Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

A State Department official pushed back on Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz’s comments in southern Lebanon today, where he said the IDF would remain deployed in a security zone, contrary to the agreement signed between Washington, Jerusalem and Beirut.

“The United States expects all parties to act in a manner consistent with the Framework they agreed to, and Israel clearly stated that it has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon. A permanent military presence in South Lebanon is not consistent with the commitments made in the Framework, or the long-term peace and security of both states,” the official told Axios…

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Sources told Reuters that Israel and Lebanon have agreed that countries including Britain, Italy, Switzerland and Indonesia could contribute troops to an international force meant to oversee Hezbollah’s disarmament; an Israeli official denied any decisions had been made on the issue…

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President Donald Trump continued to boast about the success of the U.S. campaign against Iran, stating again in a post on Truth Social today that the U.S. “has total control over the Strait of Hormuz” and that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is “decimated and fleeing.”

Meanwhile, out of the 166 ships that have transited the strait so far this month — a significant decrease from the average before the war — only two are known to have used the U.S.- and Oman-backed route, according to The Wall Street Journal…

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In a rare interview with Western media, top IRGC advisor Mohammad Reza Naqdi told “PBS News Hour” that Iran is prepared to continue hostilities through the end of Trump’s term and accused the U.S. of waging a “war without strategy”…

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The New York Times documents the efforts being made by Gulf countries to construct routes to move oil out of the region that do not rely on the Strait of Hormuz…

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Board of Peace head Nickolay Mladenov denied in a post in Hebrew today that there is any financial agreement between the board and Hamas, refuting a report by Israeli public broadcaster Kan that the board would cover Hamas’ debts up to $400 million.

The disarmament roadmap states that the new Palestinian technocratic government will “assess the legitimate commitments to suppliers, contractors and other parties — up to a total amount of no more than $400M — and address them”; Mladenov said in his post that such processes “are not channeled through Hamas” and that “all accounts are open to full scrutiny by the donor governments”…

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The publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, Michael Morris, penned an open letter to Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) today pressing the senator over his repeated votes to block U.S. military sales to Israel, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

“I apologize for being blunt, but please, stop lying to me and your constituents. I hear you claim, over and over again, that you support Israel — that your support is ‘ironclad.’ It is not,” Morris wrote…

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Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) denied today that the more than $30 million of support she received from AIPAC’s super PAC in her failed run for U.S. Senate backfired, saying on CNN that those who criticize AIPAC “maybe don’t understand what the group is” and that she’s “proud of the friendships and the relationships I have there [and] the really good Americans” who make up its membership…

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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is stepping away from her role at the end of the month, Trump announced today, in order to spend more time with her family. The president said Leavitt will now serve as “one of my top outside advisors”…

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Josh Kushner, managing partner of the venture capital firm Thrive Capital, and former Disney CEO Bob Iger have agreed to purchase a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Lakers for a record-breaking price of $12.5 billion, JI’s Matthew Shea reports…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at local Jewish political organizing efforts in major cities across the country.

The Hudson Institute will hold an event examining the state of the ongoing conflicts in the Gulf with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Behnam Ben Taleblu and Hudson’s Michael Doran, Ludo Hood and Zineb Riboua.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, insisted today that any agreement reached between Iran and Oman on administering the Strait of Hormuz is separate from Tehran’s broader closure of the waterway, which will only be lifted once the U.S. accedes to Iran’s demands.

Meanwhile, Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, a key mediator between the U.S. and Iran, met today with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran. Islamabad’s defense minister, Khawaja Asif, told Bloomberg that developments are “shaping up again in favor of a peace arrangement”…

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CENTCOM said it disabled a Panama-flagged cargo ship sailing toward Iranian ports today by firing two Hellfire missiles into the vessel’s engine room, the third such incident since the U.S. blockade began…

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Ed Miliband, who last month was appointed by new U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham to be foreign secretary, said he had a “frank and constructive first call” with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar today, during which the British diplomat raised the issues of settler violence, settlement expansion and the humanitarian situation in Gaza, among others.

The discussion came a day after Miliband met with British Jewish community leaders, who said they were “impressed” by the foreign secretary’s “longer-term commitment to maintaining the conversation”…

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Sa’ar announced that Israel and Venezuela have agreed to renew consular relations — establishing a coordination mechanism to provide consular services to each country’s citizens — in the first official channel between the two since Caracas severed diplomatic ties in 2009. The move builds on the Israeli aid delegation dispatched to Venezuela after the June 24 earthquakes…

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The Palestinian technocratic committee meant to govern Gaza convened a joint coordination meeting with several U.N. agencies — including the World Food Program, UNICEF and the World Health Organization — as well as representatives from the Board of Peace and former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Institute for Global Change to coordinate on humanitarian aid and reconstruction issues…

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Former Mossad head Yossi Cohen said at a conference in Israel today that Israeli operatives have “toured” Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility “many times” in order to “understand” it, and called the U.S. operation to bomb the site during the 12-day war in June 2025 “the fulfillment of all my dreams”…

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The NYPD denied that its officers will be accompanying New York City First Lady Rama Duwaji on a trip to Lebanon and Syria next month after City Hall said that, “upon the strong recommendation of the NYPD, the First Lady’s security detail will be joining her” on the trip.

“The NYPD does not send officers to countries with level four travel advisories for discretionary reasons,” the NYPD said today, referring to the State Department’s ranking system that currently designates the two countries as “do not travel” locations. Mayor Zohran Mamdani later said the diverging statements stemmed from a “miscommunication,” and that when his wife makes the trip “it will be without any NYPD detail”…

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Democratic Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has made private over 100 YouTube videos from his time as a podcaster and commentator, CNN reports, including videos in which he lambasted fireworks on the Fourth of July, floated replacing the Second Amendment and voiced support for prison abolition…

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The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added Brian Poindexter, the Democratic nominee in Ohio’s 7th Congressional District, to its “Red to Blue” program as he aims to unseat Rep. Max Miller (R-OH). Democratic leadership will offer Poindexter strategic support as the district, previously considered a long shot for Democrats given its GOP leanings, is now seen as a key flip opportunity as Miller navigates accusations of domestic violence by his ex-wife…

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The campaign of Francesca Hong, the socialist seen as the front-runner in today’s Democratic primary election for governor of Wisconsin, was rebuffed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as she sought his endorsement due to her perceived weaknesses as a candidate, Politico reports; her campaign is planning to overhaul its staff to address such issues if she proceeds to the general…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for results from key primaries taking place today in Minnesota, South Carolina, Connecticut and Wisconsin.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Responding to a recent demand from Iran that the U.S. fully compensate it for its war costs in order to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump issued his own demand today that Tehran compensate the U.S. “for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts,” as well as pay reparations to the “families of the hundreds of thousands of innocent protestors that Iran has killed over the last 50 years.” Trump said he instructed U.S. representatives to “put this firmly into any, and all, future negotiations” with Tehran…

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Shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Israel rejects the Hamas disarmament deal, Board of Peace head Nickolay Mladenov told Israel’s Channel 12 that the deal is “the only way” that “guarantees” that the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, “will not occur again.”

“Nobody is required to do anything — last of all Israel — before we actually have verified steps on the ground,” Mladenov said, referring to the IDF’s eventual withdrawal from Gaza after all of Hamas’ weapons are “stored, and ultimately rendered unusable,” by the Palestinian technocratic government…

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The International Atomic Energy Agency will remove nuclear material stored at a secret site in Syria tied to the fallen Assad regime, Axios reports, per an agreement reached between Trump, Jerusalem and Damascus…

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Megan Romer, a national co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, said in a podcast interview last week that the Oct. 7 attacks were “largely inevitable” — “If you put people in an open-air concentration camp and you deprive them of rights, of dignity, of food, of the ability to live in safety, you have to expect that they are going to not take that for that long,” she said — and that she would have attended the anti-Israel Times Square rally on Oct. 8 had she been in the area, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports…

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said on MS NOW today that Abdul El-Sayed, the state’s Democratic nominee for Senate, should “tone down his rhetoric” about Israel and AIPAC in order to help combat antisemitism in the Democratic Party.

“Not everything is about AIPAC, not everything is about Israel. … Even if we wiped Israel off the face of the earth tomorrow, you know, everyday Michiganders’ lives wouldn’t be better on” issues such as housing and healthcare, Nessel said…

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The University of Washington on Friday reversed its decision to host far-left, antisemitic influencer Hasan Piker, citing a flawed planning process, JI’s Haley Cohen reports.

The event listing, which has since been removed from the university website, described Piker as a “journalist and wildly popular content creator” who has “become an authoritative voice for millennials and Gen Z,” and as someone who is “armed with sharp analysis and an irreverent wit”…

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The new conservative government in Colombia, which recently returned its ambassador to Israel, today recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, becoming the second country to do so after the U.S.

Colombia’s Foreign Ministry announced the move shortly after a powerful earthquake struck the country, killing over 100 people…

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A new app called Sabbath is selling an ancient pitch to a modern, phone-addicted crowd: lock technology away for one sacred day a week. The app — which founder Ben Springwater calls “Shabbat with training wheels” — is “trying to make a bigger tent, get more people to experience some of the benefits and virtues of what Shabbat offers,” he told JI’s Haley Cohen, by allowing users to block certain apps from sundown to sundown on either Saturday or Sunday…

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The Cook Political Report updated its rating of Rep. Max Miller’s (R-OH) district from “Likely Republican” to “Toss Up” after the deadline passed for Miller to drop out of his reelection race, which he declined to do despite facing serious domestic abuse allegations. Miller has denied the accusations levied against him by his ex-wife and her father, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH)…

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Politico explores how Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is using her political clout to boost her preferred successor, San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan, over Chan’s opponent, state Sen. Scott Wiener, including lining up endorsements and hosting major fundraisers…

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“Fauda” star Lior Raz announced that the fifth season of the series, set two years after the Oct. 7 attacks, is coming to Netflix on Sept. 8…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at D.C.’sever-evolving kosher food scene.

Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont and Wisconsin will hold primary elections tomorrow, with South Carolina and Alabama holding special elections as well.

We’ll be watching the outcomes in Minnesota’s Senate race, where Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan are neck-and-neck, as well as the Wisconsin governor’s race, where democratic socialist Francesca Hong is favored to win the Democratic nomination.

In the South Carolina special Republican Senate primary, Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) is trying to hold her late brother’s seat in a race widely expected to head to an Aug. 25 runoff. And in Connecticut’s 1st District, longtime Rep. John Larson (D-CT) faces his first serious primary challenge in decades from former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin.

Kenneth Marcus, the chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, will testify before a hearing of the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission tomorrow, urging the commission to repeal rules requiring employers to keep and submit yearly reports breaking down their workforce by race, sex and ethnicity.

Marcus argued to JI that the practice has “created the impression that the agency is pushing them to use racial preferences in order to improve their numbers.” He said the situation has left Jews either “invisible because we’re not counted, or potentially stigmatized because we are,” and that “counting by race or ethnicity has never been helpful for the Jewish people and has sometimes been dangerous.” He said that eliminating these requirements would allow the EEOC to focus more fully on specific complaints of alleged discrimination.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump disputed reports that the U.S. is running low on critical munitions as a result of the Iran war, claiming on Truth Social last night that the country has “massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ especially of certain types” and that more are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. “as needed”…

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The IDF struck several targets in southern Lebanon again today “in response to the incident yesterday” during which two IDF soldiers were killed and four severely injured in an explosion that the army attributed to Hezbollah.

