The Texas senator called Tucker Carlson ‘the single most dangerous demagogue in this country’
Republican Jewish Coalition
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks at antisemitism symposium in Washington on March 10, 2026.
Add JewishInsider on GoogleAntisemitism is rising on the American right, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) warned on Tuesday, expressing concern that efforts to combat it are not doing so quickly or effectively enough.
“I want us to be winning, but I’m not sure it is accurate as a descriptive manner that we are winning right now,” Cruz said at an antisemitism symposium in Washington organized by the Republican Jewish Coalition and the National Review.
Cruz has emerged in recent months as one of the Republican Party’s most vocal critics of right-wing antisemitism. He has targeted influential commentator Tucker Carlson and his strain of isolationist, anti-Israel politics that has in recent months crossed over into overt antisemitism, though Cruz has bemoaned other Republicans’ wariness to criticize Carlson by name.
At the RJC event, Cruz called Carlson “the single most dangerous demagogue in this country.”
But he said that not enough of his colleagues and allies on the right are aware of the extent of the problem.
“I don’t want to wake up in five years and find myself in a country where both major political parties are unambiguously anti-Israel and unapologetically antisemitic, and I think that is a real possibility. If Tucker and his minions prevail, that will happen,” Cruz argued.
Cruz expressed fear that this attitude is not just present but popular among young people on the right, as evidenced by two viral Turning Point USA events last fall where students at Auburn and Ole Miss cheered after deeply anti-Israel questions were asked.
“I worry about the 19-year-olds who say, ‘Oh, that’s what our team believes. That’s who we are.’ Let’s be clear, if you are a young, ambitious Democrat, it is obvious what you should do. You should be viciously anti-Israel,” said Cruz.
He applauded the people who came out to the Museum of the Bible on Tuesday to discuss antisemitism but pointed out that their concern does not reflect how the rest of the country thinks about the issue.
“The fact that this room is persuaded does not mean that the college campus is. It does not mean that the Capitol Hill interns are. It does not mean that the interns at Heritage, at [Conservative Partnership Institute] and every other conservative institution in this country, that they’re persuaded,” said Cruz. “We need to fight and engage it and take on the core premises, because if we lose the next generation, we lose the country.”
Cruz posited that Carlson and other anti-Israel influencers are being paid by foreign nations like Qatar, China and Russia, though he acknowledged that he lacks proof for that theory.
“I don’t believe all of these voices who have suddenly discovered that Israel is the source of all evil, that everything bad in the world was done by the Jews, that America is controlled by the Jews and that radical Islamic terrorists are really nice, wonderful people — I don’t think these people just arrived on this view organically and magically,” said Cruz.
“I think many of these influencers are cashing a check,” he added. “The people in this room could do an enormous service by documenting that. I don’t have the evidence right now to prove it, but Occam’s razor: the simplest explanation is usually the right one.”
Plus, Trump says Iran operation 'very complete'
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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks at the 62nd Munich Security Conference on February 13, 2026 in Munich, Germany.
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Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
President Donald Trump praised Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for assisting the members of Iran’s women’s soccer team, who are in Australia competing in the Women’s Asian Cup, amid fears for their persecution should they be forced to return home.
The president had called for Albanese to grant the athletes political asylum, saying they would “most likely be killed” if they were repatriated to Iran, and later commended him for “doing a very good job having to do with this rather delicate situation,” with five athletes “already taken care of, and the rest are on their way”…
Trump disputed reports that the U.S. is preparing to deploy ground troops to secure nuclear material at the Isfahan enrichment site in Iran, telling the New York Post, “We haven’t made any decision on that. We’re nowhere near it.” He also told CBS News that “the war is very complete, pretty much,” and the U.S. is “very far” ahead of his initial four-to-five-week timeline…
Trump has communicated to aides that he would support the assassination of Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader, if Khamenei does not acquiesce to U.S. demands, including ending Iran’s nuclear program, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal…
The Lebanese government has requested direct negotiations with Israel, sending the message through U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, Axios reports. Washington and Jerusalem were reportedly skeptical about the idea, with Beirut thus far failing to disarm or rein in Hezbollah activities as the terror group continues to launch missiles into Israel…
NATO missile defense systems intercepted another Iranian missile heading for Turkey, a spokesperson announced today, the second time Iran has attempted to strike the NATO country’s territory…
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) threatened to impose “consequences” on Saudi Arabia for its unwillingness to join the U.S. campaign against Iran, as the U.S. evacuates its embassy in Riyadh and the kingdom continues to endure Iranian attacks, which have so far resulted in the deaths of two civilians and one U.S. servicemember. “Question — why should America do a defense agreement with a country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is unwilling to join a fight of mutual interest?” Graham wrote on X…
Talks to advance Trump’s 20-point peace plan in Gaza, including the issue of Hamas’ disarmament, have been at a standstill during the campaign against Iran, Reuters reports, as Gulf countries that pledged funds to help rebuild the enclave have come under fire and flight disruptions have prevented mediators from traveling…
The criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of New York today against the two Pennsylvania men who allegedly hurled improvised explosive devices toward a protest against New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Saturday stated that both men explicitly identified ISIS as their inspiration, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports.
“This isn’t a religion that just stands when people talk about the blessed name of the Prophet [Muhammad],” Emir Balat, 18, told police, according to the charging documents. He also said he had hoped to pull off something “even bigger” than the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, which he noted had caused “only three deaths”…
The White House moved today to designate the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity and announced plans to impose a Foreign Terrorist Organization designation on March 16, JI’s Matthew Shea reports, in the Trump administration’s latest crackdown against Muslim Brotherhood affiliates…
A new poll from the campaign of Rushern Baker, former executive of Maryland’s Prince George’s County, found him leading the crowded Democratic field seeking to succeed retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD). Though a plurality of likely primary voters (28%) said they’re still undecided, Baker polled at 22% compared to former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn’s 15% and Hoyer-endorsed state Del. Adrian Boafo’s 3%…
Rep. Kevin Kiley of California officially switched his party affiliation from Republican to independent — he had filed for reelection as an independent, but said today he would leave the party for the rest of his term as well. The move narrows the GOP majority even further, 217-214, but Kiley said he’ll continue to caucus with Republicans, blunting the impact…
Politico looks at the flurry of independent candidates seeking to unseat congressional Republicans in GOP-leaning districts, clashing with local Democratic establishments in the process…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider — we’ll have a profile of Dario Amodei, the Jewish CEO of Anthropic, which sued the Pentagon today over its decision to label the AI company a “supply chain risk.”
The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to receive a classified briefing on the status of the U.S. and Israeli campaign against Iran.
The Republican Jewish Coalition and conservative magazine National Review will hold a daylong symposium on antisemitism, with remarks from Sens. Jim Banks (R-IN), Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Ted Cruz (R-TX); Noah Pollak, senior advisor at the Department of Education; Kenneth Marcus, founder of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law; Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the State Department’s antisemitism envoy; Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights; and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Georgia’s 14th Congressional District will hold its special election to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), with more than a dozen candidates on the all-party ballot. The district leans strongly Republican but the GOP field is split among nine candidates, raising the possibility that the Democratic front-runner — retired Army Brig. Gen. Shawn Harris — could slip into the April runoff.
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SCOOP
NYC First Lady Rama Duwaji showed support for far-left orgs applauding Hamas rampage
POWER PLAYER
Ad maker Morris Katz has been instrumental in elevating Israel antagonists into office as part of a move to reshape the Democratic Party
Biss reportedly told the committee ‘the great majority of his Jewish friends in the Northwestern community had no concerns,’ contrary to comments from Jewish community members and groups
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Evanston, Ill. Mayor Daniel Biss on March 6, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois.
In a briefing for the House Education & Workforce Committee on his response to the anti-Israel protest encampment at Northwestern University in 2024, Evanston, Ill., Mayor Daniel Biss “severely downplayed” the situation on that campus and antisemitism across the country, the committee said.
The committee asked Biss, who is a congressional candidate in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), to brief them on his decision to withhold Evanston police support from Northwestern University when requested by the school to help clear the encampment.
The lack of external law enforcement support prompted Northwestern to make a deal, widely criticized in the Jewish community, with the encampment members to disband voluntarily, according to internal Northwestern communications released by the committee.
“In his briefing with the Committee today, Mr. Biss severely downplayed antisemitism at Northwestern after October 7th. He told the Committee that the great majority of his Jewish friends in the Northwestern community had no concerns about it,” a committee spokesperson told Jewish Insider.
That’s at odds with comments from Jewish Northwestern community members and local Jewish groups about the encampment.
“He further stated that Northwestern should not have received an F on the Anti-Defamation League’s college report card. He even accused the Committee of alarmism that is not warranted by the facts when it comes to antisemitism at the university after the October 7th attacks,” the spokesperson continued. “The countless Jewish Northwestern students, faculty, and community members that the Committee has interviewed would say otherwise.”
The school reached an agreement with the Department of Justice last year, paying $75 million and making policy changes to address antisemitism on its campus.
Biss, meanwhile, has dismissed the committee’s questioning of him as a smear campaign orchestrated by AIPAC and one of his primary opponents, state Sen. Laura Fine, to hurt his congressional campaign.
“From the start, this ‘briefing’ was a flimsy attempt to weaponize the very real threat of antisemitism to attack me and support my opponent. It failed,” Biss said in a statement.
“I’m proud of my record of protecting peaceful protest and combating antisemitism, including my decision to decline the unnecessary and undemocratic request to clear the Northwestern encampment in 2024. As the Trump administration increasingly attacks our fundamental democratic rights, it’s more important than ever to back our commitment to peaceful protest with action. I hope the committee learned something today.”
Biss’ campaign also noted that only House staff attended the briefing, rather than lawmakers themselves.
Plus, Kristi Noem gets the boot
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Reps. Thomas Massie, (R-KY), left, and Ro Khanna, (D-CA), conduct a news conference outside a Department of Justice office in NoMa on Monday, February 9, 2026.
Good Thursday afternoon,
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
President Donald Trump announced he’s replacing Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary with Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), after Noem had rankled the president and some Republican members of Congress with her oversight of widespread turmoil at the agency, among other issues. Mullin still needs to be confirmed by the Senate to assume the post.
Mullin, if confirmed, would take the helm of DHS amid its continued partial shutdown, and as it has repeatedly come under fire for its handling of issues related to antisemitism from lawmakers and Jewish community groups. Noem, meanwhile, will become special envoy to a new security initiative for the Western Hemisphere being launched by Trump this weekend…
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and other GOP leadership called on Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) to drop out of his reelection race, after the lawmaker admitted yesterday to having an affair with a staffer who later committed suicide. Gonzales is headed to a May runoff with his primary opponent, social media influencer Brandon Herrera; if Gonzales does step aside, Herrera, who has a history of antisemitic posts about the Holocaust, is all but guaranteed the GOP nomination in a solidly Republican district…
Trump said he “[has] to be involved in the appointment” of the next Iranian leader, in an interview with Axios, “like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela.” He called Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has emerged as his father’s likely successor, “unacceptable.” The president’s comments seem to widen the administration’s stated war aims, which have thus far focused on eliminating Iran’s naval, air and nuclear assets.
Trump also insisted in the interview that Israeli President Isaac Herzog issue a pardon for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “today,” as he wants Netanyahu “to focus on the war and not on the f**king court case. I want the only pressure on Bibi to be the fighting against Iran”…
Some Democratic lawmakers — including Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) — told Politico they won’t “rule out” voting in favor of an emergency supplemental funding request to shore up the military should one come from the administration amid the campaign against Iran, despite widespread Democratic condemnation of the White House’s failure to consult Congress beforehand…
A vote on a war powers resolution to stop the military campaign in Iran failed in the House this afternoon 219-212, with two Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Warren Davison (R-OH) — crossing the aisle in support and four Democrats — Reps. Greg Landsman (D-OH), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Jared Golden (D-ME) and Juan Vargas (D-CA) — breaking with their party to oppose it.
Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) both changed their positions and voted in favor of the resolution, weeks after Moskowitz told Jewish Insider — before the campaign began — that its sponsors “should just rename [the resolution] the Ayatollah Protection Act because that’s what it does.” Asked by JI about the shift in his stance today, Moskowitz answered, “I didn’t flip at all. Circumstances have changed since my first statement”…
Antisemitic podcaster Tucker Carlson’s latest extreme rhetoric took aim at the Chabad Lubavitch movement, with sweeping conspiratorial language accusing the Hasidic sect of seeking to start a “religious war” amid the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Carlson argued in an episode of his show that dropped last night that Jews see the war against Iran as an opportunity to feud with Islam and to target Christians. Carlson’s remarks prompted outrage among Chabad’s backers, who pointed out that Chabad emissaries have for decades played a crucial role in connecting American Jews to their faith and to each other…
In a conversation with ABC News, Trump said this afternoon that Tucker “has lost his way. I knew that a long time ago, and he’s not MAGA. MAGA is saving our country. … Tucker is really not smart enough to understand that”…
In a discussion with the New York Post, Trump railed against European countries which have continued to oppose the campaign against Iran, calling Spain “a loser” and the U.K. “very disappointing.” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, meanwhile, said today that the Iran war is a “failure” of the international order, but would not “categorically rule out” Canada’s participation…
Iran’s indiscriminate attacks are bringing allies together worldwide: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he’s deploying specialists to assist the U.S. after Washington requested “specific support in protection” against Iranian Shahed drones, which Ukraine has been battling for several years as Russia has regularly deployed them, and the European Union and Gulf Cooperation Council held a joint meeting to discuss Iran’s “unjustifiable, unprovoked, and unlawful attacks”…
The New York Times profiles Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF’s chief of staff, as he helps lead Israel’s efforts in the campaign against Iran…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
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 Jack Cocchiarella, the progressive Gen Z podcaster who has made a name for himself hosting high-profile Democratic candidates — including California Gov. Gavin Newsom in New Hampshire tonight — and who has recently taken a turn towards bashing Israel.
Team Israel will play its first games of the 2026 World Baseball Classic on Saturday against Venezuela and on Sunday against Nicaragua.
Also Sunday, AJ Edelman, the Israeli Olympic bobsled team pilot, will speak in conversation with Neil Goldman at Chabad of West Village in New York.
Birthright Israel’s Excelerate26 summit is also taking place in New York this weekend, with keynote speeches on Sunday from Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots; Anne Neuberger, former deputy national security advisor during the Biden administration; and Sheryl Sandberg, former COO of Meta.
We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat Shalom!
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MILITARY UPDATE
Tehran also attacked Azerbaijan for the first time, launching drones that injured two at Nakhchivan International Airport
ABOUT-FACE
The Arizona senator’s outspoken commentary has repeatedly placed blame for the military operation on Israel, leading one Jewish Democrat to pull her support
The podcaster’s claim that the Hasidic sect seeks to start a ‘religious war’ also raised concerns of physical safety
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Tucker Carlson speaks on stage on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 18, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Far-right podcaster Tucker Carlson’s latest extreme rhetoric took aim at the Chabad Lubavitch movement, with sweeping conspiratorial language accusing the Hasidic sect of seeking to start a “religious war” amid the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Carlson argued in an episode of his show that dropped late Wednesday night that Jews see the war against Iran as an opportunity to feud with Islam and to target Christians. He claimed that Jews seek to destroy al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and build the Third Temple on top of its ruins.
Carlson specifically called out the Chabad movement, saying the group’s goal is the rebuilding of the Temple — and he argued that Jews who seek to see the Temple rebuilt are at odds with Christians.
“Christians have a way of dying disproportionately in these wars, which tells you something about their real motives,” Carlson said. Rebuilding the Temple, which was destroyed in the first century by the Romans on the site that is now home to the al-Aqsa Mosque, “is totally anathema to Christianity,” said Carlson.
It is true that Orthodox Jews believe that the Temple will be rebuilt when the Messiah comes, a prophetic vision that has been a part of daily Jewish prayer for two millennia. But no mainstream Jewish denomination advocates for the destruction of the al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites, in order to hasten the rebuilding of the Temple, and current Israeli policy forbids Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount.
“It’s not so subtle that the building of the Third Temple and the Messianic era is central not just to Chabad, but to all of Judaism as one of the 13 Principles of Faith,” Rabbi Mordechai Lightstone, Chabad’s social media director, wrote on X on Thursday. “Acts of destruction or the subjugation of other nations are an anathema to a time when good will flow in abundance and the occupation of the entire world, Jew and non-Jew alike, will be to know the divine.”
Carlson’s remarks prompted outrage among Chabad’s backers, who pointed out that Chabad emissaries have for decades played a crucial role in connecting Jews to their faith and to each other.
“This is so absurd. So ridiculously absurd. If you know anything about Chabad, they have one mission: encouraging Jewish people to practice Judaism,” Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman posted on X.
Karol Markowicz, a New York Post columnist, criticized Carlson for targeting “the warmest, kindest, most welcoming organization ever that does nonstop charity work.”
The rhetoric also sparked concern about the physical safety of sites associated with Chabad, particularly after a man repeatedly drove his car into Chabad’s Brooklyn headquarters in January. The NYPD said it would increase patrols at Jewish locations amid fears of antisemitism after the Iran attacks began last weekend.
Plus, Qatar rebuffs Iranian diplomacy
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Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) speaks with press in the Hart Senate Office Building on April 07, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Good Wednesday afternoon,
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
On the fifth day of the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the accomplishment of several key objectives, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports, including that “the leader of the unit” responsible for the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in November 2024 “has been hunted down and killed.”
Hegseth also revealed that an American submarine sank an Iranian warship by torpedo, the first time such a thing has been accomplished since World War II. Responding to concerns over whether the U.S. will be able to maintain enough munitions throughout the conflict, Hegseth dismissed “stories and speculation,” instead asserting: “Iran cannot outlast us”…
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called Qatar’s foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, to insist that Iranian drones and missiles attacking Qatar are really directed at U.S. assets and “not intended to target the Gulf state.”
Al Thani “categorically rejected” that claim, according to Qatar’s foreign ministry, “citing the civilian and residential areas inside the country struck by the attacks.” He told Araghchi that Iran’s actions do not “indicate any genuine desire for de-escalation or resolution” and are trying to drag Qatar into a war “that is not theirs”…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the White House Monday to ask about intelligence that indicated the U.S. might be communicating with Iran, Axios reports, which administration officials told him was false. A New York Times report found that Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence had indirectly sent a message to the CIA attempting to start negotiations to end hostilities…
NATO air defense systems shot down an Iranian missile that was flying through Iraq and Syria on its way toward Turkey, the Turkish defense ministry said this morning. It’s the first attack by Iran on a NATO country’s territory. The U.K. and France, also NATO countries, are sending additional planes and warships to the region after Iran targeted a British base in Cyprus…
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, asked about reports of the U.S. arming Kurdish militias to assist in regime change in Iran, told reporters that Trump has spoken to Kurdish leaders in recent days about the U.S. military base in northern Iraq, but “any report suggesting that the president has agreed to any such plan” about arming the Kurds “is completely false and should not be written”…
Leavitt also said that the U.S. is now coordinating with Spain on the military operation in Iran, after Trump threatened yesterday to cut off all trade with Madrid over its refusal to let the U.S. use military bases on its soil and its lack of defense spending. Spain categorically denied that it is cooperating with the U.S. or has changed its position at all…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio held phone calls with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani about the campaign against Iran. Turkey and Cyprus have both faced attacks by Iranian projectiles, while Italy summoned its Iranian ambassador to protest the attack on Cyprus…
Trump indicated he’s close to offering his endorsement to Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who beat expectations by finishing ahead of right-wing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in yesterday’s primary. While both Republicans are headed to a May runoff, a Trump endorsement would make Cornyn the clear favorite to win the Republican nomination — and alleviate a lot of GOP anxiety over the possibility that a scandal-plagued Paxton could lose to state Rep. James Talarico, the newly minted Democratic nominee…
In North Carolina, Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) holds a narrow lead over her far-left opponent, Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam, who has indicated she will seek a recount. Foushee said in a statement that she would “welcome the opportunity” for a recount and is “confident that the Democratic voters of North Carolina will have nominated me to serve a third term”…
Hegseth will headline a fundraiser next week for Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA), after four servicemembers who were previously stationed in his district were killed by an Iranian drone in Kuwait on Sunday. Nunn, who has been a staunch ally of Israel in the House, is facing a competitive reelection race as Democrats target his seat in their attempt to take back the chamber…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a breakdown of the Senate’s consideration of the Iranian war powers resolution, led by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Rand Paul (R-KY), which is currently on track to fail on a procedural vote.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on “advancing national security through diplomacy” with Sarah Rogers, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy.
The Muslim World League will host an interfaith iftar gathering on Capitol Hill.
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IN THE CROSSHAIRS
Also Wednesday, an Israeli F-35I fighter jet shot down an Iranian YAK-130 fighter jet over Tehran, marking the first time an F-35 jet shot down a manned fighter aircraft, IDF says
PUSHING BACK
Republicans and some Democrats insisted Trump made the decision, while other Democrats said that the timing of the onset of hostilities was impacted by Israel’s plans
Plus, Alex Soros boosts antisemitic conspiracy theorist
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Friedrich Merz, Germany's chancellor, center left, and US President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, March 3, 2026.
Good Tuesday afternoon,
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
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…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
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.
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SQUARING OFF
A trio of Mamdani backers united with tech and real estate investors to boost anti-Israel candidates
PARTY PERSPECTIVE
Speaking at J Street’s national summit, Sen. Tim Kaine also said ‘virtually all’ Democratic senators now seek the group’s endorsement
Mayor Olivia Chow called the shooting ‘an unacceptable act of antisemitism and intimidation’ amid heightened concerns to Jewish communal safety
Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images
A Toronto police vehicle parks outside a Jewish school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on August 16, 2025.
A Toronto synagogue was shot at Monday night, causing damage to the building’s exterior, according to police.
Toronto Police Service said that there were several bullet holes in the front windows of Temple Emanu-El in North York. No injuries were reported.
The shooting occurred shortly before 11pm, as some people remained inside the building following a Purim celebration, a source with knowledge of the incident told Jewish Insider. Officers found “multiple shell casings at the front entrance of the synagogue, evidence of gunfire and damage to the building,” Toronto Police Deputy Chief Robert Johnson said during a Tuesday afternoon press conference. No information about the suspect or the type of firearm used has been confirmed, Johnson said.
“This is being investigated as a targeted incident” by the Integrated Gun & Gang Task Force and Hate Crime Unit, a police spokesperson told JI.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow called the shooting “an unacceptable act of antisemitism and intimidation.”
“We will not tolerate antisemitic hate in our city. Toronto Police are investigating and will increase their presence in the area to keep the community and congregants safe,” Chow said. “Toronto’s Jewish community has the right to practice their faith without fear, intimidation or violence.”
“The synagogue I attended as a boy and youth, where I was bar mitzvah’d and received my primary Jewish education, now under gunfire in once-peaceable North York, Ontario,” David Frum, senior editor at The Atlantic, wrote on X.
In response to the shooting, the Jewish Security Network of Greater Toronto, which is part of Toronto’s Jewish federation, said in a statement that it advises “the community to exercise heightened vigilance and awareness at this time.”
The shooting came as Jewish communities worldwide are on increased alert amid U.S.-Israeli operations against Iran. Earlier this week, security groups warned of potential risk to Jewish institutions globally by attackers motivated by the events.
Canada has seen a particularly egregious rise in antisemitism since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel. So far in 2026, 22 antisemitic occurrences have been reported in Toronto, representing approximately 62% of all reported hate crimes, according to police.
Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism found a 670 percent increase in antisemitic incidents in the country in 2024.
Plus, Tehran takes aim at global energy
Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images
Smoke rises from the area after it was targeted in attacks as a series of explosions are heard in Tehran, Iran on March 01, 2026.
Good Monday afternoon,
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
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…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
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.
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WEIGHING IN
The resolutions are unlikely to pass; if they do, they will need two-thirds support to override an inevitable presidential veto
CLOSING RANKS
UAE and Saudi leaders spoke by phone; the GCC affirmed its ‘right to respond’
URJ’s Rabbi Rick Jacobs: ‘America’s Jewish congregations are diverse, filled with good, moral people who differ on complex issues’
Michael Brochstein/Sipa via AP Images
J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami speak at the 2022 J Street National Conference held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.
When more than 1,500 people gathered in Washington this weekend for J Street’s national conference, the progressive Israel advocacy group’s first major convening in four years, the gathering was billed as an opportunity to reflect on building regional peace in the Middle East in the aftermath of the Gaza war.
Instead, a major U.S. and Israeli military operation against Iran that began Saturday undercut the group’s pledge to focus on peace between Israelis and Palestinians and came to dominate the discussion. J Street quickly came out against the attacks.
The first speaker on the conference’s main stage on Sunday took an unusual departure from J Street’s dogma on diplomacy by noting that the organization’s positions are not the only ones that should be taken seriously in the Jewish community.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, kicked off the conference program by noting that J Street’s position, one of stark opposition to the attacks, sits alongside the views of others in the Jewish community who have cheered U.S. and Israeli military strikes seeking to bring about regime change in Iran.
“I’m certain that many in this gathering agree, as a matter of principle and foreign policy, with the J Street statement,” Jacobs said. “Many in our congregations might also agree. But America’s Jewish congregations are diverse, filled with good, moral people who differ on complex issues, as those raised by the Iran attacks.”
J Street’s leaders often make the case that greater nuance and complexity is required within the U.S. Jewish community, particularly making space for left-wing views on Israel within mainstream Jewish groups. Jacobs was making the argument in reverse: that people could also support the attacks in good conscience, and that neither view is superior.
“There are many in our congregations, in the Jewish community at large and in the broader American public who want to seek regime change for the sake of the people of Iran, for eliminating threats to America’s and Israel’s security, and to enhance stability in the region, who may well recognize that war is surely not the remedy for every global conflict, but feel there are times when military force is justified and believe a case can be made,” Jacobs continued.
Later, J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami clarified where the group stands but said there is room in the organization for people who disagree.
“I made very clear J Street’s adamant and clear opposition to this war. It is a war of choice. It is a war without clear objectives. It is a war without a plan to achieve those unclear objectives. It is a war without constitutionally required congressional approval, and it is a war without public consent,” Ben-Ami said. “It is clear that in this room there is a mix of opinions. Not everyone in J Street would agree with the clear, articulated opposition to the war that I laid out.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) called the war “dangerous” and said it would make Americans less safe. British human rights lawyer Phillippe Sands compared the attack on Iran to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On the other hand, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Iran “needs to be punished.” In a video message recorded before the attacks began, Yair Golan, the leader of Israel’s liberal Democrats party, said that if war with Iran starts, “let us defeat those who seek our destruction.” Both Olmert and Golan are fierce opponents of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
But while the convention main stage offered some room for nuance on Iran, most speakers were otherwise aligned on J Street’s messaging — that Israel’s government, led by Netanyahu, is not doing enough to make peace with Palestinians or to rein in violent settlers in the West Bank, and that the U.S., meanwhile, is not doing enough to safeguard Palestinians or provide oversight of Israel’s use of its military aid.
“There can’t be a continuing blank check when the Netanyahu government is operating in violation of American law, which they have repeatedly, or in violation of international law,” Van Hollen said.
Later in his speech, Jacobs, the URJ president, said the U.S. Jewish community must also learn to accept diverging opinions on Israel.
“It does not make one love Israel any less to be pained by the loss of life and suffering among innocents, and we must learn how to work amidst difference. Our Jewish community will not be safe only with more cameras and security protocols. Does anti-Zionism spill over into antisemitism? Yes. But not always,” Jacobs said.
J Street also plans to use the conference to spotlight its growing political influence in the Democratic Party, with a fundraiser on Sunday evening for North Carolina Senate candidate Roy Cooper, the former governor. Attendees will also be able to join a phone bank for Evanston, Ill., Mayor Daniel Biss, who is running for Congress in a contentious Democratic primary in Illinois where Israel has become a key issue.
Other congressional speakers slated to address the conference on Monday include Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA), as well as Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sean Casten (D-IL), Madeleine Dean (D-PA) and Sara Jacobs (D-CA). The executive director of the House Majority PAC, a Super PAC that supports Democratic congressional candidates, will be at the conference meeting with top J Street donors.
Podcaster Nate Cornacchia has said that Israel was behind John F. Kennedy’s assassination and the global war on terror
Sophie Park/Getty Images
Maine Senate Graham Platner speaks at a town hall at the Leavitt Theater on October 22, 2025 in Ogunquit, Maine.
Weeks before Graham Platner promoted an antisemitic conspiracy theorist in a now-deleted social media post on Thursday, the controversial Maine Senate candidate appeared on a popular YouTube show whose host has spread specious claims about Jews and Israel.
Platner faced blowback this week for boosting a social media comment about a looming war with Iran by Stew Peters, a neo-Nazi influencer who has frequently espoused antisemitic tropes and engaged in Holocaust denial. Platner’s team said the post was made in error and “immediately” removed it after learning it elevated a “despicable account.”
In late January, however, Platner sat for a lengthy online interview with Nate Cornacchia, a retired Green Beret who has also promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories. Near the end of their hour-long conversation, Platner, a fellow military veteran, called himself “a longtime fan” of Cornacchia’s YouTube channel, “Valhalla VFT,” and said it was “an absolute pleasure being” on the show.
Cornacchia, whose show claims nearly 500,000 YouTube subscribers, has in recent months helped stoke a burgeoning far-right conspiracy theory alleging that Israel was involved in the assassination of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Two days before speaking with Platner, for instance, Cornacchia went on a podcast hosted by Jake Shields, a former mixed martial arts fighter who is now a prominent Holocaust denier, and pointed to what he described as “huge links” connecting Israel to Kirk’s killing. “The biggest one, the way I look at it, is because he was basically so important from the Zionist side to the young right wing, sort of that counter Nick Fuentes audience” that “Israel needs desperately,” he said.
“Charlie Kirk said that he was tired of being bullied by his Jewish donors” and that he “no longer could support the pro-Israel cause, and he was dead 48 hours later,” Cornacchia added on the show, where he also agreed with Shields’ assertion that President John F. Kennedy had “probably” been assassinated in a covert “venture between the CIA and Mossad,” the Israeli intelligence agency. “100%,” he replied.
In addition, Cornacchia has suggested that the global war on terror was conducted “on behest of Israel” and claimed Israel would benefit if another 9/11-style attack were carried out during the tenure of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, saying it would help to drum up Islamophobic sentiment and lead to another foreign military entanglement in the Middle East.
The Jewish state “got exactly who they wanted” in Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor whom the Israeli government has accused of antisemitism, he argued on his own show in November. “That’s their candidate, guys. You got to pay attention.”
The conservative YouTube commentator has also questioned why George Soros’ son Alex was seen posing for a photograph with Mamdani on the night of his election. “You may immediately be thinking, ‘Oh, well, of course, that’s because Soros funds all the socialists,’” Cornacchia said of George, a Jewish billionaire donor to left-wing causes and a Holocaust survivor who is often a target of antisemitic attacks.
“No, no, no, no, that’s surface level,” he told his viewers, claiming that the philanthropist “moves in coordination with our greatest ally,” a term he uses to sarcastically allude to Israel.
Platner’s interview with Cornacchia, which he promoted on his social media channels, did not touch on such topics. His team did not respond to a request for comment on Friday about Cornacchia’s antisemitic remarks.
The 41-year-old Senate candidate, who is running in a competitive Democratic primary to challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), faced skepticism from critics last fall after he denied knowing a tattoo that was on his chest for years closely mirrored a Totenkopf, the skull-and-crossbones icon adopted by an infamous Nazi SS unit. A former acquaintance of Platner who spoke with Jewish Insider said he had identified the symbol as such more than a decade ago, a claim he has denied. He had the tattoo removed last October.
Still, even as he maintains a commanding polling advantage in the Maine Democratic primary against Gov. Janet Mills, Platner’s explanation of the tattoo — combined with past and recent online blunders — is raising questions about whether he can weather scrutiny in a general election that party leadership views as key to reclaiming the Senate majority.
