Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

As President Donald Trump pushes ahead in rolling out Phase 2 of his 20-point Gaza peace plan, the critical U.S.-led International Stabilization Force continues to be mired in confusion, even as a U.S. official told The Jerusalem Post that they expect the ISF to be deployed to Gaza “at the beginning of 2026, with one or two countries initially participating.”

Which countries that will include is unclear — U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz publicly named Indonesia and Azerbaijan as countries that may provide troops to the force last month, and Indonesia has indicated openness in public comments. 

But an Azeri official told The Times of Israel that the country has not committed to doing so and has many of the same reservations as the other Muslim-majority countries still holding out — namely, wanting to ensure that the ceasefire will help to advance a Palestinian state and that their troops will not be required to engage with Hamas. The U.S. has failed to properly explain what they are asking of these countries, the Azeri official said.

Adding to the uncertainty, the U.S. official told the Post that the ISF “will not be deployed in areas controlled by Hamas in the Gaza Strip,” contrary to the goals outlined for the force in the peace plan…

Speaking at the Post’s conference taking place on Capitol Hill today, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) appeared to dismiss the feasibility of the ISF altogether: “There is no air force [that is] going to disarm Hamas. You will find a unicorn quicker. Only Israel can do it,” he said.

On the prospects of Saudi-Israel normalization, the South Carolina senator argued that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “is not going to recognize Israel until he gets an outcome better for the Palestinians, or he will get killed.” However, before Israel can cede ground on the issue, Graham said, “Hamas needs to go. Hezbollah needs to be disarmed. I am not even approaching normalization until Iran’s proxies cannot generate another Oct. 7”…

Also speaking at the conference, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar poured cold water on another one of the Trump administration’s priorities in the region — an Israel-Syria security agreement. “At the moment, the gaps between us and Syria have widened. They have raised new demands. Of course, we want an agreement, but we are now further from reaching one than we were a few weeks ago,” Sa’ar said, without providing details on the new developments…

Looking to the campaign trail, New York City Councilmember Alexa Avilés dropped her prospective primary bid against Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) today, following the entry of Comptroller Brad Lander into the race.

Avilés, who had been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, said in a statement, “My neighbors know that the era of dark money in politics, of letting AIPAC and the real estate lobby call the shots, must end. … What’s clear from my years in public services is that Dan Goldman has fundamentally failed our communities. A split field runs too great a risk of allowing him another damaging term.” Avilés did not, however, offer Lander her endorsement.

Along with the exit of former state Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, who bowed out yesterday also to avoid a split progressive vote, the primary is unfolding as a head-to-head matchup between Lander (who appeared to get hacked today on X) and Goldman. 

In one of his first statements about the congressman since launching his challenge, Lander told the New York Daily News that he and Goldman “have some disagreements” about Israel and Gaza, but the issue is secondary to fighting back against Trump, which he feels he can do a better job of. The comments raised questions about Lander’s apparent strategy — one of Goldman’s biggest political strengths is his credibility with the Democratic base over his role leading the 2019 impeachment efforts against Trump… 

The New York Times digs into Trump’s decision not to dissuade Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman from joining the GOP primary for New York governor, where Trump ally Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is already running. 

“Mr. Trump’s refusal to use his influence to halt Mr. Blakeman — and his subsequent neutrality since the announcement — sent shock waves through Republican circles, where many party loyalists had already committed to supporting Ms. Stefanik and wish to avoid a primary,” the Times writes…

Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show” and close confidant of the slain conservative influencer, has placed Turning Point USA on the pro-Israel side of the right’s debate about the U.S.’ support for the Jewish state… with caveats.

Kolvet told the Christian Broadcasting Network that, despite the weaponization of Kirk’s legacy by anti-Israel actors, TPUSA stands firm that “Israel has a right to exist, that it has a right to defend itself, that we fully reject hatred of Jewish people, antisemitism, all that stuff.”

But, “when it comes to how much we should fund Israel,” he warned, “should the status quo, the foreign policy status quo be continued, should it be altered? Those kinds of things are worthwhile debates to have,” otherwise “you’re going to alienate the young people that Charlie worked so hard to bring into the fold.”

Kolvet also asserted that the conservative tent, while continuing to embrace Israel’s right to exist, should be big enough to accommodate those who don’t. Kirk was “committed” to having Tucker Carlson speak at TPUSA’s annual AmericaFest, taking place next week in Arizona, Kolvet said, “and that is not going to change.”

But even as Carlson appears on opening night, so will Ben Shapiro, and “maybe the coalition needs to find a way to stay together and be big enough to have both of those perspectives in it, because I think if not, then we’re going to find ourselves in a really tricky spot in 2026, 2028”…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with anthropology student-turned founder of the Movement Against Antizionism, Adam Louis-Klein. 

On the Hill, the House Homeland Security Committee will hear from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent and Michael Glasheen, operations director of the national security branch of the FBI, on “worldwide threats to the homeland.”

The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on the U.S. response to crimes against humanity in Sudan amid its ongoing civil war. 

• Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is meeting today with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington.
• Senior congressional officials, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) are slated to attend a congressional menorah lighting this afternoon at the Capitol alongside Rabbi Levi Shemtov.
• Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, the House Foreign Affairs Committee is convening a meeting on the political dynamics of the West Bank with the Heritage Foundation’s Eugene Kontorovich, ZOA’s Mort Klein and the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Jon Alterman.
• The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington is hosting the second in its series of DMV “Lox and Legislators” events. This morning’s event in Falls Church, Va., will include officials from Virginia, including Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA).
• The Aspen Institute is holding the DC edition of the Aspen Security Forum this afternoon. Speakers include Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Jason Crow (D-CO) and Mike Turner (R-OH), and the American Jewish Committee’s Natan Gorod.
• In Atlantic City, N.J., the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce is hosting its annual flagship JBIZ expo at Harrah’s.
• And in the United Arab Emirates, former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron is speaking today at Abu Dhabi Finance Week.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Josh Kraushaar

The leftward lurch of the Democratic Party over the last year can be documented in many ways: The sudden rise of Zohran Mamdani as mayor-elect of New York City, the surge of far-left candidates running on socialist, anti-Israel platforms and the party accommodating a panoply of activist views, including anti-Israel activism, instead of drawing red lines against extremism.

But all of these developments don’t directly impact the party’s electoral fortunes, especially since the surge of left-wing activism has mainly predominated in the most-progressive parts of the country, like New York City, Seattle and safe Democratic districts.

But now there are clear signs that Democratic voters are rallying behind out-of-the-mainstream, in-your-face candidates in battleground and even GOP-leaning states and districts, developments that are putting races out of play for a party that’s hoping to ride an anti-Trump wave back into power in next year’s midterms.

Nowhere is the party’s leftward evolution clearer than in Texas, a conservative-minded state where the Senate race was potentially competitive as a result of GOP infighting. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is facing a serious primary threat from the state’s right-wing, scandal-plagued attorney general, Ken Paxton. The Democratic thinking: If Paxton won the nomination, a mainstream candidate with a track record of winning persuadable voters could at least force Republicans to spend money to defend red-state turf next year. 

To that end, Colin Allred, a former NFL player and center-left suburban lawmaker who was elected to the House in 2018 by winning over independents and some moderate Republicans, jumped into the race. Allred lost to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in 2024, but cut the GOP victory margin in the race to eight points — about half of President Donald Trump’s 14-point margin against Kamala Harris.

Allred’s brand of pragmatic politics was quickly overtaken this year by candidates drawing attention for their social media virality. Texas state Rep. James Talarico quickly emerged as an Allred alternative, offering a brand of TV-ready, populist progressivism that some party strategists thought could be a model for candidates looking to appeal to the base without insulting conservatives. Even though his voting record is liberal, the fact he went on Joe Rogan’s podcast and talked about faith drew him a niche following within the party.

But all that strategic posturing was rendered moot, after the polarizing and progressive Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) announced her candidacy on Monday, emerging as a front-runner in the Democratic primary even as most strategists view her as a surefire loser in a general election — no matter who Republicans nominate. What’s concerning Democrats even more is that if she’s nominated, her long history of controversial comments could hurt Democrats looking to hang on for reelection in competitive districts.

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

The West and the Jews: In the Substack “Future of Jewish,” Nachum Kaplan argues that Western society’s failure to adequately address antisemitism will have consequences for generations. “The West will not lose its Jews in one dramatic moment. It will lose them through a slow drip of insult, a steady rise in fear, and a growing sense of no longer belonging. A key question is whether today’s Diaspora Jews will repeat the mistake of their forefathers and wait for catastrophe before acting. The tremors before the earthquake rumble louder each day. If Western nations lose their Jewish communities, they will forfeit things they never realized Jews had given them: parts of their moral compass, their historical memory of totalitarianism, a large portion of their intellectual class, and history’s finest early-warning system of civilizational decline.” [FutureofJewish]

Daylight Over Damascus: The Wall Street Journal’s Dov Lieber looks at the daylight between the U.S. and Israel over Syria as the U.S. looks to bolster Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. “The U.S. is brokering talks on a security agreement between Syria and Israel that could lay the groundwork for a long-term peace, but they appear stalled. Amid a Gaza cease-fire and a new push to end fighting in Ukraine, Trump is calling on Israel to do that deal. … Israel took a lesson from the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks from Gaza that it can’t bargain away its security interests to please its neighbors or even Washington. It now sees U.S.-supported withdrawals from Gaza in 2005 and southern Lebanon in 2000 as mistakes that allowed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah to prepare launchpads for cross-border attacks. ‘It’s easy to take the risk when you’re in Washington, but when you’re in the Golan Heights it’s much more risky. It’s too close,’ said Yaakov Amidror, a former Israeli national security adviser.” [WSJ]

After repeatedly raising concerns about slow progress, a lack of transparency and a lack of accountability for Department of Homeland Security grant programs this year, including the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee introduced legislation on Tuesday that aims to put in place stricter guidelines for the management of such programs, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

Semafor spotlights the key role that White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff plays in the Trump administration’s diplomatic efforts, while the Washington Post looks at Jared Kushner’s “indispensible” role working alongside Witkoff…

Former Vice President Kamala Harris told The New York Times that she regretted not having done more to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s conduct in the war against Hamas; Harris was one of the few senior Biden administration officials who did not make any trips to Israel during her time in office…

Former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who is a partner at the Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, was named in an amicus brief filing from the firm opposing a legal challenge to a newly signed California law meant to combat antisemitism in the state’s K-12 schools… 

Democrat Eileen Higgins won the runoff in Miami’s mayoral election, and will be the first woman — and first Democrat in 28 years — to hold the position… 

“CBS Morning” co-host Tony Dokoupil has reportedly been tapped to anchor “CBS Evening News,” with an announcement from the network’s editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, and president, Tom Cibrowski, expected in the coming days…

Matt Gutman is joining CBS News as chief correspondent; he was previously a correspondent for ABC News…

Skydance Paramount CEO David Ellison is making inroads in his effort to move forward with a hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery, meeting with investors this week who are warming to the idea…

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s posthumously published book, Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life, which was released on Tuesday, is already out of stock after having initially sold 60,000 copies on Amazon…

A federal judge ordered immigration authorities to reinstate the online record of Rümeysa Öztürk, who faced a deportation effort earlier this year over her co-authorship of an anti-Israel op-ed, so that the Tufts doctoral student could maintain her visa and resume her work at the university…

A 15th-century mahzor that had been owned by the Rothschild family before it was looted by the Nazis in 1938 and ultimately returned to the family last month will be put up for sale next year, where it is expected to fetch between $5-$7 million…

Israel’s Supreme Court granted the government’s request for a ninth extension in responding to a petition brought forth by journalists seeking access to the Gaza Strip…

In his first public remarks since leaving his position atop the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar called for the Israeli government to set up a commission of inquiry investigating the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks…

The mother of journalist Austin Tice requested that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allow her to review Israeli intelligence that might provide information on her son, who went missing in Syria in 2012…

The Financial Times looks at strained diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates over the civil conflict in Yemen in which Abu Dhabi and Riyadh are backing different groups…

Egypt and Iran are lodging complaints with FIFA after being assigned to play in the 2026 World Cup’s “Pride match” being held in Seattle; the June 26 match was chosen by local organizers to celebrate the LGBTQ community prior to last week’s draw that selected the matchup…

Iran began a new round of cloud-seeding operations in an effort to address severe drought conditions that have plagued the Islamic Republic in recent months…

Thai Ambassador to Israel Boonyarit Vichienpuntu spoke on Tuesday at a ceremony at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport honoring Thai hostage Sudthisak Rinthalak, who was killed on Oct. 7, 2023, while working at Kibbutz Be’eri. His remains, which were returned to Israel from Gaza last week for identification, will be buried in Thailand in the coming days.

