Plus, Modi heads to Israel to deepen defense ties
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on January 21, 2026 in Davos, Switzerland.
Add JewishInsider on Google👋 Good Tuesday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we preview tonight’s State of the Union address, and look at the debate taking shape among New York City officials over new legislation providing protest buffer zones around places of worship ahead of a hearing on the issue tomorrow. We interview Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Israel, slated for tomorrow, and talk to Sen. Chris Coons about a potential U.S. strike on Iran. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Michael Sacks, Richard Baker and Sue Altman.
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
- President Donald Trump will deliver the State of the Union address at 9 p.m. ET. More below on what we’ll be looking out for tonight.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio is slated to brief Senate and House leaders at 3 p.m. ET.
- Ali Larijani, the head of Iran’s National Security Council who in recent weeks has been designated by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to try to ensure the regime’s continued survival in the event of military conflict, is in Muscat today to deliver Tehran’s response to U.S. negotiators through Omani interlocutors.
- The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hear from Jacob Helberg, the Trump administration’s under secretary of state for economic growth, energy, and environment, in a hearing this morning set for 10 a.m.
- AIPAC’s Congressional Summit wraps up today in Washington.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MARC ROD
President Donald Trump is set to address Congress for his State of the Union speech tonight, with U.S. forces amassing in the Middle East and administration officials engaged in an ongoing flurry of diplomacy with the Iranian regime.
We’ll be watching for how Trump will address the situation with Iran in his speech, if at all. Will he set red lines or negotiate demands for the regime? Will he lay out his plan or goals for a potential military attack? The White House, as of now, isn’t previewing his remarks.
Trump took to Truth Social yesterday afternoon with a post rejecting as “fake news” reporting from a series of outlets that Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had raised concerns about a sustained military campaign against Iran.
The president said that Caine “like all of us, would not like to see War” but also believes that a military conflict would be “easily won.” Although talks have reportedly centered around limits on Iran’s nuclear program, Trump continued to insist that the regime’s nuclear development is “no longer, but rather, was blown to smithereens.” He called reports that the administration is considering limited strikes on Iran “fake.”
It’s not out of the question that Trump, who loves a made-for-TV moment, breaks major news on Iran during the speech — last year, he announced in the middle of his speech that the U.S. had apprehended a terrorist allegedly involved in the bombing that killed 13 U.S. servicemembers during the pullout from Afghanistan.
On the other hand, Trump, with midterms on the horizon, might steer clear of the topic entirely as he focuses on domestic issues dominating the headlines, such as tariffs and immigration.
We’ll also be keeping an ear out for whether Trump tries to draw any boundaries for the conservative movement on Israel policy and antisemitism in his speech. The president has largely stayed out of the ongoing fight over Israel roiling the right, but the GOP’s most prominent Israel critic, Tucker Carlson, visited the White House on Monday after an interview with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee that grabbed headlines.
BUFFER BATTLE
‘Buffer zone’ bill to protect houses of worship sets up NYC clash
A bill introduced in the New York City Council in response to pro-Hamas demonstrations outside New York synagogues and slated for a hearing on Wednesday 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, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports. 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.
State of play: 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 NYPD 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.
Bonus: In The New York Post, Marvin Gerber, who has faced protesters outside his Ann Arbor, Mich., synagogue for more than two decades, argues in favor of a federal law prohibiting protests within a certain range of houses of worship: “A federal baseline sets one clear line everywhere and lets the Justice Department step in when locals can’t or won’t. Congress should pass a law barring targeted protests within a reasonable distance of entrances, driveways or parking lots of houses of worship during service hours, with authority for local police to extend that perimeter when necessary for safety or crowd control.”
DELHI DIPLOMACY
Modi’s upcoming visit expected to take Israel-India relations ‘to a new, strategic level,’ Israeli ambassador says
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to arrive in Israel on Wednesday to address the Knesset and head an innovation event in Jerusalem, as part of what Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar told Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov is an “upgrade” in relations between the countries “to a new, strategic level.” The visit of the head of the world’s most populous nation, whose relations with Israel have grown stronger since Modi became prime minister in 2014, has important implications for the Jewish state’s security, geopolitics and trade, Azar said.
Friends in arms: India has been the Israeli defense industry’s largest customer in recent years, with arms sales totaling $20.5 billion during 2020-2024. The countries have reportedly closed deals worth $8.6 billion since the beginning of 2026. During his visit, Modi plans to sign an “updated security agreement to allow the private sector to work on more sensitive products when it comes to joining production,” Azar, who has been Israel’s envoy to India since September 2024, said. “The updated protocols will allow us to work on more sensitive technology. It will create a lot of action.”
Bonus: Globes does a deep dive into the defense cooperation between Israel and India.
SHIFTING STANCE
Sue Altman pivoting on Israel as she runs in safely Democratic N.J. district
Progressive activist Sue Altman shook up the race in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District earlier this month when she announced she was entering the already packed field of Democratic candidates to replace retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) in the House, immediately becoming the presumptive front-runner, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Now and then: Altman ran as a pro-Israel progressive when she was the Democratic nominee in the neighboring district, where she lost to Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ). In audio shared by the anti-Israel publication Drop Site, Altman said she’s reassessing elements of her position towards Israel from 2024 and working on a new position paper. “A lot has happened since then. It has been a horrific tragedy,” Altman said, in an unknown setting. “I always looked up to Israel as a young person. … Israel is an important ally to the United States, but what has happened in Palestine is just horrific, and I don’t want our taxpayer money being used to kill children and women who are innocent.”
PRAIRIE STATE OF PLAY
Raja Krishnamoorthi emerging as the strongest ally of Jewish voters in Illinois Senate race
Democrats running for the open Senate seat in Illinois are increasingly trying to differentiate themselves on Israel policy ahead of next month’s primary, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. In the final weeks of the campaign, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton appears to be trying to straddle a line on Israel policy between Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), who has a largely pro-Israel record, and Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL), who has been increasingly critical of Israel.
Debate watch: Stratton, of the three, has the least established record on Middle East policy issues, and her approach was on display at a debate last week with fellow candidates, where she did not offer direct answers to questions on whether additional conditions should be applied to U.S. aid to Israel or whether the war in Gaza constitutes a genocide. “I can tell you that as our democratic ally in the Middle East, I believe that Israel has a right to safety and security, but at the very same time, I totally disagree with the way that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has responded to those attacks, and I believe that he should be removed from power, or he should step down, and there should be elections, as the people have been calling for,” Stratton said. Israel is set to go to elections in October.
AID ARRANGEMENT
With J Street backing, 26 Democrats introduce legislation to impose wide-ranging conditions on aid to Israel
Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) and 25 Democratic co-sponsors introduced a bill on Monday that would implement wide-ranging new conditions and restrictions on U.S. aid to Israel, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Conditions: The “Ceasefire Compliance Act” would require the administration to assess and report to Congress every 90 days on whether Israel is complying with the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, including halting military operations and bombing campaigns, as well as a raft of other conditions related to Gaza and the West Bank. If Israel does not meet any of the conditions included in the law, the U.S. would be banned from selling or transferring any U.S. military systems to Israel for use in Gaza or the West Bank. In addition, any further transfers would be subject to a specific agreement by Israel that the weapons would not be used in Gaza or the West Bank and the administration would be required to reach an agreement with Israel that U.S.-origin systems already in Israel’s possession would also be banned from use in Gaza or the West Bank.