Mills, for her part, strongly hinted at such doubts in a snarky X post on Friday. “For what it’s worth,” she wrote, “I don’t have any tattoos.”
And on the same day he was drawing backlash for amplifying a conspiracy theorist this week, Platner was fielding a combative call from a listener during an appearance on a podcast hosted by the comedian Tim Heidecker.
The caller cast suspicion on Platner’s claim that he did not know the tattoo represented a Nazi symbol until recently, citing his self-proclaimed knowledge of World War II history, and called on the candidate to apologize rather than “dodging around” the issue.
But Platner held firm. “I’m not going to apologize for something that I didn’t know about or do,” he insisted. “The moment that it was clear and I was putting it in that context I had it covered, because I don’t want that on my body.”
Plus, Mamdani makes surprise WH visit
Umman Foreign Ministry/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (C) advisor Jared Kushner (L) meet with Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi (R), who is mediating between the parties in the third round of Iran-U.S. negotiations held in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 26, 2026.
Good Thursday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
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”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
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!
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EDUCATION CONSTERNATION
The suit highlights several complaints from Jewish parents and children statewide, in school districts including Berkeley, Los Angeles, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Campbell Union, Fremont, Etiwanda and Oakland
PRAIRIE STATE DEBATE
The far-left influencer, running competitively in a Chicago-area district with a sizable Jewish constituency, debated primary rivals Laura Fine and Daniel Biss on Wednesday
The Maine Senate candidate quickly deleted his post, in which he approved of a message by neo-Nazi radio host Stew Peters
Sophie Park/Getty Images
U.S. senatorial candidate from Maine Graham Platner speaks at a town hall at the Leavitt Theater on October 22, 2025 in Ogunquit, Maine.
Graham Platner, a far-left Senate candidate in Maine, amplified a social media post on Thursday from a far-right conspiracy theorist well-known for viciously antisemitic commentary — before quickly deleting the statement.
In a comment to X late Thursday morning, Platner approvingly boosted a remark from Stew Peters, an extremist radio host who has frequently promoted antisemitic tropes and engaged in Holocaust denial, calling a war with Iran “the only thing Republicans and Democrats have both given a standing ovation for.”
“As always, there’s one thing that brings Republican and Democratic politicians together: sending other people’s children to die in stupid wars in the Middle East,” Platner, a 41-year-old Marine veteran turned oyster farmer who has sharply criticized U.S. military engagement abroad, wrote in his own post.
He deleted the post an hour or so after it had been flagged by online observers who noted that he was elevating a problematic figure with a long record of hostile rhetoric toward Jews.
The Anti-Defamation League has described Peters as a “prolific antisemite” who blames “‘the Jews’ for everything he believes is wrong with society,” while the Southern Poverty Law Center has said his radio show has “become a central hub for antisemitic and conspiratorial content.”
He has said Judaism is “satanic” and a “death cult,” promoted blood libels, called for a “final solution” to mass-deport American Jews and questioned the existence of gas chambers that exterminated Jews during the Holocaust, among other conspiratorial assertions.
In a statement to Jewish Insider, a spokesperson for Platner said the post had been published due to an oversight. “We were reposting a C-Span clip of Trump speaking about the potential war with Iran and didn’t realize that the video had been posted by a despicable account,” the spokesperson said. “When we learned who the poster was we immediately deleted the post.”
The social media blunder is a particularly sensitive issue for Platner, who earlier in his campaign faced scrutiny over a Nazi tattoo on his chest, which he had covered up last October. He has insisted he was not aware the tattoo closely mirrored a Totenkopf, a skull-and-crossbones icon used by an infamous Nazi SS unit, even as a former acquaintance told JI that he had years ago specifically identified it as such. He has denied such claims.
“I am not a secret Nazi,” Platner said in a podcast interview last year, while calling himself “a lifelong opponent” of “Nazism and antisemitism and racism in general.”
Despite such baggage, polling has shown Platner holds a commanding lead in the Maine Democratic primary race, where he is facing Gov. Janet Mills to challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who is one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents up for reelection in the midterms.
A notable takeaway was just how different the preferences of Boomers and Gen Zers were — even among those affiliated with the same party
Campaign website
James Fishback
A pair of new polls — one in a Democratic Senate primary in Maine and one in a Republican gubernatorial primary in Florida — should sound alarm bells about the political and ideological trajectory of Gen Z voters, and the younger generation’s creeping tolerance of antisemitism that transcends party ID.
While the top lines from the polls generated the most headlines, the more notable takeaway was just how different the preferences of Boomers and Gen Zers were — even among those affiliated with the same party. The younger voters gravitated toward the candidates with checkered (at best) records on antisemitism.
James Fishback, a 31-year-old Republican investor who made a name for himself with incendiary social media posts attacking Israel and invoking antisemitic tropes, is barely winning a following among most Florida Republicans as he runs for governor. But among younger Republican voters, he appears to be building a growing base of support.
Graham Platner, an anti-establishment oyster farmer who for years had a skull-and-bones Totenkopf tattoo on his chest, a symbol adopted by a Nazi SS unit, is barely facing any backlash from Maine voters in his outsider Senate campaign. (He had the tattoo covered up during the campaign, amid widespread controversy.) Indeed, he may soon become the favorite to win the Senate seat in Maine, fueled by near-universal support among younger Democratic voters.
The polling underscores the dramatic generational disconnect.
In the University of North Florida poll, Fishback only received 6% support among Florida Republican voters, badly trailing front-runner Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), who is 47, by 25 points. But among voters 18-34 years old, the little-known Fishback is dominating Donalds, 31-8%. (It’s worth noting the subsample of young voters is small, but the polling is consistent with anecdotal reporting that Fishback has built a base of support among younger right-wing voters.)
Meanwhile in Maine, a Senate poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire found Platner, 41, not only holding a commanding primary lead over the state’s 78-year-old sitting governor, Janet Mills, (64-26%), but comfortably leading Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in a potential general election matchup. His support is fueled by Gen Z Democrats, who back him over Mills overwhelmingly, by a 73-point margin (84-11%). Those 65 and older preferred Mills, who is 78, by a four-point margin, 49-45%.
At the very least, these polls underscore that experience and credentials — no less the policy knowledge and credibility typically required of governors and senators — are barely valued by younger voters.
At worst, it’s an indicator that radicalism is actually a selling point for young voters, who are getting most of their information from social media sites whose algorithms promote polarization and extremism, and very little from reliable, trusted sources.
As we’ve noted before, it shouldn’t be a surprise that given the incentive structure on social media, antisemitism is thriving. If you build even artificial demand for extremism, the supply of hateful influencers — and eventually like-minded political candidates — will follow.
The suit highlights several complaints from Jewish parents and children statewide, in school districts including Berkeley, Los Angeles, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Campbell Union, Fremont, Etiwanda and Oakland
Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Members of the Oakland Unified School District School Board during a public school board meeting in Oakland, California Wednesday August 24, 2022.
Jewish legal groups filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the State of California over an alleged failure to address antisemitism — some of which is stemming from teachers’ unions — in K-12 public schools across the state.
Filed by the Louis D. Brandeis Center For Human Rights Under Law and StandWithUs, with outside counsel from veteran California plaintiffs’ attorney Michael Sherman, the suit also names the California State Board of Education, the State Department of Education and Superintendent Tony Thurmond.
It highlights several complaints from Jewish parents and children statewide, in school districts including Berkeley, Los Angeles, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Campbell Union, Fremont, Etiwanda and Oakland.
In the Berkeley Unified School District, which has been a hotbed for antisemitic incidents since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, a ninth grader said his art teacher displayed a Star of David with a fist punching through it. The same teacher promoted a walkout filled with chants that included, “F*ck the Jews,” according to the complaint, which states that when the student’s mother reported the teacher’s conduct, the school’s solution was to separate the Jewish student from his class in the library and health center.
The lawsuit comes two months after the House Committee on Education and Workforce opened an investigation into three school districts around the country, including BUSD, which has 9,400 students and had already been placed under federal investigation for an alleged failure to address antisemitism since Oct. 7.
The Brandeis Center also previously filed a Title VI complaint in 2024 with the Justice Department’s Office for Civil Rights that stated that Berkeley administrators had ignored parent reports, including a letter signed by 1,370 Berkeley community members to the district’s superintendent and Board of Education, while knowingly allowing its public schools to become hostile environments for Jewish and Israeli students.
The Oakland Unified School District, meanwhile, saw at least 30 Jewish families move their children to neighboring school districts in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks because of “systemic” antisemitism, eJewishPhilanthropy reported in 2024.
The lawsuit also spotlights multiple instances in which teachers or unions allegedly facilitated the spread of antisemitism into California classrooms. Members of the Oakland Education Association created an unapproved curriculum that recycles “antisemitic propaganda and age-old antisemitic tropes,” the suit states.
The curriculum featured, among other things, a children’s book for Oakland’s transitional kindergarten through third grade students that proclaims, “I is for Intifada,” a word defined benignly as “rising up for what’s right.” Another one of the materials asks children to draw a picture of “The Zionist leaders of Israel receiv[ing] money and support to conduct” a “two-tiered (unfair) system where Palestinians are mistreated and attacked.”
Last October, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 715, a law aimed at combating antisemitism in K-12 schools by establishing state prevention coordinators, adding to anti-discrimination policies and addressing the surge in incidents.
Local Jewish leaders expressed support for the lawsuit, claiming that existing laws have not been adequately enforced.
“California has some of the strongest laws and policies aimed at protecting Jewish residents from antisemitism, yet enforcement remains sparse, inconsistent and lacks accountability,” Robert Trestan, vice president of Anti-Defamation League West, said in a statement. “Jewish students are increasingly targeted because of their identity and exposed to lesson plans containing antisemitism and anti-Israel narratives. It is time for California officials to deliver on their promise of schools and classrooms that are free of hate. Our children cannot afford to wait any longer.”
More than half a million students attend LA public schools, including 50,000 Jewish children. Rabbi Noah Farkas, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation Los Angeles, said that “rising antisemitism in our classrooms is leaving some students unsafe and unprotected. California already has strong laws to prevent hate and discrimination — now they must be enforced consistently so every child can learn in safety with dignity. When any child experiences hate unchecked, it threatens the safety and moral integrity of our entire public education system.”
The state’s universities are similarly facing antisemitism allegations.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a suit against the University of California system, alleging that its Los Angeles campus failed to protect Jewish and Israeli faculty and staff in accordance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination.
Plus, Witkoff calls for indefinite Iran nuclear deal
Mario Tama/Getty Images
An attendee wears a jacket at an Iowa caucus watch party organized by Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America, on February 3, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Good Wednesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
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…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
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.
Stories You May Have Missed
PUSHING BACK
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, representing a swing district: ‘The idea that the vice president lost every swing state because she wasn’t more extreme on this issue is laughable’
CAPPELLO’S CAMPAIGN
The Air Force veteran, who served for six years at the U.S. Embassy in Israel, said Israel should continue to make efforts toward peace
The department’s deputy commissioner acknowledged the City Council bill will formalize, not change, police policy
Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images
NYPD officers set up barricades separating pro-Israel and anti-Israel protesters on Sept. 25, 2025 in New York City.
The NYPD — part of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration — declared before the City Council on Wednesday that it has “no objections” to Council Speaker Julie Menin’s proposal compelling the department to develop a policy for establishing “buffer zones” outside houses of worship during protests.
The legislation formed the core of a suite of antisemitism-battling legislation that Menin, the body’s first Jewish speaker, rolled out in January. The bill, which obligates the NYPD to codify protocol for ensuring worshippers can enter and exit religious facilities without obstruction or harassment, initially contained language that would set the range of police barricades or tape at “up to 100 feet.”
However, an updated iteration of the legislation released Monday night eliminated any specific reference to distance, in response to objections that such language could actually constrict the NYPD’s range of protective activity. As a result, the department announced before a hearing of the Council’s Committee to Combat Hate that it has no issues with the bill, following the mayor’s previous allusions to unspecified concerns he and his NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch had with the proposal.
“We greatly appreciate that dialogue and collaboration,” said NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Legal Affairs Michael Gerber, who explicitly stated he was providing the opinion of Tisch. “The result is a bill that is consistent with the NYPD’s ability to protect people entering and leaving places of worship, as well as our commitment to facilitating First Amendment activity.”
The Menin bill is distinct from Gov. Kathy Hochul’s push for 25-foot buffer zones around houses of worship, which would subject violators to criminal penalties. Despite the controversy over the Council proposal, which inspired dueling rallies in opposition and support prior to the hearing, Gerber noted that the law would not impose new policies upon the NYPD but simply require Tisch to formalize and publish their procedures.
“To be clear, the policy will not alter our practices but rather will articulate and describe what we are already doing,” Gerber said. “I think the bill fosters transparency.”
A corollary piece of City Council legislation, introduced by Councilmember Eric Dinowitz — chair of the body’s Jewish Caucus — would apply the same standards to educational facilities. Gerber said his department could not offer the same carte blanche support for this proposal, because it would set uniform standards for police conduct on both public and private property.
Menin pressed Gerber regarding the NYPD’s failure to set up a clear path of access and egress to Park East Synagogue in Manhattan amid an anti-Israel protest in November spearheaded by openly pro-Hamas activists. Gerber reiterated a statement of regret that Tisch, a scion of one of the city’s most prominent Jewish families, also made at the time.
“We got that one wrong,” said Gerber. “We didn’t have the appropriate frozen zone at the entrance, and that led to a situation that should not have happened.”
But the deputy commissioner stressed that the NYPD must guarantee the right of protesters to demonstrate in sight and earshot of their targets, even if their message is hateful and even if the targets are entering or exiting a house of worship.
“The NYPD must protect the First Amendment rights of protesters,” said Gerber. “If individuals choose to protest against those entering a place of worship, the NYPD will ensure that they have sight and sound to the entrance of that location, consistent with the First Amendment. At the same time, the protesters will not be permitted to obstruct, impede or interfere.”
Several left-wing members of the Council pressed Gerber for statistics and responses to hypothetical scenarios, and to make a straightforward declaration of support or opposition to the measure.
Other council members shared their view that the bill does not go far enough. “My concern is that we’re putting forward a symbolic bill that doesn’t really address the real concerns and fears that are being expressed today,” said Councilmember Sandy Nurse.
Menin’s proposal now has 27 co-sponsors, two more than the needed majority of the Council’s 51 members — though seven short of the number required to override a mayoral veto. Mamdani has so far declined to say whether he would sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
The Air Force veteran, who served for six years at the U.S. Embassy in Israel, said Israel should continue to make efforts toward peace
Campaign Website
John Cappello
Democrat John Cappello, an Air Force veteran, brings experience as a senior U.S. military official in Israel to the crowded race to take on Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) in New York’s 17th Congressional District.
But, entering the race later than most other competitors and lagging behind in fundraising, he has significant ground to make up before the June primary.
Cappello spent six years working as a military official in the U.S. Embassy in Israel, from 2010- 2016, first as the Air Force attache and later on missile-defense issues. After his time in the military, Cappello was tapped as a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, before going on to found his own foreign policy-focused groups.
“I always understood, being a student of history and of politics, that the United States’ relationship with Israel was a very unique one and a very close one,” Cappello said in an interview with Jewish Insider. “But to be able to be there to see it and to be part of both nurturing it and building it was an honor.”
During his first three years at the embassy, Cappello worked under then-U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, helping to set up and escort delegations of American military officials and business leaders; in his second three years, he helped run the Missile Defense Agency liaison office.
While in Israel, he also took classes in Middle East Studies at Tel Aviv University.
He said he was on the ground in a period in which “the challenges towards Israel were morphing and were changing dramatically” — including an increase in rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel.
Cappello said that the U.S. and the world need to stop “kicking the can” on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and that the current cycle of “mow[ing] the grass” with a new war every few years is not a viable long-term solution for Israel’s prosperity.
But he also acknowledged the concerns in Israel about trying to reach peace, after previous efforts have gone unreciprocated.
“It’s complex because the Israelis see it that they’ve continually extended a hand, continually tried to compromise,” Cappello said. “How many times do your neighbors attack you, you defeat them, and then you’re still expected to somehow compromise and give back?”
But he said that, with U.S. support, Israel has “never been more powerful” and that there is “room for them to accept risk,” but only with a guarantee that the U.S. and the Western world have its back.
He said moving toward peace will require strong leadership on all sides — including an end to Palestinian incitement and hatred against Jews and Israel — and backing from the U.S., the Europeans and the Arab states.
He added that the events of and since Oct. 7, 2023, while tragic, have “opened a door, in a way,” with Hamas and Hezbollah weakened, the fall of the Syrian regime and the weakening of the Iranian regime.
“I think the United States needs to play a leadership role, and an aggressive leadership role — not about building hotel complexes and luxury resorts in Gaza, but actually working towards development that will provide the Palestinians the opportunity to live in partnership with their neighbors, because all of the countries in that region can benefit from what the Israelis have done,” Cappello argued.
Cappello rejected the idea of conditioning U.S. aid to Israel and said that, while Israel is “an imperfect democracy” and deserving of criticism for some of the way it handled the war in Gaza, “it is a democracy, it is an important partner.”
“The Israelis have legitimate concerns to defeat an enemy that’s bent on destroying it. They also have a responsibility … to do everything they can to limit civilian casualties,” Cappello said.
He said the U.S. should “use our partnership, our leverage, in a way that allows Israel to defend itself, but to do so in a manner that fits the democratic values it espouses.” He said that cutting off weapons sales would not reduce conflict because Israel would still need to find ways to defend itself.
He emphasized that Israel does have stringent targeting procedures to limit civilian casualties and that the war in Gaza was a pursuit of “legitimate military goals” but these are complicated by Hamas militants intermingling with civilians.
“The Israelis have legitimate concerns to defeat an enemy that’s bent on destroying it. They also have a responsibility … to do everything they can to limit civilian casualties,” he said.
Cappello said that the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear program sent an important message in punishing the regime for its ballistic missile strikes on Israel and set back nuclear efforts, but did not fulfill the administration’s initial claims of fully obliterating the nuclear program.
“The lack of seriousness and planning and strategic foresight, I think, is a real problem,” he said.
Cappello also said that it would be “irresponsible” if the U.S. repeatedly promised protesters in Iran that help was on the way, “unless we are really going to back it up.” But he said that any further strikes on Iran need to be based on specific goals and objectives that can be achieved.
“I’ve talked to a lot of young people, and this topic has come up a couple of times, about Israel, support for Israel. Smart, intelligent young people that have graduated from university — but they have this misguided notion because they’re being fed information. They see it on their feed, this is what they read,” Cappello said.
“What is the objective here? I don’t know — and so in the absence of knowing, I’m reticent to use military force because it has other ramifications, not the least of which is putting American service members in harm’s way,” he continued. He said other nonmilitary responses include continued and increased sanctions targeting Iranian officials.
He tied the antisemitism crisis in the United States to a failure of leadership — with leaders failing to call out antisemitism and distortions of history and indulging in antisemitic narratives themselves. He said that education about antisemitism is also critical.
“I’ve talked to a lot of young people, and this topic has come up a couple of times, about Israel, support for Israel. Smart, intelligent young people that have graduated from university — but they have this misguided notion because they’re being fed information. They see it on their feed, this is what they read,” Cappello said.
Asked about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s record, he said that he “understand[s] the concerns and he has a responsibility to address the things that he said in the past,” adding that he wants to see Mamdani admit mistakes he has made and change.
“Just because the voters voted [for] him doesn’t mean we accept racism or antisemitism or any of those, but, I think he is a work in progress, and let’s see,” Cappello said. “He should be held accountable. He has a responsibility to continue. He said he’s ‘the mayor for everyone’ … now he’s got to step up.”
Facing a wide field of competitors in the Democratic primary, Cappello argued that his service to the country and experience dealing with national and international challenges would make him a strong leader for the district.
But he also acknowledged that he entered the race later than most other candidates, and that he needs to work to introduce himself to voters. He argued that most voters aren’t paying attention to the race yet, so there is still plenty of time for him to make that outreach.
“The thing that keeps me going, despite the crazy local politics and the disgusting amount of money we have to raise, is when I talk to people, people do want change,” Cappello said. “They want to believe that we can do politics differently.”
Cappello has raised $53,000 since entering the race and closed out 2025 with just $20,000 on hand, making his total fundraising haul less than one-fifth of the next closest competitor’s. But several others closed out the quarter with similarly depleted war chests.
The ADL condemned the comments from the executive director of CAIR’s Ohio chapter as ‘hateful, utterly false’ rhetoric
Paul Sancya/AP
Khalid Turaani, co-chair of the Abandon Biden campaign in Michigan, speaks at the Islamic Center of Detroit in Detroit, Friday, Jan. 26, 2024.
Jewish groups condemned testimony by the executive director of the Ohio branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations at a recent state Senate Judiciary Committee hearing during which he accused Israel of harvesting skin from deceased Palestinians.
Khalid Turaani testified on Feb. 18 against Senate Bill 87, which would see Ohio adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, asserting that “Israel has the largest human skin bank in the world.”
Turaani claimed as his evidence a report by Israel’s Channel 10 from March 2014, though no such report exists. The conspiracy theory of Israeli organ harvesting originated in 2009, when a Swedish tabloid published falsehoods that the IDF kills Palestinians to provide organs to Israeli hospitals, and has been repeated by Palestinian media for years.
The claim, which reemerged in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, also plays on the blood libel trope, an antisemitic conspiracy accusing Jews of murdering Christians to use their blood, that dates back to the Middle Ages.
“Where do you think they got all this skin from?” Turaani continued. “They have more human skin than China and India. They are literally skinning the dead bodies of my brothers and sisters in Palestine,” he said, without offering evidence. “And if I call them Nazis, your law is going to punish me.”
Greg Miller, board chair of Ohio Jewish Communities, which represents the state’s eight Jewish federations, told Jewish Insider that the “false, abhorrent and libelous statements made during this testimony are the kind that have been inciting hatred and violence against Jews for thousands of years.”
Miller said the testimony “only reinforces the need for passage of this bill that provides absolute clarity that those statements are antisemitic. By codifying the IHRA definition, such statements aren’t criminalized but makes it obvious to be condemned by all Ohioans as the blind hatred that inspired them.”
Lee C. Shapiro, the American Jewish Committee’s Cleveland regional director, told JI that while there is “room for reasoned discussion about the IHRA definition,” Turaani “chose to ignore facts and instead propagated hatred and easily dispelled lies. It’s an insult to Ohioans and a disservice to the public square.”
The Anti-Defamation League’s Ohio River Valley office said it was “appalled” by Turaani’s testimony. “The antisemitic organ harvesting myth plays on the blood libel trope, which has spurred the torture, murder, and expulsion of Jews for centuries,” the statement continued. “It continues to fuel violence against Jewish communities today. Such hateful, utterly false rhetoric has no place in our state capitol. We call on Ohio’s leaders to join us in condemning these remarks and standing firm against antisemitism in all its forms.”
Leaders and senior officials of CAIR have on numerous occasions in recent years drawn ire from the Jewish community over comments relating to Israel and antisemitism.
Turaani himself moderated an event in October featuring a Hamas official designated as a terrorist by the Treasury Department, as well as other Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad members.
And as Hamas was conducting its rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7, Hussam Ayloush, the executive director of CAIR-LA, praised the attacks, tweeting a prayer for Allah to “grant relief, freedom, and victory to the people of Gaza.” Weeks later, Nihad Awad, the executive director of CAIR, said at a conference that he was “happy to see people breaking the siege” on Oct. 7, describing the attacks as an act of self-defense.
Plus, Trump says Iran won't rule out nuclear weapons
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Protestors gather after police cleared a new encampment on the UCLA campus on May 23, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Good Tuesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
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…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
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.
Stories You May Have Missed
SHIFTING STANCE
The progressive activist ran as a pro-Israel candidate in a neighboring swing district, but is now walking back her support as she runs to succeed Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman
PRAIRIE STATE OF PLAY
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton seems to be running to the congressman’s left on Israel, even as Rep. Robin Kelly is the most outspoken critic of Israel in the race
The lawsuit accuses UCLA of permitting harassment against Jewish and Israeli faculty
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Royce Hall building on University of California (UCLA) campus in Los Angeles, California, USA - May 28, 2023.
Building on a monthslong battle between the Trump administration and the University of California, the Department of Justice filed a suit on Tuesday against the university system, alleging that its Los Angeles campus failed to protect Jewish and Israeli faculty and staff in accordance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination.
The 81-page DOJ complaint, filed in California’s Central District, alleges that since the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks in Israel, UCLA “has ignored, and continues to ignore, gross and repeated violations of viewpoint-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions. Jewish and Israeli faculty have been physically threatened, had their classrooms disrupted, and had their workplaces papered with disturbing images.”
“Numerous Jewish and Israeli employees have been forced to take leave, work from home, and even leave their jobs to avoid the hostile work environment,” the suit alleges.
In a statement to Jewish Insider, Mary Osako, UCLA’s vice chancellor of strategic communications, said the university has “taken concrete and significant steps to strengthen campus safety, enforce policies, and combat antisemitism in a systemic and sustained manner.”
Osako said those efforts have included hiring a Title VI/Title VII officer “to ensure professionalized oversight and accountability” and strengthened time, place, and manner policies “to protect both free expression and campus operations.”
The federal suit is a significant escalation of the government’s crackdown on what it alleges are failures across the University of California system to address antisemitism. Multiple civil rights investigations have been launched into the system and individual campuses.
The lawsuit comes seven months after UCLA settled a federal lawsuit with Jewish students who alleged that the university permitted antisemitic conduct during the spring 2024 anti-Israel encampments on the campus.
Yitzchok Frankel, then a second-year law student at UCLA, filed suit against the university in June 2024, claiming that he was “harassed and blocked from approaching the encampment by antisemitic activists, all with the assistance of UCLA security.” Two other Jewish UCLA students and a UCLA medical school professor later joined the suit. As part of the settlement, UCLA agreed to provide support to community organizations engaged in combating antisemitism.
Last year, the Trump administration sought more than $1 billion and a range of concessions from the university in order to restore funding frozen over alleged antisemitism, which was never paid — even after some research money was restored.
A federal judge in San Francisco ruled in November in a preliminary injunction that the Trump administration could not fine the University of California or cut the school system’s federal funding over claims it allows antisemitism or other types of discrimination.
The government did not offer a specific financial demand of UCLA in Tuesday’s lawsuit, but it suggested “awarding damages” to “aggrieved Jewish and Israeli UCLA employees.”
City Council legislation to shield synagogues and other religious institutions pits Jewish groups against progressive activists — and sets up a potential fight with the Mamdani administration
Selçuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images
Anti-Israel demonstrators gather at 'No Settlers on Stolen Land' protest against a Nefesh b'Nefesh event at the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan in November 2025.
A bill introduced in the New York City Council in response to pro-Hamas demonstrations outside New York synagogues has sparked a battle between mainstream Jewish advocacy organizations and protest groups and their allies — and leaves New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the NYPD in an awkward spot.
At the center of the agenda to counter antisemitism that Council Speaker Julie Menin unveiled in January was her proposal directing the NYPD to establish a plan for “security perimeters,” demarcated with police barriers or tape, up to 100 feet from entrances and exits at religious facilities to prevent protesters from obstructing or harassing people attempting to enter or exit.
In response to feedback from the police department, the speaker’s office stripped out any specific reference to distance, and a new draft of the bill simply compels Commissioner Jessica Tisch to propose her own plan for “buffer zones” of sizes she deems appropriate “to address and contain the risk of injury, intimidation, and interference, while preserving and protecting protest rights.” Like the previous bill, the zones in the updated legislation could extend from both doorways and driveways.
The measure faces its first hearing in the council on Wednesday, but it has already accentuated and even deepened the split between long-standing Jewish institutions and the activist forces that elevated Mamdani to power last fall.
“Access to religious institutions must be protected so that people can enter their houses of worship without fear of harassment or intimidation,” said Eric S. Goldstein, CEO of the UJA-Federation of New York, which has sought to organize Jewish communal support for the bill. “Speaker Menin’s proposal advances that goal through a carefully designed framework that appropriately balances First Amendment rights with safety and prevention,” Goldstein said.
By contrast, a bevy of far-left groups — Jews For Racial & Economic Justice, the American Council for Judaism, Jewish Voice for Peace-New York City and IfNotNow NYC — several of which have ties to the mayor, collectively denounced Menin’s legislation earlier this month.
“The right to protest in this country is sacrosanct and must be protected,” the organizations said in a joint statement, arguing that the synagogues at the center of recent demonstrations had hosted “non-religious political events” — namely, for groups encouraging and facilitating immigration to Israel — that made them legitimate targets. “We urge our city leaders to take seriously that a free and open democracy is essential towards ensuring the safety of all New Yorkers, including Jewish communities.”
The Menin bill is distinct from Gov. Kathy Hochul’s push for 25-foot buffer zones around houses of worship, which would subject violators to criminal penalties, or from calls for similar actions on the national level. A corollary piece of City Council legislation, introduced by Councilmember Eric Dinowitz, would establish similar perimeters around educational institutions.
Alyza Lewin, president of U.S. affairs for the Combat Antisemitism Movement, noted that the Supreme Court had upheld electioneering laws barring campaign activity within 100 feet of polling places.
“It really shouldn’t be so controversial,” Lewin told JI. “They determined that setting up a 100-foot zone around the polling place did not impermissibly interfere with the speech rights of those campaigning. You have a similar situation here. And here you’re talking about a constitutionally protected right to the free exercise of religion.”
The speaker’s office acknowledged it had looked to the high court precedent Lewin cited while crafting the legislation. But Menin’s team stressed to Jewish Insider that the bill would not prohibit protesting within the buffer zones.
Menin’s office maintained that the legislation would compel the police department to have an official, public protocol for ensuring access and egress at places of worship during demonstrations.
“It does not limit protest activity,” said Menin spokesperson Henry Robins. “The bill directs the NYPD to develop and publish a plan to ensure individuals can safely enter and exit these institutions without harassment or obstruction, while fully respecting First Amendment rights.”
Mamdani has declined to express his opinions on the proposal from Menin, a Manhattan Democrat and the first-ever Jewish council speaker, frequently seen as representing moderate elements of the party that opposed his election. He has instead alluded to vague “concerns” with the proposal from Tisch, a scion of one of the city’s most prominent Jewish families and a holdover from his predecessor’s administration.
However, multiple sources asserted that concerns from the NYPD were not constitutional but logistical.
Moreover, former Mayor Eric Adams signed an executive order in December that directed the NYPD to consider instituting zones limiting protest from 15 to 60 feet from the doorways of religious facilities. Moshe Davis, who headed the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism under Adams, said his team developed this directive in concert with the NYPD and the city Law Department, which have not changed under the new administration.
Mamdani repealed Adams’ order, along with others the outgoing mayor signed just before his term ended, his first day in office — but then signed an identical decree into effect. His office did not respond to requests for comment from JI.
Menin’s bill currently has 20 co-sponsors, six short of the majority needed for passage. However, 34 of the 51 members of the council would need to back the bill to override a mayoral veto.
Speaking to Jake Tapper on CNN Monday night, Mamdani said he would reserve comment until his administration had conducted a legal review.
Candidate Anthony Driver Jr. said he would return donations by philanthropist Michael Sacks over his ties to AIPAC; Sacks called it ‘truly sad’
Vernon Yuen/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Michael J. Sacks at the Global Hong Kong Global Financial Leaders Investment Summit on October 8, 2023 in Hong Kong, China.
A prominent Jewish Chicago-area Democratic donor and philanthropist lamented rising anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism after a progressive Illinois congressional candidate issued a public statement saying he would reject the donor’s contribution to his campaign due to his ties to AIPAC.
Union organizer Anthony Driver Jr. is running in Illinois’s 7th Congressional District, on a platform critical of Israel and in opposition to AIPAC. He said in a statement that he would return a contribution by Michael Sacks, a local Jewish, pro-Israel philanthropist and Democratic donor who had been a prominent supporter of former President Barack Obama and close ally to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Sacks also chaired the 2024 Democratic National Convention host committee and raised nearly $100 million to put on the convention.