Former rabbi of Temple Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, he was held hostage in the synagogue in January 2022 and then rescued, Charlie Cytron-Walker turns 50…

Retired hedge fund manager, champion squash player, best-selling author and statistician, Victor Niederhoffer turns 82… Baltimore-based dairy cattle dealer, Abraham Gutman turns 81… Chairman and CEO of Verizon until retiring in 2011, Ivan Seidenberg turns 79… Owner of Judaica House and Cool Kippahs, both in Teaneck, N.J., Reuben Nayowitz… Progressive political activist, she headed the AmeriCorps VISTA program during the Carter administration, Margery Tabankin turns 77… U.S. senator (R-AR) since 2011, now serving as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, John Nichols Boozman turns 75… Founding rabbi, now emeritus, of Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Potomac, Md., Stuart Weinblatt turns 73… Founder and CEO at Seppy’s Kosher Baked Goods in Pueblo, Colo., Elishevah Sepulveda… Real estate entrepreneur based in Palm Beach, Fla., Jeff Greene turns 71… New York real estate investor and developer, Joseph Chetrit turns 68… Senior fellow with the Independent Women’s Forum, she was the deputy special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism during the Trump 45 administration, Ellie Cohanim turns 53… Head of Bloomberg Beta, Roy Bahat turns 49… Actress since she was 10 years old, known for her later roles in HBO’s “Entourage” and CBS’ “The Mentalist,” Emmanuelle Chriqui turns 48… Managing director for private-equity firm TPG, he is the husband of Chelsea Clinton, Marc Mezvinsky turns 48… General partner at Andreessen Horowitz, he was an SVP and general manager of Cisco’s security business, David A. Ulevitch turns 44… Screenwriter, best known for co-writing “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014), “Captain Marvel” (2019) and “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” (2019), Nicole Perlman turns 44… Assistant managing editor for national security and justice at NBC News, Alex Koppelman… Co-founder and co-CEO of single-origin spice company, Burlap & Barrel (a public benefit corporation), Ethan Frisch… Assistant professor of health policy and management at Harvard School of Public Health, Ari Daniel Ne’eman… R&B, jazz and soul singer and songwriter, she performs as “Mishéll,” Irina Rosenfeld turns 37… Director of communications at Hughes Hubbard & Reed, Mitchell Rubenstein… Rabbi at Stony Brook Hebrew Congregation and the campus rabbi at Stony Brook Hillel, Philip Kaplan… Co-founder of Dojo, recently acquired by OfficeSpace Software / Vista Equity Partners, Daniel Goldstern… Actress, musician, fashion model and radio talk show host, Rachel Trachtenberg turns 32…

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is set to launch a primary challenge to Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) as soon as tomorrow, Politico reports, with an endorsement from Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani — after Mamdani declined to give him a position in his administration. 

Goldman was one of the New York Democratic holdouts who did not endorse Mamdani during his election, largely over concerns about his rhetoric on Israel, but Goldman’s district, which covers Lower Manhattan and a section of Brooklyn that includes the progressive enclave of Park Slope, voted overwhelmingly for the mayor-elect.

The primary matchup will likely serve as a test of the Democratic electorate’s support for continued mainstream pro-Israel representation in New York City, as Goldman and Lander, both of whom are Jewish, take markedly different stances on Israel. Political strategists told Jewish Insider in October that Lander will be a formidable candidate, though Goldman, who is an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, will have the financial and incumbent advantage…

Axios unpacks the “Tea Party-style revolt” by progressives in the Democratic Party after the last-minute entry of Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) into the Texas Senate primary yesterday and amid concerns by party leadership that their favored midterm candidates in Maine, Michigan and Iowa are falling behind expectations. 

“Some Democratic senators are openly questioning their party’s leadership and working against [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer in primaries. Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) have spoken to, or plan to speak to, candidates challenging the party establishment’s picks, sources familiar with the discussions told Axios”…

Pressed on his position about AIPAC, Democratic Majority for Israel and the “Israel lobby” at large, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, considered a top 2028 presidential contender, told progressive Gen Z podcaster Jack Cocchiarella that AIPAC “has never been involved with me, I’ve never received a dollar from them in my entire political career, so I’ve had an opinion on that going back decades now.” 

Asked if he would take AIPAC funds at any point in his political future, Newsom said, “I don’t take tobacco money, oil money, I’ve never taken AIPAC money, there’s certain absolutes that are the lines that have been drawn for decades for me, and those will continue.” The pro-Israel group has not been involved in gubernatorial nor presidential races…

FBI Director Kash Patel signed bilateral security agreements with Qatar today, in a move that is drawing renewed scrutiny to potential conflicts of interest surrounding his past lobbying for the Gulf emirate, the details of which he has failed to disclose, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports.

During a meeting in the Qatari capital of Doha, Patel signed two memorandums of understanding with his counterpart “to advance mechanisms of security cooperation and coordinate efforts in training, the exchange of information and capacity-building,” according to Qatari state media. Neither Patel’s visit to Doha nor the agreements with Qatar have been publicly announced by the FBI. 

Patel, whose brief tenure leading the FBI has been mired in ethics controversies, drew scrutiny during his confirmation over undisclosed consulting for the Qatari government — provoking accusations that he improperly avoided registering as a foreign lobbyist…

The Columbia University task force overseeing efforts to combat antisemitism on campus released its fourth and final report today, spotlighting Columbia’s lack of full-time Middle East faculty who are not “explicitly anti-Zionist,” JI’s Haley Cohen reports.

According to the report, “Columbia lacks full-time tenure line faculty expertise in Middle East history, politics, political economy and policy that is not explicitly anti-Zionist.” The absence of ideological diversity is having an impact on course offerings — in listening sessions, the task force said it heard from students that classes at the university more often than not treat Zionism as entirely illegitimate…

On another New York campus facing allegations of antisemitism, New York City Jewish leaders sent a letter to the chancellor of the City University of New York yesterday condemning a recent interfaith event on campus that devolved into an antisemitic tirade by a Muslim leader as well as the school’s lackluster response, The Times of Israel reports. 

The signatories — which include New York City Councilmember Eric Dinowitz; Mark Treyger, head of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York; Eric Goldstein, CEO of the UJA-Federation of New York; and Miriam Elman, head of the Academic Engagement Network, among others — called for CUNY to amend its student code of conduct…

Responding to a video that purports to show the Syrian Army chanting in support of Gaza amid celebrations on the anniversary of the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad, Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli wrote on social media, “War is inevitable.” The Trump administration has been working to deescalate tensions between Jerusalem and Damascus…

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana met with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on the Hill today where the two “officially launched their effort to rally Speakers and Presidents of Parliaments around the world to join them in nominating President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2026,” according to a joint statement. 

Ohana also met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, also visiting Capitol Hill, met with Fetterman and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-ID)… 

The bilateral meetings continued overseas as well: Mike Waltz and Danny Danon, the U.S. and Israeli ambassadors to the U.N., respectively, continued their joint visit to Israel today with stops at Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, the Kerem Shalom humanitarian aid crossing into Gaza and the U.S.-led Civil Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat. They also held a meeting with the family of Ran Gvili, the last deceased hostage still held in Gaza…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for reporting on U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack’s off-message comments on the Middle East putting him at odds with Washington.

On the Hill, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will host the Congressional Menorah Lighting, with remarks from Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad).

 The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing titled “Understanding Judea and Samaria: Historical, strategic, and political dynamics in U.S.-Israel relations,” with speakers including Eugene Kontorovich, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation; Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America; and Jon Alterman, chair in global security and geostrategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Elsewhere in Washington, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar will meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Also taking place downtown, the Aspen Security Forum will hold its Washington meeting featuring remarks from Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO), Mike Turner (R-OH), John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL); Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal; NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska; and representatives from the Heritage Foundation, American Jewish Committee and American Enterprise Institute, among others.

Across the river, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington will host the Virginia edition of its annual “Lox and Legislators” breakfast, headlined by Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA).

• Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is in Washington today, where he’ll meet with Bolivian Foreign Minister Fernando Aramayo Carrasco and sign an agreement to renew relations between Jerusalem and La Paz.
• On Capitol Hill, B’nai B’rith International and Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) are holding an event to mark the 50th anniversary of the U.N.’s “Zionism = Racism resolution.” Former Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), historian Gil Troy and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Ben Cohen are slated to speak, while Israeli President Isaac Herzog will deliver remarks by video.
• At the Washington National Cathedral tonight, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was the target of an arson attack during Passover, and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who gained national prominence for his response to TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination in the state, will sit for a conversation about political violence.
• The Jewish Democratic Council of America is holding its annual Hanukkah party tonight in Washington.
• Yale’s Shabtai group is hosting an event on “The Future of Global Jewry” tonight, featuring Rabbi David Wolpe, Yale professor Paul Franks and Rabbi Shmully Hecht.
• The Jerusalem Post is convening its two-day Washington conference today.
• Abu Dhabi Finance Week continues today in the United Arab Emirates. Speakers today include Stephen Schwarzman, Harvey Schwartz and David Rubenstein.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS AND MATTHEW SHEA

Tucker Carlson, Rob Malley and Bill Gates walk into a Gulf hotel. 

It’s not the beginning of a joke, but rather, part of the speaker lineup at the Doha Forum over the weekend in Qatar.

As we’ve reported frequently over the last year, Doha has gone to great efforts to establish itself as a critical cog in the wheel of a functioning global society. Nowhere were the fruits of that labor on display more than at the two-day Doha Forum, held at the glitzy Sheraton Grand Doha Hotel.

Alongside traditional conference-circuit speakers — among them former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Microsoft founder Gates, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker and Heritage Foundation senior fellow Victoria Coates — were more controversial voices.

Those voices include Carlson as well as Malley, the former Iran envoy who was suspended and had his clearance revoked for his alleged mishandling of classified documents; and Trita Parsi, the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, which was a co-sponsor of the forum, who has in the past faced accusations of operating as an unregistered foreign agent for Iran.

In Doha, Carlson, a last-minute addition to the forum’s lineup, sat in conversation with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a 20-minute conversation that preceded a sit-down between Donald Trump Jr. and investor Omeed Malik.

When discussing efforts to rebuild Gaza, Carlson suggested that Qatar should refrain from helping “rebuild a region that has been destroyed by a country [Israel] that has also bombed” them. Carlson also mocked Americans and lawmakers who have called out Qatar as a “terror state” or terror “financier,” despite Doha’s well-documented involvement with the Muslim Brotherhood and harboring of Hamas. 

As one longtime attendee of the Forum wrote on X, “[N]ever has Qatar displayed its immense convening power more effectively than this year.”

In an era in which American political figures face blowback for appearing at conferences that also platform extremist voices — such as Rep. Ro Khanna’s (D-CA) appearance this fall at Arabcon, where other speakers downplayed the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks — more mainstream speakers at the Doha Forum have faced a remarkably low amount of condemnation, and legitimized the conference and its organizers in the process.

That lack of condemnation underscores the degree to which Qatar’s strategy of infiltrating virtually every element of Western society — from media to sports to academia to government — has rendered it a powerful and at times dangerous force, and one that forces for Western values and democracy are unwilling to challenge or confront.

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

Tales from the Quad: In The Washington Post, former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, reflects on the semester he spent teaching at Harvard University. “Yes, you may still find the intellectual underpinnings of Harvard’s embarrassing anti-Israel encampments in some clubs and faculty lounges. You will also find a new president, an observant Jew, who is making sure that similar disruptions of campus life and blatant antisemitism do not reappear, even as serious conservative speakers show up again. … What I’ve experienced may be a natural return to Harvard’s more moderate bearings, following noisy displays of intolerance by campus agitators in recent years. Or it may be due to the Trump administration’s forceful executive orders and fiscal pressure. Either way (and it’s probably both), let’s take the win and learn the broader lesson.” [WashPost]

The MAGA Melee on Israel: Politico’s Ian Ward does a deep dive into the conservative movement’s debate over U.S. support for Israel. “Foreign policy calculations aside, though, [American Conservative editor Curt] Mills acknowledged that much of the swing against Israel is being driven by a visceral sense that the GOP cares more about Israeli priorities than it does about the interests of its own voters. ‘There’s still no wall on the southern border. We still haven’t brought all these factories back. They still have not deported 10 million people,’ Mills told me. ‘But you know what they have done? They’ve kicked people out of the country for pro-Palestinian speech and they’ve bombed Iran.’ That view is enough to qualify Mills as a radical within the conservative movement, but he told me that he sometimes feels like a moderate compared to some of the Gen-Z conservatives. ‘They’re hardcore,’ Mills told me. ‘Frankly, some of them are so radicalized that they are, like, openly sympathetic to Hamas, which [they see as] close to pure freedom fighters.’” [Politico]

President Donald Trump will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Dec. 29 at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., according to the Prime Minister’s Office, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports… 

Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX), a co-chair of the House antisemitism task force, will not seek reelection in his newly redrawn Texas congressional district…

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is moving closer to launching a bid for governor of New York; Blakeman, a Republican, would face Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who announced her bid last month…

A New Jersey court ruled that former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), who is serving an 11-year sentence for bribery, is ineligible to hold public office or public employment in the state…

David Ellison’s Skydance Paramount is launching a $108 billion hostile bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery following the announced sale of the company to Netflix; filings made public on Monday revealed that Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners and sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar were on board to provide financing for Skydance Paramount’s bid…

A high school in San Jose, Calif., is investigating an incident in which students formed a swastika with their bodies and posted the image to social media…

The hate crimes unit of the Toronto police department is investigating an incident at a senior living community over the weekend in which mezuzot around the complex were removed from doorposts…

Argentina’s DAIA, the umbrella organization for the country’s Jewish community, filed a formal complaint after a number of far-left legislators pledged allegiance to a “free Palestine” during a swearing-in ceremony last week…

The New York Times looks at Hamas’ efforts to reconstitute itself and reassert its power in areas of the Gaza Strip from which Israel has withdrawn, challenging efforts by the U.S. and other countries to remove the terror group from power and rebuild the enclave…

Egypt and Iran — both countries where homosexuality can face legal consequences — were assigned the specially designated “Pride Match” celebrating the LGBTQ community during next year’s World Cup; the match, which will be played in Seattle, had been designated by the local organizing committee for the distinction before countries were assigned matches…

Iranian media reports that the trial of a European dual national charged with spying on behalf of Israel during the 12-day June war has begun…

The Jewish representative in Iran’s parliament said in a Telegram channel that he had been summoned by Iranian security agencies in recent weeks over social media activity, including liking and sharing posts about Israel, of some of his constituents…

Pennsylvania State Budget Secretary Uri Monson will depart his role to serve as the executive director of the Pennsylvania School Employees Retirement System… 

Washington, D.C., philanthropist Shirley Schwalb Small, who served on the boards of the Kennedy Center and the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, died at 94…

Social justice activist Cora Weiss died at 91…

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) swore in new members of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Council on Monday night in Washington. Among those sworn in were American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch, philanthropist Tila Falic, Sid Rosenberg, Siggy Flicker, Jonathan Burkan and Matthew Segal.