DELAWARE DISPOSITION
Chris Coons warns White House over striking Iran without support from European allies
Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), one of the leading foreign policy voices in the Democratic Party’s moderate wing, expressed concern over the weekend that any White House decision to move ahead with military action against Iran would deeply alienate leading European allies of the United States. “There are pretty stark early warning signs of some challenges where core allies do not share our priorities,” Coons told Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs following a weeklong trip to Europe, which included stops at the Munich Security Conference, along with meetings in Ukraine and Moldova with top European diplomats.
Coons’ concerns: “It leaves me genuinely concerned that if Trump goes ahead with a strike against Iran, it is not going to enjoy support from any of our core allies,” he continued. “That will make it harder, and it may deepen this growing challenge for us.” Asked how he would like to see the Trump administration address the Iranian regime’s violent crackdown on protesters and its nuclear program, Coons urged the president to work with close allies to “ramp up pressure” on Tehran and explain his approach to the public. The Delaware senator also encouraged Trump to include Congress in his deliberations.
Worthy Reads
Class Warfare: Semafor’s Ben Smith reviews the “bad ideas” that have emerged since the start of the year, citing as one the phrase “Epstein class” that was popularized by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) to describe a specific, largely Jewish set of power brokers. “The notion that there is a ‘class’ that includes Noam Chomsky and Howard Lutnick makes little sense except to lunatic antisemites. But hustlers of various sorts have long targeted elites for their own purposes. Take the crypto founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who contributed to Ossoff and Khanna’s political campaigns. It would be absurd to see Ossoff, Khanna, Tom Brady — a paid spokesman for Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange — and me as part of an ‘SBF class.’” [Semafor]
Trump and Tucker: The Bulwark’s Will Sommer spotlights the relationship between President Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson and the “seeming impunity” the commentator, who platforms Holocaust deniers and antisemitic conspiracy theorists, enjoys even as he complicates relations between the White House and traditional conservatives. “Ultimately, Carlson’s perseverance in Trump’s orbit is a remarkable testament to his staying power. Lesser media luminaries would have been pushed to the outskirts of punditry. The question now is how long the alliance between the administration and Carlson can hold. After all, there are several major factions now tugging at Trump, including Israel supporters like [Laura] Loomer and Ben Shapiro, and the [Vice President JD] Vance faction that Carlson is close to. As 2028 gets closer, expect many more fights over the White House guest list — and a whole lot more drama.” [TheBulwark]
Word on the Street
The Trump administration’s Board of Peace is considering using a form of cryptocurrency known as stablecoin in Gaza as an alternative to cash, which is in short supply after more than two years of war…
The State Department ordered non-essential personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, as well as their family members, to leave Lebanon, and is restricting the in-country travel of diplomats still stationed in the country…
Michael Sacks, a prominent Jewish Chicago-area Democratic donor and philanthropist, lamented rising anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism after a progressive Illinois congressional candidate, union organizer Anthony Driver Jr., issued a public statement saying he would reject the donor’s contribution to his campaign due to his ties to AIPAC, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
City & State New York profiles New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin as she settles into her new role, describing her as “someone who hopes to steer the council with a firm hand, notching real accomplishments” as well as “a structural counterweight to Mamdani and his fledgling administration”…
Organizers of the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival issued an apology following an uproar over the inclusion of a film festival student judge with an extensive history of criticizing Israel and comparing the war in Gaza to the Holocaust; the Israeli consulate in the Southeast, based in Atlanta, had withdrawn its support of the festival over the AJFF’s initial defense of the juror, who is the leader of the Morehouse College Muslim Student Association…
The New York Times profiles Saks Global head Richard Baker, whose newly formed company filed for bankruptcy just over a year after it was created in a merger between Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman…
The Nate D. Sanders auction house announced the upcoming sale of a letter signed by Ze’ev Jabotinsky written in 1938 as part of the Revisionist Zionism founder’s efforts to raise funds for a mass evacuation of European Jews ahead of Germany’s annexation of Austria…
Former U.K. Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson was arrested on suspicion of misconduct while in office, charges connected to Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein…
France is blocking U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner from directly accessing government officials after Kushner did not appear in response to a summons from French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot over the U.S. envoy’s comments earlier this month about the death of a far-right French activist…
In The New York Times, music critic Anthony Tommasini reflects on Anne Frank’s love of music as he experiences the arts in the diarist’s adopted city of Amsterdam, where she and her family lived until they went into hiding…
Australia began a royal commission, its highest form of federal inquiry, into the December 2025 terror attack targeting a Hanukkah party at Sydney’s Bondi Beach…
Internal investigators at Binance found that roughly $1.7 billion had been sent from Binance accounts to Iranian entities with ties to terror groups…
Pic of the Day
Israeli President Isaac Herzog hosted an iftar at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem last night for diplomats, religious leaders and Arab-Israeli community leaders. Among those in attendance were Bahraini Ambassador to Israel Khaled Yousif al-Jalahma (at right, with Herzog) and Emirati Ambassador to Israel Mohamed al-Khaja.
Birthdays
Professor of history at the Hebrew University, his books have been translated into 65 languages and have sold over 45 million copies, Yuval Noah Harari turns 50…
Chairman and CEO of Warner Bros until 2001, then chairman and CEO of Yahoo, Terence Steven “Terry” Semel turns 83… Moscow-born professor of mathematics at Yale University since 1991, Grigory Margulis turns 80… Encino, Calif., resident, Faye Gail Waldman… Rabbi and author of a book about chocolate and Judaism, she has held leadership positions in the national and regional Reform movement, Deborah R. Prinz turns 75… President of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Clifford D. May turns 75… Member of the New Jersey Senate (R-21) since 2022 following 18 years in the N.J. General Assembly, Jon M. Bramnick turns 73… Head basketball coach in a Puerto Rican league, he coached in the Israeli Premier League and has been on NBA and college basketball staffs in the U.S., Brad Greenberg turns 72… Film critic for Entertainment Weekly and then for Variety magazine, Owen Gleiberman turns 67… Founder of the Baltimore Center of Advanced Dentistry, Gary H. Bauman, DDS… Former member of the Knesset for the Likud party, Nurit Koren turns 66… Managing director at SKDKnickerbocker, Karen Olick… Former Israeli minister of health and leader of the Meretz party, Nitzan Horowitz turns 61… Professor of piano and artist-in-residence at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Yakov Kasman turns 59… Author, survival expert, anthropologist and TV host, Josh Bernstein turns 55… Member of the Knesset for the Likud party, now serving as minister of science, technology and space, Gila Gamliel turns 52… Kyiv-born founder of WhatsApp in 2009, he sold the company to Facebook in 2014 for $19 billion, Jan Koum turns 50… NYC-based independent filmmaker, who, together with his older brother Joshua, directed and wrote the 2019 film “Uncut Gems” starring Adam Sandler, Benjamin Safdie turns 40… Partner at MizMaa Ventures Limited, Aaron Applbaum… Israeli actress and model, she has appeared in advertising campaigns for Urban Outfitters, Samsung and Sephora, Dar Zuzovsky turns 35… YouTube beauty guru known as RCLBeauty101 with 14.3 million subscribers, Rachel Claire Levin turns 31… Mitchell Brown…
Plus, Suozzi, Gillen join Never Mamdani camp
MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images
This picture taken from a position at Israel's border with the Gaza Strip shows Israeli military vehicles by the border fence in the besieged Palestinian territory on September 16, 2025.