“Michael Sacks has supported community violence intervention work in Chicago for years. I served nearly four years as President of the Chicago Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, helping advance real public safety reform,” Driver said. “The first time I heard about any link between Michael Sacks and AIPAC was on the debate stage. As I said on that same stage, I will return the contribution.”
Sacks, in response, pointed to public anti-Israel and antisemitic currents as pushing Driver, who has been endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, to take such a position.
“It is truly sad there is so much anti-Israel sentiment and outright Jew hate that Anthony found himself in this position,” Sacks said in a statement to the Chicago Tribune. “I can only hope that the electorate rejects hate in all forms.”
Sacks said he asked Driver to contribute the donations to a community violence prevention group of his choosing, calling Driver a “pragmatic [progressive]” and praising his work on violence reduction.
On the campaign trail, Driver has railed against AIPAC and spending by its super PAC, supporting one of his rivals, Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin. Conyears-Ervin faced attacks by several of her opponents about her support from AIPAC’s super PAC during a candidate forum last week.
Driver also states on his campaign website that he supports efforts to restrict offensive weapons transfers to Israel, including the Block the Bombs Act, and the recognition of Palestinian right of return.
Driver’s unwillingness to even accept support from a pro-Israel donor underscores the deepening hostility to Israel and its supporters in certain Democratic circles. As part of their anti-Israel campaign, progressives are working to make campaign contributions from individuals who have supported pro-Israel causes unacceptable — even if they haven’t been directly connected with AIPAC.
Plus, major Dem donor calls out 'Jew hate' in party
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President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House on September 25, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Good Monday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
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…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
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.
Stories You May Have Missed
OVERTON WINDOW
Former Democratic Rep. Kathy Manning: ‘There is no doubt that we are living through very difficult times for American Jews’
BIG TENT SHABBAT
The dinner was hosted by Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the U.S. antisemitism special envoy
The dinner was hosted by Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the U.S. antisemitism special envoy
Alex Kent/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The US Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025.
Several dozen diplomats, senior Trump administration officials and Jewish communal leaders gathered at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace on Friday night for a Shabbat dinner hosted by Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the U.S. antisemitism special envoy, according to a source who attended the dinner.
A day earlier, that same space had hosted the inaugural Board of Peace meeting.
The gathering brought together a coterie of Washington officials, including Princess Reema, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U.S., and United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba, even though ties between the two Gulf nations have been strained in recent months. Other diplomats in the room came from France, Germany, Poland, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Lebanon and Jordan, according to the source.
Kaploun, who started at the State Department in December after being confirmed by the Senate, spoke at the event. He had recently returned from his first overseas trip, with stops in London, Switzerland and the Munich Security Forum. Reed Rubinstein, the State Department legal advisor, also spoke, as did Princess Reema. The Saudi diplomat talked about how close Israel and Saudi Arabia were to normalization before the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel and that she hoped to get back to that point, although normalization efforts have stalled.
“Kaploun hosting Arab and European diplomats for a traditional, family-style Shabbat and watching them love every minute of it is one the most clever displays of soft diplomacy I’ve ever seen,” the attendee, who requested anonymity to discuss an off-the-record event, told Jewish Insider. “The Saudis called for normalization. Who saw that coming?”
Most attendees were either diplomats or Trump administration officials, but Republican donor Miriam Adelson was also in the room. Combat Antisemitism Movement founder Adam Beren and board member Arie Lipnick, Conference of Presidents Chair Betsy Berns Korn and Jewish Federations of North America Chair Gary Torgow were also in attendance.
“Diplomats and leaders from across our country and across the world gathered together in a comfortable setting in our nation’s capital and shared a meaningful meal,” Korn told JI. “Ambassador Kaploun explained the importance of Shabbat as well as a heartfelt speech about the dangers of hatred. His powerful message of peace and community resonated throughout the room. We need more of this diplomacy.”
Guests noshed on Shabbat fish, potato kugel, matzah ball soup and more, along with Mediterranean desserts in honor of iftar for the Muslim diplomats in the room, according to the source.
Jeremy Lewin, the acting under secretary of state for foreign assistance, humanitarian affairs and religious freedom, attended the dinner, as did Sarah Rogers, under secretary of state for public diplomacy, and Pierre Gentin, general counsel at the Commerce Department.
Kaploun said at the event that he plans to host more Shabbat dinners in the future.
ADL will integrate the symbol into its educational and interfaith materials
Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Anti-Defamation League/Lester Cohen/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft
The Anti-Defamation League and Blue Square Alliance Against Hate are joining forces in a new partnership to combat the spread of antisemitism, Jewish Insider has learned.
ADL said it will integrate the blue square symbol, which has become popularized by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s group, into its educational programming such as tool kits and content for synagogues as well as materials and content distributed to other faith communities.
“We are proud to embrace the blue square campaign as we seek to build empathy for the Jewish people and to expand understanding about the root causes and consequences of antisemitism,” said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.
“The blue square serves as a universal symbol for unity and solidarity. It’s a call to action that
demonstrates we are strongest when we stand together, arm in arm as sisters and brothers, united by our shared values,” said Kraft, founder of the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, which rebranded last year from the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.
“At a time when there is far too much divisiveness in our country, this is when we need the unity that the blue square represents most. By partnering with the ADL, we are amplifying our mission to stand up to Jewish hate and all hate and are expanding the reach of the blue square to reach more Americans in communities across our country in order to fight hate together,” Kraft continued.
Blue Square and the ADL have a history of collaboration: Earlier this month, ADL conducted a survey on reactions to the Blue Square Alliance’s Super Bowl commercial amid a political debate over its impact. The antisemitism watchdog plans to honor Kraft at its annual conference next month in New York City.
The partnership comes as antisemitism is surging in France, leading many French Jews to emigrate to Israel
Courtesy
American Jewish Committee William Petschek Global Jewish Communities Department Director Alexandra Herzog, AJC CEO Ted Deutch, Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France ( CRIF) President Yonathan Arfi and AJC Europe Vice President Anne-Sophia Sebban-Bécache, after AJC and CRIF signed a partnership agreement in Paris to deepen transatlantic cooperation in fighting antisemitism.
The American Jewish Committee and Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France (CRIF), the umbrella organization representing French Jewry, announced a new partnership on Friday aimed at combating an increase of antisemitism that has caused many French Jews to consider leaving the country.
The agreement was formalized at the CRIF’s 40th annual dinner in Paris on Thursday. According to the groups, the partnership will bring together Jewish leaders and antisemitism experts from the U.S. and France to strengthen ties between the communities in their respective countries. It builds on existing collaborations between AJC and CRIF, including a conference last year titled “On the Frontlines: French-American Forum on Antisemitism,” which focused on youth engagement, education and transatlantic cooperation.
France, which is home to Europe’s largest Jewish community, has seen a “dramatic rise of antisemitism,” as the country’s U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner described it in an open-letter to French President Emmanuel Macron in August.
In the letter, which was published in The Wall Street Journal, Kushner wrote that since Oct. 7, 2023, “pro-Hamas extremists and radical activists have waged a campaign of intimidation and violence across Europe.” He also raised concerns that in France, “not a day passes without Jews assaulted in the street, synagogues or schools defaced, or Jewish-owned businesses vandalized,” citing statistics shared by the country’s Interior Ministry regarding the rise in antisemitic incidents.
Robert Ejnes, executive director of CRIF, wrote in August, “I don’t know a family that is not speaking about” emigrating to Israel.
“AJC and CRIF are focused on shaping a future in which Jews are safe and thriving,” said Ted Deutch, CEO of AJC. “By formalizing our collaboration, we are strengthening our ability to act together to confront antisemitism and defend democratic values at a moment when Jewish communities are under threat.” AJC’s Europe headquarters has been located in Paris since 2015.
“AJC and CRIF have built a strong foundation of trust, shared leadership and concrete achievements,” said Yonathan Arfi, president of CRIF. “This agreement reflects the reality of a relationship that has existed and thrived for many years.”
Plus, Trump's kind words for Qatari PM
Alex Wong/Getty Images
A visitor holds an AIPAC folder in an elevator in Rayburn House Office Building on March 12, 2024 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
Good Thursday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
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…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
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 the AIPAC Congressional Summit, which is kicking off Sunday amid the group’s increasing involvement in midterm election races.
President Donald Trump is expected to meet with governors at the White House tomorrow, though the meeting will no longer be held under the auspices of the National Governors Association, as is done annually, after the White House declined to invite Democratic Govs. Jared Polis of Colorado and Wes Moore of Maryland to a black-tie dinner on Saturday.
We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat Shalom!
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FULOP’S FIGHT
As the new head of NYC’s leading business advocacy group, Fulop said he’s preparing for ‘this experiment of what it means to be an executive in a DSA world’
TEXAS TROUBLE
An unfolding scandal involving Rep. Tony Gonzales could cost him his seat at the hands of a far-right social media influencer
Fingerhut called on states to opt in to a tax credit that would provide funds for Jewish day school and yeshiva education
JFNA
JFNA CEO Eric Fingerhut delivers the inaugural State of the Jewish Union address in Washington, Feb. 19, 2026.
As antisemitic incidents continue to roil Jewish communities nationwide, Jewish Federations of North America CEO Eric Fingerhut called on Congress to increase funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $1 billion annually and to “make the program more flexible and simpler to use.”
Fingerhut also called on governors to support an educational tax credit on Thursday during JFNA’s inaugural “State of the Jewish Union” address at the organization’s Washington headquarters.
Fingerhut urged lawmakers to provide federal support for security personnel so that schools and synagogues don’t need to cover the costs; expand the FBI’s capabilities to detect and disrupt domestic terrorism; increase support for state and local law enforcement protecting Jewish institutions; hold social media companies accountable for antisemitic hate and incitement to violence through their platforms; and prosecute hate crimes “aggressively.”
The call for increased security comes as American Jews have faced several high-profile hate crimes in the past year, including the recent arson attack at Mississippi’s largest synagogue. Less than two weeks after the attack on Congregation Beth Israel in Jackson, Congress put forward a budget of $300 million for NSGP for 2026. While that figure is a small increase from the funding provided in 2024 and 2025, it is lower than the allocations initially proposed by both the House and Senate and the amount requested by Jewish leaders.
American Jews have responded to the increase of hate and the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in what JFNA coined as “the surge,” describing a rise in Jews engaging or seeking to engage more in communal life.
According to the organization, enrollment in Jewish schools and camps remains high. “This is why we strongly support the new federal education scholarship tax credit and urge all 50 states to opt in so the funds can reach the families and schools in every community,” Fingerhut said on Thursday.
JFNA confirmed to Jewish Insider that the group plans to hold sideline meetings with state leaders on Friday during the National Governors Association summit in Washington to encourage Democratic governors to participate in the education tax credit, which would create supplemental funding for scholarships for Jewish day school and yeshiva education.
Though the anti-Israel encampments and disruptive protests that plagued college campuses in the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7 and the ensuing Israel-Hamas war have largely died down, a larger percentage of Jewish college students report having experienced antisemitism than ever before. Fingerhut encouraged passage of the bipartisan Protecting Students on Campus Act, which would require federally funded colleges and universities to inform students of their civil rights under Title VI and provide accessible information on how to file discrimination complaints.
“The state of the Jewish union in America is strong, but it is being tested,” said Fingerhut. “We are united in our commitment to America and to Jewish life, even as we worry about the real threats of violence and the growing acceptance of antisemitic rhetoric.”
Following Fingerhut’s address, three heads of local federations shared challenges in addressing security and social needs in their communities. Rabbi Noah Farkas, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles; Scott Kaufman, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation; and Miryam Rosenzweig, president and CEO of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation echoed that — despite varying degrees of antisemitism in their communities — there is a significant “antisemitism tax,” an increased financial burden to protect Jewish institutions.
“Every dollar we’re spending [on security] we can’t spend on the ‘joy’ part of being Jewish,” said Kaufman.
As the new head of NYC’s leading business advocacy group, Fulop said he’s preparing for ‘this experiment of what it means to be an executive in a DSA world’
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop speaks during a press conference on April 11, 2025 in Jersey City, New Jersey.
As he settles into his role leading the Partnership for New York City, a prominent business advocacy group, Steve Fulop, the former longtime mayor of Jersey City, N.J., has a few major issues on his mind, chief among them countering the rise of antisemitism.
For Fulop, a Jewish Democrat who assumed his new job last month, just five days after he left office on Jan. 15, such efforts are not only personal as a former yeshiva student who was also the grandson of Holocaust survivors. They are directly connected, he explained to Jewish Insider, to promoting a friendlier climate where businesses can feel safe and welcome in the city.
Many of the Partnership’s Jewish board members, representing some of the city’s most powerful firms in finance, real estate and other leading sectors, also share his sense of urgency, Fulop said, as do many of the 800,000 employees who make up his group’s core constituency.
“They often say of the tax conversation that we could talk about whether people stay or go, if they migrate elsewhere,” Fulop said of his conversations with members in an interview with JI on Tuesday at his fifth-floor office in the Financial District, which looks out on Jersey City. “But if you continue on a trend where it feels like antisemitism is increasing and quality of life is decreasing, that is a trigger for people to leave very, very fast.”
Citing statistics from January that showed a sharp, year-on-year uptick in antisemitic incidents in New York City, Fulop emphasized that the city now finds itself on an “alarming” track. “Those are things that will push people to leave immediately,” he warned.
“Obviously you have a fringe far left that often says antisemitic things and has normalized it, and that’s not OK,” he said. “If it continues on a trajectory, we will be vocal on it.”
Fulop said that he has met with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani “multiple times,” and described their discussions as “very positive and pleasant,” despite clear differences on hot-button topics ranging from support for Israel to proposed tax hikes on wealthy New Yorkers.
“To be honest with you, I don’t think we’re going to agree on everything,” he told JI, “but we do try to find places where we agree,” including such shared affordability issues as “housing growth” and child care.
Speaking from his own experience as a former Democratic “outsider” who also rose to mayor in his 30s, Fulop, who turns 49 next week, acknowledged that Mamdani has a “tough job” as he faces pressure from his far-left base in the Democratic Socialists of America, which has aggressively pushed boycotts of Israel. “There is clearly antisemitic rhetoric coming from that base,” Fulop said.
“Even if he’s not sympathetic to some of them, his base is very vocal,” Fulop said. “That’s going to be something that we pay attention to, when you start talking about some of the rhetoric around the BDS language, where the left pushes, and how [Mamdani] stands up to them,” he elaborated, referring to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel. “It’s early days at this point.”
Fulop’s assessment underscores how the business community, in conjunction with Jewish leaders and others concerned about Mamdani’s policies, is now formalizing an approach to act as a bulwark against the mayor while navigating a new political landscape it views as largely inhospitable to its goals.
Even as he expressed a desire to be “helpful” to Mamdani, Fulop has also indicated that he will not hesitate to stake out more adversarial positions on key areas where they are not aligned. In November, for instance, he described Mamdani’s proposal for a corporate tax hike as “absolute suicide” for the city.
“The goal is to be more aggressive on tenor, not necessarily adversarial all the time,” he said. “To be clear that we think that a fragile city environment is at risk.”
Regarding the administration’s track record on Israel and antisemitism a month and a half into Mamdani’s tenure, Fulop voiced reservations in particular about the mayor’s skepticism of the partnership between Cornell University and Israel’s Technion on Roosevelt Island, which Mamdani’s team had suggested during the campaign he would review.
“We think that would be shortsighted and a double standard to Israel,” Fulop, who said he held a call “with some people affiliated with the partnership” to discuss the situation last week, told JI. “Singling out one country that happens to be the Jewish state is, I don’t think, OK with anybody.”
In his final days as mayor, Fulop signed executive orders banning Jersey City from engaging in BDS and regulating the kinds of protests outside houses of worship that Mamdani has struggled to condemn decisively as mayor.
“The guy following me wants to be like Mamdani, but he’s less charismatic,” Fulop said of his mayoral successor, James Solomon, a progressive Democrat. “I thought that there was risk, and better off putting guardrails in place — because you don’t know where things go.”
During an unsuccessful Democratic primary campaign for governor of New Jersey last year, Fulop had criticized efforts to legally codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism. But he said he believed that Mamdani had made a strategic error when, on his first day as mayor, he swiftly revoked — as part of a blanket repeal of all of former Mayor Eric Adams’ executive orders following his September 2024 indictment on federal corruption charges — an executive order that had adopted the definition in the city, along with an order prohibiting BDS in city agencies.
“It obviously elevated the idea that the incoming administration is anti-Judaism,” he told JI, saying he is closely monitoring Mamdani’s next steps amid rising rates of antisemitism the mayor has vowed to confront.
Fulop said that the Partnership’s board members, who met with Mamdani during the campaign as he drew criticism over his refusal to condemn calls to “globalize the intifada” and rejection of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, remain worried about his hostile views on Israel and commitment to fighting antisemitism. “Very, very very, very” worried, Fulop said.
Mamdani’s office did not respond to a request for comment from JI.
Eric Goldstein, the CEO of UJA-Federation of New York, which was among the first groups that Fulop met with when he took over the Partnership, said he looked “forward to working with” the former mayor.
“Steve brings a strong record of public service, principled leadership and a commitment to civic responsibility,” he told JI. “We also support and appreciate Steve’s deep support of Israel’s existence as a Jewish homeland and commitment to fighting antisemitism and the delegitimization of Israel.”
Now that he is no longer a politician, Fulop, a former Goldman Sachs banker and Marine veteran who recently relocated to Hell’s Kitchen across the river from Jersey City, is appreciating his time away from elected office, he said.
“It’s a little bit of a different world not being on the elected side, which I’m thankful for, to be honest,” he told JI. “We’re in a very polarized environment here for people in elected office. So, for me, I think this is kind of a sweet spot of advocacy and impact without some of the headaches of being in elected office.”
Fulop praised his predecessor, Kathy Wylde, the former longtime Partnership leader who reportedly faced internal backlash from members who felt that she was too deferential to Mamdani. But the group finds itself in a moment “where we need to be more assertive with both our actions and voice,” he said, noting that he is seeking to focus on a “very narrow subset” of advocacy issues, including antisemitism.
To that end, he says he is expanding the group’s political advocacy arm, hiring an executive director to help steer its current $10 million in reserves, on top of lobbying, research and a venture capital fund.
“I think we have a reasonable, centrist message that most people agree with — whether it’s antisemitism or homeless encampments,” he explained. “I think we’re in a place where most people would say, ‘You know what? What they’re saying kind of makes a lot of sense.’”
New York City is now “in a unique time and space,” Fulop told JI. “We haven’t seen a socialist mayor of prominence anywhere in this country for decades.”
“The Partnership has a significant voice in that,” he said. The city is “going to be front and center in this experiment of what it means to be an executive in a DSA world.”
Plus, Sen. Graham reports MBZ is alive and well
Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Amber Smalley/U.S. Navy via Getty Images
Flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) May 10, 2019 in the Red Sea.
Good Wednesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
President Donald Trump warned U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer not to relinquish control over Diego Garcia — an island in the Indian Ocean that hosts a joint U.S.-U.K. base, as the U.K. plans to transfer sovereignty of the larger island chain to Mauritius, while maintaining a 99-year lease on the base — because it may act as the launching pad for a U.S. strike on Iran.
“Should Iran decide not to make a Deal, it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia, and the Airfield located in Fairford, in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime — An attack that would potentially be made on the United Kingdom, as well as other friendly countries,” Trump wrote on Truth Social…
Iran is also signaling its readiness for military conflict, The Wall Street Journal reports, including deploying Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval units to the Strait of Hormuz, launching cruise missiles along the coast, conducting a military exercise with a Russian warship near the USS Abraham Lincoln, testing air defense systems, hardening nuclear sites and cracking down once more on dissidents…
Israel, meanwhile, is preparing for its civilian infrastructure to be “a central arena” in a potential U.S.-Iran conflict, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports, as Home Front Command chief Maj.-Gen. Shay Klapper told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today. Committee Chairman Boaz Bismuth said, “There is not one [Israeli] who doesn’t ask himself several times a day when there will be a campaign against Iran. The entire population and home front are preparing”…
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) dispelled rumors, seemingly spread by Saudi media, that UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed was ill or even dying after meeting with him in Abu Dhabi today: “Not only is he alive, but he is also well and as sharp as I’ve ever seen him. To those powers that feel the need to attack MbZ and the UAE for doing the right thing — you do so at your own peril,” Graham said on X.
He also called MBZ’s decision to join the Abraham Accords and “to try to integrate the region with the whole world … one of the most consequential decisions any Middle Eastern leader has made.” Graham is now headed to Saudi Arabia where he will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom he recently told publicly to “knock it off” regarding the kingdom’s destabilizing activities in the region…
Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico raised $2.5 million in donations for his Senate campaign in the 24 hours after his interview on Stephen Colbert’s late-night show was reportedly quashed by CBS, Politico reports, as early voting in Texas kicked off yesterday ahead of the March 3 primary.
CBS denied it had banned the interview, saying Colbert’s show “was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled,” which Colbert derided as a statement “written by — and I’m guessing for — lawyers”…
On the GOP side of the Texas Senate ballot, Attorney General Ken Paxton looks like the front-runner in his hotly contested primary against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX), despite the GOP establishment spending more than $60 million in attack ads against Paxton, Punchbowl News reports. (And the infighting goes further: Hunt said yesterday he filed criminal charges against a senior member of Cornyn’s campaign team for allegedly doxxing a member of his family.)
Trump told reporters last night that he still hadn’t decided which of the GOP candidates, if any, to endorse, saying, “I like all three of them actually. Those are the toughest races. They’ve all supported me. They’re all good. You’re supposed to pick one, so we’ll see what happens. But I support all three”…
Democratic Virginia state Del. Dan Helmer, a key architect of the state’s current redistricting effort, plans to enter the race for the 7th Congressional District that will be created if state voters approve a constitutional amendment to allow redistricting to proceed.
Helmer, who is Jewish and the son of an Israeli immigrant, ran for the state’s 10th District in 2024 on a staunchly pro-Israel platform, telling JI at the time that calls for conditions on U.S. aid to Israel are “incredibly frustrating.” He became the target of late-stage ad campaigns, which their backers insisted to JI were unrelated to his support for Israel, and ultimately came in second in the Democratic primary…
Humain, Saudi Arabia’s state-sponsored AI company, invested $3 billion in Elon Musk’s xAI, the company announced today. The investment came just before Musk combined xAI with his SpaceX aerospace company, giving the Saudi firm a significant stake in the major U.S. government contractor…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
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 the emerging scandal involving Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) — whom the San Antonio Express News confirmed yesterday was engaged in an extramarital affair with a staffer who committed suicide — could catapult an anti-Israel Republican, who has posted videos featuring Nazi imagery, to Congress.
Our focus tomorrow will be the first meeting of the Board of Peace, which will bring several heads of state and senior ministers, including Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, to Washington. Read JI’s preview of the meeting.
Jewish Federations of North America CEO Eric Fingerhut will deliver what JFNA is calling the first “State of the Jewish Union Address,” ahead of the president’s State of the Union next week, from the organization’s Washington headquarters.
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will hold a daylong hearing on antisemitism on college campuses, featuring legal experts, former administration officials, students and Jewish communal leaders, which include Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs; Kenneth Marcus, founder and CEO of the Louis D. Brandeis Center; Erin Beiner, J Street U director; and Kevin Rachlin, Washington director of The Nexus Project.
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Plus, Belgium's mohel madness
Jim Watson - Pool/Getty Images
U.S. Vice President JD Vance gives remarks following a roundtable discussion with local leaders and community members amid a surge of federal immigration authorities in the area, at Royalston Square on January 22, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Good Tuesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
As the second round of U.S.-Iran negotiations wrapped up in Geneva this morning, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state media that the parties reached a “general understanding on a set of guiding principles” and will “begin working on the text of a potential agreement.”
A U.S. official sounded a more reserved note, telling Axios the talks “made progress” but “there are still a lot of details to discuss.” Iranian officials are expected to present proposals in the next two weeks “to address some of the open gaps in our positions,” the official said.
Vice President JD Vance said on Fox News this afternoon that “the United States has certain red lines. Our primary interest here is we don’t want Iran to get a nuclear weapon. We don’t want nuclear proliferation.”
On today’s negotiations, Vance explained, “in some ways it went well — they agreed to meet afterwards — but in some ways it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through.”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, demonstrated that unwillingness, posting on X as talks were underway that if the U.S. insists on prohibiting Iran from enriching uranium “there is no room for negotiation.” As the U.S. sends more military assets to the region, he also threatened to “send that [U.S.] warship to the bottom of the sea”…
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani tapped Faiza Ali as commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs today, elevating the longtime activist with ties to the Council on American-Islamic Relations and anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour. Ali previously served as the community affairs director for CAIR’s New York chapter, and she and Sarsour have co-led Muslim advocacy efforts, including being arrested together in 2017…
Several Chicago-era endorsees of the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC — Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, union organizer Anthony Driver Jr., state Sen. Robert Peters and activist Junaid Ahmed — held a joint press conference today slamming AIPAC as a “pro-Trump, right-wing aligned organization” that “is rooted and based in lobbying for this right-wing Israeli government.”
Driver, a candidate in the 7th District who was just endorsed by the CPC PAC today and has not previously spoken at length about his position on Israel, said, “AIPAC is not your friend. … They are in the business of buying elections”…
U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Bill White was summoned to a meeting with Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot today after White accused the country in a series of heated social media posts of a “RIDICULOUS AND ANTI SEMITIC ‘PROSECUTION’” of three mohels who are being charged with practicing medicine without a license.
Prévot said White’s posts “and interference in judicial matters violate basic diplomatic norms” and denied accusations of antisemitism, while Ambassador Yehuda Kaploun, the State Department’s antisemitism envoy, concurred with White…
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) told BBC “Newsnight” yesterday that he will “seriously consider” a presidential run in 2028 “because we’re in some seriously challenging times.” The former astronaut, who has recently been the target of the White House’s ire over a video in which he and fellow veterans urged servicemembers to refuse illegal orders, touted his military experience and engineering certifications as part of his pitch…
Texas state Rep. James Talarico, running in a competitive primary for U.S. Senate against Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), shared an interview he conducted with late-night host Stephen Colbert that CBS declined to run.
Colbert said in his show’s opening remarks last night that the clip would not be broadcast because “we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have [Talarico] on the broadcast,” claiming the network was threatened by the Federal Communications Commission…
Eric Trump has invested in Israeli drone maker Xtend as part of a $1.5 billion deal in which the company, which already has a multimillion-dollar contract with the Pentagon, is merging with a Florida construction firm. Xtend was also selected this month by the Department of Defense as one of 25 companies participating in its “Drone Dominance Program”…
Tricia McLaughlin, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s spokesperson, is leaving her post next week, Politico reports, after becoming one of the most vocal defenders of the Trump administration’s deportation efforts…
Warner Bros. Discovery announced today it will restart talks with Paramount after initially rejecting the company’s hostile takeover bid in favor of its current agreement with Netflix. Paramount has since increased its nearly $78 billion all-cash offer, including paying the $2.8 billion termination fee Warner will owe Netflix if their deal falls through…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with Steven Fulop, the former Jersey City mayor who is making a priority of countering antisemitism in his new role as the head of New York City’s business advocacy group.
The International Federation of Social Workers will hold a vote on a contentious effort to expel the Israeli Union of Social Workers, after some European members complained that Israeli social workers had served in combat roles during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza — a move that the U.S.-based National Association of Social Workers unexpectedly said today it resoundingly opposes.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee will sit down with Tucker Carlson in Jerusalem for an episode of the commentator’s podcast, as the two have been at loggerheads over Carlson’s repeated criticisms of Israel.
The Kigali Forum, a conference bringing together policy leaders and think tanks from the United States, Africa and Israel to discuss “the new Middle East,” will take place in Kigali, Rwanda.
The trial of the man accused of killing Paul Kessler, a Jewish man who was beaten and died during rival pro- and anti-Israel protests in the Los Angeles area in November 2023, is set to begin in Ventura County Superior Court.
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Magill resigned as president from UPenn after a disastrous Capitol Hill hearing where she evaded questioning over whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated school policies
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Liz Magill, then president of University of Pennsylvania, testifies before the House Education and Workforce Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on December 5, 2023 ,in Washington, D.C.
Liz Magill, the former University of Pennsylvania president who resigned after facing criticism of inaction against campus antisemitism, was tapped on Friday as the dean of Georgetown University Law Center.
Magill left her post at UPenn in December 2023, four days after she appeared at a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill where she evaded questioning over whether students who called for the genocide of Jews violated the school’s code of conduct.
Magill, who maintained her role as a tenured professor at the university’s law school after resigning as president, faced scrutiny following the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks in Israel over her handling of the subsequent rise of campus antisemitism from many elected officials in the state including Gov. Josh Shapiro. Even prior to Oct. 7, the Philadelphia campus saw increased hostility to Jewish students, including a September 2023 Palestinian Writes literature conference that featured a lineup of antisemitic speakers.
In a campus-wide email, Robert Groves, Georgetown’s interim president, said Magill was selected for her “rare combination of leadership and experience.”
“I am shocked and deeply taken aback by the announcement that Liz Magill will be the new dean of Georgetown Law. For many Jewish students including myself on this campus, this decision feels like a slap in the face,” Julia Wax Vanderwiel, a third-year student in the law school and founder of Georgetown Law Zionists, told Jewish Insider.
“At Penn she failed to protect the students in her charge, choosing instead to engage in what appeared to be a political and semantic exercise at a moment when moral clarity was required. When directly confronted, she refused to acknowledge the harm her institution allowed or the fear Jewish students were experiencing due to cries and chants of calling for the genocide of Jews,” continued Wax Vanderwiel. “At a time when antisemitism on college campuses has surged and Jewish students are looking to their institutions for leadership and protection, this appointment sends a deeply troubling message. It suggests that Jewish students’ concerns are negotiable, contextual or secondary. That is profoundly disappointing.”
Georgetown University — and its law school — have been under scrutiny for alleged inaction against extremism and the more than $1 billion the school has received from Qatar, a Hamas benefactor. In July, Groves was questioned about campus antisemitism by the House Education and Workforce Committee.
Last February, the law school scheduled a discussion featuring a convicted member of the U.S.-designated terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The event, which was organized by Georgetown Law Students for Justice in Palestine, was postponed indefinitely following pushback from both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY). Weeks after the Oct. 7 attacks, Georgetown Law hosted Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd, who celebrated Hamas as a “liberation movement” and called the massacre a “resistance tactic.”
In a statement, Magill, who will begin at Georgetown on Aug. 1, said, “I know my testimony in Congress left many concerned and distressed, especially Jewish students on the Penn campus. That response matters deeply to me. I failed to convey my compassion and concern for Jewish students. I regret that; it does not reflect who I am as a person and a leader. I want every Jewish student, and all students, to have a secure environment at the law school where they can thrive.”
The Texas senator, facing a competitive primary, praised Sen. Ted Cruz for taking the lead in speaking out against anti-Jewish hate
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), joined by Sen. John Thune (R-SD) (L) and Sen. Steve Daines (R-ID) speaks about the Senate Democrats at the U.S. Capitol on September 29, 2021 in Washington, D.C.
Facing a heated primary against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) accused his right-wing challenger on Thursday of associating with antisemitic and anti-Israel voices within the MAGA movement.
Cornyn told Jewish Insider in a wide-ranging interview that Texas Republican voters should view Paxton’s associations with figures such as former Trump advisor Steve Bannon as “alarming” — while urging Republicans to call out antisemitic and anti-Israel voices within the party, along the lines of his outspoken Texas GOP colleague Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
“There’s this interesting, and troubling, tendency of some folks who claim the MAGA mantle to associate with antisemites like Nick Fuentes, Candace Owens and Steve Bannon. I know Ken Paxton regularly goes on Bannon’s ‘War Room’ podcast, and it’s something that should be alarming to Texas voters. People like that I don’t think are what I would call conservatives,” Cornyn said.
