‘It was just astonishing to see colleagues criticizing these things,’ Fetterman told JI
Senator John Fetterman speaks during the grand opening of The Altneu synagogue. (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) criticized his Democratic colleagues in Congress who have spoken out against Israel’s attack on Iran, calling it “astonishing” to see members of his party treat Israel’s actions as escalatory.
Fetterman spoke to Jewish Insider on Friday for an interview in the wake of Israel launching its military operation to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities and prevent the regime from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
The Pennsylvania senator said he could not fathom how some Democrats on Capitol Hill could accuse the Jewish state of launching the strikes to upend the Trump administration’s nuclear negotiations with Tehran.
Fetterman didn’t mention any of his Democratic colleagues by name, but many have been critical of the Iranian strikes. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), for instance, went on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Friday morning and said that Israel’s strike on Iran was “pretty transparent that this was an effort to submarine, to undermine our diplomacy.”
“It was just astonishing to see colleagues criticizing these things. It’s like, do you think you can negotiate with that regime? Do you think you want to run that scenario and allow them to acquire 1,000 pounds of weapons grade uranium? I can’t understand, I can’t even begin to understand that,” Fetterman told JI.
“I can’t imagine why they would say that. Remember, Iran tries to acquire nuclear weapons. Iran has created and spent billions of dollars to build those destructive proxies like Hamas or Hezbollah or the Houthis. Why can’t we talk about that? Why can’t we talk about the absolute imperative to keep Iran accountable for what they’ve done? That’s exactly part of what Israel did last night, as well,” he continued.
The Pennsylvania Democrat praised the opening salvos of the operation as “absolutely spectacular,” citing the “precision in targeting people.”
”They eliminated the generals and those scientists in their beds at their building, and they didn’t take out the whole building. It was just their specific apartments. I mean, that is truly remarkable. … It’s like Beepers 2.0, the kind of things they’ve done. Like I said, I am constantly blown away by the sophistication and their lethality,” Fetterman said, referring to the Israeli pager operation that took out senior Hezbollah leaders.
“I think I might have been the only one openly calling for that [striking the nuclear facilities now]. I’m never going to negotiate with that regime. You can never trust them, and the only thing they’re going to respond to, that they respect, are exactly the kind of things that [Israel] did last night. … Any potential path for an enduring peace in the Middle East, these are the kind of steps that do that,” he added.
Fetterman disputed the narrative that the U.S. supporting Israel in targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities could increase the prospect of a regional war. “If Iran is going to take their big, big swing, they would have done that by now. Just imagine how exposed they are, even how [exposed] they were earlier this year after what Israel had done taking out Hezbollah,” he told JI.
“Hezbollah ain’t talking tough anymore. They’re not talking about any kinds of actions, they’re just whimpering, and that’s my point. Iran can’t fight for s**t. … They just shot their big shot, a couple junkie rockets, and it’s like, that’s what you’ve got?” Fetterman asked.
Israeli Embassy staffers killed outside Jewish Museum
Embassy of Israel to the USA
Yarón Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we detail the latest on last night’s deadly attack outside the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C. and report on the response from Jewish communities and Israeli officials. We highlight Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch’s podcast interview with former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the lead-up to New York’s mayoral primary, report on remarks by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the urgency of humanitarian aid for Gaza as well as his predictions for the expansion of the Abraham Accords, and cover Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s press conference last night. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Sen. Ted Cruz, Bruce Pearl and Richard Priem.
What We’re Watching
- The UJA-Federation of New York and JCRC-NY will be hosting a town hall this evening with the leading Democratic New York City mayoral candidates. Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar and New York Jewish Week managing editor Lisa Keys will be co-moderating the forum.
- The Brandeis Center will host a briefing on Capitol Hill featuring current college students and recent graduates sharing their personal experiences with antisemitism on campus. Kenneth Marcus, chairman and CEO of the Brandeis Center, Alyza Lewin, president of the Brandeis Center, and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) will also deliver remarks.
- The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Africa subcommittee will hold a hearing on the ongoing civil war in Sudan.
- The Qatar Economic Forum wraps up today in Doha.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH ji’s TAMARA ZIEVE
It was an evening dedicated to humanitarian service — young Jewish professionals gathering under the theme “Turning Pain Into Purpose,” discussing interfaith collaboration and working to counter the rising tide of “us versus them” narratives. The event spotlighted efforts to respond to humanitarian crises in the Middle East and North Africa — including in Gaza.