The strikes came during the last day of Israel-Lebanon talks in Rome, which a State Department official said were “productive on the technical and expert levels” and brought the parties “a lot closer on what needs to be done to advance and expand the pilot zone process”…

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Jonathan Cowan, president of the center-left group Third Way, told The New York Times that the group plans to spend $15 million ahead of the 2028 presidential election to target the Democratic Socialists of America after Abdul El-Sayed’s primary win in the Michigan Senate race. “It is deeply troubling to see radical, far-left candidates winning in places that are potentially presidential swing states,” Cowan said. El-Sayed was not endorsed by the DSA, though he was championed by the far left…

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Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) told Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs that he believes El-Sayed’s victory has put Michigan in play for Republicans to win in November. “[El-Sayed] will quickly discover a primary is a much different situation in this state [than the general election], when you’re accountable for winning the other side. I can’t wait to see him campaign for the general. I have got my popcorn for that,” Fetterman said…

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Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) joined Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Reps. Brad Knott (R-NC) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY) today in introducing the Right to Worship Act, a federal bill that would ban activity that knowingly disrupts or impedes access to scheduled religious services within 100 feet of the entrance of a house of worship, JI’s Marc Rod reports…

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Lele Yutzy as the state’s first director of its Office of Civil Rights, which was created under a bill enacted last year that acknowledged the prevalence of antisemitism in the state’s public schools and pledged to tackle discrimination. The office is also required to appoint an antisemitism prevention coordinator…

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Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) joined Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) in calling on Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), Moreno’s former son-in-law, to drop out of his reelection race and resign from Congress amid growing scrutiny of domestic violence allegations made against Miller, JI’s Marc Rod reports…

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New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill‘s Mission to Deliver PAC endorsed a series of Democratic candidates with national security or military backgrounds, including Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) in his primary campaign to oust Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA).

Asked in a debate on local news earlier this week if Israel committed war crimes in Gaza, Markey answered an emphatic “yes” and called to end all military aid to Israel, while Moulton called the conflict an “absolute moral atrocity” and highlighted his rejection of AIPAC’s support but did not answer in the affirmative…

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Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said in a statement today that he has been discharged from the hospital after a fall in Juneand will continue his recovery at home, without indication of when he will return to Capitol Hill…

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The feud between Jerusalem and Ankara continued today as Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan claimed Israel’s “attacks targeting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” are “among the greatest threats to the country’s stability.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in turnaccused Fidan of hypocrisy, arguing that Turkey currently occupies 5% of Syria while the IDF holds a buffer zone “that comprises just one-tenth of one percent of Syrian territory”…

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An extremist Israeli settler, Yinon Levi, was charged by the Israeli State Attorney’s Office with reckless homicide over the July 2025 killing of Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen, who had been featured in the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land” about home demolitions in the West Bank…

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The Yemeni Defense Ministry said the Houthis attacked the internationally recognized government’s military forces in several locations — reportedly killing dozens of soldiers — and that the military would retaliate against the terror group “at the appropriate time and place.”

The hostilities mark Yemen’s latest potential slide back towards its brutal civil war that devastated the country from 2014 until the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government reached a ceasefire in 2022…

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The United Arab Emirates has successfully transported more oil through the Strait of Hormuz in the last two months than any other country despite ongoing military hostilities in the area, Bloomberg reports, by utilizing tankers that switch off their transponders during the risky crossing…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at the special election to replace former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), where AIPAC’s United Democracy Project super PAC is working to boost Dublin, Calif., Mayor Melissa Hernandez over state Sen. Aisha Wahab.

A deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz may still emerge, though its reported contours are raising concerns among experts that it could grant Tehran unprecedented oversight over the international shipping route, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.

In the latest development, Iranian state media reported today that the country’s parliament is considering a preliminary bill to bar American, Israeli and other “hostile” vessels from utilizing the strait.

We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat shalom!

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Abdul El-Sayed’s victory today in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan rattled Jewish groups, who raised concerns about his rhetoric on Israel and the broader rise of the far left, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

The Jewish Democratic Council of America congratulated El-Sayed but said it was “disappointed” by the result and stopped short of endorsing him, while AIPAC said its members “remain determined to ensure that voters reject Dr. El-Sayed and his radical anti-Israel agenda in November”…

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The Republican Jewish Coalition is urging Jewish Democrats to support the GOP nominee, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), in the general election, calling El-Sayed “a direct threat to Michigan’s Jewish community.”

A Democratic fundraiser in Michigan told JI’s Matthew Kassel it is “absolutely certain” that “several large Jewish Democratic donors” will be backing Rogers. “I would guarantee there will be fundraisers for him hosted by high-profile Jewish Democrats,” they said…

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Shortly after his win, El-Sayed previewed his evolving message to Jewish voters, saying he welcomes the opportunity to “break bread with you at Seder” and to “worship with you at shul.” He spoke of his “sisters and brothers who said, you know, ‘I want to join this movement because AIPAC doesn’t speak for me’” and vowed he would prioritize Jewish safety…

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But just before he was declared the victor, El-Sayed appeared on MS NOW where he called Israel “bloodthirsty,” JI’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports. He said that “we’ve been talking about an illegal apartheid regime” in reference to Israel since before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to power, though “Netanyahu is a big reason why they’ve gotten so aggressive and frankly so bloodthirsty”…

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Democrats, meanwhile, are quickly coalescing behind the new Senate nominee, JI’s Marc Rod reports. El-Sayed’s opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), promptly endorsed him upon conceding the race; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) offered their joint support; and former Vice President Kamala Harris is fundraising for El-Sayed’s campaign alongside her PAC.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is also backing his ideological ally and left open the possibility that he’ll travel to Michigan to campaign with El-Sayed ahead of the general election, per JI’s Will Bredderman…

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In another consequential Michigan race, pro-Israel Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) was ousted in his primary, losing to state Rep. Donavan McKinney, a democratic socialist who cross-endorsed with El-Sayed, campaigned alongside him and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and ran on ending U.S. military aid to Israel…

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Talks between Israel and Lebanon ended several hours early today “due to events on the ground,” the State Department said, but were “extremely productive” and are slated to restart tomorrow. The move came after the IDF conducted strikes in southern Lebanon due to what it said were “blatant violations“of the ongoing ceasefire by Hezbollah.

An Israeli source told The Times of Israel that the talks were cut off after Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter accused Lebanese representatives of leaking false information to the media…

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The Israeli Foreign Ministry denounced a joint statement adopted by Arab states who convened in Jordan today to discuss Israel’s policies over Muslim and Christian sites in Jerusalem, which asserted that Israel “has no sovereignty” over the city and accused Israel of “altering the Arab Islamic and Christian identity of occupied Jerusalem.”

The countries also pledged to launch a “media platform to document and expose Israeli violations against the holy sites and worshipers” and hold a meeting at the U.N. General Assembly to further discuss the issue. Israel said the statement was “built on false accusations, historical distortions, and a complete disregard for the facts”…

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The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio today renewing its call for the Trump administration to press Jordan to honor its extradition treaty obligations and send Ahlam Aref Ahmad al-Tamimi to the United States.

Al-Tamimi was convicted in Israel for her role in the 2001 bombing of the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem, which killed 16 people, including three Americans. She has been charged by the Justice Department and remains on the FBI’s Most Wanted list…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at Rep. Ed Case‘s (D-HI) reelection race, a primary that has largely flown under the radar but could pose a threat to one of the House’s more reliably pro-Israel moderates. While the contest has not centered on Middle East policy, it reflects the pattern seen in several recent Democratic primaries where well-established pro-Israel incumbents have faced increasingly competitive challenges from their left.

It remains to be seen if a deal will materialize between Iran, Oman and the U.S. to reopen the Strait of Hormuz (again), after Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said today that Tehran and Muscat were finalizing a bilateral agreement without Washington. The latest reporting indicates that such an agreement would preclude any fees or tolls for a temporary period of time.

Tennessee will hold its primary elections tomorrow, where Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Rep. John Rose (R-TN) are the front-runners for the open governorship, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) is expected to win renomination and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) is running in the redrawn 5th Congressional District.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

More than 100 House Democrats, about half of the caucus, voted in favorof Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) amendment to strip all U.S. aid to Israel out of the State Department appropriations bill this afternoon, including several leaders of the caucus such as Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA), the No. 2 House Democrat, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

While the amendment was overwhelmingly defeated, 314-104, the large segment of Democrats supporting the measure indicates a growing shift away from the party’s historic support for Israel…

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Vice President JD Vance, in an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” released today, stated repeatedly that Israeli actors are engaged in a “very discreet, very well-funded” influence campaign to extend the war in Iran: “There are some people within their system we know beyond a shadow of a doubt who are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely. Again, not towards any objective, but just indefinitely,” he alleged.

Vance also said that the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein “clearly had connections to the highest levels of Israeli intelligence” and to “elements of the Israeli deep state that were left of center”…

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The U.S., Israel and Lebanon, wrapping up talks in Rome this week, agreed on the structure and guidelines for implementing the two pilot zones the parties agreed to create in southern Lebanon, a State Department official said today, without specifying a timeline for the IDF’s withdrawal. The parties will now engage in expanded technical talks to implement the trilateral agreement reached in the last round of negotiations…

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CENTCOM began another round of strikes against Iran this afternoon; coming after strikes earlier in the day, the pace of the operations appears to be gaining momentum. President Donald Trump is reportedly considering expanding U.S. military efforts to include more airstrikes, utilizing ground forces and targeting nuclear sites again, according to The Wall Street Journal…

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Three senior U.S. officials connected to the Board of Peace, the Trump-led body created to resolve the conflict in Gaza, have been meeting with congressional offices this week to request $200 million for the International Stabilization Force, two people with knowledge of the meetings told Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch. The meetings mark the first time that Board of Peace representatives have approached Congress with a funding request…

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Ahead of today’s deadline, candidates have begun releasing their fundraising reports for the second quarter. In Georgia, where some in the Jewish community have felt torn between two less-than-ideal options in Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and his opponent, Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), Ossoff holds a commanding fundraising advantage: The senator reported raising$20 million this quarter with $42 million in the bank, while Collins raised $2.1 million, leaving him with $2.2 million in cash on hand…

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Meanwhile, Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed released his 2025 tax returns, which he is not legally obligated to do but was pressured to do by his opponent in the Democratic primary, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI). El-Sayed’s reported total income was over $680,000, nearly $300,000 of which was unspecified as to its source…

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The anti-Israel American Priorities super PAC made an initial investment of $375,000 to boost El-Sayed in the race; El-Sayed has repeatedly railed against super PAC involvement in politics — particularly that of AIPAC’s United Democracy Project, which is spending heavily in favor of Stevens…

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Rep. Hilary Scholten (D-MI), speaking to Semafor about electability concerns in the Democratic Party, criticized progressives who “prop up other candidates who have said really problematic things.” The moderate congresswoman added that El-Sayed, who has been criticized for comments about Stevens seen as misogynistic, “has a problematic record with women”…

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A new Quinnipiac poll of Pennsylvania voters found Gov. Josh Shapiro leading his Republican opponent in his reelection race by 13 points, 53-40%, with a 56% overall approval rating. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) had a 77% approval rating among Republicans, but only 19% among voters in his own party. Nearly half (49%) of voters said the Democratic Party has moved too far to the left, while 42% said the Republican Party has moved too far to the right…

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Former White House senior official Brett McGurk is releasing a book, Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7 Hostages, on his role leading U.S. efforts under former President Joe Biden to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, due out on Oct. 6 to coincide with the third anniversary of the attacks…

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The New York Times examines the role that Hollywood superagent Ari Emanuel could play in the potential presidential run of his brother, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, as politicians increasingly seek access to media as part of their campaigns; among those close to Ari Emanuel are the UFC’s Dana White, commentator Joe Rogan, pundit Stephen A. Smith as well as Elon Musk…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at what this afternoon’s vote on Massie‘s amendment to cut all U.S. aid to Israel means for the future of Israel policy in the Democratic Party.

At least eight Democratic candidates vying to replace former nominee Graham Platner on the ballotfor U.S. Senate in Maine will take the debate stage tomorrow evening in their first chance to pitch themselves to voters, ahead of the state Democratic Party’s nominating convention later this month.

President Donald Trump will give an address to the nation in the evening, which he has said will largely focus on American election security.

The American Federation of Teachers’ annual convention will kick off in Washington. The second largest teachers’ union in the U.S., the AFT has previously featured anti-Israel resolutions at its gatherings.