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the ground operation Israel launched in Gaza City this morning and continue to cover Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Israel. We talk to Jewish social workers who are warning of growing antisemitism in the field and interview journalist and author Yaakov Katz about his new book about the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. We also interview Rep. Zach Nunn about the U.S.-Israel military relationship. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Reps. Tom Suozzi, Laura Gillen and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Israel Editor Tamara Zieve and U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik, with assists from Marc Rod and Gabby Deutch. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- The Israel Defense Forces launched a major ground operation in Gaza City on Tuesday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the military announced, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
- Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will be delivering a speech this morning on political violence in America at the Eradicate Hate Global Summit in Pittsburgh.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing this morning on oversight of the FBI with FBI Director Kash Patel.
- Democratic Majority for Israel is hosting a live briefing with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro on Gottheimer’s recent trip to Israel, next steps for the Abraham Accords and the latest in the Israel-Hamas war.
- The Center for a New American Security is holding a live fireside chat with Adam Boehler, the U.S. special envoy for hostage response.
- Alan Dershowitz, a former Harvard Law School professor and prominent defense attorney and Israel advocate, is speaking at the JFK Jr. forum at Harvard at the first “Middle East Dialogues” event of the academic year, hosted by professor Tarek Masoud, who invites polarizing speakers to debate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
- In the evening, American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) will host its Lamplighter Awards at D.C.’s Union Station. This year’s honoree is Palantir CEO Alex Karp, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) will receive a leadership award.
- Magen David Adom will host its 2025 New York City Gala in Manhattan, where political commentator Meghan McCain will receive its Champion of Israel Award.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH jI’S MATTHEW KASSEL
As Zohran Mamdani wins support from a growing number of Democratic leaders in his bid for mayor of New York City, he has notably walked back some of his most polarizing views on several key issues — with one major exception: Israel.
In recent days, the Democratic nominee, who has long been an outspoken critic of Israel and its war in Gaza, has doubled down on his campaign vow to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if elected, even as legal experts cautioned such a move could be illegal.
Mamdani, a vocal supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, also said that he would seek to divest city holdings in Israel bonds and terminate a program established by Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent, to foster business partnerships between companies in Israel and New York City.
Meanwhile, Mamdani has refused invitations to explicitly condemn calls to “globalize the intifada,” even as he has acknowledged concerns from Jewish voters who see the phrase as provoking antisemitic violence. He has said he will instead discourage use of the slogan, which he himself has not used publicly.
The 33-year-old democratic socialist and Queens assemblyman has otherwise declined to denounce Hasan Piker, a far-left streamer who has said that “America deserved 9/11” and has used antisemitic rhetoric in commenting on Israel. Mamdani sat for a lengthy interview with Piker during the primary.
Mamdani’s unyielding approach to opposing Israel underscores just how central the issue is to his self-conception as an activist and an elected official long involved in such causes. “This is something that I will never stray from for the rest of my life,” he explained in a Zoom discussion in 2020 with a pro-Palestinian advocacy group. “This is kind of, in many ways, the founding battle for justice that I’ve had.”
FIELD FRACTURES
Jewish social workers warn of growing antisemitism in the field: ‘Counter to everything that we learn in social work school’
Like most social workers, Jennifer Kogan went into the field to help people. A therapist who works in Ontario, Canada, and Washington, she markets her private practice as “compassion-focused counseling.” Everyone is welcome here, a banner on her website states. But Kogan’s understanding of her profession has radically shifted in the two years since the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel. Despite its focus on compassion, the field of social work has been engulfed by antisemitism, according to a new report authored by Kogan and Andrea Yudell, a licensed clinical social worker in Washington and Maryland, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Called out: “Since Oct. 7, Jewish social workers have experienced unprecedented silencing, gaslighting, exclusion, isolation and public targeting in professional spaces,” states the report, which was published on Monday by the Jewish Social Work Consortium. The report’s authors claim that antisemitic rhetoric — and, in particular, anti-Israel litmus tests foisted on Jewish practitioners — has become endemic in the field. The report describes Jewish social workers being targeted on industry-wide email listservs, doxed and publicly called out during academic courses and lectures.
WTAER UNDER THE BRIDGE
Rubio looking to move past criticism of Israel after Qatar strike
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. is focused on moving forward from Israel’s strike on Qatar last week, refraining from doubling down on criticism during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
What he said: “We are just focused on what happens next,” Rubio said, when asked about Tuesday’s strike aiming at Hamas’ leadership in Doha, Qatar’s capital. On Saturday, Rubio had echoed comments by President Donald Trump that the U.S. “is not happy” about the strike. “Some fundamentals still remain that have to be addressed, regardless of what has occurred,” Rubio said at the press conference on Monday. “We still have 48 hostages. Hamas is holding not only 48 hostages but all of Gaza hostage … As long as they still exist, are still around, there will be no peace in this region.”
Economic isolation: Netanyahu predicted yesterday that Israel will have to become increasingly self-reliant as countries call for embargoes and sanctions against the Jewish state. Speaking at a Finance Ministry conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said, “We will increasingly need to adapt to an economy with autarkic characteristics.”
Diplomatic isolation: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Robert Satloff sounds an alarm on Israel’s growing international isolation, highlighting the U.N. Security Council’s condemnation of Israel’s strike in Qatar and the U.N. General Assembly’s endorsement of a French and Saudi plan for Palestinian statehood.
defense innovation
Rep. Zach Nunn pushes to expand U.S.-Israel cooperation, technology partnerships
For Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA), the U.S.-Israel military relationship is crucial to pushing the boundaries of defensive technological development, keeping Americans safe, staying ahead of global adversaries and even providing advancements in sectors far-removed from the battlefield, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Notable quotable: “We know that not only is Israel our best military partner for the region, it is the best stabilizing force,” Nunn, who led a pair of successful amendments in last week’s National Defense Authorization Act markup on the House floor aimed at improving U.S.-Israel military cooperation, told JI in a recent interview. “Not only is Israel a force for good in the region, it’s one of our best innovative partners out here, and national defense begins with a tech and human capability that’s able to execute on it. And that really is funded through democracies that allow this type of innovation to take place.”
DRAWING A LINE
Rep. Tom Suozzi says he’s in the ‘Never Mamdani’ camp
Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) announced on Monday that he would not endorse Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City. Suozzi, who represents a Long Island-based swing district on the outskirts of New York City that takes in a slice of Queens, said in an interview with ABC7 that, while he believes Mamdani is “very talented” and “very smart,” he feels the Democratic mayoral candidate’s policies would lead to increased costs for New Yorkers, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
What he said: “Let me say very clearly: Mamdani is a very talented guy. He’s very smart, he’s very charismatic. … I have nothing against him personally, and I’m sure he’s a good person, but I completely disagree with his ideas. I disagree that we should raise taxes in New York City because people are leaving New York State and New York City as it is,” Suozzi said. “I’m all for making sure wealthy people pay their fair share at the federal level, so that wherever you go in the country you’re still going to have to pay, but not to encourage people to escape New York and go to Florida and go to Texas.”