But what was supposed to be a night rooted in shared humanity was rocked by deadly violence. Outside the Capital Jewish Museum, where the American Jewish Committee was hosting the event, an assailant opened fire on a group of four people, killing a young couple, both Israeli Embassy employees.
Eyewitness Paige Siegel, who was a guest at the event, told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod that she heard two sets of multiple shots ring out, and then an individual, who police have since identified as suspected shooter Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, entered the building appearing disoriented and panicked, seconds after the shooting ended. She said security allowed the man in, as well as two other women separately. (Police say the suspect had discarded his weapon.)
Siegel said she spoke to the man, asking him if he had been shot. He appeared panicked and was mumbling and repeatedly told bystanders to call the police. Siegel said that she felt the man was suspicious.
JoJo Drake Kalin, a member of AJC’s DC Young Professional Board and an organizer of the event, told JI’s Danielle Cohen the man appeared disheveled and out of breath when he entered the building. Kalin assumed he had been a bystander to the shooting who needed assistance and she handed him a glass of water. Siegel said that the man was sitting in the building in a state of distress for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, and she and a friend engaged him in conversation, informing him that he was in the Jewish museum.
Siegel then said that the man started screaming, “I did it, I did it. Free Palestine. I did it for Gaza,” and opened a backpack, withdrawing a red keffiyeh.
“The deep irony I felt after the guy pulled out the keffiyeh was, ‘if only you knew,’” Drake Kalin reflected. “It was Jewish professionals gathering not for a political agenda but for our collective humanity,” Kalin added. “Which I won’t let this event take from me.”
The two victims of last night’s attack, Yarón Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, were due to be engaged soon — Israeli Ambassador Michael Leiter said that the man had purchased a ring earlier this week and was planning to propose next week in Jerusalem.
Milgrim’s last job before joining the embassy’s public diplomacy department was at Tech2Peace, where she researched peace-building theory and, according to her LinkedIn profile, designed and implemented a 12-person study on the role of friendships in the Israeli-Palestinian peacebuilding process.
Lischinsky emigrated from Germany to Israel at age 16, where he studied government, diplomacy and strategy and served in the IDF, according to his LinkedIn profile. The last post shared on X by Lischinsky, an employee of the embassy’s political department, called out a United Nations official for “blood libel,” for spreading a false claim that 14,000 babies in Gaza would die within 48 hours without aid.
Reactions to the killings have been swift. President Donald Trump said of the shooting, “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA.”
Leiter said Trump vowed to him that the administration would do everything it can to fight antisemitism and demonization and delegitimization of Israel. “We’ll stand together tall and firm and confront this moral depravity without fear,” Leiter said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, updated him on the details of the incident and asked to convey her condolences to the families of the couple, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
“We are witness to the terrible cost of the antisemitism and wild incitement against the State of Israel,” Netanyhau said. “Blood libels against Israel have a cost in blood and must be fought to the utmost. My heart grieves for the families of the young beloveds, whose lives were cut short in a moment by an abhorrent antisemitic murderer. I have directed that security be increased at Israeli missions around the world and for the state’s representatives.”
In a press conference in Jerusalem this morning, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the attack was “the direct result of toxic antisemitic incitement against Israel and Jews around the world that has been going on since the Oct. 7 massacre.” He pointed a finger at incitement by “leaders and officials of many countries and international organizations, especially from Europe.”
Sa’ar noted that “there is not one week without terror attacks or attempted terror attacks around the world — usually more than one.”
The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem and Israeli missions around the world will lower their flags to half-mast today to honor the memory of Milgrim and Lischinsky.
security concerns
After deadly shooting, Jewish communities go on high alert
Jewish communities are going on high alert following the deadly shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington on Wednesday night, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports. Richard Priem, CEO of the Community Security Service, which trains security teams at synagogues and other institutions, told eJP this morning that his organization and other security groups would be stepping up their “posture” in the wake of the shooting in case additional attacks had been planned or others are “inspired” to act by this one.
Increased measures: “We’re definitely going to be present, we’re definitely going to do something that increases our posture because anytime there’s an attack, certain people get activated and think, ’Now’s the time,’” Priem said. “But we don’t know yet if there might be a direct, correlated threat.” Such security measures may include additional guards posted outside buildings, tighter involvement of local law enforcement and increased coordination between different Jewish security groups, such as national ones like the Anti-Defamation League and Secure Communities Network, as well as local ones like New York’s Community Security Initiative or various neighborhood watchdog groups.