“Once they “get their foot in the door, they have a way of corrupting the whole party and the whole movement,” he continued. “I just think allowing somebody like Ken Paxton inside the tent will end up being the destruction of the Republican Party.”
Paxton has been a guest on Bannon’s “War Room” podcast on numerous occasions in recent years, even as Bannon has made a number of controversial comments, most notably labeling popular Jewish conservative podcast host Ben Shapiro as a “cancer” on the party after he spoke out against Tucker Carlson and Owens’ antisemitism at a Turning Point USA conference last year.
Bannon has also ramped up attacks on Israel, calling the Jewish state a “protectorate” of the United States — while speaking out against President Donald Trump’s decision last year to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.
A spokesperson for Paxton defended the Texas attorney general’s record on Israel and fighting antisemitism in a statement to JI.
“AG Paxton has been a fierce friend of Israel,” the spokesperson said. “After spending $70 million and still being double digits behind in the polls, Sen. Cornyn has nothing else left but to throw random attacks at the wall and see if they stick. AG Paxton has a STRONG and unquestionable record standing against antisemitism.”
Cornyn is facing a tough reelection battle against Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX), both of whom are running to his right in next month’s Republican primary.
The senator, a fixture in Texas politics for nearly four decades who served at the top levels of Senate leadership, argued that his primary contest would help determine what it means to be an electable Republican at a time when the party’s principles and values are being debated internally.
“A lot of it [the GOP primary election] is going to boil down to a question of character. I think character still matters and the attorney general doesn’t believe it matters at all,” Cornyn said. “I just can’t in good conscience turn over this job representing 32 million people and a state that I love and a party that I helped build over my career, I can’t turn it over to a corrupt and unprincipled individual like the attorney general.”
Cornyn warned that the GOP is at risk of being overrun by extremists if prominent conservatives continue to align themselves with fringe figures who espouse antisemitic views, drawing a comparison to his assessment of the current ideological trajectory of the Democratic Party.
“It starts out with the old saying: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. A lot of these folks were opposed to a lot of the worst excesses of the Democratic Party and the leftists. They began to corrode that movement with things like antisemitism and graft and greed. I think that’s how credibility of the opposition was eroded, by failing to call out people like that,” Cornyn said.
“To maintain the integrity of conservatives, that’s why it’s so important to call out and to cut out some of these cancers that I think ultimately would result in the failure of the conservative movement,” he continued. “Because people could point to the corruption that was allowed to develop and thus undermine the credibility and integrity of the whole movement.”
Cornyn praised Cruz for “being one of the first to stand up and call out some of the fringe characters,” and criticized Republicans who associate themselves with far-right figures.
“I’ve tried to do my part, initially through an editorial in the Dallas Morning News. I know this is a cancer, because antisemitism is just another way of dehumanizing people, and then using that behavior to justify in some people’s minds acts of violence,” the GOP senator said. “Obviously, the history of the Jewish people, dating back to the Holocaust, has been one of opponents trying to dehumanize them and make them seem to be something less than equal in terms of their dignity and their right to exist.”
Asked whether Trump would back him before the March primary, Cornyn told JI that he did not expect an endorsement, adding that he was dealing with “a lot of misinformation and lies.”
“I’ve been supportive of the president and his policies. Unfortunately, you always have to contend with a lot of misinformation and lies in modern elections,” Cornyn explained. “He [Trump] said he considers all three of us [GOP candidates] to be friends. If your base is divided among three people, choosing one out of those three people and disappointing the supporters of the other two, I can understand [that being] not something he would want to necessarily embrace unless he felt like it’s worth the cost.”
Cornyn argued that he would be the strongest general election candidate between himself, Paxton and Hunt, whereas Paxton would “ultimately provide the Democrats the best opportunity they’ve had since 1994 to turn Texas blue.”
“President Trump desperately wants to maintain the majority in the House, and we’ve got five new congressional seats in Texas,” he said. “If I’m the nominee, I will provide some help to those downballot races since I’ll be at the top of the ballot. I won by 10 [points] in 2020. If Paxton is the nominee, he’ll either lose or win by the skin of his teeth.”
Asked about Texas state Rep. James Talarico and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), the Democrats in the race, Cornyn suggested he would enjoy running against either in a general election.
“They should be running for Senate in California because they are totally out of step with where I think Texans are,” he said.
Cornyn added that he would not underestimate Crockett.
“I wouldn’t count out Jasmine. Jasmine is smart, but I think she’s not running as good a campaign as Talarico,” Cornyn said. “Talarico is raising a lot of money, and he definitely has a better organization than Jasmine does.”
Plus, Trump sets monthlong timeline for Iran deal
DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
Jeremy Carl speaks at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington D.C., Sept. 3, 2025.
Good Thursday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again voiced skepticism about the U.S.’ ability to reach an agreement with Iran as he departed Joint Base Andrews today, reports Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov, who is traveling with the prime minister’s delegation.
A day after his White House meeting with President Donald Trump, Netanyahu told reporters, “The president thinks the Iranians understand who they’re dealing with. He thinks the conditions he is setting, combined with their understanding that they made a mistake last time not reaching a deal, could bring them to agree to conditions that will allow a good deal to be reached.”
The prime minister’s view was more reserved: “I do not hide my general skepticism about the possibility of any deal with Iran.” Netanyahu said he told Trump that if a deal is indeed reached, “it must include the components that are important to us, the State of Israel, and, I think, the entire international community: not just the nuclear matter, but also ballistic missiles and Iranian proxies in the region.”
The Prime Minister’s Office also said Netanyahu will not be returning to Washington next week as scheduled, in order to speak at an AIPAC conference, and will instead appear virtually…
At a press conference this afternoon, Trump said the timeline for a potential deal with Iran is “over the next month … should happen quickly.” Asked why Netanyahu wants him to stop negotiating, Trump said, “He didn’t say that, we didn’t discuss that. I’ll talk to [Iran] as long as I like.” Trump additionally said Israeli President Isaac Herzog “should be ashamed of himself” and called him “disgraceful” for not issuing a pardon to Netanyahu…
The Trump administration smuggled around 6,000 Starlink terminals, used to establish internet connection, to activists in Iran during the regime’s violent suppression of nationwide protests, which included internet blackouts, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal…
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his team refused to condemn antisemitic and pro-Hamas social media posts from the co-founder of the group ‘Hot Girls for Zohran’ when pressed by JI’s Will Bredderman and other reporters today.
Speaking from City Hall, Mamdani would only stress that Gilani’s organization operated independently of his official election effort: “This was an individual leading an outside group and was never paid for by our campaign,” said Mamdani. “If New Yorkers want to know my views then they can hear it directly from me.
But when JI pressed the mayor directly whether he condemned the content of Gilani’s posts, he refused to respond and left the room, similar to how he fled questions on the matter from Politico on Wednesday…
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) urged the Trump administration today to investigate reports that a clique of radical staffers at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene had launched an anti-Israel “working group” inside the agency, JI’s Will Bredderman reports.
In a letter addressed to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Stefanik decried reports that employees had met during work hours at the city bureaucracy’s Queens headquarters. She raised the possibility that the department’s federal funding might have gone toward a prohibited political purpose — or that the gathering may have violated civil rights protections by creating a discriminatory environment for Jewish New Yorkers…
The nomination of Jeremy Carl, tapped to be the assistant secretary of state for international organizations, appears bound to fail after Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) announced his opposition to Carl’s confirmation following his contentious hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this morning, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
Curtis and a series of Democrats questioned Carl over past antisemitic, anti-Israel and otherwise inflammatory comments that the nominee had made online and in a series of podcast appearances, including his assertion that the U.S. spends too much time and energy on Israel “often to the detriment of our own national interest” and that “the Jews love to see themselves as oppressed”…
CENTCOM announced today it had completed a “deliberate and conditions-based” withdrawal of U.S. forces from al-Tanf Garrison in Syria, handing control of the site on the country’s border with Iraq and Jordan to forces aligned with the Syrian government. The U.S. has had a presence at the base since 2016 as part of its fight against ISIS; over 7,000 ISIS detainees are also being transitioned out of Syria into Iraq, while the U.S. troops were relocated to Jordan…
Germany joined the growing calls today for U.N. Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese to resign, after France did the same yesterday, over her recent speech at the Al Jazeera Forum where she called Israel humanity’s “common enemy.” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul wrote on X, “I respect the system of independent rapporteurs of the UN. However, Ms. Albanese has already repeatedly failed in the past. I condemn her recent statements about Israel. She is untenable in her position”…
Israeli authorities arrested several people, and indicted one army reservist and one civilian, for allegedly using classified information to place bets on the popular prediction market Polymarket around the timing of Israel’s war with Iran last June, the Shin Bet announced today. The bets all correctly predicted the timeline of the strikes, raking in more than $150,000, Israeli media reported…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for reporting on the race to succeed Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, where the congresswoman is coming out forcefully against the lone Jewish candidate in the race — for being too supportive of Netanyahu.
The Munich Security Conference kicks off tomorrow, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio leading the U.S. delegation and speaking from the main stage on Saturday. Dozens of members of Congress were also expected to attend — official travel was canceled due to the impending shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security tomorrow, but members still may attend on their own. One member making a foray into foreign policy is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who will be speaking on two panels at the high-level summit. Other Democrats in attendance will be California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
In observance of President’s Day, we’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Tuesday. Shabbat Shalom!
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DOUBLING DOWN
Activist Sameerah Munshi was appointed by the White House to the commission’s advisory board; the two women have jointly posted antisemitic content online
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Activist Sameerah Munshi was appointed by the White House to the commission’s advisory board; the two women have jointly posted antisemitic content online
Win McNamee/Getty Images
President Donald Trump speaks to the White House Religious Liberty Commission at the Museum of the Bible September 8, 2025 in Washington, DC.
For the first hour and a half of the White House Religious Liberty Commission’s Monday hearing on antisemitism, the Jewish witnesses testifying about their experiences of antisemitism seemed to be in alignment with the commission’s members — all generally conservative and eager to see antisemitism stamped out.
Then Commissioner Carrie Prejean Boller began questioning the witnesses with a sharply anti-Israel bent, in an adversarial tone. Following public backlash, she was removed from the commission two days later by the commission’s chair, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. (Prejean Boller insists Patrick does not have the authority to remove her.)
Prejean Boller, who wore a Palestinian flag pin at the hearing, has used the criticism to deepen her line of attack against so-called “Zionist supremacy in America,” doubling down on her opposition to Israel. “I am a free American. Not a slave to a foreign nation,” she wrote on X on Tuesday.
While Prejean Boller may have been removed from the body, she found an ally who has stood by her this week and who remains on the commission’s advisory board: Sameerah Munshi, a Muslim activist who first gained a public profile in the summer of 2023, when she testified at a Montgomery County, Md., school board hearing against the inclusion of LGBTQ-related material in elementary school classes.
That moment thrust Munshi briefly into the national spotlight, where she worked alongside conservative Christians who also opposed the liberal Maryland county’s approach to educating about LGBTQ issues. Prejean Boller, too, first gained national attention for her opposition to gay marriage at a beauty pageant in 2009.
The two women — both of whom were appointed by President Donald Trump — have now joined together as the anti-Israel wing of the commission. Both of them have publicly defended antisemitic commentator Candace Owens, who uses conspiracy-laden language to discuss Jews and Israel. In a shared Instagram post last week, Prejean Boller and Munshi pointed fingers at a shadowy cabal that they blame for both the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the alleged crimes of Jeffrey Epstein.
“The politicians who refuse to condemn the Israeli government’s starvation and genocide on the Palestinians are the same ones unmoved by the Epstein crime files,” Prejean Boller and Munshi wrote. “Gaza was a precursor to the release of the Epstein files. Their goal: normalize and justify the torture and killing of innocent children … Arrest these monsters. Drain the evil swamp. End Palestinian genocide. Defund Israel.”
Prejean Boller and Munshi said in another post that they had submitted an alternative list of “fair witnesses” to the commission whom they hoped would present at the antisemitism hearing. The list included Norman Finkelstein, a discredited Holocaust scholar who has publicly defended the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, as well as Miko Peled and Yaakov Shapiro, two anti-Zionist Jewish activists.
“Antisemitism should never be conflated with anti-Zionism or pro-Palestinian advocacy,” the two women wrote.
When former UCLA law student Yitzy Frankel spoke at the hearing about his experience of antisemitism on campus after Oct. 7, and described a statement he wrote condemning Hamas’ “rape, beheading of children and taking of hostages,” Munshi muttered under her breath that Hamas had not beheaded anyone, a member of the audience who was seated near her told Jewish Insider.
What remains unclear is who at the White House appointed Prejean Boller and Munshi to their roles on the commission and its advisory board, of which Munshi serves as a lay leader. Several members of the advisory board who spoke to JI said they did not know how they had been selected. A White House spokesperson declined to comment. Munshi did not respond to a request for comment.
Neither Munshi nor Prejean Boller had a history of posting anti-Israel content online prior to late last year.
Prejean Boller’s X account was used only infrequently, mostly to share content about Trump, illegal immigration, Christianity and gender issues. In early 2024, Prejean Boller began to come to Owens’ defense when Owens left The Daily Wire amid concerns about her antisemitic views. Munshi was also an infrequent user of X, and very occasionally posted pro-Palestinian messages over the last two years. Following Monday’s hearing, both women have taken to posting often and highlighting their opposition to Zionism.
“We condemn Zionist supremacy and the demanding we deny our individual faith for the fear of being called an antisemite. Religious freedom lives on,” Prejean Boller posted on Tuesday alongside a photo of the two women.
Plus, France calls for resignation of U.N.'s Albanese
GPO
President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Feb. 11, 2026.
Good Wednesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
The U.S. will continue pursuing diplomacy with Iran, President Donald Trump said following his White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
“There was nothing definitive reached” in the meeting “other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue, to see whether or not a deal can be consummated,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference.”
If negotiations do not lead to a deal, the president added, “we will just have to see what the outcome will be. Last time, Iran decided they were better off not making a deal, and they were hit with [Operation] Midnight Hammer. That did not work out well for them. Hopefully, this time, they will be more reasonable and responsible.”
Netanyahu’s office said about the meeting, “The prime minister stood up for the State of Israel’s security needs in the context of the negotiations, and the two agreed to continue to coordinate closely”…
Even as Trump insists diplomacy will continue, the Pentagon has told a second aircraft carrier strike group to prepare for deployment to the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal reports, to join the USS Abraham Lincoln along with dozens of U.S. aircraft and other warships…
Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of 23 senators, spanning the political and ideological spectrums, introduced a resolution today condemning the Iranian government for its crackdown on protesters and attempts to cut off internet access across the country, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
“Iranian civilians’ unprecedented nationwide protests and bravery, confronted with the regime’s unprecedented widespread extrajudicial killing of thousands and disruption of all electronic communication, have profoundly destabilized the country and constitute changed conditions in Iran,” the resolution reads, highlighting that the regime’s suppression and killing of protesters continues…
The Trump administration expects to be able to announce several billion dollars in donations for Gaza reconstruction at the Board of Peace’s inaugural meeting in Washington next week, The Times of Israel reports, even as it is still working on a proposal to disarm Hamas. That plan so far reportedly envisions Hamas relinquishing its heavy weapons and destroying manufacturing sites, without fully addressing lighter arms…
Conservative activist Carrie Prejean Boller was removed from the White House’s Religious Liberty Commission today, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports, two days after the commission held its first public hearing on antisemitism, which turned contentious when Prejean Boller pressed Jewish witnesses about whether they would consider her antisemitic for not being a Zionist and for believing Jews killed Jesus.
“No member of the Commission has the right to hijack a hearing for their own personal and political agenda on any issue,” Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who chairs the commission, wrote in a post on X. “This is clearly, without question, what happened Monday in our hearing on antisemitism in America. This was my decision”…
France is calling for the resignation of U.N. Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced today, after Albanese called Israel humanity’s “common enemy” in a speech at the Al Jazeera Forum in Qatar over the weekend.
“France unreservedly condemns the outrageous and reprehensible remarks made by Francesca Albanese, which are directed not at the Israeli government, whose policies may be criticized, but at Israel as a people and as a nation, which is absolutely unacceptable,” Barrot said in remarks to lawmakers. Her latest comments add “to a long list of scandalous positions,” including “justifying” the Oct. 7 attacks and “comparing Israel to the Third Reich,” he said…
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced legislation seeking oversight into the hundreds of millions of dollars in Venezuelan oil proceeds that the U.S. has acquired, some of which officials have said is being held in an account in Qatar…
New York City’s only Ethiopian-Israeli restaurant is closing its doors to diners, Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports, and turning only to private events over rising anti-Israel harassment, which the owner, Beejhy Barhany, said escalated after the restaurant became kosher in February 2024…
The Department of Homeland Security hired a social media manager who had raised red flags at his previous position at the Department of Labor posting messaging that echoed white nationalist sentiments on official social media accounts, The New York Times reports.
Those posts “used evocative imagery, some reminiscent of the 1920s and 1930s, with phrases like ‘Restore American Greatness’ and ‘the globalist status quo is OVER.’ … Colleagues warned superiors that the department’s accounts could be seen as promoting white-supremacist rhetoric, Nazi imagery and QAnon conspiracy theories”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with Jason Friedman, a longtime Chicago Jewish federation leader making a bid for Illinois’ open 7th Congressional District.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a nomination hearing for conservative commentator Jeremy Carl to serve as assistant secretary of state for international organizations. Schumer denounced Carl and his nomination on the Senate floor this week, “citing Carl’s long history of racist, white supremacist, and antisemitic views.”
Sinai Temple in Los Angeles will host a summit tomorrow on faith and sports, ahead of NBA All-Star weekend taking place in the city. The convening will feature several NBA athletes, coaches and faith and civic leaders.
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At Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day in Richmond, new AG Jones pledged to continue antisemitism task force started by GOP predecessor
Gabby Deutch
Gov. Abigail Spanberger addresses Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day in Richmond, Va. on Feb. 10, 2026.
RICHMOND, Va. — Less than a month after taking office as Virginia’s first female governor, Abigail Spanberger told a group of 250 Jewish advocates that she would work to combat antisemitism, celebrate the Jewish community and stand by Israel in her new role.
“As governor, I will continue to stand up to antisemitism, to work to protect our Jewish neighbors, friends and family, and I will show up for the Jewish community in times of commemoration, remembrance and, importantly, celebration,” Spanberger said in a speech on Tuesday at Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day, an annual event organized by the state’s four Jewish federations that brought activists from across the state to Richmond for lobbying meetings with state lawmakers.
Spanberger, a former member of the U.S. House who represented central Virginia, was greeted enthusiastically by the crowd and swarmed with requests for photos at the end of the event. During her speech, she turned often to a group of teenagers at the front of the room, who were at the meetings urging legislators to sign a petition for BBYO’s “Spread cream cheese, not hate” initiative.
“It’s important to me in particular that young people feel pride in who they are, pride in the things that make them who they are,” said Spanberger. “To all of the parents in the room, I want your kids to feel safe and proud at school, whatever portions of their identity they choose to lead with. When they go off to college, I want them to feel proud putting a mezuzah on their door.”
Spanberger was elected to Congress in 2018 after a career as a spy at the CIA, and she referred to that background in her speech on Tuesday when she discussed her views on Israel.
“I remain a strong supporter of the relationship between the United States and Israel, and that support comes from a background in the intelligence community, where I understand that Israel is our strongest security partner in the region,” she said.
She touted her votes in Congress for supplemental security funding for Israel following the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks and funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense systems. She also discussed her support for measures that brought additional humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, while noting that concern about the “suffering of civilians and the continued humanitarian crisis that exists in Gaza” does not excuse antisemitic behavior.
“I would say that a moral requirement to end humanitarian crises is never and should never be at odds with the moral requirement to denounce hateful, antisemitic language and attacks that they can so frequently breed,” Spanberger said.
In discussing the Oct. 7 attacks, Spanberger addressed that day’s lingering impact on the Jewish community.
“For more than two years, Americans, Israelis and global citizens have advocated for the release of men, women and children who were taken hostage that day. So many of the stories are deeply personal [for] many people in the room for a variety of reasons, and after a long and horrific push to free all of them, we just saw the release of the last hostage to be returned home and laid to rest,” Spanberger said.
Her new role in Richmond does not include a distinct foreign policy focus, unlike her job in Congress. But she indicated a willingness to remain active on global issues.
“I hope that the memory of those who did not return home will be a blessing to those who remember them, those who miss them, but importantly, a reminder that there is still so, so much work to do throughout the world,” the governor said.
As a member of Congress, Spanberger added, she supported efforts to target antisemitic hate crimes at the federal level and to provide security funding and support to vulnerable nonprofits.
“I will make sure that across my administration — in particular, my secretary of public safety and homeland security — is well positioned to coordinate with state and federal partners, and that you know that through my administration, you have a partner in ensuring that the communities that you represent, serve or are a part of feel safe,” she said. “I will make sure that the Office of the Governor is an active partner in combating antisemitism.”
Attorney General Jay Jones and Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi, Democrats who also took office last month, addressed the event before Spanberger. Both of them pledged to work to fight antisemitism in the state.
Jones said in the address that he intends to continue to operate the statewide antisemitism task force that his predecessor, Republican Jason Miyares, created in 2023. It was the first time Jones had publicly discussed his plans for the task force.
“The Attorney General’s Antisemitism Task Force is an important tool to keep an open line of communication between my office and your communities,” said Jones. “We look forward to working with you to build out the scope of that task force to ensure an ongoing dialogue, accountability and collaboration.”
Plus, N.C. Dems condemn antisemitism from Muslim caucus chair
Heather Khalifa/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Analilia Mejia, Democratic House candidate for New Jersey, speaks to supporters and members of the media at Paper Plane Coffee Co. in Montclair, N.J., on Jan. 29, 2026.
Good Tuesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
President Donald Trump is considering sending a second aircraft carrier group to the Middle East as a contingency if negotiations with Iran fail, he told Axios today. “Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time,” the president said, adding, “We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going.”
Still, Trump expressed optimism that Tehran “wants to make a deal very badly” and said the negotiations are “very different” since he authorized strikes last June on Iran’s nuclear facilities. He also said he doesn’t think Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is en route to Washington for his Wednesday meeting with Trump, is nervous about the negotiations, stating Netanyahu “also wants a deal. He wants a good deal”…
Trump also reiterated his opposition to West Bank annexation, days after Israel’s Security Cabinet voted to expand Israeli authorities in the area. “I am against annexation. We have enough things to think about now. We don’t need to be dealing with the West Bank,” he told Axios. While Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu tomorrow will ostensibly focus on Iran, the latest Israeli moves could drive a wedge between the two leaders…
On the campaign trail, former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) conceded the race for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District to far-left activist Analilia Mejia today, after outstanding ballots broke decisively in her favor over the weekend.
In his statement, Malinowski, the presumed favorite who was the target of over $2 million of ads by the AIPAC-linked United Democracy Project super PAC, claimed that “the outcome of this race cannot be understood without also taking into account the massive flood of dark money that AIPAC spent on dishonest ads” attacking him. He warned, “If AIPAC backs a candidate — openly or surreptitiously — in the June NJ-11 Congressional primary, I will oppose that candidate and urge my supporters to do so as well.”
Mejia was congratulated by New Jersey Democratic leaders including Sens. Andy Kim and Cory Booker and Gov. Mikie Sherrill, though it remains to be seen if she will retain their support in the June primary when she must run for the Democratic nomination again if she hopes to retain the office for a full term…
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) officially launched her reelection campaign today for her seat which Democrats likely need to flip if they hope to take back the chamber. Collins, who has been targeted by Trump due to her occasional votes across the aisle, will likely face either Maine Gov. Janet Mills or oyster farmer Graham Platner in the general, after they battle it out in a hotly contested primary…
New York Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado dropped his primary challenge to Gov. Kathy Hochul today, whom he had hoped to beat out in her reelection race from the left. The move comes after several progressive leaders, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, endorsed Hochul, which Delgado alluded to in his statement: “After much consideration, I’ve concluded that there simply is no viable path forward. And though my campaign has come to an end, I fully intend to do all I can in our effort to build a more humane, affordable, and equitable state that serves all New Yorkers”…
The Washington Free Beacon details several Mamdani administration staffers with a history of comments defaming Israel, including one who called Israel a “modern-day Nazi Germany” and one who called people ripping down posters of Israeli hostages “heroes”…
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, condemned rhetoric from the leader of the state Democratic Party’s Muslim Caucus, Elyas Mohammed, in a statement shared exclusively with JI’s Matthew Kassel. Mohammed recently described Zionists as “modern day Nazis” and as a “threat to humanity,” among other incendiary social media posts.
“Antisemitic comments and conspiracy theories have no place anywhere, including in the North Carolina Democratic Party,” the governor said, after the leaders of several prominent Jewish groups in the state sent a joint letter urging Democratic officials and lawmakers to publicly denounce Mohammed’s statements…
Columbia University is considering expanding and refocusing how its Middle Eastern studies department teaches about Israel, JI’s Haley Cohen reports. The provost’s regional review committee announced a set of recommendations this week for the department, including a stronger partnership with the school’s Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, marking a pivot in a field and at a school that have come under immense scrutiny from the federal government and Jewish leaders following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks…
Shaare Tefila, a Conservative congregation in Olney, Md., in the Washington suburbs, was defaced with antisemitic graffiti today, JI’s Haley Cohen reports. A swastika, the word “genocide” and the phrase “AZAB,” an acronym standing for “All Zionists Are Bastards,” were spray-painted on street signs and banners outside the synagogue.
Ron Halber, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, called the act “outrageous. While it is fortunate that no one was physically hurt, it is yet another sad reminder that antisemitic incidents have become common occurrences throughout our region,” he said…
Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, said the Justice Department intends to pursue and ultimately shut down groups that have engaged in disruptive protests at synagogues and other antisemitic activities, as well as those supporting those groups, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
Speaking today at a conference on antisemitism organized by The George Washington University Program on Extremism, Dhillon said her division’s work includes pursuing those funding, training and supporting groups such as American Muslims for Palestine and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which she said are engaging in “acts of domestic terrorism”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
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 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bilateral meeting with President Donald Trump tomorrow at the White House, as the Israeli PM seeks to provide input on U.S. negotiations with Iran.
The House Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing on the potential impacts of a Department of Homeland Security shutdown, which looks likely as lawmakers struggle to reach a deal before its funding runs out on Friday.
The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on oversight of the Department of Justice with Attorney General Pam Bondi.
American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch will speak at New York City’s Temple Emanu-El on the organization’s annual State of Antisemitism in America survey, released today.
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The assistant attorney general for civil rights said the DOJ will pursue those funding, training and supporting groups such as American Muslims for Palestine
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon arrives for a news conference at the Justice Department on September 29, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, said the Justice Department intends to pursue and ultimately shut down groups that have engaged in disruptive protests at synagogues and other antisemitic activities, as well as those supporting those groups.
“We are investigating, prosecuting, and we will bring these groups and these individuals to justice,” Dhillon said. “We intend to bring strong cases that dismantle these groups at their very root so that these unlawful attacks can be stopped once and for all.”
She said her division’s work includes pursuing those funding, training and supporting groups such as American Muslims for Palestine and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which she said are engaging in “acts of domestic terrorism.”
Dhillon said that many of the groups behind antisemitic attacks are also involved in other activities, including “unlawful obstruction” of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
The assistant attorney general said that Jewish communities around the country that she’s engaged with “feel like they’re under a coordinated attack and that authorities aren’t doing enough to help them,” adding that she is “ashamed as an American, to hear that groups have acted with impunity.”
She alluded to numerous pending investigations of disruptions at synagogues, of civil rights violations on campuses and of discrimination in zoning and land use approvals, vowing that the DOJ “will not let this stand.” She emphasized that the DOJ has been acting “swiftly and decisively” in response to acts of antisemitism and attempted attacks.
Dhillon said that the DOJ’s invocation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act in prosecuting individuals for their involvement in a demonstration outside New Jersey’s Congregation Ohr Torah has become a model that has “paved the way” for its use in other cases to defend other synagogues and houses of worship for other groups. She said that there are more FACE Act investigations underway, related to both Jewish and Christian organizations.
The FACE Act bars the use of force, threats or obstruction to block access to reproductive health services or to obstruct the right to worship. It has previously been applied in cases of demonstrators blocking abortion clinics, but the DOJ under the Trump administration has applied it in cases of protesters blocking of houses of worship.
“For too long, groups and individuals acted as if they were above the law when attacking people of faith,” Dhillon said. “They engaged in a coordinated campaign designed to intimidate Jewish communities from even holding events at synagogues. Their methods are unlawful.”
Speaking at a conference on antisemitism organized by The George Washington University Program on Extremism, Dhillon also praised GW President Ellen Granberg “for standing up to these attacks and being a leader in this area,” pushing back on antisemitism on campus.
Signs outside the Conservative congregation in Olney, Md., were spray-painted with a swastika and an antisemitic slur
Courtesy of Shaare Tefila
Congregation Shaare Tefila in Olney, Md. was defaced with antisemitic graffiti on Feb. 10, 2026.
A synagogue in Montgomery County, Md., a suburb of Washington, was defaced with antisemitic graffiti on Tuesday.
A swastika, the word “genocide” and the phrase “AZAB,” an acronym standing for “All Zionists Are Bastards,” were spray-painted on street signs and banners outside of Shaare Tefila, a Conservative congregation in Olney. The graffiti covered large signs outside of the synagogue that read “Hate Has No Home Here” in several languages below a heart shaped American flag and another that read “We Support Israel.”
Ron Halber, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, called the act “outrageous.”
“While it is fortunate that no one was physically hurt, it is yet another sad reminder that antisemitic incidents have become common occurrences throughout our region,” said Halber. He added that local officials and police officers responded “immediately.”
Halber called for increased Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding to applicants in Maryland and specifically to Montgomery County, which has the largest Jewish population in the state.
“This funding has quickly become an absolute necessity for our community. Policymakers must sustain and build on these investments for our safety,” he said. “Let this incident serve as another reminder: antisemitism always fails. Our Jewish community will never be intimidated into silence, and we will forever be proud to support Israel.”
Young American Jews between the ages of 18-29 have faced the brunt of rising antisemitism, with 47% saying they were a target of antisemitism over the last year, compared to 28% among those 30 and over
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Members of the Hasidic Jewish community gather outside of the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters, on January 29, 2026, in New York City.
Nearly two-thirds of Jewish Americans say they feel less safe than a year ago, according to the American Jewish Committee’s newly released annual survey of Jewish public opinion, reflecting a heightened fear of antisemitism in the aftermath of several high-profile attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions.
As notable: About one-third of American Jews reported being a target of antisemitism — whether it was physical or in a virtual space. Nearly one-fifth said they would consider leaving the country as a result of antisemitism, a number that’s been on the rise over the last several years (up from 6% in 2024).
Young American Jews between the ages of 18-29 have faced the brunt of rising antisemitism, with 47% saying they were a target of antisemitism over the last year, compared to 28% among those 30 and over.
At the same time, about two-thirds (65%) of Jews overall said they felt safe attending Jewish institutions, while 60% said they were not worried about being a victim of antisemitism in the next year.
The polling, conducted by SSRS between September and October 2025, shows that both reported antisemitic incidents and fear of facing antisemitism have plateaued but are still near historic highs, when compared to the AJC’s previous surveys. (SSRS surveyed 1,222 Jewish respondents in one survey between Sept. 26-Oct. 29; it separately surveyed 1,033 U.S. adults between Oct. 3-5.)
Antisemitism continues to be particularly prevalent on college campuses, where 42% of students have reported anti-Jewish hate during their time in school — up from 35% in the AJC’s 2024 survey. The vast majority of Jewish parents (80%) said that the level of antisemitism on a campus plays a role in deciding where their student will attend college.
There’s also a noticeable gap between the near-universal view among Gen Z Jewish Americans that antisemitism is a problem (93%) and the significant but much smaller share of non-Jewish young Americans who think it is a problem (61%).