The Aspen Security Forum continues with several panels on the Middle East, including speakers such as Akif Çağatay Kılıç, top advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s foreign minister; Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT); Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee; Dan Shapiro, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel; Rahm Emanuel; Anne Neuberger, former deputy national security advisor; and Salam Fayyad, former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning to Iranian leaders, as military hostilities escalate between Iran and the U.S.: “Do not count on there being calm if you attack us,” Netanyahu addressed Tehran, while speaking today at a conference in southern Israel. “Do not expect a repeat of what happened before, because there will be no repeat. … Any further attempt to harm us will be met with a different response — far more powerful”…

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Meanwhile, President Donald Trump walked back his announcement that the U.S. would institute a 20% toll on all cargo passing through the Strait of Hormuz, saying in a post on Truth Social that Middle East leaders had agreed to additional trade and investment deals with the U.S. to replace the fee…

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CENTCOM announced it began launching an additional round of strikes against Iran this afternoon “to continue degrading Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping” in the strait, and officially reinstated a blockade on Iranian ports. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it launched missile and drone attacks in retaliation against bases in Kuwait and Bahrain…

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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said he would oppose an amendment led by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) to strip all aid to Israel out of the 2027 State Department appropriations bill, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. But Jeffries also argued for “urgent change” to the U.S.-Israel relationship, including suggesting that direct U.S. military aid to Israel should end when the current memorandum of understanding expires.

Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX), on the other hand, said he plans to vote yes on Massie’s amendment, writing in a “Dear Colleague” letter that the “American people are crying out for an end to US tax dollars subsidizing Israel’s military”…

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Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev announced today that the U.S. will only be permitted to station 20 military refueling aircraft at Ben Gurion Airport, while the rest must be parked at Israeli Air Force bases, in order to facilitate commercial travel for Israelis over the summer…

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U.N. official Ramiz Alakbarov accused Hamas forces of interfering at a humanitarian aid distribution site in Gaza, saying armed men had entered a warehouse and “endangered humanitarian personnel,” leading the organization to suspend its operations at the site. “These incidents are not isolated. They are completely unacceptable and reflect an increasingly dangerous pattern of intimidation, violence and obstruction,” Alakbarov said…

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Trump asked Netanyahu in a phone call last week to pull IDF forces back from Syria and Lebanon, Axios reports; the Prime Minister’s Office said Netanyahu in turn emphasized Israel’s need for security zones along its borders…

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The Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area issued a statement today on Rep. Ro Khanna’s (D-CA) recent encounter in the West Bank, where he claims he was detained by violent settlers as well as the IDF. The group said it has “conveyed our concerns to the Congressman in how he is representing the district and our community on foreign policy issues” and called on Khanna “to exercise the same urgency he has brought to criticizing Israel to address the hostile climate many Jewish Americans face every day”…

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Pressed repeatedly by writers with the Hamas-sympathetic outlet Drop Site News to offer support for the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks and Palestinians’ “right to kill Israeli soldiers,” Khanna said he is “not for violence in any way”…

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Asked about legislation imposing sanctions on Russia that was championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Trump said in the Oval Office today that lawmakers “may be adding Iran to it … They may add Hezbollah, too.” He said there’s a “good chance” it will pass “in honor of Lindsey”…

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White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were spotted in the Senate chamber during the swearing-in this afternoon of Darline Graham Nordone to fill Graham’s seat…

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The AIPAC-linked United Democracy Project super PAC sent direct mail to voters in Michigan highlighting far-left Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s refusal to condemn extreme rhetoric from antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker and El-Sayed’s efforts to “rationalize” the attack on Michigan’s Temple Israel earlier this year…

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Columbia University anti-Israel protest leader Mahmoud Khalil filed a civil rights lawsuit against Trump administration officials, the Heritage Foundation and pro-Israel groups Canary Mission and Betar, alleging they “sought to terrorize” him to “intimidate and silence the growing movement for Palestinian rights”…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for an interview with Avi Loeb, the Israeli Harvard scientist leading Trump’s search for answers that may be out of this world.

Trump will headline the last day of Sen. Dave McCormick’s (R-PA) Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit at the U.S. Army War College, with additional remarks from Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.

The Aspen Security Forum in Colorado will feature fireside chats with former Navy Secretary John Phelan and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Also on tomorrow’s agenda: a live taping of the “What the Hell is Going On?” podcast hosted by the American Enterprise Institute’s Danielle Pletka and Marc Thiessen, in conversation with former National Security Advisors Stephen Hadley and Robert O’Brien as well as Michèle Flournoy, former under secretary of defense for policy.

Jay Clayton will appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee for his confirmation hearing to be director of national intelligence, after Trump abruptly canceled his hearing originally scheduled for last month.

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) will speak at the Hudson Institute on the future of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East..

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump declared today that the U.S. will take control of the Strait of Hormuz and will institute a 20% fee on all cargo passing through the waterway “for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World,” Jewish Insider’s Christina Sher reports. The move comes after Trump and his administration insisted for months that no country is permitted to charge fees to transiting ships…

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Trump also announced he is reinstating a blockade of Iranian ports, which was lifted when the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding last month. CENTCOM said the blockade will resume tomorrow at 4 p.m. ET and will be enforced “against vessels transiting to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas.”

CENTCOM also revealed that it successfully deployed sea drones in combat operations for the first time yesterday, using the unmanned vessels to strike an Iranian submarine at the Bandar Abbas Naval Base…

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Trump notified Congress on Friday that fighting with Iran officially resumed last week, further stoking tensions between the executive and legislative branches as lawmakers already approved a war powers resolution calling for an end to American operations in Iran.

Trump’s letter to congressional leadership said U.S. “ground forces are not involved in these strikes” — which he described as “limited, measured, planned, and executed in a manner designed to minimize civilian casualties” — and said he is acting “pursuant to [his] constitutional authority as Commander in Chief”…

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The Mossad spent years grooming former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as an intelligence asset to be installed as Iran’s leader after a post-Khamenei regime change, including paying for his housing and travel and arranging a meeting with then-Mossad chief David Barnea under cover of a climate conference in Budapest in 2024, American and Iranian officials told The New York Times.

As the Iran war broke out on Feb. 28, Mossad operatives rescued Ahmadinejad from an Israeli airstrike on his Tehran compound and took him to a safe house, but he balked and left — Ahmadinejad is now reportedly under house arrest by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps…

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The Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of bombing Yemen’s international airport today, with a spokesperson saying the action “will not go unanswered,” threatening a tenuous truce enacted several years ago between the terror group and the Saudis. A spokesperson for the internationally recognized Yemeni government, which is backed by Riyadh, said the Houthis subsequently fired ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia…

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U.K. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced on Monday that the country designated the IRGC as a terror organization, with those found guilty of supporting the group facing up to 14 years in prison. The government also banned the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right, which No. 10 Downing St. said was behind a number of attacks on British Jewish sites…

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South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced at a press conference this afternoon that he is appointing Darline Graham Nordone, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) sister, to serve out the rest of Graham’s term. Trump had voiced his support for Nordone, who shared an exceptionally close bond with her brother, as “a fabulous tribute to Lindsey.” Fox Newsreported that Nordone could be sworn in as soon as Wednesday…

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The Trump administration plans to launch a major diplomatic offensive against the International Criminal Court, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced today, the latest move in the White House’s longtime battle against the international organization.

The push appears to be rooted in concerns that the ICC will seek to prosecute American servicemembers, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports. Such actions would not only be “a grave overreach of its purported authorities,” Rubio wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, “it would mean the death of the U.S. as a sovereign and independent nation”…

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani vowed that he would maintain ties with Morris Katz, the controversial political operative behind Mamdani’s own victory as well as the imploded campaign of former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, JI’s Will Bredderman reports, despite calls from members of the Democratic Socialists of America to boycott the consultant’s services…

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Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), a member of the Squad and a vocal detractor of Israel, endorsed far-left Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed today, joining fellow Squad members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Summer Lee (D-PA) and Delia Ramirez (D-IL) in backing him less than a month before the primary…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at the surging anti-Israel candidate in the Democratic primary for Michigan‘s swing 7th Congressional District.

The sixth round of talks between Israel and Lebanon are slated to begin tomorrow in Rome, despite Beirut’s reported threat not to attend if the IDF did not vacate two pilot zones in southern Lebanon before the discussions. Israeli media reported that this week’s talks will focus on the timeline for the withdrawal.

The Aspen Security Forum, the high-profile annual gathering of national security leaders, policymakers and foreign policy experts, begins tomorrow afternoon in Colorado. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper and former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker will speak on a panel on the “state of the world.”

The two-day Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, hosted by Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), will kick off at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., with a keynote address from Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine.

Some House Republicans were invited to a dinner tomorrow night with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to Punchbowl News, as the Trump administration is seeking more than $67 billion for the Pentagon in its supplemental funding request.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Appearing on CNN this morning, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said Jerusalem is “supportive of the position of the United States” regarding renewed strikes on Iran, and said Israel would “fly alongside U.S. aircraft” if called on to do so.

He added that Iran had violated its “only obligation” under the memorandum of understanding — to keep the Strait of Hormuz open — and that if the Iranians “persist in their malign intentions,” the war could resume “in full swing”…

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Israeli military leaders are also hinting at potential Israeli involvement: At an Israeli Air Force graduation ceremony, Defense Minister Israel Katz said the IDF is prepared to carry out independent strikes “to remove threats” in Iran. Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF’s chief of staff, told the graduates that “new plans” are “on the drawing board” and that “major operations are still expected to lie ahead of us. Be prepared”…

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he spoke with President Donald Trump today and was updated by the president “on American moves in the Gulf.” According to a statement from the PMO, Netanyahu again raised the issue of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan‘s hostile rhetoric toward Israel…

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The Wall Street Journal examines the “root of the dispute” over the Strait of Hormuz — the “poorly worded” fifth article in the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding that says Tehran will “make arrangements” to restore shipping in the waterway and then work with Oman on a plan to administer it going forward.

“Notably, the paragraph says nothing about the U.S. making arrangements for the safe passage of vessels, which Iran has seized on to attack ships that use a U.S.-coordinated route,” a U.S. official told the outlet…

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Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) is in Israel and the West Bank this week while Congress is in recess, according to two individuals with knowledge of the trip. Khanna has not posted publicly about his visit, which is scheduled to conclude tonight, JI’s Melissa Weiss reports…

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While wrapping up his trip, Khanna, who was one of Senate candidate Graham Platner’s most vociferous defenders until a rape allegation was made against the Maine Democrat earlier this week, told MS NOW that he’s endorsing former state Sen. Troy Jackson to take Platner’s place on the ballot. Jackson, who previously ran for governor, is a progressive seen as aligned with Platner…

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But Platner’s potential replacements will have to wait a few more days: The candidate told campaign staff he intends to wait until the very last day — Monday — to officially file his paperwork to drop out of the race, Axios reports…

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The Journal profiles Cheyenne Hunt, the progressive influencer and activist who played a key role in bringing to light the sexual assault and misconduct allegations that ultimately saw the ouster of Platner and the resignation of former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA)…

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Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) withdrew as co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Spain Caucus due to what he called Madrid’s “escalating, hostile crusade” against Israel…

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Andy Burnham, widely expected to become Britain’s next prime minister, told The Guardian that the response of his Labour party to Israel’s military actions in Gaza “has too often not been good enough” and that the U.K. has “got to do more to put pressure on the Israeli government,” including sanctions and potentially banning trade in goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Burnham also said there is “increasing evidence” that Israel committed war crimes, though he did not use the word genocide, and said the determination should be left to international courts. His comments mark a shift to the left of Labour’s outgoing leader, Keir Starmer, who was slower than other European leaders to back a ceasefire and recognize Palestinian statehood…

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Among those speaking at the closed-door Allen & Company retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho, today were Jared Kushner, UAE Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Dave McCormick (R-PA) as well as Ken Griffin, the hedge fund manager and GOP megadonor.

Asked whether he would support Vice President JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the 2028 presidential election, Griffin said he’d be inclined to back Rubio…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at Platner’s potential replacements, as a handful of Maine Democrats are already jockeying for the position less than 24 hours after Platner announced he intends to drop out of the race for U.S. Senate.