Read the full story here and sign up for eJewishPhilanthropy’s Your Daily Phil newsletter here.
Security funding: The Capital Jewish Museum is one of the recipients of a $500,000 security grant for local nonprofits recently announced by the D.C. government.
new york, new york
Cuomo predicts Jewish vote could decide mayoral race
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the leading Democratic candidate in New York City’s upcoming mayoral primary, predicted that Jewish voters could ultimately swing the outcome of the June election in a new podcast interview released today, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
‘Use your vote’: “You have 600,000 registered Jewish Democrats. The whole turnout in the primary is 800,000,” he said in a conversation with Ammiel Hirsch, senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York. “They could decide the election. Use your voice, use your vote, get aggressive. Passivity does not work.”
shifting sentiment
Rubio: Israel’s Gaza aid blockade hurt Israel’s security, standing
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a shift, said in a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday that Israel’s 11-week blockade of aid into Gaza was damaging Israel’s national security and international standing and that U.S. pressure had contributed to Israel’s decision to release the hold. He also said that current levels of aid entering Gaza are not sufficient. The remarks are strikingly similar to comments made since the beginning of the war in Gaza by Democrats, particularly progressives, who have criticized Israel’s policy toward aid to Gaza, and stand in contrast with Rubio’s and other Republicans’ previous comments arguing against allowing aid to flow back into Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What he said: “In the interim period, the one thing we’ve made abundantly clear is that the humanitarian situation — and I think this was acknowledged by the prime minister in his statement — the humanitarian situation, the direction that it was headed was undermining Israel’s standing and national security,” Rubio said.
More from Rubio: In his second consecutive day of hearings on Capitol Hill, Rubio said that he expects that additional Arab countries will join the Abraham Accords by the end of the year, if not earlier. “We do have an Abraham Accords office that is actively working to identify a number of countries who have lined up and already I think we may have good news, certainly before the end of this year, of a number of more countries that are willing to join that alliance,” Rubio said a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday.
WAR ROOM
Netanyahu lays out newest phase of Gaza war, view on Iran negotiations in press conference
Striking a defiant tone on Wednesday amid intensifying international pressure to end the war in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid down his conditions for the end of hostilities, Jewish Insider’s Tamara Zieve and Lahav Harkov report. “The world is telling us to end the war,” Netanyahu said, in the first press conference he has held in Israel since December. “I am prepared to end the war according to clear conditions: Hamas lays down its weapons, steps down from power, returns all the hostages, Gaza is demilitarized and we implement the Trump plan” to relocate residents of Gaza.
Talk of tension: Addressing reports of strained ties between the U.S. and Israel, Netanyahu said that he spoke to President Donald Trump about 10 days ago and Trump told him, “Bibi, I want you to know I have a total commitment to you and to the State of Israel.” Referring to Trump’s recent Middle East tour, which excluded Israel, Netanyahu said, “I have no opposition to the U.S. deepening its ties to the Arab world … I think this can help broaden the Abraham Accords that I’m very interested in.”
On Iran: “Iran remains a serious threat to Israel. We are in full coordination with the U.S. — we talk to them all the time. We hope that it’s possible to reach an agreement that will prevent a nuclear weapon from Iran and will prevent Iran from having the ability to enrich uranium. If it is reached, of course, we will welcome it,” he said, before adding, “In any case, Israel reserves the right to defend itself against a regime that threatens to destroy us.” Netanyahu previously called for total dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, which would go farther than stopping Iran from enriching uranium. An official in Netanyahu’s office denied that his remark reflects a change in policy.
TEHRAN TALK
Some Senate Republicans skeptical of excluding terrorism, missiles from Iran talks
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) argued on Wednesday that sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program can’t be separated from other sanctions on the regime as part of a nuclear deal, contrasting the approach apparently being taken by the Trump administration to that of the Obama administration. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said in congressional testimony this week that talks with Tehran have revolved solely around Iran’s nuclear program and have not addressed its sponsorship of terrorism or its ballistic missile program, but said that sanctions related to terrorism and missiles would remain in place if those issues are not addressed in a potential deal. “The Obama administration invented the category of ‘nuclear sanctions’ as an excuse to give the Ayatollah whatever he wanted for a nuclear deal,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said to Jewish Insider, JI’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report.