Standing firm: Rep. Laura Gillen (D-NY) blasted New York Gov. Kathy Hochul for endorsing Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, citing Mamdani’s record on antisemitism. “I completely disagree with the Governor’s endorsement of Mr. Mamdani,” Gillen told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod. “At a time of skyrocketing antisemitism, his views are far too extreme and would fuel hate and threats against our Jewish community. His antisemitic views deserve to be condemned, not endorsed.”
grant get
NEH announces largest-ever grant for Tikvah Foundation to fight antisemitism
The National Endowment for the Humanities announced Monday that it was awarding its largest-ever grant to the Tikvah Fund, a Jewish and pro-Israel educational nonprofit, for work to fight antisemitism, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Setting a record: The grant totals $10.4 million over three years and will support Tikvah’s Jewish Civilization Project, to “examine Jewish history, culture, and identity in the broader context of Western history” with the goal of fighting antisemitism “through greater understanding of the enduring moral, religious, and intellectual contributions of the Jewish people to the country and the Western world,” according to an NEH release.
book shelf
‘I fear Israel will fall back in love with quiet’: Yaakov Katz warns against complacency after Gaza war
In the two years since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, there have been many books in multiple languages published on the topic — personal accounts, tales of heroism, a hostage memoir — but While Israel Slept: How Hamas Surprised the Most Powerful Military in the Middle East by Yaakov Katz and Amir Bohbot may be the most comprehensive. In the book, Katz, the founder of the MEAD (Middle East-America Dialogue) and former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, and Bohbot, a veteran Israeli defense reporter, answer the biggest questions about that day, going through the events leading up to the attacks, including the fateful night before. The book also dedicates chapters to stark warnings that an Oct. 7-style attack could happen again if Israel does not make necessary changes. In an interview with Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov and Asher Fredman, the executive director of the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, on the “Misgav Mideast Horizons” podcast last week, Katz said that his “deepest fear is that this could happen again.”
The sound of silence: “Eventually, quiet will set in,” Katz said. “And I fear that Israel will fall back in love with the quiet and will neglect, to some extent, the vigilance that it will require to prevent Hamas from being able to … reconstitute itself.” While Katz said he is skeptical Hamas could again launch attacks at the scale of Oct. 7, “to prevent them from rebuilding and reconstituting … will require a major effort that Israel has never really done.”
Worthy Reads
Charlie Kirk and the Debate on Israel: Semafor Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith writes about what the right-wing debate over Charlie Kirk’s views on Israel say about the future of the MAGA movement. “Future historians will puzzle over why the conflict between Israel and Palestine has been the issue, above all others, to split both US political parties in the 2020s. But one thing the feuding MAGA factions agree on is that there isn’t really another prominent figure like Kirk — a big voice who was focused on smoothing over his movement’s fractures, not hashing them out in public for clout. The only other one, in fact, is Donald Trump, who has proven — in his transactional way — a master of holding together disparate Republican factions. But so far, Trump has firmly chosen Israel’s side in the intraparty dispute. And now it’s not clear who remains to try to smooth over the generational divide, or who would even want to try.” [Semafor]
The Social Media Curse: Jewish Journal Editor-in-Chief David Suissa applauds Gov. Spencer Cox’s statement that “Social media is a cancer on our society right now,” and call for people to “log off, turn off, touch grass,” a message Cox conveyed as he announced the arrest of the suspect in the killing of Charlie Kirk. “We’ll hear plenty of sermons during the upcoming Holy Days, but I can’t help wishing that every rabbi finds a way to squeeze in that message. Why? Because our country has gone off the deep end. The reactions to the murder of Charlie Kirk have brought out our worst. The poor guy can’t die in peace without becoming a lightning rod for our societal dysfunctions. Unlike the old days before social media, today this toxic ugliness is front and center and screeching loud. Indeed the minute Kirk died, armies of social media soldiers put on their uniforms and let fly their predictable bullets. When Cox called social media a ‘cancer on our society,’ he might have added that it’s also an addiction.” [JewishJournal]
The Clock is Tik(Tok)ing: Carrie Filipetti, executive director of the Vandenberg Coalition, calls for the Trump administration to enforce the ban on TikTok in The Washington Post ahead of the Sept. 17 deadline for the company to be acquired by an American company or face a ban, calling it “critical to heading off a military confrontation and, if necessary winning one” against the Chinese Communist Party. “Imagine the following scenario. China decides to attack Taiwan, and, fearing the United States will come to Taiwan’s aid, launches preemptive strikes against American targets overseas. In the United States, Chinese operators launch drone attacks from secret bases located on more than 380,000 acres of farmland China has purchased. As the government considers its options, the 170 million American TikTok users open their feeds to thousands of bots disguised as people, rattling off anti-American propaganda; encouraging young students desperate for meaning to fight their own government; and spreading disinformation at such a rapid rate that it is impossible to discern fact from fiction.” [WashPost]
Word on the Street
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called Israel’s war in Gaza “horrific” in an interview with The New York Times on Monday and called for an immediate end to its military operations. “There is no doubt that the people of New York and the nation see the continued carnage that is happening and are deeply, deeply disturbed and want it over, and believe it has gone on way too long,” he said…
An independent United Nations inquiry has concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and that top Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, have incited genocide, in a 72-page report released today. Israel said it “categorically rejects this distorted and false report and calls for the immediate abolition of this Commission of Inquiry.” …
Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah said she was fired from the paper on Monday over her social media posts reacting to the Charlie Kirk assassination. Attiah, a far-left commentator, retweeted social media messages justifying the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel as it was taking place…
The Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Act, which aims to ensure that Jewish World War I and II veterans receive the proper grave markers reflecting their religion, passed the House. “This bill is an important step to allow for the research necessary to correct these errors and ensure there are resources for that work,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), who is leading the bill with Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), said. “This will make it possible for these brave Jewish servicemembers’ descendants to know that their loved one’s military service, life and religious heritage are properly honored”…
Micah Lasher, a New York state assemblyman and former aide to Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), launched his campaign for his former mentor’s congressional seat on Monday…
Former Sen. Joe Manchin’s (I-WV) new book, Dead Center, comes out today, detailing his departure from the Democratic Party to become an independent, featuring scathing remarks for his former Democratic colleagues…
The New York Times investigates a series of trade and business dealings over the UAE’s access to AI chips that appear to be connected with cryptocurrency windfalls for the Witkoff and Trump families…
U.S. and Chinese negotiators have reached a framework deal for switching ownership of TikTok, in an effort to avert a threatened shutdown of the app…
HBO Max acquired the rights to a new series, “One Day in October,” the first scripted portrayal of the Oct. 7 attacks, filmed on location in Israel and based on real accounts. The show will premiere Oct. 7, 2025, the two-year anniversary of the attacks…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview clip that accusations that he’s prolonging the war in Gaza for his own political purposes are “malicious and false.” The interview with Israel’s Channel 13, a rarity for Netanyahu, will air in full today…
Tzachi Braverman, Netanyahu’s chief of staff and close confidant, was approved to serve as Israel’s ambassador to the U.K., replacing Tzipi Hotovely at the end of her five-year term, though he likely won’t be posted to London for several months…
The Heritage Foundation released a report yesterday marking the fifth anniversary of the Abraham Accords, “looking back at all the Accords achieved and looking forward to the fulfillment of their tremendous potential.” …
UJA-Federation of New York announced new grants totaling approximately $7.8 million to expand support for Israel’s recovery and long-term rebuilding efforts, including recovery in Israel’s north and south and support for families including those of reservists, wounded soldiers and hostages, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports…
Sotheby’s is launching its new flagship at the Breuer Building in Manhattan in November by staging a major auction featuring the late Leonard Lauder’s $400 million art collection —including Gustav Klimt masterpieces —and an estimated $80 million group of artworks from the estate of Jay and Marian Pritzker…
The Monuments Men and Women Foundation stopped the auction of two Nazi-looted oil paintings from the collection of more than 300 works seized from Adolphe Schloss during World War II…
The New York Times announced a new weekly newsletter on religion and spirituality, hosted by the Times’ Lauren Jackson…
Lynn Forester de Rothschild is exploring a sale of a minority stake in the parent company of The Economist magazine, according to Bloomberg, which would mark the publication’s first ownership shakeup in over a decade…
Pic of the Day
Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended the inauguration yesterday of the Pilgrimage Road archaeological site in the City of David, Jerusalem, calling the site “an enduring cultural and historical bond between the United States and Israel” and “a powerful reminder of the Judeo-Christian values that inspired America’s Founding Fathers.”