We’ll be watching to see if U.S. and Iranian strikes continue into the weekend, or if the current flare-up has run its course. Prior to the outbreak in hostilities, Saudi media had reported that talks between Washington and Iran would restart on July 11, after the dayslong funeral of late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wraps up today. Trump said this morning that the Iranians had called and “want to make a deal so badly,” but it’s unclear whether the two sides intend to meet.

We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat shalom!

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

CENTCOM began conducting additional strikes against Iran this afternoon, after President Donald Trump continued to escalate his rhetoric against the regime in his remarks today at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.

Trump said he wasn’t sure he wanted to make a deal with the Iranians any longer and reiterated his threat to “finish the job,” but still denied the strikes mark a return to full-scale war: “I think anything that happens is going to be over very quickly,” he said…

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had scrapped a planned trip to Israel, saying in an interview that the defense chief had been “called back home” from the summit in Ankara. Meanwhile, Israeli media reports that American military refueling planes have begun to return to the region…

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Trump is likely to face pushback from lawmakers over the renewed strikes: Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he’s already “in conversations with the Senate to explore any and all legal pathways to hold Trump accountable,” given that both chambers of Congress already passed a war powers resolution seeking an end to U.S. military action in Iran…

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Trump also informed Congress today that he intends to rescind Syria’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism following a 45-day pre-notification period, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced, shortly after Trump held a friendly meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the NATO summit…

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Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, speaking to Jewish Insider’s Melissa Weiss prior to his speech at Tel Aviv University today, criticized the “moral bankruptcy” of “those that paraded, celebrated and cheered” in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.

Responding to a question about Democrats who did so — including New York City congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, who attended an anti-Israel rally in Times Square on Oct. 8, 2023 — Emanuel said, “I have no place for the moral bankruptcy of those that found Oct. 8 as the day to cheer 1,200 people not only killed but sexually abused, and for taking hostage 250 people”…

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In an interview on Israel’s Channel 12, Emanuel confirmed he’s “thinking about” running for president in 2028 and said he believes Americans could elect a Jewish president. “I believe people will evaluate me based on my character and my background,” he said…

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Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner still remains in the race two days after Politico published an account from a former romantic partner accusing him of rape, though the candidate’s feud with the Maine Democratic Party continues. Platner’s campaign manager, Ben Chin, sent a message to supporters today accusing the MDP of allowing the national Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to orchestrate Platner’s replacement “behind closed doors.”

In response, the MDP, which was reportedly set to hold a meeting on the issue this afternoon, said Platner’s campaign is “distracting from the job of defeating [Sen.] Susan Collins (R-ME) in November with false accusations” and pledged to develop “a representative, transparent and inclusive process to select a new nominee when he chooses to withdraw from the race”…

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A new Politico survey of Democratic primary voters in Michigan, conducted in the two days after state Sen. Mallory McMorrow dropped out of the race for U.S. Senate, found the two remaining candidates — Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) and Abdul El-Sayed — in a statistical tie at 42-41%, with nearly 20% of voters undecided…

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Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear sent a letter to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) requesting that he “fully update Kentuckians regarding the current status of your health,” as McConnell has been hospitalized for nearly a month…

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A new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 44% of American Jews hold a favorable view of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — a higher percentage than Netanyahu, who received a 32% favorability rating…

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Jewish groups — including the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Hadassah and StandWithUs — celebrated several steps taken at the National Education Association’s Representative Assembly, which wrapped up yesterday in Denver, including the Jewish Affairs Caucus’ work in advancing three amendments to the NEA Constitution and a resolution on Jewish education…

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Bertrand Benoit, The Wall Street Journal’s bureau chief in Germany, explores what it means for Germany’s identity as its citizens begin to lose their living connection to the Holocaust, including how the fading of survivor testimony, rising antisemitism and challenges from both the political right and left are reshaping the country’s culture of remembrance…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at the choice ahead for Georgia’s Jewish community in the race between Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and his opponent, Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA).

The Contemporary Antisemitism conference at the University of Haifa will wrap up with a keynote speech by philosopher and author Bernard-Henri Lévy.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

The fallout from a rape allegation made against Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner intensified today as Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) — some of the Democrat’s most prominent progressive backers — rescinded their support of Platner and called on him to drop out. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who shares a top consultant with Platner, also advised the candidate to drop his bid.

Platner’s campaign has canceled all in-person fundraising events scheduled for the coming days and put holds on its social media ads, according to Politico. The candidate reportedly told his campaign staff in a call last night that a decision on the future of his race is forthcoming…

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Several prominent Maine Democrats have begun to signal interest in replacing Platner on the general election ballot, should he withdraw by the deadline of July 13. Among those hinting at a run are Troy Jackson, a former state Senate president who has already filed with the Federal Election Commission to explore a bid; former U.S. House candidate Jordan Wood; former gubernatorial candidate Nirav Shah; and Platner’s former primary opponent David Costello.

Maine Democratic Party officials are considering holding a pop-up convention around July 25 or holding a statewide caucus to choose Platner’s replacement, sources told The New York Times…

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As the heated Democratic Senate primary in Michigan enters its final stretch, far-left candidate Abdul El-Sayed told CNN this week that he does not believe that a politician’s support for Israel could be about anything other than money, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. “Not if you’re a Democrat and you believe in human rights,” El-Sayed told CNN when asked about such a distinction…

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The Treasury Department revoked the waiver it issued last month lifting sanctions on Iranian oil, after Iran reportedly struck another vessel in the Strait of Hormuz today, marking the third such attack in the last 24 hours.

“As President [Donald] Trump and the administration have repeatedly affirmed, the [memorandum of understanding] in effect with Iran is entirely performance-based. Iran will only reap benefits if they exhibit good behavior,” a U.S. official told JI’s Matthew Shea. “Iran’s actions in the Strait were wholly unacceptable to the United States and will be met with consequences. Our negotiators continue to work in good faith towards a final deal”…

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Qatar’s Foreign Ministry summoned Iran’s deputy ambassador in the Gulf stateto express its “strong condemnation and denunciation” of Tehran’s strike yesterday on a Qatari tanker, after Doha sent a delegation of officials to the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an apparent diplomatic olive branch…

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Saudi Arabia is considering increasing the capacity of its East-West oil pipeline in order to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and facilitate oil exports out of the Red Sea, Reuters reports…

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Trump announced today that his administration is preparing to lift congressionally mandated sanctions on Turkey as he weighs moving forward with the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Ankara, JI’s Matthew Shea reports.

“It’s time to do that. We don’t want to sanction friends,” the president said. Defense experts and lawmakers previously told JI that Turkey still maintains the Russian air-defense system that prompted the sanctions in 2020, which makes lifting the sanctions legally complicated…

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again voiced his opposition to Trump’s overtures to Ankara, telling CNN that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is “not exactly a model ally of the United States” as he “threatens to destroy my country, the one and only Jewish state.”

Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli went further in his rhetoric, calling Erdoğan a “grotesque hybrid of Hitler and [late Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar” and a “pathetic blood-soaked zero” in a post on X yesterday…

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The Israeli Consulate in New York was evacuated from its Midtown Manhattan building after a nearby high-rise building under construction showed signs of collapsing, prompting evacuations across the area…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for coverage of tonight’s debate between Michigan Senate Democratic primary candidates Abdul El-Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), with less than a month to go until the election.

The NATO summit in Ankara will conclude with the main working session of all 32 member states as well as a press conference from NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. A bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers is set to attend a dinner tonight on the sidelines of the summit with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel will deliver a speech at Tel Aviv University, where he is set to lay out his vision for the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship as he prepares for a potential 2028 presidential run. Emanuel met today with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum.

The Contemporary Antisemitism conference will continue at the University of Haifa.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

In their indirect talks in Doha this week, the U.S. offered Iran access to some of its$100 billion in frozen funds in exchange for Tehran not instituting a toll on the Strait of Hormuz, but Iranian officials have continued to signal they plan to proceed with the move. Continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon also caused tension during the discussions, The Wall Street Journal reports…

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U.S. officials told The New York Times that Washington believed Israel was plotting to assassinate Iran’s top negotiators — Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf — as they were engaged in recent talks with the U.S. over the memorandum of understanding…

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Arizona Jewish and pro-Israel leaders told Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel that they feel misled by Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), whom they supported in her contested 2024 primary but who has since turned away from the pro-Israel views she espoused during the campaign — including now rejecting support from Democratic Majority for Israel, which backed her with a surge of spending in 2024…

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The AIPAC-linked United Democracy Project super PAC is up with its first negative ad against far-left Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, JI’s Marc Rod reports, hitting the Democrat in the initial $2 million ad buy for his “long history of disrespecting women.” Meanwhile, El-Sayed picked up a high-profile endorsement today from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), her first in a contested Senate race this cycle.

UDP also made $400,000 in advertising reservations to support Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO) as he faces a comeback primary challenge from former Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), whom UDP helped Bell defeat in 2024…

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Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, the Democratic nominee for governor, criticized his party’s socialist congressional nominee, Melat Kiros, for her refusal to describe the deadly firebombing of a Boulder, Colo., hostage awareness march last year as an act of antisemitism, JI’s Marc Rod reports…

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New York City congressional nominee Brad Lander published a response to Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove’s letter earlier this week in which Cosgrove predicted that Lander’s hostility to Israel would not be enough to protect him from being targeted by the far left. Lander argued in his response that criticism of Israel — including describing its war in Gaza as a genocide — is consistent with Jewish values and that excluding anti-Zionist Jews weakens the Jewish community…

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New polling data shows that a sizable majority of Jewish voters disapprove of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s job performance and fear he is pushing the Democratic Party too far to the left, in contrast with non-Jewish voters who hold a largely favorable view of the democratic socialist, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports…

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A bipartisan group of House lawmakers, led by Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Brad Sherman (D-CA), wrote to President Donald Trump today to “express deep concern about any effort” to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, JI’s Marc Rod reports, after Trump and Vice President JD Vance indicated they were looking into it last week…

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Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), the founder of the Republican Israel Caucus and a reliable ally of the Jewish state, called Israel’s “continuing aggressive operations” in Syria “deeply disturbing,” “counterproductive” and “irresponsible.” Wilson accused Israel of “taking Syrian land and attacking Syrian cities,” saying the operations “need to end immediately”…

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Wilson, along with Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), also sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging the administration to remove Syriafrom the State Sponsor of Terrorism list…

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Israel marked 1,000 days today since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, with memorials and protests taking place around the country…

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Far-right commentator Tucker Carlson told the Columbia Journalism Review that he plans to help start a new political party — after saying last month he was renouncing the Republican Party — but does not plan to run as a candidate. He repeatedly railed against Israel in the interview and accused it of “taking over my political system and destroying my country”…

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Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin hosted his annual White Party at his Hamptons estate yesterday featuring a host of high-profile attendees, including Ivanka Trump, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, former quarterback Tom Brady, actor Leonardo di Caprio and more…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s (D-FL) contentious primary race in Florida’s 20th Congressional District.

Fourth of July celebrations in the nation’s capital are kicking off with a bang (literally — the fireworks show on the National Mall could break world records). President Donald Trump is slated to give a speech on the Mall ahead of the fireworks show on Saturday night, followed by a military flyover debuting the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet.

Iran is slated to hold a massive, dayslong funeral procession for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei beginning on Saturday in Tehran and including cities across Iran and Iraq. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a top mediator between the U.S. and Iran, will attend the memorial, alongside officials from dozens of other countries.

Christians United for Israel’s annual summit in Washington will begin on Sunday. Speakers over the three-day confab include State Department antisemitism envoy Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun; former Auburn University basketball coach Bruce Pearl; Malcolm Hoenlein, vice chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Georgia state Rep. Esther Panitch; and former Israeli hostage Yair Horn.

We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat shalom and happy Fourth of July weekend!

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

As the White House continues to promote the memorandum of understanding that will end the war with Iran and start negotiations between Washington and Tehran, Vice President JD Vance is out with a message that sounds strikingly familiar — at least to anyone who followed former President Barack Obama’s pitch on the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.

“If you think this is a bad deal, what is your alternative?” Vance said in an interview this week with New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. 