Film and television actor, Jaren Miles Lewison turns 25…

Retired diplomat who served as Israel’s ambassador to Russia, China and the U.K., Zvi Heifetz turns 69… Los Angeles investor and entrepreneur, she leads Saving Giving, Lisa Zola Greer… Former senior White House aide and deputy secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton and Obama administrations, now vice chair of the Brunswick Group, Neal S. Wolin turns 64… CEO at Alta Vista Partners and former COO of the New York Mets, Jeffrey Scott Wilpon turns 64… Persian-born author of four novels, she is a frequent lecturer on Iranian Jewish history and the topic of exile, Gina B. Nahai turns 64… Senior research fellow at the Cato Institute, Daniel “Dan” Greenberg turns 60… Foreign minister of Israel since 2024, Gideon Sa’ar (born Gideon Zarechansky) turns 59… Governor of Virginia since 2022, his term ends in mid-January, Glenn Allen Youngkin turns 59… U.S. senator (D-NY), Kirsten Gillibrand turns 59… Violinist and conductor, he is the music director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Joshua David Bell turns 58… Singer-songwriter, music producer and founder of StaeFit workout apparel, Stacey Liane Levy Jackson turns 57… President of the National Democratic Institute and former State Department official, Tamara Cofman Wittes turns 56… Singer-songwriter and son of Bob Dylan, he rose to fame as the lead singer and primary songwriter for the rock band the Wallflowers, Jakob Dylan turns 56… Senior rabbi of the Boca Raton Synagogue, Rabbi Efrem Goldberg turns 51… Managing director at Finsbury / FGS Global and a board member of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington until 2022, Eric Wachter… Award-winning screenwriter, film director and producer, Eliza Hittman turns 46… Actor, comedian and musician, best known for his role as Howard Wolowitz in the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” Simon Helberg turns 45… 2015 graduate of Yale Law School, she is a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society’s immigration law unit’s youth project, Daniella Esther Rohr Adelsberg… Singer, songwriter and entertainer in the Orthodox pop music industry, Mordechai Shapiro turns 36… Digital director at the Abundance Institute, Shoshana Weissmann… Israeli fashion model, Dorit Revelis turns 24…

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Dec. 29 at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. 

Netanyahu is expected to depart Israel for what will be his fifth meeting with Trump in the U.S. this year on Dec. 28 and return on Jan. 3, meaning that the prime minister will begin 2026 stateside. Palm Beach is the only expected stop during the trip, according to Israeli media. 

The agenda for the end-of-year meeting has not been announced, though it is likely to cover implementation of the second phase of Trump’s peace plan, Hezbollah’s rearmament in Lebanon and efforts to reach a potential security agreement in Syria…

As 2025 winds down and we head into a midterm election year, headlines abound on the campaign trail: Sam Rasoul, a Palestinian American Virginia state delegate with a history of inflammatory anti-Israel rhetoric, announced today that he is considering running for Congress in 2026, pending the outcome of a redistricting effort in the state, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports.

Rasoul, a Roanoke Democrat who chairs the Education Committee in the House of Delegates, came under fire from prominent Jewish Democrats in the state earlier this year for a series of posts on social media, including ones in which he claimed “Zionism has proven how evil our society can be” and that Zionism is a “supremacist ideology created to destroy and conquer everything and everyone in its way.”

In a fundraising email announcing his intention to formally explore a congressional run, Rasoul made his opposition to Israel a central part of his pitch. “Virginians are looking for bold, experienced, progressive leadership that meets this moment and delivers results by … ending all military aid to Israel, which has waged a genocide in Gaza using our taxpayer dollars in violation of American law,” Rasoul wrote…

In Texas, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) filed paperwork to run for the Senate this afternoon, just hours ahead of the state’s deadline. She’s set to hold a press conference this evening formally announcing her candidacy.

The progressive lawmaker, seen as a tough sell for a general election in a solidly Republican state, hopes to take the seat of Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who is facing his own high-stakes primary. But first, Crockett will need to prevail in the Democratic primary against state Rep. James Talarico, considered a rising star in the party, who raised over $6 million in the first few weeks after his launch in September and has taken a critical view of Israel in his campaign.

Anticipating Crockett’s entry into the race, former Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) announced this morning he’s switching his candidacy from the Senate to Texas’ newly drawn 33rd Congressional District, which he used to represent parts of in the House. He’ll now face a primary against Rep. Julie Johnson (D-TX), who is running in the 33rd after her seat in the neighboring district was redrawn…

In Colorado, far-left candidates are lining up to take on establishment Democrats: Denver-area state Sen. Julie Gonzales, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, launched a primary challenge to Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) today, and Melat Kiros, an attorney who was fired in 2023 for criticizing her own firm in anti-Israel social media posts, secured the Justice Democrats’ backing last week for a primary bid against Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO)…

Hill watchers are waiting to see when Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) will host members of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party, which she said on social media last month would be happening in December… 

Politico’s Ian Ward discusses the intra-MAGA movement to turn the Republican Party away from Israel with the figures leading the charge: Curt Mills, editor of The American Conservative; former Trump advisor Steve Bannon; podcasters Tucker Carlson and Dave Smith; and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

Mills said “he sometimes feels like a moderate compared to some of the Gen-Z conservatives. ‘They’re hardcore,’ Mills told me. ‘Frankly, some of them are so radicalized that they are, like, openly sympathetic to Hamas, which [they see as] close to pure freedom fighters’”…

On that note, a new survey by the Yale Youth Poll found that younger voters, and especially the conservatives among them, hold overwhelmingly more critical views of Israel and of the Jewish people than older generations, JI’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports. 

In a list of antisemitic statements — including “Jews in the United States are more loyal to Israel than to America,” “It’s appropriate to boycott Jewish American-owned businesses to protest the war in Gaza” and “Jews in the United States have too much power” — 70% of respondents overall disagreed with all three; however, only 57% of 18-22-year-olds and 60% of 23-29-year-olds said the same. 

Among those ages 18-34 who self-identified in their responses as “extremely conservative,” a sizeable majority of 64% said they agreed with at least one of the listed statements, far more than any other subgroup of younger voters — 38% of 18-34-year-olds overall said the same, already a notable minority…

The newly merged Paramount Skydance launched a hostile takeover bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery today, after Netflix announced it had acquired the media giant last week. Paramount said in an initial press statement that its bid — which values Warner Bros. around $108 billion, compared to the Netflix deal, which valued it around $83 billion — was backed by the Ellison family (David Ellison co-founded Oracle, while his son, David, runs Paramount) and investment firm RedBird Capital. However, a securities filing shows the bid is also backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the Emirati-owned L’imad Holding Company, the Qatar Investment Authority and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for updates on executive and legislative efforts to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Bolivian Foreign Minister Fernando Armayo will hold a signing ceremony in Washington tomorrow for an agreement to renew diplomatic relations between the two countries, which have been largely frozen since 2009.

The Jerusalem Post will kick off its conference on Capitol Hill, with a theme of “The U.S.-Israel Strategic Alliance: Security, Technology, and Strengthening Ties with American Jewry.” Headlining the two-day event are Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder, several Israeli officials and U.S. lawmakers.

Nearby, B’nai B’rith International is marking the 50th anniversary of the infamous U.N. resolution equating Zionism with racism on the Hill. Israeli President Isaac Herzog will address the gathering by video, along with remarks by B’nai B’rith CEO Dan Mariaschin, historian Gil Troy, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Ben Cohen and former Rep. Ileana Ros Lehtinen (R-FL).

On everyone’s minds and calendars: The yearly Washington-area holiday party scramble begins this week. Tomorrow evening, the Jewish Democratic Council of America will host its fourth annual Hanukkah party and the Vandenberg Coalition will hold its holiday party.

• U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz is in Israel today for meetings with senior officials. Waltz was in Amman, Jordan, over the weekend, where he and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas met with King Abdullah II to discuss humanitarian aid efforts. Waltz noted that he entered into Israel through the Allenby crossing, which had been briefly closed after two Israeli soldiers were killed in a September terror attack at the crossing. The U.S., Waltz said, was “working hard to keep this crossing open for humanitarian aid and commerce.”
  
• Israeli President Isaac Herzog wraps up his two-day trip to New York today. Following last night’s keynote at Yeshiva University’s Hanukkah dinner (more below on that), he’ll address the American Zionist Movement’s Biennial National Assembly, which concludes today.
  
• Elsewhere in New York, Rachel and Jon Goldberg-Polin are slated to speak at Temple Emanu-El.
  
• Defense Tech Week begins today in Washington and runs through Friday.
  
• Hillel International’s annual General Assembly kicks off today in Boston.
  
• Abu Dhabi Finance Week kicks off today in the United Arab Emirates. Speakers today include Brevan Howard Asset Management’s Alan Howard, the Carlyle Group’s David Rubenstein and Bill Gates.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S GABBY DEUTCH

The 2028 presidential race is still well over a year away from beginning in earnest. But if there’s any indication about whether Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, long considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, is seriously considering running, it’s that the moderate swing-state governor recently sat down for interviews for two major magazine features — in The Atlantic and The New Yorker — both published in the last week. 

Shapiro faced questions about his ambitions, his successes and failures and his take on the increasingly divisive and vitriolic nature of American politics. The two interviews also offer a fresh look at how Shapiro, one of the most prominent Jewish politicians in America, thinks about and practices Judaism from his perch in Harrisburg. 

When he ran for governor in 2022, his first major campaign ad featured footage of him and his family observing Shabbat. He told The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta that Friday night dinners are “still a sacrosanct moment for our family.” But he also shared that he and his family have lately attended synagogue services “far less than at any other point in our lives.”

Shapiro regularly invokes religion in public addresses, choosing to speak about “my faith” rather than more specifically referring to his Jewish faith. 

“I feel more connected to my faith today than at any other time in my life. Truly. And I probably pray more now than at any other time in my life. But my connection to an institution of prayer, or a sort of formal structure of that prayer, has dramatically decreased,” Shapiro shared. “The sort of ritualistic practices became less of a focus of the way we practice our faith — with the exception, of course, of Friday nights.” 

In conversation with The New Yorker’s Benjamin Wallace-Wells, Shapiro opened up about the arson attack on the governor’s residence in April, hours after his family had concluded their Passover Seder. At the October sentencing hearing for the assailant, Shapiro said for the first time that he may have been targeted, in part, for his Jewish faith. 

“The prosecutor felt it was important to introduce into evidence the bomber’s claims that he did that because of ‘what I did to the Palestinians,’ so clearly there was some motivation because of my faith,” Shapiro told The New Yorker, which reported that the dining room — now restored after being severely burned — features a small display of charred cups and dishes from the Seder, to remember that frightening evening. 

But Shapiro’s subsequent comments backed away from personally tagging an antisemitic motive on the perpetrator: “I think it is dangerous for you or anyone else to think about those who perpetrate these violent attacks as linear thinkers, meaning that they have a left-wing ideology or a right-wing ideology, or that they have a firm set of beliefs the way you might or I might. These are clearly irrational thinkers.”