Tillis’ take: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) expressed confidence that the Trump administration understood that any deal must be multifaceted, though he noted that congressional Republicans haven’t been briefed on the talks. “I have to believe at the end of the day, they realize that it’s not just about enrichment, but it’s all the other enabling capabilities, because the reality is the world’s a dangerous place and if they had that underlying capability, maybe then they’ll build their own bomb,” Tillis told JI.
Read the full story here with additional comments from Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL), James Lankford (R-OK), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and John Kennedy (R-LA).
ON THE HILL
House lawmakers call on Appropriations Committee to address antisemitism in health care
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is urging colleagues to take steps to address antisemitism in the health care field in the 2026 appropriations process for the Department of Health and Human Services and related agencies. In a letter sent Wednesday, the lawmakers called on the leaders of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies to demand reports from HHS on the rise of antisemitism in health care, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What they said: “Failure to confront this pernicious ideology harms not only Jewish medical professionals, students, and patients but threatens to destroy the very foundations of our healthcare system,” the letter reads. “Dangerous rhetoric from individuals in positions of influence raises fears among Jewish and Israeli students, families, and patients about whether they will receive equitable and compassionate care. Antisemitic hate and bigotry put Jewish patients at risk and undermine the ethical foundations of medicine, where commitment to the patient should be paramount.”
Signed on: The letter was signed by Reps. Buddy Carter (R-GA), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Troy Balderson (R-OH), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Tim Kennedy (D-NY), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Don Bacon (R-NE), Shelia Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), Sarah Elfreth (D-MD), Mike Carey (R-OH), Laura Friedman (D-CA) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL).
Education confrontation: House Democrats urged Education Secretary Linda McMahon not to make cuts to the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights as employees work through the backlog of cases, which includes scores of civil rights complaints from Jewish students alleging discrimination at their universities since the Oct.7, 2023, attacks on Israel, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Worthy Reads
Terror Comes to Washington: Commentary Editor John Podhoretz reflects on the nature of last night’s deadly attack outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington. “This is a different kind of event from the attacks on synagogues in Pennsylvania and California in 2018, which were the work of white supremacists. It happened at a secular Jewish site, and targeted an event sponsored by the American Jewish Committee for young diplomats. And it was self-evidently an act of anti-Semitic terror in the nation’s capital — which raises similarities to the 2015 attack on the Hyper Casher supermarket in France’s capital, Paris. The only analogue here I can think of was the invasion of the headquarters of the B’nai Brith in D.C. in 1977 by Hanafi Muslims, during which 104 staffers at the Jewish organization — including my wife’s cousin, William Korey, an expert on Soviet Jewry — were held hostage for three days and repeatedly threatened with execution and torture. Two other buildings in DC were invaded as well, and a security guard at one of them was shot in the head and killed.” [Commentary]
Private Sector Diplomacy: The Atlantic’s Andrew Exum writes approvingly about Trump’s transactional approach to Middle East foreign policy in The Atlantic. “Trump unabashedly uses the American private sector as an instrument of national power. In fact, he does this better than any previous president has in my lifetime…Trump may well understand that with the Democratic Party likely divided on Israel for the next generation, his Jewish and evangelical-Christian supporters have nowhere else to go. This puts him in a position of power relative to the Israeli prime minister — one that must surely make Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders very uncomfortable. Making them still more uncomfortable will be the fact that everyone who mattered seemed to be in those meetings in the Gulf. Everyone, that is, except them” [TheAtlantic]
Red Lines on Iran: The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board endorses Trump’s Iran diplomacy. “Iran’s rulers are unhappy with the direction of nuclear talks, which is a sign President Trump is pushing in the right places. No one is ever pleased to make far-reaching concessions, but those are what the U.S. and the world need to get a deal worth making… Iran long insisted it would never negotiate with Mr. Trump. It spent the Biden years talking about killing him. But after Mr. Trump resumed sanctions enforcement and built up a military threat that Iran had to take seriously, Iran came to the table. Its other options are worse. Tehran may decide it can’t abandon enrichment or allow its centrifuges to be dismantled. And it may call the U.S. and Israeli bluff on the use of force, but that could be a mistake its leaders come to regret” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
President Donald Trump is reportedly set to appoint Thomas Barrack, the current U.S. ambassador to Turkey, as a special envoy for Syria…
The Department of Defense formally accepted a luxury Boeing 747 jumbo jet from Qatar for President Donald Trump’s use as Air Force One, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement on Wednesday, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen reports.