Obama used nearly identical phrasing at a 2015 White House press conference: “I’m hearing a lot of talking points being repeated about ‘this is a bad deal,’” he said. “What I haven’t heard is, what is your preferred alternative?”

Watch a side-by-side look at Vance and Obama here…

Vance also delivered a tough message to Israeli officials who have criticized the MOU, telling reporters on Thursday that Israel’s government should be careful not to alienate the only friend it has left: President Donald Trump, JI’s Emily Jacobs reports.

“Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time and he happens to be the head of state of the world’s superpower. If I was in the Cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” said Vance…

Trump also had a word of caution for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, two days after he said Netanyahu was too “vicious” in his approach to fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon. Asked by a reporter for Israel’s Kan News if he will support Netanyahu in this year’s Israeli elections, Trump said he most likely would, but did not commit.

“I’ll have to look at who’s running, but I like Bibi very much. I would be most likely to endorse him,” said Trump. “He’s doing a very good job, he’s got to be a little bit more rational”…

United Against Nuclear Iran, an advocacy group that rallied opposition to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, said on Thursday that it “cannot endorse the MoU in its current form”…

AIPAC released a policy memo on Thursday that said the MOU “raises significant questions,” and called on Congress to “play a critical role in ensuring a final deal meets President Trump’s stated objectives for the war”…

In a Thursday speech at the FII Priority summit in Rome, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama blamed Iran for “ruthless” cyberattacks against the country, claiming that Tehran has sought to sow unrest about a preliminarily approved luxury development project in the country from Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Trump’s daughter and son-in-law, JI’s Matthew Shea reports…

Janeese Lewis George defeated Kenyan McDuffie in the Democratic primary for mayor of Washington, D.C., with the Associated Press calling the race on Thursday afternoon. Democratic socialist Lewis George leads McDuffie 53% to 36%…

American Priorities, a super PAC created as a progressive counterweight to AIPAC, has received $250,000 from a tech executive whose firm is developing AI data centers in New York State — while boosting two democratic socialist House candidates who oppose efforts to expand data centers, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports…

Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ), who has been absent from Congress since March due to an unexplained personal health issue, plans to return to Washington on June 30…

Israel and Syria are expected to resume direct talks soon due to pressure from the U.S., the Israeli network Kan reports…

The FBI announced that it charged San Diego resident Reda Mazen Rida Sabassi with conspiring to provide material support to Hamas after he allegedly raised approximately $600,000 through fraudulent charitable campaigns and funneled a portion to the terrorist organization…

Former Presidents Joe Biden, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton attended the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on Thursday afternoon.

Guests included a litany of ex-Obama administration staffers, including former White House liaison to the Jewish community Matt Nosanchuk and former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, who was spotted chatting with Obama…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at how Jewish Republicans are feeling about the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding that was signed this week. 

Vice President JD Vance plans to travel to Switzerland this weekend for talks with Iran, though the plans are not yet finalized, he told reporters on Thursday. 

Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, will become the acting director of national intelligence on Friday after the confirmation of DNI nominee Jay Clayton was delayed this week at President Donald Trump’s request. 

We’ll be monitoring the final days of the heated congressional primary campaigns in New York, where Israel and Gaza remain hot topics for progressive candidates. 

We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat Shalom!

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

After days in which President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other senior officials boosted the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding — and amid calls from Capitol Hill and beyond to make public the agreement’s details — the White House on Wednesday shared the text of the document that the Trump administration said will end the war against Tehran. Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs obtained the text of the MOU, which was read aloud to reporters during a call with a senior administration official.

The MOU states that the two nations “and their respective allies in the current war” will permanently end military operations — including against Lebanon, a stipulation that suggests the deal is meant to suspend Israel’s retaliatory strikes against Hezbollah, a provision for which Israel has not yet expressed approval. Iran “reaffirms” in the MOU that it will not “procure or develop nuclear weapons”…

The MOU text also reveals that the U.S. plans to issue a sanctions waiver to Iran so that it can sell oil, a major policy shift away from Trump’s use of sanctions against Iran. If a final deal is reached, the U.S. committed to ending all sanctions on Iran. Trump said earlier in the day at the G7 summit in France that the U.S. will not invest in Iran but would not stop other countries from doing so, JI’s Matthew Shea reports.

One new piece of information Trump shared on Wednesday that was not directly addressed in the MOU: a nuclear deal between Washington and Tehran would not prohibit the Iranians from possessing ballistic missiles, JI’s Matthew Shea reports. “I mean, they have to have some, because other people have some … It doesn’t work that way. And missiles aren’t the problem,” Trump said at the G7.

The agreement does not address Iran’s ballistic missiles or support for terrorist proxies. At the beginning of the war, the Trump administration said eliminating the ballistic missile threat from Iran was a key war aim…

The MOU asserts that a final deal will be negotiated within 60 days, unless both countries agree to extend the deadline. Iran’s naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz must be lifted within 30 days. 

When talking to reporters after landing in Paris this afternoon, Trump said he does not view the 60-day deadline as a hard deadline. “Just as long as they’re behaving, I really don’t care that much,” Trump said.

Vance, not Trump, will be signing the MOU in Switzerland on Friday. “This way if it works out, I’m going to take the credit. If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD,” Trump said during the G7…

Some Republican senators criticized the MOU, with retiring Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) calling it “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades,” JI’s Marc Rod reports…

Dario Amodei and Sam Altman, the CEOs, respectively, of Anthropic and OpenAI, joined Trump and the other G7 leaders for lunch on Wednesday, along with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis… 

The planned Senate confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton, Trump’s nominee to serve as director of national intelligence, was scuttled on Wednesday morning after a last-minute Truth Social post from the president saying that the hearing would be canceled, prompting frustration from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, JI’s Marc Rod reports…

As a major shareholder in Volkswagen, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is complicating talks between the German automaker and the Israeli state-owned defense company Rafael over Rafael’s intention to buy a plant from Volkswagen to manufacture components for Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense systems…

The anti-Israel advocacy group TrackAIPAC, which attacks lawmakers who have received support from pro-Israel groups and donors who have supported Israel-related causes, endorsed Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who once was targeted by TrackAIPAC before moving sharply to the left on Israel in recent months…

After eight people were indicted last week for allegedly threatening University of Michigan leaders and their families as part of an anti-Israel pressure campaign, former Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lon Johnson called on the party’s current leadership to review the actions of five of the suspects who were members of the Michigan Democratic Party…

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights announced on Wednesday that it is opening an antisemitism investigation into the American Psychological Association, the nation’s largest professional organization for mental health professionals. JI’s Gabby Deutch reported on the APA’s handling of antisemitism last summer…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a look at how some of the country’s most prominent Jewish communal leaders are marking America’s 250th birthday this July Fourth.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) will be speaking in the morning at a fireside chat at the Hudson Institute focused on “diplomacy, defense and debt.”

We’ll be monitoring the results of Tuesday’s mayoral primary election in Washington, D.C., which still has not been called, even as Janeese Lewis George leads Kenyan McDuffie 53% to 37%, with 68% of the vote counted. 

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Amid reports of tensions between Washington and Jerusalem over the U.S.’ memorandum of understanding with Iran, President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized Israel’s tactics in Lebanon and suggested Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa might be better positioned to take on Hezbollah, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.

“Bibi has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon,” Trump said during a meeting with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France. “If Israel can’t do the job without killing everyone else, he [al-Sharaa] will do the job. Syria will do the job”…

The text of the deal between the U.S. and Iran has still not been released, but Trump on Tuesday pledged to do so after the Friday signing ceremony — though he did not offer specifics.

Trump also said during the meeting with the Qatari emir on Tuesday that the U.S. is “not investing any money in Iran,” even as The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. plans to allow Iran to begin selling oil as soon as the deal is signed…

Later, during a meeting with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Trump said he was hopeful that a full deal would come soon after the MOU because, he asserted, U.S.-Iranian ties had improved.

“The relationship is now normalized,” Trump said. He also said during the meeting with the Emirati leader that he would send the Iran agreement to Congress for review…

After a meeting between G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he has a “certain degree of optimism” about the possibility of peace between Russia and Ukraine after Trump called on Russia to make a deal…

The FBI announced on Tuesday that it had foiled an attack planned targeting the UFC fight at the White House on Sunday, JI’s Marc Rod reports. One suspect allegedly told investigators that the attack was meant to target “capitalist elites,” “billionaires” and politicians linked to AIPAC, according to Fox News…

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) endorsed former Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) in her rematch campaign against incumbent Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO), who unseated Bush, a member of the Squad, in 2024 in part with the support of AIPAC…

In his new book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, Vice President JD Vance recounts a conversation with conservative activist Charlie Kirk two months before Kirk was killed last year, in which Kirk described young conservatives’ anger at “Israeli influence in American politics” and detailed how some were moving from criticism of Israel to antisemitism…

Toronto police warned that young people in Canada are being recruited and paid to carry out attacks against Jewish sites. “It is clear that some of the people hiring these criminals want to create a sense of fear in our communities, including in the Jewish community,” Toronto police chief Myron Demkiw said at a press conference…

Israeli journalist Amir Tibon was awarded the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature for his book The Gates of Gaza, a harrowing first-person account of how his family survived the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and a deep dive into Israel’s policies in Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Christina Sher reports…

Democrats plan to take a tough line against the White House’s request for additional funding for the Defense Department, raising questions about whether the government will shut down again in October, Semafor reports…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a look at the Trump administration’s announcement earlier today that the Department of Justice will take over many of the responsibilities of the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, marking a major change to the federal office responsible for investigating antisemitic harassment and discrimination at American schools and universities. The move comes as the White House continues to seek to dismantle the Education Department… 

Cameron Hilton, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will testify at a confirmation hearing at the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee…

Comedian Amy Schumer and author Jessica Seinfeld will serve as the grand marshals of a kid-friendly New York Knicks ticker-tape parade outside the Children’s Museum of Manhattan at 4 p.m.… 

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Details of the U.S. deal with Iran remain hazy, even after President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker, virtually signed a memorandum of understanding, as a senior U.S. official confirmed on Monday. Vance is slated to speak with CNN’s Jake Tapper at 5 p.m. today. 

The text of the MOU will likely not be released until “sometime after Friday,” Trump, who is in Evian-les-Bains, France, for the G7 summit, said earlier today during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. According to a senior administration official, the MOU sets the stage for future negotiations; the official said that the most hot-button disputes between the two countries — including Iran’s nuclear program and U.S. sanctions — will be discussed only after the MOU is signed. Vance said earlier on Monday that Iran’s nuclear program is already destroyed, and the agreement “is about ensuring that they don’t rebuild it,” Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports… 

Trump seemed bullish on the new direction in which U.S.-Iran ties may be headed. 

“We got along very well with Iran. It is a different set of leaders. As you know the first set is gone and the second set is gone. We found the third set to be very smart, strong, very smart,” Trump said during his meeting with Macron. “Hopefully it is going to be a good relationship, and we are going to get along. If we don’t, we go back to where we started, but I don’t think that is necessary”…

The Wall Street Journal reports that Israeli officials are “alarmed” by the murky deal, with many concerned that the MOU will provide Iran “with the financial relief it needs to rebuild its shattered economy but doesn’t include a commitment to turn over its enriched uranium”…  

In his first statement on the matter, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the recent U.S. and Israeli military campaign against Iran “saved Israel from a nuclear annihilation threat.” He vowed that Iran will never get nuclear weapons, “with or without an agreement”… 

Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s political opponents — and even some allies — blasted the premier after the deal was announced. 

Yair Lapid, the opposition leader from the centrist Yesh Atid party, said Netanyahu “lost the war.” Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is also challenging Netanyahu in this year’s elections, said the deal revealed that even after Israeli military successes against Iran, Netanyahu “is once again incapable of turning all of that into lasting security achievements.” Netanyahu also faced criticism from some members of his own coalition, with far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calling the deal “bad for Israel and for the entire free world”… 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said on Monday that he hasn’t yet formed an opinion on the Iran MOU, JI’s Marc Rod reports. “I don’t know enough about it to say” whether it’s a good deal, Thune said… 

Major Jewish groups appear to be approaching the deal with caution, JI’s Marc Rod reports. The American Jewish Committee said that as it “await[s] developments about the reported 60-day ceasefire agreement,” the group “remain[s] focused on the underlying threats posed by the Iranian regime that have destabilized the Middle East for decades.” AIPAC framed the MOU as the beginning of a 60-day window for talks. “We look forward to learning the full details of the framework for these negotiations, including whether the deal preserves the sovereign right of our democratic ally Israel to respond to the security threats it confronts,” AIPAC said in a statement.