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

Tighten the Screws: In Time, Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi calls for global pressure on Tehran to assist Iranians in their fight against the regime of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “The truth is, Iran is already in a transition. But transitions can move in many directions. The Iranian people have proved their courage. They have endured prisons, censorship, surveillance, bullets, and the loss of their children، yet they continue to fight. Not violently. Violence, whether imposed from outside or from within, is not the answer. What they ask for is not intervention, but recognition; not foreign armies, but international solidarity; not war, but peace. … Change in Iran requires global pressure to end human rights violations, gender apartheid, and executions; to free political and ideological prisoners; and to enable the functioning of civil society institutions. We need the international community to rethink its approach to ‘change’ in Iran, and lay the groundwork for a transition from authoritarianism to democracy.” [Time]

Right to Worship: In the New York Daily News, Ken Marcus, the founder of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, suggests that New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s accusation that a recent synagogue event on immigration to Israel violated international law, gave a green light to violations of a law protecting access to places of worship. “As the leader of New York City, his words have heavy implications. In one sentence, a spokeswoman for Mamdani undermined the legitimacy of protected religious conduct. This gave protesters a greenlight for antisemitic conduct, sending them a signal that conduct against religious institutions can be morally or politically justified. But the law is not up to the interpretation of Mamdani. Politicians do not have the authority to determine which religious gatherings are protected by federal law. And this is a critical part of the story: a federal civil rights protection was not only ignored, it was challenged by a man who will soon be responsible for upholding it.” [NYDN]

Draft Dodging: In the Jerusalem Journal, Israeli Likud MK Dan Illouz explains why he broke ranks with his party over the recent Haredi draft bill that Illouz does not believe will not rectify the deeply divisive issue. “A fake solution is not unity – it is escapism. A pretend draft law that enshrines inequality instead of addressing it will not calm the public; it will deepen division. It will tell the serving public — the backbone of the Likud — that their burden is invisible. When our soldiers risk their lives, the least we owe them is honesty. Likud voters understand this. They know that without a fair and effective enlistment framework, Israel’s security — and social cohesion — will erode. They know that a country that cannot maintain a strong, broad army cannot survive in the Middle East. And they know that the path to long-term unity between secular, traditional, religious, and Haredi Israelis is not built on denial but on shared responsibility.” [JerusalemJournal]

White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff hosted trilateral talks in New York on Sunday between senior Israeli and Qatari officials, including Mossad chief David Barnea; the meeting is part of a broader effort to rebuild Israel’s relations in the region and make progress on the Abraham Accords…

The Trump administration is also looking to broker a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who have not spoken since before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks…

Netanyahu, meanwhile, said during a press conference with visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that Israel and Hamas are “very shortly expected” to enter the second phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement… 

President Donald Trump tapped architect Shalom Baranes, who as a child immigrated from Italy with his Libyan-born parents to the U.S. through HIAS, to design the new White House ballroom; Baranes previously led the redesign of the Pentagon after the 9/11 attacks, as well as Washington’s City Center complex and the Georgetown Ritz-Carlton…

Congress released its finalized version of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes repeal of sanctions on Syria under the Caesar Civilian Protection Act, as well as repeal of the authorizations for use of military force in Iraq that allowed for the Iraq war and the Gulf War. Those measures are now nearly guaranteed to pass Congress…

Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Dave McCormick (R-PA), as well as a group of 13 House members led by Rep. Dave Min (D-CA), introduced bills requiring reports on internet freedom in Iran…

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said in an interview with CBS News’ Lesley Stahl that the recent congressional vote on an antisemitism resolution — which she voted against — was “an exercise that they force on Congress” and that “we don’t have to get on our knees and [denounce antisemitism] over and over again”; when pressed by Stahl that a majority of legislators backed the resolution, Greene responded, “Most members of Congress take donations from AIPAC and I don’t”…

New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill tapped Shlomo Schorr, the legislative director of the New Jersey office of Agudath Israel of America, to serve on her transition team’s Interdisciplinary Advisory Task Force…

A spokesperson for Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro suggested that Philadelphia’s main school district “needs to take very seriously” allegations of antisemitism, amid a congressional probe into the School District of Philadelphia’s handling of the issue…

PBS and WETA announced an upcoming four-part docuseries examining Black-Jewish relations; Henry Louis Gates Jr. is serving as the executive producer of the series, which will premiere in early February…

The Washington Post spotlights GOP megadonor Jeff Yass as he increasingly contributes to candidates backing school voucher programs…

eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports on the Koum Family Foundation’s endowment of the Jan Koum Israel Studies Program at Stanford University, which was announced last month following a three-year pilot program… 

A Brazilian professor at Harvard Law School who was arrested by immigration authorities last week after he pleaded guilty to illegally shooting an air rifle near a Boston-area synagogue will voluntarily leave the United States…

The Real Deal looks at Alex Sapir’s dwindling portfolio and financial struggles, as the real estate developer and former owner of 11 Madison Avenue looks to sell off more of his properties following the COVID-19 pandemic and the death of his father, Tamir Sapir, who had owed more than $100 million in taxes…

Bloomberg interviews writer Salman Rushdie about his new collection of short stories, The Eleventh Hour, as well as Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and the 2022 assassination attempt that left Rushdie with severe injuries…

The U.S. deported more than four dozen Iranians as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s broader crackdown on illegal immigration… 

New York City Councilmember Chi Ossé dropped his primary challenge to Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), the House minority leader, after failing to get the backing of the NYC chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America; Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, whom Jeffries endorsed shortly before the November election, had personally lobbied the DSA against backing Ossé’s bid…

The New York Times considers the “canonization” of Hannah Arendt in the 21st century, as her writings have increasingly been adopted by modern-day political observers and repurposed to address current events…

The Wall Street Journal reviews Celeste Marcus’ Chaim Soutine: Genius, Obsession, and a Dramatic Life in Art, the first English-language biography of the French Jewish painter, who died in Paris in 1943…

A senior law enforcement official in West Midlands, U.K., apologized to the Birmingham Jewish community for having told a committee investigating the banning of Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from a recent Aston Villa match that members of the Jewish community had supported a ban on the team’s fans…

Reuters reports on efforts by exiled former Syrian officials, including former intelligence chief Kamal Hassan and a cousin of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, to funnel millions of dollars to militants operating in the country in an effort to stage a revolt challenging the current government led by Ahmad al-Sharaa…

Famed architect Frank Gehry, born Frank Owen Goldberg, who has said the curved shape of many of his designs was inspired by the carp his maternal grandmother had in the bathtub as she made gefilte fish, died at 96…

Israeli President Isaac Herzog delivered the keynote address at Yeshiva University’s 101st annual Hanukkah Dinner on Sunday night in New York City.

During his speech, Herzog assailed New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, whom he said “makes no effort to conceal his contempt for the Jewish democratic State of Israel, the only nation-state of the Jewish people.”

Referencing an event last month outside Manhattan’s Park East Synagogue in which a mob of anti-Israel demonstrators protested against a Nefesh B’ Nefesh event with chants of “globalize the intifada” and “death to the IDF,” Herzog said, “The incoming mayor’s response was to suggest that Jews who consider fulfilling [aliyah] are violating international law. In the face of such hatred, we must fight back fiercely and fearlessly.”

Read the full story from Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen in eJewishPhilanthropy here.

Tennis player, she won 22 singles titles, in 1968 and 1969 she was ranked No. 2 in the U.S., Julie Heldman turns 80… 

Founder and CEO of Top Rank, a boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas, Bob Arum turns 94… Film, stage and television actor, composer of film and theater music, John Rubinstein turns 79… Israeli folk singer, lyricist, composer and musical arranger, she has released more than 70 albums sold worldwide, winner of the Kinor David (David’s Harp) Prize, Chava Alberstein turns 78… Astrophysicist and senior scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Margaret Geller turns 78… Film director, producer and screenwriter, including box office successes such as “The Parent Trap” and “What Women Want,” Nancy Meyers turns 76… Canadian anthropologist and author of four books promoting Mussar, a Jewish ethical movement, Alan Morinis turns 76… Professor of human development at Cornell University, following high-ranking academic positions at the University of Wyoming, Oklahoma State, Tufts and Yale, Robert J. Sternberg turns 76… Writer, photographer and designer, founder of the Honey Sharp Gallery and Ganesh Café in the Berkshires, Honey Sharp… Bedford, Texas, resident, Douglas H. Bohannon… Senior executive producer of special events at ABC News until his retirement in early 2025, Marc Burstein… Emmy Award-winning sports commentator and journalist, Roy Firestone turns 72… Chairman of a nationwide insurance brokerage, Bruce P. Gendelman… Author of Toward a Meaningful Life, a book that has sold over 400,000 copies, he is the chairman of the Yiddish English weekly, The Algemeiner Journal, Rabbi Simon Jacobson turns 69… Retired administrative law judge at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Nadine Lewis turns 68… Rabbi, speaker and musician known as Rav Shmuel, for 21 years he led the Yeshiva program run by the IDT Corporation in Newark, N.J., Shmuel Skaist turns 61… Co-founder of three successful companies, including Office Tiger in 1999, CloudBlue in 2001, and Xometry in 2013, where he is CEO, Randy Altschuler turns 55… Attorney by training but in real life a social media blogger and author, she is the co-founder of TheLi.st, Rachel Sklar turns 53… CEO of Assemble, Aaron Kissel turns 51… Journalist and founder of the newsletter “Popular Information,” Judd Legum… President and CEO of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, Aaron Lerner turns 46… Actor and musician, Dov Yosef Tiefenbach turns 44… Actress, comedian and television writer, Joanna “Jo” Firestone turns 39… Co-founder and former chief scientist at OpenAI, in 2024 he co-founded Safe Superintelligence, Ilya Sutskever turns 39… Artist, Sophia Narrett… Venture capitalist in Israel, Alex Oppenheimer… Partner at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, Ali Krimmer…

• President Donald Trump will attend the World Cup draw this morning in Washington. Also attending is the head of Iran’s national team, which previously said it would boycott the draw over the U.S.’ refusal to grant visas to some members of the team.
• The two-day Reagan National Defense Forum kicks off today at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. This year’s speakers include Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, Sens. Jim Banks (R-IN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Rick Scott (R-FL); Reps. Ken Calvert (R-CA), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Adam Smith (D-WA) and Rob Wittman (R-VA); JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, 8VC’s Joe Lonsdale, Palantir’s Mike Gallagher (formerly a Republican congressman from Wisconsin), former National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster; former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and former Deputy National Security Advisor Alex Wong.
• The Doha Forum begins tomorrow morning in Qatar. More below on the two-day confab’s speakers, including the recent addition of Tucker Carlson.
• Israeli President Isaac Herzog is traveling to the U.S. this weekend for a series of events taking place over the next week. On Sunday, he’ll be honored at Yeshiva University’s 101st Annual Hanukkah Dinner in New York. He’s also slated to attend the American Zionist Movement’s Biennial National Assembly, which is taking place this weekend in New York City.
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will arrive in Israel this weekend for meetings with senior officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Merz’s trip, his first official visit since becoming chancellor in May, will also include a visit to Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem and a meeting with Herzog before the president heads to the U.S.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S GABBY DEUTCH

As the holiday season gets underway, Jewish Washington is abuzz with a bipartisan tradition: gossiping about who got invited to the White House Hanukkah party — and how those who did not make the list can still score an invitation. 

This year, there’s another conversation as well, in group chats of people who were invited to a Hanukkah party at the Naval Observatory, hosted by Vice President JD Vance: What’s with the Christmas branding on the invitation? 

The top of the green-and-gold virtual invitation reads, “The Golden Noel: Celebrating 50 years of Christmas at the Vice President’s residence.” The invitation to President Donald Trump’s White House Hanukkah party, in contrast, looks, well, like a Hanukkah invitation — royal blue background, with white text. 

“Would I have preferred something to be a little more Hanukkah-like? Perhaps, but I don’t see it as a very big deal,” said Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad). Shemtov oversees kashrut at the White House Hanukkah celebration, whether it is hosted by a Democrat or a Republican. 

Several people who received the invitation told Jewish Insider they found the decoration puzzling. Ultimately, though, they aren’t concerned. Many Jewish Republicans are pleased that Vance is hosting a Hanukkah celebration at all. 

“Noticed that as well, but haven’t heard any complaints,” said one Republican who was invited to the party. “I’m happy he’s having one.” 

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

Conserving Conservatism: In The Washington Post, Princeton University professor Robert George cautions against the embrace of far-right figures, including Nick Fuentes, by some elements of the conservative movement. “A plea to my fellow conservatives to draw a bright line against bigotry is not a call to ‘cancellation.’ Individuals who hold extremist or bigoted views possess the same right to express their opinions as everyone else has. I would fight — indeed, I have fought — to protect their free speech rights despite my profound rejection of their beliefs. What I am doing is reminding conservatives that we stand for certain things. Therefore, not everything is up for grabs or negotiable. Nor is everyone, irrespective of their beliefs, welcome in the conservative movement. Unless you share conservatism’s core values, then you are not with us in standing for what our movement exists to conserve.” [WashPost]

Sanctuary City: Commentary’s Seth Mandel reflects on recently introduced legislation that would create a “buffer zone” protecting places of worship from protesters, following a demonstration outside Manhattan’s Park East Synagogue last month. “Indeed, the mere introduction of such legislation is an admission that incoming mayor Zohran Mamdani has already inaugurated bleaker times for the city and, perhaps, for the nation. … It should be noted that it is a violation of civil-rights law to prevent people from entering a house of worship. That is because such behavior is a direct assault on the First Amendment. Though Mamdani has exacerbated the problem, he did not create it. Even before his lies about ‘international law,’ the protest itself shattered civic norms. The result is a proposed law on top of a law. And that law might pass and it might make going to shul safer. But what kind of society needs such a law?” [Commentary]

In an interview with NBC News, Vice President JD Vance complimented Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, while downplaying the degree of rising antisemitism in the Republican Party…

Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the Trump administration’s nominee to be the State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, is expected to come before the full Senate for a confirmation vote before the end of the year, two sources familiar with the situation confirmed to Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod…

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso announced his bid for the House seat being vacated by Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), covering portions of Brooklyn and Queens…

Netflix entered into exclusive negotiations with Warner Bros. Discovery amid concerns from David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance that Warner Bros. “appears to have abandoned the semblance and reality of a fair transaction process” and that the selection of Netflix was predetermined by Warner Bros. management…  

UCLA’s library finalized the processing and digitization of extensive archives — including interviews, membership directories and yearbooks — from the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center; the century-old synagogue’s campus and much of its paper records were destroyed in the Altadena wildfires earlier this year…

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission began the claims process for Jewish students and faculty at Columbia University who reported having experienced antisemitism on the campus between Oct. 7, 2023, and July 2025; the payments will come from a $21 million class claims fund established by the university as part of its $221 million settlement with the Trump administration reached earlier this year…

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by a Jewish Harvard Business School graduate who claimed the school violated his civil rights in its decision not to discipline two student-employees involved in an incident at an anti-Israel protest on campus in October 2023…

The New York Times spotlights artist Cornelia Foss, whose new exhibit, “Little Red,” was inspired by her childhood escape from Nazi Germany in 1939…

Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Slovenia pulled out of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest after the European Broadcasting Union determined on Thursday that Israel will be allowed to compete…

A Lithuanian court fined the leader of the country’s populist Dawn of Nemunas party €5,000 after finding him guilty of inciting antisemitism and downplaying the Holocaust; among the comments made by Remigijus Žemaitaitis, whose party is in a coalition with the ruling Social Democrats, was a social media post blaming Jews for the “destruction of our nation”…

A new report from the office of Israel’s public defender found that treatment of Palestinians in Israeli prisons rapidly deteriorated following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks…

Israeli media reported the death of Gazan clan leader Yasser Abu Shabab, who led one of the main groups opposing Hamas rule in the enclave and had been targeted for assassination by the terror group…

The Israeli cabinet approved the defense budget for 2026 at 112 billion shekels ($34.63 billion), a 22 billion shekel increase from a previously presented draft budget…

The Wall Street Journal reports on European interest in Israeli military technology amid concerns about Russian aggression across the Continent…

Israeli series “Tehran” will return for its third season on Jan. 9 after delays related to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack and ensuing war; filming for the fourth season is already underway… 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi extended an invitation to his Lebanese counterpart to visit Iran to discuss bilateral ties between Tehran and Beirut…

An Instagram post from the account of Sheikh Mansour bin Jabor bin Jassim Al Thani, the head of Qatar’s Government Communications Office, featured an image of a drone show marking the end of The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live conference in Doha. Read more about the Journal‘s expanded ties with Qatar here.