Birthdays
Israeli windsurfer, he won bronze in Atlanta 1996 and gold in Athens 2004, Israel’s first Olympic gold medalist, Gal Fridman turns 50…
Argentinian physician, author of books on gender relations, Esther Katzen Vilar turns 90… Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives for multiple terms, in 2015 she became the president of Plaza Health Network, Elaine Bloom turns 88… NYC-based real estate investor and the founder of Cammeby’s International Group, Rubin “Rubie” Schron turns 87… Defense policy advisor to Presidents Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 and member of a number of D.C. based think tanks, Richard Perle turns 84… Montebello, Calif., resident, Jon Olesen… Pompano Beach, Fla., resident, Shari Goldberg… Israeli playwright and screenwriter, Motti Lerner turns 76… Sheriff of Nantucket County, Mass., James A. Perelman turns 75… Founder and CEO of OurCrowd, Jonathan Medved turns 70… Media sales consultant, Fern Wallach… Award winning illusionist, who has sold tens of millions of tickets to his shows worldwide, known professionally as David Copperfield, David Seth Kotkin turns 69… Anthropology professor at Cornell, his work centers on Jewish communities and culture, Jonathan Boyarin turns 69… Director of stakeholder engagement at the National Council of Jewish Women, he is a nephew of former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, Dan Kohl turns 60… President and rabbinic head of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School in Riverdale, N.Y., Rabbi Dov Linzer turns 59… Writer-at-large for The New York Times Magazine, Jason Zengerle… Mayor of Kiryat Motzkin, a city in the Haifa suburbs, Tzvi (Tziki) Avisar turns 47… VP of public affairs and corporate marketing at Meta / Facebook, Josh Ginsberg… President of basketball operations for the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, Koby Altman turns 43… National field director at the Israel on Campus Coalition, Lauren Morgan Suriel… VP of customer success at SimpliFed, Suzy Goldenkranz… Actor, best known for starring in “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” Daren Maxwell Kagasoff turns 38… NYC-based economics and wealth reporter at The Wall Street Journal, Rachel Louise Ensign… Israeli actress who played the lead role in Apple TV’s spy thriller “Tehran,” Niv Sultan turns 33… Winner of an Olympic bronze medal for Israel in Taekwondo at the 2020 Games in Paris, Avishag Semberg turns 24…
Commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service, an office within the General Services Administration, Joshua Z. Gruenbaum turned 40 on Monday…
Plus, anti-Israel WaPo columnist fired over Charlie Kirk commentary
ABIR SULTAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference at the Prime minister's office in Jerusalem on August 10, 2025.
Good Monday afternoon.
This P.M. briefing is reserved for our premium subscribers like you — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
I’m Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime briefing. 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 predicted that Israel will have to become increasingly self-reliant as countries call for embargoes and sanctions against the Jewish state. Speaking at a Finance Ministry conference in Jerusalem today, Netanyahu said, “We will increasingly need to adapt to an economy with autarkic characteristics.”
“I am a believer in the free market, but we may find ourselves in a situation where our arms industries are blocked. We will need to develop arms industries here — not only research and development, but also the ability to produce what we need,” the Israeli PM said…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem today, where they gave remarks on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Abraham Accords. “Imagine, despite the difficulties the region has confronted over the last few years, how much more difficult it would have been had the Abraham Accords not been in place,” Rubio said…
Elsewhere in the region, after an emergency summit of Arab states convened in Qatar to discuss last week’s Israeli strike in Doha, the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries today directed the GCC defense ministers to hold an “urgent meeting” to “assess the defense situation of the Council states.”
The countries also issued a communique calling on states to “review diplomatic and economic relations” and “initiate legal proceedings” against Israel…
At the International Atomic Energy Agency’s annual conference happening now in Vienna, Iran is circulating a resolution to censure the U.S. and Israel over their strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June. Iran was unexpectedly elected by other Middle Eastern countries to serve as vice president of the gathering.
Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said in an interview that “if [participating countries] want to obey the law of the jungle and the rule of coercion and force” by blocking the motion, “it’ll end in chaos”…
Stateside, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) announced he will not be endorsing Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor, on the heels of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s announcement that she’s supporting the candidate.
Suozzi, who represents a swing district on Long Island, said that, “While I share [Mamdani’s] concern about the issue of affordability, I fundamentally disagree with his proposed solutions. Like the voters I represent, I believe socialism has consistently failed to deliver real, sustainable progress.”
On Hochul, Suozzi said that he did not discuss his decision with her and is “not in a position to give the Governor political advice considering the fact that when I ran against her she beat me soundly”…
In another high-profile New York race, Micah Lasher, a state assemblyman and former aide to Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), officially launched his campaign for his former mentor’s congressional seat today, joining a Democratic primary that’s likely to become crowded in the heavily Jewish Manhattan district. Nadler is expected to offer Lasher his support, a key endorsement in the race…
The New York Times investigates a series of trade and business dealings over the UAE’s access to AI chips that appear to be connected with cryptocurrency windfalls for the Witkoff and Trump families.
When David Feith, then senior director for technology on the National Security Council, attempted to change AI chip policy, which would have inhibited that access, he was fired by President Donald Trump, after a conversation with his influential advisor Laura Loomer…
The fallout from Charlie Kirk’s killing continues: Semafor’s Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith writes about Kirk’s legacy on Israel within the GOP and how both the isolationist and pro-Israel camps of the party are now claiming him as their own.
“A bereft White House official told me that Kirk functioned as something like a Republican chairman and Rush Limbaugh ‘rolled into one.’ Clips of his speeches and debates are everywhere, but movement-building is a subtler thing, and Kirk’s public statements, friends said, often reflected attempts at intraparty diplomacy,” Smith wrote…
Karen Attiah, an opinion columnist at The Washington Post who regularly espoused anti-Israel views, was fired from the paper over her posts on social media about Kirk’s death, including mischaracterizing some of his positions and positing that her “journalistic and moral values” prevented her from “engaging in excessive, false mourning” for Kirk.