The right-wing Zionist Organization of America said that the “little that we know is deeply problematic.” Democratic Majority for Israel and the Jewish Democratic Council of America both criticized the deal and Trump’s overall approach to Iran… 

Former George W. Bush administration official Joel Scanlon will take over as the new president and CEO of the Hudson Institute, the conservative think tank in Washington announced on Monday, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye out for coverage from Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman from tonight’s PIX11 debate between Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Brad Lander ahead of the Democratic primary next week to represent New York’s 10th District.

Voters in Washington, D.C., will go to the polls tomorrow as Janeese Lewis George and Kenyan McDuffie face off in the Democratic primary for mayor. In deep-blue Washington, the primary winner is expected to sail to victory in November. Oklahoma congressional primaries also take place tomorrow, as well as a runoff to decide the Republican Senate candidate in Georgia.   

President Donald Trump is in Evian-les-Bains, France, through Wednesday for the annual G7 summit. On Tuesday, he’ll participate in several working sessions with the leaders of the G7 nations — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom — on a range of issues including Ukraine, the Middle East and developing countries. He’ll also hold bilateral meetings with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates.  

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

After a morning Truth Social post pledging to hit Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT,” President Donald Trump reversed course on Thursday afternoon, saying he had called off planned strikes and that negotiations with Iran had reached a breakthrough. Trump said the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz remains in effect, but the “discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved.” 

Speaking in the Oval Office later, Trump said he “understood” that Iran’s supreme leader had approved the deal. He added that Iran agreed not to have a nuclear weapon.

Trump also told reporters that the signing of a deal would “perhaps” take place in Europe this weekend. If so, Trump said he would be unable to attend, but he said Vice President JD Vance would be present…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reportedly surprised by Trump’s announcement, CNN reported. The two leaders spoke on Thursday evening, after which a spokesperson for Netanyahu clarified that Israel is not a party to the emerging deal. 

Netanyahu reportedly “expressed his appreciation” for Trump’s assurance that the final terms “will include the removal of enriched material, the dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, limits on missile production, and the cessation of Iran’s support for its terrorist proxies in the region”…

Jacob Reses, Vance’s longtime chief of staff, plans to step down from the position later this summer, JI’s Emily Jacobs reports. Reses, an Orthodox Jew, previously worked for Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) before joining Vance’s Senate office as his top aide in 2023…

Trump nominated federal prosecutor Jay Clayton to be the next director of national intelligence, to permanently fill the role vacated by former DNI Tulsi Gabbard. Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, is also a former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He will replace Bill Pulte, whom Trump recently named as acting DNI, sparking criticism from Republican senators who worried that Pulte did not have the right experience for the job and would likely face an uphill confirmation fight…

The Senate Armed Services Committee released a draft of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes a provision that will establish a U.S.-Israel Defense Cooperation Initiative, JI’s Marc Rod reports. It is similar to language that was in the House version of the bill…

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned on Thursday that the U.S. would offset any damage caused by Iranian attacks against its Gulf allies, as well as any tolls imposed in the Strait of Hormuz, using funds extracted from Iranian accounts. “The Iranian regime will lose the zero-sum game it is playing,” he said in a post on X…

Haredi demonstrators shut down several major highways in Israel on Thursday evening during a massive protest against the arrest of several Haredi men who were evading IDF draft orders…

Actor Robert De Niro voiced a new ad for Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) two weeks before his primary against challenger Brad Lander, the former New York City comptroller…

Also in New York, the Jewish Democratic Council of America endorsed Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), citing the fact that his opponent — Darializa Avila Chevalier, a community organizer backed by the Democratic Socialists of America — attended an anti-Israel rally the day after the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks… 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who has avoided weighing in on the heated Democratic Senate primary in Michigan, told Punchbowl News that he thinks Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) “has the best chance to win” … 

One of the eight pro-Palestinian activists indicted on Wednesday for an alleged criminal intimidation campaign against University of Michigan officials was a former paid staffer on Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign, JI’s Haley Cohen reports…

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) weighed in on the Minnesota Senate primary, endorsing Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), who has recently been trailing her primary opponent, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a progressive, in the polls, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports…

Days after Graham Platner won the Democratic primary to take on Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in Maine, the progressive Israel advocacy group J Street told JI’s Matthew Kassel that it is so far declining to make an endorsement in the race…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan escalated his inflammatory rhetoric against Israel and Netanyahu, accusing him of “following the path of Hitler” after Netanyahu yesterday called Erdoğan an “antisemitic dictator.” “Those who follow Hitler’s path should not forget their fate will be like that of other tyrants in history,” Erdoğan said…

Israel’s government is planning to promote a major expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, by placing temporary housing at 60 sites, The New York Times reports…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a look at how far-left super PACs designed to counter AIPAC are gaining traction in this year’s congressional races, as AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups have struggled to respond. 

Progressive candidate Brad Lander, who is challenging incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) in a heated congressional primary, is slated to attend a Shabbat dinner with former Women’s March leader and anti-Zionist activist Linda Sarsour. The dinner is hosted by the environmental advocacy organization Climate Defiance.

Jewish public affairs professionals and social justice activists will gather in New York this weekend for the annual Jewish Council for Public Affairs convening, which kicks off on Sunday night.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

The Trump administration emphatically denied reports, based on partial comments made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday, that Israel forced the U.S. to launch the operation against Iran. 

“If anything, I might’ve forced Israel’s hand,” President Donald Trump told reporters while meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office today. “You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they [Iran] were going to attack first.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boosted the president’s comments, saying, “This is 100% correct,” while Rubio insisted his original remarks were misrepresented…

Trump continues to share optimistic assessments of the war’s progress: he told Politico that Iran is running out of missile launchers while claiming the U.S. has “a virtually unlimited supply” of weapons, saying, “wars can be fought ‘forever,’ and very successfully, using just these supplies”…

The Israeli Air Force struck a building where senior clerics had gathered to elect Iran’s next supreme leader, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter told CNN, “and there’s a very good chance that the electors won’t be readily available for any further meetings”…

Trump is open to backing militias in Iran who will work to mount regime change, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal, after he held phone calls with Kurdish leaders who maintain armed groups along the Iran-Iraq border.

Trump has wavered in recent comments on his vision for the future of Iran, saying today that “somebody from within” might be the best option to lead, rather than individuals like exiled former crown prince, Reza Pahlavi. At the same time, Trump told reporters, “Most of the people we had in mind are dead. And now we have another group, they may be dead also. Pretty soon we’re not gonna know anybody”…

Trump ordered the U.S. Development Finance Corporation to provide political risk insurance for all maritime trade traveling through the Gulf, as oil traffic has essentially halted and energy prices have soared. The U.S. Navy will also, if necessary, begin physically escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered his country’s assistance to the UAE, as the Gulf country has been targeted by over 1,000 Iranian drones and missiles since the operation began Saturday. Ukraine has become particularly skilled in combating Iranian Shahed drones, something the UAE has little experience with, as Russia has regularly used them in its attacks on Ukraine…

The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia was struck with two Iranian drones, with no casualties reported; the embassy was closed, along with U.S. embassies in Kuwait and Beirut. The State Department ordered the mandatory departure of all non-emergency personnel in several countries and has begun “actively securing military aircraft and charter flights for American citizens who wish to leave” the region… 

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that Iran’s underground Natanz nuclear enrichment plant was struck in the course of hostilities in recent days. Trump has claimed the site was rendered inoperable during the U.S.’ June 2025 strikes…

Alex Soros, one of the progressive movement’s most influential donors, boosted a social media post today about U.S. casualties in the war with Iran from Max Blumenthal, a prominent anti-Israel conspiracy theorist, Jewish Insider‘s Matthew Kassel reports.

Soros also praised Spain for its refusal to allow the U.S. to use joint bases on its soil, calling Madrid the “leader of the free world” and reprimanding other European countries for not doing the same…

After issuing a statement solely attacking the U.S. and Israel over the campaign against Iran — which provoked backlash from members of the Iranian dissident and diaspora communities — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani acknowledged the “systematic repression” of the Iranian people by the regime, while declining to criticize the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, JI’s Will Bredderman reports.

Even as he acknowledged Tehran’s bloody suppression of protesters, Mamdani did not directly answer a reporter’s question at a press conference today about whether the Middle Eastern nation was better off without the radical cleric who ruled for nearly 37 years…

Amazon Web Services operations are “significantly impaired” after three of its data centers in the Middle East were struck by Iranian drones — two directly hit in the UAE and one sustaining damage in Bahrain. The strikes “caused structural damage, disrupted power delivery to our infrastructure, and in some cases required fire suppression activities that resulted in additional water damage,” AWS said…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a look at the results of today’s high-stakes primary elections in North Carolina and Texas and their implications for pro-Israel voters.

The Heritage Foundation will hold an event to launch its 2026 “Index of U.S. Military Strength” with remarks from Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) and Reps. August Pfluger (R-TX), Pat Harrigan (R-TX) and Matt Van Epps (R-TN).

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom will release its annual report tomorrow on Capitol Hill.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump and senior U.S. defense officials laid out an open-ended timeline for the ongoing bombing campaign against Iran in several press briefings and interviews today, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea and Emily Jacobs report.

Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth both declined to rule out a U.S. ground invasion of Iran, while Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine announced more American troops are en route to the region. “Every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it. I say ‘probably don’t need them,’ [or] ‘if they were necessary,’” Trump told the New York Post. 

The president repeatedly said the operation is “ahead of schedule,” but added that the U.S. military is prepared to continue the campaign beyond his initial four-to-five-week timeline. Trump also told CNN that the “big wave” of strikes on Iran “hasn’t even happened. The big one is coming soon”…

On the American public’s perception of the strikes, Trump said, “I think that the polling is very good, but I don’t care about polling. I have to do the right thing. This should have been done a long time ago.” A new CNN poll found that 41% of Americans support the strikes against Iran, while 59% disapprove…

After Hezbollah jumped into the conflict by launching strikes on Israel overnight, prompting Israeli fire on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in return, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam banned the terror group’s “military activities,” restricting it “to the political sphere.”

Salam said the group’s actions are now “illegal” and called on the Lebanese Armed Forces to “prevent any attacks originating from Lebanese territory,” a long-awaited show of resolve from Beirut. The LAF has struggled to disarm Hezbollah forces since the signing of a ceasefire agreement with Israel in November 2024…

On a ground invasion of Lebanon, IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said, similarly to the U.S. position on Iran, “all options are on the table”…

U.S. casualties in the course of the operation increased today to six servicemembers…

Qatar’s Ministry of Defense condemned attacks by Iran on a power plant and an oil facility in the country, further indicating Tehran is setting its sights on civilian and energy infrastructure. The targeted energy plant, Ras Laffan, is responsible for around a fifth of all global natural gas production — Qatar halted production after the strike which, along with decreased passage through the vital Strait of Hormuz, sent oil prices soaring…

Iran continues to sustain heavy losses: The U.S. said it has sunk all 11 of Iran’s warships in the Gulf of Oman while Qatar shot down two Iranian SU-24 tactical bombers, which were developed by Russia; the UAE also intercepted around 150 Iranian drones and 15 missiles today in addition to hundreds over the weekend…

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer reiterated in an address to parliament today that Britain will not be joining the strikes on Iran but will allow the U.S. to use its bases for “defensive actions,” noting that Iran has already struck a military base in Bahrain that houses around 300 British troops. “France and Germany are also prepared to enable U.S. action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones from the source,” Starmer added.