Former manager of the Israel national baseball team including at the 2020 Olympics, Eric Holtz turns 60…

FRIDAY: Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist, emeritus professor at Harvard and professor at Boston University, Sheldon Lee Glashow turns 93… St. Louis-based luxury senior living developer, Charles J. Deutsch turns 76… Professor in the school of journalism at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, Stuart Neil Brotman turns 73… Former U.S. ambassador to France and Monaco, she was a co-owner and CEO of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Jamie Luskin McCourt turns 72… Mediator and arbitrator for JAMSand J Street board member, Michael D. Young… Golfer on the PGA Tour and later a golf teaching professional, Anthony Irvin (Tony) Sills turns 70… Professor of Jewish history at Ben-Gurion University, she is focused on Sephardic heritage, Haviva Pedaya turns 68… Venture capitalist, speaker and investment advisor, Pascal Norman Levensohn turns 65… NYC-based author and clinical psychologist with specialties in aging and cancer, Mindy Greenstein, Ph.D…. Film, television and theater actress, Ilana Levine turns 62… Professor at the University of Chicago Law School, Eric A. Posner turns 60… Professor and dean emeritus of Columbia Law School, he served as CEO of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and was once a law clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David M. Schizer turns 57… Urologist in Westchester County, N.Y., Judd Boczko, M.D…. Ontario-born supermodel and actress, Shalom Harlow turns 52… President of The LS Group and political fundraiser, Lisa Spies… Co-founder and CEO of Axios, Roy Schwartz… Emmy Award-winning author and reporter, he is the chief national correspondent for ABC News, Matthew A. Gutman turns 48… Israeli-born, acclaimed video game developer, Neil Druckmann turns 47… Musical songwriting and producing duo, identical twins Ryan and Dan Kowarsky turn 46… Communications and marketing consultant, Adam S. Rosenberg… Senior managing director at Liberty Strategic Capital, Eli H. Miller… Emmy Award-winning senior personal technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal, Joanna Stern turns 41… Media correspondent for The New York Times, Michael Mendel Grynbaum… Israeli film and television music composer based in Los Angeles, Naama “Nami” Melumad turns 37… Reporter on the obituary desk of The New York Times, Alexander E. Traub… Chess master and commentator, his YouTube page has 5.7 million subscribers and over 3 billion views, Levy Rozman turns 30… Principal at Envision Strategy, Jonathan Shabshaikhes… Israeli model, Adar Gandelsman turns 28…

SATURDAY: Moshe Hochenberg… Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for 20 years until 2014 and active in a range of Jewish organizations, Lawrence S. Bergman turns 85… Renowned artist whose sculpture, photography, neon and video works appear in museums worldwide, Bruce Nauman turns 84… Israeli-born art collector and producer of over 130 full-length films, Arnon Milchan turns 81… Founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure (named after her late sister), she also served as U.S. ambassador to Hungary and chief of protocol of the U.S., Nancy Goodman Brinker turns 79… Professor emeritus of Talmudic culture at the University of California, Berkeley, Daniel Boyarin turns 79… Senior U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Ohio, he has served as a trustee of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, Judge Dan Aaron Polster turns 74… Cell and molecular biologist, he is a professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, David L. Spector turns 73… Founder of Craigslist, Craig Newmark turns 73… Film, stage and television actress, Gina Hecht turns 72… Faculty member at Harvard Law School since 1981, she served as dean from 2009-2017, Martha Minow turns 71… Author of a bestselling novel, Memoirs of a Geisha, with over 4 million copies sold, Arthur Sulzberger Golden turns 69… SVP and general counsel at United Airlines, Robert S. Rivkin turns 65… Former EVP and COO of the Inter-American Development Bank, Julie T. Katzman turns 64… Emmy Award-winning producer, writer, director, actor and comedian, Judd Apatow turns 58… Israel’s minister of education, he was a fighter pilot for the IDF and then a civilian pilot for El Al before entering politics, Yoav Kisch turns 57… Professor of economics at the University of Chicago, he previously served as the chief economist for President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors, Michael Greenstone turns 57… Professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, he is a son and grandson of rabbis, Julian E. Zelizer turns 56… Editor-in-chief of J. The Jewish News of Northern California, Chanan Tigay turns 50… Communications advisor at nexos.ai and host of the “The Dejargonizer” podcast, Amir Mizroch turns 50… Managing director in the NYC office of PR firm BerlinRosen, Dan Levitan… Editor-in-chief at The Air Current, Jon Ostrower… Venture capitalist in Israel, Ilan Regenbaum… Licensed community association manager in South Florida, now a regional associate at Bozzuto, Beth Argaman… Assistant professor in international relations and global politics at the American University of Rome, Andrea Dessì… Joe Blumenthal…

SUNDAY: Linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, political activist and professor emeritus at MIT, Noam Chomsky turns 97… Author or editor of 40 books including The New York Times best-selling Chicken Soup for the Jewish Soul, Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins turns 88… Actor, director and producer, Larry Hankin turns 88… Hedge fund manager, he is the co-founder of Taglit-Birthright Israel and the founder of Hebrew language charter schools in NYC, Michael Steinhardt turns 85… Professor of mathematics at Princeton University, Nicholas Michael Katz turns 82… Novelist, essayist and screenwriter, Susan Isaacs turns 82… Former Israeli Foreign Ministry legal advisor and then Israeli ambassador to Canada, now at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Ambassador Alan Baker turns 78… Chair emeritus of the Longmeadow, Mass., Democratic Town Committee, Candy Glazer… Director and vice chairman of Simon Property Group, Richard S. Sokolov turns 76… Past board chair and president of AIPAC, Lillian Pinkus turns 74… U.S. senator (R-ME), Susan Collins turns 73… Chairman of Loews Hotels and co-owner of the NFL’s New York Giants, Jonathan M. Tisch turns 72… Haifa-born composer and professor of music at Harvard, Chaya Czernowin turns 68… Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention throughout most of the Obama administration, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden turns 65… Teacher in the Elko County School District in northeast Nevada and leader of the local Jewish community there, Shawn Welton-Lowe… Provost and interim dean of the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education at The Jewish Theological Seminary, Dr. Jeffrey Kress turns 57… Co-founder of Laurel Strategies, a CEO advisory firm based in Washington, Dafna Tapiero… Director, producer, writer, actor and comedian, best known as the director of “Modern Family,” Jason Winer turns 53… President of baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs, Jed Hoyer turns 52… Leading actress in multiple television series including “Roswell” and “Unreal,” Shiri Appleby turns 47… Managing partner of NYC-based Capitol Consulting, he was previously at the UJA-Federation of New York and at the Orthodox Union, Jeffrey Leb… Food critic for The New Yorker, she received a 2024 James Beard Award, Hannah Goldfield… Co-author of Union: A Republican, a Democrat, and a Search for Common Ground, he is the managing partner at America’s Frontier Fund, Jordan Blashek… Executive director at NYC’s Mission Staffing, Jaime Leiman… Founder and CEO of Go Dash Dot, an active wear accessories brand, Hannah Fastov… Physician practicing in the U.K., Carine Moezinia… Freelance content creator and social media manager, Hannah Vilinsky… VP and head of the startup division at the Israel Innovation Authority, Hanan Brand… Jeff Blum… Toby Lerner…

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

With one foot already out the door of Gracie Mansion, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced at the North American Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism last night that he’s signing an executive order barring city agencies from participating in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. His message to his successor, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani? “If the incoming administration wants to reverse [the executive order], that is on their watch.”

Mamdani responded today, telling reporters, “The mayor is free to issue as many executive orders as he’d like with the less than 30 days that he has in office, and then we will be taking a look at every single one once we actually enter into City Hall”…

Several democratic socialists are eyeing a run for New York’s deeply progressive 7th Congressional District, a Brooklyn and Queens-area seat where Democratic Rep. Nydia Velázquez is retiring, The New York Times reports. Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso entered the race today, though he said the Democratic Socialists of America, which he had approached to support his candidacy, conveyed it is looking to “run one of its own members,” setting up what’s likely to be a tense intra-faction race. Velázquez has held various anti-Israel positions during her decades in Congress, including recently co-sponsoring a Code Pink-backed resolution accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza…

The federal government announced today that anyone who was employed by Columbia University between Oct. 7, 2023-July 2025 and experienced discrimination based on “their Jewish faith, Jewish ancestry, and/or Israeli national origin, and/or because they objected to or complained about such harassment” can now apply to receive part of a $21 million fund Columbia was required to create as part of its agreement with the federal government.

“This resolution represents the largest [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] public settlement in nearly 20 years for any form of discrimination or harassment. In addition, in the EEOC’s 60-year history, this is both the largest EEOC settlement for victims of antisemitism to date, as well as the most significant EEOC settlement for workers of any faith or religion,” the commission said…

Abbas Alawieh, co-founder of the “Uncommitted” movement and previous chief of staff to former Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), declared his candidacy for the Michigan state Senate today. “When the establishment was funding genocide abroad while failing to deliver for working families here at home, I took action and led a historic anti-war movement that mobilized one million pro-peace Democratic voters to demand change,” he said in his campaign launch video…

Israeli media reports President Donald Trump will announce the beginning of the second phase of his 20-point Gaza peace plan in the next few weeks, according to senior American officials. The move is thought to take place before Christmas, shortly after which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to visit the White House for the fifth time since the beginning of the year…

The head of an anti-Hamas Palestinian militia in Gaza that received backing from Israel was killed in a “clash” today, an Israeli official told The New York Times. Israel said it provided arms to his group, the Popular Forces, as a counter to Hamas, which the militia denies…

The U.S. declined to sanction Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other PA officials for payments to terrorists under its “pay-for-slay” policy, which the White House had threatened to do last month, after Abbas fired the minister responsible for authorizing the payments, The Times of Israel reports…

Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia announced their intent to boycott next year’s Eurovision Song Contest after organizers declined requests to hold a vote to boot Israel from the competition. Israeli President Isaac Herzog welcomed Israel’s continued participation, saying the country “deserves to be represented on every stage around the world”…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a profile of the first Hasidic Jew to serve in a government role that required Senate confirmation.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw is taking place at the Kennedy Center in Washington tomorrow, with President Donald Trump expected to attend. Iran now plans to send representatives, its sports minister said, after initially boycotting the draw when several members of its delegation were denied visas to enter the U.S.

Meanwhile, the two-day Reagan National Defense Forum will kick off in Simi Valley, Calif. Among the guests and speakers at the national security confab: Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget; Reps. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), Don Bacon (R-NE), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Seth Moulton (D-MA) and Adam Smith (D-WA); Sens. Jim Banks (R-IN), Ted Budd (R-NC), Chris Coons (D-DE), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Rick Scott (R-FL) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH); Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorganChase; Gen. Michael Guetlein, director of the Golden Dome at the Department of Defense; Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of 8VC; Leon Panetta, former secretary of defense; and many more representatives of the U.S. military, European nations, defense contractors and think tanks.

In Qatar, the Doha Forum will begin Saturday, a diplomatic gathering cosponsored by a panoply of elite institutions featuring discussions on Israel, Gaza, Iran, Syria, Ukraine, international tribunals and other topics of geopolitical interest. Among the high-profile speakers are Tucker Carlson, in conversation with the Qatari prime minister; Carlson’s business partner Neil Patel; and Carlson’s investor Omeed Malik, who will speak alongside Donald Trump Jr. Read more about the gathering from JI’s Matthew Shea.

Nearby, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected to arrive in Israel Saturday night for his first visit since taking office, weeks after Germany announced it would lift its partial arms embargo on Israel. Merz is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to discuss the Gaza ceasefire and visit Yad Vashem. 

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-OR) apologized in a letter to Portland’s Jewish community for a recent House floor speech in which she appeared to compare the war in Gaza to the Holocaust, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports, while maintaining her support for a resolution describing the war as a genocide.

Dexter said that she “should not have discussed” the war in Gaza and the Holocaust “during the same speech” and acknowledged that the speech “gave many the impression I was comparing them” when she did not intend to do so. 

Bob Horenstein, chief community relations and public affairs officer at the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, told the Jewish Review that, in a meeting with Dexter, the congresswoman “reinforced Israel’s right to exist and to self-defense. However, she believed the Netanyahu government went too far and thus would not withdraw her co-sponsorship of the misguided congressional resolution”…

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted this morning to advance Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun’s nomination to be the Trump administration’s antisemitism envoy, clearing the way for a full Senate vote on his confirmation, JI’s Emily Jacobs reports.