Attiah, the Post’s founding Global Opinions editor, retweeted social media messages justifying the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel as they were taking place and wrote a piece on Oct. 13, less than a week after the attacks, headlined, “We cannot stand by and watch Israel commit atrocities”…
Also in the media, Jewish influencer Hen Mazzig reacts to Jewish actress Hannah Einbinder’s pro-Palestinian commentary at the Emmys last night in The Hollywood Reporter: “Hannah should know there is no such thing as a ‘good Jew’ who can launder antisemitism. The ‘good Jews’ trope — the ones who sign boycott pledges or reassure progressives that this isn’t about hatred — are always used as cover. They are never enough. And at the end of the day, the people demanding ‘good Jews’ don’t actually believe there is anything good about being Jewish”…
After the Vuelta a Espana bike race in Madrid was called off during its finale on Sunday due to anti-Israel protests on the route, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called today for Israel to be banned from sports events due to its military campaign in Gaza, despite the team being protested, Israel-Premier Tech, not being an official Israeli team.
The international union of cyclists voiced its disapproval of Sánchez’s stance, saying in a statement that it “strongly condemns the exploitation of sport for political purposes in general, and especially coming from a government”…
Lynn Forester de Rothschild is exploring a sale of a minority stake in the parent company of The Economist magazine, according to Bloomberg, which would mark the publication’s first ownership shake-up in over a decade…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for an interview with Yaakov Katz, former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, on his new book about Oct. 7 and an interview with Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA), a rising national security voice on Capitol Hill.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will deliver a major address on political violence at the Eradicate Hate Global Summit in Pittsburgh tomorrow, nearly a week after the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk and several months after the firebombing of Shapiro’s residence over Passover.
Also speaking at the summit will be KIND Snacks founder and former CEO Daniel Lubetzky alongside Lonnie Ali, founder of the Muhammad Ali Center with her eponymous late husband.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow morning on oversight of the FBI with FBI Director Kash Patel.
Democratic Majority for Israel will host a live briefing tomorrow with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro on Gottheimer’s recent trip to Israel, next steps for the Abraham Accords and the latest in the Israel-Hamas war.
The Center for a New American Security will hold a live fireside chat tomorrow with Adam Boehler, the U.S. special envoy for hostage response.
Alan Dershowitz, a former Harvard Law School professor and prominent defense attorney and Israel advocate, will speak tomorrow at the JFK Jr. forum at Harvard at the first “Middle East Dialogues” event of the academic year, hosted by professor Tarek Masoud, who invites polarizing speakers to debate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In the evening, American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) will host its Lamplighter Awards at D.C.’s Union Station. This year’s honoree is Palantir CEO Alex Karp, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) will receive a leadership award.
Magen David Adom will host its 2025 New York City Gala in Manhattan, where political commentator Meghan McCain will receive its Champion of Israel Award.
Stories You May Have Missed
INTERVIEW TACTICS
Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker’s interrogator out to trip up Israel supporters
Chotiner recently devoted six consecutive Q&A interviews with guests about Israel, many of them contentious and combative
HAWKEYE STATE RACE
Ashley Hinson emerges as odds-on favorite to succeed Ernst in the Senate
The former TV news anchor boasts a consistently conservative, pro-Israel voting record, and has a history of winning tough races
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) speaks during a press conference on new legislation to support Holocaust education nationwide at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 27, 2023, in Washington, D.C.
Good Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to Rep. Marlin Stutzman about his recent meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz about her conversations with Israeli and Arab leaders during her recent trip to the Middle East. We report from a gathering in Denver of moderate Democratic elected officials from around the country, and interview former JFNA executive Elana Broitman about her newly released comic book about a menopausal superhero. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Nathan Fielder, Menachem Rosensaft and Hussein al-Sheikh.
What We’re Watching
- The American Jewish Committee’s Global Forum continues today. John Spencer, Ellie Cohanim and Bill Kristol will all speak on the main stage.
- Canadians head to the polls today in a federal election pitting Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Liberal Party against Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.
- The Hostage and Missing Families Forum is hosting an event tonight at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan featuring former Israeli hostage Noa Argamani as well as the relatives of slain hostages Omer Neutra, Itay Chen and Shiri Bibas.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
As official Washington spent this weekend at the parties surrounding the White House Correspondents Dinner, an intimate group of moderate Democratic elected officials, policy wonks and strategists met in Denver to present ideas for rehabilitating their party from the center, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar reports in a dispatch from the event.
Will Marshall, president of the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), gathered together a lineup of prominent Colorado centrists — Democratic Gov. Jared Polis and Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Michael Bennet (D-CO), among them — along with some former red-state Democratic officials, including former Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) and former Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) to brainstorm ideas for a new moderate movement.
Of note: Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO), a rising star in the party who is rumored to be mulling a Senate bid as Bennet runs for governor, was in attendance and gave a paean to former President Bill Clinton’s brand of politics, directly quoting from a seminal speech from the then-candidate breaking with the left and calling for a more-mainstream direction for the party.
Neguse quoted from Clinton’s 1991 Democratic Leadership Council speech: “Our burden is to give the people a new choice rooted in old values, a new choice that is simple, that offers opportunity, demands responsibility, gives citizens more of a say, provides them responsive government.”
Neguse, Colorado’s first Black member of Congress, first ran for office as a progressive but has grown more pragmatic over time — and sounded like the type of future national leader the party is looking for. If Bennet wins the governorship in 2026, Neguse would be a strong contender to be appointed to his Senate seat.
Not at the moderate Democratic event: Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who is running for governor and will be clashing with Bennet in the primary. In an interview with JI at an outreach event for Black voters, Weiser said he plans to position himself as a “populist problem solver” — while playing up his strong voice against President Donald Trump’s policies.
Weiser touted the fact that he’s already filed 13 lawsuits against the Trump administration, saying he’s on the front lines of fighting the “lawlessness of the White House.” In the campaign, he plans to contrast his active record litigating Trump’s immigration and tariff policies in the state with Bennet’s time as a lawmaker in Washington.
But Weiser also sounded like he would be tacking to the senator’s left in the primary.
Weiser’s speech on Saturday centered on how he would fight to protect DEI programs in the state. Asked about what he thought about the Democratic Socialists of America movement — which has a foothold within the party in Denver — he noted their “deep empathy for how working class people are struggling.” He also noted that he endorsed against a DSA-backed legislator who went on an anti-Israel, antisemitic rant in the state House.
Weiser, who speaks openly about his Jewish faith, also slammed the Trump administration for its overreach in cracking down against antisemitism, saying he was “horrified” about Trump’s actions. “Using antisemitism as a cudgel against marginalized individuals or to take away freedom is so horrifying to me,” he told JI.
Bennet, for his part, underscored how Colorado is one of the biggest Democratic success stories because it has nominated candidates who focus on returning results over red-meat slogans. On a PPI panel, he talked passionately about how the country’s health care and education systems are broken — and the Democratic Party has done little to fix it.
“Where is our agenda to reform the education system for the American people? Joe Biden said not a word about it, and these people deserve better than Donald Trump, who is destroying both what’s left of our health care system and what’s left of our education!”