Trump said he was “very disappointed” with Starmer in an interview with The Telegraph, saying the prime minister “took far too long” in deciding to allow U.S. forces to utilize its bases…

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised the campaign, calling it “really important … because it is taking out, degrading the capacity of Iran to get its hands on nuclear capability, the ballistic missile capability.” But, he said, “there are absolutely no plans whatsoever for NATO to get dragged into this”…

GOP lawmakers are pushing Democrats to agree to a funding deal for the still-shuttered Department of Homeland Security, as hostilities with Iran raise concerns about domestic terror threats…

The war is also making its way into some of the most heated primary races unfolding across the country: In North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District, anti-Israel activist Nida Allam, who is challenging Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC), put out a new campaign ad just before tomorrow’s primary slamming “Trump and Netanyahu’s reckless war.” 

Allam accused the administration of using “our taxpayer dollars to bomb a school in Iran, killing over 100 elementary school children,” even though there has been no proof that the U.S. was responsible for the strike…

Some pro-Israel Democratic candidates in Illinois also took harsh stances against the Iran operation: state Sen. Laura Fine, running in Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, called for Trump’s impeachment, while Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, running in the 2nd District, and Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, running in the 7th District, called the strikes “reckless” and “immoral,” respectively…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a rundown of the high-profile primaries on the ballot tomorrow in North Carolina and Texas.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House for a conversation that was set to focus on negotiations between Russia and Ukraine but will likely be overshadowed by the ongoing operation against Iran. Germany joined the U.K. and France over the weekend in offering a supportive but cautious stance on the hostilities.

It will be a busy day on the Hill, where administration officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine will hold all-member briefings on Iran for the House and Senate. Rubio is briefing the Gang of Eight again this afternoon, and national security committees in both chambers were briefed over the weekend. 

Elbridge Colby, the under secretary of defense for policy, will brief the Senate Armed Services Committee on the Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy; Colby has previously drawn bipartisan ire from the committee over a lack of consultation by his team and alleged rogue decision-making on a range of issues by his office.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on oversight of the Department of Homeland Security with testimony from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The Capitol Jewish Forum will host its annual Capitol Hill Purim celebration, attended by a number of Jewish lawmakers.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

U.S.-Iran negotiations wrapped up for the day in Geneva without a decisive result: Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said the sides had made “significant progress” while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state media they negotiated “very seriously,” but no agreement was reached.

Araghchi said technical experts will meet on Monday in Vienna at the International Atomic Energy Agency and fourth round negotiations will take place later next week, after consultations in both capitals…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters yesterday that Iran “poses a very grave threat to the United States” and is trying to reconstitute its nuclear program. “After their nuclear program was obliterated, they were told not to try to restart it, and here they are.  You can see them always trying to rebuild elements of it. They’re not enriching right now, but they’re trying to get to the point where they ultimately can.”

Beyond the nuclear issue, Rubio said, Iran also has “conventional weapons that are solely designed to attack America and attack Americans. … These things have to be addressed.” While the current talks are focused solely on Tehran’s nuclear program, “it’s also important to remember that Iran refuses to talk about ballistic missiles to us or to anyone, and that’s a big problem”…

House Democratic leaders said in a joint statement today that they plan to force a vote “as soon as Congress reconvenes next week” on a resolution blocking military action against Iran without congressional authorization, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Three Democrats have already indicated they will oppose the resolution, with other defections likely to follow…

U.S. forces raided a ship last month and seized cargo heading from China to Iran, officials told The Wall Street Journal, part of a broader effort to head off Iran’s covert arms purchases after the 12-day war last June. The cargo was reportedly intended for Iranian companies that procure weapons for the regime’s missile program…

The Journal interviews fighter pilots involved in the U.S. bombing campaign against the Houthis last spring, as military assets are once again amassing in the Middle East for a potential operation against Iran…

Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner amplified a social media post today from a far-right conspiracy theorist well-known for viciously antisemitic commentary — before quickly deleting the statement, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports. In a comment on X, Platner approvingly boosted a remark opposing war with Iran from Stew Peters, who has said Judaism is “satanic” and a “death cult,” promoted blood libels and called for a “final solution” to mass-deport American Jews…

The issue is particularly sensitive for Platner, who earlier in his campaign faced scrutiny over a Nazi tattoo on his chest, which he has since had covered. He was pressed today on a YouTube call-in show about his knowledge of the tattoo’s symbolism because of his self-identification as a WWII history enthusiast. 

“I was well aware that they [Nazis] used a similar-looking thing,” Platner said. “You have to admit it’s not a ‘similar-looking thing,’ it’s the same thing. … Anyone who’s remotely a WWII buff knows what that is,” the caller replied. Platner answered, “I’m not going to apologize for something that I didn’t know about or do”…

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani made an unannounced visit to the White House to meet with President Donald Trump today. Among other issues, the two discussed housing and immigration activities…

The family of Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for Israel and the Palestinian territories, sued Trump and other administration officials yesterday in district court, alleging that the sanctions imposed on Albanese by the U.S. violate her First, Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights…

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar attended an iftar meal to break the Ramadan fast hosted by UAE Ambassador to Israel Mohamed Al Khaja in Tel Aviv, where Herzog said that the “members of the Abraham Accords should be treated in an upgraded manner as they pursue the noble cause of peace.”

“And this I say especially,” Herzog continued, “when there are nations who are spreading hate, spreading blasphemy against nations who seek peace — against the Emiratis, against the Israelis,” ostensibly referring to Saudi Arabia…

As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrapped up his trip to Israel today, the two countries signed 16 memorandums of understanding to expand cooperation in fields including agriculture and AI. Modi also met with the cast of “Fauda”…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a profile of Sam Bregman, the Jewish cowboy-hat wearing former district attorney running for governor of New Mexico.

ADL’s Desert Region will hold its annual conference at Arizona State University, with speakers including ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and state Rep. Alma Hernandez.

J Street’s annual conference will kick off Saturday in Washington. Speakers will include former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Sean Casten (D-IL) and Madeleine Dean (D-PA). J Street’s PAC will hold an event with Roy Cooper, the former governor of North Carolina now running for Senate, and phone banking sessions for Evanston, Ill., Mayor Daniel Biss, running for the House.

We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat Shalom! 

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Ahead of the third round of U.S.-Iran negotiations taking place in Geneva tomorrow, Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that President Donald Trump “has a number of other tools at his disposal” besides diplomacy to ensure “the craziest and worst regime in the world” does not obtain nuclear weapons, following on the president’s remarks during last night’s State of the Union calling Iran “the world’s No. 1 sponsor of terror”…

In response to Trump’s comments, where he also said Iran was developing advanced ballistic missiles and had killed 32,000 protesters, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei tied Trump to the “law of propaganda coined by Nazi [chief propagandist] Joseph Goebbels.”

“This is now systematically used by the U.S. administration and the war profiteers encircling it, particularly the genocidal Israeli regime … Whatever they’re alleging in regards to Iran’s nuclear program, Iran’s ballistic missiles, and the number of casualties during January’s unrest is simply the repetition of ‘big lies,’” Baghaei wrote on X…

White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who is leading Iran negotiations alongside Jared Kushner, reportedly told AIPAC members at the group’s summit in Washington yesterday that any deal reached with Iran should not have a “sunset clause,” as the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was criticized for. 

“We start with the Iranians with the premise that there is no sunset provision. Whether we get a deal or not, our premise is: you have to behave for the rest of your lives,” Witkoff told the group, according to Axios. He said talks are currently focused only on the nuclear issue, but if they are successful, the administration would look to hold additional talks on Tehran’s missile program and support for terror proxies…

Satellite photos analyzed by the Associated Press appear to show U.S. ships that typically dock in Bahrain as part of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet have moved out to sea. The 5th Fleet similarly scattered its ships during the U.S. strikes in Iran last June…

Dutch airline KLM announced a suspension of flights between its hub in Amsterdam and Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport starting March 1 until further notice, saying in a statement that it is currently “not commercially or operationally feasible for KLM to operate flights to Tel Aviv.” It’s the first airline to pause flights amid the current unrest with Iran…

On the campaign trail, Washington, D.C., mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George vowed to reject the “Zionist lobby” in a questionnaire seeking the endorsement of the Metro D.C. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports, a category that the DSA said includes AIPAC, Democratic Majority for Israel, Christians United for Israel and J Street.

Referencing her appearance at an event with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington in December, Lewis George assured the DSA she “disagree[s] with the JCRC on a number of issues,” including its opposition to describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocide and its “definition of antisemitism that criminalizes dissent, and their attacks on activists.” 

Ron Halber, CEO of the JCRC, told JI, “As far as I’m concerned, [the DSA’s questionnaire] is an antisemitic manifesto. They are making the price of their endorsement the social exclusion of Jews”…

Illinois state Sen. Laura Fine, a Democrat running for an open Illinois House seat, unapologetically championed her backing for Israel in a position paper obtained by JI’s Marc Rod, amid attacks from anti-Israel activists and groups over her support for the Jewish state and backing from pro-Israel supporters.

Fine described Israel in the paper as “more than just a strategic ally, it is a beacon of democracy in one of the world’s most volatile regions,” as she and some of her primary opponents, including Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and far-left activist Kat Abughazaleh, are set to participate in a televised debate tonight…

The U.S.-led Board of Peace released a video today laying out its vision for Gaza. The board’s goal by Year 3 is to fully rebuild the southern Gazan city of Rafah and have Gaza “connected to the world through an Abrahamic gateway, linking it with Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and extending to India and Europe.” By the board’s 10th year, it said, Gaza will be “self-governed,” without specifying who will oversee the enclave and how Hamas will be removed from power… 

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana awarded Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the newly established Medal of the Knesset, the highest honor of the body, after Modi’s address there today. His remarks were warmly received by members of Knesset and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was also in the chamber…

Following Israel’s recognition of Somaliland’s independence in December, Jerusalem accepted the appointment of Mohamed Hagi as the first Somaliland ambassador to the Jewish state (and its first fully accredited ambassador anywhere in the world). Hagi “was a member of the inner circle of officials who promoted the establishment of relations between Israel and Somaliland,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said, and vowed that a reciprocal Israeli ambassador “will soon be appointed”…

Former Harvard President Larry Summers will remain on leave from his teaching position at the Ivy League school for the duration of the academic year, at which point he will retire, Harvard announced today, after files released by the Department of Justice showed Summers maintained a relationship with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein after the financier had been convicted of prostitution involving a minor…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a preview of Fox Nation’s new docudrama on King David, offering a dramatic reenactment of the biblical coming-of-age story of the Jewish leader.

White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will hold discussions with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva, mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi.

California Jewish groups including the JCRC Bay Area, the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles and Jewish California, which rebranded today from its previous name of JPAC, are hosting a forum for candidates running for governor, as Gov. Gavin Newsom reaches his term limit. Participating candidates include former presidential contender Tom Steyer, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, all of whom are Democrats, as well as Republican commentator Steve Hilton. 

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Previewing his State of the Union address tonight, where it remains to be seen if he will make any announcements on Iran, President Donald Trump told reporters, “Iran wants to make a deal more than I do, but they just won’t say the sacred phrase: ‘We won’t build nuclear weapons,’” signaling that the two sides are still at an impasse ahead of the third round of negotiations scheduled for Thursday…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed the congressional Gang of Eight, the bipartisan set of leaders advised on classified matters by the executive branch, this afternoon to provide an update on Iran, with CIA Director John Ratcliffe reportedly joining the discussion. The White House did not brief the group before striking Iran last June, drawing ire from Democrats…

Ahead of the meeting, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told C-SPAN about potential Iran strikes, “Closed-door briefings are fine, but the administration has to make its case to the American people on something as important as this”…

Around a dozen U.S. F-22 stealth fighter jets departed from the U.K. today to be deployed at an Israeli Air Force base in the south of the country, as over 150 aircraft are being moved to the region. Military experts told The Washington Post that the “assets being assembled are indicative of a multiday campaign without a ground invasion”…

The Coast Guard is investigating a swastika drawn at its primary recruit training center in New Jersey, where Coast Guard commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday quickly flew to address recruits and staff about the incident. Lunday recently came under fire from Congress, and had his confirmation delayed, over a change in Coast Guard policy that downgraded the swastika from a prohibited hate symbol to “potentially divisive,” which was eventually walked back.