All 12 Republicans on the committee voted in favor, while eight of the 10 Democrats on the panel were opposed. The two Democrats who voted to support Kaploun were the committee’s ranking Democrat, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), a close ally of the Jewish community…

The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to advance a bill designating the entire Muslim Brotherhood globally as a terror organization this afternoon; all committee Republicans as well as Democratic Reps. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), Greg Stanton (D-AZ), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Jim Costa (D-CA), George Latimer (D-NY) and Brad Schneider (D-IL) voted in favor…

Congressional Democrats aren’t giving up on their opposition to embattled Trump appointee Paul Ingrassia: six Democratic members of the Senate Homeland Security Committee sent a letter to the White House today calling for Ingrassia’s “immediate removal” as acting general counsel at the General Services Administration, Politico scooped. 

Ingrassia was appointed to the GSA last month after he withdrew his own nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel when antisemitic and racist text messages of his were unearthed. The senators, led by Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), referenced these messages among their concerns in the letter, including Ingrassia’s claim that he has a “Nazi streak”…

Speaking via video at The New York Times’ annual DealBook summit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would visit New York City despite Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s threat to have him arrested on war crimes charges if he does so, JI’s Lahav Harkov reports. As to whether he would meet with Mamdani, Netanyahu said: “If he changes his mind and says we [Israel] have a right to exist, that’ll be a good opening for a conversation”…

New conditions by the Trump administration have caused a stall in negotiations with Harvard over a deal to restore its federal funding, The New York Times reports, an agreement that seemed close to fruition over the summer. Federal officials are now pushing for some of a $500 million penalty from Harvard to be paid as a fine directly to the government, rather than solely for workforce development programs, as the university had agreed to…

Israel and Lebanon sent diplomatic delegations to meet with the U.S.-led ceasefire monitoring committee for the first time today — as opposed to military representatives — amid increased military action by Israel in southern Lebanon as Hezbollah reportedly begins rearming. Netanyahu sent a member of his National Security Council, Lebanon sent former Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Simon Karam and Morgan Ortagus, U.S. deputy special envoy to the Middle East, represented Washington…

Five IDF soldiers were wounded, one seriously, in an attack today by terrorists near Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Netanyahu said Israel would “respond accordingly” and the IDF carried out an airstrike against a Hamas operative in the area…

At the same time, Israel announced today it would begin allowing Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing; Egypt denied the move, claiming the ceasefire agreement requires that the border be opened to both incoming and outgoing movement, enabling Gazans displaced to Egypt to return to the enclave…

The New York Times profiles the operatives at the center of a leaked Kansas Young Republicans group chat filled with racist and antisemitic language. “Looking back, Mr. [William] Hendrix sees how his texts could be offensive. But he said he did not intend them that way. This was his generation’s breaking of taboos, he said. He would never use this language with someone he did not know or did not like, he said, but saying it to a close friend feels transgressive and fun”…

A report by the Pentagon watchdog found that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth risked endangering American troops by sharing sensitive information in a non-secured message thread on Signal earlier this year, CNN reports, though it also notes he has the authority to declassify information as he sees fit. The unclassified version of the report is set to be released to the public tomorrow…

Guinness World Records confirmed reports today that it is not accepting new world records from Israel: “We are aware of just how sensitive this is at the moment. We truly do believe in record breaking for everyone, everywhere but unfortunately in the current climate we are not generally processing record applications from the Palestinian Territories or Israel, or where either is given as the attempt location, with the exception of those done in cooperation with a UN humanitarian aid relief agency,” the organization said.

“The policy has been in place since November 2023. However, we are monitoring the situation carefully and the policy is subject to a monthly review. We hope to be in a position to receive new enquiries soon.” However, at least one new record has been recorded in Israel this year…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for reporting on a trip by a New York City charter school system to Auschwitz and a dispatch from this morning’s Lox & Legislators breakfast with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, where Maryland Gov. Wes Moore pledged new hate crimes funding.

The UJA-Federation of New York, in partnership with the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and other Jewish groups, is hosting a solidarity gathering near Park East Synagogue in Manhattan, after the synagogue faced disruptive protests last month over an event promoting immigration to Israel. 

The Milken Institute will kick off its two-day Middle East and North Africa Summit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, covering topics including the “great AI adoption race,” venture capital, philanthropy, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, global food security and more.

• The House Foreign Affairs Committee is holding a vote today to advance legislation designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. More below.
• The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding a vote this morning on advancing the nominations of Yehuda Kaploun and Tammy Bruce to be the State Department’s antisemitism envoy and deputy representative to the U.N., respectively.
• Jared Isaacman will face the Senate Commerce Committee today for a second hearing to be the administrator of NASA, eight months after his initial nomination was pulled during a spat between Elon Musk, who backed his nomination, and President Donald Trump.
• Elsewhere in Washington, SKDK is hosting a small gathering with the parents of slain Israeli Americans Omer Neutra and Itay Chen and their supporters.
• In Maryland, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington is hosting its annual “Lox and Legislators” event in Rockville this morning. Gov. Wes Moore, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) and Democratic Reps. April McClain Delaney and Glenn Ivey are slated to speak.
• In New York, Israel Policy Forum is honoring Bob Elman and Bob Sugarman this afternoon at the group’s annual gala. The event will also feature a discussion with Ambassador Michael Ratney, Elisa Ewers and Rachel Brandenburg on the future of U.S. leadership in the Middle East.
• White House Deputy Special Envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus is in Israel this week for meetings with senior Israeli officials. Israeli media reported that Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is expected to present Ortagus with recent findings indicating that Hezbollah is rearming itself in Lebanon in violation of a ceasefire agreement inked between Jerusalem and Beirut last year. 

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S marc rod

Qatar, whose ties to the Muslim Brotherhood have drawn scrutiny in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, is doubling down on a charm offensive focused on a handful of GOP lawmakers and conservative social media influencers, all while hosting two of the most established brands in American news. 

A group of House Republicans visited Qatar during the House’s Thanksgiving recess last week, including Reps. Laurel Lee (R-FL), Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ), Ryan Zinke (R-MT) and Lance Gooden (R-TX). The trip occurred just before the House Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled to vote on legislation that classifies the entire Muslim Brotherhood organization globally as a terrorist group.

A group of conservative social media influencers also visited Qatar over Thanksgiving, posting glowing dispatches lauding the country and its role in hosting a U.S. military base. 

Rob Smith, one of the invited guests, posted credulously about Qatar on his Instagram feed after the trip, “I wasn’t aware of a great deal of things about Qatar, only misperceptions and half-truths I’d read about online. When the opportunity was presented to me, with full authority and autonomy to ask the tough questions of the officials I’d be meeting with, I decided to risk any potential criticism and to travel and experience it for myself.”

Meanwhile, numerous prominent celebrities — including comedian Kevin Hart, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and tennis star Novak Djokovic — gathered in Doha over the weekend for the 2025 Formula One Qatar Grand Prix.

And this week, the country is hosting the Doha Forum, a conference co-sponsored by CNN. Those attending the conference include several Trump administration officials and ambassadors, politicians and philanthropists, alongside Israel-bashing officials such as former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, sanctioned U.N. special rapporteur Francesca Albanese and former Iran envoy Rob Malley.

Others on the guest list include: Donald Trump Jr., U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker, Trump advisor Alex Bruesewitz, the Heritage Foundation’s Victoria Coates, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates, the Quincy Institute’s Trita Parsi, CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour and other officials, leaders and analysts from around the world.

Also this week, The Wall Street Journal is hosting a technology conference in Doha, featuring business leaders and celebrities, hosted by various Journal reporters. As JI’s Matthew Kassel reports (see more below), the summit is raising ethical questions surrounding the paper’s deepening business ties with Qatar — even as the Journal’s conservative editorial page has slammed the Gulf monarchy as a financial and diplomatic sponsor of Hamas. 

Each of these events comes at a time when Qatar’s complicated public reputation in the United States is becoming a flashpoint, particularly inside the conservative movement.

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

The Instagram Mayor: The Wall Street Journal’s Jim Carlton spotlights San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s embrace of social media as a means to boost the city’s standing after being elected on a platform of revitalizing the Bay Area, which for years had been plagued by economic and safety issues. “The 47-year-old Levi Strauss heir has become ubiquitous on the city’s social-media scene. He posts musings every day from his wanderings around San Francisco, some on somber topics like ongoing drug use but most are upbeat — even a bit hokey. … Social media, he added, is his way of telling San Franciscans — and the world — how the city is progressing. ‘It’s about being unfiltered, speaking directly to the people of San Francisco,’ the mayor said as he walked along the city’s waterfront last month after one of many stops, holding an umbrella against a cold, light rain.” [WSJ]

Having Hurwitz’s Back: In the Jewish Telegraph Agency, Jarrod Bernstein, Shelley Greenspan and Chanan Weissman, all former White House Jewish liaisons, defend former White House speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz amid a deluge of online criticism over a misleadingly edited video clip in which Hurwitz discussed how Holocaust education has impacted conversations about the Israel-Hamas war. “What followed was a torrent of outrage from people who claimed Sarah was arguing that we shouldn’t teach Holocaust education because doing so makes young people think the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is a genocide. Others claimed she was saying that genocide only matters when it’s perpetrated against Jews. Such sentiments would obviously be obscene, and we were shocked that people would attribute them to Sarah, someone who just published a book in which she expressed profound anguish about the unbearable deaths of civilians in Gaza. … Sarah was also conveying that, contrary to the impression young people get on social media, what happened in Gaza is not analogous to the Holocaust. It was a devastating war that does not fit neatly into a simplistic frame of oppressor versus oppressed. That black and white paradigm disregards the complex challenges that continue to stymie a resolution to this heartbreaking conflict.” [JTA]

Spotlight Shapiro: The Atlantic‘s Tim Alberta profiles Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, amid speculation that the moderate Democrat could mount a presidential bid in 2028. “For a man with such an established public profile—years as a congressional aide, decades in various elected offices, a network as extensive as that of any Democrat in office today—Shapiro remains something of a mystery, a man whose real views and motives are widely debated but ill-defined. In conversations with dozens of people who know the governor, a certain irony is inescapable. Shapiro seems to believe that he is uniquely equipped to run for president and repair the Democratic Party’s deficit of trust and authenticity. Any such campaign, however, would expose deficits of his own.” [TheAtlantic]

The State Department’s Jacob Helberg said that the U.S. is looking to lock in agreements with eight countries, including Israel and the United Arab Emirates, that will strengthen supply chains for computer chips and minerals critical to the production of AI technology; the White House is hosting the first meeting with officials from the countries on Dec. 12…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed openness to a U.S.-brokered security deal with Damascus involving southern Syria, with the caveat that Syria respects the buffer zone between the countries…

Republican Matt Van Epps defeated Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn by nine points in the special election in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District…

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) ruled out a primary challenge to Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), announcing on Tuesday that she’ll run for reelection in Massachusetts’ 7th Congressional District…

James Solomon won Jersey City’s runoff election for mayor, besting former Gov. Jim McGreevey…

Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Claudia Tenney (R-NY) wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to work to secure the release of Kamran Hekmati, an American-Iranian dual citizen and member of the Persian Jewish community arrested in Iran earlier this year for having visited Israel 13 years ago…

The New York Young Republican Club is slated to honor far-right Alternative for Germany senior official Markus Frohnmaier at its upcoming annual gala…

A new offer from David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance for Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly has backing from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi; Paramount made the higher, second-round bid for the entire company, while Netflix and Comcast submitted bids for only Warner Bros.’ studios and streaming business… 

Philanthropists Michael and Susan Dell are donating $6.25 billion to back the creation of seed investment accounts for children in the U.S. as part of the “Trump accounts” program…

The family of Holocaust survivor Erno Spiegel donated the pen he used to falsify records to save dozens of sets of twins who were subject to medical experiments at Auschwitz…

OneTable laid off 25% of its employees as it undertakes a “planned, strategic shift” in its staffing…

The U.K.’s independent advisor on antisemitism told Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee that U.K. police altered evidence it used to justify banning Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from attending a recent soccer match against Aston Villa…

U.K. Attorney General Richard Hermer urged Nigel Farage to apologize to former classmates over what they claimed were repeated antisemitic and racist insults from the Reform UK leader during his teenage years… 

Israel is finalizing the handover of its Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile defense system to Germany, marking, at $4.2 billion, Jerusalem’s largest defense export deal…

Israeli officials said that remains transferred from Hamas to Red Cross officials on Tuesday do not match either of the remaining two hostages in Gaza…

The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt is slated to reopen in the coming days, allowing access out of the enclave to Palestinians who have been approved by Israeli security officials…

Lockheed Martin, together with Israel’s Industrial Cooperation Authority, signed an extension this week for the Umbrella Industrial Cooperation Agreement (UICA) through the end of 2029. The ceremony was led by Israeli Minister of Economy Nir Barkat (center left), Lockheed Martin Chief Operating Officer Frank St. John (center right), Lockheed Martin Israel Chief Executive Tal Galor (right), the ministry’s Head of Industry Division Nurit Tsur-Rabino and Head of Industrial Cooperation Authority Division Yazeed Sheick-Yousif.