The State Department announced that anyone involved in the sale or transfer to or from Iran of 10 materials found to be used in Iran’s nuclear, military and ballistic missile programs will now be subject to mandatory sanctions…
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said at a conference in Tehran on Wednesday about nuclear negotiations with the U.S. that Iran “not give up this right to use peaceful nuclear technology in any way. No matter what they say, do, how they threaten us or impose sanctions, it makes no difference.” Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said that the fifth round of nuclear talks will be held in Rome on Friday…
Xiyue Wang, who was wrongly imprisoned in Iran for more than three years until Trump arranged for his release during his first administration, was named as a senior advisor for Iran at the State Department…
In a tense meeting at the Oval Office yesterday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa refuted unsubstantiated claims made by Trump about genocide against white South Africans…
Speaking at one of the university’s commencement ceremonies on Wednesday, Columbia University’s acting president, Claire Shipman, said, “I know many in our community today are mourning the absence of our graduate, Mahmoud Khalil,” referring to the anti-Israel protest leader who is currently facing deportation proceedings, and said, “We firmly believe that our international students have the same rights to freedom of speech as everyone else, and they should not be targeted by the government for exercising that right.”
Some 100 pro-Palestinian protesters outside the campus attempted to disrupt the ceremony…
Charl Kleinhaus, an Afrikaner who was granted refugee status in the United States and said Jews are “untrustworthy and a dangerous group” on social media, confirmed that he is being resettled by HIAS and its affiliate, the Jewish Family Services of Western New York. Kleinhaus said his posts were “completely misinterpreted” and he “probably should have worded it better”…
The Vaad of Lakewood, N.J., endorsed Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) for the Democratic nomination in the New Jersey gubernatorial election, specifically calling on unaffiliated voters to cast their ballots for him in the June 10 primary…
New York state Democratic lawmakers moved to block a bill in the state Assembly to include the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism in state education law…
The Wall Street Journal spotlights shifting sentiment in the Israeli public toward the war in Gaza…
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates’ national security advisor, met with Stephen Schwarzman, chairman and CEO of Blackstone, to discuss investment trends…
Arc magazine chronicled the role of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in supporting President Jimmy Carter’s creation of the Department of Education…
Amy Schumer, Israeli actor Yadin Gellman and Israeli director Eliran Peled are co-producing a romantic comedy called “Now More Than Ever” about the divides between Israeli and American Jewry post-Oct. 7…
Eliana Goldin, a recent Columbia University graduate and pro-Israel activist, shared her experience being fired from the Columbia Daily Spectator student newspaper…
Philanthropist and Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, whose father was Jewish, died at 65…
Pic of the Day
Auburn University men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl addressed a Jewish American History Month breakfast on Capitol Hill yesterday. Guests included more than 25 House members and senators, antisemitism envoy nominee Yehuda Kaploun and former deputy envoy Aaron Keyak. The event was hosted by the Combat Antisemitism Movement, Jewish Federations of North America, Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, AEPi and Operation Benjamin.
Birthdays
Author, activist, actress and producer, she served until 2023 as a special envoy against antisemitism at Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Noa Tishby…
Senior fellow emeritus at the Hudson Institute, Irwin M. Stelzer turns 93… Retired U.S. district court judge from Massachusetts, now a senior lecturer at Harvard Law School, Nancy Gertner turns 79… Award-winning staff writer at The New Yorker since 1989, Connie Bruck turns 79… Former Skadden partner and then vice-chair at Citibank, J. Michael Schell turns 78… Cognitive scientist and CEO emeritus of Haskins Laboratories in New Haven, Philip E. Rubin turns 76… Director emeritus of policy and government affairs at AIPAC, Ambassador Bradley Gordon turns 76… Gloria Woodlock… Charles Scott… Former member of Knesset from the Zionist Union party, he was previously a major general in the IDF, Eyal Ben-Reuven turns 71… Immediate past chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Dianne F. Lob… Former member of Congress (D-AZ-1), now a business and transactional attorney in Phoenix, Sam Coppersmith turns 70… Senior consultant as to philanthropy and impact at private equity firm Cresset Capital, Sanford Ronald “Sandy” Cardin… U.S. Sen. (R-AK) Lisa Murkowski turns 68… General partner of Google Ventures where he co-leads the life science investment team, David Schenkein turns 68… Former head coach of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, he was