in January 2024 amid the growing war in the Middle East, and the State Department did not announce a replacement for Shapiro.
Trump adds that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will listen to him more than President Biden

MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands after delivering press statements before an official dinner in Jerusalem on May 22, 2017.
Former President Donald Trump said in an interview released on Sunday that expanding the Abraham Accords would be “an absolute priority” if he wins the election.
“Everyone wants to be in it,” he said in an interview with Al Arabiya, the Saudi-owned news channel, claiming he would have added “12 to 15 countries literally within a period of a year” if he had won the 2020 presidential election. “If I win, that will be an absolute priority,” he added. “It’s peace in the Middle East — we need it.”
Trump also reiterated his controversial claim that Iran would have joined the Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab neighbors, during a hypothetical second term.
“I make the statement, and it sounds foolish but it’s not foolish — I think even Iran would have been in, because Iran was desperate to make a deal,” he said. “They had no money.”
He declined to elaborate on how he would address Iran’s efforts to create a nuclear weapon while in office, even as he recently suggested he is open to talks with the Islamic Republic about a renewed nuclear deal that he himself ended while in office.
“They won’t acquire it,” he said. “Now they may get it if they get it very quickly. I’m not president, so I won’t have much to do with that.”
Trump also did not discuss whether he would seek to include Saudi Arabia in the Accords, as the Gulf kingdom has indicated that forging diplomatic ties would be contingent on Israel accepting a Palestinian state.
In the interview, focused on Middle East policy, Trump described Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman as a “visionary” and a “great guy” who is “respected all over the world.” He vowed to bolster U.S. ties with Saudi Arabia, saying Vice President Kamala Harris would damage the relationship.
Trump argued that U.S. relations with Israel would be strengthened under his leadership, suggesting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is more receptive to hearing from him than President Joe Biden. “He does listen to me,” Trump said of Netanyahu, speaking after the killing last week of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.
Trump speculated that many of the hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza have already been killed. “I’m sure many of them are dead,” he said in the interview. “It’s a very sad thing. What’s going to happen when they find out that there are very few hostages, which is probably what they’re going to find out.”
“Even early on, I think a lot of those hostages were dead,” he added. “It’s not even believable when you think about it, but I think pretty early on, there were a lot that were gone.”
Repeating a claim he has made several times during the campaign, Trump said that Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack would never have occurred if he had been president.
Without elaborating on a plan, he said he would stop the war in Gaza if elected and that he would bring stability to the region. “If I win, we’re going to have peace in the Middle East, and soon,” he said.
The UAE ambassador to the U.S. discussed the deal on a Jewish Insider webcast with Haim Saban and Dina Powell McCormick

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Dina Powell McCormick (left), Haim Saban (top), and Yousef Al Otaiba (bottom).
United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al Otaiba on Tuesday hailed the Trump administration for working to finalize a normalization agreement between the UAE and Israel, which he said came as a result of Emirati efforts to halt Israel’s planned annexation of parts of the West Bank.
During a Jewish Insider webcast alongside Israeli-American businessman Haim Saban — moderated by former White House deputy national security advisor Dina Powell McCormick — Al Otaiba described the behind-the-scenes efforts that culminated in the groundbreaking Abraham Accords.
One of the first steps in the process, Al Otaiba said, came when he asked Saban to help him publish an op-ed aimed at the Israeli public during the time that annexation was being considered. “Haim told me where it should be placed, when it should be placed and, the most important piece of advice on this was, you have to do it in Hebrew,” the ambassador said. “If you really want to speak to the Israelis, it has to be translated in Hebrew.”
“I remember a subsequent conversation with [Saban], asking, ‘Hey, do you think this article made an impact?’” Al Otaiba recalled. “He started laughing at me, like laughing loudly. He’s like, ‘You have no idea how much impact this article had.’ And it was shortly after the article we then started thinking of actual concrete ideas to avoid annexation.”
Al Otaiba said he remembered “having a really serious conversation with [White House Mideast peace envoy] Avi Berkowitz on July 2, right after he returned from Israel, and figuring out what we can do to prevent [annexation], how do we trade this? How do we give something better?”
The deal, which was formally signed earlier this month during a ceremony on the White House South Lawn, jump-started the normalization of relations between the two countries in exchange for Israel’s commitment to shelve a planned annexation of West Bank territory.
The panelists noted that while the threat of annexation may have brought the sides to the negotiating table, there was little doubt that the larger threat posed by Iran was also a driving force. “There is no question that when you have a common enemy that is, basically, a cancer in the region, you unite forces against that enemy,” remarked Saban, who explained that “people have realized that there is much more upside, aligning with Israel, and forming a front against Iran.”
Both Saban and Al Otaiba credited U.S. leadership for helping to manage the negotiation process and deliver on the agreements. “I think the United States government came through every single time,” Al Otaiba said. “And that’s the reason we had the signing ceremony two weeks ago at the White House.”
The Emirati ambassador lauded Berkowitz, Jared Kushner and Brig. Gen. Miguel Correa for their efforts. “I spoke and talked to them and met with them, probably more in that four weeks than I did with anybody else, including my own family. If it wasn’t for them, I’m not sure this deal would be done,” Al Otaiba said, adding: “for anything like this to happen, it takes an incredible amount of trust.”
Saban, a longtime donor to Democratic candidates and causes, including the presidential campaign of former Vice President Joe Biden, also praised Kushner, Al Otaiba, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed, Emirati Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Zayed and Mossad director Yossi Cohen for paving the way for the deal. The Israeli-American businessman called the agreement “game-changing,” explaining: “There was no precedent for public commitment to normalization… Israelis would give their right arm to have peace with all its Arab neighbors.”
Al Otaiba echoed a similar interest in bilateral peace on the Emirati side, telling the webcast: “People always think we do not pay attention to public opinion inside the Emirates because we’re not a democracy. And it’s actually quite the opposite. Because we’re not a democracy, we have to be very in tune with what our people want, and what the streets feel. And people really wanted this. This is not something that we are forcing against the popular will of the parties that live in the country. There is a genuine energy, that people are excited about this.”
The three participants also sought to emphasize the economic benefits of the recent agreement.
Powell McCormick, who serves on Goldman Sachs’s management committee, noted that “we’re already having clients call us and ask about investment opportunities.”
Al Otaiba said he thinks “people forget about the immediate benefits that we’re going to have once you have direct commercial flights and tourism, about trade, investment, research, development, COVID research.” The ambassador added: “It is not a coincidence that when Jared Kushner came from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi on that historic flight, the first set of MOUs that we submitted to the United States to get done were on consular affairs, civil aviation, trade, prevention of double taxation, protection of investments — what we feel is the foundation, the infrastructure for any healthy relationship, so we can have mutual wins, so you can have trade investment R&D.”
Saban said at least five Israeli entrepreneurs have reached out to him with ideas to invest in the UAE. “Even my chief investment officer and the head of my VC division, they came to me and they said, ‘We have an idea that we can do with the Emiratis.’”
Al Otaiba noted how much has already occurred in just the few weeks since the accord was announced.
“We’ve already seen MOUs on AI, on COVID research, on health care and just today, a very prominent soccer club in Dubai bought an Israeli soccer player,” he noted. “Once an Emirati investor feels that he can invest in Israel safely, and an Israeli investor feels that he can invest in the UAE safely and not get taxed twice… I think the stars are the limit.”