Professional tennis player with a WTA doubles ranking that reached as high as 21, Sharon Fichman turns 35…

Close associate of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and influential leader within Chabad, Rabbi Chaim Yehuda “Yudel” Krinsky turns 92… Founder of a successful wedding gown business and a lifestyle coach, Sandy Stackler… 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winner for his book on Arabs and Jews in Israel, he was a long-serving foreign correspondent and Washington bureau chief for The New York Times, David K. Shipler turns 83… Member of the New York State Assembly since 1994, Jeffrey Dinowitz turns 71… Former Argentine minister of foreign affairs, Gerardo Werthein turns 70… Miami-based criminal defense attorney whose clients have included O.J. Simpson and Charlie Sheen, Yale Lance Galanter turns 69… Painter and art teacher residing in Maryland, her teaching career started in Petach Tikva, Heidi Praff… Former editorial page editor at USA Today, William “Bill” Sternberg… Former member of the House of Representatives (D-NC) until January, now chair of Democratic Majority for Israel, Kathy Manning turns 69… British publicist, music manager and former tabloid journalist, Rob Goldstone turns 65… President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 2023, Sally A. Kornbluth turns 65… Aerospace and technology executive, entertainment attorney and media mogul, Jon F. Vein turns 62… Former member of the Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Eli Avidar turns 61… Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California, she won Adam Schiff’s House seat in 2025, Democrat Laura Friedman turns 59… First VP at Adat Ari El Congregation in Valley Village, Calif., Malinda Wozniak Marcus… Cellist and associate professor at McGill University, Matt Haimovitz turns 55… SVP of strategic initiatives at NBC News until 2024, now a communications consultant, Alison “Ali” Weisberg Zelenko… Associate professor of Jewish history and chair of Jewish studies at Yeshiva University, Joshua M. Karlip, Ph.D. turns 54… French journalist, author, television and radio personality, Marie Drucker turns 51… Emmy and Grammy Award-winning comedian and actress, she discovered her Eritrean Jewish roots as an adult, Tiffany Haddish turns 46… Financial trader and founder of XTX Markets, Alex Gerko turns 46… CEO of Solar One, he was a member of the New York City Council through 2021, Stephen T. Levin turns 44… Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, Rachel Sarah Bloomekatz turns 43… Hasidic singer, his music videos have 120 million views on YouTube, Benzion Hakohen “Benny” Friedman turns 41… Founding partner and head of business strategy at Triadic, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Edelman… 

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

ESPN college football commentator Paul Finebaum has decided not to enter the Republican primary to replace former Auburn football coach and outgoing Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), AL.com reports, after he told Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs last week that he was weighing a bid.

Finebaum said he was “appreciative of my bosses at ESPN for allowing me to explore this opportunity. But it’s time for me to devote my full attention to something everyone in Alabama can agree upon — our love of college football”…

Also staying out of the fray, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), a member of the Squad, has decided not to challenge Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), instead seeking reelection to her own House seat, she said in a statement. If she had run, Pressley would have been a formidable primary opponent to both Markey and Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), who is also in the race, as all three have staked out anti-Israel positions…

After AIPAC bought a series of digital ads on Instagram and Facebook targeting Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) for his comments claiming Israel committed genocide in Gaza, Khanna released a video statement today saying AIPAC wants to “prevent me from having a seat at the table in the leadership of our country”…

Asked about Tucker Carlson’s interview with neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes at the Israel Hayom summit in Manhattan today, Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department, said, “The antidote to speech that you don’t like is more speech. It isn’t shutting down speech. And so, I don’t agree with a single word that Nick Fuentes says or has to say, and the decision of whether or not to platform that person is one for my friend and former client, Tucker Carlson”…

Dhillon also called New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani an “antisemitic demagogue,” diverging from President Donald Trump, who held a friendly Oval Office meeting with Mamdani last month, and said that, under the incoming mayor’s administration, the Justice Department would be “responding with law enforcement, to the extent that the city of New York fails to protect Jews”…

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke on stage about her experiences with students in her class at Columbia University, where she teaches about international relations, following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks: “When you would try to talk to [the students] to engage in some kind of reasonable discussion, it was very difficult because they did not know history, they had very little context and what they were being told on social media was not just one-sided, it was pure propaganda”…

Abroad, after Trump pushed Israel yesterday to maintain a “strong and true dialogue” with Syria, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today while visiting Israeli soldiers who were wounded in southern Syria, “In good spirit and understanding, an agreement can be reached with the Syrians, but we will stand by our principles.”

He said Israel’s requirements for such an agreement would be the demilitarization of a buffer zone in southern Syria and that the Syrian Druze community be guaranteed protection by the government…

Israeli media reports that Israel plans to present Morgan Ortagus, U.S. deputy special envoy to the Middle East, who is visiting the country today, with intelligence proving Hezbollah is rearming in southern Lebanon…

An Israeli delegation visited Germany this week to begin the handover of an Arrow 3 missile defense system, which Berlin purchased in 2023 for $3.5 billion, Israel’s largest arms deal to date. The system is set to be deployed tomorrow in Germany, the first country outside of Israel to operate it, in an effort to bolster European air defenses against Russia…

The chief of the West Midlands Police force in the U.K. admitted in a parliamentary committee hearing yesterday that the report presented to the Aston Villa soccer club that led fans of Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team to be banned from attending a game in Birmingham, England, last month included false and fabricated information.

The report referenced a November 2023 match between Maccabi and the West Ham soccer team that never took place, and claimed that Maccabi fans had harassed and assaulted Muslim communities during a match in Amsterdam, which Dutch law enforcement said did not occur…

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar engaged in a public spat with Irish Ambassador to Israel Sonya McGuinness at a Foreign Ministry event in Jerusalem today over the Dublin City Council’s shelved vote to remove former Israeli President Chaim Herzog’s name from a public park. 

In a brief back and forth, Sa’ar accused the city council of only walking back its “antisemitic proposed decision” after international uproar and said, “There’s nothing in your system right now that can defend you from that virus of antisemitism except [for] external pressure and exposing the antisemitic nature of this government of Ireland … We will continue to expose you until you will understand that you cannot deceive the world”…

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

Keep an eye out in tomorrow’s Jewish Insider for reporting on recent efforts by Iran International, an independent Persian-language broadcaster, to bring the voices of U.S. policymakers to Iranian citizens.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote on the nominations of Yehuda Kaploun to be special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism and Tammy Bruce to be U.S. deputy ambassador to the U.N. Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold a nomination hearing for Jared Isaacman to become head of NASA.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a vote to designate the entire Muslim Brotherhood globally as a foreign terror organization. 

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington will hold its “Lox & Legislators” Maryland Legislative Breakfast tomorrow morning, including appearances by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Reps. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) and April McClain Delaney (D-MD) and Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich.

The Israel Policy Forum will host its annual benefit in Manhattan honoring board members Bob Elman, former president of the American Jewish Committee, and Bob Sugarman, former chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and of the Anti-Defamation League.

• In Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District today, Republican Matt Van Epps and Democrat Aftyn Behn face off in the special election to replace Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), who resigned over the summer. More below.
• In Washington, the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates is holding its annual National Day celebration.
• Elsewhere in Washington, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is hosting the premiere of “The Last Twins,” a documentary about the efforts of Erno “Zvi” Spiegel, a Hungarian Jewish man and prisoner at Auschwitz who protected twins imprisoned at the concentration camp.
• Israel Hayom is holding its first New York summit today in Manhattan. Speakers include the Israeli daily’s publisher Dr. Miriam Adelson, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz, outgoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams, U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Response Adam Boehler, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder, TWG Global managing partner and former Biden administration senior official Amos Hochstein, the Justice Department’s Harmeet Dhillon and former hostages Guy Gilboa Dallal and Evyatar David.
• The Combat Antisemitism Movement is holding its 2025 North American Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism in New Orleans.
• In Miami, Art Basel kicks off today and runs through the weekend.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Josh Kraushaar

Today’s special election in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District — covering parts of Nashville, its conservative suburbs and rural counties in middle Tennessee — was expected to be a sleepy affair, given that the district backed President Donald Trump with 60% of the vote in 2024. The state’s aggressively partisan redistricting in 2021 was intended to guarantee GOP dominance of the state’s congressional delegation, leaving just one Democratic district in Memphis.

But in a sign that Trump’s growing unpopularity is creating unforeseen problems for Republicans in conservative constituencies, the race between Republican military veteran Matt Van Epps, a former state Cabinet secretary, and Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn is highly competitive. 

The fact that polls show the race tightening — with one Emerson College poll showing Van Epps in a statistical tie with Behn — is a sign of just how treacherous the political landscape has become for Republicans. Gallup’s latest survey found Trump with a 36% job approval, close to an all-time low throughout his two terms in office.  

If Republicans are nervous about holding a seat that Trump won by 22 points, there’s a growing likelihood of a blue wave that would give Democrats comfortable control of the House and an outside shot at a Senate majority. (One useful benchmark: Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) carried the 7th District by just two points in her 2018 Senate race, the last election year when Democrats rode a wave to win back the House.)

The fact that Republicans are struggling to make the case that the unapologetically progressive Behn holds views out of step with the conservative district on everything from anti-police rhetoric to antipathy towards her home city of Nashville to a record of hostility against Israel is also a sign of how nationalized our politics have become. In today’s tribal world, candidate quality and specific policy views mean a lot less than the overall political mood (vibes) and the popularity of the president.

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

Target on Their Backs: The New Yorker’s Benjamin Wallace-Wells spotlights the rise in political violence targeting U.S. officials on both sides of the aisle, including the Passover firebombing of the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion targeting Gov. Josh Shapiro. “[Cody] Balmer had pleaded guilty in mid-October, not just to arson and terrorism but to attempted murder. But Shapiro was still reluctant to focus on his attacker. ‘The prosecutor felt it was important to introduce into evidence the bomber’s claims that he did that because of “what I did to the Palestinians,” so clearly there was some motivation because of my faith,’ Shapiro said. ‘But I think it is dangerous for you or anyone else to think about those who perpetrate these violent attacks as linear thinkers, meaning that they have a left-wing ideology or a right-wing ideology, or that they have a firm set of beliefs the way you might or I might. These are clearly irrational thinkers. And I think that’s true of others who have claimed lives, whether it’s [Minnesota] Speaker [Melissa] Hortman’s or Charlie Kirk’s.’” [NewYorker]

Bearing Arms: The Atlantic’s Isaac Stanley-Becker reports on Germany’s moves to rebuild its offensive military capabilities amid concerns over increased Russian aggression on the Continent and moves by Washington toward neo-isolationism. “[Colonel Dennis] Krüger told me about traveling to Tel Aviv to fine-tune a missile-defense system purchased from the Israelis that can intercept and destroy long-range ballistic missiles in space. … For decades, Germany has been a top exporter of arms to Israel, its commitment to the security of the Jewish state a legacy of the Holocaust. Arrow 3, the largest defense deal in Israeli history, reverses that logic by making Israel a guarantor of German safety. Krüger said that work on the weapons system turned representatives from the two militaries into a ‘family,’ and that they built camaraderie when his staff waited out missile attacks in Tel Aviv’s belowground shelters with their Israeli counterparts. The weapons acquisition from Israel is ‘one next step,’ Krüger said, ‘in overcoming our history.’” [TheAtlantic]

Following a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump called on Jerusalem to “maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria” and warned Israel to avoid scenarios “that will interfere with Syria’s evolution into a prosperous State”…

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, the U.S.’ Syria envoy, met in Damascus on Monday with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in an effort to calm tensions between Syria and Israel following weekend clashes…

Politico looks at concerns among Republican Jewish donors over increasing antisemitism on the right…

Sam Altman’s OpenAI is taking an ownership stake in Josh Kushner’s Thrive Holdings and will integrate its AI tools into Thrive’s companies, which were acquired with an eye toward consolidating them and incorporating AI into their processes; Thrive had previously invested billions of dollars in OpenAI… 

Private equity firm Apax Partners acquired Israeli online marketplace Yad2 for $950 million…

Harvard hired a recent divinity school graduate who was filmed in late 2023 assaulting a Jewish student at a “die-in” at the Cambridge campus…

The New York Times spotlights Eli Zabar’s egg salad sandwich…

Israeli filmmaker Rachel Elitzur interviews religious Jewish couples about their first night of marriage in her short documentary “The First Night”…

The Norwegian government is struggling to reach a consensus on issues regarding oil drilling and Oslo’s sovereign wealth fund’s investments in Israel in its draft budget for the coming year ahead of a vote scheduled for Friday…

A synagogue and memorial in Rome to a 2-year-old Jewish victim of terror were vandalizedearlier this week, drawing condemnations from the city’s Jewish community and Italy’s foreign minister, who called the vandalism “unacceptable”…

Colombia expelled more than two dozen members of the Lev Tahor sect, including 17 children, after a raid on the hotel in which they were staying…

Israel’s Iron Beam system, which intercepts missiles with lasers, will be delivered to the IDF for initial operational use at the end of the month, Brig.-Gen. (res.) Daniel Gold, head of the Israeli Ministry of Defense Research and Development Directorate, said at the International DefenseTech Summit at Tel Aviv University on Monday, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports… 

Iran sentenced award-winning filmmaker Jafar Panahi to a year in prison in absentia; Panahi, whose “It Was Just an Accident” won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, is currently in the U.S. promoting the film…

The Sudanese Armed Forces offered Russia a 25-year naval base deal along the East African coast that, if Moscow accepts, would be its first position in Africa…

Apollo Global Management CEO and UJA-Federation of New York Board Chair Marc Rowan was honored with the Gustave L. Levy Award last night at the 50th UJA-Federation Wall Street Dinner in Manhattan.

Referencing New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s comments regarding the recent protests outside an aliyah event at the Park East Synagogue, Rowan declared Mamdani an “enemy” of the Jewish community, vowing that his organization would “call him out.” 