In addition, there is a noticeable spike in American Jews being exposed to explicit antisemitism when scrolling on social media. Over half of Jewish respondents (54%) said they’ve dealt with antisemitism on Facebook — up seven points in the last year. Over one-third (38%) said they’ve experienced antisemitism on YouTube — an 11-point spike in the last year. And two-fifths of Jewish respondents said they’ve experienced antisemitism on Instagram — up eight points since 2024.
Also significant: The survey asked Jewish respondents whether the phrase “globalize the intifada” — one that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has pointedly declined to condemn — would make them feel unsafe. The vast majority (69%) of American Jews said it would either make them feel “very unsafe” or “somewhat unsafe.”
Among non-Jews, interestingly, the poll found very few (only 13%) had seen or heard the phrase “globalize the intifada” at all in the last year — possibly a reflection of why Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan didn’t become a bigger political problem for him.
But among the general public, there was a wide awareness of how such virulently anti-Israel sloganeering is intermingled with antisemitism. More than three-quarters of overall respondents (79%) said that believing Israel has no right to exist is antisemitic, while about two-thirds said that anti-Zionist slogans like “Free Palestine” and “globalize the intifada” were connected to antisemitic incidents.
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt argued that fighting antisemitism is essential alongside others who prioritize building Jewish identity
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Anti-Defamation League
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt speaks onstage ADL's Never Is Now at Javits Center on March 03, 2025 in New York City.
An emerging fault line over how — or whether — to confront rising antisemitism is roiling the organized Jewish community, as some prominent groups have pushed back against sharp criticism questioning the effectiveness of their strategies.
The latest salvo comes from Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, which has recently found itself in the spotlight. In an opinion article in eJewishPhilanthropy published Monday, Greenblatt defended his organization’s approach to combating antisemitism — after a New York Times columnist had called for the group to be dismantled.
Speaking at 92NY in Manhattan for the annual State of World Jewry address earlier this month, Bret Stephens, a Times opinion columnist, stoked controversy when he suggested that the American Jewish community should shut down the ADL and reallocate its resources to focus on building Jewish identity rather than combating antisemitism.
“The fight against antisemitism, which consumes tens of millions of dollars every year in Jewish philanthropy, is a well-meaning but mostly wasted effort,” he said in his address. “We should spend the money and focus our energy elsewhere. The same goes for efforts to improve pro-Israel advocacy.”
In his response, Greenblatt dismissed Stephens’ argument as misguided, even as he said the speech had appropriately identified a “pathology” that can afflict those who define opposition to antisemitism as their “primary organizing principle.”
“It can turn Jewishness into a defensive crouch — more alarm system than civilization,” Greenblatt said.
Still, Stephens’ new “framing risks replacing one error with another,” he insisted, describing the fight against antisemitism and efforts to promote Jewish communal life not as binary choices but as mutually reinforcing objectives.
“Security and identity aren’t competing priorities; they’re inseparable preconditions for Jewish flourishing in an open society,” Greenblatt insisted in his rebuke. “Shutting down the Anti-Defamation League or other Jewish organizations is not some magic formula that promises self-reliance; it’s a disastrous prescription for unilateral disarmament.”
The ADL has, in recent years, frequently drawn attacks from both the left and right over its closely scrutinized relationship to the Trump White House and its classifications of political extremism, among other sources of scrutiny the group has weathered.
But as one of the nation’s oldest Jewish civil rights groups, the ADL has rarely seemed to find itself in the position of justifying its continued existence — particularly amid unusually direct backlash from an otherwise likeminded Jewish and pro-Israel pundit like Stephens.
The intense tenor of the debate underscores how Jewish groups are now grappling with polarizing divisions over how to move forward in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks and a resulting surge in antisemitism that has often stemmed from anti-Israel sentiment.
In addition to the ADL, such heated discussions have also recently centered around a costly Super Bowl ad seeking to raise awareness of antisemitism released by The Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, an advocacy organization founded by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
The ad, which featured a Black high school student consoling a Jewish classmate after bullies placed a “dirty Jew” sticky note on his backpack, was meant to reach a broad audience that is largely “unengaged” on the issue of growing antisemitism while “lacking awareness, empathy and motivation to act,” according to Blue Square Alliance President Adam Katz.
But the 30-second commercial — part of a $15 million ad campaign extending to NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage — drew online denunciations from several critics who said it depicted Jews as in need protection from non-Jews and alleged that its framing ignored examples of antisemitism intersecting with anti-Israel hostility.
Greenblatt, for his part, was among the first Jewish leaders to praise the ad last week after it circulated online, in a statement that also functioned as a tacit defense of his own organization’s ongoing mission.
“Antisemitism has permeated all aspects of society,” he said in a social media post. “This ad is a simple yet moving depiction of resilience in the face of discrimination. It takes all of us, Jewish or not, to stand up against antisemitism. I’m glad this video will be getting the national attention it so deserves.”
Plus, report finds DSA may be acting as unregistered foreign agent
Win McNamee/Getty Images
President Donald Trump speaks at the Museum of the Bible September 8, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Good Monday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
The Trump administration’s Religious Liberty Commission’s first hearing on antisemitism, which took place in Washington this morning, turned contentious as one commissioner declared herself an anti-Zionist and defended Candace Owens, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Amid testimony from Jewish witnesses about their experiences with antisemitism, Carrie Prejean Boller, a Catholic conservative activist and former Miss California, said about Owens, “I listen to her daily. I haven’t heard one thing out of her mouth that I would say is antisemitic.”
“Catholics do not embrace Zionism, just so you know. So are all Catholics antisemites?” Prejean Boller later asked the panel, earning some boos from the audience, a mix of Jewish professionals, Christian activists and members of the Washington Jewish community. “I want to be clear on what the definition of antisemitism is. If I don’t support the political State of Israel, am I an antisemite, yes or no?”…
The Network Contagion Research Institute accused the Democratic Socialists of America, in a report released in late January, of activities that may run afoul of the Foreign Agents Registration Act — alleging that the far-left group may be acting as an unregistered agent of various U.S. adversaries, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
The report points to foreign trips by DSA members to Venezuela, Cuba and China which have included access to top-level officials and, the report alleges, lodging, transportation and other services provided by the host governments “that may constitute in-kind benefits from foreign government-linked entities” and “participation in quasi-official functions.”
The report claims that the DSA’s foreign engagements are followed by brief upticks in the group’s promotion of U.S. adversaries’ priority issues, such as removing sanctions on Cuba and Venezuela, “consistent with campaign-style political activity rather than incidental commentary”…
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt defended his organization’s approach to combating antisemitism in eJewishPhilanthropy today, after New York Times columnist Bret Stephens called for the ADL to be dismantled and for the organized Jewish community to reallocate its resources to focus on building Jewish identity rather than combating antisemitism.
“Stephens’ framing risks replacing one error with another,” Greenblatt wrote. “The choice is not ‘fight antisemitism’ or ‘build Jewish life.’ Security and identity aren’t competing priorities; they’re inseparable preconditions for Jewish flourishing in an open society. Shutting down the Anti-Defamation League or other Jewish organizations is not some magic formula that promises self-reliance; it’s a disastrous prescription for unilateral disarmament”…
Guy Christensen, an anti-Israel influencer who defended the Capital Jewish Museum shooting in which two Israeli Embassy employees were killed, spoke at the Al Jazeera Forum wrapping up in Doha, Qatar, today. As a last-minute addition to the event, which has already seen Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal defend the Oct. 7 attacks, Christensen spoke on a panel about content creation and influence.
The forum’s website touts Christensen, who was expelled from The Ohio State University over his defense of the alleged Capital Jewish Museum shooter, as “a political activist, commentator, and content creator who dedicates his efforts to advancing social justice and educating the masses. Over the past two years, he has proven himself to be one of the most prominent Gen Z voices supporting Palestinian liberation”…
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) endorsed state Assemblyman Micah Lasher today as his successor in New York’s 12th Congressional District, an expected move to boost his protege for the hotly contested seat. The endorsement comes shortly after reports emerged that one of Lasher’s opponents, Kennedy scion Jack Schlossberg, is set to receive his own prized endorsement from Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who is also retiring after this term.
About Schlossberg, Nadler told The New York Times, “He’s a nice guy, and he comes from a nice family, but what’s his experience for this job? No, I don’t think people ought to support him. I don’t think they will support him”…
Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, congratulated the Lebanese Armed Forces today for “recently finding a massive underground Hizbollah tunnel for the second time in the past two months.” He commended a “job well done by the LAF and U.S.-led Mechanism team that is helping enforce commitments made by Israel and Lebanon.”
The appreciative comments come as experts, lawmakers and Israeli officials have cast doubt on efforts by the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah, as required in the Israel-Lebanon November 2024 ceasefire agreement.
At the same time, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam visited southern Lebanon today for the first time since the LAF said it had disarmed Hezbollah south of the Litani River, where he claimed that continuous Israeli “attacks” — strikes which Israel says it is carrying out due to Hezbollah’s rearmament and continued terror efforts in the area — are a “blow to our dignity”…
Indonesia is preparing to send a delegation of several thousand troops into Gaza, Israeli media reports. The timing, size and mandate of the deployment remains unknown, though the Indonesian defense minister said in November that the country had trained 20,000 troops to conduct health and construction-related efforts for the U.S.-led International Stabilization Force. The troops are expected to be stationed between the cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip…
Arab states and the EU condemned the Israeli Security Cabinet’s approval of a series of measures that will allow Israeli authorities to exert more control in the West Bank, with the foreign ministers of Jordan, the UAE, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt rejecting the “expansionist Israeli policies and illegal measures” in a joint statement.
EU spokesperson Anouar El Anouni called it “another step in the wrong direction, while the whole international community is making an effort to implement Phase 2 of the comprehensive plan for Gaza.” President Donald Trump, whom Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting with this week, has also voiced his opposition to annexation efforts, saying in October that “Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with former hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel, as they pivot from hostage advocacy efforts to engaging in humanitarian work abroad.
On the Hill, the House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing on foreign influence in American nonprofits, including testimony from Adam Sohn, the co-founder of the Network Contagion Research Institute, which authored the recent study on the Democratic Socialists of America.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on Syria and U.S. policy challenges in a post-Assad world. Witnesses will include James Jeffrey and Andrew Tabler of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Nadine Maenza, the former chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington will host its Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day, featuring remarks from newly sworn in Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
Stories You May Have Missed
MEJIA’S MOMENTUM
Already several members of the state’s congressional delegation have begun to coalesce around Mejia’s campaign
STICKING BY THE STICKY NOTE
The head of the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate emphasized the ad was intended to persuade all Americans — not just Jews — and survey research proved its effectiveness
Carrie Prejean Boller, a member of the commission and a former Miss California, said she opposes Israel and defended Candace Owens from allegations of antisemitism
Win McNamee/Getty Images
President Donald Trump speaks at the Museum of the Bible September 8, 2025 in Washington, DC.
When the White House Religious Liberty Commission gathered in Washington on Monday for the body’s first public hearing focused on antisemitism, attendees expected an informative if subdued meeting, meant to gather testimony from Jewish Americans who have faced antisemitism. The commission’s members are tasked with drafting a report with recommendations for President Donald Trump about how to promote religious liberty.
The speakers were mostly conservative, like the 13 members of the commission, which was created by Trump last year.
The conversation was largely friendly, barring one member of the commission, Catholic conservative activist and former Miss California Carrie Prejean Boller, who acted as more of an interrogator. She pushed back on witnesses’ testimony, arguing that they had defined antisemitism too broadly and questioning whether she would be considered an antisemite because she does not support Zionism and because she believes the Jews killed Jesus.
She also defended right-wing influencer Candace Owens from accusations of antisemitism.
“I listen to her daily,” said Prejean Boller, who appeared to be wearing a Palestinian flag pin. “I haven’t heard one thing out of her mouth that I would say is antisemitic.” In 2024, Owens was dropped from a Trump campaign event where she was slated to speak alongside Donald Trump Jr. after the campaign faced backlash for including Owens, who regularly shares antisemitic commentary in social media posts and on her podcast.
The first panel of speakers featured former UCLA law student Yitzy Frankel, who sued the university over its handling of antisemitism during the 2024 encampments; Yeshiva University President Ari Berman; Harvard alum Shabbos Kestenbaum; and former Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl. Each of them talked about their experiences of antisemitism — or combating it — in the United States after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel.
After nearly an hour and a half, Prejean Boller revealed that she had been counting each mention of Israel in the course of the discussion.
“Since we’ve mentioned Israel a total of 17 times, are you willing to condemn what Israel has done in Gaza?” said Prejean Boller. “You won’t condemn that? Just on the record.”
Prejean Boller insisted that she opposes Israel because of her Catholic faith.
“Catholics do not embrace Zionism, just so you know. So are all Catholics antisemites?” Prejean Boller asked the panel, earning some boos from the audience, a mix of Jewish professionals, Christian activists and members of the Washington Jewish community. “I want to be clear on what the definition of antisemitism is. If I don’t support the political state of Israel, am I an antisemite, yes or no?”
At the end of the first panel, the Religious Liberty Commission’s sole Jewish member, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York, offered a pointed response to Prejean Boller’s commentary about Catholics.
“This is an incredibly diverse country, and the one thing we should be careful about is speaking on behalf of all members of a religious community, even if one is a member of that religious community. I certainly wouldn’t claim to speak for all Jews on all subjects,” said Soloveichik. “We’re not known for agreeing on everything, and that certainly should be said for speaking about Catholics in America.”
Soloveichik then quoted Secretary of State Marco Rubio, “who also happens to be a very devout Catholic,” and who spoke about the Jewish people’s connection to the land of Israel during a visit to Jerusalem last year.
Prejean was a member of Trump’s campaign advisory board in 2020. The next year, she began using social media to rally against COVID-19 mask mandates. “You’re the next Rosa Parks. You’re the next Martin Luther King. This is so important that you stand,” she told a group of girls in 2021, urging them to go to school without masks, according to a video she posted on her Instagram.
At the time, she had 11,000 followers. Now she has 124,000 followers. She is also an advocate against transgender women and girls participating in female sports, and an opponent of same-sex marriage. Recently, she began regularly posting videos from Owens and Tucker Carlson, along with sharp criticism towards Israel. Her biography on the commission’s website lists only her beauty pageant title and a book she authored about it. A White House spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
“They mocked her. They censored her. They called her a ‘crazy conspiracy theorist’ simply for asking questions,” Prejean Boller wrote in a recent post about Owens. “I stand with Tucker,” she wrote in another post.
“I would really appreciate it if you would stop calling Candace Owens an antisemite,” Prejean Boller said at the hearing. “She’s not an antisemite. She just doesn’t support Zionism, and that really has to stop.”
Other commission members include Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the former Archbishop of New York; Pastor Paula White, a senior advisor to the White House Faith Office; and Pastor Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and of Samaritan’s Purse. It is chaired by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
The rest of the Monday hearing proceeded as planned: bureaucratic, genial, straightforward. The commission’s membership is mostly Christian, and much of the discussion of antisemitism presented it as a problem for those who believe in Judeo-Christian values, and an issue for Jews and Christians to combat together — with an understanding that the government should be in the business of supporting Americans’ freedom of religion. The event took place at the Museum of the Bible, a private institution established by the evangelical founder of Hobby Lobby.
“I want to thank everyone who is part of this fight,” Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner said at the start of the event. “It’s a battle that President Trump will continue to wage for Jewish Americans, for Christians, and for all Americans of all faiths whose First Amendment freedoms are under attack. I know it’s fitting that we’re here at the Museum of the Bible. The word of God is powerful, and it’s a powerful reminder of the importance of the First Amendment.”
Plus, the stakes of Bibi's upcoming White House visit
Rob Kim/Getty Images for Fanatics
Michael Rubin and Nasser Al-Khelaifi attend Fanatics Fest NYC 2025 at Javits Center on June 22, 2025 in New York City.
👋 Good Monday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we preview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Washington this week following the White House’s talks with Iran on Friday, and have the exclusive on a new report from the North American Values Institute on antisemitism in K-12 schools. We report on Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal’s praise for the Oct. 7 attacks at the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha, Qatar, over the weekend, as Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin hosted his annual Super Bowl lunch that was attended by a senior Qatari official. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Yakir Gabay and Narges Mohammadi.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- Vice President JD Vance is traveling to Armenia today as part of a two-country trip that will also include a stop in Azerbaijan later this week, in a last-minute trip first reported yesterday. Vance will not be in Washington during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House, slated for Wednesday.
- Former Israeli hostage and musician Alon Ohel will play a one-night concert in Tel Aviv this evening. In videos shared by his loved ones during his more than two years in captivity, Ohel deftly played the piano, drawing widespread praise for his talent. He’ll be performing alongside a number of high-profile Israeli musicians, including Idan Amedi and Eviatar Banai for the performance, titled “Alon Ohel, Playing for Life.”
- The Religious Liberty Commission is holding its fifth hearing on issues related to antisemitism today at the Museum of the Bible. Speakers at the gathering, which begins this morning and runs through the mid-afternoon, include the Justice Department’s Leo Terrell, former Auburn men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl and former U.S. Ambassador for Religious Freedom Sam Brownback.
Prince William is making his first official visit to Saudi Arabia this week. The trip comes as Riyadh hosts the World Defense Show, and as the U.K. works to establish Saudi Arabia as a partner in its next-generation Tempest fighter aircraft program. - Somali Defense Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi is also in Riyadh, where earlier in the day he inked a new defense cooperation agreement with Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman. The Saudi official had met with Jewish leaders in Washington last month, during which he reiterated Riyadh’s opposition to Israel’s recent recognition of Somaliland.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to fly to Washington for a Wednesday White House meeting amid increasing concern in Jerusalem that the U.S. and Iran are headed towards a nuclear deal that does not meet Israel’s immediate security need — to drastically limit Iran’s ballistic missile program.
After the first round of indirect negotiations in Oman on Friday, President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One that talks had been “very good” and that “Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly.”
Asked about Iran’s demand that the talks only be about nuclear weapons, Trump said, “That would be acceptable. One thing, right up front, no nuclear weapons. … They weren’t willing to do that [last year]; now they are willing to do much more.” That message contrasted with Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s remarks from last week, that “in order for talks to actually lead to something meaningful, they will have to include certain things, and that includes the range of their ballistic missiles, that includes the sponsorship of terrorist organizations across the region, that includes the nuclear program and that includes the treatment of their own people.”
Netanyahu announced the urgent meeting with Trump, less than two months after they last met at Mar-a-Lago, with a statement that said: “The Prime Minister believes any negotiations must include limitations on ballistic missiles and a halting of the support for the Iranian axis.”
For Israel, while the Iranian nuclear program may be the biggest threat, Operation Midnight Hammer did enough damage that the ballistic missiles are the more urgent concern, one that Iran has been threatening to use against Israel if the U.S. launches an attack.
Though Israel destroyed hundreds of missiles, launchers and production sites during the 12-Day war last June, most of Iran’s missiles remained intact. The prime minister presented the president with evidence during their December meeting that Iran has been working to rebuild its ballistic missile program and air defenses with help from China and Russia.
Any deal that does not include significant limitations on the range of Iran’s ballistic missiles will be woefully inadequate from Israel’s perspective. Plus, as Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday, Israel wants a deal that addresses Iran’s sponsorship of terrorist proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) expressed skepticism that the negotiations would bring about an acceptable agreement and noted the legal requirement to bring any such deal before Congress, writing on X: “I hope it can meet our national security objectives and the needs of the people of Iran through diplomacy. Given Iran’s behavior regarding deals, it could be a tough sell. However, I am open-minded, understanding [that] any agreement with the Islamic Republic and the United States must come to Congress for review and a vote.”
FROM CENTER STAGE
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal addressed Qatar’s 17th Al Jazeera Forum on Sunday in Doha, at a conference that focused heavily on denigrating Israel, while featuring senior officials from Iran and Somalia. Mashaal applauded the group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel as having “brought the Palestinian cause back to the forefront of the world” and said that Palestinians “take pride” in “resistance,” a euphemism for violence against Israelis. He called to “pursue Israel and establish that it is a pariah entity that is losing its international legitimacy,” noting the “changes in the elites, universities and social networks” against Israel, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Peak promotion: The Hamas leader, who resides in Doha, also hailed Qatar’s “honorable role in the [Palestinian] cause.” Hamas is designated by the U.S., European Union and other countries as a terrorist organization, and Mashaal is wanted in the U.S. for terrorism, murder conspiracy and sanctions evasion relating to his role in planning the Oct. 7 attacks. Mashaal was listed on the conference’s program and list of speakers in versions of the Al Jazeera Forum website archived by independent researcher Eitan Fischberger, but as of Sunday, Mashaal was no longer listed. At the same time, the Al Jazeera Forum X account extensively promoted Mashaal, with 19 posts about the terror leader’s remarks. The account featured two posts about conference keynote speaker Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister of Iran.
Elsewhere at the Forum: Another speaker was Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur who has been sanctioned by the U.S. for “infringement on the sovereignty” of Israel and the U.S. by pursuing International Criminal Court prosecutions of citizens of both countries, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio described her actions last year. Albanese claimed in her remarks, delivered via video, that Israel had committed a premeditated genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, and that all of humanity “now has a common enemy” in Israel.
DOHA DISSONANCE
As the Al Jazeera Forum took place in Doha, Qatari minister Nasser Al-Khelaifi was being feted by Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin at another high-profile convening — Super Bowl weekend, taking place in Santa Clara, Calif. Al-Khelaifi is the chairman of Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), one of the Qatari sovereign wealth funds that invests heavily in international sports and entertainment. Among his other titles, Al-Khelaifi is also a board member of the Qatar Investment Authority, a minister of state and the president of the Paris Saint-Germain Football Club in France and the Qatar Tennis Foundation.
Flourishing friendship: Rubin posted a picture with Al-Khelaifi from his annual Super Bowl luncheon on Instagram with the caption, “Incredible lunch with amazing people across sports, business, and culture.” Rubin and Al-Khelaifi have developed a friendship in recent years, including a long-term partnership between Fanatics and Paris Saint-Germain. Rubin posted a photo with Al-Khelaifi at the F1 Qatar Grand Prix last November, where he called the Qatari minister his “brother” and said, “What you did for both the city of Paris and country of Qatar is truly amazing.”
STICKING BY THE STICKY NOTE
The Blue Square Alliance Against Hate’s widely watched Super Bowl ad last night designed to combat antisemitism instead sparked a heated divide within the Jewish community over the effectiveness of its message, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. Titled “Sticky Note,” the ad from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s group featured a Jewish student being harassed by his high school classmates because of his religion, with bullies placing a “dirty Jew” sticker on his backpack. In a show of allyship, a Black classmate puts a blue square over the note. “Do not listen to that,” he tells his Jewish classmate. “I know how it feels.”
Target audience: A chorus of commentators criticized the advertisement, which is part of a $15 million media campaign that will also include ad spots during the Winter Olympics, for depicting Jews as victims in need of protection from non-Jews and for avoiding the reality that the source of many antisemitic incidents in schools stem from hostility toward or hatred of Israel. But the leader of Kraft’s group told JI that the ad wasn’t trying to appeal to a Jewish audience. Instead, Blue Square Alliance President Adam Katz told JI that with more than 100 million viewers, the Super Bowl provides an opportunity to reach an audience that is “unengaged — and in many cases uninformed — about antisemitism … We’re very focused on this audience that’s lacking awareness, empathy and motivation to act,” he said.
MEJIA MOMENTUM
With progressive activist Analilia Mejia’s expected victory in the special election Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, attention is now turning to the upcoming April special election and the June regular election primary as the last chances for moderates and pro-Israel groups to defeat her, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Looking ahead: “June is potentially irresistible for the other candidates who ran … if any of these candidates could get a one-on-one shot at making it in June,” Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, said. But unless the field can consolidate, Rasmussen said, it’s hard to see how the result would be any different in June. He said former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), who closely trails Mejia, would have the strongest shot at defeating her head-to-head, while former Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way might have a tougher battle.
UDP’s outlook: “The outcome in NJ-11 was an anticipated possibility, and our focus remains on who will serve the next full term in Congress,” UDP spokesperson Patrick Dorton said in a statement on Friday. “UDP will be closely monitoring dozens of primary races, including the June NJ-11 primary, to help ensure pro-Israel candidates are elected to Congress.”
EXCLUSIVE
Political activists seeking to push extremist perspectives into the classroom are behind a nationwide acceleration of antisemitic content in K-12 classrooms, with increasingly active movements targeting school boards, district leadership and teacher organizations, according to a report published Monday by the North American Values Institute, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Findings: The group’s 58-page report, “When the Classroom Turns Hostile: A Strategic Response to Extremism and Antisemitism in K-12 Education,” shared exclusively with JI, found that in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, what it described as radical ideological frameworks have dominated key education institutions across the country. Ideologies such as “oppressor-oppressed” are common in schools of education, accreditation bodies, teacher unions and district bureaucracies, all of which shape classroom materials.
MENTORSHIP MOVES
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has been receiving briefings from Matt Duss, an outspoken critic of the U.S.-Israel alliance and former foreign policy advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), as she prepares for a high-profile appearance at the Munich Security Conference this week, The New York Times reported on Friday. Duss, who is now executive vice president at the Center for International Policy, a left-wing think tank, has long been a prominent detractor of U.S. relations with Israel, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Duss’ record: He has called for blocking aid to Israel and has expressed opposition to renewing the 10-year memorandum of understanding, which is set to expire in 2028 and currently provides $3.8 billion in military funding to Israel annually. He has also cast doubt on the Abraham Accords, accusing the normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab countries of using “racist logic” that is “premised on the perpetual repression of Palestinians” and helping to fuel Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks. Duss has frequently called Israel’s resulting war in Gaza a genocide. “I don’t think a Democrat can be nominated in ‘28 without acknowledging that it is a genocide,” Duss suggested in an interview with The Financial Times last September.
Worthy Reads
Baker’s Recipe: Politico’s Diana Nerozzi and Ian Ward profile the Trump administration’s Andy Baker, whose “fingerprints are evident on some of the Trump administration’s most norm-shattering postures,” including Vice President JD Vance’s address at last year’s Munich Security Conference and the White House’s National Security Strategy. “Behind the scenes, the seldom-pictured and extremely private deputy national security adviser has emerged as a key figure in Vance’s orbit, shaping both the vice president’s foreign policy thinking and some of the White House’s most consequential national security decisions — especially its increasingly confrontational stance toward America’s allies in Europe. … With Vance emerging as a leading candidate to secure the 2028 Republican nomination, Baker, a self-described ‘realist’ who is skeptical of traditional American alliances and U.S. military intervention abroad, is expected to play an even more important role in shaping the future of the GOP’s foreign policy.” [Politico]
Harassed at Haverford: In The Free Press, Haviv Rettig Gur recounts his recent experience as a guest speaker at Haverford College, where his talk was disrupted by anti-Israel student protesters. “It was the strangest thing: The more I treated them like neglected children hungry for knowledge, the more likely they were to respond in healthy and productive ways. I didn’t meet violent illiberal radicals that evening at Haverford; I met children playing at violent illiberal radicalism. I met young people starved for wisdom and authority who had been told that their every emotional kink and outburst was valid and unassailable truth. … In the end, we managed to have an honest exchange of ideas, but it felt as though we had to buck everything their campus culture had taught them in order to reach that point. I met a real hunger for depth and understanding among young people who’d been told in a hundred different ways that their unexamined emotions were wisdom enough.” [FreePress]
The Two Elites: The Financial Times’ Janan Ganesh observes the “fatally interlocking” relationship between the private and public elite, against the backdrop of the resignation of former U.K. Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. “Most people do not find money — or the main ways of making money, such as banking — intrinsically interesting. This might be less true in societies that are new to wealth. But it holds in the established western cities. There, the self-made often discover too late that all their work and risk-taking has brought them less social status than expected. A minor magazine editor outranks them at a party. A hand-to-mouth actor is more welcome at Soho House. A bureaucrat can affect their business. Most rich people don’t mind. Even those who do tend to react maturely, perhaps sponsoring the arts for some reflected glory or buying a media outlet. But some will cross the line in seeking to be near the beau monde. Which consists of whom? Artists, intellectuals, politicians, even the occasional journalist: the public rather than private 1 per cent. Their value in social settings is high. Their income might not be.” [FT]
Word on the Street
The Pentagon is cutting its graduate-level programmatic and fellowship partnerships with Harvard, alleging that the school is imparting “globalist and radical ideologies” amid ongoing tensions between the school and the Trump administration…
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch named Cardinal Timothy Dolan and the Rev. A.R. Bernard co-heads of the department’s chaplaincy unit, where they will jointly oversee a team of 10 chaplains; Dolan and Bernard, who respectively represent Catholic and Black churches, succeed Rabbi Alvin Kass, who died last year after six decades with the NYPD…
The New York Times looks at how conspiracy theories about the U.S.S. Liberty incident, in which Israel mistakenly fired on a U.S. naval ship during the Six-Day War, are spreading in far-right circles and are being promoted by Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens…
The Washington Post profiles American Conservative editor Curt Mills as the “avatar of a new right” works to shape the future of a post-Trump Republican Party; the “the No. 1 item on Mills’s agenda,” the Post reports, “is pushing back against Trump on U.S. support for Israel’s retaliation against Hamas after the attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, and agitating for a hard turn away from America’s 80-year bond with the Jewish state”…
The New York Times reviews Allegra Goodman’s This Is Not About Us, a collection of short but intertwined stories about generations of a fictional large Jewish family…
Israeli Olympic bobsled captain AJ Edelman said the apartment where the Israeli team had been staying in Milan ahead of the Olympic Games had been robbed; among the items taken, Edelman said, were thousands of dollars in cash as well as some of the team’s passports…
The Australian state of Queensland introduced a series of hate speech reforms that include the banning of the public use of such slogans as “globalize the intifada” and “from the river to the sea”; the move was undertaken in response to the December terror attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach…
Israeli President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog visited the site of the Bondi attack earlier today as part of a four-day visit to the country that will also include stops in Melbourne and Canberra…
Israeli carrier El Al was fined $39 million by the country’s Competition Authority over its price-gauging of tickets after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks and through May 2024, finding that El Al raised prices on routes — a majority of which were only being served by the airline due to security concerns that resulted in widespread route suspensions — by between 16-31%…
Ynet profiles Israeli real estate investor Yakir Gabay, who was named to the executive board of the Trump administration’s Board of Peace…
The families of Druze children killed in a Hezbollah strike on a soccer field in the Israeli town of Majdal Shams in July 2024 are suing the terror organization for 80 million shekels ($25 million); 12 children were killed and dozens injured in the attack…
Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a series of measures that will allow Israeli authorities to exert more control in the West Bank, with far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who backed the expansion, saying, “we will continue to bury the idea of a Palestinian state”…
Iran sentenced activist Narges Mohammadi, who had been imprisoned since her arrest in December and had begun a hunger strike, to seven years in prison…
The new sentence against Mohammadi comes as Iranian security forces arrested four senior politicians affiliated with the country’s reformist parties…
Israeli music icon Matti Caspi died at 76…
Pic of the Day
Attendees of the International Conference of Shluchot in Brooklyn, N.Y., posed for the annual “class photo” outside the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters over the weekend. Some 4,500 women representing more than 100 countries traveled to New York for the annual gathering.