He added: “Trump is not the cause of all our problems. He is the symptom of the lack of economic mobility that we have, the sense that people no matter how hard they work, can’t get ahead.”
peace prospects
Syria’s al-Sharaa discussed prospects for normalization with Israel with GOP lawmaker
New Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa last week discussed his conditions for normalizing relations with Israel with Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), who was one of the first American lawmakers to visit the country since the overthrow of the Assad regime, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Conditions: During a meeting at the presidential palace in Damascus, al-Sharaa told Stutzman that his concerns in Syria’s relationship with Israel are keeping Syria as a unified country and not allowing regions to be divided off, Israel’s military encroachment into Syria around the Golan Heights and the Israeli bombing campaign targeting Syrian military assets. Al-Sharaa said any agreement with Israel would have to address those points, but Stutzman told JI last week that al-Sharaa said that, “outside of those couple of items — and I’m sure there’s going to be other issues that he would bring to the table, but he was open to those conversations about normalizing relations with Israel.” Stutzman said he felt al-Sharaa was being honest and upfront about those conditions. He said they did not specifically address the issue of whether al-Sharaa’s government is seeking to reclaim the Golan Heights.
TAKING ON TEHRAN
Wasserman Schultz: Arab, Israeli leaders say Iran deal must cover proxy activity
Arab and Israeli leaders are insisting that any U.S. deal with Iran also include provisions to address Iran’s other malign activities in the region, including support for terrorist proxies, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod following a trip earlier this month to meet with Israeli and Arab leaders in the Middle East. Wasserman Schultz traveled with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) to the Middle East for the third time since Oct. 7, 2023, visiting Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Jordan.
Common goals: “There was a very clear urgency that the leaders we spoke to had to make sure that we … don’t let Iran up from their very weakened state. They’ve been badly pummeled and had significant defeats,” Wasserman Schultz told JI last week. “The consensus across the region, no matter where we went, was that we needed to make sure that continued and that we prevented them from achieving their nuclear weapons goals and that we particularly prevented them from continuing their support for terrorist activity.”
trump talks
In Time interview, Trump says he would meet with Iranian supreme leader
President Donald Trump said he’d be open to meeting directly with Iran’s president or Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but also suggested that the U.S. could attack Iran to keep it from acquiring a nuclear weapon, in an interview with Time magazine, released on Friday. When asked if he would consider such a meeting, the president responded, “Sure,” Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen reports.
War stance: Pressed if he is worried Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could “drag you into a war” with Iran, Trump responded, “No. By the way, he may go into a war. But we’re not getting dragged in.” The president clarified that he did not mean the U.S. wouldn’t join a war if Israel initiates one: “You asked if he’d drag me in, like I’d go in unwillingly. No, I may go in very willingly if we can’t get a deal. If we don’t make a deal, I’ll be leading the pack.”
BOOKSHELF
Turning the page: how a former Jewish nonprofit exec found her superpower in storytelling
It’s an unlikely origin story for a comic-book superhero: standing at the front of a boardroom in a snazzy blazer, delivering an important presentation until it’s derailed by … a hot flash. That’s when she begins to discover her superpower. Meet Mina, the star of “Holy Menopause: Adventures of a Middle-Aged Superheroine,” a new comic book published by Bunny Gonopolskaya, the pen name of Elana Broitman, a former Jewish communal executive and government affairs consultant who is most familiar to Jewish communal leaders not as an artist or a writer, but as the former senior vice president of public affairs at Jewish Federations of North America until September 2023. Broitman talked to Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch about her new book.
Sexism shift: Broitman, 58, has held senior roles in the private sector, on Capitol Hill and at nonprofits. She never felt like sexism held her back in her career until she hit menopause — and sexism combined with more subtle ageism to make a potent, toxic combination. “I felt gaslighted and ignored,” Broitman told JI in an interview last week. “My way of working through emotions was always to just do some art. I started with a painting of an elderly Wonder Woman, because my whole concept was, Hey, we’re pretty badass, right? We’ve made it here. We have all this wisdom. We can do lots of things, and we’re not about to get dismissed.”
Worthy Reads
Power Chats: Semafor’s Ben Smith spotlights the growing use of “power group chats,” in which dozens, or sometimes hundreds, of power brokers and public figures engage in debate and conversation through the group messaging features of Signal and WhatsApp. “But their influence flows through X, Substack, and podcasts, and constitutes a kind of dark matter of American politics and media. The group chats aren’t always primarily a political space, but they are the single most important place in which a stunning realignment toward Donald Trump was shaped and negotiated, and an alliance between Silicon Valley and the new right formed. … The chats are occasionally marked by the sort of thing that would have gotten you scolded on Twitter in 2020, and which would pass unremarked-on on X in 2025. They have rarely been discussed in public, though you can catch the occasional mention in, for instance, a podcast debate between [Mark] Cuban and the Republican entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, which started in a chat. But they are made visible through a group consensus on social media. Their effects have ranged from the mainstreaming of the monarchist pundit Curtis Yarvin to a particularly focused and developed dislike of the former Washington Post writer Taylor Lorenz.” [Semafor]
Has Ben-Gvir Really Changed?: The Atlantic’s Graeme Wood reflects on his interaction with Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at an event in New Haven, Conn., in which Ben-Gvir was pressed about his previous support for Jewish extremist Baruch Goldstein, whose portrait was displayed for decades in Ben-Gvir’s home. “[Ben-Gvir] framed his transformation as moral, and said he was not who he was when he was 17. Getting married and having six kids mellows a man out, he said. His whole answer took no more than a couple of minutes. I told Ben-Gvir that I found his contrition perfunctory and unconvincing, and I challenged him, if he was sincere, to prove it. I asked him to tell us all what it was like to idolize a murderer — and then to tell us what he would say to his younger self, or someone still in the thrall of a terrorist, to persuade him to give up violence and mellow out sooner rather than later. He couldn’t even bring himself to pretend. He just asserted that he had changed. ‘I’m sure you did things when you were 17 that you are not proud of,’ he said. (He removed the portrait when he was 44.) And he said again that time and family make a difference — but he added not a word about the inherent value of human life, or the disgrace brought upon religion and country by someone who massacres civilians, especially in a moment of total vulnerability.” [TheAtlantic]
Corbyn-ism Coming to America: In the Jewish Chronicle, Shany Mor raises concerns about the “Corbynization” of left-wing American circles. “As with so many more benign trends, Britain is just ten or so years ahead of the US. And the long march of geostrategic antisemitism’s institutional capture in the US is only about a decade behind Britain’s. Each major milestone – the capture of academia, the arts world, the various NGOs, a few major newspapers and journals of the smart set – was reached on these shores well before crossing the pond. And just as in Britain, so in the United States there is no realistic path to building a majority coalition around antisemitism either in its geostrategic or conventional forms. … American liberals, American Jews, and especially liberal American Jews would be well advised to be extra vigilant about this British import, which no tariff will protect them from. The British experience of the 2010s has a few useful lessons and warnings for what awaits the Americans in the 2020s.” [JewishChronicle]
Word on the Street