Regarding the recent incident, Lunday said in a statement to The Washington Post, “Anyone who adheres to or advances hate or extremist ideology — get out. Leave. You don’t belong in the United States Coast Guard and we reject you”…

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) is pushing for legislation to require an affirmative congressional vote prior to the U.S. reaching any nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports, following a notification from the administration to Congress indicating that it is moving toward a deal that could allow Riyadh to enrich uranium for civilian purposes.

The notification procedures, which do not include specific terms of a potential deal, suggest that Saudi Arabia will not be required to agree to more intrusive International Atomic Energy Agency inspections or “gold standard” safeguards — which would require Saudi Arabia to agree not to enrich or reprocess nuclear material — used for the U.S. nuclear cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates…

The Justice Department sued the University of California today under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination, alleging that the UCLA campus created a “hostile work environment against Jewish and Israeli faculty and staff.” 

During campus anti-Israel protests in 2024, the DOJ said, “the University allowed antisemitic harassment to continue unabated for days” and “has ignored, and continues to ignore, gross and repeated violations” of time, place and manner restrictions on student protest. The department further claimed Jewish and Israeli faculty at the school have been physically threatened, ostracized, harassed, forced to take leave and assaulted…

The New York Times details efforts by New York’s business community and Democratic establishment to organize and promote the moderate wing of the party in response to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rise to power. Some of the individuals involved, including former Gov. Andrew Cuomo allies Phil Singer and Steven Cohen, are considering forming PACs, watchdog groups, lobbying campaigns and more…

New York’s Working Families Party endorsed Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) yesterday over Mamdani’s objections. The mayor has been backing Assemblymember Claire Valdez, who, like Mamdani, is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and a vocal critic of Israel, and he had lobbied the WFP to endorse her or to stay out of the race. WFP’s director, Jasmine Gripper, told the Times, “At the end of the day, Zohran is an individual who gets to weigh in as an individual”…

A new poll from the University of New Hampshire found oyster farmer Graham Platner with a commanding lead among likely Senate Democratic primary voters, outdistancing Gov. Janet Mills by 34 points, with the primary less than four months away. In a general election matchup with incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Platner leads Collins by 11 points, while Mills and Collins are neck-and-neck…

Khalid Turaani, executive director of the Ohio branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), testified at the Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee last week against a bill to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, where he claimed that Israel operates the world’s largest human skin bank and harvests the skin from deceased Palestinians. “And if I call them Nazis,” Turaani continued, “your law is going to punish me.”

The Anti-Defamation League’s Ohio River Valley office condemned Turaani’s speech, saying that the “antisemitic organ harvesting myth plays on the blood libel trope, which has spurred the torture, murder, and expulsion of Jews for centuries”…

The U.S. Embassy in Israel announced that, as part of the government’s “efforts to reach all Americans,” the embassy will be providing consular services for one day only at several locations across Israel and the West Bank, including Ramallah and the Jewish settlement of Efrat…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for the highlights from President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, taking place at 9 p.m. ET tonight, as all eyes are on possible U.S. military action against Iran.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Israel tomorrow, where he will be greeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before addressing the Knesset. In the evening, the two leaders will have dinner at Jerusalem’s King David Hotel. Read JI’s interview on Modi’s visit with Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar.

The New York City Council will hold its first hearing on Council Speaker Julie Menin’s bill aiming to create “buffer zones” around houses of worship to protect from disruptive protests. The bill’s language was updated last night to remove the original 100-foot figure, which had reportedly emerged as a point of concern for the NYPD.

Congressional candidates from Illinois’ 9th District, where pro-Israel spending is boosting state Sen. Laura Fine and attacking Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, will hold a debate on local news. 

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

As rumors abound about the possibility and timing of U.S. strikes on Iran, the State Department ordered the evacuation of non-essential personnel and their families from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. “Based on our latest review, we determined it prudent to reduce our footprint,” a State official told Fox News…

Nearby, amid the buildup of U.S. military assets in the region, American refueling and cargo planes were spotted at Ben Gurion Airport…

President Donald Trump denied reports that Pentagon officials, namely Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, are raising concerns about striking Iran, writing on Truth Social this afternoon, “General Caine, like all of us, would like not to see War but, if a decision is made on going against Iran at a Military level, it is his opinion that it will be something easily won.”

“He has not spoken of not doing Iran, or even the fake limited strikes that I have been reading about, he only knows one thing, how to WIN and, if he is told to do so, he will be leading the pack,” Trump said of Caine, while alluding to the potential breadth of military action against Iran… 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed back his visit to Israel, originally scheduled for this weekend, to March 2, The Jerusalem Post reports, days after the next round of U.S.-Iran negotiations in Geneva on Thursday…

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), a leader on foreign policy among Democrats in Congress, told Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs that he heard “pretty stark early warning signs of some challenges where core allies do not share our priorities” on a potential Iran strike during his recent trip t0 Europe, which included stops at the Munich Security Conference, along with meetings in Ukraine and Moldova with top European diplomats.

Coons laid out what he hopes to see from the president: “A) Consult Congress. B) Make a case to the American people about why this is in our national security interest. C) Clarify what on earth he’s planning with this Board of Peace … And D) If he’s going to work with close allies to ramp up pressure to try and achieve something at the negotiating table, he should work with close allies”…

Anthony Driver Jr., a union organizer and candidate in Illinois’ 7th Congressional District, doubled down on his recent repudiation of AIPAC, despite previously having little public record on Israel policy issues. Following a press conference last week where Driver, who is running against AIPAC-backed Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, denounced the pro-Israel group, he returned donations from major Democratic Party donor Michael Sacks over the finance executive’s ties to AIPAC.

Sacks, who was a major backer of former President Barack Obama and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, said in his reply, “It is truly sad there is so much anti Israel sentiment and outright Jew hate that Anthony found himself in this position. I can only hope that the electorate rejects hate in all forms”…

As more details emerge about Rep. Tony Gonzales’ (R-TX) alleged affair with a staffer who later committed suicide, a poll commissioned by the campaign of Brandon Herrera, Gonzales’ opponent, shows the congressman trailing Herrera by a whopping 24 points among likely GOP primary voters. The story, which entered the news cycle right as early voting kicked off, could catapult Herrera, a social media influencer with a history of antisemitism, to the Republican nomination and on to Congress…

Investigators at the cryptocurrency giant Binance found last year that about $1.7 billion had been sent from two accounts to Iranian entities with links to terror groups, The New York Times reports, even after Binance pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws in 2023 and vowed to prevent sanctioned actors from accessing its platform. Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who was jailed for his role in the saga, in October 2025…

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival backtracked in its defense of a juror selected for a judging panel who had posted antisemitic and anti-Israel content online, whom it had stood behind even after the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta announced it was withdrawing its funding and support of the event over the pick. 

The festival changed its tune yesterday, saying it is “first and foremost, a Jewish institution” and has “a responsibility, particularly at this fraught time, to stand firmly against antisemitism and to affirm the Jewish people’s right to self-determination.” It said it would review its “organizational processes and policies, including those related to antisemitism, BDS, and cultural boycotts”…

The French Foreign Ministry has moved to block U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner’s access to government officials after he declined to appear for a summons by Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot today, which was issued after the U.S. Embassy reposted comments by Trump about a far-right French activist who was killed in a clash with far-left protesters. It was Kushner’s second summons, after his first last year when he accused the French government of not adequately combating antisemitism…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a look at Sue Altman’s shifting views on Israel as the formerly pro-Israel congressional candidate is now running in New Jersey’s more heavily Democratic 12th Congressional District.

We’ll be watching for mention of President Donald Trump’s thinking on Iran as he delivers the annual State of the Union address tomorrow night. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver the Democratic response.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on “advancing national security through commercial diplomacy” with Jacob Helberg, under secretary of state for economic affairs, who recently told JI that he hopes the Pax Silica initiative, which he leads, “will pave the way for peace and economic integration” in the Middle East.

Australia’s royal commission on antisemitism, formed after the Hanukkah terror attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, will hold its first public hearing, though no testimony or evidence will be heard.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump used the occasion of the first meeting of the Board of Peace in Washington today to announce significant monetary and troop commitments from the U.S. and other countries to stabilize Gaza, as well as lay out a timeline for military action against Iran, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.

The pledges included $10 billion from the U.S. and $7 billion from several Middle Eastern countries for Gaza’s reconstruction, as well as commitments to provide troops and police to the U.S.-led International Stabilization Force. (The Guardian reports the White House is currently exploring plans to build a 5,000-person military base to house the ISF in southern Gaza.)

On Iran negotiations, Trump said in his remarks, “Now we may have to take it a step further or we may not. Maybe we are going to make a deal [with Iran]. You are going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days.”

He later told reporters on Air Force One, “Ten, 15 days, pretty much maximum.” Remember: Last June, Trump said he would decide whether to take action against Iran within two weeks, and carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities two days later…

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has reportedly not given approval to Washington to use the joint U.S.-U.K. base on Diego Garcia island for a strike on Iran, as Trump said yesterday he is considering. London is concerned that a U.S. strike from the shared base, which the U.K. must grant permission to use, could implicate it in violating international law…

Trump also offered praise for Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, during his Board of Peace remarks, despite widespread criticism of Doha’s backing of Hamas and platforming of anti-Israel actors.

“His excellency, Prime Minister Al Thani of Qatar, just a great and highly respected man,” Trump said. “I always say he needs a public relations agency because you do so much good, and they have you down as evil, and you’re not evil. You help us so much and you’re such a good ally”…

Meanwhile, Hamas is entrenching itself further in Gaza, repositioning its loyalists in government and paying salaries across the enclave, according to Reuters. Hamas has said it is willing to hand power over to the Palestinian technocratic committee established by the U.S. and led by former Palestinian Authority official Ali Shaath, but as one Palestinian source told the outlet, “Shaath may have the key to the car, and he may even be allowed to drive, but it is a Hamas car”…

Former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), who recently lost the Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, called AIPAC’s attacks against him in the race “bizarre in several ways,” writing in an op-ed today that he has “no problem identifying as a Zionist” and calling on Democratic leaders to collectively “refuse [AIPAC’s] support, instead of letting it pick off candidates one by one”…

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) withdrew her endorsement of Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, the front-runner in Illinois’ 2nd District Democratic primary, over Miller’s backing by groups that are reported to be affiliated with AIPAC, though the pro-Israel group hasn’t endorsed her and neither AIPAC nor its super PAC are publicly spending any money in the district.

“Illinois deserves leaders who put voters first, not AIPAC or out-of-state Trump donors,” Schakowsky told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I cannot support any candidate running for Congress who is funded by these outside interests”…

Ahead of a hearing next week on New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin’s proposed 100-foot ban on protests around houses of worship, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said today that he had the NYPD review the legality of the measure, “and I can tell you, my police commissioner has expressed concerns about that proposal”…

Three officials appointed by Mamdani to administration posts are co-founders of a group that blamed Israel for the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks two days after they took place, the Washington Free Beacon reports.

The group, the Muslim Democratic Club of New York (MDCNY), was founded by Faiza Ali, now commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs; Aliya Latif, now executive director of the mayor’s Office of Faith-Based Partnerships; Ali Najmi, tapped as chair of the mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary; and anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour.

On Oct. 9, 2023, the MDCNY posted on X, “Many NYers are feeling pain, fear, and anger after the horrific events in the Holy Land this weekend. Especially as the Israeli apartheid regime have forced millions of Palestinians in Gaza to live under occupation for decades and an open air prison since 2007.” The group went on to condemn “elected officials offering support for Israeli occupation’s rampant violence as it openly declares & enacts its intent to engage in mass violence and genocide against Palestinians,” well before Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza had begun…

The Forward profiles Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman as she runs for mayor with a unique ideology: Raman is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, but has also been vocally supportive of Israel. She called DSA’s statement blaming Israel for the Oct. 7 attacks “unacceptably devoid of sympathy” and rejects the BDS movement, but was also condemned by the local Jewish community for introducing a ceasefire resolution in June 2023…