Birthdays
Sports announcer for NBA, NFL and college basketball games on CBS, TNT and TBS, as well as Brooklyn Nets games on the YES Network, Ian Eagle turns 57…
Grammy Award-winning songwriter of over 150 hits including “Somewhere Out There” from the movie “An American Tail,” in partnership with his late wife Cynthia Weil, Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman) turns 87… Singer-songwriter, she wrote 118 songs that made it to the Top 100 between 1955 and 1999 and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Carole King (born Carol Klein) turns 84… Professor of economics at Columbia University, Nobel laureate in 2001, former SVP and chief economist of the World Bank, Joseph Stiglitz turns 83… Three-time Tony Award and three-time Emmy Award-winning actress, Judith Light turns 77… Professor of history and modern Jewish studies at UCSD, Deborah Hertz turns 77… Israeli singer mostly in the Mizrahi music tradition, he has released over 30 albums, Shimi Tavori (born Shimshon Tawili) turns 73… Former governor of Virginia, chair of the DNC, chair of two Clinton presidential campaigns (Bill’s in 1996, Hillary’s in 2008), Terry McAuliffe, a/k/a “the Macker,” turns 69… Creator of the HBO series “The Wire” (2002-2008) and NBC’s series “Homicide: Life on the Street” (1993-1999), winner of a 2010 MacArthur genius fellowship, David Simon turns 66… Theoretical physics professor at Columbia University since 1996, author of multiple books written for the general public such as Icarus at the Edge of Time, Brian Greene turns 63… Isaac Lieberman… Managing director with the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, he was the lieutenant governor and then attorney general of Delaware, Matthew P. Denn turns 60… Play-by-play announcer for ESPN’s men’s college basketball and for the Toronto Blue Jays, Dan Shulman turns 59… British broadcasting executive who is currently chief content officer at the U.K.’s Channel 4, Ian Katz turns 58… President of the K-12 education portfolio at the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Julie Mikuta… Assistant adjunct professor of journalism at UCLA, she was a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Los Angeles Times for 16 years, Abigail Helaine “Abbe” Goldman turns 56… Managing director of AlTi Tiedemann Global, Jeffrey L. Zlot… Charleston, S.C., resident, Ellen Miriam Brandwein… Television and film actress, Margarita Levieva turns 46… Member of the Minnesota state Senate since 2011, Jeremy R. Miller turns 43… Senior director of public policy and strategy for Christians United for Israel Action Fund, Boris Zilberman… Director of development for Ben-Gurion University, Jason Pressberg… Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (D-182) since 2023, Benjamin R. Waxman turns 41… Managing partner of Precision Infrastructure Management, Thomas Szold… Brazilian chess grandmaster, André Diamant turns 36… Associate director at Merck Research Laboratories, Carly Abenstein Myar… Israeli judoka, he competed for Israel at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, Baruch Shmailov turns 32… Offensive tackle for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, Jake Curhan turns 28…
The report warns that the trend also contributes to declining academic outcomes and increasing anti-American views
Getty Images
Political activists seeking to push extremist perspectives into the classroom are behind a nationwide acceleration of antisemitic content in K-12 classrooms, with increasingly active movements targeting school boards, district leadership and teacher organizations, according to a report published Monday by the North American Values Institute.
The group’s 58-page report, “When the Classroom Turns Hostile: A Strategic Response to Extremism and Antisemitism in K-12 Education,” shared exclusively with JI, found that in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, what it described as radical ideological frameworks have dominated key education institutions across the country. Ideologies such as “oppressor-oppressed” are common in schools of education, accreditation bodies, teacher unions and district bureaucracies, all of which shape classroom materials.
The paper highlights teachers’ unions and activist nonprofits as major sources of embedding radical views and ready-made anti-American content into professional development, much of which is able to bypass traditional oversight. It also raises concerns about “substantial” foreign funding flowing into Western education institutions to influence ciriculums by the Qatar Foundation International and Confucius Institutes in China.
The North American Values Institute, formerly the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values, is a nonprofit that monitors antisemitism in K-12 schools. It was founded by David Bernstein, a longtime Jewish nonprofit official who led the Jewish Council for Public Affairs from 2016-2021.
“We’re very concerned about the ideological activists taking over union leadership,” NAVI’s chief program officer, Dana Stangel-Plowe, told JI. “While that may not seem new, we’re seeing the DSA [Democratic Socialists of America] in particular taking a much more active role.” According to the report, DSA “urges members to enter the field in order to ‘transform our schools, our unions, and our society.’”
The report warns that these dynamics contribute not only to rising antisemitism, but also to declining academic outcomes and increasing anti-American views.
Attempts to combat this framework by promoting Holocaust or Jewish education have failed, the report’s authors argue.
Rather, the writers offer several suggestions for reforming K-12 education, including changing teacher preparation programs and accreditation standards, confronting politicized teacher unions and advocacy networks, strengthening standards around curricula, addressing foreign funding and influence in education, empowering parents and school boards and building multi-ethnic coalitions.
NAVI rebranded in February 2025 in an effort to detach from its Jewish roots to expand partnerships in fighting antisemitism with other ethnic communities.
At the time of the rebrand, Bernstein told JI that the Jewish community “has been reluctant to fight at the ideological level.”
A year later, Stangel-Plowe said that while there is still room for improvement, NAVI has increasingly been partnering with leading Jewish organizations.
The report comes two months after the House Committee on Education and the Workforce opened investigations into public school systems in Fairfax County, Va.; Berkeley, Calif.; and Philadelphia over alleged failures to address antisemitic incidents.
Federal investigations are “a good start but certainly not enough,” said Stangel-Plowe. “School districts are used to functioning without much accountability. We need more federal and state oversight.”
Still, she emphasized a need to address the root cause, rather than responding after incidents occur.
“K-12 education is being treated as a vehicle for social change and an oppressor-oppressed framework is dangerous to Jewish students, Jewish teachers, and teaches hostility towards Israel and more broadly Western values,” Stangel-Plowe continued.
We’re seeing active networks, [including] in New York City and Philadelphia,” she added. “We’re seeing radical political actors taking over union leadership and that has an influence on teachers unions which influences school board elections. The problem is embedded not just in the unions but the entire education system from teacher training, licensing and programs.”
“We can’t fix an institutional problem with more lessons or programs,” she said. “As important as education about the Holocaust and Jewish life is, institutional problems persist unless we have a real allocation of investments in a comprehensive solution across the ecosystem.
The head of the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate emphasized the ad was intended to persuade all Americans — not just Jews — and survey research proved its effectiveness
Chris Unger/Getty Images
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft
The Blue Square Alliance Against Hate’s widely watched Super Bowl ad designed to combat antisemitism instead sparked a heated divide within the Jewish community over the effectiveness of its message.
Titled “Sticky Note,” the ad from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s group featured a Jewish student being harassed by his high school classmates because of his religion, with bullies placing a “dirty Jew” sticker on his backpack. In a show of allyship, a Black classmate puts a blue square over the note. “Do not listen to that,” he tells his Jewish classmate. “I know how it feels.”
A chorus of commentators criticized the advertisement, which is part of a $15 million media campaign that will also include ad spots during the Winter Olympics, for depicting Jews as victims in need of protection from non-Jews and for avoiding the reality that the source of many antisemitic incidents in schools stem from hostility toward or hatred of Israel.
But the leader of Kraft’s group told Jewish Insider that the ad wasn’t trying to appeal to a Jewish audience. Instead, Blue Square Alliance president Adam Katz told JI that with more than 100 million viewers, the Super Bowl provides an opportunity to reach an audience that is “unengaged — and in many cases uninformed —- about antisemitism … We’re very focused on this audience that’s lacking awareness, empathy and motivation to act,” he said.
The Anti-Defamation League’s Center for Antisemitism Research also responded to the flurry of negative feedback to the commercial by running its own test last week, and shared the results exclusively with JI. (ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt was one of the first Jewish leaders to praise the message of the advertisement, amid the criticism on social media.)
The ADL was involved in testing audience reactions to the Blue Square Alliance commercial amid the political debate over its impact, Katz said. The group conducted a randomized controlled experiment between Feb. 5-6, where about 1,000 viewers saw the group’s ad and a control group that saw an unrelated ad. The survey research, according to the ADL, found that the group that saw the antisemitism ad said they were notably more likely to “think antisemitism is a serious problem,” interrupt friends or family who make antisemitic comments and feel more motivated to fight antisemitism.
While the ADL and Blue Square Alliance often partner with each other, the test was done independently.
Katz told JI that the commercial was also tested for audience reaction by the Blue Square Alliance before it aired. He told JI that, based on the initial feedback, the foundation made tweaks to the ad so it would resonate more closely with viewers disengaged with the issue of antisemitism.
“Our research goes very deep into who [the Super Bowl audience is], what do they know, what don’t they know and we see very concerning data points around the awareness, visibility and concern about antisemitism. It’s just not on their radar. We’re talking about over 100 million Americans classified as unengaged on this topic who just don’t see antisemitism as a significant problem, as their problem to solve or as something they can have an impact on. That’s our audience.”
Leading up to the Super Bowl, Katz said Blue Square ran focus groups mostly consisting of non-Jewish and racially diverse Gen Zers and millennials. “We start by coming up with lots of different content and put those concepts in front of a testing audience, which is representative of our target audience of unengaged,” said Katz.
By the time the ad was finished, Katz said, it was “tested many times in raising awareness, empathy and ultimately raising attention to become an ally.”
“We have seen a particular rise in antisemitic sentiment among younger generations,” continued Katz. “Gen Z is three times more likely to witness antisemitism but twice as likely to say it’s not a problem. How do we reach that audience and give them a visible example of allyship?”
The answer, he said, is “allyship that feels approachable,” such as in a school setting.
“We wanted to focus on [an example] of what it looks like when everyday allies can get involved.”
Katz also said that the slur of “dirty Jew” is one that is increasingly commonplace in school settings, and one that viewers were most familiar with as an indicator of antisemitism.
“There are several real-life examples where students have been harassed using phrases like dirty Jew. We looked at the prominence of that particular phrase, we explored different things that could be written on that sticky note and we looked at what is really cutting across all different segments of the audience.”
Blue Square “found that there were nearly 500 million impressions of the phrase ‘dirty Jew’ on social media in the last three years,” Katz said. “The usage of that phrase is up 174% over the last three years. The usage of all slurs is up but not to that magnitude.”
The Senate education committee chairman said New York City public schools’ federal funding could be at risk
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) speaks to reporters following the weekly Republican Senate policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on March 11, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, announced on Thursday that he’s launching an investigation into New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, prompted by the mayor’s rescission last month of executive orders from the prior administration related to Israel and antisemitism.
“Has antisemitism decreased in New York City? I haven’t seen any evidence of that. Academic institutions have, of recent, been places where Jewish students have felt quite threatened,” Cassidy told Jewish Insider, referring to Mamdani’s repeal of an executive order implementing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism that came as part of a broader revocation of executive orders issued by former Mayor Eric Adams following his indictment in September 2024 on federal bribery and wire fraud charges.
“I think Mayor Adams did a good job in signaling that the city had an interest in making sure that students, no matter how they identified themselves, were safe from harassment,” Cassidy continued. “The rescinding of the antisemitism and Israel orders doesn’t seem to be conducive with a lowering instance of antisemitism, so why did Mamdani rescind them? That’s the point.”
Among his first actions in office, Mamdani also repealed an anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions order.
Cassidy said in a letter to Mamdani that “strong leadership against antisemitism and discrimination is essential to the safety and security of Jewish New Yorkers.”
“It is my job to ensure every student feels safe, and at a time when Jewish students feel scared, I am concerned your actions will only exacerbate their fears,” Cassidy continued. “Decisions by your administration that weaken established safeguards for Jewish students in New York and are out of alignment with federal executive orders warrant careful scrutiny. Jewish students deserve clear assurance that their safety and civil rights will not be compromised by your administration’s actions.
He warned that repealing the IHRA order puts New York City out of alignment with federal antisemitism executive orders “and may hinder the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights’ enforcement of Title VI.” He warned that the $2.2 billion in federal funding allocated to New York City public schools could be at risk depending on “compliance with federal civil rights laws and applicable executive orders designed to protect students.”
Cassidy asked Mamdani to explain his administration’s plans to adopt an alternative antisemitism definition, its plans to combat antisemitism on campuses, whether it has consulted with the federal government about the “potential funding implications” of withdrawing the IHRA order, whether it has issued guidance to New York City schools about antisemitism and whether he believes BDS is antisemitic.
“Whatever somebody’s ideological background, if they’re in a position of responsibility, they must protect their citizens,” Cassidy said in a post on X. “Clearly, antisemitism has been on the rise. We must respond to real dangers directed at Jewish students.”
Speaking at the Hudson Institute, Kaploun gave his view of the state of the international and domestic fights to combat antisemitism
C-SPAN
Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun speaks at the Hudson Institute on Feb. 5, 2026.
Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the newly confirmed U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, was interrupted three times during a Thursday afternoon think tank event about his new role.
The first was a phone call from Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, which he sent to voicemail. The next two were protesters who had somehow made it through security at the conservative Hudson Institute to loudly chant “free Palestine” in the midst of Kaploun’s remarks before being escorted out.
Those unexpected interruptions framed Kaploun’s pitch as he settles into his new role at the State Department: First, that he will be successful because he is working on behalf of an administration that is committed to fighting antisemitism (“If you want to know how the administration works together, that was Harmeet Dhillon,” he said as he silenced his phone). And second, that education — and pushing back on false narratives about Israel and the Holocaust — is the most important way to combat antisemitism.
“The hardest job that I have is how you effect a change in education across the board, by teaching people not to hate, and that’s the battle,” Kaploun said in a conversation moderated by Hudson senior fellow Michael Doran.
Kaploun, a businessman and Chabad-trained rabbi, was confirmed by the Senate in December, must now build out a staff at the State Department and figure out how to make an impact diplomatically.
“The task is a daunting task, but we are blessed that this administration has really made antisemitism a priority, and how to combat and deal with antisemitism is something that the president and the secretary of state have made it perfectly clear that this is one of the priorities of the administration, is holding people accountable,” said Kaploun.
He said most countries in the world have a problem with antisemitism, and his message to leaders in those countries comes back to President Donald Trump: “You start with the concrete policy that antisemitism isn’t tolerated by this administration, period,” said Kaploun. Then, he said you turn to “quiet diplomacy to get results.”
For instance, he said Armenia has indicated to his office that its leaders are willing to join the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an international organization that drafted a working definition of antisemitism that has been adopted by dozens of nations, including the U.S.. Kaploun also said he worked with U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Bill White to pressure Brussels to reverse its decision to end a federal police security presence in Antwerp’s Jewish quarter.
Kaploun identified Hungary, Romania, Albania and Armenia as countries that are “making sincere efforts in dealing with antisemitism.” He said Turkey and Pakistan both leave “a lot to be desired currently,” and that “England is a particular concern” because of “the rise of mass migration.”
The ambassador-level position has a global remit, but Kaploun was not afraid to weigh in on domestic antisemitism, too.
“I think the best argument right now in this country to combat antisemitism and combat Holocaust denial is, you’re treading on the memories of every American soldier who fought tyranny, fought to liberate Europe from the Nazis and liberated the death camps,” said Kaploun, who also argued that ignorance about American Jewish history contributes to antisemitism — and called for people to argue that anti-Jewish hate is anti-American.
“It really is a lack of knowledge about the contributions of Jewish Americans to America, that people fled here for religious freedom,” Kaploun said. “That’s something that this country stands for. So when you are going against the same groups that have the same values, Judeo-Christian values, you are anti-American, because you’re going against what our founding fathers wanted for us.”
Kaploun has not yet announced any international trips. But his goal for all countries, he said, is a “basic human morality.”
“We’re far from getting every country on board,” said Kaploun.
Plus, Massie challenger gets strong GOP backing
Julie Menin, speaker of the New York City Council and Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York, arrive for an announcement in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 (Photographer: John Lamparski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Good Thursday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, wrote to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani today voicing “serious concerns” about Mamdani’s “rescission of executive orders related to antisemitism and boycotts of Israel.”
Cassidy said the New York City Department of Education’s $2.2 billion in federal funding could be rescinded “contingent on compliance with federal civil rights laws and applicable executive orders designed to protect students”…
New York City councilmembers on both sides of the aisle denounced a new working group established by employees of the city’s Department of Health on “global oppression,” Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports, which a presenter at its first meeting on Tuesday acknowledged was “really developed in response to the ongoing genocide in Palestine.”
City Council Speaker Julie Menin called for a probe into the working group at DOH, which operates under Mamdani’s administration, telling the New York Post, “Our health care officials should be fighting infectious diseases and addressing skyrocketing health care costs instead of spending public time debating geopolitics”…
Moshe Davis, the former executive director of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism in New York City, told The Free Press upon being ousted from the role by Mamdani, “I don’t think the priority of the administration has been to combat antisemitism.”
Davis, who was a political appointee of former Mayor Eric Adams, said a Mamdani staffer told him they were “looking to go in a different direction” in replacing him with Phylisa Wisdom, a progressive Jewish activist. “Look, I’m a loud, proud Jewish person with a kippah on my head, a proud Zionist. This administration maybe felt that was too much for them,” Davis said. He noted that his requests to meet with the mayor and the memos he produced on rising antisemitism in the city had gone ignored…
Mamdani officially endorsed New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in an anticipated move, boosting her reelection prospects while also dealing a blow to her lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, who is running to oust Hochul from her left…
Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) and businessman Nate Morris, two of the leading Republican candidates for Kentucky’s Senate seat, today endorsed Ed Gallrein, the GOP challenger to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), one of the leading Republican critics of Israel in Congress, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
“Ed will never side with AOC or the radical-left against President Trump. He is exactly the kind of conservative warrior we need in Congress, and I’m proud to endorse him,” Barr said in a statement, referencing Massie’s pattern of breaking with various elements of Trump’s agenda, which has included voting against support for Israel.
The endorsements came amid an ongoing series of attacks by Trump on Massie, which included calling Massie a “moron” in remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning, as well as attacks on Truth Social this week targeting Massie’s wife…
Daniel Flesch, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation who led the drafting of the organization’s Project Esther report on combating left-wing antisemitism, has parted ways with the conservative think tank, according to Heritage’s website.
Flesch had raised the alarm on right-wing antisemitism after Heritage President Kevin Roberts released a video defending Tucker Carlson for hosting neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes on his podcast, telling the Young Jewish Conservatives in December that, “Now, in some ways, the call is coming from inside the house.” Flesch had also been Heritage’s point person for the National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, a coalition of conservative groups that disaffiliated from the think tank after the incident…
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed today that Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be traveling to Oman for negotiations with Iran tomorrow, saying at a press conference this afternoon that the president is “standing by for an update from them.”
“The president has obviously been quite clear in his demands of the Iranian regime — zero nuclear capability is something he’s been very explicit about and he wants to see if a deal can be struck. And while these negotiations are taking place, I would remind the Iranian regime that the president has many options at his disposal aside from diplomacy as the commander-in-chief of the most powerful military in the history of the world,” Leavitt added…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers at a closed-door meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that U.S.-Israel coordination is “as high and as close as possible” ahead of the nuclear talks tomorrow, Israeli media reports, but that he still doesn’t know if President Donald Trump will choose to take military action…
Middle East countries that were originally meant to participate in the talks, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Oman, the UAE and Pakistan, drafted a potential agreement for the U.S. and Iran, including a nonaggression pact, diplomats told The Times of Israel…
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized two foreign oil tankers in the Persian Gulf today, Iranian state media reported, days after attempting to stop and board a U.S.-flagged oil tanker. Reports did not provide the country of origin of the tankers seized today…
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) expressed frustration with the Lebanese government’s stance toward Hezbollah amid struggling disarmament efforts, describing on X a meeting he’d had with Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces. “I asked him point blank if he believes Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. He said, ‘No, not in the context of Lebanon.’ With that, I ended the meeting.”
“They have been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by both Republican and Democrat administrations since 1997 — for good reason. As long as this attitude exists from the Lebanese Armed Forces, I don’t think we have a reliable partner in them,” Graham continued. The U.S. has provided over $3 billion to shore up the LAF in the last 20 years, including $230 million approved by the Trump administration as recently as October…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for whether AIPAC’s active role in the New Jersey 11th Congressional District Democratic primary — opposing former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) — paid off. Polls in the district close at 8 p.m.
We’ll be watching for readouts from the meeting between White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, advisor Jared Kushner and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman at 10 a.m. local time tomorrow, including whether issues beyond Tehran’s nuclear program are discussed.
We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat Shalom!
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AI AMBITION
The Israeli-American CFO first fueled Eli Lilly’s success, and is now turning her attention to the tech sector
SURVEY SAYS
Right-wing Israelis support a strike even if Iran does not attack, while other political camps prefer to wait and see if Iran strikes Israel first, IDI poll finds
Plus, Israel continues to cast doubt over Iran talks
Angelina Katsanis-Pool/Getty Images
Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani speaks during a mayoral debate at Rockefeller Center on October 16, 2025 in New York City.
Good Wednesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
U.S. officials reportedly backtracked on their rejection of Iranian demands to change the format and venue of nuclear negotiations, set for Friday, after several Middle East leaders intervened to keep the U.S. from walking away, according to Axios. “They asked us to keep the meeting and listen to what the Iranians have to say. We have told the Arabs that we will do the meeting if they insist. But we are very skeptical,” one U.S. official told the outlet.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed on X that “nuclear talks … are scheduled to be held in Muscat” at 10 a.m. on Friday, indicating the U.S. agreed to move the venue from Turkey to Oman…
But Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated today that the Trump administration is seeking a comprehensive deal with Iran to address more than just its pursuit of nuclear weapons — including its ballistic missiles program, support for terror proxies and internal repression as well. Iran has traditionally been resistant to discussing anything beyond its nuclear program.
Asked if Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei should be worried right now, President Donald Trump told NBC News today, “I would say he should be very worried, yeah, he should be.” Trump said he was interested in negotiations again as he understood Iranian officials were considering restarting their nuclear program, “and if they do, we’re going to send” B-2 bombers “right back to do their job again,” referencing the U.S.’ June strikes…
Israeli officials have voiced skepticism over the prudence of negotiating with Iran at all, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports. After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff yesterday that Iran’s “promises cannot be trusted,” Energy Minister Eli Cohen told Israeli radio, “Our message to the U.S. is that negotiations with Iran are a waste of time”…
Sam Brownback, the former U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom and a former GOP senator from Kansas, warned at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing today that, unless Syrian minority groups are allowed to maintain their own security forces, they face a likely genocide by government-aligned forces, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
“The new administration in Syria is purging religious minorities, threatening and killing them,” Brownback said. “These groups must be allowed to maintain their own security forces, or I guarantee you today, a genocide will happen in Syria like happened in Iraq to the Yazidis and Christians.”
The Trump administration has remained largely supportive of the al-Sharaa government, and critics have accused the White House of essentially abandoning the U.S.’ longtime Kurdish allies to the Syrian government onslaught…
First Lady Melania Trump welcomed freed Israeli hostages Aviva and Keith Siegel to the White House today, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports, one year after Aviva met the first lady for the first time and pleaded for help in securing her husband’s release.
“Aviva is a warrior. She’s a warrior. She was fighting very hard for Keith, and I know he suffered a lot,” Trump said at the meeting. “I’m happy to see you healthy at home with your children, with your grandchildren, with your family, and I know you’re giving back your time, your energy, to other people”…
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani tapped Phylisa Wisdom, the executive director of the progressive group New York Jewish Agenda, to lead the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, the Forward reports.
Wisdom told JI last month that tackling the “scourge of antisemitism” in the city will require a comprehensive strategy,” noting that the office she will now lead “can play a key role, coordinating between long-standing offices and agencies tasked with combating hate, and input from the diversity of New York’s Jewish community.”
The appointment of the left-wing activist indicates Mamdani’s administration isn’t looking to placate the mainstream Jewish community. Wisdom, while well-known in the New York Jewish community, has traditionally opposed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and at times vocally opposed Israel’s war in Gaza after the Oct. 7 attacks…
Meanwhile, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul selected former New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams as her running mate in her reelection race this year — a pick that provoked both applause and consternation among leaders of the state’s Jewish community, JI’s Will Bredderman reports.
Adams was the first council speaker not to lead a delegation to Israel — although she denied that she was boycotting the country, she raised concerns in 2024 when her office drafted an ultimately abandoned resolution urging a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that one Jewish community leader described to JI as “one-sided” and “inflammatory”…
A pair of well-financed groups, whose origin is currently unknown, is set to begin running ads boosting moderate pro-Israel candidates in a series of open House seats in Chicago, each of whom is facing off against vocal anti-Israel opponents, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
The ads — being run by newly formed super PACs Elect Chicago Women and Affordable Chicago Now — boost state Sen. Laura Fine, running in the 9th Congressional District, former Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL), running in the 8th District and Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, running in the 2nd District.
The ad buys for the two groups add up to millions of dollars across the three races. Given that the groups were just launched, FEC filing policies will not require them to disclose their donors until close to Election Day. But the ads, which do not focus on Israel policy, are widely rumored to be connected to United Democracy Project, the AIPAC-affiliated super PAC…
PEN America, an organization promoting free expression for artists and journalists, said today it would retract its Jan. 29 statement expressing concern about the abrupt cancellation of Israeli comedian Guy Hochman’s shows in New York and Los Angeles. The organization, which alleged Hochman “has been accused by advocacy organizations of incitement to genocide in Gaza,” said it would “remain committed to open and respectful dialogue about the divisions that arise in the course of defending free expression”…
The Washington Post announced mass layoffs of one-third of its staff today, including closing its sports section, reducing its local coverage and letting go all of its Middle East correspondents. The outlet has faced repeated criticism for major factual errors and alleged institutional and reporter bias related to its coverage of Israel and the war in Gaza…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
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 Alphabet’s Israeli-American chief financial officer, Anat Ashkenazi, who got her start at Israel’s Bank Hapoalim more than two decades ago.
It’s primary day in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, as candidates vie for the Democratic nomination to fill Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s House seat. The race has attracted attention for the more than $2 million the AIPAC-linked super PAC United Democracy Project has spent targeting former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), who is attempting to beat out others including Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, far-left activist Analilia Mejia and Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill.
The Hudson Institute will host Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, for a conversation on the Trump administration’s strategy in confronting the rise of antisemitism.
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UNDER SCRUTINY
‘Just because someone is a hateful antisemitic looney-tune doesn’t mean they can’t win office,’ one Jewish community activist said of Shelly Arnoldi
SCHOOL OF THOUGHT
Ben Shuldiner, who is Jewish, is bringing his progressive politics to a school district facing a spike in antisemitism
‘Just because someone is a hateful antisemitic looney-tune doesn’t mean they can’t win office,’ one Jewish community activist said of Shelly Arnoldi
Shaban Athuman/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP
Shelly Arnoldi looks over her notes during a Joint Commission on Administrative Rules meeting regarding the Youngkin's administration's proposed K-12 transgender policies on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022, at Pocahontas Building in Richmond, Va.
A new candidate for Republican county chair in Virginia’s largest jurisdiction is facing scrutiny over a range of antisemitic social media posts in which she has told Jews to “move to Israel,” spread conspiracy theories about Jewish control of U.S. politics and expressed admiration for prominent neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers, among other extremist comments.
Shelly Arnoldi, who recently launched her bid to lead the Fairfax County Republican Committee, is stoking concerns among Jewish community leaders now seeking to raise awareness about her extensive public record of promoting antisemitic tropes while demonizing Israel.
While Arnoldi is not seen as a particularly viable candidate in the upcoming Feb. 28 election, local political observers say, her campaign has still given some pause to both Jewish and Republican activists who worry her radical views underscore a creeping embrace of antisemitic sentiment in the GOP fueled by leading far-right commentators including Tucker Carlson, whose interviews she has eagerly endorsed.
“She does not appear to be a serious person,” one Jewish community activist told Jewish Insider on condition of anonymity to address a sensitive topic. “But just because someone is a hateful antisemitic looney-tune doesn’t mean they can’t win office. She strikes me as someone who would continue to run, and in that regard I consider her to be a real threat.”
In recent months, Arnoldi has instructed Jewish social media critics to “move to Israel,” where she has said they “belong,” while promoting antisemitic materials alleging Zionist plots to subvert American governance and to weaken Christian representation. She has also suggested that Jews “appear to control the world,” said that “nobody cares about Jews” and claimed that “Israel owns us,” among multiple other derogatory and conspiratorial remarks posted to X.
Meanwhile, Arnoldi has frequently voiced her enthusiastic support for antisemitic influencers and conspiracy theorists on the far right, such as Nick Fuentes, Candace Owens and Ian Carroll, the latter of whom she has called a “brave man.”
Several posts were flagged by antisemitism watchdogs on social media this week. Arnoldi, who has accused her critics of attempting to smear her, did not return a request for comment from JI.
A new letter circulated on social media by Jewish community activists on Monday called attention to what it described as Arnoldi’s “sustained pattern of antisemitic rhetoric,” saying it is “incompatible with party leadership.”
“If elevated to chair,” the letter warned, “this record will not remain local or contained.”
Arnoldi, who in November ran an unsuccessful campaign for state delegate as an independent, is challenging the incumbent GOP chair, Katie Gorka, who declined to comment on the race when reached by JI on Tuesday.
Even if Republicans face long odds of winning elected office in Fairfax County — increasingly a Democratic stronghold — Arnoldi’s insurgent campaign still carries implications for the future direction of GOP politics in one of the largest jurisdictions in the D.C. area, some party observers cautioned.
Gary Aiken, a former Republican candidate for Fairfax supervisor, expressed alarm at Arnoldi’s campaign on Tuesday. “If these are the kinds of people running for chairman, I may have to get more involved again,” he told JI.
Still, Mike Ginsberg, a member of the Fairfax County Republican Party who also serves as its general counsel, downplayed such concerns — even as he acknowledged that Arnoldi’s messaging would likely resonate with a minority faction of committee members whom he noted are “perpetually disaffected and constantly complaining.”
“People of a certain age would analogize her to Statler and Waldorf in ‘The Muppet Show’ from the 1970s — criticizing from the peanut gallery without making any constructive contributions,” Ginsberg, who is Jewish, told JI. “Statler and Waldorf at least had the benefit of being entertaining — Shelly does not.”
“Put bluntly, Shelly Arnoldi is a crank,” he added. “Every party has them. She is ours.”
Baraka has faced scrutiny over his record on Israel and antisemitism
Campaign website
Brian Varela
Brian Varela, a businessman running in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, picked up an endorsement on Monday from Newark, N.J., Mayor Ras Baraka, a sign of Varela’s increasing outreach to progressive voters.
Baraka’s progressive candidacy in last year’s New Jersey gubernatorial race raised concerns in the Jewish community, in part because Baraka, in the early 2000s, appeared alongside Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has a long record of antisemitism, and applauded violent rhetoric by the controversial preacher. Baraka also faced scrutiny over his record on Israel and antisemitism.
“Brian is proud to have Mayor Baraka’s endorsement and grateful for his support,” Emmett Shell, a spokesperson for Varela’s campaign, said. “Mayor Baraka has joined north of 50 people across the ideological spectrum that point to Brian’s ability to build a wide-tent coalition.”
“That said, Brian wants to be unequivocal on the underlying issue: He entirely condemns Louis Farrakhan and the violent rhetoric Farrakhan has promoted,” Shell continued. “There is no place for that kind of rhetoric in this country, full stop. Brian has consistently denounced antisemitism in all its forms throughout his campaign and throughout his life, and that position will never waver. Antisemitism is a poison, and Brian will always stand firmly against it, regardless of who is in the room.”
The Baraka endorsement is an additional sign that Varela, who told Jewish Insider last summer, “I consider myself more of a moderate,” has pivoted in a more progressive direction as he faces off against candidates including military veteran Rebecca Bennett, who is running a campaign focused on more moderate messages.
The New Jersey Globe on Monday highlighted the Baraka endorsement as part of “Varela’s quest to claim the progressive mantle in the Democratic primary,” pointing to a series of progressive stances that Varela is taking and his other progressive endorsements.
He’s also staking out a progressive stance on immigration issues, describing himself as the “most vocal ICE critic” in the Garden State and one of the first candidates in the country to call for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s impeachment.
Asked whether he now considers himself a moderate or progressive, the Varela spokesperson said, “Brian would push back a little on the framing, because at the end of the day, voters in NJ-07 aren’t asking whether their representative is a moderate or a progressive.”