American and Iranian negotiators concluded a third round of nuclear talks in Oman over the weekend, amid disagreements over Iran’s domestic uranium enrichment; the parties will meet in Europe in the coming weeks…
The Trump administration restored thousands of foreign student visas — largely for students who had committed minor or dismissed infractions — that had been previously revoked…
Donald Trump Jr., alongside investment banker Omeed Malik and Alex Witkoff, the son of Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, is opening a members club in Washington; Malik’s 1789 Capital had previously invested in Tucker Carlson’s new media company…
The chair of the United Arab Emirate’s Executive Affairs Authority met in Washington last week with senior Trump administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff…
Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Troy Carter (D-LA) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) introduced a resolution commemorating Jewish American Heritage Month…
Reps. David Kustoff (R-TN) and Wasserman Schultz introduced legislation to enable Holocaust survivors to recoup pre-Holocaust insurance policies, the latest in a long series of congressional attempts to move the issue forward…
The Los Angeles Times spotlights a lawsuit between Irish hotelier Patrick McKillen and members of the Qatari royal family over the alleged lack of payment for work done on the Maybourne Beverly Hills…
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar spoke on Friday to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro about the recent arson attack at the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg…
In The Wall Street Journal, Eugene Kontorovich calls on the Trump administration to again withdraw from UNESCO over what he alleges is antisemitism within the body, years after the Biden administration reversed a decision by the first Trump administration to pull out…
The NYPD is investigating clashes that took place last week outside of Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, between demonstrators and counterprotesters during a surprise visit by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir…
“60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley addressed the recent departure of the show’s executive producer in the final minutes of Sunday’s episode; Pelley cited disagreements with CBS parent company Paramount+ over the show’s coverage of “the Israel-Gaza war and the Trump administration”…
In the latest episode of HBO’s “The Rehearsal,” comic Nathan Fielder compared Paramount+ to Nazi Germany after discovering that a 2015 episode of his “Nathan for You” comedy series that dealt with antisemitism was removed from the streaming service…
NPR spotlights the “shlissel challah,” a key-shaped loaf that is traditionally made the Shabbat after Passover…
Israel slammed the Spanish government’s cancellation of a €6.6 million deal that would have seen Madrid purchase 15 million bullets from Israel’s IMI Systems…
Israel sent its envoy to the Vatican, Yaron Sideman, to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, opting against sending an official Israeli delegation, days after Israel’s Foreign Ministry deleted a post memorializing the pontiff, who died last week…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Shin Bet head Ronen Bar of lying to an Israeli court that Netanyahu had demanded personal loyalty from him…
Senior Biden administration official Amos Hochstein said that Israel “missed” an opportunity to reach a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia last year…
Hussein al-Sheikh was appointed vice president of the Palestine Liberation Organization amid an ongoing debate over who will succeed 91-year-old Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas…
Israel struck a Hezbollah facility in southern Beirut that contained precision missiles on Sunday evening…
At least 40 people were killed in an explosion at the port of Bandar Abbas in Iran following the outbreak of a small fire in a section of the port with large shipping containers…
Iran’s Infrastructure Communications Company said it repelled a large cyber attack the day after the port explosion…
Amateur golfer Jay Sigel, whose plans to go pro were deferred for several decades by a college injury, died at 81…
Pic of the Day
Attorney and professor Menachem Rosensaft, who was born in a displaced persons camp at Bergen-Belsen, spoke at a memorial ceremony on Sunday at the concentration camp marking the 80th anniversary of its liberation.
Birthdays
Comedy writer, television producer and showrunner, Daniel Joshua Goor turns 50…
Former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., he also served four terms in the Knesset, Zalman Shoval turns 95… White House chief of staff for Presidents Reagan and Bush 41, secretary of the Treasury and secretary of state, James Baker turns 95… Retired judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals (now known as the Supreme Court of Maryland), Judge Irma Steinberg Raker turns 87… Retired four-star United States Marine Corps general, Robert Magnus turns 78… Retired SVP and COO of IPRO and former president of the Bronx/Riverdale YM-YWHA and the Riverdale Jewish Center, Harry M. Feder… Cantor who has served in Galveston, Texas, Houston and Buffalo, N.Y., Sharon Eve Colbert… Criminal defense attorney, Abbe David Lowell turns 73… Director of congregational engagement at Temple Beth Sholom of Miami Beach, Fla., Mark Baranek… Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Elena Kagan turns 65… American-born Israeli writer and translator, David Hazony turns 56… Director of criminal justice innovation, development and engagement at USDOJ during the Biden administration, Karen C. Friedman… Retired soccer player, she played for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team from 1997 to 2000, Sara Whalen Hess turns 49… Founder of GlobeTrotScott Strategies, Scott Mayerowitz… Actress and film critic, she is the writer and star of the CBC comedy series “Workin’ Moms,” Catherine Reitman turns 44… Model, actress and TV host, known for her role in the soap opera “Fashion House,” Donna Feldman turns 43… CEO and founder of The Branch, Ravi Gupta… Freelance journalist, formerly at ESPN and Sports Illustrated, Jason Schwartz… Senior editor at Politico Magazine, Benjamin Isaac Weyl… President of Saratoga Strategies, a D.C.-based strategic communications and crisis management firm, Joshua Schwerin… Head coach of the women’s soccer team at Yeshiva University, Ryan Alexander Hezekiah Adeleye turns 38… Israeli artist and photographer, Neta Cones… Marketing director at College Golf Experience, Jeffrey Hensiek… Associate in the finance department of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, Robert S. Murstein… Senior reporter for Cybersecurity Dive, Eric J. Geller… Founder and CEO of Diamond Travel Services and CEO of A Better Way ABA, Ahron Fragin… Midfielder for Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls, Daniel Ethan Edelman turns 22…
By Jacob Kornbluh & JI Staff
DAY 5: Netanyahu: It’s Going To Take Time: “We are here in the midst of a complex operation. We need to be prepared for the possibility that it may take time. This is a serious event and there will be serious consequences. We are working together in a considered, responsible and very determined manner.” Netanyahu urged the international community to decry the kidnapping: “I expect all responsible elements in the international community – some of whom rush to condemn us for any construction in this place or for enclosing a balcony in Gilo – to strongly condemn this reprehensible and deplorable act of abducting three youths.” After 5 days and without mentioning Hamas, the EU finally released a statement: “We condemn in the strongest terms the abduction of 3 Israeli students in the West Bank and call for their immediate release.” [Statement] (more…)
By Jacob Kornbluh & JI Staff
Heard On Michael Fragin’s ‘Spin Class’ Radio Show — BuzzFeed: Eric Cantor Blames Democrats For Defeat, Supporter Phil Rosen Says: “What we’ve discovered is that out of the 60,000 people who voted in the Republican primary, 15,000 of them were Democrats and all of those votes — 100% of those votes — went against Eric Cantor,” Rosen said. “That factor is giant.” “I’ve heard it not just from Eric, I’ve heard it from 2 other people involved in politics in Virginia,” Rosen said.[BuzzFeed] — Open Primary: With Virginia’s open primary system, Democrats could attempt to influence the outcome of the race—and it appears that they may have tried to some degree. Virginia has no party registration, so voters can easily vote in a Republican primary one year and a Democratic primary the next. [Politico] — Ben Smith gets back to writing inside Jewish politics baseball in his piece “Eric Cantor, Anomaly – Jewish Republicanism never amounted to much. But can anyone hold the Kock and Adelson wings of the party together now?” [BuzzFeed] (more…)
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