the winning coach of the EuroLeague Championship in 2014 with Maccabi Tel Aviv, David Blatt turns 66… Actor, he appeared in all five seasons of the HBO program “The Wire” as defense attorney Maurice Levy, Michael Kostroff turns 64… British writer, philanthropist and documentary filmmaker, Dame Hannah Mary Rothschild turns 63… Partner at Sidley & Austin, he clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist in the 1996 term, David H. Hoffman turns 58… Former relief pitcher for seven MLB teams, Alan Brian “Al” Levine turns 57… Harvard Law School professor since 2007, he clerked for Supreme Court Justice David Souter in the 1998 term, Noah Feldman turns 55… Israeli cookbook author and TV cookery show host, Shaily Lipa turns 51… Israel’s minister of communications in the prior government, Yoaz Hendel turns 50… Executive director of American Compass, Oren Cass… Co-founder of Facebook in 2004, Dustin Aaron Moskovitz turns 41… Retired slot receiver and kick returner for the NFL’s New England Patriots, member of three Super Bowl-winning teams, Julian Edelman turns 39… Co-founder and former CEO of Tinder, Sean Rad turns 39… Film, television and theater actress, Molly Ephraim turns 39… Washington bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, Michael Wilner turns 36… J.D. candidate at Harvard Law School in the class of 2026, he is a summer associate at Weil Gotshal, Alex Friedman turns 25… Law clerk for a federal judge in the Eastern District of New York until earlier this year, Peter Walker Kaplan… Emma Kaplan… Aryeh Jacobson… Rebecca Weiss… Benjamin Weiss…
The alleged perpetrator said Shapiro needed to know that he ‘will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people’
Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images
Police line cordon is seen at Pennsylvania Governor's Mansion after a suspected arson attack caused significant damage in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States on April 13, 2025.
The man accused of setting fire to the governor’s residence in Harrisburg, Pa., hours after Gov. Josh Shapiro hosted a Passover Seder there for family and friends did so to protest Shapiro’s stance toward the Palestinians, according to a police search warrant.
Cody Balmer, the suspect, allegedly threw homemade explosives into the mansion in the middle of the night, igniting a fire that caused severe damage to the home. On a 911 call, Balmer said that Shapiro “needs to know that he ‘will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,’” the warrant says.
Balmer then added that Shapiro “needs to stop having my friends killed, and ‘our people have been put through too much by that monster,’” referring to Shapiro, according to the warrant. After Balmer turned himself in to police, he “admitted to harboring hatred” of Shapiro, and claimed he would’ve attacked Shapiro with a hammer if he had encountered him.
Hours before Shapiro, his wife and their children were forced to evacuate their home during the fire, they hosted a Seder in the state dining room, one of the rooms that sustained heavy damage. A photo released by the governor’s office showed a charred piano, burnt furniture and ashes covering the floor. The windows were shattered.
Balmer, 38, who lives in Harrisburg, is charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson, terrorism and other offenses. In a press conference on Wednesday, Shapiro declined to say whether he believed he was targeted for practicing his faith, or whether Balmer should face hate crime charges, saying that is a question prosecutors will have to answer.
“I continue to find strength in my faith as we go forward here,” Shapiro said, noting that his family still had a Seder on Sunday evening for the second night of Passover, though not specifying where. “The prosecutors will ultimately determine what motivated this — the district attorney, the Department of Justice can comment on that further. But right now I think what we’re trying to do is find the good in society, not be deterred from our work, not be deterred from practicing our faith proudly and to continue to move forward as parents and continue to move forward as governor and first lady.”
Shapiro said he has heard from many Jewish families concerned about the attack and its timing on Passover.
“I want them to see that my wife and I and our kids continue to celebrate our faith proudly and openly,” said Shapiro. “I want them to see that people from all different faiths have reached out to condemn this act and to lift up our family in prayer, and that’s the Pennsylvania way.”
As investigators assess the damage at the home, Shapiro is still unsure what was lost in the fire. “I don’t know if our Seder plates or any of our other materials were damaged, melted, destroyed in the fire,” he said. “We brought Seder plates and other ritual items from our home, from our personal home there, to celebrate with family and the community that we had invited to the Seder there.”
Images shared by the governor’s office showed damage to some of the Passover material. One showed burnt pages from the Haggadah, left open to the final page, with the song “Chad Gadya” and Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem. Another showed a charred poster, left out from earlier in the night, inviting children to participate in Passover crafts.