“They’re asking who is going to deliver on the issues that matter to their families. Brian looks at each policy on its own merits, whether that policy is going to strengthen the economy and raise the standard of living for people in this district,” he continued. “Sometimes that puts him in a more progressive lane, sometimes a more moderate one. The label doesn’t drive the policy. It’s the ability to change people’s lives for the better that moves Brian towards solutions.”
Varela has gone through a unique political evolution over the years, starting as a press intern for Republican Gov. Chris Christie in 2010, later running as an anti-machine candidate against now-Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) and later leading the New Jersey chapter of the Forward Party, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s centrist third party.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is also seeking to paint Varela as far left, describing him in recent press releases as “dangerously radical” and the “pick of the radical left.”
Baraka also endorsed progressive Analilia Mejia in the special election in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, and is set to endorse Michael Blake, one of the progressive challengers to Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY). Mejia has the backing of various prominent progressive leaders, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
“Analilia has dedicated her career to fighting for the rights of all people and will continue to do so,” Mejia campaign spokesperson Elon Glickman said. “As an Afro-Latina, whose own family has faced bigotry and hate, she understands that Antisemitism, racism and anti-Blackness are cut from the same cloth and we must stand together in fighting it.”
Blake’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Plus, Fine lands key endorsement, polling bump in key IL-9 primary
Tajh Payne/US Navy via Getty Images
U.S. Navy's Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group on Nov. 13, 2025.
Good Tuesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Despite negotiations between the U.S. and Iran set for Friday, Tehran is still behaving belligerently — the U.S. military shot down an Iranian drone today as it was flying toward the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, and Iranian gunboats attempted to stop and board a U.S. oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian officials are also pushing to alter the talks dramatically, including changing the venue from Turkey to Oman, disinviting the foreign ministers of several Middle Eastern countries who were set to participate and limiting discussions only to the nuclear issue and not Tehran’s other malign activities, Axios reports.
Amid these developments, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the talks “are still scheduled as of right now, but of course the president has always a range of options on the table and that includes the use of military force. The Iranians know that better than anyone”…
President Donald Trump does have plenty of firepower at his disposal should talks with Iran not pan out — The Washington Post lays out which military assets are in the region, as the U.S. recently deployed “dozens of aircraft to bases operating near Iran and assembled about 12 warships in or near the Middle East”…
White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, before heading to the talks, wherever they may be held, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem today. The prime minister “clarified his position that Iran has proven time and again that its promises cannot be relied upon,” according to a readout, signaling lingering skepticism in Israel that the U.S. will extract any meaningful concessions from Tehran…
Netanyahu also made clear Israel’s expectations for postwar Gaza as the U.S. presses ahead with Phase 2 of the ceasefire deal: that Hamas disarm and the enclave be demilitarized, that Israel be allowed to fulfill its “war objectives prior to the reconstruction of the Strip” and that the Palestinian Authority “not be part of the administration of the Gaza Strip in any way.” The latter demand comes after the technocratic committee set up by the U.S. to oversee reconstruction changed its logo to replicate a PA symbol…
The House of Representatives passed a spending bill to end the partial government shutdown, which Trump signed this afternoon. While the package includes several provisions providing funding to Israel and for joint U.S.-Israel cooperative programs, it only funds the Department of Homeland Security through next week, setting up another battle as the parties spar over funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement…
State Sen. Laura Fine secured the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune editorial board in the competitive race for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, over her competitors Daniel Biss, the mayor of Evanston, and social media influencer Kat Abughazaleh.
While Fine’s opponents have been outspoken about their criticisms of Israel on the campaign trail, the editorial board noted Fine said she “had left the progressive caucus in Springfield after she was made to feel uncomfortable for her belief in Israel’s right to defend itself or even to exist,” which it called a “principled position for a principled Democrat.”
Fine’s fundraising figures for the final quarter of 2025 showed she pulled in a whopping $1.2 million, and a new internal poll for Fine’s campaign shows her tied with Biss in first place, holding the momentum in the crowded primary…
New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District’s Democratic primary gained another prominent candidate today: Sue Altman, the state director for Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) and the 2024 Democratic nominee for the neighboring 12th District, jumped into the race to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ).
Altman has been a member of the progressive left as the former state director for the New Jersey Working Families Party, but took pro-Israel stances during her prior congressional run. Attempting to gain traction in the 7th, though, where the progressive Watson Coleman has said her endorsement will hinge on a candidate’s stance on Israel, Altman said she is now “reevaluating” her position…
Michael Blake, the former New York state assemblyman now mounting a primary challenge to Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), was endorsed today by the longtime mayor of Newark, N.J., Ras Baraka, further solidifying Blake’s departure from his pro-Israel past.
Baraka’s support for violent rhetoric by the controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and his condemnation of Israel’s war in Gaza are among several positions that have alarmed Jewish leaders in the state; Baraka’s support boosts Blake as he attempts to establish himself as the candidate hostile to Israel in his race, even as he once engaged extensively with AIPAC…
The two Human Rights Watch employees who comprised the organization’s “Israel and Palestine” team both resigned after HRW leadership postponed the publication of their report calling Israel’s refusal to recognize Palestinians’ “right of return” a “crime against humanity,” Jewish Currents reports.
Among other concerns, the organization’s chief advocacy officer had voiced hesitation that the findings were overbroad and “will be misread by many, our detractors first and foremost, as a call to demographically extinguish the Jewishness of the Israeli state”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
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 Seattle Public Schools’ new Jewish superintendent, as the district grapples with rising antisemitism in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks.
First Lady Melania Trump will host former hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel for a private discussion at the White House.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is also in Washington today and tomorrow to attend Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial, with over 50 countries participating to “strengthen and diversify critical minerals supply chains.”
The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on “defending religious freedom around the world.” Among those testifying is Sam Brownback, the former ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom; the ambassador role is currently empty after former Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC), who was tapped by Trump last April for the position, failed to be confirmed (he now holds a similar advisory role at the State Department, which did not require Senate confirmation).
Also taking place on the Hill, the Muslim World League will host a gathering highlighting “faith, leadership, and global coexistence.” Among those speaking are Ambassador Yehuda Kaploun, the special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism; Sheikh Mohammed Al-Issa, a prominent Saudi scholar and former justice minister; Imam Talib Shareef, the president of The Nation’s Mosque; and members of Congress.
In the evening, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s student government will vote on a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions resolution.
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DEM DIVIDE
The fight to succeed Rep. Nydia Velazquez pits Mamdani and the DSA faithful against the congresswoman and her protege
The ad, which is part of a $15 million campaign, will also be featured during NBC’s Olympics coverage
Chris Unger/Getty Images
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft
For New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Sunday’s Super Bowl is about more than his team’s 12th chance at the title. It’s also a national platform for his latest 30-second ad aimed at tackling antisemitism, with more than 100 millions viewers set to tune in.
Titled “Sticky Note,” the commercial features a Jewish student who is bullied in the halls of his school. As he takes off his backpack, he sees a sticky note reading “dirty Jew” was placed on it. In a show of allyship, a classmate approaches the student and puts a blue square piece of paper over the note. “Do not listen to that,” he says.
“I know how it feels,” the student, who is Black, tells his Jewish classmate. As the ad concludes, a statistic reads: “2 in 3 Jewish teens have experienced antisemitism.”
The commercial is the third annual Super Bowl ad produced by The Blue Square Alliance against Hate — the nonprofit founded by Kraft, which rebranded in October from the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. Since its launch in 2023, the group has popularized blue square pins as a symbol in the fight against antisemitism.
Last year’s ad sparked criticism from some Jewish activists for not focusing on — or even mentioning — antisemitism, as rapper Snoop Dogg and iconic quarterback Tom Brady exchanged deliberately vague insults. Kraft defended the ad in an interview with Jewish Insider at the time, saying, “The challenge is that we just can’t explain the complexity of Judaism or antisemitism in a 30-second ad. But what we can do is invite Americans into a conversation about something they do have experience with: hate.”
This year’s ad takes a more direct approach.
“For the third straight year, the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate is proud to show up on sports’ biggest stage and speak directly to more than 120 million Americans with an urgent message: stand up for each other and stand up to hate wherever you see it,” Kraft said in a statement.
The commercial will also air during the Winter Olympics and is part of a $15 million campaign that additionally includes digital advertisements and billboards.
Plus, White House press corps welcomes Hamas-friendly outlet
YAR/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
Pedestrians walk past a mural bearing anti-American symbols on the outer wall of the former U.S. Embassy, now called the "U.S. Den of Espionage Museum," in Tehran, Iran, on October 26, 2025.
Good Monday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
After weeks of rising tensions, the U.S. and Iran are back on the diplomatic track: White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday, Axios reports, possibly alongside Jared Kushner and the foreign ministers of several countries including Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
What exactly will be up for discussion in the first meeting between the U.S. and Iran since the 12-day war last June is unclear — Iranian officials have said only nuclear activity is on the table, while the U.S. has traditionally maintained support for a comprehensive deal covering nuclear, missile and terror activity…
Before the dialogue in Turkey, Witkoff is slated to stop in Israel tomorrow to consult with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF chief of staff, and hold meetings in the UAE and Qatar…
The parties are still covering all their bases: The U.S. and Israeli navies conducted a joint “routine maritime exercise” in the Red Sea today, after CENTCOM warned Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Friday to “avoid escalatory behavior at sea”…
Back in Washington, the White House tapped Drop Site News, a publication founded in 2024 to offer reporting explicitly hostile to Israel over the war in Gaza and the U.S. response to it, for the press corps’ new media seat on Sunday, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Drop Site has credulously interviewed several Hamas leaders, vigorously denied claims that Hamas terrorists raped anyone during the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel and supported the Iranian regime during the anti-government protests last month. Its inclusion among the outlets in Sunday’s press rotation (when no press briefing was held, so its reporter did not get the opportunity to ask a question) was a marked contrast to the mostly right-wing outlets that are usually selected…
And on the campaign trail, Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) came out today in support of Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in the closely fought Democratic primary to replace her, joining fellow progressives Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in supporting Flanagan over the more moderate Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN). The endorsement comes days after fundraising reports for the final quarter of 2025 showed Craig raised double what Flanagan brought in ($2 million and $1 million, respectively)…
In New York City, Comptroller Mark Levine endorsed Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) in his primary against former Comptroller Brad Lander. Lander, challenging Goldman from the left on issues including his support for Israel, is endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, further highlighting divisions between Levine and the mayor as the two have sparred over issues including city investment in Israel bonds…
Jacobin profiles Diana Moreno, the democratic socialist running to fill Mamdani’s Queens seat in the state Assembly on a platform highlighting her progressive credentials as an organizer and immigrant.
“Moreno, wearing a keffiyeh, is featured in Mamdani’s launch video, pushing a stroller carrying her newborn son, saying ‘I want to raise my kid in New York.’ ‘I got pregnant one month after the genocide in Gaza started. My relationship to motherhood cannot be divorced from witnessing the world dehumanize children in Palestine,’” she said…
In New York’s 7th Congressional District, Councilmember Julie Won filed paperwork today to join the competitive race to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY). All three candidates for the highly progressive district — which include Assemblymember Claire Valdez, who has the backing of Mamdani and the DSA, and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who has been endorsed by Velázquez — have made comments critical of Israel.
On the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks, Won expressed hope for a ceasefire and return of the hostages, mourning the 1,200 people “brutally killed” by Hamas in Israel and the “over 40,000 brutally killed in Palestine,” a figure Israel disputed at the time.
When a campaign last summer opposing a neighborhood development plan in her district invoked antisemitic rhetoric, Won denounced the move while maintaining her support for the “free Palestine” movement, saying in a statement, “It’s extremely alarming to me that someone would go so low to co-opt a movement of free Palestine for their own purpose — to incite anger and potentially violence … It’s shameful to compare Long Island City to Gaza — where people are literally losing their lives, land and starving to death — to this rezoning and blaming it on a local Jewish landlord who isn’t even part of the rezoning”…
Former Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX), who switched his candidacy from running for the open Texas Senate seat to its 33rd Congressional District, endorsed Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) for the Senate over his former primary rival, state Sen. James Talarico. Allred alleged that Talarico had called him a “mediocre Black man” and took aim at Talarico’s platform as a devout Christian: “You are not saving religion for the Democratic Party or the left,” Allred said…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for the view from Washington on the continued possibility of U.S. strikes on Iran, even as diplomatic efforts unfold.
We’ll be watching for indications out of White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s meetings in Israel on where the parties stand on engaging with Tehran.
It will be a busy day on the Hill, amid ongoing efforts to end the partial government shutdown: The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on U.S. policy towards Lebanon and “obstacles to dismantling Hezbollah’s grip on power” with testimony from several Washington Institute experts; the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the Nazis’ use of Swiss banks; the Helsinki Commission will hold a hearing on Russia’s influence in post-Assad Syria; and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on terrorism in North Africa.
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington will host its Maryland advocacy day with Gov. Wes Moore as keynote speaker.
The World Governments Summit will kick off in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with speakers including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Spanish President Pedro Sánchez, Israeli philanthropist and Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua and several other world leaders.
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DIPLOMATIC SPAT
Pretoria angered after Israel offers parched region water management aid; Jerusalem declares South African diplomat serving Palestinians persona non grata
RHOADES’ RUN
Crystal Rhoades, the clerk of the District Court in Douglas County, is running on an unapologetically pro-Israel platform
Crystal Rhoades, the clerk of the District Court in Douglas County, is running on an unapologetically pro-Israel platform
Courtesy
Crystal Rhoades
Democrat Crystal Rhoades, the district court clerk of Douglas County, Neb., is running for Congress in the state’s 2nd District on an unapologetically pro-Israel platform, with the explicit goal of blocking a progressive, whose record on Israel has attracted scrutiny in the pro-Israel community, from becoming the party’s nominee in the critical swing district.
Asked by Jewish Insider in an interview last week why she’s running for Congress, Rhoades answered simply, “to stop John Cavanaugh,” referring to the Democratic state senator seen as the front-runner in the race.
Rhoades, who said she’s been involved in Democratic politics in the area for two decades, during which she has held three elective offices and served as the county Democratic chair, said that “it was just not a good idea to allow him to emerge as the nominee” in the swing district. “What’s best for this district is for someone other than John Cavanaugh to represent it.”
“With everything that is happening right now, with the Trump administration, there’s too much risk in his candidacy,” she continued, noting that if Cavanaugh wins, the state’s Republican governor would appoint his replacement in the state Senate, potentially giving Nebraska Republicans enough votes to redraw the district and move to a winner-take-all system in the presidential election, rather the current arrangement in which the state’s two congressional districts are allocated separate electoral votes.
The Omaha-area 2nd district has, in recent presidential elections, voted with Democrats.
“That, combined with his position on Israel — which I find to be abhorrent, and frankly, very inconsistent with American values and national security — were strong motivators for me to get into the race, because I do have a long history of service here. I’m well known to these voters, and the only one that can compete with his family legacy,” Rhoades said.
Cavanaugh is a progressive state senator who hails from a Nebraska political dynasty. He was one of only a handful of lawmakers who declined to sign on to a letter in the state Senate expressing support for Israel on the first anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, and at a recent candidate forum swore off accepting any support from AIPAC or Democratic Majority for Israel.
“I support Israel and believe Israel has a right to exist. And I also believe a two-state solution is the only way to secure lasting peace,” Cavanaugh said in a statement to JI in response to Rhoades. “Democrats in NE-02 want a candidate who will fight the Trump agenda and bring positive ideas to fix our economy, lower health care costs, and end the corruption we see from Trump and Washington. That’s why I’m running for Congress.”
In her interview with JI and a position paper she authored on Israel, Rhoades expressed a deep commitment to the Jewish state, its security and the U.S.-Israel relationship, and offered significant criticism for fellow Democrats who are critical of Israel.
She traced her support for the Jewish state to her time as a teenager working in a nursing home, where she helped take care of a Holocaust survivor and first learned about his story, antisemitism and the Holocaust.
“For me, this is very cut and dry and not at all controversial or confusing,” Rhoades said. “I just fundamentally disagree with the position that some of the members of the party have taken [against Israel]. … It’s really sad and it makes me quite angry.”
“I knew someone who described unspeakable evil and horror. This was a man who, in the ‘90s, was still hiding [extra] food,” a practice he took up in the concentration camps, Rhoades said. “It’s really difficult for me to express how much of an impression it actually made, but it was an incredibly powerful experience, knowing a survivor and having the opportunity to talk with them about what had happened.”
She saved her money from that job and used it for a trip to Europe, during which she visited a concentration camp. She went on to study terrorism in college in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, which she said further enhanced her understanding of the threat of global terrorism and Israel’s stabilizing presence in the Middle East.
“For me, this is very cut and dry and not at all controversial or confusing,” Rhoades said. “I just fundamentally disagree with the position that some of the members of the party have taken [against Israel]. … It’s really sad and it makes me quite angry.”
She said that she believes fellow Democrats are falling for misleading or false narratives pushed by online algorithms. She added that those who would support divestment from Israel, cutting off U.S. support or anti-Israel slogans like “from the river to the sea” have a fundamental lack of understanding of Israel’s role in the world and in combating terrorism.
“It is, quite frankly, shocking to me that so many people are taking this position,” she continued. “I really can’t make sense of it. I just do not understand it.”
In her position paper, Rhoades argued that Democrats who aren’t standing with Israel are betraying Democratic values and vowed not to cave to anti-Israel pressures in the party.
“These principles: democracy, equality, and freedom from persecution, are supposed to be the foundation of our core values as Democrats,” Rhoades wrote. “So why are so many ignoring them when it comes to Israel? I won’t bend my values to appease a social media mob. I won’t apologize for standing up for our ally. And I won’t stop calling out double standards when I see them. That’s not weakness … it’s leadership.”
She said that she hopes her first trip as a member of Congress would be to Israel, a signal “to my colleagues and my constituents that these issues are of moral importance to me.”
Rhoades told JI she believes the U.S.-Israel relationship has helped prevent terrorist incidents at home and elsewhere, and benefitted the U.S. in a variety of other ways — in technology, commerce, defense and intelligence.
She also emphasized that it’s the only democracy in the Middle East and the only country in the region where women, LGBTQ people and minorities enjoy equal rights.
Rhoades said she hopes the ceasefire in Gaza holds, and that a two-state solution can eventually be reached, but that it must be negotiated between the parties and that Hamas cannot be allowed to continue to hold any authority.
She emphasized in her paper that the “eradication of Hamas” was the only reasonable response to the Oct. 7 attacks and that a two-state solution must guarantee Israel’s security, demilitarize any future Palestinian state and end support for terrorism.
“While compassion for Gazan civilians is well-intentioned, it too often misses the point that they are oppressed by the same terrorist regime that insists on harming their own civilians to try to turn public opinion globally against Israel,” she said in the position paper. “All leaders, but particularly Democratic leaders, should be calling that out as a betrayal of our core values.”
Rhoades also expressed deep skepticism of the Palestinian Authority, writing that its “weakness and corruption facilitated Hamas’s ascension.” She called for “permanent enforcement,” on an international basis, of the Taylor Force Act — which bars U.S. support for the PA until the governing body ends its payments to terrorists.
Rhoades did not attend a candidate forum in January where most candidates, including Cavanaugh, swore off pro-Israel support and several said they would have voted against a government funding package that included funding to Israel and maintained a ban on funding for UNRWA.
She told JI that if she had been there, she would have pushed back on the premise of the questions posed by audience members, which she said provided a “fundamental misframing of the issue,” and conflated anger with Israel’s leadership with all Israeli and Jewish people.
She vowed to vote in support of any and all resources Israel needs to defend itself, and oppose any legislation imposing new conditions on aid to Israel.
Rhoades told JI she would have supported the U.S. strikes on Iran last summer, but emphasized that the Trump administration should be consulting Congress before engaging in military operations in foreign countries. If presented to her for a vote as a member of Congress, she said she would have supported the U.S. operation.
Looking ahead, she said that Congress should be involved in any decisions regarding further action against Iran, but that she is “very supportive of looking for ways to help the Iranian people, who, very clearly, are unhappy with their leadership.”
“The problem is that people conflate [Israel and Jews], and in doing so, it always kind of ends up being antisemitic. The idea that Israel does not have the right to exist, in my mind, is just inherently antisemitic,” Rhoades told JI.
In her position paper, Rhoades said that Iran cannot maintain any nuclear weapons or enrichment capacity, and additionally emphasized the need to work with other U.S. partners to “snuff out” Iran’s proxy forces.
She also argued that the debate over whether anti-Zionism is antisemitic “is the wrong debate” and that in practice, anti-Zionist rhetoric veers into antisemitism “almost immediately.” She said “it is insane” that the idea that Israel has a right to exist in safety could be considered controversial.
“The problem is that people conflate [Israel and Jews], and in doing so, it always kind of ends up being antisemitic. The idea that Israel does not have the right to exist, in my mind, is just inherently antisemitic,” she told JI.
When political leaders endorse or refuse to condemn rhetoric like “globalize the intifada” or “from the river to the sea,” Rhoades said that she sees those officials as empowering antisemitism.
She expressed strong support for the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and for the Antisemitism Awareness Act that would codify the use of that definition in education.
“I’m not at all interested in any other definition,” Rhoades told JI, warning that spikes in antisemitism like the one currently happening in the U.S. have historically presaged authoritarian and oppressive regimes.
The 2nd District is currently represented by moderate Republican Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), himself an outspoken supporter of Israel and prominent voice against antisemitism. Bacon, who has managed to fend off a series of Democratic challengers, is not running for reelection, and the Cook Political Report rates the district as “Lean Democratic.”
Internal polling by Rhoades’ campaign has put her in second behind Cavanaugh, 25%-17% with 53% undecided, but there are also several other candidates in the race. Polling by Cavanaugh’s campaign in mid-January had him with a commanding lead, with 43% to Rhoades’ 15%.
Rhoades said she’s the only candidate in the race from a working-class background, and understands the challenges that voters who have been disillusioned with the Democratic Party face. She said she thinks she can bring those voters back to the Democratic Party.
Outside of Israel policy, Rhoades said her top priorities include implementing mandatory retirement ages for members of Congress, eliminating gerrymandering and strengthening checks and balances; investing in infrastructure to provide economic stimulus and better-paying jobs; and helping to lower health-care costs, including by de-linking health insurance from the workplace.
Plus, car ramming suspect charged with multiple hate crimes
John Lamparski/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Julie Menin, speaker of the New York City Council, and Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Jan. 12, 2026.
Good Thursday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
After a car repeatedly drove into Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters in Brooklyn last night, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin announced today she is creating a council task force to combat antisemitism, even as Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said he plans to retain the mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism (and told local news today he’s “in the final stages” of hiring someone to lead it). The council task force’s co-chair is Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, an outspoken critic of Mamdani…
The suspect arrested in the car ramming has been charged with attempted assault, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and aggravated harassment, all enhanced as hate crimes, the NYPD announced this afternoon…
And in the wake of several protests that have disrupted New York Jewish communities in recent months, Menin also introduced a bill that would ban protests within 100 feet of a house of worship — more stringent than Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal of a 25-foot ban.
“The First Amendment right to peacefully protest is sacrosanct. What’s not sacrosanct is inciting violence, intimidation and harassment,” Menin told The New York Times, though some experts cast doubt on the constitutionality of the measure…
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), the chair of the House Committee on Education & Workforce, sent a letter to Evanston, Ill., Mayor Daniel Biss — who is running for Congress to replace retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) — requesting a briefing on Biss’ role in the 2024 anti-Israel encampment at Northwestern University.
Walberg alleged that Biss had failed “to protect Jewish students” at Northwestern “by refusing to give the university the police support it desperately needed to clear its violent and antisemitic encampment,” which resulted in a failure to arrest protesters who had harassed Jewish students. Biss has also drawn condemnation for allegedly walking back his pro-Israel positions once he was denied the support of AIPAC in his congressional campaign…
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) raised $2.1 million for her Senate campaign in the final quarter of 2025, she announced today, bringing her total raised to $6.8 million. But a new Emerson College poll of the race to replace Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) shows that haul may not be making an impact among primary voters just yet — Stevens polled at 17% to state Sen. Mallory McMorrow’s 22%, with 38% still undecided.
In a general election matchup against presumptive GOP nominee former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), both McMorrow and Stevens poll ahead of Rogers, 46-43% and 47-42% respectively, with 15% undecided. In all cases, physician Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive Democrat who has made his hostility to Israel a central component of his campaign, polls behind his opponents…
The Democratic primary in New York’s 17th Congressional District got a little less crowded today: Former FBI agent John Sullivan, who served as the top bureau intelligence official in Israel from 2017-2020, dropped out of the race to challenge Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY).
“While my congressional campaign is coming to an end, my dedication to our community is not,” Sullivan wrote, telling supporters to “stay tuned.” He did not endorse any of the remaining Democratic candidates, which include front-runner Beth Davidson, a Rockland County legislator, and national security veteran Cait Conley…
The U.S. Navy dispatched an additional warship, the USS Delbert D. Black, to the Middle East in the past two days amid heightened tensions with Iran, Reuters reports, bringing the total number of destroyers in the region to six, in addition to an aircraft carrier…
The European Union voted unanimously to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization today, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports, in a move anticipated after several countries including Italy and France rescinded their long-held objections to the move.
“Repression cannot go unanswered,” Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, wrote on X following the decision. “Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise”…
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the “Save the Kurds Act” in response to the Syrian government’s campaign against the Kurdish-led and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. The legislation would impose sanctions on “Syrian government officials and financial institutions, and any foreign individual who engages in any transaction, including military or financial support, with the Syrian government,” according to a press release.
The bill would also redesignate as a terror organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the al-Qaida offshoot that Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa led before ousting dictator Bashar al-Assad. The Trump administration removed HTS’ terror designation and U.S. sanctions on Syria after al-Sharaa assumed the presidency…
A draft resolution from the Board of Peace dictating the powers of the bodies overseeing postwar Gaza seems to relegate the Gaza Executive Board — whose inclusion of Turkey and Qatar had concerned Israel — to an advisory role for another committee largely made up of White House advisors, The Times of Israel reports. The resolution, which also increases the Trump administration’s role in managing that body, still must be signed by the president…
A man was tried in federal court today for attempting to assassinate former President Joe Biden over anti-Israel animus, traveling to Georgia with a firearm in June 2024 to sneak into a presidential debate hosted by CNN so he could reach Biden, according to the Justice Department.
The man’s manifesto was addressed to “all the Palestinian journalists … and in remembrance of the ones who lost their lives along the way” and said, “It’s time we overthrow these bastards and threaten to pull a f**king D-Day on Tel Aviv,” concluding with “Free Palestine”…
A bipartisan delegation of lawmakers organized by the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem today, including Reps. Ryan Zinke (R-MT), Jen Kiggans (R-VA), Jake Ellzey (R-TX), Mike Bost (R-IL) and Don Davis (D-NC)…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
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 legacy of constitutional lawyer and Jewish activist Nat Lewin, who turns 90 this weekend.
Several Jewish and pro-Israel organizations were invited to a meeting with Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, who is in Washington meeting with Trump administration officials, tomorrow afternoon, JI’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik has learned, amid a sharp rise in antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric from the kingdom. It’s not clear which organizations will be attending, though the Foundation for Defense of Democracies confirmed it will sit down with KBS separately in the morning.
We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat Shalom!
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PASTOR’S POLEMIC
Singer told JI that his alignment with Rev. Frederick D. Haynes III delivered an anti-Israel polemic from the pulpit on Oct. 8, 2023, the day after Hamas’ attack on Israel
COMEBACK BID
The former congresswoman told JI, ‘Anything that needs to be done to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon needs to be done’
Norman Goda, a Holocaust historian at the University of Florida, said that modern remembrances of the Holocaust that fail to mention Jews are 'a soft form of denial'
Jim Watson - Pool/Getty Images
U.S. Vice President JD Vance gives remarks following a roundtable discussion with local leaders and community members amid a surge of federal immigration authorities in the area, at Royalston Square on January 22, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
A week after President Donald Trump took office for the first time in 2017, the White House ignited a political and media firestorm by releasing a statement commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day that failed to mention Jews.
The omission was covered in major media outlets like CNN and Politico; the Anti-Defamation League called it “puzzling and troubling.”
Nearly a decade later, Trump released another Holocaust Remembrance Day post this week, with a far more specific message: “Today, we pay respect to the blessed memories of the millions of Jewish people, who were murdered at the hands of the Nazi Regime and its collaborators during the Holocaust,” the statement read, “as well as the Slavs and the Roma, people with disabilities, religious leaders, persons targeted based on their sexual orientation, and political prisoners who were also targeted for systematic slaughter.”
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance’s post commemorating the day, which marks the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz by Allied Forces, did not mention Jews or antisemitism, leading political rivals on the left to pounce. (Democratic Majority for Israel called it “indefensible.”)
But despite the visibility of Vance’s tweet — which his defenders pointed out included pictures of him and his wife at Dachau, standing in front of a sign that said “Never again” in Yiddish — he was far from the only politician that failed to mention the fact that the Holocaust targeted Jews. Among them were: Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA), both of whom pledged to remember the victims of the Holocaust without referring to Nazis’ targeting of Jews.
Multiple presenters at the U.K.’s BBC also failed to mention Jews in their coverage of Holocaust Remembrance Day — drawing backlash and a subsequent apology from the national broadcaster.
Does it matter that these politicians or media don’t reference Jews if they are still highlighting the significance of the Holocaust? It’s possible to argue that, definitionally, the Holocaust was about Jews, so one could assume that any reference to the Holocaust is itself a reference to the killing of Jews and the antisemitism that led to it.
“If I talk about the potato famine, do I have to say Irish? How many other potato famines were there?” asked Deborah Lipstadt, a Holocaust historian who served as President Joe Biden’s antisemitism envoy. “But this is part of a greater whole in an age of rising antisemitism.”
For years, Americans’ knowledge of basic facts about the Holocaust has been declining, particularly as fewer Holocaust survivors are alive each year to share their stories. A 2023 survey conducted by the Claims Conference found that 21% of Americans believed that 2 million Jews or fewer were killed. Eight percent of Americans, and 15% of 18- to 29-year-olds, said the number of Jews who were killed during the Holocaust has been greatly exaggerated.
“Holocaust history has the power to teach vital, timeless lessons about why our choices matter — but only when it is approached with the precision, historical integrity and respect it rightfully deserves,” the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum said in a statement this week that called for an end to “the abuse and exploitation of Holocaust memory.”
In the 81 years since the Holocaust, political leaders and movements have exploited the memory of the genocide to serve their own ends, particularly by shifting the focus of who its victims were.
In the former Soviet Union, where more than 2 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust, memorials to those killed called them “peaceful Soviet citizens” — stripping them of their Jewish identity, as if their killers had targeted Russians rather than Jews. Some right-wing politicians in modern Poland have attempted to quash historical scholarship documenting that Poles were involved in Nazis’ killing of Jews, and that the Nazis targeted Jews, in particular, rather than just the Poles (though Poles were targeted, too).
Norman Goda, a Holocaust historian at the University of Florida, said that modern remembrances of the Holocaust that fail to mention Jews are “a soft form of denial.”
“The Nazis certainly knew who they were deporting. The Nazis certainly knew who they were gassing,” Goda told Jewish Insider on Wednesday. “The ignorance is such that you have to remind people that the Nazis called this Die Endlösung der Judenfrage, the final solution of the Jewish question. They weren’t just killing random people.”
The politicians posting about the Holocaust almost surely know that, as do most of their constituents. But rising antisemitism coupled with declining knowledge about a genocide that targeted and killed 6 million Jews means that reminding people of the facts — the specifics — remains crucial.
“Do we do this with any other mass catastrophe? Do we discuss the Armenian Genocide without mentioning the Armenians? Do we discuss slavery in the United States without mentioning who the slaves were?” Goda questioned. “We don’t do it, and anybody who would do that is engaged in an almost willful misunderstanding, either a profound historical ignorance, on the one hand, where you almost have to try to be that ignorant, or something that is simply more nefarious.”
One of the students who led the effort was attacked by masked assailants on DePaul’s campus in 2024
Getty Images
The City Hall
The Chicago City Council unanimously voted to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism into the city’s declaration of human rights this week, an effort spearheaded by two local university students with no prior political experience.