Read more from eJewishPhilantropy’s Nira Dayanim here.

Actress best known for playing Special Agent Kensi Blye in 277 episodes of CBS’ “NCIS Los Angeles,” Daniela Ruah turns 42… 

Former director of the Mossad and then head of the Israeli National Security Council, Efraim Halevy turns 91… Professor of rabbinic literature at Yeshiva University’s Gruss Institute in Jerusalem, Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff turns 88… Real estate executive and founder of the Sunshine Group, she was an EVP of The Trump Organization until 1985, Louise Mintz Sunshine turns 85… Sociologist and human rights activist, Jack Nusan Porter turns 81… Partner at Personal Healthcare LLC, Pincus Zagelbaum… Former drummer for a rock band in France followed by a career in contemporary Jewish spiritual music in Brooklyn, Isaac “Jacky” Bitton turns 78… EVP at Rubenstein Communications, Nancy Haberman… Author of more than 15 volumes of poetry, he is a professor emeritus of English at the University of Pennsylvania, Bob Perelman turns 78… French historian, professor at Sorbonne Paris North University and author of 30 books on the history of North Africa, Benjamin Stora turns 75… Retired associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Barbara A. Lenk turns 75… Professor emerita at Montana State University, she was a member of the Montana House of Representatives and a board member of Bozeman’s Congregation Beth Shalom, Dr. Franke Wilmer turns 75… Canadian fashion designer and entrepreneur, he is best known for launching the Club Monaco and Joe Fresh brands, Joe Mimran turns 73… Partner in the Madison, Wis., law firm of Miner, Barnhill & Galland, she is a class action and labor law attorney, Sarah Siskind… Rabbi of Baltimore’s Congregation Ohel Moshe, Rabbi Zvi Teichman… Celebrity physician and author of diet books, he is the president of the Nutritional Research Foundation, Joel Fuhrman turns 72… Advertising account executive at the Los Angeles Daily Journal Corporation, Lanna Solnit… Cleveland resident, Joseph Schlaiser… Emmy Award-winning actress, Rena Sofer turns 57… Publisher and CEO of The Forward, Rachel Fishman Feddersen… Identical twin sisters, known as The AstroTwins, they are magazine columnists and authors of four books on astrology, Tali Edut and Ophira Edut turn 53… Lecturer of political science at Yale, she was formerly a White House staffer, Eleanor L. Schiff turns 49… Television writer and producer, Murray Selig Miller turns 49… Former member of the Knesset and then Israel’s ambassador to the U.K., Tzipi Hotovely turns 47… Director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, Annie Fixler… Managing director with Alvarez & Marsal in Atlanta, she was a sabre fencer at the 2004 Summer Olympics, Emily Jacobson Edwards turns 40… Actor, best known for playing Trevor in the coming-of-age film “Eighth Grade,” Fred Hechinger turns 26…

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone today to discuss the Gaza ceasefire and expanding peace agreements, and Trump invited Netanyahu for another visit to the White House “in the near future,” according to a readout from the Prime Minister’s Office…

The readout did not mention any discussion of Syria, despite Trump posting on social media this morning that “it is very important that Israel maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria, and that nothing takes place that will interfere with Syria’s evolution into a prosperous State.” He said Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa “is working diligently to make sure good things happen, and that both Syria and Israel will have a long and prosperous relationship together.”

Trump did not denounce any specific Israeli actions, though the comment came just days after the IDF clashed with gunmen during an arrest operation in southern Syria, which Syrian state media said killed 13. Israeli media reported today that the Trump administration is frustrated with Israel over its continuing military action in Syria and the issue is expected to feature prominently in Netanyahu’s next White House visit…

On the Hill, the House Foreign Affairs Committee is set to discuss and vote on Wednesday on legislation that aims to classify the entire Muslim Brotherhood globally as a terrorist group, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

The legislation may go further than the Trump administration’s recently announced efforts on the issue, which do not directly aim to proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood in its entirety, but rather focus on its branches…

Israel’s Iron Beam system, which intercepts missiles with lasers, will be delivered to the IDF for initial use at the end of the month, JI’s Lahav Harkov reports.

Brig.-Gen. (res.) Daniel Gold, head of the Israeli Ministry of Defense Research and Development Directorate, who made the announcement at the International DefenseTech Summit at Tel Aviv University today, said “the Iron Beam laser system is expected to fundamentally change the rules of engagement on the battlefield.”

The use of the laser system will drastically lower the costs of missile defense, with each use of the Iron Beam costing around $3, as opposed to about $50,000 per Iron Dome interceptor. As such, it will cost significantly less for Israel to intercept a rocket than it costs for its enemies to produce them, at $5,000-$10,000…

On the campaign trail, former Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), who is challenging Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO) to reclaim her former seat in Congress, posed for a photo with Guy Christensen, an anti-Israel influencer who defended the Capital Jewish Museum shooting, in which two Israeli Embassy employees were killed, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

The influencer posted a photo last week from what appears to be a recent American Muslims for Palestine conference — Christensen is wearing an AMP lanyard and speaker badge — alongside a smiling Bush, with the caption “We’re coming for you AIPAC”…

Evanston, Ill. Mayor Daniel Biss, a Democrat, who is currently running for Congress to replace retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), denounced the agreement reached between Northwestern University and the Trump administration to restore the university’s federal funding in a statement today. 

“As a Jewish person, I am disturbed by the Trump administration’s disingenuous use of the very serious crisis of antisemitism to justify its actions. Of course, we know that this administration isn’t actually concerned about antisemitism — in fact, this administration has proven to be filled with overt Nazi sympathizers,” Biss wrote.

Jewish leaders associated with the school told JI’s Haley Cohen that they are cautiously optimistic that the deal — which, among other stipulations, ends the university’s 2024 agreement with anti-Israel student protesters — will improve campus climate for Jewish students…

Meanwhile, a Harvard student who was charged with assaulting an Israeli peer during an October 2023 “die-in” on university campus shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks was hired by the university in August as a graduate teaching fellow, the Washington Free Beacon reports…

In a New Yorker feature on rising political violence, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro discusses his understanding of what motivated the alleged attacker who firebombed the governor’s residence last Passover. “The prosecutor felt it was important to introduce into evidence the bomber’s claims that he did that because of ‘what I did to the Palestinians,’ so clearly there was some motivation because of my [Jewish] faith,” the Democratic governor said. 

“But I think it is dangerous for you or anyone else to think about those who perpetrate these violent attacks as linear thinkers, meaning that they have a left-wing ideology or a right-wing ideology, or that they have a firm set of beliefs the way you might or I might. These are clearly irrational thinkers.”

Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) also recounts in the piece his experience being intimidated by a group of protesters staging a sit-in outside of his home in October 2024, recalling “that he and his family spent the day trying to get the protesters to leave, working with both local authorities and the Capitol Police, but they ‘would not move.’ His son was in the final stages of practicing for his bar mitzvah; that evening, he recited the Torah while the protesters chanted pro-Palestinian slogans outside”… 

No stranger to threats of political violence, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said today three of his New York offices were targeted with bomb threats in emails with the subject line “MAGA”…

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

Keep an eye out in tomorrow’s Jewish Insider for a preview of the special election taking place tomorrow in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District. 

Israel Hayom is hosting a conference in New York City tomorrow featuring American and Israeli officials and public figures, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams; Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon; former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman; former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz; Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA); Strauss Group Chair Ofra Strauss; and Israeli Minister for Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli, as well as released hostages Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal.

The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates will hold a celebration marking the country’s 54th National Day at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

A new federal lawsuit filed on behalf of families of victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks accuses the crypto giant Binance of knowingly facilitating the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars to U.S.-designated foreign terror organizations on an “industrial scale,” Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. The family members allege that Binance’s actions helped contribute to the deadly incursion in Israel that killed around 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages…

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — the controversial U.S.- and Israel-backed aid mechanism launched earlier this year to provide humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza from a source other than the United Nations — announced on Monday that it would shut down. GHF said in a statement that it had distributed 187 million meals, marking a “successful completion of its emergency mission”…

Thomas Rose, the U.S. ambassador to Poland, delivered an address last week saying claims that Poland was complicit in Nazis’ crimes against Jews in the country during the Holocaust are a “grotesque falsehood,” which he likened to a “blood libel against the Polish people and Polish nation,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports. The remarks from Rose, a former publisher of The Jerusalem Post, have reignited a heated debate about whether Poland bears responsibility for the country’s treatment of Jews during World War II — or if the country had itself fallen victim to the Nazis…

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch visited Park East Synagogue on Shabbat, days after antisemitic demonstrators gathered outside the Manhattan synagogue to protest an event promoting immigration to Israel. Tisch told congregants that the NYPD “fell short” in ensuring people could “easily enter and leave shul,” according to a report from the Shabbat service…

The Pentagon is investigating and threatening to court-martial Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), a retired U.S. Navy captain, following his appearance in a video posted last week by several Democratic lawmakers urging U.S. military servicemembers to disobey illegal orders, according to a new statement from the Department of Defense. President Donald Trump has called the lawmakers’ actions “seditious” and “treasonous,” and suggested they should face trial. Kelly said he won’t be “silenced by bullies”…

As Democrats take stock of their electoral losses last year, longtime Democratic strategist James Carville argues in a New York Times op-ed published Monday that Democrats need to abandon the “era of performative woke politics” and instead “embrace a sweeping, aggressive, unvarnished, unapologetic and altogether unmistakable platform of pure economic rage” as the “only way out of the abyss”…

Senior BBC leaders addressed questions about the network’s impartiality during a parliamentary committee hearing in London on Monday afternoon. The inquiry comes as the broadcaster faces down the threat of a lawsuit from Trump, who is unhappy with what BBC critics have described as a deceptively edited clip of the president. The BBC is facing further criticism after a former advisor to the British news organization accused it of bias on topics including Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and transgender issues…  

Talks between the U.S. and Ukraine on a Ukraine-Russia peace plan are at a “critical moment,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday, after high-level negotiations between the two countries over the weekend. A joint statement from the White House and Zelensky’s office, released Sunday night, said the talks were “highly productive” and that “meaningful progress” had been made, after an early draft of the proposed peace deal sparked concerns that it did not demand enough concessions from Moscow. Zelensky has not yet agree to the deal…

Seventeen Hamas terrorists were killed or captured by Israeli forces in eastern Rafah on the IDF’s side of the Gaza ceasefire lines on Sunday, after over 200 of them were trapped there when the ceasefire went into effect…

An ongoing public dispute between Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir about investigations over military failures around Oct. 7 continued on Monday, leading Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reportedly invite the two for a private meeting with the goal of resolving the feud…

The Gaza terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad said on Monday that it had “found” the body of another deceased Israeli hostage, though the group did not publicly indicate if or when it plans to hand over the body — one of three remaining in the Gaza Strip…

A federal judge in New York tossed out separate criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, arguing that Trump’s appointment of the prosecutor in those cases was not valid…

The organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest announced new rules to limit the influence of audience voting, following allegations that Israel meddled in the vote…

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

Keep an eye out in tomorrow’s Jewish Insider for a look at the status of Iran’s nuclear program amid a series of recent reports that have raised questions about whether the Islamic Republic is seeking to rebuild — with Russia’s help — the nuclear sites that sustained extensive damage from June’s U.S. and Israeli airstrikes.

We also will be reporting on lawmakers’ reactions to the revelations that a significant share of anti-Israel and antisemitic content on X — on both the far right and far left — is being produced overseas. 

And we’ll be talking to ESPN college football commentator Paul Finebaum about his possible interest in running in Alabama’s Senate race, as he discusses how his Jewish upbringing shaped his worldview.

• We’re keeping an eye on Lebanon following an Israeli strike on Sunday that targeted Hezbollah’s chief of staff, Haytham Ali Tabatabai, amid indications that the Iran-backed terror group, which suffered significant setbacks amid a wave of Israeli attacks last year, was rearming. Israeli intelligence sources said that the strike could prompt Hezbollah to retaliate against Jewish and Israeli targets abroad. More below.
• We’re also monitoring the situation in the Gaza Strip, following Israeli strikes on Hamas targets that were prompted by Hamas gunfire directed at IDF troops.
• In New York, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) is slated to make an announcement alongside Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) today in Rockland County.
• Former hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel are scheduled to speak tonight about their time in captivity and the fight for Keith’s release at Potomac’s Congregation Beth Sholom.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S GABBY DEUTCH

In the wake of Mark Mellman’s death last week, the longtime Democratic pollster is being remembered for his leadership of Democratic Majority for Israel, an advocacy group he helped launch in 2019 to counter a growing hostility toward Israel on the left, a value proposition that proved prescient. 

But his role leading the group, in what turned out to be the capstone to his decades-long career, was serendipitous — and almost didn’t happen. 

The group’s founding board members “reached out to Mark for advice on who we should hire,” one of the board members, speaking anonymously to discuss the details of the group’s founding, told Jewish Insider. “And Mark said, ‘I’ll do it.’ We went, ‘OK.’ We weren’t expecting that.”

San Francisco Democratic fundraiser Sam Lauter, a former AIPAC activist who has been involved with DMFI from the beginning, said Mellman’s role atop DMFI gave the group “instant credibility.” Weeks later, Mellman was weighing in on a series of tweets from then-freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) that trafficked in antisemitic tropes. 

As political activists reflect on Mellman’s life, several Jewish Democrats told JI that his clear-eyed support for Israel — and his ability to articulate its strategic importance to Democrats — will leave a lasting impact on the party.

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.