For Jake Rymer, a junior majoring in biological sciences at University of Chicago, and Michael Kaminsky, a senior studying criminology at DePaul, the push to pass the antisemitism ordinance was personal.
“I had only been on campus for two weeks when [the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel] happened and people I thought were my friends those first two weeks turned out not to be. They turned their backs on me when I needed their allyship,” Rymer told Jewish Insider. “I also started to see flaws in the city of Chicago and that there were things that needed to get changed that we could actually accomplish.”
Kaminsky, a vocal pro-Israel voice on campus, was attacked and injured by masked assailants on school property in 2024 in an alleged hate crime. He filed an ongoing lawsuit against DePaul, claiming the university failed to protect Jewish students.
“We were tired of being told by Jewish organizations to ‘suck it up and deal with it’ or that ‘help would come eventually,” said Rymer. “We realized that we as students — even though we don’t have legislative experience — have the ability to make meaningful change, so we decided to go ahead with it.”
The pair quickly learned the City of Chicago had never provided a clear definition of antisemitism in its municipal code. They garnered support from Alds. Raymond Lopez and Debra Silverstein last spring to begin drafting legislation to implement IHRA.
On Monday, Ordinance O2025-0019984 passed unanimously in committee and at the city council meeting. Because the ordinance is an updated version of one that already existed and it passed without objection, it becomes official upon publication — even though Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson was not involved.
Section 6-10 of Chicago’s Municipal Code is now amended to include antisemitism as discrimination in the Chicago City Council’s declaration of general human rights. Antisemitism is defined by IHRA as a “certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.” Progressive critics of the definition argue that its Israel-related examples risk conflating antisemitism with legitimate political criticism while conservative critics claim that the definition is anti-Christian because one of its affiliated examples states that it’s antisemitic to accuse Jews of killing Jesus.
“Chicago has taken a clear and historic stand against hate by officially adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism,” Silverstein, the city council’s only Jewish member, said in a statement. “At a time when antisemitic hate crimes are surging locally, this unanimous City Council action sends an unmistakable message that anti-Jewish hate has no place in Chicago.”
Chicago joins more than 1,200 entities worldwide, including 37 U.S. state governments and 98 city and county bodies that have adopted the definition.
Chicago’s adoption of IHRA was applauded by Alison Pure-Slovin, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s director of social action and partnerships, Midwest/South. “Jewish communities today feel the familiar chill of rising hostility, and the old game of blurring the line between honest debate and open hatred is once again underway. Chicago’s action is not a gesture for the cameras. It is a statement that antisemitism will not be explained away, softened or disguised in polite language,” Pure-Slovin told JI.
Rymer expressed hope that “college campuses in the city of Chicago will follow the lead of Chicago aldermen and this could be applied in college communities to help define what antisemitism is and properly characterize it in case future incidents happen.”
He also encouraged students and community members in other cities to pick up on the “sense of momentum,” adding that he has “been in contact with other students to discuss plans to introduce this bill in other cities.”
In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has faced criticism from some Jewish leaders for repealing an executive order that implemented IHRA earlier this month. The revocation came as part of a blanket repeal of all of former Mayor Eric Adams’ executive orders following his September 2024 indictment on federal corruption charges.
“We want to set a standard for major cities in America that they can make initiatives like this happen,” said Rymer. “We can use the framework set here as support for any Jewish students interested in making a greater impact. We are very happy about the passing of this but it’s not the end of the work we’re doing. There’s a lot more change that can happen.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani: ‘Any threat to a Jewish institution or place of worship must be taken seriously’; Chabad denies antisemitism motive
X/@ChabadLubavitch
A car drives into an entryway of the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters on Jan. 28, 2026
A man drove a Honda Accord sedan “intentionally and repeatedly” into an entryway of the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters in Brooklyn Wednesday night, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed.
The NYPD responded to an 8:46 911 call on Wednesday at 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, the home and center of leadership of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, now a major spiritual, symbolic and organizational hub for Chabad. No persons were injured in the incident, captured on video, and police took the driver into custody.
“We’re grateful to the Almighty that no one was hurt,” said Rabbi Motti Seligson, a spokesman for Chabad, adding that damage initially appeared limited. “It houses one of the most significant synagogues in the Jewish world.”
Mamdani and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch went to the scene in the hours following the incident, and a Chabad source told Jewish Insider that the White House reached out and reported that it was monitoring the situation. Tisch said at a press conference outside 770 later Wednesday night that the incident is being investigated as a hate crime and that the NYPD bomb squad had searched the vehicle, finding no explosive devices.
“This is deeply alarming, especially given the deep meaning and history of the institution to so many in New York and around the world. Any threat to a Jewish institution or place of worship must be taken seriously. Antisemitism has no place in our city, and violence or intimidation against Jewish New Yorkers is unacceptable,” Mamdani wrote on X shortly after the incident.
“I stand in solidarity with the Crown Heights Jewish community, and I am grateful to our first responders for taking swift action. I will keep New Yorkers updated as we learn more about the incident.”
Chabad’s social media editor, Rabbi Mordechai Lightstone, whose son was in the synagogue at the time of the incident, said “Antisemitism does not appear to be a factor in this.”
City Council Speaker Julie Menin also reached out to the institution, and many other New York officials shared concern and sympathy on social media. “This is horrific. These acts of violence against our Jewish communities, and any of our communities, need to stop. Now,” New York Attorney General Letitia James posted on X.
New York City Comptroller Mark Levine noted that the “frightening” incident took place on Yud Shevat, a date in the Hebrew calendar of great significance to the Chabad community, when “large numbers are gathering in the neighborhood.” An event taking place from 7:30-8:30 p.m., just before the time of the attack, was expected to draw thousands of young men to the site.
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt wrote on X that “while [a] motive cannot yet be confirmed, this incident contributes even further to a collective sense of anxiety for Jewish New Yorkers and Jews worldwide.”
Plus, Biden officials don't hold back on criticism of Bibi
Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Amber Smalley/U.S. Navy via Getty Images
Flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) May 10, 2019 in the Red Sea.
Good Wednesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
President Donald Trump indicated he’s losing patience with Iran: He posted a stark warning on Truth Social this morning that a “massive Armada is heading to Iran” and “it is ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary.”
Trump encouraged Tehran to come back to the negotiating table where he demanded it have “no nuclear weapons” — a position that differs from Israel’s, which has said Iran must not be allowed to enrich uranium at all — but made no mention of the protesters Trump had pledged to protect…
Despite Trump’s threat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing today that the “armada” of military assets being moved to the Middle East is primarily defensive, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Rubio noted that 30,000-40,000 U.S. troops in the region are “within the reach of an array of thousands of Iranian” drones and missiles. “We have to have enough force and power in the region, just on a baseline, to defend against that possibility,” he explained.
In addition, “the president always reserves the preemptive defensive option — in essence, if we have indications that, in fact, they’re going to attack our troops in the region,” Rubio continued, as well as security agreements to defend allies such as Israel “that require us to have a force posture in the region.”
Rubio admitted the U.S. has little clarity on who would govern Iran if the regime collapses: “I don’t think anyone can give you a simple answer as to what happens next in Iran if the supreme leader and the regime were to fall, other than the hope that there would be some ability to have somebody within their systems you could work towards a similar transition” as the U.S. has supported in Venezuela…
Rubio was also questioned by senators about the Board of Peace: He clarified that “the primary and sole focus of that board right now is to administer Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the plan in Gaza,” despite broad language in the body’s charter, and acknowledged that some European allies have declined to join over their concern that the board is competing with the U.N. “This is not a replacement for the U.N. But the U.N. has served very little purpose in the case of Gaza,” Rubio said…
As their own response to Iran’s violent suppression of protests, several European countries changed their position to support the EU designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terror organization, a move they have historically opposed over fears of irreparably severing ties with Tehran.
Ahead of a Thursday meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels — where the bloc was already expected to approve additional sanctions on Iran — Italy, Germany and earlier today France announced they would support the designation, teeing up its approval, which must be unanimous, at tomorrow’s meeting…
The State Department found that the Palestinian Authority paid more than $200 million to terrorists and their families in 2025, the Washington Free Beacon reports, despite the PA claiming it had ended its “pay-to-slay” program last February.
The PA merely “transferred responsibility” for the payments to a new body “under the guise of social welfare,” a report provided to Congress laid out, with evidence from post offices, social media and Telegram “indicating clearly that the compensation in support of terrorism has continued”…
Biden administration officials jumped to the defense of the former president’s Israel policy after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged in a press conference yesterday that some IDF soldiers had been killed in Gaza due to a U.S. arms embargo that caused Israel to run out of ammunition during the Biden presidency.
Brett McGurk, Biden’s senior Middle East advisor, told Axios that Netanyahu’s comments were “categorically false” and that Biden’s “commitment to Israel’s security to include U.S. military assistance was unwavering”; diplomat Amos Hochstein slammed Netanyahu as “ungrateful to a president that literally saved Israel at its most vulnerable moment”; and former State Department antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt said that to ignore Biden’s support for Israel “is to ignore history”…
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa visited Moscow today where he and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Russia’s continued military presence in the country, Syrian state media reported. Despite its historic backing of longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, Moscow did not oppose al-Sharaa’s ouster of the dictator, though Russia has sheltered Assad and his family since they fled Damascus.
Russia has begun pulling out from its position in northeast Syria in an area still controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, as Damascus mounts a campaign to oust them, though Moscow reportedly hopes to keep its naval and air bases on the Syrian coast…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with former Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA), as she seeks to reclaim her former seat and shore up support for Israel among her Democratic colleagues.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will speak at Washington’s Sixth & I synagogue in conversation with Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) about the governor’s new memoir, Where We Keep the Light.
The Hudson Institute will host a conversation with Jacob Helberg, the under secretary of state for economic affairs, as he returns from a trip around the Middle East where he brought Qatar and the United Arab Emirates into the Pax Silica initiative and signed a joint AI strategic framework in Israel.
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The commission was formed by President Donald Trump last spring
Win McNamee/Getty Images
President Donald Trump speaks at the Museum of the Bible September 8, 2025 in Washington, DC.
The White House’s Religious Liberty Commission, which was formed by President Donald Trump last spring, plans to hold its first hearing focused specifically on antisemitism next month.
The day-long public hearing will be held on Feb. 9 at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, and members of the public are able to testify.
Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, an Orthodox rabbi from New York, is the only Jewish member of the commission, but its advisory board includes four other rabbis, all of whom are Orthodox: Tikvah Fund CEO Rabbi Mark Gottlieb; Rabbi Yaakov Menken, the Coalition for Jewish Values’ executive vice president; Princeton Chabad Rabbi Eitan Webb; and Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, executive vice president of Agudath Israel. Alyza Lewin, president of U.S. affairs at the Combat Antisemitism Movement, is a legal advisor to the commission.
The commission is chaired by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Key priorities of the Commission, according to the White House, are “parental rights in religious education, school choice, conscience protections, attacks on houses of worship, free speech for religious entities and institutional autonomy.”
The ADL ranked the leading large language models based on their ability to identify and counter ‘anti-Jewish’ and ‘anti-Zionist’ theories
Philip Dulian/picture alliance via Getty Images
Several AI applications can be seen on a smartphone screen, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Meta AI, Grok and DeepSeek.
Anthropic’s artificial intelligence system is strongest at detecting bias against Jews and Israel compared to its competitors, according to an evaluation of the leading large language models published by the Anti-Defamation League on Wednesday.
In its first-ever AI index, the ADL evaluated how six models responded to antisemitic and extremist content, based on more than 25,000 LLM chats, 37 topical sub-categories and assessments conducted by both human and AI evaluators.
The index broke antisemitism into subcategories: “anti-Jewish,” which includes classic antisemitic tropes, as well as “anti-Zionist,” which analyzes antisemitism that targets Zionists or Zionism. Another category, “extremist,” looked at how LLMs engage with biases, narratives and conspiracy theories, which sometimes overlap with antisemitism. Models were generally better at identifying and discrediting tropes such as “Jews control the media” than anti-Zionist content or extremist theories.
The index assessed OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, the Chinese model DeepSeek, Google’s Gemini, xAI’s Grok and Meta’s Llama.
Claude received the highest overall score (80 out of 100) in detecting and responding to anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist theories. Across a range of testing methods, Claude responded that statements it was asked to analyze “contain antisemitic conspiracy theories and historically inaccurate claims.”
ChatGPT ranked second with a score of 57. Grok came in last among the models tested, with a score of 21.
Still, every AI model tested demonstrated at least some gaps in addressing bias against Jews and Zionists and all struggled with extremist content.
“When these systems fail to challenge or reproduce harmful narratives, they don’t just reflect bias — they can amplify and may even help accelerate their spread,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. He called on AI companies “to improve their detection capabilities.”
“While one model performed better than others, no AI system we tested was fully equipped to handle the full scope of antisemitic and extremist narratives users may encounter. This Index provides concrete, measurable benchmarks that companies, buyers, and policymakers can use to drive meaningful improvement,” said Oren Segal, ADL’s senior vice president of counter-extremism and intelligence.
The research follows several recent studies from the ADL scrutinizing extremist content generated by AI models. In December, it published a study that found that several leading AI LLMs generated dangerous responses when asked for addresses of synagogues and nearby gun stores.
ADL conducted research for the index between August and October 2025. The antisemitism watchdog said it selected models from leading LLM companies that were most widely available at the time of testing. Testing was designed to reflect how average users — not bad actors — interact with AI systems in realistic scenarios. Models were tested across five interaction types: survey questions, open-ended prompts, multi-step conversations, document summaries and image interpretation.
‘If this is a real pivot, and not just a momentary detour, it'll be very disappointing,’ the former antisemitism envoy said
Noam Galai/Getty Images
Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, speaks during 'March For Israel' at the National Mall on November 14, 2023 in Washington, D.C.
Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the former U.S. envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, told Jewish Insider on Tuesday that she’s concerned by the increased pace of antisemitic rhetoric coming from Saudi Arabia, and warned that an extended change of course by Riyadh could have implications on the spread of antisemitism globally.
Lipstadt, who began in the role in May 2022, said that she saw the Saudi government initially very open to addressing antisemitism, but less willing to work with her toward the end of her term, which finished in January 2025. She said that the situation has appeared to deteriorate further since then.
“If this is a real pivot, and not just a momentary detour, it’ll be very disappointing,” Lipstadt said. If that’s the case, “then it’s very disturbing because there was a chance for a change in the culture and in the atmosphere of the Middle East.”
She said she sees antisemitic and extremist sermons recently delivered at Saudi holy sites and around the kingdom as particularly significant — noting the Saudi government also funds imams who preach around the globe. This support gives Riyadh a significant lever to “limit the amount of Jew hatred that is expressed in Muslim communities throughout the world.”
“This is more than just a geopolitical shift,” Lipstadt continued. “It’s that — and it’s certainly an important geopolitical shift — but it also has implications for the spread of hatred, Jew hate.”
The former U.S. ambassador said that she’s also seen a distinct shift in the tenor of translated articles from the Saudi press.
“It’s completely different from what I saw when I was there in July of 2022, and very different from the numerous conversations and interactions I had with Princess Reema, the Saudi ambassador to the United States,” Lipstadt said. “She could not have been more gracious and forthcoming, publicly so.”
The former envoy said that the timing of the Saudi shift is also troubling, noting that it comes as tensions in the region are otherwise easing, as the war in Gaza winds down and progress is made toward a longer-term ceasefire. The Saudi government, she noted, was subject to pressure from its public, which was upset over the war.
“It’s happening now, when things are quieting down — that’s worrisome,” Lipstadt explained. “I hope it can be turned around because it has very, very big implications. … At a time that we’re seeing the impact of radical Islamism, it’s even more troublesome.”
Lipstadt’s first trip abroad in her role in the Biden administration was to Saudi Arabia in June 2022, where she conveyed the “message that I saw real possibilities there.” She said that she came to believe that the Saudis were on a path to joining the Abraham Accords, and that she received “a very warm welcome,” including meetings with the minister of Islamic affairs, who is in charge of the country’s holy sites, and the Saudi deputy foreign minister.
“One high-ranking official, when I walked into his office, introduced himself to me. He said, ‘Hello, welcome. I come from a city of Jews,’ and he meant Medina,” Lipstadt recounted. “Mecca and Medina, where the prophet was, and grew up — that’s a pretty significant way of identifying yourself.”
Her second visit to the kingdom, toward the end of her term in office, “was less promising, less forthcoming on the part of the officials.”
She said it was difficult to gauge at the time whether that was due to a lack of interest in engaging with an outgoing administration or because of pressure from popular opinion in Saudi Arabia against the war in Gaza.
But she said she believes the situation has continued to worsen since she left office. And, she noted, Saudi Arabia has made no further public strides toward joining the Abraham Accords, which some expected the kingdom to do once President Donald Trump returned to office.
Plus, Emory faculty revolt in defense of Iran official's daughter
MONEY SHARMA/AFP via Getty Images
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman (C) inspects a guard of honor during a ceremonial reception at the President House a day after the G20 summit in New Delhi on September 11, 2023.
Good Tuesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Saudi Arabia’s shift away from its traditional alliances and towards Islamism is evoking more backlash: Asked about Riyadh’s growing rapprochement with Qatar and Turkey, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a press conference this afternoon that he’s following the developments and that Israel “expect[s] from anybody who wants normalization or peace with us that they not participate in efforts steered by forces or ideologies that want the opposite of peace”…
Netanyahu’s comments came shortly after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, where MBS conveyed that “the Kingdom considers any threat or tension against Iran unacceptable”…
That’s not stopping the U.S. from hinting at the continued possibility of strikes on Iran: U.S. Central Command announced it will be conducting a “multi-day readiness exercise” in order to “demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower” across its area of responsibility, which includes Iran…
And Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) slammed Riyadh for other nefarious actions in the region, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports, including its “attack” on the UAE and silence regarding the Syrian government’s campaign against the Kurds, demanding the kingdom use its influence to “keep the region from falling further into chaos.”
“Please understand that I am smart enough to know that Saudi Arabia has influence on the Syrian government, and I expect them to use it,” Graham said, adding that he is “trying to work with the administration and regional partners to prevent a bloodbath in Syria against our Kurdish allies”…
(President Donald Trump, meanwhile, had a markedly different take on Syria: He told reporters today that he had a “great conversation” with the “highly respected president of Syria” and that “all of the things having to do with Syria and that area are working out very, very well, so we’re very happy about it”…)
The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh also held its first-ever International Holocaust Remembrance Day event, writing that “Today’s modest but meaningful commemoration reflects a universal duty: protecting our shared humanity across cultures, faiths, and nations”…
With Graham eyeing Damascus and Riyadh, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) took aim elsewhere, calling for the U.S. to arm protesters in Iran “NOW.” “For the Iranian people to overthrow the Ayatollah — a tyrant who routinely chants ‘death to America’ — would make America much, much safer,” he said…
Authorities in Azerbaijan arrested three people allegedly preparing an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Baku today; the men were affiliated with ISIS-K, the Afghani branch of the terror group…
The Board of Peace is attempting to formalize its processes and responsibilities, according to a draft resolution from the board obtained by The New York Times, which bestows expansive powers to its chairman — Trump — including naming the commander of the International Stabilization Force, which still has yet to be established.
The document also names White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and attorney Martin Edelman as members of the board, the first time they have been identified as such…
After a doctor who is the daughter of a senior Iranian government official departed from Emory University’s medical school, the professor who serves as head of Emory’s faculty leadership council criticized the school for letting her go, JI’s Haley Cohen has learned.
Noelle McAfee, a professor in Emory’s philosophy department, sent a scathing email to the university expressing concern that the school’s dismissal of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of the secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security, was a politically motivated firing.
“It’s extremely disappointing to see that our leadership here at Emory are consistently caving to political pressure and never taking the side of faculty,” McAfee wrote, quoting an anonymous faculty member, expressing concern that Ardeshir-Larijani, whose father is responsible for the Islamic Republic’s national security, didn’t receive due process…
In the Garden State, Mussab Ali, the former Jersey City Board of Education president and champion of anti-Israel college encampments, officially launched his primary challenge to Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) today, hitting Menendez on day one for supporting Israel and being endorsed by AIPAC.
“Democrats need to step up and become the party where we abandon corporate PACs, we won’t take money from groups like AIPAC, and we need to be accountable to everyday people,” Ali told the New Jersey Globe. He also enters the race with the endorsement of former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), who was unseated in part due to his sharp criticisms of Israel…
Marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Chicago’s City Council voted unanimously to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism into its municipal code…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with Republican Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer, who’s hoping for a conservative shift among Jewish voters in South Florida to help him unseat Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL).
“October 7: In Their Own Words,” a play drawn directly from testimonies of survivors of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, will premiere at the Kennedy Center. Read JI’s interview with the show’s playwrights here.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be on the Hill, testifying at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on U.S. policy towards Venezuela in the aftermath of the ouster of former President Nicolás Maduro.
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The Ivy League school called the EEOC’s request for the personal information of Jewish employees as part of its antisemitism investigation ‘extraordinary and unconstitutional’
Getty Images
Exteriors of University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) located in Philadelphia
A burgeoning legal battle between the University of Pennsylvania and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission escalated last week when the Ivy League university called the agency’s methods of investigating whether the school permitted an antisemitic work environment “extraordinary and unconstitutional.”
The EEOC subpoenaed the university to turn over lists of Jewish employees and members of Jewish organizations, along with detailed identifying and contact information, saying the information is needed for the agency to contact potential victims of antisemitic discrimination. The university’s president and trustees — with the support of Jewish campus organizations Hillel, Chabad and Meor, as well as the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia — refused to do so.
Handing over those names would disregard “the frightening and well-documented history of governmental entities that undertook efforts to identify and assemble information regarding persons of Jewish ancestry,” the university asserted in a legal filing last Tuesday.
What may appear to be an arcane legal issue illuminates the tension at the heart of the Trump administration’s aggressive approach to combating campus antisemitism, with even some of the victims of that discrimination concerned that the methods of countering it have gone too far. While the EEOC said it is committed to doing whatever it can to investigate antisemitism among faculty and staff of the elite university, Jewish faculty and students see something worrisome.
“We are deeply concerned that the EEOC is now seeking lists of individuals identified as Jewish, including their personal home addresses, phone numbers, and private emails, based solely on their affiliation with Jewish organizations on campus — and without their consent,” Hillel and Meor wrote in a social media post in November. “Across history, the compelled cataloging of Jews has been a source of profound danger, and collection of Jews’ private information carries echoes of the very patterns that made Jewish communities vulnerable for centuries.”
Why does the EEOC, which examines complaints of discrimination and civil rights violations at American workplaces, want Penn to provide the lists of Jewish university affiliates? And why are Jewish faculty members — including some who support the federal government’s efforts to investigate antisemitism at their place of work — urging their employer not to comply?
The dispute dates back to December 2023, when the EEOC pledged to investigate whether Jewish employees at Penn had been subjected “to an unlawful hostile work environment.”
The inquiry was opened the same week that then-Penn President Liz Magill testified before Congress about her handling of antisemitism at the Philadelphia university in the weeks that followed the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks in Israel. The investigation continued quietly for nearly two years, overseen by EEOC Commissioner Andrea Lucas, who last year was appointed chair of the agency by President Donald Trump.
It spilled into public view in November when the EEOC filed suit against Penn, seeking to force the university to finally compile and hand over the lists of Jewish faculty members and students that the EEOC said are crucial to its investigation.
The sought-after lists would include the members of all Jewish clubs and student groups, the names of everyone who participated in confidential university listening sessions about antisemitism, faculty members who were criticized and doxxed in a social media post from an anti-Israel student group and all employees and faculty of the Jewish studies program. Karen McDonough, deputy director of the EEOC’s Philadelphia office, said in a legal filing that the university’s refusal to turn over the lists has “severely hampered” the investigation.
Penn disagrees. The university called the demand “not only disconcerting but entirely unnecessary,” pledging instead that it would send a message to all university employees telling them how to get in touch with the EEOC to share instances of antisemitism they experienced or witnessed. The university said it has “cooperated extensively” with the agency by turning over more than 100 documents.
A more typical investigation might involve agency officials interviewing people who issued complaints directly with the agency, then visiting the campus and publicizing their investigation, according to Samuel Bagenstos, a law professor at the University of Michigan with expertise in employment law.
“If there are those claims that should be followed up, they should definitely be followed up, and they should be followed up according to usual investigative practices and not this dragnet of, ‘Let’s compile a list of all the Jews at Penn,’” Bagenstos told Jewish Insider last week. “It’s an incredibly unusual, if not completely unprecedented, request. It’s not tailored at all to any particular allegations of discrimination.”
An EEOC spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
The agency appeared to follow a similar playbook last year when it investigated antisemitism among staff at Columbia University and the affiliated Barnard College. Employees from both institutions received text messages from the EEOC on their personal phones asking them to fill out a survey identifying whether they are Jewish or Israeli, and if they have faced antisemitic harassment.
In that case, university officials had agreed to hand over employee data. Columbia’s associate general counsel and deputy general counsel told the Columbia Daily Spectator, the student newspaper, that the university complied with a subpoena to share employee information with the EEOC. But because the dispute ended in July with a settlement — and not with legal action — the EEOC’s methods of information-gathering at Columbia and Barnard never became public. (Columbia agreed to pay $21 million to resolve antisemitism charges.)
The Penn faculty members and employees opposed to the efforts by the federal government to obtain the controversial lists are not saying that the university is free from antisemitism. The Penn Faculty Alliance to Combat Antisemitism, which formed after Oct. 7 in response to rising anti-Jewish antagonism on campus, filed a brief supporting the university, and its members said that while they want to see the EEOC’s efforts to combat antisemitism at Penn continue, they oppose the methods being used by the agency.
“While the Alliance supports the EEOC’s efforts to combat antisemitism at Penn, its members are gravely concerned that the scope of the EEOC subpoena, which effectively seeks full lists of Jewish individuals at Penn and their personal information, invokes the troubling historical persecution of Jews, and threatens the personal security of the Alliance’s members,” the group wrote in a legal filing last week.
As the case moves forward in federal court, Penn and the EEOC are poised to test the boundaries of how far a civil rights investigation can go in the name of protecting a vulnerable group.
Plus, Kanye West claims he's 'not a Nazi' in full-page WSJ apology
Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images
Vehicle, carrying the body of the last Israeli hostage remaining in Gaza Ran Gvili, arrives the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute prior to the funeral ceremony in Tel Aviv, Israel on January 26, 2026.
Good Monday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
The IDF announced this morning it had identified the remains of the final deceased hostage, Ran Gvili, in Gaza and is returning them to Israel for burial, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports, marking the end of the hostage crisis that had gripped Israel and world Jewry for nearly 850 days in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.
Beyond the hostages taken on Oct. 7, Gvili’s return means that no Israelis — living or deceased — are being held by terror groups in Gaza for the first time since 2014.
While the IDF uncovered Gvili’s body in a Muslim cemetery where Hamas had buried it, President Donald Trump told Axios that the terror group “worked very hard to get the body back. They were working with Israel on it. You can imagine how hard it was.”
“Now we have to disarm Hamas like they promised,” Trump continued, as the parties move into Phase 2 of his peace deal. For its part, Israel announced it will reopen the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza in a “limited” capacity later this week.
Remarking on Gvili’s return, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added at a press conference this afternoon that “more than 20 new, additional countries have also signed up to join the newly established Board of Peace,” without naming the additions…
The New York Times lays out the latest developments in U.S.-Iran tensions, as American military assets reach the region and Iranian officials, as well as Iranian proxy terror groups, intensify their threats against the U.S. and Israel.
Joe Kent, the director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, has warned Iraqi officials that if Iranian-backed militias in Iraq were to strike U.S. troops, the U.S. would retaliate, according to the Times…
Trump told Axios that the situation in regards to Iran is “in flux” but that the U.S. has “a big armada next to Iran. Bigger than Venezuela.” Still, the president left the possibility of diplomacy with Tehran open: “They want to make a deal. I know so. They called on numerous occasions. They want to talk”…
Despite the ongoing tensions, the Trump administration deported about a dozen Iranians back to Tehran yesterday, CNN reports. It’s the third such deportation flight to Iran during Trump’s second term, and the first since the regime began its violent crackdown on protesters…
Elsewhere in the region, Israeli and Lebanese officials were hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Jordan over the weekend to discuss “steps needed for a more peaceful and prosperous region,” according to the U.S. Embassy in Beirut…
Several leading Jewish and pro-Israel advocacy groups are expressing concerns about the impact of the recent rise in antisemitic and Islamist messaging out of Saudi Arabia, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports, as the Gulf kingdom’s rhetoric is increasingly raising questions about its standing as a reliable U.S. ally in the region.
Among other groups, the Anti-Defamation League said in a sharply worded social media statement last week that it was “alarmed by the increasing frequency and volume of prominent Saudi voices — analysts, journalists and preachers — using openly antisemitic dog whistles and aggressively pushing anti-Abraham Accords rhetoric, often while peddling conspiracy theories about ‘Zionist plots’”…
Turning to the U.S., progressive operative Waleed Shahid announced today that he will assume the newly created role of deputy communications director of economic justice in New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office, JI’s Will Bredderman, joining us to cover New York City Hall, reports.
Shahid, the former spokesperson for Justice Democrats, was also a leader in the 2024 Uncommitted movement, which sought to deny support to former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over the Biden administration’s support for Israel following the Oct. 7 attacks, and served as an advisor to former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY)…
After the fatal shooting of a man by ICE officers in Minneapolis this weekend, Gov. Tim Walz compared immigration enforcement activities in Minnesota to Anne Frank’s persecution by the Nazis, drawing condemnation from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Someone’s going to write that children’s story about Minnesota,” Walz said at a press conference yesterday.
Without referencing Walz or ICE, the USHMM responded in a statement today: “Anne Frank was targeted and murdered solely because she was Jewish. Leaders making false equivalencies to her experience for political purposes is never acceptable. Despite tensions in Minneapolis, exploiting the Holocaust is deeply offensive, especially as antisemitism surges”…
Israeli comedian Guy Hochman, whose New York City show was canceled last week amid protests by pro-Hamas groups, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about becoming an “international flashpoint” after his subsequent show in Beverly Hills, Calif., was also canceled and his visa to perform in Canada was revoked.
“I’m not a politician. I’m a comedian. A very Zionist comedian. But it’s terrible to see it happening. But I am not giving up and I’m not giving in. I will not give them the pleasure. But I am getting a lot of threats on my life. I know there’s a big difference between us, but I don’t want to be the Israeli Charlie Kirk,” Hochman said…
Rapper Kanye West took out a full-page ad in today’s print edition of The Wall Street Journal apologizing for his erratic, and often antisemitic, behavior in recent years, claiming his actions stemmed from a brain injury sustained years ago that amplified his bipolar disorder.
“In that fractured state, I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold T-shirts bearing it,” West wrote in the ad. “I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change. It does not excuse what I did though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people”…
The Washington Post reportedly informed its staff on a Zoom call today that up to half of employees will be laid off, with the biggest cuts to its foreign and sports desks…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
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 Deni Avdija, the Israeli NBA star making his triumphant return to Washington tomorrow as his current team, the Portland Trail Blazers, takes on his former team, the Wizards, during their Jewish Heritage Night game.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s new memoir, Where We Keep the Light, is out tomorrow. We’ll be taking a look at how Shapiro discusses Israel and Judaism in its pages, as the swing-state governor potentially seeks the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028.
Marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, representatives of the U.S. and Israel will speak at the United Nations, and the Trump-Kennedy Center in Washington will host “Enduring Music: Compositions from the Holocaust,” a concert of music composed in ghettos and death camps.
Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli’s International Conference on Combating Antisemitism will continue with remarks from Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (who addressed the Knesset today), former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and more.
In Berlin, Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat will deliver remarks at the WELT Economic Summit, the annual European business and political confab organized by media conglomerate Axel Springer.
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